Funeral
"Hey! Who's funeral?" Ino smacked him. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're so rude, Naruto. Don't you have any respect for the dead?" The blonde rubbed at the stinging lump on his head and scowled at the girl. "Of course I do. I just wanted to know who croaked." She smacked him again.
"It's Hyuuga Hinata." Blue eyes peeked open to glance at Tenten. The brunette was rushing past them. Her arm were full of flowers. "She was killed on a mission last week and with all the scouting this week there's no one at her funeral."
"Oh! Did those come from my shop" Ino gushed, gazing at the funeral bouquet. The two girls bantered amongst themselves while Naruto just scratched his head. "Hinata, huh? Do I know that name Ow!!" He shook a fist in Ino's face, protesting the second lump on his head.
"You should! Hinata's always been crushing on you! She secretely loved you forever, you idiot!!" Two fists rapped him in the head, and he scooted away fearfully from the two kunoichi.
"She had long black hair, white eyes, and stuttered a lot!" Ino's voice then fumbled, because she honestly didn't know much about the girl than that. Tenten shook her head pitifully and stepped away. "People are sad," she scowled, "Not even Neji is making it to her funeral." Once again she shook her head and left the blondes to themselves.
"Come on, let's go." He followed Ino as she tugged him towards the village gates. She babbled on about girly things, but his thoughts fluttered elsewhere. He could remember long, black hair. It hadn't been long forever, had it? It seemed as though she had changed… after his return with Jiraiya. He got the feeling that she had completely changed, expect she didn't change at all. She only looked different; long hair, new clothes, HUGE boobs..! 'And yet, she still passed out the moment I saw her!'
'Yeah… She used to pass out a lot. She was really quiet too, Neji's cousin… ah?' His footsteps came to a halt, and he could remember. A picture of Hinata with short hair, her arms lifted in a weary attempt to defend herself against Neji, back in the chuunin exams. No one believed she could do it, but she tried. She had tried so hard… and she did fail, but she tried.
"That was so long ago…" He broke from his reverie with a slap. Glowering at Ino, he frowned. "You haven't listed to a word I said!" He rubbed his cheek gingerly. "Geez! You're so much more brutal than Sakura! No wonder Shikamaru went to sand." A blonde brow ticked and Ino's fist sent him flying. He whailed at the impact and crashed noisily face first into the ground.
"Naruto, you're late!" The blonde scuttled quickly out of arms length before rolling right-side-up to peer up at Sakura. He breathed deeply in relief. "Sakura!"
The pinkette helped him to his feet before turning to receive a small canister from Ino. "Thanks for the ointment, I can't believe I forgot it."
'Ointment?' He thought of Hinata, her arms reaching to him in a shy gesture of kindness. A small bottle was in her trembling palms. It would help to heal his wounds faster, she had said. He glanced back to the village. A dark plume of smoke rose into the sky, undisturbed by the gentle zephyr. The smoke spiraled lazily upwards before dispersing into the heavens.
'Too bad. I wish I could have gone to the funeral.'
Another drabble for the "Till Death do us Part", in which Hinata dies. It's not very wrenching, though... very passive which I kind of wanted it to be. I mean, Naruto hardly ever noticed Hinata when she was alive and so in her dying... he didn't really notice it either. Sad for Hinata, I suppose.
Who should I kill next?
