"When the sun has set, no candle can replace it."

George R.R. Martin

She was wet. Covered in the thick substance. Her hands trembled as her wide eyes darted back and forth in disbelief. Her mouth hung open, jaw loose. She remained like that for quite some time, brushing her stained fingertips over the jagged laceration. The howling wind whisked her dark hair around her pale skin. Bursts of shouting and the clanks of metal clashing ripped her attention from her bleeding wound. She was leaning on an aching elbow, her body shifted awkwardly. Though her breathing remained unsteady and heavy, she grasped at the dry ground and managed to inch closer to a cluster of boulders and sand, roughly ten meters from the ongoing confrontation. Flashes of a combination of black and orange appeared and dispersed constantly before her strained eyes. The veins surrounding her eyes pulsated, working to continue the flow of blood within her. And that's when she felt it. A sharp pain coming from the fresh wound in her abdomen. The minor cuts and scrapes dotting her figure burned, her body feeling as if it were on fire.

"Hinata!"

Her slim body jerked forward at the loud cry. She hissed in pain, the irritated wound stretching her skin further. Moving her stiff legs the best she could manage, she pushed against the hard ground and backed against a partially destroyed rock wall that only exceeded her height by a few inches. The weak woman hesitantly raised her right arm, as if trying to attract the person responsible for screaming her name only minutes ago. Within seconds, heavy, disarrayed footsteps approached her.

She could only hope that it wasn't the enemy. Hell, she was already halfway dead, what's the worst that could happen now? The resonating sound of an incredible explosion left everything else silent; the only thing she heard was her own ragged breaths.

"Hinata? Oh...No, no, no, no..," A strained voice whispered above her. She looked up to a mess of blond hair and scratched up, tan skin. The figure moved swiftly in front of her, eyebrows furrowed, a deep frown taking the place of a shocked expression.

She lowered her bleeding arm and motioned for the man in front of her to come closer. Without hesitation, he inched closer, his face leaning towards hers. She laughed dryly at his eagerness, but his face remained unchanged. There was a sad seriousness in her voice when she spoke, "Naruto, I don't know if I'll make this one."

The anxious blond before her grabbed her cold hand, squeezing it within his dirty hand. "Hey, don't say stuff like that, you'll make it, I promise," He spoke confidently, but she shook her head calmly.

"You're no God, Naruto," she sighed, as if trying to think of how to explain something complex to a small child.

"You can't promise to make everything better. I don't expect you to fix everything. It's okay, Naruto, you'll be fine," a small smile appeared on her face, a cough following after.

Naruto's concerned expression only grew deeper. He swallowed slowly and looked away from the frail woman in front of him. She knew he was trying to control himself, but his vulnerability was always so easy for her to notice.

"No, you'll be okay. That's how it always is, right? I'll do what you do for me when I get hurt. I'll make you better," he spoke in a reassuring tone. Her eyes glazed over, tears brimming.

"Naruto, it's not-

"Damnit, Hinata! I will fix you. You can't do this to me," he stared into her eyes now, tears streaming down dusty cheeks. Slowly, she pulled her hand away from his and reached for her tattered shirt. Groans of pain escaped her when she shifted her body weight slightly to lift the cloth up. Naruto's azure colored eyes widened and inspected the ghastly flesh wound. He instinctively outstretched his arm to touch around the wound, as if attempting to measure how bad it really was. Hinata grabbed his quivering hand and guided it to her chest. He felt how faint her heartbeat was, saw how her wounds covered her once fair skin, knew how hopeless this situation was. She was showing him that this time, she couldn't be fixed.

"It's not fair, Naruto," the tired woman spoke with a tremble in her voice. His head hung low, stray tears dripping to the sandy ground. His other hand gravitated to her face, and he caressed her soft cheek without looking up.

"I can't," he said. Her expression was pained and confused.

"I just can't lose you, not now," he finished, a ragged sob leaving his body. He knew there wasn't anything to help her; no medical supplies, no knowledge of healing justsus, and no companions to aid them. Just deafening silence that pierced right through him.

"N-Naruto," she winced, the pain slicing through her. The blood was soaking through her shirt, the light blue color now a wretched red. She looked down at herself, examining the damage. He looked at her as she squeezed her eyes shut, more tears falling. She took both of her hands in his and brought them to her light lips. Kissing his rugged flesh lovingly, her subtle eyes met his.

"I'm losing blood too fast and my vision is starting to fail me. I'm so sorry, my love," with that, her body shook and the most agonizing cry Naruto ever heard left her. He could feel it; she was scared. So was he, and he didn't know what to do about it. He was about to lose the most important thing in his life, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

She breathed in, voice shaking as she talked to him.

"Tell them I love them, okay? I hate to leave this burden on you. I love you so, so much, Naruto. Please, stay strong for them. I'll always be with you," she spoke softly and pulled his face to hers. She leaned forward, despite the pain, and placed a kiss on his lips. They stayed there for a few moments, just relishing in their love and sadness.

He tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, noticing how hard she was breathing and the sweat trickling down her face. Her eyes fluttered weakly and her gaze was unfocused. In a moment of panic, he tapped her face with his hand. She looked at him, or rather, straight through him.

"Naruto, take me home, please. Fix me," she cried. He had no answer for her. Instead, he stood. He crouched down and carefully lifted her, a faded groan coming from the bluenette. Her arms hung while he carried her, blood trickling down and splattering onto the cracked, parched earth. He looked into her eyes, forcing himself to smile.

"Where...are we going, Naruto-kun?" she whispered, barely making out her sentence. He bit his lip so he wouldn't begin sobbing.

"We're going home, Hinata. Just like I promised, I'm gonna fix you," he kissed her forehead and she smiled while weakly stroking his bruised cheek with her hand. Her thick hair moved elegantly with the wind; the scene of the couple so beautifully heart-wrenching.

"Will you be with me always, Naruto?" she inquired, not ceasing to stop stroking his face.

"Always. I'll never leave your side," he replied, smiling graciously at her. Though they were surrounded by dead bodies and random weapons laying around covered in blood, there was an odd sense of life within the blond-haired man. They were together, and that's all that mattered to him. Suddenly, he stopped walking.

"Hinata," he spoke.

As if in slow motion, a pale hand fell from his face.

"Hinata.."

"Thank...you," she whispered in her faded breath.

"No! Damnit, no! Hinata!," he screamed.

The man dropped to his knees, a deep pain slamming into his heart. He held her close, he squeezed her, he dropped her to the ground and doubled over her lifeless body. He cursed the gods that took her away from him. He gathered her head in his hands and kissed her, his tears pooling onto her blood-stained face. A voice echoed within his mind.

'Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it?! It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it?! Huh?! I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose all that?!'

"I know now, don't I?," he rocked her back and forth, the pain all too much to bear.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He punched the ground until his knuckles bled, and punched more. The sobs didn't stop. He wanted to punch the ground until he couldn't feel anymore. He sat upright and stared at the clear sky. The tears wouldn't stop and neither would his pain. No matter how much he beat against his chest to make his heart stop aching, it was to no avail. After everything, all of these years, here he was, the great hero of the Leaf, alone, with nothing, just as he started. He stared at her unmoving body.

He wanted her back. He wanted her smile. He wanted her giggles. He wanted her to hold his hand. He wanted her to say she loved him. He wanted her to be here. The broken man lifted her body once more, his footing unsteady. He wobbled on, his arms wrapped around the dead woman like a vice. He would walk and walk until he arrived at a small village and collapsed. The townsfolk would mend him back to health and he'd eventually return to the village. He'd return to condolences and tears. He'd feel shame. He'd explain dozens of times in a monotone voice. He'd return home, every night, to an empty house. He'd sleep on the floor of the living room because the bed reminded him of all the mornings he awoke to see her. He'd be broken and there was nothing that could fix him but her.

He'd drink to numb the pain. He'd visit her grave and only end up breaking down like he always did. In the end, he'd become irreparable.

They say that when you lose your true love, you lose yourself. And that day, Naruto lost everything.

fin.