Son of the Sannin(Back)

The Byakugan Princess, Part III

As everybody got on their back, they looked around to see if the enemies have truly fled, and were they now safe. Relatively speaking.

"Just...what was all that about?" a slightly confused Tenten asked.

"Guys...I think I have an idea of what's going on..." Naruto replied. "I'm not one hundred percent sure...but that guy might be under Obito's mind control."

"Are you sure? If he was working for Akatsuki, he'd be more interesting in you than in Hinata-sama," Neji pointed out.

"You assume that the Tailed Beasts are Akatsuki's only target, my young student," Gai intervened. "Who says that they aren't after other sources of power, such as Hinata's new eyes?"

"Just great," Naruto said, letting out an annoyed snort. "As if I wasn't worried about Akatsuki going after me alone, they're not after my girlfriend. Just great."

There was a moment of silence, as the group of seven processes both Naruto's words, and what they entailed.

"So...what do we do now? Should we go back to the village, or should we rest and continue at morning?" Haku asked.

"For the time being let's rest. I'm sure all of us were already tired before this battle even began. By now, Naruto's toad should be close to Konoha, if he hasn't arrived there already. Let's set a campsite, and we'll continue our journey back tomorrow," Gai decided. "But before we do, let's see if we can salvage any of those ninja puppets that attacked us earlier. Knowing them will make us better prepared next time we have to face them!"

Everybody nodded. While Neji and Tenten went to retrieve and store the remaining puppets, the rest of the group went to find a good place to pass the night.

...

Next Day

Said decision turned out to be the most sound. After a good night of sleep, the seven Konoha ninjas were now properly rested and full of energy –even Hinata–, and were ready to resume their way back to their home. And just by noon, the Konoha ninjas triumphantly returned to their village. A quick talk with the entrance guards told them that the Moon Acolytes and all the scrolls they were carrying safely arrived last night, on the back of a giant toad.

While the first thing they wanted to do was to go home and rest, or tell their loved ones about the mission, duty came first, and they had to go to the Hokage's Tower, in order to give Jiraiya the report on how the mission went. One of the first things Jiraiya noticed was Hinata's new eyes.

"So...that's the Tenseigan?" the Hokage asked. Hinata nodded. "And what does it do?"

"So far, it allows me to control attractive and repulsive forces," Hinata began. She moved her hand, and pulled a pen that was in the table to it. She then made it float above her palm. "Though I believe that there may be more to the Tenseigan than this."

"I think so, if the explaination Nori gave me is of any cue," Jiraiya replied. "She pretty much stated it was a doujutsu on par with the Rinnegan."

"Wait...Nori told you about the Tenseigan?" Naruto asked.

"Of course. That's why I allowed this mission to begin with. If there was a chance that one of our ninjas could awaken a power that can give us an edge against the Akatsuki, I wasn't going to let that chance go," Jiraiya explained Naruto, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "Of course, I took some precautions. That's why I sent team Gai with you as an additional escort. Especially since you guys are one teammate down."

"Which was a good thing, in hindsight," Tenten added.

"During our journey back, we were attacked by a mostly unyouthful individual claiming to be an Otsutsuki who also possessed a Tenseigan," Lee spoke. "But fortunately, Tenseigan or not, our flames of youth burned too bright for him to beat us!"