Yamato crouched slightly over a dumped bag. He frowned as his eyes worked through the loose brushes and split ink containers. The former ANBU operative had been concerned this might happen, and while he'd taken precautions it was still hardly a situation he was happy to deal with. By all appearances, Sai had approached Orochimaru of his own free will, and then willingly gone with him. It was, perhaps, a coerced choice but the fact remained that he had gone, and there were no scenarios in which that boded well for Yamato or the rest of Team Kakashi.

He looked back to find Naruto frowning heavily. It was no wonder, either. He looked stiff but was, fairly surprisingly, not in too bad of shape. Hinata had managed yet another fairly amazing thing, it seemed. One right after the other, too. She was full of surprises, perhaps even more then she realized herself. Given her surprise at the actions that seemed likely.

Regardless, Naruto was alive and fine, and also back in his own right mind. Abet with an utter lack of knowledge when it to what had happened. Apparently he could vaguely remember sending Orochimaru flying, and then the bare beginnings of a fight with him. And then there was simply an inky blackness in his mind, a hole in his thoughts. He had seemed surprised when he finally came to, laying on his back with a tearful Hinata quick to grab onto him and a vast swath of destruction carved through the land. Oh, and a destroyed bridge, but he actually vaguely remembered that part.

Acting quickly, their temporary team captain had mobilized them before he could think too much on what had happened, not entirely sure if he wanted to bog down the boy with that right now, not when they had a chase on their hand, and such a lead on Sasuke Uchiha. It hadn't been hard to get him moving with that motivation, but the crater they had come upon was more then Yamato had expected from what his scout had said. Worse, Sai's dumped belongings painted a very dangerous picture.

Or so they thought.

It was Hinata who discovered it, picking up the picture book that Sai had shared with them earlier. She had been staring off, byakugan searching for traces of Orochimaru and his cohort, but had been drawn to a faint chakra signature she saw in the book. Hidden away in the back of it was a small message.

Follow, it said. And then, as if detecting it had been read, the ink flowed off the page and into the form of a small bird. Yamato watched with a grin as Naruto almost lit up. After so many betrayals it seemed that this was a welcome reprieve. Unnecessary, of course, given he'd planted a tracking seed on the pale boy, but this sign made it very clear that the newest member of Team Kakashi was still on their side.

Yamato's hand moved to his headpiece, and he nodded slightly as the forward scout reported in. He was trailing them, from a distance. With a single order, the three remaining members of Team Kakashi took to the trees. They had to be fast if they wanted to catch up.

Although Naruto had been overjoyed to realize that Sai hadn't been a traitor, that had only been a temporary reprieve from his feelings of both concern and confusion. He'd blacked out, and came both incredibly stiff and to find the bridge destroyed and with neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto in sight. And, perhaps even more concerning, Sai had been missing. There hadn't been time to ask any questions, with Yamato simply inquiring into his status and then quickly leaping off to find Sai.

The discovery of Sai's things had deflected his attention away from the massive destruction around him; the crater was easily at least a third the size of Konoha, and the trees on the rim had seen far better days. The first few rows even outside the crater were flattened, and beyond there the ones still standing were stripped of bark and foliage. Even beyond that there was a fast depletion of leaves and needles amongst the other trees. It was awe-inspiring in it's terribleness. But something seemed familiar about it to the blond genin, and that made him more then a small bit scared.

He felt he should know what had happened there, or rather that he did know and could not dredge up the memories. Some part of him had wanted to forget it and was doing a damned good job of making sure he did not remember. Naruto rubbed his shoulder, feeling strangely raw and clean while also A small bit painfully stiff. He must have had some fight, and gotten hit fairly hard to to remember it. He remembered, vaguely, the first fight with Orochimaru and the pain he'd been after that.

Of course, that line of thinking was not particularly enjoyable. He hated that thinking back to the times before was now so painful. The memories he once cherished, regardless of situation, cut him deeply.

Naruto stumbled slightly as he landed on a branch wrong, causing him to snap out of the reverie. Hinata looked back at him and worried look on her face only made things worse; he was not supposed to be making her worried too. Although it warmed him to know she did it also made him angry at himself for causing it in her. Hinata was so much prettier when she smiled.

Unknown to him, it was lucky that he was so disconcerted about things, or else he might have had to actually grasp what it is he just thought. Indeed, perhaps it was for the best that his life had been so hectic since he returned that the very peculiar thoughts and feelings he'd been having for the pale-eyed Hyuuga girl. It was good he didn't need to think about how his eyes were drawn to her more and more. It was better for his mind to worry about the mission, lucky in many ways. Of course, luck always runs out at the worst possible times.

But not quite yet.

Naruto vaulted off the next few trees just perfectly, causing Hinata's visible concern to fade. Visible because, deep down, she was but filled with concern for her long time crush. It was not as though she had a shortage of things to worry about either. She worried about how this mission was affecting him, and how the demon sealed within him was affecting. She worried about his trip. So excited when he returned, she barely could say a word at all. It was even worse when he handed her the flowers. Of course, she hadn't much time to enjoy it when the word came in and they were off to Sunagakure no Sato to rescue an old friend.

Gaara's safe recovery had been a high point for Naruto, to say the least. It had lifted his spirits, and also revealed something about him that Hinata had never expected. At first, she had to admit some trepidation about the Kyuubi, but that had faded strangely quickly. Strangely, it had taken seeing him draw on that power to do it, and knowing why. It had been her, she realized.

As they watched a new generation of Sand-nin cheer for their Kazekage's safe return, there had been a moment when she saw Naruto in a very strange way. The combination of respect and longing as he watched them crowd around and heap praise on him. Hinata couldn't help but wonder where Naruto would have been had he not made his vow. Would he be close on Gaara's heels? What about her? It was strange to think that two people she hardly knew had so guided nearly three years of her life. Her promise to Naruto had made her stronger, she knew. And closer. Where would she be without it?

It was such a strange thing, something she could not place. To be happy about Naruto's misfortune and pain was completely out of the question, but she could not help but acknowledge that without it she might never have been standing next to him, even just as the friend she was. And they were friends. Closer than she'd been to almost anyone before. She had missed him each and every day, and was so proud when he saw the respect in his eyes. Some day she would manage up the strength to tell him so. She'd tell him that she had gotten strong for him, because of her promise to him.

But, in the back of her mind, she got the feeling he already knew.

Hinata was brought back to the present rather suddenly as Yamato called a rest. She realized that she had lost her focus and scolded herself for it. Naruto landed roughly again, apparently rubbing his shoulder again.

"What the heck hit me to make me so stiff?" he asked to no one in particular, though he'd turned to Captain Yamato first. The jounin looked at him for a moment, as if pondering what to say. Naruto simply frowned.

"What?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him, "What I miss?"

Yamato was just about to open his mouth when Hinata began to speak.

Not long before...

Naruto's four tails of seething red lashed wildly about as the jinchuuriki pushed himself up and out of impact crater from his rough landing. His eyes were drawn suddenly to his side as he watched a person that a part of his mind told him he cared deeply for rush at him, eyes and hands aglow with silver light. It trailed behind her, outlining her with brilliant energy. His human mind wrestled with the feral part of him, fighting back the instinct to lash out. But the chakra was not entirely his, and it's nature was not his either. Even as he fought, one of the lashing tails came down, straight into the path of the angel girl who was racing right towards him.

She vaulted over the tail with preternatural grace, and the world seemed to move in slow motion. It was instinctual as she moved and flowed. She saw the next tail before it even moved and adjusted accordingly. It swung overhead as she moved, and she was close enough to strike. It was within the range of her divination and, hands awash with power, she acted upon it. Spiraling trigram signs became her world as she moved, and her hands struck out with pinpoint accuracy. Eight strikes, that is what it would take. Blue-white chakra shot into the first point as her fingers neared the target but never actually made contact. There was no need for contact.

The chakra shot through Naruto's shield, tiny streams of white lacing his body as her hand moved for a second strike. The feral part of his mind fought back, bringing a clawed hand around to swipe at this interloper. It swept over her head as she bent over, displaying amazing flexibility as her fingers shot out and struck the second and third points in rapid succession. The seething flow of chakra faltered, bubbling wildly as it began to loose cohesion. The jinchuuriki roared as a fourth and fifth spike lanced through it's shield, further destabilizing the shroud of chakra. The foul influence on Naruto's mind began to rapidly recede as the chakra flow reversed, becoming a whirlpool on the boy's naval.

Yamato watched in wide-eyed wonder, transfixed by the sight. The hokage had mentioned something about Hinata redirecting an overflow of chakra in Naruto's body before, but she had not been this explicit about exactly what that entailed. Indeed, she was rather brief in general, instead focusing on informing him of his part in this all. He had been intended to suppress the demonic chakra, should that need arise. He had been in fear for her life when Hinata raced at Naruto, only to to see her do this...

Six and seven. Naruto's face broke through the shroud as it receded, face a mask of bloody red. The chakra crystal of the First Hokage's necklace glowed bright as it was revealed, chakra flowing down his body. It became apparent that the foul chakra was corrosive to biological material as his clothes came into view, strangely no worse for the wear despite their time under the seething shroud.

Yamato found himself rather suddenly flying back. Kabuto had kicked him in the mid-section, apparently managing enough room to form a chakra scalpel to slice through his wooden bonds in the brief moment that the jounin had let his attention lapse. He had little time to curse his carelessness, though, as Kabuto launched himself across the gorge, his own eyes transfixed upon the strange sight of one Hinata Hyuuga glowing with strange silver light, delivering blows that were barely visible, and the streams of white that lanced across Naruto's body.

She finished it with the eighth and final strike, having taken a scant few seconds to deliver them all. The seal on the jinchuuriki's stomach glowed red for a moment, sizzling before it began to disappear. Naruto let out a pathetic gurgle, before collapsing. Emotion returned to Hinata's face, as she suddenly realized what had happened and once again she moved without thinking, abet for far different reasons. Her hands glowed green this time as she rapidly began to move. Tears budded in her eyes as she looked at Naruto, skin boiled away. He should have been healing. She'd seen him heal before, faster than she thought possible.

Had she stopped it somehow? Had she done this to him? Frantic, she pushed herself to work faster. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding when she saw his skin began to patch and bud, a combination of his natural healing slowly returning and her own ministrations finally showing progress.

He was going to be just fine, she told herself. He was going to be just fine. She knew it.

She simply knew.

Back during the pursuit...

Not a word had been said for some time as the Konoha trio pushed deeper into unknown territory. Hinata's recounting had given quite a few details that Yamato would have been unable to, had he decided to tell Naruto at all. Indeed, this sudden silence and Naruto's obvious troubled spirits was the primary reason that the jounin has not said anything. He could spare little time worrying about it, he knew, and simply pushed his team farther on, receiving word from his forward scout every once in a while. But nothing was said.

Hinata was ostensibly making sweeps with her byakugan at regular intevals, but relayed no information to the the team captain or her teammate. How much of that was because Yamato knew her focus was torn between watching Naruto without watching or the lack of anything to report was unknown to him, which is why he was particularly happy for his own secondary reconnaissance; Hinata was a fine kunoichi, but her concern for her teammate was, while admirable, also getting in the way of the mission. Or maybe it wasn't, given there truly wasn't much to report. It was very hard to say one way of the other.

Naruto, on the other hand, was far more obviously affected. The news had struck him harder then even Yamato had expected, though the jinchuuriki was keeping up just fine. His silence was somewhat unnerving, as Naruto had not been at all what Yamato would have described as quiet in the short time he'd known him. What was more, given they were still on the trail of Orochimaru and his cohort it was hardly as though the mission was an overt failure. Still, he was going to have to say something. He opened his mouth to speak.

Only to watch as a suddenly grinning and cheerful Naruto shot past him.

"Alright! Come on, time is wasting. We're gonna catch up to these bastards, and bring Sasuke and Sakura back! Believe it!" he shouted. Both Captain Yamato and Hinata stared for a moment, taken aback by the sudden reversal.

And in strange moment of awareness, Naruto looked back and smiled at them, "What? This is no time for me to be moping about things that can't be changed. I'll focus on what I can do, not what happened!"

He waited a moment before giving a thumbs up and grinning, "Believe it!"

A sudden explosion some distance in front of the group brought his excitement to screeching halt. Yamato's hand flew to his headset, voice a near shout.

"Report!"

Meanwhile, at the hidden prison facility outside of Konoha...

Otter crouched down in the courtyard, nose twitching rapidly as he sniffed around. The tokubetsu jounin had enhanced his sense of smell many times over through various chakra enhancing exercises, as well as constantly pumping chakra through the appendage in question. His years of training with another shinobi known for his amazing sense of smell and with his family had amplified that sense to levels remarkable even to the rest of the Inuzuka clan. He could pinpoint a familiar smell over many kilometers, tracking it down with unerring accuracy. And, when that failed, his allies amongst the nin-dogs could take it even a step farther.

The ANBU operative scowled as the scent raced through his nose and he shook at just how foul it was, hidden behind such a genjutsu that meant that not a single one of his fellow operatives could smell it. But to a nose such as his, enhanced with chakra and operating at a far higher level than that of a normal human, it was as plain as day; a foreign smell of decay and death, not from any of the guard's bodies either. This scent was moving around, fighting even. It made no sense that such a level of decomposition would be doing that, and Otter's mind was at a lost of how or why such a scent existed.

It wasn't alone, either. A second scent, one that made Otter shiver to even think about. He wasn't sure why, either, other than the fact that the smell was totally unlike anything he'd ever smelled in his entire life. Not truly foul, but just fundamentally alien to any normal smell that it made him antsy just to think about. Whatever these two were it certainly wasn't normal. Hell, it might not even be human, and that thought chilled Otter-san to the bone.

He made two hand signals to his teammates, who made no return expression, and then bounded off with them in tow. He had the scents, though he didn't want to dwell on them in any way. Suddenly he wished to simply be done with this assignment while his sense of smell, and sanity, was intact.

Elsewhere, in the Land of Earth...

The twisting elemental missiles slammed into each other at high speeds, steam sputtering off them as they wrestled and twisted against each other. Both of the powerful shinobi held their hands tight, molding and guiding the chakra and attempting to keep the coherency of the techniques even as they rapidly began to destabilize; the thrashing shark was rapidly disappearing into steam while the lava dragon was hardening into razor-sharp obsidian. Both combatants were pumping in vast majorities of their chakra, each assured that they had the larger capacity.

And then abruptly, they both ceased. Nearly simultaneously the pair released their hands. The dragon collapsed into lava rock, shattering into pieces as it impacted the water and lava. Droplets of the latter swirled around Roushi, but never struck him, as if guided away by an unknown force. The water shark became a cloud of stinging steam, but quickly rose away and evaporated, leaving both fighters unharmed and, externally, no worse for the wear. They simply grinned at each other.

"You are quite good." Roushi said, bowing slightly as he did. Kisame returned the short nod with one of his own, array of pearly whites glinting slightly as he did.

"Thank you." he replied, "You're far more polite then my last fight."

Roushi raised an eyebrow at him for a moment and let out a soft snort, "Alright then. Well, in spite of that, I'm afraid I'll have to call our little dance to a close."

"Is that a fact? A shame, I was having so much fun."

"Ah, but all good things must come to an end." the red-haired man replied, bringing his right hand up slightly in front of him, fingers flexing in and out. He had been training for this. Time to see what all that had been for. Not that he really enjoyed it; it stung like hell.

"Too true." Kisame said almost mockingly, hefting his blade onto his shoulder as beads of orange-red, like droplets of magma, began to form on his opponent's arms. The beads bubbles and hisses, slowly growing in size as more began to pop up across the man's body. They spread quickly, starting on his arms and legs and slowly beading up across his entire body, bubbling and thickening into a barely transparent shield. The red-mustached man began to hunch over as it finished cocooning him, streams of the lava-esque chakra flowing back away from him and forming into a set of four twisting and wild monkey-tails.

A bubbling mustache of lava formed across the jinchuuriki's face, and he hunched over, savage grin on his face. He had managed to gain control of his first form, though his skin felt like it was being pricked with thousands of pins and needles. The elder shinobi hoped dearly that he would be able to finish it with this. He had to, there was no other choice. He stepped out on to the lava, off from his platform, and balanced on the top of the shifting magma flow, no worse for the wear. Letting the damn monkey out of his cage had some benefits, after all.

"I thought you said the fun was coming to an end." Kisame said with that sharky grin, and an almost deadpan tone.

"You lied. This seems to just get better and better."

Meanwhile, in a hidden location on the Earth, Grass, and Waterfall borders...

Sakura woke up slowly, a soft ruffling bringing her around from a fairly deep and enjoyable slumber. The crystal-nin hadn't realized how much of her chakra she had used until it was too late, and yet as she slipped into unconsciousness it had been with a smile on her face. She would make Sasuke proud with this new move, she was sure. It made her stronger, and that was what she truly wanted. To be strong enough that he could stop using that ugly mark that Orochimaru had given him. She knew he was training it; he never trained it while she was around and never let her come get him when he did. She had found him a few times, hunched over in pain, but he had been coldly angry at her for being there.

The young woman had never liked the cursed seal, not since that first time Sasuke had awoken wreathed in purple flames and proceeded to brutally and systematically attempt to cripple the opponents. The sheer savagery of it, and the enjoyable grin he was doing with brought tears to her eyes. She had latched onto him, pleading for him to stop.

And he had.

Of course, she later saw him become even more terrifying as he came to use that seal, although he was far more reluctant to make use of it she had to admit. He was even in control if it now, most of the time. But she still hated it; she hated the way it made him look so inhuman. It haunted her nightmares; that, and watching another old friend turn into something monstrous.

Her eyes snapped open suddenly. As she pushed herself up she realized that this was not the training room at all. That thought brought a smile to her face; Sasuke was the only other one in the base right now. Despite how cold he could sometimes be, it was little things like this that made her love him even more than she had before. He was not a verbal person, but he showed he cared, at least. Of course, her smile turned to a slight blush when she realized she was also dressed in bed clothes, as opposed to the loose training wear she had the night before.

Sasuke said nothing as she sat up. The Uchiha was donning the heavier outer garment of his outfit, uncomfortable to sleep in due to the metal plates sewn into the material. He had taken on wearing the slightly more armored outfit on her suggestion, and then found it quite useful in their joint training sessions. He blocked more often, and had even begun using the plates to channel the power of his chidori, reinforcing their strength. But, as stated, it was hardly comfortable to wear to bed, and he usually discarded it each night.

Sakura yawned and stretched, knowing that he was unlikely to pay much attention to her at all. The standard emotionless mask, Sakura knew, and she'd long gotten used to it. Not that she enjoyed it, or didn't get at least a twinge of pain when she saw it, but she at least learned to cope. She realized that he had spent the night in a chair, which wasn't too unusual. He often did that, staying up far longer then she did as a rule.

Occasionally he would share the bed with her, and if she was really lucky he would even pull her into his arms as he slept. After he'd done it a few times and then abruptly stopped Sakura had thought he was mad. Eventually, she simply realized that trying to understand his mercurial moods was a losing prospect. She still tried, of course, but with little success or expectation of it. Sometimes she got lucky. She wondered if he was mad that she had exhausted herself, or if simply it had triggered some unknown line of thought that had kept him up. Or, perhaps, he simply had no desire to sleep. She knew he had nightmares, having had him wake up in a cold sweat more then a few times. She didn't know what to do at first, but quickly latched onto him and simply held him close, soothing him and telling him it would be alright.

They never spoke of it. But he acted differently around her after that. Subtle things. She had done it solely because she cared, of course, and it seemed he was well aware of that fact. He seemed less angry sometimes, and he'd even smile.

Sakura loved it when he smiled.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and was greeted with a sudden surprise. Sasuke was looking at her, even has he moved to strap on his heavier shoes.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." he said, with just a hint of playful sarcasm. She remembered that tone, back from before, when they were a team. Back when Sasuke was just beginning to open up. She hadn't expected to ever hear that again. He was smiling softly at her in a way that made her face flush, "Was wondering when you'd wake up."

Sasuke stood up and retrieved his weapon, sliding it into his belt with a quick and practiced movement.

"Orochimaru is returning. I have a few things I need to speak with him about. Get ready, you're coming with me. We'll train later tonight." he continued. It was soft, but direct; there was not a question, simply a statement. He waited a moment, simply staring into her surprised eyes, before continuing further.

"From now on, take it easy. I don't want to have to carry you back here. I don't want to lose you to hubris."

She simply nodded as stood up and exited the room, staring at the door in stunned silence for a few short moments before racing to get dressed and ready.

Author Note: Someone pointed out that earlier I said this was going to be Sakura/Sasuke focused, and later said it wouldn't. More or less, they are exactly right. The story has shifted and changed in my head. It IS still about them, to an extreme degree, but I've shifted the emphasis slightly to be almost as much about Naruto and Hinata, though I can promise that after the next few chapters we'll have a few chapters with a great focus on them as they gather up the team and head out to find Itachi. Keep in mind that I don't intent Naruto and Hinata to overtake Sasuke and Sakura in importance, and that they will remain the name characters, for now.

That being said, with any luck, Part 1 should be done by Chapter 15. Likely an Omake or two will follow that, before Part 2 begins. Also, if you like this story, check out my other one, Naruto Sensei. A much more ambitious project, I think, and keep an eye out for The Brothers Uzumaki.

Also! I'm going to try a sort of schedule for this, one chapter each week, alternating between Pack Light and Naruto-Sensei, at least for now. When Brother's Uzumaki comes along it might swap with Naruto Sensei off and on, but Pack Light will, for now, remain my primary fic.

Finally, for anyone who is curious, I'm referring to this outfit, from an upcoming game, as to what Sasuke is wearing. I rather like many of the designs for the game and plan to use them at various times in the story.

http:// www . takaratomy . co . jp /products /gamesoft/catalog/wii-10-naruto/charactor/hebi_1 . html