Rido stepped out from the shadow cast by the Hokage tower. She was dressed in the clothes that she'd originally had on when she'd left her village on this mission; an all black one-piece that blended in so well with the shadows that it was like it was made of the darkness itself. She shifted her hair away from her face as the wind whipped around the freezing cold night. She knew too well, what she'd have to go through in order to find Naruto. It wasn't going to be easy for her, but she'd just have to swallow it. She exhaled and, once again, let the sentinel have control. The crippling cold sensation sent her shuddering as the evil crept into her mind in rolling smoke, cold as the blood that slipped from her throat, choking her, and allowing the monster to breathe for her. To live for her.

"Rido-chan? Again, I'm speaking to you without the Kyuubi here. Why is that, I ask you?" the sentinel's grating voice echoed through her mind. She clenched her teeth as the sound, reminiscent of glass grating against glass, assaulted her senses. However, despite this, she found her voice to answer.

"I need you to help me find him." She whispered as she glanced around. She didn't know for certain whether or not Hintaro was still lingering around. She couldn't trust this man who was her own brother. Not anymore.

The sentinel laughed that icy laugh and then emitted a growl. "I'm not a fool, contrary to whatever you may believe. I know that I'm not helping you find him so that you can kill him and give the Kyuubi back to me. You're much too attached to this child. You'd stake the fate of your entire clan and that of yourself to save him. That's what you want me to do, correct? To save him?"'

Rido sucked in a breath and let it go. It crystallized in front of her eyes in a misty white cloud. "Yes."

The sentinel didn't say anything in response to this. Instead, he snatched her mind away, taking over her just as he'd done those times before. Rido complied entirely, allowing the demon, the creature that could so easily swallow her mind and drive her into insanity, to have the jurisdiction over her. She didn't have any other choice than this. She had no idea who had taken Naruto or where they'd gone. It would take days to track whomever it was down alone, especially since she had no clues as to who they were. This was the only way. The only way.

She waited patiently, a small existence, a mere conscience in the back of her own mind, as the sentinel sought out the distinctive heartbeat of the Kyuubi's jinchuriki. Few people knew that demons were much more sensitive to each other's presence than humans were. It was a characteristic that came in particular handy now.

"Hmmm, ah. No, that's a….another sentinel. What? Another sentinel. And that's Kyuubi. A sentinel and Kyuubi together? I haven't sensed a presence so close to mine in over six centuries. Yes, this is most defiantly another sentinel."

Another sentinel? Rido inquired from her perch in the back of her mind. She'd never imagined such a thing. She'd always assumed that maybe since the nine-tails was the strongest and wildest of all the tailed beasts, it had a sentinel for that reason. Is this new sentinel the guardian of a tailed beast, too?

"No," it replied intriguingly. It started off toward the origin of the signals. "Sentinels are demon guardians to other powerful demons. We're split explicitly from them at the time of creation. Still, since all demons have an origin somewhere it is more than possible that other sentinels exist. It's a thought that has never before occurred to me. Curious…."

Rido ingested this new piece of the mystery that she was living in as the sentinel broke into a sprint toward the two signals. Sentinels were split parts of powerful demons. That made sense, but then why did this particular sentinel need to join with its demon counterpart again?

"Hmmm. One seems to be fading. Quickly."

Rido snapped away from her thoughts and focused back on reality. Which one? She thought hard.

The sentinel seemed to lapse, a very subtle hesitation that Rido wouldn't have picked up if they weren't so intimately connected. It's Naruto's, isn't it?

"The Kyuubi's signal is wavering. However, its energy is being drained at a steady rate. It should take much more to make it weak. We should be able to reach it in time."

Rido didn't relax. She remained so nervous that she could barely compose her thoughts into coherent phrases. Are you sure? What will happen if we run into someone?

"Do you have that little faith in my abilities?" the sentinel whispered with a brooding chuckle that lacked any humor.

Rido only hoped desperately that nothing would go wrong.

Naruto…

%%%

"Matashiro's got the jinchuriki?" Hintaro asked Mortality Associate Five, Aikei. Her short gold-colored hair wiped in her face in the windy night revealing the multiple piercings that adorned both her ears.

The girl nodded and bowed to him in respect. "Yes, Hintaro-dono. I have just received word from a messenger raven that Matashiro has the child in captivity and is making his way back to headquarters."

"Good," Hintaro whispered to himself. It was then that he remembered. "Tell me, Aikei, what is the hour?"

The girl looked up at the sky. "It looks about four in the am. Why?"

Hintaro laughed to himself as if some unknown joke had been told. "It's nothing. Just make sure everything goes smoothly from here on out. I'm putting you in charge, Aikei. Don't let me regret putting my faith in you."

She bowed in agreement to his words. "I won't fail you master. But, if I may be so rude to ask, where are you going? I didn't think that there was anything that could pull you away from work at a time like this."

Hintaro glanced back over his shoulder. He was already perched in a tree branch, ready to go. "I have somewhere to be." He said cryptically before disappearing into the forest.

"Hinata-sama," Mei called at her closed door. Hinata jumped at the sound, fumbling with the lock on her diary box and shoving it back in place just before her door slid open. "Hinata-sama? Your father is calling for you.

Hinata bowed and waited for the door to close. Once it clicked shut she shuffled over to her bed and kneeled down to cry a bit before composing herself. She had to put on a brave fate for the sake of her clan. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to her. Almost all of the main branch Hyuuga members were subject to arranged marriages. It had to be done to insure power and the purity of bloodlines. It was tradition. It was honorable. Still, she couldn't help herself from feeling as if she might collapse at her wedding ceremony and never again get up. The anguish was too much to bear.

"Naruto," she whispered like a prayer. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her body the way she did at the temple. "I…I know that this isn't your problem, and I know that you probably wouldn't care either…but…but I really love you and I want to be with you. I—I don't want to be with somebody else. I love you, Naruto. I just wish I'd told you before. It's too late now."

Mei knocked at her door. "Hinata-sama, I think that it's urgent."

"I'm coming!" she called. She struggled to her feet, the task made difficult by her restraining kimono. As she crept down the stairs, she could hear two adult male voices from the sitting room. She strained to hear them clearer. One of them was defiantly that of her father. But the other….she couldn't place that other voice. Who was that?

She reached the base of the staircase and shuffled into the room. The two men snapped up from their intense conversation and looked over to her. She froze. The other man was sinister, dark, and foreboding. She almost took a step backward at the sight of him, but caught herself. She gazed at him intently, eyes grazing over the inverted number four that was tattooed on his pale skin. She wondered what it could mean. A clan symbol? She'd never seen one like that.

"Hinata," her father said with relief as if he was worried that she'd sooner run off rather than face her obligations to her clan. He walked over to her and led her forward. "This is Mushinto Hintaro-san, the man who you will be marrying."

Hintaro grinned mischievously at the trembling flower that had been presented to him. He bowed. "Hello Hinata-sama. It is a pleasure."

Hinata stayed frozen in fear for a while until her father pinched her. Hard. She bowed quickly. "Y—yes. It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

She heard Hintaro snicker softly and she blushed. The two stood up from their bows and faced each other. Hinata looked terrified but Hintaro looked amused. He leaned into her face and smirked at her. "My, aren't you pretty." He whispered heartlessly in a voice so soft and malicious that Hiashi couldn't hear. Hinata felt her face flame and looked at the ground. She didn't like this man. Not at all. He was too cruel. She didn't doubt that he would make her miserable.

"It seems," Hiashi chimed in, ending her distress. Hintaro leaned away from Hinata's face to look at him. "That this arrangement should work out well. There isn't much of an age difference between you two."

Hinata bit her lip, still starting intently at the ground. It was true that by arranged marriage standards, they were fairly close in age. But that was only because the Hyuuga had been known to marry far greater an age gap. In truth, Hintaro had to be at least nine years older than her if not more than that.

"The ceremony will be a private one, as tradition mandates. It's to be held in the evening so it gives you time to prepare." Hiashi continued.

Hintaro nodded and turned to face his bride-to-be. "Until then." He said with another bow before walking off. Hinata felt relieved to be out of his presence but that relief was short lived when she remembered that she would soon be married to this nasty man. He heart plummeted into her stomach at the thought.

"Father," she whispered pleadingly. She knew that begging would do nothing, but she didn't know what else to do. She was so desperate. "Please. Please, father I don't want to marry him. Please don't make me.

Hiashi gave her a warning look. "Stop. Not this again. Not now."

She thought again of the dark and hateful man that she'd be bound to for eternity. His malicious smirk, his harsh and sarcastic tone, his evil red eyes. "But father please!" she wailed desperately. She collapsed to her knees.

"Get up." Hiashi ordered sternly. He was growing annoyed.

"But I…I don't love him." She whispered.

"What's that?" he asked in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Love?"

"Yes," she said. She hadn't planned to spill her hearts inner most wants, not to her father of all people, but she couldn't hold it inside anymore. "I'm in love with Uzumaki Naruto."

Hiashi sounded like he'd started to say something but choked on whatever his response might have been. The room was deathly silent for such a long time that Hinata risked a glance through his hair at her father's face. She regretted it.

Hiashi's face was enraged. Enraged. The only word that Hinata could think of to describe the look of shock and outrage in his eyes.

"…Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes. I—"

"Stop! Enough of this nonsense! I can't believe that you would dare oppose this. You should be honored to be subject to such a ceremony! And to dismiss a shinobi like Hintaro-san for that…that demon child?"

Hinata recoiled. "Please don't say such things about him."

"Silence! You've said enough on this matter. Now go up to your room. Now. Mei!"

The young woman bustled in. "Yes Hiashi-sama?'

"You have the key to Hinata's room, right?"

Mei looked pale but nodded.

"Once you're sure she's inside I want you to lock it. The windows too," he turned to his daughter. "I'm not expecting you to try anything. I trust you will not shame your clan by not fulfilling your obligations."

She sniffed and nodded. What more could she do?

"Good." Hiashi said with satisfaction. "Now go."

Hinata stood and ran up to her room. She couldn't seem to stop herself from slamming her door closed behind her. She'd never acted in such defiance before, but she didn't see any use in continuing to behave. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. Her fate was sealed as tight as her bedroom door that locked closed at that moment with a soft click.

Hintaro heard the banging from his place in the downstairs guest room and laughed. For such a fragile girl to be so passionate, she must be very unhappy indeed. He felt honored to be the one to make her so miserable. He lay with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling and thinking of the jinchuriki. Were things really going as smoothly as he had hoped?

%%%

The chakra web's suction was getting painful. Naruto cringed at the hungry pull at his chakra veins. He had to detach himself from the web or he'd be drained dry, only it was so damn sticky. Every time he tried to pull at it only held harder. It was like some Chinese finger trap. The more you struggle the worse the binding got. He couldn't think straight with the Kyuubi in control.

Matashiro could feel the insanely powerful chakra pouring into him, fueling him. He was stronger than ever before. He hadn't realized the power that the nine-tails possessed. It was so immense.

Naruto writhed as the pull on his veins became tighter and tighter still. There didn't seem to be any way to escape the encasing web. The Kyuubi, who hadn't been responding to the assault, suddenly grew angry and flashed into two tails, pouring even more chakra into its captor.

Matashiro felt his veins bulge with all of the chakra that he was absorbing. It was…it was becoming too much. He didn't think that his body could take anymore. He had never run into this problem before. Usually his opponent would have died long ago, all their chakra absorbed into him. But that wasn't the case. He'd never tried to absorb the chakra of an awakened jinchuriki before. There seemed to be no limit to it. He could feel his heart struggling to pump all of it through his body.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He thought frantically. I'll have to severe the bond. But he couldn't. If he cut the string that was wired into his veins, all of his own chakra would spill out with no way for him to stop it. Either way, it seemed he was doomed; a bitter change of events.

"Damn it," he muttered as he pulled out shuriken. He'd have to kill the jinchuriki. It was the only way to stop it. "Hintaro is going to kill me for this. But there's no other way."

He shot the star at the trapped boy, not expecting it to be intercepted mid flight by another shuriken.

"What the hell?" he said looking down to the forest floor. It was then he saw her. That child that he didn't think he'd ever see again. "Rido?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she climbed the tree in order to face him. Her eyes were blazing red. Without a word, she pulled a kunai to Matashiro's throat and slashed it. The blood didn't come at first, for a while there was a long moment when nothing happened, but then it was gushing, streaking down in thick streaks down the front of his cloak. Matashiro wobbled and then collapsed, the chakra string finally reseeding into his body, releasing Naruto from the chakra web.

"Bastard," both Rido and the sentinel muttered to the man who had corrupted their fates.

They turned to see that Naruto had lost consciousness. Rido was panicky at first but the sentinel calmed her.

"It's to be expected. The Kyuubi was awakened. This usually happens to hosts of powerful demons, they pass out after the demons take over. I suppose you'll be wanting control now?"

Yes, if you don't mind.

"Why the hell would I mind." It said sarcastically before returning her mind to her. Rid swayed a little. She was dizzy from her shift in consciousness, but she soon regained herself. She looked down at Naruto who had begun to snore. For some reason, the sound did not annoy her. She sighed and picked him up.

He's heavier than I thought, she thought as she balanced him in one arm. She looked to where Matashiro was still bleeding out. Killing him, a Mortality Associate, shouldn't have been so easy. He must have been weakened for some reason….maybe….

"Doesn't matter now," she said as she started back for the village.

%%%

Aikei found Matashiro a few minutes later; he was sitting against the trunk of a tree, waiting for her. She looked at the puddle of blood that he was sitting in and wrinkled her nose. "When you said that you were injured I didn't think you meant seriously."

He shrugged. "I'm fine now."

Aikei eyed the horizontal gash in this neck. She hadn't noticed it before. "How can you be fine with a wound like that?"

He smiled. "Well, I really did think that I was going to die until Rido showed up."

"Rido? That Rido?"

Matashiro nodded. "When she cut me my chakra string was released because I couldn't maintain it while I was in such a critical state. If it hadn't been for that then the jinchuriki kid would've killed me with his freakishly abundant chakra."

Aikei shook her head in confusion. "I don't get it. But it doesn't matter. Why did that wound not kill you is what I want to know."

"That kid's chakra's got healing abilities apparently."

"Lucky for you then,"

"Yeah."

Aikei knew that she was in big trouble. The jinchuriki was gone; she'd allowed this to happen. Hintaro was going to have her head for this. He never trusted anybody to be in charge besides himself, and the one time that he did she let this happen. His most important project was wrecked. She cringed to think what he'd do to her. "Hintaro is not going to be happy about this."