: before :

: time before (an) event happens


"Where are you going, father?" Hanabi asked as she crossed her arms, "Real suspicious..."

"It's just an interclan meeting," Hiashi said, staring straight into his daughter's eyes, letting her know that she should calm down and mind her tone, "One where I do not need an heiress"

Hinata watched from the window of her window, a pair of knitting needles in her hands.

Her eyes squinted as she watched Hanabi slowly bow down to their father.

Something was off.

"Father!"

Hiashi's heart almost dropped as his attention was called by his eldest daughter.

She sound determined. She sounded like she knew something.

Looking up at Hinata leaning out from her window, she gripped the windowsill tight as she yelled "Take me with you, father!"

Pale eyes met another.

They were staring each other down.

"No need, Hinata" Hiashi said.

Hinata clicked her tongue and jumped down, she gracefully landed and walked towards her father, eyes burning bright with determination.

Hanabi could only stare at her in awe. Her older sister.

"You're taking most of our best men" Hinata pointed out, her eyes briefly looking at the group of Hyūga men, fully geared, behind him, "Let me fight with you"

True. Hinata is indeed one, if not, the best, fighter the Hyūga has.

They'll need her in the fight to at least cut a bigger chance of winning.

But-

"Don't let Hinata take part in this, Hiashi"

For her...

Hinata suddenly felt encouraging and warm hands on her shoulders, one that she's never felt for a long time.

"All is fine, Hinata" Hiashi said, nothing but warmth in his voice. And for the first time in so long, he smiled encouragingly at her, "After I get back, let's have a talk"

Unlike all of the other times he said that to her, this time, she was looking forward to something promising. Not a scolding, not some criticism.

Her eyes watered as his hands left her shoulders and one rested on her head, "But, for now, finish that scarf you're making, and give it to him"

Her heart fluttered as her cheeks warmed up. He... Knows?

Her father was... Encouraging her?

Eyes suddenly bright, and lips curved in a beautiful smile, Hinata excitedly nodded and said "Of course, father! I will be eagerly waiting!"

Hanabi suddenly froze as their father then looked at her, then almost forgot how to breathe as he smiled at her, "Try to watch over your sister, Hanabi"

Her eyes shone as bright as her sister's and saluted, "I'll do my best, father!"

Hiashi nodded and looked at his daughters.

"This time, as your father," He thought, "I shall put a stop to this"

He turned around and nodded to his men, then starting their long stride to their destination.


All the leaves in Konoha have finally fallen, and the air became cold.

It was colder than their usual November.

"Hahhhh... What should I do now?" Kakashi asked out loud as he slumped back into his chair.

"Why? What happened?"

"Naruto, I thought you've become civilized and used the door" He deadpanned, glaring at the intruder chilling on the classroom's window, "But I guess without someone to impress around, you're as obnoxious as ever"

"Sorry 'bout that, sensei!" Naruto sheepishly apologized as he scratched the back of his head, "I can't help it!"

"Yeah, yeah" The Hatake chuckled, slumping further in his seat, "Now that you're here, do you mind getting Hinata for me?"

"Eh?" The Uzumaki was confused.

"Well, you see, Iruka asked me if I can get him someone to teach Taijutsu, it's hard to get a guest lecturer these days since there's another mission rush, and most ninjas are taking jobs after jobs so that they can be free for the festival" The Hatake explained, "I can't grab hold of anyone because of it. But since the Hyūgas haven't been going on missions since October, I figured that maybe I can catch a guest lecturer..."

"Sensei, you do realize that they don't study 'safe' taijutsu for people that aren't Hyūgas, right?" Naruto asked, "I remember back in the Academy, Iruka-sensei didn't let Hinata participate in any ninja kumite because she practices Jūken on a rigid schedule"

He could remember years ago, there was this girl who Iruka-sensei never allowed to join in spars, since she was 'above her peers in terms of taijutsu'. And if he was remembering right, that girl was Hinata.

In all of the years they studied together, he only got to see the Jūken during the exams.

Despite not seeing her fight before, he knew she was strong. There was a reason that she wasn't allowed to fight any of her classmates.

And much like him, who passed the Genin Exams with an advanced clone jutsu, he learned a while back that she passed with an advanced Taijutsu.

"That's long time ago, besides, she trained under Kurenai and studied with Kiba" Kakashi pointed out, "It's on her records that she also practiced common taijutsu"

That's true.

Unlike most Hyūgas, Hinata incorporates common Taijutsu techniques to her Jūken, such that she uses more kicks and jumps compared to skilled users like Hiashi and Neji.

"I think she's busy, though" Naruto said as he scratched his cheek, "Not that she told me, but she really seemed like she's focusing on something lately at her clan"

"Hinata! As per usual, you're still in there, huh?"

"Oh, um, just working on something"

"Something?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"... 'Hobbies', as she'd like to call it" The blonde said.

"Can't you at least ask for me?" Kakashi sighed.

"Um..." Naruto hummed, "I wouldn't want to bother her, since she's been enjoying a lot... But I can stand in for her!"

"You?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Oi! What's wrong with me, huh?!" The blonde yelled with a stomp, offended.

"Nothing!" The silver-haired man carefully answered, "It's just that you're sort of... Famous, lately. A school isn't really a place for fans to get wild in"

"Oh, come on!" Naruto whined before dropping to a stance and bouncing on the balls of his feet, "It's fast and easy, right? Just give the kids a little taste of 'Taijutsu Naruto' with a punch here and a kick there! What could go wrong?"

"Fine, fine" Kakashi said as he crossed his arms, "But the moment someone gets hurt because of your 'fans', I'm gonna try and call in Hinata instead"

"Easy!" The blonde cockily said, and the brunette mentioned, "One whole hour per class, you're teaching four"

"N-No problem! I can keep them under control, dattebayo!"


"The moment I finish this," Hinata thought as her fingers professionally moved along the threads of yarn with the knitting needles, "I'm going to confess"

A rich and soft yarn, velvetty red, and especially warm, knit together into a scarf.

Everyday, she kept telling herself that when she's done, she'll confess right away.

But she kept stalling, and stalling, and stalling.

Until all three balls of yarns ran out.

She froze as she realized that she was reaching yet another end of the yarn. Her cheeks burning hotter and hotter by the second.

She shook her head violently. "No, no, no! Not yet! It's still not finished!"

She studied crocheting about one month, and she'd been knitting the scarf for about three weeks.

It's almost December.

She looked at her door expectantly for a while, and after a few minutes passed, she sighed.

"He's not coming today, huh?" She thought.


"Sorry to have you come here when you're so busy with missions" Iruka modestly apologized, fully knowing well the mission rushes and how his student is high on demand.

"Sensei, don't worry about it-ttebayo!" Naruto laughed, then inwardly thought, "It's not like I've been taking any lately, but he doesn't need to know that"

Not that he's lazy! No, no.

Much like him evading Kakashi and his training, Naruto had the same excuse for not taking missions.

Just saying that he has 'priorities', per se.

Hinata had been on his mind lately. And with her locking herself in, it just feels like he has to stay until she's ready to come out.

To keep her company and all.

"The kids have been so hyped up when I announced that you were the one teaching" Iruka laughed, "Perfect attendance in all four classes! Your lesson is really popular with the kids... Oh?"

As the Umino trailed off, Naruto raised a brow in confusion.

"Have you gotten taller?" Iruka asked, a proud smile on his face, noticing that his former student was, in fact, taller than him by now.

Naruto's eyes widen as he realized, and then laughed awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, happy and sort of embarassed.

He remembered back then that Iruka was like a giant to him. But here he is now! Taller than him!


"Hey-ho! Hinata!"

The door of her room suddenly slammed open, and a big white dog came running in and jumping around excitedly.

A bright smile formed on Hinata's face as she saw her team enter, "Kiba-kun! Shino-kun! Akamaru!"

"Kiba, you'll pay for her door if it's broken" Shino claimed, Kiba clicked his tongue and dismissively said "Bill it to my sister, she lost a bet against me"

"No one told me you guys were coming" Hinata giggled, petting Akamaru.

"Yeah, we just waltzed in" Kiba said, "There was no guards at the gate, so we figured that we're welcomed"

"Oh, that's because my father took most of our fighters with him" She explained.

"Hinata, that scarf is very long" Shino pointed out, referring to the scarf that she was still knitting.

Blushing, Hinata silently nodded and muttered "I know..."

"Anyway, Mirai's birthday is today," Kiba mentioned, "So we dropped by to ask if you want to look for presents with us"

"I see, well," Hinata said as she brought up a box with a yellow bow, "I found my old clothes as a toddler, I figured Kurenai-sensei would appreciate them. But I'd love to come along to buy presents with you two, I have to go out and buy some materials, myself"


"Naruto as a lecturer, who would've thought?" Choji asked with a chuckle as he and his team stood from outside the Academy.

"He's been teaching for three hours now, and the students have been going crazy" Ino hummed, "I never thought that he'd become such prime choice material"

"You mean like steak?" Choji asked as he munched on his chips, which made her look at him with an annoyed look and say "Of course not, I mean he's gotten popular with the girls"

"Well, all his efforts in the war two years ago made him into the village hero" Shikamaru proudly said, a smile on his face knowing fully well how hard his friend worked.

"Yeah" Ino agreed, following the Nara as he continued his walk.


"Man, I'm starving!" Kiba groaned as he patted his stomach, Shino nodded and said "Well, we've gotten the gifts already, we could eat before heading to sensei's"

"Who would've thought that the shopping district would be so busy?" The Inuzuka whined, "It's really tiring fending off those crazed shoppers!"

"Oh, um... You guys go on ahead" Hinata said, as she handed Shino her gift, "I still have to buy something. Please give these to Mirai-chan and tell her I wished her a happy birthday"

"Of course, Hinata" Shino said, Kiba gave her a big pat on the back and said "Good luck, brave kunoichi! Try not to get stomped on by those people!"

"Kiba-kun, sheesh" Hinata pouted as she walked away, blushing about the joke about her height.

As the three of them watched Hinata head back in to the crowd at the shopping district, Kiba motioned Shino to a direction and said "I'm feeling ramen"


Proud of how the day turned out, Naruto even invited some of the students to come eat with him.

Of course, it was just him trying to advertise his favorite eatery in the world.

"Today is my treat. Eat as much as you want!"

"Thank you so much, Naruto-sensei!" All of the students cheered in unison.

He bashfully laughed, not fully used to being called that.

"You're a special lecturer, huh... Yahoo! You've gotten pretty important!"

Naruto excitedly turned around, knowing fully well who it was, greeting them- but of course, not before checking if a certain someone was there.

"Kiba, Shino!" He greeted, "What's up, guys?"

Kiba rolled his eyes, noticing very well that the blonde checked for Hinata.

"Naruto really likes ramen... He's always at Ichiraku" Shino said in his usual dull tone, trying to let the students know how much Naruto supports the shop.

"Ah, ramen is great! It's okay for even three meals a day-ttebayo!" Naruto cheerfully added.

Teuchi could only laugh at his favorite customer's enthusiasm, and seeing that the students grew interest in the ramen because of his words made him proud of his ramen more.

"I thought you might be here!"

Naruto peered outside again and smiled, "Oh, hey! Konohamaru! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Well, I am a pretty busy guy" Konohamaru cockily said, "I've been on demand!"

"It's called 'the mission rush', kid" Kiba remarked, "You'll get used to it"

The Sarutobi gave the Inuzuka a warning glare, which the Inuzuka simply laughed off as his dog growled at the Sarutobi.

"Anyway, this is really important!" Konohamaru said as he excitedly bounced, "There is something that I just have to show you!"

"Sure, let's catch up" Naruto said before slurping all his ramen in one go and paying for everything that he, his students, Kiba, and Shino all ordered.

"I promise you that it's suuuuper important" Konohamaru excitedly said as he lead the way, "The moment I saw it, I was like 'Daaaamn'! I had to find you right away!"

"It must be really cool then" Naruto laughed.

The brunette nodded and said "You can't believe the trouble I went through to find you! I went to the Hyūga compound to ask about you, but this snarky girl literally kicked me out!"

"Snarky?" The blonde laughed, knowing fully well that it was Hanabi that he was talking about.


And, heading the exact opposite way, Hinata just got out of a crocheting shop and went to head home.

"It is quite flattering that you've come all this way just to see me, father"

Hiashi's eyes squinted as he looked ahead.

He thought they were heading nowhere after months of traveling straight in one direction that his father pointed him.

"Keep heading where the sun rises until you reach the rock formation that forms an eye at eight with the moon"

Such cryptic words from a dying man.

But it all made sense and proven true when he and his men made it.

On top of the rock formation, a man in robes stood on top, looking down on them tauntingly in the dark with eyes closed.

"I am not your father" Hiashi hissed, "You have mistaken me for another"

"Oh?"

The man on top of the formation hummed, "Hyūga Hiashi, your words deeply wound me. As your son-in-law, I must seek your approval"

The Hyūga glared at the man. He was certain, this was the one his daughter was bound to.

"You are not marrying my daughter, Toneri-san" He firmly claimed, "My father made a deal with your father, but it is nullified since he is now dead and that he has no right over my own daughters!"

"How does he know that I'm coming?" He thought, "And where is his village? There is nothing of sorts nearby"

And most of all...

"He's alone..."

"What about this..." Toneri said, still as emotionless as when he first appeared from thin air, "Let's make a deal. A new one"

"Not interested" Hiashi immediately answered.

"When the day of Hinata's nineteenth comes, I shall take you, her, and the rest of your clan with me to the moon, in safety for when I kill the rest of mankind on the last day of the year" Toneri offered, ignoring the decline from earlier, "And together, after the era of evil has ended, we shall all make a perfect world of peace, as wished by my ancestor, Otsutsuki Hamura"

"Moon? Otsutsuki?"

"Hamura?" Hiashi asked.

"Why, yes. You have figured it out, haven't you?" Toneri asked, "Otsutsuki Hamura is also whom the Hyūga have decended from"

"If he truly is from Hamura... Then..." Hiashi slowly realized the terror waiting.

He didn't think it went this deep. Did his father know?

"This is a decree, a celestial decree bestowed upon the Hyūga clan"

An Otsutsuki...

Also directly from Hamura.

And he's threatening not just his daughter, but the entire human race.

"I must kill him!"

"Hyūga Hiashi, let's hear your answer tonight. The answer that would decide the future of your clan!"

"I must!"

"This is the Hyūga's..." Hiashi yelled as he jumped and attacked, "Reply!!"

Right when he thought he could kill the man-

"What?!"

Toneri's body disappeared into countless balls of light.

Suddenly, an eerie group of men appeared, faces covered in wraps, and attacked Hiashi.

That's when he realized, he was no match.

He went into a stance, but two of his men stood in front of him and blocked the attackers. Both knowing fully well the situation.

"Hiashi-sama, quickly!" One of them yelled, and the other nodded and said "Warn everyone! Tell Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Yes! I'm counting on you" Hiashi said before he quickly leapt away full speed.

He activated his Byakūgan, and felt dispare as he saw all of the men he brought struggling against the countless enemies.

Just at the moment that he thought he could escape, multiple enemies clung onto his legs and arms, clawing him to get a grip, and started piling on him to the point that they thought he couldn't move.

"Rotation!"

Hiashi spun in great speeds, destroying every enemy.

Then he realized, "They're pu-"

At the split second that he was off guard, a ball of light headed his way at high speeds, and barely dodging it, it exploded at his feet.

With an injured arm, he tried to escape as fast as he could, going through the tunnel that they have entered from.

But then, a ball of light blasted the roof of the cave, causing the ceiling to collapse on him.


"ACHOO!!"

"Bless you" Konohamaru quickly said.

"Man, Konohamaru!" Naruto whined as he swatted spider webs away, "This place is hella dirty!"

"It's a shed, what do you expect?" The Sarutobi groaned, making the Uzumaki click his tongue and say "I dunno, it's not like I'm rich enough to own a shed"

"Hang on a sec... I'm gonna lamp now, kore" The brunette said, putting on the light, "Anyway, it's grandpa Hiruzen's stuff. I found it while I was doing some spring cleaning"

"Spring cleaning? It's already almost winter, dattebayo" The blonde said, "And if you call this cleaned up, then you suck"

"Shut up and take a look, already!" Konohamaru whined.

Naruto squatted down to the box the boy was motioning at, and he lifted an eyebrow, seeing that the stuff in it were mostly... Weird.

Taking a random one, a mechanical monkey with cymbals wearing the Hokage hat and cloak, "This is kinda..."

"Don't you dare call it junk!" Konohamaru defended, "All these stuff are really really precious!"

"But they're-" "They're not junk, kore!" Konohamaru kept defending, making Naruto pout and said "I didn't even call it that, you're the one who thinks these are that, huh?"

"No!" The boy denied, "I absolutely do not think they're junk!"


It's already December.

Hinata is out again in the shopping district, newly bought yet another roll of yarn.

"Hinata!"

"Oh, hey, Sakura-san" Hinata greeted.

"You knitting something?" Sakura asked, seeing that the girl just left the shop.

"Uh-huh!"

Then, she realized something.

Smiling brightly, Sakura patted both of Hinata's shoulders and cheered "Go for it, Hinata!"

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on" The pinkette said, "You're making him something aren't you?"

This made Hinata blush before she shyly nodded.

Sakura giggled and said "Come on, let's grab some food"


"Now let me show you the right way to enter the compound" Naruto said to Konohamaru as they walked towards the Hyūga clan, a confident smirk on his face, "If you don't do it my way, they won't let you just walk in, dattebayo!"

"Oh, cool! Like a secret password?" The young man asked, his eyes glowing in excitement, making the older one laugh and admit "Ah, more like... If you keep intruding everyday and they just find out that you're not really there to cause any trouble, they'd just leave you be one day since they have better things to do"

"That's lame"

"Not as lame as getting kicked out by a little girl, you brat!"

"Naruto-senpai!"

The two stopped on their tracks and turned around as they heard a female's voice call out.

The girl had a light blush on her face, bowing down deeply as she held out a wrapped present to the blonde, "A Rinne Festival present from me! I hope you like it, because I really like you!"

"Oh, um, thanks?" Naruto hesitantly accepted, unsure how to respond.

Before he can even slowly let the girl down, she hurriedly left.

"Oh wow, she must really like you, nii-san!" Konohamaru teased, nudging the blonde, Naruto rolled his eyes and tucked the present rather too rashly into his jacket as he continued to lead the way, "Anyway! As I was saying! You can't really just enter from the gate because they can easily stop-"

"Naru-sama!"

Konohamaru jumped as they turned the corner while Naruto only looked deadpanned, a group of girls were all waiting at the alley, all with gifts galore.


"Eversince word got out that you two weren't dating," Sakura said as she settled in her seat, "Everyone's gone crazy"

"Why?" Hinata asked, tilting her head in confusion as she hung her jacket on the backrest of her chair, "Is she, um... Was she treating him well?"

"Who?" The pinkette asked, and the bluenette answered "U-Um.. His... His g-girlfriend..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The Hyūga nervously asked, cowering under emerald eyes.

"Do you seriously think he has a girlfriend, Hinata?" The Haruno asked with an 'are-you-serious?' look, making the pale eyed girl look down, "M-Maybe..."

"Oh, come on" Sakura moaned, waving the waiter over to point that the orders were for them, quickly picking up a spoon for her pudding, "That idiot's way too busy to even think about entering a relationship with someone else. And by busy, I mean busy infiltrating your mansion to talk to you"

"So he's not in a...?" Hinata asked, shocked, which she got 'the look' as response, making her sigh heavily and hide her face in a hand, "That's really awkward, then..."

"What do you mean?" The med-nin asked, the other then admitted "I-I've been pushing Naruto-kun away for so long, using the 'I am sure someone is waiting for you', thinking that there was a girl waiting for him..."

"Seriously?!" Sakura gasped, "Are you saying that you've been distancing yourself from him because you thought he had a girlfriend?!"

"W-Well-" "Then why make a gift for him?" Sakura asked, confused and hurt for her friend, "Aren't you sad because of what you thought?"

The pinkette's eyes widen as a small smile formed on her friend's face. One so sweet and pure.

"As long as he's happy, then I don't mind" Hinata answered, "I just wanted him to know how special he is... Even if he won't reciprocate it"

A love so pure, selfless and not proud.

Sakura's mouth fell agape.

And then she giggled, "Oh, Hinata"

She could understand her.

After all, she, too, have devoted her heart the same way.

"You know..." She said, "When word got out... Lots were trying to capture his attention. Like... He's really popular lately"

"What? Really?" Hinata asked, "Naruto-kun told me that his fans before were too much of a bother... Was there less because they were respecting what they thought was our relationship?"

"Even people from other villages come here just to take pictures of him!" Sakura groaned, "Not even I had that much of a competition for Sasuke-kun"

"Oh..." The bluenette almost sighed, losing confidence in herself. Would she really stand out?

"Don't say 'oh'." The pinkette immediately rebutted, then smiled brightly at her friend, "Just hurry up and finish that scarf already!"

"Oh, u-uh s-sorry, okay" Hinata said, still unsure.

"Come on!" Sakura groaned, "You just gotta have a little more confidence! Be bold!"

"Um, sure, okay"

Sakura's eyes softened, "But really, Hinata?"

She grinned and changed topic.

"I have never seen Naruto so patient and gentle with anyone that isn't you"


Naruto closed the door of his apartment behind him as he entered the cold and dark room.

Piles of gifts from strangers scattered everywhere, haphazardly thrown next to the other.

But, behind all the thrown gifts, one was safely placed on the desk of his drawer.

Gently picking it up, Naruto looked at it.

His home was cold.

He looked at the gift so longingly.

At least, something gave him a sense of warmth.


That night, she decided.

Pulling the last thread in, Hinata finally ended the stalling.

A scarf. A scarf as red as how his old one was.

"There! All done!" She thought, her heart pounding hard and fast in her chest.

In a rush of blind determination, she ran out of her room after putting the scarf into a simple yet elegant gift bag.

She quickly rushed down all the stairs, the beats of her heart thrumming loud in her ears.

"I put my heart and soul into making this!" She thought as she made her way down, "I'm sure my feelings would get through to Naruto-kun!"

She can feel it! Tonight is the night that her entire life changes! For better or worse!

She will go through with it! Things will go her way if she's confident!

And tonight! She's-

"That's real nice of you, Hinata! But-"

She froze.

Just the thought of being rejected... One more rejection will break her.

"Or will they?" She thought, quickly turning back around and walk back defeatedly, "It's already late... Maybe it's better if I give it tomorrow"

Yeah... Just to mentally prepare herself just so one rejection won't ruin her entirely.

Yeah.

Yeah...

"No."

She stopped.

She's no longer that loser girl from before who would give up before even trying!

"I'll do it tonight!"

She bravely turned again-

"Well... Tomorrow..."

She excused-

"No! Tonight!"

But then-

"Or... Tomorrow"

As she turned again, her foot got caught to her other and she tumbled over, catching herself last second.

She took a deep breath, and contimplated, "Do I really have to do this? I mean... How will it benefit Naruto-kun to know that a coward like me-"

"Just hurry up and tell him how you feel already!"

Great.

Here comes the teasing.

"Let me see, one, two, three..." Hanabi counted as she eyed her sister, "Four! This is the fifth time since last month that you've paced around like this, nee-sama!"

"Hanabi! Why didn't you say anything to let me know you were here?" Hinata asked, not looking forward to the teasing, "I told you not to sneak up on me when I'm distracted..."

"Well! 'Cause it's fun watching a maiden agonizing over love!" The younger girl cooed as she danced her way to her sister, "How am I gonna have twenty seven nieces and nephews if you're forever single?"

"That's no way for a child to talk" The older one scolded, "And we've talked about this, it's inappropriate to comment about-"

"How a woman's old and still single, yeah yeah" Hanabi said with a smirk, then proudly pointing at her eyes, "But, if you don't think I'm mature enough; my eyes are as good as any grown ups!"

"You still need to train your eyes, not even Ne-" Hanabi cut her off by quickly changing the subject by showing her kunai, "Anyway, look! Isn't it cute?"

Not only were the grip of the kunai pink, but on the ring of the kunai hung a pink keychain of Ninja Tamago.

Hinata sighed and looked at her sister, "Treating your kunai like a toy, again? You're going to get scolded by father if he finds out about this one..."

"It's not like you're gonna snitch on me" Hanabi confidently said, from which Hinata sighed in defeat from.

"Speaking of father," The little brunette started, "Where is he? It's been months since-"

Suddenly, the sound of the bluenette's growling stomach cut the conversation to a quick stop.

Slowly, a teasing smirk grew on Hanabi's face as Hinata's turned bright red.

"Oh?" The little Hyūga mocked, " Did you spend all night knitting again and not eat dinner? You're gonna get laughed at if your tummy growls while you're confessing"

"I'm not confessing anything" Hinata stubbornly said as she turned around to march back to her room, making Hanabi chuckle and comment "Instead of a scarf, why not give yourself a makeover?"

"No" Hinata huffed.

As she continued walking off, she realized she was walking the wrong way, and now she's heading out.

She sighed, "I might as well"


Inside a dimly lit room sat five of the most powerful people in the world.

But, what was held within their eyes were something that no one would expect...

Fear.


"Man! Ramen really hits the spot this time of year!" Naruto cheered, making Sakura roll her eyes and glare at him "You eat this stuff all year long, you ramenivore"

"You really have a thing for ramen, don't you?" Ino chuckled, trying to hype the man up more to make her pinkette friend more annoyed, "Of course! I really love ramen, dattebayo!"

"If ramen was a girl to you, it would be Hinata" The pinkette tried to hint with a smirk, but the blonde glared at her and said "I don't eat people"

Shikamaru and Choji both laughed at the yet another failed attempt.

"Jii-san! Hit me up with five more orders of gyoza!" Naruto loudly ordered.

"Five? Not even I can eat that much! Whoohoo!" "Then you don't get any" "Awww"

"Come on Choji, I meant one order for each of us" The Uzumaki cleared up, making the Akimichi perk up and the rest laugh.

"Can't get this dirty..." Sakura suddenly noticed Naruto remove his scarf, "Oh, that scarf! Is that from-"

"Oh, Hinata!" Ino greeted, "Perfect timing! Tell Choji here that it's impossible to beat your record. Might as well come join us if you haven't eaten already"

Naruto quickly turned and smiled brightly at her, "Yeah! It's all on me tonight!"

"Something's made Naruto so happy that he's in the mood to celebrate" Sakura cheekily said.

"But... But I..." Hinata nervously said, starting to regret her decision, thinking that it might not be too late to run yet.

"Come on, you haven't taken me up on that ramen that I've been offerin' ya!" Naruto laughed, then turning to Sakura with pleading eyes, of which she immediately understood, standing up and gesturing to her seat, "Now, now, don't be shy! Here, Hinata! You can have my seat!"

"Hinata, join us!" The Uzumaki cheered.

"W-Well, you see" Hinata tried to excuse, taking steps back, "I have this thing that I have to do and- O-Oh, okay, I-I guess I'm going"

Ino elbowed Shikamaru hard, making him simply wave her off, his shadow stitched to Hinata's and controlling her to sit next to Naruto.

Shikamaru and Hinata both froze when they heard a very recognizable voice, "Naruto-senpai!"

They all turned and looked at the group of girls.

Hinata and Shikamaru most definitely could recognize her.

Hinata finally learned that there was nothing between her and Naruto. Shikamaru knew it too, but he found the girl and her friends annoying.

"Oh, hey, you guys!" Naruto greeted back, too happy to remember how annoying they were, "Thanks for all the presents you gave me earlier!"

Suddenly, Hinata yelped as she was forcibly controlled to sit beside Naruto.

The Hyūga was involuntarily sat, then looked at Shikamaru with pleading eyes from across the table, of which he ignored.

"Hinata, you can't believe what-" Naruto was cut off by one of the girls asking "Naruto-senpai, what are you guys up to?"

"Just a little celebration, dattebayo" He politely replied, making the girls all act cute and ask in unison "Can we join? Pretty please?!"

"Oh, well, um..." The blonde hesitated, "How do I say no again?" "Sure? You can sit right over-"

"Thank you, Naruto-senpai!" The three squealed, obnoxiously running up to Ino, Hinata, and Sakura and tapping their shoulders, making Naruto shoot up from his seat and said "No, not there! My friends are already sitting there, you see"

"Naruto-senpai, are we not your friends?" One of them asked, trying to act cute.

"Man, these hoes" Both Sakura and Ino thought, "Sounds like Ino/Sakura back in the Academy!"

"Well, you guys can sit right over here!" Naruto said as he ushered them to the table outside, making the girls grumpily sit and pout, about to complain, but he quickly intercepted and said "Order whatever you want! It's my treat! Just a token of my gratitude!"

"Oh wow! Thanks, Naruto-senpai!"

With a sigh of relief, Naruto turned to sit again and said in a noticably softer and gentler voice "You can get whatever you want, too, Hinata. And maybe later, we can- Eh?!"

"Sit over here, Naruto-senpai!" Said one of them as she clung to his arm, pulling him to their seats, the other one nodded and said "We can all eat together!"

Suddenly, Hinata hopped off of the stool and started walking away, thinking she won't be noticed, as per usual.

"Hinata!" Sakura called, Naruto asked "Where are you going?"

She turned her head to them, not looking at anyone's eyes as she smiled so sweetly, "I'm sorry, but I-I'm really not that hungry, b-besides, I was just out for a walk..."

"Oh..." Naruto let out, sounding a bit too sad, "Oh yeah... She's been busy these days... I guess tonight ain't any different"

"Hinata...!" Sakura tried to call her back, but she kept walking, but sighed, knowing she's stubborn, then turned to Naruto and said "Walk her home"

"What? Walk her home? What for?" Naruto asked, ridiculed of the demand, not wanting to intrude on Hinata's personal space since she wanted space for her 'hobbies'.

"Oh, well uh..." Sakura said, "Quick, Sakura! Think!" "You can't let a girl walk home alone at night!"

This made Naruto laugh, pride overwhelming him, "Pfft! Are you kidding?! No one in the village would dare to mess with her! She's like- The coolest and most dangerous Hyūga there is!"

"I'm a kunoichi, it's fine... It's fine" Hinata thought, trying to keep herself strong enough for the rest of the road, walking away faster.

Naruto felt how upset Hinata was, realizing that he must've messed up something.

"You are such an idiot!" Sakura scowled at him before running to catch up with Hinata.

Uneasy and agitated, Naruto tried to ask what he did wrong to Sakura, trying to catch up to the two, "But- Wait! Why are you calling me an idiot?!"

But, one of the girls got in his way and the other clung on him again, "Look, the gyoza's ready!" "Let's eat!"

With a deep sigh, Naruto groaned and took his scarf from the table, "Just put it on my tab, jii-san. I'm going for a walk"

And with that, he left the group alone, grumpy and confused, heading the opposite way as the other two did.


"The scarf he had... He was taking care of it so lovingly" Sakura giggled, but when she heard crumpling paper, she found a wrapped gift in Hinata's arms, and she gasped in realization, and then groaned "Maaan, he can be so dense sometimes! You were gonna give him that scarf tonight, weren't you?"

"Mhmm..." Hinata silently said, Sakura gave her an aggressively encouraging look and said "You can do it, Hinata! You just have to be more confident!"

The ridiculously agitated face the pinkette made made the bluenette giggle, "Alright, thanks, Sakura-san... Although I'm not sure why you keep encouraging me"

The hopeful look she had, Sakura could relate to it, "W-Well, uhh..."

She, too, was trying to reach someone's heart.

But unlike Hinata, hers was far away.

"We strong girls just gotta stick together!" Sakura proudly said, "That's what Tsunade taught me in training!"

"Stick together?"

"Yeah" Sakura laughed, "But in training, she meany literally"

The two laughed as the pinkette told her story.


"Strong... Strong..." Hinata thought as she neared the gates of her home.

As she reached the gates, she stopped.

"Strong!"

She quickly turned around and ran. Tonight is the night!


Hanabi happily skipped around the mansion, giggling to herself as she sing-sang a tone "The~ First would be named Ha-na-ko! The second comes in and named~ Hi-na-ko! Maybe the third would be Na-ru-ko? Then here comes the boys and they will be-"

She suddenly froze in her step, hearing doors after doors slamming open.

Her blood ran cold, realizing what it might be.

An intruder.

She quickly hid in the last room at the top most floor, holding out her kunai with shaky hands as she stood in the middle of the darkness.

This would be her first encounter with an enemy.

Hundreds of thoughts ran in her head as she stood in the middle, trying to think of what to do.

The slamming doors came closer and closer- as if it knew exactly where she was- until-

"Who are you?!" She growled as the man entered, but- "The man has no face!"


Sai sat on the hill, overlooking Konoha.

Eversince Hinata had shown him that view, he knew he had to come back to draw it.

But when he looked at it days ago, he realized something odd.

It was not like the time she showed him. No. The moon was bigger. Abnormally larger.

So, he sat there again, looking at the moon.

Something was off.

When did it become so big?

Suddenly, a large bird flew over him, followed by a few more.

Not small enough to be a regular bird, and it was leaving Konoha.

He turned, and with his detail-keen eyes, he realized that men were on it, and one had- "That's Hanabi!"

"Super Beast Scroll!"

Engaging in a chase, the mysterious men immediately noticed him.

They all started flying erratically, but Sai being an experienced flier with sharp eyes, he only followed the one that had the little girl who he remembered to constantly scold Naruto.

Realizing that their foe was highly skilled, they all started to attack.

This caught Sai off guard, hundreds of glowing orbs heading his way at high speeds.

He had to retreat.


After a lap or two around the village, Naruto finally decided to head home, feeling that he already cooled down enough.

"I hope Hinata has free time soon" He sighed to himself as he rounded the corner, "Bummer without her"

As he turned the corner, he quickly perked up when he saw just the girl he was thinking off at the foor of his apartment building.

"Hinata?!" He cheerfulky asked, hoping he wasn't hallucinating.

"Oh- Hi, good evening" She said in a high and squeaky voice as she slowly turned, the same way she does when she humiliates herself.

Naruto laughed, knowing that he almost caught her doing something that could maybe be funny, "What were you doing?"

"N-Nothing!"

Oh, yeah. She was most definitely doing something.

He chuckled at her antics and shook his head, "Come on, tell me"

"I-It's nothing!" She insisted, her cheeks getting hotter by the second, "Did I get caught?!"

"Alright, fine" He decided to stop, then he changed the topic by saying "Remember that we saw each other at Ichiraku?!"

"Oh, that's right!" She immediately jumped in on the new topic.

"Yeah! It went a little crazy! You see, befor you came, Sakura accused me of being cani-"

As Naruto kept rambling on, Hinata's eyes caught something.

A scarf. He wasn't wearing a scarf when he was still visiting.

Seeing that she's distracted, he asked her "What's wrong?"

"Th-That's a nice scarf you got there" She complimented, hiding the pain in her voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah, my scarf" He said, looking at it endearingly and then caressing it gently, "I didn't think I'd get anything like it... She-"

Suddenly, they heard a growling stomach noise.

One that Naruto could recognize quite well, he laughed and smiled brightly "You should've told me! It, uh, sounds like you're hungry!"

Excitedly pointing up to his apartment, Naruto said "I can make you instant ramen upstairs! And maybe you could help me open up presents too! You'd be shocked at-"

"How embarassing!" "No thank you! Good night!" And with that, she ran off.

First, she learns that there's already someone, and then, her stomach growls in front of him just to make things worse.

"Hinata?" He asked as he tried to run after her, not knowing whether to follow her or not, "Didn't you want to talk to me? Hey! Hinata! Wait!"

Then, he froze in his spot.

Heartbroken.

It's not like the first time she ran away.

No, she wasn't afraid... She was... She was sad.

Was it him?

He slowly looked down his hand clutching tightly the cloth of his jacket right where his heart is.

"What did I do?"

His lips slowly tugged down to a frown. Sad.

But-

"No!"

Naruto looked up and ran, "I won't let you go again!"

Tonight, he has to fix whatever's going on.

She was suffering.

Running to the direction he last saw her run, he felt blood pump through his veins.

Something felt especially off.

He ran directly to the place he knows she goes to when she's thinking hard.

Running straight to the small playground, he suddenly heard a yelp.

It was Hinata!

"Hinata!"

Quickly turning the corner, he saw two weirdly dressed men, one of them holding her tight in his cloak.

The one dressed in white showed her a glowing orb before she passed out.

Feeling his blood boil, Naruto immediately raised a fist to punch one of them, "Hey, you two! What are you doing to her?!"

Usually, he should ask before attacking, but this is a different situation. It was Hinata in their arms.

As he punched the one in white, he suddenly disappeared, making the blonde tumble forward, "Eh?"

Suddenly, coming from all directions, men rushed out of their hiding spots and attacking Naruto. Little did they know, he was highly skilled in fighting multiple people at once.

In fact, his clones were the hardest to fight.

"How did I not sense them?" He thought as he fought them all off, "How did Hinata not sense them?!"

He gasped as he looked up, "He's getting away with Hinata!"

Weaving his way through the men, he quickpy jumped over the wall and onto the building, wanting to get things finished as soon as possible, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Many clones of himself jumped down to the attackers, not showing mercy at all as the real him ran after the insanely fast kidnapper.

Hinata groggily opened her eyes, feeling air whip on her face as she was tightly in the arms of someone.

She felt extremely weak. It was alarming.

"Hinata!!" Naruto called out, knowing that she doesn't stay knocked out for long.

He hissed as he ran after the kidnapper, quickly defeating the enemies trying to get in his way without second thought.

His mind was focused on one thing. And it was rescuing Hinata.

It didn't matter trying to keep it quiet anymore.

He didn't care that the enemies he defeated fell right in front of civilians.

He had to get her back!

"Why isn't she fighting back?!" He thought as he tried to catch up, "Why does her chakra feel so weak?!"

Something was wrong.

What's happening?!

Suddenly, he felt chakra quickly approaching from behind. Projectiles.

He jumped forward right before the chakra projectiles hit him.

He turned around to get rid off whatever was attacking him, but he was shocked to see multiple of them floating in the sky, chakra orbs in front of them, then shooting them at him at high speeds.

How did they throw those?!

Dodging everything by an inch, he jumped out of the smoke and hissed at his enemies, creating a Rasenshuriken, "How are so many of them throwing chakra?!"

"Rasenshuriken!" He threw it with great control, hitting each one perfectly, "Who are they?!"

He created one more clone mid-air, and it pushed him directly in front of Hinata's kidnapper, getting in his way.

As he landed, he glared at the man, his heart aching, seeing how weak Hinata is from her eyes.

"Why you...!" He growled out loudly, nothing but rage in his voice as he ran to punch the man, "Let her go!!"

But the man's reflexes were as fast as his speed.

He jumped over the blonde, not even shaken up.

Naruto turned to run after him again, "Hold it!"

But a group of floating men from the sky all shot at him when his back was turned.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out.

He was enraged.

They were getting so far with her!

Activating Sage Mode for only a split second, because he barely gathered energy from all the movement, he pinpointed exactly where they were.

He threw a Rasenshuriken at the man, with all his control and precision, not to touch Hinata.

He threw another into the sky, which destroyed the ones shooting him down.

Seeing that Hinata was falling, he quickly ran, but he couldn't make it in time as she roughly landed, bouncing off the roof.

He immediately felt relieved as a red scarf got caught in a loose shard, of which she held on to.

He went to get to her, "Hinata! Are you okay?!"

Hinata gathered up her voice and yelled "Yeah!"

He's about to smile to get to her, but he stopped as he sensed a projectile shot at him.

He quickly dodged from it. He was too focused on Hinata.

"Where is my chakra?" Hinata thought, completely drained, "What happened?"

The glowing orb. It siphoned her chakra away and knocked her out!

She couldn't even make enough for her to stick to the roof.

And more unfortunate for her, she had a weak grip.

"My arms are getting numb" She whimpered as she tried to keep hiking up, "I can't hold on!"

She had weak upper body strength. She didn't need it for her Jūken.

Naruto tried to finish it as fast as possible. Last one!

Perched on a water tank, man made multiple projectiles and shot at Naruto non-stop.

Maneuvering himself through the air, he made a Rasengan and closed in on the gap, "Rasengan!"

Before her arms even gave out, the scarf ripped off, and she rolled downvand fell.

She felt far too weak. All she could do was stare at the sky with wide eyes as she fell to her death.

And just in time, Naruto finally caught her.

He wrapped himself around her as they braced themselves for a harsh landing.

She curled up against him on instinct as they roughly tumbled on to a roof, one to sure have broken a bone of someone if it wasn't Naruto.

They finally stopped, Hinata on top of Naruto.

She quickly looked at him and asked "A-Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, but I could've landed us better" He apologetically laughed, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight... I didn't gather any information"

"That's so unlike you, Naruto-kun" She pointed out as she helped him up, he accepted it and said "Well, you were in trouble! Nothing else mattered at the time"

They both sat silently on the roof top, both were a mess.

"Thank you for saving me, Naruto-kun..." She said, then her her eyes slowly fell to the scarf.

It was a long scarf. Did she make it?

Naruto's heart broke. Her hard work, ruined. Because of them.

"Looks like... Your scarf got ruined..." He said, she nodded sadly and said "Yeah..."

He slowly looked down, "I'm sorry... If I could've arrived earlier, then nothing like this would have happened"

"It's okay, it's not your fault" She said, "They came out of nowhere"

"What happened to your chakra? Is something wrong?" He asked, his mind running wild, but, to his dismay, she shook her head and said "I don't know..."

"Those guys... Where did they come from? Do you know them?" He asked again, but, she answered the same "I don't know..."

She looked as shocked as he was. This really came out of nowhere.

"What do they want from her?" He thought, mad at the attackers, "How did they enter Konoha? Why now?!"

"Ah" Hinata gasped silently before looking at him, "Naruto-kun, the one who seemed to be the leader, he introduced himself to me. He said his name was Toneri"

Naruto frowned, not even wanting to utter the name.

Suddenly, a presence appeared out of the blue, and they both immediately noticed him.

Naruto quickly stood up and got in front of Hinata.

"The final day is fast approaching" The strange man said.

"That's him!" Hinata yelled, making Naruto growl, "Dammit!"

He jumped to attack him, but, same as before, he disappeared before he could even make contact.

Toneri reappeared, floating mid-air and out of reach, "Before then, I will come back for you, Hinata"

Naruto's blood boiled, hearing her name with from that strange man.

As he was about to attack again, the man disappeared.

The two of them suddenly felt all the hair on their body stand. Strangely alarmed, their fifth sense going off.

As they stared ahead, right in front of the giant moon, they saw a strange light.

The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy and strange, and they could hear a loud and rumbling sound tearing through.

It started getting larger and larger, brighter and brighter, until it crossed above the village.

A giant, burning rock.

Naruto blocked his eyes as when it was too bright, only Hinata could see it with her trained eyes with no trouble.

A Planetary Devastation?

No...

It crossed over the Hokage Mountain.

And then, a moment of silence.

Suddenly, an explosion of light happened beyond the mountains, followed by an earthquake.

Hinata lost her balance, but Naruto quickly held her against him and blocked the strong and foul smelling air with his back.

Only then did the delayed sound come. It was terrifying.

It reminded them of war. The Tailed Beast Bomb.

He looked at Hinata, and he saw that she was not afraid.

Hinata was serious. Her kunoichi face present.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the smoke, "What the hell is going on?"

"Naruto-kun, that was a meteor" Hinata said.

"What?!" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Hinata!!! Naruto!!!"

The two turned, Kiba and Akamaru looked at them in a panicked state.

"We saw" Naruto said, not knowing how to react to the rock from outer space.

Kiba shook his head and said "Other than that, Hanabi is missing! The Hyūga compound was attacked!"

"What?!"

Hinata's attempted kidnapping. Toneri. The meteor. Hanabi. The strange men.

"Hinata," Kiba continued, "Your father, along with all the other Hyūgas with him, have been declared dead"

Each and every news. It was attacking Hinata directly.

Her world was falling apart.

Why?

Why?

Why?


"The Earth..."

Stood in a dark space with glowing bubbles was a man in all white.

"Would soon be..."

He slowly lifted his head, not an emotion on his face. Then he opened his eyes, only to reveal-

"Destroyed"

Eyeless sockets.