"Well, at least the rain has finally eased up." Kiba murmured, It was an irritating time for the four of them…..five including Akamaru. They were getting beat down by rain and the foul smell of decomposed bodies filled the air.

"Let's get moving, we need to get out of here." Shikamaru pushed himself up from the dry patch of ground he was sitting on. He led them through the ghost town, quietly paying his respects as they passed the decayed bodies.

"Excuse me! Help! Help!"

Naruto turned his head to see a frantic boy running towards them. Tears running down his face and snot dripping from his nose. He had to be at least 5 to 6 years old.

Sasuke pulled his sword from his back. He kept to his side as he eyed the young child."It might be a setup, keep your guard up Naruto."

Naruto scoffed at the words Sasuke uttered. He stooped down low to the boy so he could be on his level."Hey, what's wrong?"

The little boy began to wipe his nose with his arm sleeve. He looked up at Naruto with his big brown pleading eyes. "I need help, my mom is really sick and she might die." He began to tug on Naruto's shirt leading him into the direction.

"This isn't a part of the mission Naruto, just get rid of him and let's go." Sasuke wasn't buying any of it. Naruto was too gullible to see through this child's eyes.

"Yah! Sasuke what makes you think he's lying." Naruto shot Sasuke a glare from hell. As much as he loved his best friend he had a lot to learn about kids.

"I don't know Naruto, Sasuke might be right for once, what if it is a setup?" Kiba eyeballed the kid. He also got eye level with the child.

"No! Please! I'm not, I'll give you anything just please come." The child threw himself into Naruto's arms sobbing.

"Come on Shikamaru, what if this was Shikadai? Would you want us to leave him?"

"Naruto stop letting your emotions get the best of you, we need to leave now, who knows what this damn village has up their sleeves!" Sasuke pulled Naruto up from the ground, snatching the little boy away from tossing him away on the ground.

He landed on the ground with a hard thud."Don't hurt me! He screamed out. He curled into a ball on the dirt ground.

"Leave him alone Sasuke….we'll follow the boy and if it's a set of then Naruto I'll have your ass." Shikamaru walked to the boy helping him off the ground. He nodded for the boy to show him the way to his so-called sick mother.

"Follow me it's not a long walk."

The walk they took was to the other side of the village. This side seemed more serve but less dead bodies. They all noticed that the child would pick up scraps of food as he walked. He stuffed them inside his shirt not daring to drop any of it. Seeing the boy pick up scraps of food reminded Naruto if his childhood days. He forced down his sadness and keep up with the others. The group arrived at a small cottage home. The damage on the outside was quite severe, especially the big hole in the roof.

"Who else lives here?," Kiba asked.

"Just me and my mom, come on I'll show you her." Naruto and Shikamaru walked with the little boy while Kiba and Sasuke stayed at guard. The house was on its last limb, the wood of the floor was so moldy that when pressure was applied it caved.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Kato and this is my mom Akane." Kato pointed to his sleeping mother. The woman was lying on a blanket and another covering her. He ran over to the open hole in the house gathering water from the rain then awoke his mother.

"Kaa-san I have ninjas here to help you." Kato shook his mother awake handing her the water. Naruto and Shikamaru noticed the woman was in bad shape, she needed medical attention right away.

Akane could barely move, she struggled to get up. Kato helps his mother lean against the good side of the wall away from the rain.

"I'm sorry, Kato was supposed to bring back food not….." she began to cough up blood. Kato wiped his mother's face as if he did it a million times already. "...Listen we don't have any money, we can barely eat on regular bases, we can't afford you guys."

"We don't want your money, we just want to help, just tell us what happened here." Akane looked at Shikamaru with the most hateful eyes. She lifted up her blanket to show her black, blue, and purple burn marks.

"This is what happened, they came and took everything from us. My husband, my food, my house, even my damn sanity… They don't give a damn about us." Akane screamed.

"Who did this?" Naruto asked. He bent down to admire the woman's legs. He took note of every little injury just as Sakura taught him. Naruto looked up to see the woman eyeing her son. He gave the woman a pat on the shoulder then went after her son.

"Hey, wanna go downstairs to see a big dog!"

"Really! Can I pet it!" Kato jumped up from his seat eager to meet the dog. For the first time in a while, Akane smiled at her son.

"Come on, Adult business it so yucky let's getaway" Naruto stuck out his tongue at Shikamaru causing the genius to chuckle. They both walked down the hall towards the semi-built living room to see Akamaru lying on the ground.

"His name is Akamaru, you can pet him." Kiba proudly said. Kato began to pet the dog, Akamaru licked his face in return. Their fun stopped when Sasuke came back into the house. Kato ran behind Naruto's legs keeping an eye on Sasuke.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"He's mean and he threw me on the ground without apologizing."

Naruto laughed, "He's a teme they're known for doing those things." He looked up at Sasuke and eyed him. "Now apologize."

Sasuke scoffed. "I apologize brat."

Kato shook his head, The Uchiha shook his head, he got eye level with the boy then handed him a rice cake. "I apologize…..brat" Kato eyed him for a second then grabbed the rice cake and fled to Akamaru.

Naruto stood there with fake tears in his eyes wanting to hug the Uchiha. "That was so cool Teme." Sasuke pushed Naruto off of him but that didn't stop him.

"I just want a hug."

"I want you to leave me alone." Sasuke pushed the blonde down the hallway. "Don't you have business to take care of.

"I'll be back for you teme," Naruto shouted before he entered the room. Shikamaru was helping the woman pack some clothes and things for the trip back.

"So I'm guessing they're coming back with us."

"Yeah, turns out our suspicion was right we can use her for resources. We can't leave them here or else she'll die. I have already sent a messenger to Kakashi about them but we need to leave now. She'll explain more once she has medical treatment."

"Hai." Naruto walked over to Akane carefully wrapping her body in the blanket. He walked down the hall with the woman in his arms. Kato noticed his mom in Naruto's arms, he walked over to her tugging her lightly. "Are we leaving with them kaa-san?"

"Yes, we're going to have a better home."

Kato's eyes lit brighter than any shinning star. "Really kaa-san!?"

Kiba patted the little boy's head. "Yes, really and you can ride on Akamarus back if you'd like." Kato nodded his head eagerly, he ran over to the dog hopping on his back. Akamaru barked happily as Kato began to rub his head.

"Let's get a move on." The gang started making their way out of the home into the streets. The rain had finally eased up to the point where they could finally catch a scent. It was faint but Kiba could pick up the scent of someone or something lurking nearby.

"Hey, guys I-."

"Don't pursue unless they come after us," Shikamaru said dryly.

"Tch, I knew we weren't getting out of this village without a fight," Sasuke uttered, He began to fall back a little just in case something did happen.

Akane began to panic a little she started to toss and turn in the blonde's hands. "Wait! Is everything okay?"

Naruto reassured the frighten woman, "Everything is fine you just sit tight."

Then it happened an explosion went off. Smoke rose in the air causing a black pocket of smoke to arise. "Shadow clone Justu." Naruto tossed the woman into his shadow clone. "Take care of her will ya." The blonde ran in the direction of the commotion right along with Sasuke.

"Yah! Kurama are you ready!"

"Hmph"

"What do you mean hmph we're in the middle of a battle here!" the blonde internally screamed.

"I'm going back to sleep handle it on your own brat."

"ARE YOU STILL MAD AT ME!? I APOLOGIZED TO SAKURA-CHAN! WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?"

"Leave me alone."

The voice of Kurama faintly disappeared in Naruto's mind. He stood there in disbelief that the Kyubi wouldn't join forces with him. "After everything, we've been through…..fine I'll handle this myself… Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu." An array of Naruto's appeared running into the direction of action.

"Cha! Rasengan!" He dodged and weaved every blow hitting everyone with his powerful Jutsu. "Let's go for a spin!" he ran into his shadow clones making them spin himself into the air. On the release, he smashed his Rasengan into three men. "Triple Rasengan."

"Tch let's just end it all… Chidori stream!" Sasuke smashed his hands into the ground making everyone standing in his way get hit. The men fell onto the floor seemingly knocked out.

"Aww Man Sasuke, you really didn't leave any for me." Naruto pouted.

"Maybe if you didn't argue with yourself then you would have been ready."

Naruto mocked his best friend with his hands on his hip and tongue out."Maybe if you would have...ahhh shut up teme." The two began to walk off when a man grabbed onto Sasuke's leg.

"Wait! You're making a mistake don't take them with you."

"Why should I believe you."

"Because that little boy is the devil don't…..just don't." The man passed out as he spoke his last word. Naruto thought about the man's speech before he shrugged his shoulders walking away.

"Well if he is then I'll stop him," Naruto uttered to himself.