"So what do you wanna do?" Hikari asked as she lay on the floor

"I don't know, what do you wanna do?" Naruto asked lying beside her on his back. Both were bored. Hikari had no idea that she'd end up as a sort of babysitter for him. She was surprised at how paranoid the people were of the Kyubbi Yes the seal was gone but with proper training Naruto could be taught how to control it. Most villagers treated him with even more hostility than before though she couldn't imagine what it was like before this. Naruto had been living with her and Miya for a week now. Sakura and Sai had yet to return and there wasn't much to do around the village. He had tried helping Tsunade with the mysterious killer but she said he was getting in her way and sent him home.

"This village is so boring! At the last one there was something to do everyday" She groaned

"You never told me where you were from anyway?"

"Family used to live in this area then moved to where my dad's family came from"

"Which is…"

"The Wind Country"

"Really?!"

"Yeah, why so excited?"

"I have a friend there"

"Name"

"Gaara, he's the Kazekage of Sunagakure"

"Sounds familiar but my Dad's family is from a…lets just say an isolated area "

"What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to travel and I was sorta put in an arranged marriage"

"You married?!" He started laughing

"What the hell so is funny Blondie?"

"I cant imagine you anyone's wife" He settled down "Whats his name?"

"Like it matters, you probably don't know him, I think its Nishi or is it Niji?" She looked at the ceiling thinking "Well I do know his last name, its Hyuga ". Naruto bolted up

"You serious?"

"Yep, why?"

"Nothing, its that oh never mind" He'd let her find out on her own I haven't heard Neji talk about a marriage or anything like that "Why do you have to get married?"

"Not sure but we have to get married by his twenty first birthday" Actually Hikari knew the exact reason for it but she couldn't share it with Naruto yet no matter how much she wanted someone else to know "My grandma went into an arranged marriage and so did my Dad. They're lucky because they at least knew their future spouse and came to love them, I've never even met this guy before. I've been trying to figure a way out of it. Are you listening?" She elbowed Naruto I guess I should at least let her meet him so she knows what she's getting into. Neji isn't that bad but his uncle that's another story

"Lets go out"

"To where?"

"For a walk" He jumped up "Where's that creepy wolf of yours?"
"No idea, he comes and goes"

"Lee, Neji!" Naruto shouted. The two were standing outside the Hokage's office. Neji had become an ANBU captain while Lee wasn't to far from being named one himself. Hikari nearly tripped and fell on her face when she heard Neji's name. Naruto caught her and patted her on the back. She grabbed his collar and whispered

"Im gonna kick your ass when we leave" He laughed brushing off the threat

"Hey Naruto! Who is your friend?" Lee asked

"This is Hikari"

"Oh yes, you're the one who was able to help Naruto. Im Rock Lee and this is my friend Neji Hyuga". Neji nodded a greeting

"So what are you guys up to?"

"Waiting on TenTen to return. The Hokage had wanted to speak with her"

"Have you been getting rest?" Neji asked

"Of course" Liar, he's been so restless that its put Miya in a bad mood all week. I cant believe he did this to me. I could've at least got a warning. Miya's gonna laugh forever about this one. I wish I could remember something about him besides his name. Guess I shouldn't have tuned Granny out when she was doing all that babblin'. She turned her attention back to Neji who she caught giving her an odd look. He didn't turn away but raised an eyebrow slightly. She made a face at him. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Im back!" TenTen burst out of the door. For once she had decided not to wear her hair in the buns. It was in a loose ponytail "Naruto! How do you feel?"

"Alright I guess" Though he knew they were only looking out for him he was getting tired of answering that question

"Who's this?" She saw Hikari

"Hikari, an associate of mine" Naruto smiled

"Nice to meet all of you but we've gotta go" With that, she pulled Naruto behind her.

"Whats wrong?" Lee asked Neji seeing the frown on his face

"Her name, I've heard it before…Naruto!" The two stopped

"What?"

"I want to invite you and your friend to dinner tonight at the Hyuga estate"

"Why?"

"Hinata's birthday"

"I forgot"

"I only told you a million times" TenTen rolled her eyes

"We'll be there" He grinned

"Who's Hinata?" Hikari asked as they walked down the street

"Neji's cousin. Im sure you'll become fast friends once you're married" He avoided a slap on the head "Why don't you tell him who you are?"

"He'll figure it out eventually. No need in me helping him along, especially since Im close to figuring a way out of it" She became silent as she thought

"I have to get her a present!" He raced off with Hikari walking behind him Maybe I should hide who I am. Granny said something about his Uncle being the one who helped arranged the marriage sometime ago. This is going to be one big headache.

'I cant believe you're still around her' The fox growled

'I was wondering when I'd hear your lovely voice'

'This is no joke! She's dangerous!'

'She saved my life, why are you so afraid of her anyway?' There was silence 'Now you want to get quiet'

'Just keep alert around her and watch the wolf. He's as dangerous or more so than she is'

'Sure, but one of these days you're gonna have to tell me why you don't like her'

'If you only knew boy'

"Granny why do I have to get married?" Hikari whined

"You already know the answer. Come now, I thought you'd take it much better. You knew it was coming" The elderly woman sat tall and elegant with her long gray hair cascading down her back. Hikari had always admired her.

"But isn't there a way out of this?" The sixteen year old whined

"No. I don't know why you're acting this way. I was in an arranged marriage, so was your mother and father. Look how it worked out"

"At least you guys got to know each other before you found out, you were already friends. I've never even heard of this Nishi"

"Neji"

"Nishi, Neji its all the same. To top it all off he's from the Leaf village in the Land of Fire. Everyone knows their shinobi are less skilled than an elderly woman here". Her grandmother smiled. That cocky attitude had become her families' trademark. "Anyways couldn't I find some one on my own?"

"You know the answer to that. The survival of our family gift depends on this. You were blessed with the gift and now you must do what is necessary for it to continue. Besides the Hyuga clan is a good one. I've talked to the family, his uncle approved of it. I also met Neji. He is a handsome young man"

"I don't care if he is, that doesn't change anything" she slouched in the chair, pouting

"At times we must all do things we don't like, but this will be a good match. You'll see"

"When is it?"

"Around his twenty- first birthday, he's fifteen now"

"I have six years to figure a way out of this"

"Good luck Granddaughter but my advice to you is to think of the future. One day you'll look back on this and thank me" she rose from her big chair

"I doubt it"

Hikari was bored. She and Naruto were at a small shop. She had given up trying to help him and instead relegated herself to standing near the door, leaning against the wall. She was tired. She yawned as a young man wearing traveling clothes. He had ruffled, jet black hair and a goatee. His dark eyes scanned the store. Naruto had enlisted the help of one of the store clerks to pick out a gift.

"How've you been?" The man broke the silence

"Alright, just a little tired". He frowned

"Make sure you rest Hikari, you know I worry about you"

"I'll live, how's mom and dad?"

"Anxious. They think you left because of your marriage"

"Maybe I partly did"

"I told you I wasn't gonna allow you to marry the Hyuga, "

"I don't have a choice remember?"

"You always have a choice"

"I met him sorta"

"Meeting him changed your mind?"

"No, if any thing it only strengthened my resolve"

"So your search for Sasuke…"

"Is going ok. I mean we know where he is, the problem is what to do now. He thinks we're dead just like we thought he was dead"

"Your friend appears to have finished" He said referring to Naruto who was at the counter paying for something "I should get going, be careful"

"Where are you going?"

"Home"

"Tell everybody I love 'em"

"I will. Bye"

"Bye" He whispered. In an instant he was gone.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked a couple of minutes later

"Yep"

Naruto sat on his bed, uncertain. He hadn't dressed up since TenTen had told him later that day that it was an informal dinner. He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't explain it but for some reason he felt weak, he'd felt like that ever since that day the seal disappeared and even weaker around Hikari. He liked her but he wondered about what it was that the Kyubi was so scared of about her. He did get the sense that she was hiding something, first it was the conversation he'd overheard between she and the Hokage and now he'd seen her talking to some random guy. Of course she probably didn't know that he'd seen them. As a shinobi he was trained to notice things like that. He wanted to outright ask her but on the other hand he felt it wasn't his business.

He rubbed the bridge to his nose. He didn't feel like going to the dinner but Hinata had become a close friend over the years. She'd outgrown the girlish crush that she'd had. He knew about that too. Everyone thought he was oblivious so he let them continue to think that way. He could deal with everyone at the Hyuga estate that night except for Hinata's father. For some reason Mr. Hyuga didn't like him and made it known that he'd never allow Hinata to date him. "I don't feel like dealing with him tonight" Naruto mumbled

"Dealing with what shorty?" Miya poked her sliver haired head in. She called him whatever name she felt was appropriate for the day. She called him shorty because he was only an inch shorter than her but even though she was tall she also wore heels a lot so he didn't pay any attention to it

"Nothing, talking to myself"

"That's not a good habit. Hikari is ready when you are. Don't come back all late and shit, got it?"

"Yes mom" He rolled his eyes

"I'm just trying to warn you, I hate it when people come in late makin a whole bunch of noise so it'd be better it you didn't come in late at all" She gave him a mean look then left. Naruto sat up, trying to work up strength to at least stand. He didn't see the wolf watching from the corner of his room.

Everyone sat a a long table in the dining room. All of Hinata's closest friends were there, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, Lee, TenTen, and their sensei's. Her uncle sat at the head with his wife on his left and HInata and her sister on his right. Neji sat next to them. Naruto and HIkari sat across from them. When Hikari had come at first Hinata hadn't said much to her but as the evening dragged on they started talking. Though HInata liked her, she didn't know why Neji had invited her. She glanced at him, he was watching Hikari who was joking with Kiba. She didn't understand him at times. As the food was brought out the guests began to loosen up more. Laughter filled the room. Naruto got up. He went over to Hinata and whispered something to her. She got up, prepared to go with him when her father said

"Where are you going Hinata?"

"Naruto-chan wanted to talk with me" She looked down at the floor. Though she had grown up she was still afraid of her father

"Can he not say it in front of all of us?" He didn't even look at Naruto who was becoming madder by the second

"Its…its personal"

"Really? I hope he's not going to ask you out" The evening had been building to this. Naruto knew the moment he walked in and wasn't even acknowledged like the other guests "We talked about this"

"Dear…" His wife started to say "Not now"

"It needs to be said. Naruto is not worthy of our daughter, however weak she may be. He's probably worthy of no self-respecting woman, not with the monster inside of him. I'm only saying what many villagers already know. The only reason he hasn't been kicked out is because he's had the fortune of being close to two of our Hokage's" No one said anything. No one would because of Mr. Hyuga's place on the social ladder, well at least nobody except one.

"Hinata sit down" He ordered. She prepared to do just that when a voice said

"No if you wanna talk to Naruto then go on. He's not the boss of you" Hikari stood up

"Do you know who're you're talking to young lady?" He growled

"Yeah, a complete asshole" she rolled her eyes "A dog has more class than you'll ever have. Stop talking down to your daughter and back the hell off of Naruto. He didn't do anything to you"

"That's not for you to worry about"

"Come on, why don't you tell us what he did? It must've been something pretty bad in order to get this much hatred. Does it have to do with the Kyubi?" She smiled "It amazes me how you guys hate him for it when its not his fault, real mature there buddy"

"You're not even from here so I have no need to answer to you"

"Like I said, you're an asshole and not worth it"

"How dare you" He stood up

"If you're gonna do something then do it, otherwise sit down" The room was filled with tension.

"I think we should all calm down" Kurenai said. The dinner wasn't supposed to go like this, she helped plan most of it. Hikari put her hands on her hips. Her eyes flickered to a gray color then back

"Impossible…" He mumbled

"That's what I thought, lets go Naruto" She started to head for the doorway. A stunned Naruto followed her. Mr. Hyuga was shocked further when he saw Icee start to follow them then the wolf turned around, gave him a deadly look then walked on. He hadn't even noticed it before.

"You need to sit down" His wife whispered "Whats wrong?"

"Okami" He muttered

The two had reached the front door when they heard

"I'm sorry Naruto" Neji said

"Its not your fault" He answered without turning around

"But it is, I knew how he felt about you. I just wanted Hinata to have all her friends here"

"Naruto…" Hinata whispered. He turned around. Hikari by this time was getting impatient. She crossed her arms and watched them "I'd understand if you don't want to talk to me again. I'm so sorry"

"Hinata its not your or Neji's fault. I'm ok, really. I've gotten used to it"

"That's the problem, no one should ever get used to being treated like that" Hikari said

"She's right, so what if we eat somewhere else?" Hinata asked

"But what about your birthday dinner?". She shrugged

"I'll have it with you and your new friend". Naruto turned to Hikari, she nodded

"Ok!" He grinned

Naruto, Hikari, Hinata and Neji sat in a small restaurant. It had been crowded when they had arrived but Neji used his family connections to get them a table. Naruto and Hikari sat on one side while the two cousins sat on the other. They had already ordered and were waiting for their food

"What will the rest of your friends do?" Hikari asked

"Kiba whispered that he and the rest of my team would take me out later. They were all going to leave"

"He was the one next to me right?"

"Uh huh"

"Where are you from Hikari?" Neji asked

"Oh, ya know, just around"

"Around where?"

"A small village not too far from here" Naruto answered "Don't remember the name though" He smiled

"Really?" Neji narrowed his eyes. Hikari smiled too

"Yeah, I came here to get a break. Being in a small town got annoying" She gave a nervous laugh. Hinata didn't seem to notice the nervousness of her friends. She continued to drink her tea. Neji was getting ready to question them further when the food arrived. Hikari was relieved. Neji let the subject drop.

Around the same time Tsunade was staying late in her office, going through different books. Shizune knocked then entered

"Any word from Jiraiya?" she asked without pulling away from her book

"No. How's your research going?"

"Alright so far. The poison that was in the needles was extremely deadly. Death occurred within seconds of it entering the blood stream. Seconds Shizune, not minutes. Whoever killed these men knew exactly what they were doing. This isn't some random poison they picked up. You can only find the plant that makes this toxin in certain parts of the world, none of which are here in our country nor any of the closest ones" She rubbed her eyes

"Get some sleep, we can finish this tomorrow"

"I cant, this is too interesting of a case. Besides I cant sleep. I'm worried about Naruto too much. That's why I need Jiraiya. He's the only person who completely understands the seal that the Fourth placed on him"

"Kakashi could place a temporary one on him"

"He tried while Naruto was knocked out that day. It didn't work" she leaned back in her chair.

"Well Hokage I'm going home, don't stay up too late"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine" she waved her away. With a last glance Shizune left. Tsunade rested her eyes for a moment then grabbed another book and was preparing to start reading again when she came across a passage

'These ancient clans were known to uphold ancient traditions. Many of them taking up animals of their choosing as their family symbol. It is thought that the animals chosen were abnormally intelligent and protected their clans. To this day it is not known whether any of these families still exist. If they did it would be a remarkable feat considering all that is thought they achieved'

"What's this?" she looked at the cover. It read Mythical Clans. "This isn't what I need" she mumbled but continued flipping through the pages until she came across a a large picture of an elegant wolf in a sitting position. At the bottom of the page in bold letters it readChapter 12: The Creators of The Tailed Ones. She turned the page and started to read.

Naruto poked his head in the office. Tsunade was asleep at her desk with a book open under her head. Light streamed in through the cracks in the blinds. He walked over and opened them. When he saw that she still didn't wake he walked over to her desk, leaned down and yelled

"Good Morning Hokage!".

"What? Whats going on?" She jumped up then her eyes fell on Naruto's smiling face "You little brat!" She yawned "What time is it?"

"Around seven"

"Just great" She pulled her personal storage of sake out from under her desk, along with a glass. She poured herself one then downed its contents. Naruto sat in one of the chairs across from her desk. His eyes drifted around her office. Everything was neat and in order except for her desk which was covered with books and papers. He watched her as she drank another glass. Though she still looked the same he could tell she wasn't. They had become close over time, so close in fact that she wanted to officially adopt him as her son but there were people who had done a great job in preventing that. He knew that she worried constantly about him. Sakura had told him that was one reason why she kept putting off looking at his ANBU captain application, she was afraid to lose him.

"What are you doing awake so early?" After three glasses she had put the sake away.

"Couldn't sleep"

"Naruto the whole point of you being confined to the village is so you can get rest. Im not going to send you on more missions if I deem you too exhausted" She saw the far away look in his eyes. He was starting to get it more. He had mentioned to her before that itd be better if he moved away but so far he stayed in Konoha "What happened?" Naruto turned his gaze to the window "Naruto, answer me"

"Hyuga" was all he needed to say. Tsunade sighed. As much as she wanted to protect and shield Naruto she knew that she couldn't all the time "But don't worry Hikari took care of it" A faint smile appeared on his face

"How so?"

"Basically she stood up for me and called him a few names"

"Really?" She sat back in her chair "So much like her mother"

"Who is she?" His eyes became fixed on her. His face had become so serious that she decided to tell him what she knew

"I trained her mother for a time. She grew up here"

"Her mom?"

"Yes, she came from a very prominent family. You know how you heard her mention Sasuke?" He nodded "He's her cousin". To say Naruto was shocked was an understatement. He mouth dropped open

"How…impossible…but Itachi…" He couldn't form a complete sentence. Tsunade laughed

"Her mother was a Uchiha, Sasuke's father's sister or aunt, she married into another family but her children still possess the Sharigan and all that. At the time of the murders Hikari and her family lived somewhere else though they visited the Uchiha compound so much that many thought they lived there. Besides I doubt Itachi would've been able to kill his aunt or his cousins"

"Why?"

"Believe me when I tell you that the training she put her children through would be considered hell by many shinobi. She was always pushing herself and her kids". Naruto sat silent for a minute then said

"Sasuke never mentioned them"

"He thought they were dead. When they came here for the funerals he had hidden himself, to be alone. Many villagers had thought he had been killed too so his aunt assumed everyone was dead. She was so distressed about what happened that she couldn't stay in Konoha. She left before the burials and never returned". Silence enveloped them again. Naruto stood up

"She's looking for him, that's one of the reasons she's here"
"Probably"

"She's gonna be disappointed"

"She'll deal with it when the time comes and Naruto don't bring this up unless she does" He nodded

"You called him a what?!" Miya was laughing hysterically. She and her friend were on one of the training grounds. Hikari wore loose gray pants with a white tank. Her hair was in two ponytails. Miya wore old shorts with a shirt. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders. They had finished an intense sparing match that had left both with numerous cuts, scratches and bruises.

"I cant believe no one said anything to him" Miya sat down and started to clean her sword. Hikari sat on a large rock not too far from her staring at the sky

"I know, they were all being quiet because of his social standing. People around here are weird. Back home if that old jerk had said that to somebody he would've been put in a permanent nap"

"Folks in this country are weaker/more pathetic than home, get used to it" Miya held her sword up. It gleamed. She smiled then put it back on her hip

"Hiro found me"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I think he wanted me to come home"

"He gets around, he was supposed to be…" She stopped because Hikari gave her a glance that said be quiet. She picked up her knife from the grass. Holding it by its tip she threw it over Miya . Miya didn't hear it hit anything so she assumed it'd been caught. She stood then turned to see Neji holding the knife. He watched her then looked at Hikari

"I know why I've heard of you now" She tensed "We're supposed to get married"

"Shit" Miya mumbled

"So?" Hikari tried to cover her distress. She crossed her arms

"My Uncle also figured it out. He wants to talk with you"

"Fine but I want to make this known Neji that I don't want to get married to you or anyone at the moment. I AM going to find a way out of it"

"Be my guest" An amused look appeared on his face

"Hikari?" Naruto shouted "Miya?". He had returned to the apartment to find it empty. He took of his shoes then went to rummage thru the fridge. Not seeing anything he wanted he decided to go to his room and take a nap. Before he got to his room however he ended up going into Hikari's who was right before his. Her room was plain like his except on the nightstand there was a picture frame turned over. He walked over and picked it up. His breath caught in his throat. It was a picture of a much younger Hikari with a smiling younger Sasuke and a smirking Itachi. She and Sasuke were in the front while Itachi was behind them How am I supposed to give up Sasuke like I want when his cousin is right here and probably wants him back as much as I do?

"Cute picture, right?" Hikari stood in the doorway

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, well yeah I did"

"Its not a big deal"

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not yet"

"I'll wait then"

"Might be waiting a long time"

"That's fine" Naruto put the frame back the way he found it

"Sakura and your other weird friend are back. I invited them over for dinner"

"What are we having?"

"Ramen"

"How was the mission Sakura?" Tsunade asked. It was lunch time and she hoped that Sakura would hurry up. Sai and Yamato stood on either side of her. They weren't giving her an official report, Sakura had said they'd found something important and wanted to talk to her about it. "Was the mission too difficult?"

"Not really" She fidgeted a bit. Tsunade was losing her already low patience

"Come on! Out with it! I have things to do"

"Sorry Hokage, its just that this may sound strange". Her sensei tapped her finger on the desk "When we made it to Suna, Gaara gave us a tour of some of the villages. While we were in one of the more revered/ancient ones we were followed"

"Did you tell Gaara?"

"Yes but he brushed it off at least that's how it seemed at first"

"Gaara knew what was going on but he was hiding something" Sai cut in

"Well who was following you?". Sakura hesitated then said

"Wolves". Tsunade looked at each face then burst into laughter

"We're serious Hokage" Yamato said "Wolves were following us in this village. Gaara knew but acted like he didn't"

"Alright, alright. It sounds crazy though" She calmed down "How do you know that Gaara knew?"

"Believe me Hokage. He's not stupid. While we were there he was tense the entire time like he was afraid"

"Well I'll look into it but Im sure its nothing"

"Thank you " Sakura said

"Now go on and get some rest" The three filed out "Followed by wolves" She pulled out the book she'd been reading the previous night. The truth was she though she had laughed, she had received a similar report from a team who had been near the same village only a few weeks before. They also had seen wolves following them. Something was going on and she was going to find out what.