I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Hinata threaded her way through the building, explaining her suspicions to Kankuro. "Be prepared for a genjutsu. That box under the bed was obviously set up for a Hyuuga. It was made of pure chackra, which is why you couldn't see it. My guess is they want to use a subtle illusion, so that they can sneak up on Gaara," she said all in one breath.

"What does that have to do with you being a Hyuuga?"

"Hyuuga's are immune to most genjutsu."

"So how did they know that you would be one of the escorts?"

"I don't know. I didn't even know that I was to be an escort until this morning. Tsunade sama keeps that kind of assignment quiet until the day of," they reached the door and Hinata motioned for Kankuro to get ready. He nodded, reaching for the wrap that surrounded his puppet.

Hinata reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out three shurikens. Even though a kunai would be better for hand-to-hand combat, Hinata had better aim with shurikens. She flung the door opened and expected to see the worst.

Happily she was disappointed. There was no genjutsu, no enemy ninjas sneaking up on the kazekage. In fact everything was just as she left it. Except that now everyone was looking at her as if she was crazy. Except for Gaara, who seemed to be smirking.

"T-this location has been c-compromised," she stuttered, trying to regain her composure. "I recommend that we retreat to another location. I will explain further when we reach a secure location."

Shikamaru nodded as he released the guards from his shadow hold. Before they could do anything, two Naruto's appeared behind them and tied them up.

"What should we do with them?" they asked, one of them tugging a rope a little too roughly. Everyone turned to Gaara.

"Take them with us," he said after a moment of silence.

"Where to?" Kankuro demanded.

"The Hokage's mansion?" Hinata suggested.

"No," Gaara said

"He's right," Shikamaru agreed. "It has to be someplace no one would expect. How about the Hyuuga complex?"

"No," Hinata said, "Whoever it is knows too much about the Hyuuga clan."

"What about your place?" Naruto asked Shikamaru. After some consideration Shikamaru nodded.

With that everyone made there way to the Nara household. They decided to make their way through the town, even though there was a lot of pre-tournament decorating. This would make it harder for an enemy ninja to track them or attack them.

As they threaded their way through the throngs of people, Hinata couldn't help but stare at Gaara. She didn't know why, but she felt that if she let him out of her sight, something very bad would happen.

Many years ago Hinata didn't pay attention to that feeling that something bad would happen. Something bad did happen and it wasn't just for her. All of Konoha paid the price of her neglect. Even though at the time, Hinata couldn't do anything about it, she still felt guilty. Then Sasuke left and took her inspiration with him. From that day forward Hinata had decided to pay attention to what she was feeling and follow up on that feeling.

'He knows I'm watching him,' Hinata thought. She could tell by the way he smirked at her when they made eye contact. It was no different from his normal smirk, but this one felt special. Like it was just for her that he was even moving his facial muscles.

'If I weren't on duty, I'd offer him my hand,' she thought to herself. She felt a surprised flush spread across her face when she finished this thought. She was surprised because the last new person that she had offered her hand to had been Naruto, and that had turned out so well.

Finally they reached the Nara home. Carefully they made their way into the house. It was a big house with a large yard, like the Hyuuga compound, but there was were the similarities ended. The Nara household felt lived in, where as the Hyuuga compound was just a place that people slept and ate. The furniture was worn with age, but it was clean and sturdy.

Mrs. Nara hurried into the living room when Shikamaru announced their presence. When she saw who else was with her son, her eyes widened and her mouth began to open and close, like she wanted to talk, but the words got lost on the way out of her mouth.

"Hey Mom," Shikamaru said, "Mind if we crash here for a while?"

"O-of course," she stuttered breaking the trance their appearance had caused, "The Kazekage is always welcome in my home."

"Thank you for your understanding," Temari said warmly to her boyfriend's mother. The two of them got along fine together, as long as Shikamaru kept his mouth shut.

"Not at all. Can I get anyone anything to drink?" After she took their orders she left and the ninjas settled in.