PAIRINGS:

…not telling just yet…

NOTES:

"Blah" Speech

Blah Thoughts

/Blah/ Flashback, dreams

BLAH Kyuubi speaking

What You're Searching For

Authoress: Kazeyama Tsume

Chapter 2:

Trouble and Help from Unexpected Sources

After leaving Konoha and five days of traveling –most of which he'd been lost getting in the direction they were supposed to go –they were finally at the bridge. It had been four years ago the he had come here on that fateful mission with his teacher and teammates of Team 7. And it seemed some things had changed. Naruto looked more closely, noticing small signs of a battle on the bridge that was not there before, and there were no people on the bridge either; those he saw passing by avoided it like a disease they didn't want to catch.

What the hell's been going on? Naruto thought, curious as to the people's behavior. He moved forward, the others following, their movements as slow and unsure of themselves as his own. The tension and fear as he crossed the bridge seemed overwhelming. Beside him Hinata seemed almost ready to bolt, but the confusion and determination in her eyes said that if there was anything she could do she would stay to help. Neji was on guard, his whole body tense, and ready for an attack. They were all wary.

Naruto started looking more closely at the bridge itself, noting the dark stains on the white surface; the many dents and gashes in the stone told the clear story of a battle, one that had happened not to long ago. And the closer he got, the more he was having second thoughts about coming to the once lively village. He had thought that he would be welcomed, people on the streets waving their hellos' or yelling them to him, and yet… there was only the poor left on the streets and even they seemed frightened of something. He could feel their eyes on his back, watching his every move. The windows and doors that were open slammed shut, the noise echoing, and the once bustling streets were now almost desolate, the silence loud and unnerving.

"They fear us," whispered Hinata, breaking the silence.

"They've been attacked earlier before. It seems they have given up hope," replied Neji.

"It's worse than before," muttered Naruto. Looking up he saw the name of the bridge, the letters fading.

"The Great Naruto Bridge? Why would these people name it that?"

"I was here before. They named it after me, I guess,"

"You must have done something very important to be honored in such a way," said Hinata.

"I did, but it wasn't just me. We, Team 7, defeated the tycoon Gato. But I guess you could say that my personality gave them hope, strength for the future."

Neji looked over at the blonde whose whole life was one dangerous adventure after another. "Then whatever is happening here, we will end it."

Nodding to himself Naruto quickened his pace, leading the two Hyugas the rest of the way. Most of the time was just looking around, keeping an eye out for any type of enemy. Hinata's hands were twitching, as were Neji's.

Hinata will probably start making as many medicines as she can. I don't doubt she'll try to get others to help her. Neji's just waiting for a fight.

"Naruto-niisan? Is it really you?"

Naruto blinked, looking up from his musings as he found himself standing before a familiar residence and a familiar face.

"Inari?" the boy that was now in front him smiled. " Wow, Inari! You've definitely grown since the last time I saw you!" he exclaimed happily. His voice seemed louder than it normally was, his eyes downcast now as the tension and fear around him began to grate on his already shaking nerves.

"Heh, it has been four years, Naruto-niisan," retorted Inari, humorously, almost sadly.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, nodding. " Yeah, it has been a while hasn't it." Naruto saw that Inari hadn't changed all that much, except a bit in height. There was a gleam in the young boy's eyes that looked, to Naruto, like a great hope. His previous thoughts came back to him, the situation he'd just walked into seemed impossible to escape from though he didn't know what that was. But there was one person that would know, and hopefully that person was still-

" Well, look what we have here! It's the midget!" came an equally loud voice. Naruto's face became red, trying to keep his mouth shut, but he didn't last past five seconds.

" WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET, YOU MIDGET! I'M TALLER THAN YOU NOW, SO HA!"

Tazuna smiled at the blond greeted with a grin from the boy as well. He pulled Naruto into a hug, "It's good that you're here, boy. I was about to send word to Konoha to help us, but sense you're here…maybe you can help."

Naruto regarded the old man with concern, and he saw the same gleam of hope in the old man's eyes that he had seen in Inari. Hinata and Neji saw this as well, curious as to why Naruto's presence brought such great hope. Naruto nodded letting Tazuna lead them inside, Inari behind them. The young boy went into the kitchen to tell his mother that they had guests.

"Man! It feels good to sit down, my feet were killing me!" Naruto exclaimed, placing his pack next to him. Naruto glanced over at Tazuna, watching as the old man twiddled his thumbs. Looking at the other two, he started. " Ji-san, I want you to meet my two friends here, Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji."

"It is good to meet you Tazuna-san. You have a lovely home," smiled Hinata, bowing a little. Neji simply nodded his head. Once the greetings were out of the way, Naruto got down to business.

He leaned forward, "What was it that you wanted to tell me, old man."

"I'd hopped you would've been like your usual self and forget. You don't have to do anything… and you can stay here in the same room you did the first time you were here, and –"

"Stop trying to keep me safe, Tazuna-san. I'm a ninja, a shinobi of Konoha; I've been in danger my whole life, so spill it," said Naruto, his voice stern. Tazuna sighed loudly, shifting in his chair, moving it so he was a little closer to the blonde.

He kept his voice low, "It was two years ago that it first happened. You saw the marks on the bridge right? The dark splotches?"

"Yeah,"

"This huge group of bandits –a few were probably mercenaries though –attacked us on the day of our festival for the completion of the bridge. Since that battle with those two Mist-ninja, we've armed ourselves, learning how to use the weapons we've come to start making," Tazuna said, glancing at Naruto to see if he was actually listening. Naruto wasn't even looking at him, but Tazuna continued, "We managed, that first time, to drive them off. We lost no one, thankfully, but many of us were injured."

Here Tsunami came in bringing in drinks, and she smiled when she saw the blonde. It was good to have him there again. The other two (brother and sister?) nodded their thanks, the girl smiling reassuringly. She didn't bother with introductions at the moment, they were talking about the bandit problem and she hoped they'd stay. Inari came back as well and took a seat next to Naruto.

"But they didn't run because they were out done. No, they went back for their comrades. Ninja, these one were, and ones that I'm not familiar with."

"What symbol did they have on them?" asked Neji. If there were ninja then perhaps they could get the Hokage involved.

"Some of them were wearing a slashed hitai-ate, I assume those are missing-nin?"

The three Leaf ninja nodded.

Tazuna continued, "But, there were other ones. Probably from the smaller ninja villages. Some had vertical lines on their hitai-ate, and the others had a musical note on them."

"Sound," growled Naruto, fists shaking.

"And Grass," said Neji.

"Why would they attack here? It doesn't make sense." Commented Hinata.

Naruto stood up; moving quickly to catch the chair before it hit the floor. He walked away from the table, just standing before one of the windows that was in the room, his head only slightly raised. He wasn't even looking outside; he only stood there, silent, clenching his fists. Hinata was managing to keep her other thoughts hidden behind a cool mask that had taken three years to perfect.

"I'll help you," he said, looking at nothing. "We'll help you."

Neji remembered the bridge, riddled with deep battle scars, and the dark stains now had a name…blood. There have more than likely been smaller scrimmages, unexpected attacks. It would explain why this place seems so small and desolate.

"They attacked a second time, didn't they?" asked Naruto, coming to the same conclusion.

"Yes, they did. Many times, actually; smaller attacks, mostly at night when no one would expect it."

It must have been worse... Naruto was so deep in thought that he almost missed what was said next.

"Dinner's ready!"

Naruto's stomach grumbled loud enough for the people next door to hear it. Hinata and Tsunami giggled, seeing the blonde's face turn as red as a tomato. "It seems your voice has competition. Your stomach's louder than your mouth," laughing as Naruto became more embarrassed.

"Let's go then, before that good food gets cold," said Tazuna, slowly standing from his seat. He followed his daughter, but turned to look at the unmoving blonde.

"Thank you, Naruto,"

Dinner went uneventfull; no one seemed to want to talk. Naruto started to feel homesickness settling in, with nothing else to think about, and he didn't want to occupy his mind with what he was going to do to help just yet. Ramen would be good to help me think…or just put me to sleep. Actually, sleeps sounds real good right now…

"Same room like before, right?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, same room, though I suppose you'll be sharing this time." replied Tsunami, looking at Neji and Hinata, both seeming dead on their feet. If it wasn't for the current situation it would have looked funny sense one hardly ever saw Hyuga Neji like this.

Naruto let Tsunami take his bowl from him, too tired to do much but get his stuff. The others followed, though not before Hinata offered and was turned down by Tsunami for to help.

"Oyasumi nasai,"

"Oyasumi, Naruto-niisan," replied Inari, getting up to help his mother.

Naruto walked the steps slowly; he was starting to wish he were home. This is too much…even for me. The people here… even if they know how to weld a sword or whatever they have… will it be enough? Naruto opened the door to the room he would be sleeping in, leaving his pack by the door. A futon was already laid out, so at least one job was done for him. Neji was right behind him looking around to make sure that everything was fine. Hinata was being shown a smaller guest room, to have to herself.

"Have faith, Naruto."

"What?"

Neji pulled Naruto around to have them looking at each other. "I said have faith. We will do what we can to help these people. As ninja, doing that is part of our job. So have faith, help will come from unexpected sources."

Naruto sighed, slipping under the covers. It took a while to get to sleep, with his thoughts racing as they were. Before falling fast asleep one last thought crossed his mind, I hope so.

Hinata woke up suddenly, stifling a scream to keep from waking Neji and Naruto. Her breaths came in short gasps; a cold sweat caused her clothes to cling to her body. Pale lavender eyes shut, she shook her head to get rid of the lingering images of her nightmare, but only the last part wouldn't go away.

Naruto-kun…

/ everything was in flames: homes, shops, even a few people who had been unfortunate to get caught fire. The place was unfamiliar to her; she'd never been here before, but memory served her and she remembered that this was Wave Country. Hinata ran in the direction some people with weapons were heading, the sounds of battle a ways ahead.

The screams were unbearable; she too wanted to cry.

"Get those kids out of here, NOW!"

That voice, that familiar tenor that was now a light baritone coming from her right gave her courage, just like it always did. Hinata ran in that direction, running as fast as she could to reach her comrade.

There in the middle of a fight was Naruto, his body wounded in various places. His Kage Bushin occupied those bandits that were trying to harm those who couldn't fight. Naruto seemed to be at his limits of chakra, the battle had been a long one. Neji seemed to be no where is sight, but there were bodies on the ground with injuries that only the Gentle Fist style of her clan could create. Perhaps he was the one getting the children to a safer place?

Hinata cried out to Naruto, but no sound emitted from her. She tried to move but her legs were now frozen in place; she could only watch as the one she loved fought hard to keep from being taken down.

"AHHHHHH!"

Hinata tried to call out to Naruto again; her eyes widened as sand shuriken flew about, killing who ever got in its way. She watched, her heart pounding faster, she could barely breathe as Gaara of the Desert walked across the bridge, the sand that he controlled killing those who attacked him.

'MOVE! MOVE HINATA, MOVE! Gaara's going to…he's going to…'

Hinata screamed silently as Gaara stood over Naruto, a look of indifference on his face. Sand swirled around him and then –

Hinata closed her eyes, 'NARUTO!' /

A hand reached down to wipe away her tears, as she looked up, startled, "Neji-niisan." Neji sat down in front of her, worried that she would be crying.

"Hinata-sama, was it a nightmare? I know you've been worried for Naruto's safety, but knowing him he's just fine, and he's still sleeping" said Neji, trying to reassure her. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"Naruto…he's…something…a battle," Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself. "There was a battle going on, everything was in flames…and when I found Naruto-kun, he was hurt. But then Gaara of the Desert appeared, and –and I tried to yell to Naruto but I couldn't speak, and Gaara –"

"Did you see the end?"

Hinata looked down at her shaking hands, "No," she said in a quivering voice, "no, I didn't see the whole thing."

"Then are you really sure about what Gaara was going to do?" asked Neji. When he didn't get an answer he stood up and left Hinata to her thoughts. She looked out her bedroom window giving a shaky smile at the stars and the full moon; their presence was a comfort to her, much like Naruto. Maybe Neji-niisan is right…maybe Naruto…will be okay.

What the fuck…thought Naruto. In front of him was a small group of young men and women, some just a bit younger than him, and others mere children. And what they were asking was impossible. Unexpected sources indeed! he thought to himself as he massaged his temples. And I have a headache from all that thinking I had to do… Waking up had been what he had expected it to be. He had gotten dressed, eaten breakfast and had made plans for the day with Neji and Hinata. Coming out the front door with said two to find a small group of people looking at them expectantly was not, however, part of those plans.

A young girl with short black hair walked to the front of the group. Though most girls in the village kept to working in the home, there were a few of the younger generation that did what they had to do to make a living. This girl was noticeably strong: her arms, legs, and midsection were lean, solid muscle, but not so much so that she was unattractive.

"This is our home, ya know. All of us want to be able to protect it; everyone's sick and tired of hiding like rabbits," she said, as those who were behind her nodded in agreement, murmuring.

"But we don't have time to teach!" he said, getting a glare from the young girl. "And the only thing we could teach you is how to be ninja!"

"Then teach us to be ninja! Those bandits won't attack until next year; which means you have all winter to teach us!" she retorted. Naruto shook his head at this; 'Chikushou…I swear this headache is here just so I can give in.'

Neji looked at the girl curiously. She was strong enough to make it as a kunochi with the right training; in fact, despite being as young as they were, and younger, all of them looked healthy and strong.

"Do you even understand what it means to be a ninja?" this was Hinata. She could tell, just as Naruto and Neji have, that these people were determined to fight. And they were sick of hiding; it was in their eyes how much they hated feeling useless. The young girl who had spoken was taken aback by the question, but she wasn't about to back down. Neither were the others.

"No, not really," the girl admitted. "But it does mean fighting for your village, protecting its people as best as you can. At least that's part of it, I think."

Neji looked over at Naruto who was shaking his head in acceptance. "They are capable, Naruto, with the right training," he whispered to the blonde.

Naruto looked out behind the group, watching the ocean for a moment before looking back at the group. "I can see that." To the group he said, "I don't even know the first thing about teaching. And I'm not a jounin, just a chunin! I wouldn't know where to start!"

"Then teach us what you know. I'm sure once we get the basics down we can move onwards by ourselves with little help," the girl said in a smug voice.

Naruto's expression changed; he knew a challenge when he heard one and he never backed down from a challenge. He gave her a fox-like grin, "Are you sure about that? That once you have the basics you can go out on your own?"

"I said with little help, didn't I?" she said in the same tone, undeterred by Naruto's sudden change in attitude. The others behind her no longer looked so sure.

"You're being over confident, missy," he thought a moment, the headache gone. He was grinning from ear-to-ear now, "Alright then, I will teach all of you," He looked to Hinata and Neji who nodded. "We'll teach all of you. But just because some of you might be older than me doesn't mean you don't listen. We're going to push you to limits you never thought existed, got it?" Some of the men and women were shocked by the sudden change of attitude. They had never met anyone like this boy. Most of them had smug smirks on their faces thinking that this blonde shinobi of Konoha was kidding around.

"I want all of you to be in near the bridge by five in the morning fourteen days from now. If you don't show up," Naruto leaned in closer to the group, "I'll track you down." His voice held a menacing tone to it, causing some people in the group to pale just a bit. Those who were more understanding nodded and quickly left, but the girl who had been the spokes woman for the group stayed were she stood.

Naruto glared at her, "Now what?"

She glared back, "Why not start now?" At this Naruto smirked; though he had a headache from all the thinking his mostly dormant brain had been doing lately, all the plans he had come up with had been worth it.

"This whole gathering thing did come as a surprise, but I just got here. I'm sure you understand the meaning of getting prepared, yes?" said Naruto.

"Do you understand the meaning of being prepared?" she retorted haughtily. Neji simply shook his head at the girl, amused as she had sounded much like the Uchiha. Naruto was already exasperated with her attitude. Normally, at times like these, the Uzumaki would have continued to whine about having to teach a bunch of people he didn't know…

"What is your name?" asked Hinata, who had remained quiet for the rest of the discussion.

"Err, it's Umino Kodama."

Umino is it? I wonder if she's related to Iruka-sensei.

"Alright then, as you know everyone who was in your little group, it is your mission to make sure that everyone is at the bridge at the designated time fourteen days from now," she said, sounding amazingly like her jounin instructor, Yuuhi Kurenai. The young girl nodded, and ran back to her home.

"It seems we will be staying longer than expected," muttered Naruto. Looking over at the two next to him he noticed their looking back. "Are you sure you two want to do this?"

"We already said we would help, Naruto-kun" said Hinata.

"Indeed, and I have to admit it was a bit of a surprise. There is truly never a dull moment when you're around, is there Uzumaki?" asked Neji.

Naruto stretched, grinning as a few joints popped. He sighed, "Nope, never a dull moment. Better get used to it too."

"We'd best do as we planned, looking around the village. We need to find a place were we can properly teach these children, especially during the winter months."

"I'm starting to wonder if it's really a good idea to teach them to be ninja. There's so little time to do all of it."

Naruto nodded, "True, but it's hardly the end of the summer. We're just going to have to make sure that they get up at an ungodly hour to learn all of the important bits."

"Are you even willing to wake up that early, Naruto-kun?" teased Hinata. By this time they had reached the center of the village. A broken water fountain stood at the very center of the square.

"I have before, crazy as that might sound," muttered Naruto.

"Then we best start," said Neji. Looking around he added, "And our first job will be to help rebuild the school house over there."

The dilapidated building was obviously on its last feet. The roof had collapsed and it wouldn't be surprising if the floors hnd collapsed as well. Most of the remaining windows had been shattered and much of the area around it was upturned and destroyed.

"That's going to take months itself," said Hinata with a bit of awe.

"Not if we use some construction jutsus," replied Naruto.

"Do those even exist?" asked the violet haired kunochi.

"Surprisingly, yes they do," answered Neji.

Naruto walked up to the building and started looking over some of the wood that had fallen into the front. Picking up a broken piece of a 2x4 he looked it over and did the jutsu to test for rot or termite damage. Finding it perfect he placed it in a pile and then started on the rest. After getting Naruto to show her the jutsu Hinata started getting rid of the useless wood to make it easier for the other two.

It took the three of them and a small group of old carpenters well into the evening and the next few days to clean the grounds, the first floor, and most of the second floor. It came as a surprise when it turned out that three of the old men were retired ninja who had decided to live outside of their village. Their families had been living in the small country since and they had been passing down their ninja skills to their children and grand-children. It seems that things wouldn't be so hard after all.

"You three just leave the rest to us. We'll have most of this place up and running for you to use by next week. After that, it's all about the fine touches. You just saved us some time by doing what you did," said one of the old men after hearing what the three had planned.

"What's your name, anyway?" asked Naruto.

"Che, name's Tonkachi Ken, retired shinobi of the Mist. The other two were my old genin teammates Hakaishi Kurai and Juugeki Arare."

Hinata's eyes widened, "I've heard of you three."

"Yes, you three are famous for taking down one of the first members of the Akatsuki," said Neji, voice cold. "And that was only ten years ago."

"And that was our last mission before we were run out for having a kekkei genkai," grumbled Arare.

"But then the three of you aren't very old at all. You should be looking to be in your thirties not sixty or seventy."

"Listen, it's so we can hide ok. Some of those teme who've been attacking are actually hired ninja. It wouldn't surprise us if some one managed to figure out we were here, and we aren't about to risk it either," explained Ken

"Fine," said Naruto, looking at Neji to make sure he stopped the questions.

"And we're really in our fifties so its close," said Kurai.

"Thank you for helping us," replied Hinata.

"Yeah, sure, and we'll teach the kids for the first round. This is Wave Country, they need to learn how to utilize the water to their advantage," said Ken. "You get the other men to help with the rest of the village."

Naruto smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Well, it looks to be getting darker so you brats get on to wherever you're staying."

Naruto nodded, grabbing a hold of Neji's arm so that the teen wouldn't start interrogating the three men before turning about and going back to the old man Tazuna's place.

Definitely help from unexpected sources.