Good afternoon FanFiction readers and writers. I know I have been slacking off a lot with my writing, but hopefully I have found my grove again. I am hoping to be putting out a chapter once a week, or once every two weeks. I greatly enjoy the comments you are posting and I thank you for your encouragement. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask them.

I do not own Naruto or any aspect of if. ENJOY!

Chapter 9

"I'm having a hard time believing you Naruto. You say one moment you were supposedly dead, and the next you were alive and Hinata was passed out."

Naruto was paying attention to Tsunade, but he also wasn't. He understood what she was saying and even comprehended the different meanings behind it, but his main concern was Hinata. The memory of him carrying her lifeless body back to the village plagued his mind. He knew she was alive when he left her at the hospital, but he was worried that she didn't move and her breathing was almost nonexistent. "Grandma Tsunade...how was Hinata when you looked at her?" Naruto asked in a low, caring voice.

Tsunade became wide eyed at Naruto's question. He really cares about that girl. With a smile, Tsunade answered, "She is fine from what we can tell. The only thing we know for sure is that when you brought her in, she was on the verge of death from chakra overuse. Fortunately, she is stable now. And her eyes..." Tsunade trailed off.

Naruto was now worried. Tsunade was deep in thought, and had a look of uncertainty on her face. "What...what do you mean, her eyes? Is there something wrong with her eyes," Naruto frantically asked.

"Calm down, Naruto. There is nothing wrong with her eyes. I just noticed something strange when I was checking them. The moment I opened her eye lids, I swear I noticed spots of a golden color that faded away and her eyes returned to their normal color."

Naruto was brought aback, "Golden?"

"You heard me right. I have never seen anything like it before, and from what I have tried to look up neither has anyone else. Though after I get at least an hour of sleep, I'm going to meet with the elders of the Hyuga clan and see if they know anything."

"While you are over there, if you can help it, could you not tell Hinata's father that she potentially got hurt on a mission looking for...me."

Tsunade glared at Naruto. "If he asks about the mission, I have to tell him. There is no way around it."

Naruto slightly lowered his head in acknowledgment. "I understand. Thank you."

Tsunade was shocked by what he had just said. It may have been the first time ever that he said thank you to her. Quickly making a mental note of the date and the time, Tsunade replied, "Your welcome. Now, go home and get some rest. I will send for you when I figure some things out and..." Tsunade stopped what she was going to say and eyed Naruto. He was clenching his eyes in pain and he held his right hand to his stomach. "Naruto, are you all right?"

Gritting his teeth, Naruto slowly replied, "Ya, I'm fine. It's just some stomach pains is all." Naruto turned and opened the door leading out of the office, not wanting to be questioned anymore.

Stirring in her bed, the images Hinata was seeing disturbed and frightened her. The man she would do anything for, anything at all, was dead. Murdered right in front of her. Now she would never be able to see his bright, happy smile again. She would never be able to just be around his warm, soothing presence. She would never be able to tell him how she truly felt about him. "Naruto, I'm...I'm soo sorry that I couldn't help you. I'm sorry that I wasn't strong like you. I'm sorry that I wasn't as bold and courageous as you were. I'm...just soo sorry."

Hinata fell to her knees, crying into her hands. There was no one around her. She decided it was best to come when everyone else was gone. As she looked up from her hands, she couldn't help put grin at what was wrote on his tombstone. 'Here lies Naruto Uzumaki, Good Ninja, Great Friend' Kneeling there, Hinata didn't care that it began to rain. As the water soaked into her cloths and weighted down her hair, she watched as it fell onto his tombstone and snaked its way down its face into the lettering.

"Hinata." Hearing her name called, Hinata turned to where she heard the voice come from. When she looked however, there was no one there. "Hinata." Again she heard the same voice calling her name, but she couldn't see anyone around.

Gently pushing her shoulder, Tsunade tried to wake Hinata up. "Hinata, come on, wake up."

Slowly opening her eyes, Hinata didn't recognize where she was. Her vision was a little blurry and it was hard to focus with the bright light coming in through the window. "Well there you are. I'm glad to see that you have finally regained consciousness."

"Where...where am I?" Before Tsunade could answer her, Hinata interjected. "Don't tell me, the hospital again."

"Yes, you would be correct. Naruto brought you here earlier this morning after I had sent your team out to locate him."

Naruto brought me here? That means...hes alive! Sitting up, Hinata asked, "Naruto...do you know where he is?"

Tsunade could hear the urgency in her voice. Well well, it seems they both have strong feelings for each other. I wonder how far they are going to take this. Smiling, her answered the young Hyuga. "You have no need to worry, he is fine. From what I've been told, he has been waiting outside the hospital all morning long, ever since you had been emitted and after I talked to him." Tsunade let Hinata soak in that information before continuing. "Now, its your turn to talk to me. I am really interested in finding out what you know about this whole mess."

Hinata looked at the Hokage, confused. "What do you mean, Lady Hokage?"

"From what Naruto told me, he should have died out there. And for some reason, he didn't. He can only assume that you, somehow, healed him. And I have to concur with that, because according to him it was just him and you in the area."

As Tsunade spoke, flashbacks of what happened began appearing in Hinata's head. The image that appeared the most was when Naruto's chest exploded. For some ungodly reason, that image was in the forefront of her mind.

"Hinata, I went and spoke with the Hyuga Clan elders not long ago. According to them, they don't know what could have happened either. I did find it strange though that one of the female elders did want to 'talk' to me more today. She said it may have something to do with a person called Fusa or something like that."

Hinata now had a worried look on her face. She spoke with the clan elders? Was my father there? Did she tell them that it was Naruto I was sent to find? Who is Fusa?

Tsunade watched as Hinata seemed to be deep in thought. Giggling, Tsunade said, "You two are more alike than I thought."

Startled back to reality, Hinata asked, "What?"

"Don't worry, I didn't have to tell them that you were looking for Naruto. He had already asked me not to tell them if I didn't have to."

With a sigh of relief, Hinata relaxed. She knew if her father found out that she was looking for and found Naruto, he would be furious. She suspected for a long time that her father would rather see him die than ever have a member of his clan help him. Unbeknownst to him though, Hinata was not the only Hyuga who would not hesitate in helping him. She knew she could count on her cousin Neji.

Tsunade walked over to Hinata's bed and grabbed the medical chart. Quickly glancing over it, she set it back down and spoke. "Your vitals all look good, and everything else checks out. Your free to go." And with that, Tsunade turned and walked out of the room to give Hinata some privacy while she dressed.

Not wasting a single moment, Hinata got out of bed and dressed as quickly as she could. She calmly walked over to the nurses station and filled out yet another release form. As far as she was concerned, she never wanted to fill out another one of those forms again. It seemed that as of lately the hospital was almost like her second home, with all the times she came in with cuts and broken bones. And not to mention the two overnight visits due to unconsciousness.

Upon exiting the hospital, Hinata had to stop and cover her eyes. The sun was high in the sky and no clouds were anywhere in sight. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she felt the warmth of the light on her skin. Slowly Hinata lowered her hand away from her face, and her eyes fell on him. He was where Tsunade said he was, sitting outside of the hospital. Taking in a few deep breaths, Hinata walked over and sat down next him on the bench. Neither of them looked at each other, instead they seemed to stare at objects far off in the distance. As the moments passed, Hinata became uneasy. Not knowing exactly what to do, and not wanting to do nothing, Hinata lunged over hand fiercely hugged him.

Caught off guard, Naruto didn't know what was going on. He was fixated on what he was thinking about, he didn't noticed Hinata sit down next to him. He could partially put the blame on himself being tired and exhausted, but that wouldn't sit right with him. Carefully reaching over, Naruto pulled Hinata a little closer to him, so he could also hug her and gently rest his head on hers.

"Oh Naruto, I thought...I thought I had lost you," Hinata whispered into his chest.

"Your never going to lose me, I promise."

Naruto lifted his head and slowly, with his right hand, cupped her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. As their eyes meet, both of them felt something in them change. They both felt that this was right, that something had driven them to this point. Naruto lowered his head until his forehead was touching hers. Not breaking eye contact, both teens visible turned a little red from nervousness. "Naruto, I..." Hinata was cut off when Naruto leaned in and gently kissed her. Hinata's mind melted away at the tender touch of his lips making contact with hers for the first time. After what felt like an eternity to Hinata, Naruto pulled away and whispered, "I know, and I love you too, Hinata."

With a loud thud, Deidara crashed to the ground, landing on his uninjured side. "Fuck, that really hurt," he yelled out.

Pein casually glanced over his shoulder at his comrade. Showing no concern for his injuries, Pein asked, "Deidara, it seems you have decided to return. Where is the Nine Tail Jinchuuriki?"

"You mean that fucking monster, hmm. He should be dead right now, but he's lucky to be alive," Deidara responded, panting heavily.

"Don't be worried, I knew you had failed even before you arrived. Sasori reported what happened."

Shocked to hear that his master was alive, Deidara gasped. He didn't think there was any way he could have survived. He seen him crushed into pieces. "He...hes alive!"

"Yes Deidara, Sasori is alive." Itachi said and walked over to where Pein was standing and watched on as Deidara writhed in pain.

"Konan, bandage up Deidara's wounds. It will be a while before we can find replacements for his limbs." Pein was concerned with Deidara's health, as he was an important asset to the organization with his unique abilities.

Konan raised her left hand at Deidara, and sheets of paper glided out of her sleeves. Each piece precisely maneuvered into place to completely cover up his open wounds and to stop the remaining bleeding. "Fuck, this hurts," Deidara shouted.

"Tell me everything at you witnessed during your confrontation with the Nine Tailed Jinchuuriki. I need to familiarize myself with his fighting style in order to capture him without much hassle," Pein said commandingly gazing at Deidara.

"For starters, he is a lot faster and smarter than our information told us from before he left the Village Hidden in the Leafs. Also, it appears that he has gained control over the Nine Tail's power."

Pein continued eying Deidara. He did not show any fear. He always carried a calm, confident look about his face. "That does not change anything. He is still a boy. He can not defeat me because he does not know what pain is."

"That's not all. He should be dead right now, but a young women saved his life. I don't know how she did it, but I know for a fact that it wasn't a form of medical ninjutsu. This was a kekki genki."

This new information peeked Pein's interest. "Explain."

"She was a Hyuga, there's no doubt about that. He eyes were different though. Instead of the normal greyish blue, hers turned golden."

Itachi's interest was also gained by his comment. Perhaps this girl could... "What do you mean Deidara?"

"It's just as I told you. Her eyes turned a shiny golden color," Deidara replied, becoming annoyed that it seemed as no one believed what he said the first time.

"I need to tell someone this important new information. He will be very interested in the possibility of a new doujutsu," Pein calmly replied to Deidara. "Itachi, locate Kisame and inform him that there will be a new member added to your team and that your three will begin capturing the tailed beasts as soon as Deidara has his new appendages attached."

"As you wish," Itachi replied to Pein. Casually walking over to the mouth of the cavern, Itachi knew this was the time for him to go. For soo long he had protected the Leaf from the outside, now it was time he protected it from the inside, again.

"Enter"

Slowly walking into Tsunade's office, with a help from Shizune, the Hyuga Elder walked into the spacious room. Standing up, Tsunade slowly bowed to the elder woman, showing her respect. The woman showed the same respect by also bowing. "Please, have a seat."

Sitting down, Amami quietly responded, "Thank you, Lady Tsunade."

"Do you mind if my assistant stays and listens?"

"No, I don't mind. If you trust her, then I have no reason to not trust her," Amami answered.

Tsunade quickly sat down her in chair and asked, "I don't want to sound rude, but may we please get started. I would like to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

"I understand, Lady Tsunade. You care deeply for the safety and well being of your subordinates. I admire that, truly I do. I wish things were the same for my clan, like they used to be."

Leaning forward, resting her head on her folded hands, Tsunade asked, "What do you mean, like they used to be?"

"Only a handful of us know what I'm about to tell you, and there's even fewer who would openly talk about it. When the Hyuga clan first came into being, there was no main and branch families. We were one, we were whole. All of that changed though when we lost our most revered and respected leader. Fusa, believed to be the first Hyuga to obtain the Byakugan, was wise, beautiful, strong, kind and loving to everyone she meet. She did not rule the clan with an iron fist, like it is done today. Instead, she ruled with her compassion. She knew that when someone used force to try and control people, it really meant that that person was weak of heart. That they have turned a blind eye towards the power that love has."

Looking frustrated, Tsunade spoke up. "I'm sure this history lesson brings back fond memories for you, but my concern is for the well fare of Hinata. I need to know whats going on so I can..."

"I understand you are on a tight schedule and don't worry, I'm getting to the point of my story." Tsunade sighed deeply and leaned back into her chair. "Now to make a long story short, Fusa had more than just the ordinary Byakugan. It is believed that she was bestowed with a doujutsu far more powerful than any other."

Tsunade had a confused look on her face. "More powerful than any other? I thought that the Sharingan was more powerful than the Byakugan because of the advanced forms it can have."

"You are correct. The Sharingan is more powerful, until now. From what you have told me, it is my opinion that Hinata may have been gifted with the same powers as our first clan leader."

"And if I may, what was this power of Fusa's called," Tsunade asked.

"It is only written in one document, the last page of Fusa's personal diary. It is called...Izanami."

A few days pass by in the village with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. Everywhere you looked, life was normal for the villagers and the ninja alike. Both hurried around with their daily activities. Some even found the time to mingle with each other and catch up. ""Now Hinata, don't forget to tell Naruto about us hanging out over the weekend when you get back from your mission."

"I know Ino. He needs to get out of his apartment more. It seems the only time he gets out is when we..." Hinata abruptly stopped what she was saying. Her cheeks became a light shade of red due to nervousness. She had never told anyone that Naruto and her were 'seeing' each other and was very scared if her father found out.

"Oh come on now Hinata, it's not that big of a secret. We all know about you and Naruto being a couple, so don't try to hide it," Ino commented, grinning mischievously at Hinata.

"How did you guys find out?" Hinata nervously asked her friend.

"It was fairly obvious Hinata. When you two go walking around town holding hands and do nothing but train together in your off time. It's perfectly natural that we would assume your two are going out. I mean, that's what me and Choji did till we got comfortable with the idea of everyone else knowing we were."

With a confused look, Hinata asked, "What do you mean by 'train'?"

Ino, with the same confused look, answered, "You know..." After a few moments of silence, Ino spoke up. "Oh, you mean to tell me you two haven't gone that far yet?"

Hinata, now understanding what Ino meant, responded, "INO! How could you think a thing like that? Naruto and I aren't like that...at least not for a while."

Ino giggled at her friends response. "You don't know what your missing out on Hinata. Trust me when I say it, it's one the best experiences you will ever have."

Hinata was now wide eyed. She didn't know what to think. One of her good friends was basically telling her to go off and...have sex. That thought had never went through Hinata's mind. Maybe just touching, but not full on intercourse.

"I don't want to make you any more nervous today, so I'll get going. See ya Saturday Hinata." As Ino headed off towards her parents flower shop, Hinata was left standing there. Her mind was now swirling with all kinds of thoughts and images. Hinata quickly shook away those thoughts and brought herself back to reality. "I need to get ready," Hinata said, speaking to herself.

Naruto looked out of his bedroom door and into his living room. "Man, this place is a fucking mess. I have all this free time, and yet I can't bring myself to clean my own apartment."

Slowly rolling out of bed, Naruto put on some pants and a simple white tee shirt. Stumbling through his living room, Naruto mumbled to himself, "Ok, that's it. Even if it kills me, I'm going to clean this dam house." Looking out over his home, Naruto was startled by poundings on his door. "Really, who could this be?" Quickly walking to his door, Naruto opened it just in time to be hit in the face by a fast moving fist.

"Naruto, I didn't see you there. May I come in?"

Holding his jaw, Naruto answered, "Ya, come on in Tsunade." Naruto stepped aside to let the Hokage in. "Don't mind the mess, I have been really busy lately and haven't found the time to clean it."

Glancing over the mess that was his home, Tsunade couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him. "Well you need to make some time." Taking a deep breath, Tsunade whispered, "I can't believe I'm going to do this."

Naruto looked at Tsunade and asked, "Going to do what?"

"For starters, I am promoting you to the rank of Chunin. Since you were gone training, you didn't get to take part in the Chunin exams. I have deemed it that you have the necessary skills to advance without the need for the test."

Naruto was overjoyed to hear that he was promoted. He had waited a very long time to get one step closer to becoming Hokage. "Hell yes, about dam time," Naruto exclaimed.

Tsunade shook her head at Naruto's response. She expected he would act this way, but she still had something to say that may break his happy mood. "That's not all Naruto."

This completely captured his attention and stopped his giddiness. What else could there be? I hope it's something else good!

"Now that I have you staying within the village until further notice, you have a large amount of time on your hands. Since I am going to presume that you still wish to become the future Hokage, I am going to help you get a little closer to that goal." Tsunade gave Naruto a moment to absorb what she said before continuing. "And how I am going to help you do that, and I can't believe that I am, is by letting you teach a squad of Genin. I know that role is generally for Jonin, but I am making an exception to that rule. I personally believe that you should be promoted to the rank of Jonin, but since you are still young, I want you to get some more experience first."

Hiashi sat at his desk filling out paperwork when the was a knock at his door. "Enter."

Opening the sliding door and quickly closing it, a member of Hiashi's personal guard entered the room and quickly knelt down in front of him. "What are my orders, Lord Hiashi," the younger Hyuga respectfully asked.

"Your orders are to keep a close eye on my daughter Hinata. As of late, she has been see mingling with 'that boy' and I will not tolerate it any more. If you seem them together, report to me at once. That is all, leave."

Within an instant, the guard vanished from the room with blinding speed. Hiashi quietly returned to his papers, not giving a second thought about what he would do if his daughter was seen with 'him' again.