A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! As promised, I'm working with the fastest pace I can. Here is another update for y'all, hope you enjoy it :)

Also, to my old readers who decided to give this story a chance — don't fret, there is something really good and long awaited is coming for you in the nearest few days, if you know what I mean. ;P

Chapter 3. The Aloof Ones

"What the hell do you mean you won't let us in? Huh? Is this some stupid joke?!" Naruto almost growled, clenching his fists under the impassive gazes of the guards dressed in ceremonial kimono.

"I'm sorry, but we were given the direct order not to let anybody in aside from Hokage-sama and the heads of other clans. I'm really sorry, Naruto-san, but we can't allow any you to get past this line."

"We just want to see Hinata and talk to her! Jeez! I mean, I get it that you wanna ensure the security of your place no matter what considering what just happened, but come one! This is the future Hokage right here, and you know damn well who we are!" exclaimed Kiba angrily, pointing at Shino who was standing next to him silently with his hands hidden in the pockets of his coat.

"We understand your feelings, Inuzuka-san, but it can't be helped. As much as I want to—," the Hyūga cautiously looked around and lowered his voice, leaning toward him, "...as much as, I believe, it would benefit Hinata-sama at her current state, I can't break the order. I'm truly sorry. I also realize that Naruto-san could easily break in, but please, consider the possible consequences. That would be a huge violation of law, especially under current circumstances."

Kiba's cheeks reddened as the words of the guardian only made him even more enraged.

"And who the hell gave you this order anyway?! We—" But, just as he was about to blurt out something else, Naruto's hand landed on his shoulder, making him flinch and look at his friend incredulously.

"Old man Hiashi is gone, Kiba… And so is Hanabi-chan. The only person who could've given such order is Hinata herself. Is that right?" The unusually serious blue eyes met the white ones, and the older ninja nodded curtly in response.

"Yes. Like I said, we can't disobey even if we wanted to. I'm afraid she doesn't want to see anybody at the moment… not even you, Naruto-san. Sorry, I understand that this is not something you'd like to hear, but I can't help it."

All of them remained mute for some time, each in their own thought. The oppressive silence was only broken by Akamaru's plaintive whining, as though the dog actually understood what was happening.

"I see," finally uttered Naruto, turning around. "Please, as soon as you can, tell her that we're back to the village. And… no, actually, don't tell her anything," he corrected himself then, staring at the ground.

"What? Naruto, she has to know she's not alone in this…" Shino frowned.

"If she wanted to see any of us, she would've told these guys to make an exception and let us in. Besides, her Byakugan allows her to see everything within the village and far beyond. If she feels like she wants to talk to one of us, she'll find us instantly, you know. No reason to bother her and make her feel even more bad, knowing that we wanted to see her when she doesn't want to see anybody. Well, you know her." The blond ninja shrugged, beginning to stride away from the Hyūga mansion. "Like I said, don't tell her anything, pals. See ya. Kiba, Shino, can you please report to Hokage-sama about the mission and everything? I got some stuff to do."

"Sure, man. It wasn't your mission anyway."

"Aye, so long."

Naruto jumped up to the top of the nearest building. As the pleasant evening wind caressed his face and hair, he tapped into the Kyūbi's chakra, instantly beginning to feel the emotions of everyone in the village. For the most part, there was nothing unexpected. Everyone was still a bit worried and anxious, but there was no panic… nothing like that. Of course, the previous atmosphere of the peaceful bliss was gone now. He had suspected that it would eventually diminish anyway — after all, the happy aftermath of the Great War couldn't last forever. And yet… this was a bit too soon for his liking.

But, of course, no matter how unfortunate and sad was it to see, or rather feel the village being back to its former pre-war state, right now it wasn't his biggest concern.

The ninja pursed his lips, his face becoming visibly tensed.

"You're getting rusty, Naruto. She's just a few yards away, and yet you're finding it so hard to sense her? Hmpf," murmured Kurama in his head, sounding grouchy, but obviously trying hard to hide his own concern.

"Yeah… it's strange. Seems like she's already asleep, but even for someone who's sleeping, she's surprisingly calm," muttered Naruto under his nose, opening his eyes and looking at the window of Hinata's bedroom.

Of course, there was no light coming from it, and the curtain was tightly shut.

"Well, when that brat Neji died, she managed to remain pretty cool too. So much that she managed to force you to pull your head out of your ass. Your girlfriend is a tough one, that's for sure." The fox smirked.

Naruto smiled for the first time since the moment he had returned, but the smile quickly vanished, once again replaced with a gloomy expression.

"I guess, but still… I just feel that something's not quite alright. You can feel it too, isn't that right?" asked the jinchūriki, his eyes still fixated on the dark window.

"Sort of, I suppose… But it's not completely unfamiliar," almost uttered Kurama, sounding unusually thoughtful and soft.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto blinked, surprised by his partner's sudden change of attitude.

"Well, this kind of cold resolve, as well as an attempt to lock all the negative emotions deep inside, only to feel nothing at all… Doesn't it sound familiar to you, Naruto? I'm sure you're not that dense."

The ninja lowered his eyes, finally getting the reference.

"Sasuke…"

Now that he thought about it, Kurama was right. For as long as he could remember his friend, this was his way of withstanding the pain of loss ever since his clan had been wiped out. The Uchiha preferred to suppress any emotions or feelings in order to feel nothing… And only a few people who actually knew him realized what kind of hell was always raging behind this exterior wall.

"Indeed. I guess now I know why you like her so much. They're both to your taste."

"Very funny… Haha," muttered the shinobi without a sign of joy in his voice.

"Not my fault. Your idiocy is contagious, and so is your horrid sense of humour. Anyway, snap out of it already. This is unlike you to be a piece of depressed shit, brat. The Naruto I know would go and do something instead of sitting here like some sort of a melancholic princess."

"Melan- what…?"

"Get your ass up and start thinking on a plan! I'm gonna take a nap, and I expect you to be back to normal by the time I wake up, or else I'll kill you. Bye."

Naruto let out a heavy sigh and then smirked, shaking his head. Throughout the last few years, the bond he had with his tailed beast had only grown stronger. Now he could truly call Kurama his friend… and he knew that it was mutual. And although the ninja never viewed it this way, one could find it ironic. Considering that, just like Sasuke had once said, his loneliness had been his biggest weakness back in the years, he was never alone nowadays… Never.

"Alrighty then… He's right. I gotta do something, but the question is… what to do?"

His stomach grumbled angrily, instantly reminding the ninja that the last time he'd had a decent meal was back in Sunagakure.

"Well, first things first, I guess…"

He jumped off the roof and then began walking towards Ichiraku Ramen. Although he realized that this wasn't the best time to enjoy his favourite food, he also knew that he could never think straight when he was hungry. And besides, Hinata definitely wouldn't want him to be depressed as well in this situation. If anything, he had to stay strong for her, as well as the other people he loved, no matter what.

It was also a part of his ninja way.

-~X~-

"Well, damn… She chose a weird time to finally begin dating someone, that's for sure," deadpanned Ino as she and Sakura were walking away from Tenten's closed store.

"I know, right? And on top of that, it's Lee of all people… I never thought there was actually something between them!" said Sakura, looking equally as stunned by the news.

"There wasn't, but I guess now there is, huh! All the more reasons to be happy in these crappy days," Ino snorted and looked away.

Unsure if her friend was serious or sarcastic, Sakura smiled a bit awkwardly, deciding to change the topic.

"Speaking of these days… As the head of your clan, your mom is in charge of the investigation, isn't she?" The pink haired kunoichi lowered her voice just in case, although there was little to no one around them, so the probability of being overheard was close to nonexistent. "Have they found something yet? Any clue at all?"

Ino's expression didn't change, but her eyes softened a bit as she hemmed before replying quietly,

"No idea, honestly. I'm not a part of this investigation, and it is top secret. But it's fairly obvious that this case is gonna be a very dirty one. Poor Hinata..."

"Eh? How come?" Sakura blinked, confused by the blonde's sudden seriousness as well as the unusual depth of her words.

"Well, think about it. What we know for a fact is that someone either placed a few explosive tags in their carriage or had an explosive tag on his body. Regardless, the biggest problem here is the fact that they — whoever the culprit is — managed to pull it with a shit ton of Hyūgas around." She paused, as though letting the medic-nin finish the logical chain by herself.

"Hm… Shouldn't they have checked everything with their Byakugan? I mean, the Hyūga are known to be very pedantic, even ridiculously so when it comes to their security."

Ino hemmed knowingly again and grinned darkly, the shade of worry not leaving her eyes as she replied,

"Bingo. Considering what you just mentioned, it's very hard to believe that they were careless enough not to check everything before even entering the carriage. Especially knowing how important was the ceremony they were heading to. Which could only mean that—"

"That it was an inside job..." Sakura gasped, and her jade eyes widened in fear when Ino nodded curtly to confirm her conclusion. "But… does it mean that some of them deliberately did that? Why? And who?"

"You're asking the wrong person, forehead," Ino sighed tiredly, wincing a little as she felt a few drops of the beginning rain landing on her skin. "Shikamaru thinks so as well, though. Like I said, everything about this case is top secret, so we can only be guessing this and that, but… Me and him, we have agreed that the best idea for starters would be to interrogate those who were responsible for security on that day."

Sakura frowned.

"Yes, that seems like a good idea… No, actually, like the only logical idea. But, it's not that simple, is it? Otherwise, they'd already have caught whoever did this."

"No shit… I can only assume that it's either that they've found nothing, which either makes it a lot more complicated case than we think or means that the responsible guy died in the explosion as well. We—"

"Naruto…?" murmured Sakura, interrupting the other kunoichi and looking at the end of the street.

"Huh? What does he have to do with—oh," Ino stopped, also noticing the blond ninja entering Ichiraku Ramen. "Go to him."

"Huh?" Sakura gave her a slightly baffled glance.

"Gosh, forehead, don't be so dense! Do you seriously think that the first place he'd go to as soon as he would have returned would be some eatery rather than Hinata's home? He clearly already knows what happened, and he needs the support of someone close. Sasuke is away as always, so you're the only person who can comfort him right now."

The medic-nin frowned and blushed a bit, desperately suppressing a silly smile.

"When did you become so shrewd, Ino-pig?"

"I've always been, it's just that you were not intelligent enough to appreciate my wisdom." The blonde winked at her, turning towards her family's flower shop. "See ya."

"Um… yes," muttered Sakura, returning her slightly perplexed gaze to the ramen stand in the distance. "See you later."

What would she say to him…? Would he even want to see her at the moment? Of course, she hadn't been able to see his face from this distance. But, knowing the Uzumaki, the girl was pretty sure that he was not quite okay right now… Even if he would pretend that everything was fine.

But then she shook her head and frowned, vigorously striding forward. Sakura had never been a coward, and she definitely wasn't about to try being one. Especially not when her friend needed her. After all, Ino was right.

The worst thing that could happen to Naruto right now would be staying in solitude full of pointless reflection and misery.

-~X~-

"Yo, Ayame-chan! Wassup?"

"Hey, Naruto-kun! Not much, what about — oh, sorry," she gave him an apologetic smile which made the ninja frown a bit. Of course, he had expected everyone to know about the incident by now, but the way Ayame looked at him was… almost as though she knew something he was not aware of.

And he didn't quite like it.

"Fine, I guess. Aside from that thing, how have things been here in the village?" asked the Uzumaki, squeezing out a polite, but barely cheerful smile.

"Oh… Well, okay-ish, I guess," she shrugged, scratching her chin. "Dad caught a cold, so I've been replacing him here full-time for the last couple days. The weather has also been so-so, but other than that it's pretty much normal. If only a bit more grim than before."

"I see," he nodded, settling on the seat in the right corner. "Make me my favourite, alright?"

"Shall I cook a double portion right away?" she smirked, but he only shook his head, staring at the table in front of him blankly.

"Nah, just one is fine." After all, he didn't feel that hungry.

"Roger that!" She nodded at her only visitor before heading to the kitchen.

As he was about to sink back into his gloomy thought, Naruto flinched and almost yelped in surprise when he felt someone's hands wrapping around him tightly from behind, hugging him gently, but at the same time almost making him fall off the seat.

"Naruto! You're back! Finally… I'm so glad to see you!"

He coughed. "Sakura… ugh… please, let me go…! You're gonna strangle me…"

"Oh… Sorry!" The girl lowered her hands, blushing behind his back. "It's just that — we all really missed you. You already know what happened, don't you?" she asked softly, sitting next to him.

"Yeah… Though I kinda feel like I don't know quite everything. Or maybe it's just that I don't understand everything yet," he murmured, avoiding her eyes for the reason he didn't realize himself.

"Well, then you're not the only one," she smiled at him, looking at his sullen face compassionately. "To be honest, nobody quite understands how it happened and who to blame for it, and that's what makes things even more confusing and frightening for everyone. Not to mention that we can only guess what's going to happen subsequently."

"Indeed," he muttered briefly, still not looking at her, which made Sakura frown again. Clearly, she didn't like seeing her friend in such a rarely dark state… But Naruto realized that he simply couldn't pretend like everything was as good as always.

"Look, Naruto…," she rubbed the back of his hand softly, finally making the ninja raise his head and look into her eyes with slight confusion. "Please, believe me, I understand what you're feeling right now. I felt the same way for Sasuke-kun back in the years… When you know that someone you love is in pain, and you realize that you cannot help them... Sometimes it's a lot worse than being in pain yourself. But, sometimes there is nothing we can do to help them. Sometimes it's a challenge they want and will face only by themselves... alone."

He looked away again, though not pulling his hand away when hers clenched around it hesitantly.

"She doesn't want to see me," he finally murmured after a few seconds of silence. "She ordered her guards not to let anybody in. Not even me." Strangely, he sounded so hurt that the Haruno instantly felt the urge to hug him again, just to comfort the ninja, like she would do to a helpless, ill child.

"Well… That's exactly what I mean," she leaned a bit more toward him, putting her other palm on his hand she was still holding. "She wants to deal with this pain on her own, just like Sasuke-kun did in the past, remember? Eventually, she'll talk to you… and us all… when she's ready, that is. Do not push this, or else you will only end up hurting her even more. Trust me, I learned it the hard way," she grinned a bit, noticing the familiar spark finally returning to his eyes.

"I guess you're right… It's just that, I can't stand sitting still and doing nothing when she's there all alone, dealing with all this crap on her own…!"

"Well, you have to. This is a trial for you as well. Besides, it's not like you can't help her at all; pretty sure we can figure something out and help the investigation at the very least. As the future Hokage, wouldn't you want to do just that? Not only for Hinata, but for the sake of the village too."

His eyes widened, and he genuinely smiled for the first time during their conversation.

"Damn, you're right! Thanks, Sakura-chan! And when did you become so smart and caring?"

She chuckled.

"I've always been, dumbass! It's just that you never appreciated it," the girl smiled, quoting her friend, although right now both the teammates realized that it wasn't quite correct.

They had simply grown up, and that was the true answer to those questions. Their childhood was long over by now, and all of them had to accept it.

"Speaking of investigating stuff," said Naruto after some time, nodding thankfully to Ayame who placed the bowl in front of him and then tactfully retired after Sakura had refused to make an order. "Looks like that won't be easy, eh? The Hyūgas don't let anybody in, only heads of clans and Kakashi-sensei."

The girl took a deep breath before putting her elbows on the table and leaning her chin on her palms.

"That's true… Ino told me it's most likely a lot more complicated than it seems, but I don't think it's possible for us to do our own thing freely when there are so much secrecy and so many limitations," she mumbled sadly, her fingertip running circles around the edge of her glass of water.

"Yea, I guess we can't really do it directly after all," replied the blond, soundly sucking in a few noodles and then moaning in pleasure. "Kakashi-sensei won't let us butt in, that's for sure. So, unless we know a clan's head who is free enough to help us… The only one I can think of is Shikamaru, but he already has a lot of stuff to take care of, so I don't wanna make him do it even if he volunteers. Would be unfair of us, really." He sighed, taking another portion of hot ramen into his mouth.

The kunoichi remained silent for a while, but then her eyes slowly widened and she turned her head to look at Naruto who, having noticed her unusually excited stare, almost choked and quickly swallowed the food before asking,

"Eh, are you alright, Sakura-chan? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Her mouth slowly curved into a cunning smile.

"I think I know who can help us."

"Huh?" He blinked, and his brow arched in a silent question.

"Well, I mean... Technically, Sasuke-kun is still his clan's head, isn't he?"

The azure eyes of the jinchūriki slowly widened as well, and then he smirked jovially too.

Apparently, the time for another reunion of Team Seven has finally come!

-~X~-

"Gah! Ugh..."

The two blades clinched, a bright sheaf of sparks making one of the two fighting shinobi back off a little. However, it only took him a split second before he turned gracefully around himself, and landed another few blows, his giant sword cutting through the air with a wild howling sound.

"Gotcha!" The almost blinding smile of the triangle-shaped teeth indicated the triumph of victory, but then he frowned the next moment, when his blade passed through the dark figure of his vis-a-vis, making it disappear the same second. "Hey, Sasuke! That's not fair, we've agreed not to use ninjutsu!"

"That wasn't ninjutsu," came the impassive voice from below, making the swordsman lower his head and look crossly at the Uchiha who was sitting at the huge tree's roots and unpacking his meal.

"Well, I thought genjutsu was obviously excluded as well!" He jumped down, landing next to his partner and coming close to him.

"Yeah, you thought it was," deadpanned Sasuke, taking a bit of his favourite onigiri.

"Still not fair. We were supposed to improve our skills in kenjutsu, it wasn't just a spar for the sake of one of us winning!"

"You're beginning to sound like my old sensei." The raven-haired shinobi closed his eyes, enjoying that taste of long-awaited food — he hadn't eaten anything today yet.

"Yep, except your old sensei is enjoying his warm and comfy seat back in Konoha while we, on the other hand, are busy raiding other dimensions like there's no tomorrow," the other ninja sighed, grabbing his cardboard beaker and taking a sip through the straw.

"To each their own," replied the Uchiha neutrally, staring thoughtfully at the horizon.

"Not quite sure if that's my thing, but oh well... It's better than nothing, I suppose. Especially if you'll be noble enough to fulfil your promise, and I'll be granted a place in your village when we're finished."

Sasuke didn't reply. Of course, he had indeed promised him to speak with Kakashi on his behalf so that he would be allowed to join Konoha's lines when their work would be finished, but... Frankly, after everything the Uchiha himself had done, he wasn't sure if there was a place in the village even just for him alone. Let alone someone like his current partner who was just a thug by their standards.

"Hey, what's that over there? I think it's flying toward us."

He raised his had and squinted at the clean sunny sky, instantly spotting the bird at which the other shinobi was pointing. There was a tiny scroll adjusted to its leg, and it was clearly approaching them quickly...

Confirming their suspicion, it then landed right on Sasuke's knee, chirping loudly and staring boldly right into his only visible onyx-black eye.

"Oh? Now, what's that, a love letter?" The cheesy grin resembling that of a shark made the Uchiha wince a bit as he was unwrapping the scroll. "Times change, but you don't, haha! Still that same pimp, eh... You bastard."

Instead of replying to him, Sasuke only frowned as he looked at the letter's contents.

"This is—" Of course, he would always recognize Naruto's handwriting.

Sasuke!
Return to the village asap!
Something bad has happened.
We need your help!

"So? What is it, man?" Asked the other shinobi, still lazily sipping his drink, but now looking quite curious as he noticed the rare conflicted expression on the Uchiha's face.

"We're going to Konoha," he finally replied before getting up and quickly packing up the remains of his meal.

"Konoha, huh? Why there all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, but Naruto wouldn't summon me for no reason, so it must be something serious. My left eye's powers haven't returned yet, so it's going to be a long walk. Let's make haste."