Authors Note: I AM SO SORRY for taking so long getting this chapter up. My comp lost its connection to the internet and has only just gotten it back. So why didn't I copy it to a disk or something and put it on another comp and upload it from there? I tried and it didn't work TT I am cursed with a cursed computer… oh well I've got ch.7 here and that's all that matters . Also I know it's a bit late but Merry Christmas, happy Chanukah, happy holidays and everything else to all my readers! Hope you all have a great holiday and an even better new year. And as always, thanks for all the reviews and suggestions. I think I've almost made up my mind about who I'm going to put with who… but I'm definitely still open for suggestions so let me know ok? Thanks a bunch and on to chapter 7!

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Naruto and Sakura sat on opposite sides of a small fire staring into the flames lost in thought. Around them was a ring of symbols that they were told would hide them from sight as long as they didn't move around too much or make too much noise. Sakura was mainly worried about Sasuke; all she could think about was when she would see her love again, and perhaps once he had defeated the one's who had taken him he would let her go out with her…

Naruto's thoughts were on something a little more important. He kept going over in his head what happened earlier that day feeling like he had missed something.

Flashback

They had managed to wake up Sakura without any trouble. Naruto quickly said that Tao was a Jonin who had arrived just in time to save them. Tao was a bit surprised at this but didn't see any point in saying otherwise just yet.

"Well as long as you two are alright, we should start heading back to the village…" Tao began but Naruto quickly jumped in.

"Wait a minute! You're not planning on taking us back to the village and leaving us there while you go tracking are you?"

"No! We have to come with you to get Sasuke back!" Sakura quickly added, not liking the idea she might be away from her dark mysterious teammate for so long.

"Well, you see it's just that-"

"NO!" They both shouted in unison, looking at Tao with such determinism that she felt like it was going to be impossible to convince them otherwise. So she simply gave a soft sigh and nodded.

"Well… alright then, if you're sure…" The two cheered and thanked her repetitively. "Alright alright now, calm down. First thing that needs to be done needs to be done fast and as silently as possible." the pair both fell silent eager to show that she wouldn't regret letting them tag along. "Check the pockets of all of the ninja's look only for scrolls that either holds a map or a list of names and bring them to me – leave anything else you may find." The three of them immediately split up to search.

Not too long later both Sakura and Naruto ran to find Tao each clutching a scroll in their hands.

"Sensei Sensei! We found what you told us to look for!" Sakura called out waving her scroll above her head excitedly. Tao smiled and raised a finger to her lips asking Sakura to be just a little bit quieter. Sakura blushed and handed over her scroll. Taking both the scrolls, she held them between her middle and index fingers. She spoke softly, reciting the necessary words for the technique. Drawing one hand away from the scroll, the two were surprised to see a black slivery thread leading from the scrolls to her fingertips. She then placed her fingertips on her forehead where the black charka thread shone brightly for a moment before disappearing. Smiling she handed the scrolls back.

"It's a memorization technique," she explained to the confused pair. "It allows me to perfectly recall what is written without ever having to read it. Now quickly go and put these back on the ninja you found them on, they cannot know they were ever missing." She then reached into her pocket and took out four stones and offered them to Naruto who took them and placed them in one of his many pockets. "Now, once that's done I need you to head South West. I need to head back to the village to see if I can recruit some more help." Sakura nodded; while she didn't like the idea of walking outside of the village without a Jonin made her slightly uneasy, but she could see the sense in what she was saying.

"Of course! You will need help from more than a couple of kid's right sensei?" Sakura asked. Tao simply gave her a funny smile.

"But you are not children, and that kind of help is just the kind we will need." Neither Sakura nor Naruto knew what to say to that. "Oh, and as for the stones I just gave you. When night begins to fall, gather some wood and make a small fire, only when you are certain that you will not need to leave from around the fire place one at the four compass points around you and the fire. The stones are spelled with a concealing technique; no one will see you or the fire as long as you don't move around much and keep your voices down." She added. So they quickly returned the scrolls and headed off, Naruto following Sakura because she had a better idea of which way South West was.

End flashback.

Perhaps it was how she said it, more than what was said. "Hey Sakura?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked, coming out of her daze.

"You remember what Tao said before she left? About our kind of help being the kind she needs?" Sakura nodded. "What do you think she meant by that?" he asked looking up from the flames.

"Well… I'm sure we'll find out soon, she said she'd be back before too late." Sakura said softly making sure to keep her voice down, but still loud enough for Naruto to hear over the soft crackle of the fire. "She'll show up with other Jonin and we'll go and get Sasuke back." Naruto wasn't too sure if he should fill her in on the fact that the ones who took Sasuke also got Kakashi. But deciding that that would only make her worry more he decided not to. He didn't want her to worry, so he simply agreed and added another branch to their small fire.

---

Tao stood on the rooftop of a tall building looking down at everyone walking about below her. She hadn't really been in a city for ages; it was slightly unnerving to be walking around so many people so she had decided to keep to the rooftops. Also she didn't want to risk being noticed as a stranger in the village. She was almost certain that in a town like this everyone had to know everyone to some extent. Plus with her yellow hair she'd stand out like a dandelion in a patch of violets.

She turned her thoughts back to her task at hand; the two lists that Naruto and Sakura had brought her had told her two things. One: the ninja being so close to this village was no accident; they had been waiting for Kakashi, and Sasuke. Two: the list of names told her who they were after, and the ones they had crossed off were the one's they must have already gotten. She easily recalled the list in her mind while making a mental note to find a pen and some parchment later, the memorization technique she had used would only last for about 24 hours. She carefully slipped down to sit on the roof as she carefully listened to the chatter below catching each name as it was said. Luckily the names had been listed under the village they were in, so all she had to do was choose two names from the list and find the two the names belonged to.

It took a good couple of hours before she was certain she knew who to follow to find who she was looking for. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, making sure to stay out of sight, she followed man who had said one of the people she was looking for was his daughter. She studied the man as she followed him as silently as a shadow. He seemed hard and strict, almost as if he were a man who had never smiled or done anything fun in years. He also had an aura of power about him; she gave a small smile as he watched the man enter his house. She waited for a moment, watching silently as she went over in her mind what she was going to say. About to walk up to the house she paused for a moment and blew on her hands before running them through her hair. Brown trickled down her golden hair covering it completely. She then rubbed her eyes turning them the same dark brown. Feeling a little less obvious she jumped down and walked up to the front door. Ok stand straight and look them in the eye, shinobi look down to no one, she told herself mentally as she knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. The door was opened a moment later by a youth who looked to be about 15 years old. He wore a leaf headband with two straps hanging down on either side of his face. His hair was long and black and done up in a pony tail at the back of his neck; he also had strange piercing eyes with a look that questioned her being there.

"Good evening, may I please with the head of the household?" she asked simply. The boy just nodded and opened the door inviting her to wait inside. She casually stepped inside and waited as the boy left to get his father. As the man walked up to her she greeted him in a crisp, formal manner as she tried to stay calm under his piercing gaze. She explained to him that his youngest daughter had been chosen to assist in a special assignment along with others from the village. When the man questioned her wondering why it was his youngest daughter and not one of his elder son's or daughter, she simply replied that it was the will of the lord Hokage. The man seemed to except it, to some extent, and asked what his daughter needed to do to prepare for the mission.

"She needs to meet me at the front gate in about forty minutes, she needs to only bring essential things, the lighter the better of course." The man nodded. Tao thanked him and gave a small bow which he returned before she left. Once she was about thirty paces from the door she let out a relieved sigh. She wasn't sure what it was about that house, but the atmosphere was so thick she had almost found it hard to breath. Shaking herself mentally she hurried to her next destination hoping that the next family wasn't so foreboding.

She left the second house laughing. This family had been the complete opposite of the first, and for that she was grateful. She now had thirty minutes to complete what needed to be done before she met the two at the front gate. Anyone might think it strange to recruit only Genin for such a mission, perhaps even slightly insane… but she had a good reason for it. She would bring these two from this village along with Naruto and Sakura incase she had no luck recruiting at other villages, and also… if their names were on the list to be captured, the safest place for them was not at or around home, Kakashi and Sasuke had proven that, but going towards the enemy where they were least expected to be. She stopped by Sakura's house and gave a similar story for her mother along with an excuse for her not coming home to pack. This seemed like something Sakura might actually do because her mother believed her without question and simply left to pack some things for her daughter. She thanked the woman and left for Naruto's. She gathered some things for the boy and placed them in a bag she found under his bed. Before she left she found two pieces of parchment and a pen on which she quickly scribbled down the names and the map that she had memorized. She smiled as she folded the paper into her pocket and left for the main gate.

Tao stood by the gate patiently waiting. The sun had just about set and she had long since released the spells on her hair and eyes, wanting the two Genin she was going to meet to see her how she was supposed to look, rather than showing them later and having explain herself. There was about five minutes remaining when a small young girl came running towards her. She seemed like a shy girl; her black hair was cut just above her ears with two strips of hair on the sides of her head much like her brother. She wore her leaf band around her neck that barely showed through the big sweater she was wearing. She stopped in front of Tao panting slightly slipping her bag from her shoulders to her ground. The bag was small and probably wasn't carrying very much.

"Um… please miss, are you the one I was told to meet at the front gate?" The girl asked in a small, quiet, shy voice.

"Yes, my name is Tao, and you must be Hyuga Hinata." She said with a smile. The girl simply blushed and looked at her feet.

"I… I'm not late am I?" she asked still looking at her feet.

"Not at all, in fact you are five minutes early, good job." Hinata just simply continued to look at her feet as if somehow embarrassed by the compliment. Tao was about to wonder when the boy was going to get there when there was an explosion of smoke about fifteen paces from them.

"Rock Lee reporting for duty!" As the smoke cleared Tao saw a boy who looked rather… interesting. He had a bowl cut and seemingly as much hair for eyebrows as on his head. Plus she wasn't too sure what to think of his pose; one knee raised slightly so that that foot was on tiptoe, one arm raised right above him fingertips pointing down, the other hand made a circle with his thumb and forefinger over his eye while the other fingers were splayed out. Tao wasn't too sure if she should laugh or question what had brought this boy's name to the top of her list.

"Well met Rock Lee, my name is Tao."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." He said with a low bow.

"Well then, if we are all ready?" she asked receiving a nod from both of them. Lee had walked over and Hinata had hitched her bag on her back again.

"Then let us be off, I'm sure you have questions for me which I will be sure to answer for you once we meet up with the other."

"Others Tao Sensei?" Lee asked looking up at her curiously. Tao smiled and nodded as the three of them walked out the gate.

---

From the position of the moon Sakura guessed it was somewhere around eight. She gave a small sigh as she continued to look at the moon wishing she had asked to go with Tao back to the village to collect some of her things – then she'd be a little better off. We're probably going to sleep on the cold hard ground, Sakura thought as she pouted looking over at Naruto. The boy was looking into the fire still, a funny smile on his face. Huh… he's probably exited that were going on this big mission with a high ranking ninja… he probably doesn't contemplate what we're getting ourselves into. Sakura almost silently admitted to herself that she was a little scared, and wished she had some of the boy's courage and enthusiasm.

"Hey…Naruto?" Sakura asked in a barely audible whisper. Naruto looked up from the fire rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah Sakura?"

"Um… when do you think Tao will come back?"

"I'm sure she'll be back soon. I'm trying to figure out more important stuff myself." He said crossing his arms over his chest grinning at her.

"Oh really…" she said with a smirk "and what might that be hm?" she asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"Like where we're going." He said slouching back down giving Sakura the impression that while he had been thinking about it, he hadn't figured it out yet.

"Well…" Sakura said as she picked up one of the smaller sticks from their firewood pile and began to draw a map on a patch of bare Earth.

"Here's our village, and most of the other villages are to the north, northeast or northwest."

"But you said most, so is there one in that direction then? To the southwest?" Naruto asked trying to understand her map while looking at it upside-down.

"Umm, yes, the only ninja village that I know of that is to the southwest is…" Sakura stared at her map as she completed it and saw what lay dead in their path. "It's the Wind Country - Hidden Village of Sand."

"Oh… well… that's not to bad is it?" Naruto asked looking up at her as if wondering what it was she was worried about. Sakura was just about to go off her head at Naruto about not knowing anything and always falling asleep in class when she could have sworn she heard something moving outside their little encampment. The two of them froze and looked out into the forest to try and see who, or what, it was. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Tao walking forward towards them. She paused for a moment then raised her hands in front of her palms together then moved them apart as if pushing back curtains. As she did this there was a shimmer around Naruto and Sakura as part of the shield surrounding the camp moved away so Tao was able to see them.

"Ah there you two are." She said smiling. Naruto and Sakura stood up and walked towards Tao wanting to see who she brought with her.

"Naruto and Sakura, I'd like you to meet your traveling companions; Rock Lee and Hinata." The four stared at each other for a moment. For Hinata it was more like a second as she took one glance at Naruto then seemed to find something extremely interesting about the ground beneath her feet. Lee however was not short on words.

"Sakura! My pink haired angel! I shall protect you with my life I swear it!" He said striking a confident pose as Naruto scolded at him not really noticing Hinata's shyness towards him.

"Ummm… sorry but you're just too unique for me." Sakura managed to mumble causing Rock Lee to slump forward as if he had just taken a blow to the head.

"Ah well, as a ninja in training I shall not surrender easily… I shall prove to you that I can protect the woman that I love!" He said standing triumphantly again. It was Sakura's turn to slump forward not too sure what to say to discourage this boy's seemingly unwavering affection for her.

"I'm glad you all know each other. Now Sakura, Naruto, I brought packs for you both as well." She said handing them their packs which they gladly took. "Now why doesn't everyone unroll their sleeping bags for the night?" she laughed as they all looked at her in surprise. "Now I didn't say 'go to sleep' now did I. I'm sure some of you have some questions for me which I will try to answer as best I can." The four nodded and got ready for the night as Tao resealed the surrounding charka spell. Once everyone was settled around the fire Tao looked around at everyone.

"Now before you ask me anything I wish to tell you this first; I will not lie to any of you. If I am unable of answering your question I will simply tell you so rather than simply trying to guess or making something up." The four nodded. "Also we do need to get up in the morning and travel a great distance, so please forgive me if I do not allow for all questions tonight alright?" everyone agreed to this easily. "Now where would you like to start?" she asked looking at them in turn.

"Umm… miss Tao?" If it hadn't been so quiet they might have missed Hinata's quiet voice. "You… um, you're not really a Jonin are you. Umm that is I don't mean to be rude of anything it's just that…"

"No you are correct, I am not a Jonin, and this headband does not belong to me." They nodded as she spoke including Naruto who didn't want to look like he was in on everything from the beginning even though he was. Tao's honesty was helping the other three to trust her more.

"Miss Tao, you said we had a mission; a reason for us being here, am I right?" Rock Lee asked. Tao nodded in response.

"The answer to this question will probably also answer the reason as to why I have this headband that does not belong to me." She told Hinata and Rock Lee about what happened earlier. The fight with the ninja's, Sasuke's capture, the discovery of the fact that the same thing had happened to Kakashi. She took the list of names and the map from her pocket and handed them to the two Genin to inspect.

"Miss Tao, I don't understand. This is truly a job for someone beyond the level of Genin so why did you recruit us for help." Rock Lee asked as he and Hinata and Sakura all looked at Tao wonderingly.

"Well, I may not be a Jonin, but I have traveled far and wide and learnt many things. Also the village where I grew up in, all of my people were born with a natural curiosity and a want to learn, and so we did. One of the things I learned from my father was foresight. By looking at the names on that list and concentrating, one of two things would happen. One, nothing; two, I would see a brief image of that person along with a single reason to select them from all the rest." She explained to the eagerly listening children. Even Naruto was paying full attention now, he didn't know anything about Tao's past and she just mentioned her father.

"B…but…but I don't understand, why did it choose me? Why didn't it choose my sister… or my cousin Neji? what possible use could I be on a mission like this?" Hinata asked sounding scared.

"Come on Hinata!" Naruto said loudly to the girl nearly causing her to jump straight up in surprise of having Naruto talk to her so suddenly. "You've got to believe in yourself a little more!" He said crossing his arms over his chest and looked at her with such determination as if her were daring her to try and doubt herself again. About to try and object Hinata looked into Naruto's golden eyes and blushed looking away quickly.

"Umm... alright Naruto if you say so…" She replied softly.

"So do you really think we'll be up for something like this?" Sakura asked. She couldn't help but wonder if it may have been better for her to go home. After all her name hadn't been on the list; what if she just got in the way like always. Naruto and Sasuke were different, they both tried their best and gave it their all; she was usually too busy trying to get Sasuke's attention. Almost as if she sensed Sakura's uncertainty Tao smiled and nodded.

"I am positive; each of you needs to be here because you have something great to contribute to the team." They all smiled and nodded, including Hinata even though it was only a tiny one. "Now, how about some sleep? I will stay up to keep watch all night tonight, after this we will take turns." Everyone nodded, they didn't expect otherwise. After everyone said their goodnight's to each other combined with some shouting from Sakura after Rock Lee had said something along the lines of her being his true love and her being safe while he was around; but after that everyone curled up in their bed rolls to go to sleep all except for Tao who sat cross-legged by the fire, her eyes fixed on the flames as she sent out her hearing to listen to everything around them. Naruto did not fall asleep as quickly as the others had. He wanted to meet Tao in that dream place like before; he wanted to ask her about her family and her village. Maybe if I concentrate, he thought to himself, maybe I can get myself there…it's worth a try anyway. Smiling he decided to give it a try. Even though he didn't have the slightest clue as to how or what he was going to do, he sure wasn't going to loose anything in the effort of trying. Picturing the place in his mind Naruto's hands formed the hand sigils as he quietly whispered the Zenton Hotarubi technique. Perhaps he could teleport his dream self there… it was worth a shot, if nothing else he concluded. As he finished the hand sigils he gave a wide yawn and fell to sleep almost immediately.

Tao looked out over the young Genin in front of her. It was true what she had said, they were all capable of more than they knew. True, she could not see into the future like a fortuneteller might; but she did manage to grasp insights to the future, to see something that might tip the scale in their favor. True she didn't fully know what they were up against; all she did know was it was something big, and that she would need to seek help from at least one more person, one from the hidden village to the southwest. The image the name had brought up in her mind was almost scary. The one she had seen was truly powerful, and for the person to be just a Genin like the others with her… she wasn't sure what to think. She turned her thoughts back to Sasuke and Kakashi; it would be nice if she had a way of contacting them like she did with Naruto and as she had done with her family. But now was not the time to try something new, to have her spirit leave her body now to look for them would be to leave the others vulnerable. The shield generated by the charka stones, she was usually the only one underneath it so she wasn't too sure how well it would cover more. As she turned back to look at the fire she felt Naruto's presence at the back of her mind. She gave a small smile, now how did he manage that all by himself? She wondered. Didn't want a simple night's sleep I see.

Naruto looked around grinning in triumph. He had made it there, but had yet to realize that there wasn't much point in being there if Tao was awake and thus not there was well.

"Hey Tao? Taaaaaooooo!" He called out walking around looking for her.

"Didn't want a simple night's sleep I see." Naruto whirled around looking everywhere.

"Tao?"

"Because I am still awake I cannot join you, however I should be able to maintain a telepathic link with you while you're there."

"A tela-what?"

"I can speak to you with my mind, it's like you're hearing the thoughts I send to you."

"Oh I get it!" He said triumphantly as he sat down on the grass looking up at the dream sky.

"Did you have something you wanted to ask me Naruto?"

"Yeah… you're family, the village where you grew up, what was it like, and what other cool things do you know?" He asked her one question after another excitedly as Tao laughed and tried to ask him to slow down and ask one thing at a time.

"One thing… ok, what was your family like?"

"My family…" her voice sounded strange, it seemed distant and… sad, Naruto was sure of it.

"Tao?"

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Ok I'm sorry I just couldn't make it any longer… but I hope I did a good job! I really hope this was worth the wait. :) Thanks to everyone for sticking around and waiting for my next chapter I really do hope it was worth the wait. So please R&R and Ill see you in the next chapter!