A/N: Well here it is, the chapter than many of you have been asking about for a while now. It took me a while to get here, mainly because I have enjoyed writing the fluff interactions between Naruto and Hinata.
To the Guest who posted that you were leaving for basic before this chapter was to be published. I want to say that I am sorry that I could not get this done more quickly so that you could read it before you left. I did try, but life and an enormously long chapter got in the way of publishing this any sooner.
So read and enjoy while I go and try and take a well-earned nap.
Three different people are walking along in three different locations, lost in their remembrance of a past event that changed not only their lives, but has caused ripples that have affected an uncountable number of people.
Naruto is walking down the street of some village, whose name eludes his troubled mind, thinking about the blemishes in his past that he wishes would have stayed hidden, or even better if they had never occurred. During his time running away from the pain in his heart he had allowed bitterness and anger to cloud his soul and he gave into some darker impulses that he now looks back on with disgust. As some of those memories work their way forward from the dark place he had shut them away into, he feels like he is watching somebody else rather than himself. The beginning to all his current troubles can be traced back to that night.
Sakura, now that she is well away from the Hyuga compound, feels the stabbing pain return to her heart. She really wanted Hinata's help to try and express her regret for what had happened, and hopefully make peace with Naruto. Afterwards, if he is still angry with her, she could say that she tried to heal that wound she had caused. Sakura tries to mask the pain in her heart by focusing all of her frustration at the sudden stubbornness expressed by Hinata. Why did Hinata have to pick now, of all times, to become as pig headed as her boyfriend. Why couldn't she have been the timid girl who would put herself second and gives into anybody's request, no matter how big or small, for just one more night? Instead, Hinata has finally become as stuck up as the rest of her clan.
Her life had been so simple after the war was over. She was going to confess her love to Sasuke, help to heal his heart and then help him find a new purpose for his life. Eventually he would realize the depth of her love for him and they would get married. Soon thereafter they would start having a family, with lots of kids to help rebuild the Uchiha clan. Now, they are together and she believes that he may be close to proposing marriage. She winces a little at the lie that she had told Hinata not too long ago about how Sasuke did not seem inclined to get married anytime soon.
In reality, if he were to propose tonight she would probably say not yet, or even no, because her heart just won't let herself commit to him fully until this one dark blemish on her soul is gone. Even when they are making love, and she looks into his dark eyes, she can feel a hole in her heart. So while her body submits to its desires, her soul feels nothing but regret, so she closes her eyes so that he will not see the pain she is trying to hide. She doesn't deserve happiness, not until she can at least try to repair the damage done on that night.
Hinata is walking through the family gardens hoping that the beauty of the place will sooth her restless spirit. She is afraid, afraid that the selfish decision she made tonight will come back and try to take away everything she is trying to protect. Her life has suddenly become so much more complex, and she is unsure at the moment of what she should do next. At long last she has Naruto in her life, not the object of her obsession that she had silently watched from a distance like when they were children, but he is actually part of her life. She has been held tenderly in his arms and at long last knows the feel of his lips pressed against her own. He has acknowledged her, and has proudly told people that they are dating. Now they are even more, they are a couple, boyfriend and girlfriend. Even though he has yet to confess his love, she wants to believe that the look in his eyes when they stare at each other coveys the words he is having trouble finding the strength to express.
She thinks back to what has led to her having nearly everything she has wanted for so long. It is one singular event that nearly destroyed the one she loves and nearly took him away from her forever. That night had been like a wildfire, destroying nearly everything that had got in its path, but now after the earth has cooled new life has sprung up from the ashes. She was there for him at a tipping point when he might have finally given in completely to the despair, and she had helped to nurture that tiny seedling of the old Naruto she found among those ashes. That seedling has grown tall and beautiful like a sunflower in the middle of a field of daisies, and now her life is brighter and fuller than any time she can remember. She hopes that if given a chance, and enough time, their life can grow together.
But would she have what she has now if things had gone differently, that night?
FLASHBACK
Hinata has finished her now daily training with her father, who has decided after seeing her in action during the war that she should start working directly with him again. He says that he wants to reassess her skills and to see if his earlier judgment about her ability to lead the clan was premature. During the morning she is practicing with her father, alongside her little sister Hanabi, who had been their father's exclusive pupil for a number of years. In the afternoon she is working with her father to learn what he does to protect the interests of the Hyuga clan, during nearly endless meetings. It had been odd at first to have her father take a direct interest in her training again, and the unhappy looks her sister had given her when their father made the announcement was a little unsettling. She would have to sit down with Hanabi-chan soon and discuss their future, and the clan's future, so they could try and map out what direction they both feel that the clan needs to go to ensure its future in the new era of peace.
She is now on her way to Ichiraku's, and is planning on trying again to talk with Naruto, if only she could find the confidence to talk to him without stuttering, or the strength to not feel faint when his body comes excitingly close. 'When he gets close some part of me wants to reach out and grab his hand. Another part of me wants him to reach out grab ahold of me and…' Her face suddenly feels like it is one fire from what her imagination is trying to visualize.
It seems like the war had changed many things for her, but she still could not overcome her nervousness whenever she tries to look into his blue eyes. She has been practicing hard lately to overcome this problem she has around him, and to find the confidence that she only seems to find when his life is in danger. It appears that only the fear of losing him is stronger than her fear of finding out how he really feels about her, and the possibility of being rejected by the one she loves if he does not feel that same way.
Hinata knows that Naruto is usually done eating dinner at his favorite place by this time. So she is running ahead to set herself up to cross paths with Naruto and force herself to have a coincidental meeting. She lets out a sad sigh when she sees the one thing that she had hoped they could avoid for just one day… the pack.
Naruto pats his stomach happily as he walks away from Ichiraku's ramen shop, he isn't full, but at least he was able to have some of the old man's ramen. He had worked up quite an appetite today working on some of the jutsu's written in the scrolls his father had told him that he hidden away, just in case something had happened. It was his father's last gift that he could bestow before the reanimation jutsu ended.
Naruto glances over as the sound of jostling bodies and chatter catches his attention. It is the same group of girls that was waiting for him at Ichiraku's when he showed up for dinner. He smirks and mentally shakes his head at how weird the whole thing has become ever since his fight with Pain, but even more so since the war ended several weeks ago. Not too long ago people would actually leave when he showed up to eat dinner anyplace in the village, and he knows that Ichiraku's business probably suffered during those years when he was an unpopular regular. Now the whole thing is reversed, Ichiraku's place is so busy lately that they close early most nights because they have run out of noodles, though the old man always seems to have one bowl of noodles left somehow whenever he comes by for a meal. People now seem to be hanging around at the ramen shop in hopes of bumping into him, just to talk or even sit and eat in a nearby seat while staring at him in awe when they think that he is not looking.
Ayame and the old man laugh and occasionally tease him about the gang of girls surrounding him as the girls ask him weird questions and giggle nearly non-stop at everything he says. 'It's weird, people never really laughed at my jokes before. They would mostly roll their eyes, or in Sakura-chan's case, punch me for being stupid.'
Heck, he really hadn't given much thought about what his favorite flower is, because they are all pretty and smell nice, so why pick just one flower. So when they kept asking he just looked around and saw a bunch of flowers that Ayame had in a vase. He pointed at the orange ones and told them that he liked those because they are pretty and kind of smell nice too. The very next night every one of those girls showed up wearing some of the flowers either in their hair or on their clothing, a few even wore kimonos with the flower in the pattern. Also, the smell of what he found out was chrysanthemum, was so thick from all of those girl's perfume, and flowers, it was hard to taste his ramen that night. 'Man, I had to wash my clothes twice to get the smell of those flowers out of my outfit.'
Naruto chuckles a little at the absurdity of it all. 'Oh well, it is weird having people, mostly girls, hang around me all the time, but it is nice as well. Everywhere I go people greet me and want to talk with me, so I really shouldn't complain after all of those years of being ignored. Once I become Hokage people are going to want to hang around and talk with me all the time anyways, so I should just shut up and enjoy.' He just smiles, relishing the sound of all these girls talking to him at once, while trying to make out individual questions to answer.
There they are, circling around him like a bunch of salivating wild dogs, all trying to be the one to get the treat. Hinata actually feels jealous of how those girls can throw themselves at Naruto in front of the entire village without any concern, or self-respect. Each time she thinks that she has found the courage to confront him and find out the truth of his feelings for her once and for all, she finds him surrounded by a pack of pretty young girls who are all trying to get his attention.
It has been painful to watch as they swarm around him every time he walks around the village, while all she can still do is watch him from afar. 'He has been enjoying the fact that people, other than his friends and teammates, are talking with him and want him around. I shouldn't be upset because he is a good person and deserves to finally be treated nicely. It is the fact that he is a good person that he doesn't show his annoyance to the people that truly deserve some lessons in proper manners.' For once she is also thankful that his problem of overlooking the obvious is in full effect and he does not seem to recognize why some, if not nearly all, of those girls are hovering around him so closely.
One of the girls lets out a startled cry and Naruto turns to see her falling. He quickly kneels down and catches the girl before her body strikes the ground. "Are you okay?"
The brown haired girl with orange highlights looks up at Naruto with her big brown eyes looking deeply into his own, and a slight blush on her face. "Thank you for catching me Uzumaki-sama."
Naruto nods as he helps the girl stand back up. "Sure, anytime. I hate to see people get hurt." The sound of unhappy mumbling catches his attention and he looks around as he is sure he heard the words …on purpose… being said. 'Did somebody trip her on purpose? That's not very nice. Maybe I should say something to the other...' He feels something warm and soft touch his hand and looks back to see that the brown eyed girl has placed her hand on top of his and is giving him a strange looking smile.
"Your strength and speed is amazing. I am so lucky you were here to catch me before I hit the ground and got hurt." She slides her hand slowly up his forearm. "I wish I was as skilled as you are Uzumaki-sama."
Naruto gives the girl a big grin that causes her to blush a little more, and then she bats her eyes… almost playfully. Naruto blinks in confusion a couple of times before deciding that it is just his imagination. "All it takes is dedication and lots of practice."
"Maybe you could give me some pointers?" She turns her head shyly to the side and gives him another one of those weird smiles. "Maybe a private lesson?" Her voice becomes a little husky sounding. "I promise to be a good… student." The girl then gives his bicep a playful squeeze.
"Uh, sure." Naruto pulls his arm free and rubs the back of his head. "I can make some time to show you a few things to help you improve your skills." The girl lets out a squeal of excitement and places a kiss on his cheek, but before Naruto can react to the sensation of her warm lips against his face he is swarmed by the rest of the kunoichi in the group. Each of the girls is now asking for their own private lesson.
Suddenly he needs figure out how and when he is going to find the time to meet with each of these girls privately. "I might just have to make a bunch of shadow clones to spend private time with each of these girls wanting a private lesson, just so that I can get done with the stuff I need to do. It's either that or see if some of my friends might have time to help him teach some of these girls, like Rock Lee or Hi…'
He looks up and there she is, looking at him with that same sad look in her eyes. 'Every time I have seen Hinata since we got home from the war, she looks at me with that sad expression on her face, like she is about to cry or something. I guess she is still feeling responsible for Neji's death, but it was my fault really, I overdid it on the battlefield and left myself vulnerable. If I had been a little less reckless, then maybe she wouldn't have tried to protect me and Neji wouldn't have died saving her life. I really should talk with her and see if there is anything I can do to make her smile again. It is the least I can do, but I wish there was something more.' As he is trying to figure out what to say, not only to Hinata, but to the girls so that he can get away to talk with her privately, Hinata bows her head sadly and walks away.
'Dammit, she's leaving.' He grits his teeth in frustration. 'Tomorrow, I don't care what other promises I have made, I am going to Hinata's home and ask to talk with her, maybe over lunch at ... No that is a bad idea, there will most likely be a bunch of people hanging around there waiting for me to show up and eat. If that happens we will never be able to talk in peace. I can't ask her to come to my place, because to be honest my place looks like a wreck and a nice girl like her wouldn't feel comfortable in such a mess. A guess Sakura-chan is right, I need to grow up and start acting like an adult, and not living like a pig.' Naruto scratches his chin as the whirlwind of chatter continues to go on all around him without notice. 'I need to talk with Hinata soon and I don't think even a dozen shadow clones could get my place presentable enough for Hinata to come over.'
He closes his eyes and focuses his thoughts for another option. 'It would be easier if I could just talk with her at her family's place, since it is so private and secluded, but there is just no way that the Hyuga clan would ever let me come inside. Hell, they would probably just tell me to go take a hike when I come asking to see Hinata, war hero or not. I will never understand how somebody as nice as Hinata could come from such a stuck up group of people.'
An idea finally pops into his mind that might just work. 'That's it, I am on my way to the hospital to see if Sakura-chan can come with me to see Granny Tsunade to find out when Sasuke is going to be released. So while I am in her office I can see if Granny Tsunade will let me borrow the observation deck at the top of the Hokage tower tomorrow so that I can talk with Hinata privately.'
Naruto happily slaps a fist into the palm of his other hand. "Ladies, I am sorry, but I have to leave." He rubs the back of his head and chuckles at the chorus of disappointed groans. "I really do enjoy spending time and talking with all of you, but I heard during dinner that the Hokage just got back in the village. By now she has had a chance to make it back to her office, and I need to speak with her on some important stuff." He leaps away feeling guilty about seeing the disappointed faces of all of the girls. "Catch up with me tomorrow and we can work out a time for the training lessons." He gives the girls one last wave and a big smile.
As she is walking down the street Hinata is actually shocked at herself when she realizes that her hands are balled up into a fist as she thinks about how some of the girls have become even more brazen lately. 'They all swarm around him, and some are becoming desperate to get him to notice them, like that girl who just pretended to trip to get Naruto-kun's attention. I would never fall like that to get him to notice me, I would probably fall because I am so awkward when he is around and just look like a clumsy fool again.' The sound of a girl's excited squeal catches her attention and she steps into the shadows as a couple of girls are running down the street.
"You got his autograph? I am so jealous of you right now." The taller of the two girls shouts as she tries to snatch the object out of the other girl's hands.
The shorter girl pulls her hand away and stuffs the item into her pockets. "Not only do I have his autograph. He signed the napkin he was using at the ramen shop."
"Are you telling me those stains are his lip prints?" The two girls begin to struggle as the taller one is now trying to reach into the other girl's pocket. "Please let me see the napkin again?"
"Forget it, I am not letting anyone near this again until I can get it framed." She places both hands over her pocket protectively. "Go get something of your own signed."
The taller girl adjusts her top and looks down smugly at her friend. "Maybe I will get his autograph somewhere on my body, and maybe his lip prints too." She puts her hands on her hips and shakes her chest to draw attention to her now slightly exposed cleavage.
"Why do you talk about him like that, he is a person, not some… thing to be chased after like a prize." Hinata is as surprised as the two girls to hear herself speak up. In embarrassment she covers her mouth and steps a little deeper into the shadows.
The taller girl peers into the shadows where Hinata's outline can just barely be seen. "First off, mind your own damn business. Secondly, Uzumaki Naruto is a prize. Everyone knows that he is most likely going to be Hokage one day, so that means some lucky girl will be a Hokage's wife. Which in turn means power, influence, and respect. For someone like me, who was born to one of the minor shinobi clans, this is an opportunity that cannot be ignored."
"W-W-What about love? You didn't say anything about love." Hinata, interested in their answer, takes a step closer to the two girls, just enough where the streetlight can illuminate her feet.
The taller girl flips her long auburn hair back over her shoulder. "Oh don't worry about that, I will love being a Hokage's wife."
"I-I-I meant love for him, Uzumaki Naruto." Hinata's stomach was starting to feel queasy at the thoughts that someone like this was trying to get close to Naruto.
Both girls shrug as the taller one replies to Hinata's question. "I'm sure that in time I will come to really love him, I mean he is very handsome. I also have no doubt that I will make him very happy that I am his wife." She lifts up her chin to strike a haughty pose. "If you girls will excuse me, I am going home and put on an outfit that will surely get his full attention, if you know what I mean. I am going to make my move tonight before somebody else beats me to the punch and ends up in his bed first."
Hinata stands there completely frozen in shock at the girl's… slutty proclamation. 'I need to say something to stop her somehow, Naruto-kun deserves better than to end up with someone like that girl. He should be with someone who truly loves him and that he loves in return.' As she steps out of the shadows Hinata places both of her hands over the sudden ache in her chest. 'Even if it is not me, I want him to love and be in love with the one he is with.' Her introspection is interrupted as the shorter girl begins to speak.
"Hyuga-sama, my apologies." She bows deeply to Hinata. "I had no idea that it was you that we were speaking with so informally. If you will excuse me, Hyuga-sama." The girl bows deeply again before running off in a different direction than her friend had just taken.
Hinata barely acknowledges the girl as she runs away. 'I have to know, I have to know the truth. If I stay silent and allow someone like that to steal his heart I will regret this night for the rest of my life.' She turns around and heads back to where she last saw Naruto. 'I don't care if he says nothing, or even rejects my offer of love, I just need him to know that he is truly loved. I need him to know that I am still, and always will be in love with Uzumaki Naruto. If nothing else I can at least try to warn him about those girls, somehow.'\
As he makes his way towards the hospital Naruto smiles as he thinks to himself. 'Hopefully Sasuke will be let out of that prison soon and we can all hang out together like we did before Orochimaru screwed everything up. Maybe we can get Granny Tsunade to assign us a mission together with Kakashi-sensei and the four of us can just get away from the village and all of these distractions.' Shortly after returning to the village, at the conclusion of the war, Sasuke had been ordered to surrender himself for the crimes he had committed before the war began. Sasuke had gone with the ANBU to serve out his sentence with no argument; he just gave Tsunade a sneer and a shake of his head to Naruto and Sakura, warning them to not interfere.
Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura had testified on Sasuke's behalf that the war would have been lost if he had not joined in the battle. Tsunade had sent transcripts of their testimonies to each of the other Kages ahead of the recent Five Kage Summit. She was hoping that they would read and fully absorb the words of the legendary Hatake Kakashi, along with the newly legendary Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. They would understand Sasuke's reasoning for what he did and how he and his whole clan had been manipulated all this time.
Naruto is pulled out of his thoughts as he senses Sakura's chakra nearby and immediately can feel that she is very upset by its erratic flow. He looks around and sees her running down the street and even at this distance he can see the tears flowing from her eyes and knows that something terrible has happened.
He catches up with Sakura just outside the gates to the ANBU prison facility, where high ranking prisoners are held and usually interrogated. She is arguing with two members of the ANBU, telling them to let her pass.
Neither one of them move at all until Sakura starts pushing chakra into her fist. "I am the student of the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, and you will let me in to see the prisoner or I will knock down that door and you with it, so move out of my way now."
Naruto can see that the ANBU members do not care who she is and that they are prepared to fight and potentially even kill Sakura if that is what it takes to honor their commitment as members of the ANBU. 'If I don't do something it is most likely those ANBU guys who are going to get hurt, not Sakura.' With all the speed he can muster, and cloaked in the Kurama's chakra, Naruto jumps between them and Sakura, with his arms stretched out.
"Get out of my way Naruto. I am going to see Sasuke-kun, and nobody is going to stop me, not them, not the Hokage, not even you, do you understand?" Sakura raises her fist preparing to rush the building and knock the door right off its hinges.
With hands made from Kurma's chakra Naruto grabs her wrists, while his own arms are wrapped around her waist lifting her off the ground. Even with the immense amount of charka from Kurama, Naruto can feel himself straining to keep Sakura from hurting herself or anyone else. "Please calm down Sakura-chan before you hurt yourself, or someone else, okay."
"Just let me down and the only people who have to get hurt are those idiots who won't let me in to see Sasuke-kun." She begins to flail her feet wildly, kicking him hard in the legs. Thankfully she had only enhanced her fists or she would have probably shattered both of his legs by now.
'I have to get her out of here fast so that I can try to calm her down. There is no way one of those guys could survive one of her punches.' Naruto uses the Flying Thunder God Technique and they both vanish from outside the ANBU facility, leaving two very surprised guards behind, and they reappear in the middle of the old Team 7 training grounds. He is still trying to perfect this jutsu and has not tried taking anyone with him before, so they are both left momentarily dazed by the mostly successful jutsu.
They both collapse from the shock to their system as they materialize. Naruto instinctively lowers Sakura to the ground gently while struggling not to faint from the exertion of using this new technique he had just learned from his father's scrolls. He has to stop himself from crushing Sakura underneath his body by catching himself with one arm just beside her head, while the other is now trapped between the ground and Sakura's slender waist.
He looks down at Sakura and her proximity is nearly overwhelming as he stares down at the beautiful pink-haired girl that has been part of his fantasies for nearly as long as he can remember. He has always tried when they were together to be downwind of her just so that he could catch the scent of her hair and perfume. Cherry blossoms, she always wore a perfume that matched not only her name, but her hair as well. Now that his nose is nearly touching her cheek, her scent is like a cloud surrounding him, making him dizzy with the desire to press his face along her neck, inhale deeply and commit this moment to memory. In all the times that he has been close to her, or held her close when he would save her life, he has never had the chance to let his senses be so completely overwhelmed with the object of his youthful affection.
Part of him wants to give in to this desire and finally see if the lip gloss that she uses tastes of cherries as well, before she is forever out of his grasp and in the arms of the man that she loves. As he moistens his lips as he slowly lowers himself towards her sacred lips, he feels her body begin to stir as the shock of the imperfect Flying Thunder God Technique is starting to fade.
Naruto waits, ever so close to his goal, for her to fully awaken and fill his vision with the perfect jade of her eyes. He knows that he will never again have the chance to kiss her lips and finally know the truth of his youthful question, but he cannot take away something as sacred as her first kiss without her permission. He is not disappointed as she looks into his eyes, at first without comprehension, and then as realization hits he can feel the heat rise from her now bright red face.
As her mind begins to clear Sakura blinks her eyes a few times and all she can see is the clearest blue she had ever seen in her life. It wasn't until the blue blinks that she realizes that Naruto's face is almost touching her own, intimately close with their lips almost caressing each other. The only time she had ever been closer to his face before was when she had worked so hard to keep him alive during the war. She would never admit it to anyone else, especially Ino, but she has thought a lot about that moment since the war had ended. How Naruto had finally gotten that kiss he had wanted, sort of, but he had been unconscious and would never remember what had transpired. She would though, and looking back through the memories of that terrible time, that moment would stand out the most in her memory. He should have been just another patient, or more realistically a little brother, and she shouldn't smile as she touches her lips when she thinks about saving a patient. That had been the first time anything other than the practice manikin they used in medical ninjutsu training had touched her lips. Some people have nickname that procedure the kiss of life, but she tries to not think about it that way. She wants her first real kiss, and all those that will follow, to be with somebody else.
Now seeing those eyes looking so deeply into her own was almost mesmerizing and stirred something inside of her that she didn't know she could truly ever feel for anyone other than her Sasuke-kun. 'Wait, Sasuke-kun, I have to reach Sasuke-kun before...' Her inner voice shouts as both of her hands push upwards throwing an unsurprised Naruto up against a nearby tree. "Naruto, get off me you idiot!"
Smiling at Sakura's completely expected reaction, Naruto barely feels the impact of the tree against his back. 'Yup, same old Sakura.' He just stands there and rubs the back of his head with his right hand while giving her a nervous fox grin as Sakura stands up. "Sorry about that Sakura-chan, I am still trying to perfect that jutsu. I guess it disoriented me for a moment and I wasn't thinking straight."
Sakura ignores his apology and looks about to try and figure out exactly where she is, and what is the fastest way back to the prison. 'How could I allow myself to get distracted when Sasuke-kun needs me to be there with him, and not thinking about somebody else?'
As she begins walking, still somewhat unsteady, in the direction of the prison Naruto steps in her way. "Move Naruto, or so help me I will pound you in the ground so deep that you won't be able to see daylight." She holds up a fist to accentuate her threat. "I can't let you get in my way anymore dammit."
Naruto, not caring for his own safety at the moment steps right in front of Sakura. "Wait Sakura-chan, you can't just go barging into the prison like that, you will get yourself killed. More likely you will end up hurting somebody that is only trying to do their job, and you will regret what you did later."
Hinata, having just arrived, hides protectively behind a nearby tree and watches as Naruto blocks Sakura's path. She had momentarily activated her byakugan, just after she saw Naruto running down the street, and was caught off guard when he suddenly surrounded himself in the nine-tails chakra to block Sakura from entering the prison. When he teleported away it was quite easy to see the momentary flash of intense chakra and to figure out what he had done and where they had gone. He had used that jutsu of his fathers that she has been silently watching him practice ever since they got back to the Leaf Village. She had quickly shut down her byakugan and ran towards the Team 7 training ground to see if Naruto and Sakura are okay. As she watches, Hinata can see that something has upset Sakura greatly as she tries to get past Naruto and back to the prison.
Sakura, tears now clouding her vision, tries to knock Naruto out of her way, but he only dances backwards just out of her reach. "Who cares if I get hurt, Naruto? As long as I can talk to him one more time, nothing else matters." She takes another wild swing at the blurry form of Naruto. "Nothing else will ever matter to me again."
"Sakura-chan, I care. I would care a lot if you were to get hurt." He takes a chance and steps closer to try and console her, just to dodge back as she makes another angry attempt to knock him out of her way. "Sakura, you aren't making any sense. If you need to see teme, then just ask Granny Tsunade for written permission to go see him and she will give you one, just like she did before she left for the Kage conference."
"She said no, dammit!" Sakura punches the ground at her feet, sending out a shockwave and throwing rocks up into the air. "She told me that it would be best if I were to not see him ever again. That it would just make it harder, in the end if I did."
Naruto, his left cheek cut and bleeding from a shard of flying rock, looks at Sakura with confusion. "Make what harder, Sakura-chan? You are not making any sense."
"They are going to kill him, Naruto! That is why I need to see my Sasuke-kun, before…" Sakura stops walking and breaks down crying, her face in her hands.
Hinata has to cover her mouth to stifle the gasp at hearing the shocking news that she knows will hurt Naruto nearly as much as it has Sakura. 'Oh please don't let this be true.'
"What do you mean they are going to kill Sasuke?" Naruto takes a step closer to Sakura, almost close enough to touch and comfort his teammate. "WHO is going to TRY and kill Sasuke?" His voice becomes more like a growl.
Sakura drops her hands and looks at Naruto with all of the fear, anger and frustration she is feeling completely evident on her face. "The Kages, they have decreed that Sasuke-kun is to be executed."
Naruto waves his hands in a dismissive gesture. "They wouldn't do that, Granny Tsunade and Gaara would never allow that to happen. That can't be right, maybe you have heard a bad rumor. Ino is not always correct with the rumors she hears about and spreads. Let's go talk to Granny Tsunade and she will clear this whole thing up, okay." He holds out his hand to Sakura his face pleading her to take hold and follow him to see the Hokage.
"I already did, I overheard her talking with Kakashi-sensei. I was delivering the latest hospital reports when I overheard them arguing. I knew it was bad if Kakashi was raising his voice, and when I heard him say that I would not take the news well I barged in and demanded to know what they were talking about." Sakura balls up her fist as her whole body shakes angrily. "They told me the truth, that there was a vote at the recent Kage conference, and a vote was put forth by the Tsuchikage and it was quickly seconded by the Raikage. The vote was three for and two against having Sasuke executed for his attack on the Kage conference that had claimed the Raikage's left arm. It was all a pretense for wanting to rid the world of the Uchiha threat, so that there would never be another chance for another Madara to ever be born." She starts walking again in the direction of the prison. "When I asked Lady Tsunade to let me see him, to let me stay with him till the execution, she told me no and that it would be best if I didn't. She said that she needs to be the one to talk to him first and apologize for her failure and for what is going to happen."
Hinata could see the pain flash through Naruto's eyes at the news that the Kage's had voted to put his best friend and teammate to death. She could see plainly on his face the anguish that all the hard work to become strong enough to bring Sasuke back and then fighting side-by-side with him in the war to save everything, will now end with his friend's death. It was him that had asked Sasuke to give up being a rogue shinobi and come home after the war. At least that is the story that was told, but by the look in Naruto's eyes when that subject comes up she has wondered if there was not more to the story.
Upon his return to the village, Sasuke had announced that he was coming back to become the next Hokage and to one day lead the village, which had naturally started a new rivalry between him and Naruto. Now all that work, and talk of the future, was now for nothing. Hinata is about to step out and try to somehow comfort Naruto, when she sees a change in his face. The pain for Sasuke was pushed aside and replaced with concern, concern for Sakura. 'He has always put her needs before everything and everyone else, especially himself. I wish that you would realize that is how I feel about you Naruto-kun, that I would do anything to see you happy.'
"Wait Sakura-chan, just give me a chance to talk with Granny Tsunade. I'll figure out a way to fix this, I promise." He steps in and places his hands gently on top of her fists. "Just don't go back up there to the prison just yet. You might get yourself hurt or worse. I'll fix everything, it's a promise of a lifetime, okay."
Sakura jerks her hands away from his touch and glares accusingly at Naruto as she steps back. "Really? Will this be like your last lifetime promise to me, where you promised to bring Sasuke-kun back? As I recall that promise took you years, and they were filled with failed attempts. In the end he did come back, but only because he wants to become the next Hokage, Uzumaki. He doesn't have time for you to make one stupid failed attempt after another before you finally just get lucky."
Hearing her address him by his last name stung worse than her chastisement of all of those failures. He hides the pain of her words behind a polite smile as he reaches out for her hand. "Please Sakura-cha.."
PUNCH
Sakura glares at Naruto as he put a hand on his now aching cheek. "Don't call me that ever again. Do you hear me?" She begins poking him in the chest with each word to accentuate her point. "I… have… always… hated… hearing… you… call… me… by… that… stupid… childish…. name…." Sakura gives him a hard shove. "I don't want to hear you call me that ever again. I revoke your privilege of ever calling me that ridiculous name ever again, do you understand Uzumaki?" She pressed a fist against her breast. "I have only wanted to hear one person call me that, if only once."
Hinata could feel tears running down her cheeks as she saw the pain in Naruto's eyes, not from being struck, but by the anger directed at him by the girl he cares so much about. She put her hands to her chest to try and calm the ache she is feeling while witnessing his pain.
Naruto pushes aside the pain and shock as he steps up to Sakura again. "That's okay, I know you really don't mean what you just said. Just give me a chance before you go and get yourself hurt by the ANBU. There is bound to be more waiting up there now and those guys are seriously crazy." He holds out his arms widely in a gesture of forgiveness and protection. "I don't want you getting hurt…, because…" Naruto looks at Sakura with eyes so soft and vulnerable that it takes Hinata's breath away, even from the distance she is watching. "I want you safe because, I-I lov…"
SLAM
Sakura hits him hard in the chest and sends him flying brutally into a nearby tree. She walks up and stands over a slightly dazed Naruto, glaring down at him. "Don't you dare say those words to me Uzumaki. You have no right to ever utter those words to me, ever. I only ever want to hear Sasuke-kun to say those words." Her face contorts into a sneer. "Besides, you grew up without ever being loved so how do you even know what REAL love is like?"
As she grabs his collar and gives him a hard shake, all Naruto can do is look at her with pain filled eyes. "But…" Why won't she just let him explain, is all he can think about as she shakes him harshly.
"But what, you thought that after Sasuke-kun came back that I would suddenly realize how hard you have worked all this time and have feelings for you, Uzumaki." She gives him another hard shake, tears running down her cheeks, and then pushes him violently against the rough bark of the tree. "How is it after all this time that you still don't understand that I only love Sasuke-kun and can never, or will ever, feel anything for you Uzumaki!"
Naruto's hand wraps around Sakura's and rips her hands away from his jacket as he straightens up and looks at her with an angry glare. All of the softness in his face is now gone and the air around them suddenly feels heavy from the chakra now emanating from Naruto's body. "So what you said to me really was only a lie?" Naruto asks accusingly.
Hinata stands there leaning up against the tree in stunned silence at what she is witnessing. How could Sakura say something so cruel and untrue? Naruto is loved, just not in the conventional way like so many others take for granted. He didn't have the familial love that many people grow up knowing, but there were people who did care, and still do care. More importantly, she loves Naruto and had even once had the courage to tell him so, but he had forgotten her words in the transformation that followed. She has lacked the courage to tell him again, and here Sakura is ripping apart the precious offer of his heart. Sakura is throwing away everything that Hinata has wanted since she was old enough to understand the meaning of the word love. 'Please don't hurt him anymore Sakura, can't you see how much pain you have caused him already?'
It takes Sakura a moment to understand that he is referring to the time in the Land of Iron when she had told him that she loved him so that he would stop trying to fulfill his promise. 'He knew I was lying, he even accused me of lying to him about loving him instead of Sasuke. So the truth is that he did not think I was lying then, or at least some part of him grabbed onto that hope, and has held onto that possibility all this time.' Sakura's face pulls back into a sneer of disgust. "You really can be an idiot sometimes."
Later, she would reflect on how big a fool she had been at this moment when all she had to do was apologize for letting her emotions take control, and the events that transpired next would never have happened. Instead she continues to vent her anger, frustration, and heart wrenching sadness out on an underserving Naruto. "That is right, I lied. I lied to the loser who was never going to be man enough to keep his promise and bring my Sasuke-kun back home. Sasuke-kun was always better than you, and I knew that fact was never going to change. So when the others cornered me and shammed me into lying to you, so that you would give up on your stupid promise before you were killed, I gave into their demands because I had no other choice."
It felt good to lash out and hurt something, to make someone else feel pain just like she was feeling right now, and with Naruto it was just too easy. "That is right, I said it because the others made me, not out of any real concern for you Uzumaki. The only kind of love you will ever know is the fake kind that you will receive from those phony little fangirls that are climbing all over you day and night. You know, the ones who are being nice so that they can use you to get what they want. It worked for me plenty of times."
Sakura smirks as Naruto glares back at her angrily, but the pain in his eyes was just too easy to see and it only encouraged her to lash out even more. "If you want to make a promise that I really want you to keep, then I know what I want. It's a promise that I think even YOU might be able to keep without help." Sakura points away from the heart of the village towards the woods beyond. "Go away, forget me, do not ever come near me again, and never utter my name in the stupid way again, even when I am not around. Better yet, never utter my name again in any fashion. I never want to you utter a single syllable of my name ever again to me, or anyone else."
The stab of pain Sakura can see in his face makes her heart suddenly ache, but she is far too committed to stop herself from sealing her fate and allowing the wrathful inner-Sakura free reign to speak. "Better yet, why don't you just take Sasuke's place and that way I get everything I ever wanted. I get my Sasuke-kun all to myself, and finally be rid of you always coming around and bothering us when you aren't wanted. Because, if that monster inside you was to die, then there would be no reason for people to fear the Uchiha doing that jutsu ever again. They need all nine tailed beasts to make that jutsu work, so if one of them is dead, then no jutsu." Sakura snaps her fingers as if what she is suggesting is a simple request.
Hinata, watching from the edge of the clearing cannot believe the words that she has just heard Sakura utter. She would selfishly ask him, after everything he has done and sacrificed for her and everyone else, to give up his life so that Sasuke could live. What hurts even worse is that Naruto just might have done that for Sakura if she had had begged him to offer himself as a sacrifice, but instead she has hurt him too much with her words, and anger has begun to taint his pure heart. Hinata, byakugan activated, leaps up and charges forward to hit and maybe even attempt to kill Sakura for what she has done to the one she loves. She wants to stop him from being the one to hurt Sakura and regret his actions for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, that is when everything goes red.
The darkness of the evening goes red like the sky at sunset, as Naruto is suddenly sheathed in an angry chakra. Gone was the bright golden light that normally surrounds him when he enters into the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, instead the chakra is an intense, sickly red, like in the days before Naruto had befriended Kurama. The red glow from his body turns the shadows on the trees red, as if the area had been painted in fresh blood. The heat and chakra pressure coming from Naruto is nearly suffocating as he reaches out and grabs Sakura's arm.
With her byakugan activated, the sudden massive surge of charka from Naruto is overwhelming and blinds Hinata, who had been staring directly at Naruto when he became like a miniature red sun. Even with her eyes now closed all she can see is bright red, nearly the color of fresh arterial blood, so all she can do is fall to the ground and listen to what transpires next.
Sakura lets out a scream of pain as the flesh of her arm is seared from the heat of his touch. 'It's like that time when he lost control when fighting Orochimaru and brushed me with one of his tails.' She looks into his eyes, terrified of the rage she sees within his fox-eyed gaze. She tries to struggle out of his grasp as he raises up one clawed hand menacingly, but even her enormous strength is useless against the furious power of his grasp.
Naruto is about to lash out and return hurt for hurt, and to let her know how it had really felt all those times she had punched him and called him an idiot. Just as his hand is about to descend he finds himself held in place by the absolute terror he sees in her green eyes. The eyes that he had done everything in his power to make shine happily are now doing the one thing that he has never wanted to see etched in their jade perfection, fear. The pain of seeing absolute terror of him in her eyes, tears at his soul far worse than the wounds she had inflicted with her words or her fists.
'DO IT, TEAR OUT HER HEART AND FEAST ON HER BLOOD FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE.' Kurama's voice howls in rage that she would dare to ask Naruto to kill them both for her own selfish desires. It was people like her who had made his and the other tailed beast's lives so miserable with their own personal yearnings, with no care how it affected the tailed beast or their jinchūriki. Well no more. 'THE HUMANS NEED TO LEARN ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT WE ARE NOT THINGS TO BE USED FOR THEIR WHIMS AND DESIRES. WE'LL USE HER AS AN EXAMPLE TO WARN ALL OTHER PEOPLE, AND ALL OTHER NATIONS, WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THEY DARE TO TRY AND FORCE US TO BECOME THEIR PAWNS AGAIN.' Kurama sends images of the torn and bloodied body of Sakura to Naruto's mind as proof of his desires.
"NO!" Naruto shouts as he slings Sakura away, and with a mighty effort he suppresses Kurama's rage filled chakra. What Naruto has not told anyone is that the only thing keeping Kurama in check is the bond that the two of them have formed, and if that bond was ever severed he fears that it would not take much for Kurama to slip back into his old patterns of hate and destruction. Naruto is only able to push most the anger that is feeding on his pain back inside his body, as the bright red of his chakra cloak begins to change shades of color back closer to normal. The wound in his heart is too raw to give him the calm he needs to completely suppress the now angry kyubi inside his body. Plus part of him really does desire to finally give in, just a little, to all that pain he had pushed to the side for so long and lash out in frustration. Is that all he is to these people who are being so friendly lately, are they trying to use him like she has for so long?
Naruto looks over at Sakura, who is lying crumpled up at the base of the boulder he flung her into. "I'll grant you part of your wish Haruno. I promise that I will no longer seek you out, and no longer will I utter your name, or even allow it to be said in my presence. Tonight is the last time I ever want to see your face, or hear your voice call out my name. I am done being treated like some tool to be used at your convenience, and then discarded in the corner when not needed, believe it." He then vanishes so abruptly that the sudden absence of the incredible chakra pressure leaves a momentary vacuum that causes an implosion of air, that culminates in a loud pop.
Still blinded by the bright flash of his intense chakra, Hinata can feel the heat from Naruto's body, even from edge of the clearing where she is now kneeling against a tree. Despite the heat, a chill goes through her body when she hears the sound of Sakura's flesh sizzling and her screams of pain. Hinata fears that Naruto is about to finally lose control of the kyubi and kill his teammate, but the rage in the air cools nearly as quickly as it began. She listens quietly as he makes his promise to Sakura and then suddenly he is gone. All she can do at the moment is sit there and wait, hoping that her vision will improve quickly enough so she can go find Naruto and try to help him somehow before it is too late. 'Please Naruto-kun, don't do anything rash. You are loved, and if you will just give me a chance, I'll prove it to you just how much you are loved, I promise.' Hinata lays her hands over her eyes and tries to use what healing knowledge she has to try and accelerate the recovery of her vision.
Sakura can only lay there on the ground and cry, more from the pain in her heart for what she had just done, than from the pain of her broken and burnt arm. 'WHY, WHY, WHY, did I say those stupid things to you Naruto? I was angry at myself for thinking about somebody else instead of Sasuke, who is in prison unknowingly waiting to be put to death. He needs to be my sole focus right now, while he is still alive.'
She reaches up and touches the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead and silently curses. 'Damn, I have not stored enough chakra since the end of the war to be able to release the seal and use the Creation Rebirth Technique.' She also remembers Tsunade's warning that she should not try and use that again for some time because the body needs time to recover, or it could result in her death. 'I am just going to have to wait and try to do this normally.'
It takes some time for her to be able to calm her emotions enough before she can assess the damage done to her arm by an angry Naruto. It gives her time to reflect on what a fool she was to allow herself to hurt someone so dear to her heart. The person who has given her everything he has, even when he had nothing worth giving, in an attempt to make her happy. For the second time tonight Sakura puts her hands on her chest and cries over her broken heart. 'I never knew a heart could hurt so much and still be able to keep a person alive.'
After what feels like hours of pain and sorrow, but in reality only a few minutes had passed, Sakura is able to assess her wounds. Severe second degree burns from where his hand had grabbed onto her arm. Both the ulna and radius are badly broken from when he had slung her away. Also, three ribs are cracked, and her left ankle is also swollen from where she had landed awkwardly, leaving her with painful hairline fractures and a severe sprain. To be honest she felt lucky that the injuries were not permanent or immediately life threatening after the way he tossed her away.
She forces herself to lock her emotions away for the moment, like Lady Tsunade has taught her, so that she can focus her chakra using her unhurt arm to heal her ankle well enough to move. 'I will work on my arm and ribs later, but first I have to go and find him and apologize. I was hurt and scared of losing Sasuke, so I said some really stupid, hurtful things to Naruto. I just couldn't stop myself for lashing out for some reason. It's not a good excuse for what I said, but it is the truth. If he hurts himself, or anyone else tonight, then it will all be my fault.' Her concentration on her healing starts to falter as fresh tears begin to drop from her eyes. Giving up she stands up slowly and limps her way out of the training grounds
Naruto appears in his apartment with such force that dust and empty ramen containers swirled about the room. He stands there taking deep breaths, slowly trying to bring his emotions back into check before walking into his bedroom, but fails miserably in his attempt. This was one of his places of refuge when he was growing up, where he could sit quietly till the anger of how he was being treated would fade into resolve to be recognized by the whole village. He is about to throw himself onto his bed, and surrender to the tears when he glances over and sees the photo of himself with Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and …. "WHY? Why wouldn't you let me explain Sa…, dammit. Why did you have to say all those things? Why couldn't you just have gone on lying to me, Sa…?" He grabs the frame and throws it against the wall shattering it completely.
As he watches, tiny pinks strands carefully hidden in the back of the frame, scatter and slowly fall to the ground. He then clinches his fists in hopeless frustration. "Damn you both." No, he would not find solace in this place tonight, maybe never again. Not in the place where he had spent so many nights thinking about his future… with them by his side. He needs to get out and do something to release his pent up emotions. 'Not to the training grounds though, that place has too many memories and it is where she is now, so where…' Naruto leaves his apartment in search of some way to divert his attention, or find some way to vent his emotions.
Naruto only makes it a dozen steps from his apartment complex before he hears someone call his name. He lets out an irritated sigh before turning around to see a tall auburn haired girl walking towards him gracefully. The look on his face probably mirrors some of the other men that cannot help but stare as she walks down the street. She is wearing a burnt orange colored short yukata with pale blue and yellow flowers decorating the material. If the color scheme did not catch the attention enough, the cut of the yukata surely does. The hem of the yukata ends halfway between her knees and her thigh, accenting her long, beautiful legs perfectly. The yukata has been adjusted so that the neckline plunges deeply, showing off enough cleavage to get more than one nearby man slapped by their significant other for gawking too intently at the stunning hazel-eyed beauty.
"What do you think? I had this specifically made in honor of you, Uzumaki-sama." The girl gives a quick twirl, which makes the hem lift dangerously higher, and with her arms outstretched the view of her neckline becomes enhanced as well.
"Uh…" Naruto is completely dumbfounded for a moment at the blatant display of sexuality he is seeing. "It's… very… pretty."
The girl runs over and wraps herself around Naruto's right arm. "I am so happy that you like my yukata." She gives him a mischievous smile as she squeezes herself against his arm, causing the back of his hand to brush against the soft warm flesh of her exposed thigh. In reaction to the contact, one of the girl's eyebrows arch as her smile changes slightly.
'That's the same weird smile the girl I stopped from falling gave me earlier tonight.' A sudden chill courses through his body as he once again hears Sakura's words. 'She said that the only love I would ever know would be the fake kind that I will get from those phony fangirls that follow me around.' He looks critically into the girl's hazel eyes and then at the strange smile on her face. 'It's fake! The adoration I thought I was seeing is more like… hunger." Naruto has to clear his throat and swallow as the taste of bile now fills his mouth. 'Is that how all of them feel? That all I am to them is a means to get something they want, just like I was for her to get Sasuke back, and nothing more.' His body begins to tremble, which causes the hungry smile on the girl's face to broaden like a hunter who has caught their prey.
"Your face is bruised and a little swollen. Have you been out sparing with somebody tonight?" The girl reaches up and gently caresses the spot where Sakura had hit him not too long ago. "Would you like me to kiss it and make it all better?" The girl purses her richly painted lips and leans in to give him a kiss.
It should hurt to have the bruise touched, but instead the girl's fingers makes his skin crawl as if tiny snakes were slithering over his flesh. Now that he thinks about it, the look in the girl's eyes reminds him of the way Orochimaru looked at Sasuke. 'It's like she is looking at me like I am some…thing to possess, instead of a real person.' Naruto feels moisture gathering at the corner of his eyes. 'It's not really any different than when I was a kid, it's like nothing has ever changed. I am still just a thing to them all, instead of a thing to be feared, I am a thing to help them get what they want and then be discarded when they are done.'
Naruto carefully places his hand on the girl's shoulder and pushes her away gently, while fighting the urge to just fling her away like she is some sort of venomous serpent. "I am sorry, but you have the wrong idea." He has to clench his teeth when talking to keep himself from screaming at the girl.
Before she can muster a reply from his cold rebuff Naruto leaps away to the top of a nearby building and runs along the rooftops as he tries to get his emotions once again under control. 'Dammit, is this all there is to my life?'
He sits down on the edge of a building to think when a flashing sign of a bar catches his attention. 'Pervy-sage would often say that there was nothing like a little bit of sake when you are having a bad day, or a good day, or… heck the old man generally found some excuse to go drinking. Well, I might as well give it a try, I'll probably need a whole lot of sake to help me forget this night.'
He goes inside and orders a bottle of warm sake from the bartender before sitting down on a bench to stare out the open window and up into the night sky. The warm alcohol burns its way down his throat and leaves a warm sensation in his stomach that he barely feels. 'Kurama, I know that you are upset, some of it at me for not…, well anyways I want to get drunk. I want to just go numb tonight, and maybe just stay that way. So please don't try and purge the alcohol from my body to protect me, okay?' Silence is his only reply as he downs the rest of the bottle and orders another.
He just sits there trying to decide what to do next now that everything he seems to have dreamed about has come crashing down. He doesn't want to be here in the village anymore, if she is staying, which of course she will be since she works at the hospital. 'Is that the real reason you left Pervy-Sage? Did it hurt too much to be around memories of Baa-chan anymore, or did you really spend all that time away from the village chasing after your lost friend?' The idea of giving up his dream of being Hokage to a bunch of fakes and taking up his mentor's mantle as a hermit is becoming more attractive with each drink of sake. 'Also, if another one of those stupid girls comes up and pesters me again tonight I might just do something that I might regret later.' As the sake's effects become more intense the lure of being alone on the open road becomes stronger, and that is when Naruto notices a familiar figure staring at him while jogging in place just outside the open window.
"Greetings Naruto, your face looks greatly troubled tonight. Would you like to join me in running a few hundred laps around the village? Whenever I am troubled that is what I usually do, sometimes I will do the laps on my hands to truly give myself a challenge and clear my mind. That sort of challenge may help you clear your thoughts as well." Rock Lee stares down with more innocent honesty than any one human being should be able to muster, and never breaks the rhythm of his pace.
"Nah, I don't feel like exercising tonight. I just want to sit here, feel miserable and drink till I am numb." What he really wants now is to hit something, and for that something to hit him back hard to replace the pain in his heart, but nothing short of getting into a fight with somebody who is holding nothing back could come close. Unfortunately, the only person close to that level, and would truly not hold back is Sasuke, but he will be dead and gone soon. Rock Lee is a true artist in taijutsu, but he always hold back except on the battlefield, except when… "Hey Rock Lee, come have a drink with me, just one to celebrate."
"Celebrate, what are we celebrating Naruto?" Rock Lee keeps jogging as he comes into the bar beside Naruto, curious why somebody who is looking so sad wants to celebrate. It just did not make any sense. "Guy-sensei says that I should keep my body pure and never drink alcohol."
"We never celebrated the end of the war together. We were victorious and should celebrate our youthful victory over our enemies and saving the world for..." Naruto shakes his head as he stands up and holds out a cup. "Come on I will order you some tea, afterwards we can have a training match if you want."
Rock Lee stops jogging and takes the teacup that the waitress brings. "Okay, but we should make a toast." He thinks for a moment and knows the one thing that he and Naruto can easily toast about. "To Youth and to Guy-sensei!" He then downs the whole cup quickly.
Naruto smiles as he holds up his cup and says, "To your stupid looking sensei." When Rock Lee's mouth opens with shock Naruto chucks the contents of his sake cup into Rock Lee's mouth.
The next thing he knows, his body is slamming into a fruit cart on the other side of the street while his ribs feel like they are on fire. The pain feels good as it draws his focus away from the ache in his heart, and he can also feel Kurama's excitement at the coming battle beginning to flow through his body and mix with the warmth the sake has already provided. He tosses away the now empty sake cup and drains the last from the body before making a face. "Some pulp got into my sake and made it all fruity, yuck."
"This is for you Guy-sensei!" Rock Lee gives out a slurred, drunken scream as he leaps through the now broken window.
Naruto just barely dodges as a slightly blurry, red face Rock Lee comes leaping at him and shatters what is left of the cart with one kick, sending shards of wood and fruit pulp flying in every direction. Naruto activates his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and notices that it is still not its usual golden color, nor is it the crimson from earlier in the evening, but bright orange in color which seems very fitting. He suppresses the amount of chakra being used, not to make the fight with Rock Lee more fair, but so that he will be less protected from each strike and he will feel the sharp pain of the damage done by his opponent more intensely.
Rock Lee, now fully in drunken fighter mode, punches what some would say wildly at Naruto, but to the trained eye each attack is precisely aimed to hit a vital spot at an indirect angle. Had Naruto not been enhanced by his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode the fight might have ended as quickly as it begun, but with the added speed and protection granted by using this mode he is able to keep the damage being done by Rock Lee to the right amount. He could probably deflect more of the attacks than he is, but doesn't want to, he wants this pain to overwhelm him and replace everything else he is feeling tonight.
In return Naruto is able to connect with Rock Lee just enough to increase his friends anger and frustration, but not enough to break him out of his drunk fist mode. Naruto summons two dozen clones, most which join him in the fight, but a few of the others leap onto the top of nearby buildings as if waiting on something. "Come on Rock Lee, is that all your Taijutsu can do, I guess I shouldn't have expected so much from one of Guy's students. Maybe you need to go learn some ninjutsu so you can be a real threat."
Rock Lee decides that it is time to raise the stakes and show Naruto just how splendid of a ninja one can be if they just dedicate themselves to be the very best. He steps back, focuses and releases the first gate, The Gate of Opening, and charges to meet the small army of Narutos. "You… will not… insult… Guy Sensei!" Swinging wildly Rock Lee avoids each attack and strikes back, popping each clone till one kick is rewarded with a satisfying crunch. He sees Naruto flying up into the air with an almost happy smile on his face and leaps up after him to finish this fight in the most splendid of fashions.
Naruto is sure that Rock Lee's kick has damaged a couple more of his ribs as an unexpected kick connects solidly with his stomach and knocks him through the corner of a building and up into the air. As he tries to get his bearings he sees Rock Lee leap up into the air after him on his now strength enhanced legs. 'Good, I think he is about to really cut loose now. Let's see just how far he is willing to go when he is drunk.'
Everything seems to slow down as Rock Lee reaches Naruto and swings his arms about, wrapping Naruto tightly in bandages. He lets out a feral-like growl as he aims both of them downwards towards the roof of a two story hotel using his Front Lotus attack. They smash through the roof, and the floor of the second story, before crashing to a halt on the first floor.
Sakura, holding her still broken and burnt arm against her cracked ribs, limps her way to the top of the Hokage monument on her still not fully healed ankle, thankful that the hour is starting get late and there are not too many people to get in her way or witness her limping about.
After failing to find Naruto in his apartment she had taken a little time to heal her ankle some, knowing that the long climb up the stairs would be excruciating otherwise. When there had been no answer to her knocking she had punched the door open and limped into his apartment. She tries not to think about the shattered picture frame she found in the corner of his bedroom, but it was a harsh reminder of what she had done. 'Kami I promise, my promise of a lifetime, that once I apologize to Naruto I'll never lose my temper and treat him, or anyone else, awfully like that ever again.' She hobbles her way to the edge of the monument and looks around hoping that he is here at one of his favorite sulking spots. "NARUTO!" She holds her breath hoping that she will hear his reply or at least some movement telling her that he is nearby.
CRASH
She looks down towards the village below and sees Naruto flying up into the air. Sakura immediately notices that his aura is no longer bright red, but neither is it the pure bright yellow of his hair. "Is that Rock Lee?" She watches in shock as the familiar green clad shinobi leaps up into the air and uses his signature Front Lotus attack on Naruto. Sakura sinks to her knees crying, knowing that whatever is going on down in the village below is all her fault. "What's going on? What are you doing Naruto?"
Rock Lee, surrounded by a cloud of dust, stands up and looks around as pieces of the roof and the second floor fall down around him like rain. He is alone in the crater and struggles to recollect in his drunken mind when Naruto had managed to escape. He also feels the beginnings of fatigue work its way through his body, now that his attack is over and the cost of opening the first gate starts to make itself known.
"Man, that looks like it would have been really painful and would have ended our fight, that is if I had not used the Flying Thunder God Technique before you had completed that attack." Naruto leaps at Rock Lee and aims a punch at his head, which Lee easily staggers out of the way, but is caught by the belt by a chakra arm from Naruto and flung across the ruined hotel. "You are starting to slow down Lee, do we need to take a break so you can have a little nap?"
Rock Lee summersaults in mid-air and lands on his feet. "Do not… mock me Naruto, or… my skill as a ninja." He opens the Second Gate, the Gate of Healing, and feels a new flush of power run through his body. He springs towards Naruto, who has crossed both arms to block Lee's attack, and does not even try to alter the course of his attack. Instead he is going to show his opponent just how powerful one can be if they are truly dedicated. Rock Lee can feel the vibration of his Strong Fist attack all the way up his arm as he connects with the blocking Naruto and knocks him through the wall of the ruined hotel and through two more adjacent buildings before he skids to a halt.
It takes everything Naruto has to remain upright and not go tumbling head over heels through the buildings. His arms and back ached from the impacts and he smiles as he relishes the pain. "Man, he's good and that was just the Second Gate. I think it is time for me to cut loose and really start enjoying myself." He draws more of Kurama's chakra into himself and is about to summon another group of shadow clones to fight the charging Rock Lee, when he notices the appearance of several masked members of the ANBU black ops appear all around them.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee, you are to cease fighting immediately or we will be forced to stop you ourselves." The hawk masked ANBU speaks with authority as his hands come together in preparation of forming a seal.
Naruto just rolls his eyes at the absurdity of the man's proclamation. "Why don't you guys wait over there, and once I am done with my warm up match here I'll be ready for another challenge." Naruto looks over and sees that Rock Lee is running towards him on a collision course. The green clad shinobi easily dodges around the ANBU that try and physically stop his progress. Another ANBU makes a few hand signs and forms a stone wall, but Rock Lee just kicks his way through as if it was made from a child's block set and keeps on coming directly at his target.
A few minutes later Hinata, her eyesight still not completely recovered, makes her way down the street away from Naruto's apartment. It had taken her so long to calm her emotions enough to focus on healing her eyes, but as soon as the red haze had faded enough she got and went straight towards Naruto's apartment.
She had feared the worse when she had found the front door nearly knocked off its hinges, and was actually relieved when she found his place empty. She endures the near overwhelming pain caused by her still damaged eyes as she activates her byakugan to search the village for any sign of Naruto. He is easily found by the now bright orange chakra that surrounds his body. 'At least it is not the angry red that blinded me earlier.' She quickly shuts down her byakugan and makes her way to where he is fighting with Rock Lee. 'Naruto-kun, why are you fighting with Rock Lee in the middle of the village? I know you are hurt, but this is not like you to endanger other people, or to fight like that with one of your friends. I need to get to him and somehow try to calm him down before he gets hurt, or hurts someone else.'
As she finally reaches where the fight is still raging Hinata cannot believe the destruction. Two buildings are so damaged that they will have to be demolished and rebuilt, plus a few more may be that far gone as well. Scattered about on the ground are several, hopefully just unconscious, members of the ANBU black ops and several more are on top of nearby buildings looking like they are waiting for an opening, or possibly more ANBU. Ahead she can see Naruto and Rock Lee are no longer fighting each other, but are now facing off against their former sensei's, Kakashi and Guy. As she runs forward to try and help calm the situation, before things get any worse, she feels a strong pair of hands grab her arms and pull her back towards the gathered crowd.
Kiba has grabbed her and is holding on tightly as Hinata struggles desperately in his grasp. "We can't go in there Hinata, the ANBU has ordered all other shinobi to stand down. I don't know if they are afraid that we might get hurt, or if they are worried we may join Naruto or Rock Lee's side in the fight and make things worse." Shino quietly steps in front of her with his arms raised and faces towards the fight to protect his teammates.
Tenten steps up and shakes her head in disbelief. "I think Rock Lee might have gotten into some alcohol again by the crazy way he is fighting, and by the looks of it Naruto is probably drunk too. That is the only way I can wrap my head around the fact that he and Rock Lee knocked out a bunch of ANBU, and then went after their sensei's when they tried to break up the fight."
Hinata stares at Naruto and can see, even without her byakugan, that Naruto is hurt from all the fighting. His left arm was hovering over his rib cage as if a few of them were cracked or possibly even broken. Part of his right leg is burnt and she could see the angry red flesh under the glow of Kurma's chakra. His left eye is swollen and starting to show signs of bruising, but in his right eye Hinata can see what she fears. He is actually enjoying the pain and wants more.
She struggles against her two teammates as she watches Naruto and his old sensei fight, it was youth and power against deadly experience. Kakashi throws down an orb, vanishes in a cloud of smoke, and reappears not far behind Naruto. He attacks with a vicious looking kick right towards Naruto's head only to have a hand, made of chakra, rise up out of Naruto's chakra shroud and block the attack. Another hand grows from the shroud and grabs ahold of Kakashi, but just as the hand closed with crushing force Kakashi uses a substitution jutsu to escape just in time. The log that replaces Kakashi explodes into splinters from the force of the chakra hand's crushing grasp. That is when the paper bomb attached to the log goes off and sends Naruto tumbling away to crash through the front window of a nearby bakery. Hinata cannot breathe for fear that Naruto might have really been hurt from Kakashi's attack, and lets out a hiss of pain as she tries to open her byakugan to check on his health. Unfortunately, the close proximity of his immense chakra forces her to quickly shut it back down or risk doing permanent damage to her eyes.
Naruto stands up and shakes off the glass shards that are covering his body. He can feel sharp little stabs of pain where the glass has left tiny little cuts in several places. He can even feel a trickle of blood run down his right cheek from where one piece of glass has reopened the nearly healed cut he received from Sakura not too long ago. Naruto glances about and sees that one display case has not been damaged from his entrance and absently reaches inside to take one of the pastries. "I am starting to feel a little hungry. I guess I should wrap this up before Ichiraku's closes for the night, or I will have to eat instant ramen for dinner."
Kakashi, standing across the street from the bakery watches his old student get up smiling as if he was really enjoying what was happening. "Naruto, I need you to stand down immediately before more people get hurt." To accentuate his point Kakashi activates his chidori and the air is filled with the high pitch chirping sound and the smell of ozone. His concentration almost falters as Naruto just smiles wryly at the sight of Kakashi's infamous jutsu. It is obvious that he was not expecting Naruto to call his bluff.
'Finally somebody is going to give me their best shot, so far everyone has been holding back, even drunken Rock Lee did not take full advantage of the openings I gave him that could have caused me some serious damage. He kept opting for something to incapacitate me, but not make a potentially lethal attack. Even the ANBU was a disappointment tonight, I thought these guys were no nonsense when it comes to the village, but I guess even they have their limit.' The problem was that no damage that had been inflicted on him so far could mask the hurt he was still feeling inside, and being knocked unconscious would just mean waking up to the pain. He needed something more powerful to overwhelm that pain. 'The only person in this village who would not hesitate to exploit an opening is the one who is partially responsible for all this crap, and is sitting in jail waiting to be put to death.'
Naruto uses his chakra arms to help make a rasengan to face off against his old sensei. 'Maybe I just need to die for this pain to go away. At least she will get her final wish if I do, and they will probably execute Sasuke anyways. So once Sasuke is dead then she can just grow old, alone and miserable.' He laughs at the absurdity of it all; the only way to stop the pain of her asking him to die may be to get himself killed anyways. "Oh well, let's do this." Naruto pops the pastry, possibly his last meal, and charges at Kakashi.
Hinata can see a dangerous look in Naruto's eyes, as if he is rushing towards his death and is ready to accept his fate. The look is very similar to the one that still haunts her dreams, the look Neji gave after he sacrificed himself to save her life. 'I can't lose him too, please Kami no, I'll have nothing worth living for if he dies.' She futilely struggles against her teammates grasp and screams his name with all desperation she can muster. "NARUTO!"
The world seems to go into slow motion as he hears the usually hesitant voice calling out his name with such anguish that it hits him deep inside his soul. It is the voice of someone who has nearly died on more than one occasion while trying to save his life. Naruto turns and easily finds her chakra signature amongst the gathered crowd and falters as he looks into her pain filled eyes. 'Am I the cause of Hinata's pain?' The shock of this realization cuts through his sake fueled haze like a kunai, and he turns to really look at all the people nearby, watching him and Kakashi, for the first time tonight. The shock and distress he sees in their eyes hits him like a fist to the stomach.
In the heat of battle you never stop and look at the damage you have done. That has to wait until after the fight is over, or you risk getting yourself or someone else killed. Now that he looks at the suffering his attempt at masking his own pain has caused, Naruto feels ashamed. 'What have I done? A true Hokage would never do this to his people. I am nothing but a monster waiting to break loose like people have said for most of my life?' He turns to look back at Hinata, but Shino has made a shield with his insects to try and protect as many people as he can from the blast produced when a rasengan and chidori collide.
Naruto looks into Kakashi's eyes and sees the same pain there that he can see everywhere else. 'I don't think that I have ever seen Kakashi-sensei look so hurt. It's like his heart is breaking just like mine.' He lowers his hand, cancels his rasengan at the last moment, and awaits the final pain before darkness will finally take him in its embrace.
Instead, Kakashi lands in front of him and looks deeply into Naruto's blue eyes. "Are you about done?"
Naruto swallows the pastry that he is chewing. 'Cinnamon roll.' He nearly chuckles at the irony of the randomly selected dessert he had grabbed for his last meal. "Yeah, I'm done." He looks around at the damage he has caused and sighs heavily. "I guess the old lady is really going to kick my ass over this mess."
Kakashi's critical glare does not change as he motions for several members of the ANBU to come forward, but his body language shows just how relieved he is at not having to follow through with the attack. Kakashi continues to stare as Naruto shuts down his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and then looks over to a fresh group ANBU that has just arrived. "Take Uzumaki Naruto to a holding cell to sober up till the Hokage has been notified of what has occurred. "
A sad faced Guy follows behind them carrying a passed out Rock Lee. "I'll be taking Rock Lee to the hospital to have his wounds check." Tears begin to flow down the man's face as he looks around at the devastation. "Oh Rock Lee, what have you done?"
Hinata desperately looks over Kiba's shoulder to see what has happened and promptly faints with relief as she watches Naruto walk away in the direction of the jail. 'He's alive…'
Sakura limps her way through the crowd, pushing aside anyone who is too slow to get out of her way, but is finally stopped by a member of the security force from getting any closer without starting an actual fight. 'They are taking him to the prison. I'll ask Tsunade to let me talk with him while I heal any wounds he might have suffered, and while I am doing that I can apologize to him for what I said. I was stupid and I really didn't mean any of those things that I said. I would never really ask him to sacrifice himself in place of Sasuke. I…' She feels the tears starting to flow again as she starts limping her way towards the Hokage Tower.
As she gets near the tower, Sakura can see Tsunade is heading out the entrance of her residence. The Hokage's hair is damp and her face is a mask of fury. "I haven't even been in the village long enough to take a damn shower and get something to eat before some idiot has to go and try to destroy the whole thing."
Sakura runs up and quickly bows to her teacher. "Lady Tsunade, please let me talk to him. I can fix everything; I just need a little time alone with him to explain…"
Tsunade's anger filled glare is like a slap to the face as she turns to look at Sakura. "I told you already that I am not going to let you talk with Sasuke. The decision has been made and I cannot do anything without putting the new alliance at risk. I…" Tsunade stops talking now that she sees the way Sakura is holding her broken arm and is walking with a limp. "Did he…" Tsunade's fists clinch so tightly that her knuckles pop in a quick sequence. "That little…" Tsunade's expression becomes almost murderous as she glances over her shoulder. "Shizune, help Sakura with her wounds while I go and have a talk with Uzumaki Naruto." Both Sakura and Shizune shiver at the tone in Tsunade's voice, knowing just how dangerous her mood is at this moment.
Too frantic to care about her own safety Sakura steps in front of Lady Tsunade. "No, I am asking for you to let me talk to Naruto." Sakura's voice takes on a desperate tone. "I can fix this, just give me a chance." She can't help but shrink a little as Tsunade's gaze shifts back to glare at her student.
"Do you know why the little gaki and Rock Lee suddenly got drunk and damaged or destroyed nearly two blocks of the village?" Tsunade's eyes narrow accusingly?
"I…" She knows she needs to choose her next words carefully, but pain, guilt and exhaustion are clouding her mind. "I just need to speak with Naruto that's all." Suddenly feeling like a small child that has been caught by a parent, Sakura cannot bring herself to tell her sensei the truth of what she has done, more out of shame than fear. She wants to fix everything without having to admit to everyone just how selfishly she has acted. Once she has gotten Naruto's forgiveness, then she can admit the truth to everyone else and maybe they won't hate her for what she has caused tonight.
"Dammit, you told him about Sasuke, and now he's gone off and gotten himself into a drunken fight with Rock Lee and the ANBU. You stupid little girl, why couldn't you have just left things alone and let me break the news to Naruto gently? You, more than anyone else, should know just how sensitive he can be about you and Sasuke." Tsunade turns her glare towards Shizune. "Take Sakura to the hospital and see to her wounds while I knock some sense into Uzumaki Naruto." Tsunade holds up a fist to show that she is not talking metaphorically. "Sakura is to stay there, sedated if you have too, until I can talk to her… calmly." After Shizune just wisely nods in silent agreement, Tsunade looks back at Sakura. "You really disappointed me tonight Sakura, and don't say another word to me right now, or I might just give you a real reason to be in the hospital."
Shizune quietly tugs on Sakura's good arm to get her to remain quiet, knowing full well just how precarious the moment is between teacher and student.
'I need to be the one who talks with Naruto and set things straight.' Sakura ignores the polite warning and moves to block Tsunade's way again. "Please take me with you, Hokage-sama. I can hel…" Tsunade strikes Sakura with a chakra filled finger to a vital cluster of nerves, rendering her unconscious as Shizune catches the now unconscious girl in her arms.
END FLASHBACK
Sakura sighs heavily as she turns away from her apartment and towards the training ground where she hopes to bury her sadness and vent her frustration where there will be nobody to notice her tears. She thinks about how she had awakened sometime later in the isolation ward of the hospital, held in place to a bed with chakra dampening restraints.
A short time later, Lady Tsunade had visited her to inform her that she has sent Naruto away from the village to Mount Myōbokuzan to cool off away from any distractions, and hopefully anymore sake, till he grows up and understands that sometimes there are some things we cannot change no matter how much we try. Upon his return she will be sending him on one mission after another till he has paid off all of the damages that he and Rock Lee have done. That will allow him to take out his anger and frustration over Sasuke's execution on some unsuspecting bandits.
She also ordered Sakura to not tell anyone else about Sasuke's death sentence. He still has allies that might try to help him, and cause further damage to the village in some vain attempt at rescue. He also has enemies who might take advantage of the death of the last Uchiha for their own nefarious needs.
When the Hokage had asked for her side of what happened, and why Naruto refuses to even allow the name 'Sakura' to be mention in his presence, she had refused to give an answer. Even when Tsunade threatened her with a demotion and being stuck on the graveyard shift at the hospital till she was an old woman, Sakura had refused to answer any questions of what had happened between her and Naruto.
Until tonight she had thought that she and Naruto were the only two to know the truth. This knowledge had led her to hope that deep down Naruto is still trying to protect her by not telling anyone what happened, even if he is hurt and angry beyond words some small part of him still cares. That is why she has to talk with him, and try to rekindle whatever spark she can find of the treasured friendship she had so carelessly destroyed.
Sakura comes out of her thoughts in front of the three posts where Team Kakashi had its first training session, and sees Sasuke standing there silently watching her with his intense gaze. Unable to hold back her emotions any longer Sakura walks up and wraps her arms around him, buries her face in his neck and begins to weep. True to form Sasuke says nothing; he just holds her quietly till she is done. Her tears of sadness are mixed now with those of happiness that she didn't lose them both.
She remembers that a few days after she was released from the hospital, she had been called into Tsunade's private chambers and was expecting another round of questions. Instead, the Hokage was sitting there with a fresh pot of tea and some sweet cakes. The next few minutes are a blur in her memory except for the moment that Tsunade told her that Sasuke was to be spared. That the Raikage had accepted her last minute plea deal, and offer of concessions, in return for Sasuke's death sentence being cancelled. The other Kages had quickly agreed, probably so that they too could take advantage of the concessions for their perspective villages.
Part of the deal was that Sasuke was to never be told how close he had come to being executed, or the fragile alliance they now have could be in jeopardy. The Kages are concerned that knowing how close he came to being executed might cause him to do something rash. Also, this was his only chance at redemption, any signs of going rogue again would mean no leniency and the Leaf Village would be directly responsible for any reparations for the damages he might cause. This had added a new wrinkle to her secret, because even if she wants to tell Sasuke about her fight with Naruto, she can't without potentially putting his life in danger.
With the news of Sasuke's life being spared came a new realization that took away nearly all of the joy of that moment. Her fight with Naruto, and all of those hateful things that she had said, were now made far worse. If only she had been patient, and not have allowed her emotions to cloud her rational thought, everything would have turned out okay. She had fallen to her knees to bow to Tsunade in thanks, but had ended up curled in a ball wrapped in the woman's arms being comforted like a small child. All she could do was keep saying 'thank you' out loud, while her heart screamed 'I am so sorry'.
As she walks though the garden, Hinata reflects on how she had awakened surrounded by the concerned faces of her teammates. They told her that everything was okay, that Naruto was at the ANBU prison sleeping off the remnants of the alcohol that he had consumed, while Rock Lee was being checked out at the hospital. Hinata knew better, she had seen Naruto's face and knew that his actions were not fueled by alcohol, but by pain. She didn't contradict her teammate's assumption; she felt it was Naruto's place to explain his actions. It was that and the fact that she would have to admit she had been spying on a private conversation that held her tongue.
After assuring everyone that she would be fine she had gone back home and had stood there looking at herself in her bedroom mirror. She was ashamed of the girl in that reflection. If only she had been stronger, then she would have quickly gone to Naruto's aide and possibly averted what had happened by telling him again that he IS loved and will always be loved, if he would only give her a chance to show him the depth of her love. What if she had been strong and told him earlier in the night, right there in front of that pack of leeches, that she still loves him and asked him if would like to come to her house for dinner sometime?
She had leaned closer to the mirror and stared deeply into her own pale eyes, swearing an oath. "It is past time for you to either grow up, or give up Hinata. The next time you see Naruto-kun you will not hesitate, you will go up and talk to him and offer him a word of comfort or even a shoulder to cry on if that is what he needs. You will not faint ever again at just the mere sight of his perfect eyes looking into your own. You will protect him from being hurt ever again, no matter who it is or what the cost. This is my promise of a lifetime."
Now in the present, Hinata looks up into the sky while grasping the blue topaz amulet she is wearing and holding it close to her heart. She feels her emotional state becoming calm again as she feels the warm comforting chakra of Naruto's so close to her heart. "Naruto-kun, I hope that you are well and I cannot wait for you to come home and hold me in your arms again. I love you, and when I see you again I will make sure that nothing comes between us ever again." She smiles as the warmth begins to spread through her body. "Believe it."
Naruto looks down at his feet and rubs his temples as his remembrance of that night begins to fade. He had held is hands out to the ANBU waiting to be put into shackles, but the guy just stared at him for a moment before offering to not handcuff him if he would swear to go peacefully. It was Yamato behind that mask, there was no mistaking those eyes, and he accepted Yamato's generous offer and fell into step within a ring of a half dozen ANBU and Kakashi .
The walk to the prison had been very somber as the aura of disappointment coming from his two former senseis, walking on either side of him, was palpable. Neither one of them said a word during the whole trip to the prison facility, which made things far worse. He was ready to fight, yell, and argue, but not for the silent displeasure from two men he admired. The exchange of heated words came later, with the Hokage, when his head was starting to ache a little and his mouth felt dry. After a small verbal fight and some regretful acts of childishness he got what he wanted, he got to leave the village. He went and stayed at Mount Myōbokuzan after Tsunade had him summon Fukasaku and she formally asked the Great Toad Sage to watch over Naruto until he has had time to meditate and grow up a little.
In the end he didn't even go back to his apartment before he left, he just asked if Kakashi would go and get his pack and scrolls. Naruto didn't want to talk to anyone that might cross his path if he went back to his place, not his friends, or any of the fangirls, and especially not anyone with pink hair. When he brought the pack and collection of scrolls Kakashi just handed it all over and walked away without saying anything. It wasn't until on his way back from the Sand Village some months ago, when he was finally sober, that he formally apologized to Kakashi for how he had acted that night. The Hokage had sent him to bring Naruto home after his incident with Gaara.
The time in Mount Myōbokuzan away from people did give him time to think and distract himself with training, but not to sober up. He discovered that the toads had something from the excretions of aphids that they used to make a potent alcohol they called arimaki. It didn't take much of that stuff to help him try and drown out the memories of that night. Sobering up came later after an incident in the very village he is waking in now, made him realize just how away from his childhood goal he had really gone.
Naruto looks up at the moon while touching the lavender jade amulet around his neck and realizes that one positive thing ultimately did come out of that night. "If she hadn't said all of those terrible things and opened my eyes to what those other girls were actually trying to do by being so nice, I might have made a different kind of mistake. Something far worse than a night of meaningless drunken sex with someone I barely knew, but instead mistaking those offers of physical intimacy for real affection. I could have ended up with one of those crazy girls, and been so miserable that I would spend all my time away from the village on the pretense of some mission, just so that I wouldn't have to hear her nagging voice every day." He smiles as his grip tightens around the amulet. "Now the thought of going on even a short mission away from the village makes me feel lonely. Being stuck behind that stupid desk all day wouldn't be so bad if the right person is waiting for me to come home at night."
He lifts the amulet up to his lips. "I just wish I could find the strength to tell Hinata just how I feel. I just wish I could say… it, without my heart beating so hard my chest hurts and my eardrums throb. What if… I am wrong? I don't think I am, and I am pretty sure what I feel around Hinata is… the real thing. What about old man Hiashi? Hanabi is right, what will he say when he finds out about tonight. Hell, I am not even sure how he feels about me right now. Sometimes I think he is laughing at me, but other times I am pretty sure he is imagining his fist in my chest." He chuckles dryly about how not too long ago he would have welcomed having his aching heart ripped out by an angry Hyuga. Now all he can think about is how one gentle Hyuga has touched his heart more deeply than he would have ever thought possible.
He sits down on a park bench and places his head in his hands. "What about the nightmares, or are they really some sort of vision, reminding me of the fate of everyone who cares for me, that they all get hurt in the end. If I give in to this feeling in my heart will that be Hinata's fate? Maybe Tenten is right, maybe I am too scared. If I never give 'it' a chance, then 'it' can never truly be taken away, so instead I focused my affection on somebody incapable of feeling 'it' for me or anyone else other than a selfish asshole who might not even like girls."
He looks about the tiny village and makes a decision. "Rock Lee and I repaid the cost of the damage we caused to the Leaf Village and even more for their lost income, but I haven't made amends for my other actions. I need to apologize to Gaara, for one thing, he didn't deserve me acting like that to a friend or to be put in such a predicament. I need to tell Hinata the truth about what happened that night, and about some of my less than honorable actions afterwards. Hopefully she will forgive me for what I have done and give me a chance to show her that I am no longer that guy. I think that guy died the night she kissed me for the first time."
Naruto stands up and walks towards the edge of town, his next destination is obvious. "Before I leave this village there is one person that I need to talk with, and try to make amends for what happened." He pauses for a moment when the wind carries a certain savory scent in his direction. "I should pick up something to eat for Ryga along the way." He can't help but smile as he says the name. "That little guy really does love ramen."
A/N: To try and head off any comments about some of the events in the flashback I want to say that when this story was originally plotted out, almost two years ago, Naruto and Sasuke were laying on the ground dying. I have added in some of the events that transpired afterwards but not others, like Guy's injures during the war were not permanent, because Guy made an appearance in my story before that big scene occurred in the manga. The same way Naruto does not have a bandaged arm in my story. So the big climatic battle that happened in the final chapters of the manga did not happen in this AU, or I would have to go back to chapter one of this fanfic and rewrite the whole damn thing and describe Naruto's right arm.