OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO At the gates of Konoha...
Asuma and Kurenai arrived along with Sasuke, Kiba, Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Neji. They showed their papers and went to the Hokage's office to debrief.
Ino asked "We're going to tell Hokage-sama, aren't we?"
Asuma said "Only if we can get him alone, out of his office."
Kurenai said "Even then it might not be a good idea. It would be better to tell him afterward. If someone overheard..."
Asuma nodded. "Alright, I agree. Not a word to anyone, got it?" The genin nodded. They went in after being called.
Sandaime looked up. He locked eyes with his son. Asuma looked slightly away 'He's keeping a secret from me...does it have to do with Naruto? If it is, that means that he's going against orders, if it doesn't he'll tell me later. I hope it's helping Naruto.' He frowned 'Poor Naruto. I'm so sorry...that I couldn't help you more...'
"Hokage-sama?"
Sarutobi snapped out of it "Kurenai? Forgive me. I was lost in my thoughts. Well, I recieved your mission report in the letter. So, unless you have anything to add, you're dismissed. Punishment will not be delt out until the others return."
Asuma kept himself from raising an eyebrow. Usually his dad demanded detailled reports. Their report had been very vague. He half smiled 'Thank you, dad. You really do care about Naruto, don't you?' He said "Nothing to add, Hokage-sama."
"Then you are all dismissed." They left.
Asuma looked at his group of students. He said, quietly, "We have a short time frame. We have two weeks before the others are due home. It will probably take a week to get there. We have at the max, a week. Good luck." They all nodded and went their seperate ways.
Neji and Hinata walked back to the Hyuuga compound together. Neji looked at his cousin. She was getting more and more timid as they reached the gates. By the time they neared the main house, Hinata's eyes were looking at her shoes and her fingers were steepled.
Neji said "Hinata-sama."
Hinata said "Neji-niisan."
"You're going to have to be strong, Hinata."
Hinata nodded "I'll do my best, Neji-niisan."
"Hinata!"
"T..tous..san?"
Hiashi scowled. "You're home. Where were you?"
"Out on a mission with my team."
"You ran into Uzumaki Naruto."
"Hai."
"He's become a missing nin."
"Hai."
"Good riddance."
Hinata hung her head, shaking a little. 'Tousan...Can I convince him? Should I try, or not? If I fail..."
Neji said "Hai, good ridance. The demon brat is gone."
Hiashi smiled "I see you see the light. Good boy."
"Am I dismissed, Hiashi-san?"
"Hai."
"Hinata-sama, do you want to train?"
"Hai, Neji-niisan."
Hiashi scowled "Go ahead. You need all the training you can get."
Hinata left out after Neji.
Neji took her chin and lifted her head up and frowned slightly at the tears running down her face. "Hinata. You should know better than anyone what Hiashi-sama's attitude would be. He never gave Naruto a chance. Why would that change now?"
Hinata cried "I thought maybe...just maybe...I mean, he wasn't the best father, but he's still f..family."
Neji scowled and hissed "Your father is a bastard, Hinata. He has been for as long as I can remember. I'm sorry to say this, but your little sister is a miniature copy of him and most of the Hyuugas are the same."
Hinata looked up at Neji "We're family."
Neji hesitatingly held Hinata "Yes, we're family."
"Neji, arigato." Hinata hugged him back.
Neji blushed faintly and said "Our part will be to act our parts until it's time. I agree with the council that Naruto's the Kyuubi and you think that Naruto became the Kyuubi and he's lost to it."
Hinata nodded through her tears. "I will do my best."
Neji said "Hey, we had better actually train or it will look suspicious."
Hinata sniffed "Hai. Byakugon!"
"Byakugon!"
Meanwhile, at the Inuzuka household, it was lunch time.
Kiba's mom, and sister Hana, were at the dinner table. Kiba was giving them the story of the mission.
Kiba's mom spoke up "Good ridance to that lone wolf."
Kiba asked "How come you don't like Naruto, kaasan?"
She looked surprised "He's a danger to Konoha, being unstable like he is. He is a danger to the pack."
Kiba asked "Do you think this way too, sis?"
Hana said "He seemed like a nice boy, but he has become unstable, and the Kyuubi almost destroyed Konoha once. He would do so again."
Kiba cried "Has is occured to anyone that he's unstable because of the curse seal that Orochimaru used on him? I mean the fourth designed the seal, right? He was a master at that sort of thing. I mean, he died to make it. It had to be good enough to keep the Kyuubi in. Besides, Naruto was kicked around by the villagers since he was born, right? He kept the Kyuubi back all those times." He cried "If he did turn into the Kyuubi, it would be the fault of all the villagers who treated him like he was a monster! All he wanted was to be accepted, but not one pack accepted him!" He stood up and pushed his chair back, angrily.
"Kiba..."
"We're about the same age. If it had been me instead of him, would you have tossed me out into the cold to fend for myself, because of something I couldn't control?!" He turned around. "I'm going to my room."
"Kiba, wait!"
Kiba had already left for his room. "Have we...been wrong...?"
Hana said "Kiba made some good points. For such a nitwit, he can sound pretty smart sometimes."
"Have we been wrong? The boy is still a danger, isn't he?"
Hana answered "If he is, it may be as much a fault of Konoha's as the curse seal. My question is..."
"Is he beyond saving?" Hana looked at her mother, surprised. "I'm going to go talk to Kiba."
With Asuma and Kurenai... the two were both at Asuma's place.
Kurenai said "Usually your dad asks for better reports."
Asuma said "I think he's trying to help."
Kurenai smiled "You know, what we're going to do is something that we can't take back."
Asuma asked "Do you have any doubts?"
Kurenai shook her head "Not as long as we do it together." Both blushed at that, then there was a pause.
Asuma then said "Heh...I don't really have anything to eat here...do you want to go out?"
Kurenai thought for a minute "Ichiraku's. That's where Naruto used to eat. Maybe we can get them to join us."
Asuma smiled "Sounds like a plan. Let's go."
At the Uchiha manner...
Sakura was over with Sasuke. His eye was twitching, but for once it wasn't because of Sakura. Someone else was here. He activated his sharingan. It was one person."Anbu-san. Why are you in my house."
An anbu appeared. "I was sent by Hokage-sama to keep an eye on you. He decided that I was enough."
Sasuke frowned. The Anbu was...lying? About what? He frowned. The Anbu asked "What are your feelings concerning Uzumaki Naruto?"
Sasuke frowned 'A test, and I don't even know what side this guy's on. Geez...he must be from Hokage-sama, because the council have no reason to send him, neither does Hokage-sama though...it could blow the plan if he's against Naruto...'
Sakura asked "What do you think of him?"
The Anbu paused 'Smart girl.' He said "You're trying to find out what side I'm on before you tell me your opinion." He looked at Sasuke "You're a perceptive boy, too. Tell you what. I'll remove my mask, will that gain your trust?"
Sasuke nodded, hesitatingly. The man removed his mask. Sasuke was surprised "I've never seen you before."
"Hokage-sama said that I might find it interesting to chat with you two, so here I am."
"Who are you?"
"Call me Yamato. Now, what do you think of the boy?"
Finally, with Ino...
Ino was sitting down to dinner with her mom. Her dad hadn't gotten back in yet. "Can we eat now?"
"Be patient, Ino."
Just then Inoichi walked in. "Toussan."
"Ino, back from your mission I see."
"Hai. Is it true that Shikamaru and Chouji's dads are in jail?"
Inoichi frowned "Hai."
"I heard you helped put them there. You didn't, did you?" Inoichi looked away. "Dad! How could you? They're your friends! And Naruto's not a ..."
Inoichi covered his daughter's mouth. "There's no one in the house, but they have spies pass by often. If you make too much noise, it will be worse for all of us."
Ino listened to the sounds of her mother scratching on a piece of paper with a pen. She recieved the note afterwards and gaped at it in shock.
"Mom's..."
Inoichi put his hand over his daughter's mouth and whispered in her ear, "Hai. They were threatening your mom and especially in her condition...they said if I stood up with them, they'd make your mother have an accident. They...made me betray Shikaku and Chouza and they don't even know why."
Ino said "I knew you were a good guy! I've got something to tell you guys."
Her mom pointed to the paper. "Oh..."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hope you guys liked the chapter. Ja ne.