Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto, nor to I claim to. Masashi Kishimoto gets all the credit for inventing all the characters in the manga and the anime. However, original characters Ayame and Kisume are completely mine. Enjoy the story!

Chapter 10; Stop, Drop, Truth

Sakura sat awake, watching Hinata sleep restlessly. From what Naruto had told her, there was more to the Hyuuga than she was letting on. The medic sighed faintly. Her old teammate was worried, she could tell. And now that Sakura was paying attention to Hinata, she was too. The dark-haired woman was displaying signs, however well hidden, of being in a great deal of pain. The source of the pain was uncertain, but still…. The pink-haired shinobi sighed again.

How was she supposed to deal with this? Naruto had confided in her, but she wasn't sure if that was just out of necessity or friendship. Things were so complicated, and her old teammate had changed so much.

"Father… I'm sorry…" Hinata mumbled, her face creased in pain as she rolled over again. Sakura couldn't help but wonder what went on behind those silvery eyes. They had become good friends after Naruto's departure, but training and family business had kept the Hyuuga from really hanging out like Sakura did with the others. The pink-haired medic bit her lip. From what she knew about Hinata, her family didn't get along well with her, though the reasons behind it were still a mystery. Could it be that something had happened to keep her away from Naruto? No, she'd always been willing to do practically anything for the blonde.

"What happened to you, Hinata?" Sakura's whisper fell on nothing but the ears of her sleeping companions. There was no sentry tonight, and there wouldn't be until the group left Fire Country lands. With her head in a muddle, and unsure what to think about anything, Sakura curled up in her bedroll and tried to sleep.

Naruto was up in a tree. Perched on a narrow, sturdy branch high above the rest of the group, the blonde stared at the half-moon, trying to figure everything out. He really wasn't making much progress. He was just as confused now as he had been yesterday, and the day before, and twice as worried. Why would Hinata hide something? Again and again, he came to the conclusion that he had done something wrong. But where was the use in worrying about it? There was nothing he could do but wait. Unhappy and rather unsatisfied, Naruto failed to sleep that night. Instead, he watched Hinata as she tossed and turned.

Hinata, poor girl, was only able to sleep on the merit that she had pushed herself to her limit. Her ribs sent sharp needles of pain through her lungs with every breath, and every beat of her strained heart ached dully. But her body was exhausted, and while the pain wouldn't let her rest, her body demanded sleep. Her dreams were full of the disappointed faces of friends and family, telling her that she was doing the wrong thing, that she should give up, that she was unsuited to deal with this. Through the night, she slept restlessly, turning over and over and muttering apologies. Hinata rose before the sun, and was awake and waiting as the others began to do the same.

As they had the previous day, the young shinobi went as fast as they knew they were able to travel all day, and though she tried hard, Hinata found herself falling to the back of the group. The red-haired Kisume fell back from the front and traveled beside the girl that she knew was injured.

"W-why are you here?" Hinata glanced at Kisume. Out of her formal armor, the taller Hyuuga looked… out of place.

"Hokage-sama called my brother and I into service again," the redhead replied lightly, a smile touching her lips. "Hiashi-sama insisted that at least one of us stay behind, so I came alone." There was a pause as Hinata thought about this. It seemed like the siblings were constantly being separated. This must be hard for them, never knowing when one was going to live or the other die. The dark-haired woman's breath was coming in rasps, but she was good at hiding it. Making another leap for the next branch, Hinata faltered. Landing awkwardly, she slipped, and almost fell. Kisume caught her arm and hauled her up, not stopping or crying out.

"Watch your step, Hinata-hime." A lightly given warning, but it was hiding a bigger statement. 'I will be here to make sure you follow my advice.'

"It's not my t-title anymore," Hinata protested hollowly. Kisume flashed her a smile, short red hair flashing in the sunlight.

"You're welcome."

The high, warm sun shone down on the Kazekage as he stood on the balcony, outside the dark office. It was cooler inside, but his eyes were fixed on the crevasse in the distant cliff-face, were the group from Konohagakure would be arriving any day now.

"Kazekage-sama, the note said they would not arrive until this evening at the earliest." The tired voice of the secretary echoed faintly from inside the empty room. Reluctantly, the man turned away from the view and moved back inside. His dark-ringed blue eyes found the woman sitting at the desk, and he smiled. Gaara had not forgotten what the note said. He was a tall man, his short red hair darker now than it had been. Since the incident with the Akatsuki, when he had almost lost his Shukaku, he had been rather wary of using his power. The Akatsuki had been crushed years ago, but it was still a lurking worry in his mind. In his dark red and black clothes, Gaara appeared even more expressionless than normal, his surprisingly light eyes pensive. He glanced through the door into the dim office. A small falcon, with the green band of Konoha on its left wing, was perched by the window, waiting patiently for a correspondence to take back to its home.

"I know what the note said, Mitsuki," he shrugged faintly, hooking a thumb into the broad strap that held his old sand gourd to his back, "I am merely eager for them to arrive."

To the secretary, Gaara looked unbelievably calm. Though she had been working for the Kazekage for the past two years, she had yet to seem him express so much as a faint unhappiness. She had seen him annoyed, oh, yes. Irritated, definitely. But never had Mitsuki seen her boss appear uncertain or anxious. And now, with a vast and dangerous enemy to the north, she could imagine that Gaara was feeling rather pressed, and maybe even a little scared. But if he did feel that way, he never showed it.

"Gaara," Kankuro dropped onto the balcony outside with such abruptness, that Mitsuki stifled a cry of alarm.

"We need to talk to you," finished Tamari, sliding the door open from the hall. Mitsuki almost upset her chair, standing so suddenly that she tripped over her own feet and sat down again. Gaara sent her a faintly amused look, and she flushed hotly under his gaze. Poor girl, she had always been a bit jumpy….

"Go ahead. Some news from the scouts?" Neither of the Kazekage's siblings looked at all surprised that he had predicted their reasons for wanting to speak to him. In unison, they nodded. Kankuro was now in charge of the ninja working within Sunagakure itself, and Tamari had just returned from a recon mission on the borders. Gaara glanced at Mitsuki meaningfully, and immediately the secretary took up a pad of paper and a pen. She was old-fashioned, but very efficient.

"There's been an attack on some of the far northern villages," started Tamari, her dark eyes expressionless, "and many of the civilians are scared. It seems that there's a small force, but we're unclear of their numbers." Gaara nodded slightly, his gaze distant.

"Damage report?" It was a question, but at the same time it was an order. It was unclear how he managed to do it, but Tamari nodded, proffering a compact sheaf of papers. When he waved them away, the blonde set them on Mitsuki's desk.

"Two villages are completely destroyed, and the refugees are taking temporary residence in the sister-town near the northern river." A faint anger crept into Tamari's voice as she spoke. "As far as we can tell, the casualties are minimal, and the aim is to scare." There was a pause and the woman coughed slightly, obviously unhappy with the whole thing.

"And I assume that they are succeeding. Culprits?" Gaara's tone was fairly flat, his expression thoughtful as he spoke.

"Rock ninja, as far as we can tell." Kankuro cut in, his expression far more unhappy than either of his siblings.

"And they brought friends." Gaara glanced at his elder brother, but waited for an explanation. "It seems like these ninja are carrying some kind of disease. People are so terrified of it that I can't figure out what the symptoms are." Kankuro snorted in disgust, though not for the people that were scared.

"Can you elaborate at all?" The Kazekage frowned faintly. This new development was something that he hadn't expected.

"The only thing I can get clear from them are two statements. One is that the illness 'isn't natural' and the other is that 'you can't tell until it's too late.' These people are scared witless." Apparently Tamari had brought a couple of the refugees home with her. Gaara nodded. This would make the visit from Konoha very welcome indeed, though infinitely more complicated.

"Figure out what you can," Gaara ordered, his eyes flashing slightly in the afternoon light, "and report to me as soon as you find anything. I need to have this sorted through by tomorrow."

"Hai!" The two ninja chorused and disappeared to obey his orders. The red-haired man sighed faintly and gazed at the wall for a minute. This would make things a little less clear-cut, but at least he had a direction. After a moment of thought, he ordered Mistuki to take down a note and send it to Konohagakure. Tsunade would be interested in this "disease."

It wasn't until midmorning of the third day that the thirteen young shinobi saw the great cliff, the huge stone wall that protected Sunagakure. Traveling parallel to the sheer rock face, the group searched for the gap in the thing that would let them through. By this time, Hinata was running on pure determination. They were back on the ground now, so it was easy enough to fool the others into thinking she was fine. As long as she didn't start tripping over her own feet….

Kisume watched the one-time Hyuuga heir, her silver eyes narrowed in thought. She looked alright, and her smile seemed genuine enough… but how could the girl be 'alright' after those injuries? And only a week ago? Neji had told her to simply let Hinata do what she felt she needed to and leave her alone. But it seemed so wrong when it was someone as important as the clan-head's firstborn. Not that the clan-head would care very much if Hinata over-exerted herself, still; Kisume watched silently. Ayame, her only present teammate, had noticed her worry, but knew better than to ask. This was Kisume's problem to solve, as far as Ayame knew.

Naruto had taken to watching as well. If he offered his companionship, or (Kami forbid) his help, then Hinata would go scarlet in the face and start stammering so badly it was hard to understand what she was saying. Either he was imagining things, or Hinata was scared. Was she scared of him? The blonde watched, his blue eyes full of concern. She had hardly eaten at all and for some reason, the woman seemed distant, out of reach. Like her mind was traveling elsewhere when she wasn't actively answering someone's question.

"Hey, Naruto!" It was Ino again. She had taken to talking to him on a regular basis recently, and he was grateful for it.

"Yeah?" The blonde woman was grinning at him happily, and he could only wonder why she was so cheerful all the time, though he had once been infamous for the same thing.

"You haven't seen the Kazekage in the long time, right?" her tone was eager, as though there were nothing more interesting than his life.

"No, I guess I haven't." He and Gaara had become good friends, it would be good to see him again.

"Y'know he asks Hokage-sama about you in his notes? I heard it from a friend of mine that…" Naruto didn't hear the rest of Ino's chatter, lost in thought. Gaara had been asking about him? That was interesting. He wondered briefly what it was that the Kazekage had wanted.

"Kazekage-sama, the Konoha shinobi have arrived," the voice of Mitsuki broke through Gaara's thoughts, and he turned with a faint smile.

"Did you get a count?" His voice was expressive only as far as showing he was interested. Beyond that, the tone and inflection were practically nonexistent. Mitsuki nodded, consulting a list in her hand.

"Thirteen of them. All young." The secretary didn't see her leader's reaction, she was too busy flipping pages. "They entered the village borders an hour ago. They should be arriving any minute." Gaara looked thoughtful, his lips pursed slightly. Thirteen? An unusual number…. A knock on the door and the announcement that the Konoha Shinobi awaited him in the conference room made the Kazekage shake off his moment of thought. Gesturing at Mitsuki to stay, the red-haired man moved into the hall and up the stairs to the conference room.

In the airy room, most of the ninja were clustered by the door, talking in light voices. Naruto was by the window, and apart from the group, Neji and Kisume leaned against the wall, observing silently. Hinata was on the outside of the little group, staring blankly at the wall, as though deep in thought. When Gaara entered, the cluster broke up and everyone bowed a little to the "foreign leader." The thick silence was only momentary, for as soon as Gaara spotted Naruto, a smile interrupted the calm of his impassive face.

"Long time no see, Uzumaki-san." Naruto looked around, his expression surprised. But that quickly changed to a huge grin when he saw Gaara. Moving across the room, the two men embraced, then stepped apart to size each other up.

"Well, I have to say the authority fits you." Naruto commented, still grinning. Gaara chuckled.

"More than just authority, friend." With that cryptic remark, the redhead turned away from his old friend, his expression becoming grim. "I assume you know why you are here." Silent nods greeted his statement, and the mood turned solemn. Gaara nodded slightly. This was what he wanted to see. They were ready. Slowly, he began to explain what had happened the previous day, the state of affairs in the Rock Country, and where Wind Country stood in all of it.

As the Kazekage started to instruct them on where to find the information that they would want, Hinata found herself unable to focus on his words.

"The highest concentration of ninja likely to support your cause will be…" The dark-haired woman struggled to listen, but there was a throbbing in her chest that was spreading, spreading… making it hard to pay attention.

"Whatever you do, stay away from the ninja bearing the symbol of…" Hinata swayed slightly. The throbbing was going from distracting to painful. The source of it was easily located- her heart. With each beat, it seemed to push all other sensations away from her mind.

"You will need to travel incognito. Pretending you know nothing will set off alarms. I suggest…" Her knees felt weak, like someone had suddenly drained the strength from them. The sense of urgency that had kept her going was gone, her determination fading. But she had to stay strong! Hinata gritted her teeth and blinked hard, trying to focus. She had to-

Naruto let out a strangled noise, halfway between a growl and a bark, and lunged across the room. Out of the group, he had been the only one to notice. Gaara looked at him strangely, and the rest of the Konoha shinobi glanced at him, their expressions varying from blank to confused. But as he neared Hinata, who was still in the process of collapsing, they all realized what he was so upset about. Naruto himself had only just glanced at Hinata in time to see her eyes roll up into her head and close. Now as he caught her, he felt his own knees give under the abrupt addition of roughly 135 lbs of muscle and bone. A loud thud echoed in floor below as Naruto and Hinata hit the ground. She was unconscious, her breathing shallow and her face flushed, and he was trying to figure out what had happened.

PS

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I really am sorry that I'm late. I didn't even think about writing the "next chapter" (this one) until Saturday was halfway over, and then I panicked and wrote as fast as I could. After tweaking it a little bit, here's your result! It's a little rough, and critique is more than welcome. As of yet, I have no beta reader, so if you're interested, email me! .com. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Comin' up next weekend!

PPS

If any of you read the phrase "the high, warm sun shone down on the Kazekage" and expected to read the words "Cluny the Scourge," then I laugh in your face! For those of you that didn't think that, you need to read Redwall, by Brian Jacques. It's an amazing book!