The next day, everyone decided what he or she was going to do. Neji and Ten Ten asked Hinata to oversee their training and give them a few pointers. People were minding their own business when a giant snake loomed over the village. On top of its head stood Kabuto, half taken over by Orochimaru. Next to them flew a giant clay bird, on which members of Akatsuki were standing.

"Oh shoot," Naruto muttered. He summoned the SPIRAL captain. "Captain, I need you to tell the genin and chunin to evacuate the villagers to the safe-hold. They should follow the villagers and guard them, okay?" The man nodded.

Naruto jumped out of his window and used his air-walking technique to run over to the front of the village where some of his ninja were trying to hold them off. Naruto formed hand seals and jumped to the ground shouting,

"Kuchiyose! Kyuubi no Yoko!" The tall form of Kyuubi loomed over the snake.

"Goodbye Manda," Kyuubi said. He blew a fireball in Manda's direction. Manda shed his skin and dove underground. As he was about to come up, Kyuubi grabbed Manda with his claws and slashed at its face. Manda, heavily bleeding, turned to Kabuto.

"Consider our contract void, that is what you get for summoning me against Kyuubi no Yoko!" Manda disappeared in a puff of smoke along with Kyuubi.

Thanks Yoko, I couldn't have driven Manda away without your summoning contract, Naruto thought.

No problem, kit.

Back in the real world, the four Akatsuki members jumped off the bird. Deidara, Tobi, Itachi, and Kisame were the people that had been sent by Pein to gather information on the Kyuubi jinchuriki and his village.

"Looks pretty strong to me," commented Kisame, as he watched them battle Kabuto.

Kabuto was currently fighting Kurenai, Neji, Ten Ten, and Hinata. He had been trapped in one of Kurenai's Genjutsu. He broke it, and Kurenai jumped back. She couldn't risk the life of her child by continuing on. Neji and Ten Ten distracted Kabuto, and Hinata stealthily moved behind him. Just as she was about to kill him, Tsunade punched him with a chakra-laden fist. He flew away, and one of the SPIRALS went to go get the body. When he returned with the body, he set it next to Naruto and Tsunade. As Tsunade was making sure he was dead, Kabuto injected a slow-acting poison into Naruto's leg. He then dropped his hand, and drew his last breath.

The Akatsuki watched, and they decided that they had enough information.

"Aw, but I wanted to cut some people up!" whined Kisame. Itachi replaced himself with a clone, and quietly made his way to Hinata. He appeared next to her, and tapped her shoulder. As soon as Hinata saw who it was, she settled into a stance.

"Sh, I'm only here to tell you that an old demon is not yet dead, one who hides in plain sight, who wants the power of a ten-tailed myth," Itachi told her. He faded away again.

Once the villains left, everyone started rebuilding. The village was running again in a week, thanks to Naruto's shadow clones. The villagers were released from the safe house, and everything was almost normal. Tsunade and Shizune checked over everyone, and gave him or her a clean bill of health after the healing.

Just as things seemed to settle down, something else happened. One day when Naruto was in his office, he began to cough. His coughing got worse and worse, and then he started to cough up blood. Tsunade and Shizune were immediately called to see what was wrong.

Tsunade did a full body scan of Naruto.

Everything seems to be normal, but wait...what's this? Tsunade thought. She examined it closer. Paling, Tsunade stepped back. She cleaned up, and walked into the waiting room.

"So, Tsunade-sama how is Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worriedly. Tsunade shook her head.

"Naruto...Naruto has been poisoned. It was a slow-acting poison, so I didn't notice it at first. He...has three months to live, unless we find an antidote."

"Well...can...can w-we find it?" Hinata asked, tears pricking her eyes.

"I don't know. This poison is extremely high level, and the antidote comes from one plant. The Kansui Roze, or Submerged Rose, only grows underwater. There is said to be only one in existence at a particular time."

"Then we must find this rose," Hinata said with determination. She assembled a squad consisting of herself, Neji, Ten Ten, Shizune, and Takara, who was now a SPIRAL captain.

Good luck, Tsunade thought as they left. She looked at Naruto. For your sake, I hope they find it.

Hinata, Neji, Ten Ten, Shizune, and Takara trekked through the woods to Fushigi Lake. Once they got there, they began the search for the Kansui Roze. Hinata and Neji activated their Byakugan and looked around. Ten Ten and Shizune dove into the water to search. Taki summoned her turtles to look for it. An hour later, everyone met back up.

"Anything?" asked Hinata hopefully. They shook their head.

The search continued this way for two weeks. They searched several rivers, lakes, and streams, but they found nothing. A letter from Tsunade arrived one day by slug.

Hinata,

You need to find the rose as soon as possible. Naruto's condition has worsened, and he only has about a week at most.

Yours Truly,

Tsunade

Tears began to fill Hinata's eyes.

We'll never be able to find it in time! We've been looking for two weeks and haven't the slightest clue! And now...now we have only a week! Hinata thought dejectedly. She got up and walked to the lake that they were camping by.

Stripping off her outside clothes, Hinata jumped in with only her undershirt and pants on. She breathed out as she sunk lower in the water. Tears rolled down her cheek and blended with the water.

What's wrong? asked a voice in Hinata's head.

"Who's there?" Hinata asked.

I am the guardian of this lake, Kaiyou. You are?

"Namikaze Hinata."

You can speak in your mind, you know. Anyways, why were you crying, child?

Well, My husband has been poisoned, and the only way to save him is through the antidote that is created from the Kansui Roze.

Ah, I see. What if I offered to help you?

Why would you do that?

I can feel that you are a water type, and that I take pity on your situation.

I need no one's pity!

All right, don't accept my help and save you husband...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, can you please help me?

Yes, but first you must bring a sealing scroll here. The second that the rose touches air, it will start to wilt. Even sealing it will not stop the process.

I see why you want me to seal it underwater, but how will I get the scroll underwater?

I will teach you a waterproofing seal.

Thank you.

The seal appeared in Hinata's mind, and she got a scroll. After painting the waterproofing seal next the storage seal, Hinata brought it back to Kaiyou.

Here, I'll send a fish to show you where it is. Do you know how to breath underwater?

Yes.

Okay, Nishin, please escort Hinata-chan here to the Kansui Roze.

Hinata saw a fish swim up to her. It beckoned with its fin, and Hinata swam after it. Nishin took her to an underwater cave. In the middle, surrounded by a couple fish, was the most beautiful rose that Hinata had ever seen. Several colors were depicted on the petals of the rose; there were blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and purples. Hinata swam up the seal the rose. As she did, she became aware of a person on a ledge just above the water.

"Halt, who goes there?" asked a voice.

"Namikaze Hinata."

"Hinata-san, what reason do you have for taking the rose?" A figure revealed itself.

"Who are you?" Hinata asked.

" I am the guardian of the Kansui Roze, Ningyo Irie. However, I will ask you again, what is your reason for taking the rose?"

"If I don't get this rose, my village healer will not be able to save my husband. Please, Irie-sama, let me have the rose to cure my husband!" Tears mixed with the water as Hinata pleaded with Irie.

"Very well, I see you motives were true."

"Thank you, thank you!" Hinata swam over to the rose, and sealed it into her scroll. She quickly swam back to her camp, and got out of the water. Not bothering to dry off, Hinata donned her outer clothes and ran back to camp.

"I've found it! I've found it!" she cried. Everyone came out to meet her. "We must get back to the village as soon as possible!"

They packed up the camp and raced back to Uzugakure as fast as possible. Hinata cradled the scroll in her arms the whole way. They finally got to Uzugakure, and burst into the hospital.

"We've found it! It's here!"

Tsunade hurriedly created the antidote. She barked out orders to the frightened nurses. Thankfully, Uzugakure had a vast amount of medical herbs, thanks to Hinata.

"I need safflower and the basil now! Hot water too!" Tsunade steeped the ingredients in hot water, and brought the tea to Naruto's room. Shizune and Hinata stood at his bedside. Hinata gripped Naruto's hand.

"Ladies," Tsunade said. She stepped forward and opened Naruto's mouth to pour the tea down his throat.

"There. Now he should awaken within two days. If he is not awake by sunrise on the third, well..." Tsunade trailed off.

Everyday after that, Hinata would stand at his bedside. She waited and waited; pleading to every god she knew to save him. At the end of the second day, she grew desperate.

Naruto-kun, please, please wake up, I don't know if I can live without you...

"Naruto-kun, if you can here me, please, I need you to wake up. Our villagers and ninja, along with all of our friends, want you...no, they need you to wake up. Myself included. If you died, I...I don't know what I'd do with myself. I might be strong enough to run Uzu without you, or... or I might succumb to depression, like Hikari-baachan..."

Hinata stared into Naruto's face. She thought she saw a movement. As the sky lightened, she paled.

Oh Kami, please, his time is almost up! Hinata thought. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

"Ugh, Hinata-chan?" Surprised, Hinata threw her arms around Naruto.

"Naruto-kun! I thought you were going to die!" She was now sobbing into his chest.

"Come now, you know me better than that... I would never, ever, leave this world without you..."