A/N: My first Naruto fan fic! Yay! Please read and review. However, for those American Idol Judge wannabes, I will ignore any (and all) forms of flame review. If you send me one, it never existed. If you want me to improve my skills, please review me in a nice, calm, humanitarian way. Thank You!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Period.

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Chapter 1: Death and Shadow

She... was dying...

The white-eyed girl stared painfully at her waning vision, her each breath taking a dramatic toll on her strength.

"Hinata! HINATA!!!" cried the desperate voice of her friend and long time crush, Naruto. He sounded so far despite that he was just right there, cradling her in his arms.

"Hinata! Please Hinata, hang in there!" he cried again. "Sakura, isn't there anything we can do!?

"I-I'm sorry Naruto..." sobbed the voice of Sakura, "But there really is nothing I can do. This poison's acting like it's gotta mind of its own! I can't stop it!"

Naruto looked around furiously, hoping against hope that he'd find something, anything, that could save her.

But there was nothing... nothing but trees for miles.

Just then Hinata heard a sudden rustle of leaves.

"Naruto! We have to go! There's too much of the enemy here!" spoke the urgent voice of Shikamaru.

"Forget it! I'm not leaving Hinata to die here!" Naruto retorted as he tightened his hold on her.

"You idiot. She's practically dead already! We take her with us she'll just slow us down!" argued Shikamaru heatedly. However, deep down, Hinata knew he hated himself for saying it.

Naruto was about to answer furiously when a hand fell gently on his shoulder.

"Naruto... please. Let Hinata die in peace." spoke a familiar voice.

"Sasuke..." said Naruto as he looked up painfully at his best friend.

"Hinata died protecting you, not just as future Hokage, but as her dear friend. She sacrificed herself both for Konoha and for the people she cared for." he added. "I promise you... we will avenge her!"

Naruto looked back down to her. His hot tears falling upon her bloodstained jacket.

She didn't want to see him cry, not here, not like this. So slowly, her voice barely audible from heavy breathing, she spoke,

"Naruto-kun... please... go. They're right... I'll just be a burden now."

"Hinata..."

Finally, with a last painful glance, Naruto closed his eyes and gently laid her head back on the soft ground.

He then slowly got to his feet... and when his eyes opened again, they burned with the fury of the Nine-tailed Kyuubi.

"Lets go!" he growled fiercely, "For Konoha... and for Hinata!"

With that, all of them nodded their heads in unison and furiously dashed back into the tree tops.

Hinata looked sadly at her dissappearing comrades. If she were to die here, so be it. Her only regret, however, was that Naruto never really knew how much she felt for him.

Suddenly, she heard the leaves above her rustle once again. She then heard the sound of two pairs of feet nimbly landing down a few steps away from where her head was.

"Damn that Seiji!" cursed the voice of a Sound-nin."I told him not to make a move without the rest of us! With this Hyuuga brat dead, we'll never find the secret of the Byakugan!

"Relax Sanche", replied the deep, laid-back voice of his partner, "I heard this girl's actually a member of the main family. Meaning her Byakugan won't dissappear like the usual ones, and since she's dead this even makes our job a whole lot easier! Hahaha!"

Hinata's mind began to race. She can already hear their footsteps coming closer.

The shadow of the second Sound-nin loomed over her unmoving form. He then quickyl reached down and forcefully grabbed her by the hair.

"Gah!" she gasped painfully.

The Sound-nin looked a little surprised,

"Oh, this little bitch is still alive?" he said as he smiling maliciously as he drew a long, sharp, katana from his belt. "Hehe, don't be afraid. We'll just cut off your head and be on our way."

Hinata's eyes instantly widened with shock and fear, but this only made the first Sound-nin cackle maliciously,

"That's right! Besides, we'll make sure our new master puts those eyes of yours to good use. Hehehe..."

As her captor slowly raised the gleaming blade to it's full height, Hinata tried to call on every fiber in her body to struggle... but it all seemed futile. Her body just simply refused to move.

Then... it happened.

When the Sound-nin's sword was merely inches away from her throat, a red stream of crimson suddenly flowed down it's owner's abdomen.

The man didn't even have time to scream as he fell staring wide-eyed at his assasssin. Hinata also realized that the part of her hair which he was holding was cleanly cut and now she too was slowly collapsing back down to the ground.

As she felt her head touch the cold earth once more, she tried to get a glimpse of who (or what) just rescued her.

Unfortunately, all she could see was it's shadowy silhoutte as it swiftly descended upon the remaining Sound-nin. Silently putting an end to his life.

After that... her world went into darkness.