No reviews. Why? I wanted to know what you thought about chapter one. Oh well, I guess it is okay since there were subscriptions and faves. Thank you for those. Anyway, here is the next one. I hope to receive some feedbacks about the story so far. Criticize the writing or whatever, go ahead (but no flames okay?) I just wanna know what you think.
Enjoy.
The sun was barely over the horizon, still too low to completely chase away the waning night. On the bedside table, the ticking hands of the clock continued to run in a cycle, inching its reading away from 645 by the seconds.
Long, slim fingers swept and curled pink locks behind her ears as Sakura gazed out at the waking sky, still trying to swallow the fact that they had opened their eyes to a new era. And that many people she knew had disappeared along with the old.
The Allied Shinobi Force broke apart with farewells and all had returned to their respective village homes to mourn for their dead. Their way back to a tattered Konoha was quiet and with lingering grief on each and every ninjas' shoulders.
Gone was the laughter and happy chatters at the shared camp.
Nothing could bring back the fallen ones, not even Edo Tensei could — they just did not belong to this world anymore.
Grudgingly letting go was all could be done.
With a heavy heart and the black she wore, Sakura trudged out of her house for the funeral.
The heaviness in her chest seemed to intensify in the somber air hanging over the funeral procession. The hunched figure beside hers was the portrayal of how she felt or maybe even more. Knowing Naruto, these lost lives hit him the hardest. He was one of the kindest people she knew and a single death alone could leave him in such devastation.
There were no words she could find to light up the usually bright blue eyes even the slightest. A light press of her shoulder to his was all she could offer.
Silent, uncharacteristically dull blue eyes met hers and lighted ever so slightly along with a tired, weak smile.
Surprised that her little gesture could invoke any response at all from the young man who seemed to be drowning in grief, a strange flutter in her chest made her breath hitch.
Highly inappropriate, she snatched her gaze away in a flustered panic and reprimanded herself inwardly, though the foreign reaction was completely out of her control.
It was only when the broad shoulders beside hers moved away, she realized the procession had moved on to focus on Hyuuga Neji.
This time her breath hitched once more, but this time aroused by her memories of him.
Her melancholic gaze followed the easily recognizable blond head making his way to the front and found his spot beside the sobbing figure of Hyuuga Hinata.
Her eyes fell onto their joining hands.
If someone pointed out the possibility of special feelings for the loud, knuckleheaded ninja to her younger self, she would have dismissed the thought faster than Kakashi could throw a kunai and deemed it the 'most ridiculous thing' she ever heard. And likely go on and on about her Uchiha teammate like the silly deluded fangirl she was.
She was no longer the bratty and naive girl anymore to diss anything related to him so quickly, but she was pretty confident to call him an extremely good, close friend.
Realizing her gaze was lingering longer than necessary, Sakura shifted her eyes to the stone monument and thought of nothing else.
Nothing.
Nothing about hands.
Pale eyes stared back at the mirror rooted to the wall behind the intricate wooden dresser crafted as a gift to her on her birthday last year. Her soft, voluminous hair ran long and dark past the curve of her breasts, parting easily at every stroke her dainty, pale hand made with the brush in its grasp.
It was an eventful day for the Hyuuga; a clan funeral immediately followed after the mass procession with the rest of Konoha ended.
Only when night fell with the quiet moon high in the sky, things finally settled down. Most of the Hyuuga compound was already quiet with sleep, leaving only the occasional careful movements of the servants and her, of course.
Half of today was mostly spent paying their respects to the fallen ones. Crying too much for her late cousin during the day was still evident in the dwelling puffiness of her eyes. While her heart seemed to ache every time she glanced at the cased portrait of Hyuuga Neji, she couldn't help being distracted by tinges of happiness, much thanks to Naruto who stood by her.
And the warmth of his comforting, big hand…
Returning the brush back to the dresser, she clutched her hands to her chest, feeling fuzzy flutters return to her again. Her cheeks aflamed with a blush of soft red.
His warmth seemed to etch into her hand even through the clan funeral meant for Neji. She knew it was wrong to think about anything else but her cousin, however, her heart led her mind astray too many times.
Gentle fingers of a night breeze brushing softly against her face tugged her gaze over to the faint moon.
Her hands dropped to her legs and curled into fists as the two strong thoughts which had followed her since the war surfaced once more.
She had to take braver steps forward if she wanted anything to change.
Her usually soft features of her face clenched with determination as a silent promise steeled the look in her eyes.
Right the wrongs in the Hyuuga clan — something Neji would have wanted.
And…
For Uzumaki Naruto truly to see her.
Love it? Hate it?
Had really a hard time trying to smooth the flow of the chapter hence, I took longer than I have expected to update. An update was supposed to be a day after chapter one :/ I'm sorry if you find awkwardness in the flow here. Please point them if you did. I could appreciate some constructive feedbacks here.
The next chapter will start with a time skip where my half-ass plot will begin to unravel. I'm still figuring how I should drive this fanfic.
End of my rants. Review, will ya?