Naruto couldn't help but walk about, dejected, with a look of death on his face. He hadn't been able to go after her once she had left. How could he? The look on her face had practically spat everything he had told her back in his face. As soon as he had said Uchiha, her whole demeanor had changed and she had all but laughed in his face.

He sighed as he headed to his room, which was one of the many rooms in the back quarters of the servants' large complex. His room was also one of the rooms closest to the Hyuuga estate, which was built right next to the servants' complex. Or rather, it was the other way around. Someone could have probably attacked right now and he would be unaware of things, which showed how bad he was feeling.

He had gone with a purpose - to get Gama-chan and to just see her. It was enough to satisfy his aching heart but then he had seen her being chased by those two crones and his anger and worry had overwhelmed him. However, the way she had handled herself, it surprised him how she could maneuver around so quickly and efficiantly. The Sasuke he had known had always wanted to move like that and she had managed to, just not so fluently.

Her environment must have forced her to develop that skill.

Then when she was with that man. He scoffed. That guy shouldn't have even been considered a man, much less human. He could smell rapist and murderer all the way from where he had been watching her. The way he oozed nicotine and alcohol. It had irritated his sensitive nose, and Sasuke was being held by him! How could she stand it?

He knew he couldn't and when that lecher's hand moved to Sasuke's waist. That had been enough for him to step in. He frowned at the thought that Sasuke did these things on a daily basis and all he wanted to do was take her away from the morbid community. The only problem with that was the fact that she didn't recall anything from her former self and didn't believe a word he said about it. He couldn't help but sigh, which seemed to be the only thing he had been able to do since he returned.

"You're going to wither away if you keep doing that," he jumped slightly as a melodic voice whispered in his ear from behind.

"S-Sakura-chan," he stuttered, his heart going a mile a minute. Sakura only laughed at his reaction.

"You're going to get killed if you go around walking like that. You know its rather dangerous," she continued. Naruto watched as Sakura walked ahead of him, her hips movingslightly from side to side as she carried some clothing.

"Hey, let me help," he said as he walked over to her. She let him take the basket of clean clothing from her hands. They had known each other for a while now. He had first met her while he had been serving the Uchiha's. Sakura was a medic who had worked for the Hyuuga's for as long as she could walk and talk. In fact, if he had to give her a position with Hinata, the Hyuuga's eldest daughter, he would say they were bestfriends. He sighed as that only reminded him of Sasuke.

"What's wrong Naruto?" he watched as her emerald eyes shone with worry.

"It's nothing much, don't worry," was his reply as he smiled at her.

She stopped in front of him, her hands resting on her hips and he could feel her temper rising, "I thought that we had become good friends since you arrived here. I always tell you about my problems and you always listen, now it's my turn, now spill before I spill something else."

Her hands called into fists and he could feel her strength invading his senses. He knew she was a rather strong fighter, despite her focus in medicine. He sighed once more and chuckled as her earlier words came to mind. Perhaps he would disappear if he continued to sigh all day. And having someone hear him out seemed like a good idea.

He conceded, "Ok, ok. But let's go elsewhere."

She smiled and nodded, "My room, so I can finish up the laundry too!"

He smiled at her now chipper mood. Women were scary when they were mad, especially when it was Sakura Haruno. They both walked into the servants' quarters and walked to her room, which was closer to the forefront but still rather deeper within. The quarters were spilt up into sections. The forefront and closest to the gates of the large estate, were regular servants who did the everyday chores such as maids, cooks, gardeners, butlers. The section after that were other more specialized workers that had been with the Hyuuga's since generations before, like the Uzamaki-Namikaze were to the Uchiha. This included healers and agents. Then, in the deepest crevice were all the Uzamaki-Namikaze and other workers that had come from the Uchiha estate. Most were users like him.

The structure was built in a way that it surrounded the Hyuuga mainhouse from both sides and the back, which made it look like an unconnected U. Then to the side of the servants' quarters was the lower house of the Hyuuga's, which also had their own servants and guards at their call.

He walked into Sakura's room as she opened the door for him and he placed the basket of clothing on her bed, "Take a seat."

He did as he was told and he sat down on a chair positioned in front of a dresser. Lotions, make-up, and other toiletries littered the top and he could see himself reflected in the mirror on top of the dresser.

"So, tell me about it," Sakura insisted, "I know it has to do with that girl that Kiba encountered a while back. Kyuubi told me you had some suspicions about her being Sasuke."

Naruto nodded, and became serious, "You know that her body was never found and the fact that Lord Fugaku suspected she might have been the one leaking some sort of information, really doesn't make things good. The prisoner, on that night, sent out a message, and then all of that happened..."

He felt a small hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Sakura looking at him, "You know it's not your fault..."

"It was!" he cried out, "If I had been more alert. If I had sensed something amiss, then nothing would have happened!"

Sakura frowned, "Come on now, I didn't bring you here so you could beat youself up. And it's like you said, her body wasn't found so maybe she's alright. And if what you think is true, she's much closer than you think."

"But she doesn't believe anything I say," he growled, running his hands through his hair, making it messier than it was before, "I told her about what she was like but all I did was say Uchiha and she scoffed at everything I said! And you know, she proved my suspicions true. I told her about a scar that only Sasuke would have, and she has it! I wasn't sure if she would but I thought I'd give it a try, and she admitted to having it!"

Sakura began to think, her hand holding her face contemplatively, "You know, I'm surprised she survived that long to begin with."

That caught Naruto's attention, "What?"

Sakura continued, her hands now resting on her thighs, "Well, I know that the outskirts of Konoha haven't always been the best, but they also weren't the worst, like they are now. I'm sure they saw Queen Mikoto and Princess Sasuke at some point, be it from afar or from some sort of media. Chidori, that's her name right?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered hesitantly, understanding coming to mind.

"And she looks exactly like Sasuke would, did."

Naruto nodded, a twisting in his gut made it harder to breathe.

"And if you were able to identify her so easily..."

"But I was her protector. It's only natural that I would be aware of things others wouldn't be aware of. We knew each other since we were children," Naruto began, panic beginning to fill his bright blue eyes, which seemed to be loosing their usual colorful shine and taking on a more duller one.

"Her enemies would surely be aware of certain things. She did go out often is what I was told, which means people saw her often. I know she didn't leave the estate perameter but still and I'm not accussing her of anything but people aren't blind. People are always watching."

"She's in danger! I have to go to her!" Naruto exclaimed, raising from his seat and in that instant an explosion was heard not far from them. They both looked out the single window that was in the room and gasped as a rain of kunai with explosive tags rained on the roof of the servants' quarters. An explosion followed after and they both ducked as the building started to fall apart. Dust filled the air and Naruto stood from his place on the floor.

"The people...!"

"I'm on it!" Sakura cried out, "You go take care of them!"

Naruto nodded, leaving the room through the now shattered window while Sakura left through the door, wandering through the now burning quarters, searching for the injured. He could feel his heart pounding as images from the night five years ago invaded his senses. It was just like that time! He hadn't been able to sense anything when they had been attacked. In fact, the only reason he had noticed anything amiss was because of Sasuke's dream. If she hadn't had the dream, would things have been worse? He wasn't sure how that would even be possible. The whole of the Uchiha's had been killed.

All except for one, if his suspicions were correct, which he was more than 100% sure on.

His family and the Hyuuga guards were already engaging the enemy and he moved to help, only to stumble backwards as a gaping arc was made before him. The ground had fallen in and before him was the culprit. He couldn't tell who they were or even what gender they werebecause of the clothes they were wearing. Hoods and masks covered their faces and instead of having creatures on their masks, they had strange symbols. The Uchiha guards had creatures, the Hyuuga guards had patterns across the forehead and the bottom of each eyes, but these, he hadn't seen anything like these masks before. There was no pattern or figure, only symbols running from top to bottom.

He jumped in the air, moving to attack, while his attacker decided on defending. His blows were easily blocked and he could feel his anger rising. They had destroyed all of the servants quarters and they still continued to destroy. He could feel his chakra flare as his attacks became more feral. A kick to the stomach had the attacker rolling on the ground. He threw a couple of kunari and was satisfied when they met their target. A single clothed hand was tightly imbedded to the ground but a hard pull from its owner unhooked it. The kunai fell to the floor, blood coating the metal.

He moved without a second to lose and he found himself pinning the being, his bare hands touching the wrists of the person. His eyes were now red as he watched everything that had occurred: a being with black clothing, a woman who was like a fallen angel, a large throne room, a bloody bed, bandages.

His nails dug into the person's body but the person didn't cry out. Instead, they placed an explosive tag between the both of them and before he could move, the explosion caught him and he was blown back. His eyes wide, he ran to the person, who was now dead, and not from the explosion. They had a rain of kunai all about their body. Their mask had cracked and the dead expression of a woman staring into the sky was revealed to him.

"Naruto!" he turned to see Sakura running to him, "Are you okay?"

He could feel her probing hands, making sure he was unharmed but something caught his attention. A single paper was left on the body.

"They left, I don't know what it was they wanted. Lady Hinata is still safely inside, as is Hanabi, Naruto?" Sakura watched as he grabbed the paper with trembling hands.

Printed on there was Chidori on the rooftop somewhere in Hebi with a large red X and the word eliminated scribbled on the bottom. His body moved before he could think and he was gone before Sakura could say anything.

All Naruto could think was, I can't lose her! Not again!