Hi everyone, it's me again. :) Now I normally don't have chapter's done this quick but I figured you guys needed an explanation for Hinata's death. It's not in this chapter but it will be either in the next or the one after that. I know it doesn't sit right with some of you, and I'm really sorry about that. I just couldn't see a way to keep her and have the story go like I want it to. Thanks to all those that understand this, and to all of you that don't, I hope you'll hang in there long enough to find out my reasoning. I don't kill character's without reasons, if the death doesn't do anything then they don't die. Simple as that.

Sorry if it's a bit under my normal standards but I normally spend months refining the chapters, but I just finished this one today and only went through it a few times.

I hope you enjoy regardless,

Trouble 1

NEJI

I gaped at my teammate, trying to comprehend her thought process that lead her to believe her six-year-dead teammate was still alive. I had seriously thought that she'd moved on but apparently not. He was dead, that was that. There had been a funeral and everything. Yeah, they buried an empty casket but it was still a funeral. It was a beautiful service, a small private affair in order to keep those that didn't appreciate him from trying to turn it into a celebration. Only those close to Naruto had been invited, though most of the Konoha shinobi force showed up anyways to show their respects.

It was there that Tsunade finally told us how Naruto had protected the village for the past sixteen years from the Kyuubi by becoming his retainer the day he was born. Truthfully, I hadn't been surprised. I could see that there was something different with his chakra whenever I fought with him, whether it was in competition or side by side on missions. There was always this slight red chakra that leaked out when he fought. I guess I can see where she got this from, but I'm sure there are many with red chakra like that. I, myself, know for a fact that the current Kazekage used to have that same color chakra before the Ichibi was removed.

So, logically it was impossible for that boy to be…

"H-how did you know?" Ryuu asked, quietly interrupting my thought process. My head snapped around to stare at him next in shock.

"Just a hunch." Sakura stood up, flashing me a triumphant look as she did so. "Kiba, Shikamaru, stay here and keep an eye on Ryuu. If we're not back in ten minutes, assume the worst and leave. Neji you're with me."

"Where are you going?" I stood up, neither of us bothering to answer Kiba's question.

"Are you going to save my dad?" The little, could-be Uzumaki looked between Sakura and I expectantly.

"Apparently," I told him before following Sakura into the trees. When I had finally caught up to her I asked a question that was serious starting to bug me. "Do you really think that could be Naruto?"

"I don't know. But I'm not going to take the chance that it's not." She looked oddly determined at this point, a look I hadn't seen on her since they were kidnapped. I nodded my understanding and stepped up our pace. We stopped at the edge of the clearing where everything was taking place and observed the situation. There were thirteen of the original twenty-five lackey's that were still conscious, four of which were above chunin level. There was a man in a large, black coat that stood in front of the hermit, who was being held by five of those above-chunin men. Our possible Naruto looked to be in a great amount of pain as the seal on his back drew out the red chakra, making it swirl around his chakra coils, unable to escape.

"Can you take care of the seal?" Sakura asked quietly. I nodded in response. "Then do so. I'll take out as many as possible before they escape."

"Hai. Though you might want to capture one to take back to Anko."

"I'm not making any promises." She pulled on her gloves as she answered. I activated my Byakugan once again before we both charged towards the enemies.

She darted off towards the left, almost directly at the overcoat-clad man while I made a bee-line towards his captive. I kept my eyes focused on my part of our mission, knowing that my teammate could take care of herself; she wasn't the hokage's apprentice for nothing. I quickly disabled any person standing in my way, not bother to keep track of how many I actually took down. It wasn't long before it got to the man and released him from his captives. As soon as I did this, he collapsed to the floor writhing in pain.

Before he could cause himself harm, I pinned him on his stomach and ripped the seal off, throwing it as far away as I could. He stopped flailing immediately, opting instead to lay on the ground gasping for breath. But I couldn't stop there, so I shot back to my feet and began fighting what was left of the thugs alongside Sakura. Almost as soon as I joined the fray, the boss called for a retreat. Sakura tried to chase them into the trees but I held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"Now's not the time." She looked at me almost angrily before I motioned towards the man still lying on the ground. She nodded her understanding and made her way towards him. As soon as her glowing hand touched his chest he began struggling to his feet. But before he could get too far, she grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him back to the ground.

"Relax or I won't be able to help," she told him in his shock. It was about then that he got a good look at us and realized we weren't the enemies. He relaxed a bit, letting Sakura do her job.

"Mind explaining what the hell that was?" Sakura asked, once the green glow faded from her hands. He gave her a curious look before sitting up himself.

"They were trying to kill me," he said simply. "Wasn't that obvious."

"Why?"

"They want Ryuu and the best way to get him is to get rid of me."

"They want Ryuu because of his dojutsu," I spoke up. He gave me a startled look before I continued. "Am I right?"

"How do you know?"

"I could see his chakra flowing into his eyes."

"Oh, yeah." He looked away as he ran a hand through his hair. Sakura handed him a container of water. He thanked her and took a long drink of it.

"Is that dojutsu byakugan?" He almost choked on the water in astonishment. No matter what he said next, that reaction pretty much told him I was right.

"What? No, no. That dojutsu is Konoha's, there's no way he-"

"Cut the crap, Naruto," Sakrua piped up. He looked surprised once again before he started sputtering in objection.

"T-that's not m-my name-"

"Then what is it?"

"Um…" Before he could come up with something, Sakrua reached over and grabbed him by the hair. He tried complaining but Sakura ignored him and opted to rub some of the dried mud off his hair. As it flaked off it revealed a strand of bright blond hair that I've only ever seen on the Uzumaki .

"You're still a really bad liar, Naruto." She showed the blond lock to him, making him sigh.

"I know, never did get any better," he finally admitted with a guilty smile. I stared at him in shock for a while, making him quite uncomfortable in the process. "What?"

"It's really you?"

"Didn't you guys just prove that?" I was about to answer when I heard laughter. I slowly turned to look at Sakura to see her head down and her shoulders shaking as if she were crying. But the sound coming from her mouth was definitely not from crying. I glanced at Naruto in confusion only to be greeted with a similar look on his face. By the time I turned back to her she was in full out laughter.

"Damn it Naruto," she said between bouts of laughter. "You've been alive all this time, and you didn't let us know? I don't know whether to hug you or hit you."

"Not the second one, I need my brain."

"Fine, but only if you explain everything in perfect detail."

"I will, promise. Let me just get Ryuu home first. It's past his bedtime."

"Sounds reasonable." I stood up, offering a hand to the should-be blond. He took it gratefully and pulled himself to his feet. Once he let go of my hand, he wavered to the point he had to grab my shoulder to regain his balance.

"Are you alright?" Sakura hurried to his side.

"I'm fine," he insisted, letting go of my shoulder with a muttered apology. "Just lost my balance a bit."

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Yes, I can walk just fine. I don't want to worry Ryuu." I nodded in understanding as Sakura looked at him confused. "I'll explain later but for now just know that his byakugan is quite strong. He could probably pick me up at least half way back, if he was focusing."

"He has byakugan?"

"Yeah, Neji hit the nail on the head with that one," he said with a chuckle. He started walking away towards the trees as Sakura stood there tring to process everything.

"Are you coming?" I asked her, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go."