Chapter 21: A Clash Of Ideals

"I know that the whole point—the only point—is to

find the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight for them, and refuse to let them go."

― Lauren Oliver, Delirium


Outskirts of Land of Fire/Konoha- Akatsuki

"Master Jiraiya is dead."

Nagato nods at the update, picturing his last moments perfectly bleeding out in front of his godson and unrequited love. The Konoha guard tumbles down to ground like a puppet as the Human path looks back to him awaiting his next orders. His death is a great loss for Konoha not just as a spy, but as a shinobi as well...

Nagato waves the Human Path away, studies Konoha's cityscape down below, bundles of yellows and whites from the streetlights flickering off as the sunrise approaches.

He bows his head to briefly mourn Jiraiya's death. Flickers of recollections arise of the days he trained him, Konan, and Yahiko, his proud smile on their 'graduation day' to being shinobi in their own right…

'How to proceed now?'

Jiraiya destroyed too many of his bodies both in reserve and in action for him to successfully complete a full attack on Konoha right now, on top of he surely exposed all of his secrets before dying. He's at a great risk now that his real body will be tampered with before he can complete his assault.

'I can't rush this, I'll need to have Ryūsui or Yūdachi retrieve more bodies for me.' He realizes.

He sighs, retreating back into the shadows before another guard sees him.

It's fine, this should only delay him by a few weeks, a month at most if it takes the pair longer to find an appropriate number undamaged corpses for him.

And then he'll come back for the Nine Tails.

In the interim, he should hold another meeting with the others to see how their progress has been in capturing the rest of the Tailed Beasts. Progress has slowed down since capturing the Four Tails and Three Tails and he senses that his associates have gotten caught up in their own personal goals rather than the mission of the Akatsuki.

Konan greets him upon his return to Ame, brows set together. Nagato watches her for a moment, eyes reflecting the gray of the constant showers outside. A chill has set into the region since he originally departed, taking in the swell of mini rivers forming along the edges of the buildings.

"Any news?" She murmurs, amber orbs narrowing at his silence.

"Jiraiya has died overnight, but I'm sure it gave him enough time to let the Hokage and the Nine Tails know my secrets." Nagato states.

Konan purses her lips, going silent once more.

Nagato waves away her worry. "We will proceed with our plans unless anything major changes."

"That's just it Nagato...plans have changed." She hisses tightly.

He follows her back into his main room as she pulls out a map of the nations.

She points to the forests to the east. "Deidara at this very moment is tracking down Sasuke Uchiha. He was already angered by Itachi's lack of interest in his art and how easily he won their fight and I'm sure he wants to kill both Uchiha's as retribution. Hidan, Kakuzu, and Sasori are all dead or in Hidan's case permanently incapacitated, only replaced so far by Tobi who I don't believe we can fully trust."

Nagato reviews each area, frown etching up his lips realizing just how low their numbers have started to dwindle in such a short amount of time.

Death has casted it's shadow over the organization once again...

"You don't trust Tobi, why?" He finally asks as he peers up at her again.

Konan balls up her fists by her side, considers her next words. "He may act silly and foolish, however I'm sure that's just a cover. I don't know what his true intentions are, but they aren't for the same peace we seek via destruction."

Nagato nods, trusts her instincts.

Tobi is an enigma he agrees, keeps to the shadows and himself when not bumbling over one of Deidara's clay bombs or giddily asking what his next assignment will be.

"I want to hold another meeting to discuss how we'll go about capturing the Eight Tails and Nine Tails. Both will be our hardest captures knowing the villages they hail from won't be giving them up so easily."

Konan agrees, creates a series of paper cranes to get the message out.

She hopes at least Kisame will answer the call, clicks her tongue already knowing Tobi will make an appearance as well.


Sakura

The air shifts around her. Hot.

She startles awake feeling her throat constrict, thin wisps of red-yellow light streaks the sky in the distance, half-moon dipping low towards the horizon. Her stomach slushes sitting up too fast, gazing around to see if it's just her that feels this prickling sensation.

Light snores drift from Kiba to her right, glancing across from him to see both Sai and Shino sprawled out, heads leaning against the thick moss and leaves surrounding them respectively.

It's still too early, she should try and get a bit more rest.

Sakura curls her toes feeling sleep start to tug back at her until she abruptly hears the low caw of crows coming from the distance that makes her back straighten in alert.

'Should I follow them or wait?'

Crows symbolize Itachi though, he can't be too far away.

She shakes off her nerves, the hum of a thousand thoughts that this isn't a good idea, leaping forth from the night's shadows.

Her wasps curl out of her from their hiding spots, buzzing around her matching her anxiety, Sakura nodding to them to stay hidden.

"Sting me. In the worse case scenario that I get caught up in a genjutsu, sting me as many times as need be to wake me up out of it." She orders.

She follows the sound of the caws and soon enough the sky is filled with streams of blues and blacks, coming sunrise blotted out until all she sees is the red of a sharingan piercing upon her, freezing her in place.

Her vision starts to swim with fire, flames the color of brilliant reds to black ash dark as ink. Out of the fire Takita's shape forms, gaze tearing into her, fire spewing from his mouth.

"You! You made me see memories I wanted to stay buried! Monster, you're no healer! Why did Lady Tsunade ever trust you to see patients?"

Sakura tries to step back as he approaches only for the ground to mold and cling to her, roots locking her in.

"Trying to runaway?! No, you deserve punishment!" He roars.

Flames spin out from around his arms reaching for her, Sakura feeling her eyes water as smoke fills her lungs.

A jab pierces her shoulder and the fire abruptly melts away, yellow hornet buzzing by her ear. That sting is going to swell she knows, feel akin to a bruise or broken arm.

"Thank you Yui, stay back for now." She whispers.

"Huh, you escaped my genjutsu rather quickly. I was expecting Naruto Uzumaki, though I've seen you before; they call you The Chameleon." Itachi's voice comes from somewhere to her right.

Sakura half-turns to see him leaning against the trees, crimson orbs regarding her.

She licks her lips. 'Chameleon' is only what rogue shinobi and mercenaries call her out of disgust and annoyance. The 'Woman With A Thousand Faces' and disguises used to collect information or in their cases, run them out of smaller villages for using blackmail or rising the prices of medicines and herbs against the poor.

"That's just a nickname some people call me from my traveling." Sakura responds, not fully confirming or denying his statement.

Itachi steps forward and Sakura balls her fists in preparation. She won't win in a true fight with him knowing his mastery at illusions, but she can stall him if need be maybe until reinforcements arrive...

"I'm not here to fight actually. You're Naruto's teammate, Sakura Haruno I believe. You can pass this news on to him that I plan to face Sasuke at the Uchiha Hideout for a final battle."

Sakura blinks in surprise. "What? But, you're sick!"

Itachi arches a brow and Sakura curses herself mentally for spilling that tidbit in haste.

"You know of my illness?" He presses.

Sakura stays silent only to feel the ground beneath her getting hot, leaping back into the trees before a stream of flames hits her.

"I thought you said you weren't trying to start a fight?!" She snaps.

Itachi merely follows her into the woods. "Nobody should know of my illness; answer me."

'Ugh, he's being as stubborn as dealing with Sasuke!'

It must run in the family.

Her wasps form a barrier around her and Sakura quickly puts up the hand seals to make another wall of protection.

"Earth Release: Rock Shelter!"

Mud and dirt rise up around her shrouding her on all sides, crouching low as Itachi unleashes another fireball jutsu. The flames melt at the rock and dirt, only delaying the inevitable.

"I'll answer you, just stop trying to attack me!" Sakura barks out.

Itachi stops then, Sakura gazing at him from the remnants of her fortress carefully.

Jade observes onyx for a long minute before sighing.

"I...I was curious. About everything that led up to the Uchiha Clan's massacre. Being Sasuke Uchiha's red thread hasn't been easy and I wanted to understand him more." She begins.

Itachi's features remain impassive, though a look of curiosity briefly flickers in her eyes that pushes Sakura on.

"It wasn't ethical or right I know, but I broke into the private medical records and found your file, that you have an incurable lung disease. To find out more about the Uchiha Clan Massacre, I probed the mind of one of shinobi assigned the 'clean-up' duty for that night. Though his memories were sealed, I used a member of the Yamanaka clan to break them open." Sakura finishes.

To her surprise, Itachi smiles faintly.

"You really must be Sasuke's red thread to go through so much trouble to find out about him and our clan's history. I'm sure my little brother hasn't made being his match easy for you, though I'm glad he has someone who will go to such lengths for him."

Sakura bristles, feels her cheeks redden.

In another life perhaps Sasuke could've introduced her to his older brother in a more casual way than meeting in a forest where he's tried to actively burn her and messed with her mind.

"Ah, Sasuke doesn't actually seem to care that I'm his red thread match! He wanted a Heartbreaker Woman to tear our thread when we were 13 and he's had Orochimaru constantly dampen it's effects with poison and other chemicals to keep me from tracking him after he defected from the village." Sakura voices.

The grin slips from Itachi's face, nodding.

"Sasuke. He won't be satisfied until we have this fight. He's been stubborn and gung-ho to get my attention since he was a child and I carried him around on my shoulders, always wanting to get out of my shadow and have Father see him properly. Tell me, does he know of my illness and the truth about that night?"

Sakura nods and Itachi's expression turns thoughtful as he watches the sunrise's approach. It will change the dynamics of their battle, but the end result will still be the same.

He'll be dead.

"You'll die if you fight each other. I know that much from having watched your way of attacking, the way your breathing pattern changes after unleashing a blaze of fire. Why did you put Sasuke through such mental anguish?! Why did you join the Akatsuki? Weren't their other ways to spy for Konoha?" Sakura voices, questions rising to a pitch bouncing off the trees.

Itachi peers back to Sakura again, shifting his plans around.

"I have my reasons for doing everything and what's coming is my punishment for killing my clan. It's a fitting death to die by my sibling's hands."

He steps forward then and Sakura clenches her teeth prepared for another genjutsu only for Itachi to pick up her hands and drop something hurriedly into them.

"Once I die, please be there for Sasuke to help him move on, to not seek revenge against Konoha. I made my choices in the hopes of not creating more bloodshed, more wars, though perhaps that was foolish of me knowing war and death is all I've seen growing up..."

The trees shuffle around them, wasps recognizing the scent of her comrades coming.

"This is goodbye Sakura; I'm glad I got to meet Sasuke's red thread before my death." Itachi voices as his body starts to disperse into crows.

"Wait-!" Sakura cries out, though his clone fully dissipates back into the wind and Sakura finally takes a look at what he left her.

'A crow's feather?'


Naruto & Hinata

"Someone's at your door Naruto." Hinata mentions drowsily.

The knocking comes again, sharper than before that whoever it is isn't going to go away so easily.

She peeks one eye open taking in streams of gold and pink light coming in through his blinds.

Morning.

At some point she had managed to get Naruto to bed, layed down beside him as his sobs turned into hiccups and then silence as sleep overtook him. It's strange such a moment was only hours ago when it felt like minutes.

Naruto turns over in his bedsheets, hugs Hinata close again.

"They'll go away eventually." He grunts out, lips pressing at her cheek to go back to sleep.

Another series of louder knocks at his door comes a second later, Hinata peeking over his shoulder with her byakugan. Her stomach twists hoping it isn't her Father, already having pushed the limits of his patience.

'Oh, it's Shikamaru?'

"It's Shikamaru and...I believe one of Master Jiraiya's toads?" Hinata mentions.

Naruto opens his eyes then, ocean blue of his eyes still dark with sleep and upset. Slowly, Hinata shifts them to both sit up, Naruto rubbing away grit from his eyes with a yawn.

Reluctantly, he moves to stand, untangles himself from his blankets.

"I'm going to shower y'know." He slurs out.

Hinata waits until she hears the beginning of water running before moving to get the door, opening it to find Shikamaru half-turned away, midway about to knock again.

"Geez, about time Naruto! You know how troublesome it is for me to get up early, on top of Fukasaku here said you were home-"

He stops himself when he sees Hinata's nervous smile, Fukasaku blinking in confusion.

"Oi, do we have the right door Shikamaru? Here you were knocking away disturbing this poor women's sleep!" Fukasaku questions.

Shikamaru reddens, retracts his hand quickly back to his side. Hinata shuffles her feet, realizes she should've better smoothed out her hair, the wrinkles upon her pajamas as she recalls Naruto placed his jacket over her when she shivered in the midst of the night.

"Err, this is the right place." Shikamaru coughs out.

Hinata feels her own face heat, steps aside to let the pair in.

"Yes, sorry it took us awhile to answer! Naruto is in the shower and I'll go get changed once he's done! Ah, and get some tea started too!"

Her words nearly tumble over each other, knowing the awkward silence coming wondering why she's here and not back at the Hyuga compound.

Fukasaku takes their embarrassment in stride, laughing as he hops off of Shikamaru's shoulder to sit at what is considered Naruto's main living room table.

"Ah, no need to be flustered you two! Ma and I know all about red threads and the desire to be close to them in times of need! You know we had to hear all the stories little Jiraiya would tell us about woman with and without red threads he got entangled with on his journeys?!"

Shikamaru clears his throat, nodding and definitely not wanting to go into such stories right now.

"Right, of course. Well, I suppose it makes sense you're hear in that case Hinata. If Temari would cross the deserts of Suna into the forests of Konoha to see me when Asuma-sensei died, then I know you were going to do the same for Naruto being here in the same village."

Hinata smiles, nodding as she pours out two cups of green tea. She even manages to find some flies hanging near Naruto's outside garden that Fukasaku delights in.

"I can guess why you've come, regarding Jiraiya's last words?" She voices as she settles herself opposite of them.

Shikamaru nods, removing an envelop from his pocket.

"I know...it's a rough time for Naruto right now, but both he and Lady Tsunade are the last people to hear Jiraiya's information regarding Pain or aka Nagato I believe. We need to know what exactly he said to him and see if it corroborates with what Jiraiya told Madam Fifth as well that his true body isn't among the 6 people he uses." He explains.

Hinata looks over the photos of a series of numbers followed by pictures of men she doesn't recognize.

"The men are people we think match the bodies Nagato uses. Little Jiraiya met many people on his journeys and he mentioned these match the ones of each Pain." Fukasaku describes.

"The code I think comes from Master Jiraiya's series of Make Out Paradise. Shiho and the other codebreakers believe the numbers are the coordinates to where Nagato's true location is, but we aren't 100% sure as Jiraiya's kanji is hard to read. Even asking people who read his novels like Kakashi-sensei aren't certain." Shikamaru adds in.

Hinata hums thoughtfully. Naruto's read to her certain scenes from Jiraiya's infamous novels (or really just wanted them to act out the love scenes), though most of the time he'd gotten bored of slogging through all the details to get to said scenes that he'd move on to a new topic.

"Pervy-Sage has or I guess had a distinct way he wrote certain characters when writing. I used to do some of his editing for his manuscripts when he got bored of reading his stuff over and over." Naruto remarks from behind them.

He situates himself beside Hinata, half-leaning on her.

Shikamaru nods at Naruto in greeting, sure he'll topple down if Hinata moves an inch, sighing at his despondent gaze back.

"Maybe we should all get some fresh air?" He suggests.

Fukasaku readily nods, hopping to Naruto's windowsill to open his blinds further. "Agreed! It's too a nice day out after all!"

Naruto groans his disapproval, though moves back from Hinata to allow her to get ready and changed.

"Where are we even going y'know? I don't feel like Ichiraku's or Yakiniku Q barbeque today if that's where we're heading." He grumbles.

Shikamaru blinks in surprise that Naruto is turning down ramen, shaking his head with a light chuckle.

"Oi, you're making me sound like a ray of sunshine when it's normally you who has to cheer me up at doing troublesome tasks!"

Hinata giggles, grabs Naruto's hand squeezing it until he returns the gesture. "I think I have a hunch on where we're going."

And to her relief, Naruto's curiosity perks him up on wanting to know where Shikamaru is leading them. They stop outside Konoha's hospital and Hinata instantly feels Naruto's mood start to dampen again until he sees the woman walking out.

"Kurenai-sensei, it's good to see you!" Hinata calls out.

Kurenai startles, warm smile etching her lips seeing her student approach. "Ah, out for a walk with Naruto? I'm glad to see you're both doing well!"

'I heard rumors her Father was trying to separate her red thread from Naruto, seems they were unfounded.' She beams, gazing between them both.

Naruto looks her over, utterly confused.

"You're pregnant...right? Not suddenly fat?" He states bluntly earning him a jab to both sides of his ribs via Hinata and Shikamaru.

"Ouch! I was asking to be sure, y'know!" Naruto cries while Shikamaru rolls his eyes.

Kurenai simply laughs, taking his questions in stride. Mirai has grown fast over the last couple of weeks and most of her former colleagues and family have been surprised as well to see how much weight she's put on moving into her second trimester.

Scarlet orbs fall upon Shikamaru, softening. "You don't need to keep checking up on me for all my appointments. I'm sure Lady Tsunade is keeping you busy with so many other tasks. Ah, I guess you miss those carefree days playing shogi with Asuma?" She smiles, gazing up to clear sky.

Shikamaru follow her gaze, leaves dancing in the wind blowing towards the mountains.

"Yes and no. I promised Asuma-sensei I would continue to watch over you and the baby. I'll even be her sensei once she comes of age. Besides, I wanted Naruto and Hinata to see you as well."

Kurenai's grin widens, blinks back tears forming in her eyes with a nod. "Thank you for checking in on us as usual; I'm sure Asuma is watching over us all as well."

Shikamaru waits until she's walked far enough away before speaking again.

"I know the sorrow Naruto, you know I do of losing a loved one. Though now it's our generation's turn to take up the mantle of being the 'sensei' and adults for Kurenai-sensei's future child and our own future children."

Naruto can't help but smirk. "Oh, so that means you and Temari are a real couple then! Red thread or not, y'know?!"

Shikamaru frowns, that's all Naruto got out of his mini speech?

"We're-" He stops himself, Naruto will use anything he says next as fuel for teasing him the next time Temari is back in the village.

"Complicated? Troublesome?" Hinata can't help but join in the teasing making Naruto proudly grin.

'Oh, to be young!' Fukasaku merely chuckles.

"Ugh, this isn't just about me! Anyways, let's head back to your place or the library to review what notes we have regarding Jiraiya." Shikamaru switches gears.

Naruto shifts, expression turning solemn again. He glances over to Hinata then Fukasaku, knowing what he must do next. "I want to head to Mount Myōboku to complete my sage training."

Fukasaku nods, leaping to his shoulder.

"Of course! We'll head there right away as soon as you're ready!"


Sasuke & Itachi

"I met with your red thread, well at least a clone of mine did." Itachi begins.

He takes in what he can of Sasuke's haggard appearance, ash and blood marring his pale skin. There'd been reports of an explosion or earthquake in the forests to the east and he wonders briefly if Sasuke was the cause of that or if it was Deidara angry enough that his 'art' was ignored once again...

'Perhaps he finally did something drastic with those clay pieces he gushes over.' Itachi muses.

Sasuke clicks his tongue, regards him with that same look of malice Deidara used to send him during Akatsuki meetings.

It's the last thing he expected Itachi to greet him with.

Sasuke shrugs, feigns indifference that Sakura crossed paths with him first.

"And why should I care?" He scoffs.

Itachi smirks. "It bothers you that I talked to her, doesn't it? You've always been terrible at hiding your true emotions little brother."

'No, it bothers me that Sakura learns things about you before I even do!' His scowl deepens.

"You're lucky to have her Sasuke. My own red thread died by my hand..." Itachi trails off.

"Tell me, is what Sakura told me true?" Sasuke starts, ignoring his comments.

Itachi straightens his posture off his chair and as usual Sasuke can't read what's running through his older sibling's mind.

"Yes, what she told you regarding my illness and our clan is true." He finally says after a moment.

Sasuke studies him, reviews his surroundings if this is a genjutsu or lie. Nothing seems out of the ordinary across the landscape, trees and grass swaying in the light breeze.

And slowly but surely, his chest starts to tighten when realizing the file Sakura gave him, all they discussed that night was true.

Everything since that night of the massacre, all his goals for vengeance have been based off of a lie...

His heart sinks into his gut, flames igniting and extinguishing at once around him.

"Why?" Sasuke whispers.

Itachi shrugs, stepping forward.

"You know why little brother. When it came down to either the clan or the village, I chose the village. The coup would've just led to more death, spilled blood, endless fighting and I didn't want that."

Anger claws it's way back up hearing that, so it's Konoha's fault.

His revenge has been misdirected all along.

Konoha should've been his target.

His briefly thinks of Sakura and their late night encounters he can't bring himself to fully regret or stop thinking about, his old rivalry and arguments with Naruto while Kakashi-sensei watched with feigned annoyance before burying them once again, memories be damned.

The village has to pay.

Itachi studies Sasuke's renewed look and sighs.

"Don't blame the Leaf village, this was before your time-"

"And why shouldn't I?! They forced you to make this choice! Danzo, Lord Third, and anyone else that knew about this!" Sasuke snaps.

Itachi cracks his knuckles then in preparation.

"You don't have the strength to take on Konoha and I'll prove it to you here and now."

He rushes forward then, eyes spinning to crimson.

"There's other things you should know about our clan Sasuke, especially when it comes to the sharingan and it's many different abilities. That fateful night I had help from another, a man who called himself Madara Uchiha; we both possess the Mangekyō sharingan. While it's stronger than the base form, it has a major drawback of chakra drainage and eventual blindness."

Sasuke trades him blow for blow, Itachi pinning him in place, fingers moving forward piercing and digging at his eyes.

"I'll rip out your eyes here and now Sasuke; give up."

Sasuke bites hard on his lip until he tastes blood, breaking the Tsukuyomi while taking in a deep breath.

"Fire release: Great Fireball!"

The ball of flames clashes with Itachi's own, an explosion of smoke and fire crashing against them both.

Blazes nick at his arms, melt at his very flesh, leaping back preparing his secondary attack. Itachi dodges his second fireball, Amaterasu burning out his flames until they sputter out completely engulfing him in black.

Itachi walks forward towards Sasuke's body, only to see an empty shell.

He half-turns to see Sasuke behind him now, another surge of fire coming.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"

Sasuke watches as Itachi's figure disappears into the head of the beast's flames, entrapped now for his next move to make a direct hit.

The air has become charged with heat, lightning blooming across the sky at the coming thunderstorm.

'Perfect. I'll prove here and now that I've surpassed you in strength Itachi!'

"Kirin!"

Lightning pierces straight down upon Itachi's body; a direct hit.

But as the smog clears he sees Itachi is still standing, body wrapped in a deep red armor. Another feature of the Mangekyō he realizes, nothing his fire or lightning can break through.

Susanoo.

The mass of chakra draws forth it's sword, Sasuke's curse seal throbbing drawing out a flurry of white snakes.

"You will no longer have anymore influence over Sasuke." Itachi announces, sword of Totsuka striking before Orochimaru can escape.

Sasuke merely watches in a daze, exhausted and depleted now of chakra. Is Itachi even truly sick? Sakura said he had pulmonary fibrosis, though from his current standpoint it appears Itachi hasn't even broken a sweat.

"Are you finished now little brother?" He questions.

Sasuke stiffens, looks back up at Itachi properly.

It's only then he sees the blood dripping from his smiling lips, the mini puddle of red forming at his feet. His pure dark eyes have taken on a cloudy sheen, ready and observing for his next move.

"You're going blind." He utters instead and Itachi merely nods, breath rattling. Even at a disadvantage being ill, Itachi is still stronger than him, has been holding back this whole time out of love for him he shouldn't still have.

A coil in his chest snaps.

Sasuke walks forward to him instead, Itachi's Susanoo dissipating.

And it's then Itachi asks the one question he's been struggling with since this whole battle began.

"Sasuke. Do you want to keep fighting?"


Hinata

"You can't just live off of ramen Naruto!" Hinata mentions, sighing at the backpack he's filled with just instant cups of chicken, beef, and pork to-go ramen.

"Don't worry Hinata, we have plenty of caterpillars, worms, flies, maybe even beetle soup that Ma will cook up for us once we get to Mount Myōboku!" Fukasaku assures her. Naruto should be packing lightly in his opinion.

Naruto's face takes on a greenish hue. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of, y'know!"

Hinata giggles, double checks all his bags before nodding.

"You look all set to me. Stay safe, the both of you!"

Fukasaku nods, Naruto guiding Hinata away around the corner out of his sight.

"If...If Nagato attacks the village before I get back; hide. He'll go after you first being my red thread and I don't know what I would do if you got injured, died-"

Hinata holds up a finger to his lips.

"I won't do anything drastic, I promise."

Though she can't imagine what she'll do if Naruto is the one to be injured, she can't picture herself just sitting still either...

"I'll be back soon." Naruto's assures, breath warm on her lips.

She leans up on her tiptoes into his kiss, deepens it allowing the heat pooling in her chest to spread out like a flame.

Naruto pulls back slowly from her, grinning pressing one last kiss to her head. She listens to the thumping of his heartbeat, fast as pounding drum and butterflies swarm her chest not wanting him to go just yet.

"Be safe." She repeats as Naruto squeezes her close, slowly pulling back.

Naruto beams, gazes back over to Fukasaku.

"Alright, I'm ready now Gramps toad!"

They depart in a puff of clouds and wearily Hinata realizes she has to head out now too.

Back to the manor.

Hiashi is waiting for her in the garden, pearl orbs steeled with resolve.

"Hinata, we must talk about your red thread and Naruto. I'm putting a stop to it now that there's the high chance of the village being attacked by this Pain fellow from Lady Tsunade's update to all clan leaders."

Hinata draws in a breath at them about to go into their same argument, frowning as he unfurls a scroll in his lap.

A white light shoots forth from the scrolls, a series of chains appearing wrapping around her thread.

'What in the world? It's locking up my thread?!'

All at once her body starts to throb, numbing sensation rushing down to her toes. She attempts to look for her thread only to see it it's once vibrant red turning to black, thinning and spinning apart piece by piece along her finger.

Hinata turns to look back at Hiashi, vision swimming.

"W-What did you just do Father?!" She tries to shout, but her voice only comes out in a feeble hiss.

Her chest burns, bile skimming her tongue, gazing to her red thread again in panic seeing it continue to darken and tear before her very eyes.

What's left is barely visible, color now resembling ink; ash.

"Shh, I know it hurts, but this is for the best. Now that your thread is locked it will cause you physical pain to even get near Naruto, let alone seek him out any longer." Hiashi affirms.

He hovers above her, patting her back to keep her comfortable through the waves of pain. Hinata weakly tries to push him away and his opalescent eyes soften that his attempts to calm her aren't working.

"No more Hinata; it's too dangerous to spend anymore time around Naruto." He advises.

And just before she slips into total darkness she hears his final words on the matter, the surety in his voice.

"I'm keeping you safe."

-x-


A/N: I think a good alternative title for this chapter rather as well be: 'Aaaaah! Shit's hitting the fan, someone help!' If you keep up with Boruto's manga shit's hitting the fan there too with its latest's chapter's twist! Those are some of things I thought about while writing this chapter out lol. Now with Hinata's red thread temporarily sealed and Hiashi in overprotective Dad mode, I'm sure everyone is wondering how that will affect the big Pain fight scene, so stay tuned for that!

Also, almost to 200 reviews, 300 favorites, and 400 follows! Hopefully we can reach all those milestones soon!

Let me know your thoughts as always!

Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!