Naruto awoke the next morning to find Hinata already gone. In her place was a note saying that she turned off his alarm so he could sleep in a little, not that his biological clock actually let him lay about for too long. Since he wasn't one to sit around and do nothing, he got out of bed and got ready for his day. One of his first tasks was to remake his traveling pack so he would be ready in case a new mission came up. Being as the last one only took a couple days, he didn't have too much to replenish. A set of clothes and some ration bars for his scroll and some kunai to go in his pouch.

Next on his list was his laundry. He already had his clothes from the mission soaking overnight, but they still needed washed, so he made a clone to take care of that little chore without a second thought while he made himself some breakfast. With the basics out of the way, his next step was the organization of everything he managed to get from the bandits they conquered. He didn't really want to call it a fight much less a battle. Usually those entailed them getting at least some scratches. Something that just wasn't the case in this instance. Unfortunately, before he could dive into those storage scrolls he heard the door to the house open and close.

"Naruto!" Hinata's voice rang out through the ground floor.

"Out back Hinata!" He quickly packed up what he had out and stowed it away for later as he got up and headed for the door. They almost collided as Hinata rushed out to meet him, and only a quick grab and twirl kept them from falling to the ground. "Careful Hinata-chan, wouldn't want to get us too hurt, though we could use it as an excuse to stay in bed all day."

She at least had the decency to blush before remembering why she came home. "I requested that you take the lead of our mission today. I hope you don't mind, you said it would be ok..." Her pleading eyes were too much for him to bare. Even if he'd wanted to stay home alone he wouldn't have been able to resist.

"Sure, let me just grab some things and we can go." He walked past her and bound up the stairs to his room.

"You don't want to know why?" Hinata yelled up after him.

The sound of objects moving around told her that Naruto was getting some things he would need for a mission. It seemed a little odd to her considering he didn't even know where they were headed or for how long. "You want me to go along, and you didn't want the person that was assigned to you to go. Do I need any other reason then that?" He walked out of his room and hopped down the steps, catching her in a hug as he stopped himself. "Besides, we get to spend more time together. Shall we go?"

"H-hai!" An excited Hinata and happy Naruto walked out the front gate to meet the waiting Harume. "Harume-chan, he's coming with, so we can get our mission now."

The girl turned towards them from her spot at the wall. "Cool, this'll be a lot better than that stuck up prick they tried to give us. For the betterment of the mission my ass." She huffed and started to lead the way towards the mission hall.

"You girls didn't get a mission yet?"

"They wouldn't let us pick one up without our sensei or an approved leader present. I guess you're the only one that got special permission to do that. Really, would it have been so bad to give us a couple of D-ranks and be done with it?" Harume grumbled her opinions back to them.

"Well, don't worry about it too much. Mine was a special case..."

"Yeah, you were the Hokage's favorite little ninja." She retorted.

Naruto cast a sideways look at Hinata, who just rolled her eyes in return and mouthed the word 'period'. He nodded in understanding. He recalled the explanation from when he was helping Hinata and Haku with there medical studies. Suffice it to say that he knew more about the female's inner workings than most males probably should. Of course he had learned a lot of it while Hinata was passed out since she couldn't get very far talking about anatomy when he was right next to her.

"Well regardless, we'll get our mission soon enough. What rank do you two want?" He knew he had to emphasize when he got confused looks. "Chūnin remember? We can technically get anything up to low B-rank, but since it'll only be three of us I'm going to limit us to low C-rank at most. Same thing I did with Ino and Chōji."

"I-I think we could go for a low C...What do you think Harume-chan?"

"Sure, whatever."

Naruto leaned over closer to Hinata to whisper in her ear. "I think I can see why Shino is having a 'clan meeting'." His comment earned him an elbow to the ribs which he mock pouted as he rubbed the 'wound'.

"That's not very nice Naruto-kun."

"Maybe not, but it was funny." He stuck out his tongue at her and was shocked a bit to find it quickly captured. He stood there, frozen for a few seconds trying to figure out what happened as Hinata laughed and yelled at him to hurry up. Shaking himself out of his daze he rushed up behind her and scooped her up into his arms, causing her to laugh louder as he started to run towards the mission hall, leaving Harume to grumble in their wake.

They waited patiently outside the building for her to arrive as they chatted about nothing in particular. When She finally showed up, all three headed inside to grab their mission. The chūnin behind the desk was one that Naruto hadn't seen before, nor had he ever seen the long-haired, brunette man that was leaning against the wall off to the side. He had expected to walk right in and get their mission, but it seemed as though these two had other plans.

"I see you finally decided to show back up...Hinata." The brunette man looked at them, revealing white, pupiless eyes. "Are you ready now for your mission. I have picked out a satisfactory B-rank for us."

Naruto had stiffened the moment he'd heard the man talk. When he saw the man's eyes, confirming his clan, his eyes narrowed. Then he heard what mission the man chose and his anger rose. "You planned on taking two genin on a B-rank mission. What are you, nuts?"

"I don't believe this concerns you genin. This is my choice as their temporary squad leader. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a mission to attend to." The male Hyūga made to escort the two girls out of the room, but found Naruto already in his way. "Move, boy."

"Oh I think not. You aren't taking these two anywhere."

"I am a chūnin, you are a genin. You will do as I say and remove yourself from my path or you will be detained for insubordination."

"Can it asshole. In case you haven't heard the recent promotion list. I am a chūnin as well. Hinata-chan was nice enough to come request my leadership specifically since I was free today, so feel free to take that mission and shove it up right next to that branch you're so fond of." He saw the man slip a foot back slightly and decided on one last warning. "Being as we are both chūnin, need I remind you of the repercussions of taking an offensive action without due cause. There are witnesses around Hyūga, and I would really hate to have them see a mighty clansman like yourself fall because of an unsatisfactory knowledge of the laws."

It was the Hyūga's turn to narrow his eyes, but he didn't get the chance at a retort when someone else spoke up.

"You can tell Hiashi that I won't be doing a mission if there is another Hyūga in it, ever. It isn't insubordination if I feel that my life is threatened by your mere presence. That man has given me more than enough reason to claim such a thing, so he might as well stop his schemes where they are. I don't plan on going back to the Hyūga, ever, and I have Naruto-kun to keep me safe most of the time, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch my own back either." That wasn't what the man had been expecting out of the once shy former Hyūga heiress. Indeed, none of them had expected it as they each looked at her with different expressions of surprise and awe.

"Well said Hinata-chan...Well I would say that pretty much proves you're out of the picture, so I'd suggest you move along, Hyūga."

"This isn't over boy, Hiashi will have the byakugan fully under his control once again."

"I've heard that before too, but so far it hasn't happened. Anything short of murder wouldn't do any good and even that would point right back to him. He wouldn't be in control of shit if he's in prison, so I would suggest he cut his losses and find someone else to harass."

"If you're both done puffing out your chests, could we get our mission and go please? I'd rather not stand here and watch two ego inflate to the point that they blow the roof off the building." Harume growled out from the stacks of mission scrolls, already searching for one the may be decent. It looked like she had a few possibilities already set aside.

The Hyūga chūnin sneered at her, then glared at Hinata and Naruto before finally heading for the door. His contact was not going to be happy with this development. He would like the next one even less.

"What's this?" He turned around to see Naruto holding up an open scroll. Frantically searching his pockets, the man went wide-eyed as he realized what he'd dropped. He rushed forward towards Naruto, intending on snatching the scroll back when a deep growl stopped him in his tracks. The blond looked up at him with pure, unbridled hatred in his eyes. "You people just don't know when to give up do you?"

A flash of chakra wavered across Naruto's wrists and ankles just before he disappeared. When he reappeared he was standing where the Hyūga had been and said man was now implanted into the wall. The chūnin in charge of missions was out of his seat as soon as the crash hit his ears. "What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto turned to him, still glaring, causing the man to take a step back. "Who is he?"

"You just attacked a chūnin of the leaf. You should be arrested!"

"I asked: Who. Is. He?"

The killing intent Naruto was flooding the room with was making the chūnin sweat as he fumbled for his clipboard. "H-Hyūga Shoyo. W-why?"

"He is now a criminal for accepting an unauthorized and illegal mission. When the ANBU get here make sure he is detained under suspicion of conspiracy to harm, and willing involvement in treasonous acts against Konoha. I'm tired of messing around with these assholes. No matter what, let him sit in a cell until I come back from my mission and I'll provide the evidence then."

"You can't just leave after making such a claim!"

"Watch me." Without looking he picked a random scroll from Harume's stack and filled out the clipboard himself. He stalked out of the mission hall with a rather nervous Harume and Hinata on his heals, leaving a speechless chūnin in the aftermath of his rage. When the doors to the outside opened they found themselves face-to-face with three ANBU, most likely the closest to the area when they heard the commotion.

"Uzumaki, what happened inside?" The closest one asked.

"There is an unconscious Hyūga inside, please detain him until we return. I have a mission to complete that we've already signed for, so detailed explanations of his actions will have to wait until we return."

The ANBU could tell that he was in no mood to talk, but they still had their duties. "Give me a brief description and I will decide if you will be going anywhere or not."

Naruto opened the scroll that the Hyūga dropped and showed it to all three ANBU present. "As you can see, this is an illegal mission assignment to apply the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu to a non Hyūga ninja. It is signed as accepted by Hyūga Shoyo, the same as the one inside. Is that reason enough?"

"...We'll detain him, but we won't be able to charge him without evidence so I'll need to take that with me." The ANBU reached out to take the scroll, but it was pulled away from him. "Uzumaki-san I will need that evidence to convict him."

"He'll have to wait until I get back like I said. As you can probably imagine, I'm not exactly fond of this village's justice system, so you'll just have to wait. Besides, you're allowed to hold him for a month since you've seen evidence, just schedule a hearing for an undisclosed time and we'll deal with it when I get back. It's not like the council have anything better to do with there time." Naruto detoured around the group of ANBU, as calmly as he could, and went on his way with Harume and Hinata following once again.

"Taichō, what should we do?" One of the other ANBU asked, slightly pleading.

"We go inside, arrest the Hyūga and take him to a cell." The man ordered.

"What about the brat?"

"He was in the right in this case. It was a bit of a stretch, but I can see why he went so far. Think about it, if the Hyūga were to get away with putting that seal on someone not in their clan, what would stop them from putting on anyone they damn well please. Better to stop such a thing before the seeds even get planted."

"Hai taichō..."

• • •

With their supplies obtained, Naruto and the remains of team eight were out the gate in less than an hour. Neither of the girls could blame him for not wanting to wait until the next morning, so they followed him wordlessly down the road. After the village walls were out of sight he finally spoke up.

"We're going to a small village just north of the western crossroads. Looks like a small time kidnaper decided to try for a big target and took a local wealthy merchant's daughter while she was out for a walk. He's asking for her ransom and gave a specific meeting point and time for the money to be dropped off. Tonight at eight at a bridge near the outskirts of the town. We'll be going to the merchant's house first to get any extra information we'll need before heading to the exchange point for the rescue. Since the kidnapper has no ninja training it should be easy, but stay alert for traps. Hinata, you'll be the one searching for the girl while the exchange is taking place. Harume, you'll be henged as the merchant, so make sure you copy him exactly."

"And I suppose you'll be the one to swoop in and save the day?" Harume asked a bit cynically.

"No. I'll be henged as well."

"As what?"

"The money." Naruto smiled at her, though it was only half hearted. "We'll be capturing the kidnapper alive so he can stand trial. His offense hasn't warranted a kill order. At least, as long as he hasn't hurt his captive." The girls nodded as they continued on their way.

"Naruto-kun, thank you for coming."

"I already told you it was fine Hinata-chan. Don't worry about it."

"But, because of that you're going to have to see the council again, and I know how well you get along with them..."

Naruto sighed. He had been trying to put the mornings event out of his mind. "It's fine. I'd rather have to spend time dealing with those assholes than worrying about you being safe. Besides, the only one that will be a pain to deal with should be Hiashi since it was a ninja of the Hyūga clan that was involved."

"...I'll make it up to you I promise..."

"I said it's fine Hinata, you don't owe me anything." Despite his attempts to stay calm, Naruto was starting to get a little agitated.

"I don't care if I don't owe you anything. I want to give you something."

"Could you please not talk about your planning for you freaky nighttime events while I'm right here?" Harume really didn't want to hear about their personal lives, or the plans they contained for them.

Naruto shot her a glare. "I doubt that is what we were talking about Harume." He rubbed the bridge of his nose while he collected his own thoughts for a moment, trying to calm himself down again. Now was not the time to snap at people, especially people who were some of the few on your good side. "Look, let's just finish this mission and we'll talk about this when we get home. Ok Hinata?"

All the answer he got was a slight nod as Hinata moved silently forward. There was no way for him to know just what kind of 'thanks' Hinata had planned on giving him. Of course she knew those rewards would have to stay in her daydreams for now, but she was willing to wait...for awhile.

They made it to the target with time to spare. The merchant's house was easy to spot since it was the largest building in the small town. Apparently he decided to live here simply because he liked the scenery. The man himself was dressed as one would expect of someone of his stature. Three piece suit with bejeweled rings and cufflinks. His hair couldn't have been more perfect nor his shoes reflect anymore light than they already were.

"So you are the ninja I hired? I must say you seem a little younger than I had imagined they would send."

The three rolled their eyes. There was always this downside to being a young ninja. No one ever took you seriously. Naruto stepped forward, signifying that he was the main contact for the man. "I assure you sir that we are more than capable of handling this mission. We may look young to you, but our line of work forces us to grow up rather quickly. My squad and I are trained well for missions such as these and a simple rescue from a normal kidnapper should be well within our skill level. Before we begin our plans, however, I will need to know any information you might have on the accused kidnapper. Where he would likely be hiding, looks, height, notable skills. Anything that may assist us in apprehending your criminal."

The merchant looked at each of them as though considering their possible skill levels. "Very well. The man is around six and a half feet in height, black hair, green eyes, tattoo on his left bicep of a spider's head according to the person he gave the ransom notice to. His only skills that I know of are spiriting away young girls when they are defenseless and demanding ludicrous sums of money for them."

"Not as much as I'd hoped, but at least we should know if it's the right person when we meet them."

The merchant looked over them again, taking a bit longer than needed when glancing at the girls. Naruto knew what was coming, but thankfully his plans already used up all of his resources. "I think I may need a bit of protection myself for this endeavor. Perhaps one of you would be able to stay behind and make sure this fiend doesn't decide to get the money he desires from the source." His eyes settled directly on the girls and grew hungry as he looked at them. The girls in return looked repulsed at the man. He was old enough to be their grandfather and yet he was nearly drooling at the mouth. "I wouldn't dream of taking the leader from the mission though, so perhaps one of you lovely ladies would like to join me for the evening. I promise to make it...worth your while." He reached out to stroke Harume's cheek, but found his arm to be unmoving when a hand clenched around his wrist.

Hinata was not about to let such a pig touch her friend and it showed in her eyes. "I'm so sorry sir, but we are here for a mission to rescue your daughter. We are not here to tend to you personally."

Unfortunately her words only seemed to fan the flames. "Oh she's got some fire in her. I do so like the ones with a little spirit. Tell me dear, does your boyfriend treat you right? Because I know ways to treat a lady that I'm sure he can only dream about." Again he made to reach a hand out to stroke a soft cheek, only this time his hand did touch something smooth. The cold, hard, but admittedly smooth, side of Harume's wakizashi.

"Well Hinata-chan. The man asked