A/N

Thanks for you most wonderful reviews, to those who were kind enough to. I appreciate how much you loved just the first chapter and you have no idea what joy has filled my heart at the thought of pleasing you all. I hope you continue to read this story and continue to review with such joy.

In this chapter, the first half is Hinata thinking something is terribly wrong whilst unknown to her, Sasuke is making his way back home with the limp body of Naruto. The rain symbolizes rebirth, a new start, as if it is washing away what was once there. Poor Hinata... what will she think when she discovers that Naruto has been killed?

Enough of my rambling... please enjoy chapter 2, Homeward Bound.

Chapter 2- Homeward Bound.

The rain let up in Konoha, droplets of rain left from the downpour fell from the rooftops into puddles. A harmony of birds chirped, signaling the rise of the sun. Rays of light drifted through the window and stirred the sleeping black haired beauty, Hinata. She yawned and stretched before sitting up and actually opening up her eyes. Her pale white eyes gazed around her bright room and she suddenly seemed confused.

'Naruto's... not here?' she thought to herself as she removed her covers and leaned over her bed, peering into the darkness. 'But, he's always here to wake me up.'

She lifted herself up and jumped out of bed, padding over to her closet and began putting on her clothes. Hinata stared blankly at herself in the mirror as she brushed all the tangles out of her hair. Somehow, she felt uneasy, as if something bad was going to happen today. With a heavy sigh, she walked out of her room and shut her door slowly, looking as if she had something on her mind.

"Hinata, you okay?" Hanabi glanced over her shoulder, pausing from her training to be concerned about her sister. Hinata blinked twice and looked at Hanabi, mouth slightly open.

"Uh, y- yeah..."

"Well, you look like someone just gave you bad news."

"Uh-" Hinata paused and glanced away. "I don't know, but something feels wrong- out of place." Hanabi shrugged and went back to training.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe it's because of you being preg-"

"H- Hanabi!" Hinata's face turned bright red, hands held tightly in front of her.

"Sorry for saying that," Hanabi muttered. "But, it could be the fact that it just stopped raining. You always get a little weird when it rains."

Hinata stepped out from underneath the rood of her house and gazed down at the leaf that had fallen into the puddle, creating a ripple effect.

"Yeah... it may just be the rain"

--

It was mind numbingly painful to be holding Naruto's limp body in his arms as he walked the rest of the afternoon and on into the night, wondering if he should be doing this. However, Sasuke promised himself that he would face his problems and mistakes for Naruto's sake.

He trudged on and on, giving Naruto a glance every now and then, a little hope in the back of his head saying that Naruto was really sleeping. That he would wake up and stop playing games. But, twelve hours passed and he stayed the way he was. Dawn was breaking out over the horizon and Sasuke could see the village not too far off.

"Naruto, you're- shall I say we are- almost home," Sasuke whispered, noticing the rain was letting up. Maybe the angels had stopped crying for Naruto? "Don't worry. I won't run away any more, I'll face everyone. I'll take the blame an any consequences that I deserve. Even if it means death."

A/N

Alright. Thanks for reading the second chapter. Hopefully I will be on tomorrow to add the third chapter. They may be short, but later on, they will get longer so don't nag me about how short it is. Later on, you might nag me about how long it is and regret that I wasn't doing them so short any more. Take the time to submit a review and you never know... I may be kind of enough to mention you and how your review touched me.

Don't forget, you may leave questions relating to the story in reviews and those, I will deffinatly reply to.

Kyria