Disclaimer: I don't own naruto or any of its characters as they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
The author of the cover image is indy-riquez from DeviantArt. You can check the link for the original image in my profile.

Chapter 7: Pressing Worries

-Land Of Lightning-

Naruto, Darui, Kurotsuchi, and five Kumo Chunin had been traveling for a whole day to the border of the Land of Lightning and the Land Of Frost. So far the journey had been uneventful, which Darui was grateful for, and with the current speed of their sprint, they shouldn't take longer than a few hours to reach their destination. Surprisingly both the Konoha Jinchuuriki and the Tsuchikage's granddaughter had kept their end of the deal and managed to keep things civilized, if only because they made a point to not even address each other at all. But the white-haired Jounin couldn't complain. As long as things were calm while they were in the Land of Lightning he didn't care if they were waiting for the first chance to kill each other when they arrived at their destination. In fact, things had been rather tranquil. The girl had barely said a word since they left, and the Jinchuuriki only spoke from time to time to ask questions and make small talk.

''It won't be long before we reach the Land Of Frost. Once we get there just get on your way to your respective Nations.'' Said Darui to his travel companions.

''Just so we are clear on this. We get there, you leave, and then the idiot and I stay there to our own devices?'' Asked the Kunoichi, surprising Darui as she was breaking her silence for the first time since they started their travel.

''Yea. That's about right.'' Confirmed the dark skinned man.

Naruto frowned at that. He wasn't sure that he could trust Kurotsuchi to not try anything once their Kumo escort left them by themselves. He at least hoped that the girl had some sense of honor and remembered that he helped her back in The island by revealing his status as a Jinchuuriki. It wasn't like he was afraid of fighting her or anything, but he much preferred not waste time in a pointless fight and reunite with his perverted Sensei as soon as he had the chance.

Kurotsuchi for her part was just itching to finally be rid of the Kumo Shinobi to get the chance to tear the blond idiot a new one. These complications aside, she was still on a mission and she intended to finish it. So she still had to subdue and capture the Jinchuuriki once again. She smirked at the thought that she may be able to pull off an S-ranked mission without further help, it would certainly look good on her record.

Darui glanced at the Konoha and Iwa teenagers and based on their looks he could get a pretty good idea of what their concerns were; they didn't make an effort to mask it in the first place. He sighed in resignation at that, as he knew it wasn't his place to be mediating their issues. His task was to get them out of the Land of Lightning and that was it. It was a shame that they would most likely end up killing each other, he kinda liked the brash kids.

And so, with different levels of anticipation, their travel continued like that for the next few hours.

-Iwagakure no Sato-

Kitsuchi, Akatsuchi, and the remaining Iwa platoon stared in horror at the ruined gates of Iwagakure. They had returned as fast as they could as soon as they heard that Deidara, now a member of Akatsuki, had attacked their village and had done quite a number on it too, but they never expected the damage to be this extense. As far as they could see, most of the buildings had suffered some form of damage; some were about to crumble down, others barely had a dent, but it seemed that the vast majority had at least something.

Kitsuchi made an effort to try and stay calm and collected even with his initial shock and proceeded to relay new orders to his men. ''I'll go looking for the Tsuchikage to give my report of our mission. Meanwhile, all of you, make yourself useful and see what can you do to help the village, Go!''

Kitsuchi's squad took a moment to snap themselves from their bewildered state but they still complied, and soon all of them scrambled to different parts of the village with the intent of following their commander's orders, and not just for professionalism, but also because they were genuinely worried about their people.

On his way to meet his father, Kitsuchi couldn't help himself from glancing around with worry at the ruined buildings in addition to the injured people being treated by the medic-nin. It was a horrible sight. he could see a some corpses laying around along with the rubble, a few dead pets here and there, paths that were inaccessible to the common person with the kind of damage sustained, and on top of that he had to see all of that while listening to the occasional cry of agony caused by injuries or by mourning loved ones. He truly hadn't seen a scene such as this since the last war.

After wandering around for several minutes, the experienced Jounin finally found a small building that was being used as the temporary office for the Tsuchikage. He started to make his way through the crowded place to the small man's desk. With recent events, it was to be expected that their leader would be even more buried in work than usual.

''Dad!'' Called Kitsuchi to the old man as he pushed civilians and Shinobi aside to open his path.

''Is that you, Kitsuchi? All of you, move out the way!'' At their leader's command, the crowd made space for the Tsuchikage's son.

Soon Kitsuchi was face to face with his father and he could see the bags under his eyes, evidently caused by lack of sleep. He guessed the old man hadn't had a moment to rest since the attack.

''I didn't know you were back already'' Said the Tsuchikage to the Jounin with weariness. He hoped that at least his son had good news, after how terrible things had gone lately he really needed to hear something positive for a change.

''I just got back. Dad, I need to speak with you. In private.'' Said Kitsuchi, emphasizing the last part with urgency.

Ohnoki got serious and gave a nod. He then proceeded to signal the ANBU keeping guard on either side of him to take everyone out.

The ANBU were quick to obey and hastily started getting the people out of there.

Kitsuchi and Ohnoki stayed staring at each other as people started emptying the room despite their protests. Finally after everyone and even the ANBU left the building, father and son were left alone.

''So? give me your report already, Kitsuchi.''Said the Tsuchikage impatiently.

''It was a complete disaster.'' Replied the Jounin with a downed look on his features, to which the old man scowled. '' Jiraiya was much stronger than we predicted. Most of our unit was taken out by him and the Jinchuuriki, and that was before the Akatsuki showed up.''

Ohnoki bared his teeth in rage when he heard that the Akatsuki were involved. ''Those bastards. They must have planned this from the beginning. I swear this will not stand. As soon as I get the chance I will have their heads on a pike.'' He didn't think that the situation was going to get this bad when he decided to hunt down the Kyuubi. And he dreaded to think what was coming next, because as horrible as things were going lately, they still had Konoha's retaliation to think about. With the way things were, they wouldn't be strong enough to fight a war right now; not when they just lost both their Jinchuuriki and a great amount of their ninja had been injured or killed. But he still had another concern...

''And what happened to the Yellow Flash's son? Did the Akatsuki get him?'' Asked the short man, sternly.

Kitsuchi lowered his head and had a sad look in his eyes. He gave a sigh before retelling the events of their failed task. ''Kurotsuchi managed to snag the Jinchuuriki in the chaos. But we lost her along with the boy. We don't know where she is. I left a search party looking for her and the Jinchuuriki before returning as fast as I could, but there is no word on them yet.'' Finished the man, solemnly.

Ohnoki widened his eyes in worry at hearing about the fate of his granddaughter. ''No way... we lost Kurotsuchi...'' Things just kept getting worse by the minute. Despite the fact that he and the girl clashed constantly, she was still his family and he cared about her. And she was their best Kunoichi currently. Even if he would never admit it out loud, he knew that she did have a decent shot at becoming a candidate for Tsuchikage. If they were to lose her it would be a low blow not only for them but for the village as well.

''I told you this was a bad idea from the start, but you didn't listen.'' Kitsuchi was starting to lose his cool. He had managed to somewhat keep calm until now, but bringing up his daughter, and along with the state the Iwa was in, was finally starting to wear him down. And all of that in just a few days.

''Just for trying to kill a single boy we lost our Jinchuuriki, the village is in ruins, our people are wounded, a lot of my comrades were taken out, and Kurotsuchi is out there alone, probably dead too!'' Said Kitsuchi while progressively raising his tone until he was almost shouting.

''Don't test me right now, Kitsuchi. I'm not in the mood to be tolerating your disrespect to your Tsuchikage.'' Said Ohnoki in warning and narrowing his eyes. ''Besides, we don't know where Kurotsuchi is right now. We can't say for sure she is dead.''

''Let's not kid ourselves here! you know very well that Shinobi missing in action rarely come back alive!'' Shouted Kitsuchi at his father in anger. ''Your obsession with getting revenge on Konoha might take us to war with them when we can least afford it! And it also may have cost your granddaughter her life! My daughter's life!''

''That's enough!'' Yelled Ohnoki as he smashed his hands on his desk to stand up and glare at his son. ''You forget that I'm still your leader, so show some restraint. If you can't do that, then I suggest you get out of here. Go and help in the village or something.''

Kitsuchi was about to give a rebuttal, but he managed to keep himself from escalating the argument, so he settled for just turning and started to walk towards the door. ''Fine. I can't bear to be close to you right now.'' Answered the man before opening the door and smashing it as he left.

Ohnoki sat down again on his chair and started massaging his temple, still fuming. He knew that Kitsuchi was right, he had screwed up. But what was done was done and there was nothing that he could do to undo the damage. So all that was left to do was to try to damage control the situation as much as he could. But still, his worries had just been made even bigger. They had failed to get the boy, so all this mess had been for nothing, and it had come with a great price for them. Now he had to worry about what Konoha would do once they got word of the attempt on their Jinchuuriki. But the thing that ate at his conscience the most was the wellbeing of Kurotsuchi. If something were to happen to her, he knew that Kitsuchi would never forgive him, heck, Even Ohnoki wouldn't forgive himself. And what made all of this worse was that he could do nothing for the girl right now. He could just cling to the small hope that she was alright and managed to find her way home.

- Somewhere in the Land of Fire-

Jiraiya, along with Sakura, Kakashi, and team eight rapidly traveled jumping from tree to tree, with their destination being the Land of Lightning in hopes of finding Naruto. Team eight was a team specialized in tracking, and considering that they were Naruto's friends it was the logical conclusion to send them for the blond.

Sakura and Kakashi had come too, as they were the Jinchuuriki's teammates and deserved to participate in the search, not to mention that they were pretty skilled in their own right and could definitely make a difference, especially Kakashi. As if Naruto being lost wasn't bad enough, before leaving Konoha Jiraiya got a message from Kosuke informing him that he found the Iwa search party dead, most likely the handiwork of the Akatsuki, which had to mean that they were still lurking around those parts looking for Naruto. So now both team seven and eight were in a hurry to get to Naruto before the organization of S-rank criminals got to him first.

Sakura was a girl with shoulder-length bright pink hair, large green eyes, and a broad forehead. She was wearing a sleeveless red top, pink elbow protectors, black gloves, matching black calf-high boots and black shorts underneath a pink apron skirt. She used her red clothed forehead protector in a tiara-like style. ''I hope Naruto is okay. How long until we get to the Land of Lightning, Jiraiya-Sama?'' Asked the pinkette to the Sannin with worry in her green eyes, stressing over the safety of her loudmouthed teammate.

''A few more..(gasp)...hours until...(gasp)...we reach the border.'' Said the white haired man with ragged breath. He was completely exhausted and then some. He had fought an entire Iwa battalion, along with two members of Akatsuki, went back to Konoha in haste, then headed back to searching, all with little to no rest. It was truly a testament to Jiraiya's strength how he even managed to keep going.

''And even then we still have to go to the sea in the same location that Jiraiya-Sama and Naruto were at'' Said Kakashi. He was a tall man with spiky silver hair, he had a lone visible dark eye as his other eye was covered by his forehead protector. He was wearing the standard Konoha Shinobi uniform, which consisted of a green flak jacket over a dark blue shirt with long sleeves, fingerless gloves, and dark blue pants. And he used a facemask that covered the lower half of his face, starting at the nose. Despite the situation, he managed to keep himself collected, even if he truly was worried over Naruto, but precisely because he was worried is why he needed to keep himself focused. He couldn't afford to make mistakes when his student's life was at risk.

''Even more of a reason to hurry. The longer we take the most his scent will dissipate. If we take too long even me and Akamaru won't be able to track him down. The fact that we have to track him on water is even worse.'' Said Kiba, to which Akamaru replied with a bark of confirmation. Kiba was a member of team eight, and being a member of the Inuzuka clan he had a wild appearance. He had messy brown hair, black eyes with slitted pupils, and elongated canines. He also had the distinctive red fang markings on his cheek that was customary of the Inuzuka. He wore a black leather jacket and black pants, and the cloth of his forehead protector was also black.

Akamaru was Kiba's dog partner, and was big for a dog, so much that one could ride on him. He had squinted eyes and his fur was almost completely white, save for his ears which were a brown color.

''Luckily my insects can cover a wide area, even in water. But I do agree that we should hurry.'' Replied Shino. He was also a member of team eight and was from the Aburame clan. And as it was common of the Aburame, he was a mysterious individual. He had a black high collared shirt that covered the lower half of his face, and over the shirt, he wore a green jacket with a hood that covered his head, which only left his eyes as the only visible part of his body, and even then his eyes were also covered with round dark glasses. And he also had a satchel strapped to his back.

''We can't get discouraged. We absolutely have to help Naruto-Kun.'' Said Hinata with resolution, which was uncommon for the normally shy and meek girl, but when it came to Naruto she always gave it her all. She was the last member of team eight. She was a girl with dark blue hair, pale skin, and white pupil-less eyes that gave her away as a member of the Hyuga clan. She wore a cream and violet colored jacket, blue pants and used her forehead protector around her neck. She had been waiting anxiously to see Naruto again after these few years without him, so when she heard that her crush was in trouble she promised to herself that she wouldn't fail the boy that had inspired her so much. ''I promise I won't let you down, Naruto-Kun'' thought the girl with determination.

Everyone save for Jiraiya stared at the Hyuga heiress in curiosity. She had refrained from speaking for most of the trip, even less than Shino which was a feat in itself, and to see the timid blue haired girl be so resolute was an anomaly. But they guessed it was to be expected, this involved Naruto after all. Hinata's affections for Naruto was probably the worst kept secret in Konoha, out of all their acquaintances the only one oblivious enough to not notice it was the blond knucklehead himself.

''Anyway, Hinata is right. We have to give it our all. If Naruto was in our place he would do the same.'' Said Kakashi to the young ninjas.

''Of course'' ''You don't have to tell me twice'' ''Roger'' responded Sakura, Kiba, and Shino at the same time just as resolute as Hinata had been.

So, trying to put their worries aside, all went to focus on their task to rescue their fellow Shinobi and friend, and continued on their way as fast as they could, for the Land of Lightning was waiting.

- Land of Frost-

Naruto stared at the ice-covered land with not a lot of enthusiasm. He wasn't looking forward to traveling through there. Having lived all his life in the warm weather of Konoha he wasn't used to the harsh cold tundra. He glanced to his side and found a similar expression on Kurotsuchi, realizing that she had probably the same reservations than him.

''This is it, then.'' Said Darui to the two teenagers. ''This is where we part ways. We are finally out of the Land of Lightning and I recommend that you not come back for a while. Nothing personal but if you were to show up back so soon it would look suspicious for you.'' ''And hopefully, save me another headache'' thought the dark skinned man.

''Wait a minute! You aren't planning on leaving us in this place without proper equipment for the cold , are you?!'' Replied Kurotsuchi incredulously. She had thought that they would at least put them in a boat to the Land of Hot Water or something, not just leaving them to freeze to death in this icebox.

''The crazy girl is right, What the hell, mister Darui!'' Said Naruto with the same concerns as the tomboy.

Said man just stared at them impassively, however. ''I'm sorry, but you are still technically our prisoners. I have already done more than I needed to when I decided to bring you both here.'' Despite saying that, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them when he saw their worried faces, so he quickly added something more. ''Come on, don't look so down. The Land of Frost is pretty small, you shouldn't take more than a day to cross it. So as long as a storm doesn't start you'll be fine. Besides, I have something for you that should help you.'' As he said it, he signaled one of the Chunin accompanying them and this stepped forward.

Both teenagers looked with curiosity to the Chunin when the man pulled out two scrolls and threw the contents to both of them as he unsealed them.

''My weapon's pouch?'' Asked Naruto in surprise. He had thought it had been lost.

''Yea, we found it sealed in a scroll inside the girl's own pouch. She must have taken it when she captured you.'' Explained Darui to the blond.

''My sword! I didn't expect to see it again!'' Yelled Kurotsuchi in joy at seeing her mother's blade again along with her weapons pouch. She was almost hugging the thing. She barely even glanced at her pouch now that she had her favorite weapon back.

''Wow, thanks again mister Darui!'' Said Naruto to the man with a grateful grin. ''By the way, how did you know this one was mine?''

''I found some change of clothes sealed in a scroll in there. You really like orange.'' Replied the Jounin with a deadpan look and Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.

With that out of the way, the Kumo Shinobi were ready to leave. ''Well, I can't say it has been fun, but I do hope to meet you guys again. You seem like nice kids. I just hope we do so in different circumstances.'' Said Darui to the teenagers with a side glance as he turned to return to the Land of Lightning along with the five Chunin.

''I hope so too. Thanks for everything mister Darui, I'll definitely never forget it, dattebayo!'' Said Naruto cheerfully in farewell to the man.

Kurotsuchi just stared expressionlessly at the Kumo ninja. Unlike Naruto she didn't feel any gratitude to the man, as she knew that he didn't do this for their sake, he just did what he felt was best for him and his nation. She couldn't blame him, she would have done the same, but that didn't mean she didn't resent almost dying at the hands of the Kumo Shinobi.

And with a lazy wave, Darui and the rest of the Kumo ninja disappeared in a Body Flicker technique, leaving Naruto and the pink eyed girl alone.

Naruto stared for a moment at the spot that the Kumo ninja had been, before turning to the girl. ''So, what do you propose we...'' He was interrupted when he was forced to jump to the side to avoid a slash from the girl's sword. ''What the fuck, you bitch?!''

''Now that they are gone I can finally get back to my mission again. Such a drag since I had already caught you, but that can't be helped.'' Said the girl as she readied her mother's blade again, ready to retry her attack.

''You are still going on about that?! I helped you back there in the island! I had to disclose that I'm a Jnchuuriki just so you could keep your stupid head!'' Shouted the blond to the girl, shaking a fist in anger. Even if Darui admitted that he wasn't really going to kill the girl, they hadn't known that at the time.

''hmm, it's not my fault that you are such a moron to help your enemy. So as far as I'm concerned I don't owe you shit.'' Said the Iwa girl coldly to the orange-clad Genin.

''And what's the big idea now then, eh? You wanna fight right here and now in this cold? even if you win, then what?! you are just gonna travel through the entire Land of Frost carrying me, all while you are wounded and low on Chakra after battling?! You are just gonna get us both killed!'' Yelled Naruto to the tomboy as he stepped back to put more distance between them in case the girl decided to not listen to reason.

Kurotsuchi frowned in thought. That was the most sense the moron had made since she met him. It was true that it would be deadly to try and travel the Land of Frost if she was wounded and not properly equipped for the cold, and carrying the heavy blond wouldn't do her any favors. She got a bit angry that for once the moron had had more hindsight than her. ''S-shut up! And what do you propose uh? a truce?''

''Uh, maybe?'' Answered Naruto dumbly and squinting his eyes.

''Ha, as if. Keep dreaming.'' Said the girl in a mocking manner. Like hell she would let the idiot get away.

''I don't know about you, but I just want to go home. I'm just proposing we just stop fighting and go our separate ways.'' Tried to reason Naruto. Right now he just cared more about finding his Sensei than keep this quarrel with the crazy chick.

''Not happening.'' Said Kurotsuchi plainly and with finality, not relenting at all.

''Fine! tell you what, I will fight you if you want, but not here. Let's first get out of this cold place and then I will kick your ass!'' Yelled Naruto in exasperation. If the stubborn girl wanted a fight so badly, then so be it. But he wasn't gonna fight here if he could help it.

Kurotsuchi thought long and hard about her answer before finally giving an answer. ''You better not back down when we do get out of here. I wouldn't put it past a Konoha ninja to chicken out of a battle.'' Said the girl with an edge in her voice, warning the blond to not try anything.

''I scared of you?! you wish! I just don't want to fight here, the harsh weather could end up killing us both.'' replied the blond hotly, offended to be considered a coward.

Kurotsuchi stared at the blond's blue eyes to try and see if she could see any sign that he was lying. When she found none she gave a sigh. ''Okay, I'll go along with this for the moment. But I'm warning you, as soon as we get out of this freezer I will tear you a new one. So don't think for a moment that this makes us buddies.''

''You don't have to remind me, I know.'' Said Naruto somewhat glad that the girl seemed to listen for once.

''Then what are we waiting for? let's get going already.'' Said the tomboy impatiently as she sheathed her sword. The sooner they got out of the Land of Frost the sooner they would settle their dispute once and for all, and getting away from the unbearable cold would be nice too.

And so the Iwa Kunoichi and the Konoha Jinchuuriki turned around and continued their trip, careful to keep their distance in case any of them tried to take the other out with a cheap shot. Even if their journey through this frosty wasteland wasn't supposed to be long, they knew that having to worry about the other attacking was gonna make it seem longer than a day.

Author's note: Finally an update! I'm so sorry for taking longer than usual for the update, I have no excuse, no good one at least. But I did have a small issue, and that was that I wasn't sure how I wanted to follow up the story, don't get me wrong, I have the ideas, is just that I didn't know which one to use, but I have finally decided what I really want to do, if I just stay thinking about it I will never do it, so I decided to just go for it and make the best with what I have planned. So now that I have settled my doubts, at least for the moment, you can expect the next update to come soon, I wish to have the next chapter up in a couple of days. To be honest, I'm kind of ashamed that I took so long to update and the chapter isn't even long, but I really didn't have anything more to add in this one. I hope the next one is better, so until next time! (which I hope is soon).