Hinata lay in bed, dreaming peacfully. She was dreaming about Naruto again.

"Hinata-chan, you will make a good wife someday!" dream Naruto said.

Dream Hinata blushed. "Th-thank-you, N-naruto-kun." she said quietly.

Hinata had this dream often. It wasn't so much a dream as a memory. A memory that she held dear. She sighed in her sleep.

A figure, in black from head to toe, held her breath and froze in her tracks. She waited to see if her target would waken. After a few seconds passed, and she decided that the girl was still fast asleep. So, she crept closer to the edge of the bed. She loomed over the sleeping girl, the moon throwing her silouette across the covers. Hinata Hyuuga: Disowned heir to the Hyuuga family; blue/black hair; light grey eyes; heavy sleeper; use sedative as precaution. The intruder pulled a small vial from a small tan pouch around her waist. She pulled a white peice of cloth out of her pocket and soaked it with the contents of the vial. Then she gently laid the cloth over her target's mouth and nose. She watched carefully for the girl's breath to slow. The change would be slight since the girl was asleep already. When Takano was satisfied that the Hyuuga was unconsious, she scooped her up and and dissappeared into the streets of Kanoha.

Neji burst into Tsnade's office, panting heavily. Tsunade looked up from a medical report she was reading and looked at him questioningly. Sakura, who was standing in front of Tsunade's desk, ran over to him. "Neji-san, what's wrong?" she asked.

Neji looked at Tsunade and Sakura was shocked to see that tears were in his eyes. They were angry tears, but it was still strange to see Neji cry. He pushed past Sakura and slammed his hand onto Tsunade's desk. "Hinata-sama is missing!" he roared.

Tsunade calmly put down the medical report. She put her elbows on the desk, laced her fingers and closed her eyes. "Calm down, Neji-san." she said plainly.

Neji was about to protest, but instead he shut his eyes, stood straight and took a deep breath. He sighed. "Thank-you, Tsunade-sama." he said respectfully.

Tsunade opened her eyes and looked at him seriously. "Now, are you sure she's missing? No one has seen her?" she asked.

Neji shook his head.

Tsunade continued, "She isn't training or out with friends?"

Neji shook his head. "Her father went into her room this morning and she wasn't there. He asked Hanabi-sama if she knew where her sister was and she didn't know. Then he called me and asked me if I knew anything. I told him I didn't and suggested he call Kurenai-sensei to see if Hinata-sama was training today. She said that she wasn't training with Hinata-sama today but said that she might have decided to train on her own. I went to the training grounds but no one was there. "

Tsunade nodded. "I see." she said gravely. She closed her eyes and thought for a minute. When she opened them again, she said, "We'll put out an alert in the village that she's missing and see if anybody has seen her. If, in a few hours, there is no sign of her I'll dispatch a search and rescue team into the immeadiate area and alert the nearby villages. I'll also contact the Sand to see if they know anything."

Neji nodded, "That sounds like a good idea."

Tsunade looked at Sakura, who had been listening intently. She snapped to attention. "Sakura-chan, go with Neji-san. Ask around the village and find out if anyone knows anything about Hinata-san."

Sakura nodded, "Yes, Tsunade-sama." With that, she ran out of the office, followed closely by Neji. Tsunade turned her chair around and looked out the window. I hope she's alright, she thought. She stood up and walked to the door. "Shizune-san!" she called.

Teh kidnapper didn't stop running all night. She was running along the Sand border now, looking out for the base. The Hyuuga girl stirred in her arms. Teh woman swore under her breath. If I don't find it soon, I'm going to have a struggle on my hands, she thought. She looked around the bare desert landscape and spotted a large rock that jutted out of the ground. She sighed in relief. There it is. She cahnged cousre in a flash andheaded for the rock.

Hinata stirred again. She knew she was in danger. She had known for a while but she was unable to do anything about it. She couldn't move. Her captor must have used some kind of paralytic sedative. Hinata could feel her body awakening bit by bit. She tried to make herself move. Her fingers twitched. It was a start. At least it meant the sedative was wearing off. But would she be able to fight once it did? She's find out soon enough.

Naruto walked lazily down the street toward the Ramen Shop; hands behind his head in his usual carefree manner. His stomach growled ferociously. "Uuuuuuun ~ I'm starving" he grumbled, clutching his stomach.

"Hello,sir, have you seen Hyuuga-sama today?" Sakura's voice said off to the right.

Naruto looked over at Sakura and waved. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" he called.

Sakura looked at Naruto and smiled, then frowned. Naruto looked at her confused. She thanked tha man she was talking to and ran across the street to meet Naruto. "Naruto-kun, have you seen Hinata-chan?" she asked worriedly.

Naruto's brow wrinkled in confusion. "No, Sakura-chan. Why? Is she missing?" he asked, growing concerned.

Sakura looked away, her gaze dropping to the sidewalk. Nartuo straightened up and frowned. "What is is, Sakura-chan?" he pushed.

Sakura closed her eyes. "I don't know, Naruto-kun." she said softly. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "So far, nobody has seen her. Neji-san said her father found her gone this morning and no one seems to have seen her."

Naruto clenched his fist. "Did he tell Tsunade-sama?" he asked a evenly as he could manage, but there was still a rough edge in his voice.

Sakura nodded and looked at the conrete again. "She doesn't want to send a serch party out until we're sure she's not in the village."

Naruto's face grew dark. "So she's just sitting around waiting to see if Hinata-chan will just show up? While, meanwhile, she could be in danger?" he said growing angry.

Sakura glared at Naruto. "Don't you talk like that!' she reprimanded, "Tsunade-sama will do all she can to find her. But she can't just send out a serch team without first making sure that Hinata-chan is really missing."

Naruto looked away to the right, clenching his fist and grinding his teeth. Hinata-sama. She had never really meant all that much to Naruto. But ever since the chunin exams long, long ago, Naruto had grown to like her a lot more. She was frail and often very shy, but she always tried her hardest. She was a friend and Naruto would always look out for his friends. The thought that she might be in danger infurriated him.

"I'm going to talk to that old lady." he said determined. Then he turned away from Sakura and ran for the Hokage building before she could protest.

When the woman finally raeched the rock, she ducked into a small carved out cave in the side and set the Hyuuga girl down against a wall. She looked down at her captive. The sedative was starting to wear off. She went over to a big backpack in the back of the cave. She opened it and took out a coil of rope. When she pulled the rope out, a small picture frame that had been tangled in it fell to the ground. She stared at it for a second, then kneeled and put down the rope and gently picked the frame up and turned it around to see the image. A small girl with sparkling blue eyes and short, choppy brown hair stared up at her, a wide smile on her face. The woman took off her mask, revealing her own waistlength brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail. Her glistening green eyes scanned the picture again. Hitori...I'm doing this for you. She put the picture back in the bag and started uncoiling the rope as made her way back over to the girl.

"Listen you little punk, I don't need you barging in here telling me how to do my job! Got it?" Tsunade yelled.

Naruto slammed his hands down on her desk. "Oh yeah, you old bag? Your job is to protect the villagers, right? Well, Hinata-chan is a villager! And if she's in danger then you aren't doing you job right! I should just kick your ass right now and become Hokage myself!"

Tsunade stood up. "Go ahead and try it! See where you end up besides the INFIRMERY!"

"Naruto, calm down!" Kakashi's voice said firmly from the window.

Naruto glanced over to see his sensei perched on the window sill. Kakashi climbed down and stood beside Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll do no good making trouble with Tsunade-sama. Please try to contorl yourself." he said calmly.

Naruto looked over at Kakashi. Then he closed his eyes, took his hands off the desk and stood up straight. He looked at Tsunade again. "Alright, old lady, so what are you gonna do?"

Tsunade sat down again, putting her elbows on the arms of her chair and lacing her fingers in front of her face. "If reports come back that no one has seen her, I'm going to dispatch a small search and rescue into the area surrounding the village. I'll also send a team out further toward the Sand village."

Before she could continue, Naruto pointed at himself ans said, "Alright, I'll be on one of the teams to the Sand then."

Tsunade shook her head. "Somehow I knew you'd say that I knew you'd say something like that." She glarred at Naruto. "From the way you spoke to me I shouldn't let you go." She sighed, "But you'll fight me on that too, won't you?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. And even if you win in the end, I'll just go and find Hinata-chan myself."

Tsunade chuckled. "One of these days, you're going to get a serious additude ajustment. I just hope I'm there to watch."

Sakura opened the door and walked up to Tsunade's side. "Tsunade-sama, it looks like absolutley no one in the village has seen any sign of Hinata-sama." she reported. She glanced at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. Naruto, you better not has caused any trouble for us.

Tsunade nodded at Sakura. "That's what I feared." She looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi-san, you and your team are assinged a long range search and rescue along the Sand and Leaf border. You can head out as soon as you're ready."

Naruto clenched his fist to his chest. "Alright then. Hinata-chan, here we come." he said determinedly.

"Just a moment." Kakashi said. Naruto gaped at his sensei. Was he going to try and make them stay? Kakashi contined, "Tsunade-sama, my team is incomplete. We need a third member."

Sakura and Naruto both looked at the floor. Sasuke. Their lost teammate.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes,of course. I will assign Neji Hyuuga to go with you. His skills could be a great help."

Naruto looked at Tsunade stupidly. "Huh? His skills?" he questioned.

Sakura came over and bopped Naruto on the head. "You dummy. She's talking about his Byakugan."

Naruto rubbed his head where Sakura had hit him. "Ow! What did you go and hit me for? I forgot, that's all. There's no reason to hit me!" he grumbled.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. Those two. He nodded at Tsunade. "Alright, we'll head out right away." he said. With that, he walked out the door followed by Sakura and Naruto, who grumbled to himself.