Tsunade sat in her office, drinking some green tea rather than sake and looked over the request from Suna. She still had a bad feeling about this mission, and it only got worse when her cup cracked for no reason.

'Sigh, that takes care of my indecision.' She said wearily, but secretly revealed she had a small sign to make up her mind regarding a nagging decision. "Shizune, please get in here." She called out.

The brunette came into the office. "Yes, m'lady?"

"I can't get rid of this sense of dread so I'm going to send a reinforcement team to support Naruto's team right away. Who's available."

Shizune opened her little booklet that always kept track of who was available for immediate duty and who wasn't at any time. Quite a handy tool for any supporter of any kage. "Umm... I think we've got one team that's most appropriate."

"Can they get there in time?" Tsunade asked.

"If anyone can, these guys can."

"Then bring them in." The godaime ordered.

Two days after Hinata caught up to them, the group from Konoha had finally reached Suna. Naruto and Hinata were pleasantly smiling, Hinata more so than Naruto while she clinged tightly to his arm, while the others looked less pleased. Temari didn't mind it at all, finding no reason to be upset with them, but Sakura would not speak to either of them on the trip over here. Not that the couple hated that. Kakashi just hoped this new member wouldn't impede their mission.

'I'm still not convinced her presence will prove helpful here.' Kakashi told himself. 'There's a chance it will, I'll admit that, but if Hokage-sama thought sending a Hyuuga with us was a good idea why didn't she do so before we left, rather than after? Either way, it's not like I can make her leave. Inoichi-san isn't anywhere near here in case I get her mad again.'

"Hello everyone, and on behalf of the Village of Suna, I would like to thank you for coming here on such short notice." A Suna jounin greeted them all as they stood before the eastern entrance.

Kakashi nodded as they were all led into the village. "What can you tell us of the situation?"

"Two days ago at night we were suddenly struck by an airborne ninja armed with explosives. Kazekage-sama defended the village but the amount of bombs and their mobility got to him and rendered him momentarily vulnerable. The rest of our forces couldn't make a scratch on the threat and we unfortunately lost Kazekage-sama to him. He left the village carrying Gaara-sama's body away into the desert."

Naruto growled in anger. "Why didn't any of you go after him?"

"Naruto please, calm down." Kakashi told him to little avail.

The Suna jounin continued. "We weren't able to make immediate pursuit because one of our own who was responsible for guarding the border of our village had incapacitated a large number of our own shinobi, which is the reason this threat was able to get in and out of our village in the first place. Gaara-sama's brother Kankuro-sama did follow them but couldn't stop them. He's in the hospital now suffering badly but if we can speed up his recovery we can learn at least where the kidnappers are going."

"I can help out." Sakura offered.

"I'm not sure what you can do that our own medics can't but you're welcome to try." Their guide said before leading them towards the hospital.

Another Suna nin showed up along their way and addressed Temari. "Temari-sama, Baki-san would like to see you now."

She nodded. "I gotta go. Please help my brothers, both of them." She told them hopefully, giving her emphasis towards Naruto and Sakura, before departing.

They continued on, and Kakashi turned towards Hinata, who was holding onto Naruto's right arm the whole time. "So Hinata, how will you be able to contribute here?" He of course had already asked her this the first night she showed up, but her answer was vague, along the lines of needing to see what happens to be certain.

Hinata didn't look at the cycloptic jounin, but she spoke respectfully. "For starters, if we can't pinpoint the exact destination the target went, only the general location as I suspect we will, my byakugan will aide us in finding them quicker."

"I can see the value in that." Kakashi commented. "Anything else?"

"I can use an insanity-inducing genjutsu on them if the circumstances allow me." She added, a hint of mirth in her voice and a smirk on her lips, remembering she did the same thing to Kakashi days ago and thus he was bending over backwards to keep her from doing it again.

Kakashi paled and drop sweated. "Yeah, that's true. I guess accepting you along was a good idea after all."

"But I may need a moment alone with Naruto-kun before I do anything. With his help my strength would be at it's highest before going out on a mission. Don't ask how, that's a clan secret I'm not privileged to give out." Hinata added.

"Good cover." Lilith stated.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow, which was hard to see with his hitai-ate in the way. "How exactly can Naruto help you with a clan secret if he's not part of the Hyuuga clan?"

"It requires the assistance of someone with large chakra reserves and no one can top Naruto-kun in that department." The Hyuuga heiress answered, this time actually looking at the jounin.

Kakashi slowly nodded. "I see. And you're right; Naruto's unbeatable when it comes to that factor. And he can put it to good use too at times."

Sakura heard this and repressed a jealous growl. 'I'm just as good as she is! We're both chuunin dammit! And Naruto's still just a genin! Why is no one making a big deal out of my talents?'

They got to the hospital and went inside. A medic nin approached them and their guide answered. "We're here to see Kankuro-sama and treat him if possible."

The medic nodded. "Right this way."

"What is he suffering from?" Sakura asked.

The medic nin double-checked the charts before answering. "Poisoning, either from a high dose of a slow-acting brand or possibly a nonlethal but agonizing one, we're having a difficult time analyzing and isolating it but we have a wide variety of natural herbs to prepare an antidote for once we do."

"So you haven't administered one yet?" Sakura asked.

"No, of course not."

"Good."

"Umm... why is that good?" Naruto asked.

Sakura wanted to call him stupid, but Hinata spoke up before she could. "It's simple Naruto-kun. The one thing you never want to do with poisons is give someone the incorrect anti-venom for it. If you do, that will just make the poison act quicker. An antidote for a snake bite wouldn't work if you used it on someone suffering from a poisonous plant toxin. It would just make it worse. And also, one antidote for a specific snake bite wouldn't work on a snake bite from a different species either."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I see. So I take it there's no cure-all antidote then?" Hinata shook her head. "Bummer."

Sakura saw that despite Naruto's disappointment in the answer he received, there was still a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. It took her a minute to figure out why, but it hit her quickly. Hinata had calmly answered his question without making him feel bad about it. She didn't hit him, she didn't make him sound like an idiot for not already knowing the answer, and she didn't explain the solution like she was talking to someone half her age. Which was all exactly what Sakura was more than likely to do.

They reached Kankuro's room and went inside. Naruto at first didn't recognize the boy, as he wasn't wearing his standard black outfit, but the war paint on his face revealed it was surely him. Someone else in the room looked at their group and showed an expression of surprise and open hostility. 'Does she know I've got a demon in me too, like Gaara?'

"Die White Fang!" The old woman shouted out as she charged as Kakashi, making Naruto slightly relieved her hostility wasn't aimed at him.

Kakashi, too surprised by the assault to do anything else, sidestepped to avoid getting hit. It was unnecessary, as Naruto made a clone and the two of them stopped the old woman's fist. She looked no less angered, but she backed away rather than follow with a second strike.

"What's wrong with you you old hag?" Naruto demanded.

"The White Fang, the one who killed my son. I will get my revenge." The 'old hag' said, but not to answer the whiskered youth.

"Uh... I think you're confused. The White Fang was my father and he died years ago."

"Why'd you attack our sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Chiyo-sama please control yourself. We don't need more patients to treat." A female medic nin addressed the elderly woman.

Chiyo sighed in frustration and stepped away from the Konoha nin. "What brings Konoha nin here? Surely we can handle the situation."

"We were requested to come here and aide in the rescue of your Kazekage. To do so, we need to know what this young man knows so allow us to help heal him." Kakashi told the elder, who ignored him but showed no signs that she would interfere.

Sakura went up to Kankuro and looked him over. "Have you been able to identify the toxin yet?"

A man wearing a grey lab coat responded. "We think it may be a metallic poison rather than an organic one, based on chakra scans of his body."

"Metallic? Could it be a neurotoxin?" Sakura asked.

"We've considered the possibility and it seems likely since we can't appear to isolate it. It's spread faintly throughout his body with the highest concentration in the torso right around the major organs and smaller amounts in the extremities. Unfortunately, we lack the skills or tools necessary to remove it without endangering his life further."

Sakura repositioned her hair and hitai-ate to keep it out of the way. "I'll take a look. My mentor taught me about these situations. First, I'll need a leaf, preferably a normal non-medicinal one." The medics looked confused but did as she asked, wondering what she was thinking. Sakura's hands then glowed green and she held them over Kankuro's chest, her right hand right above a cut that she assumed was the entry point of the toxin.

Hinata leaned towards Naruto and whispered. "Naruto-kun, what do you say we go give me a little 'boost' for later? I'm going to need all the strength I can get."

Naruto blushed and tried to avoid having an obvious erection. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to go help Hinata-chan get ready."

Kakashi gave his student a suspicious look, but Temari gave the blonde a knowing one. "I'll show you two a room where you can do that in private. Follow me."

"What exactly is it you two need to do and how long will it take?" Kakashi asked again, hoping to gain more information on the subject.

Hinata gave him a casual look. "It's a collaboration preparation to help us share chakra benefits and I'm forbidden to tell you more or show you how it works Hatake-san. Naruto-kun is the only one allowed to know because he's the only one who can properly help me in this. Now if you'll excuse us, hopefully we can be done by the time you're ready to head out in pursuit."

Kakashi didn't look like he wanted to end the discussion. "Be that as it may, as the acting jounin I'm going to insist you tell me all the details so I can be sure this is something that won't affect my student or delay us."

Hinata shook her head. "Sorry, but rank means nothing regarding the secrecy behind clan techniques. I can't tell you more for the same reason you can't tell me about the workings of your Sharingan. If you have a complaint, take it up with the Hokage. Until then, my answer is 'tough luck'." And with that, Hinata and Naruto left the room and went down the hall, and Temari had to go after them.

Kakashi remained standing where he had been and looked unhappy but resigned. 'Damn. Guess I have to wait until we get back to Konoha to find out more. I'm not trying to copy it, despite what she may suspect, but I need to ensure she's not doing something dangerous if the Kyuubi's chakra gets involved.'

Naruto and Hinata left the others and entered a small empty room, filled with only a few boxes. Once the door was locked the two of them embraced each other, deeply kissing each other, their tongues wrestling in each others mouths.

"Hinata-chan… there is nothing I would want more than to do it with you right now, but at the moment we have to focus on saving Gaara."

The Hyuuga heiress looked at Naruto, staring into his clear blue eyes with her lavendar-tinted white eyes. "You really care for Gaara, don't you?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes, he is one of the few people who are just like me, who have gone through hell itself to gain acceptance."

Hinata nodded in understanding. "If he is your friend Naruto-kun, then I will help you rescue him, but I need a bit more energy. Can I just give you a quickie?" She asked.

"Now that I can accept." The blonde Uzumaki grinned as he pulled down his pants, and Hinata immediately knelt down and got to work.

With her right hand she gently rubbed the shaft while her left softly gripped Naruto's balls, gently squeezing them as she continued to rub. Naruto sat down on a box and gave a small grunt of pain as she squeezed, but he could also feel himself grow hard, and with Hinata's encouragement he soon had a rock hard erection.

"Ah it seems to get bigger every time I see it. You know… we could make it even bigger. I know a-"

"Naruto-kun is perfect the way he is. I would not change a thing about him." Hinata interrupted.

"Thanks Hinata-chan." He said.

"You're welcome Naruto-kun, but I was actually talking to my demon. She said she could... improve this part a bit."

"She could, eh?" Naruto asked. "Well don't dismiss the possibility just yet then."

Hinata stopped her minstrations. "Trust me Naruto-kun, you don't need it. Why would you think you did?"

"He's a GUY Hinata. All guys feel insecure about their sizes, especially when they're with a girl. Just like how all girls feel insecure about their beauty when they're with a boy." Lilith explained.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well Hinata-chan, would you hate it if it was 'improved'?"

"No more than you'd hate it if my body was 'improved' Naruto-kun." Hinata answered, holding up her breasts as she did so. Then she looked back at his weakening erection. "Although if you were 'improved', it might end up being too big for my tastes."

She licked the tip first, having her tongue play around, and then she moved down the shaft, wetting it with her saliva. After it was coated enough for her, she opened her mouth and took him into her mouth.

"Oh Kami, Hinata, your mouth is so soft." Naruto moaned as pressed his hand on Hinata's head making her take even more of cock.

The Hyuuga thought she would have had difficult time breathing with such a large piece of meat in her mouth, however it was very easy, her throat felt so relaxed.

"Well duh, trust me, you could have three dicks shoved into your mouth and you would still be able to breathe normally."

Hinata then began to move her head back and forth, wrapping her tongue around the shaft every time, keeping it nice and wet so it would slide more easily.

While Naruto he groaned as he felt himself tense up, the pressure building. "Ahhh Hinata-chan, I'm going to cum."

Hinata then gently bit down and suddenly Naruto lost it. He shot his load right down Hinata's throat, and she swallowed every drop of it, loving the taste of his cum and feeling new energy course through her body.

Naruto pulled out of her mouth, and stared down at his girlfriend who smiled up at him. "Thanks for the recharge Naruto-kun. Do you think we have enough time for you to... shall we say, return the favor?" She stood up and slightly pulled down the rim of her pants.

Naruto couldn't stop himself from licking his lips. "Think we have enough time?"

"No one has tried to stop us yet."

"Good enough for me." The blonde stated as he reached out and started pulling her pants down.

Hinata reached down and helped him, wiggling her hips to make it easier and to draw his eyes there. It worked like a charm. Naruto actually briefly stopped stripping her to gaze at her dampening panties, requiring her to kick her pants off herself. Not that she hated this.

Hinata placed her hands on his cheeks, unable to resist lightly stroking his whisker marks. "Naruto-kun, why don't you take the last part off... with your teeth?"

"Won't that ear it?" Naruto asked, not moving his eyes.

"I said 'take off', not eat. These panties aren't the edible kind."

Now Naruto looked Hinata in the eyes, looking confused and revolted. "There's an edible kind? What would that taste like?"

Hinata smiled lustfully. "Why don't we find out when we get home? Maybe we'll even find a ramen-flavored one."

Lilith laughed. "I swear girl, you do find one that flavor, and this big boy here is going to be more sexed up than an incubus that just got out of prison."

Hinata blushed. 'That seals the deal then.' She focused to clear her mind and return to the present. "Well, what are you waiting for Naruto-kun?"

The blonde looked back at his girlfriend's covered genitalia and, as she requested, took ahold of her underwear with his teeth and started to pull it down. It was about as easy as he suspected it would, but he couldn't fault that this way he got a very close look at the very enticing area. He kept himself under control long enough to pull her underwear to her ankles, where she kicked them off without kicking Naruto in the face.

Seeing he was already down on his knees, Hinata knelt down then laid on her back. She spread her legs and beckoned him forward with her left index finger. "It may not be ramen Naruto-kun, but I hope it's just as pleasing."

Naruto came up and kissed her lower lips. "It's better Hinata-chan. You do more for me than ramen ever could. Ramen can't go out with me or talk with me. Ramen can only dull my appetite, not my loneliness. Plus, nobody charges me to enjoy you." He stopped talking to lick her, painfully slow.

Hinata gasped and tried to press her waist into his face as he continued his oral massage. "Most women might... ohh yeah that's good... might be offended by that... that tickled... by that last part. But I knooooohh... what you meant so I won't be upset."

Naruto looked up at her flushed face. "If you can still talk besides saying my name, I must be doing something wrong."

"Did I say you could stop?" She replied.

Naruto went back to work licking her and she went back to basking in pleasure. She basked even more when Naruto started to lick the inside rather than the outside. He even playfully batted her clit with the tip of his tongue as if pressing a button or flipping a switch, both motions being interchangeable to him. And if that wasn't enough, he had both index fingers trail up and down the outer regions of her pussy at the same time.

Hinata hit her orgasm so hard she practically needed an airbag to cushion the impact.

Within an hour, Sakura had gotten the poison out of Kankuro and he was declared safe. He still needed a bit of rest before he could relax enough to answer any questions.

Kakashi went in search of Naruto and Hinata, and in time found a room with two of Naruto's clones seated in front playing a card game. 'Are they there to keep anyone and everyone out, or just me?' Kakashi wondered briefly. "Are they done yet, with whatever they're doing?"

The clones shrugged. "Can't say for sure. But we'll let them know." The clones dispelled, and luckily Jiraiya had already pointed out to Naruto that would gain their memories when they disappeared. Kakashi had always remained uncertain if Naruto had been observant enough to know that.

About a minute later, the door opened and Naruto and Hinata could be seen. Naruto looked pleased and a little sweaty while Hinata practically glowed despite the fact her hair was stuck to her forehead and needed to be brushed in some spots. Kakashi could literally smell their hormones and their scents on each other and he wasn't even an Inuzuka. This could only mean one thing.

"This is what you two had to do?" He asked, more surprised than accusingly. "That was your secret clan technique for maximizing your strength before a mission?" 'Does that apply to other Hyuuga women too?'

"No, it wasn't." Hinata replied.

"Then why-?"

"That's between us Kakashi-sensei. Now, I'm assuming we can head out and look for Gaara?" Naruto interjected.

Kakashi was momentarily silent. "Yes Naruto, we are. Kankuro's recovered and we know which direction to go. Are you two in any condition to do anything so soon?"

Naruto smirked his trademark grin. "You know me, endless stamina."

"Which I'm very grateful for." Hinata quietly commented on, but both men heard her. "As for me, I'm more than ready."

"Despite the limp." Lilith proudly stated. Hinata ignored it, but knew the succubus wasn't wrong.

Kakashi led the couple to the room where Kankuro was, sneaking peeks back to see if Hinata was walking as he expected. Naruto however picked her up and carried her bridal style. "Save your strength for later Hinata-chan." He told her, earning him a kiss.

'I can't prove they've been intimate, but I'm not blind and positive they just were. While not officially a crime, doing it on a mission is unorthodox and could compromise it. I need to bring this up with Hokage-sama when I get the chance.' Kakashi told himself.

They reached Kankuro's room and saw the puppeteer sitting up with several bandages covering his chest and part of his face. Sakura and Temari were already there along with Chiyo, her brother, and a few other Suna nin. "I trailed the kidnappers in a northeast direction. They didn't bother covering their tracks, almost like they wanted to be pursued, but they did create a few false trails. They also weren't moving that fast for some reason."

"Can you identify them in any way?" One of the medics asked.

"There were two of them, both wearing black robes with red clouds." Kankuro answered.

'Akatsuki.' Naruto and Kakashi told themselves, Naruto much more bitter than Kakashi in his thoughts.

Kankuro then continued his explanation. "I couldn't tell for sure who one of them was, other than he rode some sort of big bird. But the other one, the one that fought me, claimed to be Sasori of the Red Sand. He displayed puppet-using skills and was referred to as Sasori by himself and his partner. I wonder if he wanted us to know he was back and that's why they acted as they did in their escape from Suna."

Chiyo closed her eyes. 'My grandson always did love to be noticed.'

"Who is this Sasori?" Naruto asked after letting Hinata down so she could stand beside him. Sakura had given him a dirty look earlier and even though he didn't care what she thought of his relationship with Hinata, he didn't want to encourage her to act out against it.

Temari looked towards her fellow blonde. "Sasori of the Red Sand was considered a prodigy from our village, one of the best puppet users we've ever had. For reasons still unknown, he left years ago and has been an S-ranked missing nin since then. Rumor has it he was able to kill off an entire village in one night by himself."

'Sounds like just the kind of guy Akatsuki would want in their ranks.' Naruto told himself.

"Why would he go after Kazekage-sama?" A Suna nin asked.

"If he was wearing that cloak like Kankuro-san said, then he's part of a group interested in people like Gaara and me." Naruto answered.

"Then wouldn't sending you here just make the situation worse?" Chiyo's brother Ebizo asked.

Naruto looked his most determined right then. "Gaara's my friend. There's no way I'm standing back and letting these jerks get away with this."

"Naruto, remember to keep calm." Kakashi told his student. "We don't need you going off the deep end because you may take this too personally."

Hinata put her arm around the whiskered young man. "I can keep him in line Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura didn't look convinced. "Then who'd keep you in line?" She asked, then added one more comment under her breath. "Tramp."

Hinata managed to catch it and frowned back. "Care to say that last part a little louder, Haruno-san?"

"Now girls, the real enemy's out there in the desert so save the fighting for them." Kakashi told them both, settling them down for now. "Now Kankuro-san, did you get any more information from this duo?"

"Only that they were headed northeast and mentioned somewhere private to extract the Ichibi from Gaara. If they do that, he'll die. And they've already had at least a day to get started."

"The nearest place northeast that could be private enough for something that big would be the border between Land of Wind and Land of Rivers." Temari thought out loud.

"My puppet managed to gain a piece of Sasori's robe, which I still have." Kankuro added as he pulled the piece of cloth out of his pocket. "Maybe you can track his scent with this at least. He was the only one one the ground so his scent and trail shouldn't be impossible to detect."

"Nice work." Kakashi complimented. "My nin-dogs with make great use of that."

One of the Suna council members stepped towards Kakashi. "Kakashi-san, can you and your team make it there as soon as you can? We still need to look for any remaining hidden agents and settle down our village's inhabitants before we can spare a large enough search party."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. We can hopefully catch up to and find these ninja in question and hopefully delay them enough for a party from your village to securely form and come after us too. But we'll need someone to go with us to guide us thru the desert and spot anything out of the ordinary that may be a trap."

"I'll go." Chiyo announced. "If Sasori is there I need to settle something."

"Now sister..." Ebizo started, but silenced himself when the old woman gave him a stern look.

"I've still got some spirit left in me if things go sour. And I'd rather not go to my grave with this issue unresolved dear brother."

"Can you keep up?" Naruto asked, in no way intending to sound offensive or dismissive. "Wouldn't Temari be a better choice?"

"I'm old, not dead boy."

"We need Temari here to stabilize our border defenses again." Baki pointed out. "We can't risk some kind of second wave movement to prevent us from sending more reinforcements other than yourselves." The semi-cloaked Suna jounin then looked towards Chiyo. "Although to be fair maybe this is too much for you elder."

"Don't treat me like an old woman with one foot in the grave." The grey-haired woman stated. "I need to see my granchild one more time, and give him something I should have a long time ago."

"Save the banter for later. Let's go save the kazekage." Kakashi told everyone, who nodded.

"Naruto..." Kankuro said, his throat sounding dry now. "Please... save my brother."

Naruto smiled and gave the puppet-user a nod. "Leave it to me. I'm going to be hokage someday, so I'm more than willing to help my ally the kazekage."

"Let's head out." Kakashi told them after taking Kankuro's clue to Akatsuki, and they all followed him out the room and out the building.

Before they left Suna, Chiyo made a quick stop to her house, and unlocked a small box. Inside were two scrolls she gingerly picked up, as if they were fragile. 'This must be fate. Sasori, I hate that it came to this, but there is nothing better for me to use here.'

"Are you planning to use those?" Ebizo asked, knowing full well what those scrolls contained.

His sister sighed with regret. "Yes, because it may be the only advantage I'll have." She pocketed them silently. "Oh well, it's not like I intended to live forever anyway." She then turned around. "Wish me luck dear brother." Without waiting for an answer, she left the residence.

"Good luck, sister." Ebizo said quietly to himself, not sure what to expect but not liking the odds.