I am soooo sorry it took so long....two whole months to my immense shame....this chapter was fiesty and gave me a lot of trouble and i hope that the next chapter will be meeker....anyway here's the latest chapter i hope it's up to snuff....i had to beat it a bit....lol

Chapter 10

Sasuke sat in the shade as he watched the fox Naruto play with the village kids in the afternoon sun. He smiled as Naruto chased the laughing kids around. The parents had backed down and allowed the fox after yesterday but Sasuke could still see many of them keeping a wary eye on the fox amidst the group of children. Turning his attention back to Naruto he watched as the large fox padded toward him.

I'm hungry. Naruto's whine in his head made Sasuke sigh.

"What do you want to eat?"

Fried rice and beef! The excited and too loud reply in his head caused Sasuke to wince.

"Stop it! Your gonna give me a headache." Sasuke growled. Naruto's ears lowered unhappily.

Sorry.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again."

The fox nodded furiously and wagged his tail. Sasuke shook his head in defeat as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Wanna come with?" Naruto shook his head and glanced back at the kids.

"Suit yourself. I'll be right back." Sasuke said and headed for the restaurant section of the village.

Naruto turned back to the children and saw some strange men talking to Konahamaru. Running over he placed himself between the intruders and his young friend.

The smaller man with shifty eyes that reminded Naruto of a snake looked down at the bristling Naruto and smiled. "And who is this doggy?" He asked as he bent down and ruffled Naruto's neck fur. His eyes gained a triumphant gleam as the two necklaces Tsunade had given Naruto were revealed. "You must be Naruto. We've been looking for you."

Naruto's hackles rose and he growled angrily. "Ah, ah, ah. Play nicely now or something bad might happen." The snake man's burly partner said with a significant glance at Konohamaru. Naruto backed closer to Konohamaru who put a hand in his fur.

"My name is Kage and he is Tora. We want that pretty moon necklace you got there. But since you have a friend who will be comin' back soon let's take this discussion elsewhere." The snake man said with a smile Naruto could only guess was meant to appear kindly but came out menacing.

"We're not gonna go with you!" Konohamaru burst out, causing Naruto's heart to drop in despair. Konohamaru's mouth would get them in trouble.

"We just want to be friends little one. I would suggest you be our friend 'cause Tora's feelin's get real hurt if someone don't want to be his friend and if his feelin's get hurt people get hurt. You don't want that do you?" Naruto gently bit Konohamaru's hand while shaking his head slightly to stop him from saying more. "Ah. The doggy sees reason and wants to be our friend. Ain't that nice Tora? We got some new friends. Let's take our new friends somewhere nice, eh?"

"Yeah, I like new friends. Let's take them to visit our place. We have it all set up so they'll be comfortable don't we Kage?"

"Indeed. C'mon, little friends we got a treat for you when we get there." Bristling Naruto growled and sunk into an aggressive stance. The two men laughed at the angry canine.

"Back down, boy. We want this to go easily but we can use force if we need to. Tora would love a chance to bring out his knife. But I don't see either of you living if that happens." The large man grinned and caressed his knife sheath. Naruto shivered at the malicious happiness emitted from the man. Konohamaru felt it too and dropped to his knees to lean close to Naruto. "Come on let's go. Pretend everything is fine and follow me, Tora will follow." With no choice but to what they were told the two boys followed the snake-like Kage through the streets of Konoha until they entered an abandoned house.

Holding two boxes of food Sasuke watched the playing kids looking for a glimpse of orange. Seeing no sign of Naruto he grabbed a passing kid. Kneeling down he looked at the angry boy he had snagged. "Have you seen the fox?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. Lemme go." The little boy said, squirming.

Sighing Sasuke put a kind tone in his voice. "You like the fox right? I'm his friend. He's hungry and I brought him food but I can't find him. You don't want him to be hungry do you?"

"I guess not."

"Good. So did you see him leave?"

"He an' Konohamaru were talkin' to some scary lookin' guys. Nobody else wanted to go near them 'cause they were scary. An' then they left with them.

Feeling his heart drop into his stomach Sasuke asked the boy another question. " Did you see which way they went?"

Nodding the little boy looked around and tentatively pointed toward the major part of the village. Seeing that the boy looked unsure Sasuke gritted his teeth impatiently and silently vowed to never have a child or at least make sure it knew how to give directions. "Are you sure he went that way?" The little boy looked around again and shook his head. Then he pointed toward the more abandoned and less used area of the village. "Are you sure?" The boy nodded confidently and without another word Sasuke sped off in that direction looking for any clue to Naruto's presence.