Chapter 14

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the X-Men

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, the chapters of Magik just keep coming to me! I should have a chapter of Lunar Eclipse out soon as I'm working on it now. Here's chapter 14:

Last Time:

"Naruto-kun gives wonderful massages Hinata-chan." said Illyana dreamily. "You should let him pamper you a bit. You've had a long day."

Soon, Naruto was giving Hinata an erotic massage and she found herself melting into goo at his magical touch. She finally groaned out, "Make love to me Naruto-kun." Naruto soon entered her slowly and gently brought her to her climax. Hinata was in heaven. Naruto made love to her tenderly twice more before she cuddled up smiling in his arms. All the stress from the day had melted away and Hinata felt nothing but he warmth of the afterglow before she gently fell asleep. Illyana joined them in bed an hour later and cuddled into Naruto's other side in bliss. Naruto had left a clone with her to take care of her needs and the three lovers slept happily through the night….

The Road between the Fire Capital and Konoha

It was early Friday morning. An ornate carriage was travelling at a sedate pace towards Konoha. It had two Fire Country samurai guarding it as they travelled along.

"Thank you again for letting me ride in your carriage back to Konoha Hiashi-sama." said Tuechi gratefully.

Hiashi nodded. "It is not a problem Teuchi-san. We were both headed the same way and there was room for another person aside of myself. Besides, I might as well get my money's worth out of hiring this carriage. Ordinarily I would travel as a ninja but the gifts I received couldn't be carried without horses."

"Well I personally can't wait to get back to Kohoha." said Teuchi. "I have some new ideas for recipes I want to try out. I had an idea for Wasabi flavored ramen but I canned the idea. It simply wasn't pleasing to the pallet."

"Wasabi flavored? I have to admit that's original." said Hiashi.

"Well, it won't ever hit the streets until I get it right." replied Tuechi. "I had to hire these two bumbling idiots Matsu and Nishi to run the stand during my absence and I hope they haven't burned the stand down. My daughter Ayame is on a trip but I had to attend this chef's convention in the Fire Capitol so I reluctantly left things in their hands."

"I sympathize." said Hiashi. "I don't like leaving things in the hands of others either. I left the Hyūga Elders in charge for the week but they often think of themselves first and the clan later. I hope they haven't cause too many headaches for me."

"Perhaps the gods will favor us and no disasters will have occurred in our absence." chuckled Tuechi.

"Let us hope so." agreed Hiashi with a smirk.

Suddenly the carriage was rocked by an explosion that sent it flying and Hiashi and Teuchi knew no more….

Naruto and Illyana's apartment

It was early and Naruto was already up at the coffee table. He'd awakened and couldn't get back to sleep because the copies of the caged bird seal were sitting on his table waiting to be deciphered. Creating a shadow clone, he body switched with it so he wouldn't disturb his himes. Truthfully he would rather have laid in bed and basked in their warmth but he couldn't get that damned caged bird seal out of his mind. He lightly kissed Hinata and Illyana's foreheads before he threw on some clothes and went to work on the caged bird seal.

It was a few hours later that Hinata and Illyana crawled out of bed and found Naruto furiously going through his fuinjutsu books. There were parchments all over the coffee table and Naruto's sealing supplies were out along with several copies of the caged bird seal he'd done himself. Looking at Naruto's face Hinata and Illyana could tell he was angry about something. "Naruto-kun…? Is everything okay?" asked Hinata worriedly.

Naruto turned to his girlfriends and smiled softly. "Good morning my himes. Don't you worry Hinata-chan; I've just about got it."

Illyana went into the kitchen and grabbed a banana. "When did you get up Naruto-kun? You've obviously been at this for a while."

"I got up at four thirty." answered Naruto. The girls raised their eyebrows. "I only briefly looked over the caged bird seal's application instructions last night and- Ahhh, here it is." he said as he turned to a particular page in a big leather bound fuinjutsu book.

"Here what is Naruto-kun? Did you figure out a way to remove the caged bird seal?" asked Hinata excitedly.

Naruto scratched his neck. "I did that hours ago Hinata-chan. With the application instructions for the seal that was a cinch. What I've been trying to solve is riddle of the seal's method of construction."

"If you can remove the seal then why bother with that?" asked Illyana puzzled as she threw away the banana peel.

Naruto frowned. "It's because the caged bird seal is a bastardized, mangled form of an Uzumaki seal. This book on Uzumaki fuinjutsu has the contract signed by the Uzumaki and the Hyūga Clan heads from back before Konoha was founded for a protection seal for the byakugan."

Hinata looked shocked. "You mean the Uzumakis created the caged bird seal?"

Naruto shook his head. "No; and that's one of the reasons I'm so angry. Come over to the table and let me show you." The girls sat down on either side of Naruto and he showed them the Uzumaki seal to protect the byakugan. He applied it deftly and when the ink dried he said "fuin" that made it shrink to a hardly noticeable dot. "This is the seal the Uzumaki seal master's made to protect the byakugan. It's small and barely noticeable and was usually put at the back of the neck. If you had this seal applied to you there would be a small tingle when it was applied."

Setting that paper aside he said, "This is the caged bird seal." He started applying it to the paper and said, "Ninety five percent of this seal is identical to the Uzumaki seal. The Hyūgas altered the seal and added a control/slave seal to it." He added the familiar swastika like marks that Hinata hated so. "Now watch; fuin!" The seal smoked and seemed to burn itself into the paper. "Whatever monster bastardized the Uzumaki seal made it so when it was applied it would feel like a branding iron. What's just as bad is the seal was moved to the forehead where it would not only cause more pain but it would mark the wearer for life."

Hinata teared up thinking of the pain her family members must have suffered through. "Is there any way to remove it?" she asked.

Naruto patted her hand and said, "Watch this." He picked up the caged bird seal he'd just made and painted lines around the edges with an Uzumaki swirl in the middle. "Unseal!" he said as he channeled chakra. The swirl seal and the caged bird seal vanished in an instant. "Now that caged bird seal is no more." he said with a tone of satisfaction in his voice.

Seeing the unblemished paper; Hinata's eyes got huge and then she almost tackled Naruto in a hug and showered him with kisses. "You did it Naruto-kun! You've made me so happy!"

Naruto returned her hug and held her close. He squeezed her gently and said, "I told you I'd make it right Hinata-chan. You know I always keep my promises. We need to try the counterseal on someone."

"We will try it on Neji-niisan." said Hinata. "I'm sure he'd be eager to try and he's suffered so much from it. That's how he got so fixated on fate to begin with. Thank the gods you beat that out of him Naruto-kun."

"What's all this about fate and Neji?" asked Illyana.

"It's a long story but after I beat the crap out of Neji during the chunin exams he changed his dour outlook on life." said Naruto. "I need to go down to the Hyūga compound and remove the seal from Neji and put on a real protection seal."

"Hold on Naruto-kun." said Illyana. "Remove those caged bird seals from the branch family for free but get the Elders to sign a new contract for the protection seal. The way I see it they owe the Uzumakis a fortune in back pay plus interest for illegal use of the protection seal according to this contract. Those new seals ought to be worth at least a C-rank mission each. Not to mention the Hyūga clan certainly isn't hurting for money."

"May I see the contract?" asked Hinata. Illyana handed over the book. Scanning it over; Hinata said, "Illyana-chan is absolutely right. I will have to go to the Hyūga archives and obtain the Hyūga copy of this contract. I don't want to go back to the compound so soon but I'm the only one with access aside of the elders. I want this ready to present to Otou-sama when he returns."

-Location unknown-

Teuchi and Hiashi were rudely awakened by slaps in the face. They found that they were both tied to chairs and had chakra suppressors on them. A greasy mean came up to the chef and said, "Are you Teuchi-sama?"

The ramen chef was frightened for his life but said, "I am sir. What do you want from us?"

"Our boss wants to know the secret of your Wasabi Ramen. It's the most potent hallucinogenic in the elemental countries right now and there are already countless of addicts in Fire Country."

"What?" yelled Hiashi. "Just who do you people think you're dealing with? I'm-"

"Shut up white eyes!" said the greasy man. "We know you're just a hired bodyguard for Teuchi-sama here. Know your place. If all those expensive gifts and those samurai guards around Teuchi-sama's carriage say anything, I'll bet the Fire Daimyō already is addicted to the stuff you put in that ramen and is paying you a fortune for it." At the looks of total shock etched on Hiashi and Teuchi's faces the man assumed he was right. "The boss wants a cut of the business you see. He's not an unreasonable guy. You keep making that Wasabi ramen's 'special ingredient' and the boss will be your 'distributor', see?"

"But the Wasabi ramen isn't ready to market yet, I haven't perfected the recipe!" said Teuchi.

The man's features seemed to morph into an addict needing a fix. "You mean there's a MORE potent version you haven't marketed yet?" he asked with bleary eyes.

"Ummm….yes?" squeaked Teuchi.

"I have to tell the boss!" said the greasy man frantically as he practically ran from the room. They saw two guards lock the doors behind him as the man scurried out.

"What the hell is going on Hiashi-sama?" whispered the sweating Teuchi.

Hiashi was disgruntled at playing second fiddle to a ramen chef but said. "We're going to have to play it by ear. For now just call me Hiashi-san and I'll refer to you as Teuchi-sama. We have to figure out where the hell we are and how we can escape."

"What about the Wasabi ramen recipe?" asked the panicking chef.

"If they ask tell them all your notes for the 'secret ingredient' are back in Konoha and you need to go back there to perfect the recipe." said Hiashi.

Teuchi was really sweating now. "But I don't have any idea what the 'secret ingredient' even is. What if they ask for it?"

"They don't know the secret ingredient either Teuchi so tell them you can't make it without going to Konoha where all your notes and supplies are." explained Hiashi.

Teuchi nodded wearily and wondered if he'd see his beloved daughter again. Then another thought came to mind. 'Those idiotic morons Matsu and Nishi must be behind this! I just know it!'

Konoha, Ichiraku's Ramen

Simultaneously, Nishi sneezed in the ramen batch he was cooking and Matsu sneezed dropping several bowls and shattering them. Both of them figured what the customers didn't know wouldn't hurt them. (The boss wasn't around anyway). The bell at the front of the stall rang and Matsu saw the large form of Choji Akimichi sitting there in a zombie like state. Matsu came up and said, "Good morning Choji, what will you have this morning?"

Choji's bloodshot eyes focused on Matsu and he held up five fingers. "Five bowls of Wasabi ramen Matsu. I need it now and I don't care what it costs me….I gotta have it!"

"Sure thing my friend!" said Matsu. "You'd be amazed at how well that stuff has been selling."

"I don't care; just get it…." said the normally pleasant Choji as if his life depended on it.

Fifteen minutes later an equally zoned out, unshaven Iruka came stumbling in and said. "Two bowls of Wasabi ramen now! If I just have them now I can make it through the day at the Academy…."

Other people that looked like they'd crawled out of the gutter soon filed into Ichiraku's for their Wasabi ramen fix. Matsu and Nishi knew the boss was going to be thrilled when he got back at all the customers they were drawing in. They couldn't wait!

Alas, Teuchi and Hiashi couldn't wait either….

Naruto and Illyana's apartment

By eight the three lovers were up and dressed. They'd finished breakfast and were ready to start their day. Illyana was in her full combat gear and was wondering where Anko was since they were supposed to do some special training today. By eight twenty Illyana was a bit concerned (Anko was very punctual) and decided to check on her sensei to see if she was okay. Illyana went across the hall to 312 and knocked on Anko's door a few times and called her name but there was no answer. Although Illyana respected her sensei's privacy she teleported in to Anko's apartment only to find Anko sprawled out on the floor in her bedroom clutching her cursed seal in great pain. Anko was only wearing panties and a tank top and obviously had fallen out of bed but made it no further.

"Anko-sensei!" cried Illyana. "Are you alright? Talk to me!"

Anko opened up her clenched eyes and said, "Illyana-chan….the seal's acting up….I don't think we'll be training today…."

"How can I help Anko-sensei? Why is your cursed seal acting up?" asked the blonde.

Anko shook her head. "There's nothing to be done….once in a blue moon it flares up and I just have to….bear the pain until it settles down again."

Suddenly a fire lit in Illyana's eyes. "That's not good enough sensei! I'm going to help you right now." With that, Illyana teleported them back into her own apartment where Naruto was finishing the dishes and Hinata was going over the Uzumaki/Hyūga seal contract with a fine toothed comb. They both were surprised to see Illyana appear with her half naked sensei curled up in a ball on the floor.

"What happened to Anko-sensei?" asked Hinata concerned.

"She has a cursed seal like you had that nearly killed you Hinata-chan." said Illyana. "Today we are going to get rid of it."

Naruto came over and said, "Let me look at the cursed seal." Anko resisted at first but eventually relented at Illyana's insistence and let Naruto examine it. He channel a bit of chakra into the seal and said, "This containment seal over the cursed seal is failing. I need to remove the old seal and place a better one over it. Whoever applied this seal wasn't as good as Jiraiya-sensei or myself."

"The Third Hokage sealed it. He was in a rush." rasped out Anko.

Hinata said, "Illyana-chan, could we go to the astral plane and purge it like you did mine? I'm sure Anko-sensei would be glad to be rid of it permanently."

Anko groaned in pain. "Just apply a new seal. No one can get rid of this cursed mark."

Naruto gathered his sealing equipment and ninja gear and Hinata got her combat gear on as well. Naruto said. "Let's take her to Limbo Illyana-chan."

"You kids don't know what you're messing with!" gasped out Anko as another wave of pain washed over her.

Illyana simply said. "We will not just sit by idly while you are in pain Anko-sensei. Shut the hell up and let us help you." Illyana took them to Limbo at the speed of thought. The three lovers concluded that the best thing to do was have Naruto remove the steadily degrading containment seal and then Illyana take all four of them to the astral plane to purge the evil chakra from Anko's system.

Naruto quickly exposed the back left side of Anko's neck and quickly applied the counter seal to remove the damaged containment seal. He channeled chakra into it and said "Unseal!" which made Anko cry out in pain before she started cursing up a storm. The next thing Anko knew was she was sitting in the center of one of Illyana's circles of silver fire that she still didn't fully understand. Anko soon saw everything go white and saw the others in a semi transparent state. Illyana had a strange image of horns (?) on her head and Hinata's eyes seemed to literally be aflame with power. Naruto looked normal except for a red aura around him and the massive form of Kyubi towering over them all behind him….Her eyes grew to the sized of saucers and Anko yelled "Kyubi!" as she pointed behind Naruto.

Kyubi stared down at the little humans before him and smiled evilly. "Well, well. So this is the astral plane I've heard about. Nice of you to free me of my prison little ningens."

Naruto turned around with a two tailed chakra cloak and his eyes looking identical to Kyubi's. "You're not free at all fox." he said in a stone cold tone. "You can't hurt me or the others."

Illyana had fully assumed her Darkchilde form and Hinata likewise looked demonic with her blazing eyes and chakra scalpels/claws. "If you touch my mate I'll destroy you fox." growled Illyana. Hinata just hissed ferally.

For her part Anko was terrified both in the changes of the others and Kyubi himself.

Kyubi raised a furry eyebrow and lowered his nose down to glare eye to eye with Naruto. After what seemed like an eternity he said, "I approve."

Naruto didn't show his surprise but did ask, "Approve of what Kyubi?"

The fox gave a fanged smile. "Ever since you took this demonic girl to be your mate you've gradually been learning to control yourself and my chakra. Taking this second mate has increased your power even more. I do despise you but you are slowly earning my respect. You used to be so foolish but I believe I can trust you to destroy our enemies now. I'll allow you to use four tails worth of my power without ill effects. Since all three of you resonate now I'll even allow you to share my chakra with your two mates without harming them."

"What do you want in return?" Naruto asked.

"I want you to destroy our enemies without mercy; especially those accursed Uchihas should they try to control us again with their damned eyes. You are finally showing your potential. I want you to crush them utterly as I would." said Kyubi darkly.

Naruto slowly nodded. "Alright Kyubi. I don't like you either but consider us partners in crime."

"Excellent. Channel some of you sage chakra into that woman's cursed mark and it with force the corrupted chakra out of her." said Kyubi. "Then you can destroy the mark."

"You know fuinjutsu?" asked Naruto.

"It's hard not to having been sealed in to previous Uzumaki seal masters. Your clan practically lives and breathes the sealing arts."

Naruto turned to Anko and his red chakra cloak faded. He focused and was soon glowing with sage chakra. Feeling Naruto's aura soothing them Hinata and Illyana turned back to their normal states. Anko was surprised but felt Naruto's sage chakra calming her as well. "Alright, let's force that tainted chakra out of your body Anko sensei." said Naruto as he opened his eyes.

"You're going to trust the Kyubi?!" asked Anko shocked.

Naruto nodded. "Actually, what he says makes perfect sense from a sealing point of view. My sage chakra will do no harm to you and won't break the cursed seal's matrix. Its presence will drive the tainted chakra out and then I can withdraw the sage chakra and the cursed seal will vanish. Will you let me try?"

Anko was sweating about it but finally said. "You're the seal master. If you think it will work then try it."

Naruto got behind Anko who was sitting in the seiza position and placed two fingers on the cursed seal. He said, "Here we go." as he channeled sage chakra into the seal.

Anko felt mild discomfort for a few minutes. Naruto's sage chakra gradually flowed into the seal and Anko suddenly screamed as Orochimaru's tainted chakra sprang forth in a mass. His form was screaming as if he was on fire. Anko fell back noticing all the pain had miraculously vanished from her shoulder and stared up at the squirming spirit form of Orochimaru writhing above her.

"W-What have you done to me?!" cried out Orochimaru's shade in agony. Illyana's soul sword cut his head off and the head and body disintegrated into nothing before he could make another sound.

"Bastard." growled Illyana as she put her soul sword away. "That will teach you to hurt my sensei."

Anko stared in disbelief for a long while and felt Naruto withdraw his sage chakra. Her shoulder seemed to heal in an instant and the taint that had haunted her mind forever was completely gone. She stood up feeling completely invigorated. She knew the mark was gone. I was as if a massive weight had been lifted from her. Anko broke down into tears of happiness and said "Thank you everybody." and embraced each of them before she turned to Kyubi. "I never thought I'd say this but thank you very much Kyubi." she bowed not seeing the rather surprised look on Kyubi's face as they left the astral plane and returned to Limbo.

Limbo

"Well, I'm glad that worked out okay." said Illyana as she willed away her magic circle. "How do you feel Anko-sensei; is all the pain gone?"

Anko sat up and rubbed the spot where the cursed seal had been. "Is it really gone?" she asked hopefully. Anko was worried this was just another dream.

Hinata checked where the seal had been. "All there is here is smooth, unblemished skin Anko-sensei. You are completely free of the taint of Orochimaru just as I am. Everything worked out fine just as Illyana-chan said."

The snake mistress was still a bit overwhelmed emotionally and Illyana teleported them back to the apartment. Anko quickly body flickered into her own apartment to change into her ninja gear. She couldn't think of a way to thank the younger ninjas enough for what they'd done for her….but she had a lot of questions too. Seeing Illyana morph into Darkchild had been disturbing and Kyubi had referred to Illyana-chan a 'demonic girl.'

Illyana, Naruto and Hinata were considering taking Anko out for dango to celebrate when they heard a sharp knock on their door. "Naruto, are you home?" asked a female voice. It was Sakura.

Illyana answered the door and greeted Sakura before inviting her in. Sakura came in and said, "Naruto, Hinata; Teams Kurenai and Kakashi have a mission. Tsunade-sama sent me to get you."

"What kind of mission is it Sakura?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know yet." said the rosette. "Whatever it is; it's urgent. We need to go!"

Naruto kissed Illyana and said. "Well, we're already in our combat gear. Take care of Anko-sensei Illyana-chan." He turned to Hinata and said, "Are you ready to go Hinata-chan?" At Hinata's nod, Sakura, Hinata and Naruto body flickered to the Hokage tower.

Hokage Tower, Mission Office

When the three arrived they were hurriedly ushered into the office by Shizune to see Lady Tsunade. Shino, Kiba, Akamaru and Kurenai were already there Hinata noticed Kurenai-sensei wasn't looking like she was feeling too well. Hinata was going to ask if Kurenai was okay but Tsunade rapped her knuckles on the table to get everybody's attention.

"Team Kurenai reporting for duty." said Kurenai weakly.

"Team….ummm, Kakashi….reporting for duty Tsunade-sama." said Sakura lamely. "I'm afraid Jonin Hatake Kakashi is still not ready to return to active duty."

Tsunade looked over the motley crew that had gathered. Kiba had several bandages on and looked like he'd lost a fight. He also was shooting terrified glances at Hinata. So was Akamaru. Kurenai looked like she was on her last leg and Sakura was blushing slightly in embarrassment about Kakashi not being there. Naruto looked eager and Shino….looked like Shino….

The slug sannin wondered just what the hell was going on. "Kurenai, what is wrong? You don't look like you're fit to lead a mission."

"Forgive me Tsunade-sama; I've been nauseous since this morning. I think I may have a flu." explained Kurenai.

"Shizune, check her over." said Tsunade. What is wrong with you two Inuzukas? You're looking at Hinata as if she's the Shinigami. How did you get so roughed up Kiba?"

Kiba paused and then said, "W-well, I kind of blurted out that Hinata was involved in a threesome with Naruto and Illyana in front of sensei and Hinata punished me.…."

You could hear a pin drop as Sakura, Shizune and Tsunade's jaws hit the floor and their eyes grew to epic proportions. Hinata turned to Kiba with her karyuhdogan activated and said. "Obviously, I didn't punish you enough. I hope your Mother has a fat life insurance policy on you Kiba-kun.…" Kiba and Akamaru held on to each other into terror as Kiba just realized his repeat faux pas that spelled the very end of his existence. He was wondering if it was too late to write his last will in testament and he and Akamaru were quietly creeping towards the exit….

Sakura said, "A t-threesome?!" in disbelief as her eyes shot back and forth between Naruto and Hinata. She was blushing red as a tomato. "Is that why you're living with them Hinata?"

Hinata nodded as she blushed and was trying to think of a reply when Shizune suddenly said, "You're not sick Kurenai; you are pregnant." Everyone's eyes turned from Naruto and Hinata who were holding hands and blushing to Kurenai who was hovering near the trash can due to her nausea.

"How far along is she?" asked Tsunade.

"I estimate about six weeks." answered Shizune.

The vein on Tsunade's forehead was pulsing. "There's no way I'm sending a kunoichi out with morning sickness." She turned to the group. "So I have a pregnant jonin, two chunins involved in a threesome, A chunin and his canine partner who are frightened enough to wet themselves and a totally shocked and embarrassed apprentice. The only one here who hasn't said or done something insane is you Shino. Is there anything you'd like to confess?"

Shino nodded. "When I'm off duty I'm a dancing drag queen that goes by the moniker Madam Ladybug." He said in his usual flat tone.

Kurenai threw up. Kiba and Akamaru fainted in shock. Naruto and Hinata held on to each other for dear life and Sakura was hyperventilating. The rosette choked out "Madam Ladybug?"

Shino stated, "It was a joke." and everyone face faulted into the floor.

Tsunade got over her brief thoughts of committing seppuku or just handing the Hokage hat over to Naruto so she wouldn't have to put up with this shit any longer. The slug sannin wasn't sure if the multiple revelations or Shino having a sense of humor was worse…."Well, we'll need another jonin to lead the mission. Let's see who is available."

"What's the nature of this mission?" asked Naruto.

"It's a search and rescue mission, Lord Hyūga Hiashi's carriage was attacked on the way back to Konoha and he and the ramen chef Teuchi were abducted. The surviving samurai guard is at Shukuba Town. We received a messenger bird calling for our help to rescue the pair so it's urgent.

"Oh no, Otou-sama!" gasped Hinata under her breath.

Naruto was having similar thoughts about Teuchi. "May I suggest we get Anko-sensei and Illyana-chan to join us? With Illyana-chan's bloodline we could get back from Shukuba Town in minutes once we recover Hiashi-Sama and Old man Teuchi."

Tsunade pondered a moment and said. "That's a good suggestion Naruto. Anko is good a tracking as well and Illyana's bloodline could be invaluable. I'll have them summoned immediately."

Within a half hour, Anko and Illyana arrived and Kurenai went to the hospital to get some more thorough tested done on her pregnancy….and to strangle Asuma….

After they were thoroughly briefed about the carriage being knocked over by an exploding tag; Anko took change and told everyone to pack for a two week long journey and to meet at the gates in two hours. Their destination: Shukuba Town where they would interview the guard that survived the attack.

-Location Unknown-

Teuchi and Hiashi were soon visited by a ninja who was "The Boss" according to the others. "Hello, Teuchi-sama. I am Watari Hoki* and I welcome you to my abode here in Yugakure Village. I'm very interested in distributing your new and improved product one of my men told me you had in the works."

"We're in the Land of Hot Water?" asked Hiashi.

"That's right Leaf Ninja. It seems you actually know a little about geography." Hoki said condescendingly.

Hiashi was irritated by the man's snarky tone but covered it up well enough. "But I thought Yugakure was completely abandoned after the slaughter years ago."

Hoki laughed, "Oh, it was. But the locals are still superstitious about the place so it was very easy for us Watari ninjas to come in and take it over."

"You must have escaped from the Land of Birds then. Are you going after the Daimyō here too?" asked Hiashi smugly.

Hoki got a look of irritation on his face. "Watch your mouth Hyūga; I dealt with one of your clan before and I won't make the same mistakes with you."

'And Neji and his teammates defeated you utterly.' thought Hiashi self satisfied knowing he'd gotten under the man's skin.

"Whatever!" growled Hoki. "I didn't come to argue with your bodyguard Teuchi-sama. The secret ingredient in you Wasabi ramen could be the key to making both of us very rich men. What you've got out on the market is a goldmine but if you've got something better then I'm sure we could make a very profitable deal. What do you say?"

Teuchi thought 'Okay, here we go!' and channeled his inner businessman. "There's just one little problem. All my notes and supplies are back in Konoha and are very specific. I can't do what I need to at this location to make my 'special ingredient' as some kind of hostage. I'll also need to know what kind of terms we'll be discussing. I'm not going to let just any distributor get a cut. The fewer people that are involved the better. Say I did decide to hire you Watari ninjas to distribute my product. I have a pretty cushy deal going in Konoha and frankly I don't know what you can offer me that they can't." Teuchi was lying through his teeth and praying to every deity he could think of this Hoki character would buy it.

"Now we're talking!" said Hoki gleefully as he rubbed his hands together. "Untie these two gentlemen and let's bring them to eat in the main hall. I think this is the start of a beautiful business relationship."

Hiashi was stoic on the outside as he looked on but was gaping inside at Teuchi's acting. 'The restaurant business must be as cutthroat as ninja business.' he pondered to himself.

For his part Teuchi was doing his best not to faint….

Location: Shukuba Town

The seven ninjas appeared at the ridge overlooking Shukuba Town late that afternoon and marched down with Anko in the lead. After a few questions with the gate guards they went to the small hospital that the samurai was staying at. They soon where talking to the samurai whose name was Goro. He was hurting but it was nothing he wouldn't make a full recovery from.

"We were travelling early this morning at a relaxed pace when two explosive notes hit us." explained Goro. "One killed my fellow guard and the other hit just beneath the carriage. The carriage flipped over and knocked me to the ground senseless as it went clean over me. I was stunned but when I came around I saw men around the carriage hauling Hiashi-sama and Teuchi-san out of it. They were unconscious end the men quickly made off with them. I guess the bandits or whatever they were left me for dead since they never checked me for vitals. After I stumbled to my feet I checked on my friend and confirmed he was dead. Then I limped down here to Shukuba Town and sent out a messenger bird."

"Did you notice anything about these bandits you saw that stuck out as odd?" asked Anko.

"They seemed too well equipped for run of the mill bandits; they also didn't loot the treasures from Haishi-sama's carriage which indicates to me their plan was to kidnapped Hiashi-sama and Tuechi-san all along. I really can't tell you much more than that. I was injured and playing dead because there were twelve or fifteen of them and only one of me. The carriage is still laying there in a wreck about a mile north of here. I hope you can find a trail."

Hyūga Compound, Konoha

"This news of Hiashi's disappearance is terrible! It could not have happened at a worse time." said Hiroto worried for his son.

Harumi nodded. "And Hinata-sama is among those searching for them. What if they can't find him? I fear for the clan."

"We will convince Hinata to take her place as clan head then. She is old enough and no doubt strong enough." said Hiroto. "Hanabi-chan is still too young to take charge. She's still in the Ninja Academy! I have faith that Hinata-chan will step up and do her duty for the branch family if no one else."

"No doubt Hinata-sama would do it for the branch family." agreed Harumi. "Do you think she would turn to us for advice if there was a crisis?"

"I seriously doubt it." said Hiroto. "You do realize every red blooded male both in and outside of Konoha will be eager to ask for her hand in marriage? We'll have to help her there regardless. Maiko already had her grandsons setting their eyes on Hinata-chan before her unexpected death."

"To be able to kill someone with such concentrated killing intent is unbelievable. I wasn't surprised to hear Maiko passed away but still…." Harumi shook her head in frustration. "Hinata-sama's karyuhdogan is every bit as vital to the clan as the byakugan is. Doesn't she realize this?"

"I have no doubt she realizes it." said Hiroto. "She was waiting for my son Hiashi to come back and settle things. Perhaps she's holding out on the title of heiress to get his approval."

"That seems unlikely given how headstrong she's become against us Hiroto-sama." voiced Harumi. "To be honest I'm surprised she didn't come after us as well."

"We would be dead as Maiko and Hachiro if she had Harumi." said Hiroto gravely. "We must pray for both Hiashi and Hinata-chan's safety Harumi. "They are the future of our clan."

"Do you truly worry for Hinata-sama considering her exponential growth in strength Hiroto-sama?" Harumi asked.

"Truthfully, no. I feel sorry for anyone who crosses her though." answered Hiroto candidly. "Still, we should pray for her just in case. An enemy powerful enough to have abducted Hiashi certainly can't be weak."

The two retired Elders went to the Hyūga family shrine to pray….

At the site of the wrecked carriage….

"I've got Lord Hiashi's scent, no doubt about it." said Kiba as Akamaru barked in agreement. "They didn't cover their tracks very well. I count fourteen."

"I count fourteen as well." agreed Hinata as Shino also nodded in agreement.

"Where does the scent lead?" asked Anko.

"They headed due east. The most likely destinations would be Port City or Hot Water Country if they were going to try to escape Fire Country."

Port City seems unlikely given they'd have to smuggle to unconscious men past the port authorities –and the port authorities in Port City are strict." said Anko pondering.

"On the positive side Sakura found traces of chloroform but no blood so odds are they are definitely alive." said Naruto.

"Well, there's nothing left to be found here." said Kiba. "Let's follow the trail. It's still less than eight hours old."

With that, Anko and her team headed out with Kiba and Akamaru leading the way….

POSTSCRIPT:

*The Watari clan is from the anime only Land of Birds filler arc.

Well, once again an unplanned chapter is done. Teuchi is now a Drug Lord with Hiashi as his servant/sidekick. The part timers at Ichiraku's have somehow managed to attract a whole new clientele and Choji and Iruka are addicts. Anko is finally free of the cursed seal that had ruined her life but is wondering just what her beloved apprentice is. And what about Jashinoya? More next time. Blue out. 3/6/15