Of Lone Wolves and Lonely Foxes

by mechman123

AU,One day naruto comes across a stranger. Little does he or anyone in naruto's world realize that this stranger's dark past is going to turn their world upside down and inside out. Please Review! Chap4:1 percent done.

2. Food, Fight, and Flight

Chapter 2 Food, Fight and Flight!

notes: I do not own Naruto nor any other well know characters, objects, moves, etc. mentioned in this story. But I do own the original characters and moves that I created. So no stealing them.

This is my first Fic, so please read and review.

Important Note: The first chapter was a bit rough, in my opinion. I have made some important corrections to it. Mostly just expanding on some things that I had planed to at first but didn't. Hopefully I won't have to do it again.

"Blahh": normal speech and occasional sound effects.

"Blahh":Thoughts

(Blahh): Deeper thoughts-examples: kyuubi, inner sakura, other.

Enjoy!

-------------------

Naruto stared at the teen walking next to him as they walked down the path. How could someone not know what a Kage was? He was either very dumb or very clueless.

"Are you joking! You don't know what the Hokage is?" Naruto exclaimed. There was a brief pause before Jareth's mouth split into a smile. "…eehh Yeah, I was just yanken your chain there. Of course I know what the Hokage is. I was just playen around with you. You don't need to get to angry. Just a joke…" he said slightly rushed.

He remained rather silent after that, but smiled never the less. He paused for a moment to look out over the village again. His head stopped at each of the gates as he scanned the village over again. As he turned back to the path something caught his eye. Naruto kept walking for a few seconds before he noticed that Jareth was not next to him. He turned to see that he was staring at the faces on the monument.

"That's the Hokage monument" Naruto said. Jareth just remained quiet. "What? What's wrong?"

Jareth shook his head quickly as if to rid himself of something. "It…it's nothing, really... Well, okay, it's just that this kind of reminds me of something I saw once when I was younger." He said as he ran a hand up over his head. He sighed as he moved to catch up with Naruto.

As the pair drew near the streets that were connected to the path they were on, they could begin to hear the voices of the villagers who were talking amongst themselves as they continued to work on decorating the village. Jareth's eyes widened slightly as he took it all in. The decorations that were being put up were a myriad of colors, ranging from bright red lanterns to deep sea blue banners. Jareth was looking all around like a kid in a toy store, eyes moving from the decorations to the smiling people who were chatting with each other while they worked. Naruto navigated his way through the crowd not looking at anyone; Jareth on the other hand was looking at everyone. Every time he would make eye contact he would give the individual a nod and a smile. The farther into the crowd they went the larger his smile grew. It was as if he was drinking in all the happiness that filled the air around them. After a bit of seeing him smiling so much Naruto could not help but to begin to smile broadly himself, it was infectious. It was nice having someone to walk with other then Iruka, Jiraiya, or any of the other few people that would be willing to be with him when he wasn't on a mission. Sure he had become a bit quiet, but who cared. He was getting free ramen. That alone improved his mood.

Unknown to Naruto, he and Jareth had reached one of the major streets of the village and it was the busiest area in the town. People were moving here and there, many people were occasionally bumping into one another. Naruto and Jareth had just reached the main street when…

"Aaaughhh!" Naruto and a tall man carrying a bag filled with food and decorations slammed into each other.

"Hey, watch where you are going you little brat!" the man said.

"Gomen, I wasn't really paying much attention to the road," Naruto replied "here, let me help you pick this mess up…" Naruto bent down to pick up the bags but was abruptly pushed away.

"Don't touch them you dirty little monster!" the man said louder than before. The expression on the man's face was the one that seemed to be reserved solely for him—the kyuubi vessel. "Great you broke my decorations and smashed my food!" he yelled. The man's angry shouts were attracting the gaze of other onlookers, many of which recognized who was being yelled at. Some of the people in the immediate vicinity became quiet while others began to mutter about what was happening.

"Hey, I said I am sorry, what more do you want?" Naruto said.

The man glared at Naruto in a way that answered his question all too clearly. 'I want you to die, demon fox.' The man reached out and grabbed the front of Naruto's jumpsuit.

"You are going to pay for that you little monster…" he gritted out as he drew back his hand for a back handed slap. Just before the man could bring his hand forward to backhand Naruto another hand grabbed it firmly and began to shake it thoroughly.

"Hi there!" It was Jareth.

"Who the heck are you?"

"Hi the name is Jareth. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jareth smiled as he shook hands even harder before letting go.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing?" the man asked, annoyed that someone had stopped him.

"Oh nothing, I am just passing through and I see that you are having problems carrying your supplies. Do you need a hand?" Jareth replied, the smile still ever present on his face. His smile was frank and disarming. The angry man had trouble thinking up an answer.

"This punk kid ran into me and destroyed my things."

Jareth tilted his head over and inspected the bags. He bent over to get a closer look. "I don't see anything wrong with your things. The content of your bags seems intact," He said as he got back up. "And as for the cause of the accident, I think 'ran' is a bit of an exaggeration. He wasn't running, but rather walking as were you. Besides neither of you seemed to be paying attention which is entirely understandable. I mean, come on, there's a festival tomorrow." Jareth finished. The man's grip on Naruto slackened. He was taken aback by this stranger's cheerful demeanor. It took him a moment to remember that he was still holding the demon child. He quickly clenched his fist only to find that it was empty.

"Huuhhh? Where did he…" he began before he felt several bags being forced into his arms.

"Well here you are, my good sir; I hope we have not wasted too much of your time. We would help you take your things home but we really must go. I owe him lunch. Have a nice day." Jareth said rather quickly as he steered Naruto by the shoulder away from the now confused man.
Naruto was stunned. Jareth had just single handedly disarmed an angry man and got him away unharmed. In the past he would have normally been hit, often more then once and the beatings were much worse. He was really beginning to like Jareth.

"Well that was close." Jareth chuckled. "Now where is this 'Ichiraku' place that you spoke of?"

"It's just around this corner." And there it was, Ichiraku's. The ramen stand of the Gods! Or at least it was to Naruto. He sped up his pace as the smell of ramen reached his nose, self-trained specially to detect ramen within a mile radius.

"Ohayo, Oh-chan!" Naruto said loudly as he sat down.

"Ohayo, Naruto. I hope you are having a good day." Ichiraku said as he came out of the back room of the shop.

"I am now, one bowl of miso-pork ramen please!" he replied. As Ichiraku began to fill Naruto's order Jareth sat down in the seat on Naruto's right.

"Ohayo, sir, how can I help you?"

"Ohayo to you to," Jareth replied. "So what can I do for you?"

"Hmmm…well, what do you have?"

The man paused in the middle of mixing some dough to think about what they had. No one ever really asked that before... This guy wasn't a regular customer, which was pretty new to Ichiraku.

"Let's see... We have twelve kinds of ramen, seven kinds of rice, and the usual beverages," he said, assuming that Jareth probably knew what the 'usual' beverages here were.

"Ramen, eh? …You know I've never tried it before. I mean, I've seen it but never eaten it. Is it any good?" Naruto, who had been busy breathing in a thick stream of noodles, choked. N-N-N-NEVER?

"OF COURSE IT'S GOOD! RAMEN IS THE BEST FOOD KAMI-SAMA EVER CREATED IN THIS WORLD!" he exclaimed in a voice that was even louder than usual.

A mountain in the Hidden Snow Village shook with the volume of his voice, causing an avalanche, wiping out the entire village and burying them neck-deep in a snow drift. Not that it mattered.

The outburst had drawn the attention of multiple passers by, a few of them recognized who it was and gave their usual looks of distaste at Naruto's presence.

"Hey, hey no need to yell at me like that," Jareth said with a look of indignation on his face. "I can't help that I have never had ramen before, and don't forget that I am the one who is paying for this meal. Just for that I don't think I wanna pay for you," he said, almost snobbishly.

Naruto felt abashed and he dropped to his hands and knees as he apologized. "Sorry…" he said.

Jareth's indignant face suddenly switched back to its broad smile. "It's alright," he said nonchalantly. "I'm just being dramatic. You know me. Well...I guess actually you don't... But anyway, there's no real reason to apologize, and the sheer fact that you did, to me, is a sign of maturity that most teens that I've met lack. So cheer up."

Naruto's moment of shame was wiped away again by Jareths compliments, though his continuous gags could not go unpunished. Besides he was not called Konoha's number one prankster for nothing.

"Now, since you seem to be such a big fan of ramen, why don't you give me your expert opinion on which one is best?" Jareth said in a scholarly tone.

"Okay then," Naruto began, mocking Jareth's smart-aleck dialect. "Well it simply comes down to what kind of person you are and what mood you're in…" Naruto was interrupted when Ichiraku placed a bowl of steaming ramen in front of him.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said before breaking his chopsticks. After slurping up his first mouthful of ramen he looked at Jareth again, waiting for a response.

"Hmmmm… well, I've been traveling for a long time now and haven't spent much time in towns I passed, so I haven't had anything that was properly cooked. I guess I want something meaty and filling, but won't weigh me down. I prefer to be unhindered at all times." he finished.

After a short pause and another slurp of noodles, Naruto responded after contemplating hard on the subject, something he rarely did when he needed to. "I would recommend Chimaki Ramen for today. Today is a festival and it is very light."

"Allll-righty then, one Chimaki ramen and two big glasses of milk please, no wait scratch that. Make it three glasses of milk." Just moments later a steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of Jareth, who briefly glanced at Naruto's hand before picking up his own pair of chopsticks and attempted to dig into his ramen...

...And he failed.

Horribly.

As he brought the chopsticks to his mouth the noodles slipped off and splashed back into the bowl, leaving him to bite his chopsticks. Jareth blinked as he looked at his chopsticks then at his bowl. He seemed stunned, completely expressionless, save for a slightly dropped jaw. And then his expression turned into one of confusion and depression at his apparent inability to eat the delicious foreign meal. The look on his face was priceless. Naruto almost choked on his ramen, stifling laughter at his new friend's expense. Jareth tried again, only to have the same results, except for the fact that he now had tiny bite marks at the end of his chopsticks.

"Looks like you are having a bit of difficulty, would you like me to do it for you?" Naruto said, one side of his mouth starting to turn up as Naruto struggled inside to suppress a giant grin. Jareth turned to look at the blond.

"Oh, so you find this funny do you?" he said in a threatening voice, giving Naruto a menacing glare. "Well mock me if you will, for it shall be thy last!" The face he was making was far more comical then it was threatening. It would have been perfect if he only added the kooky villainous laughter after that. Naruto began to shake—more like convulse—as he tried to hold in his mirth.

'Oh no...' he thought. If he laughed then something was sure to come out of his nose. And boy did that hurt!

Jareth narrowed his eyes and spoke. "Still mock me do you? Then can you say…. DEATH BY CHOPSTICKS!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!" He held the sticks up to his face as if he was brandishing knives. This was the last straw, Naruto burst out into full blown laughter. Choking on ramen broth, as he had finished his noodles just in time to avoid snorting them back up.

He was laughing so hard that he almost knocked over the three empty ramen bowls next to him. Ichiraku had to use the counter to steady himself as he laughed.

Jareth smiled broadly as Naruto tried to calm himself down. As he prepared to dig into his ramen again, he turned his head slightly to look at the small clock on the wall. With a slightly less amused look on his face, he then reached into a pant pocket to pull out a small silver pocket watch which clicked open. His eyes moved between the two clocks as if to compare the times. His smile faded ever so slightly for a moment before returning at full strength.

Three thirty...it was still early. A good time was being had by all and there was no need to rush. He put the watch back in his pocket before continuing his pathetic attempts to eat his ramen only to be met with more laughter.

"As this rate your ramen will be cold before you get to eat it," Ichiraku said with a chuckle as he put a seventh bowl of ramen in front of his number one customer.

"Oh, you think that this is sad, well there was this one time when I...—HAH!" Jareth said as he finally managed to properly grab some of the noodles and promptly ate them. "Wow, these are great! I can see why you like them so much. (Slurp) Now what was I about to say… ah yes (slurp) so…?" Jareth began to tell Naruto a story about a time that he had gone fishing between slurps of noodles and gulps of milk. Time seemed to pass in a blur as Jareth talked. Part way through the story Jareth paused half way through an odd gesture and looked into the crowd, but a moment later he shrugged and said he thought he heard someone crying before returning to his story.

--------

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Dusk-Training grounds-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The light was growing dim as the sun slowly set casting long shadows over the landscape. The sky was turning a dark golden bronze that no artist can ever truly recreate on a canvas. The fading light was the queue for many animals to settle in for the night and to wake up for others.

It was so peaceful and quiet that you could hear anything if you stopped to listen. One could hear the melodious chirping of crickets, the soft gurgling of the stream as it moved over the polished rocks, the cueing of a mourning dove as it sang to its mate, or even the sobbing of a young girl. If anyone had been around, they would have heard sorrowful and soul wrenching sobs that were coming from a huddled mass leaned against a wooden training post.

In the fading light her hair shined like polished obsidian and her smooth creamy skin had taken on the color of the sky so perfectly that no artist could ever hope to recreate on even the cleanest of canvases. And her eyes shined like pearls with a hint of lavender. Or they would have if they had been open. And if anyone had been around to ask what her name was and she had not been crying she would have told them it was Hyuuga Hinata.

She had been leaning against the training log, crying for quite some time. Not once had her sobs diminished in volume, only increased. Only two things were on her mind, 'failure' and 'weakness'.

"I am so weak. I am a failure. I always let everyone down. I can't do anything right. I am weak. I am a failure. I am weak. I am a failure. I am…" she chanted to herself, clutching her head and closing her eyes, as if in pain. Time meant nothing to her.

"…I am a failure…"

The events of the day replayed themselves in her mind as if they had just happened.

"Weakness..."

The words her father had used echoed in her like a bullet ricocheting around in her skull.

"Why? Why can't I ever do anything right?"

The words were spinning around inside her like an endless torrent of water, slowly eating away at the stone that was her. Sadly this was part of her life; the continuous barrage of insults and criticisms she received from her family was part of her daily life. Her Father, the council, and every now and then even her younger sister would look down on her and tell her that she was weak and a failure. She even felt that her own small group of friends looked down on her. Whenever she was on a mission, it always seemed that it was her that caused it to fail. It was always her fault. In truth she was wrong, every time her team had failed a mission it was not because of her, but some kind of miscalculation on her team's part or something they had missed, not just hers.

However she was a Hyuuga, and Hyuuga were considered the most powerful clan in the fire nation, they were considered to be all powerful and all seeing. It was considered impossible to hide from the Byakugan, for it could see everything. And because of this she was expected to be perfect. She was expected to match word for word the expectations of everyone. But alas she did not. She fell short of those expectations and because of this she was deemed a failure. Every day, before she met up with her team for a mission her father would tell her not to get in her teams way.

"Make sure you don't hold your team back this time." He would say to her before she left. Well at least now she would not have to hear that any more, because her two team mates had moved on. They both had become chuunin at the last exam. She was the only one on her team to not pass. Sure not all of the original rookie nine had become chuunin, but that didn't matter to her father. Neji's team had all become chuunin, which made the council, more then her father, very angry. They had said she made the clan look foolish by having a branch house member become a chuunin before a main house member.

Hinata dug her fingers deeper into her hair, almost drawing blood, as these harsh realities came forth. Her subconscious was struggling with these horrible thoughts, it was trying to fight them with what little strength it had in order to preserve and protect her sanity. Sadly her confidence had long since been all but destroyed by her father. Now she had no self confidence of her own. She relied on one thing for confidence. Or rather one person. Naruto. She had always admired his confidence. No number of obstacles would stop him, no matter the odds; he would persevere until he was victorious. When she had first laid eyes on him, she could feel the confidence radiating from him. It was so thick and abundant that it seemed almost tangible. When she was around him or thought of his smiling face and loud voice, she felt as if small bits of his confidence were seeping into her, giving her strength. That's how it seemed for everyone that came in contact with him. He showed them things that they had once not believed in or refused to accept. He had freed Neji from his believe of fate. And although he screwed up a lot he did it proudly.

But now he was gone. He had left a year ago to go off to train under another sensei's tutelage and wouldn't be back for at least 2 more years. She had heard rumors that he had come home for some reason, but she had yet to see him. And she had looked when she had the time, but she couldn't find him dashing what little hope she had to pieces. For a while after he had left she had retained some of his confidence and encouragement, but it didn't last. In only a matter of weeks she had begun to lose that borrowed confidence. Then she had lost it when she took her second chuunin exam. Now, now she had nothing. Her team mates had moved on, she had continuously failed everyone and felt as if she couldn't take it any more. She was drowning in a sea of her own emotions and her only life preserver, Naruto, was nowhere to be found.

"I am weak. I am a failure. I am weak. I am a failure. I am…."

She began to rock in place as she repeated those words to herself. Her clenched fingers finally broke the skin and drew blood. It was as if she was slowly being driven mad. The pain of her failure and weakness was invading her very essence, her soul. She was becoming a being of pure and utter sorrow. Fully focused on her own worthlessness. Her sobs echoed her feelings of sadness. If she had not been so obsessed with her dark thoughts. If she had been more aware of her surroundings she would have noticed the sun had set and it was dark out. She would have noticed the lack of the full moon. She would have noticed that the clearing she was in had gone deadly silent. The crickets had stopped their merriment, the stream had seemed to stop flowing, and the doves had stopped their joyful singing. All was quiet, all was still. If she had been more aware she would have noticed that she was no longer the only thing there. If she had been more alert she might have noticed that something was slowly creeping towards her. And if she could see its eyes, she would have noticed their lifeless yet hungry gaze as it watched her, slowly…. Moving towards her and its intent was all to clear.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Back at the Ramen Stand-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"And that's why you should never go fishing and wash your clothes at the same time." Jareth said ending his story. The story was so funny that Naruto was in tears and gasping for breath as he laughed. Even Ichiraku had been listening to the story causing him to get burned by drops of boiling water that leaped from the pots of cooking ramen. Once Naruto regained his breath, which took quite some time, he spoke.

"Jareth that is easily one of the funniest stories I have ever heard." He said before relapsing into another fit of chuckling.

"I particularly enjoyed the part when the fish bit your…" Jareth quickly cut across him.

"Yes, yes, it was very funny, especially since it didn't happen to you." He said with a sour expression.

"Bad things always sound funnier when they happen to someone else. But dam, I can still feel where it bit me." He said, before reaching down and rubbing his lower region. "It was three days before I was able to sit down again. If it had bitten me any lower I would be walking a lot lighter, if you ketch my drift."

Naruto chuckled again. It was nice to hear about someone else screwing up big time for once. It always seemed to be him who was screwing up on some simple task or another. However after this story he felt a lot better about all those times he had screwed up. The two belched in satisfaction.

"Well I must say that ramen tasted great. Three bowls and I still feel like I have room for some more, another bowl and another glass of milk while you're at it please." He said cheerfully.

"Jareth, why are you drinking so much milk?" Naruto asked remembering all those times that he had gotten diaria from drinking milk.

"Well I don't get to drink a lot of it since I am always on the road, so I don't get a regular intake of calcium. Getting a proper intake of vitamins is important. Not getting enough vitamins can stunt your growth." Naruto felt a bit hot around the collar. He mostly ate ramen; sure he ate other things, but a good 59 percent of his diet consisted of ramen. A sudden thought occurred to Naruto.

"Yo Jareth, why are you traveling in the first place." Jareth paused briefly in bringing his chopsticks to his lips in a moment of what could be considered deep thought before bringing the noodles to his mouth and eating them. This somewhat annoyed Naruto. Before Naruto could ask again Jareth spoke.

"Just am." He said shrugging, before filling his mouth with more noodles. This did not stem Naruto's curiosity; he never did know when to stop.

"Come on, what kind of an answer is that?" Naruto whined, "Come on, why are you traveling?" for the first time since they had met, it was apparent that Jareth was rapidly getting annoyed.

"If I tell you will you promise to take my word for it and not ask again?" Naruto nodded vigorously. "I am traveling because…" A muffled rumbling sound interrupted Jareth's sentence. It was coming from the street behind them. The pair stuck their heads out of the stand in unison to see where the sound was coming from. It was growing slowly louder. Moments later the source of the sound came into view. Coming down the street was two men on a motorized bike. Motor vehicles were rare in Konoha, but not unheard of. The village did possess a few such machines however they were used for construction purposes only. It's not that they detested them, it simply that there was no point in having them. They were too loud, too expensive to keep, they polluted, and all around pointless to have in a village such as Konoha. The motorbike moving towards Ichirakus' seemed different. It wasn't very loud and it didn't seem to be releasing any emissions. After a few moments of staring at it Jareth went back to eating his noodles. The two men on the bike came to a stop outside Ichiraku's and dismounted. The second their features were distinguishable to Naruto, he could immediately tell that they were shinobi, but not of this village. Their clothes looked to be the same as any standard jounin with only a few differences. Their vest, sleeves, and pants where splotches of green brown and black. On the opposite leg of the kunai holster was another holster only they had tools sticking out instead of kunai. What truly stood out was their hitaiate; it had an outline of a hand with an eye in the center of it. The same eye symbol was engraved in their gloves. The two men lifted the flap of the stand, entered and sat down. Naruto tensed and prepared to take a ready position, but one of the men spoke.

"Relax runt, we are just here to eat before rejoining our squad. We have been traveling all day and we heard that there was a cheap ramen stand near by." The first man said in a cool yet superior tone. The second man grunted in conformation. Naruto relaxed a little, but he was still a little unsure of the two. It wouldn't have bothered him if it wasn't for the menacing auras they gave off. The two men looked at the menu and ordered some miso pork ramen. Naruto kept the two men in the corner of his eye. They seemed to be aware of this. Jareth on the other hand seemed to be completely absorbed in his food, slurping away contentedly.

"You got a problem, runt." the first man said gruffly.

"No."

"Then stop annoying me, I already told you that we are not here to start trouble."

"Good, because I don't want to have to get my hands dirty," Naruto said smirking, his overconfidence present as usual. Both men laughed. The second one smirked as he responded.

"A wimp like you hurt us, HA! That's a good one. We would kill you before you had a chance to react."

"HA, I would love to see you try. I can take you on," Naruto said. The two stood up and locked eyes when Ichiraku spoke up.

"Hey Hey, no fighting or I won't serve you any ramen," he said. This made Naruto stiffen up, and then sit down rapidly. There was no way he could go without his precious ramen. The man simply shrugged and sat down as a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. Just as he was about to dig in Ichiraku's daughter called from the back room.

"Hey, Otou-san can you give me a hand for a second?" she said. "I will be right there." Ichiraku went through the door into the back of the shop.

"Blehhhh," said one of the men next to Naruto. "I can see why this stuff is cheap. It's horrible." Naruto began to fume at this. No one insulted Ichiraku's ramen and got away with it. He was just about to make an example of him when he heard a gagging sound from his right. Jareth was clutching his chest as he tried to breath.

"Hey are you alright?"

Jareth didn't respond, and began to beat his chest in order to clear his throat. Naruto reached out to slap him on the back, but when Jareth saw him he made frantic hand gestures as if to stop him. During one of his wild swings he knocked over his bowl of ramen, spilling it. The two other shinobi simply snorted in amusement. Finally with a hard hand hit to his chest he cleared his throat.

"Ahh, much better. I ate some of it to fast and it got caught." He looked down at his spilt ramen and frowned. "Ohhh, I was going to eat that." His statement was met by laughter. The two men on Naruto's left were openly laughing at Jareth.

"I am sorry, but do you find something funny?" Jareth said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you were choking on ramen. How the hell do you choke on ramen?" the first man got out before laughing again.

"You are aware that I could have died, right? Laughing at someone that is potentially going to choke to death is not nice."

"Oh and what are you going to do about it?" the first mans companion asked pulling out a kunai and twirling it around.

"Nothing." Jareth said simply. "I don't believe in hurting people, especially with sharp objects. Violence is not the answer to such trivial matters," he finished while reaching into his over shirt to apparently scratch under his armpit. He sighed.

"Just as I thought another wussy. All I have seen are wussys in this village; it's hard to believe this place is considered to have one of the strongest military forces," the first man said. Naruto was rapidly losing his temper. Not only were these guys insulting him and his beautiful ramen, now they were insulting his home.

"Uh I would just like to point out that I am not from this village, I am just a traveler passing through." Jareth spoke up, but they seemed to ignore him.

"Well I better clean this mess up before it stains the counter. I would rather not have to pay for property damage." Jareth said as he reached over to the left to grab a napkin. "No offence to the old man, but dang he really needs to find a better place to put his spare bowls." He mumbled as his arm reached over the pile of twenty five odd ramen bowls that actually belonged to Naruto who remained silent. When it came time to paying the bill it was going to be interesting.

"Hey!" the shinobi closest to Naruto shouted as Jareth's hand passed over his bowl. Naruto wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw small brown flakes fall from Jareth's hand into the bowl.

"There we go, all clean and no stain" Jareth said as he wiped up the last of the spill. The two foreign shinobi snorted and the first one muttered "wimp" before digging into his ramen.

"So how are you two doing?" Jareth asked the foreign shinobi.

"Shut up."

"Oh come on, let's talk. We got off on the wrong foot and I want to set it right. End the tension yah know," Jareth said.

"I said shut your trap, yah little wimp."

"Is that the only insult you know? Wimp. That is hardly painful and merely displays your limited vocabulary. You should read more books. I recommend that you…" Jareth was cut off as the Shinobi sitting next to Naruto moved in front of him with a kunai drawn.

"Listen you, if you don't shut your mouth I will shorten your life span!" he gritted out, bringing the knife up into view. They were standing chest to chest.

"You know it is unwise to threaten me."

"Oh, why is that?" He said tickling Jareth's goatee with the tip of the blade.

"Because bad things always happen to people that get involved with me," Jareth said as he narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled.

"I think its time to…" he began but got no farther. He felt a sharp pain in his gut. He had not been punched. He had not been stabbed. No one had even moved. A sudden feeling of vertigo swept threw the shinobi's body before he grabbed his stomach and keeled over. Jareth brought his head down on level with the man.
"I believe it is time for you to go to the nearest hospital before you choke on your own bile or something silly like that." He said making a slightly silly expression that was actually somewhat unnerving. The first shinobi's comrade got up and grabbed his friend and got on the bike which came to life as soon as he put the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life and the pair took off down the road towards the hospital. Naruto stared in awe as Jareth went back to his seat chuckling.

"What did I tell you, it's always funny when bad things happen to other people. Especially rude people who don't show you respect." Naruto just stared at him. He scooted slowly away from Jareth less he befalls a similar fate. Jareth saw his expression of apprehension and chuckled again. "You can relax; nothing is going to happen to you. During my travels I have seen many things and collected twice as many. Let's just say that some plants, when dried, can cause indigestion and nausea. And let's just say that I might have picked up some of such plants." He grinned as he began to swing a small key around on a chain.

"Hey what's that?"

"Oh this? Let's just say I swiped it from them as punishment for not paying and for annoying me." He said. There was a moment of silence. Then Naruto burst out into laughter. Jareth also began to chuckle. Soon they were both laughing together. The not so pleasant feeling the two men had brought with them was gone and the old feeling of joy was returning. Ichiraku finally returned to the front of the shop to find the pair laughing their heads off.

"What's so funny?" he asked. The two blonds grinned at each other evilly.

"Oh nothing" they said in unison, before bursting into laughter. As Naruto laughed Jareth, chuckling reached into his pocket and pulled out the small silver pocket watch and clicked it open. His smile fell. 10:30pm, it was getting late. Many people had begun to pack it up for the night, planning to finish their work tomorrow morning.

"Well it is getting rather late and I really must be going."

"WHAT? NOW? WHY?" Naruto yelled. Back at the Hidden snow village they had just finished shoveling out their village when another nearby mountain shook with the volume of Naruto's voice causing an avalanche, burying the entire village again in another neck-deep snow drift. Not that it mattered. Naruto had become rather attached to the teenager. He had been incredibly nice to him and he was funny as hell. If that wasn't enough he had offered to buy him ramen which was even more of a bonus. Of coarse all anyone needed to do to get in Naruto's good book was to do that, but that was beside the point.

"I am sorry Naruto, but I really must be going. I want to make a good start before I go to sleep." He said with a sigh.

"Why don't you just stay in the village for a while? The festival is tomorrow," Naruto whined. Jareth simply shook his head.

"I am sorry man. I would love to stay for a few days. Heck it feels like years since I have slept in a proper bed for more then a night. But I just can't stay." Jareth tensed his legs preparing to get up when he saw Naruto's face. It was one of dejection and sadness.

"Could you at least have one more bowl of ramen with me?" he said. Jareth bit his lip in thought.

"Oh alright, I suppose I could go for one more bowl of ramen. Who knows when I will be able to eat it again? Another bowl please," Jareth said smiling as a sixth bowl of ramen was placed in front of him and dug in, while Naruto readied himself for his 30th bowl. Just as Naruto was about to dig in he heard a loud familiar female voice call out his name.

"Naruto!" It was Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-ch..." Naruto got out before he saw her face. It was worried and upset. "Hey what's wrong? Did something happen?" Sakura stopped outside the stand panting very lightly.

"Yes! It's Hinata." She said. The air of good mood that had been returning to the stand had vanished.

"What happened to her?"

"She was attacked and terribly wounded."

"What?" Naruto yelled. Everyone in the immediate vicinity winced at the volume of his voice.

"Yeah, she was found by Kiba and Shino near one of the training grounds just before the attacker could move in for the final attack. She is in a horrible state. She has several wounds all over her body." Naruto gritted his teeth in anger, while Jareth continued to eat his ramen only more slowly.

"Who did it?" Naruto asked. "I don't know, they couldn't tell since it was so dark, but according to Kiba it resembled some kind of half man half beast thing and it reeked of dried blood." At this Jareth rested his chopsticks in his bowl for a moment before continuing.

"Is there anything else?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, there was something odd about it. She is bleeding but the slashes didn't appear until shortly after the thing that attacked her had disappeared." Jareth's hand froze half way to his mouth with noodles dangling from the chopsticks, mouth hanging open, eyes staring into the counter top. He put the chopsticks down and continued to stare at the counter in deep thought.

"Come on Naruto, everyone is heading to the hospital right now."

"Right!" Naruto said, "I am sorry Jareth but I have to go. Good bye and thank you for the ramen" Naruto bowed before taking off with Sakura towards the hospital. All that was left at the stand was Ichiraku and Jareth.

"How horrible… that poor girl getting attacked. She was so nice. One time she…" Ichiraku began to talk but Jareth didn't seem to be listening. He pulled out the small watch yet again and stared at it hard before closing it. Finally he snapped back to life cutting off Ichiraku in the middle of something about Hinata trying to get a part time job there.

"Which way to the hospital?" he said in a slightly rushed yet level voice. Ichiraku paused before pointing in the direction everyone else had gone.

"…and take a right at a tea house. Why do you…" Jareth picked up his bag and dashed out of the stand. "Hey wait, what about the bill?" Ichiraku cried out. Just as he was preparing to chase after Jareth he heard a soft ringing as of metal on wood. He looked down at the counter to see three golden coins. He hefted and bit one to test it.

"This is pure gold!" It was almost three times the amount due. "How the heck did he get his hands on it?" He wondered out loud as he began to close up the stand for the night.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

In only a minute or so Naruto and Sakura had arrived at the hospital. They ran inside to the front desk. Sakura spoke momentarily to one of the staff and then took off down a hallway with Naruto on her heels. They went up a flight of stairs and down another corridor. At the end of the corridor they could see a group of medic-nins carrying a bloody stretcher into a room marked emergency room. Along with the medic-nins where a group of young teenagers, the rookie nine minus Sasuke, were standing there watching as Hinata's prone figure was moved into the ER.

"Looks like everyone is here and there is nothing we can do. How troublesome," Shikamaru said in his usual drawl. Ino hit him over the head.

"Don't start complaining you lazy bum. This is a serious matter," she said in her usual loud and bossy voice.

"But he is right. There is nothing we can do." Chouji said before opening a bag of potato chips. Ino turned on him next

"And you, how can you think about eating at a time like this?"

"Would you three quite down?" Kiba barked. "You are all as bad as Naruto when it comes to volume."

"Hey!" Naruto said before glaring at Kiba. "Don't Hey me. We all know it's true."

The two glared at each other and a brawl was about to take place until Shino spoke up.

"Both of you need to remain quiet, this is a hospital," he said. The two huffed and looked away for a moment.

"Kiba, what can you tell us about what happened?" Sakura said. Kiba just sighed and shook his head.

"I am sorry, I don't know much more then what is known now. Someone or something attacked her. It smelt of dried blood, but none of it belonged to Hinata. She didn't bleed till whatever that thing was disappeared. What's more is that all it took was two attacks, and then it ran off and disappeared. Tsunade has already sent Neji's team and some ANBU out to look for it. That is all I can tell you." There was a short silence in which only the sound of Chouji munching on chips could be heard. There was a soft ping as the light over the door turned on.

"Well we can't stay here; come on there is a small waiting area with a nurse's station next to it we can wait at. The group sighed as it made its way to the waiting area. They were all thinking the same thing. "What happened?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Moments before in the Forest-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was night out and the forest was virtually pitch black. You could barely see where you were going unless you had incredibly good eyes. However there was nothing to see. It seemed as if all the animals had disappeared. There wasn't a single creature to be found. Not even bugs. You could however hear something. It was the sobbing of a young girl. A young girl that went by the name of Hyuuga Hinata. She had been crying for hours on end. Not once relenting, she had been crying since the sun set. Time meant nothing to the poor thing as she sobbed her heart out. She sobbed for the pain that she felt of being weak, the grief for not being able to meet everyone's expectations and the sorrow of not being strong like her Naruto-kun, the one she admired with all her heart. She was so absorbed in her own weakness that she did not notice that she was no longer alone. The thing that watched her, moved closer. Ever closer. Its eyes were lifeless, yet it held an unnatural hunger in them. All that one could hear was the sobs of the little girl and that is all Hinata herself could hear. Her own sobs and thoughts. She thought of nothing else but her sadness, or she did at least until she suddenly couldn't hear anything anymore. Silence. A silence so thick you could cut it with a knife had filled the air. Silence filled Hinata's mind. She couldn't even hear herself. Just as she realized this, a great and terrible sound filled the clearing. It was a loud screech that chilled her to her very core. Before she could think about what it was that made that fearful sound, before she could turn her head, before she could even register anything at all, the thing behind her struck. The creature lashed out with a clawed appendage that raked Hinata's back. Pain. Pain like she had never felt before coursed its way through her body. This felt nothing like any other injury she had received before. A kunai never hurt this much. No jutsu had ever made her feel such pain. This pain felt so deep, almost as if something was ripping at her very essence. The pain lasted for only a second before stopping. Hinata screamed out in pain as she fell forward. As she hit the ground she rolled forward, this was a mistake. More pain flooded through her body as her back touched the ground. She rolled for a few feet before stopping herself and trying to stand up. She could still feel the pain from the first strike which hindered her.

"What… what was that?" she asked herself. She looked around for the source of the pain. She could hardly see anything. "Byakugan," she said as she activated her clan's blood line limit. Nothing. She could see nothing. She could see no living thing in any direction. There was another loud screech, just as chilling as before. As she heard the screech she saw something. An unnatural black void was right in front of her. The blackness had taken on a humanoid shape, and that humanoid shape was pulling back its arm as it prepared for another attack. Hinata leaped to one side as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough. The creature's claw just managed to scratch her side. Again the same pain flooded through her being. If felt just as bad as the first attack and lasted just as long. She hit the ground hard and tumbled a short distance before stopping again.

"What is this thing? I can't see it. I can't…" Her thoughts were cut off yet again by the screeching sound just before the creature swiped again. This time she was able to avoid getting hit. All that was ripped was her clothes. Her adrenaline was beginning to pump through her body giving her the strength she needed to stand up.

Hinata tried to concentrate harder using her Byakugan. she was just beginning to be able to make out the faintest of outlines of some thing that was charging towards her. Again, the screech followed by an attack from her unknown foe. She dodged again and slipped into her fabled fighting style, Jyuuken. As the creature moved forward she lashed out with an open handed palm, aimed at its chest. The strike connected, however the creature seemed un-phased and slashed at her arm. She felt the pain shoot through her arm. As soon as the pain subsided, her arm fell limply to her side. She tried to move it but she was only met with pain. She jumped back to avoid the clawed arm of the enemy as it attacked again.

"What was going on, why can't I harm this… thing? At this rate I… I will be killed… because of my weakness." Hinata stood their dazed. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. She was weak. She knew she could not win because of this. The feeling of self preservation inside her was beginning to fade as she seemed to prepare herself for the inevitable. "You are weak, you are a failure, you will DIE!" a voice inside her mind told her. "You can't win. You were born a failure and now you will die as a failure and no one will care. No one!"

"No," she tried to counter "I can win; I just need to try harder. Just like Naruto-kun!" she shouted to herself. For a second she could see his smiling face and watched him as he mouthed the words "You can do it Hinata!" To Hinata all was well in that moment. However her moment of encouragement was shattered by that heart rending screech and when she focused on the creature in front of her she was only able to jump back a foot which was not far enough to escape the attack which struck her in the center of the chest . An agony, unrivaled by any thing she had felt previously, flooded her senses.

Hinata's head tilted back as she opened her mouth in a silent scream. It felt like her soul itself was being shredded into pieces. She felt the pain from each previous attack rack her body. And what was worse, she felt the pain that she had been feeling for the past few hours. The pain of being looked down upon. The pain of being a failure. The pain of feeling alone. All she knew was this terrible terrible pain. No amount of words could truly describe it. No picture could truly capture it. It is a feeling that you can only understand if you are the one experiencing it.

Hinata collapsed to the ground writhing in pain. A high pitch, blood curdling scream finally escaped her mouth and echoed in the forest. The creature stood over Hinata's form. It seemed to be bathing in her torment and reveling in her anguish. There was a brief moment in which it simply stood their, then it raised its large claw till it was poised over Hinata's unprotected heart and prepared to strike one final time. This time, to end it. Just as the arm swung downwards…

"Gatsuuga!" could be heard as two spinning twisters struck the creature, knocking it back from Hinata.

"Stay away from our friend you bastard!" the chuunin Kiba yelled and was accompanied by a growl from a transformed Akamaru. Although it was hard to see even for Kiba, he could still see the shadowy figure that had been assaulting his ex-teammate. There was a strong smell of dried blood in the air, though much to his relief he could not smell Hinata's blood. The creature gave off its piercing screech again, which caused a shiver to run down Kiba's spine.

"I don't know who or what you are, but I won't let you get any closer." The creature charged forward. Just as Kiba prepared to perform another Gatsuuga, there was a whistling sound as a kunai went by Kiba and struck the creature in the chest. The creature staggered for a brief moment before it continued forward. It had hardly taken to steps before there was a hissing sound followed by an explosion as the exploding tag attached to the kunai detonated. The explosion blinded everyone in the clearing.

"Hey Shino, don't do that. I can't see." Kiba said, irritably as Shino landed silently on Kiba's other side. He stood their un-phased by the flash since he was wearing his sunglasses. As Kiba's eyes readjusted to the light he could see no trace of what had been assailing Hinata.

"That's odd, where is the body?" Kiba muttered under his breath. "I guess you did it in with that explosive note. Whatever it was it is definitely…" Kiba got no further as there was a subdued screech as the thing that they had momentarily believed dead got back up.

"It is still alive?"

"Apparently." Shino said curtly. Kiba moved back into his offensive stance when Shino put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait a moment."

The shadowy figure was no longer standing upright; it was now down on all three of its remaining limbs. It screeched again, before turning around and dashing off into the trees. Akamaru prepared himself to give chase but Kiba stopped him.

"We can't chase after it; we have to take care of Hinata first." He said. Akamaru gave a gruff bark before poofing back into his normal form. The three turned back to Hinata's still writhing form. Short cries of pain were coming from her.

"Hinata are you alright? Hinata speak to us. Hinata…" Kiba began but stopped when a dreadful smell reached his nose. It was the scent of blood, Hinata's blood.

"Crap, when did she start bleeding?" he shouted.

"It must not have started till just now, but why now…? We must hurry back to the village and take her to Tsunade." Shino replied, with the first sign of emotion present in his voice for the first time in a while. "I will have my bugs stem the bleeding as best I can. Put her on Akamaru's back."

"OK." Kiba said before picking Hinata's body up and depositing her on his canine companion's rather large back. Shino's bugs began to crawl over her body as they secured her to Akamaru and tried to stem the bleeding.

"Right, let's go!" "Ruff!" Kiba and his dog partner said before taking off to the village at full speed. They could only hope they would make it in time.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Back at the Hospital, current time-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The Rookie nine, now rookie seven, were waiting at the nurses station down the hall from the operating room. They would occasionally ask what the time was despite the fact that there was a clock hanging over the nurse. Apart from the soft tapping of feet up and down the hall, the tick of the clock, and soft beeping of a monitor it was silent. Nobody spoke anymore, not even Naruto was talking. The main reason he wasn't talking was because Sakura had punched him down a corridor when he wouldn't stop yelling about how he wanted to find the person responsible for Hinata's condition. In truth everyone wanted to find the scum, but other people more adequately equipped were looking. The clock on the wall read 10:50. Naruto was sitting hunched in one of the chairs surrounding a small table. He gently rubbed the still sore bruise that Sakura gave him, though his mind was else where.

"Who attacked her? I hope she is alright..." he thought to himself.

"Zzzzz… no..." Kiba said as he slept. "No I don't wana...zzzzzzz."

Shino sat motionless in his seat. It was hard to tell if he was still awake. One by one they were drifting off to sleep. The Rookie seven sat there at the nurses' station waiting for news on Hinata's condition. All was quiet apart from the soft tapping of feet, the tick of the clock, and the gentle snoring of Chouji in the waiting space. Naruto, being the only one still awake, continued to brood.

"I hope she is alright… I swear I will find the bastard that attacked her and…."

"Yo, how's your friend doing?" a familiar voice said softly. Naruto jumped in his seat.

"Jareth? What are you doing here? I thought you left?" he said, momentarily breaking the silence.

"Hey not so loud, no I didn't leave, and I came to see how your friend was doing. So…?" Naruto's surprise at his new friends' sudden appearance quickly disappeared as he remembered where they were. At his question he looked down as he responded.

"According to Kiba she is bleeding very badly and they can't find the person or thing responsible. If I ever get my hands on who or what ever did this to Hinata I will kick its ass so bad that…." He trailed off. Jareth smiled slightly.

"I am sure you will. I take it you hold her in high regard, she wouldn't happen to be a 'Special' friend would she?" he said with a raised eyebrow. Naruto was startled by the question.

"She is not my girl friend or anything! But she is still my friend," he said loudly. "All my friends are important to me and I would do anything to protect them! I'd even put my life on the line for them!" He finished with a volume bordering on shouting. Sakura clocked him over the head with a fist as she turned in her sleep causing another lump to form.

"I can see they think highly of you…" Jareth said wryly. "Well cheer up little man, being angry and unhappy won't help her get better. Think about happy things, like… ramen or something." Naruto tried but couldn't bring himself to smile, the situation was too serious.

"Come on cheer up! Turn that frown upside down." He said.

"No mommy, I don't wana wear a flee collar zzzzzz…" Kiba mumbled in his sleep causing Naruto's mouth to twitch.

"There you go… comedy is the best medicine for flagging spirits." Naruto was about to speak up when a familiar person made their presence known by clearing her throat. It was Tsunade.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto yelled waking the rest of the rookies from their slumber.

"Baa-chan! How is she? Is she alright? Have you found…" Naruto's long list of loud questions was ended by Ino who threw a magazine at the back of his head.

"Shut up Naruto and let her speak!" She yelled. Tsunade sighed.

"Thank you Ino…," Tsunade said with a weak smile which disappeared a moment later as she prepared herself to give them the news of Hinata's condition.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but there is no other way to tell you. Things are looking grim and from the looks of it…she won't make it." She finished. The temperature seemed to drop to zero in the nurses station. No one moved, they simply stared at Tsunade in shock.

"...Wha-what do you mean?" Ino asked in a stunned voice.

Tsunade sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "We managed to stop the bleeding at first but after a while the wounds would reopen. We don't know why or how they are doing it. She has also gone into a deep coma due to heavy psychological damage that we can't seem to fully fix. If she was awake she would be in terrible pain. Her vitals are slowly deteriorating. At this rate she will be dead by noon tomorrow." All of the shinobi at the station stared blankly at Tsunade as they took it all in.

"But Baa-chan, isn't there anything you can do? You are still trying right? You haven't given up have you!" Naruto yelled his voice full of emotion. Tsunade shook her head slowly.

"There isn't much more we can do at this point. We are still trying, but the cards are stacked against her. At this point the only thing that will be able to save her is a miracle." Tsunade said sadly. Everyone looked down at this as the realization that Hinata was going to die sunk in. With one hand supporting his head, Jareth had closed his eyes in deep thought.

"Well can we at least see her?" Kiba asked softly, Akamaru giving a soft whine in agreement.

"We are moving her into another room at the moment and Shizune is taking care of her right now, so you will have to wait a few minutes. She will contact this nurse station when it is ok to come in and if there is any problem. Her vitals are on display there too. I wish there was more we could do now. I am heading to my office to look for anything that might help." Tsunade said before departing for her office. The group of shinobi fell back into their seats.

"I don't believe it…." Sakura said weakly.

"We are going to lose her…" Chouji said no longer eating his chips. He had suddenly lost his appetite which spoke of how dire the news was.

"She is going to die… and we will never get to talk to her again…" Ino said on before bursting into muffled sobs. Chouji reached over with a hand and rubbed her back, thus causing her to spring forward and latch on to him, squeezing as tight as she could. Shikamaru only sighed and closed his eyes. Kiba had a firm grip around Akamaru's neck as he struggled to withhold his tears.

"How can she leave us? This isn't fair!" he said somewhere between a sob and a yell.

"Indeed it is not right." Shino said. "Nor is it fair. She was a good person…. And a good friend that we will all miss dearly." He finished his eye brows the only sign of his sadness. Jareth still sat their motionless as a statue. All that could be heard at the waiting space was the soft beeping of a monitor, the soft rhythmic tapping of feet on the floor, and the sounds of sorrow as most of the rookies cried for their good friend lying in a room, slowly dieing.

The sudden sound of a hand smashing into a table caused everyone to jump.

"Is that it? It's all over just like that?" It was Naruto. Everyone stared at him for his outburst

"You are all just going to lose hope just like that and give up? We need to have some confidence in Hinata!" he yelled.

"Naruto you heard Tsunade, there is nothing they can do. They are trying their hardest and it is not working," Ino said, with a bit of reproach in her voice.

"Well they have to try harder. They have to do more! They have to…" he was abruptly cut off as a teary eyed Sakura slapped him across the face almost sending him across the waiting room. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Naruto, there is nothing they can do! I know it is hard to believe, but it is over. She is going to die…" she said gently. Naruto jerked himself out of her grasp. He refused to believe that Hinata was going to die. He ignored the blood now trickling down his cheek.

"Your wrong…" he said in an under breath, that was never the less heard by everyone. Jareth had watched the byplay between the two friends. The cheerful sparkle of his eyes had been replaced with a hard yet sorrowful gaze. He stared down at the table. Sakura had moved over to Ino, whose sobs had redoubled, leaving Naruto with Jareth.

"This isn't right. There has got to be something we can do?" Naruto muttered under his breath. "I refuse to just let her die!" he said more adamantly. Jareth finally blinked and sat upright.

"I can't just sit here," Naruto said making to get up, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"And what will you do?" Jareth said. Naruto didn't respond. "Naruto I understand your anger at not being able to help, but their really is nothing you can do to help. If that lady said she can't do anything right now, what hope do you have of helping?" he asked calmly.
"So you are saying we should just give up like that?" Naruto said heatedly. He glared at his friend.

"No I am just saying there is nothing you can do at the moment. You getting riled up won't help her. I understand that it is not fair, but life itself is not fair. Not everything ends happily ever after. Sometimes you just have to let things run their course. All you can do is pray that something will happen," Jareth said coolly. Naruto was in between standing and sitting. After a moment of indecision he begrudgingly sat down. His facial features spoke of his anger at not being able to do anything. As much as he didn't want to listen to any of them, he was beginning to see what they meant even if he didn't agree. There was a long silence in which Jareth pulled out his pocket watch yet again, and then looked at the clock on the wall which read 11:20. There was a short pause before Jareth put the watch away and spoke up.

"She is important to you, isn't she?" he said.

"Yes she is. She is my friend. All my friends are important to me…" Naruto said curtly. Jareth looked at Naruto, and then looked down at the ground, a look of deep contemplation evident.

"Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me something, and tell me the truth…" Jareth said. He paused, as if uncertain whether to this or not. "If there was a way to stop the flow of fate, to save her, would you do it? Would you do anything, would you give up anything if it meant protecting her from her fate?" Jareth said in an even voice. Naruto paused before looking his friend right in the eyes and speaking.

"I would do anything if it meant saving a friend. I would give up anything if it meant protecting a friend. My friends are everything to me." The resolution blazed in Naruto's eyes as brightly as any fire could ever hope to achieve. "Why do you ask?" he said. Jareth slowly stood up before he responded.

"No real reason. I was just wondering, since I was asked something like that once." He said. His face was one of neutrality. "Oh here." He pulled out a white handkerchief. "Wipe your mouth, you are bleeding." Naruto took the fabric and wiped up the blood before mindlessly returning it to Jareth.

"Well I need to go to the bathroom for a second to take a leak. Cheer up in the mean time." He said before reaching down and patting him on the back, then he walked away. Naruto sighed as he thought about everything that had happened that day.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Elsewhere in the Hospital-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizune was standing next to Hinata's prone figure performing a healing jutsu in order to maintain Hinata's condition. The others had left the rather large room in order to recover a little before one of them switched places with her.

"I hope that Tsunade finds something soon, things are not looking good."

"Indeed." Another voice said, making Shizune jump and almost lose her concentration.

"Who's there?" she said as she turned her head to find the person that had spoken. She couldn't see anyone; however she could see a black backpack on the floor leaning against a trolley at the door. As she turned back to Hinata she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

"I think it is time you stop wasting time. You are only drawing out her suffering. So goodbye."

Before Shizune could turn around, before she could react, before she could even prepare to defend herself the unknown person struck. There was an audible 'CRACK' as she felt an arm wrap around her neck followed by extreme pressure. Her eyes rolled up into her head and her eyes closed as her body went limp. Her assailant slowly lowered her to the floor to prevent her body from making any noise. The man moved over to stand next to Hinata. He reached out with a gloved hand and stroked her soft cheek and smiled slightly.

"You are in pain. I can see it. Such pain, you wish to be cured. Such torment, you wish to be relieved from it……" The man paused. "Alas, there is no one here that can cure the wounds you have received. I can not do it because I am no healer. However…" the man paused again, staring at her.

"I can relieve you of your tortures existence. And I will do just that." He said. The man reached into his over shirt pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. There was a red stain on it. A red stain that looked like blood.

"Don't worry, you will hardly feel a thing." he said. One hand reached into his shirt to pull something out as the other reached out with the other hand towards Hinata's exposed and unprotected throat.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Back with the others-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

All was quiet in the waiting area. No one talked. Naruto was still upset with the current events, but he was finally getting over it to the point where he was willing to talk again. He looked up intending to talk to Jareth, but he wasn't there.

"Hey, has anyone seen Jareth?" Naruto asked. The other rookies looked at Naruto quizzically.

"Who?" Ino inquired.

"Jareth. Blond hair, blue eyes. He was right here a minute ago." They shook their heads.

"Didn't he say he was going to the bathroom?" Chouji said. "Who was he anyway?" Naruto smiled as he responded.

"Oh, he is this cool guy I met earlier today. He is really nice. He bought me a load of ramen and got me out of a fight and stuff." Chouji's eyes widened at the mention of food.

"Hooooohhhh! He bought you ramen! I wish I had come now," he whined. Ino just sighed and shook her head. Shikamaru walked back around the corner from the bathroom to sit back down.

"Hey Shikamaru, did you see Jareth when you were in the bathroom." Naruto asked

"You mean that guy that was with you? No he wasn't in there," he said as he sighed. Naruto scratched his head.

"That's odd, he has been gone for a while." He said out loud. "I wonder where he…" Naruto was immediately cut off by the loud and rapid beeping that was coming from the nurse's station.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked the nurse as she ran over.

"Oh my! It's your friend in room 217. Your friends' vitals are dropping rapidly!"

"I thought that someone was suppose to be keeping her stable?" Sakura said panicking.

"I did to, something must have happened. I will get Tsunade," the nurse said as she picked up a small phone.

"There is no time!" Sakura shouted before taking off down the hall, the rest of the rookies hot on her heels. Moments later they arrived at the doors to the room that Hinata was suppose to be in. As Naruto and the others entered the room they saw two things at once. Jareth was standing next to Hinata's convulsing body and Shizune was lying on the ground, her eyes closed. Jareth looked startled by their sudden appearance.

"Jareth what are you doing here?" Naruto yelled as he came closer. Jareth had an arm behind him, he was about to respond but was cut off by the doors smashing open yet again, revealing Tsunade.

"What is going on!" She said as she moved next to Hinata.

"I don't know ma'am, I was just passing by the door and when I looked in this lady was on the floor and the girl in the bed was flailing all about," Jareth said quickly.

"Her vitals are dropping! She is going into cardiac arrest! We are losing her!" Tsunade shouted as she preformed a high level medical jutsu in a vain attempt to save her.

"NO!" several of the rookies yelled in panic, though none wer louder then Naruto

"Come on Hinata, you have to fight back! Hang in there!"

"I can't stop the bleeding, her heart is failing!" Naruto's heart was going crazy.

"NO I CANT LOSE HER! She is a precious person to me!" He thought franticly.

"We are gona lose her…"

Ino was crying again as she clutched the closest thing, Chouji, for comfort. Sakura was trying to help Tsunade as best as she could. The rest of the rookies could only stand their and watch.

"She is my Friend! She can't die! She may be weird, but she is still my friend and I will give anything to save her!" Naruto thought as he struggled forward, holding one of Hinata's arms that was hanging off to the side. What happened next caused everyone in the room to freeze. Hinata's spazzing body stopped its movements. Her body went limp. Shock gripped the rookie seven.

"……………she….she…is gone……" the thought as one.

"WAIT! There is still a pulse!" Sakura shouted before franticly returning to her medical jutsu. The once bleeding wounds ceased and closed up as they were closed with chakra. Hinata's face, once contorted with pain had relaxed to one of only mild discomfort.

"It looks like she is stabilizing. She has lost a lot of blood, but we can fix that easily. It looks like she is going to pull through after all." Tsunade said in relief. The other rookies cheered! Kiba grabbed his dog and began to perform a joyful jig, Ino jumped on top of Chouji hooting with joy. Shino and Shikamaru just sighed in relief and Naruto was jumping up and down yelling.

"What did I tell you? I knew she would make it! Yeah! She is going to live!" All of the shinobi in the room were rejoicing.

"We will have her patched up in a few minutes. Sakura, tend to Shizune when you finish." Tsunade said as she turned to look at her young apprentice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jareth slowly backing away while tucking something into his shirt.

Jareth's face portrayed a smile as he looked on at the celebrating teenagers, though he was not nearly as happy. With one hand he tucked a small necklace under his shirt while his other strayed to his pants pocket. He pulled the silver watch out and looked down at it. His face paled. He quickly turned his head to the clock that was hanging over the door. 11: 42. It was getting close to midnight. He quickly put the watch back in his pocket and put the happy smile back on his face before making his way for the door. A sweet yet commanding voice halted his progress.

"Hey where are you going?" It was Tsunade. Jareth stopped and turned around. He grinned at the woman.

"Me… oh well I don't want to intrude on this happy moment seeing as I have no business being here, I haven't done anything useful. I mean I don't even know her so what right do I have to stay. Plus it is getting late and I really must be going…" he said a bit louder then was necessary.

"Non-sense! You are perfectly welcome to stay here," Tsunades stare at the blond intensified. "After all you did do something before we came in here," she finished. All the rookies froze in their merriment and stared at Jareth. He looked taken aback.

"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything," he said. Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly.

"On the contrary, you did. I saw you holding something as I entered. Then you put it in your shirt. I think we would all like to see it." Jareth began to sweat ever so slightly.

"Listen I don't know what you are talking about." He said as he turned to leave. "I am sorry, but I have to….Aahhh!" As Jareth turned to face the door he was startled to see Tsunade standing in front of him. His head turned to look where she had just been and back. He did this several times before shaking his head slightly and moving forward to walk past Tsunade.

"I suggest you Stay!" she said forcefully. She brought one of her hands down rather forcefully on the young mans back. There was a muffled "Gahhhhh!" as Jareth cringed in pain. This bothered Tsunade.

"I didn't hit you that… huh?-!" she stopped in mid sentence as she pulled her hand away to reveal a dark reddish splotch that had formed itself where she had struck him, and it was slowly growing. She looked at the splotch and then down at her hand. It was partially covered in…

"Blood?" the medic thought. A second later Tsunade reached out with the same hand and pulled up both of Jareth's shirts. On his back there were bandages wrapped around his upper left half and they were now being soaked through with fresh blood. Jareth, finally over the pain, yanked himself free of Tsunade and made his way to the door.

"Tsunade-sama…. Don't…let him… get away… He tried to kill... Hinata," Shizune said groggily. All the shinobis' in the room when wide eyed at this, except for Tsunade who narrowed her eyes again.

"You are not going anywhere," she said before moving swiftly in front of the door. Jareth was only momentarily phased by the woman's swift movement, but he charged forward never the less. Tsunade braced herself slightly, prepared to reach out to grab him if he tried to side step her. However what happened next she was not prepared for. Instead of trying to go around her, he went over her.

Jareth proceeded to run up and over Tsunade. In mid flight he twisted around to change direction. As he came down, he managed to wrap an arm around her neck and planted his feet squarely in her back. The sudden shift in weight nearly made her fall over. Just as she was about to reach around to pry him off he brought his mouth next to her ear and spoke.

"Sorry, but like I have been saying. I gotta go. Later."

Jareth placed one foot on the ground and used the other to push off while letting go of her neck. Tsunade was launched forward and tumbled into the group of shocked ninja, who where all knocked down.

"Stop him!" Tsunade said as she clambered to her feet. Jareth had bolted through the door, grabbing his bag in the process.

"Sakura, you stay here and take care of Hinata. Everyone else, after that man." Tsunade said, taking command of the situation.

"We can't let him leave. Come on Akamaru!" "Arf!" Kiba said as he gave chase. As soon as the would be chasers exited the room three things happened in quick succession. There was a loud "FIRE!" followed by the pulling of the fire alarm, and then a bed that had been moved into the hallway had been set ablaze.

"Hurry we have to capture him!" Kiba yelled as he tried to get around the blaze. Out of the group of ninja only one wasn't moving. It was Naruto.

"What's going on? I thought he was a good guy!" he said to himself, staring at his supposed friends back from the other side of the burning bed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-With Jareth-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jareth was running as fast as he could. As soon as he reached the hallway he had spotted a bed being pushed out of a room which was right next to a red lever that was obviously a fire alarm. He reached into a pocket of his over shirt and drew out a small bottle of orangey red liquid. As he passed by it he shouted "FIRE!" and slammed the bottle hard on the rail of the bed, smashing it open. As soon as the bottle was smashed open there was a huge burst of flame as the content combusted. A second later he pulled the fire alarm. Doors all the way down the corridor began to open as people, mostly staff, heard the alarm go off and saw the bed burning. All the patients began to panic as they saw the fire.

"There's a fire!" some yelled.

"The whole place is going to go up. Run for the exit!" someone else shouted. Seemingly out of nowhere more people began to fill the hallways as the chaos spread. It had been Jareth who had yelled for everyone to run to the exit. He was running as fast as he could, throwing everything he could into the path behind him to slow down any pursuers. As he reached the first floor there was an audible 'Click' as someone pushed the button for a P.A. system.
"Attention everyone, the fire is under control, do not panic. To all shinobi, if you see a tall blond haired young man wearing a black backpack, seize him! Do not let him leave this village!" The voice commanded. Jareth cursed out loud. As he reached the junction before the main entrance, two shinobi moved into the hallway. It was the two men from the ramen stand and the first one was still very ill. His partner saw Jareth coming and tried to grab him, but missed and was soundly punched in the stomach. After another few seconds of running and weaving through the crowds of panicky people, he reached the doors.

Iruka had just heard the news of Hinata's condition and had raced to the hospital as soon as he was aloud to leave the academy. No sooner had he arrived outside the front of the hospital then he heard the announcement from the P.A.

"What in the world is going on?" he wondered, making his way inside. As soon as he got inside he spotted a running figure and he could see a backpack swaying behind him.

"You are the guy trying to escape aren't you?" he said, drawing out a kunai and preparing to intercept Jareth. He was confident that he could stop him. He was too confident. Jareth reached around and grabbed the long staff he was carrying. Taking a quick jump, he brought his knee up and pulled the staff against it. It formed a perfect arc before he let go of both ends simultaneously. The staff rocketed forward, vibrating ever so slightly. Iruka was so taken aback that he froze for a split second. The staff struck him just below his hitayate and bounced back towards Jareth who hadn't stopped running. The force from the staff knocked Iruka backwards slightly and stunned him. Just as the staff reached Jareth, he brought another leg up and kicked it. The rebounding staff struck Iruka in the chin this time and it was enough to make him black out for a moment. Just before the staff hit the ground, Jareth snatched it up, pointed a tip at the glass door, and jumped. The glass shattered as Jareth when through it. As he reached the front gates he saw something that made him smile ever so slightly.

"I am outta here!" he said to himself as he reached into a pocket and drew out a key.

There was a loud "Vroom!" as the motorcycle engine kicked into life. Just as several ANBU arrived on the scene, the sound of a wheel peeling out was heard before they saw a motorbike take off down the road.

"Stop him!" Iruka yelled. "The Hokage has ordered all shinobi to capture him!"

The ANBU nodded before disappearing. The real chase had begun.

A woman was taking a stack of boxes back to her house before she turned in for the night. Just as she turn a corner to the main road something whizzed right by her, almost making her drop the stack of boxes. All she saw was a streak of blond.

"HEY! Watch where you are going you little monster!" she shouted. A moment later she saw several ANBU run by. "That dam demon child… I hope they are going to kill him this time. And if they don't do it, I will do it for them…" She said to no one in particular.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-With Jareth again-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jareth's heart was racing as he drove down the road, turning every now and then. Using one hand to steady the bike he pulled out the small pocket watch. A soft multi colored glow came from it. As he looked down his face went paler then paper. He was broken out of his stunned state by the sound of something ricocheting off the rear mud guard of the bike. He looked behind him and cursed. Several men were running behind him and much to his amazement they were rapidly ketching up. His curse could be heard over the hum of the engine. As the men caught up to him they reach to their back and grabbed the hilt of their swords. Jareth looked to both sides and saw the same thing.

"Dammit. Cant we work things out peacefully?" he asked. His question was met with a swift swipe of a sword that he was barely able to dodge. Swords swung threw the air as the ANBU tried to hit Jareth. He wasn't sure if they were aiming to disable or to kill, but he didn't intend to find out. Suddenly he smiled as he saw that he was a approaching a three way interaction. He reached again into a pocket inside of his over shirt and withdrew a short bumpy cylinder. The click of a pin being pulled was covered by the engine. Jareth launched the small cylinder forward before covering his eyes with an arm. Before the ANBU could react, there was a blinding white flash and a loud 'BANG' as the cylinder exploded. They were disoriented by the blast and consequently smashed into the buildings in front of them, knocking them out cold.

Jareth had slowed briefly and then speed off to the left. His face lit up ever so slightly as a large gate came into view. However as he looked back he could see more men dressed the same as the last coming up behind him fast.

"What the hell! Don't these guys ever give up?" he shouted. As the group of ANBU drew closer, Jareth cursed again.
"Fuck it! I have no choice…" he thought. Yet again he reached into a pocket of his over shirt and pulled out another metal cylinder. This one however was smooth with a small rubber nub on one end. There was an inaudible click as a small needle popped out of the rubber nub and three small legs formed a claw. With as much force as he could use, he slammed the sharp tip into the gas tank. The small legs clamped themselves into the tank, securing it. There was another click as a tab at the top of the cylinder popped.

"Hope this works" he said to no one before pushing the tab back down with the free hand. A moment later there was a loud 'BANG'! A jet of blue fire came out of the tail pipe of the bike before it rocketed forward. To Jareth, the world was beginning to blur as he picked up speed and pulled away from his pursuers. At the western gates the guards had just received word that someone was trying to escape. They also heard the 'bang' and saw one of the bikes they had seen earlier racing towards them.

"It's him. Close the gates quickly!"

Due to the size of the gate, the doors were closing very slowly. Jareth pushed himself as close to the bike as he could, praying that he would get through the gate, since he saw them beginning to close. If they did close he would be killed as he crashed into them. The distance to the gate was shrinking fast.

Just a few more seconds. The gates where half way closed.

20 more seconds. The gate was past half way. He ignored the sounds of things whizzing by his ear.

10 more seconds. They were almost closed.

5 more seconds. He wasn't sure if he would make it. Jareth closed his eyes, preparing for the crash…………… It didn't come.

The huge wooden gates closed just as the back tire passed between them, almost pinching it.

"YES!" He shouted in glee. He turned his head to look one last time at the gates of the village. He could just barely make out the form of a growing number of people on top of the gate. He raised his hand in the darkness and gave the gates the middle finger before turning back to the road ahead.

A group of Konoha shinobi were gathering on the gate as they watched the light from the motor bike disappear into the night.

"Dam it he escaped." A man wearing a bear mask said.

"Don't worry he wont get to far…" another voice said. Another group of shinobi's joined the first, however they were not dressed the same. If it had been bright enough you could have seen the splotches of brown, green, and black on their uniforms.

"What do you mean?" the bear masked ANBU asked.

"Trust me when I say that we of the Hidden village of the Hidden Hand know our equipment inside and out. And believe me when I say that he won't get far. He is leaking coolant and the engine won't last very long without it.

"Fine, but let us gather our trackers just incase."

"Naturally."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-A short while later, deep in the woods-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jareth had been driving for a while now. He pulled on the chain of the small pocket watch and pushed the button. His face was illuminated by a green light with a continuous flashing of red. His mutter of "good almost there" was lost in the rumbling of the engine. He slowed down and pulled off the path into the woods. A few moments later he came to a stop in front of a large rocky mound with a cave. He sighed and closed his eyes... It has been a very eventful day, though not a very pleasant one for anyone. A soft beeping caught his attention. A small red light had come on in the dash board of the bike. He looked hard at the dash.

Gas, half full.

Oil, ok.

Engine temp,…... Jareth's eyes went wide. The needle was reaching its max which meant…

"Wait… FUCK! The Nitrous!" he yelled. Jareth jumped off the bike as fast as he could and went to jump behind a rock before… BOOOOOOM!

The bike exploded in a bright ball of red and blue fire. Shrapnel went in every which direction, pegging into the surrounding trees. A foot long piece of it ricocheted off a rock and struck Jareth in the leg. His cry of pain was covered up by the loud screech as the hunk of metal that had once been a motorbike hit the ground. Jareth writhed in pain for a long minute before he pulled the hot piece of metal out, but he burnt his hands slightly in the process.

"Great, I bet they could see that. Not that it really matters, I guess…" he said to the trees. After readjusting his bag, Jareth moved slowly into the depths of the cave. The area in front of the cave was almost completely quiet apart from the sound of the burning wreck of the bike. An owl perched itself on a branch outside the cave as it looked for its next meal. It turned its head to look at the cave. A soft light was coming from the depths of the cave. The owl heard the sound of a human talking, not that it could understand it. It was startled out of its tree as a group of men suddenly appeared nearby. The shinobi observed the burning wreckage then looked at the gentle glowing coming from the cave. Suddenly the light grew brighter, and then there was another explosion that blinded everyone present. Chips of rocky debris and dust flew out of the entrance of the cave. The group slowly approached the entrance of the cave. Moments later they could hear the sound of someone coughing as a hunched figure made itself visible in the weak light coming from the fire.

Jareth was limping badly. Bits of jagged rock were protruding out of his arms and legs. The only thing holding him up was his staff. One of the ANBU stepped forward.

"You are coming with us." A dog masked ANBU said. Jareth didn't respond, he just panted heavily as he moved forward.

"Give yourself up quietly, or we will use force." The ANBU said. "Well?" he was met with more silence and heavy breathing. Just as they were about to move forward, he spoke up.

"You bastards…… Why could you just let me be?" he gritted out. While hugging the staff with all his strength, Jareth reached up behind his back, grabbed a metal handle, and pulled. A long rectangular object fell loose of his backpack and he caught it with the same hand. He gave a sharp tug upwards and briefly let go of it. There was an audible clicking as two parts of the hand grip split in half, broke apart, and slid down the sides of the object revealing another handle. It was a sword. He caught it by the new handle and brought it into sight.

"Why could you bastards leave well enough alone?" Jareth said angrily as he raised his right hand on high. But it was at that moment when his strength failed him. Jareth fell forward with a grunt of pain; his eyes rolled back into his head, and then lay motionless. A monkey masked ANBU walked forward carefully and knelt down to check for any response. None. The ANBU reached out to check for a pulse.

"He is still alive, but unconscious. However he won't last long if he isn't treated." She said.

"Alright then, let's get him back to the village." The bear masked ANBU said, before giving his orders.

"You four take him to the hospital, and then have him put in a high security room and take his things. You report to Hokage-sama and tell her what happened. And you two take care of the motor bike till someone from the Village of the Hidden Hand gets here to deal with the remains, and then inspect the cave for anything that he might have dropped." He said. There was a unanimous "Hai" before they split up to complete their assignment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My little corner-

I hope this chapter was a bit more interesting. You may have also noticed that Naruto is going a bit OOC, I will try to keep him as close to his normal self as possible though.

As you saw the name of the new hidden village is "Village of the Hidden Hand", sadly I do not know the Japanese name that would be used like "Konohagakure no Sato" so if someone could tell me what it would be I would appreciate it. I have looked for translators, but none of them have worked for me.

Like I said at the beginning this is my first fic. I am really dependent on hearing reviews from people to give me inspiration and motivation to write the next chapter. I have already started it a while ago.

One Final Note- Check my profile for updates in the progress of each chapter. There you can find out when I was last working on a chapter, how close the next chapter is to being complete, and any important notes. You can also find info on other stories that are in the works. I update my profile almost daily.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Chapter- Settling in for the Long Haul or Getting to Know you the Hard Way.