The next morning, the sun was shining and the weather was glorious, not a cloud in the sky. When Naruto woke up he felt AMAZING. He had no creepy weird dreams, his stomach no long felt like hurling the smallest thing he ate, and he no longer felt weak and feeble. Quite the contrary, he felt like his whole body was bursting with energy.
"Pfff, no ramen or exercise, yeah right. All I needed was a good night's sleep." Naruto said as he stretched like he normally did in the morning, only he found that his muscles were not sore or stiff at all, he felt very limber.
It was then that he remembered. 'Hinata is coming over later.'
He had to get ready.
"Okay, I need a shower, cause I haven't had one in two days. I need to get dressed and-" His stomach grumbled. "I need to eat."
After downing a quick bowl of dry cereal, dry because the milk in his fridge smelled like it had gone bad and he still remembered what happened the last time he had milk less than fresh, Naruto got into his shower.
The hot water felt great on him, he could actually feel all of the muck, grime, and grossness of his sickness just being rinsed off of him.
It felt good, really good; nice warm-
Ice cold water, they were dunking him down in the freezing tub again. He raged and swore at the grinning scientists who scribbled notes on their pads. The water, with chunks of ice floating on top of it, enveloped him. It was so cold, so dark…
'POP'
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the loud audible popping sound. He looked down at his hand, and saw that he had been squeezing the shampoo bottle so hard it had actually burst open, with the cap now lying on the floor and soap dripping down his hand.
He quickly cleaned that up and turned off the shower. Stepping out into the steam-filled room, he wrapped a towel around his waist and took a deep breath.
"Kami, I gotta stop zoning out like that, it can't be good for me." He said as he walked over to the mirror and wiped the steam of it so he could look at his face. Naruto stared at his reflection for a moment, half-expecting for it to suddenly change like it did the other night. It didn't, and a few good blinks and pinches to make sure he was not dreaming again, he was satisfied and started to brush his teeth.
But he then heard something, someone was at his door.
Hinata had walking on a cloud to Naruto's apartment, certain this was going to be perhaps the happiest day of her life.
She had gotten herself all prepared and set in the mood. Not even the disapproving glare from her father at her wearing of a purple and white summer dress and sandals could spoil the glee that filled her.
'You have to keep it calm and cool.' She remind herself. 'If you come on too strong, it will make you seem like some sort of freak. You are closer now to your goal then you have been in eight years, so don't blow it. You can't allow yourself to become overexcited and-'
The door opened and Naruto stood there, half-naked with his torso showing, and only a towel hiding everything else. There was a little light toothpaste dribble coming out the left side of his lips that he was unaware of.
Hinata nearly collapsed right then and there, and if she had, a blissful smile would have been on her face. But she kept herself standing with nothing but sheer willpower.
"Oh hi Hinata, sorry I did not expect you this early." Naruto said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was without his clothes.
Hinata kept her eyes on Naruto's face, rather than his smooth and seemingly sculpted muscles. "I… I can… come b-back later. If this is a b-bad time f-f-for you." She said, slipping back into her stuttering, sounding like she was a child again.
"No." Naruto said abruptly, not wanting her to leave, but realized how quick he had been and tried again. "I mean, no please. If you would come in you can. I will only be a minute. I just need to get dressed." He said as he gestured for her to come inside.
She nodded and followed as he sneaked away into his room for privacy. 'You know, this would be a great opportunity to see if he...' Hinata thought. 'No, don't. You only saw it those times years ago because it's just a consequence of having the byakugan. You shouldn't peep at people like that. Even if they do have very nice bodies and body parts that could make your own feel...' She trailed off while rubbing her thighs together lightly.
"You okay Hinata?" Naruto asked seeing her squirm in a weird way to him when he came out fully dressed, although without his jacket he felt completely naked.
The pale-eyed girl snapped out of her perverse trance and stood up immediately. "Fine! Everything's fine!" She declared in a high pitch, as if she briefly couldn't control her own voice.
"Okay then. What do you think we should do?" He asked.
"I think... some fresh air and being around people might be good for... keeping anything from happening." Hinata told him, not sure exactly which one of them she was suggesting this for.
Naruto smiled and opened the door. "Sounds good to me. You coming?"
She nodded and followed, and surprised herself by taking his hand in her own along the way.
"What would you like to do Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as they later walked around the park. 'If we go anywhere to eat or train together, or even look around for the fun of it, this could count as a first date.' She thought with excitement.
"Well, I would like to stop by Ichiraku's to talk to them and let them know I'm okay, and maybe get a bite to eat too." 'Although that is probably not the best thing I could do after what happened the other night.' "Then I'd like to find a spot to work out and see if I can handle it. After that, I think I want to just relax and maybe..." He got a little red here. "If you want I'll let you decide that part since you're helping me so much."
Hinata smiled, but on the inside she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "That sounds nice. I'm happy to have the chance to spend a day with you like this."
"Watching over me waiting to see if I collapse or not?" Naruto asked, confused.
Hinata shook her head. "No, just you and me spending time together enjoying yourself. I've..." Now she looked red. "Promise not to laugh?"
"Sure. Why would I?"
"Naruto-kun, I've... I've..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'Just say it already dammit.' She then opened her eyes and looked firmly yet compassionately at the whiskered blonde. "I've always wanted to do something like a date with you."
Naruto stopped in his tracks. "Really? You wanted to date me?" She nodded. "Why me? Why not someone... well, better?"
"Who's better than you?"
"Ummm... Kiba?" Naruto ventured, saying the first name he could think of she would recognize.
"Kiba is more like a very good friend but he also smells like a wet dog."
"Alright, what about Shino?"
"I can't remember ever seeing him being slightly interested in dating anyone. And also he is a little creepy in how he acts like a machine most of the time."
"Okay hold on." Naruto said as he tried to think of someone else. "What about… Lee?" They both stopped for a moment, staring at each other and then burst out laughing at the very idea. "But seriously though, why me? I mean, I am not the greatest person in the world. In fact according to most I'm practically one of the worst. Many have called me a troublemaker, a baka, and-"
"-a kind and funny person. Who never gives up no matter how high the odds are stacked against him, and an extremely loyal friend. That is who you are. And anyone who wouldn't like that is someone I wouldn't like." Hinata finished for him with a smile.
The blonde was awestruck; he couldn't remember anyone praising him like this, not even Iruka or Jiraiya. Usually the kind of praise he got was best summarized as 'Good job', not 'You're a good person'. "Thanks Hinata, that means a lot to me." It really did.
She smiled and leaned against him, enjoying the touch of his body, she could feel the results of the three years training. "C'mon, let's go to Ichiraku's, but I'm not letting you eat ramen."
"But-" He stared at her, giving her puppy dog eyes, thinking that this would get her for sure.
She stared at him for a moment, and for a second, it looked like she was about to falter and give in, but then she shook her head. "Sorry Naruto-kun, I was given specific instructions, no ramen for you whatsoever."
"Aw, you're too cruel." He said with a (probably) fake whimper.
Hinata shook her head and smiled. "You know, there are other foods out there besides ramen."
Naruto had a mock-surprised look on his face. "Really? When did that happen?"
They both laughed and headed off for the restaurant.
As they were walking away, two other park dwellers, Sakura and Ino, watched the two of them leave with a great level of interest.
"Oh my Kami… is that Naruto and Hinata? Together?" Ino said with complete disbelief.
"Are they dating now or something?" Sakura asked, she too was trying to wrap her mind around this phenomenon.
"Wow. So who do you think asked the other?" Ino inquired.
"It had to be Hinata. Naruto only asks me out." Sakura said.
"I'm not sure about that Forehead. I mean, it has been close to three years. Maybe he moved on. Besides, if he was that dedicated to you, then he wouldn't be on a date with her in the first place now would he?"
Sakura frowned, annoyed but not angered. "What are you saying? I'm not good enough for him anymore?"
"What do you care? When was he ever good enough for you in the first place?" Ino calmly yet firmly countered.
"Don't go there Pig. Besides, I might have accepted someday."
Ino didn't look convinced. "Oh yeah? When?"
Sakura opened her mouth to answer but no sound came from it.
Ino rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought."
Lunch was going pretty well. Since Naruto couldn't have ramen he ordered a plate of naruto (fishcakes) and Hinata ordered a bowl of soup. She knew that if she ate ramen in front of him right now it would almost legally qualify as cruel and unusual. As they ate the two of them were chatting lightly.
"So how did the training go with Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata asked eagerly, knowing that if Sakura had learned so much from Tsunade, surely Naruto had learned a great deal from the other sannin.
Naruto smiled. "Pretty good. Despite how he acts sometimes, Ero-sennin is a pretty good teacher."
"Ero-sennin?"
"Never mind." Naruto said, dismissing it as he ate his lunch.
Hinata watched him, noting he was looking so much better than he had before at the hospital. He no longer looked on the verge of death or for that matter acting like his happy-go-lucky self again… but still-
"Naruto… what… what exactly happened during your imprisonment? Wondering about what could possibly be happening to you all those nights made me too worried to sleep most of the time."
The blonde immediately stopped eating. "I don't want to talk about that Hinata." He said as he took a sip from his drink.
"N-Naruto-kun, it's not good t-to repress and deny what happened." The Hyuuga heiress offered.
Naruto's fingers began to twitch. "I'm not denying what happened. I simply don't want to talk about." He said flatly.
"But Naruto-kun I-"
'WHAM' Naruto hit his hand down hard on the table, his breathing heavy and his body twitching. Not only that, but his eyes were hard as steel and sharp as kunai, even though they weren't looking at anything but empty space.
"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Hinata began but Naruto held up his hand. His breathing relaxed and his twitching stopped.
"No, no, I am sorry. I didn't mean to get angry with you. It's just… Hinata, you don't understand what they did to me. I don't even fully understand what they did to me."
"Then please… help me understand. I can't understand until you tell me." Hinata said as she gently placed her hand on his. When she did, Naruto seemed to become even more relaxed, as if she had some type of power over him.
"They... they tortured me, they humiliated me. They treated me like I was some sort of damned lab rat. They stripped me of my dignity, injecting me with drugs that either put me in agony or paralyzed me."
"Oh Naruto-kun." The girl squeezed his hand tighter.
"And… they enjoyed it Hinata. They enjoyed seeing me suffer, powerless to resist at all. There was a moment Hinata… a moment when I just wanted to die, for it all to end."
That horrible thought passed through the Hyuuga princess's mind, the thought of Naruto lying dead in front of her. His body cold, and his eyes blank and empty. It horrified her to the very core of her soul.
'If Naruto-kun died… I would lay down next to him and die too.' She thought, because she could not imagine a life in which Naruto was not there. The past three years without him was hard enough, manageable only with the knowledge he would return to her in due time. She could not go through that again with no guarantee of his return.
"But what kept me going through it all, was the thought of the village. And of all my friends, and the people I cared about. Like you." He said as he looked to Hinata, with a smile returning to his face.
Hinata could not help but blush at the compliment.
After eating the two felt they needed to burn off a few calories, so Naruto and Hinata later headed for a vacant training ground. They got to one, but apparently it wasn't really vacant as claimed. Neji and Tenten were training there.
"Hi Neji Nii-san, Tenten-san." Hinata said when she saw them sparring.
The two stopped and looked over. Tenten smiled and waved. "Hey Hinata, Naruto. So they finally let you out eh?"
"Yeah, about time too. I hate being in hospitals." He said with a grin.
Tenten nodded. "Yeah me too. They're too depressing and limiting. I don't understand how Tsunade-sama could be comfortable being somewhere like that every day."
"I don't either, but I'd rather she be there than a bar or casino. At least there she's doing something good." Naruto commented with a laugh
"Be more respectful of Tsunade-sama Naruto. She's a great person and she did help you recover, although I am pretty sure she did not give you much of a choice." Tenten jokingly defended.
"Yea, but she's also the one who sent me out to get captured and tortured in the first place so I think we're even." The blonde added, with a bit more hostility then he intended and he felt a small, almost unnoticed throb in his head.
The others were surprised to hear the underlying tone in his voice. Naruto never really resented Tsunade of anything before.
Tenten looked a bit irritated at that remark. "Naruto, that wasn't Tsunade-sama's fault. She had no way of knowing what would happen to you."
Now Naruto looked more than just a bit irritated. "She didn't? She was well aware that people were going missing and disappearing from their homes long before she told me about it. She knew full well there was a chance it would happen to whoever she sent out. So why did she pick me? A single genin to handle something that was giving the jounin trouble? For all I know she wanted me to disappear." The throbbing in his head was getting worse, so he rubbed his temple trying to soothe it.
Everyone except him and Hinata gasped, and Hinata didn't mostly because she already had such angry thoughts while he was gone. 'I know it's not true, but what other explanation is there? If she truly was opposed to him disappearing, he never would have sent him out alone.' She then found herself also feeling resentful towards the Godaime.
Neji was the first to speak up. "Naruto, surely you don't actually believe that. For as long as I've known her Hokage-sama always has had your best interests at heart."
Naruto suddenly shifted his attention to Neji. "My best intentions? Oh really, cause if my memory serves me right, I seem to recall kicking your ass in the chūnin exams, so why the hell is everyone wearing the green vest except me? I'm the only one here who fought Orochimaru himself, I'm the one who was trained by a sannin just like my teammate Sakura, I'm the one who defeated the guy who is now the Kazekage! Has the idea of promoting me even crossed her sake-addled mind? I know for a fact those damn exams are not the only way to promote someone! So don't fucking preach 'best intentions' to me!" He was nearly shouting now, and his head was hurting horribly.
Neji and Tenten stared at Naruto with shock. Never before had they seen their friend like this. To them the concept seemed almost impossible.
Tenten took a step forward and placed her hand on the blonde's arm. "Naruto, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?" She asked, worry in her voice.
Naruto instantly recoiled from her. "Don't touched me you bitch." He spat.
The air was dead silent, even Hinata looked at Naruto with surprise.
Suddenly the headache stopped and Naruto blinked a few times, and it was then that he could see the hurt and pain on Tenten's face. She looked on the verge of tears.
Neji on the other hand seemed about ready to activate his byakugan. "How dare you?"
"I… I… didn't mean… I don't know why I..." Naruto began, his voice apologetic and confused, trying to find the right words to make up for what he had just said, but when he could not find any, he turned tail and simply ran as fast as he could go. He did not want to be anywhere near his friends, lest he say anything worse.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she tried to go after him, but was stopped by Neji grabbing her wrist.
"Let him go Hinata-sama, something is wrong with him, and I don't like it. He needs to get his head together."
Tenten meanwhile simply stood solid in her spot, still trying to process what Naruto had just called her. Hearing that from him was like hearing that from her own brother, and it hurt just as badly.
Hinata wasn't able to find Naruto for the rest of the day, and after a bit decided to let him be on his own. That night she sat in her room at the Hyuuga estate, brushing her hair in front of the mirror before she went to bed, a light smile on her face. Despite the incident with Tenten, today had been amazing. She would not have traded it for anything, but still…
"Why did Naruto-kun snap at Tenten like that?" She said aloud to herself.
She knew that Naruto and Tenten had always had a pretty good friendly relationship. The two of them had been at the same orphanage until Tenten had gotten adopted. And from what Tenten had told Hinata, Naruto would often stop by the Weapons Shop to just say hi and see how things were going, and often got talked into buying a pack of kunai's by Tenten's mom.
But that moment in the training ground, the way Naruto just snapped, that didn't seem like the boy she knew. He seemed more like…
Hinata shook her head. 'No, no, no. I have to remember what Naruto-kun just went through. Being locked up, tortured, abused, he is still dealing with some traumatic feelings and Tenten just happened to catch him at a bad moment like I almost did. I am sure he will be back to normal.' She assured herself.
Hinata set her brush down then walked over and lay down on her lavender colored bed. The moment her head touched the pillow she instantly felt very tried. Like all of the energy had just been drained from her.
Using what energy she had left, she reached over and turned off her lamp, and then slipped into sleep.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?" Naruto yelled at himself as he hit himself in the head.
He was in the bathroom, back at his apartment after hours of trying to avoid anyone. The moment he had run off after yelling at Tenten his headaches had returned again, not as powerful as they had with the he had started yelling at her, but just as bad. His head felt like it was being hammered from the inside. The only thing he could do to take his mind off it was to go somewhere private and let out a little steam in the form of rasengan practice. Fortunately he at least proved he was back to normal on that aspect.
"I didn't want to yell at Tenten, I didn't mean anything that I said but... but..." His head started hurt again. "But the stupid bitch should have just minded her own business." He spat in annoyance, and then immediately covered his mouth afterwards.
'What is wrong with me? Why am I saying these things? I don't mean them.' He tried to assure himself.
'Or do I?'
He shook his head. "No, of course I don't mean that. Why am I thinking about this kind of stuff? This isn't like me." He assured himself.
He then stretched the collar of his shirt. It was getting too hot in here. He turned on the sink and filled it with cold water. He closed his eyes and held his breath, and he dunked his face into the water and held it there.
The cold water felt good on his skin, he could feel the heat vanish from him and the throbbing in his head calmed down and vanished once more. He still kept his face in the water, just a moment longer, he thought. He liked this, it was cold and dark. But he didn't know why he liked it.
Soon enough he came up for air and shook the water off himself. "I need to apologize to her tomorrow. It's the right thing to do."
They were lying on the ground, all of them dead.
She had killed them all. Their blood stained her clothing, and dripped from the kunai she had used to gut them like fish. They were so mutilated it was impossible to recognize any of the victims right away.
"You can't have him, he's mine, and he will always be mine." She sneered at the corpses, faces that should have been recognizable to her but no longer were thanks to massive injuries and death masks made of blood.
There was only one left now, one left to slaughter. She turned around to see Sakura cowering in corner, covered in the blood of the fallen ones.
"Now it's your turn you little slut. And I have special plans for you. Special, special plans." She said as she advanced upon the girl, kunai drawn back for one final kill.
Hinata sat up with a start, breathing heavily as she clutched the blanket against her body. "What was that?" She turned to look out her window as if the answer was outside. "I've never had a nightmare like that before."
She ran her hand across her brow; she instantly withdrew it when she felt how sweaty she was.
"Hot? When did it get this hot?" She asked herself before opening the window to her room. When she finished but before she could take her hands off the sill, a pair of hands attached to someone she couldn't see suddenly shot out at her like snakes and grabbed her throat.
Panicked but unable to scream, Hinata immediately tried to pry these strange hands off her neck. But they had a grip that could best be described as mechanical, and if anything they were tightening. Gasping for breath Hinata slipped and fell backwards, dragging her strangler down with her. Somehow this attacker came thru the open window as if the walls around it didn't even exist, like a ghost going thru the window instead of a person. And in the light, Hinata could see just who it was.
Sakura, covered in blood and looking like a madwoman. Like she had just stepped out of Hinata's nightmare.
"So, you got special special plans for me? Like a little mouse like you could possibly do jack-shit to me. I was trained by the hokage herself, and all I had to do to get that privilege was ask for it. You, the one everyone praises for her 'special' balms, wasn't even considered an option as apprentice, and you know why? Because you're too afraid to ask, and you know you're not good enough for it like I am. Just like how you're not good enough to lead your clan or be Naruto's girlfriend. Face it bitch, you're a nobody, and to Naruto you're just eye candy for when he's not near me, the one he actually wants."
Hinata should have been about to lose consciousness, but against all logic she was still coherent. 'I can't make this bitch let go the direct way, so I'll try an indirect way.' Readying a juuken strike, Hinata thrust both her hands up, intending to hit some tenketsu and weaken her grip at least. But, as if against her will, her hands actually went up and hit Sakura in both her eyes, impaling him with ease.
Sakura now let go and pulled back, screaming in pain and bleeding out her eyes.
"Who's the nobody now?" Smiling victoriously, Hinata sat up right away, but immediately Sakura disappeared into thin air. And if that wasn't weird enough, Hinata wasn't on the floor of her room, but back on her bed under the covers, her smile gone. "Wait, what in the world...?" She looked at her hands and saw no blood on her fingers, then carefully felt her neck and didn't find any tender spots. "Was I still dreaming?"
She was too preoccupied with that had just happened to notice that her window was open.
The next morning Tenten was up early like she always was, polishing a new set of shuriken's that were to be put on display. When she had finished, she gently tapped one of the blade points with her finger, and instantly withdrew it. Perfectly sharpened, she smiled happily and put it into the display case.
"Umm… hey Tenten." Naruto's voice cautiously said from behind her.
The brunette kunoichi paused what she was doing, but did not look behind her.
"Listen, I… I am so sorry for yesterday. I didn't mean it, and I am a bastard for what I said. I almost even snapped at Hinata yesterday too when she brought up a sore subject. Dammit, I feel like someone else is controlling my emotions sometimes. Why else would I snap at the two nicest girls I know?"
Tenten still didn't turn around, so Naruto continued his apology. "I was jealous, I admit it. I'm jealous of all you guys because you're all chūnin and I am still a pathetic loser genin even after being trained by a sannin. All because no one in this village has any faith in me. But despite that, I am happy for all of you, because you're my friends even if you all don't think the same way about me."
This time Tenten did turn around and despite the ache her heart felt from both his previous insults and current self-loathing, she was smiling. "Did you stay up all night coming up with that apology?"
Naruto fake-grinned and nodded. "Yeah, but it's very sincere. Do you forgive me?"
Tenten thought about it for a minute. "I will, if you buy twelve new kunai's."
"Six."
"Eight."
"Done."
They both laughed, the incident from yesterday forgotten though Tenten worried just how deep his insecurities actually went. Naruto then began to look around the shop, while Tenten got the eight kunai together for purchase. He paused in front of a long serrated knife, well-polished and sharpened. He unconsciously picked it up and held it in his hand admiring its craftsmanship.
"Kill her!"
"Slit her throat!"
"Make her choke on her blood!"
"Spill out her entrails!"
"Naruto?" Tenten called over.
"Huh?" He asked, snapping out of his sudden lapse of thought.
"Are you alright?" The bun-haired girl asked as she walked out from behind the counter.
"Uh yeah, sorry. I've just been zoning out a lot lately."
"Huh, well maybe you should go see Tsunade-sama about that."
"Yes… I probably should." He replied. 'I'm starting to get worried about the thoughts these zone-outs are giving me.'