Eluding the Enemy

Naruto sat in Tsunade's office with several of the Konoha officials, all giving him hostile glares. They had been discussing the best way to deal with the villagers; several officials believed informing them about Gyakumodori would cause an angry up-rise against Naruto, while others argued keeping it secret would be unfair.

After several long hours of discussion, Tsunade rose to her feet.

"It's been decided… We will keep Gyakumodori a secret; the villagers will not know about Naruto. And you," She turned to Kyuubi, " You will have to respond to Naruto as if it was your own name, and act as him." There were several grunts of annoyance coming from some of the officials, but after they met Tsunade's eyes, they silenced themselves unhappily.

"Officials, I dismiss you; however, Naruto, I wish to speak to you- alone." They waited as the Konoha officials filed out of the room, returning to their daily tasks.

"Alright, Naruto, we need to discuss how to find Sasuke. I've been asking around, and he seems to have disappeared after he attacked you." Naruto blinked, concern clouding his face,

"But what about the real Naruto? Should we wait until he wakes to start searching?" Tsunade shook her head sadly,

"We're not even sure if he will wake up, as unfortunate as it would be, you may have to kill Sasuke without Naruto's knowing." Kyuubi nodded to show he understood, but did not respond. "Now… the main concern is finding Sasuke, it's not going to be easy since he is an S-rank ninja with incredible skills, but if we can find a lead-"

"And where do you suggest we find one of those?" Naruto interrupted, his patience was low after sitting, listening to the Konoha ninjas discuss the matters, addressing Naruto as if he were a monster. He was disgusted by their behavior, which worsened his mood, and lowered his tolerance. It also didn't help that his injuries were causing him a fair amount of pain.

Tsunade angrily glared at Naruto, her patience was running thin as well. They sat in silence for several minutes, when Shizune walked in with a tray of tea.

"Here! I've brought some tea if you want-" She stopped abruptly, realizing she had walked in at a tense moment, she weakly tried to excuse herself. "Oh, s-sorry! I'll just get going now-"

"No, Shizune, it's all right." Tsunade said, relaxing her muscles as she took a cup from Shizune's tray. She turned back to Naruto, who was still glaring defiantly over at her. "We'll discuss this tomorrow, I don't see a way to track him down, but I'll consent with some ANBU and see if we can get a lead on him."

Naruto stood up, and walked out of the room, muttering his farewells. Tsunade watched him go, and leaned back in her chair, sighing.

"I'm really beginning to miss Naruto…."

Outside, Naruto peered up at the stars, remembering the last time he had seen such a beautiful night. It had been the night of Yondaime's death.

The moon was full, brightly illuminating the village's paths, as Naruto trudged down the road. He stopped when he realized where his feet had taken him: the graveyard.

Naruto wove through several weathered stones, looking for one in stone in particular. As he searched, however, the moon's light began to fade, as dark billowing clouds filled the night sky. Intent on finding the grave, however, Naruto continued to look, even as a light rain began.

The light rain began to fall harder, soaking him, but at last, he found it: a very well-kept grave with many flowers sprouting around it. Naruto couldn't read what it said, but somehow… he just… knew it was Yondaime's.

He stood, in the pouring rain, head bent in mourning, angry at himself for killing a friend that had been so close to him. The rain, heavily coming down all around him, made him shiver, so he decided to head back to Naruto's apartment.

He began to walk, but stopped with a dread as he realized that he had no idea where Naruto's apartment was. And so, tired and cold, he took refuge under a large oak. The leaves provided some shelter, and for that, he was grateful. Deciding it would be best for him to try and sleep, he closed his eyes, letting the rain lull him into a deep sleep.

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Kyuubi leaped down next to Minato and began to channeling his chakra into his companion, who, in turn, used the extra chakra to make a powerful sphere of swirling red and blue. Minato ran right into a tree, smashing it with the powerful chakra-sphere.

Minato staggered back and watched as the tree crashed down, moaning as it went. Smiling, he fell on his back, too exhausted to stay standing.

"W-we did it!" He closed his eyes and slept for a while, regaining his strength. Kyuubi laughed and sat himself by his friend, happy that they were finally able to accomplish the almost impossible feat of creating a rasengan with both of their chakra's mingling together.

Kyuubi's happiness began to fade, however, as a wind brushed by, leaving a chill in the air. Darkness engulfed the forest around him, and he recognized the familiar voice that he detested so much… the person he would seek and kill as soon as he could.

"He betrayed you! Are you going to let that brat get away with what he did to you? Let your hate overcome friendship, he was planning from the beginning to kill you.

Kill him."

"No!" Kyuubi roared, the familiar pain of betrayal overtaking his thoughts, as he was swallowed by blackness.

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Naruto's eyes flicked open, he could feel his heart beating quickly as he stared into the darkness, something was moving. His eyes tried to find the person in the rain, but there was no one there.

A sudden voice from behind him made him jump,

"Kyu- I mean Naruto-kun what are you doing out here?" Sakura was kneeling beside him, looking questioningly at where he lay, leaning on the side of the tree. He smiled, trying not to act foolish,

"Heh, well, you see…wait, what are you doing here?" Sakura stood up and stretched,

"Sometimes I just like to walk around, even if it is in the middle of a stormy night. But what about you?"

Naruto sighed,

"I have no idea where Naruto lives," He admitted. Sakura thought about it and smiled,

"If you'd like, I could show you!" She beckoned for Naruto to follow. He stood and began to follow, but suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, listening. Sakura noticed something was wrong and stopped, too.

As Naruto listened, he heard a slight noise behind the soft pattering of the rain. He drew out a kunai and watched as Sakura did the same. She nodded, showing that she had heard the noise as well.

Naruto leaped, grabbing the intruder and holding a kunai to his neck. As soon as he felt the cold metal against his throat, the intruder stopped struggling, but Naruto could feel his shoulders heaving. Naruto's stomach turned as he realized his prisoner was laughing.

"Don't lay a finger on him," a female voice came from the shadows, and a tall black-haired Kunoichi appeared, holding a kunai to Sakura's throat. Sakura struggled, but to no avail,

"Let- go- of me- Bitch!" The female nin's smile faded and she knocked Sakura in the head,

"Don't forget who the one with the kunai is," She said angrily, as Sakura glared up at her. "Now," She turned to Naruto, "Let go of him, and your little friend here won't get hurt." Naruto was about to let the male nin out of his grasp when Sakura yelled out,

"Naruto! Don't let him go! They're allies of Sasuke! They might know where he is!" At this, Naruto pulled the nin closer to him,

"Do you know where he is?" He asked, looking down at the nin stuck in his grasp.

"As if I'd tell the likes of you," Naruto pressed the knife closer to his throat, making the contact point red with irritation.

"Hey!" He heard the kunoichi yell, but he ignored her.

"Tell me!" He said angrily, pushing the knife closer, to the young nin's throat, drawing a little blood. "Tell me now, or die,"

"Naruto!" Sakura was looking at him with pure fear.

"Ok, ok!" He gasped, his fingers pressing against Naruto's arms. "Sasuke… we don't really know where he is… we were just…. spies… sent to see if you were still alive…"

"And how were you going to get this information to him?"

"We know he's going to come to the valley of the end… we just don't know when…" Naruto released his grip and watched as the nin staggered, holding his neck and throwing back angry looks. The black-haired kunoichi released Sakura, throwing her to the ground, before disappearing with the young male nin.

Naruto helped Sakura up, brushing the dirt off her outfit, but she recoiled from fear.

"Naruto! You-you drew blood from that ninja's throat! You were going to kill him!" He shrugged, unaffected by the accusation.

"Yeah? What of it? I got the information, and I didn't kill him, so where's the harm?" Sakura stood rigid from fear and anger. She had never seen Naruto so aggressive. Just the thought of him about to kill that nin ran through her mind, a broken record. She did not speak to him, but showed him the way back to Naruto's apartment, where he offered her to stay and have some warm tea. Too scared to stay, she declined and ran off into the darkness, leaving nothing but the soft patter of rain behind.

Naruto sat on the sill of his window, letting the rain hit him in that face. He liked it outside in the rain much better than in the stuffy apartment, but he knew that he would have to go inside soon.

He let his thoughts drift off to distant memories; it had been a long time since he had had the chance to be by himself to think. His thoughts drifted to Sakura and her reaction with how he had treated his prisoner.

Hey, Kyuubi-kun, long time no talk. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and delight as he recognized the blonde's familiar voice.