Chapter 7: Beneath the Surface

"We need to keep moving, the longer we stay in place, the more time we're wasting" Shikamaru said as he checked the clock in his hand and closed it before anyone else could read the numbers.

'And that's something we can't afford,' Shikamaru thought as he continued to stare ahead.

Naruto cast his eyes toward Hinata as she walked beside him.

"Hey Hinata?" He asked, expecting her pearlescent eyes to land on him but still caught off guard when they finally did.

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"About that genjutsu earlier…" he began as she waited for him to continue.

Naruto shook his head slightly, "Nevermind… forget it." He said as he continued to walk.

"Hinata, I told you I'd come for you and instead you came to me… how wonderful." Toneri said as he approached her.

Sakura frowned when she saw Naruto and Hinata finally approach from their side of the cave.

"Naruto, you're late! We just had to take a giant crab on without you!"

"I wasn't! I was beating up the boss!" Naruto said as he finally met up with the team, Hinata at his side.

After they regrouped, Naruto talked about his encounter with Toneri and revealed that he had been a puppet all along.

"Could it be that he doesn't have enough power to attack?"

"Maybe he's confined somewhere? Or he can't move?"

Sai and Sakura suggested as they reached yet another dead end, a hole from where the crab had emerged was the only place they had left to search.

Shikamaru sighed, he felt as though he were being baited, but continued on nonetheless. Once he and his team reached the end of the cave, they were greeted by the sun and wind blowing.

"What is this place?" Sakura asked as they looked around.

"This looks to be an artificial space created underground." Shikamaru said as they continued to move.

Sakura watched Naruto up ahead of the rest of the birds as they traveled on the ink birds through the skies, Hinata at his back. They survived the night with no attacks, which left them more on edge. She noticed he was deep in thought, the scarf that he previously had on was tucked away in his pack. He was very serious, taking on the expression he always had when they were in the middle of a mission. He had matured substantially after the war, his silly side obviously remaining a part of him, but he was growing into a more mature young man. Sakura guessed it was due to the more serious role of Hokage he was to assume in the near future.

She was proud to know that she was able to watch him from up close, watching as he struggled but eventually overcame every obstacle thrown at him, becoming someone powerful in order to continue to defend those he held precious to him. He was a wonder to all that had doubted him, she hated to admit that he had been one to her at a very young age, before she truly knew him. Sakura looked away from him, sighing as she felt something akin to guilt begin to fill her heart.

She had no right to feel this way now.

It was far far too late.

Hinata watched Naruto as he stared ahead, his scarf had been tucked away since that morning, yet she didn't know why. She wanted to ask, but thought better of it, this was not the time to stray from the mission, their village and her sister's lives were at stake. She couldn't shake those words from Toneri.

"Let us… be married" he had said.

He sounded so sure of her acceptance, his smile was eery and too inviting, almost as though she had always been in his life. Naruto had been out of earshot at that time, but she couldn't help but wonder what he would have said at this proposition, what his reaction would have been. Would he have cared at all?

Naruto's cerulean eyes stared ahead, almost lost in thought as they continued to fly up ahead. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sakura's pink hair. He didn't turn to look at her, but the comfort of knowing she was there helped a great deal. He felt a confusion he hadn't felt before, stirring into the depths of his heart and creating something heavy in the process. Naruto almost sighed as he thought back to all of the times Sakura had talked about Sasuke.

Was I even there?

Naruto asked himself, at times he felt as though he was not in the room when they were together, as Sakura would immediately turn her focus to Sasuke whenever he was present. He had thought for a few moments that in Sasuke's absence, they had a chance, he could have sworn he had seen the way she would look at him change, the moments they would spend alone had grown to become moments he had kept close to his heart. He could have sworn he had felt it, a change between them. But then she said that she had loved him, when he had felt the furthest he had ever felt to retrieve Sasuke, and it hurt him so much because he had wanted it to be true.

He had wanted to hear those words for so long, but the way she had said them, so defeated, a look he had never seen on her before. He knew he had to hurt her to make her understand that he was not going to run to her to comfort her, not when she was the one giving up. But he could see something between her and Sasuke when he had left, he didn't know what it had been, maybe a peace between them. And although his heart ached at watching them have something he had always wanted, he knew there was nothing he could have said to change this course.

And there on the mission to protect quite possibly the entire shinobi world, he had seen something else. He saw the many trials Hinata had faced to get to him. How willing she was to put her life on the line, surely she wouldn't have done that for just anyone, right? Could she have given her life up for her team the way she did for him? The words she declared, he had almost forgotten them and how he had felt at that time, it appeared as though her strength came from wanting to protect him. He remembered seeing red when she was thrown for the final time, the rage he felt was one almost foreign to him, had it not been for the anger he had felt for the loss of his village as well. But even at the end, although he could have killed Pein for what he had done, he knew that it was not in his nature, he didn't want to be a Hokage with that kind of blood on his hands, killing out of anger would never be him. He felt something else pool in his stomach, something that felt like guilt.

Had he turned away from her because he didn't feel the same? During that time, he had been so sure of his feelings toward Sakura, watching how hard she worked, amazed at how quickly she was maturing, helping those who needed it, and now she was giving her all to continue to dedicate her time to those who needed her help. At this time, he also couldn't help but wonder; what did Hinata want, and from him? Could he really feel the same for her? Could he give her what she needed?

He could recall that voice and the pain that he had felt when everything had gone dark; had she really felt all of that pain for him? How did she still stand loving someone after all of that?

He shook his head, this was too much to think about and he needed to stay focused. There will be a time to talk about this later, he supposed. But he couldn't help but feel a slightly anxious feeling at this, was he ready to accept these feelings from her? Was he ready to move forward?

"We should take a break ya know, you may be overusing your Byakugan right now." He called out without turning after a while.

"What? But I'm fine, I don't feel-"

"He's right, we've been up in the air for a while now and you're probably wearing yourself out.," Sakura had neared with her own bird.

The group landed at an abandoned nearby village shortly after.

"We'll rest a while but look around for any hints to where we should go next. Stay close by so we can set out soon." Shikamaru ordered as Sai and Sakura followed after him.

Naruto watched as Sakura leapt off behind Shikamaru and Sai, his heart aching a bit. When he turned to face Hinata, he noticed she was lost in thought.

"Sakura-chan's right, you look a bit tired ya know."

Hinata seemed to come alive at his voice, her eyes widening fractionally.

"Oh, I suppose I am a bit tired."

"Are you hungry? I have some ramen we can share."

"No thank you, Naruto-kun, you should eat."

Naruto paused as he watched her, the silence between them almost deafening.

"I'm sure it would help, I know if I'm exhausted and I eat 'till I'm full I start feeling better."

Naruto watched as a faint smile painted her features.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, I'll eat." Her delicate voice said as she stared back at him.

Naruto walked alongside Hinata, the unsettled feelings he held were placed to the side for the time being as he watched over her. He sat by her side as they viewed the abandoned buildings, admiring at how nature seemed to begin to overtake them. He looked at Hinata as the wind blew her hair, she looked almost ethereal, the feelings he had before coming to the surface.

"Naruto-kun… there's something I have to talk to you about… it's about Toneri"

Naruto seemed almost surprised when he heard her speak, but waited for her to continue.

"Hinata-san!" Sai's voice broke the atmosphere.

Sakura could see it clearly now, something was bothering Naruto. She noticed the expression he wore when he was out on a mission, one that was serious, and concentrated. But he seemed off, he would steal glances at Hinata when he felt no one was looking. But she saw them. And oh, how it brought on a minuscule pain in her heart, but she was glad he could finally see it, see her at least. She didn't know what had brought on the change, but she was glad for it. But she can see his worry as well, he seemed almost scared of something. She wanted to ask him about it, to talk to him, but it never felt like the time, especially not now if he's drawing nearer to Hinata. She could see the subtle changes, how he keeps his guard up as though ready to protect.

That was Naruto, a natural protector for any of those who had come close to his heart, and this was far too many to count. She frowned as she recalled all those times he had saved her. She never did quite thank him fully, she knew it had much to do with the life of a shinobi and how it was almost instinct to protect those who needed it. This was who he had always been, giving and beautiful, a sun personified who had a heart of gold and deserved to have that same kind of pure love given to him. He needed someone who can focus on loving him, maybe even giving it back to him tenfold.

She shook her head, feeling guilt as she lost focus for a moment, and not for the first time, on the fact that their village was in grave danger. These thoughts should wait. There were lives at stake at the moment, and anything Naruto was having trouble with he would have to figure out on his own. She couldn't help him now, she couldn't afford to.

"You must stop… the Ootsutsuki's… the Ootsutsuki's…"

TBC

A/N: Hi again! As you can see I am trying to blitz through The Last because I don't want this to take up too much of the story so I will be skipping probably more than half of the scenes from the novel. I don't know about the entire rivalry between Toneri and Naruto, just because the novel makes it seem a bit childish so I'd rather not even try to mend it or add it in, you may get some scenes but not all of them. I'm giving myself like 2 to 3 more chapters (MAYBE 4 but I hope not) and then I can finally start to write out the rest of it. Apologies for the hiatus, it felt like forever but that's because school has been really rough. T-T I will try to upload the next chapter as soon as I can. Thank you so much for the ongoing support. I know there's been reviews asking me to not abandon the story, I promise you I'm not, there is an entire outline already done, down to the ending, I just need to find the time to actually write out the chapters. Please be patient and I will try to go back to uploading weekly or biweekly! There are other projects I have outlined as well but I NEED to finish this one, not just for you guys but for me too! Anyway I can't wait to continue with the story please leave your reviews as well, any questions or comments feel free to leave in the reviews. HAVE A GREAT WEEK!