"Sasuke !"

Sasuke closed the door behind him and turned to nod at Naruto.

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at Sasuke. He looked more... mature. Like all the things he had seen and experienced in his journey so far were attached to him and had taken form. Sasuke turned his head and found Sakura staring at him, studying him. Their gazes locked.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in a low voice, almost as if trying to convince herself that he really was right in front of her.

Sasuke's throat dried a bit at the look she was giving him and he had trouble forming words. He settled for another nod.

"Sakura, Naruto..."

Kakashi coughed into his hand to ease the tension.

"Alright you three, let's get back to the matter at hand."

All three members of Team 7 looked back at Kakashi and nodded. Naruto leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered.

"So how did it go?"

"I'll tell you later." came Sasuke's swift reply. Naruto shrugged and walked back to Hinata.

"Sasuke, your hand..." Kakashi told him and Sasuke nodded, taking his remaining hand out.

Kakashi made a hand-sign and a clock appeared on Sasuke's palm. It looked as if it was made of light like a projection.

"What is this?" Sasuke inquired.

"A top secret clock that only the Five Kage possess." Kakashi answered.

"What kind of clock is it?" Naruto asked as he looked at it.

"It's counting down the time until Earth's destruction."

Hinata, Naruto and Sakura gasped but Sasuke and Sai remained unfazed.

"Earth's... destruction?" Hinata asked in disbelief.

"Yes. It appears that the Moon is descending towards Earth, and the one who is manipulating it... is a descendant of the Otsutsuki."

Naruto's eyes widened. Otsutsuki?

"How is all of this related to the retrieval of Hanabi Hyuga?" asked Sai.

"That's a very good question Sai. It appears that the one who is manipulating the Moon is also the one responsible for Hanabi's capture." Kakashi answered immidietly.

Something in Naruto's mind clicked at the new information. The one who captured Hanabi... that guy was an Otsutsuki? He also said that he wanted Hinata...

"So he captured Hanabi as bait for Hinata!" Naruto's eyes widened in realization.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he called out and the former Copy-Ninja turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, what is it Naruto?" asked Kakashi. All eyes in the room turned to Naruto and he shifted at the attention.

"I-I don't think Hinata should come with us!"

Hinata's mouth gaped and she looked away, hurt evident in her eyes. Naruto however didn't notice.

"And why do you propose of this?" inquired Kakashi.

"We uhm... saw that guy yesterday and... uhh... he said that he wanted to get Hinata..."

Instead of being surprised or startled, the Sixth Hokage nodded in understanding, as if he was expecting that turn of events...

"I have no reason to doubt that information but I believe that Hinata is a very skilled kunoichi, capable of dealing with this sort of problem if your squad works together. Plus, she is on this mission by her request, which I granted. Unless she doesn't want to go herself then..."

"No..." Hinata cut him off, surprising almost everyone in the room. "I want to go."

Kakashi nodded his head in understanding. "Then it is settled."

Naruto's face paled and he turned his head to look at Hinata. What was this feeling?

"Maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Hinata IS pretty strong..."

With nothing else to say, Hinata left the room quickly, followed closely by Sakura. That left only Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. Sai glanced between Naruto and Sasuke, smiled that fake smile of his, and left. Creepy was the only word Naruto and Sasuke could use to describe that. Maybe disturbing too.

XXXXXXXX

"Hinata!"

Hinata turned around to see Sakura running towards her. She waited for her and before she knew it, Sakura had dragged her off to the nearest cafe. They sat down and Hinata lowered her head and spoke in a low voice.

"He's not any diffirent..."

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Who? Naruto?"

Hinata nodded. "I thought... he saw me for who I really was but... I'm still that shy, timid, dark, weirdo to him..."

"Hinata..."

"And who am I kidding? If everyone still thinks that I'm that weak little girl then they're propably right..."

"Hinata!"

"WHAT!?"

Sakura's eyes widened as everyone in the cafe turned to look at where that noise was coming from and all eyes fell upon the two kunoichi.

Hinata was also stunned. "Did I just lash out at my best friend?"

"Sakura-chan, I'm..."

"No, no. It's okay. I just... wanted to tell you you're wrong." Sakura spoke softly.

Hinata looked down and asked. "Wrong about what?"

"You're seeing this all wrong. Everyone knows you've changed, no one more than Naruto."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Then why did he..."

"Simple. He was worried. About you. Personally, I think you've changed him too, even more than you think."

Hinata blushed at the subtle compliment. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

"It's nothing." Sakura beamed at her friend.

Hinata suddenly grinned, surprising Sakura. Hinata smiled, she didn't grin!

"So... Sasuke-kun is back..."

Sakura blushed a faint red before shooking her head.

"It's just for a mission. That's all."

"Do you think he'll stay? Maybe after all this blows over?"

Sakura's reply was swift and unexpected.

"No."

Hinata's smile fell as she tilted her head in curiosity.

"Why not?"

Sakura looked down and sighed.

"He has his own mission..."

XXXXXXXX

Sasuke stood before the gates of the Uchiha clan, Naruto close behind him. He knelt down and whispered something inaudible to Naruto as he placed his hand on the ground. Naruto guessed it was a prayer of some sort. For the dead that once occupied the entire compound.

"It's been many years..." Sasuke thought as he stood up and dusted himself off.

They walked a few blocks down the road at a steady pace and soon they were infront of what could only be described as a mansion.

"This was your home?" Naruto asked as he observed the walls and the state of the building.

Sasuke nodded.

"Yes. Let's go."

He opened the door and headed towards the dojo he had used as a kid many, many times. He tapped on six diffirent parts of the floor when the last one sounded diffirently. Bingo.

He pulled that pad apart and revealed a flight of stairs. He stood up and motioned for Naruto to follow him. Soon enough, they stood before the Uchiha stone tablet.

"Sasuke. What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Naruto asked as he looked around the shrine. The walls were cracked and the ground had a small crater. What happened to this place?

Sasuke stood infront of the Stone Tablet and without looking at Naruto he spoke.

"This is how it happened."

"What?"

"I can read it clearly now." He turned around, revealing his Rinne-Sharingan to Naruto. "Madara misinterpreted the tablet's meaning."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"This tablet is supposedly left behind by the Uchiha and it dates back to the time of Hagoromo Otsutsuki."

Naruto nodded.

"While this tablet informs us of the world's state at that time... the others inform us of things beyond." Sasuke informed.

"Others? What do you mean?" Naruto inquired.

"While I was travelling, I encounterd the rest of the Uchiha Hideouts and researched for possible threats to our world. You know that is my mission..."

Naruto nodded.

"While I didn't find anything related to the threat of Kaguya Otsutsuki, I encountered something diffirent. Look..." he pointed to the Stone Tablet.

"This was left behind by the Sage of the Six Paths. I found the ones his brother left before he parted with the Sage. The others mention ancient civilization, and rival branches within the Otsutsuki clan... All of them connected with one thing in common. The Moon that the Sage created, and the beast that it held..."

"The Gedo Statue..." Naruto said, nodding in understanding.

"We have sealed Kaguya inside her dimension and she has not escaped yet. But if the Moon were to collide with the Earth, the statue would be free." Sasuke informed.

"So what do we do? How do we stop the Moon?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "This is why I'm helping on this mission. My mission."

"Anyway, we should be getting ready to leave. Let's go." Naruto said and Sasuke nodded.

XXXXXXXX

"His own mission?" Hinata asked in confusion.

Sakura nodded but didn't elaborate. Instead she looked up at Hinata and smirked.

"So... how was it?"

"What was?"

"He walked you home last night didn't he? Don't tell me you already forgot?" Sakura asked with a teasing grin.

Realization appeared on Hinata's face and she blushed a deep shade of red.

"It was perfect! We talked, laughed, joked. I-I even gave him my present..." she informed looking down.

Sakura blinked in surprise. "That's great! Did he like it?"

"He told me he loved it and then we..." Hinata's blush grew tenfold in intensity and Sakura had a pretty good idea of what had followed...

"Oh. My. God. You didn't!"

Hinata nodded furiously.

"YOU ACTUALLY KISSED!" Sakura's scream of joy was heard throughout the Leaf Village, thus earning the pair another round of glares.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata squeeled in embarassment.

"Oops... sorry. So... you kissed him?" Sakura asked again.

Hinata nodded again.

"How was he?"

Hinata eeped and her blush darkened.

"H-He was amazing..."

Sakura smirked.

"I see. You hold on to him and never let him go, got that?"

"Actually... we haven't really talked after that. I mean... he let me sleep at his apartment and then we saw each other again this morning."

Sakura nodded.

"Anyway... we'll talk about this on the way. Let's get ready for the mission."

XXXXXXXX

30 minutes later, the Hanabi Hyuga Retrieval Mission Squad were standing infront of the Hidden Leaf gates.

"Naruto, get over here." Sasuke called out.

Naruto looked up from where he was resting under a snow covered tree. "What's up?" he asked as he stood up and walked over to him.

Sasuke pulled out a map of Fire Country and showed it to Naruto.

"This is where we'll look first." he said as he pointed to a small, secluded village near a big lake.

"Why there?" Naruto inquired.

Sasuke put the map away and looked over at the rest of the group.

"We're headed to an ancient Shinobi Village that is in ruins. It is the perfect place for a hideout or a pathway..."

"Huh? A pathway?" Sakura asked, confused.

Sasuke nodded. "The city is connected with underground tunnels and springs. We'll go through one on our way there. It may be connected with other cities through those underground springs. We'll scout the area, searching for an entrance to one of the springs. Then we'll go through it to get to the city."

Sai took out a scroll and drew three birds on it.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!" he called out his signature jutsu and the birds came to life as they jumped out of Sai's scroll.

"Naruto, you and Hinata look from here to the south. Me and Sakura will look from here to the east and Sai will look to the west. Got it?" Sasuke asked and everyone nodded.

Naruto jumped on a bird and wrapped his red scarf around his neck before smiling at Hinata. She blushed and Naruto helped her got on the bird.

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura and she nodded as both jumped on the bird at the same time.

Sai mounted his bird and put on his goggles to protect his eyes from the wind.

"Scatter!"

I hope you liked the chapter :)

Andrew... out!