Chapter 314: A Trace

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 314: A Trace

"I feel so relaxed…" A naked Ino rested her body against a large boulder. The warm water reached her chest, and vapors filled the bath area.

"Not really surprised." Hinata glanced at her from a short distance. "You were very… enthusiastic today. Not that I'm complaining."

"Well… It's been a year. How can I not be enthusiastic? I'm surprised you held so well," Ino said.

"I went through nine months of pregnancy… that's how. You'll see how it is one day," Hinata responded.

"No, no…" Ino panicked. "I'm not ready for that yet!"

Naruto was sitting between them. "There is no hurry for that, Ino. Don't stress yourself. Besides, with my help, extending your lifespan to a few centuries should not be a problem."

"Wait… really?" Ino almost jumped out of the water.

"I thought that we needed to cultivate like you for that to happen," Hinata said.

"There are many ways to cultivate. My method may be faster, but the dual cultivation technique we're using will also bring you benefits… I know I already mentioned this to you. And on top of that, you have the technique granted to Ino by the Golden Scripture. Don't look down on that one...it was created by a very powerful artifact."

Ino and Hinata may never be able to ascend, as the requirements for that were almost impossibly high, but living much longer than normal mortals was not that hard to accomplish with his help.

"You did mention that, yes," Hinata said. "But we never really talked about how long we were planning on living."

"I mean… normally people don't talk about that kind of stuff until they're very old," Ino pointed out.

"In any case…" Naruto glanced at the sky. The moon was unusually bright tonight.

'There is something happening… I can feel it…' His senses could not reach something that distant, but his instincts were warning him.

"Naruto?" Hinata got closer. "Is everything okay? You stopped talking mid-sentence."

"I was just getting a strange feeling when looking at the moon, that's all," Naruto said.

"The moon?" Ino looked up. "It does look brighter than usual. But I don't feel anything off about it."

"Me neither…" Hinata stared at the moon and awoke the full form of her eyes. The Tenseigan formed immediately. She had completely mastered it by now, so it required her little effort to activate them.

"Hinata?…do you see anything?" Ino asked with increasing concern.

"No, but… I would never doubt Naruto's instincts. If there's something that caught his attention, it cannot be too trivial." Hinata turned to look at him.

"Does this have something to do with the remaining Bijuu and Akatsuki?"

"Hold on." Naruto stood up from the bath, and before either of the girls could say anything else, he disappeared in a flash of light.

"What the hell?!" Ino shouted.

"This may be bad." A deep frown appeared on Hinata's face.

"It may be terrible if he just teleported to a crowded area… he's still naked!" Ino exclaimed.

"Come on, let's get dressed." Hinata also stood up while covering herself with her towel. "We may have to leave sooner than expected."

"But we have the whole hotel for three days. We can't leave yet," Ino complained.

"Ino." Hinata's tone turned serious. "If the remaining members of Akatsuki are on the move again, it's only because they believe they have a chance to win. By this point, they should have a good idea of how strong Naruto is."

"I see. Yes, I suppose you are right. But I'm still not worried." Ino continued to rest in the bath.

"How so?" Hinata asked.

"Because the truth is that they cannot know how strong Naruto is...not completely. No one knows what he truly can do, other than Naruto himself. And after the year he spent in that cave…"

"I see your point." Hinata considered something for a moment. "But even so, that doesn't mean they won't pose a danger to others." She was mostly thinking of her family back in Konoha. Naruto had left some extra protection, but she couldn't help being worried.

Just then, they heard a loud cracking noise, and a moment later, Naruto was back in the hot springs, standing there in all his nakedness.

"I should have brought a towel… that was very cold," Naruto commented.

"Yes, I can see that." Ino was staring at something between his legs.

"Where did you go? What happened?" Hinata asked.

"Well…" He grabbed a towel from a closet bench and covered himself. "I sent various clones to cover a few areas of interest. I should have something more concrete very soon." His clones had already delivered an overwhelming amount of information over the past two days.

In fact, anyone else would have had their brains explode with just a fraction of what he had learned.

But Akatsuki was still being evasive. He hadn't found a single clue about what happened to them… they seemed to have vanished from the continent.

With that in mind, he decided to revisit that cave that Pain had once mentioned.

When he went there the first time, he found nothing of interest. The place appeared to be abandoned. However, in his second visit, he found traces of chakra everywhere. It was the same chakra of the strange individual who once dared to invade his home.

This was his key to finding what he was looking for, and he was not going to let it go.

An army of clones was now combing through the lands, following any traces of that particular chakra.

"So… does this mean we can still relax in the bath for a bit longer?" Ino asked.

"Ino…" Hinata frowned.

"Hinata, I can tell what you're thinking," Naruto said. "Konoha is well guarded. Nothing will happen to the people there. And besides, the clues I'm currently following are leading far away from the village. There is no reason for concern, I can assure you that… whatever Akatsuki has been preparing… I will take care of it."

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