Naruto stood before his master. Staring at him with his emotionless blue eyes as he was receiving his orders, though for as long as he could remember, Naruto had been fighting Orochimaru's control. But his body wouldn't listen, it seemed like the only time, that he could fight it was when he was with Hinata. She was the reason for his strength and would do anything to protect her. Taking a deep breath, Naruto waited for what Orochimaru had to say. Which, to him felt like it was taking forever, no matter how long Naruto thought about this, it made him wonder why Orochimaru made him do all of this. It made him think about a lot of things.

Like why did Hinata look so familiar to him? Like, he met her… in two different life times? That was something he never understood, he knew that humans were reincarnated time and again. "What did you need me for Master Orochimaru?" Asked Naruto, his voice sounded so emotionless, it was as if he wasn't in there, like his spirit itself, had left him and it was just his empty shell speaking to the white skinned man.

The man spun in his chair to the point of staring at Naruto through his gold snake-like eyes, sometimes it made Naruto wonder on how many reasons for Orochimaru to even make any kind of business if he looked like that all the time. Though, Naruto knew that whatever Orochimaru had planned, that it wasn't good. And that in itself was something that he didn't like, for it normally ended up with him getting hurt and having to hide the pain that he was feeling right after.

"I need you to go… 'Visit' an old friend of mine. I want you to steal the golden toad scroll that he keeps hidden away. It will help me unlock the great power that he holds. I shall learn the magic powers that I could easily master to crush my enemies." Orochimaru said with a dark laugh, one that almost sent chills down his spine, something that Naruto had grown accustomed to over the years. The young fox spirit stared at the snake man, trying to think if he was serious or not. But, something deep within Naruto whispered for him to go, for him to follow these orders.

"Of course master"

"And don't you dare fail me again Naruto. You know what will happen if you fail me again."

"Yes, yes I remember master… I remember."

Orochimaru waved his hand toward Naruto, telling him that he should go on, that he wasn't needed any longer. Which, Naruto bowed and started to walk out of the office and toward the bath house chambers, though that had caused Naruto to sigh. No matter what he just couldn't escape Orochimaru's control. It was as if his thoughts, his body; his very will was under that man's control. That he had to listen to him at all times, and very little time to think for himself.

"Maybe I will break free one day." Whispered Naruto, though right now, his main focus was to get Hinata out of here, even that boyfriend of hers, though the more he thought about it the more he wondered about those bruises that covered her face. The way she seemed so, defensive about them… as if she was afraid to show anyone the dark marks on her skin. As if… as if someone had beaten her time and again with such a force to mark her beautiful pale skin…

"Was she beaten, beaten by her boyfriend? Was that why, I couldn't sense any kind of love within her heart for that man?" He whispered to himself, rubbing his forehead as if he had an oncoming migraine coming on. Sighing, Naruto looked up and saw the workers scattering around, saying something about a 'rich man' had come to their bath house last night, which, to the young spirit was weird in itself… no one ever came to the bath house in the middle of the night.

Sniffing the area, Naruto could faintly make out the scents of everyone working right now. Everyone but a certain blue haired woman with the most beautiful lavender coloured eyes known to man, or spirit. Though, when he had thought about her, Naruto thought that he felt his heart skipping a beat. Blinking in confusing, the young man placed a hand over his chest, right over his heart. His face felt a little heated, as if he was blushing at the very thought of Hinata.

"Why does my heart beat so quickly at the thought of her?" Naruto asked himself, not really sure of the feeling that was flooding his heart. Though, he quickly shook the thought from his mind and kept on walking. He had to get to the front gate so he could transform and leave. Since he couldn't very well fly like other spirits, he relied on his speed. He was the fastest spirit around. And nothing could take that title away from him.

Shaking his head, Naruto tried to think of anything but Hinata. She threw his senses off and that bothered him, but… the only thing that bothered him more than that was the fact that she had a boyfriend, one that possibly had beaten her time and again. Soon enough, the young fox spirit had heard himself growling with rage, feeling his fangs and claws growing from looking more like a human man's set of teeth and nails into the claws and fangs of a fox.

So many thoughts went through Naruto's mind, like what this Kiba man did to Hinata. Slapping her, hitting her… beating her… but what had bothered him the most, was if Kiba had… had taken advantage of her. That was a new level for the world of humans. Men taking advantages of young defenceless girl's like Hinata.

Growling more, people got out of Naruto's way, fearing that he would slash at them if they stood in his way. But, he didn't even notice them. His mind was filled with the desire to kill Kiba. But, he fought that off, knowing very well that he couldn't risk upsetting Hinata over anything, and killing that… that useless man was one thing he knew would upset her. Though, he wasn't sure why that was with the way she was treated by him.

Taking a deep calming breath, Naruto tried to calm himself down. His blood boiled in his veins, he could feel it, it was like molten magma had replaced his blood, the desire to kill, the desire to take Hinata as his… it was coursing through him, and it frightened him greatly. Naruto had almost lost it when he had walked in on Hinata. When he saw her in, well in what she wasn't wearing it almost set him off of the edge. And it took all of the free will that he had remaining within him… the bit of free will that Orochimaru didn't take from him.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by a new scent. It was a scent that he didn't remember being around here before, but, it was one he remembered from the past, but he couldn't think on what it was, or who it belonged too. The memory was so deep within his mind that he just couldn't remember right now.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked around thinking that he'll see the source of the scent. Maybe, if he saw who it was… that he would remember. Though, for him that was nothing but a thought right now. "Something wrong Master Naruto?" Asked a familiar voice coming from next to him, which the voice had brought him out of his thoughts causing him to stare down at a pink haired girl, Sakura, as she stared up at him with slightly concerned green eyes, he knew that she hated to show him concern in public, but only did when she had a feeling that he was upset about something.

"I'm fine Sakura. Just have a lot on my mind about Hana, but do me a favour will you? While I'm gone I need you to look after her. And keep her away from the new customer. I may not know who it is, but I feel like… like he's bad news."

What he had said, Naruto felt like he had said something similar to that, somewhere in a different place in time. But again, he couldn't remember where or even why that was. The young fox spirit rubbed his temple, fighting off a pain that wanted to settle in his head. But he kept fighting it off. He had to keep walking, had to get the scroll that Orochimaru wanted. Even if he didn't want to do it, he… he just had too.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Naruto walked on ahead, he was close to the Bathhouse's entrance, and he could feel himself shifting into his spirit form. The form of a raging Nine Tailed Fox, yes he hated that form of his with a passion, for in that form he had the power to destroy anything if, if his anger got too out of hand.

A flash of a woman in noble clothes flashed through his mind. A beautiful smile… blue hair… and lavender eyes much like Hinata's. But, it wasn't Hinata was it, no it was someone else, someone he knew in the past; another human's life time. Growling, Naruto couldn't think on why he was so mad about not remembering at all. Ever since he saw Orochimaru that one day… he had lost most of his memories… no, more like, all of them.

But Hinata, she was bringing back some memories that he never knew that he had. Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto saw nothing but Hinata's beautiful smile. She was so happy and carefree. (When Kiba wasn't around.) But, otherwise, she was frightened and wanted to, to protect her.

'I want… want to kiss her…' Thought Naruto with shock, he just didn't understand any of this, the thoughts that flashed through his mind, like kissing Hinata and… and so much more than that.

Shaking his head, Naruto walked outside as he felt his form shifting. Bones breaking, skin stretching, it all happened so fast, that Naruto didn't have time to process all of the pain that was shooting through his body that he didn't feel a thing. Opening his now crimson eyes, Naruto looked around to be sure that he had fully transformed this time. Four long legs, four paws. Turning to look in the water, Naruto saw the face of a fox staring back at him. Smirking, he saw the nine tails swishing behind him in a gentle manner.

'Time to go and get that scroll.' Thought Naruto as he started to run off, though what he didn't know, was that he was also running off to his very doom.

Hinata yawned softly; she wasn't sure how long she had slept for. Thinking that maybe she had slept in since she didn't see Sakura which was saying a lot. Tilting her head, the young woman got up and walked over to the sliding window and saw the smoke coming out of the chimney telling her that Sasuke was already at work. But, then wouldn't that mean that.

"I slept in!" Hinata shouted with fear, quickly she got dressed as quickly as she could and ran down the stairs. Thinking that if she was any later then she already felt like she already was that Orochimaru would transform her into something that she didn't want to even think about it right now, reaching into her dresser, Hinata pulled out her shirt, her pants and apron. Then, grabbed the ribbon that she used to tie her hair back, once she was sure that she was done getting ready, she ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Many other spirits were running around with trays and trays of food. Some with some bath towels and scrubbers that she knew was for their feet. Which, to her didn't make sense right now, who could be here that has everyone in a rush? She had been here for a while and never, has she seen anyone in such a rush here. Who could be here that could be that important?

"Hana!" Shouted a random voice, causing Hinata to turn and stare at a short woman that looked like a mix of a fish and a dog. Which kinda made her think of a terrible mix right now, it almost made her shudder at the thought right now, but she kept that to herself right now.

"We need you to sing for the rich man that arrived here last night. He wants to hear you sing."

"Why me? There have to be here lots of people that can sing better than me."

"Yes but he asked for you. Do you know him in anyway?" Asked the spirit with a tilt of her head, which only made Hinata even more confused for the only spirits she knew, were Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. No one else would even want to get near her to get to know her and now some rich man wants to hear her sing, that was as confusing as finding out about the spirit world.

"No, I don't know any spirits that are… rich." Hinata calmly said, though to her it almost sounded like a lie to her for some reason. Sighing softly, she walked over to the stage and put on a blue silk dress this time. Thinking that it would be weird to wear the same dress again sighing softly, Hinata walked out onto the stage and looked around, hoping to see anyone that didn't belong here. And she did, it was the red haired man that she's seen a few times. But, how did he know that she could sing?

Shaking her head, Hinata started to hear the music of some random song that she heard as a teenager. A mixture of both English and Japanese, something she never understood but to her it was a good song and thought that it would fit for tonight.

"I brush against the freckles that I hate it so
but life goes on and I heave a little sigh for you
It's heavy, the love that I would share with you
then it dissolves like it was just a sugar cube"

Hinata looked at the man that sat before her. He was just staring at her with eyes that, that brought chills down his spine. As if, he had won something. But what that was, she couldn't be for sure what that was. Taking a deep breath, Hinata looked out toward the window, wondering where Naruto could be right now. Wondering, he was okay right now. It made her worry that he wasn't here with her… but why?

"Now the little pain sitting in my heart
has shrunk in a bit, but it really doesn't hurt me now
Those silly horoscope signs
Guess I can't trust them after all"

The song almost matched her mood. There was a pain in her heart, almost, a certain emptiness that Naruto had left when he was gone… it had formed within her. Taking a deep shaky breath, Hinata tried to think of where he could have gone. Where he could have went… but nothing came to mind, how would she know where he went… if she didn't know anything about the spirit world? Soon, her gaze went back to the red haired man, it was so creepy the way he stared at her. It frightened her almost.

"If we could get further away (Ooooh...)
I wonder what it would be like...
Yeah!
I'd be so happy
inside my heart"

Looking toward the floor, Hinata wanted to get away from this place. She wanted to get away from that man. But, knew that if she didn't do as she was asked, that she could risk getting Kiba eaten, and herself transformed into; something, she wasn't sure what that would be and didn't want to even come close to thinking about it. The fear, the all-consuming fear coursed through her with the rate of her heart beating. When she did look back at the man, he just smirked which had made her skin go pale with fear… maybe letting him in wasn't such a good idea after all.

"All the memories I have are beautiful in my mind
But they don't feed the hunger deep inside my soul
and tonight I thought I'd be just sitting in my sorrow
and now I must wonder why
What did it really mean to you
I just can't see it anymore"

Hinata looked back out the window, thinking that she had seen something zip on by. But wasn't sure what it was, it had moved too quickly, but all she could make out was an orange blur. No, something red with orange mixed right into it… whatever it was, it had set a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Like someone had just dropped a feeling of ice in her stomach, it was the feeling of dread. But why would she have the sudden feeling of dread right now?

"Kowashite naoshite wakatteru noni
Sore ga atashi no seikaku dakara
Modokashii kimochi de ayafuya no mama de
Soredemo ii koi wo shitekita"

Shaking her head, Hinata kept on singing, there was no way that she was going to let that feeling stop her. She normally only had it when Kiba was on her way to do something terrible. Something that she didn't want to think about again, even if he was a pig right now, she still feared that he was going to do something stupid and cruel again, like hitting her with a bear bottle.

"Omoikiri aketa hidari mimi no piasu ni wa nee
Waraenai episoudo"

Closing her eyes, Hinata had strange images playing in her mind. Her, as a child, a shrine… a man with sad blue eyes always at the shrine and always looking the same, as if he had lost something so dear to him that it was enough to break her own heart. Hinata didn't know why she was seeing this, she wasn't dreaming this time and now she was seeing it as if it was just an old memory of hers which, to her didn't make any kind of sense to her at all.

"Sobakasu no kazu wo kazoetemiru
Yogoretanui gurumi daite
Mune wo sasu toge wa kienai kedo
Kaeru-chan mo usagi-chan mo
Waratte kureru no"

He was always sitting on the bench that resided under the cherry blossoms. Hinata had always wondered about that wondering why he sat under the cherry blossoms, like they held a meaning to her… why hadn't she noticed those before. Maybe, maybe it was because that tree had been cut down when she was in high school. Shaking her head, Hinata had to keep focusing on the song she couldn't think of those thoughts within her mind.

"All the memories I have are beautiful in my mind
But they don't feed the hunger deep inside my soul
and tonight I thought I'd be just sitting in my sorrow
and now I must wonder why
What did it really mean to you
I just can't see it anymore
I just can't see it anymore
La la la la la la laaaaaa
Doushitenano?"

Though, when Hinata had opened her eyes she almost gasped out in shock. For, she saw Naruto running on the water trying to get away from something. She wasn't sure what he was trying to get away from, but she knew that she had to help him before it was too late. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata ran to the back of the stage and changed back into her work clothes and ran. But, she had been stopped by the red haired man. He stared at her with lust in his eyes, the desire to take her away from this place, as if… if she was his.

"Where are you going Hana? Don't you want to stick around some more and spend time with me? After all, you and me; we're meant to, to be." He had breathed out 'be' with a husky voice, but it wasn't going to trick Hinata at all. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata slapped him and ran as fast as she could. Hinata didn't have time for snobs that thought that they could have anything they wanted. And, she was no damn prize to be won either!

Running up the stairs, Hinata didn't even notice that people were screaming with fright. All she knew was that Naruto needed her help right now. That was all she cared about. Naruto needed her, he was in trouble and that much she knew about. Once she reached the second flight of stairs, Hinata slid the sliding window and stared at Naruto. He was running from what looked like to her, flying toads? That was a new one.

"Naruto this way! Over here, please come over here Naruto hurry!" Shouted Hinata, waving her arms hoping that he'll notice her, though hadn't thought this through. For, Naruto was much bigger as a fox and threw himself through the open window, breaking the doors off and the flying toads headed straight toward Hinata. Frightened, she started to rip off
the toads that got on her, only to see that they were made out of nothing but paper. "What the?" she whispered to herself, not sure what had just happened but shook her head for the moment and turned to Naruto.

His beautiful orange fur had been tinted with crimson, and right away, the blue haired woman knew that this was his blood "Naruto are, no you're not okay here hold still and I'll get some medicine to help you okay?" Her voice had been so soft and gentle, hoping that it would keep Naruto calm. But, his only responds was a shake of his head before jumping out the window once more and running up the wall to Orochimaru's office.

"This isn't good, he'll bleed to death at this rate." Hinata said with fear, running as quickly as she could the young woman ran to her room and grabbed the herb and ointment. Something told her that the herb would come in handy. Shaking her head, Hinata ran out of her room and straight to the window once more. Needing to take a short cut hoping that she would get to Naruto before it was too late to help him.

Though, as she ran through the bathhouse, Hinata tried to think of the lay out of the building. Hoping that she could think of any other way that would lead her to Orochimaru's office, but at the moment she couldn't think straight. Her mind was in some sort of hazy fog of concern for the fox spirit. "Hinata where are you going," asked a concerned Sakura as the blue haired woman ran past her. Hoping to get to the elevator, but it was blocked off by some of the workers cause of the rich man that was still here. Hinata ran away from the elevator maybe she should just do something risky. Yup, totally going to do something risky and stupid, though at the moment Hinata would risk anything, anything to save Naruto.

'Just hold on a little longer Naruto, just a little longer. I promise that I'll get to you… to help you.' thought Hinata with determination; it would be her new resolve, to save Naruto.

Though, when she had turned around Hinata saw it, it was him, the rich man. "Move out of the way people! He's coming through!" Shouted a small frog man as he walked in front of the red haired man, which only made Hinata go pale for the man seemed to stare at her with a lust that made her want to run for the hills. And that in it had frightened her, for this man seemed to be worse with the desire than Kiba. (And that was saying something)

"You human get out of the way!" Shouted one of the other man spirits, but Hinata just stood there, trying to see if she could get around them. Though, the man just narrowed her eyes on Hinata and tried to grab her before the red haired man threw him to the side and stared at her with a small smile.

"Hello my dear, I've… been waiting a very long time for you to be reborn." Said the red haired man, though when he saw the confused look on Hinata's face, he just chuckled saying "I'm sorry, I had forgotten that when reincarnated people don't have memories of their past life. My name is Gaara. I was once a proud prince and… you and I were to be married till you had fallen for a spirit, and rejected me. Though, I am happy that it didn't happen again that I could have influenced your choice this time."

Hinata just narrowed her eyes. This man thought that she would be his because he knew her in a past life? That she was to be his in a past life? "I don't belong to anyone Gaara. I won't be yours and I will choose who I will love. And that isn't you and will never be you." But the red haired man didn't like that answer, no his eyes went dark as he grabbed for Hinata's arm, which had caused her to yelp and slap him across the face before running off for a way to get to Naruto.

Running as fast as she could, the blue haired woman saw a window and thought about something. Tilting her head to the side, she looked out the window and saw a pipe that lead to a ladder, and that went straight to the top. Smirking, Hinata opened the window and walked out onto the ledge. But, what she hadn't been expecting was the wind that was blowing by her. Holding onto the edge of the window, she took a deep breath.

"Just remember Hinata, remember what you're doing, and who you're doing it for." She told herself, hoping that would psyche herself up a bit. That it would be enough for her to gain the courage that she would need to do this difficult task. Taking one last deep breath, Hinata ran along the pipe, hearing the bolts coming out of the wall as she ran which, started to move away from the wall the further away she ran from the window.

Finally, Hinata grabbed the ladder and took a few deep breaths, hoping to calm her nerves only to start climbing up the ladder. Not wanting to waste any more time then she already did. For, fear that if she took any longer then she thought she needed to take, that it would make Naruto have less of a chance of surviving.

"Hold on Naruto, I'll save you…just… just hold on." Hinata grunted out as she climbs up the ladder.

"Naruto, did you get the scroll for me?" Said Orochimaru as he smirked at the blonde man that was stained in his own blood, his only answer was a slow nod. When Naruto had arrived to Orochimaru's office, he had changed back into a man, or more like had half transformed, for he had the body of a man, but with fox ears sticking out the sides of his head, thicker whisker marks on his face. Wilder hair, fangs, claws and finally the finishing touch… his twitching nine fox tails, this was a form that Naruto hadn't taken in a long time.

The first time, he couldn't really remember but with the blood loss, it had taken up a lot of his energy, it had taken a lot of his energy just to look like a human. And now, he couldn't even maintain that form anymore. Naruto took deep shaky breaths, trying to think on to keep standing on his feet. His body felt so weak and shaky.

"Master, what do… do you wish to do with the scroll?" Whispered Naruto, his vision was already starting to blur. Thinking that he had lost more blood than he had thought, but at the moment, he didn't care, for the fox spirit only wanted to know what this man wanted to do with the scroll before handing it over to him.

"I plan to rule over the human world." Said the pale man as if it made perfect sense, though when Orochimaru had said that, it made Naruto angry for if Orochimaru tried to take over the human world than, than Hinata would be in danger!

"No"

"No? No what Naruto" Said Orochimaru with confusion, though Naruto looked up, his eyes glowing red as he tried to look menacing.

"You won't have the scroll. I won't let you control the human world. As it's protector I will make sure of it." Naruto said with a growl, he didn't know where those words had come from, but what he did know was that they were true. He was the protector of humans, and he would never let anything happen to it, to Hinata. But there was one thing that he hadn't been expecting…

"It's sad to hear that Naruto sad, to see such a find worker go down the drain."

"What are you talking about?"

Orochimaru pulled out a single black gun. It looked like it had a revolver, something that he had seen a few times when he traveled in the human world, least, with the memories that he knew of. Eyes widening, Naruto couldn't believe what Orochimaru was doing, that, that was the Shadow Gun. Though, before Naruto could process anything that had happened, Orochimaru had shot him. Naruto's eyes were wide with pain that jolted through his body. He could feel a cold chill running through his entire body. It was so cold, so very, very cold. Naruto hit the floor and weakly stared at Orochimaru. Thinking that the last thing he would see would be Orochimaru.

Though, as the darkness started to cloud his vision, all he could see were images of Hinata. Smiling at him, bright and cheerful, even a child version of Hinata. That was something he never expected. Why, why did he see a child Hinata… was there more than meets the eye between them?

The last thing that went through his mind was one name, 'Hinata…'

Hinata thought that she had heard someone say her name. Though, she didn't bother to process it right now. Once Hinata had arrived to the window, she grabbed one of her hair pins, thanking that her friends had always told her that hair pins were a girl's best friend. And they were right. Pulling the pin a bit, Hinata made a single long thin pole and stick it in the crack and lifted her hand. Hoping that she would get the window opened.

Though, it took a few tries just to get it open. The latch finally lifted and the window was opened at last. Smiling, Hinata ran down the hall and made a few turns. Hoping to get to Naruto in time, just thinking about the blood the wounds, it made her skin crawl, thinking that she was to late, tears started to pool in her eyes. But she blinked them back, not wanting to cry right now.

"I'll be down in a minute to deal with that man; no matter how rich he is he shouldn't do this kind of damage just because one human rejected him." Said an eerie voice, which Hinata knew right away, who it was, Orochimaru…who would have thought that she would have found his room this soon? Not her, that's for sure.

Shaking her head, Hinata hid behind the curtain when she was sure that Orochimaru was walking out of his office. Though, he had turned around for a moment as he said "oh, and get rid of Naruto will you? His blood is staining the carpet and he's starting to smell like death." With that, he started to walk away, though his words… it made the young woman's blood go cold. He…No!

Once she was sure that it was safe, Hinata ran into the office then ran to the back room which led to some weird bedroom. Blinking, it was draped with red and black silk, the bed was messed up and… 'I'm not even going to go there.' Hinata thought with disguise.

When she ran into the main office, Hinata gasped at what she saw. A tall white haired man, who was only wearing purple sweats were kicking Naruto into a strange hole that she guessed was something like an incinerator. Gasping, Hinata ran toward them as she shouted "get away from him!"

The man looked over at Hinata and moved away from Naruto and just stared at the young woman slide on the carpet and holding Naruto in her arms. "Naruto, speak to me please! Say something, anything!" Tears started to pool in her eyes, not caring who was here staring at her as she held onto the limp man in her arms.

"He won't say anything. Orochimaru had shot him and now he'll see nothing but darkness till his energy is zapped from his lifeless body. He'll be nothing but a lifeless corpse."

"Shut up!" Hinata shouted at the man, looking at him with teary lavender eyes, she saw that he had glasses. Long white hair and dark eyes, she couldn't tell if they were dark brown or just plain black. His skin was tan, and his body was well built. Though, he was nothing compared to Naruto.

The man knelt in front of Hinata and placed his index finger under her chin to make her stare at him. He just smirked as he said "you know… your cute for a human, maybe before Orochimaru gets back, you and me can have some… fun."

Hinata gasped and pushed the man away as she said "shut up!"

But, that wasn't the end of this… no, far from it. For the man grabbed Hinata's arm and forced her to her feet and narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't have a choice in the matter human. I always get what I want." Hinata just narrowed her eyes and did the last thing that she never knew that she would ever do. She kicked him in the nuts but gasped when one of Naruto's tails wrapped themselves around her waist and dragged her with him in the pit.

Screaming in fear Hinata gripped Naruto's tails, hoping that it would be enough to get Naruto to wake up. To open his eyes, but she highly doubted that he would wake up any time soon. "Naruto" She had shouted in fear, tears streaming down her face. This was it, she was going to die. Though, as she fell, Hinata thought that she felt Naruto's tails tightening their grip around her, only for Naruto to grab her with his arm and pulling her to his chest.

His eyes were blank when she had looked up at him. It was so strange to see his eyes to be so white, but at least his eyes were open in the first place. Naruto used his tails to grab onto some steel rods that were on the walls of the long tunnel. He pulled both himself and Hinata up and through a smaller tunnel; it was as if Naruto was using the air around them to move them through the tunnels. It was so strange to see everything zip by her eyes this quickly.

"Naruto, can you hear me?"

"..."

She didn't think that she would get an answer, but it doesn't hurt to ask does it? But what the blue haired woman wasn't expecting was to fall through a fan and falling into the boiler room. Naruto had let go of Hinata and landed hard on the floor. And as for Hinata, she had fallen on Sasuke as he was working on grinding some herbs for the bath.

The black haired man groaned and looked at Hinata as he said "what's going on? Hana what are you- oh dear god Naruto!" Sasuke was in shock when he saw his best friend lying on the ground bleeding. Though, when he saw an herb and some strange ointment on the ground he blinked in confusion. "Hana, get Naruto under some blankets, get him a pillow and while I make something, rub that ointment on his skin and it should stop the bleeding trust me." Hinata didn't argue, she just nodded and went to get some pillows and blankets. Though, when she was lifting his head for the pillow, Hinata couldn't believe how cold he was.

Sniffling, she couldn't believe that this had happened, she felt like it was her fault that this had had happened. Though when she started to rub the ointment and was amazed that the wounds had started to close up already. Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, Hinata was even more upset when she saw how pale Naruto's skin had gotten in such a short period of time.

"Here, get him to drink this, it'll stop the internal bleeding…" Whispered Sasuke as he handed Hinata a cup of tea, that she had guessed was from the herb that she had. Taking a deep breath Hinata lifted Naruto's head and made him drink the tea. Though, when it was starting to go down his throat, Naruto started to couch and gag. Screaming at the top of his lungs, which had made Hinata jump back in fear, but what she hadn't expected, was Naruto to cough out a strange golden scroll.

"It's the golden scroll of the toad sage." Whispered Sasuke, though as soon as that was said a strange black slug had been curled around the scroll and ran off. "Here Hana catch it in this jar." Sasuke said as he tossed a jar to the confused young woman. But did as she was asked, running after the slug Hinata tripped but out of sheer dumb luck, she had caught the slug in the jar.

"Least you didn't kill it, killed it and you would have had bad luck." Said Sasuke with a relieved sigh, before taking the jar and throwing it into the incinerator, though Hinata just stared at it in shock… she had just seen Sasuke put the lid on the jar, then throwing it into the fire to kill it.

"If killing it is bad luck then why did you just kill it?" Asked Hinata with confusion yet a little bit of anger as she stared at the fire spirit, though what he had said had only confused her even more than before.

"Luck doesn't affect spirits like it does humans. Only the Spirit of Bad Luck can feel bad luck."

Oh yeah, that made a lot more sense. Looking back at Naruto, she saw that he was breathing a little better now, which to her was a good sign. Looking over at the scroll, Hinata picked it up and stared at it for a moment.

"That scroll belongs to the toad spirit. Naruto must have taken it for Orochimaru and refused to give it to him, though, the reason for it I can't say for sure."

"Now what?"

"There's a curse on that scroll, Naruto is under the influence of the Shadow Gun, and it's the only weapon that can kill spirits. But, to be under the influence of a curse like this… it's terrible."

"Then, then I'll go."

Sasuke stared at Hinata as if she was crazy. But, he knew that she was a lot braver than when she first came here. Hinata sure did grow a bit a lot more in only a short amount of time that she had come here. Giving a small smile, he calmly said "alright, you need to take the train to get to Swamp Bottom."