Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?

Chapter 22: "Convergence"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was bound to be a reaction to Nel's innocent query.

And a reaction there was.

Yugito who was sitting across from Naruto and Hinata at the large banquet table had been eyeing the couple ever since they entered the tent. The Nibi Jinchuuriki had noticed the way Hinata now held herself. She was practically glowing, not to mention the warm smile and the way she was all but nestled into Naruto, the way his arm was draped about her shoulders, drawing her close. However, it wasn't until she heard Nel's questions that she then understood why.

"You should have claimed that delicious blonde hunk of man-meat when I told you to kitten. Now it looks like you've lost out to white eyes over there." Nibi purred inside Yugito's mind.

'Would you shut-up!' Yugito silently snapped at her tenant.

'Purrrrrrr, it seems I've hit a nerve!'

'You're wrong, I, I, don't care if Naruto and Hinata have, have…' Yugito stammered in her mind trying to find the words she wanted to say, but failing.

The former Cloud kunoichi bolted upright from where she sat at the table and before anyone could stop her rushed out of the tent, as a myriad of emotions flooded her brain.

Naruto winced, as he saw Yugito's eyes grow wide in realization and he knew she had figured it out by the confused and hurt expression on her face when she left. Hinata gently squeezed his hand and whispered.

"I'll talk to her Naruto-kun."

"So, you two were knocking boots last night!" Yoruichi quipped with a tint of jealousy, as she had woken up just in time to hear Nel's questions and witness Yugito's response.

"Naru-kun, what doth knocking booth mean?" Asked Nel innocently, further adding to the chaos that had ensued.

Both Naruto and Hinata began blushing cherry red, before the blonde Jinchuuriki pinched his nose and looked away and said.

"I'll...tell you when you're older….much older." Naruto grumbled in annoyance.

For the second time that morning, Kenpachi spit out his drink and roared with unabashed laughter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What the hell is going on here?" One of the lower more nondescript bandits whispered to another, as Naruto finally made his grand entrance from the main tent, officially marking him as the new leader of the Crimson Blade bandits.

However, Naruto did not look pleased, not at all. Add in the effect of wearing his skull mask and you had a rather terrifying figure standing before the bandits. Kenpachi was to his left, both his arms crossed with a seemingly disinterested expression on his face. Yachiru of course was perched upon his shoulder, smiling happily. To Naruto's right was Shunsui, who also seemed disinterested, if the yawn he let loose was any indication. However, no one took notice of any of this, as every single bandit's attention was focused solely on Naruto.

"Why does he look like he's about to kill all of us?" One bandit murmured to his comrade.

For indeed if looks could kill the lot of them with a few minor exceptions such as Daisuke, Yumichika and Ikkaku would have dropped dead by now, so seemingly deadly was the intensity of Naruto's glare. One of them actually tried to run, but Ikkaku roughly dragged him back by the collar.

Naruto allowed a feral grin to creep up upon his face inside his mask, before his metallic echo of a voice spoke.

"Hello maggots, I'm so glad you're all here!" A few of the bandits gulped nervously, as he stepped further out from the tent.

"Zaraki may not have told you why I came here."

When Naruto's ears were greeted with nothing but a tense silence, he arched an eyebrow before adding.

"Anyone interested? I promise you, it won't be boring."

A few of the bandits in front grumbled an affirmative and in the span of five minutes, the Jinchuuriki had outlined his plan to them. Needless to say, he received a mixed reaction. Some of the more powerful bandits, such as Daisuke, looked interested yet slightly skeptical, whilst the weaker members looked downright petrified.

"I can't promise you victory, but I can promise you fame, glory and more importantly money."

An excited murmur ran through the crowd of bandits upon hearing the last part of Naruto's statement. Unsheathing Zangetsu, Naruto held it aloft, its silvery tip glimmering in a mixture of orange and red light from the early morning sun.

"I can promise you, that if you survive the hellish weeks of training that I have in store for you, then you'll become stronger than you've ever dreamed possible." As Naruto held the gleaming blade aloft, his tone began to take on a more feverish pitch.

"And I promise you, this will be the battle of the century, one that will not be forgotten, no matter how many years pass us by! And the wealth you will obtain should you survive shall allow you to relive the memory of your triumph of that battle in relative comfort the rest of your lives!"

Everyone was so caught up in his speech, that their faces not to mention their hearts fell at what he said next.

"However!" Naruto growled, as he lowered Zangetsu and pointed it at the men before him, as he scowled and declared.

"If any of you have doubts, if any of you wish to leave, now is the time to do it." Naruto spoke ominously, addressing the group as a whole.

"Because I will not tolerate any cowardice and I will not have any deserters in my ranks, do you understand?"

A moment of tense silence gripped the bandits once again, but when Kenpachi flicked out his zanpaktou from its sheath using nothing but his thumb and growled. Those who would've turned tail and run under normal circumstances decided staying was in there best interests, lest they be slain where they stood, as the memory of their former leader was still fresh in their minds.

Yet one man mustered up the courage to walk away and then two more, although they all kept nervously glancing over their shoulders to see if Kenpachi would come after them. Indeed Zaraki was about to cut them down, but Naruto shook his head and the former Gotei 13 Captain stayed his hand.

"Last chance." Naruto stated, as his gaze traveled over the ragtag group of bandits, most of which were still there either out of fear, overconfidence, or just plain greed.

"After this, if I catch any of you trying to jump ship, and rest assured I will catch you, have no doubt about that, then you will find out that death is the least of your worries."

Everyone turned white as a sheet, but only one more man left.

The rest remained where they were, rooted in place.

"Naru's pretty scary, he kind of reminds me of you Kenny." Yachiru commented, as she swung her legs to and fro from her customary perch.

"Alright, your training starts right now, let's move out!" Naruto ordered with authority, as the remaining Crimson Blade bandits started shuffling out. All of them silently wondering, as they followed Naruto what their new leader had in store for them...

If only they knew...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tsunade sat at her desk and stared at the mountain of paperwork sitting upon it, but she had no desire to work on any of it. Gazing at a clock, she saw that she still had a few hours to go before the sun set on another miserable day. And with the passing of another day, this only served to remind Tsunade that the time limit she had granted Sasuke to bring Naruto back to the village had long since passed. The blonde Hokage had received no word from either Sasuke or Kakashi and she now knew that two of her strongest shinobi were at this moment no longer looking to retrieve her surrogate little brother, but to kill him. What made this situation unbearable for Tsunade was the fact they were now doing this upon her orders as Hokage. The mere thought of this caused Tsunade to weep slightly, before she heard some yelling outside of her office. A moment later, her office doors flew open and in strode the respective heads of two of Konoha's most powerful clans, Hiashi Hyuga and Tsume Inuzuka. Tsunade quickly wiped away any remnant of her tears before standing up and slamming her hands down upon her desk, which caused the entire room to violently shake before shouting with irritation.

"What is the meaning this?"

"Forgive this intrusion Hokage-sama, but I and this old Hyuga fool have an urgent matter to discuss with you." Tsume Inuzuka politely stated while bowing.

"Watch your mouth you mangy old bitch before I put you down!" Hiashi sneeringly commented, as Tsume growled at him in response to his insult.

"Enough, both of you! Unless you have something that requires my attention, the two of you can take your little fight out of my office and away from me!" Tsunade shouted in anger.

"I apologize to you Hokage-sama, but we do have a matter which requires your attention. I formally request that the marriage between my daughter Hinata and her husband Kiba Inuzuka be null and voided."

This piqued Tsunades curiosity upon hearing this, as she sat down in her chair. It was Hiashi that had pushed for this clan marriage three years ago, but now he wants it dissolved, as if it had never happened. Tsunade definitely wanted to hear what caused this change of attitude within the Hyuga patriarch and bade them to take a seat before she asked.

"Exactly upon what grounds do you want the marriage voided for Hiashi?"

"Quite simply Hokage-sama the Inuzuka whelp marriage has failed to produce any heirs. And the Inuzuka clan itself has been quite obstinate in their defiance of proposals the Hyuga clan have put forth within the Konoha Council."

'Ahhh, there it is, the real reason Hiashi wants to cut ties with the Inuzuka clan. I'm sure he thought with Hinata and Kiba's marriage that Tsume and her clan would fall in line with what the Hyuga clan desires within the Council. You stupid old fool! Did you really believe that Tsume would bow down to your political ambitions just because of your daughter's marriage to her son? And to think you purposely ruined your own daughter happiness for nothing more than an attempt to further your power within the village. You truly are one of the cruelest bastards I've ever met Hiashi Hyuga, and I hope Kami has a special place in Hell for you when you finally die!' Tsunade thought to herself, as she stared with disgust at the Hyuga male before turning her attention to Tsume and asking.

"Tsume, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

"I have no objections of nullifying the marriage of my son from that Hyuga harlot. She has caused him nothing but heartache by running away to chase after that loathsome adulterous Uzumaki brat!" Tsume replied with spite.

Tsunade felt her anger quickly boil at what Tsume had just said. Not only about Naruto but also about Hinata as well, as she said through gritted teeth.

"Tsume, you are an old friend of mine and I will give you a pass that what you just said is because of the grief you feel over what has happened to Kiba. But if ever hear you speak about Naruto or Hinata like that again, you'll be leaving this office on a stretcher! You know as well as I do that Hinata has been faithful to your son their entire marriage. And Naruto has done nothing but respect the sanctity of that marriage since its inception."

"Then why did she run off after him, if he's done nothing wrong Hokage-sama?" Tsume snapped back with anguish.

"Because Hinata loves Naruto and not your son! I know that's hard for you to hear, but it's the facts of the matter. And don't pretend you were oblivious to this Tsume or you either Hiashi. You both knew whom Hinata's heart belonged to before you rammed this arranged marriage down her throat."

"Yes, I knew." Tsume quietly replied.

"Yet you still let this power hungry bastard sitting next to you talk you into going through with the marriage even though you knew it would destroy both Hinata and Naruto, why Tsume, why did you do that?"

"Now see here!" Hiashi spoke up in objection to being insulted.

"Shut up Hiashi, I'll get back to you in a moment! Right now I'm speaking to Tsume and if you want me to annul this marriage, you'll sit there and keep your mouth shut! Now Tsume, I'll ask again, why did you do that?"

"I, I, did it because I love my son and he was so desperately in love with the girl I just wanted to see him happy. I like Hinata and I know she has remained faithful to Kiba during their marriage and I know that Naruto has always been a loyal friend to my son and would never betray him in anyway. I apologize for what I said about them."

"I'm sorry about the pain you and your son are going through right now Tsume. But the two of you need to realize that Hinata doesn't love Kiba, at least not in the way you both want her to. She will always love Kiba as a close friend and comrade, but Hinata has and always will be in love with Naruto, and I'm sorry but there is nothing you or anyone can do to change that."

"I know I had just hoped that one day Hinata would learn to love Kiba the way he loved her. That's why I agreed to the marriage Tsunade." Tsume replied the regret etched in her voice.

"Hinata tried; she tried for over three years to be a good wife to your son. Which wasn't easy, considering how Kiba treated Hinata more like a possession or a trophy than as a wife?"

"I know she did Tsunade and I know my son could have been a much better husband in how he treated her. I thought eventually Kiba would come to realize how he was acting and maybe he would have? But I guess Hinata had finally reached her limit with him." Tsume commented with a heavy sigh.

"So Tsume, if you agree to this annulment with Hiashi, what exactly is the problem?"

"The problem is this Hyuga asshole wants my clan to pay him compensation for the nullification of the marriage!" The Inuzuka clan leader spat with anger, as she glared at her fellow clan head.

"I see nothing wrong with that considering my daughter spent three unproductive and unappreciated years married to her whelp, as you two just got done talking about. And since he failed to produce any type of heir for either clan, than monetary reparation for my clan is not unreasonable." Hiashi coldly stated.

"Why you smug, arrogant, bastard! How dare you place the blame of them having no children on my son alone!" An enraged Tsume screamed.

"Well, you certainly can't blame my daughter. Hyuga women have always been very fertile, so if your mongrel of a son had been doing his job correctly, they certainly would have had at least one if not more children by now!"

Tsunade had to step in-between Tsume and Hiashi, as they both leapt up from their chairs before an all out brawl took place and shouted at the pair of clan leaders.

"Both of you either calm down right now and act like adults or I'll throw you into separate Anbu jail cells until you cool down. Now the two of you sit back down and be quiet while I make my ruling, which I will remind the both of you, will be the final say on this matter."

Both clan heads hesitantly sat back down while glaring at one another before Tsunade cleared her throat and said.

"Ahem, now Hiashi is it your clan that is filing for the annulment of Hinata and Kiba's marriage?"

"That is correct Hokage-sama."

"And you Tsume, do you agree to this annulment of your son's marriage filed by Hiashi?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade I do."

"Very well, than I agree that compensation is in order on this matter before I void this marriage."

"But, but, Lady Tsunade, you, you can't mean . . . . ." Tsume stammered in disbelief, before Tsunade held up her hand to silence the woman, while Hiashi smirked.

"Yes Tsume, I do. Hiashi Hyuga, since you are the active party wishing to dissolve this marriage, your clan will pay the Inuzuka clan in recompense for this $1,000,000 ryo's for each year of Hinata's marriage to Kiba. This over a three year period comes to a grand total of $3,000,000 ryo's."

The smirk that Hiashi had held upon his face quickly disappeared after hearing this. And jumping up from his chair once more, his face flushed with rage he stammered.

"That, that is preposterous! The Hyuga clan refuses to pay anything to the Inuzuka's over this matter. The Hyuga clan is the injured party here not them!"

"Shut the Hell up Hiashi! Neither you nor your clan is an injured party in this matter. The only injured parties are those two kids whose marriage were now voiding. And since you and your clan are the ones wanting this annulment, then your clan is the one who will pay to make it happen! Unless of course you want them to stay married and perhaps finally produce this heir you've been screaming for." Tsunade fired back at the fuming Hyuga leader.

"Hmph, I'd sooner accept an heir from the Uzumaki brat, then ever have anything to do with this wretched canine clan anymore!"

"Well, there is another option I suppose, but I'm not sure you would agree to it? Because of the great love you hold for your daughter." Tsunade stated with a hint of sarcasm at the end.

"What would this other option be Hokage-sama?"

"It's really quite simple Hiashi. If you were to banish your daughter from the Hyuga clan and renounce any rights or claims you have on her. Then this becomes nothing more than a normal ending of a simple marriage, as opposed to the nullification of a politically arranged marriage between two prominent clan heirs. To which if you do this, Hinata will now become a mere Konoha citizen and no compensation will be required to either clan to affect the annulment of the marriage. If you would like some time to think this over, I'd be glad to grant . . ."

"I agree to those terms." Hiashi quickly announced, interrupting Tsunade.

Tsunade looked up in surprise at how quickly Hiashi had agreed to banish his own daughter from the Hyuga clan. She looked upon the man with renewed disgust before asking with contempt ringing in her voice.

"Hiashi Hyuga, is it your position that you relinquish all rights and obligations towards your daughter Hinata and she now becomes an ordinary citizen of the village? If so, you need to sign a parental-clan release form Hiashi authorizing to legally do this."

"Fine, whatever, I could care less. Hinata is of no use to the clan anymore, not after serving as a rutting post for the Inuzuka mongrel the last three years. No decent clan of any of the Elemental nations will want her now that she's damaged goods. I wash my hands of her and she can live in the streets for all I care." Hiashi callously remarks.

"Your concern for your daughter's future well being is touching Hiashi, sign at the bottom if you would." Tsunade sarcastically says as she hands the form to Hiashi.

After Hiashi signs the document absolving him of any rights or claims to Hinata, he hands it back to the Hokage. Tsunade looks at the document for a moment and a sad smile appears on her face as she affixes the Hokage's stamp of approval to it, before looking back at Hiashi and saying.

"Alright Hiashi, its official now. Hinata Hyuga is now a normal ordinary citizen of Konoha and officially by your order has no ties to the Hyuga clan any longer. As such, I will grant the annulment of her marriage and no compensation will be levied against your clan. If you have nothing else to discuss with me you can leave, as I find the mere sight of you revolting to look at right now."

"As if I care Hokage-sama." Hiashi sneered, before turning and storming out of the office.

After the door slammed behind the insulted Hyuga patriarch, a stunned Tsume turned to look at the blonde Hokage and asked with bewilderment.

"Why in Kami's name did you do that for Tsunade?"

"What did I do Tsume?"

"What did you do, you just left Hinata without a home should she return to the village! I may not be happy with the girl because of what has happened between her and my son. But I don't want to see her homeless and out in the streets."

"Oh is that all, please, Hinata is well loved by many people especially her friends. It's not like she would ever have to worry about not having a roof over her head."

"But that still doesn't explain why you had Hiashi banish his own daughter?"

"I didn't have Hiashi do anything; he made that choice all on his own. I merely provided the option to him. He didn't have to use it if he didn't want to."

"But, but . . . . . .?"

"I did it Tsume because I owed the girl. Three years ago Hinata came to me terrified and begging for my help to stop or escape her arranged marriage to Kiba."

"Oh, I see." Tsume quietly replied.

"No, you don't see. It wasn't the prospect of being married to your son that terrified her. Hinata truly cares about and loves your son, but as I said before, not in the way you and Kiba wanted her to. No, what terrified Hinata was the fear of losing Naruto forever because of the marriage. The girl pleaded with me then with tears in her eyes to help her in some way. But instead of trying to help Hinata, I chose the cowardly way out and told her I couldn't get involved in between the affairs of two clans and showed her the door. And by doing that, I essentially sent the girl back into the clutches of that evil, self-serving bastard who was just here."

A couple of minutes of silence filled the room before Tsume spoke up once more and asked.

"You say Hinata was scared of losing Naruto because of her marriage to my son. I don't understand, if she loves the Uzumaki boy that much, she could have covertly continued to see him even after she was married to Kiba. Why, did she have such a fear that her marriage would cause her to lose Naruto forever?"

"Because Tsume, both Hinata and Naruto have something that unfortunately a lot of people lack within them, a sense of honor. Once she was officially married to your son, both she and Naruto would have nothing to do with each other anymore. The thought of what you just suggested would never have occurred to them, as they would never dishonor themselves, the marriage, or hurt your son by committing such a betrayal."

Tsume nodded her head in understanding, before Tsunade continued on.

"So I did nothing to help Hinata back then and by doing so, I helped to destroy not only her happiness, but also the happiness of my little otoutosan as well. Hinata was right of course, once she was married, Naruto respectfully bowed out of her life. I'd held out hope in the beginning that the Yamanaka girl would be able to help him overcome his grief at losing Hinata. And after a year it seemed like she had. But then when she left him for the Nara heir, I knew it was over. After that happened, I watched Naruto slowly die on the inside with each passing day, as he shut down his emotions and sought nothing but solitude. And to this day, I will never forgive myself for the part I played in that!"

Tsume nodded her head once again in understanding, before Tsunade then said.

"I don't have the opportunity anymore with Naruto to try and make amends for what I did. But as for Hinata, if she does return to the village, than at least I've given her the opportunity to live her life free from Hiashi's oppressive control. That's why I brought up the banishment option to her father. It doesn't make-up for not helping Hinata three years ago, but it's a start. And I can only pray to Kami that if she does return, she'll have Naruto with her."

The room once again was filled with silence, before Tsume lamentably commented.

"As much as I hate to agree with Hiashi, I do wish Kiba and Hinata had blessed us with a grandchild and heir to my clan."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow the Inuzuka clan matriarch, before scoffing in disbelief and said.

"Oh don't hand me that crap Tsume. I know of at least two civilian girls over the past three years who have given you a grandchild due to your son's…indiscretions shall we say and you know about them to."

Tsume turned her head away in shame, before looking back with tears welling in her eyes and sadly replied.

"Yes I know about them Tsunade and there are three, not two."

"Then you have your heirs to the clan, several of them in fact."

"But none of them are from a shinobi clan and are just civilians. Inuzuka tradition mandates that any heir to the clan must come from a union of two shinobi clans."

"Oh screw tradition, it's an archaic law and serves no purpose anymore. And you mean to tell me because of tradition you're going to force these three civilian girls to raise their children alone and without any help or recognition from the Inuzuka clan. My Kami Tsume, I'd expect something like that from that Hyuga bastard who was just here and his clan, but I certainly never would have expected it from you or your clan."

A brief moment of anger flashed across Tsume's face at what Tsunade had just said, before it disappeared, as the Inuzuka clan leader realized that the blonde Hokage was right. Rising slowly, Tsume got up and made her way to the door before turning around and saying.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade, I've learned a great many things today and you've given me much to think about."

However, before she left, Tsume turned back to Tsunade and stated with sadness.

"I'll admit, when I first found out that Hinata had left my son to go chase after the Uzumaki boy, I was very upset and hated and cursed the both of them. I thought they had planned all of this in advance and had betrayed Kiba most heinously. But now I know that is not the case. I can't say that I'm ready yet to forgive Hinata for hurting Kiba. But at least I now understand her motivations behind her actions and know that even after all the sins he's committed against her during their marriage Hinata never purposely meant to hurt my son. I'll take my leave now Hokage-sama and you have a good day."

"You as well Tsume Inuzuka." Tsunade replied, as she watched the clan leader leave her office.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hinata took a deep breath to calm herself as she approached Yugito's tent. The young Hyuga girl wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say to her newfound friend and companion, but knew she needed to say something as she tentatively called out.

"Yugito-chan, may I come in and speak with you."

"I, I really don't feel like talking to anyone right now." The Nibi vessel answered in a choked voice.

Deciding not to take no for an answer Hinata entered the tent anyway and said.

"I really think we should talk about me and Naruto-kun to try and explain." Hinata replied nervously, as she sat down on the ground across from Yugito.

"What about him?" Yugito spat bitterly before continuing.

"There's nothing to explain, I should have guessed Naruto would be with you Hinata, you were his first true love. I was a fool to think that Naruto might care about me after he learned what I had been through at the hands of the Akatsuki. I'm nothing but trash in his eyes in comparison to a princess like you."

A resounding smack echoed through the air, as Yugito held a hand to her face on her left cheek, her ears cringing as a very, very angry Hinata yelled at her.

"Look Yugito-chan, I know you're hurt right now, but that gives you no right to speak such lies about Naruto-kun! If he says that he cares about you then you should know very well that he does!"

After a moment, as the tension died down Hinata spoke once more.

"I'm sorry for striking you, but I just got angry at hearing you insult Naruto-kun."

"It's ok Hinata, I guess I deserved that. I'm sorry about my reaction this morning; I was just caught by surprise. I mean you and I had talked before and you said you didn't mind sharing Naruto-kun with someone else, if he truly loved that person as well. I guess I thought you had betrayed me just like everyone else and taken Naruto-kun for only yourself."

"I would never do that to you. What happened last night wasn't planned on either my own or Naru-kun's part. It was just a spur of the moment type thing, that's all. Can I ask you a question Yugito-chan?"

Yugito nodded her head in response.

"Do you love Naruto-kun?"

The former Cloud kunoichi exhaled a heavy sigh, as she had been hoping Hinata wouldn't ask her that question, because truthfully she didn't know the answer to it herself.

"I don't know, I think I love him, but I'm not even sure I know what love is anymore. I know I feel a sense of kinship with him being a fellow Jinchuuriki. And I know I feel safe and protected when I'm around him since he rescued me from the Akatsuki and saved my life, but is that love or just gratitude? I'm so confused Hinata, I know have deep feelings for Naruto-kun, but I just don't know if it's love?"

"Have you told Naruto-kun about your feelings?"

"Hai, I did and Naruto-kun did give me hope when he asked me to just give him some time and he thought he could grow to love me, as much as he does you."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, just give him the time and I promise you and he can share the same life together that I hope to share with him and you as well Yugito-chan."

"Thank you Hinata-chan." Yugito replied, before the two women hugged one another.

"Can I ask you a question Hinata-chan?"

"Of course."

"Can you tell me about you and Naruto-kun's life growing up in the Leaf village?"

Hinata paused a moment to ponder Yugito's request before saying.

"It's a long story, but we do have the time, so where should I begin?"

"How about when you first saw Naruto-kun."

Hinata nodded her head and the two women then began talking for the next several hours.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ino could still detect vague traces of tainted chakra hanging ominously in the air from the day before.

She had felt this malignant energy at least once before in her life.

'Kyuubi…'

As she and Sasuke increased their speed, they followed the distant malignant energy that seemed to blaze a trail they hoped would lead them to Naruto. With every turn they took and every tree they leapt from, the very air was permeated with the noxious energy, to the point where a lesser shinobi would have vomited.

Then suddenly, all at once it vanished.

A sense of serene peace was left in its wake.

Then there it was.

Though it was far away Ino could feel Naruto's distinctive chakra signature and it was somewhere over the distant horizon.

It might take at least a couple of day's worth of travel and then they'd have caught up with Naruto, or at least she hoped as much. Yet, Ino felt frightened at the result of what Naruto's reaction might be upon seeing her again, now she was having second thoughts?

'No...' She told herself in her mind.

Ino was firm in her belief that chasing Naruto had been the right thing to do, but...

She was scared.

Sasuke noticed this and slowed to a halt to prevent himself from outdistancing her.

"Ino, are you okay?"

She shook her head, slowly at first, then frantically, as if she were afraid to take another step. Her breathing began to hasten, almost as if she were about to hyperventilate. As it was, her eyes were wide, swimming with fresh tears.

All at once panic seized Ino, angst gripping her soul with apprehension.

"No! No I'm not!"

Sasuke let out a small gasp, when Ino suddenly seized him by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Don't you get it? We haven't spoken to each other in two years! What if he still hates me?"

Sasuke was struck speechless.

Finally, he managed to squirm free of her grip.

"You really love him, don't you?"

Ino gave a solemn nod, before nervously looking to the ground, as she thought of Naruto once again. Sasuke sighed, as he realized that his traveling companion needed to stop and try and calm her fears about seeing Naruto. Looking over to the setting sun, Sasuke decided now was as good a time as any to stop and setup camp to rest. Both he and Ino had pushed hard throughout the day in their attempt to catch up with Naruto, and the two of them were quite tired from the effort.

Silently, Sasuke realized Ino wasn't the only person there with fear of what a reunion with Naruto might mean. Sasuke knew that the time limit Tsunade had granted him had run out. And when he next saw Naruto, if he were to follow his Hokage's orders he was to eliminate his friend at once. The mere thought of having to do that Sasuke did not relish one bit. So any delay in finding Naruto was actually welcomed by the Uchiha at this point, as he still did not know what he was going to do when he and Ino would eventually find Naruto. Sasuke turned to his fellow Anbu companion and said.

"Let's setup camp here and try and get some rest. We'll probably catch up with Naruto in a day or two, so there's no reason for us to rush in finding him. After a good night's rest, we'll start again in the morning. Does that sound alright with you Ino?"

Ino looked up from the ground and gave a small smile before nodding her head in approval, before she and Sasuke began to unpack their gear and setup their accommodations for the night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was late in the evening as Kurenai and Kakashi sat around a small campfire in silence. The Konoha Jounins had spoken very little throughout the day. Things had been uneasy between the two of them since the unfortunate incident in the sleeping bag. And both of them felt foolish that such a thing had inadvertently caused a change in their relationship. Truth be told, it was more than the incident that was bothering the two.

It was the fact that both of them were wrestling within their minds certain new feelings that they had developed for the other person. And while both of them silently grappled with these new found emotions, neither one was ready to admit to the other person or even themselves that these new emotions now existed. It was Kakashi who finally broke the silence and announced.

"Well, if Naruto's position doesn't change, we may reach him in a day or two. We should head out as soon as we can tomorrow, so I'm going to get some sleep, goodnight Kurenai."

"Goodnight Kakashi."

As Kurenai watched Kakashi settle into his sleeping bag, a cold, stiff wind blew through their encampment and caused the red-eyed Jounin to shiver. It was then Kurenai inwardly cursed as she remembered she still was without a sleeping bag of her own. She shivered once more as another wind came blowing through the camp. Exhaling a heavy sigh, Kurenai begrudgingly realized what she had to do, as she called out in a soft voice.

"Kakashi, are you asleep yet?"

Kakashi rolled over to face his traveling companion and noticed her shivering, as he answered.

"No, I'm still awake as you can see."

"Well, I'm sorry to ask this, but can I share your sleeping bag with you again this evening?"

Kakashi cocked his visible eyebrow in curiosity before asking.

"I don't know, you're not going to hit me again in the morning when you wake up are you?"

"No, I'm not going to hit you again!" Kurenai replied in an exasperated tone.

"Are you sure you won't hit me, even if that happens again?" Kakashi asked, as he took a quick glance downward to indicate what he was talking about.

Kurenai blushed, as the memory of that entered her mind before she softly stammered.

"N, no Kakashi, I promise I won't hit you even-even if that happens again."

Kakashi took a moment to consider the situation before he saw Kurenai shiver once more under a cruel cold wind gust. He then reached over and opened the flap to his sleeping bag and held it open to silently invite Kurenai to share his sleeping bag with him once again. Kurenai quickly and without hesitation this time crawled into the sleeping bag and snuggled up against Kakashi, while he tentatively wrapped his arms around her to warm her up. As she got comfortable, she looked up to his face and sternly said:

"Now you remember no fun . . . . ."

"No funny stuff, yeah, yeah I got it Kurenai!" Kakashi answered with a little annoyed sarcasm in his voice. Before he and his traveling companion quickly fell asleep under the soft glow of their dying campfire.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author Notes: Hello my faithful readers, here is chapter 22 ready for your enjoyment, I hope? There wasn't a huge amount of editing and rewriting, as I had written the majority of the original chapter. But what I did add which was roughly 1000-1500 words was significant from a storyline standpoint. I will probably update one more chapter to this story and "Supreme Genetics - Creation of a New Bloodline" but after that I need to concentrate on getting the next chapter of "Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath" written and posted. I want to thank those readers who took the time to leave a review for the tale last chapter. They're very helpful in letting me know how the story is progressing with all of you. And they really do assist an author out in knowing what people like about a story. Once again, my thanks to everyone for your continued support, now something that is of vital importance to all of us who write or read on FFnet.

Important News:

As many of you already know, FFnet three months ago decided to go through a massive upheaval and potentially remove thousands of stories from its library resulting in some of the best fanfics ever written to be deleted and never to be read again. They are removing anything involving sexual situations, or violence, or inspired by a song, the list goes on and on. And we as both writers and readers see this as a gross waste of talent and incredible material. Now a lot of people erroneously believed that FFnet had ended this policy, unfortunately that is not the case. As I learned one of the best authors on this site VFSNAKE had one of his stories removed just last week by FFnet. So I'm asking all of my readers to please do the following.

Please contact FFnet via email and voice your complaints about this story removal policy and request that FFnet re-establish or create a "MA" rating to which stories can be re-rated. If enough emails flood FFnet, then they have to address the issue. It's very easy to email, just click the "help" feature at the bottom of any FFnet page and it will direct you to the URL to contact FFnet.

I know many people who visit this site are casual readers who don't write stories, pm's, reviews, etc. However, I strongly urge you this one time not to remain silent and to take up the keyboard to express your concerns to FFnet about this story removal policy. Because everyone runs the risk of some if not all of your favorite stories disappearing, unless you allow your voice to be heard demanding otherwise.

Any other authors who wish to send out a similar plea to their readers are welcome to use this.

I wish to thank everyone in advance for your help on this matter.

Sincerely,

Kingkakashi