Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she frantically searched the cave for her cousin, her heart dropped when she realized he wasn't there. "Y-you left me here.... all alone..." she whimpered and stood, pushing herself to her feet against the wall of the cave. She wanted to cry, run to Neji and beg him never to leave her alone again, but she knew it needed to be done. He knew she would follow him wherever he went, so he left early before she could wake up and find out where he went.

She grabbed her things and listened to her feet as she took slow tentative steps out of the cave once more. She heard the crunching of leaves turn to the colliding of pebbles and she sighed as she had stumbled upon the river. She crouched by the river and began plunking pebbles into the river one at a time. Everything was so hard to take in...Sasuke had cared for her...Madara betrayed her...Neji had just abandoned her...

She had no idea where to find Hashirama, and she doubted he would send a search party to find her. She sighed and willed herself not to cry, but despite her best efforts, tears fell upon the smooth rocks by her feet. "Why must it be me who is left alone? Why couldn't I know where to go? Neji-nii always seems to know where to go..." she asked through her sniffles and the water rippled in front of her and an image of a beautiful woman appeared in the surface of the water. Hinata gasped and fell backwards. "W-what?" she asked as she stared at the woman in the river.

"You are special Hinata..." the woman said and Hinata's eyes went wide. "H-how do you know my n-name?" she asked frantically and the blonde woman smiled serenely. "I am a goddess of course. I was the one who brought you and your cousin to this time." She said; her voice wavered with the ripples of the water's surface. "You? Why would you bring us here?" Hinata asked as she leaned forward to look at the reflection of the woman. "Because there is the small fact that time is an unending circle of repetition. I would prefer that my attempts succeed this time...Save the Senju, and save the Uchiha. If one of those boys die, my attempts would be for naught and you and your cousin will survive to see what happens when those boys are failed to be protected...time is an unending paradox which confuses and excites and brings about new things each time it circles around. Maybe you and your cousin can save the future from the mistakes of the past." The woman said and Hinata looked at her hands.

"T-that sounds like an awful lot to h-handle for someone like me." Hinata whispered and the woman's bell like laughter echoed from the surface of the water. "You can do it, believe me! I wouldn't have chosen you if there had been another who could have done it. I promise, little Hinata, you will figure this out!" she said and her image faded from the surface of the water. Hinata felt a bit of warmth fill her, the goddess had given her a bit of courage, but she still didn't know where to go...

Hinata shrugged lightly, grabbed her bag, and walked in the direction that she had seen Hashirama and his family walk off. The forest thinned out the further she walked and when she reached the edge, she was looking over a Cliffside. A moderately large compound resided within a small circle of trees. Carved on the large wooden gates, was the odd symbol of the Senju clan. She smiled despite herself, she had found the compound.

She felt a spike of chakra from behind her and she turned in time to see Tobirama and a younger male with white and black hair coming at her from above. She flipped backwards off the edge of the cliff side and they followed her down. Her feet skidded along the curve of the bottom of the cliff and she flipped backwards once more to avoid where the two boys landed. The moment their feet hit the ground they lunged for her. She realized that if she didn't fight back, they were going to kill her.

Her hands skimmed over her hip pouches and pulled two kunai from each. She threw one from each hand then spun the others around her fingers to use in defense of their blades that came at her. They deflected the kunai and the younger brother with the multicolored hair lunged for her first. She deflected each hit of his blade and when he knocked the kunai from her grasp she bent back to evade one particular swipe and she tossed her legs over her head to prevent herself from being defenseless for too long. She landed in a crouched position then she lunged forwards and both of her palms struck the boy's abdomen and he was sent flying backwards with a pulse of chakra that wasn't enough to severely damage, but temporarily incapacitate.

The white haired male watched his brother hit the ground and rushed forward angrily. "What do you want here Hyuuga!?" he yelled and she grabbed his blade between her hands as he tried to force it down on her. "I don't want to hurt you!" she whimpered and he glared at her. "You hurt Itama!" he yelled and she frowned. "He wouldn't relent, I'm sorry..." she said softly and he yanked his blade up and she flipped backwards to avoid his blade once more.

"I don't want to have to hurt y-you..." she said softly and he lunged forward. "But I will if you don't stop t-trying to h-hurt me." she whimpered and he grit his teeth and aimed a kick for her but she grabbed his leg and flipped him backwards. He ran at her again and she slid into the Hyuuga stance. "I'm sorry..." she whispered and she shot forwards and her fingertips struck him. "32 palms..." she said then spun and her flat palm connected with his abdomen. "64 palms..." she said and her rapid fingertips felt him jerk under her touch. Then she pushed both of her palms forward. "Air palm." She whispered and he was sent flying backwards.

Her father would have looked down on her for mixing up the clan jutsu like that...but she didn't care, he wasn't here... she rubbed her arm and walked over to him and he jerked his head to face away from her. "Go ahead, kill me. I know that's what you're here for." He snapped and she shook her head. "I'm not here for that...I wouldn't kill you either way..." she said softly and he looked up at her in surprise as she began unblocking his tenketsu.

When she was finished, she offered him a hand, but he turned away from her. She frowned, but walked over to Itama and crouched next to him. She unblocked his tenketsu, and offered her hand to him, which unlike his brother he took. "Sorry for hurting you...there will be bruises...but they will go away..." she said while looking at her feet. She heard rapid footsteps and a large male lunged for her and she barely had time to block but she did and she struck quickly, like a snake trying to defend itself. Her flat palms connected with his gut and sent him flying.

She took a few steps back and pulled kunai from her kunai pouch. The man hit the ground and Hinata activated her eyes as more rapid footsteps followed. Lighter footsteps rapidly made their way through the crowd and pushed through the group of larger males to burst out right in front of Hinata. "Hinata?" he asked and she ran to him and tackled him in a hug. "Hashirama-kun!" she sobbed and her tears stained the back of his shirt while he blushed lightly. The group behind him watched the scene curiously.

"What are you doing here, why are you not with Neji?" he asked and she sniffled louder. "I-I woke up t-this morning and he was- he was g-gone..." she stammered and more tears fell. "What do you mean gone?" he asked and she began rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "He went to the Uchiha...He left me all alone and I didn't know where to g-go..." she sobbed and he frowned. "That wasn't right...why would he do that?" he asked and she rubbed her eyes and lunged forward to cling to him again.

"I d-don't know...he just said he was going to them and that it was for the best if I went to you..." she sobbed and he patted her on the head. "He has his reasons...he wouldn't just leave you behind without them. I'm sure he did it to protect you..." he said and she pulled away from him and rubbed her eyes more. She looked so sad then, but he offered a smile and she blushed and looked at her feet. "S-sorry, Hashirama-kun..." she said as she wiped her eyes once more.

His father shoved through the crowd and saw Hinata standing there and he looked from his eldest to her. "The Hyuuga has come to us?" he asked and Hashirama nodded. "Hello, Ms. Hyuuga." Butsuma greeted and Hinata bowed politely. "I'm sorry for t-the disturbance, s-sir..." she stammered and held the bow until he ruffled her hair. "Not at all, I think my boys could use a bit of training...Would you assist them?" he asked and she blushed darkly.

"I-I couldn't! I'm not s-strong enough..." she said shyly and rubbed her upper left arm nervously. "Nonsense, Hinata, you took out Itama and Tobirama! You could train with us!" Hashirama said brightly and her eyes went wide as she looked at him, her face going bright red in embarrassment. "O-ok..." she said and looked over to the grumpy white haired male and the grinning dual hair colored boy beside him. "Awesome! Just wait! We will be stronger than anything!" Itama cheered and Tobirama huffed. Butsuma Senju smiled down at Hinata lightly and the girl blushed in embarrassment as he ruffled her hair.

:-:-:-:-:

Neji sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he strolled up to what appeared to be the Uchiha compound; it was nowhere near where it had been in konoha...it was much further away. He stepped out into the plain where there was grass higher than his knees, obviously no one had thought of cutting it in a very long time. He strolled forth; the crunching of the drying grass beneath his feet was the only sound that he could hear.

Two thumps hit the ground behind him and he crossed his arms over his chest, he knew it had been way too quiet. He made no move to turn around and face the two, but he was watching them; he would not let his guard down around them. One was a lot older than the other, depicting him as the father, while the other one was shorter than Hinata. "Hyuuga-san. What a surprise." The older man said and Neji nodded. "Uchiha-sama." He greeted and he opened his eyes and Izuna fell into a battle stance. "You are far too young to defeat me, I have been told I have wisdom and strength beyond my years... I do not come seeking feud." Neji said politely and the younger Uchiha snorted.

"A Hyuuga genius? Interesting... I doubt you could keep up with big brother Madara." He said and Neji chuckled. "Madara has fought my younger cou-sister... she surprised him quite a bit. So.... In other words... I think I will be perfectly fine." Neji chuckled almost stumbling over his words and then another thump was heard. "Hey, Madara." Neji greeted with a two fingered wave. "Where is your sister?" he asked and Neji raised a brow at him.

"She has no invested interest in you at the moment I'm afraid." Neji sighed and rubbed his neck as he turned to face the group who stood behind him. "What is that supposed to mean?!" he snapped and Neji raised a brow. "You called her weak, and said the likelihood of you ever being her friend was less than that of you being Hashirama's friend." Neji said and Madara glared at the ground. "Listen, Neji... Madara was just trying to protect her from Butsuma..." Tajima said and Neji nodded. "Oh, I know that... but my sister... is a bit sensitive..." Neji sighed and Madara rolled his eyes.

"As if I didn't know it already..." he grumbled and Neji chuckled. "She went with the Senju... she said her reasons were specifically to avoid you." Neji said and Madara slumped over. "Damn..." Madara grumbled and his father knocked him over the head. "Watch your mouth brat! Do you want your mother to skin us alive?!" Tajima snapped and Izuna shivered visibly. Madara gave his father a dirty look. "She would skin your hide, dad... not mine... I'm her innocent little Madara who doesn't know the meaning of those awful nasty words you spout." Madara said off handedly and Neji blinked in confusion.

"What the hell?" he muttered in confusion then Izuna blinked at him. "Dad... he said a wordy dird..." Izuna tattled and Tajima sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Great another foul mouthed brat..." he sighed and Neji looked at Madara with a confused look. "Wordy dird?" he asked and Madara snorted. "He means dirty word... but you know... Izuna's a bit weird. He likes making things sound funny." Madara explained and Neji nodded lightly.

"My favorite word is wonky." Neji said as he trailed after the Uchiha group." Izuna grinned at Neji and Neji smiled at the younger boy. "You're so cool! And your sister is awesome too! She grabbed Tobirama's sword like it was nothing! If I had to fight Tobirama I think I would freeze up..." Izuna said and rubbed his upper arm. Neji looked at the younger male with sympathy in his eyes. "Hopefully you will grow out of that, Tobirama can't be that scary..." Neji said and Madara snorted.

"They guy creeps me out. He is always grumpy and he won't hesitate to kill you." Madara said and Tajima nodded. "The child is ruthless, he would be a great leader if someone would knock a little sense into him." Tajima said and Neji looked at the three with confusion. "Then I guess we were lucky that night... Tobirama had found Hinata and I one night when we were in that cave." Neji said and Madara looked at him with wide eyes.

"He actually let you go... that's new..." Tajima said and Neji nodded. "You Uchiha don't seem to hold that much of a grudge against the Senju..." Neji said and Tajima smiled crookedly. "Not at all... but... Butsuma... he doesn't let things go very easily..." Tajima sighed and the three looked up at him. "His father... declared war on us Uchiha because of a turf war created by my father. Butsuma's father is like a shadow over his shoulder. Destroy the Uchiha, don't let the Uchiha get the upper hand, don't do this, Uchiha that..." Tajima sighed and Neji listened intently. "I see. If you wouldn't mind, I could be of assistance in training with hand to hand combat and agility." Neji offered and Izuna stared at him in pure fascination.

Neji reached over and ruffled Izuna's hair and the eleven year old looked up at him in fascination. "We will get you out of the whole freezing up problem. I promise." Neji said and Izuna grinned and began jumping up and down. Tajima watched him with curious eyes and Neji just chuckled as the younger male barraged him with questions. "Yes. I'm sure I can get you out of it... Hinata used to do it too. But just the other day, Hinata challenged Madara head on." Neji said and Madara rolled his eyes.

"I went easy on her." He said and Neji tossed a wicked smirk Madara's way. "She went easy on you too." He said and Madara blinked as Tajima and Izuna laughed. They travelled towards the compound he had seen and he could feel Madara still watching him. "What, Madara?" he asked and Madara huffed. "Why did you let Hinata go to the Senju?" he asked as they approached the Uchiha compound. Neji pondered this question for a moment then he turned to look at Madara. "I didn't let her go... I forced her. I left her no choice. She thinks so little of herself already, so maybe going to the Senju could get her to think a bit higher of herself." He said and Madara looked down and sighed.

"I guess so... but do you think she would actually lay a hand on any of us?" he asked and Neji snorted. "I bet Hinata is just itching to hit you on the inside. But on the outside I'm not sure. She might she might not. I have a feeling she is going to be doing well with them." He said and Madara nodded. Neji raised a brow at Madara. "Why are you so focused on her anyways?" he asked and his father smirked at him. "Aw! Does the almighty Madara have a crush?" he asked as they reached the front entrance of the compound.

"What the hell dad no!" he growled and a bowl dropped and the noise echoed through the house. Izuna squealed and took off running the other direction. He managed to get about four yards away when a wooden spoon came from nowhere and hit him in the back of the head and he hit the ground face first. Madara just smiled as his mother swung the door to their personal home open. "Tajima.... Uchiha..." her voice came out as an eerie hiss. "What are you teaching my sons?!" she yelled and was about to hit Tajima with a wooden spoon but her vicious demeanor vanished and she turned to Neji.

"Hm?" she walked over to him and grabbed him by the chin, looking him over curiously. "I have seen those eyes before..." she mumbled to herself and tapped her chin then she snapped her fingers and beamed. "I know where I saw them! Madara drew a girl who looks like you! Same oddly colored eyes too!" she exclaimed and Tajima laughed loudly as Madara's haughty ego deflated and he sulked past his mother. "You promised you wouldn't say anything about that..." he whined as he walked past.

Neji's lips twitched up and he laughed along with Tajima. "He does like Hinata-nee." He chuckled as he watched Madara skulk into the building. Aurora walked over and lifted Izuna off the ground. "What have I told you about running Izuna?" she sighed and kissed him on the forehead. "It makes me number one target..." he said and Neji blinked, the woman was obviously used to doing those sorts of things... Aurora urged the boys into the house then glared at her husband. "Watch the language you use!" she snapped then shoved him towards the door.

:-:-:-:-:

Sasuke sighed as he looked out the window of his home, it has been a little over two years now. The pain was still there, memories of when he would talk to Hinata; who was in all reality risking her own life just to speak with him. He understood that she didn't like meeting with him because her keeping a secret like that from Naruto just really hurt her. The only way she would continue to talk to him after he had left for Orochimaru was if he promised to do the right thing and return one day.

In the beginning it had all been a ruse to get her to talk to him, but after the village had been destroyed and he had decided to destroy the leaf, he felt regret in deciding to do so. He had truly cared for Hinata and being able to talk with the kage had made him rethink his decision. He had decided that when the war was over he would ask her to give him a chance, even if he were locked in prison or put on probation or something of the sort. He had planned to ask her if she would just give him one small chance, and if he had blown it then that would be it.

Tobirama had wiped every hope and prayer of that ever happening from existence right in front of him. He could still feel that awful feeling of her eyes, staring at him with hurt and betrayal. Her betrayed eyes haunted him to this very day. He couldn't sleep without the torment of her eyes and her final words. 'S-so I was j-just bait?' he ran his hands through his hair and gripped it tightly. "Forgive me..." he begged as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. This pain he felt was just like when he had spoken with Itachi before he released the Edo-tensei. It hurt, more than anything he could ever imagine. He had killed his brother, never stopping to think of why he had done what he had, and then he had led Hinata to her own demise. It hurt... a lot.

A knock on his door made him attempt to compose himself. He stood and walked over to the door and opened it. "Sasuke..." Naruto's sad eyes met his and he looked away. "Come on man, everyone is waiting on you..." he said and Sasuke nodded, he grabbed a shirt and pulled it over his head. He didn't bother with the mess of hair that spiked out in every direction and nearly reached his shoulders. Naruto watched him with a frown. "You're starting to look like a bum dude." Naruto said and Sasuke let out a weak chuckle.

"You know you have Ino worried right?" he asked and Sasuke frowned over at his friends as he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. "If she hadn't been so invasive with her questions then I wouldn't have had to push her away too. She was always asking about something, stressed me out like nothing I have ever seen." He sighed and Naruto frowned at his friend. "Sakura will knock you out of this depression, even if she has to kill you." He growled and Sasuke sighed as Naruto smirked.

"Oi! You!" a familiar voice called out and Sasuke looked up to see Hina Hyuuga's brother. "Hyuuga-sama..." he said confused and the old man staggered over to him. "A hundred and four and I'm still chasing people down." He griped and Sasuke smirked. "Hinat- Hina-nee wanted you to be at her funeral, so you better hurry up boy." He growled and Sasuke frowned and looked at the ground. "She has something for you kid. I recommend going before someone has to drag you to my damn funeral and you will get it anyways." The old man grumbled and Sasuke nodded.

"Alright, I'm going... I'm going... that's why Naruto came and got me anyways." He sighed and the old man nodded. "You don't seem too sad that she passed away Jiji." Naruto said and the old man chuckled. "It's a miracle we lived this long. I would have preferred to have stayed dead the first time I died, things got really weird after I was brought back. Everything was just..." the old man shook his head with raspy laughter. "The Uchiha I met... would turn your brain to mush. Half of them were idiots. The rest... were just like Naruto there. Annoying, energetic, openly crazy especially Madara's mother, they were just... I can't really describe them. Naruto describes them enough." The old man chuckled as they approached the Hyuuga burial grounds.

Naruto pouted at the old man while Sasuke laughed, his laugh felt natural and he felt good to be able to laugh again. He looked over to the pouting Naruto who smiled at him. He was glad that he had a friend like Naruto... he didn't know where he would be without him. "Thank you Neji-ojisan, Naruto." He said and the two looked at him oddly. "What for?" Naruto asked and Sasuke chuckled. "I wasn't feeling up to anything today... you two have brightened my mood a bit." He said and offered a small smile.

Naruto was about to say something then his brow furrowed in confusion and he stared at the old man curiously. "Neji-oji?" he asked, rubbing his chin in thought. "Boy I don't know what you are thinking but it will do you no good, your brain will fry if you try." The old man said and this made Sasuke look between the two in curiosity. In all reality, the old man looked like a really old version of Neji, not to mention that they had looked exactly alike when he was younger. Naruto shrugged, but Sasuke was still curious as to the reality of the situation... but... the Neji and Hinata they knew were dead, weren't they?

He furrowed his brows, the entire idea was hurting his head, so he stopped thinking on it. Naruto nudged him and handed him a rubber band. "Fix your hair, it looks just as bad as you." He said and Sasuke put it into a small ponytail. "What are you trying to do anyways? Become the Uchiha mammoth?" he asked and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I've been preoccupied lately... I have no need for useless haircuts." He grumbled and Sakura showed up from nowhere and shoved him forwards.

"You look like hell." She said and he scoffed. "As if I haven't been told that enough already." He grumbled and she rolled her eyes and shoved two bouquets of flowers into his grasp, one was lavender lilies, while the other was red roses. He looked over at Hinata's grave and noticed that the last set of roses he had placed, were beginning to wilt. He walked over and placed the roses where the last ones had been, then he walked over to Hina's grave and placed the lilies there. Hiashi Hyuuga walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Hinata wanted you to have this." He said and Sasuke furrowed his brows, but Hiashi spoke once more.

"The elderly Hinata."

I promised an update nearly a week ago, and I want to apologize because it took so long. I hope this will partially make up for the delay.