January 4. Outskirts of Konoha. 7:40 AM. Reign of the 3rd Hokage (2nd Term)

Sasuke was the first into the medical tent. He moved the flap aside and tied it in place. As he turned, he was leveled by a nurse who was running full pelt through the entrance, hollering, "He's gone!"

Sasuke was not the least bit pleased by what the lady had done. He grabbed her by the wrist and wrenched on it, pulling her to him. "Who's gone?"

The nurse pulled her extremity back and shook Sasuke by the shoulders. "Naruto's body is gone! Somebody must have taken it in the night."

Hinata blinked rapidly and rubbed her eyes several times. No matter how many times she cleared her vision, Naruto would not disappear. Again and again she would close her eyes tell herself Naruto wasn't there, and reopen them only to find him still outlined by the sunlight.

"You can't be…" Hinata mumbled. "But you're dead!" She was torn in two by the desire to believe he was indeed alive and run into his embrace, and the enigma which made it impossible to believe.

Naruto stepped closer; Hinata backed away and shook her head. He stepped closer again and again until she was backed up against the side of the tent, staring at him. Naruto reached an open hand out to her. For a reason unbeknownst to her, Hinata reached for the hand and touched it. It was warm and solid. Her legs failed her as she realized he was quite alive.

"Naruto! You're alive!" Hinata whispered. "But how?"

Naruto crouched down to her level and embraced her. "I don't know, and I don't care. All that matters is that I am. Not how, or why."

Sasuke's already-upset attitude was turned to livid hatred. "Who the hell did this?" He growled. "I swear, when I find the little fucker-"

"We don't know who did it!"

"What do you mean you don't know! Don't you have some sort or surveillance or security for god's sake?"

"We don't keep surveillance on cadavers."

Sasuke spat at the ground. "Fucking great. Do you have any idea of where he might have been taken?"

Just then, Sakura approached the two and noted the anxiety in the air. "What's going on here? What's wrong?"

Sasuke clapped a hand over the nurse's mouth, shutting her up as he spoke. "Somebody's stolen Naruto's body and we need to find the asshole. Here's my idea: The thief couldn't have gotten far in a winter's night climate with a body on his person. He's within the camp or very nearby." He pointed to Sakura. "You search, from this point, west."

"What should I do if I find him?" Sakura tried to stay calm.

"Bring both the perpetrator and Naruto's body back here." Sasuke cursed. "Some people have no respect. I'd bet it was one of those foreign fucks."

The nurse, who had been muffled by Sasuke, slapped his hand aside and pointed over Sasuke's shoulder. "Naruto!" She hollered.

Sasuke turned on her. "What do you mean?"

The nurse grabbed his hair and swiveled his head around. What Sasuke was Naruto walking towards them, carrying a very, very, happy Hinata. A smile slowly played on his face. "That son of a bitch…" He said softly at first. Then he yelled so Naruto could hear him. "You son of a bitch!"

Naruto looked at him and smiled. "Close enough," he joked. Sasuke and Sakura were already sprinting at him. He laughed. "You might want to get out of the way Hinata," he said, putting her gently down. "This could get ugly." Just as he predicted, his two teammates tackled him with hugs and statements of "how did you?" and "I don't believe it!" Naruto tried as best as he could to return the affection, but was nearly drowned in it. "Alright, alright, lay off the injured boy."

Sasuke just repeated "You son of a bitch," over and over and over again.

Naruto wrestled them off of him and slugged Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke stared him up and down. "How the fuck did you manage that one?"

Naruto panted from the hug-of-war. "That's a good question. I'd bet you Kakashi knows about it." Naruto picked Hinata up again and led them to the medical tent. Once inside he stopped at his bed and set Hinata down on it. He sat on the adjacent one, catching his breath.

Sasuke shook his head in amazement. "Un-fucking-believable…" he murmured.

Sakura wiped away a batch of tears. "I just can't believe it's really you, Naruto."

The four friends chuckled and exchanged thoughts until Kakashi appeared through the entrance. When the sensei reached the beds he froze, his eyes riveted on Naruto. Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata all fell silent as they tried as hard as they could to conceal their delight. Naruto didn't even attempt to cover his smile up. He stood and opened his arms. Kakashi stepped into it and thumped Naruto on the back.

"It really is you." Was all that he said.

Yinagi and Takarashi awoke on the beach they set camp on the night before. One of the Ashigaru who had awoken before them sat roasting a fish over an open fire. When he noticed they were awake, he quivered in fear of what he knew was coming. In this army, if you were a superior officer, you had the right to confiscate a lesser soldier's meal and claim it as your own. The unfortunate Ashigaru bowed down and held the perfectly-cooked fish up so Takarashi could take it.

But he didn't. He patted the soldier on the shoulder and spoke in a tone that a superior officer in the Army of the Land of the Jagged Mountains never used. "You eat it. We're catching our own breakfast." With that, Takarashi and Yinagi took up sticks and proceeded to the water where they had hopes of spearing a fat, juicy reef snapper.

"So what do you figure of it?" Naruto asked as he sucked up another portion of ramen.

By this time Hokage and Neji (who had had a little trouble making his way across the tent) had arrived and had the same astonishment everyone else had; and which they continued to show even as he, Lord Hokage, and Kakashi spoke of the miraculous occurrence. Hokage pondered and pondered until everyone became restless.

Sasuke showed intense anxiety as he thought of something that nobody else thought of yet. "Does this mean…?" he started. "Does this mean that Itachi is still alive?"

Everyone at the conference turned pale as Sasuke shared this aspect… well, everyone but Naruto. He had a dumb grin stuck on his face. Hinata didn't like it. "Are you happy that Itachi is still alive?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nope."

Sasuke leaned in. "Then you know something that we don't."

"Of course I do." Then everyone leaned in. Naruto continued. "Itachi can't be alive because he was killed with the Ritoren Sword."

Sasuke smacked his face with the palm. "Unless I'm dearly mistaken, I'd say that you were 'killed' with the Ritoren Sword as well."

Naruto's grin only broadened. Sakura felt her anger rise as the optimism she loathed showed in Naruto. "Are you just being ignorant?"

Since Sakura talked, he used her as a learning tool for the rest of his friends. "Sakura, tell me right now, who are you talking to?"

"You."

"I mean the person's name."

Sakura sighed. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Exactly. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't killed at all." Even before he said this, he saw from the corner of his eye Sasuke begin to realize exactly what happened.

"No he wasn't." the Uchiha said.

"Then who did die?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"Not 'who died' Sakura…," Kakashi said as he too began to realize. "But 'what died'…" All eyes turned on Naruto as he said the words they had all been waiting for.

"I didn't die Sakura," Naruto said slowly, pointing a finger at his chest. "The Kyubi did."

"But happened to you during the interim?" Neji asked with urgency.

Naruto raised his finger. "I will answer you question with one of my own." He paused. "What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?"

The question struck everyone dumb. Sakura had to restrain herself from jumping on Naruto and beating him to death. Kakashi shook his head and so did Lord Hokage. Neji stared at Naruto, waiting. "Well… what do you get?"

"Hellifiknow." Naruto laughed and slapped his knee.

Neji crossed his arms. "Ha ha, very funny. Would anyone mind to tell me what really happened?" His question was lost in the gale of laughter everyone else was joined in. Neji threw up his hands. "I give up!"

The same nurse who Sasuke had first met that morning strolled over to Naruto. Since he was still classified as a patient, she was obliged. "Is there anything I can get Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto continued to smile as he looked at everyone individually. Sasuke, mumbling to himself "I knew it was coming… only Naruto…". Sakura, biting her knuckle, trying not to choke from her laughter. Kakashi, rubbing his eyes with a smirk underneath his mask. Hokage, coughing from laughing too much for his age. Neji, fuming silently at his failure to get information. And Hinata, looking deeply into his eyes with the greatest sincerity to date.

He pulled Hinata closer to him and shook his head at the nurse. "No thank you, ma'am."

THE END

After-word ("Special Features")

In all honesty, this story had started as nothing more than an easy way to make a story for the sake of writing a story wherein I wouldn't need to do character development (something I really, really don't like to do). When I started to change Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke to how I wanted, I realized I needed to start some character development.

Also, when I first started it almost two years ago, I never intended this story to really have a plot. I only wrote it because I felt the need to write. Around Chapter 10 (just after the "Secret Exam") I realized that this story would go nowhere without a plot (yes, I was making it up as I went along.) During a talk with my brother (who knows nothing about Naruto) thought that there should be a samurai-like country invasion of the ninja-like country. I love imagining battles in my head, so I said "why not". Of course, the biggest bad ass on the Samurai-side had to be named 'Shintaro': my brother's Japanese name.

As the gears in my head started to turn, it dawned on me that I could use the previous irrelevant occurrences in the story (the restaurant fire and the "secret exam") to unravel a secret plot (which all came to a head when Naruto talked to Jiraiya. I'd have to say that I did a pretty damn good job of it too…

Oh yes, you can definitely notice a difference between the writing styles in chapters. This is because of two main things. 1) I read different books over the sum-odd two years and therefore reflected the author's style of writing AND 2) My writing improved over the course of the story.

One might also notice while reading the chapters in succession, that the first chapters were written in the form of the anime with the whole "-kun", "-chan", "-sensei", and Japanese words. I simply found it less cheesy, and far easier to write less like the anime. To me, it made the romance stand out more, and gave me a little more freedom.

That just about wraps up all the "inside information" on "The Heart's Game". Oh shit! The title. That was the other thing that I hated. Like I said, I started this story just for the sake of writing, and therefore, rushed the title. I had a trinket/necklace/bracelet show up half-way through the story just to clarify the title. But it all worked out in the end.

The final thing I can think of that I want my very tolerant (and loyal) readers to know is that my original ending of this fanfiction had Naruto's death at the end. I mean real death. The idea of Naruto's Kyubi side dying came way later (hence the rushed introduction of the Ritoren Sword that kills "spirits"), around Chapter 24 when I got some hostile remarks about the main character dying. So, I felt the need to piss you guys off by having Naruto "die" at the end, but then lift you back up when you realize omfg HE'S ALIVE! If I wrote it like I really wanted to write it, Naruto's death and rebirth would have been in two different chapters, but I feared that if you guys read Naruto's death, you'd be discouraged to read more (and find out that he really wasn't).

God damn it feels good to be done with my fanfiction, but at the same time, I am a little disappointed by the fact that I won't be writing anymore, OR making your lives a smidgen more entertaining.

I fear that I won't be staying with fanfiction, but rather moving onto ficitonpress (where I already have a few poems under the name Pastel Black) or writing my own novel, which I truly think I never will have the willpower to finish. It'll unfortunately end up in the trash bin most likely. It's a sad thing to see a perfectly story, character development, and plot just go down the drain.

If you feel like contacting me for any reason or giving recommendations for stories, PLEASE feel free to IM me at Hoorah911 (previously Uzamaki101) or email love you select guys (and girls I'd imagine) for sticking with it until the end! (Some of you other people cough cough decided to drop out mid-story due to its lack of "plot" and "coolness". Sticks out tongue HA!)