Hinata ducked at the last second, a few strands of her dark hair clipped by the flinty kunai as it flew by overhead. She spun on her heel, still in her crouch, and lashed out with her other leg. The undead soldier leapt out of her reach and flashed two more of his arsenal at her, followed by the rapid hand signs for a fire jutsu. Hinata drew her own kunai and struck the two incoming projectiles off course, knowing her bigger problem was the man's jutsu. She launched herself towards him with a burst of chakra, hoping to reach him before he was done performing the last hand sign.

But unfortunately, the former cloud ninja was faster than she'd estimated with his hand signing, because he breathed out a swirl of fire. She pushed down with another burst of chakra and flew up and over both the man and his attack, only crisping the tips of her shoes and hair. She built up the chakra in her hands and eyes, byakugan activating.

Landing on her feet facing his back, she brought up her arms. As the ying yang symbol took its place in her mind's eye, Hinata struck her first blow as the man turned to face her. Quickly coming to the last strike, Hinata sent him flying into and through a tree, his flesh flying away in a swirl of ash-like paper before returning to their places of origin. The blank-eyed man regained his footing and hurled another kunai at her.

Hinata barely managed to knock the kunai off target with her own kunai, and then activated the explosive tags she had implanted in his body.

'BOOOM!'

The man was blown to pieces, and Hinata finished the job by activating the trap seal scroll. She grimaced as she realized how much chakra she spent on this one opponent. Then she frowned when she realized she had only one trap seal scroll left.

She had no time to worry about it as a Zetsu sprung at her from behind. Hinata went wide left, bringing her arms up, kunai still in hand and ready for use. The Zetsu caught himself and spun around to face her, digging his heels into the ground in preparation for his next lunge. His venus fly trap-like body opened wide to swallow her.

She flung the kunai at him just as he pushed off the ground, causing him to divert left, and into her awaiting knee. Hinata followed up with multiple gentle fist-style hits to his back, finishing him off by severing his heart from his aorta. He fell to the ground eyes-wide and mouth open to release the blood that spilled out. She didn't bother watching him fall, her next opponent making herself known.

Hinata panted slightly, worn from the seemingly endless fight the day had become. Her chakra levels were approaching low, and there was no end in sight to the fighting. All around her the alliance army struggled to hold back the tidal wave of new enemies. Everyone seemed resigned to fight to the death, hope of any victory slim and quickly dwindling as each new enemy was spotted arriving.

Hinata did not want to die, nor did she want her comrades to die, but even she couldn't help but feel the odds were against them, especially with the advent of the enemies' infiltration. Anyone who wore the new headband was just as suspect of being the enemy as the undead who wore the former symbols.

Panic and suspicion had nearly destroyed the remnants of the allied army, and many had died by the imposters' hands or the hands of frantic and hasty comrades that falsely suspected another of being a fraud. Hinata's division had lost a little over half of their medical officers, and the effects of their loss was already being felt as the wounded piled higher and higher between the already overloaded medical ninja.

If only someone had detected the infiltration sooner. So many lives would have been spared.

Three ninja wearing the allied headbands leapt towards her, landing just behind her, and putting her between themselves and the undead mist ninja she had been engaging. Thinking they were on her side, Hinata leapt back towards them, hurling a batch of shuriken at the undead enemy, thwarting her from completing a jutsu as Hinata attempted to join her allies.

As she prepared to land, a hand caught her wrist and pulled her back and down, swinging a kunai down towards her unguarded neck. She managed to get an arm up in time, wincing from the bite of metal into her arm, the blood spattering her face and her attacker's hand. She twisted her body to regain her footing and kicked away the disguised enemy. She panted heavily now, fear and pain pushing her adrenaline levels higher. She gently pulled on the kunai but changed her mind as the brief medical lessons came back to her.

She shrugged off any further contemplation of medical care in favor of her four opponents, who were attempting to form a circle around her. Hinata almost smirked at the irony of the situation. Here her enemies were setting themselves up to be easily taken out by a rather famous Hyuuga technique, but she, the heiress of the clan, could not perform it in battle.

Hinata sighed heavily and relaxed her straining muscles. Now was not the time to panic and charge blindly. Now was the time to calculate and act precisely if she wanted to live. She tightened her grip on the kunai and shifted her body to hide her weapon. The enemies also shifted, preparing to attack.

The old lessons flitted through Hinata's mind, starting with the most basic of lessons Kurenai had taught her team, 'A ninja must always be aware of their surroundings. They must be able to use everything around them in battle, and not allow the enemy to use it against them.'

Hinata launched her kunai far above the enemies, destabilizing a boulder that hung on precariously to the ledge. Three of the enemies were caught beneath the shower of stone, and the fourth dodged wide right, putting himself in line with Hinata's shuriken. Unable to avoid them all, he covered his face with his arm, catching five of the projectiles in his white flesh. Hinata finished it with a crushing blow to the throat, effectively killing him.

Hinata didn't slow, using her momentum to plow into another of the enemies emerging from the rocks, snapping his neck with her hands, while snapping her leg up to the next guy. He spun away and returned with a kunai in his hand, rushing towards her. She struck away the hand with the knife and kicked at him, catching him in the knee, and sending him into a stumble.

But before she could exploit it, a water dragon jutsu nearly crushed her before sweeping her first away and then back to its caster. The undead kunoichi flung Hinata into the air with the last of her water dragon and the zetsu launched himself at her with his weapon ready.

The next instant, instead of meeting a bloody end like she expected, a shock of blonde and orange energy crushed the two enemies, the same instant a pair of arms wrapped around her and brought them to a safe landing.

Hinata looked up into clear blue eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world, outshined only by the brilliant smile that inspired hope into her very being. This was Naruto, hero of the world and hero of her heart.

The moment seemed to stretch forever, as Hinata basked in the radiance of his presence, feeling so safe and secure in his gentle but firm embrace. But it ended all too soon as he set her on her feet. Hinata choked back a cry of sadness, as she realized her feelings were likely one-sided…would Naruto ever notice her?

But Hinata shook herself out of it, almost unable to keep from shouting, "Where have you been! I-We all thought you were dead!"

Naruto put on his sheepish apologetic face, as he faced her and the others gathering around, trying to figure out his speech. Several clones finished off the remaining enemies, picking out any that were disguised. The battle-weary troops were shocked and surprised at his unexpected return when they all believed he had perished, but no one doubted who stood before them.

In his typical fashion, Naruto scratched his head and grinned, "Sorry guys, I was pretty busy taking care of some loose ends, but I'm back now to stay. We just have to finish these guys off, and I'll take care of the rest."

Hinata's eyes softened, their hero had returned, the war was as good as over, and everything was going to be okay. Naruto was here, and the world was right again.

-And back to you know who-

Sasuke slowly turned around to face her, his eyes closed and his mouth in a thin line. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal red, his expression carefully blank.

Sakura stared him in the eyes, unafraid of his sharingan. "I'm coming with you," she informed him when he made no other movements or speech. She took a half a step towards him, her expression determined, her choice clearly made, and his opinion already disregarded.

Sasuke closed his eyes and reopened them to reveal his tired onyx eyes. "You can't," he said simply, even his voice sounding weary, "Go back."

Sasuke turned away from her and started to leave. Sakura, temporarily dumbstruck, made to follow him anyway, but he sped around behind her, snatching the wrist of the hand she had outstretched towards him. "Don't follow me Sakura, turn around and go back. That's where you belong," he released her wrist and stepped back, his eyes burning a hole in her back. "You leave first," he commanded, waiting for her to comply.

Sakura turned around, her fists clenched tight and her expression angry. "No," she said quietly, her defiance broadcasting from her face. Sasuke narrowed his brows slightly, unconsciously revealing how much her blatant disregard of his command that she would have blindly followed before affected him. Even when she had doubted him in Madara's lair, she still obeyed his commands, albeit with a smart mouth.

"Sakura," he all but hissed a warning, "Just do what I tell you. Go!"

Sakura scrunched her eyebrows and grimaced, largely from anger but partly from hurt. "Sasuke," she almost said pleadingly, "I can't leave; I can't leave you. I will not leave this time. Never again, do you understand me? I won't leave you again!"

Sasuke relented, his expression weary once more, and strode past her, leaping into the trees. Sakura hesitated, surprised by Sasuke's sudden change, having been prepared for a fight over the matter. Sasuke prepared to take off, glancing back at her with a questioning glance, and giving her no other motion as he leapt away.

He was going a little slower than he would have on his own, a silent invitation for her to join him. Sakura smiled brightly and raced to join him. She didn't know where they were going or what they would be doing, but it didn't matter to her. She was with him, and she was never leaving; that was the only thing that mattered.