Chapter Forty
Shikamaru's head ached from lack of sleep almost as bad as it had during the monumental hangover Temari had shaken him out of when mourning for Asuma Sensei. While he was beyond joyous that Asuma was alive and his baby would grow up knowing her father, the toll of the past twenty-four hours was incalculable. Even with the revival of all the dead, there were now countless injured needing care, and there were still people trapped and in need of help in the rubble. Don't forget the countless left homeless and the numerous businesses destroyed in the process.
"May I see your identification, sir," the gate guard of the Hyūga Compound verified his identity and admitted him. The compound was alive and uncharacteristically lit up for the hour of the night. Numerous ANBU and other security personnel patrolled the halls and courtyards as an eclectic array of officials, refuges, students, medical personnel, and more. With the Hokage's Mansion wrecked inside and out, Hinata had placed the Compound at the Hokage's disposal. The old training room was now a classroom where Iruka Sensei was holding class, several courtyards were receiving areas for walking wounded, and over a dozen families were now here as refugees until adequate housing was again available.
"Hey, crybaby," a familiar, sassy voice came at him as he headed to the main house.
"Hello, Temari," her turned to see his fiancé, still dressed in her mission gear from the long day yesterday. Despite the worn state of her appearance, she still looked fresh and ready.
"Is that all a fiancé can get nowadays?" she said.
"Sorry," he shook his head, "I'm just so damn whipped after everything that happened yesterday and desperately trying to put the pieces back together…"
She put a hand on the side of his face, "It's going to take a long time, but we'll get it rebuilt, just the way it was." She smiled, uncharacteristic for her normally serious demeanor. "Thanks by the way, for letting me and the embassy staff stay at the Nara Compound."
"It was nothing," he took her hand. "I just wish I wasn't having to explain to Gaara that the wedding will be delayed."
"Why would you have to explain that?" she winked with mischief as they walked toward the main house."
"You did tell him, right?!" Shikamaru felt a thin bead of sweat running down his back.
"That we're getting married on the sixteenth regardless, yes," she giggled.
"Temari!" He paused his trot, "you have no wedding dress, I have no ring, and a third of the village is in ruins! This is hardly the time to get married!"
"On the contrary" she grabbed his chin, "it's the perfect time to get married! The world his precariously close to ending!" She raised a finger. "We're going to be at war sooner rather than later!" She raised another finger. "And I don't look good in a wedding dress!"
Shikamaru cocked up an eyebrow. "You want to get married after a disaster so no one will see you in a wedding dress?"
"Shikamaru! How the hell is someone as smart as you so dense at times?!" She huffed as she grabbed him by the collar. "Death has been a constant worry for both of us since the day I first met you! I am not content with putting my life on hold because some limp-dicked, jerk wad decided it was a good idea to flatten the village!"
Troublesome woman! "Temari, you're talking a lot like…"
"Like this is my home?" she pulled him close, "This is the one place I've actually felt like I am home!" Her teal eyes glowed with fire.
Sensing he'd committed a faux pau, Shikamaru tried to defuse the situation, "T-Temari I didn't mean…"
"And now," she said exasperated, "you're about to wuss out because you're worried about burying me if the war goes pear shaped!"
Her scathing indictment re-ignited Shikamaru's fire, "I am NOT wussing out!" Now he brought himself nose to nose with her, "So kill me for being worried about you and wanting our wedding day to be special! Come to the alter in your underwear for all I care!"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you," she taunted, with a devilish tone, "especially if it was that lacy ensemble I wore the night I ruined you…" Temari smirked as she let the insinuation hang in the air.
Troublesome woman! Shikamaru charged forward into her, burying his tongue in her mouth as he forced her back to the nearest wall. Temari's grip on his collar tightened, and the fingers of her free hand raked through his hair, grabbing a fistful of ponytail, and forcing tighter contact between the two. Temari's right leg slithered up the back of his legs as Shikamaru's left hand found her tight ass and squeezed. After the crisis they'd just survived, he needed this; he needed her.
"I thought you two said you weren't having kids until well after getting married," an amused female voice called from behind. Shikamaru froze as the voice as the voice of the other troublesome woman in his life killed the mood. Neither he nor Temari could muster a word as they stared into each other's eyes with their cheeks reddening. "When you two are done, the Hokage is calling a meeting, and you're to be there. Make it quick!" Mom began walking away but paused, "And might I recommend finding somewhere more private than a crowded walkway if you plan on doing it! Iruka's class saw the whole thing!" Mom walked away.
The sound of footsteps was followed by a collection of giggles and AWWWWS as Shikamaru slowly separated from Temari and turned to see Iruka and a class of roughly twenty Academy students staring. Some snickered, others curled their faces in disgust, and Iruka had covered the eyes of at least two of you younger students – his own eyes were wide and his cheeks red.
"Didn't your parents teach you it's impolite to stare, dammit!" Temari yelled and the group scattered.
"So," Shikamaru turned back to his murderous fiancé, "I take it the wedding is still on?"
She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close, "You bet your sweet ass it is! And so is out wedding night!" She forced a probing, almost violent kiss on his mouth before pulling back and straightening herself, "Now come on! We have a meeting to attend!" My troublesome woman!
"Sensei?" a soft, childlike voice called.
Minato blinked, not knowing how he'd ended up sitting at the campfire in the strange forest clearing. Nor did he know how he was sitting on a log next to his late apprentice. "Rin?!" he gasped.
"Sensei, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" she stared wide-eyed in alarm.
Oh god! "Rin?! Did I die, am I dead?!" Minato, rather than feel the panicked beating of his heart, merely noticed the sensation of coldness throughout. Naruto, Kushina!
Rin placed a hand at his shoulder. "No," she reassured him, "not this time." She smiled. "Sensei, it's so good to see you!" she cried as she hugged him.
"Rin," Minato let tears run as he held her like the daughter he and Kushina had imagined her as, "I'm so, so very sorry…" weeping tears threatened to overwhelm him, "… for what happened! It's all my fault!"
"It never was," she hugged back, "There was nothing you could have done, Sensei! There were things at play beyond all of us!"
"Rin…" Minato felt tears tracing his face.
"Minato, I'm sorry," she shivered.
"For what, Rin?"
"I should have thought of something; I had no idea how bad giving up the way I did would hurt you all! Obito would have come back. Kakashi…" her eyes turned downward.
"You were thinking of everyone's safety, except your own!" he stopped her from finishing her words.
"Sensei," she cried. "Don't give up on trying to save him… don't give up…"
"Minato…" another voice joined them.
"Minato…" overwhelming pain split the air.
"Rin…" he keeled over.
"Good-bye, sensei, don't give up…"
"Rin!" he shouted. Pain overcame him and he screamed, "AHHHH!"
"Minato!" a familiar female voice greeted him back to consciousness with a strong embrace.
"AAAHHH! AKEMI!" Minato screamed as he felt pinching in an extremely private place.
"Shit, sorry!"
The dulled sensation of her adjusting him left him squirming. "Ugh..ahahhhh! What the hell!" he groaned at the rather significant discomfort of what she was adjusting.
"Sorry, Minato, whomever placed your catheter did a shit job the first time, and I didn't think you wanted to deal with being covered in piss as a result.
Minato stared down, acutely aware of what she was doing, and he felt his color drained. "Akemi… no… no one else has ever…"
"I'm honored," she cut him off as she pulled his hospital gown down again, "but if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all."
"If I didn't know what you were doing, Akemi," a sassy, pleasant voice spoke from the room beyond, "I'd have suspected you were being lewd with my husband." Kushina giggled.
"Ku-Kushina!" Minato groaned, feeling unpleasant tendrils of his body reconnecting with his mind – he noted a cold absence. Minato looked down in a panic. While both his legs were bruised up, he sensed nothing.
"Easy, hon," she commanded, "You've taken some pretty hard knocks, and you're lucky to still be mostly in one piece!"
As Kushina approached, Minato made out the sight of her wearing a ceremonial white jacket with flaming red trim. "Kushina?" he eyed her up and down, blinking several times. Minato was not sure if he was truly seeing his wife and Akemi or if he was having a bizarre fever-dream fantasy.
"Minato," her beautiful violet eyes turned sullen, "the council enacted the Succession Laws. I didn't want to, but they asked me to step in as the Fifth Hokage."
"Kushina, that… that's great!" Minato tried to rise from the bed to embrace his wife only to find most of his body uncooperative. They enacted the Succession Laws; that means… "Oh god," Minato felt the cold, painful absence of the legs he could see before him, "Akemi… how badly injured am I?"
Kushina and Akemi both exchanged troubled glances. Finally, Akemi nodded, "Minato, some of that depends on what you tell us. You sustained a severe head and back trauma. We repaired what we could, but neurologic injury is a tricky thing."
Minato tried to will his toes and legs to movement, but none was forthcoming. "Oh god," tears began dripping, "I… I can't." Minato's head buried back into the pillow, "I can't feel my legs!" he sobbed.
"Lord Fifth," a gruff voice called from out of sight, "the meeting is about to start."
"Tell them I'll be there in a moment," she said, squeezing Minato's hand. She stared at him with a mix of pity and determination, "Honey, we're going to get through this, okay!" She squeezed his hand tighter, "I'll be back in a bit… all right?"
"Kushina, go," Akemi said firmly, "I've got this; he'll be fine!" Kushina let go of his hand and turned to leave. "Minato, it's normal to feel this way…"
"Normal when you're a cripple?" he began sobbing.
"Normal when you're injured!" She took his chin in her hand and forced his gaze to hers. Staring up at her gave Minato the sensation of a child being scolded by his mother. "I get that you are going through what I can only describe as an extremely changed emotional event! Minato, I need you to keep it together, and think with me, can you do that?!"
"About what, about how stupid I was to take on Pain alone!" Minato's mind rewound the events that led to him lying here, unable to move.
"You did what any Hokage did," she replied in protest, "You did what your son did!"
My son! "Naruto! Hinata!" Minato suddenly felt selfish for wallowing in self-pity.
"They're both fine!" Akemi again force him to stare in her eyes. "They convinced Pain to revive everyone."
"Everyone?" Minato asked incredulous.
"Everyone!" She exclaimed firmly. "You protected your village long enough, and our children, and your wife, did all the rest! I know you're struggling with this…"
"What do you know about being suddenly helpless, Akemi?"
Akemi pulled at the shoulder left shoulder of her scrubs, revealing an ugly stretch of scars tracing a path toward her armpit and left breast. "I remember the horror of my little girl ask, 'Mommy, what's that?' one morning," she pulled her collar back in place. "I remember the panicked thought of what would happen to my baby girls if they had to grow up without me." She stared with fierce intensity, "I remember my girls' godparents telling me not to give up when all I wanted to do was stop chemo and risk the cancer returning! I remember laying in agony as my baby girls were being raised by someone other than their mother!"
Akemi squeezed his hand, and she began crying now. "I remember… I remember a father and mother who came with their still-traumatized son as we begged for their help when our daughter refused to come out of her room for days and our other daughter was on suicide watch at the hospital between alternating episodes of catatonia and panic attacks!"
Shit! Minato had just been a complete and utter jerk to one of the strongest women he knew. "Akemi… I didn't mean…"
"Minato, look at me!" She again took him by the chin. "For almost eighteen years you've had to be strong for this village! You had to be strong for your son and my daughter! You had to be strong for all of us!" Paused, stifling a whimper of tears, "Now is our turn to be strong for you!" She stared down at his legs, "We have a long road together, you and I." Akemi stared at his lifeless legs.
"A ninja never gives up," Minato said, staring at his now paralyzed legs, "that's my ninja way!"
What had once been the main audience chamber in the Hyūga Compound was now the makeshift Hokage's office. A large dining table now served as a conference table, and a series of jury-rigged video feeds and computer monitor were spread throughout with power cables crisscrossing the room haphazardly.
Hinata stared with tired eyes, and forced herself to stand despite her absolutely drained body. She was still in her ANBU gear and hadn't changed her clothes, showered, or slept in almost forty-eight hours. The monumental adrenaline rush of dealing with Nagato in battle and in conversation had long-since worn off. After burning through her fourth of fifth wind, she stopped counting.
Following their brief celebration of victory, work started immediately picking up the pieces. Hinata and most of her clan immediately went in search of trapped survivors, rescuing dozens in a short span of time. Everyone scattered to different tasks: clearing rubble, assessing buildings for safety, and trying desperately to manage the now massive refugee problem.
Somewhere in all of it, she'd been separated from Naruto. While she had a decent suspicion where he was, Hinata had no idea where his mind was. At the end of their brief triumph, Naruto had insisted on joining in the search and rescue efforts, and he'd been assigned to a different search grid that her. When the teams regrouped at the staging area, Naruto was not among them.
"And so, everyone, the summit is set for three weeks from now," Hokage Uzumaki's voice passed in one ear and out the other. She should be paying closer attention. It wasn't that Hinata's mind was wandering; she simply didn't have enough a mind life to focus. The exhaustion was the same she'd felt after a few near-death experiences like the prison, the Land of the Waves, and the mission to Biwako Sarutobi's Memorial. Even with a Tailed Beast, a human could only take so much before they were little better than a walking corpse – they could move but they couldn't think and were prone to errors of even the most basic form of judgement.
"Lady Hyūga," Kushina's voice came at her sharp, focused through the dissonance of the various members of the meeting shuffling for the door, "would you please stay."
Despite the fact that Hinata had nothing to hide nor fear, she felt like a naughty child called to the headmaster's office – something she'd never dealt with as a child. The room emptied, and it was just the two of them. Hinata stood and bowed, "Lord Hokage," she said deferentially.
"Hinata," Kushina's voice trembled, "please, for now, don't call me that."
As Hinata rose from her bow, the red crisscross patterns of blood vessels in Kushina's eyes became apparent, as did the prominent dark circles beneath them. It was every bit as heart-wrenching as seeing Kushina near-death when they were transferring the last bit of Nine-Tails to Hinata. "Mom," she dropped all sense of formality, all barrier of propriety."
"I'm not sure I've earned that title, Hinata," Kushina set the Hokage's Jacket in the chair behind her, "not anymore than the right to wear the jacket."
"You've proven yourself a capable leader, and right now we need that," Hinata choked but composed herself. "As for calling you, 'Mom," you earned that a long time ago when you offered to guide a scared little girl who had trouble controlling her part of Nine-Tails."
"Some Mom I am," she sighed as she flopped into the chair. "My husband is grievously injured, my son is probably traumatized by everything that happened today, and you…" Kushina stared with her violet eyes, "… I never wanted this for you!"
"Mom," the title came a bit more freely, "carrying the half of Nine-Tails made me into who I am, but don't think that would change anything if Naruto had been the only jinchuriki! I would have gone out after him regardless because I love him!" Hinata turned her head down and shook her head, "I can't believe, he must have loved me, too – in the time that Himawari came back from."
"What kind of talk is that?" Kushina asked.
"I was the girl who apparently fainted at the mere sight of him until age sixteen," Hinata's hands clenched, "How did he fall for a girl so weak, so incapable!"
"Hinata," Kushina got up from her chair, "you're not weak, and you're not incapable. And it wasn't a Tailed-Beast that made you who you are!" Kushina's arms wrapped around her. Hinata returned the embrace to her second mother. "You gave him a child so strong-willed and thoughtful that she moved the hands of destiny so that I could see him grow up, so Minato could see him grow up. I don't know how different you would have been, but you were never weak if that child came from you!"
Seconds or minutes passed and they continued to hold one another, sometimes crying, but they said nothing. Finally, Kushina spoke, "I never did say thank you for letting us use this place."
"It would have been the height of selfishness not to offer the compound in the Village's hour of need."
"I have another important thing to ask, Hinata."
"Name it."
"Hinata, my son, Naruto, I mean… I'm not going to be able to be there for him like I was when he was younger."
"He has a village carrying him."
"He has you," Kushina corrected, "Please, look after my son."
The request was reasonable, but Hinata still felt daunted by it. She bowed and left in search of Naruto, heading back into the ruins. Just before midnight, she found him standing guard where the eastern barrier would have been. The wall now lay in ruins, and Naruto stood atop one of the taller fragments. Naruto stood rigidly upright, still in his ANBU gear, and he held a kunai under his chin to ward off sleep.
"N-Naruto-kun…" she said, reaching for his free hand.
"Dahhh!" Naruto leapt up and stumbled several steps away until he focused. "Oh, sorry Hinata," his tired voice came slow, dragging.
"Naruto, come home," she said, "you have to rest!"
"Hinata, I have to keep watch," he protested.
"There is another patrol here to relieve you; none of them had the desire to disturb you."
"Hinata..."
"Naruto, you're exhausted an you know it. I got the drop on you without so much as hiding my approach; imagine if someone had something sinister in their heart!"
Naruto stared out beyond the wrecked wall one last time and nodded, "All right."
Naruto didn't remember walking back into the village until they approached the Hyūga Compound. "I guess this is where we part ways," he said.
"Naruto, you're staying here," she said.
"But Hinata…" he protested.
"Naruto, your house was wrecked."
"Then I'll go to the safehouse, instead."
"Naruto," she stared at him, lip quivering, "Stony Bridge was leveled. You are staying here tonight!"
Naruto didn't know why, but staying at the Hyūga Compound didn't sit well with him, whether he was on a couch or in Hinata's bed. Not waiting for his answer, Hinata began dragging him toward the gate, and Naruto found himself incapable of resisting.
They moved through the house swiftly, arriving at her room. However, Hinata didn't stop once they were in her room; she dragged him into the bathroom. "Naruto," strip out of that outfit," she said.
"Hinata, this is hardly the time…"
"You're a mess, and you need to clean up, as do I," she cut him off. She began tugging at her outfit as she walked over to the shower and started water. "Go on ahead, I'll be right there," she commanded.
The thought of being relatively clean won out over any sense of impropriety. Naruto shed his outfit and stood under the warm rain from the showerhead, bracing himself against the tile wall as he did so. As the water ran down, he finally stared at his nude body. Various purple and blue bruises marked him all over. Anyone else would be dead right now or like Dad…
Naruto sensed another presence as Hinata's arms enfolded him from behind, squeezing herself to him. "Hi-Hinata…"
"Yes," she asked, not letting go.
"Your touch feels so good right now," Naruto felt tears joining the water running down his body. "I don't want to feel good right now!"
"This isn't about feeling good," she reached past him and shut off the water. "This is about caring for one another." She dragged him across the slick tile floor to the massive hot tub, now filling with water. "Sit with me," she stepped into the tub now filled past her ankles.
Out of any will to fight, Naruto did as asked, sitting beside her. As the cool porcelain on his back contrasted with the hot water now climbing up to his knees, Naruto detected a faint scent of lavender bath oil, slowly gaining in strength as he became increasingly submerged in the soothing hot water. "You're trying to lull me to sleep, aren't you?"
"You make it sound like a bad thing," she smiled faintly, "after two days of non-stop action, even the strongest need to rest."
"I'm not strong, Hinata," Naruto choked, "If I was, Dad wouldn't be battered and mangled."
Her hand came up his cheek with a minor slap, "That's a lie and you know it!" she stared fiercely despite tears in her eyes. "Your father took a calculated risk going out there alone because he didn't want us going out there!" Hinata huffed, her normal bashfulness gone as she stared directly at him in spite of her nakedness, "Had you been here, that might be you sprawled out and unable to walk right now!"
Naruto reached up to her hand on his cheek, feeling like a superficial jerk. "You're making it damn difficult to mope over this!" Naruto said as Hinata turned on the water jets in the tub. The rush of the pressurized water soothing tight, aching muscles throughout his body.
"If you need to get mad, get mad," she said, massaging his cheek. "If you want to cry, go ahead, I'm here!" She pulled herself close to him. "Just don't close me out! I love you Naruto, and I know we have a long, painful road ahead! But I am not about to let you sink into despair! That –"
"Is what a husband and wife do for each other," he completed her thought. Naruto's thought wandered back to his grandmother's engagement ring, next to the aquamarine crystal on the Hokage's Necklace. Right now, the thought of getting married swirled in his head like oil and water. He loved Hinata with all his heart, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to burden her further with it. Would she actually consider it a burden, or are you trying to justify not asking?
Totally spent, Naruto sank up to his chin in the soothing water. Hinata brough her arms around him and held him close. His eyelids began turning to marble as she rocked him gently back and forth. Her fingers gently tussled his hair. "All right, it's time to go to bed." Hinata stopped the jets, turned off the water, and opened the drain. Naruto staggered after her like an obedient zombie being led by its master as she guided him out of the tub. She toweled both of them off and again dragged him along back to her room. The pale moonlight in through the windows cast long shadows as it painted
"Hinata, I don't have any sleepwear," he said.
She pulled back the covers, "There is no need," she moved to her side of the bed, not showing any of her traditional self-consciousness of her complete nudity. "Lay with me."
As exhausted as he was, a small part of Naruto was still a horny teenager whose naked girlfriend was inviting him in between the sheets, and he wanted to fully express his gratitude for the invitation. The vast majority of him fixated on how exhausted he felt. The bed and the person in it would both feel like heaven right now. Naruto slid under the cover, the luxurious sheets enfolding him like a soft cloud and Hinata's arms swirled around him like an angel's embrace. "Thank you!" he yawned as she hugged his body close.
"For what," she whispered soft in the dark.
"For being you," he caressed her cheek, "wife." He didn't know where the word came from, but it somehow sounded right.
"Just rest," she gently ran her fingers through his hair.
"I love you," he mumbled as sleep overcame him.
"I love you, too," her words chased him to the land of dreams, "husband."
Author's notes: Hi everyone, miracles of miracles I found enough time to write and get this up on my normal schedule. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading. If you are reading at the time of publication, I posted a poll to my profile about some of the untold tales this series references. If you want to provided me some feedback of what you might want to read first (I always appreciate feedback) vote in the poll through next weekend. Otherwise, thanks again for reading. Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you next week!