I'm not dead.

Yaaay

I updated.

Yaaay

I'm in college.

Boooooooo

Still no beta

Boooooooo

My writing sucks

But for sticking through with me you get a cookie

As in a shoutout. Yes its back. Comment and help me with my writing. I promise I will try to improve. Together, we can make a story that's so much better.

Just

Just don't destroy my self esteem.

I'm in college. I just got it back up.

Chapter Something: A week of trouble

XxX

Naruto awoke with a start, his head throbbing from the extended amount of exertion he had to have in his "dream". Kyuubi had put him through a lot in the eight or so hours he had been asleep, though in his head it was closer to fifteen.

"Rise and shine, orange boy. You've had a full eight hours of sleep", the Nine Tailed Fox shouted joyfully from inside his head. Naruto yawned.

"Is that so? Then why does it feel like I didn't even have one?" Naruto thought. To him, he set down for the night and went straight into training, then from that straight into waking up again.

Kyuubi was silent for a moment, as if thinking, before he responded, "that's because your mind itself didn't get any actual rest from that, but your body is more than rejuvenated."

"Is that so?" Naruto thought, before springing up out of his mat on the ground. Almost immediately after his feet hit the floor however, they wobbled and set him back on the ground.

"Hey, what gives!" Naruto shouted inwardly.

"Hold on, hold on", Kyuubi answered, before sounds could be heard inside his head. Kyuubi seemed to be looking through some things, "Ah, here's the problem."

"What is it?"

"Your body knows that it's in top shape and ready for the day, but your mind doesn't. Its tired, and its expecting different signals from what it's getting, which is resulting in it freaking out and you on the floor. You know, where you belong," the Kyuubi finished, proud of itself.

Meanwhile, Naruto was trying to get a hold of his body, but it just wasn't quite listening. Or was it his mind? "I don't understand. We've done this a lot of times this week. Why is this only happening now?"

At this, the Kyuubi yawned. He really didn't like the role of 'teacher' he was becoming. He answered anyway, "It's because we took breaks between nights before. We would have done that last night, but SOMEONE thought that we could handle the training and go three nights straight."

Naruto grumbled, "Yeah, and that SOMEONE was you!"

Kyuubi chuckled, "Excuse me for expecting something from you. Who knew your pathetic little human mind could become fatigued. I thought Uzumakis were known for their unrealistic endurance?"

"Hey, I-oof" Naruto said as he tried to push himself up on his hands and knees, but failed horribly, "I survived being pretty much awake for more than three days now, especially since the time inside my mind was longer than the time out of it. Cut me some slack here!"

Kyuubi didn't respond, but Naruto could hear him scoff in his head. He tried to get up a few more times, but he just fell down again. "Um, a little help?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

Naruto managed to shrug. Kyuubi sighed.

"I'll see what I can do." Naruto would have taken this moment to start wondering exactly what that was, but immediately after the fox was done talking, red chakra started feeding from his stomach directly to his head. The chakra, while usually dark and malicious, felt warm and relaxing as it circulated around his brain. All of a sudden, time seemed to slow for him. Turning his head and looking out the open window, he could see the birds flying as through a thick shroud. A butterfly floated through the air, next a plant that was placed on the windowsill, and in a red tint, it seemed to take forever to land on the pedals. It was wonderful and splendid, an almost euphoric experience, like being in a different realm; but before Naruto could start to enjoy it, it was gone. The world returned to its usual shade, and time returned to normal.

Naruto gasped, gulping in air, "What was that?"

"Hmm? What'd you say?"

"I said, what was that? That whole time slow thing?" he repeated.

"Oh, that? I focused some chakra to your brain to help rejuvenate it. Its about where your body is now. All that excess and potent chakra up there however made your brain go on overdrive, and you started perceiving things a lot clearer. It happens when you use the chakra cloak too; on a lesser scale, of course."

"Really? That's awesome! Why don't we use that more often?"

"With great power comes…"

"Great responsibility, yeah, I know, I know…", Naruto grunted, finally pushing himself up off the floor. As he pushed himself up, however, he noticed his jumpsuit didn't come with him. Having lasted him that last endeavor and making it through the night, his jumpsuit had finally fulfilled its purpose, and like a lover content that his partner was going to be fine, it passed gently onto the next life.

Or at least, that's how Naruto saw it. Tears filled his eyes instantly after picking up its battered visage and seeing it rip apart even more. Kyuubi, being in the poor boy's head, could instantly hear his depressed thoughts and feel his depressed emotions. He promptly retched. This was one of those few situations where living in a veritable sewer was a good thing. The only bonus he could think of.

"Oh gods and wretched beings above please stop doing that!"

Naruto looked up from his rags at nothing in particular, but Kyuubi could feel he was looking at him, "Bu-bu-but its my favorite ju-ju-ju-ju-"

"Oh stop your blabbering! Your emotions and blathering is making me feel like absolute shit. I don't like that. I'm used to being the best, so stop your complaining and get up"

Naruto was all out crying now, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, what now?"

"Th-th-this jumpsuit was w-with me through every bad part of my life!"

Kyuubi groaned, "Are you sure its THAT one? You have maybe eight more at home."

Naruto shook his head vehemently, "NO! It was definitely this one! It had the ramen stain that never came out on the left thigh!"

Kyuubi took a look at the jumpsuit. It was so irrevocably damaged that it was almost hard to tell if it was still orange. Almost.

"Um, that one didn't have a ramen stain"

Naruto looked up. Kyuubi wondered why, seeing as there was no one in the room. He assumed it was metaphorical for the boy, "Are… are you sure?"

Looking at the boy's hopeful expression somehow and comparing it to his previous state, Kyuubi felt no remorse in lying, "yes"

"Really?"

"Definitely"

"Well, that settles that", Naruto exclaimed, his mood immediately better. With a swift flick of his wrist, the young Ninja flung the remains of his favorite jumpsuit out the window, the particles scattering to the wind. Getting up, the boy made his way over to his pack and opened it, pulling out a rather well fitting black shirt and a pair of black pants with orange stripes.

Kyuubi cringed. "Where does one even find so much orange", he asked.

With a smirk, Naruto pulled on his pants, his shirt already on. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Kyuubi scoffed, "He does if no one ever watches his show."

"But people do, I have a big, fluffy, orange fan."

"One day you'll have to restock, and then, I'll find out", the fox responded, "and when I do, I'm going to burn it. I will burn it until its ashes, then I will burn its ashes".

"Keep telling yourself that", Naruto responded, stretching himself. Kyuubi's chakra was constantly active, even while asleep. The seal was meant to slowly acclimate his body to using the dark power, so even now, small wisps of orange chakra flickered off his body. This being the case, after a week he could handle at least a half a tail without too much strain and he felt extra powerful. Looking out the window, he could see the sun just barely rising above the trees. He took a deep breath. Another full day of training was ahead of him.

"Its time to give it everything we have, isn't it?" he asked.

Kyuubi nodded. Naruto could feel it somehow.

"I could feel I was getting close last time"

Kyuubi nodded again, "You did, but close is not good enough for jutsu like this. You need to pull it off perfectly if you want its effects."

"About how long do you think it will be until Zabuza recovers?" Naruto asked. He would be a liar if he said he wasn't concerned about the legendary sword ninja once he was serious.

Kyuubi took some time to ponder. "If I had to guess, I would say you had another two days or so until he was in prime fighting condition", the beast said about after a minute, "he would need everything he has to beat a nin pup like your teacher". Naruto relaxed a little. Sensing this, Kyuubi continued, "Be that as it may, he'll still have reinforcements this time, and he probably won't hold back. Underestimating your opponent is the easiest way to the grave."

Naruto pouted, "I know that, furball. It just felt nice that Kakashi-sensei won't be curb stomped. It means the rest of us can focus on his reinforcements."

"I find it likely to only be the hunter ninja. The sword nin did not seem to be the type to harbor many allies."

"Is that so?"

Kyuubi nodded. Once again Naruto sensed it in some way, "Yes. Either way, it's time to train. Get to the obstacle course." Naruto nodded. Without a second thought, Naruto was out the window and into the fresh morning air.

Today was going to be a good day.

XxX

Hinata couldn't lie, out of all the times she'd been kidnapped, this was by far the most pleasant. After leaving a certain radius of the house that she assumed was the radius that Kakashi was surveying, Yoshi switched from the appearance of the two young ninjas doing a casual stroll to picking her up and sprinting through the trees. She figured Kakashi was too busy reading to see that things were slightly off between the two.

With the lavender eyed girl now on his back, they traveled on a much swifter pace through the forest of Wave. Tiny electrical currents flowed through the readhead's hands and back, making not only his hair stand on end, but kept the effects of the jutsu active. It was unnerving to have the inability to do what she wanted, but the slight tingle was relaxing, despite the danger of the situation.

Once they were a certain distance out, the two landed in the middle of a clearing, tall trees surrounding them on all sides. They were in a noticeably wetter environment now, the water levels considerably higher. The ground was almost marsh-like, and because of this the wildlife that grew from it was much richer. Setting the girl down gently on a patch of slightly wet grass, the boy started flipping through hand seals immediately. Ending on tiger, Yoshi concentrated, sending out electricity through his feet. The electricity formed a cage of sparks around them, keeping them safe inside from any intruder. What Hinata saw was that it kept her from getting out.

With a sigh, the boy dropped his hands from the seal, before sitting down in the center of the cage. "I know you're already starting to regain feeling", he finally said.

Hinata, though surprised, didn't show it. Indeed, she could feel her arms and legs, though they were a bit numb. She could fight, but she would be incredibly sloppy. The boy, although not as powerful as she, was a powerful fighter nonetheless. Going at him at anything less than her best was a pitiful idea. With this in mind, she settled for glaring at the boy. While adorable, her Hyuuga eyes were capable of considerable intimidation.

From the way the boy flinched, she could tell the intimidation worked.

The red head put his hands up as if to ward off the stare of the pupil-lessgirl. "Hold on, hold on, Hino. You know I don't mean you any harm."

Hinata scoffed, "Surely. I'm sure all the girls love getting paralyzed and dragged off into the middle of nowhere, before getting caged in." Hinata then grimaced. Naruto had rubbed off on her more than she expected. Had she not grown up with him she would probably still be a nervous wreck. As she was now, however, she was sarcastic and witty.

She then remembered Naruto's quips.

Maybe just sarcastic.

Yoshi at least had the decency to appear guilty, "Its… actually not like that at all. I just needed you away. We need to talk about something."

Hinata raised her eyebrow, "and what particularly is that?"

"Your little boyfriend, Naruto."

At this, Hinata stiffened, her entire posture becoming considerably less relaxed. With the mention of Naruto, she now felt like now was not the time to be witty.

"What do you mean", the Hyuuga finally managed to get out, her eyes narrowing. This had the effect of making her glare even more dangerous, and Yoshi had to realize he knew very little about the bluenette after all.

Maybe there was a reason the blonde was so cautious around her.

Deciding he should lighten the mood, Yoshi decided to tease, "Oh? Not going to deny that you're lovers?" Yoshi had meant for her to get embarrassed. What he got was the exact opposite. The girl, finally deciding that her kidnapping had gone on long enough, slowly pushed herself up to sit on her knees. It appeared as if she could only just barely control herself, but considering the amount of electricity he had ran through her, that she moved at all was impressive.

"I think...", Hinata started, flexing her fingers slightly. She looked at her left hand, almost as if judging it, before letting her arm fall tiredly back to her side before doing the same on the other arm. To the redhead, it looked as if she was a unit preparing for war.

Understandably he started to channel chakra.

"... I think that the time for jokes is over. Apparently we have something serious to talk about", the Hyuuga princess responded, no mirth in her posture. Recently, there were some questions coming up with her friend that she didn't know the answer to.

That scared her.

Yoshi nodded, "I see Naruto is a very serious issue to you", he responded. Trying his best to be imperceptible to a Hyuuga, the boy could feel his chakra for Lightning Armor building up.

Hinata just nodded back, "Of course. We grew up together, you know."

Yoshi took a step back, "Did you? I wasn't aware."

"Well that's to be expected, we did just meet you a couple days ago."

"I was in your class for two years", the redhead responded.

"And yet we just met you a couple days ago", Hinata continued, not missing a beat. Yoshi could see the small bursts of chakra resonating through the young girl's tenketsu. She was burning the electricity out of her system. Very very soon the girl would become a very dangerous little force of nature. Subtly, the boy molded his gathered chakra.

"I was never a talkative fellow", Yoshi managed to answer. Offhandedly, he could feel sweat starting to form on his brow. To this, Hinata managed to giggle.

"And yet here you are, talking to me now", she stated. By now she was on one knee, her leg pulsing in bursts of blue, her chakra purging the numbness. What exactly do the Hyuuga teach their young? "Apparently its important as well, if you feel the need to call me out here."

Yoshi gulped, swallowing the fear rising in his throat. Unconsciously, he backed up another step. "It is", he managed to choke out. The boy knew as well as the girl that he wasn't quite up to fight the pale eyed warrior. "Its about his... condition."

At this, Hinata was curious. The chakra surging in her other leg slowed, but did not stop.

"His... condition? What condition in particular? His addiction to ramen?"

Yoshi tilted his head, "You're not serious."

Hinata simply stared at him. She was.

"No, not that", Yoshi answered after a few moments. In those moments Hinata had finished whatever she was doing and stood up. Her limbs were probably still sore, if the way she slightly tumbled was any indication, but regardless, the girl glared forward. Given the slightest provocation, Yoshi was certain the girl would pounce. He made no sudden movements.

"No", the boy said, "no, nothing like that. As serious as that is, this other one is way more important. Trust me."

Hinata scoffed, "really? So tell me, why exactly do you know about this? Better yet, why do you know about this condition before me?" The word was said with incredulity.

Yoshi slightly put his weight on his front foot, ready to move at the slightest of signs. Regardless of how civil he was trying to be, Hinata looked closer and closer to exploding. "That's... complicated." At this Hinata frowned. Whatever traces of adorable were in her eyes before was now gone. Now, she only looked like she wanted to kill. Under his breath, Yoshi cursed. He knew this was not the best way to handle this situation.

"What do you mean complicated", the heiress all but hissed out. "Well un-complicate it for me, now." The girl now stalked forward, one steady leg taking a firm step towards her captor. Swallowing his nervousness, the boy wondered which beast exactly did he lock himself in with. Upon hearing the low growl coming from her, he surmised a lion.

The boy lightly reached up and tugged at a lock of his hear, "I don't suppose this is enough of a hint?"

The intensity of her glare was the answer to that question.

"I'm... an Uzumaki?" the boy continued after a bit. Hinata, who had stalked ever closer, stopped at this.

"You're an Uzumaki", he bluenette asked, her eyes darting away momentarily. The redhead could only guess her thoughts. "Like Naruto, ne?"

The boy shrugged, "... kinda?"

The Hyuuga's eyebrow twitched.

"See, his past is kinda... sketchy?" the boy continued quickly, "His lineage is kinda tricky. I don't know everything exactly, so there isn't too much I can tell you, but what I do know is that there is much to him than you know."

"Ugh, like what", Hinata asked, "you keep saying there's something, but you are never outright saying it. I'm getting annoyed."

Yoshi looked at the Gentle Fist technique coating her hands. He'd say she was well beyond annoyed.

"That's... the thing. I can't tell you any more than this."

Silence.

"What"

Yoshi backed up a bit more, "I can't tell you any more. We figured it was best if he told you himself. I just wanted to let you know to be prepared considering what's coming up."

Hinata's Gentle Fist flared. "So you kidnap me, drag me out here, and trap me just to tell me to be prepared? I've been prepared! I want answers!" The normally quiet girl screamed. The red chakra, the odd behaviour. Everything her best friend had been doing lately had been just irritating her, and the worst part was that she could do nothing about it. He was saying nothing, no matter how much she asked. She knew Kakashi, his sensei, knew things. He had to if she of all peoplenoticed. She knew her father noticed and now this new boy, someone they barely knew noticed, and even knew answers to why. It seemed almost everyone but her knew things about the person she was supposed to be closest to. It was frustrating. It was annoying. It made her sad. It made her mad.

It made her want to fight.

"I'm sorry Hino, there really isn't much more I can-" the red haired boy started, before immediately jumping back, dodging a Gentle Fist to his shoulder.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing Hino?" Yoshi asked, starting the hand seals for his Lightning Armor.

Hinata landed in a crouch, knees bent and ready to spring again. Her arm was still outstretched in the strike. Slowly, she brought her arms back in, before activating her Byakugan.

"Don't pretend you didn't see this coming", the heiress said, "even without my eyes activated I could see you preparing yourself." Without any more explanation, the girl shot forward again, the chakra swirling around her fists bulging even further. Yoshi , expecting the lunge, jumped back to avoid it, rushing the last few seals when suddenly the feeling in his left arm left him. Not being able to complete the last handseal, the boy could only let his chakra dissipate.

"Shit, I can't do the Lightning Armor with single seals", the redhead thought. Cursing, he looked back at the girl, who simply glared at him with unrestrained fury.

"How", he asked, "I know I dodged that."

Hinata smirked, "You're not the only one keeping secrets." The pure eyed girl looked around to see the cage still up. "I'm surprised you still managed to keep this up."

Yoshi chuckled, "I'm not a one trick pony, you know."

Hinata smirked back. "That may be", the heiress started, crouching back into a crouch, her hands in a Gentle Fist stance, "but without your Armor you don't have much in the means of stopping me."

Immediately the girl burst forward, wasting no time in getting close. Yoshi's eyes widened slightly as his instincts told him to dodge. In less than a second the Hyuuga closed the distance between them in the small area. The boy started to dodge, only being able to rely on his instincts to minimize the amount of hits that touched him. That in mind, without the boost of speed from his Armor, the boy had no chance of matching the taijutsu oriented fighter he was up against. Only about a minute had passed since the engage started, but he was clipped here and there. It was nothing too important besides a tenketsu allowing him to move his left forearm. Seeing as he barely felt that anyway, it wasn't too big a loss. Regardless, this wasn't a fight he was going to win through attrition. If he kept on the defense, odds were he was going to lose.

It was a fact they both knew.

One continuing to dodge, the other to attack, the two kids danced around the cage. The electricity of the cage crackled and pulsed in a soft hum.

"Ha Ha HA", the Hyuuga heiress grunted, her strikes flowing and striking. She would throw a hard straight, deceptive in its strength. It would pulse and bulge through its execution, expanding slightly near the end of her strike, covering more area than just her hand. If she missed, which she usually did, the girl's arm would come back, melding back into her form and flowing with her body until it was ready to strike out again. While she didn't land a solid blow, her chakra would clip him every now and then, and that was all she needed.

"Ugh", Yoshi grunted, before ducking really low under a blow meant for his chest. Not expecting this, Hinata overextended slightly, providing the opening the boy needed. In his crouched position, the boy pushed upward, intent on headbutting the girl. The attack connected, but the girl had partly recovered by the time the attack was being executed, and the girl had started to jump back. Stumbling slightly from the blow, the Hyuuga landed a bit back, panting slightly.

Back over with the redhead, the boy collapsed to one knee, his breath heavy.

"It seems you're still a big laggy", Yoshi said between breaths. He waited for the girl to answer, but her stare settled on him: every bit as dangerous as her now less chakra coated hands. It didn't appear she was going to answer, so the boy continued, "Do you want to talk now?"

Hinata simply stood there, a low amount of chakra swirling around her hands. As he waited for her response the boy just stared at it. It looked calm and peaceful. It swirled and danced around her palms like water. It was a piece of art in motion. It didn't denote the danger it held in the slightest.

After a while the boy broke himself away from the swirling hum. Bringing his eyes back to the Hyuuga girl, the boy now noticed the girl was now much closer than she was before.

As in right on top of him.

Actually, he couldn't feel his right arm anymore either.

"Gen-Genjutsu? In your-"

"In my palms yes. There aren't many Hyuuga genjutsu techniques, but this is one of the simpler ones", Hinata answered, before her body blurred into motion.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!"

XxX

Kakashi sighed as he watched the cage of lightning dissipate on the redhead's defeat. Hinata collapsed to her knees shortly after she finished her combo.

"Hmm, they've both improved. Good to see all that training paid off", the man drawled, his finger thumbing the page his book was opened to. He kept monitoring the two for a moment longer, his eye on the page but his senses on the entire range around him. Sensing no threat, the man left the two to their own devices.

They would sort things out. They were Leaf ninja, and as such, they wouldn't hurt each other and probably wouldn't get in trouble either.

Now to find their last teammate.

XxX

How was it?

Yes, Samus and Pit is still alive. Its kinda like my baby. I just feel a certain entitlement to this story.