The group of those that Naruto held most dear in his troubled life could only stare at him. They all had looks of fear in their eyes. Fear, distrust, and even a little hate could be seen in the eyes of those who had lost family during the Kyuubi attack 15 years before. All except Sakura. The one that had told the group, despite Naruto's protestations. She stood with a smile on her face and eyes closed. A mistake that most Shinobi learned from their first time if they weren't killed first. Had her eyes been open, she would have seen the betrayal written on Naruto's face and in his eyes. Only one thought went through his mind. How could she do this to him? Before any of those assembled could do as much as blink, Naruto had a hold of Sakura by the throat. The movement so sudden and so violent, that she could not get more than a stifled 'eep' out before her air supply was chocked off.
"How could you, Sakura? Why would you do this to me? What did I do to have you hate me with such venom that you would break the law? I was going to take this demon to hell with me, without putting anyone else in danger. I would do this so that future generations would never have to have the memory of the Kyuubi. You stupid, half wit of a fool."
By this time, Neji came out of his trance, anger and disgust on his face, and moved to help Sakura. Before he could get further than arm's length, Naruto violently threw the pink haired girl into him. Still stunned, the group stayed frozen as a side of Naruto that they had never seen broke through the happy, boisterous, obnoxious mask that was always worn. This Naruto was intelligent, deadly, and very, very angry.
"All of you are fools, caught by your prejudices. I recognize the fear, the hate, and the distrust in your eyes. I have fought to be recognized by the adults of this village who knew, and to stop the cycle of hatred passed on to the youth, all because that is what I believed the Yondaime would have wanted. I believed he would have wanted me to love this village and protect it as the Hero of the Village that he declared me to be when the demon was sealed in me. But I see now that was never possible. I was never meant to be recognized. Not by the adults, and not by the youth. I was meant to live out my days in cursed anonymity. If that is how it is to be, then so be it. I will no longer fight what this spiteful village wants."
Naruto pulled off his forehead protector, and without hand seals or kunai, carved a line through the Konoha symbol, then etched new kanji underneath, all done using only wind chakra. The desecrated symbol of his shinobi status of the Leaf Village was then tossed to the feet of the newly rising Sakura and Neji.
"I suppose I should thank you Haruno for showing me how wrong I was about my future, for allowing me to correct that mistake now before it was too late. I cannot escape my destiny of hatred, or the curse of the seal I am forced to bear. That I have been forced to bear since I was an infant." Without another word Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow. One figure, a dark haired young woman with pale eyes, walked over and retrieved the forehead protector. She stared at it for a time before the voice of her team mate Shino spoke.
"Hinata, what did he carve in it?"
"He carved four words: 'I am the Betrayed'." A tear streaked its way down her cheek as Hinata took a step closer to Sakura. Without warning the Hyuuga girl struck with a juuken strike destroying forevermore Sakura's ability to use chakra consciously. The pink haired girl flew backwards, blood spraying from her mouth, and landed near the posts of the training ground. Again Neji moved to intervene, the words on his lips easily discernable to his younger cousin. Hinata's hand shot out again, this time striking Neji in the heart. Neji coughed blood immediately. As he dropped to his knees Hinata spoke again.
"That is for the words I know you were about to say. Naruto has become the very thing this village wished him to be. All he ever wanted was to be seen as himself. If I ever get the faintest feeling that you have spoken of this moment as a good time for Konoha, I will ensure that the next juuken strike to your heart will kill you the way you intended to kill me three years ago." Hinata turned to the barely conscious Sakura. "As for you, I would much rather have killed you; however I have ensured that you will never again be a shinobi. Never again will you be able to mold chakra. Maybe this will finally teach you that you do not always know what is right, but to think as well as feel before acting." Hinata turned from the training ground and walked towards the Hokage Tower. No one dared to make a move to stop her, but instead decided to take Neji and Sakura to the hospital.
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An hour later, Hinata sat in a chair before the Hokage, tears falling down her face. She had just finished her story to the Hokage, not leaving out a single detail. The Hokage leaned back in her chair. Anger, frustration, depression, and guilt fought for dominance over her face. Guilt and depression won out.
"This is all my fault." She turned the chair until she was looking out the window, her back to Hinata. "I should have seen this coming. I should have done something to stop it."
Hinata was confused as she heard the Hokage speak. "What do you mean Hokage-sama? How could this be your fault?"
The Hokage sighed and turned back towards the Hyuuga girl. "I'm the one who told Sakura the truth. Although I realize now it was a mistake, I had believed she would be smarter than breaking the law. I thought I had made the consequences abundantly clear. And now I have no choice." The Hokage snapped her fingers, drawing two ANBU from the shadows that they were in. "Bring Haruno Sakura here, now." The ANBU were gone without a trace.
The Hokage looked at Hinata, one question on her mind. "What was your reaction to the secret?" The renewed vigor of the tears did not escape the notice of the Hokage.
"I was shocked to hear it, Hokage-sama. But I know I had fear in my eyes too. I helped to drive him away because I couldn't think fast enough to stop him. I don't care what is in Naruto. I have always loved him. I always will, even though I broke his heart by not being fast enough, or strong enough. I could have stopped him…" At this point the young woman could no longer continue.
The Hokage had been suspicious, and couldn't honestly blame the girl for her lapse into fear "And how do you feel towards Haruno Sakura?"
Hinata's hand visibly tightened over the forehead protector in her hand. "I regret not killing her."
The Hokage only had time to nod before the two ANBU reappeared, each holding the pink haired girl up, in between them. She also heard the commotion of the rest of those Naruto had considered his precious people as they nearly broke down her door trying to find out why the ANBU and removed Sakura from the hospital without a word. As they all started to speak angrily at once, the Hokage silenced them with only a look. The Hokage stood and walked over to the unconscious girl, reviving her with a touch to the head.
As Sakura became aware once again, she saw the 5th Hokage standing before her and started to speak. "Tsunade-sama, I…" The Hokage cut her off.
"Haruno Sakura, do you deny the claim by Hyuuga Hinata that you willfully broke the Law Of Secrecy decreed by the Sandaime regarding Uzumaki Naruto?"
Dread filled the room at the official speech of the Hokage.
"No." The word was said so quite some weren't sure they heard it.
"Then by the same decree I find you guilty and sentence you to death. Sentence is to carried out immediately. Hyuuga Hinata."
"Hai!" Was the quick response.
"You are hereby ordered to execute Haruno Sakura for treason."
Sakura's eyes, as well as the eyes of the others widened. They saw Hinata glance down at the protector still in her hand. Without a word Hinata walked in front of the pink haired girl and struck her once in the heart.
If the kill had been clean, it would have been one thing, but it seemed Hinata wanted Sakura to suffer in her last moments. The noises made by the pink haired girl would leave many of the others having nightmares. The end of the sounds could not have come soon enough for most of those present. The only ones to remain impassive throughout were the two ANBU, the Hokage, and Hinata. The Hokage turned to the ANBU holding the corpse.
"Inform the family after you have disposed of the body properly for a traitor. Hinata!"
The Hyuuga girl looked up as the ANBU disappeared. The Hokage was pleased to see the girl had no remorse in her eyes. The Hokage turned back to her desk and, upon opening a drawer, withdrew a Hawk mask and tossed it to Hinata. "I am elevating you in rank to ANBU and temporarily assigning you to the Hunter Nin squad. Your first mission is to find and retrieve Naruto by any means necessary. He is to be brought back alive. She needs two volunteers to accompany her."
Shino and Tenten stepped forward immediately, surprising the rest of the group. "Vary well, you three are to leave immediately. Check his apartment for clues first. Dismissed." Hinata pulled on her mask and was gone with the other two only slightly behind.
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Hinata, Shino and Tenten were moving swiftly through the trees. It had taken some doing, but Shino's bugs were able to find Naruto's trail. It started 5 miles away from Konoha. The three figured he must have used the technique that caused the flash of yellow to move such a large distance. And now they were trying to catch up.
Hinata again activated her Byakugan, scanning the area in front of them. She still could not see Naruto. The tears wanted to flow once more, but she angrily held them in check. The only noise made as the group moved was the rustling of the leaves. Not a word had been spoken between them since they had left the gates of Konoha.
The air began to feel oppressive. Something was terribly wrong. Shino began to visibly shift, trying to find the location of the oppressive feeling. Before they knew it an orange and black blur flew through the air striking them each once before coming to a stop behind them.
"A single Hunter Nin, Aburame Shino, and Tenten. I can only assume that Tsunade sent you to bring me back. Just let me go. Walk away and pretend you never saw me. If you force me to, I will kill you to be free of Konoha."
Shino was the first to speak. "We can't do that Naruto."
"Shino, even if you start speaking of how there are people who still care for me, that don't care that I have the Kyuubi trapped inside me, it does not change the fact that I am simply tired of putting up with it. Can you understand this? I am just tired. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually tired. I have been fighting the Kyuubi for many years Shino. Even now, he whispers in my mind to slit your throats and revel in the carnage. He is quite, patient, and far more intelligent than any being I have ever heard of. He knows that eventually my resistance to his whispers will fail. He won't ever be free, the seal prevents that, but he can live again vicariously through me. Maybe if I had had support through this during the years, it would be different. It might even have been different if I only garnered indifference throughout my life. I have not only been fighting him, but the village as well."
"Naruto, I don't doubt that you have had a tough time dealing with the Kyuubi, but aren't you being a little dramatic about the way the village treats you?" Tenten spoke calmly, thinking she could get him to see reason. That it wasn't as bad as he made it seem.
A bitter laugh escaped Naruto's throat. "Not that bad, Tenten? Let me show you something." Naruto lifted his shirt and dropped the Genjutsu that no one knew he had on.
Shocked breaths were drawn as they saw the mass of scars and burn marks that littered what little of Naruto's midsection they could see.
"Tenten, I have forgiven and given that village more chances than most would afford them. Today was the last straw. I just cannot do it anymore. I will only ask this once more. Please leave me. If it will make you more comfortable, I swear to never return to the village to seek retribution. I promise to leave the Fire Country and never return to it. Just return and pretend you never found my trail."
The look of Naruto's eyes throughout the conversation had kept Hinata quite. They looks dead. There was no emotion there. Naruto was a dead man looking for his grave without knowing it. Through the entire promise, Naruto had kept his eyes locked onto where he knew the Hunter Nin's eyes were.
Hinata removed her mask, startling Naruto that she was the Hunter Nin. "Naruto, please, just allow me to speak with you for a few minutes. If what I have to say means nothing, then we will let you go. We will not follow you any further. You have my word."
Shino and Tenten both started to speak, but were silenced by a gesture from Hinata. This was not a point to be argued and they could see her determination in the gesture. They decided to remove the themselves from the area so Hinata and Naruto could speak in private.
"Naruto, may I approach you?"
The words shocked him, he only could nod.
Careful to not make any threatening movements, Hinata hung the mask on her hip and stepped closer to Naruto. She could tell by his posture that he was wary of her, but she refuse to break eye contact. Slowly the young Hyuuga drew Naruto into a hug, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.
Naruto was shocked. Hyuuga Hinata was hugging him tightly to her. The shock kept him still for a couple of minutes before he found his own arms encircling her too.
"Naruto, I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough for you today. I'm sorry that you only saw the fear in my eyes. Please believe me that I was not scared of you." She spoke softly into his chest.
"Then what were you scared of Hinata?" Naruto stiffened, waiting for some kind of trick.
"I was scared that I would never be good enough for you."
"What do you mean?" Suspicion was thick in his voice.
"I love you Uzumaki Naruto. I have always loved you. I will always love you. Please, don't leave. Be with me. Stay with me. I will never leave you if you just say 'yes'. Please, please stay."
Naruto's eyes burned. He knew she wasn't lying. She was really in love with him. He felt happier than he ever had in his life, and sadder than he ever had in his life.
"Hinata-chan, I love you too," a gasp came from Hinata. "But I can't return to that village. Even having you with me, I just cannot handle the glares, the insults, the attempts on my life, and all the other open forms of hostility any longer."
"Don't say that Naruto. Please don't say that. Be with me. Together we can prove to the Village that they are wrong about you. Together we are stronger than we are separately. Please stay with me always. The Hyuuga clan has some of the most extensive library of seals in the world. We can find a way to quite the whispers. I know we can, together." Hinata was nearly crying.
"What of the betrayal against me. I have forgiven much, but I cannot forgive that." Anger hardened his voice.
An equal amount of anger answered it, though the anger was not directed towards him. "The betrayer is dead. I killed the traitor myself."
"You did, didn't you?" Naruto pulled away from Hinata long enough to look in her eyes and saw the steel in her eyes. The lack of remorse. "Very well Hinata-chan. I'll return with you, if you will promise me one thing."
"What?" Hope shined in her eyes.
"That if I start to give into the whispers before we can find a way to stop them, that you will kill me."
"Naruto-kun-"
"Please Hinata-chan. I would much rather die by that hand of the woman I love, then to be responsible for countless deaths. Please, promise me this."
"I promise Uzumaki Naruto, I will be the one to end your life, once you become that thin you so fear."
"Thank you, Hinata-Chan, my love."