I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Mourning
"You're lying," Sasuke stated turing away from Ryuu.
"No," Ryuu said quietly stepping in front of Sasuke again. "I froze because he was telling me the truth in a Genjutsu. He protected us from the rest of the village and from Madara by killing everyone else."
Ryuu had tears streaming down his face, finally able to grieve for Itachi and his brother's true death now that they were alone in Ryuu's house. Sasuke had tears of his own in his eyes but he was fighting against them.
"He was a monster," Sasuke growled. "He wanted to gain power by stealing my eyes."
"Just before he died, he poked your forehead like he used to and said, 'Sorry Sasuke, There won't be a next time,'" Ryuu stated and Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.
Then, he turned away and Ryuu sighed.
"I'm sorry," Ryuu sighed.
He turned and walked away, allowing Sasuke to grieve in private.
Naruto sat on the bench, staring at the ground in silence as his ice cream, held loosely in his right hand dripped onto the ground as it melted and the tears flowing down his face landing beside it. He had just returned from looking for Sasuke, only to find Sasuke and Ryuu both returning with Itachi's corpse, and had gone to report to Tsunade. There had been a small toad with a grey beard there and he had told Naruto the one thing Naruto did not want to hear. Jiraiya was dead. He had been killed by the leader of the Akatsuki. Since then, Naruto had been sitting on the bench, ice cream melting, with all of the memories of his time with Jiraiya playing through his head.
"Naruto?" Hinata spoke up, sitting beside him.
When he didn't respond, she reached over and gently pulled him into her, holding him against her as he simply sat there. After a moment, the ice cream fell to the ground and hi arms slowly went around Hinata as he began to cry a bit harder until he was sobbing into her shoulder. She held him against her comfortingly, tears of her own stinging her eyes at seeing him so hurt. She rested her cheek on top of his head as she held him and his arms tightened around her.
"It's going to be okay Naruto," Hinata whispered feeling like she was lying. "It's going to be okay."
After nearly an hour, Naruto's sobs subsided but the tears continued.
"Why did he have to go alone?" Naruto finally asked. "Why didn't he take me with him?"
"What could you have done?" Hinata asked quietly.
"I could have helped him," Naruto stated. "I could have shielded him from the killing blow. I could have held them off while he escaped."
"No!" Hinata snapped. "Don't you ever wish you had died in someone else's place! Don't you ever!"
Naruto looked up at her, seeing tears streaming down her face and blinking in surprise before pulling her into a hug, surprised by the reversal of roles he had caused.
"Don't you dare," Hinata continued, starting to sob lightly now, not entire sure why she was crying. "I couldn't bare it."
She was almost as surprised as Naruto that she had said that. Both simply sat there for a moment, Hinata's face completely red but neither moving.
"I...I'm sorry...Hinata," Naruto said, voice quiet from surprise.
I knew it, he doesn't feel the same, Hinata thought.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Naruto finished and Hinata blinked in surprise before continuing to cry. "You're right. I shouldn't be wishing I was dead. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Hinata said into his shoulder.
"What did you mean?" Naruto asked. "When you said you couldn't bare it?"
"I..." Hinata pushed off of him, sitting up and turning away. "It's nothing."
"Hinata," Naruto sighed turning her face back toward him and letting his left hand rest on the side of her face, wiping the tears away as Hinata blushed. "Please tell me the truth."
Hinata stared into his eyes, and suddenly couldn't stop herself.
"I-I don't want to l-lose you," Hinata stammered. "Because you're important t-to m-me. A-and...I-I-I l-l-love y-y-you."
Her face turned crimson the moment she said it and Naruto's matched it as memories of being with Hinata passed through his head. Hinata cheering him up after the chunin exams incident, to the mission to get the Bikochu, to when she had been encased in crystal. He had been terrified she would die at the time, and was so happy she was alive he had nearly crushed her in a hug when he saw she was okay. Warmth spread through his body and his own blush faded as he smiled. Then, he leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips to Hinata's. Her face darkened even more but she kissed him back, one hand resting on the side of his face as the other rested on top of his free hand. He smiled into the kiss and turned the hand over, wrapping his fingers around her hand and she smiled too, sighing. Then, she pulled away, rested her head on his shoulder, and fainted.
"It's about time," Shikamaru spoke up walking out of an alleyway and over to Naruto. "I was just coming to try to cheer you up, but it looks like I got beat to it. Listen, Naruto, we need your help to decipher a coded message Jiraiya sent back with the toad that you met in Tsunade's office. Think you can come over to the Cipher Division with me?"
"Sure," Naruto nodded, smiling slightly. "But, I should probably take Hinata home first."
Her arms tightened around him and she shook her head.
"I'll go too," Hinata said opening her eyes and smiling. "Maybe I'll be able to help somehow."
Shikamaru nodded and Naruto and Hinata stood. Naruto laced his fingers with hers and they followed Shikamaru.
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