Epilogue III

35 Minutes later and Sakura and Hinata ran into the hospital while Sakura's mother parked the car. Hinata ran up to the front desk and got the attention of the receptionist.

"Where is Namikaze Naruto!?"

The receptionist looked at her, then down to her clipboard.

"He is still being stabilized. I'm sorry, but you can't visit him yet. The doctors will come out when they finished with him and will take you back to see him. I'm going to have to ask you to sit in the waiting room while he is being helped."

Hinata was livid. This woman was trying to stop her from visiting her brother, but before she could argue Sakura put her hands on Hinata's shoulders and pulled her back.

"Come on Hinata, let's just wait. We can't do anything but get in the doctor's way. We just have to trust them."

Hinata let herself be ushered into the waiting room and sat in a chair. Never in her life did she feel so weak, so helpless, even when she herself was in the hospital she still had someone with her, mostly her brother. He had always been there, always been the one to stay with her at the hospital and fall asleep beside her bed, always been the one to comfort her when she had a nightmare, always been the one to help her when she was in trouble. And now that their positions were reversed, when he desperately needed someone there with him, she was stuck in the waiting room.

She felt tears rolling down her face, and she couldn't stop them even if she wanted to. She felt herself pulled onto Sakura's shoulder while she stroked her hair.

"Let it all out Hinata. Let it all out."

She didn't know how long she cried, but the last thing that ran through her mind before she fell asleep was how much she desperately wanted to see her brother once again.

———

Naruto was walking through the halls of his school building, but there was something different. He could feel people's stares on his back, and he could hear their muttering things.

"There goes the sicko."

"I can't believe he would do that."

"How could he ruin her life like that?"

Naruto ducked his head slightly and walked faster, trying to get out of earshot, but the crowd seemed to move with him, all the while talking behind his back.

"He's fucking gross."

"I bet he raped her."

"Why does he even come to school?"

He started running through the halls, and he found himself at the entrance to the school building. He bent over with his hands on his knees gasping for breath. When he looked up he saw all his friends, but they all had scowls on his face.

"Uh, hey guys… How's it going?"

Shion and Ayame walked up to him, and before Naruto could say a word they both slapped him across the face, hard. Then they walked off into the schoolhouse leaving Naruto, Lee, and Sakura standing there.

Lee walked up to him and punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over.

"I can't believe how fucking disgusting you are. All those times I talked about Hinata I was just joking, but I didn't think you were that desperate to get laid. You're a pathetic excuse for a man."

Lee spit on Naruto and then he too walked off towards the schoolhouse. Finally there was Sakura left, but she had tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe I actually liked you. I guess this is a good thing, because now I know you can't control yourself, so for all I knew you could have raped me in my sleep or something. Have a nice life."

Then she too walked away from him, leaving him on his knees holding back all the tears that were threatening to spill out. Suddenly, he felt the need to be home. He just knew that there was something very important waiting for him at his house, so he got up and began sprinting.

He must have been running very fast, because he made it back home in the span of a few minutes. When he gazed upon his home a sense of dread filled him. It was as if the very house was evil, and he wanted nothing else than to just run away and hide somewhere, but he felt compelled to walk into the house.

He slowly approached the door, and he opened it up, surprised to find it unlocked.

He stepped inside and looked around. "Hinata? You here?"

He walked through the house and couldn't find his sister, but for some reason he just knew she was here, somewhere. He then approached his bathroom, and ever so slowly he slid the door open. The sight before him left him on his knees.

He found Hinata draped over the toilet, a knife in her hands and her wrists slit. He didn't even need to check her; he knew from her lifeless eyes she was dead.

He crawled towards her with tears running down his face. "No…"

He reached a hand out towards her. "Oh Kami no… Please no…"

His hand cupped her face. It was cold. He grabbed her shoulders and sat her up, though she was limp in his arms. With quivering lips and tear-stained eyes he brought her close to him, and he held her. He held her close like he should have held her to stop her from leaving him.

This was it. She was the last person in his life he truly cared for. After his parents died he made an oath on their graves that he would do whatever it took to make Hinata happy, do whatever he needed to do to make sure she lived a full life. Never in all his life did he intend to break that promise, and for three long years he strove towards that end, but now it didn't matter, she was gone.

Then it hit him. It was him, he was the reason she was gone. He was the reason her blood now decorated the bathroom floor. He was the reason she would never be married, never have kids, and never grow old. He took her from the world, and that fact crushed him more than any whisper or insult.

He didn't want to go on, he couldn't, not now. He reached over Hinata and took the knife beside her, and brought it up to his own wrist. He kissed Hinata on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry Hinata… It's all my fault… I'm so sorry…"

Then he brought the knife down on his arm, intending to join his family in the next life.