Author's Note: I don't own Naruto, plus I'll be skipping to where The Shinobi Alliance is fighting the Ten tails, Madara and Obito. This chapter is going to be sadder I believe.
Chapter IX
Neji's Sacrifice
The fight with the Ten Tails was harder than everyone thought. Naruto was not gaining much ground on the huge beast before him. Then it happened, the wooden projectiles came flying down on the shinobi. Many were caught in the hail of death. Naruto and the Hyūgas were doing their absolute best to protect those they could. Naruto threw rasenshuriken after rasenshuriken and managed to thwart many of the projectiles. Hiashi and Neji were more focused on using the airpalms to protect the other Shinobi. Only Hinata was really standing there to protect Naruto. She knocked many projectiles out of the way of her love, but she was exhausted. Naruto was too, he stumbled as his last two rasenshurikens found their targets. His two shadow clones dispelled and Naruto was left on his hands and knees trying to recover. Another way came in to hit him. Hinata saw this coming and used her body as a shield. Neji saw this however, and he didn't have to think hard. He threw himself in the path of projectiles and got hit. As he fell to the ground, Naruto was holding him. "MEDICS!" Hinata fell to her knees, she saw what Neji did and was now barely able to stand. Her older cousin, someone that she revered as a brother, was now dying. "Naruto, remembered when, we fought back in Chunin Exams?" "Y-yeah, what about it?" "You called, me a genius. Something, I didn't expect to hear from you, yet you won anyways." Neji saw Hinata crying. "Naruto, Hinata-Sama protected you with her life, protect her for me." Naruto's tears were flowing just as hard as Hinata's. In those years when Sasuke was gone, Neji had been one of his best friends. They had trained together, pranked together, fought together, laughed together, had eaten together, and more importantly, been there for each other when the other was down. Now Neji was dying his life was slowly slipping from his hands. Neji gave one final message to Hinata. "Hinata-Sama, continue down the...road you walk...keep strong...don't ever turn...off your path...all things must work together...in the end..." "Naruto... you...do...the...same...I'm...sorry...I...won't...be...able...to... see...the...day...you're..." Neji said no more. His body slipped from Naruto's grip and fell to the ground. Naruto saw the look in his eyes and knew. Neji was dead. His best friend, dead.
Naruto was in a shock. He turned around and saw all the dead bodies of people killed in the barrages. It was weakening his will to continue fighting. He was about to give up when he felt someone slap him. Not a hard slap, just a soft gentle "focus on me slap." He turned and saw the pale eyes of Hinata Hyūga looking into his own. "Naruto-kun, do you remember what Neji did for you? He gave his life to save you and me. If you give up now, it would have been all in vain. These people behind us, they're here to help, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for you. I'm ready to sacrifice myself too. But you need to remain strong and remember your promise. Stand beside me Naruto-kun. I'm not going back on my words, that's my ninja way." There were things that only noble ninja clans felt. For Uchiha, pride. For Hyūga, pride and often doubt. For Uzumaki, they mainly felt pain, sorrow, regret, and determination. Hinata's speech to Naruto gave him something he never felt before. He felt strength that he could never get from Kurama. The kind of strength that motivated him and made him respect and cherish her. Then he saw the look that was burned into his memories from that dream months before. Now this was the real deal. He locked in everything that Hinata said, looked, and felt. It was the permanent memory now. Something that he would be 100 and still remember like it was yesterday. He also noticed how much he had loved Hinata. It was only brief, but in that few seconds, he realized that his heart was filled with peace, love, and joy. He slowly lifted his hand up and gently rested it on hers. Hinata's eyes went wide from the shock as he helped to her feet and still held onto her hand.
"Hinata, thank you for standing beside me. I really needed that." Hinata smiled merely smiled. 'Naruto-Kun's hand is so big, so strong, but most importantly, it's so comforting.' Those were the thoughts as Naruto transferred chakra to her giving her a version one chakra cloak. This was all she needed to keep fighting. She knew one thing. As long as Naruto was still alive, she would keep on loving him until the end.
Author's Note(post script): I'm gonna skip the fight with Kaguya and skip to the battle at the Valley of the End. It would take too long otherwise.