Chapter 281: New Eyes

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 281: New Eyes

"Look, he is waking up."

"Finally!"

He heard the voices of his companions and began to regain his consciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, Naruto saw the world in a different light. Some of the things that he previously could only perceive with his divine senses, he could now see much more clearly.

The auras of chakra emanating from every living creature in the surrounding area, as well as the traces of natural energies that could be found everywhere.

If it was someone else, they would have become overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information. But Naruto was different. Between his divine senses and the bursts of memories that he was constantly obtaining from his clones, this was almost a mild experience.

It took him a minute to adjust himself to his new eyes, and his attention now returned to the two girls who had been patiently waiting at the side of his bed.

"Good morning… I thought I was in a hospital room," Naruto commented.

At least he had been in a private hospital room with Tsunade when he was put to sleep for the surgery. Now he was in his own bed, inside his house.

"It's afternoon already." Ino had an expression that gave away a mixture of relief and annoyance. "By the way… thank you for abandoning me in that cave. I had to run all the way back to Konoha."

"We asked Lady Tsunade if we could bring you home. And she agreed, as long as Ino stood guard and made sure there were no complications." Hinata explained the current situation. "And… how are you feeling?"

Naruto moved his hands and feet. "My body works fine. My mind is quickly adapting to the extra information."

"Let me see." Ino got closer and began to examine him. "There are no signs of rejection or infection." She then pointed to a glass of water on the nightstand table. "Hand me that, Hinata. And the medicine."

Ino then gave the medicine to Naruto. "You will need to take these once a day for the next week or so. To make sure there are no issues."

"Yes, doctor," Naruto said with amusement.

"Hmph! Is more than you deserve." She huffed.

"I only left you in the cave for your own protection. I thought Pain was going to be much more dangerous than he was in the end. Otherwise, I would have brought you along," Naruto explained to her.

"Ehm… Ino? Are the eyes supposed to have that color?" Hinata pointed out. She was one of the few who got to see Pain and his puppets from up close. "They are different now."

"Different how?" Naruto glanced toward a table set up on the right side of the room. A handheld mirror was resting on top of it. He extended his hand, and the mirror flew towards him.

"Whoa… what was that?" Ino looked at him with shock. "Is that new or?..."

Hinata looked around. "I saw a strange pulse of energy moving the mirror. Is that the…"

"The Rinnegan, yes. When I woke up, I noticed some fragments of information seeping into my mind. I have a general grasp of how to use them, but I'm going to need some time practicing to really learn what they can do." Naruto stared at his own reflection and realized what Hinata was talking about.

When the eyes were being used by Nagato and his puppets, the sclera and the iris had a pale lavender tone while the iris was just slightly darker.

But now… they all have a golden color, with different tones to differentiate the parts of the eye.

"I'm not an expert on the Rinnegan, so I cannot say the reason for the change. But I can tell you that there are no visible issues with the transplant. At least for now. I will need to perform a daily check to make sure," Ino said.

"The change of color is likely due to my chakra. It must have had some influence on them. But I don't feel any issue either," Naruto said.

"That's good…" Hinata sighed.

"It's indeed a good thing you are feeling fine..it was very reckless of you to transplant both eyes. And we were also worried that you were going to miss the grand event tonight," Ino said.

Naruto was about to ask what she was talking about but quickly managed to stop himself before saying anything.

There was something important he had to do today. He and Ino were supposed to have stayed in the cave for a bit longer and returned today for the event. But the Akatsuki Leader's sudden appearance had made him almost forget about it.

"Of course, I won't miss it." He glanced at Hinata. "I know how important it is for you."

"It's okay, Naruto. We can move it to another day. You just had a serious surgery."

"Nonsense. You spent the last week preparing everything. It will happen tonight, even if we have to drag him from the bed, or even bring him with the bed included." Ino exclaimed.

Naruto looked at Hinata. "That won't be necessary. I feel fine. Tonight, it's our wedding. There is not a chance that I will miss it, so you can rest at ease."

"Naruto…" Hinata smiled gently.

"We left a proper formal kimono for you to wear. It's inside your wardrobe, so you have no excuses. You better not appear with your training robes or I will freeze your balls." Ino created some ice above her palm. "I can do that now!"

"I'll see you tonight." Hinata leaned forward and gave him a kiss.

Ino stood back and didn't approach Naruto. "Today is all for Hinata, but I expect some compensation afterwards. I can be greedy too, you know?"

"Oh, you can have Naruto for yourself next week. What do you say?" Hinata suggested.

"Hold on… what am I, a toy to pass around?" Naruto asked.

Ino ignored him and considered Hinata's proposal. "Maybe, but I was thinking of going to have some fun with the three of us."

"Me too?" Hinata asked.

"Of course." Ino chuckled. "I heard about some amazing hot springs in a small village west of here."

"That does sound fun…" Hinata's cheek gained a red tint, just thinking about what Ino had planned for them to do there.

"It's decided then!" Ino said.

"Do I have no input on this?" Naruto asked.

"No." Both girls answered together.

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