Chapter 7: Uproot

The crown of the king is passed down to his decedents. The decedent inherits not only the riches their predecessor has acquired, but also the pain, destruction, and sorrow as well. No matter the reputation of the receiver of the crown, they will always be expected to live up to the reputation of the one before.

This was the reality of Hinata's situation. With her father's life conquered by the explosive inferno, she now bears the burden of a crown she never desired.

Ino had stopped by the Hyuga mansion many times many times to see Hinata, but she was denied access every time. Hinata's mental state wasn't stable enough to handle her at this time. She hadn't come out of her room one week. The only one she allowed to see her was Naruto. He was gladly her shoulder to cry on. All she felt was sorrow and raw anger. His loving embrace was all that kept her mind at rest. He was all she wanted and needed at this moment.

Because of Hinata's mental instability, Neji had been working overtime, doing not only his duties as an assassin and trainer; he also was handling Hinata's and Naruto's responsibilities. He had never been a warm person, but the extra work made him more irritable than usual.

He cursed the fragile mind of his younger cousin with every breath he took, but he knew that it might eventually work to his advantage.

Hinata lay asleep in her bed, wrapped in Naruto's arms. With him in her life, all almost seemed right with the world. He always made her forget about the dangerous world of murder, solicitation, and drugs, the world they both lived in.

The peaceful rest of the two was disturbed by a loud banging on Hinata's door, followed by an abrupt opening.

The Hyuga leader sheepishly awoke as the light from the hall hit her eyes. She could barely see the figures of the two men who had walked in.

"Lady Hyuga, Neji requests to meet with you."

Hinata clutched onto Naruto's arm. She had absolutely no intention of leaving her room, and even less intent to do any work related to her family's underhanded business.

"Can't this wait?" Naruto asked "Hinata's still in no condition to be handling..."

"He has important information on Inferno."

Once she heard the name of the organization that had cause her so much pain, her entire attitude changed. Every bit of rage she had suppressed, every grudge she held against the murderers of her family, surfaced stronger than before at that very moment.

Naruto looked to Hinata to ask her feelings on meeting about this so soon after everything that happened. Her saw her pale eyes completely glazed over with. She looked almost as if she was a shell of the person she was. He had seen this look in the eyes of too many people. Just by her grip on his arm could sense how badly she wanted to exact revenge.

She stepped off the bed and onto the floor. The chilled wood against her feet was hardly noticed by her. Her whole body was numb. Her kind heart was overwhelmed by the rage acquired from seeing too many loved ones die too soon.

She draped her robe around her body which was barely covered by a pair of shorts and a tank top. Without waiting for Naruto, she rushed to her father's conference room.

"Hinata! Wait for me!" The moment Naruto attempted to follow her, she stopped. As the blonde assassin approached her, she didn't face him.

"...Hinata?"

The girl shook her head "No, Naruto. I want to do this by myself."

"But..."

"Stay away from the conference room!...that's an order..."

Naruto had never seen her like this before. It was almost as if her personality was completely different.

Though he wanted nothing more than to go with her to comfort her, he had to follow her command. He respectfully bowed to her "Of course...Lady Hyuga..."

Hinata had to fight the urge to turn to embrace and apologize to Naruto. She never gave him a formal order, and never had any desire to do so, but she had always relied on his strength, she needed to prove herself by facing Neji alone.

'...Please forgive me, Naruto'

Hinata stood before Neji as he sat behind his desk. He couldn't help but notice how unprofessional the girl looked in her bathrobe and slippers, but nothing could be done about it at the moment.

"Hina..."

"Brother, what information do you have on Inferno?"

Neji had been trying to think of a way to ease Inferno into the convorsation, but luckily he underestimated the nascent leader's readiness to jump head first into such a sensitive topic.

"While you were hidden away in your room, an Inferno representative came to have an audience with you, but I told them you were in no condition to make any rational decision at the moment."

Hinata's silence indicated that what he had said hit some sort of nerve. He had to restrain himself from laughing at her. The girl was always too easy to read.

"They changed the conditions of their original deal, we do still give over Hyuga territory, but we will be annexed into Inferno. I believe it would be beneficial for us if we..."

"So what you're saying is, you want me to join the people who murdered my sister and father..."

Her voice shook as she spoke. Her intense glare was almost enough to intimidate her eldest cousin.

"How dare you disrespect them by doing this! "She spat through clenched teeth.

"Hinata," Neji stood from his chair and walked over to her and attempted to place his hands on her shoulders, but she quickly brushed him off "You need to understand, Inferno is offering us protection..."

"So what you're saying is, you're a coward." The girl retorted. Her sharpened tongue was beginning to agitate Neji.

"Not at all, I just want don't have any great desire to die. If you refuse this deal, you'll meet the same fate as your father and sister."

"I know I will, brother...but as long as I kill the person who did this to our family, I don't care."

She walked out of his office. Discussing this matter further would only infuriate her more. She couldn't believe Neji would even suggest joining an organization like Inferno? True, the Hyuga family was far from a clean organization, but they were honorable.

"Stop it! Let me in!" Her thoughts were distracted as she heard someone yell from the foyer. The high and scratchy voice was fairly recognizable, but she couldn't figure out who it belonged to.

The maids and butlers did their best to hold back the boy with spiky brown hair and goggles rested on his forehead as he tried to enter the mansion.

One maid pulled blue scarf around his neck at an attempt to asphyxiate him, but he managed to get it untied before it had a chance to tighten.

"I need to see Naruto!"

"Naruto has no time to look after you at this moment!" one butler said as he pulled the boy's waist "If you don't leave now, we'll have the guards deal with you, and you know exactly how they take care of intruders!"

"Let go of him!"

The entire staff looked up at the stairs leading up to the second story, where Hinata stood."

"Hinata!" Konohamaru cheered.

The staff did as they were told and begrudgingly let the boy out of their grasp.

When the boy was free, he turned and flipped his middle finger to all who held him back.

He quickly ran to Hinata and embraced her "Thank you so much!"

"Um...you're welcome, but why did you come here?"

Konohamaru's attitude became more serious as he remembered the reason why he had wanted to see Naruto so urgently.

"Hinata, I need to speak with you and Naruto right now! Where is he?"

The Hyuga leader was still beyond confused, but Konohamaru seemed very determined to speak with so she figured that it was important.

"Just follow me." Hinata was slightly nervous to see Naruto. She was afraid that he would still be angry with her for not permitting him to come to the meeting.

Naruto was fastening the buckle of his belt as he saw Hinata come back into the room.

Seeing her brought a smile to his face, but he knew something was wrong. She was avoiding eye contact with him.

"Hina..."

"Boss!" Konohamaru ran into the room "There's something I gotta tell you..." He noticed how Naruto was in the process of putting his clothes on, he then looked to Hinata, who he noticed was only wearing a bath robe. He wildly blushed "I'm so so sorry! I hope my yelling didn't interrupt you two...I can go."

Naruto slapped his palm to his forehead "It's not what you think, pervert!" Of course Naruto knew he was partly responsible for making him the way he was. He did idolize the blonde after all.

"What did you come here for anyway?"

Konohamaru calmed himself down and spoke "It's about Hanabi."

Hinata's eyes widened as she heard the name of her sister mentioned. She had almost forgotten exactly how he had felt for her sister. She noticed what Hanabi was too oblivious to.

"What about her?" Naruto asked.

Konohamaru took a deep breath "I can help you find her killer."

Naruto and Hinata were silent.

"Say something!" he turned to Hinata "I know you must want revenge for her death," He turned to Naruto "You're the only one who can get it for us!" He could hear the shakiness in the boy's voice.

"Konohamaru, I..."

Konohamaru dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor "Please..." He begged as tears began to spill down his cheeks "You need to, Naruto...you just need to..."

Hinata understood how he felt. She wanted to avenge the death of the ones she loved as well, but after how she had just treated Naruto, she didn't know if she had the courage to ask him.

Naruto walked to Konohamaru, still bowed down. He knelt down and rubbed his hair "Get up, Konohamaru."

The boy wiped his eyes and picked his head up "So...does this mean you'll do it? You'll kill the man who did this?"

"What this means is, I'm fine with doing the job, but this isn't just any person we're talking about any person, this is Hinata's sister we're talking about." Naruto turned and faced Hinata, who still avoided making any eye contact with him.

'...She must still be angry about me questioning her order...' he bowed his head "Lady Hyuga, do you approve of this mission?"

Hinata clutched the fabric of her robe 'He called me Lady Hyuga...I knew it, he is still mad about me treating him like that...' Though she misread his intentions, she nodded.

Konohamaru jumped when he saw the signal of acceptance from the Hyuga leader.

"Thank you so much Hinata!"

Naruto had never seen annoying so excited to see someone die, but in this line of business one would see things that normal people wouldn't.

"Just give us a few minutes, Konohamaru. Wait downstairs for us."

He slyly smiled "I see how it is, boss." he winked "Try not to go too hard on her."

Hinata blushed as the boy ran off.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto cried out.

Naruto brought his attention back to Hinata. He needed to apologize to her. He viewed her as his radiant goddess; he never wanted to do anything to disrespect her.

"Hinata I'm..."

Hinata wrapped her arms around the blonde boy "Please forgive me Naruto...Speaking with Neji was just something I needed to do by myself."

"Hinata..." He was cut off again

"I know you're probably angry with me...but you have to understand, I'm the leader of the Hyuga...as much as I'd like to, I can't hide behind you all the time."

"But, Hinata..."

"Naruto, I..."

Naruto silenced her with a swift kiss to her lips.

"Hinata, calm down." He smiled "I was never angry with you; honestly I was worried you were mad at me for trying to go against your order."

She buried her forehead into his shoulder "I could never feel any anger towards you, Naruto, even if I tried, I couldn't.

His lips met hers and their tongues danced in a flurry of passion. Both were completely lost in the euphoric sensation.

Their lips finally broke free from each other as they gasped for air.

Hinata giggle as she seductively smiled at Naruto "Remember, go easy on me."

The two laughed. Their laughter was almost enough to lighten the fact that they all would be claiming revenge for Hanabi and possibly Hiashi through the blood of their assailant.

Naruto, Konohamaru, and Hinata a walked down the broken pavement in the seedy neighborhood. The broken glass shimmered like diamonds under the streetlights. The graffiti on the walls had depictions of men being murdered, as well as blood soaked dollar bills.

Blood money was foundation of the underground. For Naruto, this was a literal truth. The way he made money, was by spilling the blood of whoever he was told to.

Konohamaru noticed Naruto had a gym bag slung around his shoulder.

"Um, boss? What's with the bag?"

Naruto smirked "Call it an information kit."

Konohamaru was visibly confused by what he had said.

"Just wait, you'll see. Right now we need to know everything you know about this guy. That means Name, defining characteristics, anything that will help us find this guy."

Konohamaru began to think "I heard he always goes to this club around here, he wore sunglasses..."

Naruto shook his head "I'm not talking about what he wore, I need to know more specific things."

"Okay, okay, calm down. He had spiky brown hair, and for then name...I think he said it was something like Mino something-ame."

Naruto cocked his head. He tried to think of any killers, both major and small time, with any name that fit the vague description. He could think of no one with the name Mino.

"Wait..." He paused "You couldn't possibly mean Shino Aburame."

Konohamaru nodded "Yeah! That was it!"

"Why do you think it couldn't be him?" Hinata asked.

"Well, he's the only one who fits that description around these parts of town, so I think it is him, but..."

His hesitance was beginning to worry her "...But?"

Naruto shook his head "Shino is a small time murderer for hire, there's no way Inferno with their amazing connections, would ask for help from someone with limited skills like him."

Hinata knew he was right. After all they both had firsthand experience with one of Inferno's assassins.

"Throat slashing is one of Shino's trademark techniques, so I'm pretty sure that it's him, but...there might be a chance that Inferno didn't hire him."

"But, why would someone hire him to say Inferno did it?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders "I wish I knew the answer."

The three reached the club. Gaining access wasn't very complicated when you happen to be accompanied by the Hyuga leader and her Phantom.

The strobe lights flew as the bass from the stereo shook the floor. The dance floor was crowded women in skimpy outfits, and men with lust filled eyes.

Konohamaru tried to look past the hoard of people in the building, but he could hardly see anything. He looked to the bar, only one person sat there. He closely examined the person, though he could only See him from the side, he could easily see his sunglasses and spiky hair.

With his trembling hands, he tugged on Naruto's arm.

Naruto turned to see the nervous face of Konohamaru "I see him...he's sitting at the bar..."

An evil smirk spread across Naruto's face "Good find Konohamaru. Follow me."

Naruto slowly walked toward the young man at the bar, as to not arouse any suspicion. With the dancers rocking back and forth, it provided a perfect distraction for the assassin.

Shino was only a few feet away from the phantom, only a few more seconds and he would be his.

Shino put some money by his cup on the bar, and began to walk toward the crowed of dancers. He looked behind him to see if the person he had seen coming was still behind him. He only saw Konohamaru and Hinata walking after him.

'I knew it, I was being followed...but where's the other one?'

Just as the question entered his mind, he felt something press against his waist. He looked to see who would dare touch him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto smirked.

"What do you want?"

Konohamaru stood in back of the murderer.

"Come and take a walk with us." Naruto said as he grabbed the young man's back collar "And if you try anything, if you're lucky, your ass will end up in a wheel chair."

Naruto got in back of him, and pressed the gun to his lower back. He pushed Shino toward the bathroom located in the back of the club.

The one question that raced through Shino's mind was 'How the hell am I gonna get out of this?'

The four entered the filthy bathroom. The entire surface was covered in a mixture of dried urine and vomit. The smell was revolting; Hinata covered her nose with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Konohamaru, keep the door closed, I don't want any unwanted interruptions."

"Y...you got it boss." Konohamaru had never seen a murder performed; he had never even seen a dead body in person. The stress was almost enough to make him have a nervous breakdown, but he knew, for Hanabi, he had to stay strong. He wanted to see her murderer pay for what he did to her.

Naruto forced Shino's back to the ground pushing face against the wet floor. He pushed his knee into his chest, constricting his breathing.

"Listen, I only have $1000 on me... take it and leave me alone." he managed to say.

He heard the hazy laugh of the one who had him pegged to the ground "We don't want your money."

The murderer's body began to tremor. If they didn't want his money, there was only one thing they could want from him, something he couldn't imagine giving.

"Naruto..." Hinata quietly called out to him.

He had almost forgotten that she was still very delicate. She probably didn't want to have to witness this.

Before he could tell Konohamaru to open the door to let Hinata out, she spoke "Make sure he suffers."

Naruto smiled and bowed his head "As you wish, Lady Hyuga."

Shino's eyes opened wide "H...Hyuga?"

Naruto reached into his gym bag and pulled out a knife covered in rust, and a bottle of iodine.

"I'm glad to see that name means something to you." He said as he ripped off Shino's shirt. Leaning in close to his face "If I'm not mistaken, you were hired to murder a girl by the name of Hanabi Hyuga not too long ago, didn't you, and don't you dare lie."

Shino was silent.

Naruto poured iodine onto the blade as he sliced across his stomach. Shino screamed as the burning sensation of the iodine met with his fresh slice "I didn't hear you Shino, what was your answer?"

"YES!"

"Yes what?" He asked as he poured more iodine onto the wound.

"YES I KILLED HER!"

Naruto lightly chuckled "It's a good thing the music is so loud, or else everyone would hear you screaming. Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"

"You fucking insane bastard..." He huffed.

Naruto removed the boy's sunglasses "Next question. Who hired you, and why?"

"What...do you mean why? I was hired...to kill her you idiot." Shino said while panting.

"Wrong answer." Naruto held Shino's right eye open with his thumb and index finger as he grabbed the bottle of iodine.

"No...no please don't!"

Naruto dropped the dark liquid into the young man's eye.

"SHIT!" He cried out as the liquid burned his retina.

"Answer the question!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHY I WAS HIRED THE KILL HER! THE GUY JUST SAID DO IT!" he screamed as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"What guy! Why hired you!" Naruto yelled as he dug the rusty knife into Shino's shoulder and poured iodine down the blade.

"NEJI HYUGA! NEJU HYUGA HIRED ME!"

None of the three were prepared for what they just heard. They never would have suspected this type of betrayal from Neji, the person who claimed to have the family's best interest at heart.

"He...hired me to kill her and write that message in her palm!" Shino groaned out.

Naruto looked to Hinata to see what his next course of action should be.

Hinata grimly looked at her assassin as her fists clenched "We've got all the information we need out of him...we're done here."

Naruto nodded, and put his tools back into the bag. He got off of the badly wounded Shino Aburame.

"Wait...you're not just gonna leave me here...are you?" The three walked toward the door of the bathroom.

"You can't just leave me!"

Without looking, Naruto aimed his pistol at Shino's head, and pulled the trigger.

Naruto, Hinata, and Konohamaru couldn't stop thinking about what Shino had told them. How could Neji betray they Hyuga like this?

Konohamaru "...So, Boss, what do we do now?" He asked with his voice wavering. He still hadn't fully recovered from seeing the man being tortured. He was thankful that he hadn't eaten anything recently, because from the feeling he had, he would be completely unable to stomach it.

"I'm going back to the Hyuga mansion." he said "Neji and I have some business to discuss."

Hinata grabbed onto his arm "I'm going with you."

"No Hinata."

"But..."

"It's not safe."

"But, Naruto..."

"Hinata, you're not coming with me and that's final."

She felt as if her insides had knotted up.

"I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you, so I won't bring you around someone as dangerous as Neji."

Hinata gritted her teeth and slapped Naruto across the face "I know how dangerous he is! I know how underhanded and sneaky he is, but have you ever stopped to confided how I feel?" her eyes began glistening "Do you ever stop and think about how I feel whenever you're assigned off on some dangerous mission? I'm always worried sick! Every time you leave, I always know there was a chance you wouldn't come back...I couldn't bear it if that happen...I just couldn't..."

"...Hinata."

"After all that we've been through tonight, I'm my going to let you leave like this, I'm sticking by hour side whether you want me to or not!"

He knew exactly how worried she was, but he wasn't sure he could protect her if she joined him in his confrontation of the traitor Hyuga.

He placed his hands on the shoulders of the woman he loved dearly "Hinata...I can't...Think about it, if we face him together and he kills us, he could just call you the traitor and no one would question him. But with you alive, no matter what happens to me, you'll be protected by the Hyuga who are loyal to your father."

Hinata knew he was right, but it didn't help ease the pain at all.

"Go wait at Ino's house." he said "If I'm not back within three hours, just assume the worst, and leave the state."

As he broke the embrace, Hinata clung to his arm "As leader of the Hyuga family...Naruto...I order you to come back safely."

Naruto looked into her tear filled eyes. He leaned in and his lips met hers. For all he knew, this was the last time his lips would ever be in contact with her again, so he savored every second of it.

As soon as their lips parted, Naruto ran off.

'...Please come back Naruto...I love you.'

Neji was in Hiashi's office overlooking some paperwork. His bodyguard stood beside him as he was busy at his desk.

They both heard a loud banding on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"It's Naruto! I need to speak with you, open up!"

He sighed deeply "Open the door before he tries to break it down."

The guard nodded "Yes sir." Just as he cracked open the door, Naruto burst in.

Neji smirked "What's got you so worked up?"

The guard shut the door and stood in front of it.

"I just had an interesting little conversation with your friend Shino Aburame."

The pale eyed man chuckled "Really? And what did he say?"

"Nothing, besides the face that you're a treacherous piece of shit!" Naruto pulled out his Night Hawk .50, and aimed it toward the guard at the door who already had his drawn.

The guard fired one shot at Naruto. Naruto precisely aimed his gun and shot at the bullet. The two bullets caved into each other as the collided and fell to the floor. The second shot was countered in the exact same way. Naruto fired the third and final shot ending, the guard's life.

"My, my. Such skill, it's a shame to waste it like this." he sighed "Oh well, like father, like son I guess."

Naruto cocked his head "What do you mean?"

"Your father was quite a talented Phantom as well; in fact, he was the first Phantom of the Hyuga."

Naruto gritted his teeth "That's a lie! My mother and father were nothing but poor trash who sold me so they could get drug money!"

Neji nodded his head "Yes, that's exactly what I told your master at that compound to tell you. But the truth is, your father, my first partner, was an amazing killer. When I was only thirteen, I knew I needed to make a name for myself. I was sick of just being the offspring of the outcast twin brother of my uncle.

I decided to throw myself into the most dangerous line of work, an assassin for hire. I always took on the toughest missions, but I would always end up needing to be rescued by my partner, Minato Namikaze, the Phantom. He taught me how to fight in close range, how to use a gun, even how to assemble and disassemble one.

Honestly I idolized the man, but one thing was always his weakness. He had formed a relationship with the head of the late Uzumaki family, Kushina Uzumaki.

The two would constantly meet with each other, it was so sweet." he sarcastically said. "Anyway, later on, he got a mission to eliminate the entire Uzumaki family, including his beloved Kushina. Funny twist of fate, don't you think?"

The expression on Naruto's face was beyond satisfying to the treacherous Hyuga man.

"But instead of doing his mission like he was instructed, he decided to take Kushina and run away.

There was a massive manhunt for him; nobody was able to find him, no one except for me. Hiashi, that damn fool, only had us search the east coast, because he was too afraid to extend the search anywhere where he didn't have control. Little did he know, those two were living comfortably in a city in Minnesota.

For a year I regularly watched them without them noticing. And wouldn't you know it, they actually had a child together. I think you know what that child's name was, don't you, Naruto?"

The enraged expression on Naruto's face made the experience all the mire thrilling.

"I attacked and killed them both before they even knew what happened. And in the middle of that blood stained chaos, you were caught in the middle of it. Just an infant no older than my newborn little cousin. Because of your father's amazing ability I wanted you to carry on his skill. I sold you to a dealer who was more than happy to take you after explaining who your father was..

I told him I wanted no record of me dropping you off at that facility, and also told him to document that it was your parents who sold you for drugs instead.

A few years later, I advised my uncle to scout for a good assassin there. It was a great leap of faith, but I had confidence in your abilities. Even if you had half the skill of your father, it would be more than enough to get you noticed."

Naruto's hands trembled "...You bastard...so all those years I suffered there were because of you!"

"You really should be thanking me; after all, you did get Hinata out of it." Neji shook his head "It's truly a shame; I didn't want to kill either of you. I figured Hanabi would be enough to scare Hinata into joining Inferno, and Hiashi, I had aspirations of murdering him to gain control of this family for years. Hooking a car bomb up unnoticed is quite easy when nobody would ever suspect the bodyguard of the man being bombed."

"And you think you're gonna get away with this!" Naruto yelled.

"How can't I? Most of the Hyuga family is loyal to me, and after I join with Inferno, there will be no place you'll be able to hide, that is, if you live that long."

Just as Neji finished his sentence, ten armed guards burst into the room and began firing at Naruto.

There was nowhere for him to take cover, all he could do was doge and hope not to get hit.

He was almost out of bullets, so deflecting was not an option. He needed every last round in that clip if he hoped to make his way back to Hinata.

As the bullets cascaded around him, he stood and fired at one of the guards and penetrated his forehead. The others stopped to see what had happened to the man, providing the perfect temporary distraction."

Desperate to make an escape, Naruto ran top speed to the window on the side wall of the room.

The guards caught wind of what the boy was trying to do, and attempted to either kill him, or immobilize him, but all attempts were in vain. Naruto ran into the window shoulder first and shattered the glass. He fell down from the second story, and landed in one of the bushes surrounding the mansion.

There was nothing else he could do. He couldn't negotiate, he couldn't go back and try to make amends with the Hyuga family, all he could do was run, and he wasn't even sure how long he would be able to keep that up.

All hope of any place back in the family, was forever lost. Neji had done it, he won. Everything he had worked for, he had finally achieved, and there was nothing Naruto could do to stop this.

Naruto and Hinata sat in the waiting area of the airport as they waited for their flight to arrive.

(flashback) When Naruto made it to Ino's house, Hinata was more than elated about his safe return, but she was quickly informed that the celebration was too soon. He told her that Neji would send people after them and if they didn't escape soon, their lives would end by the break of dawn.

Ino had told them about a contact their father had. Apparently he would be able to keep them safe. Naruto had no idea how this man planned on going against the Hyuga family with someone as ruthless as Neji in charge, but it was their last chance at survival.

(End flashback)

Naruto held onto Hinata's hand as time dragged on. No one could have imagined that the night would go so horribly wrong.

All they could do was hope the contact that Ino referred them to would be good. Naruto had no reason to believe that Ino would betray them, but the contact on the other hand, he had no idea who he was. For all he knew he was an agent of Inferno, but in this desperate time, desperate measures had to be taken. This leap of faith the couple took, could be their last, and they both knew it.

"I think it's down this street." Hinata said as she led Naruto to the shop where Ino's contact lived.

Naruto put his hands behind his head "This guy better be good. I mean we flew all the way to Michigan to see him. If he's not worth it..."

Hinata clung to his hard "Don't worry, Naruto. In the type of situation we're in, I don't think Ino would refer us to anyone bad."

He wanted nothing more than to not worry, but when the life of the one he loved was in danger, he just couldn't be.

He still felt much fear and doubt about the man, but for Hinata, he feigned a smile, and acted as if he felt no fear.

Hinata pointed ahead "That's the shop we're looking for."

As the two approached the door, Naruto did his best not to shiver. Their lives depended on the help of this man, and if he failed, they were as good as dead.

Lost in thought, he hardly people opening the shop door. Before he regained his senses, he had knocked into the couple walking in. One was a brown haired boy, who wore a grey shirt and white slacks, and a girl with short green hair who wore a yellow shirt with red ribbons, and a skirt.

"I'm so sorry." He said as he dusted himself off. He looked into her cold grey eyes as the man helped her off the ground.

"It's fine." she emotionlessly responded.

To be continued...

Preview (Reiji and Erin's perspective)

Eren: We are ghosts with no place to haunt

Reiji: Phantoms with no identity

Next chapter: Ghosts

Author's note: First off please let me apologize for taking so long to update. It's only that I had already written chapter 6 (Which was very short) and I didn't feel right about leaving you guys with something so small and unsatisfying (that's what she said)

Second, sorry about the ending of this chapter, I needed it to end so that the real action can begin.

War is about to start, AND SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN! :p but not next chapter cuz that's gonna revolve around Ein and Zwei

Thirdly, yes I lied, I figured out a way to get Ein and Zwei in the story I hope you enjoy

~Happy Murder~