ch. 49

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked Tadakatsu.

The pair had left the town and walked about a mile into the forest so no civilians would get hurt.

"You bet. I've always wanted to test my mettle against an Uchiha. Don't hold back." Tadakatsu slipped off his jacket and got into a fighting stance.

"Taijutsu only, right? Just a friendly spar?" Sasuke asked as he entered into his stance.

"Of course. Now let's do this."

Sasuke took the initiative and ran at Tadakatsu. Sasuke's raw speed surprised Tadakatsu, and he took a mean kick to the chin.

"Looks like my strength training has started to pay off. I bet even Naruto won't be able to"

Sasuke's thought was broken when Tadakatsu recovered from Sasuke's kick fast enough to grab his leg and swing him away with a scary amount of power. Sasuke recovered by flipping to his feet.

"Impressive kick." Tadakatsu complimented. He rushed at Sasuke and started bombarding him with punches.

"It's like fighting Naruto, all over again." Sasuke thought while dodging Tadakatsu's powerful strikes.

Back at the hotel, Hinata had found Karin soaking in the public bath. There was no one else in the room, which made Hinata a little less nervous. She approached Karin, who looked up at her, curiously.

"What in the world has this girl gone through?" Hinata thought when she saw the bite marks on Karin's neck and shoulder area.

"May I join you?" Hinata asked, her face a light pink.

"Go ahead." Karin answered, in a friendly tone.

Hinata very swiftly took off her towel and entered the water.

"What's your name?" Karin asked.

"Hinata Hyuga, and you are?"

"Karin. Is this your first time in a public bath?"

"Yes. I've always been really shy, but recently I started making an effort to change that. Um... Would your last name happen to be Uzumaki by any chance?"

Karin's demeanor changed instantly. Gone, was the friendly girl who welcomed Hinata. In her place was a girl with hard eyes who stared down Hinata with an intimidating gaze.

"What does it matter to you? Do you have a problem with my clan?"

"No, you misunderstand me. I don't wish to start any trouble."

"Then tell me what you want. I thought it might not have been a coincidence when I saw you in that hallway earlier. You followed me down here, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did follow you, but I promise I have no nefarious intentions. I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Then ask."

"Do you have a cousin named, Naruto?"

Karin's mouth hung open in shock. She grabbed Hinata by the shoulders and started shaking her.

"What do you know about my cousin? Do you know where he is?"

"Please calm down."

Karin stopped shaking Hinata and backed away.

"I'm sorry. Please just tell me what you know."

"Naruto is currently a ninja in the employ of the cloud village."

Karin looked shocked at this news.

"I had heard that he was in lightning country, but I didn't know he was a ninja."

"He is. He was at the last chunin exams."

"I don't understand. He's a leaf village native. Why would he be in the cloud village?"

"I don't know the whole story myself, but from what I understand, he was adopted by a woman there."

"How exactly do you know all of this? You said that he was a cloud ninja now and you're a Hyuga, which is a leaf clan."

"Well... Me and him started a... Friendship during the chunin exams."

"I have a feeling that friendship is an understatement."

Hinata started to blush and push her fingers together.

"He was... My first."

"Oh... He used protection I hope."

Hinata blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"I didn't mean like that. We just kissed. We weren't ready for that sort of thing. Can we please change the subject? Naruto told me about you in a letter and I promised him that I would tell you that he was looking for you, if we ever crossed paths."

"I've been looking for him too. I had my boyfriend searching for him but he had to postpone the search for work reasons."

"Well, now that you know, you can go see him."

"I promise that I'll go see him as soon as I can. Thank you for telling me all of this." Karin hugged Hinata.

"Y-You're welcome." Hinata was blushing incredibly red at the gesture. They were still naked in a bath, after all.

"Now, that we've got that out of the way, would you mind telling me more about yourself?" Karin asked when she broke the hug.

"Me? Why?"

"I just want to know about the girl who has my cousin's heart. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. Where to begin?"

Back with Sasuke and Tadakatsu, The young warriors were still going strong in their spar. Sasuke ducked a punch from Tadakatsu and kicked him into the air.

"Dancing leaf shadow" He said when he appeared behind him. Sasuke attempted to kick Tadakatsu while in mid air but Tadakatsu was able to block it. Sasuke then spun around and back handed Tadakatsu from the other side. He then finished by spinning his body again so that he could deliver a devastating axe kick to Tadakatsu's stomach.

"LION'S BARRAGE!" Sasuke yelled. Luckily for Tadakatsu, he poofed out of existence and a log was left in his place.

"You're something else man. You lived up to the reputation of your clan." Tadakatsu complimented when he walked back into sight.

"You're pretty strong too. It's been awhile since I had to fight so hard. Sorry about the rough finisher. I got a little excited."

"It's cool. I've gotten so used to fighting with weapons that I've let my hand to hand skills get rusty. I deserved that."

"What kind of weapons do you specialize in?"

"Spears and lances mostly. They're good up close, they make a good projectile when thrown, and I know a jutsu that creates them out of earth. What about you? Do you have a preferred weapon?"

"..."

Flashback

"Happy birthday little brother!" Itachi happily proclaimed. He handed Sasuke a huge box and Sasuke gleefully tore it open to see his gift.

"Woah! Is this really for me?"

"I noticed you staring at it when we went into town last week."

"Thank's big brother! I can't wait to take it outside and practice." Sasuke pulled a bow out of the box and tried to pull the string back.

"If Sasuke hurts himself with that thing, you're going to be in big trouble, Itachi." Sasuke's mother came into the room and gave Itachi a stern look.

"Don't worry mom. I promise to teach Sasuke how to use it."

"Yeah! I'm gonna be the best archer the leaf village has ever seen!"

Flashback end

"No... I keep some kunai and shuriken on me, but I don't really have a preferred weapon."

"You should probably think about picking one up. A good weapon can save your life in a tough situation."

"I'll think about it."

"Here, take this."

Tadakatsu pulled out a pill bottle and handed one of the pills inside to Sasuke.

"What is this?"

"Some medicine, just take it."

Sasuke was weary of the strange medicine.

"If I wanted to poison you, I would have tried it back at the restaurant." Tadakatsu took one of the pills, convincing Sasuke that it was safe, so he ate the pill and his body surged with energy and he felt invigorated like he never felt before.

"What in the world is this? I feel incredible!" Sasuke boasted.

"One of my girlfriends is a real science wiz. She made that medicine for me. Speaking of my girlfriends, I should get back to them before it gets too late. If they get too tired they won't want to have fun tonight."

Sasuke and Tadakatsu headed back to their hotel. They made small talk all the way until they reached their floor. Tadakatsu wished Sasuke a farewell for the night and entered his room. Sasuke kept heading down the hall to his room. He went in and laid down on his bed, his thought's drifting toward his pink haired team mate once again.

"Sakura..." He quietly let slip before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.

A few minutes later, Hinata and Karin made their way up to their rooms.

"I'm so glad I met you. To know that my cousin is safe and that he's met such a sweet girl is a huge weight off of my shoulders." Karin said as she reached her door.

"I'm just happy to help. In case we don't see each other tomorrow, I wish you a safe journey."

"Safe travels to you too."

Karin opened the door to her room and the hallway was filled with the sounds of a creaking bed. Karin ran in as fast as she could and closed the door so that the sound seal placed on it could do it's job.

"I guess the Tadakatsu boy they were talking about came back." Hinata thought. She probably should have been more curious about the arrangement the three seemed to have, but she was just happy that Naruto and his cousin were going to reunite soon. She entered her room and prepared to sleep for the night.

"Stop having sex for a few seconds so I can tell you two something amazing." Karin said when she entered the room.

"We're not fucking yet. Tadakatsu wanted a lap dance." Tayuya said while she grinded into Tadakatsu's lap with enough force to make the bed shake. Tadakatsu laid there with a big smile on his face, both of them in nothing but their underwear.

"What'd you need to tell us?" He asked.

"You won't believe who I just ran into at the bath. There was a girl there who said that she knows Naruto!"

Tadakatsu went from smiling like a fool, to shocked. Tayuya even stopped her grinding.

"You were right when you said he might be in the lightning country. She said that he was a cloud ninja now."

Tadakatsu looked at Tayuya for a second and nodded. She got off of his lap and went over to her bag.

"Karin, are you sure that this girl was trustworthy?" Tadakatsu asked.

"I believe so. She said that they were in a long distance relationship. She didn't seem to be lying."

"... That's great! We'll go see him at the cloud village as soon as we can, I promise."

Tadakatsu grabbed Karin in a hug and she hugged him back. He kissed her forehead.

"You know I love you, right Karin?" He asked as he stroked her back lovingly.

"Of course baby." She happily replied.

The room was filled with an exotic melody as Tayuya started playing her flute. Within seconds, Karin passed out in Tadakatsu's arms.

"Then please forgive me." He said as he laid her down on the bed.

"What do you want to do?" Tayuya asked.

"We're going to have to erase her memory of tonight."

"The last time we tried that we failed."

"Last time, we tried to erase Naruto himself from her memory. We only failed because her love for him was way too strong, and she subconsciously overpowered the jutsu. This time should be different, if we approach it the right way. Her meeting one of Naruto's friends almost sounds too good to be true. We may be able to convince her mind that it was all a dream."

"I... may be able to pull that off. Fresh memories are easier to manipulate than old ones, because the mind hasn't had time to make a strong connection to them. If I just manipulate her memories of the last hour or two then we might be able to get away with it."

"Good. I already let the world take my mother away. I refuse to let another woman I love be stolen from me. Least of all by that worthless punk, Naruto."

The next morning Hinata and her group, were packed and ready to leave bright and early. Everyone was down in the lobby waiting for Hinata, who decided to give one last goodbye to Karin. She knocked on her door but there was no response.

"Should I use my byakugan to check on her? What if they're doing something shameless? I don't have time to sit here and think about this too long."

Hinata decided to use her byakugan and was shocked when she saw no one in the room.

"They left earlier than we did? Wait, what's that?"

She noticed an envelope on the bed.

"To Naruto's girlfriend." Was written on the envelope. Hinata opened the door and tore the envelope open to read the message.

"Tell Naruto, that I will never let Karin be taken away from me. If he keeps trying then it's open season on the people he loves. That includes you miss Hyuga. I don't care how powerful your clan is. I will kill you, if you cross me."

Hinata tore the letter into tiny bits and threw them into the trash. She began her walk downstairs.

"I will kill you, if you cross me." She repeated in her head.

"You can try." She angrily thought.

She met up with everyone and they began the last day of their mission.

A few miles away, Tadakatsu was driving their carriage through the woods. Tayuya had Karin's head in her lap in the back. Karin's eyes fluttered open and she groggily sat up.

"What... What happened last night? I feel like my head was just cracked open."

"There was something wrong with your food last night. It made you sick as a dog. You spent half the night vomiting in the toilet."

"Ugh... I had the strangest dream... I met the Hyuga clan heiress and she said that she was in a long distance relationship with my cousin."

"That's a dumb dream. Do you really think that kid could snag a clan heiress? Spoiled bitches like that marry rich assholes, not commoners like him."

"I guess you're right. Still, it felt pretty real for a dream."

"I once had a dream that I died and got sent to hell, where I fucked the lord of the dead so good that he brought me back to life. That dream felt real too, but of course it never happened."

"Tayuya, that wasn't a dream. That was a role play you and Tadakatsu had."

"The role play was based on the dream, dumb ass."

Outside the carriage, Tadakatsu was deep in thought.

"I hope our spy has taken care of those traitors by now."

Back in the cloud village, The ex-sound genin were getting settled into their new apartment. It was a nice two bed room, one bath place. A little small for three people, but they knew they could manage. The couch had a pull out bed which Dosu claimed. The only television was in the living room, so that was the choice spot. The three sat on the couch, watching said television, when a knock at the door alerted them.

"It's me." Naruto said from the other side.

Zaku got up and opened the door for him.

"I brought a housewarming gift." Naruto happily held up a banzai tree. He handed it to Zaku and noticed he had a black eye.

"What's up with the black eye?"

"The pervert tried to get me to share my bed with him!" Kin angrily said from her spot on the couch.

"I didn't know the couch was a bed, and I thought that as leader, Dosu deserved a bed to himself." Zaku argued.

"Bullshit." Kin said.

"Whatever, just don't kill each other. I need to go see Haku. I'll be back later to check on you guys."

Naruto left and headed down the stairs. On his way down he passed by a mail man with a package. The mail man walked up the stairs until he reached the apartment of Dosu's team.

"I've got some important paper work for the new residents of this apartment." He said as he knocked.

Suddenly the door was blown off the hinges and slammed straight into the mail man.

"Nice try." Zaku taunted. His arm cannon's primed and ready for another attack.

The banzai tree that Naruto had brought transformed into a Naruto clone.

"He's out cold. Good idea to slip a clone of me into your room so that I could warn you if anyone with malicious intent showed up." Naruto complimented to Dosu.

"I knew that Tadakatsu would want us dead when he heard about us turning coat. I figured his spy would be a little more competent, though"

A squad of ANBU appeared outside of the apartment and arrested the spy.

"If Tadakatsu wants to silence us, he's going to need to try harder than this." Dosu said.

A few hours later, Naruto and Haku were in the hospital playing a friendly game of cards.

"I should be cleared to get out in the morning." Haku said.

"That's good. I can show you around town, and introduce you to some people... OH MY GOD!"

Naruto stood up and started freaking out.

"What is it?" Haku asked, strangely calm.

"DUDE, WE FORGOT YOUR PET RABBIT!"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about her. We have a tendency to find each other after we get separated."

"How can you be so calm? What if she gets eaten?"

"She'll be fine. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned up soon."

A knock at the door surprised the two.

"I didn't sense anything..." Naruto said. He made his way to the door and opened it. He wasn't ready for the sight in front of him.

"You Haku?" The ninja rabbit asked. He was a small, yet fat creature, that wore a black mask with holes for his ears to come out of. It had a small knife in a sheath attached to it's right side and a scroll attached to it's left.

"Uh... He is." Naruto pointed to his friend in the bed. The rabbit jumped over to Haku's bed in a single bound and landed in his lap.

"So you're the one that's been taking care of my little sister?"

Author's Notes: Yep, Haku's going to learn to summon rabbits. Why? Because I felt like it. Next chapter is the last one before the time skip. As always review and flame and all that good stuff.

P.S: Last week was one of my bigger chapters, yet it received my fewest amount of reviews. Does that seem kind of backwards to anyone else?

P.P.S: What in the holy mother of fuck is up with the document manager? I just spent two hours trying to upload this chapter before I gave up and just copied the chapter into an already established document I had. I then had to go back through the chapter and redo all of the spaces, italics, and bold print because that didn't carry over when I pasted it. Is anyone else having these bullshit problems?