I didn't know what I had done wrong… maybe if I hadn't gotten hurt… I would still be there with everyone right now… And maybe, I wouldn't have lost Naruto's trust. But what I do know was that I had nothing left now. I didn't find the person I had hoped I would be. No, I found nothing… maybe that is all I really am. I am nothing, my life is nothing and that's all it would ever be.

Nothing…

Everything I have ever done in the past was to help people… I tried to make people's lives so much easier and now… I just ended up making it so much worse for everyone… I made it worse for Naruto; I made it worse for my father… my family… everyone. I should just give up while I still can before I lose the last bit of myself that I cannot lose. For if I lose that, then… I just wouldn't want to live anymore.

Hinata stared at the remains of a fire that she and Ryu had made. It was cold… so cold. The only warmth she had was the blanket that had once covered Usagi, though Ryu had said that Usagi wouldn't want her master to get cold… Hinata tried to smile but she just felt too empty to do so. It almost felt like that when Naruto had left, a piece of her had gone with him.

Was this what it felt like to lose the only man that you've ever loved? Because of a stupid mistake that she had made… shaking her head, Hinata looked up at the sky, wondering what she could do now…

"Hinata… get a hold of yourself! You have to pull yourself together or you'll lose yourself to the darkness of despair…" Ryu said, trying to get the poor girl to come out of her depression.

Hinata looked up at Ryu and gave a sad smile, "Ryu, there isn't a point in any of this anymore. The more I look at all of this, I just see failure… No matter what I did, I only hurt more people. I hurt my father by losing our honor… and I hurt Naruto. He told me how he felt about me… he told me about his secret. He trusted me and yet… I didn't trust him enough to tell him that I was really a woman."

"But you tried…"

"I did… but I passed out before I could."

"Hinata… go to him, tell him why you did what you did."

Hinata sighed and shook her head, no matter what she just thought that she would only make it worse for everyone. There was just no way of explaining this to Naruto, he wouldn't listen to her anymore… not that she blamed him for any of this. She had a pretty good feeling that she would have blamed herself too if she was in his shoes.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream from the mountain, causing Hinata, Ryu and Usagi to look up and gasp. "He's still alive!" shouted Hinata as she pushed herself to her feet. Ryu narrowed his eyes, agreeing with Hinata at the thought of Orochimaru being alive. That was the last thing that they needed right now.

Putting on her robes, the young woman quickly hopped up onto Usagi before riding off with Ryu in tow. There was no way that she was going to let the city fall… she was going to make sure that everyone stayed safe.

Though, maybe… she could find a way to patch things up with Naruto… if they all worked together than maybe that together they could finish off Orochimaru for good, but right now… she had to find a way to stop the snake before he got to the Empress… the last thing they needed is for him to take control over this place…

Narrowing her eyes, the young woman kept on running, there was no way that she was going to let that guy take control over Konoha… the village was free, and under the right leader that's how it will always remain… least, not to the women… But she hoped that would change as well… that was just how it should be. Taking a deep breath, Hinata kept her eyes focused on the target ahead of her… the Sacred City of Konoha…

No… no one can have the city but the royal family… it was the only way to make sure that the city stayed and remained safe for all time… and she would make sure that it stayed that way even if she had to kick some ass.

Hinata wasn't sure how long she had been riding for, but she knew that she had made it just in time for the ceremony over the win over the battle. Everyone in the city had gathered to watch as the army would walk down the street. Hinata sighed, knowing that it would be hard to get through. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled her hair back and rode into the street when she saw Naruto riding is horse down the street.

When she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were dull and void of life… but why?

Shaking her head, the young woman finally caught up to him as she said "Naruto… you have to listen to me, Orochimaru is in the city. He'll go after the Empress."

"Why should I believe you 'Yuudai'?"

Hinata felt a sting in her heart when he said that… his voice was cold as ice, and sharp as a blade. It made her want to cry but right now wasn't the time for tears. But the time for a plan and action, shaking her head, the young woman stared at Naruto with determination in her eyes. "Naruto, Orochimaru is in the town… you trusted me when I was Yuudai, you trusted me… you told me your secret when I saw you… you trusted me then, why can't you trust me now?"

"You never trusted me."

"I did trust you Naruto… I tried to tell you, but you kept telling me to be quite and save my strength. I wanted to tell you, even your father knew right away."

Naruto remained silent; Hinata guessed that when she had said that his father knew that it sorta put him in shock. Though, she didn't say anything about that… Shaking her head, she whispered "if you don't trust me enough… then so be it. This battle will be where I fall." With that, Hinata rode off to fight Orochimaru.

This was going to be her last battle. Naruto didn't trust her anymore and had a feeling that he would never trust her. Sighing softly, the young woman hid within the palace, being careful not to scare anyone. She was going to strike when Orochimaru least expected it.

"Hinata, are you crazy, Orochimaru will kill you if you do this…"

"I don't care."

Ryu just frowned at her, thinking that she had finally lost it. Was she really just doing this to regain honor or had she really just given up on everything? It didn't make sense to him but maybe… she was in so much in love with Naruto that his rejection had hurt more than he had thought… would she rather leave this world… than to face the pain of heart ache?

Ryu shook his head as he said "I'll take a look on ahead…"

Hinata just nodded and hid in the shadows for now. She was going to make sure that no one got hurt here but the snake known as Orochimaru. She was going to make sure that he went down this night.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata held her sword close to her chest; she had to make sure that Orochimaru didn't get away. She had to make sure that this battle went according to plan for her. Taking a deep breath, Hinata listened carefully… she heard the sound of people's screams… the sound of swords clashing… Hiding behind the throne, Hinata had to make sure that she stayed hidden.

Soon, the door opened and light shined through.

Hinata could faintly make out the sounds of a woman and a man…

"Ah… Tsunade, soon this town will belong to me. And no one else will be able to stop me."

"You won't win Orochimaru… my army will stop you and this town will be safe once more."

Hinata figured that this would be the Empress, and Orochimaru… did they know each other? Or was it something else? She couldn't be for sure at the moment but knew that everything will be fine… she had to wait for the Empress to be away from the man before she could make her strike. There was only one chance that she had right now…

But what confused Hinata the most, was why Ryu never came back…

Finally, Hinata heard a yelp and peeked from behind the throne and saw a woman with long blonde hair tied in two long yet low pig tails, brown-amberish eyes… her robes were a simple low cut white kimono, and a long silk green jacket that flowed with her movements… least, that's what Hinata thinks…

When she looked over at the man, she saw that his skin was ghostly pale… his eyes yellow like that of a snake… he had purple lines surrounding his eyes as if to bring out the shine in his eyes. His hair, long and dark as the night though it also hung in his face as if hiding the evil soul that resided within him… he wore an outfit similar to her own… a white top that hung on his body reaching his waist till it split at the sides, and black pants… tied around his waist was a purple rope like tie and he also wore black boots…

Hinata frowned, this man… she could sense the evil flowing around him like an aura… was this how it was for those who were evil? With souls as black as the darkened sky, that was the only thing that seemed to make sense to her, but she knew that he was pure evil… and he had to be stopped…

Jumping from the shadows, Hinata pulled out the sword from its sheath and narrowed her lavender eyes as she swung the sword at Orochimaru. The man stared at Hinata in shock and pulled out his own sword and stopped Hinata's strike.

"So… you had one last surprise Tsunade…"

"I… I don't know who she is."

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she said "this is my plan and mine alone. I came here to finish off what I started." The man just stared off at Hinata in confusion, which made Hinata grin. "Don't remember me? Remember the solider that launched the fire cracker into the mountain? That was me."

Though, as soon as she had said that Orochimaru glared at her… Hinata felt his anger flare as he pushed against her sword. Hinata tried to stay strong or she would fall before Orochimaru was dead… She used all of her strength to get away from Orochimaru and tried to think of a new way to attack.

Though sadly, Orochimaru wasn't going to have it that way…

He charged at Hinata and slashed his sword at her stomach, Hinata screamed out in pain only to slash back at his chest. Orochimaru just smirked and drew his sword downward to her. Hinata blocked the hit and kicked the pale skinned man in the stomach to get him away from her. Orochimaru hissed but he wasn't going to stop… and neither was she.

Hinata charged again and swung her sword, she ignored her pain… she had to ignore it if she was to win this battle.

Orochimaru disappeared, which had caused Hinata to look around the room… wondering where he could have gone… though, soon the young woman felt a strange whirl wind surrounding her… as well as blades. Was this one of Orochimaru's tricks? Was he using some kind of old magic that was long forgotten by the city?

Hinata screamed as she felt the blades pierce her arms… her legs, her back, her chest… everywhere. Eyes widening, Hinata jumped out of the whirl wind of blades and charged at Orochimaru. "You'll die here today snake!" shouted Hinata as she ducked the flying blades. Hinata twirled as she ran, using her sword to deflect the blades as she got closer to Orochimaru…

Orochimaru tried to throw more blades at Hinata; trying to stop her… she knew that he would have to have run out of weapons at some point.

Growling, Hinata screamed out in rage as she swung her sword and dug it through Orochimaru's chest… right through his heart… Hinata smirked only for her eyes to widen… she felt something go right through her own chest… her body felt numb… she felt blood drip in her mouth and dribble at the side of her lips…

Orochimaru smirked as he said "if I fall… so shall the hero…" soon, Orochimaru fell to the ground as a puddle of blood started to build around him… The doors opened once more to reveal Naruto and Ryu running toward her.

Hinata weakly turned to stare at Naruto, his face stricken with fear and panic. She could faintly hear him scream out her name as she gave him a small smile. "Naruto…" She whispered before falling over… her body was so weak… she didn't think that she could keep up… her legs, no her whole body was numb on her.

As she fell, Hinata kept on hearing people scream out her name… she thought that she could faintly feel someone trying to hold her. Hinata didn't know why but… she was happy… Naruto was holding her in his arms, trying to bring her back… the last thing she could feel before the darkness claimed her, was a strange warmth of something on her lips… as it slowly started to spread through her whole body.