A/N: Yah, Hinata's going back! What will she look like? Hum… Read to find out!


Angels and Demons Don't Mix

Chapter 04 – One Chance

Hinata lay on her back in a light slumber. Slowly, everything began flowing back to her. Death. Heaven. Last chance. Naruto… Suddenly, she sat up, whipping her eyelids open. When her sight came into focus, she realized she was in a forest. Trees reaching up to the sky towered around her, and leaves began slowly floating toward the ground. She let her head fall back, and she looked up into the bright blue sky. The sun shone down on her.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. "I…I..I can't feel…" She extended her hand out into a small ray of sun that found it's way through the trees. Nothing. No warmth came. She then took her trembling hand and lowered it to the ground, picking up a large pile of dirt. Nothing. She couldn't feel the familiar sensation of the cool dirt coming in contact with her skin. She let the dirt slip through her cracked fingers, back to whence they came.

Slowly, without noticing, she stood and began walking. Soon, her walk turned into a jog, then a run. The trees around her changed into blurs of brown and green in the corner of her eye. She felt as if she wasn't there… as if she couldn't be seen… as if she really didn't exist. Suddenly, she came to a stop, right in front of a clearing. Slowly, she walked toward the pond before her. Once she reached the edge, she squatted down, one arm clutching her knees. With the free hand, she swirled the water before her. Nothing. She couldn't feel the cool water flow between her fingers. She couldn't feel the joy she once felt when in the water. She removed her hand from the pond, letting the drops drip from her fingertips to the water where it belongs.

Her eyes widened as she saw her reflection. Her hair was straight and black, reaching about her waist. Her skin was a bit less pale then what it was before. Her lips curved perfectly, making it look like she's smiling, even though she's not. She was beautiful, nothing like what she was before. But, there was one similarity, her eyes. "Damn it…" she muttered. She had been still left with the bloodline of her family. Her eyes held no pupils, only a deep pearl white.

After walking away from the pond, she found a path between the trees that she recalled as the one that lead to the village. She now knew she was in the forest outside Konoha. Slowly, she walked down the path, thoughts wondering. How was she ever going to explain this? Before she could even begin coming up with a plain of action, she heard a small rustle from the bushes in front of her. She stopped, quickly getting into a fighting stance. She had no weapons, so she was defiantly at a disadvantage if someone tried to attack her. When no one emerged from the brush for quite some time, she began looking around her, trying to find any sign of someone. She sighed, the stood up straight again. 'Maybe it was a rabbit…' She began walking again, but suddenly, a blur of black whipped by her face, and she froze. 'That's no bunny.'

Standing before her was a boy with long black hair. His face was of stone, as was her heart. "Who are you?" He asked. She tried to speak, but her throat was clenched shut. 'N-Neji…' She took a deep breath. "I'm… I'm Emiri." Neji looked her up and down, taking in her appearance. "I've never heard of you." She nodded. "I'm from a small town in the west. My father informed me that Hinata had died, so I came to pay our respects to your family." Neji's eyes darted away from her. "Come with me." He then turned and began walking down the road. She fallowed him, dumbfounded. He made no eye contact, trying to hide his face from her view. 'He… He actually cares…'

"You must miss her." Neji stopped walking, but still didn't turn to face her. Hinata was surprised at her own words. 'Well, I guess since no one knows who I am, I can do what I want… So why not ask him about me?' "I can tell." She continued walking, leaving him behind her. Soon he stood, walking beside her. Still, he said nothing. "I personally never met her. What was she like?" Still, nothing. "Was she like you?" He didn't turn to face her, but he did speak. "No. Nothing like me." Hinata sighed. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he didn't care. "No… I'm nothing compared to her…" Hinata eyes widened as she turned to her cousin. All her life, she thought he hated her, thought she was weak, wished she was dead… "She had a heart of gold. But all our lives, I hated her. She was of the main branch, and I wasn't. Then when my father died, I could only blame her. Even when I found out the truth about his death, still I held her responsible." Hinata couldn't believe it. Neji was actually opening up to someone! And he didn't even know anything about her! What had her death done to him? "But, even after I tried to kill her during a fight, she still smiled at me. She didn't want me dead like I did her… Hinata-sama was pure. She was strong, even if she didn't show it. She was much better then I will ever hope to be." Hinata's hands trembled. All she wanted to do was tell Neji she knew. That she knew he loved her. That it was ok… but she couldn't… A tear slowly flowed down her fragile cheek, landing on the rocky trail below their feet.

The rest of their walk was in silence. Neji was consumed in thoughts of his cousin, Hinata's filled with thoughts of her own. Here he stood, but still, she could not reach him. She was being torn up inside, trying to reach, trying to touch him. But, it was pointless. Soon, they reached the large doors of Konoha. Hinata could remember all the times she walked out of these doors, friends at her side. And every time she walked back through them, relieved that everyone was back safely. As the pair walked through the doors, Hinata's head began spinning.

The doors of the Konoha entrance opened, allowing eight teenagers to walk through. The night sky shone with bright stars, but the moon was nowhere in sight. Neji walked up to the group. "Where's Hinata. I've been ordered to escort her home." No one answered the Hyuuga. All the boys stood, face covered with a mask of no emotion. All the girls trembled from head to toe, hands covering their mouths, eyes filled with tears. Naruto, who stood directly in front of Neji, had his gaze toward the ground. A single tear fell from his nose to the cool ground below him. He clenched his fist, causing his now claw-like fingernails to dig into his palm. Naruto suddenly shot his head up, so his flaming eyes where matched with that of the Hyuuga boy's. "Are you happy now!" He screamed. Everyone in the streets turned to the group. No one had noticed them come in. "Naruto…" Sakura had placed her hand gently on Naruto's shoulder, trying to calm him, but he was far past the point of being comforted. "Are you happy now! She's gone! She's…" His voice trailed off into the starry night.

Hinata blinked. Neji still walked in front of her, not noticing she had stopped. Her hands trembled, then she looked up at Neji, still his back turned. A tear slowly flowed down her face, just as Neji turned around. She cracked a sweat smile, then quickly jogged to catch up to him.

Hinata knelt down before her father. "So, you want to stay here?" She replied, "Yes. Just for a week." She still didn't look at him, out of respect, and partially out of fear. She was afraid if she looked into his eyes, she wouldn't be able to hold her tears back. "Fine." His voice was cold. Hinata got up, bowed in thanks, then walked out of the room. After entering her old room, she closed the door and let out a deep sigh. 'Finally, I'm home…'


IMPORTANT!

A/N: Yah, Hinata's home! Ok, this is really important. I'm stuck! Ha! Ok, can you guess give me some ideas? I need to know what should happen next. Please remember that she needs to eventually tell Neji what his father wants him to know… but I can't tell you what it is, so you're going to have to improvise. And also, she's only got one week to get Naruto to confess his love. So, any idea?