Naruto and Hinata: Stories After "The Last"! (Bi-weekly Updates)

Naruto is Gone: Part Three

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Kirata's face seemed to draw closer to Hinata's. The warmth radiated from his warm hand that was large enough to encapsulate the entire side of her face, if it so chose, and it seemed like to warred with that decision as it hovered near her skin. The kunoichi felt frozen in her spot. Her body refused to react, her mind shuffling through a million thoughts, the question of whether Kirata was about to do, what she thought he was about to do...

But the moment was interrupted quite suddenly with a muted clunk, that hand of Kirata's reeling away to rub the source of contact at the back of his head where something small and pebbly had struck him, rubbing away the sting as his whole body seemed to lurch forward as he let out an aggravated grunt. "Gah," he murmured, his facial features instantly turning indignant as he glanced around his surrounding area for whatever or who ever had hurled the little annoying thing at him, expecting to see the gauche boy he'd met earlier with the dog that did not seem to appreciate his presence. But, there was no one. Of course Kirata sprung to his feet, ready to fight whoever would dare break his serenity.

"Show yourself. If you want to fight, at least have the gal to say it to my face." he warned with a disgruntled gusto, his hands swirling with chakra energy. His byakugan activated, and he looked around the trees for anything or anyone, but...there was nothing.

"What...happened?" Hinata asked, getting to her feet as well, but it was evident to her without her byakugan that the scene was quiet and peaceful, the breezy wind picking up a bit harsher than before, sending a chill to her arms as the sun seemed to be ready to set at any moment. The dusk rolled in and there was no answer as to who would have thrust that round stone upon his now throbbing head. She reached out to gently grasp Kirata's arm. "Perhaps the wind took it." she offered a solution. It seemed implausible to Kirata.The morsel was too large for it to be. But, he has no better explanation. But, the tender touch of the hyuga girl was enough to relax him from his battle stance.

"Hm." Kirata murmured, in less of wonder and in more of a definitive suspicion. "Let's go. Our proper place is home now, anyway." he explained, as regimented as ever. And then the two went back to their home - well, her home, and he as her guest, for that time. For an indeterminate amount of time.

If nothing else, Hinata could silently admit that she was wrong. It wasn't as if she'd made so many assumptions about the man strolling next to her, but she had not expected to respect his company as much as she did. He was dutiful and keen, and she couldn't doubt at all that he would be a fine leader someday. He would be the kind of leader that he family wanted her to be, but it just wasn't in her. In that sort of way, he was sort of like a better half for her. She was humble enough to admit that first impressions meant more than preconceived notions.

However, there was one thing that Hinata was not wrong about...

And that was that Naruto was in fact not dead.

- - - - -

Naruto had sat up in the aftermath of the destroyed river that he'd last remembered being, though it looked much different, then. Right now, it was silent, and only small amount of water trickled around the stony way around him, cascading in small bits down into the pit that he laid against the damp ground, the sun poking through an opening. He rubbed his head, too, glancing around in the darkness before crawling out of the hole he'd been in, every muscle in his body aching.

"...Sasuke? Sakura?" he called out somewhat in his raspy voice, his throat seizing from lack of water in his spent state. "....Hinata?"

Aside from none of his friends being around, and also not Konsuru or his undead puppets.... everything felt so incredibly...different. There was sort of a deafening silence now. The world seemed sort of gray and dull, less vivid, almost like all of the colors of life had faded, melted. He wandered that area for a few moments before setting back off to the village hidden in the mist to see if his friends were there. Maybe they'd lost him somewhere and gone back for rest?