A/N: Angsty? Happy? What is the ending going to be like? Well, I was going to let you be the judge of that, but as it turned out, I had plans of my own, as of last night at 11:47 AM about two weeks ago. Sorry… Perhaps next time, if you leave me an idea. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little conclusion. And for the record, I'm pretty sure Hinata's father IS Hizashi.
Blah blah blah, Disclaimer - I don't own stuff, and I think Kakashi, Itachi, and Kibito are all really cute.
The End of Time
The strike missed Naruto by mere inches. He barely the energy to stand, but he managed to cling to a wall. "Who… who the hell are you?" he gasped through heavy panting. He felt the Kyuubi's chakra beginning to flow through him. Now that he knew it was not his lover, he felt no fear and no desire to hold back.
"What are you talking about? I'm your darling Hinata, and I'm telling you to stay away!" the imposter cried. She lunged at Naruto, who again barely managed to escape. He was still far too weak to counter, but he would stay alive for the time being.
Naruto jumped. He silently wondered, "Hinata… where are you?"
---
Hinata sat in the study of her old house, quietly wiping tears from her face. She was still devastated to know that Naruto had outright lied to her. He had lied about everything, and yet she still loved him. She could not face him, though. Her heart hurt far too much. Still… she owed it to herself to speak to him face to face. She had grown, and she was no longer the shy, self-deprecating pitiful mass of human life she had once been.
She also owed it to Naruto, her love, to let him tell her his side of the story, no matter how much it hurt.
Hinata slowly stood and wiped the last cascade of tears from her cheeks. She made her way to her new house on the outskirts of the compound where she had told Naruto to meet her.
Without warning, a vase flew from the door and shattered when it hit a nearby tree. "What in the world…?" She dashed into the house and heard shouting and falling objects in the next room.
"Naruto? Naruto, what's going on?" she called. As she stepped into the room, she gasped. Naruto was fighting with… her.
"Who the hell are you?" she cried in shock and anger at the clone. The clone froze just long enough for Naruto to land a solid punch. The clone fell back and poofed back into her original appearance.
"Neji?" Naruto and Hinata said together.
"Neji-nii! But why?" Hinata asked, appalled. "You and Naruto-kun are allies. You are friends! Why would you do this to him?"
Neji slowly stood before the both of them. "Hinata-nee, I heard about him and Sakura! He hurt you! He lied to you! I knew he would not be faithful to you. Why should he be allowed to continue this way? I needed to teach him a lesson!" he spat angrily, wildly brandishing his finger at the heavily injured nin.
Hinata shook her head and covered her ears. "No, Neji, this is not like you. When did you become a cold vigilante? You were once distant, but never so wrathful."
"That's not true, I just…" Neji began. Without warning, he grabbed his head, fell to the floor, and writhed in pain. He looked up to Hinata and whimpered. "I'm sorry; it isn't my choice." He slowly pulled his forehead protector away to reveal the green seal, which was burning brightly. "Your father…" He spoke no more and instead screamed in pain.
Hinata's blood froze. Her father had ordered this. What was she to do? Naruto was badly wounded, but Neji was also in pain. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to help Neji. She ran to Naruto, wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, and ran from the house. As she fled, she looked back at Neji. He was the most talented Hyuuga she knew, rivaled only be her father and sister. It should have been him to lead the Hyuuga's next, not her.
"I'm so sorry, Neji," she whispered, running.
"Take me to my house," Naruto struggled to say.
"Neji will find us too easily that way!"
"It doesn't matter. It's the only safe place." Hinata reluctantly complied. They reached Naruto's apartment, and Hinata quickly laid him on the bed to tend to his wounds.
As she wrapped a roll of gauze around his calf, he watched her and managed a few words. "I'm sorry, Hinata."
Hinata pulled the gauze tightly, causing Naruto to yelp. "Sorry for what? For Sakura? What for, Naruto? I"- she paused. No, she had come to listen to him, not berate him senseless. She took a deep breath and restarted. "Naruto, why didn't you just tell me?"
"I didn't want to hurt you… after all this time…"
Hinata gave him a cross look. She pulled her chair right by the head of his bed and stared straight at him. "Tell me the truth: did you, or did you not have a relationship with Sakura while I was gone?" she asked sternly.
"I did."
"Anyone else?"
"No."
She sighed and took another deep breath. "Did you…" she did not finish the sentence.
Naruto sputtered indignantly. "No!"
Hinata laughed a little. Naruto was always good for that kind of thing, that childish embarrassment. It would be hard to let him go. "Naruto, if you love Sakura, you simply could have told me," she murmured, casting a downward glance. "I told you long ago that"-
"Wait, wait," Naruto quickly interrupted Hinata. "What are you talking about? There is nothing between Sakura and me anymore."
Hinata scowled. "Naruto, there's no longer any reason for you to lie to me anymore. I saw you kiss her this afternoon. Granted, it was a little inconsiderate of you to do so in our special spot, but"-
Naruto shook his head violently. "Hinata, I wasn't even in Konoha until about an hour ago. Ask anyone, especially Sakura. I was… running an important errand."
"Then…" Thoughts flooded Hinata's mind. Was it just another illusion? But how could that be? It would have to be case by someone who could surpass the revealing power of the Byakugan, but the only person who could do that was…
Realization dawned. Neji had cast the illusion. He had setup the entire thing in hopes of setting Hinata and Naruto against one another.
"Neji," Naruto said aloud, as if reading Hinata's mind.
Hinata winced. While Naruto was generally kind-hearted and receptive of all people, he and Neji butt heads every once and awhile over the subject of Hinata. Neji was well aware that Naruto had a warm nature and never meant to hurt anyone, but he still could not trust Hinata's lover. Neji always considered Naruto a flighty boy, willing to chase any girl who found him slightly attractive, and now that women were more open to the demon-plighted man, it was not hard to find a female who did not have thoughts about the blond nin.
Consequently, Naruto found Neji stiff and unrelenting. Hinata and Naruto often had arguments about the older Hyuuga. Hinata defended her blood relative for two major reasons. First, he was practically her older brother, and she cared for him as such. Second, at times, she tended to believe him, even a little.
Naruto continued. "No, it is not just Neji," he said. Hinata released a small sigh of relief. "It is also your father. He does not want to see our union."
Hinata opened her mouth to disagree and defend her father. But after a small hesitation, she shut her mouth once more. Naruto was completely correct, and she avoided looking in his eyes. "Oh, Neji…" she thought silently. Even as a child, she searched for countless hours in the Hyuuga library for a way to reverse the cursed seal, but to no avail. If only…
"Even after all these years, he would have even Kiba over me as his son-in-law," Naruto added, breaking Hinata's train of thought.
She quickly turned her head to stare at him. "Son… in law…?"
Naruto slowly slid off the bed and reached into the side pocket of his coat, against Hinata's protests of his wounds. He gently brushed her hand away and spoke. "I had hoped to do this at a time when I looked more presentable, perhaps at a time when your family would accept me, but I suppose there is no time like the present." He took a small black box from the pocket as he bent to one knee before Hinata. "I wasn't in Konoha this afternoon because I was buying this," he said as he opened the box to reveal a diamond ring. "Hinata, you are kind and patient. You listen to what I have to say, no matter how stupid it may be. I'm not smart or as talented as you make me out to be. I'm a brash fool, but you take me for who I am. I love you. Even if you had left Konoha for ten years, I would have waited. I would wait for you until the end of time, and nothing would make me happier than if you would be my wife."
Hinata's breath hitched in her throat, and she felt as if her heart had simply stopped beating altogether. Was this real? She pinched her skin, waiting to wake up for the best dream of her existence, only to feel a sharp pain coursing through her arm. This was really happening. Naruto was proposing. To her. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Naruto panicked. "Hinata, did I say something wrong? I'm sorry; just forget everything I've said and"-
Naruto was quickly silenced when Hinata through her arms around his neck, kissing him fully on the lips. The blond nin was ecstatic, though now in excruciating pain. He attempted to lift her, only to weakly fall back on the bed. His blue eyes met her violet ones, which shimmered with tears of joy. As he gently wiped her cheeks, he whispered, "Will you be mine?"
"Yes."
---
Hinata silently watched as Naruto slept beside her in bed. She marveled as she watched his wounds disappear before her eyes. Nothing seemed to hurt him on the outside, but he was riddled with inner wounds, she could tell. She kissed his cheek and quietly slinked out of bed. Hinata took an oversized shirt from the bedside table and walked to the kitchen.
Naruto's apartment was calm and silent, as it should have been in the dead of the night. Still, Hinata's mind tossed and turned with apprehension. She sat at the table and looked at her ring finger, now adorned by her new engagement ring. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. How would her family react? Would they even let this continue? What would they do to Naruto? She could not let them do anything to her love, but how could she just cut herself from the family that raised her and loved her?
Hinata relaxed as she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "Oh, Naruto," she sighed.
"I'm sorry, Hinata," Neji murmured.
Hinata turned with barely enough time to see Neji strike her. She fell to the floor like a rag doll. "Naruto," she tried to call before falling unconscious.
Hearing the clatter from the kitchen, barely ready to fight, Naruto rose from bed. "Hinata, what are you doing?" He walked in and found Hinata on the floor, but with no intruder in sight. He raced to her side to rouse her. "Who is there?" he cried, though he knew the answer. "Neji, show yourself!"
His challenge was answered. A fist surrounded by flaming blue charka grazed Naruto's head as he ducked just in time to save himself. Naruto was in a bad position. He had not fully healed, and he was not on the defensive against a far faster opponent.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," Neji said as he continued to attack, coming closer to more devastating hits with each second. "I never wanted it to come to this, but my lineage leaves me with no choice. If you truly love her, then you have no choice. You will have to kill me."
Naruto shook his head. "I won't kill you, Neji. We changed your fate long ago, and I won't"-
Neji punched Naruto in the stomach. "Do it, Naruto, or you and Hinata will have no future!"
Naruto clutched his belly, the pain searing through his body. He had no other options, and soon enough he felt the fox demon's charka in his veins.
…
Hinata was somewhere between the realm of consciousness and oblivion. She could hear a fierce battle, but in her mind she only saw images of her past with both men. One vivid memory kept appearing in small chunks until it fit together like a repeating filmstrip.
She was in the temple of her forbearers, hurriedly reading through ancient texts and family trees. If her family library in Konoha had no answers, perhaps this place would have something, even a small inkling. However, she could find nothing to ease her worries.
Suddenly, she came across a ripped edge of one of the family trees of the clan. It was as if someone had deliberately shoved it into a shelf so it would never be found again. As Hinata smoothed the crumpled, dusty record, she read something that made her double take. She checked several other records, but all led to the same conclusion.
"This is…"
"Hinata, are you down there?" Hanabi called from the stairs.
Hinata quickly shoved the paper back into the books. "Yes, nee-chan! Do you need something?"
"Your sensei is calling for you. Best not to keep her waiting."
Hinata quickly complied, but she remembered the book for a later time. She would come back time and again during her tenure in the temples and learn of a secret move that had only been used once before in all of Hyuuga history. Never did she think she would have the courage to use it… until now.
…
Hinata blinked away the stupor from her mind. The once calm kitchen now lay in ruins from Neji and Naruto's battle. She reached for the edge of the table and slowly pulled herself until she stood, leaning heavily on the table. The two men stood charging for their final attack, but Hinata highly doubted that either would survive. She blinked back tears, creating several seals with her hands. This was the only way.
"Goodbye," she whispered.
Naruto and Neji rushed at each other, and a great wave of charka exploded in the room. As the energy and smoke cleared, both men stared on with wide eyes and bloodstained faces. Neji was the first to stagger away.
"Hinata…"
Hinata smiled weakly at her cousin. She lifted a pair of bloody hands and placed them upon his pale face. She leaned toward him and seemed to suck the air before his forehead. The green seal vanished from Neji and appeared on Hinata's forehead.
"Hinata, how did you…?"
"It's called the Kiss of Resurrection. I came across it while I was away. It was used once by a member of our clan many a decade ago to switch the position of the head of the family with a younger, but more talented sibling. It requires only one sacrifice, the life of a Hyuuga without the cursed seal," Hinata explained. "I give you new life, Nii-san." With that, she collapsed.
Neji quickly caught Hinata, and blood spilled onto his arms. "Hinata-nee, why?" he asked, trying not to cry.
"Even though the head clan has abused you, they have always seen you as the better, Neji. My father always says that it should have been you to have been born to the head family. Even if it were not for that, I hate seeing you suffer so. I've long blamed myself for your father's death. It was because I was captured that your father was sacrificed in my father's place. I love you as if you are my own blood brother, and so these are my reasons, Neji. So go tell my father that he has a child he can be proud of," Hinata whispered painfully.
She turned. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I never thought that it would come to this. But now I realize, even if you had defeated Neji tonight, my family would never let us rest. It was not meant for us, Naruto. I'm so sorry…" she coughed blood.
Naruto took Hinata from Neji's arms and cradled her weakening body. "We could have run from here and started new."
"And become missing nin? No. That is not the life for the future hokage. You have so much potential, Naruto. Don't waste that for me."
"Hinata…" Naruto felt hot tears streaming down his face.
Hinata smiled, feeling the tears lightly land on her skin. Everything was becoming cold. "Please, don't mourn for me. I am so happy to have known you, Naruto."
Naruto held Hinata close to his chest. "I will love you until the end of time."
Hinata smiled at these words. She shivered and whispered, "I love you." With those final words, her body fell limp.
Naruto shook the woman with all his might. "Hinata, please wake up. Hinata?"
Neji placed a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder and shook his head. "The cursed seal has vanished from her forehead. She is gone, Naruto."
Naruto squeezed her tightly one last time and kissed her forehead before lying her body down. She looked peaceful for the first time in a long while.
"So now what?" Neji asked.
"A funeral with all who knew her. It will be crowded. She left a bigger impression on people than she gave herself credit."
"We will line her grave with violets."
"Yeah, she'd like that. And what do we put on her epitaph?"
"A selfless sister."
"Who gave her life for love and family."
"You forgot 'Loved by a dedicated fiancé'."
Naruto smiled at this. "Yeah?"
Neji nodded. "Yeah. She'd like that."
-Fin-
A/N: So… yeah. I'm very much a Naruto x Hinata shipper, but something came up when I was in the middle of writing this, and it swayed me very much. I will try to write something more upbeat next time. Maybe an alternative ending? We'll see if I get enough feedback.
-
I'm sorry. It isn't meant to be.