-Set at the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto comes back from training, only to find that Sakura has to leave on a mission of her own. In need of a team, he gets stuck with Hinata and Sai. How will this affect the whole series? And will Naruto ever love Hinata?

Finally! I got a new chapter up! Sorry it took so long to update, but I had to get my ideas organized. It's a bit shorter than I would have liked, but I think it's a bit longer than the last one. Sorry, but nevertheless . . . try to enjoy the chapter!

Episode Eleven

~Ino's sorrow, Jiraiya's mess-up~

There was a light tap on the window. Hinata looked up and gave a small smile when she saw the knucklehead ninja outside. She excused herself from the room and ran out the door. Everything had been so hectic. She hadn't seen Naruto in almost a week already—not including the battle only a day ago. And so, for a split second, Hinata forgot about her troubles and genuinely smiled but only just for a split second. The events that had just only occurred were still fresh in everyone's minds especially the funeral. It was hard to smile for long.

"How is she?"

Hinata just shook her head, her concern shown on her face. "They've already taken care of the ones that . . . that caused it, but Asuma's death . . . it hit her the hardest." She looked back into the building through the window and sighed. "Though she's accepted it already, it's still a harsh reality to face. It's going to take some time for her to get over it, but I think . . . I think she'll be fine. We just need to give her some time…" She returned her attention to her teammate. "Any word from Sakura-chan yet?"

"No, not yet," Naruto answered. "But knowing her, a word about Asuma's death might just send her back to Konoha especially since Ino's so down. I wouldn't be surprised if she's on her way home right now."

The Hyuga nodded her head. Maybe a surprise visit from her would do everyone some good. Asuma's funeral had been only a couple of days ago, and it had only been yesterday that they've taken care of the two Akatsuki members—Hidan and Kakuzu—who had murdered the man. But taking those two down did not bring any great happiness to anyone other than a small sense of security. They had lost a few shinobi, Asuma being one of those, and those lives could never be replaced.

"But still . . . if Sakura were to be at a faraway place from Konoha then it would cause her some trouble to rush back here," Hinata pointed out. The girl knew, from the letters her friend sent, that Sakura had been fairly busy lately. She didn't want Sakura to feel the need to rush things and come back home especially since she was with family.

"Yeah… I would know… She's always been like that…" Naruto said, looking up at the blue sky and the white bits of fluff in it. "But if we don't tell her about this, she'd have our heads—well, my head mostly. You know her temper. She'd want to know about this even if it means ruining her mood."

Hinata nodded her head.

"Hey, do you think you could maybe—I don't know…" He scratched the back of his head nervously. He didn't know if she'd turn him down just to stay and comfort Ino. "Would you be able to spare some time to train with me and Sai?"

Hinata almost did a double take. The Hyuga heiress so much wanted to say yes—she wanted to spend time with the team, with him—but Ino…

"Of course, she has time!" That loud and peppy voice gave them quite the surprise. And with a hand on Hinata's shoulder, Ino just gave the two a thumbs-up. "I was just going to close shop and see if Kurenai needed any help. She's pregnant, you know?"

"But Ino-chan…" She couldn't believe the face her friend was putting on. Just moments earlier, Ino had still been bawling her eyes out. Her eyes were still so red and puffy. Anyone could tell she had been crying terribly, despite that vivid smile plastered onto her face.

"Now, shoo, shoo!" the platinum blonde said, waving her hands around. Her voice was gentle and kind, but there seemed to be a darker tone underneath. "If you don't get going, I'll sue you for trespassing! Now go!" It took a while, but the Yamanaka was able to chase the two out of the vicinity of her flower shop. If they had actually gone training, she couldn't say.

She rubbed her aching temples and, suddenly, the memories of a pink-haired medic with a large forehead flooded her mind. She really did miss her best friend, the only one who could really comfort her.

"Troublesome woman. Can't there be a minute that you aren't crying?"

Ino didn't realize that her tears were again flowing down her face.

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"Why was she crying so much?" Sai asked, dodging a kick from the Hyuga heiress. "It's been a few days since her sensei's funeral." He aimed a few punches. "And we've already caught the ones who killed him." But his fists were met with air as Hinata dodged. "Why is she still so sad?"

"Be a little bit more considerate, would ya?" Naruto almost yelled as he socked the boy.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata scolded the blonde before going over to Sai to make sure he was alright.

"What did I say wrong?" the ANBU Root member asked, rubbing his now bruising cheek. He really didn't see why his words were "inconsiderate," as Naruto put it. He was only asking an innocent question, in his opinion.

Hinata shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with . . . with asking questions like that, Sai… But don't say something like that in front of Ino-chan, okay? You're right in that it's been a while since . . . since…" She sighed as she found out she couldn't bring herself to even speak about it, about Asuma's death. "People need time for the reality to sink in, and Ino . . . she has just started to mourn. With something like this, we can't rush her or anyone for that matter."

"I know that, but I still don't understand it…" Sai said. "She has so many people comforting her and seeing if she's alright. Why does it seem like she . . ."—He struggled to find the correct words—"like she's not feeling better? Like she's not getting any better at all?"

"Gee, we can only do so much, you know?" Naruto sneered which got him a slight glare from Hinata, her face covered with initial shock. Why was he being so rude to Sai? She had thought their relationship had gotten better over the past few months. It would appear she was wrong, however.

"Sai, when people find themselves in Ino's situation, it is going to take some time for them to heal those wounds. Everyone is different, and so everyone deals with it a bit differently. For Ino, it'll take a bit longer than the time she's had. Even with . . . with everyone and so many people around her, trying to help her, it's still going to take a while until she's fully recovered from the shock of it all. She might not even recover completely. All we can really do is give her the time she needs."

Sai sat on the grassy ground for a while. His silence told his teammates that he was thinking over what he had been told. During the months that followed their failed attempt to bring back Sasuke, he had been trying his best to get along better with everyone which meant that he had been trying to understand emotions and bonds more. It was a slow and tedious process, but Hinata and Naruto had enjoyed sorting him out, trying to get him to be more thoughtful and more understanding to people's moods and actions.

"So . . . it won't matter who's comforting her?" he asked after a while, his elbow propped up on his knee and his hand on his chin in a thinking position. "She'll still be so sad?"

Hinata didn't want to answer that question. She didn't want to think of such a possibility, the probability that Ino would feel so isolated and alone during her time of grieve and lament.

"What are you think about now, Sai?" Naruto gave him a questioning look, one that he usually gave when the boy was going to say something wrong.

"It's just a thought… But what if Haruno Sakura was to come back?" he asked. He still hadn't told his teammates about what went down at Orochimaru's hideout between him and Sakura. For some reason, he couldn't find the courage to tell them that small little fact. And he kept quiet, not because of devotion to the medic but loyalty and friendship to Naruto and Hinata. He did not want them to feel betrayed like they had when Sasuke almost tried to kill them. Plus, the threat she had given him would most likely be carried out if he let out her secret since telling those two the truth would hurt them. (And he had an inkling of an idea what she'd do after seeing Tsunade almost strangle Naruto for calling her old. In the back of his mind, he knew he was a bit afraid of what Sakura could do to him.)

"Would Ino feel better after seeing her?" he continued. "I mean, I heard that the two had been the closest of friends before Sakura-san's departure. Would her return help Ino recover faster?"

Again, Hinata didn't answer. She would most certainly hope that Sakura's homecoming would cheer Ino up, but she wasn't quite sure about it too much. After all, it would be uncertain the amount of time Sakura could stay even if she did come back. Her sudden and unwanted departure could break Ino again without even meaning to. And that was certainly not what Hinata wanted.

It was then that a laugh came from Naruto. "Sai," he asked, still gawking. "You don't have feelings for Ino, do you?"

"What's so funny about that?" Sai asked, a grimace on his face. He really didn't understand. "I thought you and Hinata told me that having concern for your comrades was a good thing."

Hinata just shook her head, a small smile colored her face. "Sai, what Naruto meant was… Hm…" She wondered how she could explain it without confusing him even more. "Well, having feelings doesn't always mean to be considerate. The phrase could also be used as—"

"Sai has a crush on Ino!" Naruto could barely contain his laughter. "Sai and Ino sitting in a tree—"

"We're not sitting in a tree," Sai pointed out, still very much oblivious. "And she's not even here."

Of course, at that statement, Naruto's stomach began to hurt as his laughter grew so loud that he fell to the floor.

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Tsunade sighed, closing the report. Really? She couldn't help but wonder. Of all times, something like this pops up… She rubbed her aching temple. She really needed some sake right now.

"Tsunade, this cannot wait." Jiraiya explained. "Since there's the possibility of war—"

"Yes, I know!" the ember-eyed woman snapped. "Do not rush me while I'm trying to think!"

If Jiraiya had not been use to Tsunade's irate tone, he would have winced, and the worry in the woman's voice would have gone unheard. But Jiraiya knew her—after all, she had been his teammate. He knew when she was stressed out and when she was as worried as anyone else would have been in her situation. And he also knew that she was trying to suppress these feelings. Why? You may ask. Well, the answer was simple. She was Hokage, the person whom everyone looked to stay strong and protect the village. If she was a nervous wreck, what would happen to the village? But Jiraiya only had the urge to shake his head at this. After all, the woman was only human. And humans needed to show their emotions most of the time.

"You know, you don't have to act so strong." he told her. "If you're worried, instead of pushing me away, confide in me with your worries. I'll always be here to listen to them, whether or not I can help."

Her eyes softened, and a smile almost tugged her lips. Almost. "Thanks," she said, the littlest hint of a smile disappeared. The possibility of war was too grave. She could not take it easy. "How's Sakura?" But nevertheless, she wanted off of the topic.

It was Jiraiya's turn to tense. He had not wanted to get on that subject this time around.

One of Tsunade's eyebrows rose. "Well? Anything to report?" she asked, a bit frustrated by the man's reluctance to answer her question. "How is she? She hasn't written to me in a while." Her eyes widened with worry then, and she stood from her seat, her hands slammed on her desk. "Did something happen to her?" she almost yelled the question, her voice rising up two octaves.

"What? NO!" Jiraiya almost screamed the answer out. "Of course not! I wouldn't dare let anything happen to your apprentice! I wouldn't allow it! She's fine! Perfectly fine! Safe as can be! Yep, she's perfectly and utterly safe! Why would you think something bad has happened? She's FINE!"

Tsunade only stared at the old man. She wasn't dumb. She had seen the way Jiraiya tensed. Something was up. Her suspicions were only confirmed when the man started sweating like crazy and spitting out whatever he said as if he were on fire.

"Jiraiya…" she said, her tone dark. If anything had happened to Sakura, she'd—

"Look," the male Sannin started again. He took a breath to calm himself. "Sakura has been doing well, but she hasn't been able to find a criminal from the bingo book for a while already. She's a bit . . . err, disappointed with herself. That's all. I don't know why I reacted the way I did to your question—perhaps I've really grown to fear you and your monstrous strength." He chuckled a bit, scratching his head. "Anyway, I guess I was just a bit afraid of your reaction. After all, you'd probably kill me if Sakura just cries once."

Tsunade held her stare—her eyes now held a bit of disbelief in them. When her butt met with the soft cushion of her chair, she still didn't take her eyes off of her old teammate, almost as if she were watching him for any sudden movements that would give away whatever he was hiding. And when she opened her mouth to say something, Jiraiya could only brace himself for the worst.

"Well, you got that right."

"Yes, I know, and I'm—wait," Jiraiya stopped in mid-apology and could only stare back at the woman with wide unbelieving dinner plates. "Come again?"

"If Sakura were suffering, of course, naturally, I'd blame you." the Hokage explained. "It's in my nature, after all. I trained her, so I've become quite close with her. I was horribly shocked when she was made hunter-nin, and I'm still in shock, but I'm coping with it better each day, though it's still hard to do so. However, I count on you to give me weekly or even daily reports on her so that I know she's okay and so that I know I haven't failed her as a mentor. I know I take a lot of my anger out on you, but I didn't realize I could actually strike so much fear into your heart as to cause you to hide even the littlest bit of information from me. For that, I am sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem, Tsunade." Again, the old man scratched his head, chuckling slightly. His laughter almost sounded forced, and that didn't escape Tsunade's ears. "I overreacted. No biggie."

The Hokage gave a small smile. "That's good to hear. So anyway…" she sighed, placing her hand on top of the report she had just recently read. "Since Sakura has no leads on any criminals and since she has nothing to do, I'd like you to pass along the message that it'd be nice if she could check this little problem out for us."

"Oh, that? Well, erm… I'll see what I can do, but she . . . she's a bit further away from that place, and it might prove to be a small problem… But um . . . Oh! Would you look at the time?" he asked, changing the subject a bit too quickly. "I really must get going—gots lots of research to do, you know?—but I'll pass along your message the next time I see her! Ja ne!"

"Oh, wait! Also tell her to write to me soon!" Tsunade yelled after him as he jumped out of the window.

When he landed on a nearby rooftop, he turned back to see the Hokage looking at the report again. She looked a bit grumpy—whether it was because of his sudden departure or because of her soon-coming migraine, he didn't know. Well, at least, she doesn't know yet… He gave out an exasperated sigh. Sakura, you sure really are something… How you wind up in Oto as an "honored guest," I'll never know… But Tsunade's definitely not hearing it from me. That's for sure…

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As Tsunade flipped through the pages in the report, she skimmed over its details. She couldn't really concentrate on that right now, even though it should've held the most priority.

"He's sure acting strange today, Lady Tsunade," Shizune echoed her thoughts. The dark-haired woman watched as Jiraiya hopped out of sight.

"Yes, he is…" the Slug Sannin said, heaving a bit. "Something must have gone wrong with Sakura's mission."

"Then should I—"

The Hokage shook her head. "No, I don't think sending your squad is necessary. If the problem was that big then Jiraiya would have spoken up. I believe it's something smaller but still wearisome… It must be something he believes Sakura can handle by herself, something that might become even more complicated if I were to send more people to resolve it."

"I understand, Lady Tsunade, but still…" Shizune turned her head back to looking out the window. "I wonder what's going on… I'm a bit worried."

"As am I. But that's not the priority right now." The blonde slammed her fist onto the report. "This is."

"Well, as I said before, my squad has nothing to do right now, so…"

Tsunade thought about it for a moment. The offer was tempting, especially with her head hurting so, but the information was taxing. The most random of shinobi disappearing at the most random of times, the officials and heads of clans with no leads whatsoever, and the culprit still at large…

"Get Team Kakashi and send for Shikamaru and his team."

"But…" Shizune was hesitant to argue. However, she knew the procedures. "Shikamaru's team has just lost their former sensei. The given time of mourning—"

"Yes, I know, but that'll have to be put off for a while." the Hokage said. "Right now, Kiri is angry with us since it is their shinobi who have gone missing and it is near our borders that this is happening. War is a very sure possibility right now. I want to give them all the time they need, but I cannot risk war at this moment. I need their teams for this."

"Understood." And with that, Shizune ran off to gather the teams.

Rubbing her forehead, Tsunade could only sigh. I'm sorry, Sakura… Your best friend is suffering so much right now, but I can't afford to give her the time to recover… Forgive me, Ino…

Ja ne = see you soon; later

Okay, so yeah, it's real stupid, I think. But that's the best I could come up with. Sorry… Again, the next chapter won't come out soon because Heart Under Blade has a bit more complicated plot to it, so I'll have to work on that a bit more before this since that one is a bit behind in plot. But to pass the time, read my new oneshots and fanfics! They all contain NaruHina, no matter what the main couple is! Thank you and see you next time!