Dynamic Updatto! Surprise! Never thought I'll be able to pull something like that off again, but here I am! Just like the previous time, I'm able to update ALL my "Naruto" fic at the same time! Also this time around it's more of a celebration! Tomorrow I'm turning 21 (boy, am I old or what) and to make it special not only for me but for you guys also, I've decided to sit down to it and wrote new chapters of all my fics. Hope you'll enjoy them!
To be honest, I've never expected to finish this chapter so fast, but I got a sudden inspiration and there you go. If I only could update like that all the time… don't suppose that'll be possible though. At least I'll do my best to keep the good, update pace.
Now, most of you were really interested if Naruto, Naraku and Tamao survived, so all I can say that if you'll read this chapter, you'll basically know everything. Thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter. I do hope that you'll like this one at least as much as the previous.
Falkyn Speaking: Since there's a deadline on this, I'm going to try and finish this faster than I did last time. I don't have much time until after the deadline, so I'm going to give this a quick once-over with grammar and spell check, and then I'll do a quick read through. If there's anything that bugs me enough, I'll change it, but if not, you'll just have to deal with it. Blame me, not Shang. Oh, by the way, happy birthday, dude.
And now, without further to do:
Chapter #15: Recovery and Rewards
Title Page: Naruto is sitting in the room with a window showing a crescent moon, as he tries to write something with a goose feather (most likely a love poem)
Hinata's head shoot up the moment someone's hand landed on her shoulder. As she looked to her right, she noticed Neji standing right next to her with concern showing on his face: "It's already been two days, Hinata-sama…" he stated simply. "You should rest…"
"I…" began the Hyuuga heiress as she looked with worry at the blonde. Her face saddened even more as she observed her crush laying motionless on the bed with only his chest moving up and down slightly. "I don't want to…" she finally managed to speak up after a short silence. "Because I fear that if I were to leave him… I might not see him again…"
At hearing that the Hyuuga genius lowered his head slightly and stared at the floor. The girl hesitated for a short moment, before she continued: "Tamao-san… Naraku-san… Naruto-kun… just because I wasn't strong enough… just because I didn't manage to stop Tamao-san, they're all… In the end, I'm just as useless as I've always been…" and with those words tears began running down her face.
Neji stood there for a moment, looking at his cousin and then slowly made her turn around to look at him. As his white eyes stared deep into hers, now filled with water, he announced calmly: "Only people with great strength can admit that they're weak… no-one's undefeated, Hinata-sama. We all have our limits. What's important is to do as much as you can… nobody can ask you for more then that…"
"But why?" asked the girl, sobbing as tears kept on falling from her face to the floor. "Why, with all my training, am I still so useless? I can't do anything for those who are important to me… I can't do anything to help Naruto-kun…"
"You're wrong…" the Hyuuga genius corrected her, still calm. "You have always struggled to change… that is your greatest strength, Hinata-sama. You're not useless… or if anything, I'm just as useless as you are. But just sitting around and complaining about it won't change a thing. If you really feel that you're not strong enough to protect those that matter to you, there's only one thing you can do… Get stronger…"
The girl looked at the blonde, who still lay in bed motionless, through tears in her eyes. As she observed his face, she tightened her grip on the trouser legs of her pants and, turning back to her cousin, she asked with determination in her voice: "Neji-niisan… when everything will calm down, will… will you… will you please, train me?"
The boy only smiled as he nodded. That was the Hinata that he knew. Just then a quiet crack was heard and as the two Hyuuga look at the door, they saw Kasumi walking in. The weapon mistress kept on throwing her eyes in all direction as a small, almost invisible blush appeared on her face: "I just came by to see how Naruto was doing…" she stated a bit nervously.
Neji's smile only widen at the sight: "She really does try to keep distant…" he thought to himself as he observed the former mist-nin. "I guess it's hard for her to admit that she worries about Naruto as much as about the other two…"
"He still hasn't woken up…" replied Hinata sadly as she threw the blonde a worried glance. After that a short silence felt between the trio, until the Hyuuga heiress spoke up again: "What about Naraku-san and Tamao-san? Are they doing alright?"
"Not worse then this pinhead…" replied Kasumi as she pointed Naruto with her head. "However, they're not doing better either. Guess we shouldn't complain really, considering that with all that has happened, it's a miracle all of them are alive… at least for now…" and with that she threw a quick glance at Neji. "I guess I'll leave you guys alone for now… but I'll drop by sometime soon… see ya…" and with that she left the room.
The Hyuuga genius only turned her sight at his cousin and noticing that she once more gathered all her attention on the sleeping blonde, he too walked towards the door and exited the room without making a sound. Hinata was once more left alone with her love in the dim room of the Suna hospital, regretting all the things she haven't told him…
---That time, elsewhere---
"Aren't ya going to visit that runt?" Temari asked her companion as they laid on the rooftop near the hospital. "I thought you guys were good friends… or is it that you're just too lazy to move your butt?"
"Neither…" replied Shikamaru without even looking at her. He just kept staring at the stars with a worried expression on his face. "I may be a lazy bum and care little about many things, but… even I know as much that it's better to leave him under Hinata's care…"
"And what if he won't wake up?" asked the Sand kunoichi. "You'll regret that you haven't gone to see him…" but the leaf-nin only shook his head: "This is also a lesson you must learn when you become friends with someone… you must learn to believe in them…." For a moment they both kept quiet, until Shikamaru spoke up again: "Naruto will wake up… I'm sure of that…"
---Back at the Suna hospital---
Yari lay buried in Gaara's arms as the Kazekage sat on a branch near the door leading to Naruto's room. He kept quiet as the blue-haired girl kept on crying in his shoulder: "I never wanted… to think that… that it's even possible for… for either of them to disappear… and now that it's become this real I… I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to get through it, Gaara-kun…"
The redhead only placed his hand on her head, but the kunoichi didn't raise her sight. A sad expression crossed Shukaku's vessel's face as he began: "They're all strong people… even though I knew some of them only for a very short while, I can tell that they're not the ones to give up so easily… believe when I say that it'll turn out alright… you're not alone, Yari-chan… you have Kasumi, Hinako, Temari, Kankuro… and you've got me…" at this point she lifted her head slightly and gave the boy a weak smile, yet tears still kept on running down her cheeks.
It was then that Kankuro came down the hallway and stopped right before them. The Kazekage gave him a questioning glance and so the puppeteer began: "Sorry to interrupt, but I figure you should be informed ASAP, Gaara… that missing-nin that Hinako said was taken prisoner by our ANBU… it'd seem that the entire ANBU squad was wiped out and the prisoner has disappeared…"
"Most likely it's the work of Tsumeko and those other two we saw just before he ran away…" concluded the redhead calmly. "Probably that mist-nin was their comrade… but it is most disturbing to know that Juusan Akuma possess this much strength… from now on we should be ready for the attack… it may come at any, given time…"
"I'll arrange some extra guards for the time being…" announced the make-up using boy. "I don't suppose the Sound will make an attempt to attack us anytime soon, however those two Akatsuki that were seen in the village are nowhere to be found either…"
"Things are getting really bad indeed…" stated Gaara as his brother walked away. Yari noticed the expression on his face. She knew it all too well. The redhead boy always had it when he was rejected by people. She knew it, because it was the same face he had the night she became a missing-nin.
In an instant she forgot about her worries and even though her tears kept on falling down, she straighten up and embrace the Shukaku vessel as warm as she could. Gaara looked at her for a moment surprised and then, with a weak smile, hugged her as well. For that short moment everything else didn't matter.
Time went by and night slowly turned into day and then back into the night, unmoved by the tragedy that took place in the Hidden Sand. For time waits for no-one and cares about nothing. It just goes on and on, regardless to everything. But as time seemed uninterested in what was going on in the Suna hospital, so was Hinata uninterested in it slipping by. The only thing that mattered for her was a certain, blonde boy, who lay in bed next to which she sat, still motionless.
The Hyuuga heiress did not move either. All this time she sat next to the bed and observed the whisker-marks boy. Even though her organism forced her to take a break, she still remained on duty. This was more important to her… much more important then anyone could imagine.
Kasumi and Neji stopped by from time to time to check up on both Naruto and her. Even Gaara managed to get a break from his duties to drop by with Yari. Finally also Shikamaru couldn't bare the long wait and came by for a moment along with Temari. Only Hinako did not appear, but Hinata knew all too well why that was so and she couldn't blame the former cloud-nin for that.
The white-eyed girl felt awful that she didn't go to check on neither Naraku nor Tamao, but the vision on leaving Naruto by himself scared her to no end. She kept apologizing for the two missing-nins for that, in her mind, between the prayers for all three to wake up.
Midnight passed and a crescent moon brightened the streets of Suna with an accompaniment of hundreds, if not thousands, of stars that shun right next to it. And it was thanks to those moon rays that Hinata saw the blonde's hand moved an inch or two. Her eyes widen as the whisker-marks body started shaking and after a minute the Leaf's loudest ninja sat up, a little confused, but surely alive.
In a fraction of a second she wrapped her arms around his neck with a cheerful call: "Naruto-kun, you're finally awake!" thus gaining a surprised glance from the blonde. A second later she realized what she had just done and jumped away as if she got burnt, red all over her face, which might be seen as though she really did get burnt. "Glad that you're with us again… everyone was worried…"
"It's good to be back…" he replied, smiling widely to the girl as a tiny blush appeared on his face as well. "Sorry I made you worry, Hinata-chan…" but then, he suddenly remembered what happened and with his face turning slightly grim, he asked: "Are Naraku and Tamao okay?"
"They… they're unconscious, just like you were, Naruto-kun…" announced Hinata with sadness in her voice as she lowered her head. "They're resting in the rooms next door…" and once she said that, the blonde instantly got up and headed towards the door. She wished to stop him, but she knew all too well that even if the Kyuubi vessel would be endangering his life by doing so, he'd still go to check if his friends are alright.
---Meanwhile, somewhere else---
Naraku blinked before he opened his eyes. His body felt heavy and he seemed to have trouble moving it. Finally, putting a lot of effort into it, he managed to sit up by helping himself with his hands. It was when he propped himself on his right hand that he felt incredible pain in it. The former leaf-nin threw it a quick look with his eyes slightly narrowed: "Side effects of the sealing? Well, considering I shouldn't be alive after performing that, I don't suppose I should complain anyway…" and only then did he noticed Hinako sleeping on the right side of his bed, with her finger cut. The young Monodane gave her a sad look as the door leading to the room opened and he centered his sight at them.
At the same time the green-haired girl woke up and realizing what happened she grabbed the former leaf-nin by the hand: "Naraku-sama, you've finally returned to us! I was so afraid! After Kasumi said what you were trying to do, I… I just…" and at this point her voice broke. She was never the one that liked to break shinobi rules and so she just stopped, otherwise she might've broke the one that's the most important.
"It is indeed a wonderful surprise…" nodded Hinata as she walked in right after Naruto. "Kasumi-san told me the only way to stop Tamao-san and I grew worried… but how… how is it that you…?" she began, but before she could finish, Naraku replied:
"Most likely… it's his fault…" and with that he pointed at Naruto with his head. "The whole point of that sealing method I've used is to create a connection with the demon that's about to get loose… that can only be done by a very complex ritual. But there's also another requirement… for the seal to work, the one performing it must sacrifice his life to the beast and that can only be done by using ones blood…" and with that he glanced suspiciously at the blonde: "By placing my hand with an opened wound on the symbol that I wrote on Tamao-chan's forehead, I made the chakra the demon was using to get free to go into my own body, thus making the beast weak and go back to its prison… however demon's chakra is too much for a single human to take over, that's why this sealing method is somewhat a suicide… I suppose only another Jinchuuriki could perform it and not get killed…" and so he looked at his right hand for a moment, before raising his sight at Naruto again: "When you placed your hand, which also had an opened wound on my hand, you somehow absorbed some of Kaku's chakra that was supposed to go into my body… Kaku's chakra split into two bodies in stead of one and so we're both still alive… but that's just my guess…"
"So to make it short, I've saved your life?" asked Naruto, not getting much of Naraku's explanation. The former leaf-nin only nodded, which made the loud mouth smile widely: "I so rock!" and with that he began jumping up and down with joy.
Naraku observed the whole scene, sweat dropping slightly and then couldn't help but smile as he looked at Hinata, who was also smiling widely at the blonde's behavior. But after a short moment the young Monodane's eyes widen as he looked at Hinako and with a little insecure voice, he asked the green-haired girl: "Is… Tamao-chan alright?"
The Cloud kunoichi's face turned sad for a split second and then, with a little fake smile, she replied: "She's alive for starters, but she hasn't woken up yet… she's resting in the room just across the hallway…" and once she said so, the former leaf-nin stood up, having some trouble with it.
"Naraku-sama, you shouldn't be moving yet…" Hinako announced, but after a moment of thought, she realized that it was pointless to say this. The former leaf-nin once more gave her a sad glance as she looked away: "I… please excuse me, Naraku-sama, but I'm a little tired, so if you don't mind, I'd like to go to my room now…" and with that she headed to the door, a little too fast.
Naraku glanced after her as the door shut close and then lowered his sight: "Is this really all I'm capable of doing?" he thought to himself. Hinata also stared after the former cloud-nin with a worried expression. In a way she understood her all too well.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to excuse myself as well…" announced the former leaf-nin as he slowly headed to the door. None of the two that remained in the room stopped him. As he disappeared from their view, Naruto threw the kunoichi a sad glare. The girl only gave a weak smile and then said to no-one in particular:
"It's really hard…" and as the blonde gave her a questioning look, which she mostly ignored, she went on: "To admit your feelings… or to fight with them… these things are never as simple as we'd want them to be…" and with that she lowered her head.
In that moment the loud mouth came towards her and wrapped his arm around her, making her blush slightly: "No… no, it's not…" he admitted with a weak smile as well. "But once you manage to do it and things will work out for the best… a great reward awaits…" and with that he smiled widely to her, making her return the smile.
---Meanwhile---
Naraku walked into the room in which the only light source was the moonlight falling in through a single window located just above the only bed in it. On the bed, covered by the sheet, laid Tamao with her face completely pale, her hair a mess and her closed eyes resembling holes more then eyes. She looked much more thinly then usually, like she hasn't eaten in a longer while.
The young Monodane took a chair and placed it right next to the girl's bed. As he sat down, he looked at her sleeping face and propped his elbows on her bed, hiding his face behind his hands for a split second. As he turned his head to look at her again, he managed a weak smile, before he moved some of the girl's hair that were falling on her left eye, thus revealing a strange symbol written with blood on her forehead.
"Hinako, you're really too nosey sometimes…" the boy said to himself, smiling slightly as his eyes stopped at the symbol for a moment. After that he once more looked at the girl's face and his smile widen a little.
"You know…" he began while looking at the girl's face, still pale, but peaceful. "I recall the day that we first met… so much time passed since then… just like an eternity… and at the same time it seems as short as star twinkle… those seven years ago when we were still just brats… in a way, I suppose I'm still that pipsqueak for whom the world was a great mystery…" he chuckled at the memory, giving a short look out the window.
"I was just a stupid brat, who didn't saw too many things in his life…" he continued with a warm smile appearing on his face as he turned again towards the girl. "But that moment I first saw you, I somehow knew that I will never see anything more beautiful… I can't even tell you how much I regret not telling you that for so long… I guess that's the part of that brat from back then that just won't disappear…" and so he laughed to himself for a short second.
"Or maybe I was just too afraid?" he asked himself after a short silence. "Not exactly being rejected… in a way, I'd understand that… I guess... I was more afraid of what would happen… if you'd actually accept me. After everything that happened, I was just scared that you'd end up just like everyone I cared about… that once again I just won't be strong enough to protect you, just like when that time…" and so his eyes narrowed slightly as he lowered his head to look at the floor. He stayed like this for few minutes, before he raised his sight again.
He once more looked the girl's face over and couldn't help but smile at the sight: "Even in this state, you're still so beautiful… that peaceful look on your face… how I wish to be able to make it stay on you…" and with that he touched her cheek with his hand. "Those seven years ago, when you left the Iwa with me, I really hoped that I won't see you looking like this again… I promised myself that I won't allow the nightmare from that day to repeat… that you won't have to fear all that happening again…" his face sadden at mentioning that. "Yet, another promise I wasn't able to keep…"
He stopped talking. His sight stopped at her face again. As he grabbed her hand, he felt it was still cold… and yet, at the same time, warm. "In the very end, the only thing I can do for you…" he finally spoke up. "Is to be here… as always, above all my strength, the things I can do for those I care about… are so little…"
---That time, elsewhere---
Hinako heard a knock on the door. She walked to it a little annoyed, but as she opened it up, her annoyance got replaced by surprise: "What are you two doing here?" she asked the guests. "I thought you were going to stay with Naraku-sama at the hospital…"
"We figured…" began Hinata slowly. "We figured it'd be better to leave them alone… and I believe that you came to a similar conclusion, Hinako-san…" the green-haired girl only lowered her head slightly. The Hyuuga heiress didn't say a thing for a short while, but finally decided to break the silence: "Naruto-kun and I came here… we hoped…" but she couldn't find good words to put it, so the blonde cut it:
"We were hoping you could fill us in on what's between Naraku and Tamao…" and at hearing that the former cloud-nin narrowed her eyes slightly. She looked up at the Kyuubi vessel surprised and stared deep into his sky-blue eyes. After a moment of hesitation she stepped aside, letting them into her room.
As the two walked it, she closed the door and with turning towards them, she announced: "You might wanna get something to eat and drink, coz it's kinda a long story… most likely it'll take all night…"
"We have time…" Naruto assured her as he and Hinata settled down. Hinako soon joined them, sitting in front of the two and after a moment of thought, she speak up: "If I were to tell you the entire story, we wouldn't be done in a week time… besides, it's not really that important to present that version to you… you want to know what's between Naraku-sama and Tamao… well then, that story starts about a year after Naraku-sama left Konoha… his journey brought him to the Hidden Stone Village… and this is when they met…"
---The story yet untold… past sins are about to be revealed!---
And so this chapter ends. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll bless me with a review after you're done reading. Next time: travel back in time to when Naraku meet Tamao! Tamao's past is finally revealed! Why did she join Naraku? How come Naraku knows how to seal Kaku away? Don't miss the next chapter!
I believe that for this time around there's nothing more to say, so I'd just like to repeat my request for you to leave a review (as a present maybe) once you're done. It'd mean a lot.
Take care and until next time, hopefully.