Vanex: (Looking around.) Is it safe? It looks safe. Okay then! (Sits down in his chair.) Hello all! Well, it's 2012 now. So, I thought I'd start off the new year with a new chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Normal Talking"

"Normal Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks"

"Demon Talking"

"Demon Thinking"

*Scene Change*

Chapter 3

The days of training pass one by one. For Kakashi's team, it started out the same, until Kurenai, who had been informed by Hinata about Kakashi's training methods, decided to train Naruto after Kakashi abandoned him. (Sakura refused the training.) Each day, after training, Naruto would meet with Haku. A definite friendship formed between them as they talked with each other about their lives. But then, shortly after Inari brought up suffering, something happened.

Hinata walks through the forest, trying to find Naruto after he had stormed out of the house. She couldn't blame him for being angry at what Inari had said. Inari honestly thinks that no one could have been suffering worse than him. Inari has no idea of what Naruto has gone through and will continue to go through as long as he lives in Konoha.

She is brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Naruto training. Sure enough, he is training hard, pushing himself as far as he can go. He notices her and stops, walking over to her. "What's up, Hinata-chan?"

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. I know what Inari said angered you, but you shouldn't let it get to your head."

Naruto sighs. "I know. It's just that it irks me that the brat is so ignorant of the world and the fact that there are people who have suffered more than him!"

Hinata smiles sadly at him. "Come on, Naruto-kun. Let's go on a walk. It'll help you clear your mind."

Naruto nods and allows Hinata to wrap her arm in his as they walk off.

*Scene Change*

Back at the house, Kakashi stands up. "I'm going to go patrol the bridge. Gato may try some method of sabotage, like explosives."

Kurenai nods as Kakashi leaves.

*Scene Change*

Zabuza, now fully healed, stretches. "Ah, it feels good to be back at full strength."

Suddenly, a feeling comes over him. He looks over at Haku, who just gives him a look. "Zabuza-sama."

"I know. She's here. We better go meet her."

*Scene Change*

Kushina sneezes as she and Mito get off the boat. She looks around the only village of Nami no Kuni. "This village is an example of how the world is affected by cruel people like Gato."

Mito shakes her head. "Why must there be people like Gato? Why must there be people who like to make people suffer?"

"Who knows? But I know what I plan to do to that kind of person." She suddenly turns to her left. "Zabuza. Haku."

The two appear right where she was looking. They bow to her. "Lady Uzukage," says Zabuza.

"Report on your mission, Haku."

They all stand there for a few minutes as Haku describes all of his conversations with Naruto. "And that's the last time I talked to him, Lady Uzukage."

Kushina nods, her fists clenched in anger at the things she learned about Naruto's childhood. "Let's go. I want to see him now."

The other three nod and leave with Kushina, searching for Naruto.

*Scene Change*

Naruto and Hinata's walk leads them to the bridge. They stand on the edge looking out at the water. "Thank you, Hinata-chan. I needed to clear my head."

She giggles. "No problem, Naruto-kun. You are my best friend."

The two continued to stand there for a few minutes, until they hear someone walking towards them. They turn to see Kakashi standing there, glaring at Naruto. Naruto gives him a look. "Is something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi clenches his fists as he thinks back to when Naruto asked about Uzushio. "I won't let you win, demon. You've stolen Naruto's body. You've stolen his name. I won't let you steal his heritage as well!" He prepares his original move. "Lightning Cutter!"

Hinata's eyes widen. "What are you doing, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi charges at Naruto. Due to his Jonin level speeds, there is no way Naruto can dodge in time. The attack strikes Naruto in the chest. Naruto screams in pain. Kakashi smirks. He also hears a female voice scream, but assumes it was Hinata. "The real Naruto and Minato-sensei can finally rest in peace with your death, demon. Goodbye!" He tosses Naruto over the edge of the bridge and into the water below. He then quickly jumps back to avoid the attack of an enraged Hinata. "So, you are a demon lover? I doubt Hiashi will miss you. I'd heard about how ashamed he was at having a weakling for a daughter. Fine. You can join your beloved demon in hell!" He smacks her, causing her to fall off the bridge as well. He turns to leave, pulling out his book as he does so. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed a group of four rushing down and around the bridge to get to the water.

Kushina's group had arrived just in time to see Kakashi attack Naruto. Kushina had screamed in horror and had already began running to get around the bridge and into the water when Kakashi had struck Hinata. Mito stays on the shore as Kushina, Zabuza, and Haku run onto the water. They catch up to Hinata and Zabuza grabs her. He turns to head back to Mito as Kushina and Haku try to catch up to Naruto. Kushina's eyes widen when she looks ahead of Naruto. "Oh, no."

Naruto is being dragged towards a waterfall. Haku knows they can't reach him in time. "Lady Uzukage."

Kushina ignores him and summons her chakra chains, quickly sending the chains to grab onto Naruto. Just before he goes over the waterfall, the chains grab him, pulling him to Kushina. Kushina's eyes widen when she sees his injury. "Haku!" Both her and Haku quickly jump to shore, when Mito and Zabuza join them. Naruto is bleeding from his injury. Haku quickly starts trying to heal Naruto. Kushina has Naruto's head on her lap as the tears pour out of her eyes. "No! I can't lose him here! Please, Kurama! I know you can hear me! Save my son, please!"

*Scene Change*

Inside Naruto's mindscape, Kurama, aka the Kyubi, laughs. "Well, well. I never thought I would see the day where Kushina begs me for help. She must really love this boy. Very well."

*Scene Change*

Kushina and Haku watch as a red chakra appears around the wound, healing it at a faster rate than normal. Kushina sighs in relief. "Thank you, Kurama." She then looks over at Zabuza. "How's the girl?"

"She's fine. She's just unconscious. Probably hit her head when she fell."

Kushina nods and watches as the injury closes. "Okay, we need to move Naruto away from here. A hospital is a bad idea, cause they will find out that Naruto is a jinchuriki and we don't need that bit of info spreading. I can't take him to your hideout, cause that would blow your cover with Gato. His client's house is also a bad idea. If his sensei tried to kill him, then I don't trust the other Konoha ninja."

Zabuza looks at her. "You could always take him to a hotel and claim he fell asleep. Just clean up the blood on his outfit and no one will know."

Kushina nods. "That seems to be the only option we have. Bring the girl with us."

*Scene Change*

Kurenai looks up as Kakashi comes back into the house. "Find anything?"

"No. No explosives. Anyway, I'm going to go read my book for a while."

As Kakashi walks off, Shino walks up to Kurenai. "Sensei, Naruto-san and Hinata-san haven't returned yet."

"Yes. I noticed. Get Kiba. We're going to go look for them."

*Scene Change*

Hinata groans as she wakes up. The first thing she sees is the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. She sits up to see Zabuza and Haku looking at her. "You two saved me?"

Haku nods. "Not just you. Look."

Hinata turns to see two red-haired women sitting next to a bed with Naruto lying on the bed, still unconscious. "Naruto-kun! Is he okay?"

The two women turn to look at her. The older one smiles. "He's going to be fine. He's just sleeping. I can tell by your eyes that you are a Hyuga. Tell me, how close are you to Naruto? How close are you to my son?"

Hinata's eyes widen. "You're Naruto-kun's mother?"

The woman nods. "I'm Kushina Uzumaki, leader of the rebuilt Uzushiogakure."

The red-haired girl grins in the same style as Naruto. "And I'm his twin sister, Mito!"

"So, Naruto-kun's suspicions are true. He is the son of the Fourth Hokage."

Kushina's face becomes grim. "I've been informed of his life in Konoha. They won't get away with the injustice done to Naruto. I can promise you that. What's your name?"

"Hinata Hyuga."

"Ah. The heiress. Anyway, you didn't answer my earlier question. How close are you to Naruto?"

"He's my best friend. He saved me from my own insecurities and helped me feel better about myself. I owe him everything. I need to know something. Is it true that you left Konoha believing Naruto-kun was dead?"

Kushina looks back at Naruto, sadly. "Yes. I was tricked. And now I know the truth. I will do everything in my power to make it up to Naruto for not being there when he needed me." She looks back at Hinata. "I intend to take him back with me to Uzushio. I refuse to allow him to remain in Konoha after what they did to him. What about you? You could come with us. I'm sure Naruto would love to have a friend he trusts with him."

"But, I'm a main branch Hyuga. The Hyuga clan will push for war with you just because I'm not sealed. Even if the war doesn't happen, the Hyuga will go through whatever it takes to kill or capture me."

"True, but we Uzumaki are masters of seals and sealing techniques. We were feared because of that. Coming up with a counter to the Hyuga Clan's seal is easy, allowing us a way to barter with Hiashi."

Hinata sits back, thinking about Kushina's offer. A chance to start over, free of Konoha and it's bullshit. A chance to be free of her cruel family. She comes to a decision. "I'll agree to come only if Naruto-kun wants to go with you. You have no guarantee he'll want to come with you."

"I know. I hope to talk him into it." She looks down at Naruto again. "Every motherly instinct in my body is screaming at me to take him into my arms and never let go." She caresses the whisker marks on his cheek. "Naruto. Mommy loves you very much." She leans down and kisses him on the cheek, before getting up. "Zabuza. Haku."

The two bow before her. "Yes, Lady Uzukage?" asks Haku.

"Thanks to you two, I have more than enough evidence to prove Gato's crimes. You two are going to destroy his organization."

Zabuza smirks. "We understand."

"Go."

Zabuza and Haku leave to follow their orders. Kushina looks at Hinata. "I can't return you to your teammates for the moment. At this time, Kakashi believes that both you and Naruto are dead. If you walk in the door, Kakashi will realize that if you survived than Naruto might have survived as well. However, if he continues to believe Naruto is dead, you are a witness to his crime. He'll try to kill you again to silence you."

"What if I tell my sensei about what happened?"

"It'll be your word versus the word of a Jonin. It's more likely that whatever lie Kakashi comes up with will be believe over you. You best bet is to stay here and let them believe you and Naruto are dead. If Naruto turns down the offer to come with me, I'll return you both to your teams and accompany you to Konoha to insure that Kakashi faces justice for attempting to kill both you and Naruto. If he does agree to come with me, than it might be best to let Konoha believe that you are dead for now, at least until I can insure that they can't force me to hand you two back to them."

Hinata nods.

"Well, then. I'm going to get us some food. How does ramen sound? I hope you like ramen, cause ramen is the greatest food there is!"

Hinata stares at her, before giggling.

"What?"

"I can see where Naruto gets his love for ramen."

Kushina grins. "That's good. I wonder what else he got from me?" She leaves the room, pondering that.

Hinata looks over at Mito, who's been sitting quietly and just watching the exchange between Hinata and Kushina. "So, Mito, if I tell you about myself, will you tell me about yourself?"

*Scene Change*

The other members of Team 8 have arrived at the bridge, having followed the scents of Naruto and Hinata. Kiba looks back at Kurenai. "The scent stops here, Kurenai-sensei. I also can pick up a third scent here. It's Kakashi-san's scent."

Kurenai's eyes widen. "Can you tell when Kakashi was here, compared to when Naruto and Hinata were? I know that your mother did train you how to tell how old a scent is."

Kiba nods. "I can, Kurenai-sensei. The scents of Naruto and Hinata-chan are just slightly older than Kakashi-san's, by less than a minute. Whatever happened to them, Kakashi-san was here to see it." Suddenly, Kiba quickly turns to the left. "Wait! I can smell blood!" He takes off, heading down the shoreline. Kurenai and Shino quickly follow him. They arrive at an area further down the shoreline, with a puddle of blood on the ground.

Kurenai stares at the blood. "I have a bad feeling that this blood belongs to either Naruto or Hinata." She pulls out tweezers and uses it to take one of the blades of grass with blood on it. "Kiba, can you pick up any scents here?"

"Yes. Two of the scents are really weak, though. I think they might be Naruto and Hinata-chan, but I can't be sure."

Kurenai nods her head. "If they fell in the water, their scents would be hard to pick up."

"There are four other scents here. One of them matches that Zabuza guy."

Kurenai curses to herself.

"The second scent belongs to a guy. The last two belong to women. This is odd. The scents of the two women are similar to Naruto."

"Did you pick up any of these scents back at the bridge where Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi were?"

"No."

"How old are these scents?"

"They were here within two minutes of the scents on the bridge."

Kurenai sighs. "That shoots out the theory that Zabuza and his three allies attacked the two. What do you think, Shino?"

Shino ponders. "Based on the current evidence, my theory would be that Kakashi attacked Naruto-san and Hinata-san. The attack caused the two to fall into the water. Somehow, they managed to end up here, where they encountered Zabuza and his cohorts. Since you have previously stated that Zabuza might want to capture Naruto, he most likely has done so, along with Hinata. I can't say for sure if they are alive or dead, nor whether it was Kakashi or Zabuza's group that caused the injury that led to this puddle of blood."

Kurenai nods. "That makes sense. However, except for his scent, we have no solid evidence to convict Kakashi. When we get back to the house, we'll inform them about the disappearance of Naruto and Hinata. We'll tell them that we suspect that they were captured by Zabuza. Don't mention anything we found here to Kakashi. I want to confirm who this blood belongs to first by sending it back to Konoha along with a message to the Hokage. Kiba, can you track the scents of Zabuza and his cohorts?"

"Yes, but they head back towards the village. There are so many scents there, that it will be impossible to keep following for the moment."

Kurenai nods. "Right. Let's head back."

*Scene Change*

Naruto can hear two women talking and laughing. He can recognize one of the voices as Hinata, but the other voice is that of a stranger.

That stranger's voice cries out. "I think he's waking up!"

Naruto groans as he opens his eyes. The first thing he sees is Hinata looking down at him. "Hinata-chan? What's going on?"

"We were attacked by Kakashi, remember?"

"Right. That son of a bitch is going to pay!" He sits up too fast and cringes in pain.

Hinata forces him to lie down again. "Take it easy, Naruto-kun. You're still healing from the injury. Listen Naruto-kun. Remember your theory from before? About the Fourth Hokage?"

Naruto nods. "Yeah, what about it?"

"You were right." She looks over to Naruto's right. He turns his head to see a red-haired girl looking at him with a nervous smile.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Mito. Mito Namikaze. I'm your twin sister."

Naruto's eyes widen. His head drops, causing his hair to hide his eyes.

Hinata immediately knew what she had to do. "Mito-san, could you give Naruto-kun and me a moment alone? Go try to find Lady Kushina."

Mito looks at Hinata, confused. "I guess so." Mito gets up and leaves the room.

Hinata looks at Naruto. "Naruto-kun, talk to me."

Naruto keeps his head down. "I don't know what to feel, Hinata-chan. I find out that I'm not an orphan, but I feel like they abandoned me when I needed them the most! Part of me hates them for turning their backs on me!"

Hinata glares at him. "Naruto-kun, you are going to listen to me and listen to me good! They did not abandon you! They were tricked into believing you were dead! If they had known you were alive, they would have taken you with them in a heartbeat! Naruto-kun, you always told me that the one thing you wanted more than anything was a family. It's been handed to you on a silver plate. They're here and want you to be with them. Don't throw away this chance, Naruto-kun. Don't throw away the family that wants you back."

Naruto nods while keeping his head lowered. "Help me up, Hinata-chan."

Hinata nods and does so. Once Naruto is standing, she goes over to the door and opens in. "Come in, Mito-san."

Mito walks back in and faces Naruto, who still has his head lowered. "Brother?"

"Please. I need to know one thing."

Mito gives him a worried look. "What is it, brother?"

"Did our mother know I was alive twelve years ago? Or did she really leave thinking I was dead?"

"She believed you were dead. There's a memorial to you and Dad back home. We heard from Zabuza that you were alive, so we came to find you and bring you home with us, where you should have been since the beginning." Mito starts crying, thinking about the things she was told that Naruto went through. "I'm so sorry that we didn't realize the truth sooner."

Naruto raises his head. Tears are sliding down his whiskered cheeks. "Sister!"

"Brother!"

The two rush forward into a hug, crying on each others shoulder. Hinata smiles at the scene.

"I'm back! It took some time to find a place in this village that sells ramen, but I managed to-" The voice trails off. All of them turn to see Kushina standing in the doorway, holding a bag and looking at Naruto. She sets the bag down. "Naruto?"

More tears pour out of Naruto's eyes. "Mommy?" His voice sounds higher, almost like he was a five-year-old again.

Kushina nods, crying as well. "My little Naruto." She holds her arms out. "Come to Mommy."

Naruto sprints into her arms. Her arms wrap around him, refusing to let go. He could feel a warmth, being in her arms. A warmth that breaks through his mental barriers, causing him to remember everything the village did to him. He cries it all out into her shirt. Every single moment of sadness in his life.

Kushina comforts him. "It's okay, Naruto. Mommy's here. Mommy loves you. Mommy won't let anything happen to you ever again." She kisses the top of his head as he continues to cry out all the sadness he had been suppressing. Mito runs over, wrapping her arms around Naruto. Kushina moves one of her arms to hug Mito. Hinata smiles from where she's standing with tears slipping out of her eyes as she watches the family of three stand there, together at last.

Vanex: There you go. One family reunion. What a way to start off the new year, eh? Now, I bet I have directed all the fan rage at Kakashi for trying to kill both Naruto and Hinata. That reminds me. Hey, Kakashi! I forgot about your Christmas present, so I got you a New Years present instead!

Kakashi: Really?

Vanex: Yeah, it's this special necklace. Here, put it on!

(Kakashi shrugs and puts the necklace on.)

Kakashi: Thanks, I guess.

Vanex: (Grins.) You're welcome Kakashi. By the way, that necklace has a special power.

Kakashi: What is it?

Vanex: Sit!

(Kakashi slams headfirst into the ground. He gets up and tries to remove it.)

Kakashi: What the hell? It won't come off!

Vanex: It's a special necklace from the Inuyasha universe. However, this one is even more special.

Kakashi: What do you mean?

Vanex: The necklace will respond to not only me, but all of my readers. And they are all pissed at you for trying to kill Naruto and Hinata. You better start running, even though it won't help you.

Kakashi: Oh shit! (Runs away.)

Vanex: That will keep my readers entertained until I release the next chapter. Happy New Year, everyone! See you all next time!