Depth

A Naruhina Fanfic

Chapter 7: Reunions of course

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Yay

Disclaimer: Whose job is it to actually go through all the stories and try to sue people that don't say they don't own Naruto?

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Naruto couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't breathe. His mind was completely frozen, let alone his body. Slowly melting, he started to take in the aspects.

Her voice, her looks, her eyes… It really was her.

He just couldn't believe it, no matter how much he wished it. "H-h-How?" was all he could stutter out.

Hinata expected as much. "What you saw was a decoy" she hesitantly explained, her shyness coming flooding back before her lifetime love. "A really good one apparently. I-I tried to escape, but they caught me, and, and did all sorts. They were going to take the Byakugan, so I sealed myself, so now I'm blind. Then they were going to use me to breed new Hyuuga's, th-that's why I sealed my, umm, y'know, d-d-down there…"

She was blushing again now. Tsunade was gawking. Their S-rank murderer prisoner was blushing! It had to be Hinata!

"He must have been an idiot or something, b-because he thought I was strong, and he sealed their recently reacquired Two Tails in me. After placing numerous seals in my head to control me, I was sent off for a year's training with Killerbee, their original jinchuuriki, now deceased."

They had heard all about Killerbee from Sasuke, who had gone there originally to capture him for the Akatsuki after they had recovered, to take revenge on him tricking them with a tentacle the first time. Since Hinata had beat Sasuke down to size, he had come to realize that he was still not stronger for remaining outside the village, so from much convincing from Naruto, he had decided to stick with the village for now.

"H-Hinata, I-is that… really you?" Naruto whispered, again kneeling in front of her, as if he had been shot through the heart.

She gave a serene smile, the one she wore when she confessed to him. "Yes Naruto-kun, I'm sorry for putting you through all that, b-but I won't be around long, th-the seals will kick in soon if I keep disregarding my orders, but it has been worth it, just to hear what you said. Did, did you really mean it?"

Naruto stared into the poor girls abused lavender eyes, imagining he could see all the seals that covered her. "Hinata, I'm so glad you're alive" he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Yes, it was all true, I love you Hinata Hyuuga! I love you!"

Hinata couldn't stop smiling. The dream of her life had come true! Her mission was completely forgotten now in the happiness of the moment, but apparently the Raikage's seals didn't like this.

"Hinata, w-will you give me another chance?" Naruto pleaded, but Hinata couldn't say anything. She was fighting with every fiber of her being to resist the urge of the seals, urging her to return to her master at all haste. Apparently the mission didn't matter anymore; he just wanted his jinchuuriki back.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out but a small trickle of blood as the seals flared again, reacting to her resistance.

Naruto's head snapped up as he heard her cough up blood, unable to speak. "Tsunade what's wrong with her!" he shouted in panic, deathly afraid of losing her again.

Tsunade hastened to the girl and placed a cooling hand of green chakra over her forehead, sending her peacefully into unconsciousness. "Her seals are acting up" she said. "The first one is flaring, trying to bring her back to the village. If that one doesn't work, I take it the next will activate, for her to kill anything in sight before she dies. And finally, if that one doesn't work, I guess the kill switch will be finally flicked."

"Kill switch?" Naruto uttered in fear. "Tsunade, you've got to get rid of them!"

Tsunade nodded, this girl had just become an even higher priority. She was no longer an enemy jinchuuriki they were trying to convert, but she was a long lost beloved ninja of the Hidden Leaf, who also just so happened to be a jinchuuriki with plenty of control, if they could minus the seals.

"I can't unravel the one over her eyes, but release her from your seals and I will try my best to dig out the kill switch, then the rest of them."

Naruto nodded in turn and released the Kyuubi chakra seals, and Tsunade set straight to work, not bothering to move the girl from the interrogation chambers.

The three interrogators took their leave then to spread the word, they were obviously no longer needed for torture uses. Well, Inoichi stayed to help with the mind seals, but Unko and Ibiki were gone! Unko was sprinting around the village yelling Hinata Hyuuga was alive again, while Ibiki went for the more subtle way, quietly approaching clan heads and telling them the news, both making their way slowly throughout the village towards the Hyuuga compound.

It probably wasn't the best idea to spread the word so much when she still had every chance of dying, but they had complete faith in their Hokages.

They knew; they could bring back the wayward girl.

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Tsunade panted over the form of Hinata. "Finally" she said through several huffs, and then smiled joyfully, still breathing heavily. "I dug it out!" she exclaimed, and Naruto pretty much jumped for joy.

"Now for the others, eh Granny Tsunade?" he said enthusiastically.

Tsunade looked at him in shock. He hadn't called her that in over a year! No matter how annoying it was, she had actually missed it because its lack thereof signaled what had died in Naruto that fateful day when they found Hinata's body. 'How much this girl holds in him!' she exclaimed to herself.

"Do you need any more chakra?" Naruto asked concernedly. Since he was Hokage, he knew a lot more techniques, and one was being able to lend the Kyuubi's chakra for others to use, extremely helpful with his giant reserves. Tsunade nodded so he placed his hands on her back as she bent back to Hinata's forehead, surging his chakra into her. Inoichi too delved into the girls mindscape, and began working on the seals from the inside out, feeling the Hokages working from the outside.

An hour later the 'kill everyone' seal was also broken and removed. All being extremely tired by now, they began starting on the last one in her brain just as the door burst open and all hell was unleashed.

The entire Konoha 12 came running in, minus Hinata and Naruto of course, screaming about Hinata being alive.

"Is it true, is she here?" Sakura shouted in undisguised hope. Even Sasuke was raising his voice. "Is it true, was it really her!" he shouted, though his voice was mainly lost in the quarrel of others.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, and with Tsunade, stepped aside to reveal the unconscious girl. Everyone was shocked into silence.

"Th-that's her?" Ino squeaked, before everyone was joyfully shouting "Hinata! Ahhhhh!" like fan girls. (Hehe, a very happy moment huh?)

"Well, I'm glad you all are welcoming her back, but me and Naruto still have one seal to break, and maybe even another after that" Tsunade's tired voice stopped them and she turned back to the girl, with Naruto behind her once again.

The group fell to silence as they watched the slow process. What seals were on Hinata? Was this why they hadn't seen her for a year? Was this why they had thought she was dead?

Finally, after another two hours sweating it out, Tsunade and Inoichi, with Naruto's help, had broken the final controlling seal. 'But I'm not giving up now!' Tsunade shouted encourage to herself, and immediately placed her hand over where Hinata's belly was behind the cold metal of the sealing cylinder, directing her healing energy around the bijuu seal to the mess of chakra sealing her uterus. Bit by bit, she picked at it with all her skill, and finally saved the girls reproductive system four hours later.

She then fell to the floor, unconscious, completely spent, but a glorious smile on the old Hokage's face. She had saved her wayward ninja.

Then the Konoha 12 were swarming over the unconscious Hyuuga, pulling her up out of the sealing machine and carrying both her and Tsunade to Konoha's hospital, where they would recover the rest of the way.

Naruto stayed by Hinata's side the whole time, holding her hand tenderly as the procession walked through the village, that glorious smile that hadn't been seen in a year still adorning his features.

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Hinata fought in the dark recesses of her mind. She knew, with the confidence and determination Naruto had just returned to her, she could beat Megumi, and lock her in the very cage she had been locked in for so long. But Megumi wasn't going down without a fight.

Nibi watched the mental battle through her cage, weakened by her interference which had directly opposed the bijuu seal. It had been incredibly difficult for the demon, so now it was drained.

Megumi leapt away from Hinata scowling. She could feel herself growing smaller, while Hinata just got bigger. There was no more room for her. Growing desperate, she looked to the one place Hinata could not follow. It seemed like a death trap, but Hinata would surely defeat her if she stayed out here any longer. Then, she saw the fatigue resonating off the Nibi, and an opportunity arose in her.

Quick as the cat locked up, she stepped past Hinata, and using her new smaller size squeezed through the bars in the cell. Before the cat could react through its drowsiness, Megumi leapt onto it. She smirked back at Hinata looking hopelessly through the bars as she sank into the Bijuu. She had just acquired a much more powerful medium to continue her war in Hinata's mind.

However, it would take a while to adjust and bring the great cat to bear. She looked at Hinata, and mouthed 'You're safe for now, but don't worry, I'll be back. And I won't be long'. She grinned maliciously as her head finally sank down into the blue back and Nibi collapsed unconscious to the floor of the cell, whereas Hinata was then ejected from her mindscape back to the real world, suddenly finding herself waking up in a hospital bed.

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She could hear many voices talking in the room she occupied, and felt a multitude of people in it. Before she opened her eyes to alert them of her consciousness, she sent out waves of her specially developed sensory chakra, covering all the solids in the room. With this, she could get a good picture of whom and where everybody in the room was.

She 'saw' Naruto was right by her bedside, and finally realized what it was that was touching her hand. He was holding it, and wetness slowly dripped onto it. He was crying over her! Her eyes fluttered open in surprise, but she still couldn't see anything. It was just a human reflex to try and look even if she knew she couldn't.

Naruto gasped when he saw the movement. "Hinata, you're awake!" he exclaimed, then turned to the others in the room. "Guys, Hinata's up, you can finally say hi to her again! We've got a lot of catching up to do!"

She heard a chorus of voices. Every one of them was familiar, voices she hadn't heard in a year. Her old comrades, the rest of the Konoha 12, plus Sasuke who she had returned to them not to long ago. Then she was overwhelmed by hi's and hugs from all of them, struggling to pinpoint who was doing what and when. It was overwhelming her ears and sixth sense, and was even confusing her chakra web.

Naruto noticed Hinata's confusion, and instantly saddened. "Uh, guys…" he mumbled. "Sh-she's blind now" he said quietly.

This shocked everyone into silence.

"What, how can she be blind, she's looking at us now" Kiba said in concern for his old teammate. That's when Neji looked closely at Hinata's eyes. He waved a finger in front of them. They didn't move from their gaze at a flower in a pot on a table in the room, right between Kiba and Shino, obviously where she thought someone was.

"No, he's right, I can see her eyes have changed, they're sealed. How did that happen Hinata?" Neji queried. Of course they hadn't had enough time to get everything explained to them on the way, just an outline that Hinata was kidnapped, not killed, and had been sealed into serving the Raikage for the last year.

"I-I did it so they couldn't get the Byakugan" Hinata said quietly in that soft, silky voice that they hadn't heard for so long.

Neji now had even more respect for his long lost cousin. "You sealed your own Byakugan? That's incredible" he said in awe, thinking of how difficult it would be to have put the caged bird seal on himself, let alone the much stronger one she now carried.

"Will you ever be able to see again?" Shino queried. It was mainly Team 8, 7 and Neji who were talking at the moment since they were closest to the girl, the other six stood back a bit to give them some room and not overpower and congest Hinata's senses.

"I-I'm not sure, b-but I've learnt to see other ways, like I can see where you guys are from your voice and my chakra that I put over the room" she explained. "Don't worry about me guys, I'm just happy to be back in Konoha and see you all again."

They smiled at her, which then turned sad when they clicked that she couldn't see it. With that the other teams converged on her with more welcome backs and condolences, Lee's voice topping it off with a huge "Hinata's youthfulness even overcomes her blindness, she will still be a great ninja!", making everyone sweat drop as usual.

But they all hoped it was true, they hoped Hinata would still be able to be a ninja. Eventually happy teens began filtering out until it was once again just the remains of Team 8, Naruto, and Neji accompanying her.

"Let's get you back home then Hinata" Neji said kindly, helping her out of the bed. She was still fully clothed; she had not been there for long.

The small procession walked out of the hospital and through the village. Kiba, Akamaru and Shino peeled off halfway to go find Kurenai to tell her the good news, leaving just Neji and Naruto walking alongside Hinata. She had a hand on her cousin's shoulder so that he could lead her the right way, but she was fleet and used to it enough so that she wasn't tripping over his feet like anyone else walking so near would have. Naruto wished it was him she was relying on, but he realized his confession had been sudden and unexpected to her; it probably hadn't really sunk in yet. And would she still like him, after all the emotional scarring she had undergone throughout the past year? His heart twinged at this, he really hoped that now she was miraculously back she would return his affections.

He bid them farewell when they reached the gates of the Hyuuga compound. "G-goodbye, Naruto-kun, and, a-arigato, for bringing me home" Hinata said quietly.

Naruto grinned and waved them off, turning around. Halfway down the road he cursed himself, she hadn't even seen his farewell, but when he turned around, they were already gone.

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"Hiashi-sama, I have quite a surprise for you" Neji said as he entered the Hyuuga heads office.

Said man looked up curiously. "Good day Neji, what is this surprise you speak of?" he asked politely, seeing one of Neji's hand's was still outside the door, as if holding someone else's that hadn't yet entered.

An uncharacteristic grin appeared on the prodigies face, and he gently pulled a girl into the room. Hiashi's jaw hit the ground when he saw who it was and heard her stutter nervously "H-hello f- f- father."

It was Hinata.

His long lost eldest daughter, the one he hadn't fully appreciated until she was gone, like so many others. "H-Hinata" he picked up her stutter habit in that moment of complete shock. "H-Hinata" he repeated dumbly, his head incapable of coming up with anything else. "What happened to your eyes?" was the first thing he came up with, too shocked to welcome his daughter, so his mind automatically went to a more comfortable subject to him like clan issues.

"I sealed them" she said simply, though she couldn't hide the sadness in her voice at such a greeting from a father that had thought her dead.

Then he seemed to come around, and rose quickly from his seat. Moving around the mahogany desk, he locked his daughter into a tight embrace, his tears of joy wetting the shoulder of her black chunin vest.

"Hinata, my daughter, I can't believe you're here. When Ibiki came round, I thought he was playing some sick joke as a test for the clan leaders, but I see now that he was speaking the truth. W-welcome home."

Hinata smiled into her father's shoulder and hugged him back, her own tears, that hadn't been seen in a year with Megumi in charge, now joining his.

"Th-thank you father" she whispered.

A small gasp came from the door. "Onee-chan!" her sister cried in surprise, and then the two adults were hit by a bundle of tears as Hanabi joined the family reunion.

Neji smiled, feeling like a third wheel, but still happy as he observed the reunion. Then Hiashi did something completely unexpected, he reached out an arm to Neji, beckoning him to join them.

"You are my brother's son, you are family too" he said as all three of them then pulled a stunned, moronically grinning Neji into the hug.

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When they finally broke, Hinata was led to her old room, still vacant after so long. It had been left exactly the same way, despite the cold hard evidence of her body being found.

She flooded the room with her chakra, feeling a heavy sense of nostalgia as she stood in the doorway, her ninja pack in hand. She slowly walked in and closed the door behind her, 'seeing' her bed, the shapes of the photos on the dresser, her wooden walls that she knew were painted lavender.

"Home sweet home" she whispered as she fell backwards onto her bed, her hair fanning out around her as she looked up at a ceiling she had stared blankly at so many times in her youth, thinking about a certain blonde.

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Now everyone together with me, Naaaaaaaaaaw

The chapter after the next should be interesting…