Naruto is owned by and copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended.
"Hinata!" Naruto cried as he saw his wife's unresponsive body on the ground. He moved towards Hinata and held her as he tried to wake her up, her motionless body wrapped in his arms. While he was busy getting his wife to her senses, he remembered that Himawari went with her mother to visit Neji's grave. His eyes moved side to side, looking for her daughter when Sakura appeared beside him.
"Himawari's safe, she's with Boruto," comforted the medic-nin as she kneeled to check on Hinata. "She's alive, but there's something wrong with her. We need to bring her to the emergency room right away!" Sakura held Hinata's hand while asking other medic-nins to bring Hinata to the hospital. After a few preparations, Sakura and the medic team secured Hinata and went on their way.
The Anbu were conducting their investigation when Sai and Shikamaru arrived. The two of them saw Naruto standing at the spot where he found Hinata. After they talked to the Anbu, they both went to talk to Naruto.
"I'm sorry for not being able to prevent this attack, Nanadaime-sama." apologized Sai, as he stood in dismay of his failure to fulfill his duties.
"Hinata and Himawari could have died," Naruto howled. "How could I've been so careless?"
"Naruto, we need to wait for the result of the investigations. You check on Hinata now. I'll make sure the Anbu guards the kids while you're away." Shikamaru urged his friend, putting his hands on Naruto's shoulder. "We'll find out who did this."
"I can't believe I was so careless," lamented Naruto, distraught with what happened earlier. "Shikamaru, we must classify this incident as top-secret. No one in Konohagakure should know what happened here other than the ones involved in the medical and investigation teams. Family Day was established to celebrate joy and togetherness. Let's keep it that way." As Naruto gave the instructions, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto was still teary-eyed as he looked at his wife, hoping to see signs of recovery. Sakura, Hiashi Hyuga, and Kakashi Hatake stood by, watching over Hinata in the hospital room. Hinata's father, Hiashi, felt helpless while he looked at his poor daughter lying on the hospital bed.
"Hinata has little chakra left," lamented the gray-haired Hyuga.
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"There is little chakra left within her body that keeps her alive. Whoever did this siphoned most of her chakra from her body."
"I've seen this one before," said Kakashi. "If I'm not mistaken, a group of shinobi used the Soul Paralysis jutsu on Hinata."
"Soul Paralysis jutsu?" Sakura asked. "What made you think a group did this?"
"Soul Paralysis needs four people to do the jutsu. It requires a massive amount of chakra to pull it off. This jutsu affects your body by limiting the amount of chakra circulation. Once the jutsu activates, physical and mental paralysis will take effect. It will eat away your chakra at a slow rate until you…"
"Until you die," Naruto interrupted.
"Unfortunately, yes," Kakashi confirmed.
Naruto stared at the floor. He felt responsible for what happened to Hinata and Himawari. It was clear that he underestimated the current threat to the village. No matter what and whatever it takes, he needs to preserve the peace.
"I've already given instructions to Sai and Shikamaru. We must keep this incident confidential, panic is the last thing we want. Tomorrow is Family Day, and we expect the village to celebrate. Sakura, please inform all medical-nin and hospital personnel of the incident's confidential nature."
"Okay," answered Sakura.
"Now, please."
Sakura gave him a stern look, but the sad and troubled look on her friend's face reminded her of the gravity of the situation. She calmly went outside as she realized the weight of Naruto's pain and his responsibility to the village.
Naruto's shadow clone stayed home with Boruto and Himawari. Both Boruto and the clone did their best to console Himawari, for she never stopped crying over what happened to her and her mother. After they got her to clean herself up, they stayed in Boruto's room. The clone moved Himawari close to him and let her rest her head on his chest while she sobs. He brushed his fingers through her hair to comfort her while he stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Himawari's asleep now," Boruto said, looking at the clone.
"Oh, I see. Boruto, I'm sorry I can't have my original self come home."
"It's okay. I understand what's happening. I know you're a shadow clone, but I can't call you Shadow Clone Dad, it doesn't sound right. Um, can I call you, Dad?"
"It's fine. I'm still Naruto. You know how this works, right?" The clone smiled.
Boruto nodded his head.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I know you are the Hokage of Konohagakure. I understand your duty to our village and its people. Are you really sure you can protect everyone in the village, even if something awful already happened to Mom and Himawari?"
The clone looked at Boruto. Of course, he can. He's Naruto Uzumaki, the savior of the Shinobi world.
"Yes, but I can't do it alone," the clone answered. "We shinobi exist to protect our village."
"But still…"
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I remember you saying that everyone in the village is your family. If you have to choose, who will you protect first? The village, or us?"
"I…"
Ino moved her arms to embrace Sai, only to find no one beside her.
"He's not here," she worried. Ino got up and went downstairs without making a sound. The house was dark, and she didn't want to turn on the lights, lest she catches Sai's attention. She cautiously made her way to the living room and saw her husband. In the room's corner, Sai sat facing the wall. "This again?" She recalled how many times Sai has been getting up because of never-ending nightmares. She was walking towards her husband when she felt a sinister and hateful chakra coming from him, and it stopped her from her tracks. "It's getting worse. I need to do something!" Ino thought, trying to get herself together.
Ino positioned herself directly behind Sai. She was about to use Shintenshin no Jutsu on her husband when he turned and faced her with his usual smile.
"Oh hi, love. I'm sorry if I woke you up," he said as he got up from the living room floor.
Ino knew something was wrong, but she tried to compose herself.
"You're still having those nightmares?" she asked.
"Yeah, every once in a while. It's getting much more frequent lately, though."
"Is there something troubling you?"
"I don't think so. Why do you ask?"
Ino stood beside the light brown, wooden dining table, still keeping her guard. It's the first time she felt that evil chakra from her husband, and she wants to know why and how it got inside him.
"You seem out of it lately."
"I do? Aaargh!" Sai groaned as he fell on the floor. The pain in his head made him twist and turn uncontrollably.
"I have to do it now!" Ino shouted as she used Shintenshin no Jutsu on Sai. Sai stopped screaming in pain while Ino's body dropped near his.
Ino is in a cold, dark place. She knew she's inside Sai's thoughts, and it surprised her that even after all these years, darkness and solitude still dominate his consciousness. As she walked in the dark abyss of her husband's mind, she arrived at a forest with huge, dead trees. A mist blanketed the area, reducing her field of vision. Slow steps and careful movement allowed her to move forward when out of nowhere, a voice called to her.
"What are you doing here?"
Ino turned and saw Sai, but this one appeared empty and dull.
"What's happened to you?" she asked.
"Nothing happened to me. I am who I was. I am who I will always be."
"Are you the same Sai who owns my heart?"
"I am Sai, yet I am not Sai."
"What are you talking about?" a confused Ino asked. "Let's fix this, whatever this is."
"The one you call Sai, the weak one, shall be destroyed and rebuilt."
After hearing those words, it brought Ino to another place. She was inside a huge concrete building, and in a moment, a familiar figure appeared.
"It's Lord Danzo!" she exclaimed as she watched one of Sai's memories. The Root raised Sai to be their human weapon, rigidly modeled to have no personality or identity. He doesn't exist. He's one of Danzo's pawns, an ideal shinobi for doing work that doesn't require dignity, integrity, and respect. Sai was just a tool to fulfill his superior's desires, but it doesn't make him evil or good.
As more unpleasant memories flash before her eyes, a glimmering sphere on her right caught her attention. She heard laughter and sensed happiness inside it. As she walked towards the glowing ball, a strong force pulled her to another gloomy place. It was Sai's memory of Sasuke as a rogue shinobi. Sai saw how Naruto and Sakura risked their lives to bring the Uchiha back to Konohagakure. He felt that Sasuke does not deserve friends like Naruto and Sakura, noting that his sins are more than the cost of the Uchiha losing his life a thousand times over. Even to this day, Sai holds that ill-feeling against Sasuke.
Another memory showed Sai speaking to Shikamaru. "This was in the Shijima no Kuni," Ino recognized. It revealed Sai's issue over Naruto and Sasuke's bonds as friends and teammates. He told Shikamaru that he was a member of Team 7 as well, but when Gengo captured and held him, Naruto didn't bother to rescue him. He felt that Naruto didn't care as much about him as he did with the Uchiha. He realized that he was just an insignificant substitute on Team 7.
Absorbing Sai's negative memories weakened Ino. The dark nature of his past was too much a burden for anyone to bear. She tried to press further to know more of what's going on inside her husband's thoughts when suddenly, everything went black.
It was early in the morning, and Naruto was already in his office. The dimly lit room had scattered papers and envelopes on the table and the floor. He was eager to gain more information about the ongoing threat and deal with it as soon as possible. Thoughts of the attack on his wife and daughter haunted him. He can't believe that Naruto Uzumaki, the great war hero, wasn't capable of protecting his own family. "Where's the glory in that, huh?" he thought, disgusted by his lenience.
An hour had passed, and Naruto was still processing his thoughts. He had questions that needed answers, and he felt that the situation got into him real bad. As it plunged his mind into more chaos, he almost succumbed to the thought of smashing his table to pieces. It was then when he saw Sai enter his office.
"Good morning, Nanadaime-sama." greeted Sai.
"Good morning, you're early," responded Naruto with less enthusiasm.
"I've had trouble sleeping. I figured you'd be here, so I went straight away. Anyway, I've gathered information about the attackers."
"Tell me what you got."
"Our investigation led us to a secret group called Shinobi Kakumei-gun. The group members are active and former shinobi who wanted a revolution against the current system."
"So, they're revolutionaries. Why did they attack Hinata?"
"We still have no leads on that. All I know is they will continue to cause trouble until a certain time. It's difficult to assign any Anbu to investigate since we have doubts about their integrity. However, the risk is there, and we can't sit around and wait for the next attack."
"It seems spies were already in our village. How do you plan on purging the Anbu?"
"We can't let them know that we suspect spies are operating within our village. I'll assign each Anbu to watch each other's movements. It might slow the investigation down and cause animosity within our ranks, but the rewards are greater than the risk."
"I agree."
"And besides, if one spy is someone we know, what will you do?"
Naruto fell silent and sighed. "We'll cross the bridge when we get there."
It wasn't long when Shikamaru arrived. It surprised him that the two were discussing strategy so early in the morning.
"I thought I was early, but here you are, guys."
"Sai was disclosing the intelligence he gathered about yesterday's attackers," said Naruto as he relayed Sai's information to him.
"So, what's up?" Sai asked, looking at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru moved closer and started picking up envelopes lying on the floor.
"I had a little talk with Kakashi and Sakura."
"Go on," said an eager Naruto.
"The Soul Paralysis jutsu used on Hinata is fatal. If not for Sakura and other medic-nins' healing chakra, Hinata's chakra level could have dropped to a critical level that could cause death."
Naruto felt a sharp pain in his heart, knowing time wasn't on his side.
"The medics also found tiny holes on Hinata's neck, lower back, and both thighs, made by poisoned chakra needles," continued Shikamaru. "They believe it was those needles that plunged her into an unconscious state. The jutsu is still a mystery. We need to locate the casters and force them to reverse the jutsu."
A depressing silence crept inside the room. Shikamaru knew that it's not another Shinobi World War, but since it involved the Hokage's wife and daughter, it made the threat equally alarming.
"We move tomorrow," said a determined Naruto. "The both of you should spend time with your families today. I'll stay with Boruto and Himawari for a while. Shikamaru, do we have any news on Sasuke? I think we might need him."
"We have news that Sasuke will drop by the village today to spend time with his family," replied Shikamaru. "I can arrange for Sasuke to meet you."
"Yes. Tell Sasuke to meet me at my house tonight."
Naruto ended the meeting so Sai and Shikamaru could enjoy the rest of the day. The two were about to leave when Sai nearly fell and leaned on the wall. He placed hands on his head and grimaced in pain.
"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked.
"This damn tension headache…" complained Sai, massaging the back of his head. "It'll be gone soon. I just need some sleep."
"Make sure you rest up. Today is a special day. Take care, you two." said Naruto, trying to keep his curiosity in check as he noticed blood on the back of Sai's sleeve.
Ino opened her eyes and saw Inojin gently tapping her shoulder, trying to wake her up. She tried to get up, but her head was throbbing in pain, and her body felt drained of energy.
"Can you get me a glass of cold water, please?"
"Sure, mom. Are you sick?" Inojin sighed as he filled the glass with water. "We're supposed to go out. It's Family Day today."
Ino was so disoriented that she almost forgot today was Family Day.
"We are going," she replied. "Where's your Dad?"
"Dad isn't..."
"I'm here! Are you ready to go?" interrupted Sai. He walked towards Ino and kissed her forehead. "What's the matter? Is there something wrong?"
She looked at him and tried to sense his chakra. She felt nothing out of the ordinary. Her recollection of her travel within her husband's mind was too vivid, leaving her confused. "I was just dreaming," she thought.
"Hey," Sai called her attention, putting his index finger on the tip of her nose.
"Sorry… Morning headaches…" she said.
"Maybe it's because of last night. I saw you in the living room."
"Did you?" she gasped, feeling a spine-tingling fear.
"Yes. You were sleepwalking!" chuckled Sai. "I woke up when I thought I heard someone going down the stairs. I checked, and I saw you lying on the floor. So, I carried you back to our bed."
"Maybe it was just a nightmare," she thought. "Thank you, love."
Sai smiled and looked at Inojin. "Go get ready. We leave in 10 minutes."
Naruto Uzumaki was like a gold member in Konohagakure Hospital. He can hardly count the times he spent here, trying to recover from dangerous battles. This time, it wasn't him lying on the bed. It was his wife, the mother of his children, his sunshine, his life. He smiled as he watched his wife's gentle face, her skin smooth and delicate as ever.
"I love you," he whispered while he held and kissed her hand.
He thought about a lot of things, from the time he was a little boy screaming he would be Hokage one day, and today, him as Hokage watching his unconscious wife. The recollection of the questions he's yet to answer came to his mind.
"I remember you saying that everyone in the village is your family. If you have to choose, who will you protect first? The village, or us?"
"And besides, if one spy is someone we know, what will you do?"
Naruto searched his heart and answered. "I don't know."
Being Hokage was his childhood dream. He became Hokage and fulfilled his dream, but what about his destiny? Everything was okay until recently, where an attack was carried out on his wife and daughter by a group of revolutionary shinobi.
"Is this what I really wanted?" he asked. He felt something was missing, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
He gave Hinata a gentle kiss on the lips and held her hand firmly.
"I'll go stay with the kids now. Don't worry, honey. I'll fix this. I promise everything will be okay."
As Naruto approached his house, he probed the surroundings to check if the Anbu was still on active guard duty. He was pleased to see six of them stealthily guarding the house.
He went straight to Boruto's room when he arrived and saw his two children sleeping beside each other. He noticed Himawari's eyes swelling, probably from crying since she missed her mom. His eyes teared up when he saw her hand holding Boruto's hand tightly as if she was scared to be left alone.
"My children…" Naruto sobbed, kneeling beside the bed, feeling utterly useless for not being able to protect his family.
"Dad?" Boruto asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Hey, Boruto. I was just…"
Boruto eased Himawari and got out the bed. He kneeled in front of his father and gave him a comforting embrace.
"I know, Dad. I believe you when you said that everything would be okay."
"Yeah, I promise." Naruto smiled and touched his belly.
"I'm hungry. Do you want some ramen?"
"Okay, sure."
Naruto kissed Himawari, and he put a blanket on her. The both of them went downstairs to prepare their ramen.
As they enjoyed their food, the two talked about the time when Boruto traveled back in time with Sasuke to save Naruto.
"You were too eager to become Hokage, Dad."
"Yeah," Naruto remembered his childhood. "I wanted to become Hokage so I can protect…" Naruto stopped as he felt guilty of being short of his promise to protect everyone.
"Have you ever thought you'd marry mom?"
"Honestly, no. A girlfriend is hard to find during my day," joked Naruto.
"Dad. If this is the price I have to pay to become Hokage, then there's no way I'd become one. I don't want to, anyway," said Boruto as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I understand," Naruto replied, giving thought to Boruto's words. He gave Boruto a pat on the head and urged him to finish his food.
Naruto was in deep thoughts again when he heard a knock on the door. He pushed his half-eaten ramen as he stood and walked towards the front door. Naruto felt relieved after opening the door and seeing the Shadow Hokage standing in front of him.
"Shikamaru said you wanted to see me."