There I stood, in the pouring rain, looking at that grave, roses clutched in my hand, the thorns ripping me open. But this wasn't any grave.
This was her grave.
The grave of the woman I love. Even though I didn't realize it, until it was too late.
I remember the day she died. I could never forget, no matter how hard I tried. It was her first major mission as a new member of the Kohona ANBU.
And I was the captain.
Before we left, she was nervous. But I sat with her and said. "It's alright. I'll protect you, no matter what." She looked up, with admiration and trust.
But when it all came down to it, I couldn't protect her.
How could I have been so stupid? If only I had noticed the ambusher's presence earlier, we could've escaped.
She could have lived.
I put down the flowers, and slammed my fist into the ground. The more I thought about it, the weaker I became. There were four assassins, and two of us. Even if she didn't fight them, I should have been able to take them out on my own.
But I couldn't. And I feel for the oldest trick.
How can I be so damn stupid!?
As the last man left, he set off a trap, which through a barrage of kunai at me, and got me stuck in ground.
But not a single kunai hit me.
Because she took every shot.
I was shocked, something like this never happened to me. But she got me out of the ground, helped me up, and pretended like she wasn't in pain.
Even with that kunai right next to her neck.
I held her close, in the last moments and said "Just hold on! It'll be okay! Just hold on!" I ran back to camp as fast as my legs could take me, and I had got her to the medic-nins with us just in time. And luckily, she managed to make it home.
The doctors said if she made it through the night, she could make it.
But she didn't make it through the night, now did she?
I remember sitting at the end of her bed, holding her hand. She was barely awake, but told me those words which will forever be etched into my mind.
"I-I love you….Naruto-kun."
That hit me hard. I didn't know how to react to love. I was never given it, nor had I ever truly felt it for another. But I couldn't think of what to say, at that moment were everything stopped, but it just wouldn't sink in.
Not until I saw it all.
Every time she looked my way, every time she looked up to me, and every time she brought herself the courage to talk with me. I remembered. And I told her how I felt without words, but in one, short kiss.
I had to leave the hospital that night, so she could rest. But I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. But I still hoped. I still prayed, that she could live to see the next day's light.
But she didn't.
During the night, her old heart problems came back to haunt her, for the worst. The doctors tried, but it could be helped. She tried everything she could to fight, but in the end, she lost. She lost to the one person she always feared most.
Herself.
I traced my hand over the message, encrypted on the grave, my cuts already healed.
'Hyuuga Hinata.
Heir to the Hyuuga name, and the best of friends to all she met.'
::BA,FD stands with a candle in her hand and wears a long, black dress:: Tell me what you think of the story, because I can do more like these if you want. I'll take flames and critizum, so feel free to say what you want in your review.
Oh yes, I don't own Naruto. ;;