Author's note:

Hello all. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

As of December 11th, I am still surviving and climbing the mountain of life or basically, poverty. I am at a stage of where I just want to cry -_- #.

At least I have a job and a tent.

Thank you all for reading, and stay smiling.

Disclaimer: I did not create Naruto or World of Warcraft, both are under the rights of their respective owners.

Chapter 3

Trust Must be Earned

"Toneri," Hinata intoned.

"I'm charmed," Toneri said, moving closer to her. "I said I would return for you, and here you are coming to—"

"Silence," she gestured to him and said, "What is your deal? You appeared the first time as an image, and now here you are as a construct? What are you scared of, Toneri?"

"I am not scared of anything," he intoned, the construct opening its eyes.

Placing a hand on her hip, Hinata said, "Then you're weak. Face me yourself, bastard."

"I see that you will need reformation. A woman like you shouldn't use such vulgarity."

Reformation . . . I'm going to show you reformation and how vulgar I can be when I get my hands on you.

"You can be cleansed. Renewed." The construct moved closer, hopping from the floating moon to the one she was on. Standing before her it said, "I am not weak either." It tapped its temple, "I am strategic. I have planned this for a long time."

"Hmm, a mastermind. How cliche. Where is Kama? If you've hurt her—"

The Toneri construct interjected, "Your pet is fine."

Golden energy quickly rose from the ground, and surrounded them in a dome. A scene appeared, showing an elaborate room. Kama had been mounted into what looked like a picture frame on the wall.

Hinata moved closer and then turned to the construct, "What have you done to her!"

"Do not fret. It is sleeping peacefully, without harm at my castle."

Hinata clenched her fist, but held back from punching the construct. "Kama Jadefist is not a pet, she is a person. A pandaren, my apprentice. Give her back and—"

"I'll give it back, depending on your answer, my Byakugan Princess," the construct said.

Hinata sneered. "You're delusional."

"Hmm, I see." The Toneri construct smiled as it walked, circling her, "I am going about this the wrong way. I know what you want, and I have it Hinata—"

"Ya think?" she kept her gaze on it, turning in place to watch him. "You abducted my apprentice."

The Toneri construct chuckled. "Yes, but I also hold the key to your past, Hinata. Only I can help you find what you have been looking for all of these years."

The scene on the dome changed. People of different shapes, sizes, hair and dressed in robes stood side by side, all people with eyes like Hinata's.

"Isn't this what you have been searching for? Your family?" The construct circled her, not taking his eyes from her. "Marry me, and I will tell you everything you need to know."

Hinata sneered. "Marry you?"

"It is part of Hamura Otsutsuki's Celestial Decree. He is the founder of the shinobi of the moon and the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths, who founded the shinobi of the earth," said the construct.

"What does any of that have to do with me?"

"You are one of Hamura's descendants," the construct paused to stare at her, "Your chakra has our ancestors Hamura's."

"Our ancestor?" Toneri and I are related?

Smiling, the Toneri construct chuckled, "I forget, you know nothing of your homeland or the history here. I will tell you what you need to understand for now."

The scene on the dome changed. There was the image of a pale man with short horns over his forehead and long white hair. His white robes had magatama marks on the collar. Floating behind him were six pitch black orbs.

Chi orbs? They are normally black?

"Hamura is who you see now. The younger brother of The Sage of Six Paths."

The images changed and there was another man. This man's hair was a soft beige and shorter, spiky. He had a long goatee, and he too had horns, right along with the black floating orbs behind him, but the biggest difference between the two brothers was the third eye center of this man's forehead. It was red with black rings and symbols within.

"He feared the power of the Juubi."

Behind the sage, a massive creature with ten whipping tails appeared. The monster towered over the sage, its form shadowed, whereas up on its head was a large red eye similar, but not the same as the Sage's.

"With its massive chakra and the power the Juubi held, the sage felt that the monster would only bring devastation to the world. He extracted the chakra from the Juubi to weaken it and divided it into nine bijuu."

"Bijuu?" Hinata looked at the construct. "What is that? Not all of the words translate correctly. Like byakugan. I don't know what they mean."

The construct chortled. "Now is not the time for that. Don't worry, Princess. I will be your teacher when the time comes."

I'm going to end up killing you. Hinata looked back to the image on the dome.

Circled around the Sage of Six Paths now were nine creatures of different shapes and sizes. Each had a certain number of tails. A robust tan and black creature with one tail, next to it was a smaller flaming blue cat with two tails. The three tailed armored beast had a grey chitinous exoskeleton, whereas the four tailed one had auburn fur and was ape-like. There was a pale horse-dolphin-like creature with five tails, where as the six tailed beast looked like a slimy slug. The green larva that looked like an overgrown caterpillar had seven tails, as an octopus mixed with a bull beast had eight tails. The one that caught Hinata's attention most was the nine tailed fox with crimson fur.

Is that the creature within Naruto?

"The husk that remained of the Juubi, the Gedo Statue, was hidden away and sealed on the moon so that the Juubi would never be revived."

Hinata reset her focus on the Toneri construct.

"Hamura decided to stay on the moon to guard the statue. His elder brother remained on earth and founded the shinobi of the earth, causing Hamura to have doubts of the world his brother created. If the world were to stray from the Sage's teachings, it would be up to the descendants of Hamura to destroy what the Sage of Six Paths had created.

"For the past millennium, all the shinobi of earth have done is fight amongst each other. The gift of chakra bestowed upon them, has become tainted from bloodshed. From chakra being weaponized. Because of this, the Gedo statue was stolen and the Juubi revived." The Toneri construct stopped walking to stare at her. "Our clan has determined that the Sage of Six Paths world is a failure. As long as there are shinobi, this world will not know peace or order. By Hamura's Celestial Decree, I will destroy that world."

The real Toneri appeared upon the projection on the dome, his eyes glowing, swirling with iridescent colors.

He has eyes now . . .

"Now that I possess these pure Byakugan eyes, it will synergise with my own chakra and evolve into the Tenseigan. With this power, I will lift the earth out of its ashes and create a brand new world," said Toneri.

"And what does marriage have to do with any of this?" Hinata asked.

Toneri softly smiled. "Hinata . . . You and I will rebuild—"

"Stop," Hinata interjected with a wave of her hand. "That doesn't sound like a good proposal on my part. Besides, why would I want to marry someone like you?" she scowled and waved him away, "You're not even my type. I'm into men who are open with me. Who can take charge and are not scared to face me. A real man doesn't hide behind a facade, so you know what that means, don't you, Toneri? You are not a man." She moved closer to the projection, "You are nothing but a scared and weak little boy."

The Toneri construct snatched her wrist and coldly said, "I am asking you nicely—"

"Get your hand off her!"

The construct was there one moment, to be knocked away the next by a cloth wrapped fist. The dome collapsed upon Naruto's intrusion. He stood before Hinata, his eyes scowled as he flicked his wrist. Naruto moved forward for an all out attack, for Hinata to block him with her arm.

"Don't. It's pointless to attack that thing, Naruto," Hinata said, lowering her arm. "It's not Toneri. It's a construct. Don't even waste your energy." She moved in front of Naruto and said, "The boy is too scared to come and face anyone himself."

The construct's face had been cracked open, exposing the mechanical eye and hollow shell within.

"Where's Hanabi?" Naruto asked. "Where have you taken her!"

Ignoring Naruto, the Toneri construct focused his eyes on Hinata. "When we meet again, Hinata, tell me your answer."

The construct collapsed on itself. Hinata nudged it with her foot. It didn't move. She then knelt before it and began to rummage through its remains. Naruto moved closer, watching her.

"Ugh, what are you doing?"

"Looting. You'd be surprised at the things you can find that are useful. I've found swords, gloves, even a chest piece or two on the remains of hosen and murlocks." Hinata tapped her lips, "The things those little monsters eat is astonishing too. A lot of creatures are like that." She stood and sighed. "There is nothing of use here."

"We need to catch up to the others," Naruto said as he went to the ledge. "What was he going on about?"

Looking at him Hinata grimaced. "That man is a creep. Naruto, he plans on destroying your world. I'm not sure how many threats your world gets, but it's a saying in Azeroth that I've gotten used to hearing." She glanced back at the broken construct. "The sooner we defeat him, the better in my opinion."

"Yeah, let's go."

Hinata looked at him, "I'm with you."

Dropping off the ledge, Hinata dove into the spring with Naruto not far behind. There were more genjutsu traps that she and Naruto avoided. Reaching the end, they hopped out into a cave.

It was a dark area where piles of bubbles were scattered throughout. Within a crater — recently made — was a giant crab. The group watched as Hinata made a b-line to the dead crustacean, whereas, Naruto met up with the others.

Sakura asked, "What took you two so long?" She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "You're awful friendly with her."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto pouted, "A puppet of Toneri showed up."

Naruto watched as Hinata inspected the crab — out of earshot. "He approached her." He looked at Sakura. "Told her that he's going to destroy the world." He scratched his cheek. "I don't know what world she's from, but world threats are a common thing."

"We need to keep a close eye on her," stated Neji. He pushed off the pillar he leaned on. "There is something about her that doesn't sit right with me." Crossing his arms he watched Hinata, and activated his Byakugan. Releasing them he nodded and said, "It's like I thought."

"Elaborate?" Shikamaru said, lowering his voice.

"I've noticed that from time to time, chakra accumulates in her eyes." Looking at the others, he said, "She has the Byakugan. We don't see it because of the cloth she wears. Why else would Toneri want her." Neji turned his head, watching Hinata again. "She's the missing heir, Hinata Hyuuga. Hanabi's elder sister."

Sakura's eyes widened, "No way."

"Sisters?" Naruto asked, "What happened? How'd she become missing?"

"She was abducted at the age of three. It was rumored that Kumo was involved. I don't know the full details. When she wasn't found and no leads turned up, the clan stopped speaking about it. The heiress was gone, along with one of the Raikage's elite shinobi. The two villages never resolved what happened. There's a possibility she's lying—"

Naruto stepped forward, "She's not."

"How can you be so sure, Naruto?" Shikamaru inquired.

"The genjutsu, ya know," Naruto looked at his hand, "When I grabbed her, I was pulled into her memories. She was trained by bear people, and then that thing. An Old God." Naruto shook his head, "What I saw and felt from her," he looked at Hinata who was at the claw of the crab, "She lived through those things. I believe her. Believe in her when she says she really is not from here."

"Then what happened back then, and how is she back now?" Sai asked.

"She did tell us that Toneri brought her ship here," said Sakura.

Shikamaru nodded, "And there is a foreign vessel docked at the port in Yukagure."

"It could be coincidence," Neji said with a cross of his arms.

Naruto said, "You were in her memories, Neji, as a kid." He looked at Hinata, "I think she sorta remembers you."

Neji peered down at Hinata and shook his head. "We need more intel."

Sai tilted his head, "What is she doing—"

The claw ripped away from the crab, and Hinata gave a triumphant shout. Lifting the massive claw over her head, Hinata's form became hidden beneath it.

Shifting the claw, she looked up at the group and shouted, "Hey! I got dinner!"

Sai looked from Hinata to the others, "How is she going to cook that thing?"

"Doesn't matter," said Shikamaru. He looked at Naruto, "Keep close to her. We still don't know her, or what Toneri's plans are for Hanabi or her. At this time, Hinata Hyuuga is an unknown." Shaking his head, Shikamaru groaned, "This is becoming such a drag. We're going up and getting out of this cave." He looked back at Naruto, "Keep an eye on her."

"But, if they're related, why not have—"

"It could complicate things, Naruto. Think about it." Shikamaru stated. He looked at Neji, "He's not even comfortable with the idea."

"I'm not." Neji replied.

Naruto frowned, but nodded.

Sakura hung back and rested her hand on her teammate's shoulder. "Are you okay? I know this is a touchy subject for you."

"I'm fine, but this is shit. I'd want to know my family right away." Naruto said. He watched as Hinata made her way to them, the giant crab claw now strapped to her back. "She's not lying, ya know."

Sakura nodded as her eyes softened. "I think I understand. If you want to help her, don't pry. Just listen. Maybe she'll open up to you." Smiling, Sakura said, "People usually do."

He scrunched his eyebrows and pouted at her. "What does that mean?"

"Exactly."

"Sakura-chan," pouted Naruto.

Hinata leapt up onto the ledge and let out a happy sigh. "I can't wait to make camp. I am starving and I forgot my food at the port. There are so many different things that can be made with crab meat!"

Sakura eyed the claw and said, "That's a lot. More than all of us can eat."

"None will go to waste. I may be human, but I was raised by pandarens. Not only are they masters at brewing, many are extraordinary cook's. I'll seal the rest up for later and—"

Hinata frowned, "Damn, I don't have any of my bags with me!"

"I'll store some in my bag, if you want," Naruto offered as he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

Hinata grinned at him, "You're such a gentleman."

Smiling, Sakura said, "We need to catch up to the others. Let's go."

The sun was directly overhead when they reached the top of the cave. The wind blew as ocean waves hit the rocky shore below. There were clouds in the sky, whereas across the sea was land that was mirrored in the sky above.

"Whoa, this is trippy," Hinata said as she held onto the ropes over her shoulders she fashioned to carry the crab leg. "It's like a whole other world."

"What is this place?" Shikamaru asked as he stared at the horizon.

Sai asked, "How is there sunlight underground?"

"It's artificial," Neji said as he gestured to the sun above. "All of this is artificial."

Hinata said, "I think I know where the portals brought us. Toneri told me that he is a descendant of Hamura, who established the shinobi of the moon. Hamura stayed here to protect a husk, a statue of some sort."

Naruto grumbled "Great job they did protecting it."

Hinata looked at the shinobi and said, "I think that we are inside the moon."

"It makes sense," Neji said as he looked at her.

Shikamaru turned to Sai and said, "We need to get across."

Sai was already knelt on the ground, his scroll open, paint brush creating lines upon the page. "Already on it."

Hinata watched as he painted birds onto the scroll and then made gestures with his hands and fingers. Large inked birds raised off the scroll, causing Hinata to take a step back.

They were the same color as the paper, even outlined with ink.

"Oh, that is cool," Hinata gasped.

Sai cocked his head at her. "You think so?"

"You don't see that kind of thing back home all of the time," Hinata replied. "Well, except for this one time at the Jade Temple. Characters from stories of Pandarian Lore had manifested as corrupted monsters because of the sha."

"What's the sha?" Naruto asked.

"The sha were remnants of the Old God, Y'Shaarj, manifestations of negative emotions as despair, fear, doubt, hatred, or anger. During the Great Sundering, the last Emperor of Pandaria, Shaohao, conjured a magical mist that hid Pandaria from the rest of the world to protect the inhabitants and in a sense, keep the sha dormant. Ten thousand years later, the mist parted because of the Cataclysm and the events of the black dragon, Deathwing."

"Dragon?" Sai intoned.

"Once the mist lifted, the Alliance and Horde arrived on Pandaria and brought their war, awakening the sha. Lush fields turned into barren wastelands. Beings who were once docile became vicious." She looked at the shinobi. "The sha corrupted not only the lands of Pandaria but also the people." The wind picked up, fondling Hinata's hair causing her to look back out to the land in the distance.

Hinata frowned, I can't see Kama's or the other energy tapers anymore. Everything is clouded by an immense chi, or chakra?

"We should go," Shikamaru mounted onto one of Sai's inked birds. "Naruto, let Hinata ride with you."

Hinata didn't look at them as she said, "I can get there myself. If it makes you feel better, he can ride with me. Trust must be earned."

"Keep a lookout for the enemy," Shikamaru stated, for his inked bird to go airborne.

In quick succession, three other birds took off into the sky, heading into the horizon.

"Hinata—"

"It's okay, Naruto. I understand." Looking at him she said, "You are different though. You give people the benefit of the doubt, but that is because you sense things they do not. Intentions, and to an extent, emotions."

Watching her, Naruto asked, "How do you know that?"

"I'm a monk."

Reaching into her pouch, Hinata pulled out the small jade figurine. With a bit of chi, the large jade quilen in armor manifested. Xi-Qi blinked its beady eyes at her.

"My friend here, Naruto, is riding with us, so don't be a brat," Hinata said as she rubbed Xi-Qi's stone face. Pointing to her back to the crab claw, she said, "I'm going to store this in your saddle bag for now."

Xi-Qi chuffed in reply.

"This thing can fly? Isn't it made of stone?" Naruto asked as he watched her.

The quilen growled at him. Hinata booped its snoot, and then looked at Naruto as she pulled the crab claw from her back. It dropped heavily to the ground.

"Xi-Qi is its name. It's an Imperial Quilen, made from ancient mogu magics. I have other mounts back home stabled, but I would have to summon them to me, and with whatever barrier is up that prevents that, I'm unable to summon them. With Xi-Qi being a figurine, it can always be with me."

Hinata opened the saddle bag, then hefted the crab claw up and over her head. She guided it to the opening of the bag, for the claw to shrink and disappear within.

"How did that—"

"Most of the bags I have are magic. When you travel and obtain a lot of things, you need magic bags that can hold many things from big to small. I'm always on the move anyway."

"Why?"

Looking at Naruto, Hinata shrugged. "I'm on a quest, only a lot of side quests pull me off track. I don't have any immediate family waiting anyway. I was found alone."

"My parents died in battle after I was born. I grew up never knowing them." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her. "Thinking back, I pretty much raised myself."

"I was raised in Master Shang Xi's academy. I don't know what happened to my parents, or where they are." Closing the bag, Hinata then hefted herself up and onto the quilen's saddle. She reached her hand out, and said, "Come on. You're on the back. I doubt you actually have a flight master's license."

"What's a flight master license?"

"A license to fly where I'm from," Hinata giggled. "Come on."

Taking her hand, Naruto got up onto the saddle. Taking Xi-Qi's reins, Hinata glanced back at Naruto.

"You might want to hold onto me, Xi-Qi likes to fly fast, and I'd hate for you to fall off."

His hands were warm as they rested on her shoulders.

"You better wrap your arms around my stomach, or you're gonna fall off." Glancing back at him, she snickered, "Don't be scared, Naruto."

He scowled, "Why would I—"

Xi-Qi ran forward and right off the ledge. They dived toward the waters, as Naruto's grip on her shoulders tightened. Hinata laughed as the wind rushed across her face and windswept her hair. Before crashing into the water, the quilen's jade energy wings expanded, caught air, and they began to glide over the churning dark waters.

"You do this a lot, don't you?" Naruto shouted over the air.

"It's the most exhilarating means of travel," Hinata laughed.

When they had taken to the sky, the false sun was directly overhead. By the time they reached the shore, it was further to the west. The sun was close to setting once they made it a few miles in.

Shikamaru asked, "See anything, Neji?"

"It's clear," Neji announced, his Byakugan active. Releasing his eyes, he said, "I don't like this."

Sakura said, "If Toneri knows we are here, why are his minions not attacking?"

Shikamaru said, "Don't know, and that worries me. Let's find a place to rest before the night falls. I don't want any surprises."

Landing for the night, the shinobi did a quick sweep of the area. Hinata watched them curiously. They were vigilant and quick. They didn't set up tents, but instead pulled out sleeping bags. The shinobi didn't carry what wasn't needed, and though they seemed relaxed, they were on high alert.

Would I be like them if I hadn't become lost? How did I become lost? Hinata glanced at Neji. How should I approach him? Aysa would tell me that I should meditate on this before taking action. She smiled, Ji would tell me to get right to the point, go straight up to him and ask.

Hinata's stomach growled. Exhaustion began to rear its ugly head. After making a long rectangular fire pit, Hinata went to retrieve the crab claw. Xi-Qi sat silently, like a statue as he looked ahead — alert and always watching. Looking out into the woods where the quilen kept his focus, Hinata rested her hand on the stone beast.

"What do you see that I do not?"

Closing her eyes, she didn't see with her eyes, but with her chi. The darkness of her vision illuminated with the colors of auras, which this place was odd. Nothing had its own aura, except for the shinobi and herself. It was all connected to a single source. The exception was the very few living creatures. Then there were the spheres of darkness. Things she couldn't see past or through that surrounded them.

Focusing her Deadeyes on one, Hinata frowned when she couldn't see into it. She could just make out a distortion where the orb — large enough for a human or something bigger could hide — blended into the forest.

Toneri, you're blocking our sight somehow. They're almost completely camouflaged.

Releasing the chi from her eyes, Hinata dispersed the quilen and placed the figurine into her pouch. She hefted the crab claw onto her shoulder and made her way to the fire pit.

Once within ear-shot of the others who rested further away from the pit, Hinata said, "We're being watched."

Shikamaru kept his eyes on his cup of tea. "I don't doubt it."

Dropping the claw onto the pit, sparks took the air as the shell sizzled. After the claw settled on the coals, Hinata took a long drink from her gourd. The last of the honey sake went down her throat.

Ugh, Ban-lu, I need you, my faithful companion. You have my best keg reserves! Damn.

Sighing, Hinata knelt near the flames, extending her hands out to them as the claw cooked. "I don't understand a lot of things here. Mostly, how this world is and the cultures, but Toneri said something to me earlier. Something about his eyes needing to sync with his chakra so they can evolve. It's strange, because when I first met him at the hot springs, his image didn't have eyes. You could see that his eyes were sunken, as if he didn't have any. Now, he does."

"He's taken Hanabi's eyes. If what you are saying is true, then Toneri is trying to awaken the Tenseigan." Neji said, causing Hinata to look at him; he sat beneath a tree on one of its large stumps.

"That's what he called it," said Hinata. She stood and turned to Neji and asked, "Are there a lot of people here with magic eyes?"

That wasn't too blunt, was it? No, it's me holding out my hand to see if he will take it.

Neji scowled, "They're not magic. It's a dojutsu passed down through blood. Only the Hyuuga have these eyes."

"Dojutsu . . ."

Neji didn't elaborate any further. Feeling rejected, Hinata returned to the firepit. It became quiet, only the flames of the fire making sound. I'm going to have to meditate on this. Neji doesn't seem very forthcoming. I'll most likely have to gain his trust before I can ask about his family. Hinata glanced at him. Our family? The Hyuuga . . .

Naruto — who sat up in a tree — bluntly asked, "Hey, Hinata. How do you see when your eyes are covered?"

"Naruto," Sakura snapped from her place on her sleeping bag.

"What, I'm curious."

Hinata said, "Who said I have eyes?"

Their gazes burned on her so fierce, Hinata felt them.

"You don't have eyes?" Naruto's voice was soft and sad.

"She's lying," Neji intoned.

"Well, aren't you just the life of the party?" Hinata tilted her head, "I was joking." She looked at him. "Are you unable to process those types of things?"

"Most of the Hyuga I have come across have no sense of humor," Sai said, sitting near the pit.

"Sai," Sakura groaned, scowling at him.

Naruto intoned, "He does have a point, Sakura-chan."

Hinata sighed, propped her elbow on her knee, hand under her chin, and stared into the flames. "Great."

"The Hyuuga Clan isn't the strongest in Konoha because of humor." Neji stated.

He sounds like a bigot. Are rest are like him?

Neji stood. "I'll take the first shift."