The sky was dark and the sounds of battle filled the air. In spite of all the chaos, Hinata's mind was clear. Naruto stood in place as a lethal attack zoomed forward, ready to strike the blonde shinobi down. Hinata leapt forward, willing to sacrifice herself to save the one she loved. She closed her eyes, prepared to never open them again, when she heard a cry of pain coming from directly in front of her. When she again opened her eyes, she saw the broken form of Neji before her, bleeding out in Naruto's arms. She couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face before looking down to see that her hands were now drenched in the blood of her cousin. Overwhelmed, she diverted her sight away from the horrible sight, only to see that everyone else had vanished, leaving her alone in a blasted no man's land.
Hinata catapulted awake, covered in sweat. She looked down at her hands, relieved to see that they were clean. It was that dream again, the one she had been having for nearly two months now. As her explosive heart beat gradually grew steady, she began to weep, her tears taking on a silvery glow in the moon's bright light. Neji died, shot down in his prime, and it was all to protect her. In his final moments, he said that he regretted nothing, but she couldn't help but feel that he died in vain. It should have been her.
The next morning, Hinata stood in the courtyard of the Hyuga household, making ready to depart when she heard a small voice suddenly speak out.
"So, are you finally leaving this place?" the voice asked. She turned around to see that it was her younger sister, Hanabi speaking.
"Yes, the Hokage is calling for me, it's probably a mission." Hinata replied.
A concerned look crossed Hanabi's faced before she replied, "If you're not feeling okay, you should tell them, I'm sure they can find someone else to do this."
"I don't know what you're talking about, I fell perfectly fine." Hinata lied.
"Don't play dumb with me, I know you're not feeling well. You've been keeping to yourself ever since the war ended. If you need help I can…"
"I said I'm fine!" Hinata shouted on impulse. Hanabi's look of concern grew before Hinata looked away from her and left the house without saying a word.
While walking through the village, Hinata reflected on what just happened. She felt terrible for snapping at her little sister like that, but in the heat of the moment, she couldn't help it. Maybe Hanabi was right, maybe she should sit this one out and try to work everything out. She stopped herself at that thought. No, she couldn't turn back. She was a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, she couldn't refuse the call.
She looked up and starred at the village before her. Even after two months, the Hidden Leaf was still a mess of construction and renovation, the war having greatly disrupted the rebuilding process after Pain's assault. Things seemed so peaceful, children played in the streets, and the people were going about business as usual. Everyone seemed so happy, as if the war had never even happened. She remembered it though, she remembered all the screaming and the blood. She still remembered the one who gave his life to so that she may live.
Hinata opened the door to the Hokage's office to see Sakura and Naruto standing in front of her. Naruto shot her his usual wide grin, which she met with a small smile of her own before facing the Hokage's desk. Kakashi shifted around in his seat, as if he were still struggling to get used to the Hokage's ceremonial garb before speaking.
"Now that everyone's here, we can begin. The Sand Village is still struggling after the war, and as part of we're going to help them get back on their feet." He produced a scroll from behind his desk, which he then placed before them.
"Is that the map?" Naruto blurted out.
"No. This is your cargo. You're to protect this scroll until you meet up with a group of Sand Ninja who'll carry it the rest of the way. You'll be given directions as you leave through the gate."
"How's this scroll gonna help the Sand Village?" Naruto asked again.
"It's one of Tenten's scrolls, there's a massive amount of food, water, and other supplies sealed inside, don't lose it."
"Lose it? The other villages are our allies now, isn't sending three of us overkill?"
"Not at all. The chaos caused by the war caused a massive upsurge in bandit activity, and word of Tenten's sealing ability got out as well. You need to be ready for anything."
Naruto paused before giving another wide grin and saying, "Well then don't worry about a thing, I'll make sure that old no-eyebrows gets this stuff all in one piece, or my name's not Naruto Uzumaki!"
As Naruto eagerly grabbed the scroll and moved to leave the room, Kakashi looked at Sakura and Hinata and said, "I know how powerful he's gotten, but please, try to keep an eye on him. You never know what could happen out there."
The two women nodded in acknowledgement before leaving the office to catch up with the hero of the Ninja World.
Nearly an hour later, the trio were walking through the forest as instructed. Naruto walked ahead of the other two, casually holding the scroll behind his head while he hummed a simple melody. Sakura and Hinata had been scanning their surroundings for signs of movement, but hadn't seen a thing during all this time. Perhaps the bandit threat was just a rumor spread by anxious merchants.
Sakura broke the silence, "Is something wrong Hinata. You're awfully quiet, or rather, you're way more quiet than usual, and nobody's seen you since we all came back to the village. Is everything going okay?"
"Yes everything's fine. I've just been very busy lately." Hinata replied, carefully controlling her tone to avoid snapping like she had earlier today.
"Well if you need any help with that, I'd be more than willing to help out with whatever you guys are doing over there, and I'm sure that everyone else in the village would say the same."
Hinata looked down at the ground before replying, "Thanks, but I'm not sure you ca-"
Her words were cut off abruptly by a loud bang and a blinding flash of light. When her vision returned, she looked to see that they were under attack by multiple men in rugged clothing. Naruto lay on the ground unconscious, obviously, whatever caused the flash and sound had gone off right next to him. Contrary to all the tall tales being spread about him, he was still human.
The shouts of the attackers filled her ears, and she was instantly taken back to that battleground of two months ago. As she focused on Naruto's unconscious form, she saw images of Neji's bleeding form flash before her eyes. She stood frozen in place, her mind frantically darting between the fight unfolding before her, and the unspeakable horror of the war.
"Hinata look out!" Sakura shouted.
Those words caused Hinata to snap back to reality. She just barely managed to dodge and axe that had been thrown towards her with murderous force. When she regained a sense of her surroundings, she saw that Sakura was crushing her opponents, every one of her punches landing with bone shattering force, sending the bandits flying. Naruto was still unconscious however, and the remaining bandits were rushing towards him, one of them moving in for the kill, his knife raised high in the air. In that moment, images of Neji again flooded into Hinata's mind, but this time, she saw him alive and with a look of determination on his face. Memories rushed back to her of that moment, memories not only of the resolve she had felt to protect Naruto, but of Neji's drive to save them both. She knew what to do.
Hinata sprinted forward, her kunai firmly in hand. She rushed ahead of the lead attacker, blocking a heavy slash from his blade before striking back with a strong palm strike, forcing the bandit down to the ground. She then jumped forward, pummeling another attacker into the dirt with a powerful kick. She stood in a strong defensive stance, ready to fend off any threats, when the bandit leader called for a retreat. The few uninjured raiders fled into the forest as quickly as they could, while those who had been hit crawled away after them.
After making it back to Hinata's position, Sakura looked down to find the Hyuga tending to a still unconscious Naruto.
"I'm glad to see you're still in one piece, is he going to be alright?" She asked.
"Yes, he was knocked out by whatever that flash jutsu was, but he should be okay." Hinata replied.
"Well that's a relief, do we still have the package?"
Hinata reached down for the scroll at Naruto's side and handed it over to Sakura.
"We're close to the rendezvous, do you think you could take the scroll the rest of the way yourself? I'd like to stay here and look after Naruto until he wakes up."
Sakura smiled warmly and replied, "Sure thing, you be sure to look after him."
Sakura darted ahead while Hinata held on to Naruto, making sure to also stay alert. He gradually started to come through, clearly still disoriented from the attack. After sometime, Sakura returned, and the two helped Naruto back on his feet.
"Would… would you mind if I… if I kept leaning on you Hinata. I'm ah, not sure if I can stand on my own yet." Naruto said, struggling to speak due to the effects of whatever hit him.
Hinata blushed brightly and smiled, "Sure, feel free to lean on me as long as you need."
"Thanks, I… I… can't stand right… I." Naruto was still struggling to get a hold of himself.
The three began walking back towards the village, Hinata's blush growing even brighter due to this close contact with her greatest crush. Sakura, walking ahead of the two, laughed quietly to herself. Hinata was getting the opportunity of a lifetime here, she couldn't help but feel happy for her.
As they traveled on, Naruto grew stronger, and he gradually began to lean on Hinata less and less. Eventually they entered into the village and Naruto parted from Hinata's side.
"Thanks so much, I think I can get back home on my own now, you guys go tell Kakashi-sensei the good news without me." He said, now able to speak coherently again.
"Make sure you take it easy, you hear!" Sakura shouted as he walked away.
"Don't worry I'll be fine!" he said, turning back to face the two girls with a weak smile.
Sakura sighed deeply before speaking to Hinata, "You should go back and get some rest too. I'll give the report back."
"Thank you so much, I'll make sure I do that." Hinata replied, suddenly realizing just how exhausted she was.
Sakura walked forward several steps before turning back and saying, "Oh yeah, and don't worry, I'll make sure to leave out the part about you getting all hot and bothered with Naruto on the way back."
Hinata tried to reply, but was too flustered to speak. Sakura merely laughed to herself as she disappeared into the sunset up ahead.
Hinata turned around and headed back home, thoughts racing through her mind. She understood everything now. Neji didn't die needlessly, he gave his life to protect not only her, but Naruto, and the entire Ninja World. The best way she could honor his memory was by living her life to the fullest, and that meant living a happy life. She wanted to spend her life with Naruto, and though it certainly wouldn't be easy, she'd strive to make her dream of a happy life and a happy family a reality. That's what Neji would have wanted.
As she entered the door to her home, she saw Hanabi smiling back at her.
"Look, I'm sorry about earlier, I was just under a lot of stress." Hinata said.
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad that you seem okay now, if you need to talk, I'll always be there for you big sis." Hanabi replied.
Hinata couldn't help but be overcome at this display of kindness. "Thank you so much." She said, struggling to hold back tears.
"Don't mention it, that's what family's for." Hanabi, said, another warm smile forming across her face.