When Hanako opened her eyes she saw a big, burly man hovering over her and dabbing here forehead with a wet cloth.

"Koji," she said in a raspy voice.

"Shhhh…," he said, "You need to rest."

"How long have I've been asleep?" she asked.

"Three days," he said as he smiled at her. Koji may be the strongest man physically in the Neko Freedom clan, but he was just a gentle giant. He has been with Hanako as long as she could remember and, according to him, longer than that.

"My hair pin!" she gasped.

"Is on the side table," he said as he picked it up to show her, "See?" She smiled up at him and felt at ease.

"Well looks like her majesty is awake," said a new voice and Hanako saw a tall, lanky man with jet black hair that was always slicked back entering the room.

"Mushi," she said and reached out a hand for him. He ignored it and pulled out a chair so he could sit.

"You better be lucky I noticed you were missing or you would have been dead right about now," he said with a stern look on his face. Hanako never liked it when Koji went all "big brother" on her. It made her feel like she was still that little kid that almost sliced her finger off when she was playing with a sharp dagger. "Sensei will want to talk to you when you're better," he said.

"What for?" she asked.

"What do you mean what for?" Mushi asked as he raised his voice.

"Mushi, you're really not help the situation here," Koji said trying to keep Mushi from blowing his top off, "She's been through a lot and yelling at her isn't going to help."

"But you saw how much trouble she got us into. All over that stupid hair pin," Mushi said.

"It's not stupid! It was my mother's," she spat back him and the cringed when she felt a harsh sting from her right shoulder.

"Mushi, I think you need to leave," Koji said as he put himself between Mushi and Hanako.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Orochimaru sat in his arm chair with Sasuke and Kabuto knelt with their hands tied behind their back. Orochimaru clicked his fingers on the wooden arm of his chair as he rubbed his chin with the other. There was tension in the room so thick that it would be hard to cut with a knife. Everyone was holding their breath. One wrong move and you were dead.

"So, SHE was here and SHE took out one of my best men and tricked another one to do her dirty work," he said in a shaky voice. He was so angry that he was trembling. Sasuke and Kabuto were bloody and bruised all over. Sasuke had a swollen eye and blood still trickling from his jaw. He was in so much pain and for what, a stupid girl. It hurt to breathe as he tried to inhale. He saw from the corner of his eye that Kabuto was in worse shape than him. He was battered from head to toe and saw that some of his white hair was caked in blood as it rounded down the side of his face.

"What made you think about even helping her, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked as he leaned forward in his chair and gripped hard on the arms of his chair. Sasuke didn't answer; he just hung in head in shame. Why did he help her?

"She's a Tsugaru," Kabuto said in a raspy voice. This got Orochimaru interested. He quickly got up from his chair, walked over to Kabuto and grabbed his chin.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"She's the missing Tsugaru," Kabuto said again as he ached from how hard Orochimaru was gripping his face. Orochimaru felt something click and wore the evilest smile anyone had ever seen. He threw Kabuto to the side as he slowly walked back to his chair.

"It's so brilliant," he said as he took his seat. He then turned his attention to Sasuke, "Release them and make sure their wounds are fully healed," he leaned toward Sasuke and whispered, "I want you in my chamber tonight. We have many things to discuss."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Tsunade took a long drag from her pipe as she tried to calm her nerves. This man was a named a rouge ninja from Kirigakure for the past twenty years and here he was standing in front of her asking her to look after another little brat.

"Arihiro-san, you are asking us to do the impossible. Who's to say that she is not going to run?" she asked as she turned her attention to the rather muscular elder man in front of her.

"Orochimaru knows of her by now and he'll want her just as much as he wanted the Uchiha," Arihiro said as he stood with his arm crossed behind his back, "She is the last Tsugaru of the Dragon clan."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose and she sighed. This could mean lots of trouble for her by assisting a rouge ninja, not to mention the fact the last surviving member of a clan that was killed by the people of its village. This had crazy written all of over it.

"What do you think I should do, Jiraiya?" she asked her former teammate who stood next to the rogue ninja.

"I say we take her," he said simply, "What more trouble could she cause?"

"You would say something like that, wouldn't you?" she said smirking at her long time friend.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Naruto yawned as he walked along side of his team as they made their way deeper in the forest.

"How much longer, Kakashi?" he groaned, "We've been walking for hours."

"Really?" their masked sensei said, "I could have sworn it's only been twenty minutes."

"That's because it has only been twenty minutes," grumbled Sakura as she smacked Naruto in the back of the head, "Now stop complaining!"

Naruto stuck his bottom lip in a pout as he received a death glare from the pink haired girl. He kept quiet the rest of the way as he rubbed his now injured head. Sai stopped first followed by the rest of his team. Figures in the shadows were walking towards them. When they got closer, Team 7 noted that there was no need to be alerted. It was members of the Neko Clan.

"Names," Kakashi asked in a stern voice.

"I'm Mushi Usagi, member of the Neko Clan Freedom fighters," the dark haired man replied as he crossed his arms.

"Koji Kokoro, member of the Neko Clan," said the burly man with spiked blonde hair.

"Hanako Tsugaru," the girl in the middle said as she looked to the ground in dismay, "I am to go into hiding."

Naruto looked her over. She wasn't half bad to look at. Very pretty face, curvy body, all parts well developed, plump lips, and very curly red hair, not something you see every day. He then felt a jabbed to the side given by Sakura. She saw him staring. "Don't gawk like that, idiot," she whispered harshly

Kakashi approached the group and placed a hand on Hanako's shoulder. "You have nothing to fear," he said to her, "We can guarantee that my team and I will do everything, to make sure you are safe."