Next chapter coming right up! (Oh yeah…I just realized that I've been forgetting to put up the whole "Declaimer" thing at the beginning of each chapter. I put it at the beginning of the first chapter, but am I supposed to put it at the beginning of every chapter?)

Well, just in case:

DECLAIMER: I do not own any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

So, some people told me that my last couple chapters were confusing in each change of scene (thanks by the way!). I understand why now. On Microsoft Word, I had divided up the scenes but for some reason, once I transferred it to the dividers were gone. Any-who, I edited that recently, but if something else is confusing, please tell me! I don't mind!

On with the story!!

Chapter 9: The Secret of the Scroll

As they had intended, Kakashi and Naruto met several new enemies patrolling the jail cells. To buy them some time, Kakashi summoned a few of his ninja-dogs to cause a distraction; Naruto doing the same with his clones. They dashed down random hallways, each one darkening with every passing second.

"Kakashi-sensei, why would the enemies hide a scroll in their prison?" Naruto asked curiously.

As he ran, Kakashi gave his reasoning. "Well, seeing as this village has a pretty high criminal rate, and seeing as their prison is their largest and most highly-protected building, they probably found this to be the most efficient place to hide it. I'm guessing that it's also fool-proof and impossible to escape from once caught."

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh, heh… well we'd better make sure that we don't get caught then, right?"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Right Naruto. You've got the idea."

They ran onwards through the blackness, their eyes slowly adjusting. "Where on earth would they be keeping it, though?!" Kakashi grumbled out of frustration, peering in each stall. All he found was either the scrawny silhouette of a prisoner, or emptiness.

"How about in there?" Naruto said, skidding to a halt on the stone floor. Kakashi followed Naruto's finger up to a sign at the head of a huge oak door.

'The Scroll Room.'

"Well, well," Kakashi said, approaching the door. "Although I worry about your intellect-lack Naruto, you never cease to amaze me."


Feeling totally down-in-the-dumps, Sakura was leaning against the wall of her the jail cell. Her energy was draining as her hunger increased. On top of that, Sasuke's continuous complaints didn't help her mood. His anger was boiling dangerously, so she decided that it would be best not to talk to him.

Her stomach gave a pleading growl, rumbling through its emptiness. She put her hands over it. "Oh man," Sakura groaned. "I'd even eat my fingers if I had somewhere to cook them."

"You friggin' cannibal!" Sasuke said, no longer able to control his anger. He was still tugging at the handcuffs, but in result, his arms were growing limp. Forgetting about being angry Sasuke muttered, "I can't even focus chakra to my hands! There must be some sort of chakra-repelling material in these things! If I were able to use chidori I'd break out of here…"

But then he paused.

Concerned, Sakura looked up at him. "What is it, Sasuke?" she asked.

He looked up at her too, but she almost screamed at the horrifying look in his eyes. They were dark, beady orbs that seemed mildly unfocused. His whole body was trembling and he almost looked totally insane. "Come here, Sakura."

She squeaked and stood up, but backed into the wall behind her.

"What is it?" she repeated, also trembling.

"You're smart, aren't you?" Sasuke asked slowly and frighteningly.

"Well, I know how to study, but I don't think-,"

"And you'll do everything that I tell you-?" Sasuke asked, acting more and more un-Sasuke-ish with every moment.

"O-of c-c-course I w-will," she stuttered.

"Perfect," he said simply. "Come here now, Sakura." He was barely aware of what he was saying, but the brilliance of his plan was too tempting to push aside. Sakura took a couple of hesitant steps forwards, but kept her distance.

"Ok," he began, "listen carefully, because you've only got one shot at this, seeing as you don't have very much stamina."

"Yes, b-but… what exactly am I supposed to be doing?" she asked.

He exhaled through his nose, and smiled. "I'm going to teach you the chidori."

"WHAT?!" she yelled. Sasuke ignored her pleas and excuses for not being strong enough or fit enough, and got to work.


The door to 'The Scroll Room' was locked. "I'll chidori through it," Kakashi said. "Stand back, Naruto."

"No way!" Naruto yelled. "I want to rasengan through it!"

"It'll be a waste of time," Kakashi muttered, focusing chakra to his hand. The sound of high-pitched birds echoed through the hallway. The chidori resembled light-blue lightening being held in the palm of Kakashi's hand like a miniature storm. "Lightening blade!" Kakashi said before he eased his hand through the door as if it were some sort of liquid.

It left a gaping hole that was just big enough for someone to squeeze through. "Humph!" Naruto said with a pout. "Rasengan would have worked much better!"

"You'll have your chance," Kakashi said with a sigh before squeezing in through the new gap in the door with Naruto close behind him.

The room was very small; no larger than a broom-cupboard; but it was incredibly high with at least fifty shelves of scrolls. There were three ladders. "Unless someone forgot to put the scroll away after it was last read, then it's got to be in here," Kakashi said, climbing up one of the ladders. "Look for a purple one," he added.

"I know that! Believe it!" Naruto cheered, diving onto the ladder, nearly knocking a few of the scrolls off of the shelf in the process. Kakashi shook his head and they began the search.

Ten Minutes Pass

After what felt like ages to this restless, blonde ninja, he finally spotted something standing out through the usual beige scrolls.

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! I found it! I FOUND IT!" he cried with triumph, flailing his arms around in the air. It was then that he remembered that he had been using his arms to hold onto the ladder. "Uh-oh," he said, before he began a twenty-foot decent down to the stone floor.

"Naruto! Break your fall by using your chakra!" Kakashi called after him.

CRASH!

"-or not," Kakashi said, covering his eye with his hand. "Where was the scroll, Naruto?"

"Uh…somewhere over there," he said from somewhere in his tangled mess on the floor. "I can't remember."

"Shoot!" Kakashi said.

Five Minutes Pass

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! I found it again! I FOUND IT AGAIN!" Naruto cried with triumph, flailing his arms around in the air. It was then that he realized that he had been using his arms to hold into the ladder. "Uh-oh. No again," Naruto said, preparing himself for yet another drop to the floor, but then he felt something grab the back of his collar.

"I thought you'd learn from your mistake," Kakashi said with a sigh. "I guess I was wrong." Naruto gave his sensei a sheepish grin before Kakashi pulled him back up onto the ladder. "So this is it, huh?" Kakashi said.

"Yeah! That purple one right there! The one that's called…called-," Naruto said, squinting his eyes in order to read the label beneath the scroll.

"What's it called?"

Naruto stopped squinting and instead, his eyes widened. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"What is it now?" Kakashi asked from below him on the ladder.

"It's called… The Haruno Scroll!" Kakashi's jaw dropped. "Haruno... Haruno… I swear that I've heard that name before!" Naruto said, scratching his head.

"That's," Kakashi said, "Sakura's name!"

There's the end of another chapter! Sorry that I updated a little slower than last time. So how do you like it so far? Well, the rest of the story should be three or four chapters long… unless you have ideas for some sort of bonus chapter… But just so you know, there will an epilogue. I won't know what you think unless you review! (please!)