Knock knock.

"I'm coming." A woman said to whoever was at her door. She opened the door and saw two young people before her, and while one of them was a complete stranger to her, the other one was as familiar to her as any of her own family. "Naruto! Good to see you again." She said before hugging him.

"Good to see you too Tsunami-san." He told her, not hugging her back because Hinata was right there and he didn't want to test how jealous this formerly quiet type could be.

"What brings you here? This is pretty far from home just for a visit." She asked him, then saw his companion. "And what's this? Did you actually manage to find yourself a girlfriend?"

"Yes." They both said in unison. Hinata then bowed politely. "I am Hyuuga Hinata, Naruto-kun's one and only."

"Nice to see you, I always wondered when Naruto would get a girlfriend."

"So even you thought I had no chance with Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"As you both were when you were here, no." Tsunami said. "But let's not talk about possible girlfriends in front of your actual one. Very impolite. Come on in, and tell me how you became a couple."

"It's quite a story." Hinata mused as she and Naruto went inside.

Naruto leaned close to Hinata. "She does have a kid you know, so you might not want to tell the entire story."

"Oh, like I'm going to talk about that in front of a kid? No way, if anything I'll save it for when I'm alone with her and we can trade stories." She said with a smile.

Naruto tensed. "You're joking right?"

Hinata just kept smiling.

In another part of the Elemental Nations, someone else was smiling but in a much less friendly way.

Sasuke was seated in a bed, able to sit up but unable to properly maintain his balance while standing, and next to him was Orochimaru, grinning. "Well, it looks like Kabuto-kun was true to his word. Your infection is all cleared up and on time."

Sasuke silently scoffed. "You overreact. An Uchiha would never be weakened by something as petty as an infection."

"Uchiha or not, you still have a human body. One that's got all the same faults as any other." Orochimaru claimed.

"Whatever." The Uchiha replied. "Before I go to Itachi, I'm going to kill the dobe, his Hyuuga bitch, and Sakura too."

"And pray tell what for?" Orochimaru asked. "They didn't kill your clan or anyone you give concern about, so what's their crime?"

Sasuke frowned at his mentor. "They humiliated me."

"So you're telling me that bruising your ego is now just as bad as killing everyone you once loved?" Orochimaru tested. "Three kids who dared to say you are not perfect are now just as deserving of death as your clan-killing brother is? For that matter, more deserving? Since you just said you intend to go for them first like they're the more important target."

Sasuke clenched his fist. "I don't have to justify myself to you on this. When I say someone will die, they are already dead and just don't know it. How and why I decide who deserves to die is none of your business."

What he didn't want to admit was his only reason for targeting Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata first was because they were easier to find than Itachi was and easier to kill off by comparison, at least in his eyes. Sasuke refused to admit this for fear it made him look cowardly.

"You misunderstand me Sasuke-kun, I am not refuting your desire. I am pleased by it." Orochimaru said. "By taking such an attitude, you're showing something that cannot be taught, only learned on your own. That is the quality of being merciless rather than deciding what to do based on whims. If you want to defeat your brother, you will have to be cutthroat, quick, and have no desire to drag the fight out."

"I will kill Itachi my way Orochimaru, not your way."

"Then why come to me at all if you aren't going to listen to me?"

"All I want is the power to kill those I want to kill. How I choose to use it is someone no one, even you, has the right to tell me what to do regarding."

"And look where that got you. You did things your way rather than listen to the voice of experience, and you ended up at deaths door." The snake sannin critiqued.

"If criticism is all you have left to give, then clearly we are thru here." Sasuke stated adamantly.

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes, we are Sasuke-kun."

All of a sudden, Orochimaru opened his mouth wide and something came out, something too fast for Sasuke to properly react to in his bed.

The next thing Sasuke saw was pitch black darkness.

In his penthouse villa suite that he had rented from the Konoha Grand Hotel, Aru lay on a couch, on the table next to him was a large device which had the similar design of a hookah pipe. Holding the long flexible tube, Aru drew in a deep breath from the nozzle and then expelled a great amount of coal-black smoke from his mouth.

The Incubus King was deep in thought, going over information he had gained from the unwitting Kiba. 'The Kyuubi, so that's why that blonde annoyance's chakra felt so familiar. He's the human container for that damnable fox.'

Aru blew out another cloud of smoke, which instead of rising sank to the floor and gathered on the ground like some kind of sinister mist. He had nothing but contempt for that accursed fox; not only was the Kyuubi much stronger then himself, but that filthy animal had also been… a favorite of Liliths in the past.

Kiba of course had no idea that Naruto was the jailer for the Kyuubi, which did not surprise Aru, who pondered if that boy was in truth just some kind of dog who had learned to stand on his hind legs. No, all Kiba had to do was mention that the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha in the past and it was all Aru needed to put two and two together.

"That would explain how the boy has the stamina to keep up with Lilith, any normal human would have no doubt died from so much….stimulation." He said aloud as he sucked in more of the foul smoke.

The question now was what should he do; the end goal was still the same…retrieve Lilith from within that human….Hinata; but now the situation had become slightly more complex and needed to be handled a different way.

First he needed to find out where the boy and the girl were. He knew that they were no longer in the village. He could no longer feel Lilith's energies. And he did not really relish the idea of chasing them down. No, that would take up too much time or energy. Also he did not seek to fight the Kyuubi brat.

No, the boy was unimportant, the girl was the target.

The second problem was keeping her passive; his powers unfortunately did not work on her since Lilith was in her body. So he needed another way to keep her under control long enough for him to extract Lilith.

What to do…what to do?

Aru sat there for a long time thinking over a plan his twisted dark mind. Going over every scrap of information he had in great detail. He did not move the entire time, as if he was in some kind of trance.

Finally after several minutes a fiendish smile formed on his face as he blew out a ring of smoke.

He had an idea.

Kabuto got up from his chair in a lab, one filled with lots of jars, beakers, bunsen burners, and dissection equipment. It almost looked like a stereotypical mad scientist laboratory, and the jars containing snakes preserved in formaldehyde did not help prove that wrong, but everything here had a purpose.

"I think that's enough time. Better go see who won." He told himself as he left the room, and went down the hallway to where Sasuke had been. "Sasuke may overestimate his own strength, but he won't just let Orochimaru-sama succeed in the transmigration ritual without a fight. At the same time, Orochimaru-sama knows exactly what he's doing, but he may underestimate Sasuke and assume his weakened physical condition is a reflection of his mental condition. And while no one has ever been able to withstand Orochimaru's ritual before, I do worry that repeated use will degrade his ability to overtake the new host each next time."

Bracing himself, the medic nin opened the door. Aware that Orochimaru was going to take down Sasuke while he was weak rather than wait until his current body began rejecting him, he was unsurprised to see a gigantic monstrous white snake skin laying on the floor, the remnants of what many experiments had turned Orochimaru's true body into.

'The ritual is complete, but is he in control?' Kabuto noted, and looked to the body on the bed. It was an unharmed Sasuke, hand covering his eyes as if the light in the room hurt them.

After a bit, Sasuke lowered his hand with the eyes still closed, and then they opened with the sharingan showing. Then he grinned, and slowly stepped out of bed, stretching his legs as he did so.

Kabuto could not take the silence. "Which one is in control?"

Sasuke then looked to Kabuto. "Which one do you think?"

"Relax Chouji-kun, my dad's not going to show up trying to mutilate you." Ino told her boyfriend.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one he was chasing. I swear I lost twenty pounds that day and not just from the exercise." Chouji replied.

The two were currently seated at one of Ino's favorite tea shops enjoying some time together. Shikamaru was off with Asuma playing shogi and likely winning.

"It's nothing you can't regain, because would you rather lose a couple of pounds 'down there' that you can't get back?" Ino teased.

"Hell no. Remind me that if I ever have a daughter not to act that way to her boyfriend."

"Even if you catch her doing exactly what my dad caught us doing?" Ino asked.

"He didn't catch us doing anything. He caught you leaving your bra downstairs." Chouji reminded her.

Ino blushed and sipped her tea. "You're right, that was my fault. I guess I better make it up to you. Should we try your room this time?"

At that moment a bald man dressed as a monk passed them, but they ignored it entirely. Had they been paying attention, they would have noticed he wore the same sash their sensei Asuma wore.

"Don't take too long now." Hinata said while hugging Naruto.

"That depends on the fish more than us." He said, hugging her back.

"C'mon Niisan, you promised." Inari pleaded.

"I'm coming Inari." Naruto told the boy.

"You're not 'coming' without me anytime soon Naruto-kun." Hinata sensually whispered into the blonde's ear.

Naruto blushed a bit and smirked. "I know..."

The two finally separated, and Naruto walked off with Inari and Tazuna, the men going fishing to catch dinner as well as have some simple male bonding. Hinata and Tazuna stayed to have some female bonding of their own.

"I take it you're more than just the normal type of girlfriend." Tsunami said as she got comfortable on the porch of the house, looking out at the scenery.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, sitting down beside her.

"What happens between you two is none of my business, but half the time I've seen you two today you've been touching him or staying close enough to do so."

Hinata was a bit surprised at this. "Is it really THAT obvious?"

"Were you trying to hide anything?" Tsunami asked back.

Hinata shook her head. "No, I wasn't. I'm proud to be Naruto-kun's girlfriend and I see no reason to hide that. And if that means I happen to like how warm he is, then so what? I'm not being indecent."

"Didn't say you were, and as a mother with a child in the house I must thank you for that."

"You're welcome. And can I ask you a question?" Hinata asked.

"Of course dear." Tsunami told the younger girl.

"How did you see Sakura-san treat Naruto-kun while they were here?"

The older woman did not immediately answer, looking like she wasn't sure how to. "I take it you're not too fond of the girl, are you?"

"I don't hate her, but she's far from my favorite person. She caused a few problems for Naruto-kun and me when we were starting out, and she said a lot of uncalled for things. After a bit I think she got the hint that she was being rude and tried to apologize, without actually saying she was sorry until I pointed it out, and since then has pretty much left us alone."

"Why would she cause you problems? Was she jealous?" Tsunami asked.

"I think it was from a hurt ego more than anything. Naruto-kun had always given her praise and affection yet it was very one-sided, and then I get his attention and she was trying to get her sort of status quo back."

Tsunami frowned. "She wanted him to spend the rest of his life pursuing her but never obtaining her?" Hinata nodded. "Let me guess, that other boy she did want to be with still hasn't returned her own affections."

"Nope, and he never will. She's just the only one who refused to see."

Tsunami sighed and just shook her head. "I don't know whether I should pity her or smack her in the back of the head for her stupidity. I'm just glad Naruto moved on. I had suspected that Sakura would outgrow her old behavior, to hear only now she is... it's just irritating. I mean, I love Inari to death, but if it ever looked like he was refusing to grow up, I'd probably come down hard on him for his own good. It's a good thing then that Naruto's influence helped him learn to cope with what troubles him."

Hinata smiled. "He is good with children from what I've seen and heard."

Tsunami suddenly got a gleam in her eyes and smiled. "Oh, thinking of children already are we?"

Hinata lost her smile and replaced it with a dark blush. "Umm... well... yes and no. We haven't said anything about it, just sort of silently agreeing not to try for any yet, but I do know that I would like to have some someday."

"You're a bit young to think about it any more than that, but I do understand you ninja live and mature on a timescale different than the rest of us so who am I to judge?" Tsunami replied. "Especially since I got pregnant around your age too."

"You did?" Hinata asked, a bit surprised.

The housekeeper nodded. "Yes, I was 17 when it happened, and I think it was because of an accident involving my birth control."

Hinata wasn't surprised to hear this. She'd heard about how civilian-based birth control wasn't as reliable as shinobi-based birth control.

"I told my boyfriend about it, and told him I wouldn't make him do something he didn't want to do." Tsunami continued.

"You did?" Hinata asked, confused since that was unexpected. As she knew most women would insist the man take responsibility, and those that didn't want it would prefer the man be ignorant of the baby entirely to keep him out of the child's life.

Tsunami nodded. "Yes, it was a gamble but if the only reason we stayed together was because I was making him stay, then a break-up would only be more inevitable and all that harder. Better I give him a way out and get it over it. I told him he could stay and be a father or leave and never see either of us again. He chose the latter."

Hinata frowned at that.

"Enough about that. Tell me, what kind of boyfriend has Naruto been to you?" Tsunami asked, changing the subject.

"He's been everything I've wanted him to be since I dreamed of us dating back when I was a little girl." The Hyuuga girl answered quite happily.

Tsunami raised an eyebrow but her expression was a bit teasing. "Ah, so you've had a crush on him for a long time and now you're living your childhood dream?"

Hinata nodded. "Not all of it, but enough for now."

"What do you mean by "not all of it"?" Tsunami asked.

Hinata looked at her left hand. "I want us to be together, on a more permanent basis."

"Don't fret, if it's meant to be it will happen in due time." Tsunamie reassured.

The Hyuuga heiress closed her eyes. 'But with Lilith involved, it will be harder to get.'

The sun was already down when Kiba received a summons from Ren he made sure that this time he would be on time. He ran at such a pace through the streets of Konoha that even Akamaru had a time keeping up.

For the past few days Kiba had started taking notice to how his behavior had changed slightly. Whenever Ren asked him a question Kiba would give an answer without a second thought. When Ren gave him a command Kiba felt compelled to obey it.

He could not explain it; was it just because Ren was paying him a small fortune to do…well to be honest F-Ranked genin work? In all honesty Kiba had done absolutely no bodyguarding for Ren. Instead all he had done was pick up a few supplies for him, give him some directions to local businesses, and answer a few odd questions. Not that he was complaining but… there just seemed to be something strange about all of this.

Maybe it was because every time he was around Ren, he got this weird chill. The guy always wore shades, even at night. The way he spoke always made Kiba feel uneasy. And Ren's scent, it smelled like… well to be honest it smelled like an odd mix of cologne and graveyard soil.

Not to mention Akamaru always acted strange around Ren, just like all the other dogs, the moment Ren got close Akamaru would back off several feet, both whimpering and growling at the man.

The oddities just seemed to be piling high but whenever Kiba really tried to think about them his mind always just wandered off to different things, like something was preventing him from actually thinking hard on the subject and at the same time keeping him from taking an interest in that very same barrier.

Kiba had considered just calling it quits, but then he thought about all the money that meant giving up, and how would it do for his reputation, turning down a very easy job like this. Heck most ninja would give almost anything to have a job where the pay was surplus and the work and risk was minimal, and Kiba was going to turn it away just because he 'had a bad feeling about it'? No, best to just stick thru it and get it over with.

As Kiba approached the hotel he told Akamaru to sit and wait for him; dogs were not allowed inside and he was sure whatever Ren wanted, it would only take a few minutes.

Akamaru whimpered slightly at Kiba who looked back and petted the giant dog on the head.

"Relax pal, I'll be right back." He said with a small grin as he headed inside, leaving Akamaru outside to watch and continue whimpering.

Kiba took the elevator to the top floor of the penthouse; when the doors slide open it took a moment for his eyes to adjust because the room was very dark.

"Uhh Ren-sama?" Kiba called, taking a step off the elevator.

"Ahh Kiba my boy." A chilly voice said that nearly made the dog-nin jump.

Kiba turned to see the silhouette of his employer sitting in a chair in the shadows with a long table in between them. "Uhh You wanted to see me…sir?"

"Yes, and I must compliment you on your timing, you got here very quickly."

"Well uhh you said you hated tardiness sir, so I wanted to make sure I got here as soon as possible." Kiba said.

"Indeed. My boy, I wanted to thank you. You've been such a great help these past few days. So far you have done your job in a manner most exemplary."

Kiba could not help but stand up a little taller, a feeling of pride filling him. "Well thank you sir, I am glad I do not disappoint."

"And I wanted to give you a little gift, a token of my gratitude." He said as he placed something on the table and slid it across to Kiba. It was a little black case, which stopped just short of the edge.

Kiba stared at the case for a moment as he bent to pick it up. "That was not necessary sir."

"I know but I wanted to." Ren said from the shadows.

Kiba held the case in his hands and then he gently opened it up; he had to squint his eyes to see exactly what it was.

It was a black leather dog collar with shiny metal studs on it. Kiba raised an eyebrow as he picked it up out of the case and held it in between his fingers. Was this supposed to be some kind of joke?

From the shadows, Aru grinned and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly the collar seemed to come alive. It jumped like a striking snake, breaking free of Kiba's grip, wrapping and locking itself around his neck.

"WHAT THE FU-?" Kiba yelled but was cut off because the collar was choking him. He grabbed at it with his fingers to try and pull it off but it was stuck tight.

Aru watched Kiba struggle with the collar and then he suddenly snapped his fingers again.

The black collar glowed slightly, the metal studs glittering in the darkness. Kiba felt a sharp pain course through his body and force him onto his knees.

At that moment Aru spoke. "There we go, a much better position for you mortals. At my feet." He said as he stood up slowly.

All Kiba could do was stare at Aru with wide eyes as he continued to fight both the pain in his body and the collar around his neck.

"As I was saying, you have done an exemplary job my boy, but now it's time for the real work to begin." Aru said as he walked over to Kiba and looked down at his prone form.

Kiba gazed up at Aru through gritted teeth, who the hell was this bastard?

Aru knelt down to face Kiba directly. "I need you to find the girl called Hyuuga Hinata and bring her to me. Using that excellent little nose of yours I imagine it will take little time. And, listen carefully to this part, I want you to kill anyone who gets in your way. Anyone."

Kiba's eyes widened. Hinata? What the hell did this guy want with her? Despite all the pain that he was in Kiba managed to gasp out a solid "Hell no."

Aru chuckled slightly as he reached up slowly towards his shades. "My dear boy, you'll find that when you are in my employ, when I tell you do something, you'll do it. Whether you like it or not." He then removed his shades, revealing his eyes.

Kiba had time to utter a single yell before all went silent.

Surrounded by darkness, a set of purple eyes opened, and narrowed in anger.

"I don't know how you did that Hinata, but mark my words, you're going to wish you had just given me what I wanted. Once I'm strong enough, let's see just how much Naruto really likes you without my help."