AFTER DARK | naruto

65 | my brighter future

"So then the rumors were true? That man is the real Madara!" Shinobi began to panic after learning the truth about the man atop of the ten tails.

"What do we do?! We're all going to die!" They shouted, the news that the head of the Hyuga causing shock amongst everyone in the crowd. The Hyuga clan was one of the strongest—and its leader had just fallen in battle.

Naruto and the others noticed the oncoming panic, it hadn't been what Obito planned—that being for Naruto to give up his hope is this war, but the ensuing chaos worked too.

He noticed Hinatas tears—an appropriate reaction for losing your father, he assumed, because he had shed tears too, after his Sensei died. But what shocked him the most was that Neji had cried, from his very minimal knowledge on the Hyuga clan, what he knew most was that Hiashi—his uncle—was someone Neji resented.

So if even Neji could shed tears over him, it must've been a big deal.

He noticed the Uchiha boy that typically followed you around come running up to Neji, looking his fair share of panicked, but for a reason he wasn't aware of.

"Holy," Shisui panted, a hand over his heart as he recovered from the scare that was Nejis near death. His uncles dead body on the floor going ignored. "You're not supposed to die, you know?! [Firstname] would've killed me, I said I would protect you..." He murmured under his breath.

"My body moved without thinking." Neji replied solemnly. "You don't have to protect me, anyway."

"I beg to differ," Shisui answered. "You nearly went and killed yourself! If that's no need for worry, then what is?" Ironic, a man who killed himself going and scolding someone else for nearly doing it, too.

Neji didn't answer, his eyes closed in order to focus on something else. He could hear the panic—the grief, the fear. War was overwhelming for anybody, nobody could blame him for his own terror. But at this rate, they would lose this war.

He wasn't sure if they were still after the nine and eight tails after they prematurely summoned the ten tails, but there was the possibility of them still being after you, and whatever other dragon Jinchuuriki might be left. You had three out of two, you might've been able to prematurely summon the dragon king, too. But he wasn't actually sure how that summoning worked.

He opened his eyes with a sigh, looking toward his mourning cousin. "Hinata, it wouldn't be fair of me to tell you to not cry." He began, "But we both know Lord Hiashi would've yelled at us to get moving had it been someone else."

Had it been me...? He couldn't help but think.

"I hate to agree with the old man, but it's true now more than ever. In order to honor his will, we mustn't allow ourselves to lose this war." He spoke wisely.

Hinata sniffled, fresh tears steadily replacing her old ones as she mourned the loss of her father. How would Hanabi feel if she heard about her fathers passing?

"Don't you see, Naruto Uzumaki?! Now this is true despair!" Obito yelled out. "Now do you think you can bare all the hatred in the world? Do you think you could take me?!"

Naruto glanced around him, he had to admit that it was true. There was chaos and panic, and everyone that had been united just seconds before were toppling over one another now in an attempt to get away.

The head of the Hyuga clan had died, he witnessed despair in someone he had always seen as strong and unbreakable, and it was starting to look hopeless for him, too,

"Naruto," Nejis voice snapped him out of it, making him be the only thing Naruto focused on. "Hinata was willing to die for you just a second ago, and as was I."