Chapter 7:

The foursome headed out of the village towards Tanigakure in the Land of Rivers. As they walked through the gates of Konoha and headed southwest, Naruto couldn't help but give a little giggle of happiness. He put both arms over his head and looked up to the blue sky above.

"Wow, this is just like old times. Team 7 together again!" Naruto looked back at Hinata as she walked with them, "Except this time we have the prettiest kunoichi in Konoha accompanying us." He gave Hinata a wink that made her blush and look away in embarrassment.

Kurama inside Naruto chuckled and said to Naruto, "I definitely feel a menacing chakra directly behind you." Naruto stopped suddenly and did a 180 jump looking in both directions, but all he saw was Sakura. Her face was very red and her fists were balled up. There seemed to be steam coming from her ears too.

Naruto then gave an apologetic smile and put one arm up to rub his neck in embarrassment, "Sorry Sakura. I mean I suppose you are a kunoichi too and yeah you're pretty too, you know."

Hinata suddenly stepped in to defuse the situation. She knew her friend's feelings were hurt and she needed to get Naruto out of there before Sakura started pounding on him.

"Come on, Naruto" she said in her quiet fashion. She grabbed hold of his sleeve, "Let's scout on ahead."

"Uh yeah, that's sounds like a great idea, Hinata! Let's go!" With that the two sprinted up ahead, leaving Sakura and Sasuke walking along the road.

"Ugh, Naruto can be such a blockhead sometimes! I really don't know what Hinata sees in him!" Sakura seethed out loud to Sasuke.

Sasuke strolled a bit closer to her. He had his hands in his pockets and walked along casually.

He chuckled, "It's obvious isn't it? He's in love. People do strange things when they have strong feelings."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke and sighed. Then she gave a little smile, "Yeah I guess you are right." They walked along in companionable silence.

::

Hinata and Naruto sprinted ahead through the trees. They both enjoyed the wind through their hair and the rush of speed as they used chakra to propel them from branch to branch. They started playing a game of tag as they went along. Naruto would tag Hinata and yell "It" and then Hinata would race to catch him. Naruto loved it when she caught him so he would purposely slow down. Her slight touch on his arm and her breathless voice saying "It" in his ear never failed to produce a rush of shivers. He also loved to chase her. He couldn't help but appreciate your figure in her tight travel clothes. After a fairly long perusal, he caught up to her and was about to give her rear a pat, when she suddenly stopped almost causing him to miss the branch that she had halted on.

"Whoa!" He said as he teetered on the brink of following off the branch due to his sudden stop. "What is it? Do you see something, Hinata?"

Hinata sighed and pointed at a spot about 20 yards ahead. Naruto could just barely make out a field of flowers bursting through the slightly frozen ground. Hinata looked over at Naruto and grabbed his sleeve, "Come on" she said and they started towards the site.

They broke through the trees and saw a secluded meadow. The heads of the Crocus flowers were just starting to open in the full sun.

"Wow this is cool but isn't it a bit early for flowers. I mean don't they normally come out in spring." Naruto said.

Hinata shrugged, "It has been a warm winter so far. I guess they are just confused."

She leaned down and snapped off one of the purple flowers and put it in her hair, "How do I look?" She asked Naruto shyly.

Naruto stepped up close to her and drew her towards him. He loved the feel and smell of her. He looked down at her upturned face and breathed out, "Beautiful! But won't that flower make you sneeze?" He asked.

She shook her head mutely and started to say that she wasn't allergic to them when Naruto leaned down and touched his lips to hers. She leaned into him and he knelt her down at the edge of the bed of flowers and began to kiss her slowly. She put her hands behind his neck and let him take on her weight. After a while, Hinata broke the spell.

"Naruto, um I think we better get back on the trail. Sakura and Sasuke might start to worry and technically we are on a mission." Naruto leaned his forehead against hers.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Maybe on the way back we can stop here. I bet more flowers will be blooming." He added hopefully.

Hinata laughed and gave him a light punch to get him to get off her, "Definitely!"

::

Naruto and Hinata met up with Sasuke and Sakura on the outskirts of Tanzaku Quarters.

"Hey guys, I thought you were ahead of us." Sakura said.

Naruto and Hinata shared an embarrassed laugh and then Naruto confessed, "We got a bit side tracked along the way."

Sakura gave a raised eyebrow in their direction before she looked back towards the large gambling town up ahead.

"We can spend the night here, I guess, and start back up in the morning." Sakura said. She was the official leader of the mission. They all agreed and started towards the town.

As they made their way to the town gates, they were met up with a crowd of visitors.

Naruto looked around at the sudden crush, "Hey what's going on? Why's it so busy in the village tonight?" He asked an older man who was passing by.

The old man looked at him incredulously, "It's the Annual Tournament of Poker Players! It's been going on all week and the finals are tomorrow!"

Naruto looked around at all the hustle and bustle, "All these people are here to watch a card game?"

The man gave a toothless grin, "Watch, play…you name it! Hey if you don't have a place to stay already, you should probably move on through. The inns gave been booked up for this week months in advance."

The old man hurried off leaving the foursome alone. The group had stopped at once with the news that there might not be a place to stay at the popular gambling community.

Naruto looked over to Sakura, "What now boss?"

Sakura looked around and said, "Well let's ask around first before we begin to worry. Maybe if we pay double then someone might be more apt to let us stay."

They continued through the town with Naruto taking the lead inquiring from inn to inn. Each time he came back with a shake of his head. It was starting to get late

"I just can't believe that there's no room anywhere." He complained.

"Well it looks like we will just have to sleep under the stars tonight." Sakura gave a shiver despite herself.

Sasuke sighed. "Let me see what I can do."

"What do you mean? Naruto has asked everywhere." Sakura said.

Sasuke gave a twitch of a smile, "Not everywhere. Follow me."

He led down a side road a few streets away. There was a bright light at the end of the otherwise darkened street. Sasuke stopped at the top of the street and began to unbutton and loosen his shirt from his pants.

Sakura looked at him suddenly, "What are you doing?!" She exclaimed.

"Getting us a room of course. Stay here until I give the signal." He ordered.

He sauntered down the street and then went up to the lit house and knocked. He leaned casually up against the door frame. The door opened. They couldn't hear what Sasuke said but they had no problem hearing the tingling of a woman's laugh nor seeing her painted fingernail as it traced a line over Sasuke's chest. Both Naruto and Hinata looked at Sakura at the same moment. Both found that they had moved in concert a few steps away from Sakura. Sakura looked over at them suddenly with a menacing glint in her eye. She noticed the two of them looking at her with frightened expressions.

"What?!" She growled at them.

"Nothing!" They both said in unison as they put their hands up.

Finally they looked back at Sasuke and noticed him beckoning to them.

"Come on!" Growled Sakura as she practically stalked towards the house.

Hinata leaned over and whispered to Naruto, "I'm scared."

Naruto put his arm around her and squeezed, "Me too!" They followed Sakura at a distance.

When Sakura got to the doorway, she felt her cheeks light up. There were several men and women in various states of undress. A red haired woman, obviously the owner of the place, ushered them to a side room.

"Come in here quick!" She looked at the three shinobi with a wrinkle of her nose. "Definitely bad for business!" She turned to Sasuke with a practiced smile. She leaned into Sasuke and looked up into his eyes, "You on the other hand, Sasuke, are always welcomed." She let her hand stray down his chest and stopped just shy of his waistband.

Sasuke turned and made introductions, "Angie, these are my comrades, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata." Angie ignored the girls and stepped up to Naruto. She took his face roughly in one manicured and turned it one way and the other squeezing his face tightly.

"Definitely needs some work." Hinata couldn't help but stifle a laugh which drew Angie's practiced eye over to her. Angie dropped Naruto's face like a hot potato and turned her full attention over to Hinata.

Before Hinata could do anything, Angie sauntered over and opened her jacket swiftly.

"Well, well, look at what we have here! Now this one has potential! Oh what I can do with you!" Angie began perusing Hinata's form up and down.

Sakura had heard enough, "Hey stop! Are we staying here or not?! If yes then show us to our rooms!" This outburst distracted the red haired diva so much that she dropped Hinata's jacket and turned a hard gaze towards Sakura.

Hinata quickly shut her jacket and turned a bright pink. Angie started to walk towards Sakura with a measured stride when Sasuke intervened. He put his hand up to Angie's cheek and the older lady seemed to melt into his touch.

"Sorry Angie. We are all so tired. Thank you so much for letting us have the room. I know that it costs you. We are happy to pay you extra." Sasuke produced a bag of coins and handed it over. Angie took it and opened it.

"Oh Sasuke! You are always so generous!" She grabbed his hand and started up the stairs.

"Follow me!" She said and gave a sharp look Sakura's way. "But of course you know the way, don't you Sasuke." She added this with a pat on Sasuke's bottom as they climbed up the stairs. Naruto and Hinata hurriedly followed after both turning and see the thundercloud on Sakura's face. With a long exhaled breath, Sakura followed her team up the stairs.

Angie showed them to a small room with barely 2 twin sized beds. As the three of them entered it seemed even smaller. Angie shut the door and stood outside with Sasuke.

"You are welcome to stay with me Sasuke." She asked him hopefully.

Sasuke grabbed her hand and kissed it. "You don't know how tempting that is, but I have to stay with my comrades tonight."

Angie pursed her red lips prettily, "Pity." She said and then looked at the closed door and then back at Sasuke, "Keep them inside especially that pink haired chit. She's definitely bad for business!"

Sasuke bowed and kissed her hand again before entering the room.

He felt the chill immediately upon stepping into the room. Naruto and Hinata were sitting down on one of the beds looking from him to Sakura and back again. All they seemed to need was some dinner and it would be perfect.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura. She had her hands on her hips with her one foot tapping an angry beat on the floor. "You were tempted huh?!" She asked angrily.

Sasuke looked over and sighed, "What did you want me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know, something like get your hands off me, would have worked for a start!" Sakura fumed.

"We needed a place to stay. I did what I had to do." He said simply and then sat down tiredly with his back against the wall. He suddenly felt really tired and began to question why he had even requested to join them on this mission. White Zetsu was out there doing who knows what and here he was trying to what? Get the girl? A girl that didn't even want to be caught?

Sakura had sat down on the bed. All of her built up steam had been dispersed. Sasuke was right. He didn't do anything wrong. It's not like they were together. She had made it plain that they weren't right for each other. She looked over at Naruto and saw Hinata whisper something in his ear. Naruto nodded.

He came over to Sasuke and gave him a pat on the back and said cheerfully, "Hey thanks! We really appreciate what you did for us, man!" Then he turned to Sakura and added, "It's late. Let's try to get some sleep alright." Naruto went over and turned the lights off. She heard him get into the bed with Hinata and soon she heard them settle down.

She never thought she'd see the day that Naruto would act as the peacemaker for Team 7. Wow how things had changed. Hinata was such a positive influence on him. She suddenly felt ashamed at how she behaved. She could barely make out Sasuke's form as he sat unmoving on the floor. She went over and sat next to him. She shivered at the sudden cold draft. She reached over and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. Sasuke looked over at her curiously.

"Come to bed. We can sleep together." She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Sleep?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow as he whispered the question back.

Sakura smiled and reiterated, "Yes, sleep. Come on!" With that said she helped him to his feet and together they snuggled on the small bed until they were both overcome by exhaustion.

::

In the morning, they made their way out of town. They all had slept remarkably well despite the cramped quarters. Even Sakura grounded out a 'thank you' to their red haired hostess on the way out. They were hoping to make it to Tanigakure, the hidden village in the Land of Rivers, by the evening. It was there that Naruto had been given the kunai. Hopefully someone there would be able to recognize the crafter or perhaps even know where they might be able to find Niishi.

They started out at a good pace but as they neared the border of the Land of Fire, they could see dark storm clouds approaching from the Northwest. The wind had already began to pick up and they were being pelted with big raindrops.

They were a few kilometers inside the border to the Land of Rivers when the storm hit them. The four huddled together.

Sakura looked over at Hinata and ordered, "Hinata, survey the area, do you see any place to go to get out of this storm?" Hinata activated her Byagukan. The rain was streaming down her face and her hair was plastered to her head.

She shook her head, "Nothing really. I just see rivers and flatlands."

Sasuke put his hand on Sakura's arm to get her attention. "I remember an Akatsuki hideout not too far from here. It should be unoccupied. We might be able to hold up there until the storm passes." Sakura looked over at him and nodded, "Lead the way!" She said.

Sasuke took off through the torrential rain and the rest of the team did their best to keep up. By the time they made it to the hideout, they were soaked through and shivering.

They made their way deeper into the underground bunk. They found a pile of dry kindling but sure enough the place Was otherwise empty.

Sasuke quickly made the fire and they all huddled around it for warmth. Luckily their packs were waterproof so they quickly changed into dry clothes and strewn out their wet clothes to dry.

Naruto looked about the empty room and commented, "This place looks like it was cleaned out. For a hideout you think there might be some kind of furniture or something. It's not like the Akatsuki knew that they wouldn't be coming back."

Hinata shrugged and offered up her opinion, "Maybe they just used this as a temporary place and they abandoned it long ago."

Sakura looked around and agreed with Naruto, "No if they abandoned it that long ago, you'd see more dust. This place does look abandoned but not that long ago."

Sasuke stood up and peered down a corridor that led to a storage room in the back of the hideout. "Let me check something out. I'll be right back."

Naruto looked at his friend in concern, "Should I go with you." He asked.

Sasuke put out his arm and said, "No. It's nothing really. Stay here with the others." Naruto nodded.

Sasuke made his way silently down the darkened corridor. He reached the storage area and sure enough found it empty. Perhaps some local thieves had happened on the place and cleared it out recently. That made sense.

As he turned to leave his eye caught a faint glint of white in the corner. He paused and stared almost in disbelief as white Zetsu appeared out of the wall.

"Why Sasuke? Funny finding you here. I thought you would be lounging around a stone prison in Kumogature. How disappointing to find you here, alive and well."

Suddenly, Sakura's voice could be heard calling out to him, "Everything okay, Sasuke!"

White Zetsu gave a big smile and then answered back in Sasuke's voice, "Yeah be there in a minute!"

Sasuke stared at him coldly, not flinching or showing any indication that he was bothered by Zetsu's perfect imitation of him.

He suddenly transformed into a perfect replica of Sasuke. Even with his Sharingan it was like looking into a mirror and seeing himself. Sasuke found himself taking a step back from well, himself.

His duplicate smiled coldly and announced, "I wonder if little Sakura would even know the difference. I could kill you now and take your place. She would never know. Well only when she exclaimed how much better I suddenly became in the sack, that is." He added snidely.

Sasuke came at him suddenly and using his sword cut him in half. As the two halves lay on the ground they altered back to the shape of white Zetsu He looked up at Sasuke from the floor and exclaimed.

"Oh Uchiha! You still aren't any fun! Todaloo!" He added as he sunk down into the dirt floor and disappeared out of sight.

Sasuke sheathed his sword and went back to his friends.

He went to check out the hidden entry and saw that the storm had passed. The stars were starting to shine through the clouds.

"Come on!" He told them, "If we hurry we can make it to Tanigakure in a few hours." He snuffed out the fire as he talked.

Naruto and Hinata started to collect their belongings. Sakura stood staring at Sasuke, "What's the matter?" She asked watching him intently.

He stopped what he was doing and came to her side. He put his hands on either side of her face and looking at her intensely, "Nothing. I just want us to hurry and get through with this mission." Sakura looked into his eyes looking for some sign to what set off this sudden agitation she felt in him, but could find nothing.

"Hai" she said and she started to get ready to go. He was right, she thought, if they hurried they would be able to get to the village. No sense dragging this mission out if they didn't need to, she reasoned. However as she collected her belongings she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, really wrong.

::

Hello everyone! I threw in some Naru/Hina in this one. Thanks for the review that asked for it. I will try to add in more. Thanks to those who follow/fave! Send me a review if you like the chapter. Thanks again!