Author's Note – this story will include some intense violence, as well as disturbing and/or adult themes later on, as I intend to make the villain a truly vile and psychotic individual. If this offends you, feel free to read something else. You have been warned.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (duh)

"speech"

"thought"

Chapter 4. – Feelings of Weakness, Resolutions of Strength.

"We've finished analyzing the reports and surveillance data, Tsunade-sama," Shizune reported hesitantly, "but I'm afraid that it raises at least as many questions as it answers."

Tsunade sighed deeply. Why did attempts to bring Sasuke back always turn into such fiascos? "They don't make sake strong enough for these situations," she thought, before saying, "Well, let's hear this report that took you a week to complete."

"Hai, Hokage sama," Shizune said, bowing slightly, "As you know, a ninja wearing a defaced Kirigakure headband and identifying himself as Toramaru appeared at our trap to catch Sasuke and attacked both our team of ninjas and Sasuke's companions. Lee, Guy, Yamato, Sai, Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke all received serious injuries, and Juugo was killed. All the injured parties have been stabilized, and all show progress toward a full recovery, except for Sasuke, who may never walk again."

"Now, we've checked our bingo book records for any missing nin matching Toramaru's description, and there is a match. Toramaru was one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, but he was supposed to have been executed for war crimes at the end of the Last Great Ninja War," Shizune continued.

"We've contacted Kirigakure and they confirmed that Toramaru was executed, crucified with 3857 nails, one for each civilian he deliberately killed. However, what our records don't show that they told us now is that his body disappeared shortly afterward, believed to have been stolen by rogue ninjas. They also told us that Toramaru's sword, Hiruhime, was stolen from the Mizukage's high security vault two days after Pain attacked Konoha. When we contacted Konan in Amegakure, she told us that Akatsuki had a man matching Toramaru's description in captivity, but that she hadn't seen him in years."

"So we can conclude that Toramaru somehow survived his execution, was captured by Akatsuki, and escaped when Pain died," Tsunade finished. "What do we know about the sword? All the swords used by the Seven Swordsmen are supposed to be extraordinary in some manner, and he attributed his stealing two kekei genkai to it."

"Well," Shizune answered, "we don't have much verifiable information about that. The sword Hiruhime was locked away after Toramaru's execution and never passed on. There were rumors that it was cursed, as supposedly all of its previous wielders went insane. As to its abilities, it was supposed to grant its wielder the innate abilities – such as chakra affinity and kekei genkai – of 'whoever's blood it tasted,' but again this is rumor and hearsay. There are no reliable records on the subject in any of the villages that we've contacted. However, judging from the abilities he displayed, it seems likely that Toramaru has multiple kekei genkai at his disposal already."

"Which in turn gives credibility to the stories about the powers of his sword," Tsunade paused before demanding, "What about the trackers we sent, have they found his trail?"

Shizune cringed slightly, "Not yet Tsunade-sama, but he left his scent all over the scene of the attack and he stepped on Shino's bugs. We have half the Inuzuka clan searching for Toramaru's scent and a quarter of the Aburame clan tracking the insect pheromones on him. He has to have come up from underground somewhere, and once we find the trail, we can track him wherever he goes."

"That's what worries me," Tsunade replied with a frown. "The skills Toramaru demonstrated would place him as one of the strongest shinobi in the known world. Why would he step on the bugs? He had to have noticed them, and he should know better than to make an amateur mistake like that."

Shizune's brow furrowed. "What exactly are you suggesting?" she asked her mistress.

"I think he's taunting us," Tsunade answered grimly. "I think he purposely made sure that we would be able to track him. He's daring us to come after him, into whatever twisted little trap he's setting up. He wants to be found."

Kakashi was checking out of the hospital a week ahead of schedule, on the condition that he got plenty of rest, did no ninja training, used no chakra, and didn't physically exert himself in any way.

"Oh well," he thought, "at least it's better than being stuck in a hospital bed all day."

He went to check on his companions on the way out. Sai, Neji and Yamato were all recovering well under the expert care of Tsunade's trained hospital staff. Guy and Lee were both in full body casts, not because it was strictly necessary, but because it had been decided that it was the best way to keep the overly energetic pair from reopening their injuries.

Naruto, however, seemed very unlike his usual self. He sat up in his hospital bed, staring listlessly down at his bandaged hands.

"Now this isn't the Naruto I know," thought Kakashi, when he entered the room. "So, I heard you finally brought Sasuke back," Kakashi said casually.

Naruto mumbled something unintelligible in response. "Sorry Naruto, but I didn't quite catch that last bit," Kakashi pressed.

"I said that I didn't bring him back," Naruto almost screamed at his sensei. "I tried to bring him back, but all that I did was watch some crazy bastard almost kill him. Then I lost control of the fox and almost killed everyone myself."

Naruto had tears in his eyes by this point. "I thought that I had gotten stronger, but I still couldn't protect anyone. I couldn't stop Pain – who was after me – from hurting everyone, I couldn't stop Sasuke from attacking the village, I couldn't protect anyone from Toramaru, and I couldn't protect anyone from the Kyuubi inside me. I almost killed everyone twice in the past two weeks, by letting the Kyuubi out."

Now the tears ran down his face. "I mean keeping the damn fox locked up is the whole point of my fucking existence, and I even failed that."

Kakashi sighed and said, "First off, you saved everyone from Pain. Yes, a lot of people got hurt, but because of you, no one died. And Pain would have come after Konoha whether you were here or not, he had a grudge against the village. Second, no part of the Sasuke situation is your fault. Sasuke decided to attack us on his own, just like he decided to leave in the first place on his own. Third, no one could have predicted Toramaru's attack. Given that he snuck up on Neji, how could anyone have been expected to be prepared for him? Finally, in both instances that you lost control of the Kyuubi, you had been under extreme emotional stress for some time beforehand and it was seeing your friends hurt that pushed you over the edge. No one can reasonably blame you for that."

Naruto, who had stopped crying by now, just stared down at his hands.

"I'm not getting through to him," Kakashi thought, "there must be more to this than he's telling me." "Anyway, I've got to go before Tsunade changes her mind about letting me out," he said. "Just think about what I said, ok Naruto?"

As Kakashi turned around, he heard Naruto mutter, "Ok. Thanks, Sensei."

"What's wrong with me?" Naruto thought miserably. "Why can't I keep the Kyuubi sealed away? It's getting harder and harder to keep calm and maintain the seal. Is it because I almost unleashed the ninth tail fighting Pain? No, that can't be it, the Fourth – I mean, Dad, I still haven't gotten used to that – resealed it. Maybe part of me wants to unleash the fox, so I'll see Dad again. No, what am I thinking, this has been happening for a long time, it's just gotten worse lately. Is something wrong with the seal? Or could the Kyuubi be… getting stronger?"

On the way out, Kakashi saw Hinata staring nervously at the entrance to Naruto's room.

"Well," he thought, "if Naruto won't talk to me, then maybe he'll talk to her."

He walked over to Hinata. "Hey Hinata, will you do me a favor?" he asked her. She jumped, "Wh-what do you need, Kakashi-sensei?" the shy girl stammered.

Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled. "This should help her, too," he thought. "It's nothing much, but will you talk to Naruto for me?"

Hinata stiffened and went red as the jounin continued "I just talked to him, and there's something he won't talk about bothering him. I thought he might open up to a friend more than to a former sensei."

Hinata, blushing furiously by this point, said, "H-Hai, I-I'll talk to him, Kakashi-sensei." She bowed quickly, turned, and ran to Naruto's door. There she raised her hand to knock, then hesitated, looking back at Kakashi, who gestured for her to continue. Taking a deep breath, Hinata knocked on Naruto's door, then opened it and peeked in.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked nervously.

"Oh, hi Hinata," Naruto answered. "Well I guess that this is as good a time as any to talk to her," he thought. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Hinata-chan," the blonde shinobi continued.

"He called me chan!" Hinata's heart soared.

Smiling uneasily, Naruto asked, "Did you really mean what you said to me when we fought Pain?"

Tears rushed to Hinata's eyes, "I-I meant it, Naruto-k-kun. I d-don't go back on my word, remember?" Hinata was horrified at the thought that he hadn't taken her confession seriously. "That was, was part of the nindo that you t-taught me. D-don't you remember?"

Naruto was fighting back his own tears as he reached forward and dried the beautiful kunoichi's pearl-like eyes.

"Yes, Hinata-chan, I remember, but… do you," Naruto gulped, and struggled to ask the question that had eaten away at his soul whenever he thought of the raven-haired girl before him since Pain's attack, "do you still feel that way, now that you've seen, now that you know what I really am?"

His tears now streaming down his face, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki continued, "I'll understand, if you don't. I mean, I'm a jinchuuriki; I have the most terrible monster ever to live inside me. I'll understand if you hate me for –"

"STOP!!" Hinata, now openly sobbing, interrupted him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "Stop," she said again more quietly, "don't say that. You aren't a monster; you're my Naruto-kun, who I love, and who I'll always love."

Both of them were crying and clinging to each other, as the weeping girl continued, "Yes, I am terrified of the Kyuubi, but you aren't the Kyuubi! You fight and suffer to protect us from the Kyuubi, just like you fight to protect us whenever we're in danger. You are a hero, Naruto-kun! You're my hero, who always fights for me, and I love you so much!"

"Hinata-chan…" was all Naruto could manage to say at first, as he wrapped his arms around her, tears running down his face.

"I, I've never felt this way before," he finally managed to stammer, "I think that I love you too, Hinata-chan." He pulled her tighter into their embrace, holding her in his lap with one arm protectively around her shoulders and the other possessively around her waist.

Both of them just sat there, crying softly, basking in the love and acceptance that had always been missing from their lives, tauntingly visible yet just out of reach. Two very different yet remarkably similar trains of thought were going through their heads.

"Naruto-kun," thought Hinata, as she nuzzled deeper into Naruto's chest, "I love you so much; I just want to stay here with you like this forever. I can't remember ever feeling so happy, so safe, so at peace."

Contrasting her contentment, Naruto was filled with a protective desire stronger than anything he had ever felt. "She always accepted me, even though I was too blind to see it," he thought.

"All these years, she has been suffering because of my stupidity, but I will make it up to her. I'll get stronger, and no matter what happens, I will protect her. If Toramaru attacks us again, I'll give everything I have to beat him. If Akatsuki comes back, I'll destroy them. And if I do lose control of the Kyuubi, I'll kill myself rather than let that damn fox hurt her."

He snarled as he directed his thoughts at his inner demon, "Do you hear me Kyuubi? I'll die before I let you hurt her!"

Kakashi knew he was supposed to go strait home, but he didn't. "After all," he mused, "if I went straight to where I was supposed to go, I would ruin my reputation."

He nodded to several ANBU that he knew from his time as a member, before entering Konoha's secret, high security prison facility. He smiled behind his mask, too many of the guards owed him favors for them to stop him, and besides, they all knew who he was here to see.

The sound of his cell door opening roused Sasuke from his brooding. "It has been a long time, Kakashi-sensei," he said without looking up.

"Yes it has," Kakashi replied without emotion, "I was hoping you might enlighten me as to what you hoped to accomplish by attacking the Konoha elders. I confess that I don't see what you could hope to gain from their deaths, even if your attack had been successful."

"Don't be stupid sensei," came the scornful reply, "you know what I would have gained. I am an avenger. My ambition is to restore my clan, and to avenge their deaths."

Kakashi smiled humorlessly, "I know, but I also seem to recall that your brother was your target –seeing as he was the one who slaughtered you clan – and I believe you already killed him."

"My brother killed our family at the request of Konoha's elder's!" Sasuke snapped, losing his temper. "He killed our family to protect the village from our father's coup d'etat! That bastard Danzo convinced Itachi that the Uchihas' actions would start another great war, and got him to betray us."

That got Kakashi's attention. "Who told you that, Sasuke? How did you find that out?"

Sasuke snarled, "I've been in contact with Itachi's associates in the time since I killed him, and they have been much more forthcoming with information than Konoha ever was. I shouldn't have turned down that request to take Itachi's place in Akatsuki. If I had a partner to match my skills instead of weak underlings, I would have brushed you all aside and fulfilled my revenge, even with that drooling lunatic crawling out of the woodwork!"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, then replied, "I don't know anything about a coup d'etat, or Itachi's reasons for his actions. But as to that last bit, you and Naruto together couldn't take Toramaru down, and Naruto is more than a match for you, Sasuke."

"And as for your revenge, what would that do? As I see it, you got your revenge on Itachi, but it didn't make you feel any better or bring back your family, so you took the easy way out and found someone else to hate and seek vengeance against. I assure you, killing the elders wouldn't have brought anyone back either, nor brought you any closure."

"You have already seen what lies at the end of that road, hating everything and living only to kill others. If you continue to walk that path, you will wind up exactly like the 'drooling lunatic' who stole your eyes and destroyed your legs." With these words, Kakashi turned, and walked away.