Chapter 24: A Lotus Flower

"Love

Has a way of wilting

Or blossoming

At the strangest,

Most unpredictable hour.

This is how love is,

An uncontrollable beast

In the form of a flower."

― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem


Naruto

Anger makes him forget.

He has nothing left to lose with Hinata gone, he's truly alone now…

Pain gets blown back from his roar, ground leveling and cracking beneath them as his recedes deeper and deeper into the darkness of his seal. The fox's voice grows louder, beckons him to his cell.

"Break my seal Naruto. I'll destroy everything the world has taken from you."

Naruto opens his eyes to find himself in his mindscape, clenching his teeth. The water ripples and slushes under his feet, boils where his fingers brush.

Heat encompasses him, he wounds his fists at his sides, nails digging into his flesh.

"Is that...really what I should do?" Naruto questions aloud.

"Your red thread is dead, don't forget. There's nobody else left in the world that loves you or cares about you. I'll end all your suffering Naruto. I'll kill and ravage the world that caused you all this pain." The fox promises.

Pain? It's what Nagato calls himself and exactly what he's done to him.

The fox calls for him to come closer once more, Naruto shifting to stand slowly.

"That's it Naruto; release me from my cage. Give into destruction."

Naruto makes the slow march up to his cell, is guided upwards by a surge of water to his seal; the final barrier.

'This is it. I know I promised Hinata not to give in, but there's no point anymore.'

His heart pounds in his ears, stomach lurching reaching a hand forward...

"Wait!" A new voice calls out, shoves him away from the seal backwards into the water.

Naruto sits up slowly as the man helps him up, takes in features so similar to his own. Blue eyes soften in relief he made it in time, blond hair damp from their splash. He's seen his face from Pervy-Sage's old photos, even managed to wrangle a few stories from him about Minato's time at the Academy and as an instructor out of Jiraiya before he inevitably got distracted by a woman or left for a bar within the Red Light District.

"Dad?" He whispers.

Minato nods, looks him up and down taking him in.

"You've grown so much. I'm sure Kushina would call us twins! Ah, well of course you have! Considering it's been, what at least 15, no maybe 16 years since the Nine Tails Attack." He regards.

Naruto just looks at him silently, the fox's voice booming once more.

"Minato, stop interfering! There's nothing you can say or do to help Naruto now!"

His eyes meet back with Naruto's, teeth bared, crimson orbs glaring into Naruto's shifting blue.

He's losing him, all because of this man getting in his way once again.

"Ignore him Naruto! Have you forgotten that he's already dead? Gone like your red thread and the rest of your loved ones?" He pursues.

Minato sighs, snaps his fingers silencing the fox. He gestures for Naruto to follow him somewhere quieter. He squirms at Naruto's continued blank stare, searches for something, anything to say to fill the growing void of silence between them.

"Ah, I'm glad you paid attention during Jiraiya's brief spells of discussing your family history! I've been watching what's been going on and know of Master Jiraiya's passing, Pain or aka Nagato's attack on the village." He continues.

Naruto stops then, azure eyes wide; haunted.

And then he balls up his hands, punches Minato straight in stomach.

'Good, he can at least feel pain here.' Naruto considers seeing his grimace, hates how tears build in his eyes.

"Why would you put the Nine Tails in your own son?! Until I was 13, I had to live with the belief most everyone in the village hated me or pretended I didn't exist, that I would never be loved or even have proper friends." He snaps.

Minato straightens slowly, knows he deserves his mistrust, this anger that's brewed in him for years...

"I know there's nothing I or even your Mother could say that can make up for not being there for you during those endless nights, the times you had to walk home alone from the Academy or were scorned by the shopkeepers." He begins.

He squeezes a hand to Naruto's shoulder, smiles forlornly.

"We always believed though you could withstand being a jinchuriki, would be strong enough to look past the hate and change people's minds about your strength and your caring attitude. You haven't made it easy though, from what I saw you even enjoyed pulling pranks on Master Jiraiya!"

Naruto feels a slow smile etch his lips, falling as soon as he thinks again of Hinata.

"My red thread, Hinata. She took a direct stab to the chest from Pain and I don't think she survived." He rasps out.

Not only that, he's calmly taken his sensei from him, everyday civilians just caught in the crosshairs of his path of destruction...

Minato ruffles his hair regaining his attention, Naruto following his gaze to his thread. His eyes widen a fraction in wonder and Minato stifles a laugh at seeing his pure shock, the way sadness instantly dissipates from his eyes.

"Kushina, are you seeing this? Despite everything, our son has a red thread!'

While he doesn't recognize the name 'Hinata', Kushina will probably know once he returns back to the Afterlife. She and Mikoto usually kept track of all of their friend's pregnancies and due dates within the village back then...

And Naruto's red thread is faint, but still there.

Minato squeezes him close, knows his time is nearly up.

"I'm going to repair the damage done to your seal; please hear me out after that." He urges.

Naruto gazes at him uncertainly pushing Minato go on.

"It will be a true Father to Son talk." He assures him, glad when he's able to see a small grin rise to his face in trusting him.

A dozen topics come to mind to ask on how he's been eating, if he's getting enough sleep at night. Kushina would especially probably want to know if he's treating his red thread right as a proper gentleman. It's all things in another life he could've shared and given him advice on from birth to school-age and beyond. However, now that Naruto's on the cusp of adulthood he'll stick to the main points of how he should deal with Nagato, stopping this endless cycle of hate and revenge that's encased all the nations for years now.

And most of all help him to continue the effort of Master Jiraiya to bring peace to the shinobi world even if not exactly as any of them envisioned.

He starts with the one topic that will relax Naruto's restlessly pounding heart, eases him enough into finally returning his hug.

"I know you don't have all the answers you want right now Naruto, but at least know this: I'm sure your red thread is still alive."


Sakura

"Cha, I said stay down; damn it!"

The Human Path's face bends in from her punch, muscle and bone tearing and cracking respectively from the hit. There isn't much it can seem to do in way of physical attacks, body slumping and going still as Sakura jabs another fist into it's chest.

'It's just a mess of those wires and black transceiver rods. No real working heart or lungs.' She frowns as she takes in the tangle of muscles and bone split open to put in place those eerie black rods.

She studies it's purple ringed eyes for a long moment before standing up from the body, looks over to her wasps hovering near Shizune's body.

Sakura feels her stomach drop taking in the gray pallor of her skin, eyes still wide in shock just as her soul was sucked out. Her hand brushes at her cold arms, hears a medical nin calling out if there's any survivors or staff in the area still in need of rescue.

"Hello? Anyone here left requiring evacuation?!"

Their footsteps get closer, crackle over broken glass and split wood.

"Go out and check." She orders her oldest wasps on hand, Yoshiro and Rikichi. The twin yellow jackets fly out into the hall, stay low under the film of smoke.

They return a moment later confirming the man's identity as Kyosuke, one of the larger orderlies she's seen in passing assisting with transporting patients between X-rays, CT's and PET scans.

"Over here! I need you to help preserve Shizune's body!" Sakura yells out, Kyosuke rushing over. His face takes on a greenish hue realizing Shizune's currently a corpse, gapes at the Human Path's desecrated body behind her.

"Hurry, there's no time! Take her the triage area where Lady Katsuyu and the others are for preservation. I don't want her organs shutting down any more than they have!" Sakura demands, Kyosuke straightening quickly with a nod accepting her body.

"W-Where are you off to?" He asks carefully as Sakura takes Shizune's medical bag. While he knows from rumors and eavesdropping on various doctors and surgeons conversations Sakura has a high chance of becoming medical director of the hospital one day, for now she's still but a teenager.

Sakura nods in the direction of where the first earthquakes started, where the rumbles continue.

"The main battlefield of course! I'm sure there's more people injured and need attending to there as well!"

She rushes back outside before he can argue against it back into billows of smog and haze. Konoha is layered in thick shrouds of browns and grays, gasping at the heat of a dark chakra pouring out of the crater's main area.

She passes familiar faces as she gets closer, halting when she sees Neji's grim look, byakugan active, hands moving urgently over a figure.

'Hinata?!'

"Everyone, we're dividing up again! Team A configure with the wasps I sent out earlier to the fields and triage areas to give me an update; aid all nurses and doctors with any tissue injuries, burns, and broken limbs! Team B along with Yoshiro and Rikichi, come with me to aid Hinata!" Sakura commands, rushing forward.

The swarm splits in two, a sea of black amid the gray.

Neji moves aside for her, gives her a quick update that Hinata went to the epicenter to confront Pain, the resulting stab wound to her chest and Naruto immediately entering his Tailed Beast state.

'Shit. Shit. Shit! Focus, Sakura! The injury isn't actually as deep as it looks.' She concentrates on preventing infection while closing up her wound, Yoshiro removing gauze from Shizune's bag while Rikichi helps her to clean the wound.

Her hands brush at Hinata's pulse, relieved to hear a slow, but steady beat beneath her fingertips.

However, she still needs proper medical care, violet hair splayed out around her face, cheeks pale with sweat.

"Oh Hinata, Naruto's going to give me such a headache once this is all said and done! Love really does make us do crazy things; red thread or not, huh?! I know how powerful the effect can be, given into it too many times when it came to Sasuke." Sakura laughs softly to herself, voice trailing off into a whisper.

Hinata's eyes open slowly, pearl orbs taking in her surroundings.

The sky is dusky up above, ground below warm and trembling.

"Sakura? Ah, Naruto! He transformed-" She shifts her body up too fast, wound reopening creating a bloom of crimson against her jacket.

Sakura forces Hinata to relax hurriedly, shushes her to stay calm.

"I know, I know! But you can't move now! You're injured!" Sakura urges, quietly orders Yoshiro to take out the vial of morphine when Hinata continues to resist her attempts.

"Don't inject me; I don't want any pain medicine right now!" Hinata hisses, knocking the needle away from Sakura's hand. She allows her muscles to relax, Sakura laying her back down properly.

Hinata clenches her teeth through another wave of burning pain, ripples running down to her toes.

But her eyes remain open staring down into the field, searching for Naruto's body. Sakura puts pressure again on her wound, runs soothing aloe and chamomile cream to the site. She's going to at least need Hinata to take some anti-inflammatories and crushed echinacea she has on hand, her guarded behavior to medicine akin to anger; upset.

"It's gotten quiet." Hinata notes.

Sakura listens, gazes as well to the middle of the battlefield.

Pain has stopped moving.


Kakashi & Gai

"Naruto I'm sure has some final words to discuss with you as well." Kakashi remarks, lightning crackling through his hands at ready.

The man behind all the Paths of Pains is little more than a skeleton, can't even properly walk or move without the use of machines.

Nagato coughs up a spray of blood, hums lowly his agreement.

The Asura Path sits crumpled in pieces near his feet, it's legs and arms mangled beyond repair. He stares into the man's vacant eyes and grin, once vibrant with life. He probably never imagined his corpse would be taken for such purposes, used up like a toy he can no longer play with.

And now he's down to buy two Paths left, his main Deva along with the Preta.

Probably not enough to capture the Nine Tails.

"I'm...I'm sure he does. Are you planning to wait for his arrival?" He manages to rasp out.

"Nagato, don't talk anymore; please!" Konan cries out, Gai silences her with a swift punch to her chest. Nagato stills at the sight of her slumping form, Shinra Tensei activating without a second thought. The force pushes Gai from her before he can do any further harm, eyes wild with rage.

"Gai!" Kakashi calls out, strength enough to slam him into steel opposite them. Gai gives him a thumbs up, hops back to his feet.

"Don't worry about me Kakashi! That barely hurt!" Gai assures him, straightening out his shoulders.

Kakashi looks between him and Nagato, weary despite his cheerful grin.

'If you say so.' He decides, but he'll have Sakura or Lady Tsunade check his back and head once they return to Konoha.

"Enough! Neither of you are stopping my plans!" Nagato declares, ignoring the pain surging through his chest from his excessive use of chakra.

'The Chibaku Tensei is failing.' Nagato grits his teeth, tastes blood in the back of his throat as Naruto's beast form pushes and breaks out of his sphere. Does the Nine Tails truly possess that much power? Or has Naruto somehow managed to gain control over the beast on top of his Sage mode?

If he can't seal Naruto soon, everything will be for naught.

'Should I call the remaining Paths back here? No, then that will put Konoha even more on the offensive than they already currently are. Even if I did, I only have the main Deva Path and Preta Path remaining. It seems the Human Path was destroyed somewhere near the hospital while the Naraka, Animal and Asura paths have long been taken out while I dealt with Kakashi and Gai here.' He thinks quickly.

"There's no use in begging you two! You showed no mercy to Master Jiraiya after all, your own teacher at one point!" Gai scoffs, sighs aloud at the sorrow of it all.

Jiraiya. All his secrets truly did get away from him despite killing him...

In a short amount of time he's expended so much chakra and energy already, both he and Konan have.

'I can't give up now; not yet!'

No matter what, he can't let Yahiko's death be vain, can't let all the goals for peace they made altogether years ago fall through just because of one jinchuriki.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

The ground quakes, sinks in before abruptly shooting upwards past the ceiling, a temporary barrier formed between him, Kakashi, and Gai.

It only bides him a few minutes, the pair can crush through earth and stone with ease.

Nagato quickly forces his attention back on Naruto, readies for how he can properly capture him. Through the Deva Path's eyes the Ninth tail doesn't come as the beast calms, reverts back to Naruto's physical form.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The barrage of them are too much for him to capture in another Chibaku Tensei, Preta Path turning to stone in attempting to absorb the senjutsu of the original Naruto.

'No, I can't fend all of them off!'

The Deva Path becomes locked in from all sides, wind billowing up around him. He sees a twisting blade of white coming in too fast from his right to avoid or repel away before it tears into his form.

"Rasenshuriken!"

And Nagato watches as the Deva Path, Yahiko's body falls to ground. It's as if his old friend is dying all over again while he once more is too weak, too far away to stop all their dreams from falling apart. Naruto rips out the black receiver rods to keep his body from moving, glare cold and piercing as he pulls out the final receiver.

"Tell me where you are; now." He orders.

"No, this changes nothing. I will still find a way to capture and drag you back to our base, force the Nine Tails out of you." Nagato refuses.

Naruto says nothing for a fleeting second before turning the rod on himself, jabbing it straight into the palm of his hand.

His stare digs into him, breath catching in his throat seeing the viciousness swirling in it.

The promise of his arrival.

'No, he won't kill me; can't kill me. It would only prove my point regarding this unending cycle of hate and revenge that not even he could overcome no matter Master Jiraiya's teachings.' Nagato assures himself.

But then he recalls Naruto's expression just before he transformed into his Tailed Beast state, the look of pure devastation as he stabbed into his red thread without care.

"…This isn't just about Jiraiya's death." He realizes just as he hears Naruto utter two words.

"Found you."


Hinata

Everyone talks over each other as she comes down from another wave of pain.

"How do you feel?" Tenten asks, fingers brushing at her shoulder helping keep her upright.

"I'm alright, thanks to Sakura." Hinata manages a smile, nods thankfully to Sakura who squeezes her hand to take it easy. She's still been refusing her offers for stronger pain medicine, only taking down a bitter herbal tonic at her true look of worry.

'I'm not ready yet Sakura. Not after all the powerful narcotics Father has drugged me with and attempted to give me even before coming here.' She can admit to herself, knows Sakura has enough problems on her plate for her to bring up her family issues.

"Hinata, while I admire such a youthful action boldly jumping into danger like that, it was also crazy of you to go down there risking death! Naruto would've been highly displeased at such behavior had he been in the right mindset!" Lee commends and scolds her all at once.

"Please give Hinata some breathing space." Sakura sighs before nodding at her work. Hinata will need a proper check up once the hospital is up and running again, maybe even an overnight stay in the observation unit just to make sure she has no complications down the line from this ordeal.

Neji gently has Tenten take Lee aside to have him squawk/check-in on their other injured classmates, Choji looking like he could use his enthusiasm.

Neji gives her a relieved smile, shaking his head. "You can't blame that action all on being Naruto's red thread, you really are reckless when it comes to him."

Hinata shrugs, can't bring herself to apologize or even feel bad for rushing in despite knowing the futility of her facing Pain. Though she still has the lingering throb of pain at her thread being partially sealed, it was worth telling Naruto she loves him all the same.

She glances to the side, sees Naruto peering towards her, feels her stomach flip as the crowd parts allowing him to get closer.

Sakura grins, moves to stand and stretch.

"I'll let you two chat, but don't forget what I said. I want a proper checkup with you in a week or two max to make sure that wound is healing up nicely." She instructs, Hinata nodding her agreement.

Naruto's breath is warm against her cheek, hugging her close. His voice is laden with both relief and desire, fingers tickling along her back and neck.

"You're alive."

Hinata leans her head against his neck, nodding.

"I am."

Katsuyu readjusts herself on Naruto's shoulder.

"Are you planning to go to the true body now? It would be best to bring reinforcements-"

"No, I want to talk and face him alone." Naruto cuts her off, nods in Shikamaru's direction. He knows his Father Shikaku along with Inoichi have been working endlessly without sleep on trying to pin down Nagato's exact location all while defending the village.

Shikamaru nods back, says something to his Dad he's too far away to hear, Shikaku's reluctant sigh of understanding as he turns to update the others.

Naruto gazes back to Hinata, cups her cheeks gently.

"I'm going to go to Nagato now, wait for me back at my apartment?"

Hinata's face grows hot, sure Naruto can feel the rising heat along the tips of his fingers at his small smirk.

"Okay, be safe."

She stands slowly as Naruto departs for the woods towards the southwest, her own mind made up.

"Big Sis, you're okay! I heard from Ko, Neji, and some of the other clansmen you were severely wounded facing Pain! What did you say to him once you were in his face? Did you spit at him for destroying our village?!" Hanabi peppers her with questions, wipes at tears of relief pricking her eyes to see her return.

Hinata laughs gently, restrains a wince as Hanabi presses into her injured side. "I'm alright, sorry for making you and everyone else worry. Ah, where's Father at?"

Hanabi wrinkles her nose with a cross of her arms, huffing. "I thought he was near the epicenter with you and Neji, though he must've apparently left to meet with the other clan leaders on what's going to happen next for repairing the village."

'Good. That will be one less argument or conversation I need to deal with if Father is still thoroughly distracted by all that's going on in the village.' Hinata considers.

She moves for her room, Hanabi's expression turns questioning as Hinata pulls out one of her old suitcases from her closet before hurriedly grabbing at a mix of spring and summer clothes then heading to get her toiletries.

Hanabi watches her for a moment, eyes meeting in understanding before she moves for her shinobi gear and favorite novels. "I'll help you, lets get this done quickly!"

"Where are you going?" A voice thunders from Hinata's door.

Hanabi stiffens, murmurs a damn under her breath.

Hiashi strides into the room, looks between the sisters before white eyes fall upon his eldest.

Ah, she hoped too soon.

Hinata meets his stare for a minute before returning back to packing.

"I'm going to Naruto's, though I sense you know that already."

Hiashi bristles, Hinata's rebellious attitude can't all be just because of his sealing of her red thread. He did it in an effort to prevent her from getting the very wound she now has to her chest, from bleeding out for a boy who will only continue to lead her into danger.

'Why can't she see I was acting in her best interest?' He frowns.

"Hinata, this is unnecessary! You're acting in haste-" Hiashi reaches for her hand only for Hinata to snatch it away, folding at another shirt.

"No, I made a decision to go out to face Pain and to see Naruto despite all you've done Father! I'm going to go temporary live with him. I...I need you to remember that I'm a shinobi too, you tried to cage me in and I can't stay here knowing you felt you had to go to such extreme measures."

"Hinata, I'm sorry! Please, you don't need to do all this-" Hiashi attempts again, Hinata shaking her head as she grabs her bag of soap, toothpaste, and lotion from Hanabi's awaiting hands.

"If I can choose to walk onto the battlefield knowing the risk of death Father, I can choose wear I live as well."


Naruto

'So this is what he looks like.'

The man before him is just skin and bones. His ribs are visible in the thin streams of light he lets in from outside, skin a dusky gray. The only color his emaciated form seems to have is the bright red of his hair, hair that reminds him of his Mom and her long destroyed clan...

'We're more alike than different.' He absently notes.

But it changes nothing.

Kakashi and Gai stand at ready, however he gestures for them to move away back outside to give him privacy.

As Jiraiya's former and last students, he wants to hear Nagato's story.

He steps forward into the darkness, rod shooting straight into his chest as soon as he gets one foot in.

"Heh, don't think I'm not going to try to capture you just because you took out all of my Paths." Nagato mentions, stunned when Naruto is able to keep walking forward, pace becoming faster.

Konan struggles to break out of Gai's knots, watches in horror as Naruto balls up a fist, punch slamming into Nagato's face cracking teeth, blood gushing from both his mouth and nose like a faucet.

"Just so you're aware, that punch was on Hinata's behalf. Otherwise, that's the only attack I'm going to give you." Naruto promises, cracking Nagato's head forcing him to look at him properly.

Nagato's voice is garbled, blood and spit frothing at his mouth. Naruto's eyes are just as malicious as they were earlier, maybe more so now in the dark.

The ripples of his punch ring in his ears, forces his body to be still.

"Kill me. I know that's what you want; revenge for our fallen sensei." Nagato rasps out.

Naruto shakes his head with a click of his tongue, grabs at a clump of his hair twisting it until he grimaces from the pain.

"No. I want to hear your side of things before I come to a decision. How you came to meet Jiraiya and what made you fall so far away from his philosophies. I know at least part of it is due to growing up during the Second Shinobi World War, losing your parents to Konoha shinobi. However, I don't know what triggered your extreme change, was it losing your red thread?"

Nagato chuckles dryly as Naruto releases his head, vision spinning. Not a day has passed that his mind hasn't drifted back to that fateful moment Yahiko chose to die on his blade, Hanzo's delighted sneer of the Akatsuki's leader falling.

"No, if it only were something as simple a lost love. That's a better question for Konan considering her thread match was Yahiko." He sighs.

Naruto arches a brow. "Then talk."

Nagato starts from his youth. Most would probably describe him as shy and with idealistic hopes of one day living in peace with his parents. He would fall asleep dreaming of the day they would no longer worry where they would get their next meal or if the rattles at the window were coming shuriken or kunai.

The latter came first.

And then weeks later near long emptied trash bins, Yahiko found him curled up ready to die and introduced himself along with Konan.

The time they had together with Jiraiya up until building the Akatsuki were in spite of the constant threats of death, his happiest.

"What changed?" Naruto questions.

Nagato scoffs. "It's human nature to desire power; greed. Hanzo couldn't stand the power and strength the Akatsuki was gaining so he had one of his associates kidnap Konan. Put us in an impossible situation so Yahiko made his own choice to sacrifice himself instead."

Naruto listens as Nagato was spurred into a rage at his friend's death, Hanzo's blaze of fire having destroyed his legs causing him the need to use the black receivers in the aftermath, corpses as his way of moving about and operating the Akatsuki into a new era.

"Do you understand now? Peace can only be gained by force, to ensure an end to wars." Nagato pursues.

Naruto removes a book from his jacket in answer, holds it out for him to read.

"This is Pervy-Sage's first book. He always bemoaned the fact that it barely sold any copies and nobody even wanted to go to his book signing, but it's far and way better than his Make Out Paradise series in my opinion, y'know." He starts.

"The character in the book is named 'Naruto' but his ideals are yours, or at least the ones you used to have. He dedicated this book to you while he was writing it during his time in Ame training you all. I understand and even agree with some of your points, but I can't say it's a good decision when it comes to having lasting peace. There would always be a chance years down the line someone could rise up against like you did against Hanzo, ruling through fear isn't the answer. However in my case, I won't kill you for for killing Jiraiya or destroying Konoha." Naruto goes on.

"So what do you intend to do then?" Nagato pressures.

Naruto smiles faintly. "I will travel to all the major shinobi nations and find the most peaceful, non-violent method as much as I can given the situation. Learn from and accept past hate in order to move forward."

Nagato pauses then, for a flash of a moment seeing Yahiko's bright grin again...

'Maybe your dreams didn't die with you Yahiko.'

"Nagato, what are you planning?" Konan hisses in warning, finally able to come to his side as he clasps his hands together.

He eyes Konan silently not to interfere before sending Naruto a final nod.

"It won't be easy, there will be others that come for you and your red thread. Nonetheless, I wish you luck and put my trust for the future in you Naruto Uzumaki."

Kakashi startles as the ground below starts rumbling, a series of lights flickering across the afternoon sky.

"What's going on?! Do you think he's doing some type of final attack?" Gai questions, about to charge back into the alcove only for Kakashi to hold him back. He directs him to watch the scattering of souls as they head back for Konoha, all of the recently deceased.

"No, it's a rebirth."


Naruto & Hinata

"Err, can we take a detour instead of heading back to main area of the village if that's okay?" Naruto asks. While he's happy all those killed by Nagato have returned to life in sacrifice of his own, he just wants a quick moment alone with Hinata first if possible before any victory parties start.

He stifles a yawn, Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei both insisting on taking turns carrying him. (Gai more than Kakashi to make it a competition: "I can carry both of you if you'd like! I have plenty of energy to spare!")

Kakashi glances back to him. "Where to? I don't think the Hyuga manor is taking any guests."

Naruto chuckles, shaking his head. "No, Hinata should be waiting at my apartment. She has a spare key."

Kakashi casts a glance to Gai who shrugs, bemused at the flames of youth probably. It's gotten late, crescent moon brightening the corner of the sky as hues of reds and orange slowly melt into violets and blues.

"I've heard...and this may or may not have anything to do with you, but she's been having problems with her Father." Kakashi begins lightly as they rooftop hop to avoid any familiar faces.

Naruto nods, he's very aware of said issues.

"I can handle it, y'know!" He assures the duo, but first sleep!

They land at his door, Naruto promising he'll make a proper appearance to everyone tomorrow morning.

He's greeted with the smell of ramen or at least ingredients for ramen taking in the array of noodles, chicken broth, spices, soy sauce, and herbs lined up across his table. Hinata shifts up drowsily from his sofa seeing him come in, giggles as he plops down beside her.

In spite of all that's happening in the world with Nagato's death, Naruto curls Hinata into his side, tries to relax his thoughts.

The Akatsuki will gain a new leader eventually, Danzo may or may not have been causing trouble for Granny, and Sasuke is still a rogue shinobi...

And then there's Hinata's Father; Hiashi.

"Welcome back!" Hinata murmurs in his ear taking him out of his worries temporarily and Naruto feels a smile rise up, pulls her in for a light kiss.

"I'm home." He beams back, putting aside his swirling thoughts as he tugs her down back into his sheets, falls asleep against the thrum of her heartbeat.

-x-


And so ends the Pain Arc! Wow, took me forever and I hope it's end didn't feel super rushed! My goal was to blend my own ideas with canon and I hope everyone enjoyed the changes!

In terms of what's next, well...more Sasuke and Sakura along with Hinata's family drama. It's fun reading about the Hiashi hate lol, keep it coming! This chapter was kind of a taste of him starting to truly see things from Hinata's perspective, redemption arc coming! . As for SasuSaku, I know most people don't care! Ha ha, but hopefully their dynamic here so far is at least better than how canon has portrayed them.

This is a hot take, but if Sakura didn't end up with Sasuke or Naruto, who would've you have liked her to be with? Could be Lee, stay single, someone random, but I say Gaara! Now before you say I've lost my mind or need more sleep (nurses sleep odd hours!), I feel like Sasuke and Gaara share some similarities that could've attracted Sakura to Gaara. Sakura maybe in an alternate world made more trips to Suna, say learning about Chiyo's poisons and spending time with the Sand Siblings that it could've worked. Of course that would mean by Boruto's era she would live in Suna and Konoha would lose the world's best medic, but imagine a GaaSaku child! It's just a thought lol.

Let me know your thoughts always!

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