Hola,

I know this was a really fast update, I was surprised myself. I actually had a really strange dream and what I remembered from it partly became this chapter... it's weird, I know that, but it works with the chapter length and the story, so I used it. With the shorter chapters it is kind of easier to write something to continue the story. Writing really long chapters always is kinda forced, you know. But enough of this.

About the way I write Oops and so words... well blame my native tongue for that. Here we don't write oops but ups and so on... some habits can't be fully ignored... don't be angry because of that...

The Hunt – Part IV

The moon was still up, as Akahana sat near the dieing embers of the campfire. A few hours ago she had been saved from Tobi's compound, saved by a group of Uzumaki, something she had not expected in the slightest. The clan had yet to be informed about her new position in the main family, so the majority of the clan members would still treat her like an outcast at best. But Arashi and his team had come to safe her. Risked their lives for her. This was most unexpected. Just as unexpected as the respect Hotaru had shown her.

"You shouldn't be up. After all that has happened, you should rest as much as you can." A man said gruffly, as he approached Akahana from behind. She cursed in her mind. Her current lack of Chakra effected her far too much for her liking. Even her perception of her surroundings was faulty. She had not realized that Arashi was here, until he spoke to her.

"I'm fine... mostly at least. He did not much physical torture. The Uchiha prefer... different means of making people suffer." Akahana said calmly, as she watched the last ember die, until the firewood was completely black.

"He will pay eventually." Arashi said, as he sat down next to Akahana, much to her obvious discomfort. "But you were right, you know?"

"Oh. And what was I right about, Arashi?" She asked suspicious.

"That Tobi was a very strong opponent. I have never fought anyone this strong. Not even together with Naoki I had a chance at defeating him."

"He is a monster. There is nothing human about him, except for his looks." Akahana said. In her mind she saw him before her, this Tobi... no Madara Uchiha. The way he looked at her. His words... his voice, filled with so much understanding... No. She shook that thought out of her head. That man was the very reason for all her suffering. It all had started with Madara Uchiha. Even the Tobi she knew only existed because of him.

"Even monsters can die. He will pay for what he tried to do to the clan... and for what he did to you." Arashi said determinedly. "I promise you that."

"He is my responsibility, Arashi. I defeated him once, I will do it again."

"Not alone. Like it or not, but you are stuck with me now. Once we return to Uzushio, with that traitors head of course, Toshiro-sama will publicly announce what has happened. And he will announce our betrothal. We will spend a lot of time together in the near future."

"I still have to prove my loyalty, don't forget that. It will take a very long time until the clan will trust me. Until then we are nothing." Akahana replied defiantly.

A mirthful chuckle was all she got from Arashi at first, but after a pointed glare he relented and said, "You saved Misaki-san, at least that is what she has told Toshiro-sama. And with this entire traitor hunt... let's just say that your fame in the clan will rise considerably. Some will distrust you, that will never change, but the council will see this as proof enough."

"Are you that eager to get married? To me of all people? Our first meeting wasn't really friendly."

"I feel too young to get married, if that is what you think. I'm merely twenty years old, but in these dark times most of us die young. I have the wish to raise a family of my own you know."

"You better not think about me staying home, raising children while you run off on some adventures, or else you will soon be unable to have children at all." Akahana said coldly.

"You sure are an odd one." Arashi said with a chuckle. "Most girls in the clan and Uzushio would do anything to be in your place."

"Then pick one of them. I won't be a dumb fangirl or some goody housewife. I chose to marry you, so I can stay with my family and help my clan."

"And I believe it is that little fact, which makes you the best choice. We started off rough, but we only know each other for about a week. Time will tell how things will progress. I at least realized that hating each other is not a good place to start."

"What in Kami's name are you talking about?" Akahana asked with a confused look. This had to be the oddest conversation in her life. Sure there had been others before that desired her, but never had she been in a situation like this.

"Tomorrow we will try to remove that seal on your back, but for now go and get some sleep. This order is not negotiable." Arashi said with a grin, as he stood up again. "Don't worry, I will guard you until we are back home." Before she could protest, he had already disappeared.

It was still early in the morning, when Jiraiya slowly ambled through the streets of Konoha. He was in a rather good mood. It was good to be back home, that much was sure. After the tense days in Uzushio he welcomed the calm and quiet atmosphere of his home village. It was as if nothing bad could ever happen to the people here. So unlike the feeling of doom that constantly hung over the warring village he had visited before. Of course the peace was merely an illusion and the situation for Konoha was just as tense as in Uzushio. But with no open wars, the people did not suffer as much under the volatile situation their village was in.

Iwa had just started to arm itself, but Jiraiya was no fool. Sooner or later there would be a war. It could start any day now or maybe it will be some more years, but war would be inevitable. People had started to disappear both in Earth Country and the surrounding regions. Key figures, spies, whole Genin Teams. No one in Konoha could deny that Iwa was preparing for war.

But for today, just for this day, Jiraiya did not want to bother with this. His Sensei, the Hokage, would do that, but he would not. No at this very moment he had something else in mind. Another problem that was just as troubling for him and the Hokage, but not as dangerous... at least he hoped so.

He neared his current target, the Senju compound. Once it had been the home of the proud founders of Konoha and their families. But they were all long dead and the last living Senju avoided this place like the plague. Only the last ward of the Senju Clan remained here. And that ward was young Kushina Uzumaki.

Since they had returned to the village, she had not come out once. She even only spoke once during their return, in the office of the Hokage, during the debriefing. And she only spoke to resign as a kunoichi of the Leaf. She was so deadly serious that no one commented on her decision until she was gone. Of course the Hokage went ballistic because of her decision. But his anger was not directed at her, but at about everyone else in the office, especially her now former Sensei.

But now Jiraiya had something that would hopefully cheer her up a little. Something that would goad her out of the shell she had erected around herself.

With the Senju compound right in front of him now, he couldn't help but frown though. There, at the entrance, stood two ANBU, guarding the place carefully. Jiraiya was sure that there were more of them, but why they were here he did not know. And there was another person, trying to enter the compound, only to be rebuffed by the ANBU in a rather cold fashion.

"You, what do you think you are doing here?" Jiraiya asked. He now stood face to face with one of the guards, but the masked shinobi did his best to avoid answering the Sannin. "Are you deaf? I asked you something. Do you want me to take you to the Hokage for punishment? He is quite strict when it comes to insubordination."

"I am sorry to inform you, but as ANBU we are not under your command." The man replied evenly. But there was a slight tremble in his voice. He obviously feared to anger the Sannin.

"So the Hokage has sent you here?" He did not receive an answer to that question. "So he did not. Well, I'm sure the Hokage can get you to answer... when I take you to him." Jiraiya looked menacingly at the masked man. Oh how he hated this moment. His day had started so well and now this.

Fear finally seemed to get the better of the ANBU. "We are here on direct orders from the council... there is no need to bother the Hokage with this..."

"Koharu and Homura sent you?" The ANBU nodded curtly. "Then let me inform you, my dear friend, that those two have absolutely no say in what ANBU should and should not do. So you all better get the hell away from here, before I really involve my Sensei and make sure that you all get a nice day as test subjects for the Torture and Interrogation Department." Oh yes, scaring them was a good way to make up for the ruined morning. That and he would later go and do some more research for his secret project.

The ANBU hesitated for a moment. He looked around, towards the places where his comrades had hidden themselves, before he finally backed away slightly. "But we were ordered to make sure that the girl does not flee and..."

"Get lost." Jiraiya said with one final growl. The ANBU nearly fell, as he ran away as quick as his feet would carry him. There was no way he would risk trouble with Jiraiya. "And the next time I see you treating my student like this, you won't make it back to the ones who gave you your orders."

"Sensei, that was so cool." Minato said, as he looked at his teacher in awe.

"Thanks, Minato," Jiraiya said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But what exactly are you doing here?"

"I wanted to visit Kushina, to cheer her up, you know. But those ANBU wouldn't let me through. Said something about keeping her isolated until they were sure that she is stable... whatever that means."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in wonder, when he heard this. So they fear she might get tempted by the demon in her current condition... foolish idiots, they are only making things worse... Jiraiya thought.

"What did they mean by that, Sensei?"

"She is currently in a very... bad emotional condition. You know what has happened in Uzushio. It caused her to resign and now people are unsure how it might have affected her." Jiraiya did not like lying to Minato, but it was the only way to keep him from knowing the truth about Kushina's burden. "But I am currently on my way to bring her something that might cheer her up. You can tag along if you wish."

"Akahana! It's time. We have to take care of the seal now. Kami knows how long this might take." Arashi said as he looked into the tent, which his fiance had shared with Hotaru. The latter had been up for some time now, so only Akahana remained inside.

Arashi expected to see her sleep peacefully, but instead he saw her toss around restlessly, her face scrunched up for some reason. Whatever dream she had, it was not good, that much was obvious to Arashi. He didn't like the way she looked at that moment, so he got closer to shake her awake and end her obvious torment.

"Akahana..." He said softly as he shook her shoulder. At first there was no reaction, but with a sudden jolt the girl bolted up, her eyes wide open. At first she did not realize what was happening around her, before she finally snapped out of whatever dream she had been in. She was relieved, at least she looked like that to Arashi. That was before she realized how close she suddenly was to him. Their faces were so close, their noses nearly touched. But neither of them did anything to increase the distance. Akahana was still slightly disoriented and Arashi found himself rather intrigued with the blue eyes of his fiancé.

"Arashi..." Akahana stammered a bit surprised, before anger took over, "What are you trying to pull? Why are you in this tent?"

"I came to get you, so we can get rid of that seal on your back. But you were unresponsive when I called you, so I decided to wake you up and..."

"It's alright." She said quickly. At the moment she wanted to get out of this tent... and away from Arashi. He was far too close for her liking. She never allowed anyone, neither men nor women, to get this close to her, when she did not know how much she could trust them. Too many had tried to kill her by playing nice, she nearly died once because she was careless. And though Arashi was to be her husband in the future, he was currently little more than a stranger. And she never trusted strangers.

"Don't try to pull that bullshit on me. What kind of nightmare causes someone to toss around like that?"

"It is none of your concern!" She hissed dangerously, but he wouldn't relent.

"It is my business. I demand to know what this was about. Was it a nightmare about the torture you had to suffer through?"

Akahana snorted derisively when she heard the word 'demand'. "You cannot demand anything of me. There are things I will not talk about and you will accept that." She said, before she tried to pull herself up from the ground, so she could leave the tent. But Arashi pushed her back down again, much to her annoyance. She hated feeling powerless, but since nearly everything she knew depended on Chakra, he could easily overpower her at the moment.

"Akahana, you don't have to face this alone. You said you decided to marry me so you can stay with your family and help the clan. But you are part of the clan, too, so let me help you for Kami's sake." Arashi glared at her for a moment, as he pinned her down to the ground. Her defiance seemed to wane slightly, but he would not get answers this day.

"Oops. Am I interrupting something? I can come back later." Hotaru said, as she saw Arashi and Akahana inside the tent, in a rather... compromising situation. The quirky Uzumaki girl smirked when she saw a flustered Arashi, who tried to find the right words to get out of this situation with his dignity intact.

"No, we are done here." Akahana said, as she pushed Arashi away. He was too distracted to react in time, so she easily escaped and left the tent.

"Uhm... sorry?" Hotaru said, as she saw Arashi's annoyed look. "Really, I did not mean to interrupt you, I was just looking for my pouch. I forgot it here when I left earlier and then I saw you two and just blurted that out and..."

"Hotaru!" She stopped mid sentence when she heard him say her name, "Just shut up." He growled, before he pushed past the amused girl, so he could follow Akahana.

Outside Arashi could see Akahana leaning against a tree near the place where Naoki was preparing some scrolls about sealing, which he believed to be useful for his work. With a keen eye she scrutinized everything she could see. To Arashi it was obvious that she no stranger to sealing of this caliber, something that oddly pleased him quite a bit. It would not do for any Uzumaki to lack the knowledge of this art. So far he had not been able to verify how much she knew, but the way she looked at Naoki's work, it showed understanding that needed more than just a solid basis.

"Naoki, let's begin. The sooner we have taken care of that seal, the sooner we can hunt down that traitor." Naoki nodded in consent, before he turned towards Akahana.

"Akahana-sama, I will need unobstructed access to the seal on your back. Could you please... could you... I mean..." Naoki started to stammer when it hit him, what he was about to ask her.

"The little perv wants you to take off your top." Hotaru chirped happily, as she gave Naoki a dirty look. "Don't worry, Akahana-sama, if the perv tries anything it would be my pleasure to make him scream … very high pitched." Naoki shuddered when he saw the glint in Hotaru's eyes, much to her satisfaction.

"Let's get this over with." Akahana said with a sight, as she turned away from Naoki and Arashi, before she pulled her top off. "And stop with that whole sama stuff, it's freaking me out." She set down on the ground, her back facing to Naoki, her hands clutching her top to her chest to protect at least a bit of her modesty. In fact it did not bother her much whether the others would see her this exposed.

She had been raised without certain inhibitions. Being too shy would have been hindering during her missions, a kunoichi had to use her body to her advantage after all. But with these people, her clansmen, she felt like she should act differently. She did not want them to think less of her, just because of what she had been taught in the past. They might misunderstand her. She was no harlot or anything of that kind. She had been taught to seduce and used that training. But she had never allowed anyone to touch her.

Naoki hesitated for a moment, as he saw Akahana's bare back. He was surprised, for all he knew about this woman, she was not what he expected. It was common knowledge that the granddaughter of their clan leader was a seasoned fighter that has lived through much. It had been the center of all gossip in Uzushio. It was the reason many distrusted and even feared her. She was unknown and extremely dangerous. A frightening combination. But looking at her now, she did not look like a fighter at all. She looked... vulnerable. Her skin was unmarred, no scars, no blemishes. Nothing but the pale skin of her back and the seal on it. No one with a past like hers would look like this.

"Stop staring at my fiancé like a piece of meat and get to work." Arashi growled at his teammate. Akahana merely rolled her eyes when she heard Arashi's words, an action which caused Hotaru to laugh merrily.

"This seal is very intricate and powerful, Akahana-sama." He stopped slightly when he heard her mutter something in an angry tone. Though whether it was because of what he said about the seal or the fact that he used the honorific again, he did not know.

"Can you get rid of it?" Arashi asked sternly. He just wanted to get over with this. They had a traitor to kill... and he did not want any stranger, who might happen upon them, to see his fiancé like this.

"I can destroy the seal, but I will need help from both of you." Naoki said, as he first looked at Arashi, than at Hotaru. "It is very powerful and will require a lot of power to destroy. Whoever did this was very knowledgeable in the sealing arts."

"Then it wasn't Akihiro. The damn bastard couldn't even seal away a Kunai without blowing up the room."

"This must be Tobi's work. Please, Naoki, hurry and get rid of this seal. We don't have any time to waste." Akahana said. She wanted her Chakra back, to feel alive again. Without it she felt like only half a person.

"This will hurt a lot. We need to destroy the seal, with more time I would have studied it further to find a better way, but..."

"Just do it. I'm no stranger to pain. I will manage." Akahana replied confidently. She did not see the way Arashi looked at her when she said that. He already knew that he would get his answers from her. Sooner or later she would tell him about her past. This Tobi was just one part of her past and he already was a huge danger to her and the clan. If there was more, he would have to know.

A/N: Well this was a tad bit different. I know very short and all and no fighting at all. Well you can see this is sort of a filler chapter. I just wanted this to show a bit more about Akahana's current relationship with Arashi... and of course to give some more information about Kushina.

Next chapter there will be some fighting, I promise. And there will be some more time with Minato and Kushina, so don't worry, I have not forgotten them.