Mari Makinami
Active member
Awards
List of chapters:
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
_______________________________________________________
Chapter 29. The Decoy
The blond ninja dressed in bright orange pants, old sandals, neat black shirt and long white coat with red kanji on its back watched silently as Tsunade came close to the iron railing and looked down upon the immense crowd that surrounded the Hokage Residence in Konoha, raising her hand and waving in a greeting to all the people that were staring quietly at the top of the massive crimson building – most of the Leaf's inhabitants felt conflicted today as they were unsure if it was really a celebration or rather a mourning, and so was Uzumaki Naruto who certainly hadn't imagined this day, the day he had been waiting for throughout his entire life, to be like this.
The Sixth Hokage had been announced to be missing four weeks ago. And even he, being the most powerful sensory type ninja in the world... No matter how hard the jinchūriki tried to locate his former sensei, it was futile. He didn't feel him, and Naruto wasn't a naive man despite all the rumors about his kind and careless nature. He realized that it could only mean one thing and nothing else.
Hatake Kakashi was dead.
It was a mystery to all of them how it had happened, and as surprising as it was, they had absolutely no clue on the matter. Together with Sasuke, they had scouted all the other dimensions available to his Rinnegan's technique, and they had found absolutely nothing. No trace of the gray haired man whatsoever.
He had simply disappeared, and it was far more troubling to those who were involved in the conspiracy of the Akatsuki than to the commoners Naruto was now looking at distantly, absorbed by depressing thoughts that had been consuming him for weeks by now.
As tragic as it was, his sensei's presumed demise wasn't what made Naruto feel so bad lately, no. There was also something off with Sasuke... He couldn't quite explain it, at least not yet. Of course, all of them felt searing pain because of what happened to Kakashi, but his friend, on the other hand...
Thanks to Kurama, Naruto was able to feel negative emotions in anyone. And ever since that day when Kakashi had disappeared, Sasuke had been like an emotional abyss to him. Of course, it couldn't be noticed by anyone else as the Uchiha was a perfect ninja who always hid his true emotions and feelings flawlessly, not showing them to anyone – probably not even to Hinata. But thanks to his extraordinary sensory abilities, Naruto knew that something really dark was torturing Sasuke's heart nowadays. And no matter how hard the blond pushed, the Uchiha refused to talk about it, pretending to be perfectly fine.
Did Sasuke feel so bad because of the Sixth's death? Or was it something else, something far more awful and devastating that he didn't want to share with them?
Naruto didn't know, and he realized that he wouldn't be able to find out on his own. Talking to Hinata most likely wouldn't help the case either – of course, the young jinchūriki knew her well enough not to hope for Sasuke's wife to give the Uchiha's secrets away, but that wasn't the real reason why he believed that it would be pointless.
He didn't need to approach her to feel the same feelings in her heart as he felt in Sasuke's.
All that put together, as well as the fact that Sasuke, Hinata and their friends were going to that postponed long term mission today right after the ceremony, made Naruto wish for those times of the Fourth Great Ninja War to return. Everything was so much simpler back then... And now their lives were turning upside down.
How did they managed to miss the moment when everything began to crumble...?
The man frowned.
Being an adult totally sucked.
"The Inauguration ceremony of the Seventh Hokage shall now begin. This ceremony shall be hosted by the Fifth Hokage, I, Senju Tsunade. Thank all of you for your attendance." She turned her head to look at him, making Naruto snap his head and gaze at the old kunoichi with a deadpanned face which made him resemble his late father, Minato Namikaze, quite a lot.
"Now, let's have him step up onto the stage." He strode forward and came close to the railing, still feeling too lost to even think about enjoying this fateful and so long awaited moment of glory.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the man who will take my place as the Seventh Hokage. Uzumaki Naruto!" The crowd roared cheerfully, welcoming their new leader who waved his hand at them, squeezing out a polite smile while trying desperately to find the three out of four of his closest friends among thousands of people below.
They were still there, he could sense their presence for sure...
He gritted his teeth.
Just where...?
"Thank you, everyone!" The blond shouted out cheerfully as a gust of chilly wind made his brand new white cloak flutter behind his back.
When he was finally able to turn around to meet the warm brown eyes of the smiling Fifth Hokage, Naruto gasped in surprise.
They were all there now, standing just next to Tsunade. Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura and Shikamaru, smiling at him and applauding just like everyone else in the village. Hanabi was standing alongside the five of them, too, looking far more happy than evryone else – she wasn't aware of how bad the current situation was, after all, even though she probably suspected that something was wrong. She was pretty shrewd, yet still Naruto wanted his future wife to stay oblivious to all of it, at least for now. There was nothing she could do to help them anyway...
The Uzumaki's lips curved into a weak smile as he met Sasuke's eyes. He was grinning at his friend, and for once he seemed to look genuinely happy. Was that a good sign...? Or...
"I didn't expect you guys to be here!" Naruto rushed towards them, unable to hold back a smirk despite the pretty gloomy mood. "I'm glad you've come!"
Sakura sighed, rolling her jade green eyes in pretentious annoyance.
"Did you seriously assume that we would miss the most important day of your life, you idiot? Up to date, I mean," she correcter herself quickly, giving Hanabi a short glance which made the Hyūga kunoichi smirk in return.
"It's okay. It was always his dream, after all. Right, Naruto?" The Hyūga came close to the blond and kissed him softly on the lips, making the man thank his brown haired lover silently for giving him the glimpse of warmth he needed so much nowadays.
"Yeah, that's one weird dream – to crave wasting all of your days and nights on boring paperwork," said Sasuke casually, making Naruto give his friend a grin in return while Hanabi turned around in his hands to look at the Uchiha.
"Hey, haven't you wanted to become a Hokage before, too?" asked Naruto, regretting asking this question before he even finished the sentence – this time, the sadness in the Uchiha's eyes was just too obvious and uncovered.
"I will never become one anyway," said the man after a short pause. "Besides, now I know that it was a foolish idea."
"Why is that?" asked Naruto quietly. It was easy to take his tone for an offended one, but Sasuke knew him too well to think so. That's why he simply looked away and sneered.
"By seeing how sad you dumb ass are at the moment, obviously," the blond decided not to push, although he knew that Sasuke realized that this wasn't really the part of his statement Naruto was referring to in his question.
"Damn right, brat. This is the shittiest job in the world. Thankfully I won't have to spend more of my precious time on that," groused Tsunade, walking toward the stairs that led out of the roof. "You have one hour, Naruto."
"Alright, granny!" He waved his hand at her back, scratching his nape the next second and turning to his friends. "I take it you're leaving soon, huh? Too bad I can't come along now," He put his hands into the pockets of his pants, feeling way too uncomfortable for the leader of the strongest ninja settlement in the world.
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, hugging Hinata's waist, which made her lean against his shoulder, and although Naruto couldn't see her face because of the mask she was wearing whenever she was in Konoha, he sensed the strong feeling of affection and love coming from her, which made him feel at least a little bit relieved.
It seemed that whatever was going on with the two of them didn't concern their relationship. They still looked as happy together as ever.
"Won't you be staying for the celebration tonight? Uncle Bee brought some... ugh...," he glanced anxiously down at Hanabi who seemed to stiffen slightly as he hugged her from behind,"...Stuff, you know."
"Don't tell me you're gonna get wasted again, Naruto!" groaned Sakura, slapping her face. "You two are absolutely impossible!"
"I'm glad I'm not included into the list of 'impossible' ones, especially given that we usually do it together." Shikamaru smirked mischievously, making all the women laugh while Naruto and Sasuke stared into each other's eyes quietly, as if discussing something without sharing words.
"No... Sorry. We've been staying for too long anyway. It was the last mission Kakashi gave us, and it can not be delayed anymore. That would be dishonorable at least. Besides, I have a personal interest in this."
"I understand," Naruto nodded seriously, smiling the next second. "You still need to find them. Are you leaving now, then?"
"Yeah. In two hours or so."
"Alright. I guess this is goodbye, then," he let go of Hanabi and came close to his friend, hugging him tightly which made Sasuke feel a bit uncomfortable and since slightly – it was so notable that it made everyone on the roof giggle as they watched the unusually sentimental scene.
"If you don't mind, though," he backed off a bit, meeting the impassive eyes of the Uchiha, "I'd like to have a word with your wife before you leave. As your new Hokage, that is," he smirked slyly.
The black haired man's brow cocked in surprise at the mention of Hinata. Looking at her masked face for a second, he nodded.
"Fine. I'll be waiting for you at home. We still need Kiba and Shino to come there anyway. Orochimaru is already waiting for us." He turned away, walking towards the stairs along with Sakura and Shikamaru who frowned at Naruto but didn't question the strange request of the blond.
"Uh... I guess I'll just go home and make us a dinner...?" Hanabi mumbled, frowning a bit and pecking Naruto's cheek. "Don't be late."
The blond smirked cheerfully.
"Of course! I'm never late, y'know!" The brown haired kunoichi smiled before nodding and rushing towards the exit as well.
When he and Hinata were finally left alone, Naruto came close to the black haired woman that was facing him with her hands clasped in front of her.
"You can take the mask off, you know... Nobody can see you here."
She hesitated for a second before submitting, putting the mask away and closing her eyes joyfully at the gust of fresh air and sunshine.
"What did you want to discuss with me, Naruto?" She asked the next moment, not looking at him and enjoying the freedom she rarely had in this village nowadays.
He sighed, patting her forearm gently which made the kunoichi flinch and open her white eyes, gazing at him with an incredulous note.
"Look... I realize that you probably won't tell me anything since Sasuke hasn't done that so far no matter what I tried. But as you also well know, I can't simply give up, eh..."
She frowned as her eyes slid to his strong hand that was now resting on her shoulder.
"I don't understand."
"Hinata..." The compassionate blue eyes met the impassive white irises. "Please, tell me what's going on."
They have been staring at each other for what seemed like ages before the woman finally opened her mouth slowly, whispering,
"I wish I knew."
He certainly didn't expect this kind of reply from her. Which was why Naruto nearly gasped, clenching his friend's thin shoulder.
"What do you mean you don't know...? Hinata... You and Sasuke–"
She sighed sadly, hugging herself and lowering her head.
"It's not really about the two of us... It's about him. I–I'm not sure if I should tell you, but..." She closed her mouth, shaking her head.
"Tell me what? Please, Hinata, I must know!" The blond exclaimed desperately which made the kunoichi wince as if she was in pain.
"Is that a direct order of the Hokage?" She asked suddenly, looking at him askance and cocking her head slightly.
He stopped for a second, confused by the unexpected question before smiling in realization of her tricky move.
"Yes... Of course it is!"
Hinata lowered her head again.
"Well, I guess I can tell you then... At least the part he didn't call a big secret. I'm sure you'll figure out the rest... It's about Orochimaru. This is his main concern nowadays."
Naruto frowned, giving her a baffled look.
"Orochimaru...? What does he have to do with anything?"
She sighed.
"He doesn't... At least there is no proof yet. But Sasuke suspects him of plotting against Akatsuki and Konoha. He believes that it was Orochimaru who killed the Sixth... No. Actually, Sasuke believes that Kakashi-san is still alive."
"Huh?" Naruto gasped in disbelief again, staring at her with his eyes wide open. "Why the heck didn't he tell me, then?"
She bit her lip, looking away.
"He is not certain about that. He intends to corner Orochimaru during this mission to read his memories at some point. And if he is correct in that suspicion–"
"He better ends this sneaky freak for good then!" Naruto groaned angrily, lowering his hands and clenching his fists.
It all began to make sense to him now. That's why Sasuke felt so desperate lately – without Kakashi and moreover with traitors in their midst, the fragile world wide system they had been building carefully throughout the last few years would inevitably collapse, marking the ultimate failure of Naruto's idea of peace and probably leading to another destructive war.
And then it would be Sasuke's turn to set the rules of the game according to their agreement... That's why...!
The Seventh Hokage gritted his teeth. It was his time to make a choice, so it seemed. Just like his brother in all but blood had done in the past...
Naruto had made a vow. The feud between Indra and Ashura was over. And if Ashura's way of peace was going to fail...
The shinobi closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Then he would follow his brother's ideas this time. He would never go back on his words.
This was his ninja way.
"I get it," Naruto finally uttered slowly, making Hinata let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Can you do me a small favor? No... Two favors, actually."
"Like what?" Asked the woman cautiously, meeting his unusually serious look.
"If it ever comes down to this, before Sasuke does anything reckless, let him know that I told you this..." He took a deep breath again before muttering, "I'm not going to leave his side. We started this together, and we'll atone for our mistakes together should something go wrong, too!"
Hinata smiled happily, nodding quickly.
"Of course... Of course, I will tell him. Thank you so much, Naruto!"
"And the other favor, if you don't mind."
"Uh... Yes?"
He smirked.
"Let's have a lunch together. I'd like to ask you a few things about Hanabi! Oh, and also about that little thing you and Sasuke forgot to tell me about," He smirked and pointed at her abdomen with his finger before activating his Flying Thunder God technique, teleporting the two of them away.
*****
"Man, I dunno... Are you sure that it's a wise idea? I mean, it'll make her mad as hell for sure. And that's to say the least, I'm afraid."
"What are you suggesting, then?" muttered Sasuke irritatedly, sipping hot green tea from the cup he was holding and crossing his legs as he looked at Kiba who was sitting along with Shino on the couch opposite to his chair in the guest room of the Uchiha's house. "For me to take my pregnant wife to a village full of crazy religious maniacs and bigots?"
"No, well... Ugh," The brown haired man scratched his chin thoughtfully, looking cautiously at Orochimaru who was standing near the window with his hands crossed on his chest. The sannin didn't appear to be any interested in their conversation, but it was still a bit bothersome and awkward to have him around, especially in the middle of Konoha.
"To be honest, Sasuke's idea is probably the best option there is right now. Of course, it will make her upset, but it is better than her getting hurt or even killed," reasoned Shino quietly.
"True, I guess..." Kiba sighed, nodding in agreement. "But she's still gonna kick our asses when she realized what's going on."
"None of you has considered the main danger there is to her and to all of us in this little plan of yours," said Orochimaru suddenly, turning his head slightly to glance at them over his shoulder. "The moon is near the required phase. The Ōtsutsuki brethren might come after her any moment now."
"And that's precisely why I need your aid," said Sasuke, looking at his former teacher. "Have you brought everything I told you to?"
"Of course," the man snapped.
"Let's not waste any more time, then. You said it yourself, we must hurry up."
The sannin snorted disapprovingly, coming close to the tea table and putting a few small selaed glass jars on it.
"Ew! What the heck is that?" yelped Kiba, reflectively backing off a little.
"The remaining Sharingan eyes I salvaged from Uchiha Obito's storage at the former Aktasuki hideout. There are only five of them, as you can see. The rest of the eyes have been destroyed by Zetsu, I presume."
"That's more than enough." Sasuke raised up from the chair, grabbing one of the jars and studying it briefly before grinning mockingly at Kiba. "If you can't stand the view, just turn away for a while."
"Very funny! Ha-ha!" barked the Inuzuka, rolling his eyes.
The Uchiha smirked in amusement.
"Follow me then, everyone."
He channeled his chakra into his left eye, opening a dimensional rift and walking straight into it. Before anyone managed to ask a question as they followed him, two bodies smacked right on the snowy ground of some deep dark forest – the ninjas were bound and clearly unconscious.
"Woah! Where are we?" asked Kiba, looking around and sniffing, trying to catch any smells.
"Somewhere in the Land of Iron."
"And these are...?" asked Orochimaru, looking at the pair of ninja curiously with a slight glimpse of amusement in the eyes.
"The cultists I caught recently while I was scouting their area at Hidan's village. They are under my genjutsu, so don't worry. I'd have to kill them soon anyway, therefore it won't make that big of a difference."
"Woah, wait a second! What exactly are you going to do with them?" exclaimed Kiba, looking at Sasuke worriedly while Shino who had been keeping quiet throughout their conversation bowed down to examine one of the tied men.
Orochimaru smiled in anticipation.
"I'll use Edo Tensei on them in order to defend–"
"No," Sasuke interrupted Orochimaru suddenly, stepping out of the rift and closing it, wincing a little at the cold wind.
"I beg your pardon?" Orochimaru frowned at the Uchiha.
"I'll be the one to use the jutsu on them. It will be better this way."
"Are you implying that you doubt in my command?" The sannin nearly hissed, which made Kiba and Shino narrow their eyes suspiciously at the man, realizing that Sasuke probably didn't trust his former master all that much, after all.
"No... This isn't about trust at all. You can revive the rest later. It's just that the control over these ones won't be necessary, and I want to test the jutsu out myself."
The yellow eyes of a snake stared into the mismatching pair he had once desired to get so much before the older ninja finally nodded slowly and reluctantly.
"Fair enough. You know what to do."
"Yeah. I need the blood now. And the scrolls, too."
Without further questioning, Orochimaru took a test tube out of the pocket of his cloak, handing it to Sasuke along with a crumpled scroll.
"There is only one," said Sasuke, and it sounded like it was partly a question and partly a statement at the same time.
"Yes. Sadly enough, I didn't manage to retrieve more of Itachi's samples. It seems like we won't be able to revive him anymore. Tough luck," something in his voice made them realize that Orochimaru didn't think it was bad, though.
Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. It was understandable that the sannin didn't want Itachi to be brought back, but at least now he wouldn't be tempted to use the gift he had prepared for Hinata for his own selfish desire...
On the other hand, he still hadn't managed to figure out how to awaken Itachi's true power in his eyes, and he was so short on time. It was getting troublesome.
"No matter. Finish this guy off, then. This blood sample is the one I asked for, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
The Uchiha nodded and took a deep, a bit nervous breath, weaving a few hand signs before slamming his palm into the snow.
"Edo Tensei no Jutsu!"
Kiba gasped in awe while Shino narrowed his eyes behind the dark glasses, looking at Orochimaru who appeared to be most displeased with Sasuke's decision to preform the dire jutsu himself. Clearly some plan of the old snake's had just been ruined... They would need to watch him closely while Sasuke would be away from the village. Even if they were no match for him...
"What the heck?" The Inuzuka whispered, staring at the fake body of a young man with long straight brown hair who opened the black eyes with white irises, blinking a few times.
"Is that him? I can hardly remember what he looked like...," Sasuke muttered to the members of Hinata's old team, to which Kiba nodded nervously.
"Yeah... It's definitely him! But why did you–"
"What's the meaning of this...? Where am I?" Asked the revived ninja who appeared to be around eighteen years old before quickly eyeing everyone who stood in front of him, finally stopping his eyes on Sasuke. "Is this–?"
"We are pretty far from Konoha right now. You've been revived with Edo Tensei no Jutsu by Sasuke-kun right here," said Orochimaru, leaning against the thick oak and clearly enjoying the teen's lost and frightened state.
"Sasuke, huh...? Does it mean that you guys have won the war? And if you are together with Hinata-sama's teammates... Does it mean that Naruto has managed to bring you back, after all?" He frowned then. "You also look a few years older now... How much time has passed since I died?"
"Nearly four years. But make no mistake...," said Sasuke insinuatingly, meeting the familiar white eyes of his former rival. "I'm here only because of your sister. And so are you."
"Huh?" He seemed to be utterly confused. "Care to elaborate? And where is Hinata-sama herself?"
"She's with Naruto right now. Don't worry, she will tell you everything herself soon enough. I'm afraid I don't have enough time for it, and it's not really my place to do it. For now, though... I have one more thing I must do to you." Uchiha looked at the sannin for a moment before finally taking the Sharingan out of its jar.
"Together with Naruto...?" The teen muttered quietly, smiling and closing his eyes in joy. "So she has made it, after all..."
Sasuke smirked ironically, studying the Sharingan eye closely.
"Yeah, I guess you could say so." With a nasty sound that made Kiba and Shino cringe a bit, Sasuke ripped his right eye out of its socket, replacing it with the foreign one. "Now that I have the First Hokage's cells in my body, it should work just fine... But you better step away. I've never tried this before, obviously." He clapped his hands in front of him.
"What exactly are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" asked Orochimaru, following the Uchiha's every movement with a greedy, curious gaze.
"Coming up with my own way of achieving immortality while ensuring Hinata's safety at the same time," said the young shinobi simply, and the temporary Sharingan shined with bright red light the next moment. "Try killing me now."
Hesitating for a split second, Orochimaru summoned his blade into his grasp, stabbing Sasuke through his heart which made the young shinobi as well as everyone else gasp in shock.
"What the–!" Before Kiba could finish the sentence, the Uchiha vanished, reappearing right next to his previous spot and looking absolutely fine – even his clothes were now intact.
"Well, it seems you can use Izanagi now. But that is not really immortality, Sasuke-kun. If you want, I could teach you the way to achieve it..."
"You misunderstood," Sasuke formed the ram sign with his hands, followed by the snake sign. "This is what grants me immortality. Rinne Tensei no Jutsu!"
His hair began turning snowy white, and Neji's artificial body began shining with blindingly bright light as the Hyūga looked down at his hands in amazement and fear.
"What is this...?" He whispered in awe, and then in just a few seconds the light disappeared, making him feel...
Alive?
"How...?" He whispered again, looking at the white haired Sasuke who fell down on his knees, panting and coughing.
"Oh... I see now. That's... Clever. Very clever. As expected from you, Sasuke-kun," mused Orochimaru, smiling slyly at his seemingly dying former student.
"I–I told you...," he grinned weakly, vanishing and reappearing again, looking perfectly fine this time, with his hair black once again – the only difference was that his right eye was now closed. "It worked. Meaning that this way, I can be revived at least four more times. I've put a reverse summoning seal on my left eye so that should I die, the seal will activate and send my Rinnegan to the safe place where I had also put a few samples of my blood. Basically, anyone powerful enough will be able to revive me the same way I've just revived the Hyūga here," he pointed at Neji with a nod – the teen was still staring at his hands in disbelief, clenching his fingers and trying to catch his breath. "It seems you are a bit younger than all of us now, though. But I think I can fix that, too," he came close to Neji, touching his forehead and activating the Human Path of his Rinnegan, draining a little bit of life force out of Hinata's brother which made him look a few years older in just a few seconds.
"Is this... This power... Of a god...? Just... Just what on earth have you become, Sasuke?" asked Neji huskily, too afraid to make a move before the Uchiha removed his fingers from his head and frowned.
"Your cursed seal is also gone now...," he muttered, ignoring the Hyūga's question. "That's interesting. But I suppose it makes sense given that you had died before. Still... Don't take this personally," Sasuke turned away, opening another dimensional rift. "I only did this because I wanted to test out my idea about combining the powers of Sharingan and Rinnegan. Evidently it is true that working together, they can achieve anything... Well, there is also another reason why I chose you to be my test subject," he added.
"And what reason is that?" Neji frowned a bit, making the Uchiha smirk at the still shocked ninja.
"You see, I'd like to thank my wife for becoming the mother of my child she is now pregnant with. Your revival is basically my gift to her. She's been missing you quite a lot, and I don't like watching her crying whenever we visit the cemetery in Konoha."
Neji frowned and then paled the next moment.
"Don't tell me that you married Tenten."
Kiba chuckled, and even Shino couldn't hold back a smile.
"No, as far as I'm concerned, she's still single," replied Sasuke in a slightly baffled tone. "I didn't know you liked her this way."
The Hyūga frowned even deeper, blushing slightly and clearly trying to figure out who could've missed him so much if not Tenten.
"Then who–," he paled then, putting his hand to his heart. "Oh, no... Please, don't tell me that–"
"Careful, Sasuke. He might die again, to a heart attack this time." the Inuzuka laughed loudly, to which Sasuke chuckled himself. He knew that Kiba wasn't very fond of Neji, and he certainly wasn't the Hyūga's fan himself, but so long as it would make Hinata happy as well as distract her while he'd go to Kaguya's lair without his wife or anyone else for that matter, everything was good in his opinion.
"You better calm down indeed. I won't be wasting another eye to bring you back to live again. Kindly don't ruin my surprise for Hinata."
Neji sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"I definitely have missed a lot of things."
****
"Oh huh? Damn it, I bet Sasuke was ecstatic to find out!" yelped Naruto with a sly face as he and Hinata were walking across the street of Konoha towards her and Sasuke's house.
"Actually, he knew that was going to happen," she said mysteriously, smiling behind the mask and blushing.
"Really? How come?" Naruto looked at her in surprise, clasping his hands behind his nape. People were watching them from every corner of the street as everyone wanted to take a closer look at their new Hokage, but neither of the friends really cared. The Uzumaki had gotten used to this attention long ago, and Hinata... She simply didn't care so long as the mask was hiding her real identity from them. Unlike in Suna where they'd had their lunch, she was still a criminal in her home village.
"He was the one to suggest it, and I agreed," she lied shamelessly, biting her lip to hold back a childish giggle. Of course, there was hardly anything funny in their situation, but she still felt a bit mischievous by fooling Naruto like this, knowing that it was her demand to begin with.
"That Sasuke! I can't believe you guys will become parents before everyone else! Damn, It would've been so cool for all of us to have our brats study in the same group at the academy! Shame on you!"
Hinata nearly coughed, laughing aloud.
"Really? And how do you imagine that happening? That would require for all of us to make love simultaneously. Isn't that a bit overboard?"
Naruto blushed, chuckling awkwardly.
"Well, I didn't think about that. I guess you have a point here. Still, congratulations! Hopefully I didn't mess up with the flowers, I was never really good at picking the right ones, y'know."
Hinata looked down at the large bouquet of red peonies in her hands before smiling warmly.
She had never imagined herself receiving her first flowers from Naruto as a congratulation for being pregnant with another man's child. And it was especially ironical considering that she was now a bit afraid for her husband to get jealous because of these flowers – of course, Sasuke wasn't silly enough to feel that way, especially because of Naruto, but she still didn't want him to feel even a little bad... Even hypothetically. Which made her feel slightly ashamed for spending so much time with Naruto at that cafe.
But on the other hand, she had been so hungry... And when she thought about it, she still was...
The kunoichi shook her head, realizing that she wasn't paying attention to her friend's merry jabbering as her thoughts were too consumed by the memories of that wonderful salmon sashimi she had eaten just thirty minutes ago.
She wanted that dish again... And she never even liked the fish to begin with.
The woman frowned, shaking her head again. What on earth was going on in her head...?
"Hey, Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Naruto stopped, looking at her a bit worriedly.
"Uh... Yes? I'm sorry, Naruto, I think spaced out for a moment."
He smirked understandingly.
"It's okay. I was telling you that we have come." He pointed at the door of her house, making Hinata flinch and turn her head in that direction.
"Oh... Sorry. Thank you for everything, Naruto. And make sure that you don't spoil that surprise you are preparing for Hanabi. It will make her so happy if you do it the way I told you."
The Hokage smiled brightly.
"You're welcome, hehe. Nah, I won't, don't worry. It will be a piece of cake. Hm-m," he hemmed, narrowing his eyes at the second floor of the house suddenly. "I feel some foreign presence... That's weird. Hold on, just a second..."
His irises turned amber and his pupils now resembled a bizarre mixture of those of a fox and of a toad at the same time.
"Holy shit...," he whispered, turning to Hinata. "Actually, now that I think about it, I wanted to show you something at–"
"What's going on, Naruto?" she quickly asked cautiously, gripping the bouquet tighter.
"Uh... Well... Just don't activate your Byakugan, alright? Please, just don't."
"Alright...," she drawled slowly, turning her head towards the house again. "I hope you don't want to tell me that there is a woman in our house Sasuke is currently with, do you?"
The amber eyes widened at her assumption.
"Huh? What? No! Nothing like that!"
"Then what is it?" she asked impatiently, stamping her foot against the ground.
The Seventh Hokage signed, grasping her forearm gently and leading her towards the door.
"Actually I want to see it myself, so I'm going in, too. Let's go." They walked into the hallway and Hinata took her mask off quickly as well as her black cloak, revealing the Uchiha crest on the back of her white shirt.
"Sasuke? Are you there?" She yelled worriedly, looking at the ceiling of the first floor.
"Yeah...," came the deaf, tensed reply. "Is Naruto with you?" his question made the woman frown. Why would Sasuke ask about Naruto before anything else...? It just had to be something serious, then...
"Yea! I'm here! What the **** have you done, Sasuke? And more importantly, how?" the blond's voice sounded equally amazed, angered and shocked at the same time.
"Just tested out a few of my eyes' abilities..." The Uchiha shinobi appeared right next to his wife the next moment – in fact, he had teleported right into her hug as he swapped himself with the bouquet of flowers in her hands, so she hugged him tightly reflectively. "Don't activate you dōjutsu."
"S-Sasuke... You are frightening me. What's going on? P-Please, tell me," she stuttered, probably for the first time in months, feeling too feared and nervous to withstand whatever was happening.
"Nothing bad, I swear. But you might... Freak out when you see what I've done."
"What y-you've... Done...?" She muttered, letting her husband go and stepping backwards. "I want to see it. Now."
The Uchiha nodded.
"You need to, yes. But don't let go of my hand no matter what. I'm warning you, it may really shock you."
"Alright..."
She gripped his elbow, going upstairs on her shaking legs along with the tall raven haired man while Naruto followed them, still with an unreadable mixture of emotions written on his face.
Sasuke was right, it seemed. She really needed his hand, because the young kunoichi fainted as soon as she stepped into the room and met his eyes.
Those white eyes that were nearly identical to her own and looked at her with grief and happiness at the same time.
*****
"Hinata-sama...!" Neji gasped, rushing towards her but stopping midway – she was already caught by Sasuke who hugged her tightly, pulling the kunoichi towards the small couch near the wall of the room and putting her down there carefully.
"Damn, Sasuke... How the **** did you do this?" whispered Naruto, staring at Neji with his eyes wide open. "Is this another ability of your Rinnegan you forgot to tell me about? Is he even real?"
"He is real... And no, it's not just my left eye...," murmured the Uchiha, taking a small vial from the nearest nightstand, opening it putting it to Hinata's nose. "But partly, yes. I combined it with the ability of Sharingan, the chakra of the First and also with Edo Tensei. All these factors together allowed me to manipulate both Yin and Yang energies on the level high enough to transform his artificial Edo Tensei body into a real one without dying myself in the process. I recall I told you that with this eye, I would eventually find a way to attain immortality... Well, I have done that," he smirked as Hinata sneezed, opening her eyelids slowly and staring at her husband's face.
"Tell me that I'm not dreaming... Please," she whispered weakly, too afraid to look away from is eyes.
"No, you aren't. I brought him back for you," he smiled gently, kissing her softly on the lips.
"How...?" She whispered, but he shook his head, putting his finger against her mouth.
"It's irrelevant right now. I believe you have a lot to discuss with him. He seemed to be quite shocked to find out that you are an Uchiha now," he glanced at Neji who frowned at his last line. "But I've decided to leave the opportunity to tell him everything for you. We'll go out for now so that the two of you can discuss everything in private. Take your time. Let's go, guys."
Orochimaru, Kiba and Shino went after Sasuke downstairs, and even Naruto followed them reluctantly, although he really wanted to share a few words with his miraculously resurrected friend.
"Man, he didn't even notice my cloak," groaned the blond childishly, making Kiba chuckle.
"Seriously, dude? Is that what's bothering you the most right now?"
"Well, not exactly," the Uzumaki blushed, sitting down on the floor near the tea table. "So what's the deal? Why did you do this, Sasuke?" The black haired man grabbed the black cloak from the table, draping it over his shoulders before wincing and taking it off as it turned to be Hinata's, picking another one then before finally turning to face his friend.
"Why did I do what? Ensure my survival permanently?"
"No! Not that! Why did you choose Neji to be the one to revive?" Sasuke frowned, surprised to see the strange fury in Naruto's bright blue eyes.
"Are you implying that I should've brought back someone else?"
"Of course! Why not him?"
It was probably the first time in ages when the Uchiha didn't fully understand his friend's reasoning. Sure, he had told the blond a lot about Itachi's past, and now it even angered Naruto as much as it infuriated Sasuke himself whenever somebody mentioned Itachi's name in a negative context.
Still, it was weird to see Naruto so indignant about the choice the Uchiha had made.
Although... Given that reviving Itachi was now impossible according to Orochimaru, was there even a choice to begin with...?
But he wasn't going to explain that to the jinchūriki. Instead, he grabbed his sword from the corner of the room.
"I'll tell you later when I get back from the mission."
It was Naruto's time to frown.
"Are you saying that you're going alone?"
"Yeah."
"But what about the rest of you guys?" The Seventh looked across the room. Kiba and Shino appeared to be a bit uncomfortable under his gaze while Orochimaru just stared at the ceiling of the room with a plain bored expression. "What's going on here, eh?"
"I was planning on going alone since the very beginning. By bringing Neji back, I happened to have a way to distract Hinata for a while. I don't want to put her in danger in her current state, you should be able to understand. I wanted to ask you, though, Naruto. And everyone else, too," he opened a rift, meeting the Uzumaki's gaze one final time. "No matter what happens, don't let her leave Konoha while I'm away. And beware of the guests from the moon. Orochimaru says they can come here any moment, so I'm counting on you, Naruto."
The blond took a deep breath, snorting and looking away before crossing his arms.
"Whatever. As if I need your help to protect my village."
Sasuke smirked, shaking his head at his friend.
"You better don't. Until next time... Everyone." He stepped into the rift and it closed the next second, leaving the Uchiha's friends staring at the empty spot.
"I still don't understand anything." The Uzumaki finally sighed, breaking the oppressive silence and grabbing his temples.
"It's going to be fine, Naruto-kun. For now, feel free to go and settle whatever business you have as our new Hokage. There are a few very important international issues you must resolve as soon as possible. I'll handle things here meanwhile, don't you worry," said Orochimaru, smirking at his former Akatsuki partner reassuringly.
"Alright," said the blond slowly, getting up and walking to the door. "I've left a Hiraishin seal upstairs, so I'll come immediately should something nasty happen while I'm away," he gave the sannin a short warning look before adding, "See you, guys."
*****
"I can't believe this is really you," uttered Hinata in a trembling voice, toughing his cheek carefully, as if afraid that he might disappear all of sudden.
"Yes, I can't believe it either," said her brother, putting his palm on hers. "You have changed a lot. I can hardly recognize you now, and I'm not talking about the looks, even though you have changed in this aspect too."
She bit her lip, lowering her eyes, as if slightly ashamed. But was she, really...? He was right, and she was happy with that.
"Yes, I have. And you haven't changed one bit. Although...," she gave him a small smile, narrowing her eyes and studying his face closely. "You look a bit older than what I remember. And your cursed seal... It's gone! Is that Sasuke's work, too?"
Neji nodded seriously.
"Partly, at least as far as I understood. Your husband is a man of few words, I must say. He didn't tell me much." She frowned a bit at the slightly harsh notes in his voice.
"That he is. It's one of many reasons why I love him. He doesn't talk a lot, but when he does, it always comes from his heart."
The Hyūga sighed, closing his eyes and putting her hand away.
"You don't stutter anymore... What has he done to you? You are... So confident now. And a lot more beautiful than before."
She smiled warmly, blushing a little and looking away.
"He used to be my sensei shortly after the war. I... I needed his guidance to become a worthy kunoichi."
"You were always worthy–!"
"Not according to father," she interrupted him, making the young man frown suspiciously.
"What do you mean?"
Hinata met his eyes again, this time with a very serious expression.
"It's... A bit hard to explain. The story is too long anyway, so I'd rather postpone it for a while. I...," she bit her lip, thinking for a few seconds before continuing, "Let's just say that he was the reason why I ended up with Sasuke. He was also the reason why I have been so weak all through my life. But when I ran away from the village–"
"You WHAT?" Neji gasped in shock as his eyes widened, making the young woman sigh again.
"He wanted to brand me, nii-san. To put that cursed seal on my head. I chose to run away – fortunately I had a chance to. And I was also lucky enough to meet Sasuke on my way." She smiled happily, lowering her eyes. "He agreed to let me travel with him, and to teach me a lot of his own techniques. He made me strong. Far stronger than I ever had been prior to that day. I can even use his favorite Chidori now! Not to mention a lot of other, far more powerful things. And also... I think even you are no match for me anymore," she uttered quietly yet vigorously, meeting his eyes with her own white orbs full of resolve and courage. "I'm an S-rank kunoichi now."
Neji took a deep breath, remaining silent for a few seconds and studying her face.
"S-rank...? So you are on the level of a Kage, then... I... I see. Well... These are good news, I suppose. But what about Naruto?"
Hianta frowned, but this time she didn't look away.
"He was another reason why I ran away from the village. I told him everything about my feelings a few days after the war's ending, and he rejected me. It's good that he did, though," she added quickly, seeing how Neji clenched his fists angrily. "If he didn't, I would probably have never met my true love. I would never have helped him to revive our clan... The Uchiha, I mean," she added, noticing the baffled look he gave her and then lowering her head, touching her abdomen gently. "And I also wouldn't have found out the truth about our family."
"The truth?" he asked carefully. "What truth are you talking about?"
Hinata closed her eyes, letting out a loud shuddering sigh before opening her mouth to begin telling her brother the long story of back side of her life.
"It all started the day when Hanabi was born..."
