Chapter 29: A Mystery

A figure ran through the rooftops of Konoha at high speed, civilians couldn't even see this person, while to ninja it seemed like a blur.

Kurenai ran on top of the roofs with only one target in mind.

In one of her hands was a bingo book, one which now depicted her lover as an S-rank criminal!

She couldn't understand what was going on, her heart was beating so fast, sweat was continously dropping from her forehead.

"Kami, what the hell is going on?" thought Kurenai worriedly

She was shocked beyond words when she woke up this morning, and read the new bingo book and found Naruto's picture in it; and more than that he was an S-rank criminal, who had slaughtered 300 Anbu, and stole the forbidden scroll.

Kurenai firmly believed that all of this was wrong, and Naruto was being framed for something he didn't do.

But somewhere in her heart...she had a bad feeling about this; she couldn't fully understand Naruto after that incident.

(Flashback: Few Days Ago)

Kurenai was laying on her bed, her head was closely pressed on Naruto's bare chest, and her arms were holding him firmly.

Last night had been amazing, she never felt so much loved, so much wanted before...and the sex she had was like a dream come true for her.

However she did feel something strange in her mind,

"I'm just over thinking," thought Kurenai nonchalantly

"Naruto...last night was," said Kurenai but was cut off as Naruto kissed her gently

She kissed him back passionately, and started exploring parts of his mouth smoothly with her tongue; Naruto soon allowed her more free reign and both of them had a make out session for the next few minutes.

After a while, Naruto broke the kiss, and looked at her lovingly.

"It was the best night of my life...thank you for everything," said Naruto warmly

"You don't know how much I love you, Naruto" said Kurenai lovingly and kissed him on the chest.

She felt Naruto's hands tightly grip the sheets of the bed, and for once she saw a pained look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Kurenai quickly

Naruto's eyes returned to their calm state, and he loosened his grip on the sheets.

"Its nothing...your kiss just turned me on a lot," lied Naruto tactfully,

Kurenai looked at him for a moment, and the look in his eyes was different than before. It was as if his smile was fake.

"Okay..." said Kurenai hesitantly

She decided to ask him what was wrong, but was stopped as they heard knocking on the door.

"I'll get it, you get dressed," said Naruto calmly

Kurenai nodded, and Naruto got up and put on his pants; but just to tease her a bit he threw his shirt on her head.

"HEY!" said Kurenai with a pout

She heard Naruto chuckle a bit, and got up and put on his shirt; she heard a loud voice again.

"Is Naruto in there?" asked a loud voice

She heard the sound of the door opening, and Naruto's calm voice.

"What can I do for you gentleman?" asked Naruto calmly

Kurenai peeked a little through the hole in her room's door, she saw four men standing in front of Naruto, but they had one thing in common.

All of them were Hyuga's.

"We need to talk," said a Hyuga roughly,

Kurenai recognized this man, as Ko Hyuga; but where had she seen him.

"Shit...he is Hinata's bodyguard since her childhood, but what is he doing here?" thought Kurenai in confusion

Then she remembered what had happened in yesterday, when Hiashi was pissed at Hinata's horrible performance in the mission.

"Did you report Lady Hinata as a weakling...and a failure during the briefing to Hokage-sama?" asked Ko angrily

"I only said what was the truth," said Naruto stoically, he knew what was coming.

Suddenly two Hyuga's grabbed him roughly by his collar, and slammed his against the wall.

"Naruto!"

Kurenai shouted when she saw him being attacked, and was about to jump to help him, when he said something.

"Stay out of this!" said Naruto firmly

Kurenai wanted to protest, but when she saw his eyes she was terrified, they were slit blood red instead of his blue cereluen ones.

"Hai.." said Kurenai sadly

"Because of your report Hinata-sama is being casted into the the branch family, and has been dishonored by Hiashi-sama and the main branch!" said Ko angrily

Kurenai's eyes widened in shock, when she heard what had happened to Hinata, could Hiashi really do such a thing to her own daughter?

But she was more shocked by Naruto's answer..

"Am I supposed to care?" asked Naruto coldly

"What!" said all the Hyuga in shock

Before Kurenai could even blink, all the four Hyuga's were on lying flat on the ground and had blood leaking from their mouth.

"Impossible," thought Kurenai in shock

Only a few people had the ability to attack a Hyuga directly, less four of them. They could see an attack, even if their Byakugan was not active; their eyes could still see a direct attack; after all they had the most precise eyes in the world.

Only a Anbu captain...or Kage level shinobi could take down 4 hyuga's in a flash.

"Like I said before...Hinata's performance was pathetic...she was a ninja under my command, and I reported her performance during the mission honestly to the Hokage. What happens to her after that...or what your clan does to her is none of my business," said Naruto stoically

"But, she was your friend...you know how much her father dislikes her...he just wanted a chance to cast her aside for Lady Hanabi..." said a Hyuga in pain,

"And?" asked Naruto stoically

"Bastard...you sold her out!" said a middle aged Hyuga angrily

Naruto just looked at the four men who were grovelling in the dirt.

"Appearances can be deceiving...like you made the mistake of assuming I'm a kind hearted person!" said Naruto distastefully

"You could have saved her..from this...You could have not revealed the truth and bashed her afterwards" said Ko tiredly

"Do I look like a babysitter to you?" asked Naruto angrily

"Huh?" asked Ko confusedly

"I am a chunin of this village...and the only loyalty I have is to the Hokage and myself. I don't care about your clan...nor do I care what you do to Hinata...your clan is pathetic if they cast aside its heir without giving her a chance...all of you are the same. You think you have the right to judge people, the four of you accused me of selling her out...Hiashi accused his own daughter of being a weakling and didn't even do anything to help her. Who is the bastard now?" asked Naruto hatefully

"You filthy little nine tailed fox!" said Ko angrily

Naruto gave him a hard punch to the face that sent him flying several feet away, he was just about to attack the rest of the Hyuga's, when a voice stopped him.

"That's enough NARUTO!" yelled Kurenai loudly

And the thing which she saw shocked her to the core,

Naruto's sharingan was active...but instead of a three tomoe sharingan...it was now a shuriken.

She could clearly see the hatred in his eyes.

This was not her Naruto!

(Flashback end)

She was still terrifyed by those eyes...the eyes filled with hatred.

Kurenai knew deep down, that Naruto had started to change a lot since past few weeks. He was becoming more cold, and more distant from everyone.

Naruto even visited her very less...and since last 7 days she had not seen his face.

The Hyuga incident was not reported as Hiashi apologized for his clan members irresponsible action...and Naruto accepted it, saying he only retaliated as he was attacked first.

As both the parties had reached a mutual agreement, the Hokage settled the matter.

But Kurenai knew...Naruto was frustrated, he was hiding something big from her. She had known him for years, and she knew him better than anyone.

At least that's what she thought.

Until now...

A few tears came in her eyes, as she thought about Naruto. His life was just a big sad story, but still he never gave up and fought agaisnt the odds...but it seemed he was always hiding something.

"Why? Why did you not tell me, what was troubling you? And now this..." thought Kurenai sadly

She still hadn't accepted that Naruto had done such a genocide...and the only person who could prove her wrong.

Was the Hokage himself, the man could answer all her questions and show her the truth.

Four more figures landed beside her and started running with her. Kurenai looked at them and found they were none other than Kakashi, Anko, Sasuke and Sakura.

But all of them looked different.

For the first time, Kakashi was not holding his Icha Icha book, and his eyes showed he wanted answers right now, his hands were clenched tightly, and the look on his face was hidden due to his face mask.

"He and Naruto were so close...it must have hit him hard,'' thought Kurenai sadly

"If this is some kind of joke...then I'm going to murder the one who played it!" said Anko furiously

"What is this nonsense! Naruto-kun cannot do such a thing...this is wrong!" said Sakura defiantly

Kurenai looked at both the females, Anko had a kunai closely pressed in her hand...and right now someone had really pissed her off...Naruto was like a brother to Anko and the only person who could relate to his pain.

Sakura had a shocked look on her face, but her eyes showed she was not accepting that one of her best friends was now the biggest traitor of Konoha, after Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha.

The only person who was not showing any feelings was Sasuke.

He was running in a robotic way, and he had a stoic look on his face; it was as if he had gone through such feelings before.

But the anger he had was going to surface soon, if someone didn't give him any answers; and his active sharingan showed he was out for blood. Naruto was the only family he had left, he was the pillar that was supporting him..

And right now he felt as if someone had just stabbed him in the back...and memories of that night were coming back in his mind.

"No...this is not true!Not AGAIN!" thought Sasuke furiously

"Kurenai...it will be fine, Naruto is innocent, we all know this!" said Sakura warmly, and put a hand on her shoulders.

Kurenai gave a grateful smile to the girl, she was really thankful that these 4 had not given up on Naruto.

The entire village was in an uproar, and everyone was furious; and everywhere shouts of

"KILL THE DEMON"

"THAT BASTARD"

"WE SHOULD KILL THE TRAITOR!"

"MONSTER"

"BUTCHER"

All of these shouts were breaking Kurenai's heart with each passing moment, she couldn't believe the people which Naruto had protected with his life; had so quickly turned against him.

They were calling him a monster...when they had a part in making Naruto grow up this way..

"How dare they...they have no right to say such things to him!After what they did..." said Kurenai murderously

Couple of other people called Naruto a monster...and Kurenai couldn't take it anymore. She took out a kunai from her pouch and jumped in the air, in order to slice their heads off.

But someone grabbed her roughly and dropped her on the rooftop again.

It was Kakashi, and he was looking at her calmly.

"This isn't the time to get emotional...and do something rash!" scolded Kakashi

"But they are-" said Kurenai in protest but was stopped when Kakashi leaked his KI

"Kurenai Yuhi, you are a Jounin of Konoha...behave like one. Your personal feelings don't matter right now, we have situation at hand...and we need to get to the Hokage for further information. Get yourself together!" said Kakashi harshly

"Kakashi, you-" said Anko in shock, she had never seen him speak so harshly. It only showed how much hurt he was, and so badly he wanted answers.

"Let's go, Sasuke" said Kakashi flatly

Both the men nodded, and hurriedly took off to the roofs leaving the women behind in shock.

"That baka, I'm going to kill him!" said Anko irritatingly

"Why can't they understand, Kurenai is in pain!" said Sakura sadly

"They are right...I was reckless, let's go to Hokage-sama...only he can say this nightmare is just a bad dream" said Kurenai stoically

"Are you alright?" asked Anko worriedly

"Like Kakashi said...my personal feelings don't matter. The only thing that matters is getting Naruto out of this mess" said Kurenai firmly

"Hai" said Sakura and Anko with determination

All the kunoichi started running across the roofs quickly and soon reached up to their male counterparts.

All of them nodded at each other and entered the Hokage tower, and made their way towards Hiruzen's office at lightning speed.

Hiruzen heard footsteps approaching his position, and from the looks of it, it must be them.

Looking at the Anbu commander beside him, a tired sigh escaped from his lips.

"It's time to face them," said the Anbu commander calmly

"God help us both..." said Hiruzen tiredly

"After what we did...there can be no mercy for us sir," said the Anbu commander sadly

"Is the evidence Naruto purposefully left behind ready?" asked Hiruzen quickly, as the footsteps were just on his door.

"Hai" said the Anbu commander firmly

The door of the office was roughly opened and four figures stepped in quickly. They didn't give any salute, they didn't even acknlowdege the Anbu commander and said one thing.

"WE NEED ANSWERS NOW!"

(Hideout)

Naruto sat calmly on top of Nono's house. There was a small bingo book in his hand...which had his picture in it.

"So it has begun.." said Naruto calmly

"What are you going to do?" asked Kurama curiously

"Nothing is going to change...the mission will proceed as planned," said Naruto firmly

"But you need to rest for a few more days...and find that woman if you want to live," said Kurama sternly

"Now is not the time.." said Naruto mysteriously

Kurama just got pissed after hearing the boy's careless answer.

"You idiot...you have 6 months left of your miserable life...and you are saying you don't have time to find the one person who can save your ass!" said Kurama furiously

"Precisely...I am already behind schedule, and I have to complete Sai's objectives too...that leaves me no time to find Tsunade...there is no option left," said Naruto softly, even he didn't want to die..but the mission came first no matter what.

"I believe I can help you there..." said a mysterious voice

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, as someone had just gotten behind his back. Even if he was not in a good condition, he should have sensed any chunin, or even Jounin if they were near him.

That only left one option.

The person behind him must be an Anbu...and a damn good one.

He turned around and saw his prediction was true, as there was an Anbu standing behind him with a sword strapped on his back.

But the most unique thing was his black wolf face mask.

The Anbu tossed a small scroll to Naruto...who catched it carefully; he then saw the mark which the scroll had on it.

"He is definitely sent by the Hokage" thought Naruto as he remembered the seal which his scroll had too.

"I'm your new partner in Operation Ghost..." said the Anbu stoically

Naruto looked at the man suspiciously, he didn't know who this soldier was...and whether he could trust him or not?

"Who are you?" asked Naruto carefully

The Anbu slowly removed his black wolf mask and now looked at Naruto calmly.

"I'm..."