Months had passed after the night the Nine-Tails attacked. 

I was going to move out of the house because it was painful, but I couldn't let go since this is all I had left of Minato and Kushina. 

I was in the process of moving some of their old furniture out since there's only one person staying here now. Moving their old bed and all of that out is harder than it seems because that means I'd have to finally accept that they're actually gone.

I walked out of my old room and for a second, I could see Kushina at the kitchen and Minato sitting at the dining table, going over paperwork. 

Yeah, part of me can't accept that they're gone. I still feel as if they'll come back one day by some miracle. 

The doorbell rang and I walked over to answer it.

Guy, Naomi, and Mariko were all here.

They gave me looks of sympathy.

"So, you need some help moving some stuff out?" Guy asked.

I nodded. I needed their help since I couldn't do all of it on my own.

Naomi helped me go through some stuff I didn't need while Guy and Mariko lifted the heavy stuff out of the house.

Mariko surprisingly has a lot of strength for how small she is. Even Guy was shocked. 

Everything was now on the porch and I sighed. 

"Are you ready?" Naomi asked.

I nodded.

After this incident, she was nicer to me and we both came to a silent agreement that the rivalry between us was no longer needed.

We took everything to a little shop downtown that resells used items and I was silent the entire time. Guy, Mariko, and Naomi were talking, but I wasn't paying attention so I have no clue what they were talking about.

I don't understand why all of these bad things had to happen to me. First I lose my parents, then I lose Obito, Rin, then Kakashi and I just stopped talking, now I lost my aunt and uncle.

What else was the world going to throw at me? Losing Naruto? I hope not.

To make everything better, Jiraiya just disappeared without a trace, so I don't even have him to talk to. He was my last bit of family too. We may not be related, but I still saw him as the grandfather I never had.

I never met my grandparents on my mother's side and my father kept his parents out of his life.

The four of us dropped off the furniture and then parted ways.

"Hana, wait," 

I turned and Guy was behind me.

"What is it?"

"I know you're in pain, so if you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to me," Guy said. "You can even reach out to Kakashi, Naomi, or your other friends,"

"Kakashi?" I rolled my eyes. "He stopped talking to me, so I doubt he cares anyway,"

Guy didn't change his expression. "Kakashi does care,"

I didn't reply and he sighed.

"Don't forget that he's in pain too, Hana," Guy said. "He lost his father, friends, and now his sensei. Maybe he's distancing himself on purpose,"

I shrugged. Guy had a point, but Kakashi didn't bother to reach out to me at all.

Guy gave me a bear hug and let go. 

"Just please don't hold things in, just talk to us if you need to."

I gave Guy a small smile.

After that, we parted ways and I decided to go visit Naruto in the hospital.

I'm stuck with one agenda in my life, and that's to protect him at all costs. Even if it means losing my life.

He's all I have left. 

He stayed in the hospital since he's only a few months old. I couldn't raise him back home since Lord Third insisted that he stays there. I guess having a baby in the house at my age would be hard and I'm not emotionally ready right now.

I was still hurting from everyone I lost.

As I walked to the hospital, people gave me sympathetic looks. Everyone knew that I was Minato and Kushina's niece, so they gave me those stares. Even some of my friends gave me those looks.

I didn't like to be pitied, but I didn't say anything to them.

I entered the hospital and a blonde woman greeted me.

"Hello, is there something you need?"

"I'm here to visit one of the babies in the nursery," I replied.

"Which one?"

"Naruto Uzumaki,"

Her face twisted at the mention of his name. I could tell she was giving me a fake smile. 

"Okay, right this way,"

I followed her down the hallway and I walked in the nursery. She told me that I can hold him and she'll let me know when visiting hours are over. 

I quietly entered and found him immediately, since his vibrant blonde hair was similar to Minato's. 

Naruto was sleeping peacefully with an orange blanket wrapped around him. It looked like someone had made it for him, but I'm not sure who.

Nurses walked by and I could tell they were glaring at the sight of him being held. 

Lots of the villagers blamed him for what happened and it pissed me off. How can you blame an innocent child over that? It's not his fault at all. I'm not sure why Minato and Kushina sealed the tailed beast into him, but all I knew is that they had a reason.

I glared back at the nurses who were glaring and they quickly looked away. They're lucky I'm in a hospital and holding a child.

There were footsteps and I looked to the doorway, seeing Lord Third.

He's Hokage again since Minato isn't here.

"With Naruto again, I see," He remarked and walked over.

"Yeah," I nodded. "He's the only family I have left. I can't let him suffer the same fate I did,"

Naruto's eyes opened and he looked at me curiously. He had bright blue eyes that resembled Minato's.

He looked around the room and I smiled at the sight. He's adorable.

"Hana...I hate to make you upset again, but I have some news I have to inform you with,"

I looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well?"

"You remember those Stone ninjas right? The ones who tried attacking you and your team?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"I can't hide your identity since everyone knows you're Minato's niece, but we can only hide Naruto's identity,"

"What do you mean hiding his identity?" I asked. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying that Naruto can't know you're his cousin and no one else in the newer generation can't know either," he said.

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Why?!"

Before he could speak, I accidentally cut him off again.

"So are you saying that Naruto is going to have to grow up thinking that he has no family? He's all I have left, Lord Hokage,"

"I'm sorry Hana," He sighed. "But those Stone ninjas are looking for revenge against Minato, so that's why his identity and past needs to be hidden. If Minato was still here, it would be different because he could protect himself and his family,"

I stayed quiet and he continued.

"But since he isn't here anymore, so who do you think they're going to target? You and Naruto,"

"But I'm strong enough to defend myself and I can defend Naruto too. I won't let him get hurt," I pleaded.

"Hana, no," He said. "We can't risk Naruto's life and you need to understand this. He's a jinchuriki, so there will be enemies trying to take him because of his power. If he were to be kidnapped and have that power extracted or unleashed, he could die,"

I sighed, defeated. I could argue for hours, but I knew that I had to put Naruto's safety first. After all, I did vow to protect him. 

The Hokage could see how crestfallen I was. 

"You can still talk to him, but you can't tell him about his parents or about you being his cousin,"

"So, he has to go through his whole life not knowing the truth? He's going to wonder why he doesn't have any parents, you know," 

"I'm aware," he said. "So sometime in the future, we can tell him the truth about everything. He's not ready for that information right now, so if you feel like he's ready, then come talk to me and we can tell him together,"

I looked at him and I saw that he fell back asleep on my shoulder. 

"So in the meantime, just be on guard. We don't know when those Stone ninjas will try to come for you."

"If they do come for me, I'll kill them before they can get to me."

I continued holding Naruto and stared out the window, wondering what the future was going to unfold now. 

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And that's the end of Torn In Between. It's 1:08 am and I was dedicated to finishing lol. It's gonna be weird not updating this every day.