The Wanderers
Chapter 32 – Naruto/Hinata – Saving Her
A/N: Just in case it seems ambiguous, I've known the full plot to this story since before writing it. There might be smaller aspects that I write on the spot, but the main plot has always been the same.
Also for the next month my writing is going to be slower as things get busier. So chapters will be coming out slower for the next while. The next one probably will take a few weeks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be dramatic walks.
***Previously-On***
After escaping the Hidden Village of Sound, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
A year and a half after his friends were separated, Neji has settled in as the leader of the newly formed Otogakure. His lovely wife Yuko has given birth to twins and is heavily pregnant with their third child, and even with Tenten joining their village Neji isn't satisfied with their level of progress. In a meeting with his village leaders, he informs them that only seven shinobi villages are left in the world, but after reading about a horrifying slaughter of his own people he decides to make it six villages. Before they could attack the Village of Water, Neji has his head checked by a doctor on his wife's request, discovering that his use of the Kuroi Byakugan is causing him to lose his memories. Resolving to only use it when absolutely necessary, he led a force of over three hundred shinobi straight into the enemy village and burnt it to the ground, killing every enemy shinobi in the village only after making sure there could be no civilian casualties. When they found the village leader he was raving mad, and Neji waited for Tayuya to extract any useful information before taking him out as well. Back at Otogakure a month later, Neji was once again a father, and Yuko pointed out that she had no interest in repeating the act anytime soon, which Neji was fine with. Looking back on his activities within his village and the people he had become close with, Neji couldn't help but consider himself extremely lucky for what he had.
***End Summary***
***Four Weeks after Separation***
Naruto had prepared himself for almost anything when he came to. With what the Kyuubi had eluded to in his mindscape, Naruto had attempted to prepare himself for the fact that Hinata might be dead, or something similar.
So it was to his pleasant surprise that he saw Hinata wringing out a hand cloth in a nearby pool of water, looking no different than when he had accidently knocked himself out.
Ignoring the stiffness in his legs, Naruto launched himself off from the ground and pounced on her from behind, hugging her as tight as possible.
Hinata gasped slightly and stopped herself from falling into the river. "Naruto! You're awake?"
Leaning in to kiss her neck lightly, Naruto sighed in relief and tightened his hold on her waist. "You're okay…thank god…"
She struggled to get him to let her go while simultaneously letting out a short cough into one of her hands. "You shouldn't be up yet, Naruto."
He didn't want to let her go, but conceded her point, now very concerned about her cough. "How long was I out?"
"Three days. You hit your head pretty hard."
Three days? That makes no sense…but why is she okay? I got the impression the Kyuubi wanted her dead.
He cracked his neck slightly and flexed out his arms. It was just like he had woken up after a long sleep, but beside the stiffness he felt fine.
"Are you sure you are okay? I don't want to aggravate any injuries your Kattoken might have given you."
Naruto smiled slowly and shook his head. "Hinata, I'm fine. Just had to sleep it off. What about you?"
"I'm…" she went to say she was fine, but after seeing the serious look in Naruto's eyes she stopped herself.
She placed a hand on her stomach with a grimace, "I'm sorry for hiding it, Naruto. I didn't want to slow you down…"
"Hinata, you are the most important person in my life. If you are sick, you need to tell me. How else am I going to help?"
She hung her head slightly, "Sorry…"
He reached out and hugged her again, making sure to hold it enough for her to understand just how much she meant to him. Once they broke apart, he indicated for her to sit down while he sat opposite her, holding one of her hands.
"So, do you know what is wrong?"
Hinata shook her head slightly, feeling a strange weight lifted from her shoulders. "My stomach is in knots, I'm constantly coughing…sometimes with blood coming out…I don't know what it is."
She kept describing her symptoms, most of the medical information went over his head but Naruto concentrated on some of the more important details.
She looked after me for three days, despite being on the edge of collapse herself…she has strength I don't think even she knew she had.
"Hinata, we need to go to a doctor."
She went to say she could get better, but Naruto would hear nothing of it. They hadn't seen anyone in the country besides Magnus that wasn't hostile to them, which meant that the likelihood of meeting a friendly doctor who knew more than Hinata was slim at best.
"Where are we going to go?"
Now that he was concentrating on it, he could hear the strain in Hinata's voice. She wasn't hiding any of her illness anymore, but he could tell she was still trying to be strong.
Naruto placed a hand on his chin and thought about it for a little bit. He didn't want to move her, since it was likely that her condition would be aggravated by excessive physical activity. That only left them with one mode of travel.
He stood up from the ground, and before Hinata could join him he indicated for her to stay there. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you here."
He gave her a short grin before placing his hands together. While he could do the technique without handseals, he had a large amount of things to order them to do, which required more control than usual.
A relatively small number of Naruto clones nodded their acknowledgement as they appeared in a circle around them before turning around to move out. The fifty clones spread out and vanished in every direction, moving as fast as possible.
Hinata understood immediately what Naruto's plan was, smiling tiredly as the original Naruto sat back down and took one of her hands into his. "You were always looking after me. Now it's my turn."
She didn't respond, simply smiling and closing her eyes in exhaustion. Despite knowing very little about healing, she felt comfortable enough in his hands that she could finally rest without concern.
He would look after her.
Within their tent, Naruto swore silently as he stared at the pouring rain outside. It had been three days since his clones had dispersed in search of the city Magnus had told them about, and none of them had dissipated so far. With no information to go on, he'd been left to try his best to help Hinata maintain consciousness, which was a difficult task when they realised how sick she actually was.
Naruto didn't tell her about his encounter with the Kyuubi, or how her being sick was his punishment for trying to get rid of the Kyuubi. He didn't know how it had happened, but until he did he didn't want to worry her, not unlike how she had hidden her illness from him previously. Sometimes caring for someone meant not burdening them with unnecessary things. Naruto had grown up with that mentality, and he didn't like people who placed their burdens on others.
Breathing heavily at his side, Hinata looked at her lover through tired white eyes. She had grown flush red over the past few days, and her breathing had begun to sound wheezing-like. She hated that she couldn't help looking like she did in front of him, but the embarrassment was overshadowed by the growing pain in her mid-section. She hadn't been able to locate its origin, and had struggled to keep herself conscious while they both waited for Naruto's clones to find the city.
"Naruto…"
He quickly turned his attention back her with concern on his face, "What is it?"
He spoke softly, since he knew she had a fairly bad headache to accompany her other symptoms.
She smiled slowly and tried to reach out with one of her hands, which Naruto took carefully while shuffling to sit next to her.
"I'm not going to be able to stay awake much longer…no it's not that bad…I just want to save my energy. You need to…keep an eye on my breathing…and my heartbe…"
Her hand fell limp in his, and for a few agonising seconds Naruto thought he had lost her. Thankfully with a quick check he saw that her chest was steadily rising and falling despite her eyes being closed.
Naruto found himself shaking his head uncontrollably; he struggled to believe that any of this was happening. They had been so happy just a week ago, and then everything had been tipped on its head.
If the clones don't find the city in the next day or so…I don't know how long she's going to last…
He placed her hand down at her side and stood back slightly, wishing that he'd paid attention more thoroughly when Shizune trying to teach him some medical techniques.
I can't give up. I won't give up. Somehow I'll…
He felt a sudden jolt up his spine as memories came flooding into his mind. There was almost a one second delay before all the other clones came to him as well, clearly sensing that they weren't needed anymore. When a clone dispersed every copy of Naruto gained its memories, so when Naruto learnt that one of his clones had achieved his goal, all of them did.
It was initially difficult to go through the muck of his memories to find the specifics, but Naruto couldn't complain with what he found.
That's…okay that…really…I guess there isn't much choice, is there?
He took a quick glance around and made a quick decision about what he needed to do. He regretted having to leave so much of their stuff behind, but time was not on his side.
Being as careful as he could, he made sure Hinata had enough blankets that she would be warm in the small amount of time that would be spending in the rain before picking her up as delicately as possible.
Despite being unconscious she seemed to respond to his touch, her fingers gripping slightly on his orange jacket as he held her bridal-style before breathing out slowly. He'd done the technique hundreds of times, and occasionally with others as well, but he felt an overwhelming sense of nervousness surrounding the Hiraishin at that moment. It caused nausea occasionally, and now that he was at this point he hoped that his technique didn't do any additional injury to the young girl.
Trying his best to put it out of his mind, Naruto made sure Hinata was tightly gripped in his hands before running a reasonable amount of chakra though both his seal and hers for good measure.
They both disappeared in a crack of lightning.
Naruto recognised the high walls immediately, moving to cover Hinata's face in his arms from the rain as he looked around for an entrance into the castle-city. He hadn't been able to confirm whether it was the city Magnus had told them about, he found it hard to believe that the joyful old man would have sent them to such a place, but Naruto had no other options.
Seeing no obvious entrances, he concentrated a small amount of chakra into his feet and leapt high into the air, landing as softly as he could on top of the battlements. There were a dozen soldiers nearby that seemed amazed at his landing, but he paid them no heed as he moved down into the city.
It appeared to be a city mostly in ruins, as if a castle had been stretched and thrown around in a completely disorganised manner. If he had more time to look around, he would have noticed the escape tunnels that were scattered around the city, or the buildings that had completely flat roofs on the same level as the battlements, allowing for archers to defend the inner city if an enemy army were to breach the walls.
An army like the one camped just outside the city.
His clone had slipped past it when approaching the city walls and hadn't gotten a good chance to analyse the forces, but once Hinata was secure Naruto fully intended to ensure that they weren't at risk. He knew that when she was healed they would be able to escape easily, however if she was to be incapacitated for an extended period of time, Naruto was prepared to fight, to the death if necessary.
"Doctor! I need a doctor!"
His cries were met with odd looks; they seemed very out of place compared to the armoured soldiers moving in formation and the civilians going about their business with the impending army attack.
He ran up to an old woman, demanding to know where the nearest doctor was. She seemed to be taken back by his quick tone, but nevertheless indicated to a building on the east side of the castle.
Naruto nodded his gratitude and sped off in that direction, trying to ignore the fact that Hinata's breathing had become worse since he had picked her up.
He found the entrance easily enough, a wooden door that had several characters Naruto didn't recognise. With Hinata in his arms, Naruto had no traditional means to open the door by the handle.
He reached up with a sandaled foot and kicked the door in lightly, making sure that he only broke the lock rather than the hinges.
Inside was a large room full of empty beds, with several women in white dresses jumping as the door slammed open. As Naruto came inside with his ill lover in his arms, a man wearing a set of doctor fatigues with black-rimmed glasses on his face marched in from another side.
"What the hell is this?" he spat, glaring at the young shinobi.
"Please…you've got to help her…"
The doctor barked out a laugh at his request. "You do realise this city is about to be a battlefield, right? We don't have time for your little girl's cold."
Naruto swallowed the yell he had prepared and stepped forward, placing Hinata down as carefully as possible on a nearby empty bed. He turned around and stared down the doctor.
"She has a high fever, stomach pains, her coughs have become bloody over the past week, and she has been unconscious for nearly ten minutes. If you will not help her, then find me someone who will."
"It's not just a matter of healing her; we need to get ready for the soldiers that will be injured in the coming battle…"
"If you don't heal her…I…please…she's everything to me…and I can't help her…" Naruto turned back around and looked down at Hinata. "She has to get better. She just has to."
He couldn't see behind him, but if he could Naruto would have noticed the silent conversation going on between the doctor and the other women. After a few moments the doctor pushed past him and grasped Hinata's hand, feeling for her pulse.
Naruto looked up at him expectantly, feeling a slight glimmer of hope at his action. "Can you help her?"
The doctor placed down the young girl's hand and barked several orders to the nurses that Naruto didn't understand before turning to the young shinobi. "As a doctor, I have an obligation to help the sick whenever they are in front of me. You have my word I will do my best. But the moment the soldiers begin to come in, you must understand that they are our priority. If we are to defend ourselves, we need as many people up and about as possible."
Naruto grinned and bowed deeply to the doctor. "Bring her back, and she can fight better than a hundred men. You can…"
Naruto collapsed onto the ground beside Hinata's bed, snoring before his head even hit the floor.
The explosion sounds were deafening, almost enough to distract Naruto from glaring at the door in front of him. He'd left a clone disguised as a glass in the room which would tell him if anything changed with Hinata, but beyond that he hated that he couldn't be in the room with her. It made sense, but that didn't stop him being angry about it. After sleeping almost an entire day, the doctor and his nurses had thrown him out, telling him that if anything he should be on the walls defending them.
A loud whistling sound came to his ears. It took Naruto a few seconds before he swore under his breath and jumped to his feet. With two swift movements he jumped onto the side of a nearby tower to the top of the building where the doctors were housed.
He stared at the large boulder hurtling directly at the place where Hinata was being looked at with utter contempt in his eyes. With a short breath he pushed off of the roof straight into the boulder's path, pulling back a fist with a heavy concentration of spiritual energy. He figured he could probably do the same thing with chakra, but using wind power was safer for their position.
His fist slammed into the boulder, and in dramatic flair he appeared on the other side, landing softly on the ground. The object seemed to hover for a moment in the air before being rapidly shredded into nothingness, to an extent Naruto didn't even realise he could achieve.
Looking around at the interior of the castle town, he saw that dozens of similar sized boulders were slamming into the town; they didn't appear to be discriminating in relation to targets.
He glanced down at his hands, his eyes widening when he saw that they were shaking.
It was fear.
I can't do anything to help heal her…
Glancing at the soldiers lining the walls, Naruto came to a slow realisation about what he could do.
I can do what I do best though. I can fight.
Breaking out into a sprint, he leapt onto the walls in a single bound, causing some of the soldiers on the ground to gape in surprise. He figured they had never seen a shinobi before, and if Magnus' warning was any indication he didn't want to over-exemplify that fact.
Naruto was a veteran of several massive battles. He had found at both the Village of Whirlpools and the Hidden Sound, plus he had fought in over a hundred other battles. But nothing could have prepared him for the sight he saw on the other side of the castle walls.
Standing beyond the walls of the town was the roaring sound of twenty thousand armoured soldiers, with scattered catapults between their ranks. Naruto could see they were both well-armed and well-disciplined, similar to the bandits he had taken out earlier in the week.
They were a fair distance from the town, just barely within catapult range. Naruto saw that the town itself had no means to defend itself from the barrage, forced to wait until the enemy army was within range of their archers.
We were so lucky that my clone was able to slip past this army.
"Who the hell are you, and why the hell are you on my wall?"
He turned to see an angry looking soldier with red stripes across his armour and a dozen scars on his face. Even if he hadn't confronted him, Naruto would have picked him as the person in charge.
"I'm Naruto. You seem to have a bit of a problem." He tried to sound calm and collected, but his hands were still shaking even though they were clenched into fists.
The general spat on the ground at Naruto's feet and stared out over the walls. "You could say that. Are you any good with a bow? We could use another body for the enemy to slaughter."
"How many men have you got?"
"A thousand give or take. All of them are worthless saps."
The general bellowed out an order to a nearby soldier and turned back to Naruto with a frown. "If you aren't here to fight, get the hell off my wall."
With couldn't help but grin at the general's demeanour. The soldiers around him clearly respected the man, and Naruto felt that the man knew what he was doing.
He cracked his knuckles and indicated to the soldiers scrambling below, trying to clear the debris and move the civilians to a safer location. "If I gave you an hour, could you get your men ready for the battle?"
The general stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a loud bark of a laugh. "Give me twenty minutes and we'll throw those bastards to the winds. But I fail to see how one boy who barely looks like he could stick it to a maiden could do such a thing."
A wide grin came across Naruto's face. "Ready your men, general. And tell them not to shoot me."
The rigid soldier scoffed in response, but couldn't help but be surprised as Naruto leapt off the walls straight to the ground, landing softly just outside the castle walls. As a shinobi a fall of a few dozen feet was nothing, but to the normal soldiers it must have been quite the impressive feat.
Naruto regarded the army that hadn't noticed him yet with a cold stare. The image of Hinata lying in the bed with her face in such pain was enough to cause him to lose all concept of holding back.
He couldn't heal her, but he could beat them back and keep her secure.
As confident as Naruto was, he was only one shinobi. An army of twenty thousand trained soldiers would have been a struggle for several hundred shinobi.
However Naruto wasn't just one shinobi.
He began to walk at a reasonable pace towards the army, his hands at his sides permanently clenched. Two clones appeared behind him, walking in perfect synchronisation as the original.
Four more appeared behind them.
Then eight.
Sixteen clones followed. The enemy army has begun to notice something was different.
Thirty-two.
Sixty-four appeared behind those. The soldiers on the walls had begun to cheer loudly.
After only a minute of walking, Naruto moved at the front of just over a thousand shadow clones, all walking in perfect unison with him. As a single shinobi, Naruto barely made a sound when walking. With over a thousand shinobi moving, they made some noise.
The trained soldiers had finally turned to face him, unable to comprehend how this small army had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The catapults fell silent as the loaders tried to rapidly recalculate their firing arcs, while their archers struggled to string their bows with arrows to fire onto the army of orange-clad shinobi.
Every clone pulled out a pair of kunai and grasped the knives in each hand while continuing to walk dramatically towards the enemy army.
I will protect Hinata…even if it costs me my life!
Naruto didn't need to vocalise any orders to his clones. They all knew what to do.
With a synchronised roar that was nearly deafening, the army of Naruto clones charged at the invaders at full pace.
oOoOoOo
Boulders and arrows came screaming into the rampaging horde of clones, dispersing dozens at a time yet they didn't even flinch as they crashed into the shield wall of the enemy army.
The forward line dispersed to the initial spear thrust of the enemy soldiers, but right as their companions fell another line of orange-clad shinobi leapt over the top. Their kunai bit straight into the vulnerable points of their armour, hundreds of soldiers suddenly finding themselves fighting for their lives.
As a shinobi Naruto had significantly more combat training than the average soldier. While his clones could only take one hit before disappearing, for every Naruto that was taken out several soldiers were knocked out in the process. It was still a mostly one-sided battle that Naruto had no delusions on winning, but as a delay tactic it was perfect.
The catapults were unwilling to fire into their own ranks, and after the first two ranks of soldiers fell under the sheer weight of numbers and determination of the clone army it became clear what Naruto's objectives were.
While the clones fought with kunai and bare fists, the original Naruto was a veritable force of nature through their ranks. Each punch and kick was enhanced to the maximum with wind energy, causing soldiers that were dozens of feet away to be blasted apart with each swing.
Several soldiers tried to move around to flank the original Naruto, but were subsequently swarmed by the clone army supporting the Konoha shinobi. The battle of attrition was not going in Naruto's favour, but if he completed his objectives then he didn't care.
A hail of arrows came down on a freshly made batch of clones, piercing straight through the smoke while a group of thrown kunai came back in response, taking out the small group of archers in turn.
The noise of the battle was deafening, but Naruto's clone army still focused on what he had ordered them to do. A small contingent of clones that had disguised themselves as soldiers broke through the initial ten ranks of soldiers and laid into the loading crews of the first two catapults in front of them.
The soldiers were easily taken out, and with several quickly thrown kunai with explosive notes attached the boulder-throwing devices crumbled to the ground in loud explosions. The clones took a moment to revel in their success, and found themselves quickly overwhelmed by spears and swords from the soldiers around them, causing them to disperse into a large grey cloud of smoke.
Using a circle of clones as a shield, the original Naruto took a second to survey the battlefield. He watched as several more groups of clones destroyed more of the catapults with pride, he figured if they destroyed them then the enemy army couldn't easily target Hinata's building, and would be forced to march into range of the castle's archers.
How did we get so caught up in someone else's war?
He instinctively ducked under an arrow shot at his head, springing up from the ground quickly and burying a kunai into the side of a soldier that had tried to stab him from behind. In those few moments he had taken his clone army had been reduced massively, and while Naruto had the chakra to produce another thousand he saw that the last catapult had been taken out, meaning the majority of the damage he could do by himself was done.
The last fifty clones spread out amongst the enemy ranks all pulled out large amounts of chakra and slammed their hands into the ground. Massive tendrils of lightning struck the ground as every clone that remained exploded in a spectacular fashion. It provided the original Naruto enough time to get a bee-line on the castle walls and disappear with a sound, appearing on top of the battlements with a drawn-out breath.
He noticed the general he had spoken to earlier standing beside where he had appeared, with every soldier that could was staring at him with amazement.
Naruto gave the general the slightest grin, "Was that enough time, general?"
"Wha…what the hell are you?"
The shinobi looked back at the building he had left Hinata at, turning back to the general with a grim expression. "Someone who keeps my precious people safe."
With that he disappeared again, the general seeing him appear at the building door with amazement.
An archer coughed to get his attention beside him. "Who is that boy, sir?"
"I have no idea. But be glad he's on our side."
The general had to rethink his defence now that Naruto had retired back to be by Hinata's side. Without the catapults the opposing army had no long-range firepower, which meant they had to assault the walls directly to destroy them. Naruto's attack had taken out nearly two thousand soldiers, several hundred from the final explosions alone.
He watched as the orange-clad boy entered the building and closed the door behind him.
He's a shinobi. I'd bet it on my life. But why would one be here? This land has nothing to offer them anymore.
The general placed the concern in the back of his mind, turning to bark orders at his soldiers. The enemy army wouldn't be able to attack for the rest of the day, but that didn't mean they should slack off. They were still both out-armed and out-numbered.
Naruto slumped down into his chair and stared at the doctor. "What are you telling me?"
The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose slightly and looked down at his chart. "She should be dead. So should you, as a matter of a fact. The fact that you are standing at all defies all medicine I've ever learnt."
Naruto frowned and clasped his hands together. "I don't care about me. Why is she sick?"
"You aren't listening. I just tested your blood against hers, and you both have the same problem. It's as if your immune systems are attacking your vital organs, because there is a key component missing from your blood."
So the Kyuubi has killed both of us. But how? Could it have been...
The doctor coughed and flipped the page on his chart. "The two of you are shinobi, am I correct?"
"Is that a problem?" Naruto had gotten the impression from the general and Magnus that shinobi weren't particularly welcome in this country.
The doctor shrugged, "I don't care. That was ages ago. But it explains what the problem is, and why we can't cure you."
Naruto felt his heart freeze in place. "Are you saying Hinata is going to die?"
"In time, yes. As will you."
The doctor continued talking, but Naruto couldn't hear him. All he could do was look at the pained body of the only person he's truly loved, with the knowledge that he was going to lose her.
And then I'll…NO! I refuse to let this beat us. There has to be a way!
"No."
The doctor halted mid-sentence and stared at him curiously, his response made no sense in context to what he was saying. "No, what?"
Naruto stood up slowly and stared at the doctor eye-to-eye. "I will not accept something like that. There is always a way. I won't let her die! There has to be something!"
The doctor sighed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He'd been examining the young girl for a while, and hadn't rested in hours. "You're not listening."
The young shinobi walked past the doctor and sat next to Hinata, taking her hand into his. Since coming to the castle she hadn't regained consciousness, Naruto was petrified he'd never hear her voice again.
"Doctor, I'm sure you hear this all the time…but there has got to be something. Some kind of cure that's a long shot. Right?"
"Look, I'll tell it to you straight. I'm out of my depth here, since this is clearly a shinobi-based illness, but I'll tell you what I know. As shinobi the two of you have different blood than regular people, because of your energy-stuff."
"Chakra?"
"Yes, that. Now normally we could help something like this with a blood transfusion and clearing out your systems, but your blood types are too rare out here. Even if we could transfuse between the two of you, which we can't because you have different blood types, it wouldn't help."
"So…we need something to clear our blood? But how could this have affected both of us? We haven't exactly swapped blood lately."
The doctor shrugged, "I'm not sure. Since this 'chakra' is involved, anything is possible. The way I see it is that wherever this thing originated, both of you have had extended amounts of expose to it, and that's what is killing you."
Naruto looked down at the unconscious body of his love with a sad expression.
So it is my fault. The Kyuubi sought to punish me, but because of my healing he couldn't finish the job, and in turn the person I've had the more contact with falls ill.
He turned back to the doctor as a horrible question came to his mind.
"Could…could this have been…transmitted….?" He didn't know why it was so hard to say.
Sensing where the young shinobi was going, the doctor shook his head slowly. "It is nothing sexual; you don't have to worry about that. By the sounds of it, you blame yourself. Well don't, this could have happened to anyone."
No, it couldn't have. This is my punishment, in the worst way possible.
Swallowing the sadness in his throat, Naruto asked the doctor the only other question that mattered. "How much time does she have?"
The doctor told him.
The next day, a clone of Naruto sat on a set of steps leading up to the battlements, swinging his feet absentmindedly. They had been told that the enemy army would likely be attacking again, but Naruto had no interest in participating in the battle. He'd relented in letting a few clones gain some information on the battle, to see where they could help, but he had no intention of leaving Hinata's side.
Down in the courtyard he could see several children playing a strange game; they appeared to be chasing each other while swinging imaginary weapons at each other.
The clone frowned slightly. "I thought all the civilians were evacuated" he said to nobody in particular.
"If the young ones are in danger, than the town is lost." A soldier sat down next to the cloned shinobi and rested his spear on his shoulder.
The clone resisted the urge to scoff at the naïve perception of the situation. While it was completely true, he didn't seem to understand the value of survival like he would expect them to.
"What are they playing?" he asked curiously.
"Seiken and the Dragonknights. Haven't you heard of it?"
"Let's just say we aren't from around here."
The soldier smiled slowly beneath his helmet. They'd all been there to see Naruto's attack on the enemy army, and it was clear he was a different type of person than most. He was happy to spend some time with the boy who had stopped the boulders falling onto their heads. "It's an old tale in this country. Seiken was a great hero who fought bravely for his people. One day there was an evil man who had four children, each of them terribly powerful. They destroyed Seiken's land and murdered his people, so the great hero set out to stop them before they could do the same to others. Each of the children fell under his great sword, which was imbued with the blood of each foe slain. It was said that Seiken was granted immortality by the gods, and he could heal any injury that he was given. He's seen as an idol among our people."
"Sounds like a powerful guy. Did he really exist? Or is it just a legend?" Naruto's clone didn't mean to sound bored, he was actually quite intrigued by the tale, but he'd never been good at displaying sincerity during conversation.
The soldier shrugged and stared up into the clear sky. "All legends start from tales in history. Whether Seikan existed…who knows? The sword though, that certainly exists. A blade capable of healing any wound, or slaying any foe…that would be nice, wouldn't it?"
"Battles aren't won by heroes wielding swords, soldier."
They both turned to see the general standing behind them, a warbow in hand. "Back to your post, before I put you on a triple shift."
The soldier scrambled to his feet and gave the general a quick salute before running back up the battlements.
The general grinned and walked down the steps so that he could face the clone face-on. "Can we count on your assistance? The men could use the moral boost, and quite frankly I could use the extra fighting strength."
"I'm not sure how much help I could be to you, general. I'm sorry; I don't think I'm up to fighting at this time."
The general scoffed and placed his warbow on his back. "Too caught up in legends and tales to fight a man's war? If you are so interested in that sword, you could have a look over the walls."
"Why is that?"
"That army is led by a man wielding the blade. Why do you think they've never been beaten in a fight?"
The clone frowned and stood up from his step. "What, are you telling me he's immortal? That's ridiculous."
"Of course it is. But if you are wielding a sword that has the bloodstone gem capable of healing any wound, it's pretty damn hard to kill you."
Heal any wound…wait…a bloodstone? Could it be…
A slow smile came across the clone's face, as a small glimmer of hope arose within him. "A stone that heals any wound…How long until their army comes within range?"
"Half an hour. Probably less. Why? Don't tell me you are going to go for the sword?!"
His smile turned into a smirk as he cracked his knuckles. "It'll take too long to explain, general."
With that, he dissipated into a puff of grey smoke, causing the general to jump slightly before shaking his head in surprise.
"Bizarre child. If you weren't such a good fighter, I'd have you running laps around the castle. Maybe there are some rookies I can yell at to amuse myself before the battle."
oOoOoOo
At the bedside, Naruto felt a smile come over his face as the information from the clone entered his mind. He knew it was a long shot, and probably not what he thought it was. But despite all that, he had to try. There was little else he could do.
He patted Hinata's hand in his before reaching down and kissing her cheek lightly. He'd been talking to her as much as he could, trying to see if she would wake up but without any luck.
"Hinata…I've found something. I don't know if it'll help, but I think it'll be worth the risk."
He let out a slight laugh and kissed the hand he held. "I have to fight again. I wish you were at my side; I always seemed to fight best when I'm with you. I'm leaving a set of clones to watch over you. If you wake up, I'll come back here instantly."
"I won't let you die. Even if it costs me my life, I swear I'll make up for what I've done. Maybe when you wake up, you'll forgive me. I know we've only got a few weeks, but I won't be too long."
He let go of her hand and stood up from his seat, looking over her blanket covered body for a few seconds before turning to face the door.
"I love you Hyuuga Hinata. I will be back for you."
oOoOoOo
"Get those bows loaded! If you aren't ready to fight, get the hell off my wall!"
The general continued to spit orders at his soldiers, while out of the corner of his eye he noticed an orange blur moving towards the battlements. He swore under his breath and began to run towards the place where he estimated the young shinobi to be moving towards. His armour wasn't particularly heavy, but it still made him tired as he moved to intercept him.
Naruto came to a halt when he saw the general moving towards him, looking at the old man curiously as he caught up to him quickly.
"Something on your mind, general?" Naruto didn't mean to sound humorous, but it helped put his off the enormous task he had to do.
The general breathed out slowly and gathered his strength. "You look like you are about to do something stupid."
Naruto frowned, "I know it seems stupid, but I've got to try. If that sword can save her, it's worth the risk."
"Boy, you are all manner of stupid." The general shook his head and looked over the battlements at the approaching army. They were no more than ten minutes away from their archers' range, and considering what Naruto had done previously he had every interest in having the young man participate in the battle.
Naruto nodded his agreement and went to leap off the battlements, but the general grabbed his jacket and held him back.
"What are you doing?"
"Think about this for a moment, boy. You attack them now, we can't assist you."
He stared at the general with a cocked head, "I'm short on time, general."
"I'm not saying don't attack. I'm suggesting we be strategic about this."
Still feeling a need to go on a rampage, it took a massive amount of effort not to shrug off the man's grip and leap off the battlements. Instead Naruto fought to calm himself down and stare back at the general.
"What did you have in mind?"
"This is stupid, even for you."
"I dunno, it might work"
"Says number forty-one"
"I don't want to hear anything from either of you."
Naruto rolled his eyes as heard the bickering of his clones all around his position. He'd given the clones a larger amount of sentience, but he hoped they would have to see too much combat, since they were within the castle walls in case the enemy soldiers broke through the gate.
The original Naruto controlled his breathing and waited patiently as the army slowly made its way into range. He was standing on the outside of the massive closed gate, with his clones on the inside.
He could start to see the faces of the enemy soldiers, and as he came into their view he could see the apprehension in their expressions.
They remember my previous attack. Good. That means when I move out, I should be able to move more freely.
The general had told him that the enemy leader wielding the sword he was looking for would be on the frontlines, since he was apparently a symbol for their army. Naruto didn't know why they were attacking the castle, or even who they were; the general had been remise in explaining the situation to the shinobi.
He heard a soft twang of a bowstring a short distance away. A second later he watched as an arrow buried itself a few dozen feet in front of his position.
I'm almost in range of their archers, which means they are nearly in range of our archers. Time to move out.
Pulling out two kunai with tags attached, Naruto eyed a patch of land just behind the enemy army. It was within line of sight, and on the same ground level as the gate.
Riding along the wind, Naruto disappeared and reappeared in the patch of land he had just seen. Now looking at the rear of the army, Naruto could see the apprehension in most of the soldier's stances as they moved towards the castle.
They don't want to attack the castle, but are being forced to do so. Someone has a hand in this attack.
With two flicks he buried the kunai an even fifty feet apart, making sure that the tags were secure before taking a moment to see if he could see any command structure at the rear.
All he could see were more armoured soldiers; nobody appeared to be in charge from the angle Naruto was looking at.
I guess the general was right; he's either at the front or in the middle of the army.
Giving it no further thought, Naruto concentrated on the seal he had placed on the gate, disappearing in a crack of lightning before reappearing at his first position.
He immediately ducked underneath a sword strike and discovered that the enemy army had advanced quicker than he could have anticipated.
This makes things harder.
Naruto summoned his spiritual energy around him and began a swift counterattack against the small force of soldiers that had reached the gate. His arms slammed into their armour and sent them flying away, each strike taking out several soldiers in succession.
For every set of soldiers Naruto blew away another five would take their place, even though a hail of arrows had already begun to fall on their ranks. It didn't take much stamina to fight with the Kattoken, but with the enemy's numbers he knew it was a losing battle.
I need to clear the field for my seals.
Taking out another set of soldiers with a wide kick, Naruto leap back and attached his feet to the gate quickly. Before the soldiers could react, he summoned up as much spiritual energy as he thought he could handle and clapped his hands together straight at the enemy army.
The effort was similar to that of a shockwave, as over a hundred soldiers were blown back by the wave of air energy.
Sensing his opportunity, Naruto threw two more kunai to either side of the gate and rapidly ran through a short set of handseals. He detached himself from the gate and landed on the ground, taking note of the black seals along the ground that connected his new kunai to the ones he had previously placed.
The enemy soldiers were already moving back to attack Naruto again; a small selection even had a battering ram between them. Naruto refused to give them an opportunity to take down the gate however; he knew that beside siege ladders the gate was the only way for the soldiers to enter the castle.
Before the soldiers could reach him, Naruto slammed both hands onto the ground and activated the technique. A strange thought came into his mind as the ninjutsu came into effect.
I suppose this isn't really that original. I don't think Father would mind though.
"Hirai…bugger I don't have a name for this one. Oh well."
He looked and felt a smirk came across his face as he saw what he had done.
In the column between the seals at the gate and the seals behind the enemy army was absolutely nothing. The almost six hundred soldiers that had been marching forward in that area had vanished completely.
Naruto could see the enemy soldiers looking around for their companions in confusion, while a massive cheer came from the castle walls.
An enemy soldier near him stared at him with a mixture of both confusion and horror before shouting at him in a language he didn't understand.
Naruto let his smirk drop and pointed upwards, indicating that the soldier should mind his head.
He looked up and gasped in surprise as he saw the soldiers that had disappeared descending rapidly from the clouds above.
The cheers from the battlements were muffled by the screams of the falling soldiers.
The young Konoha shinobi watched with appreciation for the immensely powerful technique. It was a massive drain on his chakra, but Naruto didn't mind that so much considering his and Hinata's new techniques that didn't require chakra.
He hadn't been able to control where the soldiers went, his control over the technique was at the same level as when he was first learning the Hiraishin, which happened to work to his advantage in this circumstance.
The soldiers weren't falling from a survivable distance, nor where they falling where they had come from.
They fell on top of their companions, crushing them as they struck the ground heavily.
Naruto watched the devastation passively; he felt little sympathy for the soldiers but could appreciate the situation they found themselves in.
Fighting against an enemy they don't understand, and cannot seem to overcome. Not unlike us with that Shouri guy.
Despite the discord he had sown in their ranks, the enemy army still advanced on the city with some resemblance of strategy. With his attack, and the one conducted previously, the enemy army had been cut by a third from its original standpoint.
Traditional siege warfare dictated that an army needed a ten-to-one numerical advantage to take a castle by siege, and while Naruto hadn't studied too much warfare tactics he knew that the battle had suddenly shifted in favour of the defenders.
I could leave this battlefield right now, and they would likely win the battle now. Presuming they don't fall over themselves. But I can't do that.
He noticed a gleam several hundred feet away, to the point that his eyes were instantly drawn to it. He couldn't quite make it out, but considering the movements of the soldiers around the gleam he judged that it could only be one thing.
Gathering his strength, Naruto concentrated on that spot and disappeared.
When Naruto appeared in the ranks of the enemy army he had been expecting to come out swinging and fighting tooth and claw.
To his surprise, there was a wide circle for him to appear in, as if they had been anticipating his arrival. Naruto had a pair of kunai in hand immediately, but it quickly became clear that the soldiers in formation around him had no interest in attacking him. They simply stared at him with hate and waited.
"What the hell is this?"
After a few seconds a soldier broke through the ranks and stood in the circle opposite the young shinobi. Even though he wore the same regalia as the other soldiers, the look in his eyes indicated to Naruto that this was someone on a whole other level to the normal rank-and-file soldiery.
"Are you one who killing my men?" His Japanese was heavily accented; Naruto could tell it wasn't his first language.
He squared off against the man and held his kunai up, "Are you the general?"
"Yes. You shinobi?"
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi from Konoha."
The man snarled at his acknowledgement and reached down, pulling a sheathed blade from his belt. He held the sheath up in front of him, as if demonstrating to Naruto before pulling the blade from its cover and holding it tightly, placing the sheath in his other hand.
The blade was long and wide; it seemed to be made of a metal Naruto didn't recognise as it gleamed in the sunlight. The hilt was made from gilded steel and silver, and upon close inspection he could see two dark red gemstones buried on either side of the hilt. As his eyes gazed over the stones he thought he saw a strange flame in the stones before they turned back to their regular dark red.
The sword!
"You must be the general."
His enemy cocked his head slightly, "The master did not say shinobi be here. Shouri will reward Azahi for killing shinobi menace."
"Shouri?! You know the white armoured warrior that sent us here?"
"No more talk. Seiken's sword demands shinobi blood."
Naruto took one final glance at the blade and placed his kunai back into his pocket. It didn't take a genius to tell that the enemy's sword would cut straight through his kunai without any effort required.
If blades of metal won't work…
The Konoha shinobi placed up his hands in an offensive taijutsu stance and motioned for the general to attack him.
I have to leave the gate to the clones. If I take this one out, it's likely that the army will retreat.
The soldiers around the two of them stood back slightly and widened the circle for the two of them to fight in, watching without comment as the general moved towards Naruto with the sword and sheath in hand.
oOoOoOo
When he still had his father's sword, Naruto had spent a large amount of time practising his swordsmanship, sparring many times with Sasuke in order to better defend himself against sword-users.
Sasuke had nothing on the general of the enemy army.
The general, who called himself Azahi, struck at Naruto like a brute trying to bash his head in, but when Naruto moved out of the way of the blade the sheath was there to block his counter-attack.
He wielded the blade with uncanny skill, constantly pushing Naruto back towards the other soldiers.
Under the quick advances of Azahi, Naruto had no time to attack in turn; he spent all of his concentration on ducking and weaving his way out of getting sliced apart by the legendary blade.
Nearly a minute of retreating in a circle later, Naruto leapt back out of the general's range and observed his movements carefully.
He's holding back. He wants to embarrass me in front of his men, to raise their morale.
Placing up a fist, Naruto gathered a small amount of spiritual energy and smirked.
No need for me to hold back anymore then.
Azahi leapt at him with Seikan's sword raised, aiming to slash straight down Naruto's centre line. Instead of retreating like he had been, Naruto placed up an arm up and caught the blade on his forearm.
The blade stopped just before striking at his clothes, and for that moment it seemed like the general had stopped the strike, but the two of them knew differently.
The general pulled the blade back and brought it crashing back down on Naruto's arm, this time with more strength than before. He once again caught it on his arm, but grimaced under the strain as the wind struggled to keep the blade from his flesh.
Naruto swore silently and held up his arm with his other hand, trying his best to increase the flow of wind energy swirling around his arm. He could feel it cutting into his skin, but ignored the pain, concentrating on keeping the more dangerous blade from cutting his arm off.
While concentrating on the sword, Naruto neglected to notice the fact that the general was only using one hand to continually strike at him with the sword. So when the sheath came crashing into his side, Naruto was forced to take the blow without any defences up.
He rolled back with a grimace and held his side painfully. It felt like he had just been hit by one of Lee's punches, which were easily able to break brick walls if needed.
I need to go on offense. He's too clever with those weapons.
Azahi moved to strike him again, taking advantage of his injured state. However just as the sword went to slash through him, Naruto disappeared into thin air.
The general frowned and went to pull back his sword, but he stood no chance against what Naruto had planned.
The shinobi had reappeared just above the general and drove a fist straight down into the general's back. He tried to make his spiritual energy into a drill, and while he had struck a clean blow all he was able to do was shattering the armour around his back and chest.
To his credit, despite taking the blow to his back the general spun around and slashed at Naruto with his sword, causing the shinobi to jump back and resume his stance.
Azahi stood up from the ground and grimaced, holding his sides as he felt the impact of Naruto's attack. He hadn't pierced through, but the strike itself was enough to hurt his muscles.
"You strong shinobi. Better than others master kill."
The general threw the sheath away and placed his open hand onto the sword hilt, changing his stance so that he could take advantage of his two-handed grip.
Naruto took note of the different grip, and the confidence it seemed to inspire in the general.
I probably can't do the attack from above again, unless he's distracted.
He blinked, and the sword was already coming crashing down towards him. Naruto went to block it with a wind-covered arm, but thought better of it and rolled away from the strike.
Azahi held the legendary sword at his sword and grinned, showing Naruto his missing teeth. "Know when going to lose arm. Smart shinobi. Not too smart to fight though."
I need to get that sword away from him. He can out-muscle me with it in his hands.
The general hesitated for a moment, and Naruto saw an opportunity to attack. With nearly unperceivable speed he threw a hail of shurikens at the general. Using his sword he was easily able to deflect the projectiles, but it gave Naruto the distraction he needed.
He sped as fast as he could towards the general, analysing the movements of his sword before preparing both fists and slamming them into each side of the legendary blade. It was only for a few seconds, but Naruto tried to dislodge the blade from his enemy's grip.
Unfortunately the general was smarter than Naruto had given him credit for, twisted the blade before driving it towards Naruto, negating his chaotic wind attack.
The shinobi cried out in pain as the sword bit into his stomach, causing him to disappear and reappear on the other side of the circle. The cut wasn't particularly deep, but it still hurt like anything Naruto had experienced before.
Using the short time he had between assaults, Naruto was able to get an understanding of how the greater battle was faring. It wasn't looking good for the attacking army, the ladders had been thrown from the walls and they had failed to breach the gate as well.
I'm out of time. Hinata won't last much longer.
Standing up straight, Naruto threw down four kunai in a perfect square around the two of them. He placed his hands together into a handseal and stared at his opponent.
"It's nothing personal. I just need that blade."
The general stared at him with a cocked head, but before he could say anything Naruto leapt at him, his fists raised. He almost couldn't help but laugh at the brazen assault, it was child's play for him to reach out and slice the shinobi in half with Seikan's sword.
As the blade cut through Naruto's head, he vanished into a puff of smoke. Remembering his previous attack, Azahi spun around and prepared himself for the air-based attack from above.
Unfortunately Naruto hadn't used teleportation; he had transposed himself with a Kage Bunshin. Appearing underneath the general's guard, Naruto slammed a fist into the general's chin, while simultaneously driving his other fist into the blade again, into the same place he had struck before.
The effect was instantaneous. Even with a heavy set helmet on, the wind-spiritual energy spun his head in such a way that the human body was not capable of maintaining, while his sword span out of his grip onto the ground.
Naruto leapt back and stared at the fallen body with fascination. He hadn't expected that to work, he'd planned for a more elaborate technique with the kunai around them.
I guess sometimes you just need an opening.
It took him a few seconds before he realised that he was still in the middle of the enemy army, and had just killed the enemy general in single combat. He looked around at the soldiers around him, taking note of the variety of expressions on the enemy warriors.
Not sure whether he wanted to keep fighting or not, Naruto placed up his hands and held a defensive stance. The air around him began to sway as he made the wind pick up chaotically, stopping just short of blowing the soldiers back.
Naruto discovered that he didn't need to put on such a show, as the soldiers began throwing down their arms in droves. They weren't surrendering themselves to him; they were simply giving him their weapons so they could flee from the battle.
This happened quickly among the enemy ranks, as word of their leader's demise spread. The unit leaders tried to keep discipline, but they all knew the battle was lost. The fleeing soldiers gave Naruto a wide berth as they fled away from the castle, allowing Naruto to take a moment to breath out a sigh of relief.
When he had gathered his wits, and ensured that the general was in fact dead, Naruto found himself wondering why he knew who that Shouri warrior was. When he had time, and when she woke up, he planned to talk it out with Hinata.
Upon remembering her, Naruto smacked himself on the head for forgetting his initial purpose in participating in the battle. He ran over and reached down to pick up the legendary blade that had nearly killed him. As his fingers touched the hilt the metal of the blade shattered into thousands of pieces.
Naruto held up the hilt and stared at the now-broken blade in his hand. "I guess I shouldn't have attacked the blade itself huh…"
He tapped the two bloodstones in the hilt with a free hand, making sure that they were still okay within the hilt.
"I hope this thing works…"
Naruto came crashing into the hospital building, the broken sword in hand. As if anticipating his arrival, the doctor simply waved him over.
"This is a stupid idea, you know that right?"
Placing the hilted blade in the doctor's hand, Naruto threw off his bloody jacket and knelt beside the bed, taking one of Hinata's hands into his. "I don't care. Will it help?"
The doctor produced a switchblade from his pocket and began to jimmy one of the two bloodstones out of the hilt. Naruto went to yell for him to stop, but it only took him a few seconds to get the stone out.
"What are you doing? Don't we need those?"
Holding the bloodstone up to his eyes, the doctor stared at it like a professional jewelcrafter. "As an outsider, I don't want to hear anything from you. Shut up and let me do my work."
I only saved your city. No need to thank me or anything.
The doctor pulled back the sheet covering Hinata's unconscious body, making sure that her neck was properly exposed. Naruto felt a need to protest at her exposure, but resolved to simply making sure that her breasts were properly covered.
Placing the bloodstone on the centre of her neck, the doctor stepped back and folded his arms.
Nothing happened.
The Uzumaki shinobi stared at the doctor, "I don't understand. Why isn't it working?"
"It was a long shot, you knew that. Legends are just that."
Naruto felt an overwhelming weight come crashing down on him, forcing him to his knees as the finality of what was going to happen came to him.
I failed her…and now…Hinata…
"Naruto…?"
His eyes shot open immediately, and before he could even think about it he had leapt to his feet and embraced the young girl on the bed in the tightest hug he had ever given her.
Barely able to open her eyes, Hinata grimaced at the hug, but nevertheless was able to the smile and nuzzle her head into his neck.
The bloodstone fell from her neck onto the ground, the doctor picking it up and placing it next to the broken sword. "No way…"
Hinata could hear Naruto saying something, but it was entirely unintelligible. It wasn't for a whole minute that she realised that her lover was crying into her hair. Despite having just woken up from nearly dying, Hinata was able to muster the strength to place an arm around his shoulder and hold his head into her shoulder.
"I made you worry…I'm sorry…"
"No…it's my fault. I should have worked harder…none of this would have happened…"
"Naruto, you're hurting my sides."
He immediately jumped off and tumbled backwards, causing the nurses and doctor to laugh loudly, even Hinata had to stifle a giggle. From his awkward position with his legs around his head, Naruto started to laugh as well.
She's safe…I can't…believe…
Then fatigue hit him and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
oOoOoOo
Taking the stone off of the fifth patient, the doctor swore and stared at the dark red gem.
"Nothing?" asked a nurse attending the soldier before them.
He shrugged and tossed the bloodstone back towards the broken sword hilt on the bed besides the two shinobi. On the young girl's insistence they had organised two beds together so that she could take care of the orange-clad boy who had gone so far for her, and they now slept soundlessly as if he had never been in such a horrific battle.
"It makes no sense. It worked for her, but not for anyone else."
He glanced over at the two shinobi for a second for a few seconds before regarding one of the nurses beside him.
"Well at least I won't be out of a job. Get some more gauze; I don't want this soldier bleeding out on me again."
Author's Note:
There are a few things I'd like to address, that have been brought up from the reviews.
This story originally began as a Naruto/Hinata story, and that was its intention. But the more I wrote the more I realised I could make it more than just a fanfiction about their romance. They are still the most 'main' characters in the story, but almost everyone gets their share of the story.
I also know there are a fair number of OCs in this story, and that is intentional. We know the characters in Naruto damn well, and we don't read fanfiction to see them do the same stuff as the original (at least I don't). I'm writing different aspects of the characters so that we get different views on how they would react to certain situations.
And bugger, I forgot to put Karin in the last chapter. Only just occurred to me. She'll be in the story, but much later now.
I know the bloodstone bit doesn't make much sense at this point. It gets explained further in the next Naru/Hina chapter, which will be in a little while down the track.
I've learnt a lot from writing this story, and I have every intention of finishing it. Beside the Bonus Chapters, nothing in this story is padding. Everything makes sense in some aspect or another and is relevant.
I should also point out that I use this story to test out certain elements of characters and plot devices to see how they might work in my other fiction works. So by all means, be as brutal and honest as possible. It helps me more than you might think.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.