A/N: Okay, sorry for the delay. No. I'm really really sorry for the delay.

I had other things to do, I hope you understand.

Now, I'm not dropping this story... and talking about it, I decided to sped up the pace a little if you don't mind. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Are you certain this is the right course of action?" Fugaku asked in his most polite tone, kneeling in front of a shadowed figure who wore a gray robe.

The unknown man, judging by his voice, turned to face the whole Uchiha District from the closest window, "What's this Fugaku? Are you doubting me?"

The Uchiha clan head caught the dangerous hint and quickly corrected himself, "You know I never will, but I find Yuu being more useful to us by graduating from the Ninja Academy"

"Who said he'll never graduate?" The mysterious man asked in return without turning.

Fugaku frowned but didn't comment. He knew better than opposing this man, so he lowered his gaze, "I don't see how are we benefitting from his constant visits to that sick girl"

"Then you are blind" The man said with the most nonchalant tone, twisting his head a little to reveal a white mask with a black flame-pattern.

Fugaku visibly stiffened and narrowed his eyes, not that the masked man could notice since his face was hidden. One of the worst insults to the Uchiha clan, a low blow to his pride, saying his vision wasn't perfect, "Could you please, enlighten me then?" he inquired in nothing more than a whisper, not trusting his voice to hide his growing rage.

The masked man sighed, making sure Fugaku heard it clear, and spoke in a childlike high-pitched voice, "I guess Tobi doesn't have any other option, does he? Morons, everyone surrounding Tobi is a moron" he spun around fast, revealing his long black hair and the whole mask which only had one hole where his right eye was, "We're gon' let them bond! And then we use her as a tool for black-mailing Yuu-kun! Geez!"

The clan leader's eyes remained locked to the right socket of the man's mask, being his first time to see it completely. His eye couldn't be seen, but Fugaku knew something was off... the man dismissed it fast and concentrated on the mysterious man, whose demeanor turned serious again.

"Just follow my orders Fugaku, Konoha will be at our feet when this is over... then you can worry over your family all you want" Fugaku's eyes widened and he could feel the smirk behind the mask, "Indeed, you're so obvious young one. I can read you like a book. There's nothing my eyes cannot see, nothing can hide from them, nothing can trick them... you should already know that"

The seasoned shinobi, head of the Konoha Military Police Force, felt intimidated. But, he thought, it wasn't really a surprise since it was... this man. He swallowed all of his pride, which was nothing short of recognition, and bowed his face until it touched the floor, "I-I beg of you... please don't do anything to them..."

The room was silent for a few seconds, until the masked man's chuckles broke the silence. They started deep, but soon sounded like a child's, "Pathetic, really pathetic! This man bowing in front of me is the Uchiha's clan leader!? The standards sure decreased over the decades! Do not worry, pathetic man... Tobi's a good boy and he won't hurt anyone!"

"Understood...Madara-sama"

(2 weeks later...)

After the... loud visit of the Uzumaki Twins and Sasuki to Tsukiko's room at the hospital, the 4 kids fell into a routine.

Naruto, Mito and the Uchiha girl will go to the Ninja Academy every morning while Yuu went to visit his sick friend. At the hospital, he improved his Chakra control.

After school was over, the 3 yet-to-be ninjas came and stayed there until the Uchiha twin's curfew, being 8 o'clock. During that time they talked, played, argued... like they always did.

Tsukiko felt very grateful for that. She hasn't told them about her sickness yet since it was more difficult than she thought at first.

The white-haired girl decided she wanted to enjoy more of this 'normal' time before revealing her secret. Was it selfish? Perhaps... they did deserve to know.

The girl sighed and rolled on her bed. Everyone left a few minutes ago and the loneliness was getting to her again. They would come back tomorrow, but meanwhile...

Tsukiko kept rolling and hugging a pillow until she felt something hard hit on her back. Surprised, she sat down and lifted the blankets. A silver pendant greeted her.

It shone with the moonlight coming from her window. It was crescent-shaped. The girl's mouth opened in surprise and she grabbed it, realizing it was Yuu's...

Wait, it was Yuu's! Damn, Tsukiko thought, and sprang from her bed onto the floor. If she ran at her top speed she might reach them in time and if she didn't, she would give it to Mikoto.

Nodding to herself, she sprinted past her room's door. Why the hurry you ask?

Flashback (a week ago...)

Tsukiko read her book like always. Yuu fell asleep a couple of minutes ago and the white-haired girl didn't have the heart to wake him up... she tilted her head a little to look at his dreamy face and squealed inside. He looked so cute!

The navy-haired boy started mumbling in his sleep. Tsukiko started applying force to her grip until she couldn't resist anymore, threw the book to the floor mumbling a silent apology and hurried herself close to the sleeping boy.

She watched him squirm in his dreams with a dreamy look on her face too, 'What is he dreaming about? Or about who!? Kyaaaaaa' she kept fangirling and squealing for a couple of minutes, until Yuu's whimpers woke her up from her daydreams.

The boy now had a scrunching face, clearly from distaste and his mumbles were getting louder, enough for Tsukiko to understand, "S..top... please... I..m...not..."

Tsukiko realized his dream wasn't exactly a dream, but a nightmare. She decided on waking him up and reached for him with her hand. She was about to shake him, but stopped midways when he stopped moving and suddenly calmed down. She didn't hid her surprise when she saw his hand clutching tightly something on his neck...

The white-haired girl smiled when she saw he was holding her gift. With a dreamy sigh she stood up gently, leaving Yuu to sleep peacefully, "Yuu... you sure know how to treat ladies properly... shishishi"

Flashback end

Maybe he noticed the lack of weight on his neck and came back? She didn't know, but better be safe and return it today... plus, outsmarting the hospital's security was amusing.

With a smirk, she started making her way out... not even asking herself why she didn't feel it before?

"So I beat that weak pink-haired girl in one strike" Sasuki told Yuu with a superior smirk, walking beside her brother and watching Mito from the corner of her eye . The red-haired girl was holding Yuu's arms for support. Naruto was a couple of feet ahead, making the Uchiha girl ask herself if he didn't feel the same weird emotion when these two got this close... "Anyway, why would they let people like her enter the Academy? It isn't even a joke"

"Her name's Sakura, Sasuki-chan..." Naruto reminded her softly from ahead. The girl only shrugged her shoulders.

Yuu's eyes turned more serious before he addressed his sister, "I'm not sure... this dangerous world will erase the weak eventually"

"Don't be so serious Yuu-san, we're only starting our Ninja careers. You can't expect everyone to be good so soon..." The blond boy interfered before the Uchiha boy could get more... explicit, giving him a hard look. Yuu got the message 'Mito and Sasuki are here, don't traumatize them' and nodded quietly.

'I need to control my emotions better...' The navy-haired boy told himself mentally.

"Plus! Not everyone comes from a Clan where they train their kids like slaves as soon as they stop drinking milk!" Mito added to get into Sasuki's nerves, something she sure did judging by her twitching eye...

Yuu smiled and beat his sister for answering, "But Mito, most of the kids in your class are Clan heirs... meaning they must've been trained a lot by their respective families"

"Point" Naruto conceded, "Shino-san's punches are getting stronger each day..." to add emphasis the blond rubbed his shoulder and made a painful expression.

Mito pouted at being left out of the conversation so she joined again with a sly comment, "If you keep slacking off everyone's going to catch up with you, Yuu!"

"What!?" The navy-haired boy exclaimed theatrically, "Keep dreaming oh, naïve ones, that you would one day be on par with the great Yuu! Great grand-nephew of one of Konoha's Founders Uchiha Madara!" he finished with a pose, carefully so Mito didn't fall.

"Liar, we're not descendants from him" Sasuki said boringly and kept walking

"You look so much like that old-pervert is disgusting" Mito commented dryly with a straight face.

"I never thought you would lower yourself to this point, Yuu" Naruto finished while looking at him with one serious eye behind golden locks.

The Uchiha boy grabbed his heart and cried fake tears, "EVEN NARUTO!? All of your mean words only serve to re-ignite my spirit! So keep them coming!"

"Stupid"

"Lame"

"Idiotic"

"Boring"

"Gross"

With every word a big arrow slammed into Yuu's body and after the onslaught, the poor boy laid on the road broken and sobbing, "My soul has been crushed"

The three couldn't contain their laugh anymore so they broke down, going as far as rolling.

Later, after regaining their composure, they started walking again towards the Uchiha District. The road made of stone was surrounded by trees. With every step a solid 'thud' was heard, echoing through the dark woods. It was late, they couldn't see a single person in the distance and the moon watched over them.

"Is it really okay for you to accompany us? You don't really have to, the Uchiha District is way off the village" Yuu started, breaking the comfortable silence engulfing them. He didn't feel annoyed or anything, it was a nice detail from the Uzumaki twins.

Naruto was the one to answer, Mito still engrossed in her walk, "It's okay, I really like seeing the trees... there're not as many inside the village" The scenery... it was astounding. Even more if you consider that one man, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, grew it all using Ninjutsu.

The Uchiha boy accepted it. After a few seconds, the red-haired girl asked something that bugged her for months, "Why is your district in the outskirts? I mean, we aren't even halfway yet! All of the other clans are a little closer to the village!"

"Actually, we have two districts. One is inside the village but it's used for the Military Police Force to do their... stuff" Sasuki replied. She knew the answer because she had the same doubt some time ago and Mikoto told her this.

Mito hummed in thought before they fell into silence again.

Naruto suddenly halted in mid-step and turned his head violently to the right, surprising everyone and alerting Yuu.

In that second the navy-haired boy placed his hand inside the kunai pouch and activated his Sharingan, looking around for someone or something, "What's up Naruto? What was that?" he asked after making sure nothing was around and relaxed somewhat. He knew the blond was highly perceptive, sensing his attacks even before they passed through his mind. A scary ability.

"There" Naruto said with sharp eyes and pointed to the forest, "Yuu, what place is closer to where I'm pointing?" the voice he used was strong and commanding. Yuu didn't hesitate a second before answering him,

"The Hyūga's district..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and spoke in all seriousness, "I don't know what's this, but I feel something wrong..."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Mito yelled with enthusiasm and started running where Naruto's finger was signaling, "Let's kick some asses!"

"MITO!" The 3 screamed her name but it was too late, said girl was already inside the forest.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed loudly, something very strange for him and jumped using his Chakra to propel himself from tree to tree.

"Tomato-head is really crazy! Crazy, crazy, crazy!" Sasuki repeated before she took off, running at impressive speeds hopping to catch Mito before something happened.

Yuu stayed rooted to the floor for a few seconds. The look on Naruto's face... this wasn't a joke. He shook his head and concentrated in this matter at fullest. With his red-eyes glowing in the dark of the night, he disappeared.

'I'll show everyone! Just how much I pushed myself and how hard I trained! Man, I really hope we get some action tonight' Mito thought while sprinting. Later she would regret hoping for it...

"MITO!" She heard the loud voice of her brother calling but she decided to ignore it and kept on her way. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" This time the red-haired girl felt Naruto's franticness and halted,

"What do you wan-!"

The blond threw himself at the unsuspecting hot-headed girl and knocked her to the ground with him. Before Mito could lash out at her brother, a huge figure landed right where Mito stood a few seconds ago and stumbled with some kind of sack, desperately trying to recover his balance.

Another figure landed behind him and Naruto understood why the huge figure seemed so desperate. They were pursuing him.

"Do not move! Surrender yourself and this will end without any blood spilled!" One of the Hyūga members, Naruto deduced by his blank eyes, demanded furiously at the huge unknown figure. The blond held Mito's mouth closed and watched carefully behind a tree.

The figure stood and accommodated the bag over his broad shoulders, not even caring about the Hyūga's threats. Said man growled in anger and in a swirl of leaves, he disappeared ready to attack the bulky enemy when he was distracted.

"Hakke Kūshō!" Shocking the user of the technique, Naruto and Mito, who even stopped her protests, the bulky figure caught his attacker's hand by his wrist and gave him a devastating blow with his elbow. Even though he was all muscle it didn't slow him at all.

"Oh... it was your blood that was spilled though" The man joked in a deep voice watching the red-liquid ran down his chin.

The Hyūga fell down clutching his stomach in pain and the figure disappeared from view. Once he did, Naruto felt the malicious intent decrease and by that he concluded... it was coming from the strange bulky's figure.

"Are you alright!?" Sasuki's worried voice distracted the blond from his thoughts and he heard her deep intake of breathe, probably at seeing the Hyūga's state, "W-What happened here...?"

Naruto revealed himself from behind a tree and finally let Mito go, who quickly scurried to the still awake man.

Yuu landed beside him and unlike everyone else, he kept a calm and calculating gaze, "What happened, Naruto?"

The blond was still shocked at what he saw so he replied in a low voice, "Someone... stole something from the Hyūga's..."

"It happened so fast! He... I couldn't even see his movements! In one second this guy is standing, at the other he's on the floor wheezing for air! W-What's this!?" Mito said non-stop without breathing. Were these real shinobi battles!? How could she keep up with things like this!?

"Oi... calm down guys, neither of you is making much sense..." Yuu bit on his finger and added, "Basically, some unknown person stole something from one of the most powerful clans in Konoha and beat one of their members with one strike... right?" At their nods he sighed and walked towards the beaten man.

"Then what are we waiting here for!? That guy has something valuable on his hands! We can't let him get away! Right, Mito?" Sasuki didn't want to wait any longer and it showed clearly in her voice. She was anxious. The girl tried to get her 'always ready for some action' friend to agreed but was only met with silence, "Mito?" The Uchiha girl repeated uncertainly this time.

"W-We can't win against someone like him! Let's... let's get Jiji! Right, he's the Hokage, he'll know what to do!"

This declaration made Naruto, Sasuki and Yuu freeze on their tracks. Mito... scared?

"W-What are you talking about Tomato-head!? The Hokage Tower is too far from here, this guy'll be long gone when we reach it!" Sasuki didn't want to believe it. She of all people couldn't give up so soon, "You were so riled up a few minutes ago! What happened to all the excitement!? The eagerness to fight!? You can't give up this easily Uzumaki Mito!"

"SHUT UP!" The red-haired girl screamed at the top of her lungs, which was enough to make Sasuki back off, "You didn't see it! This guy was just playing with a Hyūga! A Hyūga! One of the weird powerful guys with white eyes! Hinata's family! How can we measure up with someone like that!? We're not even ninjas yet! It's impossible!"

Gradually through Mito's breakdown Sasuki's started lowering her head until it was shadowed, "But you're Uzumaki Mito, the hot-blooded idiot... who never gives up. You're supposed to make the impossible possible..." her voice was low, only loud enough to be heard.

Mito's fists started to shake and she started punching the ground, "Damn... Damn it!" her knuckles began to bleed, "I..." tears ran down her cheek, "I!"

A fit of coughs interrupted the scene coming from the Hyūga's member. He started moving his mouth as to say something but his voice didn't carry enough force for them to understand. They all moved a little closer until the man's mumbling became clear. What they heard though, made even Yuu's emotionless face to break.

"Pl...ea..se... hurry... Hinata-s...ama...danger..."

With that the man welcomed darkness and fainted, leaving 4 distressed children to deal with the problem.

"Did... did he say Hinata?" Mito asked and pleaded at the same time, begging for her hearing to be off.

Naruto solemnly shook his head in denial, "Hinata-sama as in Hyūga Hinata?" The boy remembered the man's sack and felt his anger growing up each second. The thing inside the sack was in fact, Hinata? The timid girl who made acquaintances with all of them over the first year of the Academy? That Hinata was being thrown and shipped like an object?

"No way..." Sasuki covered her mouth and her eyes grew to new sizes, "This... can't be..."

"We all heard well... Hyūga Hinata was kidnapped" Yuu stated what everyone dreaded but deep inside knew it was true, "So... Mito?" the navy-haired boy turned to the red-haired girl who was emitting an extremely dangerous aura, "What were you saying?"

"I'll rip him to pieces!"

"My cards have been played..." A small black spinning vortex appeared on top of some branches, swirling and altering space. It all came to a stop and a figure landed gently and discarded his hood to reveal a familiar white mask with black flame pattern, "Kamui" Madara whispered the name of the strange Jutsu and a mature Sharingan shone through the only socket before fading into darkness, "Now, let's see the events unfold... Surprise me, Yuu..."

The four kids sped through the forest while planning their next course of action.

"First thing first, we need to secure Hinata. As long as this guy holds her our actions will be restricted" They all nodded to Yuu's words since they made sense, "Sasuki" said girl addressed him with one eye, trying hard to maintain this constant speed and not accelerating at max, "You're the fastest. Follow the plan. When we get our hands on our Hinata-chan, we'll pass her to you and you will run to safety immediately, understood?"

The Uchiha girl knew that discussing with her brother at this point was meaningless and would only delay them, so with a heavy voice she accepted, "Understood"

Yuu turned to his red-haired friend a few feet ahead of him and spoke commandingly, "Mito you have to calm down"

"Calm down!?" Mito repeated indignantly. What was wrong with him!? How could they 'calm down' when one of their friends got kidnapped!? "That bastard has Hinata! I'm going to kill him!"

"Mito" The navy-haired boy tried his best to keep his voice gentle, "Our only advantage is surprise and we might not even have it. We strike and we strike quick, if we lose our cool we die" The girl got a perplexed look but after a few seconds she started taking deep breaths and slowed her pace. Yuu sighed, "Naruto, how far is he?"

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the weird feeling in the back of his head, which began to get stronger, "He's getting closer! Probably resting!"

The Uchiha boy ironed his gaze and strengthened his legs. This was the moment, "OI GUYS! I'm going ahead! Stay alert!" when the others processed it and looked at him it was already too late, he was gone. The only trace left of his presence was an ominous wind.

"Daaaamn I don't get payed enough for this shit!" A tall man spoke to himself and stretched his muscles. He wore a flak jacket and his head was bandaged, a shinobi forehead protector covered his right eye, "I'm sorry little girl, but your ass is worth millions in Kumo!" this time he told a bag that rested on a close tree. He got no response. "Eeeeh... this is going to be boring if you don't say anything"

The Kumogakure shinobi plopped himself to the ground, next to the tree where the bag was and looked up at the night sky.

His mind began wandering, memories from years ago resurfacing, "How many years have been since the last time I was here? 30 years?... Time sure flows..." He remembered a red-haired girl and a single blond guy who destroyed all of his squad and acted like a hero, "Konoha's Yellow Flash... How many would believe I saw him when he was just a brat? Hahahaha!" the man's laughter turned grim after mere seconds, "though they'd probably kill me for not killing him when I had the opportunity... Heck! All we do is kidnap people from other villages!... and most of the time it doesn't work!"

Though this time it'll work for sure. Konoha's guard was low since a certain incident years ago, its ninjas being mediocre to say the least...

"I'll make it work this time... and be done with this" The man stood up with some difficulty and cracked his back's bones, "Ow ow ow, age's getting to me... damn it... well little girl! Let's go!"

The man adjusted the sack over his shoulder and spoke again, "Comfortable? I hope so, it's going to be a long trip. I assure you though, you're going to be treated like a princess in Kumo" he smiled at this and prepared to jump, "Now then-!"

He received a powerful kick to his back in mid-air and landed ungracefully on the forest floor. 'W-What!? I let my guard down! SHIT!' the man punched himself mentally and stood up as quick as he could, keeping the sack close.

Yuu landed in front of him, Sharingan spinning madly, "So Kumogakure? Weren't we about to sign a peace treaty? Man you sure know how to mess things up" His mocking voice betrayed his furious expression, watching intently the bag over the man's shoulder.

"A damn gaki!? Are you serious!? This is Konoha's reinforcements!?" The shinobi laughed outside, but inside it was a complete different thing, 'Shit, that kick... it hurt like hell! Those eyes... Sharingan!? Uchiha!? You have to be kidding me! Is this the little prodigy everyone's talking about!?... No wait... this brat look like he's 10 years old or less, he can't be...'

'This... this has to work...' Yuu thought grimly and threw a kunai towards the man, who was prepared to block it until he heard a hiss sound.

'Paper bomb!? Konoha is crazy! Who gives paper bombs to a kid!?' the Kumo shinobi shook his head and tried to jump, the key word being tried because when he crouched his back cracked and a painful expression came to his face, 'M-M-My back!' his eyes widened to the size of plates and he let out a silent scream of agony. Thinking back at where the boy's struck... he was targeting his behind! 'T-T-This brat isn't normal! He planned it all!'

The kunai tagged with an explosive note drew near each passing second. Without much time the shinobi did what Yuu expected him to do. He launched the bag away to protect her from any damage,

'If she gets any bruise I'm dead! Damn kid! I'm gon' to teach him a lesson!'

The flames engulfed him and the smoke soon reached above the treetops. The bag landed a few feet away without any scratch and Yuu let out a breathe he held during the entirety of his plan, 'This was... too risky...' a figure ran out of the smoke at blinding speeds and Yuu readied himself for battle. Of course it wouldn't end so fast...

The Uchiha young prodigy watched the man's movement at slow motion thanks to his bloodline. Despite this, the navy-haired boy had to jump out-of-the-way to avoid getting hit. In less than a second, the man cut the distance between them. Even though his eyes kept up with him, Yuu knew his speed couldn't,

'I can't possibly counter-attack if he keeps moving like that! I thought I injured his back!' the boy contemplated in mid-air, before realizing that the man's drawback was Hinata's extra weight. Reflecting in all this, he was probably to treat her with utmost care and delicacy... meaning that when she was out-of-the-way, he could stop holding back. A scary realization... the boy needed to get them out of here as soon as possible and call for help.

"Oh? You seem scared!" Yuu was shaken out of his thoughts by the close voice of the Kumogakure shinobi, "Clever plan, gaki... a shame you're dealing with an experienced ninja..." The man grabbed one of the boy's leg forcefully and shock wrote all over Yuu's face, "Don't be scared... in fact, I think Kumo would like to possess the Sharingan too" he spoke with a sneer, which got erased when he saw the boy's smirk, "What's so funny brat?"

At the man's question 'Yuu' poofed out of existence and white smoke invaded the shinobi's vision,

'Kage Bunshin!? What the hell is happening!?' he turned back and saw the boy who made the Bunshin... with company. Three other kids. But one of them caught his complete attention... a red-haired girl, 'S-S-She's the same...' The man's shocked state bought the four enough time and Naruto escaped with the sack over his shoulders, 'Damn it! They got the heiress! Shit, get a hold of yourself!' he went after the blond boy, not even giving a sparing look to the three other kids. A grave error.

"Sasuki this is your chance!" Yuu told his sister, who carried a knocked Hinata, "This man's way out of our league! Go get help and keep Hinata safe!"

The girl was about to disappear when she hesitated on her step. She understood well enough. When the man finds out that Hinata wasn't inside the bag, he won't be holding anything back... and she worried for her friends, specially her brother, "I... I can't go Yuu! I can't leave you like this!"

"Damn it Sasuki! We talked about this! Go! You don't have much time!" Yuu cursed, the emotions boiling inside him. Naruto was out there buying them time, it wouldn't be long until the seasoned shinobi realized something was weird and returned.

"NO! I'm not leaving you!" Sasuki screamed with teary-eyes "Mito you take Hinata! You can run for longer times, you're the one who can do this!"

"Sasuki would you listen to me for once!?" The Uchiha boy head-butted his sister in a desperate action to get her attention, "Trust me! I'll protect them! No one is going to leave here with any injury do you hear me!? I promise you, I'll protect everyone!"

The girl stared at her brother with one half-lidded eyes, a headache already initiating, and saw Itachi's blurred image behind Yuu, 'I promise, I will protect everyone...' Itachi said with a gentle smile and like that disappeared from her view, "Okay! I trust you Yuu! Wipe the ground with his ass!" Sasuki yelled with her eyes closed and disappeared, refusing to look back, 'They're all counting on me... I can do this!' she opened her steeled eyes, one destination in mind with neck-breaking speed, 'Uchiha District!'

Meanwhile, Yuu sighed and activated his Sharingan, his calm and calculative expression on his face again, "Are you ready, Mito?"

The red-haired girl watched intently where Naruto went just moments ago and nodded in a strange act of seriousness from her part, "Let's get some ramen after this"

Yuu smirked, "My treat"

With that, the two kids left the small clearing in bursts of speed.

Naruto kept his constant speed, looking back at the figure who was slowly getting closer to him. The man didn't make any harsh moves, probably paranoid of how the blond guy will react. Props to Yuu for scaring the heck out of him with the paper bomb. The Uzumaki boy smiled with mischievousness. Oh, sweet explosives.

The shinobi watched astonished as the blond threw the bag up nonchalantly, 'What the hell is wrong with this kids!?' The man hurried and caught the sack, smiling victoriously all the way. The wild thought of 'Why would the blond kid launch his friend to the sky' came a little to late with the familiar hiss of what, the man denominated, doom.

BOOM! BOOOM BOOOM!

Multiple explosives notes went off simultaneously at the man's face, making a pretty ball of flames at the middle of the forest.

Naruto watched with amazement, and some sense of proudness, his work, 'Perhaps I went too far with the explosives... nah... it's art'

The explosion shook the ground and alerted Yuu and Mito of the blond's place. The two landed and stared at the destruction caused by no other than Naruto. Said boy was sitting on a branch with a creepy smile.

"Oi... are you okay man?" Yuu asked and approached slowly.

Chuckles were his response, "Hmhmhm... I think explosives are my thing"

The Uchiha boy nodded with a confused expression, "Sure... sure... ehm... where's the shinobi?"

Naruto pointed a burning pile on the forest ground, "There... we won"

"He's dead?" Mito joined the conversation and her brother only pointed harder at the burning pile,

"I don't think anyone can survive that! 15 improved and powered explosive notes going off at the same time right on his face! He's nothing more than ashes!" Naruto grabbed side of his face and laughed,

"Yo'... I think he went nuts" Mito let her anger dissipate and smiled lightly, "I gotta admit, it was cool. You always said how paper bombs were dangerous and 'do not write the array inside the house', 'do not tweak with the formula' and stuff. Didn't let me have my fun! You and that old pervert always serious when it came to Fūin! But bro', this was an overkill!"

While the two siblings joked, Yuu stared intently at the fire on the floor with his Sharingan active. It all seemed too easy... the boy concentrated even more to discern what was inside of it and could make... 'A wood log?' he asked himself dumbly before the answer hit him, 'Kawarimi!'

Right when he yelled the Jutsu mentally Naruto's laughter stopped abruptly and made the Uchiha boy turn around with surprise.

Standing tall in the middle of the three kids, the bulky man had the most cruel smile on his face, not a single scratch on his body, "Well well, look at what we have here... kids playing ninja?" He commented mockingly and with a backward kick, not even turning, hit Naruto hard on the chest. The boy's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out from the power. The force of the blow was such that it broke all the branches on the blond kid's path to the ground and made debris arise where he pummeled. Not a single sign he was okay.

Taking advantage of the shocked state of the other two kids he spun without lowering his stance and swiped them both with the same leg he used against their friend, sending them to the ground as well.

Yuu trembled and stood up with great difficulty, coughing and trying to get some air back to his lungs. He looked to his right, a crater close to his position where Mito was likely to be, and saw no movement. He turned slowly to his left where Naruto's body laid, blood trickling the blond's mouth.

The Kumogakure shinobi dropped a few feet in front of him, grinning maliciously, "So gaki, are you going to tell me where are you hiding my ticket to grandness?"

The Uchiha boy growled at the man's words and spoke with the little strength he had left, "I... w-will not tell you..."

"Oh?" The ninja narrowed his eyes dangerously at him, "Then I'm going to find her by myself and kill whoever gets in my way... sounds plausible to you?"

Yuu's Sharingan activated involuntarily and glared, catching the man unguarded and making him back off a few steps, "I'll destroy you if you touch a single hair on her head"

The boy's eyes haunted the shinobi and scared him shitless, but he tried hard to not let it show, "Don't worry... I won't bruise her much. People pay way more for beautiful flawless young girls"

The man's words reminded the boy of something he had ignored during all this time: The shinobi couldn't harm anyone. Knock out? Yeah. Kill? Never, since if he did, he would have the Hokage behind him and a reason to be executed on sight. With that he ignored his anger and smirked, "That's our advantage. You can't strike to kill while us... we aim for it"

His cold words plus his glowing red-eyes began to get inside the man's nerves who shivered in fear, "Like any of you weak kids can kill me! I am a jōnin! Even higher than that! I'm the Head Ninja of Kumogakure!"

"Who said we were going to?" Yuu asked slyly and chuckled, "There were four of us if you don't remember..."

The image of the four kids before he froze flashed through his mind and shocked him, "No way..." he whispered.

"By the looks of it you remembered... reinforcements are probably coming our way as we speak!" His Sharingan watched all the emotions ran through the shinobi's face, "You... are a dead man"

The terrified expression of the Kumogakure shinobi turned to burning rage and, acting on instinct, he let all of his killing intent loose and threw a kunai in Yuu's direction, an action he soon regretted 'SHIT! NO! GET OUT OF THE WAY DAMN BRAT! IF I KILL HIM I'M FUCKING DONE!'

The boy wasn't prepared for an oppressing force to invade his system as his legs refused to move. Yuu stared at the kunai traveling through the air in slow-mo, aiming at his heart and saw his life flashing. So... this was the end. He couldn't act, the killing intent of a seasoned shinobi paralyzing him. Damn, he couldn't even breathe! Sweat ran down his face... why did it had to be this slow!? He didn't want to feel all this regret... in fact, time seemed slower than when he used his matured Sharingan. A play in Death's part? Perhaps.

Strands of red hair came from his peripheral vision and he saw a figure get in the way of the kunai and him, 'Mito...' he thought. Then it repeated 'Mito...' and again... 'Mito...' Wait. Mito was going to die for him! She was using her own body to protect him! 'Mito!' Yuu screamed mentally and forced his muscles to move again, but to no avail, 'Damn it! Move! If I don't Mito's going to... Mito's going to...!' He watched her beautiful purple orbs staring at him worriedly and a knowing smile crossing her face, 'No... please don't smile like that.. please no, you're not going to die! Mito!' His eyes began to water, 'MITO!'

Blood sprayed all over his face

Damn that cliffhanger! So yeah, here it is. Please leave a review so I can improve my writing skills!

Next chapter should be up soon, so don't worry. I have a lot of free time now.

Take care and stuff!