NaruHina: Postscripts

Seventy-six

I absolutely LOVE the waterfall of truth but could you pleaseeeee elaborate on it more like this time she goes there again and this time Naruto (somehow) knows what she's seeing and it's all about her clan and stuff and how she blames herself and feels as if she killed neji and she still fights it but feels so mentally exhausted and still half believes it idk but then Naruto is kinda shook cuz he didn't know about any of this like she told him something but never this deep.

"Neji!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

She was screaming.

He felt it, felt her pain rip through his heart.

He was about to rush in but Killer Bee and Gyuuki held him back.

Naruto looked down and saw the tentacled arms around him. His first instinct was to shake them off, but instead, he gripped the lending hand that Bee was offering him.

"God, Neji!"

He could hear her crying in the falls and he wanted so badly to go to Hinata but Motoi and Killer Bee shook their heads at him.

"She needs to do this on her own, Naruto. You know this," Bee said as he withdrew the tentacles into his body.

Naruto was shaking. "I do, but I just can't listen to this." He drew in an unsteady breath. "Bee, it hurts. She needs me right now."

Motoi was sympathetic. "So then it means you can help her later on after she deals with her demons."

Bee laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's strong. She'll come out of this. Now you just need to wait."

They had to because this was a battle that Hinata had to fight on her own.

But Naruto cursed himself for leaving her by herself. Because of her byakugan, she'd been the first one to detect their enemy and she'd pursued the rogue ninja not knowing she was heading straight for the Waterfall of Truth.

He'd been busy dealing with the shinobi who were trying to kill him, so Naruto hadn't known where she'd entered.

He'd only realized it when she started screaming.

And the name she'd yelled out with so much horror and guilt in her voice had filled him with dread.

"Neji, I'm so sorry!"

There was another cry from beyond the waterfall.

"No, you're wrong! It wasn't me. It can't have been me!"

He wanted to cover his ears, but he could understand what she was saying so clearly as she tried to reason with the dark version of herself.

"The clan decided everything! I wasn't the one who put the Caged Bird seal on him. It was already decided, there was nothing I could do."

Another wail came through. Naruto listened even though he didn't want to hear her so hurt and broken.

"What could I do?! I didn't have the strength then to even try helping him because there were so many things to deal with. I wanted to help him but I couldn't and I killed him. How do I atone for this? What was I supposed to do?! I'm sorry, Neji. I'm sorry for everything."

The silence that followed meant that the evil version of herself was taunting Hinata. Naruto wanted to fight it for her, but he was rooted to the spot.

"It was all I could to hold on," Hinata was murmuring. "I was already bowing under the pressure, under my father's hate. I know he hated me because I wasn't strong enough!"

He could hear her sobbing.

"Did you know about any of this?" Bee asked quietly.

He shook his head, hating that he'd never known any of it until now. "No. She kept everything to herself."

The older man nodded. "Then it's good she gets the chance to deal with this. And maybe you can help her heal."

There was silence again from inside the waterfall.

He wanted her to not listen, but he knew how hard it was to fight yourself when the words seemed like they were the truth and crippled you with so much self-doubt.

Then Naruto heard the words that made him realize how close he was to not having Hinata in his life.

"I almost gave in. I was tired, so, so tired. Of everything. I just want to give up"

Naruto clenched his fists. God. She needed him and here he was unable to help her unable to go to her.

"Hinata! Fight!" he suddenly yelled. "Don't listen! If you can hear me, Hinata, fight it! Don't give in! Don't go back on your word. Remember your nindo!"

And she must have heard him because he heard her voice cry out, stronger this time.

"I didn't kill Neji! It wasn't my fault! None of this was ever my fault."

"Yes, Hinata. You can do it! Keep fighting it!"

"I DIDN'T KILL NEJI!"

She was yelling, and Naruto heard the rage underneath and knew she was fighting with all her might.

"I WAS JUST AS INNOCENT!"

There was silence after that, leaving him with his heart pounding.

Then a few tense moments later, Hinata emerged from the waterfall drenched and in tears.

Naruto finally ran to her and wrapped his arms around her trembling body.

"Hinata!"

She was crying, but she was also smiling.

"I heard you, Naruto," she said as she hugged him back. "I heard you in my heart."