Holy balls, guys. That was a lot of reviews in a short while. I really appreciate it!
It took me a long time to decide who "he" was… There was a time when I had no idea. I rotated through several ideas. I toyed with the idea that there would be no resolution to his identity, or that it would be an original character, or a pre-established character… I hope you guys can understand my reasons.
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Chapter Three: Brand New Day
Naruto blinked a few times as the sentence ran its way through his mind. He'd been caught? The rapist had been caught? The man who'd single-handedly caused Hinata the greatest pain she'd ever suffered had been caught? The thought of apprehending him had left Naruto's mind long ago, but faced with this news… what was flooding his senses? Anger? Relief? He wasn't sure.
Realizing he was still staring at the ANBU, Naruto gulped, trying to regain his composure. "Okay. Thanks for the message. You can leave." The ANBU nodded and leapt away. Naruto turned to Hinata and saw her completely hunched over, a posture he'd not seen since she'd first come from the hospital, and to top it all off, she was sweating profusely, her hand clamped around Naruto's. "Hinata…" he said gently, clutching her shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eye, "If you want… you don't need to go."
She shook her head rapidly. "I… I'm not scared," she answered, though her quaking hands betrayed her mind, "I can't be s-s-" she took a deep, calming breath, "Scared. L-let's go." Giving her hand one last squeeze, he led her down the street.
They arrived at the Military Police Force a few minutes later where another ANBU soldier greeted them. "Hello, Naruto-san, Hinata-san. Please, if you come this way, I'll show you the culprit. We haven't interrogated him yet, as we thought you may want to see him first."
"Why did it take so long to capture him?" Naruto asked as they walked down the hall.
"Well, as you heard, Kakashi-sempai's Ninken were sent to find this man, but… there was a bit of trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"They recognized the scent, however… they couldn't comprehend it. They discovered that the scent was actually a mixture of two scents, scents Kakashi-sempai knew from times long past."
"Two scents…?" Naruto asked, confused, "What does that mean?"
"Well," the ANBU said with a sigh as they reached the door, their destination, "Perhaps you'll understand better if I just show you."
As they entered, a slow, eerily familiar voice hissed, "It's been a while… Naruto-kun."
Naruto stopped, eyes wide, in pure shock. Sitting, tied to the chair, sat a mutant – the only fitting way to describe this being – divided directly down the middle into two entities. One side had medium-length, wavy grayish hair, peach skin, and black eyes. The other sported long, straight black hair, ghostly pale skin, and unsettlingly yellow eyes with slits for the pupils.
"What… what are you?" Naruto asked, barely at a whisper. "Are you Kabuto… or Orochimaru?"
The hybrid smiled crazily and answered, "A fair question. My mind, I suppose is that you know as Kabuto, but my body, my strength… it contains the incredible strength of Orochimaru-sama in his prime… though truthfully, it's much more."
"Okay," said Naruto calmly, taking a breath. As a vein throbbed in his forehead, he shouted, "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"Nothing," Kabuto answered pleasantly, "I'm perfectly fine."
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Naruto roared. "Why, why would you do that to Hinata of all people? What could you possibly gain from that?"
Sasuke had entered the room at this point. "Naruto, I heard they caught the guy, and – Oh my God," he said, stunned at the appearance of a foe long-thought dead.
"Ahh, Sasuke-kun, good of you to join us!" Kabuto squeaked with a joyful twist of his head. "Well then. Allow me to answer Naruto-kun's question. Why did I hurt that woman over there? Two reasons. First, I wanted to further test my growing power…"
Sasuke's Sharingan activated without his will. "You son of a…"
Naruto was unsurprised: he remembered that that was essentially the same reason Itachi had given for slaughtering the Uchiha clan. "And the second reason," Kabuto continued, "Was pure and simple. I wanted to hurt you, Naruto-kun. I wanted to destroy the most precious thing to you, that girl, to make you feel what it's like to lose your most important thing."
"Let me get this straight," Naruto growled, fists rumbling, "You… you raped," he didn't say the word so much as vomited it, "Hinata… just to hurt me?"
"Yes," replied Kabuto, grinning sadistically. "And I daresay it worked."
Naruto turned to Sasuke and said, "I think he's told us everything. His life is worthless now."
"Agreed," said Sasuke, unsheathing his chokutou.
Kabuto began to laugh. "You honestly think I didn't mean to be captured? I have greater power than Orochimaru-sama ever had! The feeble soldiers of this pathetic village could never take me and you two are no different!" With one swift move, he burst from his ropes and plowed through the nearby wall, calling, "I'll be waiting for you, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun!" and escaped.
Naruto began to give chase, but felt a hand on his jacket. He turned to find Hinata, paler than usual, hands writhing uncontrollably, sweating bullets. "P-p-please," she said, "D-d-don't go."
"Hinata…" Naruto uttered.
"I… I can't let him hurt you," she murmured and then burst into a flood of tears. "I can't stand losing you! If you die, my soul will go with you, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto embraced her tightly, stroking her back gently as she sobbed. "There's something I haven't told you… do you remember when I'd be exhausted every so often at home?"
"Y-yes," she choked out, "I th-th-thought you were just tired from taking care of me."
"Not at all," he said, "Ever since you were hurt by that monster, I've been in training. I'd send tens of thousands of kagebunshin all over the town, to the library, to the dojo, to the various training grounds, and to friends' places. They'd practice, over and over, learning all sorts of things from textbooks and our comrades. I played shogi and learned strategy from Shikamaru. I learned mental focus from Ino. I practiced taijutsu with fuzzy-eyebrows. I learned weapon mastery from Tenten. I learned to use chakra to enhance my senses from Kiba. I learned an incredible amount of jutsu from Kakashi-sensei. I learned all about the ins and outs of being a ninja from the texts… I even learned something special about my father's combat."
Hinata sniffled. "Naruto-kun…"
"The mental strain would exhaust me, but I'd push forward, because I needed to become stronger. I needed to be able to protect you, my friends, and my village." He stared directly into her puffy eyes and told her with his deep, manly voice, his prepubescent voice discarded long ago, "I'm not a child anymore, Hinata. I've grown up; I've become a man capable of defending what's important to me. And even without all that training, I have an unbeatable ace in the hole. Have faith in me."
Hinata was overcome with an odd but wonderful sensation… everything about Naruto was telling her to believe in him. "Okay…Y-you'd better be back soon, or else," she said, wiping her eyes thoroughly.
"I'll be home before dinner," he assured her and turned to his best friend. "Sasuke. Let's get going." Sasuke nodded and they hurried though the hole in the wall towards Kabuto's trail.
Silently, they followed the path through the forest, through trees and over boulders until finally, they reached a clearing where Kabuto, surrounded a multitude of other ninja with large purple ropes wrapped around them, the same twisted smile adorning his mouth. "Welcome, you two! I'm glad you could make it. But my time with you is not quite yet."
"Bastard!" Naruto yelled, charging, "You're going to pay for what you've done!"
Kabuto, however, jumped out of the way, slithering like a snake. "Sorry to disappoint, but you and I have yet to dance. Boys," he said, directing the other ninja, "Go ahead and play with these gentlemen." With that, Kabuto leapt away.
With a sick grin, Kabuto's subordinates began morphing, changing into the easily recognizable curse seal level two, leaving an army of mutants. "Shit…" Naruto muttered. "Really don't want to deal with this."
Sasuke drew his sword. "I'll take care of the small fries. You go after him."
Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Sasuke," he said, and rushed off after Kabuto.
"Small fries?" asked one of the Sound ninja. "You're arrogant, boy."
Activating his Sharingan once more, Sasuke scowled. "Don't you know who I am? I guess it's been a while," he said, and leapt at the monstrosities.
At last, Naruto caught up to Kabuto, alone this time in another clearing. "Hello, Naruto-kun," he said. "It's a shame, really. You're making me kill you all out of order."
"You say you're gonna kill me…" Naruto uttered angrily.
"Don't worry. I'll kill your little girlfriend too, so you'll be united soon enough." Naruto could no longer take it and dove at Kabuto, fist raised. Kabuto blocked and delivered a kick to Naruto's chest. "You see? I've gained incredible power! I far outclass you!"
Naruto stood, brushing himself off. "Okay," he said quietly, "Now I know what I need to do to kick your ass. Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" Several Naruto replicas appeared out of thin air, lunging at Kabuto. Kabuto managed to ward off this attack, but was unprepared when he heard Naruto cry, "Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)!" and teleport next to Kabuto with a knockdown punch. Kabuto lifted himself from the ground slowly, still smiling crazily.
"I didn't know you had learned the Fourth Hokage's other signature jutsu, Naruto-kun," he said, "But don't expect it to work more than once!"
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Naruto returned and rushed once more at Kabuto. The battle raged on, Kabuto quickly ridding himself of the various clone assaults. They appeared even matched.
"You'll never win, Naruto-kun," said Kabuto, "I still have powers yet!"
Naruto, after a pause, said, "You told me once about your identity crisis, equating it with my own... 'Am I Naruto, or am I the Kyuubi?' you told me. There is no crisis anymore."
"What do you mean?" asked Kabuto, puzzled.
"It doesn't matter," he said. He didn't care about this enemy enough to explain about the Toadkey Jiraiya had given him long ago, and how Naruto had broken his father's seal and fused with the Kyuubi's chakra. Instead, Naruto closed his eyes and focused. When he opened them, his whisker marks were still thin, his teeth still human, and his nails merely that. His eyes, though not red, had become foxy slits. The most significant change was the white light surrounding him. He no longer used the power of the individual tails, fueled by his hatred. Since combining fully with the fox's power he had achieved a special state: It was an odd feeling, considering he'd not used this form in a long time. The chakra was completely inside him, non-damaging, and gave him unbelievable power. His might was enhanced to the point that he could not feel the weight of his own body, and he could lift several times his normal strength, surpassing that of Tsunade. His speed, as a result, was multiplied many times as well. Lastly, his body supplied, as the fox had boasted, an infinite amount of easily controlled chakra.
"What… is this?" Kabuto asked, stunned by the sight.
"Your end," Naruto snarled and leapt at Kabuto once more, punching him into the dirt. Naruto didn't give him time to rise and pummeled him as he lay, then lifted him up, swung him around, and smashed him into a large boulder. Then, as Kabuto leaned shocked against the boulder, Naruto produced three kagebunshin. Together, they laid into him, a fluid, cohesive volley of blows bruising Kabuto's face as his skull smashed against the rock over and over. Naruto released all the rage and frustration he'd built up over the months with this flurry of punches.
"Guh…" said the barely conscious Kabuto.
"Tell me," said Naruto, taking Kabuto's arm, "How does it feel to be this frightened?" He snapped the arm at the elbow, causing Kabuto to scream out in pain. "How does it feel…" he picked up his other arm, "To be this hopeless?" With another crunch, this arm was broken too, and Kabuto shrieked again. "How does it feel to know that I won't stop hurting you no matter what?" he asked, kicking Kabuto's kneecap so hard that it shattered. "And how does it feel to know that death is only a few moments away?" he roared, crushing the other kneecap, sending Kabuto to the floor. "Well?" Naruto said, kicking Kabuto in the ribs, "Answer me!"
"M-m-mercy," Kabuto moaned.
"Mercy?" Naruto laughed a bitter laugh. "Do you know what you've done? You could have attacked me, tried to rip me in two, torture me, whatever. That would have been fine. I could have easily dealt with that. But you had to violate, defile a woman so pure she wouldn't want to harm a soul in this world. You are the single worst scum on the face of the earth, and you deserve to die. You want mercy? As far as I'm concerned, you're not a person. You're a snake, just a small, slimy snake who thinks he's bigger than the world. And foxes happen to eat snakes. But I won't kill you," he said, stepping away from Kabuto's limp body. "That would be far too kind. No, your punishment will be infinitely worse."
Naruto produced another clone that approached Kabuto, spinning chakra in his hand. The Rasenshuriken appeared in his palm, but smaller than the one Naruto had unleashed upon Kakuzu that time long ago, as insurance that Kabuto would not die. "Any last words?" the bunshin asked. Kabuto could only look stunned at the swirling ball of pain in the duplicate's hand. "No? All right. Prepare yourself…" he raised the jutsu high in the air. "Rasenshuriken!" he roared, slamming down his hand and creating a tremendous dome of spiraling death.
The original Naruto watched, hearing Kabuto's screams: at first loud, then slowly faded. When it subsided, he jumped towards the bloody body of Kabuto, feeling his neck. Discovering a pulse, he raised himself and said, "How does it feel to know that you are trapped forever in the most painful prison imaginable?" He paused, and then smiled cruelly. "Oh, that's right. My jutsu severed your nerve channels. You can't talk. You can't move, you can't speak, you can't do anything. Not a damned thing. Get used to it. That's your life from now on. Not so good to live forever, is it, snake boy?"
His fox form faded, reverting his eyes. Instantly, he felt the fatigue. While it didn't inflict permanent damage, his fox form did strain his body completely, and using a jutsu so complex as the Rasenshuriken with one hand wasn't exactly simple. The control was even more difficult to make it smaller, as he couldn't just unleash his chakra fully. Naruto reached into his tool pouch and pulled out an exploding tag and kunai. Wrapping the former around the latter, he threw the combination into the air, allowing it to violently explode. "There…" he thought woozily, "Someone'll see that… probably."
He plopped himself down at the boulder where he'd pummeled Kabuto, just left of the large amount of bloodstains. He sat for hours as his strength faded and as dizziness arrived. Briefly, he wondered if Sasuke would be okay against those curse seal monsters, but assured himself that Sasuke was way too strong to be taken by these guys. The world began to go dark as he heard the voice of his beloved calling, "There he is! Over here!" and he drifted off.
He awoke a short while later, Sasuke, somewhat cutup, next to him. "Wh… Where am I?" he asked.
"You're in the Konoha Military Police Infirmary," Sasuke informed him. "Kabuto is in our hands, and Hinata's about to see him."
"I should go too," Naruto said, getting up, a little unsteadily.
"You sure you can do this?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Naruto answered and made his way out the door and back to the interrogation chamber.
The ANBU outside told him, "Though we know there's no information we can get from him, we figured we'd let Hinata-san get a little closure before we throw him off to prison," and let Naruto inside.
Hinata stood, staring at the inert Kabuto, who was tied to a wall. This was he, this was the man who'd caused everything, and now he lay here, helpless. She knew Naruto had entered, but did not turn to face him. She came near to her rapist, slowly, as his eyes, the only outer thing functional on his body, widened, and raised a fist. Slowly, however, she put it down, and turned away to look at a surprised Naruto. "I… I'm ready, I think," she said. Then, however, she let out a scream of rage and cried, "Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou (Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms)!" whipping around and blasting Kabuto with the full force of her strikes. When she'd finished, she swiveled back to Naruto and said, "Okay. Now I'm ready."
He smiled. "Good… let's go," he said, and, placing his arm round her shoulder, left the precinct.
They stopped by Tsunade's office to inform her of the emergency mission's success. "I think… that's quite the fitting punishment," Tsunade said. "He has inherited Orochimaru's crimes, so we have him on murder of the Third Hokage, murder of the Fourth Kazekage, conspiracy, fraud, attempt to destroy the village, kidnapping, mutilation via illegal experimentation, using forbidden jutsu, and last, but certainly not least, rape. He and Orochimaru tried to lived a life without consequence… Orochimaru had no qualms, for he thought he'd be immortal, and death was no boundary for him. And now, Kabuto will spend the remainder of his days in agonizing pain. His arms and legs will not mend, as there will be no electrical signals to indicate their damage. He will likely be driven insane from the isolation of being unable to act, essentially in a waking coma, and the constant, never yielding pain. Well done, Naruto."
"It was nothing," he replied, shrugging. "Just something I needed to do," he added with a glance at Hinata.
Tsunade smiled. "Nothing, eh? Well, keep it up. You're going to lead the village, after all."
Naruto blushed despite himself. "Thanks… I'm, uh, I'm sorry we couldn't find out if there was anything more to Kabuto… he had some Sound ninja with him."
"It's alright," said Tsunade. "Whatever comes ahead, we'll deal with it. What's important is that you two are okay."
"Thanks, baa-chan," he said, smiling.
"Don't mention it," she said, and made a shooing motion with her hands, "Now get on out of here, it's a brand new day! Enjoy it!"
Not needing another word, Naruto and Hinata raced out of the Hokage building towards the apartment, basking in the warmth of the bright sun. When they arrived in the bedroom, Naruto found a silver envelope wedged between the window and the pane. "Hmm… what's this…" he muttered, inspecting it. Immediately, the words "To Hyuga Hinata," caught his eye. "I think it's for you," he said, handing the letter to her.
As she took the letter, she let out a gasp. "This is- this is one of my family's stylized envelopes!" she cried, tearing it open immediately. Hands shaking, she read aloud, "T-to my dear, w-wonderful child, Hinata. To say I have been unfair would be akin to labeling the ocean as moist: accurate but meaningless. What I have done to you is beyond that, it is inhumane, and for that, I am truly, utterly sorry. There is no amount of apology that can make up for what I have done and as such, I do not expect you to forgive me. I merely wish you understand. When you were hurt, when you were maimed physically and emotionally, I saw your pain and I, though I did not fathom it at the time, saw my own failure… your boyfriend helped me to realize that. I failed, as a father, to protect you, as I have all my life… This, however, was a failure like no other." Hinata began sobbing gently at this point. "Y-you are p-p-precious to me, m-more than you c-c-c-an im-m-magine, and when I saw what had been d-d-done to you… I l-lashed out, doing anything to escape my g-g-guilt, and ended up h-hurting you, when you needed most to be helped. For th-that, once m-m-more, I am s-s-s… I s-s-sorry beyond m-m-measure."
Hinata had begun tearing too heavily to continue, so Naruto gently took the letter and finished. "I want you to know that you are to be let into this home whenever you please. I want you to know that all my powers will be transferred to you when you are ready. I want you to know that you are to have everything I have when it is time. I want you to know these things as a member of this family, as the heiress to this clan, but most importantly, as my beloved, incredible daughter. Love, for all eternity, your father, Hyuga Hiashi."
He dropped the paper and immediately embraced Hinata as she wrapped her arms around his midsection, crying forcefully into his chest. "It's okay," he whispered, patting her gently, "Get it all out."
After a few more minutes of her weeping, it lessened: she no longer groaned, though the tears remained raining down her cheeks. "He… he loved me," she whimpered, astonished, looking into Naruto's adoring gaze. "He loves me."
"He does," Naruto agreed, smiling sweetly, "And why shouldn't he? You're wonderful. Everyone should love you. I certainly do."
"I love you too, Naruto-kun…" she sighed. "He… he said you helped him realize… what did you do?"
"I went down and talked to him," said Naruto. It wasn't a lie, just a mere omittance of the fact that he'd been forced to show Hiashi that his juuken couldn't match Naruto's kagebunshin. "Made sure you got a fair chance."
She squeezed him even tighter. "Oh, Naruto-kun…" she moaned. "You don't realize what you've done for me, have you?"
"What's that?" he asked.
"You… just as you said, you've given me a fair chance… but not just with my father. You helped me when I was in trouble, when everything I had in the world was gone. You helped me settle things within myself today, with that monster. You've given me a new chance at life, Naruto-kun. As Tsunade-sama said, it's a brand new day."
He kissed the top of her head. "I helped you, not merely because I care about you tremendously, but because… you were the one who helped me when I needed it. You stuck by me while others deserted… and for that, I could do nothing other than care for you in your time of need."
"Naruto-kun…" she murmured, wiping the tears from her eyes. Slowly, she raised herself and, with a hand on his chest, pushed Naruto onto the bed and placed herself over him, a leg on each side.
"Hinata?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"I'm going to thank you," she said, undressing him, "the best way I can." She reached the First Hokage's necklace and grasped it gently. "You told me… Tsunade-sama gave this to you because of a bet, and that the second part of her ante was… she would have to acknowledge that you could be Hokage. Naruto-kun, if it's the last thing I do, I will make everyone in this village acknowledge that fact."
"Hinata…" he said again, taking off the necklace and carefully laying it on the table next to the bed. Then, he cupped his rough, callused hands around her cheeks, indulging in soft muliebrity of her texture and kissing her as tenderly yet passionately as possible. "One quick thing to take care of," he said as they kicked off their shoes and sent a horde of kagebunshin out the window to leap across the rooftops. "There… now we can go on."
As they became fully undressed, they picked up the heat, cavorting with each other's tongues. Naruto initiated the first ero-jutsu gate, the now familiar heat radiating off of her body. He reached down her breasts to press the next to points, but found her hands blocking him. "Hinata, what…?" he asked, confused.
"Naruto-kun, I told you, I'm thanking you," she said. "You've done all these great things in my life, but you've also done things to me that make me feel," she looked up in nostalgia, "Well, they make feel things I never thought I could feel before. But it's all been you doing it to me… I know I get the brunt of the pleasure."
"It's not like it's been exactly agonizing for me, you know," he inserted.
"Please… I want to do this for you," she said, rubbing his hands on his chest and heading south.
"Hinata, you really don't-" Suddenly, her hand enveloped his manhood tightly.
"I… I really want to," she said, staring straight into his shocked face, "Please…"
"W-well, I guess if you really, really want to, it would be terrible of me to deny you that, and…" he regained himself and said, "Let's get on with it, then."
She released his member and moved herself back up to him, kissing from his collarbone down, rubbing her hands all over his chest. Naruto decided he wasn't going to just lie there and be worked upon and grabbed her breasts with just the right amount of force to make her cry out in pleasure. "Naruto-kun, I…"
"I have an idea," he said, playing with her nipples while she moaned in ecstasy. "Let's do this… together."
"To… together?" she asked, one eye closed from the delight.
"Together," he reassured her. She nodded and the two proceeded, coming to know their love's entire bodies, inch by inch. Finally, they came to the close, the climax before their climax, the thrusting. Naruto once again cast the protection jutsu, this time remembering Jiraiya's lecture on it.
"Naruto, this is probably the most important jutsu I will ever teach you. Hell, it will probably the most important one you'll ever learn."
"Woah," said Naruto, excited, "What is it? Tell me, come on!"
"It is the protection jutsu, a technique of ultimate safety."
"Wow," Naruto muttered, "What does it do, like, create a wall of chakra or something?"
"No," said Jiraiya.
"Then what?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"It protects against all illnesses that occur in sexual intercourse."
Naruto's mouth fell open. "… That's it?"
"Well, no. It also prevents the lady you're with from getting pregnant."
Naruto blinked. "How, exactly, is this the most important jutsu ever?"
"Are you telling me you want a lot of little dumb-as-rocks hyperactive blonde brats running around yelling, 'dattebayo!' every few seconds?"
Naruto stood silent at Jiraiya's flurry of insults for but a moment. "You know, I'm eventually going to kill you for that," he said plainly.
"Oh, you're just a kid now, but you'll understand why it's so necessary some day! And it's one hundred percent guaranteed success unless you're a complete and utter moron. Of course, that means you'll be screwed."
"Yeah, definitely going to kill you," Naruto grumbled.
"I'm just messing with you. Come, I'll show you how it's done…"
Another life lesson from Jiraiya. He hadn't merely taught ninjutsu, Naruto realized, but he'd also taught Naruto to be a man. Silently, he thanked him for it and focused on the purpose of learning said jutsu. He thrust at Hinata, ramming her with all he could until the two of them orgasmed in unison. Hinata certainly hadn't failed in delivering.
She lay on top of him, panting for a few seconds, until she said, "Again?"
Naruto, first surprised, said, "H… hell yeah!" and began again. Over and over the two repeated the cycle of buildup, climax, and afterglow, never hesitating to repeat. At one point as she rested next to him during the final stage, Naruto asked, breathing heavily, "Hey… Hinata… when did we start doing this?"
"A-about three p.m.," she said, respiring just as greatly. She 'd become drenched in sweat and her hair was completely unkempt.
"And… wh… what time is it now?"
She glanced at the clock. "F-five a.m."
"Whoo," he said with a laugh, "We're really, really good at this."
"Yeah."
With a deep breath, he asked, "You ready to quit?"
"No… I could go for one more time."
"Me too. Let's go," he said, and thrust his tongue in her mouth.
In the end, it turned out that they did it three times more, with Naruto finally falling asleep before she. "Wow," she thought, gazing lovingly at Naruto." What an incredible day this was… I needed this a lot. And what stamina he has! I don't know if I'll be able to walk correctly for a while… but I didn't know I had it in me, either! In fact, I'm relatively certain I didn't have it in me until now! It must have had something to do with those gate techniques of his… well, I'm glad Jiraiya-sama taught him those. Naruto-kun… He's such an incredible human being." With that thought, she too let herself be taken in by sleep's gentle embrace.
A knocking awoke Hinata hours later like a sledgehammer to the brain. "Mzmphx," she babbled into her pillow. Wearily, she turned to look at Naruto, still out cold, and then stepped off the bed, doing her best to tell the visitor that she would be right there. However, all that she ended up saying was, "Mmmkmng." She hoped that by the time she made it to the door, she would regain the use of vowels. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on the perspective), before she reached the door, she realized she was still very much naked. Though she enjoyed this freedom in the company of just Naruto, she did feel extremely uncomfortable undressed with others. And so, slowly working the gears in her brain, she put on her pants and a T-shirt of Naruto's, obviously large on her. But she didn't care; instead she enjoyed the feeling of being in his scent. Finally, she stumbled her way to the door while ignoring the discomfort between her legs, opened it, and muttered, "H'llo?" One vowel. Good start.
Sakura stood in the doorway, brow raised at Hinata's disheveled appearance. "Hello… Hinata… am I… am I interrupting anything?" Hinata did not so much shake her head as she did swing it around limply on her neck. Though not convinced much, she said, "Ah. Good. Well, I'm sorry to wake you, but I wanted to let you that a few of us kunoichi are going to get together later, you know, for a little girl time. Would you like to come?" Briefly, Hinata's brain clicked into full gear as she contemplated this question. Her heart raced with the decision, but finally, she reached it, her brain slowed back down and she gave a weak thumbs-up and a smile. Sakura thought, amused, that she must have gained this habit from being in Naruto's presence so often. "Good! So, I'll see you at, say, sixish, my place?" Hinata nodded. "Okay, see you then!" Sakura said and skipped happily away. Hinata slammed the door shut and trudged back to the bed, undressing once more. She took a glance at the clock: Ten a.m. "When did ten a.m. become so early?" she wondered before returning to a near-comatose state.
Meanwhile, Naruto found himself dreaming, walking about in a house that certainly wasn't his. It was much larger than his apartment and with much more furniture. "Where the hell…" he muttered.
"Hello, Naruto," said a voice behind him, causing Naruto to jump.
"Who-" he began, but instantly stopped, stunned. There, right in front of him, was a man Naruto only knew in pictures. A large cloak adorned his shoulders while a forehead protector displayed the Leaf symbol atop his large, spiky yellow hair. He was tall, about as tall as Naruto, with deep blue eyes and his arm around a beautiful, alabaster-skinned woman with flowing red hair. Both smiled widely at Naruto. "D… Dad… Mom…" He uttered, barely able to speak.
"It's good to see you," said Kushina, "It has been a long time."
Naruto could feel himself tearing up. "I… Oh God… I have so many things, so many things I need to-"
"I know," said Minato, his voice reassuring, and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "But first, I want to say… I'm sorry, Naruto."
Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Wha… what do you mean?"
"I did all this to you," he said with a sad smile. "I placed this tremendous burden on you…"
"You shouldn't be sorry," Naruto quickly returned.
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't be, if you were satisfied with your life," Minato answered with a squeeze. "Tell me, my son… are you satisfied with your life?"
Naruto looked back on his life and realized something incredible: His life was not a list of failures, something Jiraiya once thought about his own life. He'd saved Neji (avenging Hinata), Sakura (from Gaara), Tsunade (from her greed and depression), Gaara (from Akatsuki, with the help of Chiyo), Ino, Choji, and Kakashi (from Kakuzu, helping to avenge Asuma), and finally, Sasuke (from himself). But in addition to those, he'd saved his own life from suffering, from pain… And now, recently, he'd saved Hinata's life, even if he couldn't protect her from Kabuto's twisted design. She was alive and well, thanks to him. He looked back on the life he'd carved out for himself, eyes closed, and smiled. "Yeah," he said softly, smiling, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but… I really like my life."
Minato smiled, a smile that Naruto had seen reflected in his mirror countless times. "Then good," said Minato. "In that case, I imagine I would do it over."
"You've been a good son," said Kushina. "And you've been a good human being, a good man, especially to dear Hinata-chan…"
"Agreed," said Minato. "I'm glad you got over Sakura-san. With all do respect to her, Hinata-san is infinitely better than she for you."
"You two will be happy forever," Kushina assured him, "So don't worry so much."
"And you know…" Minato said, leaning in to whisper to Naruto, "You're not the only Jiraiya-sensei taught those techniques to, if you know what I mean."
Naruto burst out laughing, "Yep, that sounds like Ero-sennin to me!"
Kushina, suddenly crying, reached over and gave Naruto a tremendous hug, which was soon joined by Minato. "It's almost time for us to go… I love you so much, Naruto."
"Me too, my son," said Minato.
Naruto embraced them back, silently weeping, as if all the tears he'd never cried as a child finally released themselves. "I love you both, mom, dad, so much… will I ever see you again?"
"You will," whispered Kushina, "You'll always have us in your heart. We will always be in front of your eyes."
As he wept, they vanished, leaving Naruto hugging the air for but a few seconds before he awakened. There were tearstains down his eyes, but he felt not sorrow, but closure. He was happy, so happy to be alive and in his life. Hinata lay beside him, facing him, her usual sweet smile on her visage. "I could get used to this," he thought, "Waking up next to Hinata's beautiful face… I never want to wake up any other way."
Suddenly, Hinata stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "Good… morning," she yawned. Her enhanced insightful eyes noticed tracks on Naruto's cheeks. "Naruto-kun… Are you okay?"
"Okay?" Naruto said with a wicked grin. "I'm better than okay." He flipped himself off the bed and lifted her up by the arms, spinning her around. "I'm great. I'm amazing! I'm incredible! I'm the best I've ever been!" He began laughing wildly and she smiled, though bewildered, as he put her down.
"That's wonderful," she cooed. "I'm so happy too, Naruto-kun. I'm happy that you're happy, and I'm happy because you've made me happy, and – mpht!"
Naruto silenced her with a kiss. "I love you," he said. "I love you so much, and I want you to know that with all your being."
"My love for you has never faltered," she replied, holding him at the waist. "It's only grown since I met you." The two stood for a minute, simply holding each other, until Hinata said, "So, uhm, Sakura-chan invited me to a… a get-together with the other kunoichi and I-I was, uhm, thinking of going…"
Naruto, eyes wide, looked down at Hinata. "You… you are?"
"Yes…"
"That's… that's great!" he said, kissing her cheek. "What time do you have to go?"
"Sixish" she said, trying to remember what Sakura had said to her drowsy self.
"Hmm…" he glanced at the clock, "It's three right now, so that leaves us some time to-" A large thunk against Naruto's window punctuated the air. "What the…?" He opened the window and spotted a messenger bird lying dizzy on the sill. Naruto briefly wondered whether he saw little humans spinning 'round his head. He removed the message from the bird's leg and watched, amused, as the tiny avian creature fluttered away, frustrated.
Naruto read the message to Hinata: "To Hyuga Hinata-sama. Please arrive at the main hall of the Hyuga estate as soon as you receive this message."
"Oh my," said Hinata softly.
"I think it's okay," said Naruto, recalling Hiashi's words, "It should be good to go."
Hinata nodded slowly and, after a quick grooming, the two walked towards the buildings that made up the Hyuga land and stopped at the entrance to the largest. "You can do this," Naruto assured Hinata.
"I know," she replied. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the threshold.
Inside the main hall, the room was completely packed. All along the sides, the balconies, and even some of the stairwells, Hyuga family members stood clumped together, every single pupil-less eye facing Hinata and Naruto, leaving a small path in the center to Hiashi, who sat on a throne in the center. Naruto caught a glimpse of Neji very close to Hiashi. Hinata and Naruto made their way to him and Naruto noticed that his eyes were not angry or hateful, but soft. They reached him and he rose from the chair, facing them.
Before either Hinata or Naruto could say anything, Hiashi fell to his knees and bowed deep, his nose coming less than an inch to the ground. "Father…?" Hinata asked meekly.
"Hinata, my dear," said Hiashi, his face rising to look up at Hinata. "I have called you here so that the whole family, main and side branch, can see that I humble myself before your presence. You are beyond value to me, and you cannot imagine how much I have suffered from my own senseless actions. But even so, I know that you have suffered more. Yet here you stand, looking as marvelous as I have known you. That you have recovered to this extent is nothing short of definitive proof that your strength is impressive, your spirit indomitable. And so, yet again, before these men and women, your kin, I rename you my heir, the heir to the entire enormous clan and history that has supported Konoha."
He closed his eyes, awaiting her response. When he opened them, she had knelt down and offered her hand to Hiashi, a smile on her features and tears in her eyes. "Rise, please, father." Hiashi took her palm, and hoisted himself up, a shocked yet pleased look on in his eyes. She hugged him tightly as she could, with not a moment's hesitation before he returned the embrace, liquid having begun its race out of his eyes as well.
The entire room shook with thunderous applause and cheers. "My Hinata… My sweet, precious Hinata," said Hiashi, "Welcome home." Hinata stood arm in arm with her father for seconds until the applause subsided. Then, she released him, and he said, "Now go… go with the man who has treated you better than any other."
She nodded and hurried off with Naruto, who stood smiling, arms folded. Another torrent of cheers followed them out. "I think that went well," said Naruto.
"Mhm," Hinata mumbled wiping the last of the tears from her eyes.
Suddenly, Naruto's stomach rumbled. "Oogh… I forgot, what with all the excitement… we haven't eaten yet, and after… such a exhausting night," he said with a sly grin and a wink. "Whaddya say we go get something to eat at that restaurant again, eh?"
"That sounds good," she said softly, clinging contentedly to Naruto's arm. "That sounds really, really good."
Meanwhile, at the Konoha Hospital, Sasuke was being given a brief checkup by Shizune. Kakashi, having nothing better to do at this time, decided to stick around. "I'm telling you, this is pointless," said Sasuke, "I'm fine. My wounds – minor ones at that – have already healed up."
"Just want to make sure you're in tiptop shape, Sasuke-kun," said Shizune. Holding a small flashlight, she said, "Fights with curse sealed warriors can have bad side effects. Look into the bulb, please."
"Sharingan, or no?"
"Hmm. Tricky. I don't get to inspect an Uchiha very often."
"Wonder why," Sasuke responde dryly.
Ignoring this comment, she proceeded. "Give me regular, then Sharingan." Sasuke obliged. "Okay… you seem to be all good."
"Thanks," said Sasuke, donning his clothing. "I'll see you later, Kakashi."
Kakashi waved, not looking up from his book. As Shizune put away her equipment, she asked, "So, Kakashi-san… do you need something?"
"No, not really," said Kakashi, "I'm just a little bored right now… no new missions, you see. Thought I'd come hang around here, check on how my team member was doing. And it's not so bad to be around you, either."
"Thank you," she said with a light blush.
Kakashi took this opportunity to ponder: "Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura… Hm. Where does that leave me? Maybe I've been out of the game too long. I think… thanks to them, I'm finally ready, mentally, to put myself back on the market. But whom would I go for?" He glanced at Shizune. "That could work," he thought. "She's cute, she's nice, as a medical ninja and the regrettably lazy Hokage-sama's attendant, brilliant. Why not? The question is, would she ever go for me?" Of course, doubts never held Kakashi back from anything before. "Hey, Shizune-san. Would you like to go out with me?"
Shizune nearly dropped her scalpel. Such a question hadn't been asked in a long, long time. "Ka… Kakashi-san… what did you say?"
"I'm asking you out," he said plainly. "Or do you not want to go on a date with me?"
"Th-that's not it!" she wailed wildly, "I'm just… are you sure you want to go out with someone like me?"
Kakashi raised his visible brow. "What do you mean?"
"I'm… I'm unattractive, and old, and-"
"Nah," said Kakashi, closing his book. "I think you're pretty cute, actually." Shizune was speechless. "So, when do you get off work?"
"Seven…" she said blankly.
"Okay. I'll pick you up then, and we can catch dinner and a movie."
"Uh-huh…"
"Great. See you then," he said, and left the patient room, leaving Shizune still stunned. "And a pat on the back for you, old boy," he thought, smiling as he walked.
Later, Guy, dueling Kakashi in yet another absurd contest – coin-flipping – asked, "So, Kakashi, have you any plans for later?"
"Why? Want to go another bout?"
"Just wondering! Can't two friends just talk?"
"Yeah, I suppose," said Kakashi, flipping his coin into the wall and catching it. "I've got a date."
Guy blanched, flipping his coin with such force that it made a small indentation in the brick wall. "You… haven't gone on a date in years."
"I noticed," said Kakashi.
Guy scratched his head awkwardly. "Well… who's the lucky lady?" he asked slowly.
"Hokage-sama's attendant."
"Shizune-chan?" Guy asked, initially shocked, then grinned his shiny grin and made a thumbs-up. "Well! A worthy woman for my rival, and a great exercise of your youth!"
Kakashi chuckled. "Thanks, Guy."
"Don't mention it! Now come, I've yet to best you in this art of coin flipping!" he exclaimed, and began shooting coins from several of his fingers. Kakashi sighed and followed suit.
-----------------
Seven o'clock passed and with it the shifts at the Konoha hospital switched. "Shizune-chan," said Akane, a fellow medic with the shift following Shizune's, "I take it you've got another boring schedule tonight?"
She chuckled. "Is that how you really see me?"
"Well, yeah!" said Akane, "I mean, all you do each night is clean up whatever mess Hokage-sama's made – with all due respect – and-slash-or play with your little piggy."
"Hey! I do plenty besides play with Tonton!" Shizune objected.
"Oh yeah?" Akane raised an eyebrow. "Quickly, in the next ten seconds, name some other place you've been in the last three months – aside from missions."
"Uhm…" Shizune struggled as Akane counted down. At the last second, she cried, "The veterinarian's office!" Akane gave her a dry look. "For… Tonton's… checkup…" she trailed off.
"Uh-huh," said Akane smugly, "That's what I thought."
"Well!" exclaimed Shizune haughtily. "Shows how much you know! I happen to have a hot date tonight!"
Akane's eyes widened to dinner plates. "What? Who the hell would you go out with?"
"Hatake Kakashi," Shizune answered, acquiring the smug attitude.
"… What?" Akane whispered. "Hatake Kakashi-san? The Hatake Kakashi-san? Ultimate technique master of Konoha? Legendary genius ex-ANBU captain? Tsunade-sama's next in line for Hokage if something happens to her?" Akane rambled on, flabbergasted. "Utterly sexy hunk of a shinobi? Are we talking about the same Hatake Kakashi?"
"We are," returned Shizune.
"Habu- bu- you – he – and – but," she babbled.
"Have a good night," said Shizune, self-satisfied, as she turned to leave the hospital and the still stunned Akane.
She left the building and, as promised, there Kakashi was, waiting for her. "Okay," she thought, "Just… tidy yourself up, Shizune… gotta look good for him!" She groomed herself as best she good and breathed deep. Slowly, she headed toward Kakashi and brightly called, "Kakashi-san! Hello!"
"Ah! Shizune-san!" Kakashi said pleasantly. He looked her up and down and added, "You're looking very nice tonight."
"R-really?" she asked with a blush. He nodded. "Well… Thank you. Let's get going, shall we?" He reached out his hand and she took the offer. As soon as his fingers touched hers, she felt confidence rushing through him. Taking the initiative, she pulled his arm to her and leaned into him. He didn't resist.
The night progressed in a good fashion. They watched the movie, the first of the Icha-Icha trilogy (Shizune surprisingly enjoying it), and headed to dinner. They found themselves having common interests, able to talk about missions, funny incidents with various friends, and the difficulties of life. He generously paid for the dinner and they headed to her apartment.
Outside the door, she looked up to him and said, "I… really had a good time tonight, Kakashi-san."
"Me too, and please, just Kakashi is fine," he said.
"Okay… Kakashi." Meeting his smiling gaze, she found the confidence of earlier rushing through her. Though she was instilled with resolve, she could not help her hands in shaking as she slowly reached for his mask. They quaked more and more as they approached, but Kakashi did not stop her. Finally, she pulled the thin cloth down, revealing the whole of his face, save his Sharingan. She sighed, witnessing that he was ever more handsome with his mask off. His tough, manly jaw coupled with his gentle smile made her ache for him. She moved her lips toward that smile, and to her relief, he neared her too. Finally, their lips met, kissing each other lightly, over and over.
Finally, they parted and Shizune found herself involuntarily moaning afterward. "I take it you liked it?" Kakashi asked with his smile. Her head bobbed up and down. "Well… I'll see you later," he said, and turned to leave.
Shizune, however, grabbed his flak jacket and pulled him back. Boldly, she asked, "Will you… come in, please?" As he smiled at her, agreeing, she opened the door and yanked him in.
They began to undress rapidly, Shizune removing the numerous articles of clothing on Kakashi, including the forehead protector. He kept his left eye closed, but Shizune marveled at his fully visible, handsome face. Gingerly, she traced a hand over his scar before continuing to strip him down. Finally, they were bare-clothed, landing on the bed. Kakashi grinned and thrust his tongue into her mouth. He groped her breasts, average size but firm and supple, teasing the nipples lightly. She moaned at his touch. He sucked one tip, lightly tweaking it with his teeth, and the volume of her voice increased. When he was sufficiently satisfied, he returned to her mouth. Having impeccable chakra control, he directed a tiny stream of chakra to her mouth and she shrieked.
"Wha… what did you just do?" she asked when they parted.
"Just something I picked up," he said slyly. Working as quickly as he could, he burst chakra into the next two gates.
She screamed and writhed at his touch as he ran his hand down her breasts once more, running his fingers down her abdomen and eventually stopping at her entrance. She was breathing heavily as she groaned, "Yes… go!"
He stuck one finger through her labia, thrusting slowly but rapidly gaining momentum as her juices drenched his digits. A second finger joined the action, and soon she was orgasming over and over and finally, she slipped easily into a sex-coma. "Lightweight," Kakashi thought as he rolled over next to her, gripping her close to him. "But it makes it more exciting to see what she'll be like with the other gates… My pleasure can come later. For now, I just want to please her." He watched her for a while until he too drifted off.
Elsewhere, Sasuke roamed the streets of Konoha, bored out of his skull. Kakashi was out on a date, Sakura was having her kunoichi party, and who knew what Naruto was doing. The thought of his girlfriend brought to mind thoughts of their relationship. They had been dating for almost a year. In fact, their anniversary was only a day away… but unlike Naruto, whose relationship with Hinata had began explosively, Sasuke and Sakura had yet to become truly intimate. Sure, they'd traded tongue-ties, and a rare undershirt moment, but still, Sasuke felt uncomfortable with going the whole way. Sakura was very reasonable, almost unreasonably reasonable about it. Sasuke recalled confiding in Kakashi about it.
"I dunno, I mean… I guess I feel I don't deserve to do it with her," he told Kakashi.
"Hmm. I think I know why… but why don't you voice it?" Kakashi replied
"It's just… after all I've done to her, to the village, after everything I've put her through, I just don't think I'm worthy enough for her."
"You'd be surprised what she thinks," said Kakashi.
Kakashi had just been nice, Sasuke convinced himself… he wondered if he could talk to Naruto, get a second opinion. Decided, he quickly body-flickered his way to Naruto's flat.
Naruto, meanwhile, was playing some shougi with a few kagebunshin. He moved a piece and one of his clones hissed, "Ooh, that's a bad move, a terrible move, you really shouldn't have done that!"
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled back. Suddenly, there was a knocking at his window. He turned to see Sasuke standing there, waving. Naruto got up and opened the window, dryly telling Sasuke, "Couldn't have just come in the door like a normal person, could you?"
"Eh, this way was faster," he replied plainly, edging himself in and closing the window behind him. "So, I take it you're pretty bored."
"And how do you figure that?" asked Naruto, putting away the shougi board and dispersing his jutsu.
"Well, aside from the fact that you're playing shougi, I'd say it's because Sakura's having some kind of kunoichi sleepover tonight and Hinata-san's invited. That about right?"
"Yeah," grumbled Naruto. "For the first time in a while, I'm just bored out of my skull, you know?"
"I do," said Sasuke, "Which is why I came here. Let's take a walk, shall we?"
"Sure," Naruto sighed, "Gotta be better than just laying around here." Together, they left the apartment and wandered out onto the main streets of Konoha. "So what is it you want to talk about?" Naruto asked.
"Sakura," Sasuke answered immediately.
"Ah, right, how you won't touch her because you're afraid she'll hate you or something."
"It's not that simple!" Sasuke objected. "You know what I've done to her, to you, to this whole village! Are you honestly going to tell me that I deserve to be with her?"
Naruto sighed again. "Do you know what she used to do, before we rescued you? All she would talk about is getting stronger to get you back. She hated that feeling of uselessness… she used to just look at your picture and cry, cry because you took a part of her heart away. Now that she's got it back, do you honestly think she'll reject your advances?"
"I just… I don't know," said Sasuke.
"It's about you, it's always been about you, since way before Team 7 was formed. Sure, it started out as a small crush, but she… she really got to know you and loved you with all her heart. Show her that you love her too, and let her prove her love for you."
Sasuke closed his eyes for but a moment in meditation. Little did Sasuke know that Naruto's amazing ability was being used once more: Sasuke was starting to believe in Naruto's words. "Alright…" he said, "Then tomorrow, on our anniversary, I'll try my best."
"Good for you," said Naruto with a pat on Sasuke's shoulders.
"Now that that's done with," said Sasuke, reaching into his pocket and revealed a sizeable bottle of sake, "How about you and I go out on the town?"
Naruto grinned.
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Well, I'm kinda glad I got the serious part over with, and got to the good stuff quickly. I had a lot more planned for this chapter, but I decided it would make this chapter too long.
Taking the bit with Kakashi was, I believe, a bold move. I figured our favorite scarecrow and awesomest character ever needed some love. Also, I kinda wanted to move the focus away from constant NaruHina, as it has been for the last few chapters. Forgive me for that.
I made a reference to something with this and last chapter's titles. If you can guess what it is, I'll tell you my main account.