Back to the Beginning (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 33

"Naruto?" Minato turned to ask Naruto who the person was, but noticed the inexplicable expression of pain on his face. "Naruto? Are you okay?" He tried to talk to Naruto, but all he got was silence.

Naruto was staring at the person standing in front of them with tears in his eyes. "H-how?"

"Oh, I thought you would be happy to see an old friend?" Madara's menacing voice spoke to Naruto. "I thought you would like a little gift. If you help me, that is."

"How is she here?!" Naruto started yelling as he felt his whole world crumbling around him. "She's dead. I watched her die!" There was a slight crack in his voice as he mentioned her death.

"Naruto, who is this woman?" Minato walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder in order to get his attention.

"It's..." Naruto's voice was laced with emotion as he spoke. "It's H-Hinata."

"You mean?" Minato thought back to the story that Naruto told him, and the girl that he loved. "This is her?"

"Yes. Such a beautiful young lady." Madara spoke up before Naruto could say anything. "It was such a shame she had to go and get in the way."

"What do you mean by that?" Minato questioned Madara hatefully.

"Oh, see, that's a fun story to tell." Madara sneered in Naruto's direction. "I was just about to capture Naruto and suck all that troublesome chakra out of him to fertilize the tree that would have enabled me to launch my genjutsu, but she jumped in the way of the vines and therefore saved this blasted kid." Madara chuckled evilly before continuing to speak, "Though it was entertaining to watch him mourn for her."

Minato was speechless at the new revelation. He could see why Naruto would want to keep it a secret. It was barely even a moment before he heard Naruto yelling out.

"Go to hell you bastard! You don't get to talk about her that way!"

"No, Naruto! Don't!"

Naruto ran straight towards Madara without listening to the warning from Minato, but was stopped as Hinata stepped into his path, arms raised and ready to fight. He froze as he looked at the familiar face of the girl he loved. It isn't really her... It isn't really her... But no matter how much he tried to get himself to force his way past, he knew he would never be able to harm someone who looked just like her.

"Now, Naruto. It's rude to interrupt when the adults are talking."

Before Naruto could do anything, Hinata lunged towards him, striking at multiple chakra points. Knowing he couldn't fight back against her and still frozen in shock at seeing her, Naruto was thrown back, slamming against the wall of the cavern. He tried to stand up, but fell back down as he felt an intense pain run through his leg and his side. "Dammit."

"Naruto!" Minato tried to run towards Naruto, but was stopped as wood began wrapping around him, trapping him in place. Seriously?! He turned back to Madara with hate in his eyes. "What do you want?"

Madara seemed amused at the entire situation. "You don't interest me at the moment, Yellow Flash. You just stay put there until it's your turn." At Madara's command both Hinata and Zetsu walked over to Naruto, each taking an arm, dragging him back to where Madara was. "Now that Hinata here has cut you off from that blasted nine-tails. We can have a mature conversation."

Naruto felt wood wrapping around him, but he was too weak to break it. "How...how is she here?" He hung his head low as he spoke, not moving his eyes from the ground. "I know she died."

"You really are an idiot aren't you?" Madara began to walk slowly towards Naruto. "Time doesn't like to be messed with. You saved Obito, but I found another pawn to do my work. I simply had him bring me someone from the same clan, and I transformed them into this silly girl you care so much about." Madara had finally reached Naruto, grabbing him by the hair and forcing him to look at him. "I must say, it was a great way to mess with you. Now, come with me willingly and help me. Otherwise things are going to get a lot worse."