Shoot! *is depressed* I wanted to submit this for Naruto's birthday today, but it seems like my time ran out. T_T Can this be considered for Naruto's birthday when it's after midnight on the East Coast since there are other places where it's not midnight yet? I've been working on this one for awhile, but had no time to do any editing yesterday. I spent all day doing editing today, too!

This is a two-shot. I'll post the second and last chapter next week! As the author note, says, I came up with this using various prompts provided by the NaruHina FC over at the Narutofan Forums. Scar, Pearl, Fear and Homesick, however, since I could only choose one, I singled out Pearl. I actually enjoyed writing this, which might say something about my mental sanity, I suppose! XD Hope you enjoy it, too!

Title: Mirage of Faded Pearls
Genre: Drama
Timeline: Post Manga
Summary: He kept walking, always seeing her in front of him, wanting nothing more than to be with her. Yet she always disappeared like the others, fading away, leaving only the pain of loss behind.
Pairings: NaruHina
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns all of Naruto. I don't own one little bit of it.
Author's Notes: Prompted by a lot of words, but my main, chosen, prompt is Pearl!

He clutched a nearby tree to keep himself up right. Common sense told him he should find a place to camp for the night. He was tired and exhausted, literally almost asleep on his feet from walking all day. Such fatigue would surely do him in if he were attacked again. His wounds had not healed and likely would not until he got back to the village to see a medic. The injuries he sustained were bad, he knew that, but yet he continued to move all day, barely stopping for rest.

Blood matted the back of his blond spiky hair. His orange and black jumpsuit was torn; the right sleeve missing, the front ripped to shreds, holes from where he had been stabbed plagued his pants and his left sleeve and the edges worn from walking for so long

He had to get home to Konoha.

Looking back, it had been a mistake to stop in that village. He had not thought he had let anything slip when he casually mentioned to a shopkeeper he was delivering something. He never saw the ambush coming, much less the exploding tags laid as a trap. He could not remember anything before the explosion, however, he cared little for that. He escaped and the package he carried remained with him. He had not failed his mission yet.

I have to get back to the village... He moved away from the tree, stumbling slightly over to the next one, blood dripping from his shoulder to the ground. ...Back...to the village... To the village...to his team...to his friends... He had to get back...

He had lost track of time since the ambush. The trip back to the village should have taken five days and the trap had occurred two days into his journey back. How long had he been knocked unconscious? How long had he walked? No answer came to mind.

Only one thing echoed in his head. Return to the village. Return to his friends, his team. They had to be worried about him. If he was late to return at his expected time, they would worry. She would worry...

I've got to...keep going... He could see them...all of his friends, his team, her...in his mind's eye. Keep going...don't stop...just a little bit more...

He kept walking, kept moving, from tree to tree, pausing only to catch his breath briefly before faltering over to the next. He had to return to the village, no matter how injured he was, he had to return.

To his team. To his friends.

To Hinata.

I'm coming, Hinata, thought Naruto, as he paused for a moment, leaning against a tree. His blue eyes, faded from weariness, stared up into the cloudy sky that peeked into the leafy canopy of the forest. I'm coming...everyone...Sasuke...Sakura-chan...Hinata...

I'm coming home!

_oOo_oOo_

Sakura strolled down the village, dressed in her ninja gear; a sleeveless red top, black shorts with a pink skirt around them and knee length black ninja shoes, holding a folder close to her chest, however her mind was not on the contents within. Instead, she was thinking about her teammate, Naruto.

She had just left Sasuke and Kakashi at their training field, Sasuke not at all pleased Naruto had not shown up. Their teammate had been due back from his mission today, or so he stated in his last communication, but now it was nearly nightfall with no Naruto in sight.

"He's likely found some ramen bar in some village somewhere," voiced Sasuke, angrily, when Sakura had voiced her concern. "You know him; once he's got ramen on his mind, he'll forget everything he's doing. Idiot."

Kakashi had taken a casual approach to the situation, reminding both of them that the mission required Naruto to travel to the Land of Gems, a country that would take even the fastest ninja eight days to make. "Naruto's just miscalculated his travel time some. Give it a bit more time. I'm sure he's okay. This is Naruto, after all."

She sighed, trying to find reassurance in Sasuke and her sensei's words. I guess I shouldn't be worried, she tried to convince herself. It's only been a day, after all. Naruto can take care of himself and it's just a simple retrieval mission; go, get the item and return. That's it. Nothing can go wrong with that, right?

She sighed, pushing aside a loose strain of pink hair that had freed itself from her red Leaf headband. The village continued to bustle around her in the last hours of daylight, oblivious to when Naruto was suppose to return. Tsunade had received a notice from him five days ago that he had obtained the necklace Lady Shijimi had commissioned and was now returning to the village. He had said he should be back within those five days. Sakura vividly remembered the fuss Tsunade and Shizune made; the latter worrying Naruto would overwork himself and the former rolling her eyes at his eagerness and wondered if he would even take a break during his journey.

Sakura had scoffed at his claim, too. Sure, the mission was simple in nature, but as Kakashi had mentioned, even the fastest ninja needed to take in consideration time to rest and eat. Some times, Naruto's Kyuubi-enhanced stamina astounded her.

I'm just worrying for nothing, she decided. The trip would take time, even if it were Lee-kun and Gai-sensei. Naruto was just bragging as usual or over thinking how long it would take him. Nodding, feeling reassured of her teammate's condition, she kept walking.

As she approached her destination, Ichiraku Ramen, she noticed someone standing nearby and despite her previous attempt to reassure herself of Naruto's safety, the ill feelings returned full blast at seeing Hinata's waiting form. She's waiting for him... she thought, sadly. Taking one of the free stools, Sakura put on a huge smile she hoped reached her green eyes and not show the turmoil over Naruto's lateness. "Hi, Hinata!"

The dark-haired Hyuuga heiress turned her head, looking somewhat startled as if her mind had been far away from reality. "Oh, Sakura-san." Hinata perked up quickly and joined her on one of the empty stools, straightening her purple long pants, jacket and dusting off the white sleeves. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

Teuchi quickly took their orders before Sakura could respond. As he went to prepare, Sakura pointed to the folder she had set down on the table. "Tsunade-shishou gave me an assignment to do. I've been busy all day and I haven't had anything since lunch, so I thought I would get something to eat while I looked over it."

Hinata nodded understandably. "I see. I heard a team came back this week in very bad shape. Ino-san has said she's been busy with that as well."

Sakura nodded, sighing as she did so. The team in question had been escorting a food convey to a village that had been struck by a flood. Unfortunately, halfway there, they were attacked by a group of bandits. Normally, that would not have been a problem for even a well-experienced genin, however, the bandits had in their possession something far more dangerous to a ninja. "Yeah, that's what has kept us occupied for the past four days and it's the assignment Tsunade-shishou gave me."

Hinata frowned, glancing to the folder and back to Sakura. "Were they hurt that badly? I thought they were attacked by bandits, but surely, they wouldn't be that injured from such a fight?"

"Ah, well, that's the thing..." said Sakura, shaking her head. She flipped open the file, figuring telling someone would not hurt. She had not been instructed not to tell anyone and this case was especially troublesome to ninja. "The team were beat up pretty badly, but that was only after the bandits managed to inject them with some chemical." She took out a piece of paper and slide it over to Hinata for her to read. Her friend took it and quickly started absorbing the information.

The chemical the bandits used managed to put a ninja's chakra system in complete disarray, leaving them unable to collect the necessary chakra to preform even the simplest jutsu. It left the ninja without the ability to mold chakra at all. According to their intelligence, the Hidden Rock Village originally produced the chemical to combat the Leaf during the Third World War, however, after realizing such a weapon could be used against them, production of it ceased. The Tsuchikage had thought it had been destroyed, but apparently one scientist hid his stock and became a missing-nin.

Now, it seemed the scientist had resurfaced among a group of bandits and was producing the chemical for them freely. And that was leading the bandits to attack ninja teams carrying valuable goods.

Hinata's eyes widened as she reached the end of the report. "That's awful!" she cried, as Sakura took the paper and placed it back into her folder. "So the ninja team with the convey had their chakra network disabled?"

"Right," comfirmed Sakura. "It took them by surprise and gave the bandits the opening they needed. It didn't help matters that the bandits had laid traps for them as well. Thankfully, since the convey just contained food, nothing was stolen and the thieves went on their way without doing much else."

Sakura was grateful for that. The injuries the team sustained would be healed in a few weeks and the food managed to reach the village in need of it safely. The bandits could have done much worse and the ninja involved lay in the hospital now, healthy overall. They did not suffer from any of the side effects of the chemical like hallucinations, but they still lacked the ability to access their chakra.

However, that did not mean other villages had fared the same. "Yesterday, Gaara-kun reported some of his ninja have been attacked by these bandits and so has the Mist village. They've had some things stolen by the bandits, so finding a antidote for it has become essential. Tsunade-shishou has assigned me the task in developing one."

Teuchi placed two bowls of ramen in front of them, which broke off the conversation for a moment as they broke their chopsticks and chimed, "Itadakimasu!" together. "That sounds like a problem," stated Hinata with concern. Then she frowned and gazed into her ramen bowl. "But now that you've said this, I'm worried about Naruto-kun's safety. I was told he would be back today, only..." she trailed off, staring down the way he surely would have come had he returned.

At first, Sakura did not answer. Instead, she, too, gazed into her ramen, her earlier feelings over Naruto's lateness came back with full force. "I'm sure he's fine." She knew her teammate would not want to see Hinata worrying over him, so she attempted to reassure her, even if she felt differently. "You know how he is. He's likely either found a ramen stand and lost track of time," she suggested, using Sasuke's belief on where he was, "or he just failed to remember to add sleeping and eating to his timetable." She laughed. "Knowing Naruto, he'll run and run until he's ready to collapse and then he'll realize he needs to rest and eat up before he can go on!"

"Hmm," muttered Teuchi as he washed a bowl, "well, I'm hoping that last bit is true, Sakura-san. If Naruto's managed to find a ramen stand that keeps him there for five days, I may end up losing my best customer!"

Teuchi and Sakura laughed at the thought and a small smile began to appear on Hinata's face. "You're right," she said, after a moment. "Naruto-kun must be fine. He does tend to overwork himself at times." Her smile grew as she took a bit of her ramen. "We've been dating for two years now and Naruto-kun said he wanted to celebrate after he returned."

Sakura snorted, struggling to hold back her laughter. Naruto seemed to take the whole dating a bit far at times, finding ways to celebrate even the smallest details like the first day he and Hinata bumped into each other at the academy, which was the first time he noticed her, or the day he beat Neji for her during their first Chuunin exam. He even got a present for Neji, too, since he had been involved. Hearing Naruto wanting to celebrate two years of dating should not be a surprised to Sakura, but yet she managed to be.

However, Hinata's words reassured her that Naruto would arrive soon. He would never miss something like this. If he said he would return to celebrate his and Hinata's anniversary, then he would.

That was how he worked, after all. His precious people mattered so much to him.

"Yeah," said Sakura, fondly. "I'm sure he will."

The two kunoichi continued to eat their supper, Sakura working on her case as she did so with Hinata's input at various stages, waiting for Naruto to return.

_oOo_oOo_

Naruto leaned against the wall of the cave he had found as rain came down outside, carefully not touching the rock with the back of his head. The storm that came suddenly was not a strong one and, even if it were, Naruto would have kept going regardless of the conditions. Instead of doing that, however, he sat inside a cave with a fire crackling nearby to keep himself warm to prevent himself from growing ill.

This is annoying, he thought, staring into the fire.

"Get over it, Brat," said the Kyuubi within his mind. "I'm not too thrilled with this situation, either."

Feeling the Fox's anger rippling through him, Naruto sighed. He supposed the Fox would be very bothered by all of this, which likely explained why he was so willing to help. "Well..." he started, "what's the damage report, Kyuubi?"

The fox made a growling noise, but otherwise said nothing else. Instead, Naruto felt the demon's chakra rise, like it was examining his body, but not mixed in with his own chakra. In fact, the demonic energy recoiled away from his natural chakra as if burned. "You're in bad shape, Brat. You've got a shallow chest wound that could get worse if not taken care of. Your right shoulder's so ripped apart, I'm surprised the bone is still intact. Another shallow wound on your head, back and sides, I bet you hit a rock after being thrown from that explosion. Stab wounds in your legs, arms and your other shoulder."

He growled and withdrew the chakra. "No way you're healing on your own. If you didn't have this accursed drug in your system, you would have at least healed the worst of the injuries by the time you got back to the village."

Naruto did not respond, but pondered over how he got into this situation to begin with. His mission started out very simple: Lady Shijimi, the wife of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, commissioned a necklace to be made in the Land of Gems. His job was to go and collect the finished product and return it to the village for Shijimi to pick up. Simple.

After having seen the very elaborate piece, Naruto got the idea of getting Hinata a necklace for the two year anniversary of dating. He darted into villages briefly, checking out local shops for the perfect gift. He finally found one: a very nice and simple pearl necklace. The pearls were a faint purple, which Naruto liked since it was a color Hinata was fond of.

When he bought the necklace, he had noticed a few people standing outside, lounging around, looking bored. The way they grouped together right next to the window of the shop, Naruto had originally thought they might be thieves and kept an eye on them. The shopkeeper, as he wrapped the pearl necklace up, asked him where he was headed and Naruto mentioned he was on a mission and returning home.

At the time, he had not thought much of his causal comment. Nothing concerning his mission had been revealed and at most, he thought his comment would scare the possible thieves from robbing the kind shopkeeper blind. Even as he left, he created a shadow clone to follow them and make sure they would not set foot into the jewelry shop.

Nothing had happened, to his relief. The information he gained from the clone showed the thieves meeting up with their boss, telling him of a potential traveling target with valuable goods. It did not occur to Naruto that he would be the target. And as much as he wanted to take them down himself, he had a mission to take of, so his clone reported the thieves to a local officer and popped out of existence.

That was my mistake, thought Naruto, cringing. Maybe I should have taken them out there!

"Idiot!" roared the Kyuubi. "Do you even remember what happened or did the explosion mess with your memory that badly? You would likely be in this shape even if you attacked them there."

"At least I would have been in a village," retorted Naruto, angrily. He winced at a slight pain in his shoulder. "I would have gotten help then; someone could have sent help to the village." He thought of Hinata, who no doubt would be waiting for him. They were going to celebrate their two year dating anniversary. Suddenly, he felt a surge of longing to be in Konoha, among his friends, team and girlfriend.

He hated being alone, injured, in a cave hiding from the rain, not knowing how far he was from home.

The fox snorted at his explanation. "Or some pathetic human would have gotten in your way and gotten killed." Naruto flinched at the thought of someone innocent getting hurt or killed, which caused Kyuubi to smirk. "See? Now you understand. Not that it matters in the long run. You would have still been late to that stupid dating thing with that female of yours, regardless."

Naruto said nothing again, merely stared into the fire, trying to ignore Kyuubi's taunting. He never liked to admit the fox was right about some things. This happened to be one of them. The thieves' ambush had been a surprise; he realized he had been surrounded, but shocked when he saw it composed of the same group of thieves he followed in the village with the jewelry shop.

The bandits had appeared to have been dumbfounded by who their target was, too. They approached him cautiously and overdid some of their attacks. Naruto managed to deal with half of them before two things happened at once: a bandit he had been fighting stabbed him twice, once with a kunai and another with a syringe filled with a greenish-yellow liquid while another managed to set off a series of exploding tags. The last thing he remembered was the thieves running away from the blasts and him creating a series of shadow clones.

And then nothing. When he had awakened to the world again, he could not recognize his location. A shadow clone must have dragged him away from the area he was attacked. He had found himself injured, bleeding and, worst of all, unable to access his chakra. Any of his chakra.

Kyuubi's chakra, his own natural chakra; he could access none of it.

He could still feel it; it remained there, but it felt chaotic, in disarray and out of reach. He had never felt chakra this way. He did not even dare try access senjutsu, the sage chakra. What with his control erratic as it was, he feared he would turn into a frog if he tried.

Sighing, he let his head rest on the rock and gaze outward to the slowly stopping rain, frowning as each drop hit the ground. Next to him, he reached into his pack, opened a dark purple velvet case and pulled out a pearl necklace.

"Naruto-kun...you'll come back soon, right?" Hinata's voice echoed into his mind on the day he left on his mission.

"Of course, I will! And when I return, we'll celebrate our two year anniversary!"

She had giggled at his response. "We don't have to do anything to celebrate, you know. Just being with you is enough for me... So...come back safetly, Naruto-kun."

He clutched the pearls, the light purple stones reminding him of Hinata's eyes, filled with light and happiness. Holding them closer to his chest as the memory threatened to make the water in his eyes spill over, he whispered, "I promise you, Hinata. I'll come home. I'm sorry I'll be injured when I do, but I will come home. I promise."

Restoring the necklace to its proper place in the velvet case, Naruto pushed himself up from the ground and put out his camp fire. Once the embers extinguished completely, he began to limp out of the cave.

"Brat! What are you doing?"

Naruto held his shoulder, trying to stay focused and ignore the pain. "Have to get back home. My injuries won't get healed if I just sit around," he replied, grunting. "...Got to keep moving."

Kyuubi stayed silent for a little while. Naruto could feel his chakra shifting around, almost like he was thinking. "Fine...stubborn brat. Never will listen to reason. Just remember; it's your body you're tearing up. Just don't kill us both here."

Keeping his mind on walking, trying to overlook the agonizing pain, Naruto merely nodded. He knew the risks, but he also knew he would not get healed if he sat alone in a cave. He had to get back home, complete his mission and, more importantly, return home to his friends and his team.

I promised Hinata...I promised her I would come home soon. And I'll never break a promise to her ever...

_oOo_oOo_

Even through the sky was clear, blue with no clouds, Hinata still felt dismal as if a stormy day had ruined her afternoon plans. She approached the front gates of Konoha with a heavy heart, trying to remain calm, even through she felt anything but.

Nine days. Naruto had not been heard from in nine days. Even Tsunade had started to get worried over his whereabouts. It would be fine if he needed the extra time, but to not contact anyone was unusual.

That was why Hinata walked up to the guard station Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo manned. Even through she was busy with clan business since her father was away, even through someone would have told her if there had been any news, her mind would net let her rest until she knew Naruto had come home.

"Hello, Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san," said Hinata, greeting the two shinobi in a somber voice.

Not even taking the time to straighten his Chuunin vest and uniform, Kotetsu smiled softly as he stood up from his seat. Next to him, the similar-clad Izumo gazed at the floor, frowning, as if he did not want to meet Hinata's face. Kotetsu, however, looked like he was trying to hide how worried he was, too. "Hinata-sama...I'm sorry to tell you, but Naruto hasn't returned."

"I see." she said, lowering her head. The answer only caused more worry to stir within her. Naruto-kun...what's happened? Where are you?

Kotetsu must have sensed her distress as his arms waving at her to calm her down and he quickly added, "Don't worry, Hinata-sama. I'm sure he'll return soon."

Izumo nodded, but still kept his face away. "Yeah. Naruto's a strong kid. He'll make it back. Whatever's keeping him, he won't let it hold him back for long."

A small smile grew on her face despite that she did not feel doing so. The two of them were trying to cheer her up. She had been coming here for the past two days, so naturally, they would worry, not only for Naruto, but her as well. "Thank you," she muttered softly. "You're right; Naruto-kun will come back soon."

"You've not been the only one coming around," commented Kotetsu, pointing up to a nearby building when Hinata expressed her surprise. She followed where he directed at and noticed a dark figure sitting on the nearest rooftop to the front gate. "I really hope Naruto returns quickly; otherwise, I think the whole village will start to worry."

Nodding, Hinata thanked the both of them again and quickly made her way to the rooftop. The person, dressed in dark blue pants, a shirt with a high collar and emblem on the back with a long, straight, sword laying next to him, gave little indication that they noticed her as she sat down right next to them. A small wind started to pick up as the two of them stared at the gate, waiting for one person to come through it.

After a few moments of silence, Hinata closed her eyes, glancing downward. "Is everything all right with you, Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha kept his eyes on the gate, remaining quiet, but then he grunted and lowered his head. "Ah. I suppose." He made a face as he looked up. "Soon as that idiot walks through, I'm going to pummel him for being late. Bad enough Kakashi does it on purpose, having another teammate popping up late will just be frustrating."

She could not help but smile at the response. Knowing Naruto, he would pay back Sasuke and the situation would spiral into a brawl between the two. She worried sometimes over their fights, but knew their friendship was very strong and this was his way of worrying.

"What about you?" She looked up to see Sasuke looking at her. "I thought you were in charge of the Hyuuga clan while your father was away. What are you doing here?"

Hinata bit her lip, anxiously, swinging her legs and hitting the stone wall. "I just wanted to check to see if Naruto-kun had arrived back yet. I can't help it. I'm really worried about him." Crossing her arms, rubbing her elbows, she tried to calm herself down. Her eyes felt like they were going to overflow with tears. "I suppose he is fine and I'm worrying for nothing, but I just can't help myself."

Sasuke said nothing. His black eyes continued to stare at her as she rubbed her eyes to prevent the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "But what about you? Sakura-san told me yesterday you're supposed to be investigating the bandits with that chakra blocking chemical."

"Hn." Sasuke turned around, his eyes closed as if he felt like he had gotten caught doing something. "I'm on a break. Thought I would take it here." He shook his head, sighing as he did so. "Sakura's getting worried. She's not able to concentrate on that chemical assignment the Hokage gave her anymore. Kakashi thinks something's definitely wrong; Naruto said he would be back in five days. That might be overdoing it, but he's certainly capable of getting back here before the normal eight."

Hinata nodded, listlessly, agreeing with the statement. However, this conclusion got them nowhere closer to finding out what happened to Naruto. She glanced over at the gate again, her eyes watering with tears. "I wish - I wish we could go find him." Her voice trembled and she gripped her pants to hold on to the last sheds of self-restraint. "It would be a lot easier, you know, instead of - instead of just sitting around, waiting."

Instead of answering, Sasuke tightened his fists, looking frustrated. "I want to..." he said, in a tight voice. "I want to go find him...but...it's only been six months since I've been off probation. Naruto would kill me if I left the village without permission."

Suddenly, startling Hinata as he did so, he got up and started to walk away from her. She followed him, trying to figure out what he was up to. "Sasuke-kun?"

He looked back, his face as impassive as before. "If we're going to mount a search, then getting permission is likely the best option. We should go see the Hokage."

Nodding wordlessly, she got up to follow him to Hokage Tower, finally feeling a spark of determination instead sadness within her heart.

_oOo_oOo_

Naruto laid on the ground, face down, breathing heavily and sweating as if the sun bore down on him even during this dark night. He wanted to continue on, but his body felt completely drained, the pain of his injuries too much to bear.

He still had no idea where he was; having yet to locate a village or even a road yet, just never ending forest wherever he stepped. A forest that hide him from his destination...

Hinata...Everyone...can't...stay here...

In the back of his mind, Kyuubi snorted. "Brat, you've over done it. Just lie still. You're not dying yet and I believe I sense some humans somewhere close. Someone will find you."

But Naruto barely registered the Fox's words. All he could think about was home, his friends, his team, her; they were the only things in his mind. He could almost hear them calling him...telling him to keep moving, to not give up just yet...almost...

"Naruto..."

The sound of that voice caused him to stiffen and his eyes to widen. He tried to look right in front of him, not daring to believe what he had heard.

Standing a bit away from him, surrounded by a light glow, stood... No way...Sasuke? Sakura-chan? Hinata!

"What?"

Naruto started to get up, his expression dazed, ignoring the pain, the fever, ignoring the protests of his tenant locked away in his stomach. He staggered over to where they all stood, smiling, calling out to him...waiting for him to come.

He reached out his hand to Hinata, feeling desperate to touch her...only to see his hand pass through her and she quickly faded away...

"Huh...?" He muttered weakly. He gazed at his hand, wondering what had happened. Hinata had been there...right? "Wha..."

The fox growled as he realized what was going on. "You're hallucinating! There's been no one in front of you ever! Get a grip, Brat, or we'll both end up dead."

However, Naruto could no longer hear the Nine-Tails. His mind was lost in a fog; no longer able to hear the noise of the night or see the darkness of the forest. All his mind could focus on was one thing. All he could see and hear was one thing.

"Naruto..."

His breath catching in his throat, Naruto looked up at the sound of his name. His eyes widened at the sight before him again. Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, all stood far ahead of him, surrounded by an eerie glow, but this time they were not alone. They were joined by others; Sai, Kakashi, Tsunade, Iruka, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino of Team 10, Kiba and Shino, Lee, Neji and Tenten in Team Gai. All his friends stood there, smiling at him, calling out his name...

"Naruto-kun..."

He started to move forward again, his eyes fixated on his friends, on Hinata. "Hina - ta! Hinata!"

"No!" roared the Fox. "No 'Hinata!' Don't you get it, you idiot? There's no one there!"

But Naruto kept moving, like an automaton, toward the figures in the distance. He no longer felt the blinding pain of his injuries or heard the shouts of Kyuubi warning him it was all an illusion or cared where he was going. He just kept advancing forward.

It did not matter that every time he finally managed to grab Sasuke's shoulder, he faded away. Or when he tried to reach for Sakura, she ceased to exist. He just kept moving when they reappeared far ahead, hoping the next chance he got, it would be real. His mind could not cope with the fact that it was not.

So whenever he reached out to touch Hinata's cheek, he hoped this time, it would be real, but every time his hand slipped through and she faded out of existence, reappearing further and further away.

I apologize for not writing out the action scene. Those types of scenes aren't my best work. Even if I can think of a good one, writing is another matter entirely. It just ends up so bad, I would never consider posting it. Naruto's injuries are something I carefully considered since I don't know anything medical-wise. So all his wounds except his shoulder are shallow or not life-threatening yet, but still painful. He had to be injured enough to stall his progress to get back to Konoha. And with no Kyuubi's chakra to heal him, well, he's out of luck until he gets to a hospital. Which is kind of the point of this fic, I guess!

Naruto's in some serious trouble! No one kill me for putting Naruto through all that! I'm sure it'll come out all right in the end! Will it?

Thanks for reading! - NessaMoon