Sakura, Shikamaru, and Sai were crouching next to her, all looking groggy, as though they'd been woken up from a long nap.

Sakura put her hand on Hinata's forehead.

"You seem fine," she said in relief. "Those bubbles we ran into were traps. I only just dispelled the genjutsu on these two."

"Are you all right, Hinata-san?" Sai asked, helping her up.

She nodded, then glanced down. Her bag's contents had spilled, and her red scarf was wrapped around...Naruto.

She felt her ears heat up as she hastily retrieved her scarf. How did it do that on its own?

Naruto was in a deep sleep, still trapped under the genjutsu. She knelt down next to him, concerned.

"Hinata..." he muttered.

He was asleep, so how did he know that she was next to him?

"Naruto, wake up!" Sakura said sharply.

"Hinata?" he muttered again.

Sakura gave him a rough slap.

"Owww."

She placed her hands on his stomach, sending her chakra through his body to disrupt the illusion.

"This is a genjutsu. It's not real!" she said urgently.

Naruto's eyes slowly opened.

They sped forwards, leaping off lumps of hard sand, much the same way the would leap from tree branch to tree branch on Earth, finally reaching another spring identical to the one they had just crossed.

"Can you use your Byakugan here?" Shikamaru asked Hinata.

"No, my sight is still distorted," she responded.

"Okay, we'll have to be ready to fight."

"Right!" Sakura and Sai said.

And with that, the three sped off into the spring.

Just as Hinata was about to jump, she saw that Naruto was stock still.

"Huh? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Um...those genjutsu dreams from earlier..." he murmured.

"What is it?"

She didn't want to bring up those odd dreams she'd had involving him. She felt like she saw something she shouldn't have.

"It's nothing...never mind," he said quietly, giving her a tiny smile.

Then he jumped in after the others.

Hardly had she taken a few steps forward when she heard that voice.

"Hinata."

She stopped.

"I said I'd come for you, but you've come for me. It's very flattering," said Toneri. His eyes seemed oddly familiar.

Hinata took on her fighting stance. "Where's Hanabi?!"

"Don't worry. She's fine," he said calmly, jumping towards her. "She's sleeping at my castle."

"Give her back right now!" She thrust her palm towards him preemptively.

"That depends on your answer, Byakugan Princess."

"Byakugan Princess? What?"

"Let's get married, Hinata."

"Married?"

This was, without a doubt, the strangest conversation she had ever had in her life. Who randomly asks his enemy to marry him?

"Hinata!"

Naruto had come back for her.

"Naruto-kun!"

He glowered at Toneri.

"Stay away from Hinata!" he yelled.

"You again, huh?" Toneri said. "Get out of the way, nuisance."

"Where's Hanabi?" Naruto snarled, taking a swing at Toneri.

They exchanged a storm of punches and kicks. To Hinata's surprise, Toneri was able to keep up with Naruto's heavy blows – at least until Naruto punched him directly in the face.

Toneri's face seemed to break and he flew into a nearby stone wall.

He slowly struggled to his feet.

"You're a puppet?" asked Naruto.

"This...isn't my real body," Toneri affirmed. "Next time, Hinata, my real self will come. And at that time, I'll need your answer.

Toneri's broken face looked at her malevolently.

"Shut up!"

But before Naruto's fist could connect, the puppet crumpled.

"Your fists will never reach me...fool."

Joining up with the others wasn't too much of a hassle. It turned out that Sakura had killed a giant guardian crab with her punch.

"And if you leave Hinata exposed to danger again, I'll punch you, too," Sakura warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Naruto said. "Hinata, I'll never – "

She looked at him curiously.

"I'll never let you out of my sight again." He stared at the ground with a very strange expression.

"What? You're already looking away," said Sakura.

"What do you mean? No, I'm not!"

Her stomach roiled with unidentifiable emotions as he gave her a sideways glance.

There was a bright light at the end of the cave after all.

Their rescue team finally reached the surface. Before them was a vast ocean under a cloudy sky.

"Is that a floating island?" asked Naruto, staring across the horizon.

"No," said Sai. "The ocean's surface is warped."

"How?" Sakura asked. "There can't be any underground sunlight."

"It must be artificial," Shikamaru reasoned.

"A man-made sun?" Sai mused.

"Yeah..."

Why did the underground look just like aboveground?