Whirlpool's Rebirth
I don't own Naruto and Katsuo Uesugi belongs to Trife. Satoru Yasuhiro is my OC.
Authors note: I'm terribly sorry about how long this chapter took to get out but I was having a horrible case of writers block. I want to thank many of my reviewers for their reviews. Xtrepe Nobody, Illidan the Half Demon, Blaze501, Kitsune gun, and Silver warrior were some of my favorite reviews to read. But I am tired of the people who keep pretty much demanding that I turn Naruto into this harsh leader that gets pissed at Konoha for everything and anything every chapter review. That is a very OOC Naruto and I don't want to do that. I know that my Naruto is somewhat OOC but he still pretty much sticks to his character. I had ORIGINALY thougth that if I simply ignored these reviews people would get it though their heads that Naruto would never be like that, but apparently not. I'm not going to state names but you people know who you are, please stop making this demands or if you want suggestions.
That aside we are getting close to the end of this fanfiction, I'm not sure how many more chapters are left but I do know that Whirlpool's rebirth is nearing it's end. I have already thought of a few other Stories to start on and have posted them on my Author's page, so if you want you can get an idea on what I'll be writing next.
Chapter 10: The Need to Understand
Tsunade felt restless as she thought about the events that had transpired over the last two months. When she had gotten Karin's letter detailing what Danzo had done, she was furious. After he returned and was quickly detained she made it her top priority to find out every little secret the old council member had and to make sure he didn't see light again. Her anger became even worse once she inspected his bizarre arm and found her grandfather's DNA integrated into it. The Interrogation team tried to get as much information out of Danzo as possible but the man had gone out of his way to insure no Yamanaka could probe his mind. This only left them with what they could get him to talk about.
She had been waiting patiently for Naruto to demand something from Danzo's action. She knew that the most he would ask for is the old man to be imprisoned but she wouldn't blame him if he asked for the man's death, she herself had been tempted to remove each and every Sharingon eye along with the her grandfather's cells. The pain alone would have put Danzo into shock and most likely kill him. Instead she simply had the arm amputated from his body and the Sharingon hidden behind his bandaged face removed along with the others in the arm.
After two weeks of sending letters and not getting a reply she had become worried. Seeing that she wouldn't get an answer Tsunade decided to send Hinata and her two team mates to Uzu seeing as they had the most experience traveling there and would be able to travel faster. Tsunade hadn't been disappointed when four days later she received a letter from Hinata stating that Naruto was just a little depressed. She couldn't imagine what would have Naruto of all people depressed, and for two weeks?
Unsure of whether letting Hinata stay in Uzu on an unofficial mission was a good idea or not she finally gave into the idea when she considered that the two needed the time together.
It had only been a week after letting Hinata stay in Uzu that Tsunade found out that Jiraiya had died fighting the Akatsuki leader. She knew that telling Naruto about Jiraiya's death might not be a good idea considering his current depression but she felt he deserved to know. That had been nearly a month and a half ago.
Uzu
Naruto was in his office working on the last of the paper work. In truth he hadn't been doing well for the past two months and if it wasn't for Hinata he most likely wouldn't be improving. Speaking of said girl he looked over to one of the couches and found her curled up and asleep. Naruto hadn't been sleeping well lately and she had decided to stay up with him.
He had tried time and time again to convince her to sleep without him and at one point tried to fake being asleep. In short, it didn't work.
After signing the last document for approval he moved over to the couch and gently lifted Hinata's head so that it was lying on his lap. She seemed to recognize his warmth and smiled as she began moving to be more comfortable on him. The two had grown accustomed to sleeping together and had trouble (even more for Naruto) sleeping without the presence of the other.
They hadn't repeated their night during the festival for multiple reasons. Hinata was too worried about Naruto to think about the idea and Naruto had been distracted by both Sasuke's and Jiraiya's deaths.
It was odd thinking about the old perv. Despite what Naruto said to him back in Konoha he still held a lot of respect for the man. Deep down he still cared for Jiraiya and gave him credit for everything he had in life now. If it hadn't been for Jiraiya then he wouldn't have discovered who his parents were or been able to find Uzu. And if he didn't find Uzu he would have never have become as strong as he was. Another thought came to Naruto's mind. If he didn't find Uzu, would he have noticed Hinata? Would he still be head over heels for Sakura?
One of his hands began to pet Hinata's head as he thought about the many what ifs and maybes.
The thought of Sakura only reminded him of his broken promise. Normally he trusted Hinata not to tell anyone in Konoha about Uzu secrets but Sasuke's death had been the one exception. Despite Danzo knowing what had happened Naruto felt sure the old councilman wouldn't tell anyone else. He didn't want to think about what Sakura's or Kakashi's reactions would be if they found out. Sakura had completely avoided him when she found out that he had left the village, he didn't want to know what she would think of him for killing her crush.
"Stop thinking about it."
Naruto looked down to see Hinata awake with one of her hands reaching up to his face. He put his hand on top of hers and allowed her hand to rub against his cheek.
"I've tried but-"
"No buts." interrupted Hinata "You can't change what has happened. Even if you were still a Konoha nin there is nothing you could have done about Jiraiya. And you can't keep beating yourself up for killing Sasuke."
Naruto stayed silent, too content in enjoying the sensation Hinata's hand created against his skin.
Hinata felt that her words didn't get through to him. With this thought in mind she removed her hand.
The loss in warmth had quickly registered in Naruto's mind, but before he could think further he had been pushed into lying down on the couch as Hinata sat on top of him with her hands on his shoulders.
"Naruto... you have to stop beating yourself up. This isn't like you. You usually look so confident and powerful. We're all worried, me, Karin, Tsunade, and even Tayuya."
Staring at her, Naruto couldn't help but notice the determination in Hinata's eyes.
"Sasuke was out of chakra. I could have simply captured him."
Hinata shook her head. "You didn't know that for sure. He tried to kill you multiple times, if you didn't finish him while you had the chance then he could have killed you. You were in just as bad of shape as him."
Naruto went to argue but Hinata wouldn't let him.
"Anyone in your situation would have done the same."
"Even choke him to death?" asked Naruto not truly believing there wasn't another way.
Hinata thought for a second before replying.
"Naruto" she said making sure he was listening to her.
"You were low on chakra and grabbing a weapon from one of your seals was impossible at the moment. If you grabbed him anywhere else he could have slipped out. What would he do if he lived? You've been doing nothing but thinking about if there was another way for the fight to end. But have you been thinking about what he would do if you weren't able to beat him."
Hinata's questions began to form new questions in Naruto's mind. Seeing a look of wonder on Naruto's face Hinata pressed on in hopes of finally getting through to her boyfriend.
"What if he turned his vengeance on you? Would he simply try and fight you again or... would he find other means to hurt you. You've told me before that he has already gone for Karin once. Would he stop there, or would he have gone for Tayuya and me as well."
'I would sooner watch Konoha burn to the ground before I return there'
Sasuke's words rang through his head as he thought about what he would do if given the chance.
Various scenes played through Naruto's head and Hinata's watched him closely. A look of confusion turned to fear and slowly after that it turned to angered determination.
"NO." he accidentally shouted out.
His sudden outburst had surprised a few nins in the building close enough to hear it.
Hinata smiled as she finally saw a more familiar Naruto. He wasn't back to one hundred percent, but at least he was over the incident. She leaned down and gave him a chaste kiss. Feeling him kiss back brought a smile to her face, even more when she felt the kiss grow into a more heated kiss and Naruto's hands hold her to him. This was the Naruto she loved, the man that held her with a strong grip as if the idea of letting go was absurd, not the man that had held her through the past month as if his hands would dirty her if he wasn't careful.
Unfortunately like usual this didn't last long.
"Sir is everything ok?" asked a Chunin who opened the office door.
'That is it I am going to put a seal on that door that automatically locks the door once it closes.' thought Naruto as he gave the stunned man a glare.
A Few Days Later
It had taken a little longer than Hinata wanted but she had finally gotten Naruto back to how he usually was. She could still see signs that he still thought about Sasuke's death but he was no longer beating himself over it.
Finally able to think Naruto got to doing the things he had planned to work on months ago. As he made his way to the morgue he thought of how stupid he had been for not doing this sooner. Once inside He walked over to one side of the wall and opened two cabinets and pulled out the sliding panels that held both Sasuke's body and Kakazu's body.
Confirming that both bodies were real, he walked over to another wall that had a similar cabinet except there was only one and it had a few knobs and meters on the side. Before opening the cabinet he turned one of the knobs all the way. Afterwards he opened it and laid Kakazu's body on the slab and pushed the body in. Before closing the cabinet he performed a quick low level fire jutsu igniting the gas that had been filling the open space inside.
Naruto and his medic team had been thoroughly disgusted when they found out the truth about Kakazu's forbidden jutsu and how it worked. They came to this discovery when they found two extra hearts of different sizes inside the man. The different sized hearts told Naruto all he needed to know and had ordered all work on recreating the jutsu forever canceled. He wouldn't allow his ninja to become monsters like Kakazu had done to himself.
A few more minutes later and Naruto pushed a button next to the cabinet. Opening the cabinet revealed only ashes. Pulling out an urn and small broom from one of the drawers nearby, he went on to sweep the ashes into the urn before sealing it. Later the urn would be buried in an unmarked grave. Everyone deserved to be buried, and despite the fact of what the dead man did to his village it was better than leaving his body out for someone to steal or investigate.
Picking up Sasuke he proceeded to do the same with him. Naruto had considered taking Sasuke's still Sharingon transformed eyes and keeping them to give to one of his ninja. But he quickly threw this idea away when he thought about the weaknesses a non-Uchiha had from using the Sharingon. He rather have battle ready ninja that would learn to rely on their own strength than ninja who were given an advantage at the cost being exhausted easily.
Besides they wouldn't be able to pass it on to other generations. With the body burned to ashes he put them in another urn except this time he marked it with a pen he kept on him. The urn was now marked with a mock Uchiha fan, he didn't know when but he would eventually send it to Konoha. But he would only do that when he was prepared to tell them what had happened.
Later That Day
With the sun setting Naruto made his way back home. Once he was done with dealing with the two bodies he spent the rest of the day catching up on some training. Hinata had joined him but ended up heading back before him. Thinking about Hinata made Naruto realize that they hadn't done much together lately. He felt bad that she had spent most of her time here helping him. As he walked up to his house he resolved that he would do something special for her later.
But at the moment a shower was a must have. His training had not been serious but more of a way to keep in shape. While it hadn't tired his body out, the work out along with the hot day had left most his body drenched in sweat and his body temperature just didn't seem like it wanted to cool down.
Walking in and hearing the shower already on had greatly dropped his spirit. He reminded himself that Hinata had not been long since she left the training ground and should have figured that she would want one. Walking into his room he began stripping down until he was only in his boxers. He could wait to take a shower but there was no way he was going to wear those heavy clothes at the same time.
When his bathroom door opened and revealed Hinata, still dressed in the same clothes she trained in and blushing, Naruto would admit to being a little confused.
"Naruto I started the shower for you." said Hinata.
Naruto blinked a few times before giving a small thank you. Hinata closed the door behind him and left Naruto alone. He had heard of times that a girl would prepare a bath or shower for their boyfriend or vice-versa, but he never thought it would happen to him. Then again the stories he did hear usually involved the girl or boy sneaking into the shower or bath with their partner. He grinned at the idea of shy Hinata jumping into the shower with him
Before deciding to get in Naruto tested the water. Oh how he loved Hinata, she had set the temperature so that it was cool yet not to the point that he would be freezing. He needed a way to cool down right now and she had given him just that. The fact that she had set the water in such a way cemented his thoughts that she wouldn't join him.
Quickly removing the last article of clothing, he moved under the cascade of water and let out a long sigh when the water drizzled down his body. He stood there for several minutes just letting the water flow down him. Ironically he froze when he felt two soft mounds of flesh press against his back and a pair of arms wrap around his stomach.
"H-Hinata?"
His answer was for the body behind him to press itself against him even more and the hands in front to begin gliding up and down his body. Although he didn't see it Hinata had nodded. Originally she had just planned to start the bath for him, but when she saw that Karin and Tayuya were not in the house she wanted to take advantage of it. She took in the details of Naruto. With his hair wet it had stuck to the sides of his face and down his back. His muscles were even more noticeable with how the light reflected off parts of his slick body. With her arms busy taking in all the details of the front of his body she hadn't noticed that how she began to rub her breast up and down his back.
Naruto had finally had enough of cooling down and turned on the hot water, he didn't want Hinata to freeze as well. The feel of her breast on his back and her almost inaudible breathing was driving him crazy. Hinata suddenly stopped altogether when one of her hands had gone down further then she meant to. Naruto watched as one of her hands hesitantly drifted slowly down to his erection. Her hand withdrew a little when she had touched it, but slowly wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed.
His shoulders shook as his hands were pressed against the tiled wall and he tried to bite back a groan. He finally failed to hold it back when her soft hand had begun to move up and down the length of his erection.
Hearing his groan had only fueled Hinata's desire to increase Naruto's pleasure. Activating her Byakugan she began taking notice of what did and didn't get Naruto to groan or turn him on even more.
Another minute of this was all Naruto could take. Turning around and surprising Hinata, Naruto slammed both of them against one of the walls. He didn't enter her but he made sure to slide his entire length up and against her lower lips. A shuddering moan was his reward and only encouraged him to smash his lips against hers. She quickly returned the kiss and began moaning again when she felt his hands exploring every inch of her body.
He was just as hesitant as Hinata was when it came to touching her lower body despite his earlier action. Parting their lips he began kissing her breast until he brushed against one of her nipples. Her quick intake of air made him curious and repeat the action. Her reaction wasn't exactly the same but he could see that she was sensitive there. Taking one of her nipples in his mouth he sucked on it while his hand groped her other breast.
Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's head, in her mind it was the only thing she could do to keep herself from sliding down the wall. She had a hard enough time keeping up with everything he was doing to her. Other than what he was doing to your breast there was his other hand that had preoccupied itself with rubbing her sex.
Every now and then she could feel one of his fingers slide in between her lips. After a few seconds rubbing her Naruto decided to explore the inside of her with his middle finger. Hinata head snapped back when she felt herself invaded and let out a small whimpering moan. Naruto on the other hand was too distracted by the feeling of finger was experiencing. He had never thought that she could ever be this hot and slick inside.
Naruto had finally released Hinata's hard nipple. At the moment his mind felt foggy and he was going completely on instinct. He felt his hard member throbbing against Hinata's leg and felt the urge to take her. Naruto positioned himself at her entrance before looking at her face. He felt a little dismayed at what he saw. It wasn't fear he saw but uncertainty.
His mind went back and forth on what to do. They promised if they ever got this far and that one of them was unsure that the other wouldn't force it.
Hinata's heart beats were going a mile a minute. She had planned to come this far, but when Naruto began positioning himself she wasn't sure if she was ready yet. Seeing the look of need on Naruto's face had made her feel bad. It was she who started this and now she was having second thoughts. She started getting the nerve to tell him it was ok and to go ahead, but suddenly Naruto was repositioning both of them.
Hinata now found herself resting her back against Naruto's chest as Naruto was slightly leaning against the wall with one hand laid lightly on her stomach while the other was just an inch above her sex.
"N-Naruto wha aaahhhhh."
Her question was replaced with a moan when Naruto spread her lower lips open and slid his entire length across her sex again.
"Hinata... please squeeze your legs together." said Naruto in an almost begging tone.
He wasn't going to force her to do something she didn't want to, but at the same time he needed a release badly and there was no way he could just stop right now. Hinata did as he said, and could feel her upper thighs surround his erection. Naruto took his time as he began to move his hip back and forth in between her legs, after a while he began to pick up speed.
It was strange for Hinata to watch as his sex would appear and disappear and even more when she thought about how good the simplistic act was actually making her feel. Especially when he brushed her clit each time he thrust forward.
It didn't take long for the two to be reduced to heavy breathing and moans. Naruto was trying his best to out last Hinata. He had thought of this position with the intent of both of them releasing. Luckily if the moans coming from Hinata were anything to guess on then she was enjoying this as well. Unfortunately he could feel himself nearing his limit.
Hinata let out long deafening moan and despite the warm water that was raining down on both of them Naruto could feel her release spread over his length as he continued to piston his hip. No longer having a reason to hold back Naruto slammed his hips one last time before allowing himself to release. His groan was muffled as he bit down on Hinata's shoulder.
Naruto legs felt as if all the strength in them was gone, something that had confused him when he thought about the fact that he hadn't even really used them, and he slowly slid down the wall taking Hinata with him. The two stayed cuddled together and despite the water that was falling against their faces they were rather comfortable. Once they had regained their strength they began washing each other and shortly afterwards went to bed.
They didn't even bother putting any clothes on and just simply pulled the covers over them.
The next morning had been rather awkward when the two realized that Karin and Tayuya had both come home some time during their shower and had pretty much heard everything. It wasn't really that big of a house and Naruto was beginning to regret his decision of not building a bigger one sooner. Especially when Tayuya pointed out that Hinata had a rather nice bruise forming on her shoulder. This comment had caused Naruto to choke on his current drink.
He hadn't even realized he left a mark on Hinata and had sent her an apologetic look once he himself saw the mark from his bite.
"It's ok Naruto, I no you didn't mean to hurt me." whispered Hinata.
Despite her reassuring words he couldn't help but feel bad about it.
Once Tayuya had gotten her fill of teasing the young couple she left the house to get some shopping done. Thankfully Karin had simply suggested that they have their fun somewhere that others didn't also live, she hinted about a hotel but both Hinata and Naruto didn't like that idea. Yes they would have privacy but then again making love on top of a bed that several others did the same just didn't sound like a good idea. Clean sheets or not.
Once they were done talking Naruto put on his Kage robes and headed for the Uzukage tower with Hinata.
It had been several hours since Naruto arrived at his office. Satoru had just come back from Konoha after delivering a message from Hinata to Tsunade informing her that Naruto was doing ok. Ever since Satoru had perfected how to create clay birds he could ride upon they had decided to have him deliver any important messages. With his skills in wind chakra he could fly higher than any living bird without needing to worry about oxygen. If the air got thin then all he had to do was gather what little there was to concentrate around him.
Also thanks to the fact that he could fly so high it made it to where people on the ground would simply think a small bird was flying in the air.
Other than Satoru returning nothing else happened other than assigning a few missions and looking over a little paper work. That was until a loud crash grabbed Naruto's and Hinata's attention causing both of them to look out the window. When Naruto saw a brown two headed dog that was several stories tall his first thoughts were to blame the Inuzuka but looking closer he saw that the dog had strange ripple like purple eyes and a large piercing through it's mouth.
No sooner had he noticed that Hinata pointed out a figure on a nearby building with medium orange hair and an Akatsuki cloak adorned. Naruto began getting ready to storm out of his office when several other sections of the village were rocked with explosions and noticed that several other Akatsuki wearing cloaked figures were attacking as well.
Before leaving Naruto pulled out two communicators along with radios and handed Hinata one while he attached his own.
"Hinata, I know better than to tell you just to hide while Uzu takes care of this, so please be careful." said Naruto as he adjusted the ear piece and microphone.
Hinata gave a subtle nod. She had been improving greatly, he had seen this. But Naruto couldn't help but worry about her.
"All Anbu and Jonin split up into groups and engage the Akatsuki threat. Chunin rank and below are to focus on evacuating civilians to the shelters, if you run into any Akatsuki you are to flee on sight, your main concern should be the safety of the civilians. There is one target located in sector 3, I will deal with this one on my own while the rest of you deal with the others. Karin are you there?" said Naruto
Naruto heard static for a second before Karin responded.
"Yes Naruto I'm here."
"Good what can you tell me about the enemies?"
Karin took a second to gather as much info as she could. "Not much at the moment. I can tell you that there are at least seven of them in the village... strange it feels like six of them share the same chakra."
Naruto began jumping from roof top to roof top as he made his way to his intended target, Hinata following closely behind him.
"Karin I need you to help organize the groups and inform them of the enemies' location, after you've done that please try to figure out what is with the Akatsuki member's chakra."
"Will do." replied Karin
Naruto made a few hand seals and unleashed a barrage of invisible wind blades at the giant multi-headed dog. The blades cut through the dog like a hot knife through butter and effectively cutting the dog into three halves before the dog disappeared into a puff of smoke. With the giant summon no longer a problem, Naruto looked around trying to find the summoner.
"Naruto behind you!" yelled Hinata.
Looking behind him, Naruto saw a distortion in the air and jumped just in time to avoid becoming part of the rubble the building he was standing on became. For a split second he saw a green gecko like summon before it disappeared again. Hinata join him on the building he now stood on.
"I can see him." said Hinata with her Byakugan flaring.
"Tell me where he is and I'll blast him." said Naruto as he formed a single hand seal and began gathering chakra in his mouth.
Hinata waited a few seconds before giving directions.
"Eight feet from your eleven."
Naruto quickly spun facing said area and released three boil chakra infused Water Bullets. One of his shots missed but the other two hit the gecko head on and began eating away at the creatures skin disabling it's invisibility. The summon opened its mouth to reveal an orange hair young girl wearing an Akatsuki cloak with various piercings on her face and body. Her eyes were the same light purple color with ripple patterns just like her summons.
The girl gave a quick look at the damage done to her giant lizard before addressing Naruto.
"Long red hair with pale complexion and the ability to use Boil jutsu, and I assume Ice jutsu as well, you must be the Nine-tails jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto studied his opponent carefully. "For someone that's supposed to be a part of Akatsuki I'd expect you to know what I look like."
The girl's voice was cold and emotionless. "What you look like is of no concern now. I'll give you a choice, If you come with me peacefully I'll spare your village."
"Hah as if, you already attacked us and we aren't so weak that we can't defend ourselves from seven people, no matter how strong." said Naruto defiantly.
The girl shook her head. "My offer is not extended to now but for once our plans are completed. Your village is new and has not been steeped in war. It has not been the cause of others pain... yet. Come with me and your village will be shown favor, I'm sure as its leader you would want what's best for it."
"Speaking of plans. What do you plan to do with the Tailed Beasts?"
The sound of battle could be heard as the three stood there silent.
"I told Jiraiya, I guess it would only be fitting to teach his last student what my plans are."
Naruto tensed. Tsunade's letter had told him that Jiraiya had died fighting the Akatsuki leader. If Jiraiya had been told Akatsuki's plan and been unable to tell the other's that could mean only one thing.
'This girl is the leader of Akatsuki?'
"Pain, everything that feels it can grow from it. Through pain we can understand each other. The only problem is that while some have suffered and grown from that there are those that have gained from another's pain. Wars are started in the hopes to gain something and while other's gain someone must lose. Peace is my true goal. But as long as the world as an entirety does not know true pain then there will never be peace. That is where you and the other jinchuriki come in place. Using the power of the Tailed Beasts I'll create a forbidden jutsu that will have the power to destroy entire villages. I will monopolize this forbidden jutsu to different villages and they will use it to enact war on each other. In the end, once the villages have destroyed each other, then and only then will the survivors know true pain."
Naruto and Hinata couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"That's horrible" whispered Hinata.
Naruto nodded his head in agreement. "You're insane. Your so called peace will only come at the cost of millions of lives. How can you call something peace when it is created only through destruction."
"I did not expect you to understand, especially when you yourself have not experienced the pain I have felt." said the female Akatsuki.
'Once again someone who believes their pain out weighs everyone's.' thought Naruto.
"Well I guess we're back to step one then." said Naruto as he began forming a series of hand seals.
Tayuya growled as she had been forced back by yet another missile launched towards her. The bald headed Akatsuki had done nothing but launch powerful projectiles at her and even her summons were having trouble dealing with him. The man had to be the strangest thing she had ever seen. His head neck didn't appear to have any angles and his arms were apparently detachable and held several hidden compartments to hold his explosives.
She would have tried to put him in a genjutsu but she wasn't being given the time to play her notes other than to command her summons to keep him from attacking her, it also didn't help that he didn't have any ears from what she could see. Another thing that was pissing her off was how durable this body seemed. Once his head grew two more faces and his cloak fell off to reveal that he had four extra arms along with some kind of saw blade tail Tayuya couldn't call him human any more.
Her distraction had nearly cost her when another Akatsuki with long orange hair, several piercings, and the same eyes as the other's snuck up behind her. He had nearly grabbed the top of her head before a large clay bird swooped down and carried him off before self destructing.
Hearing the explosion from behind Tayuya saw the debris of the Akatsuki fall down and Satoru on one of his clay birds hovering nearby. She chuckled when she saw that he was wearing the same costume he wore during the festival. He had taking a liking to it.
Using this chance Tayuya sent a few signals using her hands. Satoru nodded to show he understood the silent signal from Tayuya. Once Satoru began engaging the six armed Akatsuki Tayuya began playing a new song. Her three demons opened their mouths to produce long austral like beings with little to describe them other than the mouths and sharp teethes. The astral monsters instantly sought out the Akatsuki to devour his chakra.
Karin began scribbling down the details from the reports she was getting while simultaneously giving orders to the other units. Behind her various wounded ninja and civilians alike were being gathered and treated within the underground shelter. The number of wounded were increasing to the point that Karin didn't have a choice but to call in one of there more powerful ninja to help with the injured.
"Katsuo I need you to fall back towards the shelter."
"As you wish Lady Karin."
Looking at all the data she had gathered she didn't know what to think.
'All targets are Akatsuki, wearing various large and abnormal piercings along with having orange hair except for two. One is the bald one while the other is a blue haired female. Also six of them share the same Rinnegan eyes, but that shouldn't be possible as none of them exhibit similar powers what so ever. In fact they seem keen on only using one type of ability or skill each.'
Karin tapped her pen repeatedly against the desk as she thought over all the information.
She had let out of cry when Katsuo had laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Lady Karin you called me her."
Karin adjusted her glasses so that the light reflected off them.
"Right I need you to tend to the wounded."
Katsuo gave a quick bow before leaving. Once he was gone Karin took a deep breathe to calm her nerves before going back to what she was working on.
Hinata leapt back as two explosive notes flew by her. With her Byakugan active she could easily tell the difference between the Blue haired woman's regular pieces of paper and the explosive ones she had hidden within the storm of paper slips. Though this did not stop Hinata from ignoring the other pieces as she had found out that each piece was as sharp as any kunai.
The paper wielding Akatsuki in the air had taken on an angle like appearance once she had learned that trying to smother the Hyuga was a mistake as Hinata had simply used a burst of chakra to free herself and followed up with rotating her hands forming a sphere of chakra around herself and destroying any pieces within the radius.
Activating her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, Hinata's hands were soon covered by two lion head shrouds of chakra. Instead of dodging or performing her Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to protect herself, Hinata charged straight at the barrage of papers while effortlessly swatting away any of the pieces in her path and dodging the explosive ones.
With this new development the Akatsuki women had been forced to retreat out of range of Hinata's reach.
With the brief pause in her fight Hinata realized that Naruto nor the other Akatsuki was not in her sight. She began focusing on extending her sights in hope of finding him. This was instantly put to a stop when her opponent started the fight once more.
'This girl is too confident.'
This was the thought that ran through Naruto's head as he had chased after the Akatsuki as she led him to the ocean. Not only had she separated her and him from Hinata and that other Akatsuki, but she also gave him an infinite source of water for his ninjutsu. The fight continued once they were near one of the whirlpools that outlined the border of Uzu.
The girl performed another set of hand seals summoning another type of animal bearing weird piercings. Naruto had long figured that Pain, as she called herself either favored summoning or it was simply all she could do. To Naruto this didn't make any sense when considering how taxing summons were and he highly doubted that the leader of Akatsuki would be strong enough with just summons alone.
Naruto pushed those thoughts away as he focused on the giant crab in front of him. His opponent had been annoying him with the endless amounts of summons, so a cruel thought entered his head when he saw the crab disappear into the waters depth.
Forming a few hand seals he prepared to roast the crab with a fire jutsu the second it emerged. Sure enough a few seconds later the crab had tried to grab him from behind only for Naruto to back flip behind it and blast it. A shrill shriek filled the air before it a cloud of smoke formed indicating that it had either died or returned back to its home.
Naruto's victory was short lived as five other clouds of smoke appeared and dissipated to reveal five other Akatsuki plus the original summoner. Looking at their faces Naruto couldn't believe the similarities between them.
Hinata took a few deep breathes trying to calm herself. The blue haired paper user had just retreated and she could hear others on the radio confirming that the other invaders had retreated as well.
It was when Karen began yelling Naruto's name over the radio that she realized that she had yet heard his voice over the radio.
Activating her eyes she began scoping out looking every where for a sign of Naruto.
"Karin this is Hinata, can you tell me where Naruto is?"
"Hinata he's stuck fighting six of them at the borders of the island! You're the closest to his location, it'll take the others about twenty to thirty minutes to reach his location. He's directly north of your current position, you're the only one close enough to give him back up!" said Karen
Hinata didn't need to be told twice before she began jumping from tree to tree. But something troubled her about what Karen said.
"Karen you said he was fighting six of them. Where's the seventh one, the one I was fighting."
A few seconds passed by before Karen could respond.
"Strange she's heading to another spot. Be careful I sense another chakra signature with her, I don't know what's going on but I'll focus on them and warn you if anything happens."
Hinata gave a quick thank you before increasing her speed towards Naruto.
Naruto would admit that he had been in some pretty bad positions before, but this took the cake. He had six Akatsuki to fight and no matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to get the drop on any of them. What was worse was that the six arm freak had destroyed his radio, so any information he could have asked for was inaccessible.
Though in truth he had begun to figure out a few things thanks to shadow clones. So far the things he learned was to never allow either the long haired skinny male or the short haired buff guy to grab any part of him. The skinny guy could rip his soul out just by touching his scalp and the Buff looking guy would summon some bizarre demon head that pretty much did what the skinny guy did.
Either way if one of those guys touched him this fight was over. Then there was the somewhat pudgy guy that could absorb every one of his jutsu, the idea that the man could probably absorb his chakra by simply touching him wasn't too far fetched. So that was now three guys he couldn't allow to touch him.
The six arm freak as Naruto preferred to call him seemed to serve multiple purposes. Long range ballistics, taijutsu expert, and above all human shield. No matter how hard Naruto would throw a punch the guy just seemed to absorb what ever hit he threw at him. This especially got annoying when Naruto would have the drop on one of the others and just as he was about to break their neck, the six arm freak would appear out of no where and block it receiving no damage at all.
Of course there was the summoner and her animals jumping in the fight. But the last one was causing some of the most problems. Apparently the one with the spiky orange hair, that reminded him of how he uses to have his blonde hair, could use some kind of force to push him away or pull him towards him. If that wasn't bad enough they were all fast and seemed just as strong as the other in the strength department.
If he was just fighting one of them it would probably be no problem, but with all six of them he was lucky to have various ways to use his shadow clones and water clones as human shields or escape goats. Naruto knew that he wouldn't be able to turn things around if he couldn't take out at least just one of them.
Once again he felt the tale tell signs that he was being pulled and instantly created a water clone to switch places with. His plan had been successful as he watched a saw blade cut through his air borne clone but he had to leap to the left as the chakra draining Akatsuki had made a grab for him. It was then that he saw that the six arm guy was behind him.
The chain saw like blade scraped across Naruto's side, leaving a deep gash and trails of blood leaking down the side of his kimono. But as far as Naruto was concerned this was a good sacrifice in order to plow through the freak with his Rasengan. He wasn't too surprised to see gears among other mechanical parts to fly through the air as his jutsu tore through the man.
"One done, five to go" said Naruto taking pained breathes of air.
Looking around Naruto saw that all but one of the Akatsuki was focused on him. The one that wasn't focused on him was the slightly buff looking guy that could summon the demon head. He wasn't looking at Naruto but towards the remains of the six armed Akatsuki.
Narrowing his eye, Naruto chose his next target. He didn't know why that guy wasn't focusing on him, but he wasn't going to pass that chance up to destroy him. Only problem was the guy standing a little bit in front of his target, the one that could push and pull him.
A puff of smoke and a toss later showed a giant shuriken heading for Naruto's next target. But the orange spiky haired Akatsuki held out his hand.
"Almighty Push"
Once again an invisible force came from the man and knocked the shuriken out of the air. Every Akatsuki focused back on Naruto. That was until he turned into a puff of smoke and the sound of water splashing occurred next to the force using man. By the time they looked at the Naruto that had just emerged from the water he had already grabbed the air borne shuriken and thrown it back at his target.
The force using Akatsuki had mad a desperate attempt to save the man by pulling him towards him, unfortunately for him the shuriken had cut clean through the man's neck. Instead of the whole man, only a head-less corpse came to him.
"Two down!" said Naruto in an obviously tired voice.
Naruto didn't have much time to think as he was pulled violently towards the spiky haired Akatsuki once again by an invisible force and stabbed in his abdomen with some kind of black chakra rod. His chakra network had gone haywire the second the black material punctured his skin. Luckily the Akatsuki hadn't been able to get a hold of him before he sank into the water. Without a second thought he ripped the rod from his body.
Looking up he saw all four remaining Akatsuki looking around and waiting for him to resurface. He wasn't about to do that and instead allowed himself to sink to the bottom of the ocean floor. His enemies apparently were not going to chase after him and he planned on using that time to think up a good plan before reengaging them.
A smile appeared on Naruto's face when he noticed the cyclones from one of the whirlpools off in the distance. Taking another glance up he saw the positions of the people above him.
'Looks like the chakra absorbing guy is sticking close to that guy that stabbed me, so that leaves only soul stealer and little miss summons.'
In a section of the forest nearby.
A strange looking tree held within it two people, one was the blue haired paper user known as Konan and next to her was her friend and partner Nagato or as he called himself now of days Pain.
The man had red medium length hair that nearly covered his face and the purple ring ripple eyes in his head known as the Rinnegan. His body looked beyond malnourished as he was skinny enough to see his skeletal structure through his skin. But this was the least frightening thing compared to the several black rods that protruded from his back and the six legged mechanical device his lower body was held in.
Pain focused on the fight seeing everything they saw and controlling the last of the six corpse's (or the six paths of pain as he called them) that were still able to fight. He had considered sending the Preta path to go down below and drain Naruto of his chakra, but quickly decided against it when he considered that Naruto could just as easily take a kunai to it's skull.
If Naruto had not killed the Naraka path then Pain would have sent the Preta path anyway. But without the revival abilities of the Naraka path it was too much of a risk in losing another path for the duration of the fight. So now he simply waited for Naruto to show himself.
Pain had known about the whirlpools that surrounded the island that was Uzu. It wasn't really hard to get around when he had his Asura path throw the Animal path over one of them and summon the rest over. Looking with his eyes he could see that the whirlpools were constructed from chakra and simply believed that they were beyond the young Kage's understanding and ability.
So of course he never expected the whirlpool that formed underneath the Animal path and Human path. Before he could even think to save either path they were dragged under the ocean and the Human path's skull crashed against the ocean floor hard enough to kill him.
As for the Animal path, the last thing he saw through her eyes was Naruto stabbing through her heart with the very same chakra rod used to pierce his abdomen.
This left Pain with the roles reversed with only the Preta path and the Deva path still alive and functioning. Even so he was still confident that he could still win the fight and bring back the nine tails jinchuriki. Naruto would show himself soon enough to attack and even if he didn't he would have to come up for air eventually. Or so he thought
Naruto took another gulp of water into his mouth careful not to swallow any. Using his affinity to wind he carefully removed the oxygen in the water before dispelling the rest back into the ocean. The two standing on the ocean top were not to be under estimated and he would need all the time to plan out his next attack carefully.
It wasn't hard to choose his next target. The one that had been using some invisible force was obviously the most dangerous of the two above him and therefore had to be taken out first. The problem was that he couldn't think of a way to get behind him without alerting the man and be sent flying once more.
Another problem was that he was running low on chakra. The fight with the summoner had dragged out for a long time and he had to use some of his more powerful ninjutsu to get rid of the creatures. And then there was the toll on his body. The deep gash on his side had mostly healed leaving a red imprint from where his skin had yet to grow back, then there was his newest injury thanks to the chakra blade. Grabbing his hand, Naruto made a quick jerk and pull to fix his dislocated middle finger. When Naruto's attacks had been blocked on several accounts thanks to the six armed guy he had hidden the fact that he was in great pain. Thankfully his finger hadn't gotten in the way with his ninjutsu.
It had felt like he was reliving his old training on honing his reflexes when the other five joined the fight. Speaking of them it was uncanny how well they all worked together. He had been given little time to think between each attack aimed towards him and it was only thanks to substitution with clones and his instincts that he had been able to last this long. But this was having set backs as well thanks to the attacks he didn't dodge and the pain his body was in from being forced to move faster than it should be capable of.
As a plan finally formed in Naruto head he steeled himself for what he was about to do.
Pain was surprised by how long Naruto was able to hold his breathe and began questioning if Naruto had decided to make a run for it. It would be a wise decision. Any further thought on the matter was interrupted when the Deva path saw Naruto jump out of the water behind the Preta path and prepare to kill him with the chakra rod.
The Preta path dodged the attempted stab and grabbed onto Naruto. Only for him to dissolve into a splash of water. Another splash was heard behind the Deva path and he quickly activated his Almighty push. Once again it turned out to only be a water clone. The chakra rod that had been dropped by the first clone exploded and out came another Naruto preparing to kill the Preta path again.
With a quick thought the Deva path pulled Naruto away. However the second this happened another Naruto emerged from the water in front of the Deva path and thrust the chakra rod forward. His strike had been stopped short as two arms pulled him into a bear hug.
Naruto struggled to break free of the Preta path's hold as he felt his chakra begin to leave him. But it was no use. He couldn't use chakra to increase his strength and his weapons were out of his reach. Kicking was an option but would do little more than waist energy.
"This game of cat and mouse has finally come to an end." Said the Deva path
Other than a few grunts from Naruto's attempts to escape silence filled the air.
With his chakra being stolen slowly at a time Naruto knew it was only a matter of time before he passed out. He gave a defiant stare at the Deva path. Said man just continued to look at him with a lack of emotions.
The next thing that happened was odd but not unwelcome to Naruto.
Two Hinatas jumped down between Naruto and the Deva path. One Hinata began attacking the Deva path while the other threw a kunai at Naruto.
Five minutes earlier
Hinata watched from her hiding place in a tree nearby from where the fight was taking place. She had been worried when she arrived and found that Naruto was not on top of the ocean. When she activated her Byakugan she realized he was simply waiting below. As much as she wanted to jump in and aid him in fighting she knew that it would be better if she stayed where she was. If Naruto was forming a plan then she didn't want to jump in and mess it up. If Naruto needed her help she would jump in but not a second sooner.
While she waited for a chance to jump in and help Naruto she asked Karin for all the information she had on the enemy. Luckily thanks to all the ninja that had fought against the different paths of pain Karin had a good bit of info for each one.
When she saw Naruto be restrained by the one path she could see his chakra being drained. Hinata didn't hesitate when she realized he couldn't break himself free.
With the two paths focused on Naruto it was rather easy to sneak across the ocean and create a water clone, something that Naruto had happily taught her when he found out that she had an affinity to the water element. Giving the clone a kunai and telling it what to do with it Hinata prepared herself to take on the Deva path, something she realized she had little hope of beating. At the same time if she didn't distract him there was no hope of getting Naruto freed.
When they reached a certain point Hinata and her clone made one last leap and landed in between Naruto and the Deva path. Hinata instantly engaged the Deva path throwing a variant of chakra filled thrusts and slaps aimed for different vital parts. At the same time her clone had thrown the kunai and it sailed straight for Naruto's head.
Seeing the kunai heading towards him a gleam appeared in Naruto's eyes. It wasn't until the last second before Naruto tilted his head to the side allowing the kunai to graze his cheek.
THUNK
The Deva path's head snapped to the side and watched as the Preta path fell lifeless into the water with a kunai to the head while Naruto was kneeling on the water. Shaking off the loss of another path, Pain sent a signal to his Deva path.
Hinata felt her body pulled forward and quickly acted when she remembered what the Deva path was doing. A quick substation with her still intact water clone spared her from being impaled upon a chakra rod and put her closer to Naruto.
It only took a few steps from her new position to put her next to Naruto's kneeling form. Hinata didn't need the use of her Byakugan to see that Naruto was almost out of chakra. Reaching into her back pouch she retrieved and handed him a soldier pill.
"Thanks Hinata, I really needed this." Said Naruto before popping the pill in his mouth and swallowing it.
His strength returned to him and he felt like he had regained a decent amount of his chakra. He knew that this would only be temporary but it was better than sitting there and being next to useless.
"I can't fight him alone Hinata. Not directly." said Naruto still slightly tired.
Hinata nodded her head. "There's only a five second period where he can't use his abilities."
"I didn't think it was that small. Did Karen tell you anything else?" asked Naruto
She shook her head. "The others weren't able to figure out more than that. So how should we approach this?"
While Naruto thought Hinata was able to see the multiple blood trails from the side of his cheek. His wound was already healed but she couldn't help but feel bad for hurting him.
"I would suggest attacking him one at a time to take advantage of the five seconds but I don't want to risk him separating us. We stick together and try to find a way around his ability. He's been fighting a long time as well and I doubt he has much chakra to work with. Do you have a better plan?" asked Naruto
"No. If we do attack him one at a time we risk him pulling one of us towards him while the other is too far away to help. While we're together it might be easier for him to push us away he won't be able to attack us again within five seconds."
Apparently the Pain's patience had run out as he had made a dash for in between the two. Before he could fill the space Naruto had grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her towards him. The sudden yank had surprised Hinata but when she felt herself and Naruto sent flying she understood what had happened. A quick spin had allowed Naruto to land on his feet and let go of Hinata.
Naruto began running towards the Deva path with Hinata right by his side. With a few hand signs Naruto began sending large ice spikes towards the Deva path. Instead of using his ability of repulsion like Naruto wanted he simply dodged the ice projectiles and once they were in range then did he use his Almighty Push.
Yes the push had sent them flying but it wasn't like they were colliding with solid ground. Instead a few splashes of water cushioned their fall and it was rather easy for the two to get up. As soon as they could get on their feet again they began their mad dash toward the Deva path again.
When they had gotten close to the Deva path this time Naruto had given some sign with his hands behind his back. As soon the Deva path raised his hand to perform his Almighty push Hinata jumped onto Naruto's back and leapt over the invisible force safely landing on the other side of the Deva path. Within the five seconds it took for Naruto to get on his feet and the Deva path to be able to use it's main abilities Hinata had shut down enough of his chakra points that he wouldn't be able to perform either is repulsion or attraction abilities.
When Naruto realized this he wasted no time in removing the gap between them and with Hinata started up an unrelenting assault. It had taken them longer than expected but they had taken down the last path. A palm strike to the heart from Hinata had been the last blow and had left the dead path falling down with blood dripping from his chin.
"Karin we've beat the last one." said Hinata as she and Naruto took a moment to catch their breathe.
"Good that just leaves the other two. I'm sending several of our Anbu to that location to deal with them." replied Karin.
Hinata nodded her head despite the fact that Karin couldn't see it.
"That would be for the b…." Hinata's reply was cut short by Naruto's finger pressed against her lips.
"What's going on?" asked Naruto
Hinata took a few minutes to think about how to explain everything that Karin had told her. In the end she took off her microphone and radio for him to use.
"Karin will be able to explain it better."
Naruto gave a quick "thanks" before putting on the device and asking his question. With Naruto now talking to her Karin decided to fill him in on everything she had discovered about the man known as Pain. She told him several things he had figured out from fighting the six paths, but the one thing he didn't know was how the six people he was fighting were nothing more than human puppets being fed and controlled by one of the enemies located in the forest nearby. Hearing this made Naruto realize that the girl he initially fought wasn't really the leader of the Akatsuki.
Now knowing that the real leader was the one hiding in the forest Naruto decided he wanted a face to face talk with the man. Naruto was pissed at the man and had half a mind to simply destroy the man for the several wounded and no doubt dead people of his village. But another part of him wanted to know what could drive a man to do all that he had done. Why that thought in mind the next words to come out of his mouth shocked not only Karin but Hinata as well.
"Call off the Anbu, I'll deal with this myself."
For several seconds neither Karin nor Hinata said a word. But once they did it had turned into both of them talking in the same speed with very similar words.
"Naruto are you crazy you just got done fighting six people who have wrecked our village and put several thousands upon thousands into the hospital that's not counting the ones that are dead!" exclaimed Karin.
While Karin said this Hinata was talking. "Naruto you're hurt and tired. That soldier pill I gave you won't last much longer, please just let your Anbu deal with the remaining Akatsuki." pleaded Hinata.
The experience Naruto had with listening to both Tayuya and Karin argue with each other had given Naruto a talent in being able to hear out and understand multiple voices at once. So when Hinata and Karin voiced their concern he understood them perfectly.
"Karin Pain has to be low on chakra, you said it yourself, he's been sending chakra out to six different bodies this entire time. And besides I have Hinata with me."
Hinata blushed from his trust in her he showed when talking to Karin while Karin let out a tired and aggravated sigh.
"I won't send the Anbu after the Akatsuki, but they will be escorting you there and they will stay with you every step of the way! You got that!" said Karin.
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah I understand."
Before giving out the new orders to the Anbu who weren't listening in Karin gave another sigh.
Hinata looked at Naruto still worried. "Why are you going?"
"I need to speak with him." Naruto shook his head before continuing. "I need to know why he's done all this, what caused him to start his goal. I never got my answers from Sasuke. I found out that he hated Konoha and I never got the chance to find out why. I'm tired of seeing people do stuff like this and being ignorant to what caused it." said Naruto.
Giving Naruto a sad look Hinata could slightly understand why Naruto was so dead set on meeting the real Pain. They waited for the Anbu to arrive before heading in the direction Karin had pointed out to them.
It wasn't really hard to find Pain's hiding spot especially when they saw the only tan looking tree in the entire forest. Naruto had to admit that he was surprised that Pain was still on the island, with all his paths of pain destroyed one would think he would have left to come back another day.
Giving his Anbu a signal to stay back Naruto walked up to the fake tree and spoke.
"Pain… I know you're in there. Let me in, I want to talk." Said Naruto loud enough to ensure his voice wasn't too muffled by the wall that separated them.
Several seconds passed by before a hole opened up at the base of the tree just big enough to allow Naruto in. The Uzu Anbu had been ready to jump in but once again Naruto gave them another signal to stay back. While his Anbu obeyed Hinata made sure to stay close enough behind Naruto to ensure he didn't enter alone.
Once the two had entered the hole behind them closed and had left the four occupants of the room cut off from the rest of the world. While Pain and Naruto stared glared at each other, Konan and Hinata stayed close by their friend or lover and were prepared to jump in a moments notice to defend them. It was Pain that decided to speak first.
"Strange that a Kage would want to talk to someone responsible for the death of several of his ninja and villagers."
Naruto didn't even try to hide his anger. "That's exactly why I'm here! WHY? Why have you done all this?"
"I told you before my goal is peace, something-"
"That's your goal I want to know WHY you have made it your goal!" Naruto interrupted.
Pain didn't speak for a few seconds clearly confused by what Naruto was asking.
"I have told you before in order for people to understand each other they must-"
Once again Naruto interrupted Pain. "What happened to you, what happened that made you choose your current goals?"
Pain chuckled a bit. He couldn't understand why Naruto was asking him this question. But far be it that he didn't allow the Uzukage a chance to understand him.
"I guess telling you my story would help you to understand the motives for my goal."
For the next ten minutes Pain told them the story of his orphan life as Nagato along with Konan and Yahiko, the meeting with the Sanin, the forming of the group that originally wore the black cloaks with red clouds, and finally Hanzo's betrayal and Konoha's root division involvement in it.
The entire time Pain or the now known Nagato talked Naruto stood still and quiet, not once interrupting. The last thing Pain explained was his evolution through the pain he felt after Hanzo's betrayal.
"You have now heard my story, you now know why I have chosen this path. Will you not come with us so that we may achieve our goals and bring peace to this world?" asked Pain/Nagato
The silence that filled the room was definitely uncomfortable nearing unbearable. Hinata had gotten in a defensive stance when she heard Pain's question, she knew that there was a risk that Pain would try to capture Naruto now despite the Anbu that had surrounded them outside of the tree.
"You've definitely been through a lot. But that doesn't excuse you for what you've done and it definitely doesn't excuse you from what you plan to do. As far as your goal is concerned it's going to fail." said Naruto.
Pain had prepared to launch a chakra rod at Naruto but Naruto continued to talk.
"Pain does help people to understand each other but what you've failed to realize is that people don't always handle pain the same way. Even if everyone wept for the loss of life from your plan it's not going to be guaranteed that everyone will accept peace just because everyone has lost loved ones."
A thoughtful look appeared on Pain's face as he listened to Naruto.
"Even now despite the fact that you have both lost the same loved one chances are you and Konan dealt with your pain differently. What's even worse is that you've turned yourself into something worse than Hanzo. You may be the leader of your village and organization, but when it comes to me and Hanzo at least our people know what to expect from us. Ame knew and expected Hanzo to be a cruel and ruthless tyrant and my people will always expect me to be their defender and hero as I will always prove them right. What about you? Do your people know what to expect from you."
With that said Naruto turned around and began walking towards the wall that had opened up, Hinata following close by him but not lowering her guard.
"I'm not going to pretend that I know the secret behind peace, but if there's one thing that I do know for sure is that it will never be gained without the world working as one. Pain, you and Konan have less than an hour to leave this island. Right now I don't have time to deal with someone like you. I have people to bury and wounded to check on, and at the moment they are more important to me than killing you. But make no mistake, because if you ever attack Uzu again I will kill you without hesitation."
Naruto didn't even wait or ask Konan to let them out and instead tore open his own entrance. Without looking back Naruto gave his Anbu the order to head back to the village and help any and all those that needed it. Some had hesitated and had thought to question his order but one look from Naruto told them it wasn't a good idea.
Hinata and Naruto made their way back to the village at a slow pace. The comfortable silence felt necessary to Hinata and she had decided to simply let Naruto think in peace. It was once they were a decent ways away from both where Pain and Konan had hidden themselves and the Uzu Anbu that Naruto collapsed onto the ground unconscious.
This had startled Hinata and even scared her once she turned him over and felt warm blood on her hand. Looking down at the hole in his stomach cause her to look back at the path they had taken and noticed the spots of blood here and there that had followed them.
One Week Later
Hinata sat in a chair next to a bed that contained a sleeping Naruto. Said man had several bandages wrapped around his abdomen along with one patch on his cheek.
Luckily the radio that Naruto wore had on picked up the sounds of Hinata screaming Naruto's name. This had warned Karin that something had happened and she sent a medical team along with several Anbu to Naruto's location. Once the team got there they had inspected the wound and found that several pieces of the chakra rod that had stabbed him had broken off. The small pieces that had broken off had still been in the wound and had prevented any of the nine-tails fox's chakra from healing it.
Once they had removed the shrapnel his wound began healing itself, but this still left them rushing Naruto off to the hospital in order to get a blood transfusion for him or risk him dying from blood loss.
It was obvious to anyone that saw Hinata that she hadn't left Naruto side since he had been admitted into the room. Her eyes had a dark underlining showing that she hadn't slept well and her clothes most defining feature were the several wrinkles and creases from where she had slept awkwardly on Naruto.
Despite everyone assurances that Naruto would be ok Hinata stayed content with just holding Naruto's hand and not leaving his side.
Karin had positioned herself along with Tayuya at another side of the room though they had obviously left the hospital to clean up and rest.
A groan left Naruto's lips as he began returning to the land of the living. The second he woke up he was barraged by two yelling red headed girls calling him stupid for pushing himself so far. He looked to the side hoping to get some help from Hinata but the stern look on her face told him that while silent, she fully agreed with them.
Once they had finally vented their worry and frustration Naruto apologized. With that out of the way Naruto asked the question he needed to know.
"What is the number of casualties?"
Karin answered immediately knowing he would want to know.
"About two hundred and fifty."
Naruto nodded. 'That sounds about right.'
"And the death tolls"
"Zero." said Karin.
A look of pure shock covered Naruto's face and it took Naruto a solid minute before he could open his mouth.
"What did you say?"
"Zero." repeated Karin.
"How … is that … even possible? Naruto asked.
Karin began telling him of the original death toll and how all of a sudden strange lights began coming down from the sky and reviving the dead and how the miracle of what had happened shocked everyone that witnessed it just as much as it shocked him hearing it. Karin then pointed to a bouquet of flowers next to his bed. At first sight Naruto simply thought they were a bouquet of white roses but upon closer inspection he could tell they were origami.
"The woman that was with Pain came and asked you to have them as a sign of peace and an alliance between Ami and Uzu." said Karin.
Naruto noticed another bouquet of real flowers from Hinata that were bigger than the origami flowers from Konan. Seeing this Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the obvious jealousy that someone else had given him flowers. Hinata blushed knowing why Naruto chuckled, he had gotten very good at reading her and she knew it.
Looking over at Hinata he made sure to let her know he appreciated hers more. It would be a few more days before Naruto would be allowed to leave the hospital and unfortunately for the other's only one thought was left in Naruto's mind.
"Do we have anymore ramen left?"