[A/N]Here comes Chapter 4.

Just as a warning to everyone, this chapter expands on a few points of interest that I'd left blank in the original one-shot. It also becomes a little dark toward the end and… delves into the "body horror" department before it tapers off. Just to make sure everyone's forewarned. This chapter is also the first time Hinata ever takes over storytelling, if only for a short time.

So, once again, if you're going to review, PLEASE make an account so I can properly reply to you. They're free to make, last I checked, so you don't have to pay for anything. ^_^ [A/N]

~~~DEAD CENTER OF THE FOREST OF DEATH, IN A SMALL CLEARING~~~

Naruto stared at the crystal structure for a good five minutes before looking back at Hinata with a shake of his head.

"Naru-kun, what are you thinking about?" she asked, worried.

"I was just trying to think if my ocular techniques might be of any use in this situation… However, seeing that thing as it is now, it's not a smart idea to try anything further. All that can be done is … Hang on a minute…" Naruto looked back at the crystal.

"Hina-chan… Didn't you say that thing is rooted into the ground?" Naruto asked, a thought coming to mind.

"Yes… she has thick roots of chakra inside the ground beneath the structure that keeps it firmly planted in place. Furthermore, the roots are intertwined with each other, so even if you COULD get to on, you'd never be able to figure out which one is going in which direction," Hinata said, "Why? What did you have in mind?"

"What if we could make the roots useless by levitating the entire structure in midair?" Naruto asked. Hinata thought about it.

"That could work… but isn't your control of Doton is horrible at best, right?" she asked, the question shooting like a bullet through Naruto's mind.

"Uh… yeah… I forgot about that… I wouldn't be able to do anything here anyway…" he said, finding himself frustrated once again.

"Don't worry about it…" Hinata said, cuddling closer to him, "Even if she IS mostly, if not completely, healed by the time the jutsu ends, we'll already be back at maximum power. She STILL won't be able to keep up with us, no matter HOW much she heals. We'll be fine; don't worry!" Hinata smiled up at Naruto, who sighed and smiled back.

"I know…" he said, defeated, "I just wanted to end this quickly so we could go on our honeymoon. She stopped the wedding JUST as we were about to cut the cake…"

Hinata smiled.

"Don't worry; I'm sure they found a way to save it. We probably have more than half of that monstrous thing left at the house anyway!" Hinata said, keeping an optimistic tone in her voice, "But I do agree. The faster we can finish this, the sooner we can leave and get some private time. Unfortunately, your last little stunt extended our waiting time by twenty-four hours, so we have a little over a full day to wait before she emerges. It's not safe to leave her here…"

Naruto nodded, settled back into a thoughtful expression and mused, "Well, while we wait… I may as well continue from where we left off. I believe that would have been just before Emo-teme's "Exploding Clone" debacle…"

HAPTER: IDLE THOUGHTS, BURNING SENSATIONS & THE PASSING

OP: "SOUL DYNAMITE" - ACCESS

~ I fully expected Sasuke to try and perform a Honoo Bunshin, but it still surprised me when he tried. After all the trouble I went to in trying to dissuade him, he tried anyway. Still, that day was a shock… and yet, it was EXTREMELY fun. ~

Only two months after Naruto's surprise mini-lecture on Bunshin theory in class, Sasuke did what everyone was afraid he would do: he tried to one-up Naruto by attempting to create a Honoo Bunshin. Naruto had given Sasuke points for daring and for how far he had made the technique go… but had to take them back for Sasuke's disregard for Naruto's warning as well as Sasuke's audacity in attempting it to begin with.

Naruto had been walking through the shopping district alone one day, ignoring mumbles and whispers of "demon brat" and "demon spawn"; he already knew what the civilians were referring to quite well. However, when a powerful explosion rocked the ground from halfway across the village, Naruto knew what had to be done. He knew he was lacking in skill at the time, but that failed to prevent him from taking to the rooftops at speeds of which most academy students were incapable.

By following the steadily rising pillar of smoke and the smell of burned flesh, Naruto was the first to arrive at the scene, which, to his dismay, was the backyard of the Uchiha Compound's main house. He was, therefore, not that surprised to see an extremely charred Sasuke, turned black from soot and covered in burns, lying on his back in the middle of the lawn. Naruto rushed in and tried to help the boy, but was brushed away as the raven-haired preteen struggled to his feet and slowly went through the hand seals for a Katon jutsu.

"KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" Sasuke shouted loudly, yet weakly, as he released a powerful burst of flame from his mouth. He crossed over his chest and began using constant streams of chakra to shape the flames into a more humanoid form. Naruto watched, dumbfounded, as the flames began to shift in position and settled into more human-like features. The likeness of Sasuke's form slowly emerged, followed by the flames slowly changing colors from orange and red to solid blue and black for his clothing. The areas where skin was present slowly changed to a pale peach-like color. Soon, the head set into place, the flames forming into Sasuke's signature hairstyle and facial features. Sasuke smiled as his flame clone's eyes opened slowly, revealing the same near-jet-black irises Sasuke had.

Sasuke's clone moved slowly, as if limping on a broken leg, and soon arrived in front of Naruto with that same, asinine smirk Naruto hated.

"I WIN, DOBE!" The clone said before it began expanding rapidly. Seeing the danger, Naruto tackled Sasuke to the ground, forcing his arms out of his concentrative position as they hit the ground. Just as they hit the dirt some five feet away, the clone reached critical levels and exploded violently, tearing a large hole out of the backyard and sending large tongues of fire lashing out everywhere. Several large cinders landed on Naruto's boots and immediately burst into flames, setting Naruto's feet alight. By the time The ANBU arrived, the fire had died out, but Naruto had managed to keep the flames on his person controlled at his feet.

Given his extreme healing factor, Naruto was able to walk again, albeit gingerly, only a few days after the incident, but was kept in hospital for two weeks for observation. During that time, he was told the fire had burned many of the muscles and tendons in his feet, rendering him unable to run for prolonged periods or jump from high places without severe damage to his legs from the ankle down. Naruto nodded; this was a considerable set-back to his career and dream, but he'd make it work somehow. The current Hokage was a seventy-something-year-old man with aging bones, and yet he was able to fight like the strongest Jonin they had, if not BETTER. If Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man regarded as the "Strongest Shinobi of All Time" was able to fight that well, Naruto would do the same.

A month later, Naruto was present when Sasuke was released from hospital, still looking worse for wear form the incident. Naruto had proceeded to pelt the Uchiha survivor with rocks; he didn't let up until one of them caught the boy on the chin. This had caused him to drop to the ground in pain. Naruto then pounced on Sasuke, carrying out the threat he'd posed if Sasuke ever tried what he had; for roughly two minutes Naruto stayed attached to Sasuke's chest by his knees, pummeling the boy's face relentlessly until Sasuke stopped trying to defend himself and lay limp. Naruto then picked him up and carried him back into the hospital, placing him back in his bed. He stayed only long enough to give Sasuke one more punch to the face, and then promptly hopped out of the open window and walked home.

Barely a week-and-a-half later, while again trying to nap before class, another incident arose. Naruto was forced to break up a small fight between Ino and Sakura, who were arguing over which of them liked -or loved- Sasuke more. Naruto had stepped in and stopped the feud in one feel sweep by giving the two girls what the class had dubbed the "SCARE FACE". The look consisted of Naruto casting a minor genjutsu that showed both girls a demented "Cheshire Cat" grin, but as his mouth curved up to form the grin, the corners of his mouth tore open up to his ears. The skin dried and rapidly fell off, leaving massive scarring along his vanished lips, while simultaneously showing his teeth, which rapidly cracked and turned a glaring shade of mustard yellow. His eyes remained set in a twisted, predatory grin, but his eyebrows were bent downward as if he were giving a glare.

It was a face that, thankfully, Iruka had missed seeing. However, the students constantly reminded each other about it, using it as a threat to keep each other quiet so as not to bother Naruto.

~ It still surprises me to this day that I was able to keep that look from Iruka up until a few years ago. Even more surprising, though, is what Jiji-san actually did following the incident. ~

Now, only a short few months after his warning to Sasuke, Naruto was sitting at the front of the class in Sasuke's old seat. This had happened the week after Naruto had been released from hospital, ordered by the Hokage himself due to Sasuke's stunt. It was for this reason that Naruto sat smiling at the front of the class, while Sasuke, sitting in Naruto's old seat, shot daggers at him all day through constant glares. Naruto didn't care.

Iruka walked in right before the bell. To everyone's surprise, a piece of blue cloth hung from one pocket of his flak jacket. All eyes were suddenly on Iruka; everyone knew what that cloth was, and almost everyone knew who would be receiving it.

~ I knew the hitae-ate wasn't for Sasuke right away. Seeing as no one else was close by when Sasuke attempted the clone, anyone could tell it was meant for ONE person: ME. ~

"Alright, students," Iruka said with a beaming smile, "today we're making a little detour before we start our lesson. Word of one of you has reached Hokage-sama's ears, and he's deemed that specific person ready for a jump-start on their ninja career."

~ I wasn't surprised when Sasuke acted as if he was better. It was his thing, after all; I just expected him to be a little more humble that he was. I guess I was hoping for too much. ~

Sasuke smirked haughtily and stood, then walked down the steps, saying, "FINALLY! Hokage-sama has noticed my efforts! So long, losers; I'll be sure not t miss you when I reach jonin in two years! Oh, that reminds me: I'd suggest trying to catch up to me if I were you, Naru-dobe. You always act like you're better, but the Elite Uchiha won out over you after all!" Naruto shook his head.

Iruka looked at Sasuke and said, "Actually, Sasuke, you're being held back a year due to that explosion stunt you pulled. I'd suggest you sit back down." Sasuke, looked shocked, ran up and grabbed Iruka's collar.

~ I Understand Sasuke had his problems, but to throw the tantrum he did was just embarrassing. Even Itachi would have been embarrassed seeing how Sasuke acted. ~

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HOLDING ME BACK? I'M AN ELITE UCHIHA! I DESERVE TO JUMP AHEAD OF EVERYONE HERE, ESPECIALLY THAT SMART-ASS DOBE SITTING IN MY SEAT!" Sasuke ranted, before a single finger pressed into his stomach. Feeling the wind rush from his lungs, Sasuke slumped to the ground as Iruka walked past him.

"Naruto, take this. By the way, congratulations on your promotion; I look forward to finding out which of our jonin you'll get for a sensei!" Iruka said, smiling as he pulled the hitae-ate from his pocket and handing it to the spiky-headed blonde boy. Naruto smiled and stood to tie the band around his forehead. All the boys started clapping, and soon the girls followed suit.

~ It touched me to hear everyone clapping. However, no amount of mental preparation I'd done for that moment could have prepared me for what followed. ~

However, as soon as he pulled the knot tight, Naruto's smile vanished. His eyes shot open as far as they could physically go, his breathing became erratic, and one eye closed half-way.

"Whoa, what?" he mumbled, steadying himself on the desk. Iruka noticed something was off.

~ It was the most painful thing I'd ever experienced in my life… there's no way to describe it with words. Still, you experienced it yourself, so you know what I'm talking about, right Hina-chan? ~

- I know… once I felt that for myself, it scared me thinking of how you managed to maintain for as long as you did. I couldn't even scratch five seconds; you made it ten. Then again, the worst physical pain I'd ever endured was getting beaten by Hanabi-nee-chan day after day. –

~ It always pissed me off to see how the Hyuuga elders treated you… It's a good thing Tsunade-baa-chan let me challenge them to a death match. It surprised me, but definitely not more than how easily they went down. They claimed to be god-like in power, but they collapsed faster than matchsticks in a fire.

Nevertheless, I digress; where was I? OH! That's right. Iruka sensei stepped in about that time. ~

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Iruka asked, trying to help his student. Seconds later, Naruto hit the ground on his knees, hands curled into claws that held his head as his eyes clenched shut. Screams of pain ripped through the air for a full minute before Naruto's eyes once again shot open. His entire body seemed to go limp as his arms slumped to his side, seconds before he himself slumped onto his side.

Naruto could barely hear a thing as his vision blurred and faded to black; however, two voices managed to break through the mire. Through the pain, Naruto could hear Sasuke calling for a med-nin and Hinata begging him not to leave her.

'What? Never would have guessed that Hinata-san and the teme would be calling out to me…' Naruto thought as he lost consciousness. ~

~ I don't remember anything from there until I woke up, so anything further is blank. ~

- I see… Well, as you're only ever too willing to tell me stories when I ask, maybe I should fill in the blanks for you… seeing as I was there, and all… -

~ I won't stop you if you want to, Hina-chan… I know those aren't exactly pleasant memories for you. ~

- And the ones you been telling me are any more pleasant for you? Don't worry about it, Naru-kun. Sit back and let me tell YOU a little tale… -

- For Naruto, the situation ended there. However, for those around his motionless body, things only continued to escalate.

- It was strange to watch Sasuke jump into action as he did… I thought for sure he'd let you lay there, but apparently he considered you as more than a friend. -

As Iruka struggled to move the young boy, whose body had become stiffer than a corpse, Sasuke stepped in, lifted his rival onto his shoulder and made a run for the hospital. Iruka couldn't understand how Sasuke had managed more strength than he had…

- Iruka-sensei was slow that day… he barely even noticed me leaving the classroom. -

"I must be getting rusty… Too much teaching, not enough missions," Iruka mused silently, idly noting the fading cream coloring of Hinata's coat as the violet-haired girl disappeared through the door as mach speed. He turned to the rest of the class and looked around as each individual student gave him a confused look.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? GET BACK TO YOUR STUDIES! YOU'D BETTER BE MORE THAN AMPLE PREPARRED FOR A SERIES OF POP QUIZZES WHEN I RETURN!" He shouted, prompting each and every student to resume his or her studies in a frantic manner. Iruka smiled sadistically as he rushed out of the room and followed his two rogue students on their path to the hospital.

- As if we were on a mission, the three of us tore through the village until we reached the hospital. It didn't take us that long, given how fast we were running, but it felt like forever. -

Several minutes later, the doctors had admitted Naruto into emergency and had begun performing tests to determine his ailment. However, despite their most valiant efforts, they simply could not discern what was making the young boy the way he was.

It was several hours later as Iruka, Hinata, and Sasuke sat around Naruto's cot in the emergency ward, that the unthinkable happened.

Iruka looked up from his silent prayers for the boy to awaken to notice that Naruto's eyes that shot open and remained opened as far as they could go. Hinata and Sasuke were next to realize the problem and looked up just in time for Naruto to unleash an otherworldly scream of pain as his body burst into flames.

- At first, I couldn't understand what was happening, so there was little I could do but watch as you began to burn. -

"SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION?" Sasuke shouted, reaching for the extinguisher in the corner of the room, "THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST! YOU AREN'T GETTING OUT OF THIS THAT EASILY, DOBE!"

With that, the raven-haired boy began furiously spraying the foamy material all over Naruto's body. However, within five minutes of constant spraying, he'd exhausted the supply of foam in the canister… and Naruto's body was only burning faster than before. Sasuke watched in horror as patches of Naruto's skin began to flake off and float up into the air.

- May Kami bless Iruka-sensei for trying so hard to take charge. I hope we get the invitation to his wedding BEFORE he passes on… It'd be sad for him to end his lineage with himself. -

"SASUKE, GET THE DOCTORS!" Iruka shouted. The boy nodded furiously as he tore from the room.

- I was terrified… I didn't know what to do. I loved you so much; I didn't want to be left without you… Don't get me wrong; I do still love you as I did then, if not much more. However, at the time, I acted on impulse and instinct. -

Iruka tried to figure out what was going on, but soon had to cut his thoughts short when Hinata jumped onto the bed and clamped her arms as best she could around Naruto's chest.

"NARUTO-KUN, DON'T LEAVE ME! TAKE ME WITH YOU!" she shouted, crying hard into the boy's orange shirt… which, as Iruka soon noticed, wasn't burning at all. In fact, as Iruka quickly surveyed the scene, he found that not only were the flames not burning the blonde prodigy's clothes away, but it also wasn't hot at all… in fact, it didn't even seem to be affecting Hinata's body at all.

-In all certainty, the sight of you slowly burning away scared me to death, but for the flames to only burn your body and nothing else was unheard of. I almost began to believe it was some sort of specialized Amaterasu flame. -

Hinata soon realized that something was amiss when she looked up and found that the flames were not only not burning her at all, but they didn't even seem hot. In fact, they seemed to be avoiding her at all costs, intent on only burning the boy under her to cinders.

With an almighty scream of "NO!" Hinata tore her bulky coat off and tried to use it to snuff out the flames coating Naruto's body JUST in time for Sasuke to return with the doctors. The group watched, stunned, as the distraught eleven-year-old girl struggled, albeit to no avail, to put out the fires that threatened to take her crush from the world.

- I was acting less and less on conscious thought by the second; the only thought in my head by the time you had lost your legs was "MAKE IT STOP!" However, I somehow knew deep down that it wasn't going to stop. I still need to find a way to repay Iruka-sensei for tackling me to the floor, though; that left a bruise for weeks! -

Finally finding his strength of will returning, Iruka jumped from his position and tackled Hinata to the floor, struggling in earnest to keep her from breaking free and straddling the burning blonde boy once more.

- The doctors fought as hard as they could to stop the flames, but all they seemed to do was make it worse.

The doctors soon began a furious torrent of water jutsu, all strong enough to douse the mightiest of flames, but also weak enough to further damage Naruto's burning body. Despite this, they were unable to do much more than spur the flames to greater heights; it appeared to be feeding off of their chakra.

Hinata managed to turn in place just in time to see Naruto's feet finish burning away, and fought her hardest to break free of Iruka's grip as she watched Naruto's hands and arms slowly fleck away into the air.

Within a short five minutes of the phenomenon starting, Naruto's arms and legs had burned away, and the flames were slowly making their way up his torso. However, despite their lack of speed, they seemed to be burning hotter, as the rate of decomposition began to increase at a startling speed. Hinata managed to land a low-blow to Iruka's groin and broke free another three minutes later when the flames had reached the base of Naruto's neck.

It didn't surprise anyone that Naruto wasn't even breathing anymore.

The scene that followed was the MOST traumatic thing Sasuke and Iruka had ever seen, and wound up being more disturbing than anything either male would EVER see again. In one final burst of speed, a degree of which no one knew she possessed, Hinata jumped from the floor to the bed and picked up Naruto's head, which was rapidly flaking away from the chin up.

Without any thought or warning, Hinata did the only thing she could think of to do, and the one of a string of a few CHOICE things she'd only ever wanted to do with Naruto…

- It still kind of makes me shiver to think of what I did next… -

SHE KISSED HIM ON THE LIPS AS HIS HEAD BURNED AWAY.

- I think I managed to scar everyone there for the rest of his or her life. I mean, shy girls aren't exactly known for jumping onto a hospital bed, picking up the burning head of the man they love and kissing them like a lover… Again, I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time. I just didn't want to lose you without knowing what it would feel like… -

Sasuke's eyes slammed open; he'd never seen anyone act as Hinata was now. However, what was worse was that, regardless of how disturbing he found the scene before him to be, he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away… even after his gag reflex kicked in and he projectile vomited all over the head of the bed.

Iruka couldn't believe what he was seeing; he'd known about Hinata's feelings for Naruto for over a year, and had been intending to inform him over dinner that night. However, he hadn't known how EXTREME Hinata's feelings were. The only thing he could think to do when Hinata quietly pressed her lips to Naruto's… was to promptly faint.

Hinata was completely oblivious to the reactions her sensei and classmate gave to her actions, and at the time, even if she had seen their reactions, she just could NOT have cared less. However, mere seconds later, she found her hands clasped together as she slumped forward.

Naruto was gone. He'd burned to ashes and vanished in the wind.

Everyone watched as Hinata slowly rose to her knees once more, bent back at the waist and screamed Naruto's name in anguish and despair. For what felt to all present like a hundred years, Hinata sat on the bed, screaming as loud as she could manage.

If anyone would have reprimanded her for her actions and called them a "tantrum", she'd have hauled off and snapped them like twigs. They just didn't understand; the most important person in her small world was gone. There wasn't even a scrap of his chakra left in the room; he was gone completely, as though his very essence had been wiped from the face of the earth. -

Hinata shook gently in Naruto's arms for a moment, trying to calm herself as the gentle sobs that had begun to wrack her body intensified. When Naruto had said that it wasn't her fondest memory, he'd made a GRAVE understatement. The memories of that day, as well as the three that followed, were by far and large that absolute darkest days of her life; from the moment she returned home to the Hyuuga compound, escorted by Iruka, she'd ran straight to her room and locked herself inside. The only time she'd even think to come out was to use the facilities.

She had no appetite. She had no desire for ANYTHING. In fact, her entire family could do little more for those three days than silently walk past her room and sadly shake their heads at the sound of a broken young girl as she wailed her heart out from grief and heartbreak. After the first day, the clan elders had decided to do away with her and had stormed past her father's study. Hiashi would have none of it.

"It still touches my heart to know my father always cared about me…" Hinata said, still shaking through her sobs, "he always acted so cold and unforgiving up until that point… I guess he couldn't help it. I can still remember the months after my mother's passing; he acted exactly the same way I did. He didn't care for anything and only seemed to calm down when he held Hanabi-nee-chan and me in his arms tight enough to strangle us.

"However, that day showed me a side of my father I never knew existed. For all the distance he'd forced between us, I knew he still held a soft spot for me when I walked out to use the bathroom and found the entire group of elders unconscious on the floor in front of my room. My father was standing over them, frozen in a Jyuken stance, his eyes frozen in a furious snarl… and looking right at me.

"I'll admit, it terrified me to see him that way, but as soon as his eyes saw my own, he softened immediately and hugged me. I couldn't do anything… except break down in his arms. For the rest of that day he sat in his study with me in his arms, comforting me as only someone who'd suffered as I had could do. Even as the Elders approached to finish what they'd started, Otou-san gave them devilish glares that sent them running."

Sitting behind Hinata, Naruto wasn't just shocked, he was "shell-shocked". He'd heard how hard Hinata had taken his "passing", but this was the first time she'd actually TOLD him herself how hard it had been for the duration of his awakening. He now resolved to fully make up for the pain he'd caused her; in addition, he resolved to find an appropriate way to repay her father for taking care of her while he was otherwise preoccupied.

He returned from his thoughts when Hinata continued, "You can't begin to imagine the conflict I felt when I felt your chakra return on that last day… I'd watched you burn away, and there was no trace of you, physically or chakra-wise, left, so how was it possible for your chakra to be back in the EXACT place it had vanished?

"I didn't even care how I was dressed that day… I just had to confirm it for myself. I took off out my bedroom window before my father could tell something was wrong, and before he'd even gotten to my room, I was back in your hospital room, standing in the doorway and staring at an empty bed.

- I couldn't understand it; your chakra was on that bed, but the bed itself was empty. That is, until two seconds later when I was about to leave. -

Hinata felt her eyes fill with tears and turned to leave when she felt a spike of chakra in the room behind her. Turning sharply on her heels, she gasped in surprise and shock.

- I didn't know what to make of what I witnessed there… I don't even think any of the doctors knew I was there. -

On the bed before her was a raging storm of red, white, and blue chakra, all spinning in perfect helixes and intermingling with each other. Soon, the mixing chakras settled onto the bed, forming a depression in the sheets.

Hinata collapsed to her knees from shock and watched, dumbfounded, as most of the surging strands of white chakras on the bed began to form the shape of bones, and soon, a full skeletal structure was lying inside the depression.

The blue chakra took over next, allowing most of its strands to shift positions and form the beginnings of blood vessels. In mere moments, Hinata watched the veins and arteries the chakra was forming attach to the skeleton.

Next was the red chakra, which spun in rapid circles for a second before settling over the bones below. In a short few seconds, the chakra had solidified, forming powerful, solid muscles all over the body.

The white chakra jumped into action again, first forming a full set of internal organs that set themselves into the proper places, before using what was left to form a thick layer of skin over the mess below.

Hinata now understood what she was watching.

THE REFORMING SKELETON BELONGED TO NARUTO.

The remaining blue chakra began spiraling around the faceless body, adding simple little touches to finish off the work. Expertly trimmed nails adorned his fingers and toes, and, despite Hinata's embarrassment, a small tuft of hair began growing from his lower region. She averted her gaze long enough to figure out what she was witnessing, and then steeled her nerves. Looking back, she almost died on the spot.

The mostly complete body had risen from the bed, reached for a set of hospital gowns on the bed-side table and put them on over the bare flesh as longer, spiky blonde hair erupted form the back of the body's head. The mouth soon formed, a gentle smile gracing the lips Hinata had kissed only days before.

Next, his nose and eyebrows formed, appearing in place exactly where they'd been before. As his ears slowly formed on the sides of his head, the blue chakra swirled around where his eyes should have been, rapidly forming eyelids that bulged out slightly under the presence of newly formed eyes.

Then, the moment Hinata had been silently waiting for finally arrived…

Naruto, reborn in all his previous glory, opened his eyes and smiled at Hinata. His smile was cut short, however, as she unleashed a sharp shriek of joy and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tight and refusing to let go as she gently nuzzled her face again his.

"W-what?" he stammered, not trying to struggle.

"NARUTO-KUN!" she shouted. She proceeded to hug him tighter and tighter as the seconds passed. Naruto smiled again and wrapped his arms around her, returning her embrace.

It was at that point that the presence of a third party entered the room.

"HINATA-SAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?" Iruka's voice boomed, sounding both depressed and angry at the same time, "Naruto's been gone for three days! Is this where you've been all this time?" It was at this point that Iruka closely examined the scene before him… and noticed Hinata on top of another individual, as well as the absence of her arms, the presence of another's around her, and the addition of a second pair of legs under her own…

Then a flash of bright, blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes entered his vision.

"N-Naruto?" Iruka stammered out as the blonde boy slowly rose from the floor with Hinata in his arms. He smiled when Hinata's joy and anxiety caused her to pass out on the spot; instead of setting her down on the bed, he hoisted her up into his arms bridal style and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Gomen nasai, Iruka-sensei… What'd I miss in school?" Naruto asked innocently.

For the second time that week, Iruka found himself tilting toward the floor in a dead faint. -

"I was so relieved when you came back… I just wish I didn't have to watch EVERYTHING come back in pieces…" she said, gaining a slight blush as her sobs ended in gentle laughter. Naruto smiled a bit and held her tighter.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that ever happening again, Hina-chan… I don't intend to EVER put you through that again," Naruto said, reaching down around her shoulder to kiss her cheek. She smiled at the slight contact ad turned her head to capture his lips in a loving kiss.

~ THAT IS THE END… FOR NOW… ~

Hope you liked it! ^_^ For those wondering, I basically combined the "Full Glasgow Smile" with the classic "Cheshire Cat Grin" and added my own touched for something VERY disturbing. We're talking nightmares for a month if you manage to picture it, so… I implore you not to.