a/n: Hey reader! I'm sorry for the long wait, especially with that cliffhanger! Well anyhow here's the next chapter for you, let me know what you think.

Orange ropes of light fired through the air, a screeching sound reminiscent to a thousand birds chirping pierced the air as the ropes found their target. A body slammed into the dirty ground, the figure squirming and writhing to try to escape the binding magic that embraced her so relentlessly.

"K-Kiba!..."

Naruto's voice croaked and gasped in shock to see it was his boyfriend who had saved him from Tsume's fury, Kiba's own mother. His left hand was meekly raised, the catalyst to which the spell fired from, whilst the rest of his body looked utterly exhausted from the ritual beforehand. Sakura was crouched beside Kiba, supplying her new-healing abilities to try to restore energy to the fatigued Inuzuka, mostly so that he could hold the spell and Tsume at bay.

Sai now stood behind Naruto with his back to the blonde, his tantō held in hand to defend Naruto from Tsume's hounds if they were to attack him. The dogs were close behind Naruto, most likely going to finish the job if Tsume did manage to lay a hand on him. The hounds, however, were bewildered on what to do, as although they wanted to help their master escape the spell, it was the heir to the clan who had fired it.

Naruto stumbled back on his feet, trying to run towards Kiba, losing his balance multiple times from the tiredness caused by the ritual. The blonde was almost furious with Kyuubi, thinking that she must have known that it would create such a scene. However, he knew that he could save the interrogating and scolding for later though, as his first priority was to get to his beloved brunette. His vision was focused on Kiba, however blurred it was, and saw he was getting closer and closer.

"Naruto."

Sakura held her free hand out to motion Naruto to stop his advance, causing great confusion to the blonde who desperately wanted to help his sweetheart.

"I don't think I should have to tell you..." Sakura hissed quietly, her eyes opened widely to try to make Naruto realize what she wanted him to figure out. She was hoping that for once he wouldn't be dense enough to make things worse than it already was. Naruto stood for a moment feeling almost betrayed, but quickly figured out what she was implying.

"R-Right... I understand, Sakura... but are you ok, Kiba?"

Sakura smiled sadly at Naruto and then looked down to Kiba, seeing that he was now smirking at Naruto slightly.

"Baka... of course I'm a-alright..."

Naruto half-smiled back to the brunette, relieved that he was now fully conscious. The relief, however, was short-lived, as the magical tendrils binding Tsume were fast weakening, doubly because of how strong she was but also due to it being Kiba's first ever binding spell.

"Kiba! How dare you attack me!-" Yells of rage escaped Tsume's mouth, the spell binding her becoming weaker and weaker the more furious she became. "To think, you'd attack your own fucking mother! You will be punished for this, by Kami you'll-"

"M-Mom?!"

A shout sounded from behind Kiba and Sakura; Naruto being the first person to see the figure approach them with haste. It was Hana; Kiba's sister. She was accompanied by her own three hounds and a few other Inuzuka shinobi meaning to investigate what was happening.

She reached the scene and stood shocked at what was happening; her mother being held down by some bizarre-looking 'jutsu' Kiba had ensnared her with. She looked back and forth between her mother and brother, not knowing what to do as they both looked equally affected.

"W-What the hell is going on?!"

"That... that demon tried to destroy the compound!" Tsume hissed to Hana, blatantly referring to Naruto. Hana looked as though she couldn't believe what her mother was implying, as Naruto was now known as the savior, not the destroyer. But most importantly of all, her mom was being restrained by her brother, which needed to be dealt with immediately.

"What jutsu is that Kiba? And why are you binding Mom with it?!"

"I-I can't say, and it's because she was going to try to kill Naruto!"

"Why can't you say? Even if it's a forbidden jutsu, you-"

"Hana, can't you see the answer already!? It's no Jutsu, it's a spell that this demon taught him, he's trying to corrupt Kiba for Kami's sake!" The matriarch writhed on the ground, shouting relentlessly.

"A spell? That's-" Hana was interrupted yet again.

"He's not... a fucking demon! He's helped me far more than you have with trying to fight The Manipulator! He's been there for me every step of the way, even putting my safety before his, whereas you have the gall to call him a demon, when you haven't helped a DAMNED BIT!"

Silence. No retaliation, no shouting, and no more chaos. Hana, Sakura, Sai, and Naruto were all speechless; all waiting anxiously to see how Tsume would eventually react. She stopped her writhing suddenly, even though the spell was ready to break at any given moment. Tsume looked as though she was reflecting, calculating almost, as she laid there on the ground, but after seemingly an eternity of agonizing wait, she finally spoke.

"Hana."

"Y-Yes mother?"

The silence was finally broken, the tension reaching its highest point yet, as the spell encasing her was now fully fading.

"Escort them back to the clan hall, room #7. I need to speak with Kiba in private for a while." Tsume spoke calmly, now standing up from the ground as the spell finally wore off. The fear on the teen's faces was evident; not believing that she could be so calm after they were fighting against her just seconds before.

Kiba gulped and began to sweat slightly after hearing those words; thinking that she would punish and hurt him beyond all comprehension. But when he looked to Naruto, he worried further about what she might do to him as well; especially after all she said about him being a "demon".

"R-Right, well come on everyone; and that includes you as well, Naruto."

Hana reassured Naruto, knowing that after Tsume's attempted assault/murder, he would be rather hesitant to enter the clan's main building. Naruto nodded hesitantly and then looked down to Kiba into his eyes, trying to offer support and reassurance, which Kiba met with an equally compassionate gaze. There was so much the boys wanted to say to each other; questions, answers and more was rampant on their minds, but they knew they wouldn't get the chance for a while at this rate, or perhaps ever judging by Tsume's rampage.

"Naruto..." Sakura put her hand on Naruto's shoulder, the blonde now turning to her, knowing that they had to go with Hana. Naruto nodded and her hand left his shoulder, Sai leaving with Sakura as well. Naruto sighed, but then reluctantly left, still looking to Kiba as he begun to walk away, secretly yearning to embrace his boyfriend more than ever. Kiba smiled sadly to his blonde, however not knowing if he will get the chance to see him again any time soon.

The group's P.O.V

The blonde caught up with Sakura and Sai, who were walking at an uneasy pace behind Hana and the hounds; who often turned their heads to see if the trio were still following them. A chilled breeze danced in the open field of the estate, clear that the evening was almost approaching. At first, there was a pregnant silence; an atmosphere made up of confusion, anxiety and fear of what Tsume, the woman who rampaged so violently before, had in store for them.

"Kyuubi."

Naruto entered his psyche, not appearing to be angry at first; but just focused on getting her attention. He knew that the clan hall was a few minutes walk away from Kiba's house, so he had ample time to get at least a few well-needed answers from Kyuubi in the midst of all this confusion.

...

Kyuubi didn't reply, either ignoring him or burying her head in the sand to avoid taking the blame; either way it angered Naruto even more the longer the silence lasted. The blonde was close to getting very angry, until she finally answered his plea.

'I'm sorry, Kit...'

Her voice finally sounded in his mind after minutes of silence; an increasingly familiar circumstance of late. Naruto was mildly surprised at her response, mostly due to it sounding sincere; which was something Kyu rarely ever showed.

"What the hell happened there Kyu?"

...

"That wasn't a rhetorical question!"

Naruto shouted, having enough of Kyuubi not replying to his desperate questions. It was now clear that whatever that ritual was, it was something entirely otherworldly, and at this rate he could only guess to what dire implications it could have for the teens.

'All that happened was everything you already know Kit! A big column of spiritual pressure, Tsume going ape-shit and... and Kiba going unconscious... that's it Kit, I'm sorry...'

"A big column of energy? I didn't know that you teme, I was unconscious by that point! Did it hurt anyone?!"

'No kit, no one was affected, well...'

"W-Well what?!"

'Nothing kit, it's fine.'

Naruto felt a huge urge to demand more answers, but accepted that she would ignore him either way. He reluctantly left his psyche and saw that they were now near the clan hall, and whatever that would spell for the group. Naruto was mostly worried about Kiba though, which was clear to Sakura and Sai by his conflicted face.

"Naru, Kiba will be fine; I'm sure of it." Sai half-lied while trying to smile, purely so he could try to make Naruto more hopeful. Naruto could tell straight through Sai's façade and uncertainty, but was thankful he tried anyway.

"Yeah, let's hope..."

The group were now at the grandeur entrance of the Inuzuka Clan hall. It was almost the size of a King's court, large enough to host at least half of the clan at any time. The large double-oak doors were always open, a testament to the amount of clansmen and women who traveled in and out of the hall on a regular basis. Hana led the group up the short steps and now into the hall, a multitude of people inside the hall looked to the group as they entered.

Sakura noticed how most of the clan members had stopped what they were doing, be it talking or eating, and looked towards them; at Naruto in particular.

Do they know about Naruto and Kiba? No, they couldn't have, so why do they keep staring at him like that?...

Sakura wondered more on their staring at Naruto, whilst the blonde himself was more worried about how Kiba was doing, considering he was used to being started at since being but a small child. Hana led them to the other side of the hall and opened a door to the back of the main atrium, leading the group into a corridor away from the staring eyes.

Sai half-expected there to be a cell to which she was leading them to, as in his work as an ANBU op he often had to infiltrate such Clan buildings; often having their own cell blocks for those who are deemed traitors or villains to the clan, which Tsume certainly implied Naruto was.

The group walked down further until Hana stopped to unlock a door on the right of the corridor, room #7. The lock clicked open and she pushed the door, revealing a large-sized room reminiscent of a lounge area with multiple couches and TV's, much to the surprise of Sai..

"Well, that was unexpected!" Sai chirped, smiling heartily while receiving strange looks from everyone around him. Sakura smirked at Sai's upbeat attitude, seeing that he was still trying to help in his own way, even if it was via monologue. Naruto still looked crestfallen, understandably, but smiled at Sai's surprise nonetheless.

"Well, make yourselves at home." Hana let the group in, trying to make them feel comfortable, which was also unexpected to the group.

"Don't worry, I'm not my mom, so you all don't have to be so tense!"

"I'm more worried about Kiba." Naruto replied solemnly, to Hana's surprise. The Inuzuka now knew that her mother couldn't be right about Naruto; he obviously did care about Kiba, so she doubted that he was gonna deliberately put him in danger like her mother implied.

"He'll... he'll be fine. You'd know if my mother was gonna punish him; Like she'd get the belt out, and-" Hana laughed at first, almost as if it was something to joke about, but even if she was joking, she only realized Naruto's almost-depressed expression until it was too late to retract her words.

"W-What I mean is that he'll be fine, trust me." She reassured the blonde. "Please, everyone take a seat, they could be a while yet."

Naruto sighed as he sat down on the same couch as Sakura and Sai closest to the door, with Hana sitting on the couch opposite to them.

"So, tell me..."

'Oh great, here we go...' Kyuubi sighed.

"What the hell happened back there?"

"W-We-" Sakura tried to explain.

"We were practicing a jutsu." Naruto lied.

Hana's eyebrow raised to Naruto's fast response.

"What jutsu?"

"An S-Rank Jutsu."

"But which Jutsu was it though?"

"A secret Jutsu."

Naruto's sharp, closed responses made Hana realize that he wasn't telling the truth at all, but took the hint that he wasn't willing to tell her no matter how much she badgered on. Instead, she tried a different tactic, one that he couldn't shoot down as easily.

"Well, I guess I don't need to know which jutsu in particular it was anyway, as most importantly of all; why was my brother on the ground looking as a pale as a ghost and ready to pass out?"

Naruto's mouth opened instinctively, but then looked down to the floor, unable to think of an alibi to retaliate with this time. Hana knew he wouldn't be able to get around this question so easily. Sakura saw Naruto's dilemma, so she tried to help him figure out a way to keep Hana from prying too deep into their affairs.

"It was because-"

"Sakura."

The medical-nin stopped talking, turning to Naruto who had interrupted her. His head was still lowered and looking to the floor.

"Hana," Naruto spoke, surprising the Inuzuka from how direct he was now being with her.

"Yes?"

"I know what you and your mom think, that I was the one who put Kiba in danger... and you're right, I was.

'Kit...'

"And... I'll never forgive myself nor forget what happened to Kiba because of my actions; all I wanted to do was to make us stronger, so that we could fight that thug which took Hinata and hurt Kiba before... I can't ask for your forgiveness, as there's nothing I can say to reverse that he could have been badly hurt or worse, but believe me when I say; I will not let him be taken by that villain, and I will rescue Hinata."

...

'Kit... you shouldn't have taken the blame...'

"I-I never knew someone hurt Kiba... he hasn't told me... a-and Hinata, the girl who you both were with the other day has been kidnapped by the same guy?! Who is this "thug" exactly?!"

"We call her 'The Manipulator'; namely because she possessed Kiba and also tried to kill Naruto several times. Admittedly we do not know who they really are, but the clues we have gained points to it being a female, and also possessing strange Genjutsu. She was also most likely the one behind the destruction of Amatores, and has taken Hinata Hyuga captive..." Sai explained the situation to Hana, who like most people didn't even know about the struggles the group faced.

Hana remained speechless, looking to the floor for a while trying to comprehend the entire situation that her brother was secretly going through. Before she could respond, however, footsteps sounded in the corridor and the door began to creak open. The door slowly opened, and a tall woman entered the room, followed by a young, brunette man. Naruto's face lifted instantly, as well as Sakura and Sai's as well.

"Hey Saku, Sai, Nar..."

"Kiba, h-how are you?" Naruto stood up from the couch with haste.

"He's fine, thankfully." Tsume stated coldly, surprising Naruto as he almost forgot she was there after seeing Kiba. "We visited Lady Tsunade to check if he was injured by that freakish "jutsu", but somehow he wasn't."

Naruto had to fight back the urge to grin madly, as he was still understandably uneasy with the woman who tried to attack him earlier being there besides him. Kiba smiled sadly to Naruto, wanting to embrace him with as much fervor as the blonde did. Their eyes connected once more, but were interrupted by an unexpected statement.

"T-That's great! But with all due respect Lady Tsume, we really have to get moving." Sakura brazenly said.

"And why's that? Where do you all plan on going to then, huh? None of you look to be in the proper condition to go face this 'Manipulator'." Tsume retaliated, passive aggression lining her tone similar to how Hana was with her questions to Naruto beforehand, but invoking far more fear.

"We don't have much choice, if Hinata is to be saved than we have to-" Sai begun.

"And what makes you think she isn't being saved now as we speak? You aren't the only shinobi in the village, you do know that, right kids?"

"Yes, but Naruto has only just recently found about The Manipulator's whereabouts, so how could the other shinobi find out so quickly?" Sai answered back, confused just like Naruto and Sakura were to Tsume's remark.

"Hmm, I wonder..." Tsume placed her hand up to her mouth in quizzing way, almost sarcastically so as if she was mocking Sai. She then looked down to her left, where Kiba was standing.

"Now did you really think I'd let a handful of inexperienced kids take on this villain who apparently took control of my own son? You may have defeated Pain, kid, but the sheer destruction you caused to the village when you turned into that... that demon gives me no comfort in seeing you go along with Kiba!" Tsume yelled at Naruto.

Naruto felt as if Tsume took a knife and stabbed him cruelly in the heart; Kiba's own mother already disapproving of Naruto being with Kiba, even as friends, before she even truly knew how close they were. Naruto looked to Kiba and saw him looking even more crestfallen; his eyes building with tears, perhaps due to Kiba being forced by Tsume to tell of all that happened, leading her to believe Naruto was in fact putting Kiba in danger.

"However." Tsume uttered.

Naruto looked back towards her, incredibly anxious to what she was now about to say; if she was going to condemn them being friends, or even force them to stop talking to each other for good. All these thoughts plagued the blondes mind.

"Even then, I can see that you've clearly tried to help Kiba as best you could; regrettably more so than I, his own mother... therefore, even if you still have that demon inside of you, I'll let him go with you in rescuing Hinata; but only because other shinobi will be there to check you if you... rampage."

Naruto found no words. It was a miracle that she would allow Kiba to be with Naruto after all she damned the blonde for. Although, that comment was still clearly double-edged, as she still thought of the blonde as an uncontrollable demon; however, if she allowed Kiba to be with him in rescuing Hinata and facing The Manipulator, he would gladly tolerate her opinion for now. It was now clear to the group that his mother was indeed entirely unpredictable, from first rampaging to being clam and predictable.

"T-Thank you, Tsume-San!"

"Don't get cosy... now the lot of you, go; Tsunade wishes to speak to you all before you presumably head out to face this so-called 'Manipulator'." Tsume stood out the way of the door to let the teens leave. Kiba still stood beside his mother looking ashamed, worrying Naruto as the thoughts of Tsume punishing and interrogating him crossed his mind.

Sakura bowed to Tsume and Hana, then left the room to wait outside for the others, followed by Sai.

"Are you coming, Kiba?" Naruto asked, worried his now secret-boyfriend was too numb to notice them all departing.

"Y-Yeah..." The brunette murmured, half-smiling to Naruto. The blonde nodded meagerly and begun walking to the exit, not daring to make any more eye contact with Tsume. Kiba followed him slowly, his head lowered submissively when walking past his mother to the door. Naruto and Kiba joined Sakura and Sai outside, the group now walking to a pregnant silence back into the main hall towards the exit.

Meanwhile, Tsume shut the door behind the group, and now turned to her strangely quiet daughter.

"Hana."

"Yes, Mom?"

"I need you to follow them."

"W-Why?"

"That demon cannot be trusted."