A very short chapter. It'll get better. Promise. -cp

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"Naruto..." Hinata whispered as she ran her fingers over the orange spiral on the side of the hat, just below the cat's ears on the top, like an earring. "It must be nearly halloween by now." She looked up at Kisame, "Isn't it?" He had brought the hat out for her when she had come out of the bathroom in her new ninja clothes along with a pair of mirrored glasses that were clear to the user but hid her eyes from casual observation. He nodded. The black and orange hat was probably part of a special Halloween display before everyone had bought the rest of the stuff and it had been moved to the men's department by accident. Kisame had bought it for her on a whim.

He knew who Naruto was. He'd spent a good deal of his time looking for the vessel of the nine-tails, in fact. But the boy had gone and got himself killed rescuing that un-appreciative Uchiha. He knew, he had been there. Kisame clasped a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. She still beleived he was alive, but after what Kisame had seen, he wasn't so sure.

"Kisame." That one word of warning and the big mist-nin had gathered up his weakened comrade and made for the trees. Naruto was in the middle of a heated battle with the sanin Orochimaru for Sasuke's freedom. Sasuke, meanwhile was just as exhausted as his brother and being drug away by a pink-haired little konoichi who looked like she'd snap under the weight of the larger konoha-nin, but didn't. Kisame had been enjoying the show for a bit while Itachi treated thier wounds, but at the first sign that Naruto's battle was getting out of control they had fleed.

Despite Itachi's warnings Kisame was curious. He returned that night after Itachi had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep. There was nothing where once acres of forest had been. Nothing but a chared, black, crater, slick in places where the sand in the ground had been turned into glass. By far the darkest spot was in the center, where the spiral began. There were two shapes there, impressions burned into the stone and glass. There were faint traces of ash and splintered shards of bone, but for the most part the two ninjas had seemed to have vaporized on the spot. It was a shame really.

"He's dead." Kisame had whispered, and Hinata had just smiled sadly and whispered back, "I know, but I have to try." tears threatened to fall from her eyes, "He'd do it for me." Kisame nodded. He could understand that, once.