Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...
Chapter 14 – No Rest for the Weary
The journey home was a quiet one; neither wanted the silence to continue, but neither felt strong enough to break it. They were traveling at the same pace they have used to get to the small shack, but the quiet journey back seemed to take so much longer. Neither even bothered to pick their head up as the sight of the Village Gates came into view.
As the two walked into the village it was early in the evening and very few people were walking the streets. They walked towards Naruto's apartment without a word, but when they walked past the street that lead to the Hyuuga Complex Hinata stopped. Naruto had instantly noticed but continued to walk on a few steps before stopping. He turned and picked his head up to look down the street to where he knew Hinata wanted so desperately to go. He turned to look at Hinata; his voice was somber, "Hinata, you can go if you want. I won't stop you." He watched her eyes as they viewed the path to her old home.
Hinata continued to look down the road, but her mind was set long ago, "No, Naruto-kun… it can wait." She turned to look at him; she did not wear a smile but somehow her face was still reassuring. "I want to be with you." With that they both continued walking down the road to Naruto's apartment.
The night was just as quiet as their previous hours together. They both showered and climbed into bed with little more than a complete sentence to one another. As they lay there, Hinata's back pressed against Naruto's chest, Naruto wrapped his arm around her. She could feel a slight, constant vibration; Naruto's body was shaking. "Naruto-kun…" she spoke out into the silence of the night.
Although his words or attitude did not show it, Naruto's mind had been racing all day. Thoughts of the Siro, Sasuke, and Itachi played over and over through his head. When Hinata stopped at the intersection earlier, however, all those thought were pushed aside. Since that moment, the moment that Hinata chose him over returning home, she was all he could think of; and it pained him. It was his fault that she was forced to leave in the first place, it was his fault she was put in the hospital, and it was his fault that Itachi was now after her as well. As he lay there with her he couldn't control his body. "Hinata, I'm sorry…" She could tell that he was trying to hide his crying.
"Naruto-kun…" she tried to make her voice as normal as possible, "you have nothing to be sorry about…" She moved her hand on top of his.
Hinata could feel Naruto's grip tighten around her body and his shaking increase. "Yes I do…" As he whispered the words into her ear Hinata could tell that he wanted to scream them out. "It's all my fault," he spoke though tears; she could feel them on the back of her neck. "I'm so sorry for getting you into all this."
Hinata turned her body around to face Naruto. She could see the silver streaks of tears running down his face; she rasied her hand to his face to softly wipe them away. "Naruto-kun…" she paused and watched a silver streak run onto the pillow, "I've made my choice. I love you and I would do anything for you." Naruto's eyes lit up and his body stopped shaking, "Even if it means risking my life for you…"
Hinata's lips curled into a soft smile; Naruto feigned a smile but Hinata's last words made him feel even worse inside. Hinata leaned forward to kiss him. Just as their lips were about to touch, the sound of metal piercing wood rang through the room.
Both Naruto and Hinata jumped up and stood on the bed bed prepared for an attack. Hinata had instinctively activated her Byakugon and quickly scanned for attackers. When she saw none she breathed a sigh of relief and place her hand on Naruto's tense shoulder, "Naruto-kun, there's no one out there." She jumped off the bed and headed for the source of the startling sound.
"What? Then what was that noise?" Naruto jumped off the bed and followed Hinata out onto the balcony. The two stared wide eyed as they noticed the source of the noise at the same time: a kunai stuck into the wooden railing of Naruto's balcony. A scroll hung from the kunai and was swinging back and forth. Hinata took a short cautios look at Naruto before reaching out and pulling the kunai from the railing.
The two walked back into Naruto's bedroom and Naruto lit two candles by his bed to light the room. Hinata sat on the bed and untied the scroll from the kunai; she placed the kunai next to one of the candles and held the scroll carefully in her hands. Hinata slowly unrolled the scroll as Naruto stood in front of her watching her movements with unreserved curiosity.
Naruto could not read the words written on the scroll from his position, but he knew exactly who had sent it. Naruto eyes lifted from the scroll to Hinata's face and a worried shock ran through his spine. Hinata's eyes were wide and her face was as white as her pupils. She did not look up, instead she read and reread the seemingly hastily written words on the scroll. With every passing second Naruto's worry increased, and it did not fade when Hinata finally lifted her eyes to meet his. "Naruto-kun… we have to pack," were the only words she could speak.
Naruto, Hinata, you must leave tonight. I think they have Jiraya… please…
There were very few lights to be seen as the Naruto and Hinata ran through the streets of the village in the middle of the night; the only building that showed any life through its windows was the Hokage's office. The two approached the lit office and, instead of using the door, Naruto ran up the side of the building; Hinata followed without hesitation. The two leapt through the window of the Hokage's office to find Tsunade standing alone in the middle of the room. The look on her face was like none Naruto had ever seen; her head was hung and her shoulders slouched. She made no acknowledgement of the ninjas' unusual entrance; her eyes were locked on the floor. Neither Naruto nor Hinata wanted to break the eerie silence that ensued; they stood and waited silently for Tsunade to look up.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tsunade lifted her head and cleared her throat. "I need…" her voice cracked and she lowered her head again. Both Naruto and Hinata could see the redness in her eyes and the dried streaks of tears on her face; she looked so much older than she normally did. It seemed as if
another awkward silence was going to occur, but suddenly Tsunade began to speak again. Her voice was very quiet, "I need you to find him… Jiraya…" The two could see tears falling from her hidden face onto the floor.
Naruto took a step towards her, he had never seen her in such a pitiful way. He needed to stop her, "Tsunade…" As he lifted his hand towards her he suddenly realized that he had never called her by her name, but calling her 'Granny' or 'Old Lady' seemed so wrong at a moment like this. Even calling her 'Hokage' just didn't seem right.
This momumental moment seemed to slip past Tsunade as suddenly her face turned red, flush with anger and rage. Her voice seemed to shake the walls, "NO! JUST FIND HIM!" Her eyes shot up to Naruto's, eyes that seemed ready to kill without remorse. Their eyes stayed locked for only an instant, but her rage suddenly vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Her body seemed to lose all the life that it had just shown, the only proof of consciousness was her slow, weary walk to the chair behind her desk. As she dropped her body into the chair she tried in vain to regain the dignity that her title decreed. She placed her elbows on her desk and let her head sink into her hands, "I'm sorry." She had hoped that her voice was her usual strong one, it was not.
Naruto feared speaking again. "Lady Hokage, is there anything you can tell us?" Hinata's words were not soft or kind; she knew that if they were to find Jiraya they would need all the information they could get. Jiraya had done so much for her physically and mentally, the thought of him being in danger was devastating; but if they were to find him they would all need to remain emotionally calm. "If there is anything you know…" Her last words hung in the air; she couldn't help it as her voice seemed apologetic.
Tsunade lifted her head out of her hands. Hinata's calm and logical manner made her realize that she too had to remain calm and in control. Her eyes focused one at a time on the two young ninja standing before her. As she stared back and forth between them, she understood that even though she selfishly wanted to believe that she alone would risk her life to save Jiraya, he meant just as much to both Naruto and Hinata.
Tsundade wiped the tears from her face and cleared her throat before standing up. For the first time that night, she looked like the strongest ninja of the leaf, and not a pathetic little girl. Her face seemed less scared and more confident as she knew that she had called these two into her office because they all shared the same desire: to save Jiraya. "Naruto, Hinata," her words were more controlled than before, "Jiraya's last message to me said that he was too close to a pair of Akutsuki members and he feared that he had been discovered." Her eyes seemed to momentarily lose their new found sense of self control as she looked down at a crumpled letter on her desk. She looked back at the two, "He told me that if he did not respond again within two days that he would probably… he would probably…" she struggled to keep her composure, "be dead." These words had completely drained her of any poise she could muster and she dropped back down in her chair. "That was four days ago…" She was no longer looking at them. Instead, her eyes drifted tiredly to the ceiling.
Hinata couldn't help but remember seeing Risho speaking to the frog outside of the small shack months ago. 'He must have been communicating with Tsunade too,' she thought silently. She quickly ran through what Tsunade had said, nothing seemed to help. "Lady Hokage, did Jiraya-sama say where he was in his last message?" That would be where they would have to set out for tonight. Tsunade continued to stare at the ceiling in a daze, as if she had not heard the question.
Naruto could not remain quiet, "TSUNADE!" he yelled out. Her head seemed to snap towards him, an alarmed look etched on her face, "Where is Jiraya!?" Naruto's words were full of anger and fury.
Tsunade picked up the crumpled message that lay in front of her; her eyes stuggled to focus on the words that she had read so many times already. "Kirom…" The name seemed to slip out of her mouth quietly. She continued to stare at the paper in her hands simply for the fact that her hands would not let her put it down.
"Naruto-kun" Hinata turned to Naruto, "Kirom is not very far away. We should reach it by tomorrow evening." Hinata had been to the small village only once when she was young, but she remembered that there was a path that led directly there from Konoha. The village itself rested just outside the border of the fire country inside the grass country.
Naruto nodded to Hinata and turned back to face Tsunade who had dropped the paper and resumed her dead-like gaze of the ceiling, "Tsunade," she did not look at him, "we'll bring Jiraya back. I promise."
With those last words, the two turned and leapt out the window of the Hokage's office. They ran out of the village gates and continued their feveroush pace along the path to Kirom well into the night. After hours and hours of silent traveling, Hinata finally came to a stop. Naruto's face was livid as he stopped ahead of Hinata and turned around, "Why are we stopping?!" His voice was a loud, angry whisper. His thoughts had been only of saving Jiraya and punishing anyone who had helped attack him. He wanted to continue until he could go no further, but he would persist until he knew Jiraya was safe.
"Naruto-kun, we have had a very long day…" her voice carried a matter-of-fact tone, "and you heard the Hokage. We may have to go up against two members of the Akutsuki and we will need proper rest to even hope to stand a chance of surviving and retrieving Jiraya-sama." Hinata's face was calm, neither smiling nor frowning. Naruto's face reverted to surprise at Hinata's casual reference to the chance of their deaths. When Hinata had first heard Tsunade speak the name Akutsuki she recognized that an intense battle would most likely ensue, and that they would have only a slight chance of victory. During the journey to Kirom, she came to grips with the idea that this may be her and Naruto's last night together.
Naruto stood awestruck; he had no response. Hinata turned and walked into the forest, Naruto followed. They found a very small clearing in the dense forest to lay their large sleeping bag. They both silently undressed and climbed into the warm bag. The two lay side-by-side with Hinata's head on Naruto's shoulder and his right arm wrapped around her. All was quiet for a long time; they lay awake staring into the trees. "Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke quietly, as if she thought he was asleep, "If this is our last night together, I want you to know that I am glad for everything that has happened." She felt
him squeeze a little on her body. "I am glad that I was finally able to express my feelings for you and that I was able to share at least part of your life with you. If I could go back right now," Naruto, fully awake, held his breath, "I would do everything exactly the same."
Naruto was relieved of all worries he once had, Hinata had made her choice and he could only be thankful that it was for him. "Hinata," he spoke with gratitude, "I love you… and tonight…" he squeezed her as tight as he could, "Tonight will not be our last night together." He tried to make his words sound more like a promise and less like a prayer. Hinata nuzzled into his shoulder and fell asleep; as much as Naruto thought about Jiraya and Hinata, he too couldn't help but to fall asleep.
The sun had been in the sky for about an hour before it broke the cover of the trees and rested on the sleeping ninjas. They dressed in silence and resumed their journey to Kirom, and Jiraya. There were no words, none were needed. They stopped once during midday on a grassy hill to eat and rest briefly before returning on their journey. As the now reddish-orange sun was descending in the sky above them they suddenly stopped as an immense, maze-like bamboo forest lay before them. "Naruto-kun, we are in the grass country. Kirom is surrounded by this bamboo forest; it is not far away."
They both slowly and carefully entered the forest. They quickly found what looked like a very overly used path through the forest and set off at a fast walk. Naruto could not help but think that this forest was much creepier than the forest surround Konoha. There were noises obviously made by animals, but he had no idea what kind of animals they were. Soon, they approached a small, tattered signpost. It read: "Kirom Ahead." Scratched into the wood underneath the sign were the words: "visitors not welcome." The two ignored the unkind pseudo-welcome and continued on the path to Kirom.
As Naruto and Hinata reached Kirmo they realized that it was more like a giant crater within the bamboo forest; the bamboo trees seemed to suddenly stop on the boundry of the village. It was not a very large village but it was by no means small and there were many people walking through the streets. It took both ninja very little time to realize two things: every building was made of wood so that the setting sun cast an eerie orange glow on the entire village; and they were definitely not welcomed.
Naruto and Hinata had taken fewer than 10 steps out of the forest when a very young boy broke away from his mother and ran to them. "Are you two ninjas?" The little boy asked as he looked up at Hinata. His face seemed sweet.
Hinata smiled down at the little boy, "Yes we are…" She leaned over to rub the little boy's hair playfully. Her hand was suddenly retracted as the little boy kicked Hinata as hard as he could in the shin. "Wha…" The little boy ran back to his mother and the two walked away. Hinata rubbed her now sore shin, "Naruto-kun, what just happened?" Naruto simply stood there, stunned.
Although no one else was physical with the two, they could sense that the little boy's attitude towards them was shared by everyone else. As they continued deeper into the city, Hinata could notice that every passerby shifted their eyes away from them or mumbled something. Naruto, however, did not
seem to notice anything awkward as he was preoccupied by looking into each establishment they passed. Hinata, feeling really uncomfortable now, turned to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, what are you looking for?"
Naruto did not turn to look at her, instead he looked into the next place they passed: a seemingly cheap restaurant. "Huh? Oh I'm looking for the place with the most women." His words were very casual, and not well thought out. He did not see Hinata's eyes widen.
"Um… Naruto-kun, why are you looking for that?" She tried not to sound worried. 'There has to be a good reason,' she thought quickly, but that thought did not comfort her.
Naruto did not respond immediately as he continued to look through the windows of the buildings. "What?" He finally turned to Hinata and noticed the look on her face. His last words quickly ran through his mind as his face lit up, "OH! No Hinata… It's not like that," he let out a little laugh as he realized that she must have misunderstood his reasoning. "If Jiraya is here, he would be in the place with the most women in it." Hinata took the words in silently. Suddenly, she too laughed with Naruto.
The two continued to walk until the moon was high in the sky. The streets seemed quite empty, but many restaraunts and bars were lit and full of loud people. Naruto finally stopped in the middle of the dark street; his eyes on an extremely loud and crowded building, "Hinata, if he's here, he'll be in there."
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata grabbed Naruto's arm, "somebody's following us." She had noticed long ago that someone kept appearing behind them and would suddenly walk into the first sidestreet. She didn't want to say anything until she was sure, and after so long she was compeletly sure.
Naruto was so focused on finding Jiraya that he completely dismissed Hinata's fears, "Hinata it's probably just someone who wants to kick you." He started towards the loud restaurant; Hinata took a look back at a mysterious figure turning left into a sidestreet before following Naruto in.
People were talking so loudly that Naruto could not hear what the man that was pushing him out was saying. Finally, as he was completely pushed out into the street, "Get out of here!" could be heard from a very big guy. Naruto knew it would be unwise to fight this guy, as he would tear him a new one, so he complied with his ejection. Naruto did not know what else to do.
Hinata quickly ran out of the loud establishment, "Naruto-kun, are you ok?" The two stood there in the empty street looking at the restaurant.
"Are you looking for the Sannin?" The voice came from the darkness behind them.
Both quickly turned around to face the source of the voice. "Who are you?" Naruto was the first to speak.
"You should not have done that." The voice spoke out again, but it did not sound like it was directed towards them.
Naruto stared into the darkness. Hinata leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I think this was the person following us." Naruto suddenly regretted disregarding Hinata's earlier fears. The two waited as the person in the darkness seemed to struggle to speak.
A white arm shot out of the darkness and pointed up the road. "Follow the road out of the village until you reach an unreadable sign. Turn right and go straight; you will find the Sannin." The two took in the direction and each wanted to know the identity of the speaker. Suddenly, a dark black arm shot out of the darkness and pulled the pointing white hand back into the darkness, "He will want to know what you did and I will tell him."
Naruto stood still for only a second before turning and running off in the direction the white hand had pointed. He had no interest in the man hiddin in the darkness; his only thoughts were of Jiraya. Hinata remained behind staring at the hidden man. Naruto had already run a good distance before she turned and followed. "Ha ha ha… They will find much more than…" the voice faded as the distance between the source and Hinata grew.
Naruto and Hinata had soon run completely through the village and back into the surrounding bamboo forest. They continued on and very quickly came upon the unreadable sign. The two paused in front of the sign and looked right. There was no path, only endless bamboo trees. Naruto looked back at Hinata; he knew that if he proceeded, she would follow. Naruto entered the forest cautiously and walked straight, slicing through any tree that stood in his path.
They had been walking a very short time when Naruto felt Hinata's hand squeeze his shoulder, he stopped. "Naruto-kun," she whispered in his ear, "I see Jiraya. He's up ahead in a clearing…" That was all that Naruto needed to hear as he sprinted forward blindly into the clearing. As he entered, he saw Jiraya, propped up against a large rock in the center of a small circular clearing.
"JIRAYA!!" Naruto rushed over to the fallen Sannin. Hinata carefully entered the clearing, but upon seeing Jiraya she ran too him; the two stood over his sitting body. There was blood covering several parts of his body and his clothes were torn and tattered; he had obviously been in a major fight. Both tried to wake him, but he sat motionless. "Hinata?" Naruto turned to Hinata, his face worried. "Is he alive?"
Hinata activated her Byakugan and noticed that there was in fact plenty of chakra within Jiraya. Most of the chakra, however, was concentrated in his head. As she turned to Naruto to explain what she saw something flashed in her periphial vision. "NARUTO-KUN!" She pushed Naruto and leaped back; both fell to on their backs a good distance away from Jiraya.
"AHHHHH!" Jiraya let out a loud, painful scream as a kunai landed in each of his shoulders. Naruto and Hinata both picked their heads up to see Jiraya, fully awake and breathing very hard. "Naruto…Hinata… run…" He could barely manage to speak through the pain.
Both ninja jumped to their feet and looked in the direction of the Kunai. They did not have to wait long for their attacker, as a man's voice spoke out from the forest, "You are very fast…" A man wearing a
long dark cloak with red clouds stepped into the clearing. "And clever. You managed to save your lives and break my genjutsu on Jiraya-san." He spoke as if he approved of Hinata's actions.
"Don't look into his eyes!" Jiraya yelled out to the leaf ninjas' backs. Both looked down, but Naruto did not need the warning to know exactly who was speaking. Naruto had only seen this man once before, but he instantly knew who he was. He remembered him exactly: the leaf headband with the long scratch through it, the long black hair, the Sharingan.
"How… expected of you Naruto-kun." Itachi's words were almost playful, a predator toying with his prey. Naruto wanted nothing more than to rush at Itachi, to pound him into the ground, to make him pay for what he did to his best friend; but he simply stood there. He had to think. "I knew you would come if you knew Jiraya-san was in trouble."
Naruto knew that he had fallen into Itachi's trap. It was a complete set up: he captured Jiraya and waited for Naruto to come looking for him. 'But I dragged Hinata into this trap too!' Naruto screamed in his head. "HINATA!" Naruto yelled down to Itachi's feet, "Don't look into his eyes! Activate your Byakugan and watch for any changes in his chakra." Naruto knew that if Itachi attacked he would need Hinata's help to even try to survive, let alone win; but he couldn't put her in any more danger. "And whatever happens, stay out of it!" He had made his decision. Hinata did not know how to respond, her heart was beating rapidly. She activated her Byakugan and walked towards Jiraya, all the while watching for the slightest change in their attacker's chakra.
"Ah… A Hyuuga." Itachi laughed. It was not an evil laugh; more of an amused laugh, "I anticipated such noble words from you Naruto-kun. You have always been the type to jump into a dangerous situation alone, but alas, what will remain of Jiraya and the Hyuuga girl after I kill you?" Itachi let a brief silence ring through the air as if he had not planned this entire scene out already. "Perhaps I shall kill them first."
Naruto's anger overtook him. He lifted his head and ran towards Itachi, screaming out "NO!" as he looked into the eyes of their attacker. His scream was cut off and his body froze. His eyes grew wide as he instantly realized that he had fallen for Itachi's bluff.
The world surrounding him turned a dark black and everything disappeared except Itachi, who stood in front of him looking down. Naruto lost control over the lower part of his body and he fell to his knees; he seemed land in a small puddle of dark muddy water. The splash that was created when he fell was not a big one, but the sound echoed very loudly around the empty void. Naruto looked around him; there was nothing but dark red clouds hanging low in the sky above him.
As Naruto's eyes moved slowly back to Itachi he was consumed by fear. Jiraya had once told him about Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but that one time had been enough for Naruto to understand how much trouble he was in. 'There is no escape Naruto… 3 days of any torture that Itachi can image will pass in less than a blink of an eye… very few people can survive…' He knew he was trapped; that everything he would see would only be happening in his mind. This realization, however, was instantly forgotten as his eyes finally reached where Itachi was standing; he was no longer alone. Lying on the floor in front of Itachi
was Jiraya. Naruto's eyes grew wide, "JIRAYA!" he yelled out! His scream did not seem to reach his fallen sensei. He couldn't get up; he couldn't save him. He screamed with all his might as he reached out to Jiraya.
In Itachi's hand was a long sword that hung down at his side; his eyes were focused down on Jiraya. "Naruto… Naruto…" Jiraya's calling could be heard over Naruto's screams. Jiraya was now writhing in pain on his back, "Naruto… help me…" His voice was pathetic and desparate.
Naruto was devastated; he was powerless to save him. He watched as Itachi lifted his sword up before him, turned it slowly, and brought the tip down into Jiraya; the sword penetrated his chest. Itachi drove the sword so far through Jiraya that the hilt rested on top of Jiraya's chest. "NO!" Naruto screamed as Jiraya lay motionless on the floor. Naruto's eyes wanted to close, but they remained focused on Jiraya as Itachi slowly pulled the sword from the Sannin's chest.
Naruto suddenly grabbed his own chest as he felt a very sharp pain. The further Itachi's sword was pulled from Jiraya's chest, the more intense the pain Naruto felt. As Itachi finally removed the tip of the sword, Naruto could see blood running down his arms and body. He looked down at his chest and realized that he was bleeding from exactly the same spot where Jiraya had been stabbed. He held one hand over the wound and looked back at Itachi. The wound in his chest or watching Jiraya die; he couldn't tell which pain was worse. Jiraya, however, was no longer there. Itachi stood alone, his sword down at his side.
"You bastard…" Naruto had wanted to yell, but his voice was a whisper from the shock. He held his bloody hand in front of him. "YOU BASTARD!" he yelled out as blood dripped down into the dark water he was kneeling in.
"Naruto-kun…" Itachi was not looking at him. "Why the unkind words? I remember once you saying that you and Sasuke were like brothers." His tone was mocking. "Doesn't that make us something like brothers as well?" His eyes lifted from the floor to Naruto, "And besides. We're just getting started."
Naruto's blood boiled. He wanted to scream out that they would never be brothers, that he was nothing like Sasuke, but as his eyes widened in shock; he could only yell out one word, "HINATA!" Where Jiraya had once laid was now a dark, old tree. Hinata was topless and her hands were bound to the tree so that her back faced both Itachi and Naruto. She was struggling helplessly. "NO!! HINATA!!" Naruto tried in vain to reach for her. He remained on his knees in the dark water pounding at the floor.
Hinata's body stopped struggling, "Naruto-kun…" Once again, Naruto could hear the voice over his own screams. "Naruto-kun, why did you do this to me?" Naruto's heart sank and his face grew white as Hinata's words reached him. "Without you I would be safe… I would be with my family… I would be happy…" Her voice sounded neither angry nor sad; it sounded mechanical, but Naruto only heard the words. He did not speak, he simply stared at her with a sickening feeling in his stomach. He had not noticed that, although the pain in his chest remained, the wound was gone.
Itachi's eyes had remained on Naruto, but as he turned his back to face the bound Hinata he lifted his sword. Naruto watched in horror as Itachi carefully brought it down, slashing Hinata's back. The pain of hearing Hinata scream out completely dulled the pain of the new bleeding gash on Naruto's back. Itachi brought his sword to Hinata's flesh 9 times, each time Naruto screamed out, before she finally fell forword and rested lifelessly on the tree. Naruto screamed and called her name through an endless amount tears. The wounds on his back were nothing to the pain he felt for Hinata.
Naruto's body fell forward, but his body was forced back into its kneeling, watchful position. Through tears, he watched for two complete days as Jiraya and Hinata both called for him as Itachi hacked and slashed at their bodies. With every wound made on their bodies, an identical wound was made on his. As the image was replaced with a new one, the wound disappeared but the pain remained. After two days, Naruto wanted to die. He closed his eyes and hoped for death.
A new pain ran through Naruto's body, "NARUTO-KUN!!" He heard Hinata's voice, but this was unlike the one he had heard in the previous two days; this voice sounded worried. He opened his eyes and he saw a dirt floor; he had tripped and landed face down as he rushed at Itachi.
He had escaped, but the pain of two days of excrutiating physical and mental torture struck him all at once. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was Jiraya lying on the floor dead and Hinata being slashed to death. He still wanted to die. Everything remained silent and still as the thoughts replayed through Naruto's head, not once or twice but many times. But now there was something different; something that Naruto had not noticed for two mental days. He had seen it countless times during his imprisonment within the genjutsu; he had even felt it with his own hands whenever he ran them over the slashes on his back: the inscriptions that he and Hinata shared. Their connection.
Itachi stared down at Naruto's still body. He had been sure not to kill Naruto during the Tsukuyomi, as he needed the Kyuubi inside of him, but he was sure that he would not be any trouble. He turned his attention to the other leaf ninja; he started to walk towards her. Hinata stood firm in front of Jiraya's body.
Naruto's mind replayed the beginning of his thoughts of Hinata from Itachi's Tsukuyomi; the rest was too much. His mind then replayed his last real night he spent with Hinata. 'She chose you. She understood what you were and she accepted you.' his mind told him. 'She loves you…' He knew what he had to do. 'She would do anything for you, and you…' his downed body started to glow with red chakra, 'YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HER!'
As Itachi confidently walked towards Hinata, a flash of red caught his eye; he froze. He looked down at Naruto's body again; his Tsukuyomi had apparently not had the affect he had expected. Naruto's body was completely surrounded by the fox's chakra and it seemed to lift him off the ground and to his feet. Naruto now stood halfway between Itachi and Hinata with a fearsome look on his face. For some strange reason Jiraya's words again rang through his head, 'very few people can survive… but the Tsukuyomi severely drains Itachi of almost all power and chakra…' Naruto lifted his head and once again locked eyes with Itachi. Neither looked afraid.
Oooohhh Itachi... scary... hope you enjoyed...