I might have had this up earlier, but I've been feeling a bit down. Bad day today. It distracted me. Or rather, I tried to distract myself from thinking about it. And, in the process, distracted myself from this. Typical.

This is Part Four. Here Naruto gets another surprise and Hinata runs to help. I just hope I wrote Naruto right (should stop complaining about that since that's always my worry!).

Title: Finding the Broken Pieces
Genre: Angst, AU
Timeline: Post Sasuke's Return
Summary: Sasuke's back in Konoha, but Naruto learns of the events that occurred while he was away and his past. Sasuke, meanwhile, ponders his own life and the battle with his brother. When the pieces are broken and left astray, someone must come and put them back together. NaruHina, SasuSaku
Pairings: NaruHina, SasuSaku
Rating: G
Author's Note: This fanfic is AU past Naruto Chapter 384. It's mostly the end result that differs. Basically, I wrote it different from what Kishi wrote (primarily because this fic was imagined before Chapter 384).
Disclaimer: I really wish I was a successful mangaka, however, I'm not, I can't draw period so therefore Naruto doesn't belong to me in the slightest. Naruto belongs solely to Kishimoto.

Bits and Pieces of the Past

Hinata hopped from foot to another, very worried about Naruto. After the debriefing, the subject turned to Jiraiya's death and the Akatsuki leader. Ma and Pa, the two Frog Sennin, reported on the battle with the Akatsuki leader. Naruto had taken a great deal of interest in the frogs' report.

Through it all, Naruto remained calm. He had explained his part of the mission rather calmly, so much so that Shizune kept tossing strange glances to Tsunade, as if she wanted Naruto to stop and continue later, perhaps worrying for his emotional wellbeing. Everyone kept casting him concerned glances, both during his report and when Ma and Pa made theirs, but he pretended to not notice. However, Hinata could tell hearing the frogs' talk had been painful for him; he squeezed her hand from time to time.

Then the numbers on Pa's back came up. No one recognized it, not as any code Konoha ever used or as one Tsunade used in her days with Jiraiya. After rejecting numerous theories, Shino brought up something: Jiraiya was a writer (he claimed to have read the Sannin's bio when Tsunade asked him how he knew about Icha Icha Paradise) and theorized the numbers could refer to page numbers in his books. So the books (provided by Kakashi) were looked over and looked over, however, nothing in the books offered any solid info on what Jiraiya was trying to say.

In the end, Tsunade remembered that Jiraiya wrote another book, his first book, which had not sold well. He had sent her a copy, but even she had not read it as, in her words, "He said it was a kind of autobiography, but since I was there for most of his life to begin with, I saw no point in reading about it."

But as she picked up the book from the bottom of one of her trunks, she quickly ordered everyone except for Naruto and Kakashi out of the room.

So this was where everyone stood, outside Tsunade's office, Kiba and Shino bantering over Shino's knowledge of Jiraiya while Sai watched and Sakura just staring at the door, waiting to be let in when whatever the Hokage wanted to discuss with Naruto and Kakashi to be over with. Hinata, however, had wished she could have stayed.

"Are you sure you didn't read any of those books, Shino?" asked Kiba with a giant grin on his face.

"Quite sure. Studying past ninja, especially ones that made such an impact on the security of Konoha, I believe is very important."

"Oh, come on, don't lie! You've read them, right?"

Sakura sighed, staring at the door, with her hands folded behind her back. "Hey, Hinata? How's Naruto? Is he taking what happened all right?"

Hinata nodded, glancing down at the floor. "I think he is. I think Naruto will be okay. He just needs time. And friends, he especially needs his friends."

"Yeah." Kiba turned to the girls, forgetting his taunting of Shino. "Naruto's strong, he'll get through this. I'm sure of it."

Sakura smiled sadly. "Yeah. Naruto does bounce back, but this…" However, the door opened, cutting her off. Tsunade called them in and they did so…but to their surprise, Naruto was no where to be seen. Instead, one of the Hokage's windows was open.

"Hey!" exclaimed Kiba. "Where's Naruto?"

Both Kakashi and Tsunade did not look them in the eye. Tsunade sighed and folded her arms. "Naruto…he needs some time alone."

"What did you tell him?" asked Sakura, her voice somewhat frantic as she stared at the open window.

However, Kakashi shook his head. "I'm afraid that is something only Naruto can tell you. It would not be right for us to explain. Only Naruto."

Kiba, Shino, Sai and Sakura looked confused. "Only Naruto can tell us what happened?" repeated Shino. "This is a personal matter then?"

Both nodded their heads. However, Hinata kept staring at the window. The only thoughts in her mind were of Naruto's wellbeing and emotional state once again. This time she did not ask for permission. This time she ran for the window and jumped out, ignoring the calls from the Hokage and her teammates.

She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, activating her Byakugan and began, once again, her search for Naruto.

--

This time it took longer for her to find him. He was not at the waterfall they were at earlier nor was he at the swing at the Ninja Academy or at the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. After checking a few more locations, she finally got a glimpse of him at one of the training areas (the one they had met during the Chuunin exam) and headed toward there.

Naruto was standing at the memorial stone. Hinata stayed behind a tree for a few seconds, watching him and wondering what could be wrong this time. Finally, almost on instinct, she walked toward him until she stood right next to the edge of the memorial. "Naruto-kun?"

He turned around slowly, a small, strangely sad, smile on his face. "Hey. I knew it was you. Figured you would come."

Hinata felt her cheeks color a bit over that. He figured she would come? Pushing it out of her mind so she could focus on the task at hand, she walked up to him as he turned his attention back to the memorial. "Naruto-kun…what happened?"

Naruto stayed silent for a moment; instead he knelt down and touched one of the names on the stone. "They knew my parents," he said finally.

Hinata blinked. That…had not been what she expected. And Kakashi and Tsunade knew them? But she did not understand. What did Jiraiya's book have to do with his parents? And why did he run away to this memorial stone? Where his parents' ninja and their names etched onto the stone? So many questions popped into her head and she could not sort them out right away.

"I don't know if I should feel angry at them for keeping it from me or just happy that I know who they are."

"Did they say why?" asked Hinata, finding one question she could ask. Perhaps letting him direct the control of the questions would suffice for now, like they did at the waterfall, at least until she could sort things out. Naruto did not seem too emotional and, compared to his reaction to Jiraiya's death, but Hinata felt worried about that. Once again, Naruto being quiet was very uncharacteristic of him. Surely, his running away meant he was upset?

Naruto shook his head. "They said it was the Third's orders, but I didn't get that far. I didn't like it at first, but I feel a bit better about it now." He stood up and took her hand, squeezing it, which made Hinata worry, regardless of what he said, he was distressed. "I want to know why," he whispered. "I want to know why they kept this from me."

"Were they good people, your parents?"

A giant grin appeared on Naruto's face, but yet, to Hinata, it appeared forced or at least half forced. It was like he was happy but sad at the same time. "Heh yeah, they were definitely good people." He looked down at the ground, the grin lessening and a somewhat smaller sad smile on his face while he kicked at the stones below his feet. "My dad's the Fourth Hokage…and my mom was a former land of Uzu ninja."

She could not help herself; her mouth literally dropped. She really had no image of Naruto's parents in her head, but she certainly did not expect the Fourth Hokage! However, as the picture of the late hero came to mind, it made sense: they both had that spiky blond hair and clear blue eyes. The stories of the Fourth she had heard made him sound like a genius and while she greatly admired Naruto, she knew he could not be called that (well, not in the terms they described the Fourth) and that made her wonder, did Naruto take after his mother?

"Pretty amazing, huh?" he said, his free hand rubbing the back of his head. He still clutched her hand and his smile still seemed somewhat bitter. She gazed at him with concerned eyes, seeing through his mask of false happiness.

"Naruto-kun…is something wrong?"

The smile faded and he frowned. He glanced down at the stone, squeezing her hand tightly. "Can you imagine? Your father being the Fourth? Kakashi-sensei said the Fourth thought of me as a hero and cared about me, but…" His body tensed, his eyes looked watery like he was holding in tears again. "He sealed the Kyuubi into me…why? Why me? Did he really say those things?"

This must be it… thought Hinata. This must be why he's acting so strange. Combined with the revelation of his parents and that people close to him knew them, the knowledge that the Fourth, the person who had sealed the Kyuubi into him, was his own father had to be quite the emotional toil. But, on the other hand, she could not see Kakashi or Tsunade lying to him, not now after finally telling him the truth. "Naruto-kun? Do you really think Kakashi-sensei and Hokage-sama would lie to you about this?" she asked.

Naruto did not answer at first. He kept his eyes down, shaking slightly. He took a deep breath and let it out, finally turning toward her with confused blue eyes. "I don't think so, but it just nags at me, it won't go away."

Hinata bit her lip. Well, this was a start. Perhaps a long talk with Kakashi and Tsunade would help him more, but this was a start. "What about your mother? What happened to her?" she asked, changing the subject.

Again, Naruto frowned and turned away. "She's dead, she died that night, but Kakashi-sensei said she knew what the Four – my…dad was going to do and was okay with it." He was trembling, clutching her hand tighter than before. "He said…she really loved me…in the end…before she…"

Naruto fell to his knees, his eyes closed tight. Hinata knelt down quickly, her free hand immediately around his neck, on his far shoulder. She could not figure out what to say so she kept her hand around him, holding him tightly, hoping it would calm him down. "Naruto-kun…"

For a couple of minutes, they remained like that, Naruto letting his head rest on Hinata's arm as she gripped both his shoulder and his hand. Then, he raised his head slightly, opened his eyes, let out a breath and his body relaxed. He looked toward her, his face open and gentle. Leaning back and sitting on his legs, Naruto caressed her hand. "Thank you, Hinata. I don't…I don't think I could have gotten through all of this…without you."

He looked down for a bit, slight confusion lighting up his eyes a bit, while Hinata smiled, fidgeted a little due to Naruto's words. She was glad to be helping him and, had his emotional welfare not been paramount on her mind, she might have fainted over his reaction. So she simply smiled and said, "you're welcome, Naruto-kun. I'll be around…if you ever need…someone to talk to, you know."

Naruto nodded, still smiling a little. The two of them stood up. "I guess we better get back," said Naruto, still staring at the memorial stone. Hinata merely nodded. They turned around and started to walk back, but Naruto looked back once more, regret and a want in his eyes. Hinata automatically thought of flowers. Maybe he wants a bouquet to place on the memorial? So Hinata, determined to continue to help him in every way she could, resolved to buy some for him.

So Naruto learns of his parents. I have no idea if their names are on any memorial, much less the one in the training area where Naruto became a Genin. Kakashi frequents it due to Obito, of course, but perhaps he's also honoring Minato and Kushina as well (just a nagging feeling of mine).

The part about the code being in Jiraiya's first book was a theory after Jiraiya's battle (for those who don't know). It was supposed to identify the different Pein's as well the real one, as I recall. I rather liked it so I used it here. Of course, that's been debunked since I finished this fic, but I kept it since I couldn't bring Naruto's parents up without it.

I'm afraid I won't go into detail over Naruto's parents. I have my own ideas, but it would take some explaining and I hate doing that in my fics. I like to have a 'flow' in my stories (I write poetry, too) and long explanations disrupt that for some reason. Sorry!!

Sasuke and Sakura have a heart to heart next week! Will Sasuke go insane before this fic is over? Or will Sakura find a way to reach him? Tune in next week!