[last time]

"I know." Naruto then took a deep shuddering breath and said "It happened after I got back from my last mission for Granny Tsunade." Hinata remained silent and attentive. "You know how I disappeared for a short while after that?"

[presently]

"Yes."

"Well, I had requested to be able to go find Sasuke again. After about an hour of pleading, she caved. She told me that I could, on the condition that I follow whatever orders Kakashi-sensei would give me, since he had to accompany me. That was also the only way I would be able to proceed with my mission."

"But why did she make Kakashi-sensei accompany you?"

"A necessary precaution. Just to ensure that I would return safely. Also, Kakashi knows Sasuke better than any of the older shinobi, seeing as he was his sensei. Anyways, we had found him outside the borders of Fire Country. He had apparently intended to ambush part of Konoha to stir up unrest, and deplete our numbers so Sound could get an advantage over us."

"..."

"As a rogue ninja, his knowledge of the village would be invaluable. So his mission was reconnaissance..."

"I thought you said he was going to attack the village..."

"He was. But that wasn't his mission objective. He only ever thinks of his own fucking goal..." Hinata flinched at his use of such a strong curse word. "...sorry... but all he thinks of is how to further accomplish his goal of destroying his brother. So me and Kakashi bumped into him, and he said something along the lines of 'how nice that the strongest would so willingly come to meet their deaths, making the village so much easier to pick off', which pissed me and Kakashi-sensei off. Sensei then said he 'couldn't believe that one of his students could go so wrong'. Then he asked why Sasuke chose such a dark and bitter path when he had warned him before that accomplishing his revenge in such a way would just leave him empty. Sasuke said that none of that mattered to him anymore. Kakashi tried to dissuade him, but Sasuke came right out and said that he loathed everything about the village and everyone in it."

Hinata gasped. "H-he didn't!"

Naruto nodded grimly. "He did. He even came right out and said the only thing he valued from the village was the friendship we had."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh. I guess you never heard that."

"Heard what?"

"The only way to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, an almost legendary power which he seeks to be able to beat Itachi, is by slaughtering his closest friend."

"H-h-he...?"

"Yes. He intends to kill me to be able to avenge his clan."

"That's horrible!"

"I know. And yet I spend so much time and energy to try to bring him back."

"If he constantly tries to kill you, then why..."

"I don't know why I do it, to be completely honest with you. I guess it's because I don't wanna give up my best friend. Maybe it's because I think he's still got some good left in him."

"..."

"So anyways, after that, he and I battled. I caused him to transform, like before, and I did as well."

"Oh, Naruto..."

"I hold within me the spirit of the Nine-Tails. If that scares you, you don't have to talk to me any-"

Hinata silenced him with a kiss. "I love you no matter what. You aren't the Nine-Tailed Fox, you are my Naruto."

"Hinata... I love you."

"I know. But go ahead, continue."

"Anyways, after he transformed, Kakashi-sensei still tried to talk sense into him. So he trapped sensei in a genjutsu, incapacitating him. Naturally, that pissed me off even more. So I charged at him. I used my Rasengan and he used his, or rather, sensei's Chidori. It ended in a stalemate, again, and he said he would not fail to kill me and obtain that power the next time we met. He released the genjutsu on sensei, and then he vanished. Kakashi-sensei and I returned to the village that evening. As we entered the village, he tried to cheer me up by saying that if anyone could save Sasuke from the darkness, it was me. I told him that Neji had said that before. He said that he was a sharp kid, and that I just had to continue training. I have been here for about two and a half days training nonstop. I've been too distracted to make any progress, so I got sick of it all and decided to do away with this suffering."

"Naruto... I won't say that I know how it feels to be betrayed, because I honestly don't. I know it must hurt, but that's no reason to throw it all away..."

"Hinata..."

"Not when you know how I feel about you."

"But..."

"No. You aren't leaving me behind."

"I'm not..."

"If you kill yourself, you will be. And I don't care what my family thinks."

Naruto sighed. "Hinata... I want to be with you..."

"Then be with me."

"But I don't want you to have to put up with a lowly failure like me..."

"Hush. You are no failure. You are my one. You are my Naruto, as I am your Hinata."

"My Hinata... I like the sound of that," Naruto said with a chuckle.

Hinata giggled. "'My Naruto' does have a nice ring to it." They embraced fully and shared another kiss. (After the first, they stood in an embrace, Naruto having his hands on Hinata's waist and Hinata's hands being behind Naruto's head (for whoever couldn't picture that without this explanation. Namely, lots of people lol)). After they separated, Hinata said "It's about time for us to get back, I'm sure everyone's worried about you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Naruto said with a grin. Hinata took his hand, and the couple walked back to the village center. As they walked, Naruto said "Thank you so much, Hinata."

"Hm?"

"You saved me from the darkness. I've heard Neji saying how I saved him from the darkness, yet I had no idea how much that meant until you did the same thing for me. You accept and care for me, despite my being an appalling failure. Thank you so much." Hinata smiled. "You really are my true love, Hinata. I can't thank you enough for that."

"As you are mine, so I guess we're even."

Naruto chuckled. "I guess so."

Not really much to say here. However, I do have one comment. Whenever I write, I tend to never separate what I write into different chapters until it's done and/or I get it ready to post. As such, I am rather terrible or 'green' in the ways of making decent cut-off points. So, if you dislike where the chapters split off, or something, then please tell me a way to make it better, so the flow is just right for the rest of the viewing public. All I ask is that any remarks are worded respectfully, as I am the kind of person that respects until given reason not to. All that aside, please r&r.

dogboy1214