Chapter 8: Frayed Ties

The first thing Umino Iruka noticed upon regaining consciousness after his fight with Mizuki—a fight that had nearly been his last—was that he was in the hospital. The second was the spike of pain when he tried to move. Iruka looked down to see the bandages around his arms and the intravenous drip replenishing the blood he lost in the fight. He tried to fight through the pain and push himself up, but quickly collapsed and groaned. However, as he fell back on his bed he saw that the Hokage was next to the window, and was now looking at him.

"Don't push yourself, Iruka-san," Hiruzen advised him. "You're lucky my shadow clone stopped Mizuki before he could land a finishing blow."

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked groggily.

Hiruzen nodded. "And we have more visitors on the way, so please try to stay awake for the next few minutes."

"Visitors?" Iruka questioned. His answer was provided by the sounds of the door opening and the footsteps of Hatake Kakashi, Yūhi Kurenai and Yamanaka Inoichi as they entered the room.

Hiruzen meanwhile turned his head back towards Iruka. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin this meeting. Iruka-san, you knew Mizuki the best out of everyone in this village. Can you tell me if he started exhibiting any unusual behavior prior to last night?"

Iruka weakly nodded. "It started the day of the graduation exams for this year's class," he began. "Naruto had just failed to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and I was about to fail him when he begged me for another chance to get it right. This went against the rules, but I reluctantly agreed to let Naruto try one more time. But when Naruto was about to attempt the Bunshin no Jutsu again, he stopped in the middle of making the hand seals and then used a different jutsu, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. His physical reactions suggested that his memories of learning that jutsu had been buried deeply, and only resurfaced at that moment. Hokage-sama, as you may recall, when Naruto used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu I immediately went to your office to consult you before a ruling could be made, and you decided I should let Naruto pass. After classes were dismissed that day, Mizuki looked very angry. I didn't know why he was so angry until last night. Either way, my gut feeling told me something was off with Mizuki and I started paying closer attention to his actions. And when Naruto jumped off the Hokage Rock four days later, I grew even more suspicious of him."

"And you decided to start following Mizuki because of that incident?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, not immediately, Hokage-sama. I first noticed his increasingly odd and disturbing behavior the day of the exams. I didn't start tracking his movements until yesterday, but he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Despite his disposition, he was still going about like everything was normal."

"So when the explosion at my mansion took place…"

"Yes, sir. I had my suspicions and acted on them." Iruka paused for a moment, chuckling wryly. "I guess all those times I chased Naruto after one of his pranks came in handy. I just thought of the most likely area Naruto would go to first if he was trying to run from the village. It helped me narrow down the search area considerably. I still might have missed Mizuki if he hadn't been so careless resurfacing after using the Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu, though. He broke free of my Isshi Tōjin after I captured him, but I guess I bought enough time for you to stop him, sir."

After his last line, Iruka grew gravely concerned. The explosion had been far too close to Naruto's new place, and between the explosion, Mizuki's threats, and his own inability to stop Mizuki…while no one had said anything bad, the absence of bad news wasn't enough to reassure him. "Before Mizuki broke free of my barrier ninjutsu and attacked me, he said he was going to return later to finish what he started and kill Naruto and Hinata," Iruka said. "Hokage-sama, I need to know…are the kids alright?"

A loud sigh of exasperation was heard from the other end of the hospital room. Both Iruka and Hiruzen looked at Kurenai, the latter giving her a nod to grant permission to speak.

"Shortly after the explosion at the Hokage Residence, I made a brief stop at Naruto's apartment to check on the children and inform them of what Kakashi-san and I knew at the time about last night's events," Kurenai said. "Even though an additional Anbu detail was left behind at the apartment for their protection, both Hinata and Naruto broke curfew a few minutes after I left, though they returned on their own before the Anbu could capture them. Other than the curfew violation, there were no incidents involving Hinata and Naruto last night. They were not targets of the attack on our village."

"But they came very close to being targeted," Inoichi added. "The only reason Mizuki did not attack Naruto and Hinata last night was because he received orders from someone else to leave them alone."

"Someone else?" Iruka asked. "Mizuki wasn't working alone?"

Inoichi shook his head. "Mizuki was only another part of the distraction utilized by the culprit behind last night's incident."

"The actual target of the attack was Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi stated. Iruka turned as best he could while confined to his bed to face Kakashi, whose habitual slouch and apathetic stare were completely absent. Iruka was not in as much disbelief as he would have expected to feel after that statement.

"Based upon the type of wounds received by the Anbu guards at the scene of the explosion, the placement of the explosives, and the trail of the scent followed by my ninken, we quickly realized the explosion was nothing more than a diversion to keep us occupied while the culprit went after his real target," Kakashi continued. "As we tracked the scent, we learned that our alleged enemy operative, one Yakushi Kabuto, was after Sasuke. While Kurenai-san went to secure Naruto and Hinata, I followed the scent to Sasuke's apartment and found that while the apartment was undisturbed, Sasuke was missing, and the Anbu watching him was dead, suffering the same fatal wounds as several of the Anbu who were killed at the Hokage Residence. Pakkun returned to me shortly after my arrival at the apartment and informed me of the identity of our spy and his cover as a member of the Medic Corps.

"And it gets even worse, I'm afraid."

"Worse, how?" Iruka asked. Now his disbelief was showing, and it was palpable.

"Based on the information recovered during our investigation, we have determined that our two turncoats were working for another traitor, someone whose infamous deeds will be remembered in our village's history texts forever: the rogue Sannin, Orochimaru," Hiruzen solemnly explained. "Apparently, Orochimaru has founded his own hidden village in the Land of Rice Fields and is recruiting shinobi who are either discontent with their home villages, or so desperate that they have nothing to lose. I will have to schedule a meeting with my advisors and the Daimyō later to determine how Konoha should address this development.

"In the meantime, the Torture and Interrogation Force will continue to extract any relevant information Mizuki may still hold inside his mind. Once Mizuki is of no further use to us, his death sentence will be carried out. What is the expected timeframe on this, Inoichi-san?"

The tall blond ninja cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts as everyone in the room turned to him. "Two days at most, Hokage-sama. While he does know a few other things, such as the location of some dead drops and safehouses, there is almost no information Mizuki can provide about the inner workings of Orochimaru's hidden village. His handler, Kabuto, deliberately kept him in the dark, I'm afraid."

Hiruzen gave a tired sigh, pausing the conversation to open the window and light his pipe. "Very well. For now, we have a great many things we must see to. Iruka-san, I am ordering you to rest for the remainder of the week. You were of great assistance in the capture of a traitor; without your efforts, we would not have the intel on Orochimaru which we now possess. You have done well."

While Iruka stammered out his gratitude for this praise, the Hokage turned to address Kakashi and Kurenai. "Return to Naruto's apartment and inform Naruto and Hinata of what happened to Iruka last night before resuming your regular duties. Check on them again later in the evening, and make damn sure they don't pull any more foolish stunts like breaking curfew again." Recognizing the dismissal, the two jōnin gave their Hokage a respectful bow before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

As Hiruzen was about to dismiss his final soldier and return to his office to plan his next meeting with the Land of Fire's Daimyō, Inoichi stepped forward, taking that moment to finally address another issue which had been brought on by Sasuke's defection.

"Hokage-sama, I apologize for detaining you further from the evils of paperwork."

Hiruzen smirked as he took a moment to savor the acrid flavor of his tobacco. "Your apology is unneeded. Now, what else troubles you this morning, Inoichi-san?"

"Well, sir…"


Back at his new apartment, Naruto was sitting in his bed, glaring at his alarm clock as it kept buzzing. Last night's events had left him both physically and emotionally exhausted, and deprived him of anything that remotely resembled rest. He did not want to get up, but the alarm had been going off for the past five minutes. He reached over towards his dresser and knocked the clock down to the floor, making the buzzing stop. With the noise gone, Naruto went back to dwelling on last night's events. The explosion at the old man's mansion, Sasuke leaving the village with the attacker, his attempt to give chase and Hinata's insistence on stopping him…

"Why am I so powerless?" Naruto whispered to himself, clenching his fists, unaware that someone besides his Anbu surveillance was listening.

"Would you like to change that feeling of powerlessness?" a voice asked, accompanied by a cold burst of air. Naruto snapped around to see his window had just opened and there was a silver-haired adult wearing the standard Konohagakure shinobi uniform and a mask now perched on the windowsill.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Naruto demanded, resisting the urge to reach under his pillow for the kunai that he was currently not allowed to have in reach.

"You really are slow on the uptake, Naruto. I'm Kakashi, your jōnin instructor."

"Huh?" Naruto squinted his eyes and scratched his chin for a few moments as he recalled what Iruka said about team placements. "Oh, okay then. But what about—"

"Your teammates? Let me explain. I would have been your team's jōnin instructor if you were still assigned to a team. But this is no longer the case. Since both of your teammates were dropped from the training program while you were in the hospital last week, you will be my only student. That may change in time, however."

Well, with Sasuke gone from the village Naruto knew it would be impossible for him to be a teammate anymore anyway, so he dismissed that. But that left the question of why his other assigned teammate would also not be present. "What about…Sakura?" Naruto asked. The deliberate pause and omission of the usual suffix did not go unnoticed by Kakashi.

"Sakura needs to learn why it is exactly she wants to be a ninja," Kakashi said, deciding Naruto did not need to know at this time it was specifically because of her rant towards him (and her mental issues that were discovered during the investigation into his suicide attempt) that Sakura was terminated from the program. "She needs to reassess herself, both her abilities and her mindset, and until she does that, she will not be given a chance to rejoin the shinobi corps."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Kakashi waited for Naruto to acknowledge the subject was better off being dropped before asking, "Speaking of which, Naruto, why do you want to become a ninja?"

If Kakashi had asked that question last week, Naruto's answer would have been immediate and filled with overconfidence. But after all that had happened since then, Naruto's doubts were winning out over his old determination. "To be honest, I don't know if I want to be a ninja anymore…or even if I can be one."

Kakashi sighed. "You'll need to figure it out eventually. You kept speaking of your dream for so long that I don't think you're ready to give it up, but it looks like you may need to find a new reason to keep pursuing that dream." He tossed Naruto a small item wrapped in cloth. Naruto quickly unwrapped it and went completely still when he recognized the metal with the Konoha symbol and realized it was his hitai-ate, the one he dropped from the Hokage Rock.

"Where did you—"

"Now don't go losing that again. You're lucky Hokage-sama recovered it. In the meantime, Kurenai-san is waiting for you in the kitchen to talk to you more about what happened last night. I'll be leaving now and giving you today off, but make sure you show up at Training Ground Three no later than oh nine hundred hours tomorrow." Kakashi got off the windowsill and turned to leave.

"Wait a sec!" Naruto yelled in protest.

"This is no time to feel sorry for yourself, Naruto," Kakashi said in a strict tone, silencing Naruto. "You can't live your life continuing to believe you're to blame for everything that goes wrong. It isn't just you anymore, or did you already forget about your roommate?" Kakashi did not give Naruto a chance to complain further as he quickly closed the window and disappeared.

Naruto just shrugged at first as his instructor left. Then he remembered Kakashi mentioning that Kurenai was waiting for him, and scowled as he forced himself to climb out of bed. Kurenai was stricter towards him than Iruka, and that grated on his nerves. He threw off his pajamas and changed into a white T-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants before marching out of his bedroom, slamming the door shut to face Kurenai, who was busy boiling tea over his stove and looking even more annoyed with him than he was with her.

"Is that any way to behave in the presence of your superior?" Kurenai preempted Naruto, wasting no time in scolding him. But Naruto just shrugged it off.

"What do you want this time?" Naruto demanded.

Something really needs to be done about your behavior, Kurenai didn't say as she raised an eyebrow at the belligerent blond. "First, drop the attitude. Second, go wake up Hinata and be quick about it."

"Why can't you do it since you like showing up here uninvited anyway?"

"I seem to recall Iruka telling you when you moved in here two days ago that it is your responsibility to help take care of Hinata while she's healing. Right now, you're not doing a very good job."

Naruto stubbornly refused to follow Kurenai's orders at first. He was locked in a staring contest with the genjutsu specialist, eyes blazing with concentrated anger. It took him a few seconds to realize that his disobedience wasn't fair to Hinata and give in.

"Fine," Naruto mumbled, reluctantly turning around to walk towards Hinata's room. He almost forgot to knock on the door instead of just walking in. "Hinata?" he called out to her. A few moments later, he heard a moan coming from her room and knew she was starting to stir. He would have just kept waiting outside, but he took a single glance back at Kurenai and saw her glaring at him, silently demanding that he go inside Hinata's room and help her. Naruto's face turned red from both anger and embarrassment as he turned back to the door and announced, "Hinata, I'm sorry, but I need to come in now," and opened it a few seconds later.

Predictably, Hinata's face was also turning red as Naruto walked inside her room. She was sitting up, but had her blankets pulled up around her. "N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked, unable to stop the slight stutter in her voice.

"Kurenai is in the kitchen and wants to talk to you," Naruto explained. "She's making me help you with whatever you need." Both of their blushes deepened after he finished.

"Oh…" Hinata rubbed her eyes with her good hand and let the blankets fall off of her, revealing to Naruto that she had changed into a set of pink pajamas after their talk last night. "M-My clothes are all in the bottom drawer," she told Naruto. "C-Could you please bring me a blouse and some pants from out of that drawer and…help me put them on?" she asked, hesitantly, with a gulp halfway through her question.

"G-Got it," Naruto stammered out, already at Hinata's dresser to fetch the requested items. He noticed that all of the clothes Hinata had been provided with were the same as the ones she'd worn when she was brought here by Kurenai. He quickly closed the drawer and walked back up to Hinata, who yawned as he put them down next to her.

Naruto's hands twitched as he pulled off Hinata's blankets the rest of the way and moved her to sit on the edge of her bed, then unbuttoned and tugged off her pajamas, leaving her in just sarashi. He picked up the black pants and unfolded them, and slowly pulled them over Hinata's legs, always being mindful of the cast over her right leg. Then came the harder part: her sleeveless blouse. Naruto thought they should have given Hinata something easier to put on as he struggled a bit trying to pull it over the cast on her right arm. His face looked like it would permanently turn red from his frustration and mortification over this. Eventually, Naruto managed to get it on her, buttoned up and tucked into her pants. All the while, Hinata also seemed to be at risk of having a permanent change in skin color, so extreme was her blush.

"I'm really, really sorry about all this," Naruto said as he carefully lifted up Hinata and carried her to her wheelchair. Only now was his face starting to return to its normal color.

"I-It's fine, Naruto-kun," Hinata tried to reassure him as well as herself. "Normally, I am awake at least two hours earlier than this. Besides, this is something we will both have to get used to while I am still healing."

Naruto did not have a response for that. He simply followed Hinata into the kitchen, where Kurenai had finished with the tea and left a cup on the table for each of them.

"You both still look tired," Kurenai observed as the children walked/wheeled towards the kitchen table. "I made you some sweet tea using a recipe that was given to me by a certain acquaintance." And that was all she was going to say about that. The less said about said acquaintance, the better; and if Hinata and Naruto managed to never meet her and hear any of the embarrassing stories she had, it would be too soon. However, as Naruto was about to take his seat at the table she gave him another glare, another silent demand to continue assisting Hinata. Naruto glared back at her but obediently moved his chair next to Hinata so he could help her with her teacup.

After a few minutes of silence to allow the caffeine in the tea to do its work, Kurenai crossed her arms and stood opposite them at the table. "Now that both of you are alert, our first order of business today is to address what happened after I left last night. Hinata, Naruto, would you care to explain to me why both of you broke curfew?"

Hinata looked downcast as she kept turning her head back and forth. "Well, Kurenai-sensei, we—"

"Don't punish Hinata for this," Naruto interrupted/demanded. "It was my fault." Both Hinata and Kurenai briefly gave him looks of shock, the latter also contemplating his sudden protectiveness of the former.

"You don't get to make demands of me, Naruto," Kurenai said harshly. "But all things considered, that was quite a confession. Still, you didn't tell me why you ran off without permission. If I had to guess, it's because of Sasuke, isn't it?" Naruto's rapid reversion to silence was all the answer Kurenai needed. She shook her head in frustration, knowing a dressing down was in order for both the problematic blond and his indigo-haired roommate. "You don't realize how much danger you were putting yourself in last night. Judging by the total damage and casualties the traitor Kabuto inflicted on us last night, we believe his true skill level is equal to that of an elite jōnin, possibly even higher. Kabuto killed half a dozen Anbu, rendered several more unconscious, and convinced Sasuke to leave Konoha with him, before anyone else became aware of his actions. And I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Hokage-sama himself was among the ninja who went out to hunt down and capture Kabuto and Sasuke, and even he failed to capture them. What makes you think you had any chance of surviving, let alone succeeding where the rest of us failed, if you had managed to escape the village and encountered them?"

"Please do not be so harsh on Naruto-kun, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata jumped to Naruto's defense and pleaded with her caretaker/instructor while Naruto continued to sink in on himself. "I already discussed this with Naruto-kun last night after I broke curfew to stop him from leaving."

Kurenai turned her glare towards Hinata, being far from finished with the dressing down. "You have no room to talk right now, Hinata. The Anbu platoon assigned to watch you had to call in medics after the curfew violation to examine you because you left without your wheelchair and tried running on your broken leg. It's a damn miracle you didn't aggravate your injuries and cause a setback in your recovery. You should have allowed the Anbu to capture Naruto, or limited your actions to just alerting them that Naruto had left.

"However, Hokage-sama has decided that there will be no punishment for your reckless actions this time. He just hopes that this talk will sink into both of your thick skulls and you won't be stubborn enough to repeat this incident in the future." Kurenai sighed and shook her head again. "But if Iruka was here right now having this talk with you instead of me, he would hit both of you over your foolish stunt."

Naruto's head slowly lifted after Kurenai's off-handed comment about his former teacher. "Why isn't Iruka-sensei here?" he asked.

"Because he is in the hospital." Both Naruto and Hinata gasped at that information. "Kabuto was not acting alone last night. While most of our trackers were hunting Kabuto, Mizuki sneaked into the Hokage Residence and stole the Scroll of Seals. Iruka went after him, but was injured and would have died had the Hokage's shadow clone not arrived in the nick of time."

Naruto clenched his fists while Hinata's eyes watered. His feeling of powerlessness that plagued him all morning grew more intense. He hadn't even known Iruka was caught up in this whole mess, and even if he had known, he would have been unable to do anything.

"Che…" Naruto growled. "I should have known…I should have done something…"

"No one will stop you from visiting Iruka in the hospital if you want, Naruto, so long as Hinata goes with you," Kurenai said, a not-so-gentle reminder of Iruka's instructions to him to watch over Hinata at all times. "But right now, the only thing you can do for Iruka until he's released is to do as you're told. Understood?" Naruto mumbled out an incoherent response, which Kurenai interpreted as reluctant acknowledgment. Kurenai then walked over to Hinata and bent down to whisper in her ear, "Keep Naruto on a short leash. We don't want to give the Anbu a reason to pounce on him." Hinata gulped and quickly nodded. Kurenai gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before turning to leave.

"Use the rest of your day well, Naruto. Because tomorrow, Kakashi is going to run you into the ground in your training sessions." And then Kurenai walked out the door, leaving the broken children to attempt to work through their inner conflicts on their own.


Inoichi briefly wondered if delivering bad news to the Haruno family was going to turn into a habit. This was the second time in as many weeks he had stopped by their house to inform their daughter of a terrible event that directly involved her, or at least was of significant concern to her. Worse, Inoichi knew this was going to be the easiest part of his day. However Sakura took this, he knew that his own daughter would have a much worse reaction once he talked to her later.

"Here we go again," Inoichi muttered as he walked inside the building and up the stairs towards the front door of Sakura's apartment. Unlike his last visit, when the door opened he was met by Sakura's father, Kizashi.

"Good morning, Inoichi!" Kizashi greeted him, belatedly noticing his stony expression. "I'd ask to what I owe this pleasure, but you don't look too happy to be here…" he continued, his voice sullen.

Inoichi shook his head. "I'm afraid this isn't a friendly visit, Kizashi-san. I need to speak with your daughter. Is she at home?"

Kizashi sighed deeply and lowered his gaze to the floor. "Sakura hasn't left home since she was expelled from the shinobi training program last week. She won't talk to us about it. She hardly even comes out of her room anymore."

"I see." Inoichi was one of the few in Konoha who cared to understand just how serious of a problem this was. Most of the higher-ups would have been content to just leave Sakura to whatever fate would befall her. This was how it had been done since the foundation of the village: with so many who were in need of therapy and so few who were qualified to give that therapy, even most of the elite shinobi of Konoha were expected to cope with their mental issues on their own. And denying Sakura the help she needed had been part of Hiruzen's punishment for the girl. But that was something Inoichi would not let stand any longer. "Is Sakura in her room now?"

Kizashi nodded. "Does this have anything to do with last night?" he asked as he stepped aside to allow Inoichi entrance.

"Yes." Inoichi ran his right index finger along the leaves of the potted plants set outside the apartment, recalling when the Haruno family had bought those plants from his family's flower shop over a year ago. Things were not as complicated back then, the Yamanaka clan head observed.

"I think most of the people in the village heard the explosion at Hokage-sama's mansion," Kizashi commented. He then took a few seconds to fiddle with his cherry blossom necklace. "I'm just thankful it wasn't part of a larger attack and they didn't need to mobilize anyone to evacuate civilians to any of the shelters."

"It might yet be the precursor to a larger attack. The situation is rather…complicated right now." Inoichi rubbed his forehead. "Is your wife at home, Kizashi-san?"

Kizashi shook his head. "Mebuki had some errands to run. It's just Sakura and I right now. I'll go and get her." Inoichi nodded and walked inside, sitting down at the table in the main living area. A minute later, Kizashi and Sakura joined Inoichi, Sakura sitting across from him with her legs curled up while Kizashi was seated to his side. The youngest Haruno was trying to avoid making eye contact with him or her dad.

Well, here goes nothing.

"Sakura, there is no easy way to tell you this," Inoichi began. "Last night, Uchiha Sasuke deserted Konohagakure with the assistance of a traitor and we were unable to capture him."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, pushing her legs off her chair as she leaned forward and slammed her fists down on the table. "That's impossible! Sasuke-kun would never—"

"Before you finish that sentence, Sakura, I am going to ask you some very important questions, and I expect you to give me honest answers," Inoichi interrupted. Sakura sank back into herself as Inoichi's stern tone made her realize she was saying something that should not have been said. "First, how much do you actually know about Sasuke? Why are you so infatuated with him?"

Sakura couldn't help the blush that formed as she tried to avoid answering the question; however, one glance at her father showed her another stern look that demanded she answer. "We-well…Sasuke-kun is just so good at everything he does. He's always so calm and focused. But…he's also always been distant from everyone ever since his clan was slaughtered. He used to be friendlier back when we first started attending the Academy. I wanted to be the one who helped Sasuke-kun open up again."

"I see," Inoichi said. Not good. Like most of her female peers, Sakura has built up an idealized image of Sasuke in her mind. Her desire to help Sasuke also appears to be largely self-serving. "Next question. How much do you know about Naruto? Why do you despise him enough that you would tell him to kill himself?"

Sakura's expression darkened. She narrowed her eyes at Inoichi. "That's not what I told him," she muttered, going on the defensive.

"Don't argue technicalities with me. You may not have used those exact words, but that was your intent."

"No it wasn't!" Sakura screamed, and promptly curled back up and buried her face in her thighs. Inoichi backed off briefly, while Kizashi tried to reach over towards her, only for her to pull away from him.

"We need to give Sakura some time to calm down," Kizashi advised Inoichi.

"Time isn't a luxury I have right now," Inoichi replied to Kizashi, but nonetheless stayed silent for about two minutes as a small courtesy to the Haruno family. When he resumed speaking, it was with a sense of urgency. "Sakura, as hard as this is on you, I still need you to answer my question. Why do you hate Naruto?" Inoichi already knew the reason why; but if Sakura was to make any satisfactory progress he first needed to hear her explain it in her own words.

Sakura needed another two minutes to force herself to acknowledge the question. "Naruto was only chasing after me because I was chasing after Sasuke-kun," she explained with great reluctance. "He thought he could win me like I'm some sort of prize and I got sick of it. I refuse to be a trophy someone can show off. But as much as I'm fed up with Naruto's behavior towards me, I didn't want him to jump off the Hokage Rock or do anything else to kill himself. I just wanted him to stop pestering me. But I know I went too far and I know there's nothing I can do to fix my mistake…" Sakura's voice trailed off and she again closed herself off.

Inoichi sighed deeply. "While most other people would see his behavior towards you like that, Sakura, you need to understand that Naruto doesn't understand this. Naruto's emotional growth was greatly stunted as a result of the ostracization he continues to suffer. This has left Naruto with a great void in his heart that he is desperate to fill, but doesn't know how to fill. In this, he is similar to Sasuke; however the first and one of the important differences is that Naruto never had anyone in his heart to begin with. You can't judge Naruto by what was denied to him, Sakura. That's the first thing you'll have to change about yourself if you're going to have any chance of making it back into the shinobi training program." Sakura remained silent after Inoichi paused his speech, though she was at least showing that she was listening to him and was not simply trying to hide away and wallow in her guilt. At least she's starting to make progress, Inoichi thought as he analyzed her expressions and watched her attempt to process his words. Taking this all in was undoubtedly difficult for her. But it was also an important part of being a ninja.

"Here's what will happen next," Inoichi continued. "With Sasuke no longer present in Konoha, I will be conducting therapy sessions with you here twice a week in the time slot his sessions were placed in. Ino will accompany me during all of my visits here to oversee these sessions. Ino will be here for two reasons: to assist in helping you better manage your emotions and approaching tasks objectively, and to mend the broken friendship between the two of you."

"Good luck with that," Sakura remarked.

"Your reaction to this is probably better than hers will be," Inoichi said in partial agreement with Sakura's thoughts on the matter. He sighed again, partially out of relief, as Sakura was handling this somewhat better than he had expected. "Our first session will be in two days. I still recommend avoiding Naruto and Hinata for the time being, but if you happen to run into them, be gentle. Naruto is still in a very dark place right now." Inoichi stood and nodded at the Haruno family, and was about to turn and leave when Sakura spoke up.

"Wait!" the pink-haired girl requested. "Before you go, Inoichi-san, I have two questions I need to ask you."

"Okay, but make them quick."

Sakura trembled as she issued her first question. "Is it…is it my fault that Sasuke-kun left? Would he have stayed if I hadn't ranted against Naruto?"

Inoichi shrugged. "Sasuke was beyond help, Sakura. He demonstrated that when he left the village last night. Maybe you could have delayed his desertion if you had not broken Naruto with your rant last week, but Sasuke's actions since that incident convinced me that he was never loyal to Konoha. His decision to leave was inevitable."

Sakura's head fell as she considered these words. She almost did not get out her other question before Inoichi left the apartment. "And what about Hinata? How deeply is she involved in all of this?"

Another shrug from Inoichi as he opened the front door. "Right now, Hinata is our best chance of saving Naruto from meeting the same fate as Sasuke…or worse."


For the rest of the morning and afternoon after Kurenai left, Naruto had managed to go without hearing a single request from Hinata, which was just fine with him. It gave him some time to finally be left alone. Solitude for the blond was in short supply since the night he jumped. Even now, he knew he was not completely alone, and would never be as long as Hokage-jiichan insisted on those annoying Anbu patrols watching him. But it was close enough to satisfy him for now.

Several times, Naruto had thought about heading out and wandering through the village, with no clear destination or purpose in mind. He'd thought better of it each time, however, after remembering that wherever he went, he was required to take Hinata with him. That still irritated Naruto. Why couldn't the Anbu or whoever else was watching him look after Hinata for a little while so he could do something on his own? Why did he have to be stuck with babysitting duty every hour he was awake? Some of the time, Naruto didn't mind that much. Aside from the first day where she got angry with him at the markets, Hinata had only expressed sympathy for his plight. He knew Hinata meant well, even if he was still reluctant to accept that. But that reluctance seemed to grow both weaker and stronger at the same time.

Naruto spent all of the daylight hours laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, only getting up to stretch or to briefly check on Hinata and see if she needed anything from him. He would have been…well, if not content, then as close to it as was possible these days to continue wasting the day away, dwelling on anything and nothing, if not for outside forces continuing to conspire against him: this time, the culprits were his growling stomach and an incoming visitor.

"All these thoughts are making me hungry," Naruto muttered to himself after he heard the first growl. He did not get any time to try to ignore his stomach's protests; he was forced out of bed by the sound of the doorbell ringing. "Just great. I'd really rather not have any company right now," he complained as he trudged out of his bedroom and through the living area. The doorbell rang two more times while he was walking to the front door. "Alright, I heard ya already!" he yelled just before opening the door and finding a young girl wearing a raincoat over a blue v-neck shirt and shorts, with mesh armor visible underneath the shirt. A girl who, aside from her long brown hair and taste in clothing, looked very similar to Hinata.

"Good evening, Naruto-niisan!" the girl gave him an enthusiastic greeting.

Wow, Naruto thought. Her personality is way different from Hinata. I wonder if she just blurts out everything like that? "Um…hi," he replied, unable to decide on whether he should feel curious or annoyed. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Silly Naruto-niisan." The girl giggled at him as she walked past him. "My name is Hanabi. And this is an awesome place you have here!"

"Hey, wait a sec—" Naruto tried to protest, but Hanabi clearly wasn't listening to him.

"Even with my Byakugan, it took me a while to find your apartment. I'll have to talk to Chichi-ue later about the directions." Hanabi sighed as she shed her raincoat and flopped down on the couch, soaking in the heat from the electric fireplace. "So where is Oneesama?"

Naruto had no real clue how he was supposed to respond to this Hanabi girl. She kept bringing things on him way too quickly. "Um…are you talking about Hinata?"

Hanabi rolled her eyes. "Duh! Who did you think I meant, Naruto-niisan?"

Why do you keep calling me that? Naruto did not ask. He didn't know what to make of Hanabi's behavior. She was treating him with a lot more familiarity then one would normally do and it was confusing the hell out of him.

"You're kinda weird, aren't you, Naruto-niisan?" Hanabi giggled at Naruto's blank stare.

I should be saying that about you, Naruto again did not say as Hanabi ran past him. Hanabi was definitely one of the weirder girls he'd met, but he decided that it was at least an "okay" kind of weird. She was a little too energetic and nosy in Naruto's opinion, but he figured it would be easy enough to tolerate her.

Apparently it was a sentiment Hinata did not share.

"Cut it out, Hanabi," Hinata said as she entered the living room.

"Oneesama!" Hanabi shouted and rushed over to jump into Hinata's lap and hug her. Naruto quickly noticed the two things that were very wrong with this scene. One, Hanabi was visibly shaking almost as soon as she landed and Hinata's lap. And two, Hinata did not return the hug and looked annoyed by Hanabi's display of affection. No, Naruto corrected himself as he watched what was going to be the start of yet another incident involving Hinata. Hinata was not annoyed with her sister. She was angry.

"What are you doing here, Hanabi?" Hinata demanded. Naruto had never heard her voice grow so cold. And Hanabi was also shocked by her older sister's tone as she quickly let go of her and took a few steps back.

"Is it really so bad of me to come see you, Oneesama? You've been gone for over a week…"

Hinata glared at her younger sister. "Why are you acting like everything is fine between us? You never came to see me while I was in the hospital. Were you too busy with the honorable elders?"

"Oneesama, I—"

"Or how about when Hiashi-sama disowned me and banished me from the clan? Where were you then?!" Hinata continued yelling, not giving her younger sister any chance to defend herself.

"That's not fair and you know it!" Hanabi yelled back, already pushed to tears by Hinata's hurtful words. "I had no say in the matter! I didn't even know—"

"Didn't know?!" Hinata interrupted again. "Of course you wouldn't know! You and Hiashi-sama don't know anything!" she screamed.

"Alright, that's enough!" Naruto snapped and marched over towards them. "What the hell has gotten into you, Hinata?! Hanabi was just—"

"Stay out of this, Naruto!" Hinata snapped back at Naruto, catching the blond off guard. "This is between me and my former family. You don't have any right to butt in."

And that was the last straw for Naruto. He had been trying very hard not to get angry with Hinata, still wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt despite her little display here because of all the kindness she had shown him. But Hinata had still crossed a line with her behavior towards Hanabi, and then crossed several more in rapid succession, and with all the anger that he'd been keeping bottled up, Naruto was well overdue for an explosion.

"No right?" Naruto's voice dipped several octaves below its normal tone. He narrowed his eyes at Hinata and very slowly stomped towards her. "Okay, if you wanna play that game, fine. What right did you have to jump after me that night, huh?" he demanded, his voice slowly raising.

In an instant, Hinata's anger evaporated, to be replaced with shock and dismay. "Th-that's not what I—" she tried to stammer out; but Naruto quickly cut her off, slamming his palms down on the arm rests of her wheelchair and leaning in towards her.

"What right do you have to stay here as a freeloader and treat me like a prisoner? Who gave you that right?!" Naruto shouted directly in Hinata's face. Hinata flinched and backed her wheelchair into the wall hard enough to leave dents in the wall. "So don't you dare tell me what my rights are!"

Once his outburst was finished, Hinata was left retreating into herself. Her head fell, and tears started falling onto her legs. "I…I'm—" she tried to stammer out.

"Don't say a word to me," Naruto growled at her as he searched for his sandals. "I'm not the one who needs an apology." As he located his sandals and slipped them on, he noticed that the door was wide open and Hanabi's raincoat was no longer on the floor. The poor girl ran out of the house. Just as he was about to.

"Stop, Naruto!" Hinata shouted, forcing herself to look up at him in her futile attempt to keep him from running off. "Kurenai-sensei—"

"I don't care what that bitch has to say," Naruto interrupted Hinata one last time as he slammed the door shut behind him, running out into the village. What happened to Hinata now as he left her behind to break was no longer his concern.


Naruto was running through the streets in the heavy rain. He was completely soaked, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be away from the apartment, and away from her. He had just started to delude himself into believing it would be okay to let himself stay with Hinata before this happened.

All that Hanabi girl had wanted was to see her big sister. But Hinata had cruelly pushed her away and because of that, Naruto couldn't stand being around Hinata anymore. Naruto didn't know what it was like to have a family, but he knew that the way Hinata treated Hanabi back there was not how you were supposed to treat any members of your family. How could she do that? Hanabi was just concerned about Hinata. And Naruto wanted to think that he would have known whether or not Hanabi had any ill intent in coming over to his apartment. Hanabi had seemed like a genuinely kind person.

Then again, so had Hinata…but Naruto knew better now.

Hinata had appeared to be so good. She was the only one who had never had any unkind words to say about Naruto back when they were in the Academy (even if he couldn't remember her talking to him at all until the day Sakura broke him). She had tried to stop him from killing himself, claiming he still mattered.

It was all just the punch line to the most sickening joke ever.

Hinata showed her true colors to Naruto tonight. She was no better than the others. No, she was actually worse than them! She had made him want to believe! She had made him start to care! To not feel so alone! He had even started to…think he had finally found a friend in her.

But what kind of friend snaps on a harmless little girl like that?! Her own sister, no less?! Did Hinata not understand what she still had that he never would? Maybe she was more like Sasuke, taking for granted things he would mutilate himself for just the smallest chance to obtain.

Naruto's mind kept tumbling in a downward spiral as he kept running, focused on one goal: to get as far away from Hinata as possible. Unfortunately, he was so caught up in his anger and despair that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going…or who might have been following him on his desperate flight away from her.

He ended up tripping over a random rock on the street and fell to his knees, scraping them. He hissed and tried to push himself back up, only to find himself pinned down a second later. He felt a gloved hand grabbing the back of his head and a knee digging into his lower back.

"That's as far as you'll go, Uzumaki," a voice Naruto didn't recognize said. It had to be one of the Anbu the Old Man had assigned to watch him. That figures, Naruto thought, frustrated with himself as he tried to get free. He had completely forgotten about that problem.

"Let me go already!" Naruto screamed at the Anbu.

"Not a chance. This is the second time in as many nights you've broken curfew, Uzumaki. A curfew Hokage-sama explicitly put in place to keep you out of trouble." The Anbu yanked Naruto up to his feet by the hair, tightening his grip on the blond. Naruto clenched his teeth, determined not to give this asshole the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. But the grip kept growing tighter, as though the Anbu was equally determined to make him cry. Naruto's pain tolerance had just about reached its limit when the situation changed.

"Release him!" another voice, one more familiar to Naruto, shouted. The Anbu holding Naruto turned around, forcing Naruto to turn with him and see Kurenai standing in front of them.

"Yūhi-san," the Anbu responded cordially. "I was just providing Uzumaki with an object lesson to help him understand what happens when someone disobeys orders in the field." To drive his argument home, he tightened his grip on Naruto even more. Naruto hissed, but still refused to cry.

"This is completely unnecessary. I'm sure Naruto has learned his lesson, right?" Kurenai asked. Naruto whimpered and tried to nod at Kurenai. "See? He'll behave. And you're dismissed."

"Ma'am, I must object to you relieving me of my duty. This is Uzumaki we are discussing. I do not believe the point—"

"This latest incident is more complicated than you realize," Kurenai interrupted. "I gave you an order to release Naruto and I expected you to comply the first time. But if you would like me to report you to Hokage-sama for your own disobedience as well as using excessive force against Naruto…" she threatened, with every intention of making good on that threat regardless of how the Anbu responded.

Recognizing that he was now thoroughly screwed, the Anbu paled under his mask and released Naruto immediately, causing him to collapse into a puddle of water with an undignified squawk. He gave Kurenai a curt nod before vanishing in a swirl of leaves, though this caused rainwater from another puddle to splash against Naruto's back. Naruto scowled at the spot where the Anbu had been, then pushed himself back to his feet to unload his extreme frustration on Kurenai.

"Don't make me go back there!" Naruto shouted at Kurenai. "I can't go back after what happened!"

"You will go back to your apartment, Naruto." Had she been speaking to any genin but Naruto, Kurenai's tone would have left no room for argument. "But not right now," she quickly added, which appeared to immediately defuse Naruto. It was the only concession she would make to him tonight. "Climb on my back, Naruto," she instructed him as she turned her back towards him, dropped to one knee and stretched her arms behind her. "I'm taking you to my apartment to get you out of the rain before you fall ill. We'll get there faster if I'm carrying you."

Naruto was reluctant at first to obey Kurenai's command to ride piggyback. Her harsh behavior towards him since he was released from the hospital two days ago had done nothing to win him over. And his last words to Hinata tonight—the last words he'd ever say to her, if he had his way—were that he didn't care what Kurenai had to say to him. But then again, it was raining hard and it was cold outside, and despite the incident with Hinata he had no desire yet to just give up again and try to let himself die out here. And if he could allow himself to believe Kurenai, at least she would give him some time away from the gilded cage that was his current apartment before throwing him back inside that cage. Perhaps he should have seen that as a cruelty, but right now he was desperate for any form of reprieve.

He sighed in surrender as he slowly walked towards Kurenai and wrapped his arms around her neck, allowing her to carry him away.


With Naruto being carried on her back, it took Kurenai less than a minute to return to her apartment. In her brief time outside, she also found herself completely soaked and during her rapid jumps across the rooftops, muttered something under her breath about how someone needed to start manufacturing waterproof clothes for everyone in Konoha, shinobi and civilian alike.

Once she arrived, Kurenai pressed her hand against the door, infusing it with chakra to deactivate the security seals that kept it locked. She quickly closed the door behind her and pushed Naruto off her back.

"Get into the shower quickly," Kurenai ordered Naruto. "I'll leave a fresh set of clothes outside the bathroom for you and wash your clothes after you're done." Naruto only briefly glanced at her before acquiescing; with his current physical state, there was no room for argument. Kurenai sighed as Naruto slammed the bathroom door behind him, leaving her to search her closet for some old clothes that belonged to one of her close friends from back when she was attending the Academy.

Left alone for the time being, Naruto quickly shed his damp and mud-stained clothes and stepped into Kurenai's bathtub, turning the water up as hot as he could stand. The stream of water from the shower head washing over his body slowly started to clear his mind, allowing him the chance to assess his current situation.

"So what if I left Hinata alone," Naruto thought aloud, dwelling on his fight with her just a few minutes ago. He never wanted to be around people like her again. What was he supposed to have done instead, lock himself in his room and wait for Kurenai to tell him off and take her side? That wasn't an option for him, not after how deeply Hinata had hurt him by hurting Hanabi. "Why do I even have to watch her anyway?" he wondered. He had told Hinata not to save him when he jumped that night, and she didn't listen. And he had been stuck with her ever since. Why the hell did he have to be responsible for her?

He sighed and turned off the water, convinced that he would receive neither answers nor an extension to his reprieve tonight. He dried himself off and cracked open the door to grab the clothes Kurenai left him. The fishnet shirt, white vest and gray pants were slightly too large for his frame, but they did their job of keeping the evening chill away. Once he finished, he walked back into the main living area and saw Kurenai in the kitchen, her back turned to him. She had changed out of her regular attire and was now wearing a sleeveless burgundy shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt and light gray pants.

"So, Naruto," Kurenai said in a dangerously low tone. "A few minutes ago, I left to check in on you at your apartment, only to find that Hinata was crying and you broke curfew again. Now that you're not dripping wet, would you care to explain to me why either of these things happened? And you'd better pray I like your answer because if I don't, both Iruka and I will have to move in with you two. And I'm sure you don't want that." Naruto didn't reply, which made Kurenai spin around and glare at him. "Do you really want to test my patience, Naruto? It may not be visiting hours at the hospital right now, but I can still take you to Iruka and let him scold you over what happened tonight if you don't want to tell me your reasoning at the very least." It wasn't a threat so much as a guarantee. Quickly realizing that Kurenai would do exactly as she told him if he did not comply immediately, Naruto clenched his fists and muttered out his explanation for what happened at his apartment.

"I can't be around someone who treats their own family like shit."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at him. "I hope you're not talking about Hinata."

"Well, who the hell did you think I was talking about?" Naruto asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Kurenai intensified her glare in response, which made him shiver, knowing she was telling him to watch his words. "Tch…okay, look, her sister came over and Hinata yelled at her and made her cry. I couldn't stand for that so I told her off and left."

"I see." Kurenai let out a long sigh, then pressed her right hand to her face and groaned. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to be the one to do this…"

"Do what?" Naruto's angry response was automatic, and even before the question escaped his lips he was regretting the slip.

"Sit down, kid," Kurenai commanded him. "We need to have a long talk." Naruto begrudgingly obeyed and seated himself on the couch in the living area while Kurenai rummaged through her fridge to grab a jug of store-bought sweet tea and a large bottle of vodka. "I hope you don't mind drinking sweet tea that isn't homemade," she told Naruto as she also retrieved some ice from the freezer along with two glasses from her cupboard. Naruto refused to reply, so Kurenai shrugged as she poured the tea into one glass and the ice and vodka into the other. She then walked into the living area and placed Naruto's glass in front of him on the coffee table, took a sip of her glass, and sat down on the chair to his right.

"Okay then. How much do you know about the Hyũga Clan?"

Naruto frowned at Kurenai's question. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it, Naruto." Kurenai did not want to get snippy with Naruto, but his apparent insistence on challenging her authority was slowly wearing her patience thin.

Naruto groaned. He was familiar enough with Kurenai's look now to have an idea of what she was thinking about him. She was wrong, but he also knew she wouldn't let him say so. "Fine. I don't really know anything about them. To be honest, I only remembered recently how I first met Hinata."

"Oh, yes. She told me all about that," Kurenai commented. "Do you know why Hinata was out there that day?"

Naruto gave her a suspicious look. "She was enrolling at the Academy, right?"

"That is correct, but that is only a small part of the story." Kurenai paused to take a sip from her glass. She remained silent for several more moments, deciding how best to word her explanation to the troublemaking blond. "Hinata was not supposed to attend the Ninja Academy, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened at that confusing revelation from the genjutsu specialist. "Wait, what?"

"Hinata was originally the heiress to the Hyūga Clan and due to the circumstances of such a position, her shinobi education would have been kept almost entirely within the confines of her clan's estate. Training and other studies would have been provided solely by her father and the elders until she was ready to become a genin. However, as you know, she ended up attending the Academy instead. Why do you think that is?"

"Why are you asking me stuff you know I won't have an answer for?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"I am trying to make you think, Naruto. Something you haven't been doing much of lately." Kurenai threw her head back and took the rest of her glass of vodka down in one gulp, then slammed the glass onto the coffee table. "But if you want a straight answer, then that's what I'll give you," she continued with a renewed harsh glare directed at Naruto. "Hinata was forced to attend the Academy because her father couldn't think of anything else to do with her after he took away her birthright."

The room fell deadly silent. Neither one moved or said a word. Naruto could only stare down into his glass of tea as he mulled over what Kurenai just told him. Yet again, he had misjudged the situation and also managed to misjudge the person sitting to his side.

"So you mean that…" Naruto's voice trailed off, unable to finish his question.

Kurenai laughed bitterly. "To Hiashi and those other Hyūga pricks, Hinata was nothing more than an embarrassment to their clan. Hiashi wrote Hinata off as a failure and abandoned her. But his neglect doesn't compare to what some of her other clansmen did. Her cousin Neji and her late uncle Hizashi were among the worst of her abusers. Both of them tried to kill Hinata at one point."

Naruto's head shot up his face contorting between worry and anger. "What the hell is wrong with that family?!"

Kurenai shrugged. There were definitely times where she wanted nothing more than to march over to the Hyūga estate and engage in a therapeutic beatdown of some of the worse Hyūga clansmen for the way they treated Hinata, but getting herself in trouble for attacking them without just cause would do nothing to help Hinata or Naruto. "But that isn't why Hiashi disinherted Hinata," she said. "Before he and the elders passed off the inheritance to her younger sister Hanabi, they decided to give Hinata one last chance to prove herself. Hinata and Hanabi were pit against one another in a sparring match to decide who was more fit for the title of heiress. All Hinata had to do was defeat her sister. Now, I should let you know that Hanabi is considered a prodigy among the Hyūga. Her skill level with the Hyūga Clan's taijutsu style was highly advanced for her young age, so this was a fight Hinata had to take seriously. It was very hard for Hinata, both physically and mentally. But when it finally came time for Hinata to prove her worth to the clan, she couldn't. It wasn't because Hanabi was the better fighter of the two, Naruto. When Hinata was about to land the winning blow, she hesitated, and that moment of hesitation cost her everything. Hinata lost the match because she could not bring herself to harm her sister."

Naruto was once again stunned into silence. His hands were shaking, not from the cold but from anger. He was still angry with Hinata for treating Hanabi like garbage, but now he was more angry with the rest of her family for doing the same to her. He was also angrier than normal with Kurenai for telling him these things. But most of all, he was angry with himself.

"How am I still such an idiot?" Naruto whispered.

"I'm afraid that isn't even the worst part. Naruto, do you know why Hinata is staying with you? It's because she has nowhere else to go. Hiashi completely disowned her and banished her from the clan after she nearly died trying to stop you from committing suicide." It was a lie of omission from Kurenai. Naruto did not need to know that Hinata's banishment from the Hyūga Clan was in response to Hiruzen using the Hyūga Clan's money to procure his current apartment and assigning Hinata the mission of living with him, nor that Kurenai would have taken Hinata in had her banishment not been connected to Naruto's failed suicide attempt.

Naruto had thought he heard Hinata claim earlier that her family had kicked her out, but he hadn't paid attention to details like that, not while he was too busy being offended by Hinata's behavior towards Hanabi. But now that Kurenai was backing up Hinata's claim, Naruto was forced to quickly rethink everything. Kurenai's story here had not caused his anger towards Hinata to completely diminish. But he didn't know if he would have reacted any better had he been placed in her situation. And as inexcusable as the way Hinata treated her sister was, his response was no better. He was all Hinata had left…and he had pushed her away one too many times now.

He stood up abruptly, pushing the couch back by a centimeter, and started marching towards the front door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Kurenai demanded.

"I gotta go apologize to Hinata and hope she forgives me."

"I don't think so. First, Hinata has probably cried herself to sleep by now. And second, I'm not letting you go back out in the rain. You're staying the night with me."

"But—!"

"Think of this as your punishment for breaking curfew a second night in a row, Naruto. You can apologize to Hinata tomorrow," Kurenai swiftly ended the argument.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly. He was so angry with everything right now. He wanted, needed, an outlet to release his anger. He needed to scream at someone, or to find a training ground or abandoned building he could demolish, or to beat the first male Hyūga he came across to a bloody pulp.

He did not need that small, silver tear falling down his cheek and betraying the pain that was quickly drowning out his anger. Or for Kurenai to witness his turmoil and worse, act like he needed her comfort.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked, voice cracking as Kurenai walked over to him and caught the traitor tear with the tip of her index finger. He hated how vulnerable he sounded in this moment.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at Naruto while she wiped the tear away. This was the first time he had addressed her properly. This should be good, she thought to herself as she waited for his next words.

"Do I always push people away like this?"

So it's finally sinking in, huh? Kurenai sighed as she knelt down to look him in the eyes and place her hands on his shoulders. "We all try to push people away, Naruto. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes it's not. After all, a lot of people are not worth being let into our lives. But Hinata isn't one of those people who you should push away, Naruto. She cares about you. She obviously cares more about you then she does herself and that is something which is very hard to find in a person. But remember, Hinata is only human. She will make mistakes sometimes just like anyone else, but that doesn't change how she feels about you."

Another tear fell from Naruto's eyes as he considered Kurenai's words. He had been closer than he realized to letting Hinata into his heart. Her consistent acts of kindness towards him despite his insistence that he was not worth it affected him in ways he did not want to acknowledge. Whether it was showing gratitude for something he did for her, trying to do something simple for him in return, or even just allowing him to be alone…

But of course his memories of her that stuck out the most were the ones of her more drastic actions taken for his sake:

"Even if the entire village told you that, Naruto-kun, they are wrong. Even if they believe you are worthless, I do not. … Buried deep within your desire for acknowledgment is the need to protect the very people whose acknowledgment you seek. You want to take care of the people of Konoha like you take care of your plants, and place their needs above your own. How does that make your existence a sin?"

"I just told you that I'm being selfish. The one thing I truly want, the one thing I desire above all else is to protect you…"

"Do I need a reason to help someone?"

"You may not believe those words were ever worth anything to you, but they have always been worth everything to me."

"And yet when you stumble and fall, you pull yourself back up. You keep trying no matter how many times you fail, because you know that eventually, you will succeed. In my eyes, Naruto-kun, this makes you a proud failure."

Less than half an hour ago, all of Naruto's memories of Hinata's kindness towards him had been tainted with the pain of betrayal from what she had done to her sister. But Kurenai's explanation offered the possibility that the incident with Hanabi had been just a major misunderstanding, and that the frayed ties binding them could still be repaired. For the first time, Naruto could admit to himself that he wanted to give Hinata a chance to help him. He wanted Kurenai to be right about Hinata; he wanted to trust her. But most importantly, he wanted to have at least one friend in his life to fill that great void inside him.

He was beginning to understand that he had been wrong to think he would feel anything but more misery if he managed to push Hinata out of his life.

"So does that…does that mean she'll forgive me?" Naruto asked, grasping at the sliver of hope Kurenai offered him. The anguish in his voice tore at her heart.

And the sad smile she gave him as she answered, "I am sure she will," caused the crumbling dam holding back the river of his tears to give way completely. She could only sigh as she pulled the boy into a comforting embrace. She felt Naruto stiffen at the unexpected display of affection but then he hugged back and buried his face in her shoulder.

"Just let it out, Naruto," Kurenai cooed, rubbing the back of Naruto's head as his cries steadily grew louder. She couldn't help but shed a few tears of her own as his soul-crushing agony continued to permeate the air in her home. No one should ever have to go through as much pain as you have, Naruto. But I promise I will do everything in my power to take away some of this pain, if you're willing to give me the chance…


A/N: As I mentioned last chapter, this was also a chapter that was necessary to advance the story, but with scenes which brought us no joy in writing. The lack of passion would certainly explain the noticeable drop in reviews last chapter. And we absolutely struggled a lot more than we should have with this chapter. But it was better to put out a chapter that didn't have our hearts in it and force the story along to a point where we can more readily give our best, than to stall even longer than we did and increase the risk of losing all motivation to continue.

I would also like to mention that Zorback really, really hates it when Naruto and Hinata get into a fight like they did in this chapter. That being said, allowing him to write the fight scene in this chapter instead of next chapter as originally planned was the only way to keep him motivated. I had planned to show the start of Naruto's training this chapter, but that scene has been pushed back to Chapter 10.

Expect Chapters 9 and 10 to be posted sometime this winter, after Zorback stops being distracted by the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III release (he has said he'll go on hiatus for several months just for this one game - a statement he claims was an exaggeration born of hype from the initial release announcement, but I wouldn't put it past him to actually do that) and stops hiding from the rest of the Internet after some asshole stole multiple copies of the game and uploaded them online. And after a recent incident on this site involving a hacker who got pissed off at Critics United, along with the bullshit being spewed by the staff of Tumblr, we are now cross-posting this story on AO3.

Fun fact: according to the databooks, Kurenai's hobby is getting drunk, and not on the weak stuff. Oh no. Her favorite beverage is vodka. (Well, there's also shōchū, a type of O-sake listed there as well.) The Konoha Hiden light novel, which was adapted as the final anime arc of Shippūden, referenced Kurenai's heavy drinking habits. And the unnamed acquaintance she briefly mentions in the second scene of this chapter who provided her with tea recipes is none other than Anko, whose favorite hobby according to those same databooks is the Tea Ceremony. Think about that for a moment. Fanon reversed Kurenai and Anko's characters and made Anko the party girl and Kurenai the elegant one, when in canon it's actually Kurenai who's the party girl while Anko is the elegant one.