Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, not a single part. Not the characters, not the story, not the universe. But boy, if I did...

Here's Chapter 2! Please enjoy!

Night

~Chapter II~

Naruto and Hinata walked down the uneven path, leaves crunching beneath their feet. It was nearing the end of fall, and they were thankful for the dark brown cloaks draped over their shoulders as the night cold settled in. They wore matching brown boots that allowed for easy movement over hard terrain, and were especially warm. They had on black sweat pants that were easily two sizes too large. Their black turtlenecks were hidden beneath a navy blue jacket. Their cloaks flapped behind them in the wind, and the pair huddled deeper into the hoods of their cloaks, as much to keep out of the cold as to keep their faces hidden.

They blended in well with the shadows as they walked towards the village gates. If not for the leaves beneath their feet, and the small breaths that were visible in the cold, one would have been hard pressed to notice them.

The two emerged from the forest path and drew nearer to the village gates. The gates were thrown wide open, never closing unless faced with an invasion. Two guards clad in fur coats stood on either side of the gates, eyeing the newcomers warily. They each had a large sword on their backs, as well as kunai pouches visible on their legs. These guards were not unaccustomed to fighting, and Naruto and Hinata didn't want to give them any reason to draw their swords on them.

They were about five feet from the men before one of the guards broke the cold silence of the night."What are you two doing here?"

Naruto stepped forward, raising his hands to his hood. "We've come from Sunagakure. We've had enough of that monster watching every move we make, and my aunt told me that this village would welcome deserters," he explained as he lowered his hood. Brown bangs fell into his face, his usually unruly hair combed and lying flat rather than pointing in all directions.

The guards stared at this newcomer without batting an eye. Neither of them recognized the youth, so they doubted he was anything to worry about. He had three whiskers upon each cheek, but the guards dismissed this tiny fact as inconsequential. They had seen much stranger things in their duties as guards. However, they were very good at their jobs, and there was still one person whose face they hadn't seen.

"And him?" the guard on the right asked, nodding towards Naruto's companion. Of course, underneath all the clothing she had on, the guard had been unable to see that Hinata was a girl.

Hinata stepped to Naruto's side and lowered her hood as well, the guards' eyes watching closely. Two rather large, deep brown eyes met them, sending an icy shiver down their backs. Those eyes were cold, and they scared the guards so deeply that they were glad they didn't recognize her face from the bingo-book.

In all honesty, Hinata was really just very, very irritated. Not to mention scared. The contacts in her eyes were not comfortable and after walking with them for twelve hours straight, eyes gathering dust and muck from traveling, as well as dry from the sharp winds of this area, Hinata was on edge. Her eyes were very sensitive, and they were really hurting. Of course she was frustrated with this pain. And so she took that frustration, harnessed it, and directed it all towards the two guards barring them passage into the village.

The guards nodded, unconsciously leaning away from the angry woman and her partner.

"Go on ahead," the one on the right told them, for his colleague was speechless through his fear. Neither of them looked to be that great of a threat towards the village; well, the scary woman did, but the young age of the two made him feel experienced enough that he didn't think they would pose much trouble.

Naruto hid his grin until they had passed the men and were out of earshot, then turned to Hinata and beamed. "Hehe, that went just like it was supposed to, huh Hinata-Chan?"

Hinata returned the smile quickly, then hushed him with a finger to her lips. "B-b-be careful N-N-Naruto-kun. W-W-We aren't safe y-y-yet," she whispered, though she herself was being somewhat reckless by using his real name. Hinata was shivering, and though she wished she could attribute her stuttering to the cold, she knew better. She hid from Naruto's immediate gaze by pulling her hood up. Naruto, after a few seconds, did the same.

Mere moments later, a young woman with hair a color between blue and purple rushed into their sights, cursing audibly. Her string of obscenities ceased for a moment as she saw the two of them. Then she waved.

"Hey, nephew-Chan, get over here. I don't have a cloak like you, and it's friggin cold out here," she called.

Naruto and Hinata shared a surprised look between them before rushing towards this woman. She wasn't exactly inconspicuous. She had on a deep blue vest, a dark purple long-sleeved t-shirt, light-brown leather boots, and, the most inconspicuous part about it all, bright yellow pants. A tail of dark purple hair flopped behind her head, framing her shining face. A yellow scarf was tied around her neck, and light-brown eyes shone in the moonlight.

Now, Naruto himself wasn't exactly a fashion expert, but even he knew that this outfit of hers was pretty outrageous. He didn't get a chance to tell her this, however, because she had already turned and was rapidly walking back in the direction she had appeared. Jogging slightly to catch up, he and Hinata followed her. Naruto didn't even have time to feel affronted at the -Chan suffix she had addressed him with.

The streets of the village were dark and damp. The chilly air was tinged with a sickening smell, and Naruto had to keep himself from retching as they passed what he was sure to be a corpse on the ground. Children lay on the streets, most asleep, but the echo of sobs was haunting, and it was all Naruto could do not to crouch down and cry himself.

Hinata was very tense beside him. Her heart reached out to each body they passed cringing on the floor. Many of the people who lay shivering in the streets were children and youths, or else old and cripples. Hinata fumbled with the catch of her cloak, unfastening it. As she prepared to drape it over a pair of sleeping girls, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

Hinata looked up to see their strange partner shaking her head quietly. Hinata felt tears well up in her eyes, feeling helplessness descend upon her as the young woman guided them to a small house just a little further down, leaving the two sleeping girls shivering in the cold night.

The woman fumbled in her pockets, swearing softly, before pulling out a key that she inserted into the keyhole of her house. The lock turned, but the woman held her hand up, motioning for them to stand back.

The woman, her back to them, began forming seals with such speed that Kakashi, known for his lightning-fast sealing, would be put to shame. She concealed these quick movements by pretending to be giving thanks to God through prayer. After a few seconds, the woman brought her hands down and then pushed the door open, ushering them inside.

The door closed behind them and the woman again performed her seals, though she had a bit more of a relaxed air about her. She locked the door, pocketing her key, and turned to see the pair bawling their eyes out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," the woman said, frowning. She stepped forward towards the pair. "What's up with YOU guys?"

Hinata, tears streaming down her face, shook her head sorrowfully. Naruto answered instead.

"So many people..." he said in a hopeless voice."So many innocent kids just left there to die..." Shaking himself slightly, he glared at her. "Why wouldn't you let Hinata give her cloak to those poor girls? They looked like they needed it real bad!" he said.

Sorami sighed. This kid was obviously just as brash as Tsunade's report had warned. "Listen, kid. Firstly, you haven't confirmed that I am indeed who you think I am- if I were an enemy you would've just told me that your partner's name is Hinata and also that you care about children a lot. I could use that against you. Secondly, to answer your original question, I didn't let her give up her cloak 'cuz it could be traced back to her. If our enemies find out that you have a soft-spot for children, they could use that against you." She paused for a moment. "And stop crying," she added in a stern voice.

They both complied, wiping the tears from their faces. It kind of made Sorami sad to see them so compassionate towards people they would probably never see again.

Naruto stared at her, his cheeks still moist. She had justified what she had done perfectly, but the part that really got him was how he could've put Hinata and himself in danger were this woman not who they thought she was. Naruto quickly resigned to rectify that. He was in a bad mood after having walked all day and night, and he felt terrible after having seen the state of the village. He channeled that anger into his next words.

"Prove who you are," he demanded, glaring at her.

Sorami sighed. He had a lot to learn. It wasn't like she ENJOYED watching villagers suffer all around her, knowing with every step she took that she could save them, but that it would jeopardize the mission. The boy in front of her seemed to think this was the case though, and she was in no mood to point this out to him. Instead, she decided to comply with his request.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a scroll, handing it to the youth without question. She watched as he ripped it open, his eyes wandering quickly over the list of names that she had provided of possible and likely spies for Orochimaru.

The girl finally spoke up. "A-a-aren't you g-going to ask us t-to prove w-w-who we are?" she asked the woman. Hinata's eyes were still brimming with tears, but she had enough sense to notice that this woman wasn't actually following procedure perfectly. Procedure dictated that one only traded evidence verifying one's identity if one was given evidence of the same kind; this basically meant that the woman should only have given Naruto the scroll he was holding once Naruto had procured evidence of who he was. Hinata found that she trusted the woman before her, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was usually this lax about procedure-it could ruin the mission.

Sorami shook her head. "No," she said simply. Seeing the girl's confused expression, she decided to explain. "Your friend here leaked so much information in his statements earlier that I have no reason to doubt that you two are really who you're supposed to be. Besides, the jutsu I have surrounding this house would've zapped you on the spot if you were using any jutsu to conceal your true appearance, and Tsunade sent me pictures of what you look like, descriptions of you and your personalities, stuff like that."

Naruto closed the scroll rather loudly before tossing it on a small coffee table nearby. "Yea," he said to Hinata. "This is her alright." He was still angry at the woman for not letting Hinata hand over her cloak to the children in need, but he knew that she had a very good reason. Now that he had confirmed who she was, he didn't hafta worry about his or Hinata's safety, at least for the moment. This thought had a calming effect on him, and he visibly relaxed, the day's stress catching up with him as he suddenly felt a small wave of fatigue sweep over him.

Hinata saw this and felt her cheeks redden. Naruto-kun looked so handsome, even with a bit of a dopey look crossing his face.

Sorami hid a smirk. Was the girl actually blushing at him? Then she frowned as the implications of this revelation settled in on her. Oh gawd, she thought. The girl is blushing at him. What have I gotten myself into?

Sorami cleared her throat. "The name's Sorami," she stated, trying to get her mind off that topic.

There was a small pause while Sorami went to the fireplace and proceeded to light a fire, figuring that the kids would appreciate the warmth after having basically frozen their butts off to reach the village.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend, Hinata," Naruto replied once Sorami had finished with the fire.

Sorami nodded in acknowledgement. She knew their names already, because of Tsunade's report, but that wasn't really important. She figured that the demon-boy in front of her was more courageous than the Hyuuga because of the simple fact that the girl had yet to speak anything more than a few words in her presence.

Sorami gestured to the armchairs to her right, walking to the sofa and flopping down on it, arms behind her head. She reached out to the coffee table, where a bowl of grapes was located, and plucked out a handful, watching as Naruto and Hinata seated themselves in the chairs.

The girl was DEFINITELY blushing; if not for the fire casting a red glow that hid her blush, Sorami was sure that she would see a bright-red tomato where the girl's face should have been. She sighed, tossing a few grapes into her mouth, chewing as she thought of the best way to approach this problem. She had to be delicate about this; if the Hokage had sent them here as lovers knowing that they liked each other, Sorami wouldn't feel obliged to watch over them and keep an eye on them and could just ignore whatever went down. The problem was, she doubted that was the case. They had to sleep in the same room alright. If anyone came into the house and discovered that the two supposed "lovers" slept in separate rooms, they'd figure out that something was up. Sorami wasn't even sure if these two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and she didn't like jumping to conclusions. So she decided to find out, quickly swallowing what remained of her handful of grapes.

"Are you two dating?" she asked, figuring she might as well be as blunt as she could be. It turned out to be a wrong move on her part.

There was an awkward moment of silence in which both the youths in the armchairs felt their faces grow hot. Then, the girl slumped forward in her chair.

She had fainted.

"Aaaahhh, Hinata-Chan!" Naruto cried out, jumping from his chair over to his friend.

Sorami sat up suddenly when the girl had passed out. She had no idea that it was a common occurrence for the girl to faint in Naruto's presence, particularly in what she felt to be an embarrassing situation.

Naruto, however, was not unfamiliar with this type of thing. In fact, Granny-Tsunade had taught him how to check for vital signs and make sure the patient was alright because of the large number of times he had rushed an unconscious Hinata to the hospital. So he proceeded to do just that, relieved to find that she was fine other than being unconscious.

Sorami grabbed another handful of grapes. So the girl obviously was rather embarrassed. That was fine with her, Sorami thought as she shoved the grapes into her mouth, reaching for another handful before she even finished chewing the grapes in her mouth. She wondered how she was going to explain the fact that they would hafta share a bed... She decided that she might as well tell the boy now, and she'd leave it to him to explain to the unconscious girl in the armchair.

"Hey, kid," Sorami said, addressing the demon-boy. He either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her. Holding back a growl, she cleared her throat. "Hey, Naruto-Chan," she said loudly.

The boy turned his face towards her, though she could tell that he was still more focused on the Hyuuga. "Hmmm?" he responded distractedly, the fire's glow casting a shadow of worry into his face and eyes as he examined Hinata.

"You two hafta share a bed, that's why I asked the dating question," she explained.

The boy's reaction wasn't unexpected, but Sorami still swallowed her grapes fast enough that she nearly choked.

"WHAT?"Naruto screamed, jumping in shock, his ears turning a deep red, visible even through the red hues being cast from the fire. His face soon followed, and Sorami would later swear that he had even had steam flowing from his ears.

An awkward silence ensued, in which the crackling of the fire seemed obscenely loud and uncalled for as the red-faced genin stared at the Jonin, his mouth gaping, eyes wide, and an expression of shock mixed with fear plastered on his face.

Sorami nearly burst out lauding from the awkwardness of it all. Gawd, she was glad she wasn't sixteen anymore. She probably would've died if she had ever found HERSELF in this position three years ago. She held back a chuckle as she repeated herself to the boy.

"I said that you and the Hyuuga will be sharing a room-and a bed," she told him again.

He sputtered. "I-I'm not a pervert like Jiraiya-Sensei!" he whimpered. He had told Tsunade this already-why was it that he had to tell this girl too? He was tired and sad and just plain overwhelmed by the dreariness of the village, and he was too exhausted-both mentally and physically-to put much energy behind his words, though he meant them.

"Well that's great, glad to know you won't be peeping on her in the bath," Sorami replied, feeling a bit sorry for the boy. "Hey," she added, deciding to be nice to him. "You can always grab a tatami mat from the storage room I have and sleep on that," she offered.

Naruto nodded, grateful that she had been generous enough to offer him that option. He liked Hinata as a friend, sure, and she WAS pretty, no denying that, but he just didn't feel right thinking about sleeping in the same bed as her. He didn't want her to think he was some kinda pervert, after all. Cuz he wasn't. Well, not much of one, he added, blushing slightly as he remembered how he had met Jiraiya.

Sorami popped a few more grapes into her mouth, directing the boy to grab the girl. He obliged as she turned to the hallway, pointing at the staircase.

"Up there, second door to your left," she told him. "I'm going down here to get your mat," she told him, pointing down the hallway towards a door.

Naruto thanked her, then proceeded to carry Hinata up the stairs to their room.

Let's see... Naruto thought as he reached the top of the staircase. It opened into a small corner of a larger room, and Naruto frowned, not sure if this was the right room. He shrugged, then walked past the large room, finding himself in a rather narrow hallway. He passed the first door, then reached out and began to turn the handle on the second door to his left.

It opened into a rather sparsely furnished room, with a queen-sized bed taking up much of the room, a small nightstand with a lamp perched next to it on both sides.

Naruto gently laid Hinata onto the bed, and then turned on the lamp. The window cast a blue hue into the room, and he could see the moon partially covered by clouds through it. The glow of the lamp illuminated Hinata's face, and he absently moved a lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

Hinata's really pretty he thought, then blushed. He mentally berated himself, reminding himself that he was NOT a pervert. He shook his head to clear such thoughts from his mind. Hinata was a friend. Just a friend.

He was still repeating that to himself as Sorami trudged through the door, dragging a rather dusty tatami mat in her wake. Naruto rushed over to help her, glad that he had something to take his mind off of his strange train of thought.

They placed the mat on the opposite side of the room as the closet. Naruto barely had enough space to place the mat on the floor between the side of the bed and the wall. Even though he was still a little closer to Hinata than made him comfortable, Naruto was relieved that he needn't share the same bed with her.

Sorami dusted her hands off, looking at the arrangement. If someone were to peek through the window, they would only be able to see the bed, and not the mat. Likewise, if someone were to peek through the door, the tatami mar would be obscured from view behind the bed. She smiled, pleased with the placement of the mat. Nobody would know that these two weren't really lovers unless they looked through the entire room.

A small sound disrupted her thoughts, and Sorami found the source immediately. The face of the girl who had been lying peacefully on the bed was twitching slightly, and a small moan escaped her lips as she began to regain consciousness. Sorami decided to leave. This girl was a bit of a handful, though she was probably sharper than her boy companion. It had been a long day, though, and Sorami had to wake up early for her job in the village later on. She would already be going on five hours of sleep; no point in wasting any more of those precious hours.

"Well, g'night you two," she told them, stifling a yawn as the Chunin sat up in bed, her eyes widening as the words formed meaning in her mind. Sorami didn't want to stick around any longer to watch more sixteen-year-old hormones rage wild, so she hurriedly crossed the room and left, closing the door behind her.

~End Chapter II~

Author's Comments: Well firstly, earlier I noticed that perhaps this should be called Author's Notes, but I don't really care. Anyway, I finished this probably about four months ago, but I never bothered to clean it up and edit it until yesterday and today. I figured I might as well put it up, but from now on I will probably take awhile. I have the next two chapters written, but I need to edit and I don't want to post another chapter until I finish Chapter 5, because I want to be able to update during the school year. I hope that you are all enjoying this story! I've written one-shots on a different site, but only one or two, and I don't count one-shots as true stories. They are stories, but they require less words, and their plots are relatively simple. You hafta make it short, after all. My story may be a little long for some readers, and that's all right because I respect that everyone enjoys different styles of writing. I prefer this format.

However, my sister told me that I needed to work on descriptions. She's right-my stories are mainly action and dialogue-oriented. So as I am writing, you may notice some awkward sentences in the chapters to come because I am experimenting with my writing style, and the way I describe things. I'm using this story to improve my writing, after all! Thank you for taking the time to read all this, because I know most people just skip over these! And mine are especially long ~_~ I hope you enjoy my story!