You Don't Know What You've Got
Till It's Gone
A/N: I seem to have a thing for NarutoXHinata fics. This is my third and (Dare I say it?) possibly my best. Please enjoy!
Hinata sat on the rooftop. Her eyes were misted over and bloodshot. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.
In the distance, the sun was just setting. The sky was shot over with shades of red and orange with the clouds turning a sick shade of black. The sight was beautiful.
And yet her eyes refused to rise past the tree line. The colors, the shades, they were all too familiar.
(flashback)
Jaraiya, Kakashi, and Sakura were inside the Hokage's office. They all stood in complete shock. Sakura was the most horrified of them all. "You…you can't be serious?"
Tsunade simply looked down. "I'm sorry. But everything points to the conclusion that he's dead."
"How could this have happened?!" screamed Jaraiya. "If the mission was dangerous, why was he sent alone?!"
"The mission wasn't supposed to be dangerous," she shot back. "It was only a D-rank. We found the clients, and they said the mission was a success. The Anbu trackers say it happened some time on his way back."
"What about a search party?" asked Kakashi. "If there wasn't a body, why don't we look for him?"
"I only said there wasn't his body. There was a body, but it was burned to a skeleton. And…" She reached under the desk and pulled out a piece of metal. "This was found in the ashes." She placed in down. The symbol of the leaf was etched into the strip with blotches of dried blood tarnishing the surface.
Sakura lost it. Her eyes seemed to burst and tears began to stream down her face. Jaraiya stepped over and put an arm over her shoulder, a few tears starting to fall from his own eyes as they walked out of the room.
"Will there be a ceremony?" Kakashi asked with only a hint of sadness.
"The funeral will be tomorrow."
Hinata had been outside, listening to the whole conversation with her mouth slightly agape. Even as Kakashi left and Tsunade returned to her other affairs, she couldn't move. Her lungs seemed empty, and no air would come. Her muscles refused to move. And her mind wouldn't even function enough to tell them to.
(end flashback)
Hinata looked up to the heavens and she suddenly seemed to find her voice as fresh tears flowed. "NARUTOOO!"
--
"No," Tsunade said firmly. "I'm not going to let you go off on a mission that has absolutely no merit."
"Please, Lady Tsunade," Hinata pleaded. "I know he's out there somewhere. You have to give me a chance."
"Hinata, we just had the funeral. What makes you so certain Naruto is still alive?"
"I…I'm not sure. I just know he is."
Tsunade sighed. "I can't have ninja just running around doing whatever they feel like based on hunches. We need hard evidence. Based on what you've given me, I'm going to have to deny your request. There are more pressing matters."
"Then I'll go without getting your permission!"
Tsunade looked up, shocked.
Even Hinata was thrown off by her sudden outburst. "Oh…forgive me, ma'am." She started to fidget.
"There's something else to this, isn't there?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been around the block a few times, Hinata. I know what love looks like."
Hinata blushed at the "l" word. "Oh. Well…"
"I'm sorry, Hinata. But knowing that only makes me more adamant about not letting you do this."
She forced herself to stay still and her cheeks to return to normal. Summoning all her will power, she said, "Well, I'm sorry, ma'am. But I'm going regardless of what you say."
Tsunade looked the girl over very closely. The glare made Hinata only more nervous. "Very well," the Saniin said with a sigh. "It seems I'm not going to change your mind. Go to the sight of the battle. If nothing turns up, return immediately. But if you find anything, I'm giving you three days to find Naruto and no more. If it takes any longer, come back here and we'll see what we can do."
Hinata's face exploded with joy. "Oh, thank you Lady Tsunade!" She bowed quickly and rushed out, heading straight for the village entrance.
Tsunade watched her go through the window. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
--
Hinata ran all day, using the trees to quicken the pace. She stopped at sundown for a rest and bite to eat, but then she was back to running the next morning. Before noon, she came to the spot on the path where the battle had taken place, deep in the forest.
Scratches in the trees were already starting to heal. Several burn marks on the ground and limbs were still black and lifeless.
Hinata fell to the ground and looked around. Everything was exactly as she'd heard it had been. But she wanted to be sure. Forming a single seal, she focused the chakra through her eyes. "Byakugan!" Veins around her eyes expanded and her vision sharpened.
A quick search of the area gave very little. The battlefield was exactly as it should look. But that wasn't her focus. She looked underground and quickly found the remains of the body the Anbu had found. Being just an unrecognizable corpse, they'd buried it. And now she searched over the body carefully.
Sadly, there wasn't much for her to look at. The bones were cracked and fragile from the heat of the fire that had destroyed it. But there had to be something to tell her it was actually Naruto's body.
She shuddered for a moment. His body…buried! No! It couldn't be him. She had to prove it wasn't!
The chakra flowing into her eyes intensified, sharpening her vision even more. She could now make out every crack of every bone. She looked up and down, going over the head, legs, arms…
Wait! The left arm was slightly longer than the right. That meant that whoever's body this was had been left-handed. But Naruto was right-handed!
"It's not his body!" she said to herself with a calming sense of relief. That meant he could still be alive. "But where?"
She went back up to the trees, straining her eyes. On a few branches, circles of faint chakra still permeated the wood. They created a path going deeper into the forest. "Chakra residue from running. They went that way."
She jumped the branches, following the trail. With every passing step she could sense Naruto getting closer. "I'm coming, Naruto. Hang on!"
--
She stopped when she found a big cave. The trail ended at the entrance. Her Byakugan were still active, so she sent her vision deep into the rock. She couldn't see nearly as far as Neji, but she could still see the entire underground complex. There was only one body inside, but whoever it was was dangerously weak.
Fearing the worst, she rushed inside, moving through the twisted caverns without slowing. Her Byakugan told her exactly where to go.
The tunnel ended at a wooden door. The person was just inside.
Focusing her energy into her palm, she struck the lock and it blew apart. She forced the door to swing open with a loud creak.
All feeling drained from her body.
On the floor, in a crumpled heap and pool of blood, lay Naruto. His clothes were torn to shreds and dozens of cuts still bled onto the stone.
Hinata took a step forward and fell to her knees. Her whole body was quavering. She almost couldn't move. Almost in a trance, she reach forward and gently wrapped her arms around Naruto's limp form. Ever so carefully, she turned him over and laid him in her lap, so that his face was looking up.
She had to force herself not to turn away. His face was even more mangled than the rest of this body. It was so stained with blood that she couldn't make out many of his features.
And she could feel his heart slowly beat in her palms as she watched the chakra slowly begin to fade from his body.
"N…Naruto…" The tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks and slowly dripped onto his face.
His brow gave an imperceptible twitch. "…Hi…Hinata…" he said in a voice barely constituting a whisper.
She froze. "Naruto?! Naruto, I'm here!"
One side of his mouth lifted slightly. "I…knew you'd come…"
His chakra continued to fade.
"Naruto, stay with me!"
"Goodbye…Hinata."
His heart gave one weak beat and stilled.
"no…Naruto, NO!" Her tears came forth again. She leaned down and held her forehead to his. The dried blood came over to her skin, bonding them together lightly. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and fell onto his. She sat there rocking gently as his chakra continued to fade into nothingness.
So lost in her sorrow was she that she didn't notice an orange glow appear over his form and slowly spread over her.
"Don't leave me, Naruto! Please."
She sat long after the light left his body. The tears didn't stop. She didn't want them to stop. Naruto was gone. He was the reason for her fighting. He was the one that gave her strength in her times of need. Without him…she didn't know what she'd do.
All sense of time was lost to her.
"Ah, would you look at that?"
Hinata froze. Someone was standing in the doorway behind her.
"The kid's girlfriend came to save him. Looks like you're too late though."
"You did this, didn't you?" She tried to stop her tears, and succeeded slightly. Gently, she pulled away and placed Naruto back onto the rock.
"Yeah, and a big waste it was too. Little runt wouldn't squeal about anything. But that's alright. 'Cause now I've got you."
Somehow, her sorrow began to diminish. In its place, she felt something she'd rarely felt before: pure hatred. "He didn't do anything to you. Why'd you do this?"
"The best way to get rid of a nuisance is to find out everything you can about it. I was going to have him tell me everything about the Leaf Village, but the pathetic idiot didn't know when to talk. Maybe you'll do better."
The orange haze returned around her body. He didn't have to do this; Naruto didn't have to die! It was cold blood. He'd have to be taught a lesson. She held up a hand and energy started to collect on it. Using her Byakugan, she searched his body to find the exact point to strike as the energy began to swirl in hundreds of directions inside a tight sphere.
"Come on, baby. Why don't you squeal for me?" He drew a kunai and took a step towards her.
Fast as a bullet, she spun on the spot and thrust forward. "RASENGAN!" The energy drilled into the man's gut.
He screamed in pain, but somehow managed to look back into her eyes. The solid blue eyes had suddenly formed blood-red pupil slits.
Her other hand flew forward. "GENTLE FIST!" It struck his stomach right over the rasengan. The energy exploded and the man was thrown back into the rock. The crash shook the entire cavern; Hinata even threw her hands up for fear of a collapse, but none came. When the dust settled, a new tunnel had been torn into the rock with the man slumped awkwardly against the far end.
Hinata stood in shock and slowly looked down at her hand. That move…it was Naruto's. And that hatred wasn't at all in her character.
She looked back at Naruto's limp form. Even in death, he'd found a way to give her strength.
Hinata clutched the hand to her chest. She didn't know what he'd done, and she really didn't care.
Gently, she picked up the bloody body and headed out of the cave.
--
Back at the village, Naruto's body had been properly buried. Hinata knelt by the tombstone with her hands clasped before her. No one else was there. The act had been quick so as to avoid questions from other villagers.
As she continued her remembrance, Hinata's mind began to wander. She remembered when she'd first seen Naruto. Her knees had nearly buckled. And every time they met, she could never help but blush. It was always the worst if he ever hugged her; that would leave her passed out.
She laughed at the memory of collapsing several times from such an incident.
Strangely, her mind began to calm. Everything seemed at peace and she felt the most relaxed she had in a while. An image came to her mind seemingly on its own. Naruto.
"Hinata…"
Hinata looked up. There was still no one with her. Where had the voice come from?
"Hinata…"
But, that sounded like Naruto.
"It is me, Hinata."
She nearly jumped.
"Hinata, calm down. Just breathe."
She settled back down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Naruto again appeared in her head, only this time he seemed almost real. "Naruto?"
He smiled. "I knew you'd come for me, Hinata."
She blushed. "Oh, Naruto. I just couldn't leave you out there. I'm just…" She started to cry again, ashamed that she hadn't made it sooner but too torn to say it.
"It's alright, Hinata. You did your best. And I'm proud you even came at all."
She smiled.
"You do good down there. I'll be watching, just in case you need an extra boost sometime. Believe it!"
A mist crept through her head and like a ghost he was gone.
She finally opened her eyes and slowly stood. A thought crossed her mind. Could she love a dead man?
But then she chuckled to herself. If he felt the same, it shouldn't really matter.