I do not own Naruto. That would be Masashi Kishimoto.
The only thing that I own is the story line. Thanks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto groaned loudly and rolled over, slowly he cracked open his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin. He lay there motionless, face to face with one Kakashi's ninken he knew to be named Biscut.

Suppressing the urge to grown, he stealthily began to scoot to the other side of the bed, only to be halted by a second ninken, this one much larger.

"You know," came a familiar voice as he lept up onto the bed, "You snore very loud."

Naruto looked at Pakkun, curious how the ninken would react.

"Yeah sorry," he muttered, stifling a yawn, and looking around the room to see that all eight of Kakashi's ninken were sleeping somewhere in his room, "So what are you doing here again?"

"Haruno-sama had been summoned to the Hyūga compound for a healing session with one of the council members; since it was a last minute request she summoned us to keep watch until her return."

Yawning, he took another look around the room, "Where are Shadow and Soul?"

One of the newly awakened ninken muttered something under their breath before jumping down off the bed. Pakkun, knowing that the blonde was at times slow, answered, "They are watching over the Uchiha."

Still completely uneasy about having eight ninken staring at him Naruto decided that he would share the love and find Sasuke. Hearing the television in the living room Naruto quietly padded down the hall, the dogs following right behind him.

Sasuke made no indication towards Naruto other than a small nodded. Naruto frowned, seeing that he had wrapped bandages around his eyes.

"Again?" he asked, taking a seat beside Sasuke on the couch."

"Hn, dobe."

Naruto rolled his eyes, huffing loudly he suggested, "You could ask her."

Sasuke scowled at Naruto, looking at him as if he had sprouted wings and a tail, "That will definitely go over well. Knowing Sakura, she'd laugh in my face and tell me to deal with going blind. In case you haven't noticed Naruto, she is different from the girl you were best friends with."

Naruto glared at him, "She is still my best friend."

"Then you have a one-sided friendship," he replied coldly.

His face fell, those cerulean eyes welling up with a mixture of anguish and disappointment.

"We both know that the Sakura we remember is inside her, she still cares about us, she still loves us."

"No!" boomed Sasuke, causing the hair on the ninken to rise, "The Sakura Haruno we knew had died many years ago. We killed her the day we left her behind."

Naruto merely stared at him, neither speaking. Sasuke blamed himself for everything that happened to anyone in the group because he believed that it was his fault they were away from Konoha in the first place, Naruto knew this. But he also knew the ulterior motive that the young Uchiha had, which was to keep Sakura safe. If anything had happened to her, both would have gone on a massive rampage to destroy the one who harmed her.

Naruto held Sasuke's gaze evenly, "Times are different now, we're all different now. Maybe hoping we could be a team again was only a dream."

After a few minutes Sasuke turned and walked down the hallway and into his bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him. Naruto groaned in frustration and held his face in his hands.

"I don't understand him sometimes…"

Pakkun trotted over and sat down at his feet, "The Uchiha is ashamed and guilty about the decisions he made in the past, such as leaving Sakura behind the first time and then again the second time. He is now at a crossroads in his life, one that he has to decide for himself without outside factors weighing in."

Naruto looked to the pug, a new respect forming for the intelligent animal.

"I just – just miss them… I really wanted to see her happiness and ecstatic when we arrived, not this anger or resentment."

Shadow snorted, "Put yourself in her shoes, would you be happy if it were reversed?"

Pakkun gave the younger ninken a look and he was silent, "The way you felt Naruto, the loneliness when you were a child, is the same way Sakura had felt for a long time."

Naruto replaced his head to his hands and let out a long sigh, "I still wish it could be different…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Opal eyes roamed around the room, her room, searching for tiny details about her past. Her expression softened when they fell upon an old picture of her and her teammates with a pregnant Kurenai Yūhi. She remembered how her former sensei had glown during pregnancy, even after Asuma Sarutobi's death. She missed her, wondered in Kurenai had heard of their arrival. She wondered if Kurenai missed them, if she resented them.

Soft knocking on her door brought her back to reality, but her intruder didn't wait for an answer. Her guarded eyes softened when she saw that it was only Hanabi, she relaxed slightly.

"How are your eyes this morning?"

Hinata frowned, since her arrival she still hadn't been able to talk to her sister, "They feel fine, a little sore at times."

"Would you like Sakura to take a look at them, since she's in the compound, I could catch her before she leaves."

Hinata was taken aback by that. Not two seconds ago she was thinking Hanabi was avoiding her, but here she is, offering to help her out.

"Do not stop such a qualified woman for someone like her," came a hard voice through the door, "She is not deserving enough to lick the bottom of her shoe."

The door slammed open just after Hanabi leapt back, closer to Hinata, taking a protective stance. From the sudden light, Hinata had to blink a few times before she could make out the silhouette of a petite woman.

"I shall be the judge of who is deserving to lick my shoes, Hiashi," she firmly, earning the full heat of Hiashi Hyūga's glare.

Hinata looked between her Father and Sakura, then to Hanabi who had remained protectively before herself.

"Perhaps I over-estimated you, Haruno-sama."

Jade eyes remained hard and unaffected, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward in a smirk, "No, these were orders from the Hokage-sama. If you would rather, I can leave and explain to her why I have returned so early to her."

If her Father was capable of killing her and getting away with it, he would have, deiced Hinata. She had never known anyone outside of the Clan to question her father's wishes, especially someone who didn't belong to a clan themselves.

"Know your place, Haruno," he said with force calm, "It is because of me that you have gotten as far as you have."

Jade eyes narrowed slightly, "You are wrong, just as you are wrong about your daughters."

He scoffed in regards to that, "I have no daughters."

With that he turned to walk away, Sakura saw it coming; she'd seen her begin to move from the corner of her eye. Hinata watched in horror as Hanabi rushed their Father, hands glowing and Byakugan activated.

Before she could even spring forward from her bed Sakura flickered between the two, tacking the unexpected attack from Hiashi for Hanabi, his opal eyes glaring down into fierce jade. Blood began to drip down his arm, sleeve ripped to reveal a deep gash.

"You will heal this," he ordered angrily, pushing his glowing hand harder down on Sakura's forearm.

Sakura broke them apart, sliding backwards on the hard wood; Hinata could see now that they had both held kunai in their hand, Sakura too was bleeding. She looked over to her stunned sister, she looked very afraid, but she wasn't sure of whom she was afraid for.

"I won't, I refuse," Sakura growled, looking him straight in the eye.

"Either you do now, or after I speak with the Hokage about this."

Sakura held her ground.

"Then I shall see you in her office, I will be pressing charges."

She hissed, "Do your worst, you don't scare me."

Hiashi stormed off and Sakura waited till he was gone before turning to face the trembling Hanabi. Hinata felt her heart fall when Sakura pulled the younger girl into a tight hug, calming her down.

Feeling her gaze, Sakura motioned for Hinata to join, surprising the Hyūga greatly.

Hinata scrambled over to them and Sakura released her hold on the still upset Hanabi and turned her towards her sister. They wrapped their arms around each other and Sakura could see the tears over flow from both their eyes, they were sisters, this is how it was supposed to be.

"I don't like him," Hanabi said against Hinata's hair, "He's a self-righteous bastard."

Sakura smirked at Hinata's amused and shocked face, "He always has been," she said softly.

Hanabi finally looked up, eyes red a puffy, "Promise you won't ever leave again, please? Promise you abandon me too."

Sakura frowned and looked away.

"I promise," Hinata whispered into her sister hair.

Her fists clenched, but she remained silent, keeping her thoughts to herself.

X

A teary-eyed Sakura sat against the wall, glaring at the now empty hospital bed before her. She wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed or how long she had been sitting there.

Her face was paler than usual, tired and exhausted from the long and fast paced trek back to Konoha. She didn't deserve to even be here in the hospital, she should have died on that field, and a part of her had.

She didn't even look up when the door quietly opened, she couldn't.

The new person dropped to the ground beside her and wrapped her cold arms tightly around her, both trembling.

"I'm sorry," she finally said hoarsely, her eyes locked on the arm around her chest, "I'm so sorry…"

Fresh tears slipped from jade eyes and the person behind her chocked back a sob, "It wasn't your fault, I don't blame you at all, Sakura."

Finally she looked into those opal eyes and her heart wrenched in her chest, shattering into millions of pieces at the sight of the woman hugging her.

"Hanabi… Hanabi I'm sorry…"

Sakura carefully wrapped her arms around the young Hyūga.

"He left me behind!" she cried, "He went somewhere I could follow after him, he abandoned me! And I miss him!"

More tears flooded from her eyes and Sakura could only hold her tighter. They had both lost someone so dear to them and the only comfort that could be found, was between the two sobbing woman.

X

Still frustrated, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hinata, let me take a look at your eyes."

Nodding and Hanabi broke apart and they moved inside of her bedroom. Sakura looked around curiously, having never been inside of her bedroom before, her eyes lingering momentarily on a small framed photograph of Hinata and Naruto.

"Take a seat," instructed Sakura, motioning for her to sit before her vanity mirror at the dresser.

Hanabi leaned against the wall, quietly observing the two, her eyes occasionally flickering towards the door as if expecting her Father to come barging inside.

"How do you handle everything?" grumbled Hanabi, watching as Sakura assessed her sisters eyes.

Sakura glanced at her smirking, "I drink."

Startled, Hinata looked at the reflection of the woman healing her, "Are you joking?"

She merely shrugged but didn't answer the question.

"I should probably go," began Hanabi, avoiding eye contact with Sakura, "I'm on duty today."

"That's okay, you can watch her," Sakura said evenly, avoiding the young Hyūga's gaze, "I'll cover your shift."

"No, no, no, I could never let you do something like that for me," insisted Hanabi.

Sakura shrugged, "You were working with first year agents today, right? I'll do it, I'm sure your Captain will understand."

Hanabi gave her a half-hearted glare, "Then you can talk to my cousin, he was last seen practicing."

"I know, I already spoke with him about this. You will remain Hinata's guard until Tenten relieves you," Sakura backed away from the quiet Hyūga, "Activate them."

Doing as she was told Sakura then placed her glowing hands at Hinata's temples again, "You should be fine. If you have any problems inform whoevers watching you immediately."

"Thank you, Sakura," Hinata said nervously, "For keeping my sister safe while I was gone."

"Don't take my kindness to her as forgiveness to you," she said stiffly, "You abandoned your sister, you have to prove to me you deserve forgiveness. Starting with Hanabi."

Embarrassed she looked at her hands, unable to hold Sakura's piercing gaze, "I know, but I'm still thankful you were there for her, when I couldn't be."

Sakura understood her meaning and gratefulness; she still was very frustrated with everyone.

"I'm going to find your cousin."

Sakura closed the door quietly behind herself and Hinata looked to Hanabi for some sort of sign. Neither woman knew where they were supposed to go from here, how exactly does one handle being alone with their sibling for the first time in years?

"I have a question."

"What?" asked Hanabi, gaze narrowing.

"Could I see Naruto-kun?"

The younger Hyūga froze momentarily before her lips turned down, "No."

"Wait, why not?" questioned Hinata, "I know that as long as someone escorts me I am allowed to see him."

"Yes, but it does not please me. In other words, we are not going."

Opal matched opal. Hinata remembered how stubborn her sister was, but her actions aright now are absurd. She still has rights and is allowed to see the man she loves. Hinata new this was going to be extraordinary hard on him and she wanted to be by his side help him through everything.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I love him, Hanabi, I won't just abandon him in his time of need. I can't do that to him, not to someone I love."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed, "Oh? But leaving your sister behind was a piece of cake? You had no problem just up and leaving me in the middle of the night."

Her harsh words cut into Hinana like a sharp knife, "… I didn't mean it like that…"

"No, you just said you wouldn't abandon someone you love. You left behind many people you claimed to have loved. Neji, Kurenai-sensei, and even me. You left us all behind!"

There was no tears in her eyes, Hinata knew she deserved everything Hanabi said.

Hanabi continued, "I should beat you until you're covered with bruises, but that still wouldn't be enough! And on top of everything else I feel so fucking guilty about how angry I am! I feel bad for being mad at you when I've got every right to be upset!"

Her voice cracked as she said the last part, her hands shook as she glared at Hinata, "You left me behind… how do I even begin to forgive you for something like that? I'm your sister, we're supposed to get things together and have each other's back. But you weren't here. You weren't here for any of it!"

Tears began to slip down the elder Hyūga's cheeks, "I couldn't bring you with me, Naruto and Sasuke – "

"MY PROBLEM WITH THEM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" Hanabi roared, "My problem is that you all left someone behind, whether it be Sakura or parents or siblings! Did you know that we weren't even allowed to search for you because the Elders thought more of us would leave the Village?"

"I didn't know that," she barely whispered.

"Yeah, by the time we were finally allowed to search for you, Sakura… Sakura was just a shell."

X

"Sakura! Sakura, come on!"

The pink haired teen looked up from the table top with a blank expression, unfazed by the sudden intrusion on her home.

"Oh, hello Rock Lee, how are you doing this afternoon?"

Confused, the bushy eye-browed man moved closer to the extremely calm kunoichi.

"Are you feeling alright, Sakura-chan?" he questioned cautiously, "You don't seem quite like yourself today."

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm actually better than fine. I'm great."

"What's taking so long?" demanded a younger female, barging into the kitchen.

Rock Lee glanced back at the younger Hyūga and frowned, "I need to speak with Hokage-sama immediately. Stay with her, Hanabi, wait until I return."

Opal eyes widened in shock, "But I barely know her!"

Rock Lee was already gone, running at break neck speeds to the Hokage Tower.

"You can leave," muttered Sakura, "I'm better off alone."

Fresh tears began to fall from blank jade eyes, "I don't know why I keep crying. I hope I run out of tears soon, I don't want to cry about them anymore."

Hanabi took a deep breath before approaching the unfamiliar kunoichi. She had only seen her a few times when she'd come to see Hinata, but never before had they spoken. Carefully she wrapped her arms around Sakura's shoulders, hugging her from behind, "The tears will stop eventually, but right now, we need your help. I need your help. I want my sister back and I can't do that without you. You need to take a deep breath, grab your gear, and come with our search party."

Sakura was silent for a long time before she finally answered, "No, we're better off without them. We don't need anyone who doesn't need us."

X

"I just don't understand what was running through your head the night you left," she said, "Why would you so willingly leave? There was no sound evidence and nothing pointed us to any answers. The Elders forced us to move on like nothing had happened."

Hinata's frowned deepened, "Some things I cannot explain, they aren't that simple, Hanabi."

Her opal eyes narrowed, "You better start trying to explain because I am still going to get my answers, whether you cooperate or not."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jade eyes spotted the silent Hyūga, waiting for his cousin to join with six other agents. From what she could tell they looked rather fresh, on in particular was being a cocky arrogant asshole.

Walking up to him, Neji regarded Sakura with a nodded as she kept her mask in place.

"I had her take the watch, those two needed some alone time," muttered Sakura, filling him in with what was happening, "So I'm your replacement today!"

Neji remained stoic as ever, "Today we are sparing. Three against one – "

"Captain Hyūga and I will be the ones you're sparing against," interrupted one of the six.

Jade eyes narrowed, "Is that so?"

"Relax Sakura," Neji said firmly, eyeing her from the corner of his eye.

"Yes, please don't take offence to this," Sakura glared at the younger male, "It's just, I really doubt that you could hold your own against one of us, let alone three."

Neji grabbed onto her wrist before she could grab him. Sakura growled under her breath, "Let me go, I need to show this kid what it means to be trained by two of the three legendary sannin."

"Just don't kill him," ordered Neji, releasing his hold on her and leaping back.

Uncertain, the others did the same.

"My name is Captain Sakura Haruno."

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Because," she grinned evilly, "It's always good to know who handed your ass back to you."

Her small fist slammed into the tree behind him, sending shards of bark everywhere. Without missing a beat she grasped onto part of the tree and swung it like a giant bat, smacking him across the small clearing of the training field.

"What happened to all that trash talk?" taunted Sakura, "I thought you were going to teach me what it means to be an ANBU?"

Wiping the blood from his bleeding nose he charged her, kunai in each hand. Dropping the tree, she pulled her own kunai out.

"Captain Hyūga, will they be okay?" asked the female to his left.

"There is a reason no one messes with those with the Captain's ranking. He is about to learn this this hard way."

The male on his right snorted, "I heard that she's killed an entire army with the single tap of her foot."

Sakura turned from her fight, grinning, "Yeah, that one was pretty cool."

"Captain Haruno!"

The fight halted as they turned to watch the fast approaching chunin, jade eyes glanced to opal uncertainly.

"Your presence has been requested by Hokage-san immediately," he panted hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"You gonna be okay?" taunted Sakura's opponent.

He never saw the fist coming as he fell on his ass, holding his bleeding face. Sakura towered over him, glaring angrily, "Haki, what is one of the most important rules in our handbook?"

The chunin snickered, "Never take your eyes off your opponent. I'm pretty sure we learned that in the Academy."

"You are correct," smirked Sakura, "I'll see you later."

Neji nodded and Sakura hurried towards the Hokage Tower, disappearing in a swirl of cherry blossoms. She knew something had happened; she had a bad feeling about it all day.

Sakura ran up the stairs of the tower, heart pounding loudly in her chest. Stopping before the large wooden door, she sensed for chakra signatures. There were none.

"Shishou?"

Entering the room, she felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Good afternoon, Sakura," greeted the bandaged man.

"Hello Danzo-san," her gaze shifted from him to the tall man beside him, "Hiashi-san."

The Hyūga made no indication towards her, but Sakura knew better than to smirk. She could see his arm was freshly bandaged and the fact that Danzo was here spoke volumes of the seriousness of the situation.

Tsunade cleared her throat loudly in attempt of gaining everyone's attention, "Apparently you injured Hiashi early this morning. You interfered with internal Hyūga interactions and as a result you sliced his arm open with a kunai, then refused to see to his injury."

"Are you kidding me?!" Sakura exclaimed, "You – "

"Enough," commanded Danzo.

Sakura glared at the elder man, jaw clenched tightly. He continued, "Captain Haruno, I understand that there are two sides to every story. However, Hiashi-san confronted me personally about the problem and informed me about your current behavior. He explained that this was not the first time you both have had problems. Is that correct?"

Her gaze narrowed suspiciously, "Yes."

"And you did in fact assault Hiashi in the Hyūga Compound?"

"… yes…"

Danzo turned to a scowling Tsunade who looked ready to murder him on the spot, "I believe a punishment is in order, Hokage-sama."

"Please leave my office while I privately speak with my apprentice about these matters," growled Tsunade.

"That's not how this works," he replied coolly.

"As long as I am the Hokage it is, I will always give my people the benefit of the doubt," she said, rising to her feet, "Now, as my patience are wearing thin, please leave while I speak with my apprentice."

Hiashi stuck his nose in the air, "Things are going to start changing real soon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sakura.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Tsunade's hand fell on Sakura's shoulder; she met her mentor's eyes with concern.

"He's set a plan into motion," whispered Tsunade as the door closed, "Now please explain what happened."

Huffing loudly she took a seat across from her shishou while Shizune entered the office.

"I got between him and Hanabi, I wasn't going to stand by and let him touch her – or Hinata – especially when he was aiming to seriously harm her."

Tsunade placed her head in the palm of her hand, "I see."

"Yeah, I was defending them, I wish I did worse though," muttered Sakura, "How a man like him could have two daughters like Hanabi and Hinata is beyond my understanding."

"Agreed," chuckled Shizune.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright, enough you two. Now for the real reason I summoned you. There was s request from the Kazekage himself to come to Sunagakure, he wants you visit their hospital. They came across a few patients infected with an unknown toxin – muh like the one we've come across – and he'd like you to investigate."

Sakura crossed her arms, "I'm sure this mission will take a few days, right?"

"Got a hot date?" teased Shizune.

"Actually, yes," she replied evenly, causing the Godaime's gaze to narrow.

"I can postpone this mission for 48 hours, but I will not give you any more time than that."

Shizune glanced between the pair but didn't question, knowing that it was probably better to know less than more.

"Kakashi Hakate and Genma Shiranui will be your escorts for this mission."

Surprised Shizune chimed in, "You're sending Genma too?"

Sakura rose an eyebrow, "There a problem with that, Shizune-chan?"

"No," she retorted, acting as if it didn't bother her.

"Good! Then you can temporarily oversee Team 10 – Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akamichi – in Sakura's absence," instructed Tsunade, not seeing Sakura's smug smirk.

"… that sounds wonderful…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I really hate being locked up like this," grumbled the young brunette.

Beside him whimpered a rather large white dog.

"I want to see my team, it's been a long time since we've seen Hinata or Shino," he coninuted, "Plus all this nothing will make you lazy, Akamaru."

The ninken snorted in disagreement.

Rolling onto his side he glared at his bedroom wall. Since his return things amongst the Inuzunka Clan were a little stressed. Obviously Kiba's mother was over-joyed to see him – he is her son after all – but she also wanted to murder him.

"I just want to tell Hinata I'm okay, I know how much she worries."

"Then why don't you write her a letter?" suggested a young brunette entering his room.

Kiba glared half-heartedly at his older sister, "What do you want?"

"Well, I thought you should maybe speak with someone other than yourself for a little bit," she suggested.

"I'm not talking to myself, Hana," he insisted, "Akamaru is here with me."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, at least I'm making an effort."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means – brother – that unlike you I would like to reconnect my ties with you. Coming back from being rogue can't be at all easy, I'd like to understand," she looked away, tears beginning to fall, "I missed you , Kiba. You're my baby brother, I'm supposed to be there for you when you get into trouble and I wasn't. You just up and left me and mom behind, just like dad did. I want to understand, I want… I want to know if it was easy."

He saw the tears begin to slip from her eyes and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, Akamaru nuzzled against her back as well.

"Hana, leaving you and mom was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life," she hiccupped against his shoulder, "But it was something I needed to do, I chose to leave with my team."

She nodded slowly, "I know, but it still doesn't change how much that hurt."

"If I could have done it differently I would have, there was no way to get messages to anyone and I couldn't risk putting you or mom into danger," he explained quietly, "Being out there is scary, a lot can happen when your name is in the Bingo Book."

Hana finally regained her composure, snorting amusedly, "Don't you dare try for sympathy from me, dumbass."

"As if I'd want your sympathy," he muttered, childishly looking away.

Smirking she grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at her again, "Write Hinata a letter. I'll personally bring it to her."

"Really?"

"Yep, now get writing."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto yawned for probably the hundredth time now. Sprawled out on the couch like it was a lazy Sunday afternoon.

"She still hasn't come back yet," mumbled Naruto, hearing the door open and close softly.

"Hn."

Entering the kitchen Sasuke instantly found himself reaching for Kusanagi, "That's no way to trea the person guarding you, Uchiha."

"What're you doing here, Hyūga?" asked Sasuke coldly, glancing over his shoulder at Naruto with irritation all over his face.

"Oh yeah, Hanabi is here," muttered Naruto boredly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonds great informative skills, "So again: Why are you here?"

"I am here on behalf of Sakura to watch you and Uzumaki. Why else would I be here?" wondered the younger Hyūga, looking rather smug with herself.

"To hit Sasuke again?" suggested Naruto from the other room.

Hanabi snorted, "Yeah, I could do that. It's not like he doesn't deserve it or anything."

"You are such a bitch."

She rose an eyebrow, "Really? Is that how you truly feel?"

"I wouldn't answer that if you have a brain," came a feminine voice from the front door, "She'll rip your tongue right out."

"Hey Sakura," greeted Hanabi, "How's your day been?"

Onyx eyes shifted between the two woman. Both looked like they had something on their minds, something they weren't about to discuss in front of him or Naruto.

"Uneventful, how about yours?"

"Same," she answered boredly, "I relieved Soul and Shadow, I hope you don't mind."

Shrugging Sakura went to the refrigerator, "Nah, they needed a break. Tenten watching Hinata, I'm assuming?"

Something crashing in the other room caused the three to look up and see Naruto hurrying into the kitchen, "Hinata? What about Hinata? Is she okay? How's she doing?"

Sakura sideways glanced at Hanabi. Cerulean eyes watched their unspoken interaction with mild aggravation. Noticing his annoyed expression Sakura spoke up, "The information concerning the Hyūga is Classified. I cannot disclose any information about her well-being with you."

"That isn't funny," he said through gritted teeth, "I want to see my Hinata-chan. I will see her, one way or another."

Hanabi rose to her feet, moving over to stand directly before Naruto, "You wanna try and get to my sister? We'll you'll have to go through me first."

"Okay you two that's enough," ordered Sakura, pushing the two apart, "Blood is hard enough to get off skin, stain my floor and I'll revive you just to kill you myself."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, Naruto paled slightly and Hanabi just crossed her arms.

"Good. I'm glad everyone understands."

"Controlling woman," grumbled Naruto.

He helped out when a kunai thudded into the wall beside his head, "What did you say?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

Sakura nodded, "That's what I thought."

Hanabi shifted feet, eyeing Sasuke, "Sakura, can we talk later?"

"Sure."

Without another word Hanabi left in a puff of smoke. Sakura rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Long day?" inquired Sasuke.

"You have no idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Things are beginning to get really out of hand, something needs to be done."

"I agree! I'm getting tired of all this waiting around. My men are growing impatient as well."

The third person in the room waved their hand dismissively, "That is enough, Hiashi, Akito."

The pair fell silent, awaiting instructions from the elder man.

"Understand that this impatients of yours will lead to mistakes, which cannot be undone. Accidents will lead to mistakes, which cannot be undone. Accidents will lead to unnecessary problems and I will not have my preparations wasted because of your ignorance and arrogance."

"But Danzo-sama, the shinobi nations are growing suspicious. Many are searching for me and my men, even Akatsuki are looking to eliminate us," argued Akito.

Hiashi nodded solemnly, "And you cannot forget about the Godaime's precious apprentice. She has total control over these returned Rookie 9."

Akito glanced over at Hiashi momentarily, "Your daughter is one of the officers watching them, is she not?"

"My daughter is a complete disgrace to the Hyūga Clan. I would gladly be ridden of her at the next chance I had."

"Hmm…" Danzo leaned back against his chair, "Perhaps that could be arranged. I will create a mission for her and while she is away your traitor of a daughter can be disposed of as well."

Akito grinned sinisterly, "Two birds with one stone."

Hiashi stiffened slightly but said nothing, only nodded in agreement.

"What do you make of Sakura Haruno?" questioned Akito, changing the topic at hand, "A source has informed me that she's searching for an antidote to our toxins."

Again Danzo waved dismissively, "Sakura Haruno is nothing to concern ourselves with at the moment. She is too caught up in her emotions with he former teammates return to be aware of our dealings. Same as Tsunade."

Silence fell between the two of them again.

"You both may leave," Danzo said quietly, "I will summon you soon when I have devised more of our plans."

"Hai!" answered Akito, saluting to Danzo before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Hiashi began walking towards the door when Danzo's voice stopped him in his tracks, "When the time comes, do not get cold feet. I do not take lightly to being double crossed. I will not hesitate to eliminate you, same as your daughters."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Muttering quietly to himself Jiraiya overlooked the handful of scrolls laid out on the table before him. So involved in his work he was completely caught off guard by an amused females voice, "Avoiding him?"

Looking up, he smirked at his large-breasted teammate as she took a seat across from him, a bottle of sake in her hand.

"And who would I be attempting to avoid?" he asked, "I can't think of a single person I would deliberately try to avoid."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "You know exactly who I am talking about. I can completely understand if you're angry."

"I am not angry with anyone," he retorted smoothly.

She sighed in frustration, "Okay, let's try extremely disappointed. You know, he's disappointed in himself right now and a little toad told me that he really misses his Ero-sensei."

Jiraiya looked up at Tsunade, a strange expression on his face, "He abandoned Konoha and I did nothing to stop him. His father and mother entrusted me to look after him and I let him leave with that bastard Uchiha. You know, I thought I trained him to be better than that, that you don't leave your friends behind."

He looked over his teammate with mild frustration, "And how the hell can you remain so calm about all this? Doesn't just thinking about them and the pain they caused Sakura make you want to rip their heads off?"

The table they were sitting at suddenly cracked in two, his eyes widened, he hadn't even seen her move.

"Don't you dare accuse me of not caring, if I could get away with beating them to a bloody pulp I would. But I am the Hokage and this isn't a battle you or I can fight for her, Sakura's a strong woman and she needs to prove to them what she's become," Tsunade took a deep breath, "Besides, Naruto is standing under the scrutiny of the entire village once again. He needs to know his God Father still has his back, despite his stupid choices and mistakes."

Jiraiya huffed and crossed his arms, "I agree that the brat needs a good talking too, but Kakashi is just as capable of giving him a speech. It doesn't have to be me."

"Well, in about 48 hours I'm sending both Kakashi and Sakura on a mission to Sunagakure. Which means you'll be watching Uzumaki and Uchiha until she returns."

Happy with herself, Tsunade left the small ramen.

"Of course it has to be me, who else would want to watch those two?" he mumbled to himself, picking up his scrolls.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She quietly padded down the hall and into the small bath house – a small hot spring on the compound. After sparing with Rock Lee and watching Hinata for Hanabi, she felt as if she deserved a little time to relax.

Seeing that she was the only one around she undid her two buns and let her long chocolate brown hair.

"Everyone should get spoiled once in a while," she purred, sinking into the hot water.

She reached for the kunai in her pile of clothes, only to have calloused fingers wrapped around her wrist and stop her, "It's just me," he cooed.

Her entire body relaxed again as she gazed up at her teammate and best friend, "… Hey Neji."

Slowly his fingers traced up her arm as he released her wrist, finding their way into the long damp lockes that hung loosely around her shoulders, "Room for one more?"

She grinned, feeling his warm breath against her cheeks, "For you? Always."

He smirked into the kiss, knowing that this was going to be an amazing night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(1) - Cover Photo – Created ByStray Ink 92, title "Never Alone"

(2) – Created by Theos-Kengen, titled "Ryokugan"

(3) – Hinata/Hanabi 's appeance, visit Cynchick at Deviantart. Will of Fire.