JAILED

"POHH", was the sound the gavel made when it hit the high mounted desk. Only to come from a man who seemed to have control of the entire room he was in.

"As the new Hokage, Danzo, my decision is final. Uzamaki Naruto, the boy, no,the container that holds the kyuubi warrants execution, as of now. But in respectof the wishes from the late Fourth Hokage, he will serve a life sentence insideKonoha's own maximum security rison. This court is dismissed."

An uproar followed, as this man left his high chair. Some were praising his decision, who were mostly the elderly in the audience. Others were angered by the decision, who were mostly peers/friends/teachers of Konoha's latest felon. Iruka,Naruto's former sensei, had attempted to approach Danzou as he was leaving, but was prevented thanks to the assistance of two of the Anbu present. One thing was for sure though: The decision made would affect the society of Konoha in mass proportions.

MW

The prison where Naruto was being held was directly beneath Konoha. Originally, it was used as an exchange/storage point for top secret Anbu weapons, documents, and a torture house used to get information out of the prisoners of war, but the Third had outlawed this during his reign and made it into a simple prison, when he took his role as Hokage. But as for Naruto himself, it might as well have been called a torture house, as being alone was something he truly dreaded. Locked up was he in the coldest and darkest of cells. The cell was made to restrain the toughest of criminals. Even for a skilled ninja such as Naruto, this would prove impossible. Though he probably could have escaped quite easily, if he begged for the kyuubi's help, but due to the recent rejection of this bjunn, it more than likely wouldn't help.

MW

As he was sitting in this dungeon, all by himself, he heard foot steps, getting louder and louder by the second. The boy immediately grabbed a hold over the bars forged out of strong chakra, blocking his way out of the cell. "Who's there", demanded Naruto. The figure from the distance responded, "Relax Naruto, it's me." Naruto recognized that voice from anywhere, but was still cautious, "How do I know you aren't a shadow clone?" "Baka, why would someone have to use as shadow clone to fool you all the way down here?", angrily replied the voice. Naruto smiled in surprise, "Sakura-Chan. But what are you doing here? Has the council decided to free me?"

Sakura sighed, "It was ruled that you remain in here with a life sentence."

Naruto gasped, "But I can't stay here forever. What about Sasuke, Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki?"

"All matters concerning them have been left to the Anbu squad."

"Any word from Tsunade?"

Sakura shook her head, "She is still missing. I think Danzo had something to dowith her disappearance. Remember what we heard about him during our mission to Orochimaru's fortress?"

"That makes sense, but how could he have gotten rid of Tsunade? She is one of the Legendary Sannin."

"I'm not sure. Look, I still have access to Tsunade's office, so I'll see if I can dig up some dirt. Though I promise I'll come back later."

Sakura began to walk away from Naruto's cell. "Sakura Chan", said Naruto. The pink haired kunoichi turned her head to face Naruto's. "Thanks", said Naruto. Sakura smiled, nodded, and quickly departed from the prison cells.

MW

Before the trial, the only ones in Konoha who had any knowledge of Naruto's connection with the nine tailed beast were the ones to have fought him in the great battle that had taken place 16 years prior, and Iruka, Tsunada, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sai,Yamato, and of course, Sakura. But now, everyone knew. But what was more important than everyone knowing, it was how everyone would react. Particularly the very subject Naruto's old genin friends and acquaintances were discussing at the very moment at the Ramen house.

"I just can't believe it. All this time, it was Naruto who possessed the kyuubi", said Ino.

Chouji while sucking up noodles stated, "Yeah, who would have guessed that it would be him?"

"It's not at all surprising, when you stop and think about it", said Shikamaru.

Ino(with a look of confusion on her face), "What makes you say that?"

"Didn't you ever notice anything odd about the way the adults badly treated Naruto, and for no reason? I know Naruto can get pretty annoying, but not enough to deserve the kind of treatment a criminal or an outcast would recieve. And all the times Naruto would often get sudden boost of power out of thin air? Like the way he beat Neji. I hear he even used it to beat Gaara."

"Naruto beat Gaara? I thought it was Sasuke who beat him"

"Nope, it was Naruto."

Neji butted in to the discussion, "I'm not surprised either. During our fight in the first chuunin exam, I noticed that he had two chakra reserves."

"So then was it him, or the kyuubi that beat us?", asked Kiba

Neji replied, "He beat us. As far as I'm concerned, the kyuubi is his bloodline limit. He won the fights fair and square."

" I only wish that I had gotten the chance to spar with him", said Lee.

"I wouldn't mind going up against Naruto again myself", said Kiba.

"Same here", said Neji.

Kiba began to eat the ramen the waiter had set in front of him "The thing that bugs me is that Naruto is doomed to a life sentence in that prison, for something he couldn't even help. Just how much power does Danzou have over Konoha, now? For that matter, where is Tsuna…."

Bugs quickly covered Kiba's mouth, before he could finish his sentence. "It'snot the wisest thing to speak of such matters here in public", said Shino.

"Since when has Konoha turned into a dictatorship, asked Tenten.

"Apparently since Danzou's take-over and Naruto's so-called trial", answered Neji.

"Mind if I add my two cents?", said a ninja with a copy of "Make-out paradise", while leaning against a nearby wall.

"Kakashi", said Lee.

"I know the current situation in Konoha is confusing to you, but you must understand that as Shino pointed out, it really isn't the wisest thing to be gossiping over such a matter in broad daylight. These are hard times, and you must learn to adjust to them. You must get on with your daily lives. What happened to Naruto is not your--.."

"Kakashi", said a voice coming out of the immediate appearance of a cloud of smoke.

"Gai?"

"We've just been assigned to an immediate S ranked mission. Starting immediately."

"Well, I guess we'll have to finish this conversation at another time" said Kakashi to the ninja who were once genin."

"Gai-sensei, what mission are you talking about?"

"Sorry Lee, but it's top secret. Only a select few jonin know about it."

In a mere instant, both Kakashi and Gai vanished into thin air.

"What was that all about?", said Kiba.

MW

Sakura was determined to see her former team mate freed from the prison, even it meant being considered a criminal. But maybe such a sacrifice wouldn't happen. Having worked with Tsunade so much, it could be said that she knew her office,and the area surrounding it far better than anyone else. As a ninja, the job of infiltrating the office to analyze clues wouldn't prove difficult. Her biggest advantage was that the sun had set, and the night had approached. As Sakura managed to stealthily get past the two guards guarding the doors to the office, she quickly jumped into the ventilation shaft, preparing to enter the room through it's own opening in the ventilation system. As she prepared to enter, she heard two voices in discussion. One was Danzou's, and the other sounded blatantly familiar.

"It couldn't be him", Sakura thought.

"Your plan was brilliant. Tricking the Uzumaki into unleashing so much of the kyuubi's power, and having your right hand man secretly visually record what transpired during this encounter. Best of all, without being noticed, you attached the disk containing this information to Sai. With this video, it was more than easy for me to convince enough of the many in Konoha that this poor excuse for a shin obi should be kept locked away for good."

Sakura slowly peeked in to confirm her suspicions. When she gazed upon who Danzou had been talking to, she nearly screamed. "OROCHIMARU!" sakura thought.

"Oh please, don't make me blush", grinningly said Orochimaru.

"Now it's only a matter of time, until the Akatsuki trade what they promised, for the kyuubi's capture."

"No. I've got to get to Naruto, but if I exit to quickly, they might notice me", Sakura thought.

"I know of your lust to be the Hokage of Konoha. So tell me, you don't plan to stab me in the back, now that the title is within your grasp, do you?"

"Of course not. As agreed, Konoha is your temporary base of operations. If all goes well, you will hand me your right to it, and further your own ambitions without my aid. For now though, I will serve as your puppet."

"Good, as I'd hate to have to dispose of such a reliable pawn, in this never ending game of shogi. Now have you taken care of majority of jonin?"

"Yes, I sent the one's you requested on a false mission. They should be back within a week from now. In no way, will they get in the way of the plans we have in store for Konoha, tonight."

Orochimaru stood and pushed a book case aside, only to reveal a hidden room, "Good, now I only ask of one more favor to ask of you, before I retreat into my chamber."

"That would be?"

"That annoying girl hiding within the vents above us?"

Sakura gasped.

"Yes", replied Danzo.

"Dispose of her, immediately."

Danzo picked up a katana, set in a nearby sword case, and without pause, he skillfully cut the venting shaft above the room into individual pieces. As approached them for inspection though , he found no sign of the konoichi's body. Although he did find a block of wood, thus tellinghim that a substitution jutsu had recently been pulled.

He contemplated on how much of a threat this girl would be, if she had alerted the people of konoha of what she had just heard.

"Don't worry, I will silence her", said an approaching Sai.

"For your sake, she had better be slain before what occurs tonight", replied Danzo.

MW

Sakura dashed towards the prison, in attempt to free Naruto. As she made it into the prison halls, she was haulted by Sai, her current teammate. Sakura was overjoyed by his appearance.

"Sai, am I glad to see you. Danzou is a traitor to Konoha and is working with Orochimaru. They plan to hand Naruto over to the Akatsuki. You've got to help me free him."

Sai stood in front of her, with no emotion. He gradually drew his sword from hisback, preparing to annihilate the pink haired konoichi.

"Sai, what are you doing?"

"I have nothing against you personally, but in loyalty to Danzou, I have been charged to eliminate you. No hard feelings", said Sai with a smile.

"So that's how it is? Well like you, I have nothing against you as well, but I'll do whatever it takes to save Naruto. . ."

Sakura slips into an offensive fighting stance.

". . .even if that means killing you."

Both ninja gazed into each other's eyes, although it would appear that Sai had the advantage, considering his work as an Anbu, and that he was Danzo's right hand man. But Sakura, unlike Sai, had been trained personally by a Hokage in the forms of medical ninjutsu, and hand to hand combat. Both were skilled, but only one would win.

Sai initiated the first move by charging in with a downward thrust with hisanbu crafted katana,which Sakura was barely able to dodge. Without pause, Sai charged in for another strike, but Sakura threw two kunai at him. As he easily dodged them, he noticed that a block of wood stood in place of Sakura. As Sai turned to see where she had went, two Sakuras delivered two deadly blows to Sai, causing him to hit the wall behind him, hard enough to be sent through it.Clearly, Sakura had pulled a play out of Naruto's bag of tricks, and had used the Transformation-jutsu and the Kage-bunshin(shadow clone) jutsu to take the place of the two kunai she had thrown.

Thinking she had won, Sakura rushed towards Naruto's cell. But as she was running, a long and powerful chakra-snake quickly curled itself around her, rendering her immobile. Upon this happening, Sai walked out from the demolished wall he had recently been punched through. "If this anbu breastplate hadn't been made to absorb blows like that, I might have been killed just then" reluctantly said Sai. The elite anbu member picked up his sword that he had dropped, while being punched, and prepared to deliver the finishing blow. But as he rose his sword, he hesitated.

"Well, go on. Aren't you going to finish me?", said Sakura.

Sai replied, "I cannot kill you."

"Why?", asked Sakura.

Sai remained silent.

"WHY", demanded Sakura.

Sai released the long snake that had Sakura immobilized.

"Come, we must free Naruto."

"But why can't you kill me."

"That is not important."

With that, Sai dashed towards Naruto's cell, prepared to free him. Sakura was confused, but knowing that there was no time to think, she followed him.

In no time, the two were at Naruto's cell. Unlike last time, Naruto instantly realized who was present, and leaped for joy.

"Sakura-chan", exclaimed Naruto.

"You're in danger. Danzou is having the Akatsuki take you away. We've got to get you out of here", said Sakura.

"We?"

"Hi", said Sai.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you."

"How will you do that, exactly?"

Sai smiled, pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket and replied , "With these."

Quickly, the three escaped the prison, and had managed to get past the Konoha gates, without detection. Usually, it would have been more difficult, but having the security of knowing that their was an anbu on the job, Danzo felt no need to send anyone else.

As the three continued running away, Naruto took one last glance at the village he had lived in for nearly 14 years; the village he had sworn to protect. "I will be back some day. Mark my words, I promise"

The trio finally managed to get far away from the village, before anyone evenbegan to notice what had happened. But is that where it ends? Of course not. You'll have to tune in next time.