They had not spoken for three days. It was a calculated thing, reasoning different for both parties but with the same end result. They were here, running and leaping into unknown territory in silence. He led, she followed. She was not upset at that.

Sakura did not know what to say, not after what she'd seen. She had seen her friends and comrades fighting to catch up with them, reaching out to take them back. She couldn't allow that, not now that she'd finally given up that life for what her heart told her she wanted. No, what it told her she needed. She had regrets, but everyone did, she told herself. She regretted having to leave so quickly, and being unable to say a true goodbye to all the people she knew she had hurt. But she did not regret going with him. She would not, and could not, regret that. Because in the end, regardless of what happened, regardless of what she became for him... he had said yes.

And he had waited.

She loved him. She loved him with all her heart, and all her soul, and all her body. She loved him with everything she was, everything she could be, and everything she wanted to be. That had not changed, not even when he saw him fighting with that power, or becoming a monster she barely recognized. But something about him, a pang of her heart, always could tell. Even when he had become something else, she loved him. She wondered if she should hate herself for that, for the fact that even as he became something monstrous, she could not help but love him more.

Sakura looked at him, charging off ahead. He did not look back at her, and she took that as a sign that he knew she'd follow. Her mind, or perhaps her heart, would not allow for other options. She pushed herself off another branch, drawing on everything she was to keep up with him. He was so amazing, keeping the pace he was even after that fight.

That horrible fight.

She had watched, hidden away, as her closest friends became monstrous. Sakura had never imagined the power Naruto had locked inside of him, terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. She could not help but ponder it's origins. She knew where Sasuke had gained his, but Naruto was something else entirely. She wondered if she would ever be able to look at him the same way. She doubted it. Part of her wondered how she could have such a double standard, to see Sasuke in only greater light and yet Naruto as... something else. Something she didn't know as well as she'd thought, to say the least.

She watched Naruto fighting with fist, and guts, and tooth, and nail. Fighting for Sasuke, his best friend and strongest bond, and for Sakura, his...

What was she to Naruto? He had been unclear on that subject, even as he fought and argued with Sasuke over the bonds he'd formed. Was she his friend? She supposed that much was sure, but what did he honestly think of her? He chased her, in a way, trying to woo her and win her over. But why did he do that? It was, in a way, flattering, but at the same time so very annoying. She used to think he was out to get in her way, just purposefully getting between her and Sasuke. But she had learned better. She was smart, they'd always told her. Too smart sometimes...

She thought of what he'd said, about how he longed for acknowledgment, about how Sasuke gave him that in a very unique way. They had fed off each other, and in a small way she realized that Naruto was just like she was. They both were frantically searching for approval and acknowledgment, and she had been the girl he'd chosen. Naruto did not understand love, she realized. He did not understand romance, either. He was an outsider, for reasons she still didn't understand, and had never had a chance to learn the proper or improper ways of things. No family, no friends.

He was attention starved, which explained so much about him. But...

She wondered, then, if that feeling people got when they first saw him and how he acted. The inhuman way they looked at him, as thought he was something else. It was the uncanny valley; they saw something unnerving and almost imitative, as though he was desperately trying to be human in the only ways he knew, and yet somehow it still inspired revulsion in their eyes. Was that it? Or was that the wrong way around. Had that caused the revulsion and rejection, or been symptom of it. Had that been caused, and as a result made the entire situation even worse?

A small inkling of truth lurked behind her thoughts, a too brilliant mind piecing together scattered hints like a puzzle with no instructions. She had seen him in a way that very few other people had, and had even less contact. She'd been close to him for so long, and collected so many pieces that a picture was beginning to form. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was.

Sakura brought her mind back to current things, such as making sure she didn't make a fool of her self in front of Sasuke. The last thing she needed was for him to rethink his actions and leave her behind. But...

For some reason, she found that a hollow worry. Something told her that it didn't matter, he would stop for her. Wait for her.

He already had once.

Sasuke's silence was both similar and completely different then that of his companion's. He was deep in thought all the same, and about a strangely similar subject. But he was doing so for an entirely different reason. He was examining himself, trying to understand why he had done what he had. There were so many things...

He'd spared Naruto, even though he had been told that was the way to power. The power that his brother had, a power that had given him the ability to destroy his entire clan, and Sasuke's entire life, in one night. A power to redefine existances, just as Itachi had done with Sasuke. He wanted that power, he couldn't deny. It was mouthwatering to him, as appealing as an seven-course meal to an Akimichi. But he hadn't done it, even when he had the chance.

Itachi had come to mind while he contemplated it, wondering if it was a lie or a trick, or if it actually was the blatant truth. But he was beginning to think he didn't care. He wasn't even sure he wanted to give his brother the satisfaction. That wouldn't be real power, even as much as he craved it. It would be power he'd stolen from Itachi. It wasn't from his hate, not really. But...

She had told him not to. She had shouted, and pleaded. She said he had won, that he didn't need to do anything more. He did not look at her, simply leaping off. Shouting out a simple command of "Let's go." and nothing more. She followed dutifully. She was good at that, at least.

He realized some time later that he was carrying something, and realized that it was his forehead protector, a gash cut through the center. The loser managed to scratch his hitae-ite, he remembered, at the last second. Something about that made him smile. He looked at it with a grin, and then put it back on. He realized it made him look like Itachi, but he had earned that gash. Or maybe... Naruto had earned it.

Sasuke decided he'd wear it, for that. Naruto had earned that much.

But other things came to mind, related to the pink-haired kunoichi who was following behind him. Her footfalls against the branches were light, a testament to her skill at chakra control. He could give her that, at least. She had the potential to be great. But that was unimportant. What was important was that she was behind him. Because he'd let her.

He'd said she could follow him. And he could not for the life of him remember why. It had seemed so good at the time, so logical and right. He had not thought about it, even as he sat there waiting for her, hidden in a tree. He had not thought of anything, really, other then that he was so very put off at how late she was. Just like Kakashi, he had thought. Perhaps not true, but at the time it was what he thought.

Strangely, he realized that he had not once actually thought about leaving without her. He did not know why that was.

He did not look back at her, not once. He knew she was behind him, and that was a strange thing. A trust he found so very strange. Something about how she was always chasing him, always right behind. He trusted that, and he needed no reassurance. But... yet again, he was unsure why.

He told himself that she would be useful, a reason he found to be rather fitting. Itachi had told him that severing all bonds was the way to power, and yet he found himself working with that strangely colored asshole who looked less-than-human. Sasuke was figuring out his own ways to power, and he was suddenly struck by the fact of how very useful Sakura could be. It was as good a reason as any, and he could at least convince himself that it was the real reason he brought her along. He did not like not knowing things, and so he found justification a refreshing change of pace.

Thoughts of her potential began to rise to the surface once more. She could be useful indeed, and so very dedicated. It was a bond that Itachi did not have (or so he thought, as thoughts of romance between the shark and his brother were not particularly good for his sanity.) She loved him, and he could use her. She would get what she wanted from him, and in return, he would have a tool.

This is what he told himself.

He pushed himself deeper into the forest. They were well beyond the Fire Borders now, and his mind had more important things to wonder about than the annoying girl behind him. For example, finding Orochimaru. That was something that suddenly became far more thought intensive since he had lost his escorts. But, something about the dull throb on his shoulder made him think that he didn't need to find Orochimaru at all.

Orochimaru would find him.

Everything hurt, still. But at the very least, it hurt a whole lot less than it did. Now, he felt as though he had only been dipped in acid and set on fire, rather then the consistent feeling of having that actually happening. The difference was might seem minor, but after that torment he was more then happy for the change. He was fairly sure anyone else would agree with him, death sucked.

He was still stuck in bed, wrapped from head to toe in linens that made him look like a blond-headed mummy, or perhaps like that weird thing the one genin from thee Sand Village had been carrying around. Naruto didn't like bandages. They made him feel confined, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was a free spirit, dammit, he hated being tied down! But, at the very least, he was conscious, so that was a step in the right direction. Now he just had to get healed up, and get busy. He has a lot of work to do.

Naruto was also rather happy his world had gone from the hazy white to actual coherent shapes and colors. He began picking out shapes of the room, his brain matching them to what he'd seen before. He was somewhat relieved to find out that he hadn't actually gone to heaven, as if heaven looked like at all the time he was going to get a headache, and it seemed so very boring too. That had only reinforced the fact that he needed to get back to the business of not dying, as the last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of eternity stuck on some hazy white cloud.

And the damn fox would stick out like a sore thumb too. Naruto had gotten used to snubbing, but he didn't really think he could blame it if angels would have been less then thrilled about Naruto's passenger.

Angels. That brough this mind back as well. A silver-outlined form, voice soft, yet full of concern and fear. He could remember her expression, even if he couldn't remember her face, twisted in such a way that made Naruto very confused. He had seen that expression before only once, so very long ago it seemed. Back on that bridge, when Sasuke had been turned into a pin cushion and they all thought he had bought the farm. Sakura had that expression, he remembered. An expression of fear, but not fear for yourself... fear for losing something most precious to you.

He had written it off, in his drug and pain-induced haze, as just the sort of expression he'd expect on an angel watching someone die. That must suck, he felt. But that haze had left him, and with it an illusions about angels or someone actually giving him that look. He was surprised, really. Surprised that he was able to even think about Sasuke at all without his mind drifting to that failure. He'd done that many times, too many for him to count. Which, the bastard might have said, was only as many fingers he had, because he hadn't grasped the concept of toes yet.

Damn, even in his own imagination, Naruto couldn't help but get pissed off at that bastard.

But...

He sighed. He had failed. They had left him. Sasuke was chasing after power, and running right into a den of snakes to do it. And Sakura-chan... she was chasing after him like she always did. Always him, it was always about him. He shouldn't be surprised. In a way, he was pleased. It wasn't him, at least. They weren't running because him, even if they were running away from him. How strange a consolation that was, how twisted...

He shook his head to clear the thoughts, but then found himself returning back to the angel that had visited him that day. Who was she? Was her hair long or short? What was she wearing? His brain hurt as he tried to remember, but was unable to dredge anything out as a result. Only one thing stuck in his mind and, in his still only partially coherent mind, he was unable to make any connections with that thought.

Here eyes were beautiful orbs of silver and a sort of dull, no... soft was a better term, yeah. Soft purple. Like the Lavender flowers he had been growing. They had been beautiful.

The eyes of an angel...

Hinata was hearing something she was very unused to hearing, sparing perhaps her sensai, Kurenai. But she was used to that, and while she was very much more sure of herself now, she still found herself in awe of the words that were coming from the hokage's mouth. The hokage, of all people. This was... so... something. She found herself unable to find a word for it at all. She felt... oh, what was that word. She was so hopeless...

"You did well, Hinata. I'm proud of you." the hokage had said, her arms laying across her desk. She was smiling. Hinata was reminded of Kurenai in that smile.

She mulled over the words for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She had done... well? The hokage herself was proud of her? Something swelled inside of her, causing her to blush. It was, in a way, her first reaction to all such strange things. She realized that she should respond, willing herself to speak so that she did not die of embarrassment.

"T-thank you, hokage-sama." she began, unsure of what else to add. There had to be something more she could say. "I... was just trying to help."

She wasn't at all sure why she had chosen those words. It was the truth, though, and that was something Kurenai had taught her, one of her sensai's many attempts to bring the eldest Hyuuga out of her shell. She told Hinata that, if she didn't know what to say, then to simply say the truth. What Kurenai had not told her was that this was something of a calculated risk on her part, but given how well she knew Hinata, she knew that she was so very nice that the chances of something bad being the truth to her would be one in a hundred, at best. Kurenai was a master of deception, something that extended beyond her skills with genjutsu, and in a way this was simply part of it.

Hinata might not have known it, but Kurenai was teaching her those same skills, abet in a vastly different manner.

The young girl had acted without much second thought. She had heard one of the nurses mutter something outside of Naruto's door. She had been at the hospital to, officially, check up on her cousin, as well as her teammate. Her father had no problem with those, even though she honestly found it strange to be asked at all, or to be back with the main Hyuuga compound at all. She was unsure what had been the reason, but her father had been rather adament that she return to the Hyuuga household after the chuunin exams. She had been reserved, even though she wanted to be overjoyed. Things were... odd between Hinata and her father, still. Frosty, but thawwing. he was acknowledging her in some small way, at least. But she was still as reserved as ever.

After checking up on Neji and Kiba, both of whom was recovering well, she went off to find the one she really and truly wanted to see. Neji had apologized for his behavior, and in many ways seemed like a changed person, which made her happy. But it was someone else who she most truly wanted to see, and who she most truly was worried for. She felt bad about, and knew Kurenai would say she was the only person who could feel bad about such things. But, at the same time, she would smile and say that was made Hinata so special. And Hinata would blush, and Kurenai would laugh.

She smiled at the thought, but that disappeared when she reached her destination. She heard the whispers, despite the attempt to keep it quite. They said there was just something wrong inside of Naruto, that he was not going to make it. That something was eating away. Hinata did not know exactly how she ended up in his room. But the next thing she knew, she was looking over him, watching him twitch and struggle. The tears were unstoppable, watching him like this. She watched him struggle to push himself up, muttering something too low for her to hear. Her heart felt like it was being torn to shreds as she watched him.

"N-Naruto! You're g-going to hurt y-yourself!" she had said, on reflex. Her stutter was more of fear then embarrassment now, fear that she was going to lose Naruto, something that made her feel so very strange. She hated it so very much. Her eyes went wide when he managed to grin and speak, "Don't... cry... angel... I'm not... gonna die... just... yet..."

Naruto's angel...

Her byakugan was activated without a thought, and she saw what the nurses had been speaking off. He glowed, and not just in the ways that Hinata would usually say he did. In her enhanced vision, he could see his body nearly bursting with chakra, as if every part of him was being overloaded with more chakra then she had ever seen before. She watched it for an idle moment, watching the strange twists of blue and red weave through him. It was beautiful...

And it was killing him. No! She wouldn't let that happen! His smile had saved her so many times. It was time for her to return the favor. She moved without any hesitation, eyes scanning his body. And she saw it, then... and she touched him, simply and directly, with a slight tap of two fingers. Slowly she began working, blocking off chakra pores on some unknown path. The chakra radiated out of some points more then other, running through and overflowing. It was amazing, really. She'd always known Naruto was amazing, but this was something else. His body was so full of chakra that it couldn't hold it all, as though he'd released too much and it was simply burning away. She closed off the points, routing it back slowly.

She realized later that had she made one mistake, one slip, she would have more then likely hastened his death, rather then prevented it. She shuddered at that thought, just knowing someone would be mad at her for her behavior. She nearly died when she was called into the hokage's office, realizing that she must have been found out. Tsunade-sama was so fond of Naruto, she knew. Hinata had heard that it had been Naruto who had brought her back, even, and somehow that didn't even suprise her. He was always doing amazing things, even if no one else noticed. Why would that surprise her?

But she was not in trouble. Indeed, the hokage was praising her.

"I know you were, and that is what makes me even more proud." the hokage said, responding to Hinata's earlier explanation. "Naruto might not have... no, likely would not have made it if you hadn't done what you did, Hinata."

Tsunade was angry when she had first heard about what had been done, but as she saw Naruto's status immediately improve she could not bring herself to still be mad, even more so when she actually layed eyes upon the girl. Hinata was not at all what was expected when she had heard the name Hyuuga. The clan was loyal to Konoha to a fault, and powerful. She had no doubt they would do whatever it took to help the village, even if their traditionalist ways and somewhat snobbish nature tended to make them not always at the top of her favorite people list. But they were powerful, old, and most of all loyal. She could fault them many things, but that was not one of them.

Even still, this girl... she didn't even truly realize what she had done. Tsunande recognized her nervousness instantly, and realized she was so very concerned about what she had done. She likely didn't even realize how miraculous it really was. Hell, she likely didn't even understand truly what she had done. By closing off the chakra points in a certain order she had routed the excess chakra that was eating away at Naruto and reduced it to a more manageable level, letting what remained bleed off naturally as he healed. The pores would slowly reopen, but luckily with a staunched flow that would not pose a threat to the boy.

Tsunade smiled. The girl didn't realize what sort of control that took. She was not expecting any sort of recognition or award. She had done just what she said, try to help. The hokage was truly happy she had found this girl, or rather that she had made herself visible. "Hinata, I have one request of you, if you would."

Hinata looked up, still silent. A request? The hokage was giving a her a request? Oh, what could it be...

"I would like you to look after Naruto, if you could. He's gone through a lot, and he's going to need people like you who simply want to help him." she said, and was surprised when she saw her breathe catch. Hinata, on the other hand, was simply... oh, words escaped her again.

"S-stay with Naruto-kun?" she said, suddenly regretting her choice of words as it escaped her mouth. But Tsunade simply smiled, being the perceptive sort, and realized how lucky she had been. Giving how she'd wiped out on gambling recently, it was no surprised she'd get lucky sooner or later in something. Seemed this was her jackpot.

"Yes, Hinata." she said, smile widening as she did. "Naruto is going to need people, and with what you've done for him, I can think of no one better. This is not an official mission, mind you, just my own request. If you're not feeling up to it..."

"I'll do it!" Hinata blurted out, blushing furiously. Tsunade just grinned. This was going to be good for the boy, she thought. And the girl too, likely.

And, at the very least, it would be amusing to watch.