Welcome one and all to a new chapter of Naruto: A Different Path...

I'm sorry it took me so long but life is troublesome...

This chapter might be an enigma to some... It'll make some of you go 'FINALLY' and make others go 'HUH? WHAT?'...

Sorry for that but lately, my mind's been really out of the box...

Still, I hope you enjoy it and if I made a mistake or you think I should change something, let me know and I'll change it as soon as I can...

Enjoy!

"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."
- Author Unknown

Chapter 3: The painful past and the Devious Four...

I don't own anything... just the plot of this story and my other ones...
P.s: unanswered questions will be answered at a later time, i promise,,,


Naruto stared at the little girl next to him with disbelief as he faintly heard the patter of rain hitting the ground.

"So your name is Hinata, as well?" Naruto asked and the little girl nodded.

"Hinata Hyūga, five years old." Kid Hinata said, holding up five fingers to emphasize her point. Naruto shook his head.

"I must be going insane. Why are you even here? HOW are you here?" Naruto barked and Kid Hinata giggled.

"I am a figment of your imagination." She answered and Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask her another question but she spoke first. "Do you remember what happened that day." She asked while hugging her knees and staring into the still crying form that was older Hinata.

"Somewhat." Naruto answered, confused by the suddenness of the question.

"I remember it like it happened yesterday."

Naruto walked up to the swings that were at the far end of a playground in Konoha. He was smiling happily, unaware of someone sitting on one of the two swings.

Oblivious of this second person, Naruto sat on the swing and began to thrust his legs forward and then backward in a continuous fashion. Naruto soon became parallel to the ground but never fell off the seat.

At the swing's peak, Naruto jumped off and landed on his hands and knees.

"Whoo, I need to be careful." Naruto said to himself.

"A-Ano, hello." Naruto turned around, surprised to find someone else at the swings. He blushed at his own ignorance and because the other person was a pretty girl around his age

"Hey, what's your name?" Naruto asked and the girl blushed.

"H-Hinata." She said and Naruto smiled.

"My name is Naruto." He answered and pointed a thumb to himself. "Remember that name because I'll become the next Hokage." Hinata giggled and Naruto chuckled with her.

"I like your name." Naruto said, making Hinata's blush darken.

"T-Thank you." Hinata replied shyly.

"How long have you been here?" Naruto asked and Hinata looked around.

"I think, five minutes." She answered and Naruto smirked.

"Me too. Were you born here?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, w-were you b-born here as well?" She asked and Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well, not really." Hinata tilted her head. "I was actually born in Uzushiogakure, that's where my mom's from. I was brought here when I was still a baby." Naruto answered as he took a seat in the empty swing.

"But my daddy is the Hokage so it's ok." Naruto added and Hinata giggled. "Do you wanna swing together?" Naruto asked and Hinata giggled and nodded.

"D-Do you wanna see who c-can go higher?" Hinata asked. "You'll probably win, I-I can't do it right." Hinata added and Naruto frowned before smirking.

"I'm sure you can do it, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, hoping to boost Hinata's confidence in herself. Looking up at him with wide eyes, Hinata smiled happily and nodded. "Ready GO!" Naruto swung his legs forward and then backward after coming down again and repeated this process.

Hinata was trying her best to swing herself but Naruto noticed the technique she was using was wrong. He stopped himself and jumped off the swing, moving in front of Hinata. Hinata looked down, hoping that Naruto wouldn't be too mad at her failure.

"Come on Hinata-chan, Just move your legs forward until you are as high as you're going to get and then swing them back when you feel your body moving back. Got it?" Naruto instructed her and when she looked up, she saw that he was smiling. He wasn't angry in the least. She nodded her head dumbly.

"Ok, let's do this again." Naruto sat on his swing and started to swing. Hinata watched him for a while before mimicking his movements.

"L-Like this?" She asked and Naruto laughed.

"You got it!" Naruto shouted happily, laughing with Hinata as they both ventured higher with their swings.

From that day on, Naruto and Hinata always met up at the playground every day. They played on every square inch of the playground; from the swings to the sand box, from the slide to the teeter totter.

Several days later, Naruto sat down in the sand box with Hinata, building odd shapes in different sizes with the sand.

"I like you Hinata-chan." Naruto blurted out and Hinata blushed.

"I like you too, Naruto-kun." Hinata confessed and Naruto chuckled.

"Want to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Naruto asked and Hinata's blush darkened.

"B-Boyfriend and g-g-girlfriend? You and… m-me?" Hinata asked and Naruto nodded. "Why would you choose me? I'm a loser." Hinata said with a crestfallen look. Naruto got up and frowned.

"No you're not! Whoever told you that is a loser!" Naruto declared loudly, making Hinata gasp and look up. "You're a lot of fun and you can do anything you want when you put your mind to it." Naruto continued. He put his hands behind his back and lazily kicked the sand around him while staring at the floor.

"It doesn't hurt that you're cute." Naruto said and Hinata smiled.

"I-I am?" Naruto nodded and was glomped by Hinata.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto chuckled.

"You're welcome, Hinata-chan. I promise I'll protect you from now on and if someone calls you a loser again, I'll kick their butt and call THEM a loser." Hinata giggled as she snuggled against Naruto's chest.

"That's right; I did ask her out already." Naruto said to himself.

"Yup, you really made me happy that day." Kid Hinata said and Naruto looked at her.

"But we were five. I had no idea what I was saying back then. Even if I did, nothing a kid says at that age should be taken seriously." Naruto said. Kid Hinata looked crestfallen as she stared up at him.

"You sounded serious to me, especially when you promised me that you'd protect me and kick the butt of anyone who called me a loser." Kid Hinata said. "How many times did you call me a loser over the last eleven years?" Naruto looked away, ashamed of himself. He was many things, a lot of them include adjectives similar to 'jerk' and 'killjoy', but he never was one to break a promise. Yet here he was, talking to Kid Hinata and finding out that he broke his promise.

"I liked it better when I didn't know who you were." Naruto said and Kid Hinata giggled.

"Too bad. Like you told me to tell other, 'don't like it, get over it'." Naruto's eyes widened and then he smiled as he looked at Kid Hinata.

"I did tell you that didn't I?" Kid Hinata nodded. Naruto's smile was washed away with the feeling of guilt. His sapphire eyes shifted up and stared at Hinata. "She still remembers this, no doubt."

"Yup." Kid Hinata said. "That's why it hurts her even more. You promised to protect her and yet, you're the one who hurts her the most." Naruto hugged his knees as he processed this information.

"So this is my fault."

Kid Hinata hummed to herself. "I wouldn't say that." Naruto looked at her.

"Really?" Kid Hinata sweat dropped.

"Maybe it is?" Naruto became deadpanned. "But you can still fix this."

"And how's that? Swoop down wearing tights and a cape, grab Hinata and fly into the sunset?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Not in so many words." Naruto sweat dropped.

"Still, even if I did promise to protect her, I don't think I'd be able to forgive her." Naruto said and Kid Hinata sighed.

"Does that really matter now? You two are separated from your team and you got bad guys somewhere nearby." Naruto nodded his head.

"I guess you're right." Naruto hesitantly stood and slowly walked over to Hinata who was shaking from the cold air. She was oblivious to Naruto behind her and Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for putting Hinata in this predicament. Sighing, he reached into the pockets of his ripped and ragged pants, He found the mission scroll he was given by Kurenai before they were divided into teams and tossed it in front of Hinata. It was about two feet in front of Hinata who looked up in surprise.

Before her eyes, Naruto tossed a green fireball from his hands and set the scroll on fire.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted in surprise.

"You're cold aren't you?" Naruto asked in a soft tone, shocking Hinata. His tone made him sound as if he actually cared. She wiped her remaining tears and hugged her knees.

"Yeah, I-I guess." Naruto sat a few feet away from her but still close to the fire. He kept looking at Hinata, still a little skeptical that the girl in front of her was his childhood crush but now, he could see the resemblance. Hinata, for her part, refrained from blushing or fidgeting even as she knew she was being observed by her crush. Her eyes looked up and connected with his and she couldn't stop the blush from taking over her face.

"W-What is it?" Hinata asked after her curiosity got the better of her. Naruto blinked but his eyes never left her.

"I…" He hesitated before continuing. "You know, don't you?" Hinata raised an eyebrow. "You remember what happened all those years ago." He stated and Hinata looked away.

"What're you talking about? D-Did you hit your head?" Hinata asked, somewhat coldly. Naruto flinched, never hearing her act so cold.

"Eleven years ago, when I made that promise." This time Hinata cringed. She slumped her shoulders but held her knees closer to her chest. "The promise, when I asked you to be my girlfriend, I remember it all now and I know you never forgot it." Hinata stared blankly into the green fire as it started to adopt a more orange color.

"W-Why are you bringing this up? I-Isn't bad enough that you b-basically told me you h-hate me? Now you're trying t-to remind me of the promise j-just to tell me that you made a mistake by making it?" Hinata asked and Naruto could see the pain in her eyes.

"No." Hinata looked at him and narrowed her eyes a little.

"Then what? Don't you t-think I suffered e-enough?" She asked as her tears reappeared in her eyes. Naruto felt his heart break in two and his world crash around him. It was that same sad look. The look she had so many years ago. It was this look when he told of his mom and unborn sister's death. After that day, he had never seen her again. He guessed he knew why now.

Twenty four hours ago, Naruto would've smirk at seeing this expression on her face. Seeing it now with the revelation he had, he couldn't help but feel bad. Worse than bad, he felt like shit.

"I suppose you have." Naruto began. "But I'm not reminding you because I want to hurt you more, but just to…" He paused as he struggled to continue.

"To what?" Hinata asked, not sure what he wanted to say.

"It's hard for me to say this so give me a second." Hinata nodded and Naruto collected himself as he took in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." Hinata became unresponsive as she blinked. She stared at Naruto with an incredulous expression.

"Wh… W-What?" She stuttered out. Sighing, Naruto repeated his words.

"I'm sorry… you better have heard me that time because I'm not repeating myself again." Naruto told her.

"Why?" Hinata asked and Naruto looked away, ashamed.

"I didn't keep my promise and worse of all, I was hurting you; me of all people." Naruto informed her.

"Why would you tell me this? At a time like this?" Hinata asked. She was touched by his apology though she was still suspicious of him.

"Because I was wrong. I let my mom's and sister's death bet the better of me and I shouldn't of let it." He looked up at her. "I still think it's your fault but I shouldn't have let that get in the way of the mission." Hinata saw Naruto in a new light.

"Can I tell you something?" Hinata squeaked out after a few moments of silence.

"Go for it." He urged her on.

"Do you… know why your mother and sister died?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that advised her not to talk about a touchy subject. "I mean really, the real reason." She asked and Naruto shook his head.

"I was never told." Naruto answered. Hinata sighed and moved closer to Naruto. Naruto also moved closer until they were sitting right next to each other.

"It started the day before your mom and sister were killed." Hinata recalled.

"Come on Hinata-chan!" Naruto whined and Hinata kept her hands together and to her chest.

"I-I don't know Naruto-kun. I-Is it safe?" Hinata asked. Naruto and Hinata stood in front of a cave deep in the forest inside Konoha.

"Who cares? It looks like it'll be a lot of fun." Naruto put his arm around Hinata. "And besides, I promised I'd protect you, didn't I?" Hinata poked the tips of her index fingers together before nodding her head.

"Then let's go!" Naruto cheered and Hinata giggled. They walked into the cave and with a flashlight in his hand; Naruto guided Hinata through the cave.

"Cool." Naruto said, earning a hesitant nod from Hinata. He heard the echoes and smiled brightly "COOL!" The echo was louder and resonated more than the first one.

"You having fun Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked and Hinata nodded slowly. "Hey what's that?" Naruto shouted as he dropped the flashlight and ran ahead.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran after Naruto but tripped over a rock and into the dark. "AH! NARUTO-KUN!"

Naruto heard Hinata's yell and then a harsh thud a few seconds later. It sounded like fleshing hitting something hard.

"HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto grabbed the fallen flashlight and looked around for Hinata. He found her a few feet away from him, her downed body lay limp from a cliff. From his perspective, Naruto guessed that it was a little more than a six foot drop. He jumped down and landed next to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan!" He put the flashlight in his mouth to free his hands. He used his left hand to hold her head up and his left to lightly slap her face. He received no response. He felt something cold touch his hands and a metallic smell in the air. He turned the flashlight to his hand holding Hinata's head up and saw blood. His hands shook and his mouth opened from the shock, dropping the flashlight to the floor.

Tears formed in his eyes as he reached into his back pocket and threw an odd shaped kunai in a random direction. It embedded itself in between a crack in the wall and Minato appeared in a flash of yellow.

"Naruto? Where are-"

"DADDY! HINATA-CHAN'S HURT!" Naruto shouted and Minato saw Hinata's limp form on top of Naruto's lap. The forgotten flashlight lay a few feet away with the light on Hinata's face. Minato saw the blood coming out of her head and his eyes widened. He grabbed both kids and stared at Naruto.

"We're going to talk about this later." He said before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

Naruto stared at Hinata disbelievingly.

"You're kidding? Why don't I remember this?" Naruto asked and Hinata shook her head.

"I don't really remember it. I just remember what father told me." Hinata said.

"Wait, what does this have to do with my mom's and sister's death?" Naruto asked.

"Because… it's what happened afterward." Hinata told him, continuing the flashback.

Minato stood beside Hiashi as they watched Hinata lay in the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama." Minato apologized. "I'm sure Naruto didn't mean for this to happen." Hiashi's eyes never left Hinata's unconscious form.

"How are you feeling?" Minato asked and Hiashi's brow furrowed.

"How am I feeling?" Hiashi now faced Minato with unadulterated fury. "My oldest daughter is in a coma for who knows how long and you want to know how I'm feeling?" Hiashi grew red faced and his fist tightened at his side.

"I feel angry. This should not have happened to my daughter and it's all your snot-nosed kid's fault!" Hiashi shouted.

"Whoa, I understand you're mad Hiashi but you better remember you place." Minato said and Hiashi shook his head.

"I want retribution." Hiashi said and Minato was taken aback.

"What?" Minato asked and Hiashi nodded.

"You heard me."

"I'm sorry Hiashi but there will be no retribution. I'm sincerely sorry but there's no reason for me to do such a thing." Hiashi glared at Minato before looking back at Hinata.

"Yeah, you will be sorry… soon enough." Hiashi stated ominously. Minato now stared angrily at Hiashi.

"Is that a threat?" Hiashi looked at Minato from the corner of his eye. Without uttering a word, he walked away, leaving Minato standing there to think over Hiashi's words.

Naruto stared into the green and orange fire as he took in Hinata's words.

"So your father threatened mine." Naruto said and Hinata shamefully nodded. He looked up at her and saw that she was truly ashamed of her father's actions.

"I'm starting to remember now. I blocked it out from my memories because it was so horrifying. I remember it clearly now." Naruto said more to himself than to Hinata. Hinata nodded though, remembering what he father told her when she asked a few years later.

"That night, it would forever be the worse night of my life."

Naruto spit into his sink and removed the excess toothpaste from his mouth. He then wiped it with a towel and headed for his room. Crossing the hallway, Naruto bumped into his mother, Kushina Uzumaki.

"Night mommy!" Naruto said as he hugged Kushina's leg. Kushina crouched down and placed a hand on Naruto's blond hair.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun." She kissed his forehead and stood. "Now go to bed." He nodded his head and ran into his room and dove into his bed. He was about to slip under the covers when he heard his window open. He yelled when he saw a man wearing all black enter his room.

Just as she was about to step into her room, Kushina heard Naruto's yell. She hurriedly ran down the hall and burst into Naruto's room to see a man standing over her son with a kunai pressed to his throat. She acted quickly as she appeared over the man and kicked him back, away from Naruto.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun? Did he hurt you?" Kushina asked Naruto and Naruto shook his head as his whole body shivered. She turned to face the attacker with new found rage. "Go get daddy, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto hesitated.

"GO!" Kushina yelled and Naruto flinched. He nodded his head and ran out of the room and down the hall to his parents' room. He shuffled through the many drawers until he found the three pronged kunai. He thrust it down and his father appeared.

"Naruto? What have I told you about playing with the kunai?" Minato scolded but noticed the tears in his son's eyes.

"Mommy's in trouble!" Naruto cried out and Minato's eye widened before he heard a thud in another room. He ran out of the room and into Naruto's room to see Kushina laying face down on Naruto's bed. Minato ran to her side and flipped her over. Her eyes were closed and her face was pale.

"Kushina-chan, wake up." Minato said quietly, half expecting her to open her eyes and say 'got ya!'. Like the time they both were doing a mission, surrounded by enemy shinobi and got separated. He found her on the floor the same way he found her now and after shedding a few tears, she jumped up and said;

'Do you really think those chumps could take down the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero?'

Unfortunately, he knew that this was not going to be one of those times.

"Daddy," Minato looked up with tears at his son. "What's wrong with mommy?" Naruto asked and Minato looked back at his wife.

"She's just resting, Naruto." Minato sobbed as he brought his head down to Kushina's. Naruto walked closer and was surprised when his father reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"We're going to the hospital." Minato said as he pulled his son into a hug and transported his wife and kid to the hospital via Hiraishin.

Naruto let out a few silent tears.

"I guess in a way dad was right, she was resting. She still is today." Naruto said with a mirthless smile. "You know what the worst part is?" Hinata shook her head as she had her own tears streaming down her cheeks.

"She was carrying my little sister… dad and me didn't even know until it was too late to save her." Hinata gasped as she covered her mouth with her right hand.

"D-Did you ever find out who killed her?" Hinata asked.

"No, there were no leads and the man who killed her was never found." Naruto said and he looked at Hinata. "That's why I blame the Hyūga clan for her death, that's why I used to think it was all your fault." Naruto stated before looking at the fire.

"But now I see that it was my fault. If I hadn't tried to convince you to go in the cave, none of this would've happened." Naruto realized, hating himself. He was surprised when Hinata wrapped him in a hug and rested her head on his.

"I'm sorry this happened." Hinata said and Naruto looked at her skeptically.

"You're hugging me? After everything that's happened, after everything I said?" Naruto asked and Hinata smiled.

"Yes I am." Hinata answered and Naruto shook his head.

"All you Hyūgas are weird." Naruto said and Hinata playfully glared at him. The fire started to die down, shedding less and less light by the minute.

"I'm still sorry." Naruto said and Hinata smiled with her eyes closed.

"It's ok." She said. They remained like they were, quiet and still as the light from the fire dimmed considerably.

Thoughts raced through Naruto's mind, memories of the past, the joy he felt when he was around Hinata and the feeling she put in his heart. He was still confused on a couple of things but he was sure of one thing. After much internal debating, Naruto stared at Hinata and spoke.

"If it's ok with you…" Naruto started, getting Hinata's attention. He stared deeply into Hinata's eyes and suddenly remembered why he liked her in the first place. She still had that innocent and kind spark in her eyes that always intrigued him. "I… never mind." He chickened out at the last minute and Hinata shook her head

"Tell me." She urged him.

"I know I don't deserve it but… can you give me another chance?" Naruto asked, catching Hinata off guard.

"W-What?" Naruto looked away from her eyes.

"I know after everything that's happened, I shouldn't be asking you for another chance but I now remember how happy I was when we were little." Naruto faced Hinata with new found determination.

"It's probably not the same now that we're older but..." He paused as he held Hinata's left cheek with his right hand. "I want to find out." New tears broke out of their imprisonment as Hinata thought it over.

"D-Do you mean it?" She asked and Naruto nodded his head. "Are you sure? T-This isn't going to go well if y-your father and mine f-find out." Naruto nodded his head.

"I know but still, I'm tired of being alone." Naruto said. "Besides that, something in me is telling me to go after you." Hinata smiled.

"So?" Naruto asked. Hinata's response was to kiss Naruto just as the fire died out. Now in the dark, Hinata pushed Naruto onto his back and continued to kiss him. Naruto let Hinata take control as he placed his hands on her hips and kissed back. He felt his heart beat quickened as Hinata put her hands on his chest.

The ground shook under them and Hinata gasped.

"What was that?" She asked fearful.

"Maybe we just made love… again." Hinata raised an eyebrow at Naruto and he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's not funny." Hinata stated as she got off Naruto. They both stood and Naruto looked outside the cave.

"I can't see anything but I can tell it's still raining." He looked at Hinata. "Wait here." He told her.

"I want to come with you." Hinata said and Naruto shook his head after looking at her from head to toe.

"If you haven't noticed, you're still basically naked." Hinata 'eep'ed as she tried to sketch out the half white-T she was wearing. "That doesn't do much to cover you but thanks for the peek." Hinata lightly glared at Naruto and he smirked. "Sorry." The ground shook again but this time, it was from an explosion.

Naruto kissed Hinata and began to walk out of the cave. He stopped right before he left and turned to face Hinata.

"If I'm not back soon, expect the worst." Naruto said and disappeared. Hinata sat down and smiled to herself. Then she remembered Naruto's last words and couldn't help but worry for him.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto appeared with his raggedy black sweatpants in a clearing twenty five feet away from the cave he was just in.

"It sounded like the explosion came from here." He said to himself as he looked around.

"You are cooorrect!" Naruto looked up to see a green, short haired girl fall from the sky. He jumped back when she almost stabbed him with a kunai and righted himself.

"So it was an ambush, huh?" Naruto smirked as he finally found someone to release his eleven years of pent up anger on. "So what's your name? I'd like to know the name of the person I'm about to kill." The girl giggled as she flipped her hair back. She had a short black tank top over a chain mesh shirt and black shorts. Her blue eyes sparked with mischief as she stared at Naruto.

"My name is Kimiko. What's your name, cutie?" She asked and Naruto smirked.

"Taken." Kimiko's smile was wiped clean off.

"Bummer; at least this makes you easier to kill." Kimiko said as she ran towards Naruto. Through the mental link to his red bracelet, Naruto summoned his metallic red fox ears, tail, claws, boots, and chest plate. Kimiko was surprised by this but recovered just before Naruto was able to pierce her with his claw.

"You're pretty fast." Naruto commented and Kimiko smirked.

"Thanks, you're pretty dangerous." Naruto chuckled as he flashed through hand signs.

"I try to be. Demon Art: Fox Fire!" Green fire surrounded Naruto's claws. He crouched down and had his claws on both sides of his face. "This is my fighting style; Kitsune's Claw: Blazing Fang." Naruto ran at Kimiko and thrust a blazing claw forward. Kimiko jumped back just before the blazing claw touched her. Naruto smirked as he turned and used his mechanical tail to grip Kimiko's waist. She was surprised by this move but before she could escape, Naruto faced her and brought his claws down on her torso.

Because of the chain mesh shirt she wore, she wasn't ripped in two though she was badly injured.

Naruto let her go and she fell to her knees. He jumped back and crouched down with his claws on both sides of his face.

"Ready to give up?" He asked arrogantly before smelling a new scent in the air. He vanished just as a new man smashed his fist into the ground where Naruto once was. Naruto growled as he took in the new man's appearance.

He wore a dark brown sleeveless shirt and black hakama pants. His hair was short but spiky black hair and his body was athletically built. He was about six feet tall; about the size of an average man. He looked familiar but Naruto couldn't be sure where he'd seen him before.

The man turned his head and his cold grey eyes looked at Kimiko.

"Get up, Kimiko." Kimiko grunted as she struggled to stand. The man then turned his eyes to Naruto and Naruto froze up.

His cold, murderous grey eyes that showed no mercy and bloodlust stared into Naruto's eyes; as if he was able to see his very soul. Naruto now remembered where he'd seen those eyes and the man before.

Before Naruto could release his anger, his world became dark and he fell to the unforgiving ground.

"It's about time Azul." The black haired man said. Standing behind Naruto, a bulky man, easily seven feet tall, with blue hair and dark blue eyes dusted off his navy blue shirt and hakama pants. He then grabbed Naruto's unconscious form by his neck and put him on his shoulder. By now, Naruto's animalistic and metallic armor receded back into his bracelet.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're getting weaker, Kimiko." Kimiko pouted and Azul laughed.

"Enough." The black haired man said with conviction, silencing both his followers. "Azul, where's Riku?" Azul smirked.

"She's coming; she's just setting up the genjutsu to lose those Konoha punks we found down the trail." The black haired man nodded his head and then looked at Naruto's face.

"This brat has caused me a lot of trouble." The man said and Azul shook his head.

"We know, you never shut up about it." The black haired man glared at Azul but aside from that, he didn't do anything.

Hinata, who was near enough to hear them but far enough that she would not be seen, gasped. She wanted to jump in and save Naruto but she knew she didn't stand a chance against the three of them and that would only make the situation much worse for the both of them. Her best hope was to find the others and get their help.

Hinata turned on her heels and activated her Byakugan.

"Seems like we have a sneaky panther on our hands." The black haired man said and Azul chuckled.

"Do you want me to go after her?" He offered but the man shook his head.

"Riku will deal with her. For now, let's take the brat back to base." Azul and Kimiko nodded as they followed their leader.

Hinata found a girl pumping out a large amount of chakra around the area where she found her team and comrades just one hundred meters away from the cave she came from. They were lying on the ground except for Kurenai, Kakashi and Sasuke who were tied down to a tree by chakra absorbing robe. Hinata hid behind a bush as she watched a girl with long, black hair stand over her two sensei and Sasuke.

Putting chakra to the soles of her feet, Hinata burst through the clearing and appeared behind the black haired woman. The woman was surprised by Hinata's sudden appeared and wasn't fast enough to dodge or block Hinata's palm thrust. The woman was blasted back and disappeared into some bushes.

Taking a kunai from her sensei's pouch, Hinata cut through the ropes and freed her comrades.

"Hinata, where were you and why are you half naked?" Kurenai asked and Sasuke and Kaksahi blushed and turned away before Kakashi went to look for the black haired girl that attacked them. Hinata blushed as well.

"I uh…" Kurenai shook her head.

"I have an extra pair of clothes in my bag; you can borrow it for now." Hinata nodded as she grabbed Kurenai's bag and put on Kurenai's trademark look.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked and Hinata took in a deep breath.

"She's gone." Kakashi said after returning from his search.

"We should probably wake the others now and then you can tell us where you and Naruto have been." Hinata nodded at Kurenai's suggestion and the four woke up their comrades.

After being woken up, Hinata told them what happened… except for the possible sex and what happened in the cave.

"Well, looks like we found the missing-nins." Kakashi joked but Hinata didn't find it amusing.

"This isn't the time to joke around. Naruto-kun has been taken and who knows what they're going to do with him?" Hinata scolded and Kakashi sweat dropped.

"What's got you all riled up? I mean we know you like him and all but…" Kiba asked and Hinata blushed with a pout.

"They took a comrade, why shouldn't we be 'riled up'?" Hinata asked and Kiba looked away.

"They'll probably be expecting us now that they know Hinata saved us." Kurenai said. "We might outnumber them but who knows just how skilled they are. I know it's our mission to capture them but now we're at a disadvantage-"

"Still, we can't just leave Naruto out there with them." Sakura interrupted.

"Even if he is a dobe, he's still our comrade." Sasuke added and stood. "I for one don't care who we're up against; I'm going to go save him."

"Me too." Sakura said as she stood next to Sasuke.

"I'm coming too." Hinata said and Sasuke nodded his head towards her.

"I can't let Hinata go by herself and I don't trust the Uchiha so I'll go too." Kiba said, earning a glare from Sasuke and Sakura.

"I have never left a comrade behind and I refuse to start now." Shino stated. Kakashi and Kurenai sweat dropped.

"As valiant as that little speech was, we were never going to leave Naruto." Kakashi stated and everyone face faulted into the ground.

"I was going to suggest we come up with a plan before I was rudely interrupted." Kurenai said and Sakura chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Come on, we're wasting time. Now here's what we're going to do…" Kakashi started to explain the plan to his comrades. Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were anxious to get this plan into action.


I feel like I messed the story up now... Not sure why... What do you think?

AAAAAAAAnyway, hope everyone's happy now that they know why/how Kushina and Naruto's unborn sister was killed...

Hopefully, I won't get flamed cuz of it...

I plan on updating Shinigami Chronicles [one of my other stories] before starting all over and updating another chapter of Naruto of the Immortal Clan... ACtually, I might update this story once more before going to Shinigami Chronicles or Immortal Clan... Not sure... Whichever I feel like writing I guess...

Next Chapter: Rescuing the Fox...

Till next time!

Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...