Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This applies to …. Forever or when I can earn a bazillion dollars to buy the copyrights to it.

A/N: Yeah, I know the previous chapter was short. To make it up to you, here's a long one! Enjoy! Another treat for you all is that I have also releases the companion/compendium to this story. There are a bunch of things that happen that are explained in the compendium. I'll probably put up the significance of each of the spirit animals. We'll see.

P.S. Look up the animal and lore surrounding it. You'll find that it's perfect for what/who I wrote.

Chapter 7: Where are we?

Abandoned House

Naruto woke up with a splitting headache and the ray of sunshine in his eyes was not helping his mood. "Ugh, what happened? I feel like crap. Actually, I feel like I've been run over by a herd of horses then picked at by vultures." He examined his body to find a multitude of bandages and a splint on his left hand. Touching his head, he felt more bandages. Looking at his surroundings, Naruto saw Sasuke on another bed, looking just as bad as he did. Ino was on a mat on the other side. Although she had less bandages, she didn't look up to par. A sound to his left alerted him of another's presence.

Whipping his head to look, he saw Sakura soaking a damp cloth and washing her hands. She looked up and gave a strained smile. "Glad to see someone finally woke up. I see you're feeling like you look."

Naruto examined the girl. She looked weary with few scratches. He sensed that her chakra levels were low. She must have been up all this time taking care of us. He scratched his head and smiled. "Ahh, I've felt better. How long have I been out? Where are we? Where's Satake?"

Sakura sat down with a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. "To answer your first question, you've been out for about three days. We are in some small shack somewhere in the mountains. Satake, is, well, not here. He's unconscious and tied down outside in a small shed out back."

Naruto looked at her. "What happened? Last I remember, we were kicking some major ass."

Sakura sighed again. "Let's talk about this later. I'm a bit tired. I haven't slept in days. My chakra is almost depleted. I used our last soldier pill on Sasuke. I need to rest. Can you stand watch for a few hours? I need to get some chakra reserves back and heal Sasuke a bit more. I think we need to take him to Tsunade-shisou for some surgery. Ino's injuries weren't as bad, I healed them all. She should be waking up soon. Sasuke hasn't even budged. Your wounds were the worst, but thank kami you heal faster than the normal person. Suki has been keeping watch over Satake. Oh, and don't worry about Satake, he'll be incapacitated him for a few days." With a loud yawn, she laid her head down on the table and was fast asleep.

Naruto stared at her for a few moments and got up out of his bed. Testing his hands and legs by flexing and stretching them, he decided it was okay to move. Looking over his injuries more carefully, he found that most were mostly healed except for his arm. This should be healed up in a day or so. Walking to where Sakura was, he felt a few aches and slight pain. Hmm, must have some bruising and internal bleeding. That should go away by the end of the day. He picked up Sakura and slung her over his shoulder. Wincing at the pain that shot through his legs, he brought her to the bed and laid her down. Bringing the sheets over her body he smiled gently. "Sleep well, you did fine."

Taking off his bandages he put them next to the basin of water. Walking over to Ino, he checked her breathing and adjusted her on the mat. A groan on the other bed caught his attention. Sasuke was twisting and turning. Naruto went over to the boy to hold him down. "Shh. You're okay. Stop moving teme or you'll hurt yourself even worse." Upon hearing Naruto's voice, Sasuke stilled. Naruto looked at the boy next to him and released his arms. Examining the body, he found that a wound on Sasuke's shoulder was still bleeding. Taking off the bandages, Naruto saw a hole the size of a baseball there with herbs surrounding it as well as a few seals and ointment. Ouch, that must hurt. He changed the other man's bandage. Sasuke's face was marked by a long cut from his upper cheek bone to his lower jaw. As Naruto traced it, the body stirred. Ah, such a pretty face, now marred. Hmph, I bet the girls will think that he's even sexier with this scar. Damn lucky bastard. He's got all the luck. Naruto looked again at the boy and touched his forehead. "I'm glad that you're okay."

"What are you doing?" Ino was just getting up and was looking at the two men quizzically. "You aren't molesting my poor Sasuke-kun are you? How can you do that so soon after getting up from those injuries? And look at Sasuke-kun, he's in no position, well, actually he's in the perfect position. Anyways, he's in no condition to have a little romp with you." Ino smiled at Naruto. Hmm, it's time for a little payback for this mission.

Stuttering and walking away from the other man, Naruto held up his hands. "W, What are you saying Ino? We aren't like that! I was just a bit worried about him. I checked up on you and Sakura too."

Ino laughed. "Naruto, are you covering up for doing naughty things to our friend over there? You always start stuttering when you're lying." Serves him right for making me a slut! On another note, maybe I'll find out something interesting.

A moan from the bed caught both of their attentions. Sasuke was moaning and saying something under his breath. "Nnnn…Naruto…."

Looking from Sasuke to Naruto, Ino raised amused eyes. "Are you sure you didn't do something to Sasuke-kun. That's one hell of a response. No wonder you want to do him. Damn, that's hot."

Naruto looked from Sasuke to Ino, "And you guys call me crude." Looking back at Sasuke, Naruto frowned. "Something's wrong with him."

Ino looked at the other man. He was grimacing.

"NNN…..Noooo!" Sasuke shot up and reached for his kunais in his leg pouch and looked around frantically after not finding them. After seeing Naruto, he jumped in front of the man and took on a fighting stance. Blood began to flow from Sasuke's wounds and he grunted in pain.

Naruto grabbed him and turned him around. His eyes… Sharingan stared back at him unknowingly. Sasuke pushed Naruto down. "Stay down Naruto. He's out there."

Naruto got up and grabbed Sasuke again and shook him. "What are you talking about? Stop being a dumbass and stop moving around. You're still not healed! Sakura-chan will kill me if you get even more injured on my watch. You're okay. We're safe. There are no enemies." Well, none but our own ghosts.

Sasuke gave him a bewildered look and looked around the room again. Seeing Ino and Sakura, who had woken up at the initial scream, his eyes returned to their normal black hue. "Where am I? What happened?"

Naruto grunted and led the other to his bed and sat him down. Sakura went to check the bandages and started to heal some the more serious open wounds. Ino stood up and helped Sakura in rebandaging the wounds.

The blond looked at the disgruntled shinobi being pampered. "Tch…you finally wake up and already you have a harem of women taking care of you. Bastard." Looking at Sasuke, Naruto turned worried eyes to the other man. "You okay?"

"Hn," Sasuke just sat and looked at his surroundings. "Where are we?"

Sakura got up and washed her hands. "We're somewhere in the mountains in an abandoned shack. Satake is unconscious in the shed in the back. Suki is guarding him. Sasuke-kun, rest. You've almost exhausted your chakra when you called your spirit animal. Thank kami we had a few soldier pills left. You've had three days to recover already, but you need a few more, especially since you have so many wounds. I need to rest a bit and get my chakra levels up to heal you up more before we try finding our way back." She headed to the bed and promptly fell asleep again.

Ino tucked her in. "Poor girl, she's been up tending to all of us for the past three days. I couldn't help much because I was healing. Well, at least we're all safe here."

Sasuke looked at Ino. "Safe? I don't think so. Satake is still here and we don't know our exact location. We can still be in enemy territory."

Ino crossed her arms in front of her. "Last I checked, we were in a small valley in the mountains surrounded on all four sides by high rock walls. The entrance we used to come in was blasted into smithereens by YOUR spirit animal. There's no entrance and exit so to speak of."

"Hmph. Shows what you know. If Hiko can blast and trap us in, he can blast and get us out." Sasuke arrogantly smirked.

Ino was about to retort when Naruto spoke up. "Considering that you are not near death and that you are somewhat healed and will be healed even more so when Sakura wakes up, we won't have that option anymore."

Sasuke looked at his friend. "What are you talking about? If he can do it once, he can do it again."

Naruto sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Let me show you. Let's go check on Satake."

Ino stood up and headed outside. Naruto helped Sasuke stand. "You okay by yourself?"

Sasuke glared at him. "I don't need your help dobe, I can do it myself."

Naruto shrugged and waited while watching Sasuke shuffle to the door. When Sasuke slumped at the door, Naruto placed his own harms under the other's to give support. "Yeah, well, this dobe will act like he didn't hear you or better yet, didn't understand you and will help anyways."

Sasuke just grunted. "Hn."

Shed

The three shinobis looked at the heap on the ground. Naruto was the first to speak. "Damn, we did a number on him."

Ino nodded her head. "Well, he deserved it. Looks like Sakura healed him a bit. He's chained down pretty well."

Sasuke just observed the twitching man. "I guess Mangekyou Sharingan's has worn off."

Naruto shuddered at the reminder. "It looks like he's in the after shocks of the visions you let him see. He'll be out for another day or two. We should keep constant vigil tonight and so on." Looking around, he located the objects of his search.

Crouched in the corner next to a window were two animals. A fox with two tails was standing guard. Next to her was another beast about as large as a boar with and eagle head and lions body. He had wings on his back and a long tail. The talons on his paws were digging deep grooves in the dirt floor.

Naruto whistled. "Suki."

The two tailed fox came to Naruto and licked his palm. "She's gotten smaller. That's a good sign for me."

Sasuke, in the meantime, was looking at the other animal curiously. "Hiko?"

The small, compared to others in its species, griffin approached Sasuke and rubbed up against his leg. "I remember him being…bigger."

Naruto laughed. "The healthier you get, the smaller he becomes. He's still quite large though. You've got some healing to do."

Ino looked at the griffin closely. "Can I touch him?" She looked at Hiko and then Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. Ino tentatively reached out and stroked the griffin's body. "I never thought I'd see one. This creature of myth is a perfect representation of Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "How so?"

Ino smiled. "I guess you don't have an interest in these things. Myth, lore, religion and beliefs are quite interesting and explain many things about people. It's necessary for us to understand minimal amounts so that we can integrate into their society flawlessly in a covert mission. Right captain?" She directed her gaze at Naruto.

In response, Naruto looked to Sasuke who nodded. Reaching out his hand, he ruffled the top of Hiko's head, who suddenly snapped at the hand. "Griffins are representative of strength, courage, speed, ferocity and the same time, gentleness, and nobility. Myth has them as symbols for guardianship and retribution of justice. They are creatures who are highly intelligent. They analyze each situation and win their battles. This is exhibited through the legend of the fight between the griffin, dragon, and chimera. Also, the griffin is suited to you Sasuke, they are inhabitants of the forest and mountains and can adapt to both."

Sasuke looked at the other two and smirked. "Well, that about sums me up."

Naruto chuckled. "I forgot to mention that then can be haughty and arrogant. Kind of like the way you seem to act like there's a stick up your ass." Sasuke glared at him.

Abandoned House

Naruto looked at his companions. "Well, let's recap on what happened and try to figure out how to get back home. It's been about a month since we've been in Konoha. I can't believe it took up two weeks to finally capture that bastard Satake. After a week of hard work to gain his trust, it figures that the ass would discover who we are."