Hi there! :) Thanks to aryaputra for reviewing, and all those who favourited this story! And thanks as well to any reader who just stopped by…my hit-counter tells me about it lol. :P Hope you all enjoyed! Here is the next chapter…kind of angsty but it needs to be done for this story to get anywhere. Let me know what you think afterwards!

Oh and yes, despite the prologue, this is definitely a NaruHina story. It'll be kinda obvious soon hehe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto & all associated characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

And I can't breathe without you, but I have to.
-Breathe, Taylor Swift

Chapter 1: Losing Light

Mhmm.

Hinata's thoughts were a murky mess at the surface. She was just on the cusp of consciousness, teetering on the line between dreams and reality. When she was finally pushed over the edge, she didn't immediately open her eyes. Instead, she tried remembering what she had been thinking about before she had metaphorically hit the wall. It proved to be extremely difficult, since all she could really think about was the darkness. She supposed it wasn't unlikely that she had been drifting in some sort of limbo, but she still found it odd; usually she recalled her dreams with the utmost clarity.

A subtle sound to her left took her attention away from her dreams and the discomfort harvesting within her stomach. Hinata listened carefully, trying to form a mental picture of her surroundings within her head. There was one…no, there were two people. Both of them were making identical noises but from separate directions. The soft, repeated rustling told her that they were outdoors, possibly in a grassy field. She tried thinking back to her last few moments of consciousness.

What was I doing?

She kept drawing a blank, although her thoughts seemed to idle on something intangible. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was as if it was on the tip of her tongue. Hinata struggled to pull the thought out of the depths of her mind; it seemed like her brain was far away, focussed on something else. She was getting distracted by the sudden explosion of sunlight hitting her eyes, causing her to see a faint orange glow behind her eyelids.

Wait…orange…

Her mind finally clicked as it found the subconscious connection. Naruto-kun, she chimed in her head, relishing the way it bounced off the walls of her head. The way it sounded, the way it was supposed to sound, was so fun, so quirky, and so him. Time and time again, she wished it came out coherently when she said it out loud. She desperately wanted him – and frankly, herself – to hear the way his name rolled off her tongue, light and breezy with a hint of…

Flirty?

The thought almost made her shrink in embarrassment, although no one could hear her thoughts. It wasn't so outrageous for a girl to be a little coy; at least, that's what she reassured herself. How was a girl to be flirty with a guy? It was fairly unchartered territory (fairly because she had tried it once, and yes, it did count even though her voice failed her and came out all squeaky) and the thought usually scared her. But to get his attention, it seemed like she needed to add something extra. Maybe she had to bat her eyelashes or put her hand on his shoulder, lean in close and say his name smoothly, with no stutters interrupting her…

Naruto-kun.

The sultry way she imagined saying it made her cheeks burn. Oh my god, am I blushing? She remained very still, hoping that the two roaming around near her didn't notice the bright red tint to her face. It was known that her fiery crimson blush was like a beacon, calling out to whoever and whatever was nearby. A red face in a field of green grass was as easy to spot as Naruto-kun's bright orange jumpsuit. And while the orange suited him (and wasn't nearly as embarrassing) the blush most definitely did not suit her. She wished it would disappear altogether from her life. Maybe things would be simpler.

At least, thinking about Naruto-kun would be a whole lot simpler.

Unfortunately, she felt a light gust of wind that told her that someone had dropped down beside her. Her shinobi sense kicked in quite quickly after that, as she employed a brief check of the chakra. She sighed inwardly when she noticed that it was simply Kiba-kun and Akamaru that had been wandering around her all this time.

"Hinata?"

She didn't want to get up. She was perfectly fine as she was; drained from the embarrassment of fainting, but still perfectly happy dreaming about the day she would be able to talk to Naruto-kun properly. Hinata somehow refrained from responding. Eventually Kiba-kun would get tired of waiting on her and start training or something. That was her one and only opportunity to get away unscathed. Before he noticed, she would sneak into the surrounding forest and run away. Far, far away. Away from his incessant comments about how she "always fainted around Naruto" or "always became so flustered around Naruto". She knew perfectly well what Naruto-kun did to her (made her weak in the knees, overwhelmingly euphoric, get butterflies, want to sing…) but she did not need Kiba-kun's commentary. At first, it seemed like he was genuinely confused about the whole situation. Now it seemed like he did it on purpose.

Sometimes Kiba-kun was such an…indecent person (she refused to use bad words since it made her feel terrible, even if he was being quite the donkey).

When five minutes went by and Kiba-kun did not move from his spot, Hinata began to feel uneasy. He was rarely ever subdued, let alone quiet and statuesque. It was typical of him to stay silent for maybe two minutes at a time, and that was on a good day. Today he wasn't even talking to Akamaru, and an uncomfortable silence seemed to fill the hot summer air around them.

"What if we broke her?"

When she heard his voice, she felt another wave of relief wash over her. She remained still as she registered his words and the unpleasant atmosphere it left. Broke her? Did that mean they were training, and that she had taken some sort of hit from Kiba-kun or Akamaru? Beside her, she felt the soft fur of Kiba-kun's canine friend brush against her right hand, bringing her away from her thoughts. This was followed by the feeling of Akamaru laying his head squarely over her stomach, placing his snout and paws on her abdomen. The dog barked softly in response to Kiba-kun's question, tickling Hinata in the process. She barely stopped herself from giggling.

"I know it's not our fault, but it's Hinata." The emphasis on he put on her name made her insides churn. She took her mind off of Akamaru's wriggling form and concentrated more of herself on Kiba-kun's words. "It was probably the hardest on her…"

Her heart almost stopped as his voice drifted off quite brokenly. Her heart seemed to mimic his voice; it thrummed unsteadily and awkwardly within her chest. This caused the discomfort in her stomach – the feeling she had temporarily put aside – to come to the forefront of her problems. She was definitely missing something. Something terrible.

For some reason, the same name she had been saying to herself repeated itself again within her head. She told herself that it was for her own reassurance.

Naruto-kun.

Akamaru whimpered, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. To her left, she felt Kiba-kun sigh. Shortly after, she felt the warmness of the sun leave her, as Kiba-kun, and his following shadow, leaned over her still form. Like Akamaru, he placed his head over Hinata. "Well, she's still breathing," he remarked to his dog, probably lifting his head up after confirming the sound of her shallow breaths and unsteady heartbeat. "Damn it, Akamaru…" She heard the emotion in his voice without seeing it for herself, causing her heart to swell and the knot in her stomach to double in size. When she felt a small drop of water fall onto her cheek and slide down, she knew she couldn't fake her unconsciousness anymore.

"Kiba-kun?"

His charcoal eyes immediately flung wide open in the middle of yet another tear. The lone tear slid down the rest of his face and plopped down on her face once again. Roughly, he wiped the tears from his face. He was trying to hide his being upset, and not very well. "Hinata," he started thickly, "you're okay." The relief he felt was fairly evident in the way he said every word of the sentence; like he was just so thankful for every breath. It sent a chill down her spine.

"Yes," she replied, biting on her lip. "W-what's wrong?"

"You don't remember?" When she shook her head, he gave her a blank stare. "Okay then…" Hinata tensed as she waited for his reply. By the dazed look on his face, she knew that he was still trying to register her words and actions. He opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it. Soon, he repeated the gesture; opened, and then closed. Obviously, he couldn't find the right words to say something to her.

"Kiba-kun," she interrupted his thinking session with a very firm voice, much to her surprise, "tell me."

"N-nothing." He said simply, stuttering as like she would have if she were trying to hide something. Kiba-kun was so easy to read sometimes. Kind of like Naruto-kun – he was an open book.

Naruto-kun.

What was with her?

"I'm serious, K-Kiba-kun," she reiterated, although this time her voice was an octave lower (and shakier, for that matter) than it was before. She just couldn't shake the unwholesome feeling she kept getting with every heartbeat, the one that kept telling her that something was about to change. That something might have already changed.

"Shino went to go get some water—"

"Kiba-k-kun," Hinata mustered up as much of her inner strength as she could and attempted to firm up her voice and her composure. But the sound of her voice outside of her head was way more fragile, more vulnerable than it had ever been before. For a split second, she contemplated letting it go. It was nothing, it would be nothing. The fact that he came to mind was nothing. It was all an overreaction. Or an obsession. She was always thinking about him.

Her mind told her nothing. Nothing.

She could pass off her anxiety as nothing. She could pass off her racing heart as nothing. She could pass off her sweaty palms and brows as nothing. She could pass off the tears in his eyes as nothing. She could pass off the nauseating feeling in her stomach as nothing.

But she couldn't pass off the flood of memories that came back to her as her pale eyes found the tiny orange ribbon attached neatly around her teammate's forearm.

"It's…"

One heartbeat.

"…well…"

Two heartbeats.

"…Naruto."

By the third heartbeat, her heart had shattered into an infinite number of pieces. Silent drops cascaded down her cheeks and fell onto her sweater, leaving tiny spots of water along the lilac-coloured fabric. She had known; somehow, her brain had remembered, but she didn't want to believe it. Because it was Naruto-kun. Lopsided grin and sunny hair, endlessly blue eyes and vivid personality to match. Beautifully bizarre choice of clothing and the charming way he scratched his cheek when he was trying to be modest. The epitome of hope, courage, and determination. He was Naruto-kun. He was invincible, indestructible. He wasn't…he just couldn't be.

She closed her eyes tightly, letting the never-ending waterfall of tears fully engulf her entire face. She clenched her fists in frustration, wishing desperately that unconsciousness would swallow her once again, this time permanently. Anything to escape a world that was so dramatically different, so much more suffocating than it was before. Whether he knew it or not, he was the sun to her solar system. And without him, the world just wasn't bright anymore.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata…"

Hearing Kiba-kun saying it out loud made it so final. Naruto-kun was gone, and she would never see him again. Vaguely, Hinata felt Kiba-kun wrap his arms around her as she finally let out a wracking sob that shook her petite frame. She laid her head on Kiba-kun's shoulder and clenched the fabric of his jacket between her hands, weeping more than she had ever in her life.

But through it all, the only thing Hinata could think was that she didn't need a sorry.

She needed Naruto-kun.

X X X X

Hinata delicately pulled her dark tresses into a high ponytail and held it there. At first, she didn't secure it, just pulled as much hair as she could from her face and kept it in place with one hand. She looked at herself in the mirror. It was an understatement to say she looked horrible. With swollen red eyes and puffy cheeks, it looked like she had been assaulted. Which, she thought to herself glumly, wasn't all that far from the truth. She had been assaulted. Just not physically, per se.

It was pretty much all she could manage, though. Her will to get up in the morning had radically declined to a point where she didn't get up, even to eat. Food was brought to her on a silver platter (in true Hyuuga fashion, she scoffed) and she always declined. Her father was starting to get worried. Her father. Even in the state she was in, she recognized how ground-breaking that development was. It wasn't that he was a bad father, just a busy one. He was too involved in other more important matters, like tending to Hanabi-chan's training or general clan affairs. The fact that he was actually thinking of her was…surprising.

Even that wasn't enough to bring her out of the darkness. And nothing probably will, she finished in her head. Hinata closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying to keep herself from crying. She thought she'd cried herself out over the past three days, but there was obviously a bit left. One managed to escape the confines of her eye and dripped down onto her dresser, hitting it with a slight plop. That sound was soon followed by a knock at her door.

"Hinata-sama? Are you alright?"

She recognized the voice right away; after all, he was like second father to her. "Ko-san," she somehow managed to say in her state, although she couldn't fathom how. "Yes. I'm alright. Thank you."

Hinata heard him place a hand on her doorknob and begin to turn it, although he hesitated. There was a strict rule against entering a room without asking first at the Hyuuga household, especially for those who were part of the head family. But Ko-san was more than just the people she was obligated to see and greet and put up with; he was truly the embodiment of the word family. Naturally, he was allowed to enter without a second thought, although he never actually barged in. Force of habit, she guessed.

"Come in, Ko-san. You don't have to get my permission."

The door opened with a click and she turned around to greet him fully, or as fully as she could. He kept the door only slightly ajar and peered into the room uneasily. She knew he was extremely uncomfortable; they all were. Ever since the news, they had been tiptoeing around her. To be honest, she didn't even mind. Hinata continued to stare at the nervous Hyuuga, smiling softly when he couldn't find the proper words at first. "Ah," he started, tapping his fingers against the doorframe, "are you sure you're alright, Hinata-sama?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She turned away from him and towards the mirror so he wouldn't see the lonely tear that slid silently down her cheek, and continued to fiddle with her hair.

"Forgive me, Hinata-sama, but you do not look fine."

She wiped the tear from her face a little forcefully and swivelled back towards him. She released the bunch that her hair was in, allowing it to fall roughly to her shoulders. "I know."

"And?"

"And," she sighed, closing her eyes. "You should come in fully before we start this conversation."

He seemed to think about it for a fraction of a second, and then slipped in as quickly and quietly as possible. Ko-san pressed his back to the door awkwardly, still fidgeting mercilessly. It was obvious that he was trying to order his words in a polite-but-firm way, trying to make it so that it did not hurt her feelings but got the point across. She was no daisy; she knew how to handle criticism from others. Not to say that she enjoyed it (it sucked, majorly) but she preferred that it was out in the open. She could take anything with a smile on her face.

One of the perks of living with the Hyuuga.

"Hinata-sama, I am terribly sorry for your loss."

His words hit her hard. And not simply because she was overwhelmingly depressed, either. It was also due to the guilt she felt within the pit of her stomach. Knotted tightly and fastened securely to her conscience, guilt wracked her very core since the night she found out. She had no right to be as sad as she was; he wasn't hers and he barely even spoke to her. She wasn't the most important person in his life. There were so many others. How she could feel this self-pitying was disgusting to her. She should have been out comforting Sakura-san or Kakashi-sensei. Even Neji-niisan. But she had no right whatsoever to feel sorry for herself. No excuse whatsoever. He was not her loss.

He was everyone's loss.

"Ko-san, do not apologize to me," she responded firmly, wincing slightly at the metallic edge to her voice. "He was a shinobi. Brave shinobi die in battle all the time. It is a great honor." Her eyes burned with tears that threatened to escape. She couldn't have hated herself more for uttering those horrible words. Nothing was more untrue. It was so, so wrong to be speaking like a Hyuuga. Yes, she was technically "one of them", but it wasn't a way to live. It wasn't the way to be speaking of Naruto-kun. Her Naruto-kun . Mentally, she chastised herself for the wave of self-sympathy that washed over her. "It is a sad thought to know he is gone, but I am not the worst off right now. We must think of others now."

"Do not listen to your father." She should have known he would have caught on; he was always so intuitive, especially when it came to her feelings. She breathed uneasily as he continued. "You do not have to hide your emotions for the sake of clan pride, Hinata-sama."

"I know." And she did know, with every fibre of her being. She could and would stand up to her father someday…it was just that today wasn't that day. It wasn't about her.

"Then?"

"Then what, Ko?" In her exasperated state, she forgot to add the honorific to his name (her heart told her that it was partly because she was angry and sad and offended and simply overwhelmed all at the same time, for about a million different reasons). He wasn't surprised, but rather amused at her outburst. She could see the fond expression that came through as he fought to control the somewhat sad smile on his face. The smile hit his eyes in the weirdest way, causing them to crinkle and bunch up at the edges. He was reminiscing. The thought just made her more flustered, a side that only he knew. "Stop it, Ko."

"Your mother," he responded, much to her surprise. She waited for his next words. "You are just like her."

Her heart thrummed painfully. Within seconds, the pent-up irritation she had felt dissipated and left her feeling hollow inside. Almost like a reflex, her hand made its way up to her neck, where it found the one object that kept her mother tied to her, even though she was another world away. Her index finger and thumb rubbed its surface. Instantly, she felt calmed, although the depression hit her harder than it had…with twice the force.

"If this is your idea of making me feel better, it's not working."

He smiled sadly and walked to her fragile form carefully, easing her onto her bed and sitting himself beside her. She vaguely felt his hand rubbing her back, much the way he used to when she was younger. The tears fell freely now, and for the first time in a long while, it was in front of a Hyuuga.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "But your mannerisms, the way you look, the way you stand tall, and even the way you act, with that hidden temper of yours…it is all her. It is all Haruna-sama." Hinata sniffled, letting his voice whisk her away into a better time. To days with flower-picking and making cookies, kimono shopping and bedtime stories. She wished that she could go back to being a kid, away from the mess of real life and its unbearable losses. As if he read her thoughts, Ko-san continued with his soothing voice. "I know it is difficult right now, without your mother and now without Uzumaki-san. But they will always be with you, Hinata-sama." She looked up at him and saw his own eyes glistening. "My own mother once told me, 'Those who die will never be gone, for they will be embodied in the lives of the people they have touched.' So please, do not cover up for the sake of anyone else. Be who they taught you to be."

How he managed to find the right words was beyond her. "T-Thank you, Ko-san," she croaked, returning his gesture with a hug.

He nodded at her a little embarrassedly and stood up. "You must be going, Hinata-sama. You do not want to be late." He walked to her dresser and pulled the tiny orange ribbon from its place on the mirror. "I suppose he taught you that orange was the best colour for any shinobi?"

Hinata smiled, pulling her hair into the ponytail it was once in, leaving a few strands out to frame her face. She took the ribbon from his outstretched hand and quickly tied her long locks in place. "That, and more," she finally replied as Ko-san slipped out silently and shut the door. She stood at the mirror for a moment and fingered the necklace that was hidden beneath her Konoha headband. The blonde had taught her so much more.

After one final tug at her black dress, she decided to head out. The funeral of Naruto Uzumaki was sure to be a long one.

That's all, folks! This chapter was meant to be an intro to the story, which is why it might seem slow. This is sort of the basis of the plot so I had to add in a few things that will probably come up again later. :P Things will get a little more interesting very, very soon. ;) Anyways, review to let me know how it was! And maybe tell me your favourite characters in Naruto! Haha, I'm always interested in peoples' top 3.

Oh, and omg! The latest episode of Naruto Shippuden! Just watched it yesterday…so great. I love Minato and Kushina, they are so great with each other. MinaKushi kind of reminds me of NaruHina a little, actually (Kushina/Naruto the loud ones, Minato/Hinata the quiet ones). Made me smile. :)

Anyways, until next time!

-TD92

EDIT: Fixed the typo with Neji's honorific... "niisan" instead of "oneesan"...thanks to aryaputra for pointing that out!