Chapter 7. Desperate search.

Naruto was lying in his bed and staring in the ceiling. Medical ninjas with Kumo as their chief had left several minutes ago. Yondaime's life was out of danger and they said he'll be able to get up the next morning.

Blond genin sighed. "Why should I care? The 4th sealed Kyuubi in me. He ruined my life," he kept telling himself like mantra. "So why do I want to be there to know he's alright so much?"

All they did 'til this night was argue. Today they had a real talk. Could just one talk change everything?

"Do you think I would do this for someone I hate, baka?" these words were stinging him like a million bees.

"Why did you do it?" Naruto whispered. He wanted to tell himself it was just an apology for sealing Kyuubi, that Yondaime doesn't care for him but he couldn't. Looking in these crystal blue eyes he knew they couldn't lie.

He shook his head and went to the bathroom. Cold water was good for his head, hot with all these thoughts. He splashed water on his face once more and stared at himself in the mirror and shuddered. Those piercing blue eyes kept watching him right from his face.

Naruto backed off from the mirror trying to get out of the illusion. He inhaled deeply and looked at himself again. Here was his face with eyes scared like hell, his own eyes. Naruto breathed in relief.

"I need to sleep," he thought his heart beating too quick and too loud for his comfort. "Don't panic."

He lay in his bed again and an hour later had finally fallen asleep. Rasengan contests pursued him in his dreams but he didn't wake up again 'til the morning.

Sakura sighed looking at the bloody grass. "The image of the wounded Hokage will haunt me for a long time," she decided.

She walked along the path thinking.

"So Arashi-sama was their aim after all. That's the plan of a wise man. He wanted to remove the main threat, a person who can make a disturbance in their plans. These attackers disappeared in the forest so there is a possibility that their base is here. The other possibility is that the forest is just the way…to where?"

She stopped. Something was really wrong here. This grass…under that tree, its color was different, for her it felt like if someone had done a genjutsu in a hurry. Sakura exhaled. So that's how they ran away? So simple?

"Kai!" she said in a small voice watching how a big hole under the tree appeared beside her.

For a moment she hesitated. Was it a good idea to go there all alone? Definitely not. She turned around to go and find Naruto but a strong hit meet her head putting an end to her hesitations. She fell unconscious.

"34 missions without a scratch and now only one mission with this disaster and I'm in bed," Yondaime complained. He was lying with bandages around his torso but didn't look like he was going to die anymore.

"You're becoming older," Sora chuckled. "You weren't able to catch a kunai. Doesn't look like the Yellow Flash, does it?"

Arashi snorted.

"It looks like you really can't move at your previous speed after…you know…" Sora hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say next so Yondaime continued.

"That's not the case," he said. "My speed stayed the same I'm pretty sure. These kunais, their speed wasn't normal. No one in the world can throw kunai at such speed. It means these shinobies used some jutsu to increase it drastically."

He waited for a moment looking at Sora but the elder man was silent. Then Arashi continued.

"I'll say it straight. Do you know such a jutsu?"

Sora didn't answer.

"Come on," Arashi got up a little. "Sora, it's not the time for secrets. Your villagers' lives, guests' lives are in your hands. Don't make a mistake."

The village chief's face became darker and darker with every second. He sighed heavily and finally confessed.

"There is such a jutsu. It requires kunai made in special conditions and chakra. Well, it depends on which effect the one who makes jutsu wants. For temporary effect you need a small amount of your opponent's chakra but if you want the effect to become permanent you need to take a man's life. The effect, well, it depends on individuality, but usually speed, strength, other feelings become far beyond human's imagination."

"And you hadn't told me?" Arashi barked. "Sora, that's the reason, it was clear to you but you, were silent. How could you do it?

"I didn't tell you because it was impossible!" Sora shouted. "Because it is in the high secret scroll in my house and only I and my son can see it!"

Arashi shut up. Saying more meant he would accuse Shinjiru of betrayal – the thing Sora would never forgive.

"The rule is simple," Sora continued his explanation. "You stab or kill a person with special kunai. The more powerful your opponent is, the more power you will get. But it doesn't matter if you kill one man with enormous chakra or a lot of people with smaller amounts of chakra – the result will be the same."

Arashi became cold for a moment. What if they had managed to stab Naruto last night? How much power could they receive?

Yondaime opened his mouth to speak but the source of his thoughts was already standing at the doorstep.

"I can't find Sakura-chan anywhere!" Naruto exclaimed. "She disappeared!"

"Damn!" Arashi began to stand up thinking. "Here I thought it just couldn't be any worse."

"Your wound hasn't healed yet," Sora shook his head. "It's a bad idea to search for her in such a condition."

"We have no time to lose," Yondaime stood up, took his shinobi's equipment, jacket and just stood for a moment trying to push the pain back. Finally he straightened up. "Naruto, come on."

"Wait," Sora said. "I'll call my people."

"Already here," in a moment Tetsu stood in front of them.

"That's good," Arashi whispered while the pain flashed again. He made a step trying to comfort his back but just fell.

Tetsu was quick and caught him. For a moment Yondaime was breathing heavily unable to move.

"I'm ok," he finally said and stood up. "We don't need additional forces – two of us are enough to find Sakura."

"Arashi," Sora began again. "Don't…"

Blond Hokage turned around and gave his friend a small smile.

"I'll be alright. Just like in our mission in waterfalls country, do you remember?"

Sora looked at him attentively and then smiled back.

"I couldn't forget such an interesting mission," he answered. "Well, then I'll leave it to you. Tetsu, you are coming with me – we should prepare for the festival."

ANBU nodded without saying a word.

"We'll come back for the festival's start," Arashi promised and walked along the path to the forest.

Naruto silently followed him.

When Sora and Tetsu disappeared from their sight Yondaime stopped and turned back to the blond boy.

"Let's make an agreement", he told him in a stern voice. "For now our first priority is to find Sakura and to do it we must work as a team."

Naruto tried to interrupt but Arashi just gestured him to wait.

"That means you do what I say. No complaints, no foolish bets. Everything like that will wait 'til the end of this mission."

Naruto was surprised. The man standing in front of him was completely different from Yondaime he saw in Konoha or the man he had talked to last night. This person was calm, strong, the real leader. Now he began to understand why Arashi was chosen as the Hokage.

Yondaime finished and looked at Naruto. What will be his reaction to his words?

He didn't expect to meet such a serious, non-childish pair of eyes in the boy who used to be the main prankster of Konoha.

"I'll make it clear," Naruto said. "I don't like you. I don't like being in this mission with you but Sakura-chan is in danger and I can't save her on my own. So I'll team up with you to save her. Hell, she's my important friend, to save her I would even team up with Shinigami!"

Arashi gave him a very strange look blond genin was unable to read.

"Never say such a thing, even as a joke," his voice was chilling. "Come on. I'll activate the search jutsu."

He sat on the grass making complex hand seals and tried to feel the flow of chakra. Sakura was here before, he was pretty sure. Arashi scanned the entire place around trying to understand what happened.

"Blondai.." Naruto began but he stopped in the middle looking at Yondaime who suddenly stood up and moved to the big tree.

"We are lucky," he said pulling out a Konoha's forehead protector.

"Kai," he finally said and a hole between the roots of the tree appeared welcoming them with all its darkness.

"It's too obvious," Naruto exclaimed. "There must be a trap."

Yondaime, who was about to step into the hole, turned around.

"Of course it's a trap," he smiled. "But they really took her here, I'm pretty sure. So they want us to come to them, so then let's not make them wait too long."

"You are crazy," Naruto shook his head. It looked so much like one of his own crazy plans during some missions that it was unbelievable.

Now Arashi's smile became wider.

"You're not the first person to tell me that," he answered.

"Ok," Naruto sighed. "If we don't have another choice then…" he stepped ahead.

"Wait," Arashi said. "I want you to know what guys we could meet. They use hidden moon's forbidden jutsu which uses special made kunais that took away your chakra for their use. It allows them be stronger, faster, so they're dangerous. So at all costs, Naruto, don't let them stab you. With your added Kyuubi chakra they'll become much stronger than we are."

"I'll be careful then," Naruto nodded while the word "Kyuubi" were reflecting in his heart painfully.

They had been moving downstairs for about an hour when finally Arashi entered the stone cave. There were two ways.

"Which one?" Naruto whispered.

"This," Yondaime gestured to the left one.

"How can you be sure?" blond genin asked.

"Searching jutsu," Arashi explained. "It's at its limit because she's far but for me it looks like a string which directs the way."

"Oh," Naruto said. "I have never known there is such a jutsu."

He added to himself.

"I wonder if it is real or if he's just lying and doesn't know the way."

"Still I don't understand how you can do it," he continued walking and talking loudly. But he didn't finish his phrase – a strong arm closed his mouth.

"Mph!" was the only thing Naruto could manage.

Yondaime didn't say a word just gestured at the way they were going. A big snake-like monster was lying on their way. It was sleeping.

The 4th finally took his hand away from Naruto's mouth and whispered.

"These kind of monsters live in stone caves of Hidden Moon. Its hearing is perfect and I'm sure it has already awoken and is just waiting for a moment to attack."

"What shall we do?" Naruto whispered back.

"We need bait," Arashi told him. "I'm faster than you. Even in my current condition I'll be able to distract it. Your goal is the place where its head connects with the tail. Do you see it?"

"Yes," the boy nodded.

"You throw your kunai there and we are good," Arashi finished.

"But," Naruto hesitated. "What if I miss it?"

"You won't," Arashi said calmly. "Maybe sometimes you are stupid and stubborn but you are good shinobi here in your heart. There isn't any other way."

Their eyes met – Naruto's blue filled with hesitation and a hint of fear and Arashi's filled with calmness and strength.

Yondaime stood up and concentrated chakra. Naruto pulled out his kunai. They didn't say a word. Arashi just nodded and moved ahead.

The monster roared and Yondaime jumped back avoiding the clash. Pain echoed in his back again but he didn't have time for it. "Three minutes, maybe four is my limit. This monster is quick and bigger than me", he thought. "If Naruto misses I'll be in a big trouble. I have to think about another plan just in case… " the next attack of the monster ended his thoughts. He jumped once again.

Naruto looked at his movements, his heart pounding like it was a bird in a cage. Here, the Hokage trusted him with his life. He, Naruto, had told him about his hate but Yondaime just put himself in his arms. He could do anything he wanted.

"You can take revenge on him now," someone, maybe Kyuubi itself whispered somewhere in the boy's mind.

Internally it looked like eternity passed. In the real world it was less than a second. Naruto held his kunai tighter. Here and now he had to decide Yondaime's fate. But killing this monster means he has forgiven him, hasn't he? But he couldn't.

Eyes with the same color as his own appeared somewhere inside his mind again and the voice.

"You're good shinobi," Naruto looked back at Arashi and saw the blood stain reappeared on his back. So the wound didn't heal completely. The wound he received saving his, Naruto's life. So how in the world could he hesitate?

Arashi sidestepped the monster once again avoiding the attack. Where the hell is Naruto?

The monster's jaw flew somewhere near his head and Arashi jumped once again feeling he was loosing his speed but then the monster roared, fell back and didn't get up again. A kunai was right in his neck. Arashi sighed with relief.

Naruto stood on the spot, unbelievingly looking at the lying monster. Sasuke's saying "my body just moved on its own" fitted in this situation perfectly – he couldn't remember the exact moment he threw the kunai.

"Well," he sighed. "That's good. I didn't miss anyway."

"Nice job," Arashi's voice was as light and easy as if Naruto had done something really insignificant to him like killed an annoying insect.

"Could you be a bit serious about it?" Naruto shouted. "Be honored, I, Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage saved your life!"

Arashi just hummed and walked again.

All Naruto could do was to follow him cursing in a small voice big ugly monsters and ungrateful Hokages.

"Sorry, son," Arashi thought. "But it's not the time for praises now. We should concentrate on mission."