Teehee, again, it has been a while. Sorry 'bout that, I had a virus. Sorry. Onto The Chapter! : D

The Raikage considered himself many things. An impeccable leader, a more than capable shinobi, an ardent defender, all things on a much longer list of things he called himself. He did not enjoy being taken as a fool.

He stared evenly at the three shinobi lined in front of him. All of rather low Jonin rank, all capable shinobi in their own rights, all currently making him look like an idiot.

"Explain to me once more what you saw?" He stated for the third time, arms crossed over his chest, eyes unreadable behind his dark glasses.

The three shinobi shifted nervously before starting up again.

"We were returning from a routine mission to Rock Country. On our way there we heard word of a group of misfit shinobi, simple thieves waiting on the side of the road for passersby, and killing them for the money and items they carried. One name circled around," the shinobi stopped, uncertain of whether or not to continue. The Raikage remained still, waiting for him to push on, and the silence that faced the shinobi seemed to compel him into continuing, "Tsubasa Sato."

No, the Raikage hated being played as a fool. In remembrance of the bastards name the tension in the room tripled, leaving the three shinobi before him more nervous than before. He continued to stare at the shinobi, but none seemed to want to continue.

That or they were incapable.

"Are you going to continue wasting my time mentioning fools from my past, or are you going to finish your little story?"

The three shinobi jumped at the rigidness of his voice, and a second member of the team jumped in to finish.

"When we were returning from our mission we decided to stop in the area and put the man out of his self induced misery. We came to epicenter of the reports and did a thorough scout, but found nothing immediately. Further investigation revealed the bodies of many men, Tsubasa among them. The bodies were identifiable as simple muggers, no real training between them. It seems the only person there with any shinobi training was Tsubasa. It appears he had created the group with the main intention of stockpiling a large amount of money. When we went through all belongings on the remains and at the camp, there was no money to be found anywhere. Only a wide assortment of old weapons in varying states of condition, very little in terms of civility, and even less of who was actually among the group."

"Is there anything else you wish to report before I decide that this was, as I had predicted, a waste of my time and I remove you very forcefully from my office?"

Again, the shinobi froze. Though the last of the group seemed to have a brighter head on his shoulders than his two companions.

"Yes, sir. When we investigated the bodies, which were in a poor state, there seemed to be peculiarities about the situation and the bodies. All initial wounds, including superficial and fatal, appeared to be caused by one weapon, a single kunai. All victims also appeared to be killed within a single time frame, approximately 45 seconds by our calculations. This led us to once conclusion."

The Raikage stood and stepped out from behind his desk to stand in front of the three shinobi. Arms still crossed in front of him, he towered above them.

"Uzumaki Naruto is in Lightning." He stated matter-of-factly. The shinobi before him seemed skittish, not thinking that the idea would pass, but soon bowed their heads. "You may leave; this information is classified until noted otherwise."

"Yes, Raikage-sama." The three shinobi quickly left the office, closing the door behind them with a light thud. The Raikage had received word from the Gondaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf months before that her only interest as the next Hokage of her village would be leaving. She would not be placing him on the missing-nin list, nor would she be putting a bounty on his head. She had stated that she would be very pleased if none of his ninja were to go out and hunt him.

There were very few people in all the elemental nations that the Raikage would openly refuse to fight. The large-breasted, fiery-tempered Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves was definitely on his top five. So he did not tell his shinobi that Uzumaki Naruto had left his village. All the young fools would charge out, trying to take down the brash shinobi, if not for the recognition it would provide for them, than for the thrill of the fight that would come from taking down such a strong ninja.

The damn fools would get themselves killed.

The Raikage returned to his seat before looking at some papers on his desk absent-mindedly. When none of these things seemed to keep his mind from wandering, he sighed dejectedly and snapped his fingers. Within moments, two ANBU appeared behind him, silently waiting for orders.

"Find my brother, tell him to come here. An old friend of his is in town, and I believe he would appreciate the opportunity to see him." Silently, the ANBU nodded and shushin'd from the room.

Normal fools would get themselves killed. His brother would just get some nasty cuts and come home smiling like a fool.

It was time he got out for a little fun, anyways.

Naruto stared at the door of the small home in front of him for more than 5 minutes, and still made no move to walk forward. He wasn't sure if his clones had gone back. They hadn't dispelled, he knew this because he hadn't received any memories of gathering wood or catching fish. That obviously meant they were still out or they had come back.

The thing about clones, they knew their lives were short and minor, and most times called out in the heat of battle they were willing to do the things the main wouldn't consider doing. Clones were reliable in battle, not so much in the civilian setting. They were uninhibited; they didn't care much of what they did. And the prankster nature Naruto just overflowed with was amplified by this.

His clones caused more trouble than he did sometimes.

And that was why Naruto stood outside the small Hyuga house, eyes wide, hands clenched slightly at his sides. Honestly he was at a loss. Did he just walk back in? Was that rude? He was told he could stay, so it couldn't possibly be rude.

Could it?

Naruto raised his palms to his face, harshly pressing the heels of them into his eyes. Rubbing slowly, he let his hands slide down his face, pulling his bottom lids down comically before his hands fell limply to his sides once more. He took slow and steady steps up to the stairs, kicking the dirt on the ground as he went. Inches from the first step, the door flew open revealing a slightly out of breath Hinata, long hair piled in a loose and messy bun atop her head. Her cheeks were slightly red and a simple apron clung to her slim frame.

"Ah, N-naruto-san! Father s-said you would b-be out here! Please, c-come in!" She turned quickly, leaving him stunned below the steps. It only took a moment for him come to his senses and bound up the stairs into the house. He closed the door quickly behind him and took of his sandals. He moved quickly down the hall, passing the family room he had been in earlier. He followed the steadily increasing sound of people talking and food being cooked around a corner and farther down the hall. He had to admit, whatever it was, it smelled delicious. The sound of people talking, and the distinct sound of himself laughing, gave Naruto the idea that not only had his clones returned, but that they had been here for quite some time. He looked in one room with an open door, but there were no lights. He could only assume that it was a bedroom and continued on. He looked into a door on his right, discovering the kitchen.

Hinata stood over a simple iron top stove. The bottom was stocked with wood, burning hot beneath it. Three pans sat simmering on the stove top, one obviously filled with a broth. A flat skillet was popping with the oils and seasonings of four fresh fish. Hinata stood there, just far enough away from the stove to not get burned, but close enough to stir the broth as she laid out some vegetables to be cut. Naruto saw one of his clones bound forward, begging her to let him cut them for her. A cute blush dusted her cheeks and she agreed, going back to stirring the broth. She deftly used the flat wooden utensil to gently flip the fish, a small hiss and series of pops coming from the pan as the uncooked sides landed on the hot metal.

She looked like she was really good at cooking. She looked so natural there, flipping fish and stirring broth, slowly adding vegetables to a hot pad and frying them. Naruto watched the one clone drift back to the other side of the island counter, noticing for the first time the other two clones. They all seemed to be looking at Hinata as she cooked. One was obviously ogling her as she faced away from him. Hey, he spent three years with the world famous pervert author of the Icha Icha series. Anyone who expected him to come out complete unscathed from that was obviously out of their mind. The next clone was watching as she cooked, impressed by the fluid movement and perfect co-ordination of all she did. Naruto himself had to be impressed, she was able to simultaneously stir broth, vegetables and watch the fish cook to perfection.

Naruto caught himself glancing at the last clone. The clone had a look of serenity about his face, a look Naruto wasn't sure if he had ever had on his face before. He knew that if he did, it was a long time ago. The clones' eyes didn't move, just watched the back of her head as she cooked. She cocked her head to the side and a small lock of hair fell from behind her ear. He watched as the clone watched her had slide up her face, successfully grabbing the hair and sliding it back behind her ear before going back to work. No smile adorned that clones face, no lecherous grin, no surprised or shocked expression, no state of awe. He seemed only at ease watching her cook, as if something was going through his mind as he watched her.

Did things go through clones minds? Wasn't it his mind anyways?

With clones, things just get tricky. Naruto dared a further glance around the kitchen. Not seeing her father anywhere, he moved into the room. The clone closest to him saw him and made a motion to speak, but Naruto silence him with a quick wave of his hand. The second clone saw him, be decidedly remained quiet. As Naruto rounded the island, the third clone made no motion to acknowledge him or speak to him, so Naruto made no motion to acknowledge him. He moved to stand slightly behind Hinata, looking over her shoulder to the food she was making. The fish was golden, and smelled so good he almost couldn't keep his fingers out of the hot pan. The vegetables were just starting to brown, and Hinata used the flat wooden spatula to stir the vegetables before putting it back in the broth. Naruto briefed a glance at that, the pale yellow broth bubbling only slightly. He saw noodles swimming beneath the surface of the liquid and Naruto caught himself drooling.

Noodles.

Noodles in broth.

That means one thing.

"Ramen!" Naruto burst out, hands flown up into the air excitedly.

Hinata spun around, shocked, pale eyes wide in a sort of fear. The spatula still in her hands, hot water dripping down the handle and towards her hand, but she didn't seem to notice.

"N-n-naruto-san!" She began, but words didn't seem to formulate in her mouth. He noticed the blush rise up her neck and crawl over her cheeks. After a few moments her entire face was red, and Naruto was fairly certain she wasn't breathing.

"Heya, Hinata-chan, your face is all red, are you okay?" He watched as she tried to nod her head yes before her eyes started to roll into the back of her head and she began to sway dangerously. Naruto, being as dense as he could be, wasn't too sure what was going on.

And then she fell, sideways thank the gods, not near the stove. Naruto reached out to grab her, catching her under the arms as she drifted closer to the floor. The wooden spatula clattered on the ground in the otherwise silent kitchen. Naruto stood there, eyes wide open, mouth hanging slightly ajar, clumsily holding the unconscious Hinata up. He looked over his shoulder at his clones, who were all looking at Naruto in a state of mirrored shock.

In a matter of seconds they were all rushing forward to help Naruto pick up Hinata and carry her to the chairs on the other side of the island. They sat her down before looking at Naruto expectantly.

"Boss, why'd ya have ta go and scary the lady!"

"Yeah, she was making dinner for everyone!"

"C'mon, it was lookin really good too!"

"Hey, hey, hey, enough already, I didn't mean too ok! She's got a weak constitution or somethin', alright. But, until she wakes up, we need to finish the dinner. If her dad comes in and see's me and three clones surrounding his unconscious daughter, something tells me we're gonna get Jyuuken'd, and we all know how much that stuff hurts." All of the clones nodded at him, and began finishing up. One clone stayed behind with Hinata, to watch if she woke up, and the other two worked with him to find dinner plates and bowls and chopsticks and all of the things he couldn't find. Naruto himself stood over the stove, finishing up the meal. The noodles were done, he could tell that. Years of living off of ramen make him a sort on connoisseur of the stuff. The fish he wasn't too sure of and the vegetables seemed done. He honestly didn't know about that either, he never really ate vegetables.

So the last of the clones went to work, setting out bowls and Naruto took the noodles off the heat and placed it off to the side. He picked the spatula up off the ground and looked around. He didn't see a sink anywhere in the kitchen. He didn't really see much of anything, all the light in the kitchen came from a few lamps and candles scattered around and of course the stove top.

"Hey guys?" All the clones looked up expectantly at Naruto. "Where…where would I wash this or something so I can stir the vegetables and shit?" The two standing clones look at Naruto before looking at each other and then at the third, sitting clone. That one shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the unconscious Hinata once more. The standing clones looked back at Naruto with the same sort of indifference, and Naruto was starting to get frustrated. "I'm not gonna just use it now, it was on the floor!"

"What's wrong with that, boss?" One of the clones piped in.

"Well, normally I wouldn't mind, but y'know, this isn't my house or anything and I don't think they're as lax about that stuff as I am." He stated, waving the spatula around as he did so.

"But no one's here but us!" The second clone threw in. "Anyways, I don't think they'll mind if they know the situation."

"No, I don't really think so..." Naruto turned back towards the fish and looked at them. They seemed to be finished, and the vegetables had to be done by now. With no other choice, he took the spatula and wiped it off on a small towel lying on the island before going back to the stove. Gently, he moved around the vegetables before going back to looking at the fish. The skin was a golden color and crackled nicely in the pan. He took that off of the heat and moved it away before turning back to the vegetables and stirring them once more. They seemed to be cooking nicely, and they smelled really good. Naruto was never a big fan of vegetables, he wouldn't try to hide that, but in this case he didn't think he'd mind eating them.

Quickly, he took those off of the heat as well and moved them next to the fish. The clones had managed to find some bowls and chopsticks and had set three out on the island. Naruto brought the pot of noodles over and went to pour it out, but froze.

"Aw, man, how am I supposed to serve it?"

Hinata felt very warm. Slowly, she began coming too. She didn't remember falling asleep though, how very odd. She was cooking. And then Naruto came up behind her and yelled something and startled her.

Naruto!

The food!

Hinata's head snapped up quickly, a blush again on her cheeks, and she looked around the small kitchen. Two Naruto's stood on the other side of the island, near the stove, one holding a white ceramic bowl. She looked to the second one who seemed to be contemplating something as he looked around the kitchen. A third Naruto stood in front of the stove holding the pot that held the broth and noodles she had been cooking. He was looking around the kitchen as well, rather frantically as it were. Her eyes slowly drifted over to her left, where a fourth Naruto was sitting next to her. He watched her face for a second before smiling brightly.

"Hey there pretty lady!"

The blush that was on her cheeks darkened multiple shades, and all the other Naruto's turned to look at her. Her wide, pale eyes darted between them all. Three of them were smiling, the one Naruto holding the pot with broth mirrored her facial expression. Eyes wide and cheeks slightly blushed. His mouth hung open a bit and he was looking back and forwards from the Naruto next to her to her face.

"Uh…" He started, "I think it's time these trouble makers went home. You!" His face whipped around to the clone holding the bowl, who in turn looked at him with a shocked expression. "Put that down!" That Naruto placed the bowl on the counter next to him quickly. "All right, now say goodbye to Hinata."

"Aww, but boss!" One whined.

"C'mon do we have to, we were being helpful!" The second blurted at the same time.

The last Naruto, sitting next to Hinata only smile kindly.

"Goodnight Hinata-chan."

Before Hinata could respond, there were three popping noises, and the kitchen filled with a heavy smoke. It drifted out slowly, then cleared enough for Hinata to see. The Naruto holding the pot still stood there, but the other three Naruto's were gone.

"U-um, Naruto-san, w-where are the other N-naruto's?" He looked at her blankly for a moment, eyes slightly glazed over. Hinata was worried, was something wrong with him? He didn't seem like this earlier, maybe something happened while he was gone…

As quickly as those thoughts entered her mind, Naruto shook his head and looked at her again. He smiled nicely before asking, "What was that, I didn't quite hear you."

"I a-asked, what h-happened to the o-other Naruto's."

He stared at her for a moment before smiling at her widely. "Uh, do you mind if I tell you that in a bit? This pot is kinda hot, and I don't know where anything to spoon stuff out is."

"Oh!" Hinata stood up quickly, rushing around the island to the lower counters. She reached down and pulled out a ladle with teeth, and handed it to him. She took the bowl from the counter and placed it next to the other two already sitting there. She grabbed the fish and brought them over. Looking over the two filled bowls of broth and noodles, she began picking out fish and placing it on top. As soon as he had filled the last bowl, she placed fish there as well. She placed the pan back on the stove top and grabbed the vegetables. She moved back next to Naruto and began placing those out as well.

Naruto, for the most part after finishing filling the bowls, just stood by and watched Hinata as she worked. She was effective and efficient, using a pair of chopsticks to put everything in place. The food looked amazing and by the smell of it would taste even better. He watched her place the last of the vegetables in the bowl and put the now empty pan on the stove top, next to the almost empty broth.

Hinata turned around with a smile on her face.

"W-well, Naruto-san, its a-all ready. I'll g-go get father, y-you can start eating i-if you w-want." With that, she moved around him and towards the other end of the kitchen and out a door. Naruto looked passed it and saw one more door leading outside. Maybe he was doing late night gardening? Who knew? He pulled one of the bowls towards him and picked up a set of chopsticks. He leaned into the steam and inhaled heavily. Gods, it smelled better than Ichiraku's. And nothing smelled better that Ichiraku's. He muttered a quick 'itedakimasu' before using the chopsticks to break a piece of fish off. Slowly, he grabbed a few noodles and vegetables with it and brought it to his lips. He placed it in his mouth, and then fanned at himself.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot…" As soon as it was cool enough to chew and swallow, he did.

The fish. Was perfect. It was seasoned lightly, but all the flavors seemed to burst in his mouth. The noodles were soft and the broth they were cooked in had a slight flavor to it as well. And the vegetables, even though he rarely ate them, if Hinata cooked for him everyday he'd eat vegetables all the time.

He was jumping to conclusions again. Hinata would be back in Konoha and cooking for someone else. He would need to speak with Hinata's father, tell him what he had been ordered to do. The man was aging, he wouldn't fight back physically but if he was worried about what would happen o her in Konoha, he'd only have to remind him of what would happen to here if Kumo ever figured out that they were within borders.

Naruto continued taking small bites from the ramen in front of him as he wondered ways to speak with Hinata's father that hopefully wouldn't have him Jyuuken'd.

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Well I know it's been a while and I'm really sorry for the semi-abrupt ending, but I'm working on part two of this chapter as we speak. I just got two jobs and let's just say... they are time consuming. . BUT! I will be working on this every down moment I have because I owe it to you all, and you all deserve, to see a finished story.

Again, all feedback would be much appreciated! Have a wonderful day, and peace!