It occurs to me that with these Missing Threads bits I am going to give major spoilers, I feel slightly bad about this but I also have to assume that if you are reading fan fiction it comes with the territory. However unlike my previous works there is probably a tad less warning than before. So that will be added to my disclaimer. Now on with the next one that is rattling away in my skull.
This particular one may have more chapters added but the parts will likely be independent and separate from each other because I am touching on Naruto Shippuden. Now if you have no idea, this is one of those really, really, really, long and ongoing manga/anime series. I feel safe in saying there are a crap ton of stories on them but I want to emphasize that these are pieces I feel are missing, bits of story they definitely had time for or spots for but for whatever reason chose to gloss over it or skip it entirely. That is what we are all here for really but these one shots I simply choose to hit points where I had reactions of "ok so what are we doing with this major revelation now?"
In case people are wondering why I am American English on all of these btw, it is because I will not even attempt to mimic Japanese style speech as my inept grasp would be an insult to the language.
I do not own Naruto at all, the myriad pantheon of characters are constant sources of laughter, heartache, and happy tears...I also swear to God that if Naruto does not start resolving some story arcs I will simply become a hermit and plot my own endings immediately.
Massive spoilers ensue, please stop reading if you are not up to date on the Manga or Anime either one, I have no life and made the effort to research my plot points God help my social life for that, Bleach is going to be another fun one.
Sakura confronted by Hinata
After Naruto returned from his nearly 3 year trek with Master Jiraiya to train and grow in strength, he almost immediately begins a series of far more serious encounters than ever before. Sasuke is still beyond his grasp and moving farther away everyday it seems. Worse is his fellow Jinchuriki, those containing one of the 9 possible tailed beasts, are being more vigorously hunted by the shadowy and powerful Akatsuki close in and trap them. More is Naruto is dealing with the swiftly worsening condition of his own 9 tailed beast, the fox. He has already lost control in a horrific fight with not only Orochimaru but a being known as Pain.
It is not without normal loss in the life of a shinobi either. The previous generation of the Leaf Village have been felled by the Akatsuki for personal or professional reasons, the worst for Naruto is his own Master Jiraiya at the hands of the six Pains. Striving to grow stronger and be able to protect the people precious to him, he achieves levels of strength his Master once held and beyond, as a Toad Sage.
It is during the battle with Pain that Naruto learns the harsh lessons of how far he has to go and where Hinata, a long time comrade and friend from the Rookie 9 of his grade confesses her love for him right before attempting to liberate Naruto and gets assaulted and nearly killed. This results in the release of the fox within to nearly an unstoppable level, yet in the end Naruto is given a second chance from the Fourth Hokage sealed as well inside him to finish Pain and begin to rebuild his home from the nightmarish attack from Pain.
While all this goes on, Sasuke continues down his dark road, severing his ties to Orochimaru and gaining his vengeance on his older brother and then learned the terribly dark secret of why his clan was slaughtered. Torn up inside and learning his whole existence had been twisted into a lie, he lashes out even more and turns completely on his former home, the Leaf Village. The result being that he crosses the line and assaults the Hidden Cloud at the behest of the Akatsuki for their own Jinchuriki.
The result is Sakura and Naruto now find themselves facing an even darker road and possibly losing their former Team 7 comrade forever to the justice of the 5 Kages. Into this dark chapter Sakura learns the full burden Naruto has been carrying all these years, for his love of her and his love of Sasuke as well. Worse she knows he will not stop and in her desperation to stop him she tried to give him a new path to follow, by professing love for him and begging him to give up his old promise.
Naruto sees through the ruse and Sakura leaves him mystified as she rushes to confront Sasuke herself and avoid the war that could come from the 5 Kages coming down on him. The battle is intense and even though she believes herself ready, even trying to save her Kakashi from carrying the burden of Sasuke's death, she nearly is killed herself only to be saved by Naruto as the last second.
Sakura is left with several realizations, the Sasuke she knew is long gone, but Naruto still offers a path to resolution and maybe Team 7 to stand under the sun again and laugh. She chooses to believe in Naruto and leave Sasuke's ultimate fate in his hands. She instead focuses on preparing for the war now initiated by Sasuke's actions and the remaining Akatsuki. All the hidden villages gather their forces and Naruto has to leave to prepare for training with the only other remaining Jinchuriki, Killer Bee.
Why, however, did not Hinata confront Sakura after this? With the looming war, her confident confession to Naruto behind her, and the revelation of what Sakura said to Naruto in the land of Iron, did she not seek out Sakura before they departed to meet up with the main forces? It is not a time to leave things unsaid, she had nearly lost Naruto and now it was likely things will unfold again to risk them all?
Village Hidden in the Leaves
It was a crater, but it was swiftly changing into a village again. The massive destruction wrought by Pain was still overseen by the inspiring faces of the 5 previous Hokage. The massive forces of the Leaf were seeming more grim, but more hopeful as well. The 5th Hokage was back! It had spread like wild fire and she was in top form by the sound of it.
The revelation of the Akatsuki declaration of war had not been surprising really, not after Pain's attack. Hinata gazed out over her home and felt a fierce pride grasp her heart, her leather jacket flapped freely in the wind as her mesh layer underneath was more than warm enough in the heat of summer. Her dark hair whipped as wildly in the wind and she let if flow this once.
Her thoughts were cycling like always, but for once it was not solely on Naruto or getting stronger. Even Neji had mentioned she had only a two track mind, but he had given a rare smile when he said it. Truly Naruto had wrought a massive change in her Brother since their fight at the long ago Chunin exams. She had missed it because of her extensive damage from the earlier round with Neji himself, but it had been the talk of the village right next to the other feat Naruto had pulled off, saving the village from the sand village tailed beast.
Her pale cheeks felt burning warm as she pictured the wildly smiling face of her friend. She still felt shock she had confessed her feelings, no matter the circumstance, and Naruto had never brushed them away! He had not returned them, but a part of her understood his reluctance to bring it up. She even giggled that for once she may have left him tongue tied rather than her.
Sakura said she loved Naruto and begged him to give up chasing Sasuke! Lee's voice rang in her head again. He had been unable to keep quiet about the remarkable scene that he had witnessed, Kiba had nodded savagely hard with his fanged teeth gleaming in a feral smile. He found it somewhat amusing after the fact, but also she knew he had been trying to lighten the mood for her.
Part of her understood Sakura's choice, Naruto had chosen to shoulder the burden of Sasuke's ultimate fate himself, and to take that away she would have done anything. A piece had only been missing for a few there, but Hinata like Sai, knew Naruto's heart. She truly wished she didn't at times, but it was so clear to her because she had watched Naruto for so long and knew every nuance of his face.
She let out a long slow sigh and centered herself to call on her chakra. Her eyes tensed and her skin on her skull near her sockets felt stretched to their limit as she activated her Byakugan to find her target. She would be leaving soon with all the rest, but there was time for this. She felt something in her heart and for once she was not going to wait to learn the answer.
The village changed to her eyes, instead of flesh and blood people, outlines of living chakra flared on the steep slope of the crater and among the already more permanent structures rising from its center outward to the still existing outskirts of the Leaf Village. What would be a maelstrom of confusion to to others was simplicity itself for her, she found her target unsurprisingly near the Hokage's tent.
Releasing her concentration she easily began to hop down the incline and jogged though the open space to her goal. She was not sure why she had to to this, but she knew it could not wait. Death loomed over them in their day to day lives as they already knew, how many friends would be gone when this was said and done? She needed to know, to face the battles ahead, if she could trust Sakura implicitly.
"Cha!" Sakura had never broken the habit of showing her exasperation with that familiar noise. Her silken pink hair was tied back as sweat ran rivers down her back and sides. Tsunade was slave driving her and Shizune near to death preparing the Leaf for the war. The sober thought was easily shattered as yet another mountain of material for the main camp was revealed in the tent.
"Where is she finding all these?" considering half of the village had been leveled, Sakura was stunned the Hokage seemed to find a bottomless supply of maps, references, and equipment to bring together. She slitted her emerald orbs in the suspicious absence of her master while Shizune was still out directing the loading of cart and supplies. Her eyes quickly returned to normal with a single glance at the pallet near the center of the tent.
It had not been that long since the Hokage had lain there immobile and unreachable to all, and no one had been sure she would recover. Huffing, she flexed her black gloved hands and continued to put her monstrous strength to work for her village. She had to admit there was some therapeutic relief in the work. She had made so many mistakes in the last few weeks, scratch that, the last few days alone, that manual labor was the least she could do.
Her sharp senses felt the rapid approach of someone and she internally sighed that another emergency they did not need. She kept prepping her pile until she heard a sharp intake of breath from Shizune. Sakura twirled wide eyed in concern at what could cause that reaction and was stunned to find the most confident Hinata staring at her.
The normally timid girl had improved remarkably from the Rookie 9 days before the Chunin exams. She hardly stuttered anymore, but no one would have recognized her now. She was intimidating with her pale eyes and a presence that almost made you want to kneel. Only Neji had ever stared like that at people before, something he was very good at when he wanted his way.
For some reason Sakura felt more sweat break out on her already tired body, but she could not move.
"Sakura, please walk with me," the normal quiet voice of her friend snapped her out of the strange trance. Hinata was still all confidence, but now she was walking away and she noted Shizune staring at her in near awe. Truly Hinata had gained a lot of respect for her effort during the Pain battle, the only shinobi to actually attempt to help Naruto, and almost succeed in it! Before that she had shown how much she had improved already, impressing all of her friends, yet Sakura knew there was only one person she needed acknowledgement from, and he gave it freely.
She felt a deadened dread suddenly as her more than brilliant mind made a leap of logic as she trailed behind the Hyuga into the outskirts of the central camp. The chaos here was as good as a secluded wood at the moment for covering conversation, besides there was no time to wander off.
Sakura saw that Hinata was not fidgeting like she normally did, nor even glancing away from the person she was speaking too, it was truly unnerving to see the changes in her, but to be honest who was not having their weaknesses burned away by recent events?
"Tell me your heart Sakura." the statement made Hinata proud. It was not where she planned on starting but time was an enemy now. The shock on Sakura's cream colored face was a test of her resolve as in other circumstances she would have had sympathy and immediately retracted the request. She doubted before if she would ever have brought it up. Hinata closed her eyes and raised her head to look up at the cloud filled blue sky, the calm above was not shared with those below at all.
"W-what do you mean Hinata?" The small stutter had a ghost of a smirk flit across her face. She wished she could be kinder with her friend, but she knew that while she would be on the front lines, Sakura would be a targeted ninja by far as a medical with few equals. She had to know if she was right and now that she had asked for it she knew what she was trying to find out.
"We are going into a battle unlike any other, even if Sasuke is brought back and the world is saved, I could die," the flinch was unexpected but it warmed her heart. She never doubted that Sakura cared about her friends, but that was not what Hinata wanted now. She wanted a simple truth that even the most blind could see.
"You shouldn't say things like that Hinata..." Sakura fell silent as Hinata flashed her left palm at her. She wished her heart would slow down too, and that strange ideas had not flitted through her mind at Hinata's request. Half were what she always associated with her heart, but some had been surprising.
"I love Naruto, Sakura, I love him so much it confuses me it is not easier for him to see," the serene smile was like nothing Sakura had seen on her friend's face before. She had known of course, it had been obvious to all the girls and most of the boys, Naruto was just to oblivious...or was he? He had shown a remarkable ability to change people, and to read the truth in them. Why would he not acknowledge Hinata's feelings? Why had she never wondered that before? "I love his drive to never give up, to keep his promises, and most of all," the words yanked Sakura's gaze right to her friend's eyes, "I love to see him smile when he looks at you."
Sakura felt her stomach drop away. She again was assaulted by a grip on her chest as she felt tears threaten. How much pain can she cause in one life? Even with her new vow to trust in Naruto she had blithely forgotten what was obvious to Sai would be obvious to just about anyone with eyes and children to boot likely.
"I am sorry Hinata..." again she halted as Hinata looked at her in frustration. She was not looking for an apology, then what?
Sakura did not get it, or maybe she really was sorry for the unintentional hurt she thought she caused. Hinata stepped closer to her friend and smiled a wide smile, a real smile. She hugged Sakura close and whispered a truth she knew Sakura had to hear.
"I love that you make his heart sing Sakura, and I love that he accepts you may not love him in return but loves you anyway," the stiffening of the slender arms in her grasp revealed another shock. Obviously Sakura had not thought of that. Hinata sighed and stepped back. She could not keep Sakura occupied forever but they were almost there.
She paused as she saw the trail of tears on Sakura's cheeks. Her own heart warmed at the look in her eyes, she knew that look. It was the look of someone who would rather take a sword than cause that kind of pain to someone. How Sakura could not accept this yet Hinata did not know, but it was a single step more, her step to take.
"I, however Sakura, cannot accept that," she kept her voice firm as Sakura looked at her confused. She wished she knew where this confidence had been hiding all these years, but right now all that mattered was the future. "I love Naruto, I told you this, but do you understand? I want him to be happy, I want him to smile like the sun, and most of all, I want to know he will know love returned no matter what."
Sakura felt breath come in short supply as again she leapt to a conclusion. Hinata could not possibly be demanding she get Naruto to turn to Hinata?! No that was wrong, Hinata had just told her something and it was slipping through her grasp. The stress of the last few days was still wearing on her, but then it clicked. Her heart stilled and shock spread through her body she almost thought she would collapse.
"Hinata, you could not mean you want me to..." she could not finish the statement as she felt a flush of heat in her face. She had never thought about Naruto loving her with the acceptance he may never get anything in return. Sai's revelation had not been too surprising on that aspect, but the burden she had unintentionally put on him had broken her heart. She was supposed to help Naruto, not burden him! Later she realized Naruto had far more conviction than she could hope for yet.
The small smile on Hinata's face confused her, but then she saw her giggle too and the idea she had just put forth brought a smile to her face too. The obvious result on Naruto was a bit amusing to think on and so blatantly obvious they both had seen it easily. It was short lived though. Hinata quickly reasserted her odd confidence.
"No Sakura, I am not asking you to offer yourself, I am asking you to tell me your heart, here and now. We are going into a war where either of us may die and I want to know if I can trust you," Sakura's heart went back into overdrive. She knew what was being asked. Hinata had been told the ploy she had used in the Land of Iron, by Lee or Kiba did not matter, she knew! Hinata wanted to know it there had been any shred of truth, or if after confronting both Naruto and Sasuke she had reached a new revelation.
She closed her emerald eyes to the world, it was just too distracting with the myriad people and Hinata's just odd stare. She pictured clearly all that had happened, all she had faced, and been forced to face. She appreciated that Hinata was only approaching her now after time had passed and she had reconciled her mistakes to an extent.
She almost wished she could hit herself with her own monstrous strength as she saw in stark clarity the dead eyes of Sasuke as he nearly impaled Naruto at Orochimaru's hideout not long after Naruto had returned. She felt like ice in her veins as truly cold eyes calmly prepared to kill her with her own kunai dipped in poison. The young boy she had fallen for, had even gotten to know, was gone. Even if a shred of him could be reclaimed, a thing she still found she hoped for, her love was gone.
She was hurt by its loss, she had truly loved him and had lost him not to death, but to self destructive vengeance. She shook herself fiercely inside her own head and accepted that in time she would have to move on.
It was like the sun rose inside her. One moment she was contemplating putting her heart back together after that revelation, and the next a blazing sun, bright orange, blazed there. She felt a warmth spread in her limbs and oddly she did not fight it off, but picked it apart. She wanted the truth, she wanted to know if this was real.
Again flashes went through her and she felt shock to her core! She saw it! She really saw it! Naruto had been so clumsy to begin with, but had she been any better? She had never realized that he had never doubted her, never relegated her to a lesser ninja, and certainly had never rejected her save the time she had flat out lied to him.
She also realized she did not have certainty here either. It was too new, too unknown to trust yet, but if felt wonderful!
Sakura opened her eyes and Hinata got her answer. She smiled wide and nodded to the medical ninja and did not ask for any more words, none were needed. She raced off to prepare what she would need as Sakura left to return to the Hokage's tent. Hinata had to know that Naruto's heart was safe, that he would not be left alone. Of all the things she knew, either she or Sakura would take care of him now. That was enough for her, after all, she truly loved Naruto, loved him enough to understand that he would achieve all his dreams, but this one thing was in the hands of the two women closest to him.
With a clear heart and strangely a loss of her new found confidence, Hinata raced to her compound, what survived after the devastation anyway. The Leaf, and all the shinobi, were going to war very soon.