It all started with at the mission in the Rain Viallge. The mission had been terrible, she'd been second in command and instructed by the team Captain to lead half of her team into the woods as they were forced to retreat
While in the woods, it had been chaos. For days her team of fifteen men and women had been forced to remain hidden, relying on low food rations and unsanitary water polluted by the smog from the village, what was worse than that, however, was low moral.
Few tried to keep high spirits, mainly the ones who had been friends with her, Hinata, since childhood. Kiba tried to tell jokes, and at the same time, tried to ward off a hungry Akamaru. Shino was less concerned with moral, however, he was more concerned with keeping his parasites at bay. With his chakra waning away, they sought refuge in the bodies of the remaining team members, whether they liked it or not.
Sakura, who also came on the mission, wasn't her usual self. Being blamed for the overall failure had taken a toll on her, and at the same time, Hinata could tell she worried for the second half of the group, the group that hadn't escaped to the woods.
Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were in that group.
For days they remained there, hiding away from the ninja of the rain village.
Fifteen became fourteen, and fourteen became thirteen, and the number continued to shrink. Kiba had been fifteenth, Akamaru had been the fourteenth. The two had killed each other the instant Akamaru's instincts kicked in.
A dog is a dog no matter what.
Hinata was no use, neither were any of the others. Chakra was low as food rations ran out, health declined as the water in the woods became acid like. With no Chakra, Hinata could not use her Byakugan to see if her team was safe, could not summon anything to send a message to the village. Sakura could no longer heal, she only had enough energy for herself, and Shino could hardly keep control of his insects.
About the third week of remaining in the humid and uncomfortable conditions that the woods harbored, Shino's insects burst out of his body, killing him and many others in the process. Any one they could latch on to, anyone they could get inside of, they did, drinking their chakra as they did so. With what little chakra she could manage, Hinata send a stray force of energy towards the insects, killing them as she had done so, but killing many others in the process.
Ten remained, Sakura and Hinata included. Eight had been enough to commit espionage.
It happened in a split second, a Kunai penetrated the back of her skull with precise accuracy, and Hinata found the world around her fading.
She woke up in Konoha about a week after, she hadn't been the only one though. Sakura was right beside her, a sheet over her disheveled body. Hinata had sighed a sigh of relief, she thought Sakura was dead.
She couldn't bare to live with herself if she got Sakura killed, Naruto would hate her.
However, she and Sakura weren't the only one's alive. In the center of the room had been two beds, two sheets covering two bodies. However, unlike the sheets covering Hinata and Sakura, these were long and covered the entire bodies. But surprisingly, the boy's both sat up, clean and absent of scars.
For hours, they spoke. They spoke about the mission, about their survival. "I thought you were dead," had been tossed around multiple times, but the four friends were relieved to see that they had all pulled through.
Hours had passed as the group spoke, eager to meet with their friends, however, no nurse came to meet them.
Sakura had reassured them that the hospital was busy, that many had been injured from their mission. But even after the first few hours, she'd grown weary and uncertain.
Thus, they got up and pulled a "Kakashi", they left. And as they did so, a group of doctor's made their way inside of the room, but the group was too far down the hallway to notice.
They wanted to see their friends, whom if everything went as planned, would be scattered amongst the village. They all walked together, aware of the eeriness around the village.
No one was out and all shops were closed.
The group of four exchanged looks and continued to look for their friends, or anyone whom happened to be out.
Still, after an hour of searching, they found no one. They looked in the most populated places, places people should have been, and yet, no one was out.
"Let's go home guys," Sakura suggested, "maybe they're at our house, we can go back to the hospital later, maybe...I don't know, i'll just see you tomorrow."
So they left.
Ten minutes later, they returned to the vacant streets of the village.
"Black" "Ignored" "Crying" "Boxes" had just been few of the words the four had blurted out to each other, and in a rush, they ran to the graveyard.
As they did so, they shared their stories.
"I walked in, said hi to my mom, and she didn't even say anything, didn't even look at me! In fact, she was crying, what the hell? My mom never cries!" Kiba said angrily, "Did somebody die? That would have been the only reason she's wearing black! I haven't seen Naruto or anyone! Do you think they could have…"
"My mom and dad weren't even there, but when I tried to go into my room, I just couldn't," Sakura was on the verge of tears, "I jiggled the door knob, but it was like I wasn't even budging it! And you don't think Sasuke and Naruto and Kaka-Sensei...you don't think…"
"Let's just get the cemetery, it's the only place we haven't checked_Our clothes!"
That had been one thing they'd all neglected to take notice of, but now that Shino had mentioned it, they could hardly take their eyes off of them.
White, all of them white and elaborate.
Before they could even comment, the group had already arrived to the graveyard.
The scene was unsettling.
The entire village was there, dressed in black and heads bowed.
"Guys...let's go, I don't want to be here," Sakura whined, "I think i'm gonna be sick."
An isle had been made, and like any other funeral, the coffin had been viewable at the very front, neatly lined up against the memorial stone.
However, this wasn't just a coffin, these were coffins.
Four to be exact.
"What the hell," Kiba said, walking up the aisle angrily.
No one paid any heed to the group as they followed behind him, no one noticed them.
Whom would notice them anyway?
Then Kiba stopped, mouth agape and slightly paralyzed. Sakura lingered behind the group, she already understood.
Hinata did too, and by the looks of it, Shino wasn't far behind.
Slowly walking behind the boy, and peeping over his shoulders, Hinata paled at the sight of her own body.
"This funeral wasn't for Naruto or Sasuke or Kakashi-Sensei," and now Sakura was behind Hinata, looking at her own cold and lifeless body, "it's for us."
And at that moment, everything became too real. The cries could be heard, the sadness could be felt...Hinata turned around to see her friends crying, their shoulders shaking and they themselves completely falling apart.
She looked at Naruto, whose eyes were pale and blue, a blank expression on his face. He might as well have died when Hinata did, because the shell standing just feet away from her was not Naruto. Her family remained stoic and uncaring, all but Neji, whom with the rest of their friends, weeped. Hinata felt a new respect growing from him.
She looked towards Sakura, whom stared wide eyed at Sasuke and Ino, taking note of their hands wrapped around each other. A look of hopelessness drowned Sakura's features. Ino's head rested on Sasuke's shoulder, yet Sakura could see a small spark of happiness within Ino's eyes.
Tired of seeing his friends in such a state, Kiba made in impatient noise.
"Let's go," Kiba shouted.
"Where?" Shino inclined, "would we go?"
"..." KIba was silent.
"Let's just get away from here," Sakura said, her voice hollow, " I feel sick."
Hinata felt no reason to disobey Sakura, thus she followed the pinkette down the aisle, looking down as if these people could actually see her.
"Yeah," Hinata said rather sadly, "Let's go."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
Happy Halloween! I may finish this here or update another chapter depending on the feedback. Sad and depressing, short sweet and passive. It's beta'd by me so hope you enjoy :D God bless :D