Hey everybody, here's another chapter to 'Savior' and for the record, I appreciate all you for reading my story. I'm sorry for the long waits and what not but like I said before, college has been keeping me busy. Now please, enjoy the new chapter.

"Kotov-chan does not own Naruto or any of its characters."

That's it?

"Yea, I disclaimed it for you."

But no, "It took you long enough!" or "Finally!"

"No, I'm thirteen ya' know."

Right…This might turn out to be bad later on.

Chapter 9: Confessions

'Tatsu-kun…' Hima-chan watched her lover as he lay on a hospital bed with bandages rapped from his lower stomach to his neck. His breathing was uneven, but there was nothing she could really do about it. The severity of the wounds was too great and he wasted the last of his energy using the Hiraishin, which transported them directly outside of Konoha's main gates. The nurses at the hospital had stated that the likelihood of him waking up anytime soon was very low and also that the most the medics could do was stabilize him.

Tears fell down the violette's face; he saved her from death even though he was already horribly wounded. 'He sacrifices so much for me…' she lowered head as more tears came down, "Please Tatsu-kun, wake up…"

Naruto lay on his bed with tears in his eyes; he's never seen his Nii-chan in such a condition. There was blood littered all over his body…his blood and he looked…dead.

The blonde shut his eyes, trying to erase the picture from his mind. The thought only brought him pain…pain of losing his Nii-chan. He tried to be optimistic just like his old self, but the reality was clear in his mind…his brother's life was hanging on a thread.

"Naru-kun…" Kyuubi called out his name softly.

"…" He remained silent.

"He's going to be ok." Reassurance was clear in her voice, but it didn't have an effect on him.

Naruto rose from his bed and walked out of his bedroom toward his front door. The nurses wouldn't let him stay to see his brother because of his status within the village. He was going to see his brother…and no ninja, nurse, or villager was going to stop him.

'…Naruto.' Sakura lay in her bed with tears at the brim of her eyes. It's been four years since Naruto's departure and the time has not made the pain go away. He ran away because of all the wrong she and the other kids have done to him…all the wrong she has done to him. How could she let herself stoop so low as to become something she hated so much? How could she ruin something that was so vibrant in her life? How could she break Naruto?

The blonde was somebody that she needed in her life, but she knew he wasn't coming back and she needed to forget about him, to forget about the pain, and focus on her pursuit to happiness.

Tomorrow was another day at the academy and she needed to earn Sasuke's attention.

Naruto scaled up the walls of the hospital toward the window of his brother's room; it was midnight, and most if not all the residents of Konoha should be in for the night…including the hospital employees.

With the window only a few feet away he took one final step to launch himself onto the windows ledge. He carefully lifted the window, which was surprisingly unlocked, and stepped inside too find his Nii-chan still unmoving in the bed with Hima-chan resting in a chair right beside him. Her head was beside Tatsu's leg with her arms being used as her pillow.

Naruto walked to the edge of the bed and carefully sat down. He took one quick glance over at his only sibling to see that his chest was still rising and falling. 'At least…at least he's still breathing…he's still alive.' He shifted his gaze toward the violette and a small smile appeared on his face, 'And so is she.'

The younger blonde rose from the bed and walked over to the sleeping form of Hima-chan, intending on waking her up. He lightly tapped her on the shoulder, which seemed to have done the trick considering that her eyes slowly opened.

"N-Naruto?" she asked through hazy eyes.

"The one and only." He answered quietly in a semi-happy violette glanced over at the unconscious form of Tatsu before sliding her hand under his and squeezing it, 'please…come back to us soon koibito.' As if the tall blonde heard her, his hand tightened around hers causing her to gasp in surprise. Soon after, a smile gripped her face before she let go and stood up, "We'll come visit him tomorrow Naruto."

"That's if they'll let me…" the blonde's tone became angry but then settled to being one of sadness.

"Don't say that, we'll just have to make sure they don't say no to you."

"Unless you can explain to them that I'm not a demon bo-…" he stopped in mid-sentence due to a grin forming on his face. "Henge?"

Hima-chan nodded her head, "Henge."

With that they both jumped out the window into the darkened streets of Konoha.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon of the leaf village, and Uzumaki Naruto was already up and leaving his old apartment. The place hasn't changed at all, give or take the demeaning words that were written on the walls.

Closing the door with a soft click, Naruto began his walk toward the Hokage's office. There needed to be an explanation for his four year absence considering the fact that he left without any warning. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation, 'I don't know how Ojii-san is going to react, for all I know he probably thinks I'm dead.'

"You never know, it's possible that your brother told him before you all left." Kyuubi stated.

Naruto inwardly chuckled, 'Knowing Nii-chan he probably didn't; when we first met he didn't tell me where I could find him; I had to search for him.'

"Hmmm…that is true." Kyuubi chuckled as well.

'That's why I have to prepare myself for a veeery long meeting.'

"I don't think it'll be that bad."

'I hope not.' The blonde had to end the conversation. He found himself already climbing up the stairs toward his Ojii-san's office. He reached the doors to the for-mentioned room only to find it cracked open slightly. He walked up to the door only to stop at the sound of a conversation being held; so he quietly listened.

"Hokage-sama, Tatsu-san's condition is stable but he is still unconscious. The med-nins report stated that he's in a coma like state." One unknown voice explained.

"I see…" this voice was obviously the Hokage's, Naruto could recognize it anywhere. "Keep a watchful eye on him and when he wakes up inform me as soon as possible."

"Hai." There was a 'poof' noise, indicating that the unknown person had exited the room.

"Come in Naruto, we have a lot to discuss."

A loud sigh was audible through the doors, which caused the old Kage to smile. Naruto walked into the office and at first sight the Hokage's face held slight surprise within it.

'The boy has grown a lot.' Thought the old man, it was specifically directed toward the blonde's height. He no longer was the smallest of the group, now he stood at a good 5 feet 7 inches.

"Hi Ojii-san!" Naruto said cheerfully as he ran up and hugged him.

The robe wearing man laughed while hugging back, "It's good to see you too, Naruto." After a few seconds he released himself from the blonde's grasp causing both to go back to their original positions with the Kage sitting down and Naruto standing a couple feet away from him.

Silence engulfed the room until one voice broke the ice, "So Naruto, how have you been?"

"I've been great Ojii-san!" Naruto forced a smile on his face. It was one he used to hide his pain from the world and almost everybody fell for it, but the Hokage wasn't a part of that 'everybody.'

"Naruto, don't hide behind that smile; I know what happened to Tatsu is affecting you greatly."

The blue-eyed teen's smile fell and his expression was one of sadness and hurt. "You always know how I feel huh Ojii-san?" He proceeded to look at him straight in the eye, "I feel…I feel like I can't do anything for him, I mean he's my Nii-chan…and he's done a lot for me in the past four years." He averted his gaze toward his feet, "We've made a lot of memories together and he's the only real family I have. I should have taken the hit instead of him; if I did he wouldn't be in the condition that he's in right now."

"And if you took the hit you would have been in that bed, you know your Nii-chan wouldn't want that. He would sacrifice his life before he would let anything happen to you."

"But-"

"Naruto, you're his otouto he's not going to blame you for something he chose to do, so please, don't blame yourself for the condition he's in now. He's proud of you and he will continue to be no matter what you do."

The blonde thought for a second, in which afterwards a smile formed on his face, "You really think so?"

"I know so." The Kage smiled back. "Now, I need you to explain what happened to him and whom was it that both of you faced."

Nodding his head Naruto began to describe how two men came into his and Tatsu's (he's keeping the existence of Hima-chan a secret) camp asking him to come with them. He then began to describe their attire and he specifically emphasized the cloaks that they were wearing and the red cloud design etched into them. Finally, he ended with descriptions of the battle from beginning to end while leaving out specific parts (such as Hima-chan being the intended target of the fabricated lightning spear).

"….he grabbed onto my arm and the next thing I knew we were in front of Konoha's main gates." Naruto finished, taking a deep breath.

'It's just as I feared, the Akatsuki are finally making their move.' The Hokage stood from his desk and turned his back to look out of the office's windows. "Thank you Naruto...now since you're back you're going to be designated to attend the academy so you can achieve the rank of Genin. You'll start tomorrow seeing as how classes already started, as for now take the rest of the day off."

"Hai, Ojii-san." On that note Naruto turned around and began to walk toward and out of the office door when the Kage's voice caught his ears.

"Welcome back."

"Arigato, Ojii-san." The blonde responded and disappeared out of the office.

Hima-chan slowly opened her eyes due to the sunlight shining on them. Sleeping on Naruto's couch wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world but at least it was something. She slowly rose out of said furniture while pulling the covers (given to her by the younger blonde) off of her. She looked down to see that she was dressed in nothing but a long black T-shirt which was stored in Tatsu's storage scroll. 'Naruto was more than embarrassed when I took off my clothes to put this on.' She laughed softly at the memory from last night.

Flashback…

As soon as they left the hospital that night Naruto had suggested heading back to his old apartment, considering the fact that it was very close. The violette had agreed and they both headed to the desired location. Upon arrival they both began unpacking their belongings that they brought for the trip and had received from various places during it. Finally, both suggested on going to bed since it was past midnight. Directly after they agreed Hima-chan had already proceeded to take her clothes off and Naruto had noticed when she was only in her panties. He caught eye of her breasts and nearly tripped over his own feet as he spun around to give her privacy, all the while a blush was present on his face. The violette giggled before she finally unsealed the long black T and covered herself.

End Flashback…

'He's so innocent, it's cute.' She got up from the couch and walked to the bathroom to prepare herself for the day and the events that lie ahead.

'Four years and this village hasn't changed one bit.' Naruto smiled as he walked down a street that led back to his apartment.

It was true; the village of Konoha hadn't really changed. Sure there were a few new installments but they weren't that noticeable. He turned the corner onto another street and he found himself right at the staircase that led up to his living space.

As he came up the steps with his front door in sight, it opened with Hima-chan walking out of it.

"Hima-chan?" Naruto had a confused look on his face, 'Where's she going?'

"This is good! I was just about to go look for you!" she said happily.

"Wha? Why?"

"Remember what I said last night? We're going to make sure they let you in to see Tatsu-kun."

"Oh right, the henge!"

The violette nodded her head, "Well…go ahead."

With a nod, Naruto complied, "Henge no Jutsu!" and in a poof of smoke the blonde was no longer a blonde; he was now a black-haired boy, his birth marks were no longer present but his eyes were still the captivating blue that displayed every emotion he was feeling.

"Not bad Naruto, but we're going to have to change your clothes too." Hima-chan quickly ran back into the house to retrieve something and the blonde figured it was the for-mentioned clothes. Five minutes passed and the violette came back out with the different attire in her hand in which she tossed at the black-haired boy. Naruto caught the articles of clothing with ease and he individually held each piece in front of him for close observation. The first piece was a short sleeved tee-shirt that was the same shade of blue as his eyes; next was a pair of faded white shinobi pants that had a thick blue stripe running along the sides of both legs, causing it to have a correspondence with the shirt.

Naruto proceeded to look at Hima-chan with a confused expression, "Whose are these?"

The violette grinned, "They're your brothers." She simply stated

"Why would he keep clothes that don't fit him?"

"We were constantly on the move, so there really wasn't a way to get rid of them without leaving a trace."

"What about a Katon jutsu."

Hima-chan shook her head, "That would've have left too much information behind. Burn marks on certain surfaces and ashes of the clothes could have led any enemy ninja straight to us."

Naruto nodded in understanding before he headed inside to change his clothes. A few minutes later he came out in the clothes given to him, fully unrecognizable to the village's society.

"I'm ready to go when you are Hima-chan."

"Then let's go."

'I wonder where they're at right now.' Thought a bored Anko as she popped another stick of dango in her mouth. She had just returned from interrogating a low ranked nuke-nin and how boring that interrogation was. Anko had barely done anything to the guy and he already confessed the necessary information she needed. So now here she was eating lunch at Ichiraku Ramen, thinking about the two blondes that left four years ago. 'They're probably out training or something; those two are exactly alike when it comes to things like that.'

She briefly looked up only to find Ayame looking at that the ceiling while having her hands behind her back; it was obviously a thinking pose.

"Hey Ayame, what's on your mind?" Anko asked with interest.

The brunette staired at the ceiling for a while longer before she brought her gaze down to intercept Anko's. "How long have you had feelings for him?"

"What?"

"How long have you had feelings for Tatsu-kun?"

"What kind of question is that!" a blush was thoroughly visible on the purple-haired Jounin's face.

"An honest one." The brunette answered.

Anko seemed kind of reluctant to speak and it was understandable, considering the fact that when it came to most people trust was something that she couldn't possibly give. But then again, herself and the waitress had been friends for quite a while now and she didn't even know why she hesitated to answer. Ayame was somebody she trusted.

"I…I developed feelings for him a while ago."

"That's a very general answer…" the brunette said with a frown on her face.

Anko's blush deepened a bit and she averted her gaze toward anything that wasn't Ayame, "I don't know how to explain it…the feelings were there but I didn't know what they were; I think I realized them just before he faked his own death."

"You loved him for that long huh?"

"I-I never said I-"

"Anko, those feelings develop into something more as time passes." Ayame said with a small smile on her face.

Anko looked back up at the brunette with a curious expression, "How long have you loved him?"

It's was Ayame's turn to blush at the question, "I-I have for a while."

"That's a very general answer." The Tokubetsu Jounin mocked.

Ayame's blush deepened, "The feelings were they're ever since we were young…and I think I realized I loved him at the exact same time you did."

"He did something that made you realize you did, didn't he?"

The brunette slowly nodded her head, "He swore that he would always be there for me…"

Transition Flashback…

"…no matter what!" Tatsu gave a broad smile and a thumbs up with his right hand which caused Ayame to giggle. After a couple seconds Tatsu's expression changed to one of uncertainty and a blush formed on his face. "And I don't know how to explain it but…I get this feeling when we're together. Tou-san told me it's a special feeling that's more than just liking someone and that I'll find out sooner or later."

A blush now formed on Ayame's face, she knew what feeling he was talking about, 'Okaa-san told me what it was.'

Tatsu continued to talk, "I think I understand it a little bit more…it's the feeling that Kaa-san and Tou-san share."

Before the blonde knew it Ayame had her arms tightly wrapped around his neck with her face buried in the same appendage. "I feel it too Tatsu-kun…it's love, that's what we both feel."

Tatsu wrapped his arms around her waist and responded, "Love huh? And you feel it too?" the brunette nodded into his neck, "Then I'll love you, no matter what." He said in a soft tone.

Ayame separated her head from his neck and now they were staring into each other's eyes. Their faces inched closer until…

End Transition Flashback…

"…he kissed me." The brunette said in a happy tone. The memory always put her in a good mood, always. "What about you? What did he do to make you realize?"

"It…actually was me who did something." She answered barely above a whisper.

Curiosity immediately etched itself on Ayame's face, "Really?"

Anko nodded, "We were walking together after a day of training; that's when I taunted him, saying…

Transition Flahback…

"…I bet you can't catch me!" Anko yelled as she ran pass her companion and toward an open field, laughing all the while.

"You can run as fast as you can Anko-chan, but you know I'll get you!" Tatsu yelled. Without a second thought the thirteen year-old blonde began his pursuit of his 'runaway' friend.

Anko, determined to prove the blonde wrong, poored chakra into her feet causing her speed to increase significantly. She looked over her shoulder to see if her pursuer was behind her, but there was no sign of him. "Ha! Looks like I'm too fast for you!"

"I don't think so."

She quickly shot her head forward only to see the blonde right in front of her with his arms open and his legs bent as if in a catching position. Anko quickly tried to slow herself down to a complete stop but she failed and as a consequence ended up being caught in the blonde's arms. Both of them were sent hurdling over a hill and began rolling down it with both of them still wrapped in each other's arms. Laughter rang out of their lungs until they finally came to a stop at the bottom of the slope.

"Haha…I told you…hahaha…I would catch you!" Tatsu said in-between laughs, unaware of the compromising position both himself and Anko were in.

"Hahaha…that wasn't fair…hahaha!" Anko responded through laughter as well, she too was unaware of the position they were in.

Minutes passed and the laughter died down, causing the two to open their eyes. Immediately they both began to blush as Anko found herself on top of the blue-eyed boy with her face centimeters away from his own.

End Transition Flashback

"That's when I kissed him; he was probably surprised at first because he didn't kiss back for a couple of seconds." She smiled at the fond memory, "But once he did it was like I was on cloud nine."

Ayame giggled a little before she spoke, "I never thought I'd see this side of you, Anko."

A huge blush covered the purplette's face as she glared half-heartedly at the brunette, "S-Shut up!"

"I told you they wouldn't say no to you." Hima-chan chided happily.

"Yea but that's because they didn't recognize me." Naruto said as he chuckled in amusement.

"Ah, who cares about the details?" The violette asked before she opened the door to Tatsu's hospital room. "I'm surprised the whole village isn't trying to shove their way in here to see him."

"It probably has something to do with Ojii-san." The young blonde stated nonchalantly.

"That does make sense; he probably told the hospital employees to keep quiet." Hima-chan made her way to the side Tatsu's bed where he was still unconscious. She ran her hand through his soft blond hair while she observed his wounds.

"Hima-chan…you have extensive healing abilities, right?" Naruto asked in which the violette responded with a nod of her head, "Then why hasn't he healed yet? When you marked him didn't he gain some of your abilities?"

She smiled sadly before answering, "He should have, but his body is rejecting my chakra. It more than likely has something to do with the seal; there must have been some after effects."

"…so Nii-chan's body became accustom to the seals attributes?" she nodded in confirmation, "Is there any way to cancel out the effects?"

"There is…" Both Hima-chan and Naruto jumped at the voice and looked directly at Tatsu's unconscious form, the only thing was, he wasn't unconscious anymore. His eyes were opened halfway, only partially displaying his sapphire eyes which were a little hazy.

"Y-your'e awake!" Hima-chan immediately brought her lips down on his. Though he was in a weakened state, Tatsu forcibly lifted himself up in order to deepen the kiss. The tall blonde ended the exchange and shifted his gaze over toward Naruto, his eyes were covered by his hair and he remained silent.

"Those clothes fit you well, otouto." Tatsu said trying to break the ice.

The black-haired boy lifted his head while fighting tears back. He quickly dispelled the henge, causing his hair to revert back to its original blonde shade and a broad smile formed on his face. "Arigato, Nii-chan." He now became confused, "How are you awake already?"

"I began canceling out the effect of the seal last night, so as a result my body began to heal at a more rapid rate." Tatsu looked back up at Hima-chan, "My senses started coming back to me as well, so when you put your hand in mine I felt it and reacted."

The violette could only smile in response. Even though fear and helplessness gripped her heart during the time Tatsu was unconscious, hope still remained.

And hope can overcome any obstacle…

End of Chapter 9…

Yea, Yea cheezy. Anyway that's it for this chapter folks, stay tuned for the next one which should arrive in the next week. Before you exit the page or what not I'm going to criticize myself for a moment. I don't know why, but it feels like every time I type a chapter it sounds uninteresting and choppy if you know what I mean. So please leave comments for me so I know how you feel about it. Oh, and when you do comment try to be nice about it, I understand if you have many dislikes but I'd rather not read an insulting comment. Thanks, and hasta la vista!