NARUTO IS PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO
"Kyuubi talking"
'Kyuubi thinking'
"Normal speech"
'Characters thinking'
Author's note:
Here you go. Sorry about the wait. Hopefully you like it.
Generation Lost
Chapter 5 : The Good Left Undone
"All because of you,
I haven't slept in so long
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean."
They had been standing in shocked silence for almost a full minute, and Naruto still had a hard time registering Kabuto's words.
"Is that true?" It was Hinata's turn to express her own bewilderment. The older shinobi analyzed their reactions carefully, trying to decide it wasn't a trick.
Naruto shook his head brusquely, reminding himself that the man in front of them was everything but trustworthy.
"You must be out of your mind if you think we will believe you." The blond said hotly.
"You really don't know." Kabuto decided the surprise in their faces was genuine. "Even though it was a month ago."
"A month?" The Uzumaki asked incredulous. "That's bullshit! We should've been told by now."
"That'd be the case if you were in Konoha. But you were undercover and thus out of contact." Kabuto took a hand to his chin while looking at both teens. "You also missed the news on Itachi's death."
"Oh, so not only Orochimaru but Itachi's dead now?" Naruto said sarcastically. "It seems like all of our biggest enemies are dying like flies aren't they? Wouldn't that be dream, Hinata?"
The girl was staring at Kabuto, before answering. "He isn't lying, Naruto-kun."
"What?" The blond looked at her as if she had grown another head. "Don't fool around. He's Orochimaru's favorite. I'm sure he's just talking to stall us and-"
"I've been trained to know when someone's lying." Hinata cut him off. Naruto's words died on his mouth. He wanted to contradict her, but the resolve on her face made him reconsider. He looked back towards Kabuto, who was now smiling.
If Sasuke really did kill Orochimaru, just as Kabuto said, then he would surely go after Itachi next. Which he seemingly did, based on Kabuto's information. Naruto clenched his fist and shook his head. It sounded too good to be true.
His stomach began to fill with excitement. 'If both Orochimaru and Itachi are dead… that means Sasuke has fulfilled the wish that drove him away from the village.' Right now, the young Uchiha would be free of Orochimaru's hold and his revenge vow. It sounded way too good to be true, but if it really was true…
"Let's say I believe you. Let's say Sasuke did kill Orochimaru." Started Naruto.
"And Itachi." Kabuto added helpfully.
"Fine, Orochimaru and Itachi." The blond spat at Kabuto. He steeled his voice, trying not to sound too hopeful. "What is he going to do now?"
There was a pause before Kabuto spoke. "He'll dismantle all of Orochimaru's operations. Once he does that he'll head back to Konoha to ask for forgiveness."
Naruto held his breath as he tried not to show his relief or let his guard down. But even with his internal struggle, he couldn't help to feel a gigantic weight being ripped off his back. His shoulders relaxed, and even his frown diminished. 'I knew it! He had to come around someday. When he had accomplished all his goals the only place he could come back to would be with us.'
Naruto was busy relishing the scenario that had popped in his mind, but Hinata knew better. It didn't take a Hyuuga to know Kabuto was playing with them. Kabuto's eyes locked with hers. "Who should break it down to him?" They seemed to say, as his dark eyes danced with delight.
Hinata glared at the grey-haired shinobi, which only served to make him burst with laughter.
"Oh boy, Naruto-kun. You're still as gullible as ever!" Kabuto called as he clapped a hand in his belly and laughed cruelly. Naruto's small fantasy stopped short as his blue eyes turned to the offending man. "Sasuke was right; You let your feelings take the better of you."
Naruto snarled at the older boy. His fists were shaking with rage. "What?"
The former Konoha-nin grinned. "Tell me Naruto-kun, if you had the power to make even the biggest nations bow before you, would you trade it for the promise of a calm, petty life?"
"What the hell are you saying? What does this have to do with Sasuke?" The hall had become colder. Hinata felt a chill running down her spine, and even Kabuto could feel the dangerous aura starting to form around Naruto. Kabuto straightened up, becoming serious. If he was going to taunt the container for the most powerful bijuu of all, he must be on guard all the time.
"Sasuke-" started Kabuto, extending his hands before him. "-is in a whole different level than you are. You might as well forget about him, just as he has forgotten about you and his life in Konoha. Get away from him and he'll probably spare your life once he's become- ugh!"
Hinata blinked to see that Naruto had disappeared from her side and was now crushing Kabuto's throat in his right hand.
"I'm getting real tired of your shit!" The kyuubi container spat at the struggling Kabuto. There was a visible vein in the Uzumaki's neck as he looked up to Kabuto. The missing-nin's feet were hanging freely in the air. "You're gonna tell me where's Sasuke or I'll rip your head off!"
"You…" Kabuto said with an effort, as his face was becoming blue. "... were always so reckless."
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called. The Uzumaki turned his head to her. "Get away from him!"
The girl was watching Kabuto's hands getting coated in pure chakra. Kabuto took advantage of Naruto's momentary distraction to place his hands on top of Naruto's. As soon as the chakra made contact with the blond's forearms, Naruto's fingers went limp, as well as his hands.
The blond roared with pain. His mouth opened as wide as his face would let him and screamed as pure agony ruled over his two forearms. Just as Kabuto was about to grab Naruto's head in his hands, Hinata threw two knifes that made him back off from the Uzumaki.
Naruto stumbled backwards, until he finally lost focus on his feet and fell to his knees. He was staring at his arms like he had never seen them before. Hinata rushed to his side and fell into her characteristic fighting stand.
"What happened?" She asked, while still looking warily at Kabuto. He was smiling.
"I can't… my hands…" The blond mumbled, his head too focused on the pain. He gritted his teeth as he tried to calm down. "It feels like he cut my hands clean."
Even if Naruto said that, Hinata still didn't understand what the grey-haired man had done to the chuunin.
"You forget that I'm a medic-nin." Kabuto said proudly, holding his chakra-covered hand in front of his face so they could see. "I cut his hands from within, destroying his muscle tissues."
"Don't get close to him, Hinata." Naruto was sweating as he tried not to pass out from the pain. "You fucker." The blond stood shakily back to his feet.
Kabuto chuckled. "Take it easy, Naruto-kun. Better leave this one to the princess here. Not even you can heal that fast."
Naruto's panting cut short. He had forgotten that Orochimaru's pupil was also aware of the Kyuubi. He glared at him darkly.
"How much longer you think you can keep it hidden?" The medic-nin asked with a sly smile. Hinata raised an eyebrow. She was at a loss. "I don't reckon she would take it very well."
"What are you talking about?" She noticed how Naruto and Kabuto were having a staring battle, and right now Naruto seemed like he was both scared and livid at the same time. 'What does he know about Naruto-kun?'
Naruto was very still. He was so focused on what Kabuto was going to do or say that he placed the pain in his hands way back in his mind.
Now Kabuto turned his eyes towards her lilac ones. Naruto didn't even let him open his mouth to say whatever he was going to say. Moving his arms brought agony to him but he was next to the grey-haired man in a millisecond.
He delivered a roundhouse kick to Kabuto's middle, spun on his heel and placed another one in his ear for good measure. The older boy crashed into the wall.
Naruto had expected to break his neck but Kabuto was too tough for that. He shattered four of his ribs, though.
Kabuto staggered to his feet, blood dripping down his lips. "I think you punctured a lung there." He molded green chakra to his right hand and started to heal his ribs. Hinata went ahead before he could heal himself completely, and pressed a chakra point in his right shoulder, rendering his arm useless.
"Tsk, don't be annoying." Kabuto tried to reach her with his other hand, but Hinata backed away rapidly and out of his reach.
"Try to heal that." The girl said firmly, waiting for him to do his next move.
The grey-haired shinobi glared at her. He didn't even try to apply healing chakra to his shoulder; his tenketsu point was positively closed and there was nothing else he could do but wait or have two other people press chakra into it so it could open up again. Most people victims of the Hyuuga's speciality preferred to wait since the pain from opening chakra points often caused fainting.
He looked at both of them warily and begun to worry. Even though Naruto couldn't use his arms, his legs proved to be quite powerful and the pain didn't seem to slow him down. The Hyuuga was a threat by herself, and she was in top shape. Kabuto's fight or flight reflexes were battling internally. 'If I keep fighting I might end up like Kudo, and Sasuke'll kill me if I let them get away knowing our plan.' If only he hadn't ask to handle this mission alone he would've had some help.
The older shinobi wasn't surprised Naruto was the one to make the next move, since he wasn't known for being patient. Kabuto watched as the black -haired Uzumaki bent his knees in preparation.
"Get back, Hinata." Like a spring, the Kyuubi container's knees shot into motion as he charged against the enemy. It was clear he would be using his legs, since his arms fell limp as he moved.
"Do you really think you can just beat me with taijutsu?" Kabuto asked, almost feeling offended. He didn't even needed to block, as Naruto started to get more sluggish with every kick. "You should sit this one out, Naruto-kun." He stepped away from another roundhouse kick, ready to strike him in the chest as the chuunin couldn't block with his hands, when a blast stroke him right in the cheek.
It wasn't enough to bring him down but the blasts didn't stop. They hit him every time Naruto swung his feet at him. He couldn't block even if he wanted to. Naruto was creating wind gusts with every motion of his legs and they were getting stronger.
Hinata could see the chakra imbedded in the attack. Naruto was expelling chakra from his feet through an opening in the air current created by the force in his kicks. Her mouth hung open at his skill to control chakra even without using hand signs.
'If only we weren't underground I'd have enough air to cut him to bits.' Naruto clenched his teeth. Every kick was a harsh reminder that his hands were severed and bleeding internally. If Sakura were here she'd surely tell him not to move for fear of tearing any more muscles. 'This'll be the last one. I can't stand it anymore.' He yelled as he applied his remaining energy to the flying kick. This time the attack was almost visible; the current went directly to Kabuto's middle and knocked the air out of his lungs.
Strangely enough, Kabuto expelled more than just air. A thin but visible blue smoke started to fill the hall in front of the white-haired man.
Naruto was too close and too tired to jump out of the way of the smoke right away. In his attempt to escape the mist, he fall back backwards into his bottom.
"Don't breath it, Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled and went into his aid, but it was already too late. The blue-eyed young man was coughing forcefully as he tried to get up. Hinata helped him up while holding her breath and dragged him away from the slowly approaching mist.
Kabuto coughed some blood into the floor and held his hand in front of his chest. Another cough. 'That bastard broke one of my ribs into my lung.'
"It's ok." Hinata and Kabuto turned stunned eyes to the black-haired chuunin who, incredibly, was standing up again. There was a trail of sweat running down his face and messing up his makeup; the famous whiskers had started to show. Hinata tried to hold him in place but the Uzumaki jumped to his feet. "Poison doesn't work on me."
"If Hinata-sama here were to take a whiff off it she would be dead in matter of seconds." Kabuto, although injured, was smiling weakly at the teens. "You, on the other hand, won't die. But I assure you you'll feel the effects in a matter of minutes, seconds even."
"Tch." Naruto spat on the ground. The poison was still reeking out of Kabuto's mouth and closing in.
"Let's go, Naruto-kun. He's too injured to keep fighting and so are you." The girl pushed him back into the hall that lead to the entrance. Naruto followed unwillingly.
The Kyuubi container knew Orochimaru's pupil wouldn't follow them. Not yet, at least. His blows broke his elbow, cheek and punctured his lung. Even with his healing abilities, he still had to find support to unblock the tenketsu point on his shoulder.
"They should be here in a minute." The blond said in between pants. He had started to drag his feet. The girl looked at him worriedly. "Sakura and the rest, I mean. The clones that vanished against Kudo should've informed the other clone about our situation."
"Don't talk so much, Naruto-kun. You look very pale." Hinata advised. His pace was becoming slower, and his eyes were becoming unfocused.
"It's nothing." Naruto assured. Even though he was tired as hell, he could feel his hands once again but he still couldn't move them. "I'll have Sakura heal me and then we can raid the place." He smiled tiredly at her.
"Naruto-kun, Kabuto said that poison was lethal we should-"
Naruto shook his head quickly as he squinted his eyes at her. "What did you say?" He turned his head towards her. Her lips seemed to move but he could hardly understand what she was saying; the splashing noise of water was too distracting.
That's when he noticed something was odd. They were in the middle of a cave; there shouldn't be water around. He dropped his head so he was facing the floor. There was dark, dense water covering his feet and knees. It was getting real complicated to walk freely.
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. No wonder he had been walking so sluggishly. His legs were soaked and felt so heavy, it was like walking with rocks tied to his feet.
"Naruto!"
She was shouting his name now, and the whiskered boy jumped in surprise. He raised his tired eyes to meet her concerned ones. They had stopped walking and she was looming over him, her hands holding his face firmly.
"Can you listen to me?" She was now panicking. Naruto's eyes were unfocused and he was cold as ice.
"I… yeah." Naruto shook his head to regain focus. "It's just… It's too dark in here."
The girl bit her lip anxiously. "Don't worry, we're almost out, alright?" She could feel the faint, cold air from the forest. 'He'll be alright as long as he keeps conscious.' There was a sudden halt as Naruto stumbled to his knees, taking Hinata down with him. They almost hit the ground face first if it weren't for the Hyuuga heiress holding him in place with a hand in his chest and the other one on his shoulder.
The whiskered chuunin heard his name being called. Her eyes were on the verge of tears as she was trying to get him back to his feet. The boy was looking upwards with glazed eyes.
In a moment of insanity the boy cracked a smile that reminded the Hyuuga of the first time they met at the Academy. His mouth stretched as he said,
"It suits you, Hin. Your hair."
Hinata choked.
It might have been the innocence of Naruto's words or the fact that just after saying that his ever-shining blue eyes rolled to the back of his head, but the situation got the better of her. One by one tears rolled down Hinata's face; she didn't remember the last time she'd felt so helpless.
"Do you feel that?" The blond said out loud as an upsetting chill ran down his back. He felt something warm engulfing his back and neck, but not a nice kind of warmth. It was a haze that was slowly settling around him.
'Do you feel that?'
"Huh?" Naruto jolted in place as he looked around the dark room. The echo startled him, but he was more scared at the fact that it was his own voice resonating through the room, when he didn't remember saying those words.
His memory span was shortening so quickly, the blond immediately forgot to be afraid of the echo, or the dark, or the water covering his legs. Right now the blond only existed in the darkness, not really feeling anything but an impending sense of foreboding.
A low rumbling started shaking his insides. The water rippled gently about him.
"How pathetic."
Naruto turned his head looking for the owner of the voice but it seemed to come from every direction,
"After six months, I expected you to greet me like an old enemy, but you don't even know who you are." TheKyuubi furrowed his muzzle into an odd smirk within the depths of his cage. "I vowed to taunt you next time we saw again but even with your mental barriers gone I still can't escape this cage."
A rusty old chain started floating from the Kyuubi's titanic cage and towards the blond, until it wrapped around his foot. The naked blond didn't even noticed.
"We'll have to do this the old fashioned way, huh Kit?" The nine-tailed fox bared his fangs into a twisted kind of grin. "One at a time." Kyuubi purred.
Naruto slowly closed his eyes.
Her panic attack lasted only a couple of minutes until her calm demeanor returned. The girl placed her ear on top of Naruto's chest to look for a beat. When she finally found one, she inspected his chakra network with her byakugan to make sure it was still working.
Apparently, Kabuto's drug had only affected Naruto's nervous system, acting like a sedative instead of a deadly poison to her crush's body. Now that her own heart was more at ease,, she could think more clearly.
Taking Naruto's unconscious body with her, she dragged him out of the cave into a cold night. Judging by the position of the moon, it was somewhere around 2 o'clock.
There was still activity going on further down the cave so Hinata decided to carry Naruto away from the entrance.
Just when she was about to summon a clone to send looking for help, a familiar bark reached her ears.
"Akamaru!" Hinata cried in relief, turning her head to greet the dog, his owner, Sakura, Yamato and Sai. She embraced both the dog and Kiba in a quick hug.
"What the hell happened?" The Inuzuka questioned, grabbing her by the shoulders and inspecting her all over. There was blood splattered on her but given the scent it belonged to Naruto. The thing that worried him the most were the fresh tears that still adorned her face. Kiba extended his fingers to her face but Hinata shook her head dismissively before he could reach her. Her eyes traveled to the Uzumaki.
Sai witnessed the hurt flashing through Kiba's eyes but made no mention of it.
"Naruto-kun has been through a lot." Her eyes traveled to the Kyuubi's container still face.
Sakura was already kneeling besides him, running a diagnosing jutsu all through the unconscious boy's body.
"You have lots of explaining to do, Hyuuga-san." Their leader said sternly, assessing Naruto's bloody face and arm.
As Hinata explained their journey to the secret basement, Sakura started to heal Naruto's hands. Not only were they destroyed from the inside, but he had depleted most of his chakra. 'Who could've done this to him?'
Her unspoken question was answered when Hinata got to Kabuto's appearance. The Hyuuga made sure to look at Sakura straight in the eyes when she repeated Kabuto's words about Sasuke.
"It sounds hard to believe, and I still don't fully trust his words, Sakura-san." Hinata said quietly, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. "But he wasn't lying."
The pink-haired star pupil of Tsunade felt her throat go dry. Her heart had gone from elated to utterly destroyed at the realization that Sasuke might not even want to return to Konoha in his lifetime. 'What is Sasuke-kun planning to do? Does he not want to rebuild his clan in Konoha anymore?'
Hinata and the others could sense Sakura's fragile eyes almost glistening with tears, but the Haruno was nowhere near as weak-spirited as she was three years ago. Everyday she trained with Tsunade only made her tougher.
"What happened afterwards? What did Kabuto do to Naruto?" She asked purposely, Sasuke's preoccupation stored deep in her mind for later examination.
"He expelled a lethal gas from his lungs. He said I would die instantly if I were to inhale even a bit of it, but that can't be true because Naruto-kun breathed it in and it took almost half-an-hour to affect him." She looked down at his steady breathing chest. Sakura and Yamato looked at each other, being the only ones to know about Naruto's special condition.
"Apart from his arms I couldn't find anything seriously damaged in his body." Sakura concluded, retrieving her healing hands and checking on Naruto's pulse one last time. It was steady. "Kabuto must've been bluffing."
"..." The Hyuuga looked through the Haruno's green eyes and wondered why she couldn't believe that last part.
"At least we found out who was behind the terrorist attack. We must leave now before that underground troup reaches us." Yamato ordered. Everyone else could also feel it. There were dozens and dozens of presence emerging from the hearth of the mountain. "Kiba, take Naruto with you."
The brunette nodded and kneeled in front of the black-haired Uzumaki. Just as he was about to take him the boy pressed his eyes together.
"Oi, he's started to wake up!" The Inuzuka exclaimed, pointing at his fellow chuunin.
Not only he was waking up, he also propped himself into a sitting position with help of his now healed hands. Hinata, although excited to see Naruto was moving again, couldn't help to feel uneasy about a low gurgling sound coming from the boy. Akamaru could also feel it, and started to growl at the bent over form of the Uzumaki.
"Don't stand up, dude." Kiba said, placing a hand on his back and urging him to stay low. His ears perked up at the low growling that started to fill his ear drums. "Naruto, what are you doing AHHH!"
He registered the pain two seconds later, unbelieving of what Naruto had just done.
Hinata had her hands on top of her mouth, hiding her gasp at the horrid scene just occurred.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled in confusion, but in the pit of her stomach she had a feeling she knew what had just happened but prayed to all the gods she was wrong.
Akamaru's growl hitched in his throat as his eyes took the image of his owner being bitten by the young Uzumaki. Naruto was clenching his jaws as hard as he could, not even budging as Kiba screamed and pressed his hands against him, trying to shove him away.
Yamato was the first to act, as he passed through a series of quick hand signs and produced a giant root from under him that went straight for Naruto's forehead. The boy was sent backwards, but he dug his feet in the ground, refusing to fall and leaving skid marks across the grass.
Kiba was left nursing his bleeding shoulder with gritted teeth and a vein throbbing on his left temple. Hinata kneeled besides him, checking on his shoulder but she couldn't see the extent of the damage as it was all covered in red.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Kiba demanded in a strained voice.
The boy standing in front of them didn't move a muscle. His head was bent down, dark hair covering his eyes. Shoulders slouched in front of him and dangling freely.
"Naruto?" Sakura called worriedly. Hinata couldn't believe what just happened. She looked at her friend and found her expert hands trembling with fear. 'What happened to him?'
Naruto inhaled deeply at the forest's air, but was taking his sweet time to face his team.
"Ahhhh." The air was sweet and pure, full of life. "It's been a while."
Hinata knitted her eyebrows together at that strange voice. It was Naruto's but at the same time it wasn't. With just those few words she detected the cruel and mocking tone of the voice.
Yamato paled, not wanting to believe what the itching of his right hand was already telling him. 'Not in front of them.' He pleaded but it was a lost cause already. Naruto decided it was time to greet his companions.
Hinata, Kiba and even Sakura recoiled at the slitted eyes that weighed them down one by one. The last few remnants of Kiba's blood dripped from the boy's abnormal elongated fangs that resembled very much the ones of the Inuzukas.
"What happened to you?! You're acting like a psychopath!" Kiba was the first one to snap, although his words lacked strength. Naruto bit him deep, and the fact that those red eyes were resting on him made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Akamaru could clearly feel the dangerous aura swirling around the Uzumaki; he started barking at him fiercely.
Naruto's red eyes shifted to the offending dog. "What a stench." the boy said, curling his upper lips in disgust, so his tainted fangs were visible.
"Can you hear me, Naruto?"
Yamato's shoulders were stiff, as he tried to handle this as delicately as he could. There was a big chance that the secret he had been told to protect might spill over in an instant. His eyes bore into the boy's red ones, expecting for a familiar flash of blue.
"Most definitely not." The young man said with a pleased smirk. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to give him your regards."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kiba yelled in a demanding voice, feeling lost and nervous. He'd never been bitten before, not even by Akamaru; but seeing his blood sprinkled over Naruto's jacket and chest disturbed him. His loyal dog approached him slowly, fur standing on end and fangs clearly showing.
Akamaru, although fierce, was also as scared as his master. Kiba could feel it in him.
"Was something Kabuto did to you?"
Naruto's eyes shifted to Kiba's also slitted ones. The Uzumaki tilted his head. "That's right. You're still unaware." They went back to Yamato. "No wonder why you're so scared."
"Naruto…" Yamato warned, bending his knees slightly.
"Don't call me that absurd name." Naruto barked with distaste. "My name is K-"
This time three roots barged towards the Uzumaki, knocking him into the air and towards the forest trees.
"Sakura, stay with them. Sai and I will take care of Naruto." The man ordered to the distraught Haruno, as he charged towards Naruto's direction without a second look to them. Sai followed after him.
"Hey! Wait!" Kiba stood up but Hinata and Sakura brought him down. Akamaru stopped in his tracks. "Why…"
"You're hurt, Kiba. Let me heal you." Sakura placed her palms on top of the offending wound. Only when she started pouring chakra did she notice the deepness of the bite. Naruto had almost ripped a chunk out of Kiba's flesh. 'Just like with Deidara.'
"Sakura-san, what happened to him?" Hinata hurried to ask, once she saw Kiba's shoulders relax with relief.
"He went mad! Did you see his eyes? Even his teeth and hands!" Kiba said, turning his head to her. "What the hell?"
Sakura pretended to be too busy finishing her job, but not even slowing down her healing rate could she ignore their questions. 'The first time I spilled Naruto's secret, Sasuke-kun left Konoha for good… I cannot do this to him again.'
"I've never seen him like that." Sakura said, withdrawing her hands from the Inuzuka, and looking at Kiba in the eye. She'd make sure Hinata wouldn't look at her, since Hyuugas knew when you were lying. "It must've been Kabuto's gas. It's making him act strange."
Hinata frowned when Sakura refused to face her.
"He said his name wasn't Naruto." Kiba said, getting to his feet and spinning his shoulder to test it. "C'mon, we have to help." Hinata stood up in an instant, but Sakura rushed to their side
"Wait, we can't! Yamato-san told me to look after you. We should wait until they come back."
"They might need our help, Sakura-san. If there's something we can do, it's best to be with them." Hinata said firmly, this time catching her eye and looking through her.
She was nervous, and scared. Why scared? What did she know?
"We're going." The Hyuuga said with an uncharacteristic hardness to her voice.
Sakura gulped.
There was an explosion to their left, followed by a gust of wind and a few birds scattering towards them. The trio and a dog sprinted forward.
It felt weird, but in a good way.
Every second that passed the body he inhabited became warmer with the chakra he knew as his. It would take time, but it was there and it was slipping. As long as the boy stayed unconscious, there was nothing that could stop the flow.
There came another water attack. The old man could extract water particles from the roots, trees and grass and create a strong water blast that had him drenched and pinned into a tree.
This man was tricky. Trees were his friends, and right now the tree he was giving his back to grew wooden arms and wrapped him with them. They pressed until Kyuubi had no way of moving a muscle. 'Tch.'
"I'm going to seal you back now." Yamato said confidently, pulling back his sleeve and extending his palm to him. There was a seal sign tattooed into his palm.
Kyuubi pulled back his lips into a snarl.
"I see you came prepared." he said in his strained voice.
"There was a reason I was assigned as Naruto's supervisor." The wood user said confidently, even as sweat dripped from his forehead. The short-haired boy who had previously drawn a lion that came to life, appeared behind him, watching with curious eyes. "We can't have an abomination like you break out whenever you see fit."
Despite his predicament, he felt the young man's mouth curl up into a grin. "It seems like we both are an abomination." His grin grew as Yamato glared at him. "You were born from a lab experiment, and I was born from hatred."
Yamato didn't replied to his words, even with Sai's eyes on top of him. He stepped forward to place his hand on the boy's hair when he noticed an orange glow coming from Naruto's hands.
His eyes widened when two rasengans, one in each hands, impacted against the tree and blew it to pieces. His feet went up in the air as the blast blew him away too. Before he hit the ground, Naruto sprinted to his side and kicked him upwards into the air. Winded, Yamato flew several feet in the air until gravity claimed him again.
He crashed into the floor, cracking the earth beneath him. Being his bigger threat, the Kyuubi went to his side and prepared to deliver the final blow to his heart.
"Ninpo: Choju Giga."
Kyuubi rolled his eyes as two real life sized ink lions stormed towards him. Behind them, was the short-haired boy kneeling over a huge scroll.
"Don't hide behind your petty drawings." started the Kyuubi, piercing one of the lions with his right hand and the other one with an elbow hit. "If you're going to fight me do it yourself."
Before Sai could finish his drawing, Kyuubi had already appeared behind him in a flash. He placed his knuckles right on Sai's left ear, and sent him flying into the thick forest.
"Two down." breathed Kyuubi, stretching his neck to the side. His ears perked at the sound of footsteps. He smiled cruelly. "Three to go."
"What did you do?!" The spiky haired brunette demanded as his eyes scanned to destruction and his fallen leader. The two girls appeared behind him.
"You just ruined your only chance at a surprise attack, you stupid dog."
His words made Kiba clench his teeth. He stepped forward but Sakura placed a hand in his shoulder to stop him. "Don't. You'll get hurt."
"Or killed." spat Naruto with a playful smirk.
"I know you can hear me, Naruto. You need to stop this." Sakura said, but her voice wasn't as firm as she would like. Naruto's eyes rested on her and she felt like taking a step back.
"Naruto's asleep right now. It might be a while before he wakes up… but when he does, it'll be too late." Naruto purred with delight.
"Sakura-san, what's going on?" Hinata turned her question to the girl, her eyes expectant. Sakura felt a knot forming on her throat.
"If you won't tell them I might as well do it." Naruto said, tilting his head to the side.
"D-Don't." A trickle of sweat ran down her back. Her fear fueled the demon's amusement even more.
"Tells us what?"
"You see, Inuzuka-san. Hyuuga-san." The boy took one step forward, as he placed a hand on top of his chest. "I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune, finally emerged from my jailer's cage. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Sakura inhaled in terror. Her eyes travelled from Kiba's incredulous face to Hinata's frowning one.
"It's not true. You can't trust his words." Sakura made one last attempt to cover Naruto's true identity.
"You expect us to believe such bullshit?" Kiba yelled, thoroughly pissed. "When I finish with you, you better tell me the truth."
"T-That's why… your orange chakra..." Hinata's eyes were wide with understanding. She didn't want to believe it but she had to admit it made so much sense. Naruto had always amazed her with his healing abilities and his out-of-this-world stamina. It was a secret worth hiding; no wonder Sakura was acting so terrified.
"Hinata! Don't listen to him! It's impossible! You know just like everybody else that Kyuubi was k-"
"Killed by the Yondaime, right?" Kiba's throat constricted as Naruto's single hand enveloped it. It was a crushing force. Kiba felt how his vision blurred almost immediately. "Do you know how angering it is to hear people telling each other the same lie, just to make themselves feel safer?"
"Kiba!" Sakura sprinted towards them, ready to punch the lights out of their black-haired friend.
Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at her, as he caught her fist in his hand.
"Hmm… you shouldn't hold back against a demon." He kicked her hard in the stomach and sent her skipping on the ground. She lay motionless.
"Sakura-san!" Hinata exclaimed, looking between Naruto, Sakura and Kiba. 'What should I do?'
"As I was saying." Red eyes turned back to Kiba's disoriented ones. "You shouldn't believe everything they tell you, boy. Just like any other bijuu, I was sealed inside a container capable of holding my infinite power… In this case, a blonde-haired infant."
Hinata hesitated on attacking Naruto head on. She didn't want to believe the horrible words coming out of her crush's mouth, only that this wasn't her crush. His eyes weren't his, nor his voice or demeanor. He had been abducted by something so horrible that he called himself a demon from another time.
A strong bark that resembled a lion's roar came from behind Naruto. Akamaru knew better than to jump directly at him, so he spit thick saliva towards Naruto's direction.
The substance hit Naruto directly in his back, shoulders and part of his pants. There was an immediate hiss and a burning sensation spreading through Naruto's behind.
"Damn mutt." The whiskered boy said, hurling Kiba like a ragdoll towards the dog. Kiba was received into Hinata's arms. The boy was almost unconscious, and a bruise had already settled around his neck. While Hinata fussed over Kiba's well being, Kyuubi was looking at a place of his hand where the dog's saliva had touched him.
Hinata knew that Akamaru's saliva was corrosive but she still couldn't believe Naruto didn't react at the pain. It was almost as if he was immune to it, but how could he? When she could clearly see his skin disintegrating into muscle.
"Akamaru's saliva will disintegrate your bones. Naruto or not, I'll not let you do as you please." The brunette said hoarsely, massaging his sore neck.
"Tch." Kyuubi said, taking off the fabric that had once been his jacket. As well as a tattoo that covered almost all of his muscled belly.
Hinata and Kiba could see now how the holes in his skin were starting to regenerate. The girl activated her Byakugan, and she witnessed how a current of orange chakra was being pumped from Naruto's navel through his chakra system. It almost seemed too much for his chakra points to handle.
"Tell me Hyuuga, have you ever seen something like this before?" Kyuubi asked as he stared at her, focusing on the threatening veins around her eyes.
Not even the incredible sight distracted her from the hollow feeling in her stomach at being addressed so coldly by Naruto. 'But that's not Naruto-kun.' She said internally, trying to convince herself that she was dealing with a whole other person. 'It's not even human...'
But then, what happened to the real Naruto? What was he doing right now? Was he okay? Or for the Kyuubi to take over, he had been taken into a different place, where only demons could survive?
Multiple presences were emerging from under the mountain. The group of Konoha ninjas turned their head towards the direction of the entrance. Kyuubi smirked as he formed another red-colored rasengan on his palm but this time it had sharp extensions circling it, cutting the air as they spun.
"Rasenshuriken." He dismissed the orb of energy almost disinterestedly at the mountain's direction. Once it hit the surface, a small explosion ensued, whipping everyone's hair back and blowing bits of rock through the forest. The side of the mountain collapse on itself and the group felt how most of the chakras had disappeared.
"That should take care of them for a while." Kyuubi cackled into a cruel laugh. He looked at Naruto's hands and saw there was a livelier chakra materializing right around them. 'I'm almost there.'
Horrified, the members of team 8 looked at each other. The sphere had carried such force they could hardly believe it. But it didn't stop there.
Kiba and Hinata felt the surge of energy flowing around the forest. Yamato woke up in time to see Naruto's dark hair slowly fading away to give room to his natural golden mane. He placed his hands against the ground as he summoned more underground roots.
They emerged right besides Naruto's feet and caught unto his ankles.
"Sakura!"
The blond heard Yamato's call and bared his teeth at the place where his host's pink-haired friend had been lying, only to find it empty. He pinpointed her chakra just an inch away from his cheek, it was all centered in her right hand.
The Haruno felt how his bones shattered against her knuckles. His head hit the floor, followed by the rest of his body, scattering dirt all around them and cracking the ground under their feet. A pang of concern entered her mind, as she thought perhaps she shouldn't have used all her strength on that attack.
But unlike her, Yamato wasn't taking any chances. "You're next Kiba!"
The dog owner complied without a second thought. He jumped into action with his faithful friend along, as they started to spin towards Naruto, their claws unveiling.
It might've been the wind blowing but he thought he heard Hinata's cry for him to stop, but they were already on top of the blond. Kiba went for his exposed stomach and Akamaru for his left shoulder. He didn't know the extent of his healing abilities, so they went for as much damage as they could. Flesh and blood splattered on their face as they kept digging even further.
His head was starting to ache from Naruto's strangulation attempt so he stopped in his jutsu.
Breathing heavily, Kiba looked down at his and Sakura's creation. Naruto's left half of his face was drenched in blood, as well as his chest and torso. A slight feeling of nausea overcame him, either from his headache of Naruto's blood on his left eyebrow.
"Hinata! It's your turn." Yamata called to the heiress, as he stood up shakily. The girl's eyes opened wide, as she looked from Yamato to Naruto's unmoving form.
"What are you talking about?! He's on the brink of death!" Her Byakugan disappeared to make way to a overwhelming sense of despair and worry. Her mouth was shaking and her eyes were stinging.
"If we don't stop him now we might not have another chance!" Yamato's left eyelid was almost dropped close. He looked terrible. Hinata found herself hyperventilating, just like her younger self when she was asked to talk in front of the class.
"I...i…"
A cough and a groan escaped Naruto's lips. Her pupil-less eyes stared at him, hoping that when he opened his eyes, they were the same blue she had come to dream of.
"He's waking up…" Sakura whispered, scared out of her mind but at the same time relieved she hadn't killed his childhood friend.
"How? After all that…" The Inuzuka wiped sweat from his temple.
Yamato cursed under his breath. He looked at the three teens and his dark eyes fell on Kiba.
"Kiba-san, go for his legs."
The brunette looked at him questioningly, then back at Naruto. He turned to look at Hinata but stopped before his resolve faltered. His eyes hardened as he nodded.
"C'mon boy, someone's gotta do the dirty work. Gatsuga*!" His partner growled viciously as he also locked his eyes against Naruto's shaking hand.
As they set into motion, Hinata took a hand to her mouth and bit nervously at her lower lip. She resisted the incredible urge to look away. Yamato watched carefully as Kiba aimed for his right leg and Akamaru for the left, but just as they were going to make contact, an orange flare blinded him and all the rest.
A big, fat arm-like limp emerged from Naruto's mingled body. It was large enough to swap away both Kiba and Akamaru at the same time into the forest. It was so powerful that Sakura saw how three trees were knocked down as Kiba and Akamaru crashed through them.
'Oh no.' Yamato paled once more. 'Are we too late?' Supposedly, Kyuubi could only materialize his chakra's will once he had completely taken over Naruto's body, according to Jiraiya's theory.
"What is that thing?" Sakura asked, as she took two steps backwards. The palpable evilness of the offending chakra was scaring even the worms away.
"A portion of my power." Came Naruto's- No, Kyuubi's voice. Where it once had been Naruto's strained voice, it was now a guttural growl that barely had any resemblance to the ever-smiling Uzumaki. "I have to thank all of you. If it weren't for the wounds you gave me, it'd have taken much longer to call out my tails."
'Tails?' The pale beauty frowned in confusion. She looked at Naruto's back and, surely, saw how three other tail-like entities morphed out of the orange-red chakra. They were holding Naruto up, since his stomach wound was still so deep she could almost see through him.
She didn't have to use her bloodlimit to know that Naruto's coils were now exclusively carrying that evil energy. 'How could Naruto-kun hold such a powerful demon in check for all these years?'
"Sakura, was it?" Kyuubi called, his jaw accommodating into place and his cheekbones regenerating at an amazing speed. Sakura's eyes hardened at his voice. This only made Kyuubi chortle darkly. "That really hurt. But it hurt Naruto much more than me."
At Naruto's name, both girls ears perked up. His shoulder was now healed, and even though he was naked on his top half, he seemed to be wearing a dark, red, slimy shirt.
"I'll kill you now." An empty crater was left where he was once standing. He was so fast Hinata had to summon her Byakugan again to follow his chakra trail. He appeared right behind Sakura with a sharpened tail ready to pierce the back of her head.
Sakura was just turning around when Yamato summoned a thick wooden wall just in time to stop his attack. But Naruto's tail still went through it, sending sharks of wood flying all over the place. Sakura's body hit the ground besides Yamato's spot. He spared her a glance to make sure she was not dead; when he was satisfied, his eyes turned to Naruto's accusing ones.
"Your type always spoils the fun." Naruto said, cracking his knuckles and wiping the blood from his chest. "Now then, I think I'm strong enough to do this."
Knocking his fists together in front of his bloodied chest, Kyuubi hardened his eyes. Hinata witnessed how the chakra the chakra tails waving behind him got re-absorbed into his body. Naruto's teeth started to glow.
"Naruto! If you can listen to me, you need to stop this!" Yamato tried one more time, as he ran through a series of handsigns. "Or else, I'll be forced to kill both of you." Kyuubi smirked at his words but didn't reply. The back of his throat was starting to sting until his eyes widened.
The forest lightened into a red haze. Hinata could feel the heat of it even from afar. Naruto's throat spitted fire like there was no tomorrow. She wasn't even aware he could use fire-based jutsus but there he was. Yamato summoned water from the surrounding trees into a continuous jet of water that came out of his hand. As the two attacks greeted, the blast pushed Hinata backwards into the ground, and Yamato fell to one of his knees as he gripped his hand as hard as he could, pouring all of his chakra into the attack.
The vapor started to fill the battleground, and the fire attack was gaining ground. Kyuubi had Naruto's eyebrows knitted in concentration but his mouth was carved into a devious smile.
The fire was advancing and Yamato had started to see double. He looked at his side and Sakura still hadn't woken up. If he let the attack reach them, the two of them would be burn to a crisp. He turned his eyes to Hinata but she wasn't in sight. Just when he was about to let his hand drop to the ground, the intensity of the fire blaze stopped short, and the heat receded.
"Agh…" Yamato heard Kyuubi's confused groan, but that was the last thing he heard as his head fell heavily on the ground. 'It's up to you now, Hinata...'
Naruto opened his eyes with a start.
He was hanging upside down, his neck and forehead gripped tight by a hot chain which was pulsating red energy every two seconds, and he was naked.
He felt as if an invisible force had punched the air out of his lungs, but it couldn't be. He was alone in the dark-reddish room. 'Not again.'
"What the hell happened?!" The blond screamed in his mind, getting only his echo for an answer. He thrashed around but the chains were too tight. "Why am I doing here?! Kyuubi!"
He strained his neck to look behind him at the gigantic gates he housed in the inside of his mind. The metal bars were glowing at the same rhythm as his chains. Naruto gulped, the fox's chakra was in action and he didn't remember giving his approval.
"ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!"
From within the cave, Kyuubi opened his eyes.
His neck strained to look behind him, until he finally caught sight of her driven glare and her extended palms which had just pulsed a painful blast of chakra through his back and into his stomach. Even in Naruto's body, he could feel the knotted chakra dying down in his system and it was almost unbearable.
"You bitch!" his words were strained. He crouched from his damaged insides and his burned throat, spitting blood on the withering grass at their feet. He tried to summon his tails back again to finish her, but they failed to respond at his call. His nostrils flared with confusion and rage. "What did you do?!"
He swatted his arm in an arc, but Hinata ducked and place another gentle fist on his screwed stomach. The Kyuubi doubled over.
"I shut down your power source." Hinata said icily, her eyes glaring at Kyuubi. She hated it. When she first saw those blood-red eyes instead of Naruto's usually placid ones, she was shocked. But now that his golden hair was back, looking at his face was devastating. That demon had taken him away from her, and he was damaging him.
Kyuubi hugged his middle. He might not be connected to Naruto's body yet, but the hit was enough to give the orange fox a headache. His next tail wouldn't be coming around for some time, but he was still in control, even with Naruto awake.
The moonlight formed a shadow under both of them, and Kyuubi could clearly see how the Hyuuga was raising her arm again, ready to strike him once more. Pivoting on his left foot, the young man shot his arm upwards, ripping clothes and skin with his claws.
Hinata let out a yelp of pain. She managed to avoid the second attack by pushing herself away from him, but her collarbone and neck were bleeding wet. 'Not good. I need to shut down his limbs.'
Even though his chakra had been plugged, his speed hadn't been affected. He seemed to come from two directions at the same time, but her Byakugan revealed he was just zig zagging from her left to her right multiple times. Still, her body was slower than her eyes, and her left shoulder hurt to move. There was a punch he threw, that she shoved to the side with her right hand, while at the same time she pressed two of her fingers into his shoulder. Naruto roared in anger, and it sounded completely animal. His claws had extended even more, his blond hair standing on end.
This time he charged full ahead, barely dodging her extended palm and finally reaching for her throat.
Hinata's lilac eyes widened as her breath was cut short. Her hands flew to her throat and wrapped themselves around his wrist but Naruto didn't seem to notice them. His narrowed eyes were glaring hatefully at her.
"You Hyuugas are a pain in the ass." he spat, pressing even harder. The heiress felt her eyes about to pop out. "I shall exterminate you all when I return."
Her grip was losing strength, and her eyes were looking at his alien ones. "N-Naru…" The girl muttered but she felt the life leaving her body. One of her hands fell to the side.
"Keep talking. He's listening." Kyuubi smirked cruelly at her. "Both of us will hear your last words." His grip loosened the tiniest bit as he enjoyed Naruto's screams from within his mind.
She gasped again, feeling how a small bit of fresh air passed through her burning throat. As a kunoichi, Hinata knew she was going to die at an early age, probably fighting. She might be killed with a knife of a sword, or maybe crushed against stones or burned to a crisp. But never, in her wildest dreams, did she imagined that she would end up being killed by him. It was ironic, though. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about giving her life for him, but right now not even her death might save him. That hurt more than dying.
She felt lightheaded, and the headache was gone. Or maybe it was too strong for her to register it as such. She looked at his eyes one last time, hoping for a miracle to replace those hate-filled orbs into his cheerful blue ones. But his eyes were expecting her to draw her last breath, and the grin in his mouth was so twisted it looked it had been carved with a knife.
She wasn't going to tell him to fight the demon. If he hadn't done so already he wouldn't be able to do it right now. But a thought did occur to her.
"Naruto…" She was too weak to pronounce the last part, or maybe she did but only in her mind. Maybe she was already dead and this was a last illusion. "Listen… it's not your fault."
There was a heavy silence, where Kyuubi furrowed his eyebrows, then they lit with laughter.
"Oh no wonder he likes you." The demon barked, amused. "What a piece of art, you are. Worrying about him even though neither of you can do anything! Such useless pair of humans!"
Hinata didn't think nothing about his hurtful words or laughter. She didn't even pay attention to it saying how he liked her. No. In fact, it was difficult to understand what it was saying, because the tears falling from his eyes didn't fit in the picture.
Kyuubi only noticed the wetness after one of the tears fell into his lips. 'Stop crying you wuss.' He found it strange that Naruto's shouting had fallen silent, as well as the rattle of chains in front of his cage. Looking from within his cage, he found blood mixed with tears dripping from Naruto's forehead, nose and ears. "What are you doing?" The gigantic fox growled as he inched closer to the bars.
The blond had bitten his tongue until it fell off, Kyuubi could almost feel the pain, but it was receding. And that was bad. The chains had stopped glowing. "What did you do?!"
"Fuck you." Naruto said in between a mouthful of blood and pain.
Hinata fell to the floor with a thud. Feeling returned to her throat although it was horribly painful. Her head was turning in circles and her eyes watered.
The Kyuubi was taking backward, unstable steps. He fell to one knee and grabbed his head between his hands. They were struggling in his head, and Hinata felt chakra coming from him. 'But that's impossible. His channels are blocked.' Still, a chakra-like grenade exploded on Naruto's stomachs and spread throughout his arms and heart and head. A painful scream rung in the forest. The chakra was familiar. Hinata rose her head to look at him with hope in her eyes.
Sweat ran down his neck. He was curled up into a ball as he clutched his stomach tightly. Hinata coughed a couple of times and placed her hands on the ground to stand but she fell back again. She wanted desperately to go to his side but her legs were so weak.
The blond opened his eyes and Hinata felt a gasp of relief escape her as blue irises met her. They were unfocused but as clear as the sky. Her breathing attracted Naruto's eyes unto hers and they stared at each other.
"Naruto-kun…" She didn't care it hurt like hell to speak. She was so happy.
But Naruto was feeling everything except happy. He couldn't stand looking at her one more second.
"I'm so sorry." Standing in wobbly feet, Hinata watched in stunned silence as Naruto gave her his bare back and started limping away from her. The girl's brain shut down for a moment, still unable to believe Naruto had escape from her.
A sense of urgency overcame her. She stood and almost fell back down but managed to maintain her balance.
"Hinata." She turned to Kiba's voice. Naruto's not-so-gentle blast of energy had woken him, and just like everyone else, was worse for wear. They both knew exactly what she was going to do. "Don't."
But nothing could stop her from going after him.
The faint sound of trickling water lured him towards a depression in the land. He needed water for more than one reason. He needed to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth, to try and wash away the blood that was covering him from head to toe, and maybe the river was deep enough so he could drown in it.
As memories flooded back to him, Naruto felt so weak he had to stop by a three to cry for a minute. He almost killed everyone, and he didn't stop smiling as he did so. Some friend he was. His stomach churned either by the sickening feeling of his actions, or by the painful pulses that still came from his navel, right below the tattoo that held keep Kyuubi in check.
He was an idiot for thinking he could keep Kyuubi in check for life. But even more for thinking he could keep it secret. Now they knew he had a demon inside him, and he gave them a reason to hate him. To fear him.
The best he could do was ask for forgiveness, and that still wouldn't be enough. Nothing could justify his screw up.
His insides churned again, but there wasn't anything left to throw up. At last he found the small river. It was so shallow it didn't classify as a river; Naruto doubted he could drown in it.
He cupped his hands and drank greedily, barely savoring the sweet water.
"Fuck." Naruto said, as he splashed water in his face and his vision became blurred red. There was blond in his hair and face. It ran down his neck and chest to mix up with the rest of blood tainting his skin. He had his team's blood all over him, and it hit him like a hammer.
"I almost killed them." He choked once again, splashing water over his chest. "I almost did, didn't I?" He scrubbed his chest clean, but there was nothing he could do for his torn and bloody pants.
Here he was, already healed and moving. But they were still hurting, or burning or bleeding.
"I almost killed her." He started scrubbing his forearms faster, harder. His jaw clenched. "God I did it with my own hands!" He looked at his fingernails, where her blood still remained.
"Listen… It's not your fault." Her words echoed to him. Her voice still filled the deepest part of his mind and it terrified him.
"Not my fault?" He laughed miserably. She must've been hallucinating. Naruto punched the water in front of him, carving a neat circle in the dirt.
He hated Kyuubi for all he had done. He hated Kabuto and his stinking poison. He hated Orochimaru. But most of all he hated himself for being such an idiot and ruining everything he ever worked for.
He punched the earth repeatedly, even though his shoulder felt like there was a needle stuck in it, and his breathing felt like fire. Kyuubi was cursing all over his mind but he refused to hear him. He must've been more tired than he anticipated, because after only one minute he was reduced to a pitiful kid crying silently as he looked at his rippled reflection on the water.
Suddenly she was there, behind him. She didn't hide her chakra or lowered her breathing. She wanted him to notice her. But Naruto didn't turn to greet her or stood up or move. He didn't want her near him.
It was only when she took a step closer to him that he spoke. "Don't."
It was the same word that Kiba had said to her, in the same fearful tone. It seemed none of them wanted her to go after him. But Hinata knew what she wanted.
"Naruto-kun." Her voice didn't sound like her, and they both knew the reason why. She saw Naruto flinch at his name and her heart constricted in her chest. But he still didn't turn around. "I'm sorry."
This time he rose his head in surprise. Was she mad? What might she be possibly be sorry for? He was the one that was sorry but not even apologizing erased the heinous acts he just did. He should be sorry for letting an animal spirit unleash its wrath on her, for making her cry, for almost killing her while he just stood and watched.
"Stop." He said.
But Hinata took another step forward, and spoke very carefully. "I'm sorry you had to go through this. It must've been horrible, but it's all passed and we can go back now."
"I can't go back after all I did, Hinata." His voice was sorrowful, and his shoulders fell with the weight he was used to carry ever since he was born.
The girl shook her head sadly, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "We understand, Naruto-kun. Yamato-san, and Sakura-san and even Sai-san. I'm sure that Kiba-kun will understand eventually… It's not your fault."
"Stop saying that!" The blond snapped, clenching his teeth and glaring at his reflection. "I'm the only one to blame... . !" Maybe if he spelt it to her she could understand that the true monster was the jailer and not the demon. Hinata pay no mind and extended her good arm towards him.
When Naruto felt her fingertips graze his back he sprung to her feet like she was on fire and stepped back while looking terrified. Even Hinata looked frightened at his reaction but she did not move.
Now he was facing her and her sight almost knocked the air out of his lungs. Her shirt was stained in deep red, four angry red cuts going from the base of her neck to her chest. His hand outline was so detailed around her neck that it might as well be a red colored tattoo. Her lips were pale and her cheeks had dry trails of tears running along.
For some unknown reason she stepped to him again, and Naruto shook his head as fresh tears welled up in his eyes. "Please stay away from me, Hinata." The pain in his voice almost made her cry as well.
"If you're afraid they're going to hate you, they won't Naruto-kun."
"They should." She could read him like a book. "As you should."
"Well, I don't. You don't deserve it, Naruto-kun." She took another step.
"Please." The whiskered chunin wanted to run away but he was ensnared by her penetrating eyes. She extended her hand again. "I almost killed you!"
The sound of water was the only thing that could be heard for a minute. Hinata took her time to answer his terrified confession. "That wasn't you."
"I fucking let him!" Naruto snapped, placing a hand in his chest and closing the gap between them. He was yelling right in front of her face. "Couldn't stop earlier. I thought I had him controlled but he just let me think that!"
"You won at the end, Naruto-kun!" She wanted for him to hear her but the back of her mouth was throbbing painfully.
"Do you want to know what I was thinking when he was laughing in your face?" The blond asked with a sad smile. "I thought 'Please, just kill her and be done with it. Let her not suffer more.' Now you see?"
Hinata was speechless. The only thing she saw were his big, shining eyes. Regret was making him crazy, and the tears didn't stop.
"I had already killed you in my mind and here you are forgiving me? I don't deserve half the kindness you're giving me, Hina-" Her hands pressed the side of his face and pulled him down to towards her lips. She felt how his words died in his mouth and his shoulders stiffened at her touch. Right now, she just wanted him to stop talking.
Not only did he stop talking but he also stopped thinking. Her eyes were closed shut but Naruto couldn't even blink. The shock left him exposed and cold. She let go of his lips gently and the blond realized it had happened much too fast. Her eyes fluttered open and she realized tears were falling down her cheeks as well.
"You deserve so much more, Naruto-kun."
The Uzumaki's knees buckled, making him fall to his knees and taking Hinata down with him.
Sakura woke up to a wet tongue liking the side of her face. The lump on the back of her head pulsed painfully but other than that and a few gashes she was fine. She smiled meekly at Akamaru, who was no longer white but a dirty shade of brown. The big dog nudged her shoulder for her to stand up.
"Is it Kiba?" The dog nodded his head and urged her to follow him, but the girl noticed how he was limping.
"Come here, I'll heal you first." She crawled next to the dog and started healing his broken leg.
Twenty minutes later she had managed to heal the most serious injuries of of her teammates. They ranged from broken bones to cuts and bruises. The one thing she couldn't heal was the chakra depletion everyone, including her, were suffering.
Once Kiba made sure no one was in danger, he started towards the woods but Sakura held the back of his shirt.
"Let me go! We can't leave her alone with him!" The brunette said angrily.
"If what you told me was true, then Naruto regained control over his body. He won't hurt her."
"How can you be so sure? You didn't see what I did. He almost broke her neck." Kiba argued hotly.
"That was the fox, not Naruto. You know he'd never hurt any of us." The girl said confidently. Kiba crossed his arms.
"Either way, we can't let them be on their own. We are still in enemy territory and both of them are weak."
Akamaru's ears perked up. His pointed nose turned around until he could pinpoint the scent of Hinata's blood. He barked, getting everyone's attention.
They didn't need to ask Kiba what Akamaru was saying because a second later Naruto emerged from the bushes with an unconscious Hinata on his arms. Kiba jogged towards them, with Akamaru and Sakura following.
Kiba didn't say a word. He just snatched the girl from his arms and turned around to lay her in front of Sakura's reach. The pink-haired girl sent a questioning glance to Naruto.
"She fainted." The blond replied simply, avoiding her gaze. "I'm sorry." he said in a whisper. Sakura smiled gently at him.
Kiba turned around and swung his fist at him. The Uzumaki didn't bother to dodge, so he just took it straight to the cheek. His head twisted to the side.
"If you ever hurt her again I'll fucking kill you." Kiba hissed, glaring hatefully at the blond who didn't raise his eyes to meet Kiba's dark ones.
"That's enough." Yamato said, walking towards them with Sai in his stride. The older boy was looking at him warily. "No one is to speak about this until we get back to Konoha."
Naruto sighed deeply, but didn't object.
Konoha was the last place he wanted to go.
Author's section
The Good left Undone - Rise Against
Ninpo: Choju Giga - Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Drawing
Gatsuga: Fang over Fang
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- Paty