Ch. 43

As Naruto set Sakura down onto the hospital bed, Tsunade said, "Nice and slow..."

Sakura let out a pained grunt then finally laid back onto the bed. She looked at Naruto shyly and said, "Thanks..."

Naruto gave a small smile then nodded and said, "Anytime..." He looked at Hikan and said, "I'll be back. I've just gotta take dirtbag here to Konoha P.D."

Sakura let out a small chuckle then nodded and said, "See you..."

Naruto gave a small smile and said, "See ya..."

After Naruto walked out, Tsunade walked over to Sakura and started inspecting her wounds. As Tsunade examined her, she noticed minor wounds all over her body. She wore a slightly confused expression and asked, "What exactly happened to you?..."

Sakura looked over her body and softly said, "I basically got turned into the center of gravity for a bit..."

As Tsunade took in the information, the injuries Sakura had started to make sense. She knew all about the unique abilities of the Rinnegan. To be honest, she was glad that more damage hadn't been done. She looked at some of the minor wounds and said, "Good thing it wasn't worse..." Sakura examined the wounds and slowly nodded in agreement.

After treating the minor wounds, Tsunade started to focus on treating the main problem areas; her chest and her leg. Tsunade tried to assess the damage to her chest and said, "What exactly happened there?"

Sakura looked down towards the wound and said, "It was a kunai...meant to kill..."

Tsunade inspected it by moving a bit closer and said, "Looks like it was pretty bad..."

She looked away and softly said, "Not all bad..." as she let out a small smile.

Tsunade watched her then gave a small smile as she examined the wound a little closer. After examining it for a while, she asked, "How did you heal this?... It doesn't look that much like medical ninjutsu..."

Sakura replied, "It was Naruto. He said that he just tried to use his Six Paths power to fix whatever felt wrong..."

Tsunade gave a small eye squint as she continued to examine the wound. After a while, she stood up straight and said, "Whatever he did worked...really well..." She raised an eyebrow and said, "Maybe I'll take him out of the ANBU and make him a medic-nin..."

Sakura smiled and said, "Good luck with that..."

Tsunade let out a small chuckle as she took one final look at the wound. She put her hand on her chin and said, "It looks like it's mostly healed already so let's just bandage it properly and let your body do the rest of the work."

Sakura nodded and said, "Ok."

After bandaging up her chest, Tsunade turned to the wound on her leg. It was in slightly worse shape, but it had already started healing pretty well. She looked at it for a while longer then said, "I'll just treat that and get you on some antibiotics."

Sakura nodded then asked, "How long do you think I'm gonna be in here?..."

Tsunade thought to herself for a second, then said, "You should be out by tomorrow morning..." as she walked out of the room.

Sakura thought about it, then silently said, "Sounds about right..."

...

Sakura hadn't been sitting for a minute when Naruto burst back into the room with a wide smile and said, "I'm back!"

Sakura was shocked to say the least. Naruto was fast but she didn't expect him to be back within a few minutes. She looked at him wide eyed and said, "You already dropped him off?..."

Naruto wore a cheeky grin and rubbed under his nose as he said, "Nah... Sasuke agreed to do me a solid and take him for me."

As Sakura registered what he said, she let out an understanding, "Ohhh." It made a lot more sense why he was back so quick now. As she finally wrapped her head around things, she looked up to see that Naruto was already making himself comfortable by sitting down in the chair next to her bed.

As he sat down next to her, she watched him with a sense of longing. The two had been distant for so long that just having him close by as a friend felt exhilarating.

Naruto was fidgeting with the chair when he noticed Sakura staring at him. He turned to her and asked, "What's wrong?"

After a short pause, Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand then said, "I'm glad you're here...as a friend."

Naruto thought about it for a second, then let out one of his wide grins and said, "Me too Sakura-chan..."

As the day passed on, the two sat there and talked about random things. They had a lot of catching up to do so there was never a dull moment. It only added to the jovial atmosphere when some of Sakura's friends came to visit. They all had responsibilities around the village, but they all dropped in whenever they were available. Since Naruto had just come from a mission and Hikan had been captured, he was free for the rest of the day. Sasuke and Kakashi were free as well, but they just decided to give the two some space. After being distant for so long, the two needed some time alone. Except for a few visitors here and there, the two basically spent the whole day together talking and making up for lost time. Naruto also made sure to make himself useful by doing small things like getting her food if she was hungry.

As day transitioned into night, Sakura thought she'd be out of energy, but somehow Naruto had kept her energized throughout the day. He had a natural energy that just rubbed off on her. It helped keep her spirits up even though she was injured and had been through such a tiring day. At one point, she had even almost forgotten she was in the hospital. The two had shared everything from newfound interests to personal stories from the past few years.

Naruto had just stepped out to get Sakura a glass of water. She let out a small sigh then turned to the clock by her head. 9:53 PM. It was getting late. She was considering letting Naruto go home, especially since he had been there with her all day. He probably needed to shower and clean up. She really wanted him to stay, especially since he was such great company, but she didn't want him to feel pressured to. He'd done more than enough. As he stepped back into the room, she turned to him and softly said, "You don't have to stay..."

Naruto set the glass of water down then gave a small smile and said, "I know I don't, but I want to."

She paused for a second, then gave a small smile and said, "You probably need to shower and clean up... I'll still be here tomorrow." She nudged him on the shoulder and said, "You can be here when I check out."

Naruto said, "I'll be fine..." as he sniffed under his armpit. After realizing he smelled musky, he gave a small eye squint and said, "On second thought..."

Sakura chuckled to herself and said, "Told you so..."

Naruto wore a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head. Sakura tilted her head and said, "Go home, Naruto... Wash up and get some rest."

Naruto thought about it for a second, then it looked like a light bulb went off in his head. He quickly turned to her and said, "I have a better idea... Be right back."

Sakura watched him curiously as he quickly exited the room looking for something.

...

After around half an hour had passed, she saw him enter the doorway once again. Her mouth dropped a little as she noticed he was now dressed in hospital garb similar to hers.

He let out a wide grin and said, "I talked to Shizune. She gave me some hospital clothes to sleep in."

After realizing what he had went to go do, she closed her mouth and muttered, "Baka..."

After a short pause, she almost accusingly asked, "Did you shower too?" He walked into the room and said, "Of course!"

As he walked over to the chair, she just watched him with a glint of admiration. His willingness to go above and beyond wasn't for show, it was just who he was. If it was for a friend, he'd do anything to make sure he was there for them. As he sat down, she let out a small smile then ruffled his hair and softly said, "Baka..."

He let out a small smile as he relaxed back into the chair. She examined him then wore a small smile and said, "Are you really gonna sleep here?..."

Naruto closed his eyes and softly said, "Believe it."

She wore a small smile after hearing his usual catchphrase then said, "You're gonna wake up with your neck hurting if you sleep like that..."

Naruto opened his eyes again, then shrugged and said, "I'll be fine..."

After thinking about it for a few seconds, she laid back then turned to the side to hide a small blush as she said, "If you're gonna stay at least be comfortable..." and scooted over on the bed to make room for him.

He let out a wide grin then said, "I thought you'd never ask!" as he quickly jumped onto the bed. She let out a small snort as she realized that he had been waiting to join her. She hit him upside the head with one of her two pillows as she handed it to him then shook her head then said, "Good night, Naruto."

Naruto replied in his usual enthusiastic voice, "Night, Sakura-chan."

The next day, Sakura woke up with groggy eyes as she started looking around to try to make sense of her surroundings. She looked to her left and saw that the spot where Naruto was lying down was empty. She sat up a little more upright and thought to herself, 'Where is he?'

After a few seconds, she finally sat up straight and let out a small yawn. As she sat there wondering where he was, she saw his head peek into the room. He examined her for a second, then said, "Morning, Sakura-chan." She wore a small smile and said, "Morning..." After she replied, he turned and looked behind him then said, "She's awake now." Sakura wore a semi-confused expression as Naruto walked into the room followed by Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sasuke.

After they had all exchanged greetings, she looked at them and said, "What's going on?"

Tsunade let out a small sigh and said, "You know how you're getting out today, right?..."

Sakura slowly nodded and said, "Yeah..."

Kakashi looked at her and said, "Someone else is too..."

Sakura thought about it for a second, but couldn't really get a bead on who they were talking about. She looked at them and said, "Who?..."

Naruto dropped his head then said, "The man we all know and hate..."

Sakura realized they were talking about Hikan then asked, "He was in the hospital?..."

Tsunade replied, "When Sasuke brought him to Konoha P.D. he was in very bad shape. We had to bring him here. He lost a lot of blood from that arm that's gone, he's got a lot of broken bones, and his chakra levels were dangerously low."

Sakura thought about it for a second then said, "Oh..."

Tsunade interrupted her thought process and said, "In any case, we're here because Amegakure has agreed to join the Shinobi Union if they're granted full custody of Hikan to deal with him on their terms..."

Sakura's eyes widened as she said, "What?!"

Tsunade gave a small shrug and said, "The Union has agreed to give him into their custody if he has both eyes removed; however, Amegakure claims that the eyes are their rights, so even though his eyes will be removed, they're keeping them."

Sakura turned to Tsunade and said, "So he's gonna be blind now..."

Tsunade snorted and said, "And locked up. After openly admitting to being a mass murderer, he's lucky that's all that's happening to him."

As Sakura sat there in shock, Tsunade said, "We're turning him over to Amegakure around half an hour from now at the Hokage Monument. Right now, they're being led by Tashisu, so we'll be turning Hikan over to him."

Naruto scoffed and said, "I know that guy's crooked..."

Kakashi turned to him and said, "Well if Hikan escapes and it's suspected that anyone from the Rain's leadership was involved, they'll be removed from the Union immediately."

Naruto grumbled a little and said, "I guess..."

Kakashi turned to Sakura and said, "We're talking to you because we should be present as members of the team that took him down."

Sakura said, "Oh..." Now it made sense why they were having this impromptu meeting. She looked at Tsunade and said, "So I'm getting out sooner than I thought?..."

Tsunade said, "Yes." She looked at her watch and said, "As a matter of fact, you should probably start getting ready to leave now..."

After a short pause, Sakura sighed then said, "Ok."

Everyone else stepped out of the room as she got up from the bed and got ready to change into her regular clothes. As she started walking towards the bathroom, she noticed that she wasn't limping as much as she was yesterday. It was still noticeable though.

Tsunade walked out of the hospital first, followed by Kakashi and Sasuke, then Naruto and Sakura. Sakura had one arm around Naruto's back as she leaned on him for support. Her leg had healed to the point that she didn't really need the support, but Naruto had offered to help her and she wasn't going to turn him down.

As they stepped out, they saw that Hikan was standing a few feet away accompanied by Sai. Sai was holding him by his right arm which had been sealed. Naruto examined him and saw just how extensive his injuries were. He looked at him for a bit longer then softly said, "Jeez..."

Tsunade looked at him and said, "Yeah. He was really messed up."

Naruto looked at him for a bit longer then said, "Not surprised... He put up a real fight..."

The group walked over to him and Sai, then Tsunade said, "Let's get moving..."

Hikan had multiple seals wrapping his right arm and securing it behind his back. His left arm was gone from the elbow down, so they had performed some healing on it. They placed a simple seal on it and used another seal to secure it to his left side. There was also a seal over his eyes that prevented him from seeing or using any of his eye's abilities. However, he could still sense who was around due to his sensory abilities.

After the group had walked a considerable distance, he turned to Naruto and said in a hoarse voice, "Now that I'm gonna be locked up, are you satisfied?..."

Naruto snorted and said, "Seeing you fail miserably was satisfying enough..."

Hikan continued to face forward and said, "I'll be back. Trust me..."

Naruto replied, "We'll see..."

As they continued to walk, Hikan noticed that he could sense a chakra similar to Sakura's. The person in question was very close to Naruto and was probably leaning on him for support. It made sense with that wound she had on her leg.

After a short pause, he turned towards Sakura and said, "Looks like I didn't win after all..."

She gave him a disgusted look and said, "No, you didn't."

He wore a small smirk then raised an eyebrow and said, "In any case, how are your chest and leg doing?..."

Sakura couldn't believe he had the audacity to ask that. She scoffed and said, "Fine. How's your jaw doing?..."

Naruto turned to him and said, "And your ribs..."

Kakashi kept facing forward and added, "And your left arm..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow then looked at his left arm and sarcastically said, "Oh wait...it's not there..."

Hikan let out a hoarse chuckle and said, "Touché..."

...

After walking for a bit longer, he sensed where Sasuke was then turned towards him and said to Naruto, "You're getting smarter... I assume you made him stay here to protect the village in case I tried anything."

Naruto kept looking forward and said, "Damn right." to which Hikan let out another small chuckle.

...

As the group climbed the monument steps, Hikan let out a small sigh then contemplatively said, "You know, if you look at history, the great shinobi of this world have always been defined...by their enemies..." He turned towards the village, then said, "From Indra and Asura...to Hashirama and Madara..."

After a short pause, he turned to Naruto and said, "I underestimated you Naruto... And I underestimated the effect you've had on this shinobi world... It's a mistake I won't make again."

Naruto let out a small sigh then looked at him with a glint of pity and said, "You've got so much power... Why don't you just use it to do other things? Better things..."

Hikan remained serious and replied, "Because I live in the real world..."

Naruto turned to him and wondered just what could've happened to turn him into the person he was today.

After a short pause, Naruto turned to him and said, "Look, I don't know what happened to you man, but whatever it was, you've gotta let it go... I know that it's easier to just hold onto those negative feelings...but if you do that, you just lose yourself. That darkness you're always talking about, everyone's got some...but we can embrace that darkness and give in to our anger and rage or we can reject it and give into better things like love."

After a short pause, he looked away and said, "I'll admit, it's easier to hate..." then pulled Sakura a little closer and said, "...but it's stronger to love."

Hikan let out an audible sigh then said, "If there's one thing I won't miss in lockup, it's your douchey monologues..."

...

A few moments later, they finally reached the top of the monument. Tashisu arrived with a small team a few minutes later. As Tashisu took Hikan into custody, Hikan turned to Naruto and pensively said, "You know, every villain...is only as great as his hero... And now that I think about it, we've been pushing each other to improve this whole time. You and I, we will both be great shinobi...because of each other... We have a destiny together Naruto...just on opposite sides..."

Naruto wore a serious expression then said, "And I'll always be there to stop you. Always..."

Hikan smirked and said, "Ohhhhh, I'm counting on it..."

After he said that, Tashisu stepped towards Tsunade and exchanged words. After a few moments, Tsunade nodded, then Hikan was fully transferred into the Rain's custody.

As Naruto watched the team descend the monument and disappear in the direction of the Rain, he let out a small sigh and said, "It's over...it's finally over..."

As the team disappeared out of sight, everyone watched with a sense of contentment. Everything was finally back to how it should be. Things weren't perfect in the world by any means, but with Hikan out of the picture, it felt like there could be some sense of normalcy once again. No one needed to be on edge anymore.

After a moment of silence between everyone, Naruto turned around with a wide grin and said, "Who wants ramen?!"

Everyone started giggling as he once again tried to pull everyone into his ramen obsession. Naruto looked around and said, "What?..." Tsunade rolled her eyes and said, "Nothing..." She looked around at Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Sai, then said, "They can probably go, but I'm busy, unfortunately."

Naruto looked at her and said, "Come on Baa-chan. Can't whatever it is wait?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said, "How about this? You come help me deal with the paperwork related to Hikan and Amegakure joining the Union. Then we'll all go..."

Naruto let out a sheepish smile and said, "Come on Baa-chan, you know I'm not good at that stuff..." Tsunade smirked and said, "That's what I thought."

Naruto let out a cheesy grin and said, "Fine..." After a short pause, he turned to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sai then squinted and said, "You all don't have an excuse not to come..." Sasuke shrugged in agreement, then Sai gave a small nod. Kakashi pulled out Ichi Ichi Paradise and said, "I don't see why not."

Naruto turned to Sakura and inquisitively said, "You want ramen right?"

Sakura shook her head a little as she looked at his wide questioning eyes then smiled and said, "Sure. Ramen sounds nice..."

He looked away and said, "Alright!"

As the group started heading down the monument, there was a sense of togetherness. A sense of friendship. And most importantly, a sense that what was wrong had been set right.

END

The Moral of the Story.

The theme of this story can be summed up as forgiveness and letting things go. In this story, every one of the main characters has to learn to let go of the past and look forward so that they can become the best version of themselves.

Sasuke has to let go of what could've been and forgive himself so that he can see what still can be. Near the beginning of the story, he is shown as someone who is struggling with what he wants (To return to Konoha) and what he thinks he needs (Redemption). What he actually needs is to learn to move on from the past and accept the things he can't change. He is finally able to do this midway through the story after meeting the Sage of Six Paths. After this, his character arc is completed and he returns to Konoha determined to make the most of the life he has left. (He becomes the best version of himself).

Sakura has to learn to forgive herself and let go of what she can't change. She has to realize that making a certain decision may result in certain consequences and that those consequences may not be in her power to control. She has to learn from the past and realize that she can't change it. Realizing this and forgiving herself is the only way for her to move forward properly. Her arc is similar to Sasuke's but different in that her offense was against one person. Her character arc is completed at the end of the story when she properly apologizes to Naruto. Before then, she deeply sought Naruto's forgiveness. But by no longer requiring Naruto's forgiveness, she shows that she has forgiven herself and would be able to move on without his forgiveness. This does not mean that her regret goes away. She has simply realized that feeling sorry for herself isn't the answer and has learned to live with the consequences of her actions. When she apologizes to Naruto, she is ready to continue life with things being how they were between them because she's accepted the consequences of her actions. (She becomes the best version of herself). She is, however, overjoyed when Naruto forgives her since she is fully aware that she doesn't deserve it.

Naruto's arc is different in that he has to forgive someone, not himself. While Naruto initially has scuffles with Sasuke, he is able to quickly get past them and act in a brotherly way towards him. Why? Because his real issue isn't with Sasuke. His real issue is with Sakura. In the story, he starts out very angry at Sakura. However, some of his actions show that, at the same time, he wants to forgive her. Due to the pressure of people around him and his own feelings, he very actively tries to forgive Sakura. However, these attempts continue to fail due to the severity of the betrayal. The various things Sakura does for him throughout the story are also not enough to make him forgive her. It is only when she apologizes and he sees her deep regret, that he is able to get past the hurdle and do what he wanted to do for the whole story (Forgive her). He doesn't forgive her because of the things she did for him throughout the story, but rather because he sees her deep regret and the pain she suffered through the whole ordeal. He also forgives her because, after having to make some tough choices of his own (Courtesy of Hikan), he realizes that pressure demands for you to make a choice without having much time to think. In other words, he begins to understand what she went through which helps him see how she must feel. All of the factors I stated above are enhanced by the fact that Sakura nearly dies around the end of the story. It is in this moment that Naruto realizes how valuable she is to him, which also helps him to forgive her. After forgiving her, the joy of having mended things between them and being able to let go of the past helps him become the Naruto we all know and love (i.e. The best version of himself). Both him and Sakura now place a higher level of value on each other and on their friendship. Sakura does this because she lost Naruto's friendship for a few years, and Naruto does this because he realizes how valuable Sakura is to him after almost losing her. Sasuke alludes to this when he quotes Orochimaru. "It's human nature not to realize the true value of something unless they lose it."

Hikan is an absolute in this story. Throughout the story, he does not change at all. He is the only prominent character with no character arc. By the end of the story, there is no change in his character and he retains his fixed ideology. This is most apparent in the finale. He creates a scenario with the Sound and the Hot Water to prove something about the human condition. This plan backfires when the Sound and the Hot Water choose not to destroy each other. However, instead of considering the possibility that he may be wrong about people, he grows irate and says that they'll turn on each other after he breaks their spirits completely. This shows his complete and utter commitment to his ideology. His deep drive to prove that everyone is like him shows that something pushed him to this point, which is why he spends his life trying to push others to this point. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. Although it is never revealed what his past was, it is heavily implied, and even stated in his character bio, that his past was the catalyst for him becoming who he is today. For him to become the best version of himself, he would have to deal with his past and find out how to move on from it. Naruto alludes to this during their last conversation. Hikan ignores him and simply makes a snide remark showing that he is set in his ways and unwilling to change (He remains the worst version of himself). He is the only character whose story ends as a tragedy.

The finale of this story shows what happens to those who choose to forgive when something bad happens to them (Naruto) vs. those who choose not to (Hikan). Naruto becomes the best version of himself and restores previous relationships while Hikan remains full of anger and hate with a negative outlook of the world.

To my readers:

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. To everyone who's been reading, thank you SOOOOOOO much for the support and the reviews! I told you guys this story would be completed, and it now is. This story was always intended to focus on Sakura and Naruto being put back on good terms as friends; however, I've also written a story in this universe that explores the romantic relationships between characters (Naruto: Love in the Time of Ninja). If you're interested in seeing how things play out between the different characters, be sure to check out that sequel story. If you're not interested, then thanks for sticking with me this far. I don't think this universe I've created is perfect, but I have grown fond of it since it is the universe that contains my very first fanfic.

The chapter after this one isn't a part of the story but rather a chapter that deals with how I came up with Hikan as a character and why he's a good antagonist for Naruto. A guest reviewer named Goose made a relation between Hikan and the Joker (A very good observation). I assume they were talking about the Joker from The Dark Knight. I will address which villains inspired me and how I crafted Hikan as a villain. If you found Hikan compelling, entertaining, irritating, fascinating, or you just hated his guts, I'll dive into why and how he has that effect.

Disclaimer:

Just want to give credit to some of my main sources now that I'm at the end of the story. Main sources of inspiration include, but are not limited to: The Dark Knight Trilogy, Sam Raimi's Spider-man Trilogy, and the popular TV show Smallville. Throughout the story, I used various quotes from these sources just for fun and as easter eggs because of how much I respect and admire these series. The discussion of morality between Naruto and Hikan in Ch. 35 is heavily based on the interrogation scene between Batman and Joker in The Dark Knight, and the last scene between Naruto and Hikan in this chapter is heavily based on the final encounter between Clark and Lex in the series finale of Smallville. My story only contains a shadow of the greatness found in the scenes I stated above. People who are familiar with the works stated above will notice the easter eggs more and more now that I've stated where they're from. The easter eggs I littered throughout the story are probably also the reason why my guest reviewer, Goose, was able to figure out that Hikan shares some similarities with the Joker before I mentioned any of my sources (Props to you!). In any case, writing this story has been an amazing experience, and I'm glad I got to share it with so many people! Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you guys later!