Naruto POV
I had faint memories…of something. Something important…my body was burning…There was a sensation of that fire being dragged being forcefully dragged back to my belly. A strange coolness was wrapped tightly around both wrists, holding me in an inescapable bind, like stone had grown around my hands.
The coolness was draining some of the anger from me…I couldn't remember why I was angry at that moment…a voice spoke soft, kind words to me that I couldn't wholly understand…the voice was so soothing…
My eyes seemed to finally open, though honestly they felt strained, like they'd been wide open for hours…I saw the blurry outline of pale eyes staring back at me. The eyes were distinctly wet, and I could see…something reflected in the tears.
I saw…a monstrous face with red eyes…a face that slowly seemed to turn into my own. Holy crap! I was actually baring my teeth against this person with the lovely moonlike eyes!
I realized suddenly what was happening, and it hit me like a ton…no, a million tons of bricks. Goddamn it. My temper had gotten the better of me again! This was just like the time with the Pervy Sage. And in front of my friends!! Oh goddamn it, who had I hurt this time? Oh God, did I kill someone? God, God, God, please let no one be dead!! Oh dammit, oh shit, oh fuck!
The girl before me—I realized then that it was poor little Hinata—smiled at me, and then fell away from my sight. That faint, foolish smile stayed embedded in my mind as the…as the wood fell away from around my waist and I fell to the ground beside the girl's body.
Son of a…oh my God. Had I…did I kill…is Hinata…I killed her, didn't I? Please, please, please…no…please. This wasn't supposed to happen. Oh, God…no.
"Hinata is brave. A bit stupid, but very brave," Sakura muttered as she pumped chakra into the unconscious girl's weakly-beating heart.
"Not stupid," Lee replied, wiping his girlfriend's sweated brow with a rag. "Just very, very in love."
Sakura thought back on the way Hinata had thoughtlessly ran towards the chakra that Yamato said could kill her. Lee's statement made sense. "You think?"
Lee smiled warmly. "I'm certain."
She rolled her eyes, staying true to her point. "Yeah, well, lovemakes ya stupid," she growled. "Ugh! Oh…okay. She's stable. But she needs more treatment…I can't do anything more for her out here." She sighed and looked at her patient's blood-stained face and burned body and then at the unconscious Naruto, and finally back to Lee. "Lee…I…I need you to take her to the closest hospital. I don't have enough chakra in me to heal her and Naruto, and Naruto really needs to be treated now. You think you'll be fast enough?"
He smiled wider, reached forward and wiped a tear away as it snuck down Sakura's pale cheek. "I'm certain I will. Don't worry."
Sakura smiled dryly. "Just don't hold her too tight."
His smile took on a sarcastic edge. "I wouldn't think of it, love. Besides, this'll give me more time to work on your surprise."
Before Sakura could respond, Lee quickly removed his leg-weights, carefully scooped up Hinata's limp form, and stood up straight, cradling her in his arms. "Love you," he said, holding Sakura's gaze for a moment.
"Love you, too. Go straight to Konoha once she's okay."
He nodded and then ran off faster than any human should be able to.
Sakura sighed and looked back to her unconscious teammate. She gathered chakra in her palms and placed her glowing hands on Naruto's exposed chest. "Naruto, you idiot…Getting stuck on me when that girl was willing to grab onto a mass of red-hot chakra just to save you. Big idiot…"
"Sakura."
She looked up to see Yamato standing beside her, shaking his head. "They got away with Sai."
She sent a burst of chakra into Naruto's heart. "Damn it all!" she shouted. "This is ridiculous!"
"Where did Lee go?"
"Guh. I sent him to take Hinata to a hospital."
Yamato nodded. "That's probably for the best…"
Both were quiet for a long while as Sakura treated the wild burns that were scattered all over her friend's body, anxious tears in her eyes.
Yamato finally spoke, hesitant and awkward. "I can't believe…Hinata actually touched…the…that thing…"
Sakura ground her teeth at the word thing. Naruto was not a thing, no matter what form he took on…
"I can," she said gruffly. "Naruto was hurting. She cares about him. I'd do it if it was Lee. Besides, she has the Byakugan. She knew what she was doing."
"Still. She was so burned. I can't believe she still has hands, let alone her life…"
"Same for Naruto…but, the burns have mostly faded already. That beast healed him." She tenderly stroked the blonde's wet forehead, and laughed. "Just goes to show, I guess…nothing is all bad…" Sakura smiled softly and healed a tiny cut on his cheek.
Naruto POV
Someone was dabbing my face with a cool, wet rag. It felt amazing. My eyelids fluttered open. Sakura-chan's face was directly in front of the sun again. It looked like an eclipse. She smiled down on me, and wiped her wet eyes.
"Naruto! Thank God!" She leaned down and wrapped her slender arms around my shoulders for a minute. I noticed she was weeping gently.
My mind was groggy. My memories were faint…I grinned weakly, closing one eye against the brightness of day and patting her back. "Hey," I replied.
She backed off and wiped her eyes again. "You alright?"
That's when my mind stopped being so fuzzy. The memories flooded back. Red eyes, blue eyes, and white reflective eyes that had told the story of my fury. My eyes went wide and I sat up in one quick jerk of a movement. One long shudder ran agonizingly up and down my spine. My mouth moved and formed the word I was thinking over and over again, but only a sick choking sound escaped my throat. I felt like I was going into shock. I brought my right hand to my face and saw that it was still stained with the blood—her blood—that had splattered on my face.
Finally, the word came out. "Hinata."
Sakura-chan put a hand on my shoulder. "Shhhh," she said. "Don't worry. Hinata's fine. I sent Lee-kun to take Hinata to a hospital. She was pretty messed up. But she'll be fine. I swear."
I looked around, to the spot where Hinata had lain beside me. "They're gone?" I asked, my tense muscles starting to relax.
"Yeah. Sai is, too. Orochimaru took him."
I remembered my prayer that I hadn't killed anyone and suddenly felt silly. "So the bastard's still breathing?"
"Yup. You didn't get a chance to off him before Hinata saved you."
"Saved me?"
"The fox's chakra was destroying yours, Naruto…"
Fox. Damn. So they did know. Damn. She wasn't supposed to know. No one was. Damn. Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, but I swallowed them back quickly. I wasn't going to cry. Not in front of Sakura-chan. She was too used to the happy-go-lucky me. She wouldn't take it well…
I averted my gaze to the sky, trying my best to ignore that last comment. "I wish I could thank her…"
Then Sakura-chan smacked me upside the head. Hard. "Don't talk like she's dead, idiot!! You'll freaking jinx it!"
My eyes widened. "Ach! Sorry!!"
"Ugh. Never mind. C'mon. We gotta go rescue Sai. And Sasuke. Let's go."
"Right…"
Hinata POV
If anything…I hate hospitals. I mean really hate. To-the-core hate.
So it definitely didn't make me very happy when I awoke to the sound of a heart-monitor and the sight of a very bland room, with Lee-san sitting on a chair next to my stiff bed.
His chin was low against his chest, and he snored lightly. I wondered idly how long I'd been out as I reached out to touch his shoulder. I stopped myself, though, when I saw my arm was covered in bandages and was hooked to up to an IV. An overwhelming shudder rand up and down my spine, making my arms start to ache sharply, and I whined a bit.
This woke him. He was suddenly up on his feet, his hands flying worriedly about, first to check my IV, then to feel my temperature, then to take my pulse, all the while speedily saying that the doctors said not to move too much.
When he finally sat back down, it registered in my head that my arms were still aching, like someone was beating on them like a xylophone. I wondered at that for a moment, and then realized that I was in fact alive. I'd been so ready to die when I stopped Naruto-kun…I was really here. The Kyuubi's chakra hadn't killed me. I let out a sigh of relief. Naruto-kun must be okay, too. I giggled.
"Lee-san?" I mumbled quietly, smiling. "How long have I been asleep?"
He smiled meekly back at me. He spoke in an apologetic tone. "A few days. The doctors had to put you in a medical-induced coma to get all the poison out. You really did spread that poison around too much."
"Where are we? Konoha?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm actually not sure where we are…Just some obscure hospital I managed to find."
I nodded, and we fell silent. But, after a minute or so, all Lee-san's pent-up anxiety seemed to explode from within him, and he began speaking so quickly that I honestly had to concentrate pretty hard to understand a word he was saying.
"I-really-hope-they-let-us-go-now-that-you're-awake. Are-you-in-pain? I-hope-you-can-walk. I-hope-we-get-to-go-home-soon. Sakura-chan's-and-my-six-month-anniversary-is-in-just-a-few-days-and-I-don't-want-to-miss-it. I've-got-something-planned-but-I'm worried. What-if-Sakura-chan-brings-Sasuke-home-and-has-to-work-even-more? Maybe-I-should-just-wait-for-our-one-year-anniversary. Are-you-in-pain? Your-face-was-kind-of-hot. Maybe-it-is-just-the-medicine. I -emember-when-I-was-in-the-hospital-I-always-seemed-to-feel-too-hot. Are-you-in-pain? The-doctor-said-that-there-would-be-some-scarring-because-of-the-poison. Tsunade-sama-can-probably-fix it-though."
He gasped for breath for a second. I took my chance before he could start again.
"Scarring?"
He took a deep breath and spoke at human-speed. "Yes. On your face and ear…and on your arms, too. Chakra burns. You really weren't supposed to touch that red chakra, Hinata-san," he said, smiling.
The way he said that chakra suddenly made a weight that I wasn't aware of was suddenly lifted off my chest. Lee-san wasn't afraid of the chakra, wasn't afraid of Naruto-kun. For some reason, the fact that my poor Naruto-kun hadn't lost a friend made my heart flutter with relief.
"Oh, okay," I finally replied, dazed. Scarring? Eh, it was just as well. Appearances meant nothing to me. What was a scar here or there? It couldn't be that bad…
"Hinata-san. Are you in pain?" His eyes were tight with concern.
Actually, my arms were really starting to bother me, but I wasn't going to admit it out loud. "Oh. Not a lot. I can walk, I think, so you don't have to worry…"
He smiled. "Well, that's good to hear." He was suddenly and very oddly cheerful. "Hinata-san. You should tell Naruto-kun how you feel about him."
My face paled and the uncomfortable ache in my arms flared. How did he know? Wait…I did grab onto a blisteringly-hot chakra monster for Naruto-kun…I guess that would mean something to an insightful guy like Lee-san…But still!
My stutter, which had been missing most of the day yester…three days ago, came back full-blast. "W-w-why sh-sh-should I d-d-d-do th-that, L-Lee-san?!"
"Because. If Naruto-kun finds out that someone loves him, he might back off of Sakura-chan."
He was teasing for the most part, but I could see the longing behind his words in his dark eyes. He winked to lighten the atmosphere, and chuckled.
"Besides, if you don't tell him, how else will he ever figure it out? I don't want to be mean…but he has a tendency to be a little dense when outside of battle." He grinned, still teasing.
Okay, that might have been true, but I wasn't going to admit it out loud. I bit my lip. "I just don't know how to h-handle him…"
He smiled gently. "You'll figure it out, Hinata-san. You're tough."
I averted my gaze, not sure how to reply to that, so I decided not to.
Naruto POV
I could tell he wasn't going to come with us. The moment I saw the pained hatred in his dark eyes, I knew. He had no intention of coming home alive. If we wanted to bring him home, we would have to drag his unconscious from, and when we got home, he would have to be locked up under maximum security. My family couldn't be whole that way…would it ever be whole again?
Not for now…The pain was not quite unbearable. I'd been considering this factor for two and a half years. The pain was…pretty damn substantial, but I could bear it…for the moment at least.
I wasn't even really that scared when Sasuke tried to shove a sword in me. I was angry and saddened by his nonchalance about the aforementioned attempted-fratricide…but not scared. Just really pissed and really depressed.
I knew that my new friendship with Sai was strong when he saved me from my brother's blade, but…I could barely bring myself to care. I was mourning over Sasuke again. I'd…I'd failed him. I still wasn't strong enough to get him to snap out of it…
Sakura-chan would be of no comfort to me here. She was pretty much as traumatized by our mutual realization as I was.
Bushy-Brow was right. She did need to see Sasuke again to be sure of her path. And I could tell by the look on her face as she ran to attack Sasuke…she was extremely happy with her path.
It finally dawned on me. No matter how hard I fought for her, my path would probably never include her the way I wanted it to. Maybe I just…had to find a new path…or someone new to walk it with…I don't know.
I could not allow myself to hurt another friend with my red-hot anger. When I realized that we could do no more in this battle for my brother, I conceded defeat. The day he'd rejoin us would definitely come. But it was not today…
--
--
Sakura-chan was crying. Hard.
"I can't believe we lost him. Again. Does he hate us or something?" Her eyes were red with salt and too many tears. She wiped her face irritably as we walked.
I shook my head. "No. No, he doesn't hate us. I don't think… No, he's fine. He'll come home someday. Quit crying. It's okay."
She shot me a burning glare that was sort of weakened by her wet face. "I can cry if I want to. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but it's kind of been a long"—she sniffled—"a long day…"
"I've noticed," I replied gruffly, licking a cut on my hand.
Sai looked at me curiously. "You are more upset about our failure than you let on, Naruto-kun."
I scoffed. "Our failure? No, it wasn't a failure. It wasn't."
He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "But our mission was to—"
"I know what the damn mission was!" I growled. "But I will not admit defeat."
"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura-chan said, rubbing her eyes.
I blinked. Yeah, I probably should clam down. I didn't want to…hurt anyone again. A pang of guilt stabbed me in the middle of my chest, making it difficult to breathe. "Sakura-chan. You said that Hinata'd be okay, right?"
She gave me a strange smile. "Yeah! Totally. Just some chakra burns. I got a lot of the poison out. Lee-kun's fast, anyway."
She spoke so casually about the…the chakra burns…I ran through my memories again, saw myself baring my teeth like a real monster. "Sakura-chan. I'm sorry I let myself…get like that. He…the snake-bastard, I mean…he said he was going to take Sasuke's body soon. And he said that Hinata was going to die. I couldn't help myself, Sakura-chan. I, I just…I—"
"Naruto, shush. Everything's fine. I'm not angry or anything."
Yamato-sensei and Sai discreetly walked a little faster, out of earshot to our low murmurs. "Sakura-chan, I'm more worried about you being afraid of me than anything else."
She seemed shocked. "Afraid? Of you? Naruto, that's silly. Why would I be afraid of you? If…if you only get like that when your friends are dying, then what the hell should I be afraid of? I don't plan on killing anyone close to you."
I didn't like how nonchalant she was. This was supposed to be traumatizing. I'd pictured this conversation so many times. I just knew, eventually something I'd say would push her over the edge and she would push me away, crying again, asking never to see me again. I flinched away from the vision.
I sighed. "Don't you think I'm a…a monster?"
She snorted. "Naruto, you're a lot of things. Sweet, loving, strong, amazing, funny, goofy, loud, obnoxious, perverted, oblivious, stubborn, hot-tempered…but monstrous? No. No, you're not a monster…" Her eyes dripped a little, and she smirked through her tears. "I don't care what lives inside of you. And anyone else who cares for you…they won't care, either."
"Are you sure?"
"Naruto. No matter how totally platonic my feelings are, I do love you. I loved you yesterday and I sure as hell ain't gonna stop loving you just because of something you can't help. Jesus."
It was nice to hear that she loved me. It made my heart just a little lighter. It didn't even bother me that that love would probably always be platonic. Just to hear the words was enough…
She was crying again. I put an arm around her shoulders. She stiffened, but seemed to understand that I was trying to behave.
She spoke in a whisper. "I just really wanted him back. It was so good to see him. I'm glad he's okay. I'm not angry at him anymore, I don't think. I've been so angry at him for so long. As far as I was concerned, he abandoned me. But…but it wasn't about me. He wasn't trying to hurt me. He didn't leave me. He just left."
She sighed. "You know, at one point, I was so freaking angry at him that I kept on calling him Sasuke-san, and putting –kun and –chan at the end of everyone else's name. Just out of spite! I even said that he wasn't my friend and that I didn't care about him anymore. But he is, and I still do!"
She was definitely talking to herself here. Her words came between sobs. "It's funny. You'd think that I'd…that my feelings would rekindle now that I've seen him again." She was rambling. Tired. "I mean, he is kind of hot. But…when I looked at him…literally, the only thing I could think was…It's time to bring my stupid big brother home. Isn't that amazing?"
Her tears were happy now. She put her arms around me and squeezed tightly. "We'll bring him home someday, Naruto. No worries." She kissed me on the cheek and walked again, her around my waist.
It was at that moment that I wanted to start crying, myself. Stupid Sakura-chan. Being happy all of the sudden. Now I couldn't cry in front of her. The sad atmosphere had dissolved, from her at least. Now it stuck to me like a too-humid-to-be-comfortable fog.
I took my arm away from her now that she didn't need it and walked a little faster, gulping back the embarrassing tears.
(A/N)
And they were like: "Whoooo-ee-oo-eee-ooo-oo-ee-ooohh..."
Musical moment. Sorry... OMG, this came fast! Let's say I finally got some inspiration. X3
YAY! Everybody still loves Naruto. And Naruto's feeling depressed. Oops. Don't know how to fix that quite yet. Or do I? XD
Whoo. Cussing. Double whoops.
Much love.
Miyazaki a2
