Wow I've been gone a long time, sorry about that but things have been rough, I only meant to be away for a week and time just slipped by. If it hadn't been for a review on one of my other stories I'd still be gone. I'll try and update again at the end of next week but I've got a lot of reading to catch up on as well as writing.

I do not own Naruto

Sitting in the schools TV room Naruto sighed and ate another handful of crisps, the news was dull these days, as far as he was concerned the world would never change, there would always be some war or struggle going on, famine and disease were pretty much a constant and natural disasters were so common he was beginning to buy into all this global warming stuff. Finally the news started to talk about business and he sat up and paid proper attention, it started off with information about the FTSE and he nodded knowingly, then market prices were announced with the big changes making the news first And the less important ones following finally market trends were talked about. His eyes searched for news of Namikaze Inc but he saw nothing. All he could conclude was that no news was good news and he turned way disconsolately.

His father's business had always meant a lot to Naruto, it was a privately owned family business and it had always been known that one day he would own it. He had never really looked forward to that day much because he had known that when that day finally came it would mean one of two things. Either his father was dead or he was no longer of sound mind and Naruto had to take control by force. Neither of these options had pleased him much but he had to admit that now the day had come he'd have preferred to still have his father around whether he was of sound mind or not.

He had not expected himself to be in the news again, he'd shown up a couple of times recently but his parents plane crash was old news. No one expected for the two of them to be seen again but Naruto still clung to that little forlorn hope that maybe they were still ok, maybe they were still out there and they'd find their way back. It was stupid, people went missing in the real world and most of them were dead within twenty four hours, his parents were in the middle of a rainforest after a plane crash with little or no survival skills, the odds were completely stacked against them.

As he thought about it all his mind drifted to Hinata, from what she said it seemed as though her father was no longer of sound mind, he briefly wondered whether or not she'd prefer her father dead or like he was now… it was a pointless thing to think about, he knew he'd never get an answer because it was a horrible question to ask someone.

"Hey Naruto" someone plopped down on the seat next to him and grinned "what happened to you?" he asked staring at his eye and nose.

"You should see the other guy" Naruto joked back receiving a laugh, he grinned and offered a crisp to his companion. He liked Michael, the guy was very like him, honest and cheerful unlike some of the other snobby brats around here.

The dark haired boy took some of the snack and shoved it in his mouth before asking "Seriously, where'd you get that shiner?"

"I walked into a door" this received the explosion of laughter that Naruto had expected and he was rather pleased that Michael then began to choke on his crisps. "Yeah real funny, laugh it up!" he said whacking him on the back

"Oh come on man, that is hilarious, you managed to get through rugby the other day with barely a smudge of dirt on you and then you walk into a door. Classic!"

"Yeah, Yeah"

"You doing anything this weekend?"

"Not really" Naruto hadn't given the weekend much thought at all, he couldn't really be bothered to do anything but he wondered what Hinata would be doing, if there was a way he could meet up with her, he'd really like to spend time with her...

"Naruto would you listen to me?"

"Sorry what?" Naruto had totally tuned his friend out as he spoke

"I said on Sunday a couple of us are part of this Tae Kwon Do group, you want to come?"

"Who else is in it?" Naruto asked interested in the idea

"Angus and Brian."

"Yeah alright then" Naruto nodded in agreement "Could be fun... hey what time is it?"

"Now? Seven why?"

"I gotta go" Naruto jumped to his feet throwing Michael his snack, he ignored the other boys questions and left the room. He had no actual idea what time Hinata left work but last time he saw her working the time was about this time and she was pretty ensconced in work. If he hung around the kitchens for long enough he was bound to see her, he ran a hand though his hair trying to make it look better as he went. He had to wait a long time, and he wondered if he'd missed her when he made a quick trip to the bathroom. It was getting later and later and he was sure that it couldn't be good for Hinata to work this long. Finally the doors opened and a group of older ladies walked out talking and laughing, they all wore the same black and purple outfit as Hinata had but as he scanned the group he couldn't see her. He frowned as they all left and the kitchen descended into darkness, he felt disappointed and was about to walk away when the sound of a door closing echoed through the empty hallway. Turing he grinned when he saw the very person he was looking for walking into the corridor, she wore a light blue top instead of purple but it was her.

"Hey! Hinata!"the voice echoed through the hallways surprising Hinata, turning she saw a young man dressed in jeans and t-shirt, he'd obviously come here to see her, his blonde hair had some semblance of neatness in it's gelled form but she preferred it the way it had been before, more wild and spiky.

"Hey" feeling shy Hinata raised her hand in greeting, she immediately hated how she herself looked, her t-shirt was damp from washing up water and the heat of the kitchen meant her face was probably flushed and that she now felt disgusting. "How's things?"

"Things are good… I'm still getting used to this place but I'm settling in. How are you?" when he got closer she could see the bruising on the bridge of his nose that spread to surround his eye.

"Same as ever… does your nose still hurt?"

"Nah, I've had worse"

"Really, do you normally take on revolving doors?" she asked a teasing smile on her lips

He laughed appreciatively before shaking his head "No… I've played some rugby in my time, ended up with a broken leg and ribs, fractured wrist many pulled muscles that sort of thing"

"Sounds like a dangerous sport"

"You should see me fence"

"Are you showing off?" she asked amused by his boasting

"Maybe" he laughed as she shook her head disapprovingly "Ok definitely. I've been waiting here for ages, do you always leave here so late?" he was surprised, it was dark out and he didn't like the idea of Hinata travelling home so late.

"Not normally, we had tragedy in the kitchens, one of the chefs knocked custard on the floor, it took forever to clear up."

"We didn't have custard tonight"

"No, because of the great spillage of 2010! This is a day for history books." Hinata chuckled happily "At least I'm not the one to blame, I always feel bad when I make mistakes here" he seemed confused so she explained "Dad's benefits are quite… low. I was given this job as a favour, a way to make sure that Hanabi and I could have some of the better things in life, so I could make sure she got nicer clothes… half the stuff still comes from charity shops but she gets birthday and Christmas presents just like everyone else. That's what I want for her."

"Your sister means a lot to you"

Hinata nodded "She's pretty much all I've got"

"Where is she whilst you're here?"

"Our neighbour looks after her, it's a good thing Hanabi and our neighbours daughter are best friends. The only day we had an issue was when they fell out over some boy, I guess to a normal nine year old crushes can be the most important thing in the world"

"You talk as though you were never a nine year old"

"I was never a normal one. Mum was ill at that point, she never recovered after Hanabi's birth so she and dad spent a lot of time at the hospital and I was helping out with Hanabi."

"When you were nine?"

"From the age of five through to ten I spent all my time helping mum, then from the age of…" Hinata trailed off nervously "Why am I even telling you this" she shook her head in a confused fashion "I only met you two days ago and already I'm pouring my heart out like you charge fifty quid an hour." Waving her hands in the air Hinata turned away and began to walk away leaving a stunned Naruto.

"Hey wait up!" Naruto ran to catch up with her grabbing her arm and stopping her "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She stared at him in complete confusion "What is wrong Naruto, is that I have never spoken to anyone about this stuff before. Why do I trust you with it?"

His hold slackened as he stared at her "You've never talked to anyone about this? What about your friends, or family?"

"I don't really have any, my family are far away and I lost all my friends. I don't have time for them."

"You don't have time for friends?"

She laughed cynically "I work here every week night, I spend my weekends with my sister, look after my father, do all the chores I can fit in, I do my homework whenever I can and that's usually at school during lunch break. I can't fit a social life in, the closest things I have to friends are the ladies here and they're all at least twice my age some are three."

Naruto was surprised, Tsunade had said that Hinata had it tough but he never imagined that it was so bad "So when was the last time you hung out with someone just for fun?"

"Besides my sister? I dunno, I'm not sure if I even can anymore" Hinata smiled half heartedly "At least it saved me from being shallow, the way I was when I was five… lets just say I would probably have been shallow if things were different."

Finding it hard to believe Naruto shook his head, he couldn't see Hinata as shallow "I doubt it somehow… so what are you and your sister doing this weekend?"

Surprised by the question Hinata gave him an odd look before answering "On Saturday my sister and I are going hiking, she's really interested in historic sites, I think she's just watched too many Indiana Jones movies, so we're going up the Tor."

Trying to remember what he'd read about the surrounding area Naruto frowned before asking. "The one near the well?"

"That's the one"

"So if I was to hang around there on Saturday I could maybe join you?"

"I guess… but don't you have other people to hang around with?"

"Yeah… but I'd like to see you"

"Ok" Hinata nodded shyly and began to walk away again as she got to the end of the corridor a thought occurred to her and she turned back "We'll be using the well entrance, w-we'll start at around ten."

"Alright" he grinned as she flushed lightly and then walked away, man he was stuck on her fast!

--

"She made us do a cross country run again, we did one last week and it's not fair because the other class only have one every month or every other month. I hate it…"

"Hanabi…" Hinata interrupted her sister's rant before it got any longer "Would you be alright if someone joined us on Saturday?"

"Saturday?" Hanabi asked suspiciously "will we still be having my favourite sandwiches?"

Hinata laughed at the easy question "Yes"

"And we'll be going up the Tor?"

"Yes"

"And we get to go for ice cream afterwards?"

"Yes… no!" Hinata laughed and shook her head "You only get ice cream on special occasions, if you behave I'll get you a dairy milk."

"Alright…" Hanabi agreed, then she noticed her sisters flushed face and smiling evilly asked "so who's coming with us?"

Her blush deepened as Hinata replied "Just someone from work"

Seeing the blush on her sisters face Hanabi's suspicion increased and she pulled on her sister's arm "What's his name?"

"What makes you think it's a boy?" Hinata asked surprised and feigning innocence

"So it's a girl?"

"I didn't say that" seeing her sisters smirk Hinata shook her head "Fine, it's a boy he actually goes to the school."

"Ooh, dating a student, isn't there a rule against that?"

"I don't think so" Hinata paused frowning, she had never really looked at her handbook about that kind of thing, she had never thought she'd associate with any of the boys at the school, she knew that for the teachers there were rules but she wasn't sure… "Wait! It's n-not a d-date" she finally spluttered out in her defence

"Strange that you didn't say that straight away when I mentioned dating" the younger sister teased dancing ahead of her sister carefully avoiding the hand swiping at her head.

"Shut up" Hinata hissed chasing after her, the two of them ran giggling to their front door, they paused on the threshold calming down before Hinata unlocked the door and they went in. The house was silent when they entered, the usually constant noise from the television was gone and unseen by Hanabi a worried look covered Hinata's face. She allowed Hanabi to run into the kitchen and then made her way into the sitting room, her father was not there. Running out of the room and up the stairs Hinata let out a relieved sigh as she heard the shower running, she wasn't sure why she'd panicked so much when she hadn't been able to find him but it was the absence of normality that had made her suddenly afraid. Her daily pattern had been disrupted by the fact that her father had managed to pull himself out of his armchair earlier than usual and the realisation made her eyes fill with tears. Why had she become the parent in this family? It was so unfair, just the couple of times she had spoken with Naruto had made her realise how much she really craved a social life of her own.

"Hinata?" the call from down stairs made Hinata sniff and scrub at her eyes.

"On my way" she responded pasting on a false smile and heading back downstairs "Dad's in the bathroom so you'll have to brush your teeth in the morning."

"EW!"

--

Leaning back in his chair Orochimaru frowned at his computer screen, he had expected to hear something more about the Namikaze's fate by this time. In all honesty when he had heard that the family were taking a trip in their plane he had expected them all to be there, unfortunately for some reason the young man had changed his mind at the last minute and he remained at home instead of being with his parents when they plunged down over the forest. That was another problem with his plan, the intention had been for the craft to land in the ocean where it would never survive and any proof of foul play would be washed away. instead it had landed somewhere where if discovered things could go badly wrong… still. As it was Naruto was to young to even want to take control of the company yet, he had convinced the young man to let him handle things until he had gone through university… and if he still seemed likely to take the company from Orochimaru well, all sorts of terrible things happened at universities, a drunken night out could end in death and then Orochimaru would be exactly where he needed to be.

It was a shame that Minato had never taken a backseat in the company, had he stepped away from his business and allowed Orochimaru to run it exactly as he wanted to then the young man would still be able to see his son grow up. Unfortunately Minato had never done so and he had taken such an active interest in the Orochimaru's departments that he had come close to uncover the creative accounting his second in command had been doing.

Still as the annoyingly optimistic old saying went, where one door opens another one opens. Now instead of just doing a little bit of 'skimming' from his own half of the accounts he had a whole company to try it out on.

Maybe he'd be lucky and the plane would never be found, it could have burned up. With these pleasant meditations Orochimaru's face brightened and he turned back to his computer with a grin.

--

Another disappointment!

Gripping his fist around the aged paper scroll Kabuto made a sound of annoyance, the scroll in his hand had been just as useless as all the others. This was the third sealing scroll he had discovered and just as all the others it was worthless… well in terms of monetary worth it was an amazing discovery that museums would bid huge sums for but in terms of his own purposes it was completely worthless.

He had known what his destiny was ever since he was a young boy, his parents had raised him to think only of the Great Monarch and his rise to power aided by the young Kabuto. They had lived as part of a village all of whom followed the cult since before he was born, both his parents had been raised to call the Great Monarch their future. As a child he had been treated differently, his name was a common one amongst his peers but according to the leader of his village he had been born under the chosen star and his future was bright. His teenage years had been filled with study dedicated to his future, he had no time for friends as the others in his village had but at the same time he knew this was a good thing. One day he would stand beside the great monarch as he rose to take over the world and he would need complete respect from his peers and the only way to have that was to be completely above them.

His research had led him to discover the legend of the seven sealing scrolls taken out of the village after the Arrogant Prince had died the last time. Kabuto had used many methods to track down where the scrolls could have gone, every single lead he had came from legend and hearsay but the arrogant Prince and his cronies had destroyed all traces of their very existence from the history books so ninja's and chakra were rarely considered to be fact. The very lifestyle the arrogant Prince was supposed to have led had apparently never existed. Luckily for Kabuto his past self had managed to escape the purge before it was too late. He had left the Great Monarchs side when he realised that there was no way to help him in the current lifetime and had taken the few followers brave enough to remain and started a new life. They had continued the stories, they had passed down the legends to all of society not caring how they were mocked and rejoicing in the followers that came to them.

"Sir?" the voice pulled him from his misery and he turned to face his assistant, he said nothing merely raising an eyebrow in inquiry "We have dug the site over, there are no more scrolls, we did however find this" lifting a hand up the assistant held out a dull piece of metal that had obviously only been recently unearthed and quickly cleaned off. Moving forward Kabuto stared at it the metal piece, in the centre there was an embossed symbol that he recognised with ease. "It was placed by two bodies that we found."

Grinning Kabuto reached forward and took the piece. "Get back to work" he commanded not looking at his assistant again, the man bowed and left, he was used to such terse dismissal from his boss and any impatience he may feel from getting commands from a man ten years his junior were allayed by his knowledge that this young man was the Oracle.

Tracing over the odd swirling symbol that ended in a point Kabuto smiled, he knew the symbol well he had seen it many times over the years. In the last Kabuto's writings and instructions it had been a common theme, a leaf symbol.

Konoha village, looking around himself he wondered how any of the teams that had been sent out with a scroll had come so far, whoever it was they were dedicated to getting the scroll as far from their home town as possible. Leaving his tent Kabuto made his way down to the site, asking for directions he soon found the digs foreman.

"The bodies, what do we know?"

The foreman was surprised, unless the artefacts fund were scrolls the man funding the dig did not normally care about anything they unearthed.

"A man and woman, hard to tell much about them but based on the teeth we figure they were in their later years, I'd estimate 60's maybe 70's"

"I see" Kabuto nodded, if these two were indeed leaf shinobi it might make sense for them to have travelled for the rest of their lives with these scrolls burying them near to where they themselves would be laid to rest.

"Will we be moving on again soon?" the foreman asked feeling disappointed when he guessed the answer.

"We will, I have information on another location for the scrolls" Kabuto knew that the archaeologists would prefer to remain where they were and keep digging but despite the money he had at his disposal he never had enough to keep more than one dig going at a time, besides he'd tried all the furthest locations, now it was time to move in closer to where the village of Konoha had been located, according to the mission records the last Kabuto had added to his notes the other scroll bearers had never seemed to make it more than five or six days away from the village. They would be closer to that accursed village that had been his downfall previously. "Get your team packed up, in three days we travel to Japan."

--

The feeling of unease was spreading.

The first people to show signs of disquiet had been the leaders at the first meeting for the elders. After that it had spread to their various spouses, heirs and advisors, soon after the rest of the camp picked up on the worry and even the children had become nervous. By the time they had arrived at their destination everyone knew that there was something to be worried about. Still they had all grouped together in a forest close to the school the Warrior Prince was now attending; they had found a clearing within the forest that gave them easy access to the nearby town and a water supply. Once they had settled they tried to carry on as normal, setting up cooking areas, placing their caravans at good distances from each other and beginning their usual lifestyles.

Riku looked around at the caravans and tents that had slowly built up around them, pretty soon all of their supporters and relatives would be around them and he could see where various groups had set up their schools and training areas. It was getting late now and the trainers were sending their pupils home, Riku enjoyed watching the training, he had once been a teacher himself and he, like the instructors, could pick out a promising young fighter within a few minutes of watching them spar. He hadn't taught a group since he became leader of his encampment but he had one student and she was sitting next to him reading from one of his scrolls.

The dark haired, dark witted, Mayu was his protégé, as granddaughter to his brother she was the closest thing he had to a child himself and the only one of his relatives that he felt deserved to be taught in the ways of the warrior. She had shown more promise than any other student of her age and showed more loyalty than any student of any age. At this moment she was reading about the astrology that had led to the naming of Riku as 'the seer' that would meet the Warrior Prince and the Chosen One on his dying day. Everything that ever had been read in the stars would be noted in the village scrolls and the scrolls were never disposed of. Currently Mayu held over 100 years worth of astrology readings in her hands.

"We ought to back all this up" Mayu said turning to look at Riku

"We have another copy of the scroll in a safe place" Riku informed her.

"No I mean on a computer, what we ought to do is put all this into a database so that it is easier to find"

"Easier to find? It is very simple to find what I need in these scrolls."

"But it takes years to read the whole thing, how can you call that simple?"

"Tell me a year" Riku said taking the scroll form her and winding it shut

"1929"

Riku nodded, and opened up the scroll winding it carefully for a few moments and then stopping "1929" he showed her the part smiling

"That's easy though, it's all in date order"

"Then tell me something else to look for"

Mayu frowned thinking through what she had learnt over the last few weeks and then looked up smiling "there was a child at whose birth it was said 'this child shall be raised up amongst their peers but shall never know of it' find that"

"Male or female?" Riku asked with a smile

"Uh… male. I think"

"Well either way" Riku slowly unfurled the scroll and paused "Here is the case for the female" he showed it to her and then carried on back quite a way until he reached the piece he searched for "and here is the males" Mayu took the scroll from him in complete disbelief "My dear girl the leader of these tribes must know it's history in such a way that you could almost quote it from memory. I used to be able to do so but I'm afraid my mind fails me sometimes. Now is that tea ready yet?"

Mayu shook her head in disbelief and poured out a glass of Mu tea "Has it never scared you?" Mayu asked her leader as she handed him his drink

"Scared me?"

"The knowledge that as soon as you see the prince your life will be over. When you finally see him it means your hours are numbered."

"It made me nervous as a young man" he responded his wrinkled face curving into a smile "When I was young I was afraid, to afraid, I missed much of my life due to that fear, let that be a warning to you, never be afraid."

"You mean Yui?" Mayu asked shyly, the older man's eyes widened but then he nodded agreeably.

"Yes Yui is part of what I missed out on" the older man looked towards the lady's caravan where Yui sat near the window writing studiously. The old woman had been a bright and vivacious girl in her youth. The two of them had grown up together, had been best friends and had almost been husband and wife but the fear had held him back, instead Yui had married another man, she had become widow after five years and been left with four children Riku had always looked after her but they never became more than friends. They were both ready to serve the Warrior Prince, he by dying and she by living on, no matter hw hard it was for both of them.

"Why does everyone fear Yui so much?" Mayu asked next her eyes watching him closely.

Riku laughed a this "Yui has skills that are unseen in most, she can heal or harm however she see's fit. She can curse an entire town to become ill, she can bring death and destruction to an entire country, she can create a plight to the fields, cause the livestock to pass away with a single chant and charm." As he spoke the woman in the caravan opposite looked over and saw them staring at her, she bowed her head respectfully and then looked back down at her work. "We are lucky that she has never had a temper, she could have destroyed this tribe many times over."

"Is it true she…"

"She has never killed anyone without my direct orders" a dark look on his face Riku spoke severely now, the rumours surrounding Yui's husbands death had been cruel and not even he knew if they were untrue. Yui had never spoken of it to him, seeing his great nieces face he smiled and patted her head softly "To bed with you, this weekend I shall take you to the Tor and instruct you in the way of seeing." Mayu nodded kissing him in the cheek she left him alone. Riku went back to staring out at the opposite window, the woman was looking back at him, the two of them stared at each other for a long time before Yui made a hand sign that Riku knew well, he returned the sign and then they both made their way into their own bunks.

"I've always loved you Yui" Riku muttered.

In her bunk Yui smiled "I love you too Riku."

Ok everyone I know many of you may have lost faith with this story but I hope those of you that are still reading it enjoy it.