Panic quickly spread through Itachi's body as he thought of all the horrible things that could be happening to his little blonde brother. All the torture he could be experiencing or the fact that he could have been taken by sick pedophiles and sold into child labor or even worst, brought to extraction. The thoughts just kept getting darker and deeper as he remembered all the awful things he's seen during missions to orphaned or lost kids.

''Itachi! Itachi! Snap out of it! Calm yourself son'' Fugaku said as he gripped his eldest shoulders.

''Remember we are ninjas… Remember your training!''

''Yes...yes... I am a ninja. I have the skills and training, I am a top student. I will find him.'' Itachi thought as calm started to spread throughout his body.

''Okay, I'm fine now'' Itachi said as he turned to his father and noticed two other ninjas from the clan who already began their search. I must've been really out of it he thought.

''Good, we found some evidence that he may have went into the forest through the bushes.'' One of the ninjas stated as he approached with a piece of bright orange cloth that unmistakably came from Naruto's clothes which Itachi took and brought to his nose.

''The forest?! There are wild animals in there!'' Mikoto cried hysterically has she thought of how scared and defenseless Naruto must be.

''Calm down mother you're scaring Sasuke.'' Itachi said as he watched said boy grip tighter unto his mother's skirt with fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

''Oh right, I'm sure he's fine. He's such a brave little boy.'' Mikoto said as she tried to calm her wailing son. ''He's gonna be just fine baby don't worry''

''That's right Sasuke. It's time for you to be a brave big brother so you can take care of Naru when he comes back okay?'' Itachi said as he poked his brother's forehead.

'' So take care of your mother while we're gone Sasuke'' added Fugaku as he left with Itachi and the ninjas to follow Naruto's trail into the forest.

But unbeknownst to the Uchiha family, they were not the only ones searching for Naruto.

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From above, birds could be seen fleeing away from their nests as five masked ninjas quickly sped their way through the trees. Word had been given that the Kyuubi vessel was lost in the forest and finally away from the Uchihas so this was the ideal time to capture him. Having the jinjuriki in their grasp will finally bestow the power they needed to complete the goals of their organization. Failure is unacceptable.

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Meanwhile back in the forest, the blonde chibi slowly awoke from his nap with a wide and happy yawn. He was well rested and ready to begin his mission of catching the pretty butterfly for his mommy again but there was one problem… he was surrounded.

About five feet around the blonde baby stood the forest animals… staring.

Absolutely curious but full of glee at seeing the new creatures, Naruto tried to approach the group of animals but unfortunately his tiny little palms slipped and he fell face down onto a rock which cut his cheek wide open.

Completely unknown to Naruto, bright red chakra burst open from his wound and healed it immediately. The animals which had been curious about the human child with the strange aura in their territory became completely relaxed as a sense of calm engulfed them. There was no danger here.

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''How far could he have crawled to? Itachi thought has he leapt through the trees while keeping his eyes trained on the forest floor. ''When we find him I really need to give him a lecture on making me worry.'' He added with a smile as the image of a pouting cherub appeared at thought of how the blonde would react to such a thing.

A shout quickly broke Itachi out of his musings as a fresh trail was finally discovered.

''He went this way, He must be close by but do you feel that? There are five chakra signatures coming this way rapidly, we have to get him out of here fast!'' Fugaku yelled as they took off full speed into the direction in which they knew the blonde lay.

''How did they find out?'' Itachi thought has he ran as fast as he could towards the faint signal of his little blonde. '' We have to get there first!"

''Naruto… wait for me.''