The Heart of the Demon
Chapter 18
The End of the Beginning
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters
Naruto stepped out of the hospital Hinata towing her along, she had been released this morning and Hinata had been right there waiting for her when she got to the entrance. Hinata was now dragging her somewhere but refused to give her a destination. From the direction they were heading though Naruto could guess it wasn't Ichiraku's and that was disappointing, she could use some comfort food right about now.
Hinata lead her all the way through the village to its outskirts, at this point Naruto knew exactly where they were headed but she couldn't figure out why. Soon they arrived at the Uchiha district and went straight to Sasuke's house.
"Hinata what are we doing? Couldn't Sasuke have just come to the hospital too, or met us at Ichiraku's" she hinted still hoping they were going to go to Ichiraku's.
"No that wasn't an option." Hinata said firmly as they walked to the door and knocked.
After a few moments Sasuke called though the door "Come in, it's open!" Naruto was now very suspicious; something was defiantly going on here.
Hinata pushed open the door and practically shoved Naruto inside in front of her.
"Surprise!" shouted a packed room of people.
Naruto stood there silent with conflicting emotions, on one hand she was touched so many people cared for her but on the other hand what the hell was wrong with them? How could they think it was a good idea to though a party for her right after she lost the man she loved, now was not the time to celebrate.
"We thought you could use something fun to take your mind off things." Hinata said seeing right through her. "We all want to help you through this."
Naruto looked to her and nodded after a moment "yeah, thanks."
"And the best part" Hinata dragged Naruto through the house till they arrived at the kitchen where Hinata through open the door "We brought Ichiraku's here!"
"Naruto! It's good to see you up and around again." Ayame said before giving Naruto a hug.
"We've made a lot of ramen so eat as much as you want." Teuchi said smiling at her from his place behind the stove.
Naruto gave a small smile, maybe this would help take her mind off things.
"Well what do you think?" Sasuke asked as he walked up behind them.
Naruto looked to him maintaining her smile "Well bringing Ichiraku's here was a brilliant idea."
"You'll have to thank Itachi for that one."
"He always was the smart one." Naruto teased.
Sasuke smiled "it's good to have you back."
They returned to the main room where ramen was served and Naruto engulfed an inhuman amount quicker than half the people there thought possible, Choji was the only one keeping up. It became a competition between the two with the whole room cheering them on.
Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke, Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi and even Sakura cheered for Naruto, but for Sakura it was more because Ino was cheering for Choji. Shikamaru and Ino showed their support for their teammate and even though there were more people cheering for Naruto Ino could do enough cheering to match all of them alone. Shino was there but didn't partake in the cheering, he and Itachi stood to the side and observed. Itachi was happy to see Naruto seemed to be doing well, she was like a little sister to him, but after everything he had seen it was hard for him to see her the same way he used to.
Naruto groaned "I give up, I can't eat anymore."
Choji raised his hand up in victory before letting out his own groan "I don't think I could go much longer."
"WOOO! WAY TO GO CHOJI!" Ino shouted caught up in the moment.
"Damn, even Naruto with ramen can't out eat an Akimichi" Kiba sighed in defeat.
"I don't think it is possible to beat an Akimichi in an eating contest." Shikamaru added
"It's never happened before, I wasn't about to break tradition." Choji said with a smile.
The celebration lasted for a while after, Naruto laughed and enjoyed being able to take her mind away from the intense loneliness she felt without Gaara and Kurama even if it was just for a day.
Once the party finally ended, late in the evening, Hinata and Sasuke walked Naruto back to her apartment.
"So how did you like it?" Sasuke asked as they walked
"I liked it a lot, thank you guys, I really needed this."
"No need to thank us, we will be there for you no matter what." Hinata assured
"Yeah no matter what you need we will be there." Sasuke confirmed
Naruto smiled "You two are the best friends I could ever ask for."
Before long they arrived at Naruto's apartment and she gave them both a hug goodbye "We'll see you tomorrow Naruto, have a good night." Sasuke said after the hug.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow." They waved to each other as they left.
Now alone Naruto took a deep breath and turned to her apartment's door, she hadn't been there since Gaara had asked her to run away with him. She entered the apartment and slowly looked around, it felt so empty. She walked down the hallway toward the bedroom and stopped to look at a picture on the side table, it was of her and Gaara at Ichiraku's a couple of weeks before he died. She chocked back a sob and placed the picture face down on table.
She walked into the bedroom wiping away a few tears; the room was just like it was before. There on the bed was one of Gaara's shirts. Naruto sat down on the floor next to bed and picked up the shirt wrapping it in her hands. She brought the shirt up to her nose and took a long sniff, it still smelled like him. She couldn't hold them back anymore and the tears started flowing again. She rested her head on her knees and sobbed into the shirt.
Tsunade exited the operation room and wiped some sweat from her forehead before being bombarded by questions from two overzealous men in green body suits and a young woman with her hair in two buns.
"Lady Tsunade! How did the operation go?!" Guy shouted
"Is he gonna be okay?" The girl asked looking very concerned
"Of course he is! Neji won't let something like this stop him!"
Tsunade sighed, she couldn't wait to leave this place "I did everything I could, we won't know how much it helped until it has fully finished healing. I've put the bone back together but it will likely not be able to handle large amounts of force, if he is careful and lets it finish healing before trying to use it he should be able to continue as a ninja."
"Wonderful news! I will make sure he doesn't overexert himself!" Guy shouted proudly
Tenten gawked "Do you even know what that means?"
Guy gave a ridiculously over the top pout.
Tenten looked to Tsunade "Don't worry Lady Tsunade I'll make sure he rests while it heals"
Tsunade gave a small smile "I'll hold you to that, now if you will all excuse me I have somewhere to be."
Tsunade walked out of the hospital and straight to a bar, it had been too long since she had had a drink.
The next morning Hinata walked up to Naruto's door and knocked, she was going to spend every moment possible with Naruto until she was sure Naruto was going to be okay. After a few minutes with no response she was getting worried. Hinata pushed her chakra into a bit of the wall next to the door opening a small compartment containing a spare key, Naruto had shown her where the key was hidden back when they were still in the academy.
Hinata walked through the small hall noticing the downturned picture and once she arrived at the bedroom she found Naruto curled in a ball on the floor cradling a shirt that she guessed must have been Gaara's. Her eyes were puffy and there were tear trails on her face, it was clear she had been crying all night. Hinata knelt down beside Naruto and put her hand on her friends shoulder.
Naruto slowly stirred and opened her eyes to see Hinata kneeling next to her with a sad expression. She clutched the shirt in her hands and began tearing up again, Hinata must have noticed because she engulfed her in a hug and let her cry into her shoulder. Hinata simply sat and held her friend in a comforting embrace and slowly rubbed her back.
After a few minutes of sitting there in each other's arms Naruto spoke through her light sobs "I can't do it Hinata, I can't stay here. I thought I could I thought I was strong enough but it hurts too much."
Hinata didn't know what to say, was she still going to run away? "Naruto, you can't leave, you'll be labeled a rouge ninja, stay here where your friends can help you through this." Hinata said it in a very concerned and almost frantic voice.
Naruto pulled back from the hug and shook her head "Tsunade said she wanted me to go with her when she leaves, The Hokage gave the okay." She managed to stop the tears and compose herself enough to make sure Hinata knew she was serious.
Hinata frowned at the thought of Naruto leaving, but at least she would be with Tsunade and if it would help her heal than she wasn't going to try and stop her. Slowly she nodded "Alright" after a few moments of silence she spoke again "When are you leaving?"
"I don't know, soon probably, Tsunade said she would be leaving in a couple of days a couple of days ago."
"So soon?" Hinata choked out in an almost depressed tone.
Naruto nodded and for a while they sat in silence until they heard Sasuke enter and call out for Naruto in a worried voice.
Naruto called back "In here"
Sasuke entered the room and breathed a sigh of relief "When I saw your door sitting open I was worried."
Naruto looked to Hinata who blushed "Sorry, I must have forgotten to close it when I came in."
Sasuke gave her an exacerbated look before taking in the atmosphere of the room and sensing something was wrong "What's going on?"
They both looked to Sasuke sadly before Naruto responded "I'm going to be leaving the village with Tsunade."
Sasuke's mouth opened and hung there, he had just gotten her back and now she was leaving? Finally he choked out a sentence "when?"
"Soon, probably today or tomorrow."
The information hit him like a truck she was leaving so soon. "For how long?"
"I don't know, a few years."
Years?! She was leaving for years?! He walked backwards till he hit the wall and slid down it an expression of shock plastered on his face.
"I'm sorry Sasuke but I can't stay here, I need time to heal where I'm not constantly reminded of him."
After a while Sasuke finally nodded, he didn't like it but he understood how bad it must hurt her being reminded of Gaara, as much as he wanted himself to be the one Naruto loved he recognized that he wasn't and it was selfish of him to try to keep her here where she was hurting so much when leaving could help her heal.
"Do you want help packing?" he finally said solemnly.
She gave him a small halfhearted smile "I would like that."
The three of them cleaned the room and packed for Naruto spending the last bit of time they had together for who knows how long. After about an hour There was knock on the door which Hinata answered.
"Lady Tsunade" Hinata said in a disappointed tone.
"Well don't sound so excited, is Naruto in?"
Hinata nodded and waved for Tsunade to come into the small apartment. They walked to the bedroom and Tsunade looked in seeing the packed bag and Naruto and Sasuke talking. "I suppose this means you've accepted my offer."
Naruto turned to Tsunade and nodded "You were right, being here hurts too much." Tsunade nodded slowly and gave a sad smile, someone so young shouldn't have to go through this. "When are we leaving?"
"We'll leave in the morning, you should say goodbye to your friends today." Naruto nodded and Tsunade took her leave.
The rest of the day was spent giving tearful goodbyes to her friends across Konaha ending with one last meal at Ichiraku's, Hinata and Sasuke were there with her the whole time. Naruto had decided that she didn't want to go back to her apartment so she was going to stay with Sasuke and Itachi tonight and meet Tsunade at the front gate in the morning.
Tsunade entered the Hokage's office to a waiting Hiruzen and Jariya "Well?" Jariya immediately prompted.
Tsunade gave a small smile "She has decided to come with me and Shizune."
The Hokage breathed a sigh of relief and fell into his chair; Tsunade's choice to leave the decision of leaving up to Naruto had worried him. He knew that it was best for her to leave the village for a while but wasn't sure if she would agree.
Jariya nodded slowly and closed his eyes thinking, he wanted to be there for Naruto and would have like if it was him she was leaving with but Tsunade was right Naruto needed to heal and she wasn't going to be able to with him.
"When will you be leaving?" Hiruzen asked after a brief silence
"Tomorrow morning around 8" Tsunade replied taking a seat across from him
Jariya sat beside her and shared a look with the Hokage who nodded. Tsunade looked between the two and waited for them to explain what they were doing.
"Sensei and I have been talking, since Naruto already knows about her parents we think it's time she gets her inheritance." With that Hiruzen pulled out a box filled with scrolls and various other effects from behind the desk.
"These were some of her parent's most valuable possessions, family jutsu, photos, her mother's journal and locket, and one of her father's three pronged kunai. Take these items with you and give them to her once you've gotten away from the village, we'll let her focus on saying goodbye in the morning."
Tsunade nodded "of course I'm sure it will very emotional for her."
"Now, before you go" he pulled out a couple bottles of sake from one of the desk's drawers "I would like to have a drink with my students." Tsunade and Jariya smiled and accepted the cups of sake he handed them.
Naruto gave Hinata a long hug after they got back to Sasuke's house "You'll be there to say goodbye tomorrow right?" she asked after finally pulling away.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow them" she smiled softly, she wasn't ready to say goodbye to Hinata yet.
Hinata nodded "see you tomorrow" she waved and walked into the night.
Naruto stared after her for a few minutes before Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder and caught her attention "we should get inside." She nodded and followed him in.
Sasuke led her to the guest bedroom even though she had stayed there enough to know where it was. She deposited her things on the floor and sat down on the bed. They sat in silence for a while neither one really knowing what to say, their relationship had been strained lately and after everything that had happened being alone together was awkward to say the least.
The silence was finally broken when Itachi came to the door "Hey guys I could use some help"
Sasuke gave Itachi a confused look "With what?"
"Well I bought all this ice cream for the party yesterday but after the ramen eating contest people didn't seem up to ice cream, it's going to go bad if it's not eaten soon and I can't eat it all alone."
Naruto smiled "Well I don't know about Sasuke but I think I can help you with that."
Itachi smiled back and they followed him back to the kitchen where he pulled out several gallons of ice cream "Wow you weren't kidding" Naruto mused as she gaze upon the ice cream.
"Why did you get so much?" Sasuke gawked.
"Well there was supposed to be a dozen people eating it, including an Akimichi."
Sasuke conceded to his point and grabbed them some spoons and bowls while Itachi served up the ice cream.
It took several hours and made them all a bit sick but they managed to eat all of the ice cream. Naruto groaned and laid her head on the table "I think I'm gonna throw up."
"Well you shouldn't have eaten 2 gallons of ice cream; you doubled what me and Itachi ate."
Naruto groaned again "Shut up."
"Alright you two should get to bed, you have a long day tomorrow Naruto."
Naruto slowly stood up and nodded "I'll see you guys in the morning, thanks again for letting me stay here."
"You're always welcome here Naruto." Itachi said with a smile. He waited till Naruto was gone before turning to Sasuke "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I'm not the one that ate 2 gallons of ice cream."
"You know what I mean Sasuke, are you alright with Naruto leaving?"
Sasuke sighed and leaned back in his chair to look up at the celling, after a few minutes he finally answered the question. "I'll be okay, I'll miss her like crazy but I'll be okay, she needs this."
Itachi nodded and walked over and gave his little brother a comforting hug "She'll be back before we know it." He pulled away and gave Sasuke a poke to his forehead "Now get to bed"
Sasuke nodded "Goodnight"
"Goodnight"
The morning came too soon, Hinata sat on the side of her bed trying not to cry, she didn't want to show up with tear streaks on her face. It hadn't really hit her until now that her best friend was leaving, for a very long time, she had no idea when she would see her again. How was she going make it without her? Naruto had given her so much confidence, she was afraid that without her there that confidence would fade away.
She wiped the water away from her eyes and steeled herself, she had to go or she would miss saying goodbye to Naruto. Quickly she picked up the gift she had gotten for Naruto and ran out the door.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi walked up to the gate where Tsunade and Shizune were waiting. Naruto gave a halfhearted smile when she saw the Hokage was standing with them, she still loved him like a grandpa but she hadn't forgiven him having Kurama sealed away.
Konohamaru stood next to his grandfather waiting for Naruto, he didn't understand why Naruto was leaving and he didn't want to, he just wanted her to stay. He was standing around anxiously while Hiruzen spoke with Tsunade when he saw them walking up "Naruto!" he shouted and ran to her.
Naruto knelt as Konohamaru got to her and engulfed him in a hug. Konohamaru clung tightly around her neck willing himself to never let go "Please don't go Naruto!"
Naruto squeezed him in her arms, it hurt her to see him so upset but she needed to do this "I'm sorry Konohamaru, but I have to go." She gently pulled him off of her so she could look into his eyes "Konohamaru, I have to do this, just remember that no matter how far I go it doesn't change how much I love you, we'll see each other again and when we do you'll be big and strong just like your big sis."
Konohamaru frowned slightly but nodded and again latched his arms around her. She picked him up and carried him with her to the rest of the group. "Naruto, how are you felling?" Hiruzen asked with a gentle smile.
Naruto glared at him for a few seconds "fine" she looked around "Where is Hinata?"
Tsunade shrugged "Haven't seen her since yesterday"
Naruto bit her lip and looked down the road into the village; Hinata had to show up right? She wouldn't not say goodbye. Naruto reassured herself that Hinata would be there soon and moved on to other goodbyes first.
She set Konohamaru down and patted him on the head before turning to Sasuke and for a while they just stood there with sad looks on their faces. Finally Sasuke smirked "It's gonna be so dull without you here."
Naruto grinned "You'll just have to make up for my absence, you're gonna have to get a whole lot louder"
Sasuke let out a laugh "I'll do my best, but no one can compare to you"
"True, I'm pretty awesome"
With that Sasuke reached out and hugged her and she returned the gesture "Come back soon" he whispered in her ear before he pulled away.
She nodded but wasn't sure she could deliver on it. Next she turned to Itachi who smiled gently at her in his usual stoic manner. She smiled back at him and jumped up wrapping her arms around his neck. Itachi returned the hug holding her in the air at his full height "Be safe Naruto"
"Of course" he gently set her down and ruffled her hair knowing she hated it when he did that. He laughed at the face she made while she patted her hair back down. After she finished fixing her hair Itachi pointed behind her and Naruto turned to see what he was pointing at. Hinata came to a stop as she reached the group panting from running all the way there.
Naruto smiled widely and nearly tackled Hinata in a hug; she knew Hinata would be here. Hinata returned the hug squeezing Naruto tightly. They stayed in the embrace for a long time neither wanting to let go because they knew when they did it would be time to say goodbye. Finally Hinata pulled away slowly and Naruto followed suite, both had watery eyes.
"I got you something" Hinata said as she pulled out a small pink box and opened it revealing a pair of necklaces. The white gold necklaces were two halves of a heart which when put together said best friends. She took the necklaces and put one around Naruto's neck before putting the other on hers "This way we will always be together" she couldn't keep the tears from falling any longer.
Naruto similarly had tears running from her eyes before she again wrapped Hinata up in another hug "Thank you Hinata, I'm going to miss you so much."
"Don't be gone too long Naruto, you're the best friend I could have ever wanted and I'm going to miss you more than anything in the world."
Again they stood in each other's arms for what seemed like forever until Tsunade finally came over and gently set her hand on Naruto's shoulder "We should go Naruto."
Naruto and Hinata pulled apart keeping each other's hands together and Naruto nodded to Tsunade. Slowly Naruto started walking away with Tsunade waving goodbye to her most important people, leaving was turning out a lot harder than she had thought it was going to be.
As Naruto faded off into the distance and people started to leave Hinata stood and watched her best friend disappear into the distance. Tears still fell from her eyes and she jumped slightly when Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder, he wrapped her in a comforting hug and she laid her head on his shoulder. "It's going to be all right, she'll be back before we know it."
"I hope you right" she choked out between quiet sobs.
Tsunade pushed open the door to their room and Naruto stepped in behind her falling on the nearest bed, it had been an exhausting day, there was way too much emotional stress. Tsunade sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention. Naruto sat up and gave Tsunade a questioning look. Tsunade pulled out the small box from one of her bags "The Hokage thought it was time for you to have these."
Naruto tentatively took the box and looked through its contents "They were you parents things." Naruto registered the comment but didn't respond to it instead opting to examine one of the scrolls. She looked through the scroll 'Property of Minato Namikaze' she brushed her hand over the name before continuing reading.
"The Rasengan?" she absently questioned as she looked over the first jutsu.
"One of your father's original jutsu, it was one of the most feared techniques in all the elemental nations."
"How come I've never heard of it before?"
"Well your dad and Jariya were the only ones who were ever able to master it, at least to its basic form. Even Minato wasn't able to finish the jutsu, he had always intended to add elemental chakra to it but as it stands now neither was ever able to do it."
Naruto nodded slowly and carefully rolled the scroll back up before moving onto the other things in the box. She pulled out a silver locket that had the word love engraved on one of the sides.
"That was your mother's locket; she wore it all the time."
Naruto gently pried open the locket to see a picture of her parents, her mother was standing behind her father with her arms hanging around his neck, both had broad smiles, they looked so happy together. Naruto choked back a sob as the picture reminded her of how she felt when she was with Gaara. She snapped the locket shut and placed it back in the box before setting the box on the bed and running to the bathroom and locking the door behind her.
Tsunade looked worriedly at the bathroom door and Shizune followed Naruto to the door and knocked lightly on it "Naruto are you okay?"
"I'm fine" Naruto responded through sobs, it was clear she was not fine.
Shizune looked worriedly to Tsunade "It'll take time for her to heal Shizune, the best thing we can do right now is let her cry it out." Shizune nodded sadly.
Naruto hugged her legs and cried into her knees inwardly cursing Jariya for taking everything from her.
Authors Note: So next chapter will be after time skip and it will be very AU from now on.