Sorry about the delay, but football season's back. YEAH BABY, FOOTBALL'S BACK. Okay, now that that's out of my system I hope everybody enjoys this chapter.

I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form, but if I did this is how it would go.

A RETURN AT DUSK

Xephelin was back in the water relaxing. She looked over to Aun who was playing in the water and said. "So why did you give her your beads?" She asked, this had been something that had been bugging her. Aun had never done something like that before.

Aun stopped playing and looked at her sempai. She raised her shoulders and responded. "I liked her. Besides I think we'll see her again someday and I'll get them back." She said off-handedly. She looked at Xeph wondering why she had asked the question. "Why?" She voiced her curiosity.

Xeph looked at her deciding how wise it would be to answer her truthfully. After a few moments she figured there was nothing to loose. "I may be reading to much into it, but did you ever consider she might be attacked if someone recognized those beads as coming from our clan." She saw the incredulous look on Aun's face and elaborated. "I know we haven't had problems because we're always on the move and we don't know who could be after us. Don't you worry about her safety though." Xeph asked.

Aun hadn't thought of that. Even now she didn't really grasp all the implications of what her sempai said. She answered with a smile on her face. "Hinata is strong, she'll be able to handle whatever problems come her way. I believe in her."

Xeph let out an long exasperated sigh. She lowered her head and thought, typical Aun. She raised her head with a glint in her eye previous conversation already forgotten. "It's time for me to wash you." She said.

Aun stiffened at these words she looked at Xeph and saw she was serious. She also saw Xeph was ready for it. Aun looked from Xeph to where her pile of clothes were on the other side of the huge stone. When her gaze returned to Xeph there was a wicked smile on her face. Suddenly there was an explosion of water as Aun raced towards her clothes and Xephelin moved with equal speed to cut her off. They found themselves standing behind the stone staring each other down.

Hinata had heard the branch snapping and followed the sound. She walked into a thick area of the woods where she saw the dark silhouette of a man. She paused for a moment considering the situation, her anger steadily rising as she came to the conclusion that it was a peeping tom. As she thought about it that seemed to be the only logical conclusion. She never thought she would run into one so she had never thought how she would react, but seeing this person she felt an unfamiliar desire to inflict pain on this individual. While she had a strong sense of honor she felt he didn't deserve a warning. She stealthily walked up to where he was at and was delivering a blow aimed at his head when he turned to see her. Her eyes widened in shock as the person who met her gaze was Kiba. She was unable to stop her punch in time as her fist connected with his face in a sickening thud. Kiba went down falling a couple of feet from her. She immediately went to his side. She cradled his head in her arms and felt relief when she saw he had not lost consciousness. She asked "What are you doing here." even though the shock had erased her anger it was starting to slowly come back to her. She was expecting to be really angry with him until he told her his story.

Kiba had been searching for Jiraiya when his ears picked up the slight noise behind him and he turned to meet a fierce punch from his friend. As he lay there he was too groggy to be outraged at what had just happened. He heard her question and mumbled his answer. "I-I was lo-looking for Jai- I mean Jiraya-sam... san." Damn his jaw hurt.

That explanation didn't satisfy Hinata. "What happened why are you looking for him here? Is everything okay?" She asked. As she listened to Kiba's story her anger turned to worry.

Kiba was moving his jaw trying to regain his composure. "I.. Jiraiya had taken us to a hot-spring on the other side of the forest. He told us not to worry about you that you were relaxing, but I didn't really trust him. He seemed anxious. After a while he left us saying he had to go look into something. I thought he was talking about you so I followed to see where he was going, but I lost him around this area. G-gomen. Are you okay, Hinata?" Kiba asked. Genuine concern in his voice.

Hinata felt ashamed now. He had only been worried about her. She had reacted too brashly, that was really unlike her. "Don't worry Kiba. I'm fine." She lay him down and said. "I'll find Jiraiya-san. Please wait here and rest. I'll be back soon." She got up determined and left Kiba resting as she went to find Jiraiya. She activated her byakugan as she walked and began to scan the surrounding areas.

It didn't take her long to spot a male figure in the woods. She slowly made her way towards him sure that it had to be Jiraiya, there was no mistaking his unique outfit. She wanted to see his face just to make sure. As she drew closer he turned and she was able to verify that it was indeed him. She successfully got within earshot without being noticed. She didn't know what he was doing, but he was clearly occupied with something. She didn't want to make assumptions again, but she didn't like the grin he was wearing on his face when he looked around. She felt that he was doing something suspicious from the expression on his face. After a few moments of watching him she assumed she had been wrong and was about to come out of hiding when he sealed his fate with the next few words. "These girls had better be beautiful. Damn traps. Don't they know I'm Jiraiya." He let out a grunt of effort as he began to do something. Hinata had no idea what he was doing, but she felt her anger rise.

He was thinking about beautiful girls which had to mean he was thinking about peeping. She stepped out of hiding and Jiraiya noticed her and winced as he was distracted from what he was doing. Hinata still had her blood limit turned on when she asked, "You want to peep on the girls in the hot spring?" the shade of her eyes darkening a little bit.

Jiraiya said uneasily, "Hinata... it's not what it looks like." He was unable to continue as Hinata hit his tenkoutsous without mercy. She had seen the momentary shift in his eyes and knew he was going to try to lie to her. She knew in the back of her head that he wouldn't have been caught off-guard so easily had he been serious.

She couldn't believe him, this was who the Hokage had sent them with. All her naïve impressions of what a wonderful person they were traveling with evaporated. "Y-you're horrible Jiraiya-san." she said. She stepped forward and unleashed a powerful open palm blow in the center of his chest which sent him flying through the forest and into the hot-spring. Hinata turned and returned the way she came fuming. She went to find Kiba and return to camp thinking it would be best to return to Konoha. She had scanned the hot-spring and it was now deserted she didn't want to think about Jiraiya right now.

Unfortunately she didn't see that behind the large stone Aun and Xephelin were having a fight of their own. They had been going at it for quite some time now matching each other in speed and efficiency. They only used hand to hand moves yet neither had landed a blow yet. They were parrying and counterattacking at a rising speed. Xephelin was beginning to gain an advantage as the fight wore on. However as they fought she sensed that one of her traps had been tripped. Her eyes widened a little bit and her head twitched wanting to see where it was that the trap had been triggered. She knew the moment her head twitched she had made a mistake and began cursing, "SSSSHHH." Aun saw the minute opening and didn't hesitate to take it. She delivered an open palmed blow that would have made Hinata proud. Xephelin flew backwards her yell trailing her. "iiiittttt." Aun didn't pay much mind to that she rushed to her clothes and had them on with blinding speed. A huge smile spread on her face as she had successfully evaded being washed by Xeph. She looked down at herself, she was wearing khaki shorts and a black undershirt. She was beginning to put on her socks when a form came flying from the forest nearby. She had put one on and was putting the other one on when the flying object was close to colliding with her. She lifted the foot she was pulling the sock onto and extended it abruptly halting the flying object. She looked down on the object and saw it was some shaggy old man.

She immediately got down on her haunches and began examining him. She was really puzzled she saw his tenkoutsous had been hit, but she couldn't have done that with her feet. She didn't understand, but she hit them again releasing his chakra pathways once again. She leaned over him and in a happy voice asked. "Hey mister, are you okay?" She saw he was regaining his breath. She really didn't understand what had happened, had she hit his chest with her foot hard enough to do all that to him? A sense of pride flowed through her as she thought 'I'm getting super strong now. I even beat Xephelin in hand to hand'.

Jiraiya was regaining his breath and was barely getting aware of his when he heard Aun's question. He tried to answer and found himself still lacking air. Hinata's strength had surprised him as well as the appearance of this stranger. He focused and was shocked as the facial features in front of him came into focus. However that was short lived as a cold female voice answered the question for him. "He's a peeping tom Aun. So he's not about to be." Aun had frozen as she heard Xeph's voice. "If you don't want me to kick your ass then kick his ass while I get dressed and make sure he doesn't see me." Xephelin said.

Jiraiya thought the situation was surreal. He was about to begin laughing when a small hand grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. He looked into what felt like familiar blue eyes and gulped as the young girl in front of him looked at him with such innocent eyes. "I'm sorry mister, but I don't want to fight my sempai anymore today." Aun said in a soft apologetic voice. Jiraiya saw she was serious and was about to react when all of a sudden pain began to explode all over his body and his vision went white. His last conscious thought was I can't believe a little girl is about to try and beat me up. He would wake up about an hour later in to much pain to move and the question in his mind which he weakly voiced as he lay there looking at the sky. "Who the hell was that little girl?" He would lay there for a very long time.

Hinata found Kiba playing with Akamaru's fur. He looked up at her when he heard her approach. "No luck huh? I guess that's to be expected, damn sannin bastard." Kiba said. Hinata didn't say anything to contradict him. Maybe it would be better this way. She would have some more time to figure out how to tell him what happened. She let him keep talking. "Akamaru found me a little while after you left. Showing off his tracking skills." He chuckled at this as Akamaru gave his face a lick. "We should head back to camp and wait for the old man. You wanna ride Akamaru?" Kiba asked Hinata. She shook her head, thankful it had been Kiba that had come out here and not Shino. Kiba turned and began walking, Hinata followed, "So what were you doing?" Kiba asked.

Hinata began to tell him about the hot-springs and even about the strange girls she had met. She didn't go into too much detail even though Kiba wanted physical specifics. They went back to camp in this manner chatting away and relaxing. The spoke about their conversations with Kiba and what they thought he was like. Hinata was very reserved when she spoke about him still not sure what to think. They would have to talk with Shino when they got back to camp.

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Back at the village of sand Hirai was taking a break. She was reflecting on all the recent activity. She had helped out when the first group returned. Temari was with them and they had returned with an injured Tenten. Even though Hirai didn't know the details of the situation, it looked grim to her. She didn't let it get to her, because there was still others out there. Temari had asked her to take Gai and Tenten to get medical attention. Hirai had been the first to greet them because she had been looking for them from her place. She had run out to the gates when she noticed them out in the sand. They had been moving very fast so Hirai had expected to hear good news. To say she was disappointed was a bit of an understatement. She worked hard to check her emotions and as usual nobody could tell what she was thinking. She was mad though, mad that they had returned without Gaara, mad that they hadn't gone back out to help him. She wanted to yell at her sempai, but held her tongue, she had to trust Temari she was closer to Gaara then she was and Hirai's emotions calmed down as she saw the situation. As she led Gai to the medics she asked him. "What happened to her?"

Gai looked at their escort and decided it wouldn't hurt to tell her. He wasn't going to divulge to many details though, Temari had asked him to let her handle the situation upon arriving. However he felt this young girl had a connection with Gaara and deserved to know what was happening, he decided to give her information if she asked the right questions. He answered her first question. "Tenten was hurt in battle against a very powerful opponent. We were lucky to defeat him and get back here." He responded.

Hirai wanted to know more details about the fight and the opponent he mentioned, but she could find that out later. What she really wanted to know she now asked. "What's going to happen now?"

Gai didn't really know how much to tell her, but he answered as best he could. "Temari will discuss it with the elders here, but for the time being we'll wait." He saw the slight change in Hirai's facial expression before it returned to her normal expression. He knew she was worried. "We still have others out there, two from my team went to help the first group. Don't worry they are very capable. They will not fail." He said. He knew this would not put her worries to rest, but it was the best he could do right now. They arrived at the medics room and she told them to go inside. As he was entering he paused and asked her name.

Hirai looked at him and was a little taken aback by his caring expression. She didn't see many of those around the village. She gave him her name without much hesitation. "Hirai...Arigatou." She said as she turned and hurried away. Her spirits lifted a little as she walked away.

A long time afterwards Kakashi and Sakura returned with Chiyo. Hirai wasn't aware of what was happening, because she had finally caught up with Temari and they arrived as she and Temari were beginning to talk. Everything was forgotten as they went to tend to Kakashi and deal with the death of Chiyo. Her younger brother was present and even though Hirai didn't know Chiyo that well she felt a pang of loss and couldn't fathom the sorrow that her brother must have been feeling. Temari let Hirai accompany her as they spoke with Sakura and received her report. Kakashi joined Tenten in the medical wing as he needed rest to recover from the return journey. Gai had helped escort Kakashi to the medics station. Sakura's report was not uplifting for them and did not do much to garner hope. Temari and the others were especially surprised to know that Sasori had been killed. Hirai didn't know who they were talking about, but sensed the respect with which they talked to Sakura afterwards. Once Sakura finished her report in front of Temari and the elders they quickly began discussing their course of action. The elders did not want to dispatch the team that Temari had requested earlier after hearing Sakura's report. There was a long argument as Temari tried her best to convince them they should still try to get Gaara back. However the elders decided it would be best to wait and if Gaara did not return find a new Kage. Temari slammed her fist on the table they had been standing in front of and called the elders cowards. She was shaking with anger as she stormed out of the room. Hirai followed her sharing her anger. Sakura also followed them and caught up to them outside of the room. "Temari." Sakura called out. Temari and Hirai stopped and turned to look at her. Sakura saw the tears on Temari's cheeks she could not speak, but just waited to hear what Sakura had to say. "Naruto is still out there. I can feel it, he won't fail. I know you might not know this, but he's gotten stronger he would die before failing and I know he's still alive so I know he won't fail." Sakura believed what she said, she might be foolish in thinking she would know if Naruto died, but that is how she felt. Temari smiled, she knew Naruto's strength.

She smiled slightly. Her voice broke a little as she talked, but her words came out clearly. "Gomen, I forgot how strong Naruto is. Thank you for reminding me." Temari said. Hirai had watched this exchange and her curiosity about this Naruto person grew exponentially.

Now as she sat reflecting on the day in her special spot with Temari she asked her sempai. "Temari-chan." She said, Temari didn't turn to look at her, but Hirai knew she was listening. "Who is this Naruto and why do you have such faith in him?" Hirai asked.

Temari stood up surprising Hirai and spoke. "Naruto is a friend of ours, a friend of Gaara's. I believe in him because he's not meant to fail and he didn't fail this time either." Hirai saw tears on Temari's eyes again and followed her gaze to see three dots out in the darkening night. As soon as she spotted them Temari began moving to greet them.

PREVIEW

What will team eight do? Will they leave the perve... Jiraiya in the wilderness. Now that Naruto's returned what will happen.

RSO'S

acrazygirlofmanynames- Yup, see I kinda know what I'm doing. lol damn how did you know he's in the woods.

zoneshifterd- sorry, I try. Hope you enjoy the rest of it.

Narashikamaru21- Man you sound worse than Jiraiya. lol J/K glad you like it. Ey thanx for writing the story so far so good, It won't distract me too much. Unless it's really really good, then I'll have to quit writing mine and follow yours. lol.

venomlord- You think so. You might have a point, though, should have thought of a better scenario huh, sorry couldn't help myself. I'll take choice c.

dragonman180- gotta give credit where credit is due, you gave me the idea for this chapter a while back. Wow, sounds like your a little overprotective of Hinata, glad I'm not the one peeping on her. lol J/K. Oh I can't comment on that right now, bastard stop making guesses like that your killing the suspense. J/K.

danny- How can you be mad it was just a friendly ummm... moving on thanx for not being disappointed. You'll be surprised when they show up in the story down the road.

mastersprtn117- Sorry, it was. Thanx.

causeiambetta- Thanx, I'm glad you liked it. Also thanx for the message.