"Let me ask you something, Narumi."

Naruto's voice was emotionless as he spoke, letting his hair blow in the wing as his words glided out into the freezing open air. The sun was just beginning to rise on Yukigakure, letting its bright rays shine down on both Naruto and Narumi. They stood a good 100 feet from another letting their feet sink slightly into the soft snow beneath them.

After Narumi had confronted Naruto they had both agreed that fighting indoors would only cause more panic to ensue. The only reason Naruto had agreed was to make sure Kurenai wouldn't be aware of their fight. So after a quick shunshine they were both outside, basking in the sun's rays. They stood in silence for a few minutes, Naruto's question going unanswered as Narumi felt her fists clench. She scowled deeply, finally raising her head to look at her brother who was staring at her intently. Looking into his mirrored blue she felt herself grow angrier, he should be scared, he should be shaking in place at facing such a strong foe.

Then why...why did he look so calm.

"Go on then, ask."

Her voice betrayed the emotion she was trying to fight back. Her tone was laced with pure annoyance as she watched her brother look away from her, breaking eye contact. He took in a deep breath, trying to calm down his own growing frustration. The next words came out of his mouth subconsciously, asking the question he has been dying to know since the mission in Tizuna.

"Why have you been acting like this for the past few weeks? Before we met each other in Tizuna you almost seemed like you wanted to make amends, but now you've been cold. So why?"

Naruto said, his voice laced with pure curiosity. His words froze Narumi for a moment, she stayed in place making sure her eyes never left Naruto. She fought back the overwhelming amount of guilt and forced it back down into the depths of her mind, ignoring the way his words had torn at her heart. Shaking her head at Naruto she started a slow walk towards her brother. She watched as his eyes remained locked onto her as she got closer, she grabbed her poncho forcing it over her head and throwing it into the sky, letting the breeze consume it.

Naruto remained impassive as he watched her walk closer to him. She let a look of disinterest seep into her face before she threw a cocky smirk towards Naruto, as she zipped up her chunin vest, "Just like you told me before, it doesn't make a difference."

His stoic expression did not falter as Narumi stopped in front of him.

"I think my question would be, do you have to betray the village, our very own family to get what you want?"

Naruto scowled at her words, his eyes flashing dangerously as he flared his chakra intensely. He sent a punch to her face, letting her question go unanswered as she smirked at him again,

bringing her forearm up blocking the punch. Without hesitating Naruto sent another punch her way, sticking to the same side so she couldn't block using her other arm. Narumi moved faster however as she brought her elbow down, her arm twisting and above his own, sent a punch to his face. Naruto ducked flipping a kunai upwards and slashing towards Narumi. She reacted fast enough, flipping a kunai from her porch intercepting his head on. Narumi scowled at her brother, both putting an equal amount of force respectively behind their blade. "How rude of you, to not even answer your dear sisters question." she growled out as she applied more pressure to her blade. Naruto groaned in dismay, trying his best to overpower Narumi. Sadly for him, his sister managed to match his power perfectly.

Naruto grunted loudly as he felt his feet sink further into the snow, Narumi quickly overpowered him forcing Naruto to break his grip on his kunai as he fell to the floor. Performing a quick shunshine appearing to Narumi's left, Narumi, who had anticipated this, quickly turned sending her knee directly into his gut. Naruto gasped in pain and he didn't have time to react as Narumi bent her body and put her hand on the ground, twisting her legs and kicking Naruto in the face sending him to the ground. He winced in pain as he held himself up from the ground panting heavily.

"I told you Naruto-nii. You aren't betraying us." She said, looking down on him with an odd sense of relief and pity.

Naruto chuckled quietly to himself, his chuckle soon evolved into loud laughter. Narumi looked at him with a small amount of shock, allowing him to get to his feet. Time seemed to slow down for Narumi as she watched Naruto slowly look over at her, her eyes going wide with shock as she looked into his new golden right eye. Her stomach dropped several stories in her chest as her head throbbed painfully. The demon in side of her slammed his large body against his cage, the fox was screaming, flailing his large nine tails crazily.

That's Isobu! What the fuck is he doing in there!"

Narumi didn't have time to ask the fox what he was talking about as Naruto sent a smirk her way. His laughter died as he looked at the shocked expression on Narumi's face, he could slowly feel Isobu's effect start to take over as he brought his free hand out, letting it hover over the white substance.

"Don't act so cocky, Narumi, afterall, were in the perfect area to fight in. Well, at least for me."

He said, his golden eye glowing as he formed a single hand seal with his free hand.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The snow next to him looked like it suddenly evaporated, sucking the moisture out of the snow as three large water dragons formed next to the blonde. Naruto swung his arm forward, commanding the beasts of water and sent them flying over to Narumi. Narumi felt her eyes widen slightly once again, not having enough time to dwell on what the Kyuubi said within her. She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the dragons as they crashed into the snow covered floor, exploding on impact and sending a giant plum of water into the field obscuring Narumi's vision. Narumi's ears twitched, hearing a sudden splash to her left, Narumi turned her body, waiting to counterattack only to see a kunai sore past her, not seeing Naruto jump through the water sending a punch to her face from her opposing side.

He made contact with her face, making Narumi's head fly back, she reacted almost instantly, her head snapping back right away, forcing through the pain and quickly placed her palm on Naruto's chest. Naruto experienced the same jutsu she had used in the hotel. He felt his body get blown backwards from the incredible gust of wind as he landed on his feet barely having time to see Narumi fly through hand seals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Naruto watched the blades of wind fly towards him, he did his own set of seals before slamming his palms into the freezing snow.

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

The water got sucked out of the snow once again as a large wall made of pure water formed from the ground shielding him from the wind attack. Sadly his defensive jutsu didn't seem to be strong enough as the wind cut right through the water wall and struck Naruto directly in the chest. Naruto's body erupted in pain as he was sent flying back, bouncing on the ground several times. He didn't have time to react as Narumi sent a swift kick into his stomach. Naruto yelped in pain as he felt his body slide backwards again, this time stopping as a clone of Narumi caught him, forcing him into a chokehold. Narumi looked over at her brother, her face scrunching in annoyance as she formed a single handed seal again.

"Kai!"

She yelled as the scene in front of her suddenly vanished without a trace, she turned around to see a heavy breathing Naruto, his arm wrapped around his stomach. She traced her eyes down to his stomach, feeling a weird emotion as she saw blood leak from his wound.

"Give it up Naruto-nii, you can't keep up with me. I'll admit you are strong, but you're nowhere near my level."

Naruto cringed at her harsh tone. Clenching his fists in anger as his golden eye seemed to burn brighter. He ignored the screaming words of Isobu in the back of his head, telling Naruto to calm down and take it easy, to not let the anger overtake him once again. Telling him that Narumi should have been told by Kyuubi that he was carrying the Sanbi. He didn't find it in himself to care at the moment, pushing the demons words away as he shut his left eye. His face conforming into a deep scowl. "Fine, you want a fight? You got one!" he yelled, opening his left eye.

Narumi felt her blood run cold as Naruto charged at her, she could barely comprehend if what she was seeing was real or not. Too shocked to react, she didn't have enough time to block the fist Naruto had sent her way, it impacted against her cheek and sent her falling to the ground. Before she had even realized what was happening Naruto sent a downward fist plummeting her into the ground. Her back made a small crater in the floor, she spat up some blood and wheezed loudly.

Narumi recovered quickly, kicking Naruto in the gut and sending him back once again. She got to her feet as the two stared into each other's eyes, a silent exchange validating what they knew about one another. Narumi had known Naruto had grown stronger, stronger than almost any genin that had graduated this year, but this was unexpected. She didn't have enough time to dwell in shock, seeing her brother's mixed gold eye, and the spinning sharingan as it glared over at her. She knew he was hiding something from her, but she didn't know it would be a tailed beast, AND a doujutsu. She would get the answers out of him, even if it meant breaking every bone in his body and dragging him back to Konoha. But one thing was certain as the two Namikaze children looked at one another, it was a conclusion that Narumi feared even through her tough exterior, and one that Naruto had known.

She was not his sister.

And he was not her brother.

Narumi chased, continuing the exchange with a swift swipe of a kunai to the blondes' side. Naruto brought his own kunai out, blocking the swipe easily as he brought his shoulder forward, driving it into Narumi's ribcage. The redhead grabbed his wrist in an attempt to throw him away, creating a large space that was just enough slice at Naruto's coat, forcing him to retreat.

In an instant they were back on the attack, Naruto channeled his water chakra into his hands, sucking up the moisture from the snow once again as a blade of pure water formed in his hand, attempting to strike at Narumi. However, Narumi was prepared this time and channeled wind chakra into her kunai, the second the blades made contact Narumi's ripped through the water weapon swiping his chest. Naruto having seen his jutsu get destroyed, forcefully dispelled the technique splashing upwards and obscuring Narumi's vision once again. Narumi scowled, the sudden disorientation leaving her unbalanced, letting Naruto slip away and send a brutal kick to the redhead's inner thigh, before ending it with a swift punch in the stomach. The female Namikaze reeled back in pain as she glared at Naruto, she swore she heard a loud crack as she skidded back.

"Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu!" Shouted Narumi, using the distance to craft her jutsu before the giant 20 foot long dragon made of pure wind formed behind her. Depositing a large portion of her chakra into it as she sent the roaring mythical beast towards her brother. She felt her eyes narrow as an identical beast impacted with hers. Naruto having copied her jutsu with his sharingan. His jutsu seemed to lack in power as Narumi's dragon soared directly though, losing about 10 feet of distance as a large gust picked up from the destruction. Naruto shunshined out of the way just in time, appearing above Narumi as she rolled to the right, just barely dodging the downwards strike.

Naruto felt his breathing start to get heavy as a small amount of panic set in. He had easily expelled more chakra than he was originally anticipating. He had been pumping each jutsu with all the chakra he could muster, and it seemed that it didn't really affect Narumi, as she barely looked like she had a scratch on her and she wasn't even sweating. Even now that he was able to keep up with her because of his sharingan, he still couldn't match her speed or power. He couldn't use Isobu's chakra either, he had not trained in using it yet and feared if he did he would lose control, and that he just couldn't afford to do.

Even his shunshine couldn't catch her by surprise, she just took all his hits and shook them off, like it didn't even phase her. He clenched his eyes shut and bit his lip, trying his best to think to think of a way out of this situation. Narumi was strong, stronger than he had thought she would be. Her presence alone was much more strong then Sokka, and the intensity rolling off of her was almost suffocating.

"Dammit why can't you guys just leave me alone! I'm sick and tired of it all!"

He screamed, his golden eye fading away letting his normal blue become visible. He looked over at Narumi again, this time letting confusion overtake him. Narumi sighed sadly as she forced her eyes away from the blonde, a look of pity flashing across her eyes, that didn't sit right with Naruto. She spoke, each word felt like a dagger forcefully ripping at his heart.

"To answer your question earlier. I was...jealous of you." she said, making Naruto's eyes go wide, "I felt like I had worked so hard, trained everyday to get to where I am now. Then you came along, a new academy graduate who managed to kill a jounin level shinobi on his very first mission, something even I haven't had the pleasure of doing. I had thought you were stronger than us, stronger than me, that's why I wanted you to prove yourself to me. I needed to see how someone with no real training made it so far." she said, her eyes flashing again with guilt at her words. She didn't notice the look that had crossed over Naruto's face, because if she did, she would have stopped talking immediately.

"I guess I was wrong, you aren't stronger than us, you don't even compare. But I want to change that, I want to bring you back home and finally, finally get the training you deserve, we can be a family again nii-chan." she said, finally looking back at Naruto with a smile on her face.

"Huh...be a family again. Training I deserve." Naruto said softly, getting to his feet as he looked back at Narumi. Her smile dropped from her face instantly as Naruto sent her the darkest look she had even seen. Her breath hitched in her throat as she watched him reach behind his head and untie the headband around his forehead. Naruto had to stop himself from trembling in anger at Narumi, not only did she disrespect his strength, she once again treated him like he was weak, like he was nothing without his family. Naruto felt pure animosity burn in his body as the wounds on his stomach instantly healed, he flipped a kunai out from his pouch and snarled at Narumi.

"I don't need your pity, I don't need your help. I had the perfect sensei anyone could have asked for. Shisui-niissan was the only family I needed. You guys," he stated, swiping the kunai over his Konoha headband, putting a perfect vertical slash over the village symbol. Narumi had to fight back a gasp as she watched, watching as Naruto tied the headband back over his forehead.

"Are nothing but strangers to me."

He finished darkly, his sharingan eye changing shape and taking the form of stretched out windmill shuriken. Naruto didn't give a moment to spare as he charged, his speed much faster than before as he continued to swing his kunai. Narumi blocked the vertical swipe with her own blade, this time sneering at the pressure her brother was putting behind it. She watched as he spun around her, launching towards her again as he formed a single handed seal.

"Blood Style: Red Missile."

He said making Narumi's eyes bug out of her skull as the blood from his torso suddenly formed a small looking spear and took off in her direction. She tilted her head, barely avoiding the attack as Naruto shunshined away, she felt his kunai swipe against her left side, and she winced in pain. Turning to her left, forcing Naruto's assault to stop as he sent an identical blood jutsu her way, rolling away from the attack she didn't have time to see Naruto hot on her trail, his new sharingan eye boring into her.

Narumi screamed in annoyance, using all the strength she could muster, watched as he descended upon her with his kunai in hand as it pierced through her shoulder, blood leaked from what wound but she didn't care. She didn't react to the pain as she reached up and gripped Naruto at the wrist. Naruto felt his bone start to crack from the amount of pressure Narumi was gripping with. Narumi snarled angrily, her own eyes turning red as a dark red chakra cloak started to bubble around her. Her Kyuubi cloak came to life as two identical chakra tails swung behind her.

Naruto gasped as he watched his sister two tails wrap themselves around his dangling legs, they gripped on tight and swung Naruto over Her head, crashing him down into the ground below. Narumi grinned, flashing her enlarged canines as Naruto winced from the excruciating pain. He looked down at his wrist, no doubt it was broken.

Naruto lept backwards, forming a water whip jutsu that wrapped itself around Narumi's wrist, he attempted to pull her closer to her but failed to realize that once it made contact with her chakra cloak, the water had already turned to steam from the Kyuubi's chakra. Narumi just grinned again, sending her clawed hand out as it extended several feet trying to grab hold of Naruto. Thanks to his sharingan he was able to dodge the first swing but he jumped right into the hand of the second. He felt the claws puncture his skin as he yelled in pain.

Narumi didn't stop her attack as she jumped at the captive blonde, sending a punch to Naruto's skull. Naruuto spat out blood as he felt his body fly out and land painfully on his back. He wheezed loudly as he felt his arms get pinned above his head, forcing his eyes to look up to see the intimidating form of Narumi as she sat on his bleeding torso. Her tails holding his legs down while her hands held his arms. Naruto could barely keep his sharingan eye open as the pain in his head was almost unbearable.

Narumi lost her grin as she looked down at Naruto, pity etched into her face, she hated the fact that she had to use the Kyuubi's chakra. But he needed to learn his lesson, to know when he's losing a fight he cannot win.

"Give up nii-chan, let's go home, together."

Naruto glared with all the strength he had left, he still had charka in his system, he would still win, he had too. Narumi was too engrossed with her supposed victory to see both of Naruto's hands form a small seal.

"B-blood Style: Red Spiral."

Narumi felt her eyes go wide as a medium sized spiral blade formed on the blondes chest. Narumi was forced to let go of the blonde and jump away, she didn't have time to avoid the attack as the blood blade pierced through her cloak and into her shoulder once again. She yelled in pain as her right arm went limp besides her, she growled in pain as Naruto got to his feet. She reached up, forcing the jutsu out of her shoulder as a large amount of blood spilled out of her wound.

Naruto reached for the kunai that had fell from his hand, his breathing was erratic as the Kyuubi cloak around Narumi slowly seeped back into her, no doubt getting to work to try and fix her now broken arm. Naruto channeled all the chakra he had left, he had every intention to end this fight here and now. Isobu had seemingly gone quiet after he forcefully took his chakra back, trying his best to not make Naruto lose control.

Naruto stared intently at Narumi, and she returned his gaze with just as much vigor. Naruto slowed his breathing down, forcing his body to become calm as a large trail of blood started to leak its way down his left eye. Infusing his chakra into the kunai he sent the blade flying towards Narumi.

Narumi scowled as she watched the kuani get closer to her, the throw was pathetic, she had seen better academy students throw kunai with more precision than this. The kunai was about six feet from her, flying past her at an incredible speed. She almost wanted to laugh at the throw,

"Tch, how pathetic." she thought to herself, grinning as she tried to tear her eyes off the kunai and back at Naruto.

That's when she realized she couldn't.

Narumi felt a sudden sense of unease wash over her body, her eyes growing wide as they stayed locked into the flying weapon, no matter what, she just couldn't force her eyes away.

"Why, why am I still looking at the kunai!"

She thought anxiously, not believing what was happening and didn't have time to move as a sharp chakra enhanced punch impacted her chin. She felt her teeth clamp together in pain, almost biting a portion of her tongue off as she was sent flying into the air, a huffing Naruto standing where she once was with his feet raised in the air. Narumi came crashing down onto her broken arm and cried out in pain once she made contact with the ground. She felt tears form in her eyes as she looked up, her vision blurry but she could make out the wavering body of her brother standing over her. Blood leaking from his now closed left eye, as he looked down at her.

She couldn't move her body, the Kyuubi's chakra was doing everything it could to heal her broken arm, and it left her other injured vulnerable since she had already lost a lot of blood, she felt her vision start to become hazy from the blood loss.

"Naruto-niichan... please d-don't l-leave, w-w can f-fix t-this." Narumi whimpered, tears spilling from her blue eyes as she watched her brother, the very same brother she had just called weak not to long ago. Standing over her victoriously, somewhere in her head she knows she deserved this, that they all did. They didn't deserve his kindness, his loyalty, his love. She knew that but she still fought to keep him here, in a place she knew he didn't want to be in, because they forced him away. She didn't fight back the tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to recognize his face, trying her best to see the brother she thought she had.

He was nowhere to be found.

Naruto closed his remaining eye shut, all anger from his body had vanished as he looked down at the broken form of Narumi. He watched her face go pale from the blood loss and he tried for a moment to find just a sliver of remorse in him.

It was nowhere to be found.

"Like I said before Narumi, were nothing but strangers."

He said softly, making Narumi shut her eyes in pain. She gave a curt nod of understanding before she laid her head back down on the floor as she finally fell unconscious. Naruto stayed in his spot, looking at the broken state of his sister with no emotion. He couldn't believe he had done it. Narumi was strong, if Naruto didn't have any of his abilities he would have for sure lost that fight. He hated to admit it, but he knew she was stronger, but once again he had just gotten lucky.

"Regardless, I'm proud of you."

Naruto managed a small smile and sent an invisible nod of appreciation towards the Bijuu. He let himself have a moment to himself, letting out a sigh of relief as he held his broken wrist, trying his best to not wince from the pain.

"N-naruto-kun."

Naruto felt his body freeze up again, the familiar voice reaching his ears. He didn't want to turn around, he didn't know if he could even look her in the eye. Thankfully he didn't have to as he felt the familiar body press up against him and give him a tight back hug. Kurenai fell to her knees to give the boy a hug, he could feel the soft drips of tears as they flowed out of her eyes and landed on his hair.

"I was so worried, I felt that awful Kyuubi chakra and I couldn't find you anywhere." she said, her voice muffled as she spoke into his hair. Naruto felt his heart flutter once again as she spoke, but the feeling was soon plagued by guilt as he clenched his fists. He almost wished his adrenaline rush would die down so he could pass out from exhaustion. He felt his own tears form in his eyes as he turned slowly to look at Kurenai, her big red eyes laced with worry as she held him tight.

For a moment Naruto had almost forgotten that he had agreed to betray Konoha, that he was forced to in order to keep Kurenai safe. He felt his resolve start to waver as Kurenai's grip tightened around him.

"I'm alright Kurenai-chan."

His voice squealed slightly as he said her name, guilt rising in him as he shakily grabbed Kurenai's hands and pushed them off his body. Kurenai looked stunned for a moment before Naruto turned around fully to face her. Kurenai had to fight back a gasp as her eyes looked at his disheveled appearance, his shirt was almost completely drenched in blood and his hair was damp, falling into his eyes more so than it already did. But what caught her attention was the crossed out Konoha headband around his forehead.

"Kurenai-sensei! Who's the boy?"

Naruto and Kurenai jumped in surprise at the voice, Naruto looked at the tall man running to them in confusion. Kurenai didn't take her eyes off of Naruto as she waved her hand dismissively. "He's with us, don't worry Kagami-kun." she answered the tall man, never breaking her stare with Naruto. Naruto quickly shunned the guy as he looked at Kurenai, she reached out and softly cupped his cheek again, gliding her thumb over his scar, not caring that his cheek was stained in blood. Naruto felt a sob escape his throat as he lunged at Kurenai, his arms wrapping around her. Kurenai didn't hesitate to return the hug.

"Kurenai-chan, i'm so sorry." he whispered into her neck, his voice sounding broken as she rubbed his back softly. It was then that she noticed the bloody and unconscious body of Narumi Namikaze laying on the ground. She masked her shock, she somehow feared this would have happened, she raised her hand and ran her hands through his blonde hair. "For what Naruto-kun?"

"This." he said as he removed his head from her neck, she was about to ask her question again as she looked over only to see his sharingan eye spinning widely in his socket, she felt her body grow cold as an unknown feeling flowed through her bones. Her eyes started to feel heavy as she felt her arms fall limp at her side, she tried to keep her eyes open, only to see the tear stricken face of Naruto looking at her.

"N-naru….to."

She managed to get out before she fell completely limp in his arms, he fought back his tears of betrayal as he grabbed her head before it could hit the floor. He gently laid her down on the soft snow, letting his gaze linger on her shocked unconsince expression for just a moment longer. Knowing that this is one of the last times he would see her, in a very, very long time.

"Hey what did you do to Kurenai-sensei!"

Naruto wiped his eyes with his arms, abolishing any evidence of crying as he turned and glared at the man, his sharingan eye staring deeply into the man's eyes making him cower in fear.

"Take care of these two, Kurenai-chan seems to trust you so I will. Make sure nothing bad happens to them, understand?"

Kagami nodded rapidly as he took a step away from the blonde, he couldn't look away, he felt like he was being forced to look into the boys sharingan. "Good, and the second I leave, you will forget that you saw my sharingan, understood?" Naruto said, his eye spinning widely again as the genjutsu just took effect on the man. Kagmai felt his eyes glaze over as he nodded robotically, his face going void of any emotion.

"Understood."

"Hmmm I wondered if he died out there."

The masked man mumbled to himself as he rubbed his chin in thought. It had been a little over an hour since he had left Naruto and came to the entrance of Roka with Kise. If the blonde boy had indeed died than this mission would have just a whole big bust, and would cause a lot more complication from his group than he would like to think of.

Sighing again he ran a hand through his silver hair, he was thinking of removing his mask since it was just the two of them here. He hated wearing it, it was super uncomfortable and it hid his beautiful face from the world. I mean how would his leader know if he had taken it off anyway?

"Ano...masked man-san?"

The masked man looked down and smiled at the timid young girl at his feet. He offered a huge smile (which went unnoticed because of his mask) and patted the girl on the head.

"Yes what is it Kise-chan?"

"W-well why haven't we left yet? We've been here for so long." she said with a pout, and the masked man couldn't help but laugh as she looked at him, her big gold eyes shining with confusion as she held the poncho over her little body closer to her.

"Kise-chan remember? We have to wait for Naruto-kun." he said and immediately after he spoke he felt his ears twitch, he grinned under his mask as he motioned Kise to look out to the village entrance. She did so with a little hesitancy and both the masked man and Kise widened their eyes at what they saw. Kise quickly hurried behind the tall man's legs in fear as the masked man felt his mouth fall open in shock.

"Naruto-kun, you look like shit."

Naruto didn't even bother to respond as he just rolled his eyes. Glaring at the masked man, wishing his glare would reduce the man to ash. The masked man's eyes seemed to light up in glee as he noticed the scratched out headband. He clapped his hands in approval as he motioned Kise forward. Naruto looked down as the girl stepped forward, she looked pretty timid as she avoided eye contact with Naruto. She slowly took her place besides the blonde as the masked man offered Naruto a large storage scroll. Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked up at the man in confusion.

"Ahh it's just some supplies for you both. There's tents, food, training supplies and." he stopped, looking Naruto up and down again "Clothes for you both." he finished as Naruto rolled his eyes again. He mumbled a quiet thanks before looking down at the girl next to him. He didn't know how to even talk to her, hell he hasn't talked to a child since he was one.

"Are you ready Kise-san?"

The girl nodded, shrinking back into her poncho timidly. The masked man gave a hearty laugh as he ruffled both of the kids' hair. Kise let it happen but Naruto was quick to smack his hand away.

"Well good luck you two, have a safe trip!"

Before either of them he vanished into thin air. Kise jumped in surprise at the technique. Naruto suppressed a groan as he looked back to Roka town. His eyes softened as he did so, his mind flashing images of Kurenai as he felt sadness flow through him.

"At least I know your safe, Kurenai-chan."

He took a few heavy steps away from the gate, motioning Kise to follow him, "Come on let's go." he said bitterly making the young girl jump again. She moved her little legs quickly trying to catch up to the blonde boy. They stayed in silence as they walked through the freezing Yukigakure air. Neither of them knew what to expect from this trip, each step held more weight as they walked. But they knew it wouldn't be easy, both were entering unknown territory for the first time.

And they were completely alone.