Third Person's POV

The battle ended. When Lee fought with Kimimaro, Gaara caught up and aided him in the fight. They were able to take him down and as they rested, Baki showed up with a Jonin from Konoha. The Jonin supported Lee who was injured while Baki tended to Gaara.
"I'm fine" Gaara insisted. Baki raised a brow at him, he studied Gaara one more time then turned to the Konoha Jonin,
"We're alright here" he reported, the Konoha Jonin nodded as he held Lee
"Alright, let's report back to Hokage-sama" he said as he leapt towards Konohagakure, Baki turned to follow but stopped because Gaara looked the other way.
"What's the matter Gaara-sama?" he asked as he walked to him. Gaara closed his eyes as he thought, trying to reach out to a certain someone. 'Naruto! Are you okay?' he thought, but there was no answer. He tried again and again but there was still no response. In his mindscape, Shukaku only huffed.

"He can't hear you. The bastard fox and his host are too far" Shukaku said. Gaara frowned at the tanuki.
"Gaara-sama?" he heard Baki call his name again. He snapped back to reality as he looked at the distance,
"Baki, there's something I have to do" Gaara said as he was about to take a step forward but Baki stopped him.
"I regret to inform you Gaara-sama, but we have to go back. We were only ordered to aid the Konoha Genin and report back afterwards" Baki said as Gaara furrowed his brows. He was about to protest when Baki spoke,
"We have to go. Once we report to Hokage-sama we are to return to Sunagakure immediately. That was what we agreed" he said sternly but with respect. Gaara only clenched his fist as he sighed,
"Fine. We'll go back" he said turning to Baki, he glanced the other way once more in worry but returned to his normal expression as he leaped towards Konoha.

Naruto was exhausted from the battles he had today. He heaved as he carried the Uchiha over his shoulder. His wounds slowly healing, a perk from being a Jinchūriki. He knows well that jumping from branch to branch would take him back to the village faster but doing so would tire him more. Half way, he jumped from tree to tree while the rest of the path he walked. He looked up at the sun that was covered by clouds once in a while, he could only sigh, he didn't know what time it is but judging from the heat he felt it was past noon. Aside from the subtle winds that passed, the trees and bushes rustling with it and the birds chirping, it was awfully quiet. Especially since the large fox that would often lecture him about what he did in battle, was asleep. Because Naruto told him so. He'd sometimes drift in and out of his mindscape to check on the red-orange fox who slept peacefully, he smiled at this. He too would love to rest for a while but he felt like he needed to hurry back to the village. So with great determination to go home, he tightened his grip on the Uchiha and quicken his pace.

-Somewhere in Konoha-

In the deepest part of Konoha, there stood an old man. Half his face and his right arm heavily bandaged, an X mark scar on his chin. He held a cane on his left to support his body as he walked. This was Shimura Danzo, a shady man in charge of the dark deeds in Konoha. He entered his office lit by a single candle, before he sat down on his chair two silhouettes appeared beyond the paper-covered door kneeling on one knee.
"Danzo-sama, we have arrived" one of the two said
"Report your findings" Danzo said without even turning to look at them
"Yes sir. We have confirmed the goal of the organization Akatsuki, they are to capture every Jinchūriki from the different villages. They are after the Bijū inside them. What they'll do with them is unknown" one reported, Danzo stayed silent as he pondered on the report. He 'hmm' for a bit then spoke,
"I see..." he then turned to the two silhouettes.
"Find Konoha's Jinchūriki Uzumaki Naruto and bring him to me at once" Danzo ordered, the two silhouettes bowed their heads and shunshined away.

-Back to Naruto-

'I'm almost there!' he thought excitedly. All of his wounds are healed, both the Uchiha and the Bijū are asleep, and returning with Sasuke made him think of events that he hoped would happen. The villagers would acknowledge him, other Shinobi would praise him, and maybe Sakura would start noticing him more. He imagined these events with a grin as he skipped a bit but stopped himself for he was still tired.

A few moments later, he could see the village gates in view and he spotted the usual guards Kotetsu and Izumo, even Sakura herself was there. His smile widened, he breathed in and out, prepraring himself for the smiles and praises that would ambush him upon his return with the young Uchiha. Now a few meters away from the entrance he outstretched his free arm and waved
"Oi! Sakura-chan!" he called in his best cheery voice. From the looks of it, the pink haired kunoichi didn't hear him. He raised a brow for a moment and called again, louder this time.
"OOII! SAKURAA-CHAN!" she still didn't make a reaction to his calls.

He now frowned, he started jogging towards the entrance only to be blocked by masked ninjas. Six of them surrounded him, they all wore the same gear but had different masks that formed an animal's face, they positioned themselves in a way to be prepared for battle. He recognized the getup, they were members of Konoha's special black ops ANBU. He furrowed his brows as he looked around and activated a sensory jutsu, he clicked his tongue 'A Genjutsu? No wonder why Sakura-chan couldn't hear me' he thought to himself. The ANBU in the middle took a step forward but kept a fair distance from the blonde.
"Uzumaki Naruto. You're coming with us" he said, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the ANBU his hand trailing slowly to his pouch.
"Why?" he asked,
"That's not for me to answer. You may cater your questions to Danzo-sama" he said, 'Danzo?" Naruto thought. He then concluded that they were ROOT ANBU under Shimura Danzo, they aren't to be messed with and are the untrustworthy lot.

"I'm not going"

"Then you leave us no choice"

The ANBU member took out a weapon and charged at Naruto who jumped away. Another ANBU swung their kunai at him which Naruto dodged as he jumped back, two more were after him and he parried to the right and left then jumped to the air and landed to the other side, his back now facing the way to the entrance. He carefully placed the Uchiha down as he turned back to his current oponents. He ran to them, he took out a kunai and had a close combat with the leader.

Their kunais clashed as they tried to overpower the other, as they backed away from each other another ANBU held a sword and swung it at Naruto, he parried to the side and defended himself with his kunai. After a few clashes, the two backed away and charged, the ANBU swiped her sword and Naruto dodged then sweeped his leg to make her fall. Two other ANBU attacked and Naruto backflipped a few times to get away from them. The last two decided to take him from behind, Naruto caught on to this and with his hands he pushed himself from the ground and went away from them.

With a fair distance he breathed for a bit, he took out a few shuriken and threw it, all six dodged but the shurikens came back and gave a clean cut to the shoulder of each ANBU, a trickle of blood dripping from the wound. He then did a few handsigns
"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind release: Great Breakthrough)" the Shinobi had to channel chakra on their feet just to prevent themselves from flying away and the wind jutsu gave them a few more cuts to the skin and slightly ripped the fabric of their clothes. Naruto took advantage of this and used kunai attached to wires and threw them at each ANBU member, the wire surrounded their bodies and tightened, the kunai stuck to the ground completely immobilizing them. He then did a few handsigns then placed his hand to the ground
"Fūin!" he muttered as a formula appeared below the ANBU members and their movements were held allowing Naruto to remove the wire that held them.

He walked up to the leader of the group looking up at him with arms crossed,
"So tell me. Why is Danzo after me?" he demanded. The ANBU didn't speak but only grumbled quietly, Naruto kicked him in the shin as the ANBU member could only wince in pain.
"Tell me!" Naruto raised his voice getting impatient. He then heard a low groan, he looked over at the young Uchiha who moved a bit in his sleep.

The blonde ran to his teammate and crouched by him.
"Hey, can you hear me?" he asked but the Uchiha only groaned again and murmured something before going silent again. He sighed at the Uchiha, just when he stood up and turned back to the ANBU he felt a sharp pain on his nape, his vision slowly blurred as he dropped to the ground. A newcomer walked past him and freed his comrades,

"Good thing you caught up. He nearly got us"

"Should we bring the Uchiha?"

"No. Leave him here, we only need the Jinchūriki"

Was all he heard as his eyes finally shut.

At the entrance of Konohagakure, Sakura paced back and forth, biting her thumb as she did. Her thoughts raced about the promise Naruto made and the fear of Sasuke successing in going to Orochimaru, she hoped that Naruto would bring the raven haired boy back. She stopped her pacing and looked at the distance outside the village. It was just hours ago when Konoha and Suna Jonin came back with Choji, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Lee along with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro who were sent as backup, they were either injured or passed out. Now she waited for the blonde ninja who promised her he'd bring back the Uchiha.

She continue to stare outside, waiting to see a blonde boy who'd wear orange and a raven haired boy with him, but the scene remained the same. Just the same road with trees that lined up at the side. That's when she noticed something, she squinted her eyes to see closely from where she stood and after a few blinks, there appears a body on the ground. He had raven black hair and wore blue and white. Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized the person.
"S... Sasuke-kun...?" she said as she slowly walked, she then broke into a sprint towards the body that lay there.
"Sasuke-kun!" she called as she reached to his side, gently putting his head on her lap. She caressed his cheek as she studied his face, there didn't seem to be any injuries and he was just sleeping without a care in the world. Tears slipped through her eyes as she hugged him.
"I'm glad... you're back...!" she whisper-yelled, her face faltered as she looked into the distance once again, 'Where's Naruto?' she asked in her head believing that the blonde ninja would catch up. But he didn't. Both Izumo and Kotetsu caught up to the kunoichi and stopped at her side panting.
"Is that...?" asked Izumo
"There's no mistake, it's Uchiha Sasuke!" Kotetsu beamed.
"We should take him to the hospital and report it to Hokage-sama!" added Izumo. Kotetsu carried Sasuke and the three rushed to the hospital. Sakura could only smile as she blinked away a few tears.

Naruto groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He waited for his sight to adjust, blurry vision slowly becoming clear. With one more blink he can finally see his surroundings properly. He notices that he is in a dark place and sees his feet chained, he then tried to move his arms which were also chained, a tube-like thing made of metal covered his hands. He tried to move around until he was held back to a certain distance, he sees the source of light coming from beyond the bars. 'Bars?' he questioned in his head. He tried to go to the bars but was held back, reminded that he was chained to the wall behind him.
"Tch" was all he said.

"Kit"

Naruto widened his eyes, surprised to hear the grumpy voice of the fox inside him. He closed his eyes as he entered his mindscape, now meeting the large red-orange fox awake and sitting up.
"Kurama! How are you feeling?" he asked,

"I'm fine" he answered with a small huff. Naruto grinned widely as he laughed.
"Hehe, good to know!" he beamed as the fox smiled in return but went back to his usual grumpy face.

"Anyway kit, how did you end up here?" Kurama asked as Naruto held his chin recalling past events.
"Well... I carried Sasuke to Konoha. I saw Sakura-chan by the gate. I called her and she didn't hear me. I got ambushed by ROOT ANBU and I fought them, and I was sure I got the upper hand. But then Sasuke made a noise, I went to him, then when I was gonna go back to interrogating them I got hit by the nape and went unconscious" Naruto enumerated as he counted on his fingers. He also added a few more details making the Bijū frown.

"So there was a Genjutsu casted so the pink brat couldn't see what happened and you didn't know that there was a 7th ANBU?" Kurama said as Naruto rubbed the back of his head sweating,
"Well, he actually just caught up, ya know..." he said nervously as Kurama facepalmed and sighed.

"I told you to expect the unexpected. You never know when backup would come for your opponent so you have to keep your guard up even if you had your opponent trapped" Kurama lectured as Naruto's shoulders drooped.
"Ahaha... sorry" Naruto said as the fox crossed his arms. They then sensed three chakra signatures approaching. Naruto returned back to reality to prepare himself, he had a hunch of who was coming to meet him. He furrowed his brows as Kurama growled lowly.

There appeared Shimura Danzo, the official in charge of most of the ANBU and even made his own Foundation and ROOT ANBU. He stood before the gate and is accompanied by two ANBUs, one of them opened the gate and the two stood guard while Danzo entered the jail cell.

Danzo peered down at the blonde as he walked towards him then halting once he's a meter before him.
"The Kyūbi no Kitsune's Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto. Supposedly the village's greatest weapon" he said as he bent a little closer to see Naruto better. He 'hm' as he stood straight again.
"Who'd knew the Yondaime would put the Kyūbi in some brat" he said as Naruto gritted his teeth and went forward but was held back by the chains.
"I'm not some brat, ya know!" he shouted. Danzo didn't flinch, Naruto's act leaving him unfazed.

"Why am I here? I didn't do anything wrong!" Naruto claimed,
"Of course, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just that your existence is wrong, in a few ways" he scowled emphasizing the 'is'. Naruto's face fell as he was taken aback by his words. He forced himself to make a serious face, an attempt to show the old man that he wasn't affected by the remark.
"What do you mean?" was all he asked.
"I'm sure you have already noticed. The villagers avoiding you, telling their own children not to associate themselves with you, and the like. From the day you were born until now" Danzo started as he walked a few steps, tapping his cane as he did.

"All those acts, just because of what is inside you. The Kyūbi" he said slowly while Naruto only furrowed his brows more getting impatient with this charade.
"What about it? Is it such a heinous crime that I have to be in prison for it?" Naruto spat as Danzo slowly shook his head.
"Oh no, it's just that the Kyūbi is also the reason as to why you are here" he said, he then walked towards the blonde who continued to glare at him.
"A criminal organization, the Akatsuki, are after you. Specifically, the beast inside you" Danzo stated. He was surprised that the blonde didn't make any reaction who still kept the same glare, though the old man didn't show that he was surprised. Danzo is clearly not aware that the Jinchūriki knew about it. He subtly cleared his throat to continue.

"They wish to have full control over the Bijū in you. And I can't allow that. You are Konoha's greatest weapon, our last line of defense" he continued. Naruto clenched his teeth as he struggled to close in on Danzo.
"That doesn't mean you have to put me in here! And don't underestimate the Shinobi of Konoha!" Naruto argued as Danzo gave a 'tut-tut-tut' in disagreement.
"I am not underestimating our men. You are a top secret weapon to our village, and without the Kyūbi then our power would topple giving the other villages a chance to invade us" he said as Naruto widened his eyes in astonishment.
"No way..." Naruto muttered as Danzo walked around again, tapping his cane.
"It is a high possibility. I want to protect our village greatly. Don't you want to protect our village?" Danzo asked turning to the blonde. Naruto thought for a bit then nodded.

"I do"

A small smirk of satisfaction appeared on Danzo's face.
"Then you will stay here. Confined in the deepest part of the village. So no one can find you" Danzo said as he turned to the gate. Naruto then struggled as he tried to move away from his place.
"No! I don't understand! Let me out!" he yelled. Danzo nodded to the ANBUs and they went inside.
"Confiscate his belongings. We don't want him escaping our grasp" Danzo ordered as the two ANBUs took Naruto's pouch and ninja holster as said ninja protested. As the ANBU members went out and locked the gate, Naruto glared hard at Danzo.
"I'll get out. My comrades will look for me" Naruto said,
"I assure you Uzumaki Naruto, that no one would be looking for you. Especially since you brought back the Uchiha" Danzo leered at the blonde. Fed up with the man, Naruto used all of his strength to break free from the chains.
"You! You'll pay for this!" Naruto yelled as Danzo nodded to the ANBU and left, two more chakra signatures were detected. They all did a few handsigns and formed a barrier around the cell. Naruto looked around frantically as he struggled more at his chains.
"Let me out! Let me out!" Naruto yelled as he was left alone in his cell. He breathed in and out as he yelled once more.

"LET ME OUT!"

-In Konoha Hospital-

Sasuke lay in the hospital bed, not waking up since he was brought in. Sakura sat on a chair beside the bed with a worried look, she clasped her hand on Sasuke's. Next to her is the Godaime Hokage Tsunade, whose arms are crossed.
"Tsunade-sama, Sasuke-kun will be okay, right?" Sakura asked,
"He will be. He just needs some rest" Tsunade reassured the pink kunoichi. She thought about how surprised she was that the Uchiha came back with no injuries. Her thoughts then raced to a certain blonde. She turned on her heel and left, Sakura looking at her in wonder
"Tsunade-sama?" was all she said.

Tsunade walked at a quick pace, rushing her way back to the Hokage tower as her thoughts continued to race. 'Sakura said he didn't come back. He wasn't there with Sasuke' she thought back to what Sakura had told her when they met minutes ago. She burst open the doors with Shizune and Tonton keeping up with her sweating. Shizune closed the door gently as she watched her mistress sigh when she sat.
"Tsunade-sama, is something the matter?" she asked in concern as Tonton oinked in agreement. Tsunade put her hands together and rested her chin on top of them
"Sakura said that Naruto wasn't there with Sasuke" Tsunade said as Shizune widened her eyes
"What? But how is that possible?" Shizune asked as Tsunade thought about different scenarios.
"There are a few possibilities: One, he could've told Sasuke to go ahead while he did something he thought was important. Two, he is heavily injured and told Sasuke to go and get help, but Sasuke instead collapses from exhaustion. Or three..." she hesitates then stood up abruptly
"NO!" she suddenly shouted making Shizune and Tonton flinch from the act. Tsunade sat back down and held her head with her hand, trying to remove the thought that the Uzumaki is possibly dead. She shut her eyes as she thought hard on what to do.

The door opened to reveal the masked Jonin, back from a mission he was assigned.
"Tsunade-sama, I-" before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off by Tsunade
"Kakashi!" she called loudly as said ninja widened his eye in shock.
"I'm assigning you a new mission. Retrace the path Nara Shikamaru's team made for the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke, and search for Uzumaki Naruto at once!" she ordered as Kakashi widened his eye again from the mission
"Tsunade-sama, if I may..." he started as Tsunade leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms.
"Yes. It's what you think. Naruto didn't come back. Sasuke was the only one who appeared at the entrance" she said as Kakashi tried to process the information she told him, she stood up and gestured to the door.
"Now go!" she ordered as Kakashi bowed and left. Tsunade turned to look at the window, biting her lip as she did.

In the deepest part of Konoha, a single torch is lit in the dark hallway of the dungeons. The flame swaying back and forth as the prisoner in the cell moved, sometimes whistling to themselves to pass the time. He would sit, stand, walk around, then sit again or lay down as he waited for a certain something to happen. As usual, an ANBU came to give him food opening the gate and putting it inside, the prisoner only kicked the plate out of the cell and went back to doing his own thing. The ANBU didn't react and instead cleaned the mess and left. He sighed as he sat cross-legged and hummed, the large fox inside him twitched his eye as he looked at his host meditating in front of him.

"Why?" he suddenly asked, the blonde opened a single eye as he looked at the fox.
"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked back as the fox grew a tick mark on his head.

"Why the hell are you just sitting there and not thinking of a way to get out of here?!" he roared as the blonde felt his breath against his body. He sighed as he tried to get back to meditating.
"Because I'm waiting" he answered matter-of-factly,

"You've been in here for 5 days, not even eating or drinking anything! What exactly are you waiting for, Naruto?!" the Bijū growled as Naruto opened his eyes, a solemn look forming on his face.
"I thought about what that old man Danzo said, that no one would be looking for me" he said as he gazed at the floor filled with water.
"I want to prove him wrong. That Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, and maybe even Sasuke would come here to get me out. It could even be Tsunade obaa-chan or Ero-Sennin, maybe Iruka-sensei" he said as he started to smile, but it was quickly replaced with a frown
"But a part of me thinks that no one would come. That no one even bothered to look for me" he said sadly as he felt his heart ache on the thought. Kurama's ears droop feeling sad for the blonde's current thinking. Naruto then perked up at Kurama,
"So! Give it 2 more days! If no one comes by then, then I'll get out of here myself!" he said as he stood up, in hopes to get the Bijū's permission. Kurama stared at him for a moment thinking about Naruto's suggestion. He then sighed

"Fine. 2 more days. If no one comes then you better get out of here" he said as Naruto brightened up.
"Alright!" he then sat back down and stretched his arms
"Then back to waiting we go!" he cheered.

-2 day later-

Naruto was down all day, the sun already set and no one came for him. He looked at it optimistically, that someone will eventually come by nightfall so he continued to wait. Hours have passed and the dungeon remained quiet, it was hard to tell what time it was for he only relied on the ANBU that would bring him meals. Breakfast 2 hours from dawn, lunch at exactly noon, and dinner 2 hours after dusk. It had just been three hours ago when an ANBU brought his dinner and yes, he kicked it away again. Naruto sighed, 'It's about 11 in the evening now...' he thought as he looked at the gate of the cell counting the seconds. 'Once it's midnight, 2 days would be over. Someone will come. Someone will come!' he repeated in his head as he stared at the outside of the cell in hope.

Seconds have passed and the dungeon remained undisturbed, no chakra signatures were sensed, there was no explosion or the like. It's still quiet. Naruto's heart fell, his blue eyes turning glassy as he focused on the ground, a lump forming on his throat.
"No one... no one came..." he said in between sniffles. It's now been a week since he was brought here. Supposedly, someone has noticed that he's gone missing and maybe had took action but still, no one came for him. Kurama wrapped a single tail around the blonde to comfort him, Naruto only hugged it in return burying his face on the soft fur of the Bijū, he cried silently.

When he calmed down, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked ahead.
"Alright... it's time we get out of here" he said recovering from his shaky voice as Kurama nodded. Naruto returned to reality and looked at his chains, before he could do anything else he had to be free first. The metal cap or tube like thing that covered his hands was to prevent him from doing any hand signs. He was also chained by the ankles, he looked at the wall that held the chains. For a few seconds he thought of how to free himself then figured it out. With all of his concentration, he channeled chakra to every part of his body, when he felt like it was enough he ran forward. The chain tugged as Naruto continued to run with all his strength, he ran and ran as the chains stuck to the wall slowly grew loose, then finally it was free, the chains bringing a bit of the cemented wall with them and Naruto ran headfirst to the gate.

A loud noise was made as Naruto held his forehead and stumbled backwards, squinting his eyes in pain as a few tears appeared.
"That hurt, ya know...!" he cried as Kurama snickered. Naruto sent him an annoyed glare as Kurama looked the other way. Naruto finally calmed down, he wasn't held back but his hands were still covered. He wracked his brain on what he should do to free his hands then got an idea, he wasn't sure if it'd work but he has no other options.

Channeling chakra to his hands, this time it was greater than the previous. With a grunt he hit his covered hands to the ground and the metal cap or tube broke into pieces, he sighed in relief as he could finally feel his hands again. With a cheeky laugh, he took out a kunai he hid in his sandals, channeled chakra and cut the chains on his ankles. He quietly cheered his freedom, earning a reminder from Kurama that he was still in the cell. Naruto pouted as he muttered 'Killjoy' while Kurama grew a tick mark at his host.

Naruto went to the gate and when he tried to fit his hand through the bars he felt something push his hand back. Naruto hissed for it gave him a little sting at the fingertips, he breathed once again to calm down and analyzed the situation.
"Okay, this barrier is keeping me in. A simple touch to it and it'll sting you" he said. He wracked his brain again as he recalled to the book and scroll about barriers he was forced to read. He then brightened up as he remembered.
"Tch, that old man Danzo is underestimating my knowledge" he said stepping back a bit,
"This barrier is a simple one, it's not visible but it stings you. The power of the sting depends on how much of your body touched it" he explained as Kurama smirked.

"So how do you get out of here?" he asked as Naruto put his hands together smirking himself.
"We just gotta overpower it with chakra and make a disturbance!" he said as he channeled chakra all over his body, the blue chakra becoming visible. The barrier slowly wobbled until Naruto's chakra was too much for it to handle and it faded. He cheered once more then with his raw strength, he kicked the gate open. He got out and looked left and right then used a sensory jutsu. He sensed a few ANBUs making their way to him, he had to escape and fast.
"I guess I made too much noise" he said sweating while Kurama ushered him to get going.

Since Naruto isn't familiar with the place he decided to rely on his sensory jutsu, sensing the direction of the ANBU who are currently making their way to him. Once he roughly memorized the directions, he hid in the shadows and masked his chakra so no one would sense him. Two ANBUs passed by and stopped by the cell Naruto was and they went in to investigate. Naruto grinned as he tiptoed his way to the gate then closed it, alerting both ANBUs. He then did a few handsigns and placed his palm on the gate.
"Fūin!" he said as a formula appeared, the ANBUs went to the gate and tried to pry it open but they couldn't. Naruto smirked as he pointed at them cheekily,
"Ha! How does it feel to be locked up, huh?!" he asked smugly as the ANBUs grumbled. He laughed once more then gave them a small salute.
"Well, see ya!" he bid then ran to the direction they came from.

Down the hall he goes and he stumbles upon a table and shelf with stairs behind it, he believes that it is the way up but stopped himself because he spotted his belongings in one of the compartments in the shelf. The key hung next to it so he grabbed it and unlocked the compartment, he gladly received his pouch and holster then put it back on him. Kurama reminded Naruto to keep moving and so he did, he ran up the stairs two at a time then noticed a tripwire below, he jumped past it and proceeded to running. He wanted to avoid as much battle as he can because he is a bit weak from the lack of food and water intake, but if a battle does happen then he has no choice but to fight. He reaches an upper floor, the dungeons still lit by torches. 'I need to find the way out!' he thought, he ran through the halls of the dungeon looking for a staircase that'll lead him up. When he turned the corner he meets two ANBUs ready with their kunais, Naruto stepped back and detonated a smoke bomb. He went on his way as the two ANBUs fought each other blind.

It was like a pattern, he goes up to a floor of dungeons then finds the staircase up on the other side. As he went up he encounters ANBUs and uses different tactics to distract them while he makes his way to the staircase. Now he finds himself in a floor filled with rooms, 'Finally, not dungeons' he sighed as he continued to pass by the rooms. He turned a left then a right and was greeted with a team of ANBUs on the hall to the right, so he went left. He ran with the ANBU on his tail, throwing kunais and shuriken while Naruto sidestepped and jumped to evade their attacks, he threw his own kunai that has an explosive tag attached to it. The tag detonated once it passed by the ANBU, Naruto skidded to a halt and turned back to see if they didn't die and to his relief they didn't. They are just greatly injured. He continued running and created a Shadow Clone who emitted great chakra and turned right while he, the original, took a sharp left and found a door, 'This must be it!' he thought as as he ran to it. He brought out his hand as he held on to the knob, twisted it and stepped out. He smelled fresh air and finally saw the moonlight emitting a gentle glow. He breathed in the air and exhaled,
"Finally! The outside!" he said,

"Kit, before you appreciate the outside. I suggest you go far from this place, I'm sure the ANBU will catch on to your trick" Kurama said referring to the Shadow Clone Naruto made.
"Right, I should go. And maybe get something to eat while I'm at it" he said as he jumped to the branch and left.

Far from where Danzo and his goons are, Naruto found the river he would go to as a child. He sat down before the water and took out two scrolls, one is for weaponry and the other is for his essentials. He put back the scroll for weapons and opened the scroll for his essentials. Looking for a certain seal and finding it, he put his hand on it and there poofed a fishing rod along with bait. He did what was necessary and cast the line to the water then waited for fish to come. A few minutes later, the line tugged and he pulled it with a fish the size of his arm on the hook. He killed it and put it aside for a bit then prepared a fire, he then cooked it over the fire and when it was cooked he brought it out and let it cool down for a bit. He then took a big bite on the fish and devoured it without hesitation, filling his empty stomach and burped with satisfaction. He also got some water from the river and drunk it not caring if it was clean or not. When he was finished he put out the fire and leaned back against a tree and relaxed, now feeling drowsy and his eyes tempting to close.

"Shouldn't you go home?" Kurama asked while in his usual sleeping position as he opened one eye to the blonde.
"Erm... not now. I want to rest for a bit. I'll go home later..." he said as he slowly drifted to sleep. Kurna only sighed and went to sleep himself.

Naruto was forced to open his eyes from the glaring sun, telling him that it was already morning. He stood up and stretched his body while inhaling and exhaling, once he felt better and ready he cleaned the place and made sure that there was no trace of his being here. He finally finished and used a route he'd use as a child back to the village. When he was closing in the village, he stopped in his tracks as his face fell thinking, Kurama noticed this and looked over his host.

"Aren't you going in?" he asked as Naruto lightly clenched his fist and sighed.
"I'll go the other way" he said as he turned on his heel while Kurama raised a brow at the blonde's actions.

Naruto found his way at the top of the Great Stone Faces, that had the face of the First Hokage to the current one. He stood atop his father's face, watching the villagers go on with their day normally, he bit his lip as he masked his chakra and jumped from Minato's face to a nearby tree then roof to roof. The large fox wondered what his Jinchūriki is up to, he has a few guesses but he felt like staying quiet for the moment, he decided to ask later. He hid on the alleyway, hidden by the shadow of the building and listened to the villagers that gossiped.
"I heard that the only Uchiha left came back" one said,
"Yes! And he was unharmed" another replied,
"Knowing we have strong ninjas makes me feel at ease!" the first one piped. Naruto frowned but then shook it off and went to another alleyway to hide. He is now listening to a few men talking to one another.
"I heard that Uchiha lad came back" one said,
"Why did he leave again?" another asked,
"Who knows?" the first one replied.
"As long as one of the promising ninjas is here then it doesn't matter" a third one said. The three share a boisterous laughter as Naruto frowned again, he slapped himself as he went to another place, this time he went to the hospital.

He went to the rooftop of the building and used a Henge to turn himself into a random villager, his blonde hair to brown and blue eyes to black, his height 5 inches taller and he wore a plain green shirt and brown pants with it, his sandals changed to slippers. He breathed in and out then entered the door that lead him inside. He wandered around the halls not knowing where to go and instead made his way a floor down.

Making his way another floor down, he was forced to a halt when he heard familiar voices so he pretended to do his own thing while he sees Sakura bringing flowers with Ino followed by Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, and Tenten.
"Visiting Sasuke-kun again?" Ino asked,
"Of course, I'm his teammate. I should watch over him" Sakura replied.
"Huh... maybe I should watch over him too. I might get a reward from him when he wakes up" Ino says dreamily, imagining a possible scenario where Sasuke wakes up to see Ino and he'd reward her a kiss. Sakura's brow twitched as a tick mark grew on her forehead.
"Huh?" she said angrily then the two started bickering. Shikamaru sighed in exasperation while Tenten sweat dropped at the two.
"So! Who are you visiting?" Tenten asked as Hinata flinched, startled from the sudden question.
"Um... Shino-kun and I are visiting Kiba-kun..." she replied shyly as Shino by her side didn't make any reaction and instead muttered to himself
"I should've been taken to the mission" he muttered to himself as Hinata tried to comfort him.
"Wh-what about you Shikamaru-kun?" she asked Shikamaru
"I'm visiting Choji, heard from the nurses that he just woke up" he answered nonchalantly.
"I see... what about you?" she turned to Tenten
"I'm meeting with Lee since he'll be discharged today, we'll be visiting Neji afterwards" Tenten replied. They all continued to chat as they passed by Naruto, said blonde gulped as he continued to listen to them.
"I'm glad that everyone is alright. And they were successful in bringing Sasuke back!" Tenten exclaimed as she stretched her arms. Shino only continued to sulk,
"I should've been included in the mission..." he murmured as Hinata patted his back to comfort him.

They all entered different rooms and Naruto in his Henge only clenched his fists as tears threatened to come out of his eyes. He had enough of listening and blinked the tears away then turned to leave. Going out through the backdoor and jumping tree to tree and roof to roof, he landed on one of the rooftops and took a moment to breath. Kurama looked over his host with a worried look,

"Kit?" he called as Naruto breathed in and out, as if he was gasping for air.
"Kurama, I..." he said as he felt like breaking down. But he had to stop himself when both Jinchūriki and Bijū felt familiar chakra signatures approaching. He turned to look and it was as if he knew who they were, they are the ANBUs who caught him. He spotted hints of shadows going from building to building, up and down through the busy streets of Konoha. By instinct, he masked his chakra and jumped up, landing on the dark alleyway and hiding by a few crates that were stacked together. When the chakra signatures arrived on the same alleyway he was in, he instantly covered his mouth and froze, as if the slightest movement would give him away.
"Any sign of him?" he heard one of them asked, Naruto believes this is the leader.
"No" another answered, the leader crossed his arms as he thought for a bit
"You, search by the entrance. You, go through the shopping district and the hospital. You, search around the academy and the Hokage tower. We must find Uzumaki Naruto at once!" the leader ordered as the rest of the ANBU bowed,
"Yes sir!" they said in unison and they all moved out as they are ordered to. Confirming that they're out of the area, Naruto exhaled realizing that he was holding his breath this whole time and went out of his hiding place but continued to mask his chakra.
"That old Danzo, he's really set on locking me up" he said, Kurama eyed Naruto

"So? What are you going to do?" he asked as Naruto looked at the ground thinking. Considering everything, from then until now, Naruto had decided. He balled his fist and looked back at his fox friend.
"I've decided!" he said as Kurama waited for him to continue.
"Kurama, let's leave this village and find the others! My friends... and your family!" he said, Kurama widened his eyes shocked from what the blonde was saying. But he only grinned, fully understanding Naruto's intentions.

"Heh. About damn time!" Kurama said as he held out a fist, Naruto returned his own grin as he connected his fist to Kurama's.
"Alright!" he beamed.

Oabxkckjanw okaaytt another chapter doonneee!! Next up, Naruto will be traveling to find the other Jinchūriki. What will the ANBU do? Will the Akatsuki know? Will his comrades in Konoha ever know that he's gone? Find out in the next chap! Can I just say that this chapter surpassed the word count of the previous chapter, this literally has 7244 words (exclude author notes). I've outdone myself, such is the affect of a good break. Anyway enough talk! See you in the next chap!

Wifizone shutting down
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