I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This story takes place after the Naruto Shippuden Invasion of Pain arc.

Italics mean thoughts.

"Italics with quotes mean conversations with the nine tailed fox Kurama."

Stranded Is a Good Way To Be

Naruto really liked watching the rain. He liked watching hard rain more and freezing rain the most. Being out in the rain wasn't his favorite thing but he could stand it. In his current situation however, he was beginning to hate the rain. He and several other ninja from Konoha had been assigned an A-rank mission of stopping some pirates that were attacking ships and making tensions rise between Konoha and the Village Hidden in the Sand. Naruto hadn't originally been on the team but had literally begged Tsunade so that she would let him go. She had eventually made him a deal. He would be allowed to go if he would at least act half as mature as his age. Naturally, he had agreed.

So here he was, standing alone on the deck of a cruise ship, it freezing rain, bound for the port village nearest to the Sand Village. The ship was a decoy but it had worked. The pirates had taken the bait and were currently surrounding him while the rest of the team escaped. Naruto had fooled the pirates into thinking he was alone and they were getting ready to kill him and sink the ship. The first of those wasn't going to happen. The second, was already happening. The pirates had blown a hole in the back of the ship and it was sinking fast. The others were escaping the sinking ship and the army of pirates. Initial reports had said there were only a few pirates. The reports were clearly a little bit off. There were a few hundred pirate ships and each ship had about three hundred pirates. Naruto had already sunk a few ships with long range jutsus but now he was facing more than half of the pirates.

All of the pirates had machines that had six sets of six long tubes. Each set of tubes spun independently and all of the sets also rotated together. The tubes was attached to a large cylinder and the cylinder had one handle that was just a fixed ring that was used to hold onto. There was also a handle on back that was shaped like an "L" with the lower part connecting to the back of the cylinder. The top of the back handle had a red button. When the button was pushed the sets of tubes would begin shooting kunai with frightening speed and the tubes would rotate so that each barrel shot once per rotation. The sets would rotate to make it impossible to plug on of the tubes.

"Now what are you going to do kid?" The leader of the pirates asked while aiming his machine at Naruto.

"There's no way I can win," Naruto said. "So why should I try?"

"We know you aren't working alone kid," the leader said. "Where's your team?"

"Don't need one," Naruto said making an army of shadow clones.

The clones pushed and Naruto dropped to the floor as the pirates began blasting the clones and destroying them. When the pirates stopped Naruto stood and smirked.

"Nice trick," the pirate said. "Not a good enough one for a shrimp like you to be sent alone to stop an army of pirates."

"We got reports of there being only a few pirates that were armed with clubs, cudgels, and swords," Naruto said.

"The other group," the leader said. "They're our rivals. We took them out a couple days ago."

"That's nice," Naruto said distractedly while looking at his watch.

"He's stalling," a pirate shouted.

"That's right," Naruto said. "This ship was a fake. We knew you'd sink it so we trapped it. The moment the water reach's the engines...B.O.O.M."

"Define boom," the leader said.

"B.O.O.M." Naruto said. "As in Big Old Obvious Massacre."

"What?" the leader asked.

"The engines and fuel tanks are covered in paper bombs," a pirate said.

"B.O. ." Naruto said smiling.

The pirates all aimed at him but the leader held up his hand and dropped his machine. Then he charged at Naruto and Naruto grabbed him and threw him at the pirates. They all began shooting and accidentally killed the leader but Naruto easily jumped to the ceiling and played spider man as he pretended to crawl out on the ceiling and then leapt into the water and saw that the water would be at the engines in a matter of minutes. Then he came up for air and looked around. His friends were paddling away in a life boat but one was missing. He could see her on the ship. The pirates had caught her.

"Hinata," Naruto said as he swam to the ship and began running up the sides.

He pulled out his only smoke bomb and jumped over the railing. He threw the bomb and it exploded covering the entire deck in smoke. Naruto ran to Hinata and knocked out the pirates that were holding her then ran back and leapt over the side with her in his arms bridal style. They splashed into the water and came up for breath instantly. Hinata seemed to be a little dizzy but what really got Naruto worrying was the blood that was surrounding her. Naruto began to walk on the water and climbed out so he was standing on the surface and then knelt in front of her and she climbed on. He stood and began running after the rest of the team. Before they had reached the minimum safe distance, the boat exploded. The concussion sent Naruto flying but he managed hit the water running, literally. He thought they were all clear until a large piece of metal hit Hinata in the back of the head hard enough to make Naruto stumble and fall.

He landed on his hands and knees and looked at Hinata. Her head was bleeding badly but he couldn't do anything about it. He stood and looked around. The boat was gone and so were the pirate ships. His team was barely a speck on the horizon now. Naruto sprinted after them and didn't slow down no matter how much his sides began to complain.

"Give me some help Kurama," Naruto thought.

Kurama was silent so Naruto just lifted Hinata a little higher and ran faster. He wasn't getting any closer to his team but he knew that they would have to stop and they were headed toward an island. Naruto pulled a small rectangular box with three compartments. Each compartment had a food pill. The first was green, the second was yellow, and the third was red. Each was smaller than the last and Naruto knew the penalty for using each, especially the last.

"Thank you for letting me have these Choji," Naruto said to himself. "Looks like they will come in handy after all."

Naruto ate the first pill and barely managed to stay on his feet when the pain hit. He kept running and the extra energy was enough for him to run faster than he could before. He sprinted as fast as he could until the pill wore off then ate the second. The pain was worse but he managed to keep going. His team had reached the island and were making a fire. Naruto sped up until every muscle in his body was screaming. He was about a mile away and was praying that someone would see him before he had to eat the last pill.

As if in answer to his prayer Sakura looked up and spotted Naruto. She told Tsunade and both sprinted out onto the water to meet them. The only problem was that Naruto was less than a second away from the second pill wearing off. He took Hinata off his back and used the last bit of energy he had to throw her to Tsunade. Then the pill wore off and his legs stopped working. He bounced and slid across the surface of the water for over a hundred feet then crashed into the water and floated to the surface unconscious. Sakura reached him and lifted him onto her back then ran back to the beach. She carefully set him down and then began to heal him with Medical Ninjutsu. She had never seen that much internal damage but knew what it was since the box with the red pill was still in his hand.

While Sakura was healing Naruto, Tsunade was healing Hinata. She had received a cracked skull from a pirate but when the metal hit her head her skull had smashed. Tsunade called it a miracle that Hinata had survived at all. It was an even greater miracle that the bone fragments hadn't gone into her brain. Instead they simply pressed against the brain and caused her to go into a coma. Tsunade was able to heal Hinata completely in a matter of minutes but didn't know when she would wake up.

"At least she's alive," Sakura said. "Naruto will be fine. He'll wake up in about an hour."

"Good," Tsunade said.

Before she had even finished the word, Naruto sat up and looked around. He saw Hinata and the worry was clear on his face. The memory was also clearly visible in his eyes. He was remembering Hinata fighting Tendo Pein to try to save him. He had been helpless to save her then and he felt the same way now.

"She's okay," Sakura said. "She'll wake up soon."

Naruto nodded but she could tell that he didn't hear a thing she felt. They could all see the red chakra beginning to rise off of his skin.

"Naruto," Sakura said tanking his hand. "Hinata is going to be fine. You have to focus."

Naruto blinked and the chakra disappeared. He nodded and made thousands of his shadow clones. They all wordlessly scattered into the trees and a moment later Naruto lifted Hinata and began carrying her away. The others followed and after a couple minutes they all reached a cave that had a small entrance but was big enough inside for them to play baseball. Naruto could use his Rasenshuriken in the middle and wouldn't destroy the the walls.

Naruto walked to the back and carefully set Hinata down then sat next to her and went inside himself to scream at Kurama for not helping.

"KURAMA!" Naruto shouted at the demon.

"What?" Kurama asked sleepily.

"Where the heck were you when I asked you for help?" Naruto asked.

"Sleeping," Kurama said. "It's boring in here when you're not fighting."

"SLEEPING!?" Naruto roared. "I nearly died! HINATA NEARLY DIED!"

"I'm sorry," Kurama said. "What happened?"

"We found the pirates," Naruto said a bit calmer. "They had machines that shot kunai nearly too fast to see. They sunk the ship and when the paper bombs went off, Hinata was hurt badly. She was healed by the others but now she's in a coma."

"Coma huh?" Kurama asked. "She got hit in the head?"

"Yes," Naruto said.

"Keep her warm and fed," Kurama said. "After that, she'll wake up when she's ready."

"Thank you for the advice," Naruto said.

Naruto came back to awareness and brushed a strand of hair out of Hinata's face and tucked it behind her ear. Then he stood and walked out of the cave.

"Can you help me find things that we'll need to survive?" Naruto asked.

"Why not," Kurama said. "Maybe we'll find someone to fight. Who's in the team?"

"Me, Hinata, Sakura, Tsunade, Tenten, Ino, Hanare, Uzuki Yugao, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Yamato, Neji, Shikamaru, and Temari," Naruto said.

"At least you're in good company," Kurama said. "Are any naked?"

"By now, most likely," Naruto said.

"Any female?" Kurama asked.

"Probably not, Mater Jiraiya is here," Naruto said.

"True enough," Kurama said. "Let's take a look around. First we need food. Berries, fish, meat in general. Medicinal herbs are second on the list."

Naruto walked a little farther from the others then sent out more clones. After a couple minutes they all met back up with what they found and Kurama told him what was usable and what wasn't. Turned out that most of the stuff was good. The clones took the supplies back and Naruto kept hunting. After about an hour he went back dragging fifteen dead boars and twelve dead dear. When he got back Tsunade ordered most of the food to be buried to keep it edible. Naruto began to cook the rest while Kurama told him what to do.

About an hour later he was done and Kurama had even showed him how to extract most of the nutrients from the food in the form of a liquid for Hinata. Before Naruto ate anything he carefully gave the nutrient drink to Hinata. When he was done he carefully laid her back down and agreed with Kurama that they would eventually need to make bedding. He ate half a fish and a handful of berries then left the cave again and Sakura was about to follow but Tsunade stopped her.

"He feels like he's helpless so he's trying to do what he can to make up for not being able to save her," Tsunade said.

"But-" Sakura began.

"He just needs some time," Tsunade said.

Sakura nodded and sat against the wall. Naruto gathered leaves and anything else he could find that could be used for bedding. After a few hours he went back to the cave and began to make beds. When everyone had a bed he made blankets and pillows. When he was done that he left the cave again and walked around the edge of the island until he found the wreckage of a ship. He sent shadow clones in and they got everything they could find and took it to the cave. Naruto kept searching and found a single dead body. It was a ninja from the hidden snow village and had fifteen packs of kunai and Shuriken. He even had on pack of summon scrolls and one pack of flares, matches, and paper bombs.

Naruto got the packs and carried it to the cave then tossed it to Kakashi and walked over to sit by Hinata. He knew that she was okay and wasn't in danger with all of them there but still felt like he should be protecting her.

"Could you please shut off the love fest?" Kurama asked. "I'm getting sick."

"Sorry," Naruto said. "I'm just worried."

Kurama stopped talking and Naruto knew he was done talking for a while. He sighed and leaned back. He was glad that Kurama was going to leave him alone and was equally glad that the others were all out of ear shot.

"Hinata," Naruto whispered. "You have to wake up. I never got to tell you the truth. When you saved me from Pein, I couldn't protect you. I swore I would never let you be hurt again. I guess I failed. Starting now I really won't let anything hurt you. You told me that you loved me, and I never said anything back. I'm sorry about that. Please, if you can hear me, wake up. I can't live without you. I...I love you, Hinata. Please...I can't lose you."

He knew she probably couldn't hear him but he had to tell her how he felt. He gently picked her up and laid her on her bed then sat next to her with his back to the wall and watched her sleep. One by one the others all went to bed. Naruto was the only one up so he left the cave and went to the beach. Sakura followed him since she was having trouble sleeping.

When she got to the beach, Sakura found Naruto sitting just above the water with his legs hugged to his chest and his face in his arms. He was silently crying his eyes out and Sakura felt horrible. She somehow managed to feel like it was her fault. She walked over and sat next to him then pulled him into a hug. He didn't pull away but he didn't hug her back either.

"It's okay," Sakura said. "She's safe. You don't need to protect her. And you did protect her. She's alive because of you. If you hadn't gone back for her she would have died on that ship. Then she would have died again if you hadn't risked your own death using the pills."

"I didn't do enough," Naruto said. "After...After that...I swore to protect her. But I couldn't even protect her from a stupid piece of metal."

"You did everything you could and no one could have done as much," Sakura said.

"You and Tsunade did," Naruto said. "You saved me and Tsunade saved Hinata."

"We're medical ninja," Sakura said. "That's our job. But we both left Hinata to die on that ship while you went back to save her."

"Could you teach me?" Naruto asked.

"Teach you what?" Sakura asked.

"Medical Ninjutsu," Naruto said.

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. "But I'll try."

Sakura pulled out a summon scroll that she had been given to train with and showed Naruto how to use basic Medical Ninjutsu. He began to try to revive the dead fish but with no success. Sakura wasn't surprised considering that even Tsunade had trouble with that task. After a couple more failed attempts, Naruto pulled out a kunai and slit his wrist then healed it. Sakura smirked at his idea for practice. She used her own Medical Ninjutsu to check his and found that he had actually done better than her.

"You're better than I am," Sakura said. "Good job."

She taught him some more advanced Medical Ninjutsu including how to use it as a weapon. Then she taught him how to use it to transfer body parts like eyes from one body to another. With that done she had nothing left to teach him so they went back into the cave and Sakura fell asleep instantly.

Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep. When he did, he didn't realize it at first. Not until Hinata sat up and glared at him.

"You didn't protect me," Hinata said turning pale and getting thinner. "You let me die!"

"No," Naruto pleaded. "I tried to save you. I did. I didn't see the chunk of metal coming."

"YOU SHOOD HAVE!" Hinata yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto said trying hard not to cry.

Hinata pulled out a kunai and raised it. She swung it toward Naruto but before it hit he sat bolt upright in his bed panting and sweating. He was freezing and knew it was because of his dream.

He saw that it was daytime and everyone was facing away but kept shooting him worried glances. Sakura was sitting next to him with a bucket of cold water.

"Where'd you get that?" Naruto asked.

"There's a stream about a hundred yards west of the cave," Sakura said. "You have a bad fever. You've been out of it for days."

"How long?" Naruto asked.

"Seven," Sakura said. "Before you ask, no, Hinata hasn't woken up yet."

Naruto's face fell and he leaned back against the wall of the cave. He couldn't get Hinata's sunken lifeless face out of his mind. Eventually Kurama took pity on him and forced the image out using a rather disturbing image from Kurama's last host. The image quickly faded and Naruto thanked Kurama.

"Anytime," Kurama said.

Naruto felt tired and knew he needed to sleep but didn't think he could take another dream like the last.

"You need rest," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded and laid back down on his bed. He closed his eyes and was greeted by Hinata's face yet again so he opened his eyes again and saw that Hinata was fine. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This time he only saw black. He fell asleep quickly and when he woke up again he was alone in the cave with Hinata. He sat up and checked Hinata to find she was running a fever. He looked around and found a fairly damp cloth next to his bed that must fallen off of him. He decided against using it on her in case she caught whatever he had. He felt fine but he did wonder where the others were. He was about to get up when Sakura walked in with a bucket and water.

"Hey, you're up," Sakura said. "Good. You're fever went away a while ago but now Hinata's got one. I just went to get some more water. Toss me that cloth will you?"

Naruto did then asked where the others were.

"The girls are getting cleaned up and the guys are sparring near the beach," Sakura said.

"And you believed all of them?" Naruto asked.

Sakura grinned as she caught his meaning then shook her head.

"Kakashi and Jiraiya wouldn't try anything with Tsunade there," Sakura said.

"True," Naruto said.

He suddenly felt itchy and looked under his shirt. His skin was all but glowing reddish pink. He resisted the urge to scratch but did use Medical Ninjutsu to check himself. He figured out that it was all from a bug bite that he was allergic to and killed the bug. He had Sakura use her Medical Ninjutsu to heal him as best she could then got up and went to the beach.

All of the guys were indeed there and Jiraiya seemed to be training them. Naruto swam out into the water and floated around for a while until Kakashi sent a Water Dragon at him. He simply made a couple hand signs and and grinned.

"Wind Style, Pressure Damage," Naruto said and the blast destroyed the dragon.

Naruto went back to swimming and after a couple minutes he sat up so fast he nearly flipped over. He could hear a grass whistle that was hauntingly familiar but as soon as he was about to place it, it was gone.

"Did you guys hear something?" Naruto asked as he walked out of the water.

"No," Kakashi said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine," Naruto said.

Just then all of the girls got to the beach and Naruto knew that if it were possible to get a nose bleed from arousal, every male on the beach except for himself would be wiping blood off of their shirts. Naruto wasn't affected in the least. He walked to the stream and then followed it to the pond it started from. He washed his clothes in it then took a very fast bath and got dressed again. When he was done he went back to the beach and found almost everyone making out with someone. Jiraiya and Tsunade were, Temari and Shikamaru were, Kakashi and Hanare were making out through Kakashi's mask, Yamato and Uzuki were, and Neji and Tenten were. Only Ino wasn't making out and she didn't look happy about it.

"Lonely?" Naruto asked smirking.

"Wish Sai were here," Ino said.

Naruto smiled and shook his head.

"He wouldn't be kissing you," Naruto said.

"No," Ino said. "He'd be asking why everyone is kissing."

"Actually he's been reading Jiraiya's books so he'd be asking why everyone doesn't have a bed," Naruto said.

"Oh good God," Ino said. "He hasn't has he?"

"Yep," Naruto said. "He's probably going to jump you."

"Oh good lord," Ino said. "He wouldn't."

"It's Sai," Naruto said.

"He would," Ino said miserably.

"Has he asked you what a crush is yet?" Naruto asked.

"No," Ino said. "Did he ask you?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "I told him that he should ask a girl. He tried Sakura but she punched him."

"Of course she did," Ino said.

Naruto sighed and went back to the cave. Sakura was changing the cloth on Hinata's head and when she was done she went to the stream to clean up. Naruto sat next to Hinata and lightly stroked her cheek. After a couple seconds he stopped and decided to go hunting. As he was walking out he froze because he had heard a very weak and barely audible voice.

"Naruto?" Hinata said, her voice barely even a whisper.

Naruto knelt next to her and smiled in relief.

"You're awake," Naruto said. "Thank God."

"How long was I out?" Hinata asked.

"Um...about ten days I think," Naruto said.

"Oh," Hinata said. "Where are we?"

"A deserted island," Naruto said. "The others are here too."

"Are they okay?" Hinata asked.

"Everyone's fine," Naruto said. "And then some."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"I'll explain later," Naruto said.

"I heard you," Hinata said. "When I was asleep. It wasn't your fault. If not for you I'd be dead right now. So thank you."

"You're welcome," Naruto said. "I still should have done more."

"You did everything you could," Hinata said sitting up.

"You need to rest," Naruto said.

"I will," Hinata said. "Just tell me, did you mean what you said?"

"Every word," Naruto said. "Now please lay down."

Hinata obeyed and Naruto smiled and lightly ran his hand over her hair. She smiled and closed her eyes then fell asleep. Naruto cleaned the cloth then put it back on Hinata's forehead. Then he sat against the wall next to her and smiled. A couple minutes later Sakura came in and saw that Naruto was smile for the first time since he arrived.

"Any change?" Sakura asked.

"She woke up," Naruto said. "She fell back asleep now though."

"That's good," Sakura said. "She needs rest. She'll be okay."

"Yeah," Naruto said.

Naruto talked with Sakura and found out that they still had plenty of food but he wanted something to do while he waited for Hinata to wake up so he went hunting and brought back a pair of chickens and then went to the beach to fish. He found everyone playing in the water and walked out past them on top of the water. After a couple minutes he brought ten fish back to the cave. He cooked himself some fish and the smell of food cooking woke up Hinata.

"Smells good," Hinata said sitting by Naruto.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Want some?"

"Sure," Hinata said.

Naruto gave her his fish and cooked some for himself. They ate in silence since neither knew exactly how to start talking about what Naruto had said.

"I don't blame you," Hinata said. "It was never your job to keep me safe."

"I know you don't," Naruto said. "I still should have done more to keep you safe."

"I'm alive because of you," Hinata said placing a hand on the side of his face to make him look at her. "You came back to save me even though you were more likely to die. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Naruto smiled a tiny bit and so did Hinata. Then she did something she hadn't expected or meant to do. She leaned forward and kissed Naruto. Part of her expect him to push her away and yell at her for being stupid but instead he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. After a couple minutes she pulled away and blushed furiously. Naruto smiled and hugged her and she hugged him back. After another second Sakura walked in and acted like she didn't see them at all. Naruto pulled back and smiled.

"You had to walk in right now huh?" He asked Sakura.

"Yes," Sakura said. "I have to say, Hinata really seemed to enjoy that kiss."

Both of them turned fire engine red and Sakura only smiled and pulled her weapons out to clean.

"Where did the other girls find bikinis?" Naruto asked suddenly curious.

"They found a cruise ship and raided it," Sakura said. "We got one for me and Hinata as well. We decided to let you get your own swimming trunks."

Naruto just shook his head and stood. He knew where the cruise ship was and would barely be ten minutes if he could find swimming trunks that he liked quickly.

"Be back in a few minutes," Naruto said kissing Hinata again.

"Okay," Hinata said.

Naruto left the cave and Hinata went to the river to clean up. After about five minutes Naruto found a pair of orange swimming trunks that fit him perfectly and went back toward the cave. Partway there he stopped dead in his tracks. He had reached the stream and was directly ahead of Hinata who was in just her bra and panties while she was washing he clothes. Naruto wanted to move but was rooted to the spot. Then Kurama wolf whistled in Naruto's mind so loudly that Naruto actually covered his own mouth just to be safe. Then he turned and put some distance between himself and Hinata.

He sat and waited for an hour before he finally went back to the cave and found Sakura and Hinata trading compliments to each other wearing their bikinis. When Naruto arrived both turned toward him and asked what he thought.

He resisted the urge to whistle and instead he blushed slightly and looked at his feet as he walked past them into the cave. They both giggled at his reaction and Sakura went to the beach. Hinata went into the cave and sat in front of Naruto so that he had to look up so that he wasn't staring between her legs.

"Now," Hinata said. "Give me your honest opinion."

Naruto grinned and whistled the same way Kurama had and Hinata blushed furiously and smiled at the same time.

"Tap that kid!" Kurama began shouting in Naruto's head. "Tap it! Tap it now!"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled at Kurama.

"Something wrong?" Hinata asked.

"Just debating with myself," Naruto said.

"What about?" Hinata asked, grinning devilishly.

Naruto blushed and Hinata giggled. Then she got up and told him she was headed to the beach. When she was gone Naruto quickly changed into his swimming trunks and was about to follow when it began to rain. He changed back and just barely finished when the others ran in.

All of them were dripping wet and Hinata looked disappointed that the weather had kept her from enjoying the beach. Naruto smirked then his smile faded when he realized that there was nowhere for anyone to go to change in private.

"Awesome!" Kurama cheered. "Finally getting to see some action!"

"Pervert!" Naruto said.

Naruto leaned back against the wall with his eyes closed and after about ten minutes he opened one and saw two things, first was that no one had changed which meant it was safe for him to keep his eyes open. Second was that there was a wolverine squeezing its way into the cave. The others all noticed and ran over to the far wall. Naruto, on the other hand, walked over to the animal and knelt.

"Hey buddy," Naruto said. "You're going to be good and not hurt anyone right?"

The wolverine answered by slashing his chest. Naruto drove a kunai through its head and healed himself. Then he began to skin the wolverine. He wasn't entirely sure if the animal was edible but Kurama assured him they would be fine.
"How do you know how to cook anything?" Hinata asked.
"Kurama," Naruto said.
"Oh," Hinata said. "Well thank God for him."
Naruto finished skinning the wolverine and began to cook it while having a clone turn the wolverine's six inch teeth into kunai knives. When the clone was done it handed the kunai out and disappeared.
"What are these for?" Sakura asked.
"Souvenir," Naruto said.
Naruto finished cooking and they all ate then went to the beach since it had stopped raining. Naruto changed and followed and when he got there, he found them sparring on the water. He really didn't think there was much for him to do but watch until Jiraiya came out of the ground behind him in sage mode. Naruto instantly entered sage mode and slammed Jiraiya into the ground then smirked.
"You lose," Naruto said. "It's over."
"Not bad," Jiraiya said. "You've gotten better."
"Thank you," Naruto said. "You've gotten old and somehow even more perverted."
Jiraiya grinned and Naruto let him up then turned and walked into the trees and to the highest point. It was a small mountain that had a huge field on top. from there he could see the entire island and could also see that there was a ship off in the distance. Naruto created as many clones as he could and they lit a signal fire on top of the mountain. As Naruto watched the ship began to head toward them. After a couple seconds Hinata, Sakura, and Ino ran into the field and looked at the fire then gave Naruto a questioning look. Naruto simply pointed at the ship and they all began to cheer. Sakura and Ino ran to the beach to tell the others and Naruto and Hinata walked to the cave to get their clothes. When they had gathered everything they had found, not including food, they walked to the beach and saw that the ship was almost there. all of the ninja ran across the water to the ship and got on. When they were all on the ship turned around and began to head toward Konoha. After a couple minutes they all heard a very loud clap of thunder.
"Please not now," Hinata said. "Please don't hit us."
The ship sailed away from the island and the storm as fast as it could but within an hour the storm had caught them and Naruto was on deck helping the crew try to raise the sails. Hinata got impatient so she ran out to help them. The moment she was on deck a tsunami suddenly appeared off the port side. It was about three miles away and coming fast. Hinata told everyone inside the ship to hold on to something then tried to get to Naruto's side. Naruto saw the wave and saw Hinata running around on the deck. She was trying to get to him but the crew men kept shoving her around and disorienting her. Naruto began to run toward her but before he could reach her the tsunami picked their ship up then vanished and their ship began to free fall from a hundred feet in the air. Naruto tried to keep going but the ship was falling faster than him. Hinata was clinging to the railing and had her eyes squeezed shut. Naruto held his arms and legs out and began to fall a little slower. He knew that if Hinata could hold on, she would be okay.

Just as he thought this, a sudden gust of wind tore Hinata away from the ship and sent her spinning out into open sea. Naruto put his arms at his sides and put his legs together then leaned forward and shot after Hinata. He was aware of the fact that the water was closing in on them quickly and that he wasn't catching up with Hinata as fast as he had hoped. After a couple more seconds he grabbed Hinata and flipped over just as they crashed into the water. The ship splashed down a moment later and most of the crew hit the deck with a fatal amount of momentum. Others had managed to hold onto part of the ship and survived. The only problem was that the bottom of the boat was destroyed upon impact. The team of Ninjas all got out of the ship alive but there was no sign of Naruto or Hinata. They got to the life boat with the surviving crew members and continued to head toward Konoha.

Hinata was fine. She had received a couple of bruises and from hitting the water and had a couple scratches from being torn off of the railing by the wind but she was okay aside from that. Naruto, on the other hand, was coughing up blood, had several broken ribs, a broken leg, a cracked skull, and had a punctured lung. All of the damage was from shielding Hinata from the impact with the water. The only reason he was still alive was that Kurama wasn't exactly ready to bite the dust yet. Kurama was keeping Naruto alive but even he had limits. Kurama had used a huge amount of chakra to transport Naruto and Hinata to a different deserted Island that was the nearest bit of land. Then he had begun to keep Naruto's heart and brain working while he tried to get Hinata to pull the rib out of Naruto's lung.

"LISTEN TO ME GIRL!" Kurama said. "If you don't he'll die. So get to it!"

"I can't!" Hinata pleaded. "I'm not a medical ninja."

"You don't need to be!" Kurama said. "Just find the rib and pull!"

Hinata felt Naruto's ribs and easily found the one that was in his lung since it was about two inches deeper than it should be. She pulled it out of his lung and Kurama took control of Naruto's body. He used it to heal Naruto's injuries then let Naruto sleep.

"Get him somewhere for shelter," Kurama ordered.

"Why do you have to be so bossy?" Hinata asked.

"JUST GO!" Kurama shouted.

Hinata lifted Naruto and carried him along the beach until she found a cave. She took him into it and set him at the back. The cave was only about twenty feet deep and was half filled with water. Hinata felt Naruto's pulse and it was normal. She got up and went out of the cave and went to explore the island. It was smaller than the last. It had several different kinds of trees including Cherry Blossom trees. There was a field of beautiful flowers of every color in the center and Hinata found several different animal tracks but the most dangerous animal she knew was there was a boar. She killed a couple rabbits and went back to the cave and Kurama told her how to skin and cook them. When they were almost done Naruto woke up and looked confused until he remembered what had happened.

"I assume you saved us?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kurama said.

"Thank you," Naruto said.

Hinata gave him some food and he ate some then gave her the rest. She knew he probably wasn't hungry after what had happened.

"Did the others live?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Hinata said. "They all go into a life boat and continued toward Konoha."

"Good," Naruto said. "I'm sure they'll send a rescue party when they get back."

"Yes," Hinata said nodding.

"Did you go exploring?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Hinata said. "I'll give you the tour tomorrow."

"If you get the tour I get the grand tour, heh heh," Kurama said.

Naruto groaned and covered his stomach then shook his head.

"What?" Hinata asked. "Do you not want the tour?"

"Not that," Naruto said. "It's Kurama. He's worse than Jiraiya."

Hinata blushed slightly but still smirked. Naruto told Kurama to go to sleep then looked outside and saw that it had begun to rain again. He sighed and leaned back against the cave wall. Hinata scooted over next to him and leaned on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested his chin on her head.

"Thank you," Hinata said. "You saved me again."

"Of course," Naruto said. "That's the boyfriend's job."

"Who said anything about us dating?" Hinata asked teasingly. "For all you know I might have moved on from you."

"Darn," Naruto said in mock defeat.

Hinata smirked and kissed him. He kissed her back and after a minute she pulled away and rested her head on his chest then fell asleep. Naruto watched her sleep for a while then leaned his head back and fell asleep himself

In his dream he and Hinata were in a forest and there was a category five hurricane that was way to strong to still be considered a category five. Naruto was holding on to a palm tree to avoid being blown away and Hinata was holding on to a group of bamboo trees. Sakura and Ino were there but they were tied to an oak tree. Naruto could see that there was a second oak tree that had a broken length of rope around it. He knew that he had tied Hinata to the tree but she had cut the rope when he had nearly been blown away. As he figured all this out, Hinata lost her grip and was blown away.

"HINATA!" Naruto shouted.

He jumped off his tree and caught Hinata then he allowed Kurama to take control of him. Kurama entered his complete form and blew the storm away then changed back. Naruto was okay but Hinata wad been hit by some debris that was pulled off the mountain. Then she was hit by the mountain that was also pulled off the island. He tried to heal her but she had been killed when the first bit of debris hit her, the mountain had just made it impossible to even repair the damage.

Naruto suddenly woke up and jerked so violently that Hinata was almost thrown away from him. She sat bolt upright and looked around then looked at him with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"I'm fine," Naruto said. "Just a bad dream."

"Not quite kid," Kurama said. "You just had a bitter taste of the future."

Naruto didn't respond and instead he stood and walked to the mouth of the cave and looked outside. It wasn't raining anymore but it was night so he could barely see fifty feet. The full moon was behind clouds and Naruto was fairly certain that wasn't a good thing. He thought about his dream for about fifteen seconds and decided that he was just going to have to get Hinata off of the island before the hurricane hit. He sat down by Hinata again and she wrapped her arms around him. He did the same and they both went to sleep. When Naruto woke up the next time he was blushing furiously and he silently left the cave and left a shadow clone in case Hinata woke up before he came back.

"I must say," Kurama said. "I don't think I've ever enjoyed a dream that much. Have you ever dreamt of doing that to Hinata before?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto lied.

"You're a terrible liar," Kurama said. "And you can't lie to me no matter how good you are because I am in you."

"That sounds vaguely dirty," Naruto said.

"Shut up," Kurama said.

Naruto stopped listening to him and looked up at the mountain that took up half the island. He climbed to the top in about five minutes and looked out at the water. The moon had come out from behind the clouds and the water all around the island was glittering like it was filled with diamonds. He sighed and headed back to the cave. When he got there he found his clone against the wall and Hinata holding a kunai to his throat.

"Where did you go?" Hinata asked.

"I'm right-" the clone began.

"Here," Naruto finished.

Hinata killed the clone then spun around and glared at him.

"Where were you?" Hinata asked.

"I needed some air," Naruto said. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you but needed to go for a walk."

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Dreams," Naruto said.

Hinata's anger faded and she put the kunai away. Naruto walked in and sat down then rested his head in his hands.

"Bad dreams?" Hinata asked kneeling in front of him.

"Kind of," Naruto said.

Hinata decided to teach him so she asked, "Wet dreams?"

Naruto blushed bright red and looked away from her but didn't answer. Hinata smirked and bit back a laugh. She understood why Naruto had wanted to get air. She sat next to him and laced her fingers with his.

"I was only kidding," Hinata said.

"I know," Naruto said. "We need to get out of here."

"I agree," Hinata said. "For now we just need to sleep until morning."

"Go ahead," Naruto said.

"You too," Hinata said. "You need sleep too."

"I'll be fine," Naruto said.

"Sleep," Hinata said. "You did more than anyone over the last few days and you're going to run yourself right into your grave if you don't rest."

"I can rest without sleeping," Naruto said.

"Not enough," Hinata said.

"Okay fine," Naruto said. "I'll sleep."

He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly and woke up without a single dream the next day. He saw that Hinata was awake and had made them some breakfast of fish and berries. He wasn't sure where she had gotten them but he was happy she did. They ate and when they were done Naruto sent clones out to explore and forage. While they did Naruto and Hinata went to a field that didn't have any flowers to worry about destroying and began to spar. For the most part they stuck to Taijutsu but after all of Naruto's clones had released their respective jutsus Naruto began using a couple clones at a time. Hinata seemed to be able to hold her own against Naruto and his clones for about an hour but inevitably ran out of energy and Naruto's clones pinned her.

"Not bad," Naruto said releasing his clones. "That was the longest anyone's ever been able to fend off me and my clones. You weren't trying your hardest though were you?"

"No," Hinata said.

Naruto tossed her a food pill and she ate it then stood. Naruto created thousands of clones and Hinata nodded to tell him she was ready. All of the clones charged at Hinata together. Hinata focused her chakra into her fists and created twin lion heads that appeared like blue fire. When the clones reached her she began fighting and whenever she hit one, it was sent flying and disappeared before it landed. After about five minutes the clones were all gone and Hinata allowed her chakra to fade. Naruto clapped and activated Sage mode.

"Want to see just how good you've gotten?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not using that on you," Hinata said. "You'll die."

"I survived several blasts from Pein," Naruto said. "I'll be fine. Just try to hit me."

Hinata nodded and focused her chakra again causing the lion heads to reappear. She charged at Naruto and began attacking as fast as she could since she knew that she didn't need to hit him hard and would need all of her speed to keep up with him. Naruto dodged her attacks with ease but got a tiny bit over confident and forgot to watch his footing. He accidentally tripped over his own feet and Hinata hit him in the chest. She gasped in surprise but her chakra faded when she hit him and he smiled.

"See?" Naruto asked. "I'm fine."

He deactivated sage mode and groaned then healed his bruised rib. He smiled and Hinata sighed in relief. She hugged him and Naruto hugged her back and smirked.

"Not bad at all," Naruto said. "You've become strong."

"Not as strong as you," Hinata said.

"I have sage mode," Naruto said.

"I know," Hinata said.

"But that doesn't mean I'm the only one that can use it," Naruto said grinning.

"You would teach me?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "Starting with the training Master Jiraiya and I went through."

Naruto punched the ground and made a crater with only a stone spike sticking out of the center. The spike wasn't very high so falling off the top wouldn't be fatal. Naruto then created a large rectangular slab out of stone and set it on top of the spike.

"Sit on that and meditate," Naruto said. "This is what you need to try to sense."

He channeled a tiny bit of Natural Energy and then took it back. Hinata smiled and nodded then jumped and landed gracefully on the slab. She sat down and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate on sensing the Natural Energy around herself. She could instantly sense a lot in Naruto. She had trouble so she was about to activate her Byakugan but Naruto knew her plan.

"No Byakugan," Naruto said. "Only yourself."

Hinata nodded and began to try again but suddenly began to lose her balance and the slab fell off the spike. She landed in her feet and caught the spike and set it back on the spike. Then she climbed back on and went back to sensing Natural Energy. After about fifteen minutes she smiled and Naruto knew that she could sense it. She was doing better than him. He told her how to gather it and she began to. Within about two minutes a purple pigmentation appeared around her eyes where Naruto's reddish-orange ones were. She opened her eyes and Naruto saw that her irises were still white but now had a horizontal bar for pupils. Naruto smiled and Hinata stepped off of the slab and smiled.

"Ready to spar again?" Hinata asked.

Naruto entered Sage Mode and nodded. Hinata charged and began using gentle fist to try to hit Naruto and Naruto had to actually try to dodge her attacks this time. After a couple minutes he began to block her attacks and return his own. They began to fight back and forth and after a couple minutes Naruto managed to pin Hinata without her being able to hit him. He smiled and helped her up and she focused her chakra into her hands again. Naruto smirked and they began to spar again. Naruto was far more careful this time and had to redirect most of her attacks. He managed to send a few of his own but not many. After a couple hours Hinata almost got a direct hit and Naruto created a shadow clone and Hinata destroyed it instantly but Naruto managed to pin her before she could attack him again.

"You win," Naruto said.

"How?" Hinata asked.

"In a real fight I wouldn't be able to use shadow clones because I would have my max gathering Natural Energy," Naruto said. "In a real fight it would have been just you and me, and you won."

Hinata smiled but shook her head. She knew that Naruto had been holding back given the fact that he hadn't used Rasenshuriken.

"You still have your Rasenshuriken," Hinata said. "You would have won easily."

"True enough," Naruto said. "Do you know your chakra element?"

"Wind and fire," Hinata said.

"Awesome," Naruto said. "I'm going to teach you a few things."

"You already taught me Sage Mode," Hinata said.

"Now I'm going to teach you Rasengan," Naruto said.

He created one and Hinata smiled. She was still in Sage Mode so she could see everything his chakra was doing. She could see in even better than she could with Byakugan. She held her hand out in front of her and copied Naruto. Naruto instantly got jealous because it was a perfect Rasengan. He touched hers with his and both dissipated instantly. Naruto smirked and Hinata just looked confused.

"What happened?" Hinata asked.

"Yours was perfect so they canceled each other out," Naruto said. "Next I'm going to teach you to use the Rasenshuriken."

"But that has serious health risks," Hinata said.

"Only outside of Sage Mode," Naruto said. "In sage mode it doesn't harm the user."

Hinata nodded and made a Rasengan and Naruto made a full Rasenshuriken. Hinata once again copied him and made a perfect one. Naruto showed her how to throw one and they booth threw theirs into the air and when they collided they faded away. Naruto sighed in relief and smiled at Hinata.

"You're better at copying that Sasuke is," Naruto said.

"Can't you see what other people's chakra does?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "But i don't have the chakra control to copy them."

"Then it's time for me to teach you," Hinata said.

They spent the next few hours with Hinata teaching Naruto to control his chakra, and he learned so fast that he was a good rival for her when they stopped.

"How do you learn so fast?" Hinata asked.

"Don't know," Naruto said. "Not complaining."

Hinata smirked and then thought of one other thing she wouldn't mind learning.

"Hey Naruto," Hinata said.

"Yes I'll teach you Kage Bushin," Naruto said.

Naruto told her how to do it in general and she tried but all of her clones were basically three dimensional shadows. She released them and tried again but with similar results.

"Try it without sage mode," Naruto said. "It makes it harder to make shadow clones. That's why my max becomes five."

Hinata exited Sage mode and Naruto did as well. Hinata tried to create shadow clones and was able create one perfect one but the other three failed. She continued to try and eventually she was able to get a few perfect ones at once.

"You're making amazing progress," Naruto said when they decided to take a break.

"I'm nowhere near as good as you," Hinata said.

"When I first started trying it, I couldn't even make a shadow for five months," Naruto said. "You're doing amazingly."

"Thank you," Hinata said.

They went back to their cave and ate then Hinata went back to practicing her clone jutsus. She eventually began to get frustrated so Naruto told her to enter sage mode and watch his chakra while he did it. She did as he said and once he was done she tried again and made seven hundred perfect clones.

"Awesome," Naruto said.

"Thank you," Hinata said.

She released the clones and when the exhaustion hit her she nearly blacked out. Naruto caught her and gave her some of his chakra. She woke up a couple minutes later and asked Naruto what had happened.

"You made so many clones that the collective exhaustion was a little too much for you to handle," Naruto said. "That's why the jutsu's supposed to be a Kinjutsu."

"You use a Kinjutsu?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "Only because I can easily use it without tiring as much as a normal person."

"Lucky," Hinata said.

"Is there anyway we can help her have as much chakra as I do?" Naruto asked Kurama.

"Yes," Kurama said. "Give her me."

Naruto smirked and thought of his mother. She had survived the extraction of Kurama immediately after giving birth to Naruto.

"What did I inherit from Mom?" Naruto asked.

"The chakra and abilities as far as surviving my extraction goes," Kurama said. "I don't suggest you try it though. Because Kushina still had me in her when she was pregnant with you, you would also have the traits you have now if I was extracted. You would have the regenerative abilities, the whisker marks, and the energy and extra chakra. I suppress your own skills with chakra and your natural amount of chakra but then give you mine in exchange. If I was extracted, you would have more chakra of your own than you ever have mine. You would also be able to control it enough to make a pinhead sized Rasengan that could level a mountain."

"And yet you're telling me not to extract you," Naruto said.

"Whoever seals me inside Hinata would die," Kurama said.

"Good point," Naruto said. "Could I use a clone without dying?"

"Not sure," Kurama said. "Not worth the risk."

Naruto considered the risks and the benefits and decided to wait for the time being. He knew that Kurama was right that if he did still die from the sealing jutsu than it wouldn't matter what he got from being free of Kurama.

"You okay?" Hinata asked.

"Just talking with Kurama," Naruto said. "He seems to think I'd be better off if I extracted him since I would survive."

"Really?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "But then I would need to seal him in someone and that jutsu would probably kill me."

"Oh," Hinata said. "What are you going to do?"

"For now nothing," Naruto said.

"Liar," Someone said from behind them.

Naruto spun around and felt his jaw hit the ground. Standing before them was none other than the leader of the Uzumaki Clan.

"How the heck are you alive?" Naruto asked.

"Uzumakis can live for hundred of years," the old man said. "I've got about a week left."

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked.

"To tell you that I'll seal the demon in anyone you want me to if it means I can ensure there's a pure Uzumaki alive," the old man said.

"But I'm not poor blood Uzumaki," Naruto said. "My father was a Namikaze."

"I know," the old man said. "But that's still better than nothing."

"Well, I guess," Naruto said. "Seal it inside Hinata without killing her.

"Deal," the old man said.

Naruto pulled out a sealing scroll and handed it to the old man.

"Use that one," Naruto said.

The old man nodded and got ready to seal Kurama.

"Ready Kurama?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kurama said. "I won't even try to get away."

Naruto sat down and made the Dragon hand sign. Inside of him Kurama had taken on a humanoid form with four arms. One set was making the Tiger hand seal and the other was making the Ram hand seal. After a couple seconds Naruto's stomach began to bulge outward and grew into Kurama's human form. It kept stretching until Kurama was sitting across from Naruto then separated from Naruto. Naruto collapsed and the old man began his jutsu. Kurama opened his eyes and saw the sealing jutsu had begun and smiled.

"Time to keep my promise," Kurama said.

Th old man sealed Kurama inside Hinata and she also passed out then the old man died. Hinata woke up about an hour later and saw that Naruto was still out. She built a funeral pyre for the old man and lit it. After about fifteen minutes, Naruto limped over to stand next to her with one hand on his stomach.

"You should be resting," Kurama said.

"And you should be evil," Naruto said. "You aren't supposed to be a good guy but you kept your word and you've gone out of your way to keep me and my friends alive. Thank you. Softie."

"Don't patronize me," Kurama said. "I just don't feel like getting taken by the Akatsuki yet. Besides, you find entertaining fights."

Naruto smirked and asked Hinata if she was okay.

"I'm fine," Hinata said. "I'm not used to being a Jinchuriki but I'll get over it."

"You won't have as much Chakra or Chakra control for a while but you will get it back," Naruto said. "Now let's test my new abilities."

"Stop!" Kurama said.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"You need to rest before you use any Ninjutsu or you'll die," Kurama said.

Naruto sighed and he and Hinata walked back to the cave. Naruto sat against the wall and sighed.

"Thank you," Hinata said. "Not many people would risk death to give someone extra chakra."

"I just made you one of the most hated living things in existence," Naruto said.

"I know," Hinata said. "And I don't care."

Naruto smiled and leaned back against the wall of the cave. A moment later Hinata sat on his lap facing him and he opened his eyes in surprise just as she kissed him. He kissed her back after a moment and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same and after a few minutes she pulled away and looked down at her coat then back up at Naruto.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Hinata said.

Naruto nodded and kissed her again as he unzipped her jacket and pulled it off. She did the same for him then they took the rest of their clothes off. They continued kissing and after a second Naruto pulled away and traced the whisker marks that Hinata now had on her cheeks. She smiled and kissed him again and he kissed her back then pulled away and moved lower. From there things progressed quickly.

The next day Naruto woke up first and saw that Hinata was still lying on top of him. He didn't want to wake her so he lay that and gently stroked her hair while he thought about the night before. He suddenly began to silently pray that he hadn't gotten her pregnant by accident. A couple minutes later Hinata woke up and couldn't for the life of her figure out why she didn't have clothes on or why she was lying on top of Naruto, who was also nude. Then the memories rushed back and she smiled.

"Good morning," Naruto said.

"Good morning," Hinata said. "How long have you been awake?"

"A couple minutes," Naruto said. "I didn't want to wake you."

Hinata smiled and got up and they got dressed. When they were done Naruto cooked them breakfast. They ate it quietly and when they were done they went outside to look for a ship. They could see one so Naruto lit the signal fire and the ship began to turn toward them. Just as Naruto and Hinata thought that they would finally be rescued, the ship hit a reef and began to sink. Two people jumped into the water and a moment later the ship exploded.

Naruto and Hinata rushed out to the boat and pulled Sakura and Ino out of the water. They couldn't find any other survivors so they all went back to the island and sat on the beach.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"The ship had ten barrels of paper bombs," Ino said. "They only told us about them a minute before we hit the reef."

"Perfect," Naruto said.

"Hey Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"Yes?" Hinata asked.

"Since when do you have whisker marks that match Naruto's?" Sakura asked.

"Since I'm the new Jinchuriki for Kurama," Hinata said.

"How?" Ino asked.

"Long story," Naruto said. "To put it simply, she needed more chakra to use a jutsu I taught her so i gave her Kurama."

"Okay," Sakura said. "What did you teach her?"

"A lot," Naruto said. "Starting with Sage Mode. She needed the chakra for Kage Bushin."

"You taught her Sage Mode?" Ino asked in shock.

"Yes," Naruto said. "She's a faster learner than I am."

Just then two toads appeared and glared at Naruto.

"We hear there's a new sage and Jinchuriki," Fukasaku said.

"That's me," Hinata said.

"Let us see the Sage Mode," Fukasaku said.

Hinata put her hands together and gathered Natural Energy then entered Sage Mode and Fukasaku nodded in approval.

"Technically you're not allowed to teach Sage Mode to anyone but I'll let this one slide given what happened during your fight with Pain," Fukasaku said.

"Thank you," Naruto said.

Fukasaku and his wife both went back to Mount Myoboku. Naruto sighed and watched the water for a couple minutes then decided to start a conversation for something to do.

"How's Sai Ino?" Naruto asked.

"Single," Ino said.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"He tried to get me to go to bed with him," Ino said simply.

"Harsh," Naruto said.

"Hinata would do the same thing right?" Ino asked Hinata.

Hinata blushed bright red but didn't say a word.

"You didn't," Ino said.

Hinata blushed even brighter and Ino and Sakura both covered their mouths to restrain their giggles. Naruto was about to say something when he heard thunder and the memory of his vision flashed in his head.

"We need to get to shelter," Naruto said.

"The cave?" Hinata asked.

"Not big enough," Naruto said. He stood and sent out a hundred Clones then tapped his foot in obvious impatience. After about a minute he grinned and led the others to a tunnel on the far side of the island. By the time they got there it was a category three hurricane outside. They went into the tunnel and Naruto made a series of hand seals then smashed slapped his hand on the floor of the tunnel and a seal appeared on the ground. The wind inside the tunnel instantly disappeared and Naruto sighed.

"I said no Ninjutsu," Kurama said.

"No choice," Naruto said.

He sat against the side of the tunnel and all of a sudden the tide reached the tunnel and water flooded in. it got to the seal then stopped as if it had hit a wall. It rose up until it had filled the tunnel where it could get and Naruto leaned his head back against the wall.

"We're safe," Naruto said.

"How bad is it going to be?" Hinata asked.

"I would call it a category six but that's not technically possible," Naruto said. "I saw it in a vision. In the vision you died."

"Is that why you gave me Kurama?" Hinata asked.

"Partially," Naruto said.

They sat in silence for a while until Naruto's stomach began to growl loudly.

"Not now," Naruto complained.

"You used a Ninjutsu and now your body is trying to make up for the lack of chakra," Kurama said. "I'll help tide you over."

Naruto smirked and felt Kurama's chakra flood his body and his hunger vanished. He leaned his head back and fell asleep instantly. Hinata leaned on his chest and also fell asleep. Ino and Hinata, however, weren't tired at all.

"I can't believe they did it," Ino said.

"No kidding," Sakura said. "I honestly didn't see that coming when Naruto told her that he loved her."

"I didn't see Sai trying to seduce me coming but Naruto somehow did," Ino said.

"Weird," Sakura said. "I bet he didn't see the other reason you broke up with Sai coming."

"I doubt anyone could have if they were trained fortunetellers," Ino said.

Sakura smiled and rested her head on Ino's shoulder. Ino laced her fingers with Sakura's and they both somehow managed to fall asleep despite not being tired. They had no idea that Naruto was actually watching and listening, and smirking.

The next day they all woke up around the same time and realized the storm was over. Naruto released his seal and they all walked outside. The first thing they noticed was that the mountain, along with most of the trees, had been ripped off of the island. Naruto was grateful he had managed to keep Hinata safe.

"Now maybe we'll be safe until we get rescued," Naruto said.

"Hopefully," Hinata said.

"Anything important happen with either of you two other than you breaking up with Sai?" Naruto asked.

Ino and Sakura both glanced at each other and blushed slightly but shook their heads.

"No," Sakura said. "I did learn to heal better."

"Same here," Ino said.

Naruto smirked but dropped the subject and began to walk to the beach. When he got there he walked out onto the water and made hundreds of Shadow clones. They all attacked him and he fought them and had a hard time beating them since they all had the same fighting styles.

Hinata walked out and the Naruto clones suddenly disappeared. Hinata grinned and she and Naruto began to fight. Hinata used her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists and Naruto wa still able to keep just out of her reach. After about a half hour of watching Sakura and Ino began to spar as well. After about fifteen minutes Sakura pinned Ino at the same time that Naruto was pinned by Hinata.

"You won Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Hinata said helping Naruto up.

They all began to spar again and again Sakura pinned Ino, but this time, Naruto pinned Hinata. They all decided to get something to eat so Naruto used clones to catch some fish and find some berries. He cooked the fish then they all ate. When they were done Naruto went to for a walk and cleaned up in a stream he had found near where the mountain was. When he was done he went back to the beach and Hinata went to clean up. When she was done Sakura went, then Ino. When they had all cleaned up they had a decision to make. Stay there and risk waiting weeks for another search party to find them or try to go back to Konoha themselves.

They inevitably decided to stay for the time being so they began to search for a new place to stay since the cave was gone with the rest of the mountain. Eventually Naruto asked what the other's chakra types were. It turned out that Sakura had water type and Ino had earth type. He told them how to use Wood release jutsus and they used it to make a tropical resort building. Naruto clapped and Hinata began to cheer at having a real building to stay in. Naruto smirked and they all walked inside. When they got to the back and saw Ino and Sakura had even gone so far as to make a hot spring.

"First rule," Naruto said. "Bathing suits required."

They all agreed and ran to their rooms to change then got into the spring. Naruto slid down until only his nose was over the water and Sakura whispered to Ino then made three hand signs and sent a huge wave at Naruto.

Naruto made several hand signs underwater with his eyes still closed then held his hand out and rose out of the water enough to say, "Beast Wave Gale Palm."

His hand exploded into wind in the shape of a Demonic hand. The hand shot out and destroyed the wave then disappeared. Hinata grinned and Sakura began making more hand signs until Naruto splashed her in the face. Then she glared at him and all four of them began having a water war. In the end Hinata and Naruto won because they had more energy. When they were done the water war they stopped and just relaxed for a while.

"So," Naruto said. "You going to tell us or not?"

"Tell you what?" Sakura asked.

"Okay," Naruto said. "Don't. That's fine."

"Tell you what?" Sakura asked.

Naruto gave her a look that clearly told her that he knew. She blushed and Ino did as well. Naruto climbed out of the hot spring and went to go hunting. He didn't bother changing and after about fifteen minutes he brought back a moose. He skinned it then cooked it and gave everyone some lunch. They all thanked him and ate. While they did Sakura and Ino were both considering telling Naruto and Hinata the truth. After a few minutes they all finished and Sakura nodded to Ino.

Ino sighed and said, "Sakura and I were leaving the Leaf village because we were supposed to be looking for you. The reason it was just the two of us is because we requested it that way."

"Why?" Hinata asked.

"Because we wanted some time alone," Sakura said. "Because...we're together."

Hinata's mouth fell open but Naruto just smiled. After a minute Hinata smiled as well.

"Good for you," Hinata said.

"Honestly didn't see it coming," Naruto said. "Does that mean you gave up on Sasuke?"

"It means I moved on," Sakura said. "I'll never give up."

Naruto nodded then froze and seemed to be afraid of something. He looked up at Hinata then gulped and stood. He stood and climbed out of the hot spring. Hinata followed and both used towels that Sakura and Ino had somehow made to dry off then both changed. They both went to the beach and entered Sage mode and when they got to the beach they found two Akatsuki members waiting. One was Konan. The other was Nagato. Nagato had removed the poles from his back and was now over his malnutrition.

"How are you alive?" Naruto asked.

"Konan found someone that was able to revive me," Nagato said. "Glad she did."

"What do you want?" Naruto asked.

"I'm here to warn you," Nagato said. "The entire order is on their way here."

"Why do you still wear your robes?" Naruto asked.

"Because we're used to it," Konan said.

They both took them off anyway and Naruto smirked. Both were wearing black ANBU armor over black short-sleeve Tee-shirts and black cargo pants. They suddenly spun around as a newly resurrected Kakuzu shoved them aside and moved to attack Naruto. Naruto caught both of his fists then kneed him in the stomach and threw him aside.

"Impressive," Nagato said. "I'll handle him."

"Don't bother," Naruto said. "We've got him handled."

"Not quite," Hidan said as he swung at Naruto's neck.

Naruto tilted his head to give him a better angle and when the blades hit they exploded.

"So close," Naruto said.

Naruto punched Hidan in the face and it collapsed. Hidan smashed into the ground and Kakuzu attacked Naruto again. This time it was Hinata that stopped him by kicking him in the face and sending him flying.

"Too easy," Hinata said.

"Then try me," Tendo Pain said walking forward.

"You want to take him or should I?" Naruto asked.

"I'll handle him," Hinata said. "I have a score to settle."

"You seem stronger than before," Tendo Pain said. "This may be fun after all."

"I'll take the other five," Naruto said.

He created a Rasenshuriken and threw it at the other five who were just coming out of the water and they all looked surprised. It hit them and completely destroyed their bodies then continued and exploded out at sea. Hinata focused her chakra into her hands and made the lion heads then attacked Tendo Pain. He kept just out of her reach for a while but after a couple minutes she landed a direct hit to his chest and he dropped dead. Naruto smiled and turned just in time for Kakuzu's fist to collide with his cheek. Kakuzu began to scream in pain and hold his clearly ruined hand. Naruto made a few hand seals and Hinata made her own. Both blew out at once. Naruto had used Pressure damage and Hinata had used Searing Migraine. When the two mixed they became so powerful that Naruto and Hinata stopped and had to back away from the heat. Nagato and Konan got out of the way as fast as they could and Kakuzu hardened his entire body and squeezed his eyes closed. Hidan had dragged himself over to Kakuzu to be healed and hadn't seen the blast coming. When it hit it exploded into a huge vortex of fire. After a couple minutes the fire abated and both Kakuzu and Hidan were little more than smoking piles of ash.

"That was easy," Naruto said.

"Yes," Hinata said. "How much you got left for Natural Energy?"

"One more big attack," Naruto said.

"Same here," Hinata said.

"Hey old pal," Deidara said. "Ready for a rematch?"

"Not right now wimp," Naruto said.

Suddenly a gigantic clay bird picked him up and when it was in the air, it exploded and Naruto dropped back to the ground without even a scorch mark on his clothes.

"Howdy Deidara," Naruto said.

Deidara came out of a hole in the ground just in time for Naruto to kick his head off. Naruto looked out to see just as Itachi rose out of the water with Kisame.

"Itachi," Naruto said.

"Naruto," Itachi said. "I really wish I didn't have to fight you right now."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Because I'll have to use my Mangekyo Sharingan," Itachi said.

"No you don't," Naruto said. "Just hold still and you don't even have to fight."

Naruto began making hand seals and Itachi didn't move. After a couple seconds Naruto stopped making hand seals and grinned.

"Summoning Jutsu," Naruto said.

He but his thumb enough to draw blood and summoned Gamatatsu. He climbed onto Gamatatsu's back and set his hand on Gamatatsu's head.

"Sage Art, Toad Maelstrom Cannon," Naruto said.

Naruto used Pressure damage without any hand seals at the same time that he used Toad Water Pistol. When the two blasts mixed halfway between him and Itachi, the water blast grew until it was enormous then when it hit it exploded and the concussion was enough to nearly send Naruto and Hinata flying. Naruto exited Sage Mode and let Gamatatsu leave. When the mist from the attack cleared Itachi was still standing there and Kisame was standing a little in front of him with Samehada out. Naruto groaned and smirked.

"Looks like I just gave Samehada its lunch," Naruto said.

Samehada had grown so much that Kisame was having trouble lifting it. It was huge and Kisame seemed to get an idea.

"Get ready," Naruto said.

Hinata formed fast hand seals and waited for Naruto. He made his own hand seals and as he had expected Kisame fuzed with Samehada. Kisame began to charge forward and both Naruto and Hinata used the same combination jutsu they had used to kill Kakuzu and Hidan.

Kisame froze in shock as he saw the Searing Migraine coming while supercharged by Naruto's Pressure Damage. By the time he got over his surprise it, was too late. The blast hit him head on, and when it cleared, the only thing left was Samehada. Naruto shot another Pressure Damage and it destroyed the sword. Hinata exited Sage Mode and sighed.

"How long until we can go back into Sage Mode?" Hinata asked.

"As soon as we can get the required Natural Energy," Naruto said.

They both put their hands together and began to gather Natural Energy. Within seconds they were both in Sage Mode again and Itachi was still just standing there.

"You really don't want to fight do you?" Naruto asked.

"No," Itachi said. "Get my eyes to Sasuke."

"Of course," Naruto said.

Itachi closed his eyes and Naruto walked over to him. He pulled out a kunai knife but before he killed Itachi he closed his eyes and released all of the Natural Energy in one blast. The moment he did everything around him faded and was replaced with him standing on the beach right where he had been.

"How did you know?" Itachi asked.

"I can see Genjutsu as a color," Naruto said. "Ever since I learned Sage Mode. Even now I can tell that I'm not really talking to you. But you see, I can also see through Genjutsu."

In the real world Itachi paled. Naruto had somehow walked over to stand directly in front of him and was now holding a kunai in his hand. Itachi closed his eyes and a moment later Naruto drove the kunai up through his jaw and into his brain. The Genjutsu faded away for Naruto and he smiled and pulled the kunai out of Itachi's head. Then he walked back to the beach and stood by Hinata.

"Nice job," Hinata said.

Naruto had dragged Itachi's body with him and now he used his medical Ninjutsu to remove his eyes and put them in a jar to preserve them. If nothing else he had promised to get the eyes to Sasuke.

"Who's left?" Hinata asked.

"Sasori, Zetsu, and Tobi," Nagato said.

"Correct," Sasori said. "I'm up first."

Naruto threw a kunai and Sasori caught it with ease. He tossed it aside and stood.

Hinata began to walk forward but Naruto created a thousand shadow clones and caught Hinata's arm before she could get within range of Sasori's attacks. The clones attacked while four entered Sage Mode. Naruto entered his own and the Sage Mode Clones all threw Rasenshuriken at Sasori. The Rasenshuriken all exploded and there was nothing left of Sasori or the other clones. Naruto sighed and looked around. He spotted Zetsu halfway in a tree but pretended not to. His clones all surrounded Zetsu and shot two Rasenshuriken each. Nagato kept Zetsu from escaping and also contained the blast. When the dust cleared, White Zetsu was laying on the ground with half of his body destroyed.

"Great," Naruto said. "Now we've got to find Black Zetsu."

"Right here," Zetsu said.

Naruto spun around and grabbed Zetsu by the throat but he smiled and faded away.

"Perfect," Naruto said. "The perfect Genjutsu user."

Naruto sat down and began to watch the sky. He knew that Hinata could handle Zetsu so he let her.

"Naruto can't get out of that Genjutsu," Hinata said. "I'll handle Zetsu if you can keep me out of any Genjutsus."

"Agreed," Nagato said.

Hinata began making hand signs but before she could finish the ground under her opened and wooden spikes shot out. She was able to jump over them and finished her hand signs. Then she held out her hand and grinned.

"You almost won too," Hinata said. "Eight Trigrams, Vacuum Palm!"

She blasted Black Zetsu with her attack then landed on the ground and made more hand seals. Then she held both hands out and sighed.

"Here goes nothing," Hinata said. "Double Ninjutsu, Searing Migraine and Pressure Damage!"

The blast was weaker than her and Naruto's combined version but it was still enough to reduce Zetsu to a pile of ashes. She sighed and exited Sage Mode then coughed up blood.

"You pushed yourself way to hard Hinata," Kurama said.

"What other choice did I have?" Hinata asked.

Naruto stood and exited Sage mode then healed Hinata. She thanked him and Naruto re-entered Sage mode. Hinata did the same and both turned in time to see Tobi watching them from the water. Naruto smirked and whispered to Hinata then charged at Tobi and as he had expected Tobi opened a portal in front of Naruto that sent him into a different dimension. He had figured out how Tobi made himself intangible a while ago.

Hinata made several hand seals and shot a Searing Migraine at Tobi. When the attack hit Tobi, he went into the same dimension he had sent Naruto.

While Naruto waited for Tobi to arrive he made several hand seals then waited. Tobi was taking a while but that was probably just cross dimensional time distortions.

The moment Tobi began to be visible Naruto made the last hand seal and said, "Sage Art, Toad Sage Rasenshuriken!"

The Rasenshuriken was about three times bigger than normal and when it exploded it was twelve times as effective because it was made entirely out of all the Natural Energy Naruto had. When the blast cleared, the dimension began to collapse so Naruto grabbed the body and saw a portal about fifteen feet away. Naruto sprinted to it and leapt through with Tobi's body then landed on his feet next to Hinata.

"Good job," Naruto said.

"You too," Hinata said. "Who is he?"

Naruto pulled Tobi's mask off but didn't recognize the face. Hinata didn't either but Konan and Nagato suddenly got a bit squirmish.

"You recognize him?" Naruto asked.

"Yes but Kakashi should be the one to tell his identity," Nagato said.

"Okay," Naruto said. "Thank you for your help."

Naruto and Hinata went back to the resort and found Sakura and Ino still relaxing in the hot spring.

"Thanks for the help," Naruto said. "All we were doing was fighting the entire friggin' Akatsuki."

"You two are Sages," Sakura said. "If you couldn't handle it then we couldn't."

"True," Hinata said. "I forgive you."

"I guess," Naruto said. "Anyway, I'm hungry."

"Me too," Hinata said.

They left and Sakura and Ino followed. Naruto had a clone already cooking and by the time they got there it was finished. They all ate and when they were done Naruto released his clone and they went back to the hot spring. They all sat in silence and all knew that it was time to leave the island, with or without a rescue.

"So," Naruto said. "Do we walk or take a raft?"

"I suggest walking," Hinata said.

"I don't have the energy," Ino said. "I say raft."

"Agreed," Sakura said.

"Agreed," Naruto said. "We need to take supplies and they can't walk as long as us."

"True," Hinata said. "Okay, raft it is."

They went to the beach and Naruto used his clones to cut down trees and build a raft. Then they gathered berries and fruits. When they were done they put them all in a container they had made as part of the raft. Then Naruto released them all. Naruto pushed the raft into the water with the others on it then climbed on. The raft had a sail and moved through the water in the direction that they hoped was to Konoha.

Over the next couple days they sailed on the raft and didn't have much to do but talk. Naruto had thought to make fishing rods so that they could, at least, have a fishing contest. Naruto won the first few then lost the rest. Hinata won the most. They talked about everything they could think of and eventually ran out of things to talk about.

"Well, this is boring," Naruto said. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"I don't know," Sakura said. "If I knew how to find the north star I could tell you for sure."

"Ino," Naruto said. "Do that Jutsu you developed."

"What...oh that one," Ino said.

She made several hand signs and suddenly a dot in the sky began to shine.

"That's North," Ino said.

Sakura groaned and turned the raft until the star was on their right instead of their left. Ino let the light fade and they began to travel straight west.

"Maybe now we can-" Naruto began but was cut off when a huge wave flipped the raft and threw them all into the ocean.

Naruto climbed out of the water and Hinata did the same. Naruto helped Sakura up while Hinata did the same for Ino. The raft had fallen apart when the wave hit it so the supplies were gone.

Naruto and Hinata quickly gathered Natural Energy and entered Sage Mode. Naruto knelt down and Hinata mirrored him. Ino and Sakura climbed onto their backs and Naruto and Hinata began running in the general direction of Konoha. They were moving faster than they normally would but they had more than enough sense to know that it was dangerous at best to be standing on the open ocean. After a couple hours a storm caught them and they began having to dodge giant waves while they ran. After about three hours of this they were both running low on Natural Energy but the storm finally moved on. They stopped and exited Sage Mode then went back in and struck off again. After about two straight days of running they finally reached land and found themselves in a desert. Naruto was about to ask where they were but suddenly found himself caught in a coffin of sand with Sakura still on his back.

"Sand Coffin!" Gaara said climbing out of the sand.

Naruto released all of his Natural Energy in one blast and the sand came off instantly and he and Sakura landed safely in front of Gaara.

"Nice to see you too," Naruto said.

"Had to be sure," Gaara said. "There have been hundreds of you attacking our village for days now."

"Don't bother checking her," Naruto said as Gaara began to turn on Hinata. "It's her."

Gaara nodded and led them all back to the Sand Village. Hinata allowed her Natural Energy to slowly leave as they went and exited Sage Mode. When they reached the Sand Village, Gaara took them to his office and then sent a messenger hawk to Konoha to tell Tsunade that they were there. Then he turned on Naruto and smiled.

"It's good to see you alive Naruto," Gaara said.

"I know," Naruto said. "I'm awesome."

Gaara smirked and sat on his desk then asked, "Where were you?"

"Deserted Island," Naruto said. "Nice place, at least before the hurricane."

"So you were hit by that too huh?" Gaara asked. "It tore up our village and hit Konoha even harder."

"It pulled a mountain off of our island," Naruto said.

"Yikes," Gaara said. "It was category four when it made landfall."

"It was strong enough to be category six when it hit us," Naruto said. "Glad I know some Fuinjutsu."

"At least you survived," Gaara said. "Temari got hurt in Konoha but is alive. Kankuro got a broken leg and won't let our medical ninjas heal it."

"At least their alive," Naruto said. "Did anyone die?"

"Shockingly no," Gaara said. "In both villages the worst injuries were just a few broken bones."

"Good," Naruto said. "How much did it cost?"

"Here nothing because I was able to rebuild the village myself," Gaara said. "In Konoha, a lot."

Just then an ANBU member rose out of the floor and looked at Naruto then back at Gaara.

"We're here for the kid," the ANBU member said.

"Not going to happen," Gaara said. "The kid's a Jinchuriki for Shukaku and is going to be protected."

"He's too unstable," the ANBU member said.

"Let me see him," Naruto said. "I'll decide."

"Agreed," Gaara said.

The ANBU member led Naruto to a holding cell and Naruto walked in. there was a boy on the bed that seemed to be chained to the bed frame.

"Hey," Naruto said. "I'm Naruto, what's your name?"

"I have many names," the boy said in a deep scratchy voice that didn't suit him given that he couldn't be anymore than seven. "But you know me as Shukaku. And I know you as the brat that stopped me from becoming free."

"So you do remember me," Naruto said. "Is that boy still in there somewhere?"

"No," Shukaku said. "They extracted him when they put me in. now let me up so I can settle our score."

"I'm good," Naruto said. "But if you want I could easily kill you."

"Yeah right," Shukaku said. "You're just lucky these chakra chains keep me from realizing my true form."

"Good luck with that," Naruto said leaving.

He went back to Gaara's office and sighed.

"The kid's gone," Naruto said. "There's only Shukaku left. If they try to kill him he'll play possum until they remove the chakra chains then he'll go full transformation and kill us all."

"Good point," Gaara said. "We have to-"

He was cut off by and explosion and the sound of Shukaku's deafening laugh. Naruto entered Sage Mode and went outside to find Shukaku playing golf with his tail as the club and the buildings as the balls.

"Hello Naruto," Shukaku said without looking up. "Thank you for giving them the chance to free me."

Shukaku smashed a building and it flew through the air and over the horizon. Hinata suddenly arrived in Sage Mode and Gaara arrived a moment later.

"Everyone ready?" Naruto asked.

"Do we have a choice?" Gaara asked.

Naruto and Gaara both made the same hand seals for Pressure Damage while Hinata made the hand seals for Searing Migraine. Before anyone could use their jutsu Kurama decided to save them the energy.

"STOP!" Kurama shouted.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Only Lightning will stop an Earth Elemental creature as strong as Shukaku," Kurama said. "Normally I say that a demon's strength is determined by the number of tails but Shukaku disproves that by being the second strongest. Only I can overpower him."

"Anyone here know lightning jutsus?" Naruto asked.

"I do," Killer B said landing next to Naruto.

"Speak in rhymes and I'll kill you," Naruto warned.

"I won't," Killer B said. "Which of you lot has Earth Chakra?"

"None," Naruto said. "You're on your own for that."

"Fine," Killer B said making hand signs. "Lightning Style, Electromagnetic Murder!"

A blast of pure energy shot out of Killer B's hand and shot at Shukaku. Shukaku didn't move to dodge it at all and when the smoke and dust from the blast cleared, Shukaku wasn't even scratched.

"Pathetic!" Kurama said. "Are you trying to tell me that the Jinchuriki of the Eight tails can't even put a scratch on Shukaku?"

"Why don't you try?" B asked.

"Gladly," Kurama said.

Hinata suddenly got covered in the Nine-tails Cloak and it solidified until Kurama was in full nine tails form. Kurama growled and Shukaku groaned and attacked Kurama. Kurama flipped onto his back and kicked Shukaku away from him then stood.

"GET AWAY FROM THE CITY KURAMA!" Naruto shouted.

Kurama shot him a dirty look but still tackled Shukaku out of the city. Naruto suddenly noticed the yellow pigmentation around Kurama's eyes and smirked.

"Sage mode Kurama," Naruto said. "This is going to be a short fight."

Sure enough Shukaku hit Kurama in the face with his strongest attack and it didn't leave a mark. Kurama grinned and created hundreds of giant spheres of pure chakra and Natural Energy. The spheres all compressed and became one. That one compressed further then it ate it. It's entire body suddenly bloated and it opened its mouth. A blood red beam shout out and hit Shukaku then continued until it went into space. It exploded and left nothing at all of Shukaku. Then Kurama began to laugh.

"GIVE HINATA BACK HER BODY KURAMA!" Naruto shouted.

"Why shout I?" Kurama asked. "I've earned my freedom."

Naruto made several hand seals and Kurama recognized the Fuinjutsu and instantly changed back into Hinata. Hinata began to fall from a hundred and fifty feet in the air but Naruto caught her and began to heal her. When he was finally done Hinata opened her eyes and smiled at the fact that she was alive.

"Hey," Hinata said. "What happened?"

"Kurama took control of your body and killed Shukaku," Naruto said. "Then he willingly gave up his control. Right Kurama?"

"Yes," Kurama grumbled.

Hinata smiled and kissed Naruto then pulled away and stood.

"Easy," Naruto said helping her up.

She groaned and clearly wasn't healed fully. When she was standing, Naruto helped her back to Gaara. Gaara took them to the only hotel that was still standing. They all got rooms and went to sleep right away. The next day Naruto got up and took a shower then got dressed and went outside. The others were all waiting at the gate. When he got there Gaara told him that they had decided to leave. Naruto agreed and said his goodbyes to Gaara and Kankuro then he and the rest of them began to head to Konoha. About halfway they met up with Kakashi, Sai, Shikamaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Choji.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru said landing next to him. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. It was an accident."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"I was cleaning your house and the vacuum kind of...um...exploded," Shikamaru said.

"I still have a house though right?" Naruto asked.

"Can we focus on the important stuff?" Tsunade asked.

"You're kidding!" Naruto said. "My house is gone?"

"Yes," Tsunade said. "Now can we please focus?"

Naruto opened his mouth but then closed it and bit his tongue. He still remembered his deal with Tsunade.

"Thank you," Tsunade said. "Now, are you all okay?"

"Fine," Sakura and Ino said at the same time.

"I'm fine," Naruto said.

"I'm okay," Hinata said.

"Good," Tsunade said. "The four of you are being sent to escort an actress to the hidden Sand Village."

Naruto instantly bit his tongue again, and after a minute, he said, "As you wish, Lady Tsunade."

Everyone stared at him like he had just stated his intent to kill her. After a second Tsunade burst out laughing and everyone stared at her instead.

"So you remember our deal after all," Tsunade said. "Get going."

The four of them all sighed and Kakashi told them where to meet the actress. They began heading out and once they were a safe distance from the others Naruto began to complain.

"Calm down Naruto," Sakura said. "Maybe it'll turn into a mission like when we had to protect Koyuki."

"That would be very interesting," Naruto said. "But no one could possibly be as fun to guard as her. After all, no one has Doto as an uncle."

They all smirked and kept going. They all agreed that the mission seemed boring, but if an actress needed shinobi for bodyguards, it was usually serious. And the mission was actually a lot of fun for Naruto. The others didn't enjoy it quite as much, but then again, they didn't enjoy fighting quite as much.

THE END