Disclaimer: This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made by the author or any of the associates.

Author's Note: After many long chats with some other authors in this section of the site, I decided to try my hand at a Naruto story. In a way, you could call this a product of collective ideas of many writers, executed and powered by myself with the great help of my dear friend, my beta and co-author. We're out to break some clichés, and our goal is to provide you with a great adult Sasuke/Hinata story; I hope I'll make it happen. You may expect rather frequent updates as the course of the story is already thought through up to its ending, with slight changes added here and there from time to time for the sake of quality.

Also, a small clarification regarding the setting. We're operating under the preposition that pretty much everything that happened in the manga and in The Last movie is canon (except for chapter 700, since the timeline in this story is obviously changed prior to that point). However, as absurd the idea of trying to make something realistic and adult out of a shōnen manga may sound to some, we're going to try just that. Most notably, some of my interpretations of characters' decisions, thoughts and feelings may be different from the most commonly accepted ones as well as the perception of NarutoVerse itself, so bear with it. In exchange, you may expect a very elaborated explanation of every moment that could be labeled as an OOC one by most. Ergo my advise is to just be patient and enjoy the story!

INSIDE OUT

By: Eksdee & Oliver Vertran

Prologue

(Approximately one year in the future.)

The Hokage was waiting.

Usually, he absolutely hated such moments, being widely known for his natural impatience and impulsiveness. But today was a very special case. This time around, he didn't really mind staying a bit longer in this little empty room right next to the tribune where he was supposed to give an important speech just a few minutes later. There, he was going to finally turn into the one every person in Konohagakure expected and wanted him to be. The commander. The leader. The light of hope for countless people who came here this day just to hear him out and to see the living legend first hand.

That's what he virtually was to them, after all. A godlike idol, no less. But now, being completely alone, sitting on the old wooden bench and gently stroking the tiny, slightly crumpled photo he was holding in his bandaged right hand, Uzumaki Naruto felt more weak and lonely than he ever had before.

As though hiding his sorrowful blue eyes from the untimely gentle amber rays of the evening sun which were reaching out to him through the small window, he lowered his head while his finger caressed the beautiful image of the white eyed woman's face imprinted on the small piece of paper. She was looking right at him from the picture, smiling so brightly and happily that it almost seemed as if she were laughing at him just like back on the day when this photo was taken, with her left hand draped over the neck of the raven haired man who was standing next to her, giving Naruto a small yet, without a single doubt, genuinely amused smirk as their eyes met – the Hokage did realize that it was but a picture, of course, but at the moment, their faces seemed just as real and palpable as the relatively fresh memory itself... Even though, at the same time, it felt like this had happened many years ago.

His best friend, and the only woman he ever loved... Together, they were his closest people, the ones who would always have the special place deep in his heart no matter what happened, exactly like horrible scars both of them had left on it. At this point, after everything they had gone through, Naruto wasn't sure if he was even mad at them. Perhaps he simply condemned himself for all of it far more than he could ever blame either of them, or maybe it was just because the brief time the three of them had spent together was far too valuable for the blond man to be able to toss aside this overwhelming storm of feelings he couldn't quite describe even if he wanted to. After all, they'd been with him when he needed them the most... He couldn't force himself to be mad as he mourned their lives alongside his own, even though he realized he probably should have felt angry.

But he wasn't all that innocent himself, after all. He definitely couldn't call himself a martyr – not that he'd ever had such desire, of course.

He looked at the laughing white eyes and smiled as well, feeling the upcoming treacherous tears and rubbing his face with his free hand, feeling slightly embarrassed by his own sentimentality. But, it was such a rare occasion to see her being so emotional and expressive, so liberated and relaxed, just like a bird that'd been caged all though her life and then was finally gifted with the opportunity to fly around carelessly for once... Apparently, her almost euphoric state back then had somehow managed to infect the man next to her as well. Because he couldn't remember Uchiha Sasuke ever smiling like this some other time, neither before nor after that day.

Perhaps his best friend was right, after all. Maybe it was all his fault, since the very beginning. If he hadn't chased his dream so relentlessly and so fanatically... If only had he payed attention to those who loved him instead of those who needed him... If he weren't so paradoxically egoistic in his intention to save as many people as he could, things might have been completely different right now.

She could've been here, carefully checking the neatness of his clothes the way she'd always done, softly whispering the final inspiring words to him before letting the man go out to his people, knowing that she would be abidingly waiting for him to return to her afterwards.

He could've been there, standing by his side as he would announce the glorious news to Konoha's citizens, ensuring their ultimate prevalence in the face of the entire ninja world.

And then, the three of them could later have gone to some small and comfy place, just like they always had whenever they celebrated something, important or not.

But, instead...

"Hokage-sama, we have urgent news."

His head snapped as he looked at the female ANBU who was standing at the door, slightly panting – seemed like she'd been in rush.

"Uh... How urgent, exactly? I got very important business here, you know."

"The utmost importance, I'm afraid. We've captured the last one."

His face paled as he gripped the photo tighter, as though attempting to hide this little fragment of his old life from his subordinate, but then deciding that there would be no point in doing so anyway.

"Where?" was all he could squeeze out.

"On the way to your office, inside the residence."

"Alone?"

"Affirmative. We brought the target underground for the time being, just in case."

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a heavy, slightly trembling sigh, and then getting up.

"I see. This will have to wait, then. Let's go."

Unwillingly reflecting on the meaning of what was about to happen, Naruto would later not be able to remember anything on their way to the dark room on the lowest level of the massive red building, feeling too overwhelmed with the unstable mixture of feelings he hadn't experienced in a while – probably even never before, being completely honest. But this torture stopped just as soon as he walked into the empty hall with no windows, barely lit by the torches on its dirty walls covered with rust, gore and who knew what else. A disgusting relic of the past, that's what this place was... He would get rid of this atrocity as soon as he would get some time to work on the interior of the residence.

"There, Hokage-sama." The female ninja pointed at the casually dressed slender woman who was lying on her back in the middle of the hall, panting heavily and not looking at the four other ANBU operatives who surrounded her, not moving and neither making any attempts to talk to her.

"I can see, right. Thank you, Hanabi."

The masked kunoichi simply nodded and followed him as he stepped towards the captive, almost afraid to look at her as he approached the woman, but then, to his own surprise, suddenly realizing that he could do it without any difficulties. In fact, oddly enough, he found the sight slightly amusing for some reason that seemed disgusting to him, and it made the man feel even worse than before.

Yes, Sasuke was right. He was no better than Uchiha himself, the man now realized it as clear as ever, feeling absolutely repulsed by his own emotions, or rather the shocking lack of them as he eyed the agonizing person in front of him.

He squatted next to her, studying her snowy white face curiously as if he was seeing her for the first time ever. Strangely, she looked more like some bizarre and incredibly beautiful doll instead of a real human. And she felt like a doll at the moment, too – refusing to give him even the shortest glance as his face was just at arm's length from her own, keeping breathing heavily as the white blouse under the unbuttoned light leather jacket was being slowly soaked with her blood. It was weird, but at this moment when her body was desperately trying to fight imminent death, unable to close her mouth completely as the thin trickle of blood mixed with saliva flowed down her chin and her delicate neck, slowly dripping on the dusty wooden flooring... To him, she looked frighteningly lifeless, and somehow, Naruto was absolutely sure that it wasn't just his impression.

She knew that this was the end. And she'd already given up.

"Well, hello there," he said softly, taking a hankie out of his pocket, but then suddenly stopping himself from the initial intention to wipe her face. "It's been a while, eh. I'm glad you've come. You know, I wanted to see you today... Not like this, of course."

His blue eyes then slid to her right hand – on the floor, just an inch away from her fingers was lying the familiar straight chokutō sword that belonged to his best friend.

The man sighed, shaking his head.

"So... I take it there is no reason to ask why did you come, huh..." As he nodded at the weapon, the ANBU who was standing the closest to it roughly kicked the sword away the same second, which made the dark haired woman on the floor flinch, following it with her eyes but then immediately returning her gaze to some undetermined point in the space in front of her, keeping panting and ignoring everyone around.

"We presume that she came to assassinate you, Hokage-sama," said the familiar male voice which Naruto'd known since the age of fifteen – one of the last people alive whom he still genuinely trusted.

"Obviously," Naruto nodded, returning his gaze to the woman's face. "What did you get her with? And, more importantly, how?"

"Hanabi managed to take her by surprise," the other man replied, "As soon as she entered your office, she–"

"I attacked her right away and thus managed to disable her chakra system. She couldn't have used her eyes to notice me beforehand – she would've got spotted by the sensory type ninjas the same moment, after all. Then I decided to make sure that she doesn't pull something out of her ass, so I hit her with my clan's kinjutsu." He couldn't see the brown haired girl at the moment, yet still the Hokage almost heard the self-satisfied grin on her face.

He then wondered... just what had happened to all of them? How on earth had everything come to this...?

"I see. Good job," he praised the kunoichi in spite of feeling disgusted by her and himself at the moment, looking at the face of the bleeding woman once again and frowning both at his own thoughts and at her pained expression. He took some time to study her features thoroughly, as though he were seeing her for the first time in his life, but, in truth, merely trying to memorize every smallest detail of it, knowing that he would not see her again.

Because he couldn't let it happen. She'd proven herself to be his weakest spot. That would be risking way too much for the sake of his personal satisfaction. And that was unacceptable for a Hokage.

"So... It seems like you guys have failed, after all. I'm sorry, but I guess I win." He smiled sadly at first, but then his expression darkened as he saw her clenching her fists at his words, drawing his attention to the small shining thing on her hand.

"Oh, that reminds me...," he muttered, narrowing the blue eyes at the simple golden band on one of her fingers.

With the slightest motion of his hand, the ring disappeared before the woman could react, popping on his palm a split second later – he hadn't used any special jutsu, of course, she simply couldn't keep up with his speed. Nobody really could.

"I'll keep it... as a memento," he informed her as he put the old picture into her now relaxed weak grasp. "You may have this instead. It means much more to you than to me, I believe. After all, that was your birthday, wasn't it? I still remember it as if it were yesterday..."

She didn't react, and the man chuckled without any real joy in his expression.

"You know... As much as I love you... both of you – and trust me, I still do despite everything you guys have done... Sometimes, I feel like I never really knew either of you at all," he stared at the ring for a few seconds, frowning a bit and then gripping it tightly. "But then I realize that it's actually exactly the opposite. The worst part of all this mess is that I know and understand you more than you can possibly imagine. And even though I believe that I already know the answers to these questions, I think it won't be a real farewell if I don't ask you before it ends."

She whimpered quietly, trying to breath in as much air as she could – apparently, her heart wouldn't last long at this rate.

"Please, tell me...," he uttered softly, "After everything he'd done to you, after all these nasty things you'd suffered because of him... After all the pain he'd caused to both of us... After he'd betrayed us... betrayed you...," he lowered his eyes, sounding almost like an offended child now, "Why did you still decide to follow his path, in the end? Or rather... To the end?"

He could see the lonely tear flowing down her cheek, and Naruto stopped for a moment, dazed by his old memories and feelings which were rapidly returning into his heart as he thought that he finally saw something coming from the depth of her soul.

Regret. Her expression showed the deepest regret and sorrow.

He let out another heavy sigh, amazed by how hard it all suddenly turned to be for him.

Yes... He hadn't lied. He still loved this woman with everything he had. It would probably remain this way forever, and from the way it looked, he just couldn't run away from her, and, more importantly, from himself. But, perhaps... Just maybe...

He licked his lips nervously, narrowing his eyes at her wounds.

What if he kept her alive right now? What if he gave her another chance...?

After all, if he had achieved something in his life so far, it was his current position. The Hokage. The leader of the strongest and richest country in the world. The most powerful ninja alive, no doubt lingered at this point. He was almost immortal and absolutely unbeatable. And the power he held these days was frighteningly immense...

He could afford a small whim like this, couldn't he? Just... to keep her alive, at least for the time being. To heal her right now and to let her stay in the village, with her own power sealed away, under the strict control of her younger sister, perhaps...

He smiled to himself dreamily at the idea. Yes, this could actually work!

Naruto moved his hand, almost touching her pale cheek as he channeled some of his chakra into to his fingertips, but then the man stopped an inch away from her skin as she suddenly flinched, meeting his surprised and perplexed gaze with a sidelong glance of her tear strained white eyes which seemed to be full of resignation and remorse.

He gave the woman a small reassuring smile, as if asking for her permission to heal her; reaching out his hand as if he were begging her to take it, pleading to accept his help and her own salvation. To accept him once again...

To return to him.

She flinched again, very slowly turning her head to the left to face him, finally looking directly into his eyes for the first time in what seemed like ages.

And then his humble illusion of hope got shattered instantly, completely and for good as her features twisted, and in a mere second the beloved white eyes got filled with the hatred of such incredible degree which he'd probably never seen before, not even from his direst foes.

And this unbridled fury was absolutely heartbreaking.

She raised her head up as much as she could, and then the woman spit right into his face, making him close his eyes reflectively as the man felt a few drops of her almost burning blood land on his skin while the she panted heavier than before, gritting her teeth at him as she leaned backwards, not moving her squinted eyes away from the blond for a second as he straightened his back and got up, tuning to his subordinates.

"I see...," he uttered quietly, unable to look into her eyes anymore – it was just too much for him to withstand.

In truth, he didn't see anything at all, and it was the worst thing about all that had happened. He still failed to understand why she'd made this choice and what could possibly have made her hate him so much, but apparently, she would never tell him anyway, so there was no point in staying there any longer.

Could it be that she still considered him, Naruto, a traitor...? Was that just how much Sasuke had brainwashed her?

He clenched his fists, closing his eyelids.

No matter. He had tried his best to convince her in the past, and with so much at stake, with the degree of responsibility he had now, he couldn't be tempted by his personal ties to put them higher than the safety of the village. Be it his his friend, his lover, or even his own child... Konoha was above everything now.

So, he just had to get over it once and for all. Because this was the end of their story, he decided.

"Take her away," the man ordered, putting the small ring into his pocket and turning around.

"More specifically...?" asked Hanabi casually, stepping closer to her sister and looking at the Hokage's back.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, glancing at the ANBU over his shoulder grimly.

"Lock her up in a cooler and leave her alone," he finally said in a few seconds.

Of course, he still couldn't force himself to order her execution even though this was what he most definitely should've done, and it was yet another testament of how significant this weakness of his, in fact, was.

"Anything else?"

He then turned away and strode towards the exit without looking back.

"No. She deserves to meet her end in darkness and solitude. Just like him."

As they say, everything that has a beginning has an end. And sometimes, when you think that it's already over, you may turn to be quite wrong about this as well as about many other things on the matter. And to understand what exactly was your mistake, the best possible choice would be to look where it all started...