Well, you've made it this far; glad you're still reading!

To reiterate, I don't own Naruto, but this is an AU fic. This story mine, punk! Enjoy readin'!

Onto the next chapter!

Chapter 37 – No Rest for the Weary

"This is boring!" Haku complained as they trudged alongside the Grass citizens along the dirt road.

"Hush!" Kira scolded. "This is part of the mission, now zip it!"

Haku returned her admonishment with a scowl. "Yeah, well before I came to Konoha I didn't have any cruddy missions like this one. With my old sensei I went on exciting missions all the time!" he protested, even though his words sounded hollow even to him. Working for Zabuza as an emotionless tool hadn't exactly left much room for excitement.

"Go easy on Haku, Kira-chan," Naruto remarked as he walked alongside some Grass civilians. "All he's ever known of village life is the work he's done in rebuilding Konoha, so let him make his judgments. He's yet to see just how good it is," he teased, and Kira giggled. Haku huffed.

"I can see you're all determined to make fun of my inexperience. Well, that's fine with me; I'll just talk with the much-friendlier Grass ninja," Haku said, only half-full of indignation.

Then he turned beet-red as Kira pecked him on the cheek and skipped away. "Lighten up, Haku-kun!" she tossed over her shoulder as she went to check on another portion of the caravan.

"I never know what she's thinking," Haku said aloud. Naruto kept quiet, not wanting to interfere in his friends' relationship. Best to let them figure it out for themselves.

He took a scope of their current situation with a little pride. The caravan stretched for almost half a mile, a testament to the Grass' ability to survive a catastrophe like Akatsuki's decimation of their village. The escorts under Shikamaru's command were spread out over that distance in a rather effective manner. Hinata and Shino were positioned a small ways from the back and front of the caravan, respectively, to maximize their scouting abilities. Naruto, Kira, and Haku were spread about the caravan in order to spread out their strength; Sakura and Ino were positioned in the center of the caravan, able to reach anyone needing medical attention anywhere on the caravan. Sasuke and Chouji were happily acting as their personal protectorates, while Shikamaru personally escorted the jounin-oyabun1 (acting leader of jounin rank). They were, at the moment conversing amicably about this and that (mostly that, with only a smattering of this mentioned her and there).

"Ano, Naruto-kun," a voice said by his elbow. Naruto turned to see Hinata.

"Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked her, surprised. Though he really shouldn't have been, since their positions were both near the rear.

"I… I can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen," Hinata whispered.

Naruto shook his head. "Hinata-chan, there is nothing to worry about. Aside from bandits picking off way more than they can chew, there isn't much that can threaten this caravan here. I mean, look! Orochimaru and Otogakure have been destroyed, and Akatsuki has been annihilated."

Hinata shook her head in response. "I know, I know! I keep telling myself that, but I…" she looked away, even though with her Byakugan activated at Shikamaru's request she could see in all directions. "I just can't…"

Naruto stopped his mindless march alongside the caravan and pulled Hinata off to the side. Without giving her any warning other than his movements, he pulled her into a deep kiss, catching her completely off-guard with no more than an "Eeep!"

After a few moments, he pulled away. "There! Now if something bad happens, you'll have this moment to look back on!" Naruto said happily. Hinata glared at him, but her sheepish smile destroyed all its menacing intent.

"I get it…" she grumbled. But before Naruto could turn to leave, she grabbed him from behind and held him close.

"I just don't want to leave anything unfinished," she said into his back.

When she let go, Naruto turned over his shoulder and said, with a lewd wink, "Neither do I!" he replied as he hurried back to the caravan.

Damn him, how does he do that! Hinata cursed in her mind mentally as she felt the blush creep majestically back onto her face. He always says exactly what sets me off! She raged mentally as she caught up to the caravan….

Time passes very slowly for a shinobi or a kunoichi during long stretches of inactivity or, rather, during long stretches of not changing what one is doing. In this case, walking.

"Alright, pass the word down that the caravan will be stopping here for the evening and that we'll reach the Grass border tomorrow; you'll all be home in a couple days, at which point we will assist you in the beginning of your village's reconstruction," Shikamaru said, somehow sounding more bored than usual. The jounin-oyabun nodded and began to walk the length of the caravan, spreading the news of the rest.

"Tch! Finally! My legs are aching!" Ino said happily with a yawn, stretching in a very catlike manner. Chouji chuckled helplessly.

"You're a kunoichi, shouldn't you be used to all this? After all, Asuma-sensei used to drill us like this all the time after those chuunin exams, remember?" Chouji admonished. Ino laughed.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm probably just glad for a change of pace!" she replied. Then she smacked her forehead. "Augh, no pun intended!" she said in mock distress. Sakura laughed.

"Of course not, Ino! Being witty on purpose would be too out-of-character for you!" Sakura said with a wink. Sasuke groaned and motioned to Chouji, and the two shinobi wisely gave the girls a wide berth. As they walked over to where Shikamaru was standing, the first sounds of the verbal sparring had already begun.

"Okay, we'll be at the border soon. Naruto, you look like you've got something to say," Shikamaru said as Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Kira, Haku, and Naruto approached.

"Since my team is here to protect this caravan, I'd like to get going with some precautions," Naruto asked Shikamaru. He nodded, pointing at Naruto and Sakura.

"Naruto, I know what you're gonna do, just don't exhaust yourself. Sakura, you go with him and keep an eye on him; you know how he can get."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean! Hey!" Naruto protested in vain as Sakura dragged him a ways into the perimeter of the caravan's site.

After a bit Sakura relented and allowed Naruto to take the lead. He led Sakura away until they were about twenty-five meters away from the main part of the caravan, then motioned Sakura over.

"Check this out, Sakura-chan," he said confidentially. She looked on with a trained eye at the seals Naruto's Shirugan began to write on various trees in a makeshift circle. He walked as he scribed various traps and snares for any unsuspecting intruders. When they arrived at the place Naruto began, he retraced his steps, this time over-scribing another set of seals at an interval.

"What's that for, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked curiously. Naruto grinned.

"I'm setting the traps to only go off if broken from outside the circle. Also, they'll destroy themselves after the caravan leaves in the morning! I don't want anyone setting these off by accident for no reason after we're gone," Naruto explained. Sakura smiled.

"That's a pretty good idea, Naruto-kun," Sakura said with a sad smile. Naruto finished his work and turned to face her, breathing a little heavier than usual.

"What's… wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, catching his breath. Sakura gasped.

"Naruto, your eyes! They're… they're red! What's wrong with your Shirugan?" Sakura asked worriedly. Naruto cursed and looked away, slightly ashamed.

"I was hoping to keep this a secret for now, but I guess it's okay to tell my nee-chan. My chakra is becoming the Kyuubi's demonic chakra. This process is irreversible as a result of my body absorbing the Kyuubi. For a brief few moments, I actually had long, messed-up hair and a freakin' tail!" Naruto said hurriedly, scratching the back of his head.

Sakura frowned. "Naruto, what are you really afraid of?" Naruto sighed. He seemed a loss for words, but then he steeled himself.

"I know it seems stupid, but I'm kinda afraid of what everyone would think! Sakura, when I looked in a mirror, I scared myself. And I'm not sure whether it'll happen again," Naruto said, now speaking to his feet. Sakura smiled and gently cupped his face to bring his eyes to meet hers.

"You're so different from the you you were those years ago," she said simply with a smile. Naruto began to protest, then shut his mouth when he realized what she was getting at.

Grinning right back at her, he replied, "I dunno what you're talking about, Sakura-nee-chan! I'm just as handsome as ever!" he cackled gleefully as Sakura's face reddened.

"That's not what I meant! Baka!" Sakura howled and chased after Naruto, who was already running back to the caravan. Those they happened to pass on their merry way could only pray for the hapless Hokage-to-be.

"The tents are set up over there for us. Girls in there, guys in there, any messing around and I'll use a shadow jutsu to do things to you that not even Orochimaru dreamed about," Shikamaru drawled as he indicated the large tents.

"You're just jealous!" Haku yelled. Kira jabbed him in the side.

"Actually, he's not. I hear he's been corresponding with that Suna kunoichi; what's her name?" Chouji chuckled at the flustered look on his usually-in-control friend.

"Aww, that's so cute! Shikamaru has a crush!" Ino giggled. Their esteemed jounin commander, not wanting to lose face in front of the people he had to work with for the next few months, snapped.

"Alright, everyone get some rest, that's an order!" Shikamaru bellowed, exhaling with relief when they all laughed and exchanged their good-night's with him and the others.

"Yes sir!" Haku said, snapping a salute and ending in a mocking wave. Kira again gave him a "love tap", then kissed him on the cheek and dashed into the girl's tent. With a grumble, Haku followed the rest of the boys into their tent. As it was a rather boring, and thus tiring, day, the shinobi of Konoha promptly crawled into their sleeping bags and fell soundly asleep, or made valiant efforts to.

Naruto lay awake, calmly sitting in a meditative pose. Unable to sleep, he had deactivated his Shirugan and extended his senses around the caravan, keeping tabs on the various familiar chakra signatures in an attempt to tire himself out.

He started when one chakra signature in particular separated itself from the rest of them and moved a ways before stopping. Moving carefully so as to not disturb the snoring Haku or the restless Sasuke, he exited the guys' tent and moved towards the chakra signature.

Hinata shivered in the cold, then suddenly stilled as a warm blanket was draped over her form from behind. Bereft of her dark blue jacket which usually concealed the equipment strapped about her mature form, she was grateful for the extra layer, even more so when she saw who had delivered it to her.

Naruto smiled and placed a finger over his lips as he drew his love to him, clasping his hands around her waste. She sighed and leaned into him.

"Can't sleep?" Naruto asked gently as he rocked her side-to-side.

"Right back atcha," Hinata replied just as softly, relishing the contact between them. Ever since the destruction of Konoha, intimate moments were few and far between, and Hinata wondered what it would be like for them when Naruto was finally instated as the Rokudaime, blushing at the thought of them still together at that time.

"I was contemplating the near future. What's your excuse?" Naruto asked playfully as he squeezed Hinata gently. Kami-sama, but she was soft. He felt her tense, but he wasn't sure whether it was from the pressure or the question.

"I… had a nightmare," Hinata confessed after a time. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"It wasn't about something bad happening on this mission, was it?" he asked worriedly. He felt rather than saw her shake her head.

"It was… well, you were in it," she began. Naruto said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"It was strange, because it started out okay. It was just the two of us back in Konoha, and it was dark, and we were walking down the street. I'm not sure what exactly happened next, but you started acting like a real jerk, but I don't remember what you said. Then you beat some guy up for no reason at all, saying something about him insulting you because you were the Kyuubi or something. I think I woke up then, but I'm not sure," Hinata said haltingly, as one does when relating a dream recently had.

Naruto was quiet for a moment. Then: "Why was I so… out of character?" he said, trying to inflect his voice with humor to show that he wasn't really serious, but instead found that he couldn't.

"I don't know! It was weird, and I didn't like it," Hinata replied defensively. She felt Naruto let go of her, and she turned to face him. "What's wrong?" she asked. He looked her in the eye and turned around.

"… Why did you dream about me like that? Is that how you see me acting at some time?" Naruto asked. He sounded confused.

Hinata wasn't pleased. "What do you mean, 'is that how I think of you?' It was a dream, Naruto-kun. It doesn't mean anything," she tried to explain.

Naruto turned back to face her. He wasn't smiling. "Well, it had to come from somewhere, right?"

Seeing where he was going with this, Hinata grabbed his shoulders firmly. "Naruto-kun, drop it. I know what you're implying, and frankly I think it's stupid. Why would you think that I would see you like that?" she asked angrily. Naruto pushed her arms away.

"I don't know! It was your dream!" he shot back. Hinata recoiled, stunned. She shook her head.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this, we've never had a problem like this before!" she asked. Naruto shrugged and ignored the question.

"Dammit, Naruto-kun, answer me! This is our relationship we're talking about!" Hinata yelled angrily, forgetting that the entire caravan was asleep and yanking Naruto around to face her again. As he opened his mouth, a glare forming around his unconsciously-activated Shirugan, Hinata was spared the embarrassment of accidentally waking up the entire caravan by a very large and obnoxious noise.

The explosion rocked the ground they stood on. Hinata, in her anger, refused to reach out to Naruto to steady herself and held her ground. When the shaking died down, she glared at Naruto, activating her Byakugan. "Naruto-kun, what the hell did you surround us with?" she demanded.

But Naruto had gone ashen-faced and was looking in the direction of the explosion. He stood rock-still for a millisecond, then exploded with motion, running towards the disturbance.

"Everyone, get the hell out of bed and get your asses out here, the caravan's under attack! MOVE IT!" Naruto bellowed. Hinata gasped and focused on her enhanced vision, seeing what could shake Naruto up so badly. A large lump of chakra systems clogged her sight along with the leftover chakra strands from Naruto's seals.

"Shit!" she cursed, rushing after Naruto and falling in behind his left flank, watching as he gathered his permanently demonic chakra.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he commanded, and a small army of clones poofed into existence and began to perform various techniques. Blasts of air and in some cases demonic flashes of chakra hurtled through the air at the incoming intruders. Naruto himself drew forth Makai from its sheath and ducked under a kunai, slicing off the arm that held it at the elbow and silencing the man's ensuing scream with a swift return slash. The shadowy figure fell backwards, but before he hit the ground Naruto had already slain another attacker with a thrust to the heart.

By this time, Hinata had several kills to herself, ducking and weaving with the lithe and deadly grace of her dance of death. Her gentle palms acted as though given minds of their own, and enhanced with her own wind chakra, her opponents usually only took one hit before collapsing, dead before hitting the ground.

Naruto finished off another ninja and straightened, taking advantage of the split-second lull in the fight to take in the situation. It proved to be unnecessary to do so, however, as the ground shook again as consecutive explosions rocked the forest once more.

"Shikamaru! What the hell is going on?" Naruto shouted as he ducked underneath another brace of kunai. The shadow-user caught them and formed the ram seal. Someone Naruto couldn't see screamed, the sound accompanied by a squelch of splattered blood.

"A very large group of ninja have attacked the caravan," he answered, hurling the kunai away into the night, resulting in another yelp accompanied by the sounds of merciless, bloody death.

A light appeared in the distance, which revealed its source to be a fire. Screams of panic soon accompanied the blaze and Shikamaru cursed, turning to return to the caravan.

"And they've set fire to the caravan. Finish them off here, Naruto! The rest of your team is earning their own reputation on the other side of the caravan," Shikamaru relayed to Naruto, who nodded his thanks and turned to meet the latest opponents. In the light of the blaze, he caught sight of something interesting: a hitai with strange dot marks on them.

That isn't any village's insignia that I recognize, Naruto thought as he parried an attack with Makai, returning in kind. Finally, he was attacked by who he could only assume was one of the heads of the his raid. The man drew forth a set of shuriken and flung them. Spinning Makai in a circle, the stars were deflected. However, their purpose had been fulfilled.

"Suiton: Surryuendan no jutsu!" the man called, and Naruto whipped through a seal set of his own as the water dragon hurtled towards him.

"Tenma no jutsu: Cloak of the Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted. As he felt the jutsu take effect, he ignored the chakra-filled water dragon and flung a strange kunai into the air in front of him.

The dragon crashed around him, leaving him unharmed. He smiled, Shirugan gleaming in the torrent of chakra, and he activated the seal he had scribed onto the kunai.

The leader of the attack blanched when he saw his blonde opponent had disappeared. Did I get him? Or did he dodge it? he wondered.

Then he ceased to wonder as he felt cold metal press itself against his neck.

"Who are you? You've completely obliterated half of my squad, and it's obvious I'm no match for you," the man breathed.

"I'm asking the questions here. Who are you, and why did you attack this caravan?" Naruto demanded, pressing Makai into the man's neck enough to draw blood.

The man grinned. "I am a shinobi of Amegakure, and your days are numbered, Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure," the man breathed, throwing his head forward before Naruto could stop him. His head was severed from his shoulders, and he fell to the ground with a splat. Naruto cursed and flicked the blood off Makai before sheathing it. Glancing around with the Shirugan revealed the immediate area to be secure of any other ninja, so Naruto began to make his way back to the caravan, where the blaze still burned brightly.

"Kuso! Who are these guys?" Haku cursed, ducking under a punch and darting inside his opponents guard with the speed of his bijuu's chakra aiding him. He rammed his extended fingers into the young woman's solar plexus, and he felt her cough up blood on his back as she slumped forward. Pivoting on his extended foot, Haku spun away to greet his next attacker, blocking the man's kick. He was unable to react, however, as the man pressed his attack with a flurry of strikes. One caught Haku on the shoulder, to his surprise, but he used the momentum to spin away and flick through some seals. Needles of ice appeared in the air and flung themselves at the man, who screamed and then made no more sound.

Around him the battle raged. The fires had spread along the caravan, lighting the darkness with a sickly glow.

Haku was caught off-guard in his brief musings with a kunai pressed up against his neck, which disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. The offender had his arm with the kunai at the end of it twisted around his back. Sharingan stared mercilessly as Sasuke twisted, breaking the man's wrist and taking the kunai, only to stick it in his heart.

Neither Haku nor Sasuke was within ten meters of the man before he hit the ground, already supporting their comrades in their struggles.

And the battle raged.

Naruto's arrival at the main part of the caravan was punctuated with the sharp smell of burnt everything. His teammates gathered around him, and he mentally took in their conditions. No one was seriously injured except for Sasuke, who was sporting a rather large cut on his arm which Sakura was already tending to. Naruto caught Sasuke's eye and indicated the wound with a raised eyebrow. Sasuke looked away, and Naruto was sure he heard him mutter, "Lucky hit," but couldn't be sure. Then he stiffened.

"Where's Hinata-chan?" he asked urgently. Everyone looked around. Then Kira gasped.

"Hinata-chan!" she shouted. Naruto followed her gaze to see Hinata leaning against a tree on one hand, her other arm curled around her side.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto echoed, rushing to her side. She met his impending gaze with empty eyes, collapsing. Naruto caught her and gently laid her on the ground.

"I ran into… one of the commanders of the squad… at least a jounin… killed him… so strong…" Hinata said weakly.

"Shshshsh! Save your strength, Hinata-chan," Sakura said urgently. Naruto cursed himself for being too lax, having not even noticed Sakura's approach. She nudged Naruto in the side.

"Help Shikamaru re-establish some sense of order around here, a lot of Grass were killed in the fires," Sakura said in an undertone. Naruto nodded and left Hinata's side very unwillingly.

"What's the situation?" Naruto asked Shikamaru when he found him directing some of the improv-fire-fighters.

Shikamaru sighed. "I don't know what you did to protect this encampment, but this enemy literally ripped your traps apart. They lost some men doing so, but after the holes were made past the three lines you made they simply charged right in. None of our ninja died in the fighting, but we're still not sure how many Grass ninja and civilians were killed. What did you learn?" he asked as Naruto took in the information.

"Kuso…" he said softly, looking to where some Grass ninja were laying out some of their casualties. He turned back to Shikamaru. "The attack came from a village called Amegakure, but right after this guy told me he cut his own head off on my katana." Naruto scowled. "Amegakure was the village that Pain from Akatsuki was operating from," he added darkly, "but it's too early to make any connections. He also knew my name, but pretended he didn't until I killed him."

"Interesting," Shikamaru said quietly, running a hand through his black hair. "Well, there's no use talking about it now. Have your team assist with this cleanup, after which we'll try to get back to sleep, though I doubt that'll really happen. If you could reset the traps, I'd be grateful; at least we'll have the warning if another suicidal enemy walks in," Shikamaru ordered.

Naruto nodded and ran back to his team, which had gathered around Hinata.

"How is she?" Naruto asked when he reached them. Sasuke and Haku stepped aside to allow Naruto access to his girlfriend. She looked better, but was still much paler than usual.

"Hina-chan," Naruto said without thinking, bringing a hand forth to cup her cheek. Her closed eyes opened to meet Naruto's Shirugan.

"That argument… seems pretty stupid now… doesn't it?" she asked with a weak grin. Naruto smiled, eyes watering, and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Yeah. Get some rest, Hinata-chan. You did great, getting rid of their commander. We'll talk tomorrow, I promise," Naruto said softly. He leaned in again to bring his mouth to her ear. "I love you; don't forget that," he whispered.

Hinata closed her eyes with a smile. I know… she mouthed back, falling into blissful unconsciousness.

"I'll bring her into our tent," Kira offered.

"Thanks, Kira-chan. Take care of her for me?" he pleaded. Kira smiled as she picked Hinata up.

"Duh," she tossed over her shoulder as she entered the girl's tent.

"Alright everyone, get to work. The faster this mess goes away, the faster we all get back to sleep," Naruto ordered, paraphrasing Shikamaru's orders. "Sasuke, you're with me."

As Naruto led him away into the forest, Sasuke voiced a concern.

"Naruto, what does this all mean?" Sasuke asked his brother quietly. Naruto shook his head.

"Figures a member of Team 7 would go straight to the underneath beneath the underneath," Naruto replied. Sasuke nodded, meeting Naruto's gaze expectantly.

Naruto sighed as he began to write seals onto the still-standing trees with the Shirugan. "Frankly, I have no idea. I've never even heard of Amegakure, and the only people who can tell us are either dead or back in Konoha," he answered unhappily.

Sasuke nodded, scanning the forest with his Sharingan. "Definitely a problem. Oh, and Naruto?"

Naruto turned to face his brother. "Yah?"

Sasuke smiled. "Don't worry about Hinata; she'll be fine in the morning. Sakura-chan patched her up pretty well."

Naruto smiled tiredly. "Thanks, Sasuke. Now lemme finish this, I'm tired as hell."

The red-eyed man smiled as he watched the city of Amegakure bustle and thrive beneath his gaze. He knew that the two squads, despite their size, would not stand a chance against the powerful Konoha ninja. Yes, many Grass ninja would be killed, perhaps one or two Konoha ninja too, but in all likelihood the squads would be annihilated by Uzumaki Naruto and his personal team of jounin.

But the point isn't to kill you, little Konoha ninja. That isn't the point at all, the man thought calmly. He imagined the scene right now: utter confusion for that caravan, and the culprit elusive in their eyes. Fortunately for Konoha, the red-eyed man was patient and would allow the situation to develop a little before nudging it in another direction again.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" the red-eyed man said to the window.

Far away, the blonde sneezed in his sleep.

And that's that! Hope y'all enjoyed that little battle. I didn't intend for it to focus on one-on-one combat, so if you thought it lacking, it was, and on purpose. It'll come soon, probably even next chapter, so hang in there. I've always wanted to write a, "Camp gets attacked in the middle of the night and gets set on fire," scene, so that kinda made me happy.

Hope you'll stick around for the next chappie! At least, that's the original send-off, but in reality you have to wait pretty much a couple of hours! Pumpin' them out like...

...

JA!