A/N: This story contains Sakura bashing, however she's redeemed at the end so take that how you will. R & R.

His Tourniquet

The battle was over, the shinobi from the leaf had been victorious and Zabuza and Haku had been defeated. The corruption that had taken over the town had been dismantled and the villagers were celebrating loudly. Everyone was happy except for three shinobi from the leaf.

Naruto walked over to where Sasuke's body lay. It was still and unmoving, covered in bruises, blood and needles that were sticking out. Kakashi had been leaning over the body until just now; he stood up in despair and closed Sasuke's eyes. With Kakashi out of the way Naruto could see that Sakura was full on balling on top of Sasuke's body, no his corpse.

Naruto took a step closer, "Sasuke….Kakashi-sensei is he…?" Kakashi merely nodded his head and then turned away. Naruto's eyes grew wide in realization and sadness slowly started to over take him.

Sasuke, his best friend was now dead. Sure he had hated him, wanted to beat him up, he was always trying to overtake him but now…Naruto's eyes glistened as teardrops started to form as he realized he would never be able to overtake Sasuke.

And what was worse was the thought that Sasuke had died to protect him; that he owed his life to the last Uchiha and he would never be able to repay that debt. And finally the thought that Sasuke was dead because of him.

Through her tears Sakura had heard Naruto's question to Kakashi; it took her a minute but she forced herself to stop sobbing and stand up.

"Y-YOU!" She said as she pointed at Naruto, tears still running down her face. "It…it's your fault he's dead! Sasuke died to protect you!"

Naruto knew this was true and didn't deny it. "Sakura…I'm sorry…"

"NO! You don't get to apologize and get away with it! Sasuke was always better than you and you couldn't live with that so you got him killed!" At this point Sakura was screaming and Naruto was making no attempt to argue with her.

"You wanted him dead! Well you should've died instead! Sasuke should've lived and you should die!" Sakura grabbed a kunai and ran straight at Naruto; Naruto made no attempt to run away, he only stood there as the tears finally fell down his face.

Kakashi grabbed Sakura's arms and pulled the kunai away from her. "Sakura stop it! I know you sad but Naruto didn't kill Sasuke! He's your teammate and attacking him is a crime!" Sakura looked from Kakashi to Naruto and burst out crying again. Kakashi sighed and took them both back to the old man's house.

The three ninja's spent the next day at the old man's house, tending to wounds and preparing a few supplies for the trip home. Well that's what Kakashi was doing at least; Naruto and Sakura hadn't done much of anything. Sakura hadn't left her room, she spent the whole day in there crying.

Naruto wasn't much better; he just sat around the empty house, feeling horrible and sick with blame. Kakashi left them be, he too wanted to be alone, blaming himself for letting another comrade die when he had sworn that would never happen again.

The next day Kakashi had forced his two pupils out of the house and after some quick goodbyes they started the long walk home to Konoha. Tension was high walking back, not even Naruto's cheery disposition could overcome the guilt he felt. It didn't help that every few minutes Sakura would look at him with unending loathing.

After a few days walking in that unbearable silence the three reached the village. Kakashi told them he had to inform the village elders of Sasuke's death and that without a third teammate they might not have any missions for a while.

Naruto started on the long walk home, not knowing where else he could go. He carefully avoided some angry villagers and made his way to his sad excuse for an apartment. He closed the door and sat down on the bed and realized he didn't really have anything to do. His mind once more drifted back to what had happened with Sasuke and without knowing it he slowly drifted off to sleep.

He awoke a few hours later to find his room engulfed in darkness and his stomach growling at him. Deciding to get some food he left his dingy apartment and headed for Ichiraku.

Teuchi greeted him upon his arrival and Naruto ordered the usual. The ramen was good and hot but unfortunately for Naruto it seemed not even ramen could make him feel better.

"Naruto," Teuchi said to the boy. "I heard about what happened, are you going to be okay?" Naruto looked up from the bowl to see Teuchi with a rather serious look on his face. The blonde realized he'd have to play it cool.

"Don't worry bout me old man, I'm doing fine! This isn't going to stop me; I'll be hokage you just watch!" Naruto flashed his signature smile with a thumbs up. He was lying of course, but Naruto's mask was so well perfected that almost no one could see through it to his real pain.

The genin paid for his meal and left. With nothing better to do he wandered down the street. He passed another restaurant where a genin team was celebrating some mission with their sensei, he sighed knowing that team seven could never do that.

Naruto kept walking and before he knew it he found himself on top of the mountain with the hokage's heads. He sat down and looked up at the stars. He had hoped the stars would take his mind off his troubles but unfortunately his thoughts kept drifting back to what had happened.

How mad Sakura was. How Sasuke would still be alive if it wasn't for him. How much the villagers hated him because of the Kyuubi. How much trouble he was causing for Kakashi. How much better it would be for everyone if he was the one who had died instead of Sasuke.

Naruto stood up and walked out onto one of the heads. The breeze feels nice tonight, he thought as he stood on the edge of the head. It would be really easy, to just fall, I probably wouldn't feel anything…

"N-Naruto no! Please stop, don't jump!" Naruto turned around and was surprised to see someone else on top of the mountain. It was a girl with dark blue hair, Naruto recognized her as Hinata Hyuuga. She seemed to be very worried about him which confused him.

"You're…Hinata right?" Naruto walked a few steps away from the edge as Hinata nodded. "What do you care if I die? I don't even know you, plus didn't you hear? It's probably my fault Sasuke's dead. The village would be a lot better off if I was dead."

"No that's not true!" Hinata exclaimed rather louder than she had intended. Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I know you didn't mean for Sasuke to die, you're a good person Naruto." Hinata's face was bright red as she said this, and Naruto could only stare at her with wide eyes. He didn't really believe her but somehow her words made him feel a little better.

"Okay whatever, but why are you trying to cheer me up? I mean we don't know each other at all, shouldn't you hate me like everyone else?"

"Err umm…" Hinata's face grew even redder; she averted her eyes and started playing with her fingers. "The truth is Naruto that I-I've always watched you. Even though the villagers always hated you, you never let it get to you. You always acted happy and you had a dream and for that I've always admired you. You're a proud failure who never gave up or felt bad for yourself so I can't understand how now you would suddenly kill yourself! The truth is…I…I love you Naruto!"

An incredibly long sixty seconds passed and neither ninja said anything. Naruto was for the first time in his life, speechless. Finally he shook the confusion out of his face and opened his mouth.

"You…love me? But why would you love me Hinata? I mean you gave me all those reason but I'm not…I just…umm…" Naruto was tongue tied as he tried to explain why she shouldn't, but was too confused to understand what was happening.

"Naruto its okay, you don't have to love me back just please don't kill yourself! I need you, I know I don't talk to you but you have always inspired me to keep living and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you!"

Wait, Naruto thought to himself. Hinata needs…me? Well I am a pretty amazing guy, he thought to himself with a grin.

"Okay Hinata, don't worry I'm not going to kill myself. I was just feeling kinda bad, thanks for helping me out." Naruto flashed her a smile, a real smile this time, no mask. Hinata smiled back at him, glad he made the right choice but still embarrassed at what she had revealed.

"Hey umm Hinata," The hyperactive ninja muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "I was wondering, you see after what happened Sakura kinda hates me and so does almost everyone else so do you think you would want to be friends?"

Hinata's face lit up with a smile and she nodded. "Of course I'll be your friend Naruto." Another moment of silence passed, this one less awkward than the others.

"So do you want to go do something Hinata? Maybe train or get some ramen?"

"Oh I'd love to Naruto, but it's getting late and my dad would get mad if I don't get home soon."

"How about tomorrow then?"

"Yes that would be wonderful! My team doesn't have any missions tomorrow so we could hang out the whole day." The two genin said goodbye and headed their separate ways.

The next day Naruto showed up at Hinata's house with a big smile on his face as he knocked on her door. Hinata opened the door and smiled back at Naruto, glad that he was feeling better. They spent the day together, training, eating ramen, and just hanging out.

Naruto thought it was a lot of fun, Hinata was shy but she was also really nice and caring. At one point he had been tripped by a villager, Sakura would've laughed at him but Hinata was actually concerned for him. The blonde couldn't believe how wonderful it felt to have someone care for him.

Days turned into weeks as the two became much closer. Hinata would hang out with Naruto whenever she didn't have a mission, unfortunately since Naruto didn't have any missions he usually sunk back into depression about Sasuke when he was alone. One afternoon Hinata found Naruto at Ichiraku staring into a full bowl of ramen. He had a black eye and almost looked like he was going to cry.

"Naruto?" Hinata came up behind him slowly, "What's wrong? What happened to your eye?" Hinata's stuttering had left her after hanging out with Naruto for a while.

"I was coming here to wait for you like usual," Naruto picked up some noodles with his fork but couldn't manage to bring them to his mouth. He dropped the fork and sighed. "…And then I ran into Sakura."

"Oh no," Hinata whispered. Naruto had told her what happened with Sakura. She hoped that Sakura would eventually return to some semblance of normal, but the bruise on Naruto's face proved this untrue. "Naruto I know what you need to do…"

He looked up at her, "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes, but you won't like it." She paused for a moment but he didn't say anything. "You need to confront Sakura about what happened."

The male Genin's eyes grew wide, "Hinata I can't do that!" He shook his arms vigorously in an X pattern in front of his chest. She'd kill me! Plus…"He suddenly looked downcast, "She deserves to treat me that way."

"Naruto we've gone over this before, Sasuke's death was not your fault. Sakura's blinded by her obsession; she's just using you as a scapegoat."

"I know but sometimes I just…" He looked up at her. "Thanks Hinata, usually you're quiet but you have courage when it counts." At this comment she blushed beet red and averted her eyes. Naruto smiled, he always found some amusement in Hinata's blushing. "Will you come with me?"

The blue-haired girl nodded, "When?"

"Let's go now," He said standing up.

"N-Now? But-"

"Now would be best," He interrupted her. "You gave me the courage to do it now; if I waited I might lose that courage." Hinata nodded her understanding and then walked off. They weren't sure where Sakura would be. Naruto had spent his time since his last mission avoiding her and Hinata never personally sought her out.

Fifteen minutes later the two found Sakura at team Asuma's teams training grounds. As they got closer they noticed she was not alone, there was one more person there. It was Chouji; which wasn't surprising since it was his training grounds. What was surprising was that Sakura was currently strangling him.

"How dare you offend Naruto's actions? He's a murderer! I was there, remember? Where were you tubby? Eating?"

"I just meant it sounded more like Sasuke was trying to save Naruto's life…" Chouji managed to cough out a sentence, his face was turning blue.

"Sakura stop!" Naruto yelled at her as he ran up to them from behind. "Put Chouji down, your choking him!" The blonde pulled Sakura's fists off Chouji's neck. Chouji fell to the ground breathing heavily and Hinata ran up to him to check if he was okay.

"What do you care Naruto? You never cared about your comrades before," Sakura started ranting. "You let Sasuke die and he was your teammate, so why would you care if fatso here died?"

"Sakura I didn't…I was…umm…" Naruto found his courage wasn't helping him get the words out he needed to say. He was utterly tongue-tied. Behind him Hinata was helping Chouji to his feet.

"You should leave Chouji, before Sakura gets violent again…" Hinata whispered to him. His eyes lit up in recognition and nodded furiously before running off. The Hyuuga turned back to where Naruto was sputtering to get words out.

"Whatever," Sakura said, cracking her knuckles. "Now I can finish teaching you that lesson from earlier." She edged closer to Naruto. He backed away a few paces and gulped.

"S-Sakura wait!" Hinata said as she stood between the two remaining members of team seven. The pink-haired girl looked surprise by this intrusion; apparently she hadn't seen Hinata till now. "Let's talk about this peacefully, okay?"

Sakura's surprise at Hinata's sudden appearance disappeared as her eyes scrunched down into a glare. "Hinata, I don't know or care why you're defending this monster, just get out of my way." However Hinata didn't move.

"No Sakura, you and Naruto need to talk about this peacefully…"

Before Hinata could finish her sentence Sakura's hand formed a fist and was inches from the shy girl's face. However Naruto saw what was happening seconds before and grabbed Sakura's fist with his own. Naruto took the moment of surprise and pushed Sakura to the ground. "Don't you dare hit Hinata! She never did anything to you!"

Looking up in surprise Sakura noticed how angry Naruto looked. "Naruto…"

His moment of anger leading to bravery, Naruto continued. "Look Sakura, I'm sorry Sasuke's dead. I never wanted it to happen, he was my best friend. But I," Naruto slapped himself on the chest to emphasize. "…Did not kill him! Haku did."

"But Haku's dead!" Sakura screamed at him. "It's still your fault; you pushed Sasuke in front of you to save yourself!"

A grim look crossed Naruto's face, her comment cut him deep. "I didn't…I wouldn't. Sasuke was my brother…"

Hinata stepped up at this point, "Sakura you know that's not true. Sasuke died defending Naruto. He saved his life."

"But it was at the cost of his own!" Sakura screamed again, this time with tears glistening in her eyes. "Why did he have to die?"

"I'm sorry Sakura, but you can't keep blaming me for this."

Sakura collapsed on the ground. I…I know Naruto. I'm sorry, but I loved him so much! You've always been an orphan; you don't know what it's like to lose someone you love."

"I cared for Sasuke too, just in a different way than you."

Sakura nodded her head, "I know. I'm really sorry; I shouldn't have said those things to you."

Naruto sighed in relief, "Thank you Sakura." He turned around and gave Hinata a thumbs-up; she smiled back at him.

"…Naruto, I need to be alone for a while. Do you mind…?" Sakura averted her gaze.

"Sure Sakura, let's go Hinata." He motioned with his hand and the two ran off until they were far enough that Sakura couldn't hear them.

"That was really good Naruto, I'm proud of you." At this she blushed, "You were really brave, I don't think I could have done that."

"I don't know about that Hinata, I think you could be brave if you wanted to. Remember when you told me you loved me? That was pretty brave." Naruto chuckled as he watched Hinata's blush become much deeper.

"Anyway I couldn't have done that without you by my side. It was really tough since I used to love Sakura…"

"Used to?" Hinata asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Yeah I used to, but now I love a different girl."

Hinata frowned, "W-Who?" At this Naruto walked right up to Hinata; his face was mere inches from hers.

"You."

And then he kissed her.