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

Naruto is Gone: Part One

Thank you all so much for your constant patience! Here is the first chapter for the new mini series...."Naruto is Gone..." I hope that you enjoy!

--

The world seemed dark.

It was as if the birds didn't quite sing as much. The leaves didn't rustle in the wind in just the same way. technicolor life had become gray. Could this really be a world without...

"Naruto??"

Hinata rose from her bed and looked around. As if she'd been startled out of a bad dream. Her dark, lavender locks fell into her face and she sat in the stifling reality that she lived in. It had been like this for the past three nights since she'd returned from their mission. The events of the massive explosion playing in her mind over and over again while she slept.

Rock debris littered the shore and a chunk of the Naruto bridge was taken from its middle...as if a sea creature had taken a massive bite from it. Water fell like rain for what felt like an eternity, but as it ended, the river looked nearly unchanged, rippling toward the shoreline and rushing in whirls to fill in the gaps that were once the underwater cavern.

Hinata sat up and looked at the water's edge with her own sort of mist in her eyes. Scanning the horizon for any sign of Naruto. Waiting for him to emerge from the depths, or appear from the forest. But moment after moment passed without that reality. Sasuke was up to his feet. Sakura brushing debris from her skirt and legs.

"S-sasuke...?" Hinata croaked with any little bit of energy she could. Her soul felt mortally paralyzed. And she didn't need to say much else. Sasuke was well aware of the situation at hand it seemed, and if anyone knew what Naruto's fate was...it might as well be him. She glanced over to his features when she could finally bear it. His dark eyes looked back at her before they dimmed, and then closed with a small huff of dissatisfaction....

Hinata's core tightened. Her breaths became slightly more labored than before.

"Naruto..." Sakura lamented, eyes weak and looking over the water frantically for her companion. "Is he...- Sasuke, he can't be..." she took a single step toward him, but he remained stiff. He was stoic as he always was. But it was like he was keeping something inside. Something incredibly grave.

"Naruto is gone?"

...

And that's where the dream would end, to Hinata's horror. She would awake from the bad dream only to face a living nightmare. This was in fact...a world without Naruto.

Just as her gaze had fluttered to her pale hands numbly, there was a knock that echoed through the silence and darkness of her room. A hyuuga guard.

"Lady Hinata...your father requests your presence." He bows deeply, taking a swift leave there after. To be honest, Hinata had been sleeping mostly for days. No food, limited sunlight. Of course they'd granted her this time to heal and assumed her journey to be long and treacherous. But the reality was that the sooner Hinata stepped foot back into the world, the sooner she had to face reality. It was as Sakura said.

Naruto was gone.

--

Hiashi waited for his daughter to arrive, Hanabi stayed close in toe in concern and curiosity as Hinata entered the room. One foot after the other pitter and pattering off of the hardwood floors as she approached, and to her surprise, the first thing he'd done when she stepped close enough was reach out to embrace her. It startled her some, but comforted her nonetheless, as her eyes flickered to Hanabi who did not have her usual upbeat and boisterous quality. Worry lined her young face, but she did her best to cover it with a weak smile to her sister. Hiashi was also different; not the hardened man he used to be.