Author Note: Hey guys, I'm back with another installment! To be honest this was supposed to be a bit of an easy going chapter but as I was writing it, it seemed to get more and more intense. So next chapter will be more easy going and explain things that you want answers to. I would also like to say thank you for the reviews, honestly people they keep me motivated and you're inputs help me with my story. Therefore I would like to respond to a few.

UltimateUnknown- I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying my writing and you think it's well developed both in plot and character. I promise that I hadn't been playing Mortal Kombat. As for the bloodlust that Naruto displayed, there is a reason for that. I'm with you, I don't see Naruto that way but I wanted to show a side of Naruto that could come out if he was truly pushed over the edge.

Ppsh- Thanks and I agree, which is why it may be sticking around.

Vanorkt- Don't forget he still had to go after Shinsui but I agree, Yamato was being a dick.

On a final note, I've decided to release the new chapters on Fridays so that everyone will hopefully have time to enjoy the new chapters without having to worry about work or classes.

To the rest of you thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please R&R!

Chapter 5: The Forbidden Seal

"Get a surgery team together!"

"Right away!" a nurse yelled.

"Get a stretcher over here NOW!"

"It's already here, help me with her." said another.

"Clear a room in the O.R!"

"The room is open and prepped!" a third nurse yelled.

"Good, let's move out! Sakura."

Sakura looked up from her daze at her peer, Shizune. "Yes?"

"Are you okay? We could use all the help we can get with this, especially since Lady Tsunade is still in a coma." The strain in Shizune's voice from being overburdened with work was evident.

"Yes I'm fine, I can help." Sakura said.

"Good." Shizune said with a sigh of relief, "Come with me and tell me what you know."

As the two medical nins raced down the hallway Sakura filled Shizune in on what she knew.

"So you're telling me," Shizune said in disbelief, "that Naruto forced chakra into Hinata?"

"Yes." Sakura said with slight concern. "I don't know why he did though. When we arrived she was already unconscious and Naruto was…" She trailed off not wanting to let slip that Naruto transformed again. "The point is when we arrived he was forcing a ball of chakra into her."

Shizune nodded. "Okay, let's see what the analysis team can tell us."

Bursting through the white double doors the two women walked over to the bed where a team of three medical nins were busy working to prepare for surgery. One had hooked up an I.V., heart monitor, and placed a sleeping jutsu on Hinata while the other two were busy inspecting her body and healing superficial wounds.

"Report!" Shizune barked.

"Patient is prepped and ready for surgery." replied the female nurse who had been hooking up the I.V.

"The patient is suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion." said the male nurse.

"That's putting it lightly." replied the female nurse working next to him. "In actuality, she should be dead. She has no chakra left in her coils whatsoever."

Both Shizune and Sakura's mouth opened in shock.

"How is she even still alive then?" asked Sakura in almost a whisper.

"There's…something else." The female nurse said shuffling uncomfortably.

"And that is?" Shizune demanded.

The two nurses working on Hinata glanced at each other and remained quiet.

"Damnit, answer me!"

"I think it's best if you see for yourselves." the nurse who had hooked up the I.V. replied quietly.

Quickly walking over, Sakura and Shizune brought their hands out and over Hinata's chest and stomach. After a few moments of searching they both found what the other nurses were talking about causing Sakura to gasp audibly and Shizune's eyes to widen in shock.

"How can this even be?" Sakura asked. "Her chakra coils have expanded nearly three times the size they were before." But there was more to it than just that. As Sakura looked more closely at the coils she saw that where the addition to the coils had been made it was not the typical blue color. Instead the color was red. "But then again," she thought, "the only chakra inside her at the moment is red. Where is all her chakra?"

"Shizune," Sakura spoke quickly, "is this what I think it is?"

Shizune gulped slightly and nodded. "Yes, it appears so. It looks as if all of Hinata's chakra has been used and has been replaced by this red chakra." She looked up at Sakura. "If my memory serves me correct, isn't the only person in the village with red chakra Naruto?"

Sakura nodded slowly.

Shizune's eyes widened in horror at the thought of Naruto forcing the demon chakra into Hinata, "W-Why would he do such a thing?" she whispered.

"Because I didn't have a choice."

Everyone's head snapped around towards the door to see Naruto standing in blood stained rags and a determined yet grim look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked slightly fearful.

"Explain yourself." Shizune said a little harder than she meant to.

Naruto gave her a hard look shutting her up and crossed the room to the bed quickly and silently. Looking at Hinata's face for a moment he then quickly looked over at Sakura.

"What's her situation?"

Hesitating for a second she spoke. "Hinata's organs are slowly failing her and her chakra has been depleted down to nothing-"

"-I know this already Sakura," Naruto interrupted, "tell me what I don't know."

Stunned, Sakura couldn't believe that he had just spoken to her like that.

Looking her in the eyes, his expression grew softer. "Please Sakura, I want to help."

Nodding she continued, "It appears that through the course of being directly injected with the Kyuubi's chakra, Hinata's chakra coils expanded drastically. There was slight damage to them from the rapid expansion, but nothing too serious." Sakura sighed. "However, as I said before she has no chakra left, at most five percent. The only reason she is alive is because of the demon chakra, but while it's keeping her alive at the same time it's slowly killing her, like some kind of slow acting but very efficient poison. If she had her own chakra, she could combat the demon chakra and neutralize it, but…" Her voice trailed off as the realization sunk into everyone.

The entire time Sakura was talking Naruto had remained silent, taking it all in with his eyes fixed intensely on Hinata.

"..what…" he whispered, "…what can I do?" Tears began to stream down his face as his body began to shudder slightly.

Tears forming in her eyes as well, Sakura turned and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing." she replied, "There's nothing we can do. All that we can do now is make her as comfortable as possible. She only has a few hours left." The tears began to fall freely now, sliding down her cheeks.

The only sound heard in the silent room was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor attached to Hinata. Mocking them with each beep, as beat by beat Hinata slipped away from them. Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words so with a slight and somber nod, the nurses carted Hinata out of the O.R. and to the last room she would ever be in with everyone in tow behind. Everyone, except for Naruto, who stood in the same spot with his hands clenched in fists and tears streaming down his face. Unable to move for fear that if he did then Hinata would be lost forever, as if he stayed right there in that spot then they would remain in that moment and Hinata wouldn't have to die.

Everyone was filing out of the room when Sakura noticed Naruto still hadn't moved. Hesitating at the door, she walked back to him and stopped directly behind him. Unable to find the words she was looking for she simply took the last step and embraced him in a hug from behind, burying her head in his back. She could feel him shuddering lightly as he tried to suppress the sobs and this only made her squeeze him tighter in an embrace and yet he stood there emotionless, head hung, and hair covering his eyes.

"Naruto…" she started but her voice failed her again as she searched for the words that could comfort him. "…I'm sorry." was all she could manage. With that she turned and walked slowly to the door, opened it, and left with Naruto still standing in the same spot.

As soon as he heard the door shut behind him he began to shake violently and the sobs finally escaped his throat. Within seconds the memories of Hinata began flashing through his mind; missions they had been on together, the talks that they had shared, and the way she always seemed to smile whenever he was around her. "And she loves you." Naruto felt as if someone had caught him in the gut with a sucker punch. Sagging to his knees, he stared at his hands as his tears dripped into them. "I wasn't strong enough…I let her down…I made a promise to protect her and I couldn't!" He choked a sob back and gritted his teeth.

Out of nowhere Kyuubi's voice entered his mind. "It's not your fault Naruto, you did your best."

"You shut up, this is your fault!" Naruto screamed.

"Is that how you thank someone who tried to help you?" Kyuubi practically screamed back. Even if he was a demon he still had feelings, and Kyuubi was hurt that Naruto was even blaming him for it.

"You didn't help!" Naruto raged back, "If anything you made it worse! It would have been more humane for her to die peacefully but instead you kept her alive with poison and now she's dying slowly and painfully!" Naruto slammed his fist into the tile cracking it. "Damn you! I don't even know why I listened to you!"

"I was trying to help!" Kyuubi yelled back but it was too late, his anger had gotten the best of him. "But maybe it's best if she dies! That weak bitch was nothing but an anchor dragging you down, dragging everyone down! You humans are so pathetic." He growled.

"Shut up…" Naruto whispered, his voice dripping with contempt. "Shut the fuck up. Leave me alone you evil bastard. I swear I will dedicate the rest of my life to making sure you will never be free again."

"Why should I believe you? You can't keep your promises anyways." Kyuubi knew he went too far and regretted what he said almost as soon as it left his lips. After working so hard to make the relationship between him and his host better he could feel it come crashing down. His legendary anger had gotten the best of him and now he had spoken badly about the two humans he actually cared for.

There was a split second of silence followed by a scream of pure rage erupting from Naruto's throat.

"I said SHUT UP!" as he brought his head down, slamming it against the tile floor and putting an ever bigger crack in it. There was a brief flash of white and black light before his eyes and then he felt the presence of Kyuubi leave his mind. Sitting up slowly he could feel blood running down his face from where he split his forehead open. However the silence that answered his ears was no better than the Kyuubi's taunting and he broke into new tears. Hunched over in both physical and emotional pain he watched his tears and blood drip down onto the white tile floor, mix, and then run through the cracks in the tile like small rivers. The entire world seemed to stop existing as he knelt there watching the pinkish red liquid flow through the tile, but a soft quiet sigh brought him back to reality.

Glancing up quickly, Naruto looked in the direction he heard the sound and was stunned at who he saw. Standing in the corner of the room watching him intently was the old couple he had met earlier on the outskirts of the village.

"Well," the old man said slowly, "he most certainly has his mother's temper."

"Shut the hell up, who even asked for your opinion?" Naruto shouted back. "Who are you and what are you even doing here?" He was beyond the point of formalities and didn't really care if he was being rude.

However the old couple remained quiet and continued to stare at him, seconds felt like minutes as the stare down went on until finally the old woman began to move. Slowly, the old woman shuffled towards him hunched over in age without saying a word and without taking her eyes off of him. Finally, she stood right in front of him but she still wouldn't speak. She only stared intently at him.

Looking up Naruto growled, "What…what are you looking at? What do you want?"

Meeting her eyes he was surprised at what he saw. Staring into her deep brown eyes he could see the concern, care, pity, and sympathy. Although she looked extremely old her hair was still a bright fiery red color and it seemed give her a life energy that was comforting. Before he could say anything though she reached out and wrapped him in a hug holding him close. Stunned by the act of compassion and warmed by the care and love that this stranger was showing him caused Naruto to lose all control of his emotions, breaking down completely.

"Just let it all out sweetie, its okay to cry sometimes." she said softly.

Sobbing into the strange woman's chest, he tried to explain himself. "I-I don't know what else I could have done…I pushed myself beyond my limits…I did things…" he shuddered hard at the memories of what he had done to Yama only a half hour ago.

"It's okay Naruto," the old woman cooed softly to him, "you did what you had to do to protect that girl you care so much about."

Naruto shuddered hard as sobs rocked his body at the thought of Hinata. "B-But it wasn't enough…I f-failed her…I c-couldn't keep my promise." He was now clutching onto the old woman for dear life, not wanting the comfort to end. He felt like a child but he didn't care, for the first time in his life he was truly being comforted and ironically it was by someone he didn't even know.

"My dear boy," the woman said in a hushed and comforting tone, "sometimes things happen that are completely out of our hands." For a split second Naruto caught a hint of pain on her voice and soft cough from the old man in the corner seemed to confirm it. "But," she continued, "all we can do is make the best of it."

Looking down she smiled softly, her eyes crinkling in mile long crow's feet and her smile lines matched them causing Naruto to instantly feel better. But the images of Hinata stuck in his head wouldn't allow him to completely calm down and Sakura's voice echoed in his ears.

"She's only got a few hours left."

Sniffing loudly he pulled away from the woman. "I j-just wish there was something I could do. I wish I could save her." The pain in his heart was unbearable and he felt absolutely defeated.

Still smiling, the old woman replied softly. "You can."

Naruto gasped as his whole world came to a screeching halt.

"W-What did you just say?" he asked shakily, unsure if he should believe what he thought he just heard but hoping he could.

"I said you can save her. There is still one more thing that can be tried." she said with a soft chuckle.

"Don't lie to me!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up to his feet in an instant and searched her eyes for any deceit. "Are you telling me there is still a chance Hinata can be saved?"

Standing up slowly she smiled at him as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a scroll.

"I'm not lying dear boy." she said as she handed it over to him.

Taking the scroll from her, he opened it quickly but cautiously and examined its contents. His eyes widened in shock and dismay as he realized the complexity of what he was looking at. The complexity of the seal in front of him was unheard of. A twelve pointed seal, requiring two hundred hand signs.

"It is important you get this right the first time," The old woman said, her demeanor going suddenly serious. "Because 'a' it requires a vast amount of chakra and 'b' failure can have deadly consequences."

"There's- there's no way I can do this. Not on my first try." he said to himself as he felt his heart drop.

"Of course you can," the old woman said with a smile as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "We believe in you."

Instantly Naruto had a flashback of his talk with his dad, the Fourth Hokage.

"I know you'll find the answer, I believe in you."

His voice failing him, all Naruto could do was stare at the old woman dumbstruck.

"Besides," the old man said as he began walking over to them, "you are an Uzumaki after all." He cracked a smile that reminded Naruto of a desert floor that had been in a drought for the last hundred years. It was contagious and Naruto couldn't help but smile too as a rush of determination filled him.

"I can do this!" he told himself. "I can still save her; I can still keep my promise!" Naruto gritted his teeth as he thought of what he must do. By the time he came back to his senses the old couple were already leaving through the doors.

"Wait!" he cried, stopping them in their tracks.

"What is it dear boy?" asked the old woman, turning her head to look back at him.

"Why are you helping me? I don't even know your names. Who are you?"

"Heh." The old man laughed to himself. "Looks like he already forgot our names." After a moment he continued. "My name is Jihibiki and this is my wife Renge. We are helping you because we can and you deserve it."

"I'm grateful, I really am." Naruto said. "But, who are you really?"

Jihibiki looked at Renge for a moment before answering. "Who we are is not important at the moment. You have a job to do that requires all of your attention. In time the answer to your question will be revealed."

With that the elderly couple turned and left the room, leaving Naruto standing there confused and in awe. A few seconds later he shook his head and got serious. Without wasting any time he quickly summoned two shadow clones.

"You know what we need to do." the original said looking at the two clones.

"Right!" they yelled in unison nodding.

"Good, let's get to it we're wasting time!"

With that the two clones burst through the doors, down the hallway, and out towards his apartment. Naruto, however, turned on his heels, walked over to the wall, and smashed the emergency call button. Within seconds the same team of three nurses burst through the door looking around frantically.

Seeing Naruto they rushed over to him.

"What is the matter Naruto-sama?" the woman asked.

"I need you guys to patch me up, and I need it done as fast as possible." He replied, looking at each one of them with a hard determined look on his face.

Ten minutes later they were finished and his clones had arrived back at the room. The nurses began to protest saying that he needed to rest but one hard look caused them to shakily say to do what he wanted and they quickly left him and his clones. Going to an unoccupied room he quickly changed into the spare clothes that his clones retrieved for him and washed up. Then, jumping from the window he ran to an abandoned area not too far from the hospital with plenty of space.

"Looks like this is as good of a spot as ever." he said to himself looking around. Bringing his fingers together in a cross shape he took a deep breath and focused. "Tajū Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Instantly the entire area was covered in smoke and when it finally cleared two hundred Narutos stood in the once empty space. "If this seal requires two hundred hand signs, I'm gonna need to learn them all, and fast."

"Okay, let's get to it! We've got one hour to memorize all the hand signs! Hinata is counting on us!"

"Yeah!" they all cheered and simultaneously all sat down crossed legged and pulled out scrolls.

A half hour later after intense practice Naruto himself had half the hand signs memorized. Dispelling the rest he was instantly flooded with the data of two hundred other clones. Smiling, he spent the next minute flashing through all two hundred hand signs. Not satisfied though, he focused even more chakra and summoned three hundred clones this time.

"Okay!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "One hundred of you over there!" he said as he pointed to his left. "You're going to continue to work on the hand signs!"

"Right!" one hundred Narutos yelled in unison as they stampeded in that direction.

"The rest of you!" the original continued, "Are going to begin working on the kanji! And make sure you do it perfectly!"

"You got it!" the other two hundred yelled as they pulled from their backpacks a two by two meter piece of paper and a calligraphy pen.

For another forty-five minutes later, Naruto wanted to take a little more time just to be sure, he dispelled all the clones at once and had to sit down on some rubble to keep himself from passing out. The vast amount of memories flooding into him was making him dizzy.

"Note to self," he muttered, "don't dispel three hundred clones at the same time again."

After taking a minute to gather himself and make sure he had everything he need, Naruto headed back to the hospital at a dead sprint.

"Hang in there Hinata." Naruto pleaded through gritted teeth. "I'm coming!"

Hinata's time was short; she knew it as well as everyone else in the room. Her teammates, sister Hanabi, Neji and his team, Sakura and Sai, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, and even her pregnant sensei Kurenai Yūhi were all there to be with her in her final moments. The only people missing were her father and Naruto. Her father had been away on a diplomatic mission but had received word and was reported to be on his way back to the village. There was even a rumor that when he was met with protest he responded with, 'I don't give a damn about this situation, it's my daughter!' This had caused all the Hyuugas in the room along with Kurenai to smile and laugh a little. Hiashi could be hard and stern but deep down he loved his daughters and over the past few days he was beginning to show that more. The attack on the village seemed to wake him up. Naruto, however, was nowhere to be found which caused everyone to worry. It wasn't like him to be missing when one of the people he cared about was in need; he dedicated his life to them.

Everyone's attention was on Hinata though and her attention was on her sister Hanabi, who at the moment was curled up on the bed with Hinata crying into her chest softly.

"It's okay Hanabi," Hinata cooed softly, "you don't need to cry." She stroked Hanabi's head gently, brushing her hair out of her face with her frail hand.

Hanabi only buried her face deeper into her sister's chest. "I don't want you to leave me." she whimpered. "You're my sister and the closest thing I ever had to a mother! I'll be all alone!"

"Now don't say that Hanabi." she said with a slight smile on her face. "You have Neji here to take care and look after you and you have Father as well. You're not alone."

Hanabi could only sniff as an answer but it seemed to calm her down a little. Looking up at Neji, Hinata spoke.

"Nii-san, please promise me you will look after Hanabi." The plea in her voice for the well being of her sister was overwhelming.

"Of course I will Hinata-sama. You have my word I will watch over and protect her." Neji said with a strain in his voice.

"No, Neji," Hinata said as she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, "I'm not asking you as Branch Member to do this last duty." Opening her eyes she looked at him with love and compassion, "I'm asking you as my brother to watch over our little sister here."

Bowing his head to hide his tears, Neji spoke with waver. "I swear to you, Hinata, that I will protect our little sister."

Tenten had lost control and had begun to sob into Lee's shoulder and Akamaru had begun to whine softly. Reaching out her hand she petted the top of Akamaru's head and smiled weakly at him.

"There, there, Akamaru. Everything will be okay." She winced as a shot of fiery hot pain passed through her. They had been happening more and more frequently over the course of the last hour. Akamaru whined again to show he didn't believe her but she just smiled again and continued to stroke his head.

"She's being so strong." Sakura thought to herself as she took the scene in. "Even in her last hour she is doing everything she can to comfort others."

"Hinata…"

Hinata looked over at her. "Yes, Sakura?"

"I-" her voiced wavered for a second before she forced herself to speak. "I just wanted to say that I always thought I was the strongest kunoichi out of our group." Instantly she received dirty looks from both Ino and Tenten causing Shikamaru to smirk to himself. She ignored them and continued. "But…I realized now that I was wrong. You are the strongest kunoichi of our group Hinata."

Hinata blushed lightly. "Don't say things that aren't true Sakura. I'm not nearly as strong as you are." She lowered her head slightly in defeat. "If I was stronger, I wouldn't be in this situation now."

"I am speaking the truth." Sakura said quietly looking down.

Hinata looked up in surprise. "How can you say that?"

"It's simple really." Sakura replied looking back up at her. "In the past week you've gone toe to toe with some of the most dangerous ninja that walk this earth. When Naruto was in trouble none of us came to him like we should have…" everyone in the room felt a wave of guilt wash over them, "…but you did. You risked your life for him, and even now the way you are instead of feel sorry for yourself, you're the one comforting us. "

A faint blush and a small smile crossed Hinata's face as she looked at Sakura. "Thank you Sakura. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Sakura smiled back at her but was unable to suppress the tears as they formed in her eyes. The entire room was quiet for a few moments before Hinata spoke again.

"Please. All of you promise me one thing."

Everyone shared glances with each other before looking at her.

"What is it Hinata?" Kurenai asked.

"Please promise me that no matter what happens you will look out, protect, and always be there for each other." Her voice began to shake with emotion but she remained strong in the presence of her friends.

"You got it Hinata." Ino said with a sad smile.

"Yeah don't worry about it Hinata." Kiba said and Akamaru yipped in agreement.

"I promise." Shino said evenly, but behind his glasses tears were falling down his cheeks.

"Don't worry Hinata, you can count on us!" Lee said flashing his smile and giving her a thumbs up as the rest of them nodded.

Hinata smiled for a moment but it instantly melted away as it reminded her of the one person she wished to see the most.

"Naruto…"

The room fell silent again as everyone glanced at each other and shifted somewhat uncomfortably.

"I'm here Hinata."

Everyone turned around quickly to see Naruto standing in the door way. He hesitated for a moment and then walked into the room and stood at the foot of her bed. Taking a deep breath he looked at everyone in the room.

"Can you please give us the room for a few minutes?"

This caught everyone off guard. No one wanted to leave Hinata alone but Naruto's request trumped what they wanted. He had earned enough respect for this kind of request so they began to file out of the room. Neji went over to Hinata and after a hesitant moment, bent down and hugged her. After that he helped Hanabi out of the bed but just as they were about to leave Naruto put his hand on Neji's shoulder stopping him. Neji gave Naruto a perplexed look but Naruto simply held a finger to his lips.

After that he walked back over to Hinata and sat down on the bed next to her. Staring at her for a moment he took her hand in his causing her to blush and look down.

"Hinata... Do you remember what you said to me when I met you at the training grounds on my way to the chūnin exam three years ago?"

Hinata smiled as she thought about what she had said to him. Of course she remembered. There was no way she would ever forget a single moment spent with Naruto.

"Of course Naruto, I said that I thought that you were one of the strongest people I knew."

"I'm so sorry for all of this." he whispered painfully. "It's all my fault-"

"-No it's not!" Hinata burst out suddenly. Naruto's eyes widened in shock from her sudden outburst, but she refused to let him blame himself for what happened. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to see my family and everyone else again! If it wasn't for you…" she choked on a sob as tears began to flow freely down her cheeks, "…I wouldn't have been able to see you one last time!" Using all of her strength she flung her arms around Naruto's neck and buried her head in his chest. Naruto was rigid for a moment but he quickly drew his arms around her. "You were my strength, my foundation, my reason for getting up every day and training as hard as I did. I know you don't feel the same way I do and that you possibly never would have but I could live with that. I could wait because to me you were worth it!"

Her emotions got the best of her and her voice finally failed her. The idea that this was the last time she would ever see Naruto was too much for her to handle. She cried hard for several minutes but eventually she found her voice again.

"I wish I could have been more confident, braver to tell you how I really felt." She said between sniffles. "There are so many things left that I wanted to tell you, but I'm out of time."

"Not if I can help it." Naruto whispered gently in her ear, his voice was confident and determined but still shook slightly with emotion.

"What are you talking about?" Hinata asked looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Hinata I…"

Naruto found himself lost in her eyes. They were still blood red but it didn't matter. The feeling came back again as he peered into her eyes and saw the love that she held for him. It made him feel good, like he could take on the world, but he didn't have the time to think about those kinds of things. Dragging himself back to reality he found his voice.

"…I'm sorry." he whispered as pulled out a sleeping seal and placed it on her forehead.

Instantly Hinata's body went slack and he laid her back gently in the bed. His sudden and random action caused Hanabi to cry out in dismay.

"Naruto!" Neji cried in outrage. "What is the meaning of this?"

Naruto ignored him and walked over to the door, pulled out two different sealing tags, and attached one from the door to the doorframe and the other to the center of the door; one to prevent sound from escaping and the other to keep people from coming in. After that he returned to Hinata's side.

"I can save Hinata." Naruto said to both of them without taking his eyes off of Hinata.

"You can?" Hanabi cried out hopefully.

"How?" Neji asked warily.

Naruto smiled as he pulled out the scroll he had received earlier and tossed it to Neji who caught it and opened it quickly. He gasped when he saw the contents inside.

"This is…impossible. Where did you find this?"

"That's not important right now, what is important is that we work together." Naruto said as he pulled out three candles and a calligraphy pen from his hip pouch. "Hanabi, how neat is your kanji?"

"It's flawless." She answered somewhat confused but proud nonetheless.

"Let's hope so for your sister's sake." Naruto replied grimly. Walking over to the two Hyuugas, Naruto took the scroll back from Neji and handed it to Hanabi along with the pen. "Inside that scroll is a diagram of the kanji needed to be written on the body, follow it down to every last stroke. We've only got one shot at this." Hanabi nodded and began to head towards her sister. "Hanabi." She stopped and looked back, her nerves betraying her face. "If you're anything like your sister, you'll do great. I believe in you." He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

Hanabi visibly relaxed and nodded with a smile. Then her face changed to one of determination as she turned back to her sister and began to prepare everything. Naruto then turned to Neji.

"Here," he said as he handed him the three candles. "Take these and form a perfect triangle two meters apart on every side."

Nodding, Neji took the candles and activated his Byakugan. Within seconds he had the candles arranged in a perfect triangle and activated with a bit of chakra so the seal on the bottom of each candle would keep it in place no matter what.

"It is done." he said, looking over at Naruto.

At the same time Hanabi had just finished reading through the instructions on the scroll and was drawing the curtain closed around Hinata's bed so she could strip her sister down and begin writing the kanji on her body.

"Good." Naruto said. Pulling out a purple velvet bag, he handed it to Neji. "Now pour this in a perfect line connecting each candle."

Neji nodded and took the bag but his eyes widened when he saw the contents. "How? How did you get this?"

Inside the bag was refined black salt, the rarest and most expensive form of salt available in the shinobi world; it was used for forbidden summoning and seals.

Naruto grinned and put his hand behind his hand. "Well let's just say the ANBU is going to be a little short on salt for awhile."

Neji stared at him in disbelief. "You stole this from the ANBU? How did you even know where it was being kept?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "Kakashi sensei took me on a tour of the headquarters once when I was younger. I told him that I was thinking about trying to join eventually, to help my record with becoming Hokage, ya know? Anyways, during the tour we walked past a door that was open with a bunch of weapons and ingredients inside and he mentioned that all the forbidden ninja tools that the village had were kept there in that safe. Since this seal is a forbidden one, I figured that would be a good place to look for the ingredients needed."

Neji was dumbstruck, he was looking at a ninja who managed to break into the ANBU headquarters, steal something, and actually get out undetected. "How did you manage that? That should have been impossible!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "It's amazing what a few smoke bombs and the sexy harem jutsu can accomplish."

Neji sighed and face palmed, every bit of respect that he had for Naruto before seemed to just slip away with his last comment. "Let's just get this done, we're wasting time."

"I agree." Naruto said. "Hurry up and get that salt down."

Undoing the bag, Neji quickly activated his Byakugan again, making sure to ignore his naked cousin directly behind him, and poured out the salt in a perfect, thin, even line connecting the candles together.

"Okay here we go," Naruto said when Neji was done, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Two clones exploded into existence next to Naruto. Each taking a side of the triangle, they got down on their knees and bit their thumbs. Quickly they began to write the kanji symbols in blood down the sides of the triangle on both sides of the lines. When they reached a candle, the symbols would bubble around the candle on both sides. The finished product looked like a triangle but instead of points it had bulbed ends. Dispelling the clones, Naruto spent a few minutes checking over his work. Satisfied at with what he saw he sighed.

"Okay, time for the really hard part."

Stepping gingerly into the triangle, he got down and began to write more symbols in blood and began to spiral it out towards the edges. This took Naruto twenty minutes to do even though he had trained intensively for it. The fact that the seal required a vast amount of symbols was just very time consuming. Neji watched with his Byakugan activated to make sure Naruto's writing remained even and suggested twice that he rewrite a symbol. When Naruto was done and they were both satisfied with the end product they went over to the curtain separating them from the girls.

"Hanabi, are you ready?" Neji asked.

"Yes Neji, I believe that everything is prepared correctly." she answered.

"Good." Naruto said grimly. "It's time to do this."

Hanabi drew back the curtain revealing a naked Hinata, thankfully Hanabi had been courteous enough to pin cloth around her privates so nothing was to revealing when she finished the kanji on her body. Walking up to her, Naruto scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the seal on the floor. Setting her down carefully inside, Naruto then aligned her body so that the center of the seal on Hinata's stomach matched perfectly with the seal on the floor. When he was finished it looked as if the seal on Hinata's stomach spiraled out from her body and onto the floor to the edges of the triangle.

"Okay," Naruto said when he was satisfied, "I need you two to stand back. We don't want any interference, or distractions. This is going to take a lot of concentration."

Nodding, the two Hyuugas walked across the room to the other side. Lighting the candles, Naruto stepped into the triangle, knelt down next to Hinata, and removed the seal from her forehead. After that he gentle called her name and waited for her to wake up.

"Hinata." he called softly.

Her blood red eyes fluttered open and looked around the room in fear and confusion but before she could do anything he quickly clamped a hand down on her mouth and spoke gently.

"Hinata, I cannot stress how important it is for you to not move. Please, whatever you do, do not move a single muscle. Do you understand?"

Naruto removed his hand from Hinata's mouth and after a moment of hesitation she responded. "Yes, but what is going on?" she had relaxed but she was still confused. "Why am I on the floor, where is everyone, and why am I naked?" She instantly felt blood rush to her face in pure embarrassment. "What does it matter?" she thought sadly to herself, "I'm going to die anyways." Tears formed in her eyes.

"We're not alone." Naruto said with a caring smile, "Neji and Hanabi are here as well."

Without looking she called out. "Hanabi, are you there?"

"Yes sister!" Hanabi answered immediately. "We're here for you."

Hinata smiled to herself and then looked at Naruto. "That still doesn't answer why I'm like this. Explain yourself."

Naruto took a deep breath and stared into her eyes with worried ones. "Hinata," he began, "do you still trust me?"

She didn't even need to think about the question. "Of course I do Naruto-kun, I always will."

Naruto visibly relaxed and let out the breath he was holding in.

"But," she continued, "you still have yet to answer my other question." "This wouldn't be so bad if we were alone and he was naked too." She thought. "If I'm about to die I might as well enjoy myself." It was crude, provocative, and unlike her but she didn't care.

Naruto let a small smile escape his lips. "It can't be helped. You have to be like this if this is going to work."

"If what's going to work?" Hinata asked afraid of what he might say.

"I found a way to save you Hinata."

Hinata felt her heart skip a beat as hope rose up in her chest.

"However," Naruto continued, "it's a complicated seal that requires a lot of chakra and has no room for errors. On top of that it's my first time actually performing the seal."

Hinata felt her heart sink. "Oh." was the only word that escaped her lips. "There's no way that it will work then. I'm going to die, but at least Naruto never stopped trying to help." She smiled at him weakly. "It's okay if you fail Naruto; I don't want you to blame yourself for my death. You've given me so much to look forward to in life, so thank you for always believing in me and never giving up. As long as you do your best know that's all that matters to me, even if I die."

"I won't blame myself." Naruto said slowly, "Because I'm not going to let you die. I made a promise to myself that I would never let anything happen to you, and I'm not about to go back on my word now. That's my ninja way." He flashed his smile at her and then wiped her tears away. "And stop crying, you're going to wash away the seal. I promise, everything will be fine."

"Thank you Naruto…for everything."

"Don't mention it." Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles. "Now, let's get to it and remember, don't move."

Hinata nodded once ever so slightly causing them both to grin because of her rebellion to his command. Even in the face of death she still managed to flirt a little with him.

Taking a very deep breath, Naruto prepared for the long set of hand signs that was about to come. "It's now or never." he thought, "I have to get this right!"

"Please let this work!" Hinata prayed. "There are so many things I still want to say to you Naruto."

Exhaling Naruto began the hand signs, saying each one as he formed it, the quiet causing the words to become an eerie chant. When he reached fifty hand signs the candles' flames began to grow taller and brighter while the surrounding light began to dim. By the time he reached one hundred signs the flames were as tall as him and were the only light source in the room. When he only had fifty hand signs left the black salt began to glow a deep violet red.

Coming into the last stretch of hand signs Naruto could feel the room buzzing with chakra.

"Ram, rat, monkey, rat, bird, hare, dog, ram!"

Finishing the last hand sign, he quickly brought it down on top of the seal on Hinata's stomach.

"Sealing Jutsu: Twelve Pointed Guardian Seal!"

For a split second nothing happened and Naruto began to think that he had failed. However, the next second the kanji on Hinata's stomach began to swirl around tighter and tighter until they formed a small black hole the size of a rice ball opening into nothing. His hand still placed on her stomach, Naruto began to feel and visibly see his chakra being drained from his body and into Hinata's. He knew this was how the seal worked; in exchange for the power of the seal he was required to forfeit his chakra.

First, the kanji on the outside of the triangle bulged out until it formed a perfect circle. Next, the kanji just opposite of the outside did the same thing, although not as big so that the triangle points stuck out of the edges of it. Then, the kanji that spiraled underneath Hinata's body began to swirl up from the floor, onto her body, and then into the hole in her stomach.

Suddenly Hinata's back arched and she screamed out in pain. "Make it stop! It hurts so bad!" She had never felt this kind of pain before in her life. It felt as if liquid magma was running through her veins, burning her from the inside out. "Please! MAKE IT STOP!" Tears of pain began to flow from her eyes but Naruto just ignored her. "This is unbearable; I'd rather die than go through this!" Slowly, the light began to fade as she found her consciousness slipping away from the extreme pain.

"Hinata!"

Naruto's voice brought her back from the darkness that was closing in around her.

"I know this hurts, I know the pain is unbearable, but you have to stay awake for this! If you don't, we'll both die!"

The sudden realization that Naruto's life was on the line as well as hers was the shock Hinata needed to focus. Screaming again in pain and frustration she refused to give in to the darkness. "Naruto's life depends on me, I refuse to roll over and die! I refuse to let him down! For Naruto I can do anything!" Her body rocked in more pain as the fiery pain was then joined by sharp pains riddling her torso. "I can do this!" she thought through gritted teeth.

Naruto had other concerns on his mind, however. The kanji symbols were only a third of the way inside of Hinata and he could feel that he was already at fifty percent chakra depletion. "This isn't good. I'm not going to have enough chakra!" Gritting his teeth, he focused on his chakra and watched as the kanji continued to swirl inside Hinata. "Come on, just keep moving. Just focus. I can do this!" Another third of the kanji had entered Hinata leaving just a little left, but Naruto was reaching dangerous levels. Sweating profusely, he tried with all his might to focus the last of his chakra on the seal, but to his horror he watched as the symbols creeped to an agonizing stop and then, after a few strained seconds, began to creep backwards. "No!" Naruto screamed in his head. "No! No! No! Damnit, Come On!" His nose began to bleed and his eyes were watering uncontrollably from the extreme heat being thrown off of the seal but the symbols stopped again and began to flow back into Hinata. Naruto, however, knew he was at his limit. Looking down at Hinata's pain ridden face he spoke.

"Hinata, I'm sorry. I thought I could do this but I was wrong."

Hinata opened her eyes with tears in them. "It's okay Naruto, you did your best and that's all that matters to me."

Tears were now in Naruto's eyes as well. "Just promise me that you'll live your life to the fullest and that you'll never change who you are. You are truly an amazing person."

Hinata's eyes widened in terror as she realized what Naruto was about to do. "No! Naruto please don't! I'm not worth it! Ple-"

"-Thank you." He interrupted her.

"For what?" she cried back.

"For believing in me...For never losing faith in me…For …everything." With a final scream he felt fiery hot energy shoot through his body, down his arm, and into Hinata. The last bit of kanji quickly swirled into Hinata and the hole snapped shut, where the hole had once been was quickly replaced with a swirling seal that slowly faded away. In an instant all the light returned to the room and the candles blown out.

Falling on all fours over Hinata, the world around Naruto slowed down until it stopped. His body was completely numb and his vision was blurring. With one last breath he looked into Hinata's eyes and watched them turn from the blood red color back to her soft lavender ones.

"It worked." With that, Naruto smiled weakly and exhaled his last breath, succumbing to the darkness and Hinata could only scream one word.

"NARUTOOOOO!"