It had been a couple of days since Naruto had disappeared and Tsunade's group had been scouring all parts of the village to find him.
At some point, Tsunade learned that Sakura had included Hinata in the search party. Normally, she would have been angry for revealing confidential information to someone outside the group, but then she remembered the Hyuga clan's genetic ability that could be very useful in locating Naruto, so she let it go.
Right now, they were all gathered in the Hokage's office.
"Any news?" asked Tsunade.
"We checked all the places Naruto frequents or where he usually hangs out, but we didn't find anything." said Kakashi.
"We even checked his apartment, but there's no trace." said Sakura.
"I used the Byakugan all the time, but I found no trace of Naruto's chakra. I'm sorry." said Hinata.
"Akamaru and I sniffed the whole village, but we didn't detect Naruto's scent. It's like he suddenly disappeared." said Kiba.
"People don't just disappear like that." said Tsunade.
"Maybe it was like that."
They all turned their gaze to the entrance to see Shikamaru.
"Did you find any clues?" asked Tsunade.
"Could be." began Shikamaru entering the room and laying a scroll on the Hokage's desk.
However, that was no ordinary scroll, it was the scroll that took Naruto to the other world.
"What is this?" asked Tsunade.
"I was investigating and apparently, the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was conducting investigations." said Shikamaru.
"Investigations into what?" asked Sakura.
"Travel between worlds." said Shikamaru.
"What? That's impossible." said Kiba not believing what the shadow ninja was saying.
"It sounds believable to me. After all, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've ever seen." said Kakashi remembering that, during the fight against Kaguya Otsutsuki, she used a technique that teleported them to various worlds.
"Explain yourself, Shikamaru." said Tsunade.
"Apparently, Hashirama was developing a jutsu capable of traveling between worlds and this is the only one he could create." said Shikamaru.
"But why would he do something like that?" asked Hinata.
"Who knows. Maybe he was bored of this world and wanted to explore another one." said Shikamaru.
"Never mind that. What does this have to do with Naruto's whereabouts?" asked Tsunade.
"I've been looking into it and most likely, while Naruto was sorting through the files, he came across that particular scroll and, being curious, activated it." said Shikamaru.
"*Sigh* That's true, Naruto is the kind of person who acts before thinking about things." said Sakura, since she knew the jinchuriki like he was a brother.
"So, what you're saying is that Naruto ended up traveling to another world by accident, right?" asked Kakashi.
"That's right. I've analyzed the scroll and it seems that it only activates to those who possess a large amount of chakra." said Shikamaru.
"I see." began Tsunade before standing up. "Then, there is no choice but to go to that other world to look for it."
"Hokage, as much as I agree with that, we don't know what might be on the other side." said Shikamaru.
"That's why only we will go. With our combined chakra should be enough to activate the scroll and get us to the other side." said Tsunade.
"But then how would we get back to our world?" asked Hinata.
"We could use my Sharingan. With effort, I might be able to create a way back to the village once we find Naruto." said Kakashi pointing to the eye covered by the band.
"Then it's settled. Go gather the essential material. We'll meet back here in a few minutes." said Tsunade before everyone quickly left except for Shikamaru.
"Ugh. What a drag, but okay." said Shikamaru before leaving as well.
Meanwhile, night had fallen and in the Future Industries airship was Korra lying on a bed, with Asami next to her holding her hand. Despite Naruto telling them that he had brought Korra out of her brainwashing, she was still worried that when she woke up, she wouldn't be herself.
"Don't worry." Asami turned her head to see Naruto sitting in a chair with several bandages on his body and head. "I'm sure she'll be fine." said Naruto with a smile.
"I keep telling you that you shouldn't be here. Your wounds haven't fully healed." said Asami.
"Bah, it's okay. My wounds heal quickly. Besides, this isn't the hardest fight I've ever had." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head.
Asami was about to say something else, but then, they both started to hear a groan and quickly turned their gaze towards the Avatar who was starting to open her eyes.
"Korra." said Asami leaning towards her.
"A… Asami?" asked Korra opening her eyes all the way.
That brought tears of joy to the engineer's eyes, as that meant her girlfriend was free of mind control and she quickly rushed to hug her, much to the Avatar's surprise.
"I'm so glad you're okay." said Asami.
"What? I don't understand. What happened?" asked Korra before her girlfriend broke the hug, allowing her to sit on the bed.
"You don't remember?" asked Asami.
"The last thing I remember is that Guan captured me and he…" began Korra before her eyes widened in realization. "He brainwashed me! Please tell me I didn't hurt anyone!"
"Don't worry." began Naruto catching the two women's attention. "I made sure of it." said Naruto with a smile.
"Naruto? But… why are you hurt?" asked Korra surprised to see her friend bandaged up.
"Guan brought you before us and made you believe we were the enemy. He ordered you to eliminate us." said Asami causing the Avatar's eyes to widen in horror at the thought of hurting her girlfriend and her friends. "That's when Naruto offered to fight you and stop you. After taking you down, he used a strange technique to free you from the brainwashing."
"What? My God, Naruto! I'm so sorry!" said Korra feeling guilty for hurting her friend.
"Don't apologize. It wasn't really you at the time, so don't feel guilty." said Naruto with a smile.
"Anyway, thank you very much, for saving me." said Korra with a smile.
"You're welcome." said Naruto.
At that moment, the door opened and everyone looked over to see that it was Kuvira.
"Good. You've woken up and judging by the situation, I guess you've been released from the brainwashing." said Kuvira.
"Kuvira? What are you doing here?" asked Korra surprised to see the metalbender there of all places.
"Oh, well. After you were captured, I thought Kuvira would be of use to us, so I had her released and now we're in charge of her." said Naruto.
"Did you really agree to that?" asked Korra.
"I felt responsible for you being kidnapped, so I decided to help even if it meant I'd go back to my cell later. The others are waiting in the hall. Come when you're ready." said Kuvira before leaving and closing the door.
"I'm surprised you agreed to work with her." said Korra to the engineer.
"Well, you were the most important thing at the time and I was willing to do anything for you." said Asami with a sweet smile.
Korra smiled back and the two shared a tender kiss on the lips.
"Come on, girls. Book that for a hotel." said Naruto with a smile, receiving stern looks from the two women and the ninja seemed to get the message. "Okay, uh... maybe I'd better leave you alone for a moment." said Naruto with a nervous smile before leaving the room quickly.
"Now..." began Korra before sharing loving glances with Asami. "Where were we going?"
Back in the Hidden Leaf Village, the search party had gathered around the scroll lying on the ground.
"Are we ready?" asked Tsunade.
"Ready and prepared, Lady Tsunade." said Sakura.
"Good. Remember that we don't know where in that other world we will end up, so be prepared for anything." said Tsunade.
"We survived a world war, we can handle this." said Kiba with a toothy grin followed by a bark from Akamaru.
While Hinata could only think of one other thing.
"Hang in there, Naruto. We're coming for you." thought Hinata.
"Anytime you want, Hokage." said Kakashi.
"Just touch the seal and the process will activate." said Shikamaru.
With all that said, Tsunade proceeded to plant her palm on the swirling symbol.
In an instant, the symbol glowed and a wind began to swirl around the ninja. Before anyone could say anything, an explosion of light covered the room they were in and when the light was gone, there was no one but the scroll.
Somewhere, in the middle of the night, an explosion of light happened in the middle of nowhere, and when the light dissipated, the search party came into view.
"Well then, did we make it?" asked Kiba.
"Hinata, could you...?" started Kakashi.
Understanding what he wanted to ask, Hinata nodded before activating the Byakugan, making the veins around her eyes too marked.
"I don't notice any chakra around us, but I do notice a strange energy in several people." said Hinata.
"That proves it. We really are in another world." said Shikamaru.
"Then, the first phase is complete, let's proceed to the next phase." said Tsunade.
"Hinata, can you locate Naruto's chakra?" asked Sakura.
Hinata increased the power of her Byakugan to increase the locating range and that's when she let out a gasp.
"I-I've located it!" exclaimed Hinata to the surprise of the others.
"Where?" asked Sakura.
"He's in that direction." said Hinata pointing in the distance.
"Are you sure it's him?" asked Kiba, receiving a nod from the white-eyed girl.
"I'm sure. His chakra is unmistakable." said Hinata.
"Let's not waste any more time." said Tsunade before the group moved on.
Meanwhile, on the airship, after a while of preparation, everyone gathered in the main room to discuss the subject.
"Korra, I hope it's no trouble for you, but can you tell us what you found out about Guan when you were captured?" said Mako hoping not to get into a sensitive subject.
"It's not, don't worry. All I know is that he has completed his enhancer serum that will grant his men even greater power at the risk of turning his soldiers into feral beasts." said Korra.
"That's horrible!" said Asami.
"Had I known that was the purpose of his project, I would have cancelled it from the beginning." said Kuvira clenching her fists at seeing the man she had elected commander stoop to that.
"Wait, he's going to use that serum anyway despite the consequences?" asked Bolin.
"Yes, since he has a method to keep his soldiers from turning on him. The same method he used on me." said Korra.
"Brainwashing." said Naruto understanding the Avatar's information.
"That's right. After that, he asked Dr. Sheng to activate the machine and everything went black from there." said Korra before Asami put her hand on her shoulder.
"Dr. Sheng?" asked Kuvira surprised to hear that name.
"You know her?" asked Asami.
"Yes, she worked together with Baatar Jr. on some projects before joining me. After that, I heard that she was researching ways to re-educate prisoners, but I never thought it would get to that level." said Kuvira.
"So, we have a man who possesses an army of mindless people who can become an army of mindless beasts." said Naruto.
"With such an army, he would be unstoppable." said Mako.
"Kuvira, if you were Guan, what would you do next?" asked Korra.
Kuvira started to think as she put a hand to her chin.
"Well, given what I have in hand, I would attack an important point if I wanted to bring the Earth Empire back to life. Where are the first elections being held?" asked Kuvira.
"According to the information President Zhu Li received from King Wu, in Gaoling." said Bolin.
"Then, it's pretty safe to assume that that will be his next attack." said Kuvira.
"Great, then we'll go there, wait for him and kick his ass." said Naruto.
"It's not going to be that simple, Naruto. Surely Guan will have some strategy in his mind that he'll use to attack Gaoling." said Korra.
"True. And if we're not prepared for that strategy, we'll lose and Gaoling will fall." said Kuvira.
"But if Guan is going to use that power-up serum to turn his soldiers into beasts, we'll need more help." said Asami.
"And where will we get more help from?" asked Naruto.
"Miss Sato, we detected an object coming this way at full speed." said the pilot from the PA system.
"What?" asked Asami.
"It's possible that it's Guan." said Mako.
"Then let's not keep him waiting." said Korra.
Quickly, the six exited the airship and looked in the direction they said the approaching object was coming from.
"That way!" said Kuvira pointing in a direction where they saw something moving at such a speed that it was leaving a trail of smoke.
"What could it be coming here at such speed?" asked Mako.
"Naruto."
"Huh? I think it said your name, Naruto." said Bolin.
"Really?" asked Naruto before stepping forward a bit to try to hear better.
"Naruto!"
"That voice… It could be…" started Naruto before squinting to get a better look at the incoming object and he could see what it was, something that gave him a big smile. "Yes, it is! Hey...!"
Suddenly, a punch connected with Naruto's face and sent him crashing into the ground so hard that it left a huge crater.
Needless to say, the others were in shock at what had just happened and were even more shocked when they saw that the cause was a pink-haired girl with an expression of pure rage.
"Yeah, that's Sakura, no doubt." groaned Naruto in pain from the blow.
Sakura grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt and lifted him to eye level before shaking him violently.
"You fucking idiot! You had a simple task and you go and screw it up completely! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? What do you have to say for yourself?" asked Sakura stopping shaking the jinchuriki who tilted his head back due to being knocked unconscious by the force of the blow and the shaking.
"Uh... Excuse me." said Korra catching the pink haired girl's attention. "Who are you?"
"That's for me to ask."
That's when the rest of the search party showed up.
"Looks like we have a lot of explaining to do." said Tsunade.