Eyes of the Broken Soul

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated in any way with Naruto. I just like the show and mangas so I wrote this fanfic.

Beta reader: Kiiroi Senko! XD

Alright, so this chapter took me a little bit longer than I originally expected, so I'm sorry for the delay. Alas, these things happen from time to time, although being stuck without a mac for three days certainly didn't help any bit. I know you'll forgive me!!! XD

Hope you enjoy the next chapter. ^ ^

--

Chapter 28 - The Shadow Strikes

The clattering grumble of shuffling rocks and falling debris sounded throughout the dense thick plume of smoke that picked up into the air as the side of the mountain wavered precariously under itself, reacting to the powerful explosion that had just erupted from its side.

Naruto wearily opened his blurred eyes, trying to see through the dust and smog that had picked up into the air while his body began to squirm in panic under an unknown weight that lay on top of him. The young boy began to cough roughly in an attempt to clear some of the dust that had been inhaled into his lungs and throat, while his eyes teared up from the sand that had entered them.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Naruto almost flinched when the panicked voice calling out to him and then realized that there was someone else on top of his body. He quickly looked up to see the panic stricken eyes of his father staring down at him, along with an equally concerned Ryuukimi.

"Y... *cough*... yeah, I'm... fine." He grumbled painfully, gaining a sigh of relief from Iruka. "What's *Cough*.... what's going on? Why are we on the floor?"

It was then that the young boy noticed the sound of clashing metal and shuffling feet sounding around him, causing his heart to tense up in fear at the all too familiar sound. As the dust began to clear from the air, the situation soon became clear for all of them to see as unknown ninja clashed weapons with some of the shinobi parents accompanying them while a startled call alerted Iruka to his own worst fears.

"We're under attack!!!"

The scarred chunin almost paled as he heard those words and he could feel his son begin to tremble underneath him. Iruka could feel the boy's nerves begin to shatter completely and he silently wondered if it was because of his own emotions as well. He quickly jumped up to his feet again and straight into action. He had to fight to protect his class, to protect his son.

"Naruto, stay low to the ground and try to remain out of view!!! I'll get back to you as soon as I can, I promise!!!" With that, the scarred chunin ran into the battle with a kunai drawn, ignoring the desperate calls of his son.

"No dad!!!! Wait!!!!!!!"

Naruto quickly jumped to own his feet soon afterwards, with Ryuukimi taking a place on his shoulder once more while the boy searched around the area frantically. There was fighting going on all over the place around them, with small face-offs occurring along the entire rim of the path they were travelling on. Naruto quickly caught sight of Iruka plunging a kunai right into the chest of one of the assailants, but couldn't help but gape when the figure turned into a pile off mud right before his eyes.

"Shit!!! Mud clones!!!!" The chunin cursed. However, he was soon surprised to notice that many of the other Konoha shinobi around him were having a similar problem as well.

"But... why...?" Before the man could even finish his thoughts, another attacker came at him from the right hand side, catching him off guard, but before he could reach his target a massive fist smashing him into the ground leaving nothing but a splash of mud in its wake. Iruka looked over to Choza and nodded in thanks, gaining a similar motion in reply.

"Choza, I need you to get as many academy students to safety as you can. We can't afford for anyone to get hurt, especially the children." Choza quickly nodded his head in compliance.

"Will do Iruka, you can count on me!" The two then resumed their battle, moving in amongst the attackers while attempting to ward them off from the other students, who were all by now lost in the confusion.

Naruto could only watch stiffly as his nightmares played out before him, his body too frozen in fear to even react to his own mental commands or even those of his survival instincts. Many of the parents shuffled to get their children out of harms way while others dispatched one enemy after another. Even Hiashi cleaved his way through a large group of them, only to have them fall as mud at his feet, while Hinata stood a reasonable distance away from him, almost looking as lost as Naruto was.

"Naruto-chan, we need to move!!!" Naruto didn't even hear Ryuukimi's pleas as the young dragon called out to him. He was too lost in his own nightmares to even notice that he was in danger.

"No... this can't be happening... not again..." The boy mumbled to himself aimlessly. All that was left of him at this point was an empty shell of a child standing in the middle of a cruel reality, seemingly waiting for the inevitable suffering that descended upon him. Ryuukimi could barely hear his silent ramblings, but he knew that the boy was terrified just by the way he felt to the touch.

"Naruto-chan!!! Come on!!!!!" Still there was no answer and the young dragon glanced around desperately to find a solution to snap Naruto out of his trance.

It was only a matter of time before someone noticed their predicament and took advantage of the opening that was provided to them. It was then that he dragon caught sight of an assailant moving towards a nearby Hinata, shuffling through the crowd of combatants with a kunai in hand.

"Naruto-chan!!! You need to snap out of this right now!!! Hinata's in danger!!! Your friend needs you!!!!"

The young boy flinched when he heard his companion's warning, before quickly regaining his grip on reality. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him and he quickly shook off his deteriorating thoughts, much to Ryuukimi's relief.

'What am I doing? Why am I acting like this?' he thought to himself. 'I need to concentrate right now, otherwise I'm going to get us killed.' He then quickly refocused on what was happening, allowing the words of his companion to sink in, before shooting off towards where Hinata was standing. Just before the assailant could land his attack on the completely unaware Hyuuga heiress, Naruto appeared between the two and deflected the hand that held the man's outstretched kunai. Hinata immediately caught notice what was happening and gaped in surprise.

"N... Naruto-kun?!" The blond quickly deflected another two follow up attacks, knocking away the man's fists with precise timing before spinning down on his heels to evade another high lung.

Ryuukimi took the opportunity of the boy's rotation to slam his tail into the shinobi's face, causing the man to stumble backwards off of his feet from the heavy blow. Naruto then spun back up again and slammed both of his palms into the man's chest, sending him skidding back a few feet away from them.

"So, the little brat has some skill after all?" The man snickered, before charging forward again. "And here I thought that this was going to be boring."

The shinobi quickly lunged at the boy once more with a kunai in hand, only to have it deflected by a rising palm thrust, causing the attack to veer skyward. Naruto was about to counter attack again, but before he could even act, Hinata suddenly appeared in front of him, skidding forward between the boy and his attacker in a low crouch with the Byuakugan blazing in her eyes.

'I will not stand by and watch again! I will protect Naruto as well!!!' The young Hyuuga quickly unleashed a barrage of pinpoint strikes, hitting the man's arms and legs before targeting his chest with a final blow. The young girl sighed in relief as the figure before her melted into a puddle of mud before turning her attention back to Naruto, who was now gawking in surprise.

"Wow Hinata, when did you learn to do that!?!?" The young girl just giggled nervously, while prodding her fingers against one another, her old habits quickly resurfacing at the boy's compliments.

"I guess... I just taught it to myself... so that I could protect someone important to me..." This only caused Naruto to smile in return, a genuine smile that warmed her heart with its promising glow.

"Hey, cut it out you two!!! We can talk after the fight!!!" Both youngsters quickly snapped out of their stupor as Ryuukimi lashed out to them, forcing them to refocus on what was happening around them.

--

Further in the distance hidden in the trees, hawk-like eyes continued to watch the battle unfold with a growing interest, being particularly drawn to the familiar figure of their target as the boy and his friend continued to battle side by side.

"So, it seems the little brat is out in the open now. Perhaps we should move to strike while we still can." One of the hidden voices proclaimed smugly.

"No..." A sharp reply came. "We will stick to the original plan and use the mud clones to engage them. It is too risky to confront him directly, especially with so many renowned Konoha shinobi around him. A direct attack is suicidal at best especially considering the skill level of some of them." The first man just sneered at the outright denial.

"I don't care about your stupid plans Kyoui. We have a chance to kill him right now and you're letting it slip through your fingers!!! I'm going to make sure that monster gets what he deserves!!!" With that, the shinobi burst out of the trees, making his way down to the narrow path where the battle was taking place.

"Damn it, he's going to jeopardize the entire operation!!! If anyone notices where he came form, they'll be able to backtrack to us!!! I knew I shouldn't have hired these damned mercenaries. They let their emotions get in the way of their jobs."

--

Naruto slammed his palm into the chest of another mud clone, causing it to melt away to the ground while Hinata guarded his back, checking the area around them with her Byuakugan for any further attacks. She was relieved to notice that there wasn't any immediate danger nearby.

"It looks like that's all of them..." She panted, her exhaustion now taking root. Naruto quickly turned to face her with a weak grin, having also been tired out from fighting so much, while Ryuukimi huffed in annoyance.

"You... you did really great Hinata. I'm glad I had you fighting at my side..." This only caused Hinata to blush at the compliment with her face turning a deep shade of red that would even embarrass a lobster.

"You too Naruto-kun..." Neither of them even noticed the danger that descended upon them as an unknown shinobi landed along the narrow path, facing the two youngsters with bloodlust gleaming in his eyes.

"Looks like this will be easier than I thought!!!" The man quickly formed a series of hand seals, before raising his fingers to his mouth. "Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!!!"

A large ball of fire quickly emanated of the tip of the ninja's mouth, traveling towards the two youngsters and a raging torrent of heat and flame. Hiashi quickly noticed the inferno travelling towards his daughter's location from where he stood, causing him to pale at the sight.

"Hinata!!! Move!!!!!" Both Hinata and Naruto noticed the desperate call, drawing their attention to the approaching inferno.

"Damn it, that's not good!!!!!" Naruto gulped. The young boy quickly jumped in between the surprised Hyuuga and the approaching attack, raising his hands in front of himself in preparation while Ryuukimi simply took a deep gulp of dread. Hinata could only watch as the young blond faced the raging flames in front of them, it was already too late to move out of the way.

"I guess I have no choice but to use this. I just hope it works, otherwise we're all toast!!!!!!" The young boy quickly channelled his chakra and life force into his hands, causing intricate golden patterns to form on them, while forming two strange seals, one at the centre of each palm. The seals began to grow brightly soon afterwards, causing a faint glow of soft light to emanate from the tips of his hands.

"Tenpo! Amatsu no Saiden!!!!" Hiashi could only watch in terror as the inferno enveloped the two youngsters, covering the entire area with nothing but smoke and flames while scorching the earth to a cinder. The resounding explosion shook the ground and threw numerous debris up into the air.

"No... H... Hinata..."

"So, I guess that's it then..." The attacking shinobi snickered, inspecting his handy work. "That was way too easy for my liking." Just then, a small ray of golden light began to pierce through the smoke, causing both Hiashi and the unknown shinobi to stare curiously as the entire cloud began to light up in a soft glow before dissipating before their very eyes.

"What is this chakra?" The older Hyuuga mumbled to himself, his Byuakugan still active. "I... I've never seen anything like it before."

After a few more moments the smoke was pushed back away, revealing a sphere of soft golden light glowing in the centre of the charred earth, with two youngsters standing safely in the middle. Ryuukimi, who still rode on Naruto's shoulders, let out a deep sigh of relief. Even the ground beneath them remained untouched, almost as though nothing had happened at all. The young boy's hands eventually fell to his sides soon afterwards, causing the protective light to disappear as he collapsed to one knee, his body wrapped in complete exhaustion.

"Naruto!!!!" Hinata gulped, as she ran up to the boy's side. It was then that she noticed the seals melting away from Naruto's limp hands as well as the concern on Ryuukimi's face as he looked down at his friend.

"Naruto-chan!!! You need to get up!!! Please get up!!!" Naruto tried to lift himself to his feet again, but he was still too tired to even move properly. Instead he just collapsed to the floor, his consciousness quickly fading away into darkness.

"That jutsu... it still takes... a lot out of me..." He panted, his breathing becoming erratic. The young boy's breathing slowly began to lessen, while his companion tried desperately to keep him from falling into darkness.

"Ryuukimi, please look after Hinata. Please protect her. I... I feel so... tired..." With that, Naruto fell into darkness once more, no longer being able to keep himself awake.

"But what about you Naruto-chan!?!?!?! Who's going to protect you!?!?!?" Hinata quickly landed beside the young blond, but she was too afraid to even touch him mostly because of how frantically Ryuukimi was guarding over his body.

"Naruto!!!! Please wake up!!!!" The young girl searched around desperately for any help, but everywhere she looked her eyes only found more battling shinobi. None of them even noticed their plight, except for Hiashi and Iruka, who were both trying desperately to make their way over to the two youngster, but to no avail. There were simply too many obstructions blocking their paths.

"So, the little monster became selfless and saved his friends. How sweet!!!" Ryuukimi and Hinata both looked up to see their attacker making his way over to him. The two of them quickly jumped between the man and his prey, forming a defensive shield to protect Naruto from harm. The man simply sneered at the unusual display of loyalty, especially considering who it was they were trying to protect.

"Oh, so you really want to defend the little demon, is that it? Do you have any idea what that boy actually is??" Hinata just scrunched her face in confusion, before turning to look at Ryuukimi who was now fuming with anger.

"Don't listen to him Hinata! He doesn't know anything about Naruto!!!"

"Oh, but I know a lot about him..." The man snickered in reply. "I know that this boy is nothing but a little, snivelling monster who deserves nothing more than to be punished for everything he's done. He needs to suffer the worst kind of pain and I will make sure that his death is the most excruciating it could possibly be!!! In fact, I think I'll just burn him alive slowly, that way you two can both listen to his screams of pain just as the life leaves his eyes!!!" Ryuukimi was about to charge at the man in anger, but was taken completely by surprise when Hinata darted out before him.

"Don't ever talk about Naruto-kun like that!!!! You don't know who he is!!!!!!! You just can't see him, but I've watched him suffer every day!!!! I've seen him cry in pain all the time because of the cruelty of people like you!!!!" The girl quickly slid forward at a blinding speed, appearing right in front of her attacker with eyes that bore an endless amount of anger and hatred, as well as the silhouette of her Byuakugan.

"I wont let you touch him even if it kills me!!!" The girl quickly unleashed another barrage of pinpoint strikes, closing the man's tenketsu points before he even had a chance to respond.

As she finished her final blow, Ryuukimi quickly jumped over her head, having now overcome his initial shock, and spun around in the air before slamming his tail into the mans face with his full force. The blow sent the shinobi skidding along the ground, before finally coming to a stop near the edge of the rock face that ran along the side of the path.

Now nothing more that a motionless heap lying on the floor, Hinata and Ryuukimi turned their attention away from their disabled attacker and back to the unconscious boy that lay behind them. The young dragon quickly ran up to his companion's side and sheltered him in his wings, before turning to Hinata with a strained expression.

"You need to get someone to help!!! I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's not breathing properly anymore!!!" The girl gust nodded briskly, while taking a deep gulp of dread. She then turned on her heels to look for anyone to help, but her eyes only met with the battlefield around them.

Everywhere she looked, shinobi were still busy engaging one another. It was easy to tell who was on what side, mostly because none of the enemy ninja wore any headbands to mark their hidden village, but even still there was hardly any opening for her to pursue. Over in the distance, she could see Choza and some of the other parents trying to move some of the children to safety near the inside edge of the road, while the others held off the enemy in an attempt to keep them safe from harm.

Itachi was weaving through the ranks with a precision she had never seen before, defeating one enemy after another with a blinding speed that was hard to keep up with, but she also noticed that Sasuke wasn't by his side anymore and was currently battling further away closer to where she and Naruto were. In fact, now that she noticed it, none of the students were near their parents except for the ones that had been moved already, even she and Naruto had been separated from Iruka and Hiashi and were now closer to the far side of the road that dropped into the river bellow.

"Oh no..." Ryuukimi looked up to the girl with a questioning stare.

"What's wrong Hinata?" The girl just looked back at him with a worried expression.

"I... I think we're in trouble. Something... something isn't right about all of this..." Further in the distance, Iruka and Shikaku were battling back to back, focusing on keeping their attackers away from the academy students that they had managed to get to safety.

"Damn it, these things never stop coming!!!" The older jounin growled under his breath. Iruka just grunted in response, confirming that he had the same feelings as his fellow shinobi.

"But I don't understand, why are they only using mud clones. Someone must be creating them from somewhere nearby, so why don't they just attack us directly?" Shikaku thought on Iruka's question while promptly dispatching another clone.

"They probably know that it would be suicide to attack directly, so they're resorting to using mud clones from a distance, although they are much weaker than a normal body at roughly ten percent of the original's power. It also uses the terrain to their advantage by making use of the mountain path as a bottleneck to constrict our movements."

"But I still don't understand..." Iruka huffed again, while disposing of another clone. "... If they're just using clones like this, then they must know that they wont have much effect other than causing confusion and panic. They'll still have to attack directly sooner or later, otherwise they'll only end up exhausting their own chakra reserves in a meaningless charade. But... if they don't actually intend on attacking us, why go through all this trouble?"

Shikaku's eyes suddenly widened in realization as the answer hit him like a proverbial slap in the face, something that Iruka noticed with a nervous gulp.

"Oh shit!!!!" he cursed under his breath.

"Oh shit what??" Iruka snapped back, his nerves now dwindling into mush.

"They're herding us like sheep!!! Why didn't I notice this before???" The scarred chunin quickly looked around, realizing that the man was speaking the truth. Other than the academy students that were already taken to safety, some of the children were now separated from the rest of the group and were battling near the edge of the road. The remaining parents were being pinned up against the wall of the mountain that ran along the other side.

"It's like playing a game of shougi..." Shikaku muttered gaining the chunin's attention again. "They're using sacrificial pieces, mere pawns, to battle us in an attempt to draw us into a false sense of security in order to trap us, while using the terrain and their superior numbers to maneuver us into position and separate us from one another."

"And what happens when they have us where they want us?" Iruka gulped in reply, already knowing the answer but still asking anyway. Shikaku just looked at him with a concerned expression.

"After that, it's check-mate..." The young chunin's mouth just dropped to the floor, before he quickly looked over to where his son was last seen only to notice that Naruto was no lying motionless on the floor with Hinata and Ryuukimi guarding him carefully.

"Shit... Naruto..." his eyes then wondered further to the left, only to notice that Sasuke and Shino were also being pushed closer to the edge of the mountain as well. Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were all battling nearby and Kiba was currently engaging another clone further down to the left side of the group. There were one or two other students among them, but very few otherwise.

"Damn it, they have us exactly where they want us!!!!"

--

Back in the distance, Kyoui was watching carefully for the right moment to strike. He saw Hinata take down one of his own mercenaries after his failed attack and could only curse in anger. It was bad enough that the idiot had jeopardized their location, but now he was an open book of information for their targets.

"That idiot!!! I knew he would cause problems!!! I should have killed him myself!!!" He grumbled.

"Should we withdraw the attack Kyoui-san?" Another voice came.

"No... no, he chose his own fate and it will not be ours to suffer as well. Besides, everything is ready to go, so there's no point in turning back now." The man then raised his hands to form a single seal, channeling some chakra as he did.

"It's time to watch the fireworks boys!!!"

Suddenly, the side of the mountain ignited in a flurry of explosions as the rock bed beneath the path was blasted away into dust. Iruka could only watch in horror as the ground near the edge of the path began to collapse completely, falling away into the river bellow while dragging any unfortunate enough to be nearby with it, including some of the unwary students still fighting or hiding along the edge.

"Shit!!!! Naruto!!!!" The young chunin tried to head for his son, but was blocked off by even more mud clones before he could even get far. "Naruto!!!!!!!"

Hinata was shaken off of her feet as the ground began to tear away underneath her before sloping at a precarious angle towards the edge of the cliff. Naruto's body began to slide away towards the edge before she could grab it while Ryuukimi held on desperately to his friend.

"Hinata-chan!!!! Get away from here now!!!!" The young girl could only watch as the body of her friend disappeared behind the edge of the path, before the ground beneath her crumbled away completely, causing her to fall as well.

All three youngsters plummeted through the air down to the raging stream bellow with nothing to save them from the fall. Ryuukimi quickly turned Naruto's body in mid air with his flapping wings so that he himself was between his body and the stream, sheltering the unconscious boy from the impact of the fall while Hinata channeled her chakra to lessen the blow to her own body. As the two hit the water with a resounding splash, Hinata quickly swam up to the surface to regain her breath.

"Naruto!!!! Ryuukimi!!!!!" The Hyuuga heiress searched around frantically for her two missing friends, but they were nowhere to be found. She could do nothing to help it as she was carried away by the stream, her own body being too tired to even fight against the river's flow.

Ryuukimi was still desperately trying to pull his own companion back to the surface of the water for air, which was proving rather difficult with the boy's current condition. He knew that Naruto couldn't swim well either way and would need his help regardless, not that being unconscious helped that matter in any way either. Once they broke the surface, the young dragon held Naruto's head away from the water while using his legs and tail to keep them afloat as best as he could.

"Come on buddy!!! You need to wake up... please!!! I could really use your help here!" Ryuukimi's cries were in vain and it was all he could do to try and keep Naruto afloat by himself while they were carried down the stream and away from the towering plume of smoke that was rising from the edge of the mountainside. Only the feelings coming from the boy's touch and the gentle movement of his chest told Ryuukimi that he was alive and breathing, but that didn't stop him from worrying about the well being of his friend.

"I just had to go and tell him that dragons were good swimmers, didn't I? That's what you call irony biting you in the rear..."

Hinata was now nowhere in sight and the two continued to drift down the river alone. Ryuukimi tried his best to swim off to the shore, but he was to tired to struggle against the water's flow and they were moving too fast to have any hope of gripping on the rocks that passed them. After what felt like forever had passed, the water's flow started to become even faster and a large rumbling sound could be heard in the distance. Ryuukimi turned to face the approaching menace, only to gasp in surprise while stifling a groan. He could see the telltale sign of spraying mist as well as the white foam of the approaching rapids and he knew what was coming next.

"You have got to be kidding me!!! Who the hell decided to put a waterfall there?!?!?!" He grumbled to himself, muttering something incoherent about Kami being unfair. "Why does everything have to be so difficult all the time? Does the world really hate us that much, or is it just trying to be a pain in the ass?!?!?!"

Ryuukimi quickly turned Naruto around as best he could so that the boy's back was against the direction of the waterfall, while wrapping his tail around Naruto's chest. "Well, lets hope this works! Otherwise we're both dead..." He then spread his wings out to the side and prepared for the worst, knowing that the chances of survival were slim at best.

The young dragon could only count down the seconds that passed as they approached their greatest hurdle so far, although it seemed more like an eternity, with only the growing sound of a great roar to signify their final approach. Suddenly, the water beneath them disappeared all together, leaving nothing but air as the two youngsters began their plummet into the depths bellow.

"Damn it, here we go.... again!!!!!!!!" Ryuukimi quickly opened his wings to the side in an attempt to slow their fall, but even still it made little difference now. He could only hope that it would be enough for them to survive the landing.

"Aaaahhhhh!!!!!"

The sharp, painful impact that followed few moments afterwards as they hit the water bellow was quickly washed away as darkness soon consumed everything, leaving the two youngsters drifting precariously at the mercy of the violent stream.

--

About an hour had passed since the attack had first begun and the mountainside was now little more than a smouldering battlefield, filled with the scarred remains of their nightmarish ordeal. Iruka was busy seeing to many of the parents and children that had managed to stay safely out of harms way during the entire attack, while waiting patiently for news on those that had gone missing.

'Damn it.... I hope Naruto is alright....' he thought quietly to himself. Just then, Choza and Itachi came landing back into the clearing, the larger man holding a few more children in his overly large arms. Iruka gave a semi-deep sigh of relief at seeing them and ran over to the two shinobi.

"We found these kids a bit further down stream." Choza announced. "They managed to wash up on shore before being swept away too far, so we were lucky in that regard."

The large man then placed the quivering children on the ground, allowing them to return to their more than worried parents. Iruka watched with a brief smile as the youngsters shed tears of relief along with their mothers and fathers, but that quickly fell away as his own child came to mind.

"Did you find anything else, any signs about the others?" Itachi just shook his head in dismay at the chunin's question.

I searched everywhere I could, but there are no other signs of anyone else nearby, not even the enemy presence. Even with my sharingan, it is hard to pick up a trail. They must have been swept further down the stream, or perhaps they have already been intercepted by our attackers." Iruka just paled at hearing that, but he tried his best to keep his composure, despite the implications of Naruto being found by someone who might be trying to hurt him. He could only hope that Ryuukimi managed to stay by the boy's side to protect him.

"How many are still missing then?" He finally managed to gulp.

"So far, we've counted a few..." A voice announced, hailing the approach of Shikaku. Iruka turned to face the man and noticed that he was just as pale as he felt himself, which could only mean one thing.

"I couldn't find Shikamaru anywhere and Inoichi, Choza and Kioshi have told me that their children are missing as well."

"So that makes five including Naruto..." The chunin replied in response.

"Yes, but I've also heard that Shino Abarume, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga are also missing too. Hiashi is practically besides himself and it took a few of us to stop him from tearing the mountain down."

"Sasuke is missing as well..." Itachi announced calmly, although anyone who paid careful attention would have noticed the concern in his voice.

"So that's all of them then? Alright, it looks like we have no choice. For tonight we'll set up camp and get some rest..."

"What!?!?!? We should be looking for our children right now!!!!!" Iruka turned to face the source of the interruption only to notice Tsume approaching in his direction with what only could be described as an angry expression.

"My Kiba is out there right now and you want to wait until morning to find them?!?! You might not care about your child but I for one am not about to wait..."

"You think I don't know that Tsume!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Iruka cut her off, causing the rest of them to gawk in surprise at his sudden outburst.

"Do you think that this isn't painful for me as well? Do you think I don't want to find my son and hold him in my arms, to tell him everything will be alright? I'm just as worried as you are! I also love my son just as much as anyone else loves their child, even if you don't believe that's possible..." Iruka's voice seemed to trail off at the end and the scant signs of tears could be seen burning at the corner of his eyes. How could people be so insensitive to others around them.

"Iruka's right." Shikaku interrupted, causing everyone's attention to turn to him. "The enemy no doubt already knows that we will try to pursue either them or the missing children. They may have set up traps or ambushes for us, so it isn't safe to head out just yet, especially now that it is getting dark. Whoever did this, their target was obviously the academy students, so we cannot leave them here unattended." Iruka nodded his head in agreement.

"That's correct. The ANBU I've sent for should arrive here by morning if they travel through the night. One they arrive, we can send the rest of the students back to the safety of the village and then form a search party to look for the missing kids. Is that alright?" Tsume just grumbled under her breath, but nodded her head anyway. As much as she didn't like the situation, they were right, she knew there wasn't much choice in the matter.

"Ha... it won't make a difference now!!! Those kids are as good as dead!!!" All of them turned to face the source of protest, only to notice the limp body lying on the floor a few feat away from them. Iruka recognized the man immediately as the one that had tried to burn his son alive during the battle. The scarred chunin quickly walked over to the man's prone form with a stern expression.

"Tell me, everything you know about this and you might get off easy, otherwise you'll be paying a visit to a friend of mine who is sure to make your tongue spill." The man just laughed at the threat.

"Hahahaha!!! Please... like I'd tell you anything. That little monster of yours is going to get what's coming to him as well as anyone else unlucky enough to get in the way." Iruka just cringed in anger at the man's use of words, but he manage to remain calm despite himself.

He was about to question him again, but the shinobi quickly popped a pill into his mouth before anyone could react. They could only watch as his body began to spasm violently before finally becoming still. He was dead. Iruka just stifled an angry growl and turned to face the rest of the adults.

"Alright, lets get some rest. We'll have to start our search in the morning. Choza, I'd like you to explain the situation to the rest of the parents so they don't worry too much." After that, the rest of them went back to their devices, while Choza went to explain the circumstances to the rest of the adults as well as the plan they had set out. Only Shikaku and Iruka remained behind.

"So... I guess that's the end of the field trip then..." The older jounin murmured almost aimlessly. "... and it was going so well too..." Iruka just nodded his head quietly, his thoughts still wandering on the wellbeing of his son.

"They... they must have planned this right from the beginning. They knew exactly where we were headed and they planned this ambush for a long time coming. I just don't understand why..." Shikaku could still see the tears that were threatening to fall from the chunin's face as well as the panic in his eyes.

"So you think this is an inside job?" Iruka just stood their silently, giving the jounin the answer he needed. He wasn't known as a genius for nothing and he could already tell what was going on.

Of course, it wasn't uncommon for enemy shinobi from other hidden villages to attack academy students when the opportunity presented itself. It was an age old strategy... kill the enemies trainees before they can even become shinobi, while effectively creating a gap in the generations of their forces, but somehow he also knew that their was a lot more to this than just another mere enemy attack.

None of the enemy shinobi were wearing forehead protectors, which was odd even for surprise raids from enemy ninja. This meant that they were probably hired shinobi or mercenaries that didn't have any allegiances to a specific country or village and that they had a very specific objective to fulfil.

"They... they weren't just after our students were they?" Iruka almost jumped in surprise at Shikaku's question. "They were after Naruto... weren't they? This is why he was training to protect himself."

The scarred chunin turned to face the man with a heavy frown, once again answering his question without saying a single word. The tears that were threatening to fall were now hanging at the edge of his eyes and he could barely see through the blurred vision that resulted.

"Everyone just wants to hurt him all the time. All they want is to see him endure the worst kind of pain, to see him suffer alone without anyone to protect him. Even the civilians and shinobi from our own village have outright attacked him on countless occasions, often leaving him with broken bones or sometimes even worse. Why can't they just leave my son alone? Why can't they just let him live in peace? he deserves to be loved just as much as anyone else..."

Shikaku quickly walked up to the scarred chunin and placed his hand on Iruka's shoulder, feeling the man begin to quiver under his firm grasp. He knew how the young man felt, it was the same way he would feel as well if Shikamaru was in the same position. He was also worried for his own son, but now he knew that Naruto was in even more grave danger, especially if he was alone.

"It's alright Iruka, you don't have to act strong in front of me. I'm a father just like you are and I know what you must be feeling. It's alright to let the tears fall, after all, we shinobi are still human beings despite everything, so screw the rules. We still have people we love, precious people who are worth crying over."

With that, Iruka just let it all out, allowing the tears he tried to hide away to fall down his face, with only a kind hearted soul and a fellow father to witness his moment of weakness. It wasn't often that this happened, it wasn't often that he cried since his parents had died, but he could no longer hold the pain inside anymore, especially after learning what Naruto had been going through over the last few days without him.

"He's all alone..." he mumbled through his tears. "He's out there by himself in the darkness without his father to protect him. I should have been there to protect him. He won't trust anyone else, he's been hurt to much already to rely on others any more..."

Shikaku felt his own heart tensing as he listened to Iruka's barely coherent mumbling and he couldn't help but feel the man's words tearing away at his own heart as well. It was upsetting to know that a child could go through so much pain and loneliness for so long, especially when you knew that it was your own fellow Konoha shinobi and villagers that were inflicting such a cruel punishment. How could anyone be so blind to such a simple truth? How could they not see the difference between a monster and an innocent child, a child that had endured an unimaginable cruelty because of the ignorance of others?

"Don't worry Iruka, I won't tell anyone else about what we've discussed tonight. It will stay between you and me."

Iruka nodded his head gratefully. He knew that if anyone found out that Naruto was the primary target for the attack, the boy would be in more trouble than they could ever imagine. The council would no doubt be eager to find a reason to put his son to death, or even worse, and this was the perfect excuse to do so. He didn't want to see his son suffer because of being blamed for putting others in harms way, even though he really did nothing wrong to deserve such blame.

"Thanks Shikaku..."

As the last vestiges of glowing sunlight finally disappeared behind the horizon, the tears of a father for his son finally dried away, as the two men made their way back to the others that were waiting. It would be a long night for them all and they would need their rest if they wanted to be ready for the coming days.

--

"Nggghhh!!!!! Where.... where am I?"

Two heavy blue eyes began to pry themselves open painfully, reeling in the agony that now encumbered the young boy's body. As Naruto searched around the area with his blurring vision, he couldn't help but notice that he was no longer on the mountain path where he had just been battling. He slowly began to sit himself up, despite the pain he felt in his body, before searching around to see that he was now on the shore of a riverbank in a part of the forest he didn't recognise.

He quickly searched his surrounding environment, but he couldn't even find a trace of the mountain that he was travelling on, with it having long since disappeared from view. "How... how did I get here?" Suddenly something in the boy's mind snapped, causing him to quickly rise to his feet.

"Where's Ryuukimi? A.... and Hinata?" Naruto searched around frantically for his two missing friends, but they were nowhere in sight and his heart was now beginning to race in fear. He quickly stumbled forward on his legs and began to make his way along the side of the stream.

"Ryuukimi!?!?!?!?! Hinata!?!?!?! Where are you!?!?!??!" The young boy continued along his self imposed path despite the pain his body was in.

The cold night air began to seep into his skin without remorse while being absorbed by his still sopping clothes. The young boy quickly pulled his arms around himself in an attempt to stay warm, but it did little to stem his quivering. He had also lost his backpack, along with any hope of a dry change of clothes or even a simple shelter and the ones he was wearing were already slightly torn and tattered, exposing parts of his skin to the harsh elements.

"Ryuukimi!!!!!! Dad!!!!!!!!! Anyone!!!!" He called out again, his voice becoming little more than a desperate rasping sound. "Please... where are you? You can't leave me!!!" After wondering for a few more moments, exhaustion finally had it's way with Naruto as he collapsed to the floor, his quivering legs no longer being able to support his body.

The young boy tried to pick himself up again, but his body was now too weak to even respond. He didn't even know how he managed to survive everything that had taken place, but now he was alone again and he knew that it was only a matter of time before their attackers found him.

"Please... buddy... you said you would stay with me. You said you wouldn't leave me alone..."

Naruto curled up into a ball on the ground, trying his best to resist the cold that embraced him. He didn't even know what happened to his father, or his other friend, or even his classmates. What if they were all dead? What if he was all alone again? Would anyone come looking for him? Would they even care if he was gone? Naruto just tightened up even more, trying his best to protect himself from freezing to death, with only the warmth of his own body and the calm of sleep to comfort him. He knew he had to survive, he had to find his father and his friends, no matter what. He had to make sure they were alright.

After a few more minutes had passed, Naruto's fatigue finally began to overcome his small body and he could no longer keep his eyes open. His breathing eventually began to steady and his body began to relax, allowing the comfort of sleep to enrapture him in its soothing embrace. Only his shivers remained as he lay in the darkness alone, completely at the mercy of nature.

--

Now the real battle for survival begins for the academy students, while a desperate race against time gets underway. Who will find the missing children first...
Hehehe. Sorry for giving you guys another cliffhanger, but this one isn't as bad as the last one! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!! ^ ^

Notes:

"Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!!!" = Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!!!
"Tenpo! Amatsu no Saiden!!!!" = Heavenly Art! Heaven's Sanctuary!!!

Credits:

Writer - Me of course!!! XD
Beta - Kiiroi Senko.