(I don't own anything, but the plot.)

Summary: Naruto becomes stronger than he has ever thought possible, only because of the one choice he made when he was young: merging with the Kyuubi. One catch is one can't live without the other. One has to endure treacherous training, while the other one has to be allowed to leave its "home." You choose what pairings. (FemGaaxNaru main)

Chapter 33

*Naruto POV*

. . .

Three days passed- at least what I concluded to have passed- since there was six bowls of ramen placed inside my cell. I easily hid the contaminated food under the loose bricks by the one corner of my cell. No one bothered to notice, so I proceeded to do it. I frowned as I laid down. Today was the day we can all leave, obtaining freedom from our capture.

However, some of us might not be ever be the same, including- no especially- me. I attempted to swash down that thought, but it rose up anyway. With a shudder, I rolled over onto my shoulder, eyes flickering closed. Soon, my mind whispered, soon we'll see how "great" you are. What are you - Who are you- especially without the fox? Watashi no namae wa Uzumaki Naruto desu. Well, isn't my name Naruto? Not Kyuubi or anything remotely similar to that.

My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I always will be- with or without that creature. I sighed lightly at the mention of the Beast within me, and I hugged myself. Coldness seeping into my skin, I tried to push the memory of the fox away, but it was already too late. The truth stung as it repeated inside my head. Kyuubi was never coming back; he was long gone.

My heart felt as if it was ripped out by the same claw that used to tug it when I was younger, an irreplaceable part shattered and scattered along the Hidden Villages. I buried my face into the ground as a flash of red marked my vision. I giggled softly- high-pitched voice soft and light, scarfing down a bowl of ramen, barely chewing it before swallowing.

I finally received a break, and I mentally cheered. Yes! I was allowed to consume food since I accomplished what was needed for the hour. Merrily, I chowed down, rather loudly and messily. A noodle hit me in the face as I slurped, and a tiny strained smile broke my face. As I continued, I neglected to realize someone directly next to me. I understood someone was there, but I doubt he'd do anything.

Unfortunately, I was dead wrong. In the next moment, my head was shoved forward, face engulfed by the noodles and hot broth, burning my face as I struggled against the hand. Eventually, the hand was removed, and my tiny hands rubbed my face as I sputtered. "Th-that hurt, Kyuubi," I whined. "Why did ya do that?"

The fox just stared. "You deserved much worse."

I frowned, only recently discovering crying just gave forth more pain. "You're a meanie." I jutted out my bottom lip, only to yelp when something connected with my jaw. Upon falling off the log, my blue eyes widened to an incredible amount when Kyuubi stalked closer.

"What did you say?" He hissed, and I immediately crawled in the other direction.

"I'm-I'm-" My voice caught, a blistering heat grabbed hold of my ankle and started to drag me back.

"You have no idea how nice I am to you, trash like you shouldn't exist." Kyuubi tugged me onto my back. Quivering, I nodded as he continued. "You should be thanking me for what I did for you."

I nodded vigorously. "H-Hai, y-yes sir." I heard a grunt, and then my side was splitting as I surged through the air to smash into the trunk of a tree. I gasped and pressed myself to the cold concrete floor of my cell. My right fingernails scrapped against the ground as the silence droned on around me. Footsteps echoed in my eardrums, and immediately, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

I was starting to realize that escape might just be impossible, and I discovered that I may actually finalize my fate here. I placed my bottom lip between my teeth and bit down by using my sharp canines. Don't move, I coaxed myself. Idiot, if you as much breathe wrong- My verbal abuse to myself ceased when the footfalls arrived closer to my cell.

"Is it almost fucking ready? I can't stand that little bastard."

"Hidan," a voice stated; Kakuzu, my mind assisted me to connect who the voice belonged to. "It needs a few more parts. Then, it should be done, and he's the first one we'll test it on."

"Good! Can I kill that little bitch if he lives?"

"If he does..." A sigh escaped from someone. "Do as you wish, I don't particularly care."

I witnessed a loud sound, which resembled a bark of laughter- from Hidan, I presumed. I blocked out the rest of their conversation, faintly observing the soft clicks and scrapes as they traded my bowl with a filled one- since I decided to hide the uneaten ramen under the loose stone by the wall of my cell- until I caught the part about the others. "The others ones will be right after, and we only have six more to go- since you most likely don't know how to do math."

"Hey! You asshole I know how to subtract!" Hidan automatically defended himself.

"Unlikely..."

"I fucking know how-"

"If you have twenty-five ryo and you buy something that costs ten ryo, how much do you have afterward?"

There was a lengthy pause in the conversation. "It's, uh, oh fuck. I don't know shit about your ugly habit with that dirty ass money!"

No response followed his statement. As the silver-haired immortal's persistent screams and shouts drifted further away, I contemplated what Kakuzu had admitted, unknowingly uncovering the secret to me. The Tailed Beasts were still present, just hidden and trapped beneath the surface like I first surmised. I withdrew from the floor, and my blue eyes wavered at my palm.

Let's hope this works. My eyes flickered around my unblemished skin, only deducing that the only thing available was the dirt and grime. I released a heavy sigh, unsure why I attempted to feel anything remotely close to Kyuubi's presence. I was about to sink back down to just sleep, but something halted my progress. A flash of red forced me to hesitate.

I glanced back at it, observing the tan arm when I "called" upon Kyuubi's chakra. Automatically, red chakra spiraled from my skin, skittering over my fingers in the way a chidori's sparks would flash along the user's arm and hand. The chakra was faint; however, it was there, and that gave me enough hope. Perhaps, I wouldn't be as useless as I thought. I slumped onto my back.

After the final round of the night, I'll make my escape, and it would allow me enough time to get everyone else, roughly fifteen minutes..? I wasn't a hundred percent certain since I couldn't distinguish time all that great now.

. . . .

With the door shutting behind the Akatsuki for the final time for the night, my eyes blinked open, and I abruptly traveled to the lock on my cell. Popping out the metallic pick in my mouth, I gently placed it in the lock afterward. After a few moments, the lock was released and I crept out of my cell. I debated on saving Gaara initially, but I thought I should rescue the other Tailed Beast container first.

Deciding- finally- to let out the stranger jinchuuriki, I cautiously gazed over my shoulder, head swirling back around to stare at the golden eyes. Which one do you hold? I wondered, but it was definitely not the time to dwell on who it happened to be. I needed to reach Gaara, and so I did. I undid the lock, swiftly moving the door out of the way. I crouched beside Gaara, who refused to even glare at me now.

I frowned. Swishing the pain down, I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Gaara, we have to leave," I whispered softly, hand extended to aid her to her feet if she required the assistance. She merely rose to her feet and brushed past me. I couldn't help, but hang my head. An apology never fit when you nearly targeted her and allowed a part of yourself to injure your friend- acquaintance, my voice bit out as a reminder.

Voices from the other side of the main door fluttered through, and all of us froze. Oh, no. I shook my head, grabbing both of my fellow jinchuurikis by the wrists and tugging them after me. I rushed to the other end of the hallway, which - just my luck- was a dead end. I exhaled after we hid behind the last cell since it had a small place between two walls.

My eyes narrowed at the wall, the feeling of the other's stares on my back, one was strong, the other one wavering. I watched my hand, awaiting for any sign of the fox's chakra. A weak glow illuminated, and before it disappeared altogether, I thrust out my palm. With an exaggerated crack, the wall split apart, not all the way unfortunately. I scowled at it, and drawing my arm back, I sensed the nearing Akatsuki members.

They had obviously heard the noise. Hurry, idiot! My voice mentally howled in my head. Strike again you fool! I cocked my fist back and going to slam it into the wall once more, but I stopped upon having a sense of someone falling behind me.

As is in slow motion, my head turned stiffly around, and before my brain caught up with my actions, I already had a hold on the person to stop them from collapsing onto the floor. My blue eyes darted over the pale face, and my jaw set itself. "Here, hold her." I sent an icy glare toward the other container as I cautiously forced the golden-eyed male to support Gaara's weight. "If she gets hurt, I swear," my vague warning paused in the realization that I was procrastinating, ending up leading us all more toward the inevitable capture- instead of our needed escape. I drew my hand back once more, sending it shooting in the air and colliding with the present crack. For a moment, the wall stood tall, barely damaged, and I stepped back a few steps.

I am getting out of this. Glancing to see my hand in the absence of the red chakra, I felt the dread begin to settle in. I couldn't do it on my own. I was certain... I bit my lip, abruptly throwing out those thoughts. No. With a few more steps away from the wall, I witnessed the Akatsuki members nearing our position, and I just looked away. I didn't need to focus on them.

I blew out a long breath, ignoring the ones running down the halls, past the cells, fabric rustling in their wake, and attempting to forget the two pairs of eyes located on me, standing off to my left, still hidden from the Akatsuki's view. I sprung off the balls of my feet, placing my shoulder in line with the crack. I've got one shot; don't mess up!

I advanced further, speed increasing with each step, and my shoulder caught dead center of the crack.

. . . .

*Kakashi POV*

Time was coming up short. Something was up. I had assembled my three students- Sai, Sakura, and Sasuke- because I had the impression that Naruto, wherever he was, was in deep trouble. It may or may not have been from Iruka. He just created a strong sense of worry within me for my blond student. Even though upon my leave from the consultations to receive more information on Naruto, there might be a very flustered ex-chunin teacher, it was actually insightful.

I just made sure to embarrass the teacher before I left; it wasn't as if anyone said anything about it. I just couldn't handle all the negative ideas from the meetings with that man, since he rarely addressed Naruto's predicament outside of Anbu, and he merely told me vague answers about the incident that revolved around my student- and apparently Orochimaru.

It was amusing- a stress reliever more like it. Currently, my three teammates and I walked along the dirt road. I came to many conclusions as to where Naruto was being imprisoned, and I summed up a few distinct areas- four to be exact. Silence reigned on our small band of people with occasional speech between Sakura and Sai, who never ignored the girl.

Any other time I would point the fact that Sai, such a shy and silent boy, actually chose to talk with Sakura, creating a surely funny scene. At this moment, however, it was not the place to pester my students, well students and Sai. I haven't exactly trained Sai all that much that was Naruto's "job." He took it very seriously, almost resulting in a short chuckle to evade my mouth.

Managing to clasp back the laughter, I surveyed the area around us. It wasn't particularly the environment I'd see a secret organization with criminals to hang around in. Along the forest floor, off to the side of the path, bubs of vibrant orange struck my eye. It was an unique color to find, but it reminded me so much of Naruto. What if we are too late in finding him? What if I just manage to get him killed? Images of my past team bombarded my brain, the blood dripping from my teammate's mouth, which was caused by the giant boulder, my other teammate with my arm buried deep in her chest, the news of my sensei's death. A poke to my bent arm snapped me back to reality, allowing me to catch my book before it looked suspicious.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you.. okay?" Sai questioned softly, a flash of something darting across his dark eyes.

I placed a hand on his head, after I put the book away. "I'm fine, Sai." Automatically, Sai's brows furrowed at the statement. I merely ruffled his short black strands. "Just thinking-"

"...About what?" Sai appeared somewhat suspicious, and I laughed a loud.

"I'm curious if Jiraiya had finished his newest book; I'm almost done with this one." With that, I patted my pocket, where my sacred book was located, with another hand. A small look breached the boy's features, but for some reason, something sparked alive in his eyes. In a way, the eyes lit up a bit.

Sai's eyes flickered toward Sakura, and upon receiving a puzzled look, he turned to the fork in the path. He breathed out, "... Naruto..."

Automatically, I tensed, as did my other male present student. I focused on the energy, attempting to locate what Sai had discovered. A flicker of familiar chakra caught my attention; it was far off- and faint- but nonetheless there. I caught Sasuke glaring at Sai, while Sakura moved to his side. "How far is he?" Apparently, she couldn't catch the same glimpse of the chakra, and she wasn't alone it seemed.

Sasuke let out a grunt, arms crossing over his chest. The chakra was no longer present, but I understood around where Naruto was, so with that, we sped off.

I was just hoping we wouldn't run straight into trouble, but it was doubtful, especially when my blond student was involved. Both Minato and Naruto seemed to attract unwanted attention, or any attention for that matter.

. . . .

*Naruto POV*

For a moment, I was weightless, until I smashed to the ground, along with the giant stones from the broken wall. Immediately, I stood up as I shoved off the rubble, and I turned to see the golden-eyed man with his arm around Gaara's waist. Despite the fact that I knew he was merely holding her steady on her feet, something within me tightened. I opted to forget about the feeling- whatever it was- because I sensed people not just in the building, but on the lawn before us.

I spread my legs, raising my arms- getting ready. It seemed our escape had even more barriers than I first realized. To my side, a flash of red brought my eyes to it, and a rare true smile- a small one- pushed onto my face. Green eyes met mine, and she inclined her head in a nod. She was ready, too.

Tearing my eyes from her, I faced the rest of the Akatsuki members. Two- I knew- where behind us, but the others blocked the dense forest, preventing our getaway and blocking our path. I glanced quickly down to my fingertips, the chakra still trapped beneath the surface. The thought sickened me.

I can't do it by myself, dang it! Just give up and go back into the cell, kid; you're just going to end up back- Enough, there's not just me in this position; I can't just abandon them because this plan will end in disaster. Well, maybe if you thought it out more... Too late now, so get over it, and deal with the consequences, let's go! Without a second thought, I shut off my mind's constant arguing back and forth, and I sprinted forward.

Watashi no namae wa Uzumaki Naruto desu- I am Uzumaki Naruto (something along the lines of that).

Hai- Yes

(Sorry for such a slow update, but I found this, so I decided to post it up. As for the reviews, thank you all, and for the other person with them, it isn't Killer B- think Saiken or Six Tails.)