Hello all! As promised the last chapter to the story. Kind of. There is a Epilogue. This chapter is titled perfectly because it does come around full circle. Hope you all enjoy!
The world was joyous, it was saved, and everyone involved in the war were heroes. Especially the members of team seven, having took on the major power threats of Madara and Kaguya. Hinata liked not being a part of that historical story of being there with them. While Kakashi would tell her, she was a major help and impact to bringing the evil woman down, she would more say that she was just there binding time for team seven to come up with a final attack.
Like she's said before, team seven was an amazing team, a powerhouse team. So, it was only right that they came together, despite their differences and was able to seal off Kaguya and her minion Zetsu from the world again.
When everything was returned to the norm and they were back in their world, Hinata immediately found Ino on the battle field. She wouldn't say she was 'shocked' exactly, seeing Shikamaru in the middle of the victorious battle field on one knee and a small black velvet box in his hand. Proposing to the alluring blond lover of his. No, she wasn't surprised, but she somehow knew that this was the end for the dynamic duo.
Hinata wouldn't say she was upset or jealous of the seen that played in front of her, because she smiled when Ino smiled a bright smile at Shikamaru and glanced her way giving her a 'did you know about this look' and Hinata gave an expression like she did know about it and Ino better say yes. She watched as Ino gave the battered young Nara a big strong embrace, holding back tears and whispering heartedly 'Yes!'. It was a beautiful scene really, Ino, Shikamaru, Asuma and Choji together for such a moment. A Team Ten moment.
She would get no moment like that with her team, the connection between them long gone.
She scanned the area and watched everyone in their celebratory moment, Neji, with his comrades. With the twin bun brunette embracing him and causing him to have a light blush, his green suited comrade crying with their sensei for the life changing experience they have all went through.
She on the other hand as she looked down at her still injured chest, that still freaking stung and was the one thing that seemed like Otsutsuki Hamura couldn't heal, collapsed to both knees on the cooled down battlefield. She was tired, mentally and physically. Maybe the adrenaline was finally leaving her body and she had time to take everything in. She was over joyed and couldn't wait to see what life had to offer for a cursed mark free Hinata.
She didn't notice when she fell onto her butt, or when her ears started ringing and she thought she heard Naruto yelling her name, or she thought she saw Ino yell 'Oh Shit!'. She caught briefly Sakura hovering over her telling her to stay with them and everything was going to be okay. The last thing she remembered before deciding to rest her eyes was Naruto on the opposite side of Sakura and grabbing her tan vest and ripping it open.
Naruto looked down at his unconscious lover and noticed how she was more pale than usual and sweating heavily. She looked to be shivering in pain and the last major injury he remembered was her upper abdomen wound. He ripped open her tan vest to get a better look at the injury, he didn't notice it being a problem when she went to fight Kaguya. His breath was stuck in his throat when he noticed the gapping whole still there and it seemed to be pulsing and glowing a neon white.
"What's wrong with her?!" He was in a panic, he was scared honestly, he felt her getting weaker. Everything was shut down or destroyed and there was no real hospital to take her and get her treated. He looked at Sakura, who's eyes were widened, clearly never having seen this before.
"Move, move, MOVE!" Tsunade came pushing from the crowd and looked at Hinata with wide eyes, still a little more experienced than Sakura in knowing not to show her emotions when dealing with emotional loved ones. "What the hell happened to her?"
Naruto cradled her head as he used his sleeve to wipe the increasing sweat from her face, "She was hit by Otsutsuki Kaguya, it was like a rod shot out from her and hit Hinata after Hinata stabbed her with her sword. It happened all too fast, they had control of Hinata's curse mark, but she broke free on her own! She stabbed Kaguya to help us, she-she…Granny you have to help her please! She's burning up!"
Tsunade tried to hide her frown and sorrow that filled her from hearing Naruto, he really loved Hinata. This was practically killing him, "Naruto, I need you to calm down. Let me take a look at her." The first thing she did was observe the curse mark, only to be shocked that it was no longer there.
"What in the entire fuck." Ino's eyes widened and looked at the blank arm, "What the hell kind of rod hit her, if it's not the curse mark, then it has to be the rod that's doing this to her."
"I'm going to put her to rest Naruto, a coma like induced rest. Like Ino said, it was something she was hit with that is causing his. The coma is going to give her body a chance to rest from all the trauma it has been through and to fight off whatever is going on within her and give us more time to figure out if there is anything we can even do."
That didn't seem to go well with him.
"What do you mean IF there is anything you can do?" This threw a lot of people off guard, especially people that knew him well. Naruto wasn't a malicious-threatening person, he was optimistic and understanding. A bright heart. This Naruto in front of them left the words in the air that there BETTER be something that can be done, and she BETTER pull through.
Sasuke watched as the medics came swiftly after Naruto's demonic moment and whisked Hinata away, Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru not too far behind the medics and Hinata. This left many people around the battlefield with a different revelation for Naruto. Sasuke wasn't surprised though, since Naruto laid eyes on Hinata when she first came back to the village with them, he noticed the change there. The slight personality change and reserved demeanor was the start of it all, maybe he should have paid more attention, then he would have noticed everything come around full circle. Atlas, he didn't notice until the war when Naruto came back with Hinata after their confrontation with Kabuto and Naruto had specks of blood on him.
The Naruto he knew would never do such a thing with a human life, the Naruto he knew valued human life and cared deeply for others and their stories. Maybe the Naruto he knew was just the first layer, and the Naruto they were all experiencing now was what he was. While it wasn't bad, and he wasn't some evil twisted psychopath, this Naruto still promised to cause you a world of pain and misery if you dared cross him the wrong way. In this case, if you messed with Hinata.
"So, the kid balls sack finally fell huh." Tsunade looked over at Kakashi, who scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "It would seem that way. This public display of…dominance should be good for other villages to see. They know now that while Naruto is a good and fair political leader, he still is not to be messed with."
Sasuke arched a brow over at Kakashi, he wondered how the copy nin now was so swift to back out of Naruto's relationship. When him and Sakura deemed in the beginning as Hinata being a 'toxic woman'. It would seem his former sensei never had a problem with the relationship or Hinata, so was this something Kakashi was hoping for? For this side of Naruto to be brought out all along. Interesting, the man was always full of set ups.
Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Sakura giving him a nervous smile. He took the hand that was on his shoulder and held it. He then thought over the words Hinata told Kaguya, she wasn't lying to the woman.
It had been three days and Naruto sat near the cot Hinata was laying in, they were in a hospital like tent set up and Hinata was showing signs of progression. She hasn't woken up yet, which upset him greatly, but it's still good to get results that Hinata was making improvements. The stab wound was oddly healing up, it was like her skin wasn't going back to its natural color in that area, more like the pale-whitish skin color of Kaguya.
He picked up her hand and was happy that she wasn't all clammy anymore and kissed it, he rubbed his lips across her hands and just enjoyed being around her. Him and Ino would switch shifts of being with her every few hours, so one could get something to eat and maintain their hygiene. Ino saying Hinata wouldn't want to wake up to him being all smelly. He wanted to argue and tell her he would stay by Hinata's side, but the last thing he wanted to do was go back and forward with Ino in front of Hinata's sleeping form.
He closed his eyes, lips still on her hands and relaxed as much as he could. "I missed you…Naruto." His eye's flashed open and he looked at Hinata, who's eyes were still closed but slowly started to open. His smile widened and he gave her a bright, warm smile before he spoke, "Three days is too long ya know."
Hinata looked over at him and gave a small smile, "Three days? Oh, I've been out for three days?" Naruto shook his head confirming this, "How are you feeling?"
"Not so much sore anymore, not tired either. A little weak, but overall, this is the best I have felt in a while." Hinata's smile got bigger the more she spoke to him and he just fell more in love with her, "Your curse mark is gone."
"Yes, it seemed when I was…near death I was kind of given another chance. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but I met with Kaguya's son, Hamura, and in this weird dream like state, he removed the seal for me. It's all so confusing and sounds so surreal, but that's what happened."
"It's not surreal, it makes sense. I could tell you a similar story for me and Teme. Plus, I could tell a difference in your chakra when you came back in the fight. I didn't know you were still so injured though."
"I don't think I thought too much of it, my adrenaline was going, and I just wanted to help you."
Naruto stared at her with a shocked face before it morphed into his cocky grin, before he could tease Hinata about what she said Tsunade came in with charts.
"Well, look what we have here. Alive and well I see Ms. Hyuga." Tsunade spoke with a smirk seeing as the two young adult's hands were still laced. Behind her came Ino, poking her head in the cot to see what the Hokage was talking about, of course never too far from her was Shikamaru.
"Hime! You're awake! Bout time you quit being lazy, you were getting worse than this guy." Ino pointed over her shoulder to Shikamaru and grinned at the bored look he sent her. Hinata in return smiled at this and subconsciously rubbed her hand on her wound.
Tsunade not missing a beat saw this, "So, let's talk shall we. I see your wound was not being kind to you and I seem to have the reason why. It's weird and depressing, but it's something you have to hear."
The room got quiet and all the young adults waited for her to resume speaking, "So, you were hit with one of Kaguya rods right? Those rods are formed from her own bones in her body, not really too bad, but Kakashi shared with me that it seems like you were captured beforehand?"
Hinata bit the inside of her cheek and she looked over at Ino and Shikamaru, Tsunade leaned over to make eye contact with her again and Naruto squeezed her hand urging her to be honest. "Yes. It seemed things with the resurrected Hokage's were not ideally going as I envisioned, and I was given the idea that maybe it had a connection to do with that Zetsu being."
"How did you even know about Zetsu?"
"Hmm well, while captured by Akatsuki I remembered hearing his name spoken by Pain."
"And?" Tsunade arched her brow and gave Hinata a mother type stare, the stare that said she knew Hinata wasn't giving her the full story.
Hinata stopped herself from showing her frustrations and sighed instead, "And…I knew from my training from Orochimaru how to do the Reanimation Jutsu and while in the front lines I sealed up half alive Zetsu's, as a just in case and ended up using them to resurrect the Hokage's because I thought it would be useful in defeating Madara."
"Okay, and they are something I thought was sealed inside the Death God." Again, Tsunade already seemed to know the answer and looked at Hinata to put on her big girl panties and own up to her doings.
"I didn't kill Kabuto when I went out to find him, already deciding that I was going to use him for this purpose if the time came for it. If I didn't use him for that purpose then at the end of the war I would have had my way with killing him. In the end I did need Kabuto for the Death God and getting him to sacrifice himself, also before he died I absorbed his chakra."
Naruto's grip tightened on her and she squeezed it back, her thumb rubbing soothingly on his knuckles to ease his anxiety.
"And why would you do that?" Tsunade continued to stare at her waiting for everything to come around, "He took Orochimaru's DNA, which consumed his whole body, while Kabuto claimed he was in control I would beg to differ. He had Orochimaru in him…and I was entitled to it. So, I took it."
"And that little act of selfishness Ms. Hyuga is what saved you at the end from Kabuto. See what being honest can do for you."
Hinata gave Tsunade a confused look.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Ino told me everything, she was that worried about you that she was willing to tell me everything that happened to you while with her. You got some balls Hinata, I'll give you that. So, here's the thing. Kabuto with his abilities would have just slithered his slimy ass out his current dying body and attempted to either take your body or Ino's. Now something strongly is telling me you knew this all along and knew he probably would have aimed for Ino, so in an attempted to stop that from happening you absorbed his chakra. That and I am sure in some twisted way you still wanted Orochimaru's chakra as a souvenir."
Hinata didn't answer this and ignored the heated look Ino sent her way, she could just feel the anger radiating from her friend and knew she was upset with her for sacrificing herself once again.
"So, Orochimaru's chakra flowed through you, which after a while would have probably done what happened to Kabuto to you. Especially with your curse mark, you would have been dominated within hours. However, now Kaguya's chakra flows through you, well kind of."
There was a unanimous, "WHAT?!" In the room.
"Hear me out now. So, from what Kakashi shared with me it was when she grabbed ahold of your curse mark and pushed her chakra into it. That basically cancelled out Orochimaru's charka and seal, she absorbed his chakra and pushed her chakra into you. Which is why you were under her control than. The rod comes into play because, I don't know what you said or did to get under that demons' skin, but she channeled a little bit of herself in that rod. Using you kind of like a host in case she didn't win the fight between team seven. So, whatever dimension she was kicked in, she could use you as a portal to get back since you two are now connected. Now, I don't know what kind of power boost you got, and I quite frankly don't want to know. I don't want the council to think you're any worse off than you are. That being said, whatever power boost you got ultimately fought through your system while you were in a coma and created some type of seal over Kaguya's chakra. Making it so she can't link into your body at her leisure to transfer back over. Make sense?"
The young adults in the room had jaw dropping faces, "Wait, so you're saying she's a host for Kaguya?" Shikamaru looked disturbed and flabbergasted by the news.
"Yes, everyone that should know about this does already know. So, you guys are the last to know and it goes to no one else. This is pretty important to keep under wraps do you understand."
Everyone agreed and with that Tsunade did a quick check of Hinata, her vitals and her wound, "Alright, you're looking pretty damn good. You did good out there Hinata, and as part of my deal, you can decide to do what you wish with yourself. I don't really have to think of what Ino is going to do, but going forward, you decide your own path Hinata. Keep in mind if you decide to leave, I caution you to come back periodically to get the seal checked up on. To make sure it's still strong and you are mentally healthy." With that Tsunade left the room and all eyes were on Hinata again.
Not being able to taking the burning look Ino was sending her way Hinata decided to look at her, "That explains a lot Hinata." She flinched at the upset tone from Ino.
"What did you want me to do Ino? I dragged you there, if anything happened it would have been my fault."
"I know how to take care of myself Hinata, you should have known better. You know the risk you put yourself in, why do you treat your life like it means nothing?! What if Kaguya never did what she did to your curse mark? You would have gotten taken over by Orochimaru and there wouldn't have been anything we could have done! Look at the people that care about you. Naruto, me, Neji, your family, Kurenai, even Shikamaru! And you just don't care about how we feel, and you just continue to be self-destructive. I thought we were trying to get better together Hinata. Just why do you keep pushing away."
"I wasn't trying to do that Ino. I was just looking out for you."
"But you KNEW the risk Hinata." Shikamaru chimed in, not liking the typical escape route Hinata was taking.
"I did, and I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say or to do right now for you all to understand that I'm sorry. I just wanted everyone to be okay, I was just trying to do the right thing. You're right, I shouldn't of went to fight Kabuto alone, I shouldn't have lied to you Naruto about it, I shouldn't have went off to do the Reanimation Jutsu, I shouldn't have went off to find Zetsu alone, I shouldn't have been so tactless and attacked Kaguya without notice. I messed up."
"Well stop talking about all your mess ups and stop apologizing Hinata. Tell us what you're gonna do to fix it." Naruto met her eyes and gave her a determined look. It was time to stop apologizing and start rebuilding.
Hinata bit her lip while looking at Naruto, who was still holding her hand, "That's your way of escape Hinata, unnecessary apologizing. Just own up that sometimes you do crazy things to help the people you care about. Then tell us what you're plans are on NOT putting other people before yourself. Sometimes situations call for the selfless attitude, but a lot of the situations that has happened, you didn't have to take the burden on alone."
Hinata sat and thought for a moment and looked at Naruto again, bringing their connected hand to her cheek in an enduring manner. "I…am not sure what to do about my self-destructive ways, but I want to stay around for a while with you to figure it out."
Thank you for staying with me for so long guys! Just the epilogue left and we are FIN!