15. Loose Ends
Excuse me while I whip this out…it's Chapter 15 for the holidays!
Wow…Chapter 15 is finally here and I want to thank everyone who stuck with my story after the last chapter. The path I took with my story was certainly difficult, and of course controversial but I stuck to my guns and the vision I had for it from the beginning. I'm glad that people could see and feel the emotions that I painstakingly put into the chapter and I appreciate every single review, even those who didn't like what they saw. Good or bad, they only help me be a better writer.
Also, I would like to thank fellow author Titokhan for helping me out, as well as my anonymous beta for his continued efforts and support. You guys are my lifeline and support network, and your work is very much appreciated.
I have to say that I was quite surprised at how many "wall of text" reviews I got for my last chapter, I don't think I've ever seen so many. And apparently, I brought out those strong emotions in many people because I received more reviews for the last chapter than I ever have. Hopefully I keep everyone coming back for more.
This chapter didn't flow like the others did, and that's why it took longer to write. I was frustrated beyond belief and then I hit a major case of writer's block that stopped me cold, but I think the end result was good. I put some more emotion into this chapter – not like the last one, though – but it's enough to answer some questions and clear things up for many of my readers.
Now, here's some thanks to several of my readers who decided to leave me reviews:
Arcana37210: Thank you for the review, and based on your suggestions I rewrote the part of this story between Tsunade and Naruto. You should notice there are a few parts of the Tsunade conversation that reference some issues you had. It was written with you in mind, and I hope you like it.
Hana/jouchan/PsychoticSky: I know you were upset that Naruto didn't thank Hinata for everything, but just because it wasn't in the chapter doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Read on and you'll see; I hope I did a good job for everyone.
Hektols: How public knowledge about Hikaru will be revealed is in this chapter. The last part was written for you. Reaction to it will be in the next chapter.
Melody: Yes, he will let go. This is an integral part of the story and is coming soon.
Dance-puppet: Hinata never knew the complete truth. If she did, she probably would have acted differently towards Sakura.
Jayden-night: Thanks for the recommendation. It's now on my list of favorite stories.
Now that we have that out of the way, here's this week's disclaimer. I'll be interested to see how many people know what movie this is without having to use Google to look it up.
Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto, and I want to let you know that I've been hurt in the past, emotionally speaking.
Masashi Kishimoto – What happened?
Disclaimer – Well, it's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girl dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.
Masashi Kishimoto – Goodyear?
Disclaimer – No, the worst. (+1 if you get the reference).
Chapter 15 – Loose Ends
It was six o'clock in the morning in Konoha, and dawn would break over the horizon within thirty minutes. At this time of day, the streets were still quiet and normal people are still in bed sleeping.
However, Naruto was anything but normal.
For a little over nine years as a child, he was both hated and hunted because of his tenant. During that time, he had become so good at hiding from the villagers that he was even able to evade the ANBU more often than not. Couple that with the horrible things he'd seen during his time with the Mienai Segi and the nightmares that he suffered from, and the result was that Naruto was a very light sleeper. And when he did get some sleep, it usually didn't last very long.
Things had changed greatly for him in the past few months. The villagers who had once shunned him now treated him with kindness and respect, and marrying Hinata had banished most of his nightmares. But even with the positive things that had happened, constantly being on edge and aware of his surroundings as well as being afraid of his recurring nightmares was a hard habit to break, which is why despite receiving less than four hours of sleep, Naruto found himself waking up before the sun rose.
He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to clear the fog from his head. He briefly looked around the room before his gaze settled upon the indigo-haired woman lying next to him. As he stared at her, his thoughts turned to the events of the previous night. Despite his repeated attempts to talk with Hinata and soothe her fears, she had continued to cry until sometime around 2 o'clock in the morning, when her body had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. She was still in the same position, snuggled up against his side with her hand clutching his nightshirt, while one of her legs was draped across his hips. It was obvious that even in her dreams, she was afraid that he was going to leave and refused to let him go. An irrational and unfounded fear, but one she still believed to be very real nonetheless.
He gently brushed the hair away from her face, noticing that her eyes were still swollen. No matter how you looked at it, yesterday had been a very busy day for the two of them. He'd gotten answers to most of his questions, and the only ones left were those he still needed to ask Tsunade. And he was fairly certain that her answers were going to be just as pathetic as those Sakura had given him.
While he'd been angry at the beginning about everything that had happened, Hikaru had once again put things into perspective, reminding him that Hinata had done quite a bit for him in the last eight years – not to mention the suffering she'd endured from the villagers and her clan. And she'd done it all because of her undying love for him and for the sake of his son – THEIR son, he reminded himself. Hikaru was right – Hinata was his mother in every way that counts, and that's all that mattered.
Naruto knew how lucky he was to have someone like Hinata, someone who loved him so much that she would sacrifice almost everything she had to take care of Hikaru. And he loved her very much as well – it was hard to describe how great that love was, and it only grew deeper with each passing day. He didn't even want to think about what his life would be like without her or Hikaru in it.
But somehow, Hinata still believed that the happiness he'd given her could disappear in an instant. He decided that it was time to put her fears to rest and show her not only how much he appreciated everything she'd done, but how much she truly meant to him.
But first, he had to get out of bed. And from the look on her face and her posture, Hinata wasn't letting him go anywhere.
He briefly tried to squirm out of her grip, but she only groaned in her sleep and held onto him tighter. Rolling his eyes, he wondered if he was going to get out of his current predicament sometime before Hinata woke up. He thought for a bit and suddenly, he came up with an idea that just might work.
He created a shadow clone, and had him walk around to the other side of the bed. The clone placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder and lovingly kissed her forehead, then quickly lay down next to her and remained still.
Sensing his touch and feeling the warmth of his kiss, Hinata let go of Naruto and rolled over to clutch the shadow clone close to her, mumbling in her sleep as she did so. After a few seconds, Naruto stood up and nodded to the clone, basically letting him know that he would be staying with Hinata until she woke up. The clone gave him a thumbs-up with his free hand, after which Naruto silently gathered a change of clothes and slipped out of the room.
As he closed the door tightly behind him, he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. He walked over and looked inside, only to see Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table, leisurely drinking a cup of coffee. Apparently, Sasuke was an early riser just like he was, and had made a pot of coffee for them to drink while they talked.
Naruto threw his clothes down on the counter and poured himself a cup, before sitting down at the table across from his new brother. "Morning, teme."
"Morning, dobe. Those are some pretty heavy bags you have underneath your eyes. I'm guessing it was a rough night."
Naruto nodded and said, "Yeah, it was. Hinata cried herself to sleep sometime around 2 in the morning, and I fell asleep right after that. What about you?"
Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't really sleep either – maybe three hours' worth. There's too many unanswered questions running through my mind."
"You and me both." As Naruto took a sip of his coffee, his eyes went wide and he started coughing. "GACK! Holy shit! How strong did you make this?"
"Quit complaining. It'll wake you up, and that's the most important thing."
"Are you kidding me? You could use this instead of Edo Tensei to raise the dead!" He quickly added some cream and about fifteen scoops of sugar to his cup, hoping to take the edge off.
Sasuke watched him in disgust and then asked, "Well, now that you've ruined a perfectly good cup of coffee, do you mind telling me what you needed to talk to me about that was so important?"
Naruto sipped his coffee, and a look of sheer bliss came over his face. "Ahh, that's much better. Now, to answer your question – I've been thinking about the fight I had with Anubis. I'm sure you've guessed by now that I used to work with him, right?"
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious right from the start. The information Shikamaru got from you yesterday was far too detailed to think otherwise."
"Well, the thing I'm wondering about is something Anubis said several times during the fight. He said he's no longer…"
Sasuke looked at Naruto, wondering why he'd suddenly stopped talking. "No longer what?"
Naruto held up his hand, telling Sasuke to wait a bit. He closed his eyes for a moment and became very still, and Sasuke saw the area around his eyes turn reddish-orange. He opened his eyes and looked around for a few seconds, before nodding to himself and releasing sage mode.
He pointed to his ear and then held up three fingers, letting Sasuke know that there were three people listening in on this conversation right now. He walked over to the counter and scribbled something on a piece of paper, then handed the note to Sasuke.
'Too many sets of ears listening. Above S-rank information. Meet with Kakashi-sensei at Hokage Tower at ten o'clock. Will discuss then.'
Naruto said, "I'm going out to get some breakfast. Tsunade should be at the hospital by the time I'm done, and I still have some questions she needs to answer. If you want to, you're more than welcome to stay here for a little while and then I'll meet up with you later."
Sasuke nodded, and then burned the note with a quick fire jutsu. Whatever Naruto wanted to talk with him about, it was apparently so secretive that only Kakashi-sensei could be trusted. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about all the possible dangers that could be involved.
Things had become far too boring since he'd married Sakura five years ago. He truly missed this part of his life, and maybe this would be an opportunity to see some REAL action for a change.
As dawn broke over Konoha, another couple began to stir from their slumber. However unlike Naruto and Hinata, this couple both wore looks of satisfaction on their faces, as they awoke from a night of romance and passion.
Neji slowly opened his eyes and looked at his lovely wife Tenten. She was cuddled up against him, her arm draped across his chest in order to hold him close. Her long hair, undone from the signature buns she always wore, obscured part of her face and flowed across her shapely torso, discreetly hiding her breasts. As his eyes followed every nuance of her face and every curve of her figure, Neji couldn't help but smile. Kami had blessed him with a wonderful woman who loved him for his faults as well as his virtues, and he thanked her once again for bringing Tenten into his life.
He lovingly brushed the hair away from her face and gently kissed her forehead. Tenten stirred at his touch, before wearily opening her eyes to look at her husband.
She returned his smile and said, "Good morning, Neji-kun."
"Good morning, Ten-chan. May I ask how my beautiful wife is doing this morning?"
The smile on her face deepened as Tenten snuggled further into his side. "I'm tired – and very content."
"That's good. I'd hate to think my efforts last night weren't appreciated, and had gone to waste."
"Trust me, Neji-kun – they were definitely appreciated." Her finger caressed his chest, idly tracing circular patterns. "What got into you all of a sudden yesterday? You haven't been that romantic in years – not that I'm complaining, of course."
He raised one eyebrow and said, "Well, in all honesty it was several things Naruto and Hikaru said last night at the hospital. It made me realize that over the last few years, I haven't been as attentive to you as I should have been. I'm sorry about that, and I'll try to be a better husband going forward."
Tenten stopped caressing his chest and turned her head to look at him. "Well, I don't know what those two said, but it must have been something very special to make you want to apologize to me."
"Actually, they were some of the most emotionally moving things I've ever heard – with the exception of our wedding vows, of course."
Tenten gave Neji a quick kiss and said, "Thank you for saying that, Neji-kun. But now that I think about it, you never told me what actually happened while you were there. You only said that you ran into Naruto at the hospital, and you left Hikaru with him before coming straight home."
Neji nodded. "That's correct, and there's a reason why I didn't provide any details. Hikaru and I happened to overhear a very…well, let's say interesting conversation involving Hinata last night."
Suddenly, Tenten was hovering over him with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Is that right? You were privy to some juicy gossip involving my friend and relative while you were at the hospital, and didn't tell me as soon as you got home?"
Neji gulped nervously and said, "Umm, that's correct. But I have a good reason for doing so."
"What excuse could you possibly have for keeping something like that from your wife?"
"I love you, Tenten."
"I love you too, Neji-kun. But you're evading the question."
Neji sighed and said, "Because I promised Hinata I would wait until today. The information is extremely sensitive, and it needs to be shared not only with you, but with Hanabi and Uncle as well. Even though you're my wife and I love you more than anything, it's important that everyone hear what I have to say at the same time – I can't play favorites with this. So the sooner we gather everyone, the sooner I can tell you what it is."
Tenten continued to stare at him as she thought it over. After several seconds she said, "Okay, we'll do this your way – for now. I'll take a shower first and get dressed, and then I'll go get Hanabi and bring her here. After you're done using the shower, we'll all meet in Hiashi's office so that you can tell everyone what this is about. But just so you know, Neji Hyūga – if this information isn't as important as you say it is, you're going to be taking cold showers for the next month."
And with that, Tenten got out of bed and walked towards bathroom, swaying her hips seductively as she did so. Once there, she looked over her shoulder and gave Neji a smoldering look, before slowly closing the door behind her.
Neji began to sweat as he watched his wife walk into the bathroom. He knew she was purposely teasing him, but right now the view was so good that he didn't care in the slightest. After the door closed, he slumped back onto the bed and said, "Without a doubt, that woman is going to be the death of me. But Kami – what a way to go!"
At eight o'clock, Naruto walked through the front door of the hospital with one thought on his mind – that it was time to get some answers from Tsunade regarding the secret surrounding Hikaru. As he walked down the hall, anyone who saw him immediately gave him a wide berth, knowing what his destination must be – and judging by the look on his face, the visit wasn't going to be a pleasant one.
When he reached her office, Naruto knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an invitation to enter. Tsunade and Shizune were both there, apparently going over some patient reports dealing with injuries from last night's battle.
He closed the door and said, "Good morning, Tsunade. Did Shizune nee-chan tell you that I would be stopping by today?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. "Good morning to you too, gaki. And yes, she did tell me you'd be stopping by. But is there a reason why you're not calling me Baa-chan?"
He gave her a hard stare and said, "Don't make the same mistake that everyone else has and think I'm still a naive idiot. Kakashi-sensei told me yesterday that he read the mission file you purposely redacted, and I'm guessing that you already knew that, as well as where I've been for the last week. It's time for you to give me some answers."
Tsunade pressed her lips together. Being one of the legendary Sannin – as well as a former Hokage – she didn't like being ordered around by anyone. As a matter of fact, she hated it – which made Naruto and his attitude that much tougher to deal with.
"Fine, gaki – I'll answer your questions as best as I can." She turned to Shizune and said, "Could you give us some privacy, please?"
Naruto raised his hand and said, "No. She stays in the office."
Tsunade raised her eyebrows and asked, "Excuse me?"
"I said Shizune nee-chan stays in the office for the duration of the conversation. She's either going to hear what you have to say about the mission right now, or I'm going to tell her later so there's no reason for her to leave. And frankly, I'd like someone else to hear whatever pitiful explanation you're going to give me about why you decided to keep this a secret all these years."
Tsunade glared at him and said, "I really don't like your attitude, Naruto. You need to show me some respect."
"I really don't give a shit about what you like or don't like right now, Tsunade. And you're in no position to argue about respect, since you apparently haven't given me any."
Rising from her seat, Tsunade swung a chakra enhanced fist at his head while saying, "Well, maybe you'll give me some respect after I knock you into next week!"
She was fully expecting to knock Naruto through the back wall of her office, but quicker than she could follow he caught her fist in mid-swing and stopped it, and as their hands met it made a sound like a firecracker going off.
The shock on her face was clearly evident as she asked, "What did you just do? How were you able to stop my fist like that?"
Naruto smirked and said, "Chakra disruption pulse. It's a little something that I developed while I was gone, where I create an opposing pulse of chakra that basically cancels yours out. Since I don't have the pinpoint control that either you or Sakura have, the size of it has to be rather large in order to counter your technique. I still need some practice, but more often than not I can make it work."
He shoved her fist away from him and said, "Are you surprised, Tsunade? You shouldn't be – after all, you're the one who taught Sakura that technique when we were younger. You didn't think I'd be gone all this time and not develop a way to counter Sakura's main weapon of abuse against me, did you?"
Tsunade sat back down. "You know I didn't teach her that technique so that she could physically abuse you, Naruto."
His anger finally boiled over and he shouted, "And yet that's exactly what happened! So you know that that says to me? It says that you did a half-ass job as a sensei, because in addition to teaching her that, you also should have taught her some restraint and some fucking self-control!"
Tsunade winced as she heard the words come out of his mouth. He was right; she had been so focused on teaching Sakura the physical aspects of her technique that she had neglected the mental training that went along with it.
Realizing that things were getting out of hand, Naruto took a deep breath and sat down. "Look, we're getting off the subject of why I came here in the first place. I want answers to my questions and you're going to give them to me. So let's start with an easy one – I want to know why you couldn't tell me that I'm Hikaru's father."
Shizune's eyes went wide and she asked, "Did…Did I just hear you right, Naruto-kun? Did you just say that you're Hikaru's father?"
He smiled ruefully and said, "That's correct, Shizune nee-chan. And you know what the best part is?" He pointed at Tsunade. "She's known about it the whole time and never bothered to tell me!"
Shizune turned pale. "Lady Tsunade? Is this true?"
Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "It's not that I didn't want to tell him, Shizune. It's that I couldn't tell him."
Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "Explain."
She took a deep breath and let it out. "About two weeks after you left the village, Sakura came into my office crying. At first, I thought it was because she finally realized how much you meant to her and she wanted you back, but that statement couldn't have been further from the truth. Instead, she told me that she was pregnant – I didn't bother to ask her who the father was, because we both knew it was you."
"After hearing this, I asked what her plan was regarding the baby and she told me that one way or another, she wouldn't be keeping it." She looked sideways at Naruto and continued, "You can imagine all of the possible scenarios that ran through my mind when I heard those words. Despite my position and authority as Hokage, there was no way I could order Sakura to keep the baby. And even though I thought it would have been a good idea, I couldn't justify having the ANBU keep constant watch over her to make sure she didn't do something stupid."
"However, she asked for a one year mission away from the village, so that she could give birth and put the baby up for adoption in another village, laying my fears to rest. When I asked her why she would go to such great lengths to make sure no one knew she was pregnant, she basically told me that she never wanted anyone to know about the mistake she'd made. She wanted a clean break after it was all over to move on with her life and find happiness."
"It was then that I came up with the idea of having Hinata adopt the baby. At first Sakura resisted, because she wanted the baby as far away from the village as possible, but she finally agreed to it under the promise of complete secrecy. The conditions were that no one could ever know Sakura was the mother, and that Hinata could reveal to you – and only you – that Hikaru was your son."
"I sent for Hinata right after that and explained the situation to her, as well as what Sakura and I were offering. She didn't even flinch or hesitate for one second, and accepted the opportunity to care for the baby as if it were her own, knowing full well what it would mean to her status in the village and within her clan." She stopped for moment and smiled at Naruto. "You have no idea how wonderful a woman you married, gaki."
"Believe me, I know. But almost everything you just said is what Sakura and Hinata told me last night while I was here at the hospital."
She raised an eyebrow and said, "How much did they tell you?"
"Quite a bit, actually. I have to say that I was pretty shocked at the lengths Sakura went through to keep this information secret, but in the end I think things worked out for the best. Hinata is a far better mother to Hikaru than Sakura ever could have been. But all this is beside the point – there's only a couple of questions they couldn't answer for me, and one of them was why you didn't tell me the truth in the first place."
Tsunade sighed. "When Sakura told me that she wasn't going to keep the baby no matter what, my first thought was to protect it at all costs. After I convinced her to allow Hinata to adopt it, I realized that even though you'd done so much for this village – and the elemental nations – there might still be people out there looking for revenge. And if they couldn't find you, they would go after the next most likely target – which would be your child."
Naruto held his hand up and said, "Wait a minute. If you were that worried about his safety, then why not tell everyone that I was his father and have the ANBU watch over him like when I was a kid?"
"For the same reason I couldn't have them watch over Sakura every night and day, Naruto. It would have been a misuse of village resources. You were a special case because you're a jinchuuriki and required round the clock protection, and everyone was worried about the possibility of Kurama breaking free and destroying the village."
Naruto snorted and said, "Not that it mattered anyway. The ANBU did a shitty job of protecting me back then."
"That's something we can both agree on. But getting back to your question, keeping the true identity of your child a secret was my primary concern. So after the mission was complete, I used a blood seal to not only redact the information in the file, but swear me to secrecy regarding Hikaru as well. That way, unless Hinata told you the truth or Nadeshiko Village called the marker for payment, the identity of your son would remain safe and he wouldn't be a possible target for retribution by someone."
He glared at her and said, "And what reason do you have for not sending someone to find me?"
"Naruto, everyone close to you knew the reason why you left the village. While we still don't know exactly what Sakura said to you, it was obviously devastating and emotionally painful. You wanted to be as far away from here as you could, and the only clue as to where you went was the letter you left, asking me to give Sasuke a light sentence if he ever returned to Konoha. I have to say that it was a smart move on your part to send a copy of that letter to each one of the Kage as well, cashing in several personal favors in order to make sure I wouldn't throw him in prison for life for all the crimes he committed."
"I sent a squad out to find you for a couple of weeks after you left, however you did an excellent job at covering your tracks. It was obvious to everyone that you didn't want to be found, and I felt that I should respect your wish to be left alone and give you time for your heart to heal. Plus, I couldn't spare the resources of sending out an elite ANBU squad for several months to find you. There was no way I could justify allowing some of my best ninja to be out of the village for that long. So I reasoned to myself that allowing you to come to the decision all on your own to return was the best course of action to take. When you were ready to come back, I knew you would."
Naruto continued to stare at her for a moment, but when he finally spoke the tone of his voice was dangerously low. "So let me see if I've got this straight. You knew that Sakura was pregnant, and yet you didn't think this piece of information was important enough to spare sending just ONE person out of the village to track me down and let me know."
"Well, like I said earlier I couldn't tell you because…"
Faster than they thought possible, Naruto smashed his fist onto her desk, shattering it into several dozen pieces. Shizune and Tsunade both flinched and covered their faces to protect themselves from flying debris, and when they looked back they saw a barely contained look of rage on Naruto's face.
"Don't feed me any more of your bullshit, Tsunade! You just said that you sealed the mission file with your blood AFTER Sakura and Hinata got back. So up until the time they returned to the village, you could have sent someone to find me. And yet, you didn't – and all because you couldn't spare any of your precious village resources, and felt it was best to just leave me alone. Is that correct?"
She didn't answer him, telling Naruto without saying a word that he was right.
"Do you have any idea what happened when I left the village? After I found Sasuke and convinced him to return, I actively sought my death because of what Sakura said to me." He stared at her coldly and continued, "Do you understand what I'm saying? I was looking for a way to end my life because I couldn't bear the pain of what she did to me. I never found the release I was searching for, and instead my life became far worse. The things I've seen would be enough to drive any normal person insane. I still have nightmares about them; there are times I wake up in a cold sweat because I can't get the images out of my mind. And yet, you decided to keep the one thing that might have made a difference in my life a secret, just because it was easy and convenient for you to do so."
Shizune's eyes filled with tears and her hand covered her mouth in an effort to control her emotions. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. What could Sakura have done to Naruto that would cause him such pain? What could she have said that drove him to find his death all those years ago? Apparently, it was so emotionally devastating that he hadn't wanted to live with it anymore, and the realization wrenched at her heart.
"Let me ask you a question, Tsunade. When did you decide that Sakura meant more to you than me?"
Her eyes went wide and she said, "Naruto, you know that's not true. You mean far more to me than Sakura does."
"Really? You just went on and on about 'unable to justify the expense' and 'misuse of village resources'. So answer me this – was sending Sakura and Hinata on that mission, along with the reciprocity agreement that was used for future payment a 'justified expense and authorized use of village resources' in your eyes? Because if the word 'yes' comes out of your mouth, then I'm going to call you a two-faced liar."
Once again, the only thing that answered him was silence as Tsunade stared at him.
"You reasoned that sending the two of them away from the village for an entire year wasn't a misuse of village resources, but you couldn't spare one person – JUST ONE FUCKING PERSON – to protect my son. Or leave the village to find me and let me know I was going to be a father."
"Look gaki, I told you already that nobody knew where…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
The two of them stared at Naruto, shocked that he would speak to Tsunade in such a manner.
"I'll say the same thing to you that I did to Hinata yesterday. When I returned to Konoha, I asked Kakashi-sensei how he knew where to find me. He said that after he became Hokage, one of the first things he did was to send someone to find out where I was. Whoever that person was found me after a few months, which means that he's known how to get in touch with me for the past two and a half years. And do you know why? Because he cared enough about me to bend the rules, which is obviously something you never did."
The look on her face turned sad as Tsunade heard his words. "Naruto, you know that…"
He cut her off with a gesture and said, "Stop right there, because I'm not interested in hearing anything else you have to say right now. Ever since I walked into your office and asked for an explanation, you've been going on and on about what you were expected to do as Hokage, instead of what you should have done. I've sacrificed a large part of my life for the sake of this village, and you know that I'm not the type of person who keeps track of what people owe me – but at the very least, I'm sure this village owed me the courtesy of finding me and letting me know the truth, as well as protecting my son. That's what should have been done."
Naruto stood up and said, "I'm going to leave before I get angry and do something I might regret. You have my thanks for convincing Sakura to let Hinata adopt Hikaru, but as far as the rest of it goes I'm disgusted with your efforts. Hopefully between now and the next time we see each other, you'll realize how much pain and suffering you've caused me and feel some remorse about it. Because after hearing what Sakura had to say last night, I can honestly say that she doesn't feel any remorse for what she did, and the only thing she cares about right now is herself." And he turned around and walked out of the room without uttering another word.
As he closed the door behind him, Tsunade rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Shizune, could you please have someone bring me a new desk?"
"No, I won't. You can get your own desk."
Tsunade looked at Shizune in surprise. "What did you just say?"
Shizune gave her a cold, hard stare. "I said you can get your own desk, Lady Tsunade. After hearing all of that, I have to agree with Naruto-kun. It's pretty obvious that other than making sure Hinata had the chance to adopt Hikaru, everything else you did was to make sure Sakura got what she wanted. She's the one you bent the rules for, not the person who's so precious to you that you decided to adopt him. Frankly, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around your twisted logic because no matter what, you should have thought of Naruto-kun first and Sakura second."
"That's not true, Shizune. Everything I did was to protect Hikaru, and give Naruto a chance to heal his heart. I wanted him to come back here when he felt he was ready."
"Except he wouldn't have, Lady Tsunade. Naruto-kun just said to us, 'I was actively looking for a way to end my life because I couldn't bear the pain of what Sakura did to me'. Does that sound like a person who was planning on coming back here someday?"
Tsunade buried her head in her hands and said in a voice filled with remorse, "No, it doesn't. Not at all."
Shizune walked over to the door, fully intent on leaving the office. She turned around to look at her mentor and said, "When you left the village, you went on a binge of drinking and excessive gambling in order to escape the pain that you carried in your heart from Dan and Nawaki's death. I wonder, if either one of them had survived and were alive somewhere – would you have wanted to know, or would you prefer to have been kept in the dark? Do you think it would have changed things, or would you have continued to live your life of debauchery?"
"That's a low blow, Shizune. It's not the same thing, and you know it."
"It's exactly the same thing, Lady Tsunade. It's just a shame that you can't see it."
Around half past eight, Neji knocked on the door to Hiashi's office. He was sure everyone would be there; the look in Tenten's eyes practically guaranteed that she wasn't going to miss this conversation, no matter what.
"Enter, Neji."
As he opened the door, he saw Hiashi behind the desk, and sitting in front of him were Tenten, Hanabi and…Konohamaru. He looked at his wife and asked, "I told you that I only needed Hanabi to come here. Why did you bring Konohamaru as well?"
Tenten gave him a sly smile and said, "Well, Hanabi and Konohamaru ARE married, Neji-kun. And we both know that spouses shouldn't keep secrets from each other, right? So whether he hears what you have to say now or Hanabi tells him later, Konohamaru is going to find out."
Neji closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his temples to relieve the stress. Her statement was somewhat ironic, considering what he was about to reveal dealt with a secret that Hinata had been keeping from Naruto. But he could certainly do without the guilt and hidden insinuations that she was directing his way.
Konohamaru added, "Besides Neji, I really wanted to be here. Tenten mentioned when she came to get Hanabi this morning that whatever you're going to tell us involves the boss, so I'd like to hear about it."
Neji knew that there was no way of winning this argument, since his wife had already made up her mind. Accepting the decision that apparently had been made for him, he opened his eyes and took a seat in front of the desk with everyone else.
"Okay, during the battle last night Shikamaru informed me through his communication link with Ino that Hinata was on her way to the hospital with Lee, as he required treatment for a wound he suffered. When I later told this to Hikaru, he asked me to take him to the hospital to see his mother and make sure she was okay, which I agreed to do."
Hiashi frowned. "I fail to see what any of this has to do with me, Neji. Hinata is married to Naruto, and both she and Hikaru are his responsibility now."
Neji smirked and said, "Trust me, Uncle – this may be the most important information you've heard in eight years."
He gathered himself and continued. "When we arrived, we asked several people if they knew where Hinata was, and they told us that she was visiting Sakura in her hospital room. Apparently, Sakura experienced some abdominal pain during the battle and Sasuke took her there to be checked out. We made our way to her room, and just as I was about to open the door Hikaru and I heard Naruto's voice come from inside the room."
Konohamaru asked, "The boss was there? Why? What did he say?"
Neji paused for dramatic effect. "Well, he was asking Hinata a question. He wanted to know why Hinata had decided to keep the fact that Hikaru is his son a secret all this time."
The silence that filled the room was so profound, that Neji thought if someone dropped a pin they could hear it hit the floor. The faces that stared back at him were stunned speechless at what he'd just said, as they realized the significance of his words.
After almost a minute, Tenten decided to break the silence. "Naruto is Hikaru's father? How…How is that even possible? And why wouldn't Hinata want Naruto to know about that?"
Hanabi narrowed her eyes and said, "This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm guessing there's a lot more to this story, and you're not even close to being finished yet."
Neji sighed and said, "Hanabi, you have NO idea how right you are."
Around nine o'clock, Hinata finally began to stir from her sleep. Her body ached in several places and she was still a bit tired, but she knew that staying in bed and trying to go back to sleep wasn't going to solve anything; at best it would only postpone it.
Sleep had come at a very late hour last night, and she had woken up sporadically since then as the guilt at having kept the knowledge that Naruto was Hikaru's father a secret still tugged at her conscience. He never deserved the pain Sakura had given him, and she had only made it worse by not telling him the truth in the first place. Even though she would do her best to make it up to him, Hinata was certain that Naruto would neither forgive nor forget what she'd done, but she was going to try anyway.
Her eyes still a bit swollen from crying, she opened them slowly to see the bright blue eyes of her husband staring back at her, as her hand grasped his nightshirt tightly.
He smiled at her and said, "Good morning, Hinata-hime."
Somehow, the warmth of his gesture only served to strengthen her feelings of guilt that much more. She gave him a weak smile in return and said, "Good morning, Naruto-kun. How…How are you this morning?"
"Well, I'm fine. But if you're referring to the boss, he's still a little bit tired. He didn't get very much sleep."
Hinata raised her eyebrows and said, "The boss? Does that mean you're a clone?"
He blushed slightly and gave her a sheepish look. "Umm, yeah. He had a couple of places that he needed to go today, but he wanted me to stay here with you until you woke up. He was worried about you after last night."
"Oh." She had really hoped that Naruto would be here when she woke up, but at least he had left a clone to watch over her. And it made her feel a little bit better that he was worried about her. "Can you tell me where he is right now?"
"Sure. Right now he's talking with Tsunade, and then he has a meeting with Kakashi-sensei."
He's talking with Tsunade. A fresh round of tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about the discussion they were having.
The clone immediately regretted saying the words, knowing they brought up a tremendous amount of guilt and pain for Hinata. He quickly tried to calm her down by saying, "Hinata, I'm sorry – I didn't mean to make you upset. Everything will work out, I promise. And besides, the boss wanted me to ask if you'd be up for a little family outing this afternoon."
"He…He wants to spend some time with me?"
"Well, with both you and Hikaru. Are you interested?"
She wiped her eyes and said, "I'd like that very much. Tell Naruto-kun that I'll wait for him here."
"Sure." The clone gave her a concerned look. "Will you be okay if I leave you here by yourself?"
Hinata gave him a slight smile and said, "Yes, thank you. You can dispel and give him the message."
The clone smiled back and nodded, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Now that the clone was gone, Hinata realized that she couldn't stay in bed any longer. A nice, long hot shower would probably do her a world of good right now – but first, she wanted to check on Hikaru to see how he was doing. There had been quite a few things said last night, and she was concerned as to how her son was dealing with the news.
She walked up the stairs to his room, and noticed that a note had been pinned to the door, folded neatly in half. Hikaru had written one word on the front of the paper…Mom. Her eyes filled with tears once again, as she realized that with only a single word, her son had lifted her spirits. Her hand slightly shaking, she slowly reached up and removed the note from the door. She held it for a minute; her fingertips tracing the letters he had written before she opened it and began to read:
*:*
Mom,
I was going to wake you up this morning, but Uncle Sasuke told me that you had a rough night and that I should just let you sleep. I wanted to let you know that I went out to train this morning – Dad showed me a couple of really cool techniques last night, and I wanted to work on them for a little bit. I'll be back by noon, I promise.
Hikaru
*:*
Hinata smiled and pressed the note against her chest. However that lasted all of three seconds, and then a confused look came over her face, and she scanned the note once again to make sure she had read it correctly.
To no one in particular she asked, "Since when does Hikaru refer to Sasuke as his uncle?"
Naruto walked into the Hokage's office, still aggravated and upset from his conversation with Tsunade. It had been almost an hour since he'd left the hospital, and his anger hadn't diminished one bit – probably because all he kept thinking about was her ridiculous line of reasoning to explain why she did everything in the first place.
Sasuke was already there, sitting in a chair waiting patiently for him to arrive. Naruto closed the door behind him, walked over to the couch and sat down in a frustrated heap.
Kakashi saw the look on his face and said, "Hello, Naruto. Sasuke told me you were planning on having a conversation with Tsunade this morning. I take it the answers you received weren't what you were expecting."
Naruto gave him a hard stare. "She basically said she couldn't tell me anything because she was bound to silence by the blood seal she placed on the mission file. When I forcefully reminded her that she didn't do that until AFTER Sakura and Hinata came back, and that she could have spent that entire year looking for me – she told me that she couldn't justify bending the rules and wasting village resources to do so. But she had no problem bending those same rules or using precious village resources to send them on a year-long mission to Nadeshiko Village under a reciprocity agreement for future payment."
Kakashi gave him a sympathetic look. "That pretty much coincides with what she told me a few days ago, although the part about her enacting the blood seal after Sakura and Hinata returned from the mission completely slipped past me. I'm sure she felt that she was acting in your best interest at the time, however in my opinion she failed miserably."
"You got that right." His expression softened quite a bit and he said, "Kakashi-sensei, I just want to say thanks again for everything. Thanks for bending the rules and sending someone to find out where I was. Thanks for convincing me to marry Hinata. And thanks for sending me on the mission and allowing me to learn the truth."
Kakashi eye smiled at him and said, "You're welcome, Naruto. Now, Sasuke said that you needed to talk about something important with us both. What would that be exactly?"
"We're going to talk about my past, and what Anubis said to me last night. Enact the privacy seals, please."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to discuss this with Sasuke here, Naruto? I mean, he told me that you specifically requested for him to be here, but this IS a rather sensitive subject for you – as well as being above S-rank information."
Naruto nodded. "I'm positive. What I'm about to say concerns him as well, and he needs to hear what I'm going to say because I'm going to need his help. Besides, I'm not about to keep something this important from my brother."
Kakashi's eye widened in surprise and he asked, "Your brother? What are you talking about?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Well, after the conversation at the hospital last night, Sasuke found me and Hikaru at training ground twenty-six and asked if I would consider him as my brother. I accepted the offer, after which Hikaru demanded the right to be able to call him Uncle Sasuke."
"I have to say, that's something I wasn't expecting to hear." Kakashi looked at Sasuke and said, "Are you sure you've thought this through? As a member of Team Seven, you know what kind of trouble follows him around."
"Believe me, I haven't forgotten. However, I'm actually looking forward to it. Anything has to be more exciting than the life I've been leading these past few years married to Sakura."
They all laughed at the statement, which helped lighten the mood a bit. Kakashi finally put up the privacy seals and said, "Okay, everything is secure. You can begin whenever you want."
Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Mienai Segi?"
Sasuke raised his eyebrows, not expecting the question. "A little bit, yes. Mostly rumors and whispers, but nothing substantial. Why?"
He rolled up his sleeves, exposing his tattoos. "I was a member of the organization, as was Anubis and his little cult."
"Well from what I've heard about them, it's not a group to be taken lightly. They make the Akatsuki look like low level chūnin in comparison. How long were you a member, and why did you join in the first place?"
Naruto rolled his sleeves back down and said, "I found them about a month after I talked with you. As to why I joined in the first place, I was looking for a way to end my life because the pain had become too much to bear. You know the reason why."
Sasuke nodded. There was no reason to go over the conversation from last night.
"But that's not what puzzles me. Anubis told me during the fight that he no longer recognizes Saladin as his leader, and now follows someone else. And apparently, Anubis thinks whoever this other person might be is just as powerful as Saladin."
Kakashi interrupted him at this point. "I've been meaning to ask you about that, Naruto. Anubis mentioned the name Saladin several times, and he never referred to you by your real name – he called you Gabriel. Why is that?"
Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back on the couch. "Saladin is the leader of the Mienai Segi, and he's the strongest of us all. He founded the organization and knows more forbidden jutsu than anyone. He teaches the principles of strength and discipline that you saw tattooed on my arms, and doesn't believe in the use of violence unless the reasons are just or warranted."
"But why is he named Saladin? I'm sure that's not his real name."
"Once you are accepted into the Mienai Segi and you survive the initial training, you're given an alias the same as if you'd joined the ANBU. Your strengths and skills are matched to the name of someone with historical significance or a deity from the lands to the west of here, where as a member you are expected to travel regularly to learn about other cultures, as well as perform missions. Saladin was a great leader and military general in a place called Mesopotamia, and he only believed in the use of violence as a last resort. However, he was also a compassionate ruler, very unselfish and kind who earned the respect of everyone – including those he conquered. He even left most of his wealth to his subjects when he died."
"My name comes from a religion far to the west. Gabriel is what they refer to as an Archangel, one of three very powerful beings who could essentially be compared to demigods. He was known as the Messenger, someone who people turned to for guidance and strength, especially in their darkest hour." He blushed a bit and said, "I was given the name because of how powerful I am, and the fact that Saladin recognized I always cared about helping others more than myself."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. "That explains a few things, but it still doesn't tell us why you called for this meeting. If you're that powerful within the Mienai Segi, why are you worried about this? If someone else shows up, I'm sure you can take care of him just like you did Anubis."
Naruto gave him a withering look and said, "Because even though I'm powerful, I'm not the MOST powerful. There's about twenty or so people that are members of the Mienai Segi; Saladin is at the top and I rank somewhere around number four. Anubis was a low level member; I'd put him somewhere around seventeenth at best."
"The bigger problem is that apparently, there's been a fracture within the organization. The Mienai Segi never accept a mission based solely on money; it's only if the cause is just or warranted and Saladin has to approve any request that's brought to us. And Anubis was here last night because someone hired him to attack this village, which is something Saladin would never have permitted since we'd done nothing to warrant such an attack."
Having been quiet this entire time, Sasuke finally decided to speak up. "So someone else is pulling the strings behind the scenes. And whoever that person is sent Anubis on the mission to attack Konoha for the sole purpose of delivering that message, knowing full well he'd be defeated."
Naruto nodded. "There's really no other explanation. And that means they specifically want me to deliver the message to Saladin, which begs the question – what's the real reason for the attack? There's got to be something more to this, but I'm not sure what that might be."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and said, "This is all very interesting, dobe. But none of it explains why you wanted me at this meeting in the first place."
"Because knowing my luck, things are going to get worse before they get better. And right now, I could use all the help I could get. Would you be interested in joining the Mienai Segi?"
Kakashi stared at him in horror and exclaimed, "Naruto, are you insane? How could you possibly ask a question like that? You know there's no way I'm going to approve sending my two strongest ninja out of the village for a few years!"
Naruto waived his hand and said, "Calm down, Kakashi-sensei. We wouldn't be gone that long, honest. All I'm asking for is about two months, and then we'll be back."
"Why only two months?"
"Because despite how Sasuke and I feel about Sakura right now, the fact is that she's still carrying his child. He needs to be back here for the birth, and personally I don't want to be away from Hinata for very long. Two months is really pushing it."
"Then why go at all?"
"Because I need to deliver the message, and Saladin has to approve of Sasuke to admit him into our ranks. I'm sure we can pack a good amount of training into just two months if we bear down and focus. And besides, we can always go back for more training later." He turned to look at Sasuke and asked, "So teme – what do you say?"
Sasuke gave him a rare genuine smile. "Do you even need to ask? I'm in, of course."
Kakashi interrupted their discussion and said, "Slow down a minute, you two. Before you get comfortable with the idea of leaving the village for training with the Mienai Segi, I'll need one day to think this over. This is an awfully big decision you're asking me to make, and I'm not going to agree to it simply because you're convinced it's the best course of action."
Naruto shrugged and said, "That's fine. How about we meet back here tomorrow at noon, and you can give us your answer then. Besides, I need to find Hikaru and get home anyway. I promised Hinata that we'd have a little family get together this afternoon and I don't want to be late."
Kakashi lowered the privacy seals and said, "That works for me. Remember, your mission request is S-rank information so don't discuss it with anyone. Enjoy spending time with your family and I'll see you at noon tomorrow."
"Thanks. And by the way – I know there were three ANBU stationed around my home this morning. I realize they were there to protect my family because of what happened last night, but tell them not to listen in on my conversations anymore, because if I catch them doing it again I'll make sure each one of them spends a week in the hospital."
"Understood. I'll make sure they know."
Kakashi watched Naruto leave his office, and then looked back at Sasuke. "You couldn't be less obvious if you tried, Sasuke. What if I say no to this request and keep you both in the village instead?"
"I wouldn't recommend it, Kakashi-sensei. I think the both of us need this after our conversation with Sakura last night, and Naruto made a good point when he said that since this deals with him, things are bound to get worse before they get better. Besides, why would you want to stop things now just when they're getting interesting?"
Naruto found Hikaru at training ground twelve with a water balloon in his right hand. Apparently, he was trying to do the first stage of the Rasengan that Naruto had shown him last night.
As Naruto watched his son from the edge of the clearing, he saw the intense look of concentration on Hikaru's face and he wondered if he'd worn the exact same look when Jiraiya was teaching it to him. He hoped that Jirayia and his own father were looking down on him, proud of the fact that he was passing on their values and techniques to his son.
Well, most of the values anyway. Naruto didn't want his son turning out to be a super pervert like Ero-Sennin.
He jumped out from the edge of the clearing and landed about ten feet away from Hikaru, causing him to lose his focus and drop the water balloon, bursting as it hit the ground.
"C'mon, Dad! I was doing pretty good with that one! Why'd you have to mess me up like that?"
"Hikaru, distractions are going to happen on the battlefield. If you can't learn to block them out, you'll never become a ninja."
"You're so mean! I'm only eight years old, you know."
"You're also the son of the Hero of the Leaf. Don't you want to become stronger and protect those who are precious to you, just like I do?"
Hikaru opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "Fine, you win. So, are you out here looking for me? I left Mom a note telling her I was out training and I'd be home later."
Naruto smiled at him and said, "Actually yes, I was looking for you. I wanted to talk with you about your mother."
"Why? Did you guys argue last night after I went to bed? I thought you were going to be understanding when you talked to her."
"I tried talking with her several times last night, but she wouldn't stop crying long enough for me to get a word in. She feels very bad about not telling us the truth, and she's punishing herself because of it."
"So? What are you going to do about it?"
"It's not what I'm going to do about it." Naruto pointed at Hikaru. "It's what we're going to do about it. I was thinking that you, me and your mom could have a family picnic this afternoon in the park, and we could let your mother know how much we appreciate everything she did for us."
Hikaru smiled. "I'll bet Mom will really like that. Did you already get the food and supplies for the picnic?"
Naruto face palmed at hearing this. How could he have forgotten something like that? He quickly created a shadow clone who asked, "What do you need, boss?"
Naruto gave him some money and said, "I need you to buy a picnic basket and fill it with food. Then buy a blanket, find a nice spot underneath a tree at the park and set everything up. We'll meet you there at one o'clock. And remember, this is for Hinata so don't buy any ramen – understand?"
The clone saluted him and said, "Aye aye, captain! You can count on me!" The clone then ran off to complete his tasks.
Hikaru looked at his father and said, "Your clones are really weird."
Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "Tell me about it. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get them to act normal except in battle. I think it comes from having an unstable childhood."
Thinking of his conversation with Tsunade last week and all the stories she had told him, Hikaru mumbled under his breath, "Yeah – that's where it comes from."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Hikaru looked at his father and said, "So what are we waiting for? I'll bet Mom is home right now feeling sad. Let's bring her to the park and cheer her up!"
Naruto held up his hand to stop him. "Wait just a moment, young man. I want to ask you something. On Monday, do you plan on letting your entire class at the academy know that I'm your father?"
"Well, sure Dad. Why wouldn't I?"
"Do you think they'll believe you?"
Hikaru thought about that for a moment. "Probably not. But I don't care – I'm gonna tell them anyway."
Naruto tousled his hair and said, "That's exactly what I'd expect my son to say. But what if I told you there was a way to get them to believe you?"
Hikaru's eyes lit up and he asked excitedly, "Really? You know how to do that?"
Naruto grinned from ear to ear and said, "Absolutely, but you need to use Iruka-sensei to do it. Now, when you walk into class on Monday morning, here's what I want you to do…"
Hinata heard the front door open and watched as Naruto and Hikaru walked into the house, laughing about something funny that one of them had said. It was nice to see them bonding like this, and she hoped that they would still have room in their hearts for her going forward, especially after what she'd done.
She gave them a hesitant smile and asked, "How are the two most important men in my life doing today?"
Hikaru said, "Really great, Mom! I got some practice in this morning, and Dad gave me some really good advice for when I go to school on Monday. It's gonna be awesome!"
Naruto looked at him and said, "Okay Hikaru, you need to wash up and change your clothes. We have to be at the park by one o'clock, and I don't want to be late."
Hikaru snapped to attention and saluted him. "Aye aye, captain! I'll be back in a flash!"
Naruto groaned as Hikaru ran up the stairs. Hinata looked at him and asked, "What was that all about?"
"Inside joke. You had to be there."
"Oh." She hesitated for a moment before she asked, "How…How did your conversation with Lady Tsunade go?"
His expression darkened and he said, "Not good. Her answers were almost as pathetic as the ones Sakura gave me last night, and after hearing what she had to say, I decided to leave before I got angry and did something stupid."
Hinata pressed her lips together and nodded, fighting back another round of tears. Naruto felt a fresh wave of guilt creep up his arm through the seal they shared, and he shuddered as it pierced his heart.
Knowing that he needed Hinata to stop before she started crying again, Naruto quickly pulled her into a hug and said, "Hinata, please don't cry. I know you're feeling guilty about what happened, but everything will be all right, I promise."
She buried her head in his chest and asked, "How? How will everything be all right again, Naruto-kun?"
He stroked her hair comfortingly and said, "Because I know it will, and I'm asking you to trust me on this. Now, I need you to calm down and dry your eyes, because I don't want Hikaru to see you crying. Let's just enjoy the afternoon together as a family, okay?"
She raised her head to look in his eyes, which had turned the brightest blue she had ever seen, and saw only honesty in his gaze. Nodding, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled at him, just as Hikaru bounded down the stairs.
Naruto stepped in front of Hikaru, shielding Hinata from his eyes and giving her a moment to compose herself.
"Ready to go, Hikaru?"
Hikaru smiled and said, "You bet! C'mon, Dad – I'll race you there!"
"Hikaru, wait just a…" It was no use – by the time the words came out of his mouth, Hikaru was already out the front door, sprinting in the direction of the park.
Naruto sighed and turned to look at Hinata. "If I were anyone else, I'd ask where he gets all of his energy from. But I think we both already know the answer to that question."
Hinata giggled, lifting her spirits a little. "Yes, Naruto-kun. We certainly do."
By the time Naruto and Hinata arrived at the park, Hikaru was already sitting on the picnic blanket eating the lunch Naruto's clone had purchased. Despite his reservations, it appeared the clone had done a good job – there was Miso soup, several kinds of sushi rolls, Udon noodles with vegetables, as well as strips of barbeque beef and pork. And as a final thoughtful gesture, he had gotten some fresh cinnamon rolls for dessert.
As the three of them enjoyed their meal, Naruto continued to watch Hinata out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious to him that Hinata was hiding her pain with a false smile; having worn one most of his life it was fairly easy for him to spot. He could also feel her guilt continue to trickle through the seal, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon unless he did something about it.
Naruto put down his lunch and asked, "Hikaru, could you do me a favor and go play on the swings for a little bit?"
Upon hearing the words, Hikaru paused as the chopsticks were halfway to his mouth. He gave his father a questioning look, to which he saw Naruto glance sideways out of the corner of his eye at Hinata. Nodding, he put his lunch down and headed towards the swings, leaving them alone to talk.
Naruto watched him go, waiting until he was a safe distance away before reaching out to take the bowl and chopsticks from Hinata's hands and set them down on the blanket. He leaned his back up against the tree that they were sitting under, holding his arms open to her.
"Hinata, please come over here and sit with me for a little bit."
She hesitated for a brief moment, and then scooted over so that Naruto could wrap his arms around her. He could feel her body shivering with what he assumed was fear, since all he could still feel though the seal was guilt.
He stroked her back comfortingly and asked, "Hinata, do you remember the day we got married?"
She was expecting him to say several things, but not that. "Yes Naruto-kun, I remember. How could I forget something like that?"
He smiled at her remark. "Do you remember my wedding vows? What I said to you that day?"
She struggled to remember his words, but her mind was still foggy from lack of sleep. "I can't remember all of it, but you did say that you would protect and care for me and Hikaru always."
"Well, that's part of it, yes. But I also promised to hold you when you cry, care for you when you're sick and softly kiss you when you're hurting. I also recall that you promised to walk beside me through whatever our lives would bring, and that you'll never run away from me, or what we have. Do you remember now?"
As he said the words to her, the memories came rushing back. "Yes, I do. But…But why are you asking me this right now?"
"Because I know that right now you're hurting, Hinata. Even if I couldn't tell by the look on your face, I can feel it through the bond we share." He raised his hand to cup her cheek, lifting her face to meet his. "And you know I never break a promise."
Hinata was startled as Naruto leaned down and placed a gentle yet firm kiss upon her lips, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout her body. After a moment she responded, melting against him as her blood quickened to a beat of passion that threatened to overwhelm her senses.
After a few seconds Naruto reluctantly broke the kiss and said, "I'm asking you to keep your promise to me as well, Hinata. You said that you'll never run away from me, or what we have but that's exactly what you're doing right now. You're retreating inside yourself because of what happened, and you need to get past this if you're going to begin healing. Ask me your questions. Have faith and trust in me, just as I do for you."
Hinata chewed her lower lip, thinking about what Naruto just said. He was absolutely right; the only way she was going to get past this was to face her fears head-on rather than run and hide from them, like she always did. That's how things had gotten so far out of control in the first place, and she never wanted that to happen again. She needed to have faith and trust in her husband.
She softly asked, "Nar…Naruto-kun, do you still love me?"
He chuckled and said, "That's a silly question, Hinata-hime. Of course I do. I love you more than anything."
Her spirit soared at hearing the words, and her eyes became moist as she hugged him in appreciation. After a minute, she sniffed a few times and asked, "What…What did Lady Tsunade say when you talked with her?"
He sighed and said, "Without getting into too many details, she told me that she never sent anyone to look for me after the first few weeks I was gone, the reason being that she couldn't justify the expense of sending someone out of the village for an extended period of time, and that it would have been a misuse of village resources. She thought it was best to leave me alone, and that I would come back to the village when I was ready to do so." He paused for a moment and smirked. "You should have seen the reaction on their faces when I told both her and Shizune nee-chan I was never planning on coming back to the village, and that I'd been looking for my death since the day I'd left. I became very angry with her because she decided to keep the one thing that would have saved me from years of nightmares and emotional pain a secret."
It was a very brief explanation, and Hinata could tell that talking about the conversation was only making him more upset. However, one item that stood out in particular was the fact that Shizune was there the entire time. Hinata decided to seek her out later in the week and find out exactly what was said, since Lady Tsunade more than likely didn't want to talk about it.
"Hinata, before we go any further there's something I'd like to say to you. Something very important. Could you look at me for a minute please?"
A pit formed in her stomach as she wondered what he was going to say. She watched as he moved around to sit in front of her and take her hands in his. He smiled at her and looked into her eyes, and what felt like a tidal wave of undying love washed over her through the seal, filling her heart with joy.
"Thank you."
Her eyes went wide in surprise. She was expecting to hear several things,but 'thank you' wasn't one of them. Still not believing what she'd just heard, she blinked a few times and then asked, "Did…Did you just thank me, Naruto-kun?"
He nodded while saying, "Yes Hinata, I did."
"I'm confused. What are you thanking me for?"
"For sacrificing everything to raise Hikaru, of course."
She told herself that this had to be a dream. She closed her eyes and shook her head a few times, thinking it would wake her up but when she opened her eyes, nothing had changed.
"I...I don't understand. Aren't you angry with me for keeping Hikaru a secret from you?"
"Well, I was at first – and honestly I still am a little bit – but when I got back home from training last night, Hikaru said some things to me that actually made a lot of sense." He snorted and said, "You know, for a kid who's supposed to be eight years old he's surprised me twice in the last week by saying something very thoughtful and mature. You've done a wonderful job raising our son."
"Our…Our son? But Naruto-kun, what…what about Sakura?"
"What about her?"
"Well, now you know the truth. She's his real…"
He interrupted her rather forcefully and said, "Hinata." His voice had the same commanding edge as it did yesterday. "I never want to hear you say those words again. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what Sakura has to say or who she thinks she is. Hikaru made a very good point yesterday at the hospital – you're his mother in every way that matters, and that's what's important. Not only to me, but to Hikaru as well."
He waited for Hinata to smile, or laugh, or say how happy she was to hear his words. But instead, she broke away from his gaze and stared at the ground next to him, seemingly lost in her thoughts. He knew right away that she was having a hard time believing him, even though he'd been honest and sincere with what he'd said.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in frustration, knowing what needed to happen in order to fix this. "Hikaru!" He called out. "Can you come over here please?"
"Okay, Dad!" He stopped playing on the swings and walked back over to the blanket. "What's up?"
Naruto motioned his head towards Hinata and asked, "Is there anything you'd like to say to your mother?"
Hikaru immediately understood what Naruto was trying to say. Nodding, he knelt down in front of her and said, "I don't want you to be sad anymore, Mom. I want you to be happy. And I want to say thank you for everything you did for me."
Hinata stared into his eyes. "Are…Are you sure you feel that way about me, Hikaru? After all, I'm not…"
Mirroring what Naruto had done only minutes earlier, Hikaru interrupted her and forcefully said, "Mom."
Hinata was taken aback. Hikaru had never spoken to her like this, with a hint of steel in his voice, and she was amazed at how much he sounded like his father right now.
"Did you already forget everything I said at the hospital last night? You're the one who saved me from being in an orphanage. For eight years you've taken good care of me. And even though it took a long time, you married my dad. And to me, that counts for a lot."
Hikaru smiled at her. "You're the one who did all those things for me that I mentioned, and that's what matters to me the most. No matter what the lady with the big forehead says, you're my mom and you always will be. I wouldn't want anyone else."
Hinata felt her lower lip begin to tremble, and her eyes quickly filled with tears. She stared at Hikaru for a moment before the tears started to fall down her cheeks, and then her hand slowly reached up to caress his face.
She sniffed a few times, and then said in a voice filled with emotion, "Thank…Thank you so much, Hikaru. You're the most precious gift I've ever received in my life, and I'm…I'm so happy that you're my son."
With a sense of intelligence that belied his years, Hikaru quickly assessed the situation and pulled his mother into hug. "You're welcome. And I'm really happy that you're my mom."
She hugged him tighter as she continued to cry into his shoulder. "I…I love you, Hikaru. I love you so very much."
Hikaru comfortingly rubbed her back and said, "I know, Mom. I love you too."
Naruto smiled inwardly to himself as he watched the exchange. Hinata was getting the release she needed; he was happy to see it and he knew that things would be better between everyone now that she finally had closure. Naruto returned to his position of sitting with his back against the tree, watching the clouds roll by just like Shikamaru, as he waited patiently for things between his wife and son to run their course.
Ino Yamanaka was bored. Once again, her parents had left her in charge of the flower shop for the afternoon to attend a council meeting, and to make matters worse business today had been agonizingly slow. Silently praying to Kami for what seemed like the fifteenth time in the last hour, she asked for something – anything – to walk through the door and save her from the boredom that lied ahead.
Just as she was about to give up hope Tenten rushed into the shop, shutting the door behind her and flipping over the sign to show "CLOSED". She looked to the left and right through the glass, like she was worried that someone might have followed her here.
"Tenten? Is something wrong? Why are you closing the flower shop?"
Ino heard the sound of the front door locking, and then Tenten slowly turned around. Her eyes were twinkling with suppressed mirth, and a grin was spread across her face from ear to ear. That look could only mean one of two things – either she was finally pregnant, or…
Ino returned the grin and said, "You have some juicy gossip to tell me. And judging by the look on your face and the fact that you closed the shop, I'd say it's something really BIG."
Tenten laughed as she walked up to the counter and said, "Ino, you might want to take a seat, because the word BIG doesn't even begin to describe what I'm about to tell you."
.
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A/N: So as the title suggested, this chapter cleared up some loose ends. Things will advance a little faster with the next chapter, and hopefully it will be a little easier to write than this one. I agonized over this for days and lost quite a bit of sleep over it.
Originally, I was going to go with a much more brutal confrontation between Tsunade and Naruto – one where he takes her out to training ground twenty-six and they have an all-out brawl, culminating in Naruto knocking her out and putting her in the hospital. However, after the review by Arcana37210, I decided to go in a different direction and I rewrote it. I think it turned out better this way, because even though Tsunade screwed up she still does care for Naruto and she DID adopt him. And I'm positive she'll feel remorse and make amends for what she did because…well, because I'm the author and I know she'll do it.
We have now cleared up the issue of the Mienai Segi, and where the names come from. Hinata has been properly thanked for her efforts. Hikaru is going to tell his classmates what he found out. And if you can't tell that Ino is going to blab the secret to everyone in the village, well then you haven't been paying attention.
This was a very challenging chapter to write, and I wanted to put another big piece of emotion in this one although not on the same scale for a variety of reasons. As much as I like writing battle scenes with violence and blood, I also enjoy writing the mushy stuff. Maybe that sounds weird, but I think it's part of what defines a good writer. And there are quite a few good writers on this site that do this.
Poll Results! So I put up a poll a couple of chapters ago for a bit of fun. Not many people voted, but apparently Red Vines ARE better than Twizzlers. Although if I'm sneaking some into the movie theater, I'll take either one in a pinch.
Recommendation time! Okay, I've given quite a few recommendations for stories that are strongly NaruHina, but there are times I like to change things up. Why? Not because I'm anti NaruHina – far from it – but rather because I can always appreciate good writing when I see it. So if you have the time, check out The Good Wife by ReiraKurenai. It's a NaruIno story, but it takes a good twist on things with an alternate dimension theory. Be warned, there are some slightly off-kilter pairings but it's still a good read nonetheless. If you read it and like it, leave a review because I'm sure the author will appreciate it.
Here's the link; just remove the spaces and you know what to replace the stars with:
www . fanfiction . *** / s / 6678938
So what's coming up? Well, Naruto and Sasuke are leaving for two months to train. Things will happen while they're gone to quite a few people, and there will be some plot twists and developments for many of the characters in the story.
So please do me that favor and leave the reviews – everyone should notice that there were several parts of this story that I tailored based on the reviews that I received, so I'm not lying when I say that they help. Once again, thanks for helping me set a personal record for number of reviews for a chapter. Let's see if we can do that again!
That's all for now. Take care and stay safe.
Serious Sam