A/N: I do not own Naruto and here is the 5th chapter of The Pillar, hope you enjoy.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Tsunade looked at the four people standing in front of her desk. The room was silent as everyone waited for the Godaime Hokage to speak again. Tsunade had just finished the debriefing of the recent mission she had sent Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, and Jiraiya on, and they had informed her of what had transpired.

"So," Tsunade started slowly, "you not only saved Gaara, but you managed to kill two members of Akatsuki, and you think that you killed a third member of the group, but are unsure." Tsunade repeated what they had told her in a nutshell.

"Pretty much." Naruto said as he scratched his chin. "But, I don't know if we killed the third member of Akatsuki."

Jiraiya nodded, adding his own two cents, "I agree, we injured the person greatly if we didn't kill them though."

Tsunade just stared at the two with a blank expression. The information they gave her and the fact that neither one of them looked roughed up bothered Tsunade slightly.

"Alright, now that we have that part of the debriefing done it's time we move on to the next part of the debriefing." The blonde Hokage said as she folded her hands in front of her face. "Now, would either one of you two," Inclining her head towards Naruto and Jiraiya, "mind explaining to us present as to how you both can do the Hiraishin?"

The question caused both men's eyes to widen slightly before they both had a sheepish smile put on their face. But Naruto was the one to answer Tsunade's question.

"Well Jiraiya-sensei is able to do it the same way the Yondaime was able to perform the jutsu." Naruto began.

"With the kunai, correct?" Tsunade asked, after receiving a nod from the blond Kakashi asked a question also.

"But I thought that the Hiraishin no jutsu was unique to the Yondaime." The silver haired jounin asked, truly curious, as was everyone in the room about the subject.

"Well, in a way, it was. It is only unique to those who infuse the sealing on the tri-pronged kunai with their own chakra. That's the easy part about creating the kunai for the technique, the difficult part that would be the actual development of the seal for the technique." Naruto explained to everyone in the room.

"Anyone can perform the Hiraishin; all they have to do is infuse the seal with their chakra. That's how Sensei is able to perform the jutsu." Naruto stopped explaining for a moment as Kakashi asked another question.

"So which of you two know the sealing procedure the technique itself?" The cycloptic nin asked the blond student and sannin.

"Heh, that would be the kid, he knows what he's doing when it comes to sealing. But I'm the one who has the notes on the Hiraishin from the Yondaime, Naruto just pieced together the notes once I began teaching him sealing." Jiraiya answered Kakashi's question.

Tsunade furrowed her brows as she thought about Naruto and Jiraiya were explaining to them. "So anyone is capable of doing the Hiraishin?"

Naruto quickly looked at Jiraiya, who in turn shrugged at the blond before said blond looked back at the Hokage. "Theoretically, yeah." Was the simple response.

"Then what is to stop an enemy village from using the technique against us?" Sakura finally spoke, letting everyone know that she was indeed still in the room.

Jiraiya shook his head before he answered. "That's not possible, no enemy village should ever be able to use the Hiraishin against us."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Tsunade asked, wondering about the certainty in the white-haired sannin's voice.

"Because not once has the actual process for the sealing technique been written, and it won't be. That is a fail safe that the Yondaime had written in his notes. Everything about the Hiraishin and final way to produce the seal on the kunai has never been written down. When the Yondaime died, he took that secret with him. But now Naruto knows the process." Jiraiya spoke again, answering the pink haired nin's question.

At this piece of information Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sakura all nodded, realizing that the information was far safer than what it would have been if it had been written down.

"So now that we know how Jiraiya is able to do the Hiraishin, I want to know how Naruto is able to do it, without the use of the kunai." Kakashi said as he turned his full attention on the blond. Tsunade was also interested in that piece of information, at that moment all members of the room's eyes were on the blond jinchuuriki.

Naruto sighed before he began speaking. "Well, how I'm able to do it was actually a dangerous little experiment." Naruto started before he was interrupted by Jiraiya's laugh.

"Little experiment? You managed to knock yourself out for 4 days, and even after you woke up for like 4 minutes to eat and drink you slept for another 2 days." Jiraiya laughed as he recalled the incident.

"Yeah, but that was after I spent months spending time researching and testing seal after seal to make sure it would work." Naruto defended himself before he continued explaining to the rest of the people in the room. "The Hiraishin works very much like a summoning in a way. Wherever the chakra infused kunai, or a seal is that would be a destination. When Jiraiya or I uses the Hiraishin, we are 'de-summoned' from the place we would be, and then 're-summoned' at the place of the kunai or seal. That is a very simplified version of how the Hiraishin works." Naruto finished before he waited for any questions to surface.

After a few moments of silence, Naruto continued. "How I am able to perform the Hiraishin without any kunai is because I made a very special seal, as Jiraiya began teaching me on seals and their usefulness. Once I got very proficient at using them I started working on the Hiraishin's newer version and I struck gold. Only problem was that it was a dangerous gamble. So I tried it on myself."

"Tried what on yourself?" Kakashi asked, truly curious as to how his student was able to use the Yondaime's technique so fluently.

Naruto smiled before he answered the cycloptic nin. "A seal I made up, which was a variant of the seal on all of the tri-pronged kunai. It worked and I made sure that I had done enough tests and predictions as to make sure no permanent damage was done to me." Naruto paused for a moment before continuing.

"My seal was placed on my head, which was the most convenient place to put given the task the seal was supposed to do. The seal essentially lets me place a chakra marker anywhere I want in the world. But it is a lot easier if I the place I want to go is within my line of sight, or I have been there before. Otherwise I could end up inside a wall or something." Naruto explained.

"The basics of the seal on my head are that it lets me place a chakra marker anywhere in the world of my choosing and when I use the Hiraishin seal, which is also hidden on my body, I am instantly transported to the marker." Naruto finished the explanation.

The room was silent for a few moments before Kakashi spoke up. "Could you place a marker somewhere you've never been? And how taxing is traveling long distances, like let's say, to Suna?"

"Yeah I've done that before, placing a marker somewhere I've never been is difficult and dangerous, because I don't know the landscape and I could end up in a wall or a mountain. But that's why I studied a detailed map of every major shinobi village, so in case we ever needed quick instant access, we could get there. Also I could study a recently acquired map of a place, and could probably find my way around based on the map." Naruto stated before he answered the scarecrow nin's second question.

"As for the chakra drain, it's not that taxing for me because of my monster reserves. But one Hiraishin is probably equivalent to 3 or 4 shadow clones of chakra worth." The blond haired jinchuuriki answered.

Tsunade nodded and shuffled a few papers on her desk, seemingly pleased with the answers she had received. "Thank you for the answers, and you have the rest of the day off, and probably the week." The Godaime informed the four assembled people in her office.

Nodding, Jiraiya and Naruto turned and walked out of the office quietly, with Sakura and Kakashi closely following behind. Silence enveloped the office as the door closed behind the four, leaving the blond woman alone in her office.

Sighing Tsunade turned around in her chair to look out her window at Konoha, in the late morning sunlight the village looked beautiful.

'Sarutobi-sensei, you would be so proud of Naruto if you saw the man he is becoming.' Tsunade thought as she gazed upon the Hokage monument. Turning back around to the empty office Tsunade reached under her desk and grabbed her secret stash of sake, and popped the cork. '11 AM isn't too early to start drinking.' Thought the blonde Hokage as she brought the bottle up to her lips and took a drink.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The room was dark and hazy, and had a heavy air around it. There was a statue of a pair of hands facing upward, with the fingers pointing towards the sky. Upon each of the fingers stood a cloaked figure, there were three fingers that weren't attended too however.

The silence was interrupted by a strong and commanding voice, "What was the status of the last mission?" The figure that asked the question had orange hair and odd piercings that covered his face. His eyes had circles that got bigger as they went further away from the iris.

"Failure." Spoke a figure that had the lower half of the face covered by a cloth, his skin darker than most.

"Elaborate." Pein said in a low tone.

"The one-tailed Shukaku jinchuuriki was the target. The male was alone and unprepared for the assault, and the attack would have gone according to plan, but the jinchuuriki had…assistance." Kakuzu said, and paused for a moment before he continued.

"A team from Konoha responded immediately to the attack upon the jinchuuriki, almost as if they were expecting it. I do not know the details, but from what Zetsu has told me, both Deidara and Sasori are dead."

After Kakuzu said this the room became silent once more. The silence only lasted a few moments. "Do we know who aided the Shukaku jinchuuriki?" Pein asked.

Kakuzu waited a moment before he answered. "Yes. Uzumaki Naruto and Jiraiya of the Sannin aided the Shukaku jinchuuriki. From what Zetsu told me, the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki has become even more powerful."

At this piece of information, three people shuffled, catching the attention of Kakuzu, the masked man looked over to where Itachi and Kisame stood stiff. Kakuzu's attention was drawn back to Pein as he asked yet another question. "What was the extent of Zetsu's injuries?"

"A lacerated left lung, fractured left scapula, fractured right ulna and radius, and internal bleeding due to a rupture in the liver. Despite the injuries he is making what seems to be a full recovery." Kakuzu answered. The masked man could feel the air almost become thicker in the room.

"From now on, avoid Uzumaki Naruto and Jiraiya of the Sannin on sight until further notice. If we send out a group to hunt Uzumaki down, it will be a party of four. Itachi and Kisame, I and Konan will join you in the hunting of Uzumaki when the time comes." Pein finished receiving a small nod from Itachi and Kisame indicating they understood the precautions. With that note of finality, the meeting was then dismissed, as each of the members upon the finger tips of the statue disappeared.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"This is stupid sensei, just because a random explosion caught me by surprise does not mean I have to quadruple RTT. The guy had a lucky shot, and besides that, it was hard breathing that high up in the sky." Naruto complained to Jiraiya as they walked through the halls of the Hokage's office. Jiraiya told the blond as soon as they left Tsunade's office that he would quadruple his reaction time training (RTT). Since the comment Naruto hadn't stopped complaining.

"God brat, if I a fraction of a ryo every time you complained I would be able to pay off all of Tsunade's debts." Jiraiya retorted to the complaining the blond was doing. "We are both going to train and you have nothing to say about it."

Kakashi and Sakura watched the two with interest as they talked about training, which caught Sakura's attention. "Are you two going to train right now?" The pink haired kunoichi asked.

Naruto and Jiraiya stopped their conversation, turned and looked at Sakura before looking back at each other and then they each shrugged their shoulders, eventually it was Jiraiya that answered. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering what type of training you two did, and I was also wondering if Kakashi and I could join you?" This question from Sakura caused both Naruto and Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow, while Kakashi's visible eye widened from shock from being involuntarily volunteered.

Naruto recovered quicker than Jiraiya did, and so he responded, "Yeah, you guys can come along, but it's a work out." The blond warned his friend and sensei, only to receive a look of determination and a look of confusion.

"Alright, if you guys want, follow us, we're going to go train right now." Jiraiya said as he turned back around and continued walking out of the Hokage tower with Naruto following him. Sakura was close behind them, with a very lost looking Kakashi.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sakura watched with mild interest as four of Naruto's shadow clones moved to corners of the training field they were in and began writing seals on pieces of paper. The training field was completely flat, about 70 meters long and 40 meters wide and completely open. Save for the middle of the training field, which seemed to have an odd arrange of tree stumps sticking 6 or 7 feet out of the ground. The corner the group was closest to seemed to be where Naruto and Jiraiya slept and lived as their tents, fire pit, and supplies were near the small camp. Sakura then focused back on the people before her.

"Now," Naruto started off, catching both Kakashi and Sakura's attention. "This training session is intense, and tough, but it will help out with your stamina and fighting abilities. You can continue to train with sensei and I after today if you want." As he was talking to the two of them he was stretching his legs by touching his toes.

"They probably won't come back," Jiraiya said as he too was doing stretches to prepare himself for the training. "Not only is it a tough workout, but it's a brutal one." Jiraiya finished. Sakura noted that both Naruto and Jiraiya changed their clothing, as they both wore simple white t-shirts, and navy blue shinobi pants with the standard shinobi sandals. Both of them had their kunai and shuriken holsters also.

"Alright, you guys ready to go?" Naruto asked Kakashi and Sakura. After receiving a nod and a reluctant nod, Naruto and Jiraiya both began taking huge breathes. This made Kakashi raise an eyebrow and Sakura to furrow her brow in confusion.

Both looks of confusion were gone in an instant when neither Kakashi nor Sakura could breathe suddenly. Sakura fell to her knee as she began gasping for the air that no longer seemed to be there. Looking around Sakura noted that Kakashi seemed to be having just as hard of a time as she was breathing. But when Sakura looked at Naruto and Jiraiya she found herself envious of how they looked.

Both Naruto and Jiraiya were standing straight up, and were drawing equally deep and slow breathes as if they were used to the apparent lack of oxygen.

"This is a training exercise." Sakura heard Naruto say, she hated to admit it, but he sounded just like he did any other time he was speaking, unlike her and Kakashi gasping just like they had finished running for days on end.

"It's to help your stamina and conditioning by helping your lungs work with as little oxygen as possible in training. This way your lungs will adapt and begin working like they are supposed to in an environment where oxygen is limited. Then when you are in a battle situation with a regular flow of oxygen, you won't fatigue as easily as your opponent." Jiraiya explained to Sakura and Kakashi as their breathing evened out.

"Well now that the explanations are out of the way, I think we can start the training." Naruto said as he started to run around the perimeter of the camp at a fast pace.

Jiraiya watched as Naruto ran for a bit before he turned his attention back to Kakashi and Sakura. "Running the perimeter is the warm-up, let's get to it." And with that, Jiraiya was also running around the perimeter. Eventually Sakura and Kakashi started running, but at a much slower pace than Naruto or Jiraiya.

After 30 minutes of running, Kakashi and Sakura were both reaching their limit, as they weren't allowed to use chakra, and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping their cause.

"Alright, that'll do for a warm-up." Jiraiya said as both he and Naruto slowed their run down and started walking to the middle of their make-shift training ground.

Kakashi and Sakura looked at each with dread in their eyes at hearing the 30 minutes of suffering was just a warm-up. The pair also made their way to the center of the training field, albeit slower than their training partners.

Once they were all in the center of the training field by the tree stumps, Sakura watched with interest as Naruto reluctantly walked into the center of the stumps. There seemed to a complete square of trees with about four feet of space between each stump. Once Naruto was in the middle of all the stumps, Jiraiya made the hand seal necessary to make the kage-bunshin. A short while after, there stood about 20 of Jiraiya's clones all standing around the stump maze.

Sakura watched in curiosity as the clones began to merge into each of the trees around Naruto. The pink haired kunoichi asked with large gasps from the warm-up, "What…are you…doing now?"

Jiraiya looked over at Sakura, and once seeing her condition smirked before he answered her question. "This is reaction time training." As soon as Jiraiya said this, the clones inside the stumps began throwing punches, kicks, backhands, elbows, and knees at Naruto, who in turn was dodging blocking or countering each attack effectively.

"It is great for counter attacks and defending against taijutsu attacks. You both will be doing this also, but at a little less intensity." Jiraiya said as he started walking away from Naruto and the stumps with the clones, Kakashi and Sakura followed the white haired man.

"Now it's time for you two, to spar me." Jiraiya said as he turned towards the pair after they walked a decent distance from Naruto and the stumps. Kakashi and Sakura shared a concerned look, before they both focused on the toad sannin again.

Jiraiya noticed the small interaction and chuckled. "Don't worry; I won't be too rough on you." With that said, Kakashi and Sakura barely had a moment to defend themselves as Jiraiya launched himself at them.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The four figures laid strewn out on the grass of a training field, each breathing heavily, but slowly after their training session. Naruto turned his head to the side to see Kakashi's clothing singed, cut, and dirty from the all around beating the everyday training he went through. Glancing on his other side, Naruto noted that Sakura was in a very similar state to Kakashi, and she almost seemed to be asleep.

Naruto's clones had released the oxygen limiting seals only minutes before, and everyone in the training field was grateful for it. "So, do you think you will be coming back for more training sessions?" Naruto asked in true curiosity.

Kakashi was about to explain that never again was he ever going to train when Sakura decided to speak for him. "You bet we are. Both of us could use this kind of training." Sakura said as she was slowly gaining her breathe back.

"Looks like you were wrong; I think they might come back for more training, eh sensei?" Naruto said with a slight smirk as he looked upon the clouds floating above his head.

Jiraiya smiled, and sighed with defeat. "You called it on luck; anyone else would have run away after the first hour of training." The white haired man said with a smile in his voice as he too was gazing upon the clouds.

All four heads jerked slightly as they sensed a messenger approaching their training ground. None of them were disappointed when they heard the footsteps approach them from the messenger. The four people looked up at the figure approaching them.

"I've a message for Uzumaki Naruto." The middle aged man said as he held a small piece of paper in his hand.

"That'd be me." Naruto said as he slowly made his way to his feet, body tired from the workout he just endured. Accepting the paper from the man, the messenger bowed slightly to Naruto before he turned around and used a shun shin to travel back to the Hokage tower quicker. The blond haired teen looked at the spot the man had been occupying before he open the piece of paper and read it silently to himself.

Naruto,

I have a mission for you.

If you are willing to accept it, meet me in my office at 7 o'clock sharp.

Tsunade

Naruto smiled as he read the scribbled drawl of the Hokage, she knew he would accept. Despite having just finished training himself he would be willing to take on a mission. Glancing at the sky the blond haired shinobi knew the time was around 4 o'clock. Giving him enough time to grab a bite to eat, and have some time to himself.

"What'd he want?" Jiraiya asked, not having moved from his position on the ground, still looking upon the stars.

"The Hokage has a mission request for me." Naruto said simply as he crumpled up the paper before he threw it in the general direction of their camps fire pit.

"A message directly from the Hokage? Must be an important mission then." Kakashi said as he too was enjoying being able to relax his body after the taxing exercises.

"You should probably go see her right now; Tsunade isn't the patient type Naruto." Sakura advised her friend from her position on the ground.

"I don't have to meet with her until 7, so I've got some time to burn." Naruto said as he glanced at each of his friends as they lay sprawled on the ground. "Anyone want to grab a bite to eat?"

Naruto smiled as a string of yeses assaulted his ears.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Mitarashi Anko glowered at the path she was currently gimping down. Yes, she, the great and mighty Anko, had a gimp, however temporary it was, it was still there. And she was on a personal mission that wasn't going as she would have expected. Who would have thought that someone with blond hair and looked exactly like the Yondaime Hokage could be such an elusive person to find.

But Anko was determined to find the blond haired shinobi, simply because she was in his debt, and she didn't like being in debt with anyone. The purple haired woman had asked around, and searched all of the blonde's favorite spots to be, but alas, he wasn't at any of them. This fact almost drove her crazy as she was now searching the last of the places Naruto had been said to find solace in. The top of the Hokage monument.

Anko was slowly but surely making her way to the top of the monument, and if the blond wasn't there, then she would make their next meeting a very painful one. Turning last corner of the path, Anko had a clear shot at the person of her mission sitting on the head of the Yondaime, with both arms holding up his position as he stared off into the distance.

The purple haired woman slowly made her way towards the blond, conscious of making noise to let him know she was there. Once she was next to him, she plopped down on the ground next to him, and joined him as he stared out into the distance. There was a comfortable silence while the pair just enjoyed each other's company.

Tilting her head to get a better look at him, Anko broke the silence. "I never really thanked you for saving me. On our mission together." The purple haired kunoichi said bluntly, mentally berating herself for her lack of skill dealing with this type of situation.

Naruto was silent for another moment before he too turned his head and looked her in the eyes and responded. "You shouldn't thank me, if it wasn't for me you would be walking just fine, and you wouldn't have been wounded."

Anko stared the blond in the eyes, before a frown marred her features. "Are you really blaming yourself for me getting hurt?" The kunoichi didn't wait for an answer from the blond shinobi. "If it wasn't for you, I would be 9 feet under; if it wasn't for you I would in some foreign interrogation room, being questioned for being in an unallied country." Anko said allowing some emotion into her voice as she scolded Naruto for his train of thought.

Naruto looked away from her then, "But if I had been faster, or smarter, I would have been able to see what that psycho was going to do, and would have been able to stop you from getting hurt." The blond said in an apologetic tone.

"No," Anko said in a firm voice once again. "You were able to not only carry me back to Konoha for medical attention, but you also shielded me from most of the explosion on the roof. I mean you even took out an entire team of ANBU that wasn't even supposed to exist." Anko said, showing the blond that what went wrong was not his fault.

Anko snorted before she continued; "Now if I had been better or faster I wouldn't have to deal with a depressed blond." After that statement from Anko, Naruto couldn't help as a smirk played itself upon his features.

"But don't think that you can take all the action the next time we have a mission together, like you did last time, got it?" Anko said, as she herself smirking.

Naruto was quiet for a second more before he responded. "Only if you can keep up." This caused Anko's smirk to widen even more.

"Oh, I can keep up. I'm usually the one setting the pace." The purple haired kunoichi allowed herself to enjoy the situation, not like most of her encounters with the populace of Konoha and how she had a shield of defiance. The two of them sat atop the Hokage monument for a few seconds in a comfortable silence before Naruto decided to break it.

"How long are you going to have a limp?" The blonde's eyebrows were knitted together with concern as he looked at her slightly swollen leg.

"It should be gone by tomorrow, the only reason why I limp is to relieve some of the pressure from the swollen tissue around the bone." Anko responded. The answer seemed to satisfy the blond as he merely nodded his head in approval.

"But, you do owe me for allowing me to get hurt." Anko said suddenly which caused Naruto to turn and look at her with widened eyes. "So you'll have to think of something to make it up to me." The purple haired kunoichi said as she sat up, and brushed herself off.

She glanced down at the blond to see a look of bewilderment upon his features, she allowed herself to smirk down at him. "I like sake, and dango." With that, Anko left Naruto atop the Hokage monument to think about what she said, which only confused him, until his eyes lit up after she was gone.

Naruto cocked one of his eyebrows and asked a question aloud, almost expecting an answer. "Does that make it a date?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Naruto looked over the details of the mission that Tsunade had just offered him. B-rank information gathering mission in Otogakure, slip in undetected and gather information about Orochimaru and the sound forces.

The blond looked up from the papers he had been reading and looked at the Godaime Hokage. "Any limitations upon this mission?"

Tsunade shook her head, "No, you may use any means you deem necessary on this mission. But it is crucial that you remain undetected, and do not allow anyone to identify you or where your from. If Orochimaru found out his village had been infiltrated, and information was taken on him by a Konoha nin, the consequences could be war." The blonde Hokage explained to Naruto.

Naruto only nodded once before he responded. "I understand and accept the mission. I plan on departing tonight after I alert sensei about my absence and gather enough supplies to perform the mission."

"Very well, you are dismissed." Tsunade said, and watched as the blond shinobi gave a slight bow, and turned and left the Hokage's office. The Godaime Hokage sat alone in the silence for a few minutes before she finally opened up a drawer in her desk and withdrew a vanilla folder.

Closing the drawer the blonde Hokage opened the folder and spread the contents of the folder out upon her desk. It would only be moments now until Jiraiya arrived in her office, as she too sent a messenger out for him concerning the papers, and they would discuss them and what they meant.

The papers on the desk showed the detailed geography of all the land, and on the map near Amagakure, there were three villages that were circled with red ink.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Naruto glanced around as he sat in the large tree, only one-hundred meters from the gates of Otogakure. Gathering a small amount of chakra, the blond placed chakra seal right on the branch he was sitting on before he turned his attention back towards the villages gates. After the blond shinobi accepted the mission, he wasted no time in traveling to his destination. Naruto mentally noted that the guards should have a shift change very soon, and that would be the best time to enter an enemy shinobi village. Simply because the guards' attention would be lax and they wouldn't want to deal with anything that would possibly lengthen their shift.

Tightening the bandana that hid all of his hair, and pulling up a mask that hid the lower half of his face, Naruto silently jumped out his hiding position on the tree and landed in the bushes just off to the side of the main road leading to Otogakure. After regaining himself Naruto left the cover of the bushes and slowly made his trek towards the gates of the village.

Approaching the gates to the village, Naruto could feel a handful of unseen eyes gaze upon him as he slowly trekked the path to the gates. 'They're probably used to seeing all kinds of people, especially from the crowd that Orochimaru draws in.' Naruto thought to himself as he prepared himself for the gate guards who were now standing up and readying themselves for him.

"Name and papers." The guard closest to Naruto had said. From Naruto's once over, the man was a high level chunin, and his companion seemed to be a middle level chunin.

"Suchi-Ru Yabun ," Naruto lied without hesitation, "and I have no papers."

The guard looked at Naruto with a blank face for a moment before he continued. "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"To find a safe place to stay for a couple of days before I continue to travel."

"How long do you plan on staying?" The guard continued to question.

"Approximately 4 days."

This answer seemed to satisfy the guard as he turned around and nodded towards the gates, which then started to open the gates to the village. Naruto watched the process in a bored manner, until he could start to see the inside of the village, and from there his attention kept growing at what he saw, and he became slightly anxious.

Upon entering the village known as Otogakure, Naruto was placed in a village of mild panic. People were hurrying, children were crying, and there wasn't a shinobi anywhere. These details sent the blond haired shinobi's nerves on edge as he began traversing the town with his brows knitted together.

The further he went into the village, the farther away he was from a known shinobi. The only shinobi Naruto had seen were the guards at the gate, and the unseen shinobi in the walls surrounding the village. Naruto stopped walking and looked all around him. The people of the village seemed to be in an excited state about something, but they didn't have any panic in their movements or body languages, letting the blond shinobi know that the village wasn't under attack.

Glancing around Naruto noticed a street bum sitting on the ground watching the crowd of people move, just as he was. The blond shinobi started making his way through crowd of people towards the bum so they could have a discussion about the state of the village.

"What is going on?" Naruto asked in a stern voice as he stood besides the sitting figure catching the homeless man by surprise.

"Eh?" The confused man asked as he looked up at Naruto.

"Why are the people like this?" Naruto asked specifying his question.

"Cause everything changed in one night." The bum explained with a smile on his face, not noticing the significant narrowing of Naruto's eyes.

"What changed in one night?" Naruto asked still in his even stern voice.

"Orochimaru's overpriced goods became really cheap all of a sudden, all of the ninja in the village haven't been seen since last night, and that prick Uchiha Sasuke is rumored to have gone missing or left the village or something." The bum said, causing Naruto's body to completely freeze for a second, before he looked over his shoulder and scanned the crowd once more.

"But why are the people acting like they're ready to riot?" Naruto asked as he turned his attention back to the bum.

The bum gave the blond a confused look before he answered the question. "Everyone's trying to buy as much as they can with prices this low, and people are panicking because family members that are ninja have just disappeared." The bum answered.

Naruto said a quick thank you, before he began walking amongst the crowd once again. The blond shinobi glanced all around himself before he started using chakra to enhance his senses and search for a clue as to where a shinobi might be. The blond shinobi continued to walk towards the center of the village searching for any sign of shinobi or large chakra sources.

'They've mobilized and gone on an attack, but who did they attack?' Naruto was thinking to himself as he started walking through the busiest place in the entire city before he suddenly stopped in the middle of the moving crowd. He felt the faintest remnants of two powerful chakra signatures, not identifiable, but definitely powerful.

Feeling for the origin of where the chakra signatures were coming from, Naruto felt them almost directly 30 or 40 feet below his feet. Looking around for close shack or house, Naruto found one. It appeared to be a two story house in the main market place. Naruto walked deliberately over to the house weaving expertly in and out of people in the crowd.

Once Naruto reached the house he moved to the alley between the house and a convenience store right next to it. Continuing down the alleyway, Naruto checked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed before he turned his attention back upon the alley he found himself in. A small window next to the ground at the base of the house caught the blonde's attention as he made a beeline directly for towards that.

'If this house has a window that close to the ground then the house has a basement, which will help hide me from any wandering eyes and it's closer to the chakra signatures underground.' Naruto thought as he tried to open the basement window from the outside, only to find that it was locked.

Glancing over his shoulder to ensure no one was watching him, the blond shinobi grabbed a kunai out of his holster and wacked the glass next to the lock quickly with the ring of the kunai. After silently cracking the glass, Naruto quickly pushed the glass inward and unlocked the window and lifted it so he could slide his body into the basement of the house.

Once the blond shinobi was inside the house he quietly shut the window and listened for any footsteps above him, or any sounds that would be near him. Silence. Turning his attention to the cement floor, the blond put the palm his right hand on the floor and sent out a chakra pulse, searching for any underground tunnels.

The blond shinobi felt one only 10 feet off to the side of his current position. Satisfied with the positioning of the tunnel, he started doing hand seals very quickly.

Finishing the jutsu, Naruto quietly spoke, "Tsuchi yokoana no jutsu." (Earth tunneling technique)

Naruto watched as his tunnel drilled itself into the concrete and started curving off towards the tunnel he was aiming for. Satisfied that his tunnel was complete, he held the tunnel open by holding the chakra, but glanced to the side and placed a chakra seal there before he dropped into his tunnel sliding into the darkness.

'The chakra seal could come in handy for a quick get-a-way hirashin.' Naruto thought as he plummeted downwards in the darkness of the tunnels.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Naruto hid in the shadows as he silently made his way through the underground tunnels of Otogakure. There were occasionally a few shinobi that were running through the tunnels and Naruto had to use a few extreme stealth techniques to avoid detection. The blond shinobi kept an eye out for any high ranking shinobi, as they might know more about the attack plans than a lower rank would. But Naruto had yet to come across a high ranking shinobi.

The blond found a perfect interrogation room where he would take his unlucky victim once he found one. Slowly Naruto continued making his way around another corner, looking for a shinobi that might hold a key piece of information.

The blond had passed the place where the large chakra signatures had been, and found it to be a bedroom, there was a battle that took place with dark chakra. But there were no bodies left, only blood stains and a small portion of charred wood, which only confused the blond as he continued to maneuver through the tunnels.

Freezing Naruto heard someone approaching quickly; they were in a hurry. Crouching in the shadows the blond prepared to attack as the person had high chakra reserves, and carried themselves with very little noise.

'A jounin.' Naruto deduced as he waited in the shadows for the person to turn the corner.

Just as the enemy shinobi turned the corner, Naruto launched himself from the hiding place. Using the surprise as an advantage, the blond shinobi used an open palm thrust at the man's throat. Naruto's superior speed allowed the strike to connect, temporarily disabling the man's vocal chords.

Stunned from the sudden attack, the man didn't retaliate as Naruto brought his left foot into the air and struck down at the man's knee. The blond ignored the sound of bones breaking and the deep gasp from the man, as he fell to his other knee. Naruto, expecting this, swiftly struck at the man's head with his right knee. That strike also connected with the man's temple, and sent him sailing into the stone wall to their left face first and unconscious.

The entire exchange took less than 3 seconds, and barely made any noise, but Naruto stayed in a battle ready pose for an additional 5 seconds, half expecting someone to come and aid the downed man. When no one came, Naruto silently grabbed the man and threw him over his shoulder and quietly made his way to his make-shift interrogation room.

The man in Naruto's arms was going to give him answers whether he wanted to or not.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Tsunade looked around her office at the gathered shinobi council, and each of them returned her look. After noting that everyone present, even Kakashi, Tsunade decided to start the meeting.

"I thank all of you for being able to make it here on such short notice, but the matter as to which I called you here has great importance." Tsunade started, gaining everyone's attention in the room as she opened the vanilla folder on her desk and withdrew a map with red ink on it and three separate sheets of paper.

"Only 5 days ago a small village known as Supi-Ka, was attacked. We don't know what attacked yet, but we do know that there were no survivors or anyone left in the village at all. All traces of humanity vanished from the village completely." Tsunade said, and everyone in the room became deathly still as the Godaime Hokage continued.

"Then only a day after Supi-Ka was attacked, it's neighboring village, Hashigo, was also attacked. One day after that, another neighboring village, Kuruma, was attacked. These villages were in the same condition as Supi-Ka was, no survivors or bodies anywhere." Tsunade said before one of the shinobi council members interrupted her.

"How can there be no bodies or survivors out those two villages? There would be at least bodies somewhere, or evidence of a mass burning of bodies somewhere outside of the villages." Nara Shikaku stated as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

Tsunade shook her head. "We don't know the specific details of the state of the villages or if any evidence was even found. We barely heard about these unfortunate events through a very reliable source." At this Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya who stood among the shinobi council near the back.

"Who is this source and how do we know we can trust them?" A man asked. Half of his face was covered with bandages while scars danced across his face, one of his eyes was wrapped. The man wore a traditional shirt that covered his arm, and atop that shirt he wore a cloak, resting only on his shoulders; his name was Danzo. He sat in one of the few chairs the office had to offer, and was also one of front row people.

Jiraiya answered the question for Tsunade. "The source is from one of my reliable spies, as many of you know I have set up an intricate spy network, and this person I have known for many years. As for their identity, I cannot reveal that to any of you, as it may compromise him."

A moment of silence adorned the office after Jiraiya's answer before another separate voice broke it. "The main concern is whether or not this information is a direct threat to Konoha." A woman said; she appeared to be older. She wore a traditional white over covering dress with a green outer coat, and had her gray hair pulled into a ball at the top of her head; she was Koharu Utatane, Hiruzen Sarutobi's old teammate, and she stood next to Danzo.

"As it stands right now, we have no idea if it a threat to us or not. We cannot tell if this pattern will continue with villages disappearing, but it would be best for everyone to be on guard just in case anything new happens with this development." Finishing Tsunade nodded to everyone in the room, formally dismissing them before she felt an incoming chakra signature, however small it was.

In that moment a small messenger mouse appeared in a puff of smoke on Tsunade's desk. The blonde Hokage looked the mouse over, it was 3 times the size of any normal mouse, but had a scroll attached to it's back by some sort of apparatus.

"Where's Jiraiya?" The small mouse asked Tsunade as soon as the smoke cleared.

"He's right in the back." Tsunade answered as she looked up to see Jiraiya maneuvering his way through the shinobi towards her desk.

Once he was there the mouse turned his attention to the white haired sannin. "It's an urgent message, they told me to get it to you right away." The mouse told Jiraiya as he unclasped the scroll from his back and handed it to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya accepted the small scroll, "Thank you Waiya, you can leave." With the dismissal, the small mouse disappeared in another puff of smoke before the white haired man unraveled the small scroll.

Tsunade became concerned while watching Jiraiya read the scroll. As the toad sannin read the scroll his brow furrowed and his jaw clenched before he looked Tsunade in the eyes. "Amagakure has joined the three other missing villages."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Naruto sat on a bench in one of the overcrowded streets and watched all the people move by him in busy haste. The blond was in a shell shocked sort of state at the moment from the information he had gained from the Oto jounin. The three words that the tortured shinobi screamed were enough to almost cause a complete shut-down of Naruto's mind.

'Sasuke killed Orochimaru!'

Orochimaru was dead, despite his efforts to become immortal?

Uchiha Sasuke was powerful enough to kill Orochimaru?

Shaking his head as if to clear Naruto, stood up and started walking amongst the busied crowd. Now Kabuto was calling the shots for Otogakure, and he sent every active shinobi on a hunt for Sasuke. Frowning, the blond shinobi continued to contemplate everything he had learned in the past 20 minutes.

Naruto couldn't seem to grasp the fact that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru only days prior. 'There must be underlying factors as to what actually happened.' The blond shinobi thought as he moved down the crowded street. 'Sasuke probably had help, or Orochimaru was in a weakened state.'

These thoughts helped ease the blonde's thoughts as he suddenly shot off into one of the shops, and used the cover of the different rows of merchandise to use a shun shin. Once Naruto had reappeared on top of the shop's roof, he called forth some chakra and used a hirashin to go back to the tree outside of the village he had been sitting on. Once Naruto reappeared on the branch he took, going in a straight line towards Konoha.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Uchiha Sasuke was not usually a person to be trifled with. He had earned the fear of people when they looked at him, he had earned the aura of power that followed him around. Sasuke wasn't however one to belittle himself, however hard it was not to for his deed he had committed a few days prior to today. Killing Orochimaru when he was on his death bed was not something the Uchiha survivor was particularly proud of.

Now, after Sasuke had arranged a specified team, he was heading out to destroy the only other person in the world that was an Uchiha. Sprinting through the forest Sasuke glanced at his team; Karin, the only female of the team, was a read head who wore brown glasses. Her hair was straight and combed on side of her head, and short and spiked on the other side. She wore a lavender long sleeve shirt, and short black shorts, and long black thigh stockings with shoes.

Suigetsu Hozuki was the first member of Sasuke's team that joined. He had white hair that had a blue tinge to it, and lavender eyes. He wore a matching lavender sleeveless shirt and gray pants, and he wore a belt that held two bottles of water and his Decapitating Carving Knife, and the basic shinobi sandals.

The Uchiha survivor then glanced at the last member of his team; Jugo. He had orange hair that is spiked back, and wore simple a black t-shirt with tan pants with the basic shinobi sandals. To complete his clothing ensemble he wore a simple blue cloak that covered most of his body when he stood still.

Looking back forward Sasuke concentrated on what he was heading off to do, until he was stopped by Karin.

"Sasuke." Karin said interrupting the silence that had overtaken the group as they traveled.

Looking at her from the corner of his eye, the Uchiha survivor let her know that he was listening to her.

"We should stop. There is a powerful person heading towards us at a fast rate." Karin said as she began to slow down, which in turn the team also slowed down.

Mentally frowning, Sasuke also slowed down his trek. "How far away from us are they?"

"Less than one minute." Karin said as her brows furrowed.

Suigetsu now was the one to speak as they came to a complete stop on the forest ground. "Were you not paying attention to let someone get so near without you knowing?"

The insult was pushed aside as she answered with a serious tone. "No, they are moving at a rapid speed. There is only one of them." As she said this she looked Sasuke in the eyes, "They are a jinchuuriki of a very powerful demon."

The only indication Sasuke showed that he even heard Karin was the miniscule narrowing of his eyes.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Naruto flew through the trees as he ran, he was making a bee line straight for Konoha, but there seemed to be a small party of people waiting for him up ahead, so he decided to see what they were about.

Appearing in the clearing Naruto landed looking down, and in a crouch. Slowly standing Naruto began dusting himself off. "If you people would so kindly get out of my way, there won't be any problems here today." The blond said without looking at the people before him. He could tell that one of them was powerful, but the rest of them were merely pushovers.

"Baka." Sasuke's voice rang out through the clearing, causing Naruto to stop dusting himself off and look straight at the Uchiha survivor with a completely blank face.

"My teammates and sensei call me baka. But you're neither, so you may refer to me as Uzumaki." Naruto's cold voice sounded from across the field. The blond watched as the Uchiha shifted slightly across the field.

Naruto then smirked, "So Uchiha, did you have your henchmen here weaken the snake before you killed him?" Naruto was rewarded when his insult was met with the narrowing of Sasuke's eyes. The blond tensed his body as he prepared to launch himself at the Uchiha, but he was interrupted by red haired girl standing near Sasuke.

"Don't Sasuke, his chakra feels…powerful, more so than yours do." Naruto heard the girl say, and waited for a reply from Sasuke. When nothing came, the blond was on edge once more, before his danger senses were screaming at him to move from the spot he was standing.

Quickly moving his body off to the side, Naruto watched as the place he had been standing was ignited by electricity, from a lightning rod held in Sasuke's hand. Standing slowly Naruto watched as the electricity slowly died out from Sasuke's hand before he reached behind himself and grabbed his katana and unsheathed it, before he disappeared from Naruto's sight.

Moving quickly, Naruto reached into his holster and withdrew a kunai and brought it up to block an attack that was aimed to take his head off his shoulders. After blocking the attack Naruto used the kunai as leverage and pushed the katana over his head as he ducked his head under it and was within Sasuke's guard. In a lightning fast attack Naruto elbowed the Uchiha in the ribs and followed through with the strike to stab Sasuke with the Kunai in the chest.

This plan was thwarted when the Uchiha brought his other arm down and stopped Naruto's attack at his forearm. Using the physical contact Naruto pushed off Sasuke's arm and spun under the counter attack with the katana as he aimed a roundhouse kick aimed at the ribs. Utilizing the kunai in his hand Naruto flicked his wrist releasing the kunai as the back of his foot made contact with Sasuke's ribs.

The roundhouse kick pushed the Uchiha's opposite rib cage into the kunai, hearing the sound of kunai hitting flesh Naruto crouched and back flipped out of the area he was just in as it went up in flames from an unseen fire technique. Landing on his feet, Naruto looked across the way to see Sasuke cradling his rib-cage where he had been stabbed by the kunai, and his teammates surrounding him in a protective manner.

Naruto allowed himself to smirk confidently, causing the assembled shinobi before him some slight discomfort.

"What's so funny?" Suigetsu asked, "You're outnumbered 4 to 1."

Naruto didn't speak only let the smirk die off of his face before he disappeared in a bright flash of yellow and reappeared directly behind the only female of Sasuke's entourage with a haymaker punch aimed at the side of her head. The red head must have sensed the attack, but didn't have enough speed to dodge or block because the red head turned her head slightly just in time to see Naruto's punch connect with her right cheek sending her flying towards the back of Sasuke.

Naruto used the hirashin then to appear behind the orange haired shinobi and with a fast sweeping kick that took out both of Jugo's legs, Naruto then used another hirashin in quick succession to appear above the orange haired shinobi and used the back of his heel to drive straight downwards into the chest of the airborne shinobi.

Using the hirashin once again Naruto appeared inside Suigetsu's guard with his back towards his chest. The blond shinobi then struck backwards with his elbows aimed at Suigetsu's chest. Feeling the attacks connect, Naruto then used pure speed to spin around behind the white-haired teen and lashed out with a vicious spinning kick that connected with Suigetsu's spine.

After his offensive assault was complete Naruto back flipped out of immediate attack range as Sasuke's team recovered from the sudden attack. The blond shinobi noticed with a smirk that all of his attacks worked, as Sasuke and Karin stood up from the place on the ground. Jugo was slowly starting to stand up out of the slight crater his body made from the impact with the ground, while Suigetsu was recovering his breathe as it had been knocked out of him.

Naruto watched with some amusement as members of the group stood up. But the amusement was short lived as he felt a powerful chakra pulse from the group before them. The blond shinobi watched as Sasuke started using his curse seal and seemed to skip his first stage curse seal. Naruto lowered himself to the ground as he prepared to fight the new threat before he felt another powerful pulse of chakra.

Eyes wide with shock Naruto watched as Jugo started changing into a curse seal level 2 monster with what appeared to be boosters on his back and vicious looking claws on his hands and wide jaw with jagged teeth. This was unexpected.

Naruto tensed his body as he watched the two twisted figures stand and look directly at him. There was a moment of complete silence before Sasuke and Jugo disappeared in a rapid burst of speed.

The blond having only a second to react sensed rather than see Sasuke attacking horizontally with his katana. Ducking under the blade, Naruto was then met with a vicious and powerful punch to the chest as Jugo followed up Sasuke's attack, sending Naruto flying forward and under Sasuke.

Sasuke then struck at Naruto with his knee as he was still airborne. Naruto quickly brought up his forearms in an 'X' to block the attack. Sasuke's knee connected with Naruto's block sending the blond shinobi into the ground, only to ricochet back off the ground once he connected.

Naruto then twisted his body into the air to avoid another follow up attack by Jugo. As the blond brought his legs above his torso, Naruto had to tuck his head in towards his chest to avoid the kick that the orange haired shinobi had aimed at him.

Sasuke and Jugo flew past Naruto, allowing the blonde to land on his feet and recover from the assault. Quickly turning around Naruto focused on his chakra reserves as the Sasuke and Jugo continued their attack upon the blond.

Naruto watched as Jugo lead the attack this time, and dodged the spinning backhand that was aimed for his head. Releasing the chakra Naruto disappeared in flash of yellow while doing a series of hand seals.

Then the blond shinobi appeared behind Sasuke with a kick aimed at the black haired shinobi's back. Before the kick could connect, Sasuke had turned around and had blocked the kick with his hand that wasn't holding his sword.

Before Sasuke could counter attack Naruto disappeared in another flash of yellow, reappearing directly in between the curse seal duo. Sasuke quickly turned round and brought his katana in his hand around in another horizontal strike with him, aiming the strike at the blonde's neck.

As Sasuke was turning around Naruto had kicked Jugo in the chest, and used the orange haired shinobi's body as leverage to push himself into the air, sailing over Sasuke's attack. As Naruto was in the air though, Sasuke changed the direction of his katana attack, swinging it vertically now on a collision course with Naruto's abdomen.

Naruto sensing the attack spun his body out of the way as the attack missed his body. After the Uchiha's attack passed by Naruto's body, the blond used the momentum of his spinning body and aimed a kick at Sasuke's head.

As the attack connected with the Uchiha's head, Jugo attacked the still airborne Naruto; the orange haired shinobi brought his fist back, aiming for Naruto's face. The blond shinobi sensed the attack too late, but was able to slightly move his head to reduce the damage done from the attack. Jugo's attack sent Naruto through the air and on a collision course with the ground.

Once Naruto connected with the ground, the blonde's body was rolling and bouncing off the ground, with Sasuke and Jugo in his wake. Sasuke watching Naruto noticed a small flicker with his sharingan just before the still moving Naruto recovered and launched himself at Sasuke. Sasuke noted that the blond attacking him was a kage bunshin, but the Uchiha also noted that the clone had a fully developed rasengan in his hand and he was flying at him.

Acting upon instincts rather than thinking, Sasuke channeled the chakra for his chidori into his hand quickly. The chidori sprung to life in his hand and was ready to be used, just as the Naruto kage bunshin reached the Uchiha. Pushing his hand forward Sasuke met the rasengan head on with his chidori, expecting to win the battle within a moment. As the Sasuke and Naruto's kage bunshin battled, Sasuke then felt another incredible rise in chakra, and then another right afterwards.

"ARGHHHH!" Sasuke heard Jugo's twisted voice over to his side. Quickly glancing over he saw the remains of a powerful explosion, and Jugo's body flying in the air and through several trees before Jugo's body fell to the ground in an unmoving pile. The orange haired shinobi's body then started to regain his human traits as the twisted chakra receded from his body.

Using a small pulse of the curse seal chakra, Sasuke put more into his chidori than the kage bunshin could into its rasengan. As Sasuke's hand shot through the clone's body, the Uchiha's sharingan searched the clearing for any sign of the Naruto.

A change in the air pressure above Sasuke's head alerted the Uchiha as to where the blond was located. Bringing both his forearms up in an 'x' Sasuke blocked the downward kick from Naruto. The Uchiha didn't wait for Naruto to make another attack as Sasuke grabbed the heel of Naruto as he hung in the air, pushing chakra into his arms Sasuke then threw Naruto down at the ground with all his might.

Sasuke noted that as the blond was descending to the ground, he aimed a kick with his free leg at the Uchiha's face. Not having enough time to dodge Sasuke took the kick to the cheek as Naruto created a small crater from his impact into the ground. The kick sent Sasuke sprawling to the side at an alarming speed. The Uchiha was able to recover himself and landed upright in time to see Naruto standing up from his attack.

There was a moment of silence before Naruto's voice rang out through the clearing. "You took that kick to the face pretty hard. I guess you're not used to actually be fighting for yourself."

"It was a rudimentary attack that was lucky. I'd be more concerned about your spine and the damage creating that crater caused." Sasuke retorted coldly with his eyes narrowed.

Naruto slightly shook his head. "It's nothing to worry about."

There was another moment of silence before Sasuke bolted forward. Naruto spread his feet in preparation for the assault as Sasuke launched himself into the air mere feet before Naruto. The Uchiha lashed out with a kick aimed at the blonde's side, which the aforementioned blond blocked with his left arm. Sasuke used the arm as leverage and spun his body around in mid air and aimed his elbow at where Naruto's head had been.

Naruto ducked underneath the elbow and punched Sasuke in the ribs, causing the Uchiha to grimace in pain. Then Sasuke retaliated; bringing up his knee across his body, Sasuke attempted to hit the blond in the chin, but the blond moved to the side and avoided the knee.

This left Sasuke wide open attack as Naruto drew his fist back and aimed a punch straight for the Uchiha's face. Sasuke quickly brought his forearm underneath the punch and forced the punch to go over his head. Before Sasuke could do anything further though, Naruto's leg had connected with the back of the Uchiha causing Sasuke to arch his back exposing his chest. Naruto capitalized on this punched Sasuke square in the chest, sending in the direction of the punch at a high velocity.

Naruto then used his speed and pushed off the ground to follow the path of the Uchiha as he sailed backwards. Quickly catching up to Sasuke, Naruto spun twice backwards in the air gaining momentum as he spun, and struck at the Uchiha with the back of his heel after the second spin. The heel connected with Sasuke's chin giving the Uchiha even more speed as he flew through the air.

Sasuke hit the ground, and let his body roll on the ground a few times to kill off some speed before he came to a complete stop kneeling in front of Suigetsu and Karin, breathing heavily. Looking at the blond before him Sasuke could feel anger boil under his skin at being beat by his ex-comrade.

Still looking at Naruto, Sasuke noted that his head seemed to twitch and his gaze fell upon the forest behind them his attention momentarily off him. Sasuke's eyes never left the blond as he spoke, catching all three members of team snake off guard. "Well it looks like you're going have your hands full in a matter of moments, and I have somewhere to be right now. Until next time Sasuke-teme." Naruto said before he quickly turned around and vanished from the view of the three.

Sasuke looked at the spot where Naruto had been with a slight furrow of his brows and was about to go in pursuit of the blond before Karin's voice regained his attention. "Sasuke, there is a group of 60 shinobi converging on our current location. We need to leave this area right now, Kabuto's one of the closest ones ."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, the fight with Naruto had alerted all the sound shinobi looking for him to their current whereabouts. Glancing at the two mobile members of his team, Sasuke moved quickly as he retrieved the unconscious form of Jugo, and broke into a fast sprint leaving the clearing they were in with Suigetsu and Karin hot on his heels.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"So who exactly was that?" Suigetsu asked Sasuke quietly as they hid in a small alcove away from prying eyes, and in the center a very crowded forest.

The group had evaded every sound shinobi that had been looking for them, there were a few close calls but they made it out unscathed. The group had ran for many hours nonstop, and once they made it to the small alcove they currently were located in, they took extreme precautions as to not be found. Jugo was still unconscious, and Karin was tending to the orange haired shinobi as best as she could, while Suigetsu and Sasuke kept a wary lookout if anyone would stumble across their current hiding place.

Sasuke looked at the blue haired shinobi for a few moments before he answered. "Uzumaki Naruto, he used to be one of my teammates, but he has become more of a threat than I thought he would have ever become."

"Yeah he has. He was able to fight you and Jugo on even ground with both of you using your curse seal level two. No one should be able to do that." Suigetsu said in a hushed whisper.

Karin nodded silently besides Jugo, "We should avoid him at all costs in the future." The red haired kunoichi said, concerned for the team members' health.

Suigetsu agreed with her statement, but Sasuke remained silent. Sasuke knew that Naruto and he were going to fight again, but he was going to do everything within his power to help him win.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A/N: Thank you for all of you that read and reviewed my premature version of this chapter, it was horrible. After I got your comments about Sasuke being hit by the rasenshuriken, I went back and reread what I wrote and felt ashamed. I fixed that part and now I explained why Naruto left. Before in the chapter Naruto kinda just disappeared, so this is hopefully a better version.

First of all I apologize for not coming out with this chapter sooner, but life started kicking my butt and I never really got around to writing the chapter, but this one took me a little time to write, and hopefully my next chapter will come out relatively quickly.