I See You

by NightOwl27

Her family in upheaval, Hinata is forced to decide to fight the Fate of the Hyuga or give in to her cage. Naruto is the village pariah who desperately wants to find someone who will see him for who he really is. Naruhina-centric story of friendship then love. Hyūga dynasty drama subplot. Slightly dark, w/humor too. Hizashi alive, kind Neji. Starts pre-canon/canon rewrite. Alt POV

35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

CHAPTER 35

Blue and black eyes glared at each other, sizing up their opponent in the high stakes game of risk and reward. Sai narrowed his eyes on Naruto's face, analyzing the furrow of his brow despite his small smile, the way his shoulders were set, and the relaxed fingers of his hand. He searched his stunted mind for any hint of what the blond's emotions might be, a tell of his intentions, using every bit of experience he had struggled to garner over the last six months as this unpredictable shinobi's teammate to understand what he was thinking.

"I call." Sai announced, but frowned when Naruto's smile widened at his statement. Yamato tossed his own coins into the pile as well, using his large eyes in the way that Sai had learned meant he was trying to appear intimidating. Hinata neatly laid her cards down, folding without any appearance of regret whatsoever that he could detect.

"Queen high straight," Yamato said with a sigh as he flipped over his two cards. Sai pondered the apparent relief on his Senpai's face, but a bead of sweat still ran down his temple. He feels confident but is still nervous, I see.

"Full House," Sai declared as he attempted to put what he hoped looked like a pleased smile on his face. He was still trying to master the art of smiling. When he had first come out of the shadows and into the ANBU he had thought that a smile was simply a smile, but his time with Team Kakashi had been an educational experience he had never anticipated, with Naruto claiming the role of self-appointed sensei over such a wide range of emotional nuances that at times Sai wondered if one could consider themselves bilingual once they figured it all out. Learning to read and speak without the use of words, or at times in complete contradiction of them, was as difficult as learning a foreign language, and not even remotely intuitive for the emotionally repressed Root agent.

"Not bad Sai." Naruto's mouth was definitely what Sai would call a grin, which was not necessarily a good thing, he had learned. His fake smile fell from his pale face as he frankly studied his teammate.

"Why are you smiling? I called your bluff." Sai asked, mentally reviewing the last few hands that they had played, plus the Flop, the Turn, the River, and carefully calculated the odds of Naruto pulling off a better hand. "It is highly unlikely that you were dealt a winning hand...again."

Naruto's eyes squinted and his whiskers curled up in a way that Sai recognized as decidedly vulpine, a unique expression that the Kyūbi Container seemed to be able to make, and his artistic eye fixated on the fleeting impression. With a chuckle Naruto casually flipped his cards and eagerly reached with long arms for the pile of crumpled bills and coins.

"Straight Flush?!" Yamato's head clanged against the wooden table of his own design. "He must be cheating. There's no way someone is that lucky."

"I do not cheat!" Naruto said with false indignation, unable to wipe the cocky smirk off his face. "Byakugan no Hime over there is the one you gotta watch, I just play the game better than all you amateurs."

Hinata snorted as she reached for the cards to shuffle them up and deal again. "I don't need the Byakugan to see when you bluff Naruto-kun. Your tells are so obvious."

Sai listened with shrewd observation, it was not obvious to him. He had no idea what she saw in Naruto's body language that always seemed to tip her off. Is it normal for people to read each other so easily? He understood why Naruto insisted on teaching him how to play Poker, it was definitely testing his ability to interpret other people's thoughts and emotions without words.

Yamato groaned as he watched his sake money get scooped into Naruto's greedy arms. "It's not fair. Between Naruto's insane luck, the Legendary Sucker's Apprentice, and Sai's stupidly good poker face, I'll never win." He straightened up, "Hey, Kakashi-senpai, can I borrow—"

"No." Kakashi's book never dropped as he continued on reading from his reclined position on the wooden bench, also of Yamato's design. The losing shinobi huffed dejectedly, planting his chin in his hand while grumbling about ungrateful teammates who might find thorns on their next gifted bench.

The door of the ANBU training area slid open and two masked shinobi appeared. Naruto and Hinata immediately excused themselves and trotted over to greet them. Sai continued to ignore Yamato's self pitying comments as he pulled out his notebook, the one he had started back when he had first been assigned as a member of this diverse team. It fell open and he scanned the sketches on each page as he flipped through looking for a blank space. Numerous assortments of human studies, all painstakingly catalogued and labeled, slid through his fingers as the pages fanned past. His own handmade encyclopedia of human emotions. It included Naruto's baffling variety of smiles, Hinata's fascinatingly diverse hues of blushes, Yamato's impressive range of eyeball enhanced intimidation, and Kakashi's ability to slouch with expression. All were documented and annotated for his own reference.

Sai stopped over a span of clean white paper, carefully dipping his brush in his ever present jar of ink and adding the fox-like grin of Naruto's victorious face to his book. He held up the finished product to Yamato and asked, "Senpai, what would you call this emotion?"

Yamato's bottom lip jutted out even further as he looked at the drawing. Sai's teammates were used to his weird questions, and it had been Hinata's idea to encourage his little project, hoping it would help him round out a bit and thereby smooth over the bumps in their team dynamic. "Looks like a smug motherfucker to me," he grumbled.

Nodding sharply, Sai bent over the sketch and began to write in the definition when Yamato snatched the brush out of his hand, "You can't write that!"

"But you said—"

"Predatorily self satisfied." Kakashi interjected, still somehow not looking away from his book.

Sai looked down at the way the sketched whiskers on Naruto's face seemed to nearly twitch like a cat who got the cream and the feeling that settled in his chest whenever he grasped onto something that just seemed right had him quickly scribbling down the description. This 'feeling' itself was also somewhat new, something that had been puzzlingly occurring more and more often ever since he had exited Root and joined the "outside" world of ANBU. Naruto called it 'bonding' when Sai had tried to explain it. The word went against everything that Danzo had ever taught him about shinobi life, and his teammates were the antithesis of many of his leader's teachings. They were bonded to one another more deeply than he could even begin to comprehend, though he found himself trying, despite his ingrained beliefs. Yet despite this egregious divergence of philosophy from what Danzo had forcefully ingrained in his mind, they were not weak, not at all. If anything, they were stronger than any other shinobi Sai had ever met, in or out of Root. They were fascinating, and he found himself craving their company in a way he had only ever pined for paper and ink.

He looked over to his other teammates, where they stood discussing something in low tones with the blond and red-headed ANBU who for some reason never removed their masks, even within ANBU headquarters. Protocol demanded that an ANBU operative remained masked whenever in uniform outside of the protective walls of the building, otherwise they had to be completely dressed down, tattoo hidden, in casual civilian wear or plain uniform like any other Konoha Jonin. But those two seemed to take their roles as Tsunade-sama's top bodyguards very seriously, and never removed their masks. Sai had commented on this to Danzo-sama, and the stern leader had been immediately suspicious, instructing his planted agent to cautiously make every attempt to discover their identities.

"Toad-san bears a striking resemblance to Naruto, does he not?" Sai said in his usual blunt manner, tapping on his notebook with his slender fingers. Yamato was used to his random comments, but his eyes shifted away from his teammate's curious gaze, brushing off his question and fumbling with his water bottle as Sai continued. "If Naruto let him wear his Fox mask, they would be nearly indistinguishable from each other. He even has the Toad summoning contract. Jiraiya-sama must be getting senile and mixed them up, otherwise why would he allow two people to sign the contract?"

"Actually," Kakashi's lazy voice piped up, "Toad-san is Pup's long lost father that he raised from the dead to help him reap revenge upon Konoha for a childhood of misery and abuse." Yamato's violent choking caught the attention of the red-haired ANBU in the panther mask who was also talking to Naruto and Hinata, but he waved her off as he thumped a fist on his chest.

Sai frowned, staring in deep contemplation at Kakashi's single exposed eye before sighing. "I get it. That was a joke. I'm getting better at deciphering your odd sense of humor Commander. Toad-san isn't old enough to be Naruto's father."

"Sharp as ever, Sai. Can't get anything past you," Kakashi clicked his teeth and waggled a finger at his underling before flipping another page. Yamato wheezed.

Kushina paused to stare across the room at her son's unusual teammate as he bent over his little notebook once more. She had taken a particular interest in him, and had been the one to point out that his demeanor was very reminiscent of shinobi who had been subjected to the training methods that Danzo had tried to implement many years ago, before Sarutobi had demanded he disband his Root organization. Since that discovery she had instructed her son to keep a close eye on Sai.

Over the last six months Kushina's son and his team had been on numerous missions across the Land of Fire, infiltrating even the secretive Sound Village more than once to follow up on rumors of the Last Uchiha's activity there. Through every life and death situation the seemingly emotionless ninja had upheld his end of every order to the letter, proving himself more than capable as a comrade. During that time Naruto had steadily been executing his own overbearing method of what Hinata jokingly called "reverse brainwashing". Sai had the sociability of a rock, which he apparently had crawled out from under seeing as Kushina had not been able to find any records of his origins anywhere in Konoha's archives. Despite many spats and fights (one of which resulted when Sai assigned some very…unorthodox…nicknames to his teammates, the usage of which were now strictly forbidden by Hinata) Sai had slowly begun to blossom like a rare desert flower that was suddenly watered for the first time, and Naruto felt strongly that his teammate would crack yet.

Kushina's attention was pulled back to the conversation between father and son, as they excitedly discussed the newest details of their fūinjutsu research.

"This seal will protect the Byakugan without creating any opportunities for chakra interference from any other shinobi," Minato said, patting the scroll that was tucked carefully into his ninja pouch. "It will be hidden by their hair, placed on the back of the skull over the occipital lobe where the optic processing center of the brain is located, just like you specified, Hinata-chan."

Kushina reached out and squeezed Hinata's trembling shoulders as the Hyuga revolutionary absorbed the weight of Minato's words. "We are on our way to deliver it to Hizashi-sama right now, but we wanted to let you know first, since this was your passion project to begin with."

Brushing her fingers briskly over her watery eyes, Hinata nodded her thanks. "Father wants me, himself, Neji, and the Council Elders to be the first ones sealed as an act of faith for the former Branch members who still struggle to accept our new clan government."

"He might have to wait a bit longer then," Naruto raked his hand over his hair and down the back of his neck. "That new array will only work on those without the Caged Bird Seal. I've finally concluded that the chakra key that Hiashi destroyed must have been a unique combination of chakras from a Hyuga and the Namikaze Seal Master who created it. Based on the scroll I found in Uzushio, the guy must have had the Rinnegan like me, but no matter how I look at it, I still can't find the right balance of chakra. Something is off, but I've worked with Hime, Hizashi, and Neji, all of whom have directly inherited the main bloodline, and none of them are able to satisfy the chakra requirements."

Minato listened closely, he and Naruto had taken a 'divide and conquer' approach to the Hyuga's Caged Bird Seal. He had focused on modifying it into a safer but still protective array that could be applied painlessly and without risk of future punishment, and Naruto had used his Rinnegan to try and recreate the missing chakra key from texts that only his dōjutsu could read. The removal attempts were vastly more complex, like trying to recreate a cake when the recipe had been destroyed and half the ingredients were missing. An ingredient that doesn't exist anymore perhaps?

"What about the Tenseigan?" Naruto's head snapped up at his father's question. Minato raised his eyebrows under his mask at his son's reaction. "You've heard of it?"

Naruto nodded. "At the waterfall in Uzushio, the runes created a kind of chakra enhanced vision that triggered when I disturbed them, and in it the Tenseigan was mentioned. It's an ancient dōjutsu that the Byakugan is descended from, but I don't know of any Hyuga who have it."

"Mito-sama used to tell me stories about it as a child," Kushina remarked. The wife of the first Hokage had been as dear to her as her own grandmother and spent many an evening telling the only other Uzumaki in Konoha, who would one day be her jinchuriki inheritor, about the land of her ancestors. "It was already considered a lost legend by the time Konoha was founded."

"I will ask Father if there is any information in the Hyuga library," Hinata suggested. "There are some very old tomes that only the Clan Head has access to, he may be able to find more information in there."

Any further speculations was interrupted by the opening of the doors, and an ANBU curtly announced, "Team Kakashi, your presence is needed in the Hokage office immediately."

---

Sunagakure rippled as it disappeared on the horizon like a mirage, and Hinata could hear Naruto audibly grit his teeth as he continued to struggle with his rage that had been boiling hotter than the desert sun ever since they had left Konoha. The news of Gaara's abduction by the Akatsuki had been like a gut punch for the jinchuriki, and he had been barely reigning in his impatience, frequently murmuring his urgent demands for Sai's birds to fly faster. She saw the orange pigment around his eyes fade as his Sage Mode vanished and he growled in frustration, forcing himself to take deep breaths of the hot desert air and refocus on channeling the delicate balance of Nature Energy so he could continue scanning the endless dunes for the Kazekage's chakra.

Tightening her arms around his taut torso Hinata leaned into his body and threaded her chakra through his network, imagining the knots in his muscles unfurling as she kneaded her energy through his network. His rumbling chuckle made her smile into the dip between his shoulder blades, as he tipped his head back to gently tap her own in wordless thanks.

"Save your chakra Hime," he murmured, and she nearly missed the words as the wind continued to whip past them. With a final pulse of chakra she raised her head, tossing her hair out of her face and mentally thanking Tsunade-sama for sending them in their normal mission clothes rather than the armored gray leather and stifling masks of their ANBU uniforms, hoping that the friendly faces of their allies would give Suna more reassurance than the emotionless Black Ops appearance. Her flowing Hyuga style sleeves floated around her, as she checked on her other teammates from the corner of her encompassing vision.

The sweat that beaded over Sai's forehead was probably a mixture of heat and chakra exhaustion, having supplied them all with transport for hours on end over the last two days. They had torn out of Konoha on his unique jutsu with Sakura clinging to the pale shinobi's back, gasping at the speed of their soaring departure as she had clutched her bag of medical supplies. The scroll from Suna had mentioned a poison and so The Leaf had included their top medic nin, now a Tokubetsu Jonin herself, with the rescue squad. Upon arrival at the Suna Hospital Sakura had exceeded her reputation, managing to save Kankuro's life and concoct a rudimentary antidote to the powerful poison after working straight through the night. Staying in Suna to keep an eye on her patient and restore her own chakra bank, Sakura had carefully divided up the small vials of antidote between the team before seeing them off that morning, a team which now included the crotchety Granny Chiyo.

Hinata giggled at the uncomfortable set of Yamato's face as the old woman held onto him for dear life, having refused to go anywhere near "the son of the White Fang" and calling Sai too skinny to be trustworthy of her person. Her disdainful glare had merely glanced over Naruto, before Hinata had leveled her with a black look of her own. The old woman had barely acknowledged Sakura's accomplishment with a sniff, and then demanded to be taken along with the group, curtly informing them that she had intel about and experience with Sasori of the Red Sand. That's the understatement of the century.

Naruto had already filled in Team Kakashi that his time with Jiraiya had included extensive investigations into the Akatsuki, and relayed their discovery that Chiyo was the grandmother of one of its members. He had privately shared with Hinata that he knew Chiyo was the one who had done such a shitty job of sealing Shukaku into Gaara, leaving the child in a state of misery which was only compounded by his power hungry father.

Despite being allies on paper, Naruto had confided in Hinata how he couldn't help but regard the old Suna kunoichi with cautious reservations. He had seen how the lingering hatred of war grudges and jinchuriki could still taint the hearts and minds of the older generation in Konoha, and Chiyo's attempted murder of Kakashi the second she'd laid eyes on him had solidified his suspicions that Suna was the same. The team from Konoha couldn't hold back their annoyance when Chiyo had brazenly voiced her opinion that she felt the embarrassing situation of having to ask The Leaf for help was just the result of Gaara being an ill prepared young leader floundering to do the job of a man, painting herself as some annoyed parent who had to go pull their wayward child out of trouble yet again. Beneath her bluster and rude comments, Hinata wasn't sure what her true motivation was for joining them, whether she wanted to save her grandson or kill him, go rescue the Kazekage or take him out once and for all, so she had kept a close eye on the aged puppet master.

Her eyes picked up on something far in the distance, snapping Hinata's attention from her scrutiny of the older kunoichi. "Naruto-kun, I think I see something, at ten o'clock." Naruto swiveled his head in the direction Hinata had indicated, marveling internally at how far Hime's Byakugan could outreach his Sage Mode. He closed his eyes and focused as the bird they rode adjusted, and soon was able to confirm, "It's Gaara, and the two with him are definitely Akatsuki."

With a quick series of hand gestures Naruto relayed the information back to Dog, who nodded solemnly and guided his bird up to the front of their small formation.

"They are flying on a solid, chakra enhanced construct which is carrying what appears to be an unconscious Gaara," Hinata clarified loud enough for her words to carry to the whole team. "The added weight appears to be slowing them down, they must have thought they had enough of a head start to outrun us."

"Gaara's chakra is critically low," Naruto added with a growl. "He put nearly everything he had into protecting his village from being destroyed." He shot an unashamed glare at Granny Chiyo, who merely raised an eyebrow at his pointed look.

Their staring contest was cut off when Hinata abruptly rose up onto her knees behind him. "They've seen us, Sasori just dropped to the ground and the other man is making for the south with Gaara!" Hinata shouted, her fingers digging into Naruto's shoulders.

Kakashi's single eye narrowed as he recalculated his options, judging his opponents and casting a worried look at Sai, who was nearly panting with the strain of continually kneading large amounts of chakra.

"We split up. Hinata, Chiyo-sama, you stay and face the first opponent, your skill sets make you his best adversaries. That will leave the rest of us as single riders who are lighter and faster. We will focus on catching up to the second Akatsuki and taking Gaara back."

A chorus of 'hai' met their commander's orders, although Hinata noted the strain in Naruto's voice. But they were quickly approaching the place where Sasori sat, his metallic tail waving and mouth gaping open in a grotesquely wide marionette smile, and Hinata braced herself to leap. Now was not the time to lose faith in their teammates, even Chiyo had sobered into the resigned posture of a soldier prepared to do battle. Hinata braced her hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze as she crouched to jump.

Naruto whispered over his shoulder, "Be careful Hime. He is a master puppeteer with no regard for human life, even his own." He jerked his head towards their Suna teammate, "And watch your back." She wanted to scold him for his suspicious words, but even Hinata knew that in this imperfect world friends could turn into enemies at the flip of a kunai. She and Chiyo, with her years of experience, grudges, and hidden motives would have to set aside their differences and support each other if they wanted to face down the Akatsuki and live.

"You too," she answered, placing a quick kiss to the back of his neck, and with a quick calculation of her trajectory, vaulted over his shoulder. Just then a shower of senbon unleashed from Sasori's mouth, aimed directly for Yamato and Granny Chiyo. Their bird swooped sharply, and the old woman leaped from her perch, throwing out her hands and instantly latching chakra strings onto the other birds as she maneuvered to the ground.

She's fast! Hinata admired the whipping strings of chakra that instantly latched and released, weaving an unblinking Chiyo through the hail of weapons. Hinata grinned, pumping chakra into her fist as she fell through the air, the wind screaming past her ears. It seemed she wouldn't need to tone down anything to match her partner.

Yamato's bird exploded into globs of black ink, and Naruto swerved to catch him before he smashed onto the desert sand. He landed behind him with a harsh 'oof' nearly toppling their bird out of its dive, but they were able to correct their trajectory, and the last thing Naruto saw before they jetted after Gaara's fading chakra signature, was Hime's blazing fist smashing into Sasori's back, splintering his shield wide open. As he forced himself to focus on his part of the mission, he sent a final blast of emotion to Hime through his seal, communicating his love and support in a wave of feelings that words could not convey.

Sasori growled as he looked over his broken back to see the majority of the Konoha shinobi continuing on to chase after his teammate. His wooden eyes did not blink in the cloud of sand that was kicked up as Hinata and Granny Chiyo landed roughly upon the dune across from him.

"Sasori," Granny Chiyo cried out to him, her face wrinkled and spotted with age in a way that would have made his skin crawl in disgust had he still possessed the irritatingly temporary body he once owned. Emotions he had long since shut down flitted across her features as she frowned, "I was hoping to see your face one last time before I die."

Squaring up to properly face his two opponents, Sasori shucked his shredded black and red coat, feeling the sand grind between his wooden joints as he stood up straight. He smirked inwardly at the dismay his Granny tried to hide as she took in his false body, carefully carved and preserved to imitate the perfect form of humanity. Its pristinely sculpted anthropomorphic features reflecting the immortal beauty of his youth, a refusal to bow to the artless aging of time.

"Too bad Baa-chan," he sneered, a chakra laced arm swiping over a seal to unveil his most powerful puppet and weapon. "I got tired of waiting for Death, so I decided to eliminate him altogether. Behold, my eternal art, and your instant end."

Chiyo gasped as she watched her grandson's articulated fingers attach chakra strings to the carcass of the Sandaime Kazekage, its dull eyes and stiff skin a blatant testimony to the exact nature of his unknown demise, or perpetual purgatory, as Sasori animated the corpse as though it was fighting once again. "Sasori, you…"

"Me." He delayed no longer, unleashing wave after wave of iron sand in an attempt to crush his opponents in a single attack of surging power. Skidding across the top of the black torrent, Hinata and Granny Chiyo struggled to avoid the grasping waves, and Hinata marveled at the older kunoichi's agility as she continued to try and engage the stoic puppet master. A tsunami of black powder soared toward them, and Hinata charged side by side with Chiyo up the face of the wave, racing to crest its towering peak before it crushed them.

"I never thought he would go this far," Chiyo lamented, the barely hidden grief in her voice pricking Hinata's heart. "I never thought he would change that much." The emotional realization that her precious grandson was far worse than simply dead caused her step to falter, and as the top of the black sand boiled above them Hinata gripped Chiyo's hand and yanked her up and over the wave. They landed on their feet, skidding down the back of the sandy beast to where the bright red hair of their opponent danced in the wind.

"People change all the time, Chiyo-sama." Hinata shouted as they braced themselves. "I have learned firsthand that your family can be your own worst enemy. And your enemy can become your ally." The old woman's head snapped over to Hinata, who stared at her with a steady silver gaze.

"I see you Granny, your past haunts you from behind the face of your grandson. Sometimes it falls to us to exact justice upon our loved ones. It becomes our fate to fix the past in order to protect the future, so that the hate cannot continue." Chiyo's eyes widened at the unexpected words, her shameful secret openly acknowledged by this child, who spoke with more wisdom and understanding than any of the bakas who now sat on Suna's council. Who possessed more foresight than Chiyo herself had ever bothered to instill in her decisions, always choosing the instant comfort of the lies she had fed Sasori and herself over the more difficult truths. And what had come of her misplaced compassion? What had her precious grandson learned?

"Sasori! Stop this!" Chiyo begged, kneeling upon the singeing heat of the black sand, completely dropping her aggressive posture and opening herself up to his mercy. "This isn't the life your parents wanted for you, that I wanted for you. Your legacy still lives on in Suna, come home, together we can work toward giving the people a future we had never thought possible!"

Hinata's gut twisted as she saw the open pain of shattered dreams that tainted the woman's words, but her own mind was not so trusting, and she warily watched the choppy undulations of deadly sand for any signs of betrayal.

Despite her heartfelt pleas, Sasori remained unmoved. Cynical laughter from eerily flat features relayed his false amusement. "I am tired of waiting for that future, Baa-chan. Waiting for them to come home. Waiting for power, for acceptance of my eternal art. For you. I'm done waiting, I have finally found satisfaction in my art. And your useless emotions are unwanted."

Chiyo faltered under the heartbreaking realization of her grandson's final rejection, unaware, or uncaring of the hand of iron sand that rose up behind her, clawed fingers reaching out to crush her body. Hinata pumped her legs as fast as she could, racing forward with a chakra powered punch that obliterated the maleficent formation with a single shattering slam.

The despair that flickered over Granny Chiyo's features pierced Hinata's heart, her own memories of Hiashi's cruel dismissals despite all of her attempts at being the perfect daughter resurfacing in an unwanted flash of hurt. To be so completely rejected by someone you thought would love you unconditionally, who you so desperately wanted to accept you, it was enough to break the soul. She grabbed Granny Chiyo by the shoulders, dragging her backwards and away from the hauntingly lifelike corpse that throbbed with heinous chakra.

"Stay with me Granny Chiyo," Hinata hissed, throwing her body into a rotation that engulfed them both in her kaiten as the sand formed thousands of iron bullets that fired through the arid desert straight for them. "I am still here by your side, fight with me! Let's end this once and for all!" Chiyo gaped up at the massive burst of chakra, snapping out of her haze. She is right, I cannot allow this to continue. It's not too late for this old woman to fight once more.

Her mouth pressed into a firm line, and pulling herself up she reached deeper into the dried up well of her soul that she had sealed shut the day her son had died, and unleashed her own chakra, unsealing her infamous Shirohigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shū. Hinata beamed, inspiration flooding through her as she saw the unquenchable desire for justice burning in the woman's chakra, and she bowed in admiration of the power of its ferocity. The younger kunoichi fell back in support of this newly emerged warrior woman, muting her presence as she allowed the two puppet masters to engage in a wicked battle of murderous attacks, and instead stalked her prey from the sidelines.

Scrutinizing the lifeless puppet body of Sasori, Hinata searched for the source of his chakra. He could not have completely replaced his body, there must be some part of him that still held whatever shriveled excuse of a soul he possessed. She strained to make out the details of his artificial pathways as the hollow rattle of shattering wooden bones reverberated across the open desert. There, in his chest. The immortal puppet thinks himself to be heartless, but yet maintains a core of his humanity in his chest. I will show him how mortal he truly is.

Her hand reached for the small flask of water on her hip, popping the cork and swiftly pulling the liquid out to form a spiked liquid projectile in her palm as she waited for an opening in Sasori's defense. But the Kazekage was as deadly in death as he was in life, and just when Hinata was beginning to contemplate creating her own opening with a brazen charge of her chakra scalpel, Sasori unhinged his jaw and exhaled a massive cloud of poisonous gas into the air.

This might be my only opportunity, Hinata thought as she gulped in a final breath of air just as the miasma engulfed her in a skin searing mist. She was much closer to him than Chiyo, having crept up behind him as he focused on his opponent across the dunes, and with her Byakugan she could still see the form of the iron wielding puppet. Hinata lunged forward, fist cocked and eyes burning from the poisonous vapors. The wood of the Kazekage's corpse was no match for her powerful attack and it shattered across the sand in a jumble of minuscule pieces that no amount of chakra strings could stitch back together.

Hinata tumbled across the dunes, using her momentum to throw her body beyond the reach of the purple fog and collapsed, gasping in lungfuls of the hot desert air. Tears streamed down her face as she blindly fumbled in her pouch for the vial of antidote that Sakura had given them, and seizing the precious medicine she jammed the needle into her thigh before rolling onto her stomach. Nausea cramped her gut, but she held back from healing herself, allowing the drug to slowly do its job in hopes of preserving her chakra for the rest of the fight.

Truly, she is the apprentice of the Princess Tsunade, Chiyo marveled as she watched Hinata retch onto the sand before picking herself up. This girl was nothing like what she had expected of a Hyuga, of any Konoha shinobi. She had selflessly risked her life to obliterate the puppet, running headlong into the cloud of poison with complete faith in her comrade's ability to have created an antidote that would protect her from its lethality.

Perhaps, there are still people worth believing in, Chiyo thought as she refocused on Sasori and his expressionless face. How she had longed to see his soulful eyes once more. His warm brown orbs had once trembled with such vulnerable emotion that even her battle worn heart had faltered at the thought of breaking his tender hope with the news of his parent's demise. So she had lied to him, over and over. And through the years had lied to herself as well, repeatedly refusing to believe that her grandson, that those large innocent eyes, could ever turn against Suna. Against her.

But those eyes were gone, and the soul that beamed through them was now no more than two well polished glass orbs, sealed within a lifeless wooden body. I failed him, failed myself, failed my village. But perhaps I can find redemption, even in the end.

Chiyo's hands trembled as she reached for that scroll, the one she had been keeping for years without knowing why. It might have been her imagination, or her senile mind playing tricks on her, but she swore that when she unsealed the bodies of his parents, Sasori's eyes flashed with fury.

Hinata steadied herself on shaking arms as she spit the last of the bile from her mouth, and as she brought her hand up to wipe her lips her stinging eyes widened when she heard Sasori scream and all at once the sun blacked out.

Whipping around she froze in horror, gaping at the legions of puppets that Sasori had sent out into the air, dense as a swarm of insects, the cacophony of their clacking limbs rattling the nerves within her brain. She struggled to her feet, recognizing that there was no more time to waste and pulsed her chakra to help the antidote flush through her system while simultaneously restoring her scalded flesh. Wiping the purple tinted tears that streamed down her dusty face, Hinata staggered towards Granny Chiyo, determined to support her teammate no matter what.

The kunoichi's awesome prowess with just two puppets against Sasori's masses made the rumors of her skills pale in comparison to the actual performance. Hinata slashed through one puppet at a time as she hacked through the jungle of wooden limbs and chakra strings, while Chiyo obliterated rows of them with each flick of her fingers, unforgivingly leading her resurrected loved ones to rise against their own son. Crawling up the back of the dune where Chiyo stood, stalwart as stone, commanding her onslaught, Hinata's eyes focused once more upon the glowing core of chakra within Sasori's chest.

"Hold his attention a bit longer, Chiyo-sama," Hinata panted from her position. "I will not miss my shot."

While once Granny Chiyo would have sneered at the unashamed confidence that filled the young woman's voice, she now only smirked and zeroed in on the eerily cold gaze of her precious grandson's eyes, the gut wrenching feeling of regret absent for the first time in years. "Go on, child. I will not falter again."

Hinata dove out from behind the dune, blinking away the sand that stung her painfully throbbing eyes as she charged her target, her fluid flexibility on full display as she twisted out of the path of the flailing wooden arms that groped after her body. Chakra boosted her legs as she leapt into the air, shaping her water bullet and perfectly aligning her hand as her body arched gracefully to the peak of its trajectory. For a single heartbeat she hovered, weightless, and in that instant screamed, "Suiton: Supairaruna mizu-dan!"

Hinata felt the senbon sink into her shoulder in the same moment she unleashed her water bullet, but refused to allow the jarring pain to alter her focus or her aim. The host of puppets paused, and all she heard was the wind whipping through her clothes as she fell to the ground, and then an explosion of chakra as her water bullet perfectly pierced Sasori's heart. Her mouth quirked in a painful smile as she watched his body collapse in the arms of his puppet parents, watching the chakra of all three fade away with her Byakugan.

The puppets clattered to the ground around her, their cold stiff fingers brushing against her hot skin, making her shudder from a combination of the eerie contact and the fresh wave of nausea from the poison tipped senbon. Yanking the long needle from her shoulder Hinata poured the remainder of her chakra through her body, desperately fighting to subdue the poison to a non-lethal level before she completely passed out. But her whole body was wracked with a pain unlike any she had ever felt, and her eyes are burning like hot coals in her skull. The sand shuffled near her face, and her blurry gaze lifted up to see the fuzzy outline of Granny Chiyo hovering over her sweat covered body.

"Thank you, child," the old woman rasped, winded from her own chakra loss, and by the wet shine of her weathered cheeks, perhaps a moment of mourning as well. "You have restored my faith in a future I thought was lost, and I can once more remember what it is like to believe in my comrades, no matter who they are. Hopefully, I can still rebalance the scales of my sins before my time is through."

Hinata tried to respond, to comfort this dear woman, but struggled to even lick her dry lips. Her throat was closing up and her entire body seemed to be withering. The last thing she saw was Granny Chiyo pulling her own vial of antidote from her sleeve, and felt the stab of the needle in her arm as the world went black.

---

"Hime! Hime! Oh thank Kami, she's breathing! Hime, I'm here, I got you." Hinata groaned as she tried to lift herself up off the roasting sand, blinking hard as she tried to focus on the two wavering pools of blue that filled her vision.

"Naruto…kun. I'm okay. The antidote…working. Chiyo-sama...gave me her dose," her torso slumped against his chest as he scooped her up in his arms, pressing her against him as tightly as he could and engulfing her in a gust of chakra that left her dizzy and tingling. The familiar and powerful cocktail of their entwined auras accelerated her healing faster than ever, and she sighed heavily as she rested her heavy head on his hunched shoulder. Her slowly clearing eyes took in the disheveled appearance of Sai, and Gaara's pale face as he scanned the decimated remains of their battle site with wonder, leaning heavily on Yamato for support.

Her forehead wrinkled as she noticed Granny Chiyo was missing. "Naruto-kun, where is she?" His arms stiffened, and Hinata recoiled, her head snapping up as she finally saw Kakashi, kneeling quietly in the rays of the setting sun, cradling the surprisingly tiny older woman in his arms. She scrambled out of Naruto's embrace, crawling over the shifting sands until she could see the kunoichi's face, peaceful and lifeless as her still heart. Hinata frantically scanned the woman's body, her fingers flitting over the folds of her sandy robes until she found a senbon, buried deeply in Chiyo's thigh, nearly hidden from sight.

"She was poisoned too, and yet, she gave her antidote to me," Hinata whimpered as she ripped out the damned needle, hiccuping on her sobs as she bent over Granny's weathered face, and placed a soft kiss to the woman's brow. "There is no greater gift than giving your life for another. I will never betray your faith, Chiyo-sama. Thank you."

---

Rays of early morning sunshine brightened the sky as dawn broke out over Suna. The cheerful blue and warm browns of the city skyline were beautiful enough to inspire even the most mediocre artist, but Sai's interest was focused only on his own sketches. Sitting on the rooftop of the Kazekage mansion where Team Kakashi had been placed, he diligently outlined the face of his teammate from memory.

Footsteps shuffled behind him on the dusty roof, but Sai didn't flinch at the familiar feel of Naruto's chakra as he silently sat down beside him. His normally boisterous demeanor was subdued as he sighed and gazed out at the burgeoning new day, tilting his face to greet the golden rays as though they were food for his soul. Perhaps they were, Sai had always thought the phrase a metaphor, but so much of what he knew had been thrown into question these last few months, he would have a hard time not believing Naruto could convert daylight into energy.

"Do you know the definition of photosynthesis?" Sai asked his happily basking teammate.

Naruto scrunched up his face as he thought. "Is that some new kind of art you're gonna try out? Are you tired of painting pictures and wanna try capturing them with a camera or something?"

Sai snorted, always amused at Naruto's random pockets of stupidity in his normally keen intellect. "Never mind," he mumbled, bending over his notebook once more.

Putting the finishing touches on the shading of Hinata's eyes, making them sparkle with unshed tears even on the flat page, Sai lifted his sketchbook up and asked, "Naruto, what is this emotion? I know it is 'sad', but for some reason that word does not feel like…enough."

Naruto turned to look at Sai's face, a small measure of satisfaction boosting his spirit at the way his aloof teammate continued to reach for a better understanding of humanity. But the small amount of joy was snuffed out as he saw the expression on Hime's sketched face, and Naruto nodded in agreement. 'Sad' didn't even begin to cover it.

"I'd call that 'grief', a type of sadness you feel when something precious is lost, and you mourn its absence." Naruto sighed, as he watched Sai pencil in the description.

"So, you are insinuating that Hinata mourns for Chiyo-sama, despite barely knowing her, and all the rude comments the woman made? If I said those types of things Hinata would scold me, and you would probably hit me."

Naruto grimaced, perhaps some of his teaching methods had been a bit aggressive. But then he remembered the nicknames Sai had given him and Hime, and quickly dismissed the regretful feeling. Instead focusing on finding the right words to explain the color blue to a blind man.

"Hinata is special," Naruto said softly, a small smile flitting over his face as he stared at the image of her in Sai's sketchbook. "She has a heart that has endured greater heartache and given purer love than most people will ever experience. She saw a piece of herself in Granny Chiyo, and believed that she could change, and by gracing her with that faith created a bond that was strong enough to bridge their differences. They proved that bond to each other when they fought side by side, and by giving her life for Hinata, Chiyo solidified a place in Hinata's soul forever."

They sat side by side, each lost in their thoughts as the cool night air heated up around them with the growing day. Sai turned Naruto's words over in his mind, comparing them to what he knew of Hinata personally, and all that Hanabi had also told him.

Years ago when he had brought the Hyuga child back to Konoha and delivered her into Danzo's office, he had been immediately put off by her personality. But emotions of any kind were merely annoying distractions to him back then, so he had obediently agreed to be the girl's partner, at Danzo's command, and thus spent the next few years of his life crafting her into a shinobi of Root.

Her role as the only possessor of the Byakugan within the underground organization solidified her importance from day one, and Hanabi had immediately perceived this and constantly used it to her advantage. To Danzo's face she was the picture of obedience, excelling in all forms of training, and never balking at the execution of her tasks, no matter the difficulty or the cruelty. But with Sai and the others, she ruled as self appointed queen. Never one to be easily intimidated, Sai had punished her after one particular instance where she had blatantly ignored his orders and snuck off to the Hyuga Compound without him to begin 'practicing' her jutsu without his consent.

"You could have been seen, only the most elite shinobi can pass by the guards undetected," Sai said in his emotionless tone, despite the puzzling sense of…satisfaction?…that he felt from the tingling of his hand where he struck her face. Her expression twisted into a smile that he knew for sure showed no true happiness, and he sighed internally. Her greatest failure as a Root member was that Hanabi refused to put her emotions aside. Emotions were weakness, weakness led to errors. Being caught by the Hyuga would be an irreconcilable error.

Gently rubbing the red welt on her cheek, Hanabi simply looked at him. "But I wasn't seen. I'm tired of waiting for that Old Man to let me fulfill my mission. You will never understand what it is like to be betrayed by your own people. They murdered my mother, my father, my destiny. They are nothing but a stuck up selfish clan of liars, and she is the worst of them all."

"She?"

"Hinata." Hanabi hissed in a way that had reminded Sai of an angry cat. "Ever since I was a child she tried to turn me against my own mother. Fed me lies about my purpose, wanting to steal any bit of power from me that she could by belittling my role as Clan Heir. All because she wanted what was mine. She is the one who killed my father, and put her own father in his place like some kind of second rate clone who could never compare to Hyuga Hiashi. And she has orchestrated the demise of the system my father worked his entire life to set into place. She is heartless, selfish, and I will not rest until she dies by my own hand."

Sai merely blinked at the seething hatred, completely unimpressed with the fiery words of the little kunoichi, but unable to contradict them as they were so far outside his level of comprehension. Hanabi seemed to pick up on his clueless indifference, and snorted in derision as she brushed past him.

"Remember this Senpai," she said in a sing-song voice that was anything but sweet, which was very confusing in its contradiction. "You are nothing but Root. You are Nobody. I will always be Hyuga."

Now as Sai thought back on Hanabi's cutting remark, he was surprised at how easily he understood what she had meant. Her bonds were her fuel for her hatred. The ties that were severed, the ones that chafed, both were the basis of her existence, her purpose, her need to be better. She felt they made her stronger, and therefore in her eyes he would always be weak, because he was Nobody. Nobodies had no bonds.

Danzo gave him purpose, was he bonded to the dark leader of Root? The one who had fed him, clothed him, trained him, given him everything he had, and taken away everything he once was; would Sai consider his tie to Danzo a bond?

He looked down at the sketch of Hinata's grief-stricken face. Would Danzo weep for him if he died? Definitely not. In the past when Sai had informed his Leader of a loss in the field, Danzo's face was most similar to the one Naruto had displayed when his kunai snapped during training. That was all the meaning Sai's death would have, a disappointing tool easily replaced and unmourned.

"Are we bonded?" Sai blurted out, startling Naruto out of his own musings.

"Eh? What kind of question is that? Of course we are! We're teammates, I trust you with my life Sai." Naruto leaned over and tapped the open page of the sketchbook. "And Hinata would definitely mourn you, we all would, if something happened to you."

"She would, wouldn't she." Sai felt the certainty of it in his chest, in the same place where "the feeling" would resonate when he identified a new emotion with complete understanding. His new Hyuga teammate was the exact opposite of his first; kind but firm, nurturing yet ruthless when needed, and ridiculously strong. But was it enough?

"Can bonds break?" Sai asked, and Naruto grunted at the question, a scowl coming over his features.

"Ah, a bond is tied between two people, but if one person cuts that tie, no amount of screaming or fighting by the other can secure it again. It hurts, it hurts a lot, but you can't force them to stay, you can't force someone to feel something that isn't there. A trapped hostage is not a friend. Bonds are the most powerful when they are held tightly on both ends." Sai watched the expressions of his teammate's face carefully, Naruto was a very helpful subject to study. The honesty of his words always matched his body language, at least when they were not playing Poker, and now Sai found it easy to read the regret and resolve that underlined his statement.

"You are referring to your former teammate, the Uchiha?" Sai said plainly, and Naruto chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, I am. He was a precious person for both Hinata and I, and we still miss him. At least the person he was, who he may be now is a mystery."

"What would you do if you met him again? As a rogue-nin we are obliged to return him to Konoha. Would you then restore your bonds?"

Naruto shifted where he sat, leaning back on his arms and exhaling sharply through his nose. "No."

Sai persisted, keenly curious about this unusual answer from his always optimistic teammate. "Why? Do you hate him?"

Naruto shook his head quickly. "No, no. Nothing like that. It's only, well…" He ran a finger under his nose, wrinkling his forehead in thought. "Its a matter of Justice. He abandoned his village, his team, his forged family. My reasons for not pursuing our bond are not that I refuse to forgive him, its that he doesn't want forgiveness. He does not see us as worthy of his purpose, and so he cut our bonds," Naruto's hand unconsciously went to the scar hidden under his shirt, "painfully."

"But you said people change, that Hinata's faith in Chiyo despite her actions is what cemented their bond," Sai pointed out logically, repeating Naruto's own words back to him. Naruto blinked at him, like he had said something much more profound.

"Yeah...they do." A small smile creased his face and Naruto reached out to slap Sai on the back. "Thanks buddy, I needed that after all the depressing stuff that happened the last few days," and with that he hopped to his feet and stretched broadly in the now blazing sun before trotting off to check on Hinata.

Sai watched him go in frank confusion. "What did I say?"

---

"It's just eye strain, it happens from time to time when I overuse my Byakugan," Hinata said dismissively, but Sakura wasn't hearing any of it and planted her hands on her hips in the way that meant: submit or suffer the consequences.

As Hinata sighed and laid down, the medic nin grumbled about all the members of Team Kakashi being idiots when it came to their check ups, but proceeded to gently pry the Hyuga's still aching eyes open to look closely with her ophthalmoscope. "The inflammation is quite severe, almost like your retina has been sunburned, but from the inside out." She lightly pressed her fingers to Hinata's temples, channeling healing chakra into her optic network and analyzing her pathways at the same time. After a few minutes, Sakura leaned back with a sigh.

"As I feared, it's not just eye strain, Hinata. The poison is attacking your optic nerve." Sakura spun around on the stool of the small laboratory that Suna had offered up for her usage, grabbing a stack of papers from a nearby counter. "I've been studying it more since you left to fight the Akatsuki, and I noticed that it seemed to concentrate along pathways with the highest chakra density. The day following my initial attempt at neutralizing the poison in Kankuro's body, I noticed that some of it still lingered in his hands, especially in the chakra pathways that he had honed for his puppet manipulation jutsu. The same way radiation therapy targets the faster dividing cancer cells, the poison seems to concentrate in the chakra pathways of highest power. For you, that is your eyes."

Hinata blinked back the tears that her stinging eyes constantly formed ever since she had run head-long into the cloud of poison. "So we just need to wait for my body to flush the remaining poison out?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, and your medical jutsu has already done an amazing job of working with the antidote, otherwise you would practically be blind. Alive, but blind. So for the time being, no Byakugan, keep the chakra level in your eyes as low as possible to minimize any further damage."

Thanking her friend profusely for all her amazing help, Hinata stood with Sakura as she gathered up her research papers. The team was leaving today, on foot, so as to give Sai plenty of time to continue replenishing the massive amounts of chakra he had lost. Just as they reached the door Hinata grabbed her friend's arm and meekly whispered, "Please don't tell Naruto-kun, he will only worry himself into a fit and be distracted the whole way home."

Sakura frowned, "I take my patient confidentiality very seriously Hinata, you know that. But if you think you can hide anything from him, you are denser than I thought about how deep his feelings are for you."

Pink flushed across Hinata's face as she ducked her head, not denying the truth of Sakura's words. "You don't have to tell me that. I'm well aware of how he feels about me."

"Oh-ho! And exactly how has the Son of the Yellow Flash demonstrated his feelings for you, hmm? No skimping on the details Hina-chan!"

"Sa-Sakura-chan!"

The door burst open and Naruto squinted suspiciously at his beet red girlfriend and her giggling companion. "You torturing my Hime again, Sakura? What did I tell you and Ino about bugging her to do one of your 'dramatic' makeovers? She's perfect just the way she is!" To emphasize his point he scooped a squeaking Hinata up in his arms and marched out of the laboratory. "Dog says we're leaving in an hour, and seeing as your eyes are definitely still hurting you—don't give me that look—I will be carrying you home."

Sakura shook her head and laughed as Hinata fought him half heartedly all the way down the hall.

---

A fifth and final yellow flash illuminated the treeline that marked the end of Wind's desert and the beginning of Fire's forest. Naruto leaned hard on the tree where he had thrown the tri-pronged kunai as he had flown overhead en route to Suna a few days ago. "Whew! That's a new record for me," he panted, wiping his arm over his brow. "Well at least that spares us from walking through the hot desert."

"Spares us?!" Sakura heaved, her face nearly as green as her Jonin vest. "That Hiraishin jutsu should be banned as a form of mass transit!" The groans of Yamato and Sai chorused in approval, Kakashi remained silent and still as stone with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He had long ago learned just how nauseating his Sensei's jutsu could be, and had resolved to not move a muscle until the impact had receded. Hinata alone seemed to be completely unaffected.

"Tough crowd, jeez," Naruto huffed, popping the lid off his canteen and taking a long swig. Hinata fidgeted with the sunglasses that Gaara had insisted on presenting to her when he had learned of her injured eyes, the dark lenses were helpful, but they felt weird on her face. Discreetly activating her bloodline she grimaced at the pain, but it was much improved, maybe she could take off the things now that they were safely out of the desert sun…

Her sweeping vision caught sight of a certain crow that she and Naruto-kun were very familiar with, and Hinata grabbed his shirt, wordlessly gesturing in the direction of its flight. Naruto paused in his gulping, reaching out with his senses and his eyes widened as he picked up on the bird.

"Uh guys, Hinata and I are gonna go fill up the canteens, I think I remember seeing a stream nearby when we flew over this spot. Just rest up and we'll be right back."

"Do you need a condom?" Sai asked innocently. Yamato promptly vomited, making the rest of the team whine in pain as Hinata dragged a snarling Naruto towards their secret contact.

"Not now Naruto-kun! Itachi's crow is flying away, I think it wants to show us something."

They tracked the swift bird for several minutes, leaping across the leafy canopy further and further from their team. Finally, Hinata gasped as her Byakugan locked onto what the informant wanted them to see. "Naruto-kun, its one of Orochimaru's hideouts!"

Landing at the nearly invisible entrance that was camouflaged to match the flora of the surrounding forest, they each cautiously withdrew a kunai and scanned the weathered looking doorway for traps, but detected none.

"Do you think it's abandoned?" Hinata asked, straining her tender eyes to see through the barrier jutsu that scrambled her sight below the ground. Their ANBU team had investigated a few of The Snake's old labs, all long past their functional state and feeding their suspicions that Orochimaru was in fact dead.

The crow alighted on Naruto's shoulder, bobbing its head in a way that seemed to nod the affirmative. "But someone set the barrier," Naruto pointed out, and the crow cawed twice. Naruto nodded in understanding, "Two people then, but neither are Orochimaru. What do you think, Hime?"

She tilted her head, a sly smile creasing her mouth, "Kakashi-sensei is going to be upset."

Naruto snorted, "Yeah, only because we didn't invite him. Let's go."

Before the crow took off Hinata pulled a small jar of her homemade salve from her pouch, holding it out to the large black bird which took the thing up in its beak. "For Itachi-san's chest, it will ease his breathing at night." The crow bowed its head in an appreciative gesture, then took off into the sky.

Hinata dropped her sunglasses onto the ground as she and Naruto muted their chakras and prepared to literally enter The Snake's Den. He studied the signature of the fūinjutsu barrier, nodding with mild admiration at its unique nature, but quickly scribbled out a counter seal that would create a small opening just large enough for them to crawl through. Grinning over his shoulder, Naruto stepped one leg through the portal he created. "Ready Hime?"

"Always."

---

The labyrinth of hallways was truly reminiscent of a nest of snakes, overlapping and criss-crossing in a confusing orgy of tangled paths. They ran on and on, guided only by their chakra senses, deeper into the blackness of the horrific abyss.

Horrific was an understatement.

Hinata was struggling to control her mounting disgust, her bloodline revealing one expired atrocity after another through the walls they ran past, as Naruto guided them toward an even more ominous chakra signature than they had expected to encounter.

"Sasuke," he growled under his breath, once more attempting to find his way closer to the undeniable chakra identity that burned in his senses. The twisting corridors led them closer, then farther, then suddenly, like a flash of lightning in a dark sky, they were bursting out into the room where he stood.

Naruto was so choked with a wild variety of emotions he could only hiss between his teeth, Hinata was the one who stepped forward, unfaltering, and unstoppable as a tsunami.

"Sasuke-kun," she crooned, unmuting her chakra in a blast of power that had the Uchiha and his female companion whipping around. "It's been so long. I nearly forgot what you looked like."

The woman at his side adjusted her glasses with a haughty snort. "Who are you?" She demanded in a sharp tone.

"Hinata," Sasuke's deep voice echoed in the large room of broken tanks, the corpses of misshapen beasts filling the already dank air with the pungent odor of decay. "And is that Naruto hiding behind your skirts? As expected."

Naruto felt his anger flare, but was stunned by the massive wave of killing intent that Hinata unleashed upon their former teammate. The red haired woman instantly fell to her knees, heaving under the immense weight of the Hyuga's hatred. A Sensor perhaps? Naruto wondered. But Sasuke merely grunted under the blast of animosity, a glint in his black eyes that flared into a flaming red Mangekyo Sharingan that burned with his thirst for a good battle. "Ah, I see," he chuckled, drawing his sword from its sheath, "Come for revenge? Perfect. Let's dance."

They blurred away before Naruto could scream her name, leaving him with his jaw dropped in astonishment at the rapid escalation of their furious battle. The kunoichi on the ground was scrambling to escape their wild attacks, finally finding refuge behind a toppled bookcase. Naruto barely paid her any mind, frozen in shock at the intensity of Hime's enmity as she wailed upon Sasuke with everything that she had. His former teammate was fast, mind blowingly fast, and Sasuke would have been dead several times over were it not for that lightning speed. Naruto was at a loss for how to intervene in their break neck paced taijutsu, his forte was power and surprise, not agility and speed. Besides blasting both of them to kingdom come with a Bijudama, he saw no way to edge into the ridiculous dōjutsu war unfurling before his eyes. Well, if I can't speed up, I'll just have to slow them down.

Taking off in a full chakra enhanced sprint across the walls, he started encircling the dueling pair by running laps around them, stirring up the humid air into a whirlwind that trapped them in the eye of his storm. He edged his tornado closer to Sasuke, and Hime seemed to know what he was planning. She faked a punch, forcing Sasuke to flinch his arms up in a cross-armed block, and then she kicked him powerfully in the gut. He was sent skidding backwards and was immediately sucked up into Naruto's jet stream, where the jinchuriki was waiting. Weightlessly tumbling over and over through the gusts of wind Naruto and Sasuke fought, throwing, dodging, and landing punches that could crush weaker men. Clones raced around the room, maintaining the twister that kept them trapped, and finally Naruto saw his opening.

Taking a hit and allowing it to spin him around, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and yanked him sideways, jerking the Uchiha downward and allowing Naruto to slam his leg into the back of his neck. As Sasuke vaulted face first into the floor Naruto slammed a Rasengan into his back, driving him forcefully into the ground and using the jutsu to disguise the Hiraishin mark he branded upon his rival's spine.

Bolts of lightning flashed from the hole where Sasuke emerged, snarling and screaming Naruto's name. Each clone was instantly speared through and the wind disappeared, dropping Naruto to the ground. Not waiting for the Uchiha to regain his footing, Hinata charged him with her palms blazing.

Suddenly golden chains shot out into the foray, and Naruto instinctively lunged, snatching the twin whips with bare hands as they aimed for Hime's body, then wrapping them around his forearms. With a powerful yank he ripped the shocked kunoichi out from behind the bookcase, snarling as he reeled her into his range like a thrashing shark from the sea.

"Oh no you don't," Naruto scolded her tauntingly as she struggled to withdraw the lengths of thin but unbreakable chain links back into her body. He noted the way his chakra was being sucked from his network through the binding chains, and smirked.

"Nice jutsu, but unfortunately for you, I've had plenty of experience with this." Summoning the demonic chakra that Kurama had been kneading ever since the bijū had detected the presence of his least favorite clan, Naruto flooded her Adamantine chains with the Kyūbi's potent chakra, overwhelming her network in an instant.

Her scream of pain had the unexpected effect of distracting Sasuke, and he heard Hime's triumphant shout as she successfully slashed through his defense with her chakra scalpel, cleanly severing his hand and the sword it held.

"Holy shit!" Naruto gasped, as he stared at the blood that spurted from Sasuke's arm. The Adamantine chains clanked at his feet as the red-haired kunoichi screamed her partner's name and ran towards him, her terrified mind mistakenly ignoring the massive amount of chakra he was kneading in his chest.

"Stop! He's going to—" Naruto's words were cut off as Sasuke unleashed a white hot fire ball, engulfing Hinata and the entirety of the shelved documents behind her. Naruto barely caught the red-haired woman in his arms, ducking his head away from her thrashing fists as she screamed for Sasuke, who was stoically staring at his now charred and cauterized stump of an arm. Hinata released the orb of water she had encased herself in, the liquid sizzling over the fire baked stones of the floor.

"That was for Naruto-kun," Hime announced, instantly gathering her chakra for another massive attack, "and this is for Konoha."

Sasuke dove for his fallen sword, and Naruto could only watch in awe at the way he handled the weapon with just as much dexterity in his remaining hand, slashing through the hail of water bullets that cut through the smoke and mist of their combined elements at a speed Naruto could only hope to match.

"Let go of me!" The woman in his arms snarled, and he looked down at her as though he had completely forgotten that she existed.

"Mmmmm, yeah…no, I don't think I will."

He flashed through a set of seals that his father had taught him, swearing him to secrecy and promising unending pain if Kushina ever found out he had been the one to teach his son the fūinjutsu counter to her Uzumaki kekkei genkai. The binding array burned across the surface of the kunoichi's skin, sparking over her chakra points, blocking them from producing the bursts needed to materialize her golden chains.

"Wh-what did you do to me? How did you know…" her incredulous red eyes lifted to his smirking face.

"Let's just say that it runs in the family…cousin."

Karin's kekkei genkai may have been sealed but her sensory skills were just as acute as ever, and she pinned Naruto with a level of scrutiny that he felt down to the double helix of his DNA.

"Dammit!" He grunted, squirming uncomfortably under her chakra enhanced dissection of his aura, his own hyperacute senses shooting and burning like a hit funny bone. "I'm part Uzumaki okay?! Motherfucker, stop it! My mom has chains too, that's how I know. Kami, will you STOP!?"

Karin blinked up at him, her eyes wide in shock because his words were irrefutable based on his chakra. "You…we…I have…family?"

Naruto shuddered, rubbing his arms briskly to shake away the uncomfortable feeling of her chakra invading his senses. "Yeah, I guess so. Shit, you are one hell of a Sensor! No wonder Hime's chakra made you sick."

As if to emphasize the point, another blast of the Hyuga's Killer Intent washed over the room, sending both spectators to their knees. Naruto looked over his shoulder at his friends, and realized that they were beyond saving, beyond hatred, and well into the realm of flat out murderous rage. Dragging his newfound clanswoman into the corner he set up a barrier between them and the two titans, resigned to watch them from a distance.

"No, stop!" The kunoichi tried to leap through the barrier only to be repelled forcefully with a hard thud. "We have to stop them! Sasuke is hurt! He needs me!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, assessing her closely for the first time with just his eyes. He saw the bite mark shaped scars that traced up her arm where her sleeve had been torn, and frowned, remembering his mother's stories of the different 'gifts' of the Uzumaki, and how some people were exploited because of them. He softened up his approach, trying for a lighter explanation of what must seem like Hell itself rising up next to them.

"Don't worry," he said, his consoling tone sounding a bit condescending. "Hime won't kill him. Much. She's just never forgiven him for trying to kill me." He lifted the bottom of his shirt, revealing the gnarled scar where Sasuke's chidori had impaled him years ago.

"You're his teammates from Konoha," she whispered, staring at his healed wound and finally noticing his red hitae-ate. "Sasuke-kun has mentioned you, but I don't even know your names."

The room flashed with the blinding light of Sasuke's chidori, making them flinch for an instant, but Naruto extended his hand all the same, in an ironically civil greeting amongst the apocalypse raging around them. "I'm Namikaze Naruto! And the angel of death over there is Hyuga Hinata. Nice to meet you…"

She robotically took his hand, disbelief painting her features. "Uzumaki Karin, I can't believe this is happening."

"Believe it! Trust me, shit like this happens to us all the time."

Karin's eye twitched, but her gaze was drawn back to the battle as twin lions of water and chakra pounced around the destroyed lab, chasing a viciously grinning Sasuke as he blew fire and brimstone at their creator. He's enjoying himself?

"So," Naruto cleared his throat, also watching the fight closely but with a decided air of glee that Karin could not quite understand. "I knew Sasuke was involved somehow, but I guess it must be both of you who are pulling the strings in Sound then, huh?"

Karin scowled at him, crossing her arms and flipping her hair. "Like I would tell you. I'm not stupid. I know Konoha wants to undermine every small village anywhere near the Land of Fire and feed it to her greedy appetite for power and domination. You can take your hypocritical politics and shove them up your Leafy ass. We will never stop fighting against the tainted bureaucracy of The Hidden Villages."

Naruto exhaled hard, the impact of her words hitting very close to home with his own opinions. He had known for years that many of the smaller villages who lacked a true Kage or shinobi armies looked upon the Five Great Villages with animosity and fear. Traveling with Jiraiya had made him see the less than beneficial impact of some of Konoha's sweeping laws, meant to aid the majority, while leaving those struggling on the fringes to fend for themselves. It was one of the reasons why he had harvested rice alongside the farmers with the same eagerness with which he tackled an 'A' ranked mission. He wanted them to know that they were just as important to him as the richest politician.

Since joining ANBU he had become well aware of the darkness that lurked within the higher echelons of government, and the dirty deeds many elite elders and diplomats had sanctioned to further their own agendas. Hell, his own teammate Sai was a broken product of Danzo's corrupt system of militaristic diplomacy. Justice was not the guiding force behind the fight for peace in Konoha, it was power. And that exact mindset was what Naruto had sworn to uproot from The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Good for you," he answered softly, with such sincerity that Karin's head snapped away from her obsessive observation of the battle to gaze in amazement at the gentle smile on the blond's face.

"Konoha is far from perfect. The politics are dirty, rotten actually. And there are enemies within her system that are just as ruthless and deadly as those in the deepest den of thieves." Naruto's face darkened and his eyes danced in a way that Karin had only seen in the passion of Sasuke's own glare. "But I will not abandon them when they need it the most. I will not walk away and give up on them. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. I cannot call myself a shinobi if I am not willing to endure. And I will endure anything to see justice restored and peace replace hatred."

Naruto paused, searching Karin's face, and saw the hope she kept carefully guarded hidden in her eyes. I see you, cousin, we are not so different. Recognizing the small spark of fire within her, he took a leap of faith in hopes of fanning it into a flame, and pulsed his chakra. Suddenly his eyes swirled into the crystalline purity of the legendary dōjutsu Karin thought only existed in the fairy tales her mother had told her.

The Rinnegan glowed with his passion as he revealed his true self to her. "I cannot make the world perfect. I do not wish to control the free will of humanity by forcing them to comply with my vision. But if I can balance the scales, restore justice to mankind by eliminating those who seek to greedily hoard power for their own selfish reasons, then perhaps I can once again foster bonds between us all. Bonds that won't cause death, but give life, a life more abundant."

Tears welled up in Karin's eyes, her lips quivering with the glowing warmth of his chakra and his words, both of which washed over her like a protective embrace. Once again she felt like a small child, alone and exploited, but this time enveloped in an encompassing presence of pure safety. She fought against the addicting high of his promises, remembering the anger and the fury that spurred her and Sasuke on through the dark days under Orochimaru's strangling control.

"Sunshine and rainbows won't save the world," she choked out, ashamed at the tremble in her own voice. Naruto merely snickered, gesturing to their two partners, who were emitting enough chakra to level the Hokage monument.

"Justice is not the absence of punishment, which is why Hime is determined to put Sasuke through his paces before she lets him walk away. But some sins demand an atonement that is not payable in this life, and their bearers must be sent on to the Shinigami for judgment." Naruto's eyes flashed crimson, his pupils slitting and his voice dropped to a hollowly deep timbre that made Karin's fingers dig grooves into the stone floor.

"And I will gladly deliver them to him."

Fangs glinted as he ran a tongue over his lips, leaning forward as Karin scrambled backwards from where he loomed. "Tell me, did the Uchiha truly kill The Snake?"

Karin gulped, nodding her head infinitesimally, afraid to move and barely breathing as ominous chakra tainted the air within their small bubble of protection, and she suddenly felt like she might be safer on the outside.

Naruto settled back on his haunches, his now claw tipped fingers clenching into fists. "A pity, I would have enjoyed devouring him myself."

The crimson hell that burned around him suddenly receded as quickly as it appeared, and Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Erm, sorry about that, Kyūbi gets a bit excited sometimes."

Holy shit he's the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails? I could tell there was something evil within him, but I just thought it was his own spirit. What kind of Kami damned human is this guy? Karin's gawking stupor was interrupted when the walls around them started to shake, and Naruto lurched for her. "Looks like it's the grand finale, time to get out of here!"

As Naruto snatched her up in his arms and raced up through the new hole in the ceiling of the formerly hidden hideout, Karin stared over his charging shoulder at the ridiculous display of power behind them. Sasuke and the Hyuga woman were cloaked in their elements, arms extended outward in full attack, faces twisted with the pitch of their battle cries, and to her horror they collided head on, the blast of chakra rolling over the landscape like the shock wave of a sonic boom. Water and lightning engulfed the surrounding forest, beating upon her and Naruto's heads like a powerful typhoon, and she could only cling to him in awe as he dodged the uprooted trees that crashed around them.

As soon as she was able to free herself from Naruto's grip, Karin stumbled back towards the decimated hideout, fear piercing her heart. If something had happened to Sasuke…

Bursting through the bramble of fallen trees, she screamed his name, barely able to control her senses enough to detect his precious chakra signature.

"Stop shouting woman."

Karin spun around. There, sitting side by side on a fallen tree sat Sasuke and Hinata, both panting, but each decidedly smug. Hinata was neatly reattaching his hand, knitting his tendons and nerves back together in a way that Karin did not know was possible. Sasuke tried to appear annoyed, but when he saw the overwhelming relief that shattered Karin's face, even the stoic Uchiha looked slightly chagrined. She fell into his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his soaked shirt, sobbing unashamedly.

"I'm fine, Karin. I'm fine. Didn't the Dobe tell you who they are?"

Karin reared up out of his embrace, shoving his chest with both her hands and snarling, "YOU should have told me! How dare you make me worry like that!"

Hinata bit back a smile as she watched Sasuke try to hide behind a mask of irritation at the woman's raging expression of her concern. The years really have changed us all, and perhaps him the most. He seems almost...happy.

Naruto leaped down from a tree into the newly destroyed clearing, glaring at Sasuke as he went to check on his Hime.

"Teme."

"Dobe."

Hinata leaned heavily into Naruto's sturdy arms, unable to ignore the pounding in her head any longer as she allowed herself to sag against him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow over the top of Karin's hiccuping head at their intimate position, and Naruto merely grinned.

The unmistakable approach of Kakashi's chakra registered to the two men at the same time, and Sasuke stood abruptly. "Karin, we're leaving."

"You don't have to," Naruto said softly, gathering a quickly fading Hinata up in his arms. "You killed Orochimaru. And I know it's you who has been stabilizing the Sound Village. Especially after today, in my eyes you are forgiven. I can pull some strings and you will be The Uchiha Clan Head before you can say 'dattebayo'."

Sasuke stared at his oldest friend, who despite his casual words was conveying his earnest conviction with his honest blue eyes. But for Sasuke, Konoha was not home. Not as it now existed. Not with his own goals still unfulfilled.

"I have not finished my journey. My mission is incomplete as long as That Man walks the earth."

Naruto's face shuttered, the inviting warmth closing off instantly, and an air of defensiveness settled into the stiff posture of his body. "Itachi is more than he seems, Sasuke. Surely, with that powerful eye of yours, even you can see underneath the underneath."

Sasuke's teeth ground at the mention of that forbidden name, and his freshly attached hand throbbed with his clenching grasp. "Don't patronize me. I seek a justice that can only be satisfied with the death of the man whose hands are bathed in the blood of my clan. I will not stop until my people have been avenged."

"I know," Naruto answered, glaring at the stubborn fool. "But are you certain you have the right man?"

Sasuke looked like he wanted to prove his certainty with a fist to Naruto's whiskered face but Karin grabbed his arm, hissing in his ear that now was not the time. But before she could pull him away the canopy burst open as the rest of Team Kakashi landed amongst the displaced chunks of earth.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted, reaching up for his hitae-ate, but The Avenger was in no shape or mood for a second battle, so choosing to prioritize his escape, he pulled Karin into his protective embrace and they both disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Kakashi immediately began to shout orders. "Sweep the area. Sai, send out your mice, I want every inch of this site cataloged. Yamato, move some of these larger trees and follow me into the remaining hideout. Sakura—" Kakashi's voice died as he turned around.

She stood staring at the spot where Sasuke had been, tears leaking from her eyes as her mouth trembled despite the firm way she bit her lip. Naruto came up behind the heartbroken medic and gently bumped her tense shoulder with his own.

"Dog, Hime needs Sakura right now. I'll start setting up a place for her to work and Hime to rest." Kakashi sighed but nodded. Raking his fingers through his silver hair before throwing Pup a stern glare that said we'll talk later.

That night, after hours of combing through the decimated laboratory, Naruto crawled into the tent he shared with Hime, exhausted physically and emotionally. Dog had reamed him, as he had expected, and as he knew he deserved. But he had a hard time feeling regretful about letting Sasuke escape after the minor epiphany that Sai, of all people, had helped him realize.

Hinata groaned in her sleep and Naruto collapsed behind her, hugging her into his torso and curling his chakra into her body. Her already sore eyes had been pushed to the extreme by her all out battle, and he was starting to worry about how much pain she was in. Perhaps Sakura hadn't been able to heal her properly, what with the poor girl fighting back tears ever since she saw Sasuke's face.

Shifting his ninja pouch aside to reach for his blanket roll, Naruto paused when a glass clinked within it. I never put anything glass in there, what is that?

Rummaging around in the small hip pouch he easily grasped the smooth vial and leaned forward, holding it up to catch the flickering light of the campfire that glowed through the slit of the tent flaps. He nearly yelped when two pristinely preserved eyeballs of a distinctly silver nature bobbed in the fluid filled vial. "Holy fuck," he whispered in horrified shock. Where did this come from?! It definitely wasn't there when we left Suna, I checked my pack before we set out. Aside from the team the only other person who was close enough to plant this on me was…

"Karin?" Naruto gawked again at the macabre item that the kunoichi must have slipped into his pouch while he was staring at Hime and Sasuke. She was a medic nin, and a former subordinate of Orochimaru, so he guessed that would be where she had come across this morbid keepsake. But why would she give these things to him?

Hinata tossed restlessly on the blankets, her head rolling side to side as she whimpered unconsciously. The veins around her eyes throbbed despite her bloodline not being active, and any Sensory ninja worth their title could see that the chakra in her eyes was damaged. Oh, I see. Karin is more observant than I gave her credit for.

Fear settled into his gut as he pieced together what kind of purpose these eyes could serve. The question was, would it be necessary?

---

"Report," Danzo demanded, barely looking up from the paperwork on his desk within the Root base.

Without hesitation Sai robotically repeated his findings. "The puppet master of the Akatsuki is dead. Killed by Hyuga Hinata with her Suiton: Supairaruna mizu-dan. The Suna kunoichi Chiyo-sama was killed during the battle. The rest of Team Kakashi engaged the second Akatsuki, a man with the ability to form chakra enhanced clay formations that exploded on his command. He was injured when Kakashi used his Kamui Sharingan to sever his arm, and Naruto was able to snatch the Kazekage with a series of clones that laddered up to the flying clay dragon and then shielded them from the ensuing blast. Yamato was able to plant a tracking seed on the Akatsuki before he escaped on another flying formation."

Danzo merely closed his eyes in thought as his fingers tapped the top of his cane. "I see. Anything else?"

"No sir. Team Kakashi is intact, but chakra depleted. Tsunade-sama gave us two weeks to recover."

"Fine. Dismissed."

Sai bowed smartly and left the room, navigating the tunnels that sat deep within the bowels of old town Konoha until he emerged into the clear beauty of the bright summer day, blinking like a creature just emerging from a long hibernation.

Why did he lie to Danzo?

He passed over the rooftops, heading for the far edge of the village and beyond, where the clifftop that overlooked the valley his teammates had created six months ago when they challenged the Godaime now bloomed with fields of flowers. The setting sun would be bathing it in fluorescent hues and a peaceful wind would be making them dance in a way that his artistic eye craved to imitate on canvas.

Why did such places call to him?

He passed over the hospital, even though it took him off his direct path, and peeked through the window of Hinata's room, where Naruto hovered over her in worry, her eyes not having healed correctly since her fight with the Uchiha. He felt a warmth in his chest as he saw the bouquet of flowers that the blushing kunoichi with platinum hair at the flower shop had helped him purchase, sitting prettily in a vase at Hinata's bedside.

Why did he care?

He moved on, eventually settling into his favorite painting spot and unsealing his best acrylics while brandishing the newest brush he had purchased that day. But the landscape was not what emerged beneath his swift strokes, as his mind contemplated all that had transpired.

He was not stupid, as people sometimes accused him of being. Emotionally and socially ignorant perhaps, but not unteachable. And the perplexing battle between the former members of Team Seven had laid out a myriad of new lessons for his eager mind.

Hinata had nearly killed Sasuke, but then healed him once more. Naruto had found a long lost family member, and then let her walk away. Kakashi had been furious, but then refused to turn them over to the Hokage when he submitted his report on the hideout's discovery. And Sakura had barely glimpsed the Uchiha and yet was completely devastated. Sai had finally approached Yamato-senpai, unable to tolerate or understand the girl's tears. She was uninjured. She wasn't even Sasuke's teammate. Why would she be so upset?

"She loved him, Sai," Yamato had explained patiently. "And through the years had never given that up. But after today, and what happened, she knows he will never look at her that way." Sai had frowned at the quiet explanation, something in his heart tugging like a memory just out of reach. A love lost.

Why did he pity her?

The brush moved rapidly over the canvas, the easel rocked on its uneven ground, as Sai chased that feeling like a predator hunting his prey. They were all so confusing, these 'outsiders' as Danzo called them. A beautiful paradox that he could spend a lifetime trying to comprehend.

Why did he want to?

The daylight was nearly gone when he finally dropped his arm and stared at the mosaic of colors strewn across the canvas. The faces of his teammates beamed back at him. They were not perfect, they clashed in form and color, they broke all the rules of balance and structure. But together, they were a masterpiece.

He smiled softly at his own visage, tucked snuggly amidst them, where he now realized he had always wanted to be. A part of them. Bonded to them.

Because they were his precious people.

That's why.

---

OMAKE: The Nickname

"This is not working," Naruto groaned into his hands. He had been trying to have a conversation with his new teammate, but the weirdo was about as interesting as day old oatmeal. His mother had threatened him to play nice, explaining that she suspected he had been brainwashed by Danzo based on her investigations. But, mother of pearl, the guy had zero personality.

"Ok, you like to paint right? Let's keep it simple. What's your favorite color?"

Sai smiled in that irritating way that made it look like he was politely enduring bodily torture. "Whatever color is appropriate is the one that I prefer."

"Oh come on! Gimme a fucking break!"

The smile immediately fell from Sai's pale features. "You do not need to yell at me...Drama Queen."

Naruto froze in his rhythmic pounding of his forehead onto the table where they sat, his head rolling slowly to the side.

"What...what did you just call me?"

"Drama Queen. I just learned the term in a magazine I purchased. The articles within it are very helpful to my research. They also mentioned that nicknames were one way to solidify a friendship. What do you think?"

Naruto was now grinning evilly, which was completely lost on Sai. "Oh I think that's great! Just great!" He slid over and slung an arm around the startled shinobi's shoulders. "In fact, I'll help you come up with some really good ones for everyone! Let's start with Dog."

"But isn't 'Dog' already a nickname?" Sai asked in confusion.

"Nah that's just between me and him, long story. How about something like 'cyclops' or 'pervert'? Y'know something that takes their appearance or behavior into account."

Sai pondered this advice, it did seem to coincide with the suggestions of the article. "Hmm. I see. How about 'Sacrifice'?"

Naruto wrinkled up his nose. "That's kinda morbid Sai, where'd you get that one from?"

"I was on duty in the Hokage Tower when I heard the kunoichi that he is in a sexual relationship with complaining to Tsunade-sama about him 'dragging his feet to the altar'. The name seemed relevant and unique, both of those things are important according to the article.

Naruto burst out into loud guffaws, slapping his hand on the table. "Oh Kami that's rich! What else have you heard snooping around the flip side?

Before Sai could respond Yamato walked by one of the windows that faced the ANBU training grounds and Naruto began eagerly pointing at the unsuspecting Senpai.

"Oh-oh, do Yamato! What kind of nickname for him?"

"Oh that's easy." Sai said with some pride, recalling the conversation he had overheard the other night when Yamato, Kakashi, and several other Sensei were staggering out of a bar. "His name is 'Pussy'."

The tears that were pouring from Naruto's howling face were serving to boost Sai's confidence immensely. And when Hinata entered the room with her arms full of scrolls he happily turned to greet her with his best practiced grin.

"Hello Hooters!"

The scrolls clattered to the floor.

"Sai," Naruto whispered, his eyes as big as saucers as he slid under the table. "You better run."

The shinobi was just about to say that perhaps a better name for Naruto was 'Scaredy Cat' when he was hit with a wave of Killing Intent so potent it left him wheezing.

"You have until the count of three," Hinata hissed.

Sai was so confused. "Why?"

"ONE."

"Dammit Sai! Run you bastard!" Naruto hoarsely whispered from down below.

"I do not think 'Bastard' is an accurate nickname for me." Sai frowned.

"TWO."

"Oh my god you idiot, get your pale ass moving before you die!" Naruto was going through hand signs now, preparing to Thunder God their way straight outta the hell that was about to break loose if Sai didn't get the hint.

"I think 'Idiot' is a better name for you than me," Sai stated.

Naruto's hands froze, a scowl crossing his features. "Y'know what, forget it. It's your funeral." With that he flashed away by himself, leaving a massively perplexed Sai sitting cluelessly in the path of Hinata's burning Byakugan.

"THREE!"

Later that day in the Hokage office, Tsunade groaned as she scanned over the list of damages at the ANBU training grounds, and the ridiculous cost of fixing it.

"Shizune! Tell that good-for-nothing boyfriend of yours that if he can't control his team I'm taking the damages out of his paycheck!"