Doosey of a chapter to write, felt that the ties of the plot had to tie together so this is where that all happens xD

Anyways hope you enjoy this one and will update next week with something better ;)

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 20: The Search Commences

With his head still bowed, Hidan made him way out of the town with the chipper young girl in tow. The scenery descended from the loud fast paced crowd to the more familiar aura of nature. The breeze was steady as it welcomed autumn and the trees were beginning to lose their vibrant green hue to make way for the more accepted colors of orange and red. The sun was beginning to warm the land and the cold chilly air was pushed away to invite people with its surroundings. With little sound surrounding the pair, they trailed away with a certain silver haired male's mind still elsewhere. His hurried footsteps still a tad too quick in the opinion of a certain blue eyed girl.

Walking briskly to catch up to the man, curiosity peeked the girl's interest as she saw Hidan's head still bowed, his reddened cheeks had now lessened in intensity, but the clear mark of the steady blush was still present on his features.

"Hidan-sama is something the matter? You've been acting strange", Sunnora was very concerned, just the idea of her savior being sick or in any harm whatsoever made her whole being unsteady. Her mind reeled with the presentation of bad situations that could happen to Hidan. Anything from him being upset with her to the most terrifying of situations made her feel queasy. 'The last thing I would ever want is for Hidan-sama to be in danger, I'd give anything to see him back to the way he was'.

The silver haired male looked to the side and furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the girl speak, the sound was inviting but from his thoughts it took him longer to register them in his head, 'did she say I was acting strange?…she's one to talk'

Hidan saw the worrisome expression on the flawless young face and sighed, he knew the way he was delaying his response and behaving would seem strange to anyone but himself but nothing to get upset about, mostly after what happened at the inn.

Hidan shook his head from his silly behavior and once again looked forward with renewed confidence wiping away any signs of the red tint on his face. "Nothing is wrong with me, I just hate when people assume what's not true".

Sunnora nodded and accepted the response, the way he said it made her whole body tingle with the reassurance that he was indeed back to normal. From the way he slowed his pace with confident strides, to the way his shoulders relaxed and chin was lifted high above to show the smug self-assured smirk on the handsome face, it was entirely him and anything other than that just wouldn't be recognizable in her eyes.

Looking away from him she refocused on the road ahead, she didn't really know much about what Hidan was doing or where he was heading, everything about this little trip he had arranged was all unknown to her but she decided that whatever it was she was going to help him accomplish it. It was the least she could do.

"How is he doing?" Yamato opened the wooden door to the cabin and let in the bright rays of sunlight into the otherwise dark gloomy cabin. His face was wary and the solemn looks from Ino and Choji didn't help relieve that in the slightest. Walking over to the silent pair he witnessed firsthand the state hadn't changed at all from the time he had left but his hopes weren't high in the first place. Shikamaru had been unconscious now for about six hours and his condition hadn't faltered in the slightest, which he wasn't sure to take as a good thing or a bad thing.

Ino looked away from Shikamaru at the man that had just entered the cabin and was now standing by her side. "He needs to wake up soon, the more information he can tell us the more we can cooperate and catch that criminal, Kakashi and Gai's team are all counting on us and we can't let them down". She knew the information Shikamaru held was of importance but right now her main concern was his well-being They had all been together for a long time and now that Asuma was gone she just couldn't fathom the loss of another member. The idea brought slight tears to her eyes and she had to look away facing the opposite wall so her team wouldn't see her in such a weak state.

Choji also had the same train of thought as his blonde counterpart but he kept his tears at bay. All three of them were utterly confused as to why Shikamaru of all people would stray away from the intended mission to go after this girl by himself. It had to be something that really got to him for him to do something like that; he always had a plan, a backup plan for that plan, and then another one after that one. Ino spoke breaking the silence. "Yamato-sensei, I hope you can explain what happened to Tsunade-sama, she was expecting us to be in direct order for the other mission after-all".

Yamato knew the idea of relinquishing their posts as shinobi weighted heavily on these kid's shoulders and he also knew the direct order of Tsunade-sama. Her words were engraved into his skull and he sighed. He wasn't sure just how this whole ordeal would play out but he hoped that Tsunade would see reason and pardon the team from their failed mission.

"She must have gone through here right?" Sakura trailed behind Kakashi and Gai as the rest of the team did. They strode along the main path in search of the girl in black.

"I'm sorry everyone, I don't know what happened, one second I had her pinpointed like a target and the next it was as if she had vanished into thin air, her whole presence was gone, even with that scent you gave me I wouldn't be able to track a thing", Pakkun hung his head down as he was facing the teenagers on Kakashi's back. He couldn't understand what was going on, even if she had hidden under the earth he would still have some trace of her somehow but now, it was as if she had become a whole different person, it unnerved him greatly as much as it did everyone else on that mission.

"Looks like we're just going to have to search for her the old fashion way then, at least we can still use Byakugan right Neji?" Tenten spoke as she walked beside her team mates.

Neji's stoic expression didn't falter as he continued looking straight ahead. He had surveillance the area multiple times in search of any trace the girl had left behind but up until now he had gotten absolutely nothing. He couldn't get a very good glimpse of the girl as it was night time when he fought her but he did take in the black leather like clothes, so he knew what she wore. Another thing he managed to glance at was her long dark hair, it would help him tremendously. Her face was the only thing he was really missing, he couldn't get a good look at her eyes because it really was too dark and the rest of her face had been hidden behind a mask so that wouldn't lead them anywhere either.

Tenten as well as the rest of the group noticed the slight frown that had formed on Neji's face and their moral dropped slightly.

Naruto saw the poignant expression on some of his team's facial façade and groaned. Lifting his arms over his head and placing them crossed over one another behind his back as he leaned his head onto them with confident strides he spoke, "Byakugan or not, I'm going to find this girl and take her to Konoha, what she did to those kids and to Shikamaru is unacceptable and we're all going to make sure she gets what she deserves!".

With renewed confidence and small smiles they made their way through the woods on the single path that seemed to stretch on forever.

Some looked fatigued just staring at the never ending road until bright young eyes snapped open in delight when they saw a sign ahead.

'You are now entering End Valley'

"Don't look so down Konohamaru-kun! He'll be back soon and you can tell him what happened", Moegi looked at the depressed expression on her best friend's face. He had head from Ebisu that Naruto had left just moments ago before he found him in the training fields to a mission assigned to him and the rest of his team. The blonde was now outside Konoha and Konohamaru didn't know what to do. He sat in class as Iruka rambled on about chakra control; he looked down and noticed that the group that had come late yesterday was now nowhere to be seen. He wasn't surprised though as he was positive that if any of his friends had faced that danger he would also skip class to be by their bedside until he was 100% sure they were fully recovered. Now he just had that dilemma about the situation that was presented to them by coincidence weighing heavily on his shoulders. It was probable that someone had already been sent out on this certain mission but Konohamaru wasn't sure and an idea popped into his head that had his two best friends looking at him in surprise. They both looked at each other with that 'we're going to have to do something again' look. With a grin in place the young genin relaxed in his chair and let the words of Iruka's lesson sink in, leaving Moegi and Udon very worried.

Tsunade sunk in her chair for the fifth time that day as she looked up at the pile of paperwork plastered on her desk, she just couldn't figure out why so much paperwork had to be dealt, especially by her, she was the Hokage after all, not some office lady that had to be stuck behind a desk all day. 'I really wasn't expecting this when I signed up' she thought before sighing and with reluctance reached out and grabbed the first file. Glancing over the text she was about to write something on the bottom of the page but furrowed her brows as she noticed she had no clue as to what she had just read. Pushing the paper away she knew her mind was elsewhere, and getting any work done now was out of the question.

Concern and anguish washed over her like rain as she was sure that by now the three teams she sent out the day before would be back with news any kind of news would relieve her thoughts. Yet they were still away and she really didn't have the personnel under her belt to send out anyone else, it would be irresponsible and she knew it, missions were piling up like the paperwork on her desk and Shizune would seen be here to demand some of it so she could file it. Groaning out loud she sat up straight in her chair for the sixth time that day and began to read over the text that was presented in the mundane fashion as were the rest of the papers that were piled up.

"Did you go see him today?" Kenta asked the girl walking next to him and she headed home for the day. His question wasn't needed for the look the girl carried was enough of an answer. Her eyes were sunken in and carried the burden of dark lines under them, as if she hadn't slept for a year. Her downturned lips also gave her away as unpleasant to the passing eye but he knew the reason for her state.

After a moment of stillness, the sound of moving feet was muffled as the quiet tone of Mayomi's voice broke the pattern. "Yeah, I did, and nothing has changed, the doctors refuse to let me see him, they say what he has could be dangerous…I don't know what it is though, it's not like has some sort of disease", the word carried poison on Mayomi's tongue as her downturned frown turned into distaste.

"Same here, I tried going this morning but they pushed me away as well and told me to go back to the Academy, it's ridiculous how they won't let us see him, he's our friend and we want to know he's alright". Kenta hadn't really spoken much to the girl before. He was always around her when Katsuro was also around but just the two by themselves without the arrogant boy was unheard of. She was pretty and Kenta knew that that was one of the reasons Katsuro liked her so much but another thing that he knew drew him in was her concern. She was devoted to her friends and when they were ill she was ill, when they were glad she was glad, and when they were dying it looked like she was to die as well. Kenta frowned at that thought pattern and brushed it off, there was no way Katsuro would die. The medical shinobi from Konoha were one of the best, and with Tsunade on their side there was nothing they couldn't heal. Turning back to the brown haired girl he spoke up once again, freeing her from her deep thoughts.

"So have you seen Hisao?" it was true that he didn't know the boy much. All he knew was that he had a record for doing a couple of stupid things around Konoha, but that was expected with the amount of surveillance his mother had over him, she smothered him sometimes when he arrived home late and would baby him too much. Kenta saw the rebellion as a way Hisao escaped the clutches of his mother. When Kenta first met Hisao, it was through Katsuro as well. In truth, they had all met in some way through Katsuro, he was the glue that held them all together and without him now, they all felt the side effects of slowly peeling off of one another. It seemed that Nori and Juroi were once again fending for themselves apart from the group. The siblings had the lowest scores in the class for their target skills and received negative comments all the time from their peers, yet Katsuro at one point had stood up for them and allowed the two to join them for practice one afternoon. After that they were welcome to target practice every day with the group. Now that he was out, it was back to square one, for their skills that day at the academy had lacked control and a throw that could have easily landed had bounced off causing laughter and mocking from most of the class. Iruka had let the grade curve at the idea that it was because Katsuro was at the hospital but told them upfront that he wasn't going to be doing this often and they should practice even harder.

"No, I haven't seen him but he's probably out in the streets causing trouble again, and to tell you the truth Kenta-kun, I don't want to see him ever again", the words were harsh on her tongue and he knew that she must be extremely angry to saw them in the first place.

"Mayomi-san, what happened wasn't his fault, are you blaming him for what happened?" the look that was passed to him was of desperation and sorrow, enough to strike desolation in the young boy's heart and mind. Her fingers clenched and unclenched into fists and for the first time she let the emotions rush to her face. Grief washed over her and she stopped walking to hold onto herself for support, Kenta wasn't sure whether he should reach out to her but stayed back, he didn't want her to snap at him like she had done the day before with Iruka.

"I know! I know it wasn't his fault but I feel that if Hisao-san hadn't pulled out his katana and had that stupid match with Katsuro-kun then none of this would have happened! We could have been out right now enjoying the day, all six of us! It might come off as greed or whatever you want to call it but I say it's more than such a shallow emotion. It's longing…" she cleared her throat and bowed her head. Kenta was speechless, he knew that in desperation Mayomi had the habit of snapping on people but he didn't feel prepared to respond to her words. It was true, he also felt lonely now that Katsuro wasn't around but it wasn't as if the world had ended, and he didn't see how it was greedy to want the six of them to be together again.

"Don't worry Mayomi-san, why don't we go look for Hisao-san together? It's not the six of us just yet but we'll get there, little by little we can add on until we get the final piece, and that will be when Katsuro is released from the hospital, after that we can all go to target practice, I'm pretty Katsuro would enjoy that after being in that stuffy room all day, you know how much he loathes being enclosed", with a smile lacing his lips, Kenta looked over to read any sign of a response on the girl's face. He found one that he wasn't expecting.

With a hint of joy washing over her face she hid her trail of hope behind tired eyes and moved forward, the path to Hisao's house. Little by little, they would surely get their puzzle completed.

The more you review the faster I'll update!

So review please (:

Lot of Hidan/Sunnora next chapter with some teamwork!