When Sunlight Lost Its Light
He said goodbye from the edge of the porch
Like she'd been some casual friend.
He said, "You're better off without me.
I'm not what you need."
Like her momma had said about him.
Hinata stood right outside of her house, tears streaming down from her white eyes as she clung to Kiba's arm. "Kiba," she wept. "Why? Why are you leaving?"
"Hinata," Kiba said, looking Hinata in the eye. "Your father made it very clear that he would never allow us to be together. You're the soul heir to the Main Branch of the Hyuga Clan, and I know you want to become leader more than anything. I'm not going to stand in your way. If you and I were together, you would be dishonored from the Clan. You wouldn't be able to become leader."
"You're wrong, Kiba," Hinata cried. "That's not what I want more than anything. Sure I want to become the Clan leader badly. But I don't want that over anything else. There's something I want more. I want you."
"Hinata," Kiba said in a quiet voice. "I know you love me, and I know this'll take time to get used to. But you're better off without me. I'm not what you need. You need someone who can take care of you and protect you all the time. You need someone your father approves of. You'll be turning twenty-one soon, the age where you'll be elligable to become the Hyuga Clan leader." Hinata wrapped her arms around Kiba and cried into him.
Akamaru, who was watching sadly, looked back into the Hyuga mansion where he had grown used to living by Hiashi's strict animal laws. He had been the only animal Hyuga Hiashi had had any patience for. He laid his ears back sadly when he saw a familiar little figure lying down on the couch in the living room, covered by a blue blanket. He let out a small, sad whine. Hyuga Hanabi. He had grown fond of the little two-year-old. She had her mother's shiny black hair and white eyes, but in reality, she had her father's over-the-edge personality. Akamaru looked back up at Hinata and his master and saw Kiba pushing Hinata off of him. She didn't let go of his arm though.
"Hinata," he said quietly. "Please. This is hard enough for both of us. Please don't make this any harder."
"But, Kiba," Hinata cried. "Please stay. Please don't go. What about Hanabi? What do I tell her when she asks me where her daddy went?"
"I love our daughter," Kiba said, gently running a hand through Hinata's hair and moving it away from her wet face. "I always will. When I look at her I'll see her mother through her. I hope to stay in her life as much as possible, but, Hinata, I can't stay. Your father made that very clear to me last night." He looked Hinata in the eye. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I'll see you around. You're a great Jounin. You're one of the strongest A ranked ninja in Konoha. I know you'll make a great leader of your Clan, and a great mother to Hanabi. I'll miss you, and our time together. I hope this doesn't end our relationship completely."
Hinata hugged Kiba. "Of course not," she said, tears staining her face by now. "I love you, Kiba. I'll miss you."
Kiba pulled away and looked down at Akamaru. "Come on, boy. It's time to go."
Akamaru's tail was limp and his fur hung limp as he looked up at his master with sad, helpless eyes. He knew that once Kiba had something fixed in his mind, it was impossible to change it. But this was the one time more than ever he wanted to be able to stop Kiba. He and Kiba had been best friends for almost twelve years, since Kiba had first found him astray. They had been partners and in a way, Akamaru was a Jounin too, just like his master. But Akamaru had fallen in love with Hinata too. Not like Kiba had, but he had grown extreamily fond of her, and thought of her like a second master. There wasn't an order that he wouldn't obey from Hinata.
Akamaru stood up and walked over to Hinata. He pushed his head up against her palm. She had finally let go of Kiba's arm. Hinata knelt down and rubbed Akamaru's head with one hand as she held his head with the other. "Oh, Akamaru," she cried. "I'm gonna miss having you over so often. At least I'll still be able to see you, and if Kiba agrees, then once she's a little older, Hanabi can come over to your house. I know how fond you are of her."
Akamaru looked up at Kiba and pricked hjs ears forward hopefuly. Kiba smiled down at him. "Of course," he said. He walked over and laid a hand on Akamaru's back. "Come on, Akamaru," he said, frowning. "It's time we leave."
Akamaru let out a sad sigh. The time had come. He looked lovingly up at Hinata and licked her hand before he turned and followed Kiba down the porch steps and down the path that led away from the house.
He started the car
Pulled out of the drive
Didn't waste any time looking back
She watched him go
Thinkin' even a stranger
Would show more compassion than that.
Hinata leaned against the rail on the porch as she watched Kiba leave, tears streaming down from her empty white eyes. She felt as if her whole life were being ripped from her. She could only remember the argument she had had with her father the night before.
Flashback
"What'd you tell him?" Hinata yelled. "What made you even think about telling him to leave?"
"He's not right for you, Hinata," Hiashi said in a cold voice. "He's not the kind of man who could support this Clan and protect you. He can't even beat your cousin Neji. How could he defend this Clan and its honor?"
"I couldn't even beat Neji for the longest time!" Hinata exclaimed. "It was only six months ago that I finally beat him in an honest fight. Why, Father? Why did you yell at him? Can't you see that for once I'm happy?"
"What I see is my twenty-year-old daughter with a two-year-old baby who will one day carry out the Hyuga Clan bloodline," Hiashi said coldly. "But what I also see is a ninja who will only hold our family back and not give support to our Clan's reputation."
"Screw our Clan's reputation!" Hinata yelled, rage beginning to fill inside of her, as well as sincere hurt. "All of my life I've been called a superfluous and a failure. But now that I've finally proven to be the strongest member of the family other than you, and now that I've finally proven myself to be worthy of the position as leader of this Clan, the one thing I want more than anything will leave me because you don't think he's good enough."
"Don't talk to me like that," Hiashi said coldly.
"I'm sorry, Father," Hinata snapped. "But this is one thing that I never thought even you would do. You really pushed it this time." She turned around and stormed off.
"Hinata!" Hiashi called after his daughter, but she didn't stop at all or even look back.
Hinata stood outside, leaning against the wall, fuming as she listened to her father. She could hear him scowl. "How did she ever grow to be like that? She's worse than Hanabi ever was, and Hanabi ran off with some guy for two years too."
End of Flashback
She could've cried, but she didn't have time.
She had a baby to feed
A pink blanket to find.
To rock their little one to sleep.
She could've laid in bed for hours,
Giving misery the power.
But she didn't have time.
She got a sitter. She got a job,
Cause she had a promise to keep.
Her day was a facrtory and evening survival.
At night was exhaustion and sleep.
Sometimes she felt life was passing her by,
And watching was all she could do.
Her friends said, "You gotta get outta the house
And maybe you'll meet someone new."
Hinata, Sakura, Ino, TenTen and Temari all sat down at the booth in the corner of the diner and ordered their own meals. Temari was in Konoha on a mission and was taking the time to hang out with her closest Konoha friends. The five had become good friends over the years.
"So how are things going between you and Neji?" Ino asked TenTen.
TenTen beamed. "We're doing great. We had our rough times for a while there, but then again, what marriage doesn't have its speed bumps?"
"And Zakuro and Kenshin?" Sakura asked.
TenTen beamed even more. "Ever since her eighth birthday, Zakuro's been acting like she's eight going on twenty-two. Kenshin is Kenshin. He's two going on ten. He's a lot like his father."
Hinata smiled. Hyuga Zakuro was Hanabi's cousin and the two seemed inseperable. Kenshin was a two-year-old Hyuga and a little parasite to Hanabi. No doubt, Hanabi loved Kenshin like a little brother and taught him everything she knew. Unfortunately, all Kenshin understood was that his nee-chan, his big cousin Hanabi, and his parents were stronger than he was
"How're the Terrible Twins doing during their Fighting Fives?" Ino asked, smirking at Sakura.
Sakura let out an exhausted sigh. "I swear. Gai and Fai have done nothing but bicker over every little thing for the past eight weeks since they turned five."
"The two are friekin' geniuses," Temari said. "They already know how to create a dopple ganger of themselves, and they're only five."
"I know," Sakura said, her eyes wide. "But they're driving me and Lee nuts!"
"I've never met a set of twins that are more different than Gai and Fai," Hinata said, smiling. "Gai somehow got sandy blonde hair, has brown eyes, but has thick eyebrows that are almost as bad as Gai-sensei's. Gai likes soft music, protecting his sister, quiet and taijutsu. But meanwhile, Fai likes rock music, being as far away from Gai as possible, likes being in groups of twenty or so other kids, and has a fascination with genjutsu. She has long black hair, green eyes, pale skin, and her father's slender, but not anarexic looking build."
"I know," Sakura said. "Like I said. The two bicker non-stop. They're arguing about why Fai's always pushing Gai out of her life, and about which is better between genjutsu and taijutsu. It's a never-ending nightmare. I love them both more than anything in the world, but I'm ready to burst." She let out a sigh and looked over at Hinata, smiling at her. "How's Hanabi doing?"
"Neji and TenTen have been baby-sitting her a lot while I'm away on trips," Hinata said in an exhausted voice. "Hanabi's turning out to be a genius, just like her second cousin Neji."
"And her mother," Temari said smiling.
Hinata blushed slightly.
"Yeah," Ino agreed. "We were surprised that you were able to come today. When TenTen told us you had agreed to make time, we were both releaved and surprised. You've been so busy now that you're the leader of the Hyuga Clan."
Hinata smiled, feeling exhausted. It was nice to be surrounded by her friends. "Mommy!" a voice cried. Hinata turned her head and smiled when she saw little Hanabi running over, her arms outstretched.
Hinata held her hands out to her daughter and wrapped them around her. "Hey, honey," she said. She looked Hanabi in the eye. "Where's your daddy?"
"Daddy's teaching me how to train a puppy to be my best friend," Hanabi said smiling. "Kai's been doing really well in our training."
Hinata smiled. "That's great. Is Daddy waiting outside?"
"Yeah," Hanabi said, nodding her head. "He's trying to catch Kai." She giggled. "Whenever I leave Kai starts running from Daddy."
"Go find him then," Hinata said. "Like you said, Kai only listens to you."
"'Kay!" Hanabi said, turning and running from the diner.
Hinata sighed as she watched her daughter run. She really was growing up.
"My, how Hanabi's grown," Temari said smiling. "She looks just like her mother."
"And her father," Hinata said, watching Hanabi outside with Kiba, who was chasing a small, solid white dog all around. The two looked a lot alike.
"It must be hard for Kiba to watch Hanabi and Kai," TenTen said. "Akamaru being gone and all."
"What!" Temari exclaimed in surprise. "Akamaru's gone? I thought he had just been left at home or something."
"Kiba? Leave Akamaru at home?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
Ino nodded. "I guess you wouldn't know, since you haven't been here since the last Chunin exams five months ago. Akamaru died about four months ago after a younger female dog had his puppies. Kai was the only solid white puppy in the litter, so Kiba gave him to Hanabi. Kiba's been looking at Kai longingly since. He was devistated when Akamaru died. They were best friends for years."
"Sometimes having your companion leave you can take a piece of you away," Sakura said. Hinata frowned, averting her eyes so that she looked down at her hands without it being noticable.
"Speaking of which," Ino said. "Hey, Hinata." Hinata looked back up at Ino. "Some of us are going out to a party this weekend. The Sand-Sibs are coming over, as are a bunch of other Shinobi. You might meet someone new. There will be a lot of nice guys there."
Hinata shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ino," she said. "I'd love to come, but I don't have time. Between Hanabi, training, meetings, paperwork and Hanabi's extra activities, there's just no time for anything else. But thanks for the invitation."
She could've tried,
But she didn't have time.
She had a five-year-old to feed.
She had a ballet class, piano lessons
And t-ball little league
She could've laid awake for hours,
Giving lonely nights the power.
But she didn't have time.
Not time.
Where would she find the time time
To trust a man again?
Hinata was walking down the road toward the Hyuga Compound, feeling exhaustion flood over her. She felt weak from lack of sleep during the last seventy-two hours and was trying desperately not to fall over and faint. Hinata didn't notice it, but there was a crack in the road ahead of her. She accidently stepped in the crack and fell forward. A moment later, a pair of strong arms caught her before she hit the ground and helped her up to her feet.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked worriedly. "That was a nasty— Hinata?"
Hinata looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the familiar blonde-haired ANBU ninja. "N-Naruto?" she stuttered in surprise at seeing her old friend and crush.
Naruto smiled. "Hey, Hinata. It's been some time."
"It sure has," Hinata said. "No one in Konoha has seen you in eight years."
Naruto blushed slightly. "Yeah. Sorry about that. That was my fault. Sasuke, Shikamaru and I were training up in the mountains together, and while they came back down two years ago, I couldn't help but continue training." He shrugged. "I love training. I see you still wear your Hitai-ate headband around your neck." He nodded to the Leaf headband around Hinata's neck.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah. I've been training really hard lately, and even though I'm the leader of the Hyuga Clan now, I still prefer to wear my headband around my neck instead of my forehead."
"You're the leader of the Hyuga Clan now?" Naruto asked in astonishment.
Hinata nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I became the leader two and a half years ago."
Hinata didn't know why, but she felt more relaxed and at ease than she had in years, since Kiba had left her. She felt something inside of her boil happily as she looked at Naruto. He sure had grown up and seemed to have matured a lot in the past eight years. He was a lot better looking, and looked a lot stronger also.
Naruto frowned. "Are you married to Kiba yet?"
Hinata frowned, being thrown from her thoughts. She shook her head. "No," she said. "Kiba and I were going out, but we had to break up three years ago."
Naruto seemed surprised. "Really?" His eyes seemed to light up a bit. "I have to say I'm stunned. You two seemed pretty hot and heavy before I left. A lot must have happened in the eight years I was gone. How serious did it get between you two?"
Not time for that flat tire,
A crowded parking lot and then,
Not time but yes have coffee with the man
Who get her tire fixed.
She was thinkin', 'gosh he's handsome'
When he asked, "Do you have kids?"
She could've lied But she didn't have time.
All she said was, "She's five."
He said, "I saw the car seat. I love kids.
Does she have your eyes?"
Hinata hesitated, wondering if she should tell Naruto or not about Hanabi. But, she felt too tired and worn out to even try and avoid the subject. "We have a daughter, a five-year-old. Her name is Hanabi."
"Named after your sister I presume?" Naruto asked.
Hinata nodded. "Yes," she said.
"I'd love to meet her sometime," Naruto said. "I'd love to get to know your daughter. I'm sure she'll turn out to be a great kunoichi, just like mother."
Hinata blushed. She relaxed, feeling releaved that Naruto didn't seem to mind that she had a daughter. "It's really good to see you again, Naruto," she said in a warm voice.
Naruto smiled gently at her, his bright blue eyes soft. "It's good to see you too, Hinata. Hey, want to meet up at my place tomorrow night? You could bring Hanabi if you wanted to."
"Do you mind if she brought a dog?" Hinata asked, smiling. "Kiba gave her one of Akamaru's only puppies before he died."
Naruto frowned, looking surprised and sad. "Akamaru's dead?" he asked. "That's sad. I was growing kind of fond of the mutt. He began treating me nicely, as was Kiba."
Hinata nodded, smiling as she and Naruto talked as they began walking down to the Compound.
And they stay and talked for hours,
Giving destiny it's power.
She could've been afraid
To fall in love that night,
But she didn't have time.
Hanabi rambled on and on through dinner at Naruto's apartment. Naruto and Hanabi seemed to get along great. They talked together, they played Rock-Paper-Scissors together (sadly, Hanabi beating Naruto 42 to 18) and telling each other jokes. It had been three weeks since Naruto's return, and every night Naruto had invited Hinata and Hanabi over for dinner. The three got along great. Every night after dinner, Hanabi would crash on Naruto's couch and Hinata would have to carry her home on her back. By nine o' clock, Hanabi was asleep on Naruto's couch, Kai curled up under her arm and sleeping soundly as well. Hinata was sitting in one of the two chairs by the fireplace, leaning against the back of the chair and relaxing. Naruto sat in the other chair across from Hinata, relaxing as well.
"Thanks for letting us come over the past couple of weeks," Hinata said in a tired voice. "It's been a lot of fun for Hanabi, and it's been great spending time with you again."
Naruto smiled. "I've enjoyed our tiem together too, Hinata. I've enjoyed playing with your daughter, catching up on the past, and getting to know you better. But the thing I've enjoyed the most is spending time with you."
Hinata blushed slightly, afraid that her feelings would fall out soon. Over the past couple of weeks, she had begun to feel more at ease and closer to Naruto than she ever had in her life. As she spent more and more time, she began to realize that the feelings she used to have for Naruto had never really left. They were still there, but had just needed to be unfolded. The fact of the matter was, she was in love with Naruto. Naruto leaned forward on his elbows, which were rested on his knees. She leaned over on her elbows as well. The two looked each other in the eye.
"Hinata," Naruto said in a quiet voice. "There's something I want to tell you. From the time we were sixteen, when I left to train in the mountains for eight years, I never told anyone why I left. I want to tell you now. The truth is, I left because I was afraid. I was afraid that my feelings would be exploited and that I would be hurt because of your feelings for Kiba. I was afraid that if you found out how I really felt, you would brush me off and go on with your life with Kiba. I was afraid that you would reject me."
"Naruto," Hinata whispered, feeling overwhelmed.
"Wait, Hinata," Naruto said. "I need to tell you this." He sighed. "I love you. That's what it comes down to. I love you. I never stopped loving you. Filled with fear and doubts, I took the chance and high-tailed it to the mountains where I could lose myself in my training. I had hoped that I would be able to get over my feelings and be able to return to Konoha and live a normal life. But even after eight years of being seperated, well, I guess the saying's true. Abscense does make the heart grow fonder. I've just become more and more in love with you, Hinata. It's nothing I can help. I love you. I love your daughter. I understand if you don't feel the same way about me, but I needed to at least tell you before I made the biggest mistake of my life. Letting you go."
"Naruto," Hinata said quietly. "From the time I met you, until I was going out with Kiba, I had the hugest crush in the world on you. I couldn't find anything about you that I didn't like, love or admire. Then you left, and my life began evolving around Kiba, Akamaru, my family, training, and soon Hanabi. But being with you the past three weeks has made me realize that my feelings for you never died. I love you too, Naruto. I really do. And I want to try this again. The right way." Naruto held Hinata's hands in his own and leaned over, crushing his lips against hers.
Passion. Happiness. Love.
All of that came from both of them, from either end of the kiss. Naruto moved over in front of Hinata on his knees. Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. She smiled, as did Naruto as he wrapped his arms around his waist. Their lips broke apart and they hugged. Hinata felt happiness flood over her.
She could've been afraid to fall in love that night.
But she didn't have time.
At last, the light in the sunlight that had been put out, was now relit.
A/N: Yeah. I know. Kind of as Skysoul would say, "Soap Oprahish" but what the heck? It was a fun oneshot to write, and I hope you all liked it. I'll be doing a Neji and TenTen oneshot to Whisky Lullabye soon, and I hope you all like it, although the way I'm writing it out it'll be kind of twisted... :goes into own thoughts, then shakes head: never mind me. Okay, hope you all read the future stories of mine. Adios! and no, I am not Mexician and I do not speak spanish.