Another break in the workload! Yay... tomorrow's gonna be a bitch...

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I sure as hell wish I did.

note: more swearing. Not for the kiddies out there.


Hinata was about twenty miles from Roventia when a large storm hit. She took shelter in a small town's local pub in order to escape the harsh wind and cold rain. Upon entering the sleepy building, she noticed something rather peculiar about the place.

There were wanted posters plastered on the walls of the bar. This in and of itself was not entirely unusual, as she had seen it before, except for the fact that the posters were all glorified in some manner. In other words, the phrase 'long live the resistance' was painted across the top of the rows of posters.

The Hyuuga took a seat on a barstool and ordered a scotch on the rocks per usual, as she was slowly acquiring a taste for the putrid stuff. When the bartender returned with her drink, she inquired about the room's decoration.

"Hey barkeep, what's up with all the posters?"

"Oh, this?" He gave a satisfied smile. "This is a pro-resistance town."

The blue haired woman frowned. "How so?"

"Well," he said as he took in a breath to begin his explanation, "A long time ago, the leader of this country was a benevolent one. He got this country back on its feet after the war. Of course, he had plenty of political enemies in the capitol, but pretty much every citizen loved him."

"I see. So what happened?"

"He died." The elder man paused a moment for reflection. "Or rather, it appears on the surface that he died. He was actually killed by his brother so he could take leadership. The current leader was acquitted from the crime due to lack of evidence, but it's plain as day that he did it."

"If you know this, why not do something about it?"

He sighed. "We can't at the moment. You see, back when the last ruler was alive, he passed a tolerance act officially granting all people within the country equal rights. Mind you, this includes the red-eyes. When the current leader took control, he rescinded the act. While there are laws that protect the lives of citizens, he can legally press anyone to do his bidding."

She took a sip. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, all is not lost, little lady. The red-eyes were furious when the ruler rescinded the act and rebelled against him. That's why their outlaws today." He pointed to one of the walls of posters. "There's actually a lot of support for their actions, even if only in our minds. But this close to Roventia, the support for them is strong enough to put on display."

"Hmm…" She thought as she twirled her drink. "So what keeps the military from just coming in here and arresting everyone for conspiracy?"

The man laughed as he cleaned a glass. "You're quite bright, aren't you? We supply the rebels whenever we can and they provide… protection for us. It's a symbiotic relationship."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. She took another sip and noticed the stereo system in the room starting to produce static noise. The easy music coming from the radio was suddenly blurred out and replaced by hard rock music.

"Whoa," exclaimed the barkeeper. "Looks like happy hour started early today boys! Drink up!" The room gave a loud cheer as free drinks were passed around, leaving the white-eyed bounty hunter mildly confused.

"What's going on?"

"Happy hour starts when Resistance Radio comes on. Just listen, you'll learn something."

The music dulled and a voice sounded loudly over the speakers. "Ladies and Gents, welcome to Resistance Radio, bringing you the real news on jacked channels since the days of the king! As always, this is the Voice himself on this lovely evening. Before we hit the local scene, I got a special surprise for all you loyal listeners tonight!" The room went silent to hear the special announcement. "We have here, in the flesh, Uzi himself! He's got a message for all of you and wishes to say a special word or three! Over to you Uzi!"

The inhabitants of the room and Hinata were on their toes. Unbeknownst to the Hyuuga, Uzi was one of a select few 'poster boys' for the resistance.

"How ya'll doin?!" A boisterous voice boomed over the radio. The rebel supporters in the room cheered and applauded at the sound of his voice while a tear welled up in Hinata's eye. This was the first time she had heard his voice in fifteen years, and, despite the deepness brought on by age, it hadn't changed one bit. "I got a special shout out to all you supporters out there! You know who you are! I'd come out there to thank each of you personally, but you already see me often enough on wanted posters!" The merry crowd laughed. "Seriously, though, give yourselves a hand. You guys all rock, and we'll make it all worthwhile someday. Now, I got a message for a certain someone out there…" Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh, yes! Recently a band of my comrades was imprisoned and then freed by a certain individual. I don't know who you are out there, but if you're hearing this, then you have my sincerest gratitude. Consider yourself a lifelong friend of the red-eyes! Now, I gotta go. Voice, I leave it to you!"

Hinata was too stunned to hear the continuing radio message. She slammed back her drink to bring her back to reality and pulled out a few coins to pay for it before leaving.

"Whoa, miss, what's the rush? It's still storming outside."

She regained enough of her composure to look back and smile. "Thanks for the drink barkeep. Good luck with everything." She exited the pub and trudged through the rain without a second thought towards her destination.

-------------------------------

Four figures clad in black raincoats traveled through the stormy weather as well. One of them spoke up as he headed for a log.

"Time for a break!" The relaxing man exclaimed only to be met with a foot to the face.

"Sheesh!" His attacker yelled. "That's all you ever do! You take so many breaks you may as well be a damn statue! And quit drinkin' all our water!"

He replied in an annoyed voice, "It's rainin'! There's plenty of water!" He turned to the side and quietly added, "Damn bitch, never stops talkin'…" His head greeted the foot again.

The irate female pounded on the man until one of the other figures intervened. "Stop it," he commanded. "We'll take a break for the time being. We can catch up easily enough."

"Hmph!" The woman grudgingly obeyed. "Don't know why you agree with that lazy bastard…" she muttered to herself.

The 'lazy bastard' spoke up to the group's leader. "Why are we looking for that Hyuuga girl anyway? I thought we were lookin' for…"

The largest man of the party cut him off. "If we find her, we'll find 'Uzi', and once we find him…"

He was interrupted by his leader. "We'll find Itachi, and I'll finally kill him."

(flashback)

Several years had passed since Hinata first began her quest to find Naruto. She had traveled to the far south and made her way to the farthest corners of the west in search of the blond runaway. She had made friends and enemies along her path, as well as lost people she came to care for. Life lessons had been learned both the easy way as well as the hard way. She had seen wondrous things and horrifying events alike. In short, she had grown up.

Hinata, a blossoming young woman of seventeen years of age, was about to discover something new about her target. She had recently passed into a gaggle of countries that vaguely reminded her of home in the east and encountered the phenomenon known as the red-eyes. Given her extensive journey this was merely par for the course, so she simply waived this fact aside as something interesting in her search for Naruto.

She was passing through a good sized town at the moment. She was short on money, seeing as how she had recently bought supplies after a night of gambling with crooked cheaters whom she wasn't allowed to beat into submission. She figured bringing in a bounty or two would get her enough to make it through the next week, so she made her way to the police station to check out the newest list of bounties.

She arrived at the bustling building and asked for the list. As she scanned the updated roster, she noticed that quite a large number of them consisted of red-eyes. "How strange," she thought as she flipped through the pages.

Hinata stopped when she turned her last page, eyes wide and mind suddenly more alert than before.

On that list was the red-eyes Naruto 'Uzi' Uzumaki.


I'm... uncertain on how big my work load's going to be over the next week. All my teachers seem to be wanting to pile on the work before Thanksgiving, but I'm projecting here... time will tell. See you next chapter!