#see you next week

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Ch.11: The Hyuga clan (2)

It feels surreal. It feels right in a way that makes her heart hurt. Her cousin keeps close to her and Hinata can now talk without inhibition, without worrying. She talks about whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Neji doesn’t usually smile, has never been one to even smirk. But his tone is soft and he searches for her, probes her with questions. 

    They have started talking about their time back in the Hyuga clan and although it is obvious they are still apprehensive about it; although their eyes wander when the topic is reached; although the silences are longer and the words get lost more often. They talk. 

    Hinata guesses it is her fault she lets her guard down. The days are calm, her baby is healthy, she manages to catch Neji smirking once and Naruto is supposed to reach the Two-Tails territory within the week. Which means he’ll be back soon now. Sooner than when he left. Sooner than yesterday.

    Hinata is walking through the hallways lost in thought. Trying to keep herself from worrying about her husband and focusing on her health and her baby. The maid that rushes to her looks agitated and she opens and closes her mouth for a while before saying anything.

    “We have sent word to Lord Shikamaru,” she starts, her hands in front of her, her fingers pinching at each other. “Lady Mito, Lord Minato and Lord Jiraiya are outside the compound on business, and,” she looks at Hinata as if asking for forgiveness and Hinata only grows more apprehensive by the second, “we have sent for Lord Neji, too, he should be arriving any second now-”

    “Wait,” Hinata interrupts and the maid catches her breath, her lips closing together in a thin line, “what- what happened?”

    The maid is reluctant, she looks at Hinata with her brows furrowed and her gaze fixes on her lady’s white eyes. 

    “Lady Hinata’s father, Lord Hiashi is here.”

•····························•····························•

Hinata rushes to the guest room, then slows. The maid at her side follows her every movement and matches them accordingly. It only makes Hinata more nervous. 

She ought to go and meet her father.

She could also let Neji handle everything and hide in her room-

 -wait in her room.

She stands there a second too long, the maid stands close to her, then closer. Her voice is tinged with worry. “Maybe we should wait for Lord Neji, my lady.”

And in any other tone of voice maybe Hinata would have powered through. At any other point in her life, maybe she would have felt a surge of rebellion and walked alone. But this is another time, and the maid at her side doesn’t look away when Hinata turns to her. 

There is no irk in her eyes, no contempt. 

Hinata nods and tries her hardest to keep her thoughts from going haywire. It doesn’t work. Neji comes find her with his hair disheveled and his breath labored.

“Lady Hinata,” he breathes, and they share a look so heavy she wishes Neji could tell her they don’t need to- that they don’t have to-

“You don’t have to do this,” he finishes.

Hinata’s stomach turns. And leave him again to face this on his own? 

“I can meet Lord Hiashi on my own-”

“B-but…”

“It is different with me.”

He frowns and as he gets closer he reaches for her arms. Hinata knows he’s right. 

    “You know it.”

    She does. And she wishes she could accept this without having so much trouble. She wishes she could keep her father away from her. She wishes it didn’t hurt her to deny him.

    But it does. Somehow, for some reason, the moment she heard he was here her first instinct was to go to him. Somehow, without her being able to understand why, thinking of disappointing him is out of the question.

    “I… I want to g-go.”

    She averts her eyes, because she can’t face her cousin now. Neji squeezes her arm  and his next words are low, a whisper.

    “I understand.”

•····························•····························•

Her father is sitting in the room with an air around him that shows no emotion. Hinata’s steps falter at the sight, but his gaze doesn’t follow. His eyes are fixed in front of him, and Hinata is only able to look him in the eyes when she’s sitting and Neji is next to her, a little behind. A guard. An assistant.

    She waits for a signal. Loses herself in the white eyes of her father and realizes that she is the one who has to start talking when the silence drags on far too long for comfort.

    Her father remains silent and Hinata wonders if he would keep on being silent even if she decided to keep quiet. 

    She doesn’t. The role of being a good host ingrained in her body. 

    “Father,” she says. Her breathing controlled, her body perfectly positioned. “It is good to s-see you again.” She winces as she stutters, fears a berating coming.

    “It is good to see you again, too.”

    It’s weird. Seeing her father waiting for her to speak first. Being in a position where she controls the situation.

    It’s weird. Because she thought that even in here, even now, her father would impose himself. Would act like he did back home. 

    He doesn’t.

    She is lost in thought and Hiashi can’t help but stare at her stomach. Big and obvious beneath her clothes. 

    “How far along are you?”

    Hinata brings her hands to her belly immediately after, as if to keep her baby away from this conversation.

    “Twenty- twenty-eight weeks n-now.”

    Hiashi nods, then forces the words out of his mouth, “Congratulations.”

    His daughter looks up with disbelief at his words and says nothing. He had thought he knew her so well. Had thought he could read her like an open book. But now she remains silent and looks at him with questions she does not share. 

    And if she doesn’t ask her questions he can’t answer. 

    Silence fills the room again and Hiashi steals a look at Neji, who looks straight at the floor in front of him with the blankest of faces. Just like Hiashi had taught him. 

    He hadn’t entertained the idea of being welcomed. But he certainly hadn’t entertained the idea either of being… received like this.

    His daughter looks like he’s supposed to lash out at any moment and Neji sits tense like an arrow about to be released at any moment. 

    “Wha- what… What do I owe the h-honor of your visit, f-father?”

    “You didn’t write to me.”

    The moment the words leave his mouth Hiashi wishes he didn’t say anything. What a childish reason. What a lame excuse.

    “I… I d-did,” his daughter lies and Hiashi realizes now more than ever that maybe… this whole situation didn’t bother her as much as him.

    Hiashi’s eyes travel to his nephew, his stance so formal he can only feel proud for him. There is a voice at the back of his head telling him to let this go. To understand that this was a choice and not an obstacle, not a problem he had to solve. 

    It’s frustration what makes him speak. “I know Neji is the one who wrote all the letters you sent.”

    Hinata and Neji startle with the slightest of movements, and Hinata’s eyes look at her father with a growing feeling of shame. How could he-?

    “Do not forget I was the one who taught you penmanship, Hinata.” Aside from his words, there isn’t even the barest of signs to show there will be a conversation ensuing. Hiashi breathes in deep, lets out a shaky breath, “you too, Neji. I taught you both, I know how to recognize your writing,” Hiashi begins to stand, making sure his clothes don’t wrinkle on the way up, “or the way you fake Hinata’s writing, for that matter.”

    His daughter looks up to him, and as always, her eyes fill with questions she doesn’t express.

    But Hiashi now can guess what is it she expects of him, “Don’t worry, I’m leaving now.”

    He stands with his back to the children and starts putting on his haori with conscious and deliberately slow movements. 

    “Did you come here now because Lord Naruto is not present?” Neji asks.

    “No,” Hiashi answers, “it just happened to be when I had free time, I had no idea.”

    Hiashi finishes putting on his haori and takes his long hair out to his back. There are no further attempts to ask anything to him as he makes his way to the door. He steals one last glance at his daughter. At her pregnant belly. 

    “I wish for you to have a smooth delivery and a healthy baby.” He bows as he offers the words. Stops a few more seconds just looking at her from the door. 

    “Why… wh-why didn’t you c-come to my wedding c-ceremony?”

    A second. “The timing didn’t match, I was busy with the clan.”

    Hinata wants to ask what was going on that he couldn’t come, but her father bows one last time before he starts closing the sliding door.

    “Take care, Hinata.”

    Hiashi stands behind the door casting a shadow for a moment too long and then he hurries away. 

    He lost his opportunity to ask for permission to see his grandchild after they’re born.

•····························•····························•

“Are you all right?”

“Y-yes.”

    Neji stares at the sliding door, as if expecting for Lord Hiashi to come back any moment now. 

    “I don’t… I don’t really understand why Lord Hiashi came here.”

    Hinata doesn’t know nor understand either, but she knows one thing for sure. 

    “Can you h-help me go back to my r-room?”

    “Of course,” Neji stands in a flash, offering his hand as support and pressing the other to her back. “Are you feeling… all right?”

    “Yes, just a little…” she doesn’t finish and Neji doesn’t keep on probing. 

    Neji takes her to her bedroom, makes sure she’s comfortable and leaves her alone. She doesn’t say anything and doesn’t ask him to stay. So he leaves. He’s sure… Lord Hiashi coming here rattled her nerves. 

    Hinata stays alone and eats alone. The night comes in a second and Shikamaru comes see her when he can. She’s all right. Nothing happened. He has nothing to worry about. He leaves with the same face Neji had given her in the afternoon. 

    Hinata wishes… she had said more. Wishes she had had the courage and strength to talk. On her terms, on her home. 

    And she didn’t.

    She couldn’t.

    She’s going to be a mother and she’s incapable of talking like an adult to her own father. 

    The faces Neji and Shikamaru gave her only serve to make her feel… worse.

    She feels bad. 

    From the moment her heart started thumping inside her chest knowing her father was here.

    From the moment she understood fear was the smallest of the feelings inside of her. 

    Her father had come to see her and she had felt excited at the idea he had come for her. 

    She hated it. The moment she understood it. She hated it. Hated it as she laid eyes on him, hated it as she felt guilt over his accusations, hated it as she accepted his reasons for not attending her wedding with a readiness that scared her. 

    Hated it as she wished for him to stay longer. 

    She wants to hate him so bad. Has wished to be able to be spiteful all her life. But she can’t. She can’t, she can’t. She can only remember his kindness, can only justify his wrongdoings. 

    She loathes the fact that all of her resolve crumbled down the moment he came back into her life. 

    She can live without him. Wants to live without him.

    But only one word from him and she would accept him back into her life.

    As the tears fall and she tries to clear her thoughts, she grabs one of Naruto’s clothes to their bed. With his scent around her, making as if he’s right beside her, she sniffles once more and falls asleep.

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Ch.9: No lies (4)

“Ah, you f-felt that?" 

Naruto stares at Hinata’s round belly, where his hand covers her whole abdomen. 

"I did,” he whispers. Still amazed at the movement going inside Hinata’s body, at their baby moving. 

Hinata covers his hand with hers, moves it to the side of her stomach. “I think next is h-here." 

And she is correct. Naruto feels a kick in his hand a few seconds after, and he can feel in his chest something he can’t explain yet. He crouches down and presses his lips to Hinata’s pregnant belly. "Hello, baby.”

She giggles and rests her hand on his hair. In love with him and the way he loves their child already. 

“So, dizziness and nosebleeds, is that all?" 

Naruto rests his ear on her stomach and Hinata ends up resting her hands on his arms. “N-nosebleeds sometimes, yes.” 

Naruto nods and hears her heartbeat against his ear. Her hand on his hair, her fingers sometimes tracing his whiskers. He closes his eyes and lets silence reign for a few seconds, before remembering something he wanted to talk to her about. “I’ve seen you taking your walks with Neji a lot these past few days.”

Her fingers stop for less than a second, and Naruto makes it as if nothing happened. 

“I h-have asked him t-to accompany me on my s-strolls.”

Which Naruto knows, because Sai has shared as much, but the question remains, “I thought you didn’t have that great of a relationship with him.” He remains on the floor, with his head on her, doing his best not to overwhelm her.

Hinata keeps quiet a second, but Naruto knows it is her putting her thoughts in order as her fingers trace absent-minded patterns across his cheek. 

“I… we have b-been talking about a lot of th-things. It’s been f-fun.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Uhm, we d-didn’t have the best ch-childhoods, I think.” Her voice gets lower, her breathing more controlled, “I… always wanted a r-relationship with him, I b-believe. He was the only one who… he w-was the only one who didn’t seem to h-hate me back then.”

Naruto raises his head, sits with his legs crossed facing her. Hinata looks at her hands, and doesn’t seem to want to look Naruto in the eyes. “He would do th-things that s-seemed to be for me, but then h-have the perfect excuse as to w-why do it for my f-father, so I thought… I w-wondered, you know, am I just a n-nuisance to him as w-well?”

Her voice is quiet, “I n-never knew… I couldn’t k-know, he barely talked b-back then,” she chuckles. Naruto offers his hand, touches hers with the softest of touches, and Hinata reciprocates, grabs his hand between hers. She is not crying. “It’s b-been good, talking to h-him. S-Sharing stories… having- h-having a relationship.”

Hinata fears tears will follow next, so she bites her lip. She knew she wanted to have a relationship with her cousin for a long time. For longer than a long time. He was the only thing keeping her from losing herself in screams and self-pity, he showed her the barest of kindness, the barest of encouragement and yet she treasured them, because that’s what they were in that house. Treasures. Tiny and yet important. 

She would have loved to receive more. 

And so she followed him. Bothered him. Looked for him for the things no one else would give her. And he did sometimes, and then he didn’t most times. And she still wonders whether it was duty or love or pity or a sense of at least being better off than her…

They still have yet to talk about the harsh stuff. They still have to talk about their actual relationship. Hinata yearns and fears that moment, but at least now… at least now she has a relationship with a person she holds so dear -against all odds-, a person she is ashamed to hold in such regards, and yet… 

She is so happy she can walk with Neji and talk about the weather without worrying about what’s gonna appear as they turn the next corner, about the people walking around them, about what’s going to be reported back to her father, about the disgusted face her father would give her as she came ba-

“I’m glad, then.” Naruto’s warm hand brings her out of her trance, as he gets closer and searches for her eyes, as his hands move up and down her arms, as he brings her in for a hug. She feels herself relax, lays her head on his shoulder and lets him pamper her. 

“Thanks, for… for t-taking care of him, t-too.”

Naruto remembers Neji’s silent work, as he asked for his help when Hiashi’s letter first came. The way he read the letter, explained what he thought all of this meant without even asking for them to be alone, his excellent work and his disposition. Never questioning Naruto, asking for permission to voice his opinions. 

Nothing like the rude man who had faced him that first time. 

Naruto tries to connect the rude man with the eager cousin. The cold asshole with the warm family member. But maybe none of that is important, because what he cares about is that his wife was able to make it this far with his… help. 

And thanks to that she is with him now, and Neji has shown nothing but his best behavior. So Naruto puts his worries to the side, “I love you.”

Hinata chuckles as she buries her face in Naruto’s shoulder. Nothing matters. Nothing matters because Naruto is here. 

Naruto wonders whether he should share with her his godfather’s news before his father arrives. But what would he say? And what would she say, too?

No answer is enough to let him relax, so he does the next best thing. He peppers kisses all over his wife’s face, filling the room with their laughs. And he remains quiet.

⁂⁂⁂

Minato arrives at the compound with Mito in tow and they stop in their tracks as they watch Jiraiya taking a stroll through the gardens with Naruto and Hinata. 

    Minato bolts towards his master, with a flustered Mito following behind. 

“Master!”

    “Oh, calm down, calm down, I’m not going anywhere!”

    Jiraiya is the one to bring the excitement down, with laughs and pats in the back that make Minato’s high come down in an instant. There are anxious looks coming and going between Minato and Mito that Hinata catches but knows not how to feel about. 

    Naruto remains impassive and he is the one to offer they go and find a private room in which to talk. 

    Hinata feels her chest tighten slightly, and although in any other time Naruto’s tranquil attitude would help her calm herself, this time, she grows nervous. 

    Jiraiya starts to tell of his travels -as he did before with Naruto and Hinata-, and it is with a mixture of interest and obvious haste that Minato asks questions. He wants to know, but he also doesn’t care about anything at all but whatever information can help Naruto. And yet he fears to hear no new information at all, or anything worthwhile. 

    Lady Mito remains quiet, staring at Jiraiya with her eyes shining in anticipation. Jiraiya is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He tries to gauge the room’s ambience, tries to control the emotions that reach him and he ends up anchoring himself in Naruto.

    Naruto and his tight smile. 

    Naruto and his resigned attitude. Out of anyone in this room, he knows what will follow. It’s what always follows whenever Jiraiya comes back, pleas and requests he never answers.

    He can never answer them.

    And now, although Jiraiya should feel accomplished and happy, although his travels have at long last brought forth an answer, he dreads talking about it.

    He knows what comes next. And Naruto stares at him, without blinking. Waiting to remain quiet and bear the sure goading that will follow.

    “What?” Minato catches on, and his eyes travel from his son to his master. “What’s going on?” 

    “So,” Jiraiya starts, “good news first, I learned of a technique that allows one to… uh, gather energy from the environment and replenish the user’s.”

    He looks around, with a face that asks for some smiles or positive feedback. Hinata gives him a faint smile and Jiraiya smiles back. She doesn’t know what this is about.

    “And?” Minato urges, and whatever ambience Jiraiya had been able to bring into the room disappears in a second. 

    “You know, that means that the Beast will take less of a toll on Naruto’s body.”

    “Good, then why aren’t you as excited?”

    “It’s… you gather energy from the environment but it asks for the user to become one with nature, so it entails extreme meditation and barely moving a muscle-”

    “I could do that,” chimes in Naruto. 

    Jiraiya nods to him, “Good, good, it will help. But, uh, I’m not as excited because from what I could tell from the quick check I did on Naruto, well…”

    “It took a toll, right?” Minato hates the idea, but Naruto just came out of a forced tearing of the seal. For him to come out of it unscathed is just, idealistic. “The forced tearing of the seal took a toll on Naruto’s body that you can’t fix, right?”

    “Good news is, it can be fixed, in fact, I think it will be fixed if he adds this new technique. Bad news is just-”

    “We’re back on square one,” Naruto finishes. 

    Lady Mito makes fist of her hands. Naruto’s life could have been extended… if none of this would have happened. But it did. 

At least… at least they’re on square one…

    At least they are back where they were before. 

Lady Mito feels her emotions going unchecked and raises her head to compose herself. But then sees Jiraiya’s eyes locked on Naruto’s and her heart squeezes. “What is it?”

Naruto’s eyes flash to her, almost ashamed, and she fears, anguishes over what’s to come. 

“Well,” Jiraiya starts again. Minato keeps his eyes glued to the floor. “Do you remember what we talked about, long ago?” 

Lady Mito tilts her head. They have talked about so many a thing regarding Naruto’s seal. Each time with a little more urgency. “Would you mind refreshing my memory?” 

Jiraiya lets out a heavy sigh and then blurts out everything all at once, “Back then we surmised that the Beast’s chakra seeping out of Naruto for so long meant we could in turn add something to the seal that could, you know, help with that, and if Naruto’s body didn’t have to worry about that, then, in turn, it may send resources to keep himself alive instead of sealing the Beast.”

Lady Mito doesn’t ask. Fears the answer.

“Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“It’s done.”

Naruto doesn’t move a muscle and the euphoria of having something so tangible in front of her is enough to send Lady Mito in a spiral of anger towards the stubbornness of her grandson. 

“Does that,” she tempers her exhilaration, “does that mean that Naruto would have a normal… normal lifespan?”

“If he undergoes the procedure then he will have a longer life compared to what we expected before, yes.”

All eyes fall on Naruto. His eyes fixed on his godfather. 

“If I undergo the procedure, will I be able to use the Beast’s chakra as usual?”

“No.”

Naruto evades everyone’s eyes, stares to the floor for a second and then answers, “then it’s not an option.”

Jiraiya is the only one who seems to accept this answer. As Minato and Lady Mito open their mouths trying to find anything to say, but keeping quiet in hopes that the other would talk first.

HInata looks at everyone in turns, her last glance at Naruto’s profile, whose jaw is tight. And then she stares at the floor. Quiet. 

“Why not?” says Minato, and Lady Mito seems to want to drill a hole in Naruto’s mind in search of an answer.

“We have just been attacked by a clan that was thought to be dead, we are now under unprecedented times with a truce between Beast Tamers and- hell, even if we were under normal circumstances it doesn’t make sense for us to give away our best card against enemies.”

“We can fight without your Beast. We can put up a fight.”

“Putting up a fight doesn’t sound that promising, dad, sorry.”

“We can fight without your Beast, Naruto.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“We have better guards and patrols and people on our side, and Shikamaru-”

“I remember an attack happening and reaching the inner compound a year and a half ago.”

“Even without the Beast you could have handled it.”

“But what if I couldn’t?”

“If you’re going to go down that way, then what, are you going to keep that damned Beast to protect us from even the weakest of enemies? You’d rather obliterate whoever comes than to try to keep yourself-”

“Listen,” Naruto presses his hand forward, stares his father down, “I am in charge of protecting this clan, and I will do that. If that means keeping this damned Beast inside of me then I will.”

“Naruto-”

“Dad. Even you can’t be sure of what’s to come now. Who would have thought an Uchiha would appear? How long till a clan breaks the truce between Beast Tamers? How long till a bunch of clans come together and try an attack?”

Hinata feels her chest being pressed down, but does her best not to lose her composure. She wishes Naruto’s answers weren’t so obvious, weren’t so factual, she wishes he were more selfish or weaker. But he remains unfazed, unflinching, and so Hinata bites down whatever tries to come out of her. 

“Maybe further down the road, dad… maybe, when we can be more sure of what’s to come.”

Lies, though. Because Naruto knows enemies won’t stop appearing, and not even Shikamaru is able to come down with predictions for the future that are without a surprise. But Naruto knows the people in this room worry for him, so his tough persona crumbles down a little. Just a little, just a second. 

“Further down the road won’t give you as much time, son…”

“I know… I know.”

Jiraiya believes some ripples will turn up regarding this matter, but the thick of it is now dealt with. He believes that if Minato can’t change Naruto’s opinion, then it’s not even worth it for him to try. He believes everyone in the room thinks that Minato is their last resort, maybe Naruto’s wife, but seeing her biting her lip and looking like talking is the harshest of tasks is enough to realize she won’t add on the issue.

But then Lady Mito speaks.

“If we could talk with our people and improve our security?”

“Grandma Mito…”

“If we could get all of this approved by Shikamaru? I know how much you trust him, we would get his approval first, and then-”

“Grandma Mito.” 

The room is silent, and then Naruto closes his eyes in pain, “Please, just, not now.”

Lady Mito is shaken, “We have the chance to recover so much time, Naruto.”

“I know.”

“You could live till- till you’re 50, 52 maybe. Naruto, this is such a gift.”

“We can’t now. If we are under attack and I can’t use my powers as usual it could mean-”

“We would protect the clan!”

“So what? You know how much the Nine-Tails chakra means in a fight, jeez, you know why whole ass clans try to get their hands on the Beasts, it’s because we win wars.”

“We are not under war.”

“We are not under war now, yes. Am I really the only one worried about the Uchiha’s going around? The same ones that were able to knock me out by looking at my eyes?”

“Now everyone is preparing countermeasures, you are ready to fight them again-”

“Am I, though? What if I’m not?” 

Lady Mito snarls, “Then we would step up.”

“And then a bunch of my people die. No, thanks.”

“Because now only you would die, right?”

Lady Mito feels white hot rage filling her. Because all of this could have been dealt with if she had been here when her daughter was attacked. And then she could have spared her grandson from this. All of this. But she wasn’t here. She is never here. And she hates it, and she hates it, and she hates it. She is desperate. She is guilty. She wants to cling to Naruto’s robes and beg and plead and cry and whine and never let go until he decides he is more important than them. 

She wants him to want to stay here. 

She lays eyes on Hinata, and Naruto puts his arm in front of her, his other hand pointing at her, “Don’t you dare.”

She is hurt. She is hurt and she is trying to come up with any kind of excuse that can shake her grandson’s resolve even a little. Enough to make his dumb stubborness crumble. She means to bring Hinata into the discussion, but Naruto shows his fangs too, and now Lady Mito wants to bawl. 

See? See how much you care? So her brain focuses on this tiny little bit of hope, and doesn’t think too much about it. It’s a fear of hers, too. It’s something she would never say out loud, because it’s a low blow. Something she regrets the moment it comes out of her mouth.

“Don’t you want to see your child grow?”

She freezes the second after, and she can feel Minato’s eyes on her. 

Naruto’s blue eyes open wide, impossibly so. He’s hurt and ashamed and his resolve does crumble. She can see that. He stares a second and she thinks he is going to cry. 

But he whips his head the other way, and leaves the room in haste. 

Nobody moves a muscle and Lady Mito whispers after a few seconds, “I’m sorry.”

But nobody blames her. They can’t.

It’s Hinata that stands then, with her hand on her belly.

“Hinata…,” starts Lady Mito, but Hinata looks at her with empathy in her eyes.

“It’s o-okay.” 

She follows after Naruto and finds him near a flower patch, under a tree. He stands there, but doesn’t let his weight rest on the trunk.

He feels her before she can say anything.

“Just give me a minute, love.”

But she can’t. Not now. So she keeps on walking and stops just behind him. Her hand to his back. 

“Please.”

“N-Naruto.”

He doesn’t move. 

“Naruto.”

He turns to her, and his eyes shine. His hair looks blonder than ever under the sunlight and he’s close to tears. He opens his mouth, trying to justify his actions, lest Hinata think he doesn’t actually care about her, about their child.

But he doesn’t get to say anything, because Hinata brings her hand to his face, to his whisker marks. She drags her fingers along, “I-It’s okay,” she whispers.

And Naruto breaks. 

His tears fall and his lip trembles, and it’s not until Hinata brings him into her that he buries his face on her shoulder and shudders as he gasps for air.

“It’s okay.” 

Ch.1 |  Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4(1)|Ch.4(2)|Ch.5(1)|Ch.5(2)|Ch.5(3)|Ch.5(4)|Ch.6(1)|Ch.6(2)|Ch.6(3)|Ch.7(1)|Ch.7(2)|Ch.7(3)|Ch.7(4)|Ch.7(5)|Ch.8(1)|Ch.8(2)|Ch.8(3)|Ch.9(1)|Ch.9(2)|

Ch.9: No lies (3)

Naruto leaves early in the morning. Between his increasing training and the still ongoing tension regarding the attacks, he doesn’t have much time to spare. People seek him and Naruto is barely enough to appease their worries. 

    Hinata usually stirs as soon as he begins to leave the bed -taking his warmth with him-, but Naruto kisses her face until she falls asleep again. Or at least until she pretends to, the few times she tried to wake with him, Naruto had been adamant into letting her sleep till late. 

    “Listen,” he had been serious, his hand on her arms, “even if you weren’t pregnant I wouldn’t want you to wake at the crack of dawn. I mean, there’s nothing to do at this ungodly hour,” he had cackled, but Hinata knew and so he approached her by targeting her feelings, “I want you to take care of yourself, all right?” his hand to her stomach, “for our baby, please?”

    How could she deny him?

    “Also, even if you weren’t pregnant this are dumb hours to be awake.”

    “You are a-awake.”

    “Doesn’t make it any less dumb, darling.”

    So she sleeps. And when Naruto prepares to leave their room she stirs to get a kiss from him and stops moving to let him leave with peace of mind. She struggled to fall asleep at first, but now it’s easier. She’s more tired, too. 

    And although she hears and sees things around her, she keeps them at bay. Naruto shares with her all the information he has, so she knows everything that is happening. But at long last, something she has learned from being her father’s daughter comes in handy. 

    She listens, learns, and then keeps on with her life. Of course, now there are no comments regarding her inability to help, nor mean-spirited remarks regarding her lack of power, so it is easier to keep herself focused. Infinitely easier.  

    Naruto is almost back to normal, strength-wise, and he’s beginning to practice fighting enemies without looking at their eyes. An Uchiha countermeasure. He says it’s fun and Hinata can see the tinkle in his eyes that corroborate his words, but… she wishes he didn’t have to. 

    The freed Tailed Beasts are sealed already too, not in a human vessel, but at least hidden and away for any greedy hand that could want them. 

Or for an Uchiha to find. 

    Naruto had been worried at first, about any attack that could happen brought by this unsteady situation with the Beast Tamers, and although Shikamaru had checked and revised time and time again the clan’s defenses, Hinata could sometimes feel his fear in the way his arms would lock around her. 

    The return of his strength has done wonders to keep him calm. 

    That and the good news regarding her pregnancy. 

    Hinata has safely entered her second trimester and although she is more confined than before, she is happy. Kiba likes to joke around and mocks Naruto’s need to keep her under surveillance, but Hinata understands it’s his way to make her feel more at ease with this situation. He knows. She knows. Everyone does. Shikamaru -when he is the one to accompany her on her walks- makes sure to share with her their measures against intruders, the patrols they have put in place, the guards he and Naruto have placed around her.

    She can tell people worry she may be anxious about her situation, as she is pregnant with the clan leader’s child. And she is worried about the situation, but she can’t help but worry more about another topic that seems to never be able to leave her alone, that comes back at all times, that leaves her staring at nothing in the night. That leaves her gasping for air, now more than ever, now that she wishes for a happy life with Naruto like never before. 

    She can’t help but think about her husband. About her husband and his lifespan, about her husband and his training, about her husband and the expectations placed upon him, about her husband and the way he seems too eager to push himself to his limits. 

    About all these trials that seem to come one after the other without rest. 

    He is more nervous, too. He hides it well, but he comes see her more frequently, and although he tries to seem nonchalant, the way his shoulders relax when he lays eyes on her, the way he sighs when he hugs her… Hinata understands. Naruto is inside the clan at all times now, she can see him every day, lay with him just as much, and she can’t seem to escape the want of staying right next to him as much as possible. 

    She has to busy herself with little chores throughout the day to keep her thoughts at bay. The worst thing she can do is keep herself alone and holed up, so she talks, seeks people, walks, and annoys Sakura with questions regarding her body. 

    So she oftentimes walks. Always with a guard, usually with Sai, Kiba or Shino. Sometimes Sakura or Ino if their work allows. 

    This time, she can’t find anyone, so she looks around. Sometimes Shikamaru comes finds her. Lord Minato and Lady Mito are as busy as Naruto, but they make time too. And yet, this day, she sees no one. 

    She walks absent-mindedly, thinks about how she’s been spending more time than ever before with her cousin, and yet can’t remember having a proper conversation with him. Naruto is always there and Neji does his work with professionalism before leaving as fast as he arrives. 

As if he was avoiding them. 

Her.

Hinata doesn’t really know what comes over her, but her legs move without thinking and she finds herself right outside of Neji’s room. He has his sliding door wide open and he’s writing a letter. He hasn’t noticed her, or if he has he has decided to ignore her. 

The familiarity of this situation makes her doubt, but then she takes a step forward and Neji turns around. 

“Lady Hinata.” He looks taken aback, so Hinata surmises that he did not, in fact, notice her before. But now he looks expectant and Hinata should say something.

“I- I-,” Neji triggers her stutter and her embarrassment grows as the words struggle to come out. “I c-can’t find S-Sai,” or anybody else for that matter, but if she were to list everyone’s names, Neji could finish three letters before she finished her sentence, “and I w-wish to take a s-stroll.”

Neji stands immediately, “Of course,” he says and walks to her. Not a second look to whatever he was doing. 

“Y-your letter-”

“I will finish when we come back, Lady Hinata. Let us go." 

Consideration or anger? Hinata can’t tell. She has never been able to tell. 

Neji walks a step behind her, and remains silent. Just like when he would accompany her at the Hyuga compound. 

Hinata convinces herself this is nothing more than her want to talk with someone -as she has grown used to it with her usual guards-, and not the desperate need to have some sort of connection with her cousin, who seemed ready to throw her away without a second thought so long ago. 

Hinata still doesn’t know what to make of it. Consideration or disgust? 

Consideration or revenge? For being such a poor fit to remain as heiress to the clan? 

Her mouth is dry and she wonders whether Neji will listen, whether he will turn and leave her here when she annoys him too much. She knows he won’t, Naruto would have made sure of that. 

So maybe he is forced to stay with her and listen and protect her and so she can talk -or try- and make him listen and stay and protect her. She doesn’t want to admit that deep inside of her she wants a relationship with her cousin. 

With the only person who seemed to care for her when they were children. 

Duty or familial love?

She never knew. 

She gathers her courage and makes as if admiring a patch of flowers. 

"Y-your l-letter, I am sorry I i-interrupted you.”

“Oh, no. Please do not worry, it is not an urgent letter at all, rest assured.”

And silence returns as if they never talked. Neji is closer now, as he had to crouch to listen. Hinata waits a second, and another, thinking that maybe Neji will get the hint and keep the conversation flowing. 

But maybe he is as clueless as her, or maybe he doesn’t want to. She turns her head to him, trying to read his intentions for once in her life. But Neji rests his gaze on her, immutable, barely moving his body, and Hinata turns around with more questions than before. 

As if that were possible. 

Neji struggles to understand what Lady Hinata wants from him. A servant, for sure, a guard next, but a conversation partner? Him? 

He has seen her taking her strolls with numerous people before. Many a day. Smiling and talking like he has never seen her before. Laughing, even. Sai, of course, with whom she shares calm conversations guided by Sai’s questions about everyday life. Kiba, who seems eager to spend time with her -something about her laughing at his jokes, Neji heard once-. Shino, who’s aura seems so similar to hers that you can barely hear their conversations as they walk around. Sakura and Ino, whose energy is always high up, and although one would think their friendship would be somewhat strained, Lady Hinata’s laugh is always the biggest with them. Shikamaru, even, who seems to enjoy her knowledge about other clans.

Lady Minato and Lady Mito, who find time in their busy schedules to talk to her. 

Lord Naruto, who runs after a meeting or training to steal a peck, making her blush, and leaves with the same haste. 

And then… him? A man from the Hyuga clan who can’t bring himself to talk to her in fear of saying something he shouldn’t? 

His very existence is tied to the worst part of hers. As such, he ought to shrivel down , far away. Hopefully like her own memories about that place. 

He has been asked today because everyone else is unavailable. Not because she sought his company. 

So he walks a step behind, like a guard should. And remains quiet, because… what can he say that won’t sound wrong? 

And then Lady Hinata speaks to him. And then looks at him in earnest. As if expecting something. And Neji is at a loss. 

He wonders about topics he can share that won’t sour her mood. And the only one that comes to mind, that hasn’t been tainted by the Hyuga, leaves his mouth.

“The letter, uh, it’s for a friend I made while living here." 

"A… f-friend?”

Yes, it’s surprising for him, too. 

“Yes, a friend. Back when, uh, well, I was to be taken back to the Hyuga but Lord Naruto let me stay here in the end, I was given a house in the outer compound, as well as money for my expenses, and well… I lived there on my own and tried not to bother anyone else. She just found me and started to visit and make me help her with her shop.”

“Oh…” Hinata wants to ask, ask so many questions she knows will only burden him, so her eyes flutter around, unable to press on and yet grabbing on this chance to-

“She- her name is Tenten, a bit weird, but means well. She introduced me to a friend of hers, too, Rock Lee,” Hinata raises her eyebrows at the name and Neji shrugs, “I know, he’s even weirder, but also means well." 

Somehow, as they walk, Neji shares more of his life on the outer compound, and Hinata feels the wall between them disappear. He remains silent sometimes, as if gathering his thoughts, but Hinata waits. Waits as much as necessary, because she feels this opportunity has taken them so long. 

So very long.

She can wait for him. 

When Neji leaves her in her room, as he starts to retreat, robotics movements like Hinata has never seen before, Hinata stops him.

"I would… I would l-like it if y-you could accompany me some o-other day, too." 

This time it’s easier to voice her wishes, because she thinks… believes, that maybe Neji is just as awkward at this as she is. 

He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t nod, either. He looks at her and before leaving just whispers, "Of course. As Lady Hinata…” then he ventures, “as you wish." 

And Hinata gifts him the first genuine smile directed at him in a decade.

⁂⁂⁂

Naruto’s godfather arrives a month and a half later than he promised Minato. With little fanfare. 

Naruto is walking to his next appointment when the sound of feet running around catches his attention. In the distance he sees the long white hair of Jiraiya, billowing as he walks down the hallways surrounded by flustered servants who don’t know whether to announce his arrival or make him comfortable. Shikamaru just shrugs before he keeps on walking. "I’ll take this one alone, then. I’ll see you after to report.”

Naruto scoffs but turns around and trots to meet his godfather. 

“Old man!” He bellows, enough to make a few heads turn his way. 

Jiraiya raises his hand in greeting and then makes a beeline to Naruto. They are practically the same height, with Naruto standing taller by mere inches -a point that has been the source of many scrambles throughout the years- and Naruto has to hit Jiraiya’s back to let him breathe. 

“Well,” Jiraiya gives him a once-over and then frowns, “I was told you were dying.”

“When have I not been, though?”

They laugh and slap each other’s shoulders in good humor. Minato hates this type of banter. Hates how they trivialize Naruto’s situation by making light of his struggles. 

Naruto thinks his godfather’s attitude has saved his life more than once. 

“You’ll have to check my seal with dad, but aside from that, I don’t think you’ll do much.”

“Hey, you smell that?”

“What?”

“I smell a nonja.”

“Ha ha.”

“A nonja business!” Jiraiya slaps Naruto’s arm as if his godson didn’t just realize his whole joke before he said it. “Come on, don’t tell me what my job is, child. I don’t go round the world just to come back empty handed now, do I?”

Naruto stares at him, brows raised. And Jiraiya opens his arms with a shocked face, “Not all the time,” he defends himself. 

A lackluster defense, obviously, as Naruto still has the same problems he has had since… forever. 

“No, I mean it. The thing you always tell me to wait to be completed before bringing it with your dad? Done, my man." 

Naruto startles. Funny. Now of all times. That. 

He says nothing though, and Jiraiya takes it as rejection. "You know I’ve got to tell your dad, son." 

"Sure, do whatever.” Naruto raises his hand and waves it around as if he couldn’t care less, “I’ll present my wife to you, come on." 

"You made me keep quiet because it was a gamble, but now it is real, Naruto.”

“I know, jeez, just come. You can tell whoever you want." 

"I met my medic friend on the way back, she helped me, I’m serious.”

“The gambler?”

“Yes. Lost everything to me, then made her help me with this in exchange for her money back.”

“Well, that seems reasonable.” Naruto remembers the stories Jiraiya used to tell him about his friend, a gambler with no sense of morality and non-existant luck. “You got what you wanted.”

“Ha! That’s what I offered, son, she took all her money back and then mine in order for her to help me. You know she has, like, no ethics.”

“Is that why you got here later than late? I could have died.”

Jiraiya squints his eyes, “Come on, you? Dying because someone messed with your seal? A seal made by me and the current master in seals, Minato Uzumaki? I mean, you will die for other reasons, but not because of your seal.”

“Dad worries this took more years off my life.”

Jiraiya rests his hand on Naruto’s shoulders, “Well, then, I think you will be happy to hear what I have to say.”

Jiraiya expects Naruto to ask questions, but he bolts the second after. Jiraiya stares as a dark haired woman appears one second and disappears the other in between Naruto’s arms.

She is pregnant. 

Naruto’s wife is pregnant. 

And now Jiraiya feels like he wants to cry. 

Naruto intertwines his wife’s arm with his and then walks to Jiraiya. Slow, careful, with a beam Jiraiya has never seen before. 

“Jiraiya,” Naruto presents, pride in his voice, “My wife, Hinata.”

The child looks at him with blushing cheeks. One hand grasps tightly the clothes around Naruto’s arm, the other rests at her abdomen, where her stomach bulges. She stutters and she presents herself, and her eyes shine the moment they return to Naruto. 

“She is pregnant,” Naruto shares, “five months and a half.” His hand rests over hers now and Jiraiya has to bite down the tremble in his voice. 

It is always in moments like this that he wishes he could do more for his godson. 

Ch.1 |  Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4(1)|Ch.4(2)|Ch.5(1)|Ch.5(2)|Ch.5(3)|Ch.5(4)|Ch.6(1)|Ch.6(2)|Ch.6(3)|Ch.7(1)|Ch.7(2)|Ch.7(3)|Ch.7(4)|Ch.7(5)|Ch.8(1)|Ch.8(2)|

Ch.8: Without you (3)

Sakura is called immediately after and Hinata is too lost in thought to do more than stare at Sakura’s glowing hand as it moves over her stomach. 

    “I can’t sense anything,” Sakura shares, and all heads turn to Neji.

    “She is pregnant. I’m sure.” 

    Hinata puts her hand over her abdomen and feels her mind going at full speed with this situation, “He… Neji is the b-best at using the c-clan’s technique,” she shares, without knowing why. It is the truth, and he said she’s pregnant… 

But she feels nothing under her hand, and Sakura’s words make her feel helpless. 

She realizes that she needs Neji’s words to be real.

    “I have seen and used the technique to check on pregnant women before, I am sure.”

    “Then… she has to be less than 6 weeks pregnant.”

    “I agree.”

    All eyes fall on Hinata again, on her blank face, on the way the hand covering her stomach trembles. Lord Minato is the only one who moves and comes to her, brings her to him.

    “Congratulations.”

    Hinata doesn’t realize she’s frozen in place until Lord Minato’s warm hands bring her out of it, and her tears start falling. Her eyes fall on Naruto’s body next to them and she hides her face on Lord Minato’s shoulder.

    Congratulations, she thinks. 

⁂⁂⁂

A secret. A secret within a secret. Naruto’s actual condition is not to be shared with the outside world and although harsh, many are grateful he is not the only Beast Tamer affected.

The air is tense and every day Naruto doesn’t wake it gets worse. But at least all Beast Tamers are in the same situation… or worse. 

Lord Gaara leaves before long, with deep bows and worry etched on his face. 

“Whatever happens, the Sand will support the Nine-Tails Beast Tamer.”

Seeing Lord Gaara up and about brings a sense of relief to the people of the clan. Although short-lived, because Lord Naruto is still…

Hinata is at least thankful that she can tend to him without having to worry about acting it out with other people. Lord Minato is at least thankful that she can take care of herself without arousing suspicion from other people. 

Lord Shikamaru doesn’t leave his office and worries about until when will this continue. The Kiba’s and the Inuzuka’s have been working non-stop since the Beasts got loose and although he has received information from Gaara and the other clans, nothing changes much. 

They are without their Beast Tamer and he fears someone will try to attack. They can hold it out, but for how long? 

At least… the Five-Tails is dead and the Six-Tails is out. And the only Beast Tamer that’s fine is on their side.

Should they… attack? 

The Two-Tails’ whereabouts are still a mystery and the other clans are as worried as he is. They have decided to call for a truce, but what can a written promise do? 

It only takes one mistake… one person for all this ruse to come falling down. 

Naruto. They need him to wake up.

⁂⁂⁂

Hinata now knows how to best care for Naruto. How to feed him, how to clean him, how to move his body in order for his muscles not to atrophy. 

She doesn’t want to know any of this. She feels light-headed and has to fight her food down most of the time. Sakura believes these to be signs of pregnancy, but how can they be sure? It could be signs of stress all the same. 

She is stressed, after all. 

Like never before. 

She sits next to Naruto, like every other day. And stares at his face, leaner than ever, but nothing to worry about yet, Sakura assures. Hinata wonders when will it be enough to worry about? What’s gonna happen when it becomes enough to worry about? 

Her fingers trace his whisker marks and her heart hurts. She’s carrying his child. She wanted it to be different, for her to realize that and run to him. For him to catch her and look at her and know immediately. For him to smile back at her and… 

She realizes she has never even said it out loud… they promised each other they would learn to love the other. And almost a year into their marriage and Hinata was sure she was already in love with him. But she had never told him. 

She didn’t think it necessary. Not when they shared kisses and nights and secrets with each other. Not when he would fall asleep with his head in her arms whispering sweet nothings against her chest, nor when he would find her to share a quick nap before leaving again. Not when he would whisper her name between ragged breaths as he spilled himself inside of her. 

She didn’t think it necessary. 

And now her heart hurts before she fears she will never have the chance to say it. 

I love you. 

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. 

I love you so much. 

She rests her head on his chest -like always-, and listens to his heart intently, as if it could give her a hint as to when he would open his eyes. She brings his arm out, lets it fall over her waist, and she closes her eyes. 

“I love you.”

Wake up. Please. 

Neji finds her a while later. He sees her puffy eyes but says nothing, only brings out a handkerchief and hands it to her. 

He gently reminds her to eat. 

⁂⁂⁂

Naruto wakes up 34 days after falling unconscious. His eyes barely open and his body is unresponsive to whatever he orders it to do. He feels disoriented and can barely understand that he is in his own room. 

The memories come back in flashes, with little order. And as always, the pain starts flaring up all over his body. A patch at a time, only to cover his whole body in time. He groans. 

“Neji!”

The room turns all around him and the need to throw up overwhelms him. 

“H-here!”

He misses. And he feels the vomit all over his chest. His head thumps and he turns his body, presses his head to the ground. 

“N-Neji went to g-get Sakura, s-so-”

Hinata. Hinata. Hinata, Hinata. 

“Hinata,” he croaks. His voice sounds weird, but her hands find his back and she tries her best to soothe him.

“I-I-I’m here.”

He wants to cry. She’s fine. 

“Son!”

His father appears and rushes to him, kneels beside him and brings his face close. “How do you feel?”

“Like… shit.”

Minato allows himself one chuckle before resting his hand on his Naruto’s shoulder. “Anything abnormal?”

Naruto takes a second to answer. Trying to find anything in his body that felt out of the ordinary. “Only… it’s the same symptoms of a reinforcement… just… a hundred times worse.”

“Good.” Naruto opens his mouth and dry heaves, “Sakura is coming.”

So he’s been told, he wants to joke, but his stomach turns and he throws up again, mostly bile. This time Hinata manages to put the basin under him, but he still gets droplets of vomit on his face.

Sakura appears with her hair disheveled and she runs to Naruto. Her hands shine green and Naruto’s body relaxes slightly the second after. 

Hinata stays in the room, but away from the action. Sakura and Lord Minato ask questions and touch and clean Naruto all over, making sure that his pain subsides, that his seal is working as it should. 

They just have to give him time, they both say, his body is already coping well with the changes. As for his pain, Sakura gives him painkillers. And when Naruto is well -in pain but under control-, as he can lay on his bed without thrashing about, when his groans are only intermittent whines, all eyes rest on Hinata. 

But she doesn’t register the fact, focused on her husband, on his closed eyes, on the way the muscles on his face contract in pain every second, on the way his mouth thins out in order to bite down the pain coursing through him. On Naruto, who’s clearly still in pain and yet is doing his best to keep it under control. She kneels beside him and Sakura and Lord Minato give her space, they retreat and move near Neji.

They leave shortly after, as Hinata grasps Naruto’s hand between hers and rests her other hand over his chest, rubbing circles in an attempt to soothe him. It barely works, but by the time they all walk out the room Naruto starts to have better control over his breathing.

“Sorry,” is the first thing he says the moment he is sure they are out of earshot. 

“No…”

“You were freaked out last time when I didn’t wake up after a day, but now,” he scoffs, not because it’s funny, but because he still can’t believe he was knocked out for so long. He had promised before he would do his best not to worry her again over this, so he thinks promises should be left out of the conversation right now. All he has left are sorries. 

So he tries to say sorry again, but Hinata brings her face to his, rests her lips on his cheek, “Please, d-don’t. I’m just s-so glad you’re a-awake now.”

His body still feels sluggish, still feels weighed down. His head thumps rhythmically and although the pain has subsided considerably it’s enough to make him whimper. He doesn’t. He brings his arm around his wife -with all the effort it takes him- and rests it over her body. 

“I’m okay now,” he whispers.

And although he knows his words sound like a lie, he wants them to be real and true and give her some sort of peace of mind. He doesn’t know if it will, he doesn’t know if this time she’ll realize he can never assure her of his well being. But he tries.

Hinata nuzzles into his cheek, peppering kisses as she moves, “You are.”

Naruto accommodates himself under her, a response to the pain he’s feeling that does nothing to alleviate him of it. Hinata takes some of her weight off him and ends up sitting next to him, in fear of aggravating his discomfort. 

“I’m okay,” he whispers, trying to bring her to him again, but Hinata resists ever so slightly. 

She’s close to him, as much as possible without pressing on him. Her legs flush beside his torso, her thighs working as a cushion to the arm that surrounds her. She moves closer to him, her hand to his face, to his whisker marks, and she drags her fingers over them. 

The sun is setting and her hair shines blue against the light. Her hair hides much of her face and she leans to him, her hand never stops moving.

“Naruto,” she calls. And he has trouble focusing on her face, the lights play with the shadows around her and the fever he’s running makes it hard to focus. 

“I love you.”

His breathing stops for a second. She looks ethereal and Naruto wonders if maybe this is just his mind playing dreams for a dying man. But her hand feels real enough, the pain is real enough, and the tears that rush to his eyes are true. “I-”

Her face moves closer now, and he can see more clearly. “I love you,” she repeats, and then presses her lips to his. “I l-love you,” another kiss. “I love you.” Naruto’s mouth rises into a smile and his hand presses into her back. 

“I love you, too,” he manages and Hinata stares at his blue eyes. Clear, unburdened, withstanding the pain. 

    She nuzzles into his neck and breathes him in. This. This is all that matters. 

    “Gods, you must really love me, kissing me after minutes of me throwing everything I had in my stomach out.”

    His chest rumbles and Hinata smiles, hides her face into his neck. Careful so as not to bother him too much. She can feel his warmth surrounding her and the cold realization of Naruto’s situation as a Beast Tamer makes her bite down her lip in an attempt to control the tremble that threatens to come forward.

    “I do.”

Ch.1 |  Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4(1)|Ch.4(2)|Ch.5(1)|Ch.5(2)|Ch.5(3)|Ch.5(4)|Ch.6(1)|Ch.6(2)|Ch.6(3)|Ch.7(1)|Ch.7(2)|Ch.7(3)|Ch.7(4)|Ch.7(5)|

Ch.8: Without you (1)

Hinata keeps her head pressed to Naruto, and after a while everyone starts to leave. Whispers and hushed voices are all Hinata hears before a hand comes to her shoulder.

    “Lady Hinata,” calls Lord Minato, and she knows what comes.

    “I am s-staying with my h-husband.”

    She doesn’t need to look at his face to know that there is sympathy in his eyes. And she knows she doesn’t want to see it for herself. It will make this all feel… real.

    “We need to clean his body,” he starts again. His voice measured and soft, as if he was trying to make her understand.

    And Hinata does understand. They want to keep her away from what they seem to think of as a burden, but the thought of leaving Naruto now just fills her with dread. She rises, but keeps her hands on Naruto’s body.

    “I will c-clean him u-up.”

    “My lady.”

    “W-will you leave him h-here… or will you b-bring him to our r-room?”

    She finally looks at Lord Minato, and wishes immediately after that she didn’t. Sakura looked bad, but somehow Lord Minato looks worse. His burnt marks are bigger and less healed than Sakura’s, but it’s the way his body sags, the way his eyes seem to be filled with something Hinata has never seen before. Something Hinata didn’t think she would see so soon. 

    Resignation. 

    She can’t bring herself to ask anything, she can’t bring herself to say anything either. And Lord Minato seems to catch onto that, as he closes his eyes with a sigh and gives her a smile Hinata hates. 

    He looks at his son. “We will move him to your room, my lady, I will leave him in your care, thank you very much.” He gives her a bow, steals a glance at Naruto and attempts to leave.

    Hinata grabs the sleeve of his kimono before she realizes she did it. “Wha-what happened?”

    Lord Minato has to control his expression, and Hinata knows that is not a good sign, but she has to know. Needs to know. He looks around the room, to find no one else around aside from Sai and although a little, his mask breaks. 

    And Hinata is terrified.

    “I…” his voice trembles and he can’t seem to know where to lay his eyes. “I just shut him down.” 

    Hinata can’t understand what he seems to imply, so she presses. “L-lord Gaara…”

    The name seems to strike a chord in Lord Minato, who brings his fist to his closed eyes. “I sealed him. Correctly. I had the time and his seal is comparatively easier to handle… Naruto…” he struggles with his words, drags his fist down, “we lost too much time, we tried going back to where we left you and by the time we were there we caught Naruto losing control down at the arena and the fifth tail was forming so we had to… I had to shut everything down.”

    Hinata lets her hand fall. It’s not only the words he’s saying, it’s the way his voice is tinged with a desperation she has never heard before that makes her unable to talk. 

    “He-” Minato keeps on talking, egged on by Hinata’s attitude. If he can only give her some sort of peace of mind… mend somewhat what he has done. “He will wake up,” he assures, “it’s just…” 

    Minato closes his mouth immediately, trying to control the tremble that threatens to take over him. He knows… he has known since forever that his son lives on borrowed time, that it’s a fact that he will have to bury him first -going against every natural law-, he has been adamant into searching and trying whatever he stumbles upon that can give Naruto one second more, just one second…

    He has deluded himself, too. 10 years, 12 years, 8 years. Numbers, only numbers he has seen and repeated and tried to turn up and around in search of lengthening them, make them disappear. 10 years, 8 years. Numbers he somehow took for granted. At least that amount of time. At least not next year, or the year after, or the next. Some time. 

    This was not supposed to go like this.

    He is crying, so he brings his sleeve to his face, tries his best to hide this. But it’s useless, he knows. 

She knows.

    “I have sent message to my master, Naruto’s godfather,” his voice trembles slightly and breaks more than he wishes, but he continues, because he needs some time alone. “He has been travelling around looking and searching for ways to help Naruto. I’m hoping… I’m hoping he will bring something useful this time.”

    Minato worries Hinata will keep her head down. He wants for her to keep her head down and spare him the guilt. 

    She doesn’t look at him, but stares at the floor in front of her. No tears.

    “I… understand.”

⁂⁂⁂

Hinata does not move from Naruto’s side. So it’s only through the people who visit that she knows that Lord Gaara has awoken and is fine. 

    Lord Minato has taken a look at his seal, Sakura has taken a look at his body. Aside from the obvious stress of his seal being forced open, he’s fine. He’s fine and is currently attending a meeting with Lord Minato and Shikamaru behind closed doors. 

    Temari and Kankuro find their way to her room and stand behind her as she sits there, unmoving and with Naruto’s hand clasped between hers. 

    She knows how she must look to others. Can guess what is going on through their heads, as they let silence fall all around them. If they were any other people, maybe Hinata would have let them stay there and not say anything, kept to herself. 

    But these are Lord Gaara’s siblings. So she closes her eyes, gathers her strength.

    “I am glad… Lord Gaara is all r-right.”

    Her words break a spell she didn’t know was there. The siblings move closer and sit near Naruto’s feet. They remain composed and polite and Temari brings down her head first, followed by Kankuro.

    “We have already given our thanks to Lord Minato and to Sakura. If it could make anything better we would bow our heads to every single member of the clan, but Lord Shikamaru has told us to keep things under wraps as much as possible.” Hinata can’t look at them, so she keeps her eyes glued to the floor in front of Temari’s knees. “The Sand will not forget this debt, Lady Hinata.” Temari’s voice is laced with such appreciation that Hinata can’t ignore the obvious care they share for their brother. Which is why she feels worse for even entertaining the idea of what could have happened if Lord Minato had stayed with them in Naruto’s booth. 

    It didn’t happen. 

    She shouldn’t feel bad for a thought. But she can’t help the shame that fills her and she is only capable of whispering an answer. “I… understand.” 

    Her reply is soft and weak and obviously not all that honest, so Temari brings her head even lower, “We will find ourselves useful, Lady Hinata, I swear.”

    Hinata doesn’t know if it’s the way she delivered her speech with such passion or if it’s the fact that Hinata just can’t let go of the envy instilled in her heart, but she feels unworthy of these words. “T-thank you, T-temari.”

    Temari looks apologetic still, and Hinata fears she will talk again. Show her resolve in some other way Hinata can’t truly accept at this moment. But they say their thanks again, softer this time and leave after a couple of minutes of being silent. 

    Hinata is left with Naruto. His body is fine, it’s his seal again that’s causing problems. He will wake up, it is not a wish nor a dream, it’s a fact. 

    What worries them is that they just don’t know how he will feel or react after he’s woken. Lord Minato worries the seal will weaken and that they will need to tamper with it again, after being reinforced so soon. 

He also thinks the only reason the seal was able to endure this whole ordeal is because it had been reinforced just before being put to the test. 

Sai sits next to her after what seems like mere minutes, but he offers her food and beverages with an attitude that pleads for her to accept, so it must be way past dinner. 

It feels like no time has passed at all. Hinata has to force the food down. It feels like cotton being shoved inside her mouth, unsavory and with a weird texture, but she knows she must eat. She wants to be healthy. She wants for Naruto to wake up and see her and not worry about her. 

She eats every little thing on her plate, drinks every drop of liquid on her glass, and then brings her hand to Naruto’s body once again. 

Lady Mito arrives in the room with a rush of wind that Hinata ignores. It’s only when she comes closer and sits that Hinata steals a glance at the new guest. She bows to Lady Mito, straightens and follows as she moves to Naruto’s other side. 

She doesn’t really know how to comfort a sad grandmother. But she tries, “Lord Minato s-said he w-will wake up.”

Lady Mito sits on the floor, brings her hand to brush away Naruto’s bangs with a care that’s impossible to ignore. 

“He w-will wake u-up.”

Lady Mito looks at her with sad eyes, and Hinata realizes that her reassurance could be understood as her own wishes. Her own way of coping. 

She realizes she’s been repeating those words like a mantra inside her head.

She brings her eyes to Naruto’s face. Clean now, but full of burnt marks Sakura has done her best to heal but can’t make disappear only with her techniques. The wounds brought by the Beast will have to heal with a mixture of old fashioned nursing and healing chakra.

Lady Mito cups her grandson’s cheek and Hinata fears she may want some alone time. “D-do you need to b-be alone with h-him?”

Lady Mito raises her eyes to Hinata and then gives her a tight smile. “No, don’t worry, please.” She doesn’t miss the way Hinata’s hand tightens around Naruto’s or the way her shoulders relax at her words. 

Lady Mito feels horrible. And seeing her grandson’s wife so affected does nothing to alleviate her guilt. 

There is little she could have done. There is little she can do right now. But it’s not the things she can do now that plague her mind, it’s what could have been. 

“I’m always late when bad things happen,” she whispers. 

It’s an afterthought. Something she never meant to say out loud. But somehow Hinata looks at her without understanding anything and Mito feels compelled to talk. To share her story in hopes of someone finally acknowledging the wrong she has done to her own family. 

“When my daughter died I was, much like today, far away in a meeting,” Sai stands from his spot near the door and walks out. Hinata doesn’t notice. “I came back to a dead daughter and the Beast sealed inside my grandson.”

She brings her lips together and realizes they’re trembling. There will never be a time when the pain doesn’t reach her when talking about the past. “I… we couldn’t do much in fear of the seal breaking and hurting Naruto… killing Naruto, so we waited." 

And waited, and waited. Year after year of her asking Minato if now they could, and if not now then maybe next year. And then the next. And then…

"Naruto was 11 when the seal settled enough for it to be tampered with.” Still a child who craved hugs, still a sweet boy who had trouble with the red chakra that sometimes seeped out of him. “I wanted the Beast to be sealed within me then, got Minato’s approval. I told Naruto, thinking that he would agree immediately…” maybe she should have forced it to happen. “He just looked me in the eye and said ‘but it hurts, Grandma Mito, why would you want that?’”

She takes a few seconds to herself. She will not cry. This is not about her. “I just… I tried to explain to him that I could take the pain away, but he has always been quick to pick on things, and his training as Beast Tamer had already started… we thought he had to be ready… for anything. So a few days later he came to me, took my hands between his and asked me if I would die if we went through with it. I told him the truth, the fool. I should have lied. I should have…" 

Lady Mito wipes away the stray tears that have fallen and despises them. Abhors them. "’The Beast is mine’, he said, ‘and I will not pass it to anyone ever.’" 

Naruto lies there, hurt and unconscious and she sits there beside him doing nothing. Able to do nothing. Like always. 

"I begged, kneeled and prostrated myself before him, but he didn’t budge. If anything, he became more stubborn… if only I could do something for him…”

Lady Mito’s voice breaks and Hinata can feel the tears falling down her face. What wouldn’t she give for Naruto to be freed from this. And now, right now, when she is burdened by his absence and the pain the situation inflicts on her, with the laments of his own grandmother right in front of her, Hinata can feel frustration rising inside. 

 "You are his g-grandmother,” she whispers. It’s an accusation and a justification both at once, and Hinata inhales sharply the moment she finishes what she said, realizing she’s letting her emotions get the better of her. 

It seems at first that her words weren’t heard, thank heavens, and they sit in silence. But then Lady Mito sits straighter, serious, “It’s because I am his grandmother,” she whispers. And Hinata has to bite down her lower lip to keep herself from losing her composure.

Hinata remembers Naruto’s hand on her face, his breath washing over her as he just told her, matter of fact, ‘she’s my grandma. I love her.’

So simple, and so unfair. 

He will never give the Beast to his grandmother. Hinata squeezes his hand and hopes for him to wake up soon.

She misses him.

Ch.1 |  Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4(1)|Ch.4(2)|Ch.5(1)|Ch.5(2)|Ch.5(3)|Ch.5(4)|Ch.6(1)|Ch.6(2)|Ch.6(3)|Ch.7(1)|Ch.7(2)|Ch.7(3)|Ch.7(4)|

Ch.7: Of burdens and duties (5)

Sai and Hinata get lost in between the dust and the people and the debris around them. She calls for him, pushing and kicking Sai like Naruto had never seen before. 

He guesses the situation looks and feels as urgent as he has understood it is.

He expects a tingle, a flinch. Anything to signal him that he’s losing control, but nothing happens. He stares at his hand in disbelief. The Beasts thrash behind him and they only reassure him that he made the right decision. If his Beast got out with Hinata around…

He starts to think about the people lost today, about Gaara, who hopefully will get out of this unscathed. His father is the best sealing expert currently living, and Gaara is only the One-Tail. The sealing will put him out, but not for long…

Hopefully.

Hinata’s voice has long drowned out, though he can’t wash away the way she reached for him. He doesn’t know if he’ll make it out of here. The more tails a Beast has the more taxing the process of sealing becomes. Breaking the seal…

His feet move around without direction. His confusion is evident. The Five-Tails and Six-Tails are being restrained in front of him. The people scamper out of the way and now mainly soldiers and guards remain. They are helping, though they will need more backup sooner than later. Naruto surmises they are buying time. It’s what he would do. 

He wonders whether he should go help, but he fears using too much of the Nine-Tail will trigger whatever happened to them.

Although it doesn’t make sense. As he knows Gaara would never try to use his Beast in here. Was he being attacked?

Were they all being attacked?

Or was it just a malfunction with their seals? 

The thought leaves quickly though, as Gaara shares his sealing expert with him and he knows his dad’s seal would never fail out of the blue. He frowns and stands there. Waiting. He feels fine, and there is the slight hope inside of him that maybe he will be spared this. That whatever happened won’t happen to him. 

That like never before, he will be exempted from this curse. 

His feet turn around, feeling the need to check on Hinata eating at him, until someone bumps into him and he’s brought to reality.

When has he ever been spared of anything? A hunch is not proof enough.

Will he…

Will he ever see her again?

His father?

Grandma Mito?

His friends?

What about his responsibilities and duties?

The clan…

He doesn’t know what to do. And he stands there, unmoving, with people around him coming and going in a whirlwind of colors and sounds he fails to grasp.

He doesn’t want to go this way. At least… at least surrounded by his loved ones. 

Did his mother feel this way when she died too? 

This hopeless, scary and muted feeling that surrounds him? 

He doesn't… he doesn’t want to be here.

He raises his head, stares at the monsters fighting for freedom on the stands. The people are coming down in waves now, more and more each time. They move him and drag him with them, but Naruto breaks free each time and goes back to his spot. The stares of disbelief are clear in the people who see him moving towards the Beasts instead of away from them.

The people bumping into him become less and less in number. Until one person bumps into him and grabs his arm. 

Naruto thinks they must have fallen, maybe were going to ask for help he can’t provide. He looks down and locks eyes with a pale young man, black hair parted in the middle that frames his face, his short hair wild at his back. But he barely catches any more details, as his eyes are what’s more striking. Red. Red and black intertwined around the pupil that stares back at him, deep into his eyes, as if reaching inside. 

The man let’s go immediately after and Naruto can feel his whole body growing hotter. He wants to grab them and call them back. But there is a burning inside of him that spreads like wildfire. He looks for the man, but he has disappeared as if he was never there in the first place. 

Naruto falls to his knees with a groan nestled in his chest. 

Oh. 

Oh, so they were indeed under attack. 

He presses his forehead to the ground, where the dirt bites at his skin, and he breathes out a shaky breath that raises the dirt around his mouth.

The pain starts to spread and Naruto grabs at his stomach. Where is his father? 

“Dad,” he groans, knowing full well that he’s away from him. 

He feels the chakra of the Beast surrounding him, feels the few people still around making way for him. They are afraid. 

As they should be. 

He tries his damnedest to control whatever is going haywire inside of him. Knows his best shot is suppressing it as best he can until his father gets to him.

It doesn’t get lost to him that maybe if he had run away in the first place… 

His chakra seeps out of him in waves, making his head beat at its rhythm. His fingers drag through the ground and his legs kick beneath him, but he knows it’s a matter of time before he can’t control the output of power anymore. 

He hangs in there, groaning and whining against the ground. Slamming his head down when the pain overcomes him. He allows himself one second of relief as he realizes that the seal is still doing its job. 

The Beast will have to fight for its freedom. 

He tries to concentrate on anything but the pain he feels. He can feel his eyes go unfocused and he knows he’s breathing too hard, as the thick drool that falls from his mouth is filled with pebbles from the ground. He tries to focus on himself, on any particular place on his body. Tries to compartmentalize what he’s feeling and fails miserably. 

He howls and drags his hands at his stomach and arms, the Beast’s chakra makes his nails grow sharp and the blood from his scratches sizzle as it comes into contact with the red chakra surrounding him. The chakra envelops him and the tingling that comes along with it somehow makes Naruto regain some sort of composure. 

He remembers this feeling. He can feel his own bones hurting as the Nine-Tails skeleton starts forming around him, with painstaking delay. The pain keeps on growing but he knows the Beast is still at its third or fourth tail. 

After the fourth things get a little more complicated. 

The power surges and although Naruto is incapable of controlling its output, he directs it. Tries his best to at least destroy as little as possible. He roars to the air and throws his chakra limbs towards empty places that only rise more dust to the air. 

He blacks out for a second and bites down on his cheeks. The yell that escapes him is half his voice and half a roar he recognizes. A skeleton claw comes down next to him and Naruto brings his head to the ground with force in an attempt to. 

remain. 

here. 

How long till his father feels his chakra? How long till his father sees the Nine-Tails skeleton? His father is the fastest man alive, so if Naruto can only wait a little bit more…

His drool drips down from his chin, his eyes are barely open and the chakra fusing with his own body is effectively burning his skin off, sizzling along as they move between the red. And then his father appears, his hand forming seals with a speed Naruto wishes was faster. 

The chakra burns and hurts and envelops him so completely that his father will have to drag him out. He hangs by a threat, the urge to remain awake and control the destruction he could unleash against the knowledge that all he’s feeling can disappear if only he. let. go.

He doesn’t. 

He remembers the hours upon hours he has spent meditating, the hours upon hours he has trained for this very situation. 

The more controlled he is the less damage his body suffers. The less damage his body suffers the longer it will last.

If his body lasts he can stay here longer and… fuck, he wants to stay.

His godfather is a mirage in front of him, shouting at him to remain in command of his body, of his energy. To let his mind reinforce the seal while doing his best to force Naruto’s chakra out of control.

He prepared for this. He trained and trained and he can last more seconds. One more and then another. There is a tremor in the ground and Sakura runs to him, and although Naruto knows she’s trying to place him under an illusion, he falls to it anyway. Her hands overflow with chakra and she throws a punch. 

Naruto barely flinches, his chakra moves before he can even think about it. He falls into the fight with a familiarity that makes him forget where he is and what’s going on around him. It’s just Sakura and him sparring, like so many times before. There is nothing out of the ordinary.

Minato finishes the seals and waits for his chakra to move to his fingers, his concentration faltering as he watches Sakura take hit after hit. Her skin burns at the touch of Naruto’s chakra, and the smell and sound of what’s around him make Minato remember things he had long buried inside of him. He concentrates on his body. On the flow inside himself. 

There is a roar and Minato can see the fifth tail being formed out of the bubbling red chakra surrounding his son. They can make it, they can make it. 

“Sakura!” he yells, throwing a marked kunai towards his son. Sakura punches the ground once, injecting her chakra and then directing it with pinpoint precision to make the earth tremble and break, making Naruto and his chakra-formed Beast stumble.

Minato is far away one moment and then in front of his son the next. Sakura is concentrating all of her energy on her illusion, trying to make it so Naruto remains as calm as possible. Her own chakra depletes quickly, as she not only has to reign over Naruto’s own chakra, but the Beast’s too, an energy that moves without rhythm, that spikes and hides with a speed that requires her whole concentration. 

Neither Minato nor her care now for the burns that hurt them. Sakura forces the pain out of her mind and Minato is desperate enough to delegate it for later. They need to control Naruto now, now and not a second later. 

Minato’s hand digs into the chakra that surrounds Naruto completely, a miniature Nine-Tails that howls in pain. Naruto is right there where his hand touches and Minato has to bring him closer to him, his arm burns and stings and Minato grits his teeth. Naruto’s half body is out and Minato hurries to press his fingers on his stomach, immediately after the red chakra starts moving out of control, the miniature Beast losing its shape by the second. 

The sealing is forced. Naruto breaks free from Sakura’s illusion and Minato rushes his chakra around, the Beast lashes at him with his claw, but Sakura is there the next second, grabbing the claw with her gloved hands. Minato has no time to be careful and his chakra seals whatever he can as fast as he can. The Beast’s chakra must be contained.

There is a slow growl that loses strength by the second and the Beast loses all its vigor, his tails falling heavy to the ground and his limbs falling without force at its side. 

Naruto falls to him, limp and unconscious. Minato doesn’t even have the time to hug his son and check on him before Sakura rushes to Naruto and grabs their lord from under his arm. Minato hurries to support his other side. 

Naruto is dead weight and their wounds don’t help at all, but they take one step and then another. Away from the stands, away from the arena, away from the Beasts that shriek behind them.

⁂⁂⁂

Sai takes Hinata with him. He struggles with his words as Hinata pleads with him to go back and help Naruto. 

Sai can not understand how she can even think about doing that while they can still see the Beasts wreaking havoc at the arena. But she’s crying, so he knows it’s emotion talking rather than reason.

    She stops fighting him the moment they see red chakra rising far away. She looks at him once, her eyes filled with worry,the hand that wanted to get away from him now falls limp beside her. 

    Sai moves them far away from everyone running around in panic. He goes deep into a nearby forest, making sure that no one is following them and brings his scroll out. His hand moves over the paper with expertise and he draws a bird on it, thick lines mixed with thin lines that give his drawing a traditional look. He infuses his chakra and waits for his creation to form in front of them. 

There are a few things that come to mind the second before he places Lady Hinata on top of the bird. All of them concerning his lord and how he could help him. 

And everything comes down to making sure Lady Hinata arrives safely at the compound. 

They rise over the arena and the countless people that keep on running away. Naruto’s chakra is visible from here, and Lady Hinata strains her neck to keep her eyes on him. Sai keeps his chakra in check, aware that the danger is still out there, making sure that whatever happened down there doesn’t follow. Lady Hinata grabs hold of his arms, trying to keep herself from falling off, and Sai can feel her hands trembling. 

He knows very little about comforting another person, so he remains quiet. He’s sure nothing he can say could make this better. He focuses and although there is the slight feeling of worry at the back of his head, he doesn’t look back. 

Sai has to help Lady Hinata most of the way back. His birds are not comfortable for long travels and less so for two people. His arms work as rails and he tries his best to keep the cold air from hitting her directly, but she is exhausted and he is worried whether they will make it without taking a rest or not.

Lady Hinata doesn’t mutter one complaint, though, so he pushes through. He doesn’t bother sending a smaller bird with a message, as both the Inuzuka with their noses or the Aburame with their bugs will be able to catch on to his presence with ease. 

The moment he hears Akamaru’s howl, Sai drops in height and falls down to the forest under them. Kiba looks desperate, his eyes are wide open and he runs to Sai.

“What the fuck happened?” He starts, his eyes opening even bigger as he places his eyes on Lady Hinata. “Shikamaru is having a fucking stroke right now, the Beasts-?”

“We were unable to gather any information, but all the Beast Tamers lost control of their Beasts,” Sai helps Lady Hinata get off his technique and places his arm around her back, offering his hand for support. Her legs tremble. “First Lord Gaara, then the Five-Tails, then the Six-Tails and then…”

“The lord?”

“He asked me to leave with the lady, I-”

“Fuck, yes, fuck,” Kiba ruffles his hair in frustration, “we gotta go back, let’s bring the lady back to the main compound. You gotta talk with Shikamaru.”

Sai agrees and tries to move forward, but Hinata is stuck where she is. Now that they have arrived she feels the fear and desperation come back with a vengeance. 

“I-I-I’m s-sorry…”

“No. My lady,” Kiba walks to her, places his hand on her shoulder. “Fuck,” her whole body is freezing and her eyes fill immediately with tears. “Don’t worry, my lady, we’ll- we’ll keep you safe.”

Hinata sniffles, and now her tears fall and fall, with her face blank as a statue. She doesn’t want to feel safe. 

“Let’s- let’s go back, all right?” Kiba takes his jacket off, covers Lady Hinata with it. He tries to push her forward, where Akamaru is waiting, but her lower lip starts to tremble. 

“Naruto…”

Kiba presses his lips together. “You go on ahead,” he says to Sai, “I’ll bring Lady Hinata to the main compound, go tell Shikamaru.”

“But-”

“We’ve reinforced the patrols, don’t worry, go.”

As if to support his words, Akamaru howls to the sky, and a chorus of howls surround them. Sai turns and leaves without looking back. 

It doesn’t take Kiba much to make Lady Hinata move. Her tears never stop falling, but she doesn’t wail nor cling to him. As her limbs start to warm up she walks to Akamaru and with Kiba’s help she sits atop the dog, Kiba sits behind her and then, with a set pace they start the way back to the compound. 

Kiba guides her to her room and stays with her. They don’t talk, although Kiba makes sure she eats and drinks something warm first. He offers to call for some maids to attend to her but Hinata refuses. The clan is in uproar. Kiba made sure to walk her from the less crowded path, but even then she could see the lights moving around, the sound of people shouting and talking and whispering, and their steps. So many steps moving everywhere around her.

Ino comes to see her and Kiba leaves after. They will take turns, she shares, they will not let the lady be alone. 

Hinata smiles at her, thanks her, but Ino’s face is enough to tell her that she doesn’t look good at all. Sai arrives after a while, takes over Ino. 

“You must rest,” he says. And Hinata’s face must be telling, because he adds immediately after, “at least you must try to.” Hinata stares back, and Sai comes closer, “if anything happens, anything at all, I will tell you.” 

Hinata wishes she could protest, wishes she could tell him she can do something, anything at all. But she nods and refuses Sai’s attempt at calling servants. It’s his back to her and a folding screen all Hinata accepts. 

“T-tell me… what you know.”

It’s very little, actually, what Sai knows. Only the consequences of what she already saw at the arena. It seems the Five-Tails has remained free where the arena once stood and the losses are catastrophic. The nearby villages have issued evacuation notes and the major clans are doing their best to help. 

The Six-Tails was last seen being sealed in its Beast Tamer and then being taken away. The One-Tail and the Nine-Tails remain missing. 

Everyone hopes this means they are on their way to the compound. 

Shikamaru has closed off every and any type of entrance the clan has. The patrols have been constant and tighter than ever and he has decided to wait. 

In the same way that the other clans have decided to do, too. The exchange of information has been fluid and honest, but Shikamaru can feel the worry underneath the messages, the anxiousness. Every person is sleeping with their loved ones close and a bag filled with necessities at hand. 

Hinata can’t fall asleep, although she lays on her futon and turns around in an attempt to find a comfortable position. Sai remains kneeling close to her, with his eyes fixed in front of him, his senses sharp. 

She can’t tell nor know how many hours have passed, but now everyone talks in hushed tones, so she guesses it’s deep into the night. She turns and sighs deeply, almost angry at herself for being unable to lay still. Sai stands before she can even hear the growing murmur accompanied by the hurried steps of a group. 

She is standing before Sai can even look back from the sliding door, and Hinata is moving with Sai at her back before he can even finish his sentence. She follows the sound, her heart is at her throat and she feels like she wants to throw up. 

Shino is right at the door, his jacket smeared with blood and his bugs buzzing and moving hurriedly everywhere. Hinata enters right behind Ino, who looks at her and thins her lips immediately. Hinata shudders. The room is still filled with movement, but she catches Lord Gaara’s hair immediately after, his siblings next to him. His hair is plastered to his face and a groan leaves his mouth every second. 

He looks awful, but he twists and turns and Hinata can’t help but remember Naruto’s bedridden ordeal when the Beast’s seal was reinforced. And somehow, with a conviction she doesn’t know where it comes from, she knows he will be fine. He will hurt and suffer, but he will be all right. 

It’s Lord Minato’s voice that makes her look away, still entranced at seeing Gaara still alive even after all that happened and believing that the same could be for Naurto. She doesn’t get what Lord Minato said. Her feet are moving before she even orders herself to do so. 

Naruto is there. Laying in a futon, with Sakura beside him. Hinata walks to him, kneels beside him and looks at Sakura, as if asking for an explanation.

The woman remains silent and Hinata drags her eyes across her haggard appearance, around the burnt marks that marr her skin. The blood that dried in several places. 

Hinata looks at Naruto again. Stares. And he lays there, unmoving. No ragged breath, no groans nor moans of pain. No sweat she can wash away or fever she can tend to. 

She doubles over his body, rests her head at his chest. His heartbeat slow but steady. 

“Naruto?” 

There is no answer, and even the sounds around her seem to have died out. She stays there, brings her hand to his cheek, to drag her fingers over his whisker marks. 

“My lady,” someone starts, but she hears someone else coming between them. 

“Let her,” the man says. There is a bout of silence and then Lord Minato speaks again, “just let her.”