Run

The only though that crossed her mind was run.

She wasn't sure why she was running. Was it because her otou-san had died or the fact she couldn't do anything to save him.

She knew the answer was both, but she knew she wanted to run the moment her otou-san had made that request. To be asked to do such a thing scared her beyond belief and when he finally passed on she panicked and jumped out the hospital window, into the rain.

Once away from the hospital she realised she'd left her jacket behind but she didn't care. She didn't care about the wind whipping against her skin or the rain making her clothes stick to her. All she wanted to do was put as much as much distance between herself and the hospital.

Her feet pounded the ground as she ran past bars and restaurants filled with customers. Seeing a man leaving a restaurant with two young children talking and laughing she looked away. Seeing the three of them together was a painful reminded of not only what she'd missed out of as a child, but also what she would now never have wither her otou-san. With more determination she left them behind, never noticing one of the little girls innocently pointing at her ask her father why she was running in the rain without a coat on.

As the rain continued to fall she reached up to clear the water from her eyes as her vision blurred, failing to notice a man stumble out of a bar until it was too late and they collided. Her ninja instincts kicking in, she caught herself before she hit the ground and continued running, never missing a step. The drunkard however was not so fortunate. After bumping into Hinata he fell back into the bar he came from, spilling several people's drinks causing a fight to start.

Normally if she bumped into someone she would stop to apologise and check on them to make sure they were ok. But the thought never crossed her mind. All she wanted to do was run.

She had no idea how long she'd been running before she finally slipped on the wet ground and fell at an intersection on the outskirts of the village. Trying to stand up she fell back down onto her knees, her adrenalin rush finally wearing off. Without the energy to stand, she looked around to try and work out where she was.

The roadside was surrounded by wooden fences with a single old oak tree on the corner. It was the place her team would meet before they would leave to go missions. A small smile appeared on her face realising this as she wondered why she had chosen to run there, before it quickly disappeared again. It didn't matter why she ran there. All she wanted to do was get as far away from the pain as possible.

Shaking her head she looked up into the sky as she let the rain continue to fall down on her. As the rain fell on her face, mixing with her tears, she hoped it would help wash the pain away.

A hope she knew would not come true.

"This is ridiculous." He grumbled to himself for his inability to find her.

When he'd entered the hospital room the first thing he'd noticed was the still form of Hiashi, and while he hadn't checked him, he was sure he was dead. The next thing he noticed as well as the most alarming was the absence of Hinata and the open window. Worried about her safety, and knowing that she hadn't left through the door he leapt out the window to find her.

He wasn't sure why she was missing. She could have runaway after her father had died. Maybe seeing him pass away was too much for her so she ran away afraid. He hoped this was the case because the other option was much worse. She could have been kidnapped. Maybe they'd missed someone from the previous attack and they had come back to finish the job. They could have snuck in through the window, finished off Hiashi and carried off Hinata.

At the thought of this Naruto increased his pace. If that was the case the enemy had been able to do all this without making any noise to alert those outside the room, and left no sign of a struggle. These were all the signs of a highly skilled ninja.

Common sense told him he should have gone to Tsunade for help to find her, especially if she had been kidnapped, but he ignored it. Hinata was missing and he wasn't going to just wait around and do nothing. If she had been kidnapped she needed help and he always helped his friends.

All Naruto cared about was finding Hinata.

'When she wants to talk to someone she goes to Kurenai, but I think she's on a mission. When she wants comfort food she goes to get cinnamon rolls. Argh, but all the bakeries will be closed at this time. But if she was kidnapped they'd head straight out the village. Or maybe they'd try going back to the Hyuga compound since that Dachi guy was helping them.' All these thoughts and more ran through his head as he frantically tried to figure out where Hinata might be.

As soon as he'd left the hospital he'd created several kage bunshin's to help in his search but they'd been no help. Those bunshin's that had dispersed only told him that they'd found nothing, and he knew that if any of them were able to find her they wouldn't disappear to tell him. They would stay with her, so she wouldn't be left alone.

As he passed one of the village's many bars he saw a group of guards leading several people away. Naruto stopped to ask them if they had seen Hinata or anything suspicious in the area. Shaking their heads they said no, saying they'd been too busy breaking up bar fights all night but they would spare whoever they could to help him look. Thanking them he took off once more leaving the drunken rabble behind, never noticing a man lying in the gutter singing a song to anyone who'd listen about drinking sake, bar fights and the girl with dark blue hair that started it all.

20 minutes since the start of his search, the night had become darker as the rain fell harder. With each passing second he became more and more concerned over Hinata's safety till finally the worry became too much for him to bear. Stopping in the middle of the street he shouted at the heavens, cursing them for everything that had happened. Standing in the dim light of a single lamp post he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Feeling slightly calmer he raised his hands in front of him in a familiar seal as he prepared to make more kage bunshin's to help in the search when there was a sudden rumble of thunder and moments later a flash of lightning lit up the sky, as if the heavens were replying to his outburst.

He stopped casting his jutsu and quickly looked around the area again, sure he had heard something. Looked in the direction he thought he heard the noise all he could see was the wet road running off into the distance before being eaten by the darkness of the night. Giving up on the mystery noise he prepared his jutsu again when a second bolt of lightning flew across the sky illuminating the area for a split second. And he heard the noise again.

It was the sound of someone screaming.

He looked for the source of the scream once more and with the help of the brief light provided by the lightning he saw the form of someone sitting in the middle of the road ahead of him. As it faded into the darkness Naruto advanced on it, to find out if the person was ok. As he got closer he realised the person was a young woman with long, dark, wet hair sticking to her back. Another lightning flash caused her to scream again and he broke out into a sprint as he saw her white, lilac tinted eyes and he instinctively knew who it was.

"Hinata."

Her breath caught in her throat at the sound of his voice and she looked around herself for the source, despite the stinging pain in her eyes caused by her crying. Coming towards her out of the darkness was the unmistakable orange and black clad form of Naruto.

He'd come to find her. He cared enough to go out into the storm and find her. Any other time she would have been grateful of his actions, but at the moment she didn't want to see him. She just wanted to do was run away. As he coming closer, her instincts to run kicked in again and she struggled to stand up on shaky legs and turned to run away. She took two steps however before her legs gave out under her and she tumbled to the floor once more.

The moment she hit the floor Naruto was by her side, trying to make sure she was alright.

"Hinata. Hinata are you o.k.?" He asked as he looked her over for any signs of injury, but unable to find any in the darkness.

"Hinata." He said again shaking her lightly when she didn't respond, but the only reply he got was the sound of her sobs. Not wanting to see her cry he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close in an attempt to try and provide some comfort to her, and Hinata immediately wrapped her own arms around him.

For the next few minutes the two teens just sat in the middle of the road holding each other. Hinata crying into Naruto's jacket while he cradled her close to his chest making soothing sounds as he let her get the pain and sorrow out of her system.

Eventually her tears subsided and she pulled back from the embrace so they could look into each other's eyes.

"Feeling better?" he asked as he looked at her swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"H-hai. Arigato Naruto-kun." She replied as she wiped her arm across her face to clean away her tears.

Helping her stand once again, Naruto started to lead her towards some shelter to get her out of the rain. Before they could reach any though, the sky roared once again with thunder and another bolt of lightning illuminated the village once more. With another scream Hinata fell back down to the ground dragging Naruto, who she was still holding onto down on top of her.

Surprised by her reaction, he looked at her to make sure she was ok once more, only to realise that his Face was just a few inches away from hers. Realising the compromising position the two were in he quickly rolled off her with a slight blush on his face, but as he looked at her again it quickly replaced with a look of worry and concern at the sight he saw.

As soon as he'd moved off her Hinata had curled up into a tight ball, as she started to shake and cry once more. As he reached out to comfort her again there was another flash of lightning, causing her to scream again as she recoiled from his touch.

Realising that in her current state she wasn't going to get very far he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her to try and keep her dry, despite the fact she was already soaking wet.

Hinata froze for a second as she felt herself being wrapped up before she grabbed a hold of the edges of the jacket and pulled it closer to her body to keep herself warm. She rubbed it against her face to dry away more of her tears as the smell of ramen from it reached her nose. It was the unmistakable scent so Naruto. Taking a deep breath of his comforting smell she started to calm down once more till she felt herself being picked up and she quickly started to panic.

Looking around she saw she was moving across the rooftops of the village. She then looked at the person who was carrying her and she realised she was being carried bridal style in the arms of Naruto.

He looked down at her with a sad smile on his face, as she wrapped her arms over his shoulders.

"Let's get you..." Was all she heard him say as another flash of lightning caught her by surprise and she buried her face into his chest once again. Naruto just held her tighter as he continued to leap across Konaha.

Balancing her in one arm he dug into his trouser pocket to retrieve the key to his apartment. Finding it he unlocked the door and pushed it open with his back as he supported her with both arms once again. Once inside he kicked the door closed and made his way through his dark apartment and placed her on his couch before going to turn the light on which broke her out of her daze.

"W-where are we?"

"My place" He replied as he entered a different room.

Hinata looked around from the couch. She hadn't been in Naruto's apartment for years, not since he left to go train with Jiraiya. Along with Sakura she regularly came by to make sure the place stayed clean and to water his plants while he was away. While most saw it as helping a friend, to her it was a way to stay close to him regardless of where he may be.

The place had changed since then. With the destruction of the village after Pein attacked the majority of the village needed rebuilding. After his apartment building had been rebuilt Tsunade had the walls to the two neighbouring apartments knocked through and remodelled to give him more room as a small token of gratitude for what he did. She remembered him excitedly telling her how his one room apartment was now just his living room. One apartment was turned into two large bedrooms, while the other became the kitchen, dining room and a full suite bathroom. He was so excited to finally getting the chance to live somewhere with more room.

She looked around the room, a small table in front of her with a few empty cups of instant ramen sitting on it. A worn orange chair sat in the corner of the room and on the far wall a large TV was mounted on it. As she looked at the other walls she saw one had a poster of the village on it while the other held several photo frames.

Slipping her arms into the sleeve's of Naruto's jacket she stood up and made her way to the wall to look at the different pictures. The first one she saw of Naruto standing alongside Sakura and Sasuke with Kakashi behind them. Team seven's first and only team photo. The photo was obviously important to him, but she couldn't help wonder if it hurt him every time he looked at it. Did it act as a reminder to the promise we he couldn't seem to for fill?

The next one was of the Konoha 11 taken before he left to go training. She had a small smile on her face as she looked at him standing in the middle of the group with a wide grin on his face while punching the air, while she stood to the side with her team watching him with a small blush and pushing her fingers together.

Below that photo was another one of the group along with Sai taken after the war. This time she stood in the centre beside Naruto who had his arm draped over her shoulders. A small laugh escaped her lips as she realised besides the fact they were standing together, they were both acting the same as in the previous picture. He was still being loud and cheerful while she was still quiet and nervous.

She moved along the wall, looking at all the other pictures of him alongside many of his friends. Some people she knew like the Kazekage and his siblings but there were some she didn't recognised. She stopped to look at another photo. This time Naruto was lying in a bed, asleep and bandaged up. But what caught her attention and made her feel slightly jealous was the girl leaning over his bed, kissing him on the cheek. There was something familiar about the girl but without seeing her face properly she wasn't quite sure who she was. She'd have to remember to ask Naruto about it at some point.

She carried on along the wall looking at the pictures till she got to the final two. The first was of her and Naruto eating at the Ichiraku ramen bar. They'd gone there for something to eat, but as it was just before closing they only had enough food for one serving. Rather than trying to find somewhere else to eat so late at night they shared the single bowl instead. They laughed and joked and by the end of the night they had started to feed each other. Ayame had taken the picture while Naruto had been feeding her and the memory of it brought a blush to her face that matched the one she had in the photo.

But when she looked at the final picture she was caught by surprise. It had a man in it that looked almost exactly like Naruto, only he didn't have the whisker like markings on his cheeks, his hair was grown out longer and he wore a white jacket. Standing beside him was a young woman with bright blue eyes and long flowing red hair, dressed in a lighter red battle kimono with a black obi. As she looked more closely she suddenly covered her mouth as a gasp escaped her. She was looking at a picture of his parents. She knew who his parents were but she didn't realise just how much he looked like them. He had his father's looks but his eyes.

"It's one of only two pictures I have of them."

She spun around quickly to look at Naruto. She hadn't heard him come back in.

"You have her eyes."

"I what?" he asked her confused.

"Your o-okaa-san. Y-you have your okaa-san's eyes." She explained as she pointed to the photo.

"I never noticed." He said as he took a close look at the photo. "Everyone just says that I look like my father."

"They're the s-same colour as your Otou–san, but their shape is j-just like hers." She said as she reached out to carefully trace round one of his eyes before pulling her hand back, embarrassed at what she had done.

Surprised by her actions he struggled to find something to say before he held out a clean set of clothes and a towel to her. "S-sorry I took so long. You can get c-changed in the bathroom over there." He stuttered out as he pointed her in the right direction.

Handing the clothes to her, he watched as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her before making his way to the kitchen to make some hot tea. As he finished preparing the drinks he heard her open the door again and he turned around to face her, a hot cup of tea in each hand.

The sight he saw caused him to nearly drop the drinks as he looked at her standing in the doorway. The large baggy orange t-shirt he'd given her didn't help to hide her feminine assets and while it almost hid the shorts she wore, her slim athletic legs were on view for him to see.

He suddenly found the floor very interesting as he handed her a cup and watched her small bare feet make their way to his couch and he quickly followed to sit on the table before her.

Holding the drink in both of her hands to warm them she looked at Naruto as she tried to get over her embarrassment of what she was wearing and finally noticed that he'd changed clothes as well. His black shirt with decorated with a simple white spiral and his shorts were a dull orange. His bright blonde hair was still wet and stuck to the sides of his face but to her he never looked more handsome. She saw his lips moving and she realised she hadn't heard a word he'd said.

"S-sorry Naruto-kun w-what did you say again."

"I said are you ok? Why did you run?"

His question brought everything back to her. When she'd entered his apartment and looked at his photos, she'd been able to forget her pain as she looked at all his friends and family.

Family.

Once again the cause of all her pain, but this time it was caused by their loss.

"I was scared." She said quietly, looking away from him.

"But why? You knew I was just outside the room if you needed me for anything, I mean I thought you'd been kidnapped." He then cursed under his breath as he created a single kage bunshin which ran out the front door and into the dark village.

Hinata looked at him confused for a moment before he answered. "I need to let baa-chan know I've found you and your safe."

She nodded as the room became silent as she thought about answering him. In just one day he'd gone out to bring her back to the village, stood beside her as she faced her father, promising to keep her and her sister safe after he'd passed on and he'd searched for her once more in the pouring rain worried that she may have been in danger. After everything he'd done today she decided that he deserved to know why she ran.

"When y-you left us, O-otou-san wanted to talk to me about t-the future. He told me t-things like clan secrets and how h-he wanted me to maintain our traditions." She said taking a mouthful of her tea while Naruto nodded along.

"He... he a-also asked me what I wanted for the future. W-when I told him, he asked me why I hadn't done anything about it. I told him I wasn't ready yet. That I'm too weak for y-to do so." She spoke quickly trying to cover up her slip up, hoping he didn't realise she was talking about him.

"You're not weak Hinata." He said jumping up from the table to his feet. "You've done so much to prove that. Whatever it was you two were talking about I'm sure you'll do it whenever you're ready."

"That what he said. H-he said if it's what I really wanted, that I would do it w-whenever I'm ready."

"See, he was a smart man. If you like you can tell me what it is you told him and I'll do whatever I can to help you get it." He said with a smile as he sat back down, this time beside her on the couch. Looking at each other their eyes briefly met before Hinata turned away with her face turning red.

"T-thank you N-Naruto-kun but no. Maybe in the f-future I'll tell you what it is." She said as she slowly turned around to face him again. 'At least I hope I will.'

"T-then he asked me to... To..." she stopped as her breathing became laboured.

"He asked you what?"

"He t-turned off the alarm to his h-heart monitor then asked me to..."

"To what?" He wanted to remain calm but he was unable to keep the tone of curiosity out of his voice.

"Kill him."

The room became quiet as Naruto tried to get over the shock of what she had said. Hiashi had asked her to kill him? This was why she ran? Had she killed her own father?

"He didn't w-want to carry on knowing there was n-nothing else that people c-could do to help him. He was i-in so much pain and he didn't w- want to live like that knowing t-that it would only get worse. H-he asked me to... To s-strike him with a juken to the h-heart. He said it w-was the final wish of a d-dying man." Her stutter returned in full force as she fought to control her emotions as she told him what happened, tears flowing down her cheeks again.

"Did you do it?" He struggled to ask the question, unsure whether or not he wanted to know the answer.

"No. I-I told him I c-couldn't do it. I said I loved him too much to d-do so" She tried to wipe the tears away on her shirt but it didn't help as the tears continued to falling.

"What did he say?" Naruto wasn't sure what to do. He was still trying to get over what Hiashi had asked her to do.

"He didn't. He j-just lay in his bed. He d-didn't respond when I spoke or s-shook him. I-I thought he'd fallen asleep. Then I realised h-he wasn't moving and w-when I looked at the heart monitor it showed no heartbeat, and that's w-when I knew.

"I got scared so I ran." She broke down again and her tears fell faster. Naruto immediately closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"I ran because i was scared. I-I lost my family and I, I was disappointed in myself." Her voice was a muffled whisper as she buried her face into his chest as if she was trying to hide herself away from the rest of the world.

"Disappointed?" he the blonde asked confused.

"I failed him. My otou-san asked m-my to do one last thing for him and I couldn't bring m-myself to do it. Earlier he said h-how proud he was of me but I know he was disappointed t-that I couldn't do as he'd asked. H-his final thoughts of me must have been about h-how much of a failure I am." She said as her emotions started to become too much for her and she started to struggle to breath.

As she struggled to catch her breath she felt Naruto release his hold on her, pushing her away. Panicking that he no longer wanted anything to have anything to do with her she held onto to him tighter, unwilling to let him go. She'd already lost so much and if she lost him too she wasn't sure if she'd have the strength to keep living. Eventually though Naruto was able to loosen her grip on him and push her back, holding her at arm's length from him as she bowed her head in defeat.

"Look at me."

Slowly she raised her head, her hair covering her face. Naruto carefully reached out and brushed a few stray strands of hair away from her face, till once again her bangs framed her face, but her pale lilac eyes were scrunched closed, refusing to see the look of anger and disappointment he was sure to have on his face before he told her that he never wanted to see her again.

"Hinata, please look at me."

Her eyes slowly opened at the command of his voice only to quickly close them again when he reached for her. When she felt a pair of hands gently holding her face, she opened her eyes to see her friend looking back at her.

"I understand." He said as he used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. "I know you feel that you let your father down and I understand that. I know you wanted to do whatever he asked you because you always want to help others and that's why you think you failed, right?"

Leaning into his touch she nodded, unable to find her voice.

"Your father said he was glad he got to know you better. He knew you were strong and you would do anything you could to help others." Releasing her face his hands moved to rest on her shoulders never once breaking eye contact. "But most of all I'm sure he knew just how much you loved him, just like he loved you."

He had to brace himself as she threw herself at him, holding onto him in a tight embrace. Overcome by the emotion caused by the reminder of her father's love as her tears started to fall once more, silently crying into his chest again. Wrapping his arms around her she relaxed into his embrace as he continued to talk.

"You loved him so much it must have hurt you so much when he asked."

"I s-should have d-done as he'd asked. I saw how much pain h-he was in. I loved him so much I didn't want to s-see him suffer, so I should have been able to do it. But I c-couldn't because I'm so weak." She quietly said between her silent sobs.

"Sometimes... we care about someone so much that we don't want to let them go."

She became still in his arms as she thought about what he said. Was it that simple? Did she just not want to lose him?

"E-even it that's true, I'm a shinobi I've b-been trained to put my emotions aside when killing. I've done it before s-so why couldn't I do it again?" she asked looking into Naruto's eyes, waiting for an answer before she quietly adding "Or am I just that weak?"

"So you're weak because you couldn't kill your otou-san even though he asked you?" Naruto asked, and Hinata nodded back into his chest.

"Well I guess I'm weak too."

"What!" she shouted in surprise as she pulled away from the blonde in shock. "H-how can you be weak Naruto-kun. Your s-so strong you can do anything."

"No I can't." He said shaking his head. "If it'd been Baa-chan or Iruka-sensai, or even you I really don't think I could do it. You're all like family to me and I wouldn't want to lose any of you." The expression on his face then turned solemn "Even if Jiraiya had survived his fight with Pein and he asked me to. I... I don't think I could do it. Even with all the injuries he suffered and the pain he must have been in I still don't think I could do it." He closed his eyes as a single tear started to run down his cheek as he thought about his old sensei, the crazy, sake-swilling, purse-stealing, hairy old pervert. He couldn't believe just how much he missed him.

A small delicate hand reached for his face and wiped the tears away. Opening his eyes the saw Hinata looking back at him.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. " Her voice struggled to say those few words. She knew he had been close to Jiraiya as he often talked to her about the things they did together, but it had always been with a smile. He'd never talked to her about the pain his lose had caused him.

"Thanks." The jinchuriki smiled back at her and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. Despite her own problems she still cared about the feelings of others. "I remember you once saying you wanted to try and be more like me. So if I couldn't do it then I'd never be disappointed in you for not doing it."

Unable to help herself she wrapped her arms around him once more, resting her head on his shoulder, tears flowing once again. Following her lead Naruto wrapping his arms around her too, holding her tight, as the raindrops outside danced against the windows.

"Here you go." Said Naruto as he put a fresh cup of tea down on the table which Hinata picked up and took a mouthful of as she watched him return to the kitchen and bring back two cups of instant ramen. Putting one of them on the table for Hinata he sat down next to her and started to eat his own.

"You know I'm here if you need any help." He said as he slurped his noodles as if he was breathing them in rather than eating them.

"Hai, arigato Naruto-kun." She put her tea down and picked her ramen up taking a small bite. He'd apologised that he only had instant ramen in but she didn't mind. To her it was just another way that that he showed he cared, and eating ramen with her crush meant a lot more to her then any of the big fancy banquets she had attended with her clan.

"And it's not just because of the promise I made." Naruto's voice broke her out of her thoughts of her clan before the pain of their loss got to her again. "After all, you're my friend so I'd do anything to help you."

"I know there's only you, Neji and Hanabi left from the clan but remember your part of my family too." Naruto looked away from her and she followed his gaze till it landed on the wall covered with the photos that she'd been looking at earlier.

"I mean since I never had a real family I always thought of my friends as my family. Sakura's like my onee-san, Baa-Chan's like my, well Baa-Chan and you're like my..." His voice trailed off as he thought about the pale eyed girl, trying to work out just what she meant to him. Struggling to find an answer to that he decided to fill his mouth with more ramen instead and try to answer that question later.

Hinata's mind meanwhile tried to fill in end his sentence. How did he see her? Did he think of her as a sister? A cousin? Or did he maybe think of her as something more.

"Are you going to be ok?"

Her face red with embarrassment from zoning out thinking about the different possibilities she looked at the boy sat beside her. A small smile finally appeared on her face as her crush looked back at her with his amazing blue eyes and strands of noodles hanging off his chin.

"No. Not yet Naruto-kun. But I will be."