Disclaimer:

I do not own either Naruto or Shingeki no Kyojin. I do, however, own this fanfiction. The plot and any original characters I might add are all mine. This is co-written with Sakura and both she and the story are on Quotev.

ALSTROEMERIA

alstroemeria : withstanding the trials of everyday life

| CHAPTER ONE : PROLOGUE |

The rain bore on endlessly, pounding on the rooftops and turning the sidewalks and roads into vast lakes of dull, muddy water. Dark gray clouds covered the sky, only letting a few rays of feeble sun slip past the barrier. The monotonous sound of raindrops beating on the sidewalk blended in with the occassional whoosh of the breeze through the treetops. Everything was bleak, gray, and dreary - even the atmosphere.

The once so full and lush green village of Konohagakure was nothing more than a broken and torn battle-field.

My mouth was wide open, the byakugan blaring, activated. Lilac and pupil-less eyes glistened with unshed tears, mingling with the cold, harsh rain as they stared forward in horror. Disbelieving, my gaze locked onto the two lone figures standing in the centre of the battle field, both enraged.

Fear crippled me, freezing every muscle of my body even though I could tell that I was shaking on the outside. Sweat dripped down my forehead like the dribble of a melting ice cream. My heart violently pounded in my chest, breath shallow and throat constricting.

"Rasengan!"

The blonde growled, as chakra gathered in his right hand, swirling with a familiar blue wind jutsu. Whisker-like cheek marks defined and his eyes, a blood-shot red, sharpened with a feral look in them. The contrast to the warm, joyful teen he was not long ago - this morning, actually - was mind-blowing. Canines - already sharp enough as they naturally were - lengthened, signifying use of his demonic chakra.

"Chidori!"

Snarling, the raven-haired male responded to Naruto's threat, his own signature jutsu - even if not created by he himself - encasing his left hand. The sharingan, a deadly dojutsu more powerful than all but one, activated. It span wildly, darting left to right and tracking the movements of his rival.

Dust particles blurred my view of the battle, and all was silent for a few seconds save the small chirping of the Chidori. Then, I saw two silhouettes, charging at each other with confidence and a battle-shriek to match. A tremble raked my body, the intensity of the chakra causing me to gasp and stumble back.

A scream ripped past my lips, lavender eyes open wide as I realised I was calling out for them, shrieking at them, to stop. Neither paused - neither hesitated at my shrill, panicked voice. At this rate, their jutsu would collide and the impact of it would blow them into bits!

Stunned, I numbly processed the words circling around in my head, the situation rendering me immobile and paralysed.

Naruto-kun... The ramen-obsessesed, orange loving and pure-hearted boy that I... that I'm proud to call the one I fell for. His smile would brighten up even the darkest of days, eyes warm and kind as they gazed upon me. Tanned skin with beautiful blonde locks framing his face, whisker-like marks on each of his cheeks giving him a 'feral' look that never failed to make me shiver. The way he protected and shielded me all those years back, when I was nothing more than a naïve child prone to bullying and unkindness, was when he became my knight in shining armour.

Sasuke. Admittedly, I didn't know him that well but despite his wrong actions, I knew inside he was a good person. The raven-haired teen was just a lonely boy underneath that tough façade, shutting the gates to his heart before anyone could slip in. A lonely boy begging for a hug. Long ago, he despised the thought of respecting and worrying about the boy he called 'Usuratonkachi'. Now though, I knew the very same person was the only thing that kept the flame within him burning. It would break him - shatter him if he was somehow the only one that survived the attack. The one - perhaps the only one - he'd respected since we were young, oblivious little genin dead by his hand.

It wasn't fair. I thought, blankly staring at the two. Though I guess, when it came to these rivals, 'unfair' was just another word. Honestly, I couldn't count how much unfortunate events happened in their lives even if I sat there trying to gather all them up for months. Still, it didn't make the situation any less than unfair.

Clutching my bleeding arm, I wondered how their pink-haired teammate would take this all. My shoulders sagged in sadness and empathy, thinking about the broken look that would be on face when she realised that her team would've left her behind - again! My heart reached out for the poor girl; I don't know how she'd been able to keep strong after she was outshined constantly by the three she held dear.

I admire her for many things: her strength, her determination, her beauty - and I could go on. What I most admire about her, though, is how she could keep being 'Sakura' even during the hardest moments of her life.

Even I have changed since the fourth war - I could easily take a life if they threatened those who I loved. I'm no longer the insecure, confused Hyūga Hinata. I may still be a little shy, but now I'm a proud, confident heiress and member of the Hyūga clan.

The sound of a feral, demonic growl snapped me out of my thoughts, and I gasped. They were less than fifteen metres apart, and showing no signs of stopping. I shut my eyes, images of what would happen taunting me and eating away at my being. Blood. Blood. Blood. I could only see the sickening colour red when I envisioned the outcome of the attack.

There was only one way then...

With a jolt, I realised just what I was thinking. It could work - they wouldn't hit each other - but there was a problem...

My aching muscles cried out for me stop when I stumbled forwards, giving my already torn and bruised legs a chakra boost. I vaguely understood my thoughts, choosing to desperately run towards the fight over whatever doubt lingered within my mind. No selfish thought would detour me from saving my precious people.

Despite the searing pain encasing my body like a leech, I found myself unable to stop. Why? I internally screamed to myself. What was I doing? But I continued.

Ocean-blue and onyx eyes widened, shock and panic written over them as they helplessly stared at me.

Outstretching my hands and feet once in the centre where the two attacks would collide, I fearfully closed my eyes. I inhaled sharply, awaiting the inevitable. My body betrayed my mind as it shook, struggling to not collapse under the pressure of the males' chakra.

Naruto let a scream rip passed his lips. A wave of anguish washed over him at the realisation of what he was going to do. I could only hear a muffled 'Hinata!' and a gut-wrenching yell following after. From the small slit between my eyelids, I saw through tears that Naruto was trying to pull back his arm. Unfortunately for the both of us, the momentum of the swing was too great, and his Rasengan tore through my skin and the flesh of my lung.

A searing pain erupted in my ribcage; it took great effort not to start crying from my widened eyes. Slowly and in disbelief, the blonde pulled his arm out, staring at it with a wide, glazed and haunted look. I started to see black dots clouding my vision, barely catching his plea to heal myself. I couldn't respond, instead offering a shaky howl of pain as the blood gushed out. We both knew it. We both denied it. We both hated it. I was in too much agony to even think about healing myself.

Sasuke started in surprise, though he was able to lessen the power of the jutsu. The Chidori didn't stop completely, and the attack ripped through my shoulder blade. He 'tched', muttering something along the lines of 'bothersome Hyūga' before looking away. His sharingan glared at me from the corners of his eyes, face tight with annoyance.

I ignored his blatant irritation with me, letting out a strained but much needed cough. "Nar-Naruto-kun. Sasu-ke." I managed to choke out, blood dripping down my chin. My sacrifice had payed off - they were alive and were going to see the beautiful sunrise of tommorow. Tears prickled the corners of my eyes, eyelashes weighing down and raindrops trailing down my paling cheeks.

One could call me selfish - I didn't want to live without the one I loved beside me. I didn't want to hold all those guilty 'I should've done this or that' feelings. So I guess I was selfish to allow myself to die, but at that moment I could care less. They were living - breathing - and that was all I could ask for.

My breath was labored, each gasp of oxygen coming with an audible croak. Chest heaving up and down with great effort, as if it were weighted down, I felt my life energy diminishing. Each intake of breath felt harder than the previous, but I wasn't going to give up.

I felt as if the whole world was against me, set on hearing no more from me. My eyes burned, but I didn't blink, too afraid that I would not have the ability to open them again if I did. Black and white dots danced across my vision tauntingly, and the corners of my eyesight begin to dim.

I tried to hold onto the small, distant voice repeating my name over and over again, but eventually I couldn't. I was just so tired. My head fell limp, slumping forwards. I had no energy left in my body to support myself anymore. An exhausted, bitter-sweet smile spread across my face, half-lidded eyes fluttering tiredly and soon I took my final breath.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light, engulfing the three of us all and the field around. The feeling of my limbs being stretched and my body being pulled in all directions caused me to moan in pain and gasp in shock. I heard a faint whisper - 'It's not time for you to die yet, Hinata' - before all I felt was numbness and weightlessness. A burning shudder shook my body, and my pupil-less eyes rolled back. I lost consciousness.

Sasuke and Naruto were left alone in the clearing, both in shock. The body of Hyūga Hinata was... gone. She was nowhere to be found, being there one second and gone the next. Naruto fell to his knees in despair, sobs wreaking his body. The earlier battle was at the back of his mind, pushed away and replaced with the thoughts of the shy girl giving him a smile, her face splattered with blood. He'd just lost the girl who'd loved him for her whole life - and the girl he'd secretly loved back too.

"Better try something than to simply wait for death" - Mikasa Ackerman (ミカサ・アッカーマン )

Any comments simply saying 'update' or 'good chapter' will be deleted almost immediately - obviously, flames will too. If you must know, though, I aim to update this fanfiction once every month - or twice depending on how fast of slow the story is going. The next update is scheduled for (O7/O4/2O16).

This story is the re-written version of our (Sakura and I) first fanfiction 'Fighting For It'. Hopefully, it's much better.

The beginning is inspired by 'A Second Chance' [Naruto+ShingekiNoKyojin crossover]. Please check it out sometime! - it's much better than this, if you want to have my honest opinion. Her one is Sakura-centric though, unlike mine which is Hinata-centric.