1"It's never easy for anyone to take a life, the human mind wasn't created to kill other humans. But, shouldn't it have? In order to have equilibrium, you must have a good and a bad, a positive and negative. So, if one of the mind's most potent emotion; love, is to be balanced out, it must have an opposite; hate. The irony behind it all is the fact that both love and hate, when tested to the extreme, can cause you to kill. Why did you want me to kill her, Naruto? Do you believe she would be better off, or do you think she should die because of the path she took?"
Ashken's philosophical struck a puzzled look on Naruto's face, but he soon figured out what he was talking about.
"I think it was because of love. Out of love, I knew she would be better off dead. If she would kill me, she would be gravely depressed, and if she didn't, and Neji did do what he said, the same result. It was a lose-lose situation for her. Either way she could have even taken her own life...she was better off letting us do it for her," Naruto answered as the two of them stood outside his door, starring at the stars.
The glossy lighting from the moon's surface gave a dull glow on the surrounding townhouses. Naruto stared up at the sky, knowing that Sakura's up there cheering for him. Or, she could be trapped in that darkness, for all eternity. The very thought of being back there sent a numbness to his brain, as if trying to force the image out of his head. Ashken steeped towards the door and opened it.
"I'm heading off to bed. Don't stay up past nine, we start in the morning," Ashken reminded as he walked inside and shut the door behind him.
Naruto continued to stand, thinking about what Ashken had said.
"If love and hate can both cause death, what does that mean?" he pondered out loud.
"It means that death knows no emotion," A voice suddenly said.
Naruto jumped and M.C. walked through the door as she laughed and stood next to him.
"Sorry to eavesdrop on you like that. It's been a while since you've had to kill someone, huh?" she asked.
Naruto nodded and looked at the ground.
"I'm fighting because of love and hate," he said. "I love Hinata and would, with no doubt in my mind, kill the person who tries to harm her. But, at the same time, I hate Neji so much for inflicting pain on her, I don't under stand why I haven't just gone out and killed him yet."
M.C. smiled and put her arm around Naruto, "You have both a great wall of hate and a great wall of love built up inside of you. You don't go out and relentlessly murder the people who've harmed you and Hinata, but at the same time, you don't sit back and let them try it again, either... I think, out of all of us, you're the one that's balanced."
Naruto looked up at M.C.
"Remember that," she said as she gave him a hug and walked back inside.
A moment went by as Naruto thought about what she could mean. He didn't really grasp a concept of what she was saying, so he just left it alone.
"I'm the one that's balanced, huh?" he thought, "That's funny..."
He took one last look at the moon, then walked inside...
Naruto was the last one to wake up the next morning, partially by the fault of Ashken. Naruto spent the majority of the night thinking/dreaming of Ashken's question, causing him to sleep through the constant slaps on the head by M.C. Once he finally had awaken, everyone else had put together Naruto's table in the kitchen and sat there, polishing weapons. Naruto climbed slowly out of bed and staggered along the hallway into the kitchen where he could hear Ashken and M.C.'s voices.
"Well, well...look who's out of their coma," Ashken said as he placed the kunai he was polishing back on the table.
"What's for breakfast?" Naruto yawned as he rubbed his eyes.
"That was two hours ago, buddy, you missed it," M.C. mocked him.
Hinata gave astern look at M.C. then smiled at Naruto, "I'll fix you something Naruto." she said in her soft soprano tone, "Why don't you go take a shower?" she suggested.
"Well... thanks, Hinata." Naruto said with a surprised look on his face.
As Naruto wondered towards the bathroom, Hinata stood up from her seat and walked over to the cabinet.
"You're cooking for him now?" Ashken asked heartily, "pretty soon, you and him are going to be really fond of each other...if you know what I mean."
Hinata's face turned blood red.
"Ashken!" M.C. shouted.
"What?" Ashken said as he got up and walked over to M.C.
He cupped her chin and her chin and held it up towards his face as he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
"You know it's true," he said in a deep voice as he looked into M.C.'s eyes.
She starred back with a smile and put her hand on his face, as thought to kiss him. But as soon as he closed his eyes, she cocked her arm back and punched him under the rib cage. He coughed and wheezed as he dropped to the floor, clutching his stomach. M.C. began polishing a kunai...
Naruto stood in the shower leaning with his arm on the wall. As the water flowed out of the faucet and on to his head, as stared at the floor, thinking even more about what Ashken's question and M.C.'s explanation.
"I'm the one that's balanced? I'm probably the one who's the most out of wack..."
The echoing sound of a million drops of water hitting a porcelain foundation filled his ears and, with time, was drowned out by his mind, concentrating on being aware, concentrating on being aware, concentrating...
Once Ashken had gathered control of his breathing again, he climbed back into his seat and continued to polish. Hinata now had a pot of water boiling o the stove and she had laid out a few spices, some pork, a diced onion, and sticks of ramen. She looked down at the ground and put her hand on her chest as she became nervous.
"I hope that they'll forgive me for this," she thought to herself.
She turned around and walked over to M.C., who looked up and smiled at her. Hinata then bent over and gave M.C. a hug.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"It's an apology," Hinata answered as she continued to hug her.
"For what?" M.C. asked with a puzzled look.
Hinata let go of M.C. and stepped behind her, facing the back of her head. "For this," Hinata said as she struck M.C. in the back.
She gave a small gasp as she collapsed on the table at then rolled onto the floor completely incapacitated. Ashken immediately jumped to his feet and sprung out from behind the table.
"What are you doing?" He shouted.
"Please, Ashken, I don't want to hurt you," Hinata began to cry.
"What do you mean? Why are you doing this?"
Hinata sprinted from behind the table towards Ashken. He tried to put up a defense, but she quickly struck him in the chest with the palm of her hand. She pulled her hand way and stepped back.
"What the hell was that.?" Ashken thought.
"I just struck you in the heart with a soft punch that the Hyuuga clan uses in order to stealthily dispatch foes. First, you will feel slightly dizzy, and fall to your knees while you heart rate and breathing picks up speed."
Ashken gave a confused look at Hinata, but then quickly began to loose his balance. Hinata sprang forward and caught him before he hit the ground. She laid his head across her lap as she sat against the cabinet.
"Are you feeling sleepy?" she asked, chocking on her tears."
"Ye-,"
"No," Hinata said, covering his mouth, "Don't waste your energy with talking,"
Her tears flowed down her face and into her coat as she stroked Ashken's hair. His breathing became very hoarse and clogged, and his eyes began to flutter as he tried to stay awake, knowing that If he fell asleep, he might wake up in darkness.
"Don't worry, you're not going to die. But, you must listen to what I say,"
She placed two fingers on his eyelids and closed them while she continued to cry.
"As long as you focus on my voice, and not ton your heart, you will survive." she said.
She began to hum for a minute, and then she began to gently sing.
"Don't turn away...I pray you've hear the words I've spoken.
Dare to believe, oh, for one last time...
Then I'll let the darkness cover me...
Deny everything.
Slowly turn away to breathe again...
On my own...
The darkness blinds me from the world I know.
The darkness binds me from the love I've shown...
The darkness mutes me from the words I've spoken...
The darkness eludes me from the mind I've opened, so, please,
Don't turn away...I pray you've hear the words I've spoken.
Dare to believe, oh, for one last time...
Then I'll let the darkness cover me...
Deny everything.
Slowly turn away to breathe again...
On my own...
On my own..."
Almost instantaneously, the sky darkened and clouds formed, blocking out the sun. The dark moisture that seeped in through the door as the slight drizzle from the atmosphere transformed into a heavy downpour and casted a mixture between an extremely light blue and a bold grey gloom upon the kitchen. The moisture caused a depressing thickness from the moisture outside to combine with the steam that crept in from Naruto's shower, causing the air to become rather uncomfortable to inhale . Ashken, who now had blood falling from his mouth, gave a small grin. Then, his smile faded and his head went limp...
"I hope you'll forgive me...Naruto..."