AN: Yoshi! The story continues. Naruto train hard my friend. Train hard.

Oh and we don't own anything.

Arc – Transition of Power

Chapter Eight – Luck of the Gods

With the recorder resting somewhat distractedly in his pocket, Naruto cast one last look at the sky above him before finally pulling himself upright. He'd procrastinated long enough, now he needed to finally get to work on mastering Ero-sannin's crazy meditation technique.

"Wind chakra exercise my ass," Naruto mumbled as he crossed his legs, arms resting lightly against the bent limbs. He didn't really believe the man, but that was fine because he did believed in Hinata-hime. So even if this 'exercise' didn't work like it was meant to, at least he'd be getting the regular meditation training that his best friend seemed to believe would help him. If she saw the importance of meditation alone, then there really wasn't any reason he shouldn't at least try the technique.

Of course, despite being shown the pose only a few days ago, it took Naruto a few moments to remember the exact position that the pervert had told him to sit in. It felt weird, his shoulders slumped and his body more relaxed than he normally let himself be without at least four clones nearby, but he powered through. This was apparently what it took to meditate. So he wasn't about to give up now before he'd even started.

Clutching his new token, one lazy thumb rubbing absentmindedly against the soft fur of the little orange fox, Naruto tried to focus. The little charm seemed to help. Not that he'd had any doubt. And especially not when his best friend had been so thoughtful as to get the little fox in his favorite color. He liked it. Well, he liked that Hinata-hime had thought enough about him to get it for him. As it was, he wasn't exactly a big fan of the way his stomach dropped as a heavy weight settled at the bottom of it every time his gaze traced dark whisker marks a little too familiar for comfort. But he was fairly sure that had very little to do with the charm itself.

Relaxing his shoulders which had tensed back up in the last few seconds, Naruto shifted his focus. He was here for a purpose, and it wasn't to worry about the odd feelings he seemed to get at his best friend's gift. Breathing in deeply, he focused his attention inwards, searching for the familiar feel of his chakra. Tracking the slow, steady movement as the energy flowed within his veins.

In. Out. In. Out.

This was the easy part. In some ways, he'd done this thousands of times, searched for the remnants of his chakra. Possibly hundreds of thousands of times if he was being completely honest. And like always, he easily tracked the warmth that radiated from within, automatically pushing outwards to find his like images without conscious thought.

'No, no don't do that,' he thought to himself as he pulled back from the feeling of his clones, just the ten of them now they glowed brighter than anything else. 'This isn't about them,' his thoughts continued, ignoring the bright beacons. 'Remember what that old pervert told us, this is about the wind,' he finished finally successfully shifting his focus away from the familiar feeling of his own energy scattered across the land because as familiar as it seemed, this process really was different.

"And apparently, different means harder than I thought," he grumbled quietly to himself as the wind continuously slipped from his concentration. It was like it just didn't want to stay in the same place, like water slipping through his fingertips when he tried to take a drink from the river.

His eyes popped open in frustration, an angry sigh escaping his lips as he flopped onto his back. This was meditation. It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. 'But I can't give up. Not now, not ever,' he thought as he pushed himself back to a seated position. "Alright, alright. I've got this. Just gotta focus!" Naruto pounded his thighs psyching himself up as he folded his body back into his meditation pose.

Fingers toying with his little token, suddenly an idea occurred to him. Shifting the token, he maneuvered his body so that he could clasped the small fox with both hands, clutching it tightly before loosening once more. He nodded to himself. 'I've got this.'

In. Out. In. Out.

Without warning the wind whipped around him, moving in a constant swirl as he manipulated his chakra outward. Frowning, he tried to suppress the flow, fighting against the rapid wind currents as he focused on his connection to it, but the more he focused the faster the wind moved. This wasn't right. This wasn't about moving the wind, it was supposed to be about being the wind. He clutched his small fox tighter as he focused on the steady cadence of his breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

Just as suddenly as the wind seemed to move around him, it blew through him, pulling him along leaving him with no choice but to follow. It was bizarre. The feeling of moving and yet remaining completely motionless. He flowed with the current of the wind as easily as if he'd been swept away by a strong river current. And this was, well, it wasn't so much like chasing the air around him as being the air. He didn't need to fight to be everywhere at once. He just needed to be.

In. Out. In. Out.

His breathing remained steady as he skimmed atop each blade of grass. He was the rustle in the air, gentle swaying the grass below. He was the whisper between the trees, slipping past each leaf like a call to dance.

It was freeing. He was everywhere and yet nowhere all at once. And the life. There was just so much life that the wind touched that he touched. He was the breeze supporting his feathery friends, large and small. Like blobs in the air… No that wasn't quite right.

In. Out. In. Out.

As Naruto relaxed into the wind, he could pick out the little difference in wing and body shape. In his mind's eye, he could make out the brilliant blue of a pacific swallow. A bird he'd seen countless times in the skies near here. 'Oh, and there are his friends!' Naruto thought as the wind took him higher into the sky. It was almost as if he were soaring through the bright sky, and if he looked down he'd see the ground below him.

Unconsciously, Naruto looked down only to nearly fall right out of the sky. Arms waving wildly, he tried to right himself. The wind rustled through his hair, pulling at the worn fabric of his orange jacket. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't just the wind, he was really, truly flying! A wide grin spread across his face at the notion. He couldn't just let this amazing opportunity pass him by unexplored. Shooting up into the clouds, Naruto yelled in excitement.

He was flying! "I can see everything from here!" He grinned as the world opened up to him, the sun bright on his back. He wasn't sure how, some miracle of wind chakra training or something as equally as unimportant, but suddenly he knew, just knew where every road below him led. Knew every twist and turn. Knew every possible destination and it was all laid right there before him, just waiting for him to choose a path.

Almost instinctively, he turned to his left, gaze settling along a road that he knew would lead him back to Konoha. Would lead him away from his perverted Sensei and a seemingly pointless mission and back to the most wonderful and delicious ramen at the number one ramen stand in the whole country. His mouth watered just at the thought, the memory, of the world's best tasting food. If he but followed that path then he'd be minutes away from the biggest bowl of the heavenly food known as ramen, steam clouding his vision as he practically inhaled kami-sama's greatest gift to the ninja world.

But as much as the idea excited him, he knew he wouldn't follow that path. No, he had a more important adventure waiting for him. The world's best ramen, unfortunately, would have to wait. 'Still, I'll have to have the biggest bowl imaginable when I get back,' he thought with a nod. 'And Hinata-hime too,' he added with a smile. 'I've got to take her too!' He was sure she'd love it just as much as he did.

Shifting in his floating position high in the sky, Naruto turned his gaze to the road he knew would lead to Haku-chan and the Land of Wave. His new clan. His new family. It was already growing so much, Wave was already growing, and that was all because of Haku-chan. It would be a marvel to behold one day, he just knew it; but that day was not today.

Not now. Not yet. The growth and the brilliance would also have to wait, because he was finally free. Unshackled to a pervy sage constantly yelling at him to work harder. Unburdened with the task of searching for some old hag to replace Jiji even though the old man was alive and kicking. Perfectly capable of doing the job himself.

'Well, maybe Jiji isn't exactly top shelf anymore,' Naruto thought as he remembered the still fresh loss caused by the sacrifice made by his best friend's dad. Jiji had to be saved then and even now it seemed as if he wasn't quite the man Naruto remembered. Not if he didn't do everything in his power to serve his ninjas. Not if he would leave Hinata-hime trapped in the capital when she could be home, in Konoha. Or maybe even with him, searching for some old woman and training together.

Twirling in the sky, Naruto put his grumblings behind him. He didn't know what was up with Jiji and he certainly didn't know a thing about the old hag he'd been sent to find. With so little information, he knew he'd have to withhold final judgement at least until he knew more. Surely it would all become clear once he met the woman. Jiji had to think she could do the job for a reason after all.

Besides, he was flying! There was no time to dwell on things he couldn't change. No, he was finally free, and he wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. 'In fact…' Naruto thought letting the sentence go unfinished in his head as he turned sharply in the sky. He knew exactly where he would go. Knew exactly what he would do with his new found freedom.

Eying the mess of roads below him, Naruto easily found the one he was looking for, the one that would lead him straight to the Fire Nation Capital. Here was his chance to save the day! With a wide grin, he shot off in the direction of the capital city wind whipping through the short strands of his hair. Hinata-hime was there probably dying of boredom! "I've got to save her!" he declared as his surroundings blurred around him.

In an instance, he was at the palace gates giant gold arches as high as a mountain there to greet him. It was everything he thought the palace ought to look like and more. Fancy designs etched into the gold frame. It looked like it told an epic heroic story, but he didn't have time to suss out the details. No, now that he was here, he needed to find a way inside.

Slipping past the gates with the ease that only a seasoned prankster could manage, Naruto snuck into the palace proper. He ignored the ornate detail lining the winding hallways to focus on the strong pull from his gut. He knew where his best friend was, tied down by boring meetings, and he was here to save her before all the life and joy could be sucked out of her.

Speeding down the corridors, he was there in a flash of orange, bursting through large fancy looking doors only to find his best friend shackled by her own manners! He ignored the constant 'blah, blah, blah' spewing from the Daimyo's mouth, but Hinata-hime didn't have his lack of decorum. No, his best friend was stuck listening to that nonsense as her spirit waned. Clearly, she was dying of boredom.

"Not on my watch!" Naruto yelled, drawing the attention of the entire room, effectively breaking the spell of good manners that had held Hinata-hime helplessly in place.

"And who are you?" the Daimyo questioned, standing from his raised seat at the center of the room. "How dare you interrupt this important lecture!"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan best friend to Hinata-hime, and I'd rather die a thousand deaths before I'd leave my best friend here, held hostage by you, believe it! No one deserves this kind of torture!"

"Mwahahaha!" the Daimyo laughed diabolically, his fancy looking hat swaying on his head. "You, the shortest ninja I've ever seen, think you can beat me and my legendary Fire Temple Guards?"

As if called forth from the very earth, twelve hulking figures appeared flanking the Fire Lord. Their faces were hidden by thick layers of charcoal, blacking out their eyes in menacing triangles that screamed death. And worse yet, strapped to their massive bodies was the most impressive set of armor Naruto had ever imagined let alone seen. It was polished bronze dou and kusazuri, thick and heavy from the looks of it. And kabuto with deadly sharp horns longer than his forearms. All of it, more than just a little intimidating.

"Mwahahaha!" the Daimyo's laughter brought Naruto's gaze back to the man as he spoke. "You don't stand a chance!"

A grimace formed on Naruto's face as he took in the Fire Lord's words. 'Maybe he's right,' Naruto thought, his head hanging for a moment. 'Maybe…'

Just then a flash of black and white drew Naruto's attention. 'Hinata-hime!' He thought as his frown turned into a determined grin. Squaring his shoulders, Naruto turned back to face the diabolical mastermind that was the Daimyo.

"Yeah, maybe alone I'd be no match for you and your guards, but you seem to be forgetting something far more important. Or more accurately someone," Naruto announced confidently, hands placed firmly on his hips as he pushed his chest out in defiance.

"Oh yeah? And who might that be?"

Silence filled the room at the question, Naruto waiting with baited breath until a steady voice, of which Naruto was sure could command mountains with just a breath, broke the silence.

"I believe Uzumaki-kun is referring to me, Takekasai-dono." Rising from her previously seated position, Hinata-hime turned to face the Fire Lord with the same confidence that Naruto always expected. She was fierce even in the measured quality of her voice, ready to stand with him. "Now that my friend is here, I cannot let him fight alone."

"Yoshi!" Naruto jumped in the air excited, this was going better than he'd thought it would.

Surprised, the Daimyo stuttered, stumbling over his words as he spoke, "How dare you?"

"Oh, we dare," Naruto shot back with a grin. Clearly, the Daimyo was unfamiliar with the power of friendship. But Naruto was more than happy to introduce him to it.

Beside him, Hinata-hime remained silent, but he didn't mind. No, her body language said all he needed to know. It said that she was with him. That she would always stand by him as his friend even if it went against what she thought was proper because she believed in him like he believed in her.

Suddenly, pride swelled within his chest, a warmth he couldn't explain heating his whole body as he traced the hard lines of her posture. She was ready to face the Daimyo with him. She trusted that he was here for the right reasons. And he wasn't about to let her down now. This was their moment. The moment for which he'd been slaving under the unbearable guidance of a legendary pervert. This was the moment they took on the world.

"Very well, then," the Daimyo stated, resigned as he collected himself in the face of Hinata-hime's unexpected challenge. "I see you've made your choice."

"Indeed," Hinata-hime replied simply, a short nod the only indicator that she would not enjoy what must occur. She was too nice like that. Naruto was definitely going to have to teach her to put herself first every once in awhile.

"Guards!" the Daimyo called, turning away from them with a disappointed frown. "Teach these two a lesson in humility they shall not soon forget," he finished dismissively with a wave of his hand.

"Hai!" the guards answered as one.

And then all hell broke out as the mythical fire temple guards descended upon them as one. Pushed back by the twelve hulking figures, Naruto was hard pressed to slip a kunai into his hand, blocking a downward strike that would have otherwise taken off his head.

'Crap, these guys aren't kidding,' he thought as he was pushed back again, the sheer force of the blow sliding him backwards despite managing to block it. His confidences would have waned if not for the familiar presence of his best friend at his back. Like reading the gentle changes in the air, Naruto felt rather than heard the struggle behind him as she pushed back a guard. A wave of confidence washed over him. Hinata-hime was here, with him, fighting back to back. They wouldn't fail here. They couldn't.

The first guard went down like a sack of potatoes, a mirrored thump resounding behind him as Hinata-hime also took down one of the menacing creatures. He didn't know how he'd done it, but that didn't matter. 'Yeah! Two down, ten to go,' he thought excitedly.

Zing!

A chain zipped by him, the spiked head of it just barely missing him as he jumped out of the way. 'Shoot, gotta focus,' he thought, chastising himself for celebrating so soon.

Reoriented himself, Naruto nearly missed his next dodge as he dropped to the ground and rolled away from a sword larger than his entire body. Springing back to his feet, Naruto had just enough time to notice that in all the commotion, he'd somehow gotten separated from his best friend.

'Damn it,' Naruto thought, arm shaking as he blocked another massive blow. It was four against one which meant that Hinata-hime was struggling against the lion's share and he was just barely holding his own. This was not going well.

Suddenly, his back was against the wall leaving him with very little options other than to duck as a gauntlet cover fist slammed into the surface behind him. The wall, once ornate and prettier than any wall had a right to be, crumbled into a pile of dust shattering what must have been a grossly overpriced painting with it. Tucking into a roll, Naruto deftly dodged the rain of punches, kunai strikes and the deadly piercing of swords. It was pure luck really that as he rolled himself into a corner he managed to blindly pick up a piece of something that he could use to block the next onslaught.

'Oh, wow, who knew wood could be this helpful,' Naruto thought as he twirled the long piece of wood he'd managed to pick up. It was more staff than anything else, and strangely enough his body already seemed to know how to use it.

With a twist and a turn and a spin, Naruto blocked blow after blow, gaining back the ground he'd lost in a fraction of the time he thought it should take. Suddenly, he was back where he'd started. Hinata-hime to his back as they weaved in and out of each other, deftly taking down guard after guard because obviously, together they could take on anything. The whole world even, if they had to. So really, these legendary twelve honor guards of the Daimyo's were nothing compared to them.

The last hulking form collapsed to the ground with a pain filled groan and Naruto didn't waste a second before grabbing his best friend's hand to lead her away. They were good, but it didn't mean they should tempt fate. Especially not when the Daimyo looked that angry, surprise clouding his features as the weird man gasped.

"But how…" the Daimyo muttered, fiddling with a fan that seemed to come out of thin air.

Taking pity on the man, Naruto called out over his shoulder as he pulled Hinata-hime away from the scene, "Together we're unstoppable! Believe it!"

Racing through doors larger than they had any right to be, Naruto chanced one last look at the broken man, a grin etching across his lips as he watched the Daimyo collapse in defeat. They'd done it. Together. Nothing could break him from this high.

Out of the throne room, hand in hand with Hinata-hime, Naruto led them blindly before remembering that he actually had no idea how he'd even managed to get here in the first place. Turning a corner, he let his best friend's hand go, allowing her to take the lead so they could finally make it out of this maze of corridors.

As he expected, Hinata-hime easily took the lead, changing their direction to what could only be the way out, at least he hoped it was the way out. He didn't want to know what would happen to them if they got caught. 'Probably subject us to endless boring lectures. A fate worse than death.'

Of course, he knew that once they'd managed to escape, managed to get far enough away from the commotion to not have to worry about boring lectures and being caught, that his best friend would scold him something serious. She'd scold him in that tone he'd heard her use that one time when addressing one of her clansmen. Disappointed and heavy and stern in that way that she expected better and he'd failed. But that wouldn't be for another few hours which was more than enough time for him to come up with a better excuse then he wanted to rescue her from boredom. He couldn't think of a good one at the moment, but he was sure there was something. And if there wasn't, well, she'd forgive him eventually.

Naruto followed her down twists and crazy turns that had no business being in a palace. Really, how had he even made it this far in the first place? At least he wouldn't need to go back. Which was a really good thing because he'd already lost track of their position.

Eventually, after Naruto had gotten more lost than he ever thought possible, Hinata-hime slowed down, stopping at the edge of a corridor with just enough time to miss the loud thundering footsteps that ran passed them a heartbeat later.

'Ah, Hinata-hime's super sensitive ears at work,' he thought proudly. Trust his best friend to keep them out of even more trouble than he'd already gotten them into. Her hearing was their saving grace even as they continued through the maze of hallways. Stopping and shifting and turning and weaving, it took them what felt like forever before they eventually escaped into the grandest garden Naruto had ever laid eyes on. Above them, the sun sunk behind the horizon, the once bright blue sky slipping into darkness. Ready to relax, Naruto was surprised at the still loud footsteps of the hundreds of guards coming from behind them. If they didn't move now, then they'd be caught for sure.

"Sheesh! You'd think they'd give up after all this," Naruto complained as the sound of thundering steps grew louder. The heated glare Hinata-hime gave him could be felt even through the heavy fabric of her blindfold. Clearly, his best friend was not amused.

Smiling sheepishly, Naruto conceded the unspoken point, "Okay, okay. You're right. Maybe I shouldn't have interrupted your meeting with the Daimyo, but it just sounded so boring! I couldn't leave you to that fate."

"And now we are fugitives on the run."

"But we're together," Naruto quickly replied, emphasizing the most important point. They may have to run for the rest of their lives, but at least they'd be running together. "And we can beat anyone when we're together!"

Acknowledging his statement with a simple nod, Hinata-hime turned back around to lead the way as they continued their escape. Silent footsteps carried them across the strangely empty pavement of side streets and back alleys until they were well away from the Fire Nation Capital and deep within the surrounding forest and countryside. Even then, they didn't stop. As if demons nipped at their heels, they ran unendingly.

Ever vigilant, Naruto kept on the lookout for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. He was sure they were being followed. The zigzag path that Hinata-hime was leading them on only somewhat helpful as they attempted to escape their pursuers. He'd insulted the Daimyo. He really shouldn't have been surprised that they weren't giving up easily.

No, they needed to disappear, and fast.

As if the very thought summoned it, a temple suddenly appeared at their left flank. Grand and dark and more than capable of hiding them for however long they'd need it. Quietly, Naruto sent up a short thank you to whatever god was looking out for them because clearly they'd been blessed by more than just fate.

Grabbing Hinata-hime's hand again, Naruto tugged her into the safety of the temple. 'And not a minute too soon,' he thought as the pounding footsteps of their pursuers passed them. Nodding once in gratitude, an unspoken command to relax, their grasp slipped as his best friend turned to go further into the temple. She was right of course. They were safe for now. They could afford to take a moment to just breath easy.

Stepping forward to follow his best friend, Naruto first noticed strangely angled high windows. Well, they were less windows and more just openings near the top of the temple each angled to allow the bright light of the full moon to light the temple in a strange pattern.

'Or not so strangely,' Naruto thought as he turned to see the majority of the pale light landing on the statue of a woman, he thought looked a little familiar, in the middle of the room. Before the statue sat Hinata-hime, meditating or maybe just praying, he wasn't entirely sure since he'd never actually gotten around to asking her about the religion thingy that only the Hyuuga seemed to follow. Taking another step forward he was stopped as the moon light shifted. Bright and hauntingly pale, it almost burned the surface of the temple, washing it white for a moment before practically engulfing Hinata-hime and the pretty statue in its light.

Together, his best friend and the strange statue glowed an ethereal light, leaving Naruto completely mesmerized. Glancing up, Naruto took note of the fullness of the moon as it hung directly overhead. It was…

Well, it was beautiful. Radiant in a way that he really didn't have the words for and his only wish was that Hinata-hime could see it too. 'Oh, well, there's no reason I can't describe it too her,' he thought as he slid his gaze back to his best friend. There was no way he'd let her miss this. It was beyond anything he'd ever before experienced.

Except, she didn't need his eyes. Not when he turned to see a well missed gaze staring back at him. And she looked at him just as he remembered. Really looking at him, her Hyuuga gaze, alight with that slight lavender tinge that almost all Hyuuga had, he could feel everything in that gaze.

He smiled at the sight unable and unwilling to turn away. This felt… this felt right. It felt like this was the way that it was always supposed to be. And it had been far too long since he'd last seen her like this. The surety of her gaze. The strength of her stare. The unwavering quality of her attention focused solely on him. Honestly, he'd forgotten what this had felt like. Forgotten how expressive her eyes were. Forgotten what it felt like when she looked at him, her gaze speaking volumes as whole conversations were had in the wake of such silence.

He knew without a doubt that she could hear his own words as they continued to share this one look. She could hear him because she knew him.

She could hear his silent, 'I missed you'. Just as easily as he hear her responding, 'Thank you'. And he knew she heard the apology ready at the back of his throat, 'sorry, I know I could have done that better'. He knew because she knew. A surety that would never change.

Suddenly, they were thrown from their shared moment as their hidden temple was plunged into darkness. Without thought, they were back to back ready to face whatever lurked in the darkness. He could feel the threat pounding against his chest, creeping at the edge of his consciousness. It was there and it wasn't something as simple and easy as palace guards. No, this was something else. Something sinister. Evil in a way he'd rather forget.

In an instant, red light flooded the area forcing Naruto's gaze up and back to the night sky. The moon once full had waned into the sharp edges of a crescent. Hanging ominously in the sky it flashed a brilliant gold brighter than the sun before fading away to almost nothing, just a faint glow in the sky.

It was then that the shadows came alive. Huge inescapable figures that seemed to melt into existence all around them. They were trapped. This beautiful temple had been a cleverly disguised trap the whole time!

Taking a calming breath, Naruto fell into the gentle fist, taking comfort from the shift in the air that told him that Hinata-hime had done the same. Together. As long as they were together, nothing could defeat them. Not even this.

The shadows sprung at them, glowing red eyes staring back at them in the distance. Then everything went black.

Gasping for air, Naruto snapped awake.

"Whaaaaa!" His lungs ached, heart pounding as he blinked hazily at his surroundings. Each breath was a labored heave, each new pull of fresh air burning as his surroundings slowly came into focus. The clearing. Seated in nearly the same position as he remembered starting his meditation, hands firmly clutching his little orange fox, Naruto blinked away the last remnants of sleep.

The wind blew through his hair as he took in the quiet around him, a sad sigh on his lips. 'So it was just a dream then,' he thought somewhat disappointed at the prospect as he flopped on to his back, gaze pointed upwards to the clear, blue sky above him, a sky he'd been flying through only just moments prior. Or at least he'd thought he'd been flying through it. Clearly, he'd never actually left. Never lifted from the ground. Never flown past the highest treetops to touch the clouds scattered in the sky. Never raced at breakneck speeds to the Capital to rescue his best friend. No, apparently he'd been sitting here all along.

His disappointment soon gave way to a deep shiver. Even though none of it had been real, the emotions behind the dream could not be so easily dispelled. No, he'd felt true terror. Fear, undeniable and unalterable, had raced through his veins like wildfire through dry brush. Even now, his heart still raced, pounding to an unfamiliar rhythm all of its own. Which was strange because he'd never quite felt like that before. Not exactly. Not in the way that terror seeped into his very bones.

And nothing could justify it, the terror. Even with his best friend by his side it had been unrelenting, unmistakable. Only just bearable because he hadn't been alone. He feared what it would be like if she hadn't been there. Hadn't been beside him, her presence a familiar hum at the back of his mind. He wondered what it would have felt like if he'd been alone.

'But I wasn't alone,' Naruto thought with some conviction. Willing the rather depressing thoughts to leave his mind. With Hinata-hime by his side, it seemed that his demons were finally bearable. And that had to mean something. No, it had to mean more than just something.

Naruto closed his eyes and glowing red stared back at him. Cold and terrifying as they always were, but he didn't flinch away from his demon, his nightmare. Not this time. Not when Hinata-hime was still with him. He clutched the small little fox token harder, a reminder that she thought of him even when she was busy. Even when she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He was not forgotten.

Shaking the fear from his mind, Naruto pulled himself back to a seated position and concentrated on his breathing. Another connection that he was sure to share with his best friend.

In. Out. In. Out.

He wasn't sure if it was the thought of his best friend beside him, with him even if it was just in the form of a small charm, or if this meditation breathy thing was actually working, but at least his heart rate slowed to a more normal pace. And slowly, he came back to himself.

'Okay, so first attempt at meditation not a hundred percent success, but at least it was something. Really, I was doing pretty good in the first few minutes,' he thought as he pushed up from the ground.

Back on his feet, Naruto stretched with a wide yawn. At least, his impromptu nap had been invigorating. "Speaking of naps…" Naruto muttered as he rubbed under his chin. Those glowing red eyes had been hella scary, but he didn't really think he'd woken up just because of that. No, he and Hinata-hime had taken on tougher battles in his dreams before, unwinnable odds even. He was confident in their skills, even in his dreams, so that really shouldn't have woken him up.

'Yeah, that and I totally feel like a new person,' he thought with a nod. And that could only mean he'd been woken up by new memories. Hopefully whichever clone had dispelled himself had done so because of critical information and not some accidental death because honestly, Naruto was getting a little tire of how clumsy he could be.

Plopping back down to his spot on the ground, Naruto closed his eyes once more easily falling into the practice motion of looking inward. New memories found, he began the long task of sifting through them. When clones lived for this long, unfortunately, they had a wealth of mundane and completely unnecessary memories. Too many really for him to fully review. So, he shifted through them with only two relevant words in mind. Hyuuga, which was a search word that he always used, and Tsunade because unfortunately the old hag was the whole point of this mission.

Naruto frowned as he sifted through memory after memory of a smoky bar and old men gambling. Bars like that were his least favorite place, which was saying a lot because he absolutely hated the hour wait behind the local food market for his bi-weekly allotment of groceries, which barely lasted the day before rotting. 'I really don't know why anyone would want to buy milk when you can't keep it for more than a few days,' Naruto thought with a shake of his head.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Naruto noted offhandedly that the emotions of his clone mirrored his own sentiments coloring the memories with a constant feeling of distaste. Days of memories went by with only a word or two about Hyuuga and nothing relevant to his mission. Which meant that this was in all likelihood a wave of new memories caused by accidental death. Not fun to relive, but he'd still need to review it all.

'Pervert, pervert, pervert… matte ne…' Snapping his eyes open, he jumped up in excitement. Near the very end of the memories was the only woman they'd seen gambling. And she was none other than the old hag they'd been searching for! He smiled widely as he reviewed the clone's memories in more detail. Haru, it would seem, had even been invited to her hotel room.

Now, finally they could put an end to this boring mission! They could go home, or better yet, maybe he could convince Ero-sannin to swing by the Fire Capital so he could really rescue Hinata-hime. Although they would definitely not be going into any temples while they were there. Nope, no temples.

"I've gotta tell the Pervert!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping back to his feet in excitement. With more energy to burn then should probably be legal Naruto hopped around the clearing, stopping only briefly to pluck a long branch from the nearby brush so that he could reenact some of the cooler moments of his dream.

Twisting the branch in his hand, Naruto focused all his concentration on not hitting himself in the head. 'Now that would be embarrassing,' he thought as he twirled the branch around his body. 'Come on, now what was that one move?' Naruto silently questioned as he continued to spin the branch. 'Oh yeah, that's right, this,' he thought as he reversed the spin before thrusting outwards.

Unfortunately, the move didn't work quite as well as it had in his dream, or maybe he'd just gotten too worked up, and he overextended himself, using way too much force in the process. The branch nearly ripped from his hands from the movement. Overcompensating, Naruto stumbled, just narrowly managing to catch himself before diving head first into the dirt.

Zip, zip, zing!

"Nani ka?" Naruto mumbled at the odd noise. Glancing in the sound's direction, he noted three wooden shafts of what was very likely an arrow or the bolt of a crossbow. But that didn't make any sense. It especially didn't make any sense that from the angle they formed in the ground those projectiles had definitely been aimed at his head.

"Huh?" Still very much confused Naruto rolled forward when a violent shift of the wind ripped through his consciousness dropping his branch in the process.

Zip, zing, zing!

More projectiles lodged themselves into the space he'd just been. This time he'd gotten a better look at what they had been aimed at, him. 'Definitely bolts,' he thought as he rolled again, pushing off from the ground in a hand spring that left his makeshift staff where he'd dropped it just moments earlier.

Still mid-air, Naruto easily formed an all too familiar hand sign switching places with one of his clones back in their regular training area. Away from the chaos of the moment, he finally took a moment to evaluate the situation. 'Matte ne, I think…' The thought trailed off slowly as realization dawned on him. 'Someone's trying to kill me!' Naruto thought angrily, a frustrated breath escaping from his lips. "The nerve," he grumbled as he signaled to his other clones in the area, sending them back to the area he'd just left.

He let his clones take the lead, each of them slipping onto the battlefield to help the one clone he'd left dodging for his relatively short existence while he watched the scene from a distance. They certainly didn't know enough yet about his attackers for him to just go charging into the fray. Not when this particular field hadn't been rigged to explode. At least, not by him.

'Note to self, maybe I should look into the possibility of rigging all the training fields that I use,' he thought, fingers itching for one of his recorders so he could actually remember that little tidbit, but he couldn't risk giving his position away. Returning his focus back to the clearing, Naruto did his best to calculate the point of origin for the crossbow attack. That would be the best place to start.

'Okay, so there's three, no four different points of origin, but…' he took a moment to tap into his still buzzing connection to the wind. Outside himself and his clones there was only one humanlike being in the nearby vicinity. 'So four points of attack but only one person actually attacking. Probably a trap then,' he thought as he effortlessly summoned another batch of clones to scout those locations. Pervy sage had said to keep only a minimum number of clones out, but under the current circumstance, Naruto was sure even that pervert would forgive him.

Watching his clones dodge racing projectiles was not as fun as he'd always thought it would be especially right after a rather annoying comment made by said clones. In fact, he was probably never going to imagine throwing things at his clones again. At least not things that would dispel them because death by projectile was definitely not on his list of experiences to repeat.

Naruto noticed the first disabled crossbow by the loss of the attack angle. 'Good,' he thought with a nod as the dwindling number of clones in the clearing had fewer bolts to dodge. 'Means that pairing my clones up was a good idea. I should probably do that again.'

A flash of a clone's life ended by explosives alerted him that while the second crossbow was down, he was also down a clone. "A stupid clone," Naruto grumbled. The wired trap had been rather good, elegant in a way that would probably make Sasuke drool, but they were supposed to be trap masters, which meant his clones most certainly were not supposed to fall for something like that.

The last two crossbows were disabled with several more flashes of the lives of other misfortunate clones. Generally deaths he'd experienced before except for the one rather ingenious trap that Naruto was hard pressed not to steal. 'You know what. I died from that. I think I'm a little entitled to its replication,' he thought with a nod as he quickly reviewed the most glaring result of his clones actions. All the crossbows had been some automatic gadget which meant they'd disabled the machines but had left the man behind them still at large.

'Okay, so waiting it is,' Naruto thought slightly disappointed. He'd really wanted a crack at his attacker, but until he knew more he couldn't do much. 'But that's fine, this dude came after me. He certainly isn't going to leave before the job's done.'

'So, what do I know?' Naruto questioned, allowing his clones to move on to a patterned search of the area. They knew what to do. 'Well, obviously this guy wanted to catch me off guard to get the jump on me. Of course, now the cat's out of the bag,' he paused to focus back on the clearing as his two remaining clones there stood back to back ready for anything.

'Normally, you'd switch tactics once the first attack fails, so why isn't he?' He pondered the thought for only a moment before he remembered what Sakura had practically yelled at him when he'd been explaining why his hand to hand was just fine if he just kept up with the long game. 'Right, so this guy's probably no good at hand to hand. So I'll definitely want to draw him out for a close quarters fight. Or her,' he added offhandedly as he continued to wait.

"Now where are you hiding?" Naruto muttered. Suddenly another flash of a life ending too soon flooded his awareness. One of his clones had been killed by an unseen force. 'Northeast quadrant.' The information didn't give him much, but it did give him a narrowed location along with the clones still out there.

Still, his opponent was abnormally good at hiding so the next clone died in a similar fashion with a kunai shoved through his kidney before the clone could even turn to face his attacker. Naruto grinned through his grimace at the memory anyway. His opponent had just unwillingly given him more than enough information to find him. As of this moment all of the clones would be on him. They'd have him this time.

'Okay, so totally fighting a woman,' Naruto thought at the flash of the next clone's memories. The clone had gotten in enough hits for them to confirm that yes their opponent was definitely not a man and also that Sakura had been completely wrong on the whole bad at hand to hand fighting. He was definitely going to have to remember that so he could rub it in her face. 'Turns out you're not as smart as you think, Sakura.' he thought as he remembered the countless times she'd lorded over him about her superior knowledge on everything that wasn't seals and traps. Well this wasn't seals and it wasn't traps and she was most certainly still wrong.

Two nearly simultaneous flashes of memory pulled him from constructing the perfect insult to level at his friend. This woman was good. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't Sasuke or Sakura level good in her taijutsu, and she clearly didn't know much about his fighting style because his clones had managed to shift her back towards the clearing where this mess had all started. 'That and the last clone was smart enough to lay a seal on her before his death. Clone #13, you shall be remembered for your cleverness. Shall you live forever in our memories,' he thought while giving the now dispelled clone a two fingered salute.

With a plan slowly forming in the back of his mind, Naruto summoned a single clone to his side who immediately dispelled himself. His focus now fully on the clearing that his opponent circled warily from her place amongst the trees, still unwilling to rush the two head first. He watched as the clones turned to each other. A hand sign at the ready, Naruto waited for the clones to nod once before the clone on the right mirrored the motion, an equally familiar hand sign pulled up just for show. With more concentration than Naruto usually afforded the task, he summoned half a dozen clones in a semi-circle behind the two clones in the center of the clearing.

'There, now you have your target. Now time to come out and play,' he thought as his clones each palmed kunai, the reverse hold that Ero-sannin had praised for reasons Naruto hadn't bothered to listen to.

Suddenly the ground sprang up from around the six new clones' feet swallowing the four that had been too slow to react. Naruto winced at the new memories of being crushed. He never like dying that way. It always made him a little claustrophobic.

With the majority of his clones distracted and wary of the ground beneath them, they nearly all missed the dark figure that descended from the sky. With quick reflexes, the lead clone switched with one of the two clones left on the outskirts. The resulting pop and puff of smoke obscured the movements of the woman for only a moment, but apparently it was enough to have the closest clone stumbling backwards.

From what Naruto could gather, the clone had just barely managed to block with a raised kunai. Seeing their fellow clone in distress, the last two clones rushed the scene, kunai raised as they attacked together. The smoke cleared to a scene of flashing kunai and quick motions.

'Careful you idiots,' Naruto thought as he eyed the fresh cuts into the earth. Clearly, his clones had taken the initiative to apply wind chakra to the edge of their blades. Which was great as it seemed they'd managed to catch their opponent off guard at least once, but not so great with how close some of those slashes seemed to be to each other. The last thing he needed was for the whole lot of them to blow their cover because they'd killed each other. It would be the worst case of fratricide.

'Come on, come on. You just need to place one more seal on her. We should have this already,' Naruto complained, anxiously picking at a frayed string at the bottom of his jacket. He was of course not giving his clones enough credit. After all, they couldn't place this seal just anywhere. No, to get the dual seal combination to work the second seal needed to be placed directly above her navel. They had maybe a millimeter of wiggle room if that.

With another audible pop another one of his clones was gone reducing the number from three to two. At the loss of their third member, the remaining two clones jumped back to create some space. They eyed each other once, a plan at the ready. It was a plan that Naruto wasn't exactly privy to but could probably guess based on the loud scream and complete disregard for the decoy clone's person that followed.

The lead clone followed closely after one hand glowing brightly as he ran towards the woman's side. She turned the majority of her focus to the lead which was her first mistake. In an instant, the decoy clone was replaced with the lead forcing her to frantically shift focus. Hand still glowing, the clone attempted to shove it at her chest only to be stopped by a kunai in the gut.

The lead clone gasped, but held on to the last of its remaining chakra to grip the arm attached to the kunai still in its gut effectively holding her in place as the second clone finally reached her side. Her gaze snapped frantically to the second clone as she moved to block and that was where she made her second mistake because she hadn't realized that both clones would act so suicidal. Just as the second clone reached her, the lead clone popped out of existence obscuring the field in a short puff of smoke.

Naruto waited on baited breath for the smoke to clear certain only that his last clone had yet to be killed. Finally, when the smoke cleared, he was greeted to the unpleasant sight of seeing yet another clone impaled. Gaze searching frantically, a smile etched across his lips as he noticed the placement of his soon to be dead clones left hand. 'Perfect.'

"Shit, this fucker was hard to…" the woman's muttered statement faded to nothing as his last clone finally popped out of existence. "Nani ka…" she continued as she moved to jump away, but it was already too late. Suddenly, her stomach and back glowed with the power of each seal as she was stuck in place momentarily stunned as her muscles seized.

Taking that as his cue, Naruto jumped into the air, fist raised as he used gravity to mirror the aerial attack his opponent had done earlier. Wind licked at his fist as he channeled the wind around it to add a little something that was sure to have her seeing stars.

Crack!

Her head snapped back as he landed his punch, the added wind chakra tearing numerous cuts into her clothing and exposed flesh. As expected, she dropped to the ground like a rock.

"Well, that worked better than I thought it would," Naruto muttered as he bent over her checking to make sure his seal was still working and her muscles were still locked and unmovable. "Yup, way better than a stupid binding seal," he hummed as he absentmindedly summoned five more clones.

Just as he was about to turn to his clones and issue a few clean up orders, Ero-sannin raced through the clearing gasping for breath. "Kid!" The pervert yelled. "Are you alright?! I got here as fast as I could," he continued not stopping in his run until he was basically sharing the same space as Naruto.

"Yeah, I'm…" but Naruto didn't get a chance to finish as he was rather rudely manhandled. The old pervert practically lifted him from the ground as he searched every millimeter of Naruto, personally inspecting to make sure that he was actually okay. It was annoying, but…

'Well, I guess it is kind of nice to have someone looking out for me like this. Even if it's completely unnecessary,' he thought before finally pushing the old pervert away. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Really," he said as he brushed himself off. "This crazy lady came out of nowhere, but I handled it."

"I can see," the old pervert replied not so gently prodding the prone form with his foot. "You want to tell me what happened here?"

"Yeah, but maybe later," Naruto replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. They had more important things to worry about. "I've got the best news," he continued with a grin because soon enough they'd finally find that old hag and then he could finally go home. Better still, he had something really awesome to tell Hinata-hime in his next letter. She was never going to believe he took down an assassin all on his own.