This is my first story on here so just please hold on if I haven't quiet gotten into that 'mood of suspense' yet.

Disclaimer: Oh, believe me if I owned Naruto or any of the main characters I would be rolling around in all my money.

Quick Author's Note: I know, I know, most people hate interruptions. But, if I feel I can clear some confusion up or something, I shall be here. Though I know you hate it, and I hate to interrupt your reading, it might help so just bear with me. If I feel that a scene could be better, or have a little spicing up, with music I'll provide the link at the end of the paragraph or something. You just copy and paste that little sucker into Google and listen to the music as you read to give it that little oomf. Feedback of any sort (I mean just don't be rude about it, no one likes a bully) is greatly appreciated, so please, do it up!

Chapter 1: Just By Chance

The Land of Fire was sweeping with joy. You would have thought that since the destruction of their home occurred they would be in a big hole of despair and hate. Maybe some even wished for vengeance for their now destroyed village. But no, it was nothing like that. Not a single person had one bad thought in their body. They took in the destruction of their home, were upset for a while, but when they realized their loved ones still remained, they got over it and instead looked forward to the building and the future of their village. The Will of Fire burned deeper in their hearts then never before.

The civilians of Konohagakure were all running about through the village, every person doing one thing or the other. Everything was for the rebuilding of their village and no one complained about it. Even the little children and older citizens were doing their share of help, whether it was running to get the construction workers a drink, or even just cleaning up the streets.

For a while now, though, the streets had been silent. Minus the friendly chatter and laughter among the people, there was something missing. Or more like a certain someone. Everyday that passed by was another day without Konoha's famous hero.

Naruto Uzumaki.

It had been three months and a half since the hyperactive Uzumaki ran through the village with his famous smile plastered on his face. The villagers were beginning to miss the joy the boy would radiate off his body without even trying. Though some hated to admit it, but it wasn't a day in the Hidden Leaf Village without Naruto Uzumaki running and leaping around wildly.

After Madara Uchiha declared the Fourth Great Shinobi War at the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, Tsunade had sent Naruto to Mount Myōboku to continue his sage training and fully perfect his Senjutsu. In reality though, she just needed to get the blonde boy out of her hair long enough that she could discuss strategy to protect the boy. Considering the war was mainly to protect him and the eight tails from Kumogakure, she couldn't have him insisting to be placed in the action. If Naruto had found out that they were discussing strategy, or even the war in general, he would have surely begged to be put on the battlefield to fight alongside with his comrades.

But finally the day was coming closer when Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead would return back to the village where he was so dearly missed.

Especially by a certain Hyūga.

The sun was at its pinnacle. Not a single cloud tainted the sky with its presence. The birds were flying around and landing on branches, all while singing their joyful music and filling the breeze with their blissful notes. The wind was soft and barely swayed the flowers to its rhythm. The old members of Squad 8 were down by the river enjoying their well-deserved day off.

Akamaru and Kiba were splashing around in the water, threatening to splash the poor blue haired girl with water. She ran away squealing and begging the boy to stop chasing her but he wouldn't budge. Even the stolid shinobi, Shino, was getting a kick at watching Hinata run for dear life.

"K-Kiba-kun, p-please stop!" She begged as she ducked behind a large gray rock.

Kiba laughed and finally stopped in his tracks with Akamaru, "Aw, come on, Hinata! Don't be such a wuss. It won't kill you to get a little wet and have some fun!" After realizing the words that had come out of his mouth, he fell into the water laughing at his own perverted joke causing Hinata to blush a bright scarlet.

"T-that's not funny, Kiba-kun!" she protested.

Shino watched as his teammates had fun without him. He pushed his back off the tree he was leaning on and began to make his way towards them. When he was closer to them he said, "it seems you have forgotten about me."

Kiba stopped laughing, sat up, and stared at Shino, "Whaddaya mean we forgot about you, Shino? You're the one being the weirdo and hiding deep in the forest. If you wanted to have fun you should have joined us out in the sun, not lurking in the dark like some stalker!"

"I don't see why you only chase Hinata and try to splash her when I too am your friend and want to have fun."

Kiba backed away a little from the Aburame, "Shino… That's a bit creepy."

Hinata itched away from the rock she was hiding behind and began to watch the scene that was going on in front of her, a smile slowly growing on her pale skin. ( watch?v=kW1ppyOGg2E )

"No, it is not creepy. Why? Because I am your friend," Shino stepped into the water to get closer to his prey. "As your friend you are to chase me and try to splash me with water as well."

Kiba stood up and backed up against the rock Hinata was hiding behind before. "Sh-Shino, you're really freaking me out." Akamaru barked in agreement as he stood next to his owner's side.

Not acknowledging his own forwardness and "creepiness", the bug handler stepped in front of his victim, finally closing the gap between the two and preventing him from escaping. "Do you favor Hinata over me?"

Kiba cringed as Shino got even closer, trying to shrink away against the rock. "A-Akamaru!" he shouted in panic. The ninken jumped up and got in between the two ninja, pushing Shino away from Kiba. The Inuzuka sighed in relief as his predator returned back on to dry land. He was safe.

Hinata began to laugh uncontrollably, holding her sides with one hand and the gray rock for support with the other. She didn't know what had over came her but seeing Kiba so frightened by Shino pressed her laugh button and she couldn't stop it. The two boys turned to look at her with a puzzled expression on their face that was soon taken over by a smile—well except Shino. He was still a bit upset that Kiba hadn't tried to splash him with water.

Seeing the blue haired girl come outside of her comfort zone and start laughing loosely could make anyone smile. Her own teammates rarely saw her act this way so they couldn't help but smile. Kiba smirked and bent down closer to the water to take advantage of the situation and splashed the distracted Hyūga in the face. Hinata stood frozen as the water soaked her to the bone. When she finally realized what fully had happened, she turned to the dog specialist."Kiba-kun!" she squealed, "That's not fair!"

Kiba bit his tongue from laughing as he watched the girl struggle to dry her jacket off. "A shinobi should never let their guard down," he said in a mocking sophisticated tone.

Hinata squeezed the ends of her jacket harder, trying to get her jacket at least a bit dry. When she finally gave up on drying off her jacket manually, she bent down and splashed the ninken specialist in the face. She puffed her cheeks, trying to sustain her laugh because of the face the boy had made when the water made impact with his body.

She failed.

Soon enough, it was an all-out splash war between Hinata and Kiba with Shino watching from the side. Hinata noticed his envy and splashed water towards him, soaking the upper part of his pants.

Kiba turned to look towards Shino and fell back in the water, rolling back and forth gripping his sides as he laughed. "Couldn't hold it any longer hey, Shino?"
He said through laughter.

The Aburame member turned a light pink before returning to the shadows of the trees, "This isn't what I meant by letting me join."

Hinata stared after the boy feeling terrible and completely embarrassed. "Sh-Shino-kun, I'm so s-sorry!"

He lifted his hand to stop her, "It's fine, I forgive you. Why? Because you are my friend and as my friend you wanted to include me in you—"

"Are you still on that?!" Kiba interrupted.

Hinata smiled at her two teammates. It was days like these that filled her heart with warmth and happiness. Days like these which made her wish they'd never end. Though she was very happy and wouldn't trade this amazing day for anything, she felt as if something was still missing. A certain someone. A certain face that she only needed to see for a few seconds to fully make her day wonderful and perfect.

She missed him. That boy that was loud, hyper, and to some people 'annoying' though to her he was just being adorable. It had been a long while since she had seen him and she was starting to fear that she would never get to see him because of the war. There wasn't time for relationships during a war. She almost slapped herself at that thought. Naruto-kun doesn't even know how I feel for him and I'm thinking about relationships, she thought.

No one was allowed to know the whereabouts of Naruto, for security purposes, but that didn't mean it made her wonder. Only Kakashi, Tsunade, and Shizune knew where he was and what he was doing. There had even been rumors that the boy had left the village in search for Sasuke. Others said that he left the village completely. Though the one about Sasuke could have been true, she knew both of them were lies, but they still made her heart ache.

"Hinata?" Kiba stepped in front of her, waving his arms around like a monkey. "Hello, Earth to Hinata! Do you read me, Hinata?"

The fair skinned girl snapped out of her thoughts and nodded at the boy in front of her, "Y-yes, Kiba-kun?"

"I asked if you wanted to get something to eat? We're starving."

She nodded again and began to walk towards dry land before slipping and falling flat on her face in the water. This time Kiba didn't laugh. He could sense something was wrong with her and instead helped her up. "You're thinking about that knucklehead again, aren't you?"

She didn't have to answer to know he was right. Seeing Hinata get so ditsy about a boy like Naruto made his blood boil. The boy was so dense he never even acknowledged her. Hinata had her eyes set on Naruto, Naruto had his eyes set on Sakura, and Sakura was head over heels for a rogue ninja. It was a ridiculous love triangle and Kiba didn't understand it at all. All he knew was that Hinata was like a younger sister to him and he didn't want to see her get hurt, especially by a boy.

"Kakashi sensei said that Naruto would be returning somewhere next week," Shino said. Hinata lifted her head towards the boy, her eyes glinting with hope. She continued to walk alongside her friends, a small smile on her face. Naruto-kun will be back soon, she thought, trying to keep her smile under control. He's not gone.

She was wrong.

He would be returning that day.

The stack of papers seemed never ending on the Hokage's desk. Her taste buds begged for a drink of alcohol but she knew better than to get distracted now that a war was on its way, but that didn't mean it would stop her from getting a shot. Even though Shizune would have disapproved, she needed a little sip of sake to keep her going. She was expecting a "secret" delivery of two bottles of expensive sake, what she wasn't expecting was a hyper blonde to almost break her door down.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED!" The blonde headed shinobi shouted as he kicked open the door.

Tsunade brushed off the loudness and barely lifted her eyes from her paperwork as she spoke, "I hope you perfected your Senjutsu."

"About that, I still don't see your reason to have send me off on basically a vacation," he said walking towards her desk and placing a hand on it. "I mean really, if you've forgotten, I am the one that saved this entire village... By myself." He gave her a conceited grin which only caused the Fifth Hokage to laugh.

"Very well, Hero of Konoha, are you done bragging? I have important Hokage things to do."

"Really? You're not going to ask about the super cool powers I have now?"

She shook her head no as she continued to read the document at hand.

Naruto pouted, not satisfied with the attention he was getting. "I leave for almost four months and I return to no attention! Not even a proper welcome back!"

A vein began to grow on the Hokage's forehead, "Naruto, will you get out before I ram your head through the wall!"

He shrunk inside his clothes, "uh, right. Sure. See ya, baa-chan!" He ran out of the room before meeting death by Tsunade.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Tsunade lifted her gaze towards the door with a smile painted on her face, "Welcome back, Naruto."

Naruto walked through the streets of his home, filling his lungs with the smell of the restaurants he walked passed. Occasionally the villagers would greet him and welcome him back. All proving that he was dearly missed and making the Hero of Konoha feel even more important. He breathed in the scent of Yakiniku Q as he walked past only to have his stomach growl to alert him that he was hungry. His mouth watered as he inhaled the smell more deeply, it had been too long since he had real human food. He clutched at his stomach, Ichiraku or Yakiniku? He asked himself the most difficult question in the world.

As if to answer his question, Team 8 was making their way towards the barbecue restaurant themselves.

Naruto squinted to make out the figures that were approaching closer and waved when he recognized his comrades. "Hey, guys!" he sprinted towards the group with a wide smile on his face. Although he wouldn't admit it, he did miss his friends more than anything. Maybe even more than the food.

"Kiba, Hinata… And uh... Shino! What's—?" He stopped just a few feet ahead of them, pointing an accusing finger, "why are you guys wet?"

Shino, who had been emotionally hurt by Naruto forgetting his name—again—stepped forward in front of the Uzumaki causing him to stand tall on his toes, "You remembered Kiba-kun and Hinata-san just fine but once again you have forgotten about me."

Naruto backed up with his hands up in defense, "Sh-Shino, your creepiness is bad for my heart..."

Hinata, who had been frozen in her place, flushing red, and eyes wide open, opened her mouth to finally say something, "Sh-Shino-kun, p-please don't s-start that again."

Naruto peeped his head around Shino to stare at the stuttering girl, sending her his trademark grin, "Hinata!"

She lifted her eyes from her nervously twiddling fingers and fainted at the sight of Naruto's smile and direct approach to her. Kiba quickly moved to her side to catch her in his arms, "Damn it, Naruto! We just wanted to go eat and you just had to show up."

"I didn't know she was going to pass out!"

"There's nothing we can do about it now, let's just keep moving on to the restaurant. She will wake up soon enough," Shino said, turning his back to the others and walking towards Yakiniku Q.

Naruto turned his head back to watch the Aburame member leave them behind, "What's his problem?"

Kiba ignored him and followed Shino with Hinata in his arms, "Shino, wait up!"

"What's your problem?!" Before forgetting why he had run up to them in the first place, it hit him again. "Wait—Kiba! Can I join?"

"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure you have money!" Kiba shouted back without even turning around.

Naruto pulled out Gama-Chan and opened it to see if he had enough. Satisfied with the money that was in the bag, he ran after Kiba and Shino to join them at the barbecue restaurant.

Inside, the mouthwatering smells wafted in and out of the kitchen. The sizzling of the fresh meat came from various tables where customers leaned over their food, hungrily waiting for it to be ready to dive in. Everyone in the restaurant was grateful for the Akimichi clan. If not for them, Yakiniku Q would have never been rebuilt as fast as it was. Of course they did it willingly, but also for a free meal here and then, thus resulting in them constructing the famous restaurant in record time.

As they walked to their table, Kiba received strange looks as he carried the unconscious girl in his arms. He returned every look with a nervous smile, cursing Naruto under his breath. When they finally reached their table, he laid the sleeping girl beside him as he sat down.

They placed their order and in a matter of minutes the meat was brought to them, even though the place was swarming with people. The meat sizzled and began to let out a rich odor that infested Naruto's nose, causing his stomach to growl even louder than before. He clutched his stomach and groaned, "Could you cook any faster?!" he whined to the food.

Kiba laughed and flipped over his pieces, "Calm down. If you eat it now you'll get sick, idiot."

Naruto moved his face closer to his food, "Come on little guys, hurry up!"

Hinata stirred a little, trying to push herself away from the noise that surrounded her. All she wanted was to sleep but the noise around her — and that delicious smell—prevented her from escaping into her dreams. Her nose began to sniff upwards, is that meat? She asked herself. Did I fall asleep in the kitchen? She blinked her eyes open, realizing she wasn't in the Hyūga compound, she sat up.

Kiba, Shino, and Naruto were all starring back at her with food shoved deep in their mouths. She let out a small squeal and hid behind Kiba to hide her embarrassment from Naruto. The Inuzuka brushed off her shyness and kept eating, throwing scraps of meat to Akamaru here and there.

"Hinata, it seems you finally have woken up," Shino said matter-of-factly.

Naruto grinned at the blue haired girl, "Hey, Hinata! I bet you're starving!"

She moved away from Kiba and sat down finally acknowledging how hungry she was. She nodded and Naruto added some meat on the grill, making her blush involuntarily.

"T-thank you, Naruto-kun."

Kiba coughed loudly to draw the attention back to him, "I'm the one that kept you from falling on the ground and helped you up when you fell flat on your face in the water. Shouldn't I get a 't-thank you, K-Kiba-kun'?" he said in a terrible impression of the blushing Hyūga.

Hinata brushed off the teasing, having gotten so use to her teammate's mocking, and flipped her steaks over.

Naruto sat back, finally stuffed from all the food he had just shoved down his throat and watched his friends bicker over something so ridiculous. Yep, I missed this more than anything, he thought. He missed the joy he got from being around his friends, he missed laughing with them, but most importantly, he missed the food. After three months and a half of eating pure bugs—he gagged at the thought—he never wanted to leave Konoha. Ever.

The training was brutal and effective, and although he did strengthen his friendship with his frog friends, he missed his real friends. From Iruka Sensei to Izumo and Kotetsu, he missed them all. After all, this was the first time he really realized that he actually had such strong bonds with them all and that he was more than just some plague placed upon the village like he used to be treated as.

Naruto was pulled out of his daze by a piece of steak hitting his cheek and sliding down on to his lap. He turned to look at Kiba who was now laughing. "Hey, what's the big idea!?" he stood up wiggling the piece of meat in front of the Inuzuka just to have Akamaru lean in and eat it right out of his hands. Kiba laughed even louder.

"I had to get you out of your daze somehow!"

"Not by throwing a piece of meat at me you idiot!"

"Did you want me to throw a different piece of meat at you?"

Naruto blushed at the perverted comment and scowled back, he couldn't think of anything better to say. Kiba calmed himself down, wiping a tear from his eye, "I was asking you where you went. You disappeared for a while without letting anyone know, we thought you just up right left the village."

Hinata lowered her head, she thought that too and felt ashamed to have thought something so ridiculous. It was nothing like Naruto to do that.

"Nah, Tsunade-baachan sent me to Mount Myōboku to perfect my Senjutsu," he said in annoyance. He decided not to answer any more questions about his training and changed the subject, "Why were you all soaked?"

"We were down by the river enjoying our day off," Shino interrupted. Naruto moved uncomfortably in his seat as he spoke. "Not all of us were having fun though."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Yes. Why? Because some of us pissed our pants," Kiba said in his best impression of the Aburame.

"Kiba-kun, you mustn't tease Shino-kun like that!" Hinata defended her teammate remembering it was her fault that Shino 'wet' his pants.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. He turned his attention back to Naruto, giving him his best smile, "while you were gone on vacation we've been sent on missions to kick some major bandit ass."

Naruto slammed the table with his hand and leaned closer to the dog handler, "I bet I can still beat you any day!"

Kiba laughed and stood up, "You're on, idiot!"

"K-Kiba-kun I don't—"

Hinata was caught off and began to scream in terror as bugs began flying everywhere and into the mouths of both boys causing them to squeal in panic as well.

"Sh-Shino-kun, what are you doing!?" Hinata asked backing away from Kiba who was trying to spit all the bugs out of his mouth.

"We came here to eat, not to see who was stronger," Shino said calling back his bugs who obediently returned inside his jacket.

"What the Hell, Shino?!" Naruto shouted gasping for air.

"You didn't challenge me to fight, only Kiba."

Kiba and Naruto stared at the cryptic boy for a long while before jumping and attacking the ninja, "WHAT?!"

After hearing all the ruckus going on, the owner of the restaurant came running in. He went pale and it seemed he would pass out after seeing the mess in the room. Plates were broke, the table was a mess with drinks spilled all over and meat, raw and cooked, thrown around. Not only was it that but not all of Shino's bugs had returned back safely to his jacket. Some were spit on the table– thanks to Kiba– and were still moving around in the saliva.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile, hoping that his high status as Konoha's hero would help him get out of this situation, "aha, sorry about the mess gramps!"

"Your wallets going to be sorry!"

Naruto turned to look at his friends and only noticed the shy blue haired girl sitting at the very corner of the room, blushing a bright scarlet as Naruto stared at her.

"Where'd Shino and Kiba go?" he asked with a nervous laughter.

Hinata twiddled her fingers together, "t-they left right when the man s-said you'd have to pay for the damage."

Naruto groaned and pulled out his very fat Gama-Chan. Guess the Hero of Konoha won't work here, he thought as he squeezed his very fat frog purse.

"Why is it always me?" he sobbed as he opened his wallet.

The sun had finally started its way home, leaving a beautiful stroke of red, orange, and pink in its wake. The birds too, like the sun, were on their way back after a long day of filling the summer air with their music. Hinata and Naruto stood outside of Yakiniku Q with the light coming from inside lighting their faces lightly. Naruto was clutching his wallet to his heart, crying comically as the empty thing rubbed against his clothing.

"Gama-Chan, why—always you, Gama-Chan?!" he cried. "It took me so long to earn all that money, and now—now it's all gone!"

Hinata stared at the crying boy not sure what to do or say. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."

He looked up from his weeping and stared at the girl in front of him, "It's alright, Hinata. You did help me a bit at least," he said cheering up a bit.

He wiped his childish tears off his whiskered face and gave Hinata a reassuring smile that he was alright. "Well, I guess I should be going now," he said shoving his hands in his pocket as he began to walk. "See ya, Hinata!"

Hinata stared at the blonde boy as he walked away. She stood there for a moment until he was gone from her view and then she turned the other way to walk back home.

She had hoped that they would have spent a little more time together, but even if they had spent more time together she would have fainted or just stuttered the whole time, so what was the point?

She got mad at herself a bit for her lack of confidence but then pushed the thoughts away. That was her, she was shy. She couldn't do much about something she was born with. Many times she had wished she could just miraculously work some courage into her body but nothing ever seemed to work. The only time it seemed she had gotten enough confidence and courage was when she fought Neji during the Chūnin Exams and when she got in between of Pain and Naruto's intense fight.

Hinata stopped in her tracks.

~ Flashback ~

Hinata leaped towards Pain to stop him from hurting Naruto anymore than he already had. He leaped back, noticing from the corner of his eye the girl coming towards him. She landed on her feet next to Naruto. Her heart ached seeing her friend, the boy that never give up, be forced to being helpless. His body was pierced by Pain's chakra rods, stopping him from moving on his own. ( watch?v=Iyuh4Tk4vf0 )

'How cruel…' She thought starring down at the boy and then back at the monster that had done the crime. 'Restricting Naruto-kun from moving with those poles.'

"I won't let you hurt Naruto-kun anymore!" She said with every ounce of confidence she had in her.

Pain didn't seem like he cared for the girl, she was interfering with his plans. "Reinforcements?"

"Why'd you come out here, dattebayo?! Get away quickly! You're no match—"

"I know."

Naruto lifted his head to look up at the girl who was willing to risk her life, even if she was no match, for him. He was shocked… and angry… yet awed. Hinata, the sweet, gentle, shy Hinata had come to his aid. Of all people, her.

"I'm just being… Selfish."

Anger was beginning to brew inside Naruto's stomach. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen. He didn't want anyone to interfere with this fight. He didn't want anyone getting hurt for him, to die for him. He was trying to prevent that. "What are you talking about?! Don't put yourself in danger like this!"

Hinata didn't budge. "I'm here because I want to be." Images of when she was younger, helpless, weak, flashed through her mind. Naruto was there to save her. To give her a goal to strive for. She wanted to repay him for all he had done for her, even if he didn't realize it. "This time I'm going to save you, Naruto-kun."

The blonde haired boy stared shocked by her sudden change in attitude. This wasn't the same shy girl he always knew. She was… different.

"I was always crying, and giving up before even trying… I made the wrong turns so many times… But you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto-kun… I always chased after you, I wanted to catch up to you. I wanted to walk beside you all the time. I want to be at your side, always. You changed me, Naruto-kun! Your smile is what saved me! That's why I'm not afraid to die… If it means I can protect you!"

She smiled, finally getting the courage to say the words that had been glued to her throat for so long, "Because… I love you, Naruto-kun!"

~ End of Flashback ~

It had been a while since she confessed her love for the blonde boy. They hadn't had a chance to talk about it, or even acknowledge it since it had happen. If there was anything to talk about in the first place. She smiled, as long as everyone was okay and still alive after that attack, she didn't mind if he remembered or not. But she wished for more than anything, that he did.

She was half way to the Hyūga Compound when she heard a loud scream pierce through the silence of the evening. She sprinted towards the forest where the shouts were coming from. When she was close enough to clearly hear the shouts for help, she activated her Byakugan to see where the person was. She turned her direction towards two o'clock, as if going towards the river again, where she found three older men and a younger one, around Hinata's age, being mugged by three big scarred men.

Hinata hesitated it was too simple where it almost looked like a trap. She leaped into the clearing in front of the bandits. One who had a scar on his right cheek almost laughed at the girl, "look, little lady, it's best if you just go home and pretend you didn't see or hear anything."

"I won't let you harm these poor civilians!" She said, putting her confidence in it to show she met business. She took her Gentle Fist stance, the two other men stared in curiosity. "Jūkenpō: Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms) "Eight Trigrams two palms! Four palms!" Her hits were direct, not missing their target. "Eight palms! Sixteen Palms!" The man was now pushed against the tree, making it easier for the Byakugan wielder to make her hits. She put all her anger into her hits, making him see she was not weak like he took for her. Her hits were growing stronger, causing the tree to snap and crack behind the man's body.

"Thirty-two palms!" She stopped for a few seconds, letting the man catch his breath but before he could fully lift his head, Hinata delivered the final blow. The surge of strength behind her hits caused the tree to snap beneath the man's body.

She turned towards the rest of the bandits who had just witnessed what had just occurred in front of them. They lifted their hands in defeat, "p-please! We were just looking for some quick money. W-we're sorry!"

A hand was placed on her shoulder and she jumped on instinct, it was Kakashi. "It seems you made it here faster than I did," Hinata turned to see the masked ninja rubbing his head in embarrassment, "sorry about that." His hand moved away from the girl and he walked towards the thieves to tie them up. "I heard the screams and rushed here but you ended up getting here before me, thank you."

One of the men stepped forward towards the masked ninja, "you must be Kakashi Hatake, we were supposed to rendezvous with you just up ahead but it seems luck wasn't on our side in this journey."

"Yes, you must be Daisuke? I- uh, ran into a little old lady who needed help with her bags."

Hinata rolled her eyes at the failed attempt to fool her, but he sure did manage to win over the older man.

"Hinata, I think it's best if you escort them back to the village, I'll take care of the thieves."

She nodded knowing what he meant by that. Ever since the invasion on Konoha, there had been a huge increase in attempts of infiltration in the village and burglaries right on the border. Security was increased but it seemed like the number just increased along with it. Tsunade took this as the enemy trying to see their strength in military. Any thief or prisoner caught was to be sent to Ibiki Morino at the Intelligence Division to be interrogated to see if they had any information on the rise of crimes. So far nothing had been discovered but that didn't mean anyone let their guard down.

When Kakashi took the bandits and was gone she turned her attention back to Daisuke, "Are you alright?" she asked.

As if she had snapped something in his mind, the old man jumped up. "Oh, my! Quick, check if Prince Kazuhiko is alright!" The other two men jumped up as well and turned to the younger boy who was standing behind the carriage.

He waved them off, "Oh stop your worrying. I'm fine."

Hinata looked towards the boy and finally got a good look at him. He was tall and thin with pale golden eyes. His brown hair was pin straight and reached his shoulders. His side parting let a large portion of his bangs cover the right side of his face. He wore a long light blue kimono, and black pants underneath, with a golden sash. The kimono hanged loosely, exposing his fit chest. Hinata blushed as he turned his back on her when he noticed she had been starring. The back of his kimono was adorned with a small emblem of three white camellias in the form of a triangle.

"Really, shouldn't the ninja of Konoha know it's rude to stare," Kazuhiko said.

Hinata blushed a darker scarlet and was grateful that it was too dark to see her.

"Aki, Senji, and Daisuke, please retrieve the things that have been taken." The three men took the Prince's orders and hurried to place everything back into the carriage.

"Thank you, again, for saving us." Hinata jumped in surprised at the voice the prince was using on her. Wasn't he being rude just a little while ago?

"Y-you're welcome, Prince Kazuhiko," the Hyūga said with a smile.

"I don't think you've told me your name…" The prince said.

Hinata mulled it over for a moment and then figured it wouldn't make a difference if he knew her name or not, "Hinata Hyūga."

"Hinata, in the sun. Suits you well, your smile can make someone feel like they're in the sun," he said taking Hinata's hand and kissing it gently.

She didn't know how to feel, she blushed lightly from embarrassment and thanked him. She never had a boy approach her so directly before.

"W-we should get back to the village before we're attacked again. It's v-very dangerous out here at night."

The Prince seemed like he had been brought back to reality, "Right, right. I almost forgot. I guess you lose time speaking to such a beautiful girl."

Hinata smiled at the compliment but other than that didn't know what else to do. Boys never gave her attention like this one was doing, and she barely knew him! She figured it was just his character and brushed it off, no need to let your head get filled with compliments. Her heart belonged to someone else anyway.

"Everything has been taken care of, my Prince."

Kazuhiko nodded, "very well. Hinata-san shall escort us to the village." They nodded in response. The prince turned back to the girl with a gentle smile painted on his face, "lead the way into the sun, Hinata-san."

Kakashi pushed the three thieves down on their knees in front of Ibiki, a hesitant smile beneath his mask as he stood before the interrogator.

"So these are the three filthy low lives that have plagued my village with their presence," the older man said starring down at the three thieves that were thrown in front of him. He gave them a menacing grin, "we'll just have to find out what your real plan is, won't we?"

Kakashi laughed nervously, standing near Konoha's strongest interrogator was far beyond intimidating. "Hinata-san took care of them outside the village. They attacked Prince Kazuhiko from the Camellia Kingdom."

Ibiki stared at the masked ninja, giving him a knowing look. "So this wasn't a random attack after all. It seems the Hokage knew just what she was talking about when she said to send all the bandits to me." He lowered himself to get in the level of the three prisoners in front of him and grabbed one by his chin, pinching it a bit too hard, "seems we'll just have to squeeze it all out of you. Every last ounce of it."

Author's Note: *shivers* Ibiki, you scary dude! Anyways, next chapter will start picking everything up. Sorry if this one kind of dragged. The next chapter will hopefully be a bit more exciting and *crosses fingers* a little funny... maybe and it'll start the Adventure part of the story. Yay, missions! Let the story begin! Don't forget to leave me feedback to help me out a bit more, it's greatly appreciated!