Hey, it's me again! I manage to pass one of my hardest exams and decided I can use a day break. During that time I actually manage to write this, but since my beta is on vacation, I guess you guys should prepare yourselves for at least few grammar mistakes.
Thanks for everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I'm glad you liked the story and hope you'll enjoy this chappie as well. Those of you who wants to see more NaruHina should be quite happy as there will be some in this one and much more just few chapters ahead.
From all the reviews (expect those concerning Kengo, but I'd prefer to keep him a secret for the time being) I saw only one question and so I'm answering it:
Will Sai and Yamato appear: well, at this point I'll only say they will… not just yet though, but why you'll see in this chapter.
With that behind, I guess the only thing left for me to do is to invite you to read the next chapter of "Love, Demons and Bloodlines"! Please, enjoy:
Chapter #10: Moving On
Naruto stood on top of the hospital roof and looked at the endless desert that disappeared behind the horizon while the sky turned red. He lowered his head slightly, letting out a sigh. He rubbed his chest as small pain shoot through it. 'He said he knew N-Naruto-kun…' Hinata's words echoed in his head. "Who was that deadlock guy?" he asked himself, clenching his fist. "After all that…"
"Naruto-kun, you should go back to bed…" he suddenly heard a soft voice and as he turned around, he saw the white-eyed girl heading towards him. "Sakura-chan will send you back to the hospital for longer if she'll catch you here…" she joked, smiling to him.
"Thanks, but I've already recovered" the blonde assured her. "I just felt like taking a walk…"
The Hyuuga heiress lowered her sight slightly and asked slowly, carefully choosing the words: "It's… about that boy… isn't it?" The blonde stood there for a moment and then nodded. "Even Kakashi-san and Asuma-san together couldn't defeat him, so it's only understandable that we, who are not even jounin, could not withstand his strength… you should worry about that, Naruto-kun…"
The Kyuubi vessel only turned around and smiled widely to the white-eyed girl. "You know me too well, Hinata-chan…" he announced, laughing.
"No I don't…" she replied quietly, so that the whisker-marks wouldn't hear it.
---The next day---
The eight, Leaf shinobi stood in front of the gorge that led to the entrance of the Hidden Sand Village (A/N: well, Asuma had to give Kakashi a piggy-bank ride). Walking them to the exit where Gaara, along with his siblings, Baki and Chiyo.
"I believe this is the time for us to take our leave…" announced the smoking jounin as he took a quick glare at Kakashi laying on his back. "I still need to report to Tsunade-sama… I wish you all the best, Kazekage-sama…" and with that he turned to the redhead boy, who merely nodded.
Sakura saw the old kunoichi had a worried look on her face and came closer to the sand-nin, placing her hand on her shoulder: "You'll fulfill your goal, Chiyo-baasama… I promise that if we'll find Sasori, will take him as prisoner…" and with that she gave the puppeteer a smile.
The older kunoichi looked at her a little surprised at first, but then smiled back: "You really are a lot like Tsunade I know… not just with beauty and skills… good luck in your quest, Sakura…"
The pink-haired girl nodded and then turned to Kankuro: "Your wound should soon heal, if you won't push it, that is…" and with that she patted him on the back, almost making the puppeteer felt over due to his exhaustion.
"You'll be coming back sooner this time, won't you lazy bones?" Temari asked Shikamaru as she whacked him in the back of his head. "If not, I'll come to your village, seeking your pineapple head and believe me, you don't want that to happen…" she added with a smirk.
"Whatever…" replied the lazy chuunin, with hands in his pockets, but Hinata could swore she saw him blushing slightly. "Coming here would be troublesome, but letting you run lose in Konoha will put me in even more trouble, I guess…"
"Well, since we have this all 'farewell' thing done with…" began Naruto a little nervous. "Lets just head back and…" but just then his eyes widen as he saw Gaara held out his hand right in front of him. The blonde looked at it, shocked, and finally, after he realized what just happened, he held out his. A second later the two Jinchuuriki shook their hands and Hinata smiled under her nose.
Few moments later the Konoha shinobi were already heading back to their village and the redhead walked a little further from his companions, to observe the leaf-nins becoming small dots on the horizon.
"One thing troubles me though…" announced Baki when Naruto and the others left. "Since we were dealing with the Akatsuki, who're casing after the demon vessels, why would Tsunade send that blonde to help us? He is a Jinchuuriki as well…"
"Isn't that obvious?" replied Chiyo with a chuckle.
"What do you mean, Chiyo-baasama?" asked Kankuro confused.
"That blonde brat carries the same burden as Gaara…" she responded calmly. "What kind of horror they both had to go through we can only imagine… the sad thing is that in this world only Jinchuuriki can understand one another… I believe that was that old hag's reason…" and with that she turned around and headed back to her village slowly.
"Indeed…" the boy puppeteer agreed in his mind as he looked at his younger brother. "You always hid your emotions behind that sand mask… the way you acted it'd seem that you never really cared… but what lied behind your barrier… the only one who knows is that Uzumaki kid… but you too found people you can call important, Gaara… isn't that the reason you took off that mask today?" and with that he smiled slightly as he walked over to the redhead and placed his hand on his shoulder: "Gaara, we should get back… you have duties…"
The Shukaku vessel turned around and nodded. Kankuro instantly saw a small smile on his brother's face. "Uzumaki Naruto…" the puppeteer repeated the blonde's name. "Thank you…"
---Three days later in Konoha---
"So that's how it is?" asked Tsunade as she read Asuma's report and looked at the scroll Kengo gave Hinata. "Heaven and Earth Bridge in the Grass Country… in a two weeks from today… We cannot be sure if this isn't a trap… people like Kengo… they're not very trustworthy…"
"If it's a trap…" responded Sakura with determination showing on her face. "We'll just have to fight… and speaking of that, who is this Kengo guy? Hinata said he knew Naruto…"
Tsunade exchanged glanced with Jiraiya, who was propping himself against the wall in the corner. The Godaime looked back at the student and replied slowly: "Kengo is… or rather was… one of the best looking shinobi in the Hidden Leaf… he became a missing even not long after become gennin, in the age of six…"
"Six?" Ino's eyes widen. "How can such a kid become a missing-nin?"
"Well…" began the Hokage. "Some things happened… And I guess he couldn't saw the reason why they did… but being just a kid, I'm sure Sarutobi-sensei would allow him to return, if he wanted too… he never came back to Konoha on his own, free will… after he joined the Akatsuki, it was official that he was lost to us…"
"But what I'm asking…" Sakura kept pushing. "Is who he is…"
"Such information is not one you need…" replied Tsunade a little angry. "You should concentrate on preparing to go to the Grass Country… since Kakashi is immobilized for the moment, I'll look for a substitute… also, I'd advice you try finding the third member for your team, coz I'm afraid just you and Naruto won't be enough…"
"Not a problem…" announced the blonde with confidence. "Hey, Shikamaru, wanna join?" and so he turned to the lazy chuunin who seemed to be sleeping as he stood. The pineapple haircut boy opened one of his eyes and looked at the Kyuubi vessel.
"Sorry Naruto, but I can't…" he responded. "It's troublesome, but I'll be responsible for the coming, chuunin exam and I won't be able to leave the village for a month…"
"Yeah and no use asking us…" added Chouji with a sad voice. "Tsunade-sama already assigned us a new mission and it's likely we'll be able to return in two-week time…"
"How about you and your team, Hinata-chan?" with that Naruto turned to the Hyuuga heiress.
"That won't be possible either…" the Godaime responded for the white-eyed girl before she was able to say a word. "Because I have a very important mission for them as well" and with that she gave the Hyuuga heiress two scrolls. "Hinata, give these to Kurenai… one of the scrolls will give her details about the mission, the other is not to be opened before you reach your destination… is that understood?" the white-eyed girl only nodded.
"Actually, you guys can help them out with this…" with those words the Hokage turned to Naruto and Sakura. "If you were to aid them, they might return faster then expected and could help you out during your mission to retrieve Sasuke… what'd you say?"
"Count me in!" yelled the blonde instantly and Hinata only smiled slightly.
"Sorry then, but I think I'll pass…" announced the pink-haired kunoichi. "Naruto, I'll make all the preparations for our mission in the Grass Country… please return safe, you guys…" with that she smiled to her teammate and the white-eyed girl. "In the Wind I wasn't much help while fighting Sasori… if I am to go against Orochimaru… I need to become stronger!"
"Well then, you guys will be leaving tomorrow morning…" The Godaime turned back towards Naruto and Hinata. "You shouldn't encounter any shinobi attacks on the way, but this is still an A-rank mission so I expect you'll put your best effort into it… you're dismissed!" and so all the young shinobi, along with Asuma, began to leave.
"Right on, Oba!" cheered the blonde and thanks to that he found himself outside as the first one, by flying through the wall after receiving a punch from Tsunade.
"Was it wise?" asked Jiraiya a little doubtful. "Not only to send Naruto, even though the Akatsuki is after him, but even that Hyuuga girl… don't you remember what happen all those years back?"
"I do remember…" replied the Godaime calmly. "And pretty much that's the reason why I'm sending that girl… I'd give this mission to Gai, but his team has a mission as well, so they're unreachable at the moment…"
"Well, you're the Hokage…" responded the toad sannin. "So the decision is yours to make… however keep in mind that I lost trace of both the Akatsuki and Kengo, so by sending Naruto far away from the village, you're taking a great risk…" and with that he jumped outside the window.
---The next morning---
Naruto stood in front of the village gate, kicking a small rock, awaiting for Hinata and her team to arrive. Finally, after a few minutes, Shino and Kiba appeared, but there was still no sight of the kunoichi.
"Where could they be?" asked the blonde in a loud voice.
"Probably putting make-up or something…" joked the dog ninja. "Don't you know what girls are like? Especially now that you'll be accompanying us on the mission I don't suppose we'll see Hinata until she decides she looks perfectly…"
"What do you mean by that?"
"What a pinhead…" Kiba sighed internally and was about to answer, but just then the jounin arrived along with the Hyuuga heiress.
"Okay, listen up…" began Kurenai as the chuunin (along with one gennin) lined-up in front of her. "Our mission is quite simple to explain, however you guys shouldn't expect it to be a walkover… to make long things short: we are to go to the Cloud Country, where we'll meet up with the guide from the Kumo… he'll led us to his village so that we could give this…" with that she held out a golden scroll that Tsunade forbid Hinata to open. "To their Raikage… if everything goes well, we should be able to get back in a week or so…"
"Certainly not a mission that can be classified as 'exciting'…" whined the dog shinobi, but the jounin just ignored his comment. With a quick check of equipment, the five shinobi went towards the Cloud Country.
As they passed the Cloud Country borders, they immediately noticed the surrounding changed. Even though it was still forest, the land seemed more exotic with all the palms and other trees that spread their huge leaves over the travelers heads, protecting them from rain that felt at least once ever three days around here. All that made Kiba recall the time he went to the Rain Country for his Chuunin Exam, where rain felt from the sky daily.
As Hinata raised her sight at the sky, she noticed that it was dark blue with only black clouds floating over it. Birds weren't flying today so most likely the rain will fall down pretty soon. In the shadows of the trees, she noticed many animals hiding with reptiles and amphibians trying to find their was to some open landscape. Snakes were circling around the trees and frogs began their concert, awaiting the water to come from the sky.
The white-eyed girl looked at Shino. Even though he never shown it, he didn't like rain. Due to his style of fighting, during storms his effectiveness decreased and what's more he just didn't like when sky was black.
After a long travel they finally arrived at a small village that was just the concentration of few, wooden huts with the forest surrounding it from all sides. A little further to the north the road went up the hills, which were becoming mountains miles later.
"This is our meeting spot…" announced Kurenai as they walked in the middle of a round square, located in the center of the village. "We're a little early though… probably our contact didn't appear yet… you guys can take a rest for now, but meet back up with me here in about three hours…"
"Understood, Kurenai-sensei!" yelled Kiba as he saluted and turned to his little dog. "Lets check out those bushes, what'd you say, Akamaru?" the dog barked loudly and the two sprinted into the forest, disappearing between the trees a second later.
"He sure is cheerful today…" noticed Hinata quietly.
"Probably he's just excited about new terrain to explore…" replied Shino and then took a quick glare at Naruto. "I guess I'll go too… maybe I could find some rare bugs around…" and without another word he went into the bushes as well.
"So that's leaves just the two of us…" announced Naruto as he placed his hands behind his head. "Lets grab something to eat! I wonder if they have any ramen around here…" but then he looked at the Hyuuga heiress and instantly added: "Unless you have other suggestions, Hinata-chan…"
The two walked into a close-by inn in which the light was even dimmer then outside. Some candles were burning here and there, along with a chandelier just under the ceiling, it didn't help much though. Even the fireplace in the corner seemed pointless.
The moment they entered a man with a hooded on his head, which shadow covered his face, turned slightly to look at them. Hinata looked over her shoulder at the observer, but he immediately got back to eating. The white-eyed girl stared at the mysterious figure for a moment and then followed Naruto to the bar.
"Ramen!" ordered the blonde as he slammed his fist on the deck.
---Meanwhile, far away, locating unknown---
"This is most disappointing…" announced the shadow figure of the Akatsuki leader as Zetsu stood in front of him. "Not only did they didn't capture even one Jinchuuriki, but also Sasori got taken by Kengo… this is certainly most inconvenient… How is Deidara's condition?"
"She should be fine…" replied the jaw-head shinobi. "She's just exhausted… it'd seem that those Konoha brats gave her a hard time… what's worrying though is Kengo's appearance… since he started to act again, I believe it'd be better for Itachi to sat this out…"
"He will not…" the leader interrupted him quickly. "With Sasori out, at least for the time being, we cannot allow ourselves to lose another member… for the time being, tell Itachi and Kisame to concentrate on grabbing the Bijuu in the Hidden Mist…"
"And what about the Kyuubi?"
"That one… should be taken care off soon enough…" responded the leader simply, thus ending their conversation.
---Back to the village in the Cloud Country---
Naruto and Hinata sat on a branch while eating their bowls of ramen. The Hyuuga heiress looked towards the dark sky and then at her crush. "Dark clouds always seem to gather around you, Naruto-kun… will I ever be strong enough… to fight by your side?"
"Hinata-chan…" the blonde stopped eating and looked at the kunoichi. "There's something I wanted to tell you for some time now, but somehow I never really got a chance…" the girl instantly blushed and turned away a bit, to hid the fact that her face redden. "Back there, in the Suna… you were right: in stead of blaming myself for what happened, I should just try getting stronger... it's just that sometimes I'm too dumb to realize certain things…" and with that he gave her a wide smile.
"You have no idea how right you are, Naruto-kun…" the girl sighed internally as her face turned back to normal color before the whisker-marks continued: "However I did meant what I said back then…" and instantly the Hyuuga heiress's face turned back to being red.
"It's not exactly like that…" she finally replied. "My Byakugan…"
"I don't think you really need it…" he interrupted her as he filled his mouth with noodles. "The way I see it, you can tell what others are feeling anytime… guess it's because you always care about others more then about yourself…"
"I couldn't see through your mask…" she reminded him, lowering her sight.
"Nobody's perfect…" ha announced and a small grin appeared on his face: "Except me maybe…" he joked, making her giggle. "But to say the truth I think I prefered for people not to see how I felt… I can't really explain it… however that's of no importance now… 'living in the past will only make you lose your path'… what counts most is here and now… and the fact that you accepted me the way I am… the fact that all of you did… that is important to me… and for that… thank you…" and with that he wrapped his hand around her, making her blush an even deeper red.
"So, I see Kyuubi is having a good time…" the both heard a voice coming from behind and as they turned around, they saw a man with spiky, sliver hair and golden eyes standing on top of a nearby roof. He had a big, cross-like scar on his left cheek and was wearing an outfit similar to Kakashi's, only his was black. He wore a violet waistcoat on it and had a steel chain wrapped around his left shoulder. Hinata also spotted a golden hilt of the swords sticking from behind his back.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and a loud roar. A second later rain began to fall down as thunder was heard again. "I should consider myself lucky… I almost lost hope of running into the likes of you…"
"This guy…" began Naruto as he stared at the man. "I don't see any hitae-ate… and he's not wearing that stupid black and red overcoat… he's not from the Akatsuki! So what in the world would he wish from me?"
"Who are you and what do you want from Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata calmly, slowly going into her fighting stance.
"My name is Haraise Kyouki…" responded the man. "And as for what I want from this… Naruto was it? To answer as simple as I can: I want him dead…"
And so this one ends. Hope you liked it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done.
No jutsu encyclopedia this time around so I feel like this author's note is pretty short, but maybe that's for the best?
Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.