A/N: hey guys whats up? Here is your next chapter for your enjoyment! I hope my story is good so far. Once again, thank you for all of the reviews and followers. If there is any improvements or anything you all would like added, lemme know, and I'll see what I can do.

One thing, remember guys, this is NOT…NOT a harem! That was my last story, but not this one. I promised that before I even began writing the first chapter, and I intend on keeping it that way. I'll write another harem story maybe after this one is done. But not before.

Remember guys, Naruto in this story is not wearing that weird orange jumpsuit or whatever it was. Just in case you forgot what he looks like, his outfit is the picture. I like to help you guys out with the imagination part as much as possible. I want my stories to be clear. If they are not, please let me know ok?

Yes, Ino was very fresh with him in the beginning. But as we all know, Ino was always very helpful, and even quite flirtatious, not afraid to flaunt her stuff. She was desperate to help Naruto, one of her close friends. I know in the beginning, he was very emotionless and stuff like that and now he doesn't seem so much so. Remember, when people are like that, they seem to feel 'better', so to speak, when they are preoccupied, having something to do. When they do not, the mind tends to focus on all the stuff we have had to go through for whatever reason. In this case, whenever Naruto has this problem, he shuts down his emotions so he doesn't have to feel the pain of before. Psychology people, psychology.

All suggestions are welcome! I am human, sometimes I forget things, so lemme know if do ok?

Enjoy!

A Broken Man

Chapter 6

Getting Caught Up

"Hey there Naruto," Kakashi said with his eye smile. He wore his ANBU outfit, without the mask, just in case he needed to go into a huge battle. After all, they had no idea if they were going into a huge war or not. Its always to be prepared for the worst. "Its good to see you again."

"Hey there Kakashi sensei," Naruto greeted. He looked at Kiba, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and Hinata. "Hey guys, you came too?"

"Of course we did Naruto," Kiba said proudly. He was happy to be able to help find his friend. "You just kinda disappeared without a trace when you went through that portal. Sasuke boy here opened portal after portal to try and find your chakra signature. It was a combination effort of his portals, Ino's mind tricks, and Hinata's byakugan that finally located you here. My nose helped too, of course. No matter how many baths or showers you take, you always stink of toads and ramen. You smell terrible man!"

"Hahahaha, good one Kiba," Naruto laughed. Naruto looked at Sasuke and held out his fist and said to him, "Thanks for not giving up on me. There's not many people in that damn village that I can count on. I'm glad you're one of them."

Sasuke smiled as he bumped fists with his friendly Toad Sage.

"Sorry about that little throw, dobe," Sasuke told him.

"Don't even worry about it," Naruto told him. He pointed back at the Earthrealm team and Mileena and told them, "Just so you know Kakashi sensei, these guys could use our help. In short, there's a realm civil war or something like that going on here. We are in a place called Outworld."

"What is Outworld?" Ino asked Naruto. Shikamaru answered her, saying, "According to the archives in the Konoha library, the scrolls written by the Shodaime and Nidaime, explain that this Outworld is one of several 'realms', or dimensions I guess."

"We are in an alternate dimension?!" Ino asked, freaked out.

"You fought in the fourth Great Ninja War, and you're worried about being in another dimension?" Kiba asked with a deadpanned look on his face.

"We were still in our world, baka!" Ino exclaimed loudly, shaking her fist at Kiba. "We have absolutely no idea where we are now! How are we supposed to operate under these conditions?!"

"Be quiet Ino," Shikamaru told her. "Remember, we have no problem getting back now. Sasuke has the Rinnegan, so we don't have the problem with finding home. Relax."

Hinata wrapped a hand around her husband's arm and asked him, "Kiba-kun, we got Naruto now, so can we get back home now?"

"Hang on Hinata," Kiba told her. "Hey Naruto, didn't you say that those guys could use our help? We're here now, so whats the deal?"

"Well, like I said," Naruto began, "the woman with the black hair over there in the pink armor, her name is Mileena. She was the ruler of the land here but was unfairly and wrongfully overthrown. We need to restore her back to her throne."

"so," Kakashi said, "We need to restore balance in another realm under an unofficial mission. And I cant even read my book. Juuuust great."

"That's not all though," Naruto continued. "The current ruler, or false ruler if that's what you wanna call him, is Kotal Kahn. Honestly, he doesn't seem like a bad guy, more neutral than anything. From what I can tell from my recon so far, is that he just wants this realm to grow and prosper. He saw that Mileena was doing a crap job, so he forcibly took over. Now, here we are. And, these four here, they need to get back to Earthrealm."

"I already called my mother, General Blade," Cassie said, stepping forward. "she told us that we cant go back until the mission is complete."

Naruto turned back to her and said, "Fuck what she said to you. She left you out to dry in a severely hostile environment. Just wait until I get my hands on her."

"You cant beat my mom," Cassie said to him. "Only three people beat her, my dad has been able to do that, and Raiden and Uncle Jax. That's it."

"Have you already forgotten what I did earlier?" Naruto asked her.

Cassie remembered Narutos fire-covered giant rasengan and stepped back a little, saying, "Ok, you might be umber four then."

"Mileena, come here for a sec," Naruto said to the empress. She slowly walked around the small bonfire that Naruto had made earlier and stood beside him. He told her, "Well…come on now, stick out your hand, introduce yourself…"

Mileena just looked at him with a blank stare and then looked at the newcomers. She then, swallowing her pride, stuck her hand and said to them, "My name is Mileena, rightful heiress to the throne of Outworld. I see you are friends of Narutos…I am pleased to meet you all."

Kakashi walked forward and shook her hand, giving her his famous eye smile, saying, "Kakashi Hatake, Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and personal sensei to Naruto. Pleased to meet you."

Mileena nodded as she let go of his hand. She looked at the others and then turned back to Naruto and asked him, "Now that your friends have found you, do you plan on returning to your home world?"

"Maybe," Naruto answered, "But not until I at least have you back on your throne. Official mission or not, its my personal mission, and I will get it done."

Mileena couldn't help but smile behind her mask. She reached down and grabbed his hand, holding it in both of hers and said to him, "Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Ino, looking at the way this 'Mileena' chick was holding Narutos hand, she said to her, "Excuse me, um, Mileena? Hey, uh, are and Naruto together?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Mileena asked her.

"She means are you and Naruto fuckin' yet," Kiba said to her, smirking. Hinata and Ino both had the decency to blush a little bit, while Ino nodded and said, "Well, yeah, I guess, but I really meant dating, you baka."

Mileena smirked behind her mask and said to them, "In a manner of speaking, yes. Why do you ask?"

Ino got a heated look on her face and pointed an accusing finger in Mileena's face and said to her loudly, "Then you BETTER be nice to him, you hear me! This man has been through way more than you know, and he doesn't deserve anyone who isn't the best, you understand?! And if you do hurt him, I swear to God I will fry your fucking brain, you understand me girl?!"

Mileena let go of Narutos hand and pulled out her sais, flipping them a few times before she held them threatingly and said to Ino, "How dare you!...if you EVER talk to me like that again, friend of Narutos or not, I will kill you. Do YOU understand?!"

"That's enough, Mileena," Naruto intervened. "I appreciate the gesture, Ino, really I do. Thank you for showing me that you care. However, I know Mileena wont do that sort of thing. At least, not if she wants me to pleasure her again, hehehe."

Mileena hit Naruto in the chest and said to him, "Naruto! How dare you say that in front of them!"

"Its not like you don't enjoy it," Naruto teased her further. "Anyways…Kakashi sensei, I'm going to help Mileena with her regaining her throne. Requesting permission for you guys to aid me in doing so."

Kakashi nodded. "Granted Naruto. Tsunade is in my place right now while I'm on the active search party."

Kakashi turned around to face Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, and Hinata and told them, "Listen up! I, Kakashi Hatake, Sixth Hokage of Konoha, hereby approve this mission. We are to aid Naruto in any way possible in helping Mileena regain her throne and restoring balance to Outworld. Use of lethal force is up to your discretion, unless otherwise stated by Naruto. He has been here longer, therefore, he is the captain of this team, regardless of my status as Hokage. Here, ranks do not matter, our lives do. As it stands, this is an S rank mission, with a possible upgrade to an SS rank. Are there any questions?"

Silence was returned to him. He nodded, then turned to Naruto and told him, "Ok Naruto, you're in command during this little escapade."

Naruto nodded and said to them all, "Okay guys, here's the deal: basically we need to, if possible talk to Kotal Kahn and convince him to relinquish his position on the throne and return it to Mileena. Use of force is authorized, but only if we are attacked first. Secondly, we need to aid Cassie's team, they were basically abandoned when she called for help, so they have basically no supplies. For tonight, we're gonna rest up. Kotal Kahn had a search party going on earlier today, but I threatened one of his generals or whatever they are, so hopefully they will call it off, but I don't count on it. If he is really adamant about catching Mileena, the he will probably at least have an undercover search or something like that, so we need to keep moving. I want to avoid unnecessary combat if possible, there are a lot of civilians out there. Are there any questions guys?"

Shikamaru said, "Do you know where his base of operations is Naruto?"

"Yes," Naruto responded. "It's about seven to eight miles east of here. At our speed we could be there in about thirty minutes, two hours at normal speed. Anything else?"

Ino asked him, "Do you know what kind of abilities he or his soldiers have?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Naruto told her, "But maybe Mileena can help us out with that. Mileena?"

Mileena said to them all, "Kotal Kahn wields powers granted by the sun, namely fire. He uses it more of like a forceful blast than to burn. He has a few generals as well. Reptile, whom you've met, Naruto, specializes in spying and quick kills, with the ability to spit out acid and become invisible."

"We can sense chakra and energy signatures," Sasuke told her, "And Hinata here, with her byakugan, can see anything. He cannot hide from us, even at his best."

Mileena nodded and continued. "Another one of his generals is called Ermac. Originally created by my father, he is a warrior made of thousands upon thousands of souls, collected into one being. Ermac uses telekinetic energy and forces people around or objects as well. He is more of a mid to long ranged fighter than anything else. He is very dangerous, be wary of him."

Naruto said to her, "Understood, anything else?"

"Yes. There is also a pair, Ferra and Torr. Torr is a large beast of a man, incredibly strong, but also incredibly stupid. Ferra is like a little girl who rides on top of him and guides him. Very strong, but like I said, very stupid."

"How strong are we talking here?" Kiba asked Mileena.

"Torr can easily rip a person in half," Mileena told him straight faced.

Kiba looked wary and said, "Uh, yeah, lets watch out for him too."

"Defeating someone like that is easy," Naruto said to them all. "You just have to outwit them and hit them first. If you do that, you're guaranteed to win."

Mileena continued, saying "There is also Erron Black. He is a mercenary from Earthrealm. He uses weapons much like Cassie's, guns, I think they're called."

Cassie said, "Hey, is that the guy with the stupid looking mask and the revolvers?"

Mileena turned to her and said, "Yes. The one with the stupid looking mask. He is also a long ranged fighter. There is also D'Vorah, an insect-like fool of a woman who almost killed me, before Naruto saved me."

"Ah, so that's her name," Naruto said to himself. "Yeah, that ugly thing just needs to die. Nothing that vile should be allowed to exist."

Mileena went on, saying "And on top of all of them, he has hundreds of thousands of his own personal Oshtek soldiers under his command."

"Don't worry about those guys," Naruto told her. "If they really become a problem, I can make my own army with my shadow clones."

"So far, that is all I know as far as their abilities," Mileena told them.

Kakashi nodded his head and said, "That's a good start, knowing who they are and what they can do. Now, we know who can fight who to negate their effectiveness. From what you've told us about this Kotal Kahn, Naruto, he sounds like a reasonable man. Do you think so, Mileena?"

"Absolutely not!" Mileena fumed angrily. "That Oshtek fool stole my throne! He will-!"

"Mileena!" Naruto stated firmly. She looked at him and he looked at her with a stern glare. She calmed down and thought to herself, remember Mileena, look underneath the underneath…stop looking at only what's right in front of you, look beyond…

"Honestly I am not sure," she told Kakashi. "I have only seen him as the one who wrongfully stole my throne and nothing else."

Kakashi told her, "Don't worry about it, we'll fix that. What else do you have for us Naruto?"

"That's about it for now," Naruto told him. "Other than the recon, I have nothing else to say….hang on a second…"

He looked around cautiously, as if he was looking for something. Sasuke and Kakashi realized it too, and they also were getting in a defensive stance.

They knew they were being watched.

Suddenly, the roof of the entire house was engulfed in a large green energy, cracked and splintered, then ripped off completely with the force of a strong tornado. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, Hinata, Mileena, Cassie, Jacqui, Kung Jin, and Takeda all looked up to see Ermac floating down towards them, levitating in the air with his green energy surrounding him. His slow descent finally found him on the floor of the wooden jutsu-created house, no longer with a roof, courtesy of Ermac. The cold winds and some snow blew in from the top as Ermac said to them, "Mileena, you will come with us to Kotal Kahn."

Naruto stood in front of her protectively and pulled out a kunai and said to Ermac, "Listen up, we don't wanna fight you or anyone else, we want to talk to Kotal Kahn, but you are not taking Mileena away, understand?"

Ermac stepped forward, his hood slightly covering his face, his green eyes having an eerie glow to them.

"You…you are the one who took Mileena away from her execution. You are strong. However, your abilities pale before us. Relinquish Mileena, and none shall be harmed."

"You just don't listen do ya?" Naruto told Ermac. "I'll say it simply this time. Mileena's staying with me, whether you like it or not."

"We are many, you are but one, we will destroy you…" Ermac said as he got ready to fight.

Naruto threw his kunai straight at Ermac's face. Ermac held up his hand and the kunai stopped and inch in front of his hand, surrounded by green energy. Ermac turned it around and launched it back at Naruto.

The blade hit Naruto square in the throat.

"NARUTO!" Mileena yelled out.

Naruto fell to his knees, clutching at his throat, then fell face first on to the floor.

"We warned you," Ermac said as he walked forward. He stopped right in front of the downed ninja. Ermac looked up at Mileena and Sasuke and the others. Ermac saw that Sasuke was just smiling at him.

"Why are you smiling?" Ermac asked Sasuke.

"I'm smiling because you're fighting a hopeless battle against my friend," Sasuke answered him.

Ermac was a little irked at Sasuke's attitude. "I just killed your friend, or did you not just see?"

"Look again," Sasuke told him.

Ermac did so, looking at the dead ninja on the floor. It was then that he noticed something.

There was no blood on the floor.

It was then that the dead ninja puffed into smoke.

"What?!" Ermac said aloud.

"RASENGAN!"

Ermac was suddenly hit with such an excruciatingly painful ball of chakra right in the center of his back.

"AAARRRRRRGGGHH!"

Ermac flew into the other side of the wooden house, splintering the wall and falling to the ground. Naruto walked up to him, his black mask on, scarf flowing in the air from the cold wind and snow, and his eyes…now having a toad-like iris in them…held absolute fury.

"You attack me and my friends…" Naruto said slowly. "…I even offer you a way out really, and yet you still attack. You try to kill me? You're in over your head dumbass. Get up and give me what you've got."

Ermac got up and snarled. He clapped his hands twice.

The wall to the other side suddenly burst apart, Ferra and Torr coming through like a wrecking ball.

"Havitamah!" Ferra called out. "Hahaha…lets play Torr!"

"RRRRUUUGGHHHH!"

Torr and Ferra suddenly flew back out of the hole that they had made in the house, courtesy of a Sage powered fist in the chest from Naruto. He looked back at Ermac, performing a few hand signs and then held them out.

A rasengan the size of a large beach ball began to form. Naruto looked directly in Ermac's eerie green eyes and said to him, "Your turn."

A/N: alright you guys, here you go, the next chapter! Hope you all liked it. Remember, if something could be better or have any ideas for the next chapter, lemme know! Until next time, Roku out.