So, this is my new fanfiction. While I have an overall story worked out, it is ever evolving, so feel free to make comments and ask questions in the reviews. Anyway, Enjoy this new story. The first chapter is kinda sad though, and I will be working on chapter 2 when I have time, a little each day I hope. :D And again, please leave reviews.
While I HAVE put a mature rating on this, I am currently unsure on whether there will be any lemons in this series, though there will be opportunities I can forsee. Lol.
Chapter 1: Loss.
The Mission had ended in disaster.
Naruto was gone.
It was no Fourth Shinobi War, but the field lay strewn with bodies, blood seeping in to the ground and the puddles formed by rain as it fell from the sky in waves of heavy drops.
Nobody even seemed to care they were getting soaked as they lay on the ground, or wandered amongst their comrades, rushing back and forth, assessing the situation and damage to the Konoha forces.
Groans echoed out, emanating from the injured, crying for help and relief from the pain that tortured them.
The medical core working tirelessly and quickly to deal with the worst cases first, as junior medics dealt with smaller injuries on the field, in the pouring rain.
"I need more bandages to seal those wounds." Sakura cried as she held her glowing hands over the chest of a shinobi, lay before her, covered in blood, an arm missing, and several other wounds throughout his torn up blood stained body. "I SAID I NEED MORE BANDAGES!" she cried, as no one had yet to respond to her request. Her face was serious and focused, blood was all over her too, but none of it was hers, per-say for a few minor cuts here and there.
The ninja below her, coughed up more blood, as his body convulsed from pain, and failures throughout his body.
"Hang in there, you'll be ok. I was trained by Lady Tsunade herself." Sakura said, trying to but on a smile, though she was having trouble from panicking. Her hands shaking not only from the cold, but the days wear on her.
"Hey… no… problem… right… L-Lady… Haruno…" the shinobi below her smiled, his breathing shallow and wheezy, blood still gurgling up from his throat, as if he was drowning.
Despite she wasn't familiar with him, she had garnered respect as a top class medical kunoichi and fighter. She smiled down to him, thankful for his confidence. Only for it to be shattered, as she stared at his retracting pupils.
Her whole body trembled as the blood drained from her face, the moment he had finished his sentence, he had passed on; his injuries just too severe.
Sakura wanted to cry, her whole body wanted to scream, but she held it back, and stopping her medical jutsu, moved a hand to the fallen shinobis' face, and passing over it, closing his eyes.
"Lady Haruno, the bandages." Came a voice, she was ready to punch someone, and turned with a scowl. The unsuspecting shinobi the brunt of her powerful glare, before she realised, it was a young male genin, maybe only 14, and not even of the medical core. They were so stretched right now, normal genin were running about for them.
Her demeanour quickly surrendered the tension, and her trembling form relaxed itself. "Thank you, but… we'll be moving to the next patient." She said, her voice low and breaking, as she got up.
"Lady Haruno?!" the young genin blinked, before looking down, the realisation that the patient was lost. "I was… too slow?" he gasped.
"No… I couldn't… I tried but…" Sakura said, she was angry, upset, tired, stressed. She wanted to scream, to curl up and cry, how many had she lost today, while under her supposedly healing hands? How many of the hundred shinobi were lost in total? Though one would come to mind, and to a painful heart.
"Lady Haruno?" the genin looked to her, worried as Sakura stared off blankly in to space, her mind elsewhere, and saddened.
A flash.
The sky opening up.
Moments later, the rumble of an explosion, followed by wind, hot on the skin, pushing the rain away, as if it had stopped, and then, silence.
Eyes looking skyward, tears appearing in many, as disbelief fell hard, denial of what they had witnessed.
Sakura's emerald eyes darting over, across several metres to her raven haired comrade, Hinata as she fell to her knees, Kiba and Shino rushing to her side.
Her eyes once again moving upwards, as her vision blurred from tears, her body tensing, her fists clenching, her chest tightening before a scream escaped, and the rain returning
"NARUTOOOOOOOO!"
"Lady Haruno?" The young genin said again, Sakura snapping out of her day dream… more like nightmare. If it wasn't for the rain, her tears would have been seen streaming down her cheeks.
"R-Right… next patient." She said, once again swallowing her own pains to push on with her duties.
Together with the young genin they moved on down the line of injured ninja to find who to help next, the lost ninja left to lay in the mud and rain until his corpse could be properly, and respectfully dealt with.
Far to the side, sat under the trees that surrounded the clearing were dozens of shinobi. Most injured with cuts, bruises, dressed in bandages, but many just exhausted from the battle that had taken place. Teams gathering to take care of their comrades if they could, all out of the pouring rain and cold. Fires being set up to help combat this, and dry out those who could get close enough, and watching as the medical corps tried their best to save those who could not be moved yet out of the cold rain and wind, and away from the blood stained mud that ran in small rivers with the water, their injuries severe enough to not let them be moved.
Hinata didn't watch.
Her head was leaning on her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs to keep them up, sat quietly. She had been sobbing heavily for some time, ever since she awoke from her fainting.
The shock had been too much for her; a flash, a boom, and he was gone, the love of her life had sacrificed himself to put an end to the ceaseless violence that had come at them.
Her mind was closed to all but him, to Naruto Uzumaki, hero of the leaf, who had always given his all, sacrificed all he had to win, and had finally given the last ounce he had left to sacrifice; only this time, his sacrifice was permanent.
She was sure this mission would be called 'a victory'. An evil had been removed from the world, an evil that had threatened the stability of this part of the land of fire. A victory, they would call it; but to Hinata, a victory that had come at too great a cost.
Kiba and Shino were next to her, not sure what to say, Akamaru nuzzling her arm a little, but without response.
They had never seen Hinata so lost and despondent, and who could blame her. For the last couple of months she and Naruto had become much closer. The last war had changed a lot of things, some for the better, and others for the worse.
They had lost many in the fourth shinobi war, the strengths of the five great villages had waned due to this, and smaller villages had been trying to benefit from it, and taking the opportunity to usurp influence. The Daimyo's while peaceful, each began taking credit for portions of the victory, each claiming they had more influence in the outcome than the other shinobi villages.
Though only the fire Daimyo could lay claim to having Naruto, the primary hero of the war, and who everyone was calling the shinobi hero.
This had simply reasserted tensions after a few weeks of peace.
"Has nobody learned from this war, dattebayo!" he groaned, as he and Hinata walked together through a peacefully quiet part of the village. "Naruto-kun, I… I believe many have, but, people are people." Hinata said, before shyly looking down with a blush and pressing her forefingers together in a tenting motion. "As… as much as we dislike it, people argue, get angry, and fight. But… they also make up, and forgive." Naruto looked to her, blinking, before smiling. "Yeah." He chuckled, grinning wider as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just hoped that they would have learned something about peace." "Naruto… I… I believe it has." Hinata said. "Even if the Daimyo's are steeped in matters of tension, the five shinobi villages are in a unity not seen since the first Hokage's day." "Yeah?" Naruto asked, a little confused. "Mm-hmm." She nodded with a cute smile and blush. "And even as things change, which unfortunately, is certain to happen, as long as there is someone out there like you, willing to sacrifice everything to bring the world together, then there is always hope." "Hope, huh?" he smiled. "You know… you're pretty smart, Hinata." Hinata blushed at the compliment, as Naruto put an arm around her. "So why did you ever fall for an idiot like me?" he joked. "N-Naruto-ku…" she went to say, wanting to defend the idiot comment, her face turning to him, only to have her lips stolen by his. Wasn't sure what happened after that, her face burst with heat, and then blackness, only to awaken at home some time later, with a note left by Naruto. 'Hinata, I had a great time again today. Maybe for our third date we should hit the theatre, Princess Koyuki has a new film out I wanna see, you wanna go? Naruto.' She smiled at the letter, knowing full well he meant it, and it made her feel safe and warm.
Also, I want you to know, that you're right, as long as I am here, hope will be present. I promise I won't let you, or anyone else I hold dear down.
"Na…ru... to…" she muttered.
"Huh?!" Kiba blinked. "Hinata, you say something?"
"Naru…to…" she muttered again. "Where is… Naruto?"
Kiba looked to Shino, not sure what to say. They all saw it, they all knew what had happened high above their heads, and Naruto's… fate.
"He's… not here." Kiba said, not wanting to say 'dead', his head hanging low, trying not to feel the pain he not only felt for losing one friend, but the pain he felt for her ain as well.
She just buried her head again, and tensed up, muttering Naruto's name again.
Shino put a hand on Kiba's shoulder as they both looked to Hinata; they had seen such changes in her over the years; changes brought on by the blonde haired knuckle-head, and the day she and Naruto were officially a couple, she had glowed brightly with a happy energy that beamed itself in to everyone around her, like a contagious emotion that just made everyone feel as her.
It was the happiest day of her life when Naruto, the hero of the leaf, her lifelong crush finally took her hand and asked her out on a date.
It wasn't a flashy event, and Naruto was just as red as she was at the time; but he gave his usual smirk, rubbed the back of his neck, and said "Hey, Hinata, wanna go get some ramen. We can call it date if you would like to." And with a nervous chuckle afterwards, he looked to her, expectant of an answer.
Kiba and Shino knew how hard this would be on Hinata, the brightness she had the last few months with Naruto, was gone; her love was gone, in flash of chakra, burning the sky, meant for them all, he was taken from this world.
It still rained across the battlefield, and Sakura was finally resting under a tree, her work done as those who loved, were moved to better cover, and those who didn't, were left under the falling sky. She scanned over it, her body trembling, her mind going over all that had happened.
How many had they lost?
How many while her hands were trying to save them?
How many had begged her for relief… and how many had she said would be ok before they would expire before her?
Tears formed in her eyes, she couldn't count…. she couldn't think…. She didn't want to!
She grabbed her head and closed her eyes tightly, and she buried her head between her knees
She didn't want to think!
She didn't want to know!
She wanted to shut away from the world!
But as the doors of her mind closed around her, one came to mind for her, only one was too important to her to not totally shut everything out. Her best friend, Naruto, was gone.
If there was anything she could never forget, it was him. Even the most painful moment would be allowed to enter her mind, and with that lone thought, she cried, after the longest day of keeping back the tears, she finally had time to cry.
So, that was the first chapter, next chapter is their return to Konoha, and the revelation of what exactly happened in this battle, and what the mission was. A common theme in this series will be that flashbacks will be prominent throughout, hence the title 'shadows' as in 'the shadows of our past'. There is another reason but well…. Spoilers ;)
Anyway, please leave reviews, they will help me evolve this story along the main plot line :)
Until next chapter, NHFTW!