Well, this is the last part of my fic. Hope the wait wasn't too bad. I do think some people aren't going to like the outcome of this. I guess I better start hiding now, huh? XD
I'm able to dedicate this chapter to another prompt. I'm sort of glad for this since the word really fits it. I even use it near the end. So while the first chapter was pearl and was kind of key plot point in how Naruto got into the situation in the first place, the final chapter will be fear. Like I said, given the content of this chapter, it's the perfect word for it.
Guess that's it! Enjoy! *starts running*
Title: Mirage of Faded Pearls
Genre: Drama
Timeline: Post Manga
Summary: He kept walking, always seeing her in front of him, wanting nothing more than to be with her. Yet she always disappeared like the others, fading away, leaving only the pain of loss behind.
Pairings: NaruHina
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns all of Naruto. I don't own one little bit of it.
Author's Notes: Prompted by a lot of words, but my final choice for this is Fear!
It had been a day since Sasuke and Hinata went to Tsunade in order to mount a search for Naruto and now they stood, with Kakashi behind them, at the front gates of Konoha, listening to her give orders. And they were miserable about it.
Tsunade glared at her team, her expression serious, but her eyes failing to hide her worry over Naruto. "Your mission," she started, her voice fierce, "is to find Naruto. His last report was in the Land of Gems. He stated within it that he should be back in five days. However, he's not only gone over that time, but also the expected length of a journey to that country without checking in once."
Hinata fidgeted with her jacket, gazing downward and biting her lip. Fresh worry came over her. Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms and lowering her head. "I'm assuming here," she continued, "that he's gotten into some trouble and is unable to return home. That's likely the best case scenario. Worst case is he's gotten injured or something even more severe."
Hearing her say that caused Hinata to wince. Please, Naruto-kun...just be safe...please be okay... she pleaded in her head, biting her lip harder to keep herself from crying.
"Do the four of you understand all this?" finished Tsunade, raising her head to meet the eyes of the chosen team.
All four of them nodded at once. "We won't fail you, Hokage-sama!" yelled Rock Lee, his green clad form saluting her.
"Yeah, we'll find him. Right, Akamaru?" asked Kiba, wearing a black jacket and pants, looking down at the giant white dog at his side. The animal barked in response as if agreeing with his partner.
Ino readjusted her pack and medical supplies on her short purple shirt and skirt. "Right and don't worry if he's wounded or anything. If he's in any trouble, I'll patch him right up." Then she lowered her head and grumbled. "That is if that fox healing of his hasn't kicked in already."
Neji, dressed in a white shirt with long sleeves, a dark gray cloth around his waist and his white, long pants, glanced toward Hinata, who met his eyes in a silent plea to return successful. "Yes. I'm sure we'll find him rather quickly. We'll send word the moment we do. That's a promise."
Tsunade nodded as if satisfied. Sasuke, however, growled under his breath. "Don't see why it couldn't have been us," he muttered.
"I need you here, Sasuke," responded the Hokage. "You're focusing on investigating and locating those bandits, so they can be captured. Sakura's working on an antidote for that chemical they're using to disable chakra networks and I believe Hinata's in charge of the Hyuuga clan while her father's away." Tsunade gave the three of them a glance as they shuffled awkwardly under the reminder of their responsibilities. "Not that I wasn't willing to send any one of you; a missing teammate or beloved isn't something I take lightly, but there are other obligations for you to complete here."
Sasuke looked down at the ground, his face contorted as if conflicted. Glancing away, Sakura's eyes appeared to be filling with tears. Hinata kept her eyes on Neji, her hands trembling as she held them to keep them steady. "Just..." she started, but looked away before she could finish, "Just bring him home safe, Neji-niisan."
Her cousin nodded, his expression solemn. "I will do that, Hinata-sama."
"Yes!" chimed in Lee. "We'll find him, Hinata-san, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-san!" He punched his left arm in the air and started out. "Let us go and find our missing comrade!"
Ino rolled her eyes at his eagerness. "All right, we're going, we're going." Behind her, Kiba followed confidently with Akamaru right next to him. With another quick nod at Hinata and the other two remaining behind, Neji trailed after them.
The five of them watched the team go. Sakura wrung her hands. "I still wish we were the ones going," she said softly. "Naruto's a member of Team 7. I almost feel like we're abandoning him."
"I realize this is hard," spoke Kakashi for the first time. Hinata glanced behind her, seeing the jounin's hands on the shoulders of his team. "But we're not abandoning him; we're relying and believing in others to bring him back. If we were just leaving this be, not sending anyone to find him, I would see your point. However, that's not the case and I'm positive we can rely on them."
Tsunade nodded. "I'm sorry about not choosing any of you, but realize I choose who I did for good reasons. Kiba and Akamaru for tracking, obviously, Neji to observe the area once Naruto's located, Ino in case he needs medical attention and Lee in the event they run into those bandits. Those thieves and the missing-nin scientist prepare extensively before going up against ninja teams, so he's the perfect response to them and that chakra drug of theirs until an antidote is created." She shook her head as she walked over and stood next to Sakura. "I don't think they'll need the protection. The bandits usually only go after targets they know carry something of value, but I rather be cautious given how troublesome the situation has become."
Blinking suddenly, the words triggered a memory within Hinata. Her worried eyes meet Sakura's and knew they were thinking of the same thing. "Could the bandits..." started Hinata, unable to hide her concern, "could they have...?"
Sakura bit her lip as she turned to the open gate. "The bandits couldn't have gone after Naruto...could they?" she asked, finishing up Hinata's thought.
"It's possible," responded Kakashi, causing the two girls to stiffen in response, "however, I find it unlikely. Naruto's mission isn't one that's easily detectable. You can put a necklace in your pack and no one would ever realize you're carrying one. Even if they found out Naruto's carrying something they want, once they discovered who their target is, they wouldn't make an attempt." He chuckled as if somewhat amused. "Naruto has quite a reputation, after all. According to our intelligence, the bandits study their targets before they attack, so if they found out about the necklace, they would realize who's carrying it as well, right Sasuke?"
Both Hinata and Sakura relaxed at the reassurance as Sasuke slowly nodded, but his eyes narrowed as he looked outside the gate with an almost sad expression. "It's not that I don't trust them. But it's like Sakura said; Naruto's part of Team 7. We're..." He trailed off and nodded over to Hinata. "Even she's got more of a reason to go; she's almost like us...you know..." He trailed off again, his eye twitching.
Kakashi appeared to have perceived the underlying tone in Sasuke's vague statement. "I understand, but Ino, Kiba, Neji and Lee are Naruto's friends, too. And," he continued, his one remaining eye closed in a smile like gesture, "no friend is going to leave another behind, correct?"
Hinata could not help but smile at Kakashi's attempt to cheer them up. Sasuke and Sakura even managed to relax a little, through a worried look remained in their faces. We're trusting in them, but we can't help but worrying, she thought as she stared at the fading figures of the search team.
We just want Naruto to return, she thought, holding her hands up in prayer, her eyes filling with tears. Tsunade and Sakura put their hands on her shoulders, rubbing them in an attempt to reassure her. Oh, Naruto-kun...I just want you back...safe and sound...Naruto-kun...
_oOo_oOo_
Once again, just like all the other times, Hinata faded away. Naruto stared at his hand, blankly, as if it were diseased and that was the cause behind his friends to disappear like that. Why...? I just...want them to stay...
"Naruto-kun..."
He looked up and, as before, all his friends stood far away, glowing, a bit more washed out due to the daylight hour, but still there. His hand falling, he stared at them with a dazed expression. "Gotta move..." he muttered. "My...friends..."
Naruto took a clumsy step forward...and then his vision of everyone was blocked by four dark human-shaped blobs and one animal shaped one.
"Naruto...!"
Deep within the seal, the Kyuubi, having given up on talking to Naruto, finally returned to the front of his cell. "Well, well, finally some ninja to help the insane Brat. About time!"
Still not hearing the fox, Naruto blinked at the four shapes in front of him and took a step back, uncertainty and confusion filling his mind. Who were these people? And how did they know his name?
"Whoa!" yelled one of them. Next to him, the animal whined. "He's a mess! What happened to you? Is he...is he all right, Ino? Why isn't the fox's chakra healing like before?"
"Stupid seal," grumbled the Kyuubi. "I could tell them the whole delightful story of how my chakra got blocked." Instead, he continued to watch the proceedings occurring in the outside world. "Now if they would be so kind to tackle the Brat and take us to a hospital..."
Ino? thought Naruto. But that could not possibly be her; she stood over with his friends, right next to Sakura. He could see her through the human shaped blobs right now, smiling along with the others, waiting for him to come. Ino's...not in front of me...she's over there...with the others...
"I - I don't know," responded the Ino impostor, her voice sounding oddly fragile. "I think - no..." Her voice changed, becoming stronger and more confident. "...I'm going to have to exam him; his shoulder looks like to be the worst of it. Lee, Kiba, help him down. I'll try to heal most of the injuries before we take him back."
As the two blobs called Lee and Kiba moved forward, Naruto moved backwards, not wanting to let these people near him. Lee and Kiba? No...they're over there...with the others...not in front of me...
"Naruto-kun?" said one of them, possibly the Lee impostor, concerned. "Please. You're very injured. You must let us help you. We're trying to help."
But Naruto refused to listen. He kept backing up, his blue eyes darting back and forth, trying to figure out what was going on. Genjutsu? Try to release... Closing his eyes, he put his hands together and tried to shut down and raise his chakra to free himself of the illusion.
"Oh...now he thinks it's an illusion!" Kyuubi growled. "Why don't they just tackle him already. It's not like damaging him more would be any concern. He's lived this long."
"What's he doing?" asked the Kiba impostor, worriedly.
"I'm not sure. Is he dispelling a genjutsu?" replied the unnamed blob, uneasily. "I had best check this out first."
Naruto blinked, opening his eyes to find the five blobs still around. Didn't work...why?
The blob that was checking on him appeared to be shocked. "Neji!" yelled the Lee impostor. "What are you seeing?"
Neji? No...over there...next to Tenten and Hinata...Hinata...
"His chakra! It's...I can't explain it. It's like his chakra is in compete disarray. There's no possibly way for him to use it in that condition. How did he...end up like...?"
Naruto's eyes darted around, trying to figure out a way out of this mess. If he could not break the genjutsu, was it possible there was not one? Except he was not the best at such techniques anyway, so perhaps he could...
"In disarray?" inquired the Ino impostor, no longer sounding as confident, but more distressed. "You mean like he's under a genjutsu?"
"That could explain why he's not recognizing us," muttered the Kiba one, his voice disquiet.
"Sasuke..." muttered Naruto, causing all five blobs to turn toward him. The Sharingan could dispel genjutsu, so if he got to Sasuke, if he managed to get there and his friends did not disappear again, then he could cancel the genjutsu! "Got to..."
"Huh? What's he...?"
Naruto broke out into a staggering run, startling the blobs. He breathed heavily, not feeling the pain he was putting himself under. He just kept focusing on Sasuke, hoping that this time, he would not disappear like all the others. He needed his friend right now, to help him fend off the genjutsu. Don't disappear! Don't! Be real this time! He reached out to his teammate. "Don't disappear, Sasuke!"
Naruto touched his shoulder...and all his friends faded away...again.
His face dissolved into bewilderment as he fell to the ground. "No...why..."
The Ino impostor shrieked and the blobs descended on him en masse. "Oh, goodness! Kiba, Lee! Turn him over easily. I don't want to aggravate that chest wound any more. We might have to hold him down, so stand by if necessary."
"Naruto..."
He managed to look in the direction of the voice as two of the blobs tried to turn him over onto his back. He blinked, seeing once again, all of his friends come back, faded out as usual, waiting for him to reach them so far away. Even through they remained so distant from him, he reached out his hand, hoping he could perhaps manage to make it, touch them, just so he would know...that they were real...
"There's no foreign chakra within him! He isn't under a genjutsu!"
"Not a genjutsu? Then...he's hallucinating!"
"Finally! About time one of them figured it out!" Kyuubi growled and laid on the floor of his cell, content that Naruto would finally be treated and things would go back to normal. "Never thought I would be this grateful to some small human insects..."
No... Can't...give up... At once, Naruto started struggling, trying to fight his way out and to his friends. Whoever these four blobs were, he would not let them win. If he was ever to make it back to his team and friends, he had to fight.
To make it back to Hinata, he would do anything...
"Hold him!" ordered the Ino imposter. The other blobs tried to hold him down, but he did everything he could to stop them. Kicking, hitting and tried to crawl away from them. "I said hold him!"
"We're trying! I don't want to hurt him when he's like this! You think this is easy?"
"Well, try harder, Kiba, because he's hurting himself more! I'm going give him some mild anesthesia, so we can handle this better."
"I said we're trying! Next time, I'll do the medical treatment and you hold him down!"
In spite of Naruto's constant struggle, the three blobs finally managed to make him still. Only his hand stretched outward toward his friends remained free. "No..." he muttered, holding out for one of them to come to him and help him. "No...mustn't give...up... Sasuke... Sakura-ch...an... Hinata...must...get..."
Suddenly, a brief pinprick of pain erupted on his left shoulder and darkness began to nibble at the edge of his eyes. Before him, the image of his friends began to fade. No! Come back! Come back! "Come...back...! Don't...leave...me..."
Worried mutters above him broke out just as the smiling faces of his friends dissolved entirely, leaving Naruto with a sense of loss he had not felt in a long time. His friends were gone? He tried to move, but he could no longer lift his arms or legs. He was trapped where he was, staring into the nothingness with four strangers having captured him.
"No..." The darkness began to envelop his entire sight. The voices of the four blobs waned until he could no longer hear them. Exhaustion descended upon him and he felt his eyelids fall. "No..." Just...let me...see...them...one more...time...
Naruto's outstretched hand fell limp and he fell into the darkness, knowing nothing more than a longing to be with his precious people, to be with his comrades and his team with Sasuke and Sakura and to be with her again...Hinata.
_oOo_oOo_
She raced along the rooftops, frantically trying to reach them before they got to the hospital. Hinata desperately wanting to see him before then. She had tore out of the Hyuuga compound so quickly, the elders barely had a chance to say anything when she had gotten word that Neji and his team had return with Naruto.
The message never detailed his condition; just merely saying the six of them had arrived. Such information was not enough to satisfy her. She needed to see Naruto with her own eyes.
Leaping off a tall building down to a smaller one, she was joined by two others. Without saying anything, the three continued moving to where they could feel their friends heading toward the hospital. Sasuke and Sakura only paid her a slight glance and nod as they tore through Konoha.
Hinata felt some worry. I can't feel Naruto-kun at all. I hope he's okay...
It was not long before they noticed they were closing in on a silent crowd of people, which happened to be close to where they could feel Neji, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru and Lee. Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata glanced at each other and the same thought passed through their heads as well as a small tear escaping Hinata's eye.
If a crowd of villagers had quietly gathered around the team to search for Naruto, then they likely meant they were concerned and if that happened to be true...then Naruto must be injured.
The three of them quickened their pace.
Naruto-kun... thought Hinata, as she darted from rooftop to rooftop to the location the crowd had gathered, please! Just be okay!
Finally, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata had gotten to them, found an opening and dropped down to the ground. Now they tried to make their way through the crowd. "Excuse us!" said Sakura, harshly, annoyed as she carefully tried to lead them through.
"Sorry, excuse us," muttered Hinata to someone they passed by. Sasuke said very little, only twitching every so often at their slow progress, however, once the villagers realized who was trying to get through, they unexpectedly parted for them to come through.
And for them to see Naruto lying in a wooden stretcher carried by Neji and Lee.
Rushing forward, both Sakura and Hinata shouted out Naruto's name, followed closely by Sasuke who gazed at his rival and teammate with a angry glare as if he wanted to know who had done this to him.
Hinata looked at her boyfriend, taking in his bandaged appearance. His clothes ripped to sheds, his head, chest and entire right shoulder were wrapped up with his arm in a sling and small bandages covered various parts of his body. She felt tears escaping; she had no idea he would come back this wounded!
Sakura grabbed Ino's shoulder and started spouting off questions. "What happened to him, Ino? Was he like this when you found him? What's his status? How bad are his wounds? What type of treatment did you give him before you moved him?"
"Sakura!" exclaimed Ino in a tired and sad voice. "Maybe this should wait until we get to the hosptial?"
Sasuke had his Sharingan out, examining Naruto with it. "His chakra...he's not being healed by the Fox's chakra..." he muttered, confounded.
Neji and Lee had stopped, both giving the three newcomers a forlorn look. Holding her hands up to her mouth, Hinata got up closer, staring down at Naruto's motionless figure, barely noticing Kiba and Akamaru as the two attempted to comfort her. "Oh, Naruto-kun!" she whispered, no longer able to keep the tears inside anymore at seeing how hurt he was.
Naruto's eyes started to flutter. "Hina..." he muttered so softly, she could barely hear it.
The entire procession gasped, Ino leaping in closer opposite of Hinata, her eyes wide open in utter shock. "But...how? He wasn't suppose to wake up now!"
"Did you give him an incorrect dose?" asked Sakura who had moved right next to her.
As Ino shook her head, Naruto took his unbandaged hand and shakily raised it up, his expression uncertain. Hinata got in closer, hoping her presence would reassure him that he would be fine now. "It's - it's o - okay," she said, her voice choking up. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. You're home."
His hand touched her cheek and Hinata took it, holding it, letting him feel her, not only to comfort him, but also herself...that Naruto was finally home. And then his face broke out into a smile. "Yo - u eal...real..."
Sakura stopped talking to Ino. Sasuke broke out of studying his teammate's condition. The two of them stared at their teammate, startled by his words. Hinata blinked, feeling confused. Real? Did he think we were an illusion, genjutsu or something?
Naruto took his hand away and Hinata, starting to get really worried now, followed him as he opened up his back pack. Pulling out a velvet purple case, he opened it and brought out a string of pearls. "Here..." he said as he held the necklace for her.
Gawking at them and unsure what exactly to do, she grasped his hand again, now holding the necklace. "Naruto-kun...?"
"Got...for...date...uh..." His hand slipped through her fingers, leaving the jewelry behind as his eyes closed, his head limped to the side, relapsing back into his unconscious state.
At once, Ino took charge. "All right, we've got to move. Tsunade-sama and Shizune are waiting for us and we have to make sure he's still unconscious, so we can operate. We can't afford any more delays." With a serious expression, she turned to a very stunned Sakura. "We'll meet the rest of you at the hospital. Sorry, but there's not a lot of information I can give you right now. If you want, Kiba can stay and will fill you in."
Hinata, still holding onto the pearls, only managed to just see Neji's sympathetic look as he and the others continued onward, only Kiba and Akamaru hanging back, still attempting to console Hinata. She barely managed to hear the crowd around her muttering sadly or felt Sakura and Sasuke come up to her, the former close to tears while the latter tried to calm her by putting his hand on her shoulder.
She fell to her knees, clutching the necklace close to her chest, crying for a multitude of reasons. Crying over Naruto being wounded badly, how he had been thinking of her even in an unconscious state, how his mind was still on their date he promised to have once he returned and he had come home, intact and alive.
She just cried, letting Sakura comfort her, letting Sasuke stand next to her, letting Kiba whisper everything would be all right to her. Not thinking of anything, but how Naruto had smiled when he realized she was near, whispering almost to himself, "...eal...real..." as if he had thought she had been a figment of his imagination...
_oOo_oOo_
Outside the window of the hospital, the wind blew, rustling the trees filled with healthy green leaves. The sun shined brilliantly onto everyone who ventured out, from the birds that fluttered about in the sky to the villagers who went about their day working or training. It was certainly a day that anyone would want to be out in.
Except for the patients in the hospital denied release by the Hokage.
"Ow!"
"Naruto!" growled Sakura, glaring at her teammate as she straightened the bandage. "If you keep moving like this, the wrapping is going to pinch you more."
Sighing, Naruto attempted to keep still. It had been three weeks since his mission to retrieve Lady Shijimi's necklace or so he had been told. He had only been awake for the past five days, which was enough for him to beg Tsunade to release him. All his minor injuries had been healed, his major ones were in the progress of healing and he had access to not only his chakra, but also Kyuubi's, for the most part, anyway. And small stuff like that could be easily fixed outside of a hospital, right?
Apparently, not. I really hate hospitals, whined Naruto, in his head, so he would not be chastised by Sakura or Tsunade again. Everything about a hospital irked him; from the odd smell of sterilized rooms to the blue-white hospital clothes he had to wear.
At the edge of his bed, Sasuke smirked. "Naruto can't stay still. You're better off telling a rock to stop moving." The Uchiha failed to flinch as his teammate directed as much killing intent as he could at him. "Not to mention, better at listening, too."
Naruto glared at his rival in return. "Yeah...go ahead, Sasuke. I'll remember this next you're in the hospital. Get fidgety much anytime you're near one?"
Sasuke blinked, immediately tightened his previously twitching hand into a fist and proceeded to scowl. "What did you say, you idiot?"
Naruto was about to retort when he felt the tell-tale sign of killing intent right next to him. Successfully scared into submission, he slowly turned around, wide eyed, at Tsunade's furious form. "Naruto!" she growled. "You're supposed to be resting! Not fighting with Sasuke!" She toned down a bit, turning her gaze toward the other offender involved. "I will not have a fight breaking out here, not with a patient of mine, understood?"
Both Sasuke and Naruto muttered a barely audible, "Understood..."
Kakashi looked fairly amused at the entire scene, much to Naruto's displeasure. Seeing the situation as amusing did not fit with his mood at the moment, despite what his sensei may believed. "Well," chimed in the silver haired jounin, his one eye closed as his way of smiling, "it's good to see things back to normal, right?"
The Hokage threw him an exasperated look. "I just don't want Naruto overexcited. Trying to prevent that is already like an S-class mission. Other distractions helping to incite him does not help. Why do you think I didn't allow any visitors before today?"
Sakura sighed, tiredly, as she finished up with Naruto's bandages. The blond future Hokage restrained groaning at the reminder that he had not seen many of his friends other than Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura for the past five days. Many times he had argued over the ban with her, but had been shot down every time until today. He still failed to see the need of keeping him.
His sensei shrugged his shoulders. "I had been wondering why you kept people from seeing him," mused Kakashi. "I figured because his injuries were very severe. When will you be releasing him, in that case?"
Tsunade nodded, returning to making notes of Naruto's improving status. "At the end of the month. I know that sounds extreme," she added as Kakashi startled and Naruto almost choked on air, "but I'll have an assignment for Team 7 then. I want to make sure Naruto doesn't over do it and end up in the hospital again."
The mention of another mission perked him up, but the last bit brought him back down. "You don't have any faith in me at all, Old Lady," moaned Naruto, resting his chin onto his knees.
Sakura put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Of course not. Do you have any idea what you've gone through? Do you have any idea how worried everyone got? Between the your injuries that couldn't heal because the Kyuubi's charka was blocked, which only got worse because you kept walking, exposure you suffered in the wilderness because you hardly took shelter, we had to keep you unconscious while we healed you." Again, she shook her head and walked around to give her notes to Tsunade. "You'll get to walk around at some point, but until the month is up, you're staying inside."
In the back of his mind, the Kyuubi snorted, as it laid in the front of his cell, taking pleasure in his container's suffering. "Pink haired Brat has a major point, Brat," he said, obvious laughter hiding in his voice. "Hospitals can't nearly be as bad as you think. At least, you'll eventually get to walk around. Ungrateful brat..."
Still doesn't make much sense to me, thought Naruto, keeping his month shut and eyes firmly glued to the surroundings outside lest he get another lecture. He did soften at the mention of how worried he made everyone. Upsetting his precious people was something he hated.
Kakashi nodded in understanding, however. "I see..." he said and then his eye closed as he smiled, "I suppose that means you're going to be very healthy when you finally leave here, eh, Naruto?"
Lowering his head, all Naruto could feel was his defeat by everyone in the room. Healthy or not, it did not change the fact that he hated hospitals, but it seemed complaining about it produced more trouble. "Yeah," he mumbled, "I guess..."
Seemingly satisfied by his apparently humbled response, Tsunade beamed. "Glad you're thinking sense for once. Like I said, I want you healthy for the mission. Your team, as well as Team 8, 10 and Team Gai, are going after those bandits." At once, a tense feeling descended upon the room. Kakashi grew serious while Sakura wrung her hands, her face twisting angrily. Sasuke's black eyes hardened, his hands shaking as if in anticipation for the fight, and Naruto felt his defeated form change into a determined, resolute one.
Getting a chance to go after those bandits again was a desire Naruto had been waiting for since he awoke.
Nodding once, the Hokage took note of their expressions and continued, "Sakura's antidote should be finalized by then, so each of you will have a few doses in case you get injected with the chemical. In such a scenario, Lee, Neji and Hinata would take over fighting, however, with the big team, the chance that everyone will be disabled at once decreases. Since these bandits haven't used any jutsu themselves, taijutsu seems to be a valid response. But I want them alive, so no killing them, Sasuke."
The Uchiha scowled. "I had no plans to," he retorted, darkly. "What makes you think I was?"
"Nothing." Tsunade's eyebrow arched up as she observed the other's angered glare. "Just some precautionary advice." Her eyes closed tightly for a moment. "It's going to take everything I have not to do hit them into the Land of Earth the moment I see them, so let's not tempt me. No killing them at all, understood?"
Sasuke growled, but before he could say anything else, Tsunade's voice echoed throughout the room, "We'll go over the rest of the details later. For now, everyone out. As I said earlier, I don't want him too riled up. Naruto needs rest."
Disappointment filtered through Naruto as he sat back up, watching sadly as his team said goodbye cheerfully, except Sasuke, who simply nodded and muttered, "Later." Despite all the taunting that had occurred, he had not wanted to see them leave. It had been so long since he had been with his team.
And every time he thought about them during the five days he only saw Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune, a faint feeling of loss always flared up. Their presence eased that feeling, but now it came back as he watched them leave.
Naruto frowned. He had been told he had hallucinated over his friends, seeing them when they had not been there. His time between the ambush and waking up in Konoha Hospital, he barely recalled. The only things he could remember was vague images of dark forest, seeing his friends again and disappointment over the fact they kept disappearing on him.
Guess that was me hallucinating, he thought, sighing. Maybe that's why I'm feeling this sense of loss? I...I really can't imagine losing them...
Feeling a fresh wave of sadness, he turned to see Tsunade stepping out the door, but, surprising, she stopped. Her stern look dissolved into a fond expression and she faced him again, returning to a strict demeanor. "I don't want you leaving that bed even once, Naruto! Regardless of what it is, no matter what you may feel, you will not leave that bed, do you understand that?"
Inwardly, he groaned. Man...Old Lady Tsunade is so brutal when it comes to this! "Yeah," he responded, lowering his head, "I understand."
He looked back up to see the Hokage nodding and leaving down the hall, leaving the door open. Puzzled by this action, he kept staring until a new person stepped into the door...and the sight of his new visitor caused a grin to quickly overcome his features. "Hinata!"
She stood there, her head lowered, dressed in a simple dark blue pants, a green short jacket and white shirt. Naruto wanted to jump out of his bed to go greet her, but remembering the last glare from Tsunade made him pause and he waited for her to walk over to the free chair.
He felt a loss for words at seeing his girlfriend after all this time, the first time since he left for his mission to retrieve Shijimi's necklace. A fresh sense of loss washed over him, causing him to fall quiet and his face to fall. "Are..." he started, hesitantly, "is everything all right, Hinata?"
"Yes," she replied, subdued, "I'm fine." Slowly, her head came up and, for the first time, Naruto saw her eyes, shining with tears as if almost to spill over at any given moment. "Are you? Everyone's been so worried. Sakura-san's been keeping us informed about your...your condition..." Her eyes lowered a bit, taking in his still bandaged state, from his healing shoulder to the scars that had formed on his chest.
Nodding, Naruto bit his lip, hating to see Hinata like this, so upset over him. Acting cheerful, positive or saying a bunch of bandits would never take him out would never work like it did on his other friends since she always perceived him differently. What do I do? I want this to be happy! He frowned as Hinata attempted to smile, but tears slipped out onto her cheeks. This is the first time we've been together since I left on the mission.
Briefly, he thought about giving her the pearl necklace to cheer her up. At the very least, it would give them something to talk about instead of his injuries. But I wanted to save that for our date! If I give it to her now, I won't have it then...so do I give up the anniversary surprise or do I find some other way to cheer her up?
Trying to ponder over what he should do, he glanced back at Hinata, who was rubbing her eyes to get rid of her tears. What do I do? I've got to think of something... The necklace would be a nice distraction, but...wait? Where are they, anyway? he mused, realizing he had not seen his pack he had stored the gift in. Tsunade had told him they had taken his backpack where he kept Shijimi's necklace, so she could receive her package, but had not said anything about his other pack.
Hinata brought her hands down, seemingly calming down a little, and Naruto suddenly noticed something sparkle around her neck. A necklace... Huh? He leaned over a little because he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. That could not be... There was no way...
"Uh...Naruto-kun?" questioned Hinata as she stared at him curiously.
Is that...? No way... "Uh, Hinata?" he asked, almost timidly, causing mild surprise in her, "What...what's that you're wearing?"
Following to where he was pointing, she blinked and took out the necklace...a simple string of pearls...light purple pearls! "This...you gave it to me," she replied, her dejected voice lowering.
However, Naruto could barely pay attention to that, unfortunately. What concerned him currently was Hinata having his gift well before he had originally planned to give them to her...and he had no idea when! Blinking, shock and confusion plastered all over his face, his hand shook as he kept pointing at the necklace. "I...I..." he stuttered. "When? I gave you them when?"
Now, Hinata looked confused as well as sad. She glanced to him and then to the necklace as if unsure what he could be talking about. "When..." she paused, biting her lip, "when you came back...with Neji-niisan and the others that went looking for you..."
Finding he had given her the necklace right as he was brought back, with no memory of it at all, was the final straw. "What?" he screamed, causing Hinata to jump up in her chair. Naruto immediately flung himself back lying on his bed, covering his face with his hands in what he considered was his most idiotic thing he had ever done. I can't believe it! I gave her the necklace! How out of my mind was I that the first thing I do when I get back was give Hinata the necklace I had planned to give for our anniversary? I'm so stupid!
"Uh...Naruto-kun?"
Naruto took his hands off his face and glanced over at Hinata. In his mind, he kept beating himself up over his actions, but the sight of her gazing at him worriedly, her hands still touching the necklace, made him give up his mental bashing himself senseless round. "Is...everything...all right?" she asked, quietly. "You're really upset over something..."
Sighing, Naruto sat back up. "Well, see...the thing is..." he started, wearily, figuring he needed to explain his actions, "I had planned to give you that necklace...at our anniversary date we had planned...I was going to surprise you with them."
Hinata looked at the pearls again. "They were a surprise...for our anniversary?"
"Yeah." Naruto shook his head. "I really wanted to see your face when I gave them to you, but I guess it doesn't matter now..." He felt horrible over losing that chance. I had planned it so well, too. Had our date all planned out and then the necklace came in and I figured how to surprise her with them... He hung his head, feeling hopelessly idiotic in a way he knew Sasuke would rib him over if his rival knew. I'm so stupid...
"Here..."
His eyes widened as he caught sight of her outstretched hand, holding the pearls she had taken off her neck. Her face remained sadden as she took his hand and let the necklace slip into them. Naruto just stared, unsure exactly what to say, unsure of what was going on. "Uh? Hinata?" he asked, puzzled. "Why are you giving me the necklace back?"
"You wanted to give them to me properly at our date," she replied, nervously playing with the edges of her jacket, "so now you can."
Naruto gazed at the pearls bunched up in his hand and then to Hinata, who he had not seen upset in so long. Shifting the necklace in his hands, the feeling of loss suddenly surfaced within him and he still failed to understand why, of all times, he felt this way. He knew it had something to do with what he failed to remember, but briefly, he wondered... Did this feeling of loss...is it the reason why I gave Hinata the pearls? "What happened?" he whispered and, as they met each other's eyes, he added on, "What happened when I came back?"
Only silence answered him, but then slowly, Hinata started speaking, her voice on the brink of shaking, "When I saw first saw you, you were unconscious and bandaged up. I could tell how bad it was." She clutched the cloth of her pants, her eyes tearing up again. Naruto took his free hand and held one of hers, hoping the small contact would soothe her troubled mind. "Sasu - suke-kun was examining you with his sharingan and Sakura-chan was talking to Ino and I...I was staring at you, I couldn't think of anything else!"
She shook her head. This time a few tears escape and Naruto squeezed her hand again, not speaking just yet, afraid his voice would break her down. "And then...I said your name and you...you wo -woke up. You were dazed...said my name and - and raised your hand. You touched my cheek..."
Every word, every tear had began to stab at Naruto, fresh pain that had nothing to do with his healing wounds. Half of him wanted to stop her, tell her it did not matter anymore, hold her as much as he could given he was confided to his bed.
But he let her go on, squeezing her hand tighter and tighter, hoping that small comfort was giving her all the strength she needed.
Hinata wiped her eyes. "I tried to console you, telling you it was okay, that you were back home. Then you smiled..." Naruto suddenly felt confused. The way she said the word smile, it was almost like something awful had happened. Something dreadful. "You said, you said I was real..." she sobbed, "like I had been...like I had been a illusion or something!"
As Hinata cried more freely, the image of his friends coming and going, fading away and the sense of loss, came to his mind, the few things he could recall after the ambush. Naruto blinked, feeling somewhat bewildered. I wanted to confirm she was real...that's why I'm having these feelings...I guessed I kept seeing my friends, but they were never there...
He felt another pain in his chest, similar to one over loss he had been feeling for awhile now. His friends, Team 7, Hinata, all of them were very important to him. For him to hallucinating that all of them would disappear like that and leaving him alone...now he understood...
That fear, his worst fear, had been brought to life.
"And then," continued Hinata, not noticing his preoccupied state, "you gave me the necklace, saying they were for our date." She took a few deep breaths, wiping away her tears, but still looked very saddened. "I don't know what happened to you," she said, her voice sounding more calm now, "Kiba-kun and Neji-niisan couldn't tell me everything, only that they found you hurt, didn't recognized them and you kept seeing Sasuke-kun. I guess...I guess maybe you saw me, too..."
Naruto was lost in thought. He stared down at the pearls, remembering how much he wanted to give them to Hinata, remembering how eager he had been for their date. He always wanted to celebrate things with her. Little things, big things, being with her made him feel so...alive! And he kept trying to make everything special for them because he loved to see her smile, loved to see her laugh, loved being with her.
All his friends, his team, her, he loved being with them all...and each way was different, special in its own way.
But now, remembering the pain of loss, remembering the hazy memories of his friends coming and fading away, hearing how dazed he had been coming home, so relieved that Hinata had been real, he had given her the gift he had planned for their anniversary date.
Now he wanted something differently for that date. He still wanted to give her the pearls, but he wanted things differently now...
"Here."
Hinata looked confused as he held out the necklace for her to take, his face composed and serious. "But...Naruto-kun? I thought...I thought you wanted to surprise me?"
"I did. In the beginning, I did. I don't remember much about when I was hallucinating." He gazed downward, seeing it all go through his head again, the pain of loss flaring up like a candle that would not be put out. "All that comes to mind is seeing you and the others, but some times, you would fade out and I would feel some pain at losing all of you. I'm still feeling it, even now."
"Oh...Naruto-kun..." Tears ran down her cheek again. "I knew...something...was wrong... I promise...I'll be here, I won't disappear on you, Naruto-kun," she vowed, shaking her head as if to enforce the point.
And seeing her like that made Naruto's eyes lighten up. That reassurance she would be with him and not fade away just warmed him up, so different from the ice cold pain of loss. "That really cheers me up, Hinata," he said, a smile gracing his features.
"But do you really not want to wait to give them to me, through?" She carefully picked up the necklace as if unsure of his actions. "I don't mind it at all. I really don't."
"Nah!" He finally felt cheerful, really upbeat for the first time since he had woken up. A feeling he normally would never feel in a hospital! "We'll still go on our date and I'll give you some flowers or maybe a potted plant from my garden!" That was a good idea. They both loved flowers, after all, and his mood gave away to a bright smile plastered onto his face. "I guess the gift doesn't matter, right? As long as we're together, right? Everything will be fine, Hinata...do you mind that?"
"No, I - I don't...it doesn't matter." She rubbed her eyes, looking a bit more cheerful in spite of her struggle to keep herself from crying again. "As long as I'm with you, Naruto-kun, nothing matters."
A fond smile appearing on his face, he took one of her hands, finding a sense of joy as he caressed it softly. "Yeah," he replied, his eyes half open as he stared at their entwined hands, "just being with you, Hinata, that's the best gift of all."
Lifting his head up, grinning at her affectionately, he found her staring at him for a bit. Then, suddenly, without warning, Hinata threw herself onto him, startling Naruto as she cried onto his left, uninjured, shoulder. A bit worried over her, he tried to reassure her by whispering everything was okay and she just nodded and said she knew that through her tears.
And after she had calmed down, Naruto moved over and she crawled onto his bed and they sat there, silently, Hinata's head on his left shoulder and Naruto's resting on her head, content to just be in each other's presence until time for her to leave.
It had taken awhile, but for the first time since he had awakened, the pain in Naruto's heart that came up every time he thought of his precious people fading away forever had finally disappeared.
The End
*comes out of hiding* Did I fool you? Likely not, but oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.
Okay, so I lied about people not being happy about the ending! XD At least I think most are happy. Not sure if I can write a sad ending; I'm more than willing to beat up on characters during a fic, but I like to see them put back together, happily, in the end. :) Seriously, it's a lot more fun to drag stuff like this out. ^_^ Can't develop a character if I'm not willing to break an egg, right?
I hope I got the info on the bandits clear enough. My fic only focused on Naruto, his struggle to get home and the others as they dealt with his absence and coming home. Maybe if I were writing a longer fic, I would have dived into the bandits more than I did, but since I had no plans to, I tried to give out all the must-have info to explain Naruto's situation and how he got into it. I had envisioned the bandits to be well coordinated in order to go after ninja teams, mostly thanks to the missing-nin scienist. I mean, if they were just plain old thieves, they would have never stood a chance!
You'll notice in the first chapter, a few bandits found out about Naruto because he stopped by a jewelry shop and mentioned he was on a mission, but once they realized who they were dealing with, their attacks became sloppy. They were more interested in getting away than stealing at that point and using their chemical and exploding tags provided a means for their escape. I doubt Naruto would be concerned by any poison; after all, he's got Kyuubi chakra and Sage chakra to keep him alive and, like in the Wave arc, he would just take a kunai to get it out. Of course, exploding tags rendered him unconscious and by the time he woke up, the chemical had taken its effect.
So I hope I conveyed it well. I don't like explaining things like this, but I always worry if I've explained it all right. Maybe one day I'll do a multi-chapter fic so I can dive into villains like that...?
Nah! I have no energy for it!
Thanks for reading - NessaMoon