: farewell :
: said to or by the departing
"Hiashi..."
The said man stood at the entrance of the room, he held a mighty poise as he responded, "You have called, father?"
The older man slowly nodded, gesturing his son to sit at the other side of the table.
The mighty head of the clan looked at his father, still looking ever-so stoic.
"... Son. I'm very old" He said, "I can not even activate my byakūgan, because I'm already blind"
Hiashi looked down, "I had a feeling..."
"Good" The old man said with a nod, "Then, you should be aware by now that I'm not going to last long anymore"
The younger one nodded, "I know"
The former head crossed his arms.
"I heard that Hinata's grown into a beautiful woman" He said, "And that Hanabi's been growing her hair out again"
Hiashi was slightly shocked, and he looked at his father, "F-Father? How long-?"
"I never saw Hinata off to war"
That long?
"Hiashi, I heard lots of wonderful things. I just wish I saw my grandchildren more..."
"They-"
"I meant..." The old man clarified, "I wish I treated them as my grandchildren, and not our heiresses"
Hiashi fell silent.
"In fact..."
The old man finally opened his blind eyes, "Son... I have something to tell you... I did it years ago..."
"What is it?" Hiashi asked, seeing that his father had regret in his voice.
"It's about Hinata"
"It's getting really cold, huh?" Ino asked, eyeing her flowers, "The flowers are wilting because of it..."
"Yeah... For sure, it's colder than the past few years" Sakura said as she hopped on a stool, "And I feel like the night gets getting longer"
"I guess we're having an early winter" The blonde muttered.
Kakashi looked up expectantly at the opening door, only to look back at his computer, not really surprised that the one he thought wasn't the one that came.
"Still not helping, huh?" Shikamaru asked as he crossed his arms, "Seriously, he should come back to keep updated with the political issues"
"Ah, don't mind him" Kakashi dismissed, "Besides, he excused himself"
"Naruto's been excusing himself eversince that day" The Nara pointed out in an annoyed tone, "Don't you think it's about time we pull him off of his sorry ass? He's been moping around for far too long"
"I would," The Hatake said, "But he isn't moping around. It's surprising, really"
The Jonin only raised a brow at his Hokage, asking for an explanation.
"You won't believe how much complaints were filed, from the Hyūga and their neighbors" Kakashi chuckled, "And they were all caused by none other than Naruto himself"
"What did he do?" Shikamaru asked, worried of the infinite possibilities.
"Mostly noise complaints caused by his 'fans', since they already learned his route, especially now that all he's been doing is practically beg for attention from her" The Hokage answered, "And the daily intrusion he's been doing to the compound"
"What?!" The Jonin almost choked on his own saliva, "He's intruding?!"
"Lucky for him, the clan isn't pressing charges" Kakashi reassured, "They only asked me to at least hold him back a little bit more"
"But that doesn't exactly give you a reasonable excuse to keep letting him go without a little session" Shikamaru pointed out with a groan, "You already written Naruto as your successor, afterall"
"Well, today, he actually has a reasonable excuse" Said the Hokage, "He's actually not absent to cause more complaints. He's legally allowed there since he's paying his respects to the former Hyūga head's funeral"
Kiba stopped midstep before he groaned and slapped his forehead, "Oh, here we go again..."
At the gates of the Hyūga compound, adorned with lanterns for the deceased, stood Sai, standing like a statue.
"Sai..." Kiba sighed, "Look, I get that you're just here because you got roped into it again, but you really oughta stop helping Naruto sneak in! At least for today to respect the funeral"
"Oh, but I didn't help him sneak in" Sai said.
Shino raised a brow. Obviously, he did. Why else would he be standing there?
"Actually, I was gonna help him with a new infiltration route," Sai cleared up, "But Hanabi found him and invited him in"
Inside, the compound was crowded by Hyūgas and prestigious people in black.
But, of course, Naruto stood out. His bright blonde hair and striking orange pants gave him away in the crowd, not at all blending in with the mourners.
Surprisingly enough, a sight rare lately, he was beside Hinata.
Much more surprisingly, they were both quiet.
Hiashi constantly checked on his daughter and her 'friend', and oddly enough, the latter wasn't causing a ruckus for once.
You'd think, that after several months of constant infiltrations just to knock on Hinata's door and tell her about his day and wait for the reply that isn't about to come, and then now they're literally side by side, that Naruto would be taking advantage of the situation and try to properly engage her.
Naruto grew into a fine man.
He wasn't as hyperactive as he was before, he knew how to restrain himself. He knows when to be polite, seeing as though he is showing respect at the mourning. And, most noticably, he can hold his composure.
Hiashi's eyes squinted.
He remembered the last wish his father gave him.
He shall do it. For his daughter and her happiness.
The sun was finally setting, and most of the guests already left.
Hinata tore her eyes off of her grandfather's picture with a heavy sigh, then finally standing up from her seat, ready to retire for the day.
"Hinata?"
She froze in place.
"I, uh... I'm sorry for your loss..." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head, his eyes firmly on the back of hers, "And for sorta intruding"
A moment of silence.
"It's okay" Hinata said, "We were expecting it to happen soon, anyway"
The former head's death? Or his arrival?
Either way, he was just glad she was talking to him again.
Almost out of pure instinct, he jumped up to his feet in joy of her talking, a large smile on his face and his arms out as if he was about to tell her something really exciting.
And then he remembered that he should stay calm, now's not really the time. What was he about to tell her anyway? Nothing special. He didn't even think of anything, he was just excited.
Regaining his composure, Naruto bravely reached out and held her shoulder.
They both felt shock travel throughout their body from the touch. It was electrifying.
"You can talk to me, dattebayo" He claimed, "I'd always listen"
She knows that.
"A-Ah, it's fine, Naruto-kun" She said as she slightly faced him, her cheeks red as she smiled awkwardly, "I-I don't have anything interesting to say"
"Well," He kept going, "What've you been up to? I haven't seen you for a while and all..."
"Oh, um... It's nothing, really" She insisted, "Just focusing on hobbies, a-and waiting for my next mission"
The two fell silent.
Turning her gaze away from him, she stepped away from his touch, immediately missing the warmth of his hand, and bid "I'll retire for the night... Thank you for paying your respect, Naruto-kun"
And with that, she started walking away. But after just a couple of steps, her hand was captured into his, "Wait"
Suddenly, everything around them fell silent, and all they could hear was their own heartbeats. Such a familiar place... Their own little world, where only they mattered.
Months, they haven't felt this way. They missed it.
Such a warm, welcoming, and relaxing place.
"Hinata,"
His voice, so warm and tender, a tone that he only uses on her, one so gentle and caring.
"Are you sure you're okay? I'm here"
And that's when she remembered...
She didn't belong beside him, since he's happy with someone else.
She tried to pull her hand away, tried to escape the hauntingly beautiful place. She didn't belong there.
But he kept his grip firm yet gentle on her.
"Hinata," Naruto firmly said, meaning every word, "I won't let go"
He never did. And he never will.
Out of all the dreams and goals he had, he was by now sure that keeping her happy is one of the ones that would keep on going until the end of his life and beyond.
He wants to know.
But-
"I'm okay, really" Hinata said, an evident giggle in her voice, "I've been so mindlessly happy lately, actually. I've focused so much on myself and my hobbies, I'd been so distracted"
She always catches him off guard.
She was... Happy?
He didn't know. Was he bothering her while she was enjoying herself?
And at that moment, she slowly slipped away.
Still not facing him, she said, "I'm fine. I'm strong"
She is strong. He knows that.
Maybe... Maybe she is happy.
"Yeah! You sure are!" Naruto cheered, his voice cracking unintentionally, "You're very strong, Hinata!"
Weird. He thought she was sad.
"You should get going, Naruto-kun" Hinata pointed out, "I'm pretty sure someone's waiting for you"
Who?
"Oh, sure!" He said, mindlessly agreeing with her as per usual, "I'll come talk to you tomorrow, then!"
She didn't even respond, and only walked away to the direction of the main house.
Naruto was frozen in his place, shocked, confused.
Why does he feel so empty?
Shouldn't he be happy that she's happy? Even if he's not with her?
Why?
Was he wrong?
Can he not understand her anymore?
Little did he know, that as she walked away, tears kept rolling down her cheeks.
Hinata kept walking, making sure not to show him that she was crying.
She should be happy. She is happy. Happy for him.
Putting the last box in the shed, Hinata patted her hands on her apron.
One more attempt on keeping herself distracted, she volunteered to move her late grandfather's stuff in the shed.
A long day of hard work, carefully and respectfully handling the objects.
She'd thought she'd take days to clean everything up, but to her surprise, she unknowingly kept going morning until midnight and finished everything.
She mindlessly stood still beside a shelf, her eyes slowly lost the focus she had for cleaning, and reverted back to its melancholic gaze on the empty air.
There she goes again. Spacing out.
She let out a heavy sigh, and-
Suddenly, as if a light touch, an encouraging pat on the head.
It was a familiar touch!
Quickly grabbing the thing on top of her head, she expectantly looked up and called out, "Neji-nii-san!"
But, as her head jerked up, her hand pulling along the object on her head down, a box was pulled down, and various items fell on her.
"Kyaa!"
Opening her eyes, none of the items miraculously hitting her, she realized that she was wrong and it was, in fact, a long cloth that was hanging out of a box that she held and pulled.
It was dirty and worn out, the damages was obviously not just from old age. She grabbed the cloth that was blocking half of her vision off of her head and looked at the now empty box.
"What could be weird stuff owned by Hinata-sama"
Written in obviously lazy writing.
And, as she expected, all the items on the ground, she could recognize.
Her first hitai ate. A sketchpad filled with doodles of frogs. Lucky charms of different origins. Coins from different villages.
And then, she suddenly remembered-
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto... The future Hokage, dattebayo!"
Is this-?
"Are you okay?"
"It-it's nothing-ttebayo..."
Hinata teared up in recognition.
"This... Those boys..."
"... I don't need it anymore"
It is.
"I'm sorry... Um... If this is okay..."
"Don't worry about it... Bye"
The one from-
"Th-Thank you!"
"... It was nothing-ttebayo!"
Their first.
"Exactly ten years ago, I made a deal with a powerful man... I thought that I gave Hinata's life purpose, to marry into a powerful clan that could give birth to a whole new dojutsu..."
"What are you saying...? Why do I not know of this?"
"I'm sorry..."
"What is this?"
"An agreement... He's coming to get her, Hiashi"
"... 'He'?"
"If I have known how strong and independent Hinata would become, then I wouldn't have... She's happy with another. She doesn't deserve this!"
"Why would you sell my daughter?!"
"All my life, all I've done is manipulate my family... Please, son... Stop him! Let Hinata have her own life!"
"Answer me! Why would you sell my daughter?!"
"Do not make the same mistake I did, Hiashi... Do not seal any of your children... Please... Love your grandchildren the way I never did"
"Father?"
"Don't let Hinata take part in this, Hiashi"
