When the Thunder Rolls

A loud crack of thunder rumbled across the skies following an equally intense flash as electricity jutted across the darkening skies. The sun was blotted out just moments ago by the ominous clouds spanning across the skies. The light faded from his usually bright blue eyes, taking on a slightly grey tone while he stumbled back on his injured legs, but at least the battle was over. A loud rumbling rolled across the land followed by indiscriminate flashes of light behind him and another loud boom. A large group of ninja landed not more than 30 feet away from him, gasping at the nearly apocalyptic warzone centered on him and his three comrades.

The ground was scorched into nothing, stretching out in a 500m radius. Broken trees on the outskirts of ground zero were still smoldering, and a few places, towards the center, showed a surface not unlike cooled magma, steaming while the small droplets of rain started to beat down on the surface. There were a couple hundred weapons, cracked, broken, or otherwise made useless, scattered throughout the entire area, leading up to three bodies which had fallen unceremoniously to the ground in different quadrants.

The wind started to pick up with the ferocity of the rain, whipping up the yet to be drenched strands of pink hair. Her gasp could be heard in the complete silence while others watched. Naruto looked up and saw the sadness and helplessness on her face despite the hands covering over her lips in horror at the scene. A large bolt of lightning struck the ground in the distance, flashing clearly in her water covered green eyes… The sadness and pains of anger looked heightened in that odd flicker of light, and there was nothing he could do to fix it, what had been done was final. He couldn't look at anyone and turned away from the ninja legion, quickly leaping towards the still standing trees once at his back.

Sakura ran forward and fell to her knees at the side of a young dark haired man. Her tears were hidden with the falling rain cooling down her enraged face as she gazed at her fallen teammate; someone she knew she loved. Her head popped up when another large group of ninja landed to her left and got their first glance at the field. A set of worried pale eyes glanced past Sakura's saddened stare and her shoulders fell, followed by frantically looking in every direction.

"Where…" she mumbled with tears threatening to fall from her own eyes. Quickly she jumped in front of the three breathing ninja towards the center of the zone with an indiscriminate ninja at their feet.

"What happened, where's Naruto-kun?" Asked the faltering little voice, which was barely even audible.

"You know Naruto didn't fight like a fool, he beat them Uchiha like a blacksmith forging a tool… Oh, yeah!" Hinata didn't know what to think about the rhyming stylings of the dark skinned man, but let out a sigh, seeing how happy he was talking about Naruto's feat, proving that he was still alive. After recalling the scene she gazed upon, she realized why he wasn't there with sadness in her heart. He was hurt and saddened because he could only bring Sasuke back to Sakura in a body bag and couldn't face her, so he took off into the surrounding forest.

"Don't fret Hyuuga-san, his youthfulness is still strong." Groaned the man with torn green clothing. His left arm was dislocated and broken, but he still managed a pained smile and held up his barely working thumb on his right in an attempt to cheer up the distraught girl. She quickly shook her head to block out her emotions and focus on what they needed to do to provide help to their allies.

"Thank you Gai-san…" She muttered to him, so he would quit exerting himself. "We need medics!" She shouted towards the many ninja, knocking their gazes of wonder from their minds… there was still work that needed to be finished.

"Hinata…" Croaked a voice, bringing her attention to the silver haired jonin, who was unable to move from his spot on the ground. "As the commander of the front lines, I have one last order for you alone."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." She squeaked, followed by swallowing nervously as to what the order was.

"Tsunade used her remaining chakra to save the other Kage's lives at the cost of her own life, and Sasuke is dead by his hands…" Hinata's eyes went wide and she remained deathly silent while Kakashi continued. "… Stay out of sight and keep an eye on him, but do not make contact unless his life is in danger." Hinata gulped again and nodded her head.

There was really only one reason an order like this was ever given and she didn't want to believe he was even capable of that action, but he just lost a mother figure and the one closest to being a brother… basically, with taking Jiraiya into account, he had lost his cobbled together family and was close to being completely alone once more, despite his valiant struggles.

"Mission accepted." She whispered with a bow.

She moved to give chase but was quickly blocked by that same bulky, rapping guy she met upon the field. He had a concerned look in his eye and made a point to keep her from passing, even when she tried to go around him.

"Can't let you through, cuz I don't know you."

"Huh?" His continually strange speech actually made Naruto look like an eloquent spokesperson in her opinion. He had a familiar presence, but didn't quite know who he was. "Excuse me." She quietly expressed her annoyance with a glare and tried once more to pass.

"That's not how I roll, Bakayarō! Konoyarō." The large man held out his fist, causing the small woman to take half a step back from his large mitt.

"I d… don't get it." She expressed with great confusion at his fist.

"Hold out your fist so I'll know… If you are his friend or a foe." It was at this point that she started to understand his speech a little bit and realized who he was. Always rhyming and acting strange, that was a signature of the one from Kumo, known as 'B' She slowly raised her small fist into the air towards him and remained motionless. Seeing this, B moved forward and lightly bumped his fist to hers.

She held a faint fear of the man looking at her without an ounce of trust and her size in comparison wasn't any help. Her fist barely covered his first two knuckles and she stood below shoulder height. Knowing who he was she had a slight idea as to why he didn't trust anyone since a jinchuriki always had trouble in that area.

"Oh, yeah!" He shouted suddenly, causing the dark haired girl to jump backwards in surprise. "You're a strange one, it's clear… Who'd you like to hold near. I saw you deep in his heart… in a group who'd never part." He took a step to the side, allowing the girl to pass without any hindrance and looked at her when she had yet to move. He nodded for her to go with a grin making her wonder just what that fist bump was since he almost instantly knew her without ever meeting her.

"What do you mean by saying you saw me?" She asked, letting her curiosity push her.

"I got a glimpse into his soul and I saw what he thought when you risked it all to protect that Bakayarō! Konoyarō." Hinata's face heated up as her cheeks flushed, knowing he saw that moment. She tried to hide her face as she finally passed him, jerking back up when a deafening crash of thunder startled everyone who were trying to set up a temporary shelter. While the rain fell increasingly harder, Hinata wiped the water from her brow and went in the direction which Naruto was seen leaving.

She rushed through the trees and activated her byakugan. She focused her sight to the direction of her travel and increased the rage until locking onto the fleeting form of the blonde jinchuriki. He was moving so quickly through the trees that in just keeping up with him was a task in and of itself for the young Hyuuga woman. The rain stung as the droplets hit her face as the speeds she was maintaining causing her to place her face into her anicubital space, more commonly referred as the inner side of the elbow, to shield from the rain.

Suddenly he stopped, making it much easier for her to catch up to him. She then stopped as well when she got close enough to stay out of his sight, but still close enough to make it to him almost instantaneously if she needed to. Settling down under a large tree, Hinata sat on the damp ground and leaned against the rough trunk, still keeping her eyes trained on Naruto.

The rain raged on throughout the country, violently shaking the trees and drenching the landscape. Naruto remained motionless, sitting in an open field with his head hanging low, water quickly rushing off his head. Another massive bolt of lightning shocked across the sky and he didn't even flinch even as the resounding rumble of the thunder shook the earth. It was heartbreaking for her to watch the person she loved wrestling with the events, causing him to fade into someone she had rarely seen.

His usually happy attitude was gone, his smile was gone, and his will to live was gone as well; which was the scariest thing she could have witnessed. Losing a father figure, a mother figure, a brother, and gaining the scorn of a woman he desired all in a few months' time would be enough to break anyone. Hinata knew this from her own battles in her heart and they weren't anywhere near as bad as his. She wanted so much to run out there and offer a shoulder for him, but without a doubt, he'd just wipe the sadness from his face and give that fake smile she abhorred. She loved every bit of him, except when he would hide from his feelings and push them down. As long as he was able to express his emotions freely, she would remain unseen to allow him to let it out, hopefully easing his pain.

The sun had completely retreated from the land, leaving a dark, nearly black environment in its place. The wind blew relentlessly against the protesting limbs high in the foliage while the sky continually let loose its moisture upon them. Naruto had yet to move from his position in the open field, making her mission become exponentially more uncomfortable. The cold wind whipping across her wet clothing caused her to start shivering. She tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, locking in her body heat. Luckily she was still wearing her chuunin flak jacket, which helped to keep some of the weather at bay.

She started losing track of just how long she sat there with her byakugan trained on Naruto and cursed herself for that oversight. His form started getting blurry while a headache started forming at her temples. With another flash of lightening, she felt her eyes close as she was forcefully pushed into an unconscious state to replenish her spent chakra. The resulting thunder boomed, covering her fall to the forest floor.

A flash of brilliant electricity reflected off eyes that jolted open with the last roll of thunder. It wasn't the magnitude of the sound waves, but more the fading of something that caught his attention. He ran his hand through his dingy blonde hair, shaking off the moisture to stem the flooding of his eyes while slowly rising to his feet. Another deafening bang brought the rest of his tired conscience back to the world of the living and he became aware of his inhospitable surroundings.

The mature trees were waving violently while the smaller ones were nearly bent down to the ground from the large gusts of wind. Adding to tis violent nature, the sheets of rain kept his clothing soaked while he was struck with a few pellets of hail dropping from high altitude. He quickly decided that it was time to find shelter and made a dash towards a tree which appeared to give a natural break from the elements. While diving for cover with the next clap of thunder, he tripped over something on the ground, causing him to tumble forward and roll to a stop.

He looked back at the dark obstruction, wondering just what had hindered his movement until a flash of lightening illuminated the form of an indistinguishable person lying on the ground. After all the battlegrounds he fought in, death was a common sight, but it still wasn't easy. He stood up and walked to the body and nudged it with his foot. He let out a disappointed sigh when there was no reaction from the dark body. He didn't know why he felt disappointed, but thought that maybe it was because he wanted to talk with someone about his life. He turned away from the body and started walking away until a sneeze caused him to whip around.

"You alive?" He called out, earning no response. He walked back to the body and sat on his haunches and nudged the body with his hand. There was still no response, but he felt warmth from it; it was very faint but still existed… whoever they were, they were still alive, but if everything remained the same, they wouldn't be around much longer in the cold.

A few last drops of rain fell from the canopy as the downpour waned into nothingness. The violent wind raged onward, actually becoming more severe as time passed. Naruto sat next to the form on the ground trying to figure out what to do… After all the blood he saw shed upon the ground, he knew that he wanted to save at least another life.

"What am I going to do with you when I can't even see you?" He sighed and reached out to the outline of the body and ran his hand along it, noting the person had a small build and a chuunin style jacket. The clothing was drenched from the rain and was cold to the touch. He started rummaging through the different pockets on the jacket, finding nothing of much use until finding something that felt like a small flint in a pocket with a storage scroll of sorts.

"I hope this is what I think it is." He muttered while applying a small amount of chakra to the open scroll. Another flash of light in the distance illuminated the small pile of wood stored in the scroll. Pulling a kunai from his pouch, he struck it several times against the flint and lit the paper from the scroll on fire, slowly working the flame into the pile of dried wood. He leaned back with a sigh when the orange flames flickered to life on the wood pile, lightly illuminating the small shelter like grove of trees. With the little bit of light cast from the flame, he took a better look at the person on the ground and made a displeased sound when he saw her.

"I thought I felt someone following me…" He shivered when he removed his wet jacket and huddled closer to the fire to keep warm while his clothing was hung to dry.

"Man its cold out here…" He commented to himself, and then looked back over to Hinata, who had to be just as cold. "Silly girl." He commented with the makings of a small smile gracing his face. He propped up her body and unzipped her wet chuunin jacket and was glad to see that the clothes under it were mostly dry, but would soon not be with how badly the jacket was drenched. He emptied the pockets of the jacket on the ground and hung it to dry next to the burning fire. With the contents now spread into view, he found that Hinata was much more prepared than he was and had a few more useful items; mainly something dry for her to sleep on a some more wood for the fire.

"Alright sleeping beauty…" He rolled her onto the dry bedding laid out near the fire and sat down next to her, watching her sleep.

"It's kind of strange… I never get a chance to talk to you while you're conscious. You're always passed out." He told her, following up with a nervous chuckle. "I used to think you just had a weak constitution, but you were always so strong when you were awake that it just didn't fit. You made chuunin when I was gone and had many successful missions, yet I still only seem to get to see you when you're like this…" He sighed and fell to his back lying out next to her.

"Someday, I think I'd like to have a real conversation with you, like that time before the finals of the chuunin exam." He sighed again before noticing her body started shivering.

"Well, I guess I have a good excuse…" With a strange smirk he rolled closer to her and put an arm around her body, and pulled her cool form against his chest. The shivering almost stopped instantly as she was heated from the fire in front and bodily warmth from behind. Almost like he was waiting for a moment like this, he fell asleep despite not wanting to in his current position.

When morning spread across the forest, Hinata let out a weak groan while trying to wake up. She still felt weak from chakra exhaustion the night before and started to struggle against the weight of something on her.

"Akamaru… get off." She groaned, having been subjected to the large dog curling up with her on many occasions. She reached down and grabbed the infiltrator and suddenly became aware of the fact that it wasn't the dog. Her eyes snapped open and she cautiously turned her head until she saw who was holding her. She was met with the whiskered face of the man she confessed to a few months before. Her face heated up in an instant, turning a deep red before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

Naruto woke up with a relieved sigh when he noticed Hinata was still sound asleep. He never intended to sleep next to her like that, so he was happy he was going to be able to make his escape like nothing had ever happened. In a flash, he picked up his stuff from the area and escaped into the surrounding forest right as she started to stir.

She jolted upright the moment she became aware of her surroundings and looked frantically in every direction. Internally she was having a battle as to whether she actually saw him there with her or if it was just some figment of her imagination. She looked around and noticed her chuunin jacket was hung up to dry next to a pile of smoldering ashes from a fire. It was obvious someone was there and helped her last night, so it would seem it wasn't just her imagination. Picking up all her supplies, she threw the jacket back on and activated her eyes before taking off in the direction she saw Naruto.

The saddened blonde was sitting on the bank of a wide stream, flowing away from a picturesque waterfall. Hinata soon became intrigued by his expression, it was nowhere near as pain filled as the one he had last night. It was more like he was thinking about something which eluded him while he looked at the water. She was quite enamored by his gaze that she almost jumped when she saw his gaze turn to her. She was sure he was looking right at her, yet it was impossible from where she was hiding for him to sense her at all. Even more confusing was when he started making a gesture for her to come to him.

"I could use someone to talk to Hinata." He called out, earning a tiny squeak from the hiding girl. "Come on, I know you're there." He heard some rustling of leaves and saw the girl appear in her full battle attire. He smiled at her causing her to falter; it was a genuine smile and not some cover-up.

"Good morning Naruto-kun." She greeted with a shy smile joining her usual flushed cheeks.

"Good morning Hinata; sleep well?" This caused her face to turn a darker shade of red while she looked away, causing him to chuckle at her behavior. "Could you sit a talk with me for a while?" He asked, with a face overflowing with a sudden sadness.

"I would do a-anything for you." She replied before taking up the spot next to him.

"Yeah, about that… don't risk your life for me anymore. I don't deserve it."

"That's not true!" She shouted, much louder than he thought she could, and the tone was solid, not wavering like her usual unsure speech.

"Why Hinata? Why is my life so important? All these people died in this war which was done to stop the Akatsuki by protecting me. I don't get it."

"I don't understand it either." Hinata suddenly had blue eyes trained upon her after hearing something out of the norm. "You have something that makes us want to share in your world. Shikamaru would barely come to class at the academy and now he's determined to do his best for his Hokage."

"But she's gone now." He reminded. She just shook her head.

"Not that Hokage…" She whispered while starting to lose her conviction.

"Wait, what?"

"You want to know why we want to protect you? It's because somewhere during your path from the dead last to now, we all started sharing your dream. We want to protect our future Hokage."

"Are you saying that you guys believe I'll be Hokage? I don't believe it."

"I did… From the time we were strangers and I saw your conviction I believed you wouldn't stop. Seeing you those times was what gave me the strength to adopt your nindo to try and become someone that would reach their goals no matter what… I always loved that about you."

Naruto sighed once more and stared off at the waterfall in a dazed look. He tried to comprehend what she was saying but it didn't help and he was last as to what to say about what she told him. Of course he had just about enough of being down and a mischievous smirk went to his face.

"Hey Hinata."

"Yes?"

"Since we're here at this waterfall again…" He paused so he could see her face and what was going to start as a simple joke just escalated when her eyes suddenly showed recognition of where they were, confirming his suspicions.

"So it was you!?" He shouted and was now looking at her incredulously. She started blushing and playing with her fingers like when she was younger.

"I… um…"

"You're mean Hinata! I couldn't stop thinking about that girl for all these years. She was the one that made me realize how plain Sakura was."

"I… I… I" She couldn't come up with anything to say and just stammered before passing out; falling onto his shoulder.

"Well, that's one mystery solved…" He commented before pulling her body closer and held her caringly. "I hope what you said to me, when you nearly died, was true, because I'm going to need your love more than imaginable in the future." He smiled once more just by looking at her. His problems with the war were replaced by thoughts of her and he knew there was nothing that could stop him now. He grabbed her firmly and hoisted her up and headed back to where the rest of his comrades were waiting.