A/N: Sweet. Did my small amount of re-writting for this chapter. I added a small exchange between Kurama and Naruto talking about Akari. That's the biggest change, Kurama also helped with the breakout, not in a physical way just giving some helpful advice. Other than that, it was mostly grammatical errors although I added a bit of emotion for my OC's.

Chapter Ten

Mikoto sat in her cell letting Koba administer his medical jutsu to her injuries. Naruto had curled up into a ball and leaned into her side. He hadn't said a word since Mikoto had come back into the cell alone. Once Koba deemed that he had done all he could and that only time would heal the rest, Mikoto gathered Koba and Kaito together in a close huddle.

In a passionate whisper Mikoto began, "We need to escape. Hitomi, Sora and Muta all died with the intention to buy Naruto more time to live but Hitomi realised that it was only a matter of time until we all perish and Naruto is left alone. I know that the risk is high but we can't afford to wait. Our numbers keep dropping, if even one more of us die, it won't matter anymore, and we won't have enough strength to manage. I was able to unlock a new level of power for my Sharingan and the time has to be soon. Almost immediately as I heal my wounds, we have to escape."

A brief silence met her whispered speech. Both men met each other's eyes and nodded. The fact was that both men knew she was correct but escape seemed too difficult. Muta had told them that he had witnessed three attempts during his time at The Pit and all had failed. Two attempts hadn't been strong enough to break down the solid steel door and the third had been stopped by the shinobi guards after getting out of the cell.

Naruto heard the whole conversation and agreed. Even if they should fail, he wanted to try. Hitomi had given him her eye in the hope that he would live and he would do everything he could to honour her memory.

"Just let me heal and figure some things out about my new eyes and we will be ready." Mikoto firmly stated.

xXx

Mikoto tried to recall everything Fugaku had told her about the fabled power of the Uchiha. 'It's unlocked by killing your best friend. Each eye has a unique ability to one person but one thing all Mangekyo have in common is that users that have unlocked Mangekyo in both eyes can use Susano'o. It's an ability that makes an avatar made out of your chakra that fights on your behalf. It seems to get more powerful you use it, from what former Uchiha have told from generation to generation. Madara himself is quoted as saying that the Susano'o is the ultimate offense and defence.'

Although Mikoto knew that using her unique powers would probably be easier but she didn't know what they were. Activating her Mangekyo and facing the wall, Mikoto thought about how it felt when she awoke her eyes for the first time. Channelling chakra into her left eye, not much happened. A slight haze appeared before fading away quickly. Mikoto wasn't sure if the haze happened on the wall she looked at or could only be seen by her eye. 'I guess my left eye either does something subtle like genjutsu or something that is very hard to detect. I'm not going to risk using it on my friends but if I have to fight before we try and leave I can find out then.'

Channelling chakra into her right eye, a slight sense of control filled her mind. Acting on instinct, Mikoto generated a small flame with her chakra. Looking at the fire with her eye, she found that she was able to manipulate it in various ways that she hadn't thought possible. 'It looks like my right eye gives me the ability to control fire quite easily. Does this only work on fire made from my chakra or any fire in general? I will need to find out later.'

Knowing that she needed to figure out how to activate her Susano'o but also knowing that trying would alert other people about her new abilities, Mikoto decided that she should only try and activate it once. 'It won't give me a lot of experience using it but I need to know how to use it before we actually try and escape. Hopefully only doing it once will not give anyone an idea how strong it will actually be,'

This time focusing chakra into both her eyes, Mikoto felt pain throughout her whole body. Gritting her teeth and putting more chakra into the technique, a large rib cage formed around her. Pouring more chakra into her eyes, arms formed as the pain in her body intensified. Willing the skeletal arms to move, the Susano'o's arms flexed. The pain grew to be too much for Mikoto to handle and she let the jutsu drop.

Turning around, she saw all the cell's occupants staring at her demonstration. Giving a small shrug, she turned away from them all. 'I know how to use it. It appears that using Susano'o causes intense pain. The more complex I made it, the worse it got. At least I know that now, better to work out the down sides before the actual escape.

I also have to remember not to over use my Mangekyo; Fugaku said that using it too often may result in blindness.'

xXx

During the two days waiting for Mikoto's injuries to heal, Naruto spent in near silence. Although he had befriended Sora and Muta, Hitomi meant more to him than he had believed possible. She had always been there to talk to, especially when he, somehow, managed to annoy Mikoto. 'Like when I over used my chakra in training and probably would've died from exhaustion if I had to fight right after that.'

The group all missed her, she had been a bright spark of energy, not letting their circumstances bring her down, at least not as down as everyone else. Her lopsided smile was hard to miss in the gloom even when she donated Naruto one of her eyes. 'I know that she wasn't really my sister but she was in all the ways that mattered. So why can't I cry for her? I know I loved her as family. Normal people cry in this situation right? Am I so far gone that I can't cry for my dead sister?'

He was too scared of voicing these thoughts, worried that he would be seen as a demon once again. A small, sensible part of his mind knew that these fears were baseless but he still couldn't bear the thought of the others, especially Mikoto, turning on him.

"Naruto," Mikoto's voice cut Naruto off from his train of thought.

"When we take action, I need you to stay near me. I can protect us with my Susano'o. Koba and Kaito will fight other ninja but no matter what happens, stay with me, okay?" Mikoto's voice was calm but the look in her eyes told Naruto just how urgent this was.

"Okay, I promise," replied Naruto in his customary whisper.

xXx

When all three agreed that it was roughly around three in the morning, Mikoto struck. Activating her Susano'o, she was surprised to find that although the pain was slightly higher than last time her Susano'o had become a little more complete. This time she had managed to manifest the top half of a skeleton, complete with a head. Willing it to move, Mikoto swung with all her might and the giant fist smashed the cell door off its hinges. An almighty screech of tearing metal sounded as the solid steel door was ripped from its hinges and imbedded itself several inches into the corridor's stone wall.

The sound of the punch and resulting impact was enough to wake the other prisoners. Kaito stepped forward and spoke in his most impressive voice,

"This is our best chance at escape! If we all join forces, we increase our chances of survival!"

Although some inmates looked apprehensive, the fact that an escape attempt was already under way meant that they would all be punished regardless. This realisation galvanised the remaining members of Kumo to step forward. At this, the group mentality shifted from passive to action and as one, all the prisoners surged through the now open doorway.

"Which way?" cried one voice.

"Head to the arena, the exit should probably be easier to find since all the audience sits up in the stands." Kurama suggested to Naruto. He had been watching through Naruto's eye quite carefully and was just as determined to escape as the others. Naruto quickly repeated Kurama's words and the prisoners all agreed.

As a group they charged down the corridor before finding themselves in The Pit. Jumping over the dividing barrier, the prisoners rushed up the stairs searching for the exit.

"Over here!" one voice called urgently.

The group of Leaf ninja followed the summons and found a doorway with a very convenient 'Exit' sign above it. Kaito knew that the sound of the door smashing as well as the noise that everyone had made thus far meant that it was not going to take long for the alarm to be raised. Sure enough, when the next door with an Exit sign above it appeared, the two guards assigned to watch it were reinforced by four more guards.

Jumping into action, Koba and three other prisoners attacked the guards. It looked as if the battle might take too long and three more prisoners leapt into help. With force of numbers, the prisoners managed to cut down the guards fairly quickly. As the first prisoner stepped through the now unguarded door, his leg broke a trip wire. Unbeknownst to the prisoners, this trip wire was connected to the finger of the Warden, who wasted no time in putting the entire Pit on alert. The Warden knew that no guard was stupid enough to risk stepping outside.

xXx

Not realising the level of danger they were in, the prisoners found themselves breathing in fresh, clean air for the first time in years. Its sheer sweetness was enough to temporarily halt the mad rush for freedom. A loud chakra infused voice echoed from the Pit behind them.

"Attention! Unauthorised to outside perimeter! High Alert, Attention!"

In the span of a few seconds, ten Body Flicker techniques occurred and the prisoners were left facing the guardsmen that happened to be on duty. With only Mikoto staying back with Naruto, the rest of the inmates attacked as a group, overwhelming the guards. With a very quick nod of thanks to the Leaf ninja, all the other groups split off into the night.

"Let's go guys, no time to waste!" Koba said with urgency. He knew that the very best of their captor's ninja still had to appear. The level of the guards wasn't high enough but the group that had managed to subdue him were all elite jonin and none of them had showed up yet.

"Naruto, what about Akari? We swore that we would kill everyone responsible for hurting us." Kurama asked with some bite. He would never forget the amount of suffering both of them had to endure and he wanted nothing more than to tear Akari limb from limb.

Naruto frowned in thought before giving his response, 'I know Kurama but I also promised to help you and escaping is definitely going to help you. Akari is the only person I have ever truly wanted to kill but this is more important. Hitomi, Muta and Sora all died to try and save me. If we turn back now, even if we managed to kill Akari, we would get captured again and make their sacrifice meaningless. I refuse to let them die in vain just to spill some blood. I swear though, when we are strong enough, we will return and Akari will wish she had never been born.'

Without any idea as to their location, the Konoha ninjas sped off to their left. When they had managed to cover about a kilometre's distance, Koba suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Keep going you guys; I'll buy you as much time as I can." Koba had managed to sniff out his enemies when the wind had changed. In the faint moonlight, Koba's red facial tattoos flashed as he gave them all one last smile, a smile that held the last of his hope. Without letting his friends say so much as a farewell, he jumped back in the direction they had come from.

"C'mon Mikoto, we can't let his death be in vain," Kaito said. Although he managed to sound composed, she was able to detect a hint of regret in his voice.

The group of three sped off once again; Naruto activated his Byakugan, hoping to see just how many ninja Koba would be facing. The faint hope that Koba would be able to catch up with them after dealing with their pursuers was dashed as he counted seven chakra signatures that all glowed just as brightly as Koba descended upon him.

xXx

Koba had been able to gain his friends about five hours of uninterrupted running. The sky had lightened with the Sun when, at Kaito's suggestion, Naruto activated his Byakugan once more. When he did, he saw five chakra signatures chasing them. Naruto recognised them as being the same ones that Koba had stayed back to fight. It appeared that Koba, even against overwhelming odds, had managed to slay two enemies in his final moments. Despite having chakra to spare, Mikoto was carrying Naruto; knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep up with jonin travelling at great haste.

"There are five enemies behind us. Koba managed to deal with two and buy us a lot of time. They look to be on the edge of my vision which is around two hundred meters but they are gaining ground rapidly." Naruto relayed to Kaito.

Kaito looked around. 'Judging by the position of the Sun and the hilly terrain which is covered in trees, I would hazard a guess that we are either in the Land of Rice or Hot Water. If I'm right about our location, than Konoha should be in a south by south west direction.' Kaito knew that they were too far away to out run their enemies. Making up his mind, he turned to Mikoto and said,

"You get him home Mikoto. We are all counting on you. Sora, Muta, Hitomi and Koba, we all passed our Will of Fire to Naruto. You get him there, you hear me?" Putting on a brave face, Kaito turned to Naruto.

"Hey kid, I'm going to buy as much time as I can. I know you promised us to get strong enough to protect your precious people. I want you to find more precious people and protect them okay? Do me a favour though, when you see my friend, Might Guy, tell him that your flames of Youth burn bright and that he should help you fan them to burn brighter than either of us, okay?"

Naruto didn't really understand the message but committed it to memory nonetheless, even if it seemed to amuse Kaito for some reason. He nodded and a wistful expression crossed Kaito's face before he got serious.

"First Gate: Gate of Opening, Open! Second Gate: Gate of Healing, Open! Third Gate: Gate of Life, Open! Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain, Open! Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit, Open!, Sixth Gate: Gate of View, Open! Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder, Open!"

Kaito's eyes found Naruto's and what seemed like a lifetime passed between them. A small smile graced Kaito's face as he spoke,

"Eighth Gate: Gate of Death, Open!"

Mikoto, who had heard Kaito but didn't believe he would open all eight gates looked around in alarm.

"No! Kaito, if you open all eight gates you will die. Surely you can finish them off with seven!?"

Kaito's skin turned red and chakra burst forth from his body. His eyes were laser focused though, and he locked eyes with his last and best friend. He had already resolved to stay back and fight. If he didn't use every bit of power he had than his last stand would be worthless.

"Go, get him out of here. I think we are in the Land of Rice. Go south west and you should find the village!" Kaito said simply. Kaito then grabbed Mikoto before she could protest and threw them in a rough south westerly direction with all of his strength.

Naruto never got to say a word to his comrade before he found both Mikoto and himself flying through the air. Activating his Byakugan again, the bright flare of Kaito's chakra burned brighter than anything Naruto had seen before. Almost as soon as Kaito had thrown them, the enemies had managed to catch up.

Naruto watched with pride as Kaito managed to silence four of the chakra signatures before he started to slow down significantly. His bright chakra had dimmed, almost at the point of it going out before he managed to snuff out the last enemy behind them. Before Naruto could feel relief however, Kaito's chakra went out completely. Naruto knew that he only had Mikoto left. 'I will not let Mikoto send me on by myself. She is the closest thing I have to a mum and I will burn before I leave her to die.'

xXx

However, Kaito's sacrifice had down the trick. Naruto failed to register anymore chakra signatures for several hours. He had started to believe that they might have gotten away before another chakra source entered the range of his Byakugan.

"Mum!" Naruto whispered without thinking, "There is another chakra source approaching. It's coming from our front rather than behind us. I don't know if they are friendly or not."

Mikoto paused on the tree branch she was currently standing on. She was in Fire country, she was sure of it. 'If I make a big enough distraction, surely patrolling Leaf ninja will detect our presence.'

Shifting Naruto so that he was in a piggy back position, Mikoto took a defensive stance. She was prepared for many things, an enemy shinobi, a Leaf patrol or even a random Leaf genin team on a training exercise. Not in her wildest dreams did Mikoto expect to see her oldest son appear several tree branches away from her.

"Itachi? Is that really you?" Mikoto questioned.

For his part, Itachi was astounded to see his mother. The village had declared her legally dead a few months ago. "Mother, what? How are you alive?"

Mikoto wanted nothing more than to believe that her son had come to find her but caution proved to be the better part of valour here.

With narrowed eyes, Mikoto said, "If you are truly my son, tell me something that only Itachi would know. Something personal that no-one else could possibly know."

Itachi grimaced, having his own mother look at him with such suspicion hurt far more than he would ever be willing to tell. Thinking quickly, Itachi gave his answer,

"Back when I was five, Shisui and I managed to dye all the Uchiha Elder's formal clothing a bright yellow. You grounded me for a week while telling me that if it had been anyone else it would have been for a month."

Mikoto let out a relieved sigh. Yes, an enemy ninja interrogating Itachi might have been able to extract information from her son but details like that would almost certainly be over looked. However she wanted to be absolutely sure, she now trusted this Itachi with her life but not Naruto's.

"Okay, what did I give Sasuke for his seventh birthday?" It was a trick question, in reality Mikoto had not been allowed to give Sasuke a birthday present. Fugaku had forbidden it when Sasuke had been unable to perform the Grand Fireball jutsu to his father's expectations.

Itachi frowned in thought. "If I am recalling correctly, father forbid Sasuke from getting any birthday gifts since he couldn't perform the Grand Fireball technique to the same standard that I did when I was Sasuke's age."

Finally believing that her son had found her, Mikoto dropped her guard. There was absolutely no reason to think that an enemy had extracted both useless titbits of information.

"Itachi, thank god you found me. You have to get us back to the village. I found Naruto Uzumaki and I am sure that the Hokage will be anxious to see him."

Itachi was relieved. He had thought his mother dead, taken against her will and forced to do things he had nightmares about. Not to mention that the first part of his new mission was completed so suddenly. Itachi didn't really think he would actually find the missing Naruto and that he would be forced to go on with his infiltration of Akatsuki without finding the boy.

"Mother, I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are alive. I have a lot to tell you but first I must deliver a message."

With that, Itachi took out the scroll that Jiraiya had given him and opened it. It contained a localized summoning circle, good for limited use. Seeing that it was only useable two more times, Itachi bit his thumb, drawing blood before going through the necessary hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With that done, a small messenger toad materialized. Giving instructions to the toad to tell Jiraiya that Itachi had found Naruto and that Jiraiya was needed as soon as possible, Itachi let the toad disperse to deliver the message. He only hoped that Jiraiya was able to get to his location quickly.

Turning back to his mother, Itachi frowned, "Mother, there is so much I need to tell you."

A/N: As I said, re-writting is a LOT of fun, at least for me. Having said that, I have made my final adjustments since I have also worked on Chapter 11 before uploading. I will update chapter 12 when my editor manages to give me some feedback on the latest chapter.

Also no, Kaito is absolutely nowhere near Guy's level. He definitely needed all 8 gates to finish his fight.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.