Chapter 21

Resolution

"What took you guys so long? I was about to leave without you?" Kiba said, from where he had his back rested against the surface of the cave wall that formed part of the entrance. Besides him was his partner Akamaru, but like his owner, the two looked as if they had seen better days. Kiba's garb was torn at several sections, and from the exposed skin they could see quite a number of cuts and bruises, and areas where the skin had turned purple, possibly from injuries resulting from blunt trauma from whoever he was dueling. Said opponent had certainly done a number on both of them, since Akamaru had his fur ruffled at several spots, plus one of his front paws was slightly hoisted above the ground, giving an indication that it was injured.

The search for the brown haired man was long and arduous, and took quite a toll on the group members as they were not exactly in top shape by the time they had embarked on the search. Nevertheless, they searched up and down, and through every nook and cranny of the labyrinth, but their search yielded no results at all. Nothing had shown up at all, not even a trace of the Inuzuka male, and this had caused the worry that had settled in Hinata's heart regarding the matter to gnaw at her more, something that had caused her to become restless. Noticing this, Kakashi had eventually decided to call quits on the search, trying to reassure the distressed girl that there was a chance Kiba was probably at a safe area right now away from the cave. It was half true, there were miles and miles of unexplored forest that surrounded the cave and Kiba could well easily be in one of those areas at the moment.

And here he was, with that smug expression on his face. For a moment no one in the group said anything, as they all regarded Kiba speechlessly, wondering where to even start. Kiba took their silence as warranting for an explanation, so he continued," I knew that you guys were going to save him, so I decided to wait for you outside here." The grin on his face never faltered, and he puffed out his chest in pride and held his head high.

Naruto was tempted to smack that smug look of the man's face, but more than that he was glad that they had finally found him. If something had happened to Kiba because of him, then Naruto would never be able to sleep peacefully at night.

Kakashi sighed in relief. "Man, after causing all that hassle," Shikamaru said, but he was glad nonetheless as well. Kakashi then turned to the others, and as they had decided in the cave before emerging out into the open, Naruto would stay at the forefront of the group.

It had originally been Shikamaru's idea initially, something that he had deduced as they were heading out and he had voiced to the rest of the group. Of course, the blonde had been quick to voice his protest, reiterating the fact that they didn't need to treat him like someone who couldn't take care of himself, but Shikamaru had already seen this coming, so calmly, he explained to the others that if Naruto disappeared again from under their noses again, something that would most likely happen if he stayed at the rear end of the group, then he would most definitely flip a switch.

Everyone in the group at that moment had found that amusing, but none found it more so than Ino, who had laughed before tapping Shikamaru on the shoulder, letting her hand rest there a while longer as she called out to Naruto," Hey, Naruto, maybe you should get captured again so I can get a kick from seeing this guy flip out." That had resulted in a series of laughs and giggles from everyone, and consecutively caused Naruto and Shikamaru to smile in resignation.

So with that little issue out of the way, Naruto took his position, having no more qualms, but unfortunately for him, he would not be sharing that position alone.

"Naruto, don't you have something to tell me? "Kiba said, once he had fallen in place with Naruto at the lead of the group. Well, there goes my small hope of Kiba having forgotten that little fact. There was a sneer on his face that irritated the blonde ninja to no end, and for a moment he rued running into Kiba when they had. The best he could do at the moment, however, was to hold back his irritation and not fan any more flames from the canine man.

"T-than-k y-o-u-"He grumbled under his breath, intending to get through this as soon as possible.

Kiba, on the other hand, had other plans, as he was not intending to let Naruto of the hook that easily. Inching near the man with one ear pressed forward as he cupped it in one hand, he said," Huh, what was that? I couldn't hear you that well." His tone just there made it sound like he was on the verge of bursting out in laughter.

Bastard. A vein popped in Naruto's forehead, and he glared at Kiba darkly as he gritted his teeth. The brown haired male was really having a blast with this, and the glare that Naruto had on him at the moment only seemed to fan the flames of his humor. Naruto chose not to oblige him this time, staying as tight lipped as possible and scowling, something that ultimately caused Kiba to turn his head to the side and laugh heartily, clutching his sides.

As what came as a stroke of luck however, Lee showed up on Naruto's opposite side, nearly knocking over the blonde man in his haste to join him. "Never mind him, Naruto-kun! Listen to this, you should hear to how I and Neji fought Sasuke! It was really amazing!" At the moment, the raven haired Uchiha was currently being carried by Kakashi, who along with Gai, formed the rear end of the group. Lee showing up had provided Naruto with the much needed leeway that he needed to escape Kiba at the moment, and Naruto gladly latched on to the opportunity as Lee prattled on about his adventures in the cave. Noticing the change in pace, Kiba was not about to let him get left behind, as he also dappled into the conversation himself about how he had a gruesome fight with one of the Akatsuki members himself, going in depth of even how he and Akamaru ended up the way they were at the moment. Soon enough, the conversation turned into a three way melee with each person trying to outshine the other.

"What are those idiots doing?" Sakura asked, as she regarded the three boys who were in front of her, who were going on and on with their childish gimmicks. Her gaze lingered on Naruto's back a little longer, and she felt a little dismayed as she had wanted to spend the entire trip home with her teammate who she had finally found, but she knew that his other friends also wanted to talk to him, so being selfish here would be uncalled for. Besides, their childish gimmicks were something that she was used to in the village, perhaps it was something that had resulted from spending too much time around Naruto. The funny thing was that after all this time, she still had not gotten her head around it, and she found it irritating her a little.

"I suppose this is what they call skin ship," Sai said, as he walked beside her, a faint trace of a smile on his face as his eyes focused on what Sakura had been intently looking at for a while. He had recovered enough to be able to walk on his own, which meant that Hinata did not have to carry him anymore. Before disembarking off her hold, he had expressed how duly grateful he was to the lavender haired girl, the midsection of his body aching dully but nothing he could not handle at this point. The dark haired man was currently taking great pleasure in what was happening before him, hoping that one day he and Naruto could grow that close to the point of bickering friendly with each other.

Behind the duo of the two Team Seven members, the Hyuuga girl chuckled a little at Kiba's and Naruto's antics, glad that the boy that she loved and her team were back together in one piece. Her hands were clasped together behind her, and she felt so at peace being in the company of her comrades. She had missed seeing these dynamics between the two sorely. It had taken a long time to get here, and there were times when she felt that her heart was going to break because of the wait, but she had held on, and finally everything was whole again.

Or so she had hoped.

There was one thing that she didn't want to address, at least not yet, but unfortunately for her, her other teammate who was currently walking besides her, was not so quick to forget stuff. After all, he was the one who had even raised the idea to her at first.

"Hinata."

From the moment she had heard him use that tone to address her, she knew what was coming next.

Shino continued, unaware of the jitters he had sent up the girl's spine by reminding her of something that she was trying to postpone until later," Why not go talk to him now? This is the most opportune moment to talk to him." He concluded his statement, edging on his teammate as naturally as he could.

Normally, Hinata would have been adamant in her refusal, taking refuge in the hope that she would get her chance in the village once they were all safe behind their walls, but a small part of her told her that this would probably be close to impossible. In the light of everything that had happened, there would probably be so much buzz around Naruto that she would not get her chance to talk to him.

The bug user was right, she saw the truth in what he was saying, but still, there was a little hesitance in her. It must have also shown on her face, as Shino continued, this time in a much calmer and understanding tone. "Kiba won't mind. Go on."

Something in that sentence just then, or the way that Shino had voiced it filled Hinata with a surge of confidence. While Shino wasn't as talkative of a teammate as Kiba to her, she was grateful that she had him on her team at times like this. So it was with this following of his words just then, that somewhere along the line, she found herself having already paced till the front of the group, and her hand was already on Naruto's jacket as she tugged on it lightly.

The blonde man looked back to where he felt something jerking on his jacket, and his cerulean eyes came to land on the lavender haired girl. "Hinata, what's up?"

"Naruto-kun, I need to talk to you."

Suddenly, Sakura found her attention drawn by what Sakura had said just then, and consecutively, the rest of the group. A grave silence fell upon the entirety of the group, and at one point or the other ever since Hinata's request; they had all stopped with their eyes glued on the lavender haired girl plus the boy ahead of her.

Hinata had picked up on the pin drop silence herself, but she refused to let it act as a deterrent and cause her to get increasingly self conscious of herself at that moment. She proceeded to continue," In private." As expected, Naruto had also fallen gravely silent at that moment, but luckily enough, he did not seem surprised in the least bit since his facial expression was the same one he usually adorned when he was not running his mouth off. Hinata made a mental note to thank Shino later for the confidence he had given her.

Luck seemed not to be quite done with her yet, at least for that moment. Her cousin, who had silently been watching the exchange between her and Shino, up till the point where she got the courage to approach Naruto, spoke up, addressing the whole group," Okay Hinata. We'll go ahead of you. Make sure to catch up later." The male Hyuuga knew it was uncouth for him to usually raise his voice like this in the midst of a group, but seeing Hinata doing her best was something that made him want to cheer her on. There was a tone of finality in his voice just then that Hinata picked up on, along with the queasy feeling that her cousin knew what she wanted to do. Heeh, it seemed she had one extra person now to offer her gratitude to now, regardless of how things went.

Sakura, however, did not seem all too welcoming of the idea. "Is it really okay to leave the two of them alone?" She said, as she rubbed her arm with her other hand, and kept her eyes glued on Naruto and Hinata. Of course, she said this as there was the issue of Shikamaru's plan that they had decided on earlier, but somewhere inside her, she did not feel comfortable leaving Naruto plus the lavender haired girl alone in such a situation. She knew this all too well, as she admitted inwardly to herself how guilty she felt about harboring such feelings. Naruto was her teammate, and such an integral part of her life….so she should be happy for him despite what happened, right? At least she thought this, until Hinata dropped that bombshell on the group.

"Hinata can take care of herself just fine, and in case anything happens to both of them, she can take care of you as well, Naruto," Kiba remarked confidently, placing both hands on his waist and sneering at Naruto. The blonde man picked up on this, and shot a grin of his own at the brown haired man, before saying to the group, "It's okay guys. As Neji said earlier, go on ahead. We'll catch up with you as soon as possible."

While some doubts were evident and still lingered in some of the people in the group, Kakashi didn't have much of an issue with it, owing to the relaxed expression on his visage. They had already come a long way from the enemy base, and the village was probably not too far from where they currently were, so having a small detour for two of the members was a safe idea, for now.

"Hai, we'll go ahead then, Naruto don't take too long," Kakashi said, and with that, he took the lead, slowly by slowly, the others falling into step behind him and Might Guy. Before the pink haired girl could resign herself to joining them, however, there was a hand placed on her shoulder, and when she looked back, she realized that it was Neji who was holding her back a little. There was an unreadable expression on his face, and he seemed as if he had something that he wanted to tell her about.

Sakura was about to ask him what was up, but he beat her to the punch. "They both need this, you know. Hinata and Naruto I mean." Sakura knew this as well as him, but still, some things were easier said than done. Neji then took a step forward, where he stood at the same level with Sakura before speaking in a tone only she could hear. "Besides, you'll get your chance with him later. You still haven't told him yet, have you?"

It took a while for Sakura to understand what Neji was saying, and under any other circumstances she would have been lost, but following the battle that they had just had with the Akatsuki members, she knew gravely well what Neji meant. Soon enough, she was able to piece two and together and the truth dawned on her for the umpteenth time that day. She bit her lip. "That's not fair." As much as she had tried to hide it from the others, Neji had already realized it, and she had a feeling that at one point or the other he had used his Byakugan to look at her chakra system. She must have given off something away with how she was acting in the cave they were in earlier.

There was a short stint of silence that followed, in which Ino joined them soon after. She also had a feeling she knew what was about to happen between Hinata and Naruto, so she intended to stick with her best friend through this and support her. "Sakura, you heard the man. Let's go."

The pink haired girl looked at her best friend longingly, but finally seeing the meaning in their words, she finally resigned herself and soon enough, the three of them were well on their way to rejoining the others, leaving Naruto and Hinata in solitude.

The air around the two suddenly grew tense, although it was Naruto who felt it more than Hinata. The blonde man felt knots tighten in his stomach, as to why, he could not place his finger on it, but it was probably due to the resolute manner in which Hinata was looking at him at the moment. From what he could remember, it was the first time that Hinata had looked at him so fiercely, as all the other times she seemed unable to even hold a proper gaze with him. This particular gaze however, unnerved him a little.

He did manage not to lose his bearings however, keeping the calm façade that had been on his visage for a while now. Hinata finally spoke up, "Naruto-kun."

"Yes." A little uneasiness seeped into Naruto's voice just then, and he hoped that Hinata had not noticed it. He also noted that there was an unusual confidence in the girl's voice as she spoke up, something that she was not prone to doing when she was conversing with Naruto in the past. He chose not to remark on this, as he was not exactly sure what he felt about seeing this new side of the Hyuuga girl. It was a refreshing take however, so he welcomed it with open arms.

"I came to talk to you today because I wanted to finally get an answer from you," she continued, as bold as she had been.

Alas, the Nine Tails Vessel did not need to be told what she was referring to; the events from her confession were still fresh in his mind. As they replayed in his mind, he reflected on something that he had thought about regarding that matter for a while now. He had known and accepted for a while now that day with Hinata would come eventually, but even then, that didn't make what he was about to do any easier. It was probably going to be one of the hardest things he was going to do in his whole life.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the inevitable.

"Hinata, first, I want to thank you for what you did against Pain. Not many people could have done what you did out there, and also what you did now, this entire rescue mission I mean. You're a much braver person than I thought, and I really am grateful to have you in my life."

There was a small recluse as he allowed what he had said to sink into the girl, and as he was about to go the second part, possibly the hardest thing he was going to do. "So, I don't think it would be fair to hide this from you," he steeled his breath and nerves. "I don't feel the same way about you."

Once the words had left his mouth, he was not sure exactly what he was supposed to feel. A small part of him felt conflicted, as he was unsure whether that was the right way to put it, but a greater part of him was finally glad that he had managed to put it out there. More than anything, Hinata did not deserve to be left hanging regarding such a thing, and if Naruto felt bad about anything, it was the fact that he had left her waiting for this long. After all, he himself would not appreciate it if someone did the same to him.

"I know." Well, that wasn't what he had expected. Actually, he had not expected her to say anything at all, something that would probably finally result in an awkward tension being created between the two as they went to rejoin with the others. She continued," I think I have known for a while now, but well I wanted to hear it from your mouth. So that I could move on myself. There's someone else, isn't there?" She briefly registered the flushed look on Naruto's visage a little, before continuing, not allowing the male to intervene. She needed to see this through, for herself more than anything.

"She's lucky, you know."

This time, Naruto had to smile. "Yeah, she is." Hinata really was a wonderful girl, and he had never quite appreciated having her as a friend till that moment.

To add on to Hinata's queer behavior, she raised her hands in the air once she was done talking, stretching them out fully. "Well then, shall we go rejoin the others?"

As much as Naruto felt devastated for not responding to the girls' feelings, more than anything, he was glad that there was still a ray of hope that he and Hinata could remain friends, after all was said and done. Additionally, her behavior around him had not changed, so soon enough they would fall into the dynamics that they had always had.

"Sure thing." He said, as he fell into step beside her.

Afterwards, as they were walking, Naruto mused on how that had probably been one of the longest walks he had ever experienced. Above them the sun was blazing hot as its rays bore down on them, so maybe it was due to that? As he walked however, despite the odd heaviness of his footsteps, he somehow felt that he had taken a huge load off his chest, a load that had been nestling there for a while now. Now all that was left was lasting till he reached the village.

Weirdly enough however, his footsteps seemed to gradually grow heavier with each step, and his vision became hazy a few times. After what had seemed an eternity of walking, however his body did not seem to want to listen to him anymore.

He turned his head to look at Hinata weakly. "Hey Hinata, could you do something for me?"

She looked at him expectantly, but took note of how heavy his words seemed to be as they fell from his mouth. That, coupled with the look in his face as if something was bearing down on his shoulders, and how his body seemed to be sagging more to the ground, immediately alerted the Hyuuga girl that something was completely wrong here. "What?"

"Carry me back to the village. I'm feeling a little-"he did not finish the last of his words however, as his vision finally caved in on him, and he felt his body falling limply to the ground beneath him. The last thing that crossed his eyes was Hinata rushing towards him, before everything went blank completely.

A few hours later

"Welcome back. Good job on the mission. You did well to bring Naruto back," Tsunade said to Kakashi and Gai, as the two stood in front of her desk and her office. Getting back to the village had been a roller coaster ride. Naruto's passing out of course had come as a huge surprise to everyone, immediately Hinata had finally caught up with them, and they increased the pace in their steps as they headed back to the village. Luckily, they were able to make it before dusk, the sun weaving its way past the clouds as it descended towards the horizon in the west. And despite all that had happened, of course, there was no way protocol was going to be foregone, with Kakashi and Gai immediately heading to the Hokage office to give a report on the status of the mission.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. The mission went smoother than I thought, plus there weren't too many casualties on our side," Kakashi responded. Whilst he and Gai headed to the Hokage Tower, suffering nothing but a few cuts and bruises here and there plus chakra exhaustion, the rest of the team headed to the hospital where they would get treatment for the minor injuries that they had suffered. None of them suffered any serious injuries that required for them to overstay their duration in the hospital, and even the worst of them, Neji and Lee, only needed a little rest at home to get fully patched up.

Tsunade did not seem quite done with them yet, owing to how she was staring at them intently, with both her hands pursed at the desk before her and covering her mouth. She then released it, before inquiring;" Did you guys get any help from outside?"

Kakashi's singular eye widened in response to this, "So you were the one who sent her then?" At first, he had to admit he was perplexed to find Konan fighting Tobi, and the initial thought that had popped up in his mind was that it was a falling out among them, but then he had heard that Naruto and Sakura were on the other side, so he had realized, as unbelievable as it seemed, that an Akatsuki member was helping them out in their cause. He had forgotten to ask her afterwards why she was helping them out, and the matter had nearly slipped his mind completely, thankfully Tsunade had managed to bring it out on the table to address it.

The blonde Hokage placed removed one hand from the desk, partly uncovering her face, and there was a satisfactory look etched on her visage. "As if. The only thing I did was summon her here and ask her whether she wanted to help in the rescue mission. Gratefully, she was able to oblige it seems." She then stopped talking momentarily a little as she watched the confused expressions on Kakashi's and Gai's faces melt away to give way back to their usual, stoic expressions. "So I take it that you were able to take down all of the Akatsuki members?" Tsunade's original intention had not been defeating the Akatsuki members as per se, but she knew that ultimately it would lead to that, since they weren't exactly going to give Naruto back without a fight.

"About that, Tsunade-sama, one of them escaped, Tobi," Gai said to the Hokage, his frustration over Tobi escaping seeping out of him a little. As much as he tried to rid himself of that feeling, it never actually went away, so he could only hope that with time he could forget it, much as the feeling of anger that had overcome him when Kisame was defeated by someone other than he and Kakashi. He could not exactly place his finger on it, but he felt a sense of lacking from the entire mission.

Tsunade's satisfied look ebbed away a little, to settle into a grim look. "Tch, which might be a problem. He might target Naruto later on."

"Konan made it sound as if she was going to hunt him down, so I daresay for the moment, we don't have much to worry about," Gai said, as he pressed a finger to his chin in a pensive expression. From what he picked up of the woman's facial expression, she didn't seem as if she was quite done with how things had settled down, so there was always the chance that she would seek out the masked man later to settle things with him.

"I see." Tsunade turned in her seat to look at the wall beside her, endorsed in thought as she bit her lip. She then turned her seat once more to look at Kakashi and Gai. "Well, it wouldn't do much thinking of it now, so the best we can hope for is when Tobi shows up again. " The way she said that was with a conclusive tone, something that alerted Kakashi and Gai that she had the case closed on that matter for good. They both simultaneously heaved sigh of reliefs, glad that their role was finally over here.

As they were both about to turn and make their exit from the room, there was a sound of the shuffling of furniture, and the next thing they know, Tsunade had gotten up abruptly from her chair. She was now standing, with both her hands placed on her desk, and keeping her gaze transfixed on the two Jounin. "Very well. On behalf of the village, I thank you both once again, for managing to rescue Naruto Uzumaki."

For a moment the duo was confused, but they soon managed to retain their original positions, standing at ease and lowering their heads in respect, as they both voiced their assent to Tsunade's show of appreciation.

Tsunade smiled a little at this. "Don't be too stiff guys. Tell you what, now that you're back, why not taken the kids out for barbecue." She then moved from where she was, slowly approaching the two men. The idea had just come to her then, and she thought that it would be a good way to celebrate a mission well undertaken. Besides, it would be a way to have the rest of Narutos' age mates hook up together and make merry, as some of them were not able to join in on the rescue.

Kakashi's expression dropped a little at this, and he looked at Tsunade exhaustively. "I appreciate the thought, Tsunade-sama, but at the moment-"He was cut off in mid sentence as Tsunade shoved him and Gai on their backs and towards the door.

"As I said, don't worry too much about it. Wherever you go and eat, you can place the bill on me." Once they were out the door, the blonde woman placed both her hands on the sides of the door, allowing them to stay open a little longer as she looked at both Jounin. When she addressed them this time, there was a stern tone in her voice," If I don't hear that you had fun," her glare then turned into her deathly one, before she passed her thumb across her neck, then closing the door on them.

Both Gai and Kakashi looked at each other for a moment, and for what presumably the first time in their stint of time knew each other, nothing was said between them. Gai spoke up after a while, however, with a certain uneasiness muddled together with resignation in his voice," Why not just do it then? We can even invite the members who couldn't go."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, with his one eye closed in resignation. "Yare, yare, nothing to it then. Let's go."

The Hospital

When his eyes opened once more and his vision came into focus again, the first thing that caught his attention was that the entire world was engulfed in white. A tad confused, as he was not sure where he was for the second time that day, he tried shifting his head upwards along with his body, and he felt a heavy tug at the end of his bed. His eyes automatically traversed there, where he found a familiar dark haired man.

"Neji. Where am I?"

The man's white eyes turned from where he was looking at the door and they came to land on Naruto. "The hospital. You passed out, so Hinata had to carry you till the village."

Naruto managed to sit upright, and this time, it wasn't as painful as it had been earlier in the cave. "I see. Damn, I was a handful till the end then, huh?" It turned out his body was far more damaged than he thought something that left a bad taste in his gut. He felt like retching up his guts just then, even if he was sure that he had not eaten anything in quite a long time, but luckily enough, nothing came up and he was glad that he was spared the embarrassment.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Although you do look like crap at the moment, but you'll live," Neji responded, as he kept his hands clasped together.

"Speaking of Hinata, how is she?" Naruto said next, full aware that he was treading on a thorny path here. At first, he had been wary of mentioning her around her cousin, since Neji did not particularly take lightly to anyone who hurt his cousin in any way. And Naruto had done just that previously.

"Her lifelong love rejected her, and now he asks how she is? You sure have some balls, I'll give you that," Neji started, with a dark glare that bore down on Naruto. The blonde man felt his heart nearly leap into his mouth, and was about to rue ever bringing up the issue in the first place as he readied himself for an apology, but surprisingly, Neji's dark glare melted away and soon enough he had his usual impassive face on.

"I'm joking."

Well, that escalated quickly. And it wasn't every day that you heard Hyuuga Neji admit he was joking.

He settled back into his position. "Actually, that's why I'm here today. I wanted to thank you for what you did with Hinata. You gave her a chance to move on with her life, and I really am grateful for that." The last time he had heard from his cousin back at the Hyuuga residence, she had herself holed up in her room, citing that she wanted to be by herself for a while as she was tired, but before Neji left he could hear soft sobs emanating from in there. It had saddened him at first as he had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but more than that, he was happy that his cousin had finally gotten a response to her feelings.

Naruto was at a loss now. "Uhm, okay. I think this is the first I've heard of someone thanking the guy who rejected his cousin." While he was relieved that Neji was not flipping out, he was still unsure whether the man meant what he said, or whether he was being courteous for courtesy's sake.

The Hyuuga smiled. "You're right about that, but really, I am grateful to that. You finally gave her the answer she had been looking for all this time, so thank you."

The sincerity in his voice was duly noted by Naruto, so he could finally let his doubts rest. There was something that nagged him though, so he thought it an opportune moment to voice it.

"And Sasuke? What happened to him?" Despite all that happened, he was still very much concerned over his teammate's fate, as he considered him a part of Team Seven. That did not mean that he expected the best for him, he knew full well what happened to anyone who threatened the peace of the village, and Sasuke had done that by attacking Naruto in the village. Whatever happened to him from now on, it would certainly not be pretty.

Neji folded his arms across his chest. "He is in the hospital at the moment to tend to his injuries, but under heavy guidance. The room he is in is under heavy surveillance by the ANBU, and a military tribunal is waiting for him as soon as he wakes up."

Naruto looked at his beddings a little, clasping them a little tighter in his arms as he let what had happened to his best friend sink in. Under any circumstances, he would have already bolted out of there and voiced his protest to Tsunade for treating the man like that, but he had seen firsthand for himself how much tainted Sasuke had become when he saw that cloak draped on him. Granted, what he had heard happening to the man had been not to his liking, but it would do for now, and he made a note to go and see him as soon as his body was in working condition once more.

"I see. Thank you."

Realizing that their conversation had reached its peak, Neji got off the edge of the bed where he was seated, before walking to the door. He slid it open, before halting in his movement, something that surprised Naruto a little. "Oh yeah, there's one more thing," he said, as he placed his hand in his robes searching for something. Moments later, his hand came out holding a scroll, which he waved idly in the air. Naruto stared at the piece of parchment intently for a few minutes, wondering why Neji was showing it to him, but then the man spoke up, this time with a hint of amusement in his voice. "I'll be keeping this."

Realization soon dawned on Naruto, with his eyes widening and a small smile making its way onto his face, before he said, in an amiable tone," See you later, Neji." By that time he was feeling a little sleepy, something he knew he could tune down to the hospital and whatever weird medicines they pumped into his blood stream, so he wouldn't last for much longer awake.

"Get some rest. We'll talk more tomorrow," Neji said, as he closed the door behind him, bathing the room in silence once more, and allowing Naruto a chance to get some much needed sleep.

A few hours after that

This time, what woke him up was not his own will, but the sound of the door as it silently slid open. His eyes opened to find the room cloaked in darkness, but before long there was a soft flick as the switch was turned, and there was light once more. Naruto thought that it was a nurse who had come to see him, and was about to fake that he was asleep so that he could avoid any medication. He had always hated injections and being in the hospital.

The person who had come to the room however walked silently to his bed, and from what else he could pick up, he had a feeling that they had some sort of luggage with them. He was now at a loss.

"I know you're not sleeping, dummy," the voice said, and with that he felt the pace of his heart quicken. It was her.

He jerked his body up from the bed hastily, nearly getting him tangled up in his sheets. His eyes then came to rest upon the pink haired girl, and his heart did that funny dance again for the second time in a matter of minutes. It really was Sakura, and she was dressed in the casual clothes that he had been so used to seeing her in. True to what he had predicted from earlier, there was a white bag hanging off one of her hands, the other one placid on her waist as she regarded Naruto with an amused look of sorts. Somehow that made Naruto feel like melting where he sat, but he managed to hold her gaze a while longer, as green eyes met blue eyes, the two colors melting into each other. It was quite a rarity, but the two in question not seeming to mind it at all.

After a short while of nothing being said, the two just staring into each other, Sakura broke the gaze by walking till the other side of Naruto's bed. Once she had closed off the distance between the two of them, Naruto spoke up,"Hey." It was a short response, but to him, it had seemed a lifetime ago when he was with the girl. He wanted to leap off the bed and hug her, to bathe in her scent as he showed her properly how much he missed her.

Sakura regarded him a little longer, as if assessing him and seeing whether everything was okay, and once she had enough, she responded, this time with a smile of her own. "Hey."

"Aren't visiting hours already over? Where are the others?"He asked, prepared to chuckle at whatever answer the girl would provide. The fact that she was in her casual clothes and not in the nurse's outfit she wore when she was on working hours in the hospital certainly did not mean that she was here doing a medical check, so he found himself curious as to what had happened.

"Oh, they are over, but working here part time has its…advantages." She made sure to place special emphasis on that last part of the sentence, and when Naruto' facial expression widened a little in recognition, she continued. "As for the others, well, trust me, they were dying to see you and have a chat with you after Neji left, so I had to step in a little and tell them they had to wait till tomorrow since you were asleep."

Naruto sneered a little at that, before releasing a chuckle. Now there was a side of Sakura you didn't see daily, but like all he had seen of her so far, he found himself not minding it in the least bit. He folded his hands across his chest as he regarded her with an amused expression on his face. "But you're here now."

"Hey, what they know won't hurt them." She said in a matter of fact tone, and Naruto found he falling for this new mischievous side of her more. She had won this, so he decided to change the subject, and feeling excited that he was alone with her at that moment. His heart beat quickened once more.

"So what'd I miss?" He asked, well aware that a long time had passed ever since Neji had left the room and when he had woken up. If his senses were correct, then it was probably heading to midnight.

The pink haired girl pressed a finger to her chin, letting her eyes navigate for a while playfully before responding," Hmm, does a barbecue count?" Sakura knew firsthand how much Naruto loved ramen, but meat was an entirely different thing to him, at least according to what she knew. He had never expressed much emotion to the delicacy itself.

The memories were still vivid in her mind, and it all came back to her in that moment. The rest of the evening had been marred by a large get together for the Konoha 12, in celebration of a successful mission. Sakura could not remember any other time when she had that much to eat in a single go, but luckily enough she had not eaten so much that she could not move, unlike a certain Akimichi.

Naruto's reaction was instantaneous, and it surprised even her. Throwing his hands in the air then scratching the sides of his head frivolously, he moaned," Ah man! It's been too long since I've had something to eat!" As if on cue, at that moment, his stomach grumbled noisily, signifying how famished he was and also alerting the pink haired girl to Naruto's current state. She was now glad that she had done what she had done before getting here, so she continued.

She placed one hand inside the bag she was carrying. "I had a feeling this would happen, so well, I brought you a little something." Her hand soon popped out of the bag, and in her grasp, she was holding a wrapped up bowl of something. When the smell of the strange commodity wafted into Naruto's nose, his eyes glimmered and there was a small trail of saliva from his mouth.

He nearly caused her to topple over when he reached for the bowl of ramen she was holding in her arm. Removing the wrapper with both arms and holding the chopsticks that were taped to its top with his mouth; he let out a sound of approval when he laid his eyes on the contents of the bowl, before he finally dived into the contents of the bowl like a man who had not seen food in his entire life. The blonde man ate noisily, and as Sakura watched him from where she stood, she found herself reminded of how much she loathed his eating habits. He ate with no delicacy or tact, which, in hindsight was a good thing since it showed that he didn't give much thought to what others thought of him, but in another manner, it would serve to embarrass anyone in his presence if they were caught with him immersing himself so lively in his food.

She was tempted to hit him over the head for even forgetting to thank her for bringing the food in the first place, but she had to remind herself he was injured, so whatever qualms she had with him would have to wait till he was fully recovered. For the moment, she had to content herself with watching him, and as her legs slowly tired out from her prolonged time standing, she made herself comfortable on the side of the bed where Naruto was eating.

Soon enough, Naruto was done eating, and once he swiped a hand across his mouth to clear the remnants of food that had lingered there, he focused his attention on Sakura once more. "It was delicious. Thank you, Sakura-chan."

At least he didn't entirely forget. Sakura felt almost foolish for thinking that Naruto would even forget to thank anyone who offered him his favorite delicacy, even for a minute. She looked at him in resignation, giving him that 'What am I going to do with you' look, before responding," You're welcome."

At that moment, however, a memory prodded at the front of Naruto's mind, and he remembered something that had happened with Sakura a while back that he had forgotten to address. Perhaps her coming here alone held more merit than he had initially thought, and the childish glee that he had felt at spending time alone with her ebbed away as fast as it had initially welled up. He looked at her intently.

"Sakura-chan."

The pink haired girl picked on the serious manner that Naruto had said her name with then, and when her eyes landed on his visage this time, she realized the stern glare he had fixed on her at that moment. It was uncharacteristic of Naruto to look at her that way, and the glare caused goose bumps to break out on her skin, as she wondered what had brought on that reaction from Naruto. As her mind struggled to come up with an answer, she remembered vaguely she conversation she had with Neji before she had left Naruto and Hinata to their own devices earlier that afternoon, and the memory sent chills down her spine

"What's going on? You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" The tone of his voice mirrored his facial expression so much that it made Sakura wants to wish that the floor would open up just then and swallow her. She had hoped that by some stroke of luck, Naruto had not taken note of her slightly off behavior that afternoon, which would give her a chance to open up on her own later, but it seemed like that had come even sooner than she had thought. He wasn't Naruto for anything, she thought. She wanted to run away from it, to delay and postpone this moment for so long, but she could only evade it so much before it resurfaced to haunt her once more

So, it was with that resignation that she lowered her head, and slowly, she began narrating to Naruto about her tale in the cave, of course, which included her battle with the red haired girl who had so openly expressed her affections for Sasuke, plus the sacrifice that she had to make in that battle.

Once she was done speaking, she finally mustered the courage to look upwards, realizing that Naruto had been oddly silent for a long while now, and the manner in which he stared at her incredulously made her scared for a moment. His mouth was also wide agape, and the words he had wanted to say to her seemed to get stuck in his throat. Instead, only a small slur, accompanied by occasional gasps, emanated from his mouth.

The Medic chose to stay silent as well, expecting Naruto to explode at any moment now with a plethora of reactions, and it came sooner than she had expected. His mouth fell shut once he recollected himself, and she soon found herself caught in his grip, not realizing when Naruto's hands had reached for her sides. He shook her a little as his face neared inches to hers, before he finally spoke up, almost shouting," Why did you do that?! Are you sure you're okay now?"

Sakura, flustered by the immediate gesture and feeling her heart rate subsequently increase in response to this from it, managed to calm herself down enough to responding, but there was an unusually heaviness in her voice, alongside how strongly she was feeling. "Why else do you think I did it? For you, idiot!" She wanted to slap him for belittling her decision like that and making it seem as if it was a wasted effort, but she had to admit that his reaction just then was rational.

Taking in her reaction, Naruto gasped a little in shock, before slowly releasing her from his grasp. Casting his gaze away from her and gritting his teeth, this time in genuine anger, he punched the surface of the bed beside him, before cursing himself. "Damn it! If only I hadn't been so careless…."he muttered gravely under his breath, and he had never quite blamed himself that much for anything until that point.

To his surprise however, he felt something warm press against his chest, and when he turned his eyes there once more, he found Sakura pressing herself to his chest with one hand, keeping her gaze away from him such that he was only looking at the top of her head.

"Don't say that…please…" she started, and Naruto could hear her voice breaking, before it turned into soft sobs. The anger that the blonde had been feeling seemed to be a thing of the past now, slowly being replaced by a feeling of guilt for springing forth such a reaction from Sakura. She had a point, there was nothing to be gained from something that had been a matter of the past, so the only thing that they could do was look forward to the future and what it held. And his outburst of anger just then must have seemed like trampling all over the sacrifice that Sakura had made with her entire mind to it.

But still, Naruto had to give her credit, for someone to go through with that decision and still carry themselves around like it didn't affect them; Sakura was a much stronger person than him at times like this. Slowly, his hand moved from where he had tightened his grip around his beddings, to slowly rest on her hair, where he proceeded to run his hand through her tresses calmly.

"You were really brave. Thank you." He said, and the usual calmness that he used when he talked to her settled back into his voice, something that he was slightly relieved over.

That did not necessarily mean that Sakura's sobbing had stopped, and Naruto felt his garments getting soaked at the area around his chest. He didn't mind it though, to an extent, it felt….warm.

"Never disappear like that again, idiot," she said in between sobs, as she clutched onto his robe tighter, and her sobs soon gave way into a continuous stream of sadness. She was ready to let out everything to him right there, how she felt, how she had been feeling for a long time, and Naruto was going to let her. He had been the cause of all of it, the more he reflected on it, and he never wanted to make her feel that way anymore.

"I won't." He nodded, before placing his other hand on the small of her back and pulling her closer, letting her body sink into him further.

The two fell into silence once more, basking in the warmth they received in each other's embrace, and Naruto had not quite realized until that point how much he had needed this. How much they had needed this.

Then, after a short while, he was not sure what overcame him, because slowly, the hand that had been resting on her head slowly made its way to her cheek, where it rested there. It felt cold as he touched her tear stricken face, but that fazed him little to none, as he slowly raised her face to look at him. She allowed her face to rest there a while; taking in the warmth that emanated from the warmth in his hand, and Naruto stared into her emerald orbs. He could not remember a time when she had looked as beautiful as she did then, even with her face covered in tears.

Slowly, but surely, his face inched closer to hers, and she found herself doing the same, before the two faces melded into one, and they tasted the warmth off each other's lips.

A/N: AND DONE, FINALLY!

Damn, that is the longest update I have ever done, and I honestly didn't expect it to last this long, but it was well worth it, and I feel a certain sense of fulfillment from this chapter. Looking back at it now, it was a good idea that I chose not to merge this with the previous chapter, this chapter had more detail and drama in it, and so it deserved its own title.

I am sorry that it came a day late, but well at least it's finally here, and with this chapter this story comes to a well deserved end. I'll admit, this is one of my weaker stories, but even then, it was worth it because this is one of the best endings I have ever written.

So thank you, to all who have stuck with this story till the end, thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites. This was my first story ever on this site, and I am so glad that I have seen it till the end like this.

Till next time then, and oh while you're at it you can check my other stories as well;) I promise they are well worth it!