"Blind"
by EfrainMan
Naruto is © Kishimoto Masashi/Shueisha/Viz Shonen Jump. Y_Y Warning, some spoilers ahead, as this takes place during the events of Chapter 177 (before Orochimaru's men attack Sasuke). You have been warned.
A/N: You might wanna read the last section of the previous chapter as I added some stuff for continuity purposes. . . go! Now! Before the plot hole monster comes to eat your left brain lobe up!!
Now, the conclusion:
Part 5
* * *
Everyone was frozen in place. And for several moments no one moved, but only because no one could. Naruto and Sakura's hearts all but stopped at her words. Ino's began to race. Sasuke's fists began to clench, his face contorting into the foulest countenance he has ever manifested. Clutching tighter to Naruto, Hinata gasped when she saw on Sasuke a look that turned her blood to ice. Sakura's breath sped up, and Ino could only stare at Sasuke, dumbfounded. Naruto's shocked expression sobered when he saw what was happening to Sasuke.
His curse seal was spreading, already covering half of his face.
"Give her to me," Sasuke growled. "She's MINE." The others flinched when his chakra emitted a shockwave at the last word. Other than that, Sakura was frozen in terror. So was Hinata. Naruto simply glared at him, deciding whether or not he should-
"Bastard!" Ino shouted as she drew a kunai and threw it at Sasuke. He caught the projectile effortlessly and shot it right back at her. Ino barely had time to react and moved just barely enough so the blade only nicked a shallow cut on her neck. She gasped and fell as she was thrown off balance by her dodge and the slight but unexpected pain.
"Ino!" Sakura shouted and knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice fraught with concern and fear. Ino's hand was over the wound, a small trickle of blood coming from behind it.
"That was a kill shot. . ." Ino muttered. Sakura blanched.
"Naruto, step aside," Sasuke ordered and made a seal.
"Like hell I will!" he shouted and made a seal. He knew where this was going now.
"Fine. Sharingan!" Naruto had his cue.
'Alright, you dumb fox, I need you now!' Naruto groaned as kyuubi's chakra was released to him. Nine tail-shaped wisps of chakra surrounded him. Hinata stepped away from him.
'He uses bushin, henge, kawarimi, and kage bushin to trick opponents. . . I can see through his illusions. . . but he knows that. . . I'm faster than him. . . probably knows that, too. . . illusions! I can do them, too. He can't see through them, and my clones are solid, too. I'll have to trick the master trickster with illusions and overtake him with speed.'
'He can see through illusions. . . he's faster than me, but I'm a little bit faster, now. . . I can't rely on it, though. . . my clones are still solid, and I can create a lot. . . I'll wear him down with clones and create an opening for my Rasengan.'
They charged.
"Kage no Bushin!" they shouted simultaneously and the number of fighters was quadrupled. Naruto was almost caught off-guard by this, but kept on. The clones fell onto each other in a heap of punches and kicks, the real fighters caught in the middle. This lasted for nearly a minute. Then, a Naruto was punched in the face and vanished. Another was kicked and vanished. The last fell down and vanished. Sasuke landed a hard punch on Naruto and he reeled. But before he could even smirk, Naruto had twirled his body in the direction the punch threw him. He barely caught him grabbing shuriken from his pouch and only just dodged the one throw at him. His clones weren't as fast at noticing the shuriken and vanished as soon as they hit. Naruto immediately recovered and made several seals. Sasuke had landed, and recognized the seals as soon as they were made.
"Kage no Bushin no Jutsu!" Almost a dozen clones materialized around him and charged.
'He's gotten a bit faster. Humph. I'll show him real speed.' He ran to them and effortlessly eliminated two clones and made to kick a third, but was shocked as his kick passed right trough it. Falling out of tempo, he couldn't block the fourth clone's punch to his face. He was thrown back several feet, painfully reminded of the fact that Naruto was physically stronger than him. He cursed as he tried to get back up as quickly as he could.
"They all look the same to you, don't they?!" Naruto shouted, "you and your stupid Sharingan!" He continued his attack on Sasuke. He realized that Naruto had mixed in regular clones with his shadow clones. And they DID look the same to him. He charged anyways, making seals. As they were approaching each other, Sasuke jumped straight up and Naruto's clones followed him. Sasuke brought up a hand to his mouth.
"Grand Fireball no Jutsu!" Sasuke then blew a wave of fire at the shocked clones and they were gone. Sasuke just barely noted the movement and quickly brought his hands up to block Naruto's pinwheel kick from above. He had used one of the clones as a springboard at the last moment to get above Sasuke. He looked up right after catching Naruto's leg only to see the other leg about to be brought down on his head. He let go of the first foot with one hand and just dodged the second kick. Still holding onto a leg with his other hand, he used the augmented strength from the curse seal to throw Naruto to the ground. But as he was thrown, Naruto grabbed his last kunai and shot it at Sasuke. He growled when the kunai became lodged in his left shoulder. A split second later both boys landed on their backs, Naruto from being thrown down, Sasuke from loss of concentration and balance due to the pain the blade caused. They stayed there for several seconds, breathing hard, eyes staring up at nothing. Slowly, they sat up, both wincing from their exertion, and stared at each other. Sasuke grabbed the kunai and pulled it out of his shoulder, barely flinching as he did so. He threw it right past Naruto's head, cutting a couple of hairs. He reflexively turned his head and followed the kunai's path.
Sakura yelped as she dodged the projectile headed for her. It became lodged on the wall right next to her, millimeters away from her face. She turned her head to the boys with wide eyes, the color drained from her face. Hinata and Ino were behind her. Naruto realized they were trying to get away from the fight. They were trying to get Hinata away from Sasuke.
"You're not going anywhere," Sasuke growled. Naruto turned to face him and saw the curse seal had spread even further across his face. He almost gasped when he saw how much odium was clearly visible on his face. Sasuke stood up. Naruto's own rage began to boil he realized Sasuke twice tried to kill fellow Shinobi, one being Sakura. And what he tried to do to Hinata! Hinata, who had - rational thought left the two boys as Naruto's eyes turned red, his face elongating, his nails turning into claws. He growled ferociously at Sasuke.
"Damned fox. . ." Sasuke growled, feeling another presence within him.
"Wretched snake. . ." Naruto grumbled back at him. Sasuke's curse seal glowed briefly. They stood, Sasuke making several seals, Naruto concentrating chakra upon his hand.
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
They charged, poised to strike each other with their attacks.
"Hinata-chan!"
* * *
"Here you are."
"Thanks, Hinata-chan." Naruto gulped the water down fast. Hinata, however, drank with moderation, her eyes fixed on Naruto. Studying him. Nothing made sense about the boy in front of him, and she so wanted to know everything there was to know about him. When he finished, he let out a very satisfied sigh and set the glass down. Hinata's eyes instantly went to her water glass.
"That tastes better than my tap," Naruto said. Hinata nodded with a smile. "Damn, this Taijutsu stuff's hard. . . but not the same kinda hard as a Ninjutsu or a Genjutsu." Hinata nodded again and set her glass down.
"Why do you want to beat Sasuke-san so badly?" she asked. She had to suppress a giggle as Naruto's face contorted pensively.
"He's my rival," he said, "but. . . he's also thick-headed, y'know. Like, he doesn't notice what's right in front of him. . . I figure, one of these days, I'm gonna have to smack some sense into him. . . but first I gotta be able to, y'know, smack him at all." Hinata giggled. "We all have people precious to us that we have to protect. I know I do. So does Sakura. . . but I'm not too sure about Sasuke. . . if he does something stupid, I gotta be the one to get past his thick skull. He could make some people really sad if anything happened to him. If he wasn't there. . ." he almost whispered the last part.
'His best rival and his best friend,' Hinata thought. Naruto looked at Hinata.
"Y'know, you're someone important to me now."
"M-me?" she said as she blushed brightly.
"Yeah. . . your support in the Chuunin exam, when you helped me cheat, the stuff you gave me for my wounds, I realized you were a very caring person. And when Neji started all bad mouthing you, but you still stood up to him, I realized, you're a lot like me. We're both losers destined for greatness! Uh, no offense or anythin'."
"It's alright. Go on." She listened attentively now.
"Well, I know you can fight and all, but. . . we're all still Genin. There are plenty of really tough people out there." An image of Uchiha Itachi flashed in his mind briefly. "So, if you ever need my help, I'll be there for ya!" He gave a thumbs up. She smiled at the gesture, her cheeks quite crimson.
"A-arigato, Naruto-kun. That. . . means a lot to me." She looked up to him.
"Alright," he said in a moderate voice, and they looked at each other for an immeasurable amount of time.
"Kawaii. . ." Naruto whispered. Hinata's face instantly became crimson and Naruto's face also flushed when he realized what he said. They both looked away in embarrassment. Naruto coughed and began to stand up.
"Well, I gotta go. . ." he as he went to grab his jacket.
"Wait. . ." Hinata said softly. Naruto stopped. Hinata slowly walked up to him until she was facing him. "For what it's worth. . . I'll be there for you, too, Naruto-kun. I'll protect you, if you need it." She reached up and briefly touched her lips to his before she ran back inside. Naruto looked back at where she was standing in simple awe.
"Hinata-chan. . ."
* * *
Both boys were completely appalled. Their attacks had hit. A split second later, Sasuke went flying back several feet, then rolling several more before coming to a stop. Confused, his mind went through the gamut of negative emotions before blackness overtook him. Moments later, unable to cope with the massive internal lesions his body received, his heart stopped and Uchiha Sasuke took his last breath.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran past Naruto and Ino could only fall back in shock, the color drained from her face.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto had fallen back from the weight of Hinata's body. He froze when he saw the thick flow of blood coming out of her mouth. He shook her and his mind started to reel at the lack of resistance from her limbs.
"Naruto-kun. . ." she said very weakly.
"Hinata-chan! What did you do?!"
"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" her voice was barely a whisper.
"Am I. . . what were you thinking?! Why did you block the Chidori. . ." Tears were beginning to swell up in his eyes.
"Because. . . we promised to protect each other. . ." She smiled.
"But. . ." Tears were flowing freely now.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was shaking him, her eyes showing utter terror. "Sasuke-kun, wake up! Please. . ." she stopped shaking him when she looked into his eyes and saw nothing. At the realization, she broke down and began to cry, clutching tightly to Sasuke.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. . ."
"Sorry?! What the hell are you apologizing for?!"
"I'm making you cry. . ." Naruto clutched to Hinata tighter.
"You can't die. Please. You can't leave. . . you can't leave me. . . I just found you." Hinata coughed and Naruto looked at her. Their eyes met and he saw just how much he meant to her. Slowly, he leaned down and placed his lips on hers. He stayed there for several seconds, until he could no longer feel her lips pushing back. He leaned back up and became numb when he realized she was no longer breathing.
"Hinata-chan. . ."
Ino had walked up to Sakura and embraced her hard. She didn't know what else to do or say, so she just stayed there with her.
* * *
ANBU and some Jounin arrived at the aftermath shortly thereafter. The three survivors were questioned, but were incapable of answering. They were incarcerated until their teachers and Tsunade-sama herself interrogated them. The three told them everything as well as they knew or had seen. There was no reason for them to lie. As they had done nothing wrong, Ino and Sakura were released. Naruto, however, was suspended from the Shinobi for two years. When he returned, he was banned from the Chuunin selection exam for a further three years. He became a Chuunin at 18 and a Jounin at 21.
Sakura upon release was reassigned to the team Hinata was on. Although difficult to replace not only a fallen comrade, but also someone who was already well-coordinated with the other team members, she soon overcame this and became invaluable to Shino and Kiba. She and Ino became Chuunins at 16. Sakura became a Jounin at 21.
With no clan or family, Sasuke was cremated without ceremony by the ANBU. Hinata was given a somber but concise ceremony by her family before her funeral pyre. Her name was added to the Shrine of Fallen Shinobi. Sasuke's was not. Eventually, Uchiha Itachi was hunted down and the Uchiha clan was gone and forgotten, save by a very few. But Hatake Kakashi was not the last to have a Sharingan Eye.
*
by EfrainMan
Naruto is © Kishimoto Masashi/Shueisha/Viz Shonen Jump. Y_Y Warning, some spoilers ahead, as this takes place during the events of Chapter 177 (before Orochimaru's men attack Sasuke). You have been warned.
A/N: You might wanna read the last section of the previous chapter as I added some stuff for continuity purposes. . . go! Now! Before the plot hole monster comes to eat your left brain lobe up!!
Now, the conclusion:
Part 5
* * *
Everyone was frozen in place. And for several moments no one moved, but only because no one could. Naruto and Sakura's hearts all but stopped at her words. Ino's began to race. Sasuke's fists began to clench, his face contorting into the foulest countenance he has ever manifested. Clutching tighter to Naruto, Hinata gasped when she saw on Sasuke a look that turned her blood to ice. Sakura's breath sped up, and Ino could only stare at Sasuke, dumbfounded. Naruto's shocked expression sobered when he saw what was happening to Sasuke.
His curse seal was spreading, already covering half of his face.
"Give her to me," Sasuke growled. "She's MINE." The others flinched when his chakra emitted a shockwave at the last word. Other than that, Sakura was frozen in terror. So was Hinata. Naruto simply glared at him, deciding whether or not he should-
"Bastard!" Ino shouted as she drew a kunai and threw it at Sasuke. He caught the projectile effortlessly and shot it right back at her. Ino barely had time to react and moved just barely enough so the blade only nicked a shallow cut on her neck. She gasped and fell as she was thrown off balance by her dodge and the slight but unexpected pain.
"Ino!" Sakura shouted and knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice fraught with concern and fear. Ino's hand was over the wound, a small trickle of blood coming from behind it.
"That was a kill shot. . ." Ino muttered. Sakura blanched.
"Naruto, step aside," Sasuke ordered and made a seal.
"Like hell I will!" he shouted and made a seal. He knew where this was going now.
"Fine. Sharingan!" Naruto had his cue.
'Alright, you dumb fox, I need you now!' Naruto groaned as kyuubi's chakra was released to him. Nine tail-shaped wisps of chakra surrounded him. Hinata stepped away from him.
'He uses bushin, henge, kawarimi, and kage bushin to trick opponents. . . I can see through his illusions. . . but he knows that. . . I'm faster than him. . . probably knows that, too. . . illusions! I can do them, too. He can't see through them, and my clones are solid, too. I'll have to trick the master trickster with illusions and overtake him with speed.'
'He can see through illusions. . . he's faster than me, but I'm a little bit faster, now. . . I can't rely on it, though. . . my clones are still solid, and I can create a lot. . . I'll wear him down with clones and create an opening for my Rasengan.'
They charged.
"Kage no Bushin!" they shouted simultaneously and the number of fighters was quadrupled. Naruto was almost caught off-guard by this, but kept on. The clones fell onto each other in a heap of punches and kicks, the real fighters caught in the middle. This lasted for nearly a minute. Then, a Naruto was punched in the face and vanished. Another was kicked and vanished. The last fell down and vanished. Sasuke landed a hard punch on Naruto and he reeled. But before he could even smirk, Naruto had twirled his body in the direction the punch threw him. He barely caught him grabbing shuriken from his pouch and only just dodged the one throw at him. His clones weren't as fast at noticing the shuriken and vanished as soon as they hit. Naruto immediately recovered and made several seals. Sasuke had landed, and recognized the seals as soon as they were made.
"Kage no Bushin no Jutsu!" Almost a dozen clones materialized around him and charged.
'He's gotten a bit faster. Humph. I'll show him real speed.' He ran to them and effortlessly eliminated two clones and made to kick a third, but was shocked as his kick passed right trough it. Falling out of tempo, he couldn't block the fourth clone's punch to his face. He was thrown back several feet, painfully reminded of the fact that Naruto was physically stronger than him. He cursed as he tried to get back up as quickly as he could.
"They all look the same to you, don't they?!" Naruto shouted, "you and your stupid Sharingan!" He continued his attack on Sasuke. He realized that Naruto had mixed in regular clones with his shadow clones. And they DID look the same to him. He charged anyways, making seals. As they were approaching each other, Sasuke jumped straight up and Naruto's clones followed him. Sasuke brought up a hand to his mouth.
"Grand Fireball no Jutsu!" Sasuke then blew a wave of fire at the shocked clones and they were gone. Sasuke just barely noted the movement and quickly brought his hands up to block Naruto's pinwheel kick from above. He had used one of the clones as a springboard at the last moment to get above Sasuke. He looked up right after catching Naruto's leg only to see the other leg about to be brought down on his head. He let go of the first foot with one hand and just dodged the second kick. Still holding onto a leg with his other hand, he used the augmented strength from the curse seal to throw Naruto to the ground. But as he was thrown, Naruto grabbed his last kunai and shot it at Sasuke. He growled when the kunai became lodged in his left shoulder. A split second later both boys landed on their backs, Naruto from being thrown down, Sasuke from loss of concentration and balance due to the pain the blade caused. They stayed there for several seconds, breathing hard, eyes staring up at nothing. Slowly, they sat up, both wincing from their exertion, and stared at each other. Sasuke grabbed the kunai and pulled it out of his shoulder, barely flinching as he did so. He threw it right past Naruto's head, cutting a couple of hairs. He reflexively turned his head and followed the kunai's path.
Sakura yelped as she dodged the projectile headed for her. It became lodged on the wall right next to her, millimeters away from her face. She turned her head to the boys with wide eyes, the color drained from her face. Hinata and Ino were behind her. Naruto realized they were trying to get away from the fight. They were trying to get Hinata away from Sasuke.
"You're not going anywhere," Sasuke growled. Naruto turned to face him and saw the curse seal had spread even further across his face. He almost gasped when he saw how much odium was clearly visible on his face. Sasuke stood up. Naruto's own rage began to boil he realized Sasuke twice tried to kill fellow Shinobi, one being Sakura. And what he tried to do to Hinata! Hinata, who had - rational thought left the two boys as Naruto's eyes turned red, his face elongating, his nails turning into claws. He growled ferociously at Sasuke.
"Damned fox. . ." Sasuke growled, feeling another presence within him.
"Wretched snake. . ." Naruto grumbled back at him. Sasuke's curse seal glowed briefly. They stood, Sasuke making several seals, Naruto concentrating chakra upon his hand.
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
They charged, poised to strike each other with their attacks.
"Hinata-chan!"
* * *
"Here you are."
"Thanks, Hinata-chan." Naruto gulped the water down fast. Hinata, however, drank with moderation, her eyes fixed on Naruto. Studying him. Nothing made sense about the boy in front of him, and she so wanted to know everything there was to know about him. When he finished, he let out a very satisfied sigh and set the glass down. Hinata's eyes instantly went to her water glass.
"That tastes better than my tap," Naruto said. Hinata nodded with a smile. "Damn, this Taijutsu stuff's hard. . . but not the same kinda hard as a Ninjutsu or a Genjutsu." Hinata nodded again and set her glass down.
"Why do you want to beat Sasuke-san so badly?" she asked. She had to suppress a giggle as Naruto's face contorted pensively.
"He's my rival," he said, "but. . . he's also thick-headed, y'know. Like, he doesn't notice what's right in front of him. . . I figure, one of these days, I'm gonna have to smack some sense into him. . . but first I gotta be able to, y'know, smack him at all." Hinata giggled. "We all have people precious to us that we have to protect. I know I do. So does Sakura. . . but I'm not too sure about Sasuke. . . if he does something stupid, I gotta be the one to get past his thick skull. He could make some people really sad if anything happened to him. If he wasn't there. . ." he almost whispered the last part.
'His best rival and his best friend,' Hinata thought. Naruto looked at Hinata.
"Y'know, you're someone important to me now."
"M-me?" she said as she blushed brightly.
"Yeah. . . your support in the Chuunin exam, when you helped me cheat, the stuff you gave me for my wounds, I realized you were a very caring person. And when Neji started all bad mouthing you, but you still stood up to him, I realized, you're a lot like me. We're both losers destined for greatness! Uh, no offense or anythin'."
"It's alright. Go on." She listened attentively now.
"Well, I know you can fight and all, but. . . we're all still Genin. There are plenty of really tough people out there." An image of Uchiha Itachi flashed in his mind briefly. "So, if you ever need my help, I'll be there for ya!" He gave a thumbs up. She smiled at the gesture, her cheeks quite crimson.
"A-arigato, Naruto-kun. That. . . means a lot to me." She looked up to him.
"Alright," he said in a moderate voice, and they looked at each other for an immeasurable amount of time.
"Kawaii. . ." Naruto whispered. Hinata's face instantly became crimson and Naruto's face also flushed when he realized what he said. They both looked away in embarrassment. Naruto coughed and began to stand up.
"Well, I gotta go. . ." he as he went to grab his jacket.
"Wait. . ." Hinata said softly. Naruto stopped. Hinata slowly walked up to him until she was facing him. "For what it's worth. . . I'll be there for you, too, Naruto-kun. I'll protect you, if you need it." She reached up and briefly touched her lips to his before she ran back inside. Naruto looked back at where she was standing in simple awe.
"Hinata-chan. . ."
* * *
Both boys were completely appalled. Their attacks had hit. A split second later, Sasuke went flying back several feet, then rolling several more before coming to a stop. Confused, his mind went through the gamut of negative emotions before blackness overtook him. Moments later, unable to cope with the massive internal lesions his body received, his heart stopped and Uchiha Sasuke took his last breath.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran past Naruto and Ino could only fall back in shock, the color drained from her face.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto had fallen back from the weight of Hinata's body. He froze when he saw the thick flow of blood coming out of her mouth. He shook her and his mind started to reel at the lack of resistance from her limbs.
"Naruto-kun. . ." she said very weakly.
"Hinata-chan! What did you do?!"
"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" her voice was barely a whisper.
"Am I. . . what were you thinking?! Why did you block the Chidori. . ." Tears were beginning to swell up in his eyes.
"Because. . . we promised to protect each other. . ." She smiled.
"But. . ." Tears were flowing freely now.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was shaking him, her eyes showing utter terror. "Sasuke-kun, wake up! Please. . ." she stopped shaking him when she looked into his eyes and saw nothing. At the realization, she broke down and began to cry, clutching tightly to Sasuke.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. . ."
"Sorry?! What the hell are you apologizing for?!"
"I'm making you cry. . ." Naruto clutched to Hinata tighter.
"You can't die. Please. You can't leave. . . you can't leave me. . . I just found you." Hinata coughed and Naruto looked at her. Their eyes met and he saw just how much he meant to her. Slowly, he leaned down and placed his lips on hers. He stayed there for several seconds, until he could no longer feel her lips pushing back. He leaned back up and became numb when he realized she was no longer breathing.
"Hinata-chan. . ."
Ino had walked up to Sakura and embraced her hard. She didn't know what else to do or say, so she just stayed there with her.
* * *
ANBU and some Jounin arrived at the aftermath shortly thereafter. The three survivors were questioned, but were incapable of answering. They were incarcerated until their teachers and Tsunade-sama herself interrogated them. The three told them everything as well as they knew or had seen. There was no reason for them to lie. As they had done nothing wrong, Ino and Sakura were released. Naruto, however, was suspended from the Shinobi for two years. When he returned, he was banned from the Chuunin selection exam for a further three years. He became a Chuunin at 18 and a Jounin at 21.
Sakura upon release was reassigned to the team Hinata was on. Although difficult to replace not only a fallen comrade, but also someone who was already well-coordinated with the other team members, she soon overcame this and became invaluable to Shino and Kiba. She and Ino became Chuunins at 16. Sakura became a Jounin at 21.
With no clan or family, Sasuke was cremated without ceremony by the ANBU. Hinata was given a somber but concise ceremony by her family before her funeral pyre. Her name was added to the Shrine of Fallen Shinobi. Sasuke's was not. Eventually, Uchiha Itachi was hunted down and the Uchiha clan was gone and forgotten, save by a very few. But Hatake Kakashi was not the last to have a Sharingan Eye.
*