Well, after some time off I am getting back into the swing of things. I hope everybody enjoys this chapter. I re-read this chapter and it seems to me that the story is about to start picking up its pace. lol I hope I don't disappoint.

I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form, but if I did this is how it would go.

ARRIVAL AT THE VILLAGE OF SAND

The sun arose and Naruto and Kakashi were already up. Incredibly Naruto had been the first one up and was almost ready when Kakashi awoke. Temari had also awoken around the same time as Naruto. She had quickly readied and woke up Sakura. Sakura slowly got up and began preparing. Once the everyone was ready they met where they had broken camp the previous night. When everybody was together Naruto let out a giant yawn and violently shook his head as if shaking off the last little bits of sleep. The rest of the group stared at this unusual ritual and Kakashi let out a short chuckle. "Is everybody ready? We have only a few hours to get to the village so now that we're rested we should be there quickly and proceed from there." Kakashi thought about it thinking if he had forgotten anything.

Naruto blurted out before Kakashi continued. "Kakashi-san we're not stupid we're ready to go. Let's get going and figure everything out when we get to it." Kakashi was totally taken aback, but before he could respond Temari also chimed in.

She stepped forward past Kakashi and Naruto "I agree with Naruto. Let's go." Temari said. Temari did not wait for a response she started running and yelled back at them. "No plan ever works if you don't make it in time!" Naruto followed her lead and ran after her. Kakashi and Sakura looked at each other and saw no point in standing around they too followed Temari. It was now only a matter of hours before they reached the village of sand.

Near Konoha Shino was the first one to awaken. He saw no hurry in the situation to wake everybody up so he decided to get some exercises done and allow his insects some freedom to roam around. His mind was occupied with the mission ahead of them. He could not shake his suspicion that something was amiss. There was no reason for them to really accompany such an accomplished shinobi. Shino knew there was huge differences between power and capabilities between ninjas, but the chasm that existed between them begged the question of why they were really on the mission. He knew it was a wasteful thought but throughout his exercises he could not get it out of his mind. He continued exercising also wondering how long it would be before his team mates got up.

Hinata woke up in a complete state of confusion and looked around herself. She didn't know where Naruto was and she reached up to her ear and realized that she was not wearing the bell she had been wearing when Naruto found her. She felt bad, she was thinking that Naruto had abandoned her when the realization that it was a dream came to her. She did not know which felt worse the dream had felt so real she wished she hadn't woken up. She let out a long sigh and thought about it. She had never had such an intense dream and was torn emotionally. She wanted to have dreams like that with Naruto every night, but she didn't want to face the waking disappointments. She put it out of her mind as she knew she had no control of the situation if she had the dreams she would have to endure them and go on. It wouldn't be so bad she thought. As a matter of fact this dream had given her an idea and she would act upon it at the next town she came to. With that thought she got up and began to go through her morning ritual. She dressed herself and took care of her hygiene she then meditated for about fifteen minutes to clear her mind and got ready to warm up for the day. When she finished warming up she took a stroll and looked around heradmiring the flowers. They were all very beautiful and she had to resist the urge to begin gathering them. She smiled at this and went to find her team mates. She found Shino easily enough and he led the way to where the others were. They came upon Jiraiya pouring over what appeared to be maps. He looked up at their arrival though and smiled. "So are we ready to head out. I've scouted out the way we're going to take and it looks like easy going for a while. We won't make it to a town until tomorrow, but that's fine we should have plenty of supplies until then." Shino and Hinata didn't admit it out loud, but they were impressed that Jiraiya had their journey planned out so well in advance. "We should wake..." Before Jiraiya could finish a loud snore came from Kiba. They turned to see him still asleep with Akamaru standing guard over him.

When Akamaru saw they were walking towards him he leaned towards Kiba and nudged him with his nose. Kiba stirred and spoke in his sleep. "Hinata..we shouldn't we're team mates." He said in a mischievous manner and laughed. Hinata blushed furiously and moved behind Shino trying to avoid embarassment. Jiraiya's eyes twitched and he shot a very quick glance at Hinata. He let out a quick chuckle making Hinata blush even harder and took our his water jug. Shino thought Jiraiya was going to pour water on Kiba to wake him up. He was wrong. Jiraiya cocked back his arm and aimed the water jug at Kiba's head and threw it. Akamaru however saw this and leaped forward to protect Kiba. He caught the jug, but in the process jumped on top of Kiba and trampled him. Effectively making Kiba wake up screaming. "Aaaggghhh. Akamaru why are jumping all over me like that!" Akamaru quickly jumped off Kiba and bowed his head in an apologetic gesture.

Jiraiya spoke up for Akamaru though. "We were just trying to wake you up, brat. Your friend there was only trying to help. Now that you're up let's get ready to get moving." He said and turned around to get his things together leaving Kiba with his mouth open. Kiba was too groggy to be outraged this early in the morning, but he would remember this. Of this they could be sure. With everyone now awake they prepared for the journey ahead of them.

Out in the village of the sand Hirai was standing watch at her tower. With her keen eyesight she saw a tiny break in the desert horizon. She got her telescope and looked through it in the direction of the break. Thinking how weird it was that the break happened to be in her field of vision. However when she looked through the lens of the telescope and saw people accompanying Temari her spirits immediately lifted. She dropped back into a sitting position letting relief wash over her. Marie climbed her knee and looked at Hirai with curious eyes. Hirai noticed this and said. "It seems we can finally start doing something soon. Gaara will be back with us soon Marie. You don't have to worry so much." Hirai said and let out a weak laugh. She gathered her thoughts and had Marie climb onto her shoulder. "We have to go meet them and escort them back to Akamarou. You ready." Marie nodded and tapped Hirai's shoulder indicating she was ready. They quickly made their way down to the ground and began running to the edge of town to greet Temari and whoever was with her.

Temari ran over the sand dunes and finally her village came into her field of vision. She kept going at her speed finally knowing that with each step she was getting closer. Right behind her Naruto was keeping pace. He also saw the village and he wondered what the situation there would be like. He had never come here before and tensed a little bit preparing himself for whatever problems lay ahead. Behind them came Kakashi, he was thinking about how to go about with the mission already breaking down the questions he would need answered to proceed. He knew they would not have much information on the enemy, but he could not worry about that too much. He could only worry about the task at hand and carry it out as efficiently as possible. Bringing up the rear was Sakura. She looked at her team and was almost awed at how much they had all changed. She had practiced and improved herself as much as she could and seeing that she was still not on par with everybody made her question how hard she had really trained. She tried to shake her confidence, but seeing the ease everybody had traveling at this speed wouldn't let her. She had to believe she would play a part in this mission and not be useless. These were the thoughts occupying our heroes minds as they finally made their way to the village of sand.

Hirai was at the entrance of the village. She had been waiting for about half an hour after she got there before she saw the cloud of dust and the four dots in the distance creating it. She had sent messengers to announce Temaris arrival and now that she was here Hirai went out to greet them and lead them to Kankarou as quick as she could. About half a mile before she met them she stopped and started running back towards the village. In her excitement she had not fully noted the speed at which they were traveling and had she kept going then they would have completely passed her up. She was stunned at how quickly they had caught up to her. Before she knew it Temari was a few strides in front of her making Hirai run even faster to keep up with her. Her companion was easily keeping up with Temari and there were two others following closely behind. Temari asked Hirai "What's the situation?" Without breaking stride or turning to look at her.

Hirai wanted to slow down to answer, but she tried her best to answer. "Kankarou's...poisoned...follow ... me." Hirai said between breaths. Temari's eyes widened a little bit at the news of Kankarou, but that explained why Hirai and not Kankarou had gone out to greet them. The entrance to the village was cleared and a path was visible in the village. Hirai was running as fast as she could barely able to stay half a step ahead of Temari. Naruto looked at the path and knew that they were expected. Kakashi and Sakura both had come to this realization. They were impressed by the villages coordination. They had little time to admire though because they were blazing through the streets. Nor could they appreciate the scenery before they knew it the Kazekages building was coming into view and the doors were opening for them. They rushed through them and were running through the buildings halls. They finally slowed down and came to a stop at Hirai's gesture. Naruto resisted his impulse to yell out his question of why they had stopped. Hirai quickly tried to catch her breath but it hitched nonetheless when she spoke. "Kankarou is behind...these doors with the siblings." Temari nodded and turned away from her.

She looked at Sakura and beckoned her forward. "Kankarou's been poisoned, please do your best to help him." Sakura nodded and followed Temari as she stepped through the door and led her in towards Kankarou. Hirai looked at Sakura with wonderment. So this lady will be able to help Kankarou she thought. How can that be not even the siblings could find a way to help him. She wanted to tell Temari this, but before she could move forward to voice her thoughts the two companions blocked her path and stood there for a few moments.

Temari led Sakura to Kankarou and the Siblings who were still standing there. "We've done all we can. We are sorry." Chiyo said as Temari approached. Her eyes found Sakura quickly enough and her tone quickly hardened. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Chiyo asked.

Sakura answered as she walked past her not taking mind of the old woman's tone. "Sakura. Helping." She said and went to check on Kankarou. Sakura slung off her pack and put it down. She was finally catching her breath. As she did this though she began to examine Kankarou as quickly as possible. The fact that he did not wake up when they entered told her he had been put to sleep checking his pulse quickly told her that much. It must be some sort of poison traveling through his veins she thought. "What symptoms has he shown?" Sakura asked the siblings.

Chiyo did not like this girls attitude. "They're right there on the tablet in front of you." She replied. Chiyo did not like relations with Konoha. Correction, Chiyo did not like other villages much period. This outsider much less. She reminded her of another medic ninja she had met a long time ago. However she saw no point in wasting any more time here. She turned to leave and her eyes widened as they landed on the scene at the door. Standing there was the person that had killed her family.

Kakashi had finished telling Naruto that he should be ready for everything and they walked throught the doors when a loud yell broke out. "The White Fang of Konoha. I'll have my revenge now!" Chiyo launched herself at Kakashi pulling out a Kunnai and fully intending to take his life with a speed nobody would expect from someone so old. Temari and Sakura turned but were to late to do anything Temari placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder a gesture that she stay and tend to Kankarou. Temari went after the old woman. She knew she would not be able to catch her though. Kakashi had been shocked when he heard that name and by the time he began to react Chiyo was almost upon him. Kunnai hand already shooting forward to take Kakashi's life.

Naruto heard the yell and saw the old woman lunge. He looked at Kakashi and saw he wasn't reacting, No thought went through his head his body moved on it's own. Even though Chiyo had already started to strike Naruto shifted his body in front of Kakashi and with his leading hand blocked the strike. He pushed the knife hand away from the body twisting it as he did so so he would grip it. Even before that was done he had brought a Kunnai of his own up with his other hand and had it to Chiyo's neck before she could counter. Even though Chiyo had been stopped her gaze was still on Kakashi. A voice cold as a cave in the arctic dropped words into her ears like falling ice stalagmites. "If you value your life, step back." Naruto said, his voice was as hard as the steel kunnai he was pressing into her neck. Temari finally reached them and gently pulled Chiyo back. Chiyo allowed herself to be pulled back. Right behind Naruto Kakashi was stunned. He wondered about his former student. Would he have taken this woman's life? Right behind that was the question of who was this woman and how did she know about his father. Kakashi was troubled already and they hadn't even started the mission. Kakashi pushed these thoughts out of his mind and composed himself. Behind him Hirai was still stunned, the boy in front of her moved with a speed she did not think was possible. His body moved as fast as her punch and her mind began filling with questions. Her mouth was slightly open, but other than that her appearance did not give away her thoughts.

Temari spoke to Chiyo. "Chiyo-sama, this is Kakashi. He isn't this White Fang you speak of. He's here to help." Temari said as calmly as she could. Even she was still composing herself after the previous events. Chiyo's eyes finally softened somewhat and she turned.

Gruffly she said. "I know he's not the White Fang, now. His eyes are different." Without apologies she went back to where Sakura was tending to Kankarou. Temari followed looking back at Naruto and Kakashi and shrugged her shoulders as if to say she didn't know what had happened either.

Naruto and the others were about to follow when another voice spoke from behind them. "You can't really blame her, Kakashi-san does look like his father I would assume. She has good reason to hate the White Fang...what you all act as if you've seen a ghost." Ebizou said. They had all jumped when he spoke and were now looking at him in a strange manner. Even Hirai was looking at him weird.

Naruto asked the question on his and Kakashi's mind. "Who are you? Don't you know it's dangerous to sneak up on people! We could have killed you." Naruto said.

The old man began stroking his ghost white beard and introduced himself. "I am Chiyo's younger brother Ebizo." They still looked lost so he pointed it out to them. "The one who attacked you is my older sister. I didn't mean to sneak up. It was you who was so pre-occupied with my sister that you didn't notice me. Also, I disagree that you could've killed me. At least not as easily as your tone would imply." He thought he answered their questions well so he began walking past them and toward where Kankarou was. "So, are you just going to stand there or are you coming to find out how Kankarou is doing?" They slowly started to follow.

As they followed many questions began swirling through their minds. Mainly though, what was Chiyo-sama's reason for hating Kakashi so much and Naruto and Hirai were also curious as to the references to the White Fang of Konoha. Naruto was not familiar with this name.

They all reached Sakura and the others and waited to see what she had found out.

PREVIEW

Now that our heroes have reached their destination what course of action will they take. Will Kankarou be okay. Where is team Gai and what will happen with team 8 and Jiraiya? Whoa that's a whole lotta questions? Will the author (thats me) be able to answer them all in the next chapter. You gotta stick around to find out.

RSO

drschuet- Thanx for the review. Yeah it was a dream sequence. Naruto be that smooth...sorry I just got from laughing about that. No I think that's Hinata's imagination that made him that smooth. No it wasn't Ero-se...I mean Jiraiya. Boy and I thought I had some twisted thoughts. J/K. Hope that helped.

dragonman180- Yup, dreamworld rules. Nice loophole to get NaruHina moments huh. So am I...so am I.

danny- thanx for the review. You have no idea how pleased I am that you liked this ch. so much. Moving on, ouch, that was brutal on Kiba. Well, I'm not planning to have them smooch or anything right off the bat, if I do that pairing I would put in a lot of development. I know where you're coming from unfortunately I had already paired Chouji up with the girl working at Ichikaru ramen. Maybe I could have them break up, but I'm not sure at this point. Hmm, if I did pair them up I would find a way to make it work and if not it would make for a hilarious break up scene. I'll do my best to please and try not to loose R&R. Thanx for the review I really appreciate them keep em coming. Oh P.S. Nice quote.

Rawd- Magic is what happened. lol j/k it was a dream. I just didn't want to make it so obvious she was dreaming though. Sorry bout the confusion.

lonekyuubi- Yeah, wow good eye for detail. NO, that kiss sir is reserved for someone else. Ok done.

kogaswolfgirl- Thank you. They are, aren't they. Hmmm... sorry I'm a guy so I don't know what your talking about. lol.

acrazygirlofmanynames- like me right. (crosses fingers)

darkhope- Seriously, thanx that means alot. Just because you asked nicely here it is.