Weeping silently Hinata was carried away. Away from the burning wreckage… of her dreams.

Uzumaki Naruto was normally a happy person, usually he took great pleasure in the little things that life had to offer, but there were a few things that he didn't respond to well, One was Insults from Sasuke, another was stupid people and people who tried to steal his ramen. At one time that was about all, but now Naruto had friends, now he had family, and when someone was trying to hurt his precious people Naruto didn't just get mad, he got FURIOUS. It had been two hours since the destruction of his new home by the Hyuuga's, and over that period of time Naruto had begun pacing. Ten steps to the left, stop, turn, ten steps to the right, stop, turn…

"Naruto, will you stop that infernal Pacing!"

Naruto stopped and glanced up at where Tsunade was tending Neji for injuries to his shoulder. One of his former kinsmen had gotten in a lucky blow.

"Sorry Nee-chan, it's just…"

"Frustrating?"

Naruto turned to look at Kyuubi, he had been watching from a corner of the room the entire time. Sighing, Naruto nodded.

"Don't worry about it Kit, Kenchi should be back any time now."

"I know, I just hate having to wait when Hinata-chan might be in trouble."

"Ok, Neji, you should be fine now."

Nodding Neji did up the buttons of the shirt Tsunade had provided for him before hopping down and doing some range of motion exercises.

"Relax a little Naruto," he mumbled "Haishi thinks he's managed to kill us."

"Which he may have if it hadn't been for Kyuubi and Kenchi."

Interjected a grumbling Naruto, Neji nodded slightly in recognition that Naruto's statement was probably true.

"Yes, but he is going to expect that the Hokage will focus on trying to recover your body, and Mine I suppose, but he'll blame the whole episode on the 'Mysterious attacker' that was found with you. If my guess is correct we'll have about…"

A bright flash of light appeared in the center of the room as Kenchi burst into view

"Three days! You have three days counting today to prepare!"

Neji nodded

"They will most likely be 'preparing' her for her trail."

"'preparing' her?"

Neji nodded.

"Yes, they will attempt to break her spirit so that she will say whatever they tell her to. If she refuses she will probably be subjected to a regular beating."

Tsunade looked appalled and Naruto looked a little pale

"From the sound of things when I popped in, I thought she could use a little encouragement, I told her that I would find help."

Naruto looked a little better about this until Kenchi continued

"She told me not to bother, she said that without you around there was no reason to fight it."

Naruto jumped to his feet

"Go Back! You have to tell her that she needs to fight it for my sake! Tell her I'm alive!

Kenchi nodded and was about to depart when Neji spoke up

"Stop! If you tell her that he's alive she may spill the information under torture, and then any chance of an easy rescue is shot. Tell her that Naruto wouldn't have given up so easily, tell her that he would have fought them to his last breath, but what ever you do DON'T tell her we're alive!"

Kenchi paused at the frustrated look on Naruto's face, but when Naruto gave him a tight nod, Kenchi disappeared again. There was a moment of silence, and then Naruto stood up.

"OK, Kenchi is doing what he can, Tsunade, Kyuubi, I formally request that you help Neji and I plan how to get her out."

As both of them nodded Neji Unrolled the floor plans for the Hyuuga manor that Tsunade had brought in with her before she found out about Neji's shoulder.

"Ok everyone, gather round, this is where she is most likely being held…"

As Neji began pointing out various rooms and layouts, Naruto's mind wandered a little to a book of old laws that he had been reading though in his underground rooms a few months back, it had been rather boring, but in scanning though the index he had noticed a section on honor challenges and attempted assinations, he focused on the task at hand again when he heard Neji say.

"What we really need is a way to get her out legally, but since we can't do that we'll just…"

Naruto cut him off

"I have an Idea that might help us to do that, but I'm going to need to access my rooms."

Neji looked slightly confused, but Tsunade had picked up on the inflection in his voice when he said 'my'. For a moment she gave him an appraising look, but then gave a slight nod. Neji, now throughly confused, looked at Naruto.

"Rooms? What rooms?"

"But Shika-Kuuuuun!"

Shikamaru sighed, and then closed his eyes.

"You know that I would if I could Ino, it's just not possible right now."

"But I've been waiting for Sooo long!"

Shikamaru sighed again and Ino stifled a giggle before running her hand over his bare chest.

"Come on Shika-kun... you show me and then I'll show you!"

Shikamaru opened one eye and gave a half smile

"I really don't think you know what you're getting into Ino."

Ino Pouted a little bit before she gave a mischievous smile

"What if..."

she purred

"... I show YOU first?"

Shikamaru looked a little uncomfortable but reluctantly nodded. With a grin Ino stood up and raised her hands straight above her head. Shikamaru, like all men, couldn't help but appreciate the view this offered him, but when she caught his eye and winked He blushed a bright red. Suddenly Ino brought her hands down in a tight arc and her chakra exploded outward in three different directions, one burst hit Shikamaru, and two others went off into the treetops. Shikamaru froze as her conciseness pushed his aside, he was still lucid, he just couldn't make his body move, and he seemed to hear a voice whisper in his ear.

TriTension no Jutsu

After a moment two birds flew out of the trees and perched themselves in his hair. A second later he felt the Jutsu lift, and the birds immediately took flight.

"Wow! That was amazing Ino!"

Ino managed to smile before she collapsed to her knees. Shikamaru of course caught her before she could go any further.

"Are you Ok?"

"Ya, that move just takes a lot out of me, thats all."

Shikamaru smiled a little.

"I'd Imagine so, controlling three independent targets at once can't be easy."

Ino smiled again, and for a moment she just relaxed, leaning her head against his chest.

"It's not, trust me.

It was dark again before Neji finally managed to pry an invitation from Naruto to join him, and it had been a hard fought battle.

"I still don't know why I agreed to this... Even Baa-chan couldn't FORCE me to show her."

"Naruto, We're family now right? Call this a gesture of good will."

"Good will my ass, back when the family was still strong only two people knew the location of the rooms, The shadow lord and the head, anyone else had to be blindfolded and carried in."

Neji continued walking in silence, now Ignoring Naruto's muttering. It was still a lot to take in. If someone had told him a week ago that he was soon to be a Uzumaki and that NARUTO of all people would have managed to remove his cursed seal, he would have laughed in the persons face... well no, Hyuuga Neji didn't laugh, he smirked, or occasionally snickerd, but never smiled, and Certainly never laughed.

"OK, If I have to do this we do it my way understood?"

"Yes."

"fine, follow me, be as silent as you possibly can be, if you get lost I'm leaving you behind."

"you promised Tsunade that..."

"That I wouldn't intentionally ditch you, yes I know. You may want to activate your eyes now."

Neji personally thought that this would be a waste of time, but complied, a second after the bykuggan had activated Naruto nodded and then grinned a little.

"I always did want to try this one on a Hyuuga, I was afraid they would see though it though."

Naruto closed his eyes as though concentrating, and then held up one hand and started moving it side to side. Neji would have thought Naruto was conducting a choir if it weren't for the fact that he looked so utterly ridicules

"Naruto, what are you…"

"Shh shhhhh… Wait for it, I need to be perfectly in tune for this to work right."

"For what to…"

Neji had been about to cancel the bykuggan when something happened that shocked him to the bone, Naruto slowly faded from both his regular view and his enhanced bykuggan view. The regular vision lost track of him all together, and even his enhanced vision would have lost him had Neji not focused the moment he started fading.

"H…how?"

Naruto moved slightly and Neji's eyes could catch only slightest indication of where Naruto was, all he could see of Naruto's chakra was a vague blue that outlined his body. when Naruto was holding still he became nearly invisible.

"I thought of this one when Ikura taught our class about a lizard from suna that could imitate it's background to hide it's self. What I do is to make my chakra match the natural background flux of the planet and then wrap myself in it… How well can your eyes see me?"

"just a vague blur around the outline of your body…"

Neji stepped forward until he was right next to Naruto. As Neji got closer Naruto became easier to see, but from even two feet away he was difficult to pick out of the background. Neji opened his mouth to ask exactly how Naruto had managed to make it work, but Naruto cut him off.

"I'll try to teach you later. For now, just follow me, and for goodness sake DON'T let anyone see you!"

That being said Naruto moved smoothly and decisively toward the Hokage monument leaving Neji to follow along as best as he could.

Ino sighed and stretched

"Careful now."

Ino jumped a little at the soft voice that whispered into her ear. after a moment she replied

"Sorry... When did it get dark?"

"Hmmm... about a half hour ago. I thought I heard someone a while back, but they hurried past to quickly for me to be sure."

"So how long Have I been asleep then?"

"An hour or so... not a big deal."

"What did you do while I was asleep?"

"Well... I stargazed a little, Thought out some things that have bothering me, Composed a Sonata, Ended world hunger, was appointed Mizu, Rai, and Sui- kage..."

Ino had begun dozing off again and murmured 'Thats nice' before what he said registered in her mind. When it did she gave him a mock glare while he tried to act innocent. After a moment Ino leaned into him again.

"It's your turn you know... And when did you put your shirt back on?"

Shikamaru smiled slightly at how the conversation jumped around before answering.

"I slipped my shirt back on around sunset, and I know."

"So..."

"So?"

Ino gave him another mock glare

"So? Do I get to see your bloodline in action again?"

Shikamaru smiled a little bit

"well, 'SEE' is probably a bit strong, but I think I can managed 'Expirence'"

Ino looked puzzled for a moment before asking

"Why wouldn't I be able to see it in action."

Shikamaru smiled a little.

"Well, I've found out that the more shadows there are that occurred naturally the easier my bloodline is to manipulate, as such At night time I can use it fairly easily but you would only be able to see the affects rather than the move it's self."

Ino pouted for a moment before glancing at him through her eye lashes

"Alright smarty, then why don't you SHOW me these 'oh so incredible' powers of yours?"

Shikamaru smirked, and seven hand seals later the two of them were enveloped by the dark and vanished.

Panting, Neji stopped and scanned the area

I know he was just here a minute ago, where in the bloody hells below is he?

Neji was about ready to begin yelling for Naruto to come out when a dark blur dropped out of his blind spot, acting on instinct Neji spun around and launched a chakra spike directly at that heart of his mysterious assialiant. He was slightly shocked when the other person's hand was quick enough to intercept the strike, and Neji was prepairing a blow to the head when his mind finally registered the voice and chakra of the man who was now swearing viciously and trying to shake some life into his numbed hand.

"Dammit Naruto don't DO that, I could have killed you!"

Naruto glared at Neji before he went back to flexing his now tingling hand

"It's not my fault you couldn't keep up, I WARNED you. So when I finally saw you arrive I figured I'd get a little payback for making me wait."

This time it was Neji's turn to glare, Even with his bykuggan active He had been hard pressed to keep an eye on the elusive Naruto, Having to stay out of sight himself had only made his job more difficult.

"Naruto, when this is over you and I are going to have a little sparring match so that I can show you my… Gratitude… for putting me though this."

Naruto had registered the sarcasm and the threat that Neji had loaded into that statement, but he just grinned.

"Sure Neji, it will be my pleasure to re-live the Chuunin exams with you."

Neji just glared at him. Grinning Naruto motioned for Neji to follow and then started walking toward a tree. Neji had managed to successfully track him to the top of the Hokage monument, primarily because Naruto had realized that he was having a hard time following (A fact that amused him to no end) and had stopped focusing so hard on keeping his chakra identical to the background flux, and had just stayed concealed as much as possible.

"Are we getting close ye…."

Neji's voice cut out as Naruto suddenly reached over and grabbed his wrist while putting one hand on a tree branch.

Well, I'm either dead or passed out, because if I were awake there would be a little light.

Neji sat in the dark for a moment waiting to wake up, but when nothing happened He decided that he must have been mistaken and pinched himself.

OUCH! Alright, maby it's just REALLY dark. Lets see… perhaps my eyes could…

Forming his hands into the release seal for the bykuggan Neji was about to activate it when a voice whispered in his ear.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to react properly"

Jumping to he feet Neji spun around and fell into a defensive position before his mind registered that once again it had been Naruto's voice he heard… the same voice that was now chuckling softly at him.

"Really Neji, Do you always assume that you are about to be attacked? Or are you just this paranoid around me?"

Neji said nothing but simply sat back down with a scowl on his face. There was another couple of seconds in which Naruto chuckled softly to himself before Neji spoke up.

"So how do you navigate in here? Just walk around till you hit things?

Naruto snorted a little as though amused.

"Yes Neji, thats exactly what I do... Just stay here I need to get something."

Naruto was already walking purposefully toward the door in the back of the room as he spoke, easily avoiding the various statues and pieces of furniture

"NARUTO! You promised Tsunade!"

Neji could hear a faint sigh from the other side of the room.

"Fine follow me if you really want to... Lights!"

For a brief moment Neji wondered why Naruto had said 'lights' but then a soft glow started in the center of the ceiling, There was barely enough light in the room for Neji to see Naruto walking though a door in the back, and he had begun to hurry after him when something made him look up. What he saw nearly had him diving for cover, there was a pair of glowing red eyes staring down at him! As Neji watched however glowing lines spread away from the eyes and began to outline the form of a face. A fox's face to be specific.

What the hell?

Neji watched in awe as the glow slowly traced the entire outline of a nine tailed fox in minute detail, before the glowing lines suddenly arced out in every direction and traced the entire battle scene. Neji, like Hinata, froze in shock. His eyes having a hard time taking in what he was seeing. Like Hinata Neji felt he could nearly hear the war cries, like he could almost taste the dust in the air! Unlike Hinata, Naruto really couldn't care less whether he sat and gawked at the drawing. Neji had probably stood frozen, staring at the ceiling for a good two hours before he finally remembered Naruto He was about to hurry though the door he had seen when a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Pretty intense huh?"

Neji turned so quickly that he stumbled a little bit, but at least this time he didn't fall into a fighting form. His eyes widened a little bit when he saw Naruto sitting in a VERY comfortable looking couch, he was perusing a thick sheaf of rather official looking papers, and hadn't even looked up when he spoke.

"W...what... Who?"

"Me, and an old scene from someone else's memories."

Neji gawked at Naruto for a while as he continued to peruse the parchments spread out in front of him. Neji was about to ask whose memories could possibly include a battle like the one depicted above them when Naruto suddenly sprang to his feet and yelled

"I GOT IT!"

Neji was slightly puzzled

"You've got what?"

Naruto's eyes seemed to fly back and forth across the parchment he was reading as he replied.

"I've finally found the section pertaining attempted murders, assinations, and slights to one's honor..."

Naruto trailed off and Neji noticed that his eyes had stopped dead in the center of the page.

"What? What did you find?"

Naruto's face suddenly began to grow red and he VERY carefully folded the piece of parchment back up and tucked it into one of the pockets of his coat.

"I think... That I am going to need to talk to Tsunade, and after that... I'm going to need to do a little soul searching.

Ino squeaked a little as the darkness rose to cover her, and held on even tighter to Shikamaru. He laughed a little and then Ino felt as though she was simultaneously moving very quickly, and not moving at all.

"Is... is it over?"

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Ino jumped at the sound of her fathers voice and quickly opened her eyes although she didn't let go of Shikamaru's shirt. She was sitting on the couch in her family's living room, her father had Apparently been relaxing in his favorite recliner, and when the two of them had suddenly just Appeared his first instinct had been to duck for cover. Shikamaru himself just sat there with a smug smile on his face.

Try to Intimidate ME will you? Pity her mother wasn't here too.

"Oh! Shikamaru! Ino! Is that what the odd shadow was?"

DAMN! She's not fazed at all.

"Good evening Mr. And Mrs. Yaminaka, I've come to drop Ino off."

Ino's father climbed to his feet and dusted off the pants of his pajama's a little

"Next time try to use the door like a regular person please."

Both Shikamaru and Ino's mother grinned slightly at this comment, Inoshi was known for never being caught off guard, so it was rare to see him flustered. Shikamaru bowed slightly in his seat.

"As you wish Inoshi."

aware that Ino's parents were in the room Shikamaru took Ino's hand and kissed the back of it rather than just kissing her.

"Night Ino."

Ino had other plans however, and since Shikamaru hadn't been expecting it he fell backwards when Ino launched herself at him with a kiss that took his breath away, when they both broke apart Ino's mother had an odd glint in her eye, and Inoshi was beginning to advance menacingly on the two of them. Shikamaru swallowed hard, and Ino winked at him before saying

"Night Shika-kun"

Shikamaru allowed himself a half-smile, and the moment before Inoshi would have grabbed his shoulder Shikamaru was enveloped by shadow and dissipeared again, his quiet 'Goodnight' still hanging in the air.

Tsunade paced the floor of her study, sometimes being the Hokage was a remarkably rewarding job. Other times, Troubles like the one she was currently facing made her job incredibly frustrating.

"OK, let me get this straight."

Naruto looked up from where he had been staring at the floor, and Neji finally shut his mouth with a rather audible click

"You have found a way to free Hinata from her father legally, It's an old law, and one that at it's most basic level is completely detestable as it puts a price on human life, but it's still valid. We have approximately two day's left before Hinata's 'confession' but by then it might be too late, especially if she is resisting her family's attempt at breaking her. All this plan of yours requires is a written letter of accusation which Haishi's station makes it impossible for him to ignore The downside to this is that if he DOESN'T react the way you expect him to you get paid off and..."

Naruto didn't let her finish the statement however.

"I get paid off and we come up with another plan to free Hinata. End of story."

Tsunade frowned a little

"But if he DOES react the way you expect him to?"

Naruto's gaze dropped to the floor and he rubbed his forehead absently.

"Then I may permanently screw things up between me and Hinata, not to mention I'll be taking a step that I'm not sure I'm ready to take yet."

Neji's eyes seemed to bore into Naruto's head for a moment before he spoke up.

"Do you like her?"

Naruto met his eyes and quietly answered

"Yes."

"Are you willing to protect her?"

Naruto's gaze strengthened a little

"Of course."

Neji's entire countenance darkened

"Would you die to keep her from harm?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed to a glare, and his voice became more forceful

"Without hesitation."

Neji stood suddenly and stalked across the room, killer intent radiating from every fiber of his being. He stopped right in front of Naruto, and bent down so that their face's were only inches apart

"Do. You. Love. My. Cousin?"

"YES!"

Suddenly Naruto's eyes widened and he blushed, his gaze dropping back to the floor. Tsunade chuckled a little bit as Neji straighted back up, his mind satisfied at what he had seen in Naruto's eyes. He calmly walked back to his seat, his apparent anger from the moment before completely gone. Taking his seat he picked at his fingernails for a moment before saying.

"Then I'd say you better follow though, cause your the best thing she's likely to get."

Naruto looked up, shocked. Neji glanced up, and when he saw Naruto's face he chuckled a little bit.

"What? Think about it for a moment. If not you then her father will either marry her off for political reasons in which case she will most likely be cheated on and treated like dirt, or else he'll have her executed for an unspecified act of treason which only the three of us know is being in love with you."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed for a moment, but no sound came out of him. Neji noticed this as well and, in a matter of fact voice said.

"Don't take this wrong, but you are about the only decent choice she has. Of course the fact she's had a crush on you for years helps, but you really are her only good option."

Naruto gaped at him for a moment before he suddenly collapsed backward into his chair and chuckled a little.

"Only you Neji.. only you."

Turning to Face Tsunade he summoned his cockiest grin

"Alright nee-chan, let's get this show on the road."

Tsunade smiled a little

Why do I feel like this is the calm before the storm hits?

"Do you need Ink and some parchment?"

naruto paused in thought for a moment before saying

"Dictation, Lord naruto of the Uzumaki, Present Location."

The moment he said this another of the increasingly seen scrolls floated in the air, and naruto had the good grace to blush a little.

"It's just easier this way."

Tsunade nodded, and after a moment naruto started speaking

"To Hyuuga Hiahi, From the Third prince of Konoha. Dear sir, It has recently come to my attention through rather forcefull means..."

In the corner Kyuubi smiled to himself

Just one step at a time kid. Keep this up and you'll accomplish your dream sooner than you think.

With a slight puff of black smoke kyuubi dissipeared leaving behind three people drafting a letter to intentionally piss off one of the most powerful men in Konoha.

A/N: Sorry that It took me so long to post everyone. I know where it's going to go, but finding time to take it there is becoming an issue. As you can see, things are beginning to come together, and a confrontation is becoming inevitable. I'm not just talking about the haishi/naruto conflict either.

I realize that My Updates have been... erratic at best, but I had hoped that after those two rather rapid updates (A week apart is rapid for me OK?) I would be able to take a little longer with this one. Well, it didn't happen, Although the vast majority of you were patient with me I still had several people (Mostly new reviewers) asking me when I was going to update. Since I want to avoid that in the future I'm going to set myself a date to avoid confusion. From now on I am going to attempt to post at least one chapter a month. (hopefully more) So if you want to know wether or not I've fallen behind, check the Submission date at the top of the chapter and then add a month. Keep in mind however that this is only a general guideline, I'm afraid that I can still give you no gaurentees.

Thank you to all of my senior reviewers, and welcome to all the new ones, you guy's all give me some incentive to keep going.

Sincerly
Manatheron