The sound of buzzing was heard as yet another mosquito zipped toward its intended target-

THWAP!

The mosquito was no more.

"Jeez! How many mosquitoes ARE there in this forest?! I can barely sit still at all from all of them swarming me!!", Naruto said under his breath. He was currently in the middle of a humid, tropical forest, waiting for a signal from Kakashi-sensei that would tell him to make his move.

His job was to jump down behind the guards protecting the crime boss' stronghold, though they had yet to appear. Their boss was a wealthy criminal who had hired the toughest thugs around to guard his center of operation. Being overwhelmed by the constant criminal activity, a nearby village had hired the leaf shinobi to get rid of the man.

Unfortunately, this village wasn't within Fire Country territory. It didn't even belong to any of the surrounding countries. In fact, said village was several small countries south and west of the shinobi's home country. Needless to say, the climate differed greatly.

Naruto had been overjoyed at first mention of the mission- it was definitely better than any of the D-class missions they had been given. Their team had finally gotten a second chance at a C-class mission, and the chance to travel for it, too. They had all been satisfied with a harder mission. Now, they were completely fed up with it. When they had first arrived, it had seemed humid compared to Konoha, but seemed bearable. After having to scout out the entire forest, though, they were very unhappy with the climate. Pouring sweat and panting heavily, they dropped to the ground in the middle of the camp, sharing all the information they had gotten and putting together a map of the area.

At first, Naruto had been so excited with his part in the mission. He would wait for a signal from Kakashi, and then he'd get a chance to use his skills in action by taking out all of the guards there. He was very open about sharing his joy, especially since Sasuke's only task was to incapacitate the criminal boss long enough for the local police to take him into custody, and Sasuke was obviously not overjoyed about having such a small part. Sakura accepted her part of the mission easily, as she was to watch the path for any approaching civilians or reinforcements for the guards. The task that Kakashi gave himself was securing the stronghold door, just in case there were other guards in there that might attempt to help the criminal boss.

Naruto's attention was quickly pulled away from the multiple mosquitoes that had surrounded him when Kakashi contacted him over the radio headset. "Naruto, the guards are headed your way. They should pass you in approximately 54 seconds." "Got it! They won't know what hit them!", Naruto whispered back.

Right after the guards had passed, Naruto dropped out of the tree and knocked them all out, only needing a few shadow clones to help, and only to ensure that they couldn't scream for help in time. Dispelling his shadow clones, Naruto stood up and stretched. He didn't sense the chakra signal of the man behind him until it was too late. Just as he turned to see who it was, he was hit with a feeling of complete and utter agony, and the world around him faded away into light.

The next thing Naruto knew, he was standing in front of the Nine-tailed Fox's cage. The fox was bellowing at him, and with a tone of voice that Naruto hadn't heard him use before. 'Was that.. a hint of panic?', Naruto thought with a shudder. By concentrating, he was finally able to pull his thoughts together enough to understand the fox.

"Damn it boy, get up! You have to do something! If you don't get your head out of the clouds right now, we'll both be dead! Take this chakra, and run! Run for both of our lives! If he catches you, we'll-"

The rest of what the Nine-tailed Fox was saying was cut off, as Naruto fell to the ground inside the room that held the fox's cage, and everything went black.