The Light Within the Darkness

Part 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or any of the original characters.

Naruto walked to the door and knocked. Taking into account how many times he'd been here, knocking didn't really seem necessary. He did anyway out of common courtesy. He heard someone stumble and then the door opened. Tsunade stood there grinning like…well…more like Naruto than he'd ever want to admit.

"Hey kid, long time no see. I thought you'd be stopping by sometime. Jiraiya said something like that anyway."

"Yeah, probably. Nice to see you too, Granny Tsunade." Her smiled quickly turned into an expression of annoyance.

"No matter how much I missed you, I'll never miss that nickname." Naruto just laughed at her. This was his old life, he'd forgotten how much he'd missed it. Being gone for the amount of time he had been really helped him appreciate what he had before he left.

"I'll bet. Speaking of Jiraiya, where did he run off to?"

Tsunade looked down as if she felt guilty for some reason. Naruto was beginning to wonder if everyone had a secret nowadays. Everyone he ran into seemed happy until he asked them any sort of question.

"He left a while ago. He went to go look for recruits to help protect our village in it's time of need. He said you'd understand and to tell you that he'd be back in two weeks. But I'll be sure to put you to work as soon as I get the chance…"

'Great. More bad news. That seems to be all anyone has to tell anymore. Then she went and hinted that she'd give me work, but I noted the tone of voice she used. It seems that was a lie, but why would she do that. Maybe it's because I'm still a Genin. If I could just show her how much stronger I've gotten…' Naruto just shrugged it off and told himself that that kind thinking was not the way to improve matters. He was just going to have to be strong, even though it seemed that lately he had to be everyone's strength.

"Tsunade, I don't know if anyone has told you yet. I've gotten much stronger since I left with Jiraiya. I'm independent now, though I know you'll want me on a team anyway."

Tsunade was awestruck by this. What the hell was this boy getting at?

"Naruto, what are you saying?

"I'm saying that I don't like the fact that I'm still a Genin. I'm not doing a good enough job off getting that fact through to you, I guess." Naruto forced a laugh and scratched the back of his head.

'Ah, so this was what he was so upset about. Well, no problem.' For the first time in really long time, Tsunade had a problem that was a quick fix.

"Ok, the Chunin exams are just a month or two away. You can take them then."

Naruto gave her a grim look. "I don't have that kind of time to spare. Plus, you know as well as I do that would be a waste of my time and the proctors'. I think that I'm really good at what I do. It may not come naturally to me, but I can fight just as good as anyone else." Tsunade smiled at him and laughed slightly. It was time this kid got a break, but not a full break, so to speak.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing Naruto, I couldn't agree with you more."

"Now wait a second. I can explain why I…..-what?"

"I said I agree with you. It'd be a waste of time for everyone."

Naruto was completely and utterly befuddled. Never in his entire life had Tsunade agreed with something he said. Naruto had a lot of strange things happen in his life, but this one took the metaphorical 'cake.'

"So, let me get this straight. You're just going to give me a boost in rank because you, if I heard you correctly, agree with me?"

"Well, I'm not just going to say 'Here you go, you're a Chunin or Jounin.' You're still going to have to prove to me that you're capable." This made Naruto's day in the biggest of ways.

"Alright! So, what do I have to do?"

"Not now, maybe tomorrow. You just got back today and you need to take a day for yourself. So, you go and have fun and I'll think up something for you to do that will prove to me that you're deserving of an increase in rank."

"Ok, I'd normally insist that I do something today. But, I'm happy with this decision. I'll just be showing myself out and you have a great day, Granny Tsunade!" Tsunade just chuckled and waved him off. But she had to say one last thing before he went 'running off into the sunset'.

"Naruto, I have one last thing to tell you before I let you go."

Naruto spun around on his heel and looked at her with his usual goofy grin.

"Yeah, Granny Tsunade, what is it?"

"You are going to have a visitor arriving either sometime tonight or within a day or two. He's an old friend of mind," Tsunade said, her voice shaking a bit on that last part, almost as if the words tasted bad.

"Who?"

"I can't tell you that, because he does a much better job of introducing himself, trust me. But he won't harm you in any way, so don't worry about that." Although Tsunade had absolutely NO idea if that would be the case.

"Ok, that's fine by me. Maybe whoever this mystery person is likes ramen too!"

And with that Naruto walked out of Tsunade's office. She knew for a fact that this was not the last she'd hear of this. As soon as he showed up things would all go to hell again. So she might as well enjoy the peace she had while she had it. Besides maybe nothing will go wrong and it would all work itself out in the end.

'HA! Like that will ever happen. Since when did fate let me have a break? Not since I took up the Hokage role. But, maybe that's all part of it, just a never ending pile of shit that someone's got to clean up. I should be getting free sake with this job. Gods know that it doesn't pay enough. Oh well, there is only one thing that I've concluded upon in the last five or so years…That is the sad fact that…I'm getting too old for this shit!'

Hinata wasn't sure that her dad wanting to see her was a good thing or not. Recently, he just wanted to rant about how stupid the cadet branch was. Then she'd bring up Neji and he'd say things like 'well…he seems to be an exception to most things about our clan' and he'd shut up. So, she just assumed that this was another rant session and then he'd act like he was interested in what was going on with her and then he'd let her leave.

She walked up to the main door of the household and slid it open. She looked around and noticed that it was strangely empty. She figured that at least someone would be here to, well… there was just always people here. It seemed that recently there were people running in and out of the house because of all the hullabaloo(I just felt like using that word). So, it was almost scary to see the house so empty.

Hinata shrugged it off as paranoia and continued on her way. She walked into the training yard. Still no one there. Something had to be wrong, because she knew for a fact that Neji and her father trained every day from around this time 'til about 4:30.

'Ok, something is up. Where in the world is everyone? Either something big is going on or something really terrible has happened. I hope it's not the latter. I need to find father and ask him what's going on.'

She ran down the remaining part of the outside corridor and into the meeting room where her father and the rest of the clan usually met to discuss matters of great importance.

Here, it seemed, was every member of her clan that she had ever met and several she hadn't.

There was obviously something going on, because people were trying to talk over everybody else and it seemed that included damn near everyone in the whole room. She shuffled around a bit trying to spot her father in the commotion. She finally found him standing in the back of the room, talking to two Anbu Black Ops. She dodged and pushed her way over to finally get to him.

"Father, what's going on?" Her father looked up and gave her a grim look. He walked over to her and embraced her in quick hug and held her by the shoulders as he looked at her. Hinata noticed his eyes were filled with great sorrow.

"Hinata, I'm so glad to see your alright."

"Father, what's wrong? Why are all these people here and why did no one come get me sooner?"

"Because my daughter, no one could find you. I don't have much time to explain, but something grave has happened to this family. Three of our main household members were found dead just outside the village. There was blood everywhere and signs of a great struggle."

Hinata was shocked. She'd never heard anything like this today, not even rumors. There seemed to be no commotion about it going around town. She could tell when something was wrong just by the way people acted around her and each other. Who would do such a thing? Who had the ability to kill three main household members of the Hyuga clan? One answer led to way too many questions.

"That's horrible! Do we know who did it?"

"We are not one hundred percent sure yet, but I think we've got him… Whoever did it was extremely skilled and quick to attack. To overcome three of our clan at once… That's quiet the feat. But we do have one hint as to who could have done it." He motioned over to a table where a piece of wood had been laid.

It was a normal piece of wood. Just a chunk of timber that looked like it had been hacked out of a tree. It didn't have any marks on it. There were Anbu standing around it though. It was almost as if they were trying to hold something back. She stood closer to try and get a better look. When she saw it at last she gasped. The piece of wood was on fire, and the flame was black as charcoal!

"What kind of flame is that father?" Hinata's voice quivered when she spoke.

"That, my daughter, is the black flame called Amaterasu. It's a dark and forbidden jutsu used only by the Uchiha clan. I haven't gazed upon it since the clans were near annihilation. There are only two men that I know of who could have done such a thing. Sasuke Uchiha, though he hasn't been seen around the village for three years. The other is Itachi Uchiha, who was recently spotted outside the village and who I know for a fact can do this very jutsu. So, he's our prime suspect, but we're not ready to rule Sasuke out just yet. I know it's highly unlikely that he did, but there's always a chance."

None of this made sense. Why would Itachi kill three members of the Hyuga clan? Just because…no…that didn't sound like Itachi at all; at least not the Itachi that she had heard of around the village. Her sensei had talked about him once before when he put her in the hospital. She had told them the tale of the Uchiha clan and how it was all but whipped out- how Itachi killed his entire family with the exception of Sasuke. But she had also told them that he wasn't one to kill unless it was a necessary thing. She said he could have easily killed her, Kakashi, and Asuma, but he didn't.

"But I've heard that Itachi won't kill unless he had motivation. There had to be some reason as to why he'd do that. They would have had to…."

Then it hit her.

"They would've had to know something threatening to the Akatsuki for him to have any reason to take them out!"

Haishi looked at her, astounded at first, then smiled.

"That's right Hinata, they must have seen or heard something that he didn't want them to know. I'll tell the Black Ops to find out where they were before they came back to the village and have them ask around."

Hinata smiled and turned to walk away. She had to see Naruto again. Since she seemed to be done here, she thought she'd go find him. But her father wasn't done yet.

"Hinata, I think it'd be best if you came home before dark tonight. It's not safe out there when people like Itachi are out and about. So don't be gone long."

She sighed. She knew that something like this was going to happen. "Yes, father."

She walked out of the room and let herself out of the house. Now she had to find Naruto to tell him the bad news and even worse, she couldn't go see him tonight at the party.

'Damn, I was really looking forward to spending some time with him. He'll understand though, maybe we can see each other another time.' Hinata started off towards Ichiraku, where Naruto was most likely to be. Or at least, someone who knew where Naruto was.

He had been traveling for many days. He'd thought he'd be there by now, but taking a quick look around at where he was he could tell this was not going to be the case. He sighed and kept walking in the same direction- one he had traveled many years ago. To him, it seemed like a completely different life back then. He was much older now, about 28. And bigger too, but that comes with age. One of the things he knew you could be sure of in life is that when you visited a place after being gone for years on end, everything seemed much smaller. He hadn't been home in twenty years and he wasn't sure he was ready to go back yet. Mulling all this over while walking down the trail, he looked up to the sky.

'Looks like it's two thirty or so. I should be there by nightfall if I keep moving at a constant pace. I guess I'll get to see him today after all. I hope he doesn't take my absence for all this time the wrong way. I just needed to get out on my own. I'm done with that now. There's no fun in spending your life studying. I think I've got a mastery on it now, but I guess only time will tell.'

He walked over to a large tree and placed his palm on the trunk. He made a few hand signs with the other and pushed against the tree. Suddenly one of the tree branches leaned down onto the ground. He walked onto it and snapped his fingers and with that the branch rose back up. He could see over the treetops now. Gazing off into the distance, he smiled.

"Not much further now."

He jumped back onto the ground and stared off through all the trees. He made several hand signs and finally slammed both palms onto the ground. He looked up expectantly, waiting for something…

Shortly after, all the trees in his way for miles… parted.

Naruto was just finishing up his early dinner at Ichiraku as he started to walk home. He wanted to get a little fuel in him before the party started. He really didn't want there to be a party, but it was too late now to stop it. Beside, it might be fun to see everybody again. After repeating this in his head once more, Naruto scoffed. No way in hell was that going to happen. At first it would seem fun, but shortly after something would push him too far and he'd snap and everyone would just stand around and wonder why he got mad. Mulling over that thought, his mood quickly became sour. So it was probably a good thing that just then, Hinata walked up.

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing?"

He spun around at the mention of his name. His mood improved when he saw Hinata standing there. Something about her always made him smile.

"Hi Hinata, nothing really. I was just headed home to prepare for the disaster sure to come later on tonight."

She giggled. Something about him always made her happy. She was always in a good mood whenever Naruto was around. She never fully understood why she felt this way, but she knew it wasn't a bad thing. She never seemed to be able to put two and two together. She started to sweat a little every time he got close, queasiness followed shortly. It wasn't severe though, just enough to tell her he was close. In the old days (and quite recently) she would faint if he got really close to her. She had learned to get used to it quickly. In her own way, she enjoyed it more than anything. Being close to him was a fearful thing, because she never knew had to act. At the same time it was a joyous thing, because she loved that feeling he gave her.

"Well, I could help you with that if you'd like," she said as she walked to his side and smiled.

"I'd like that a lot." He returned her smile and wrapped his arm around her. He didn't know why he did it, it just felt like the right thing to do. He felt great when he was close to her. She didn't seem to mind either, except when she passed out. Fearing this would be the case, Naruto looked at her to see if she showed signs of fainting. To his pleasant surprise she didn't. All there was to her face was a deep blush that almost made her look like a tomato. He didn't mind the blush anymore. In fact, he thought it was cute.

They both shared strong feeling towards one another. Each different but oddly similar. He liked being close to her. She felt the same way about him. They both enjoyed being around the other, and nothing brought either of them more happiness than that. There was only one thing standing between them now…

Neither of them completely understood why.

To Be Continued…

Authors Notes: Well, that, like all my other chapters, took WAY too long to write. I promise I'll try to put these chapters out quicker. So what'd you think? I don't think I covered enough, but that's just me. How about Naruto's cousin, did I create enough mystery around his persona? R&R please and thank you, and I'd really like to know that answer to those questions, it helps me improve as a writer. Thank you all for reading! Next time in Light Within the Darkness, EVERYBODY DIES!……HAHA, just kidding! I do have a soul, I just can't seem to remember where I put it.