Faith of the Heart

Chapter 7: The Teapot Lady

When Naruto caught up to Hinata in the next chamber of the cave, she was sitting on a large flat boulder with her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Want to talk about it, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shook her head 'no' without even turning around to look at him. Knowing she didn't really mean it, Naruto sat down behind his girlfriend with a leg on either side and wrapped his arms around her waist. It was obvious she'd been crying, which explained why she'd run away. Hinata wasn't as shy as she use to be, but she still had a habit of trying to hide when she was upset. Naruto knew it wasn't so much a desire to be left alone, as an instinct she developed growing up in a clan where displays of emotion, especially something like crying, were frowned upon.

"I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry, N-naruto-kun," Hinata sobbed. "I s-shouldn't have t-told your secret. P-please, don't be m-mad. I-I d-don't w-want to l-lose you!"

"Hey, hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for. We needed to tell Sakura anyway. It's better that she heard it from one of us than from someone in Akatsuki, ya know. Besides, it was our secret, not just mine. You had just as much right to tell her as I did," Naruto replied as he tried to comfort Hinata. He couldn't stand seeing her cry. Naruto gently put a couple of fingers under Hinata's chin and turned her head so she was looking him in the eyes. "And I love you, so you're not going to lose me…ever. If anything, I should thank you for sticking up for me." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

After breaking the kiss, they sat in silence for a while longer, just enjoying being close to each other. For two people who had experienced true loneliness in their lives, there was something almost therapeutic in each other's touch. For Naruto, ever time he felt Hinata's soft, warm skin touch his own it served to remind him that he was no longer alone in the world, and as long as she drew breath he never would be again. He knew Hinata felt the same.

Hinata was the first to break the silence. "Naruto-kun," she asked, "why do you let Sakura-san treat you the way she does?"

Naruto sighed, "Sakura-chan doesn't really treat me that badly."

Hinata gave her boyfriend a look that practically screamed, 'Yeah, right.'

Naruto had to laugh at the unexpected expression on Hinata's face, "Okay, okay, I admit it. She's violent, bitchy as hell sometimes, and is more temperamental than baa-chan when Shizune-nee-chan hides her sake, but you have to remember that her, Sasuke-teme, and Kakashi-sensei were three of the first bonds I ever had. Yeah, I do wish she wouldn't hit me so much, but I know that when push comes to shove, Sakura-chan is a true friend and will be there when I need her. It's just that we've always interacted like that, and in the past I was just so grateful to actually have anyone in my life I could call a friend that I didn't care."

Hinata started to get a sad look on her face.

"And before you say anything, I know you wanted to be there for me earlier in my life and it's okay," Naruto said as he lovingly stroked his girlfriend's cheek. "You tried your best, and while I didn't know it was you, I at least knew there was someone out there who cared about me," he smiled at her, when he remembered all the gifts that would mysteriously appear at the doorstep to his apartment on his birthday and the holidays. At first, he'd thought they were from Old Man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, or the man at the Ramen shop and his daughter because who else could possibly care enough to get him anything. But when they all denied any knowledge of the gifts, Naruto had realized there was someone else out there that cared about him. For the life of him, Naruto couldn't figure out who it could be, but he often dreamed up wild fantasies about the identity of the person who left the gifts when he was feeling lonely or when the villagers were being especially cruel to him.

For a while he'd hoped it was Sakura leaving the gifts, but he was realistic enough to realize that it couldn't possibly have been her, especially after she'd called the goggles he'd found on his doorstep the morning of his tenth birthday 'stupid looking.' Although he knew it was nothing more than a fantasy, he'd also imagined that the gifts came from his parents who were actually elite ANBU operatives who were on a super-secret mission vital to the safety of Konoha and weren't allowed to reveal to him that they were still alive. While his daydreams mainly served to make his curiosity grow stronger, they also gave him the little bit of extra hope necessary to survive some of his darkest moments, when he felt like giving up and wondered if everyone would be better off if he just disappeared or died. It was this curiosity, hope, and his desire to thank the gift giver, which drove Naruto to spend years trying to catch his mysterious benefactor in the act of leaving a present. However, no matter what he tried, he could never even catch a glimpse of the person leaving the gifts. It was like he or she always knew when he was watching, no matter how well he hid himself. 'Maybe that's because she really did always know when I was watching," Naruto chuckled to himself at as he looked into Hinata's pale lavender eyes that were a trademark of her clan's kekkei genkai. 'I really should have figured that one out sooner.'

As it was, he hadn't realized it was Hinata until the first birthday party she and Jiraiya threw for him during their training mission. Naruto grinned; it had also been the first time he kissed Hinata, even if it was only on the cheek. Hinata finally managed to work up the courage to give him a gift in person. The first thing Naruto noticed when he opened the card attached to the gift was Hinata's handwriting was identical to the way his mystery gift giver wrote "To Naruto" on the small little card attached to each gift. She had even drawn the identical little chibi Naruto head on the card. At first he'd stared at the card in shock, unable to move or say anything as his mind tried to accept the truth of what he just learned. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet so excited to finally know the identity of the person who had been giving him gifts for so long that he scooped Hinata up and twirled her around and around in circles while yelling, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU," at the top of his lungs and smothering her cheek with kisses. She'd turned as red as a lobster and fainted after the second kiss, but Jiraiya had been laughing so hard at Naruto's antics that it took the sannin the better part of five minutes to get around to pointing out Hinata was unconscious. Naruto was mortified because he thought it meant he had somehow injured her, which of course only served to make Jiraiya break out in another laughing fit when the blond-headed boy attempted to perform CPR in an effort to 'revive' her. Hinata momentarily regained consciousness when Naruto laid her down on the floor, but immediately fainted again when she opened her eyes and saw her crush's puckered lips descending toward hers to perform mouth-to-mouth. If Jiraiya hadn't taken pity on Hinata and stopped him, there was no telling how many times she would have fainted before Naruto finally calmed down.

'Speaking of blushing girlfriends,' Naruto grinned when Hinata blissfully smiled back at him while closing her eyes and putting her hands over the one he was using to rub her cheek, as if she was savoring his touch and wishing it would never end. It was one of the many reasons Naruto loved her so much. Hinata reacted to even the smallest displays of love and affection from him as if they were the most priceless gift anyone had ever given her. It warmed Naruto's heart like nothing else because he took it for what it was, a sign of just how much she truly loved and accepted him for who he was, and because he loved being able to make her so happy just by acting the way he felt. The opposite sex, not to mention people in general, had always been a mystery to him. He never knew what to say or how to act, so he just plowed forward through life doing his best and hoping he didn't screw things up too badly. But with Hinata it was so simple. There were no games, no unexplained anger, and no attempts at manipulation. There was nothing but two people deeply in love who acted like it. If he didn't understand something or was confused, he knew he could ask her without her thinking less of him or making fun of him. She did sometimes giggle when he asked an especially clueless question, but she'd still answer his question while wearing that loving smile of hers. He knew she found his occasional confusion 'cute,' as she put it, and was laughing with him, not at him. Most of the time he'd end up laughing along side her while playfully acting like he was trying to 'get her.'

"Naruto-kun maybe you should tell Sakura-san how you really feel about the way she treats you. If she really is your friend, I'm sure she'll understand," Hinata said when she opened her eyes and woke Naruto from his reminiscing

"Maybe I should," Naruto admitted. "But there'd be a big downside," he paused for dramatic effect before a mischievous grin broke out on his face, "I wouldn't get to watch you slap her around again. You were awesome!" He then launched a tickle attack on his girlfriend's sides causing Hinata to let out a squeal and curl up in a ball in a vain attempt to protect herself.

"Hey! No fair!" Hinata gasped when Naruto let up for a brief moment to let her catch her breath.

"All's fair in love and war, Sweetness," Naruto replied before stealing a quick kiss and shoving his hands under Hinata's t-shirt to go after her bare ribs and arm pits which he knew to be especially ticklish. When Temari came to find them a couple of minutes later, Naruto was crouched between Hinata's legs with his hands still up her shirt tickling her mercilessly while she lay squirming on her back and laughing so hard tears flowed out of her eyes.

"Hey lovebirds! The sandstorm is dying down, and we need to get moving," Temari said with a laugh when she saw the Naruto and Hinata laughing and wrestling on the floor of the cave.

"Man, we're going to have to start assigning you two a chaperone," the Sand kunoichi jokingly added as an afterthought while she watched the couple dust themselves off. Hinata and, surprisingly, Naruto blushed in response.

"Sasori's skills have grown. Poison is one of my specialties, but even I have never seen anything like this before," the old woman said as stared at the injured Kankurou with a look of frustration etched on her wrinkled face. She had been working on finding a counter for the poison, but nothing she tried seemed to have any effect.

"What should we do, Chiyo-baasama?" Baki asked.

"Well, the only one who has more knowledge about neutralizing poisons than me is that damn slug woman from Konoha, Tsunade-hime. During the Third Secret Ninja War, she was able to figure out the poisons I created and mix antidotes immediately, constantly embarrassing me. All you can do is call her here and ask her to examine him," Chiyo replied. "You're allied to Konoha now, aren't you?"

"But she's Konoha's Hokage now, she can't easily leave the village. Even if she could, it's a three-day journey from Konoha to Suna. By the time she got here it would be too late," Baki said. "The team of specialists we requested from Konoha should arrive soon. Hopefully they'll have someone who can help."

"Humph, stop relying on other people! You're so dependent on your alliances with other countries that you've allowed your own training to slip, and this is what becomes of it!" Chiyo snapped at the jonin.

Baki was grinding his teeth. Chiyo implying that Suna's shinobi had allowed their skills to deteriorate out of complacency was an insult to his professional pride; especially considering the charge wasn't true. If anything, Konoha's aid in reforming their training methods had led to a dramatic increase in the overall quality of training and readiness of their forces. "With all do respect, Elder Chiyo, we have by no means become dependent on our allies…"

Knowing how bitter his sister was about the alliance with Konoha, Chiyo's brother, Ebizo, interrupted in an attempt to head off the fight he saw brewing. "It doesn't matter. Whatever the case may be; it is because he lost his composure and confronted them without backup that he's like this. All the training in the world would not have made a difference."

Ebizo's words did nothing to calm Chiyo though as she continued to lecture Baki, "That still doesn't change the fact that you are having to rely on Konoha, because you didn't make the advancement of our own village's power your first priority. Friendly alliances are just a fabrication. During times like these, all they can do is send useless underlings. THE MAIN POINT IS I CAN'T STAND THAT SLUG WOMAN!"

"ACHOO!!"

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

"Probably just allergies," Tsunade said as she wiped her nose, "but thank you for asking, Ten-ten. As I was saying, the mission is the same as the one I gave Kakashi's team. You are to head to Sunagakure and provide the Sand with any support they may need."

"RIGHT!" Gai said while giving the 'nice guy pose' and one of his blinding smiles. "Alright Everyone! Let's get to Suna in one day!!"

"No, Gai-sensei! Let's get there in half a day!!!" Lee chimed in.

"You're friggin' insane!" a bewildered Kiba exclaimed. "There's no way in hell to make it there in less than three days!"

Lee put his arm around Kiba's shoulders, "But we are in the Springtime of Youth, Kiba-san! Nothing is impossible!!"

"Well said Lee!! Well said!!" Gai added. "We shall indoctrinate our new charges into our philosophy of Youthfulness!!" With that Gai pulled two green spandex body suits like he and Lee wore out of his backpack and thrust them into Kiba and Shino's hands.

Akamaru slowly inched away from Kiba, Shino, and the two green-clad shinobi with his tail between his legs. The large dog was terrified that Gai might have another body suit with a tail hole.

Meanwhile, Shino stared at the suit with one raised eyebrow visible above his sunglasses. However, his scientific curiosity was suddenly peaked when he noticed his bugs refused to approach it even when ordered. He pulled out a large plastic sample bag and careful placed the unusual article of clothing inside for later study before sealing the bag with yellow biohazard tape and returning it to his backpack.

"TO SUNA!" Gai shouted loudly enough to make Akamaru whine and all the shinobi, save Lee, wince in pain.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Kiba wondered aloud, as he started to have second thoughts about he, Akamaru, and Shino requesting to tag along with Team Gai for this mission.

Kiba felt a hand pat him on the shoulder and turned his head to see Ten-ten and Neji standing right behind him. Both wore looks of profound sympathy on their faces.

"Welcome to our world."

"…After that Kankurou-sensei pursued them, but he was wounded when he encountered the kidnappers," Matsuri explained to Team Kakashi and Temari as she led them from the recently cleared main entrance where she met them through the streets of Sunagakure toward the hospital.

"WHAT?! They got Kankurou too?"

"Yes, Temari-sensei. The Akatsuki he fought managed to poison him. Chiyo-baasama has been treating him, but she has been unable to neutralize the poison. She said he has half a day left at most," the young genin explained.

"SHIT!" Temari cursed. "First Gaara and now this!"

"Let's hurry, Temari-san," Sakura interrupted, "I'll examine him."

"Kankurou!!" Temari cried out as she, Matsuri, and Sakura entered the treatment room.

The three girls were halfway across the room by the time Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata reached the open doorway.

"THE WHITE FANG OF KONOHA!!" Chiyo shouted when she saw Kakashi.

"Huh?" Kakashi said as he came to a dead stop in the doorway.

Chiyo sprang toward Kakashi with such speed that she passed between Temari and Sakura before either realized she had moved.

Spotting the danger, Naruto slid by Kakashi and created a pair of shadow clones. Hinata slipped through the doorway right behind him and took a gentle fist stance midway between Kakashi and Naruto and his clones.

Naruto was surprised when the old woman managed to land a hard enough hit on the first clone she encountered to dispel it. He caught her next punch himself and tried to hold on, but was foiled when Chiyo kicked at the second clone. When the clone blocked the kick Chiyo used it as leverage to break free of Naruto's grip and propel herself backwards to gain enough room to make another attempt at attacking Kakashi.

'Damn, this old bat can fight!' Naruto thought.

Sensing an opportunity, Hinata darted forward through the cloud of smoke left by the dispelled clone and acted as if she was trying to slide tackle Chiyo. Chiyo leaped into the air as Hinata slid under her on the tile floor. The Suna elder threw a single kunai at Kakashi while she was airborne. However, the moment the Suna elder's feet left the ground Naruto closed the distance between them. He drew a pair of butterfly swords from a sheath concealed beneath his jacket and twirled the sword in his left hand, causing the blade to intercept the kunai, sending it clattering harmlessly to the floor. Chiyo then tried to throw a punch that Naruto blocked by using the large d-shaped finger guard of the sword in his right hand like a pair of brass knuckles. Chiyo jerked her bruised hand back in surprised. Naruto then crossed his arms to slash at the old woman as if he was going to cleave her head from her shoulders. However, Naruto stopped both swords in mid swing mere inches before the short, broad blades would have sliced into the woman's skin. He stood motionless with the swords still poised at Chiyo's neck like an oversized pair of scissors. Hinata, who had popped back onto her feet behind the Suna elder with her Byakugan activated, stood ready to close off the old woman's chakra points should she try anything else.

"Mind telling us why you're trying to attack Kakashi-sensei, you wrinkled old hag?" Naruto growled.

"Please, Elder-sama, we do not wish to harm you," Hinata added in a gentler and more diplomatically tone.

Realizing she'd been out maneuvered, Chiyo didn't move except to cradle the bruised knuckles of her left hand, but she continued to glare at Kakashi. "Konoha's White Fang! How dare you come here, you wretched bastard! You killed my son, and I will get revenge for him today!"

"Ah! No! I'm not…" Kakashi attempted to say.

"THERE'S NO USE IN ARGUING, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!" Chiyo retorted.

"Nee-chan, take a good look," Ebizo said as he approached his sibling's side. "There's a strong resemblance, but he isn't Konoha's White Fang."

"Huh? Say what?!" Chiyo squinted at Kakashi as she followed her brother's suggestion.

Kakashi waved while giving an awkward smile.

"Besides, Konoha's White Fang died a long time ago. Remember? When you heard, you got really angry and started screaming about how you hadn't avenged your son yet. Isn't that right, Nee-chan?"

A bead of sweat was visible as it trailed down the side of Chiyo's face and a barely audible groan of embarrassment passed her lips.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed uninterrupted in the treatment room.

"Just kidding! I was only pretending to be senile!" Chiyo said in a singsong voice before she started cackling.

Kakashi let out a relieved breath of air.

"What a fruitcake," Naruto muttered under his breath as he re-sheathed his swords.

Hinata gave him her 'that's not nice, Naruto-kun' look.

Naruto looked at her and shrugged. "What? It's the truth."

"Let me guess...the Teapot Lady?" Sakura asked from where she stood next to Kankurou's bed.

Temari gave an embarrassed nod.

Kankurou let out a loud groan and started clutching his throat like he was having trouble breathing.

"Well, now that that's over…get the hell out of the way! Kankurou needs my help," Sakura said as she switched to full medical-nin mode and began shooing the two Suna elders and her teammates away from the hospital bed.

Sakura then began to check over Kankurou. She shined a penlight into his eyes and looked into his mouth before a scowl broke out on her face. "It's a heavy-metal based poison."

Chiyo was impressed that Sakura was able to determine what kind of poison it was after such a brief examination. She was also curious as to how the pink-haired teen planned to proceed, as heavy-metal based poisons were notoriously difficult to treat since the human body had a difficult time flushing them out.

Sakura turned to the Suna medical ninjas and rattled off a list of medical supplies she was going to need. It only took a couple of minutes for them to gather the items on a cart they rolled next to Kankurou's bed.

"I need you to hold him down so he doesn't move," Sakura told Temari and the Suna medical ninjas.

She then proceeded to gather the water from a basin on the cart into a sphere using her chakra. The others watched in amazement as Sakura forced the ball of the water into Kankurou's chest and out through the wound left by Sasori to the left of his heart. When the water exited Kankurou's chest cavity drops of a putrid purple liquid were visible in the water. She deposited the water, and the now diluted poison back into the basin.

"Next one, please," Sakura requested with a nod toward a second basin of fresh water one of the medical ninjas was holding. He traded the basin for the one on the cart containing the poison. "Don't throw that out, I'm going to need it to make an antidote," Sakura added while wiping a bead of sweat away from her brow.

Sakura repeated the process twice more to insure that she drew as much of the poison out of Kankurou's body as possible. By the second basin of water, the color slowly began returning to the injured Sand jonin's face.

"I don't think there's any need to worry about his life anymore," Sakura said. "There are still trace amounts of poison left in his system, but I should be able to make an antidote from the samples we saved."

Temari breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down on the bed next to her brother. "So, he's going to be okay?"

Sakura smiled. Delivering good news was one part of being a medical ninja that she never tired of. "Yes, he should make a full recovery in a couple of days."

Temari hugged Sakura, "Thank you. I'm sorry about what I said earlier…"

"You don't have to apologize, you were right," Sakura cut her off. She glanced over to Naruto and Hinata who were deep in conversation with Baki and Kakashi. 'Now, if I only knew what to say to them.'

"I wouldn't worry about that too much. I'm sure Naruto has already forgiven you," Temari said, after guessing what was on the younger girl's mind.

"It's not Naruto, I'm worried about," Sakura quietly replied as she looked at Hinata who had her back to them.

Chiyo interrupted before Temari could reply, "I'm surprised they sent someone like you. You're a lot like that slug woman."

"Yes!" Sakura replied, grateful for the change of subject. "That's because I'm Tsunade-sama's apprentice. She's the one who sent us. In fact, we're all apprentices of the sannin. My teammates, Naruto and Hinata, spent the last two and a half years training with Jiraiya-sama."

Chiyo was again surprised, while they weren't ANBU or elite jonin like their team leader, the three teens Konoha had sent were obviously something special. 'If the other two are that pervert's apprentices that must make the boy the jurchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and the dark-haired girl the Hyuuga clan leader's eldest daughter,' Chiyo thought, after remembering hearing a report that the Toad sannin had taken on two new apprentices for the first time in a decade and a half. While Chiyo had officially retired, she still paid attention to what was happening around the rest of the shinobi world, especially when she heard familiar names from the old days.

"Maybe the times are changing more than I thought," Chiyo said to Ebizo, who nodded his agreement.

Far away in the Land of the River, two cloaked figures stood before a large red-painted torii gate that rose from a flowing river. Past the torii gate was a large boulder covered in several paper seals. The largest of which was attached to the center of the boulder and had the kanji for the word forbidden written on it. The smaller of the cloaked men made a hand sign and the boulder groaned and rumbled as it slowly rose in the air to reveal the entrance to a cave.

The two members of Akatsuki walked across the surface of the river into the cave, a large bird made of clay carrying the unconscious Gaara close behind them.

"You're late," the shimmering image of Akatsuki's leader said as Sasori and Deidara entered the cave. "Prepare it immediately."

"The jinchuuriki was stronger than I thought, yeah," Deidara replied as he placed Gaara on the ground.

"What's the matter, Deidara, couldn't handle the Ichibi by yourself? Good thing you didn't have to go after one of the other bijuu, or you might have lost the other arm, too," a tall figure casually holding a large sword wrapped in bandages across one of his shoulders said from the shadows with a look toward Deidara's torn and blood soaked robes.

"Kisame, that's enough. Deidara has captured his assigned target, which is more than you can say," the image of Akatsuki's leader admonished the new arrival.

"Sorry, Leader," Kisame chuckled.

"What are they doing here, yeah?" Deidara grumbled when he spotted Itachi standing next to his partner.

"We were in the neighborhood," Kisame answered with a toothy grin. Itachi said nothing while meeting Deidara's glare with the same emotionless expression on his face he always wore. The lack of reaction only increased the blond-headed ninja's anger.

Pein made a series of hand signs then placed his palm against the rock floor of the cave. The ground began to rumble as a gigantic statue rose from the ground. The statue had nine eyes, a bit in its mouth, and a pair of chained hands that reached heavenward as if it were begging for mercy from some unseen tormenter.

"Now let us begin," Pein said while looking up to the fingertips of the statue where the four members of Akatsuki who had just arrived in the cave leaped on top of, joining the ghostly projections of the four remaining members whose physical bodies were elsewhere.

End of Chapter 7

Author's Notes:

I've gone back and made a few changes in the previous chapters. Nothing major, but I have changed the names of a couple of the characters. If you've read Chapter 367 of the Naruto manga you know who I'm talking about. I won't spoil it for the rest of you, but if you're a fan of Naruto you need to read 367. Let's just say it answers a major question that a lot of fans have speculated on for quite a while now.

I'm amazed at the positive response to the three bonus scenes at the end of Chapter 6 of this story. Thank you all for the feedback, I really appreciate it. One of the reasons I post the bonus sections is to get a better idea what you, the readers, like so I can improve my writing.

I've added some links to information on butterfly swords to my profile.

Like before I've included some bonus material at the end of the story, including a sneak peak of one of my other projects.

This first one is another of my aborted Chapter 3/4 attempts. (LOL, Can you tell I a lot of trouble settling on what I wanted to put in those two chapters, yet?)

Discarded Chapter 3/4 Scene

or

"When It Rains, It Pours"

Chapter 4: It Never Rains; It Pours

Naruto and Sakura waited outside the gate to Training Ground 3 for Hinata and her father to finish talking. The two sannin had already left for the Hokage's office, and Kakashi had gone home to read his new book. After about five minutes of waiting, Naruto spotted Hinata hopping the fence not too far away from where he and Sakura stood and run off into the night.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, I think we're going to have to take a rain check on the team dinner thing. Could you tell Hinata's dad I'm going after her and not to worry?"

"It's okay. I'll tell him," Sakura responded clearly curious about whatever was going on.

It wasn't all that hard for Naruto to find where she'd run off too. When he'd finally caught up to Hinata, she was sitting on a rooftop water tower not far from his apartment staring at the night sky.

"Want to talk about it, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shook her head 'no' without even turning around to look at him. Naruto sat down besides his girlfriend and started rubbing her back with his right hand. It was obvious she'd been crying.

"You know, if you really wanted to avoid talking about it, hiding at one of my favorite thinking spots probably wasn't the best plan," Naruto gently told her. Hinata started sobbing, so Naruto pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He started to rock her back and forth, while stroking her hair and whispering that everything would be okay.

"N-n-naruto-kun, t-t-they k-kn-know." Hinata took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing, "The Hyuuga council found out I'm a jinchuuriki. They know about the Nibi."

"Damn," Naruto gasped. "How'd they find out? I mean besides you and me there are what? Six other people who know?"

"Father doesn't know, Naruto-kun," answered Hinata.

"What are they going to do about it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. They are not happy about Father keeping it a secret from them. He is worried they may place the Caged Bird Seal on me as insurance," Hinata replied while trying to keep from breaking into fresh tears.

"You mean so they can control you," Naruto said with a hint of anger in his voice.

Hinata just shrugged meekly in response.

Naruto gently turned Hinata's head so that they were looking into each other's eyes and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'm not going to let that happen, Hinata-chan."

Hinata was about to ask how when they both nearly jumped out of their skins at a thunderous noise behind them.

"HOLY SHIT!" a voice screamed as the whole tower shook.

A Few Moments Earlier

Jiraiya was heading home to the condo he kept for when he was visiting Konoha to catch a few precious hours of sleep. Half way to his destination, he spotted his two apprentices sitting together in a rather intimate fashion on top of a water tower. However, what really caught his attention was the uninvited guest neither teen had detected. "Oh, what the hell. It's never too late to have a little fun messing with the lovebirds," Jiraiya chuckled to himself.

He quietly landed on the roof of a taller building next door to the one with the water tower and got a running start before leaping as high into the air as he could with the aim of landing right behind his two apprentices. The resulting boom caused by two hundred plus pounds of sannin impacting the top of the half-empty metal water tower rang out like someone striking a gigantic drum. The noise made Naruto and Hinata jump so high they nearly fell off the edge of the tank and caused their eavesdropper to cry out in alarm when she nearly lost her balance on the narrow walkway that ran around the side of the tank.

"Come on up here, Sakura!" Jiraiya called out. A pink-haired and very red-faced head appeared where the ladder ran up the side of the tower a few seconds later.

"Umm, Hi," Sakura mumbled in embarrassment.

Jiraiya then turned his attention back to the other two teens. "What have I told you two about paying attention to your surroundings? Just because you're back in Konoha…doesn't…mean…you…can…" Jiraiya's voice trailed off as he noticed the expressions on the three teens faces. Instead of embarrassment or anger, he saw worry on Naruto's face while Hinata's eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying. Even Sakura seemed to be more worried than embarrassed she was busted eavesdropping. "Did I miss something?" the sannin asked as it finally dawned on him that his first impression of what Naruto and Hinata had been doing on top of the water tower was likely wrong.

Sitting Room, Hokage Residence

"Hiashi, as important as your clan is to Konoha, putting up with this kind of crap makes me wonder if the Hyuuga are really worth it," an exasperated Hokage spoke as she rubbed her temples with her fingers in a vain attempt to ward off a major headache. It was not something she would normally say out loud, but it was 3 AM and she was well past caring whether or not she offended anyone.

Much to his shame, the Hyuuga clan leader could only nod his head in agreement with Tsunade. The normally stoic Hyuuga's face was etched with worry and frustration. He'd come straight to the Hokage complex after Hinata had run off. He'd been torn between his desire to find his daughter, and his obligation to tell the Hokage that the Hyuuga council had discovered Hinata's secret. Luckily, Naruto had made the decision easier by following Hinata when she ran from the training ground.

"How'd they find out anyway?"

"I don't know. It was Haru who brought it up at the council meeting, and he would not say where or from whom he got the information," answered Hiashi.

"It would have to be that pissant, wouldn't it?" Tsunade sighed.

A knock caused Tsunade to turn in time to see Jiraiya stick his head in through the half opened door.

"We've got a problem."

"If you're talking about the Hyuuga council, Hiashi just told me," Tsunade replied.

"Well, that's part of it," Jiraiya said as he opened the door wider to reveal Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura. "Sakura here was eavesdropping on the Brat and the Squirt and overheard them talking about the Nibi."

"That's lovely," Tsunade replied sarcastically. "Maybe I should just make a public announcement about it to make sure the whole village knows. Or better yet, I could have a genin team follow her around pushing a big neon sign that say's 'Hinata Hyuuga, Jirichuriki of the Nibi.' What do you think?"

"I'd be willing to volunteer Konohamaru's team for the job," Naruto offered, earning a bop on the head from Jiraiya.

"What exactly did you overhear, Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"That Hinata is the jinichuriki for the Nibi, and the Hyuuga council knows about it and isn't happy," Sakura summarized.

"Okay, we might as well give you the whole story since you three are going to be teammates."

"Umm, the whole story?" Naruto asked nervously.

This next one is one of the scenes a draft of my Naruto/Stargate SG-1 crossover. Please let me know what you think. I've got two different story plots I'm playing with at the moment, and can't decide which one to go with. I'll post the second version with the next chapter.

"Missing in Action"


"Well, so much for this planet being uninhabited," Carter sighed.

SG-1 had been on a standard scouting mission to a supposedly uninhabited planet only to discover a Goa'uld had apparently set up shop on the planet. A fact the team quickly learned when they spotted a landed mother ship and a new base under construction. They'd then tried to make it back to the stargate only to see a force of around one hundred Jaffa go through the gate while fifteen remained behind to guard it. That had been four hours ago, and SG-1 was still hiding in the same spot watching the fifteen Jaffa.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Daniel asked.

"I have none, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered.

"Colonel?" Sam asked.

All three turned to look at Colonel O'Neill. "We keep waiting. Hopefully they'll leave after the rest of the Jaffa come back." O'Neill paused for a moment before turning toward the Jaffa member of his team. "Hey, Teal'c, why would they leave a guard force behind for this side of the gate, anyway."

"Most likely, the force we saw go through the stargate was a raiding party sent to capture humans to serve as hosts and slaves," Teal'c answered thoughtfully. "If that's the case, the Jaffa on this side are here to guard any prisoners the raiding party might send back, not the stargate, itself."

Colonel O'Neill was about to respond when the stargate started to activate. As soon as the event horizon of the wormhole formed, Jaffa started running out of the stargate. The third Jaffa to exit the stargate was carrying an unconscious teenage girl with long dark hair over his shoulder. Three more Jaffa appeared, but, as soon as the sixth Jaffa exited, he was hit from behind and knocked out by an orange blur that came out of the stargate just before it closed. The blur then shot straight toward the fifth Jaffa. The figure slowed down just enough for the members of SG-1 to make out a blonde-headed boy dressed in an orange and black outfit, who was about the same age as the girl. When he reached the fifth Jaffa that had exited the stargate the boy slammed his fist into the taller man's face with unbelievable force causing the Jaffa to collapse in a heap. The teen then threw a knife out to each side striking two of the Jaffa who had been guarding the gate in their throats. Then the teen yelled out something as a glowing, spinning ball of light formed in his right hand. The boy slammed the ball of light into another Jaffa who had turned to fire his staff weapon at the boy. When the ball of light struck the Jaffa it blew apart the chest plate of his armor and sent him flying backward at an incredible velocity causing the Jaffa to slam into three of his comrades. The boy made a gesture with his hands and yelled out something else in a language that Daniel thought sounded similar to Japanese, and suddenly ten duplicates of the boy appeared out of thin air. Seven more Jaffa fell when the boy made another series of signs with his hands and called out something else, causing one of the duplicates to explode in the midst of a group of ten. By this time, five of the six Jaffa who had not been killed or otherwise incapacitated recovered enough to begin firing back with their staff weapons. The first barrage of staff blasts were either dodged or hit duplicates which disappeared in puffs of smoke. However, one blast in the second barrage managed to get through the boy's defenses to strike him in the side just below the ribcage. Despite the wound, he somehow managed to throw one last knife at the Jaffa carrying the girl before collapsing. The knife struck the Jaffa in the back of the thigh and caused him to drop the girl and fall to the ground clutching the profusely bleeding wound. However, when the boy collapsed due to his injuries the last of his duplicates that had been keeping the Jaffa busy also disappeared. The surviving Jaffa began to cautiously move in to finish off the teenager.

"Ah hell," Colonel O'Neill growled as the shock of watching a lone teenager take down fifteen Jaffa in spectacular fashion in less than ninety seconds wore off. "Daniel dial the gate. Teal'c, grab the boy. I'll get the girl. Carter, cover us." Sam, Jack, and Teal'c rose as one and began firing at the surviving Jaffa while Daniel sprinted for the DHD. The five Jaffa still standing quickly fell in a hail of bullets and staff blasts.

Teal'c reached the boy and was surprised to see him attempting to stand despite the serious wound. The boy saw the Colonel kill two of the remaining Jaffa with his P90, carefully scoop up the girl, and start moving toward them. He turned to Teal'c with a grateful smile on his face before collapsing into the older man's arms.\

Earth: Stargate Command

"Unscheduled off-world activation," Sergeant Harriman called out over the public address system.

"What have you got, Sergeant?" General Hammond asked as he entered the control room.

"It's SG-1's IDC, sir," the glasses-wearing sergeant replied.

"Okay, open the iris."

A moment after the iris opened Daniel ran through the gate holding up two fingers and yelled, "Medics!"

"Med-team to the Gate Room. We have two incoming wounded," rang out over a speaker in Sick Bay.

A couple of minutes later the rest of SG-1 came through the gate carrying the two teens who were quickly passed off to Dr. Frasier and the arriving med-team.

"Janet, we've got one male, age fifteen or sixteen, who got hit in the abdomen by a staff blast, and an unconscious female of about the same age. We're not sure what happened to her," Major Carter called out when she saw Dr. Frasier.

Looking at the wound on the blonde-haired teen, Dr. Frasier ordered, "Okay, the boy's wound is pretty serious, but he doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger. Get him down to Sick Bay and get him stabilized. Let's take a look at the girl."

One of the medics had pulled out a penlight and had opened one of the girl's eyes. "What the… Dr. Frasier, you need to take a look at this!"

Dr. Fasier looked up from where she had been taking the girl's pulse and was stunned to see that the girl's eyes was unusually shiny, almost like they had a reflective layer similar to the tapetum located behind the retina of a cat's eyes that allows them to see well in low light conditions. However, what shocked Dr. Frasier the most was the pale lavender color of the irises and the apparently lack of pupils. "Whoa! Now, that is different!"

"What is it?" General Hammond, who had just entered the Gate Room, asked.

"Sir, I'm not sure. It looks like she was just hit by a Zat gun or Goa'uld shock grenade, so she should be fine, but her eyes have a highly abnormal physiology," Dr. Frasier answered. "It could be a mutation or some kind of medical condition. I'd like to get her down to Sick Bay to give her an MRI and some other tests, just to be on the safe side."

The general simply nodded his approval and said, "Keep me informed." Dr. Frasier and the medic moved the girl to a gurney to take her to Sick Bay.

"Janet, you might want to do the same with the boy. He displayed some 'unusual abilities' when we encountered him," Sam added.

'I'll do that," Dr. Frasier said as she accompanied the gurney out of the Gate Room.

"Colonel, have your team check in your weapons and gear. Then I want all of you to report immediately to the conference room for a debriefing," General Hammond ordered as he turned to the leader of SG-1.

"Yes, Sir," Colonel O'Neill replied.

Earlier on Naruto's World

Yamato skewered one of the strange enemies using one of his Mokuton techniques, but had to take cover as two more fired blasts from their strange weapons. However, before Yamato could retaliate his two armor wearing opponents were launched through the air by a kunai with an explosive tag attached. Turning toward the direct the kunai had originated from Yamato spotted the rest of Team Kakashi and Team 8 approaching.

"What's the situation?" Hatake Kakashi asked as he leaped off a rooftop to land next to his former-ANBU colleague.

"When we arrived in the village we found that around a hundred of whoever these guys had rounded up the villagers in the town square, killing a number of them in the process. We engaged them while I sent Bull to find you."

Yamato and Kakashi looked over as Sakura knocked a house down on top of three more of the enemy fighters.

"They don't appear to have the ability to use chakra, but their weapons are fairly powerful and they fight well as a unit. Also, according to Hinata, there is something weird about their body structures. Right now, there are only thirty or forty of them that haven't been killed or incapacitated."

"What did Hinata see?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know. She never got a chance to tell me. She was trying to protect the last of the villagers as they fled the battle, but some kind of device that emitted a bright light and unbelievably loud noise went off right next to her and knocked her out. About ten of these guys grabbed her and ran off in the direction of the castle," Yamato answered as he nodded toward a historic castle on the hill overlooking the village that had been turned into a tourist attraction. "Naruto took off after them a couple of minutes ago. I don't think he'll have a problem defeating ten of them by himself and recovering Hinata, but it might be a good idea to send him some backup just in case."

"Sakura! Shino!" Kakashi called out. The two chunnin quickly made their way over to the two older men while dodging blasts of energy from the strange staff weapons.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" the pink-haired teen asked.

"Hinata has been captured by a group of enemy numbering about ten. They ran off in the direction of the old castle. Naruto is in pursuit. I want you two to back him up. Shino did you plant your insects on Naruto and Hinata?" The quiet chunnin nodded yes in response. "Good, then you shouldn't have any trouble tracking them."

The two chunnin took off in the direction Naruto had run.

"You're worried about Hinata, aren't you, Shino?" Sakura asked a few minutes later as the pair sped through the treetops. Shino was normally difficult to read, but some how Sakura could sense that he was more tense than usual. He was just giving off a 'worried vibe' as Ino would say.

"Yes, Hinata is my teammate and my friend," Shino answered.

"Don't worry. Naruto won't let anything happen to her. He may be too big of an idiot to realize Hinata likes him, but he still considers her one of his precious people and won't let her get hurt," Sakura said reassuringly.

"How long have you known?" Shino asked.

"That Naruto can be an idiot? Since the day I met him. That Hinata likes Naruto? Since that first Chunin Exam we all took together," Sakura answered with a small smile.

"Hinata still worries that she'll lose him to you."

Sakura sighed. "She doesn't have anything to worry about. I mean I think he's a lot more handsome since he came back, and I do 'love' him, just not in that way. Naruto is kind of like a cross between my best friend and the annoying little brother I never had. To tell you the truth, I think Naruto feels the same way about me now. He still hints at us going out on a date every now and then, but he doesn't seem serious about it anymore. I think he just does it to tease me more than anything else. Besides, I think Naruto and Hinata would make a cute couple."

The two teens continued on in silence for a few more minutes.

"Shino," Sakura said without looking at the other ninja.

"Yes?"

"If you breath a word about me thinking Naruto is handsome to anyone, especially him, I'll hose you down with insecticide and castrate you in your sleep," Sakura said in a calm, even voice that sent chills up and down Shino's spine.

The normally fearless and unflappable teen let out an audible gulp. "Understood."

"I think we've almost caught up to Naruto," Shino added in an attempt to change the subject.

Sure enough, Shino and Sakura passed the dead bodies of four of the strangely dressed and armed men that had attacked the village. One of them had clearly been killed by a rasengan to the chest. A minute later, the two Leaf ninjas topped a ridge behind the castle and saw an amazing sight. A large ring sat perpendicular to the ground at the top of a small marble set of steps. Inside the ring, a shimmering pool of water seemed to be defying gravity, as it, like the ring that contained it, was also perpendicular to the ground. An unusual looking pedestal with a small dome made out of some kind of red crystal sat a short distance away from the ring. As Sakura and Shino began to run down the hill, they saw one of the attackers run into the pool with an unconscious Hinata over his shoulder. He was quickly followed by three more. Sakura watched as Naruto caught up and leaped into the pool right behind the four men. Then the pool simply vanished in a brief flash of light, leaving no trace of the men or Naruto and Hinata.

"I think we need to get Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei," Sakura said as she came to a stop and stared wide-eyed at the ring while her mind tried to process what she'd just seen.

"Agreed," Shino said.

Naruto's World: Hokage's Office

"Okay, let me get this straight. Hinata was knocked unconscious and captured during a battle with a mysterious group of attackers, that we now know are not even human. Naruto took off in pursuit of some of the attackers who tried to escape carrying Hinata. You two chased after him," Tsunade said as she pointed at Sakura and Shino, "and arrived just in time to see some of our mystery attackers escape with Hinata into what looked like a pool of water that was perpendicular to the ground and contained by what the locals thought was a glorified lawn ornament. Then you saw Naruto follow the kidnappers into the pool of water right before it vanished."

"Correct," Kakashi and Sakura answered.

"That boy is going to be the death of me," Tsunade groaned as she rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to ward off her approaching migraine.

Tsunade turned to the scarred special jonin who was also in her office, "Ibiki, have you been able to get the prisoners to talk?"

"Oh, I can get them to talk. The problem is I don't know their language and they don't know ours so I have no idea what they're saying," Ibiki responded.

Tsunade looked down at the drawing of the ring and the pedestal that Sai had included in his report.

"Sakura, get together with Shikamaru to see if you can dig up some more information on whatever this thing is and what it does," Tsunade said as she held up Sai's drawing. Ibiki, I want you to keep working on the prisoners. Try to find someone who can figure out what language they're speaking. Kakashi, go find my perverted former-teammate and bring him back here. Dismissed," Tsunade ordered.

Shizune stuck her head in the door to the Hokage's office. "Tsunade-hime, Hyuuga Hiashi is here to see you."

"Oh isn't that just lovely. Show him in as soon as everyone clears out, Shizune. Also, bring me a bottle of sake. I think I'm going to need it. Yamato, you're staying for this."