Once again, I was somehow able to make my deadline, and I'm hoping to continue for at least a few more weeks. Unfortunately, my work hours increased, therefore cutting my time to write substantially. Not only that, but I'm doing another weekly story as well, so trying to do both isn't as easy now. But I'm still going to do what I can to make sure I update it in a timely manner.

Please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes, as I have just spent the past several hours listening to an infinite loop of Christmas songs. I now want to bash my head in.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Distorted Minds

Chapter 14

Naruto spent the next few minutes cleaning as much blood as he could off Hinata's body, using a piece of cloth that he had torn from his shirt and wet. He rested her head on his lap, gently wiping the crimson splatters from her beautiful face. There was nothing he could do about her stained clothing, which showed brightly in contrast to the pale, pastel colors she wore. He managed to clear the blood from her soft skin, noticing just how peaceful she looked. Naruto stripped his jacket off and carefully wrapped it around her, just as he had done the day that he had found her. With most of the blood concealed beneath the jacket, he zipped it up and gathered her into his arms once more. He stood up, holding her tightly to his chest as he looked at Sasuke. "How are we going to get her back into Konoha without raising suspicion? I still don't know how she managed to leave in the first place. Did she somehow sneak out unnoticed?"

"We'll worry about that once we get to the village. But this is how we're going to do it, so pay attention so that I don't have to repeat myself," Sasuke responded. "Getting through the gates will be the most challenging part, but I have an idea. One of your shadow clones will head towards the gate with me, while you stay back a little. Once we approach the guards, I'm going to discreetly cast a genjutsu."

"...What?" Naruto was lost.

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes at his friend's slowness. "Your clone is going to stand in for the real you so that it seems less suspicious as to why I'm returning without you. We'll distract the guards and I'll cast that genjutsu so that they don't see you with Hinata as you enter the village. That being said, go straight to your place as fast as you possibly can so that no one sees you. You're fast, but I don't want those two to notice the real you just in case, so that's why I'm implementing the genjutsu as a precaution. Once you're in, I'll dispel it and your clone and I will enter the village as if nothing happened. While you tend to Hinata, I'll deal with everyone else. Don't leave your apartment once you get there, and I'll be over once I'm finished."

"What are we going to tell them, though? About Hinata disappearing like that?" Naruto asked, glancing down at her.

"Considering that not a single Anbu has appeared gives me the impression that no one actually knows she left," the Uchiha responded. "We won't know what's going on until we get back, so let's hurry."

Naruto nodded, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms as he and Sasuke began to make their way back towards Konoha. He stared down at Hinata with confused curiosity, then glanced back over his shoulder to where the body and tree once were. He couldn't help but feel a pang of relief, knowing that there was now one less person that was trying to go after Hinata. Two, actually, since he had killed Mikoto himself. "What am I going to tell her?" he questioned, his expression worried. "I don't think she realizes what she's doing. I know she wasn't lying to me about when she got out of that place."

"She might be doing it subconsciously. It could be a side effect from the drug that she was given. It may have altered her mind and caused her to do things that she normally would never do, and then her memory of it is wiped out," Sasuke suggested. "But we won't know until she wakes up and we can start asking her questions."

"That would make sense," Naruto murmured, his blue eyes still glued on the petite girl. He knew that Hinata would never do anything like that intentionally. He wondered how she was going to react once she found out what she had done and he felt his heart clench. Knowing her, she would not take it well at all. He almost didn't want to tell her, but he simply couldn't keep something like this from her.

"We need to be careful how we go about things," Sasuke spoke up again. "Whether Hinata did it on purpose or not doesn't the change the fact that she was the one who killed those people."

Naruto scowled. "So what? You know what they did to her, so I don't think that she'll be punished for it. Kakashi-sensei wouldn't do something like that."

"I'm not saying that she will be punished, but they might attempt to lock her up until they can figure out what's going on. And you know that Hinata won't try to resist if that's the route they choose."

"I'm not letting anyone lock her up," the jinchuriki told him stubbornly. "We'll figure something else out, so just for now, we won't say anything about this to anyone. "

Sasuke nodded and was quiet for a moment. "Does it bother you knowing what she did?"

Naruto looked back down at Hinata. "I mean, I'm surprised but I can't really say that I'm bothered by it. She killed a bunch of people to escape. And that other girl was part of the whole thing, so I don't care that Hinata got some revenge. I killed that other bastard, so it's not like I'm in any position to judge."

"Only Hinata probably normally wouldn't have done it under normal circumstances. I've never seen you go berserk like that," Sasuke pointed out.

"I couldn't help it. When I saw him...I just snapped. All I could think about was killing him. After what he did to her..." Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself as he felt his anger bubble up once more.

The raven-haired male shrugged. "Can't really blame you. But now that's two less people to worry about."

They closed in on the village, now only about a quarter of a mile from the gates. Naruto summoned a shadow clone, which appeared in a puff of smoke. He then stayed a few hundred feet behind Sasuke and his clone, doing his best to remain out of sight. Sasuke would give him a signal when it was safe, and he hid himself and Hinata behind some trees once they were close enough to the village gates. He watched quietly as Sasuke and the clone approached the two guards.

"Hey, did you guys find anything?" Izumo asked with curiosity. Judging by his calm demeanor, it was clear that they had not seen anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, we need to speak to Kakashi-sensei and let him know what we found," the clone replied.

Kotetsu's eyes widened. "Really? Was it what you were looking for?"

"Well, we were looking for anything that might clue us in on anything involving the case," Sasuke replied, his Sharingan activated.

Naruto waited a few more moments until he noticed Sasuke give the subtle signal. He immediately encased himself in chakra and moved as fast as he possibly could to get through the gates. He rushed past the guards, leaving only a breeze in his wake as his clone and Sasuke continued to distract them. Luckily, he had not been spotted, and he was able to make it to his apartment without being seen by anyone else. He managed to hold Hinata in one arm while he fished his key out of his pocket, quickly unlocking the door and opening it. Naruto readjusted the girl and carried her inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

Hinata still had not regained consciousness, and the blond couldn't help but worry as he carefully set her down on the couch. How was he going to explain this to her? Her clothes were soaked with blood, and he didn't want her to wake up in the middle of him undressing her. Deciding to just leave her be for now, he headed to his room to change into a clean set of clothes. Naruto put on a pair of black pants, as well as a white t-shirt, then emerged from his bedroom. He looked at Hinata with worry, wondering how things were going on Sasuke's end.

xxxXXXxxx

"Sasuke...are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Naruto's clone murmured, his blue eyes wide with shock.

"Yeah," he replied, just as surprised.

It hadn't taken long for them to locate Sakura and the others, and when they had, the sight before them stunned them to the core.

"H-Hinata?" The clone stared at the indigo-haired girl, not sure if he was seeing correctly.

She smiled sweetly, a light blush on her face. "Hello, Naruto-kun." She stared at him for a moment, her expression becoming slightly worried. "I-is everything okay?"

Sakura frowned. "Naruto, why are you acting so weird? You look like you just saw a ghost." She turned her attention to Sasuke and smiled. "Hi, Sasuke-kun. How did the investigation go?"

"It went fine," he replied absently, trying to process what was happening.

"Did you find anything?" Shikamaru questioned.

The clone quickly composed himself, realizing how oddly he was acting. "Oh, yeah, but we have to talk to Kakashi-sensei about it. I'll fill you in on the details later, but we'd better get going."

"Hold on," Ino said, handing him a single bag. "Sakura and I wanted to get Hinata a few more things in addition to this, but she didn't want us to," she added with a sigh.

"Uh, thanks. We'll see you later. Bye," the clone said, quickly grabbing Hinata's wrist with his free hand as he tugged her along, with Sasuke right behind them. He could feel their friends' questioning gazes on them, but didn't pay much attention to it. His mind was preoccupied with a much more peculiar matter.

Once they reached a quiet, more secluded area that was hidden in between a few older buildings, the blond turned to face Hinata. "Who are you? What's going on?" he asked with confusion.

"I, um..." the girl trailed off, looking down shyly.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded more firmly, his Sharingan activated. When she didn't respond, he went to grab her shoulders, but the moment he touched her, Hinata disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto's clone and Sasuke gaped in stunned silence for a moment, then looked at each other. So that was why no one had been searching for Hinata; she had used a shadow clone as a stand-in while she sneaked out of Konoha. But how had she gotten through the gates without Izumo and Kotetsu stopping her?

"Let's hurry up and report this to Kakashi-sensei so that we can talk to Naruto about this," Sasuke finally said.

"Just what the hell is going on?" the clone muttered as he and Sasuke headed towards their destination.

xxxXXXxxx

Naruto waited anxiously for Sasuke's return, peering out one of the windows in the kitchen for any signs of the raven-haired male. Were their friends panicking, thinking that they had lost sight of Hinata? Did Kakashi know about her disappearance? What was going to happen? His racing thoughts were interrupted when he heard soft crying from the living room.

"Hinata?" He rushed into the room to find his girlfriend sitting up on the couch, having regained her consciousness. The black jacket had been unzipped, revealing her bloodstained blouse and skirt.

Hinata looked at him with a pained expression, hot tears coursing down her cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun...I...I did something horrible..." she whimpered, her body trembling.

Naruto quickly joined her on the couch and pulled her into an embrace. The moment he wrapped his arms around her, her face was buried in his chest as quiet sobs racked Hinata's body. He could feel her tears begin to dampen his shirt, and he gently stroked her hair in comfort.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered to her, holding her close.

"N-no, it's not," she said with a choked sob, unable to control the shaking. "I-I don't know w-what happened. I..." She continued to cry, clinging onto him with fearful desperation.

Naruto continued to soothe her, trying to calm her down. Did Hinata know what she had done to that girl? Was that what she was referring to? He gently tilted her face up to meet her gaze, feeling a tug at his heart once he did. Hinata's teary, lavender eyes were filled with despair and sorrow, as well as fear. Naruto leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead, brushing away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

Moments later, the front door opened, and Sasuke entered the apartment with Naruto's clone, making sure to close and lock it behind them. The clone dispelled, and Sasuke joined the real Naruto and Hinata in the living room.

"How did everything go?" Naruto inquired, his arm around Hinata once more.

"Well," Sasuke began as he leaned against the wall. "The good news is that no one noticed that Hinata was missing, so there were no issues with that aspect."

The jinchuriki frowned with confusion. "What do you mean by that? They didn't notice that she left the village?"

"It seems that she made a shadow clone and left it in her place," he revealed. "That's why no one noticed her absence. She somehow managed to leave the village without anyone seeing her. Also, I reported what we found to Kakashi-sensei, so he sent the Anbu to go check it out."

"Wait a minute. She made a shadow clone?" Naruto asked, then turned his attention to Hinata. "Do you remember doing that?"

Hinata swallowed a lump in her throat, wiping a few more tears from her face. "Everything is hazy, b-but I vaguely remember getting a headache while I was with everyone."

"A headache? Do you have one now?" the blond asked with concern.

She shook her head. "No, not at the moment."

"How did you get out of the village?" Sasuke inquired. "You must not have gone through the gates."

"No, I used an underground tunnel that Kiba made a few years ago," she confessed.

Naruto's eyes widened at the realization. "Oh, I forgot about that tunnel. So that's how you did it, huh?"

Hinata nodded, wiping her eyes again. "I sensed Reiko's chakra while I was in the village, and that was when I started to get the headache. Once I managed to sneak out, I followed the direction that it was coming from and I found her. She...claimed that she had cloaked her chakra, but I didn't have any trouble locating her. And then...once I found her, I..." She sniffled, but a fresh set of tears was already brimming in her eyes. "I-I didn't mean f-for that t-to happen. I r-really didn't mean to...to kill her like that," she barely managed before she began to weep once more.

"It's okay, Hinata. It wasn't your fault," Naruto comforted her, holding her close to his chest again.

"B-but it is," she insisted tearfully. "I-I can't believe that I...would do something like that... W-what's wrong with me? Is that why my father didn't want me to c-come home?"

Naruto stiffened, realizing that he could no longer hide the truth. "Your dad thought that maybe you were the one who killed those people in that facility. He said that he didn't want to risk anyone's safety, but he did also say that he didn't want anyone else to find you there. So he was concerned about your well-being, too."

Hinata numbly stared at the floor. "I was the one who killed them all," she finally murmured as reality hit her. "It was me..."

"You obviously didn't do those things intentionally. At least, not when you were in the right state of mind," Sasuke mused. "That drug that you were injected with...maybe that's what's causing you to have those episodes. It could be a side affect, and it's causing you to act out in a way that is uncharacteristic of you."

"See, it's not your fault," Naruto assured her, trying to alleviate her sorrow. "I know that you would never do anything like that on purpose."

Hinata's crying had subsided, but a melancholy expression remained on her angelic face. "Am I some kind of monster now?" She wondered aloud in a hollow voice.

"No! Don't ever think of yourself like that," the blond responded vehemently, taking her face in his hands. "None of this is your fault. It's theirs. The bastards that did this to you."

"I don't want to hurt anyone else," she whimpered, her voice cracking slightly. "W-what if I hurt someone else? I-I don't know how to control it, so what if it happens again?" Her anxiety was beginning to elevate again, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. "I-I should turn myself in."

Naruto gaped at her with shock, his blue eyes locked onto her lavender ones. "No, Hinata! You can't do that."

"But Naruto-kun, I don't know w-what else to do," she responded in a defeated tone.

Sasuke spoke up before Naruto could. "Let's think about it before you go do anything rash. Take into consideration that your episode began while you were with everyone. You had enough sense to avoid hurting them, or cause any sort of confrontation. You summoned a clone to take your place, so no one noticed what was really happening. Not only that, but even though you blacked out in the woods, your clone managed not to dispel until it we returned. Naruto's clone and I reported what we found to Kakashi-sensei while this idiot right here brought you back. Over all, no one noticed your disappearance."

"While Sasuke and I were on our way back, we sensed your chakra and found you," Naruto explained to her. "We managed to sneak you back into Konoha without anyone noticing."

Hinata nodded absently, processing what they were telling her. "What did you find at the facility?"

"We found a pit of corpses hidden beneath a secret trapdoor. We're guessing that they were the other missing ninjas, but we don't know that for sure," Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei is working on that right now."

"I really should turn myself in..." she mused in a hollow voice. "They're going to find her body and-"

"We took care of that," Sasuke interjected. "I used my Amaterasu to burn her corpse. We didn't leave any traces behind, so no one will know."

Naruto took Hinata's delicate hand into his, gaining her attention. "Hinata, there's something else that I need to tell you." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "When Sasuke and I were heading home, we ran into that bastard, Mikoto."

Her face paled at the mention of his name and her heart skipped a beat. "Y-you saw Mikoto?"

The jinchuriki nodded, giving her hand a light squeeze. "I recognized him from the pictures that we were shown. When I realized who he was, I... I went berserk," he admitted. "My rage took over and I killed him." He let out a humorless chuckle, caressing her fingers with his. "All I could think about was how much he hurt you, and I lost control. I probably shouldn't have killed him, but I don't care. After what he did to you, he deserved every bit of that beating. I didn't stop until Sasuke pulled me away from the corpse, and by then, he was so battered that no one would be able to identify him."

"I burned his body, as well," Sasuke added. "We're not telling anyone about what happened, including Kakashi-sensei. So as of now, no one knows that those two are dead. We want to keep it that way for now."

Hinata couldn't help but feel slightly relieved over the fact that two of her tormentors were dead. That left only Kusanagi and Kurome, and she wondered what exactly they were planning.

Naruto had the same thought. "We still need to get rid of those other two. There's not much we can do about it now, but Sasuke and I will come up with something. I'm not letting them get away with what they did to you, even if that means I have to go against Kakashi-sensei's orders. I don't plan on bringing them back here alive."

"Just don't do anything stupid in the meantime, Naruto. I'm gonna get going," Sasuke said as he turned to leave. "I'll come back tomorrow to discuss plans."

Once he was gone, Naruto looked at Hinata to see a defeated expression on her face. The devastating information she had learned was clearly taking a toll on her, leaving her in a state of desolation. Naruto reached over to gently stroke her cheek, causing the shy kunoichi to look at him. "I'm sorry that all of this is happening, Hinata. You don't deserve to go through any of this. I should've told you the truth about your dad, but I didn't want to upset you. I'm sorry for that. You've already been through so much that I couldn't the stand the thought of putting you through more pain. " He leaned closer to her, so that his forehead touched hers as his voice lowered. "I know that you're scared, and I don't blame you. But I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. I love you," he added, planting a soft kiss on her rosy lips. "Now, let's get you out of those clothes."

Hinata began to blush profusely, and it was then that Naruto realized how it sounded.

"Uh, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you should take a shower and get some clean clothes on. Not only that, but we never put medicine on your back this morning, so let me apply it when you get out," he told her, trying his best to hide his embarrassment.

Hinata washed Reiko's blood from her body, which had saturated through her blouse and stained her torso crimson. She watched numbly as the red water swirled down the drain, knowing that she was the one who had drawn that blood. She was the reason why it covered her body in the first place, and warm tears ran down her face as she tried to contain her sobs, the hot water mixing in with those tears. The indigo-haired girl scrubbed away the remnants of blood that remained on her porcelain skin, her hands shaking as she did so.

Naruto entered the bathroom once she was finished, ready to apply the medicine on her back. He could see the broken expression that she desperately tried to hide behind a smile, but her pained eyes said it all.

"Hinata, you can't beat yourself up over this," he murmured to her, his fingers applying the cool cream to her bare back. "None of this is your fault."

She didn't respond vocally, but gave a slight nod to acknowledge what he had said. No matter how many times he tried to reassure her, the crushing guilt would not subside.

'Why is she so upset about this?' Kurama asked from inside Naruto's mind. 'Shinobi die all the time, it's part of the job.' He simply couldn't comprehend why it was affecting her in such a way. 'What's so wrong about going after the people that were the cause of the whole thing?'

'Because Hinata's different,' Naruto told him, gently massaging the medicine onto the healing welts. 'She hates the thought of taking anyone's life, even if her own is at stake.'

'But not you,' the fox demon reminded him. 'When it comes to your safety, she jumps right in without hesitation. I can't believe it took you so long to notice the lengths that she'll through just for your sake. You really are an idiot,' he told him for what seemed to be the millionth time in that week alone.

'Oh, shut up.' Naruto, however, knew that Kurama was right. Hinata would easily risk her life for his, without caring about her own well-being. Once he was finished, he left the quiet girl alone to get dressed, but not before planting a kiss on top of her head and a reminder that if she needed anything, he would be right outside. He saw the sad smile on her face, and felt his heart ache for her.

As the jinchuriki waited for Hinata to finished up in the bathroom, Kurama spoke up once more. 'Maybe it's not so much that she killed that girl, but the fact that she tortured her to death.' He let out a low, amused chuckle. 'I've gotta say, that was impressive. That bitch deserved every second of it.'

Even if that was true, Naruto knew that Hinata would never be okay with what she had done. She probably could've gotten over it more easily if it had been a simple, quick death. Instead, she had administered an agonizing torture session that had left Reiko mutilated beyond recognition.

'How do you feel about what you did? When you killed that other bastard?' Kurama questioned.

Naruto was quiet for a moment before he responded. 'I'm relieved. I don't feel guilty for killing him at all, especially now that I know he can never hurt her again.'

Kurama snickered. 'I thought you hated to be overly-violent, but it seems that things are different when your girl is involved. The rage I sense from you seems to sky-rocket any time her safety is compromised.'

The blond didn't deny that statement, for the fox was right. He had always been protective of Hinata, becoming even more so in the recent years. Now that they were together, he felt that way more intensely than ever.

Okay, that completes the chapter and I'm hoping that it's starting to make somewhat sense? Oh, and I don't want any crap about whether or not she can make clones. I'm pretty sure that in order to graduate from the academy, you need to be able to make some sort of clone (if not, correct me if I'm wrong, because I suppose I don't know for definite) Regardless, I'm pretty sure she can manage at least one. But enough of my stupid rambling. I hope you liked the chapter and I will try to update again a week from today. Please review ^_^