Tears streamed down Naruto's face.

"You've got to be kidding me. When will this end?" he said hopelessly.

Tsunade shook her head.

"Maybe never. Who knows. This clan is apparently pretty desperate and malicious." she said.

Naruto grabbed the chair he was sitting on and threw it into the wall angrily. He was shaking violently.

"Dammit! Why can't they just leave her alone? She hasn't done anything!" He screamed angrily.

Tsunade was taken aback a bit. She stood up.

"Naruto! Calm down!" She begged.

Naruto growled and pulled his hands roughly through his hair. He sighed and put his hands at his sides.

"So what's the plan?" He asked, looking at the ground.

Tsunade sat back down.

"Well, naturally we need to send some kind of rescue team after them."

Naruto nodded.

"I'm in."He said determinedly

Tsunade chuckled.

"I kinda figured." She said.

"We're going too."

Tsunade looked past Naruto. Kiba, Shino, and Neji stood in the doorway to her office. Kiba stepped forward.

"We're going after her." He repeated.

Tsunade nodded.

"It seems that your team has been made then." She said.

She had expected these boys to step up.

"Count us in too."

Tsunade looked past the Konoha boys. Kankuro and Temari stood behind the group of volunteers. Tsunade blinked in surprise.

"I see."

She put her elbows on her desk and laced her fingers in front of her face.

"I don't have any authority to assign you to this mission." she said plainly.

"We've already contacted Gaara-kun. He gave us permission to help in any way we could." Temari reported.

Naruto smiled gratefully at his friends. Tsunade chortled.

"Hinata-sama would he surprised to see how many people care about her." She commented.

She looked at Naruto.

"Alright, that makes two teams. I'll just have to assign you two jonnin then you'll be able to get going." She said.

"Well I suppose I'll have to go to keep tabs on Naruto-kun." Kakashi said from the window.

Tsunade turned to look at him, annoyed.

"Dammit, don't I have any control over who's in my office anymore?" she said disgruntled.

Kakashi jumped down and shrugged nonchalantly, which ticked her off even more. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She waved her hand dismissively.

"Fine, Kakashi-san is assigned Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, and Shino-kun. Neji-san, Temari-san, and Kankuro-san will form a temporary Team Shikamaru. You can leave whenever." she said.

Four days. Four days dragged on forever. Each was similar to the first. Hinata woke to a ready made breakfast and a new custom-fit dress. Then Kasako would escort her to a bath and back and attend to her needs for the rest of the day. She spent all day locked in her room. She spent most of her time trying to get to know Kasako but, apparently, either the girl had been told not to communicate with her or she was even more shy than Hinata had once been. She never spoke much above a whisper. In fact, the loudest she had ever been was when she stood up to Kinoji on that first day. That was another thing. Every day, they would pass Kinoji in the hallway. He would mess with Kasako. He would trip her or spit at her. One day he pretended that he had been talking about her and when she came near, he laughed as if she had something on her face. Hinata felt sorry for Kasako. She seemed to be the underdog here.

On the fifth day, something completely unexpected happened. It started out a s a normal day. Hinata and Kasako were sitting in Hinata's room. Hinata sat on the bed and Kasako stood in the corner by the door, waiting to be called on. She was looking down at the floor, seemingly deep in thought. Then there was a loud pounding on the door. Kasako jumped and quickly opened the door. Kanaka stepped in. She glanced at Hinata then at Kasako.

"Boss wants to see her. Tonight. For dinner. Can you manage that?" she said curtly.

Kasako nodded.

"She'll need a gown." she commented

"We're having one made right now. It will be here a half hour before dinner. Make sure she's ready by then." Kanaka replied.

Then she left just as abruptly as she came. Kasako looked at the door, playing with her hands nervously. She sighed.

"I could use a little help." she mumbled to herself.

Hinata got up and walked over to her.

"W-why does he want to have dinner with me?" she asked.

Kasako shook her head.

"I don't know." she replied quietly.

She looked at Hinata.

"But we need to make sure you're ready."

She put her finger to her lips on looked at the floor.

"I wonder if it would be alright." she mumbled under hr breath.

Hinata looked at her curiously.

"What?"

Kasako jumped as if Hinata had startled her.

"Well, I was thinking about taking you down to the hot springs. It would be the perfect place to clean up and get you looking your best." she replied.

She thought about it a bit more.

"Well, they asked me to get you ready so that's what I intend to do." she said finally.

Nobody tried to stop them as they made their way down the winding staircase. Hinata was used to people talking about her by now. She felt a shiver go up her spine when they passed by Kinoji. He didn't attempt any of his usual antics as Kasako passed. Hinata sighed in relief. Kasako led Hinata outside to a small building. The hot spring was wonderful. Hinata was treated like a princess. She soaked in the spring, was massaged and pampered, and given the best beauty treatments. Afterward, they went back up to her room. When Kasako opened the door, Hinata gasped in surprise. In the room was a glass display case filled with the most spectacular jewels Hinata had ever seen and, hanging up next to it, was a dress of equally stunning quality. (Use your imagination.)

As Kasako was helping Hinata into the dress, her hand came to rest on Hinata's baby bump. Her eyes changed from their regular nervousness to a look of wonder. Hinata smiled knowingly.

"What's it like?" Kasako asked quietly.

"Being pregnant?" Hinata asked.

Kasako shook her head. Hinata looked at her curiously.

"Well then, what?"

Kasako looked up at Hinata. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and longing.

"What is it like...to be loved?" she asked in a broken voice.

Hinata's heart broke. Perhaps it was her motherly instinct kicking in or her own sympathetic heart overflowing with compassion. She smiled sadly.

"Its…indescribable. Its...scary and...wonderful...and it very well could be the best and the hardest thing about life."

Kasako looked at her curiously.

"I've never heard it put that way before. Most people just say it's wonderful" She said.

Hinata nodded.

"It is, but it's also terrifying, emotional, uncontrollable, and true love is nearly impossible to find. It's not easy to be in love. It means that someone has control of your heart. They can hurt you so badly, but you have to trust that they'll take care of you. And that can be so hard sometimes."

Tears streamed down Hinata's cheeks.

"Its even harder when you're away from eachother. It tears you apart inside." She said, her voice catching.

Kasako's tears spattered on the ground. She looked at Hinata, the invisible barrier that had always been between them suddenly shattered.

"So then...all this time...you've been suffering?" she asked, lip quivering.

Hinata nodded.

Kasako fished a cloth out of her pocket and offered it to Hinata, who gratefully accepted it. Hinata gently dabbed away her tears. She smiled at Kasako and put a hand on her cheek. Kasako flinched but didn't pull away. She looked at Hinata trustingly. Hinata took the cloth and dabbed away Kasako's tears.

"But you're suffering too, arent you? And I know how much more painful suffering can be when you're alone." she said in a motherly tone.

Kasako stared at Hinata with child-like wonder. She understood her? She knew how she felt? Howcould that be? Boht girls jumpped when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Dinner's ready! Hurry up! The boss is waiting!" Kanaka sreeched from the other side of the door.