Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am basing this fanfic off of another's hard work and ideas.

Chapter 5:

Tsunade went back to her office followed by Jiraiya. Right before entering her office she called to Shizune "get me the rookies in here now".

"Tsu-hime, what are you planning now" Jiraiya said.

"I'm going to find out if this village is worth to have Naruto back" was all she said and Jiraiya knew better than to argue with here right now. After finally getting her head back on straight from her crying fit he wasn't going to take a chance and put her back into it.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The rookies had finally gathered in her office and Tsunade was pacing back and forth with Jiraiya leaning up against the Window to the side. Every now and then she would stop and act like she was going to start saying something but she would catch herself and start pacing again. This went on for 15 minutes before someone spoke.

Feeling like this had something to do with Naruto, Hinata had built up enough courage to ask her; "H-H-Hokage-sama, is this about N-N-Naruto?"

Tsunade stopped and turned to look out over the village. With an audible sigh she turned around and finally sat down.

"Yes, Hinata, it is. What I am about to tell you all is a village S-Class Secret. For the moment I am forbidding you all to discuss with anyone outside this room. I will warn you, some people know, but the Third made a law forbidding anyone for talking about this and as of right now I'm inclined to leave the law active."

She took a deep breath, "What can you all tell me about the night of the Nine-tailed fox attack".

Sakura raised her hand. Tsunade motioned for her to speak. "The Nine-tailed fox attacked the village. In the battle many shinobi and civilians died. Through the sacrifice of the Yondame Hokage he was able to kill the monster and save the village."

Tsunade waited a second as if debating this is the right thing to do. The Sensei's in the back were wondering the same thing. Kakashi was wondering if she was going to reveal everything.

"What you know about the Nine-tailed fox attack is a lie." Replied Tsunade.

Everyone was wide eyed and wondering what was going on.

Tsunade continued, "The nine-tailed fox cannot be killed because it is pure energy and chakra that has taken form. The only way to stop a tailed beast is to seal it and….."

Shikamaru spoke up, "It was sealed…inside Naruto".

Everyone stared at Shikamaru and then back at Tsunade and she nodded her head to confirm. Shikamaru continued:

"That is what makes Gaara and Naruto such good friends isn't it? Gaara has a 'tailed beast' sealed in him as well."

Once again Tsunade nodded and said, "the one-tailed raccoon".

Several minutes passed as Tsunade was waiting to see everyone's reaction. She finally asked, "So what do you all think."

Surprisingly, Sakura finally spoke up with venom in her voice. "I always knew that baka was a monster, just like everyone called him".

SLAP!

Sakura stared wide-eyed and held her cheek. No it wasn't Tsunade, and it wasn't Hinata. It was Shino who had actually slapped her. The sensei's were about to intervene when Tsunade hand went up, she wanted to see what would happen.

"Tell me Sakura, Do you fear me? Am I a monster?" Shino asked.

Sakura thought for a moment and said, "No, why would I think that Shino? Yes, you're quiet, but you are not some monster".

"However, you call Naruto a monster and he and I are very much alike. I have something inside of me that gives me strength. Naruto has something inside him that gives him strength. I actually have more respect for him now because unlike me, he didn't get a choice. I have a question for you, what is the difference in a storage scroll and a kunai?" Shino spoke in his monotone voice.

Sakura replied immediately being the book smart person she is, "one is a scroll and the other is a kunai. Just because the kunai is in the scroll does not mean that the scroll is the same."

"And what happens to the kunai if the scroll is destroyed?"

Once again she replies quickly, "The kunai is released".

"Exactly, so based on that logic, what happens to the nine-tailed fox if Naruto is 'destroyed' like the scroll?" Asked Shino.

Everyone in the room realized what Shino was doing just then. All except Shikamaru, I mean seriously, he's a genius.

"It doesn't change the fact that he has that monster inside of him. What if it takes over? Answer that Shino." Sakura challenged.

"Honestly, based on how this village has treated him I'm surprised that it hasn't taken over. We should be impressed and praising the 'HERO' Naurto is for staying strong and being himself." Replied shino.

Sakura got mad, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could these fools praise Naruto and not Sasuke-kun. What about poor Sasuke-kun who was beat up by that monster. She just huffed and left the room without another word.

Tsunade turned to the rest of the group and said, "As I understand it you all witnessed what happened to Naruto. Besides Shikamaru, why didn't you do anything to stop this from happening?" Kiba was the first to step up.

"Hokage-sama, the council all glared at us to get us to shut up. Especially my mother. I'm sorry, but I was nervous and she is the clan head, I cannot oppose her out in the open like that"

The other genin were nodding their heads in understanding of what he was saying. Tsunade just rubbed her temples thinking she was going to need some more sake after the last few days she's had.

Tsunade finally speaks up, "does anyone else have a problem with Naruto?"

Everyone shook their heads and by the look in their eyes Tsunade could see they wanted their friend back.

"Ok, I'm sending a team to search for Naruto. I need to know if he is ok, and I want to let him know I'm working on a plan to get him back, but until then I want him to lay low. Jiraiya has a place for him to hide, but we need to find him first. Jiraiya's spy network has been looking for him and can't find him. Through a process of elimination we think he went to wave country. Kakashi, I want you, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Hana Inuzuka to head to Wave. Since you know the way and have contacts there and want to you find out if he's been there. Also, Kiba, before you protest I want Hana to go because she has three nin-kin and the additional tracking will be helpful. You leave as soon as you can."

"Alright team, get you supplies and meet at the front gate in thirty minutes, I will go get Hana" said Kakashi.

Everyone left the room except for Hinata; Tsunade and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow to this. She steeled herself and spoke without stuttering for once in her life.

"Hokage-sama, I will do everything I can to bring him home." She turned to leave but Tsunade spoke up.

"Stop, tell me Hinata; how do you feel about him?"

She started to poke her fingers again out of nervous habit Tsunade spoke up again, "Hinata, look up at me and stop fidgeting. How do you feel about it?" (She knew the answer, but Hinata needed to steel herself and admit it)

And just like that, Hinata gathered her strength again and looked Tsunade in the eye. "I am in love with him. The secret we learned today only strengthens that love. To endure all he has here in this village and still be as strong as he is, that is a testament to his character."

"Hinata, I will get him back and he is going to need help. There is more about him we cannot share at this time, but if you want to be with him you are going to have to get strong." Tsunade saw the disappointment in her eyes assuming she meant as a ninja and Tsunade cut that out right there. "I am not talking about ninja strength Hinata…yes, I can see it in your eyes. I'm talking about emotional strength. There will come a day you will have to stand up against your clan and this village if you want to be with him so you better start strengthening your resolve to be with him because if you cannot stand beside him against your clan you will fail in obtaining him."

Hinata took a minute to understand what she was talking about and realized where her true weakness was. She stood up straight, stared the Hokage in the eyes and bowed. "It shall be done."

Xxxxxxxxxx

At the gates

"Alright team, we are going to be hauling ass to get there by tomorrow night or early next day. It will be hard and we will be tired, but every day that passes the likely-hood of finding him or confirming he was even there in the first place goes down. Let's go." Commanded Kakashi.

After a little time the team came across what looked like a small battle field. "Kakashi, I smell Naruto and 4 others in this area. I'm not sure what to say, but the other four have smells on them that are found in Konoha." Hana said.

"Are you saying someone from Konoha came after Naruto shortly after leaving," replied Kakashi.

"I'm not sure, but that is what it smells like." Hana replied.

"Could you track the scents if we were back in Konoha," Kakashi asked.

"No, they are common smells like eating at a restaurant or walking in the park, but they are all scents I have noticed around Konoha. They smell too specific to be random if you ask me." She said.

Kakashi went through some hand signs and called "Summoning", and in the poof a smoke a dog appeared. Kakashi wrote down the information in the scroll and turned to the dog. "Pakun, take this to Tsunade or Jiraiya and no one else. Give them this location and see if they need you to bring them back here."

"Right, I'll get it done." And the little dog took off.

Kakashi turned to his team, "alright, let's go."

After traveling for a few more hours Hinata was the first to speak up. "Kakashi-sensei, what can you tell us about wave and why you think Naruto-kun went this way."

"We had an escort mission this way. It was a C-Class turned A-Class mission. Details are classified so don't ask. However, our client is a bridge builder who needed protection. That is who we are going to start with. We are assuming since no village is this way and Naruto seems to make friends anywhere we are hoping he went there to seek shelter."

The rest of the trip was uneventful. The Nin-kin of Hana did pick up a slight sent of the four unidentified scents from earlier and a very faint scent of Naruto. In the early morning of their second day of traveling the team came to the bridge.