I'm back! Sorry for the wait!

This chapter is kinda longer for you guys so YAY FOR U! XD

DON'T OWN NARUTO

Warning: This chapter is kinda... intense. I hope you like it and if your a woosie i sugest you turn back now but you've come this far so... ENJOY!

Chapter 21: Breathless

Red bubbles continued to lift from Naruto's body, covering him like a fox shaped cloak. The cloak swayed as a single tail flipped and twisted behind him.

'Naruto..' My body began moving on its own. I flung myself over the edge of the window, wincing as I scraped my legs a bit, and ran over to Naruto's side.

His electric blond locks were becoming spikier and more frayed as he continued to look down at the ground growling, not even noticing my presence. I tried to reach out and touch him but the red bubbles singed my skin. It was like touching white hot metal over an open flame; I winced in pain and retracted my hand quickly.

"Just tell me where he's at and you can live a few days longer." Our attacker stated, standing a few feet away. I frantically looked at him and back at Naruto as he began to speak.

"What…" He began to visibly shake, the bubbles coming out faster now. "What do you…"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM!" Naruto screamed as he lunged forward again, yet this time the figure didn't attempt to dodge.

Naruto's fist connected with the man's face, sending him flying backwards until his back connected with the side of the house with a huge crash, leaving a huge dent.

The man slid slowly down to the ground, his hood falling off his head and revealing his face, the moon's rays hitting his face allowing me a better view. He had chin length black hair and a headband with a line trough a symbol in the middle of the metal plate. There were lines on his face and he looked to be about 20 or so.

I watched as he wiped a small trail of blood that was trickling down from the corner of his mouth and stand, not even a trace of pain or emotion on his face.

There was a small glimmer and I snapped my attention to his eyes.

Red.

Like Naruto's, but they were… different. There were three black tomoe in each eye with a circle connecting them.

I stared, lost in his eyes, and found that he was staring back.

My already shallow breath caught in my throat as I was enticed into the red. Time felt frozen and my surroundings turned grey and black.

The ground was grey along with a few surrounding houses, others were black. Black crows croaked as they crossed the blood red sky.

Slowly the tomoe in his eyes began to spin and I felt myself getting light headed and dizzy. My eyelids felt heavy and my eyes drooped. I involuntarily took a step forward, followed by another, and another.

'No Hinata… Stop!'

Step.

'What are you doing?'

Step.

'This man could kill you!'

My body wouldn't listen. It wasn't responding to my brain as I kept watching the older man's eyes and before I knew it I was standing right in front of him.

The man lifted a pale slender hand up slowly. I wanted to shiver as his icy fingers touched my chin, lifting it up to get a better look at my face.

"I'm disappointed Naruto, A demon such as yourself fraternizing with human filth. Is she your girlfriend?" The man asked, lifting his gaze from me to look at Naruto.

I felt my breath return as soon as his eyes left me, the world turning back to normal and I gasped for air.

"Hinata!" I could hear the panic in Naruto's voice and I quickly tried to turn around but not before the man's hand lashed out and grabbed my throat, lifting me into the air.

My hands quickly flew to the man's hands as I tried to pry them off, my air supply leaving me AGAIN. I began to kick my legs frantically. Not the most logical thing considering he was much stronger than me but the severe lack of oxygen was definitely getting to me, and probably hindering my common sense though process.

"Put her down!" I heard Naruto growl, his rational state of mind returning slowly for he hasn't charged for his throat yet.

"Naru..to!" I gasped as I clawed at the man's hand and struggled to escape.

"Answer my question." His voice holding a hint of anger as his grip tightened around my neck.

I glanced over as he took a step back, his eyes back to a normal blue and full of panic as the bubbles began slowly dissolving.

"Na..ru..to." I continued to kick, but knowing it was no use.

"Tch," Naruto turned his head and looked down at the ground. "Alright."

I made a small whimpering noise and he turned his head back towards me, his blue eyes filled with sadness and regret.

He had been defeated, and he knew it.

It was defiantly a blow to the ego.

His eyes connected with mine and I shook my head slowly, as best I could, Telling him not to give up. He looked at me for a moment before turning his head back at the man.

The man released his grasp and I landed on the ground roughly, Naruto quickly running to my side. Kneeling he looked me over with worried eyes.

"You're bleeding." He stated, concerned as he looked at my bleeding hands and leg from the window.

"Its… noth..ing." I said between gasps as I tried to stand, but failed as I only stumbled and fell back down on my butt.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped.

"Tell me. Now." We both looked up at the man who was now a few feet away watching the scene with unfeeling eyes.

Naruto stood, grabbing my hand with an arm wrapped around my shoulder to keep me from falling. I gave him a worried look with a hint of disappointment. I had no idea what they were talking about but I didn't want Naruto to give up on anything. He was my friend before anyone had even realized it.

He is a strong man and seeing hand over what the enemy wants that easily kills my respect for him and makes me disappointed.

Naruto scowled, his face tight and lips pressed in a thin line. He tightened his grip on my shoulders and gave my hand an awkward reassuring squeeze.

"Like hell I would." Naruto spat and I snapped my head up to look at him. A slow grin crept on my face as I spotted the determination in his eyes.

This is a Naruto I could be proud of. One I'm happy to call a friend.

There was a pause before the man began to chuckle. My smile was whipped clean off my face.

He began to chuckle louder, becoming a laugh, before he stopped abruptly and looked at us.

"That was a mistake." He disappeared in a flash, but before I could react he was already positioned behind us. He lifted his left hand and quickly karate chopped the back of Naruto's neck while pushing me away with the other.

I flew a few feet away and slid on the ground, cutting up my upper arm as Naruto slowly collapsed to his knees, his eyes wide, before falling over, paralyzed.

'No…'

My eyes widened as time seemed to go in slow motion now. The scene before looked like a badly filmed horror movie. The ones where the psycho killer always wins in the end.

The man pulled out a knife slowly and dramatically from his long sleeve, as if he savored this moment, and raised it above his head, but just as he was about to bring it down….

"STOP!" There was a blinding flash of light, filling the darkness and staining everything in a brilliant white as it engulfed the area.

I blacked out.

"Who was that?" Suigetsu said looking over at me as I shut my phone with one hand entered the room. He was lying down on a couple of boxes pushed together as a makeshift cot with his hands resting behind his head.

"An old friend."

"Pfft. We all know you don't have friends." He scoffed, turning his head back to look at the ceiling.

"That may be true." I said sitting down on a box and drawing my blade to sharpen it.

Slowly the door opened again revealing a worn out looking pinkette. Her usually bright green eyes were now dull with newly forming purple bags under them.

"Did you finish it?" I asked, looking at the tip of my sword, not even caring that she looked exhausted.

She just nodded as she stepped farther into the room, followed by Ino who looked depressed. Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying.

"Good." I said, cutting the tip of my finger to test the sharpness, not even wincing at the pain.

'None of them understand.' I thought as I stared at my bleeding finger, watching a small drop of blood drip to the floor.

'No one understands…'

A young Sasuke stood alone under the shade of a giant oak tree as the sun was just beginning to set, the orangey light washing over the area as he was watching two small children run by and play with one another.

'Not a single one.'

"Catch me if you can Meme!" Sasuke turned his head as a small blond boy about his age chased a little girl happily.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

I pissed Sasuke off… It made him burn with anger and seethe with jealousy. A searing pain clenched at his chest and clawed at his heart.

He felt like he was being ripped to shreds.

"Meme!" A shrill voice echoed as the small girl's mother walked up and grabbed her child's wrist roughly.

"I told you not to associate with that child!" The mothers shrill voice rang out, causing the small girl to flinch.

This was new. Sasuke leaned in slightly, listening to the conversation.

"But mother!" The small girl protested.

"No buts! That child is a hindrance to society!"

A hindrance.… Just like him.

A nuisance.

The mother gave another forceful yank on the girl's small wrist, beckoning her to leave. The small girl was dragged away, waving a slight goodbye and the boy lowered his head.

For some reason he… felt connected to this boy. His expression softened as he watched the boys shoulders shake, racked with forceful sobs.

He took a step out from under the tree.

"You were left to?"

The boy turned his head to look at him, his shimmering blue eyes were damp as he was trying to stay guarded, but I could see the hurt.

"Me too."

I opened my eyes slowly; let them adjust to the darkness. The silvery moonlight was dim, but still made things visible. My head was pounding and I groaned as I tried to sit up.

There was a small shift in weight and I looked up to see Naruto turning to face me as he sat on the couch beside me.

"Your awake…"

I nodded slowly, my head feeling as if it was getting pounded with a hammer.

He looked away and I tried to sit up even more but regretted it as my stomach lurched.

"I'm sorry…" I turned my head to look at him, but found his head was still turned away from me.

"It's okay. I'm fine… Thanks to you." I smiled gently and touched his shoulder, making his head turn to look at me. His eyes were soft and regretful, yet his face looked exhausted and his shockingly blond locks were pale in the moonlight.

He sighed. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt…" He trailed, looking at the ground.

I just rolled my eyes, punching him lightly on the arm, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey I'm fine! But… what happened? We both should be dead by now…"

He looked back up at me and smile. I felt a small feeling of relief fill my chest. For a minute there I was getting worried he was going to continue being a downer.

"You happened."

I lifted and eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

His smile seemed to falter as it twisted to confusion. "You mean you don't remember."

I shook my head and he stood and stretched out his long limbs.

"It was you. You saved us Hinata." He looked down at me and grinned, showing a bit of his white teeth.

I felt my cheeks warm up a bit but I stood as well and gave him a doubtful look. "I highly doubt I could take down a guy like him. Plus I blacked out. "

He just shook his head and continued to smile. "No matter what you say, you saved us Hina."

I blinked and blushed a bit at the nickname.

"Hina?" I furrowed a brow and he seemed to notice this.

"Yeah… short for Hinata…" He seemed to realize something. "I-if that's okay with you!" He flushed, embarrassed, as he waved his hands in front of him.

I giggled and his smile returned. What was that about? Suddenly I remembered Shikamaru's words.

'Ever since you came along, he's smiling He's turning back to his old self.'

I smiled a bit at the mental accomplishment before asking another question. " By the way... who was that?"

Naruto's grin was whipped off his face and he turned his head to look out the now broken window.

"I guess I have to explain something to you Hinata."

Crap. Those words were definitely not a good sign…

(A/N guess who's PV this is!)

I looked out the window of my small room, staring into the moon as I was deep in though. It was lat in to the night but I was never one to really go to sleep, especially with what I keep hearing upstairs.

Every now and then I would hear Shikamaru yell at someone, most likely over the phone. Did he know that some people were trying to sleep? Plus, yelling isn't like Shikamaru. He's usually calm and rational, which made me all the more curious to who he was talking to.

There was a small knock on my door and I turned my head to look at a person leaning against the doorjamb, using their knuckle to knock.

"Enter."

Temari pushed herself off the doorjamb and came into the room, taking a spot on my bed.

"Couldn't sleep." I stated more than asked. She sighed and flopped her back down on the bed.

"Who can with all Shika's yelling!"

"Do you know who he's talking to?"

"No clue."

I just nodded, even if she couldn't see me, and sat down on the windowsill. There was a dead silence in the room as Temari slowly began to snore lightly, her breathing soft and even.

I lifted my hand up and looked at it, making a fist and then stretching it out again.

Why am I still here? I should be dead.

Naruto.

Why did you save me? Was it for the same reason your trying to save Sasuke.

The yelling seemed to stop from upstairs but a loud bang suddenly racked the house. Shikamaru had just punched a wall.

"Dammit!" I heard him curse and I closed my eyes in thought. I think I know who called now.

Sasuke.

That bastard…

How was it? Good? Bad?

Sorry if it was to intese for you guys!

REVIEW! WERE ALMOST AT 150! XD so excited! PM me if you need anything!