Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

by Kingkakashi

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke nearly kills Naruto and it affects everyone in many ways. See a vastly different direction after this battle to the Naruto story, than what the Canon did. There will be action, surprises, & romance NarxHin KakxKur JirxTsu & many more. Warning be prepared for the most Evil Sadistic Sasuke ever, and Sakura takes a beating in the early chapters. Enjoy!

57. Bar Fights and Friendships Renewed

Summary: Over two years and a half years have passed since three of strongest shinobi of the Leaf village left their home and have carved out a heroic reputation throughout numerous and faraway lands in their travels. One of these men has now embarked on his ultimate and final training test. Meanwhile, in Konohagakure the Village Hidden in the Leaves, many people are still waiting and hoping for three of its greatest heroes to finally return home.

Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath

Chapter 57: "Bar Fights and Friendships Renewed"

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As Tsunade was being rushed to the hospital by Ibiki and Shizune, several members of the infamous Konoha 10 were at a nightclub celebrating the winners of the Konohagakure 18 and under Shinobi tournament Neji and Hinata Hyuga.

"A toast to Neji and Hinata for winning the tournament!" Kiba announced, as he raised his cup of sake into the air followed closely behind by Shino, Shikamaru, Temari, Ino and Tenten who mimicked his action, before gulping down their own sake much to the embarrassment of Hinata and the chagrin of Neji who proclaimed.

"I see no need to celebrate our victories. It was already a foregone conclusion at the start that the superiority of the Hyuga clan would prevail in the tournament."

"Ahhh, there's that renowned humility the Hyuga clan is so famous for." Shikamaru sarcastically commented in amusement.

"No doubt, listening to you just now Neji, you almost sounded just like Hiashi." Kiba declared.

Neji visibly winced at Kiba's barb of being compared to his uncle and upon reflection realized the Inuzuka was correct and speaking in a more contrite voice said.

"I apologize for my prideful comment earlier and I want to thank all of you for your kindness in throwing this celebratory event for Hinata and myself. We are most honored and grateful that you chose to do so for us."

Everyone at the table was staring wide-eyed at Neji, as if he had suddenly grown a second head from his body. After a couple of unnerving minutes under his comrades' intense and silent gaze, the young Hyuga male could take no more and exclaimed.

"What?"

It was Tenten who finally spoke up and playfully grabbed Neji and began shaking him while saying.

"Alright imposter, what did you do with my boyfriend?"

This brought raucous laughter from everyone else, while Neji actually blushed in embarrassment.

As the laughter finally died down two more people entered the nightclub and Tenten observed.

"Hey look, there's Lee and Sakura!"

"Ugh, who invited forehead?" Ino openly groused, before slamming down another cup of sake.

"I invited her Ino-chan, so be nice." Hinata replied.

"Troublesome, didn't you two get things worked out after practically killing each other in your match in the tournament?" Shikamaru lazily queried.

"Nothing has changed, as far as I'm concerned."

"Geez Ino, give the girl a break, Sakura's not like she use to be and has proven to all of us that she's changed for the better."

"Listen Tenten, you all want to forgive Sakura, fine that's your choice! But don't go telling me that I have to just because all of you bought into her woe-is-me attitude!" Ino snapped angrily back at the young weapons mistress.

"Please everyone just clam down!" Hinata pleaded, before adding.

"No one is telling you to forgive her Ino, but please for me, don't start any trouble with Sakura tonight."

Ino took one look at Hinata's face and thought to herself.

'Damn it, I should have never taught Hinata the puppy-dog eyes jutsu, but I never imagined she would ever use it on me. I give up, it's impossible to say no when she looks so adorable.'

Heaving a heavy sigh, Ino finally relented and said.

"I won't cause any trouble with forehe…..I mean Sakura tonight. You have my word Hinata."

A few moments later, Lee with Sakura in tow bounded over to the table and greeted everyone with his usual fervor.

"Greetings my friends, the flames of youth are certainly burning hot and bright in this establishment tonight!"

"H-hello everyone, th-thank you for inviting me to this celebration." Sakura hesitantly stammered.

Sakura looked around and received warm welcomes and smiles from everyone, until her eyes befell onto Ino who managed to give a curt nod before taking another drink of sake. Sakura inwardly sighed and had hoped for more, but was grateful that her former best friend had at least acknowledged her presence. It was then Sakura heard Kiba comment.

"It looks like we're out of sake, I'll go to the bar and get some more."

"No stay Kiba; I'll go get some more and one club-soda for Lee-kun." Sakura chirped, before slipping away to retrieve their drinks.

As Lee took his seat, Tenten seemed to notice an little extra bounce in his step and asked.

"So Lee-kun, what's got you in such a good mood, you're practically beaming?"

"Ahh, I didn't think anyone would notice, but my flames of youth are burning a bit brighter this evening. For the lovely Sakura-chan has agreed to officially become my girlfriend."

'It's about damn time!' Was the prevailing thought of everyone else at the table, before they all offered up their congratulations to their green-clad friend and comrade.

"So how did you manage to finally pull that off Lee?" Kiba asked with curiosity.

"It wasn't easy my friend, as Sakura-chan is still believing in the foolish and misguided notion that she isn't worthy of me or deserves my love. However, my flames of youth would not be extinguished in convincing her the error of her ways and she finally relented."

"So you badgered her to death with your flames of youth until she agreed to become your girlfriend." Neji declared in amusement, before receiving a sharp elbow to his ribs from Tenten who stated.

"Ignore him Lee-kun; we're all really happy for the two of you."

"Thank you Tenten, thank you all for your support."

Meanwhile Sakura was humming to herself to the beat of the music inside the nightclub, while waiting at the bar for her drinks to arrive. It was at that moment that six young shinobi around the same age as Sakura and her companions entered the nightclub and sauntered up to the bar effectively surrounding the young kunoichi. One of the young men openly leered at Sakura who was beginning to grow nervous at the close proximity of these men.

Sakura's attire consisted of a short-sleeved red top with white circular designs on the shoulders. She also wore black gloves, pink elbow protectors, knee-high black boots, and black shorts. She had forgone wearing her short pink apron skirt that she normally wore at the hospital or on missions. Over the years, Sakura had developed into a fairly attractive young woman and though she would never have the voluptuous curves of say Ino or Hinata. She had grown proportionally in her own right, as the tight short-sleeved red top unzipped in the middle showing off a bit of alluring cleavage, as well as the skintight black shorts that hugged her body like a second skin would attest to. All in all Sakura had matured into a very desirable woman, which unfortunately did not go unnoticed by the six young men surrounding her. It was when Sakura's drink order finally arrived that the young man who had been leering at her finally spoke in a contemptuous voice.

"Hey baby, thanks for getting our drinks for us, why don't you come with us to the back and we can have a real party."

"N-no thanks, I'm here with my friends and these are our drinks. Please move out of the way so I can leave." Sakura replied in a tentative voice, as all the young men moved in closer.

"Awww, don't be like that baby. Me and my friends can show you a real good time and I promise even if you don't enjoy it, we will." The young man who had been talking stated, before he slid his hand down and groped Sakura's ass.

Upon his touch, instantly a flood of memories of that horrid night over three years ago in the forest flooded Sakura's brain causing her to drop to her knees spilling the drinks onto the floor and scream out.

"LEE-KUN!"

A scant second later a shout rang out.

"Konoha Dai Senpuu!" (Leaf Great Whirlwind)

Suddenly all six of the young men surrounding Sakura found themselves flying through the air inside the club in various directions, as Lee had unleashed a series powerful spinning kicks onto them and was now standing protectively over Sakura with a murderous look in his eyes. Kneeling down he helped Sakura to her feet and asked.

"Are you alright my cherry blossom?"

"I, I am now, thank you Lee-kun." Sakura stammered in loving appreciation.

Just then a Leaf village Chunin a few years older than Lee, who was moonlighting as the bouncer for the nightclub, came up to the couple and said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, there's no fighting allowed inside the club."

"What about those men who were accosting my beautiful Sakura-chan?"

"I don't make the rules, I just enforce them and technically those guys didn't do anything wrong other than hit on your girlfriend and there's no rule against that."

"But…."

"It's ok Lee-kun; I think I'd rather leave anyway." Sakura stated interrupting her boyfriend, as she was still shaken up by the ordeal.

"If that is what you want." Lee replied before turning back to the bouncer and asked.

"May we at least say goodbye to our friends and comrades?"

The bouncer nodded, but kept his eye on the young couple as they went over and bid farewell to their friends before exiting the club. Meanwhile, everyone sitting at the table eyed warily at the six young men Lee had defeated, as they made their way to the back of the club where they were joined by six other young ex-Root shinobi. It was Temari who broke the tension now gripping the table by asking.

"So who are those jerks that spandex-boy kicked the crap out of?"

"They're a bunch of shinobi that old crone Danzo was raising and training in his Root program and they're becoming a major pain-in-the-ass for the village." Ino answered before taking another drink.

"How come you know about them?"

"Well Tenten, it turns out that Danzo had some very unscrupulous and just downright evil ways of raising those ninja. The worst being that he suppressed all of their emotions growing up by using a seal on them. They were raised and conditioned to have no personality, personal connections, or even have a name."

"That horrible, so you mean they grew up never knowing what any emotion felt like?"

"That's right Hinata, but it gets even worse. Danzo had the seals connected to himself by use of another seal, so he could control them and mold the kids as he saw fit. Basically, they were his own private little zombie platoon of shinobi that he could call upon to do his bidding. However, when the old bastard died, that seal was deactivated and all those young shinobi were free of his control for the first time in their lives."

"That's a good thing isn't it?" Kiba questioned.

"Not really, because after they were freed the Hokage suddenly found herself saddled with about 40-50 young adolescent males who are now trying to come to terms with emotions they never experienced before in their lifetime, but now do."

"How come you know so much about this Ino?"

"Several members of my clan including myself were brought in to try and help rehabilitate the freed Root members using our mind techniques."

"Did it work?"

"I don't know Tenten; I had to leave the program, because too many of the zombie freaks started hitting on me in not too subtle of ways. My father was getting pissed about this and if something hadn't been done soon, my mother was afraid he was going to turn the brains of some of them into oatmeal. So she asked me to leave, which was fine with me, as most of those psycho's just gave me the creeps."

"I feel sorry for them." Hinata commented.

"Well don't, they may have been under Danzo's control, but they also committed some of the most heinous acts you can imagine. And that's not just something anyone can just forget about. My advice is to everyone is to stay away from them, they're not normal mentally and they may never be." Ino warned in earnest.

At the back of the nightclub one of the Root members, a young man by the name of Sai was covertly studying the table where the remaining members of the Konoha 10 were sitting with an inordinate amount of attention. Sai's appearance consisted of short black hair and black eyes which contrasts with his very pale skin. He also bore a small backpack with his brush, scrolls, and ninja ink in it. The young ex-Root operative also wore a short black jacket with red straps and the rest of his outfit consisted of a high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed. The tip-less tanto he normally carried on his back he had to forgo, as weapons were not allowed inside the nightclub.

As Sai was observing the table with great interest, his vision fell upon Hinata and a wry smile crept across his face, before he reached into his backpack to retrieve an old and weathered drawing pad. Flipping through the pad, he finally found the drawing he was looking for, which was a detailed portrait of Naruto's face. Smiling to himself, he called over to his former Root comrades and began quietly conversing with them, while they blocked his view from everyone else in the club.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Konoha 10 were still celebrating and toasting not only Neji and Hinata, but each other for their splendid performances during the tournament both in and out of the arena, as Temari announced with conviction.

"Well guys, my slacker of a boyfriend might not have won the tournament, but he took Lady Tsunade for over a million ryo's today, so everyone drink up because Shika-kun is picking up the tab for this night."

"Damn it you troublesome woman, that money hasn't even had time to collect interest yet and you're already spending it for me." Shikamaru openly griped with irritation.

A slap to the back of his head by his Suna girlfriend quickly silenced the Nara heir's complaint, as she scolded him in angered annoyance.

"Quit being such a damn cheapskate and treat your friends for once in your lazy good-for-nothing life! Now why don't you be nice and say a toast for me Shika-kun."

"What a drag." Was all Shikamaru could mutter under his breath before he lifted his glass and raised a toast.

"To our beautiful girlfriends' guys, they may be troublesome, but none of them are as troublesome as mine."

"Here, here!" Neji, Kiba, and Shino said in amused unison and clinked glasses with the Nara heir, earning Shikamaru an even harder slap to the back of his head from his girlfriend, while Neji was the recipient of another shot to his ribs from Tenten's elbow.

While rubbing the back of his head, Shikamaru looked over to Shino and Kiba and asked.

"Speaking of troublesome girlfriends, where are your two ladies tonight?"

"Business is still booming over at the restaurant and one of the waitresses called in sick, so Ayame volunteered to cover for her and help her dad out."

"No bouncer duties for you tonight."

"Naw, most of the Naruto haters have learned by now to stay clear of the place. Plus I asked the Konohamaru Corp to watch over the restaurant this evening. And believe me those three Genin are tough as nails for their age, so I doubt there will be any trouble that they couldn't handle." Kiba replied with confidence.

My girlfriend is currently out on a mission and won't be back until the end of the week." Shino stoically answered.

Hinata heaved a saddened sigh, as all this talk of girlfriends and boyfriends had made her think of Naruto and of how much she missed him. It was then a shout of her name over the loud beat of the nightclub music alerted everyone at the table.

"Hinata-Chan!"

Turning around Hinata and the rest of the members of the Konoha 10 were greeted with the sight of Naruto standing 25 feet away with his arms stretched out in front of him and a huge smile upon his face. Hinata immediately jumped up from her seat and rushed over to Naruto enveloping him a loving hug. For his part Naruto returned the embrace, before one of his hands crept up and lasciviously grabbed Hinata's left breast and squeezed it. This action caused Hinata to break their embrace and she quickly activated her Byakugan. A scant second later a chakra infused slap echoed through the nightclub knocking Naruto to the ground, before his entire body shimmered a moment and the henge fell away revealing Sai rubbing his cheek.

As Hinata stood over the ex-Root operative, her body literally trembling with rage and embarrassment, Sai looked up at her and grinned before saying.

"That's quite a wallop you pack there princess, I was only trying to be friendly. Besides a girl as hot as you can't still be pining away for the demon-boy can you?"

"Don't speak of Naruto-kun like that!" Hinata spat out with fury.

"I guess you are, that's pretty foolish on your part. I mean the guy had Sasuke Uchiha and the Sannin Orochimaru chasing after him. So chances are he's already dead, which is what my former master Lord Danzo believed to be the case. So why don't you quit waiting around on a dead man and get with a real man who will most definitely show you a real good time princess."

Tears were beginning to well in Hinata's eyes, as she listened to Sai speak and his words brought forth all the doubts and fears she had tried so desperately to keep buried. Unable to listen to anymore, Hinata ran out of the club before anyone could stop her, the laughter of Sai and his comrades still ringing in her ears, as they moved to the back of the nightclub once again. Everyone else at Hinata's table sat momentarily stunned at what had just happened when Ino finally broke the silence.

"I'll go after Hinata; I assume you guys will take care of things here."

"I can assure you, things will be taken care of Ino!" Neji replied in a deadly tone of voice, before he gulped the rest of his sake down in one shot and slammed the cup down onto the table breaking it.

As everyone else watched Neji rise from his seat and begin walking towards the back of the nightclub. Kiba and Shino quickly downed their own drinks and followed the Hyuga prodigy leaving only Tenten, Temari, and Shikamaru at the table who began to pore himself another drink. It was then the Nara heir felt the icy cold glare of his girlfriend boring into him and he asked."

"What?"

"Aren't you going to go help them?" Temari questioned.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and casually answered.

"Why? There are only a dozen of them, those guys can handle it."

This was the wrong answer to give, as the Nara heir suddenly found his Chunin vest being gripped tightly and he was pulled to look directly into the furious visage that now adorned his girlfriend's face, as she spat in righteous fury.

"You will get your lazy slacker ass off of this chair and go help your friends and defend Hinata's honor like they are doing! Or I can promise, you will be spending a lot of cold nights alone in your foreseeable future! Do you understand me?"

Shikamaru could only sigh and nod his head, as he begrudgingly rose from his seat and began walking towards his comrades. They didn't really need his help, the Nara heir had read the reports of the skills of these young ex-Root shinobi and aside from the guy Neji was about to take apart, he knew Kiba and Shino could handle the rest with relative ease. However, Shikamaru realized that in the revved up emotional state Temari was currently in right now. It was actually less troublesome for him to just go ahead and fight a few of these idiots then trying to convince his hot-tempered girlfriend otherwise.

When Neji arrived at the back of the nightclub and was joined a few seconds later by Kiba, Shino and eventually Shikamaru. The Hyuga prodigy turned his attention from the two tables where the 12 ex-Root members sat still laughing towards his comrades and stated with slight annoyance.

"I didn't ask any of you for your assistance on this matter, nor is it required."

"Pfft, why should you get to have all fun?" Kiba scoffed in response.

"What do you assholes want?" One of the young men seated insultingly asked.

Neji and the others ignored him, before the young Hyuga said to his comrades.

"Fine, you guys can have all the others, but he belongs to me!"

Neji's outstretched arm pointing directly at Sai and the sinister tone of his voice clearly pointed out that his statement was not up for argument from his friends.

It was then that Sai chose to speak and in a mocking tone of voice said, as he and the other former Root members rose from their seats.

"Sorry Hyuga, but I don't swing that way. However, if you want to bring that white-eyed honey that ran out of here back, I could most definitely swing with her."

Neji's eyes narrowed and in a voice dripping with malice asked the pale-skinned shinobi.

"Tell me something; which hand and arm did you use to molest Lady Hinata?"

Sai looked at fuming Hyuga male before him in puzzlement, before shrugging his shoulders and answered.

"I used my right hand get a feel of her tits…why?"

"Because I promise, you won't have either one before I'm done with you."

This put everyone on edge, as the ex-Root members began to fan out, while Kiba, Shino, and Shikamaru did the same having already picked the opponents they were going to fight. Sai pushed a chair away and stepped forward to look eye-to-eye with Neji and growled out in confidence and bravado.

"Big talk you white-eyed piece-of-shit. I'll have you know I was the best Taijutsu fighter in the Root Division and I've taken down Hyuga's with your pathetic Taijutsu style before in the past. So I suggest you walk away before you get seriously hurt, you little Hyuga bitch!"

An evil looking smile spread across Neji's face before his Byakugan flared to life and he declared.

"Then come Taijutsu expert and defeater of Hyuga's, try to take this little Hyuga bitch down if you can?"

A moment later all hell broke loose and chaos erupted in the nightclub, as many patrons virtually all of them being civilians were screaming in panic and trying to flee the club as fast as they could. Meanwhile Temari and Tenten had moved to another table, which gave them a better vantage point and view of all of the fights. The girls were grinning from ear-to-ear, as they watched in enjoyment the melee in front of them.

"I've got $5 ryo's Tenten that says Shika-kun will get done with his opponents before anyone else."

"Hmm, why should I wager on that, he's only got three opponents, while Shino and Kiba have four? Plus Neji-kun's opponent appears to be the strongest and most skilled of all of those assholes."

"Well what do you propose for a wager?"

"How about who takes down and punishes their opponent in the most vicious way."

"Hmph, like I'd take that bet after seeing the look and hearing the voice your boyfriend displayed after that prick molested Hinata. I don't know what he has in mind for that guy, but that look he had on his face when he left the table reminded me of Gaara in his younger days."

"Let's just enjoy the fights then without any betting."

"Agreed." Temari replied, as she and Tenten clinked their glasses and turned their attention back to the fights going on.

When the Chunin bouncer finally made his way through the screaming fleeing crowd and saw who the people fighting were, he gulped nervously and thought to himself.

'Oh shit, that's four members of the Konoha 10! They might hold the same Chunin rank as I do, but I'm no fool. Any one of those guys could take me down without breaking a sweat if they wanted to and now I'm suppose to subdue four of them. Fuck that shit; it's time to get some Anbu in here to handle this!'

Shikamaru was first to come back to the table Temari and Tenten were sitting in and pour himself a drink. As his girlfriend had predicted, he took down his three foes as fast and with as little effort as he could. A couple of minute later, both Kiba and Shino arrived and poured themselves some drinks before taking a seat to watch with the others what Neji was doing to his opponent. It was an entertaining fight, but everyone soon realized that Neji was just toying with his adversary. It's not as though Sai had been overly bragging about his Taijutsu skills, as they were quite good. However, going against someone who was trained by the greatest Taijutsu master the Leaf village had ever seen in Might Gai. The ex-Root operative skills were woefully inadequate against such a foe.

Sai jumped back from his Hyuga opponent to put some distance between them. His breathing much labored no doubt brought on by the three broken ribs he now sported. Looking across at his smirking challenger with his lone good eye, as the other one was swollen shut. Sai spat out in frustration tasting the bitter coppery taste of his own blood coming from his broken nose, as it bled downward into his mouth.

"You Hyuga bastard, how is this possible? I am the best Taijutsu fighter Lord Danzo had in Root. I've defeated members of your clan in the past. Why can't I even lay a finger on you?"

"Hmph, if you're the best then that old fool Danzo's expectations must have been rather low.

"Grrr, you speak about Lord Danzo with respect!"

"I speak with respect to those who deserve it and if you've actually beaten some of my clan members in the past, then I'm sure they were only fighting you with the Gentle Fist style."

"What has that got to do with it?"

"It's quite simple, the Gentle Fist is a very effective style, but it can be defeated, as Naruto showed me many years ago. Since then I've taken it upon myself to learn other Taijutsu styles and blend them into the Gentle Fist style of which I have already mastered. So I no longer rely solely on the jyuuken techniques anymore as I use to. "

"I still don't understand, why can't I even lay a finger on you?"

"You don't understand because you are a fool. The reason you can't lay a finger on me is because my skill in Taijutsu surpasses yours to a level you can't even begin to fathom. And I've reached this level because I've been trained most of my life by the most skilled sensei in the art of Taijutsu the world has ever known. Looking at you now, it's quite amusing that you fancied yourself a Taijutsu expert because even I won't label myself with such a claim. For you see in Taijutsu's purest form there are only two people who can make that claim. My sensei Might Gai and my best friend and comrade Rock Lee. It's a pity one of your pathetic comrades forced him to leave the club earlier tonight for he could have given you a real lesson in Taijutsu. However, I'm actually pleased that he did have to leave for he would have been more merciful towards you than I have been, as you will soon discover."

"What are you talking about…..arrrghhhh!"

Sai's scream echoed throughout the virtually empty nightclub and he ripped away the sleeve of his jacket and watched in horror as his entire right hand and arm was turning ashen gray in color with several purplish welts visible up and down his appendage.

"What did you do to me?" Sai cried out in agony at Neji.

"What did I do? I kept my promise to you."

"Wh, what promise?"

"Ahhh, how easily you forget, you should really pay more attention. I promised you at the start of our little dance that before it ended you wouldn't have the use of your right hand and arm to go around molesting women anymore and I've kept my promise."

"ARGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Sai screamed once more, while writhing on the floor in painful anguish.

Neji walked over and knelt down to his suffering foe and uttered another promise to him.

"I took your hand and arm tonight Root scum, because of the vile act you perpetrated against Lady Hinata. Next time I promise I will end your life, if I find you near her or any one of my friends ever again!"

Neji then rose back up and left Sai still writhing and crying out in pain, matching the same sounds the rest of the former Root members strewn across the nightclub were making and calmly strolled back to the table where all of his friends sat stunned as to what they had just witnessed. As Neji sat back down next to Tenten and poured himself a drink, it was Kiba who finally asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"Kami Neji, just what did you do to that poor bastard?"

"We're you not listening; I took his right hand and arm just as I said I would."

"We already know that, what we want to know is how you did it?"

"I'd say Neji used the Gentle Fist to send chakra pulses into that guys hand and arm destroying his tenketsu points, arteries, and maybe a few veins here and there." Shikamaru lazily surmised.

"Very astute of you." Neji replied, as he raised his cup in admiration of his comrade's deductive skills.

"Why didn't you destroy the nerves in the arm as well?" Temari queried in curiosity.

"Because I wanted him to feel as much pain as he can before his suffering is ended."

Before Neji could elaborate any further, four Anbu appeared before them with the Chunin bouncer, as he pointed his finger and said.

"Him…him…him…and him."

"Nara-san, Hyuga-san, Aburame-san, and Inuzuka-san. I'm afraid the four of you need to come with us to Anbu HQ for questioning."

"Hai, we will come." Shikamaru replied, as he along with Kiba, Neji, and Shino were escorted out of the club just as more ninja arrived, most of them Med-nins to tend to the injured.

As Temari and Tenten finished off the last of their sake, they both were a bit drunk, as Temari openly complained.

"Well this sucks, (hic) I'm not ready to go home yet, I'd (hic) still like to celebrate some more."

"Me too (hic)."

"If you ladies would like to continue to party, we could go back to my place and have one there." The Chunin bouncer stated with a devious leer in his eyes and with a lustful tone of voice.

Temari rose from her seat and smiled sweetly at the man, before she kneed him in the groin and spat in anger and frustration at him.

"That's for calling the cops and getting our boyfriends arrested you damn narc!"

Tenten then smashed an empty sake bottle over his head, while he was doubled over from Temari's blow and said with equal anger.

"And that's for hitting on two innocent unescorted ladies you fucking creep!"

Both kunoich's then stepped over the groaning prone body of the Chunin bouncer and with a bit of sway in their steps stumbled out of the nightclub holding onto one another for support.

---

Meanwhile, as Temari and Tenten were exiting the club, Ino had finally tracked down Hinata who was sitting atop the Yondaime's sculpted head on Hokage Mountain. Ino sat down next to Hinata who had her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. One look at her face and one could easily tell she had been crying. Exhaling a soft sigh, Ino tried to comfort her friend and said,

"Come on Hinata, don't listen to what the Root asshole had to say, he's full of shit, Naruto is fine."

"I hope you're right Ino and I didn't want that guy's words to affect me, but it still brought out some of my buried fears for Naruto-kun knowing he does have the Snake Sannin and Sasuke after him. I mean look at how powerful Sasuke has gotten training under Orochimaru."

"So what, sure Sasuke's gotten stronger, but do you honestly think that Naruto has been sitting around doing nothing since he's been gone? Your boyfriend is the most fanatical person I've ever seen when it comes to training. And don't forget he's getting his training from a Sannin as well."

"So you really believe Naruto-kun is alright."

"Of course he's alright and he's probably twice as strong as Sasuke is by now."

"I hope so; still I would feel much better if I just knew he was ok."

Ino thought about this for a moment, before an idea struck her and she exclaimed.

"Well why don't you find Lady Tsunade and ask her. I'm sure she's probably at her office and downing a few nightcaps before she calls it a day."

"You shouldn't talk about the Hokage like that Ino, it's not very respectable."

"Pfft, whatever, everyone already knows she likes to tie one on at the end of the day, so it's the perfect chance for you to get some information about Naruto out of her."

"I've asked Lady Tsunade before, but she always says for security reasons she can't divulge any information or the whereabouts of Naruto-kun."

"Well, just use the puppy-dog eyes jutsu you used on me earlier and between that and hopefully her slightly inebriated state; you'll be able to worm some info out of her."

"Do you really think that might work?"

"It can't hurt to try."

"Arigatou Ino, I'll try right now." Hinata replied with gratitude, before she bounded off toward Hokage Tower not knowing that Tsunade was no longer in her office, but currently at the hospital having been rushed there earlier that evening.

---

A couple of hours after having seen Naruto's bloody orange jumpsuit and Jiraiya's broken hitai-ate, and being rushed to the hospital. Tsunade stirred and her eyes fluttered open signifying her awakening. As she blinked her eyes rapidly and tried to focus on where she was the blonde Hokage realized she was in a Konoha hospital room. It was then Tsunade heard the familiar voice of her first apprentice.

"Lady Tsunade, thank Kami you're alright."

"What, what happened Shizune?" Tsunade replied in slight confusion, still trying to get her bearings.

"You had a severe panic attack in your office milady. It caused your blood pressure and heart-rate to elevate to dangerous levels and you passed out from it. Do you remember what happened?

"I don't know, all of a sudden, I felt a tremendous wave of fear and my heart was pounding, my chest hurt, and it was getting harder to breathe. It felt like I was going to die.

"I've been with you for a long time and I've never known you to have panic attacks or something similar unless the sight of blood was involved. And you've nearly overcome that phobia over the years. Do you know what could have caused this to happen Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde Hokage thought about this for a moment before the image of Naruto's bloody orange jumpsuit and Jiraiya's broken hitai-ate came crashing into her mind once again. Almost instantly the machines monitoring Tsunades vitals started blaring in alarm, as her blood pressure and heart-rate started spiking once again, but not nearly as seriously as before. Shizune immediately began preparing a syringe filled with sedative to calm her master down, before Tsunade grabbed her arm and stopped her and said.

"No, I'll be alright, just give me a moment."

A few seconds later, the alarms began to go silent, as the blonde Hokage willed through sheer effort to calm herself down.

"Lady Tsunade, what is going on? What has put you into such a distressed state?" Shizune asked in growing concern.

Tsunade inwardly debated whether or not she should share with her first apprentice what the contents were of the box Sasuke had left for them. However, before the blonde Hokage could decide a Med-nin rushed into the room and exclaimed.

"Shizune-sama, you must come quickly! Hinata Hyuga has been brought to the hospital by an Anbu and is in a critical state!"

(Flashback 20 minutes)

As Hinata arrived at Hokage Tower and made her way upstairs to the Hokage's office, she wrung her hands nervously. The Hyuga girl truly hoped that Tsunade would relent and provide her with some information about Naruto, even if it was nothing more than a confirmation that he was still alive. Just that alone would ease immensely the weight she felt upon her heart. When Hinata reached the waiting room to the Hokage's office, she was surprised not to see Shizune or even the normal Anbu guard stationed by the door, which was wide open. As Hinata walked over hesitantly peered into the Hokage's office she called out.

"Lady Tsunade-sama, are you here?"

Hearing no reply, Hinata stepped into the office and looked around the dimly lit room, illuminated only by a floor-lamp by the Hokage's desk.

"She's not here." Hinata said with disappointment, before an idea struck her to leave a note for Tsunade to talk to her.

Walking over to Lady Tsunades desk to get a pen and paper, upon arriving she noticed an open box sitting atop the desk. Glancing at its contents, Hinata suddenly froze and her whole body began to tremble with terror. The Hyuga girl with panic gripping her body like a vice hesitantly reached into the box and pulled out the bloody orange jumpsuit that she recognized oh so well. Staring at the charred, blood-stained hole about the size of a fist directly over where the heart would be for anyone who had been wearing it. It took only a moment for Hinata to unleash the most anguished, painful, and heartbreaking scream anyone could hear, which echoed throughout Hokage Tower alerting the Anbu guard of the Hokage's office who was returning to his post. When he arrived and upon entering Tsunade's office he found the young Hyuga girl crumpled on the floor unconscious gripping tightly in her hands an orange jumpsuit. However, the most disturbing sight the Anbu saw was that while Hinata seemed unconscious, her eyes were wide open, but completely unresponsive, as the Anbu guard scooped her up and immediately began rushing her to the hospital.

(End of Flashback)

"Oh no, what could have happened to Hinata? Lady Tsunade I..."

"What are standing around for? Go...!" Tsunade commanded.

As the blonde Hokage watched Shizune rush out of the room she called to the Med-nin that had entered and said.

"You there, help get me off this damn bed and take to where the Hyuga girl is at!"

"But, but Hokage-sama, Shizune-sama's orders were for you to stay in bed and rest." The Med-nin stammered.

"I don't care, I'm the Hokage and my orders supersede hers. Now get me out of this bed and take me to Hinata Hyuga now!" Tsunade sternly ordered with angered authority.

A few minutes later, Tsunade arrived to the trauma center of the hospital to see Shizune frantically barking out orders, while she examined Hinata.

"Damn it, she's in Cardiac Dysrhythmia and going into shock. I want an IV of adrenaline at 2 to 10 mcg/min set up immediately!"

"It may be necessary to increase that dosage Shizune to re-establish an adequate heart rate and blood pressure for Hinata." Tsunade declared from the doorway, as she watched her first apprentice attend to Hinata.

"Lady Tsunade, you should be in bed resting not here."

"Bah, you actually think I could sit still while the little gaki's girlfriend is in danger. Because if you believe that, then you've been nipping some of my sake."

"Very well, truthfully I could use your help, because I can't find any injury interior or exterior on Hinata that would put her in such a state."

Shizune then turned to one of the Med-nins and asked.

"You said earlier that this girl was clutching something in her hands when she was brought in, what was it?"

"It was blood-stained orange jumpsuit Shizune-sama, we had a very difficult time prying it out of her hands when she arrived." The Med-nin answered.

Shizune's eyes grew wide as saucers upon seeing the jumpsuit and her face turned white, before she whipped her head around and stared at Tsunade and stammered.

"Lady Tsunade, that's that's...!"

"I know what it is Shizune!" Tsunade snapped, before ordering the Med-nin holding the jumpsuit.

"Take that jumpsuit down to the lab at once. I want every conceivable test we can run on it done immediately. I expect the results to be brought to me and only me as soon as possible!"

The blonde Hokage then turned her attention back to Shizune and stated.

"I'll explain everything to you later, but right now our first priority is helping Hinata. So let's you and I get to work and save this girl."

Shizune paused for a moment, as numerous thoughts raced through her head before she nodded to her master and the both of them began attending to Hinata as best they could. Each one determined to do everything they could to save the young Hyuga girls life.

---

A few hours later Tsunade slammed her fist down onto the table she was standing over and cussed with frustration.

"Damn it, there's nothing we can do to save Hinata!"

"Oh please don't say that milady, we mustn't give up hope!" Shizune pleadingly exclaimed.

"It's not a question of giving up hope, but of the reality of the situation. She's in a catatonic state and all night long all of Hinata's vitals have been slowly dropping and everything we've tried to halt that occurring has failed miserably.

"We just have to keep trying. Once we discover what is slowly killing Hinata, I'm sure we can do something to stop it."

"I already know what's killing Hinata, I've known since the moment I heard that she had found that jumpsuit."

"What is killing Hinata milady?"

"Hinata is killing Hinata." Tsunade answered in a morose tone of voice.

"I, I don't understand?"

"It's quite simple, the reason we can't find anything medically wrong as to why Hinata is dying is because medically nothing is killing her. The reason she is dying is physiological."

"I still don't understand?"

"What I mean is what is killing Hinata is from a psychological perspective. Hinata found Naruto's blood-stained jumpsuit and she believes he is dead. Now she doesn't want to live anymore if Naruto is dead, so her mind is slowly but surely shutting her bodily functions down and effectively killing her."

"Is there nothing we can do for her?"

"We've done all we can, but the human mind is the one organ that the medical profession knows the least about. However, there is something we can do Shizune. I want you to send out some Anbu messengers and have Inoichi and Ino Yamanaka, as well as Yuuhi Kurenai in my office here at the hospital within the hour."

"Hai, Lady Tsunade, I'll see to it at once."

As Tsunade watched her first protégé leave the room, she grimly thought to herself.

'I can only pray that the Yamanaka's infamous mind techniques can help save Hinata where medical science is unable to do so.'

---

Less than hour later Inoichi and Ino Yamanaka, as well as Yuuhi Kurenai were seated in Tsunade's office at the hospital, when Shizune followed by the blonde Hokage entered the room and she said.

"Thank you all for coming. I know it's early, but the matter to which I needed to speak with you all is quite urgent I assure you."

"Lady Tsunade, before you begin I have a special request to ask of you. Hinata never returned home last night and I'm growing concerned. Could you please alert the Anbu patrolling the village to keep an eye out for her whereabouts?" Kurenai asked, the slight worry she held evident in the tone of her voice.

"Hinata never came home, but I was just with her last night!" Ino exclaimed with concern.

Tsunade heaved a heavy sigh, before she spoke up and said.

"There's no need for the Anbu to search for Hinata, for she is the reason I have called all of you here this morning."

"I don't understand, where is Hinata?"

"Hinata is at the hospital in critical condition at the moment Kurenai and we're doing everything we can to save her right now."

"What!" Both Kurenai and Ino yelled simultaneously.

"Sit down both of you! I know you're concerned, but the two of you need to keep a level head about this!" Tsunade shouted in response, as both kunoich's slowly sat back down before Kurenai calmly asked.

"What happened to Hinata Lady Tsunade?"

"I suppose I should start at the very beginning. However, before I begin I need to tell all of you that everything that is said in this room is not to be shared to anyone outside of it. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded their head in affirmation and Tsunade began to explain everything.

"Only a handful of people within the village know this, but when Sasuke attacked the village on the night of the Yondaime's anniversary, he left behind a box for me to open. It took several weeks, because the box was booby-trapped, but at the cost of one of my Anbu's life, we were finally able to open it. The contents of that box were brought to me last night for examination and confirmation."

"Confirmation Hokage-sama, what did you need to confirm?" Inoichi who had been silent asked in curiosity.

Tsunade exhaled a deep breath; before she answered the patriarch of the Yamanaka clan and reached down to retrieve an item she then threw onto her desk.

The contents of the box were this, a customized horned hitai-ate with the kanji for "Oil" written on it, which is a symbol for the Toads of Mt. Myoboku. As you can see it has been split-in-half.

"That, that looks the hitai-ate that Master Jirai...!" Inoichi began to exclaim with shock before Tsunade interrupted him and stated.

"You're right Inoichi-san, it is the hitai-ate that my fellow Sannin the Toad Sage Jiraiya wore."

A pall of silence gripped the room for several moments, as everyone contemplated what that broken hitai-ate signified. It was Kurenai who broke the silence and in a choked voice asked.

"Was, was that the only item in the box?"

"No, it wasn't."

Hesitantly, the blonde Hokage reached down once more and placed onto her desk a distinctive orange-colored jumpsuit that everyone immediately recognized. And as Tsunade laid the article of clothing out on her desk all the people in the room could see the charred, frayed-edged, and blood-stained hole about the size of a fist directly over where the heart would be for anyone who had been wearing it.

"Is, is that..." Ino began to stammer.

"Yes Ino, this is one of Naruto's jumpsuits and to her detriment Hinata discovered it in my office last night."

"I don't understand Lady Tsunade, why would you show this to Hinata?"

"Lady Tsunade didn't show that to Hinata, she suffered..." Shizune began to answer before she was interrupted by Tsunade who snapped at her apprentice.

"I can speak for myself Shizune!" Now, as to your question Kurenai, Shizune is correct. I did not show this jumpsuit to Hinata last night. When I saw the contents of that box that Ibiki had brought to me I suffered...a panic attack, which rendered me unconscious. I was then rushed to the hospital by Shizune leaving the box behind on my desk. I had no idea anyone else would see it that night."

"Don't you have an Anbu guard always stationed outside of your office in the waiting room?" Inoichi asked.

"Yes I do, but he stepped away for a few minutes to relieve himself and it was in those few minutes that Hinata came by and discovered the jumpsuit. It was just damnable bad luck that she arrived at that time. I just wish I knew why she had come to my office so late at night?"

A soft sob alerted everyone in the office and all heads turned towards Ino who buried her face in the palms of her hands and sobbed even louder while saying.

"It's my fault, (sob) it's all my fault!"

"What do you mean princess, what's your fault?" Inoichi inquired as he rubbed his daughters back in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hinata daddy, (sob) it's my fault Hinata went to the Hokage's office last night."

"Please explain Ino." Tsunade asked in curiosity.

"Last night Hinata and I were at a nightclub with our friends. (sob) During the evening one of those psycho ex-Root zombies accosted Hinata and said to her his former Lord Danzo believed Naruto was probably dead, killed by Sasuke and Orochimaru. (sob) This upset Hinata and she ran out of the club. It took me awhile to find her, but when I did she was very depressed as that asshole's words had affected her greatly. I told her to go talk to you Lady Tsunade and that maybe you could tell her something about Naruto. Even if it was nothing more than he was still alive would have lifted Hinata's spirits. So you see daddy, (sob) it's all my fault! If I hadn't advised Hinata to come here, she never would have seen that jumpsuit and would be fine right now!"

Inoichi wrapped his daughter up in a loving and comforting hug, as he tried to assure her that she had done nothing wrong.

"Shhhhhh, it's alright princess, you couldn't have known. It's not your fault for what happened to Hinata."

"You say you suffered a panic attack Lady Tsunade, is that what happened to Hinata?" Kurenai questioned in earnest.

"She suffered an attack and I'm sure panic and fear must have been a part of it. However, her attack was much more intense on an emotional and psychological level and has left Hinata in a catatonic state and she is slowly...dying." Tsunade answered in a saddened tone of voice.

"What are doing to save her?" Ino cried out.

"We've done all we can Ino, which is why we called for help from you and your father this morning."

"What can we do to be of assistance Hokage-sama?"

"Inoichi, medically speaking we can't help Hinata because what's killing her is Hinata herself. In other words it's a psychological cause that is the problem, hence why we have called the two of you here today."

"I understand, you wish me to use my clan's Mind-walk technique on Hinata."

"What, what is a Mind-walk technique?" Kurenai queried with concern.

"The Mind-walk technique allows me to traverse the vast corridors of one's mind. However, there are dangers to the user of this technique. The most prevalent danger of using this technique is that there are so many corridors, which one could easily become lost and find themselves trapped within that person's mind. That is why this technique is only passed down from Yamanaka clan head to clan head throughout history. But over the years each clan head has mapped shall we say the mind's pathways. So I should be able to negotiate my way around until I find Hinata's memory core and move through it relatively unimpeded."

"No daddy, I should be the one to use the technique not you. Hinata is my best friend and it's my fault that she's dying. Let me be the one to go, not you." Ino ardently stated with conviction.

"I'm sorry Ino, but no. I know you've recently completed your training for using the Mind-walk technique and I'm proud of you for that. However, as the leader of our clan I have much more experience in using it and Hinata's case is an extreme one. If we are to save her princess, it must be me who utilizes the technique; it gives us our best hope if I and I alone accept the risk."

Inoichi then turned to Tsunade and said.

"I'll need some time to prepare myself for the technique Hokage-sama."

"I understand Inoichi-san and thank you for your help."

"There's nothing to thank me, I care for Hinata almost as if she were a second daughter. I will do everything in my power to bring her back to the world of the living."

The blonde Hokage smiled and nodded, before she told Shizune to escort Inoichi and Ino over to the hospital shrine room leaving the office occupied only by herself and Kurenai. It was then that Tsunade commented to the red-eyed Jounin kunoichi.

"Thank you Kurenai for maintaining your composer during this meeting, but you can stop gripping the armrests of your chair now, before you crush them into kindling."

Kurenai exhaled a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding and looked down to her hands to see that her knuckles were white from gripping the armrests with such force. She looked over to Tsunade and opened her mouth to speak, but the blonde Hokage stopped her by saying.

"I know what you're going to ask and the answer is no, there was nothing of Kakashi's inside the box that Sasuke left for me."

"Then, then what does that mean?"

"I don't know, I really don't know. I can only come up with three scenarios' in my head right now. One scenario is Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto are dead, but those bastards for whatever reason didn't include anything of Kakashi's in the box. I've pretty much ruled out this scenario, as my asshole of an ex-teammate would relish in letting me know that three of my finest shinobi are dead, especially given as to who the three shinobi were and what they meant to me. There's also the fact that besides you, me, Shizune, and the Konoha 10 no one else knows that Kakashi is even with Jiraiya and Naruto. Officially, everyone believes he is on a deep cover secret mission outside of the village. The second scenario is Jiraiya and Naruto are dead and Kakashi escaped and is making his way back to the village. Or the third scenario is this is all a damn ruse by Orochimaru and Sasuke and all three of them are alive and well. That's the one I feel is most likely after taking some time to think about everything."

"Why have you not considered that Kakashi was captured?" Kurenai asked with saddened edge to her voice.

"I've not considered that because Kakashi is a veteran shinobi and would make the ultimate...sacrifice on himself if he had to rather than fall into enemy hands."

"Damn it, this is all so frustrating not knowing if the men you and I both love as well as the man Hinata loves are still alive! Is there nothing you can do to contact them Lady Tsunade?" Kurenai asked, as she leapt up from her chair in anger and stalked the floor of the office.

"No, I wish there was, but Jiraiya and I decided with all the threats going on around us at the time they all departed. There were just too many enemies with listening ears, both inside and outside of the village trying to locate Naruto. From Orochimaru, Sasuke, the Akatsuki, to even Hiashi and Danzo, we decided for security that the only way to keep their location a complete secret was to have only a one-way communication between us via the toads. I can only contact Jiraiya and the others, if they contact me first. They have contacted me only one time in the past two and a half years and that was right after the Otogakure invasion, which they had caught wind of wherever they were to find out if I wished them to return." Tsunade somberly answered with regret.

Kurenai glared at the blonde Hokage seated behind her desk and wanted to verbally lash out and admonish Tsunade for making such a stupid decision in her opinion. However, the Jounin Kunoichi realized that Tsunade was probably hurting as much as she was and berating her would serve no purpose. Walking back to her chair, she sat down and with her elbows on her knees leaned her head forward to rest on her hands. The room was silent for the next several minutes, until Tsunade softly asked.

"Why did you say it's so frustrating not knowing if the men you and I both love are still alive?"

Kurenai raised her head from her hands and leaned back into her chair and answered.

"I said that because I know I'm in love with Kakashi and I know you're in love with Master Jiraiya-sama."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you and I have grown close since they've been gone, our friendship forged by the bond of the two of them being away from us. I've seen when you thought no one was looking the forlorn expression that sometimes appears upon your face when you hear his name. It's the same look I've seen at times on Hinata's face when Naruto is mentioned. And I'm sure I've expressed that same look at the mention of Kakashi."

"Hmph, and hear I thought I had hid it so well from everyone." Tsunade dryly commented.

"You did Lady Tsunade, but as I said the only reason I and perhaps Hinata recognized it is because the two of us are in the same proverbial boat as you."

"Well then, let's go help Inoichi save the third member of our boat. For if we're going to feel miserable while waiting for the men we love to return. Then as the old saying goes, misery loves company."

---

As Tsunade and Kurenai made their way downstairs to oversee Inoichi's attempt to save Hinata, in another part of the hospital Sakura was dropping off some reports to the lab and research department. However, when Sakura entered the room her breath hitched in her throat when she saw a Med-nin technician at the back of the lab holding up an orange blood-stained jumpsuit that she immediately recognized, before she ducked behind the door to listen, as she heard the man say to another Med-nin technician.

"Look at the size of that hole, I'd hate to be the poor bastard who was wearing this!"

"Shut the hell up! Don't you recognize that jumpsuit? It's the one the Yondaime's son always wore. Why else do you think the Lady Tsunade is so freaked out about it. I don't want to be the one to have to tell her that the last living legacy of the Fourth Hokage is dead." The other Med-nin snapped at his comrade.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I said that. So what do the blood tests reveal?"

"Nothing good, the Precipitin test I conducted to determine whether the blood is of animal or human origin came up human."

"Damn, that's not good, what else?"

"I ran an ABO test and it shows that the blood on this jumpsuit is type O. Further forensic DNA analysis also revealed that the blood came from a male."

"Is that all? We can't go to the Hokage with just the blood type and that it's from a human male and that's it."

"Damn it, don't you think I'd like to give her more information, but DNA analysis can only do so much. It can't determine the age or race of the person from the sample. Hell, it can't even tell us how old the person is or was that the blood came from."

"The Hokage is not going to be happy about this."

"I know she wants us to be able to prove that this blood didn't come from the Yondaime's son, but we don't have a sample of his blood on file. We only started keeping an index of blood samples from our shinobi to use for identification a little over a year ago. If we had a sample of blood from the fourth's kid, we might be able to prove that it isn't his blood on the jumpsuit, but we don't."

"Well let's not keep Lady Tsunade waiting; she said she wanted the results of the tests brought to her as soon as possible."

"Yeah, let's go."

As the two Med-nin's left the lab shutting the door behind them, it revealed Sakura standing there with her hand covering her mouth to stifle her sobs and with tears rolling down her face. The young pink-haired kunoichi was trembling, as she reflected upon the conversation she had just overheard. Suddenly, a revelation hit Sakura, as she thought to herself.

'They need a sample of Naruto-kun's blood!'

Sakura immediately dropped the report she had been delivering onto the floor and raced out of the room with all of the speed she could muster.

---

An hour later, Lady Tsunade along with Shizune, Kurenai, and Ino were watching with great interest both Hinata and Inoichi Yamanaka who was sitting in a chair next to the girl. The blonde Hokage had received the lab report on the blood and it did little to comfort her or anyone else in the room. It was after the report had arrived and its contents revealed that Inoichi Yamanaka had begun his Mind-walk.

Tsunade had given Hinata, as many stimulants as she safely could to keep the Hyuga girl's vitals from dropping any further, but it was of little avail. The stimulants had managed to slow down the speed of the decline, but they were still dropping. The blonde Hokage surmised that if something wasn't done soon Hinata would be dead in 24 hours. So it was with profound hope from everyone in the room that the Yamanaka patriarch would be able to save her, where medical science had failed, as they all gazed at Hinata and Inoichi looking for any sign of movement or reaction. Suddenly Inoichi's eyes flew open and he leapt up from his chair shouting.

"Damn it!"

The Yamanaka clan leader nearly fell to the floor, before Tsunade caught him and helped him into a chair and began unhooking the monitor they had on him before she asked.

"Inoichi, are you alright?"

"I, I'm fine Hokage-sama, I'm just a little disoriented from being ejected from Hinata's mind."

"What happened daddy, is Hinata going to be ok?"

"I'm sorry princess, but her condition is still the same as it was before I initiated the Mind-walk."

"The readings on the monitors confirm Inoichi-sama's statement; Hinata's vitals are still slowly dropping." Shizune announced to everyone in the room.

"What happened, while you were in Hinata's mind?" Tsunade inquired with concern.

"In the beginning, I was able to traverse the vast corridors of Hinata's mind relatively unimpeded. After much searching I was finally able to discover the correct corridor that would lead me to Hinata's memory core. However, once I reached the memory core is when the trouble started."

"What do mean by trouble?" Kurenai asked with apprehension.

"What I mean by trouble is as I started searching to find the memory or thought that Hinata has placed herself in. I began having to deal with her mental defenses that she was now unleashing to prevent any further travel by me. It was nothing too harsh or even deadly, as I think she knew it was me. So I was able to overcome the majority of them. However, when I traveled down this one corridor the defenses suddenly intensified, as I neared this one particular doorway. It was difficult, but I was able to reach the door and open it up. I was able to catch a glimpse of Hinata for a few seconds before a force, which felt like a brick-wall slammed into me and forcibly ejected me from her mind."

"What did you see?"

Inoichi exhaled a deep sad sigh and replied.

"As I said, I only caught a glimpse for a few seconds, but what I saw Lady Tsunade was in the distance Hinata lying atop a fresh grave weeping. The gravestone above it bore the name…. Naruto Uzumaki."

A pall of eerie heart-wrenching silence gripped the entire room and everyone in it after hearing that. After a few minutes, it was Tsunade who broke the stagnant silence by commenting in agonized frustration.

"It's just as I feared, Hinata believes Naruto is dead and now she doesn't want to live anymore if Naruto is dead, so her mind is shutting her bodily functions down killing her and there's not a damn thing we can do to stop it!"

"Naruto was Hinata's world; everything she has done the past two and a half years to make herself stronger was for him. Her love for him was Hinata's sole reason for living and now that he's gone; her world is now dead." Kurenai stated with sadness, as she fought to keep from breaking down in front of everyone.

Suddenly the door to Hinata's room flew open and Sakura ran in shouting.

"Shishou Tsunade, the blood on the jumpsuit, it's not Naruto-kun's!"

Before Sakura could utter another word, she suddenly found a hand gripping her by the throat and slamming her back into a wall, as Ino growled out with murderous intent.

"Damn you forehead! I don't know what kind of sick twisted joke this is you're playing, but I may just kill you for it right now!"

"Let, let me go Ino, it's not a j-joke, I ca-can prove that the blood isn't Nar-Naruto's." Sakura said in labored and choked breaths.

"Ino release her now!" Tsunade ordered.

Turning her head to look at both her father and Tsunade and receiving firm glares from both of them. Ino reluctantly let go of Sakura's throat and moved away, but not before saying in anger.

"Fine, I don't know what game she is playing, but you said it yourself Hokage-sama, the lab was unable to prove that the blood isn't Naruto's? And how the hell does forehead know about it anyway? Nobody but the people in this room knew about it!"

"Ino makes a valid point Sakura. How do you know about the blood on the jumpsuit?" Tsunade sternly asked.

"I, I was taking some reports down to the lab and saw two Med technicians who were just finishing up testing the blood on it. I'm sorry milady, but I eavesdropped on their conversation after I saw Naruto's jumpsuit."

"Alright, we'll discuss that little indiscretion another time. What do mean you have proof that the blood isn't Naruto's?"

"The lab technicians said they couldn't prove that the blood wasn't Naruto's because they didn't have a control blood sample taken from Naruto to cross-match with a control blood sample taken from the jumpsuit."

"That's right, so how are you going to prove it!" Ino snapped at her former best-friend.

"I, I have a sample of Naruto's blood Shishou Tsunade." Sakura stammered sheepishly.

"Why would you have a sample of Naruto's blood?" Tsunade questioned in confusion.

"The blood sample I have was on a dress I had worn when I visited Naruto at the hospital after the Sasuke retrieval mission. During my visit, his wound reopened and splattered blood onto the dress. The blood sample was a bit degraded because that was over three years ago, but there was enough viable samples that I was able to use a Gel-lifter and run an ABO test on it."

"What's an ABO test?" Ino asked.

"An ABO test, is a blood type system that involves checking the surface of the red blood cells for two antigens known as A and B, with blood type being named after the type of antigens it contains - A, B, AB and O. By noting that a blood clump forms when the same type of antigen meets the same type of antibody, an experiment can be done on the solution of blood to determine the blood type."

Ino just stared at Sakura dumbfounded, before she threw her hands in the air in frustration and yelled at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"What the hell does all of that mean?"

"It means I was able to run a test using two solutions each containing antibodies to type A and type B antigens. The first solution contained type A antibodies and when mixed with type A blood, it will cause it to form clumps. The same concept is used to test for B antigens, where a solution of type B antibodies would cause all type B antigens in the blood to clump together. If blood clumps under contact with both A and B antibodies, then it is of the blood type AB, since both antigens are present in the blood. O blood does not clump with any other blood type and is therefore identified because it is solitary."

"That's all correct Sakura, but what did you discover from the tests?"

"It's the type B antibodies milady. When I mixed them with type B blood they began to form clumps. The lab technicians said the blood on the suit was type O, but the blood on my dress, which I know for a fact is from Naruto, is type B!" Sakura announced with excitement.

A broad smile spread across Tsunade's face and she enveloped her newest apprentice in a fierce hug and shouted out with joy.

"It's two different blood types people! The blood on the jumpsuit I can say with absolute certainty thanks to Sakura is not Naruto's!"

A sense of joy and elation was felt by everyone in the room, before Ino's voice punctuated the air and brought everyone crashing back to reality.

"That's great to hear and I'm glad it appears that Naruto is still alive, but how does this help Hinata?"

Silence gripped the room once again until Kurenai spoke up.

"If we could just somehow share this news with Hinata, it might be the trigger to waking her up."

"I could go back in and try another Mind-walk, but I fear I she won't let me get any closer to her than the last time." Inoichi openly commented.

"That's why we both have to go daddy, it's the only way. Hinata may force you out again, but I know she wouldn't hurt me." Ino stated with vigor.

"It's too dangerous; say your right and Hinata doesn't force you out of her mind. If you're unable to convince her to wake and she dies, then you will die right along with her. I'm sorry princess, but the risk is too great, I won't allow it!" Inoichi declared with protective concern for his daughter.

"Daddy please, Hinata is my best friend and I willing to take that risk. You can't keep protecting me like I'm a little girl anymore. I'm a shinobi of the Leaf village just as you are and risk is something we accepted in our lives by choosing that life. Let me do this and save Hinata, because we're running out of time and we don't have any more options left for us to try." Ino pleaded to her father.

Inoichi looked around the room to see all eyes were directed upon him and after a couple of agonizing minutes of turmoil, he finally relented and said.

"Alright Ino-chan, we'll do this, but you stay close by my side as we travel in case Hinata decides to unleash her mental defenses even sooner than before on us."

Ino threw her arms around her father and hugged him fiercely, while thanking him, as Inoichi returned the embrace with all the love he had for his daughter.

A few minutes later both Ino and Inoichi sat next to Hinata's bed holding hands, as they initiated the Yamanaka Mind-walk technique, while Tsunade and Shizune studied the monitors hooked up to them with scrutiny.

As Ino and her father traversed the many corridors within Hinata's mind, they were surprised that they hadn't encountered and of the previous mental defenses Inoichi had in his first attempt. Finally, they reached the doorway where Inoichi had seen Hinata on the other side; he stopped Ino from opening the door and said.

"Ino-chan, once we open this door I need you to enter the room as quickly as possible and jump to the left. I will try to follow you, but I don't think Hinata is going to let me."

"What do you mean daddy?"

"It's only a hypothesis princess, but I think the reason we didn't encounter any defensive mechanisms as we traveled is because you were with me and Hinata senses your presence. I believe you were correct in surmising that Hinata won't hurt you. However, I think if we try to enter the room together, she will eject us both at the same time. If you enter first followed by me, I believe Hinata will expel me immediately, but at least you will have been able to get inside and hopefully convince her to return to our world, before she decides to cast you out of her mind as well. Are you ready?"

Ino nodded her head and both Yamanaka's turned towards the entrance, as the blonde kunoichi reached for the doorknob and threw open the door. Ino immediately entered and dove to the left side of the room. Inoichi attempted to follow, but what he had suspected earlier might happen did, as the door instantly slammed shut and the same intense force, which had thrown him out of Hinata's mind earlier flung his consciousness back into the world of the living once again.

As Ino rose to her feet she attempted to open the door once again and found that now it wouldn't budge an inch. The Yamanaka heiress was now officially trapped within Hinata's mind. Turning around to survey her surroundings, a chill went down Ino's spine at what she saw. Everywhere she looked, it was pitch black and deathly silent. Except for one area that was illuminated about 50 yards from where she was standing. Ino saw in this lighted area an image of Hinata sitting on her legs with her head bowed low weeping over a freshly filled in grave and the unmistakable name on the headstone above it. As the blonde kunoichi approached this scene, she wasn't sure how to begin, but was surprised when the crying manifestation of Hinata spoke up first and asked.

"Why are you here Ino?"

"I, I wanted to talk to you Hinata."

"You shouldn't be here and I don't want to talk to you or anyone, just leave me alone."

"Please, you have to listen to me, it's about Naruto that I want to talk to you about." Ino pleaded, as she knelt down and sat next to the Hinata entity.

"Then there's nothing to talk about, Naru-kun is dead and soon I will join him on the other side."

"That's not true, Naruto is alive!"

"Liar."

"I have never lied to you?"

"Perhaps, but I think you would say anything to me right now to stop me from joining Naru-kun. Including lie to me and say he is still alive when he is not. You're my best friend Ino-chan and I love you dearly, but I don't wish to live in a world without Naru-kun. So just leave me here to my sorrow and pain, it will all be over soon enough."

The blonde kunoichi didn't know what her next move should be as this manifestation of Hinata would not believe her and was convinced that Naruto was dead. Ino thought that since words weren't getting through, perhaps a physical stimulus would succeed in getting her friend to listen to her. As Ino reeled her hand back to slap some sense into this Hinata entity, suddenly a tendril of black shot out of the darkness surrounding them and wrapped around her wrist, preventing the blow from being struck.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that."

Almost instantly another then another tendril burst forth from the darkness and wrapped around the blonde kunoichi and began to drag the struggling Yamanaka heiress away.

"Goodbye Ino-chan, I don't want you to get trapped in here when my final hour has come, so you need to leave now and tell everyone that I love them very much and to try not to hate me and please forgive me for having to leave them."

Ino heard the Hinata entity's words final words, as she struggled vainly against these vine-like apparitions of blackness, but could not stop them from dragging her away. In one last desperate act before she disappeared, Ino shouted back to the Hinata manifestation with all of her might.

"Hinata, I've never lied to you, Naruto is alive and I can prove it to you, but you need to wake-up now. If you wake-up and find that I have lied to you, then you can,….you can….you can burn my entire wardrobe right before my eyes and I or anyone else won't stop you, but in order to be able to do that you have to wake up NOW….!"

Two monitors suddenly blared to life ringing in alarm inside Hinata's hospital room. One monitor that was attached to the young Hyuga girl and another monitor attached her blonde best friend. Both Tsunade and Shizune rushed over to the two kunoichi's to check on them when suddenly Ino's body convulsed once, before her eyes fluttered open and a moment later, Hinata abruptly bolted upright in her bed and shouted.

"NARU-KUN'S ALIVE!"

Hinata looked about the room disoriented, before she felt Tsunade grab hold of her and gently lean her back against some pillows she had propped up on the bed. Kurenai rushed over and enveloped Hinata in a joyful tear-filled hug, which the Hyuga girl returned before she let go and asked in a confused tone of voice, as she looked around the room.

"What-what has happened, why am I here in the hospital?"

"Hinata, what is the last thing you remember?"

"I remember I was going to your office Lady Tsunade to talk to you, but you were not there. So I decided to leave a note for you and went over to your desk and saw, saw…."

Hinata's hands flew up to her face to cover her mouth in horror, as the image of Naruto's bloody orange jumpsuit flooded her mind and the machines monitoring her vitals started clamoring in alarm, as her blood pressure and heart-rate started rising once again. Tsunade immediately grabbed Hinata's shoulders and gently shook her, while saying.

"Hinata, you need to calm down! I know what you saw, but it isn't true. Please calm down and we will explain everything to you."

A minute later through pure determination on Hinata's part even though the image of Naruto's jumpsuit held firm within her mind, the alarms began to go quiet, as the Hyuga girl willed herself to calm down. It was then Hinata heard the Tsunade say in a comforting voice.

"I know you saw Naruto's jumpsuit and what you might think, but it isn't true."

"I, I don't understand, the jumpsuit, the blood, where did it come from?"

Tsunade exhaled a sigh before she answered.

"When Sasuke attacked the village on the night of the Yondaime's 16th anniversary, he left behind a box for me to open. After having the Anbu check it for any traps, they were able to finally secure the box and open it. Last night, they brought the contents of the box to me for inspection. When I saw the contents, like you I to suffered an emotional attack that left me unconscious and I was rushed to the hospital leaving that box behind. I'm sorry Hinata, but you were never supposed to have seen what was inside of that box."

"But I did see it and you said it is Naruto-kun's jumpsuit with all that blood on it. Is he dead Lady Tsunade, is Naruto-kun dead?" Hinata asked in a pained filled voice.

"No he's not and we can prove it to you thanks to Sakura."

"Sak-Sakura?"

The pink-haired kunoichi stepped forward and sat down on Hinata's bed and smiled before saying.

"It's true Hinata; I was able to cross-match a blood sample taken from Naruto with a blood sample taken from the jumpsuit."

"You ran an ABO test?" Hinata questioned.

"I did and long story short the blood on that jumpsuit is type O, but Naruto's is type B. Hinata, they don't match, it's all a trick by that bastard Sasuke! Naruto is alive!" Sakura excitedly informed her friend.

Tears of joy began streaming down Hinata's face, as she leaned forward and hugged Sakura who also had tears rolling down her own face as they embraced. After a minute they released their happy ecstatic hug and Sakura got up to be replaced by Kurenai, as Hinata wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Hinata, you know I love you very much and I'm very glad that Naruto is alive. I know you love him with your very soul and he loves you, but you need to understand something. You also have other people besides Naruto who love you and would be hurt terribly if you left us. What do you think Naruto would think if he knew that you tried….."

"Kurenai stop!" Inoichi shouted, interrupting the Genjutsu Mistress admonishment, before he continued on.

"The human subconscious is a powerful force within the mind. From what Ino has just finished telling me, I highly doubt Hinata even knew what was happening. I believe it was her subconscious in control and not her conscious mind that placed her in danger. So there's no need to rebuke Hinata for what happened Kurenai."

"I, I don't understand, what has happened, what did I do?" Hinata asked in a quivering scared voice.

Kurenai felt badly in thinking that Hinata had willingly chosen to try and kill herself. Sensing the fright within her surrogate sister, Kurenai hugged Hinata once more and in a calm and reassuring voice replied.

"You didn't do anything, I'm sorry for the way I just spoke. We'll explain everything to you when you get home. Minato misses you, as you weren't able to regale him with another story about his uncle Naruto last night before he went to bed."

"Hinata if I may ask, what is the next thing you remember after you saw the jumpsuit in the Hokage's office? Inoichi inquired in curiosity.

"I'm not sure Inoichi-san; I seem to recall bits and pieces of a dream where Ino and I were talking. Then I remember Ino shouting at me and then I woke up."

"What did Ino yell at you to wake you up?" Tsunade asked with interest.

"She was pleading with me to wake up and if I did and found she had been lying to me about Naruto being alive that I could burn her entire wardrobe in front of her."

Everyone in the room nearly face-planted save for Hinata, Ino, and Inoichi, before Tsunade asked in shocked disbelief.

"That's what got you to wake up!"

"Y-yes, because I know how much Ino loves her wardrobe and to offer up its destruction would be the last thing she would ever willingly do."

"I can second that Hokage-sama, if I totaled up the amount Ino has spent on clothing over the years. I'm pretty sure it could fund one of the smaller villages in the Fire nation for a year. My princess here would rather cut off her right arm than destroy one of her favorite dresses of pair of shoes." Inoichi stated in amusement.

"Daddy!" Ino exclaimed in embarrassed indignation, as she slapped her father's shoulder, while everyone else laughed at the scene.

After the laughter died down, Ino and Hinata's eyes locked onto one another, before the blonde kunoichi made her way over to her best friend's bedside and softly said.

"Hey Hinata."

"Hi Ino." Hinata replied quietly herself.

After a few tense seconds, Ino spoke up once again.

"You've got to quit scaring all of us like this. Kurenai-Sensei is right; you have a lot of people who love and care about you who would be devastated if you left us."

"I'm, I'm sorry for making you and everyone else worry. I, I didn't mean to do it and I don't really understand what happened, other than I hurt all of you terribly and knowing that makes me feel….badly for what I've done." Hinata stated in a remorse filled and regretful voice.

Ino couldn't take it anymore and with tears streaming down her face suddenly hugged Hinata ferociously, which the Hyuga girl returned with equal force, as Ino in a choked voice declared.

"You dummy, you didn't do anything wrong, it was all my fault. If I hadn't told you to go talk to the Hokage, you never would have seen that jumpsuit and ended up here. I'm such a stupid jerk; I don't know why you even bother to be friends with me?"

"You're the one who is being a dummy right now. You're my best friend and you were only trying to help me when you sent me to find and talk to Lady Tsunade. It wasn't your fault for what happened and it's never been a bother to me to be your friend. So don't you blame yourself and besides if it wasn't for you I might still be asleep, you saved me Ino and I thank you for that." Hinata answered in her own choked up voice to her friend.

After a few more seconds, Hinata pulled away from her embrace and started wiping some tears out of her eyes, while Ino did the same.

"Actually, Sakura is the one who saved you, because if it wasn't for her being able to prove that the blood wasn't Naruto's. I'd be watching my wardrobe go up in flames and you hating me for the rest of my life. And while some people think I would tear off an appendage rather than see my wardrobe destroyed. Ino stated, as she turned her head to shoot a heated glare at her father, before she continued on.

"I can tell you Hinata that I would survive its destruction, but what I wouldn't survive is you hating me. So it's Sakura you should thank, not me."

Both girls turned their heads to look for Sakura, but discovered she was no longer in the room and Ino asked out loud.

"Hey, where is forehead?"

Everyone else in the room looked around before Shizune said.

"She must have slipped out, while you and Hinata were speaking to one another."

Ino thought about this for a moment before she excused herself and left Hinata's room. A couple of minutes later after hurriedly searching the hospital, the Yamanaka heiress spotted Sakura walking down a hallway. Ino sprinted down the hallway and called out to her fellow kunoichi.

"Hey forehead stop, I want to talk to you!"

Hearing the term by which Ino had addressed her, Sakura decided she'd had enough and whirled around to face a startled Ino who skidded to a stop in front of her and said in angry and somewhat defeated tone of voice.

"It's Sakura not forehead, my name is Sakura! What do you want say Ino? No scratch that, I don't care what you have to say, as I'm sure it's probably mean and insulting, since you haven't had a kind word to say to me in over three years. I'm done with this; I don't want to fight anymore with you, I never did. I'm tired of trying to regain your trust and friendship, as I finally realize it's never going happen. So, I'll make you a deal, you stay away from me and I'll stay away from you and we'll move on with our lives."

Sakura then whirled back around and started to walk away when she suddenly stopped, as she heard two words from her former best friend she never thought she would hear.

"I'm sorry."

"What did you say?" Sakura asked turning back around in shock.

"I said I'm sorry, that's what I wanted to say you, that's what I am saying to you…I'm sorry. You've saved Hinata's life twice now and I can't thank you enough for doing that. I know I have treated you badly the past few years and I apologize for that. Everyone else was right and I was wrong, you have changed, but my anger I held towards you refused to let me admit that and I hate myself for allowing that to happen. I just wanted to let you know that. If you want for us to stay away from one another, I'll do what you want." Ino stated with sincerity, before she turned on her heels and began walking away.

"Wait!" Sakura cried out.

Ino turned around to look at Sakura who spoke once again.

"Don't hate yourself; you had a right to be angry with me. I was the one who stupidly threw away our friendship among other things. I really don't want us to stay away from one another. I want to be your friend again Ino, but I can't unless you're willing to let me. Can we become friends again, are you willing to take that chance and try?"

A couple of tense minutes passed, as both girls gazed directly at one another when Ino finally broke the silence and answered.

"We can try fore…..Sakura, if you're willing to try again, then so am I."

Another silent minute went by, before Sakura asked.

"So what do we do now? Do you want to hug?"

"I don't feel like hugging, do you?"

"Not really."

"Well why don't we go back to Hinata's room, she wants to thank you for saving her life."

As the two kunoichi began walking down the hallway side by side, Sakura commented with honesty.

"I didn't save her life you did."

"Quit being so modest and humble, it was you who saved her Sakura."

"I'm not being modest and humble; you're the one who saved her Ino."

"Kami, just accept the praise already forehead, it was you who saved Hinata!"

"No pig, it was you!"

This argument continued all the way to Hinata's room, until the young Hyuga girl who would find that in the future she would be called upon numerous times to referee and end such disputes between these two particular friends of hers, settled the matter and proclaimed that each of them had saved her life. To which she thanked and hugged them both and the three kunoichi's sat down and visited with one another for the next several hours.

---

It was late in the evening and Tsunade was tired, but also happy, as she trudged wearily up the stairs to her office in Hokage Tower. She had spent the entire day at the hospital and the blonde Hokage had to admit she found it much more enjoyable helping people there, than battling the mountain of paperwork she was sure was sitting on her desk right now. Pushing that aside in her mind, Tsunade was also happy that her apprentice Sakura and Ino seemed to be on the road to renewing their friendship with one another judging by the laughter and merriment she had seen inside of Hinata's room. The blonde Sannin after running several more tests to make sure Hinata was completely fine had released the young Hyuga girl a few hours ago. It hurt Tsunade when she saw the saddened look on Hinata's face when she explained to the young girl the one-way communication set-up for keeping Naruto's location a secret and the reasons why. However, Hinata being the loyal shinobi she is said she understood Tsunade's decision and reasoning and did not offer up any complaint for it.

'If only all of my shinobi would be as understanding as Hinata, it would sure make my life as Hokage a whole hell of a lot easier.' Tsunade thought to herself, as she reached the waiting room to her office and was greeted with a surprise.

For sitting in the waiting room were Tsume Inuzuka who was reading a magazine, Shibi Aburame who appeared to be meditating, and Shikaku Nara who was splayed across the couch in the room loudly snoring. It was Tsume who first noticed Tsunade and taking her magazine and rolling it up. She smacked Shikaku on the forehead to awaken him, while Shibi merely rose from his chair silently.

"Damn it woman, what did you do that for?" Shikaku openly groused at his fellow clan leader.

"I did it to wake your sorry ass up, now get up, because the Hokage has finally arrived." Tsume fired back with annoyance.

"Tsume-san, Shibi-san, Shikaku-san, to what do I owe to the honor of this visit?" Tsunade questioned, before she entered her office followed by the three clan leaders.

"We have an urgent matter we would like to discuss with you Hokage-sama." Shibi politely answered.

"All three of you?"

"It's troublesome, but yeah all three of us." Shikaku replied with a yawn.

"Well then tell me, what is this matter you wish to speak to me about?"

"Oh I don't know Lady Tsunade how about the matter of….….JUST HOW LONG DO YOU PLAN TO KEEP OUR SONS LOCKED UP IN AN ANBU PRISON CELL?" Tsume shouted in anger.

The blonde Hokage could only flop down into her chair in resignation, as she had no idea what Tsume was even talking about, but knew it wouldn't be good once she found out. As Tsunade rubbed her temples of her forehead in an attempt to fight off an incoming headache, she could think of only one thing at that very moment.

'Oh crap,… why me?'

---

Author Notes: Whew, writing this chapter wore me out; it was a big one wasn't it. Consider it an early Halloween gift. Not much of a cliffhanger I know, but I actually toyed with the idea of leaving yet again a cliffhanger of Hinata dead or dying, as I've done twice before. Could I really have done that, am I really that sick and twisted to do that to my readers for a third time? Well in the end I thought better of it, as I remembered my reader BowTechsniper still has the torches and the pitchforks at the ready and the mob of angry readers on speed dial because of my chapter 55 cliffhanger. And since my underground fortified bunker is currently undergoing some renovations, (I'm having an indoor pool, wet-bar, and hot-tub put in) it's currently unavailable for me to use to fend off any rage-filled hoards of readers.

Now, to clear up any confusion regarding the timeline, and answer the question of when Naruto is returning? At the end of chapter 56, Naruto has been gone for three and a half years. The timeline for the ending of this chapter Naruto has been gone two and a half years. So basically, when all of this went down, Naruto had just arrived and Mt. Moyoboku. So what does all of this mean? Well it means you've got a couple of more chapters coming of life back in the Leaf village before Naruto returns to bring the timeline together. So look for the grand return probably in chapter 60.

As for this chapter, you could probably guess that I was never a fan of Sai in the canon. I can't really explain why, but there was just something about his character that always bugged me. So I enjoyed writing the fight scene between him and Neji and the results from it very much. Also, if you're wondering how Sai had a drawing of Naruto with him so he could forge his henge. Harken back to chapter 12 and Naruto's date with Hinata to answer that question. The most difficult part I had with this chapter was all the medical research and jargon I had to do for Hinata's dying scene. I hope some of you won't be annoyed that Ino and Sakura have renewed their friendship. And I can say that Sakura has pretty much achieved her "Road to Redemption" with all of her friends and loved ones now.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'm anxious to see what your reviews will be for it. I do wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter. For those of you who did review, you all had a lot to say about it and I'm pleased that this story has such a strong fan base with readers who actually write out well thought-out reviews. Because of that, I enjoy reading many of your reviews, so please leave lots of them, as they do help a writer get a sense of the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?

News:

For the past few chapters I've alerted my readers to a couple of polls set up on each of their accounts by the fine authors brown phantom and Zentary asking the question.

Who is the best Naruto fanfic writer on this site?

Zentary's poll has remained open and is still active.

Regrettably, brown phantom has ended his poll on this question. However, he has started a new poll asking,

Which is the best Naruto fan fiction story on this site?

So I humbly ask if you feel I'm worthy of being one of your 10 picks to please place a vote for me in Zentary's poll. And if you feel this story or any of my stories are worthy of being voted for in brown phantom's new poll. I thank you in advance for your support and normally I would provide you the links to the profile pages for both brown phantom and Zentary. However, one of the "oh so wonderful" changes FFnet has recently made is making it more difficult to list a link anywhere even if its a link on their own freaking site. So go back to my last few chapters to get the links or just do a quick search for the authors, brown phantom and Zentary.

*Of note, brown phantom recently informed me that this story currently sits in 13th place on his poll. Now I'm not so arrogant to think I should be number one, but I do believe that my story is at least deserving of a Top 10 ranking. So please help me out if you can by voting for it.

End of News:

---

Now, onto everyone's favorite section Kingkakashi's rants on the manga yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I only have a few negative things to say about the following issues of the Naruto manga!

*Warning I do give away some spoilers in my rants, so read at your own risk.

#595 – This is a great chapter. Primarily because there's not much to it, as it's strictly an action-packed battle of Naruto, Kakashi, Gai, and Killer Bee fighting against Tobi. There are some very well done fight scenes and Gai in particular comes out looking pretty cool in it. Overall, like a said a great chapter that even Kishimoto wasn't able to screw up other than Tobi being an Uchiha is still too overpowered for my liking.

#596 – This chapter is a continuation of the Naruto, Kakashi, Gai, and Killer Bee battle against Tobi. A lot more action and great fight scenes and the good guy's actually found a weakness to try and use in Tobi. Kakashi comes up with a cool strategy and Naruto is finally able to land a Rasengan onto Tobi damaging his right arm. The chapter ends with Kakashi declaring that Tobi only knows one jutsu. This was a great chapter and I'm pleased that Kishimoto didn't screw it up in some way.

#597 – The start of this chapter is Kakashi explaining to everyone that the one jutsu Tobi is using is a space-time ninjutsu called Kamui. Even more shocking is he reveals that jutsu Tobi uses with his Mangekyou Sharingan is the same one Kakashi uses with his Mangekyou Sharingan. This cemented it for me when I read it, Tobi's true identity. It's who I've been saying for years he really is. The rest of the chapter is of Kakashi beginning to deduce who Tobi truly is and Tobi verbally slamming Naruto's beliefs about the world, before Naruto launches another attack at him ending the chapter. This chapter was good, but not to exciting as well.

#598 – This chapter starts off with Kyuubified Naruto attacking Tobi along with Killer Bee in Hachibi form. Gai and especially Kakashi hold back, as they are a bit freaked out about who they suspect Tobi really is. They finally rejoin the fight and Kakashi using his Kamui in combination with one of Naruto's bijuu bombs is able to land a major blow onto Tobi with Naruto asking who Tobi really is. Another good chapter, as the action and excitement of the fight picked up once more. Four good to great chapters in a row from Kishimoto, who would have believed that to be possible? (Lol)

#599 – This chapter's title says it all as to who Tobi really is….Obito Uchiha. The entire chapter until the end is a flashback of Obito's life as a Leaf shinobi. The parallels between his life with team #7 and Naruto's life with his team #7 are indeed striking. The end of the chapter returns to the present with Tobi's mask cracking and falling away due to Naruto's attack revealing to everyone that he is indeed Obito Uchiha. A good chapter, as it is the beginning of what I'm going to call the Obito Arc of the Naruto story.

#600 – This chapter kicks off with another flashback scene showing how Kakashi received Obito's eye before his supposed death. Kakashi wants to know why if Obito survived how come he didn't reveal himself until now. Obito's answer to his former teammate was "Because you let Rin die." Kakashi then asks if Obito is going to blame him. I didn't think much of this line at the time, but it is a foreshadowing of a truth not yet revealed. Obito unleashes a Katon attack called the Bakufuu Ranbu in an attempt to incinerate Kakashi and Gai. Naruto protects them using the Kyuubi tails as a shield. Then Madara Uchiha shows up ending the chapter. Overall, this chapter was alright, but not nearly as good as the previous ones.

#601 – This chapter begins with Naruto freaking out about Madara being at his battle and what that could mean about Tsunade and the other Kage's. Madara in amusement tells Naruto that they are probably not ok. You then switch to a scene of all five Kage's laid out on the ground all of them injured severely. Tsunade is able to somehow despite her wounds summon Katsuyu the slug and tells her to bring all of the other Kage's to her position, as she can still save them. I will be totally pissed off, if Kishimoto kills Tsunade by sacrificing her remaining chakra to save all the other Kage's. You then switch back to Madara and Obito. Madara scolds Obito for several reasons, but the main one being that his Moon's Eye plan had been started too early. Kyuubified Naruto attacks Madara, which of course the founding Uchiha easily repels thanks to how ridiculously powerful Kishimoto has made him. The end of the chapter is a flashback showing a young Obito injured speaking to a very old man. This chapter was in my opinion a filler piece, which all stories need and was meant to show off yet again how powerful Madara is and to kickoff the Obito Arc once more.

#602 – This chapter is a flashback showing young Obito still alive, but with grievous injuries. He argues with the old man who saved him and wants to return to Konoha to help protect his friends Rin and Kakashi. The old man points out that with Obito's body in the condition it is in, returning to Konoha and being a shinobi again is impossible. The old man then goes into this philosophical diatribe about the world, which initially Obito doesn't want to hear about or believe. The old man then reveals himself to Obito as Madara Uchiha. Obito freaks out about the old man being Madara Uchiha. And we learn the reasons why both of them are still alive. Madara being that he is receiving chakra from a Mazo statue and Obito because Madara has fashioned for him an artificial body using the Hashirama's cells. The end of the chapter is Obito asking for Kakashi and Rin to wait for him and that he is still alive. Overall, an ok chapter, as it's basically the start of revealing the mystery of the how and why Obito is currently alive today.

#603 – This chapter is a continuation of the Obito Arc. It starts off with Obito arguing with two white Zetsu's that Madara created to watch over him and help rehabilitate him while the elder Uchiha sleeps. Obito doesn't like the white Zetsu's and during their arguments you get Kishimoto inserting one of the worst attempts at humor ever, with the Zetsu's going on and on throughout the chapter about not having to take dumps. Anyway, the rest of the chapter is of Obito getting used to his new body and growing stronger with it along with flashbacks of his life in the village and on team #7. The end of the chapter is one of the white Zetsu's reporting in that Rin and Kakashi were in danger and surrounded by Hidden Mist ninja's. Obito combines with a white Zetsu and sets off to save them ending the chapter. A decent chapter, as the reader is slowly but surely learning more and more about how and why Obito is still alive.

#604 – This entire chapter is Obito rushing to save Kakashi and Rin with some sporadic flashbacks thrown in for good measure. So initially the chapter doesn't seem like much until the end when Obito arrives to see Kakashi killing Rin. That was quite the little shocking bombshell to which I give Kishimoto kudos for. A lot of people pm'd for my thoughts on it and honestly I need more information about why that occurred before I decide upon anything. Overall, a benign chapter until the ending, which blew most Naruto fans away.

#605 – This chapter is the ramifications of Kakashi killing Rin, as it awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan in both Kakashi and Obito. Kakashi collapses and passes out from the strain of battle and of that Sharingan conversion. Obito loses it and using a combination of Mokuton abilities and his newly created Mangekyou Sharingan just slaughters the few dozen Hidden Mist ninja that had been attacking Rin and Kakashi in the most violent and bloody ways you can imagine, ending the chapter. A good chapter, as it's a departure from what Kishimoto normally does by giving us such a violent display.

#606 – This chapter shows Obito returning to Madara with Rin's body in tow. Because of Rin's death, Madara is finally able to convert Obito to embrace his views of the world and how they should use their powers to change it. Madara then begins to explain his Moon's Eye plan to change the world. You then switch over to seeing how the Rinnegan was created and that the Zetsu's are actually degraded clones of Hashirama. The Black/White Zetsu is also created by Madara infusing into a white Zetsu his "Will" I know, couldn't Kishi come up with something better than that? Anyway, the chapter ends with Madara sending Obito out into the world and to integrate himself into the Akatsuki, posing as Madara Uchiha until the real Madara is revived. A good chapter if for no other reason than it was jam-packed with a lot of answers to many of the questions the readers have had for a long time.

#607 – This entire chapter is Obito's first introduction to the founding members of the Akatsuki Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko. Obito posing as Madara attempts to convince them of the vision he and the real Madara have of creating a new world. Nagato seems interested, but Yahiko thinks Obito/Madara just wants to use them and says the whole thing sounds too good to be true. He convinces Nagato and Konan to leave, but Obito/Madara promises he will wait for them to change their minds. You then cut to a scene of Obito/Madara in the Leaf village where he sees Kakashi lamenting over Rin's grave. Rin's last name is Nohara, which I found interesting, as with her facial markings I would have guessed she was an Inuzuka. Anyway, you then cut to a scene of Obito/Madara summoning the Kyuubi and attacking the Leaf village and Obito/Madara is about to fight the Fourth Hokage and his former sensei. Then the story swings back to the present fight of Naruto versus Madara. Madara summons a giant wood dragon and Naruto goes full Kyuubified mode and they attack one another. Gai got busted up pretty bad somehow and Hachibi/Killer Bee isn't looking too good either. So the end of the chapter is Naruto and Madara squaring off and Kakashi and Obito about to throw down against one another. A good chapter, as it marked I think the end of the Obito Arc and now some intense battles should be happening very soon.

Yes, I'm still thoroughly disgusted that Kishimoto hasn't done anything yet with Hinata's confession to Naruto now reaching 170 freaking issues!

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Now I'd like to give a shout out to a couple of stories of quality work that I recommend. I urge all of you to check-out these fine works when you have the time.

Recommendations:

The following recommendations are for stories from the best Husband/Wife authors on this site.

"My Own Peace" by roamer79: This is a really interesting and gripping tale involving Naruto leaving the village after the Pein battle in order to protect his precious people, as he feels as long as people sought the power of the Kyuubi, his friends and his village would be in danger. As Naruto prepares to leave for his new life, he is joined by Hinata, who facing her own troubles within her clan is forced to leave the Leaf village as well. During their journey Naruto and Hinata fall in love and the author has done a superb job in developing their relationship in this tale. This story has a great mix of angst, drama, and emotions, this author does an excellent job with all the characters personalities and how they interact with one another. Overall, this is a very enjoyable story to read and is one you should definitely check-out.

"Out of the Dark" by JadedRen: This is not meant as a slight to roamer79's story, but his wife with her story might outshine him just a bit. This is a very clever, unique, and original tale, which centers on Naruto leaving the Leaf village, as he has grown tired of the hate directed towards him. Eight years later, he has carved himself out a reputation as the most wanted and deadly assassin in all the elemental nations going by the name of Ronin. Ronin/Naruto was hired to rescue a kidnapped heiress who unbeknownst to him turns out to be Hinata. The rest of the story is Ronin/Naruto unraveling the mystery of who is targeting Hinata as well as her sister Hanabi, while at the same time protecting them both. There is some excellent dialogue and emotions in this story and the development between Ronin/Naruto and Hinata is slow, but also very well written. So, if you're looking for something very different in a Naruto story, then this is one you should check-out.

Now please be kind and leave precious valuable reviews on these stories.

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As always, if anyone wants to discuss my story in greater detail, just shoot me a PM. I enjoy talking about the story with any readers who really have an interest in it. I'll try to respond back to you as quickly as I can.

Take it easy and be good!

Kingkakashi

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School Time:

Ruse

Definition: A trick, stratagem, or artifice

Etymology: Old French to Middle English 1375-1425a.d.

Part of Speech: Noun