The rain had at least stopped, but the entire team felt deflated and weighed down by defeat.

Their tactics had been thought out by the best, but an unexpected change of tactics from the Akatsuki had thrown them off.

The camp was sullen and quiet, as Hare bustled wearily around the surviving team members.

The barrier team had all died at Itachi's hands. Throats cut. He'd at least made it quick for them. With the barrier gone the Three Tails had become loose for a short time. Then another, terrible figure had risen and things had gone quiet shortly afterwards. The worst part had been the sheer helplessness of their cause in watching Itachi succeed.

All of them were too injured and depleted to put up any resistance to Itachi's push for the beast. The sight of the great red figure on the horizon had broken any remaining hope.

Nobody was in fighting shape now. Kiba and Hinata were shaken up by Shino's injuries, but were at least on patrol for anything further.

Anko was awake, but scarily quiet. She wasn't speaking, and had barely responded to the hug Naruto had given her.

The fire they had set was at least helping them to dry out. Hare finished bandaging one of Pig's wounds and made it to Naruto.

"You're last Naruto. I assume you are the least injured, but best to check eh?"

Naruto let the diagnostic jutsu wash over him. He couldn't see Hare's face but saw the shoulders droop as the man realised the extend of the injuries that Naruto wasn't telling him about.

"Of course. A fairly deep cut on one arm and the other broken. Then a couple of ribs to boot. Frankly, I'm impressed you survived long enough to kill the guy we were fighting. We had to kill him more than a few times."

"He didn't see me coming. It was easier than killing the other guy."

Hare looked up at him. He could see the grey-green eyes behind the mask holes look quizzical.

"Really?"

"Yes. The other guy isn't dead."

"You left him alive out there?"

Naruto shook his head and reached for a storage scroll from his bag.

"You'll probably find this hard to logically accept."

He unsealed the head and put it down next to Hare, who let out a disgusted noise as it tried to bite him. They face was burned so the eyes wouldn't shut. The head gnashed fiercely and mouthed obscenities.

Hare just stared at it for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Put it away. That is...freaking me out."

He did so and tucked the scroll away.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Bury it somewhere where it won't be found or throw it into lava. I can't think of a way to kill this guy."

Hare seemed shaken up by the sight, but got back to the arm.

"I'm going to re-break the arm so it will repair right. This will hurt, but I doubt you'll care."

He felt the flare of pain once more as the ANBU's hands did their work. The man put the arm into a sling for him.

"Rest until we start our way back to Konoha. We've sent word back and a reserve team should be on its way, but don't push yourself."

Naruto nodded as the medic headed for a patch near the fire and fell asleep quickly. He walked over to where Shino lay. The boy had large bandages where the damage had been done by the undying man.

He stirred slightly as Naruto approached.

"Shino. How are your injuries?"

"Naruto-san. I apologise for nearly being killed. It made my mission performance much worse than usual. A poor reflection on your leadership."

Naruto could pick the fact it was a joke. It made him feel a small ember of pride that he could recognise such things now.

"An illogical conclusion friend. None of us could have anticipated such a jutsu."

"Indeed. Although our friendship now seems more complete Naruto-san."

Naruto tried to think why.

"I cannot understand why that concept is correct. I have shared combat with our team before, and been to your clan's. The weapon that seals our bond performed beyond expectation."

Shino gave a dry chuckle before wincing a little.

"Well. You shot Kiba-san, and threatened Hinata. Now your crossbow bolts have, indirectly, caused me injury. You've successfully nearly killed our entire team at least once."

He was right. Yet the idea wasn't shocking or worrying for him. Kurenai-sensei would probably rip him to pieces but...there was something...what was the word.

A sound erupted from him suddenly. A puff like steam escaping. More of it forces its way out of him, a rapidly oscillating and growing sound he couldn't contain. He recognised the sound and that merely made the feeling grow.

He let it out, unable to contain it, the noise escaping from deep within himself.

He saw Talon rise a little to look at him, and Anko suddenly looked up shocked.

The noise carried on and on for what seemed like forever. Shino joined in a little. In the quiet of the camp, everyone had heard their conversation, even if they were preoccupied. Hinata and Kiba joined it as they realised what Shino had said.

Talon joined in as well, even Anko managed a small chuckle.

Naruto felt the moment slowly descend and needed to wipe away a tear he suddenly found in his eye.

He had laughed. He'd never laughed before. That was sudden and unexpected and...incredible.

He realised everyone was still looking at him; Anko struggled upwards a little and wrapped him into a hug.

"Darkie-kun? Was that the first time you've ever laughed?"

"I believe so."

She wrapped him slightly more tightly, the hug was close and somehow more caring than he had expected. It wasn't the wild hugs she had given before; it was...somehow like family? He didn't know how the feelings worked in this way.

It was going to make his report incredibly long. The hug broke and Anko smiled slightly for the first time since she had woken from her battle tiredness.

"I'm happy for you Darkie-kun."

"Thank you Anko-chan."

She broke away and went to sit near Talon. Naruto busied himself in writing his report. Anko looked over and saw him writing.

"Oi. Darkie-kun?"

"Yes."

"Could you read some of your report to me? I need a bedtime story."

The request was odd and conjured up another old memory of Baka. He had enjoyed it, he had encouraged it. Naruto felt a sense of completeness now. He had partially atoned for failing to save the boy this time. He had kept it together when a friend was in danger. He had become stronger.

"Darkie-kun?"

"Oh. Of course Anko-chan."

Where had he been? Ah yes. The first alert of Akatsuki in the area. The report until then seemed so...irrelevant and trivial to the mission.

He started to scrawl and began to vocalise.

"There they were, figures in the far distance, indistinct and fuzzy in my sight. The long tree trunks obscured our sight, but the team has more senses than simple sight.

Our eyes are sharper than others, and we saw their chakra. They glowed with malice, the dark and distant chakra like a cold winter's night. They advanced slowly, giving us precious time to act.

Kiba's nose was sharp as well, the wind favoured us as well. We knew how long it would be until they reached us and began to move.

Like the deer we ran through the trees, sliding around branches and never slowing, feeling the wind rush against our passage.

Towards our comrades we ran, with word of peril, with word of something unexpected.

For there were three, not two, and three was more than we had hoped.

Hands checked weapons as we began to break the shallow brush, the green life parting as we urged our way through it. Our movements were fast and urgent, every second had to be saved, every moment was needed.

Not five minutes previous the beast had begun to truly take on form, and now our greatest fears were coming true.

We had been found. Now we would fight."

He looked up as he shifted his report over to the next page to see Anko sleeping, a small smile on her face. Talon too was sleeping.

He decided that speaking would now serve no purpose and went back to simply writing his report. There was a lot of detail to be put into this one.

Whilst he dryly recalled the events, he considered the laugh he had emitted. It was something he found absurd and unusual. The noise had been so uncontrollable like an explosion and yet it felt like he should have been doing it his whole life.

He briefly looked up to the skies once again, and the embers of the fire dancing as they rose. Despite the ache from his wounds, and the tiredness of battle, he felt almost content with where he was.

Yes.

This was a good place to be.

Although he suspected what would happen when he returned to Konoha.


Naruto sighed and went back to his report. He was actually proof checking it because it kept him from being restrained.

Shizune had been as insistent as ever that he not actually move too far from his room because he was overdoing it, which she explained was medical speak for "being an idiot".

He knew his injuries were bad, especially the arm, but he knew it would all be fine in the end. He could train other skills that weren't that arm certainly.

He had been spared the restraints in exchange for working more on the report, with Shizune infrequently checking up on him, and also to hear more extracts.

It was unprofessional in some ways but he didn't mind the company. He had changed in that regard, it was increasingly clear that he, on some deep level, needed people. He wondered if that was for the better or not.

There was a knock at the door and he put down the manuscript. It was basically done anyway.

"Enter."

He wasn't sure who he was expecting, and was surprised to find it was Sakura. She looked embarrassed and wasn't looking directly at him.

There was an odd silence as she inspected his chart, looking at it in far more detail than was strictly necessary Naruto was sure. When she spoke, her voice wavered with confidence and wasn't genuine.

"Shizune asked me to check on you."

"She didn't. I prefer the truth Sakura-san."

She flung the chart at him and he caught it with his good arm. She really had thrown it very hard; he could feel his hand burn a little with the force of stopping it.

"I...I...hate you."

That was unexpected, at least the directness of it was.

"What have I done to offend you?"

Sakura stared at him, her fists clenching. He wondered how he could stop the girl in case of an attack and prepared himself to throw a genjutsu at her, then prepared to break Shizune's rules in the hospital.

"You killed him. You killed both my teammates, both my friends! You killed them and disappeared for three years. Do you know where that left me? Where that left everyone? You nearly broke Hinata and you're hurting her now. You hurt Tsunade-sama and you left a big hole where you went. You only bring death and pain and I want to end you."

"I know."

"Then do something about it!"

Her voice echoed around the hospital room. Someone was going to notice the shouting from her, surely?

"Did you see what Sasuke did to your other teammate?"

The girl seemed to shrivel a little and looked away from him.

"I...I...loved him. Sasuke. I loved him and he rejected me. Then my other teammate swore to me he'd bring him back. Then both were killed by you."

"Your other teammate was nearly dead by the time I failed. Do you know what his last words were? I saw them. I read his lips and what I saw made me fire."

The girl looked at him, her anger replaced with fear and deep regret. He realised his voice had been louder and harsher than he had intended.

"Tell me."

The tone was low, and urgent. Deeper than usual. It stirred something dangerous.

"Why?"

"I...need to know. You need to tell me."

Naruto remembered the scene and only needed to remember the lips move. Covered in blood they'd coughed up.

"He said 'I'm sorry.'"

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I was so shocked by what I realised it meant that I fired by accident."

Sakura slumped onto the empty bed and buried her face into her hands.

"That idiot baka. Always the good person I never saw in him. I...I..."

She dissolved into sobs. Naruto felt that he had no idea what to do. Clearly the girl was in no condition to be treating patients.

He took the heart monitor off his chest and noted the flatline on the equipment. It took twenty seconds for another doctor to come through the door.

He looked from Sakura, crying on the bed, to Naruto, back to Sakura before giving a deep sigh.

"Please don't do that, we have a call button."

Well why hadn't he been told about that? He'd ask Shizune.

"I apologise, I felt someone should take Sakura off home, she isn't in a place where she can treat patients."

The man pulled an arm around the girl who sobbed into his shoulder.

"Thanks kid. Do you mind turning the heart monitor off? It's clearly not necessary, and Shizune might have gone overboard again. She gets like that."

That was a relief. He pulled the plug out of the back of the box and it shut up and died. That was good.

He had never thought about Sakura when he had performed his actions and the new line of thought led to a stark conclusion.

When in Root, he had killed targets. They were a circulatory system with a brain that needed to stop working, usually by high speed implantation of a length of steel by dint of a handheld catapult.

He had never thought about their friendships and relationships. He didn't need to, they weren't his problem. He decided he couldn't think about all of this and do his job. He didn't need to worry about offending the feelings of his enemies.

But in Root.

The waters became murkier.

There was another knock. He felt like he needed a weapon.

"Enter."

The door was gently pushed open and he felt a lot happier when he saw that it was in fact Hinata. Unexpected, but after Sakura he wasn't that surprised.

"Hinata-san."

"Naruto-san. Since we're due another therapy session, Shizune allowed me to carry it out here whilst you're in physical therapy. How is your arm?"

Naruto gently moved his arm, which was in a thick and surprisingly stiff cast. He hated how it constrained his movement and wondered if he could cut it off yet.

"It is healing. I can wait until it is ready, but I dislike waiting in a hospital."

He sat on the bed as Hinata drew up a chair of her own. He had been allowed his own clothes after he had found the hospital gown to be useless. That was a small mercy at least.

"How is Shino-san?"

"He's healing as well. His injuries were not as bad as expected, and his hive kept the wound mostly clean during the mission. He will be up sooner rather than later."

Naruto nodded. He felt happy that his crossbow fire had not hurt Shino more grievously. He remembered the laughter from after the mission.

"Now then, last time we were able to talk freely about the maid incident, and about Temari. Any more thoughts on that?"

"None."

It was true. He didn't feel fear about the incidents anymore. The only test that could occur would be hearing screams, but Hinata didn't wish to test that any further just yet.

It was...liberating to not see the faces in his dreams anymore.

"I was wondering, I saw someone helping Sakura away as I was coming in. Is she alright?"

"She..."

He wasn't sure how to describe it succinctly.

"I talked with her and might have said something that upset her."

"Why?"

"I told her what his last words were."

There was a change in Hinata as she recoiled a little.

"Oh...you heard them?"

She sounded scared and had gone a little pale.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Well, no. His death is still, unsettling as a subject. I would like to know his final words, if you could tell me them."

"They were 'I'm sorry.'"

A tear slid down Hinata's face slowly before falling gently to the floor. Naruto watched its trajectory like it was an incoming bomb.

It landed with a tiny splash on the floor. Hinata looked away from him.

He slowly crossed the room and gave her a gentle hug, which she returned after a little while. He didn't know when to release it, but the human contact felt good for him as well. His arm, stuck in a cast wasn't able to get too close, but he adjusted it into the best approximation.

He could feel a few tears through the fabric of his shirt and decided it should continue for a bit. Why the information was causing this level of reaction he had no idea.

His thoughts turned to his own problems. Right now, there was only one remaining thing that Hinata and he had not touched on fully, and that was the memory seal.

He was frankly amazed that it hadn't reacted at all in the stress of fighting the Akatsuki; he had been too busy and high on the adrenaline of the fight to remember its existence.

He had felt it burn a little when Hidan had tried his technique, but he hadn't realised it was the thing causing it.

He felt Hinata loosen her grip a little, and he released the grip. The girl looked away as she wiped a sleeve under her eyes. He noticed that they were baggy with tiredness.

"Have you been sleeping well Hinata-san?"

She looked at him with the last flecks of tears still visible.

"Not really. But this is your therapy session Naruto. We need to take the final stage of your treatment."

The words were heavy in the air, like a cloying fog that made it hard for Naruto to breathe.

"I'm...worried about what will happen when the seal breaks. What will happen to you? How much it will hurt and I don't want to make it happen."

He watched her as she turned away and slumped back into her chair. Her concern was making him feel guilty inside for forcing it on her.

He knew it had to be done though. It was an order from the Hokage that she had taken another shinobi to enforce. She, as his commander, was well within her rights to force the seal to break without his permission.

For that, he was grateful. He was starting to understand how emotional commanders operated. Lord Danzo would not have been so kind or so merciful. At least he wouldn't have been if he wanted the seal to break.

"Don't be, I...I'm worried as well. That is to say my anticipation of the event is primarily negative despite the long term positives."

She nodded.

"I have another query Hinata-san."

"What is it?"

"During the mission you addressed me as Naruto-kun. I was wondering why?"

Well it was as good a time as ever. She had turned a little pink, which was a sign of embarrassment.

"I...almost see you like Shino and Kiba. You've lead our team, you've shared experiences with us that we couldn't otherwise share. We're closer than we realise. I didn't want you to die."

"I see. You occupy a similar place with me alongside Anko and possibly Shino. I certainly do not wish any of your deaths either."

Hinata smiled and that made him feel better.

"I brought something special to eat during the therapy session, but since that seems to have dissolved a little, let's just eat something."

She brought out a bag which had a rich, sweet smell emanating from it. Naruto noted the smell with a deep satisfaction. Hospital food, whilst nutritious, was a touch bland even by his standards. He wondered when he had gotten used to better foods.

He also wanted ramen again. Well if it was part of his recovery time he could slot it in certainly.

She withdrew the sweet smelling objects from the bag and Naruto felt a wave a nasal joy strike his nose. It was a very new smell, something sharp yet sweet. He had to stop himself drooling, which he managed with spectacular ease.

"These are my favourite. Cinnamon rolls."

Cinnamon sounded familiar. He'd found it mentioned in one of the books that Anko had given him some time before. It was given a passing mention as a cooking spice. He might have seen it in Orochimaru's kitchens, but it was rarely used.

She passed him one of the curled buns and he sniffed it more closely, which got a giggle out of Hinata.

He took a tentative bite, ignoring the sticky, sugary syrup on his fingers. It was good. It was indeed good. He preferred the more varied flavours of ramen that could exist though. He took another bite and felt warmer.

Hinata too was eating hers happily. Munching sounds filled the room for a few minutes as they ate the warm rolls.

Naruto washed his hands of the sticky sugar as Hinata finished her final roll. He watched her clean it off hers by licking it off.

She saw him looking and blushed a little.

"Sorry, my manners go a little off when I'm eating these."

"They certainly taste good."

They finished the rolls in silence.

"Well. Next time we have to get back to working on the seal. Don't rush your recovery."

"Of course."

She nodded and left. He wondered if she was going to the monument with her new knowledge.

He turned back to his discarded manuscript and began to write out the final details of his mission. He looked out of the window and smiled.

He was...content for the moment.