Disclaimer: You know the drill. Not mine, make nothing. I'm writing for my amusement.

Alone

The young woman shed her clothing as she stepped toward the shimmering surface of the water. She carefully channeled her chakra to step upon the smooth surface, undisturbed by the breezeless night. The full moon reflected off of the water giving it a lustrous sheen, and bathing her in it's pale light.

She stood in the center of the pond and held out her arms loosely, elbows slightly bent. She began an elegant dance, concentrating on her movements instead of the harsh words of her father. Here, manipulating the water around her, dancing gracefully to her own music, she could be free. She had nothing to hide from the moon and water, nor did she have anything to fear.

She stepped lightly, and with a sensual sway as she directed flows of water around her slender body. Her hair flowed as she twirled in her passionate ballet. As she reached a crescendo she lost herself to the dance, banishing all her fears and doubts.

Her dance climaxed with her head thrown back, her eyes drinking in the moon's soft glow as the water settled around her.

It had become a ritual for her. She would come to the secluded lake when her emotional burden became to great, and she would dance. By concentrating on the dance alone she could forget her troubles, her cowardice, and her ineptitude.

But there was one thing the dance would never allow her to forget. Hyuga Hinata was lonely, and the one person that fill her heart with warmth didn't seem to know she existed.

As her eyes filled with tears she ceased her chakra flow, and plunged beneath the water's surface.

---

The young man sat alone in his apartment. He was used to solitude, but that didn't cease the ache he felt within It only gave him time to think, and his thoughts inevitably drifted to the wound in his heart.

The happy mask he wore beneath the open sky faded to nothingness when he stepped beyond the threshold of his home.

He was an outcast. Branded by the seal on his stomach, and ostracized for the crimes of the beast it contained. His soul was scarred by abuse and avoidance.

He used to live by his pranks, desiring acknowledgment and hoping that it would fill the void in his heart. It only earned more abuse.

He now had precious ones, people to call family. It wasn't enough. Every new person he found to care for only seemed to strengthen his feeling of emptiness.

He drew a bath as his thoughts continued to focus on his pain. He knew what was missing. Uzumaki Naruto had no one to truly love.

He lowered himself into the hot water, allowing it to relieve the tension in his body.

As his eyes filled with tears at the void that may never be filled, he slid himself beneath the surface of the water.