~ Authors Note ~

Twenty-One: A Confession to Make

Okay so this chapter is a bit messy and as for the fight scene, this first one I've written for Naruto and it's pretty horrific, I'll probably end up editing it later, but I wanted to get a chapter out. Also usually I post a chapter two or three days after the last chapter, but I was wondering if you'd prefer waiting a day or two longer so I can write a longer chapter to just wrap up their hospital escapades, there's some reveals coming and Naruto and Hinata will discuss that, but they'll get their own chapter and whatnot. Anyways comment below and let me know!

First Person POV:

Pain was the first sensation that came back to me, agony. My head throbbed like I took a nosedive into a pit of glass-like rocks that drilled their way into my brain, my arms feel weak and useless. The sensation of fiery burning in my ribs makes me believe that I have a few broken bones so that's definitely not good. I can taste copper in my sandpaper dry mouth, and my eyes feel like they're melted shut.

Everything about my state tells me I shouldn't even attempt to open my eyes, much less move. I've never been one to listen like I'm supposed to. First my eyes though, I need to figure out where I'm at. Forcing a shaking hand up towards my face, I pry my eyes open one by one. Blurred vision is what I get, everything out of focus, but I can make out some shapes.

The room I'm in is rather dark, but I can make out a metal lab table pressed against the stone wall of what must be a cave or something. Now that I think about it, the airy, damp smell makes a lot more sense now. My eye sight finally comes back into focus and I try to get up on my feet. It's a shaky arrangement, but I manage to get myself standing.

Moving throughout the room, I start for the door.

Just as I'm a couple steps from it, I feel a tug on my ankle and the sounds of clattering metal chains. Glancing down, I see a shackle wrapped snugly around my ankle. Damn it.

I know using lightning release would be stupid, metal conducts electricity and that last thing I want is to give myself nerve damage. Activating my Byakugan, I look through the material of the chain. What I find is more troubling, the metal chains are laces with small circular beads on the inside. From my lessons back home with Grandfather, I know they're chakra absorbents.

Though they aren't actively sucking chakra meaning they must only absorb any chakra I release against them. If the chains actively absorb then I'd be feeling really chakra sickness. A sensation you get when you expel to much chakra and your body can't compensate fast enough.

I've rarely experience it, I have a lot of chakra. When I do though, it makes me want to crawl in bed and die. My training with Sasuke-sensei has brought those feelings on a lot more. He has me use more chakra that I ever did when training with Aunt 'Nabi or Grandfather. Glancing around the room, I search for some object that might be strong enough to break the chains.

Before I can find anything though, a heavy wall of stone is pushed open like a doorway. Standing in the shadows is a man with one eyes red with the Sharingan, what I don't know is how he got it. Sasuke mentioned that the Sharingan was a bloodline Kekkei Genkai like my Byakugan. The only way to get it, without connections to the clan was to have one of their eyes.

"Boruto Uzumaki, I have waited a long time to meet you child. You are my special project after all, though I wanted to wait until you were older. Time isn't on our side though."

"Oi, what are you talking about you creep! Dattebasa!" I shout, tugging against the chains.

"Relax boy, you are rather important to my goals and injuring you is not an interest of mine. Besides, you should be grateful and glad to be in my presence child. You wouldn't exist if it weren't for me, I'm the one who made mommy and daddy come together leading to your conception."

I scrunch my nose in disgust at the implications of that.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I have special plans for you child, your bloodline makes you very valuable and I plan to take full advantage of that, now I'll have my son deal with the next phase."

"Next phase?"

"You have special chakra and something more impressive within it. I plan to extract it, try not to scream to much okay? I'm really busy and a screaming child is such a distraction."

Third Person POV:

Silence.

That was what followed, then.

"W-what?" Naruto asks, dumbfounded and totally confused. He didn't understand, couldn't comprehend it. Instead he stood frozen in shock. Hinata on the other hand pulled herself away from Naruto and tried to pull herself together, she was hysterical and her mind was shot from her panicking. Telling Naruto wasn't the right thing, Boruto was kidnapped and they needed to rescue him immediately.

"Sasuke-kun, you need to help me find him," her lavender eyes jumped to the dark haired Uchiha who hadn't moved once since her reveal.

"Alright, we should calm down and figure this out before rushing blindly. Hinata tell us what happened, from the start."

She nods, "Okay..."

Hinata took up a fighting stance, staring with her Byakugan at the hole in the wall where the unknown man stood. His chakra was red and violently swirling around his form. It wasn't comforting to look at, in fact, it set her nerves on edge.

"Hello Hinata, we've been watching you for some time..." the man said, tilting his head back and giving a cold, sinister laugh.

She narrowed her eyes, "Who are you and why are you in my home?"

He faked a mock surprise. "Oh, little old me? Well my name is Koji, not that it matters to you. I have come on the behalf of my father, he wants what is rightfully his."

"And what would that be?"

"Your bastard of course, what else? We would have used our little spy, but alas... He had to leave with the rest of The Elders."

Her eyes widened. 'Spy, so there is one, but who?'

"You had a spy in the Compound, who?"

"None other that your grandfather, why else d you think he was so adamant about hiding the child?" the man glanced over at Boruto who was clutching the wall so hard his knuckles were white.

"M-my grandfather, who..." her mind reeled, he was the one who called the meeting and made her choose Boruto's fate. However, when she was under his eye, she felt like she had no where to turn other than to make a choice and what about the other Elders?

"All of them were under our control, well, through the influence of your grandfather. My father's chakra is very potent and can do many things, including controlling others will when my father so desires. It eventually fades with time, but during his years here, we always managed to keep him under our control."

"So that's why he made me choose Boruto's future!"

"Correct, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but either way I'll end up with the brat so make this easy for both of us and hand the boy over to me."

"Never! You'll have to fight me if you ever want to get my son."

The man sighed. "I knew you'd say that..."

He weaves a couple of hand signs far to fast for Hinata to see. "Fire Release: A Thousand Burning Embers!"

Spitting a breath of miniature fireballs, Hinata pushed Boruto further behind her to protect him as she formed chakra around her fists, forming the Twin Lion Fists. She ducked and weaved through the onslaught of flames, arm back, she threw her fist forward. As her fist connected, Koji exploded in a cloud of smoke. A clone.

On guard, she searched for his chakra, ducking when his leg swung. Narrowing missing her, instead going over her head as she connected her Lion Fist with his chest. A powerful burst of chakra sent her and Koji sprawling opposite of each other. Shaking her head, she got back up and took position. Koji seemed amused by the response
of the connection of her attack.

"Chakra absorbing, that's right. I'm surprised, I wasn't expecting such a volatile response."

"Enough talking," Hinata zeroed in on his chakra network. She knew something wasn't right about it, but maybe she could stop his chakra flow. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

There she went, blazing like any mother protecting her child. Koji didn't bother to move or avoid her attack. He was quite curious about what this clan could do and wanted to see if she could even harm him.

Her attack connected, sending jolts through him. Painful stings that resonated through his entire form, but it served to anger his volatile chakra as Hinata went through the last half of her attack. When her final set connected with his chest and more sensitive internal organs, he coughed blood. Generally surprised by the damaged she managed on his body.

It wasn't enough to defeat him, but it was impressive. Surely the boy had great potential, unfortunately he wasn't worth that much. Death would be sweeter for him, and they would provide that after they finished with him.

"Impressive, truly. However," he made a few hand signs. "This battle is over."

"Hidden Arts: Ultimate Control," Hinata froze where she stood, he could see the confusion in her eyes. "The smoke from the clone, you inhaled it. It was made from some of my father's special chakra that he transferred to me. It allows us to control whoever is under it's influence. We can do many things with it, quite amazing actually."

"Get away from her!" Koji turned, surprised to hear another voice. During the fight, Boruto managed to slip around the house and behind Koji without him noticing. Glancing over, his eyes widened in surprise at the fist coming at him.

While he would have expected the some jutsu his mother previously used, he didn't expect what came next.

At the moment of impact, Boruto unleashed a massive amount of chakra, just like his Aunt Sakura had been teaching his just a couple days earlier. The wall of the house exploded as Koji sailed through the tarnished wall, his body making a crater in the training ground. Earth and rock spluttered and cracked across the ground and some of the roof of the house caving.

Koji was a bit dizzy, it felt like he was hit by a hundred men at once. Then he recalled the pink-haired kunochi who Boruto has been learning from. Sakura Haruno, known specifically for her monstrous strength.

"I am finished with these silly antics," Koji reaches into his jacket and pulls out what appears to be smoke bombs. He tosses them into the house and watches as they explode into smoke.

Boruto and Hinata cough, desperately trying to crawl towards the front door, but their bodies feel heavy. Like their bones are made of lead and everything's hazy. One by one they fall beside each other. Both falling into the darkness.

"Wait one minute," Sasuke says, reanalyzing what Hinata just told them. Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto—who was still out of it and had to be dragged by Sasuke—had moved themselves back into the empty hospital room, making sure to close the door behind them.

"What is it Sasuke?" Sakura asks, trying to piece together what Sasuke figured out.

"Hinata, you said that this Koji guy said that his father's chakra could control other people, no matter the distance so long as they are under the influence of chakra right?"

"Y-yes, that's what he said. What are you saying Sasuke-kun?"

He fixes his onyx eye on her. "What I'm saying is, what if he's the one who manipulated the situation. If his chakra can control people, all he would need to do the was—"

"Somehow get Naruto under the influence of his chakra!" Sakura exclaims, connecting the dots.

"So you're saying that—" before Hinata has a chance to voice their conclusion aloud, Naruto finally seems to shake himself out of his prolonged state of shock. Immediately turning on the woman in question.

"What the hell does that mean, 'ttebayo!" Naruto shouts, hands waving wildly.

Sasuke ignored him. "It means that somehow Koji's father managed to get Naruto under the influence of his chakra. The real question is why would he want the two of you to have a kid together. I understand the potential, but it doesn't seem to be the best reason for wanting to produce a child."

"Stop it all! Before you say anything else, would you please explain what the hell Hinata meant by that!?" Naruto wasn't happy about being ignored, he was confused and it didn't make sense, and they all had the nerve to brush this off and not tell him anything. Plus the pounding in his head was getting worse and he knew that they all had the answers.

"Alright fine Naruto! We haven't answered because we may have just figured out how all this happened," Sakura says, turning to Hinata for her nod of approval. "Here's how it goes. That night when we celebrated the end of the war, Hinata took you home."

"I already know that."

"Yeah, what you forgot dobe, was the she stayed the night because you asked her too. Nothing happened, but the next morning you were acting weird and things... escalated. Then after that you couldn't remember anything about that night and Hinata, well..."

"I-I found out, I mean, I was—pregnant..." Hinata stared down at her feet, she looked so meek and timid. Like in her genin days, so unlike the woman she has become and Naruto couldn't fathom this. It wasn't that he thought they were lying, but he just didn't, could, it was just... He didn't know what to think.

"Wait, we, I mean. You and I—then... a kid?" he scratched his head. Then something broke through the barrier.

It was early, he wasn't sure what time it was, but he yawned, sitting up in his bed and immediately recoiled with pain. His head hurt and pounded like he'd been hit by one of Pein's gravitational pulls. He clutched his head and promised over and over in his head to never drink again.

Was this even natural? 'Granny should know. She's basically an alcoholic' Naruto thought, slowly climbing out of bed. He swayed dizzily on his feet as he stumbled through the room, only pausing when he saw Hinata looking through his fridge. He was confused, why was she here?

"Hey Hinata, why are you at my apartment?"

She went as straight as a ramrod and turned to face him. "Don't you remember?" she asked, innocently.

Panic was all Naruto felt as he wracked his brain for an answer. Sure he was drunk, but he wouldn't have done anything to her right. Why else would she be here though, in his apartment. Then the memory came to him

"Nata, will you sleep with me?"

"N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't think that that would be a-appropriate."

"Huh? No-no-no-no-no, no, not like—like sex. I mean would you sleep here, just for sleep?"

"W-why do you want me to Naruto-kun. I assumed that you would wish to be alone after drinking as much as you did."

"I'm not feeling so good after all those drinks and I don't wanna be alone. To wake up an an empty apartment with no one who'll care while I'm puking my guts out tomorrow."

That's right, Naruto sighed with relief. He'd asked her to spend the night in his drunken, insecure state. Hinata, being the nice person that she is, agreed to stay with him through the night and Naruto was grateful for that. "Oi, ah thanks Hinata, for you know... Staying here and whatnot." He laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I really appreciate it. Dattebayo!"

Hinata's form seem to close in on herself as her face went red. "Um, Naruto-kun. I was wondering what you'd like for breakfast."

He came to a halt at the bathroom door, Naruto didn't expect that Hinata would want to cook for him. After all, she really didn't have to do that and besides, he should be thanking her. "You don't have to do that."

"But I want to," she replied with the utmost confidence.

"Oh, anything you want to make Hinata. I'm not picky, I'm gonna take a shower and maybe that'll help my hangover. Feel free to make yourself at home in my apartment," he smiled, stepping through the doorway and into the bathroom. As soon as the door shut behind him, he turned on the shower to get it warm.

He looked at himself in the mirror, it wasn't a pretty sight. He looked like hell with dark rings under his eyes, his normally tan skin was pallid and gray. Naruto checked the water and just as he switched the shower head on, he clutched his head a new wave a pain washed over him. This was different though, it was like his vision was fading out.

Blackness encircling everything, his back met the wall of the bathroom as he tugged at his hair. It was like someone was taking over his will, it reminded him of when he'd give control to Kurama before they settled their differences, when he'd loose himself in the power of the Nine-Tails. Then the pain was gone.

He seemed to be in a black void with a screen in front of him to watch his actions. It was like a block to keep him from controlling himself. He watched as his body moved, turning off the faucet. The bathroom door opened and it seemed like he was going to talk to Hinata for some reason, but before he could see anything, the visual was gone.

He was surrounded into total darkness.

"You were cooking, t-that morning weren't you..." he turned his gaze to Hinata whose lavender eyes were wide. She took a couple steps back, like she was afraid of what he'd do once she answered. She nodded meekly.

"And I went to the bathroom to take a shower, but something strange happened. My hangover got worse and suddenly I wasn't in control of my own body, it was like I was floating in space of something."

Sasuke spoke up. "What else do you remember?"

"It was like I was watching somebody else, suddenly I turned the water off and went back out to talk with Hinata about something, after that thee's nothing."

"Like someone purposely blocked it out from you," Saskuke determined. "I think we're onto something."

"What do you mean, I'm so confused, dattebayo!"

Sasuke sighs, though he can't really blame Naruto for his confusions. They're running low on time and the explanation about their kid is on the back burner. "What we mean is that we have figured out how things happened, the result of the action, and the next move to take the kid. What we don't know is why?"