This is my number one favorite chapter that I've written:) What do you think? I really appreciate your reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sakura would stop being Sasuke's fan girl already. Hello? Earth to Sakura?


After the debacle in the village, Hinata made her way to her favorite thinking spot. She knew that ninja weren't supposed to leave the village at this time by themselves, in case enemies were lurking about, but she didn't care- she wanted to be alone. She didn't want anyone to see her tears.

She sat underneath her favorite oak tree, by a small pond, and gave herself permission to sob. She surprised herself though; a few tears trickled down, but curiously she was far from weeping. She smiled through her tears.

It's not that I'm not upset...I am...I just...

"I'm upset but..."

She looked up at the stars shining through the silhouette of trees. She could taste her salty tears through the corners of her grin.

"I'm in control of myself. And I have no fear."

She wrapped her arms around her knees, continuing to look up at the heavens. She noticed the gentle evening winds had blown the clouds into thin, lacy swirls, and when she thought about the clouds being like fabric, she realized the stars were like sequence, or metal studs, and the dark sky itself was like velvet, and the moon was like a luminescent broach. She wished she could take the fabric from the sky and sew it into a dress, that she could drape it around her shoulders and feel the softness of the black sky, taste the glimmering light of the stars on her tongue, inhale the halo of the moon's light, and become a one with the garment of the night.

Hinata leaned back against the tree, relaxing her arms and letting her hands fall down, fingers digging into the damp earth. Taking a deep breath, she imagined all her pores opening up: to the cool moisture in the air, to the density of the ground, to the solid yet swaying tree supporting her back, to the dress of the night whose star studded sashes of lace and velvet brushed against her body and painted her face with moonlight. Her big eyes, so full of tears and sadness and joy, were like vernal pools reflecting the beauty of the sky.

When I faced Pein...when I declared my love to the world- at that moment, I lost all my fear. And I was selfish, selfish like the moon who only reflects the light of the sun and yet considers herself to be queen of the heavens. I stood, I fought, even though I knew it was hopeless, not because I was brave, but because the earth itself commanded me to stand, and like the moon I only reflected the light of courage that I had always received from Naruto. Because of him, I became I true ninja in the first place, I became strong like a gnarled oak tree, became...something more than myself. I nearly went down the wrong path, of sorrow and shame, of silence that settles like thick dust in an empty house. He helped me to choose differently- even if he didn't know it himself at the time.

And so maybe I'm not weeping now, because I'm content. Because being full of love isn't a demand for any outcome, for receptivity or for sacrifice;

it's the interchange of water between the rivers and the oceans

it's the opening of the flowers to the dew, to the morning

it's the breath of the western wind that sings the sun to sleep

it's the rotation of the earth and the wheeling of the stars

love is the unconscious beating of my heart.

Hinata smiled. Maybe her Piscean nature was getting the better of her, thinking of all these poetic images. She made a few hand signs- "Byagukan!" and scanned the woods. Thankfully, no one was around- eyeing the small pond in front of her, she stripped down to her underclothes and prepared to wash the days events out of her hair.

The surface of the pond reflected the light of the sky perfectly; Hinata slipped in silently, and felt like she was diving directly into the sky and the moon and the stars. "Ahhhhhhhh. So nice." Hinata sighed and started manipulating the chakra on the surface of her skin, then extended her range to the water directly touching her body. She sank down a little deeper, eyes closed, until the water level was just over her lips but under her nose. Suddenly, like a swan emerging from still waters with her wings spread wide to fly, Hinata shot up in a matrix of water and danced. Tiny lunar rainbows followed the cadence of her movements, which resembled more graceful versions of ninjutsu. The fluidity of the water became an extension of her body, enveloping her in a cloak, solid yet moving rhythmically. She could feel the tension of the day melt away like the last of winter snow dissolving in the spring sunlight.

Suddenly, she tensed. She swore she heard movement in the brush. Probably just an animal, but it would be foolish not to check. "Byakugan!" Scanning the periphery, she saw a troop of five ninja approaching. Their chakra was not familiar. She quickly estimated that four were chunin level, one was jonin level. They were a few meters away. Shit! She must have been to distracted to notice until they were right on top of her.

Hinata didn't have time to get dressed- she quickly grabbed her bag of ninja tools and at the last possible second, shot a flare into the sky. The orange and white fire spiraled up over the trees, it's light momentarily obliterating the stars.


I know, I know, another cliff hanger. I can be so cruel. Let me know how you like the story friends, I heart reviews:)