Only Time Can Tell

FAMILY

This one is pretty bland. Sorry but my brain has been reduced to the consistency of Pepto-Bismol. I'm gonna try to do another Sarada chapter before things heat up again. BLAME SCHOOL FOR THIS SUCKY CHAPTER! I will try to get another one out tomorrow...it'll all depend on how much hw I have. I hope you all are surviving too!

CHAPTER 45

FAMILY

NEJI HYUGA

"Naruto..."

"Neji!" He yelled running towards me. His clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains covered his knees. "What the hell happened to you?!"

"Naruto..."

"Neji!" He said dropping to his knees, his eyes widening when he saw the others all collapsed around me. "What...happened here?" He looked up at me when I didn't respond to his request. "Dude!" He stared at me, his eyes filled with fear. He knelt, his hands shaking visibly.

"I...I don't know."

"You don't know?!" My heart was still beating so fast in the fear of being discovered. I could barely breath. Naruto's gaze turned to me, his eyes widening.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm..." My head began to feel heavy and light at the same time. My vision became spotted with black. "I....need to lay down now." I involuntarily fell backwards, my arms falling loosely around me.

"Neji!" He crawled over to me, holding the gauze to my neck. "I need you to explain this to me! What happened to them? To her?" He said his eyes shifting to Sarada. "And that guy." He said looking at Sasuke. "And what the hell happened to my son?!"

"There...was an attack. From this guy...his name was Daichi, but he's gone now. Some...awful stuff happened." I couldn't look him in the eye. He didn't know Sai. But he will. "But then we were attacked again by Orochimaru. He took Sarada and Boruto, and I was wounded by some of his associates. I was unconscious and when I woke up they were all suddenly here."

"Boruto." He looked over to his son, his eyes filled with urgency. His hands shifted on the gauze making me suck in air whistling in pain. "Sorry, hold that there." I put my hand over the gauze, and could feel my heartbeat through the material. How much blood had I lost?

Naruto shuffled over to his son, turning him over, he quickly pressed his head to Boruto's chest. "That's...that's a heartbeat, right? Oh God, please don't be dead." He pressed his hands into Boruto's chest.

"What...are you doing?"

"Giving him my chakra. As much as he can take. It...it feels like he's...empty." Naruto squinted, pressing his hands into his son's chest harder. "But there's still something there. Just enough to keep his heart beating. But..."

"But what, brat?" Said a disembodied deep voice. "You've got to have realized it by now." It paused. "That's me in there."

"Who...is that?"

"That's the Kyuubi." Naruto said pressing his hand over his stomach. "Boruto's chakra...it's almost the same as mine. He'll be able to accept it like his own. You'll do that won't you?" He said to himself.

"Like I said, that's me in there. I don't want myself to die. I'll give you the power."

"This...is so freaky." I muttered, watching Naruto start to glow. "Does this happen to you often?"

"Not...really?" Naruto said not looking back at me. "He's almost gone. He won't last for another thirty minutes." He took a deep breath in. "Here we go." His chakra concentrated at his hands. I'm surprised. Back at the Academy he was one of the worst at chakra control. But I guess he really can do it when it comes to saving his son's life.

The bright orange chakra coming from his hands began to change to a pinkish color as he sent it into his son. He grit his teeth in the effort. I could tell that he was giving Boruto all that he had. My head panged again and I felt heavy all over, it wasn't my neck that hurt, it was my head. What's going on? I touched my head lightly and the pain overcame me again. Dark spots beginning to dominate my vision.

"Nii-san."

"What?"

"What?" Naruto said looking up.

"Did you say that?"

"Uh...no?" Naruto said looking back to Boruto. "I didn't say anything. I didn't hear anything either."

My head felt like it was splitting open, and I felt my eyes close. "Nii-san. Is my son alright?"

"Who is this?"

"Tell me he's okay! Please..." Her voice sounded far away, I could just barely hear it if I concentrated, but it was there.

"You're...Hinata-sama, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Boruto is....he'll be okay-"

"Is his father there?"

"Huh?"

"Naruto-kun...he woke up an hour ago, he...he held my hand and then he disappeared. No one has seen him. Please tell me that he's there with you."

"Naruto...he woke up?!"

"Yes. It was all so sudden. I have no idea how he was able to move at all, let alone leave."

"He's...not here. But..younger Naruto is."

"What? How did he get there?!"

"I think he followed us." There was a sigh. "How are you talking to me right now?"

"I...I managed to find Ino. She's helping me speak to you right now."

"Ino..." Sai was her husband. I can't let her know like this. I won't bring him up. I can't let her find out yet. "Is...Inojin alright?"

"Uh...yes? Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Do you think that Naruto will be able to find us out here?"

"He will." Then her voice disappeared. I felt the darkness in my vision disappear. I blinked a few times and saw Naruto staring at me.

"Uh...dude." He blinked. "Were you just...talking to yourself?"

"No."

"You totally were."

"No I was talking to Hinata."

"What?" The smug look on Naruto's face disappeared. I was about to explain when I saw Sarada's body move. I drug my myself over to her.

"Sarada?" I touched her shoulder, and I felt her entire body jump in response. I couldn't tell if she was awake or not. But her hands were shaking. I took one of them, giving her something to hold onto. I somehow knew that she was stuck in a bad dream that she couldn't escape or wake up from. "Hang in there."

"Is she okay?"

"I...don't know." Her hands continued to shake, like she was continuing to reach out for something. Then I got an idea. I grabbed Sasuke's hand, which was cold to the touch, but he was still breathing shallowly. "Help your daughter." I wrapped his hand around her's and instantly she stopped shaking.

I sighed, leaning back against the column. "I'm getting really tired of this."

"Me too."