Hi again! Are you having fun figuring out what's going on with Naruto? It's just so sad that he had a reputation as a prankster. If he didn't, it would probably make things easier on him. Stay tuned for more.

FantomoDrako will add whatever else needs to be said at the bottom.

DISCLAIMER: We don't own Naruto - that honor belongs to Kishimoto and the plot belongs to the both of us.

Chapter Three: Mysteries

It didn't take long for Naruto to get ready to head over to Sakura's. This time he had his lines memorized and ready to fire. He hoped that seeing Sakura wouldn't make them fly out of his head. He knew from experience that things never went according to plan.

'You're not letting her barrel over you this time,' he told himself mentally. 'You've got proof that this isn't in your head. …Will she let me use a glass of water?'

It seemed that in no time at all he was knocking on the door of Sakura's house and waiting anxiously for her to answer. On second thought, maybe he shouldn't have come over too early. But wouldn't she be awake at eight-thirty in the morning?

Naruto's internal fretting drew to a close as he heard the lock click and saw the door open a crack.

He decided to bounce right into his monologue. "Good morning, Sakura! I wanted to greet you with a bright 'Good morning!' and now guess I have so now I'll just bring you a nice breakfast but I guess I forgot…" Crap…he'd gone off track. A glint in Sakura's eye told him that he was in trouble; Naruto gulped, grinning innocently.

"Is that all?" Sakura asked slowly, her eyebrow twitching with impatience. "You knocked on my door at eight-thirty in the morning just to wish me a good morning and bring me a breakfast that isn't even in your possession?"

Naruto rubbed his head, trying to come up with a good excuse so that Sakura wouldn't kick him out before he could tell her what he'd found out the previous night. He didn't have any time.

"If that's everything," Sakura continued in a mock-pleasant tone, "I'll just go now."

She made to close the door. Naruto panicked and shoved his foot in the crack; he winced when the door squashed it between the frame and itself.

"Hang on a moment, Sakura." He decided to just jump straight into the topic. "That's not the only reason I came here. I just wanted to ease into it, you know? But it was kind of a stupid reason so I guess that you can just whack…me…on the…head…" He trailed off when he could see that Sakura was seriously contemplating hacking off his offending foot with a kunai. "Don't do what you're thinking of doing!" he blurted out.

"And what am I thinking of?"

"You're thinking of hacking off my foot, right? See, I really wouldn't do that unless you're actually able to reattach it. I kind of need it."

"I can't," Sakura said nastily. "But you better get to the point instead of rambling off on different tangents before I decide to follow through on my unspoken threat."

"Remember what I talked about when I came yesterday?" Naruto asked.

"In fact, I do." Sakura opened the door wider, relieving the pressure on Naruto's foot. He resisted the urge to rub it. "Wasn't it about the 'magnified hearing' you were imagining?"

"That's the thing! It's not my imagination after all!" Naruto said triumphantly. "I experimented a bit last night and it happened again! So now that I know I can do it, I know it's not in my imagination!"

Sakura thought that through for a moment. She leaned against the doorframe. "And you're sure about this? You weren't dreaming?"

"No! I wasn't dreaming!" Naruto cried exasperatedly. "Look, if you still doubt me, why don't we do this right now? You go into a different room for five minutes, do a bunch of stuff, and then come back and ask me what you did."

"How do I know you won't be standing outside the door eavesdropping?" Sakura said suspiciously.

"You can mutter stuff, too," Naruto suggested. "Make it so quiet that I can't hear you properly unless I really do have that magnified hearing that isn't in my imagination."

"All right," Sakura said. "I'll do it. You sit here in the living room." She sat Naruto down on the floor. "I'll go into a different room and do a bunch of stuff."

"Can I have a glass of water?" Naruto asked before Sakura left. "I need something to focus on in order for this to work."

"Sure." Sakura was back in two minutes with a full glass of water. "I'm going now," she warned. "This better work." Her voice held a hidden threat in it.

"It will. Don't worry," Naruto said confidently, assuming a meditating pose and staring at the glass of water.

His focus was such that he didn't even notice Sakura leave the room. He kept his breathing steady, focusing on inhaling and exhaling while keeping his attention centred on the still water in the glass before him.

Then, a second later, his senses were suddenly assaulted with a rush of noise. He fought to keep his focus among the chaos and closed his eyes, still breathing in and out. Naruto directed his attention to the telltale voice of his crush. She was in the bedroom.

"This better work," he could hear her muttering under her breath. "I'll kill him if he's just wasting my time again. I've still got a ton of work to do!"

Naruto was amazed at the clarity with which he could hear her. It was as if she was standing across the room and speaking normally. Then, of course, there were also the noises she was making.

Splash!

He guessed that she had just emptied a jug of water.

Flap!

The bedspread, maybe?

Squeak!

That sounded like the window. Sure enough, Naruto could hear a thud as Sakura quietly—for her—closed the window.

Then he heard a door open and close. Before he could snap out of his trance, Sakura had entered the room.

"Well?" she asked.

Naruto winced as her voice pierced his sensitive eardrums. His eyes flew open and the meditative trance he had entered vanished. Immediately, everything returned to normal. He briefly regretted the loss but then backtracked when Sakura continued talking.

"What did I do?"

"You started muttering," Naruto said, feeling satisfied when her eyes widened with surprise. "I think your exact words were, 'This better work. I'll kill him if he's just wasting my time again. I've still got a ton of work to do.'"

"You eavesdropped," Sakura accused. But it didn't sound so sure anymore.

"Then you emptied a jug of water," Naruto continued. "I think you rearranged your bedspread, opened and closed a window, and then came in here again. I'm pretty sure that was less than five minutes," he added.

"It felt like five minutes," Sakura murmured, still staring at Naruto. "You really weren't joking, were you?"

"I thought I already confirmed that," Naruto said, irritated.

"How'd you find out that it wasn't your imagination?" Sakura queried.

"I never thought it was my imagination!" Naruto said indignantly. "For your information, I was able to figure out how it worked last night. All I have to do is empty my mind—hence the glass."

"It's definitely interesting," Sakura admitted. "You're saying that this is a new thing, right?"

"I would have run to someone way earlier if it weren't new."

"Did you do any new jutsus recently?"

Naruto thought back to the last few days. All he had really done was physical training and some chakra exercises. It wasn't anything that would cause a dramatic change in his hearing. "No," he said finally. "Nothing new. Can we see Granny Tsunade now?"

"Lady Hokage!" Sakura snapped, horrified that Naruto could be so rude.

"Answer the question," Naruto said reasonably, aware that getting riled up wouldn't get him anywhere with his friend.

"I guess we should," Sakura said reluctantly. "I don't know what's up with your hearing. Lady Hokage might, though."

"Can we go now?" Naruto jumped to his feet. "She should be up now, right?"

"I think she got up at five," Sakura said, glancing at the clock: 8:55. "She should be in her office."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto said excitedly, eager to get this anomaly explained. "Let's go!"

Sakura couldn't help but smile a bit at Naruto's enthusiasm. This was the Naruto she knew. She still had to tackle one last matter before they left, though.

"By the way, you didn't really make breakfast for me, did you?"

"Eh…no. It was an excuse."

"I think it stunk."

"My breakfasts don't stink!"

"That's because all you eat is ramen."

"That's not true!"

She raised an eyebrow, daring him to protest.

"OK. Maybe it is. Can we go now?"

"Is it normal that she's sleeping at this time?" Naruto was staring at a drooling Tsunade, who was fast asleep on her desk among piles of paperwork. "Shouldn't she be doing something…Hokage-like?"

"She needs her rest!" Sakura defended her mentor.

"At this time in the morning?"

Sakura didn't really have an answer to that. She just stared at the sleeping leader of Konoha. "Should we wake her?"

Naruto didn't answer her. He just jumped to Tsunade's side and started poking her in the shoulder. "Think she wakes up easily?"

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, horrified at Naruto's action. "She's probably really—"

"Hah!" Tsunade suddenly woke up and attacked Naruto much to the blond's alarm. He ducked her arm and sprang to Sakura's side, whistling innocently much to the kunoichi's chagrin.

"Lady Hokage!" Sakura yelped, drawing up to her full height and dwarfing Naruto by a grand two inches. In his defence, his hair made up an inch by itself. "Did you, er, have a good sleep?"

"Shouldn't you be working by now?" Naruto asked bluntly. "Why are you sleeping anyway?"

Tsunade looked thoroughly disgruntled at the sight of the blonde. "Great. It's you."

Naruto instantly took offence at that. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded.

"Just that you give me a headache every time you open your mouth," Tsunade explained without missing a beat.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he reigned in his temper. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Tsunade switched her gaze to her apprentice. Sakura gulped and waited for Tsunade's reprimand. "What are you doing here already? Did you finish the work I assigned you?"

Sakura mentally sighed in relief, preparing her answer. "No, not yet. Naruto bothered me about this…problem."

"Is he out of ramen?"

"No!" Naruto protested. "It has to do with my hearing."

"Has it gotten worse or something?" Tsunade asked, not really interested. "You're obviously not getting my subtle message that I don't want you here at this time. Didn't I tell you just yesterday that I don't have a mission for you?"

"It's not a joke!" Naruto said at the same time that Sakura said, "It's gotten better, actually."

Tsunade looked between the two shinobis. "Excuse me?"

"What I'm saying is," Sakura began, elbowing Naruto in the side, "that Naruto's hearing has gotten significantly better. He came to me last night with this seemingly wild story about how he could hear things like heartbeats and people whispering things from fifty metres away. He couldn't replicate it last night so I thought it was his imagination."

"Which it isn't?" Tsunade was getting intrigued.

"No. This morning he came to me saying that he can do it. I experimented by entering a different room for five minutes—"

"It wasn't five minutes," Naruto interrupted.

"Shut it," Sakura said under her breath, squashing Naruto's foot with her own.

"Ow!" Naruto hopped away, nursing his injured foot.

"As I was saying, I entered a different room for a few minutes," Sakura continued, "and did a few activities. I know for a fact that Naruto didn't eavesdrop because he was in the room when I came back, meditating on a glass of water, and had heard what I muttered, able to recite it word for word. He was also able to tell that I'd emptied my jug of water, fixed my bedspread, and opened and closed a window before coming out."

"That is intriguing," Tsunade said, studying Naruto, who squirmed a bit under her gaze. "Naruto, is this new?"

"If it weren't, I would have—" Naruto started, cutting off when Sakura stepped on his foot again, giving him a warning look. He changed his track. "Yeah, it's new."

"Did you do anything different the last few days?" Tsunade inquired. "Any specific jutsu that might have changed your hearing for the better?"

"No. All I've done is train a bit in the forest and do a few chakra exercises. I didn't do any big jutsus."

"Is your hearing better now?"

"I have to clear my mind of all thoughts," Naruto said. "But I think my hearing has improved a little since this whole thing started."

Tsunade thought for a few minutes, rolling the situation around in her head. It was obvious that Naruto wasn't lying and that Sakura wasn't playing a prank on her—however unlikely that had seemed in the first place. What could account for a sudden increase in hearing?

Her eyes landed on Naruto's stomach, where the seal for the Kyuubi was drawn. 'Is it possible?'

"How good is your hearing?" she asked. "How far can you hear?"

"When I did it in my apartment I could hear the people around me behind the walls. The old guy was yelling at his sink, I think. I can hear heartbeats and my own breath going in and out of my lungs. That was disturbing," he added. "When I was in the forest I could hear all the small animals around me. I'm not sure about the exact area, though."

'Like an animal almost,' Tsunade thought, resting her head in her hand. 'But could it be possible?'

"What are you thinking, ma'am?" Sakura queried, recognizing the look on her mentor's face.

"You know what I'm talking about when I say that its abilities are rendering themselves in you?" Tsunade said cryptically to Naruto. "I'm not entirely sure if it's possible but that's my opinion."

Naruto was confused for a second until he realized that she was probably talking about the spirit locked inside of him. "Yeah…I do."

Sakura whipped her head from side to side, completely befuddled. "Huh?"

"But it's only a theory," Tsunade continued. "If it happens again or if something occurs, let me know."

"I'll do that," Naruto said. Then his normal, cheerful personality returned. "Thanks, Granny Tsunade!"

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched but she didn't say anything. Sakura was too confused about their exchange to scold Naruto for being so outspoken.

Still, when Naruto left the office with Sakura he couldn't help but feel worried. 'Something tells me that her theory isn't right.'

Since worrying wouldn't help him figure out the mystery, he decided to take a more practical approach. Upon reaching the forest clearing he had claimed as his own, he tried to increase his hearing without the aid of the water. Naruto was hoping that the place was peaceful enough to pull this off by himself. Closing his eyes, he pretended that there was a glass of water in front of him to concentrate on.

The world around him dissolved into darkness, the sounds becoming the only lights to his deprived sight. As he reached the state he desired, he slowly stood up and carefully felt his way over to his favourite punching bag; the log. Battling to keep enough focus, he punched the sturdy bit of wood. The thud of impact drilled into his brain. Gritting his teeth, he worked through the pounding in his head and started to punch in a rhythmic left-right pattern; trying to desensitize his ears to a point where the noise was bearable.

After spending another afternoon battering away at the log in his little forest clearing, he slumped onto his bed. He curled his fists in frustration. He yelped and shot upright when a stabbing pain registered in his mind. Naruto felt a wet warmth under his fingers. Uncurling them, he blinked at the blood that was slowly pooling in his palms. 'What the…?'

Naruto went to his bathroom sink and tilted his hands to allow the blood to drip down, giving him a clearer view of his palms. Both of them had a mostly straight line consisting of four centimetre-long shallow cuts. Curling his fingers around again, each of his nails fit snugly into the slits. Bringing his nails up to eye level, he scrutinised them closely. They were not blunt, short and round as they should be. They were, instead, a few millimetres longer and starting to come to a point. Disgruntled, he washed the blood off his hands and retrieved his medical kit.

'Second time in three days that I've had to bandage my hands! Must've forgotten to cut my nails or something,' he mused. Once his hands were taken care of, he brushed the matter aside, vowing to cut his nails first thing in the morning.

Teuchi hummed an indecipherable tune under his breath as he wiped up a bit of broth that someone had spilled. He had gotten a lot of customers for breakfast this morning; more than usual. He fought to keep a smile on his face as he realised that the upswing of customers this morning was due to Naruto's conspicuous absence.

Ayame had reached the same conclusion and was trying to take her mind off the sobering thought by keeping herself busy with dirty dishes. Both of them were interrupted when Kurenai's genin team, with Kiba in the lead, sauntered over.

"Hey, you haven't seen Naruto anywhere, have you?" the Inuzuka asked as a greeting.

"Naruto? No, he hasn't been here today," Teuchi replied, hoping that the blond was not in trouble.

Kiba frowned, feeling like he was on a wild goose chase. "Thanks anyway." The three genins walked away from the stall. They had only gone part-way up the next street when Kiba stopped and set Akamaru on the ground. "Your turn, boy; sniff him out!" he ordered his small, white puppy.

Akamaru gave a high-pitched bark in response and put his nose to the ground, snuffling around to pick out the one scent he was looking for. His tail was standing straight up and wagged from side to side as he walked. The puppy snorted, clearing his nose, and started again, slowly making his way through the light crowd.

"I wonder what she wants with Naruto," Kiba said, referring to Tsunade.

Shino did not look at his boisterous team-mate, preferring to keep his gaze focused forward. "I am unsure, but it does seem a little strange to me," he stated calmly.

Hinata sneaked a sideways peek at the bug-user. "Strange? It didn't seem that strange to me. Maybe she has a mission for him?" she suggested, offering her take on the situation.

"Maybe," Shino murmured, just loud enough for both of his team-mates to hear.

"Well, whatever she wants him for; we're getting paid to find him as a D-rank mission. Do either of you know where he lives?"

"No, unfortunately I do not," Shino said.

Hinata kept silent, her need to help her team warring against her desire to keep the location of Naruto's house to herself. She had followed him there many times before when she simply felt the need to watch him. Hinata stood in front of his door quite often, valiantly trying to work up enough courage to knock. The Hyuuga heiress was just about to reveal her knowledge when Akamaru gave a triumphant bark and bounded off; following a path only he could see.

Kiba smirked and jogged after his partner, throwing a quick look over his shoulder to make sure his team-mates were following. Both of them had to pick up the pace to be sure that they wouldn't get left behind, although neither Shino nor Hinata lowered themselves to Kiba's level of jogging after Akamaru.

Neither of them noticed Hinata's silent relief at not having to reveal Naruto's home. It was perhaps for the best that she hadn't told them anyway. They might have thought it strange that she spent so much time just standing there and trying to knock.

Naruto was sitting on the log he normally tried to punch to death and studying his nails with some level of confusion. He was sure that he'd cut them just this morning. But how was it that they were back to what they had been last night?

He folded and unfolded his hand, careful to not cut himself again. The scratches he'd given himself last night had already healed but he didn't want to have to waste more bandages on injuries he could prevent. Looking at them once more, he sighed. They were sharp and filed to a point, once more, which was not how they had looked after cutting them.

'I guess I'll have to cut them again,' he thought, disgruntled. Naruto hopped off the log and sat down, crossing his legs to meditate. He shifted a bit as splinters from the earlier punching session poked him. 'Okay. Breathe in…breathe out…' Naruto took several deep breaths to focus himself and waited for his hearing to magnify.

It took only two seconds before his hearing suddenly increased. He didn't even react to the rapid change, merely continuing to breathe in and out. If he did have increased hearing, it would be best if he practiced using it until he got used to it. Then, once that happened, he could get to work on increasing it without meditating. He wouldn't have time to do so in a fight after all.

Naruto suddenly jumped up and pounded the log for the tenth time that morning, the loud noise reverberating in his head. It wasn't as bad as the first time, though, and that was something. He switched tactics and kicked it, still focusing on keeping his hearing sharp.

The genin was on his hundredth kick when he decided that he'd done enough training. Besides, he was hungry and in the mood for some ramen.

Naruto opened his eyes and briefly regretted the loss of his acute hearing but soon adjusted to it. Once he was on the track and out of sight of his little clearing, he took out his frog wallet and checked how much money he had in it. Naruto was pleased to see that there was enough for at least two bowls of ramen.

He was almost at the edge of the forest when he heard scampering and pounding footsteps. Naruto stowed away his wallet and kept walking, intending to meet whoever it was at the edge. He didn't find it strange that he been able to hear them coming from already thirty meters away.

By the time he'd cleared the last tree, they had already crossed his path. It was Kiba, Hinata, and Shino. Akamaru had been doing the scampering that he'd heard earlier.

"Naruto!" Kiba looked extremely pleased. "Looks like we found you!"

"Were you looking for me?" Naruto asked, wondering why they were interested in him.

"Yep! Lady Hokage made it a mission for us to find you."

Naruto frowned, not understanding why Tsunade would do such a thing. "Why?"

Kiba shrugged. "No clue. She just wanted us to find you."

"I would assume that she wants to talk to you," Shino said quietly, not moving from his standing position.

Now this Naruto could understand full well. It most likely had something to do with the Kyuubi theory that she had come up with the previous day. He nodded and said, "You guys can go then. I'll just go myself."

Kiba frowned. "Hey, now," he protested. "We still have to get paid!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Just like Granny Tsunade to make it a mission finding me.' He spoke dismissively. "Fine. You can come along then."

Hinata blushed brilliantly at this statement and felt rather faint. Naruto had asked them to come along! Well, okay, he hadn't asked her directly but he had still said they could go! She started to fiddle with her fingers, still completely red.

'Naruto…'

None of them noticed the fire-engine girl that was walking behind them, fiddling with her fingers.

"I'm glad that you managed to get here so fast," Tsunade commented, her chin resting on her interlaced fingers. "I only sent the message out yesterday morning."

"Well, if it's dealing with a seal like the one Naruto has, anything that's out of the ordinary is important to deal with immediately," Jiraiya, the second of the three legendary Sannin, responded. His arms were folded across his chest and he was unusually solemn.

"Are you sure you aren't here for any other reason?" Tsunade asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"What else do you expect me to do?" Jiraiya seemed confused.

Tsunade looked sceptical, staring her friend down until Jiraiya started twitching. A knock at the door made her cut it off and she called out, "Enter."

Shizune opened the door, smiling. "Lady Hokage, Team 8 has found Naruto."

Tsunade straightened up. "Oh good. Let him in, will you?"

Shizune opened the door a bit wider and let a familiar blond-haired shinobi inside. Naruto was looking rather confused but realization crossed his face as soon as his eyes landed on Jiraiya.

"Hey, pervy sage!" Naruto said brightly, grinning broadly. "How's it going?"

Annoyance flashed across Jiraiya's face. "Don't call me that!"

Naruto looked properly insulted. "But that's what you are."

"Hey, listen here, kid! I already told you this once before but it looks like it didn't get through your skull!" Jiraiya was shouting in Naruto's face, who looked bored. "From the east to the west…"

As Jiraiya was introducing himself to Naruto once again, Shizune was whispering into Tsunade's ear. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"You yourself should know the answer to that, Shizune," Tsunade replied.

"But if it distracts him from gathering information…"

Tsunade scoffed. "A short break won't do him any harm. Besides, you know what kind of 'information gathering' he does."

Shizune sighed and nodded, stepping back behind Tsunade's desk.

"…the legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya!" Jiraiya finished proudly, beaming.

Naruto looked blank. "Uh-huh." He folded his hands behind his head. "Yeah, anyway, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be away gathering information on the Akat-what's its name?"

"Akatsuki," Jiraiya corrected, turning serious again. "I was but then Tsunade brought me back with reports about your hearing."

"So she did tell you!" Naruto exclaimed. "Do you have any ideas about what it might be?"

"Didn't Tsunade already tell you?"

Naruto frowned. "She did… But I've just got this feeling. I don't think this is the Kyuubi doing anything. If that were the case, wouldn't it have happened earlier? It's not like I just got it sealed into me!"

"That's true," Jiraiya said, "but in this case your seal is special. We don't quite know what it will do over time. It could be that it weakens over time, thus giving you some of the Kyuubi's more special attributes like increased hearing."

Naruto appeared slightly blank but he nodded. "Okay…"

Jiraiya sighed. "You have no clue what I just said, do you?"

"I do!" Naruto protested defensively. "You said something along the lines of the seal weakening over time, which might give me really good hearing. Is there anything you can do about it then?"

"Let me take a look at it." Jiraiya bent down as Naruto took off his jacket and shirt. "Now start focusing your chakra."

Naruto put his hands together for a seal and closed his eyes, concentrating. Within a few short seconds, the familiar seal had appeared on his stomach. Jiraiya studied it for a couple of minutes, frowning in confusion.

'Nothing's changed. But if that's true, why is his hearing increasing?'

"Thanks," Kiba said with a slight smirk as he accepted the money from the man behind the desk. As Team 8 turned to leave, Kiba riffled through the money and split it into three even lots; keeping one for himself and giving the other two to his team-mates. "It's not much," he commented, "but I'm not gonna complain about getting paid to find that idiot."

They exited the room and wandered down the hall. "It must be a very important matter for the Hokage to pay us for simply finding him for her," Shino said.

"Maybe she really needed Naruto for something?" Hinata spoke up, sending a small glare in Kiba's direction for calling Naruto an idiot. She was walking half a step behind the boys, so neither saw the uncharacteristic action.

Kiba gave an amused snort at this. "What could she want him for that we couldn't do ourselves?" he asked in retort. Hinata, having no reply, remained silent. Kiba smiled triumphantly before turning to his stoic companion. "Any theories?" he asked half-jokingly.

The bug-user seemed to mull the matter over in his mind for a few moments. "Since it is just Naruto that was needed, importantly enough to pay us for, it might be a mission that only he has the skills to perform. If it is not mission related, it might be a very urgent personal matter that could not be put off," he offered as an answer.

"Makes sense," Kiba said, blinking a bit at the monotone in which the answer had been delivered. Kiba didn't think he'd ever truly get used to Shino's speech. A thought suddenly struck the Inuzuka and he blurted it out. "You know, for as long as I've known Naruto, I don't really know anything about him other than he's loud, annoying, obsessed with ramen and wants to be Hokage. Aside from his dream - and love of ramen - he's never said anything about himself."

Shino raised an eyebrow and regarded Kiba coolly. "You're right. He never speaks about his personal life if it does not involve his dream or favourite food. You don't suppose Naruto is hiding something, do you?"

Shino's reply had instantly sparked Kiba's curiosity. He loved mysteries and this sounded like a good one to try and figure out. "If he is, we'll find out!" he announced. Akamaru barked his approval from his position inside Kiba's jacket.

"You can't do that!" Hinata said, surprising herself as well as her team-mates.

"Why not?" Kiba asked.

"B-because it's personal!" she squeaked, stuttering now that the spotlight was on her. "It's not right to pry into the personal affairs of others," she finished, letting a bit of her Hyuuga upbringing reflect in her words.

Shino appeared as impassive as ever, but Kiba turned his head around to face her. He gave her a playful grin and winked, making her blush. "Come on, Hinata, you know you're dying to find out!" Taking her silence as confirmation, he bounded out of the doorway to the Hokage Tower. "Let's start right now!"

I dare you to guess where we switched! Not only does Naruto have a mystery problem, but now Team 8 is doing some digging. What will they find?

If you have read this, please take the time to review and tell us what you think. Is there an area we can improve upon?

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you next chapter!