Confession
By Santeira
Based on Naruto Manga 437 and translation by HisshouBuraiKen
Also inspired heavily by W.B. Yeats' poem, "No Second Troy"
AN: This contains heavy manga spoilers. Do not proceed to read if you don't follow it religiously. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
She has always been afraid of Naruto-kun's rejection; that is why she never told him her feelings.
As she hides herself in the shadows, she is always mustering the courage to confess to him. She imagines when the time comes; it will be some windy afternoon, under the Tsubaki trees, where the red petals are falling.
"You don't have to be afraid, Hinata. Just goddamn do it, and do it with a bang!" Kiba-kun has always told her.
"But..but I don't have the courage to…" she would answer, often her sentence unfinished.
"Don't be so uptight. Just relax…and tell him. His response is inconsequential. Just tell him, and relieve yourself of the…weight…" Shino-kun has once advised.
But she has never had the courage.
So she never told him. Only observing Naruto-kun from afar, she tells herself that it is alright, because loving him is happiness to her.
Even if it is unrequited.
******
"You call mine a false peace," the man who resembles a corpse says calmly.
Hinata feels her desire burning more than ever, but her courage, if anything, weakens.
"But there is nothing more false than the idea that, in this accursed world, people can truly come to an understanding," the man continues.
Then his words make her consider, if they actually attest to the weight of his actions. She sees the man as a vessel that bears only one emotion, and it is the only emotion he speaks of highly.
So frequently.
"The perverted hermit had faith that people would really be able to come together some day! You've got it all backwards!" The blond ninja of her dreams yells. She feels her heart flinch, seeing how he is unable to move, rods stabbing various points of his body.
That body, that energetic body, that lively spirit that has always moved with confidence—so full of life.
She can't bear seeing it stiff, unmovable.
"You're all talk...you have no answer. What can you hope to do?" the corpse-like man answers. "The one contribution you can make is giving me the Nine-Tails' power."
And she wants to see him move again, rise again, and smile again. After all, Naruto-kun's smile and optimism have changed her.
So how can he be wrong? She believes in him.
"As I said, your death is key to world peace."
She tells herself she shouldn't let Naruto-kun fall into this deception.
Had they but courage equal to desire?
The desire is burning stronger than ever. And so she rushes. She knows death awaits her. But she isn't afraid.
"Naruto-kun...!"
She nears the man; her courage is burning more than ever.
"I will not let you lay another finger on Naruto-kun," she speaks, fearless like she never felt before.
"Why did you come here? Hurry up and run! He's too much for—"
"No…" she intervenes. "I...felt like being selfish..."
Yet she feels so selfless. Her heart struggles with her love for him, and this love outweighs her fear of the weakness of her flesh.
"What the hell are you saying? That's no excuse for jumping into a dangerous fight like this!" She hears him shout.
"I'm here because I want to be," she admits.
Brilliant yet so foolish.
"I'd always cry and give up right away...always getting it wrong..." she adds, a faint smile visible on her lips, "until you, Naruto-kun...showed me the right path to follow."
There is silence, not even the corpse-like man is intruding this chance, her only chance of confession.
"I chased you forever......always wishing that someday I would catch up, always dreaming that we would walk side by side; always trying to make it to where you were."
And she is there, where he is, where she is supposed to be.
Does anything else matter?
"You changed me! Your smile saved me from who I was!"
Her courage is now equal to her desire.
"I'm not afraid to protect you, even if I die doing so!" she continues, this, she thinks, is the best she can muster, if not the best anyone in this world can muster.
"Because...I love you, Naruto-kun..."
The words, the three little words that once and for all push the weight off her back, she finally speaks them. She is feeling terribly light.
She wants to tell the god; she pities him. "Juuho Soushiken!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
Had they but courage equal to desire?
She squeaks as she feels her body crush to the ground.
But she forgives him. To her, it is crystal clear, that he who claims he is god, is only human.
"Don't do it!" She hears Naruto-kun shout.
The pain she feels is overwhelming. In a flash of a second, the people who are most important to her emerge before her eyes. She was once told she would see these things before she dies.
She hopes these people will forgive her.
She feels something stab her. Does it matter where?
Because she can't…feel. Other than this burning courage, burning desire…love…
Had they but courage equal to desire?
Love above pain, love above honor, love above everything.
"When you do it, do it with a bang, Hinata!"
She hopes it is crystal clear, that after all, she is only human.
END