Prophecy (Naruto Neglect Fanfic)

The Lake

A/N: I enjoyed Uzumaki Kai as a villain. I may bring him back. Although I think his purpose in the story is obvious and perhaps finished. Naruhina elements in this chapter. Still rather short. Hope you enjoy :)

Hinata and Lee sat by the stream. Hinata had regained consciousness and with Lee's help was tending to her wound.

"If only any of us knew healing jutsu," Lee said to himself as he cleaned a rag in the stream.

"Thank you, Lee-kun. I-I hope Naruto-kun is alright," Hinata said. 'Please, please be alright,' she thought.

"I'll hold him off-" The scene replayed in Hinata's mind. She was powerless to stop him. She hated the feeling.

"I-I will never be like this again!" she declared out loud. Lee looked at her confused.

"Huh?" Hinata covered her mouth as she realised she this out loud but took her hands down and yelled out once again.

"I promise I won't be powerless like this again! I'll train and become stronger!" Hinata briefly stood up before falling down again.

"Yeah!" Lee screamed, "WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH ON OUR SIDE, WE WILL BECOME STRONG!" Suddenly they both heard a distant snapping of twigs and instantly became tense. "Sorry, too loud," Lee apologised.

"Huh? Was that Bushy Brow? And Hinata before?" Hinata heard Naruto's distant voice and her heart became lighter. 'Naruto-kun! He survived!'

Naruto and Guy shortly met up with the two and explained that Kai had been defeated. Hinata stared at Naruto and saw his bruises.

"N-naruto-kun are y-you alright?" asked Hinata shyly and Naruto grinned at her.

"Yeah I'm fine!" he answered, "I hope you're alright too!"

"She can't walk but we can carry her back without risk of her bleeding out," Lee explained and Naruto and Guy sighed in relief. "But how did you defeat him? I take it, it was you Guy-sensei!" Guy shook his head.

"I may be youthful Lee but I was knocked unconscious I guess it was Kakashi who finished the job! MY ETERNAL RIVAL WINS AGAIN!" Guy screamed out before heartily laughing. Naruto didn't respond. "Anyway, we should get back to Kakashi! Lee, bring Hinata!" As Lee pulled Hinata onto his back, Naruto approached him.

"Hey Bushy Brow, you must be tired from carrying Hinata. If you want I can carry her back to the village," Naruto suggested, an innocent grin on his face.

"Thank you my eternal rival! I may be youthful but it would be appreciated! What do you think Hinata?" Hinata's face was completely red from the thought of being carried by Naruto.

"Hey Hinata, my princess, why don't I carry you back?" the dream version of Naruto stated in Hinata's mind. From that thought alone, Hinata fainted on Lee's back, leaving both of them hanging.

"I guess she would prefer to stay with you," Naruto said as he turned away and followed Guy-sensei back to Kakashi.

As night fell over the tents of Team 10, Naruto stayed outside, overlooking the lake. The lake reflected the moonlight that lit up the sky, revealing its true beauty. Naruto saw the stars and constellations in the reflection of the lake and sat in silent awe as he marvelled in its glory. As he watched, Naruto recalled the events of the past day and his conversation with Kai. His silent contemplation was interrupted as Kakashi exited his tent and sat down next to him. Naruto didn't turn to him and instead focused on the sky.

"Weren't you the one who told Lee that sleep is necessary?" Kakashi joked as Naruto still stared into the sky.

"It's so beautiful," replied Naruto in a deeper voice than before. Kakashi stared into the lake as well and agreed with the boy.

"You're nothing like him you know." Naruto stiffened.

"How did you-"

"It seems like you were thinking about your similarities. And it seems like he enjoyed messing with people's heads. He certainly messed with mine." Naruto's body seems to calm down. "His family left him, they didn't care for him, they're not like yours," Kakashi stated as Naruto still stared on, "You have Minato-sensei, Kushina-sensei, Karah, Naruko, Jiraiya, so many people who love you."

"Yeah," was Naruto's only reply.

"I mean, Minato-sensei taught you how to use the Rasengan right? I must say, I was very impressed by that considering Karah hasn't mastered it yet and she-""-is better than me," Naruto finished. He coughed. Kakashi didn't respond and the silence grew until Kakashi realised Naruto never answered his question.

"So Minato-sensei taught you how to use the Rasengan," Kakashi commented. Naruto shook his head. 'What?' Kakashi thought.

"I'm not allowed to be trained by Tou-san," Naruto said unemotionally, "He needs to focus on Karah-nii." Kakashi was shocked.

"I-I'm sure there's a reason for that," he rationalised more to himself, "B-but then how did you learn the Rasengan?" Naruto shrugged in reply.

"I hid and watched Karah-nii train and then practised. That was when I met Itachi-sensei. He trained me to get better..." Naruto's eyes seemed to light up before quickly fading again, "Until he just started ignoring me, like Sasuke. Like all of them."

Kakashi was now staring at Naruto. 'What does he mean, "like all of them"? And why does Minato-sensei not teach him?' thought Kakashi as Naruto unemotionally stared into the lake.

"I've said too much. I really am an annoyance huh?" Naruto chuckled to himself and forced his eyes away from the lake and began to walk back to his tent.

"Naruto wait! You're not ignored, I mean look at your team! You have a family with us and we will never ignore you!" Naruto smiled slightly.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei. At least I won't have to go back to training alone," Naruto murmured quietly as he entered the tent. Kakashi then returned to his tent and quickly forgot his thoughts of Naruto as he fell asleep.

The next day, Team 10 finally arrived back in Konoha. At the gates, Lee and Hinata on his back went ahead to the hospital as Naruto and his senseis signed in. Might Guy handed over the scroll containing the corpse of Kai Uzumaki and as they were about to leave, Naruto heard a voice behind him.
"Ugh, how come you got to go on a mission before me?" whined Karah as she saw her brother. The rest of her team, including her sensei were present but were all avoiding Naruto's eye contact.

"Oh! Hey Karah-nii!" Naruto grinned causing his sister to grimace.

"How come you all bruised from a D class mission? You really are useless," Karah laughed.

"Well, some stuff happened and-"
"That was a rhetorical question, jeez you are an annoyance," Karah said in an annoyed voice.

"Hey I'm not an annoyance or useless, right Itachi-sensei?" Naruto looked to Itachi-sensei who seemed to not even notice Naruto.

"Karah, we need to go," Itachi said, ignoring Naruto completely. Naruto's smile slightly faltered.

"Well bye, weakling. Unlike you, I have important things to do," Karah said, turning to jump away. Her team followed her.

"Hey Sasuke, I was thinkin-" Sasuke ignored him and followed Karah. Naruto sighed but kept a smile on his face. Kakashi and Guy didn't react to the situation in front of them and instead made their way back into the village with Naruto slowly following them.