Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 30

Sometimes Sasuke hated her.

He hated her when she crept out of his bed in the middle of the night, leaving him colder than the icy river he trained on.

He hated her when she healed the others, allowing them to sink their teeth into her flesh and take from her what she didn't want to give. Leaving marks on her skin as evidence that they had walked away with a piece of her they didn't deserve. He was the only one who had earned her trust and defended her well-being. The only one who recognized what it cost her to continually be forced to give and give.

He hated her when she cried. When the horrors of her duties overwhelmed her and she finally broke down in his arms, cursing her fate, her gifts, her existence. Her existence was essential to his sanity, didn't she think about how he would shatter without her?

He hated her most when she was nothing. No spicy comments. No blushing cheeks when he leveled her with a stare that bared the depth of his jealousy for her attention. No appetite to keep her sustained, to keep her healthy, to replace what was always being stolen, to stay alive. To stay with him. No self preservation when she poured herself into him until she passed out by his side, wanting to see him restored even if it meant she wasted.

Sometimes he loved her.

He loved having her to himself. Knowing that he was capable of protecting something. That this time, should a threat arise, he could be strong enough to meet the bastard blow for blow and prevent the loss of his precious person. He would never allow himself to lose again. There even were days when he forgot that he was an Avenger, because all he could think about was being her shield.

He loved the way she moved. Swiftly, purposefully, oozing confidence and carelessness. Her raised fist was an object of fear. Her posture was a pillar of strength that never bowed, even when Kabuto himself attempted to lay her low with his lofty commands. She would parade down the halls, never giving a passing glance to the peons around her. Never wanting to see them. Because to see was to care. And she couldn't afford to care.

He loved the sounds she made when he claimed her. The sharpness all went out of her and she was putty in his hands. Her voice was soft and coaxing, her touches firm and sure.

He loved the way he possessed her. Her walls caved in and he consumed her like a fire. She filled his senses until everything else just disappeared and all he could taste was her skin, all he could feel was her heart pounding under his bare chest, all he could see was her hair splayed across his bed, all he could hear was his name falling from her lips, all he could feel was the clench of her around him as he did the one thing that no one else ever deemed to do, he gave back to her.

Orochimaru had declared that they would be moving hideouts tomorrow, everyone was busy, and Sasuke was not excluded. Three bodies littered the underground training arena, which was scorched with electrical burns, scarred with slashes from his blade, and smoking from numerous katon. Orochimaru signaled to Kabuto with a small jerk of his chin, and the gray haired nin quickly departed to fetch a fresh opponent for the Uchiha.

Sasuke did not acknowledge Kabuto as he hurried out of the arena, bending slightly to use the shirt of his latest victim to clean the blood from his Fukushu-sha. He briefly noted that the massive abomination was not completely dead, but didn't pause, nor did he linger. The misshapen beasts that The Snake and his Igor kept throwing at him were hard to see as human, and Sasuke had higher goals to worry about. The next hideout would be the turning point in their plans, do or die. And Sasuke had no intentions of dying.

As Sasuke stopped to drink from his flask, Orochimaru shuffled over to his prized possession. The traitorous Sannin attempted to stand tall and hide his condition, but the reality was that he could feel his body practically decaying from his bones. He knew he needed to switch soon, but was desperately holding out in anticipation of the Sharingan's final transformation, its peak achievement.

As soon as he kills his brother he will receive the Mangekyo, and in his weakened state he will easily be subdued. Then, after all these years, I will finally have the strongest kekkei genkai known to man! A harlequin grin lit his pale face, exposing the missing teeth that had rotted from his mouth.

Sasuke held back the revulsion that swamped his gut as the yellow eyes raked over his sweating body. He looked away, pretending to be ignorant of the naked lust in the direct stare as he straightened his shirt to hide his chest. There were several things that they had kept carefully hidden from their "keepers": their bond, her newly honed chains, and his strengthening Mangekyo.

"Impressive as always, Sasuke-kun," the raspy voice hissed. "You are a formidable opponent for even my most creative fighters." The curse mark tingled on the Uchiha's shoulder, but such sensations were no longer involuntary. Unbeknownst to his "mentor", the Uchiha had dedicated a significant amount of time to honing his mind as well as his jutsu, and could manipulate the cursed stages at his own whim. He knew that his ultimate opponent was a man of fierce control, and had been preparing thoroughly to conquer him.

Orochimaru poked at one of the fallen bodies with the cane that he now used; the coughing fits were leaving him weaker every day.

"Ah, getting a bit sloppy in our anticipation to leave, hmm? You haven't killed the last two." Orochimaru reached up to brush a limp wisp of hair from his eyes, the tremble of his fingers not escaping Sasuke's notice. The door to the large arena rumbled open as Kabuto reappeared with yet another excrescence riddled entity that once upon a time might have been a human.

"Well, they are rather unique specimens," Orochimaru's forehead nearly audibly krinkled with his contemplation. "Perhaps it would be better to salvage them to use another day." He stamped the cane into the ground twice, and instantly Kabuto was at his side.

"Fetch Karin," The Snake commanded, "have her heal them."

Fire instantly ignited within Sasuke's veins, his Sharingan pulsing with the heat of his barely subdued fury. Before the others could stop long enough to ponder the meaning behind his visceral reaction, Sasuke's hands were flying through a new series of hand signs. In the blink of an eye the static in the air intensified, each molecule of the dank chamber grinding together to charge the room with the prickly sensation of ozone. Slamming his hands together in the final hand sign Sasuke yelled out his technique and three bolts of lightning struck from out of nowhere, stabbing into the two downed opponents and also the unfortunate newest arrival who had barely breached the doorway. The power of each strike was enough to momentarily elevate them off the floor, twitching erratically until the jutsu cut off and three loud thumps echoed as they hit the ground.

The sickening smell of burned flesh and hair filled the room, and Sasuke finally allowed his eyes to fade into black along with his now appeased protectiveness. Orochimaru never flinched at the brutal display, other than to tap his knobby finger on the top of his cane, like a clock ticking time. His low raspy chuckles followed him as he slowly made his way out of the room.

"I see, you were simply saving them for your latest attack. What a stimulating new jutsu. Kabuto, empty out cell block C. Travel will be much easier with less…baggage."

Sasuke spent the rest of the day slaughtering every creature they threw his way, knowing that anyone left alive would be sinking their foul breathed mouths into her body. And he hated to share.

As he staggered down the hallway towards his bed, he tried to hide the ragged hitch of his breath. The pile of bodies Sasuke left behind did not weigh on his conscience. They were already doomed and living in hell, he had merely freed them from their suffering while sparing her from witnessing it.

He was so chakra drained that his foot caught on the uneven edge of the stone floor, and Sasuke nearly stumbled into the frame of his doorway until fine strands of golden chains shot out of the darkness behind him, curling around his torso and encasing his arms. He huffed at the links, no thicker than the large pearls of a rich woman's necklace, but easily strong enough for him to lean on as he fumbled to pull his feet back under him.

"I told you never to use those here," he grumbled as the chains set him aright.

"Watching you fall on your ass would've been much more entertaining. Forgive my misplaced kindness, oh Masochistic One." Her pale arms replaced the chains that were swiftly retreating into her body, and despite the harshness of her words, her touch was tender and gentle. Sasuke tried to put on an annoyed expression, but the barest hint of pride gleamed in his obsidian eyes. She had improved immensely with her newfound gift, carefully coaxing the deceivingly delicate appearing chains out of her hands, one exhausting link at a time. The Uzumaki were a powerful clan of awe-inspiring jutsu and kekkei genkai, Orochimaru was a fool to have overlooked her unique form of their genetic gift.

Karin plopped him down on the bed, tsking disapprovingly at his pathetic chakra levels. To be fair, the fact that he was still conscious at all after single-handedly slaughtering the entirety of the two cell blocks was a testament to his immensely improved strength. Too much of a testament.

"Stupid man," she growled as she helped him peel out of his sweat soaked clothing, privately exalting in the lack of serious wounds on his beautiful body. "You'll give your strength away and he'll jump you before we can follow through with the plan. You know how he gets extra paranoid right before a switch."

Sasuke merely grunted his patented monosyllabic response, shamelessly grabbing her ass for leverage as he rolled to slide out of his sleeve. Karin's cheeks burned, but she did not pull away, only leaning forward to undo the thick rope that belted his pants, pressing herself more firmly into his large palm.

It took a few moments to free his prostrate body from the torn clothes, his muscles were so stiff that he was of little assistance. As she worked her way down his body her hands glowed green, healing where she could, knowing that unless he was near death he would refuse all her pleas and threats for him to bite her and recharge his chakra from her bank. With a sigh she smartly yanked the sheets up over his mouth watering figure, brazenly eating up the sight of his taut muscles and well formed…limbs.

He was smirking at her when she finally met his gaze, and she agitatedly mumbled about the unfairness of Kami to put so much prettiness into a man who could care less about his appearance, as she smartly adjusted the glasses on her face. Karin spun around to leave him to his recovery but her wrist was grasped harshly in a surprisingly strong grasp.

"Stay." It was not a question, he didn't want her to choose, he needed her to obey. All thoughts of her lists and lists of tasks to complete before they moved out in the morning fled her mind as he yanked her down to his lips. Sasuke didn't need to ignite her passion.

For him, she always burned.


Hinata knew she loved him.

It had dawned on her slowly, love was not something heaped upon her growing up. Her mother had loved her, in a doting, calm way. Fleeting touches, the gentle way she brushed her hair, the soft tone of her voice. She knew she was loved, and as she grew older and understood the significance of her mother's actions and choices, she knew she was treasured. But it was all gone so soon.

Her father loved her. She knew this even though she could count on one hand the number of times he had actually said it. He didn't need to. He protected her, encouraged her, gave her advice, built her up instead of tearing her down. He offered her his strength when she was ready to cave in.

She was sure Neji loved her, even though he rarely ever even said he liked her. But she knew it from his steadfastness. He had stood by her side throughout all the ups and downs. Never held her back, never jealously fought her for the attention of their father. And never made her feel less than fully accepted when she had revealed her true relation to him. Every decision she had made he had always gone along with her. He was her brother, they were family, they always would stand by each other.

None of these experiences could describe what she felt for Naruto. The closeness, the care, the protectiveness; all these things she felt for him and from him since literally the day they had met. But it was years before she associated their unique bond with 'love'. And only shortly before he left that she had realized that her love for him had a unique layer to it entirely. She held a passion for him that burned in her center and stole her breath. His touch could make her feel alive and his laugh could pull her out of the darkest mood. And his chakra…Kami, don't get her started.

Hinata smiled into the darkness of the tent, carding her fingers through his golden hair the same way her chakra threaded through his sleeping body. Naruto had reached for her in his slumber, pulled her to him and nuzzled his face into her chest while mumbling her name. At first she had gasped and glanced over at their two teammates, but both were out cold as well, more than tired after the miles they had covered that day heading back to Konoha. She would have to say goodbye to him tomorrow, and so instead of falling back asleep, she desperately drank in his affectionate touch. The way his arm wrapped around her waist and up her back. The way his knee had firmly planted itself between her thighs. His hot breath spreading up her chest and feeding the warmth of her blush.

Hinata blinked in surprise as she felt his chakra respond to her smooth caress, sliding her hand down to Naruto's neck to feel his slow steady pulse. No, he was definitely asleep, the dead weight of his chest upon her stomach was more than enough confirmation. Hinata felt her heart swell with the awesome realization that even without intention, his body, his spirit, craved her. His chakra was cozy, and lazy like a cloud rolling heavily through the sky, a warm blanket during a rainstorm. He restored her, empowered her.

Deep inside her core there shimmered a pool of chakra carefully set aside for her Strength of a Hundred Seal, which Hinata had diligently been adding to over the years, a spoonful at a time. As Naruto unconsciously multiplied her body and heart, she was suddenly pouring in buckets all at once. Hinata relished the feeling of revival, of satisfaction, that washed over her just like after their first kiss. She had thought it was just the euphoria of that particular event, but now in the peace of the night, she meditated in wonder over the way his chakra magnified her own. United they were even more potent than when separated.

Hinata stared at his face, lax in sleep and heartbreakingly peaceful. She hadn't said anything, but the new line between his eyebrows and the definition of his tense jaw muscles were hard not to notice. She knew his face like she knew her own, and the signs of his frequent frowning and clenching were a testimony to the harsh stresses he had endured. She wished she could be with him day in and day out, a small comfort in a tumultuous world.

Her fingers drifted to his brow, smoothing over the new crease and down the bridge of his fine, straight nose. It twitched in his sleep, and she chuckled softly as she trailed lower, delicately brushing the pad of her finger over his full bottom lip.

The memory of those lips pressed hotly against her own had her fidgeting under him, and the tone of her chakra shifted from a soothing lullaby to a pulsing beat. Instantly Naruto's own chakra responded, meeting her rhythm and feeding her fire. Hinata smirked at the effect she had on him even in his unconsciousness. He loved her, it was as obvious as if he had sat up and said the words aloud in the darkness.

Slowly she drifted back to sleep, but their chakras continued to undulate together, back and forth like the easy swing of a rocking chair.

And in the stillness of the night, her inner pool finally overflowed.


Naruto had known that something was very wrong as soon as he saw the red-eyed crow. He had stopped mid leap on a tree branch, causing the three others all to turn and look for him as they slowed their progress as well. The crow had swooped down out of nowhere, picking the sleeve of his shirt with its beak and shooting off into the canopy with a demanding caw that put his nerves on edge.

"Shino!" he yelled to the team captain, already bracing to change his direction to join the frantic black bird. "There's something happening up ahead. Prepare for anything," Naruto called over his shoulder as he pulled his trench knives out.

"Hime!" She was at his side instantly, Byakugan zeroing in on the direction he pointed. "Follow that crow!"

It was worse than he feared. The foursome landed on the road in front of the nondescript outpost that Naruto vaguely remembered from his travels as being a front for a booming bounty office to find the dirt covered in blood. The Nin who seemed to be the source of most of the blood was laughing like a crazed man from within a crimson circle drawn in the dust as Team Ten was scattered around him looking battle worn. Naruto recognized the symbol hanging from the cackling freak's necklace and his heart froze.

Choji turned and saw them first. His face was covered in dirt, hair mussed in a way that testified to multiple attempts at his family's Human Bullet Tank. His mouth dropped open as the four Konoha shinobi dropped out of nowhere, with the most unpredictable and unexpected one running to his side.

"Na-Naruto?!" Choji choked out, his hands planted on his knees as he panted.

"You ok?" Naruto asked tersely. Choji could only nod as he collapsed to his knees in relief, and Naruto clapped him on the back before running up to join Shikamaru. He was the only one still standing, defensively brandishing Asuma's trench knives on the reaching arms of his clan's shadow jutsu.

"He's not human," Shikamaru growled, sweating profusely from chakra exhaustion. He didn't cease glaring at the enemy for even a second to gawk at the sudden appearance of the long missing blond by his shoulder. Launching another attack he twirled his sensei's knives and sent them flying through the air. But were easily batted away by the obscenely large three-bladed scythe the silver haired man possessed.

Naruto glanced behind them where Hinata had immediately hit her knees next to Ino, who was sobbing over Asuma's prostrate body. Her hands joining the other kunoichi in pouring their healing chakra into his wounds. He was alive, but a terrifyingly large amount of blood was pooling beneath him. Shino and Kiba dragged Choji to his side, taking up protective stances as they scanned the area warily in assessment of the situation.

"We have to get him out of that symbol," Shikamaru said, refusing to look at Asuma and see the pallor of his skin. "When he is in it—"

"He can kill the one he has cursed," Naruto finished grimly, the wheels in his head spinning a crazily. He knew of this man. Had heard of his 'god' and seen the abominations other followers called 'worship' during his travels. The discarded cloak with red clouds was all the confirmation he needed, this man was Hidan of the Akatsuki.

"You did well Shika. He's one powerful son of a bitch. Let us handle the rest," Naruto forced as much confidence into his voice as he possibly could, and it seemed to work as the Nara's shoulders slumped in relief.

"He has a partner hanging back," Shikamaru added hoarsely as he released his shadows. "He already stitched the sicko's head back on once. It's troublesome, but you need to keep them separate."

As Shikamaro turned to stagger on wobbly legs back to his sensei's side Naruto reached out with his senses, gulping at the insanely massive chakra signature he found nearby. Get ready Kyuubi, looks like we may have a battle royale on our hands here.

It's about time you had a decent fight, you were getting lazy up there with those damn frogs.

Bolstered by the cocky taunt, Naruto unleashed a feral, fanged toothed grin and shouted, "Kiba! Shino! Listen to me!"

Hidan was already missing an arm, but seemed unfazed by the lost appendage as he ignored the lanky blond and his teammates' hurried planning. Eerie purple eyes darted over to Asuma instead, twinkling in ecstasy as their shared pain stabbed through both their bodies.

"Hurry up Hidan," Kakuzu growled from where he leaned against the building out of range. "I want to collect my bounty before the end of the day."

"I could wrap this shit up a hell of a lot faster if a certain selfish bastard would reattach my bloody arm!" Hidan screeched at his partner, annoyed at the way he was always such a killjoy to every good buzz.

Kakuzu clicked his teeth in impatience. "I already went against my better judgment by fixing your head. Now I have to listen to your stupid prayers again."

"And fuck you too! You greedy heathen!" Despite facing the opposite way to curse at his accomplice, Hidan's scythe suddenly shot out in a wide arc toward Kiba and Akamaru as they attempted to get a hit in while he was turned. But Kiba and Akamaru were faster than the insane acolyte, each leaping away and landing on all fours with a skid. Hidan waggled his eyebrows in glee.

"Well, well! This little punk and his bitch have some speed!" With a snap of his wrist the scythe ripped through the air and back. Hidan caught it as though it was no more than a frisbee. Twirling the glinting blades dexterously in his single hand he reached back to throw it again.

"Let's see if you can out run Jashin-sama!"

"Don't let his blade touch you!" Naruto shouted as Kiba pounced back and forth, dodging the rapid slashes and nearly tangling the weapon's chain upon itself. No matter how fast the scythe danced through the air it never so much as shaved a hair from the Inuzuka's head. Hidan screamed with frustration as the obnoxious shinobi continued to thwart his attacks, making it impossible to continue his interrupted ritual. His fury was so focused on Kiba, that he did not notice Akamaru coming up behind him until the Ninken sunk its teeth deeply into the Jashinist's only remaining wrist. Asuma and Hidan both screamed in pain as Akamaru's ferocious bite mark bloomed with fresh blood upon the Sarutobi's arm.

"Don't hurt him! Just get him out of the circle!" Shikamaru yelled, clamping down on Asuma's newest wound. The man could not afford to lose another drop of blood. Already it seeped outward to soak Hinata and Ino's knees as they continued to work feverishly. Naruto was signaling to Shino to prepare his hive, sparing a quick glance toward the edge of the forest where his clone sat channeling Nature Energy. Just a little more…

"The circle is the problem, eh? Let's take care of that!" Akamaru held Hidan and his scythe hostage between his teeth as Kiba launched into a Tsūga that he purposefully aimed at the ground. The impact obliterated the bloody circle and Akamaru viciously ripped his final hand clean off, dragging it and the scythe far out of reach. In a single swipe of his chakra blade Naruto severed the screaming head once again, and at his signal Shino's beetles descended upon the remains.

"Those motherfuckers are eating my beautiful body!" Hidan screamed as the swarm devoured his twitching body in a matter of seconds.

Naruto snatched up the decapitated head by its silver hair and ran back to the group, warily keeping a sensory awareness on the second Nin. Tossing the cussing skull onto the dirt where it rolled to a stop by Akamaru's growling snout, he grit his teeth at the sight of his comrade's stricken faces. Naruto's focus was drawn like a magnet to the unbelievable scene before him.

Choji looked ready to vomit, Ino was nearing hysterics. All the chakra she and Hinata were infusing wasn't enough, Asuma was bleeding too fast. Hinata's hands were shaking as she bit her lips, forcing herself to redouble her efforts. As the rain started to fall all Naruto could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears as he watched Shikamaru shakily lean down, turning his head to catch his sensei's desperate last words. The adrenaline of the battle was making everything feel like it was happening in slow motion, adding to the jarring juxtaposition of such a heated bloodbath next to the intense sorrow of his comrades, and Naruto's mind reeled in disbelief. We...we were too late?

Naruto's orange ringed eyes and Hinata's Byakugan read each whispered syllable as it fell from Asuma's pale lips, just before he relaxed in existential defeat. Take care of Kurenai, and our child...

They both exploded.

Like wings of an archangel, Hinata's midnight hair flared out behind her as a blast of chakra burst from her newly complete inner pool. Team Ten and Eight fell back, arms coming up to protect their eyes as a purple light encased her body, coalescing upon her furrowed brow. Her eyes shone like stars, narrowed in fierce concentration as the purple diamond seal of A Hundred Healings solidified and throbbed.

An instant later, it split into inky black lines that streaked down Hinata's face, twisting around her neck, streaming across her arms and though her hands where they gripped Asuma's nearly dead body. The chakra bands jumped from her hands to encase his torso, wrapping up his spirit, his heart, his blood. Refusing to loosen her hold on his soul, she ripped it out of the Shinigami's greedy grasp.

As Hinata waged her war with The Reaper, her voice rang out in heavenly fury. She would not relent. She would not give up. The astonished shinobi knelt around her in frozen amazement, instinctively knowing that they were witnessing a miracle, and trembling in awesome fear at her power.

While Hinata's mighty shout rang out like the chorus of heaven, Naruto's screech was the chant of hell. All those months, all that training, and he was too late.

Grief and fury fueled the crimson chakra that cloaked his body and incinerated his mind the moment he registered Asuma's last words. He saw nothing of what was happening behind his back as a red tail burst from his hunched frame. Vicious hatred burned away his rationality as he completely lost himself to the Kyūbi for the first time in his life.

The blue of his eyes flashed to pure white orbs bereft on any humanity as the frothing red jinchuriki turned and locked onto the remaining Akatsuki, who was solemnly bracing for a fight that he had never intended to face alone. A jagged tail of demonic chakra stabbed with the speed of light across the road, impaling the center of the black and red cloak with the sound of shattering stone, pinning the hooded shinobi to the wall of the bounty office. Kakuzu snarled at the unexpected loss of his first heart from the absurdly swift attack, and his stoic annoyance surged into livid aggravation.

"I'll not let you steal my bounty, Demon!" Black tentacles tore out of Kakuzu's cloaked figure, shredding the red clouds stitched onto the fabric as they flew through the air toward the group of Shinobi huddled around the dead jonin. Another chakra tail erupted from the roaring monster, slashing across the writhing appendages and severing them before they could snatch their prize.

Naruto's fangs glinted in a bloodthirsty grin that split his face. Never before had the intense craving to kill, to take back a life in revenge for one stolen, to spill blood and inflict pain, felt so desperately and achingly all consuming.

The two opponent's bodies morphed and evolved as the battle escalated in savagery with each unholy attack. Every white masked chakra element Kakuzu lashed out with was met by the emergence of another demonic tail, each one more searing than the last. Naruto forgot time, forgot his purpose, forgot his name. All he knew was loathing. All he felt was the aching need to sink his claws deep into this creature's flesh. All he saw was shades of red bloodlust as he parried with hundreds of slimy black tentacles as they thrashed out to grab Asuma.

Barely out of reach of the titanic fight, Hinata's seal finally receded back onto her forehead. The purple diamond glowed in sync with her throbbing heartbeat, which reflected the ragged breaths of the revived sensei. Choji grabbed the man's weak body, anxiously trying to outrun the ominous troughs of broken earth that were racing towards them from the direction of Kakuzu.

Just as he lifted Asuma up, two ashy hands attached to the deadly black tentacles burst from the rumbling ground, snatching at the empty space where the jonin had just laid. Flailing around for something to latch onto, one hand grabbed Shikamaru's leg and the other latched onto Ino's neck. The sharpened black tentacles centered on their chests, ready to pierce and steal their panic stricken hearts, but Kiba and Akamaru managed to tear the snakelike appendages off of their intended victims. Shino barely stumbled out of the way, still reeling from the ingestion of the large amount of foul chakra his hive had absorbed from the decimation of Hidan's corpse. But he managed to send two swarms of beetles after Kakuzu's retreating hands, chasing them down the holes left in the earth.

"Everyone fall back!" Hinata commanded, her Byakugan boring into the Akatsuki monstrosity that now resembled a den of vipers with four eerily stoic white masks and one malicious grin. Only Kiba and Akamaru were still able to fight at full strength, and they had to protect the rest of the exhausted Konoha Shinobi. She didn't want to say it out loud, but Naruto was in a state of rage she had never witnessed before, and it terrified her almost as much as the enemy.

Seeing the others making slow progress around the back building, Hinata braced to run towards Naruto, intent on joining him in battle. Suddenly Kakuzu's Mizu mask yawned its mouth open like a grotesque goblin and a tidal wave washed across the entire landscape. Her hands flashed through signs that redirected the water around them and into the forest, where it broke in a massive frothing mountain of white capped waves upon the trees. Kiba paused long enough to call out an earth jutsu that raised the ground beneath them in an attempt to create a high ground of safety away from the raging rapids.

Naruto was unfazed by the catastrophic tides and tore across the chopping waves, each step sizzling from the heat of his blazing body as he charged at his victim with demonic glee and inhuman speed. Hinata choked at the sight of her love, nearly unrecognizable as his skin burned away in chunks and his body contorted into a feral entity of hellish chakra.

The excruciating pain of the metamorphosis was completely unnoticed by the jinchuriki. He might be dying, but the ecstasy of his impending kill overwhelmed any sense of self preservation. His thoughts had narrowed down to solely focus on success, on revenge. Holding back could let that bastard live to see another day. And that was one day too many.

Kakuzu snarled as his water mask shattered under the impact of Naruto's hell fire attack, an inferno that sought to incinerate the damned soul before him to less than ashes. The heat of the bijū level chakra incinerated all the soaked vegetation around the two dueling shinobi. All the moisture in a wide radius evaporated instantly, pushing Hinata back as she continued to look for a way to reach Naruto. Even the others were hunched under the scalding weight of Naruto's killing intent, struggling to continue their escape under the billowing chakra burden of the dangerously escalating fight.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed as the wind began to pick up around them. His body was nothing but a black and red synthesis of boiling flesh and chakra as his bestial howl rattled the air. Her mind raced as she tried break through to him, worried about what his state was doing to his own body as well as their nearby comrades. They were too hurt, too spent to run faster, and they were burdened by an unconscious Asuma. If Naruto didn't stop he would kill them all, as well as himself…

"Stop! Please!" Hinata begged, fighting tears as she prayed for a way to save him. Using the surrounding water she loaded her palms with a hundred water bullets, launching them with sonic speed and pin point accuracy into the face of Kakuzu's fire mask, causing it to shatter as another wave of deadly jutsu was unleashed. Her skin burned like she was entering a furnace from the two shinobi's flaming chakras, the fringes of her shirt smoking under the ungodly heat even as she surrounded herself with water.

There was a limit to her healing, a limit to her endurance, a limit to her ability to defend and fight. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut against the building heat, straining to get to his side. "Naruto-kun, you're hurting us! Stop!"

But the rising winds snatched away her words as they converged into a vortex around Naruto as he wrestled his enemy. The powerful gusts coated his body like armor to shield him from the currents of electricity from Kakuzu's Lightning mask as they danced down the tentacles. The black snakelike appendages had latched onto Naruto's neck, his arms, three of his five tails, and were now pouring every ounce of their attack into the jinchuriki's body.

Hinata bowed under the building storm of elements, trying to fight her way to what was left of her love, trying to keep her wits about her, trying to not lose faith. All the while she monitored their fleeing teammates with her Byakugan. The fight is becoming too intense, no matter how far they get it's not far enough to be safe.

The intensity of his transformation was now penetrating every organ of Naruto's body. The strain of his first ever usage of five tails was pushing his muscles and bones beyond their physical limits. His vision was starting to blacken on the sides. His voice was more howl than human. He couldn't hear anything, anyone, or even his own voice in his head. Nothing but feral instinct was left. He would have his revenge. He would have his kill. He would punish the wicked.

A flicker of a memory triggered with this last urge for justice as the final piece of his individuality slipped away. With the last vestiges of his humanity he poured his anger, his heartbreak, his Fūton, and his demon into one powerful technique. The echoes of hell reverberated in his roar.

"Rasenshuriken!"

Horror engulfed her as Hinata saw it coming. She didn't know what it was, but the chakra Naruto was collecting between the knifelike tips of his two free tails was nothing short of cataclysmic. The fall out of such a ridiculous jutsu would rival the blast radius of a bomb. Her face twisted in agony as she realized that she had two choices, but only one chance. He was always her first choice, but he was beyond her, so she did the thing she never thought she would ever have to do.

She turned her back on him and ran. Ran for her life, ran for their teammates, ran to save the ones she could, praying for Kami to save him since she could not.

With a chakra fueled speed that burned her muscles Hinata tore back towards the vulnerable group of wounded Konoha shinobi. Biting her thumb as she desperately leapt with all her might to reach them before the eruption, she stretched out in a dive, slamming her hand onto the surface of the water as she screamed out the only technique she could still manage.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Just as the world exploded she felt the slimy coolness of Katsuyu engulf her and the rest under her protective weight.


"Just leave it."

Hinata winced at the sharp tone of Naruto's voice. The rain that had started during the battle still fell, covering the sound of her sigh as it pattered noisily on the canvas roof of the tent where Naruto had hidden himself away in physical and mental anguish. He had tried to dismiss her to go celebrate her victory with the others as they rejoiced in her near resurrection of Asuma. But her love was the one who needed her still, who suffered still, so she stayed by his side.

The gesture was not appreciated, Naruto had barely allowed her to even look at him long enough to wrap the worst of the wounds. Nearly his whole body was an ugly mess of peeling, burned skin that curled away from painfully raw flesh which wept with pink serosanguinous fluid into the fresh bandages. His self loathing oozed as much as his blistered form. She ached to heal him, mind and body. But every time she had tried to approach him with soft words and outstretched hands glowing with green healing chakra, he had recoiled away as if afraid of her tenderness. It had been a fight just to get him to allow her to at least clean and wrap his wounds. But he had forbidden her from using her chakra, no matter how many times she asked.

"Naruto-kun, I don't care about the way your skin looks. It doesn't bother me. I just want to ease your pain. Some of those wounds will scar if you don't let me—"

"Then let them scar," he snapped angrily. "Let them disfigure me. I'm already a monster on the inside, the outside might as well match." Had he been able to swipe at her hands Naruto would have done so, but even with his ridiculous tolerance for suffering it was obvious he could hardly bear to breathe deeply. Her eyes narrowed as her patience reached it breaking point, her sympathy did not always have to be gentle.

Sometimes Hinata hated him.

She hated him when he thought like this. Like he owed the world nothing but perfection. Like he had to be faultless in every way. Like the burden of a threat was his alone to bear. Like he was in any way the beast he held within him. Like he was less valuable to her just because he wasn't constantly in control. Like she could ever see him as anything less than wonderful. Anything less than strong. Anything less than loved.

Hinata blinked in shock as her mind wrapped around that thought, the merit of it reflected in the way he shrank under the thin blanket like his existence was revolting to her. Did…did he not realize she loved him? Infinitely, blamelessly, entirely? Kami, this poor, stupid man.

"Naruto-kun that's not true and you know it!" Hinata said sternly, frustration igniting in her belly. "Listen to me, I'm never going to leave it be. I'm never going to leave you. I'm never going to give up—"

"Dammit woman, didn't you see what happened? I fucked up," his husky voice was rough with emotion and agony as he tried to yank the blanket up over his face.

"How can you say that?" she instantly retorted. Waving her rejected hands through the air in disbelief at his stubbornness. "You won! Those Akatsuki are dead because of you, and the world is a safer place because of it. And your body will heal faster if you just let me—"

Naruto suddenly reared up off the pile of blankets with a harsh growl. Wretched self hatred propelling him past the torment of his injuries as he lashed out at her while clumsily ripping at the carefully applied bandages on his arms. Hinata gasped and leaped to grab his hands, but he twisted away and snarled heatedly.

"You don't get it! I broke my word! I lost control! I WANTED to kill him. I WANTED to see the life leave his eyes. I WANTED to spill his blood a thousand times over and I wasn't going to stop no matter who got in my way. I couldn't tell friend from foe, all I saw was hate. Don't you see!? I'll never be able to uphold my promise to the village, because I'll never be safe. I'll never be able to look the Hokage in the eye and swear that I am not a bloodthirsty bijuu, that I will not unleash his demonic hatred. Because I did. I am everything the villagers said I was. I don't deserve this headband!"

"Shut up," she whispered.

He ignored her, crying out in cut off sobs as he threw the blanket off. "I don't deserve to be near anyone."

"Shut up."

Her command didn't slow him down as he struggled to his feet, mumbling hatefully. "I'm not trustworthy, I'm not worthy-"

"SHUT UP!" She shot to her feet, easily blocking his pitifully weak attempt at fleeing the tent.

"Open your goddamned eyes Hime!" The bellow of his voice shook with his shame, his defeat, his dejection. His fist slammed painfully into his own charred chest with each punishing statement "I'm just a ticking time bomb. I'm just another mindless killing machine. I'm just a godforsaken jinchuriki!"

The sound of her palm slapping his cheek filled the small tent with a smart crack, cutting off his rant in a sharp inhalation of pain. Hinata firmly grabbed his face in her hands and forcefully shoved her chakra into his system. He gasped, the overwhelming sensation of her healing dousing him like a minty salve upon his raw wounds.

Hinata's hands glowed fiercely, all gentleness gone, as she invaded his system with her emotions as well as her chakra. All her certainty fought his doubt. Her relief fought his despair. Her devotion fought his detachment. Her faith fought his fear. Wordlessly she filled him up to overflowing with her truth.

Tears poured freely down his whiskered cheeks as his face crumpled, unfettered by any masculine need to hide his innermost vulnerability from her. The wall around his soul caved beneath the weight of her heart. The anger and adrenaline melted away and his tortured body collapsed. Hinata caught him, easily, smoothly, possessively, within her arms. His fingers threaded up into her hair as though he might lose her any second. The shredded loose ends of his bandages dragged over her shoulders as he pulled her forehead to touch his own.

"Why, Hime? Why are you doing this for me? I don't deserve it," he questioned in a whisper.

With godly patience, and stony resolve, she answered in confident voice. "Because I love you."

His hands fisted into her thick strands, his features twisting into a grimace as sobs hissed through his teeth. "How could you love me? I am a failure. A coward. A murderer. A monster. You are purity. You are Hyuga. You are Hime. Why would you love something like me?"

Hinata brushed her thumbs over his eyes, tenderly wiping away his tears until he cracked open his watery blue gaze to lock onto her own, to connect with her as she poured her convictions into his shattered mind.

"Because I see you, Naruto-kun."

His brow slid back and forth against her own, never breaking contact as he shook his head in disbelief. Incredulous excuses tumbling from his lips. "But I left you. I hurt you. I failed you."

"My love is patient, it will not abandon you when you are away."

His whole aura reeked of heartbreak. "I am full of faults."

"My love holds no grudges."

"I have no clan, no place of my own."

"My love is not proud."

Fragility quivered through his body as he fought against the hope that she was determinedly fostering with each firm declaration. "But I will only bring you hardship because of what I am."

"My love will protect you."

"I cannot promise you a happy ending, Hime. My life is not guaranteed from one day to the next."

"My love perseveres through eternity." She could feel him holding back, fighting to keep his chakra from blending with hers, fighting the inevitable. She burrowed deeper into him with her own, uprooting his negativities one at a time, ripping away the weeds of his doubts before they poisoned him from the inside out.

"I have so much to hide, so many secrets I must keep from the world."

"My love will be your truth."

Naruto buried his face into her neck, stuttered breaths panting across her shoulder as his arms pulled her into a fierce embrace like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline in a storm.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered into his ear, imagining her chakra carving her love, her identity, her everything, across his heart like a chisel on stone. "My love never fails."

He broke. Breath wooshing out of him as though he had been struck. Hinata relished the passion of his affection, her body opening up to accept and reciprocate the bombarding gust of chakra he finally released. Naruto pulled back his head, gazing down at her shining lavender eyes with wonder. The corners of his mouth curved up in the softest of smiles, as he felt her spirit engrave upon his soul.

"I love you too, Hime," he said fervently, the depth of his words as raw and naked as the broken piece of his soul that he had kept hidden away from everyone else.

He kissed her softly, tenderly, unhurriedly. She accepted him as he was, and he gave all that he had. They melded together, and they healed.

Naruto relished in the forgiveness and love that enveloped his being as he held this amazing woman, this powerful kunoichi, this potent healer, in his humble embrace. He wished he could stay by her side forever, if for no other reason than to watch in awe as she moved through life with the grace of an angel and the lethality of a sharpened blade. He wanted the world to know she was his other half, that he alone was man enough to dare to lay claim to such a formidable woman. To mark her forever…

A thought blossomed in his head, but as quickly as his heart leapt at the solution, his mind hesitated at the magnitude of the request. He had put her through so much, she had already given him more than he ever deserved. Could he dare to ask her for one more selfish gift?

Naruto straightened slowly, studying her beautifully flushed face as she licked her lips in a way that made his gut clench.

Naruto knew he loved her.

He always had. He had loved the way she thanked him when he jumped in to save her from those bullies. He loved the way she had smiled at him even when everyone else greeted him only with hate filled glares. He loved the way she had showered him with affection in the form of a scarf knit together with meticulous care, stitch by stitch, hours of investment, simply for his enjoyment. He had loved the way she believed in him, even when everyone saw him as the dead last. He loved the way she never feared him, even when he became a monster. He loved the way she fought, unselfishly and unashamedly declaring her truths for all to see.

He loved her. Period.

"I-I want to mark you," he blurted out into the darkness of the tent. Hinata's blush intensified until Naruto thought he could feel the heat simmering under her wide eyed gaze. He swallowed thickly at the lump of nervousness that suddenly climbed up his throat, mentally scrambling for the words to justify his unexpected statement.

"N-Not because I think you're some kind of possession of mine, or anything like that! You're an independent kunoichi, and I would never try to take that away."

Her expression eased, but confusion still filled her features, so she waited as he tried to talk, then hesitated, and instead released her and started to crawl around and fumble through the tent looking for his ninja pouch.

Naruto grunted at the bite of pain the movement caused, but noted the immense amount of healing he had achieved while Hinata had joined her chakra to his own, despite the fact that she had never tapped into her healing element for even a moment. For the hundredth time he marveled at the effects she had on his mind, body, and soul. He had never heard of lovers who had ever bonded the way they did, and he meant to take it a step further, if she allowed him…

Naruto rummaged in his pouch and pulled out a three-pronged kunai, flipping it around so that the seal unique to his chakra alone was visible.

"I've never done it before, to be completely honest," he scratched the back of his head nervously as she stared at the precise characters of the seal. "But I read in my father's notes that the Hiraishin can be applied to anything…and anyone."

Hinata's breath froze for a moment, as her finger reached out to tentatively trace the array. Naruto thought his heart might explode in the silence of her thoughtful assessment, and awkwardly rambled on to fill the gap.

"It would have some limits, depending on my chakra level and distance. But essentially, with this, I could come to you any time. You could even channel your own chakra into it and summon me, anytime you needed help." Her head snapped up and he frantically waved his half bandaged hand as he rushed to clarify. "N-Not that I think you're weak! Kami, after what you've done these last few day, the Shodaime himself would think twice before entering into battle with you!"

Hinata smiled at his misunderstanding of her surprise, and the adorable way he was back pedaling before he even heard her answer. She knew what she would say with the same calm certainty with which she knew the sun would rise in the morning. But there was a thread of fear that held her back from openly declaring her decision. She had been marked before, the ugly green seal was now centered around the purple diamond of her Byakugo no In. Hinata automatically touched her forehead, feeling the faintly raised edges where the Caged Bird Seal had scarred her young skin all those years ago. She knew her heart was convinced, but her mind needed a bit more persuading, so she honestly laid out her fears before him.

"Why, then?" Her voice was fragile as glass, and seeing her gesture Naruto instantly understood. He reached up and grasped her hand from where it brushed her forehead and threaded his fingers through her own, replacing the touch of her hand with the press of his lips upon her seal. Hinata closed her eyes and whispered, "If not for possession or protection, why would you want to add another brand to my body?"

Naruto rearranged his legs, lowering himself completely down upon his knees and flattening his hands upon the ground before her. He bowed lowly until she was staring in shock down upon the crown of his blond head, and his voice held nothing but reverence as he spoke.

"Hime, the thought of binding myself to you in a way that defies time and space would bring me more pleasure than any amount of power, any amount of recognition, any amount of wealth, or any promise of destiny that Kami could bestow upon me. More than I want anything else in this life or the next, I want you, Hime. I love you, Hyuga Hinata, and it would be my honor for you to bear my mark."

Hinata's body nearly swooned, but she fought back the rush of rapture to reach out and pull his head up meet her eager lips, the joy and pleasure of his declaration stealing her words and filling her eyes with tears. Finally releasing his mouth with a laughing gasp, she squealed when he tugged her down to his side upon the rumpled pile of blankets.

"Yes, yes!" she gasped into his chest, "I want you with me always. I want to be yours alone."

His hand slid up the back of her shirt, his rough palm pressed firmly into the smooth expanse of skin between her shoulder blades. Naruto pushed enough to feel her soft breasts press into his chest, aligning their hearts, and making his own flutter madly. He looped his arm around her waist craving all the contact he could get as he gathered chakra into his hand.

"Hold on to me," he whispered, ducking his head to catch her lips as he felt the technique tingling across his fingertips, reaching its peak. "And never let go."


Sometimes Karin hated him.

She hated how his presence changed the laws of time and space. Alone in the Kami-forsaken depths of the labs, walking in the ethereal glow of one tank after another of mutant experiments, she lived minute by minute. Breath by breath. A forced, conscious effort to simply exist within the hell of tubes and wires and monitors and machines. But when she was with him, the hours bled away into a series of intangible exultations that made her question whether she deserved such pleasure.

She hated how he thought himself immortal, and threw himself into the harshest training regimes that The Snake and his Creep could conjure up. She hated how he stoically endured the hours of torture, refusing to stop until he was barely able to breathe and blood poured from his lips. She hated the fevers and convulsions that swept over his strong body every time Kabuto found a new poison with which to test his immune system. Her last hope for life, for happiness, was rooted in his existence, without him she would wither, and crumble to dust.

Sometimes she loved him.

She loved how with just a touch he could restore her humanity. She was constantly in need of revival from her course outer persona of distain and carelessness. He was a fire that melted the ice of her heart. And under his caress, she burned.

She loved the haven of his protective presence. All her life, she had been running, hiding, escaping, searching. All her life she had been taught to distrust, and guard. All her life, she had known betrayal. Her mother had not come home. The village did not protect her. The work was not for a worthy cause. Yet Sasuke had never broken his word. Anything, from assisting her with Hana-san, to stubbornly surviving the night as he sweat through one blanket after another with fever, he had fulfilled all his promises to her. He had known betrayal as well, he understood that words were sacred.

She loved how he craved her, not for her gifts, but for her existence. At night when he pinned her body beneath his it was not his teeth that pierced her skin but his lips that whispered across her scars. He took only as he gave, and she subdued him as often as he dominated her.

Now here he was, staggering towards her, clothing shredded, inky curse marks retreating across his skin, blood dripping from his mouth and spattered over his chest, sword dangling from his trembling fingers. She shakily stood to her feet, the pool of blood where she had knelt staining her shins, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, meters and meters of golden chains tinkling across the destroyed flagstones and into her fingers, glowing with all the chakra she had sucked from her victim.

Broken glass crunched beneath Sasuke's feet. She stepped over Kabuto's withered corpse, or what was left of it after she had finished him. The heady power of the stolen chakra fed to her through her chains made her dizzy, and she was nearly spinning with the euphoria of a battle won, a vendetta satisfied, and energy restored.

"You did it," he smirked, his voice raspy with fatigue, and his sword clanked to the floor as he reached for her. She floated into his arms, allowing him to lean on her. "Of course I did, idiot. Just like you, I see." She tossed her glasses away, the lenses were shattered, and she just wanted to feel him.

"Hn," was his only response, but she shuddered at the feel of his thrumming chakra, depleted but exultant from his victory over The Snake. They were free. Holy shit, we're FREE.

"What now," he murmured into her neck, his head falling forward upon her shoulder, and she shifted again to support him.

"Burn it." She bit out, her red eyes dancing over his head as they scanned the ruins of the lab where she had ambushed the unsuspecting medic nin as he poured over yet another profane experiment. "But first, I want you to bite me."

Sasuke grunted against her skin, and she felt his hands tighten on her hips, but she stood firm despite knowing how he hated to use her. "It will leave another scar," he mumbled, too tired to lift his head. Karin reached up and yanked open the collar of her shirt, exposing a small, blemishless piece of her body at the base of her neck, just over her leaping pulse.

"I don't care, I want you to mark me Sasuke."

His eyes flared red with carnal glee and a smile slowly spread across his face as she stared up at him in defiant elation, her cheeks flushing pink despite the stern set of her lips. He bent his head and brushed his mouth over her pale skin, inhaling deeply as his tongue stroked her, and then sank his teeth deeply into her shivering flesh. They clung to one another as her lascivious cries echoed throughout the empty labyrinth of the massacred hide-out.


Within the bronze barred cage, the Kyuubi blinked his eyes open, rolling over from where he lay exhausted after first having to fight to restrain the brat, a lot of good that did, and then pouring his chakra into every last cell of the idiot's body to keep him alive. He hated to think what his siblings would say if they knew what he had allowed himself to be reduced to.

The glowing chakra that had awakened him shook the entire chamber, flashing across the large wall that faced his cage on the other side of his prison bars in a dancing serpentine motion. The Fox's ears twitched, this was different, this had never happened before when the girl had mixed her chakra into his container's body.

With a final blast of light, the trail glowed and then faded, revealing the elegant strokes now carved permanently into the stone of the boy's mindscape.

"Hyuga Hinata"

He stared at the inscription, and chuckled deeply as he tucked his head back into his nine tails to rest. The boy was one whipped motherfucker. But at least he had good taste.