I actually have an idea for at least one or two more chapters for this fic but I'm not so sure how to write it, so this will stand as a one-shot for now.

Hinata's heavy panting resounded in the dead silent woods. Her breath could be seen in the darkness, as she passed the endless shades of the leafless trees. She felt the moisture of the ground beneath her socks and the coldness of the air on her exposed legs.

Without decreasing her pace, she took an anxious glance behind her but stumbled over her loosened kimono before she could ensure her safety. Her hands and knees soon met with the dirt. Another loud gasp escaped her mouth and echoed in the forest.

She didn't want to stand up. Her limbs hurt and she feared that her heart might bust out of her chest if she failed to slow down the pounding.
The noise of footfalls at a distance jerked her back into reality and Hinata heaved her body up again. She started running but after moving just a small range a grasp span her around. She didn't take her time to study the figure in black any further and kicked him in the stomach. He released his hold in stunner and she quickly moved away.

"You darn wench," he cursed under a face mask as another shadow caught up to him.

"Leave me alone!" But the attempt of fleeing was in vain when a hand grabbed the messy bun on her head and hurled her against a tree. The pain of the impact travelled her whole body and numbed her movements.

Feet stepped into her sight, between the hair strands that had fallen into her face. Hinata lifted her glimpse slowly, her eyes had already glazed over, small tears pricking in their corners. The high-pitched sound of the men drawing their swords caused a dragging pain in her ears. She fixated the blade, which reflected the moonlight of the witness above their heads.

She couldn't block the thought that she was going to die now. She had heard that supposedly ones whole life passed in front of the mind's eye but nothing of that sort happened. Instead she wondered how much it would hurt when the blade divided her flesh. How much she would suffer before she was gone and if the wish to welcome the gates of heaven with a smile, like Neji had, was to no avail.

"Ending another life of your Hyuga pack will be my greatest pleasure." One of the men raised his sword, ready to lower it on the woman. Hinata squinted her eyes and placed her arms in protection between her and the blade, with full knowledge of the uselessness of this action.
But instead of the sharp metal she coughed the sound of a thud next to her. Before she could even process this, she heard another one.

Scared of whatever would await her, she opened her eyes hesitantly.
The sparse light of the moon was enough for her to recognize the redness of blood on the two bodies near her feet and backed away, pressing her back harder against the wood, making her able to define the pattern on its surface with this sole contact. Any sound halted in her throat as she dug her fingers into the soil underneath her.

Hinata sensed a familiar figure in her vision but before she could collect any further information two hands cupped her face.

"Are you alright?" Her tension was immediately released by the sound of his voice. Even if there weren't many things to
observe on his face, since his mouth and head were veiled, his eyes were enough. The blue of his eyes, its color she had failed to describe on so many occasions, for a second made her forget the situation she currently was in.

"Naruto-san."

"Can you stand up?" He grasped her upper arms and pulled her up. Her knees were weak and they shuddered, so he faltered in removing his support. Naruto brushed the hair from from her face and roamed her body in search for injuries. He began to adjust her clothing and right when she opened her mouth to say words of thanks, he turned his head.

"Close your eyes," he spoke.

"What-"

But he cut her off. "Don't open them till I tell you to." A certain glint had appeared in his glimpse and Hinata nodded before she followed his command.

She heard how he distanced himself from her and how several people approached them. She quivered terribly and no matter how tight she wrapped her arms around herself, the shaking didn't lessen.
A sudden noise resounded at some distance, it was a mixture of clashing blades, dull thuds, clanging shouts and pained groans. It formed a deterrent image in her head, she rigorously tried to prevent.

She didn't want to be here, she wanted to be as far away as possible. Somewhere quiet and bright, without the constant fear of getting killed. Her desperate hopes built up tears under her closed eyelids.
She was so occupied with her bursting head, that she needed some moments to recognize the recurred silence.

"Don't open them yet." She heard how he sheathed his sword. "I don't want you to see this." Naruto's voice drew closer again and Hinata found herself shifting slightly towards its course, while following his instruction of staying blind.

"I will take you somewhere safe now." He put his hands under her knee pits and lifted her up. She yelped shortly in surprise and clenched the fabric of his garments on his chest.

He had never been the one to follow the rule of austerity in regards of physical contact between a man and a woman of higher status. Neither did he make use of honorifics behind her name.
But in contrast to her father she didn't really care, because she felt good whenever he was around.

Naruto's naked back was the first thing she saw when Hinata slid open the door to the main room. She stopped in the doorway as she let off of the cloth on her wet hair. He turned his head around and she flushed. She may had known him for quite some time but this situation demanded an amount of self-control the woman didn't have.

Despite the nighttime they had found a room to stay in. The bath and the new clothes had made her forget her problems for a while but stepping back into the room was like facing the difficulties, she wasn't really fond of remembering again.

"You're back. Are you feeling better now?" Naruto smiled at her.

"Wouldn't you like to take a bath too?" She approached him slowly and was silently relieved about the dim light the few candles were able to gift them with.

"Not really." He turned away again and threw a piece of cloth in a bucket with water. "I'm fine."

Hinata noticed the roll of bandages, he obviously tried to hide with his body. The redness of her cheeks vanished, a discontented expression settling on her face instead. She couldn't reply the next smile he gave her.
The corners of Naruto's mouth sank in the realization of the change of mood reflected on her face.

The Hyugas were among the political involved families, who were experiencing a hard time right now. His own family was affected too. They were all in favor of the king's new policies, which would have a great impact on the society.
But there were enough people, who disliked the coming changes and therefor tried to prevent them. So they were on the hunt to kill anyone who was even remotely entangled with the people in these government positions.
The victims of this brutality tried to withstand till the new bill was signed and hoped for its date to come soon.

Hinata kneed before him and fixated the wound on his chest. The cut was long but not deep, and Naruto had already stopped the bleeding. Still Hinata's intense stare made him worried. It even distracted him from the fact, that she was dangerously close to his bare skin.
"It's not as bad as it seems," he remarked to distract her attention from the wound. "It doesn't even hurt much."

She finally locked her eyes with him, but the sadness in them chased away every trace of reassurance he tried to give with his.

"Hinata-"

"Let me at least help with the wrapping," she said and silenced the words of comfort he intended to share. Hinata grabbed the bandages on his side and untangled them before she shifted towards the man. Naruto trailed her with his eyes and didn't dare to spill another word.

She rose the bandages and held them towards him, but pulled away again, causing Naruto to frown.

"I'm sorry," she spoke. "You got wounded because of me." He knew her well enough to be sure, that these words would have passed her lips eventually, so he wasn't really surprised when he heard them.

"That's not your fault, Hinata. My father's position endangers me either way."

"Still…"

She might had been glad when he saved her but him becoming the target had joined her many worries. She was aware that he was a target one way or another but she didn't want him to die protecting her. That was the least of her wishes.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, aren't I?" Naruto meant to put his hands on her shoulders but stopped in the motion, instead laid his hand on her head. "And you are too," he spoke softer.

"Everything is going to be fine." She visibly took a deep breath and nodded timidly.

Hinata started the wrapping in complete stillness and drew even closer every time she had to go around his back. The atmosphere changed instantly.
Sometimes he sensed her breath on his chest or a wet strand of her hair stroking his skin, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Every pore in his body tensed up and he became sensitive to yet her smallest touches.
He couldn't image that she would be unaffected by their closeness but he wasn't able to pursue his assumption and instead averted his gaze to a distant point in the corner of the room.

The rhythmical heaving of his form fastened slightly and it couldn't stay unnoticed from Hinata. She had realized the situation she was in. The fact that she had her arms around him and embraced him in a closeness, that made her able to nearly sense his heartbeat, hit her hard like a rock. This wasn't like her usual self. She had liked him since she could remember, but that hadn't helped in initiating physical contact before.

Turning her head towards him after finishing the wrapping was a grand mistake as her eyes met his. As if they had held her hostage, rotating her gaze once again was virtually impossible.

Naruto swallowed and rose his hand to cup her face. Then he stopped his slow approach, his fingers still lingering in the air, when Hinata shifted closer.
Parting her mouth slightly she gradually moved towards him. He mirrored her pouting lips, their eyelids already closing midway. But he soon cleared the fog in his mind and backed away.

"You should go to sleep now," he said, making an effort that his voice didn't sound as hoarse as he feared. Hinata blinked several times, as if she had to convince herself that he had just heard his words correctly. Her gaze followed him hastily putting his clothes back on and walking towards the slide door.

"I already prepared your bed." He pointed at the white sheets laid out not far away from the lit candles. He disappeared so quickly, that when she pivoted her eyes from the bed again, he had already reached for his sword in the corner and left the room. Hinata knitted her brows together, as she didn't quite comprehend what had just happened.

An audible sigh resounded at the other side of the door and Naruto dropped on his backside. He put down his sword and crossed his legs.
He felt bad for leaving her in a state like that. Her confused look crept back into his mind and he shook his head, trying to chase it away.

It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss her, he actually wanted to do it so badly, that one part of his body cursed the other right now. But he didn't want to kiss her when she was vulnerable and in complete fear that she might get killed any minute. It should happen when they both wanted to, just because they liked each other.

The blood had formed a dark puddle around Neji's body. His clothes had absorbed the red color like a sponge, making his pale face stand out. He could barely keep his eyes open, his lids sometimes closing for a dangerously long time. The throaty breathing was the only thing hearable.

"Nii-san." Her voice seemed far away, the word resounding like a weak echo in the distance.
Did all bodies have this amount of blood? How could there be this much? It soaked everything that was in its spreading. The wood on the floor, her kimono, her hands and knees. She didn't need light to know the red.

His eyes finally found her, but he couldn't move any muscle to gain her attention. A dry cough was the only thing, that was able to pass his mouth.

"Neji-niisan." She closed in to recognize his face easier but faltered. Why was he smiling? The corners of his mouth had definitely rose, his facial features forming a calm expression. This wasn't right.
His mouth opened.

"Be careful."

Hinata whimpered and her body twitched in the desperate attempt to wake up. She screamed when she managed to open her eyes. Her fingers dug into the sheets, as she sat up and pulled her legs closer towards herself. She wasn't aware, that she was still screaming, it was like her body reacted on its own. Her mind was anywhere else but in the reality.

It even took her quite some time to realize, that someone had grabbed her shoulders and was shaking her. There were noises, words probably, which she could make out as they appeared to be way off. Her skull felt like it was pinched with hundreds of needles. She felt light and heavy at the same time.

Then the drowsy feeling vanished carefully and the person shaking her turned out to be Naruto. She stared at him with big eyes, as if she didn't know what species he was and why he was here.

"Hinata, wake up!" His concerned look called her from her trance, his voice hitting against her eardrums. "Hinata, it was just a dream! Wake up!"
She sensed how firm his grip was. It hurt, but it brought her back to reality.

Hinata's clenched fingers released the sheets and she hastily threw her arms around him, hugging him in a tight embrace, causing Naruto to fall on his buttocks. But her hug didn't lose its consistence if anything grew steadier.
The circumstance that she wasn't trapped in paralyzation anymore, made him relax his tension. He put his hands on her back and stroked it reassuringly.

"Everything's all right. It was just a dream," he spoke calmly. Naruto had found out about the nightmares she was having since Neji's death several days ago. She had always thought of him as a brother rather than a cousin. She had been crushed in a way, that wasn't able to eat or sleep for a long time.

Naruto sensed her quivering in his caress. She had clenched the fabric on his back and tried to prevent herself from choking up.

"You can cry if you want to." Without seeing her face he knew that she had heard him because her sudden stiffness. "It's just me. You can cry as much as you want, no one will know."

Hinata shivered harder until she released a cry, setting free a river of sobs. They grew louder and more pained, her cry resounding around him and penetrating his consciousness. Her tears had already wetted his clothes and he could feel the liquid on his skin.

Her weeping didn't stop and gained in intensity, leading him to ask himself how hard it must have been to hold them in. Pressing her firmer against his body was the only thought he could think of to comfort her.
Even after her crying became silent and her shaking decreased, they didn't move apart for a while, not wanting to give up on the warm security.

His hands enveloped her head and he lifted it from its resting position on his chest. He had a view on her puffy eyes and brushed away the last traces of her shed tears as she sniffed one last time.
Naruto stroked her cheeks once more, before he moved away and slowly guided her to lay down. While she silently let him conduct her, he kneed down next to her and covered her with the blanket, in a way her head was the only part of her body that remained unsheltered.

Hinata quickly grabbed his arm when he gave the indication of standing up.

"Where are you going?" Her voice was rough because of her crying and her throat hurt.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to leave." Naruto put his hand on hers and lingered on it for a few seconds before he ushered it back to her side.

He stood up and slid the door shut. He had left it open when he hurried to her screaming, even throwing away his sword in his hurry. Naruto picked the weapon up and walked back to Hinata, sitting down cross-legged right next to her. She observed him settling down his sword on his lap and casting her a smile when he took her hand.

Hinata returned the genuine smile, silently wondering how it was possible for him to make her feel better just with small gestures as these.
He caressed her hair with his other hand, signaling her to sleep. She rubbed her cheek against her pillow and let her head sink in its softness, without dismissing their eye contact.

Then she drew his hand to her mouth, until she could feel his skin under her lips. She closed her eyes, with the intend of not letting go anytime soon. Naruto's hand was warm and comforting.

Reviews are really appreciated~