Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters mentioned in this story.
Author's Note: So I just remembered that I go back to school in May and I might not have the time to devote to writing for fun since I'm an English Lit major so I am going to try to finish this fic before May.
As always let me know what you think. Reviews make me a better writer.
Chapter formatting note: What's italicized in the beginning is Naruto's thoughts and experiences in his nightmare. What isn't italicized is happening in real-world time.
Chapter 5- Truths Under Moonlit Skies
Several nights later.
It happened faster than Naruto could react. They were fighting the Ten-Tails. Naruto was on his knees exhausted from throwing his Rasen-shuriken toward the creature. The Ten-Tails launched more wooden shards from its paw, full speed towards Naruto.
He couldn't dodge them all even if he wanted to.
A flash of green and dark blue jumped in front of Naruto.
Hinata! Naruto recognized. She stood with her arms extended to shield him with her body.
" Hinata move!" He yelled in a panic,
"She'll die"
She never wavered. Byakugan still activated, she stood firm.
"I'm just being selfish now. This time I'm going to save you Naruto-kun."
Wait… she didn't say that.
Memories blend together. Naruto's pinned on the ground black rods protruding out of his body.
The Ten-Tails is no longer looming above them. Pain takes its place.
" If it means I can protect you…"
Hinata activates her byakugan and attacks a rod pinning Naruto down.
"What is this?" Naruto asked, not understanding what's happening.
"Memories," Kurama answered. It wasn't often that he peered into the boy's dreams let alone interfered but this has been long overdue.
Before they bonded, when Kurama would force his chakra through the seal Naruto lost the memories leading up to Kurama trying to take control. However, since neither Naruto's nor Kurama's consciousness was fully in control, the memories leading up to the transformation became lost in a sort of limbo, sometimes they come back over time, sometimes they don't. To this day Naruto had no memory of the moments before he attacked pervy Sage.
Before she gets the chance to attack another, Hinata is hit with an attack of pain and is sent flying a few feet away from Naruto.
She tries again.
"Hinata!" Naruto shouts.
A trail of blood runs down her face, she struggles to stand up. Her knees are shaking, Pain moves to stand in front of Naruto.
"She can't win," Naruto thinks as she watches her use twin lion fists and charges at Pain.
She manages to get close enough to hit another rod.
He wants her to stop.
She needs to just fucking stop.
Pain sends her flying and this time, this time Naruto thinks she won't get back up.
Naruto can feel the tears behind his eye push to make their way down his face.
To his relief and absolute horror she does get up, instead of running away, she continues to struggle to make her way over to him.
She's crawling to him now,
He can hear Pain ask the same question he's thinking.
"Why?"
"Why would someone as weak as you go this far, when you know, you'll only die"
Hinatas' in front of Naruto now. She holds the rod pinning his hinds in hers.
" I'll never go back on my word." the Hyuga whispers.
She lifts her head, despite the pain she must be in, despite the new trails of blood running down her face she holds her head high.
"It's because I love you Naruto-kun." Hinata declared.
He heard that before hadn't he?
It was Hinata.
She said that she loved him.
The scene rewinds, Hinata fights pain again and once she's on her knees in front of him holding the rods pinning his hands down, Pain sends her flying. This time she doesn't get up.
Pain walks over to Hinata and stabs a rod through her.
Naruto's on his knees the Ten-Tails sending wooden shards his way, when Hinata jumps in front of Naruto to shield him, the shard and Pain's metal rod become one and pierce through her body.
Instead of seeing Neji cough up blood it's Hinata.
Naruto shoots up in his bed in a cold sweat he can't focus. Hinata. Hinata's in trouble, he has to go save her. Mind Hazy he slides open his bedroom window, sage mode activated in search of Hinata's chakra signature.
It was late. She had just returned from a mission an hour two before. After showering, Hinata couldn't sleep so she went to the place that brought her comfort. There she sat in her mother's garden, enjoying the silence of the night. The light from the moon reflects off the Koi pond giving the fish an iridescent glow.
Her hair was still wet from her shower, the tiny drops of water landing on her thighs. She noted some bruising, nothing serious enough that needed to be treated with medical ninjutsu.
She looked at the different assortment of flowers in the garden. Some of them were not native to the region. She remembered her mother telling her that father would surprise her with different species when he returned from missions or even went out of his way to put in a request for a mission to find a particular flower. Mother would plant them in the garden, some of them would survive and some of them wouldn't because of the different climate and soil properties but mother always said that it was the thought that counted most.
" The simple act of giving a gift to someone precious to you is even more special than the gift itself." her mother lectured.
"Why?" a young Hinata asked.
" Because it means that you are always in their thoughts and heart, no matter how far apart you are from each other." her mother responded.
" Mother and father loved each other so much," Hinata thought out loud.
A loud crash brought Hinata back to the present. Ko and Hanabi rush out of the compound, ready to fight off the intruder.
Recognizing Naruto's blonde hair she sent Ko and Hanabi back inside, something was wrong with Naruto. The blonde was panting hard and sweat was running down his forehead but it was his eyes that concerned her the most. Naruto's eyes reminded Hinata of seeing the ocean on a sunny day. Looking at him now his eyes were foggy and the turmoil in his eyes made her heartache. He was in the middle of a storm.
"Naruto-kun are you alright?" Hinata asked gently. She activated her byakugan to make sure he wasn't under a genjutsu or anything was disturbing his chakra network.
" Hin-Hinata" Naruto struggled to get out. He was seeing her but not really seeing her.
Walking slowly over to him as to not startle him she sat down on the grass a foot away from him, if he wanted her to move closer she would but for now, she would keep some distance from him.
" the Ten-Tails it… it... You were standing there and the rod went through you." Naruto said.
"He's confused,
His breathing is irregular.
I have to get him to calm down, he won't understand me clearly in this state." Hinata assessed.
" Naruto-kun, we are going to take a deep breath 1….2...3 okay and exhale 1….2….3." She says as she takes a deep breath with Naruto.
Naruto breathes in and then out his eyes, never leaving Hinata's.
" Good Job Naruto-kun, let's do it again, in 1...2...3 and now exhale 1...2...3," Hinata repeats this a few more times, and each time Naruto breathes easier and his eyes become more focussed.
"Are you feeling any better Naruto-kun?" Hinata asks softly.
"Yeah, thanks. I just need a minute." Naruto replied. Once he was calm he was able to fully look at her.
Hinata was in a silverish nightgown and a light robe. Her damp bangs clung crookedly to her forehead a bit. Blue eyes roamed over her legs and a blush dusted his cheeks. Once he noticed the bruising he frowned, his eyebrows creased in worry.
" Are you hurt?" Naruto asked.
"It's just some light bruising, I was on a mission earlier," Hinata said.
" Oh… I'm sure you're tired, I'll get out of your hair." Naruto said, smiling and letting out a laugh, making a move to stand up.
"Naruto-kun, sit down. Now." Hinata said firmly. The blonde was not going to show up almost naked at her doorstep and think he was just going to smile, laugh it off and she was going to forget about it.
Naruto slightly flinched, not used to hearing that tone coming from the usually soft-spoken Hyuga. So he sat down and waited.
"Are you cold? Would you like me to grab you something to cover up with?" Hinata asked. Under normal circumstances, she would have been red as a tomato seeing Naruto in only his underwear but this was not the time.
Naruto looked down and the blush that took over his face could rival that of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. In his daze and haste, Naruto didn't put pants or even shoes on.
" I'm not cold. Yes to covering up." Naruto answered, hands trying to cover up.
" Alright stay here." Heading inside, Hinata grabbed the blanket she often uses to sit in the garden as well as asked Ko, who was watching from inside, if he could bring out a pot of tea and some cookies.
After handing him the blanket. She sat down back.
Moments later Ko returned with another Hyuga. The other Hyuga sat the tray of tea and cookies in the middle of Hinata and Naruto.
"Uzumaki-san." Ko said as he threw a pair of Hyuga training pants at the blonde.
" Try and make yourself more respectable in the presence of Lady Hinata." He said bowing to Hinata both Hyuga's went into the compound. Ko leaves to inform Lord Hiashi.
The two sat in a somewhat comfortable silence drinking tea and snacking on cookies until Hinata asked the question Naruto wanted to avoid.
"Naruto-kun, do you want to talk about what made you so upset?"
" Not really. But there's no avoiding it anymore." Naruto said softly.
" I'm listening. Whenever you're ready." Hinata said. She reached out and squeezed his hand.
Hinata watched Naruto intently. This subdued blonde sitting in front of her worried her.
" Ever since coming home, I've been having dreams, well more like nightmares from when Pain attacked and from the war," Naruto said, staring at the steam rising from his cup.
Hinata understood. She had her fair share of nightmares of both. She knew the others did too.
"Grandma Tsunade said, it's cause I'm not busy. I didn't have time to grieve properly before running off something about processing trauma.
Lady Tsunade's assessment made sense to Hinata. Naruto went from chasing after Sasuke-san, to losing Jiraya-san, to fighting Pain, to jumping in a war, Naruto-kun got to meet his father and lose him all over him, lost his arm, lost a friend, and even when the war was once Naruto-kun only came home during his recovery then he was off again helping the other Nations. While the rest of the rookie nine were at home rebuilding and grieving, they were together and recovered together. Naruto-kun was all alone jumping from project to project without rest. Hinata thought.
" It's usually the same stuff, but tonight was different. Kurama said something about memories but the stupid fox won't answer me when I try to talk to him." Naruto said annoyance crept in his voice.
" You shouldn't talk about Kurama-san like that," Hinata said softly. She could see what the fox was doing, forcing Naruto to talk to someone about it.
Kurama's ear twitched at Hyuga's comment but otherwise stood quiet.
Naruto huffed out.
"Naruto-kun, how was tonight different," Hinata asked. They needed to get to the root of the problem so that he could start healing too.
"You," Naruto said straightforwardly.
"Me?" Hinata questioned her delicate brows furrowing in confusion.
" You jumped in front of me, then Neji jumped in front of you."
" You jumped in front of me, you jumped to protect me."
Hinata nodded, he was ranting now.
" But that wasn't the first time you did that was it?"
Blue eyes locked onto white for a moment no one spoke.
" No. It wasn't." Hinata answered.
"It was hazy before, I remember you jumped down to help me when Pain had me pinned but I couldn't remember what happened afterward. Sakura said that you were hurt but I couldn't remember exactly how you got hurt.
"You said you loved me," Naruto said, looking into Hinata's eyes.
Hinata may have the same eyes as the rest of her clan but hers were special. Naruto could see every emotion she was feeling in her eyes. Her eyes couldn't lie. So Naruto waited. We waited to see if her eyes would show disgust apprehension showed something to show him that in his desperation to feel loved he imagined the kindest person he knew telling him they loved him. He was waiting for rejection.
" I did.
I do," Hinata said.
Naruto's eyes widened.
This was it Hinata thought.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hinata tried to pour all her feelings into her eyes. Into the words, she was about to say. This was not the time to falter and she wouldn't. Opening her eyes, she began confessing.
" I was always chasing after you. I just wanted to be able to walk next to you. I Just wanted to be with you. You changed me. Your smile saved me Naruto-kun. I wasn't afraid to die fighting Pain if it meant that I could protect you. I wasn't afraid of the Ten-Tails but if you were the last thing I saw before I died, then I would've died happy. Naruto-kun. You are the only person I would give my heart to. There is no one else but you."
Blue eyes stared at the girl in surprise. Looking at her the moonlight covered Hinata in an ethereal glow and Naruto is reminded of the water fairy he saw dancing in the river on a mission. She was beautiful. The dam broke inside of Naruto and his body started to shake. Tears built up in his eyes and started to fall.
"What's this feeling?" Naruto thought.
Naruto felt himself being pulled into a hug, soft hands held him close.
" I love you Uzumaki Naruto. You've inspired me. Every time I fell, I thought of you and I could stand, every time I faltered, I thought of you and my stance became firmer. When I wanted to give up, what pushed me was the thought that one day I would be able to walk beside you." Hinata said softly while she held him.
Pulling back from him she looked him in his teary eyes, " I love you." she said before pulling him back into a hug.
" Hinata I-" Naruto started.
" Don't. You don't have to say it just because those are my own feelings. We can talk about it some other time but, right now you need something else." Hinata cut him off.
Nodding his head. Together they sat under the moonlight in each other's arms. Burying his face in her neck Naruto said,
" Thank You."
" For what ?" Hinata asked.
"Loving me," Naruto whispered holding her tighter.