I DON'T OWN NARUTO, IT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO

It's been very long since I updated anything. I'm gonna start with this.

"Normal speech"

'Characters thinking'

Absent

Chapter 2

"Remember that place, Ino?" Chouji asked, pointing to the vast lake a few miles to their right.

"Uhm… I don't think so." Said the blond haired woman, looking away from the spot his teammate was gesturing at.

"Sure you do!" Replied the auburn haired man with a smile. "We needed to find a sly thief around this forest when we were chuunins. The one that got to steal Asuma-sensei's cigarettes?"

"Not really…" The girl started to analyze her fingernails, not really caring to recall the happening.

"And also where I accidentally ran into you when you were in the lake bathi-"

"NO! I don't remember because that never happened!" Ino cut him off forcefully. "Now stop talking about it!" Hinata silently giggled as she walked just ahead of them.

"Okay." The big man grinned at Ino trying to hide her blushing face by lowering her head and staring at the dirt underneath her feet, much like Hinata tried to do when she couldn't control her own blush. They continued to walk at a steady pace in silence, having already passed the Grass border after two and a half days of traveling, they were not too far from their destiny and were due to arrive before sunset.

"Do you think Shikamaru is done with his mission yet?" Chouji began to talk again after a few minutes, not being a person that liked silent atmospheres.

"Probably." The girl responded. "If there wasn't any inconvenient, that is."

"I hope everything had gone smoothly." Said the Akimichi, adjusting the weight of his bag on his shoulders. "You never know what might happen during those ANBU missions."

"If he kept a good cover and disguise, then half part of his mission is already done." The Hyuuga said, looking at the quiet waters of the lake. Intrigued, Chouji asked,

"And what would the other part be?"

"It would depend on how well they perform the task." The girl said absentmindedly, admiring a flock of starlings that passed flying over the lake. She continued, "And they can all vary so much. It could be about assassinating an informant or a smuggler that deals with another country, either giving out information or weapons and consequently becoming a threat to our village or an ally. In middle of wars, ANBU can infiltrate an enemy village in search for information that might be useful in battle and can contribute to our strategy." That being said, Hinata remained silent and continued walking. She didn't notice her two traveling companions starting at her.

"Wow, you know a lot about ANBU missions." Said Chouji.

"Yeah, that's a far lot more than Shikamaru has dared to say." Ino said, flicking her ponytail in annoyance at the thought of her old teammate. "It's always 'confidential' or 'no comment' and, of course, 'too troublesome to answer'."

"How did you get to know all that?" Questioned the kunoichi at her indigo-haired friend. At this, Hinata's face grew somber and her head bowed to one side, concealing her eyes behind her bangs. It downed on Ino before Hinata could reply.

"Naruto…" came her voice. 'Shit!' Ino and Chouji thought at the same time, kicking themselves inwardly. That name had become taboo around the woman, all her friends knew, but there was nothing worse than when Hinata herself pronounced his name. They should've known that the Uzumaki would have shared all his missions' anecdotes with her. Silence clung in the air, as the two members of team ten thought of something to say to change the direction of the conversation, but Hinata spoke before them.

"Hoshiko town is just three hours away." The woman said, turning around. "Let's keep going." Having nothing else to add Hinata started to walk away, her head downcast. Her two companions followed after sharing a worried look amongst each other.

The streets were bursting with life as the trio made their way through the north part of town, where they were told their contact would be. Chouji had a half-eaten fried squid impaled on a stick on his hand, and was telling his female companions how good it was and suggesting they should have gotten one for themselves. Ino and Hinata could hardly hear his words due to the noise all around them.

They had been struggling their way through the busy streets for almost an hour. The villagers, as well as foreigners, were too focused buying from the different stands and stores and comparing prices to notice three jounin from the Hidden Leaf Village. At their right the trio could hear an old lady negotiate loudly and fiercely for a nice pearl necklace a bearded man had in his stall. And to the left were two young women fighting over a red purse.

It was Ino who finally took the initiative and approached a young man who had a wristwatch on his hand and was analyzing it, and asked him if he knew the man they were looking for. After taking a look all over the woman, the man nodded vigorously and pointed to a wooden house a few blocks away. Thanking him and ignoring his invitation for a date, the trio approached the small dwelling.

"Hello?" Greeted Chouji upon opening the door and walking inside. On a chair, at the end of the room, was a man sitting and holding a book in front of him. At the sound of Chouji's call, the man raised his grey eyes at the trio. "Are you Furi Otama?"

"The one and only. You're the Konoha nins, am I right?" He asked, shifting his glasses and looking at each of them.

"Hai." Responded the only male member of the team. The man nodded.

"'Ishimoshi' That's the name of the Inn you'll be staying at. You will be served dinner and breakfast, no more." Said the bald guy, returning to his book. "At sunrise you are to meet with the rest of the convoy on the west gate. You can do whatever you want meanwhile. We only care that you are on time and in condition to protect lord Toki's merchandise." Otama flicked a page from his book. "That'd be all."

The food was okay, as well as the rooms they got assigned. The Inn wasn't fancy at all but it could have been worse. It was located at the center of the town, where casinos, pubs and nightclubs were most abundant. They ate with appetite as you would expect after such a long trip from the Land of Fire. The place was cramped with tough-looking guys carrying various weapons; from katanas to nunchakus and glistening scythes. It seemed that Toki had chosen the Inn to receive every warrior that was going to work on his risky enterprise. Hinata and Ino were sent nasty looks from the men that sat on the old tables, drinking their alcoholic beverages. At this, Chouji did his best effort on looking tough and sent warning glares to the intoxicated men. It worked on the non-ninja, after seeing his Konoha headband, but the other few shinobi hired for the job just smirked. Fortunately they were more interested on their drinks and left the girls alone.

Chouji and Ino went to sleep immediately after eating, wanting to be well rested for whatever tomorrow offered. But Hinata decided to spend a few hours asking random people if they had seen her lost friend and showing them a tiny picture of Naruto. Walking out of the run-down building her friends were sleeping at, Hinata looked at the three different paths that lead away from the Inn and wondered which one she should take. She had finally picked out a stand where they sold ramen when a raspy voice talked from behind.

"It seems you're lost." Hinata turned around to face the person talking. "I wonder what's a little girl like you doing in such an ugly part of town." The Hyuuga had to crane her neck to actually see the man's face. His skin tone was a light brown. He was covered in gigantic muscles. His neck was thick and his face had several scars. One in particular stood out given that it traveled from his left eye (covered with an eye patch) to the lower part of this mouth, passing through his lips. He was wearing a sleeveless grey shirt and dark blue pants with a short sword fastened to his back. He was wearing a smirk and looked at Hinata in an amused way. The woman ignored the 'little girl' part and gave him a polite smile. She was ready to reply but the man saw her hitai-ite hanging around her neck.

"A Konoha kunoichi! You must be here on official business, then." Said the man. The indigo-haired Hyuuga nodded.

"I'm looking for someone." She said, taking out the blond's photograph and showing it to him. "Perhaps you have seen him-."

"Why don't you forget about him for a moment, or better yet, completely." The man interrupted her, ignoring the picture and shoving her hand aside with his own. "and come get a few drinks with me."

"I'll pass." Replied Hinata, saying the words she had grown accustomed to say when someone asked her this. But who could blame those men? She was beautiful beyond words, and her pupiless eyes added a mysterious aura to her personality. The Hyuuga girl sighed to herself. Kami, she hated when this happened. "But thanks, anyway." She turned away from him and started walking in the opposite direction, when an oversized hand engulfed her wrist and stopped her forcefully.

"I would suggest you reconsider." The man said with a dangerous smile. He tugged painfully at Hinata's wrist but she didn't show it.

"You are the one who should reconsider." Hinata said, shooting a glare at the guy. "Let me go before you get hurt." She meant it. But the man did something that was really brave or really stupid. He laughed at Hinata's threat.

"I'm sure you must be a good ninja, considering you're a Hyuuga." He replied after he finished his fit of laughs. "But trust me dear, I'm also a very strong ninja." Veins started to appear on Hinata's upper face and her hand readied for an attack. The swarthy man noticed this and grinned.

"Oh! You really mean it." He exclaimed, his mood was getting better by the minute. "I like them violent." Hinata was about to thrust her hand forward, aiming for his stomach, when another hand placed itself on the junction of the jerk's hand and Hinata's wrist.

"C'mon Ijime, leave the lady alone." A scrawny man said, looking at Ijime with big eyes that seemed to be bulging out of the sockets. "You have annoyed a lot of people already." Ijime looked at the shorter man with a murderous look, but it quickly vanished. There was now a forced smile on his cracked lips.

"Hn." The oversized man said, turning on his heel and walking away without saying a word.

"Excuse my friend, m'am. He just likes to fool around, but he's actually harmless." The frog like man offered a creepy smile. "By the way, that's a very lovely necklace." He pointed directly at the lilac pendant hanging loosely from her neck. Hinata felt uncomfortable at the man's unwanted attention to her precious gift. She quickly grabbed and hid it under her hitai-ite.

"Excuse me."

Now that she had declined those brutes, she'd first visit all the ramen stands on the city. Hopefully she could do it before midnight.

Hinata started strolling along the streets, Naruto's picture hanging firmly from her hand.

"Hurry up maggots, we don't have all day." Otama said from his seat on his black horse.

They had been marching for half a day now, and he was clearly nervous. His eyes looked frantically at every bush or tree that flanked their progress. He clutched at his purse tightly, obviously showing there was something of value there. Probably the money needed to maintain fifty mouths.

There were ten delivery guys, working directly for Toki's company. They were in charge of guiding the horses that pulled the trolleys and of personally handling the merchandise. The rest of the entourage consisted of 20 mercenaries and the other 20 experienced ninja from different regions.

The only good thing that happened during the Third Great Ninja War, was that Naruto managed to convince every village's Kage to join forces to defeat the ultimate evil. After the war was won, and Madara and Sasuke were killed, the union was maintained by the surviving Kages. Now ninjas from every village could be found doing different activities together, enjoying their company. Old rivalities forgotten.

Hinata noticed that most of the ninjas had their headbands somewhere visible, showing off which Village they represented. Ino had hers on her forearm, just like Shikamaru, and Chouji had his on his forehead, much like Naruto always used his.

The girl shook her head, forcing herself not to think on the man. If there came an attack and she was distracted, it could be disastrous.

"That guy's a pig." Ino said to Chouji. Hinata turned her head and found that Ino was referring to the same guy she encountered yesterday. He was sending dirty looks to the blond-haired girl, and Chouji had to stand between her and the guy so Ino could walk more easily.

The Hyuuga heiress noticed that Ijime and his scrawny friend didn't have their headbands anywhere to be seen, even if they had identified themselves as ninjas. He decided to communicate her findings to her friends. They all agreed to keep an eye out for those two.

"Girl, would you mind sweeping this area for enemies?" Otama had been informed that the girl was a Hyuuga, and she should use her eyes to prevent ambushes.

The woman nodded and proceeded to scan the area. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"We will camp here!" The leader of the convoy announced to every man and woman working for him. "Settle down, everyone! Report with Mr. Kameda for your guarding schedules." It was a clearing big enough for the whole convoy to gather. There was a steep cliff that lead to another forest, located hundreds of feet below them.

People started to dig out their cheap tents from their backpacks. Chouji took one out for himself, and Hinata took the one she was going to share with Ino out.

"Honey, you look tired." Ino said with a concerned voice. "Did you even sleep?"

"I came back at 3 am." Hinata said. She didn't regret doing it. If it helped keeping her dream alive of seeing Naruto again, she could keep going for days on end.

"You should've waited until after we finished the mission. Tsunade-sama gave us permission to look around for two whole days afterwards, you know?" Chouji said, frowning at her.

Even if no one would admit it, Naruto's old friends had lost hope of finding him way back. They knew how powerful and pigheaded he was. Some feared that he had killed himself out of pain and loneliness. They would never say it to Hinata's face, of course. Even though they hoped the girl would get over him and start a life for herself. Ino knew that she had received various betrothal offers from various powerful young men across the Country, but she had paid them no heed.

"I'm sorry." Hinata said, without being sorry at all. The girl avoided any further conversations with her teammates, proving once more to Chouji and Ino that the girl kept closing herself from anyone that disapproved of her desperate attempts to locate the Uzumaki.

Three hours passed as the convoy settled itself on the chosen spot. The crew started to distribute rations among the bodyguards, and it wasn't long before every ninja started to drink from their flasks.

"Anything Hinata?" Chouji asked, resting his head against his backpack. It was a cloudless night, and the full moon was hanging on top of them.

The Hyuuga deactivated her Byakuugan and shook her head. "Not yet. But I should keep at it."

Ino nodded her head. Hinata was about to summon her bloodline again when a familiar and distasteful voice was heard.

"You know, seeing you with that thing on your face makes me even more attracted to you." The trio turned to look at the giant looming over them. Ijime had his eye poised on top of the pretty Hyuuga.

"Eww" Ino said without trying to hide her disgust.

"Say, you're a virgin right?" At his question, Chouji stood up menacingly. Ijime noticed that once he stood up, he was almost on eye level with him. But his chubby body didn't intimidate him. Hinata was glaring daggers at the guy. She was thoroughly annoyed.

"Go away dude. I mean it."

The man crackled with mirth.

"Or what? You'll eat me?" The muscled ninja said between his ample grin.

"No. I'm gonna let herkick your ass." Chouji turned to Hinata. The girl was still glaring at him.

"Sounds tempting." Ijime said, winking at the girl. It only made Hinata clench her teeth. "I don't mind having a showdown. In fact, I'd gladly take her on."

"I'd fight you as soon as we deliver this cargo." Hinata said seriously from her place on the ground. Ijime smiled even more.

"Hmmm… That's not gonna happen." As soon as he mentioned those words, the fires that had been built around the camp suddenly died. Ino, Hinata and Chouji could feel the presence that ran around all the fires to extinguish them. All in the blink of an eye.

Chouji was busy looking around the newfound darkness. When he finally turned his head back to the guy standing in front of him, a fist met his face and threw him to the ground.

"Chouji!" Ino said, turning to look at his recovering form.

People all around them started to get on their feet, fearing the worst.

Hinata had just recovered from the shock and placed all pieces together. "AMBUS-" Her words were shut down by Ijime taking her face on his big hand. He raised the girl from the ground so he could look at her in the eye. The girl was already tasting copper.

"For you to stop using your kekkei genkai so you could talk to me..." The man savored his words. Hinata's eyes weren't still adjusted to the dark, but she could see the moonlight reflected on Ijime's only eye. "You must like me a lot!"

She saw his other arm approaching her, and the girl immediately called upon her Byakuugan, and without a second thought, pushed her feet against his chest in the form of a side kick. She watched as Ijime's grin rapidly turned into a howl of pain. He didn't have another choice but to let go of her, since his stomach was all fucked up by Hinata clogging up his tenketsu points.

"Guys!" The girl turned to their friends, who were already on their feet and had their kunai out. "We have to protect the cargo!"

Multiple presences, different from the ones that were with them five minutes ago, reached the group in less than a minute.

Endless sounds of pain and of steel hitting steel resonated through the forest. The Konoha nins ran swiftly towards the carriages that held the precious cargo. Odama was scared beyond measure.

"How did they come close so fast?!" He was asking to no one in particular.

"Sir, you should keep going while we keep the attackers at bay." Hinata said breathlessly, a single string of blood coming out of her lips.

"You heard her! Get your asses back on your positions and keep moving!" Ino clamored to the crew who were, understandingly, trembling to the bone. The man nodded weakly.

"Ino, you lead the way. Chouji will keep watch on the exposed side of the convoy and I'll protect the rear."

"Guys, come over here! We need to regroup if we want to get out of here alive!" Chouji bellowed to any other fighter who could hear. Little by little, people started to appear. Some were bleeding, and their blades were thick with blood, but deep within the forest the clamor of war was still heard. It was slowly closing in on them.

"Let's go, Ino!" Hinata yelled from her position. She and eight other men were guarding the rear. A sudden sound of metal cutting through the wind reached her ears. She ducked just in time. A kunai embedded itself against a crate that was behind her.

"What-" A man was starting to say, but Hinata noticed a piece of paper attached to the end of the knife.

The woman took it swiftly and sent it back where it came from. A controlled explosion lightened up the night and for a brief moment they could see their attackers.

Hinata counted fifteen alien presences. Seventeen if she counted Ijime and his creepy friend. They were obviously part of this.

The convoy started to move. The horses were understandably frightened of explosions.

A battle cry was heard coming from her right. She turned to see a samurai run forward to face the unknown. A few of his teammates followed, even though Hinata was screaming at them to keep close to the main group.

She never saw them again.

"They're putting quite a fight." A green-haired man said. Even if they were outnumbered, he was sure they were going to emerge victorious.

"They got ninja this time." The best swordsman amongst them said, cleaning blood off his blade. "Some good ones, according to Ijime."

"Ijime said so?" Hito asked thoughtfully, he caressed the slash across his face like he used to do when he was thinking. "Better give them our worst."

He turned to the inside man. His bony cheekbones gave his eyes a very prominent space among his face, making him look like an ogling reptile. "Kojo, go tell Kuro to stop beating on the small fry."

Kojo directed his big eyes to the man and paled. "Why me? He hates me!"

The green-haired man turned menacingly towards him. "He hates everyone the same."

"But he stabbed me once!" Protested the small man, eyes panicking.

"Better you than me, filth. Now go before I stab you myself." He pushed the little guy with his boot. Kojo turned to look at him with hateful eyes, but it only served for Hito and Ren, the swordsman, to chuckle.

"We're gonna be rich." Mentioned Ren with an ample smile.

"Well off, you mean." Corrected the leader. "Money always runs out."

"Lucky I like my job."

The scarred man nodded.

Kojo sprinted towards his objective's position by asking his comrades where Kuro was.

As soon as he encountered a trail of unconscious or moaning men, he knew he was very close by. Kuro didn't like to kill, or so it appeared. But he didn't have any problem sticking a knife on his gut just because he took the last whisky bottle from the bar. He was an enigma for his comrades. He didn't kill but always carried himself with such a killing intent that it was hard for others to look at him directly in his red, demonic eyes.

"That hypocrite." He muttered under his breath, massaging the scar on his belly. Just touching it reminded him of the pain he had to go through as he looked at the man's stoic face.

"Who does he think he is? Hiding under his masks and thinking he's better than me just because he's too lazy to finish off our enemies." He hated him, all right. But most of all, he feared him, just like all his partners in crime. Not even Hiko dared piss him off. Those eyes scared anyone.

"Someday I'm just gonna-"

"What?"

Kojo stopped in his tracks and forgot how to breath. The voice, deep and dark, startled him beyond measure.

"Finish the sentence frog-shit." The black-clad man, tall and mysterious, walked over to him from under the shadows of the trees. He had an unconscious man from the collar of his shirt and he carried him like he weighed less than a feather.

"I-I" Kojo's knees were shaking visibly. The demon watched him piss himself. His demonic eyes narrowed in disgust.

"Tch. That's what I thought." He turned his back to him and started walking away from the pitiful man. "Fucking pussy."

"Hiko… Hiko needs you to get rid of some Konoha nins." The smaller man said with difficulty. He was dully aware of the wetness on his pants.

The masked man stopped, waited a few seconds to react, and then turned on his tracks. Kojo watched, breathless, as the man approached him. Not knowing what to do, he stood still, afraid he might provoke him again.

The demon guy shoved him aside. The frog-like man was sent flying towards a tree. The unconscious ninja fell on him seconds afterwards. He felt how his breath was knocked out of his lungs.

Without a word, the tall man strode forward towards the center of the battle.

"Ino be careful! You can't use your mind control jutsu, it's too dangerous with so many enemies around!" Chouji said, using his engorged hands to sweep enemies off their feet and sending them flying towards the abyss. Every two seconds or so the big, plump man grimaced at some sharp object digging shallowly into his enormous hands.

The carriage was moving painfully slow, and the burglars were closing in on them. The horses were trudging on a narrow dirt path that was dangerously close to a cliff that led to a river fifty feet below. The sound of the water hitting rocks was clear and ominous.

"I know that!" Ino replied, throwing kunai rigged with explosives to her share of opponents.

"Go clear a path for the drivers. If we stay here we're toast!" Chouji felt how one of his engorged arms was forcefully halted in mid swing. He could barely see a tall, dark figure holding on to his hand meters away from him. "What-"

He felt himself being lifted from his fingers, and then slammed down painfully against the rocky ground. Even in his own pain, he felt how about five enemies were crushed under his fallen body. Apparently, this newcomer had no regard for his teammates' life.

"Chouji!" Ino called worriedly from her spot further down the road. The powerful man narrowed his eyes. 'Tch. What the hell are they doing here!'

"Fuck yeah!" One of the outlaws screamed out loud, preparing his katana to charge to the now defenseless entourage. An unexpected hand caught him from the back of his throat and the samurai felt himself being lifted to face those dreadful eyes. The rest of the attackers halted in their steps, fearful as to what their demon comrade was going to do.

"Are these all the Konoha-nins?" Asked the masked man in a low tone.

"Maybe? How the fuck should I know?!" His high-pitched voice was wavering as he was held hostage of those dark, red eyes. He saw just how those eyes narrowed even further, if that was even possible.

Naruto, tired of dealing with the scum surrounding him, turned on his heel and projected the man to the dark forest. He felt how the other mens' eyes were poised on him.

"This is my fight." He didn't need to shout to make himself heard. He knew every outlaw had their attention on him. He could taste their fear. "If any one of you gets in my way I won't hesitate to kill you."

Kojo, standing a few feet away from him to watch the fight unravel, raised his voice. "What the hell are we supposed to do, then?!"

The tall man turned his head slightly, just enough so the corner of his eye was poised on the pitiful man. "Go bother someone else with your presence."

Even if they all knew he was being serious, no man dared to move first. At seeing this, Naruto fully turned his back to the chariot and boomed, "Well?!"

That did the trick. Every man started their retreat to some other part of the battle. They didn't need to be told twice to stay away from the man's path. They knew what happened when he felt challenged.

'Not good.' Hinata told herself over and over.

She had watched through half an hour how most of her crew was slowly getting decimated by different kinds of jutsus.

The woman had been the author of many causalities on the enemy side, and when she thought she had the situation under control, a couple more dozen men appeared from behind the bushes and trees.

'How many are there? Are they all down here? Then what's happening with Ino and Chouji's side?'

She knew she couldn't waste chakra by wondering about her friends. She had gone through most of hers defending herself from endless attacks. Her long-ranged jutsus were the ones that consumed most of her chakra and it seemed that the leader of the group, Ijime, knew she was running out of options.

'I can't keep this up anymore.' But she couldn't let them know. The men had learned to keep their distance from her, and that left her some maneuver space. Her ears were painfully aware of the sound of rocks hitting water down the cliff. She wondered if she should risk it running towards the chariot and converge with her friends, or if she wouldn't have the chance of getting to them alive and try going down the strong current.

"Tired yet, honey?" Ijime jeered with the amplest grin. "How about you surrender to us? I give you my word, we'll treat you with the utmost respect."

Him, along with his teammates laughed cruelly at his words. Hinata saw a couple more ninja coming from the forest and she made her mind.

Releasing the last two juuken air bullets to the group as a diversion, she spun on her feet and started to run to the cliff.

"Stop her!" Ijime shouted into the forest. Hinata had already jumped to the void. She obviously preferred her slim chances down in the perilous river than with those men.

Funny enough, this was the second time in her life she decided to try her luck under rocks and water than facing her opponent. The last time she did that she was presumed dead by her own village.

A weird sound reached Hinata's ears as she was falling through the air. Suddenly, the rocky ground that she had left seconds before appeared right before her. She crashed shoulder first into the ground with an 'oof'.

She felt herself traveling back to the dreaded group. Her head ran through ideas, desperate to find at least one that would permit her to leave the situation with her life.

Grunts of triumph reached her ears, and through her pained shoulder she saw faces passing by as the piece of rock she was travelling on took her closer to Ijime and his frog-like friend. The latter had his hands in the boar sign, which signalized that he was the author of the jutsu that prevented her escape.

With her last strength, she kneeled and tried to jump away from her vehicle, but found her hair dangling painfully from the brute's enormous hand.

"Not so brave now, are you?" Ijime held her hair in front of him, making Hinata wince as her feet were dangling in the air.

"I reckon you'd feel the same if it were you alone against other 40 smelly men." Hinata said, glaring with all her might to her capturer.

"Excuses. Now, how about a kiss?" Every man in her proximity chuckled wildly at Ijime's words.

"Like I'd ever let you!" Even if Hinata had been exposed to life-threatening danger before, she could never get used to the idea that she might die at the hands of her enemy, whoever it was. That feeling was growing within her mind and stomach. She was sure that this might really be the end for her. And all before she could meet Naruto again.

Her face was manhandled by Ijime grasping her chin with his hand harshly. "Don't!" Hinata could only beg for him to stop getting closer, but she was powerless against his brute strength. Her lips were violated by those of the man assaulting her. His smell was awful, and his week-old beard scratched her face painfully.

Hinata released one pitiful tear down her cheek, before the man retreated with a victorious grin.

"That was only the beginning. When we get back I'll-" Taking advantage of his proximity, Hinata lifted her leg and placed a neat kick on his chest, right on top of his heart. Gathering the last bits of chakra her body carried, she channeled her divine blow through the sole of her feet and into Ijime's chest.

"Ijime, be careful. She's still dangerous!" Kojo warned. He walked a few steps forward to look at Ijime's face. "Ijime?"

The man, who a second before was laughing freely, was now sporting a pained face as he fell to his knees, unable to say a word.

"What's up with him?" Another man said, standing closer to get a better look on him.

The man finally fell to his knees, face resting on top of his muscled chest. Kojo approached his partner and noticed he had stopped breathing. "You bitch!"

Her turned to the girl who was trying to get back to her knees after being released. She raised her hand in a defense stance but was too weak to stop the big-eyed man from swinging the back of a kunai to her head.

Her vision blurred. Her last sight was that of two unknown men performing CPR to the giant.

Chouji was slowly reincorporating himself to his knees, but Naruto didn't want to risk a close fight.

Before the Akimichi could fully stand upright, the blond teletransported to his side.

Chouji could barely hear his girlfriend's warnings. Right before he could lift his face to this new attacker, Naruto placed a powerful kick on his stomach that sent him flying in the air.

Curiously, he landed with a crash right on top of the chariot Ino was guarding.

"Chouji!" Ino screamed in alarm. She handed the reins to one of the men from their entourage and scooted to the back of the chariot, where a bunch of wooden boxes were damaged by his weight. "Are you okay?" She took his face in her hands and noticed he was knocked unconscious.

She sighed in relief but immediately after turned back her head, fearful that the man who attacked her teammate was standing right behind them.

Fortunately for them, the dark-clad man didn't approach them as he was satisfied to take one carriage full of merchandise. He had set loose the horses carrying his chosen price.

"I think he's going to let us go." Otama said, his face white and his shirt covered in sweat. The man snapped the reins to make the horses go faster. Ino turned to him in alarm.

"What about Hinata?! We can't abandon her!"

"Listen girl, if you want to go back and fight those outlaws on your own that's fine by me. But I have to try and save what I can."

"But…" Ino looked back at the flames coming from behind the masked man. She couldn't believe how the night had turned out.

"We'll tell the police as soon as we reach town." Otama said in an attempt to appease the beautiful ninja by his side. "Be grateful that you could escape with your life."

"Hinata…" Ino was overwhelmed by the impotence that filled her up. She wasn't a fighter type. That was Hinata's and Chouji's job. But Hinata had stopped emitting her chakra signal, and Chouji was out of the game.

'Hang in there Hinata. I'll call for back up. Don't give up, please.'

Naruto trudged slowly through the dark tunnels that Hiko, the leader of the thieves, had created under the woods.

His right hand was gripping the valuable cargo that he had managed to steal from the convoy, but it didn't bring him any joy. Or any other feeling for that matter.

His head was repeating the scene he had witnessed recently. Ino, as astoundingly beautiful as he remembered her, was crying and fuzzing all over Chouji who didn't have a single chance against him.

'They're all the same.'

He couldn't explain how he knew this, but he could guess they were now a couple. Even if he had been away for so long, he could read his friends rather easily.

The last thought made him frown deeply. Pulling his balled hand right under him, Naruto punched himself square in the face. Then proceeded to shake his head vigorously.

"Not my friends!" He chastised himself loudly. "Not my anything!" His teeth were pushing against each other, fury clouding his mind.

He had no attachments now. He meant nothing to no one and no one meant anything to him. He was alone, awaiting the bittersweet death that still avoided to find him. Even though he had tried so many times.

He dully noted the taste of blood that ran along his lip. The only wound he had sustained tonight and it came from himself.

Sooner or later, no matter where he hid, his old acquaintances managed to get too close for comfort. It happened with Temari and with Kiba. The last one was the trickiest one since Akamaru wouldn't stop thinking something was up. Thankfully the Uzumaki was shrouded with Kyuubi's raw chakra, just enough to intimidate any other person and disguise his usual scent.

'Konoha will come back to take these losers down.' Naruto was sure of himself. He knew the sense of justice of his old land. 'I better get going. I've had too much of these bastards anyway.'

The dark tunnel he had chosen to go back to the tremendous cave they all lived in had started to illuminate. Even sounds were heard coming from the end of it.

'Sounds like its over.' His tone cold, as he didn't hold a drop of sympathy for any of the men he coexisted with.

"Look, he's here." One of the ninjas that worked with him said loudly. This made most of the conversations going on around the big lobby hush down.

"He brought one whole carriage by himself." Another man was telling his toothless friend. Even if they were talking openly about him, they all conserved their distance, careful not to look him directly in the eye.

"Kuro, welcome back." Hiko, the green-haired leader of them all, said with a leveled smile. "Do you need help bringing the other one here?"

They had taken to calling him that, since all his clothes were black as night. Naruto didn't look at him and walked past him towards the center of the room, where the loot was to be discharged.

"There's no other one." The red-eyed man replied darkly, placing the vehicle next to other riches.

"What do you mean?" Ren, Hiko's lapdog asked dumbfounded. "There were supposed to be two more carriages full of miniature gold sculptures." Hiko watched silently as Ren hurried to the carriage and opened different boxes. Effectively, ballerina sculptures poured down one of them.

"Well?!" Given that he had the full protection of Hiko, Ren didn't hold back on anyone. Not even Kuro. Not that the demon-eyed man gave a damn.

"The other one fell into the river. Along with the drivers. I doubt they survived." The blond kept walking past them, towards the bar. But Ren did something both brave and stupid.

Naruto looked down at the man that dared stand between him and his booze. His hair starting to tingle in anticipation for a good battle.

"You wasted a whole cargo worth of gold?!" Even the tone Ren was taking with Kuro made Hiko stand up to calm him down.

"If you're so eager to get it, why don't you jump off that cliff too?" Kuro looked calm from the outside. But Hiko knew it wouldn't last long.

"Maybe if you hadn't shooed the men away we could be-"

"Ren." Hiko called. The samurai stopped talking at once. "Let's talk about this tomorrow. Right now, is time to celebrate."

"We even got a woman for us." Kojo piped in with a grin from his place on top of a big barrel of beer. This earned cheers from the rest of the men.

Naruto was about to ask the pathetic man about the woman they were talking about, but a shimmer in his hands shut his mind down completely.

"Man, I hope Ijime leaves something for the rest of us." Another man, with all his top teeth covered in gold, said with a sigh.

"We better call him back soon. I'm supposed to be next."

"I'm next after Ijime, Suan, don't forget your pla-" A hand had suddenly wrapped around Kojo's already delicate throat. His words choked instantly, and his eyes almost popped out from the initial force of the grip.

Kojo's mug of beer came crashing down to the stony ground. Every pair of eyes on the cave turned to look at Kuro, crushing Kojo's throat.

"Hey, what-" Ren started, but Naruto payed him no mind.

"Where…" Naruto was talking so close to Kojo that he could feel the beer still bubbling on his throat. "… did you get that?"

Now that he was as close to the object as he could, Naruto saw that it was exactly what he thought it was.

"I-I-I-I…" Kojo tried to talk but Naruto's grip was strangling him.

"You're gonna kill him, get away from him you son of a bitch!" Three men ran to aid the poor asphyxiating bastard. But no matter how hard they pulled at his arms, the man was unmovable.

Naruto had his attention divided in two. One was expecting the ugly man to answer, while the other part was transfixed, staring at the oh so familiar gem that was shining in front of his eyes. He could never forget the jewel he himself had handpicked and placed on top of Hinata's neck. "TELL ME!"

"Who-man… Woman." Kojo managed to say through his mangled throat. After getting the answer he demanded, but didn't expect, Naruto let him slip through his fingers. He took three calming breaths, ignoring the people talking to or about him. Except breathing didn't help his nerves. He didn't know what to think. How could he think? The necklace he thought was buried alongside his woman was now hanging from his fingertips. Looking at it made it so easy to recall her eyes and her face. He felt exposed and confused. Then he remembered Kojo's answer.

'What woman?' For some reason he saw from the corner of his eyes the men walking slowly towards him, ready to pounce. He wouldn't let these scumbags take it away from him. Not now, not ever. 'Where is she?'

Not knowing what to think of whoever was that had been hanging onto his necklace before, but decided to ask her himself, Naruto did a simple search with his enhanced senses throughout the enormous cave. 'With Ijime!'

Ren, who had already his unsheathed sword on his hands, leapt forward to try and immobilize the dangerous man that towered in front of them. But in the blink of an eye, Kuro was gone.

He covered the distance from the bar to the occupied bedroom in less than five seconds.

He stood for a couple of seconds in front of the wooden, decaying door, not really ready for what was supposed to be behind it.

'What if it's her sister? Or another Hyuuga?' That was the only sense he could put on the situation. The necklace burning deep in his pocket was almost making him crazy.

Whatever the answer may be, he would only find it if he opened the door. Feeling more exposed than he had ever felt in the last two years, the masked ninja tried to open the door but found it locked. He took a step back and pushed all his weight on the door. The hinges were easily destroyed and the door gave way to the dim-litted room, where Naruto could only see a small candle giving light in the deepest cover of the room, right next to a makeshift bed.

He noticed the door halted its path when the wood encountered the unmoving body of Ijime, lying uncomfortably on the hard floor.

"Oi." Naruto said, trying to make sense of the situation. For a single second he forgot what he came looking for, but a swift shadow reminded him that he wasn't supposed to be alone in that room.

A war cry was the only answer he got from the woman in front of him. Even if he was caught off guard, Naruto easily grabbed the hand that was directed to his chest like it was nothing, but the burning feeling that started to spread from his lungs to his brain reminded him that it was most probably a Hyuuga he was dealing with.

"Who are-" He was not quite overrun with pain yet, but anticipating this, the unnamed figure ran her leg against Naruto's weakened stance and with a last attack, ran her extended palm onto his neck.

Naruto, overwhelmed by the vicious attack he had been subjected to, fell to the floor ungracefully while his vision blurred to a point of total darkness.

The only thing he could see was indigo-colored hair waving to him as the woman made her way out of the room.

"What the fuck happened now?!" Hiko asked, a vein palpitating on his forehead as he was running swiftly towards the center of the commotion. Other then guys were running alongside him, amongst them his faithful samurai.

"The girl that Ijime brought in escaped and is running around and knocking out our men." Ren said, holding his two swords carefully as he ran.

With a distasteful sound, Hiko cursed out loud. "Where's Ijime now?"

"Unconscious in the east wing. Kojo says that fucker Kuro was also taken down." Ren informed gravely.

This made Hiko stop short on his tracks. "Is that a joke?!"

"No sir, Kojo is looking at them right now, along with Suan and Hiriko."

'A woman was able to beat Kuro? That's…'

"Are you positive that Kuro's out cold?" Hiko asked again, with a serious glint in his eye.

Ren repeated his question to his ear transmitter. After a couple of seconds, Ren nodded at him.

"Detain him until we've dealt with the woman." The green-haired man ordered. His companions looked at him with disbelief.

"Kojo asks how in the world is he going to do that. Remember he's a beast when he wants to be." Ren, although not fond of Kuro in any way, was aware of how strong he really was even if they hadn't been able to see him go all out.

"Ijime was supposed to place a chakra cancelling collar on the woman upon her entrance here." Hiko said calmly. He regained his brisk pace. "He obviously failed in his attempt as she is now rampaging my hideout. Use it on him instead, before he wakes up."

'A few hundred meters more.' Hinata thought in distress. Her head was pounding painfully as the chakra exertion was starting to catch up with her. Her chakra was diminishing rapidly, but Hinata was taking her body to the limit as she ran and thrashed any man that got on her way to the nearest escape route.

So far, she had dealt with eight attackers. None of them was ready for her piercing-chakra attacks, and they all were left unconscious or nursing their detained chakra points.

'If I could get there and jump before the others reached it first, I could be with Ino and Chouji in less than 8 hours.'

Her wishful thoughts turned into prayers, since a convoy of fifteen men were running from another route to prevent her from escaping down the waterfall that she was starting to hear. She forced her legs to go faster, even if it hurt to do so. Sweat was running on the side of her neck as she finally caught a glance of the falling water that deafened any other noise that was made near it.

Hinata calculated five ample leaps before she was finally out of this hell hole. When she was preparing herself for the second one, an unnoticed kunai nicked at her neck. The roaring sound of the water falling prevented her to notice it, and the chakra depletion didn't let her keep her Byakugan for long so she had to neutralize it while she was saving the little chakra she had left for the fight that was about to ensue.

Dimly aware of her bleeding neck, she fell into battle position as four guys approached the end of the cave with swords and knifes glinting in the candle-lit room.

Other four approached her warily from behind, and finally, the ones with more chakra arrived walking decisively towards her.

"You do realize we can't let you go, right?" A good-looking samurai-esque man directed his words at her. A few grunts from his comrades erupted in agreement.

"It's definitively a Hyuuga, boss." One man said to a green-haired guy that had reached the scene. Hinata took a second to locate the noise, as she had to be aware of her enemies encircling her.

"I've dealt with Hyuugas before. It's better not to engage in close combat." Announced the commanding voice of what Hinata thought was the leader of the gang. Her eyes finally reached the man and for a moment the world around her stopped moving.

Hinata was taken back to that terrible day two years ago, where her fight reflexes had been suppressed thanks to a poisoned dart that her enemy had managed to insert on her ankle through a very elaborate underground assault. The green-haired man, in that moment sporting a nasty gash on the left part of his face from Hinata's successful attack, presented himself to her with recognition all over his face.

Ren noticed how his boss's usual peaceful stare transformed into a hateful glare. Hinata felt the power behind his hate and gritted her teeth.

"Hey boss?"

"Everyone, listen!" Hiko made his voice boom so it could be heard. "5,000 yen to the one who kills her first."

"You're doing it wrong. His hands are supposed to stay behind his back, not in front."

"Like that?"

"Looks a little loose. Maybe you should tighten the rope more around his wrists?"

"Why am I the only one doing this?"

"What are you talking about? It was me who managed to find the colla-"

"Shhh."

"What?"

"He's waking up."

"What the hell are you doing on top of me?" Naruto, still not fully aware of his surroundings but rather busy trying to focus his sight, demanded to Kojo and his stupid friends.

"You think we'll tell you?! Why don't you go back to sleep before Hiko comes back and beheads you?" Kojo, temper flaring up as he talked down to the guy who had almost killed him more than once, sat down with effort.

"The fuck are you talking about?!" Naruto was scrunching his eyes to see in the darkness. There was Kojo and Suan and another guy whose named slipped his mind. Ijime was still laying still on the floor. He tried to stand up and noticed that his hands were shackled behind his back. "Why am I tied up?"

"'Cause you're a fucking psychopath! We can't let you free after you let our targets escape with half the merchandise just because you wanted to." Suan answered with delight in his eyes. It was clear for Naruto that no one liked him even a little bit. Not that he cared. "Hiko is getting you for that."

"And for almost killing me for a shitty piece of jewelry!" Kojo felt the need to speak too. He had a bloodshot eye thanks to Naruto's most recent attempt on his life.

At the mention of Hinata's collar, Naruto recalled why exactly he had been knocked unconscious. Immediately after, the indigo hair reached his memory and Naruto remembered that he needed to get to that woman, whoever she may be, and get some answers out of her. He called his chakra forward, but felt a sizzling pain on his chest and stomach as he did so.

The smelly trio cracked up laughing as they saw Kuro struggle with the pain.

"You idiot, you can't mold charka." Kojo pointed to a heavy black device hanging from Naruto's neck. "You've been neutralized for the sake of the gang. You can't escape."

Naruto contemplated his dilemma for a second, then jumped to his feet without warning and snapped the chains hanging from his wrists like they were nothing. He turned to the fearful trio and, out of habit, went for the throat of Kojo.

"I'm not trying to escape." With a swift snap of his wrist Kojo lay motionless, right next to his buddy Ijime. He turned his eyes to the other two. He noticed how their mouths hung open when he went into the more illuminated hall. "I'm going to kill you all and I don't need chakra to do that."

"Y-Your… Your eyes!" Suan, who was pointing directly at him, spoke in terror. Naruto faced him with a punch powerful enough to break his neck and cheek bones. His companion ran away in fear, but Naruto sent a kunai flying straight to the back of his head. The hall was silent in less than a minute.

'How can I track her without chakra?' As soon as he tried to call forth his usual Kyuubi chakra, the apparatus hanging from his neck activated a painful response that shocked all of his body. It got worse the more he tried to mold chakra.

A faint buzz coming from the room caught his attention. He took a few steps towards Kojo's body and the closer he got, the closer he heard Ren's voice.

'Now that is convenient.' The ninja retrieved Kojo's receiver from his ear and put it close to his own.

"-tention, everyone. Hiko is offering 5,000 yen to the one who kills the Hyuuga first. Did you all maggots hear that?"

Naruto asked a simple "Where." Into the receiver and in a minute he was going at his full speed down the corridor and towards the Waterfall Room.

On his path he witnessed a few of his ex-comrades in crime helping each other get to their feet. Apparently, this woman was someone to be careful with.

Why would she have Hinata's necklace? Even if it didn't show, Naruto was feeling more desperate by the second.

'I need to get to her before she gets killed.' He also needed to get away from the cave before Hiko sent everyman against him. Without the ability to mold chakra freely, that could prove to be a problem.

He finally reached the perimeter 5 of Hiko's guys formed on the entrance. They all had their backs to him as their attention was with the slender Konoha nin that was handing their asses to all of them.

Finally able to see her better, the blond halted his steps. 'Is that?'

Her clothes were tattered in numerous places, and her body spun rapidly with the grace of a Hyuuga from the main branch while she deflected knifes, darts and water based jutsus with her bare hands. Even in the terrible situation she was in, even with blood adorning half her face and arms and sides, even if she had her posture all hunched up given the impending chakra depletion, Naruto thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in years.

"H-H-H-" His eyes widened as much as they could. He gave a step back, like the mere sight of her was a blow to his stomach. The world seemed to stop all around him, and Naruto dropped the kunai he had managed to gather on his way to the battle.

'How?' Naruto felt himself loose all his strength and resolution.

He wasn't prepared for this. It was too good to be true. Not even in his wildest dreams…

The sound of steel hitting the floor startled the bandits guarding the perimeter. Two of them turned around to find an open-eyed, blue-eyed, Kuro sinking onto his knees with a dazed and fearful expression.

"It's her." Kuro gasped to no one, but there were people listening to him now. He felt himself hyperventilating and loosing grip on his sanity.

"What's he doing here?" One guy asked to his partner.

"I don't know. I thought he was detained right now. What should we do?"

"Let's take him down while he still has the collar."

Naruto didn't register his ex-partners conspiring to kill him. He was entranced by the Hyuuga moving painfully to escape her death. He registered how her eyes were red-rimmed by the over use of her Byakuugan. He recalled she told him how much that stung her eyes. For most people, it was almost impossible to guess where a Hyuuga was looking because they didn't possess pupils. But with Naruto was a different story.

It took him years to finally learn. Her eyebrows were furrowed deeply, and she was turning her head to the cave opening. The waterfall that lead to a certain death given that Hiko had reshaped the stones that adorned its depths to dissuade people from trying to climb them.

Naruto, although frozen in place, started seeing the scene that was about to play in front of them before it even happened. He knew she knew she was finished trying to keep the battle going. Her nosebleed was a testament she had run out of chakra a while ago.

On the corner of his eye he also saw Hiko screaming abuse at his men out of impatience. He was done watching his men's approach fail against the clever Hyuuga and he fell to his knees as he started to summon a jutsu.

Hinata also noticed that the boss was about to enter the fight, and she had no business fighting him. She deflected the last kunai with her palm, cutting herself in the process but paying no mind to the sweet pain. She took two paces towards the waterfall and then pounced her legs for the dive.

Numerous knifes and arrows followed her form but reached her just seconds after the black-clad man reached her first.

Hiko watched, incredulous, at Kuro sprinting out of nowhere to embrace the woman to cover her from the stone-molded knifes that rained on top of her.

"What the fuck." He breathed. His men also watched as the couple was swallowed by the water.

Thanks for reading even after all this time. Did you like it? Little bit too dark? Good.

Review!

- Paty