A/N- here are the stats for Destiny so far, which I'll post every few chapters P- words: 5831 chaps: 3 reviews: 7 hits: 372 c2s: 0 favorites: 5 alerts: 13

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed my story so far!!

Chapter 2, Fallen

-Somewhere unkown-

It was a nice night out, a pregnant moon hanging lazily in the sky, casting a pale glow over all. Sasuke Uchiha, one of the last members of his clan, sat on top of a boulder, staring at the moon, lost in memories long past. It had been on a night exactly like this one that his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, had slaughtered their clan under orders from the ruling body in Konoha in order to stop a coup de'tat, and ultimatly the next great shinobi war. "You know, he was crying that night... I used to think that I was just imagining things, but now..." He trailed off his gaze still locked upon the gently glowing giant in the sky, wondering how many other unspeakable acts it had bore silent witness to since it had come into being.

Madara Uchiha stepped from the shadows he'd been hiding in, silently observing his decendant, his orange mask firmly in place. "You know... What your brother did was the hardest thing in the world to do for anyone to do. Before he could kill his own family, he had to kill his own heart. He had to become a tool of death so that he could preserve life, to preserve peace. However, true peace cannot be obtained by killing one single clan, it can only be obtained by destroying those who oppress the weak with their political corruption. In order to do this, we must show the world that we are totally committed to our cause. And the best way to do such is by wiping out the greatest and most corrupt power there is. We must destroy Konohakagure, for only through destruction may peace begin to build. I shall ask you one last time Sasuke are you sure that you wish to help us on our crusade?" He asked quietly, finally breaking his silence.

Sasuke turned his head to his ancestor for the first time since their coversation had started, his Mangekyo Sharingan activated, which looked eerily similar to Atomic particles. "Konoha shall burn to ash, and the world will learn peace." He stated firmly.

Madara nodded solemnly. "Then come Sasuke, and take your rightful place in Akatsuki as your brother's successor. I shall introduce you to the others, and show you the weapon that we have created that can make our dreams come true." He said, turning away, a grin tugging at his lips as he walked off.

Sasuke dropped down silently, following behind. 'Soon, very soon...' He thought, his dojutsu spinning slowly. Taking one last look back, he saw a storm rolling in, heading straight for his old home.

-Konoha, the following day-

It was a somber day in the village hidden in the leaves, the grey, overcast sky seeming to reflect the mood of the people as they grieved the passing of one of their greatest heroes, Jiraiya, the legendary Toad Sannin. Black curtains hung in every window, and every person in every bar hefted their cups in rememberence of the man.

High atop a hill, where those who had died in the name of Konoha were honored, stood a small gathering of the hermit's friends and aquaintances, all dressed in black as the stood there quietly, staring at a picture of a smiling Jiraiya, various knick-knacks and personal posessions placed on a table surrounding the man, along with some burning incense. Normally, the Hokage would say some final words, but as it was, Tsunade was crying too hard to say anything, being supported by Shizune, who had tears trackng down her own face.

So everyone stood there in reletive silence, more than a few of them openly weeping.

Naruto was one of those who was only letting a few silent tears fall, standing there with his fists clenched, staring at Jiraiya's picture, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, and Hinata standing close to him. Naruto could feel the rage building within himself. After hearing about the battle from Ma and Pa, that seed of anger had been planted, a small rock of pure hatred towards Pain that had wormed it's way into Naruto's heart. So Naruto hung his head, his eyes shadowed as he stood there trembling. "Dammit..." He said, his voice just above a whisper.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out her teammate's name uncertainly, her face etched with worry as she reached out, placing a hand on one of his shaking shoulders.

"WHY IS IT SO DAMNED HARD?!" Naruto suddenly screamed, causing Sakura to flinch back and everyone else stare at him, their eyes wide. Even Tsunade looked at the boy she saw as a little brother, her eyes red and puffy. "WHY CAN'T I KEEP THOSE I LOVE SAFE?!" He continued, screaming at the uncaring heavens, his fists clenched at his sides as he looked up, his chakra flaring around him, bit's of red mixing in with his own blue, becoming visible, if only faintly. "WHY AM I SO WEAK?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, HUH?! QUIT TAKING MY PRECIOUS PEOPLE FROM ME!" He screamed, falling to his knees, pounding at the ground with his fists, causing the ground around him to shake and crack with the force of his blows. Standing up, he walked over to the portait of Jiraiya, drawing a kunai as he did so. With a quick jerk, he drug the knife across the palm of his right hand and squeezed it, dripping blood in front of the portait. "I swear on my life, I will find and kill that bastard Pain, and I'll protect my precious people, no matter what..." He said shakily, his blood splattering the ground. Suddenly finding himself unable to stand anymore, Naruto collapsed to his knees once again, dropping his weapon as he began to sob uncontrollably.

"Naruto!" Hinata and Sakura exlaimed simultaniously, rush to the whiskered blond, kneeling on either side of him as they wrapped the distraught boy in a hug, holding him tightly.

And so the rain began to fall, two drops landing on Jiraiya's picture and sliding down the glass, giving the appearance that he was crying as well.

-Two days later-

Hinata quetly closed the door to Kurenai's home behind herself as she exited the small structure. She had been staying with the woman quite a bit recently, after Asuma had died, leaving Kurenai and their unborn child alone. The woman had been distraught over her loss, rarely leaving her home, and eating only to make sure that the baby, the only peice of her lover that she had left, remained healthy. So Hinata had been staying with her sensei a lot, so make sure that the older woman at least had some companionship, if nothing else. As she walked, lost in her own thoughts as she was, Hinata wasn't paying attention as she turned the corner of a building... And collided solidly with someone, knocking her off balance as she started to fall.

"Hinata-chan?!" Naruto exlaimed, surprized, as he grabbed grabbed her before she could fall, steadying the smaller girl.

Realizing just who it was that she'd bumped into, Hinata blushed scarlet, remembering the things that had passed between them over the past few days. "G-gomen, Na-Naruto-kun..." She squeaked, suddenly finding the ground interesting as she studied it intently while twiddling her fingers.

A grin split Naruto's face."Hey, no need to apologize! I was actually lookin' for ya!" He exlaimed.

"Yuh-you were?" Hinata asked, hesitantly looking up at her crush.

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I was wondering if you'd like to go to lunch with me! I'll even pay!" He offered, winking at her.

Hinata nodded mutely, her blush somehow becoming even worse. Surely this was a dream, Naruto was asking her on a date, a real date! "H-hai..." she managed to say, walking beside Naruto as they set off.

Not too far away, Sakura and Ino sat behind an awful bush disguize, giggling to themselves. "See? I told ya he'd ask her out sooner or later!" Ino exlaimed.

Sakura nodded. "I know! Though I never thought it'd happen so soon, wit me just only recently turning him down for good, and with Jiraiya's death..." She replied.

Ino smacked her best friend upside the head. "Baka! Don't talk about depressing things when we're watching Naruto and Hinata-chan go on their first date! Now c'mon, we've got some spying to do!" She cheered as the two of them picked up their disguize and started to follow the pair, people that they passed shooting the two odd looks at such a bad disguize.

A few minutes later found Naruto and Hinata sitting at Ichiraku's (causing Sakura and Ino to facefault and consider going to smack the boy, ramen was NOT the type of food to eat with a girl on a first date!), The two of them ordering bowls and digging in, Naruto with gutso while Hinata ate hers dantily. After several minutes (and several empty bowls stacked in front of the whiskered blond), Naruto set his chopsticks down and turned to Hinata, waiting for her to finish as the old man and Ayame pretended to busy themselves, listening closely the whole time. As soon as Hinata had finished and turned to her crush, Naruto started to speak. "Hey, Hinata-chan? I wanna ask you a question." He said, his face taking a serious look as he looked ather through squinted eyes.

"Yes Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, her face heating up under his gaze.

"Are you in love with me? Not in a friendly way, but in a romantic one?" He blurted out, never being one for tact. He thought he heard a thump somewhere, but didn't pay it any attention to it as he focoused on the girl in front of him. Though, if he had looked around, he would have seen that several people had face-faulted, including two familiar flashes of pink and blond behind a close-by bush that definitly shouldn't be there. He crossed his arms as he continued to squint at Hnata, looking a bit like a fox as he did so.

Hinata, for her part, was mortified, being asked such a blunt question as her face became an interesting shade of red and she began to stutter incoherantly. Looking away, her blush grew even more. "Ah-I... I... Excuse me please!" She squeaked, rushing from the ramen stand, leavin a confused Naruto sitting there, blinking.

"Nani?! Why the heck did Hinata-chan rush off like that?" Naruto asked no one in particular, confused.

"BAKA! Don't let the girl get away after asking such a blunt question! Go after her!" Ayame yelled, smacking Naruto in the back of the head with a harisan.

"Right! Thanks Ayame-nesan!" Naruto yelled, dropping some money on the counter as he rushed out after Hinata.

"I'll be right back poppa!" Ayame called out, quickly exiting the resteurant as well as she rushed over to Sakura and Ino, who were still twitching on the ground from their fall. "Well? C'mon, we've gotta know what they say!" She exlaimed, picking up the ther two girls. Looking for the direction that Hinata and Naruto took off in, the three girls picked up the bush and rushed after the two.

Naruto didn't catch up to Hinata until she stopped by a lake to catch her breath, but once he did, Naruto grabbed Hinata by the hand, stopping her from running any more. "Hinata-chan, please don't run, I just wanna know the truth!" He exlaimed, his eyes capturing hers.

Hinata looked down, blushing furiously. How cold she deny the person that she'd given her heart to? Taking a deep breath, Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes. "H-hai... Y-yes, N-Naru-kun, I am in... in lo-love with you, an-and I have been...for a lo-long time now..." She whispered quietly, her gaze breaking from his as she looked at the ground, sure that he'd send her away for admitting such a thing.

It was much to her surprize then, when she suddenly found herself being pulled into a tight hug, Naruto's arms wrapping protectivly around her as he rested his head against hers. "Thank you, Hinata-chan." He whispered in her ear. "It makes me happy that you wold give your heart to me, it's a more precious gift than any I've ever been given." He said, taking her hands in his own. "I'm sorry, but at the moment, I'm confused about far too many things right now to be sure about anything, but I woud like to go out with you again, and maybe, when everything is cleared and I can be sure that what I feel for you is really love and simply not me bouncing back from everything that has happened, hopefully, we can take things beyond friendship." He said, finishing by kissing Hinata on her forehead.

Hinata nodded mutely and buried her face in Naruto's chest as the two embraced once again, neither willing to let go yet as the sun began to set, setting the lake aglow behind the two teens.

Not too far away, three wistful sighs could be heard from behind a bush as Ino, Sakura, and Ayame watched the romantic scene play out, each girl sporting a small blush.

-End-

A/N- I had planned on taking this much further, but for some reason I felt like this would be a nice place to end this chapter. It's only about a third as long as what it would have been if I'd put in every thing that I'd planned in my overview, but I guess that I'll just save that for the next chapter, leaving you all with this bit of sadness, followed with some Naru/Hina fluff that everyone seems to want.

Trivia- The harisan that Ayame slapped Naruto in the head with is a large paper fan, generally used in gag manga to smack someone with when they do or say something silly.

Please R&R!!