Normal

"Speech"

Thought

Kyuubi

Warnings: I do not own Naruto. Rated "M" for language and adult situations

Chapter 38: A New Plan and The Answer

The Hyuuga leader held his head up high. "My clan was insulted by the Ravenheart. What does it matter that I ignored the Uzumaki boy?"

The old council woman squinted at Hiashi. "It means a great deal, Hyuuga-sama." She croaked. "If the Ravenheart girl was defending the honor of her escort, she would be well with in the rules of society to do so. I find it extremely interesting that before you lodged this complaint with the council, you made a phone call to her father." The old woman nodded. There were several other council members that whispered and nodded as well.

"Her manners are deplorable. She had no right…" Hiashi was cut off by Tsunade bursting into the council chambers with Lord Ravenheart right behind her.

"No right to insult you? Or are you merely angry she refused your proposal to marry Neji?" Tsunade had a smirk on her face. There were gasps and whispers from the council. They had not been informed of a marriage proposal, nor did they know that the Lord Ravenheart was going to make an appearance in Konoha.

Rai took a stance at the head of the council table. "I will be the first to admit, my daughter has a very sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. Where she was taught how to behave in polite society, there are obviously finer points she has not grasped.

"I can not, in all honesty, ask the council to forgive her actions on the basis of ignorance. However, I believe that my daughter acted admirably, despite Lord Hyuuga's obvious dislike from the Uzumaki boy and Lord Hyuuga did insult my daughter as well."

An older man grumbled. "This is all a matter of hear say. There is no proof of any of this."

"There is." The blonde Hokage smirked. "The Kazekage witnessed the blatant disregard for Naruto and Myra. Then and there, the Kazekage was kind enough to remind Lord Hyuuga of the proper way to behave in public. Myra then spoke with Lord Hyuuga in the hopes to diffuse the situation. I could summon Lord Gaara, if the council so chooses." There were more whispers and stares from the council. Hiashi looked angry.

The old woman spoke again. "If this is so, Lord Hyuuga, then this is not a matter for the council. It is simply a matter of your pride being wounded. There are Chunin and Jounin exams for the council to worry about. Petty crimes against the great Hyuuga Clan should be handled between the Hyuuga Clan and the Ravenheart Clan. However you choose to resolve such matters is between Lord Hyuuga and Lord Ravenheart."

There were more nods of agreements from the rest of the council members assembled.

"That's absurd!" Hiashi protested. His anger showed on his face.

"Hiashi!" Tsunade stomped her foot making the whole room shake and causing a few of the council members to flinch. "Lord Ravenheart has a solution to this situation."

"I propose an extra match to the finals of the Chunin exams." Rai looked at Hiashi with a glare.

Hiashi put a hand on his chin. "A battle to determine the truth. Champion vs. Champion. I am sure that Neji would enjoy a rematch." The Hyuuga leader grinned.

"Where I am sure that Neji WOULD enjoy a rematch," Tsunade glared. "Neji is not of the main branch and therefore can not be chosen as a champion."

Hiashi paled. He was facing a dilemma. Remove the curse mark from Neji and make him the heir he should be, or send Hinata to her possible death. Hiashi wouldn't dare send Hanabi, though she was talented, she was no match for Myra. The Hyuuga clan leader continued to contemplate this idea.

Hiashi knew that Myra had defeated Neji, only just, but she had beaten him. And she had done it injured, exhausted, and extremely low on chakra. Hiashi was deep in thought. Neji had seen the girl fight and could possibly train Hinata to make the fight look serious. "With Hinata disgraced in battle, I could remove the curse mark from Neji and declare him my heir. Should I do it before and allow him to fight, he may be disgraced in the process." Hiashi regained his uncaring look of disdain. "I accept."

There were nods from the rest of the council. "Good." Tsunade grinned. "Now, I suggest we allow the council to return to more important things."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Naruto sat on Myra's couch next to Gaara. They were going to watch a movie that Sephie had put on for them. Sephie was currently making popcorn in the kitchen. It had been four hours since Myra had stomped off to parts unknown and Naruto was getting more fidgety than normal.

"Should I ask Ms. Sephie to try calling her again?" Gaara asked.

Naruto kept silent. The first hour he had been fine. The second hour Myra's father had returned from the Hokage's office and treated them to lunch. Naruto had been distracted by his love of ramen to worry about Myra. By the third hour, Sephie started to seem concerned with Myra's absence, which in turn made Naruto more anxious. He had actually stopped eating by his third bowl of ramen. Gaara had commented to Sephie that "He had it bad."

Now they were in Myra's apartment. It was the best place for them to wait according to Rai. He was going to go deal with the Hyuuga bastard and the council. The Ravenheart elder seemed concerned about Myra, but Sephie had explained Myra's absence.

Sephie put the large bowl of popcorn on the table and took a seat next to the blushing Kazekage. Naruto really wasn't paying attention; he was to agitated to notice that his normally unemotional friend was acting peculiar. The movie started and they watched. They hadn't made it past the opening credits when Sephie's cell phone began to buzz. Naruto and Gaara turned to Sephie who was frantically pulling her cell phone from her pocket.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Myra was slipping her cell phone back in her pocket as she entered the Konoha hospital. She could easily heal her own hand, but she had other motives as to why she was at the hospital. Myra stepped up to the desk to be greeted by a platinum blonde with grey eyes.

Ino blinked up at Myra. "Can I help you?

"Yes, I need medical attention for a minor electrical burn." Myra held up her chard right hand. The burn was superficial, but it still looked like it hurt.

"Oh, that does look nasty. Training accident?" Ino started to fill out some paperwork.

"Yeah, I should stay away from volatile stuff when I'm practicing." Myra smiled.

Ino gave her a suspect look. Myra wasn't very good at flat out lying. Ino went back to her paperwork. "Name?"

"Myra Ravenheart." Myra flinched in mock pain.

Ino looked up at Myra again, this time it was in shock. "I thought you were trained in medical Ninjutsu?"

"I am." Myra smiled. "But I have two things going against me. One, I don't do burns very well and two, I suck with my left hand." The Raventheart girl kept her grin. It was another obvious lie.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Ok… Follow me." Ino got up and took Myra into a sterile looking room. It looked like the typical hospital exam room. Myra sat up on the exam table and held out her hand.

"I'm Ino. I've heard a lot about you." Ino smiled.

This time Myra raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good or bad?"

Ino's hand started to glow a misty green color. "It all depends on who I hear it from. According to Shikamaru, you're another troublesome woman. I wouldn't worry about it though, he thinks that way about all women. Sakura says you are very nice, but had an odd sense of humor. But the one thing I am DYING to know, is it true you are dating Naruto?" Ino looked at Myra with strange interest.

Myra tilted her head in confusion. "I guess you could say we are dating. We've only been on one "date" so to speak."

"I know, I hear all about it from Temari." Ino's eyes sparkled. Myra shook her head. Her hand was feeling a lot better. Now it was time to do what she really came to do. Myra took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The sound of the door opening caused Myra to look up. Sakura was standing next to Ino.

"Myra? What are you doing here?" The pink haired girl looked concerned.

Myra let the Sharingan activation fade and looked at Sakura. "Oh, just burnt myself while I was letting off some steam earlier today. Ino is taking care of it."

Sakura was looking over Ino's progress. "Ino, Choji is here. You want me to take over?"

Ino perked up. "Do you mind? I would really appreciate it."

Sakura smiled. "No problem, I need to talk to Myra-chan anyway." Sakura took Myra's hand and started to squeeze. Myra's eyes started to pop out of her skull, but she didn't make a sound.

Ino bounced happily out of the room. Before Sakura dropped her smile and turned back to Myra furiously. "Why didn't you just heal this yourself?"

"OW!" Myra jerked her hand away from Sakura. "Because I suck at burns." Myra lied again.

Sakura grabbed Myra's hand and looked over the burn. "This is an electrical burn. You play with lightning for fun, so I find it hard to believe you can't heal a small burn like this." Green eyes bore down on Myra.

"IF, I tell you, will you SWEAR not to tell ANYONE?" Myra looked at Sakura with a little bit of fear in her eyes. Myra had made a promise, but she needed someone else to know. Myra also needed access to the medical data banks to confirm her theory. "You can't tell ANYONE, not Naruto, not Kakashi, not Tsunade, not anyone." Myra sounded serious and looked just as serious.

"I don't know Myra-chan. If it's something that could get someone hurt…" Myra cut Sakura off.

"When the truth comes out I am sure I am going to get yelled at A LOT, but the point is I need time and I need help. I'm going to be able to do this alone. Please Sakura, swear to me that you won't say anything and I will let you help me." Myra pouted.

"All right. You have my word I won't say anything to anyone." Sakura smiled.

Myra took a deep breath. "I need to look at my medical records from the time I was here and I need to look at Sasuke's."

Sakura jumped at the mention of Sasuke's name. "Is that all? You could have requested that from Tsunade."

"I know I could have, but if what I think is true, I don't need everyone knowing just yet. I need time and if everyone knows my little secret, I won't get the time I need." Myra pleaded. "My records, Sauke's records… Please Sakura. I don't have a whole lot of time right now. Naruto, Gaara and Sephie are on their way to the hospital."

Sakura sighed. "How do you…"

"I know I keep saying this, but no time." Myra hopped up of the exam table.

"All right. Follow me." The pink haired girl opened the door and took Myra down a stretch of hallway leading to the archives room. There were a mass of files as far as the eye could see and a computer off to one side. Sakura sat down at the computer and brought up Sasuke's records and Myra's records. Myra was hovering over Sakura's shoulder reading intently.

"Ok, now if you can, pull up Sasuke's chakra signature." Myra stared at the computer.

"His what?" Sakura turned to Myra.

"Everyone has one. Chakra is energy and energy can be measured as a wave length. Medical equipment can monitor and record this wave length. As far as I know, no two people have the same wavelength. No matter how a person tries to mask their chakra or transform, the chakra signature will stay the same. It's like DNA to some extent.

"However, in cases of identical twins, the chakra signature can be the same, but it's rare. Even more obscure is fraternal twins with the same chakra signature. If what I believe is true, we will find the only know case of two people with the same chakra signature that were born into different families." Myra was reading Sasuke's chart.

Sakura nodded. "I don't understand."

"You will in a second." Myra pointed to the screen. "There… That reading right there, that's the one we're looking for. Now take that same reading from my chart and over lay them on the screen."

Sakura did as she was asked. A few clicks later there was an audible gasp from Sakura. The two wave lengths were identical. Myra looked at the screen and grinned. "Chakra twins, I didn't think it was possible, but there it is plain as day." Myra started to pace and chew on her bottom lip. "That explains a lot."

Sakura clicked away furiously and deleted the information they had just discovered. "Now tell me why this is so important you don't want me to tell anyone."

Myra took a deep breath. "Because if Lady Tsunade or my father finds out, the will force me tell them where Sasuke is."

Sakura gasped again and tears started to leak from her eyes. "You already know where he is."

Myra hung her head. "Yes." She answered with a hint of guilt in her voice.

"Tell me where he is." Sakura pleaded. Myra felt the swell of emotion from Sakura. The want to find her friend, the desire to beat him senseless, and the love she had been suppressing all this time.

"I could tell you. I did make a promise that I wouldn't tell Naruto I could find Sasuke." Myra stepped back and prepared herself for Sakura's attack.

"YOU'VE TALKED TO HIM?" Sakura was furious.

"Who do you think gave me the burn on my hand?" Myra answered with a chuckle in her voice. "His Chidori bolt is a bitch."

Sakura didn't know how to respond. Anger welled up inside Sakura. Myra knew where Sasuke was. She could find him. Years of searching could come to an end and the answer was standing right in front of Sakura.

"Why? Why won't you let anyone know where he is?" Sakura started to cry.

Myra took a deep breath and moved closer to Sakura. "It's complicated. I know he wants to come back." Myra smiled. "And I know he wants to see Naruto. And you most of all. But he isn't ready to come back yet. There is a darkness that still surrounds him. I am not the one that has to bring him back into the light. I am just the one that has to flip the switch to turn the light on." Myra sighed.

"I want him to come home." Sakura sobbed.

"I know you do and I know Naruto does too. But it can't happen just yet. I have to get Sasuke to realize he needs the two of you. Sasuke still thinks he has to do everything alone." Myra knelt down so she was eyelevel with Sakura sitting in the chair. "I have to ask you this because it's important. Do you think you can keep this secret?"

Sakura looked up at Myra. "I… I don't know."

"I need to know, because if you don't think you can, I can take it away from you. I don't want you to suffer over the next few months, knowing that I could find Sasuke at any given moment." Myra looked at Sakura sadly.

Sakura sighed and thought about what Myra meant. She would be tempted to tell Naruto. She would be tempted to take Myra and go find Sasuke herself with out Naruto or anyone else for that matter. Sakura also knew that if she did go hunting for Sasuke while Sasuke didn't want to be found, it would only push him away farther. Sakura embraced Myra and sobbed for a few moments.

"I want him to come home so badly, but you're right if anyone should find out you can find him, they will force you to find him." Sakura let go of Myra. "Even me." Sakura looked very sad.

"I can leave you with the feeling that he is safe where he is right now. That should give you some comfort." Myra frowned.

"Thank you." Sakura sat up straight in the chair and shut her eyes. "What do I have to do?" The pink haired girl heard Myra take a deep breath.

"Relax and open your eyes." Myra said softly. Sakura opened her eyes and stared directly at Myra's red sharingan. "And by the way Sakura… He loves you."

A slim smile crossed Sakura's face before she fell unconscious. Myra caught Sakura and hugged her. "He will come back, I promise."