Today was going so much better than the last few days! Naruto thought happily as he savored the ramen Hinata had brought. He was feeling better in pretty much every way. Naruto was finally healing up quickly again. It seemed that Fox Bastard had gotten bored hoarding its Chakra. Baa-chan had given him permission to walk the hall outside his room if she or one of the other medic-nins was with him. The activity wasn't much but Naruto couldn't bring himself to look at the ceiling anymore. Even better, he had someone to talk to! Naruto admitted to himself that he wasn't sure Hinata would actually show up. It was hard to gauge what the shy Hyūga's reaction would be to any situation.
Case in point, Naruto had just smiled and thanked her for the ramen. Hinata suddenly went red and looked away.
"You… you are welcome, Naruto-kun." Naruto barely heard her but at least she sounded happy. It was hard to believe that the shy Hinata in front of him was the same determined Hinata who had refused to give up in her match with Neji at the Chunnin exams.
"So, Hinata, how hard is baa-chan working you?" Naruto originally asked with excitement, but the emotion tapered out when it looked like Hinata was about to dodge a kunai.
"Tsunade-shishō had been training us very hard. We… we were practicing our evasion techniques before lunch. Tsunade- shishō … makes us dodge boulders and trees. I've never seen anyone as powerful as the Godaime-sama." Hinata spoke with a hint of awe in her voice.
"Ah…" Naruto drained the broth from his miso ramen. "Yeah, baa-chan is really strong. You should have seen her put Gamabunta's sword through Orochimaru's shitty snake summon's mouth!"
Hinata stirred her own ramen with her chopsticks. "Naruto-kun…"
The still, rather ridiculously in his opinion, wrapped blond looked up. "What is it Hinata?"
"When do you think Tsunade-shisho will release you?" Hinata smiled as she asked the question.
Naruto felt a warmth in his gut, but the broth he'd just swallowed had already cooled down. "I have no idea. If I'm lucky it'll be soon. I really want to see everybody and get back to training."
Hinata took a few calming breaths. The Jinchūriki watched her with a few ramen noodles hanging from his mouth. "Naruto-kun, would… would you like to train with me sometime? "
"Sure thing Hinata." He said after slurping the noodles.
Hinata looked like Naruto had just pulled a pony out of the closet. "I… I should get back to training. T..thank you for letting me, letting me eat with you!"
"Huh? I should be thanking you! Hinata, you rescued me from the horrors of hospital food! If you hadn't shown up…" Naruto's voice trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to admit that she was the only person to visit him when baa-chan or Shizune-neechan weren't checking on his progress. "Well, I'm glad someone took time out their busy schedule to visit me."
Hinata left Naruto's room after assuring the blond it wasn't any problem. Naruto sighed and hoped that Hinata was ok. She started getting all red again. He really hoped her fever wasn't back. It would suck if she had to switch places with him!
Naruto took a deep breath. He often wondered about Hinata. She always seemed to get red around him. Naruto had seen her talk to her teammates occasionally and she never seemed to stutter. It was weird. The recovering Jinchūriki suddenly realized he had seen a similar reaction before.
No way! It couldn't be that could it?
Tsunade walked between the tables where her newest apprentices were using their medical ninjutsu to keep a fish alive outside of water. The Hokage looked at her assistant and Shizune nodded.
"Excellent work all of you!" Tsunade whirled around and faced the exhausted girls. "I am impressed that you kept you 'patients' alive for nearly a minute. Return the fish to the aquarium and get your schedules from Shizune."
The apprentices bowed to their teacher. Sakura and Ino were very close to Shizune and rushed to get their schedules. Hinata, however, approached the Fifth Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, I have a question."
"What is it Hinata?" Tsunade didn't mean to sound short, but it had been a very long day and she was not looking forward to meeting with the Council.
Hinata took a deep breath. "When will Naruto-kun be released?"
"I was going to release him after my meeting with the Council. Shizune!" Tsunade suddenly called out for her assistant.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"First, make sure Hinata gets her schedule. Next, I want you two to get The Brat out of my hospital before he gets cabin fever." The Hokage ordered quickly.
Shizune giggled. "Should I tell him to keep the bandages on? He did complain they were starting to itch."
The Hokage's eyes lit up like she had just placed a bet at a huge poker tournament. "Of course!"
"Ano, Tsunade-shisō, does Naruto really need the bandages?" Hinata asked. She was fairly certain that Naruto didn't need all those bandages.
Tsunade patted her shy apprentice on the head. "Nope! I'm just getting him back for all the times he's called me Baa-chan!"
The Hyūga Heiress didn't know how she should react. One the one hand, she was mortified that the Hokage would pull a prank on Naruto. One the other, it was funny. Also, Naruto's prankster nature had finally caught up with him. Hinata thought about it for a moment and realized she was torn between defending Naruto and laughing.
Instead of a passionate defense of Naruto or a hearty laugh, a most undignified snort escaped from Hinata. Her eyes went wide in horror.
"Don't worry, this'll stay between us." Tsunade tried to sound reassuring, but her laughter caused Hinata's head to droop.
Konohamaru stared in slack jawed disbelief. He couldn't believe that someone could actually be so twisted as to want to spread such misery and cruelty to Suna. Sure, the Hidden Sand had taken part in the invasion but they had been tricked by Orochimaru. Konohamaru took a deep breath. He had to stay calm. Moegi and Udon told him that whenever he thought about the monster that killed Grandpa that he released a bit of killing intent.
Where was I? Oh, right.
This injustice was just the spiteful punishment of the children of Suna for the invasion. No one deserved the cruelty that was about to be unleashed upon them. Someone had to stick up for Suna! The Honorable Grandson raised his hand.
Iruka sighed. "Yes, Konohamaru?"
"You do realize the kids our age in Suna may consider us helping open an Academy to be an Act of War, right?"
"Konohamaru, I am sure that Suna will not consider it an Act of War." Iruka fought the urge to groan. Konohamaru was the Second Coming of Naruto. Iruka considered Naruto to be a little brother or even a son, but he had been a trial from heaven to teach.
"But! It's the Academy! You have no idea the horrors we have to endure here!" The grandson of the Third Hokage leapt to his feet and spoke with passion.
He was promptly frozen in place by a terrifying glare from Iruka. "Are you saying I scare you?"
"Yes." Konohamaru whimpered.
The icy silence that followed was suddenly broken by a sound whose existence had been doubted by the entirety of the Elemental Nations.
Sabuka no Gaara was laughing. Mirthfully.
Naruto was bouncing in the bed in a feeble attempt to burn up the excitement that was welling up. He had heard two medic-nins talk about how the Hokage was going to release Naruto later today and that Neji was finally well enough to receive visitors. Naruto and the Hyūga prodigy had taken the longest to recover of the Retrieval team. However, the entire team had survived.
"HAAAA! I'm bored!"
"Mm, you could always read." A voice said idly from Naruto's right. The blond yelped and fell off the bed.
"Kakashi-sensei! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Naruto shouted.
The infamous Copy Ninja idly flipped a page in his beloved orange book as he sat on the windowsill. "You're a ninja, Naruto. I thought you knew that we have to be aware of our surroundings at all time."
"I know! And I don't want to read any of your perverted books! Ero-Sennin tried to force me to be his proofreader for those when we went to find baa-chan."
Kakashi nearly dropped his book. Naruto was half way standing when Kakashi stood over him with a look of horrific glee on his face. "You… you saw the next installment in the Icha Icha series…"
"Yeah…"
Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Tell me! Share the wonders of the future with me! I promise I'll make a fair trade for such beautiful information!"
"Alright, but you have to promise to answer my questions. You have to promise on your Sharingan you won't try to weasel out." Kakashi had not heard Naruto's voice take on that tone.
You sounded like Minato-sensei.
"I promise."
Naruto nodded and explained the basic plot of how a brave warrior made an oath on the blood of a beautiful young noble woman to avenge her attack at the hands of a cruel white eyed demon. The young warrior went on to train with a mighty mountain sage because the warrior did not possess the strength to battle the cunning demon yet. Naruto groaned as he told how the young handsome and noble warrior had to fend off legions of 'nubile' young women who wished to make love to him. The mighty mountain sage would transform into the warrior and pleased the women so that his student would remain pure for his maiden.
"Ero-Sennin hadn't gotten to the part where the Warrior and the Sage get back to avenge the noble woman when we found baa-chan."
Kakashi was very amused because of two reasons. The first was that he got an advanced look at the next magical installment of his favorite book series. The second…
"Naruto, does that plot line sound familiar to you at all? Think back, to say… The Chunnin Exam preliminaries?"
The blond Genin shrugged his shoulders. "A bit. Everything before my fight with Sasuke is hard to pin down. One minute it'll be perfectly clear, and then it'll get fuzzy. "
Kakashi chuckled. The boy's a bit dense. "Alright, Naruto, ask your questions."
Naruto took a deep breath. "First one: Why did you train only Sasuke for the finals and dump me with Ebisu?"
"I was the only one who could train Sasuke. There aren't any other Sharingan users in Konoha, not after Itachi lost his mind and killed the Uchiha. And… Sasuke was slipping after Orochimaru gave him the Cursed Seal of Heaven. He spent the entire time pushing himself to the brink. Sasuke kept going on about how he couldn't let you surpass him. If you had been there, I'm afraid Sasuke would have become unhinged. I spent the first two weeks just trying to suppress the Seal."
Kakashi paused. "And I didn't 'dump' you on Ebisu. I know you've had some run-ins with him in the past, but he is actually an excellent teacher. He knows several very good chakra control exercises that would have helped you immensely. You probably won't believe this, but he was actually excited about teaching you. He said something about wanting to find out your Elemental Affinity. I think he respects you a great deal."
That had not been what Naruto expected to hear. He couldn't ask the original question of 'Did you even want me on the team' now.
"Kakashi-sensei… The team selections… Was it really because I was 'dead-last'?"
"No. I requested you and Sasuke. My best friend was an Uchiha and I felt that I owed Obito. I chose you…" Kakashi wasn't sure how to proceed with this. He couldn't tell Naruto that he wanted to look after the son of the greatest man he had ever known. "You reminded me of several important people in my past. I wanted to help you become a ninja they could be proud of."
Naruto looked away. "Do you think I made them proud?"
"They would be proud." Minato, Kushina… behold your son.
Shizune knocked politely on the door to Naruto's room. After there was no answer, she leaned in to knock again. This time, she heard Naruto speaking to someone.
"Ano, Shizune-sempai, who is Naruto talking to?" Hinata spoke in a whisper.
Shizune shushed her fellow apprentice and they listened. No one had cleared any visitors for Naruto.
"Brat, I have a few things to take care of, but when I come back I promise I'll start your training."
Naruto's voice was distant and the girls realized he had his back to the door. "It better not be your 'research'. Baa-chan will use you to carve her face in the Mountain if it is."
Jiraiya's voice scoffed. "It is research, but research for Konoha. I run the spy network for the village. There is a lot of activity that recently started up. There's the obvious such as finding out what Orochimaru's plans for Sasuke are. Then there's Itachi and what his group wants with you. Finally, there are the problems popping up in the Land of Lightning."
"You promise you'll come back and train me? I mean, if Sasuke is going to be 'taught' by the Snake Bastard I'm going to need you to help even the odds." Naruto said in a firm, powerful voice that made Hinata's heart skip a beat.
Jiraiya laughed. "Even the odds? You wound me brat! I'm not going to help even the odds. When I'm done with you, the odds will be so stacked in your favor Tsunade-hime could win with them!"
"Kick. Ass."
"Damn right it is!" Jiraiya laughed. "You two can come in. We heard your first knock."
Naruto's voice became clearer. He probably turned around. "Yeah, it's ok Hinata and Shizune-neehan!"
Tsunade's apprentices entered the room. "How did you know it was us, Naruto-kun?"
"Casue you and Hinata are the only ones polite enough to wait for someone to respond to your knock. Baa-chan and Sakura-chan would have just barged in screaming either 'BRAT' or 'NARUTO-NO-BAKA', and Ino would have knocked and then entered announcing how we were lucky for her to visit us."
Hinata and Shizune exchanged glances. "Well, somebody has to be polite in our crazy group!"
Naruto and Jiraiya laughed at Shizune's declaration. Jiraiya spoke first. "It sure as hell won't be me or the brat!"
"Oh, that's a shame because I thought Naruto-kun wanted to be Hokage…" Shizune smirked at the now pouting Naruto.
"Hey! I don't want to be Hokage. I am going to be Hokage!"
Hinata wanted to bask in Naruto's endless confidence. The Hyūga heiress knew he wasn't perfect. Naruto had flaws. He was overly loud, had no clue about proper etiquette and was a bit dense. However, those flaws only deepened the respect she held for him. He was human. Her admiration for Naruto wasn't an empty husk like the traitor Uchiha's fangirls possessed. Hinata cared for Naruto as a human being; not as some distant fantasy. She had always wondered how the other kunoichi from the Academy could see anything in Sasuke. Hinata recognized he was a 'good' ninja but was an utterly miserable person. In Hinata's opinion, Sasuke was the dark shadow cast by the light that was Naruto.
As she reflected on her longing for Naruto, she realized something. Yes, he was flawed, especially in etiquette and manners. Those, however, were some of her limited strengths. She could help him!
"Oh really? How can someone be Hokage without manners?" Shizune countered.
Naruto pointed his finger at the Hokage's majordomo so quickly his elbow popped. "Ask baa-chan! She seems to be doing a good job without them!"
"For your information, Rokudaime! Tsunade-sama is perfectly capable of behaving like the noble woman she is!" Shizune continued as if she hadn't heard Jiraiya cackle. "It is just whenever you are around Naruto, you agitate her."
Naruto crossed his arms. "I bet I could learn manners."
"HA!" The Toad Sage and the apprentice of the Slug Princess snorted in disbelief.
"I could!" Naruto shouted defensively.
Hinata had been watching quietly off to the side, forgotten. She had desperately wanted to speak, but she felt so small and helpless in the current company. Realization dawned on Hinata in that moment. This was her experience with Naruto in a microcosm. She simply existed in a crowd. Hinata was pushed aside by the loud and forceful personalities of her friends. Naruto noticed Sakura and Ino to a lesser extent, because they had the courage to make their presence known. Hinata would never get Naruto to truly notice her if she continued down her current path.
"N… Naruto-kun could definitely learn! I… I could teach him!" Hinata spoke up.
"It's nice to see that someone recognizes how awesome I am! With Hinata teaching me, I bet I'll have it down in a week!" Naruto was still shouting. Truthfully, he never really stopped. His tone was no longer defensive but was instead jubilant.
Hinata felt the heat in her face and the racing of her heart as the Sanin and her Sempai turned to her.
"A week, eh?" Jiraiya had a lopsided grin on his face.
Naruto jabbed his finger at his teacher. "Oi! Don't you grin at Hinata like that you pervert! I'm not going to let you look at one of my friends like a piece of meat, dattebayo!"
Oh god, what have I gotten into? Hinata thought in a panic.
Gao entered the room where Michi-sama was pouring over a series of documents. Gao watched as the red haired woman cursed a contract. The spy stood at attention in the doorway. Eventually, Michi threw the contract against the wall. Gao waited to be address as Michi straightened out her loose fitting dress.
"Is there something you require, Gao-san?"
Gao bowed to his leader. "Yes, Michi-sama. I have come to relay my doubts and serious concerns about the mission to retrieve our 'Daimyo'."
"Ah yes." The politician dropped all pretense of civility. "Unfortunately, the other members of the Board did not share my concerns. They felt that Meihui forming an unhealthy emotional attachment would actually serve our purposes."
Gao continued to remain as still as a statue. "I agree. However…"
"Speak your mind, Gao-san." Michi ordered harshly.
"Did you not say that you wanted this Uzumaki Naruto to form emotional attachments to us?" Gao questioned.
"Of course I did! The boy needs to form emotional ties to the movement not a single individual. You cannot comprehend the power this Uzumaki holds. If Masakyo and his daughter gain control over the child they will have complete command over the movement."
Gao paled at the thought. "How much power does this child have?"
"I cannot tell you the source of his power. It is a State Secret, but I can tell you that it is beyond our comprehension. It would not surprise me if this Uzumaki Naruto one day rivals the Sanin."
Michi walked around the desk and smiled. "Think of it Gao. Imagine how trivial it would be to push him to be Uzukage while another takes the Daimyo's throne. Rebuilding Uzugakure will take years. Uzumaki's attention will be securing the future of our Hidden Village."
"He would be forced out of politics with a smile on his face."
"Exactly! A beautifully simple plan and one that benefits the Land of Whirlpools in the long term."
Gao grinned. "We, of course, will have to remove Meihui and Masakyo from the equation."
"Of course. However, we must be patient."
"I concur, Michi-sama." Gao's grin never wavered.
Sakura quietly closed the door to her house and began the long walk to Training Ground Fifteen. Training Ground Fifteen had a fast moving stream that was excellent for practicing water walking. It was also very isolated and if she broke down in tears over Naruto's near death and the cruel necessity of pushing him away, no one would notice. The only joy she had found since the Uchiha Retrieval Team's return was the training regimen under Tsunade-shisho. Sakura knew that she was part of a new generation of kunoichi, and shinobi, who would finally find a purpose. It was Sakura's fervent hope that no one would be like her ever again. She would be the last burden.
Konoha's energy was returning. The shops were finally bustling again. The Hidden Village in the Leaves was alive again. The Hokage's apprentice smiled for the first time in days as she window shopped at a clothing store.
Konoha will never be threatened again. We will have two great Hokages; Tsunade-sama the Godaime and Naruto, the future Rokudaime.
"Sakura-san?"
Sakura recognized the voice and turned to face her fellow apprentice. The shyest Kunoichi in all of Konoha was clutching a bag close to her chest. "Hello, Hinata."
"Have… have you heard that Naruto-kun will be released today?"
"No, I left after Tsunade-shisho released us. My parents wanted to speak with me about our training with the Hokage."
Hinata nodded. She could understand Sakura's rush to get home. Hiashi had been eager to learn the details of the Godaime's training as well. "Would you like to accompany me to help Naruto check out of the Hospital?"
Sakura felt an urge to grab Hinata's hand and rush to see Naruto. She wanted to tell that knucklehead that Sasuke's defection wasn't his fault and that he did his best.
But she couldn't. If she did that, Naruto would probably sneak out of Konoha the next morning and start a blind and fruitless search for the Snake Sanin and the traitor Uchiha. Her kindness would kill him.
"I scheduled Training Ground Fifteen today. I spent a good chunk of my savings, so I can't waste this opportunity. Speaking of spending, what's in the bag?"
Hinata hugged the bag tighter to her chest. "Ano, Naruto-kun's jumpsuit was... destroyed on his last mission." When the bastard Uchiha betrayed and nearly killed him. "He doesn't have much in the way clothing. I… bought him something."
"Let me guess, orange?"
The girls giggled for a moment. "It is his favorite color, Sakura-san."
"It better not be the bright kill me now orange." Sakura finally noticed the change in honorific and her tone cooled a bit.
"The jumpsuit is not for missions. It's for training and when he's in the village." Hinata countered the ice in Sakura's tone. Hinata fought the urge to smile. She was Hyūga and was raised by Hiashi and with Neji. Her clan had made an icy tone an art form. "Will you visit Naruto-kun after he returns home?"
The pinkette shrugged her shoulders. "I might."
"Might." The word came out as an angry hiss.
"It's my choice." Sakura countered. She knew that Hinata would likely hate her now. If Hinata's hate gave her the push to finally confess to Naruto and give him the unconditional affection he deserved then it was a fair price.
"How can you be so cruel?" Hinata had filled her tone with the last emotion Sakura expected to hear. It was not anger or even hate. It was pain. Sakura felt her heart break.
"Because I have to be."
Naruto was hopping around his hospital room. The excitement he thought he had gotten under control after Kakashi-sensei's visit was back a hundred fold. He couldn't help it! He was finally getting out of this damn room! Naruto would never have to count the sixty-eight ceiling tiles or notice how the farthest windowsill wasn't leveled properly.
Thus, the knock at the door hadn't even finished when Naruto practically ripped the door off its hinges. "Hello?"
Hinata smiled shyly, but the clothing bag hid it from the object of her affections. "Tsunade-shisho just signed the release papers. You are free to go."
"YES!" Naruto shouted and jumped into the air. "I, uh, can't leave quite yet though."
"Why not, Naruto-kun?" Hinata leaned her head to the side.
She was as cute as Sakura-chan there… Naruto felt his shoulders slump at the thought. Sakura-chan never visited. She was here and she never visited. Even Ino visited. Heck, Hinata was the only one who visited more than once.
"I, uh, don't have any clothes." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his still bandaged head.
Hinata took a quick calming breath. She was very worried about how Naruto would react. "I… I bought you a new jumpsuit. It has some orange even."
"Seriously?" The blond couldn't hide his surprise. The shy Hyūga could only nod. "Awesome! Let's see it!"
The kunoichi pulled out the jumpsuit and handed it over. Naruto held the suit up and looked approvingly at it. It wasn't as brightly colored as his regular suit. The orange was more of a burnt orange instead of the neon orange that demanded attention. His new jacket was the same color, but was edged with black. He spun the jacket around and saw the spiral crest that was on his old jumpsuits shoulder.
"This is awesome." Naruto nodded appreciatively at the new clothes. "Hey, Hinata since you're going to be teaching me to stop being an embarrassment to society maybe you should help me pick up new clothes."
"You… you aren't an embarrassment, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks Hinata!"
The bond shinobi flashed a thumbs up and started changing clothes. He was so excited to finally get out of the hospital robes that he forgot Hinata was still in the room. Naruto was pulling his shirt over his head when he heard a thump.
"Hinata! Are you ok?" He asked in a hurry. Naruto knelt down and tried to shake Hinata awake.
"Naruto-kun took his shirt off…" Hinata whispered behind a smile.
"Huh?" Naruto, needless to say, was a bit confused.
The Konoha Council sat across from the Hokage. Each of the powerful individuals was weighing Tsunade's words very carefully.
Mitokado Homura, an ancient and bearded Jonin, shook his head. "Tsunade-hime, I agree that this is necessary, but the Military Police has always been an Uchiha institution."
"Homura-san is correct, Tsunade." Danzō leaned on his cane. The heavily bandaged and lame former teammate of the Third Hokage's tone was far too smug for the Hokage's liking. "As long as Uchiha Sasuke remains alive, command of the Police Force should remain unoccupied."
"I declared Uchiha Sasuke a missing-nin this morning. That individual has no bearing on internal Konoha policy."
Danzō glared at Tsunade with his unbandaged eye. "Sasuke was forced from the village by Uzumaki Naruto. I dare say that the Kyūbi Container using its demonic chakra was excessive force. It is possible the Container is now a threat to the security of Konoha…"
"Shizune!" Tsunade barked, cutting off the Elder. The Slug Sanin's apprentice entered the office. "Get Tenzō."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said with significant emphasis on the proper honorific. She quickly left the room.
"Danzō is an Elder of Konoha, Tsunade-hime. It would be wise to show him respect." Utatane Koharu, the aged female member of the Council, practically snapped at the Hokage.
Nara Shikaku decided to join the conversation. "And Tsunade-sama is the Hokage!"
The meeting was growing very tense when Shizune returned to the office with a cat-masked member of ANBU.
The ANBU bowed to the Hokage. "Tenzō reporting as ordered, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade nodded respectfully to the ANBU Captain. "Tenzō, escort Danzō to his home."
"You cannot do this!" Danzō hissed.
"As Jonin Commander Nara reminded us all, I am Hokage. You have forgotten that Konoha is not an oligarchy. I am well within my rights. It is well you remind yourself of Konoha's Laws. I will give you a quick refresher course. One, if a shinobi defects to another village and in the process of betraying Konoha leads to the severe injury and near death of his comrades; he is a traitor no matter his name. Second, to be a threat to the security of the Village, one must overtly act against Konoha. Tell me Danzō, when has Uzumaki Naruto done anything but serve Konoha with every fiber of his being?"
The Elder could only tremble with poorly contained rage. Tsunade smirked. "As I thought."
Tenzō escorted the Elder from the office. Koharu seemed to squint even harder at the Hokage. "You have made a powerful opponent."
Tsunade returned the glare. "He has no official standing in the power structure of Konoha."
"Besides…" Shikaku leaned back in his chair. "The Jonin all support Tsunade-sama. How much support can Danzō drum up?"
The carriage was stopped at the gates of Konoha. A pair of guards, including one with the strangest eyes Meihui had ever seen, ordered the passengers from their transport.
"Welcome to the Konoha. Please remain where you are while we inspect you all. Chunin Kō, if you would?" The first guard spoke.
Kō, the man with the pale, pupilless eyes, nodded. "Byakugan!"
Meihui gasped in shock. A Dojutsu! Kō walked quickly around the wagon, but came to a stop in front of Kenta.
"I will need to see your identification."
Kenta nodded and handed over his papers. The Chunnin read over them quickly; his Byakugan still active. "You are a former Samurai of the Land of Whirlpools. Your documentation is in order and we will permit you to carry your Katana. However, we ask you turn over hidden weapons while you are in Konoha."
The first Shinobi stepped forward. "The rest of you, please sign in."
The guests signed in and the Jonin's expression finally relaxed. "Now that the seriousness is over with, please enjoy your stay in Konoha!"
Meihui and Kenta collected their belongings after the Samurai left his daggers with the Konoha ninja. They passed through the gates and entered a bustling and lively city.
"This is a hidden village? How… how can they hide such a place?" Meihui stared in awe at the mountain bearing the faces of the village's Kage.
Kenta walked next to the young woman. "Konoha is one of the Five Great Shinobi villages. There is more power concentrated in one of the Great Villages than anywhere else in the world."
"Amazing…" Meihui didn't notice the amused looks she was getting from the Konoha shinobi. "That ninja, did he really have a Dojutsu?"
Kenta rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. "He did indeed. The Byakugan. Kumo's last attempt to secure it nearly caused a war."
The spy's eyes lit up. "We could perhaps gain more than just a Daimyo on this trip…"
Kenta sighed. "Zhuāng Meihui, you must remain focused. The hand that reaches too far is the first to be chopped off."
"You are right, of course. We should focus on finding…"
"UZUMAKI NARUTO! Get back here!" A powerful woman's voice echoed through the city. Kenta and Meihui gaped in the direction of the voice. They were shaken out of their stupor by a pair of vested Ninja laughing.
"Naruto called Hokage-sama baa-chan again didn't he?"
The Samurai and the Spy exchanged glances. "Are you sure that we're looking for the right person?"
Author's Notes: Finally! The 'Recovery Arc' is over with. Also, things are getting... complicated for everyone. Also, I need a word to represent the exact opposite of Fluff. Cause, I need a term to describe all future Hinata and Sasuke interaction which will generally be defined by hate and attempted murder.
Please Read and Review!