Blah blah blah: regular text

"Blah Blah Blah" regular speech

'Blah Blah Blah' regular thought or flashback

"Blah Blah Blah" Kyuubi/demonic or summon talking

'Blah Blah Blah' Kyuubi/demonic or summon thinking

Check the copyright if you think I own Naruto

Who's the Hostage

By: EDelta88

Chp 6: Duck and Cover

'WHAT NO! CHANGE IT BACK! WHAT HAPPENS?! DOES SHE REJECT ME?'

"These are YOUR memories fool."

'So?'

"So, since they are YOUR memories of what happened in YOUR past that means YOU already know what happened."

'What if I don't remember?'

"You can't be serious."

'Well THIS isn't MY memory, I mean I was long gone so how are we seeing Baa-chan and the others?'

"How should I know how your twisted little mind works? For all I know, or care, you could be clairvoyant or have some strange form of E.S.P."

'You really think so?'

"No."

'Well that wasn't very nice.'

"If the omnicidle tendencies didn't tip you off the fact that I want to eat you should tell you something about my character."

'That's only two things about a multi-millennia being that has seen and done more than I can possibly imagine, how does that tell me anything?'

"…"

'You're giving me that look again.'

"Are you sure you're Naruto?"

Konohagakure no Sato

Tsunade was not having a good day. Why, you may ask. The sun was shining, not too bright not too hot. There was a nice breeze. She had finished all her paperwork. She had sake. Jiraiya wasn't bothering her. All in all you'd think everything was picture perfect, but Tsunade was worried. She wasn't sure when it had started but over the past several days she had become increasingly uneasy, a growing dread in the back of her mind. Then that morning her teacup had cracked, a bad omen.

Knock Knock

"What is it?" she asked as Shizune poked her head in.

"Hiashi-sama wishes to speak with you," replied her assistant.

Oh there was no way this could be good, "Show him in," for a moment Shizune ducked out of the office only to reappear a moment later followed by a very stern looking man carrying that mornings' paper which she left on the desk before exiting the office. "So to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I believe my daughter may be missing," he said in a very controlled matter-of-fact tone.

"May I ask what led you to such a conclusion?"

"No one has seen or heard from her for four days, at first I believed she was still caring for the Uzumaki boy but if that were the case she would have at least checked in with someone."

"I'll take care of it."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," but he didn't get up to leave.

"Was there something else?"

"I would appreciate it if you could update me on the situation whenever possible," though still calm his voice betrayed his intentions, no matter how bad his parenting skills were, Hiashi did care.

That made Tsunade smile, "Of course," and with that the Hyuuga patriarch took his leave. No sooner had the door closed then Tsunade spoke to the seemingly empty room, "Hotaro," a cloaked figure wearing an ANBU dog mask appeared, "You heard that?" the figure nodded, "Run a full sweep of the village and report back," nodding again the figure disappeared.

Hoping to take her mind off things Tsunade picked up her newspaper and began reading until something in the corner made her heart stop. Dropping the paper she ripped open a drawer to her left rummaging through the mess before pulling out a small slip of paper. Praying to every deity in existence that she had made a mistake she compared the two sets of numbers her face growing progressively paler until her skin resembled rice paper. She had won the lottery; this was the worst of signs. When she won bad things happened.

That night Hyuuga Hinata was declared missing under suspicious circumstances and a full investigation into her disappearance was launched.

A search of her room showed nothing missing or out of place and further investigation showed that no one had seen her since a public incident some four days previous.

Shortly there after it was discovered that she was last seen with one Uzumaki Naruto and a team of ANBU was dispatched to bring him in for questioning.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM!" screamed an increasingly hysterical and frustrated Tsunade. First Hinata had gone missing and now Naruto was incommunicado.

"His apartment was empty and a sweep of the village turned up nothing," the ANBU paused.

"AND!?"

"Hokage-sama there were signs that no one had been in his home for several days."

"Was there any sign of forced entry," she had an idea of what the answer may be but she was hoping she was wrong.

"No."

For a moment Tsunade relaxed but something in the mans voice wasn't right, "I'm sensing a 'but' coming."

"The majority of his possessions are missing."

All his stuff was gone? That made no sense, "Just what the hell is going on?!" she cried in frustration.

POOF

Nearly jumping out of her skin Tsunade whirled around to stare at a red and green toad that had just appeared on her desk holding a scroll.

"Yo."

"What are you doing here Gamakichi?" groaned Tsunade as she began massaging her temple. She and the small toad had a bit of a history and she had to deal with any of Jiraiya's crap right now she was going to destroy something.

"Naruto said-"

"WHAT?! WHERE IS HE?!" she demanded.

"By now half way to Yuki no Kuni," he said, "but that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?"

"To deliver this," he said tossing the scroll the busty woman, "Naruto said to give it to you once I was sure that you knew he was gone," he finished as Tsunade began unrolling the scroll and as she read it her mood changed from pissed to irate.

Tsunade rounded on the still present ANBU, "Go tell Hiashi that I need to speak with him, then find Kakashi and Jiraiya," and when the poor man didn't move fast enough she threw a chair at him yelling, "NOW!!" the ANBU disappeared instantly and she turned back to her around expecting an empty desk only to find that Gamakichi was still there, "And you're still here why?" she growled.

"Just watching what happens in case Naruto asks next time he summons me."

En Route to the Hokage's Office

Hyuuga Hiashi was many things; he was one of the most powerful shinobi in the Leaf, a master of the Juuken and the other Hyuuga techniques, the leader of the most prominent clan in Konoha, and a father. Though he would be the first to admit that his parenting skills left much to be desired, he loved and cherished his daughters and the knowledge that one of them was missing, possibly in danger, frightened him on a level that few could understand.

At first he had thought nothing of the fact that Hinata wasn't coming home, she was caring for an injured friend (which wasn't out of the ordinary she had done it for Kiba once or twice), but when she didn't check in at home or with anyone he began to get worried. She had been away from home numerous times for missions, the chunnin exam, etc but all those times she had told someone where she was and what was going on. This was different, yes she had been on a mission but the mission was inside the village and didn't require her to stay away from home for too long; even in the case of an emergency she would only need to take Naruto to the hospital and that would not be reason to be gone this long.

It didn't take him very long to figure out that something was wrong. Her room remained untouched. No one within the clan had spoken with her for several days. None of her friends had seen or talked to her. No one at the hospital had talked to her recently about Naruto's condition, nor were there any reports left. Considering that a report on the boy's ongoing condition had been filed up until four days before he checked he could only draw one conclusion, something very wrong. That had been when he went to the Hokage.

After that the news had simply gotten worse. There was no sign that Hinata was anywhere in Konoha nor had she been there for several days. The official search and inventory of her room revealed everything (minus a change of clothes and basic ninja accessories, i.e. her daily wear) was present suggesting she hadn't planned on going very far. After that she had been "officially" declared missing. Last he'd been told no one could remember, or wouldn't admit he had speculated (viva the parental paranoia), seeing her any time after a public incident in which a drunk had insulted Naruto eventually escalating to the point where Hinata was supposedly attacked and now he had been personally called to the Hokage's office rather then being informed by messenger, like all of the prior updates, meaning whatever had turned up was too sensitive to risk it being circulated to the general populous or he needed to be the first to know out of courtesy. Neither theory was very comforting.

Why you may ask?

Well the first option most likely meant that the village was in some way compromised, most likely an enemy or unknown party had Hinata and by extension the Byakuugan. The reason for keeping something of that sort quiet? Simple, it's easier to take action if your enemy thinks you are still in the dark or in the case of a ransom the fact that Konoha had slipped would never see the light of day.

The second option…they found the body.

So it was that Hyuuga Hiashi approached the door to the Hokage's office with an ever growing sense of dread.

Knock Knock

"Enter."

Walking into the office Hiashi quickly took count of his surroundings. In general nothing looked out of place, in other words there was no body to speak of which gave him hope, the barest sliver of hope but hope none the less, "You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

"You should read this," she stated handing him a scroll.

Taking the scroll Hiashi began to read.

Dear Tsunade Obaa-chan,

If you are reading this you have most likely discovered that I am gone. I have come to the conclusion that my continued presence would pose an indirect threat to all those that I seek to protect and for that reason I will not be returning to Konoha anytime in the foreseeable future. To alleviate any fears I have not and never will betray the village without provocation.

On that note if it has not yet come to your attention Hyuuga Hinata is also missing, she is with me, her safety, however, is conditional. As long as Konoha does not pursue me she will remain as she is, safe and under my protection. However, in the event that Konoha takes action against me her eyes will go to the highest bidder. Once I am satisfied that no one has been sent I will release Hinata to return.

Sincerely,

Uzumaki Naruto

Taking his eyes off the scroll Hiashi glanced at the Hokage, "You are sure that Naruto wrote this?"

"Yes," she answered noting that he used Naruto's name, though that could simply be due to the fact that he was on the council.

For a moment Hiashi stared at the scroll in his hand then he burst into hysterical laughter.

Tsunade was struck dumb, this was incomprehensible. Naruto was threatening to sell this man's daughter to an enemy village to become a science experiment/brood mare and he was laughing, he was friggin LAUGHING!!

"I fail to see what is so hysterically funny Hiashi," she spat.

"T-they called this child the dead last?" he managed, he had no desire to be the target of her… displeasure.

"Yes, what of it," she responded tersely, what kind of question was that even she knew that Naruto was at the bottom of the class and she had been back for less then a month, what was he getting at?

"Re-read it," he said handing her the scroll, "He states that he will not betray us or give Hinata up without provocation correct?"

"Yes…"

"And that he will release her when he is satisfied we are not coming after him?"

"Yes…"

"And in the event that we do come after him he will create a bidding war?"

"Yes."

"And that he left to protect his friends?"

"Yes, Hiashi where is this going?"

"Simply by how he has worded this I can assume that he is far more intelligent then I have been led to believe, so he is intelligent enough to know that Konoha is the largest and most successful of the hidden villages meaning-"

"That in the event of a bidding war we would be able to out bid the other villages," Tsunade finished.

"Did you notice how he worded the second sentence?"

Tsunade mumbled the passage to herself, "'I have come to the conclusion that my continued presence would pose an indirect threat to all those that I seek to protect and for that reason I will not be returning to Konoha anytime in the… foreseeable… future.' He's not planning to come back?"

"Most likely, but it doesn't say he won't and the last sentence?"

"He's going to let her go once we aren't chasing him?" that was the only meaning she could draw.

"Yes."

"I still don't see how you can be so calm about this let alone think it's funny. Your daughter is a captive for an unknown amount of time and once she is released she could be attacked before she can make it back to the village."

"It's rather simple really," he said, "She will not be coming back alone."

"You are going to have to explain that to me."

"I may not be the greatest father in the world but I know my daughters, and Hinata has been infatuated with Uzumaki Naruto since the age of eight and the moment she realizes that he does not plan to return she is not going to let him out of her sight and he's already promised that as long as she's with him he'll keep her safe, which considering who he is and some of the other rumors I've heard about him she safety shouldn't be much of a problem."

At that point it dawned on Tsunade, "He thinks he's going to get off the hook when he lets her go," she cackled.

Twenty Minutes Later

After a few manic minutes of hysterical laughter at Naruto's expense reality had set in, Naruto and Hinata were gone for an undetermined amount of time. It could be years till they heard from them let alone see them and that thought was truly depressing. All in all it was a very depressed Tsunade that greeted Jiraiya and Kakashi when they arrived.

Barging in looking mildly put out from having his research interrupted Jiraiya was about to unleash his Migraine no Jutsu (a.k.a. whine like a child) when the look on his teammate's face stopped him dead, "What happened?" it was a demand.

Somewhere on the opposite side of Kaze no Kuni

A pair of random travelers were walking along when all of a sudden…

"HE WHAT?!"

One of the men turned to his companion, "What in all the hells was that?"

Hokage's Office

Tsunade, who was now standing over a beaten and bloody Jiraiya, held a glowing green hand to her now bleeding ears, "As I was saying before I was so painfully interrupted, Hiashi and I have come to the conclusion that there is no threat posed to the village so any attempts to find Naruto would be in order to contact him rather that capture," she paused momentarily to start healing her other ear, "the reason I called you two is because you have the best chances of finding him and he trusts you so he won't feel threatened." Finishing with her ears she sighed, what had to say was not going to be easy, "I want you to find him and try to establish a line of communication; in the event that you do find him do NOT try to force him or otherwise convince him to come back."

Three Miles Outside Konoha's Walls Several Hours Later

POOF

"Eh?" came Gamakichi's bewildered response to being summoned so soon after he had gone home then seeing the white haired man that had summoned him, "Jiraiya? What do you want?"

"Take this with you," he said giving the small toad a scroll the size of the contract scroll he always carried, "It's for Naruto."

EDITED: 3/1/10

End Notes

Well it's not my best work but this wasn't a very important chp anyway. Oh well NEXT TIME: back with our hero we find out how Hinata reacted to Naruto's fuzzy little secret.