"For every promise, there is a price to pay."
Jim Rohn

Night had long since fallen and Naruto had long since been separated from his team. He crouched against a tree now, clad only in the baggy black pants he'd hastily tossed on when Sakura had knocked at his door. Her own candy pink hair had been in need of a brush and she was dressed in nothing more than a loose white sleeping shirt and shorts. "We have to hurry!" She didn't elaborate, but from her green eyes, Naruto could tell the situation was dire. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, barely giving him time to grab his shoes.

They ran towards the Hokage's office, arriving just behind a couple of Chunin Naruto had seen around the village. Seconds after them, another team joined the emergency meeting in Granny Tsunade's presence, making a total of eleven individuals. Tsunade cleared her throat to bring attention to herself and explained the situation, but haste made for little details and once done Naruto knew nothing more than a scroll of forbidden jutsu had been stolen and how important it was to get the item back as soon as possible.

These people, Naruto realized as they rushed out, were of utmost confidence with the Lady Hokage, and for some odd reason, he felt a soft warmth at being included.

So far, there had been little improvement on their situation. Naruto had scouted the area, his eyes scanning the ground and surrounding trees as he leaped from limb to limb.

Shortly before dawn though, Naruto felt a fluctuation of chakra coming from a few miles to his left. He grinned. The thief had been engaged.

He was the last to arrive, despite the short distance, which left him hesitating to join the group's tight circle around their captive.

The thief wasn't like Naruto had imagined he would be. He was too skinny, with bones jutting out along his spine, ribs and hips. His hair was long dark and stringy, and his eyes were vacant little black dots that never seemed to rest on a single point. He was hunched over as if he'd been trapped with a low ceiling for years and by the shape of his torn up clothes, there was little doubt. What caught Naruto's eye, however, was the scroll.

In desperation, the scroll had been furled open and the nameless rouge began a series of hand signs that Naruto couldn't identify to any jutsu he'd seen before.

"Get back!" He heard Hyuga Neji's cry from within the small crowd and watched as they took a few steps away. Retreat wasn't an easy thing to do, but they managed to get a gap. "Get away!" The thief's voice was hoarse as he took an unsteady step forward, he wobbled with the obvious strain this mysterious jutsu was putting on his body.

In an instant, Naruto saw, fire flicked on the man's fingertips but no pain registered on his greasy face. The group backed away once more, the seriousness of the situation becoming apparent. The thief whimpered, either from fear or exhaustion, it wasn't clear but it seemed the ninja's surrender of space was giving him some confidence. "Get away!" He leaped now, on thin legs, reaching his hand out as if testing the fire against the others but they dodged and he stumbled forward.

As he struggled to regain his footing, the shinobi closed in again, however, this circle wasn't as tight as before. He yelled, a piercing noise that resonated within Naruto's skull and made him feel as if his brain was being rattled. He reached up and gripped his head, his fingers digging into his scalp in an attempt to calm the pain.

Through slitted eyes he saw his comrades fall to the ground, their own pain escalated by the proximity to this odd man. The scream died out but his mouth remained open. He looked around once he closed it, seemingly lost in the middle of Konoha's ninja. In sudden fright, he sprinted through the woods again, his flamed hand lighting his way and pinpointing his position. Naruto followed, his legs carrying him much faster.

He barely passed his fallen friends when he reached the thief. Naruto leaped at his target's back, wrapped his arms around the sickeningly thin waist and brought him to the ground.

He gripped tight, and froze. Sakura's distraught voice filled the air with his name. His own scream soon followed, mixing in with her's.

He forced himself to look towards his shoulder. To where the man's hand rested and where the fire began to spread onto his body.

"NARUTO!" Sakura was struggling to get to him, her balance off kilter, but Naruto had no voice to reply with now, he only knew the white hot pain that engulfed him. He couldn't breathe.

Sparks flew by his eyes briefly, then the world fell into darkness.

End of Chapter Notes: So, we begin another story, even though I have another one to work on... Next chapter, we'll hop into Avatar world. Yay~

This story is gonna have my typical estimated one chapter a month update... We'll see what happens...

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto are the property of their own creators, not mine, I'm simply borrowing the characters for a while. Thank you.