The group of five had finally entered the country of shadow. There had been no more trouble since the incident with Kuro and Sendo. They had made good progress with both the distance covered and the information gathered. Many of the things that they noticed when they entered the country was that it was usually cloudy, with few glimpses of the sun, the trees were tall and slim, with dark green leaves, flowers were rare and the ones found only consisted of dark colours. They could see why it was called the country of shadows. Everything was so dark and gloomy.

"How do people stand living in a place like this?" Sakura asked quietly, not blinking once as she was trying to take it all in.

"I guess that they just get use to living in a place like this. They've probably never left so they don't know any other way to live I suppose." Kakashi answered matter-of-factly. Even he couldn't take his eyes off the place; he even put his book back into his pocket.

"Man… it's so dark… I mean, even I'm starting to feel a little depressed." Said the usually hyperactive blond.

The five of them just carried on walking, careful as to not make a sound. They were all getting weary of their surroundings, careful not to attract any unwanted attention, even though no-one was around.

They walked for a couple of hours before they reached a small village. It was gloomy and slightly deserted. There were a couple of people asleep, leaning against the walls of the buildings, which were mainly different shades of grey. The five of them stood out like a sore thumb, as their clothing was brightly coloured compared to everyone else's.

"What's wrong with this place?" Sakura muttered.

"I can't say." Kakashi replied.

They carried on walking until they found a hotel. When they walked inside, people were giving them weird looks; of confusion, hatred or sadness. When they asked for three rooms, they had just been given the keys by a short man. They then walked upstairs to find said rooms.

Inside, all of the rooms were identical; consisting of a plain bed, a candle which was on a small table and a closet. A bathroom was situated on either end of each floor of the hotel.

The all decided to rest there for the remainder of the day before carrying on the next day.

Next morning…

They all woke up at around the same time, got dressed and gathered their things. When they went to get breakfast, all they found were some pieces of bread and water. Everything in this town was so plain and boring.

So when they had finished eating they decided to take off again, as they had already attracted too much attention from the villagers.

…

They had been running for hours, they had felt another presence following them. But that feeling was gone so they decided to take a break, to rest a little.

"I don't like this… not one bit." Naruto said, surprisingly quietly.

"Yeah, me neither." Sakura said, getting a chill down her back.

But little did they know that they were actually being watched, they had been for the whole day. There were two, and they just sat up in a tree, hidden whilst smirking at how easy their task would be. You see, they had been hired to get rid of Team Kakashi and Hinoiri because their boss didn't want anyone to find out about what he had been doing and planning in the country of shadow. It would ruin the whole plan.

"Do you think it's time?"

"Yeah, they're exhausted. Just look at them."

When they had finished mocking them, they decided that it was time to move in. They crept in together, taking their time and enjoying the moment when they had the advantage of surprise. Kuro was the first to jump in, with his sword ready in his hand, whilst Sendo stayed up in the trees, taking aim with his bow and arrow.

Kuro threw a kunai at Kakashi, but it was caught. Kakashi immediately stood up and pushed his forehead protector up. This was going to be one hell of a fight they were both thinking.

The others were now standing up and the three chuunin were around Hinoiri, so that it would be easier for them to guard him. Little did they know that Sendo was also there, they had indeed forgotten about him. Sendo took his aim, held it there… then fired.

The arrow whizzed past the trees, aiming straight for Hinoiri, but just before it hit him, it had been blocked.

"Wh-what happened?" Mumbled a scared-to-death Hinoiri. But before anyone else could say anything they both saw what, or who had taken the arrow.

"Naruto…" Cried a shocked Sakura. The others were too shocked to say anything, all they could do was stare. "The arrows poisoned…" Sakura was now weeping for her fallen teammate.

When Kakashi heard Sakura's cry he turned around to find Naruto lying on the ground, not moving, with an arrow piercing his heart. "…Naruto… no…" He was now mad, very mad. He traveled all of his anger to his opponent, Kuro. With one punch with his fist, Kuro was knocked out. Seeing this, Kakashi ran over to Naruto.

Everyone had gathered around him. The colour of his skin was becoming pale, the light from his blue eyes becoming dull, his smile fading. Sakura tried to heal her comrade, but nothing was working, he was dying.

"… I… I'm… I'm sorry…" Were the last words which they heard from him before he closed his eyes.

Sakura put two fingers to his throat to feel his pulse. Nothing. "… He-he-he's dead… He's really dead…" They were all crying, even Sasuke. Tears were overflowing from their eyes. They were sad that he was gone, sad that he couldn't fulfill his dream and sad that he had given his life for another.

But, something strange started to happen. Instead of his body just lying there, it started to fade, until it was nothing.

Everyone looked in shock, they could have sworn that he had been right there. Had they just imagined it all? No, everyone was crying, acknowledging that he had been there.

Meanwhile…

Kioi was sitting in Tsunade's office, telling her what had happened during his mission. Saying that they had come across some bandits, but they had been easily taken care of.

"I must congratulate you on your mission. Your records are growing and growing with each passing day. I think…" Tsunade didn't manage to finish what she was saying as she saw Kioi clutching his left arm tightly towards his body. His eyes were scrunched together.

"Wh-what's wrong Kioi… What's happened to you?" Just then, the pain stopped and Kioi stood up.

"Nothing, but I have to go now."

"Wh… y-yes, of course…" But he had already gone. Something must be going on, but I won't be able to keep up with him… I'll just have to wait until he returns… If he returns that is…

Three hours later…

Everyone was still mourning for Naruto. It was so quiet without the hyperactive blond. He always found a way to make them feel better, but he couldn't do that anymore, he was gone. Their senses were down, and they didn't notice that someone was approaching them. But they didn't care about it to be honest. They already missed Naruto dearly.

"There's no point in crying…" Everyone turned around in shock to see who had said those words. They saw a boy of about seventeen, who was wearing; black ninja sandals, baggy black trousers which had countless pockets full of weapons and scrolls on, a black shirt and a long black trench coat, which also had some pockets full of weapons and scrolls. He also had a pair of black fingerless gloves which had metal spikes on the knuckles. His arms, legs, neck and indeed his head were hidden by white wrapping.

"How dare you say that… You don't even know what happened…" Sasuke shouted, his sharingan now activated.

"Oh, but I do."

"How would you possibly know! You weren't even here to see it!" Sasuke was now coming at Kioi, ready to throw a punch. But Kioi disappeared, and quickly reappeared to where the others were.

"Who are you?! Tell me now!" Now it was Kakashi's turn to be angry.

"People know me as Kioi…" He paused when he saw everyone reaction.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kakashi said, stuttering for the first time in his life. He had obviously heard of him, so had everyone else but they were too scared to say anything.

"What is Kioi, the top ninja, doing here?!" Kakashi repeated.