Chapter 20: A Loss Within A Beginning

"Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell."

― Edna St. Vincent Millay


Jiraiya

"You're breathing hard Jiraiya!"

Fukasaku glances towards Shima, gold eyes mirroring his own wracked with anguish. Are these men truly unkillable? Every fatal blow Jiraiya's delivered so far hasn't kept them from seemingly getting up utterly fine a few moments later.

"We'll...We'll stand behind whatever decision you make next Jiraiya!" Shima musters out, voice strained from their earlier demonic illusion chant attack as she forces herself to match her husband's composure.

Jiraiya studies the 3 bodies he managed to capture, stone swords from Mount Myōboku keeping them pinned in place.

'They all wield the rinnegan, how is that possible?'

Everything his spies learned over the years never brought up this. But then again, Amegakure's leader is mysterious and private enough he knows now that the average citizen knows nothing beyond what he's announced publicly.

On top of that, he doesn't fully know how he connects to the Akatsuki, why the organization wants to collect every Tailed Beast.

It's surprising that Hanzo and all his associates to family members are truly dead as he learned from a few of the shinobi/civilian that he was able to get information out of. Did Yahiko and Konan truly get strong enough to overthrow his power and kill everyone tied to him?

"Lord Pain has brought on an era of peace! It isn't like you or any of the other villages came to our aid when we truly needed it after the First and Second Shinobi World Wars ended!" Ryūsui declares.

He made a good point, but things still aren't adding up.

Who are these new figureheads that collectively call themselves 'Pain'?

At least he's learned from these Pain's pattern of attacking they all can only do one move it seems.

He looks at their features carefully again to find any distinct birthmark or possible tattoo, eyes widening as another clue clicks in when he peers at them beyond the black rods and piercings they have.

'Wait a minute; I've seen these faces before! They're all faces of men I met in my journeys across the lands; some I know died in past wars or skirmishes. That can only mean none of these bodies are the real Pain!'

No sooner does the memory emerge though does his left arm get penetrated straight through by one of the Pain's rods, ripped away messily from his body in a blur of crushed bone and muscle falling a few feet away, smell of blood and smoke instantly hit his nostrils.

A second later a 2nd spear pierces the side of his neck before he can fully crouch out of the way, singe of his tearing skin pounding in his ears.

"No more hiding Jiraiya. Your life is coming to an end here and now." The Deva Path Pain announces from behind him.

The Preta and Asura Paths step forward, ready to deliver the killing blows.

"Jiraiya!" Fukasaku and Shima cry out in tandem. Horror rushes in that he's found them so soon within these maze of pipes, when their throats are still too sore to do another attack.

Jiraiya doesn't waste a second, slamming his right hand down creating a torrent of mud and smoke.

And even as raspy as their voices are, Fukasaku and Shima let out low croaks to distract, voices vibrating off the pipes in every direction.

"Don't push yourself any further little Jiraiya. Conserve what energy you have left!" Fukasaku orders tightly.

Jiraiya simply nods, tearing with his teeth the side of his top, forms a makeshift tourniquet to what remains of his left arm to not create a trail of blood.

But his mind is already turning hazy, vision blurring in and out from the pain and blood loss.

He coughs up a glob of blood, stunned to see specks of pinks and blacks within all the red.

"I-I intend to get back to Konoha. I'll deliver all that I learned as my last act if need be!" Jiraiya mutters.

Shima shushes him, hates how he mutters his death will be nothing extravagant like that of the shinobi before him...

"No more talking like that Jiraiya! Let's get you out of here!"

Jiraiya peers back to Fukasaku, nodding at his grim expression. He's far less optimistic about his prognosis than his wife.

"Prepare a message for both Naruto and Tsunade. Hopefully...Hopefully one of them can meet me at Konoha's entrance or the hospital." He orders quietly, Fukasaku accepting his quick scrawl of writing in his blood onto a scrap of cloth he hurriedly swallows for safekeeping.

Jiraiya winces as pain needles his chest once more, focuses his mind back on escaping.

'I know they're going to be pissed when they see me like this!' Jiraiya chuckles inwardly, pictures their anger and tears mixing together.

As long as Tsunade and Naruto get his message, it doesn't matter what happens to him...

They retreat back into the rain quickly, Jiraiya clenching his teeth already feeling all the Pains trying to close back in on him.

'I need another distraction.'

He glances around hurriedly, surprised to see Ryūsui and Yūdachi nervously observing from the sidelines the outcome of the fight.

"Ha, serves you right! Lord Pain will finish you off for trying to get in the way of his plans!" Yūdachi sneers, taking in his gaping wounds.

They escaped originally from his toad's stomach when Konan interfered earlier, but it seems they didn't go too far out of concern for the pair.

They scowl at him continuing to hurl insults and mud bombs, the intruder who knows nothing about the suffering Ame's shinobi and civilian have dealt with.

'Heh, at least they have terrible aim! Comes with the territory of having genin level skills.' Jiraiya smirks as he dodges their attacks.

He tosses a series of paper bombs right back at them, wonders if Pain/Yahiko and Konan truly care enough about Ame's residents to protect them.

Paper wings block the attack, explosions lighting the area in flashes of whites and reds.

Jiraiya sucks in a slow breath, tries not to think about this pain splitting down his body in waves, this is his only chance to escape.

He slams his right hand down.

'Gamagakure Jutsu!'

A speckled green and orange toad instantly appears, swallows him into his stomach surrounding him in pure darkness before diving into the closest puddle just as a black receiver rod moves to strike him down.

The smoke clears with a gust of Konan's wings, eyes scoping the area hurriedly while releasing her paper butterflies to search.

No, he couldn't have gotten away so fast! Not when they were right on the cusp of killing him.

He learned Nagato's biggest secrets, will soon spread them out like a wildfire they won't be able to stop or control.

'Gone.' Konan purses her lips, cursing under her breath.

She really can't detect Jiraiya's chakra anymore...

The Deva Path steps forward just as Konan glances back to him.

"Nagato, he escaped. Though we still can-" She starts only for Nagato to hold up his hand.

"It's fine. I'll follow him back into Konoha, Jiraiya won't survive his wounds before today is over."


Naruto & Hinata- Land of Forests

"You've normally ate 2 or 3 bowls by now." Hinata regards softly.

Naruto blinks, looks down at his still half full first bowl, ramen long since cooled.

"Ah, I haven't been feeling all that hungry really." He admits. His stomach slushes at the thought of even trying to eat anything more, setting his chopsticks down. This mission to find Itachi isn't going to be easy, let alone trying to capture him alive.

'I don't understand why he went about making Sasuke suffer the way he did. He has to have had ulterior motives, but why wouldn't he have shared them with his own brother?' He frowns.

And why abruptly leave Konoha to work with the Akatsuki?

"I just feel like even if we get to Itachi first and manage to capture him, is that going to change Sasuke's behaviors or make up for his defection? It seems like he's always going to chase revenge and anger over coming back to the Konoha for good, y'know?" Naruto asks aloud.

Hinata smiles, sees the ambivalence in Naruto's eyes wondering how to deal with his former friend and teammate.

"Either way, it's like you said before, we can't let Sasuke continue to do actions that could eventually directly impact Konoha and innocent civilians."

Naruto nods, coils in his stomach loosening somewhat as Hinata moves to squeeze his hand.

Sakura and Kiba land beside them, having caught Sasuke's scent in the grasslands to the west before it got scattered in multiple directions.

Sakura frowns taking in Naruto's lack of appetite, nudging him to eat more.

"Come on, it's going to be your group's turn to do scouting the next hour and you'll need to keep your energy up! Do you want to eat a ration pill instead?" She suggests to which Naruto hurriedly waves away the idea.

He doesn't need a headache and double the stomach pain he's already having!

"Oi Sakura, didn't you learn anything about Itachi during all that investigating you did into that one guy...what's his name Takita or something? Did he not know anything about the Uchiha Massacre?" Naruto asks.

Sakura briefly stiffens, emerald eyes softening.

"Not really. I mean, Takita didn't have the greatest memory of that night and I'm not an expert in interrogating. There's only so much I could do in pushing for information out of him without it turning into harassment."

Kiba snorts. "Liar." He mutters under his breath, not quietly enough.

Verdant orbs instantly darken, twist straight to him. "I'm sorry, what was that?! You have something you need to say to me Kiba?"

He chuckles at her bravado, nodding. "Yeah actually, I do! You realize Akamaru and I can smell Sasuke's scent on you, right? Even after everything he's done, you still can't cut your ties to him physically or literally; can you?"

Sakura's cheeks burn a bright red, balling her fists.

Hinata forms a current of electricity between the pair before Sakura gives into her ire, sends Kiba a look to stop it.

Kiba merely shrugs, scooting back from her to munch on his own bento, eyes never leaving Sakura's.

"At least inform us of Itachi's illness. That's what I'm personally most curious about!" Sai mentions from behind them all making Kiba jolt.

He scowls as Sai sends him a fake smile noting that he spilled his onigiri from him sneaking up on them. "What illness?"

Sai nods towards Sakura, grin fading as his dark eyes bore into her. "The one Sakura found out about Itachi in his medical file."

Sakura clicks her teeth, wondering how long Sai's known about her break in to the private files. She considers how she had blotted out all the security cameras during her walk to the area, made sure nobody was following her or needed her on any of the units...

Sai taps his nose. "Your wasps didn't take notice to the scent of my ink, perhaps that's why you didn't notice my ink rats following you in the shadows that fateful afternoon you went down to the classified medical records wing of the hospital."

Her wasps angrily buzz towards him matching Sakura's mood, Sakura waving them down before they can sting him again.

She groans feeling Naruto's stare the worse out of all of them, curious and annoyed why she kept this information from him and even Kakashi-sensei.

"...Does Sasuke know? That Itachi is sick?" Naruto asks after Sakura relates to them Itachi's lung condition and current state she determines he's in from his former doctor's summaries.

"Yes, I told him during our last...meet-up. Granted, I don't know what he'll do exactly with that information." Sakura regards.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Probably nothing good, y'know!"

But he can't find it in him to be truly mad, Sakura driven by a combination of her red thread and love for Sasuke to go back to the boy he was when they first became a team. Kiba huffs, hopes if his red thread is a criminal or some rogue shinobi that he won't let his emotions get so much in the way of stopping her if need be.

A silence falls over them all, Yamato poking his head in from above.

His gaze falls to Naruto and Hinata.

"You two ready to patrol?" He asks, getting the nod from them both.

Crystal blue rivers run lazily beside crisscrosses of trees and sloping vines shades of greens to browns. A mist settles in the air the farther they go northeast, Yamato warning them to be wary of traps knowing one of Sasuke's associates or a member of the Akatsuki themselves know of their presence. Naruto pauses midway through leaps over moss and leaves when he sees a maroon colored toad hopping along side them, arching a brow as it finally lands upon his arm.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" The toad asks.

Naruto points at himself, nodding. "Yeah, that's me?"

The toad nods, sticks out his tongue revealing a note covered in slime. Naruto wearily accepts the cloth at his insistence, holding it at an arm's length away.

"Oi, you expect me to be able to read this?! It's covered in saliva, y'know!" Naruto gripes.

"Naruto! Don't be rude!" Hinata reprimands him with a light jab. Granted, even she can't read what she thinks is ink that's now turned the fabric into a clump of blacks and greys.

"Ah, so sorry about that! I was hurrying to find you before you got too far from the village! Jiraiya requests your presence back in Konoha. He needs to tell you something urgently that he learned from his mission to Ame!" The toad explains in a single breath.

'Pervy-Sage is back already? But didn't he leave at the same time as us just a few days ago?'

It could mean hundreds of things, good or bad...

Hinata catches Naruto's worried look, gazing back to the toad.

"Did you happen to hear of Master Jiraiya's condition?"

The toad shakes his head, apologetic. "No, but this message came directly from the Great Toads Fukasaku and Shima. Please try and get back to Konoha as soon as you can if it's not too much trouble."

And with that, the toad dissipates itself back to Mount Myōboku.

Goosebumps prickle up Naruto's skin, gut churning ten times worse than before. If he hurries and doesn't stop, he can probably get back to Konoha by nightfall, but where does Jiraiya even want them to meet? His room? One of his many favorite bars/gentleman clubs? The red light district?

"Naruto, are you going to go back?" Hinata asks, taking him out of his thoughts.

He twists to look at her then back towards late afternoon sunshine, burnt red skyline approaching as amber light falls against the trees. Yamato-sensei expects them to finish their patrol of this area before meeting back at their set up base camp for the night.

But his mind has already started drifting from finding Itachi now with this update, too curious on what this news is that Pervy-sage would specifically get the head toads of Mount Myōboku to seek him out.

"I'll go with you. If you want, I mean." Hinata clarifies and Naruto nods, pushes on a weak grin.

At least he won't need to go back alone.

"Great! Err, let's go find Yamato-sensei before he wonders why we ran off though!"


Sasuke

"Where are we going?" Karin can't help but ask, shivering as the wind picks up.

Orochimaru's death has changed them all, unsure where to go next or what to do now no longer under his control or imprisonment.

What if he manages to cheat death somehow? And Kabuto of course won't just allow them to get away with killing Orochimaru without exacting some type of revenge.

Sasuke casts one glance in her direction before focusing ahead.

"To prepare." He answers, ignoring Karin's huff at his lack of a real answer.

She doesn't need to know the full details of his plans, none of them do.

Sora-ku appears to be just the same as it did from when he was a child, looking up at shattered glass in the towering buildings, musty scents of tobacco and liquor in the air.

The black markets are still thriving, weapons and supplies always at ready for the right price within the rooms of these seemingly abandoned warehouses and apartments.

Nekobaa sighs at his arrival, blows out a thin trail of gray smoke.

"I was worried this day was going to come eventually." She grumbles.

"We have visitors Grandma?! It's been weeks!" An excited voice questions from the back, Tamaki's grin slipping when she sees who it is.

Nekobaa snickers at her expression, sends her a knowing look.

"What? You thought it was your red thread finally whisking you away from this place? I told you, you're going to have to go to him if you want to actually meet him!"

Tamari reddens, huffing.

"Fine, okay! Let me go get the supplies from the back!" She pouts, twisting back around.

Sasuke looks over Nekobaa's wares as Tamaki sets them out, watches from the corner of his eye as she moves gets new cloths for Jugo while Suigetsu eyes their collection of swords.

Karin's gaze stays on him, cheeks gaining a hue of pink when he catches her staring.

"What about you Sasuke?" Nekobaa asks, getting Sasuke's full attention once more.

He senses from the glint in her eye he isn't going to like her next set of questions.

She hums, smirking.

"Don't you got a red thread of your own waiting for you back in Konoha? It pains me to see the youngster who used to eagerly chase the alley cats around here for their paw prints now wants to kill the very brother he played said games with."

Sakura flashes to mind, jade eyes taunting and luring him in all at once.

"She's not important." Sasuke mutters.

Nekobaa's grin only widens. "Your face and I'm sure your heart say differently."

He shouldn't have kissed Sakura back in the forests, lips tingling at the thought of her touch again, arms coiling around his neck as she pressed close to him breathing in his scent.

"Sasuke doesn't have time to focus on such things! Getting revenge on his brother is more important than some girl!" Karin interrupts his thoughts.

Nekobaa barely spares her a glance.

"Jealousy doesn't look good on you Karin! Sasuke doesn't want you today, tomorrow, or ever!" Suigetsu taunts from the side, Karin grabbing a sword to give chase.

"Stay out of this!" She screeches back.

"Think about it Sasuke, how much deeper will you go down this path of hate? What will you even do with yourself after Itachi is dead?" Nekobaa asks, eyeing him and Suigetsu and Karin to make sure they don't destroy her merchandise.

"I need answers. Itachi has kept too much from me for too long." He responds as he counts out his ryo.

Maybe he should buy some herbs from her as well, though he doubts Nekobaa has anything that can aid Itachi's advanced lung condition now. He senses as well some of his Akatsuki associates aren't too keen to just let him keep moving about without a fight.

Like Deidara.

Sasuke frowns as he dwells on it more, Sakura had more or less asked him the same question...

'I still don't know yet.' He sighs.

But he'll hopefully have an answer for Sakura when he inevitably sees her again to return her dead wasps and larvae she used to spy on him for a day, blackened to a crisp from his flames.


Naruto- Konoha Central Hospital

The hospital was last on his list of places to check for Jiraiya, not on his radar even.

His ears ring with various beeps from monitors, the clack of pens, and shoes shuffling quickly between rooms. A majority of the medical personnel lingering about avoid his eyes or hurriedly glance away, focus on whatever medications they need to give or patients they need to check on.

"Where is he?! Aren't we just walking in circles y'know?" Naruto snaps too loud not for people glance at him, Shizune quickly hushing him to lower his voice.

"This is still a hospital and you still need to be quiet!" She hisses, guiding them to pick up the pace by taking the back staff elevators.

Naruto looks up at a sign as they rush past the nurse's station, dread pooling in his chest.

'The Intensive Care Unit?'

Shizune twists them down one more hallway before they finally come upon Jiraiya's room, Naruto screeching to a halt.

"No, no that way can that be Pervy-Sage!" He gapes.

A mess of wires and tubes connect to him in zigzag patterns making him nearly half-machine, Naruto rushing to his side as Jiraiya sends him a weak grin.

"Hey Kid, was...was wondering when you were going to get here!" Jiraiya chuckles.

"No talking!" Tsunade hovers at his opposite side, hanging another bag of blood.

"W-What happened?" Naruto whispers. It's worse than he imagined gazing at Jiraiya up close, left arm completely gone leaving his bedsheets soaked in red. Bandages run across his torso and neck, skin that's visible a haggard gray.

Naruto shifts forward, anxious seeing beads of sweat across Tsunade's forehead, skin a shade paler than usual. He lifts up his jacket, points to his own veins. He and Pervy-Sage are the same blood type he thinks, Granny can take as much of his blood too if it will save him!

Tsunade shakes her head at Naruto's gesturing to his arms. "No Naruto, it's...it's okay. I've already transfused him with 2 units and it hasn't changed his hemoglobin and hematocrit levels much."

He wishes Sakura or Hinata were here to explain her medical jargon, nodding along.

"Okay, but we have to do something Granny! Does he need more fluids, antibiotics?!" Naruto questions rapidly, words blending together.

Hazel orbs harden and it's then Naruto sees the tears building up in her eyes, that all these efforts are futile...

"Don't you think I've done all of that and more?! None of it is working, damn it! Jiraiya, stay with us! Didn't you say you were going to take me on a date; a real date this time and not to one of those sleazy bars?!" Tsunade cries, eyes flashing between him and his monitors as they begin beeping incessantly once more.

Jiraiya gestures for Naruto to sit, pointing at the lone chair by his bed.

Tsunade shuffles back between the crash cart and his lines, Naruto reluctantly doing as he wants.

His muscles practically sigh in relief sitting down, Jiraiya grinning as Naruto lays his head down beside him.

"Glad you made it." He reaffirms softly.

'Don't fall asleep.' Naruto warns himself at feeling his eyelids start to droop.

Jiraiya's hand gently ruffles up his hair, fingers brushing at his cheeks the same way he did during their training trip when he couldn't sleep, nightmares clinging to him.

His hand is cold Naruto absently notes.

And then he drifts off.

"Oi Kid? Naruto? Wake up!" Jiraiya bellows in his ears.

Naruto jolts, gazing around. It's afternoon again suddenly, resting in the shade of an oak tree. Greenery goes on for miles, blends of yellows and whites from spring petals blowing in fill the air.

"Hmm, what?" Naruto slurs, brightening when he sees both of Jiraiya's arms are back, skin no longer bruised and pale.

"Jiraiya, you're okay!" Naruto breathes out excitedly, rushing into his lap in relief.

Jiraiya chuckles, smile cracking.

"Actually, I'm unfortunately dying Naruto. I lost too much blood from that fight with Pain. He's heading this way I'm sure, you and all of Konoha need to be ready to deal with him and the rest of the Paths."

Naruto looks up at him, horror marring his face.

"What?! Stop joking around Pervy-Sage! Granny fixed you back up, you have your left arm back and all your injuries are gone!"

Jiraiya sighs, looks around at the sea of grass and rivers surrounding them.

"No, Tsunade did her best though. Please don't have her blame herself. Perhaps we'll get that date once she kicks the bucket years from now if Dan allows it!"

Tears build in Naruto's eyes sliding down, not understanding.

"This is...This is just I guess the crossroads between life and death. Her actual red thread Dan helped me make this connection while I suppose you gave us this scenery to talk one last time." Jiraiya explains.

Jiraiya fixes him with a serious look then.

"Pain. I couldn't uncover his true identity unfortunately. However, just know the real body isn't there among the 6 Paths of Pain he uses. His true body is probably operating in Ame behind a sealed passageway of some kind. Fukasaku will explain it more to you." He reviews quickly.

Naruto doesn't answer, throat too dry to speak.

"You can't be dying Pervy-Sage. I haven't become Hokage yet, you haven't seen Hinata and I get married." He murmurs.

Jiraiya swallows, looking down. "I know Kid. I'm sorry I won't be there physically. But I'll be watching, all of us will be."

Naruto stays silent, feels his shirt and sleeves getting damp, Jiraiya pushing on.

"Listen, Hinata's loved you and been by your side even before you knew she was your red thread! You two will get married and start a big old family. Probably will start having a bunch of kids after reading my books of course! Maybe some sons as bratty as you or shyer like their mom followed by a daughter eager to play with you all the time between your Hokage duties!" He exclaims proudly.

All that does is make Naruto tears come faster, head slouch further between laughing and crying.

"Hinata will be here for you after I'm gone too. Don't push her or your friends away." Jiraiya finishes off.

He moves to stand then, squeezes Naruto close for one last hug.

"I gotta go the opposite way now. Bring peace to the world and shinobi nations that I couldn't do." Jiraiya urges.

Naruto clings onto him, Jiraiya snickering as he slowly pries him off.

"I love ya Kid! Take of yourself." He smiles into his hair.

Naruto wipes away tears and snot, moving to follow him into the fields only for Jiraiya to start to fade away.

"Wait Pervy-Sage! Jiraiya!"

The first thing Naruto notes when he startles awake is the utter silence of the room, monitors dark when his eyes shuffle to them.

A thin sheet covers Jiraiya's face, right hand now limp beside him.

Tsunade leans against the opposite wall, amber orbs glassy and vacant.

Blood soaks her arms, drips into a scarlet puddle at her feet.

"Shizune. I'm sorry, but you'll have to...you'll have to call the time of death." She sputters out before leaving the room.

'Time of death?'

Naruto glances to Shizune for an explanation, watches as she dries her eyes before robotically announcing the time.

"Time of death for Jiraiya: 11:58 pm." She calls out before scribbling it down.

Naruto peers back to Jiraiya's body, watches as the clock overhead slowly crosses into midnight.

Jiraiya died yesterday as the clock hits 12:02 am, already moving into the past...


Hinata

'I have to go check on him.'

Her hand hasn't hurt this bad in years, Naruto must be in some type of terrible pain.

'Master Jiraiya, might've...'

She decides not to finish the thought, not until she learns more.

"I swear the things you do for this boy." Hiashi grumbles as he watches her get ready, already displeased she came back from the Itachi Pursue and Capture mission all for the sake of a boy.

Her red thread.

Hizono's voice murmurs again in the back of his mind, scroll still safely tucked away in his private quarters.

"I would be in pain even if I stayed on the mission, then I wouldn't have been of help to anyone." Hinata counters, matching his glare.

She doesn't wait for any further response from him, pushing on her sandals and rushing into warm night air.

Hinata takes to the rooftops quickly, watches for anything out of the ordinary in the streets besides tipsy civilians heading home from the bars or shinobi out on patrol.

"Naruto probably went back home." She figures at no longer seeing her thread point towards the hospital, finds herself at his apartment minutes later.

The lights are off, though she hears the sound of footsteps shuffling about when she knocks.

Naruto's gaze is haunted, brown bags layered under his puffy eyes.

Hinata steps forward hesitantly.

"What happened?" She whispers.

Naruto shakes his head, memories of the night resurfacing. Unbidden no matter how he much he tries to stop replaying them over and over. "Jiraiya is dead."

Her eyes widen, stunned that the Sannin lost his life. They had just been talking and joking the other day as usual she recalls, Jiraiya had made promises he would be taking a short break from his travels and writing to spend more time with Naruto.

And now none of that can ever be.

She clenches her hands together, Naruto shifting from one foot to the other. Hinata should head back home he realizes, Pain will be coming for him next like Jiraiya mentioned being the Nine Tail's jinchuriki. More people are going to die, but he can at least make sure Hinata is as far as away from him as possible hopefully. He hasn't met with Fukasaku and Shima yet, perhaps gathering forces to come here to Konoha before Pain's invasion truly hits.

'I truly do endanger everyone I comes across...'

"Go home Hinata." Naruto rasps out as he finds his voice again.

Hinata's fingers brush his, but he retracts them quickly, eyes flashing crimson.

"I can stay, really-" She begins.

"No, I'm okay!" Naruto barks out harshly, Hinata blinking in surprise before putting her foot in the door before he can slam it on her.

Pearl watches blue, softening seeing tears he tries and fails to blink away.

"It's okay Naruto." Hinata asserts.

And it's then Naruto crumples, tears returning full force.

"I'm-I'm not okay." He admits, sob ripping from his chest as Hinata steps forward to keep him upright.

She kicks the door close behind them.

"I know Naruto."

Naruto leans into her, holds her close melding flesh to flesh, sobs rippling into her neck.

"I know." Hinata repeats, fingers threading into his hair.

-x-


As sad as this chapter is (I think it's the saddest one yet), it's actually one of my favorites and one I thought of it early on as I knew Naruto and Hinata would be comforting each other at the end of it!

I've gotten questions about reviews and story plots for my fanfics and the answer is simple: I like getting reviews like any Author! Lol, whether they be bad, good, confusing (I'm looking at you Guest who just sends me '...' every chapter. Don't know why you do that every chapter, but go for it!). I do try to keep all reviews in mind and correct any grammar or spelling errors I've made.

Since I'm on the topic, I don't feel the need anymore to police/delete my reviews. People send me a mixed bag of responses that are positive to negative and I have learned to just accept them all since it's the reality of posting things online. NaruSaku people have posted hate on Yesterday Morning for example at least here on Fanfiction. Don't know why considering I always write NaruHina and the canon couples, but hey, that's the facts of life! Being a nurse I typically already see the worse of people's personalities, but hopefully reading these fanfics brings you all some joy with all the negativity in the world!

Okay, rant over!

Spidey: Please don't feel like you're burdening me with your reviews; I enjoy hearing from you on your thoughts with each chapter!

BornOnTheBreakOfDawn: I actually don't write my stories ahead of time like I used to! I do have the general idea of each chapter in my mind and the ending for both this story and To Repeat and Return. It's easier to write them as I go along a week or so as I sometimes get new ideas as I write before it gets to finally be posted for everyone to see.

Well, time for me to finish packing! Vacationing with the family all next week so won't post again until later this month!

Like always, please feel free to send me your thoughts!

Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!