Summary: They were both outcasts within their respective worlds. Two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang. He was hated and reviled when he should have been hailed as a hero. She was loved and placed upon a pedestal so that her purity would not be stained.
Warnings: Slight gore
Naruto both cherished and detested these stolen moments. He never knew if they would see each other again, if that would be their last time together. First, she had been a friend who sheltered him and nurtured him when he was young. Every time he had been abused and hurt, she would make the pain go away. When he said that he was going to become the Hokage, she believed him and helped him train even though she knew nothing of the ninja way. When Naruto discovered the existence of the Kyuubi within, it didn't matter to her. Even then, she didn't see him as a monster. Her words had been, "But you're still Naruto."
He always knew when she was there; he could feel her presence in a way different than anyone else's. There was no way to explain it. If he would try to, it would be like seeing the sun after a lifetime of darkness. No. She was the sun. The sun, the moon and stars. Constant but ever changing. Life. She was life.
Whenever he felt her appearing outside of their agreed times, Naruto ran desperately to the tree. Their tree. Nearly every time it happened, she was wounded or in tears. So when she appeared far too early, days early, he just ran to their clearing. He could barely feel her; she was on the edge of his senses and was just…fading.
The way to their oak seemed longer and harder than ever before. He was careless while running through the forest that hid the abandoned shrine where the oak stood. Branches cut into his face and the bark of the trees and sharp rocks left wounds on his body. Even so, he kept pushing chakra into his feet, pushing himself faster and faster. Her presence was even fainter when he reached the grounds of the deserted shrine. His heart was thundering in his ears and the very air seemed cold. An overwhelming feeling of despair began to fill him. He found out why when he reached the enormous oak that was inside of the shrine.
Lying at the base of the giant oak was a crumpled body in an ever growing pool of blood. Her head of dark brown almost black hair was matted and soaked with blood. The strange clothing that she wore was ripped and shred, soaked in blood. Her blood.
"No. No. No!"
Naruto gathered her up in his arms and searched for a pulse, a sign, anything, that said that she was alive. He couldn't lose her. Not her…he threw his head back and let out a keening wail as he held her closer to him. A small twitch in her ravaged chest caught his attention. She was still alive; there was still hope, a chance. Pulling on the power of the Kyuubi that slept inside of him, he ran, faster than he had to come to the shrine. She was counting on him; he had to get her to safety. He had to. He wouldn't let her slip away from him, not when there was a chance that he could save her.
"Tsunade-baa-chan. Save her. Please."
Just as the Hokage was about to yell at Naruto for calling her Baa-chan, she processed the rest of his sentence. Brown eyes looked up in shock at the blonde carrying a bleeding body, even as she began to heal the most serious wounds of the young girl in Naruto's arms. The wounds were numerous and deadly enough that by all rights, the girl should have already been a cold, unmoving corpse. When she had stabilized her, it was only then that she deemed that it was safe enough to move the poor girl to the hospital.
"Alright Naruto, explain."