I'm not alone

Alright people, sorry it took me so long just to get this chapter up….I had a hard time getting motivated for it. >.< I had some horrible writers block! Hopefully it left for good.

When I first started making more chapters for this fic, I had no idea where it was going to go and just hoped for the best, but now I think I know exactly what I want to happen.

Well, on with the fic!

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“Naruto-kun, why are you he-Oh!” Hinata asked as Naruto unzipped her sleeping bag.

“Shh,” he put a finger to her lips to silence her as he squeezed into the very small sleeping bag.

Hinata gasped when she felt his warm body come into contact with hers. It was so warm, even on this cool night.

“Hinata,” he whispered huskily. “I…”

Hinata was abruptly woken up from her dream as a feeling of nausea overcame her. Feeling as if she were going to vomit right then and there, she kicked her sleeping bag off and ran to the side of the road, where she promptly retched in some bushes. Her stomach churned and twisted uncomfortably, and Hinata retched again.

Several minutes passed before her stomach settled down enough for her to stand. Hinata wiped her mouth and coughed weakly, wondering if dreaming of Naruto was really that disgusting to her body. Okay, maybe Naruto being seductive was a little strange, but hey, a girl could dream, right?

“How weird,” Hinata murmured softly to herself. Sensing that the worst was over, Hinata wobbled unsteadily to her feet to head back to her sleeping bag. She looked up, seeing the beginnings of dawn emerge from the sky. It was probably about five in the morning, she mused. They were to leave in an hour.

Sure enough, most people were already up and about, putting away their supplies and getting ready to go.

“Ah, there you are Hinata!” Kiba said in greeting when he noticed her. “We were wondering where you went!”

“Ah, good morning Kiba-san,” Hinata greeted weakly, hoping her breath didn’t smell like vomit when she noticed Kiba’s acute nose start to sniff suspiciously in her direction.

“Are you okay?” He asked, worried. “You don’t look so great.”

“No!” Hinata protested. “I’m fine…I think I just ate a bad fish last night…”

Kiba looked as if he wanted to question her more, but Akamaru barked, signaling that he was hungry. Kiba sighed.

“Well, I’ll see you in a few,” Kiba said, patting Akamaru on the head. “It’s our turn to go catch breakfast.” He said this last sentence with distaste as he bounded off towards the river, his trusty dog trotting by his side. “I’ll make sure I don’t catch any gross ones that’ll make you sick!” He called to her before disappearing into the distance. Hinata smiled a little. Even without meaning to, Kiba could always make her feel better; even if it was just bad fish induced nausea.

“Hinata!” Kurenai called, snapping Hinata back to reality. “Clean up your sleeping bag! We’ve got to hurry.” Kurenai shook her head as the girl hastily began stuffing the bag into her backpack.

Hinata scanned around the camp for a sign of Naruto. Her eyes rested on the boy; still in his sleeping bag and snoozing soundly. Hinata was about to go wake him until Sasuke, who had already cleaned up his area, gave him a swift kick in the face.

“Time to wake up, dobe,” he grunted, his foot still firmly planted on Naruto’s face.

“SASUKE!!!” Naruto cried, now completely awake and pissed. He was about to get up and try to beat the shit out of Sasuke when he noticed Hinata staring at him.

Well…maybe he’d get Sasuke back later.

“Good morning, Hinata!” He called, waving, his anger towards Sasuke’s rude awakening ebbing away.

“Good morning, Naruto-kun,” Hinanswanswered shyly.

“Are you two done?” Sakura asked impatiently. “We’ve still got to get all the supplies put away!”

“R-Right!” Hinata agreed, hurriedly throwing her stuff in the bag at a quicker rate. Hearing movement behind her, she noticed that the princess had stepped out of her cart.

“Are we ready?” she asked irritably. “We’ve got to hurry if we’re to reach the city by noon.”

“Right,” Kakashi said absently.

After a brief breakfast of fish, the six genins, two jounins, and princess headed off again for the day.

“Oh man, I can’t wait until we get to the Cloud village!” Naruto exclaimed while the group was traveling along the broken path leading to Lightning country. “I’ve never been there before! What’s it like, hime-sama?” He asked excitedly.

“You’ll see when we get there,” Kakashi interjected irritably. “Now would you mind shutting your mouth so we don’t announce our presence to any hidden enemies?” His one visible eye regarded the boy with a hard look.

“Oh yeah,” Naruto mumbled unhappily. He busied himself with staring at the scenery for the rest of the while grumbling every now and then at what a kill-joy Kakashi-sensei was.

They trudged on for several more hours without incident, to Hinata’s relief. Kakashi and Kurenai had seemed unusually apprehensive, as if they expected an attack with no warning, but none had come. When the distant gates of the hidden cloud village came in very they visibly relaxed. The genin, who had very little experience in traveling to other countries, stared in awe as they entered through the large gates; they finally caught a glimpse at last of cloud.

Physically, it wasn’t so different from Konoha. A bit smaller perhaps, and devoid of a large mountain with faces carved into them, but still had the familiar rows of houses, shops, and people meandering about. However, the clouds hung heavily in the sky, casting a gloomy look to the village. While Konoha seemed warm and inviting to strangers, this village seemed destitute to even a stranger.

“It’s sort of like Konoha,” Naruto commented, his head whipping around wildly to take in all the sights. “Except everyone looks kinda jumpy.”

“The people are wary,” Princess Chiyo commented from inside, sadly. “They are nervous having most of our shinobi away. They fear there will be an attack. Our village was once a rich and proud country. The only remainder of what used to be is our temple.”

“This way,” Kakashi instructed, leading the team towards a large structure towards the north of the village. Its magnificence almost seemed out of place in this dismal village. A large temple, topped with large, round domes that ended in a sharp point, and waved the flags of the cloud sigma loomed over them brilliantly as their eyes widened at its beauty.

“That place is huge!” Kiba marveled, staring up at it in wonder. “Is that where the Raikage lives?”

“Yes, that is the temple of the Raikage. It is very impressive,” Kurenai replied. “But for now it seems that it’s become a sanctuary for the Lords of this country.” She motioned to a flag with the imperial seal on it waving from the highest tower.

“But…isn’t Chiyo-hime the daughter of the Raikage?” Naruto asked, confused.

“My father used to be the lord of the lighting country, but he was so skilled as a shinobi, that he was made Raikage. His brother was appointed as lord, although my mother had remained queen,” Chiyo explained. “The lordship has moved into the village temporarily for extra protection while the shinobi are away.”

“Oh,” Naruto said, scratching his head dumbly.

Stopping in front of the richly designed structure, Chiyo stepped out of her cart in time to be greeted by a middle aged man running up to embrace her.

“Uncle!” She exclaimed happily, hugging him warmly. “Why are you outside? You should be inside the temple, where it’s safe!”

“I couldn’t sit still knowing my lovely niece was finally home after her long journey! I’m so glad to see that you’re safe,” the Lord of the Lightning said in-between hugs. He looked over at the Konoha ninjas. “Thank you for escorting her,” he thanked enthusiastically. “Come inside, please come inside!”

The lord ushered them all inside, leading them down the halls to the main room.

“Uncle, where is he?” Chiyo asked desperately. “Where is my father?”

The Lord’s exuberant smile was replaced by a grim expression. “He is not here. He took an extended leave to the Earth country.”

Chiyo let out a small gasp as she put a delicate hand to her mouth in horror. “Could he be…surrendering?”

“I do not know, my child,” her uncle replied sadly. “We feudal lords have little power over the warfare of our country. Most of that is left up to our Raikage and shinobi. But I do not think that your father would give up so easily. It is possible that they may sign a treaty. This is what we and our people pray for.”

“So then…you guys won’t need us?” Naruto piped up, more than a little confused. He squealed with pain as Sakura knocked him over the head.

“No,” Chiyo’s uncle said quickly. “I beg that you stay! If our Raikage is indeed going to sign a treaty with Earth country’s lord, then Tsuchikage might try to prevent it by kidnapping the princess to use as bait. She is the only person that would sway Raikage’s mind. The Tsuchikage has grown foul and senile in his last few years of life, and seems more interested in leading his country into a pointless war rather than to lead it to peace. It was him who had ordered our country to be hounded by those rank stone shinobi.”

“Will he definitely try to kidnap her then, you think?” Sakura asked nervously.

“It is possible,” Kakashi said thoughtfully. “I don’t think that Tsuchikage will be happy about Earth and Lightning aligning together since he’ll lose his power over them. And if he’s grown as senile as he says, then he might be capable of anything.”

“Bring ‘em on!” Kiba shouted. “I’m ready for some action!” Naruto nodded in agreement, not looking forward to the task of watching over the princess their whole trip here.

“Thank you, thank you!” the lord exclaimed gratefully. “I know our relations with Konoha have not been that well over the years, but with the treaty that Chiyo signed with your feudal lords and Hokage, and this hospitality, I think it’s safe to say we will become good allies.”

“This is why we undertook this mission,” Kurenai said. “We are interested in strengthening our alliance as well. As you know, our union with sand ended quite tragically a few years ago.”

“Can’t we eat now?” Naruto asked, interrupting. “We’ve been walking all morning and I’m starved! How do you expect us to protect your princess if we’re all dying of hunger?”

“Naruto!” Sakura cried angrily, smacking him on the head. “Don’t be so rude!”

Chiyo’s uncle however laughed heartily. “Of course! How rude of me! You all must be weary from your journey! Come, let me summon someone to show you to your rooms and then we will all sit down and eat lunch!” Clapping his hands loudly, a tall, frantic looking person ran hurriedly to reach his lord. “Homura, please show our guests to our spare bedrooms,” he instructed him.

Hinata almost fainted with relief. The fish that they’d eaten for breakfast was small and not nearly enough to fill them up for their half day journey. And finally, she’d have a chance to be alone with Naruto. A blush crept to her cheeks as she got lost in her own little dream world of her and Naruto.

“This way,” a servant instructed them, motioning for them to follow him down the hallway. His thick, black hair was neatly combed, and his uniform indicated he was a servant of the highest rank.

“Go on,” Kakashi instructed them. “We’ll stay here, so meet you in the dining hall.”

“Don’t eat all the food!” Naruto cried before turning around to follow the thin, lanky servant to his room.

“Hai, hai,” Kakashi agreed amiably as the group of youths disappeared down the hall.

~~~~

“These will be your quarters while you will be living with us,” Homura notified them. He unlocked two large French doors that lead to a huge room. “This is the guest room.” The six genin’s mouths dropped noticeably as they took in the sight of the room. It was elegantly furnished with lush couches and soft feather pillows, bookcases upon bookcases filled with tomes of every different subject imaginable, and a single crystal chandelier hung from the rounded ceiling, causing intricate designs of light to dance lightly on the way.

“Holy crap!” Naruto exclaimed, voicing what everyone was thinking. Even Shino looked awfully impressed.

“Wow…I can’t even imagine what the master bedroom must look like,” Sakura murmured.

“This way please,” Homaru said patiently, as if he were used to this sort of behavior. They looked up to notice that the room they were in was merely a common room, of sorts. It was connected to six other doors, three on each side. “These are the bedrooms,” he said simply, unlocking them. “Now, I leave you to choose your rooms, and please return to the dining commons in fifteen minutes; dinner will be ready shortly.” With that last sentence he bowed slightly and left.

“Oh man, I hope its ramen!” Naruto wished out loud. Hinata giggled.

“I doubt they’ll have ramen, Naruto-kun,” she said. “From the looks of their architecture and furnishings, it seems that their customs are quite different from Konoha!”

“Ah man,” Naruto groaned, rubbing his aching belly.

“I choose this room!” Sakura shouted happily, leaping into a large room on the far right that was adorned with beautiful pink furnishings.

Sasuke shrugged and walked into the nearest room, shutting the door behind him. Shino and Kiba did the same, but not without exchanging a knowing glance with him. Hinata flushed as she recognized that glance, something he and Kiba shared many a time after training. Hinata had no doubt in her mind that those two would have no need for separate rooms when it came time to sleep tonight.

Startled, she suddenly realized her and Naruto were alone. Still two rooms left. She looked over at him, her face flushing instinctively. Naruto’s did the same.

“Ah well, if you’re tired, you can have your own room tonight, Hinata,” he offered awkwardly.

“N-No!” Hinata protested, her blush staining her cheeks deeper when she realized how quick she was to object. Naruto’s eyes boggled a little, but then he smiled.

“That’s what I like about you, Hinata-chan,” he whispered softly, running a hand over her cheek.

“W-What?” Hinata asked, confused. Naruto just shook his head and grinned.

“I’m going to throw my stuff in this room at least,” Naruto said, removing his backpack and jogging to the bedroom that was to be unused. He tossed his stuff on the bed. AlriAlright, let’s go eat!” He cried excitedly, grabbing Hinata by the hand and pulling her in the direction of the dining room.

To be continued…

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Alright, sorry for leaving it there! I just really wanted to get this chapter up as soon as possible so you guys wouldn’t think I’m dead. Let’s see…next chapter I promise have some more lemon scenes…as well as a little action.

Also, there won’t be any SasuSaku in this fic, just so you know (or didn’t already tell). I think it seems sort of silly to have everyone in the group paired up, and I really don’t like Sasuke anyways. Heh…sorry folks.