Chapter 4: Enter the Sanada: A Promise of Things to Come

AN: Welcome back. The long anticipated fight has arrived. Just a little warning, it's kind of anticlimactic. I'll make that up to you guys later. This is going to be my last chapter for a while. I have to get work done on some of my other stories.

Aoi's eyes widened as he stared at the boy closing with him. His amber, slit-pupil eyes gleamed with unbridled malevolence, seeming to carry an illumination all their own. The amused grin the boy wore didn't help matters. If anything, the two combined factors about the boy's face gave Aoi the impression that he was looking at the most evil thing alive. For the first time in his life, Aoi knew fear so powerful that it seemed to utterly crush his will to fight. There was no way he could win against this…thing!

And yet somewhere in Aoi's mind, his anger, encouraged by his waxing insanity, began to push away his fear. How dare this boy rob him of his much hated prey? How dare he even think of making Aoi feel like he wanted to run away? He was Aoi, a Jounin and wielder of the Raijin, the fabled weapon of the Second Hokage. This boy was an insect, a parasite. Aoi would crush him underfoot like the nothing that he was.

And yet, there was no trace of fear in the boy's eyes as Aoi got to his feet. Indeed, the eyes seemed to be glowing with anticipation. That glow only brightened when Aoi activated the Raijin sword. Aoi grinned madly. "I will make you want to run away, little boy. I will make you want to run, but I won't let you. Oh no, you'll want to run but I'll kill you."

The glow of enthusiasm left the child's eyes. But it wasn't replaced by fear. Instead, Aoi saw annoyance. "Whatta pain," groaned the boy as he ran his head through his hair, "I thought things might be a little fun, but you had to start talking again." He wasn't scared; he was bored.

"You're not even worth killing to be honest," groaned the boy. He sighed. "But a job's a job and you are worth a pretty fair bundle once we've taken your head on tour."

He looked at Aoi and smiled. "Well, I might as well play with you to make this worth my while. I'll tell you what. I'll give you a handicap. You can use ever weapon and skill that you have, but I'll only use taijutsu and this…" he held up his kendama, "And I'll attack with my sword just once."


"What's going on?" demanded Naruto as he pointed at the cloaked boy who was facing Aoi. The boy's slightly taller companion gave Naruto a reassuring smile out from under his hat.

The young man ignored Naruto's question and seemed to be looking for something he had hidden away in his cloak. After a brief moment, he pulled out a vial and handed it to Naruto. "You might want to give that to your friend," he said, pointing to Hinata's unconscious form, "It will help her overcome the effects of chakra depletion."

Naruto did as the young man bid and carefully poured the liquid into Hinata's mouth. While he was doing this, Hanabi came up beside him. Naruto was relieved to see Hinata's skin, which had paled considerably when she had fainted, regain some of its color. "It won't wake her," explained the young man, "In fact, it carries a mild sedative that will help her rest to recover from the effects of her strain." He carefully blotted her sweat-dampened face with a handkerchief.

Naruto nodded, and then looked sharply at the young man. "But you still haven't answered my question!" he said quickly, "Who are you guys and what are you doing here."

"To put it simply, we're doing a little bounty hunting," replied the boy, "Aoi-san is an A-Rank missing-nin. He is currently wanted in three nations, by two hidden villages and seven private interests."

"You mean you're a hunter-nin?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing. He remembered when Haku had first appeared in his life. The young missing nin had been masquerading as a hunter nin sent to recover the corpse of Momichi Zabuza. Haku had later been revealed as Zabuza's ally and servant.

"Um, not exactly," replied the other, "Hunter-nins track down and kill missing nins as official representatives of their villages, namely the one where the rogue originates." He pointed to the white-haired boy and then to himself. "He and I are operating as bounty hunters. When hunter-nins work, they track down their target as a mission, not unlike the ones you receive on a regular basis. But as bounty hunters, we kill the target and then present the evidence of his death to the various people who put the bounties on him."

"Okay," said Naruto. He wasn't quite sure that he understood everything though. Off to his side, he saw Hanabi nodding understandingly. Great, even she understands this, but I don't, thought Naruto mournfully.


Aoi was shocked when the boy picked up the fallen umbrella. He closed the parasol and with a flick of his wrist, tossed the object to Aoi, who caught it deftly. For a moment, Aoi looked dumbfounded at the weapon. "I said I'd let you use all your tools," explained the boy, grinning eagerly.

Aoi's heart and mind filled with fury. How dare this boy look at him with such contempt? Aoi was too angry for words. Without a reply, he put his umbrella back on his back and rushed at the child, his sword humming as it cleaved the air with his every stroke.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Aoi screamed as he approached. He brought his sword downwards in an attack that was meant to split the boy's skull. The child sidestepped the attack with catlike grace, even pulling the edges of his cloak back so that they weren't singed by the sword's passing. Without a pause, his right hand lashed out in a back handed blow, smacking Aoi in the stomach and forcing the enraged rain-nin back.

Aoi glared murderously at him. The boy simply smiled and waved at Aoi dismissively with his right hand. "Keep trying," he said, his tone taunting. Aoi let out a shriek and charged in again. This time, he launched into a flurry of strikes with the Raijin sword. The annoying boy seemed completely unbothered by the fact that he was facing such a powerful weapon. He easily sidestepped many of Aoi's haphazard attacks. The ones that he wasn't able to avoid, he simply knocked away with his kendama.

As he parried yet another of Aoi's attacks with his toy, the boy flicked his wrist, sending the wooden ball on the end of the kendama flying off. The ball and the cord that attached it to the base, wrapped neatly around Aoi's right wrist. As Aoi swung again, trying to sever the boy's head from his shoulders, the boy simply leaned back, letting the sword sail by harmlessly overhead. Even though he was actually overbalanced and should have fallen over, the force of Aoi's swing and a pull from the boy himself used the kendama's cord to pull him upright. In one smooth motion, the child's right hand landed a vicious uppercut on Aoi's chin, knocking the former rain-nin back. Instead of falling, the boy simply yanked on the kendama again. This pulled Aoi back up and into striking distance. This time, the boy landed three separate blows on Aoi's torso. As Aoi fell back, the young man flicked his wrist, unwrapping the kendama's cord. Even as Aoi was falling back, the boy's foot lashed out, slamming the wooden slats of his geta into Aoi's stomach. This strike sent the missing-nin flying.

Gasping for breath, Aoi got shakily to his feet. "How?" he demanded, "How can you defeat the Raijin sword so easily?"

The young man rolled his amber eyes. "'How?' he asks." He smirked at Aoi, who was still collecting himself. "I guess what they say is true," he said plainly, "No matter how powerful the weapon you wield, if you're an amateur, then you might as well be trying to kill me with a twig." His smirk became a grin.


"What the heck is he talking about?" asked Naruto.

"It's rather simple, actually," said the other bounty hunter. He held up three fingers. "You see, there are three primary schools when it comes to ningu usage." He retracted all but his index finger. "The first is the belief that the best way to increase one's fighting ability is by investing in the acquisition and/or creation of weapons of higher quality and greater power. In other words they believe that by obtaining more powerful weapons like the Raijin sword they are able to become unstoppable." He put up a second finger. "On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who believe that technique is all that matters and that the quality and capability of the weapon is irrelevant. In other words, they believe that as long as one has mastered the technique for a given weapon, an inferior weapon can be used to defeat another weapon, even if that weapon happens to be superior." He held up the third finger. "And finally, there are those who take something of a middle ground between those two extremes. These people believe that weapons and technique should complement one another and that both technique and the power of the weapon are important. In this third school, weapon and technique combine to inspire greater power than the sum of its parts.

"The Nidaime Hokage, who created the Raijin sword belonged to this third school, as did Aoi-san," he went on to explain.

"If that's true, then why did that freak end up like this?" inquired Naruto as he jerked his head in Aoi's direction.

"When Aoi-san defected to Amagakure," explained the boy, "He stole two things. The first, of course, was the Raijin sword. The second was a scroll. That scroll contained the necessary information that would grant Aoi-san complete mastery over the Raijin. However, the scroll was retrieved by Morino-san."

"That's right," agreed Naruto. He remembered Idate telling him about this back in the Nation of Tea, or rather, how Morino Ibiki had been captured and tortured by Aoi and had given Idate a chance to escape. It was Aoi himself who had confessed that Ibiki had escaped back to Konoha with the scroll. He shrugged the thoughts off as they watched the fight continue anew.


Aoi put the Raijin away and pulled out his umbrella. Yet again, he sent the thing flying skyward while he performed the necessary signs. "Jouro-Senbon!" Once again, hundreds of needles cascaded down towards the young man.

The boy snorted contemptuously as his right hand grabbed the hem of his cloak. A quick tug pulled the brown fabric from his shoulders as he began to spin; very quickly. His entire body became shrouded by the whirling cloak as the needles rained down on him. Every one of the poisoned senbon seemed to hit home. And yet, the child's spin continued, unabated. Finally, as the last of the needles struck, he halted his spin, pulling the cloak back around his shoulders as he did so. Aoi was shocked to see every single one of his needles fall from the heavy folds of fabric onto the ground.

"Impressive," the boy stated dully, clearly being sarcastic, "However I once heard that a ninja with true mastery of this technique could punch these needles through solid steel." He smiled mockingly as he bent down to carefully pick up one of the needles and examine it. "Is that why you use poisoned senbon, Aoi? You don't have enough skill to use this jutsu properly, do you?" He leveled an evil grin in Aoi's direction.

Aoi was fuming. Never before had he been so humiliated. And yet the boy continued. "I had thought that all those nice handicaps I had given you would have made this fight more interesting." He sighed and shrugged. "But as things stand, I might as well end this now and get on with the business of collecting the bounties on your head." His right hand began to stray towards the hilt of the sword on his back.


"Hang on," said Naruto, "How did Aoi become a missing-nin if he was banished from his village?" He frowned. "If what I remember from Iruka-sensei's lectures was true, then that can't earn you a missing-nin designation."

"Oh," exclaimed the young man by his side, "I had almost forgotten, that's what Aoi-san said to you when he first attacked didn't he?" Naruto nodded. "You must keep in mind that Aoi-san has become rather…unbalanced as of late. And when people lose themselves like that, they tend to shift the blame for all their wrongdoings onto other people." He chuckled. "You see, Aoi-san wasn't exiled from Amagakure. He abandoned the village of his own free will.

"Granted, considering the way he was treated after that failed mission in Tea country, it was no surprise that he left. After all, even though he had the Raijin sword and the assignment was supposed to have been a lucrative, yet easy one, he was still defeated, and by a trio of mere genin no less." The boy chuckled. "Aoi-san had always been somewhat mistrusted by those in Amagakure. After all, the ease with which he had abandoned Konohagakure easily suggested that he might not be unwilling to abandon Amagakure. As a result, even as a jounin, he was accorded the lowliest assignments available. As a result, he performed many deeds despicable, for which he is now wanted."

"Why wasn't he wanted when he committed them?" Naruto wanted to know.

"Because Aoi-san was acting in official stead as a ninja of Amagakure," explained the young man, "As long as it is confirmed that you are performing an official ninja of a legitimate village, you have certain immunities, which means you can't be blamed for following through your mission, even if you happened to violate the official law in the process. And of course, Aoi-san took certain liberties with this rule.

"But all of your crimes become official the moment you are declared a missing-nin. As a result, you can be held accountable even for things you did as an official representative of your village. Aoi-san hurt a great many people, so a great many people would like to see his head on display."


The boy sighed and put away his kendama. His right hand reached up to the hilt of his word. The boy unsheathed it slightly, revealing a jet-black blade. As he looked at it, Aoi felt his insides go cold. The Raijin sword was one thing, it was a weapon of pure power. However, the sword that the boy drew was different. Instead of power, it radiated malevolence. It also emanated a powerful hunger; a hunger for blood, his blood. Aoi could barely bring himself to speak. "Sh-Shi-Shibien." The rain-nin was trembling madly. He felt as if his heart had already stopped in his chest.

The boy grinned widely. "I see you recognize my partner. You should feel honored."

Aoi pulled out the Raijin sword and charged, an unearthly scream tearing itself from his throat. His heart and mind were so consumed with fear that rational thought had flown from him completely. He continued on, even though he knew he was heading headlong into death. The boy simply held his ground as Aoi approached. His grin was replaced with a frown. This wasn't any fun at all.


"He's not moving!" yelled Naruto.

The other bounty hunter seemed completely unfazed. "You'll see," he said simply.


Aoi bore down on the boy, his Raijin already descending to strike the final blow. For a moment, his fear was lifted slightly with a tiny mote of triumph. I'm too close for him to defend, he thought, I've won!

Then the boy…moved. The next instant, the two were standing back to back. The boy's sword was still in its scabbard, only partially drawn.


"No way," hissed Naruto. He was completely flummoxed. "How could he botch it like that? And he was doing so well too."

"You misunderstand," replied the other cloaked traveler, "It's not always what you see that matters. What one can't see can kill just as easily."


The boy sighed. "I don't even feel like taking his head on tour now," he grumbled, "That was so easy it was sickening." How did this guy even become a genin? He slid the sword all the way back into its scabbard. At that moment, Aoi's head chose to fly from his shoulders, accompanied by a spout of blood from the stump of his neck. The head landed on the ground, as the body fell forward, staining the snow a bright crimson with the blood pouring out of it.

His companion came down to join him. "Would you like me to handle the cleanup, Sasuke-kun? (A/N: Head's up folks! This is where things get messy!)"

That perked up Naruto's ears. Huh! Sasuke!

The shorter of the two, who apparently was named Sasuke simply shrugged. "Yeah," he replied, "Do that. I don't want to remember such a lame fight."

The other boy chuckled good-naturedly as Sasuke went over to pick up Aoi's head. The other young man stood over the corpse. Gently, he pried the Raijin sword from the dead man's hand and stowed it under his cloak. He then ran his hands through several signs. "Katon: Shien-Homura-Kiyomeru-no-jutsu!" After sucking in a deep breath, the boy exhaled a stream of violet flames from his mouth, spraying them over the corpse and all the blood it had spilled. When the jet of fire ceased, flames of the same color were licking at the corpse and searing away the blood. Surprisingly, the snow remained untouched, as did everything else, except for the body, its clothes, and the blood.

Naruto was too stunned from what he had seen to react to what he was seeing now. Suddenly his attention was taken by quiet retching off to his side. Looking over, he saw Hanabi kneeling in the snow, away from her sister, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground. Carefully, Naruto went to her side. One of Hanabi's convulsions sent her off balance and would have caused her to tumble into the pool of her own vomit. But fortunately, Naruto caught her shoulders. "Hanabi-chan?" he asked urgently, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Naruto heard soft chuckling from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the young man that had burned Aoi's body was now standing only a few feet behind him. "It's her first time…isn't it?" he asked.

"Huh?" Naruto wasn't quite sure he understood. But then, he didn't understand a lot of things.

"It is the first time she has seen someone killed in front of her very eyes," explained the young man plainly, "And then of course, there is the fact that she was nearly killed herself mere moments ago. At her age, that can be quite a trying experience, even if she is training to be a ninja eventually, she is still too young to face the reality of death in such a blatant manner."

"So what do I do to help her feel better?" asked Naruto.

The young man simply shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "I have never felt that way." For a moment, his voice sounded lifeless, hollow. The generally pleasant air surrounding the young man was simply gone. But it returned as quickly as it left. "I'm afraid that it's up to you Uzumaki-san."

Naruto looked back down at Hanabi and realized that she was shaking. Naruto let the girl rest against his side as he unzipped his jacket and took it off. A second later, he wrapped it around her. "Just relax, Hanabi-chan," he whispered to her as he lifted the small girl in his arms, "Everything's going to be okay."

"Granted you couldn't say that a second ago," Sasuke taunted, "You have a knack for getting your ass saved though. Maybe that's your greatest ninja skill; SOS-no-jutsu!" He turned away, smirking evilly.

A vein bulged on Naruto's forehead. Why that little…He's even worse than the Sasuke I know! Chakra or no chakra, he would have attacked the guy if little Hanabi hadn't fallen asleep in his arms.

"Sasuke-kun," reprimanded the other young man, "Behave yourself. We are guests in this village, after all. Besides, you haven't placed the seal yet. Shame on you for playing when work's not done."

Muttering to himself, Sasuke set Aoi's head up on top of the last remaining stump. Taking out a small slip of paper, he nipped his thumb and wrote with his blood. A moment later, he threw the seal, which landed square in the center of Aoi's forehead. He performed several signs and the characters on the paper glowed. Then it was over. Sasuke rummaged around inside his cloak for a moment before pulling out a small cloth bag. Grabbing Aoi's head, Sasuke lowered it neatly into the bag, tying the opening shut.

"What was that seal?" Naruto asked.

"Preservation," answered Sasuke bluntly, "It's one of the basics in the bounty hunting business. When you track down your quarry too far away from wherever it was that he came from or you have to take his head too many places after you've killed him, the head will start to rot.

"The moment the first signs of decomposition occur, the head's worthless. Anything that even slightly obscures the facial features automatically renders the head ineligible for the collection of the bounty."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Fancy taking up this job?" asked Sasuke. Before Naruto could even think to answer, he continued. "Too many con-artists tried to scam their clients by taking some random bum's head and mutilating his face beyond recognition and then claiming it was the result of their fight. As a result, a universal law was passed through all nations that the head must be immediately identifiable or you can't collect the bounty on it.

"When this seal is placed, it preserves the head in this exact state until the time at which it is removed. It allows for the client to examine the head to ensure that the kill is genuine. Once the seal is removed, decomposition begins as it normally would."

"Sheesh," moaned Naruto, "That's a lot of trouble. Why would anyone want to do a job like that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Search me?"

"Huh?" Naruto was confused. "But I thought you were bounty hunters."

"We are currently," replied the other young man, "Because that's what we are doing now. But we don't do it all the time."

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "This was something on the side to keep us occupied." He groaned, looking downtrodden all of a sudden. "But Yukimura sure gave us the lamest prey didn't he."

"Now now," replied the young man, "Yukimura-sama didn't know that Aoi-san would degenerate so much."

"Oh whatever!" exclaimed Sasuke, "Let's just go collect our bounties and get this over with. Then we can go and get Yukimura to give me a more interesting job."

"You're so demanding," commented the other one, chuckling as he did so.

"FELONS LIKE YOU WHO DEVIEVE THE PEOPLE OF THIS VILLAGE HAVE NO RIGHT TO MAKE DEMANDS!" The snow in one part of the clearing seemed to simply explode. As it fell, it revealed a ninja whom Naruto was all too familiar with. "FOR YOUR CRIMES…I, KONOHA'S GREAT BLUE BEAST, MAITO GAI, WILL PUNISH YOU!"

"Let's see, if we go to the Nation of Tea first, we'll have to make sure that we visit Jirocho and that other guy before we hit up the Daimyo…" Sasuke said calmly. Ignoring the idiot.

"Then we should head into Grass country," suggested Soujiro. Both of them seemed completely unaware of Gai's existence. Naruto couldn't believe his eyes as a large drop of sweat rolled down the back of his head.

Gai, on the other hand, was furious. A vein was quickly beginning to bulge on his forehead. "This is too much," he muttered. Naruto could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. "It is one thing for Kakashi to ignore me so coolly. But for an enemy…This is just unacceptable." He continued to mutter to himself, knuckles cracking, teeth grinding, muscles tensing.

Gai's monologue was interrupted by a burst of smoke right next to the two ninjas discussing their route.

"But isn't your first bounty here in Konoha?" inquired Kakashi as he peered nonchalantly over their shoulders.

"He has a point," agreed the young man without missing a beat. It was if he had thought Kakashi had been by them all along.

"And there are two bounties here in Konoha," added Sasuke.

Kakashi raised his single visible eyebrow. "Two?"

"Yeah," replied Sasuke, "One for Aoi's head and one for the Raijin sword." He paused for a moment. "That means we'll have to cancel our little stopover in Amagakure."

"True," agreed the other young man, "They will only pay if Aoi-san's head is delivered with the Raijin. On the other hand, each of the individual bounties that Konohagakure is offering is equal to that which Hidden-Rain is offering for both items together."

"It'll shave another stop off our trip too," added Sasuke, grinning now. Now I can get back faster and give Yukimura a piece of my mind for giving me such a lame job.

Gai was completely dumbstruck. Then, "KAKASHI! WHY ARE YOU HELPING THESE INTERLOPERS!"

Kakashi looked up. "Eh, did you say something Gai?" Gai nearly fainted in exasperation. In another moment he would have gone into another of his rants regarding his infamously cool and collected rival, but Kakashi stopped him. "You need to get Naruto and the others to the hospital," said Kakashi, "I will deal with these two."

"Wait a second!" exclaimed Naruto, "I want to know what's going on here!"

"I will tell you as soon as I'm finished," replied Kakashi, "At the hospital. You and your friends need attention, Naruto. Please go with them."

Naruto looked down at Hanabi, who was still shivering in his arms, despite the fact that his jacket was wrapped around her. Then he turned to look at Hinata, who was still unconscious on the ground. "Alright," he said, "But you'd better not forget to tell me everything."

"Don't worry, Naruto," said Kakashi, grinning behind his mask, "Go on now."

Gai gently lifted Hinata in his arms before looking at Naruto. "Do you think you can make it to the hospital?" he asked.

Naruto took stock of himself before nodding. The two set out at once in the direction of the hospital. Now Kakashi was alone with the two intruders.

"Finally," groaned Sasuke, "I can't believe they let someone that loud be a ninja."

"First off," began Kakashi, "I would like to know who you two are. You're Sanada, I can tell that much."

"Clever," observed the young man, "Isn't he?"

Sasuke agreed with a muffled snort. "I've heard about you, Hatake Kakashi. You had a little run in with Saizo a few days ago, didn't you?"

"That is beside the point," retorted Kakashi, "I want to know who you are." He looked pointedly at Sasuke.

"Ahem," the other's cough got Kakashi's attention. "Sasuke-kun is always a little shy when it comes to introducing himself. So I will go first." The young man reached one hand up to take off his hat while the other undid the clasp on his cloak. Holding both on either side, he revealed his true appearance. His head was covered with black hair and his eyes were a deep blue-gray. Under the cloak, the young man was clad in a plain blue kimono and a pair of hakama of the same color. His face was graced by an innocent looking smile. "My name is Seta Soujiro. As you have guessed, I am a ninja with the Sanada clan."

Sasuke took off his cloak as well. Under it, he wore a simple, white long-sleeved shirt. The front was held shut with a set of loosely tied laces. Despite the frigid weather, he wore a pair of light blue shorts, speckled with brown and black. "My name is Sarutobi Sasuke of the Sanada clan."

"The Sarutobi Sasuke!" exclaimed a rather surprised Kakashi. "I knew he was with the Sanada clan, but I had no idea that he was someone so small."

"You won't call me small after I cut your legs off," Sasuke growled.

"Hold on a minute," said Kakashi, "There's no way you can be the Sarutobi Sasuke. His legend is older than I am. And I certainly doubt you're over my age."

In a world of ninjas, Sarutobi Sasuke was indeed a legend. Supposedly, he was a ninja of unknown origins who had set out to completely master ninjutsu at a very young age. Many of his early exploits bore similarity to those of Uchiha Itachi. However, unlike the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Sarutobi Sasuke's image remained untarnished.

There was a Sarutobi clan in Konohagakure. Asuma, one of the village's jounin was a member of that clan. The clan also fathered the late Sandaime Hokage, who died in battle against Orochimaru. However, the clan claimed no connection with the legendary ninja. There had been occasions where mothers had named their children Sasuke, in hopes of inspiring them to acts of greatness like the ninja for whom they were named (which explains why a certain Uchiha we all know was given it when he was born). However, no one ever tried to call themselves Sarutobi Sasuke. No had ever tried to impersonate the great ninja in any way. The name was considered cursed if anyone except the real Sarutobi Sasuke bore it. At best it was supposed to bring bad luck. At worst, it was said to bring down the vengeance of the legendary ninja himself.

Sasuke huffed. "It doesn't matter," he said, "I am who I am. If you don't like that, then go ahead and tell me, so I can kill you." He reached up and partially drew his sword. Even though only a few inches of ebony steel came out, Kakashi, the steely ninja he was, was taken aback by its bloodthirsty aura.

"Is that…" Kakashi asked, "…Is that the Shibien?"

"Heh," Sasuke let out a sharp laugh as he slowly drew the sword completely from its sheath. The entire length of the blade was the same jet black color, yet the sword seemed to almost shine with an unearthly light. "So you've heard of it too." He delicately rested the back of the sword on the fingers of his other hand. "This sword was given to me by its maker. He's friend and teacher to my master and my teacher for a short time as well."

While it isn't definitive proof of his identity, thought Kakashi, He must indeed be on that level of power if he can wield the Shibien without being killed by it. For someone as young as him, it's amazing. "By the way," Kakashi had to ask, "How old are you?"

"Twelve," said Sasuke simply.

A large drop of sweat rolled its way down the back of Kakashi's head. He's even younger than I thought. He's younger than Naruto.

Sasuke slid his sword back into its scabbard. "If that's all, then we should be on our way to visit the Hokage. She will be interested to learn that we've brought back the Raijin sword."

"That is one thing that I wanted to ask you about," said Kakashi, "When Naruto told me about the mission in the Nation of Tea, he said that he had broken the Raijin sword. If that was the case, how is it that it is whole once again?"

Sasuke snorted. "If you knew anything about the Raijin sword, then it wouldn't be such a big surprise."

That's no answer, thought Kakashi.

"Please permit me," interrupted Soujiro. Kakashi had to keep from yelping in surprise. He had all but forgotten about the young man. "It is the sword's nature. As long as the hilt is intact, the sword can never be truly broken." Soujiro presented the hilt from under his cloak. With a flare, the golden blade grew from the end. "Hinata-dono apparently grasped this reality about the Raijin sword when she first fought with Aoi-san.

"Its name is something of a misnomer since the Raijin sword is not truly a sword. It is simply called that because a sword is its most basic form. In actuality, the Raijin sword…" he let the blade disappear, drawing Kakashi's attention back to the hilt, "…is a chakra medium. The user channels his chakra through the hilt. The chakra is magnified and manifested as the blade of pure energy that you saw. Because this medium magnifies the user's chakra to an immense degree, it only requires a small amount of chakra to actually utilize the blade.

"Because the blade is simply a manifestation of incarnated chakra, its shape is dynamic. Even if it is broken as it was in Aoi-san's battle with Uzumaki-san in Tea Country, a mere thought from the wielder can return it to its true form with ease."

Kakashi nodded. Chakra is the only thing that can cut through chakra. That explains why the Raijin sword was able to cut through Naruto's Rasengan so easily. "But Naruto told me that when Sasuke…" the present Sasuke grunted, "…I beg your pardon, Uchiha Sasuke cracked the sword with his Chidori, Aoi extinguished the blade at one point after that. When he reformed it, the crack was still present, allowing Naruto to actually break the blade."

Sasuke (Sarutobi Sasuke) snorted. "That has nothing to do with the sword. It just reinforces the fact that Aoi was a fourth-rate loser."

Soujiro nodded before explaining more tactfully. "You see, while the user can indeed repair such damage with a thought, it still takes a thought to repair the blade. If the user is unaware of or unconcerned with damage to the blade, he will continue to manifest the blade in its damaged form. Aoi-san may not have known about the damage to the blade, or he may not have really cared. As a result, he continued to manifest a cracked blade whenever he activated the sword. After Uzumaki-san broke it, an active thought from Aoi-san was all that was required to repair it."

"I see," observed Kakashi, "But how would Hyuuga Hinata be able to determine the sword's true nature."

"Isn't it obvious?" grunted Sasuke, "The fact that the sword channels chakra would be impossible for someone with the Byakugan to miss. That was why she was trying to attack the tenketsu on his right arm throughout the fight."

Though he had been a spectator to that fight, Kakashi understood. "If she had managed to shut off the chakra flow on his arm, he couldn't have been able to generate the blade."

Soujiro nodded. "That's correct. But since such a small amount of chakra is needed, she would have needed to hit nearly all the tenketsu on his arm and completely stopped the flow of chakra to his hand."

Kakashi again nodded. "On that note, I would like to thank you for saving three of our own. We were not even aware that Aoi was in the village until you said so a few minutes ago. We came here when the guard at the gate expressed certain suspicions about a couple of merchant scouts. We got reports from some of the villagers that you were headed in this direction, which is why Gai and I came here."

Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever. In any case, we should be off to collect our bounty now."

Kakashi again nodded. "And now that we have your true identities in hand, there will be no further questions about your presence in the village."

Sasuke smirked and nodded. Soujiro, however, wasn't done. "I am curious," he said pleasantly, "How did you know that we were Sanada ninjas."

"Well, for one thing," said Kakashi, "You're so young and yet you have beyond jounin level skills. Only the Sanada clan has successfully cultivated such skill in someone your age. As you know, our village had rather lousy luck when it comes to geniuses.

"Secondly," he added, "In all my experiences with ninjas of the Sanada clan, you always travel incognito. Even when you are on a legitimate mission, you conceal your identity unless it is absolutely necessary."

Sasuke shrugged. "It's been standard practice for years." He and Soujiro began to make their way back into the village.

Kakashi stood, watching them go. "Standard practice indeed…"


"Is Hinata-chan going to be okay Shizune-ne-chan?" Naruto asked frantically.

Shizune gave Naruto a stern look, indicating in no uncertain terms that he was to stay quiet and out of the way. She returned to her examination of Hinata. On the other side of the room, Sakura was checking Hanabi. Naruto waited off to one side in a chair, barely able to keep still with all the tension that hung in the air.

"Hanabi-chan's going to be fine," reported Sakura, "She's just suffering slight mental trauma from fear. She'll be fine when she wakes up."

Shizune rested her hands over Hinata's chest. Green healing chakra streamed into the young girl's body. It didn't take her long to finish. "Hinata-chan was suffering from chakra depletion. She also had some nasty electrical burns…" Naruto could only assume those were from the Raijin sword, "…I took care of those. Right now she appears to be sedated. Whatever it was that you said you gave her, it's keeping her asleep but her chakra is recovering half again as fast as it normally would."

"So that guy wasn't lying," muttered Naruto, his body going limp with relief. The two girls would be alright. "If it's alright then, Shizune-ne-chan, I'd like to stay with them for a while…"

"Hold it right there, mister," said Shizune sternly, waving a finger in Naruto's face, "You're not getting off that easily. I've got to inspect you too. And then you can tell Sakura-chan and I just what the Hell is going on here. I let you out of the hospital this morning and you and Gai come back with these two in the middle of the night with these injuries."

"Um, well…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. That grin turned into a look of utter horror as the two wickedly grinning kunoichi descended on him with a vengeance.


Half an hour later, Naruto finally finished his story. Sakura was shaking her head. "I can't believe that ninja we fought in Tea Country came back. And he went after you?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Well um," he hesitated. He didn't want Sakura to think that he was taking all the credit for beating Aoi in Tea Country, "I know that you and Sasuke did a lot to help beat him, but since…well, since I kinda was the one who broke his sword and knocked him off the cliff, he seemed more pissed at me than you two."

"But how is it that he was using that sword in the fight with you?" Sakura asked.

"I don't really know," replied Naruto in all honesty, "I guess he found some way to…um… 'unbreak' it."

Sakura smacked the top of his head. "You idiot! 'Unbreak' isn't even a real word!"

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan!" yelped Naruto, "It was all I could think of to say!"

Their conversation was interrupted as Tsunade came rushing into the room. "What happened?" she demanded, "Gai just came to my office to tell me that you were in a fight! What's going on? I was in the middle of some very important paperwork!"

Naruto smirked. He brought his hands to his mouth to stifle his laughter. Instead his laughs came out as grunts and snorts as his entire body shook. Sakura, wondering what he was laughing at, turned to look at Tsunade. A smile broke out on her face and she too had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Even Shizune was chuckling.

"What?" Tsunade looked from person to person, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, Shizune broke her silence.

"Tsunade-sama…on…your…face…" She couldn't stop herself anymore. Shizune broke down laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes. Suddenly, neither Naruto nor Sakura could keep their mirth contained either. They too broke into rounds of laughter. Tsunade hadn't noticed that there was lettering all over one of her cheeks. The Godaime Hokage had apparently fallen asleep on top of one of her reports, which was now imprinted on her cheek.

When the three ninjas finally recovered from their bouts of laughter and told Tsunade the details of her new look, she washed her face before dealing out a trio of well-deserved clouts to the merrymakers. Soon, Naruto was telling her the same story that he had just told Sakura and Shizune.

"It sounds like Hinata-chan saved you," said Tsunade after a moment.

"Yeah, she was amazing," Naruto agreed.

"What about those two so-called bounty hunters?" she asked.

"Kakashi's with them now," said Naruto, "I think."

Suddenly, they could here voices outside the door. "I don't get it. First we track that loser across two different countries. Now we have to track the Hokage across the city. They say the Hokage is supposed to be in the tower. But is she? No! Why can't people just stay put anymore?" Naruto recognized the ranting voice. It belonged to the boy named Sasuke who had killed Aoi.

"Now now," replied the pleasant voice that belonged to the other bounty hunter, "I thought you liked tracking people, Sasuke-kun."

"Not when they're fourth-rate losers or overly mobile Hokages," Sasuke snapped back. The door opened and the two ninjas, sans their hats and cloaks, came into the room. Surprisingly, it was the other young man who spoke.

"Ah, we meet again, Uzumaki-san," he said to Naruto, "Allow me to apologize for not introducing ourselves properly back there. I am Seta Soujiro." He smiled widely as he looked at Sasuke, "And this is my dear friend, Sarutobi Sasuke."

"Say what!" Sakura and Tsunade exclaimed. Shizune was simply speechless. Being the dunce he was Naruto had never really bothered to learn his history. Thus the name was no surprise to him, other than the fact that the young man also happened to be called Sasuke.

"Here we go again," muttered Sasuke.

A short explanation later and several undisguised threats from Sasuke, should anyone doubt his identity, the entire issue was resolved.

"So you've come to bring us Aoi's head," said Tsunade.

"We'll take care of that later," replied Sasuke, curtly, "It's not the best business to conduct inside a hospital."

Tsunade nodded. "I suppose you two can explain yourselves as we head back to my office. Sakura, you'll come with me. Shizune, stay and look after things here at the hospital."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," replied Sakura and Shizune in unison.

Tsunade turned to look at Naruto. "You can stay with Hinata-chan and her sister for the rest of the night. But you had better not get into trouble tomorrow, understand." Naruto nodded frantically in response to the glare Tsunade sent his way.

Soujiro bobbed a slight bow to Naruto and Shizune as he and Sasuke prepared to follow Tsunade and Sakura out. "It has been a pleasure meeting with you Uzumaki-san, Shizune-dono. Please give our regards to Hinata-dono and Hanabi-dono when they wake up." Soujiro followed the others out.

"Polite," remarked Shizune as she watched them go, "Isn't he?"

Naruto nodded. "I guess," he turned and went over to sit next to Hinata's bed. "I'm going to wait here, Shizune-ne-chan." Shizune nodded in agreement and took her leave.

Naruto gently took Hinata's hand in his. "It's my fault you guys are here now," he said softly, "Next time. I'll protect you next time." He slowly began to fall asleep by Hinata's side.


Soujiro collected the money that Tsunade had provided. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Tsunade-dono."

"And with you," agreed Tsunade, "You've returned an important treasure to this village and dealt with a dangerous criminal. I hope that we can meet again some day."

"Oh," snorted Sasuke, "You don't have to worry about that."

"Huh?" asked Sakura, "What do you mean?"

"We won't be gone all that long," replied Sasuke, "After all, we'll be back in July."

"July," Tsunade mused, "Does that mean…?"

"That's right," said Sasuke, "The two of us and one other will be representing the Sanada clan at the chuunin exams in Konohagakure."

"Wait!" exclaimed Sakura, "You're from the Sanada clan! You're from the same clan that killed Genjiro-san!"

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. "A job's a job. You and Saizo were enemies under opposing ends of the contract on Genjiro. Now that the issue is resolved, there's no point in holding a grudge." He smirked at Sakura, "Ninjas are professionals. We don't let our emotions get in the way of doing our duty. Do we?"

Sakura sighed and nodded. Then she looked up. "But…if you guys are going to be participating in the chuunin exams, then that means you're genin."

Sasuke shrugged. "If that's the way you want to put it. Technically, those ranks are pretty much irrelevant inside the Sanada clan. If you want to nitpick on the issue, then even Saizo is technically a genin since he never took the chuunin exam."

"Then why are you taking it now?" asked Tsunade.

Sasuke chuckled. "The master's orders. It's been decided that the chuunin exams will be the perfect opportunity to display the Sanada clan's skills to our prospective clients. We usually deal with them in such a discrete manner that some of them are forgetting that we have a perfect record of completing our missions. So the boss wants us to show up everyone else in the chuunin exams and demonstrate that the Sanada are the best in the business."

"But that's so…" Sakura struggled to come up with a way to describe it, "Disrespectful to the rest of the participants."

Sasuke huffed indignantly. "Believe it or not, regardless of the exam itself, most of its applicants are there for that reason anyway. It's the reason why the chuunin exam is set up the way it is."

"That is true," agreed Tsunade, "So we can expect to see you back this July."

"That's right," agreed a beaming Soujiro, "Until then Tsunade-dono." Waving jauntily, he and Sasuke left the room.

Tsunade sighed and lowered her face back down onto the desk. It had been a long night. And from the looks of things, she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep with this new bit of information to chew on. "Looks like things are going to get ugly this summer," she muttered.

Sakura nodded and left. She brushed past another jounin on her way out. The frantic man was clearly in a rush to see the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama!" he exclaimed as he ran into the room, "There is a messenger here from Kirigakure village!"


The sun was beginning to stream in through the windows of the hospital room before Naruto woke up. Blinking sleep away, he realized that he had fallen asleep by Hinata's bed. Looking up, he saw that her hand was still in his. In fact, Hinata was clutching his hand tightly as she slept and showed no inclination to let it go.

Naruto gently tugged, not trying to wake the sleeping girl as he tried to remove his hand. To his surprise, Hinata rolled over in her bed and grabbed his hand with her other one. Now she had his hand wrapped up in both of her own. "Naruto-kun," she murmured sleepily as she clung to his hand with surprising strength.

"Eh?" wondered Naruto, "I wonder what she's thinking about."

"It looks like you have a fan, dunce," said a coarse voice from the entrance of the room. Naruto quickly looked over to see Sasuke (Uchiha Sasuke) standing in the doorway.

"T-t-that's not it at all," replied Naruto, stammering and even blushing slightly, "I'm just teaching her a new skill. That's it."

"Uh huh," mumbled Sasuke, who (like everyone except Naruto) knew better.

"What about you?" asked Naruto, "When did you get out?"

"Just this morning," replied Sasuke, "I heard you got out yesterday." Naruto nodded in confirmation. "I also heard that last night you got into a fight with that Aoi bastard we met in Tea Country, which is why you ended up here with these two." Sasuke nodded towards the still sleeping Hanabi and Hinata.

"Yeah," agreed Naruto, "Hinata-chan used up all her chakra and Hanabi-chan fainted because it was the first time she'd seen someone die."

Sasuke sighed. "You're a magnet for trouble, Naruto."

Naruto huffed, "Like you're one to talk."

Sasuke stepped out the door. "Well, I'll see you later."

Naruto gave a half-hearted wave, "Yeah, sure."

Left alone, Naruto returned his thoughts to his predicament, namely getting his hand back. Unable to free it from the kunoichi's iron grip, Naruto gave into his last resort, waking the girl up.

"Um, Hinata-chan," he said softly, reaching towards her shoulder with his free hand. As he did so, he looked at her face to try and detect any signs of her waking up. But Naruto's attempt came to a halt when he saw her face.

Her pale skin would have been framed perfectly by her azure locks, had her hair not fallen down across her face when she rolled over. The girl's skin was perfectly smooth, Naruto noted. Now that she was asleep, she looked so peaceful. It was a departure from the mix of fear and nervousness that she normally wore. Sleeping like this, she looked elegant, delicate even. Naruto realized that he found Hinata to be quite pretty. Though he wasn't aware of it, Naruto's cheeks were slowly beginning to redden.

Out of impulse, Naruto reached over and brushed the errant lock of hair out of the girl's face. As he did so, his hand trailed slowly across the smooth, soft skin of her cheek. That feels…nice, Naruto thought. He quickly dispelled this disturbing train of logic with a shake of his head. NO NO NO NO NO NO! he thought frantically, I'm not like that blasted Ero-sennin! Damn him and his perverted books!

I have to wake her up, Naruto thought nervously, though he was somewhat loathe to disturb Hinata when she looked so tranquil. With a sigh, he rested his hand on her. "Hinata-chan, time to wake up."

With a start, Naruto realized that in his nervousness, he had forgotten to use her shoulder, like he had intended and was instead cupping her cheek with his hand. Before he was able to amend his mistake, Naruto was surprised to feel Hinata actually nuzzling her cheek against the palm of his hand.

"Naruto-kun," she muttered again, a sweet smile spreading across her face.

Naruto felt his cheeks grow so hot he feared they might ignite. Does she really think of me like that? he wondered. Then he shook his head again. That couldn't be possible. They were only friends. It would be wrong for him to presume anything like that. But still, he thought, It wouldn't be so bad if she did like me…

Naruto shook his head again. Augh! What am I thinking! Isn't Sakura-chan supposed to be the one I have feelings for?

He looked at Hinata again. Naruto suddenly felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. In fact, it felt like his entire digestive track was dancing inside him. It was a feeling that he used to have around Sakura. The notion 'used to' suddenly struck him. That was right. For some reason, Naruto hadn't been feeling the same around Sakura since he brought Sasuke back. He didn't usually feel the same since of nervousness that he used to feel whenever he met her in the mornings before their missions.

Naruto's mind, not used to being worked this hard, was sputtering and stalling his thought process. Does that mean I like Hinata-chan now? Come to think of it, when did I start calling her that? I used to just call her Hinata. Come to think of it, it feels kind of nice. It almost feels right. But do I really like Hinata-chan?

No! That can't be right! I mean, if I told her that I think I like her, she'll think I picked her only because I gave up on Sakura. That wouldn't be fair to Hinata-chan. Besides, how can I be sure that I really like her like that? I mean, she really is nice to be around, especially when she's not stuttering and sputtering. Not to mention the fact that she looks really cute when she smiles… NO! Must stop thinking like that!

As Naruto's internal dialogue continued, he was completely unaware of the fact that Hinata was slowly beginning to wake up. Though she wasn't fully awake, she was becoming consciously aware of the fact that someone was cupping her cheek. Maybe it's Naruto-kun, she thought. But her rational mind was natural skeptical on such matters. No, it couldn't be. He doesn't think of me like that. Not when there's someone so beautiful like Sakura-san on his team. There's no way he could ever think of me like that. But then, who else would it be?

Curious, Hinata slowly opened her eyes. She saw something orange in front of her vision. Tilting it upwards, she saw familiar blue eyes and cheeks marked with whisker-like lines, as well as a head of spiky blond hair. If this person wasn't Naruto, he was doing a real good impersonation. The realization that her secret dream really had come true hit Hinata's brain with the mental force of an eighteen wheeler doing eighty. Hinata emitted a barely audible squeak as her mental processes hit the wall and her mind came to a complete stop.

Naruto's internal debate came to an abrupt stop as he heard a soft "eep" from the girl in front of him. As his thoughts returned to his senses, Naruto realized that Hinata's eyes were now wide open and she was staring at him, apparently completely stunned. Naruto's blush spread past his cheeks and his entire face was on the verge of turning red. Hinata's face was also changing color.

"Um." Naruto found that he was completely speechless. What was he supposed to do now? His mind was turning uselessly in circles. Hinata was clearly stunned. The answer came to him when he felt her hands tighten around his hand, which she was still unknowingly holding. "Um, Hinata-chan, can I have my hand back?"

For a moment, Hinata was completely unable to understand his request. Then she realized that she had his left hand in a death grip. With a soft yelp, she let go immediately. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun?" she blurted, sitting upright as quickly as she could manage.

Naruto looked his hand over. "No harm done," he declared. Then he realized that he was still cupping her cheek with his left hand. "Oops," he said, withdrawing it, "Sorry about that."

For a moment, they looked away from one another, their mutual nervousness making them unable to meet one-another's eyes. They were both at a loss about what to do and say. Suddenly, Hinata's memory of the previous night returned. "Naruto-kun, what happened last night? I don't remember anything after passing out!" Her nervousness briefly forgotten, she looked over at him. "Is Hanabi-chan alright? Where is she?"

Naruto finally looked at her again and put a finger to his lips. Then he turned and nodded across the room. Looking over, Hinata saw that Hanabi was asleep in the bed across from hers. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that her younger sister was alright. She turned back to Naruto for an explanation of the previous nights events.

Naruto, glad to have something to talk about to break the tension, was happy to fill in the blank spot in her memory. He told her about how Hanabi had tried to help them but hadn't been able to get enough resolve to fight. Then he told her about the two strange ninjas who had come to their aid. It took a little while, but Naruto was finally able to bring Hinata up to speed on everything that had happened after she had fainted.

Hinata was glad that everything had turned out alright. But she was also a little ashamed. She turned away. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked up in surprise. "Sorry for what?" he asked, "You did really well."

"But I couldn't help you in the end," she replied, "I couldn't protect you or Hanabi-chan and I nearly let someone precious to me get hurt…" Hinata stopped again. Oh no, she thought, horrified, Did I just say he was precious to me? What will he think now? She was terrified at what he might say.

To her surprise, Naruto apparently didn't hear the last part. He was currently looking down. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Hinata-chan," he said, catching her by surprise. He met her eyes. Sadness and shame filled his sky blue orbs. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You once told me how much you admired the fact that I never gave up. You said that no matter what, I always kept trying. And still, I failed you last night. I just couldn't fight anymore…" Obviously slow on the uptake, the last part of Hinata's apology finally registered in Naruto's mind. Someone precious to her…Does she mean me? He looked up, his previous words forgotten. "Hinata-chan…did you say I was precious to you?"

Hinata was at a complete loss for what to do. She knew that this was the perfect opportunity. It was a chance to tell Naruto her feelings right there and then. She could let him know everything. I have to tell him, thought Hinata, I can't keep these feelings one-sided forever.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata was about to blurt out her confession when someone rushed in the door, completely spoiling the moment.

Jiraiya wrapped his arm around Naruto's neck and dug his fist into the top of the boy's head. "Oy, Naruto! Where have you been? Tsunade's had me looking for you for the past hour?"

"Ouch!" yelped Naruto as the white-haired Sannin ground his fist into his skull, "I've been here all night Ero-sennin! What made you think I was going anywhere? Did you even think to ask Obaachan where I was?"

"Oh," said Jiraiya quickly. He completely released his hold on Naruto's neck, dropping the boy like a brick. With a slight cry of agitation, Naruto hit the floor. It took him a moment to get himself back into a standing position.

"What does Tsunade-obaachan want with me now?" Naruto asked.

"I have no idea," replied Jiraiya, "She just told me to find you, no questions asked. Then she said that she wanted to meet you at about three this afternoon."

Then he looked around the room. His eyes lit upon Hinata. "Oh," he said, "And Tsunade would like to see you as well," he added, leering at her. At least, he leered until Naruto slammed his foot down on top of Jiraiya's toes, causing the old ninja to jump up and down, yelping in pain.

"Keep those eyes of yours off Hinata-chan, Ero-sennin," ordered Naruto angrily, "Or I'll make sure you're the first of the Sannin to go blind." The threatening tone Naruto was using brooked no arguments.

Hinata was surprised that his reaction was so protective of her. Maybe he does like me, she thought hopefully.

"Fine fine," growled Jiraiya, "I'll leave your girlfriend alone." He grinned as Naruto's face turned a shade of red to match the color that had broken out on Hinata's.

Naruto chose to remain silent at the insinuation in Jiraiya's comment, but that didn't stop him from giving the old man the most withering glare he could manage. Hinata simply ducked her head and tried to hide from the world. She was at once both pleased and disappointed. She was happy that Naruto couldn't apparently find it in him to deny the possibility that he liked her. But she didn't like the fact that Naruto didn't say anything to reinforce the statement.

After a moment, Naruto simply snorted and looked away from Jiraiya. "Just go, Ero-sennin. Tell Obaachan that we'll be there in a little while." He turned to regard Hinata, who was still blushing and hiding her face. "Right, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata looked up and forced herself to nod. "R-right, Naruto-kun."

Jiraiya snorted and took his leave. Naruto looked over at Hinata. "I'll go wake up Hanabi-chan," he said, "Do you need help with anything?"

Hinata shook her head. She swung her feet out over the floor and lowered herself off the side of the bed. Then, to Hinata's terror, her legs gave way and she weakly slumped forward. There was no way she was going to be able to stop herself from hitting the floor at this rate, she thought fearfully. Then Hinata felt a strong, yet gentle arm wrap itself around her shoulders. Her fall halted and her rescuer pulled her back upright.

"You should be more careful, Hinata-chan," said Naruto cheerfully as he partially supported Hinata's weight. "I guess we should've known this would happen. I've done it before; blowing away your chakra like you did last night can leave you feeling a bit woozy when you get up."

Hinata bowed her head in shame. Now she was nothing more than a burden to Naruto. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Sorry for what?" Naruto asked frankly. He really couldn't see what she had to apologize about.

"I'm so weak that I couldn't help you last night," she said forlornly, "And now you have to help me stand up and walk. I'm nothing more than a burden to you, Naruto-kun."

"You don't have to apologize," replied Naruto, "I was the one who screwed up last night, remember. I had that damn bastard right where I wanted him, but I let him catch me off guard with that sword," A sword he shouldn't even have, Naruto added mentally, "And the next thing I know I was completely helpless."

Naruto looked down at his feet. "You say you were weak for pushing yourself until you knocked yourself out. But I'm even more pathetic. I should have been able to do more. As long as I was still awake, I should've been able to keep fighting. But I screwed up and I nearly let you get killed in front of me. And if Hanabi-chan hadn't been there, we might've both ended up dead." He turned to look into Hinata's eyes. "So don't you ever say that you're weak Hinata-chan. Because, what you did last night was even more than what I could do. Do you understand?"

Tears seeping from her eyes, Hinata nodded. She was walking a fine balance between absolute bliss and sorrow. She was happy for the fact that Naruto had acknowledged her. In fact he hadn't just acknowledged her, but he as good as said that she had been stronger than him. But she was also sad when she heard the pain in Naruto's voice. He seemed so hurt that he had ended up being completely helpless.

Then Naruto's mood brightened and he smiled at her. "But let's not worry about that anymore. We have to get Hanabi-chan up and we have to go to that meeting with Tsunade-obaachan."

With that, he and Hinata went over to where Hanabi was still sleeping. Carefully, Hinata reached out and gently shook her sister's shoulder. "Hanabi-chan," she said softly, "It's time to wake up."

Hanabi's eyes opened slowly. "Oneechan," she whispered, looking up at Hinata, "Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital," replied Hinata, "We came here after the fight last night."

"Oh," said Hanabi. She felt queasy as the memories of what she had seen the previous night returned in a rush. "Oneechan," she said softly, "I think I want to go home now."

Hinata nodded. "Let's get you home, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi clambered out of bed. Since their wounds had been nothing special, all three of them were wearing the same set of clothes they had worn the previous night. Personally, Naruto was feeling more than a little grungy. The appointment he and Hinata had with Tsunade wouldn't be for a few hours yet. That would leave them plenty of time to go to their respective homes and get cleaned up. Granted, he would have to help Hinata get back to her home first. She was hardly in a condition to travel on her own. And Hanabi was still a little too small to be much help.

Partially supporting Hinata's weight, Naruto and the girls left the hospital and made their way to the Hyuuga compound. Fortunately, the manor wasn't too far from the hospital itself. It would be a short trip, even though they were traveling at a fairly slow pace. It took them about an hour to reach the main gate of the manor.

It was there that they were greeted by two very irate looking guards. The two men, both with the classic Hyuuga Byakugan barred their entrance into the house. "What have you done to Hinata-sama?" demanded one of them. The other looked just about ready to attack Naruto from the way that he was glaring at the blond ninja.

Naruto simply snorted and returned their glares. "She overexerted herself last night," he replied, "She's still weak from using too much chakra."

"It's true," Hanabi added from Naruto's other side. Hinata, too ashamed of her current state to speak, simply nodded in affirmation.

"But still," growled the guard who had spoken earlier, "Scum like you," he glared pointedly at Naruto, "Have no place in this hallowed home. Leave Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama with us."

Naruto turned his head to look at Hinata. She looked back at him apologetically. She could tell that even her words wouldn't convince the guards to change their opinion.

"What is going on here?" asked another person coming up. Naruto looked toward the voices source. His eyes lit up when he saw who it was.

"Hey!" he shouted, waving with his free hand, "Neji!"

"Naruto," greeted Neji as he came up. He immediately turned his attention to Hinata. "Hinata-sama, I heard about what took place last night. I will bring you back so that you can clean up and rest." He turned to Hanabi. "And you too, Hanabi-sama."

He looked at Naruto. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll look after them from here."

"Thanks, Neji," replied Naruto, "Oh, and Tsunade-obaachan wants to see Hinata-chan at three."

Neji nodded as he gave Hinata his shoulder to lean on. "I will see to it that she is well rested so that she can get there in time."

"Alright," replied Naruto, "I'll see you there, Hinata-chan."

Hanabi waved goodbye as Naruto turned and left the way he came. The two guards were completely dumbstruck by the turn of events. They had been completely ignored, which was something they weren't quite used to. But still, there was nothing they could do about it now.

Naruto was quick to get home. He took a quick shower, changed clothes and left. Unlike Hinata, Naruto had fully recovered after a night's rest; even though he had slept in a rather uncomfortable position. It appeared that his incredible chakra recovery abilities had nothing to do with the presence of the Kyuubi. Feeling a bit puckish, seeing as he hadn't had anything to eat since the previous night, Naruto decided to stop off at his favorite spot in the village. Moments later, he was seated at the Ichiraku ramen stand and downing noodles by the bowl.


Three in the afternoon couldn't come soon enough for Naruto. He practically flew into the Hokage's tower, brushing past many of the other people who had business there. He completely ignored any and all glares directed his way and simply proceeded directly to Tsunade's office.

Naruto was shocked to see that he and Hinata weren't the only ones there. "Sasuke! Sakura-chan! What are you guys doing here?" Naruto was confused.

Sasuke simply leveled a glare at Naruto. "Isn't it obvious, you idiot?" he said simply, "Hokage-sama asked for our presence as well. And from the look of things, it's a team affair."

Tsunade simply continued to wait, tapping her fingers on the desk. A few moments later, Kakashi walked in the door. Naruto and Sakura were completely dumbstruck.

"H-he-he-he-he-he-he's…" Naruto was too shocked to say the complete sentence.

"…On time," Sakura finished for him. Both of them stood with jaws hanging down towards the floor.

"Actually," commented Tsunade, "He's three hours late."

"Huh!" Naruto whirled around to look at Tsunade.

"I knew he would pull something like this, so I told him to be here at noon-sharp. I knew it was the only way I could get him to be here on time." Tsunade looked rather proud of her achievement. And from the looks of admiration Naruto's and Sakura's faces, even a glance of slight approval from Sasuke, she had every right to be. Hinata, not knowing much about Kakashi's tendency for tardiness, simply felt very out of place in the room.

"Well," said Tsunade, "Now that you're all here, I can get started.

"Last night we received a message from Kirigakure village. The letter had a very specific request for a mission."

"Isn't that odd?" asked Sakura, "Ninja villages don't usually make requests of one another."

"This is a very special case," replied Tsunade, "And Team 7 was specifically asked to perform this mission."

"And what mission is this?" asked Sasuke, raising an eyebrow. He was quite interested.

"This is your mission," said Tsunade simply, "Team 7 is to travel to Wave Country. There, you are to recover the sword of the former missing-nin, Momichi Zabuza. You are then to bring it back to Kirigakure with all possible speed."


AN: I know, I know. The first question out of your mouths should be, "What does Hinata have to do with this?" I'll get to that later. Most of you have probably already figured it out. In any case, the next couple of chapters are going to be filler until the chuunin exam, which will be the central point in the fic thus far. There's one more character that's going to make a guest appearance between now and then, but his role is minor at best. And now, on to some of the other things in this chapter.

Borrowed characters:

Sarutobi Sasuke: You'll get to see more of him later. I'll be honest and say right now that he is a total powerhouse as far as his role in this story is concerned (Hey! He is a legendary ninja after all). Of course, this is justified by the fact that Sasuke (Sarutobi) will play a much more antagonistic role in the story to come. And however 'too good' he may be power wise, he's got a personality that will make you want to wring his neck (sort of like Saitou in Rurouni Kenshin). Don't worry, he's quite far from unbeatable. Once again, remember to pay close attention so that you don't lose track of which 'Sasuke' I'm talking about. The eventual Sasuke-Sasuke confrontation's going to be one hell of a headache to write.

Seta Soujiro: And introducing my other borrowed character. Soujiro (for those of you who have been living under a rock in the anime world) comes from Rurouni Kenshin. Like Sasuke (Sarutobi) his skills and abilities are heavily tweaked to help him better fit into the Naruto world. Other than that, he's pretty much the same old Soujiro. As to why I decided to use Soujiro…As far as I'm concerned, of all the characters in the Rurouni Kenshin series, Soujiro is probably the most ninjaesque (new word) of them all; even more so than Aoshi, who's supposed to be top ninja in a ninja group (go figure). On that note, don't expect Soujiro's choice of weaponry to be what it is in RK. That too has been tweaked. You'll better understand when we see him later on.

Kotaro: The mysterious Kotaro, who we have yet to meet in person, also plays an important role, as he rounds off the triumvirate of Sanada ninjas that will be attending the chuunin exam. Suffice to say, he will remain enigmatic for some time yet.

Sanada Yukimura: Only briefly referred to in the context of this chapter. This is Yukimura as he was portrayed in SDK. Suffice to say that he too has been tweaked. Of all the characters that I am putting in this fic, Yukimura may indeed be guilty of being a Mary-Sue (or whatever you want to call that kind of character). But it's a matter of little consequence as his role is primarily passive. He just does one or two things and mostly sits in the background doing color commentary.

New jutsus:

Katon: Shien-Homura-Kiyomeru-no-jutsu: This roughly translates into "Fire element: Violet-Flame-Purification." This special technique is only taught within the Sanada clan. Its sole purpose is the removal of evidence, i.e. dead bodies. The flames of this technique will consume the corpse and all its clothes and possessions, leaving the surroundings completely untouched. It is an ideal technique for destroying the corpses of dead shinobi.

I know that the name is probably the wrong way to do this. This brings up another question. The translators you guys suggested were great. My only question is this…Does anybody know a translator that does the same thing, only for entire phrases. I can't read Japanese characters, but I'm probably just butchering the language by doing a word for word translation. So if you happen to know a phrase translator that spells out the Japanese words, please don't hesitate to tell me. When I find one, I will amend this travesty.