Title: Past the Picket Fence

Chapter 2: Race Without a Finish Line

-

When the cart stopped, Naruto woke up. A hand gripped his shoulder and hauled him up. As soon as his feet hit the ground, his legs tried to give out him. He used to trust those legs, too.

He couldn't ever remember being so dizzy… well except the time he and Kakashi had tried to see how long they could last on the tilt-a-whirl at Konoha's last festival. He wasn't sure, but he thought Gai might've been there… and some alcohol may have been involved. In fact, he think Gai might've started it… Lee had been shouting… His memory of that night had never been much clearer than fuzzy.

Lee showed up the next morning apologizing about his shoes, which he had noticed smelled like vomit. To make up for it, Gai Jr. had bought him a new pair of green shoes –which were still hidden in the back of his closet somewhere.

Aside from that time, he was pretty sure he had never been this dizzy.

"Come now, Naruto-kun, try and stand," Kabuto chuckled above him as arms slid under his and after an initial lurch he found his feet being drug along the ground.

"I'm going to kill you," Naruto promised, however his tongue was heavy and he sounded vaguely as if he were ready to puke, so as far as threatening went, it didn't include him at the moment.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to carry out his threat, however. He just needed some time to recuperate, like a day or two… maybe a year. He hoped his dead weight made him harder to drag.

"Not likely. Between the extra shot I gave you an hour or so ago, and the fact that I can actually see my Akatsuki clients just up ahead, I don't think you'll be able to make good on that. Besides you should still be drained from killing all the mercenaries I hired."

When put like that, it didn't sound very promising.

"You think that's going to stop me?"

"Yes," Kabuto replied. He sounded pretty damn sure of himself. Arrogant bastard.

Naruto scowled, glaring at his own feet. They were making little trails in the dirt.

Stupid feet.

"Ah, Hoshigaki-san, Uchiha-san. I have delivered the merchandise," Kabuto said genially, and Naruto knew he was smiling in that satisfied, superior way of his.

Naruto secretly wished he could smile like that because he knew it would piss of Kiba if he did.

Then the names of the two Kabuto addressed hit him. Hoshigaki… Uchiha… shit. Not that any pair in Akatsuki would be a particularly beneficial pair to come across –he knew from experience. He just knew that these two happened to be exceptional jackasses. Really, they could put Kabuto to shame in a competition of asses.

There was some shuffling and Naruto felt himself hoisted up and twisted around to be thrown over someone's shoulder. Flashes of bluish skin indicated Kisame.

"He's currently under the influence of a sedative, so he shouldn't be giving you any problems for awhile. It lasts several hours."

There was the sound of ruffling cloth and paper and Naruto guessed that the medic nin was receiving his payment.

"Have you been followed?" That, Naruto knew, was Itachi.

"If I was it's no longer my problem." What an ass!

"Someday I'm going to chop you into bits of human sushi," Kisame rumbled.

The medic nin laughed. Apparently he didn't take too much stock in that threat -which would be stupid- or he didn't care.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen," Kabuto said and Naruto heard the sound of retreating footsteps.

"Get back here, you coward. I have to kill you!" Naruto yelled into Kisame's back, voice muffled.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I really can't stay," Kabuto called back. Kisame chuckled and started walking in the opposite direction.

"I don't think your sedative's working!" Kisame laughed, amused by Naruto's attempts to struggle. Jerk.

"He's not coming after me, now is he?" Kabuto pointed out as he too, gave in to chuckling. Extra-jerk.

"It's going to rain," Itachi spoke from the left -seemingly from out of nowhere and unknowingly helping to prove one of Naruto's theories that the eldest Uchiha spent most of his time in the outfield when everyone else was playing infield. The blonde turned his head slightly to try and see him. He could see his uniform.

Really, as long as his face wasn't buried into Kisame's sweaty back, he was good. He wasn't sure if the Akatsuki nin's back was actually sweaty underneath the cloak, but it was a warm day, and he was wearing heavy black outer garments, so it stood to reason.

When put like that, the uniform seemed rather impractical. He had never seen a short sleeve variation or maybe just a black shirt with red clouds instead of the full cloak. Though, a shirt like that would probably just look stupid. He wouldn't know for sure unless he saw one.

"Yeah, we should probably get going before it starts," Kisame said, in answer to Itachi and with a sudden lurch Naruto wasn't prepared for, they started running. Damn, he felt sick.

He wondered how long the drug would last. Maybe his metabolism would get it through his system in enough time for him to have a shot at escaping before he ended up wherever it was that they were going.

-

Kakashi managed to find a well-disguised trail that became less and less disguised the farther he went. He had summoned Pakkun, who would've been a lot more help, but he kept eating grass and puking it back up. That usually indicated a weather change that would severely hinder the search.

Fortunately, whoever was responsible for Naruto's abduction had a wagon or something similar to it nearby, which became more apparent when the tracks he was following turned into wheel tracks and size tens.

Either someone had thought they were safe, or were dropping Naruto off somewhere, and figured that after that, it wouldn't be their problem. He couldn't tell which yet, as he hadn't decided whether or not he was dealing with idiots.

Eventually, the tracks turned onto a narrow dirt road, which made it a lot easier and faster for him. However, it would have also done the same for the shinobi he was pursuing.

It was when he came across an empty cart in the middle of the previously mentioned road that he began to grow uneasy. The size tens had doubled back at first before veering off the road again. Thin, twin ruts in the top layer of dirt on the path that periodically cut through footprints going in the same direction indicated something had been dragged. The closer he looked, the more he came to the conclusion that it had been someone's heels. Meaning Naruto had most likely been unconscious.

The presence of two other sets of prints a little ways away was not a good sign. So Naruto was still likely drugged and in the hands of enemies. What enemies did Naruto have that would capture him instead of killing him outright? Most in their right mind wouldn't take Naruto for information. He didn't know anything.

Unless they wanted to know about ramen. Or how to be flashy.

They wouldn't need to do all of this to get that information, though. Naruto volunteered it readily enough, whether anyone wanted it or not.

Most of Naruto's enemies were just pissed off at the blonde. If they wanted revenge, they'd have killed him already. Besides, if that were the case, it would have made more sense to avoid drugging him and dragging him off somewhere and instead sneak into Konoha and kill him in his sleep –especially since Naruto was a heavy sleeper.

Unless it was Thursday. On Thursdays, he, Naruto, Genma, Gai, and usually Ibiki or Raido would play cards. Naruto always ended up staying on the couch, sometimes Gai would sleep on his kitchen floor –something he never got around to questioning. That was how Kakashi continuously knew it was Thursday. This way Friday could never sneak up on him.

There was one group that had always had a particular interest in Naruto. The Akatsuki. They would fit into the equation. Then again, so would Stone's entire research squadron. This would be because of one of Naruto's missions that was a spectacular foul-up on everyone's account, yet for Naruto, was still a success... sort of. He just wasn't put on anymore reconnaissance missions until very recently. The point was, technically, Naruto succeeded.

Kakashi just wasn't sure how. It was something he hadn't been told.

To the point, if Akatsuki was indeed the ones who now had Naruto, then he had precious little time. They would be the worst possible scenario, and the most likely.

He looked at the sky, trying to judge how much time had passed since Naruto had been captured and noted again that it was going to rain soon. He had to hurry before it started and any trail was washed away.

"Pakkun, stop vomiting in the ditch and let's go."

-

Naruto did not like being at someone else's mercy. He was a doer, not a don't-er. There wasn't much he could do at the moment, though. He could, however, bite his lip until it bled, leave a bit of a trail before it healed up, and do it over again.

It hurt like hell every time he did it, so someone had damn well better have come after him.

Whether it was enough of a trail to go by, he didn't know, but as soon as he escaped, he was going to try and follow it to get back. He had a terrible sense of direction, and his compass broke the other day in his pocket. He had fallen on it because of Ino's punch to his spleen –although he would have to admit he may have possibly deserved that one. He and Kiba had made a bet on how long it would take her to notice what they put on her face while she was napping on a couch in the chunnin administration building. He now mourned the loss of his compass. At the time, however, he had been more concerned with escaping from the blonde kunoichi with his life and body intact.

Why they did it a second time he really wasn't sure.

It was funny, though –except for the part where he and Kiba were subjected to physical pain.

He was beginning to regain feeling in his arms and legs, however. This was certainly a good thing. It was drizzling lightly and he wasn't sure if that would be in his favor or not (he didn't really think about his blood trail).

Naruto had a feeling that the two Akatsuki members could maneuver and fight better in the rain than he could, but they could do that even when it wasn't raining. If he could escape, the rain would help cover his trail, and that was probably about all it would do for him.

Suddenly they stopped and he was dropped to the ground.

Kisame laughed, because apparently he thought it was all very funny. Never mind that Naruto probably would have thought the same if their roles were reversed.

"That wasn't necessary, you bastard," Naruto glared up at him, wishing he had control of his limbs so he could dish out the pain.

"No, but you have to make the little joys in life to have a good time."

This was something Naruto believed as well, so he couldn't really fault Kisame, but he did it anyway.

The approaching footsteps of Itachi probably should have raised more alarm in Naruto, but damn the drugs, it didn't. Well, maybe it wasn't so much the drugs, but Naruto refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. If they stopped and didn't appear to be making camp, which they didn't, then it couldn't be a good thing.

The other tip-off that something was up was the syringe in the elder Uchiha's hand.

"What's that?" Naruto asked more than a little suspiciously, and suspecting he knew. Itachi didn't hesitate to answer.

"Insurance from Kabuto."

The medic kept screwing him even when he wasn't there.

There was only one thing Naruto could really say as the needle sunk into his arm.

"This sucks."

-

Tsunade cursed vividly as the two nin left her office. Two of her best shinobi were missing. Honestly, there were very few duos that even came close to those two, and the one idiot got himself captured while the other idiot went after him.

"Those jerks!" Sakura fumed beside her. This was mostly because Kakashi had specifically asked for a medic that wasn't her for the mission –probably just to annoy her.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Tsunade did not envy Kakashi when Sakura got her hands on him. When the apprentice medic began to storm towards the door, Tsunade stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going after them!" Sakura stated, determination taking over her features. She was mad, and if Tsunade was anyone other than Tsunade, she might be scared –after all, she was the one to teach Sakura how to best use her fists.

"You don't know where they went."

"I don't see why that should stop me. Besides, Kakashi would have left me a trail."

Whether that last statement was true or not, Tsunade didn't know. However, the situation did deem it necessary for more manpower in the search.

"If you'll wait half an hour, I can get you some extra hands."

Although stubborn, Sakura was the most reasonable member to ever come out of Team 7. This wasn't saying much.

"Whose hands?"

Even if Sakura resolved that she wasn't going to lose another teammate –from what was left of the former Team 7- she wasn't stupid and was aware of her limits. If someone could catch Naruto, they'd either have to be incredibly strong, or incredibly smart (because she now acknowledged that Naruto was a type of warped-genius himself or at the very least, unconventionally clever), or both.

"Maybe I can get you a Byakugan and a Genius. I'm sure an Inuzuka hound wouldn't hurt either."

Sakura's shoulders relaxed slightly. The Hyuuga family was fond of Naruto, and she was sure Tsunade was referring to Shikamaru and Kiba, two of Naruto's somewhat reluctant, but good friends. She didn't really trust a lot of the other shinobi when it came to her childhood teammate.

"…I'll wait."

"Good. In the meantime, you can file these reports."

Lazy woman.

-

Kakashi was starting to really hate weather, specifically the wet kind. He had nearly missed the drop of blood and now he was going to miss the rest.

Someone was bleeding, and he both hoped it was and wasn't Naruto. He had no doubts that if it was Akatsuki, they'd be able to mostly hide copious amounts of blood. Same could be said for an entire research squadron of Stone shinobi.

What made the situation worse was that Kakashi was largely unfamiliar with the area. It was a small comfort knowing that Naruto's captors would be slowed down not only by carrying Naruto, but also by hiding their trail.

However, the latter was quickly becoming easier for them.

Pakkun, his ninja dog, was sick not only from eating all the grass, but apparently from allergies as well –which flared up when he kept stuffing his face full of grass (Kakashi honestly didn't know why dogs did that). So his nose was blocked up, rendering him useless for tracking. He was dismissed.

The sharingan user made it to an area in the woods -not a clearing, but the trees weren't as thick- where he saw two sets of foot prints and sparse blades of grass bent in one spot. Any patterns in the dirt were destroyed by the drops of rain, but the two broken twigs and damaged flora indicated something had been there. He couldn't say if that something had been roughly the size of an older teenage boy, but the blonde hair he found under a fern did point towards that conclusion.

After that, the trail went cold.

An hour later after combing over the area three or four times with a surgeon's precision, it became obvious to Kakashi that he wasn't going to find anything, and that if he didn't stop to rest for the night, he would be of no use to Naruto.

The trick would be to find some shelter from the rain. The wind was starting to pick up, so the sooner the better.

As a genius shinobi, this wasn't difficult.

Looking up he could clearly see an unobstructed sky. The trees surrounding him were relatively young and offered poor refuge –but allowed for more underbrush, which he didn't particularly like. Thicker foliage would be better. A chalet would be ideal.

He took out a kunai and etched an arrow in a tree, something he wished he had started doing earlier, in case anyone else had been sent to find Naruto, but as it was, his mind had been a little clouded with worry.

Choosing a direction at random, he darted off.

-

Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba listened intently to their village head. Akamaru waited outside. Normally, two shinobi that were adept at tracking, not to mention the silver-haired jounin already out there, were not put on the same search team. One was enough.

Apparently, that didn't matter to Tsunade, because as she had made it clear, she wanted Naruto found and he was damn well going to be found.

Sakura was going with them in case Naruto required medical treatment. Although everyone knew it was because she was going to hurt someone, and the Hokage was going to let her.

"We don't really know anything," Tsunade summarized, even though there wasn't really much to summarize.

"Who do you think did it?" Shikamaru asked. He would prefer to know who and what he was going to be dealing with. The mission sounded like enough trouble as it was, but if he knew what he was up against, it would be easier to plan ahead.

"Well, there's always the possibility of the Akatsuki. Then again, there was that espionage team from Mist," Tsunade recalled.

"Or those shinobi from Cloud after you sent Naruto to Lightning country as a diplomatic escort," Sakura added.

"There's also Grass, after that mission Naruto and I had and he somehow managed to destroy their kage's favorite Geisha house," Neji said.

"I remember that. Troublesome. There's also the mission where we met the man from Rain whom Naruto challenged to a sheep-shearing contest. That ended badly." As Shikamaru recalled, Naruto had ended up getting on the bad side of the man's entire clan.

"How about those guys in Wave after Naruto went there on vacation that one time?" Kiba asked. It had turned into an international incident and Tsunade still forbade Naruto to leave the country on vacation without having someone go with him.

"We could be at this all night," Sakura said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "it's more important that we start to move while we still have a chance to find him."

The boys silently agreed.

Tsunade snorted before dismissing them with a wave of her hand, "Then get going."

Without another word, the team was gone.

A few hours later, they arrived at the battle scene.

It was at that point that Sakura concluded that whoever had Naruto was at least very bright, but not the Akatsuki… and judging by the various hitae-ate, weren't anyone that they had mentioned back in Tsunade's office.

It still looked like someone with a grudge and it was beginning to sprinkle rain on them.

"Is that dog vomit?" Kiba asked, pointing at an area where Akamaru was sniffing. The fact that he could actually tell it was from a dog didn't really phase them.

"Pakkun…" Sakura said, looking at the footprint beside it, and recognizing the tread as Kakashi's. She knew it was his because the chunk missing on the left sole was from the last time she and Naruto tried to remove Kakashi's mask and well… things hadn't gone as planned. In fact, Naruto's tooth tore it out when Kakashi kicked him before realizing who it was.

They looked towards where those footprints led, into the trees.

A cold wind blew through Sakura, and despite it still being mid-afternoon, it was getting dark out.

A raindrop fell on her bare shoulder.

"It looks like the storm is in the direction we're headed," Neji said, staring at the gray sky in the distance.

-

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A/N: Here's the second part. It pretty much just gets weirder from here on out. Especially since I plan on using a couple different genres, which should be interesting -for me if not for you.

Thanks for all the reviews so far, they are great motivation. I'm already working on the next chapter. Oh, and if someone is interested in letting me bounce ideas off of them so I can at least come up with a working outline and offering a few somewhat in-depth opinions on it, please let me know.