Author's note: Thank you so much to all the readers and everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed this fic :D This chapter sees the conclusion of the ambush, and the calm before the storm. Hope you enjoy it!
Switched Chapter 10
As Sasuke stared wordlessly at him, Naruto collapsed on the ground writhing in agony as the flames of the seal began to darken into a tattoo-like pattern across his body. Sakura broke away from healing Akamaru to give the cursed Genin a terrified look, and then mouthed 'I've not finished!' at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded at her, both fully aware that there was nothing either of them could do to help their beleaguered teammate.
"Naruto, focus on where the pain is coming from, and use whatever remains of your chakra to hold it back," commanded Sasuke, desperately hoping that as he had first done at the Chūnin exams, Naruto would instinctively be able to hold off the full power of the seal. Naruto groaned loudly, before scrunching his face in painful concentration as he tried to suppress the strange sensation that had taken hold of him.
Turning back to face his last standing teammate and the enemy, Sasuke yelped as the Hyūga heiress abruptly pushed into him, saving him from the stream of successive fireballs that had erupted from the mouths of the two criminals left. "Not the time for lectures, wouldn't you agree Kinomoto-san?" snickered the skinny woman with cropped yellow hair. "I would indeed," he replied in a mocking tone, with a sneer that looked strange on his graceful features. Sasuke and Hinata exchanged glances, the former relieved to see that Hinata seemed to have gotten over her shock or at least was ignoring it to focus on the battle.
"We've got to break their teamwork," Hinata whispered in Sasuke's ear as they watched how the gang members closely mirrored each other's movements when they began to prepare another fiery attack. Both Genin dodged a repeat of the double fire stream attack, and Sasuke had a sudden brainwave when he landed on the ground next to Hinata. Quickly casting a couple of jutsu before the smoke had cleared, he withdrew a large shuriken and passed it to his teammate.
"W-what is this- oh," Hinata exclaimed as understanding dawned at her. "One each, Sasuke-san?"
"Exactly," confirmed Sasuke, smirking in anticipation. 'We'll break their teamwork by using our own.' As the two Genin prepared their shots, he called "Ready, GO!"
The two shuriken spun through the air towards their respective targets. "Come on, is that the best you've got?" taunted Kinomoto, his long black hair flying as he jumped over the metal star in unison with his partner.
"Apparently," retorted Sasuke sarcastically. A loud bang and a cloud of steam exploded behind the enemy to reveal two Shadow Clones of Sasuke, which both charged straight for the female gang member.
"Wait, why are they only targeting Daidouji?" Kinomoto cried in confusion. He started to make a series of hand signs but the kunoichi, startled by the clones racing towards her, failed to notice he was trying to launch another combination attack. Realising she was distracted, Kinomoto's hands wavered, unsure whether to perform the jutsu by himself or come to her aid.
That split-second of indecision was enough for the two Konoha ninja to determine their plan had worked. "NOW!" yelled Sasuke, and Hinata lunged at Kinomoto with chakra covered fingertips. The criminal tried to grab her arm but the kunoichi neatly dodged him and deftly landed a series of hits across his body with her Gentle Fist technique.
"KINO-" Daidouji's scream was cut off by Sasuke's fists smashing into the back of her head, followed by a three-way assault by the real shinobi and the two clones he had summoned. Within seconds, she had been knocked unconscious. Breathing heavily, Sasuke made a quick gesture to dispel the clones and looked over to Hinata who was standing over the comatose body of the final criminal. She was breathless too and for a few moments, the two Genin stared into each other's eyes as they regained their composure. The Hyūga heiress' lavender eyes were full of questions and uncertainty but no matter how uncomfortable they made him feel, Sasuke couldn't break away from them.
"I've finished healing Akamaru," Sakura announced, interrupting Sasuke and Hinata from their own thoughts and each other. Hinata ran over to check on Kiba who was beginning to awaken from his brief lapse into unconsciousness, while Sasuke and Sakura moved over to check on their fellow teammate. Naruto was still grimacing from the pain of the Cursed Seal, his fists so tightly clenched that his nails were beginning to draw blood from his palms. Although the seal covered most of his trembling body, Naruto's right arm and leg were untouched by its influence which eased a little of Sasuke's concern. "Good work Naruto, continue to hold the painful chakra back until you feel it returning to your neck," he murmured in his ear, too quiet to be heard by the two girls and Kiba.
"I'm trying," Naruto answered in a weak voice, his energy almost completely sapped by the seal. "But what's happening to me, why is your body… nnngh!" he started to ask before another shooting pain shot through his body and cut him off.
"I'll explain everything after we switch back, I promise," Sasuke assured him. He felt sick at the thought of having to tell Naruto about the curse mark, especially considering his teammate's possible reaction to it having being concealed from him for so long. 'There's no way I can escape telling him though, being the kind of person he is, Naruto will just keep asking until he gets answers. Anyway, it's not like I could try to avoid him like Hinata, since we're teammates… well, I'm not even on the same team as her and it was tough enough avoiding her…'
As Sasuke started to drift into his own thoughts, Sakura, aware she couldn't offer any help to Naruto, had turned to helping Shino who had just started to stir. Kiba, although still drained from the fight earlier had managed to haul himself over to Akamaru and was stroking the wailing puppy in an attempt to comfort him. Having tended her teammate's wounds as best she could with her healing ointment, Hinata slowly made her way over to where Naruto was lying on the floor. She hesitated for a moment before crouching down beside Sasuke, her face full of concern as she looked over the shuddering Genin. "Naruto-kun…" she whispered gently, her voice giving away hints of affection.
"The dobe'll be alright, Hinata," Sasuke told her, stung by her obvious care for his teammate more than he wanted to be.
The Hyūga heiress bit her lip as she turned towards the fake Naruto, trying to imagine him as Sasuke but failing. "Are y-you su-"
But she was cut off by two large men bursting through the door, brandishing their kunai furiously. Sakura screamed in shock while Sasuke and Hinata moved into a protective stance in front of Naruto at once.
"YOU'RE UNDER- oh," the taller of the two broke off as he saw the criminals lying unconscious on the ground. "Good job kids, but as expected of Konoha ninja I suppose," he continued cheerfully to the utter confusion of the young Genin.
As the man in front of them began to chuckle, the smaller shinobi smacked the back of his partner's head, shaking his own and letting out a large "hmph". "Can you please be serious, Ekko? We're members of the Daimyō's guard unit," he explained, as the other ninja grinned sheepishly at him. "The owner of the hotel alerted us to the attack on you and we've brought a back-up squad with medic nin. Are these the only crooks here?" he asked, as more shinobi began to enter the room, a couple of them carrying stretchers and medical equipment.
"There are five gang members here," Sakura answered, and Hinata continued, "There are four on the first floor and three on the top."
"Alright, Sanada, Kuronuma, Kazehaya, Yano and Yoshida, you go arrest the rest of the criminals. Kurumizawa and Arai, deal with the ones here," commanded the lead guard. "Who here needs medical treatment?"
As Sakura started to direct the medic nin to their wounded teammates and clarified their conditions, the other guards placed handcuffs on the knocked out enemy and hauled them away. "It's fine, you can touch him," Sasuke assured the medic nin who had gone over to Naruto and nervously backed away at the sight of the seal starting to recede from his limbs, unsure whether to interfere. As Naruto was loaded onto a stretcher, he saw Sasuke and Hinata's worried looks and croaked, "I'll be fine, you guys! I don't lose to anything, and definitely not Sasuke's messed up body, dattebayo!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at him, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly at his friend's unstoppable optimism. Another guard approached him and Hinata, and asked, "Hello, is it possible you two can help us find the criminals on the higher floors? Hyūga-san's Byakugan would be most useful."
"Of course," both Genin agreed at once and left the room to join the search on the upper floors. As they made their way up the uneven staircase, Sasuke turned to Hinata, who had a strange, unsteady expression on her face. "Hey Hinata, you're not hurt are you? Are you okay?" he asked softly.
"Ph-Physically, I'm f-fine," Hinata replied. She was trying to sound firm but her words were shaky. She increased her pace and leapt neatly ahead of Sasuke on the stairs, ignoring him as she overtook him.
Watching her tan coat disappear in front of him, Sasuke sighed unhappily, before racing up after her.
"So Ino's jutsu pushed your minds into each other's bodies but not your respective chakras? How fascinating," commented Shino.
It was late morning and Team Seven and Team Eight had begun the long journey back to Konoha after the medic nin were satisfied with Shino, Kiba and Naruto's state. Kiba was walking with a slight limp from a sprained ankle, and instead of resting Akamaru on his head, he was carrying the pup carefully in his hands. Despite Sakura healing the dog's wounds fully, they were still sore and Akamaru occasionally whined when Kiba shifted his weight. Shino was sporting a bandage across his forehead from the blow he had taken the previous evening but was well otherwise. As for Naruto, he had managed to suppress the cursed seal eventually but was very tired from the loss of chakra he had suffered. This however had not stopped him from explaining the body switch to the rest of Team Eight the next morning in thorough detail. In particular, Naruto had taken great joy in stunning the other Genin with the revelation that he and Sasuke had actually managed to defeat Shino and Kiba when they had been stuck in each other's bodies for less than a day, and could barely perform each other's techniques.
"Hm, I suppose it would be theoretically possible to switch minds but not chakras, considering that Ino's usual mind control technique involves her moving her mind but not her entire chakra supply," Shino continued. "How do I find the possible mechanisms of the body swap? Very interesting indeed. I would certainly like to learn more about it."
"Well, I find it crazy!" Kiba barked in reply. "Haha, I'm so glad Team Ten didn't ask us to do it. We pulled a fast one there!" he grinned, and Akamaru howled in agreement.
"Yeah, well maybe next time Ino can practice on you guys," Naruto suggested mischievously, winking at Kiba who immediately retorted "No way in hell!"
"Or maybe she can find another jutsu that doesn't get people stuck in different bodies for two weeks," Sakura said sternly. Kiba and Naruto broke out in laughter at this, and even though the kunoichi was being serious, she couldn't help but join in.
"Anyway, it's been kinda fun sometimes," admitted Naruto and proceeded to tell the others about how his development of the Uchiha Style: Sexy No Jutsu had been successfully tested on Jiraiya and Ebisu. At this, Sakura yelled "Naruto, how could you do something like that?!" while Kiba broke out into raucous laughter. "Hmph," Sasuke grunted behind them and glared at Naruto's back but as his two teammates started to get into a lively debate, he decided to leave them be.
Since the teams had departed for their home village, Sasuke had been quietly walking behind the rest of his comrades alongside Hinata, not attempting to involve himself in any conversation. The Hyūga heiress herself had also been exceptionally withdrawn since the previous night, barely even speaking to her own teammates except to confirm she was 'fine' and just a bit fatigued. Sasuke gave her a quick glance, noting her bleary eyes that suggested she had slept poorly the night. They were still firmly focused on her feet, as they had been all day.
Paying her another brief glance, her companion wondered silently whether to begin a conversation with her while the rest of their squad were caught up in noisy banter and ignoring them. He opened his lips to speak but, deciding against trying to talk to the downhearted girl, closed them before anyone noticed. It was going to be a long walk back to Konoha…
"Right, so that's the final set of details I needed to record," Tsunade confirmed with Team Seven and Team Eight, as the red and orange hues of the sunset blazed behind her. Shizune finished scribbling on her large notepad, having spent the last half hour recording the full details of how the joint squad had successfully managed to deliver the letter to the Daimyō and the ambush that had taken place after they had done so. "I'm very pleased that despite, well"-she looked between Naruto and Sasuke-"the exceptional circumstances, you managed to fend off that ambush all by yourselves and with minimal injury so congratulations."
The two teams bowed at this, pleased with the Fifth Hokage's compliments. Tsunade smiled then continued in a more serious manner: "Kiba and Shino, I want your injuries to be checked out again at the hospital to be safe so Kurenai, please take them there now."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Kurenai replied, bowing her head slightly before waving her two boys over and disappearing down the staircase with them. Tsunade watched them go before turning to Kakashi, who was standing with a hand on Naruto's shoulder, observing the cursed seal on his neck. "Kakashi, I suppose you should check on Naruto," she instructed.
"Will do so," Kakashi agreed and began to make a hand sign, tightening his grip on his student.
"Wait, I wanted to speak with Sasuke, he said he'd-wah!" Naruto struggled against Kakashi as he pointed at Sasuke but a puff of smoke burst out from the pair and they disappeared from sight before he had the chance to finish his sentence. 'I guess I'll have to tell him tomorrow after we switch back then,' Sasuke mused, a little relieved that he could have a night's sleep to recover before dealing with the subject.
"I'm satisfied with the condition of you three so you can leave now. Have a good rest this weekend, you certainly deserve it," Tsunade concluded, paying the three Genin left a small wink.
"Wait, Tsunade-sama, may I check something with you? It was just a small problem I came across when I was trying to heal Akamaru, it won't take long," Sakura asked her.
"No problem at all, just wait here until I file the paperwork," Tsunade agreed, gesturing to the remaining couple of shinobi to leave.
Sasuke and Hinata trotted down the winding staircase in silence. As the huge door to the tower opened, Sasuke breathed in the cool night air, enjoying the pleasant chill on his skin before realising Hinata was standing in front of him, looking as though she thought she needed to say something but didn't know what.
The two shinobi stood awkwardly together, the Hyūga heiress playing with her fingers as she decided what exactly to say while Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets. As she continued twiddling, it became clear that Hinata was struggling for words, so Sasuke spoke first. "Um, I think we need to talk."
"Yes," Hinata replied, nodding vigorously to make up for her failing to think of anything to say.
Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, his mind racing as he worked through his memories of the past couple of weeks, wondering where on earth to start. "So," he began, "as I assume you're aware of already, I have been in Naruto's body since last Monday. The first time I met you in Naruto's body was Monday evening, so since then the person you thought was Naruto was actually me, Sasuke Uchiha."
"I-I figured that out," Hinata agreed, her voice still wavering as it had done so ever since she had learned the truth of the switch. As she looked into Sasuke's eyes, she narrowed her eyes if trying to make something out, then suddenly activated her Byakugan.
"Huh, you can activate the Byakugan without a hand sign? Is that a technique specific to the main family or just due to your own chakra control?" Sasuke asked, a bit taken aback and puzzled when he saw Hinata turn on her Kekkai Genkai without the hand seals she normally used.
Recognising Sasuke's style of inquiring about her techniques, Hinata's face perked up slightly but as she continued to gaze at her crush's features and chakra, her face crumpled. Her Byakugan vanished as her eyes began to burn. "I-I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-san," she said sadly, "but I just, I-I just can't take you seriously in Naruto-kun's body. I was trying to imagine you there but it was too confusing for me."
At this, Sasuke made a few rapid hand seals. A puff of smoke covered his form then blew away to reveal a dark haired boy with deep black eyes, wearing a navy t-shirt with white shorts. "Is this any better?" he asked.
After a few seconds of concentration, Hinata shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-san, I still know it's Naruto-kun's body but disguised as you so it doesn't work," she apologised meekly.
"Don't say sorry, you're not the only one who's found it confusing," Sasuke reassured her, thinking of how Sakura routinely got her names mixed up and how he himself had transformed into the wrong person before their 'date'. "Me and Naruto are going to see Inoichi tomorrow, who says he's found the counter-technique to the jutsu. If all goes according to plan, we should be back to normal late tomorrow morning. Are you busy in the afternoon?"
"No, I'll just be recovering from the mission. Sh-shall we meet up then?" Hinata suggested.
"Sure. Let's say half past one at the 53rd training ground?"
"Okay," agreed Hinata, bowing her head. She turned to go, but not before turning her head to blush at Sasuke, then blurting out "See you tomorrow!"
"See ya," Sasuke replied, turning to go back to Naruto's house for the final time and giving a small wave with his back to the Hyūga heiress. As he walked away slowly, listening to her light footsteps fade into the bustle of the evening crowds, Sasuke cancelled the transformation, noting how it had felt a little nice to talk to Hinata as 'himself', even if only using a disguise. 'Hopefully it will be easier to explain everything to her once I'm back to normal,' he mused, beginning to formulate preparations for their conversation tomorrow. 'I'll explain that I wanted to train with her because I was impressed by her chakra control and skills, and if she feels I took advantage of her, which I did not, I'll say sorry so she doesn't get upset anyway. The 'date' was just paying her back for training with me and making me lunch, no so-called 'feelings' or 'romance' (urgh, I hate that word) involved.'
'And have you figured out how to explain that kiss yet?' a little voice piped up in his head.
'First part was an accident, second part…um…err…uhhhhhhhh…' Beads of sweat started to form on Sasuke's forehead as he remembered the results of when he had previously tried to analyse his reaction to Hinata's lips on his. 'Whatever, that's not a problem- I've got the whole evening to think of an explanation for that…'
Deep down, Sasuke felt like he was going need much more than a single evening…
Sorry if any of you feel let down by the ending, I promise that the next chapter will be brimming with truths coming out, dubious explanations and copious amounts of blushing ;) Hopefully, it will be out much sooner than this one was (I've had a very busy year!). As always, if you have any feedback, questions or advice, I'd love to hear from you :)