Yo! So sorry for the down time but I needed a one day break, I had been having some bumps in the road (if the next chapter isn't obvious enough for it.) Anyway Thank you all for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Kyuubi"

Flash Back

(Standard Disclaimer)

Chapter 38: Up and About!

Three Days

It was quiet, so peaceful. His eyes danced over the lovely scenery surrounding him, quiet and calm in the deep forests of his home. Behind him lay his den, a large hole in a pure stone wall which to any other creature would seem massive but to him it was perfect. He lay his head on his furry paws and settled for a good nap.

He didn't know when and he didn't know why but suddenly he felt his world shift and he felt his body being pulled from this peaceful realm. It could be something good, it could be something bad, but his entire being was compelled to allow it to do whatever it pleased. As he felt the invisible hand pull him he felt as if it was getting warmer and warmer, his body feeling as if it was slowly being submerged into the very sun. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came, all that rung in this world of pain was a dark laughter and that single chartreuse eye.

Naruto nearly jumped out of the hospital bed he had been lying on. He was soaked with sweat head to toe as he held up his hand to his face. It was normal, but he could have sworn only moments ago his muscles had nearly melted off the bone. Naruto brushed his hand into his wild locks and panted as he stared into the white sheets of his bed, what the hell was that!

Naruto's focus swiftly changed as he heard a soft and easily recognizable voice call, "Naruto-kun?" Naruto turned his eyes swiftly to the hospital door seeing his beloved on the threshold holding a cup of cold water. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she rushed to his bed side, putting the cup of water on the table next to his bed then wrapping him in a hug.

"Hinata-chan...what happened?" Naruto asked in confusion as he wrapped his arms around her putting his hands on the back of her head as she nuzzled into his shoulder. Her response was muffled but Naruto understood it all the same, "you started burning up. I went to get you some cold water and when I came back you were awake." Naruto smiled, it was good to have someone love you like this. He just wished he could find a way to return that love other then his words...

With that single thought his face turned a bright red and he slowly loosened his grip on Hinata until they broke apart. Hinata looked at Naruto with confusion etched into her lovely features and asked, "is something wrong Naruto-kun?" Naruto gulped audibly as his blush darkened and he responded with a weak, "nope! Nothing at all!"

Hinata looked skeptically at Naruto, something that from her resembled confusion. "Eh...it's not something you want to hear..." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Naruto-kun," Hinata said in a serious tone completely unbecoming of her. She must be taking lessons on dealing with the fox boy from Kiba. "Uh...did you happen to hear what Genjutsu Zaiaku cast on me?" Naruto said not being able to meet Hinata's eyes.

"No, what was it?" Hinata asked with a bemused look. "It was called...lust," Naruto said nearly squeaking the last part out. Hinata was confused for one moment before a heavy blush stained her features. "W-what happened N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked her nervous stutter back from the sheer embarrassment of what COULD have been in the illusion. "Well..." Naruto said just before all his prayers were answered when the door to his room opened and in stepped his adopted older sister, Tsunade.

"Naruto it's good to see you awake after three days!" Tsunade said with a smile, hiding something beneath the happy facade. Naruto at the moment wasn't in the right frame of mind to notice so he said with a challenging air hoping to get ride of his embarrassment, "hey Obaa-chan. Wow three days? Forget it, what'd you think of the match?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes at the Obaa-chan crack and said, "well you fought with Katsu to as stale mate but..." Tsunade paused, she knew how Naruto got when one of his friends had been attacked let alone killed. He wasn't ready to be put through that, not right now at least. She skirted around Taishou's death and said, "due to some circumstances Katsu has been disqualified and by default you win."

Naruto grinned ear to ear and nearly shouted, "YES! I won! Does that mean I'm a Chuunin now?" Tsunade sighed and said, "that's up to the council..." With those words Naruto's face visibly darkened, if it were up to those ass's he would have been executed a long time ago. "You can't be serious," Naruto said with an obviously disappointed tone. "I'm sorry Naruto but my vote only goes so far..." Tsunade said sadly.

Naruto sighed then revealed his face smiling same as ever. "Oh well, at least my team will make it right? They ok?" Tsunade and Hinata smiled, this was Naruto. Such a selfless and loyal person even after what he had to go through in his life. Hinata found it inspiring and that inspiration turned to deep rooted love. Tsunade found it amazing, and that amazement was the foundation for her brotherly affection for the young Kitsune.

"Hokage," came a stoic voice from the hallway out of range of the doors view. Tsunade turned to the voice and nodded. She turned back to Naruto and Hinata and said, "sorry but I have to go. And Hinata, just because he's a little exhausted doesn't mean you can have your way with him." Before Naruto could yell at her Tsunade shut the door and turned to face the ANBU guard that was to escort her.

Tsunade smirked as the ANBU guard led her through the halls. It was a luck of the draw that she was here today checking up on her patients. Otherwise she would have completely missed her little brother waking up. It wasn't that long ago but still...that was a very memorable day.

Tsunade was flying through the halls of the hospital, after finding Naruto's room she had been swamped with requests for her legendary healing powers. Apparently Katsu's little destruction streak had some consequences. After what had to be the thirtieth patient she was greeted by a very confusing site. In the waiting room of the hospital was the Kazekage on a disk of his flying sand with the silver haired Genin leaning on him. They landed and the sand disappeared into Gaara's gourd as the Genin spotted Tsunade approaching them.

"We got him Hokage-sama," Zaiaku said with a slightly crooked grin. His face and body had splatters of blood and smudges of dirt while his left arm was twisted in a way no normal arm should be. His left eye was closed while his right eye was open and in it's normal mode of deactivation. Gaara looked much better off but he was sill covered in dirt, sand, and splatters of blood. "His arm is broken," Gaara said as he offered the Genin to Tsunade. Tsunade entered the hallways and caught three medical ninja and ordered them to take care of Zaiaku while she talked with Gaara.

After the two medical specialists left with Zaiaku she turned to face Gaara but instead had a very entertaining sight welcome her. Some rooms away two people scrambled out of a room in a dead panic. One was a very...voluptuous woman who looked like she had seen a ghost with her sheet white skin. The second was a monster of a man who in his haste to leave the room stumbled over his own two feet and fell to the ground in a heap. He quickly scrambled up and took off after the woman not seeming to notice he had a large gash on his leg.

Gaara watched this along with Tsunade but didn't say a word. The look on his face was good enough that he didn't need words. Tsunade coughed drawing both Kage's attention back into the conversation and said, "did you happen to gather any information Kazekage?" Gaara nodded and held out the three tags to Tsunade who quickly grabbed them and scanned them over. "These...I've never seen tags like these. It's hard to follow them, they're so complicated," Tsunade said as she looked the three tags over. "Shall we take this to your office?" Gaara asked not waiting for an answer before he started walking.

"Damn Obaa-chan..." Naruto grumbled with a deep blush on his face. However compared to Hinata's burning cheeks Naruto looked pale. One would wonder if she had any blood on her body with the exception of her head and face. "Uh Hinata-chan?" Naruto said with a scratch of the back of his head. "Y-yes Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked quietly not daring to meet his eyes. "Do you still want to know what I saw?" Naruto asked nervously. Hinata swiftly shook her head, any more of these embarrassing events and she would pass out!

"Thanks, so..." Naruto said as he began to lift the blanket off himself. 'Please have clothes, please have clothes,' Naruto chanted in his mind while he pulled the blanket off himself finding that he had his clothes on. Thank the gods he was still clothed! "Wanna go get something to eat?" Naruto asked as he prepared to get out of his bed. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata said stopping him from getting out of bed by grabbing his shoulder.

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion, except for his sore arm he felt fine. "You shouldn't be getting out of bed. You may have been sleeping for three days but your chakra still isn't up to normal levels," Hinata said trying to get Naruto to lie down again. "I'm fine Hinata-chan," Naruto said with a smile, "especially after three days rest. I promise." Hinata was about to begin an argument but was stopped when Naruto pulled her into a light and sweet kiss. Hinata lost the resolve to argue with Naruto and he pulled back with a grin.

"So do you want to get something to eat or not?" Naruto asked while Hinata softly nodded with a blushing smile. Naruto easily got out of bed, with just a few missteps due to his elongated rest, and they made their way out of the hospital.

"So these tags are from Orochimaru," Tsunade said gravely as she looked at the three tags in her hand. Gaara looked over his shoulder and said, "yes, at least that is what the Sound Genin said." Tsunade looked the three tags over in her fingers, what could the intricate seals and markings that were confusing even for her level of expertise do? And why were there three of them?

Tsunade never had a full chance to figure it out because in the blink of an eye the tags set ablaze in a bright blue flame. Tsunade threw the tags to the ground and stepped back as the tags swiftly burned out of existence in a quiet flame. Tsunade and Gaara watched the spectacle for a few moments until Tsunade said, "oh damn it."

"Hey! Old man! Two of everything and one extra..." Naruto said as he turned to Hinata who added, "pork." Naruto smiled and turned to Teuchi with a wide smile. "You heard the lady! One pork for her and two of everything for me!" Naruto said energetically. Teuchi smiled and began on the Ramen while Hinata smiled at Naruto and thought, 'he must be feeling better.'

"So Hinata-chan, what'd I miss when I was gone?" Naruto asked as he turned to Hinata with a soft smile. Hinata returned the smile and filed him in on what he missed, everything important that had happened. Naruto listened with rapt attention just as he had two months ago. However whenever she asked what he had been up to he always skirted around the question quickly with either distractions or asking his own questions.

Finally their Ramen arrived and Hinata ate conservatively, just as polite and proper as she had always been. Naruto on the other hand took to the Ramen like a man in the Sahara with a glass of water. By the time Hinata had finished her Ramen Naruto had finished his, quite a feat for any human but we all know that wasn't Naruto. After paying the immense bill from his, now deflated, Gama wallet Hinata and Naruto left hand in hand. One with a smile and the other with some seriously unanswered questions.

Tsunade sat in her office after listening to what the Kazekage had just told her, this was bad. So very bad. "Are you sure everything he told you was in complete honesty?" Tsunade asked while Gaara looked at her with his stoic expression. "The Genin was going to be eaten by a Shukaku incarnation. He told us the mans underwear color, which for some reason he knew. I doubt he would lie in that situation with that kind of information," Gaara said honestly.

Tsunade sighed and slammed her head down on the table, "our treaty still stands?" Gaara smirked and crossed his arms, "as always Hokage." Tsunade sighed and rose her head from the table. "Ok...we have to begin building the armies as soon as possible. Even though it was information it was sketchy at best," Tsunade said as she took out a blank scroll and began to write in it furiously. Gaara watched in mild interest as Tsunade wrote then signed the scroll before blowing on the semi-wet ink then wrapping it up.

"Prepare for war..." Tsunade said as she held out the scroll which Gaara took with a nod.

Those were her last words to the Kazekage, he rounded up his siblings and his Genin and left for Suna. Well he wasn't one for good conversation but he sure as hell was reliable in battle situations. Sometimes she forgot that he was about Naruto's age, he acted so much older and...darker. Tsunade shook it off as another Medical personal requested her assistance. Thank god she got her paper work out of the way...

Naruto and Hinata walked hand in hand through the village square both of them noticing that there weren't that many people around. That didn't mean that the villagers that were out ignored the Hyuga Heiress and the Demon walking along like a couple. Well mostly only the males that noticed this, the girls were glaring at the Hyuga 'princess' for taking the hot guy. In an effort to avoid the stares Naruto smiled and led Hinata away from the village into a spot he had found such a long time ago that fit perfectly into his plans...

Hinata looked up the gigantic nearly vertical slant that lead to only Naruto-kun knows where. "Um, Naruto-kun? Where are we going?" Hinata asked as Naruto approached the towering cliff face. "Hm? Oh we're going up!" Naruto said enthusiastically as he pointed right up. "Were going to climb that?" Hinata asked in almost disbelief. This was a challenge even for the most skilled ninja. "Huh? Are you nuts? There's a path up there, see," Naruto said as he pulled a bush to the side and there was a lightly worn path leading into the deep foliage.

Hinata mentally sighed and followed Naruto up the path trusting Naruto completely as he led her down this less then perfect path. Hinata was tempted to use her Byakugan in an attempt to figure out where they were going but she withheld the urge. Wait...if she used Byakugan she could see through Naruto-kun's...oh gods this was harder. She gulped and walked along behind Naruto tensely trying to get her mind out of the gutter she had formed for herself.

"We're here!" Naruto said happily as he sprung through the brush into the wide open air. Hinata followed quietly behind soon finding herself on top of the massive cliff they were at the foot off a little while ago. It held a beautiful view of the entire village, the Hokage monuments watching over the village like its own private guardians frozen in stone. "Naruto-kun it's beautiful," Hinata said but Naruto wrapped his arms around her from behind and said, "it's got nothing on you"

Hinata blushed deeply but relaxed in his embrace, falling further into his warmth. Suddenly a thought occurred and she quietly said, "Naruto-kun. You said you had something to show me." Naruto smiled and nuzzled into her soft silky hair and said, "that's why we're here." Hinata sighed and said, "it's wonderful Naruto-kun."

Naruto smirked and whispered, "the view isn't what we're here for." Hinata turned her head and looked up at Naruto's grinning Kitsune face with a look of confusion. Before she could say anything Naruto had placed his fingers on her lips and said, "wait and watch." Naruto let Hinata from his warm embrace and reluctantly walked over to a rock face. It had to bee at least 20 feet tall and was relatively flat at it's almost perfect 90 degree angle.

Naruto smirked and gripped his left arm with his right and with one swift movement he ripped away the top bandages away showing a fresh black tattoo on his upper arm. Unlike the styled and very artistic summoning tattoo on his right arm this tribal styled tattoo was plain yet beautiful in it's simplicity. Inside of a circle on his upper arm was a face of a Kitsune. Spreading from the circle were nine flame like tails. Thinking about it one would say it looked exactly like or bared an eery resemblance to the design on Naruto's shirt.

"Watch this Hinata-chan," Naruto said as he bit his thumb and smeared the fresh blood on the tattoo. Not forming a single hand-seal he placed his left hand on the rock surface feeling the tattoo on his shoulder pulse. If one were to watch this simple tattoo closely and in slowed time they would see the eyes of the Kitsune portrayed light up. The light would then spread from the eye to the circle. The circled would then bleed this light into the nine flame like tails and then with one last pulse it disappeared.

Naruto smirked as she stepped away from the rock, crossing his arms and looking at the rock wall with confidence. Hinata walked up the Naruto in confusion and asked, "Naruto-kun?" Naruto laughed and said, "one second." Suddenly the rock wall began to shake and a beautiful gold and red door rose from the rocky earth wall.

The door was like a gateway of an ancient wealthy city only down sized to about 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It was beautifully painted with a magnificent design in the center. In the center was a golden fox face within a golden circle with a blood red background. Surrounding the doors center piece were six holes. Naruto smiled while Hinata stared in awe, what was this?

Naruto wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist and led her closer to the massive door. Naruto stopped in front of the door and turned slightly, letting his six tails fly from behind him and slide into the six holes surrounding the centerpiece. Suddenly a loud clicking sound could be heard and Naruto removed his tails. Slowly the doors swung open, letting a blinding light hide what exactly was within the gates. "Welcome," Naruto said as he led a gaping and stunned Hinata into the gates, "to my world..."

End Chapter

Well how was that? I'll get to explaining this minor cliffy soon enough. As it is I'm still a little beat. Well Q and A time!

Q: To much Zai/Itami

A: AH HA! I knew it! I KNEW someone would have a beef about it! Ok not saying that I take offense,I agree to an extent, but I needed it for the story line. Sorry!

Q: Katsu curse seal?

A: Simple answer: no

Q: How do I make up Naruto's jutsu.

A: Well to be honest I only make up one or two of them. A friend of mine, with a very active and violent imagination, comes up with a good portion of the Jutsu and I'd like to thank her for that. She also contributes alot to this story in way of plot and dialogue. Thank you Psycho for all the times you helped this idiot with his story!

Q: Amagumo's identity?

A: In response, yes he was their teammate. In the middle of a mission he was seperated from themand then killed by Sound troops only for them to find his body had really weird properties to it after he died...that's all I can tell for now!

Q: Sasuke/Sakura?

A: You'll see!

Well thats enough of that. Thanks for everything but I don't have a preview that won't spoil the next chapter. Sorry! See you later!