Chapter 12: The Turning Point

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life waiting for us."

-Joseph Campbell

Naruto & Hinata-Konoha Hospital Pediatric Wing, Room 219

"We'll be fine, you can go now." Hinata smiles icily, thin veil of anger making Ruriko jolt from her huffing at having to adjust Naruto's IV fluids.

Again.

Jiraiya dropped Naruto off here hours ago and since sunrise, she's watched her barely step foot in this room. If anything, the hazy pink wash of the sky and the relative darkness of Naruto's room at the time had hidden well enough her open scowl and disgust at being assigned to him.

Neither of them had fully noticed her annoyance at her set group of patients during shift change until midday.

"A-Alright, well you can still press the call light if you need anything!" She squeaks out in Naruto's direction before scrambling away.

Naruto chuckles dryly snapping Hinata out of her glaring at her retreating back. "Since when are you so mean?"

Hinata reddens, but her frown remains as she looks back over to him. If Naruto's bothered by his lack of medical care beyond minimal effort, he isn't saying so.

He's gotten too used to it, and she as his sacrifice should understand these conditions, the reality of being tied to him with how many months have passed now.

"The charge nurse Akari said you may need to stay in this Observation section overnight." She mentions instead between bites of fruit.

A get-well soon gift courtesy of Kurenai-sensei.

'I would avoid eating any of the hospital food knowing your current titles around the village.' She had warned.

A warning Naruto had actually followed through on, but that didn't stop a slight tampering with the IV fluids and antibiotics running into him. She had tapped at various pressure points of his stomach majority of the day in an attempt to hopefully loosen the knot of cramps that made him writhe about all last night into the morning hours.

"You're the one always telling me to be wary of others, I should've been looking closer at each medicine you were receiving." Hinata sighs.

She balls a hand against his sheets. Sacrifice or not, she's getting answers.

Naruto shakes his head before Hinata can move out of her seat, grabs onto her hand as he opens his eyes just slightly to prove this isn't her fault.

"It's fine. I…I pissed off a lot of vendors on my way to the bakery the other day. It doesn't surprise me that one of them might've asked if I could get an extra dose of some toxin that would elicit this stomachache and fever any nurse or doctor could give a blind eye or explain away as caused by some other condition y'know."

Hinata studies their clasped hands briefly, lets Naruto pull her against his side halfway into the bed.

The burn of a coming blush slithers from her cheeks down to her neck, Naruto's grin widening taking it in.

"So don't leave and start trouble on my behalf; not yet." He orders, voice scratchy to his ears. The urge to sleep this stomachache off and his desire to kiss her to take her mind off of his pain wage war, both tumbling about in his mind to be chosen.

Cerulean drops to her lips and he pushes then for the latter to win.

Opalescent eyes soften in return, her free hand threading at his sheets to not get fully distracted.

He's refused to tell her how much he actually heard of her conversation with Jiraiya days ago, always changes the subject or goes frustratingly quiet like he didn't hear her.

"Are things going to change between us based on how much I heard?" Naruto ventures to ask.

Hinata looks up from her tamagoyaki, shakes her head.

"No, though I-"

"Good! There's nothing for you to worry about then y'know!" Naruto interrupts, chime in his voice and she knows then he won't be budging any further on said topic.

But now this close he can surely hear the noisy thrum of her heartbeat revealing her growing feelings, see the spike of anxiety trembling across her body chipping at her earlier anger.

"Is...Is that a command?" She breathes out.

"Yes. No. You know I won't ever force you to do anything you don't want me to do Hinata." Naruto murmurs, leaning up to her.

His breath fans her lips, pausing to look at her if this is truly okay and her toes curl, pounding in her ears rising to a crescendo, tilting her own head in return.

A knock at the door freezes them, Naruto snorting as he falls back into his pillows.

"That better not be you Pervy-Sage!" He yells out.

A loud yawn greets him back, a dull announcement.

"You're in luck, I guess. It's just me, Shikamaru."

Dark eyes furrow realizing he's not alone when he enters, Hinata sending him a half smile while Naruto looks at him flatly.

He matches his bored look with one of his own before chuckling, plopping into the empty chair at the end of his bed.

"I'm coming from visiting Lee and wanted to make sure you're okay. Considering how troublesome you've been acting as of late from what I've heard around the village, I guess you'll be on your way to being discharged tomorrow."

Hinata perks up at this. "Lee's in room 206-A, right? I passed by his room earlier with some of his favorite curry dishes, but he wasn't there."

Shikamaru nods, voice dropping lower should Ruriko or another nurse come by.

"Hospital personnel had to change his location, make it more...confidential due to Gaara's presence being found on various security devices planted near his old room."

Naruto sits up slowly, frown marring his lips.

"Suna's jinchuriki. Knowing how he nearly killed Lee in the preliminaries, I'm surprised Old Man Third and the other advisors are okay with letting him go on to the Finals."

Shikamaru and Hinata share a look, Naruto ignoring his own cruel actions towards Neji.

Naruto catches them anyways, scowls. "Neji deserved what I did to him. It isn't like Lee purposely provoked Gaara y'know."

Shikamaru simply nods, not going to play into riling up his ire.

"Yeah. Yeah. Just wanted to give you an update that we're going to be dealing with the Sand Siblings for our Final matches. I find something's...off about that trio. Can't determine what though it is that they're truly hiding from everybody."

Naruto snorts. "You're too lazy to truly look into it unless it's something that will directly affect you. Anyways, since when have you ever wanted to give me a heads up when we've barely had a conversation before today? Isn't even just being a shinobi 'troublesome' or a 'drag' for you?"

Shikamaru says nothing for a moment, considers his next words at his growing frown.

He's heard plenty of rumors and seen for himself Naruto's behavior when his mood is dark, having even caught the tail end of his conversations with his own teammates while getting lunch with his team.

"What makes you think Kakashi-sensei cares now what you get up to? His focus is going to be on Sasuke alone Sakura, he has no interest in teaching you anything further beyond the basics or even in your nature affinity." Naruto mentions between slurps of his broth.

Paying for his and Sakura's lunch isn't going to change that or his feelings on the matter.

Sakura stiffens, dropping her chopsticks while he can tell Kakashi is sending him a frown beneath his mask. "Naruto, that's not what this means at all. We all know that Sasuke is going to have a tough match up against Gaara. Ebisu-sensei is a jonin as well-"

Cobalt snaps to him and Kakashi stops himself as they turn piercing. "What makes you think I care that he's a jonin when there are no recorded feats of his abilities and skill in any prominent missions? What can he teach me besides the fundamentals that I already know? Just say you don't have the time and don't want to train Sakura or I any further, honesty is better than lying in this case; isn't it?"

Forest green eyes soften on Kakashi who goes silent, Sakura holding up a hand to stop Naruto as a crackle of wind blows throughout Ichiraku's.

"It's fine Naruto; really."

Azure flickers to her briefly before pushing his bowl away. His gaze lands on Kakashi one last time before he turns to go, silently tells him this isn't the end of this conversation and whatever else he refuses to discuss with him that go beyond just training.

"I'll give Ebisu-sensei one day, but after that I'm finding someone better than can train me for the Finals if it's not going to be you." He mutters on his way out.

Ino shivers as she watches Naruto leave from the back of Ichiraku's, Team 7 thankfully not having noticed them.

"I gotta check and see how Sakura's doing after hearing that." She gets up to stand before Shikamaru and Choji can stop her. Asuma peers in Kakashi's direction, stoic expression still carefully in place.

"Think Ino will mind if I take her plate of yakitori?" Choji mumbles to lighten the mood, Shikamaru shrugging as he glances at Naruto's retreating back.

"Take mine, my appetite is going south anyways." He mutters, sliding his plate over.

Hinata brushes her fingers against Naruto's arm, pearl meeting blue and it's the first time he bears witness to her effect on him.

'I could ask how Hinata deals with him as his sacrifice without trying to runaway considering I don't have such patience. But I like my head connected to the rest of my body.' Shikamaru decides.

He blows out a breath. "...I have my reasons. Hayate Gekko's body was found heavily mutilated earlier this morning with slash marks to his chest and neck. I heard mutterings from my Dad as he talking to some other jonin after breakfast that the sound shinobi Dosu was killed by Gaara as well sometime last night."

This makes Naruto pause, expression turning thoughtful.

"Oh. That changes our matchups then y'know. So if I'm not going to face Dosu, wonder who my opponent will be then."

"Temari. Gaara's older sister." Shikamaru answers before he can dwell on it.

Hinata purses her lips, recalling how easily she bested Tenten in the preliminaries.

"She's proficient in wind like you Naruto."

Naruto shrugs, grins in a way she can see through that he'll need to change tactics for this type of matchup.

And fast.

"Sasuke is still set to face Gaara and I'm supposed to go up against either Shino or Kankuro. Will be based on whoever wins their match. Going to be bothersome either way for me, though at least I can maybe get a power nap in since I don't have a first-round match. Figured I would just let you know since nobody else was probably going to fill you in on these new changes to the matches." Shikamaru goes on, leaning his head against his palm.

Naruto arches a brow; people don't just give him information simply because. "What, did your Old Man or Asuma-sensei put you up to this?"

Shikamaru yawns again. "No, though this wasn't exactly on my list of things I wanted to do today. I was just in the area and wanted to pass by to see how you're doing, not everything has a caveat or hidden motive to it."

'Weird. How is this guy so lazy? Would he take an actual hit versus having to fight?' Naruto wonders.

He picks up a grape from his bowl to test it, directs it straight for his head.

Shikamaru's shadow instantly slithers forth, paralyzes his arm midway in the air.

"I'm being helpful giving you updates, the least you can do is not hit me."

Naruto merely beams as he fidgets to break his hold. Azure gleams with scarlet, ready to turn this into a game, a challenge. "Oh, guess you're not so lazy you'd just let yourself be attacked y'know!"

Wind billows up around him, blue tinged with red to brown watching each other.

Hinata holds up a hand in warning, aims for a pressure point near Naruto's chest and gut. "Naruto, stop. Now isn't the time or place, especially in your current condition. Like Shikamaru said, he's just being friendly."

To Shikamaru's surprise, Naruto easily does as she wants, gaze moving from him back to her.

"Alright, guess I'm not used to people being nice to me; sorry. I wasn't going to kill or seriously injure him, just mess with him a bit so he'd stop looking so bored just being here."

Sweat beads Shikamaru's brow, guard staying up as he fights down a shudder even at his semi-formal apologetic bow.

''Naruto barely did anything and he almost broke my hold.'

His eyes track to Hinata, restrains back showing open pity that this is just part of her many duties as a sacrifice. He would've long grown exhausted with everything involved with said title, but then again, her old life as a Hyūga is gone.

He pushes out of his chair, sends one final withering glance towards Naruto.

"Don't do anything to get yourself disqualified."

A grin slides back to Naruto's face as if the last few minutes didn't just occur. "Wouldn't dream of it y'know!"

He stays on his best behavior until it's time for the Final matches, blue-green eyes regard him with the same flippant expression so many of the attendants are casting on his back.

Majority of them are here to see or have betted on Sasuke vs Gaara, he's simply the boring warmup match they have to sit through first.

"Huh, so you're supposed to be Konoha's jinchuriki? Up close, you aren't as menacing as I thought you would be based on all the rumors and stories I've heard of how you've been treating your latest sacrifice." Temari regards coolly, flashing out her fan sending up a swirl of gust and sand.

"I am, but no need to voice aloud what you already know about me." Naruto regards sharply at her tone.

Temari narrows her eyes, teal focusing on him for any sudden surprises.

"Alright, begin!" Genma announces.

She instantly slips backwards into a shroud of smog, Naruto doing the same from his end.

He's proficient in wind as well, that much she knows from his match with Kiba. However, she doubts he has any real experience in using it beyond just the basic techniques of little swirls of tornadoes and whirlwinds, flurries of wind that won't be able to touch her.

'Still, I need to be careful and keep my distance; that temper of his is too similar to Gaara's.'

"Wind Release: Cyclone!"

Naruto blows back the first gale of wind, directs it to slice into the nearby wall instead in a burst of dirt and sand, scoffs and a chill settles across her skin as he flicks out his nails to finally step closer, vermilion washing away blue.

"You're not afraid of me and that's fine. I'm sure your youngest brother's opponents thought the same right before he killed them."

Hiruzen & Danzo-Kage Sitting Area

"Are you sure about this Hiruzen? Letting this match go on?" Danzo hisses in his ear.

Rasa to his right simply grins, makes no effort to hide his eavesdropping, amused with how all the matches have turned out so far.

'He's hardly said a word even about his own children's progress in these exams.' Danzo notes to himself.

His visible eye sharpens back on Hiruzen at his lack of response, follows his gaze down to what remains of the field below. Naruto and Temari haven't let up in their attacks, each torrent of wind stronger than the last.

But he can see that Temari is the one beginning to slow down of the two, unable to keep up with Naruto's stamina as he lands another gut punch to her chest for a third time. A collision of tornado after tornado strike the walls of the arena, tremors rippling across the ground. From what he gathers, both are about to go for some type of finishing move shortly.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Temari huffs, shakes away droplets of blood to her lips, he's been using variations of the same attacks with that same jutsu for nearly the last half hour. "You can send clone after clone all you like! I'll just keep blowing them back!" Temari declares, smears blood against her fan unleashing Kamatari to end this.

The weasel lets loose a sharp battle cry at ready, nodding for Temari's command.

'I'm not going to let him hide in this haze any longer!'

"Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance!"

Kamatari rides her fans of wind, cuts its way through the barrage of coming clones, arena further shaking at the additional cracks to the foundation, chairs blown up into the air by the swirls of wind.

When the smog clears though Naruto is no longer visible, stickiness clinging to her back. She peels off a leg and arm, tosses the object roughly away.

'Toads?'

She steps back into a pit of slime that clings to her legs, burns when she tries to rub it off.

It isn't just one, dozens in varying sizes and colors fill the area, crawl onto her fan, move for her clothes.

"Toad's skin can be quite acidic the longer it stays to you, known to cause paralysis and swelling to skin in the more poisonous types. That's the reaction you're having right now y'know!" Naruto remarks while pulling himself up from underground.

He grins at Temari's clenched teeth, hands quivering to try and attack him still.

He shakes off dirt and grime from his clothes, calms his breathing at a lingering ring in his ears from her earlier wind vacuum move. She knows a better variety of wind-based techniques he'll give her that, though none of that holds up to his endurance.

"You're basically out of chakra now, right? Forfeit or I'll have them bury you from head to toe."

Temari looks past him instead to Kankuro, dark eyes wide in panic while Gaara watches on blankly, probably wouldn't care if this is how she met her end.

'No, I can't...I won't die in front of my brothers! Or ruin the invasion plans for attacking Konoha.'

She spits out a curse, sends up the hand signal to Genma who nods.

"Temari forfeits! Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"

Danzo slumps back into his chair, nearly slides down at the chorus of cheers and boos that fill the stadium at the outcome.

"Hiruzen, don't forget he's our village's jinchuriki! Even I doubt I'll be able to sway the daimyo or your other advisor's opinions of promoting him to chunin at this point with the tactics he's used!" He grits out amid the commotion.

Hiruzen holds up a hand to stop him from going on, points instead to the field as it gets cleared out for the main event.

Sasuke vs. Gaara.

"I hear you Shimura, but the match you've been waiting for is coming up now. The one we need to watch closely, Suna's jinchuriki vs an Uchiha." He voices casually.

A series of whispers arise wondering where Sasuke is as Gaara moves to take his place, green to blue briefly meeting as they head in opposite directions in and out of the arena.

Gaara stops for a brief second taking in Naruto's expression, eyes similar to his own...

'I thought only the Uchiha had eyes like that in this village, driven by hate and rage.'

But the boy before him now matches his features nearly to a T, sand impeding Naruto's path.

"You. Have we met before?" He asks point blank.

Naruto studies his sand for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, but we're alike, you and me. Both of us are our village's jinchuriki."

Gaara's sand slithers closer, tangles near his feet in rising interest. "Is that so? Your eyes...you've killed before, haven't you?"

Naruto steps over his sand before he can bind it. "...For survival, not for the fun of it."

He moves ahead before he can decide to challenge his bloodlust against him, a mix of jonin and chunin quickly clearing away debris from the area. His sand swirls about him like ribbons, ready to further tear and break at skin at the trail of scarlet left in his wake.

Naruto clicks his tongue, peers around for Sasuke and Kakashi as well, shrugs when he doesn't see either of them.

'I doubt Sasuke would end up forfeiting by being late, though this is cutting it close.' He regards as he heads for the stands to find Hinata and potentially Pervy-Sage.

Genma reconvenes with the other jonin as seconds turn to minutes just as Kakashi makes his entry in poof of air, Sasuke at his side in all black attire. He sends Naruto a nod when he catches his gaze before his attention turns to Gaara.

"Ahh, I wonder how that Uchiha boy will handle Gaara's sand." Rasa purrs in delight, Danzo observing closely as well. The Uchiha clan's trademark abilities involve fire, useless against Gaara's waves of dust and sand.

Naruto slows his pace to go upstairs as Sasuke gathers lightning into his hands while dodging sprays of Gaara's sand, the same move they saw Kakashi-sensei do back in the Land of Waves.

'Chidori.' He realizes as he strikes forth into Gaara's sphere of sand.

A hush falls over the stadium as a crackling pierces the air, barrier crumpling.

Scarlet pours out from Gaara's arm, verdant eyes wide in horror.

'Bleeding. I'm bleeding!'

Danzo leans forward curiously while Rasa merely hums, stands up to go. Hiruzen's brows furrow as he snaps his fingers towards someone within the stands before his attention switches towards the sky above.

He shakes at Danzo's shoulder, alarm bubbling up in his chest.

"Shimura, are you seeing this? White feathers are raining down..."

Hinata-Konoha Arena, Stands

"Don't spit it out Lady Hinata, I cannot keep wasting my tonics and herbs on you if you continue to act so unbecoming. Proper ladies finish what is served in front of them no matter how bitter it may taste." Dr. Hashijimi warns.

Nausea builds in her chest like a rising wave, pursing her lips.

"B-But is this all really necessary? I-I just want to talk to Father one more time to ask him-"

"Master Hiashi is busy all this week in meetings with the Elders. He'll be having discussions within our clan regarding an upcoming trade deal with Taketori Clan. Afterwards, he'll be dining with the other clan leaders in Konoha regarding a new building works project in Konoha's business district. He has no time to entertain your silly questions on if you should be sacrificed or not." Hashijimi cuts her off.

Hinata bites her tongue to not argue back, swallows back the murky liquid despite the sting that comes to her throat.

She buries down the urge to request her sparring sessions with Father and Hanabi to come back instead of dealing with these hourly 'health exercises' to ensure her body is physically fit.

Appropriate to be sacrificed.

Her gaze shifts longingly towards outside, sky a rare clear blue for winter. The sycamore trees are layered with frost, orange marigold and gold zinnia covered with patches of frost along the garden wall. It's been so long since she's had a chance to even walk along the stone pathway that leads to the koi pond, to collect and plant seeds for the autumn and winter seasons...

Hashijimi slams a hand down against the table, jolting her.

"Pay attention. Your days of sparring with Master Hiashi and Lady Hanabi are over with the weakness you showed in fighting your sister. As per your last meeting with him, he's formally made his request to Lord Third for you to be sacrificed at the end of this month upon reaching your 13th year."

Her stomach tilts as Hashijimi pushes a new bowl towards her, the next concoction the color of algae.

"It's milk thistle mixed with yarrow and wormwood. I will make sure there's no delays in your progress Lady Hinata; you'll never cause shame again to the Hyūga name once you finish all your lessons with me."

"Wake up. There's no time for you to sit around." A voice orders in her ear.

Her eyes snap open, breath escaping in pants looking around.

Right, the stadium. Naruto's fight.

'Genjutsu?' Hinata gathers her thoughts, sending the man a thankful look.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing here? What's going on?" Hinata questions, snapping herself out of her daze as civilian around her slip into deeper slumbers.

Jiraiya blinks innocently, appearance that of a run of the mill civilian with mousey brown locks and gray eyes.

"How'd you know it was me? Anyways, I'm just here to bet on...err I mean cheer on Naruto of course! Was hoping nothing chaotic would happen, I even went to the trouble to disguise myself in order to not draw attention from any of my fans! Unfortunately, it looks like we're under attack." He sighs, undoing his transformation.

He draws up his hair as the walls start to break around them, dark eyes looking into pearl.

"Think you can handle finding your way out of here? I'm gonna go take care of those snakes trying to break through the main walls!"

'Ugh, I didn't think Orochimaru would have any reason to want to come back to the village. And I don't know if the geezer can handle him at his current age...' Jiraiya sighs.

Hinata nods as he heads opposite of her, byakugan already active to follow the paths shinobi have created to lead spectators out to safety.

She twists left as a piece of steel from above crashes into the seat beside her, hand abruptly pulling her backwards.

She bites back a yelp feeling her wrist pop and bend, gritting her teeth to face her attackers.

Two men with Kumo headbands look her up and down, goosebumps firing up across her skin as they beam at her like she's a prize.

'Just like Fukuda back then.' She frowns, slowly drawing out a powder from her pocket.

They're too focused on her eyes after all.

"Sekiei, this is her right?! The girl the Hyūga clan gave up?" Mikage questions eagerly.

Sekiei leans in close to her giving her a whiff of sake and cigars, grins. "No need to pout girlie! Just think of how much ryo and fame you're going to give us in death; studying those mysterious eyes of yours! Yeah, it's her alright Mikage! This is perfect, her Old Man and her clan aren't even going to care that we'll take her eyes considering he sacrificed her!"

Her heart jumps into her throat, she's going to have to kill again...

"It's unbecoming to be restless like this Lady Hinata. How can you represent the clan stumbling over your words like this? This is an important speech you'll need to do in front of Lord Third and his team that you understand your new upcoming duty for the village. It's no wonder your Father has started to turn his favor towards Lady Hanabi behaving like this." Hashijimi huffs, exasperated.

Sacrifices don't stutter, speak eloquently knowing it's an honor to be chosen.

"I-I'm sorry-"

Her hand slaps against her back, forces her posture to straighten.

"Stop apologizing. Start over from the beginning."

Just before he can move to further pin her arms in place, she blows jimsonweed in his face.

Sekiei startles and chokes, hold on her loosening, Hinata drawing a kunai from her sleeve.

"I'm not going with either of you." Hinata assures, driving the blade into his chest.

Straight for his heart.

Black eyes cloud over as Hinata pushes deep, blood gurgling up from his lips in surprise before tumbling backwards. Mikage gapes at his fallen companion, grits his teeth at him dying to a child of a people.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way." He mutters, plants his hands to ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave!"

Hinata stumbles back as everything topples up in a wave of rock and steel towards her, shadow of a figure coming up behind Mikage before he can rush in for her legs.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"

'Neji?' Hinata studies him in surprise, Mikage pushed into a pillar of sliced cement.

He slides down beside his partner into a growing puddle of crimson, Neji turning his gaze to her.

"Are you alright?"

Hinata stiffens as he moves a hand out to her, Neji retracting it at her wary expression.

"I'm...fine. Just a bit fatigued."

Neji nods, gestures for her to follow him to an exit before this section of the stadium fully collapses in on them. She keeps a wide berth between them, Neji looking back over his shoulder every few seconds to confirm she's truly following him.

"I, err read my Father's final letter for me. Uncle has answered all my questions regarding his decision."

Hinata's features stay the same. "Ah, now you know I wasn't lying when I said I'm not the clan's first sacrifice. Good that Father was honest with you."

"Yes and I truly do want to apologize Hinata-"

Hinata holds up a hand, frown deepening.

"Please, don't Neji. Not now. Your apology means little when just a month ago you tried to kill me."

She blows out a shaky breath, relieved her voice isn't cracking like so many times before when she was put into situations where she had to talk to him.

Neji has the decency to grimace, about to say more when a flash of orange comes between them.

Naruto.

He unceremoniously dumps Mikage and Sekiei's bodies in front of him, necks slashed and twisted in a way that makes Hinata's stomach roil and look away from the fallen duo.

"You forgot to check if these two were truly dead."

Neji clicks his tongue noting the trail of blood behind Naruto as he comes to Hinata's side.

"Are you alright? Do I need to get rid of him next?" He asks, studying her for any major injuries.

Hinata waves away his hands, face warming at his open affection.

"No, let's get out of here and provide aid to the injured civilians and fend off any Suna or Oto shinobi trying to attack the major populated areas of the village."

Neji angles himself to be in Hinata's view, clears his throat.

"Hinata, there is something else I must tell you regarding the Hyūga, regarding Uncle-"

Naruto sends him a look, scarlet boring into him.

"Hinata is no longer a Hyūga. You reminded her of said fact just last month."

Neji ignores him briefly, but Hinata is no longer focused on either of them, lilac taking in their village's growing destruction.

"...Another time then. It's important Hinata."

Her eyes flicker to his before shuttering over in a haze, pulling Naruto forward to further the gap between them.

"If it's as important as you say, then have Father deliver the news directly to me through the proper channels. After all, you trusted his word over mine."

Sakura-Konoha Market District

'Don't throw up. Don't throw up.' She gulps in puffs of musty air.

Her house is just about 10 minutes away, maybe less than 5 if she breaks into a sprint now that she's cleared out all the shopkeepers and civilian who live and work in this area.

'I can get there. I can get there.' She repeats the mantra over and over in her mind, leaping over fallen wood and brick, crouching low over buildings billowing with smoke and flames.

The Haruno household doesn't stick out compared to the prestigious clans of Konoha, a simple tan colored building right next to a series of homes in similar shades. Nothing about said house is remarkable, most people probably didn't even see the moment it collapsed amid in the surrounding chaos and destruction.

"I'm almost there, they had to have been evacuated by now by some chunin or jonin, I just need to be sure." Sakura mutters confidently, pushes herself to move faster.

Mebuki comes into view first, hair coated with enough dust to make it nearly look a sandy blonde.

Tears dot her jade eyes, knocking away a pillar of wood.

"Hold on Dear, I can get you out of this!"

Sakura's gaze falls to her shoulder, gash the size of her fist, blood flowing down her arm. Bile races up her throat, Sakura rushing to her side.

"Where's Dad? Why haven't you two evacuated yet?!" She questions, words running together.

Her stare drops then to Kizashi, right leg trapped under the remnants of their home.

Mebuki blinks at her dazedly, nearly drops her hold on Kizashi.

"I...I can't leave yet, not without your Father."

Sakura bends herself to study his leg's position, the weight of cement, wood, and brick upon it.

"Don't worry about me sweetie. Maybe this old leg will be a peg once I'm out of this!" Kizashi chuckles weakly.

'Dad can still crack terrible puns even at a time like this.' Sakura manages a weak grin, steadies her breathing.

Because his smile is warped with pain, sheen of sweat blanketing his paling features. Fever is setting in, risk for infection going to lead into complications she forces herself not to dwell on.

How many minutes has he been stuck here like this? Does he even have sensation still in that leg?

Sakura balls up her hands, half turns to Mebuki.

"Stand back Mom! I'm getting Dad out of this."

Mebuki stiffens at her harsh order, reluctantly steps away as Sakura places her hands to the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"

The remnants of their home splits in two, pressure lifting off Kizashi's leg. Mebuki is back by his side in a breath, pulls him out of harm's way faster than Sakura's ever seen her move.

"Can you stand Dear?" Mebuki questions, helping him slowly to his feet.

Flesh and bone have become visible, skin falling away in scraps. Sakura immediately rips off part of her sleeve to form a tourniquet, bleeding slowly to a trickle.

Kizashi smiles wanly. "Is...Is the prognosis bad or good?"

"Stop talking!" Sakura and Mebuki order in unison.

Kizashi nods sluggishly, leaning on Mebuki's shoulder. The two most important women in his life fussing over him and he can barely keep his head up to enjoy the attention.

"I'll lead you to the medic section." Sakura declares, creates a stone wall on both sides of them to prevent any sudden ambushes. They're just one of dozens of similarly injured civilian and shinobi as they come upon the pavilion, a doctor taking one look at Kizashi's leg with a shake of his head.

"That needs care at the Main Hospital..." He mutters, trailing off seeing Sakura's glare.

Her chest sinks watching as Kizashi gets rushed away to their makeshift surgery section, heartbeat too loud in her ears to keep track of what Dr. Kadokawa, who has taken on his case is saying.

'Amputation. Sepsis. Long term complications. You're lucky you got here in time that he should live, but that leg...'

All of it turns to static, empty platitudes of comfort to their stricken expressions.

"-We'll do our best Ma'am. However, as you can see, your husband isn't the only one with injuries we're dealing with here. We have limited supplies being a makeshift field hospital until this attack is fully over. We're funneling as much supplies as we can get from the Main Hospital's emergency center."

'Silly me, all this time I thought Lady Azeki's fortune meant something involving Team 7. Or maybe my growth as a kunoichi on the field, how I feel towards Sasuke.' Sakura bites her lip until skin breaks, tastes iron on her tongue mixed with the salt of her tears.

She hadn't ever considered the coming darkness would be related to her family.

-x-

All this pollen has been making me sneeze and itch, pretty to watch Spring come in, not as fun to deal with its effect on me!

I'm having so much fun writing Jiraiya and these NaruHina moments! Hinata interacted with Neji again for the first time since their fight, pretty soon she's going to have to deal with her Father too!

As always, pa-tre-ons, get early access to chapters along with additional bonus NaruHina/NSFW works and MY original writings! I go by TheLovelyMidnightWriter there! Check out my Insta by the same name for my anime drawings, book reviews/recommendations, and travel pics!

Glad so many of you have been enjoying this, let me know your thoughts as always!