Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.
Chapter 1 : Reflection
It's been one month since the end of the Fifth Shinobi World War and Naruto has been in a depressed mood. Konoha has lost a lot of great shinobi and he is feeling guilty, knowing that he was part of the reason Obito started the war.
Naruto was walking through the new streets of Konoha lost in his thoughts and admiring the hard work the citizens of the Leaf Village. It takes a lot of skill and cooperation to rebuild a city destroyed, Naruto couldn't believe that it had already been a year since Pain came to Konoha intent, and successful, on it's destruction. "cha - why couldn't I have made it back sooner and saved my village from complete destruction" thought Naruto.
Having made his way to the edge of the new village Naruto seeked out his special place, the one place he knew he would be in solitude to reflect on the events of the past year, the place where he would be able to mourn the loss of shinobi who died fighting to protect everything they all knew and loved being taken from them by Uchiha Obito. Making sure he wasn't being watched Naruto jumped into the canopy of the trees and headed to a secluded clearing in the forest next to a small stream. But as usual he didn't noticed a pair of pale eyes watching him all the way.
Unseen by Naruto, Hinata followed at a distance making sure he didn't hear himself being followed, she knew where he was going, she had followed him here before after his battle with Pain, after he failed to bring Sasuke back to the village, after he failed to make Sasuke stay in the village all those years ago. She knew this spot, she knew this was his spot, she knew that she shouldn't intrude on Naruto-kun's solitude but this time something about him was different and she was worried. She had a family to surround her and support her after the stress and horror of war, but Naruto-kun didn't have anyone but his friends and he had been pushing them away.
She watched as Naruto settled himself on the grass laying down with his hands behind his head, staring blankly as the clouds passed by. "I will just watch over him" Hinata said to herself, "he is hurting and needs space, I shouldn't violate his privacy". And so she sat in the boughs of the trees keeping a vigilant watch over the one she loved, unseen and unheard.
After three hours Naruto finally started to stir, his thoughts swirling around in his head, his emotions tumultuous. Anger was starting to bubble up in his chest and he felt the urge to shout.
"AHHHHHHHHH, WHY?!" …. "Why does it have to be this way? Why did it have to be a war?". Naruto rolled over onto his hands and knees and started to punch the soft ground. "Neji! Kakashi! Choza! Bushy Brow Sensi! …" he said accentuating each name with a powerful blow to the ground, tears now streaming down his cheeks. Up in the trees Hinata was startled by Naruto's sudden outburst, and she felt as though her heart was being ripped out of her chest as he yelled out the name of each lost comrade. She knew that she shouldn't disturb Naruto, but she couldn't bear to watch him suffer, thinking he was alone in the world. "CURSE YOU OBITO!", Naruto yelled, "you stole them from me, my friends, my teachers, my family", he said quietly while lowering his forehead to the cool grass. Naruto once again rolled over to lay on his back in the grass, this time with his forearm covering his eyes as the stream of tears refused to stop flowing.
Hinata silently jumped down from the trees behind some bushes and stepped out into the clearing making enough of a noise to rouse Naruto, being careful not to startle him.
"N-N-Naruto-kun", she said shly.
"Hinata!", exclaimed in surprise. He bolted up into a sitting position, keeping his back to Hinta, not wanting her to see him like this.
"Crap, I didn't want to scare him! I should have let him be" Hinata thought to herself.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" he asked her.
"I-I-I'm s-sorry Naruto-kun", she said feeling awkward "I followed you, y-y-you shouldn't be alone, I am worried about you".