I knew you would find me

****BETA'D!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH HZLBYRN****

AN: Hmm...fast arn't I -cheesy grin- Alright, here you go everyone!!!

R&R Let me know what you think!! PLEASE!! I love getting comments and people telling me what to fix, LOL!

eien no ren: Hey thanks for pointing out my misspelled 'Theres' ugh..I hate that word honestly. lol. I hope I got them all!
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Naruto shivered in the early morning chill, his eyes opening to slits as the bright sun poured through the valley. He shifted...had he slept outside? A low groan escaped his lips, and a crunch of dirt and grass was heard from beside him. He didn't bother to look to see who it was, the feel of the familiar chakra revealing the elite ninja.

“It’s been about a year since you’ve slept out here.” Naruto sighed, hearing the voice of Neji beside him, and he leaned his head back, feeling the cool stone at the back of his neck.

“I had a lot of things to think about last night,” The blonde rasped, swallowing. He sounded as bad as he felt. He began to stand, looking towards the east where the forests met the edge of the village.

“Have you been here all night as well?” Naruto looked over to the watching elite ninja.

“I was on watch duty last night. I saw you leave the Hokage tower right after the Kazekage,” The eyes were trained on him fully, and Naruto’s own narrowed.

“You’ve been spying on me,” Naruto stated. The Hyuuga gazed at him, a small smirk playing at his lips as he crossed his arms, answering the Hokage coolly.

“It’s what I’m supposed to do.” Then he paused, drawing his hands down to his pockets. “Naruto, what did the Kazekage want?”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Naruto suddenly snapped, glaring at the ninja. He was exhausted; the night before hadn’t brought much solace to his mind, and knowing he had been watched too didn’t help ease his confused thoughts. Especially about Gaara...

“I have to go—meeting with the Ibiki.” If he focused on other things, maybe his problems would go away. Highly unlikely, but it was worth a try.

“Are you sure that is wise in your current state, Hokage—”

“Hyuuga, don’t question me!” Naruto whirled on him angrily. “I am well capable of protecting this village as my title says!” The dangerous, whirling chakra danced at the edges of the Hokage’s frame. Neji closed his eyes, giving out a long exhaled sigh before putting his hands together.

“Byakugan!” His eyes opened to see the flow of charka through his Hokage leader. Erratic and uncontrolled on the inside, it was easily tearing him apart.

“I’ve told this to you before, Naruto-sama. You are not well,” he said calmly, but the enraged leader’s glare deepened.

“I have things to get done, so if you’re done lecturing your Hokage—”

“Naruto! Ibiki needs to see you urgently!” The pink-haired Kunoichi bounded into the area, staring at the two of them as they faced off.

“Thank you Sakura,” he said and in one swift movement disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji closed his Byakugan with an annoyed exclamation.

“The Kazekage has no doubt been the basis of this new turmoil in our Hokage’s person,” he said, turning toward Sakura.

“I noticed it in Suna. Every time we’ve gone, he took special care when it came to Naruto. I think he’s worried,” the young woman replied. She shook her head with a small smile.

“I heard from Hoshi that when the Kazekage went to see him at the Hokage tower, he gave him a kiss.” The Byakugan user’s eyes went wide at the statement.

“If that rumor spreads—”

“If you speak of that incident so openly, then it probably will spread,” a soft voice said from behind the elite ninjas. To sneak up on Sakura was one thing. To sneak up on Hyuuga Neji was quite another and the ninja turned sharply, his eyes narrowing.

“Kankuro-san,” Sakura breathed out with a smile and a wave. Neji only gave the sand puppet-nin a curt nod. He was idly leaning against his wrapped up puppet and looking directly at Neji.

“Of course, your speculations of my younger brother are correct. He is worried for the Hokage, and this seems to be the only way to show that concern. When he first began voicing his concern to me two years ago, I told him he felt more for the Hokage than he thought. It seems I have been proven correct.”

“His intentions will tip the balance between the other nations, something Konoha has strived to keep in check,” Neji said to the sand-nin. Kankuro shook his head with a grin.

“He may not look like much, but he has more ‘intentions’ then just getting into your Hokage-sama’s pants. Then again, if you assume just that, I may have mistaken your intelligence for foolish stupidity.” The way Kankuro was trying to pick a fight with him only caused a brief note of irritation to flow through his body. Neji turned to Sakura at once.

“Go find Kiba or Shino. I want you to keep a close watch on Naruto; his chakra is ruining his vital organs slowly. See if you can get him subdued as soon as possible and find out what damage he has taken already.” She nodded sharply, and if she was surprised at the predicament the Hokage was in, she didn’t show it and she disappeared to find one of the other elite ninjas.

“Tell me, Hyuuga, why do you not like the thought of my brother with Naruto-sama?” asked the puppeteer. Neji placed a hand on the Memorial Stone, looking levelly at him.

“He’s still in love with Uchiha Sasuke, and your Kazekage is tearing him apart on the inside.”

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“So, why is Neji so worried?” Kiba asked as they landed outside the holding building for missing-nins and criminals, Akamaru sitting at his side.

“It’s what I’ve been worried about for a while now. Naruto’s chakra is releasing itself into his system, he can’t control it...something must have triggered this, and Neji believes it's because of the Kazekage's advances that Naruto is shutting himself off.”

“Whoa! When did the spooky Kage get interested in Naruto?” Kiba asked. Sakura closed her hands over his mouth.

“Shhh! You haven’t noticed?” she asked seriously. The Dog-nin shook his head.

“Not...really...but...I did overhear a lot of his conversation when Gaara-sama first arrived...He was rather..." Kiba paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Kind,” he finished, making a face, and then added as they opened the door, “I dunno, Sakura….Akamaru doesn’t like him.”

The Kunoichi giggled slightly.

“You just wish you had an attractive sand-nin chasing your tail.” The dog ninja only passed her a haughty glare, but before he could respond to her taunt, two jounin blocked their entrance to the holding cell hallway where Naruto was probably discussing the missing-nin issue with Ibiki.

“No one is permitted beyond this point. Hokage's orders.” Sakura knew she couldn’t argue, and if she went against Naruto’s orders, he wouldn’t be pleased at all.

“Stand down,” someone said behind them. Sakura heard the barest of whines from Akamaru and she turned, her eyes widening at the sight.

“Kazekage-sama...the Hokage has ordered—” the jounin broke off with a gulp. Kiba turned enough to see the glaring Sand Leader and felt a shiver at how dangerous the image presented.

“Unless you want an early dismissal, I suggest you both do as the Kazekage says.” Kakashi had come out of the door behind the two Jounin, his eyes directed right towards Gaara.

“Sakura, please go ahead. Naruto needs medical attention immediately. Kiba, when Shikamaru returns from training, tell him to put together a small group of elites. I want five ninjas including him and yourself,” Kakashi rapped and waited patiently as Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura disappeared to do as he said.

“Kazekage, I’m sure you already know what’s going on,” he said finally.

“I do,” Gaara replied softly, taking a step forward, fully intending to get to the Hokage's side. Kakashi raised a small, orange book to his face slowly.

“I also know of your intentions. I hope you can help him,” he said this just as the Kage passed beside him. He heard the slight falter of steps and then:

“I fully intend to.” And he disappeared down the hallway.

“Good, because we are not loosing a Hokage because of his love sickness,” Kakashi muttered, turning a page and sighing before folding the edge—he couldn’t even concentrate on the newest installment because of everything going on.

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“Ibiki,” Naruto said with a slight nod, holding back the twinge of pain that erupted through his body. He’d never felt so sick in his life.

“Both prisoners have come from the remnants of the Akatsuki group, but their main objective is to assassinate you.” The ninja looked grim and Naruto rubbed his face.

“Did they give you a reason why?” he asked, the slight surprise he felt at the statement only showed at the frown on his lips.

“Only that you’re the Kyuubi holder. Nothing I’ve done makes them speak of another reason.”

“I see,” gritted the Hokage as the chakra flashed painfully through his insides. What was going on?!

“Hatake Kakashi will be here to help formulate the best plan of keeping you safe,” the interrogator said calmly, watching Naruto’s face.

“Five at the most,” the blonde said suddenly, but his face began paling and he lurched forward.

“Naruto!” came the surprised voices from Ibiki and Kakashi, who had just entered the room. The blonde jerked himself upright, suppressing the sudden pain.

“Ibiki, ask them this. Ask them if it is because I was the one who killed their leader.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” Naruto doubled up, and Kakashi gave the interrogator a look.

“Do as he says,” then, “Come Naruto, sit down already. I heard from Neji you spent the night at the stones.”

“Shut up, Kakashi. Like you haven’t at one point or another,” snarled the blonde, but his voice gave way and his eyes rolled back as he passed out.

“Damn it...You’ve gotten too tall...” Kakashi muttered as the body went limp. He laid the Hokage on the ground, making chakra-laced anchoring points, so at least whatever the blonde Hokage had sustained wouldn’t get worse, and disappeared. Hopefully, he would be able to find Sakura—

“No one is permitted beyond this point. Hokage’s orders,” he heard through the door to his left, the one with the Jounin that was posted by Naruto’s orders. He felt for the chakra and sighed with relief.

“Good timing, Sakura,” he said and pulled the door open.

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TBC

Oh, I know I spelled 'Kankuro' one way last chapter at the another this chapter, I will be sticking to this version: "Konkuro" for the rest of the story! Sorry for the confusion XD, I did it on purpose, make sure you were all on your toes...-rolls eyes- yeah right...XD


kawaiicrimsonkitsune: lol, thanks! I got that fixed right awy ^_^;

eien no ren: LOL YOUR so great XD LOL You should be excited for the next chapter -happy dance-, I'm soooo excited to write it you have no idea!!!!!

abi: thank you, yeah someone told me earlier, but thats ok, thanks for letting me know!!! And thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying it!!