Act II: the shadow war

The forest

Hikari sat cross-legged in the middle of several trees. She was completely focused and began to perform several hand seals. Her whole body began to glow and then she opened her eyes, which were pitch black. Chakra was flowing out of her and circling her body and began to form shapes. At that moment she heard someone approaching and closed her eyes. The chakra dissipated as Saitou came into view. "What do you want?" She got up and looked at him. Her eyes were back to normal.

"Just checking up on a teammate." He said as he walked across the field and stopped in front. "Are you all right, I know you haven't visited Tapion." She flinched her icy stare at the mention of his name. Saitou knew he was walking on thin ice with her but this was something that had to be done. "I don't care how tough you think you are, you should go visit him at least once."

"I'll visit him when I'm good and ready, I don't need you to tell me what to do." With that she left him standing there.

Saitou shook his head. "By the way we have a mission tomorrow." She stopped waiting for him to finish what he had to say. "Meet at the bridge at noon." Saitou then watched her leave hopping somehow he got through to her.

Six years ago

The rain was pouring quite heavily that night as a tall figure made his way up the street. "I should have worn a hat." He said to himself as he felt his short blonde hair cling to his face. He stopped in front of a house. The house was not large. The building was a light beige color and two stories tall. He walked up the steps and placed his hand on the door and closed his eyes. His hand on the door then formed a fist and knocked on the wooden door three times. Footsteps could be heard from inside approaching the door, then the knob began to shake and the door opened. A dark haired woman appeared at the door wearing a white night shirt.

"Naruto?" She yawned. "What are you doing out in the rain at this hour." She opened the door wider and motioned him to come in. She looked at him standing there. He was soaked from head to toe. When he did not move she looked up into his eyes. "What is it?"

He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He then opened it and began to talk. "Hinata...I think I have to leave. And I don't know when I am coming back or for that matter if I am." He lifted his head up and looked at her.

"What are you talking about? The war just ended and everything is finally returning back to normal." She stepped outside barefoot and grabbed his hand, never taking her eyes off of his. "Why do you have to leave?"

He smiled and turned away. "Because of something Morien said during the battle." He looked outward into the rain. "About the nine-tails..." He became lost in thought. Hinata came up and wanted to hug him but stopped herself.

"You can't believe what he said was true do you? He was just trying to get inside your head during the fight." She said trying her best to convince him he was wrong.

"I do because it's true. I can feel the dam fox inside of me. The seal was never meant for this. I'm a danger to the village." He closed his eyes. "I am a danger to you..." At that moment Hinata hugged him from behind. She could feel her shirt slowly getting wet from his wet clothes but she did not care. He broke away from the embrace and walked down the steps of her home. He turned around and looked at her one last time before walking away. Hinata could only stand there and watch him leave.

The present

The air was thick with as the two adults stared at each other. Hinata was at a loss for words. It had been so long since she had seen him; it was almost surreal. He took another step closer while she just stood there. He took another step and then another closing the gap between them. Hinata then broke the gaze and walked past him and stood in front of Neji. Naruto now with his back to her closed his eyes. Neji was surprised by this, as well as Sasuke. She looked directly at him. "We have a problem. Roosta is planning to turn the cloud village against us." Neji nodded and waited for her to proceed. "He plans on assassinating the Raikage and blaming the attack on us. Kiba, Shino and I discovered this on our last mission. However we were not able to escape; Kiba and Shino stayed behind to ensure my escape with the information. Now that my mission is complete I want to go back with full Anbu support and retrieve them." Neji nodded and Hinata walked to the entrance and turned around. "Welcome home Naruto." She then left.

Neji sat back in his chair thinking about the situation. He looked at both Sasuke and Naruto. "I think we could use this to our advantage. If we can stop the assassination and prove Roosta's involvement we could have a potential ally." Sasuke nodded thinking the same thing. "But I can't spare anyone right now."

"Consider it done, Sixth." Naruto said turning around to face them.

"Okay but I want Sasuke to go with you." He turned to his friend. "You wanted an assignment you got one." Sasuke smiled and Naruto nodded. "You two leave as soon as you can." The two bowed and left the room.

Sasuke smirked. "Just like old times eh."

"Yeah," Naruto patter his pouch. "Hey I'll meet you at the gates in say...in two hours. I got one more thing to do before we leave. You said Vidina is at the hospital right." Sauske nodded the two comrades parted ways.

Somewhere

A man was being dragged into a cold damp cell by two guards. The guards then chained him up to the wall: first his hands, then his feet and finally a large metal ring around his neck. He was unconscious. Two figures, a man and a woman stood watching. "Are you sure this is wise Roosta? We should just kill him." The woman stated in an unemotional voice.

Roosta watched the final chain lock and then turned his attention to the lady. "They were gathering information, I want to know how much they learned. I give this task to you, I trust you will not fail me." He started to walk away but stopped with his back to her. "Oh and don't kill him." He left the hallway; he had more important things to worry about.

The Hospital

Naruto made his way up the stairs and down the hall. He didn't know why but he could never stand the smell here. Everything was so sterile. As he walked down the hall he spotted the young girl he talked with earlier. She still looked the same. She stood in front of a closed room just standing there, as if debating whether or not to enter. He decided best not to say anything and walked past her to the next room. He opened it and saw his friend lying there. He shook his head and sat down. "It's about time you showed up. Do you know how long it took me to find this place? Vidina opened up his eyes and smiled at Naruto. "You give horrible directions."

"Yeah, so what happened? I thought you said you could handle anything?" Vidina shook his head and then began to explain the fight between him and Roosta. Naruto took in the scene and thought about it. "Roosta, wasn't he supposed to be..." Vidina nodded cutting him off. "...Then how are we supposed to beat him? Can I beat him?" He asked honestly at both himself and Vidina.

Vidina sat up in his bed and looked at him. "I don't know. When it comes to Roosta it isn't about power. The Nine-Tails should be more than enough to match him but his skill is beyond even my own. He does not need chakra to beat you." He laughed. "In fact he tries to use the least amount as possible in battle. He doesn't like to rely on it." The room grew silent for a moment.

"So how are you? I half expected you to heal yourself and be out of here by the end of the first night. What are you doing sitting here like this?" Naruto was curious. Vidina nodded; normally he would have done that.

"I would have but something else has come up. Besides using chakra to heal your body isn't good for you in the long run of things. I prefer to do it the old fashion way seeing how I have time to waste."

"The boy," Naruto stated. "He impressed you didn't he. I could see it in your eyes." He was laughing at this point. "How could I have missed it? Oh which reminds me, the purpose of my visit." He removed from his back pouch a long folded object and handed it to Vidina. Vidina unfolded it to reveal a blank head protector. "They said this was your final task, you are now finally a shinobi." Naruto smiled.

Vidina was overjoyed. He had worked long and hard for this day. To finally receive the head protector was a moment he had only imagined. He held it to the light to get a better look at it and then put it around his neck. "I'll wear it when I'm healed and out of this bed." With that Naruto got up and headed toward the door when Vidina stopped him. "I see you haven't put on your head protector yet?" He motioned to Naruto's forehead.

"Yeah, not yet. I don't know when." He patted his pack around his waist. "When I feel like this is home again I'll where it. Right now everything is just so...so...normal." And with that he left the room and headed toward his meeting with Sasuke. They had an assassination to stop.

"Home isn't a place my friend...it is where your passion takes you...and it took you right back here." Vidina said as the door closed hoping his friend heard him. He then looked down at the head protector he just received.

Somewhere along the border

Hinata and five Anbu ran as fast as they can back to where she left her comrades. She planned on yelling at them for making her leave. When they arrived at the spot three Anbu quickly moved into defensive positions ready for any attack while Hinata and the two remaining Anbu searched the area. The area was not pretty, fallen tree, holes in the ground; it was a battlefield. "Hinata over here." One of them yelled out. Hinata hurried over and found Shino lying in the bushes. Blood was everywhere. The Anbu opened his jacket to check his wounds.

Hinata bent down and closed her eyes. "You made it." Shino opened his eyes and reached out for her. She held his hand and saw a look of relief on his face. "They grabbed Kiba I tried to stop them but they got him and left me here to die." Hinata silenced him and with the help of the Anbu picked him and up and made there way back to the village. She shook her head, they have gone to the hospital one time too many for her taste these days.

A/n: And the war is underway. I know this was short but I just wanted to start things off. Too much is happening at too many places! Lol. I hope I shed some light in some places for you all cause I know I just introduced a new set of questions and went back to some old ones. Anyways what do you guys think?