Imprisoned

Normal Monologue

Thoughts

Voice/Inner Sakura

Inner Sakura's Thoughts

Jutsu

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

I've already said this in my other stories, but from now on, I will be doing this question-thank you-kind of thing for reviews that were sent in. Just so you know weekly how much I adore your support. D

Thanks to all that have reviewed in the past: evryluvsmisty, twin083, RealyManlyPimps, Kaiser Spartan, MelissaKS, full-metal-sousuke, shinobilegend101, Naruto's biggest fan, MelissaKS and Silent, zaisuro, dbzgtfan2004, gsnks, Draklin, Arivoctix, meko292012, Mira94, where r my chips, and 77Cat77.

And I extend that thanks to all the people that didn't review, but read the story. The hits speak too.

Sakura, Sukiya, and Gaara dashed into the alley, looking around wildly for their blonde friend. But with minutes of searching and no shinobi in sight, it became clear and true to them of the truth: someone had kidnapped Naruto.

"Oh god, this is all my fault. If I had just been a better fighter, I could have defended myself without the need for Naruto to get in the fight. And now he's who knows where with that man.", Sukiya ranted, pacing back and forth nervously. Sakura placed a comforting hand on the green-haired girl's shoulder, easing the shaking girls nerves.

"It's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself. We'll find him; don't worry. Besides, Naruto's a trained Leaf ninja, taught by some of the finest teachers this century has ever seen. If we don't get to him, he can take care of himself.", Sakura assured her, though the words were really meant more toward her nerves as well. Gaara nodded in agreement.

"He's a strong shinobi; he'll last quite well on his own for a while. But still, if we don't find him soon, we'll be majorly off schedule. Could you give us a description of who attacked us?", Gaara commented, watching Sukiya calmly.

"Well, he was big, and had a scorpion-like tail. He has a great skill of dealing with puppets in the time that I fought him by myself. I've seen him around the town before now recently as well, and he was always wearing a black robe with red clouds.", Sukiya explained in return. Sakura and Gaara exchanged a glance; they both knew very well who this figure was.

"It's Sasori, one of the Akatsuki.", Gaara muttered, his eyes taking on a gleam known as thoughtfulness. Sakura was also delved deep in her own mind.

"I don't get it; Chiyo and I killed Sasori almost a year ago. How did he survive, and why did he wait this long to show his face?", Sakura wondered aloud. Gaara too mulled this over.

"He must have only been close to death, and nursed back to health by another member of the organization. And I could see why; for their plan to take over the nine jinchuuriki, they would need nine people striving for the same goal to be met. This would require Sasori to be there and in good enough health to accept the bijuu,", Gaara said. Sakura nodded, but she could swear that the man had been dead when she left the stone hideout. Could she have made a mistake?

"Do you know where the Akatsuki would take any prisoners wanted for high crimes?", Gaara questioned, glancing at Sukiya. The girl furrowed her brow, scanning the city's layout for possible keeps. After a few minutes, a smile danced across her lips.

"There is only one prison in Ame, and only for the few that rob houses or try to set up chains of explosives in square. But, a few years ago, I overheard a few guards talking about the construction of a secret underground jail for raiding shinobi, or if there were ever a civil war, they would set up a base there. I think that's where they would take him. Somewhere that he wouldn't be able to escape, and somewhere that no one else knows about.", she said, her voice growing excited by the word. A grin broke out on Sakura's face and even a small smirk decorated Gaara's expression.

"Well then, lead the way.", Gaara stated.

Naruto landed heavily on a cold stone floor, the air rushing out of his lungs in a blast.

"Enjoy your time here while we wait for the Boss's sentence, scum.", Sasori's voice echoed against the walls, growing faint as he walked away, back toward sunlight. The blonde had absolutely now idea where they had decided to dump him, but he assumed that it wasn't just any old jail cell.

"You're right; it isn't.", a voice called out from behind him, causing Naruto to jump up and hold himself in a defensive stance. He wasn't the only on in this cell.

"Who's there?", Naruto called out, his defensive position strong. A dark-haired boy stepped out of the darkness, followed by a girl with light blonde hair, tied in a low ponytail. Her footsteps were silent and soft, and her face was pale. But the most interesting feature was her eyes. They were a deep maroon color, and were slit vertically, almost like cats eyes. The boy had shaggy black hair ending right above his eyebrows, bringing out the vibrancy of his green eyes. He was tall and strangely enough, had small black horns sticking out of his head, barely un-noticeable because of his hair. Naruto's stance faltered and then fell completely as he watched the two approach. They certainly weren't the average human.

"Naruto Uzumaki, right?", the boy said, his eyes narrowing in speculation. Naruto nodded slowly.

"What of it?", he asked. The girl smiled.

"We've been looking for you."

"So that's the entrance to the prison huh?", Sakura whispered, watching the guards stride to and fro in the yards. Sukiya nodded,

"That's the secret jail they constructed. But it's highly guarded, especially at night.", the girl replied. Gaara sighed.

"Well, that makes it difficult." Sakura turned to face him.

"What do you mean?", she asked.

"A ninja's best defense is the darkness, and attacking at night was the idea. But I don't want to risk us being detected, especially with all the bijuu-powered Akatsuki members that have to be in there.", Gaara said, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Then, we'll just have to wait until the sun comes up. If we attack at dawn, then we'll still have a little bit of night on our side.", Sakura suggested. Gaara nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's the best option we have at this point."

"So at dawn it is.", Sukiya said, smiling.

"Looking…for me? Why?", Naruto asked, confusion obvious. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Who do you think we are?", the girl asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Prisoners of the Akatsuki?", he guessed. The girl groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Are you sure he's the one?", she muttered to the boy. He nodded.

"Of course he is! Why else would they have brought him here he wasn't.", he murmured back in reply.

"What do you mean 'the one'? What the hell are you talking about?", Naruto asked.

"Well, as you can see, we have traits unlike most other humans. You do too.", the boy said, pointing at Naruto's face. Naruto's hand brushed his cheeks; he hadn't noticed that the lines were coming back, though this time they were fuller.

"I have horns and she had cat eyes.", he added. Naruto nodded; he was following so far.

"And you have those marks because of what you used to hold.", the girl said. Naruto's eyes widened at what they were getting at.

"Then that means…you're jinchuuriki!", Naruto exclaimed. The boy nodded.

"Kaito and Reiya, former holders of the Yonbi and Nibi, at your service.", Kaito said, smirking sarcastically.

Outside the Fortress—

The three were drawing out a plan in the dust, taking what knowledge Sukiya knew about the fortress and making a rough copy of what they'd be dealing with in the next couple of hours.

"Ok, so that's basically our not-so-stable plan of action.", Sakura concluded. Gaara nodded. He glanced toward Sukiya.

"Thanks for your help. You can head back to your apartment now.", he said, turning back to their "map". Sukiya's eyes widened.

"Huh?", she asked.

"Well, you have to live here and if any of them caught you helping us, they'd make your life miserable. Unlike us, we'll be gone before they can even get the report out.", Sakura explained.

"I don't plan on being here either.", she muttered, loud enough only for the two to hear. They turned to her, questions swarming in their eyes.

"I was coming to tell you…I reconsidered. I want to join you, and to help you with the Akatsuki.", she said. A smile sprouted on Sakura's face.

"What about that rivalry between the Sanbi and Kyuubi?", Gaara said. Sukiya shrugged.

"Sure they had a feud and everything, but that doesn't mean that Naruto and I can't get along. I mean, he isn't the Kyuubi, just like I'm not the Sanbi.", the girl explained. Sakura's smile grew.

"Awesome! Another girl on the force!", she exclaimed.

"And where do you stand on taking your bijuu back?", Gaara asked, voicing the biggest question aloud. Sukiya grinned.

"People did dislike me for holding the Sanbi; I mean, which one of us hasn't gone through that? But the Sanbi was always kind to me and she loved me like her own. I was actually…sad when she was taken. You know, before I died and everything.", Sukiya said, her light green eyes darkening slightly.

"So are you willing to take back your bijuu, to sacrifice your life for the Great Nations if necessary, your own emotions not getting in the way of the issue?", Gaara asked. Sukiya nodded, and the confidence in her tone was overwhelming.

"I do…until my last breath.", she whispered, placing a hand over her heart. Gaara smirked in return.

"Good. Then we attack at dawn…all of us together.", he said, leaning against a tree for some much needed rest and preparing for the mission to come.

Naruto smiled.

"How ironic. You came looking for me, when we were going to go looking for you.", the blonde said. Now it was Kaito's turn to by confused.

"We?", he clarified. Naruto nodded.

"I'm traveling with the one-tailed's jinchuuriki, Gaara of the Desert, and a comrade of mine from my village, Sakura Haruno."

"She's not one of us?", Reiya gasped. Naruto shook his head.

"She's a medical ninja and a great one at that. Our Hokage thought she would be of good use to us and well…I couldn't persuade her to turn back. So we're a team of three. We came to Ame seeking the Sanbi's jinchuuriki. We found her, but she refused. I was hoping that she would change her mind and as of yet, I don't know where she lies.", Naruto explained. Kaito nodded.

"I had heard you were coming here from a few ninja in my village back home. When word reached me that you were trying to establish a team of the jinchuuriki, I was quick to get here. I was hoping I'd run into you…only in better conditions then this.", the boy said.

"Same with me. My village is small and not very far from here, so the news hit our place when one of Suna's traders came. Said something about their Kazekage leaving on a mission with the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. I pretty much guessed what you were planning from there on out.", she explained.

"So, if the information reached your villages, could it be possible that the other jinchuuriki know by now as well?", Naruto questioned. This would be a lot easier then he thought if the rest of their troops already knew they were coming and decided to meet them like Reiya and Kaito did. But those thoughts were quickly extinguished when Kaito said, "No. Before I left, I killed the only other two that knew. I didn't want the information to get out to the wrong people, such as the Akatsuki. If would be better for a surprise attack." Reiya nodded in agreement.

"Same with me. Though I heard it from only one person and it was easy to deal with him. I thought it was the best thing to do.", she added. Naruto sighed; he knew that was a better solution, but he had just hoped that this whole thing would turn out to be a little easier.

"That was good quick thinking. I agree; if news got out too far, it might ruin our plans before they even have time to take-off.", Naruto muttered.

"Exactly. But it won't matter what we did if we die here, and that's precisely what's going to happen if we don't get out of here.", Kaito said.

"I see your point and I fully agree. I know the way out from when they brought me down here, but there are so many guards. I don't know if only three of us can take them.", Naruto said.

"But we can't just sit here and wait for them to let us free, cause we all know that's never gonna happen.", Reiya said. Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. In seconds, he had an idea.

"But what if there's six of us?", Naruto muttered, his cerulean eyes bright with excitement.

"What do you mean?", Kaito asked.

"I told you about my comrades. Well, Sakura and Gaara aren't ones to give up. They're probably with Sukiya right now, maybe right outside this base as we speak. If I can just get a message to them, then we can add three others to our breakout.", Naruto explained. It will all depend if Sukiya reconsidered if this will work.

"But they're out there and we're in here. And even if they managed to find this place, how do we get a message to them?", Reiya asked. Naruto smirked.

"The jinchuuriki all have a connection of some sort. I'm not sure if this'll work; I might just be dreaming big things. But if I can find that connections, I might just be able to reach Gaara through my mindscape.", Naruto said, already sitting on the ground and focusing. Reiya only looked on in confusion but Kaito was smiling.

"That's so incredibly crazy…that it just might work.", he muttered. Naruto smiled.

"Well, let's hope so. Cause if it doesn't we're stuck against the odds."

Here's a question that you might be thinking: does such a connection actually exist? Probably not, but hey, it's thinking outside the box, huh? Anyway, the next chapter will be better and on time. Sorry, I didn't have it finished yesterday.

Kyubbi-Kitsune

Next Chapter: Break

"Naruto, is that you?"