Aaah yes. Chapter 7-the plot thickens.

…/…..

Naruto was staring ahead into the snow, trying to figure out where the wreck was. The snow had covered up all the tracks they had made earlier, so there wasn't a trail to follow. The wind kept whipping around, throwing snow in every direction.

Naruto kept walking, steeping in snow up to his mid-calf every time. His foot caught n something, causing him to fall on top of it.

"Gah!" He let out, falling face first into the snow. He slowly lifted his head up, trying to shake off the snow. He turned around and dug underneath the snow, trying to find out what he had tripped over. It was one of the boxes they had left behind.

"Aha, so the carriage isn't that far…" he murmured, getting back up to his feet. He shuffled around in the snow around the area until his foot ran into something. He ducked on his knees and cleared off the snow around it, finding bits of the carriage wheel.

'Perfect. Now I just have to dig up the rest of it…' he thought to himself with a sigh.

He began scraping off what wood he could get, slicing it with his sword, and throwing it into the pile behind him. He could feel the wood making small tears in his gloves as he kept peeling it back, becoming snagged on the fabric. He figured it was time for a new pair anyways.

Suddenly he stopped. He didn't look up, he didn't move, he just closed his eyes.

'I heard something. I heard something, I know I did. Where did it come from…' he thought, trying to concentrate on any noise he could find.

"Monster."

Naruto threw his head up, throwing an arm behind him, but no one was there.

He swiftly moved his head around the area, trying to figure out what was happening. That voice was so real, so… personal, he couldn't have imagined it.

"You're a monster." It said.

"Where are you?!" Naruto yelled, getting frustrated. All he heard was a laugh from a direction completely different than where the voice was before.

"I'm nowhere, yet everywhere." It said.

"Stop playing games with me, you'll regret it." Naruto said, more calmly but still on high alert.

"I'm not playing games; I'm telling you the truth." The voice said.

"tsk" Naruto voiced, griping his sword tighter.

"You don't think that she would really care for you if she knew what you were."

"…" Naruto stood there with his eyes closed.

"She'd probably be horrified; knowing that you caused all that death and destruction so many years ago."

"That wasn't me…" Naruto spoke softly into the wind.

'That wasn't me, that wasn't me, that wasn't me!' Naruto yelled in his head.

"That's why no one ever wanted to adopt you, why all those orphanages turned you away…

Isn't it?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he swung his sword behind him, hitting nothing.

'It was so close… right on my ear…' Naruto thought in his head, completely confused about everything happening.

"She would just be like everyone else, staring in fear at you if she knew"

"STOP IT!" Naruto yelled, and the snow falling around him seemed to be blown away from him.

Naruto stood there, eyes closed, waiting for the next response.

'Just calm down, he isn't showing himself, there's nothing I can do until I know where he is. Just breathe, just breathe… just…'

"You know he's right, you technically are a monster thanks to me."

Naruto snapped his eyes open, surrounded in his subconscious, face to face with what was the reason for his neglect and why people hated him for so many years.

Kurama.

For so many years Naruto had dealt with the hatred of every person he met because of Kurama. He couldn't control the power he had. Every time he got angry, or scared, he would remember Kurama being there, laughing at him. The nine tailed fox- filled with hatred.

"k-Kurama…" Naruto spoke.

"But Listen to me Naruto, I'm not your enemy anymore… I've grown too soft thanks to you and your years maturing with that Jaraiya soldier… You aren't the monster he thinks you are." Kurama told him, with a slight smile on his face.

"Once you find him, show him what we can really do."

Naruto smirked. He knew Kurama was right.

"N-Naruto!"

Naruto snapped out of his subconscious. He turned around and saw horses approaching him. IT was Sakura's pink hair that stood out the most.

"S-Sakura! Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, waving his arm at them.

They were both on horseback, followed by Kakashi. They stopped in front of him, asking him so many questions at once, he couldn't think fast enough to answer them.

"Where's the princess? Are you both okay? How did you survive that? Did you leave the princess alone? Where's the carriage? What abou-" He could hear from all of them

"Whoa whoa! Slow down! We are both completely fine, don't worry, follow me and I'll lead you to her." Naruto said, feeling confident in his abilities.

"You mean you left her alone?!" Sakura asked.

"To get more wood for our fire!" Naruto responded, turning around to lead them back to their cave.

Naruto acted happy as the snow died down, but his guard was still up, looking for any movements he could see in the trees around them.

Hinata was placed on a horse with Kakashi, and Naruto was on Sasuke's, and started their hours long ride back to the capital. Gai had ridden onward to inform the king as to what had happened.

It had stopped snowing as they began, and the sun was coming up over the horizon. Even though it was morning, Hinata slept on Kakashi's back as they traveled.

Naruto wasn't so lucky.

"Wrap your arms around me and you're dead." Sasuke told Naruto before he even got on the horse. Naruto sat there with his hands on Sasuke's shoulders for stability. He kept dosing off, but the feeling of him falling off the horse kept jerking him awake.

"Naruto… how did you survive that fall completely unscathed?" Sasuke asked.

"Easy, I shoved my sword into the side of the cliff to stop our momentum. My arm was pretty messed up from it, but Hinata fixed it like-"

"Princess Hinata." Sasuke interrupted.

"…Princess Hinata fixed it just like new." Naruto finished.

Sasuke stared ahead, thinking.

"How did your sword not break? Between the two of you and the speed you were at, it should have broken almost immediately." Sasuke asked.

Naruto was flustered for a second, but still gave an answer.

"O-oh! Well I guess mine is just better than yours is!" Naruto replied, adding in a laugh. Sasuke just groaned.

Naruto lied. He knew exactly why his sword didn't break. He infused it with Kurama's power before jamming it into the cliff, giving it the extra protection it needed.

….

They had arrived back at the capital by noon. Kakashi didn't care that everyone was awake for their arrival, but at least everyone was alright. He rode up to the eastern gates of the castle, where Gai was standing there, waiting to greet them.

"Princess! I am so glad that you are okay!" Gai exclaimed, running over to them. Hinata hold her head up, and looked over at him sleepily.

"Ah, yes. I am just fine." She said, speaking softly.

"That is just wonderful! Let me help you down." He told her, and Kakashi sighed. Gai held a hand out, helping Hinata off of the horse. Kakashi then jumped off of his, as did everyone else.

"You there!" Gai yelled, pointing at one of the guards patrolling the castle. The guard jumped. "Escort the Princess to her Father's throne room for her summary statements, after that, escort her to her room for some well needed sleep." Gai said, giving Hinata a smile. Hinata awkwardly smiled back. She thanked the guard who took her from Gai.

"Kakashi… the King was not happy. I gave him a full report that the main mission was successful, but he was seething when I told him what happened with the carriage." Gai explained, walking slower with Kakashi. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura quickly caught up with them once the stable workers took their horses.

"Well I would be too, that's his eldest daughter, you know." Kakashi pointed out. Gai just furrowed his eyebrows.

"But that's the thing, he didn't seem worried about her, he was upset that we didn't catch whoever had done it. Princess Hinata wasn't even mentioned from him."

"That's… rather odd." Kakashi commented. "What about Tsunade?"

"Hooo… She nearly killed me when I told her what had happened." Gai told him.

"I swear if there is even a scratch on that girl you're all dead!" Gai shuddered.

They kept walking through the castle grounds, thankful that the snow had been shoveled from the pathways, going towards where Tsunade would be, the soldier training grounds. Kakashi knocked on the door of the head building.

It took a few seconds, but Tsunade answered the door. She scanned them, watching as the three rookies avoided eye contact with her, while Kakashi and Gai were looking at her cold-faced.

"Tsunade, we are here to report-"

"I only want him." Tsunade interrupted Kakashi, looking at Naruto.

Naruto gulped.

Inside, Naruto sat across the room from Tsunade, who had her hands folded in front of her face. The room was quiet, with only the clicking of a clock on the wall to keep them company.

Naruto was sweating, trying to think of what he had really done to deserve whatever punishment from Tsunade she was going to give him. He kept rubbing his hands on his legs, trying to get the sweat to stop.

"Naruto" Tsunade spoke.

"YES." Naruto said too loudly. Tsunade moved her head back slightly at the sound.

"Tell me everything."

Naruto's face went soft, staring at the ground.

"Well…" Naruto started. He gave his explanation of what happened, how he saved her, what he did to keep her alive and comfortable, and how they were found.

Tsunade sat there with her eyebrows furrowed for- at least to Naruto- hours.

"Naruto…" Hey eyes softened. "I'm proud of you. I don't think there was anything you could have done differently in the situation you found yourselves in. You thought on your feet, and you were always thinking of what was really important."

She got up, walking over next to Naruto. She put a hand on his shoulders and bent down to be eye level with him.

"You did good."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He put a hand to his chest, ecstatic he wasn't in trouble.

"Oh… thank you! You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that!" He laughed softly.

"Go celebrate and relax, you deserve it." Tsunade told him, returning back to her chair.

Naruto was about to leave, but when she told him to celebrate, the only one he wanted to celebrate with was Hinata.

"Ne... Tsunade, are we allowed to… I don't know… Hinata and I talked a lot while we were stuck together, and I-" Naruto started, but Tsunade cut him off.

"If you're talking about you falling in love with her Uzumaki, I don't want to hear it, that is something that only the royal family decides upon. However… if you are not on duty, you are welcome to spend as much time as she permits with you, as any other citizen." Tsunade explained. She rubbed her temple thinking of just how much of a pain it would be if he really was in love with her.

"Ah… I see, thank you!" He said, finally taking his leave.

"Oh! Tell the others that they are dismissed." Tsunade told him, waving her hand.

"Will do!"

"… Sasuke… you had so many opportunities for this to work, so why didn't they?" A man said.

Sasuke took a seat on the wooden stool surrounding the table of papers and glasses, notes seemingly scribbled on everything.

"Well… the first time she saw you. So that was your fault." Sasuke replied, and the man taking a seat across from him.

"Your second attempt literally almost got her killed. There was no way for me to be able to save her."

The man sighed and lowered his head.

"So why did that Naruto boy do it? Are you saying he's better than you?" The man asked of Sasuke.

Sasuke scoffed his answer. "No! He was just in a better position than I was at the time."

The man rolled his eyes at the response. "Well, no matter. I hope I convinced the boy that he is no good for her, so he backs off. But you need to get closer with her before she falls in love with this… Uzumaki kid."

"Like she would. No one could ever do that." Sasuke smirked.

"You better hope not. But just for your sake, I'm giving you this." The man reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an envelope. He reached across the table to hand it to Sasuke. Sasuke took it and read the seal on it.

'This is the seal of the royal family…' Sasuke thought as he opened the envelope and looked at its contents.

"…but this isn't until early January." Sasuke said.

"Then you best hope that you don't mess up again for that long."

…./….

Aaah yes, the plot has now been thickened.

Im not quite sure what role I want kurama to play in this, so stay tuned to figure out what the heck im doing there. And as always make sure to follow, like, and review!