Hinata sighed. The month had come to a close and her deadline for reporting had come. She stood outside of Konoha, the grey shell of the village it once was, and instantly wanted to be back at her tree house at the Haven. She shook the thought from her head. She had a mission to do; and a couple of "favors" for Naruto.
Her first favor was to find the Namikaze estate, get in the gates by using a vial of Naruto's blood, and find a secret scroll hidden in the Master bedroom. According to Naruto, it held the instructions to create the Hirashin seal. All he had were the actual Kunai his father had made, but the secret of the seal was still in Konoha.
Her second favor was to find a way for the rookie nine and team Gai to come to the Haven on a mission. Naruto felt like they needed a wakeup call.
But first, her mission to Tsunade.
She sighed before walking into the dead village.
A few delusional villagers, who thought Konoha was better off without 'the demon' waved hello to her.
Hinata ignored him.
Other villagers recognized her as one of the 'demon lovers' and scowled at her.
Most, however, remained impassive.
Her walk to the Hokage tower was not exceptionally long, but to her, it felt like an eternity walking through a dead garden, a barren place that weeds would not even inhabit, all because the gardener left. With every step she took, the more she wanted to be back in the Haven.
Finally she made it to the tower, the only possible sanctuary in this husk. She stepped inside and was immediately met by Shizune. "Tsunade is expecting you."
Hinata didn't say a word as Shizune led her up to the Hokage's office. As she began her ascent, she began to notice the silent melancholy aura that seemed to smother the tower. She sighed as she realized that even the Hokage tower was losing in its battle to survive; the grey of the village was suffocating even the tower.
Shizune stopped at the door and told her to wait while she announced her. Shizune disappeared into the office for a second before reappearing. "She will see you now." Shizune said before heading back to her desk. Hinata nodded and entered the Hokage's office.
Upon entering, she finally felt at home. The grey of the village finally gave way to the color of life. True, it was weak, but it was there, and it made all the difference, like a candle flame lights a room.
"Ah, Hinata, you're finally back. Tell me how it went."
"Well, I mostly spent the first month doing my best to fit in. I also spent some time with the Outcast, he has agreed to let anything to come from Konoha."
"Perfect. Then I will send the caravan tomorrow, you are to lead of course."
An idea struck Hinata. "The Outcast has actually made a request concerning the caravan."
"What?"
"He wants teams seven, Gai, eight and ten to man the caravan, he feels like he could bond better with his peers the most, and he wants communication between the Haven and Konoha to increase."
Tsunade looked thoughtful. "Well, team seven is on a mission right now, but other than that I think I can comply."
"He will greatly appreciate that." Hinata said.
That night, the night of a full moon, a house that had not been disturbed for almost eighteen years had been entered. A room that had been collecting dust was unsettled. An old scroll, a large one with words that have not been read since its creation, was taken.
Everyone was packed and ready to go by ten A.M. Teams Gai, eight, and ten were all there, minus the sensei, and were ready to go. The caravan, a large car filled with weapons, was brought up, and Shikamaru organized the teams. Hinata in front, since she knew the way, Kiba next, to sense any possible ambushes using his nose, Shino, Chouji, Neji, Tenten and Lee surrounding the cart, and Ino and himself in the back.
Hinata sighed, not even Lee was his usual self, even he, the zaniest person she knew had grown quiet and melancholy.
"Is everyone ready?" Hinata asked.
Silent nods were the only reply.
Hinata sighed. "It's going to be a long trip." She thought. "Let's get going, then." She said, heading north.
The wheels of the cart groaned under the weight of the weapons as it was pulled forward by two large oxen.
The trip was a silent one, no one spoke, too focused on the mission to care about petty things like socializing, besides, it could give away their position. Not that the wheels of the cart wouldn't.
Hinata led them five miles north before taking a sharp turn east. The company still remained quiet, not even bothering to ask her why her sudden change in direction.
Suddenly, everyone in the company felt a deep, oppressing presence. It took a second for Hinata to identify it, but when she did, she smiled. "Relax guys, we're in the care of the Exiles now."
"Relax?" Kiba asked, "Do you even feel this?"
"It's just their way of letting you know you're being watched." Hinata said, "Think of it as a warning against traitors."
"I don't see why they care that much." Neji said.
Hinata smiled to herself before whispering "You will."
Some thirty-forty minutes later, they came upon the skull marker.
"Dude, that is so hardcore." Chouji said.
No one even reacted to that comment.
Hinata preformed the ceremony to remove the Genjutsu the seal at the back of the skull, before continuing on. The overbearing presence followed them the whole way.
An hour later, they got to a gigantic wall of fog.
Shikamaru spoke up. "So now what?"
Hinata smiled before whistling.
Nothing happened for a moment, then the fog began to move aside as a ferry began to slowly make its way across the lake. No one except Hinata noticed. Everyone else's eyes were stuck on the gigantic trees that made the Haven. "Welcome to the Haven." Hinata said.
Hinata told the guys to just let the cart stand next to the ferry while she led them to the Council tree. The eight Konoha nins only gaped at the size of it. Hinata led them to the sealed door, a door that could only be found by those who knew how to find it, and opened it for them, before leading them inside the lit council chamber.
The pink crystal ceiling reflected the torch light into the whole room, making it breath with light. The eight of the visitors just gasped at the sight of the room, completely awed by its beauty until their eyes saw a white and green clad figure with a black mask. When their collective attention was on him, the figure spoke. "Thank you, Hyuuga-san, for bringing me some peers from Konoh, it is much appreciated."
"You're welcome, Outcast-sama." She said, playing her part.
"Now on with the pleasantries." The Outcast mumbled, "Welcome esteemed guests, to the Haven, my home and realm. You are welcome to anything you like, but I must ask you to be polite to my people, they have had enough of their share of problems without 'insiders' like you making them miserable." The way he said insiders immediately made the eight ninjas on edge.
"What do you mean by that?" Kiba said, angry, "Are you saying that we'd cause nothing but trouble? Why should we take orders from you, anyway? And why are you wearing a mask? What do you have to hide?"
The Outcast seemed to grow taller. "How dare you. I offer you my hospitality and you ask about my deepest secrets? I allow you to enter a place that the only insider who has seen it is an ambassador, and you spit in my face?" His voice got deeper and sounded every bit dangerous as it did serious, "I had my best men watch you to grant you safe passage and you dare ask why you should repay me? I do all this without asking a word about your lives, but you have the gall to know everything about me?!" Kiba began cowering, "Do you realize that with but a word you would all be dead before you hit the ground? You insiders have always thought that because of your name you can get anything you want. Well let me inform you, Inuzuka, that your name means nothing in the Haven. Here, every man woman and child is equal, pasts and names mean nothing." The Outcast stood in front of his seat and gave the most serious threat to the boy out of everything he said. "Now tell me why, after that show of stupidity, why I should honor my unspoken treaty with Konoha?"
Kiba nearly wet himself at the thought of what Tsunade would do to him if he broke the alliance between the Outcast and Konoha. "I-I-I-I-"
Shikamaru quickly stepped in, "Forgive him, Outcast-dono, he is an idiot. He did not mean those remarks."
The Outcast seemed pleased, "Leave it to a Nara to have enough brains to know what he is talking about." He said, "Very well, I suppose I can let that slide, after all, Inuzuka's are not know for their intellect."
Kiba nodded, suddenly feeling like he needed to get back on the Outcast's good side. "It's true, Outcast-dono."
"You better stop that, I hate kiss-ups." The Outcast said.
"Yes sir."
"Now, you may all go," The Outcast said, and everyone turned to leave. "except the Nara, I wish to speak with him." Shikamaru stopped and let everyone else go.
When the seal door shut, Shikamaru sighed, "Naruto, of all the troublesome people, you are the most annoying."
The Outcast smiled behind his mask, "What gave it away?" He asked as he dropped down to the council room floor.
"The coat, the headband, you're rivalry with Kiba and your singling him out." Shikamaru smiled, "And I bluffed."
Naruto smiled, "Now there's the Shikamaru I know and love."
"Good job though, you seriously had Kiba quaking there, it was very un-troublesome to see that."
"Well, if you liked that, there's more to come."
"I'm in. So what's the plan?"
Naruto looked at him, "Are you a good actor?"
Shikamaru came out of the council room, looking as if he had been threatened within an inch of his life.
Ino and Chouji, who had been waiting out of the tree, waiting for him, came up to him. "What happened to you, Shika?" Chouji asked.
Shikamaru looked up at both of them, a dazed look on his face. He quickly looked up at Ino. "Ino, whatever you do, don't talk."
Ino looked surprised, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't talk to anybody, if you insult them in any way, shape, or form…" He didn't finish, he only shuddered.
Ino suddenly had a very bad feeling about this place.
Hinata was with her team, enjoying some light conversation with them. "I still don't trust that Outcast guy. I think he's hiding something."
Hinata sighed, "Kiba, the sooner you drop this thing the better. He was serious when he said a word and you're dead."
"That still doesn't change the fact he's hiding something." Kiba said.
"You are speculating that he's hiding something. You don't know that for a fact." Shino said, "If he does have something to hide, let him hide it, it's his business. Besides, you do owe him a little respect, he did save your life."
"That was years ago." Kiba said, waving it off.
"Years that you got to spend living." Shino jabbed.
"Why are you taking his side? He's just a pompous idiot who knows how to sound tough."
Suddenly, a dark, deep and dangerous voice said behind him, "So I'm pompous idiot, huh?"
Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all froze in their tracks.
Tenten, Lee and Neji were sitting underneath a tree, eating lunch. They were silent, letting each to his or her own thoughts.
"The Outcast seems to be quiet the leader, very strict, but at the same time merciful." Neji thought, "No doubt he is also very strong, but you have to wonder why he wears a mask."
Lee sat quietly and ate his food, "The Outcast seems quiet un-youthful, yet at the same time he seems to love his people. According to Naruto, that would make him very strong." He sighed as he remembered the blond-haired boy that had inspired him so much.
Tenten wasn't eating that much, and her thoughts were of a much more…'simple'…nature. "The Outcast is soooo hot! I wonder what he looks like under that armor."
Neji stood up. "Well, I suggest we find something to do."
"I agree." Lee said, "It is rather un-youthful to sit here bored."
"Yeah, there's probably a weapons shop around here somewhere." Tenten said.
As soon as she said the words an old crone that was passing by stopped, "Um, excuse me sweetie, but did you say you're looking for a weapons shop?"
"Yes, why?" Tenten asked.
"Because the best shop in the Haven is down the street and to your left, it's called, Tekka's or something or other."
"Thank you, ma'am." Tenten said before grabbing her partners and dragging them to the shop.
The old crone smiled as they left, "This is too easy."
Tenten, dragging her teammates, entered Tekkou's Blacksmith to find a man wearing a leather apron. "Hello, how can I help you?"
"I hear you're the best weapons shop in the Haven." Tenten said.
"Well, it's not polite to brag." Touken said.
"Can I see some of what you have?"
"Of course." Touken said, pulling out piles of swords, Kunai, Bowie knives, Spears, bows, and several other weapons.
Tenten practically drooled over it.
Touken pulled out a long, doubled edged sword. "This one, made of carbon steel, can slice through wood like a knife through hot butter. its double-edged-design allows the wielder to make surprising strikes that can easily catch most ninjas off guard." Touken continued on how the sword was made, including how the steel had been forged ten times to make extremely strong and ridiculously light.
The look on Tenten's face was enough to say how she felt about it. "How much?" She blurted.
"300,000,000 ryo. (≈$30,000,000)"
Tenten looked at him, "300 million for a sword?! Are you insane?!"
Neji suddenly got worried, "Tenten calm down."
"Insane?!" Touken asked, "I poured my sweat, blood, and chakra into this sword. This isn't some toy that you can swing around, this is the greatest sword in all the Haven next to the Outcast's Hoshiken (star blade)."
"That doesn't mean you have to become a tyrant when it comes to prices!"
"Tenten, calm down." Neji pleaded.
"Shut up, Neji!" Tenten said without turning around.
"This is my shop and I can sell things at whatever price I want, and I will not have some weapons amateur tell me otherwise!"
"Amateur? The only amateur here is the guy who sells minimal-grade weapons for ridiculously high prices."
"Minimal-grade? The only thing minimal-grade here is your chest!"
"How dare you!?"
"Tenten." Neji whimpered.
"How dare you insult me, especially when the Outcast told you to behave yourself."
"I don't care about that ugly moron, and he can't tell me to behave any less than you can sell me that cheap piece of metal for 300 million."
Touken smiled. "Did you hear her, Outcast-sama."
"I did indeed, Touken-san." A deep, dangerous voice said behind Tenten. She slowly turned and she saw the Outcast holding Lee and Neji by the scruff of their necks, "I did indeed."
Team Gai was dragged to the Council chamber by three masked ninjas that the Outcast had called on. Admittedly, things did not look bright.
When they entered the Chamber, they found the other two teams were being held prisoner too, minus Hinata. Diplomatic immunity definitely had its perks.
Neji turned to Ino, "So what are you guys in for?"
"I insulted someone by not talking to them when they said hi." She said, "You?"
"Tenten got into a fight with a blacksmith over the price of a sword."
"Oh."
"What about Kiba and Shino?" Neji asked.
"I heard that Kiba insulted the Outcast and the Outcast overheard him."
"Ou. That's going to be painful."
"No kidding."
The Outcast sat in his chair, Hinata not to far from him. She was whispering to him in a pleading voice. The Outcast made no reply, not even his body language gave anything away.
The Outcast suddenly raised his hand, cutting Hinata off. She dropped her eyes and backed away. The Outcast stood up to his full height, and said in his deep, dangerous voice. "I welcome you to the Haven with open arms. I put everything I have at your disposal, and this is how you repay me? I overlook your comments of stupidity, and this is how you show your thanks? I give you one condition to follow and you ignore it. Tell me why any of you should live this day out?"
"But, Outcast-dono -." Kiba began.
"Dono?" The Outcast said, "So it's dono now? What happened to pompous idiot? Or do you only bother respect someone when you're staring them in the face?"
Kiba shut up.
"Outcast-sama, with all due respect -." Tenten began
"Yes, calling me an ugly moron is a great way of showing respect."
Tenten stopped there.
Ino didn't say anything.
"Luckily for you, Hyuuga-san has pleaded your case. So instead of execution, you will be given another punishment."
Ino looked up at him, scared, "And what would that be?"
The Outcast looked over them with cold blue eyes. "You must all…dance."
They blinked. Twice. Then twice again. Then Ino spoke up, "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
They blinked again.
The Outcast smiled. "Hit it!" he yelled to someone that stood out of sight. Suddenly, music began to play and the masked ninjas cleared the floor.
Everyone looked at each other. Could this guy be serious?
"Well what are you waiting for? Dance!"
The girls instantly reached back into the depths of their memory to their academy days. One of the courses they took was ballet because it increased strength and agility, and being a dancer always made a good cover. They gracefully began to move through a routine that had been embedded into their minds at age five.
The guys looked at each other. Before blundering though some imitation moves that slightly resembled the girl's moves.
The girls, holding out their arms, did a graceful 360 degree turn. Kiba saw this and, with all the grace of a bulldozer, swung his arms around and hit Ino in the face. "Ow!" she yelled.
"Sorry." Kiba said, just in time for Ino to pounce on him, ready to tear him limb from limb.
Tenten saw this, noticing she was the only good dancer, and whispered to Ino. "Ino stop it. We have a routine here."
Ino didn't hear her, and continued to pummel the Inuzuka.
Tenten sighed, before stopping, and holding an apologetic finger up to signal the Outcast to wait only a second, she took out a Billy club, whacked Kiba's head, and dragged Ino back to the front of the room.
When the two girls made their graceful bow, and the boys made a much-less-graceful version of their own bow, the Outcast began to laugh.
Then he laughed harder, and harder, until he actually fell back in his chair and tossed it to the floor, where he continued to laugh. Finally, when he gained enough composure to speak, he stood up, "That was the funniest thing I have ever seen!" He said, "What do you think, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows behind the Outcast and said, "Well, it was well thought out, but the end result was a little troublesome."
The guys finally noticed the Shikamaru wasn't on the council floor.
"What?" The Oucast said, "That was hilarious! What do you think Hinata?"
"I'm sorry, but it was a little lower than your average standard."
"What!?" The Outcast asked, before sighing. "You guys are impossible, no sense of humor."
"Um…excuse me?" Ino asked.
"Oh, right, the explanation, before I get to that though, Kiba."
"…Yes?" Kiba said.
"You said I had something to hide, didn't you?"
Kiba nodded.
"Well, you were right." The Outcast said, before reaching up to his mask and pulling it down to reveal a young, smiling face of a boy they all knew. "And now I don't."
All seven of the ninjas on the floor fainted, except Shino, who only mumbled under his breath.
As the eight ninjas returned home to Konoha, they all wore smiles on their faces. They also now carried a secret. A secret that not even the Hokage could know, and that secret they held in their hearts helped them help Konoha live again.
End Chapter! Next time, Naruto Shows off his SKILLZ!
P.S. I finnally beat the LOTR The Third Age! Whoo hoo! party!