A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed and those who put me on their alert list. I seriously thought about making this chapter short but I just can't. I love to deliver. Sorry about this chapter being late, I was away for awhile (you know summer and all) but while I was gone I worked on two chapters on my PDA so chapter 4 will be up in 24 hours from when this chapter is posted. Well back to the story.

III: Problem after Problem

The darkness of the night sky was illuminated by the numerous stars that shined brightly. Those same stars overlooked Konoha village. To Tsunade they were a symbol of peace but also of death. She had lost a few of her family and friends under the night sky. She had no one now.

Well that wasn't exactly true.

She had an entire village that supported her and many that answered to her. But still that was only up to a point. It was her responsibility to care for them as a good Hokage. However she did have her apprentices Shizune and Sakura who she had come to see as family as well as her former teammate in Jiraiya. But even more so the person who she had come to see as her own was the one they called Naruto.

In truth she was beginning to feel like his mother. In her mind she didn't know how far she could take that but she felt this way about no other person in the village. They had their quarrels and moments but Tsunade loved that more than people could understand. It made her feel like a normal person, not just some high end leader. She could honestly say she loved the boy as her own, although she wondered if she'd ever admit it fully.

A knock at her office door broke into her thoughts.

"I know, I know, but shouldn't you be happy Shizune? I'm in here working late" Tsunade quickly answered.

"That isn't it Hokage-sama" Shizune replied in a panic.

"Hmm" Tsunade pondered as Shizune entered frantically.

"It's Naruto…he's gone missing from the hospital!"

'Dammit, I saw that one coming, and after all the good things I was thinking about him' Tsunade thought to herself. "I suppose Neji is gone too?"

"I don't know, all I know about is Naruto" Shizune replied. Clutched in her hand was a small clipboard.

"Let me see his report" Tsunade demanded.

Shizune quickly walked over and put it on Tsunade's desk. Tsunade began to scan the papers as Shizune looked curiously over her shoulder. Her fingers ran across the words Previous Visitors. There had been a few people in his room but the last two names stuck out clearly.

Tenten and Rock Lee.

"Yeah" Tsunade said. "Neji's definitely gone."

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"We make camp here" Neji stated as he descended onto the ground. Naruto, Tenten and Lee landed behind him.

"Byakugan!!" Neji's veins began to appear around his eyes as he took a couple of looks around the area. "It's safe."

"Good, then I'll make a fire" Lee said as he began to search the area for branches he could use.

"I'll make a dinner" Tenten beamed as she began to unpack some items from her backpack.

Naruto looked around. At the current moment he knew where he was. They had put some distance between themselves and the village and were about a few miles away from the Lightning Country which was north of Konoha itself. But he had no idea how they were going to find Hinata.

"Thinking about how we are going to find her" Neji cut in basically reading Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto nodded. "It's just…none of us are really trackers and if Shino, Kiba and Kakashi with his ability to summon Pakkun, are all on the same te-"

"I didn't think you'd be one to underestimate somebody, Naruto" Neji said. "Over the time that you were gone training it seems that you think you're the only person who got stronger."

Naruto's face fell. Neji was right. He had no reason to underestimate anybody especially being so he was the only one of his class who was still a Chunin. The same person who he had fought during the Chunin exams was the only one of his class to become a Jonin. Even his friend from the sand was a Hokage.

"I have learned to use my Byakugan to further track people's movement" Neji began. "Basically it means that people leave footprints. Over time those footprints eventually get covered up and sometimes people purposely cover them up. But what many people don't realize is that footprints take weeks to truly disappear."

"So basically Neji-san can see people's footprints in the ground using the Byakugan and follow their trail even if they were covered up. He's used it a good number of times before and in more ways then one it can be better then a dog's nose" Tenten added as she continued to prepare the meal.

"Naruto, there's something I must ask" Neji said changing the subject. "The boy you fought, he had one Byakugan eye right?"

"Yeah" Naruto replied. It was exactly like Kakashi having the one Sharingan eye. But even when the Sharingan was revealed Kakashi still looked normal. The boy he fought seemed unreal. The Byakugan's pupil less eyes just didn't look right unless there were two. Naruto looked up at Neji.

"His technique, what was it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, but I'll have to find out. There may be things I have yet to learn" Neji answered.

All the talking began to make Tenten curious. "Neji-san, I thought you studied all there was to know about the Byakugan. If you don't even know what the technique used was that means-"

"That they were forbidden or forgotten" Neji finished for her.

Naruto's stomach began to turn. Even Neji had no idea what was in store for them. He was beaten easily. He had trained to be able to stay on his guard yet he wasn't even able to protect Hinata. He sat quietly for a minute while Tenten and Lee finished setting up the camp before remember one key fact.

"The boy" Naruto started as Neji brought his attention back to him. "The boy that I fought, there was one thing about his technique that I wont forget."

Neji looked on with impatience. "What was it?"

"It brought me somewhere else!"

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Raindrops fell towards the earth in the small Grass Country. It wasn't known to be that of a great nation but it served as a great resting spot and had some beautiful scenery. But Sasuke Uchiha wasn't there for either one. In fact he had no idea why he was there. Akatsuki had pretty much been stopped. Basically no members remained. However the ones that did, or better yet one that did, mattered to Sasuke.

But was he on his trail? He couldn't really say. But it didn't matter to him. He would kill him the next time they'd meet.

Suigetsu sat a couple of feet away from where Sasuke was standing holding a zanbato previously owned by Zabuza Momochi. He swallowed the last quart of water left in his bottle before tossing it behind him.

"When is this bitch going to get back?" he yelled out.

Sasuke shot him a cold stare before asking "Why can't you be more like Jugo and have some patience?"

"Hey I'm my own man" Suigetsu shot back. "I have no intention of being like anybody, especially him."

He pointed over to the left of him where a quiet Jugo was sitting.

"I swear, sometimes I think you'd do more for us dead then alive" he said quietly.

"Ah shut up. You guys are too slow for my taste sometimes" Suigetsu said getting up.

"And you're too hyperactive sometimes" Jugo replied in his defense.

"Heh, you're one to talk!"

Suigetsu began to descend the hill upon which they were waiting on.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked though he already knew somewhat.

"Whadduya think, I going to go get Karin so we can get a move on, she should have her information by now" he said as he continued to walk further down. Before he completely faded out of view he yelled a statement into the air.

"Just like you Sasuke, I have people to kill."

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Pakkun, the summoned dog, shifted his nose around as he continued to try and follow Hinata's scent. Unable to detect it any further he stopped short on a branch.

"What's up?" Kakashi asked.

"That's it. Her scent goes no further then that area of trees" he said nodding his head in the direction he was talking about.

About a few feet ahead was a medium sized clearing. A blazing fire lit the area around it revealing four mercenaries. Each one had in the possession a normal sized katana. No headbands were located.

"Something seems wrong with this picture" Shikamaru noted.

"Yeah, like why aren't they moving" Kiba answered.

Sure enough they weren't moving. They weren't even talking. They were just sitting in the same position not moving a muscle.

"I'll go first" said Shino calmly.

He jumped down onto the ground and began walking slowly towards the clearing. Besides the tiny part of his face shown, Shino was completely unrecognizable with his hood and shades on. As he reached the clearing the mercenaries still made no moves.

"Hmm"

Shino motioned for the others to come. All at once Kakashi, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba landed behind him. Both Pakkun and Akamaru stayed in the trees.

Sakura's eyes began to widen. "Wh-what is this?"

The mercenaries seemed frozen. Not one muscle was active. All four of them had horror expressions on their face.

"They don't seem to be caught in a Genjutsu" said Shikamaru looking around.

"I don't sense anything either" said Kiba.

"No, there's nobody here but them and us" Kakashi said concerned. 'If there's nothing on the outside then something must be wrong with them on the inside. Dammit this is when we really could have used Neji, Tsunade-sama' he thought to himself.

Kiba looked at Shino. "Can you do it?"

"Do what?" Sakura asked.

"Send bugs into their bodies to see if their alive" Shino answered.

Sakura winced. "Can you actually do that?"

"I already have" Shino replied as he pointed to the mercenary closest to him.

They all looked on as a small bug entered the body through the mercenary's ear. Shino sent bugs into the other three mercenaries and began to concentrate. All was quiet but the crackling of the large flame in the center. Suddenly Shino looked up.

"Something's wrong!" he yelled.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked frantically.

"My bugs they've all died."

Everyone went quiet. Then without warning Kakashi grabbed Sakura and jumped into the air.

"Everyone get as far away as you can. NOW!!!" he yelled.

Without questioning it Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino all jumped into the trees as they began heading in the opposite direction. Shikamaru looked back as a blue light began to shine in the clearing.

'What the hell' he thought to himself.

Akamaru began barking wildly as he followed Kiba.

"Oh no" Kiba said out loud.

"What's wrong" Sakura yelled as she kept up.

"Akamaru only acts like this when there is a large amount of chakra in the enemy" Kiba replied.

Shino finally cut in. "They were human bombs!"

"WHAT!!!" Kiba and Sakura yelled at the same time.

The blue light began to collide with the flames forcing fire everywhere. Then in a quick secession all four mercenaries imploded.

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Hinata flinched in pain as she clutched her stomach. Tears and sweat fell from her eyes as she rolled onto her back. Her whole body hurt but her eyes were worse. She had no idea what they did to her but whatever it was she was very much weakened by it.

"You ok baby" Dai taunted.

He knelt down next to her. He couldn't say how or even why but he was physically attracted to her.

"Hmm, I wonder what the daughter of the main Hyuga branch taste like" said Dai as he began to wipe sweat off her face. "Ohhh well isn't this interesting."

In a puff of smoke Hinata disappeared in thin air.

"Ahhh!" Hinata forced a yell as she appeared behind him arm extended in the air.

"Too slow" Dai said as he whipped around punching her right in the stomach.

To Dai's surprise she vanished into thin air again.

'Another clone then where's the rea-'

He flew upward as Hinata hit him with an uppercut to the chin. Before Dai could even land Hinata grabbed his left foot and slammed him onto the ground. She could hardly stand as her body was overrun by pain. She blinked a few times to get the tears out of her eyes. Only when she looked down Dai wasn't there.

"You never cease to amaze me Hinata!"

Hinata instantly grabbed her throat as Dai began to choke her from behind. She struggled as he lifted her into the air and slammed her face into the wall. He then let her go as she fell to the ground both her nose and mouth bleeding. Slowly she looked up at Dai. It was as dark as before but like Hisa she was close enough to see what he looked like. But the boy who stood in front of her was easily recognizable. It was the same boy who both she and Naruto fought on the rooftops. Only this time the mask was off. He smiled at her with clean white teeth. His brown hair was spiky and upright. To Hinata's surprise he was clean but his eyes brought the hate out in him. His normal eye was brown and was more slanted than Hisa's. He stared at Hinata and was delighted to see her look up at him in pain.

"Well then, time to stick to the plan" Dai cheerfully said.

He left Hinata in the dimly room for a minute. Hinata was as perplexed as she was hurt. She wasn't tied up or anything. But she was in so much pain that even if she were to escape she wouldn't get far. She curled up into a ball as she once again clutched her stomach. She heard footsteps as Dai approached her gripping something. As he made his way into Hinata's view her eyes widened.

"Naruto-kun!!!" she yelled out.

Sure enough tied in rope and being held by his collar was Naruto. His face was severely beaten in and his hair was messed up and filled with spots of blood. His eyes were somewhat open but not fully. Tears began to fill up in Hinata's eyes. She looked at Naruto and watched as his eyes met hers. He extended his left arm to try and reach her but it wasn't close enough.

"Awww, look he wants you" said Dai as he pulled out a knife from his clothing. "Sorry Naruto, she's mine now."

Dai forcefully shoved the sharp knife into Naruto's chest. Hinata watched in horror as his eyes began to roll back and close. Dai then forced him up with only his right hand and threw him to the other side of the room.

"Sorry about that baby, but I should warn you, I don't like it when other people involve themselves in my relationships. I tend to get…well jealous" Dai said mockingly.

Hinata's tears didn't stop flowing. But something was wrong. She wasn't crying. No she had another feeling. One of sorrow mixed with fury. Suddenly without trying the entire room became as clear as day. Blue chakra began flowing around her. The pain was gone. Dai smiled as she stood up in front of him fist's clenched. Her pupils were fully intact in a way that she couldn't even understand. But she didn't care about all of that. All she had on her mind was the enemy in front of her. She then spoke in a low but angered voice.

"I…will kill you!"

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Naruto eyes instantly shot open. The sky was clear and chirping of birds could be heard signifying that dawn was approaching. Something felt wrong. He quickly got up and began packing his backpack. Lee who was already up on watch duty came over to him.

"Ah, Naruto-san, how about a little mourning workout bef-"

Naruto looked up at him with serious eyes. "Lee, we have to go save Hinata now!"

Lee looked at him then nodded. "I understand perfectly. I love to get an early jump on things" he said as he put a "thumbs up" in the air.

As he went over to wake Tenten and Neji Naruto looked up at the sky.

'I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling!'

To be continued…


A/N: Yeah so a lot happened in this chapter. For anyone who might not recognize the names right off the back Pakkun is the little pit-bull that Kakashi summons sometimes to track people. Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin are all part of Sasuke's new group. If you don't read the manga you probably might not know who these people are being so they haven't debut in the Shippuden episodes yet. But I highly suggest reading the manga if you don't. You get the story quicker and there are some cool things that the show doesn't always put in. There are many places where you can read it for free online just in case anyone is interested. But anyways let me stop there. Next chapter will be up in 24 hours. Til' then.