Chapter 11- Welcome To The Ruby Palace

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my work, ye mighty, and despair!"

-P.B. SHELLY, Ozymandias

This Chapter's Theme Song:

Justice - Civilization

The erratic soft sound of uneven footsteps sinking into the dusty land of wind's sand was the only thing that seemed to break the pervasive silence that enveloped the unending desert. Despite the fatigue that weighed down on the group's shoulders, team seven along with everyone else still pressed on firmly, knowing that their goal was within arm's reach.

Kamen's footfall was still uneven, struggling to handle the pain from his wound. It was at times like this that the dark-haired time traveller missed the Kyuubi's pain numbing chakra. In an attempt to forget about the pain the young war veteran stole glances at the people around him.

The two remaining samurai, despite their heavy armour, seemed accustomed to the harshness of the desert and trudged on without pause. Even Kamen had deactivated the training weight seals incorporated into his clothing before reaching the sandy border that now lay miles behind them, though whether he would have done so even without his wounds was uncertain.

Surprisingly the three genins of team seven were unhindered by the sand. Kakashi had even ironically suggested they use this as an opportunity to practise their chakra control. Though he had not actually expected them to do so. Using chakra to walk upon the soft surface of the sand without sinking into it was considered to be only slightly easier to master than water walking and yet the trio soon made the training into a competition. Sakura, unlike with the tree walking took a while to get a feel for the way she had to circulate her chakra. Sasuke and Naruto took even longer to get a feel for it, but they eventually managed at about the same time.

Kakashi had been observing his team for most of the trip and when he wasn't he was conversing with Guy and Lee about current affairs. perhaps it was because team seven had been training with chakra or because he didn't wish to intrude on their team bonding, Lee had been keeping his distance from the trio, only occasionally interacting with the trio. Guy and Lee had both checked up on Kamen, trying to gauge his state of wellbeing just by talking to him and although their concern was admirable, Kamen guessed that it was in part due to the guilt they felt for being helpless to help him when he had collapsed at their makeshift camp.

Shale and her aide Lisandra were both not far from the Samurai guards and yet despite this being their home, even they struggled to keep up with the vanguard of the group's mishmash formation. After all they had probably never physically trained, they were simply a noble and her aide after all.

Lisandra caught Kamen's wondering gaze, halting temporarily to allow him to catch up, her aged and sun-dried lips parting to address the dark-haired veteran, "Are you sure you'll be able to make it to Ren'ai Fuun Kamen-san?"

The question was asked in such a way that made it seem as though the elderly aide was mocking him, though the black haired man doubted that it was actually meant to be taken as such, "Yes, though only thanks to you Lisandra-san, I didn't get the chance to thank you either, but I must say I'm glad Ozymandias-sama sent you with the young princess, I might not be here otherwise."

The elderly lady gave a slight smirk worthy of a perverted old man before saying something rather unexpected, "Don't worry about it young man, It's rare a woman my age gets the chance to openly gawk at abs like the ones you're hiding under there!"

With a perverted chuckled and a jab to the ribs the old woman sped up and re-joined her ward. Thinking back Kamen remembered how Shale had first acted around the group of shinobi and couldn't help but sweat drop. The team seven tag along couldn't help but wonder where such ferociousness in the pair came from, from what he could remember the women from the land of wind weren't ever as feisty as this, then again...

The flash of Temari from his timeline that had popped into Kamen's mind was quickly swept aside as he heard Naruto exclaim aloud, "Wow! That's so cool!"

The ex-Jinchuriki's azure eyes looked over the golden sandy mound before him, a gently breeze blowing past, forcing him to cover his eyes momentarily and stop moving. As the wind settled, Kamen parted his eyelids and glanced at the breath-taking scene before him.

The sandy valley before the group looked like an ocean of molten gold, shifting and dancing with the wind as if greeting them. Within the centre of the sizeable valley were the tall twisting and spiralling towers of a grand palace that stood upon what could almost be called a mountain in the middle of numerous buildings of varying sizes. The light bounced off of the almost ruby red polished sandstone of the buildings as though they had been built out of mirrors. Surrounding what could only be called a city were walls almost as tall as Konoha's, also built out of the bright red sandstone that seemed to characterise Ren'ai Fuun. From their vantage point the mismatch of nobility, samurai, children and war veterans could see the small number of people moving around through the streets. Most were likely hiding away within their homes, trying to stay out of deathly hot sun, those that didn't only did so because they had no other choice.

It didn't take long for the group to move down into the valley, arriving before the imposing red gates of the city. Two shadows hung above the group, looking down from the battlements, at first it seemed as though they would demand the group halt in their tracks, instead a booming voice echoed out, "The princess has returned! Open the Gates! All Hail Ozymandias-sama King Of Kings and his lineage!"

Soon enough Ren'ai Fuun's imposing gates swung open with remarkable speed, a sudden burst of cheers echoing out from within. The group advanced, Shale and her samurai in the lead, as soon as they were within the walls of the city the gates swung shut again, a sense of foreboding creeping into Kamen, Guy and Kakashi's minds. The crowd that gathered around them cheered with all their might as a number of Samurai slip through the crowd and joined their two companions, encircling the makeshift group.

Team seven's genin and their tag along from team Guy seemed to be basking in the sudden glory that seemingly greeted them, struggling to take in everything that was going on around them as they were blindly guided through the streets.

On the other hand Kamen's eyes flashed around, taking in everything that was around them, all of these people had not been here moments ago and yet they had gathered in such a short amount of time it could almost have seemed as though they had been waiting here all day for their Princess's return. However, something about all this felt wrong to Kamen, he had first felt it when he had set eyes on the intimidating walls of Ren'ai Fuun, they held a much different feeling to those of Konoha.

Konoha's rock solid wooden walls with their gates almost always open and the leaf symbol engraved everywhere it could be... Those gates and walls were welcoming and when you were within their borders you felt safe. These blood red walls and gates, they intimidated from the outside and as soon as you were inside you felt as though you had just been trapped inside an Iron maiden.

Adding to this was the people of Ren'ai Fuun, sure enough they had gathered to cheer for their princess but there was no real soul to the cheers, just as there had been no soul to the gate guard's words. This was a routine for these people and from the dullness of some of these people's eyes it was one they had no choice but to uphold...

Kakashi, Kamen and Guy were at the rear of the group, letting those in front draw all the attention. The samurai seemed to have understood the strength of the trio even without being able to sense their chakra as they had favoured positioning their troops on the sides, leaving the three men to guard the rear. This was why Kakashi took this chance to converse with his peers, "You've both realised it too, Ne? Let us be cautious then..."

Kakashi's words seemed to have no importance and yet to both Guy and Kamen they served to put them at ease. Kamen straightened up his posture into that of the soldier that he had once been, keeping his eyes pointed towards the red palace that they would undoubtedly reach soon enough.

The trip to what the group of foreigners had soon learnt was nicknamed 'The Ruby Palace' was relatively long, their path rather than taking a direct route twisted and turned in order to pass by the most people possible and Kamen had guessed, to steer them away from undesirable sites such as the makeshift slums that he had caught glimpses of through some of the alleys.

At long last they arrived at the foot of a long set of stairs that led all the way up to the ruby palace, at the top stood an imposing figure with two hulking guards standing by his side. As the group began to climb Kamen could just about make out the people who shadowed over them. The Guards looked like giants who were clad in bright white armour that seemed to cover them from head to toe, not even a single bit of skin was visible, even their eyes seemed completely covered. The man who stood between them was likely to be Shale's father, 'Ozymandias-sama'.

The king's golden locks were a much lighter shade than those of his daughter, almost appearing to be the same colours of the golden sand that surrounded the city, his eyes, also unlike his daughter's cerulean ones, were a vibrant purple almost reminding Kamen of Nagato's Rinnegan. The man was clad in an ornate robe, spirals of deep blue, golden yellow and quicksilver showing off the man's prosperity. Adding to the rather noble appearance was the golden band like crown that rested atop his brow, incrusted into which were several different gems of varying size and colour, the most striking being the central emerald that was almost the size of a human fist. The man's face itself was rigid and sharp as though he hadn't been eating well and a slightly un-royal scraggy beard hung from his jawline. Despite this the regal air around the man was still as heavy as it could have been.

The closer the group drew to the top step the more nervous those who were foreign to this place got, the cold gaze of the king weighing down on them like bricks. This weight suddenly lifted as they reach the last ten steps to the top, something in the composed ruler suddenly snapped as he leapt down the steps in two by two sweeping the young Shale up into an invasive hug, a somewhat deep yet piercing voice leaking from Ozymandias' lips, "Shale-chan! You're back! I couldn't wait! Come! We shall have a feast to celebrate your return! And of course your bodyguard are all invited! Come, come!"

And before anyone truly knew exactly what was going on the group was sat within one of the large halls of the palace. Everything from the chairs and table to the throne and food set out before them was lavish, something that was unexpected for a city that lived out in the desert. The king who was sat upon his throne was leaning over and whispering something into Shale's ear who was sat in a much smaller throne next to him, after he retracted he gave a swift nod to a guard who came and stood before Shale for a split second before dashing off through one of the many doorways of the throne room. At almost the exact same time Sasaki, the young female Samurai was handing over the scroll with the body of her deceased comrade to what appeared to be the leader of Ren'ai Fuun's samurai.

Ozymandias coughed slightly into his fist before standing up, obviously noticing the tension and wanting to dissipate it he parted his pristine lips to speak, "Please do not hold back! Enjoy yourselves, my daughter tells me you've been very good to her! Let it not be know that Ozymandias King of Kings is an ungrateful host!"

Though as the man sat back upon his throne there was still a hint of the previous tension both the samurai and shinobi began to eat, although at a moderate pace, even Naruto seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and reluctantly used his chopsticks not as shovels but as they were meant to be used. Soon enough the clatter of chopsticks against plates and chatter invaded the halls mixing into a pleasing tune to which even the king and princess descended their thrones to mingle with.

Though within the festivities a single figure was immobile, Kamen sat as still as a leaf within the crowd, his eyes drifting around the many doorways of the hall. Kakashi had noticed this but said nothing, said white haired man himself felt slightly suspicious of what was going on, only pretending to eat the food as a precautionary measure, especially since his nose hadn't picked up any lacing to the food.

By all appearances Ren'ai Fuun was a prosperous place where the citizens respected their royalty even if they didn't adore them. The King seemed to be fond of his daughter and neither did he seem to be a snob, having joined hired hands to eat... And yet despite all this Kakashi had the exact same feeling as Kamen, one of uncertainty and unease.

Somewhat suddenly Kamen rose to his feet in a swift yet disarming motion, giving a respectful bow towards Ozymandias, "I'm terribly sorry to trouble you your highness, but I was wounded on the way here and still do not feel well, I wonder if there might be somewhere that I may rest?"

The long blond haired King swallowed slightly as he nodded and took a breath before speaking, "Of course! I apologise for not having thought of such a thing beforehand! Ah... You! Yes, uhm Sataki wasn't it? Yes, show our guest to one of the rooms... Do you perhaps need a healer? My court appointed physician is very good!"

Kamen bowed again shaking his head in the negative to which the seemingly jittery king responded with a slightly disappointed 'Oh'. Soon enough Kamen was being silently guided through the maze-like halls of the Ruby palace, "About what happened before-"

The female samurai in front of Kamen halted for a split second before continuing to walk at a brusk pace, "I was simply blaming you because of grief, please pay what I said no heed. Masato died doing what he was born and trained to do. He died protecting Ozymandias-sama and his lineage. There is no shame nor regrets to be had in such a death... This is your room Guest-sama."

And before Kamen could even say another word the young female samurai was gone, leaving the dark-haired time traveller alone... Which was exactly what he had wanted.

Making sure that no one was around Kamen began back-tracking through the halls of the palace, taking each and every turn as though he knew the halls by heart, soon enough he arrived at the cross section he had wanted, he passed into the hallway, the distant sound of the main hall just about reaching his ears. Kamen's goal was the samurai guard he had seen stood before Shale. In the split second that that guard had stood before the young princess, she had slipped something into his hands... The reason Shinobi had been hired and that the king hadn't simply assigned samurai to guard the young princess... The strange feeling he got as he entered Ren'ai Fuun... The joker of a King who seemed to be feared as though he were a tyrant... Whatever was going on, the thing that Shale had given to the guard would reveal all... And although Kamen wouldn't necessarily admit, the burning curiosity that he had had as a child was beginning to catch fire once again... Though the dread and instincts of the tempered soldier also pushed him forwards...

Not long after Kamen had left the throne room the festivities died down bit by bit as the king and princess returned to their thrones and guards returned to their posts. Kakashi had left his seat and was gazing intently at a sizeable statue made from pure white marble, the figure that the statue was meant to represent was obviously the king, and at the marble man's feet was a golden plaque, a single phrase engraved neatly into it,

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my work, ye mighty, and despair!"

Lisandra stepped up behind the Veteran shinobi and gazed up at the same statue as him, "Impressive isn't it? This was one of the first things the town's sculptor carved... It shows how much respect the people have for the king."

Kakashi glanced at Lisandra with his single visible eye, his expression showing slight disbelief at what the woman was saying. Everything from the statue's frown and wrinkled lips to the sneer of cold command upon his face did nothing to show this so called respect that Lisandra was talking about, "I don't wish to be rude but it seems more like whoever carved this had a great deal of resentment towards the king, or at the very least fear..."

A deep sigh echoed out from Lisandra as she turned her back to the white-haired scarecrow, suddenly the feeling of unease that had been in Kakashi's stomach ever since he had arrived in Ren'ai Fuun rose to the surface, almost beating in time with his heart. Lisandra glanced back towards Kakashi with an almost sickening smirk, "Yes well that is to be expected, the Sculptor only agreed to make it after his highness executed the man's youngest child."

A cold wave washed over Kakashi as he only now spotted all of the leaf shinobi passed out on the floor with Samurai gathered around them, blades pointed at their necks, "What is the meaning of this?"

Kakashi spoke in a glacial tone with one his hand resting on his kunnai holster, something he was now grateful hadn't been taken away from him, his other hand reaching up to his headband, "Tut-tut copy-nin-kun..."

The ex-anbu looked towards the source of the voice as he spotted the King who's face had once seemed almost innocent now laced with a horrific smile, in one hand he held Sakura's long pink hair, lifting her into the air, in the other hand he held an ornate dagger which rested upon the girl's pale throat, "You know if you had just eaten the food like you were told, all this would have been so much easier... Though I can't be too angry at you, you brought us exactly what we needed after all!"

Kakashi wrestled with his anger, on the one hand he could kill every single person in the room... On the other hand he could actually try and keep his students alive. There was only one obvious answer. Kakashi's hand reached closer and closer to his Kunnai holster before swiftly unclasping the pouch from his thigh and tossing it to the ground, doing the same with his toolbelt as quickly as possible, "A wise choice Kakashi-kun. You know I was rather worried when I heard that you were the one who was going to be accompanying my daughter... But then I heard that the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was coming along! Oh! How joyous that was! With this brat my plans can finnaly be achieved!"

Kakashi felt trapped and confused. He didn't understand a word of what this crazy king was saying, not only that but no one around him was questioning what was going on, even Shale who had once seemed strong willed was now slouched in her throne with a look of despair tainting her face, seemingly mumbling something under her breath and Kakashi didn't need his sharingan to read what she was saying on her lips, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...', over and over again. It was almost as if Kakashi had suddenly been transported to a parallel world and yet the veteran steeled his nerves, straightening himself up and slipping his hands cooly into his pockets to hide their trembling. He couldn't allow these people to lead what was going on. The young Hatake could both feel and hear the Samurai who was slowly approaching from behind and could already feel the sharp pain that he was soon to receive from the blunt handle of the burly man's katana. He wasn't going to be able to fight back, and so far it didn't seem as though they wanted him or his fellow leaf shinobi dead... At least not yet... So with the time he had left before being knocked unconscious, he would at least try to extract some information from Ozymandias, "Maa, Maa... Could I at least know what this is all about?"

The smirk that graced Ozymandias' lips twisted into something even more sadistic which hardly seemed possible, as his lips parted Kakashi could almost see the metaphorical monster like teeth hidden away in the King's jaw, "All you need to know is that soon, The so-called Five great Nations will fall down to the might of Ozymandias! KING OF KINGS!"

Along with the boom of Ozymandias' voice came two others, a distant explosion and the dull thud that echoed out within Kakashi's skull. As darkness invaded his mind, his final conscious thoughts could only be, 'I hope Kamen is alright...'

With each step Kamen took within the halls of the Ruby palace, the more his belief that something sinister was going on was reinforced. He had come across some more of those hulking white guards that had greeted them at the top of the steps, albeit a little bit smaller in size and now Kamen was certain of one thing, those things were not human. Kamen could sense chakra coming from them but it was some sort of vile concoction that barely resembled a human's chakra. The young war veteran could only hope that the others would be okay, though with Kakashi, Guy and Lee there, he didn't feel as though he had to worry too much.

Kamen suddenly heard a pair of voices approaching him and seeing no obvious way to hide from them, leapt up onto the roof of the hallway and stuck himself there by channelling chakra to the soles of his feet, "Did you hear? Shale-sama returned with the final part of the formula!"

The samurai who hadn't spoken paused in his stride right underneath Kamen, a look of disbelief on his face, "Really? Does that mean the old Uzumaki finaly gave in?"

Kamen was only just able to listen in on the conversation. The strain his current position was putting on his wound was highly uncomfortable, "Well, no. They ended up killing the old fool and ransacking his house until they found what they were looking for."

The ex-jinchuriki's blood boiled like it had never before, he had only ever met two of his living relatives during his lifetime, Karin and Nagato, both of whom had died shortly after he had met them. Hearing that these people, even those that he had protected and felt bad for letting die, had killed an Uzumaki... It drove him to the brink... Suddenly Kamen felt something slick running across his chest and as he looked up at himself he spotted a bright red stain seeping through his clothes, his wound must have reopened. The blood trailed down his body and before he could do anything to stop it a drop of blood fell from his body, traveling downwards at a startling speed before splashing upon the nose of one of the samurai underneath him.

In a knee jerk reaction the Samurai looked up at what had dripped the unknown substance onto him before spotting Kamen who was hanging above him like a bat, the unfortunate man opened his mouth shouting out a 'hey!' before a kunnai buried itself into his throat. Swiftly Kamen leapt down landing behind the other still star-struck samurai, reaching his hands up to his neck and twisting in a single violent jerking motion. The snap that echoed out in the halls was sickening, but Kamen paid it no mind, instead closing his eyes and listening to any noises far away, hoping that no one had heard his victim's shout. Just as Kamen was beginning to think that he had gotten away with being temporarily discovered, he heard a distant voice, "Did you hear that? It came from that way!"

Kamen was about to dash off in the direction he hoped he would find the guard that carried the key to all of what was going on, however, before he could one of the nearby red walls of the hallway exploded outwards, bits of stone and a cloud of dust forcing Kamen to cover his eyes. As the dark-haired man's azure eyes fluttered open he barely had a second to register a huge white fist bursting through the dust, aimed directly at his head.

Team seven's tagalong barely dodged the blow, and it was a good thing he had or he would be missing his head. The dust finally settle and Kamen gazed at what stood before him, It was one of the King's guards, a hulking white figure. The veteran didn't take the time to fully take in the creature, he couldn't afford to. He was at a disadvantage because whatever this creature was, it was covered in heavy plates of some sort of white metal, and short of using his rasenshuriken, it was unlikely he would be able to pierce it.

Though Kamen wasn't deterred, he swiftly formed hand signs and shouted out, "Wind Release: vacuum blade!"

The same invisible blade he had used against Raiga's grunts appeared between his hands. Hoping that his opponent was as slow as he was large, Kamen dove forwards pointing his blade at what seemed to be the only chink in the creature's armour, its eye sockets. The blade was driven in successfully, however, Kamen swiftly leapt away as one of the creature's huge white fists came up to strike him, "What the hell are you made out of then?"

Kamen looked down at his hands and the jutsu he was maintaining between them. He had felt the vacuum blade go in and he had felt it cut through the creature's head and scrape against the back of its armour... Kamen could now only assume that these things were most definitely not alive but neither were they a simple earth golem jutsu... Which meant they were some sort of fuinjutsu creation... But a fuinjutsu that could create autonomous life... Not only was it extremely complicated, it was also a forbidden art and Kamen knew all too well why it was classified as one... It usually required some sort of sacrifice. Perhaps this explained why Shale and her samurai had gone after an Uzumaki.

Kamen's blood boiled remembering the fact that he had helped those who had killed his Kin, a spark of the wrath that he had held during the fourth great shinobi war returning to him. A shadow hung above the time traveller's dark blue eyes, rage boiling up from within as he almost spat out his words, "Secret sword Technique: Tonbokiri!"

The air surrounding Kamen suddenly became heavy as sparks began surrounding his vacuum blade. The golem's simple mind couldn't understand what was going on, but either way it wasn't going to simply let its enemy perform its jutsu. Unfortunately for the golem, it was far too late. The sparks surrounding Kamen's vacuum blade condensed together as if being absorbed by it. Suddenly bolts of lightning began erupting from the chakra sword. Each time the purple light struck out and came in contact with the stone walls they exploded into rubble.

Kamen was unsure whether the creature before him could actually feel fear, but he was almost certain that within the darkness that occupied its eye sockets he could sense something akin to terror. In a single swift movement the veteran dove towards his enemy, swinging his sword like a club. The creature raised its arm to protect itself in vain as Kamen's Tonbokiri impacted with its armoured exterior.

A huge explosion resounded within the halls as lightning sparked in every direction. Kamen himself was blown back by the force of his attack as the jutsu dissipated. The dark-haired man thudded against the ground as a pained moan escaped his lips. The ringing in his ears and the pain that washed all over his body reminded Kamen of two things. They firstly reminded him why he hated fighting against people who used earth jutsu and secondly why he hated using his Tonbokiri jutsu.

Looking up from his prone position Kamen spotted what remained of his foe, a pair of white legs barely standing, surrounded by shattered white metal and fleshy stone. As his hearing returned to him, the ex-jinchuriki heard several shouts in the distances along with a deafening number of heavy footsteps. Not willing to stick around and get killed, the young man leapt to his feet and dove out of the hole which the golem had created in the wall upon its entrance.

Meanwhile within the depths of the ruby palace, deep down where few eyes had ever seen and even fewer had left to tell the tale of what they saw, team seven plus Lee struggled to grapple their consciences to the surface, "Ahh... My head feels like Guy-sensei just kicked me with all his might..."

The group found themselves all lying on an eerily cold sandstone floor, surrounded by almost pitch black darkness, their sensei nowhere in sight.

As Lee gradually managed to take in his surroundings, only a single thought came to mind, "What happened?"

Sakura groaned slightly as she sat up in the dark, a hand reaching up to cradle her head, "I... I think we were drugged..."

Sasuke slowly rose to his feet, his hand reaching towards where his kunnai pouch should have been only for the tips of his fingers to touch air. The young Uchiha clicked his tongue in annoyance before speaking up, "They took away our weapons and our backpacks... Damn it... They betrayed us and now they want to starve us to death?"

Sakura yelped slightly at the thought, extremely glad that she had taken Kamen's advice and stopped her diet before they had been sent on their mission. Meanwhile, Naruto circled around the four walls of the darkened room, trying to see if he could find a way out, "Hey, there's a door over here!"

The group shuffled wearily towards the door that seemed to be almost entirely made out of solid metal. Naruto latched onto the handle of the door and pulled with everything he had, but the door refused to budge, even pushing with his feet against the wall until he was red in the face didn't seem to do anything, "Naruto don't be an idiot, if they shut us in here then of course the door is going to be locked!"

The orange clad genin ceased in his efforts and with a bashful, "Oh yeah..." Returned to circling the room pointlessly. Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't necessarily have the energy to waste on pointless movements and simply sat himself down in the dark, closing his eyes. The trip to Ren'ai Fuun had been tiresome. Not only had they travelled far, but they had also gotten into a fight with a rogue ninja and his group. Sasuke knew that almost everyone was borderline unaffected by it all, and that frustrated him to no end because he could not say the same for himself.

During their encounter with the former mist Anbu and his Kurotsuki family, Sasuke had been fried by the ex-Anbu's lightning jutsu and then beaten, bruised and cut up by his underlings. If they really had been betrayed by the inhabitants of Ren'ai Fuun and their king, then a lot of things made sense, the reason as to why Lisandra hadn't treated any of the Konoha shinobi unless they caused the makeshift group to stop being one of them. Either way, because of both a lack of rest and treatment neither Sakura nor himself were in any shape to be fighting and yet both Lee and Naruto had been beaten and fried just as they had, if not worse... Why then did they seem completely fine?

Lee's unaffected, nonchalant attitude could be somewhat accounted for. From what Sasuke knew of him, the young green clad boy was a year and a half ahead of them in terms of both training and experience, not only that but he also had obviously orientated himself towards taijutsu, so physical resilience was a given.

On the other hand Naruto Uzumaki was a different story. He acted as though nothing had happened, as though their battle was nothing but an exchange of banter and their journey, a trip to the shops... The blonde's stamina was unreal, that was undeniable, but wounds that Sasuke could have sworn he had seen on his teammate seemed to disappear as soon as he took his eyes off them...

Sasuke cracked his eyes open and peered at the outline of his blonde teammate, his eyes having slightly adjusted to the darkness. Naruto was constantly full of energy and was always shooting his mouth off, which made the blonde brat more than slightly annoying. Even then of course, Sasuke knew full well thanks to Kamen's speeches that he still had to work with him, as a teammate and even a comrade... That didn't bother the boy... In fact he felt somewhat glad at having been forced into realising that fact... Perhaps Sasuke had already known before but had simply been blinded by his hatred of his brother... Either way, ever since the land of waves, Naruto had seemed different, even more so since Kamen had shown up. The blonde seemed more focused, calmer and yet still as competitive as ever... What did bother Sasuke was that chakra... He had been fading out of consciousness when he had felt it... A vile and disturbing chakra that had pulsed right down into Sasuke's bones even as he was passing out from Haku's senbon needles.

After the mission Sasuke had brought the matter up with Kakashi, though his sensei was his usual flippant self, attributing the ominous chakra to Zabuza... Sasuke knew full well that couldn't have been true... If it had, team seven would have been annihilated then and there. Of course Sasuke had tried to broach the subject with Sakura, but... Well Sakura was Sakura and Sasuke had found it almost impossible to talk to her when all she had was hearts in her eyes. Even now that she had backed off a little, talking to her was just as difficult. Knowing that she had affections for him, all the while the fact of having been beaten by her looming over him... It was all very... Difficult... Sasuke could think of no other word to describe their relationship, if it could even be called that.

As Naruto moved around to the door for the umpteenth time, once again fruitlessly searching for a way out of their prison cell, said door swung open violently and before any of the genins within could react, they were surrounded by bone-white lanky humanoid golems with bright red markings all over their bodies, each one holding their sword or spear like arms up towards the genin.

Sasuke slowly rose to his feet his sharp dark eyes scanning around the room, unlike the two heavily armoured white guards that the group had previously seen with Ozymandias, these creatures were obviously not human and had been built for speed rather than durability.

The young Uchiha planted his feet into the stone floor even going so far as trying to channel chakra to his feet to hold himself in place, however, for some reason his chakra didn't even seem to want to leave his body. The Uchiha had thought it was strange that none of them had been tied up, if any of them had known an earth style jutsu they might have been able to escape. However, Sasuke realised as he failed to channel chakra into the floor, that there must have been some sort of seal that prevented him from doing so.

After a few seconds, just long enough for the four genins to think they were about to be killed by the strange white constructs, two shadows approached the doorway. One was none other than Ozymandias, a sickening smirk dancing across his lips, and the other was a someone that none of the genins recognized, a short hunched over old man with a monocle hanging from his aged neck, "Ahh, I see that Ozymandias-sama has pulled out all the stops, hehe... To think Leaf shinobi imprisoned in the walls that I myself helped build... I can't help but be ecstatic!"

Naruto swiftly put himself between the three people behind him and the two men who had just entered the room, a grim look on his face and a snarl at his lips, "You bastards! You tricked us! Did you plan this all along ya posh princess?!"

Ozymandias' smirk disappeared and was replaced by a thin line that ran between his lips as his dark purple eyes sharpened even more than they had when he had entered the room, "Your gums won't be flapping as much when we're finished with you, brat. Rikata, stop wasting time and examine the boy."

The old man backed away from his king, bowing slightly as he did so before swiftly moving over towards Naruto. The young blond recoiled slightly as the man approached, raising his fist instinctually to strike back the advancing threat. However, before he could go further than cocking his fist backwards, two of the white constructs each grabbed one of his arms, holding their weapon-like secondary appendages to the blonde's neck. This act by the two constructs also froze in place the three other genins in the room who had been about to try and help the blond boy.

The old man, draped in a white lab coat, reached his withered and spindly fingers forwards, grasping the hem of Naruto's shirt, pulling it up to reveal his slightly rounded belly, "Hey! What the hell are ya doin' you old crony!"

Before the blond could protest further the elderly man brought one of his fingers forwards and pressed onto Naruto's slightly tanned stomach. The old man's finger lit up slightly as he applied a small amount of chakra to it. In a split second, black spiralling shapes and writing appeared upon the young Uzumaki's belly, "Hmm... How remarkable... This is indeed the eight trigram seal Ozymandias-sama... This is perfect... According to the documents that Shale-sama brought back this is exactly what we need!"

The tall golden blond haired man's smirk returned in full force, his lips echoing out the word 'perfect' as he nodded towards the two constructs that held the boy in place. In a unified and swift movement, the white creatures knocked the blond out with a chop to the neck before lugging his body out of the room. The man named Rikata almost skipped along behind them as he left, showing almost none of the age that he should have been. The wretched king also turned to leave, ignoring the genins that shouted out, doing their best to restrain themselves from acting, knowing full well what would happen, "Naruto-san! We will come to save you! Do not worry!" "Naruto!" "Hey! Where are you taking him, you bastard?!"

The dictator was barely a shadow in the dark as he stepped out of the room, and yet the group felt as though they could still make out his horrible smirk and disdainful eyes, "Oh... I don't think you should be worrying about him right now... Soon enough you'll have much more pressing matters to attend to, ha!"

Ozymandias faded into the darkness, his sickening laugh echoing out as he loudly as his footsteps. Sakura watched as the constructs disappeared out of the room one by one until the door slammed shut in front of her. A despondent look reflected in her eyes...

This was all supposed to be just an ordinary escort mission... They were meant to be taking part in the chunin exams a week from now... Those exams had seemed daunting to Sakura when Kakashi had announced that he had forms for them to fill out in order to take part... And yet now it couldn't be further out of her thoughts... They were locked up in a cell, far from home, without their sensei's guidance and with a teammate who had just been dragged away with a sinister looking seal on his stomach.

All hope seemed to be lost as the young kunoichi couldn't help her body from collapsing backwards. Luckily Lee was stood just behind her and his strong arms halted her fall before it had even started. Sakura looked up at the older boy, his black eyes filled with determination, despite the situation. This in itself helped the Haruno daughter back onto her feet, though all that seemed to lay ahead was uncertainty... Even so she knew someone had it worse than her.

The young pink-haired girl turned her light green eyes towards Sasuke, who had started pacing back and forth next to one of the walls of their cell. Through the darkness the young kunoichi could just about make out her teammate's clenched fists, "Sasuke-kun?"

The raven-haired boy suddenly swung one of his clenched fists into the wall, the impact letting out a dull thud. Sasuke's eyes were looking at the ground, his pupils narrowed in unrestrained anger, "Damn it!"

And again the boy slammed his fist into the wall. At this point Sakura wasn't sure whether she should approach her teammate to try and calm him or if she should back away in order to not get caught up in his rage, "All of this is crazy! How the hell did a mission for this sort of messed up place even get onto the third hokage's table, what the hell happened with the background checks?!"

Sakura couldn't help but agree with her love interest's words, sure enough this was a B-rank mission, but that usually meant that there was a risk of facing enemy shinobi... This mission had resulted in team seven finding themselves at the heart of enemy territory, surrounded by strange golems that were being controlled by a dictator who, all the while, was plotting something sinister that involved their teammate... Sakura couldn't even believe that this would have been designated as an A-rank mission had the Hokage known the circumstances. Sakura believed that he would have been inclined to not even assigned it a rank and hand it off to Anbu special ops...

Sakura shook her head from side to side. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things, instead it would be better if she tried to calm the raging Uchiha, "Sasuke-kun, I know you're worried about Naruto... He might be a blockhead but he's still our teammate. Our number one most unpredictable shinobi teammate... If worse comes to worst, I'm sure he'll think of something... Either way, you heard what Ozymandias said... I don't think he's the kind of person to be needlessly foreboding..."

Lee closed in on the pair, his enthusiasm and pearly white smile almost lighting up the dark room with their intensity, "Sakura-chan is right! We must stay strong and find away to get ourselves out of this situation! Just as I am sure Naruto-san will do!"

Sasuke took a deep breath and lowered his arm down from where he had been striking the wall before completely straightening his body, "Right... I... We need to find a way out of here..."

Just as the final syllables slipped out from between Sasuke's lips, the whole room suddenly began to shake, an awful metal shrieking sound accompanying the sudden tremors. The darkness in the room suddenly began to disappear under a piercing light that came from above the trio as the roof that had once seemed like an impenetrable barrier now split itself open. Gradually the inner mechanisms behind the opening of the roof ceased, the light now thoroughly blinding the group of genins. However, there was no time for any of the children's senses to recover as the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to rise. Sasuke barely spotted the door to their cell disappear downwards out of the corner of his blinded vision. Loud cheers blasted their way into the makeshift group's ears as their vision gradually cleared and the movement beneath them ceased.

And that's that Folks! I'm personally very happy with where this fanfiction is heading, as few of my projects have ever really gotten as far as this one. I thoroughly enjoy writing these chapters and although I do take long breaks, when I'm busy with other things, my mind often wonders to what I should be doing with the story next.

The Following is a bit of a rant, so feel free to skip it.

I recently started re-watching Naruto from the very beginning for only the second time, which helped me remember what the characters are actually like in the cannon. Because of how many fanfictions portray the three main characters, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, with personalities that are, in all honesty, blown out of proportion, I sometimes forget who exactly they are. Sure enough Naruto is shunned by the village, however, during the mission to the land of waves Kakashi says something to Inari which I had forgotten and actually gives us more insight into Naruto's character than I ever cared to notice previously. He says "You probably don't know this, but Naruto also grew up without a father. In fact, he never knew either of his parents, and he didn't have a single friend in our village. Still, I've never seen him cry, sulk or give up. He's always... Eager to jump in... He wants to be respected. That's... His dream. And he'll put his life on the line for that, in a heartbeat. My guess is... He just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it."

In Fanfiction Naruto's personality varies greatly, which is understandable seeing as the whole point of Fanfiction is to mould your favourite stories into your own fantasies, pretty much. Either way, Fanfictions are very personal things in my eyes, and they reflect our personal feelings of the show. However, most fanfiction represent, at least in the beginning, Naruto as being an absolute idiot bordering on mentally handicapped, most times Fanfiction writers explain this away with a variety of things from a mental seal to being sabotaged by his teachers. I feel as though this comes from a base misunderstanding of Naruto's persona. Sure enough Naruto fails to retain most if not all lessons taught in the academy, as shown by Sakura having to re-explain to Naruto what chakra is during the mission to waves, yet a couple of episodes/books prior, that same Naruto, through self-teaching, learns a forbidden jutsu, the shadow clone jutsu. (Which despite supposedly how well protected the scroll of sealing is and how difficult/hazardous the jutsu is to learn and master, it seems as though every single enemy and even ally can use it from Deidara to Kiba and even random Anbu.) Now some might see this stark contrast as a glaring plot hole, however, I personally see this as being a demonstration of one of Naruto's most notable traits. Naruto is a kinesthetic learner, he learns by doing things himself, unlike Sasuke, who thanks to his sharingan is the very definition of a visual learner, or Sakura who represents the auditory/reading/writing learner through her academic prowess.

I feel as though noting that Naruto is a kinesthetic leaner is quite important to understanding him as a character simply because it explains quite a lot of things. For example, the reason Naruto fails to grasp the basic concepts of chakra and yet can create shadow clones, the reason he fails at the academy and yet goes on to pretty much save the world is, in my humble opinion, because of this. Sure there are training arcs, there always will be, but Naruto becomes strong because there is something or someone to fight against, he isn't motivated by the satisfaction of curiosity or peace of mind that comes with acquiring knowledge like Sakura is, neither is he motivated by the sheer power that could be (And ends up being) at his disposal, like Sasuke is. In all honesty Naruto Uzumaki is the perfect blueprint for a hero. Seemingly selfless and determined, strong and yet almost incapable of being arrogant (at least once he sheds the false unfounded childish arrogance), blindly brave and iron willed.

Naruto being the perfect hero set aside, I feel as though never in Naruto nor in Naruto shippuden does Naruto himself ever learn anything by sitting down and studying, which reinforces my belief of him being a kinesthetic learner. Looking at it this way also partially pardons both Kakashi and Jiraya for being such hands off teachers when it came to Naruto. At the very least Jiraya knew that the only way Naruto was going to learn the Rasengan correctly was through his own method of trial and error. Who knows, had that pervy old sage given Naruto instructions, perhaps he would have been unable to create the rasenshuriken. This could also explain why Naruto succeeded in perfecting his sage mode whereas Jiraya could not, as despite similarities between the two, Jiraya is a master of Fuinjutsu and spying (and apparently writing), his talent for Jutsu and combat, despite being good enough for him to be known throughout the world, does not even measure up to Pain(To be fair he manages to take down three of Pain's bodies in the manga, though I think in the anime he only defeats one of them), whom Naruto defeats prior to the fourth great shinobi war, granted with some Kyuubi intervention.

This brings me on to my final point regarding Naruto, for this chapter at least. And this may be in order to justify my own character, Kamen, but Naruto does, in the 'end' change slightly. It's not that he's no longer a kinesthetic learner, but he ends up studying to become Jonin/Hokage. Seeing as we later know that he manages to become Hokage, it has to be said that he at least has some talent for learning things 'normally', he just has to have the right motivations. In this fanfiction, Naruto Uzumaki of the future or rather Kamen, was constantly on the run, constantly fighting, constantly growing stronger and when he was not fighting, when he was simply sat alone in his tent, in the middle of what would likely be the twentieth camp in as many days, what would he be doing? Training? Seeing as he would never know when the next attack would come, training would be too risky. Do nothing? Simply sit and wallow in the memories of those who were dead, that doesn't fit him either. The only thing he could do then to distract his mind, I would like to think, would be to study. Studying out of necessity, just like his cannon self. I would like to think that this is a rather reasonable conclusion. And perhaps, knowing how useful shadow clones could be, he might spare enough chakra for a couple of them, so that he might triple his learning speed, hopefully without affecting his mind too badly with the backlash of the jutsu, thanks to ol'kyuubi residing in his belly.

End of Rant, went on even longer than I realised...

Anyways, enough of all that, I would like to thank you all for reading and hope you continue to do so. Don't forget to write a review if you have the time and in order to not miss one of my sporadic updates you can always follow A Return Ticket To Konoha!

See ya next time!