"I won't let go." Naruto whispered, holding onto her hand so tightly, his knuckles shone white. He hardly dared to believe it. She was fighting. Through all this, she was still fighting. Even though he said all those hateful, hopeless words, she was still fighting.
I'll stay by your side, Hinata, he thought, and I will help you fight.
Kakashi looked relieved. Kurenai was sobbing softly.
This is so…beautiful. She thought, wiping away her tears. She's even stronger than I thought she was. Naruto, arigato. It's all thanks to you. You're the very reason she's fighting.
She looked at Hinata's father. His face was blank. But Kurenai knew better. She knew where to look.
His pale eyes looked filmy. And she saw relief shining in them. Happiness.
Looks like every things going to be fine, she thought happily. She walked to the couch and practically collapsed onto it. She was pretty tired.
Sasuke watched the happy little scene play before him.
So, she finally came out of coma, he thought. All right. It's smooth sailing from now on.
He jumped down and walked slowly to where Gaara was waiting.
"Well?" Gaara asked, sounding rather impatient.
"She's out of the coma." He said, shrugging indifferently.
He didn't answer. He simply kept looking at the sky. The moon's light was almost non-existent.
Sasuke followed his gaze. Just two more days, Sasuke thought, clenching his fist tightly. Just two more days.
"Neji-kun!" Tenten yelled, wandering into the Hyuga houshold. "Neji-kun! I've got great news!"
He didn't answer. Tenten walked around, wondering where he could be.
He's probably sleeping in his room or something, she thought. She ran past Hinata's room. When she finally reached his door, she placed her hand on the doorknob. It wasn't locked.
"Neji-kun," she said, opening the door, "since you left the hospital after your talk with Naruto, Kurenai-sensei asked me to tell you that Hinata's…"
She stopped. His room was completely empty. There was no sign of him anywhere.
"N-neji-kun?" She scanned his room quickly. The bed was made, everything was neat, no signs of struggle.
Where is he then? She thought, brow furrowed. He's not in the usual training spots, he's not in the hospital.
She wandered outside, thinking hard. Where'd he go?
"Tenten!"
She looked up just to see Lee dashing toward her.
"Tenten! There's trouble!" He said, grabbing her by the arm. "We have to go back, now!"
"N-nani?" She exclaimed, running beside him. "What do you mean, 'emergency'?"
"Some medic nins saw Neji in the arms of Gaara of the Sand!" He said hurriedly. "They say he was unconscious!"
"Damn!" She exclaimed, doubling her pace.
When they reached the hospital, Gai-sensei was waiting for them.
"You're here!" He exclaimed. "Good! Let's get a move on then! We asked some Sand villagers where he possibly might have gone, so we have a few leads. Let's go!"
Neji groaned and opened his eyes.
Dammit! He thought, wincing. Why the heck does it hurt so much?
Then the memories came flooding back. Sasuke had surprised him just as he rounded the corner. Everything after that was pretty much a painful blur.
"You're awake!" He heard someone exclaim. "That was fast."
He turned his head to the source of the voice.
"You!" He gasped, sitting straight up.
"Easy." She cautioned as he winced and put his hands to his ribs. "Those bruises will take a long time to heal. You'd better not move."
"What are you doing here?" Neji asked her, his eyes narrowed. "Shouldn't you be helping Gaara in whatever he's dishing up right now? Because I know he and Sasuke are working together."
Temari turned away so he couldn't see her face. As softly as possible, so he wouldn't hear the breaks in her voice, she said; "I know, it's just…"
She trailed off. Neji looked at her curiously. "It's just, what?"
She turned to him, and Neji was surprised to see tears brimming in her sea-blue eyes.
"I don't know what's happened to him!" She said. "Just a few weeks ago, neither of us wanted any part in this! We didn't want to hurt anyone anymore!"
She turned away, sobs wracking her entire body. Neji looked at her, almost sorry for her. She sounded so confused.
"I don't know why he…threw you off the cliff," she continued, trying-and failing-to calm down. "I thought he changed! I-I don't know why he'd suddenly do all this! I don't know why he seems so eager to carry out his father's plans all of a sudden! I-I just. Don't. Know."
She bit her lip. Hard. I lost control, she thought, breathing in deeply. I can't do this in front of someone I barely know.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Neji smiling at her.
"Thanks." He said softly. "You prevented me from hitting the ground, didn't you?"
She nodded. His face turned serious. "I know you're pretty confused, but I need you to tell me exactly what his father's plans are."
She took a deep breath. "His father wanted another chance to destroy Konha again. This time though, he decided to use Sasuke. He wanted Gaara to persuade him. Gaara disn't want to, but…I guess his father threatened him or he wanted hi father to be proud of him." She looked away again. "He's been wanting someone to love him for so long," she said softly, "just to know what it feels like."
"So, he managed to persuade Sasuke." Neji said, pretending not to have heard the last part.
Temari just nodded. Silence passed. Then, "Thank you."
Temari looked at him.
"I know it was hard for you to tell me." Neji said. "I really appreciate it."
Temari clutched at his arm. "You have to tell the others," she said, a note of urgency in her voice, "I don't know what I'm risking by telling you this, but I really want them to know. I want to make sure they're safe. I know how powerful Gaara is, and…" she trailed of.
Neji removed her hand. "Don't worry. I'll make sure they'll know."
He started to leave.
"Wait." Temari said. "You're injured…"
Neji shook his head. "Don't worry. It won't slow me down."
Temari bit her lip. Finally, she nodded. "All right. If you say so…"
With a final nod of thanks, Neji ran off.
Hinata opened her eyes.
Where…am I? She thought. She was still pretty much woozy. Wait! I'm still alive?
She sat up abruptly. Why? She thought bitterly, looking at her bandaged wrists. Why would they even bother saving such a useless, pathetic life? She looked around the room, her eyes growing wide as she did so.
In the far corner, Kakashi-sensei was sitting on the floor, his head drooping forward. Her father sat in a chair just across the room. Kurenai-sensei was on a couch in the far right. And beside her, kneeling on the floor, holding her hand so tightly was…
Naruto-kun, she thought, her eyes pooling with tears. You…you still decided to help me…even after I said that…even after I disappointed you…you still
She saw that there was still a hint of worry on his face. She smiled.
Thank you. He was her strength. No wonder she was still alive…
He began to stir. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. His deep cerulean eyes looked relived.
"Hinata." He straightened up. "You're…" he choked. "You're all right…"
She nodded. "Hai. Arigato, Naruto-kun."
His brow furrowed. "For what?"
"I mean…I disappointed you, hurt you, and you…you still…stayed with me. You…you still decided to help me fight, even though I might not have…"
Naruto shook his head. "Forget about all that. It's worth it, just to see you alive…"
Suddenly, the door burst open, causing everyone else to wake up. Naruto and Hinata quickly let go of each other's hand.
"Hyuuga-sama!" Gai-sensei yelled. "Neji's back!"
"What!" Her father sprang to his feet. "Where is he?"
"He arrived just a few minutes ago!" Gai said breathlessly. "He's being brought to the room next to this one."
Her father quickly dashed out the room.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said softly, "What do they mean by, 'he's back'?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know myself. I mean, he did come to talk to me when I left the room…" he trailed off. "Come to think of it," he said thoughtfully, "I only realized it now; he didn't follow me back here when he managed to persuade me to come back. I guess I just didn't notice."
She looked at him with questioning eyes. "Persuaded?"
Before he could answer, the door slammed open again. "Naruto." Hiashi said. "I think you should listen to what Neji has to say. You too, Hinata."
"Why?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Let's just say… it concern's you."
Naruto shrugged. He helped Hinata out of bed. They entered the room.
Neji sat up immediately the moment he saw them. Hiashi placed his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down." He said. "You were severely injured. You're ribs…"
Neji cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Naruto, I know where Sasuke is."
"What!" Naruto exclaimed. He dashed towards the bedside. "Where is he? How'd you find out?"
"Temari." Neji said simply. "She told me everything.
"Temari?" Naruto said, surprised. "You mean that blonde-haired Sand-village girl with the enormous fan?"
"Yeah, that one." Neji said. "But there's more. He's actually working with Gaara."
"For what?" Naruto asked, really confused.
"Look's like Gaara's crackpot of a father decided to take over Konoha."
"Again?"
"Again."
Naruto turned away, deep in thought. It was hard to believe that Gaara would do that. Hadn't he changed his point of view just a few months ago?
"But," he looked at Neji pointedly. "What does all this have to do with me?"
This time it was Hiashi who answered. "We need you to talk to Gaara."
"Why?" Naruto asked. "What can I do?"
Kakashi looked at Naruto, eyebrows arched. Is it just me, or did I hear a note of self-doubt in his voice?
"Well, we think you'd be the best one to talk to him. You're on speaking terms with him, after all."
"Why not just find him and beat the crap out of him?" Naruto asked, leaning on the wall, hands in pockets. "Who knows, I might say something wrong and just make everything worse."
"It's true." Kakashi said softly. "You have changed."
"We'd like to do everything else possible before resorting to violence." Hiashi said quickly.
"Allright," Naruto said, blowing the bangs of his face. "If it means that I can find Sasuke and knock some sense into him, I guess I'll do it."
Hanabi woke up almost abruptly as though someone had yelled into her ear. She looked out the window. Sunrise.
She slowly got out of bed and crept to the training courtyard. She stopped at the porch.
Just released from the hospital, and already she's pushing herself, she thought, looking at her older sister, Hinata.
Hinata was slowly moving her arms in circular motions all around her body. Following each hand were small trails of water.
What is she doing? She thought.
As she watched her, her thoughts began to drift away.
Hinata was the golden girl of her family. The one burdened with the responsibility of the main house. It was a responsibility Hinata would gladly saw off her own arm if she thought she could give it up. (she had often told that to Hanabi.)
Hanabi wanted to hate her. She was stronger than Hinata. Her father had said so himself. The memory came back to her.
Kurenai had walked through the door, right in the middle of Hanabi's training session.
After a few words, she had said, "Are you sure it's alright with you? After all, Hinata-sama is the eldest, the precedor of the main house, and Genin are known to have died on missions."
Her father had simply looked at her, then "Do with her as you wish."
"A loser who is weaker than Hanabi, someone 5 years her junior, is not needed here in the Hyuga household."
She really wanted to hate her. Even though she had often surpassed Hinata in displays of strength and ability, the elders would say "good, but not good enough."
Of course, when Hinata finally showed some feat of strength, they would say "excellent."
It was always that way. She was constantly overshadowed by her sister, and she was sick of it.
She wanted to hate her, but somehow, she couldn't. There was something about Hinata that just made her…likeable. And she also felt pity for her. Neji nii-san already hated her for being part of the main house. She didn't need her own sister to hate her. Hanabi could cut her some slack.
She was jerked back to reality when she saw Hinata's arms move faster and faster.
What is she doing? She thought, creeping closer. Suddenly, Hinata stopped. The water splashed to the ground.
Ei?
"Hanabi, you're up too early." Hinata said, her back still to her sister. "You really should go back and get some sleep."
"Hinata nee-chan, how-how did you know I-?"
"You walk too heavily. I thought Otosama taught you stealth."
She turned to look at her, a small smile on her face. For some strange reason, it was quite infuriating.
"He did, and I mastered quicker than you did, I was told." She said haughtily.
Oops!
Hinata's eyes darkened and her body stiffened. "Right. Well, congratulations."
She turned away. "If Otosama asks, tell him I went to the forest to train."
She walked away. Hanabi wished she could take it back, but she was too proud to apologize. That was another thing that set Hinata apart from the other clan members. She was never proud of her abilities. In fact, she lacked self-confidence.
Hinata ne-chan, you are really so different. Is that why I hate you…or is that why I admire you?
"Tonight." Sasuke said. "It's going to happen tonight. Finally."
Gaara simply nodded. They were standing at the top of the cave, overlooking the village of Konoha. The wind was blowing slightly, and it looked like rain.
Not very promising weather, Sasuke thought, for them at least. For us, there couldn't be a more perfect set-up.
"She's in the forest," Gaara said suddenly. "I'll go up to her. I don't think she suspects me. When I manage to lure her here, I'll notify you. It'll be up to you from then on."
Sasuke looked slightly annoyed. "I know the plan. You don't need to tell me." He jumped down. "I'll be training." Without another word, he vanished into the depths of the cave.
Gaara pushed aside the overhanging vines. He saw her in a small clearing. She was flinging kunai like an expert. No matter what her angle or position, the kunai hit the target right in the middle.
Suddenly, a kunai came whizzing towards him. Unfortunately, he turned too late. It hit his forehead, then stopped suddenly. His gaze rested on Hinata, who was holding the kunai by the handle.
"Gaara-kun, gomenasai. I thought it was someone else." She said, bringing down the kunai.
"You've gotten better." He said.
"Arigato."
Better be careful, she thought, looking at him warily. I know what he's part of and what he's plotting to do. I need to be careful.
"I have to tell you something," he said softly. "And I need you to listen carefully."
"Um, o-o-okay…" she said. He gestured for her to lean closer. She looked at him warily. Then she saw his eyes.
There's worry…he's uncomfortable…and doubtful…what could it mean? She wondered.
"Gaara-kun," she said, brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"
Suddenly, sand washed over her.
No! No! No! No! No! She struggled to free herself. The sand was suffocating her. Already her vision was getting hazy.
"The problem with you," he said, watching her as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Finally, they closed and she slumped forward. He caught her.
"You're too trusting."
A/N: Awww…this is so lame…I promise I will make it better next chapter. Sorry about the long delay. Thanks
for the review, darkangel-hikari! I miss you lotsandlotsandlotsandlots!