Four
"I've got this," Naruto declared, rolling up his sleeves. "You go on ahead and get out of here!"
Hinata stood there, eyes wide but determined to stay put where she was. "No, I'm not going anywhere! I can't just leave you, here to—"
"Hinata, please—"
It was then that the creature swung its tail at them, but Naruto grabbed Hinata and leaped out of the way just in time. He carefully set Hinata down and pulled out a kunai knife.
"Looks like things are getting serious now," he remarked, "but I can handle this by myself!"
"N-Naruto, wait—"
The creature swung at them again, but they dodged the blow and took momentary refuge in a nearby tree. Hinata wanted to help Naruto, but she didn't even have a full handle on her Byakugan yet. She was useless, despite all of her training attempts.
"Take this!" Naruto threw the kunai at the creature's face, but it merely scraped by the skin near its eye. It let out another agitated screech and the waves grew larger from its movements in the water.
"Naruto, we should just run and get h-help," Hinata said, pulling on his arm a little. "We're going to get killed!"
He wasn't responding—he didn't even turn around. "N-N-Naruto?"
Suddenly there was a burst of orange light, and flames shot out in every direction from his body. His eyes were no longer blue, but a ferocious red-orange. The creature shrieked in the fiery inferno, and slowly disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
Hinata collapsed to the ground, unconscious. She had been caught up in some of the flames, unable to get out of the way in time. It had all happened so suddenly.
Naruto's eyes gradually returned back to their blue hue, and he fell to his knees, exhausted.
"W-what…what happened?" He glanced around, in a daze, and then saw Hinata's limp body. "Hinata?...Hinata!" He gently shook her. "Are you okay? Wake up!" He stopped, and then leaned over to pick her up.
"Hold on, Hinata," he said, "I've got you. You're going to be okay."
"That's the thing," Naruto said, wincing as the nurse bandaged up his burns and cuts. "I don't know what happened! I can't remember—it felt like, I was someone else…"
"Or something else," the third Hokage interrupted, a grave look on his face.
"Wait…what?" Naruto glanced over at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You are aware of the nine-tailed fox that is sealed within you, correct?"
"Yeah…" Naruto wasn't sure of where he was getting at. "And?"
"Well, it looks like the danger of the situation must have triggered some of the fox's powers to awaken…that explains why you are so badly burned."
"These don't hurt," Naruto retorted, and then winced a little, slowly putting his arm back down. "Much."
"And that also explains your disorientation," the third Hokage said, ignoring this. "He was in control of you for a bit. It could get worse from here…this is not a good sign."
Naruto frowned, and then remembered something important. "So, Hinata…is she okay? Is that was she was hurt?..."
The old man sighed, looking him straight in the eye. "I'm afraid yes—she was pretty badly burned, as well. But you weren't in your right mind—"
"I should have listened to her," Naruto said quietly, "it's all my fault…even if I didn't know what I was doing, I still should have left like she said to before…none of this would have happened in the first place." He stared down at his bandaged hands, hating himself and what he carried inside of him.
"It isn't your fault. You didn't make the nine-tails hurt Hinata. Besides, if you hadn't reacted in the way that you did, neither of you would even be here right now—alive."
Naruto barely heard this, closing his eyes in exhaustion. "When can I see her?"
"Not anytime soon, I'm afraid."
Hinata…
I'm so sorry.
An entire day passed before Hinata gained consciousness. When she woke up, her body was stinging all over—especially her face. She noticed that most of her body was wrapped in bandages, and slowly began to remember everything that had happened.
There was fire…
Naruto…
Where is Naruto?
She winced in pain as she sat up in the bed, glancing around the room. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
The third Hokage and a nurse walked into the room, and she slowly sank back down into the pillows.
"Looks like you're finally awake—how are you feeling?"
Hinata turned to look at them. "Where's Naruto? I-Is he okay?"
They both glanced at each other, and then back at her. "He's fine." Then the nurse spoke up, before she could say anything else.
"Miss Hyuuga…there's something you need to know."
She looked up from her bandaged hands, not liking the expressions on their faces. Her heart began to race as she waited in nervous anticipation. "W-What?"
The nurse took in a deep breath. "It turns out that the damage from the fire didn't just affect you externally, but internally as well.
"Miss Hyuuga-sama…I'm afraid that you can no longer be a shinobi."