Me: Sorry this took so long! I decided to start writing chapters in advance so there isn't so much of a wait inbetween...

Kyuubi: you're such a lazy disorganised human, I'm surprised you made it this far...

Me: *bats him on the nose*shut up

Kyuubi: OW!

Me: serves you right

Reader: ...could you just get on with it please?

Chapter 11

It was mid-morning when Hinata found herself walking up the road again. The very same road she found herself on every day since Naruto-kun had been taken away. The one she went up every morning and then back down every evening. The road which led to a little food stand tucked away near the edge of the city centre.

She approached the end stool and quickly smoothed out her clothes before settling on it. For some reason she always chose this stool. It reminded her of the warm, happy days spent watching Naruto-kun guzzle ramen from this very place. She smiled at the memory. It was better that way, she knew. To remember the old Naruto-kun; and forget that image of him the day the Sand village attacked.

Not that she really minded. She had always cared about him; and still did. Nothing could change that, not even his species.

Ayame-san smiled at her from where she was stirring ramen. She knew by now that the pretty, shy girl didn't want to talk and most definitely wasn't here for ramen. It was good to know that Naruto-kun had a friend like that, who missed him that much. She watched as Hinata bit her bottom lip and stared at the entrance as though the loud-mouthed blond would burst in at any moment. Ayame felt bad for her, who knew where Naruto was? Or when he would return?

Hinata came and sat in the same stool every day at roughly the same time and didn't move an inch until it began to get dark. It was somewhat worrying. She shared a glance with her father, who gave a small smile and a knowing nod.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Ayame got back into cooking. There was nothing she could do right now. Hinata would snap out of it sooner or later and there were other customers to serve.

Kakashi was surprised to find Hinata at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop when he arrived. He knew she wasn't a big fan of ramen; yet, he supposed, being a big fan of Naruto was reason enough.

He ordered a large bowl of beef ramen and stole a quick peek at Hinata to see if she was looking. She wasn't. Her attention remained completely absorbed by the street outside.

Sighing with some relief, Kakashi removed his mask. Hinata wasn't watching and Ayame and her father had seen his face before; it was safe to eat in peace. The mask was not a necessity, but he liked to uphold that aura of mystery that surrounded it. It wouldn't do to have everyone know how good looking he was; if what the Icha-icha Paradise book told him was true, women adored the mystery man.

As he savoured his ramen, his thoughts drifted back to the objective of the last few days.

Since Naruto's capture he had spent every waking moment searching for the third Hokage. He couldn't have just disappeared! Sarutobi was easily the strongest most powerful ninja in the entire country; he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Most people had been convinced by Danzo's acting. He did a good impression of Sarutobi, that was true, but Kakashi knew better. Something was up, and he was going to find out what it was. But first he needed to find the real Hokage. 'He could be anywhere' he groaned inwardly. It would take forever to search everywhere. He had already made pretty sure he wasn't in the village.

Neither was Naruto.

Kakashi had spent equal amounts of time and energy trying to find out where the ANBU had taken him. They couldn't have gone far... not with two raging demons in respective potato sacks.

He considered this for some time. Totally absorbed in his thoughts, he barely registered the absence of ramen.

Ayame noticed, however, and quickly replaced the empty bowl with more beef ramen. It payed to be observant in this business.

Moments later, another Jounin entered the Ichiraku ramen shop.

Gai strode up to the counter and slapped Kakashi on the back, causing the distracted jounin to faceplant in his ramen. He roared with laughter and took the stool next to him, flashing Ayame-san his winning grin. She placed a bowl of ramen in front of him and retreated as quickly as possible. Nobody could stand to be near Gai-sensei when he was in an overly-excited mood.

"Kakashi!!" he exclaimed, "What'cha up to, eh? Been avoiding me lately."

Kakashi wiped the sauce and stray noodles from his face before quickly replacing the mask and turning to look at his friend.

"No not really. I've been busy, you know, doing this doing that."

"Hmmmmmm," Gai wiggled his rather-large eyebrows suggestively. It was a bizarre thing to watch.

"Nothing like that!" Kakashi said quickly, waving his arms to make the point. "I...." he leaned in and whispered "...have been searching for Sarutobi-sama."

Gai lost his grin and his face immediately took on a more serious expression. Casting a quick look around for anyone listening in, his gaze settling on Hinata for a heartbeat, he moved closer and whispered, "me too."

Kakashi raised what could be seen of his eyebrows.

"Obviously you noticed it too. The imposter."

"It's Danzo."

"Reaally?!"

"Yes. I don't know why, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."

"Have you covered much ground yet?"

"Almost the entire village, he's not here."

Gai frowned as he thought for a moment. "There was a leaflet for that new hot springs some time ago... do you think...?"

"It's very likely..."

"Very much like him..."

"Just something he would do..."

They looked at each other. Then as one, stood, paid for their ramen and left quickly. In no time at all they had disappeared at breakneck speed towards the main gates.

Kyuubi was hungry and cold. He had never felt so hungry and cold in all his life.

It seemed that having such a small body not only came with a ridiculously high metabolism, but also the disadvantage of very little prey. The only thing he had eaten since escaping the night before was a stick thin mouse, barely the size of his paws. And his paws were tiny. Maybe he would have been better off staying in that cage with Naruto.

His stomach growled loudly and he growled back at it.

There was no use feeling self-pitying now. He had to grit his fangs and do something he never, in all his long years, thought he would ever do.

Beg.

He pushed aside the annoying primitive subconscious that whimpered somewhere in the back of his mind as he padded through the entrance to the village of Konoha. The previous occupant of this body didn't have the strength to evict Kyuubi and retake control like Naruto did, but it sure as hell knew how to irritate him just as much.

As he wound his way through the masses of legs, two large humans passes overhead at an astonishing speed and disappeared down the road. Kyuubi thought he recognised one of them. The one with the grey hair and mask covering most of his face.

Shrugging with indifference, he continued on through the crowd, his nose picking up the familiar scents. He tried his best to avoid being stepped on. It hurt quite a bit when a heavy shoe squished his poor tail. He curled it around so it didn't get in the way so much. 'ARGG! It's annoying being small!'

Although he hadn't bothered to pay much attention to the world when he was trapped inside Naruto, there were certain things that couldn't escape his notice.

One of those things was ramen.

Another of those things was the Ichiraku ramen shop and the free ramen that went with it.

His mouth watered as he thought about it and he quickened his step as he found the right street. The place was down here somewhere...

Nose pressed to the ground, he trotted confidently towards it.

His nose found it before his eyes did. The great stools towered over him and he frowned a little as he considered the best way to attract the owner's attention. He was too small to reach the counter, even if he did manage to get to the top of a stool. Finally he noticed the figure seated in the endmost stool. She was probably the best way, he decided.

He sidled closer and touched his cold, wet nose to her toes. She screeched and almost fell off in a most ungraceful way.

Kyuubi struggled not to laugh and rearranged his features to make himself look disgustingly cute and forlorn. He laid his ears back and made his eyes go big and round, then gave a pathetic whimper.

Amazingly, it worked like a charm. She reached down with that "Aww" sound that all girls make when presented with an adorable furry animal, and gave him a scratch behind the ear. He enjoyed that for a little while, before deciding to up the act a little.

Stretching across her forearm, he laid his chin on her knee, looking up at her, and let out another pathetic whimper or two. His stomach decided to join in at that point and grumbled loudly. He felt very smug about its timing.

"Oh you poor thing, are you hungry?"

'Well, dur...'

"Ayame-chan, could I have a big bowl of ramen for this little guy please?"

She picked him up under the forelegs and sat him in her lap, where he settled in the warm comfortable folds of her jacket and waited happily for his ramen. His plan couldn't have worked out better!

Hinata had nearly jumped out of her skin at the touch of something cold and wet on her toes. Luckily, her ninja training had saved her from making a complete fool of herself.

Looking down at the little fox busily devouring the ramen as fast as it could, she couldn't help but see some resemblance to her Naruto-kun. But that was just because they were both foxes, right?

She shook her head to clear her mind. She mustn't think about that now.

The little fox quickly finished his (fifth) bowl of ramen before sitting back and releasing a noisy, yet still unbelievably cute, burp and licking the sauce from his snout.

She giggled and gently stroked the fur along his back and neck. He seemed to enjoy it, and half closed his eyes in contentment; just like the Hyuuga family cat did. As she thought this, she immediately realised the time. It was nearly midday! She had promised her sister, Hanabi, that she would take her shopping today. It wasn't Hinata's duty to look after Hanabi, they had servants for that, but it was good to get out of the Hyuuga part of the village for once.

Carefully picking up the little fox, which yelped a little at the sudden movement, she placed him back down on the ground and paid for the ramen. Then she leaned down to pet him one last time "goodbye little fox," and turned to leave.

Half-way down the street she noticed the soft padding sound following her.

Looking over her shoulder, she spotted the little fox trailing behind her a few feet from her ankles. As she stopped, it dropped to its haunches and looked up at her hopefully.

"You can't come with me, I'm sorry," she said to it.

It continued to stare up at her, whining softly.

"They won't let you go in, we already have a cat and he doesn't like other animals."

Its eyes filled with tears and it hung its head dejectedly. She stared back disbelievingly. 'No way can it understand what I just said...right?'

She turned and walked away a few paces, before looking round again to see if it moved.

It was still sat where she'd left it, staring at her with huge, round, tear-filled eyes. It looked so sad and lonely. She was struck with indecision. There was no real reason she couldn't take it home with her. Sure, her father wouldn't be happy with her, but then again he never was. It wouldn't make much difference.

Coming to a decision suddenly, she swiftly strode back and lifted the little fox into her arms in one easy motion; cradling it like a kitten in the crook of her elbow.

"Alright then, but it's just for a little while and you have to be good, ok?"

She could have sworn it nodded at her.

Gathering her wits, she made her way back home again. "Father is not going to be happy," she muttered.