Seen Through the Windows

by Malakas

Naruto just defeated Pain. As he returns to the village he has a lot on his mind including achieving world peace and saving his best friend. However, without an exact or logical reason, he needs to see the girl who almost sacrificed her life for him.

2. Reality and the Rice Field

"Reality and the Rice Field"

---

Prologue

In the warm afternoon sun, a teenager walked all alone on a mostly unused dirt road. On his right, parallel to the road and flanked by two streams, ran a submerged pool of gently running water. Undetectable unless one's looking, the current passed through and around rows of planted rice. Sprouts barely breaking the surface of the water swayed gently in the breeze.

On his left, stood old and decrepit buildings; mills and houses haphazardly built where trees were cut down. Behind the ancient edifices, a sheer vertical mountain rose casting a shadow on the valley below.

The ninja has never visited the rice farms outside of Konoha-proper before. Mostly unused due to long standing trade routes to established paddy fields throughout the fire country, they were built back at the foundation of Konoha when war and strife mandated a close source of food. Currently, the farms are kept only by a handful of people preferring a quiet way of life compared to the growing city of Konoha.

Nestled in a valley at the foot of a small mountain, it is about a forty-five minute walk outside the North gate. Fed by a river leading down the mountain, it saturated a low-sloping muddy area about a one and a half kilometers long and one hundred meters wide. The would-be farmers in the past saw the potential of the land, and so they partially dammed the area, creating pools of water on top of rich muddy soil. Partially due to the shade of the mountain peak to the East, as well as being a natural wind-tunnel, the water never evaporated. This made an ideal and beautiful location to plant rice

The blond shinobi had to admit there was something peaceful about this place, reminiscent of the person he wanted to see. He walked along the road searching for her. Naruto noticed that even with the influx of extra people, it was still quiet compared to the constant cacophony of construction and people in Konoha.

He had a mission to complete. His mandate was to find this girl and give her the present he and the others worked so hard to find.

However, when he saw his target the scenic beauty faded leaving only her in his vision.

About one kilometer away, on the fourth quadrangle of fertile land, a simple girl was wading in the water. She had dark blue hair, eyes like a faint lavender moon, and a pale yet matching complexion. She wore a simple weave shirt, khaki shorts, and an oversized straw hat which graced her very well. Naruto watched transfixed as Hinata planted stalk after stalk of rice, so adept in fact, it seemed out of character for an heiress of the Hyuuga clan.

Now that he knew where she was, he slowly walked towards her. Usually traversing such a small distance was nothing to a ninja, but with his recent injuries and current exhaustion, he could barely manage more than a meager shuffle. He watched her as he walked, taking in the beauty of her small actions.

Her gentle hand grabbed a stalk of rice, planted it deliberately into the mud making sure the stalk stayed upright. She took no more than two steps then repeated. Seemingly miniscule an action, to Naruto it reminded him of a peaceful life different from the usual shinobi world of hate and violence. He took it all in, letting the calm wash over his soul, taking the dirt away from the day's events.

Suddenly, she turned his way and looked at his direction. Despite the distance, he knew that she saw and recognized him. As their eyes locked, the current world melted away leaving only a weary traveler and a simple rice farmer together in a universe all their own. At that moment, Naruto knew he would be staying with her as long as possible, mission be damned.

---

Chapter Two

He woke gently to the sun beating on his face. True to his character, Naruto turned away lazily cursing himself for not shutting the blinds before going to sleep. As he rolled on his other side, however, his face touched dirt.

'What the hell?' Naruto thought sleep ebbing away.

'Why is there dirt in my room?'

Suddenly, it hit him like a rush of cold water. Konoha was destroyed, Pein/Nagato defeated, Kyuubi almost taking over his body, Hinata laying the hospital…

"Hinata!" Naruto whispered as he reflexively sat-up. What greeted his face scared him to the other side of the tent, almost knocking it over, straining the pegs that held it to the ground.

"Yo," Kakashi-sensei said through the opening of the flap, allowing copious light to flood into the space.

Naruto stared at his sensei's face, partially hidden by both his ridiculous mask, and the even more absurd book he kept constantly on hand.

This was not the first time Naruto has been rudely awakened by his sensei. More times than he would like, Naruto woke-up to see Kakashi's face curiously staring at him while he slept, hence the reason why he bought curtains for his windows.

'The pervert even has a slight blush and grin on his face,' Naruto thought annoyed, 'But at least I'm fully clothed compared to the times when I was in my underwear.

"Oh, sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said with a slightly apologetic smile, "I have news for you and Sakura."

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Cryptically he said, "I'll tell you and Sakura together. I'll give you fifteen minutes to get ready, and then meet me outside of camp."

"But…" Kakashi left immediately, leaving Naruto bathed in translucent light, seeping through the tent.

He then noticed the state of his clothes. They were literally tattered and covered with holes. Furthermore, they were stained brown in most places from sleeping in the dirt, as well as from his own dried blood.

'Did I really see Hinata last night in these clothes?' Naruto thought embarrassed.

He recalled last night's events. He remembered a girl who he barely noticed laying on a bed, bathed in moonlight. The girl almost died for him yesterday in his fight with Pein because she loved him enough to intervene when he was essentially defeated. He thought about her kind eyes and the feel of her hand, yet, the thing he pondered the most were her words. They were exactly what he needed to hear as if she understood everything in his soul.

Naruto sighed with a smile. 'I guess I'll just have to find her once I'm done with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan.'

Naruto thought he would have a few days rest before going out to on another mission to find Akatsuki. He had it all planned in his mind, where he would go see Hinata, and then help with the restoration and building of Konoha. He actually looked forward to building something rather than always having to destroy it.

Unfortunately, the next time he would see Hinata it would only be a dream.

-/-

Twenty-five minutes later, Naruto met with Kakashi and Sakura. Upon arriving, he saw his pink-haired teammate wearing her usual clothing of a red zip-up shirt, roseate skirt over black shorts, as well as matching gloves.

"What the hell took you so long, Naruto?" Sakura said with her usual temper.

"Sak..Sakura-chan, I couldn't find the men's shower close to my tent. I also had to change my clothes…"

"Naruto, you take longer to get ready than a girl. Do you want to grow up to always be late like Kakashi-sensei?"

Despite hearing his name in the banter, Kakashi would usually just let the two friends argue it out, or more accurately, until Sakura punches Naruto to submission.

However, he needed to break the news if they were to act soon.

"Danzo has been elected the next Hokage," Kakashi said simply and firmly.

Danzo is a zealot who always antagonized the Sandaime Hokage's wishes. The leader of Root, a special elite group of ANBU ninjas loyal only to him, he always plotted to someday become Hokage. It makes sense that he finally chose this moment to act.

"What?" Sakura asked. "What about Tsunade-sama?"

"With her in a coma and no way telling when she will wake up, the Fire Country Lords decided to elect a new Hokage. I do not like it either, but we're in a time of crisis and the Fire Country needs Konoha's strength to be rebuilt as a fast as possible."

Naruto and Sakura stood there contemplating what they should, and honestly could, do with a new Hokage, especially since it was Danzo.

"There's more," Kakashi said a little hesitantly while his two subordinates were still lost in thought. "Messengers from Kumo are here with a request from the Raikage."

Naruto and Sakura looked up expecting the worst.

"They want permission to hunt down and kill Sasuke."

The floor fell out for both of Naruto and Sakura. Sakura looked down, hiding her eyes with her bangs. Naruto, not missing her sadness, stepped up to protect her.

Despite already knowing the answer, he asked anyway, "What did Danzo say?"

Sakura interjected, "He said yes, didn't he? He's going to let them kill Sasuke!"

Kakashi just nodded his head.

Sakura, anger rising, clenched her fists. Furious, she turned away getting ready to run towards the "Hokage's" tent.

Just then, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"What do you think you're going to do once you reach Danzo?" Kakashi said knowing her intent.

"I'm going to ask him to change his mind about Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

Shocked, Sakura looked to her right to see Naruto in a position like hers. Kakashi-sensei's arm held him back too.

"What do you think you're going to do once he says no?"

"I'll kick his ass until he changes his mind."

"Naruto, think," Kakashi said in his usual calm but disinterested voice, "Danzo is a cold and calculating bastard. He may be old but he survived through the Sandaime's reign. He's trying to bait you into a confrontation."

When realization did not show in Naruto's face Kakashi continued, "You are a threat to him. A lot of villagers are complaining that you were not elected to be the next Hokage. Despite your rising popularity, Danzo can order any ninja to restrain you if you betray him."

He then looked at Sakura, "Plus, Danzo is not here. Since losing two of his Jinchuuriki to Akatsuki, and one his brother, the Raikage has demanded a summit of the five Kages."

The summit of the five Kages is a rare occurrence. It is a meeting between the five great shinobi nations. It is also dangerous because old rivals and enemies are all in one location. It would be a great opportunity to for one Kage to murder his exposed rival, so many rules have been put into place, including meeting on neutral ground. This time, it is being held in the shinobi-free and neutral country of Iron.

"Then what can we do!" Naruto practically yelled.

"I don't know," Kakashi said dejected, "let me talk to Yamato first."

"Fine," said Sakura before jumping away, heading towards the outskirts of Konoha. Despite both of them calling her name, she just kept going. In fact, she did not stop for anything. Construction zones, civilian camps, and pedestrians were just blurred by as if they did not exist.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said quickly, "I'll get her and then we'll meet up with you and Yamato-taichou." He then followed after his teammate albeit less recklessly.

-/-/-

Two outsiders talked near a tree, waiting for their captain to return from her important mission. A man and a woman, they both had dark skin, swords on their backs, and the symbol for clouds on their hitai-ate.

The male team member, a deep philosopher much to his teammate's annoyance, sat on a stump deep in thought. His favorite thing to do during downtime on missions was to verbally express his logic on whatever subjects were in his thoughts. True to his nature, he had one.

"Hey Karui," the man said, "Have you ever pondered the power of thoughts and attraction?"

'Oh no,' the girl thought. 'Omoi is up to it again.'

Karui hated when her teammate went on one of his "Enlightenment Journeys," or as she liked to call it "Bullshit Philosophy."

She still remembers the last mission, in the treacherous mountain range on the border of the Earth Country, to hunt down a missing-nin. The whole time climbing up the mountain Omoi would talk about how true warriors brought chopsticks with them into battle. Hanging precariously off of a cliff, walking gingerly on a ridge where one false step meant death, exploring dark caves in the middle of the night, it did not matter what situation they were in as he always talked about the damned chopsticks. Chopsticks to gouge the eyes out, chopsticks as arm splints, chopsticks for tying up your hair, the list went on and on, ad nauseam.

Finally reaching their destination, near the top of the mountain, she dared to challenge him. "If you're such a fine shinobi," Karui said smugly, "Then where are your godamned chopsticks?"

Much to her chagrin, Omoi actually pulled out a pair of chopsticks, the wooden disposable type, still in its wrapper, and said to his teammate, "Here," with a serious look but a twinkle in his dark eyes. If it were not for the fact that her captain valued his calm and calculating nature, she would have impaled him with his own chopsticks.

His last dying words would probably be, "Another use for chopsticks,"' Karui thought bitterly.

Resigned to her cruel fate, Karui just said, "No…" hoping, but not really believing, that it would dissuade him.

"Well," Omoi said oblivious to his teammate's intensifying annoyance, "Nobody really knows the true power of one's mind. We all know gravity exists, and if gravity exists then everything in the world is connected, and being pulled. What if we were to tap into that powerful force of attraction?"

"Okay, how?" Karui was hardly paying attention, but when he paused in his rant it meant he wanted some kind of response.

"Genjutsu controls the chakra flow in a target person's brain with the end result being an illusion. What if we did a similar jutsu but in a radius around us? I bet that if we mentally mold some chakra while thinking about someone, the emitted chakra waves would have a person be unconsciously drawn to us."

"This is so ridiculous, Omoi! Let's just say that your "chakra waves" is even slightly plausible," 'Which it isn't,' she thought but then continued, "How do you pull the right person towards us?"

"It's easy. We'll fine tune the chakra waves, changing its frequency so only the right person or people will receive the signal. This is going to be done with our minds. We'll just think of the person we want "attracted" to us," Omoi said with a smile.

Karui did not care anymore. "Okay, fine, whatever, you lead."

"I'm going to think about a girl, a kunoichi in my age range, beautiful, a strong fighter," Omoi paused to look at his teammate. He then remembered her glaring pumpkin color eyes and quick temper.

"Actually, since we're in Konoha, and they're known for their medical ninjitsu, I am going to think about a medical specialist. Oh, and with pretty colored eyes."

"Got it?" Omoi asked. Karui glared at him knowing that he was referencing her.

"Yea," Karui answered.

'I want a very handsome and strong man. His hair has to be natural and bright, unlike Omoi's which is an ugly, plain, old-man's color of white. His eyes must not be dark, cold, and calculating like Omoi's either.'

Karui then simplified her list, 'On second thought, any man unlike Omoi. Easy enough,' she thought.

"Ok, when you're ready just repeat your list of attributes while molding some chakra until the person comes."

"How do you know who is the right person?"

"You'll know. An undeniable signal will be sent out to you."

The two Kumo-nin spent about five minutes repeating their mantra of the person they wanted to attract. After about five minutes of concentration, both of them simultaneously heard the signal. Blood running cold, they left immediately to investigate where it came from.

The undeniable signal echoed throughout the woods: Uchiha Sasuke.

-/-/-/-

For Sakura, it had been too much to bear hearing the news about Sasuke from Kakashi. She could not shake the feeling of hopelessness that was quickly threatening to overtake her. She just needed time to think.

Being smart enough to realize Kakashi's words, it did not stop her from running away. She was sick of breaking down and crying in front of people whenever someone mentioned her lost love, so she thought taking refuge away from people would help her grieve and ultimately re-center herself for action.

Once entering the tree line, she kept going until the cacophony of construction and voices faded to the deceptive calm of the forest.

Sakura stopped at a small clearing, surrounded by huge brown trunks of ancient Konoha trees.

In the middle of the clearing, a small patch of sunlight pierced through the canopy. Sakura walked to the center and sat down, holding her knees while putting her head in-between her legs. She took small solace on the warmth the light gave her.

At this time, she willed herself to cry, knowing nobody was around. Unfortunately, the tears would not come out, and Sakura sat there wallowing in misery.

Suddenly, she was startled by a familiarly comforting hand on her shoulder. As she looked up, she was blinded by the light shining through the canopy. When her eyes adjusted, blond hair ruled her view doing nothing to diminish the two huge blue orbs peering down to her.

Naruto crouched to her side, smiling as he did so.

"Sakura," he said, "It's okay. I understand."

"Naruto..." she trailed off at a loss for words. She couldn't believe how his presence comforted her, lifting her spirits immediately.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

Sakura shook her head stifling the traitorous tears that threatened to finally come.

Naruto stayed close to her side, patiently waiting for Sakura to open up. He casually glanced around with his eyes admiring the serenity around him.

This is a beautiful place,' he thought. 'I would love to take a walk with…'

"I can't believe he's going to be hunted now." Naruto's wandering mind jolted back to reality.

"Thanks to Danzo, he'll be hunted by both Konoha and Kumo ninjas. Don't they realize how hard we've worked to get him back?"

Sakura looked back at Naruto's face. Relief flooded her being as she realized he was looking at her with compassion and not pity like everybody else.

"I don't know what to do about Sas...Sas." Sakura turned to sob into her arms.

She now realized why she could not cry before: She did not say his name, not even once.

"Sakura," Naruto said, "I will definitely get him back. You know my Nindo is to never go back on my words!" Naruto exclaimed with a big confident smile and a thumbs up. Sakura smiled remembering the so-called "Nice-Guy" pose he gave her so many years before.

"Plus," Naruto spoke much softer now, "You and I both know that I am the only one who wants Sasuke back as much as you do."

Sakura looked at Naruto, amazement in her eyes. This, more than anything else he did, this small-quiet confession, broke Sakura's depression.

A little more light-hearted Sakura said, "Naruto, I can't even say his name without breaking down."

"Who, Sasuke? Why not?" Naruto said probably able to guess the truth.

Sakura flinched a little at hearing his name, "It brings up so many bad memories."

"Well, we'll just have to turn them into good memories," Naruto said with a mischievous smile, "Starting now."

Naruto said quietly, "Sasuke," looking Sakura in her eyes. "Sasuke," he said louder again. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," saying each one with more vigor and strength.

He gestured to Sakura with his hands obviously wanting her to partake in this playful game.

"Naruto, I don't…"

"Come on, Sakura," Naruto said rolling his eyes but with a smile. "It's just us. There's nobody around and we're far from everybody." He whispered close to her ear, "Nobody can hear us. Come on."

"Sasuke," Naruto repeated again.

"Sasuke," Sakura said barely above a whisper.

"Sasuke," Naruto said it again, louder with a wide grin.

"Sasuke," she repeated louder sending chills down her spine.

The two of them repeated his name, each time getting louder. Eventually, it turned into a game where one would try and one-up the other. Naruto then started saying his name goofily, speaking each syllable in a different tone. Sakura followed in suit honestly not remembering the last time she had this much fun.

Getting consumed by the spirit of the game, Naruto, in his childlike need to win, crouched low to the ground, then exploded jumping up and yelling with bestial vigor, "UCH-I-HA SAS-U-KE!"

Both Naruto and Sakura paused, listening to the amazing echo ringing throughout forest. When the woods finally quieted down again, and the name of their long lost friend disappeared, they both collapsed back down on their butt and hands laughing with all their being.

When both of them finally calmed down, stomachs hurting, and blushing red, they looked at each other.

Feeling some sort of obligation, Sakura tentatively said, "Naruto, I…"

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said smiling while standing up, "What are friends for, right?"

Sakura nodded happily in deeper appreciation and gratitude for his friendship.

Naruto held out his hand in a gesture to help her back to her feet. "Come on, let's go," he said. "We'll find a way to stop this once we get back to Kakashi-sensei."

-/-/-/-/-

Suddenly, Naruto ducked as a dangerously fast object passed over his head, rustling the leaves around them.

Missing the first swing, Karui brought her great sword over head, building momentum for a fierce vertical slash.

Naruto quickly pushed Sakura away to the right, while he rolled to the left into the shadows.

Getting up out of a roll, Sakura stood straight up to engage the enemy. Unfortunately, she was not prepared as Karui's third strike almost reached its zenith to Sakura's body.

With blinding speed, Naruto appeared in front of Sakura, breaking the sword's momentum with nothing but his forearm.

"Oh, a tough guy, eh, Blondie?" Karui taunted.

Naruto, unflinching, stared her down, his blue eyes turning icy. "Who are you," he spat.

"I'll tell you if you beat it out of me, Blondie." Karui then retracted her blade, viciously slicing Naruto's arm.

As she arced her sword for another swing, she was surprised to find herself bound.

Naruto, behind her, held both her arms above, out, and to the side of her body.

"Are you ready to tell me now?" He coldly whispered into her ear.

Karui's eyes looked to the front. The blond boy she cut disappeared into a swirl of mist.

Her eyes went large as through the smoke, the pink-haired girl jumped black-gloved hand ready to punch her into oblivion.

Just before Sakura could swing her shoulder, however, another ninja appeared, kicking her in the stomach, sending her flying back to the trees.

Without thinking, Naruto released his hostage to run to Sakura's aide, as her head and back collided with the large tree behind her.

Suddenly, he felt a blade under his chin.

He looked to his right to see two dark-skinned ninjas standing before him. One, the woman who attacked them, wore a white vest over a mostly grey uniform. Her honey colored eyes and fiery raid hair gave Naruto the impression to not get her angry. The second ninja who waited for an opportunity to attack dressed similarly to his counterpart. However, unlike the female this one seemed cold and calculating as could be seen by his dark all-encompassing eyes.

Karui flicked her wrist up, gesturing Naruto to stand up.

"Now you will tell me about Uchiha Sasuke, Blondie."

Instead of complying with her demand, Naruto said, "Who are you and why did you attack us?"

Karui stepped up to Naruto and quickly slapped him in the face. Despite the succinct noise and the sharp pain, he knew that she was holding back. A real slap from her would have probably sent him to the ground.

"Do not test Kumo ninjas, Blondie," she said as she retreated back to slicing distance.

Ignoring the insult, Naruto said, "Konoha and Kumo are at peace. This violation could lead to war."

Karui scoffed, fighting the intense urge to punch him in the face.

Instead she yelled, "Konoha broke the peace first. One of your missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke attacked us first!"

"What? Why would he do that?" Naruto asked shocked.

"Don't play dumb, it's insulting. As a member of Akatsuki, he brutally attacked and captured him."

Naruto blanched. He remembered how members of Akatsuki terrorized Suna until his friend, the Kazekage, came out to defend his people. Gaara of the sand was defeated, and by the time Naruto and his team came to rescue him, he was already savagely murdered. If it were not for an illegal jutsu known only by one of the Suna elders, which requires the conjurer to sacrifice her life, Gaara would still be dead.

'Sasuke joined "that" organization,' Naruto thought, 'the same one that hunts me and people like me, draining them of their power, and then leaving their corpses to rot in the open. Akatsuki killed Ero-Sennin, leveled Konoha, and still haunts me now. Sasuke couldn't have joined them.' Naruto pleaded with himself.

One of the very rare times in his life, Naruto showed absolute doubt in his eyes. He was speechless.

He was surprised again when his teammate got up and confidently declared, "I don't believe you. Sasuke would never join Akatsuki because all he ever wanted was to get revenge on his brother for killing his entire clan. Now that he got his revenge, he's just…wandering…around." Sakura said the last statement quietly almost to herself.

"Don't be naïve girl! Your precious Sasuke even killed a friend and teammate of ours who was tracking him." Karui venomously spat back to them.

"I don't believe you," was all Sakura could say dejected.

"I have proof," Karui's teammate interjected calmly. "Our reports indicate a teenager with black hair, a long katana sheathed on his waist, and the infamous Uchiha crest on his back. Apparently, he had the Sharingan and used it to create a black fire that defeated Killer Bee-sama, our master. Oh, and he and his team also wore black kimonos littered with red clouds. He took it off before fighting Killer Bee-sama."

'Black kimonos with red clouds,' Naruto thought, 'Very few shinobi in any of the five great nations should know Akatsuki's uniform since rarely do they live after seeing it.'

Something about the calculated way the male Kumo shinobi explained his report seemed to seal the deal in Naruto's mind. All doubt about Sasuke's recent affiliation evaporated leaving reality in its place.

Naruto looked down and to the left to see Sakura shaking on her knees. The sight of it broke his heart. 'All that hard work building her back up just to be destroyed like it was nothing,' Naruto thought sadly, 'Is this truly the world of the ninja?'

Karui, feeling no remorse due to her own pain stuck the dagger home by saying, "Girl, why do you care so much? Was he your boyfriend or something?"

If Sakura was crying before, she was sobbing now.

Naruto, regaining his composure and courage, stepped protectively in front of her.

"That's enough," he proclaimed to them. "I will help you. Just give me a minute," Naruto turned his back to the attackers to try and salvage his friend.

"As if I would let you do that. How do I know you're not whispering instructions to her against us?"

The ensuing look Naruto gave Karui froze her in place. She would later tell Omoi that she saw red slits in his eyes.

Naruto icily told her, "Do what you must," and left the threat thickly hanging in the air.

Always a little reckless, Karui was about to put her sword on Naruto's back to remind him of her presence when Omoi put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

Naruto focusing solely on Sakura, bent down in front of her. Gently, he picked her head up looking into her eyes. It made him sad seeing how they looked lifeless and dull, as if the soul behind them was no more.

He stared deeply trying to get some kind of reaction, but her glazed look never changed. He hugged her fiercely saying, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan."

He then whispered into her ear, "Remember my promise, my Nindo. Don't forget what I said afterwards."

Naruto pulled back trying to see if his words reached her. She just kept her head down, sniffling softly.

Pleading he said, "Sakura, I will take care of things here. Please, go back to Kakashi-sensei." Not getting a response, Naruto shook her slightly saying, "Sakura? Sakura, did you hear me?"

Sakura gave a slight nod. Naruto said, "Ok, go to Kakashi-sensei. I will be there soon."

Naruto helped Sakura up to her feet. She swayed, catching a tree before she fell.

"Ok, now tell me what I want to know," Karui said irritated.

"Not here," Naruto replied looking back towards his friend.

Omoi catching on that he did not want to discuss anything with the girl around, said, "Okay, follow us back to our camp then."

Naruto nodded and then all three left. As he departed, Naruto looked back one more time. He saw Sakura leave the deceptive serenity of the meadow, and listlessly walk into the shadow of the trees.

-/-/-/-/-/-

The two Kumo and one Konoha ninja sprinted for about five minutes away from the meadow. They arrived at a large clearing which used to be an old logger camp.

Walking, without so much as a peep, they turned the corner, behind the main building, where Naruto saw supplies and remnants of a camp fire.

Thinking he would be able to sit down and calmly talk to them at their camp, Naruto almost walked into Karui not expecting her to suddenly stop.

Abruptly, she turned around.

"Tell us about Sasuke, now!" Karui exclaimed very irritated.

Surprised, Naruto unconsciously jumped back, almost hitting his head against the wall. He then looked away, "I'm sorry but I can't."

Karui's response was immediate and disturbingly swift. She slammed Naruto back onto the side of the wall.

"You tricked us!" Karui yelled in his face.

"No, I said I would help you. Your master, Killer Bee-san, is a Jinchuuriki?"

Both Karui and Omoi lost the color in the faces.

"How could you possibly know that?" Omoi asked incredulous.

"Akatsuki targets and kidnaps Jinchuuriki. They have been after me for years because I have the Kyuubi sealed inside me."

Both Kumo ninjas instantly froze. Karui's jaw almost dropped to the floor and her eyes widened considerably. On the other hand, Omoi narrowed his eyes a little as if confirming some theory of his. Both were temporarily lost in their thoughts.

Karui, remembering her sensei's strength could not believe this kid could have the Kyuubi sealed in him. A master of the Hachibi, second in raw power only to the Demon-Fox, it took Sasuke and his entire team to capture Killer Bee-sama.

Omoi and she should not have been able to touch Naruto, much less slap him around.

Breaking the silence, Naruto spoke, "Please, let me help you rescue him. I don't know him but I swear on my life to get him back!"

Throwing logic to the wind, Karui let her anger guide her. She shoved him back against the shed, and then placed her forearm to his throat. "We don't need your help!"

'He's not so strong,' she thought quickly, 'This brat's either a liar or a fluke Jinchuuriki.'

She then continued yelling in his face, "Kumo does not need Konoha ninjas to help rescue their own comrades. What we need is information on Sasuke, a missing-nin according to your Hokage, whom Konoha should have dealt with long before he attacked us. Help us exact justice!"

"Justice?" Naruto spoke with difficulty.

Karui removed the pressure from his throat.

Voice, hoarse, Naruto said, "Is it justice to kill someone? If you kill my friend, I will kill you. Then somebody will hunt me down, and vice versa! How can justice be achieved when the cycle of hate and violence continues?"

"Shut up!" 'Just like Omoi, damnit.' "I don't want to hear your philosophical bullshit! Plus," she added more calmly, "Do you know what it's like to lose your master, or even a friend?

Naruto visibly shook. Memories of his mentor and sensei Jiraiya flooded his mind. He then remembered the unyielding anger he felt towards his slayer Nagato once he met finally saw him in person. It literally took all his will to not savagely tear him apart.

Calming down, Naruto put himself in the girl's shoes. What would he do differently if he knew that a friend of the enemy would not cooperate with his wishes? Would he not do the same if a friend of his was captured; beat him until the vital answers bled out?

'What if it was Hinata?' The last thought just slipped past his subconscious sending a mild but poignant shock to his system.

Karui noticed as her hostage seemed to lose all fight in his body, instead replacing it with sadness.

"I cannot betray my friend," he said. "I'm sorry that he captured your master and killed your friend, but I cannot help you kill Sasuke."

Seething, Karui said, "You lied to us then. You said you would help…"

"No, err, I mean yes," Naruto said with some confidence.

"I do not go back on my words. If you're so intent on exacting revenge then take it out on me. Hit me, kick me, pulverize me because that's the best…"

A quick punch to Naruto's face sent him flying back against the wall.

"Are you sure that's what you want, Blondie?"

This was followed by a blinding right hook which sent the left side of his face, as well as his body, scraping against the splintering wood, to the left. Before he could fall over, Karui grabbed his left shoulder, stopping his momentum.

She then retracted her foot and kicked him squarely in his groin. As he doubled-over in pain, her right knee hit him under his chin, the force of it, making the top of his head ricochet against the wall behind him, snapping some of the old wood.

As his head fell back down, Karui elbowed his temple sending him sprawling to the floor.

She then mercilessly flipped Naruto onto his back, crouched above him, and spat in his face. "I see you're still conscious, Blondie. You must like it rough. Are you sure you don't want to just give me the information I want?"

Naruto's response was just a stoic stare into her wild-hornet eyes.

She then bent lower, next to his ear, and whispered, "Don't worry. I'll do my best to enjoy it more than you."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Karui unleashed a ferocity she held back for a long time. She fueled herself with the memories of losing the ones close to her.

'Killer Bee-sama, the one who taught me the way of the sword with his own special fighting style, used to always grin happily to me. One day he was training like usual, and for no apparent reason, he was cunningly attacked and captured. My master almost burned to death while Sasuke watched.'

She double-backhanded Naruto hearing a loud "crack" in his neck.

'A body lying on the beach. He had a hole in his heart where the rats drank from his blood. He was literally covered in shit because crows and pigeons flocked around his body, feasting on what the rats ignored. Sasuke didn't even bother to bury my friend or even throw his body into the sea.'

Karui sent a volley of punches to Naruto's chest ignoring the blood landing on her face.

She then thought of something else, although not a memory of a lost friend, it infuriated her nonetheless.

Gravitational Attraction; Chopsticks; Rats as nutritious supplements in the field; Rubber bands as torture devices; Bunny clones; Infiltrating a village disguised as whores (Omoi included); Advantages of big breasts for the overall happiness of the human race; Omoi's stupid philosophical bullshit.

She kicked Naruto between his legs but sent a killing intent to her partner behind her.

She punched Naruto him a few times while on top of him. Then she got up and kicked him anywhere she could, not really caring where the blows landed. Karui kicked him so much that she twisted her ankle, landing her right knee on his quivering stomach. Hardly missing a beat, she retracted getting ready to launch another volley of punches.

Then she paused, looking at his face.

Through the gore stared a single intense blue eye. She looked at it, curiously, wondering why it made her hesitate.

She punched it tentatively hoping it would close. It stayed open. She punched it again, but with the same result.

Tired and exhausted with a twisted ankle and trembling hands, she took the time to gaze into the blue orb.

Despite the blood occasionally running into it, the eye stayed open. Not just that, but it was alert and conscious never looking away as if it had a grip on her soul.

She did not know how long she stayed there, sitting on top of his chest, trying to decipher the mystery behind the blue orb.

Then it dawned on her, 'He's not angry with me. He's pitying me.'

She raised her arm unconsciously readying herself to strike at him again. She was surprised, albeit mildly, when someone gently grabbed her wrist.

Karui looked behind to her interceptor, and Omoi just shook his head again.

She kept her swollen and aching hands to her side, trying to catch her breadth, sweat falling on her victim's open wounds, burning him slightly.

She could not stop staring into his eye.

'I don't like this. It's like punching an innocent child…or a hopeless idiot,' Karui thought bitterly.

"What are you doing!" Karui heard the voice of someone she was not expecting this early, her captain.

Naruto stared into his assailant's eyes. He stopped feeling the blows a long time ago, and used all his willpower to keep his one eye open.

Suddenly, he noticed the girl's face change from curiosity to fear, as she scrambled backwards off of him.

The last thing Naruto remembered, before blacking out, was a beautifully stoic face looking down on him.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Naruto awoke in darkness. The first thing he noticed was that he could not hear anything. Not just external noises, but internal ones too. He could not hear his heartbeat, a nervous stomach, or even his own thoughts.

Naruto had no inner monolog whatsoever. He dumbly looked around, seeing only the color black, and feeling hopelessly lost.

Suddenly, Naruto heard salvation. It was in the form of giggle, sweet and innocent, it rang into his soul comforting him.

Not seeing but knowing, he knew that the source of his deliverance was close to him.

Curious, he crawled, following the angelic laughter.

By the time he actually saw his lifeline, he was practically on top of her. It was a baby. The child had aquamarine eyes flowing like a lagoon. On her bald head, an oversized pink bow lay like a crown on a princess.

The most striking feature, however, was her heart, in that it lay on top of her chest. Like a heart-shaped balloon from a festival, it dwarfed her chest cavity.

Inside the heart a golden ball of light existed. Transfixed by its warmth, Naruto became immensely happy when it started sending rays of light outwards into the darkness. He could not help but feel intense love for this beautiful creature.

As if disturbed by the light, the shadows around Naruto moved. Suddenly, he was surrounded by ethereal entities.

He could only see them whenever the child's light pulsed. What he did see scared him; black cloaks and silver hammers. That was it.

They boxed-in Naruto and the girl, forming a circle of silver and shadows.

Triggered by a cue of darkness, the specters attacked in-between a light interval.

Acting on pure instinct, Naruto covered the child with his body, using himself as a shield. The first waves of hammers landed everywhere, almost overwhelming his sense of pain.

He shut it out focusing instead on the baby's giggles which came more frequently the longer he was around the girl.

The entities did not stop. They did not care about Naruto because their target was the source of light.

Switching tactics, they tried to find the weak spots in the human-shield. He did his best to anticipate the incoming blows and move his body to cover, while being careful not to crush the baby with his weight.

Abruptly, while Naruto was shifting his weight, two hammers hooked upwards sending his body flying up and away from the child.

Barely recuperating, Naruto instinctively jumped back towards the baby. The last thing he saw, in the light-interval, were all the hammers raised in a high arc.

Thud! Naruto was relieved to feel all the crushing blows on him.

However, something was terribly wrong. He could not hear anymore.

Already knowing but needing to look anyway, he was still nonetheless shocked at what he saw. Embedded in the baby's heart was a silver blade.

Quickly trailing it with his teary eyes, all he could figure out was that it came from somewhere beyond her head in the darkness.

The light, if it could still be called that, traveled up the sword towards the source of the attacker.

When it passed over her face, Naruto could not help but feel immense guilt as her eyes were frozen staring up at him stating, "Why couldn't you protect me?"

The light kept moving a few meters until it reached the hilt. Then it traveled up a pale arm and finally to a face.

"Sasuke?" Naruto silently mouthed. The light entered Sasuke's mouth illuminating the wicked grin. When he swallowed the light, Naruto could not help but stare at the only visible thing left in his void: a pair of bloody Sharingan.

The darkness even enveloped Naruto's screams of anguish.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Sensation! The reawakening of his senses flooded into his being. Immediately, he listened to his surroundings relishing in the subtle nuances people usually tuned out. He could hear rustling by his arm, metals squeaking, and even the shuffling of shoes.

Furthermore, Naruto felt his heart beating in his chest and could think. 'I can think again!' It was as if someone returned his soul back into his body.

When he opened his eyes, the painful light blinded his vision. Despite the instincts to close them, he kept them open not bothered by the painful readjustment of his irises.

He was surprised that even when all the blindingly bright spots disappeared from his view, he could only see one thing: White.

'Everything is so white!' He looked down to his toes and also noticed that he was wearing a simple fitted gown. Other than the color is his skin, everything else seemed nonexistent. In fact, if he could not feel the bed under him, he would swear that he was laying on nothing.

A gentle touch broke him from his reverie. He saw a girl, with pale-lavender eyes, holding his arm.

"Hinata!" Naruto said in surprise and amazement, ignoring the fact that her usual blue hair was instead jet-black. She wore a long blood-red dress, and had her hands holding Naruto's bicep.

Suddenly, before he could appreciate the vibrant red versus the ivory of the room, painful sharp needles shot through his arm. He yelped out pain, fighting the thoughts of treachery from his friend.

When she was done, Naruto turned his head to see a menacing black mark where her hands used to be.

"Hinata, why?" Naruto asked confused. Her answer was another stab of pain, but this time on his lower arm.

"Oi, Hinata," he desperately called out to her. Despite his calls and obvious discomfort, she never looked at his face, instead only to the area where she was going to hurt him.

Naruto wanted to move away to escape the pain she was giving him. Regardless of his affection for her, he let survival instincts take over and squirmed to escape.

Before he could initiate his plan, he felt something soft on his bicep.

Another milky-white hand caressed the skin with the black mark. After a few moments pause, she removed her hand, to reveal that the black mark was gone, leaving only a warm and relaxing sensation in its stead.

He looked into her eyes, and was surprised to see the similar pale orbs with the lavender tint, the same as the girl who was causing him pain.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked. This girl looked at Naruto's face, smiling while caressing his sores. He noticed that this Hinata had shining white hair and was wearing a sterling silver dress.

Oblivious to the fact that he was dreaming, Naruto just lay back giving in to the sensations.

He noticed that the "evil" Hinata moved deliberately from sight to sight on his body, as if she were following a map in her mind. He also could not detect any malice or hatred in her actions, so Naruto could not fathom why she was hurting him.

He did not pay her too much attention, however, because "good" Hinata always made up for the other's actions.

While the other girl would often move quickly from one spot to the next, this one stayed and lingered, making sure the entire mark was gone. Also, Naruto loved how she always looked at his face, smiling as she worked.

This pattern of hurt and heal continued counter-clockwise around his body, traveling up his legs, to reach its conclusion, ending at his face.

When, the red Hinata put her hands on each of his inner thighs, Naruto actually blushed despite knowing the blinding pain that was going to course to the area.

Ashamed to admit it, he was sad when the silver Hinata did not take away the pain there too.

The red-dressed girl looked into Naruto's eyes once she reached his face. Surprising Naruto, she kissed him on the forehead before whispering, "I'm sorry."

Still in shock from the only form of affection he received from this one, he did not prepare himself when pain circulated into his head, traveling into his brain and making him foggy.

Needless to say, Naruto was glad when that girl left.

Dutifully following suit, the remaining girl took away the pain on his face. He had to control his breathing as she spent many minutes touching his neck, eyes, forehead, and lips each with tender affection.

Naruto never took his eyes off Hinata, and getting lost in her affection, he completely forgot about the other girl who did nothing but cause him pain.

As she was about to leave, Naruto grabbed her hand, relishing in its softness.

Surprised, she looked back to see Naruto mouthing, "Please."

Smiling in playful contempt, Hinata took out a fan and held it in front of her face, partially hiding it, making her beauty more alluring. Naruto smiled, closed his eyes, and lost consciousness as he concentrated on the softness and warmth of her hand.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

For the second time today, Naruto woke up to see his sensei looking at him.

'What the hell?'

"Again, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, not having enough energy to throw a proper fit.

"Well you see…"

Naruto tried to sit-up, but as he did, he noticed his left hand holding something.

Following his arm, Naruto saw it locked to another one attached to Kakashi! Not just that, but the fingers were interlaced with his, giving the impression that they were an intimate couple.

Adrenaline coursing through him at lightning speeds, Naruto jumped back, tearing his hand away from his sensei, and then hitting his head against the headboard.

He hardly felt it though as he yelled, "Why the hell are you holding my hand!"

Not ruffled by the commotion, Kakashi answered in his bored tone, "But Naruto-kun, you grabbed my hand."

"If that's the case, why didn't you let go!"

"I tried, Naruto," Kakashi answered truthfully, "But every time I did you started grumbling and became restless. It was just easier to hold your hand until you awoke."

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Then that must mean you were the nice Hinata." As soon as that phrase left his lips, Naruto immediately regretted it, embarrassed with his lack of thought.

"The nice Hinata?" 'As in there was more than one?'

Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity to tease his student, Kakashi asked with rising inflection, "Why Naruto, have you also been reading Jiraiya-sama's novels?"

Naruto turned beet-red. Full of shame, his only response was to turn his head, willing the embarrassing moment to pass. Kakashi chuckled lightly at his expense.

Calming down, Naruto swung his legs over the side of the bed, wincing at its stiffness and pain.

He thought to himself, "if Kakashi-sensei was the silver Hinata, then the red one was…'

Sakura walked into the room saying, "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto should not be waking up for at least another few hours. You can get let go of…" Sakura saw him sitting on the bed.

Despite her utter amazement, Sakura just told him, "Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Naruto, shocked, just stared at her. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes a wrinkled mess, as if she never bothered to straighten them throughout the day. He noticed deep-dark rings around her eyes and it looked like she aged some since he last saw her.

He did a tentative smile, feeling a little sheepish, at waking earlier than her expectations.

"How long was I out?" He asked curious.

"Only about four hours," she replied. "It's a testament to your quick healing ability because a normal person would not have woken up until tomorrow evening, and even after factoring in your ability I thought it would take six hours for you to regain consciousness."

"What happened?"

"That's what I want to know," she answered icily.

"Sakura-chan, I…"

She bent down to his ear and whispered, "Don't you ever do anything like that again. Do you hear me?"

Naruto looked at her amazed that she did not hit him yet. In truth, Sakura wanted to but restrained herself due to his injuries, and also to her guilt.

She then stood up and flashed her best "everything is okay" smile.

"Naruto, your injuries were numerous but not too severe. And when I say not too severe, I mean just for you. If anyone else took the kind of beating you received, they probably would have succumbed to internal hemorrhaging. Luckily, their team leader Samui-san stopped the beating and instantly rushed you back to us.

"Since our tent is closer than the hospital, and the fact that Samui-san knew I was on your team, she brought you here first. Fortunately for you, I came back here to discuss a way to rescue…Sas…uke…" She berated herself for her weakness.

Quickly recovering she wiped her eyes before continuing, "Um, let's see. Oh yes, you suffered from multiple stress-fractures and "minor" internal hemorrhaging. The list of organs includes the kidney…"

Naruto instantly stopped paying attention because he had other things on his mind, although the fact that he would not understand all the medical terms helped to tune Sakura's voice out too.

He thought about the events that transpired today between Sakura and him. A pang of guilt came over him as he remembered his promise to her, and the fact that he still has yet to keep it. Naruto hated how much pain she was in, and would have honestly done anything to keep his friend happy and smiling.

"Hey, Naruto, are you paying attention!" Naruto did his best to hide the lie in his face.

"Well since I know you weren't I will point out the bones in your body that were broken, and I had to mend. Femur, clavicle, scapula…"

Sakura pointed out all the injured bones in his body.

As she listed off the bones in his lower back, she bent down and whispered, "Don't worry about your promise. I'll take care of "it." Don't bother yourself about him anymore."

When she finished pointing out the bones, she said cryptically, "I'm telling you about your bones because despite the splints, bandages, and my healing techniques you are still going to need to be careful on your mission. So take it easy, okay Naruto?"

Before he could respond, Sakura gave him a succinct but tender hug, and then all but fled from the room.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Naruto left the tent determined to fulfill his missions.

When Sakura left the tent, Kakashi filled him in on their operation.

Since confronting Danzo would be fruitless and most probably damaging, their next option would be to confront the source of the problem itself. They were going to intercept the Raikage and ask him to withdraw his order to kill Sasuke.

He explained to Naruto that it had been originally Sakura's idea even though she was not going on the mission herself.

Kakashi already sent out his ninja dog Pakkun to track Kumo's leader. Since the Raikage was probably not in a rush to the Five Kage Summit, he calculated that they could intercept him just within the borders of the Iron Country.

However, in order to do this he surmised that they should probably leave Konoha within an hour to be safe but definitely within two hours to still be able to do their mission.

Agreeing, Naruto all but ran out the door despite Sakura's warnings, telling his sensei that he would meet them at the North gate within two hours.

He had less than two hours before he had to leave. It was cutting it close but he would definitely make it work.

Naruto was going to go find the girl of his dream.

'The real one this time,' Naruto shuddered as he suddenly felt awfully violated.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Hinata enjoyed working in the rice field. She loved the wet soil under her bare feet, the warmth of the sun on her head, and the simplicity of her actions.

That morning, she asked the doctor to discharge her because she felt much better. Other than some soreness in her muscles and a minor ache in her side, she did not believe that she needed to take up any of the limited space in the hospital. Originally, the doctor refused stating that he would like to monitor her for at least another day, but after pointing out to him that there are people in far worse condition than her, he acquiesced.

Leaving her room, she saw Ko dutifully waiting for her. He told Hinata that her father and sister left, for the day, to attend an important meeting with the council. Ko also informed her that he was to not leave her side, and even though he would not admit it, it was probably her father's punishment for him.

Realizing she currently had no home to go to, and not wanting to get in the way by being a main family member, she wandered the remains of Konoha trying to find a place where she can help rebuild her village. Ko, hardly speaking, followed his charge around dutifully.

She avoided construction areas because she did not have the technical knowledge of buildings, as well as places where people would ask her many questions. She just wanted to work.

When all hope seemed lost, a young girl tugged on her jacket. "Neechan!" The girl yelled, smiling from ear-to-ear, with a huge toothy grin.

"Hello," Hinata said crouching down. "What's your name?"

The girl, full of abundant energy, jumped up and down constantly, running around Hinata, saying, "Neechan! Neechan!"

Hinata smiled appreciating the life the girl had. She also noticed the strange clothing she wore. On top of her head was a straw hat, and on her body a weaved shirt without sleeves

"Amaya! Come here right now!"

The little girl ran to her mom, energy more contained, from years of training.

Hinata saw that this lady also wore a straw hat and a simple weave shirt. She also had on khaki shorts which ended slightly above her knee, and carried a heavy camping backpack.

"Greetings, Hyuuga-san," she said to Hinata, "I see my daughter takes a liking to you."

"She's so full of energy and happiness. It's refreshing." Hinata said remembering her sister Hanabi who was like her before her father took her as his apprentice.

"What's going on here?"

"We're trying to recruit volunteers to work in the rice fields. Not knowing how the destruction will affect trade, the council has decided to prepare by reactivating the old fields."

The job sounded perfect. "Can, I, um, join too?" Hinata asked shyly.

All of a sudden, Ko came up to the two and said, "Are you sure about that, Hinata-sama?"

Not missing the reverent way the man addressed the girl, the woman worried about her being a liability.

"Well, Hyuuga-san, you should probably know that we have not been able to garner many volunteers. It's backbreaking work in the sun, the entire day. Also, there are snakes and leeches in the water."

Hinata's body has been honed from years of shinobi training. Also, her Byakugan could spot any danger lurking in any of the fields.

She nodded and said, "Yes I would still like to volunteer, if you'd have me."

The woman, not missing the fact that she was a pretty girl, tried to appeal to her vanity, "You would not be able to talk to anyone because we'd all be spread out each covering our own section. And there probably wouldn't be many boys around your age."

When the woman noticed that Hinata did not so much as flinch or look away, in fact she looked even more eager, she resigned to give her a chance.

"Tell you what, Hyuuga-san, if you can carry one of the children's packs up the trail, without complaining, then I will give you a shot. Oh, and I'll lend you some clothes too because you'd die from heat-exhaustion in that heavy attire of yours."

Hinata, jumping for joy on the inside, smiled as she joined the crowd of farmers.

"Oh, and Bodyguard-san," she said as an afterthought, "You look strong so you can carry one of the equipment packs. You'll be helping to restore one of the mills."

Ko did not say anything but silently sigh as resigned himself to his duty.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The group of farmers left Konoha-proper in the mid-morning. Outside the North gate, the trail turned into a beaten path, covered with leaves.

As they hiked through the woods, up and down gentle slopes, and ultimately into a mountain pass, the lady (who Hinata was told to call her simply as "Boss") could not help but be surprised at how well the Hyuuga girl was doing. Whereas, all the other volunteers complained, lagged behind, or all too often deserted, she stayed at the head of the group next to Boss.

Also, she genuinely seemed to be enjoying herself. She smiled at the scenery, acting as if she was going on a camping trip instead of working a day in the fields.

True to her word, Boss let Hinata borrow some of her clothes. Trading in her heavy and bulky sweat attire, she wore some very light and breathable clothing instead. Typically coming down past the lady's knee, because of Hinata's height, it came up an inch or two above the knee instead. She wore a sleeveless tan-shirt, originally baggy, Boss tied a knot in the back to make sure it wouldn't expose her to unscrupulous eyes. It also showed off her figure while slightly exposing her stomach. Last, the lady plopped an old straw hat on her head to give her some shade in the sun.

Originally perspiring, Hinata instantly became cold as her sweat cooled on her skin. Hinata was surprised. She grew up always wearing oversized clothes, a byproduct of her low self-confidence. She constantly wore her jacket even on the hottest of days, unconsciously relishing in its protection. She has never been this exposed before and it worried her.

Sensing her discomfort, Boss told her, "Don't worry. You'll feel much better when you're breaking your back out in the sun."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

She was right. Hinata actually loved her time out there learning how to plant rice. At first it seemed easy. Amaya, with focused energy, planted each stalk like a little machine.

On the other hand, Boss' movements were calculated from years of farming. She never wasted a single movement: pick, plant, step, pick, plant, step.

Mimicking her actions, Hinata quickly learned how difficult this really was. From her supply, she sometimes grabbed more than one stalk and ended up wasting time by sorting them out. Then, she would bend over, create a small hole with her hand, and then plant the stalk in the mud. Unfortunately, almost every one was planted crookedly, and some even floated away. Hinata then wasted time chasing after these stalks and as well as re-finding the row she was originally working on.

Fortunately, Boss was a very patient teacher. She planted a row parallel to Hinata's so she can offer her advice whenever she needed it, which as often. Amaya too took a liking to her "Neechan," so she would also give tips in a sing-song manner typically while jumping around Hinata.

Eventually, she caught on. Using chakra control similar to her family's Jyuuken style, she learned to precisely grab one stalk each time. Next, she simultaneously punched the mud and planted the stalk, followed by a graceful hand motion which sealed the stalk in the earth. Always mindful of her foot stance, it did not take her long to keep a calculated step.

Boss was amazed to say the least. Nobody ever caught on that quickly. By the end of the first crooked-planted rice, Hinata was sweating profusely; extremely happy in the clothes she borrowed.

By the end of the second row, Hinata's breathing and movements were strictly monitored and regulated, just like how her father taught her.

When the third row was finished, both Boss and her daughter stopped paying attention to her.

Hinata actually started enjoying herself. The water was surprisingly warm, and the she loved the feel of the mud as it tried to swallow her feet. The area was quiet too and nobody bothered her.

The demanding labor also had a soothing effect on her mind. All her troubles about her family washed away with the stream. She threw herself in the task using her complete concentration. The little times she did let her mind wander, however, she thought about a special blond ninja.

Every once in awhile, Hinata used her Byakugan to scan for perils such as snakes, leeches, or glass. Without moving her head, she also spied less critical but more annoying dangers. The more discreet farmers ogled her whenever they thought she was not looking. The obvious ones just stopped working and soaked in the eye candy.

The latter, and sometimes even the former, were usually swiftly met with a harsh and embarrassing berating by Boss. She would yell at them, saying their names and what they were doing, and on the punishment of the painful emasculation, tell them to get back to work.

Usually, Hinata would be completely embarrassed by all the attention, probably to the point of paralysis. But she too let those thoughts wash away as she went back to concentrating on her work. Sometimes, though, she wondered what Naruto would think if he saw her here.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

In the late afternoon, after finishing her section and working on Amaya's, Hinata noticed a commotion amongst the farmers, subtle like the ripples emanating from a planted stalk, as they stopped working.

They all stared in the same direction towards a single point in the South. She gasped as she realized who everyone was gawking at. Even from this distance, Hinata could make out his orange and black jumpsuit, and especially his infamous sun-blond hair.

Caught in the moment, she just looked at him smiling, staring at his face, his blue eye.

'One blue eye,' she thought to herself fighting a panic. She activated her Byakugan and confirmed that he indeed had only one eye open. She then noticed a large square bandage on his other eye, as well as long ribbons of white bandages rapped around his face.

Extremely worried, she broke her trance, and quickly traversed the rice field fighting against the suction of the mud. Hinata did not hear the whispers of "Uzumaki Naruto and Hero of Konoha" around her. Completely engrossed in her goal, she did not even hear Boss call out to her.

Hinata walked as fast as possible to the edge of the field, and then noticing that her sandals were farther North at her section of the paddy, she just ran barefoot on the dirt road, towards Naruto not caring about the hazards that littered it.

As she ran, the farmers all followed her motions, watching her navy colored hair trailing in the wind. Some stared in awe and some watched the girl's target as the boy kept grinning while Hinata approached.

Even Boss, a disciplined farmer, could not help but stare in amazement at the two unlikely couple on the road.

'No wonder she was not interested in other boys.'

When reaching Naruto, her first words to him were, "What happened?"

Surprised, he put on his mischievous smile and said, "I got beat up by Kumo ninjas."

She hesitated slightly, looking down at her feet. Hinata was not expecting him to say that. She thought about his bandages and his wrapped eye.

Fury in her eyes, she looked up and said, "Where?" and started to march off in the direction he came from.

Naruto, surprised by her sudden anger, could not help but lightly chuckle as this kunoichi was going to avenge him in nothing but a straw hat, shorts, and without shoes of all things.

He grabbed her hand, pulled her back gently, and said, "Don't worry about them. I came here to see you."

Quickly losing her resolve, Hinata turned away bashfully.

"Come on," he said, "I have something for you. Do you have some time?"

Completely engrossed by the feeling of his hand around hers, she just nodded.

"Let's go then," Naruto said with a little urgency in his voice. He led her away, pulling her like he used to do as kids while she trailed behind.

The unlikely couple traversed the dirt road in search of a quiet respite.

Boss watched shocked as the pair walked. During her time with Hyuuga-san, she never saw her this unconfident or unsure of herself. Hinata's head was down and her free hand glued to her lips. The blond boy nonchalantly held her hand, oblivious to the quiet girl behind him.

'But then again, I'd probably act the same way if that blond hunk was my boyfriend,' she laughed, wishing she was still young again.

However, time and duty called to her again. Breaking out of her fantasy, she noticed others staring just like her. With threats of dual decapitation, she made sure everyone returned to work.

'Let the couple have some peace,' she thought smiling.

Hinata's senses were overwhelmed. She knew that she should probably walk side by side with him, but she had trouble focusing on anything other than the texture of his hand; warm, very warm, with a subtle roughness to it like wet sand.

Unfortunately, since her senses were occupied, she failed to notice a hazard in the road. Hinata's right foot scraped over a particularly jagged and sharp rock; a remnant of a time when the valley was nothing more than a mass of rocks between mountains.

"Ahhh," she winced quickly realizing the pain.

Naruto turned around and looked down.

Blood was already oozing from the bottom of her right foot.

"Hinata!" he said.

Taking a page out of Naruto's book, she feigned a smile telling him not to worry and that she was alright. However, one look at the pool of steadily growing blood, under her foot, and it was easy to see her lie.

Not replying, he immediately went to into action. As he inspected her foot, he did his best to push away the horrible memories of her blood.

Quickly, the two hobbled over to the stream, between the road and the rice field. Naruto, on Hinata's right, supported her weight shoulder to shoulder. They tried to hobble over to the stream by having Hinata do a kind of hop with her left foot, but this process was excruciatingly slow, not to mention dangerous, and as more blood was pumped to the foot, it started gushing out.

Seeing her predicament and pain, Naruto's adrenaline charged body scooped her up and quickly walked her to the stream. He gingerly placed her on the barrier stones, and put her foot into the water to clean it off. After rinsing off the dirt and the grime, Naruto was horrified to see that the water actually made the blood run more freely from the wound.

"Do you have any bandages," Naruto asked her quickly.

Hinata, dazed by the cut and the flurry of recent physical contact, snapped out of it as she realized he asked her a question.

Softly, she said, "I have a first aid-kit in my pack, on the bench, behind me in the distance."

Naruto again picked her up bridal-style but held her right ankle this time to control the jerking movements while he carried her.

He half ran half hobbled North where Hinata indicated. A little worried by her lack of precise directions, he was relieved to see that the bench was the only one he could see on the road.

The bench was nestled in the shade of an ancient Maple tree. An old two and a half person seater, it was built roughly around the same time as the rice fields. The faded green bench still stands, albeit barely, due to partial protection of the tree behind it. Many farmers have noticed the beauty in the contrast of the colors, neutral brown tree trunk, faded green bench, and the vibrant red of the leaves as its branches swooped down, as if protecting the visitors under it.

Naruto was about to lay Hinata on the bench when she quickly told him that the wood on the left half of it was weak and ready to break. Examining it, he noticed that the left-side wood was much darker than its counterpart.

Instead, Naruto gently half-draped half-sat Hinata on the right side of the bench, crouched in front of her, and began rummaging through her pack.

Finding the gauze, he hurriedly applied firm pressure to her foot, sandwiching it between his hands.

Hinata mentally berated herself for her carelessness. Although she relished in the attention Naruto was giving her, she should not have let herself become distracted.

However, all the innocent touching overwhelmed her senses, and it took all her will power to not have a constant blush on her face.

Unfortunately, while Naruto was putting pressure on her foot, she made the mistake of looking Naruto in his eye. Automatically, she felt the old familiar habit to faint creep up her spine. To counter that, she quickly grabbed her straw hat and thrust out it in front of her face, the friction of which brought some of her hair with her.

"Um, Hinata?" Naruto said, "Is everything okay?"

Hinata quickly nodded a few times oblivious to the fact that Naruto could not see beyond her hat.

"Hinata?"

"Um, Nar…Naruto-kun, sssoor…sorry, I'm a little tired," she said doing her best not to stammer.

"If you don't mmm…mind I'm just going to close my eyes."

Confused, Naruto just acknowledged her quirkiness. He then continued his task, albeit bored due to having nobody to talk to.

As he waited for the blood to coagulate, Naruto's gaze shifted from her foot. On the floor around him, he saw leaves in various shades of red. Curious, he then looked up to admire the fuchsia leaves on the branches, outlined in gold, due to the sun above its canopy.

Automatically, his gaze followed a big vermillion Maple leaf as it glided lazily in the breeze, dancing between sunrays. It swayed back and forth in the air, and in a matter of seconds, it landed gently on Hinata's stomach.

For unknown reasons Naruto would ponder later, he had this intense urge to remove the leaf, as if its presence ruined the balance of a fine painting or sculpture.

Waiting, he became annoyed when Hinata did not bother to expel the intruder herself.

Naruto then wanted to call her name but then thought that she probably fell asleep.

Quixotically, he took it upon himself to remove the annoying red leaf. Without the use of his hands, Naruto thought of a "genius" idea.

He blew on the leaf, lightly at first, but gradually increasing in force as the surprisingly heavy foliole did not want to budge.

When the leaf finally fell to Naruto's "Fuuton Ninjutsu," he saw a remarkable blemish where it used to be. On her abdomen, he saw a scar the size of a thin branch and the shape of a toddler's kiss. The skin was slightly raised and it was a tint lighter than the rest of her complexion. Behind the scar, a menacing bruise existed to remind anyone what used to be there.

As he bent forward to inspect it, realization landed on him like a boulder, 'This is where Pein stabbed her.'

Fascinated and horrified at the same time, he could not tear his eye away from the scar. He stared at it, wondering if it still hurt her. He bent his head lower, trying to comprehend the reminding sacrifice of her actions cruelly tattooed on her body. As he stared, he could not help but smell the scent of pressed flowers.

Naruto did not realize his face was a few mere centimeters above Hinata's body.

"Naruto-kun…" whispered a soft but questioning voice.

Instantly breaking his reverie, Naruto jumped back making an emasculating sound – something akin to a scream and a yell - and could not help but turn red with embarrassment. Straw hat now off and hair tousled around her face, he saw Hinata's faint lavender orbs staring right at him.

"Ah, Hinata, it's not what you think," Naruto quickly blurted out trying to redeem himself, "There was this big leaf on you, and then I removed it, but then I saw a scar on your stomach."

Hinata, through the webbed tangle in front of her face, blankly stared at him. Her breathing became deeper as her chest heaved in and out.

It took all his willpower to not flee. If he was not holding onto her bloody foot, Naruto would have let his instincts – three years honed from multiple bathhouses with Ero-Sennin – guide him and run away.

Suddenly, Hinata became still. Her stomach stopped heaving as her breathing relaxed to stillness as if in a trance. Her face stared neutrally at Naruto, bereft of emotion. To Naruto, it seemed like her face suddenly became a stoic mask; her eyes became glassy and devoid of life.

Yet, as he looked into her paradoxically intense and dull eyes he noticed - with the exception of pupils - that it looked very similar to the way Sakura's eyes looked after the female Kumo ninja emotionally attacked her.

Immediately worried, he asked, "Hinata?" This was followed without a response. He called her again but with the same result.

Naruto then looked down her body to the scar on her abdomen. "Hinata, is that where Pein stabbed you?" Naruto asked honestly attempting to provoke a response from her.

Her only reply was to move her arms to cover her scar.

Rebuked, he muttered a quick apology and dutifully kept his attention solely on healing her foot.

'I guess she really is mad at me.'

The truth was, Hinata could not speak to him for awhile, even if she wanted to.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Naruto said still not looking at her face. Curious, Hinata wanted to respond when she felt a sharp pain at the top of her foot.

Now that the cut finally stopped bleeding, Naruto gingerly peeled away the gauze paying careful attention to the spots where the blood made it stick to the skin.

Afterwards, Naruto grabbed the ointment and generously applied it to the bottom of her foot. An antiseptic and an analgesic, he knew from too many personal experiences that the medicine worked best when spread over the surface of an area, and not just applied directly to the wound. Wanting nothing more than to make sure he was doing the best for his friend, he generously applied a lot of the ointment and began systematically rubbing it into her foot.

If anybody was watching, and more than a few were despite Boss' diligent threats, they would have seen a cute couple in an act of intimacy. A girl sitting on a bench perpendicular to her blond boyfriend while he dutifully massaged her foot in act of kindness, and judging by her attire, probably as a reward for her hard day working on the rice paddies.

This is what Boss believed as she witnessed Hinata and Naruto from her corner of the rice field. Despite starting late in the day and having to personally train a volunteer, she was still very surprised to find that all three of her sections of the field were still relatively done on time.

Sending Amaya home as usual, Boss waded through the water pool over to the couple's bench. More than a little curious and loving nothing more than to be nosy, she waltzed her way right up to them smiling.

Hinata's breathing became irregular again when she felt Naruto rubbed the ointment throughout her foot. Even though she could not tell him, Hinata thought it felt really good, if not downright wonderful.

However, once Naruto wrapped her foot in the bandage, she could not help but inwardly sigh in relief knowing the embarrassing situation would soon end, and she could be herself again.

Naruto, completely engrossed in his work, did not notice a shadow above him.

"Oh, Hyuuga-san, I had no idea your boyfriend was the Hero of Konoha." Boss blurted out unashamedly.

Surprised at hearing the word "boyfriend" and "Naruto" in the same sentence, Hinata instantly broke out of her trance, immediately followed by yanking her leg away from his grasp.

She then sat-up like a proper lady despite what Boss saw only a few moments ago.

Naruto, completely ridden with guilt thinking that Hinata was mad at him, as well as surprised by the sudden appearance of this stranger, thoughtlessly blurted out, "We're just friends."

"Oh," Boss said nonplussed but loving a good scandal, "I could have sworn that you were her boyfriend. I mean she didn't bat an eye to any of the farmers, even the good looking ones, and she literally ran over to you when you appeared."

Hinata, blushed and smiled lightly, but then immediately put her and eyes back down when Naruto reconfirmed that they were just friends.

Boss quickly became annoyed at the boy's stupidity and inattention to the girl's feelings.

Poignant to Hinata's obvious sadness, she bluntly said, "So the Hero of Konoha is an idiot then?"

Hinata looked at Boss nervously while Naruto turned his head away pouting.

'What is it with me and women today?' He thought truly bewildered.

"Hero-san," she said in total effrontery, "Let me give you some advice. Any girl who works as hard as she does is a real keeper. On top of that, she actually smiled and enjoyed the work she did, which is more so than most of the farmers here. That should tell you that Hinata here is a really really special girl." Carried away by her emotions, Boss soon realized that she practically spelled it out for the boy, but it could not be helped since he was an idiot.

Waiting for an admiral response, she was a little piqued to hear him say, "Yea, I know," in a dejected tone, unlike her daughter when she was told to go to bed early.

Boss noticed that the blonde boy did not even look at her as he said it

She then gazed at Hinata. She looked even more miserable than him. Sensing a lot of tension in the air, but ignoring it anyway, Boss smiled and gave a hearty farewell to them both. Seemingly innocuous to their lack of pleasantries (neither one said goodbye, although Hinata smiled a little), she walked away.

'Young love. How lucky they are,' Boss thought.

Casually, almost like an afterthought, she called out, "Hey Hyuuga-san, the sun is going to start setting soon. It gets dark here quick so most of us will stop working before then to return home. If you're going to be here much longer you and Bodyguard-san can stay at my place. It's just up the road; a green house. Oh, and you can bring Hero-san too but he'll be sleeping with the dog." Boss could not help but chuckle in amusement as she walked away from the cute couple.

Naruto sighed as that infuriating woman finally left his line of sight.

Suddenly, he heard a voice that he desperately missed but did not know until he heard it.

"Okay, Boss, thank you very much!" Hinata chirped sweetly.

Naruto, daring to hope, looked up tentatively. He became alleviated as Hinata pulled her blue hair out of her face. Finally seeing through her web of hair, Naruto saw life in her pale eyes.

He smiled sheepishly in an appeasing and apologetic manner. When she smiled back, he sighed audibly and could not help but grin even wider.

Relieved, he went to grab her foot to make sure it was not bleeding.

As he reached, however, Hinata pulled it back and away from him.

Surprised and hurt from her lack of trust, but ultimately blaming himself for her actions, Naruto kept his head down.

He then thought to stand up to take a walk and give her some space. As he attempted to stand up, however, his legs would not move. Naruto did not notice as when the adrenaline wore off, his muscles became locked in rigidity.

Not being able to leave, Naruto just plopped his tired body on the opposite side of Hinata.

Completely forgetting about the weak planks, his weight obliterated it, sending wood everywhere. What spared him from getting impaled on a mass of splinters were his quick reflexes honed from years as a shinobi. Fortunately, As Naruto grabbed the weak side guard rail and used it as an emergency crutch it did not fall because it was nailed to the ground.

Hinata, surprised at Naruto's sudden actions, saw him crouching and holding two sides of the bench for dear life. His face was red and sweat littered his forehead. It looked like Naruto was in an extreme amount of pain because he strained his muscles past their limits.

All those thoughts were byproducts though, as Hinata automatically reached over and helped support him as he crab-walked over to her.

Unfortunately, Naruto's mistake turned a two and a half size bench into one useable for approximately one adult and small child.

Thanking Hinata through pain-gritted teeth, he gingerly sat next to her.

Even with their skin touching; only half of his body rested on the bench even though Hinata scooted so far to the other side that the railing painfully dug into her lower back.

Knowing this would not work, they tried to mentally find solutions to their dilemma. This was the only surviving bench visible along the road, and since visitors rarely came up there, none of the farmers ever pushed the issue of building more, preferring instead to sit on the ground by their work sections. Also, Hinata's foot made it very difficult to walk without crutches, and Naruto's overused muscles made it impossible to help, least of all move on his own. Hinata could have called Ko for assistance but she knew neither one of them wanted that.

Instead, they did their best to adapt to their predicament. Hinata moved forward to allow Naruto to settle his body behind her. He then draped his hand over her shoulders and held the railing next to her. Content despite the awkwardness, he wanted his friend to be comfortable too.

She was still leaning forward while holding both her arms between her knees.

"Hinata?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Came a soft reply.

"You can lean back."

"I-I'm, okay, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, thank you."

Noticing that she was purposefully hovering her foot above the ground, Naruto easily slipped off his sandal and slid it over to her.

Other than rest her foot on his sandal, Hinata did not indulge in Naruto's request. A few minutes went by in silence. Hinata kept her gaze on her hands while Naruto kept his attention solely on her.

Comfortable, physically at least, he hated that it was at the expense of Hinata. Yet, she would not budge, preferring instead to sit awkwardly away from him. Even though he could not see her face, he imagined her frowning and unhappy by being stuck next to him.

'It's all my fault," Naruto thought, 'I was the one who made her uncomfortable in the first place.'

Despite the fire in his muscles, Naruto became determined give her the space she desperately wanted. Ignoring the feeling of needles in his arm, he retracted it and started scooting off the bench.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his, "Na-Naruto-kun, please d-don't go."

Surprised and confused, he looked back at her face. It was as red as a tomato.

"Huh? Hinata, aren't you mad at me?"

"N-no, why would I be?

"Because I looked at the scar on your stomach while you were sleeping!" Naruto said exasperated. When Hinata did not reply he continued, "Afterwards, you barely talked to me and flinched whenever I touched you. You must have been upset or offended because you constantly stared at me. "

"Oh…" Hinata said quietly. She then smiled apologetically, "I wasn't mad at you, Naruto-kun, I just…um… receded that's all."

"Huh?" Naruto said at wits end.

"I "receded." I haven't done it since I was little when my father first started teaching me our clan's taijutsu. Sometimes, during intense sessions when I didn't grasp the lessons, he would yell and even tell me that I wasn't good enough."

Naruto clenched right fist, oblivious that he was also squeezing Hinata's hand a little tighter too.

Taking the pressure as a sign of reassurance she said, "When it got really bad I somehow just stopped responding. I never did it on purpose but it just happened. It's like I was not in control of my body anymore, but I could still watch and hear him. No matter how angry he got I could not respond. Eventually, he got fed up and left me in the dojo by myself. Usually by nightfall, one of the nannies would come retrieve me and I would cry in her arms until I fell asleep."

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Naruto said keeping the pressure on her hand compassionately firm.

Hinata just nodded, looking away as she furiously blinked the tears of her memories away.

Naruto then felt horrible that his actions made her withdraw into herself.

"Hinata, I didn't mean to make you recede. I won't do it again. I prom…"

"No," Hinata interjected, "I mean it was not for the same reasons that I used too do it as a child, around my father. I honestly didn't want you to see my face turn red again, and I especially did not want to faint." 'I do not want to faint around you every again.' "It was just a sensory overload, and added with the loss of blood, and you so close to me suddenly…"

Hinata took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Naruto-kun, I was never upset at you. Shocked and a little embarrassed but not mad. I ju-just thought that since you notice me now, that I should be better."

"Better?"

"Well, not faint or turn red when you're around me." 'I want to be a stronger woman for you.'

"Oh." Naruto contemplated her words for a few moments.

Then he spoke honestly, "But, Hinata, I really like you the way you are now. In fact, I've always liked you, so why would you want to change?"

She smiled, ignoring the rush of heat to her cheeks. Naruto grinned widely, and as he did, Hinata remembered why she fell in love with him.

It was the simplicity and sincerity in his actions which always seemed to magically erase any doubt in her mind. With just a smile, nod, or him watching her, Hinata felt that she could do or be anything. It was because of his small amount of support that she became a strong kunoichi.

Once the magic in their smile waned a little, they both looked away to ponder their own thoughts. This time, however, there was no awkwardness between them. They were just happy being near each other that words were not needed to fill the silence.

Hinata remembered how Naruto took care of her today. She noticed how her foot felt warm and protected. She then thought about his cool breadth on her stomach, and being surprised to see his face close to her body. She only interrupted him because she was worried that she would faint, and not because she ever once thought that he would take advantage of her.

Most of all, however, Hinata thought about Naruto's hand. It felt warm and comfortable, more so than any clothing she ever wore. She wondered if she felt this way because of her feelings for him, or if that is truly Naruto's gift: unyielding warmth.

On the other hand, Naruto thought about Hinata's father. He contemplated how a father could ever treat his daughter so harshly, especially one as kind as the girl next to him.

'How could he drive his daughter to recede, then leave her alone in the dojo, and cry herself to sleep of all things?'

He looked at Hinata. Holding her hand and watching her face, Naruto still could not fathom how anyone could treat her so badly.

Then his mind thought of something else. Although not really important, Naruto was curious and could not let the thought go unanswered.

"Hinata?" Naruto blurted out. She looked back at his face.

"So how often did your father make you faint?"

"Never."

Truly perplexed, Naruto said, "Huh, but I thought that if he makes you recede then…"

"Only you make me faint, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered truthfully.

"Oh…wait, why?" he replied dumbly.

Sighing in playful contempt, she gently grabbed his arm and put it around her. Hinata then lay back against him, not caring anymore if her face forever stayed bright red. However, she still fought a shiver as she realized that her body fit perfectly against his.

'Simple indeed.' Hinata affectionally thought with a warm smile.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

As late afternoon turned into early evening, most of the rice-farmers packed up their stuff to go home. The few who did stay frantically finished their task so as not to get stuck in the dark. Crickets started chirping and a light shade covered the once bright sky. Since the sun was descending, the breeze made everything cold. Hinata, in her light attire, felt it immediately as it brushed her skin.

Naruto noticed her shivering, and knowing he did not need it, took off his black and orange jacket. Thankfully, although not saying it, she was very happy to be draped by his warm jacket.

Temporarily forgetting her shyness, Hinata brought her legs up, curled into a ball, and rested her head against his chest. In an effort to protect her against the cold, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and reverently rubbed it, noticing all the goosebumps he felt. He never figured out they were not due to the cold.

Hinata cherished being close to Naruto. She's never felt so warm or so comfortable in her life that she suddenly knew that she never wanted to leave his side again.

Hinata also listened to his strong and steady heartbeat. It made her feel protected, so much in fact that she would have fallen asleep listening to the rhythm if something did not just jar her memory.

In the form of a smell, she knew it was important. Her face on his chest, she inhaled his scent.

Suddenly, she remembered what it was. It was medicine, the type put on flesh wounds to stimulate healing. She had it on her body after being stabbed by Pein, and also on her foot now. To confirm her suspicions, she lightly grazed the back of her nails on his chest feeling not smooth muscle but layers of interlacing bandages. Too absorbed in her thoughts, she did not notice how his heart beat quickened by her actions.

Softly, Hinata spoke, "Naruto-kun, why did you get injured by Kumo ninjas?"

Sighing, he confessed his day to her, starting with Kakashi-sensei's news about Sasuke and ending with him blacking out. He was surprised at how easily the words came out, as if the news was always meant for her ears.

Hinata listened, not saying a word, but paying close attention.

When he finished with his story, she asked him one question, while simple, it pretty much encompassed his entire day: "Why Sasuke, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto, a little sick and tired of always defending his need to save his friend, said, "Why not Sasuke?" While not meaning to, he still told her with an edge to his voice.

Hinata's apology was to dig her face deeper into his heart, and also hug him around the middle.

Remembering who he was talking to and how Hinata promised to always listen and be there for him, he felt guilty for his brashness. Naruto put his face into her hair and rubbed his cheek on her scalp, and then hugged her arm a little tighter.

"Sasuke is my best friend. He is like my brother. Although we weren't close, he is one of the people who made me who I am today."

Hinata listened intently as he continued.

"I used to be jealous of him because everyone liked him and all the girls wanted his attention."

'Not all the girls.' Hinata thought smiling.

"I used to watch him sit on the dock by himself, staring into the water. I should have talked to him and offer him my friendship. Sasuke was one of the few kids who never made fun of me.

"Instead, I chose him to be my rival and antagonized him at every possibility. I thought that if I could get him, the coolest and most popular boy in the academy, to acknowledge my existence then everyone else would too.

"Hinata, you know on Team 7, he was the first to acknowledge my strength? It was us two who helped release Kakashi-sensei from the water prison against the Kiri Jounin Zabuza, who was also one of the Seven Legendary Shinobi Swordsman."

Naruto paused temporarily reliving the fond memory of their first mission as Genins. He remembered being paralyzed at the first sign of danger, and it was Sasuke who fearlessly battled the ninjas. Seeing his teammate be heroic, it piqued Naruto enough to quickly steel his resolve and fight the enemy too. In his heart, Naruto believed that if it were not for Sasuke then he probably would have died a coward in that mission.

He then continued, "I was so excited for us to take the Chuunin exam together. It was our chance to prove our strength and become platoon leaders. We were supposed to help each other and make each other stronger. Everything was going fine until Orochimaru attacked us and gave Sasuke the curse seal. I thought I knew that he would never give into the temptation of power. Even when I fought Sasuke to stop him from leaving, I could not admit that he would forsake his friends for revenge..."

It really did get dark quickly at the rice fields. Sunlight still pierced some places in sporadic burst, but it was at the mercy of the clouds and the trees. The more daring night-creatures woke up early to start their night songs. The wind, formerly a breeze that cooled one's skin in the day, rushed against everything rustling the trees and rice stalks. Waves of water rolled against the stone barriers giving the effect and sound of a small beach.

Relishing in the soothing sounds, Hinata closed her eyes to ponder Naruto's words. She saw him with a dark-haired boy, eyes like dark fire, and a permanent scowl on his face. Yet, when she imagined Naruto and Sasuke fighting the legendary Zabuza she saw their dynamic teamwork, covering each other's back, and even smiling and laughing while doing it. Something akin to her cousin Neji and his friend, teammate, and rival Rock Lee, Hinata imagined Naruto and Sasuke being close friends in battle.

She then thought of the snake-man and one of the Legendary Sannin Orochimaru. Naruto said that Sasuke joined him because of a curse seal which gave him power. She imagined two friends fighting each other, no longer laughing, but still respecting each other as rivals and opponents.

Laughing mirthlessly, Naruto spoke his sudden revelation, "I guess I really did not know his pain after all. I always thought we could somehow connect because we were both alone. I never thought he would submit to the darkness in his heart, but then again, my parents were taken away from me before I even knew them.

"It took Ero-Sennin to be murdered by Pein for me to fully realize how tempting revenge and hate could be. I was this close, Hinata, so close to killing Nagato that, at the time, I could already see his blood on my fists.

"Sasuke had his entire family and clan eradicated in one night. Without warning or provocation, his entire world was shattered. The worst of it though, is that it was his brother murdered all of them, including his parents. Instead of killing Sasuke, however, he spared him to an even crueler fate; that of an avenger. I have a feeling that Sasuke loved Itachi more than anyone else in his family, and he twisted that love turning it into hate. I think Itachi's eyes followed Sasuke wherever he went, so even though he had friends who cared about him, he could never truly keep peace in his heart."

Hinata opened her eyes, breaking her reverie. She did not want to imagine that.

"Naruto-kun," she said. "I still do not know why you want to save him so badly. According to you, his life is consumed with hate despite your friendship, and has also hurt many people, including you. I mean, is it because of your promise to Sakura-chan?"

Usually, Naruto would have just said yes since all his friends know of his legendary Nindo to never give up. Yet, that would be a lie, or more precisely a shallow truth.

"I want to save him because I love him."

Despite being comfortable with him, Hinata actually blushed at his confident statement, which paradoxically, is what she wished he would say to her.

She tried to logically analyze his bold statement, but she could not help herself as an uncensored thought slipped into her consciousness, 'I guess I'm glad Sasuke is a boy and not a girl.'

As if reading her thoughts, Naruto continued, "He's like my brother. Would you turn your back on a loved one if he turned to darkness?"

Hinata started to see where he was going with this.

"Everyone else abandons him, ignoring or not even bothering to understand his agony, and just lets him go. What if you and you alone had the power to save him? Would you not risk everything for his soul?"

'Of course I would,' she thought. 'I understand more than you know, Naruto-kun.' Hinata idly pushed away thoughts of her confrontation with Pein. She then looked up into his eyes and nodded her affirmation.

"I understand now, Naruto-kun," she stated sincerely.

Skeptical at first, all doubt evaporated when he looked into Hinata's compassionate eyes.

Naruto smiled. He never thought that anyone could understand, much less accept, his reasons for wanting to save Sasuke.

Without realizing it, he suddenly felt a ponderous weight lift from his heart. He then squeezed Hinata a little tighter and kept his cheek on her head.

Hinata felt his affection and relished in it. However, despite the temptation to get caught up in the moment, Hinata still needed clarification on her first question.

"But, um, Naruto-kun, why did you get beat up by the Kumo ninjas?"

"I let them."

'You let them do this to you!' Hinata thought incredulously.

"Sasuke killed one of their teammates and friend. He also captured their master and Jinchuuriki like me, essentially committing him to death as well. I could never betray Sasuke, but I could understand their pain and anger."

"But why didn't you just stop them, constrain them, and then talk to them? You didn't have to fight them and be injured!" Hinata said with rising anger.

"Justice. Someone had to pay, and they wanted it in blood. Hinata, no amount of talking would have given them what they wanted, which is revenge. Instead, I gave them my blood willingly in compensation for Sasuke's sins."

"What does that accomplish! They are still going to hunt for Sasuke whether or not they hurt you. You did not have to let them do this to you." Hinata, despite her soft tone and calm demeanor, was really angry. Each word she spoke had a sharp edge to it like a knife in the shadow.

Not understanding why she was getting upset he shamelessly said, "It was my sacrifice, Hinata. Please do not worry because I wouldn't have let them kill me."

"Please do not lie to me. I have never seen your body this injured before, and you were stabbed multiple times by Pein yesterday!"

Hinata was livid. She was eye level now with Naruto, kneeling in front of his face, eyes boring into his soul. He was surprised at the amount of confidence she was exuding.

Naruto, wavering against her glare, smiled hoping to lighten the tension.

When that failed he quickly scoured his brain for some memory or advice to calm a woman down in desperate situations. Unfortunately, the only lessons he learned about the female sex were from Ero-Sennin.

One lesson came to mind but it almost never worked when his old master tried it.

Thinking that she was not going to get any angrier, Naruto used the dirty but effective tactic, "Hinata-chan, you look quite cute when you're angry."

Hinata has seldom ever received compliments from anyone, least of all Naruto. Despite her best efforts to surf her anger, she still blushed profusely. Semi-mollified, she sank lower.

'It worked?' Naruto audibly sighed thinking he was out of hot water.

However, she said one thing before returning her head to his chest, "Naruto-kun, you don't understand. What do you think would happen if you ended up in a coma or even died? Wouldn't the people who care about you try and get your revenge too? What do you think I would have done if something happened to you?"

Naruto no longer felt proud, and instead he wished that she was still mad at him.

As he contemplated her words, he started to feel some moistness on his shirt, followed by some slight trembling in the girl who considred him her loved one.

Finally getting her point he said, "I'm sorry, Hinata."

Still not satisfied with his apology Hinata kept silently weeping.

Hating that he upset her he immediately tried to alleviate the situation without the use of his master's "teachings."

"Um, how about if I make you a deal, Hinata? Next time something like this happens, you can be there, to, um, stop me."

"Stop you from yourself?" She answered incredulously.

"Yea…"

"Ok…"

"You're kind of like my guardian angel, I think. I wouldn't mind if you, you know, watched over me." Naruto was at wits end virtually grasping at straws.

"When you're about to get attacked by Kumo ninjas, or when you do something stupid?"

"Yes, I mean no."

"Naruto-kun, I don't understand."

"I mean always watch over me!" Naruto blurted out exasperated. He was confused and felt like his words were being twisted.

"What I meant was always watch me in general, not just when I'm going to get beat up by Kumo ninjas. Actually, I mean not constantly watch over me, but you know when you happen to be around and…" Naruto trailed off knowing he just dug himself a hole.

When no rebuttal came from Hinata, he looked down to see her smiling up at him.

Perplexed, he immediately thought, 'I don't know what I said but at least she's smiling.'

"Ok, Naruto-kun, I'll protect you from yourself, Kumo ninjas, and everything else that attacks you," she said playfully but with a solemn undercurrent Naruto of course missed.

The blond ninja looked away trying to hide his confused expression. That is not what he meant to say because he did not want to seem he like he was a Gennin who needed protection. But then again, he preferred her smiling over crying any day.

Sighing, he could not help but grin too.

Suddenly, he remembered why he came to see Hinata in the first place. Digging into his jacket pocket (thankfully next to him on Hinata's shoulder), he gingerly grasped it before taking it out.

"Oi, Hinata, I have a present for you."

"But... um… Na-Naruto-kun, you didn't have to, um" Hinata became very shy again.

Before she could keep on stammering, he opened his fist to reveal a sharp blue crystal roughly shaped like a stalagmite. The size of half her pinky, the first thing she noticed was how bright it was like it was its own light source.

"Don't worry. It's very sturdy but a little sharp so be careful."

He then handed over the gem into her hands.

She picked it up and stared at it in the moonlight.

'It's the color of Naruto's eyes,' she thought.

"Where did you get this?"

"This used to be part of the Shodai Hokage's necklace Tsunade-obaachan gave to me. It is supposed to be a rare gem that can control the Kyuubi's powers."

Naruto closed his eyes before going on again.

As if reliving a distant memory he said, "The jewel in the necklace tried to restrain me when six tales came out. In Kyuubi form, however, I all but obliterated the necklace. I would have tried to lace some twine or rope to it to make it look pretty, but I didn't have time."

What he did not tell her was that he literally did not have any time. After leaving Kakashi, it took him hours to find one shard. This was with the help of five Kage Bunshins which was the most he could summon in his state. They looked everywhere in a radius surrounding the spot he where succumbed to the Kyuubi's chakra, and it did not help that people and construction were everywhere.

Since four of the clones covered the four quadrants around "ground zero," he and one of the other Naruto's went to search in the outlying sectors. He went North while the other went South. It was only a matter of sheer luck that he found one of the shards.

As he was walking near the tree-line he happened to see a bright light shimmering off one of the trees. At first, he thought it was a shinobi signaling him with a mirror, but a closer inspection revealed not a ninja but a bright blue object embedded in the trunk.

The shard was dug in so deep that if it were not for the sun behind him, it is highly doubtful that anyone would have ever found it.

Removing it very carefully, with a wind-infused kunai, he managed to cut out a section of the tree without destroying the precious gem.

He spent too much time carefully dislodging the shard from the wood, that when he finished, he immediately left in search of Hinata.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said breaking his reverie, "Thank you but why are you giving it to me? I mean shouldn't you keep it just in case?"

Expecting this question, he answered truthfully, "No I do not think it would do me anymore good. I have to start being able to control the Kyuubi's chakra on my own. Plus, the necklace was ineffective yesterday, so I doubt a small shard will be much help for me anymore."

He then continued albeit timidly, "I got this present for you as a thank you for trying to protect me yesterday. And since you know, I guess you're going to guard me against…myself…I guess, then I think the present suits you perfectly."

Embarrassed, Naruto turned his head away to laugh hoping to keep the mood light. He never intentionally gave a gift to a girl before, and so he had no idea how one would respond. Whenever Ero-Sennin gave a female a gift, she either destroyed it or threw it back at his face. So it was to be expected for him to worry when he heard only his voice chuckling.

'What is she doing?'

As he looked back to see what happened to Hinata, his first thought was, 'Close!' She was much closer, or more precisely, her face was. He noticed that she was looking at him with what seemed like gratitude and longing?

Everything in her face was still and calm with the exception of her eyes. They danced intelligently as if reading some message in his soul.

He was enchanted by her faint lavender pupils, visible only because of their intimately close proximity. He watched them, following them, allowing himself to be hypnotized.

Even before his mind registered his actions, his face gravitated closer towards hers. As if on queue, her eyes closed giving a signal that even Naruto could not miss. He closed his in turn mentally imagining her face.

Trapped in a world of their own, they used their other senses to compliment the mind's-eye image of each other.

Hinata could hear the crickets in the forest chirping their atmospheric Genjutsu over the couple. She also felt the wind on the back of her neck, giving her goosebumps and heightening her expectations. Last, she could smell his hot breadth on her face, and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

Naruto, on the other hand, despite the crickets, the wind, and the very pleasant smell coming from Hinata's hair blowing on the side of his face, was doing his best to ignore a severe pain that suddenly eminated from the back of his head. However, it traveled quickly down to his neck, his spine, and into his stomach where it intensified enough to make him shiver.

Breaking out of the trance, he opened his eyes which helped to stifle a groan. He barely registered Hinata's soft lips on his left whisper marks as he turned his head to investigate his stomach.

Confused, Hinata pulled back away from his body.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" She stated frantically upon seeing him in agony.

Suddenly, the pain in his stomach shot up to his heart, and he finally realized what was going on.

'My mandate!' he thought.

Naruto, in a full fledge panic, jumped out of the chair ignoring his body's excruciating protest because it would not matter soon anyway.

"Hinata, please listen to me. I do not have time to explain, but know that I did not have any other choice. My mission was to give you the present. Also, I want to let you know that I think that I really…"

Naruto doubled over as the pain in his chest shot up back to his head.

Sensing the imminent loss of his consciousness, he needed to portray one last thing, "I promise I will remember everything. I'll see you soon, Hinata-chan."

He did his best to give her his brightest smile, despite losing consciousness.

Hinata, with quick reflexes, positioned herself to catch his unconscious body. Unfortunately, she was not prepared as his entire body lost control and plummeted down towards her.

The dead-weight slipped through her arms and his now heavy head, rather forcefully, fell on her breasts.

"EEEEEPP!"

Ko, finished his work with his team hours ago. He was going to let his charge know when he saw her sitting with a blond boy who he knew to be Uzumaki Naruto. Sensing young love, he did not want to ruin this chance for his master despite what her father may think (who did not give him any instructions regarding Uzumaki anyway).

Instead, he stayed back but still within hearing range just in case she needed him. Relishing in a chance to relax, he closed his eyes to meditate in the peaceful countryside.

He woke up later in the dark due to a scream he knew to be Hinata's. Byakugan activated, Ko rebuked himself for his carelessness and hoped that she was okay.

Upon arriving, he saw Hinata sitting by herself. He wondered where the Kyuubi-boy was and what he did to his charge. Also, with eyes trained to see every detail, Ko noticed that she was still wearing her farming clothes despite the obvious cold and wind. Hinata always liked to be warm and never took off her jacket.

'What is going on? What happened and where is Uzumaki!'

Extremely worried, Ko bent in front of her face. "Hinata-sama! Hinata-sama! What happened? Is everything okay!"

He did not notice the smoke around her.

Lips trembling and face beet-red, her only reply was, "Kage…Bunshin…"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Kage Bunshin is a Jounin level technique where a ninja creates a whole other body splitting the amount of chakra between each one. Kakashi explained to Naruto that it was originally used in scouting missions because when the clone is killed or the jutsu is released, the memories of the clone go back to the original body. This allows a squad of shinobi to analyze a potential ambush without needlessly losing men.

The problem with the Kage Bunshin technique is that it uses a lot of chakra. Add on that the fact that it splits the chakra evenly between each body, a person can be drained of all his energy right away. It was definitely not meant to be used in battle, nor for long periods of time.

Only shinobi with high chakra and stamina levels, or in the case of Naruto, ungodly amounts of energy, can use it favorably in battle. His favorite and signature jutsu, the Kage Bunshin is the backbone from which almost all his attacks are based off. Furthermore, because the user remembers the experience of each clone, Naruto can learn techniques and skills much faster by training with Kage Bunshins.

In the case of today, he enlisted the help of his clones to find a shard of the fractured jewel he once wore on his necklace. If he was healthy, he would have enlisted over 100 Kage Bunshins but since he was weak and injured, he could only summon five extra bodies to help.

His mandate to them was simple: find a shard and then find Hinata. If one found Hinata before finding a broken gem, then they were to find the other clones and let them know.

All six of them split potential areas, where a shard might be, into grids. The original Naruto and three of his clones would take the four quadrants, in a radius, surrounding where he turned into Kyuubi form.

The remaining two were tasked to look on the outlying or improbable areas where a shard might have landed. One would start in the Northern outlier and one in the Southern area and then sweep the areas in a clockwise fashion, eventually completing a half-circle.

He also told them that if they are still summoned after two hours, then it means that the other clones are still unsuccessful in their search, and that the main Naruto had to leave already to catch up to the Raikage. If this was the case, then they were to keep searching until either the mission was completed, their jutsu was dispelled by the original, or until nightfall.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

On the border of the Fire Country, a simple cabin lays between two large trees in a forest. The interesting thing is that the cabin did not exist one month ago or even yesterday. A powerful shinobi with the extremely rare ability to create and manipulate wood built it just a few hours ago.

Inside the cabin, one ninja lay in a sleepless and feverish state, while his two captains watch on worried.

"I do not like this, Senpai. He does not look good."

"I agree, Tenzo," said the senpai to his kohai. "Unfortunately, we cannot move him in this state because we're too far from Konoha. It could potentially make his condition worse."

"Then what should we do, Senpai? Despite his usual enthusiastic spirit, Naruto quickly dragged behind. I have never seen him lose so much stamina while traveling before. Do you think we underestimated his injuries?"

"No, I do not think so." Kakashi then moved in closer to study his friend and mentee. He noticed that Naruto was sweating heavily despite the copious breeze flooding in through the glassless windows. Normally a healthy pink-tan skin tone, Naruto's face was ghostly white.

"He's had a bad fever for several hours now," said a worried Tenzo, or codename: Yamato as he was known to his subordinates on Team 7.

"If I didn't know any better," Kakashi said looking back to his teammate, "I swear he's suffering from chakra exhaustion."

"That doesn't make sense because doesn't he usually gain a lot of stamina when he sleeps?"

"I agree but all we can do now is just wait to see what happens. If his condition doesn't change, or instead worsens in the next hour then we'll have no choice but to take him to the nearest hospital."

Suddenly, as if possessed by a ghost, Naruto sat up with eyes wide open staring at nothing. Then, as quickly as the phantasm came, it left allowing Naruto to lay back down where he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Extremely worried, the two captains rushed over to each side of Naruto. Tenzo, a wet towel in his hands from the water bucket nearby, put the towel on his subordinate's forehead. Afterwards, he took Naruto's temperature with the back of his hand.

"It looks like his fever finally broke."

"Yea, and his color is returning to normal."

The sleeping ninja then muttered something in his sleep.

Curious and wondering if he was awake, Kakashi asked him gently, "What is it, Naruto? Naruto, are you awake?"

Still muttering incoherently, Kakashi lowered his ear to his mouth.

Tenzo noticed Kakashi listening for a few seconds. Then, without a word, Kakashi looked up with a slight blush on his face.

He signaled Tenzo with a gesture that meant "come with me we're leaving" and they both left his room.

In the hall Tenzo asked, "Senpai, what did Naruto say?"

"Nothing," Kakashi lied.

"No, seriously, what did he say?"

Despite the incessant probing in the following hours to come, Kakashi would not tell his comrade what Naruto said; probably not tell a soul.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Naruto said, "Dai suki desu."

---

Author's Notes:

1. Thank you very much for reading my story, as well as for the wonderful comments from the first chapter. Without them, I probably would not have finished this chapter (I honestly gave up a few times).

2. That being said, your support helps me to keep on writing. I have a direction and an ending in mind so I'm thinking of writing 7 chapters total, lol, if I can keep the momentum going.

3. If you haven't noticed I flirt and dance with the canon plot alot, often weaving my story in and around what Kishimoto wrote. Obviously, I've changed a ton of things compared to how the manga portrayed certain scenes, i.e. Karui and Omoi, but it wouldn't be a fan fic if I just rehash the same story. You might as well read the manga because it's better. :P However, I'm most probably going to split from the main story and not follow it anymore. Actually, I'm almost 100% sure I will split soon.

4. Anyway, this chapter was over 3 times as long as the first one. I've been writing it for the last three weeks and I'm not lying when I say that I read my story at least 30 times, and added or taken away content all the way up to a few minutes ago. I do not know how long each chapter will be as the story unfolds for me as I write.

5. I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity, so my updates will be when I can do them. It's a little hard with a full time job, but I make sincere efforts to write every day.

6. Also, I'm not perfect so I know there are grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, character flaws, plot holes, repetitions etc. I do my best to catch them but you know...sometimes I don't even after reading it 30 times :( At least I did not spell Uchiha and Yamato wrong...I think.

6. I have a reason and a meaning behind almost every word in my writing. Please don't complain that I'm using Japanese instead of English words (I obviously do not know Japanese, and other than the honorifics I do not really use them).

6. Now a few minor things. Kakashi is not gay although it shouldn't matter anyway. In this chapter, it was just fun to write him like that. I hope everyone knows that this is not a harem. Sakura is important to Naruto whether or not they are romantically involved.

Thanks again for reading,

Malakas.