I would like to start off saying that this kind of story was a really, really horrible idea. I basically made myself cry throughout the entire process and I don't exactly know what to do with my life now, because I just can't. This was not a merry Christmas, all because of Kishimoto killing off Neji.

I would like to say that I didn't proofread this whatsoever because I didn't want to spend more time crying so if there's any mistakes, feel free to let me know.

I do not own Naruto, because if I did, no one would ever die.

How many people had fallen before her? How many had she watched in their final moments of life? It was almost sickening, thousands of shinobi, trying nothing less than their hardest to keep moving forward, to keep Naruto safe, to end the war. Yet they kept falling. Kept sacrificing themselves for another.

She had done the same, she had thrown herself in front of Naruto, prepared to take all oncoming damage from the Juubi. Her only thought had been about protecting him, because if he died, the entire war and all of their efforts would have gone to waste. Without him, there was no point to surviving this battle. However, as she stood there, arms thrown out, eyes shut tight; the impact never came.

Someone had stopped it, someone had protected her.

Tears streamed silently down her dirt covered cheeks as she turned to see her saviour.

No.

Her voice caught in her throat as she watched the blood spew from her cousin's mouth, a look of horror covering her own features. Why would he do such a thing? She could barely even whisper out his name as Naruto asked him why he had protected them.

"Because.. I was called a genius.."

Why was it that she would never amount to anything? Why was it that she was always too weak to be able to protect the ones she loved? Was watching them suffer because of her sake the only thing she was able to do now? How come, after all this time, she was still useless.

She hated every moment of this war. You didn't even have time to mourn the dead. Including family. Yet, she continued fighting, by this point, it wasn't a choice. She would fight until she no longer had any chakra left, until the moment her final breath left her lips. As long as it meant she could protect her friends, and her home. She would prove those years of training weren't a waste. She wouldn't let Neji's sacrifice be in vain.

At the very least, that is what she planned, until the sight of another falling shinobi was caught in her sights.

It hadn't been just another ninja, not an unknown face or name from one of the other countries or hidden villages. It was someone she had grown up with, someone who had become her best friend, someone who had given her confidence, who never treated her differently because of her title and owning the Byakugan.

Please, don't let me lose him too.

She didn't give it a second thought, she ran towards her comrade, begging whatever God there was to let him be okay. She should have known better than that, but even still, she couldn't help but pray.

How many times had she nearly fallen as she sprinted as fast as she could? Too many to count. Her own fatigue was finally betraying her.

So close.

She willed herself to run faster, and finally upon reaching him, she let herself fall to her knees at his side.

"K-Kiba-kun!"

There was blood everywhere, and she couldn't even tell how he had gotten so injured. Blood streaked his cheeks, covering the tattoos of his clan. Carefully she cradled his head to her chest, fresh tears falling, only to land on his uniform.

"K-Kiba-kun.."

Too distracted by the sight before her, she hardly even noticed hand reach up to touch her face gently.

"Tears don't suit you, Hinata."

The voice was rough, almost strained sounding, but it was his nonetheless. Her eyes snapped open, only to find his dark brown, near black ones looking at her, a toothy grin on his bloodstained lips. She cried harder. Why was he smiling? How could he be smiling, still?

"D-don't die.." she whispered, "Kiba-kun you can't die.. I can't lose you too, not right after Neji."

He gave a small laugh before leaning over to cough up more blood.

"Damn it, this wasn't how I planned on telling you, Hina," again, he tried to sit up, but her grip on him tightened the smallest amount, not allowing him to do so. "Y'know, I.."

She shook her head, trying to clear any thoughts of him leaving her. What would she do without him? He had always been right by her side, always pushed her harder and helped her train. He was always there to pick her up when she couldn't find the strength to do so anymore.

".. I've always loved you."

"W-what?"

There was no way she had heard him right, but as she glanced at him and searched his eyes for any form of teasing or uncertainty, she couldn't find any. They were teammates though, him an Inuzuka, her a Hyuuga, no matter how much of a failure she was. It was impossible. She was stunned, feeling almost too frozen to move. There was just no way.

"It's impossible though, because.." another cough, another breath that sounded more and more strained, "because you've always loved Naruto.."

"Kiba-kun.."

She had never noticed. Not once. Had she been too blind to see something that had apparently been right in front of her eyes the entire time, all because of her crush and admiration for Naruto? Now it seemed like it had been the most obvious thing in the world, the way he said it. It was too late though, Kiba wouldn't make it, and both of them knew that. There could be no chances for the both of them.

"If Akamaru makes it through this.. I want you and Shino to look after him."

Again, she shook her head, "d-don't talk like that, Kiba-kun.."

"I'm not going to make it, Hinata."

All of this was so wrong, Kiba had always been so full of life, and never accepted something as silly as death. The people of his clan were feral and fierce shinobi, ones who loved the battlefield and never doubted themselves, never believed that it would be them who would die fighting, not even in the end.

Once again, she didn't take notice of his strained movement, not as the hand touching her face moved towards the back of her neck, leaving a trail of blood behind. She glanced at him with broken, apologetic eyes. Why did this have to happen to him? He had never done anything wrong.

And suddenly, she found her lips against his. She doubted she was the one who made the move, but it was still so surprising how he managed to muster enough strength to pull her face towards his own. She kissed him back, not caring if it was Naruto that she loved. She wanted to help Kiba as much as possible in his final moments, even if it was nothing more than this.

It hadn't lasted long until she felt his hand behind her head go slack and fall back on top of his chest, his body feeling heavier in her arms.

No. Please, no.

She shook him, unable to control herself, the tears now flowing as though nothing else mattered to her but the man in her arms.

"Kiba?" she questioned with an almost panicked tone, "Kiba, wake up!"

She closed her eyes, holding him as tightly as possible.

"Kiba!" she begged for him to wake up, "you're not supposed to die here, you're not supposed to let it end like this!"

Eventually, after many more casualties, the war ended. She couldn't remember how, all she could remember was the man who died in her arms. It seemed like hours that she had sat there with him, crying over his body.

Months passed and eventually Naruto ended up asking her out, which she kindly refused. After all, she didn't feel as though she deserved to be happy. Every day she visited Kiba, and every night she would silently cry herself to sleep with Akamaru by her side. She had been selfish and requested that she take care of the nin-hound. Both the Inuzuka's and Shino agreed, saying they couldn't wish for anything more.

Tonight however, wasn't one of those nights. Instead she sat there within the confines of her room, and thought about every happy moment she had ever experienced with Kiba. She wished she had known about his feelings sooner, maybe one day, she could have reciprocated his love and affections. She would wake up with a smile on her face though, and begin moving forward with her life after spending months stuck in a never-ending nightmare. She would see Kiba again one day, but for the meantime, he would have to wait for her.

I'm going to crawl into a hole and die now.