Hello, Readers! That's all I'm gonna say.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, period.

Chapter 11: Master's Plans

"What do you want with me?" Hinata asked, still trying to sound brave.

"I want you for my collection," the figure answered in that deep familiar voice.

Collection? What was he talking about?

She was going to ask, but he beat her to it. "What's my collection, you ask? Well, it's my pride and joy!" he grinned even larger and then his smile disappeared. "And it's the only thing I can do to keep myself busy. When you've been banished to this place," - he waved his arms around to indicate the stone room - "you have to find something to keep from boredom!"

"Wh-what's your collection?"

The figure looked at her for a moment. "Don't you think it's too dark here?" he changed the subject. He picked up something that was sitting on his lap. He put it up near his mouth and talked into it. "Kiro, I want more light!"

"O-okay, Master!" was the reply. Hinata found that that was a walkie-talkie he was speaking into.

She heard something moving on the ceiling. Above them, two pairs of feet were quickly jogging to the middle of the roof. The middle of the roof was just the middle from Hinata to the stone throne. Something big was being moved. Hinata looked up to see faint light coming through a crack. The crack became bigger until the whole room was finally filled with more of the sun's rays. The thing that was on top was actually another huge stone tablet that covered the rectangle hole used as "more light." The hole was big; it was about the size of the second platform the throne was sitting one.

The light hurt Hinata's eyes, even though she'd only been in the darkness for a few minutes. She forced herself to get used to it again then looked back down. She could finally see what the Master's face looked like, and it shocked her.

It was an older version of Ryu.

Please Review!

I'm just kidding; this isn't really the end, but I do think that there needs to be a little break here, to get you guys all tense.
It's okay, you can skip this.
By the way, the figure is about mid-40's
I'm not really good at describing things as you might have noticed the past chapters. Just try to imagine it as best you can!

"Ryu..." Hinata whispered.

"What's that, girl?"

"Are you Ryu's father?"

The Master laughed. "No, I am Ryu!"

This shocked Hinata even more. What was he talking about? He couldn't be that boy from the woods. Ryu was young and this one was...old.

As if reading her mind, he asked, "Oh, are you looking for this Ryu?" He pointed to the left of Hinata. Hinata tilted her head back and saw a tall figure. The man looked proffessional, having his hands behind his back and looking straight ahead. However, he looked down at her for a moment, so she could see his face. It was Ryu. The one she met in the forest.

He was wearing dark clothes, not the clothes he first wore. She tilted her head back down.

Hinata felt like crying. She had trusted him so much, and then he turned out to be with the kidnappers. A tear dropped on to the floor before the Master continued.

"That Ryu is fake. He's just made out of my special jutsu. He's the younger me, when I was about your age."

"I'm asking you again," Hinata said, anger replacing hurt. "What do you want with me?" Her teeth were clenched to keep from suddenly sobbing.

"I told you: for my collection. Ah, you mean why you're a part of this?" older Ryu's evil smirk once again formed on his face. "You see, I'm collecting people with Kekkei Genkai."

Hinata's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. Wasn't she...?

"And the Byakugan is the only one I don't have."

Even though the girl wasn't looking at him, he could still see that she was very surprised. He was so excited to have finally completed his collection that he almost missed what the Byakugan girl asked.

"Why me?"

(Real) Ryu frowned once again. He was getting tired of all the explanations. "You're a Hyuga, right? The Hyuga has those special branches thing and that seal of yours. I've always loved the Byakugan and its incredible powers! So I wanted to study it. I finally found a man who had the eyes, so I 'invited' him over. I studied him. When they found out about my work, they banished me! Banishment!" he said this as if he went to jail because he smashed an insect.

"I was sent to this room for an eternity, and I was bored beyond my years! I explored the surroundings around me. I know every tree and boulder in this area. After three years, I met Kiro. He was also banished here because he's been murdering families for their money. We formed a partnership and I showed him my jutsu while he showed me his. One day he asked me what we should do. I had no answer. Then I thought about starting a collection! I was going to collect leaves, but he said that was too boring. So I told him about the famous Byakugan and he suggested to start collecting Kekkei Genkai. That was genius! He said that since it was my idea to start the collection, I should be the leader. Meanwhile, he'll go get the things I would need for my collection.

"I told him to get me a person with a Byakugan. So, without permission, he sneaked out of our 'prison' one night and managed to capture a Hyuga man. When I killed him to get the eyes, the Byakugan was suddenly gone! It was just a regular eye!"

Killed?

"Kiro tried again and got a woman this time. I did the same treatment, and her Byakugan vanished also! Then I noticed that this woman had the same green mark on her forehead as the man. So I studied it. Turns out that the seal will seal away the person's Byakugan when dead! I was so frustrated with this. After calming me down, Kiro told me that they should collect something else first, so I let him kidnap other people with a Kekkei Genkai. After five years of collecting, Kiro died fighting an Uchiha. How did I know this news? I was there with him." Ryu looked down at his lap, remembering the times.

This wasn't making sense to Hinata, though. Wasn't he just calling Kiro over the radio?

The man took a deep breath and continued his story. "With my special jutsu, I was able to make another of him, and a companion to go along with him. I continued collecting after ten years, took a three year break for my collection was almost done, and then started again. This time, I was after the Byakugan. Only members of the Main house have no seals, and I found a nearby village that contained the Hyuga. So new Kiro and Jug flew to there for me and spied on your clan."

And this time they got me, the collectee thought. Everything was beginning to feel hopeless. Hinata tried to hide her face as much as possible, because she didn't want the two Ryus to see her crying.

Then, Hinata heard a faint scream. It was faint, but it echoed through the hallway that she just noticed that was near her feet. It echoed all the way through and into the room.

"RASENGAN!"

"WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR, NARUTO?!" Neji shouted.

"You saw how it couldn't open! I had to do something!" Naruto argued back.

"You didn't have to smash the wall!"

"Why not?!"

"You ruined our surprise tactic!"

Naruto shut up. He forgot about that. He was just so excited about finally saving Hinata.

"Never mind," Shino cut in. "We need to go in now."

They ran through the dark hallway, seeing a bright light at the end.

Back in the room, the back wall that was a door flew in, all crumbled in pieces and smoke lifting out. Ryu stood up from his throne.

"What's all this commotion?!" he asked.

The fake Ryu automatically blocked the entrance on the hallway. Hinata tried as hard she could to see what was happening.

Naruto, being in front, was the first to notice a person blocking the light.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Move out of the way!" The person didn't move.

He didn't have time for this; he really needed to get Hinata back.

So, without thinking, he clenched his fists, and once more puched the person blocking the way to his friend.

Please Review!

This time it's the real thing.
I didn't know how to end this one, well actually I did but then I'd have to create more scenes and I was just too lazy to. -_-
Anyway, I'll tell you a secret:
I have no idea how to end this story.
I don't think that far ahead. I just think about the next chapter.

If you got confused on (real) Ryu's past, don't worry about it. I got confused too.