25 ~

Goku and Chi-Chi entered the hospital room slowly. Master Roshi sat next Krillin's bed, watching the unconscious boy's vitals while the nurse was out of the room. He turned his head and smiled at the two kids, "Good to see you two come by!" He stood up and walked forward, ruffling Goku's hair. "We've been waiting on you to come by, Goku-kun."

The saiyan boy smiled awkwardly and walked up Krillin's bed side, his eyes tracing across the multiple stitches across his body. It looked like he had literally been torn apart and put back together, "He looks like a zombie." Goku spoke up and frowned, turning to look at Chi-Chi and Master Roshi, but the older man's attention was barely with the kids anymore.

The fair-skinned nurse returned to the room to swap out the fluids from Krillin's IV, her sizeable bust was barely contained by her form-fitting uniform. She offered a smile at Goku, which made the boy blush, and Master Roshi had his tongue hanging from his mouth. The woman left the room to return to her regular work routine, while Goku and Master Roshi's head swiveled watching her leave.

The older man tapped his cane against the floor and grinned, "I think we should stay here for Krillin, I think he needs our support!" He looked at Goku and lowered his sunglasses, winking at the boy, but was instantly slapped in the face by an upset Chi-Chi. The man promptly stood up, "Or we can go train."

Chi-Chi grabbed both Goku and Master Roshi by the ear and dragged them out of the room. The boy had only been at the hospital for minutes and he was already leaving, "I think Master Roshi is right, he needs our support!" The girl ignored him and continued to drag them all the way to the stairwell.

She turned around and glared at them both, "This is not a joke, we need to stay sharp, or else something like this can happen again! Krillin wouldn't want us standing around!" The girl yelled and stormed out of the door.

"She's mad," Goku stated the obvious and looked up at his sensei for the day. The man frowned, "I think we need to do what she says, at least for today, old man." He offered his fist up to Master Roshi, and they bumped knuckles before following the girl down the stairwell.

"She's always mad," He explained to Goku. The man's famous grin returned to his face as they made their way to the hospital lobby. "Today is going to be very important; you'll get a lesson in utilizing your natural energy, but more importantly; women. There's nothing more dangerous than an angry woman."

"Why is that, Master Roshi?" Goku asked as they were now ear shot of Chi-Chi.

"Because they have to power to withhold something no man has and that's-" Roshi stopped midsentence when he looked up to see Chi-Chi glaring at him across the lobby. He placed his arm around Goku's shoulder and shook his head, "You'll learn in due time, my boy."

"Enough of that useless chit chat, let's get moving," Chi-Chi instructed, despite being the student. At least for today, she would be making sure everything went smoothly and on schedule. She knew where they needed to be, and what they were supposed to be doing. The little girl led the way, and the two men had no choice but to follow after her.

Master Roshi's team had a designated training field that they always worked at. It sat right behind the older man's house in the higher parts of the village, the space being mostly empty, with a pool full of spring water built into the middle of it. His home sat on a cliff, and the trio could see multiple mountains from where they stood.

Chi-Chi sat down, and urged Goku to do the same. Master Roshi placed his hands behind his back, walking to the edge of the cliff and then turned to face the two children sitting in his training field. "Today, we're going to be learning about the earth's energy, which is known as natural energy or quite simply 'ki.' It's one of the most powerful things this world has to offer," He held out his palm and formed a small yellow ball made of energy. "On the other hand, we have our inner energy, which is widely known as chakra." In his other hand, he created a small blue ball of energy to demonstrate.

The two students watched in awe as the man combined the two balls of energy, making one green sphere of energy, "Together they are extremely powerful, but I'll get to that another day. I'm teaching you about how to draw natural energy and converting it to a usable source of power."

The ball of green energy disintegrated and Master Roshi closed his palm, letting it fall back to his side. He now sat on the ground and got into a meditation pose, silently ordering the two students to do the same. He took a deep breath and started to draw in energy, which made him glow an electric blue as he did so.

Goku watched with his mouth wide open, completely amazed by the feat, and closed his eyes so he could try to do the same, but Chi-Chi flicked him on his head so he could continue to watch Master Roshi. The energy was absorbed into his body and continued to mix it with his chakra perfectly, and his presence came off to the children as stronger.

"For now, I want you two focus on meditating," Master Roshi explained, as he let all of the excess energy flowing through his body die down, and returned to his normal state. "If you handle that energy wrong, you can turn into stone!" He exclaimed while laughing.

The saiyan boy looked around at the statues that once looked like decoration, before noticing they were actual people that were sitting in the same pose he was in. He gulped quietly and closed his eyes so he could meditate like the man told him to do, a practice he was getting tired of doing.

He'd be happy when someone actually taught him an offensive technique.

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

N was trailing behind two men dressed in black and red cloaks. Since his capture by the Akatsuki, he was unofficially working for them, until they reunited him with his parents as promised. He had even been outfitted with his own Akatsuki attire, which consisted of an all black padded vest, a black hooded sweatshirt underneath it (per his request), and matching blank pants. He wore a red armband with a black cloud outline, which was his only show of affiliation with the group.

The boy never would have imagined that the leader would send him out as quickly as he did, especially with the group of men that captured him. They moved in silence, which he had no problem with, but he was slightly discomforted by the white bird with the blood red sharingan eyes that stayed perched on his shoulder. It made the feeling of being constantly watched even worse, but he would have to live with it for the moment.

Yeruslan was the odd one out of the group, who skipped throughout the forest instead of walking normally like the rest of the shinobi present. He twisted his body in mid-air and grinned at their newest recruit, "You don't talk much, do ya?" He asked, tilting his head as he did so.

"I'm not really trying to get to know you guys, no offense," N averted his eyes away from the slim man who moved like he had no bones in his body. The boy was only being honest, since he had his motives within Akatsuki, and planned to drop them like a bad habit once he got what he needed.

"None taken," Itachi spoke up, and stopped walking. They were approaching the top of a hill, which at the bottom was a small town. "We've arrived, everyone understands the plans right?"

They all nodded in unison, save for Itachi and they continued down the hill and entered the small town. It was a run down village with a lot of dilapidated buildings, but it was still functional. People moved about to go to work, school, or simply roam the streets trying to find what was going on for the day.

The bird that was perched on N's shoulder flew off and the pack of shinobi broke away from each other. Yeruslan walked down the street and entered a random building, and N was instructed by Itachi to follow after him. The boy watched as Itachi moved with a purpose, the whole town already mapped out in his head, and he knew they scanned the place before even coming.

Everything the Akatsuki did was well planned and concise, except for Deidara's division. The man, who was currently head of the interrogation division, entered a diner with N in tow, and sat in a booth that was on the left side of the restaurant.

It was an energetic establishment, with live music being played the moment they walked in. The diner was full of people, with waitresses constantly moving in and out of the kitchen. One of the waiters walked up to the booth the two Akatsuki members sat in, "Are you two ready to order?" They both nodded and she flipped a new page in her booklet. "What would you like?"

"My son would like to learn how to play the piano," Itachi said without looking at any type of menu. The woman closed her booklet and nodded before walking off. The raven-haired man reached into his cloak and pulled out his wallet. The woman returned with a booklet, Itachi opened it, and placed a stack of bills within the cover.

The woman opened the booklet, made sure the correct amount was there, and then tucked it under her arm. She held her hand out and helped Itachi out of the booth, and did the same for N. They all wordlessly walked into the back of the diner. It appeared to be a normal diner, but she led them all the way to the back, and opened the door to the freezer.

They stepped inside the chilly environment, and she kneeled down to pull up the secret door that led underneath the diner. She was the first the go down the ladder that led to the underground warehouse, and the two Akatsuki members followed her lead.

N knew his experiences with the Akatsuki would be wild, but he didn't expect it all to happen so soon. The warehouse lived up to its name, being a fully functional stash spot for all of the unmarked crates filled with only god knows what. The boy was in awe, following behind Itachi and the waitress.

Vehicles N had never seen were rolling across the warehouse floor, and he and Itachi were being led to one of the only other rooms inside the warehouse, which was currently being used as an office. The waitress stopped there, letting them walk inside without her, while she returned to her regular job.

There was a man sitting with his back turned, watching a television with security feeds all over it. He swiveled in his chair, revealing his heavily masked face. His head was wrapped in a special cloth, and he wore full body armor all the way up to his neck. Over his light armor, he wore baggy, earth tone clothing that looked ragged.

He stepped from behind the table, dragging his brown boots across the floor. He extended his hand, "Key," he introduced simply. The man gestured toward the two seats that were in front of his desk and Itachi promptly sat down, while N continued to stand off to the side.

"You requested our presence," Itachi opened their conversation and got straight to the point. For Key to have the direct contact to Akatsuki radio waves was concerning, and wasn't something they planned on ignoring. Instead sending a grunt in to see what he wanted, Itachi went instead, since he was more than capable of handling himself.

"I did," Key replied and reached under his desk. It made not only N wary, but Itachi as well. He pulled out a plastic package and set it on the table. He pointed at the vacuum sealed package, "I think we have similar end goals, and could benefit from working with each other."

"I would agree," Itachi leaned forward and examined the package full of green powder. He covered his index finger in sharp chakra and sliced the bag open. The man pressed his finger in the finely grained powder and sniffed it, "This is senzu powder, correct?" Key nodded in response, and Itachi pushed the package back toward the man.

"We're willing to include the Akatsuki in this business in exchange for top of the line protection," Key laid the offer on the table metaphorically and leaned back in his chair. He tilted his head upward and grinned, hoping to acquire a new partner today.

"We cannot be directly associated with your … group, but we can offer lucrative funds and a special kind of manpower," Itachi explained but the man shook his head no the whole time he spoke.

"We want you," Key was quick to respond, but before the conversation could move any further, N felt an uncomfortable shift in the air, and was fast to tackle Itachi to the ground. The whole room was soon decorated with bullets, and the sound of horrified screams filled N's ears.

The two Akatsuki members were still on the ground, and N slowly moved from out under the desk. He was devastated to see Key with multiple bullets lodged through his head, and his blood pouring freely across the desk. Itachi stood up and carelessly grabbed the vacuum seal package from earlier and began moving.

Before they could leave the office, the door was kicked in, and three men dressed in the same kind of distressed earth-tone clothing as Key moved in on Itachi and N, "Put your fucking hands up!" They were all holding futuristic looking rifles, and they were all pointed at the Akatsuki members.

Itachi looked at N, and the boy threw his hand out, sending out an explosive wave of energy that ripped through the grunts with relative ease. They were all sent flying out of the entry way, and the two teammates rushed out of the warehouse. Everything had been cleared out, and all of the people that were once working there were gone.

The older Akatsuki member figured that Key's own workers had turned on him, and now they were going to try and kill him and N. When they got outside of the diner, they weren't pleased to see Yeruslan being forced to walk forward with multiple rifles pointed to his back. Despite his situation, he had a smile plastered on his face when he saw Itachi with blood splattered over his face.

"They had us figured out, Itachi-kun," Yeruslan said with his hands behind his head. He laughed like a child, "It's a double sting!"

"We're both looking for the same person, there's no need for us to fight," A man spoke up, positioned on top of one of the many ragged buildings. He had very close cut hair, with arrow designs cut into top, and sides of his head. The man had fair brown skin, a chiseled face with multiple cuts on it, and a neatly shaved beard. He wore the same earth-tone, baggy, clothing like the rest of his small militia. He had a large rifle sitting strapped to his back, "We can both leave now and continue our search."

Itachi looked around, watching as more people filtered out of the buildings in the same style of attire as the man who was on the roof. They were all armed, and Itachi knew when to pick his battles, "Very well, but the next time we cross paths; let's not step on each other's toes."

The man nodded and ordered his men to stand down, and he leapt off of the building and led his makeshift army out of the town. Itachi, N, and Yeruslan watched in silence as they left, but couldn't help but feel wary about the whole situation.

"Why didn't we kill them, Itachi-kun?" Yeruslan asked, because they looked like more of a threat than they did help.

Itachi looked down on the bag of 'senzu powder' with a smirk, "Because they're going to help us find the Demon King: Piccolo."

. . .

( Konohagakure no Sato ~ With Kakashi )

The man had just finished eating a bowl of ramen, and the owner of the shop, Teuchi, brought him his bill. The jounin reached into his wallet and paid his tab, "Thank you again, Teuchi." He said as he got up from the bar, but before he could leave; the old man stopped him.

"Kakashi, I think there's something wrong with Naruto-kun," The old man explained worriedly.

The man with the gravity defying hair tilted his head to the side, prompting the old man to go on. He explained that Naruto hadn't visited his stand all day, and unless he was on a mission; that never happened. His friends even came looking for him not too long. With Naruto being such a systematic person, whenever something was off; everyone knew it, and Kakashi felt it as well.

"I suppose you're right," The shinobi sighed and placed on of his hands into his pocket. "I'll get to the bottom of it." That was the end of their interaction, and the man waved goodbye.

His first instinct was to take matters to the Hokage, because Naruto being gone was surely something he'd care about. When he arrived, he was startled to see both Shikamaru and Choji's fathers already there, and discussing a similar matter. Apparently they hadn't been able to find their sons for hours, and they were trying to get ANBU personnel to help with the case.

Kakashi entered the room and added his information into the mix, "Naruto and Sasuke are missing as well." He alerted the Hokage, Shikaku, and Choza. The room went silent, as they digested the newest piece of info, and realized how serious it had just become. "Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke were looking for Naruto earlier today, so he was the first to vanish."

"There aren't any records of them leaving the village today, so they're within the walls of the village," Shikaku started to piece together everything they had gathered in the small amount of time. He knew his son would never stay out this late without reason, and he would have told him in advance. "Either they're hiding from us, or someone else is hiding them from us."

"Choji would never miss dinner," Choza sighed, thinking about his son in possible danger stressed him out.

The Third Hokage stroked his goatee with a frown, "There are only a few people who hide in plain sight, and none of them ever have good intentions." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I think I know who's behind it, and I'm assigning you three the task of finding him. This has Danzo's fingerprints all over it, he's always quietly obsessed over Naruto, and I'm sure the kids got caught in the middle of it."

Shikaku nodded, "We'll have the Hyuga clan scan the village, and the Inuzuka's try to trace the boy's scent to wherever they're being held."

"Very well, everyone move out!"

. . .

( Konohagakure no Sato )

Danzo was a patient man, who constantly worked in the shadows, but he finally felt confident enough to step into the forefront with his ideas, and one of his most time consuming projects was close to being done. The man stood in front of a large holding tank, which was filled with liquid, and inside was a young boy with an oxygen mask over his face.

He turned around and looked at the other two tanks, which held Naruto and Sasuke in an identical state of consciousness. They were all connected, and his decade long plan was starting to come into fruition. All the data and DNA samples he collected would finally be useful. As he watched over the process, one of his subordinates shuffled into the room and handed him a folder.

"The transfusion, as well as the transplant was a success," The doctor reported and grinned toward the old man. The expression wasn't returned, but he was giddy none the less. "Once their chakra is finished draining, he should be able to actually be released."

"That's what I like to he-" Both Danzo and the doctor turned their heads quickly, and their eyes widened when they saw the glass of the tanks cracking. All of the liquid spilled out onto the ground and branches began jutting out from the ground. It didn't take long before the whole room was overflowing, and the doctor was scared out of his mind. He retreated from the room, but Danzo refused to leave.

He drew his concealed weapon from his cane, and enhanced the cutting power with his wind-style chakra. The man tried cutting through the constantly growing branches, but a piece of it stabbed into his right bicep, and before he knew it; it was ripping through his body faster than he could respond. His blood poured onto the wood, and he was stuck in place.

At the center of it all was the mystery boy, and the trees continued to travel throughout the underground base. The wood wrapped around his body, serving as a protective cell, as the growth of the large tree continued, and ripped through ceiling. Anyone above ground could see the tree constantly growing in height, and made it possible for their location to be pinpointed.

Naruto and Sasuke regained consciousness at the same time, both of them locking eyes, and immediately cutting themselves free. They dropped onto the ground simultaneously, and helped each other up. After all they had been through that night, there were no words to be exchanged.

They had both been cut open, and drained of considerable amounts of blood. Naruto's natural recovery rate was working wonders on his body, while Sasuke still felt groggy, and his vision was hazy. He had to make sure he still had both of his eyes, and they were present, but the scientists had made incisions trying to get to his cornea for whatever reason.

It had all happened so fast, the two boys didn't know how to process it. They didn't know what is was for either, but they had a feeling it had to do with the boy that was encased in a cocoon made of wood. The two teammates sustained each other with their arms and took a few cautious steps forward, and nearly fell over when the boy opened his eyes and stared back at them.

Naruto's voice was still shaky, but he had a feeling in his stomach, "You're Jirou, aren't you?"

. . .

The new arc begins next chapter. I had big plans for Karin in Son Goku, but apparently they were too big; so I gave Karin her own story. I always thought her character had a lot of potential, so follow her journey of becoming a threat as she fights the disease, and becomes one of the most notorious people in the ninja world in: The Day The World Turned Black.