AN: Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the wait again, I had my finals so I can update this much much faster! THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT!!

And a Cry was heard…

Naruto woke up to see Ryu propped up against the window pane, his cloak back on him and hood up. Naruto turned his eyes towards the other side of him, seeing Arashi writing something on paper.

Gasping, he sat up quickly, turning to him.

"You're alive!"

"Keep it down, Naruto."

Arashi smiled wearily, wanting to hug Naruto but his hands kept appearing and disappearing.

"You said that you know how to keep your body as whole! I'll perform the jutsu!"
"Remembered so quickly…? Look how much you've grown…"
Naruto smiled broadly, holding his two feet against each other.

"Well!? Teach it to me! I'll do it right now!"
"You're weak-"

"Screw that! Give it to me!"

Arashi sighed, caving in easily and giving him a scroll from his pocket from his flak jacket.

"That's it…"
"I'll learn it right now!"
Ryu listened to them talking, thinking. How did it feel like to have a parent? How come he was forced through so much? Why did he have to suffer from wounds no one could see?

"Ryu."

He turned his head, acknowledging the older blond.
"Thank you for bringing Naruto to me."

"My job is over, now I have to go."

"Go? Oh! That's right! You said you had to go a while back!"

"I meant it."

He turned his head back towards the outside, laying it in his palm.

"Where? You never said where you were gonna go!"

Naruto exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. Ryu didn't reply. He didn't have to tell him anything.

"Come on! Tell me!"

"Otogakure no saito."

He replied, letting the thought wrap itself in his mind until it bubbled and turned into anger.

"NANI!? What are you going to do there?!"

As if something clicked, Naruto began to freak out.

"You're not gonna join with Orochimaru, are you!?"

"Are you stupid!?"

Ryu snapped, obviously getting mad.

"The only people dumb enough to join him are either dead or going to die!"

Naruto looked down, thinking of Sasuke. Ryu sighed, sinking further into his thoughts.

"What are you going to do there?"
"That's none of your business."

He replied.

"What do you mean!? We're friends! It should be my business!"

Ryu stood up and began to walk out of the room.

"What about getting your vision back!?"

Naruto jumped up and grabbed Ryu by his wrist, making him wince slightly.

"And-"

Naruto growled, at a loss for words. Ryu gently pulled his arm away.

"I have to get rid of a curse that Orochimaru put on my eyes first."

He explained slowly, making sure they understood him.

"I can't do anything until then."

"What do you-"

"Look at me, Naruto."

Willingly, Ryu's hand moved towards his blindfold. He tugged it off and turned towards Naruto, opening his eyes to reveal green eyes covered by a thin, white film. His head grew heavy.

"By the time you wake up, I'll be gone."

He explained to the two, they falling to their sides in a deep sleep. Sweat poured from Naruto's temple as he saw Ryu pick him up and place him back in bed, feeling around for the covers and pulled them over the blond boy's shoulders.

"My side mission is over. I've missed Otogakure by a long shot. I'm not sorry for what I'm doing. I don't need you to die. I've got nothing to lose, you've got everything."

Naruto tried to talk, only for his eyes to slowly close. The last thing he saw was blood pouring from Ryu's eyes as if he were crying, and then a small frown on his face.

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Ryu turned his back as one last time towards the hut that he left behind. His first friend was the thing he would lose, but if he were to die…at least he knew that a friend was made and he wouldn't have died not being remembered by.

He covered his eyes once again and made his way towards the path towards Otogakure.

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Naruto's eyes opened, focusing slowly to the light in the room. Arashi was still asleep, but his right jaw was beginning to fade. Naruto growled and pulled open the scroll. He'd have to help his father before anything else.

"This uses a lot of chakra."

Naruto turned his head to see his father awake. Naruto grinned like an idiot, happy to see him.

"I missed you!"

Naruto wanted to hug him, but it wasn't the time. Yondaime smiled, taking the scroll from his son's hands'.

"I'm sorry if you might be tired after this…"
"It's okay! What do I have to do!?"
"Well…this a fuuinjutsu that ties my soul back to this earth by using someone else as a median…I could have used myself, but I can't anymore…"
"I'll do it!"

Naruto raised a hand and then used it to take the scroll again.

"It has to be right on the first try…"
"OSU!"

Naruto's eyes sped over the words and then began to copy the hand seals, slowly at first, then faster.
Stupid Ryu was on his mind. How could he have done so much damage with only his eyes? Of course, Naruto saw them before…but-

"Ryu's a ninja!"
Arashi sighed, smiling at his son.

"I could have told you that."

Naruto tried to concentrate, but his mind kept wandering towards Ryu. How far away was he now? He had to stop him before he arrived to Oto.

"Why are you letting me do this?"

Naruto suddenly asked his father, becoming curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Usually you wouldn't dare let me do something like this…"
Arashi looked down.

"You're right…I'll find another way."

He began to take the scroll away, Naruto yanking it back.

"Give me the scroll."

"No!"

Naruto's lower lip thrust out, smiling slightly. He knew that Arashi was only asking Naruto because he wanted to stay with him longer.

"We can't let Ryu reach Orochimaru…"
"I know. He won't survive. That's why Orochimaru blinded him. Ryu didn't want to be used as a tool. So Orochimaru punished him."

Naruto shivered, imagining everything. Of course, he had to imagine a fight, but that final move…how much pain could a person be in?

"Do you think we'll catch up with him?"
"If we hurry…"

He raised a hand in front of his face, seeing it vanish completely before their very eyes. Naruto let out an audible gasp, resisting the urge to take hold of his father's wrist to examine it. It was embedded in his mind now that he had to do the fuiinjutsu.

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Ryu stopped walking, hearing a distant yell. He turned his head, trying to find out what it was. It was human. He ran towards it, avoiding everything in his path.

"Kukuku…"

Ryu tensed up. He knew that chuckle from anywhere.

"Bastard…"

He quickly turned around, feeling a snake crawl along his neck. He grabbed it and threw it to the ground.

"Tell me, where is my servant?"
"Only you know that answer. Did Sasuke escape you again?"
"I'm not talking about Sasuke. I'm talking about Arashi."

"I don't think I'm authorized to give you that information."

He pulled off his bandages, scanning the area with his eyes in hope of catching Orochimaru in his doujutsu.

"That won't work against me. Genjutsu is useless against me. You should know that by now."

"Was it not worth a try? I can sense that Kabuto is around."

"Of course. He is here incase you decide to join me and I can give you vision back."

"I want this curse removed."

Another set of low chuckling surrounded the rusty-haired boy.
"Do you have any idea what sort of freedom that would give you? What are you willing to give me in return for lifting the curse?"
Ryu went silent. There was not much he could give him; only himself or the positioning of where the blond duo was.

"Well?"
He hung his head low, trying to sense Kabuto. He was the real threat. Orochimaru wouldn't move so long as he knew he had a chance to wound his prize. Kabuto could severe muscles and render him useless and slowly kill him.

"What do you want?"
"You already know what I want."
"Greedy bastard!"
"I already know where your friends are. That yell belonged to your blond friend. Believe it or not, you've been walking in a circle. You've gotten nowhere, Ryu."

He growled. How could he have done that if he couldn't see a genjutsu!?

"Kabuto was kind enough to lay down a genjutsu that scrambles the brain into believing whatever you wanted. It's more a change of electromagnetic fields around the body than anything else."
He swore slightly under his breath.

"I know where they are, Ryu. Just tell me specifically and I'll remove the curse on your eyes."
His mouth became dry. Orochimaru was the only one who knew the counter-jutsu… a sharp pain entered his skull, a single senbon entered beside his eye, making him scream in pain and fall to the ground on one knee, pulling out the senbon. Blood gushed out from his eye.

"Remember the pain that came with the refusal?"

Ryu held his eye, feeling another sharp pain re-open his shoulder wound.

"I can take more than just your eyes, you know? What shall it be this time? An arm? Perhaps a leg?"
"You wouldn't."

He gasped in pain, gnashing his teeth.

"You still need me..."

Blood stained his clothes, he bringing two fingers together and releasing the genjutsu on his brain.

"You still need me alive…"

Orochimaru 'hmphed' and closed his eyes. Kabuto readied another senbon, raising his arm to attack.

"Settle down, Kabuto."
"He's pressing his luck."

Ryu tried to dismiss the pain, only to feel another surge of pain hit his chest, blood spurting out of his mouth.

"I'll ask only one more time. Will you or won't you tell me their location in exchange for your curse to be lifted."
Ryu coughed a bit more, feeling a little light headed.

"Don't pass out on me, Ryu. What is your answer?"
"They're-"

"YATTA! IT WORKED!"

A victory cry was heard. Naruto…

"No…"

"No?"
Orochimaru began to rise from his squatting position—right in front of Ryu. The blind boy stepped back, hearing his voice closer than he initially heard.

"You'll regret that."

He no longer heard anything, only a faint rustle of leaves. Ryu proceeded to run back towards the village.

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Naruto hugged his father, bouncing up and down.

"It worked! It worked!"
Naruto's eyes drooped from chakra exhaustion. Arashi stared at his full hand, picking up Naruto and hugging him closely.

"Run away…"

The two turned their heads to see Ryu holding his bleeding eyes.

"R-Ryu! What happened!?"

"You have to get out of here…Orochimaru is looking for Arashi-sama…"

He leaned on a tree for support, feeling more blood drain down his face and shoulder. Naruto ran over to him, slinging his unwounded arm around his neck and brought him over to a nearby bench, sitting him on it. He winced, his eyes shutting tighter.

"Your bandages…"
"I know…"
Arashi walked over to Ryu, whom flinched when his hand touched his wounded shoulder.

"He needs help or he'll bleed to death…that Bara woman is someone that we can trust-"

"Not her!"
Naruto exclaimed. Ryu grabbed Naruto's jacket and pulled him closer to his face.

"I said that you have to run away…listen, he's not joking around. He's trying to get Arashi-sama to join him again…"
"Just close your eyes. We're getting out of here now."

He picked up Ryu and placed him on his back, taking hold of Naruto's hand while using body flicker to run away from Iwa.

"Naruto-kun…did it really work?"

"The jutsu?"
"Yeah…"

"It worked. Now my I can really show you my dad!"
Arashi's chest swelled with pride. Naruto called him dad…finally…after such a long time of waiting, he finally got the word out of his son's mouth that he yearned to hear.

"That's good…"

Ryu's voice droned out, sleep taking over him.

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AN: WOOT! Finally done another chapter! Sorry I didn't put how the jutsu was done. I didn't know what to do. R&R!