"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'

Jutsu name

(author comment)

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

Beta read by: not yet beta'd

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Reviews corner

Aclux: thanks

boltzmannbrain: Yami isn't a major part at the moment, he was just needed for that part of the story

SkylerHollow: you're welcome

Celestial Indigo: yeah that's why I add them. Just not sure how far the restrictions will allow me to go

Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: I'm using that. Because it's brilliant! Thank you!

Otakumode: I think you just gave one of the best compliments that a fanfic writer could ask for when doing a retelling. Thank you

Eaglezaruma: yeah it will be something like that

Re Lovely Lover: I think I already answered you but they were already dead when he said "fun" so it was meant to show that they didn't really care about whether or not they are alive or not.

ZyiareHellsing: you're welcome

Absolom Hellgate: thanks for the name. As for the Sharingan thing. She is still just a little girl. So I don't know yet what I will make her. She could be a shinobi r just a normal civilian

Kristinalprime23: thank you very much. If you mean my writing I just tried to get better from when I started. For the story, I just let what my imagination come up with it. Also as I kept writing, I came up with guidelines that I felt a story should have. Glad you liked it so much :)

Dragon Man 180: for the Anti-byakugan seal. It was mainly made to be used against the Hyuga clan. So it won't really have much use other than Naruto pranking the clan again. As for the girl…..read on :)

Chapter 46: The chase begins

Naruto had finished wiping off the blood from his body and was just thinking about what his clones had discovered in a few of the tents that his clone had found when he sent it out to do recon on the bandit camp. The little girl wasn't the only….living….. being he found in the camp, but after he thought about it, he was having a tough time considering the other woman and children "living".

Their minds had been so broken that they could not speak, their eyes were extremely unfocused and they lacked any emotion that he could sense.

~Flashback~

Naruto henged himself back into human form and created five clones to finish up. He and two clones went into the tent that held the bodies of the little girls family while the other three went towards one of the large tents that held more survivors

The clones went into a large tent to see if they could get them out, but when they entered their noses were hit by a pungent odor. They shook their head and tried to get past the smell and went to help out the captured people. Unfortunately, the only thing they did was spread their legs and make noises as if they were an animal begging and waiting for something. The clones looked around to see that there were a few that weren't bound and they went to them to ask if they were ok.

When they got closer they paused as each of the ones captured looked at them with dead eyes before they turned around, got on their knees, stick their ass to them, and used their hands to spread their ass wider. The clones were stunned for a second and shook their heads and moved around them to be in front of them

Clone 1 knelt down to a brown-haired woman and brought her up to a kneeling position. "Hey it's ok, you don't have to do that anymore!"

The woman didn't seem to have heard him as all she did now that she was in a sitting position was tilt her head up and opened her mouth while sticking her tongue out.

The other clones were getting similar reactions from the women they were handling

Clone 1 brought his hands to her shoulders and shook her a bit "NO! You're free from them! You don't have to do any of that crap anymore!"

She just fell to her back and spread her legs while spreading her lower lips

The clone was looking sadly at this as he looked to the others to see if they were having any better luck.

Clone 2 was trying to push the one he was handling off him, since when he turned around to look at the other clones the one he was trying to help moved behind him and reached around his waist to grab hold of his member. He was startled by this and pushed her off, getting her to land on her back before she just did what the other woman did.

Clone 3 was in the same boat as he stood up to help Clone 2, the blonde woman he was helping grabbed onto his leg and was running her hand up his leg towards his member. He jumped away from her and looked to the others. "We should help the ones that are tied up." he then looked at the blonde woman "I don't know what we can do about them….."

The three clones went to one of the ones that were tied up and grimaced as at them.

They looked like they hadn't had anything to eat or drink in months. There were five people that were tied up, four grown women and a boy that looked only slightly older than Naruto. The clones went to get them free as gently as possible as to not hurt them.

Clone 1 got the boy out and gently laid him on the ground "hey can you hear me?" he waited for a response but the boy just laid there staring off to the side. The Naruto clone looked to the others and spoke "one of you get Nami or Kishiko! Get them in here!"

Clone 2 nodded and gently laid the woman he was free and ran out of the tent.

A few minutes later he came back with a large Sea blue fox, that came up to Naurot's hip, she had jewelry around her front paws that had a small jewel that looked like a water drop. This was Kishiko "Naruto-sama, how may I be of….assistance?" she paused as she saw the state of the prisoners.

Clone 3 called her over and spoke when she grew closer "I need you to use a lower level water jutsu to give them some water."

Kishiko looked at the little boy that was on the ground with a look of sadness. She looked around at the other prisoners and she felt her heart break at the state they were in. she already knew how this would end but she would obey her summoner's request. Her belly expanded a bit until she let out a gentle stream of water from her mouth. She aimed it so it would ark in the air and to the boy's mouth so he could drink some of it

The clones smiled thinking that the boy would drink it. However, their smiles dropped when they saw the boy just continue to lay there not doing anything, letting the water just pass by his lips. The clone brought his hand under the boy's head and gently lifted it up as he used his other hand to cup some water and brought it up. It was the same result, no reaction, and no attempt to drink it. "Come on, you need to drink some water or else you won't get better." he looked around and found a canteen that was tossed to the ground. Sniffing in it to see what it was, he scrunched up his nose and grimaced at the smell of alcohol and bad breath, making him think the bandits never cleaned it. Shaking his head he brought the canteen to the water and filled up the canteen and letting Kishiko stop her jutsu. He attempted to bring the water to the boy's lips and try again.

"Naruto-sama ….. I don't think you can save them…."

The clones looked at her and grew confused.

Clone 2 asked "what do you mean we can't save them? They are still alive, they just need to drink some water and eat something. We can help them get better…."

Kishiko shook her head "Naruto-sama, physically they are still alive….but the person they all used to be, are no longer among us." she looked back at the others in the tent and could only look on with sadness

Both the women and children were in a term "used" to the point that they no longer have a sense of self. Their minds have been broken to the point that they are now just puppets that don't even think about their actions. She could see several of them just moving automatically, ready to "play" again. She looked at the state of them all and could see that they haven't been washed in a very long time and if she looked closely she could see dried stains of what she assumed to be body fluids around their ass', pussy', and penis'. As she looked to the children, she felt anger at the monsters that did this to someone so young.

"We have to help them!"

Kishiko looked back to the clones and saw that they all had tears in their eyes. This told her that they also came to the same conclusion that she did. She closed her eyes and pulsed her chakra in a pattern as a message to the other foxes that were cleaning up the camp. Once that was done she opened her eyes and looked to the clones "come Naruto-sama." she turned and walked to the entrance of the tent

Clone 2 and 3 walked after Kishiko while Clone 1 looked at the boy in his arms. He looked into the boy's eyes to see if he could see something, anything, that would tell him that he could save him. But the boy's eyes just remained glazed over. He gently placed him on the ground and began making his way out of the tent, making sure he kept his distance from the other prisoners so they didn't try to molest him. Once he made it out, he caught a small glimpse of the original and two clones at the edge of the trees, heading in the direction of Anko and the little girl. He then looked to the small group of foxes that had gathered in front of the tent, the rest of the summoned foxes looked to be close to finished with burning the bandit bodies "what are we going to do with them?" he asked as he gestured to the tent behind him

Kishiko looked to the other foxes gathered and they all had a silent conversation with each other. After a few seconds, Kishiko spoke "we are releasing them."

Clone 2 looked incredulous at them "well duh, but what he meant was how are we going to help them from what happened to them."

Kira stepped forward and looked down at the three clones "that is how we are helping them."

This confused the three clones and they were about to ask what they mean but were stopped when they heard

"Kid…..you don't need to be here for this."

The three clones felt a small bit of ill intent aimed at them but before they could do anything, they were slashed in the back and dispelled.

When the smoke from the clones cleared, the black fox that stood with Naruto when he killed the leader was shown with his claws out.

Kira (the large white fox) looked to the black fox "was it really necessary using your claws, Yamiyo?"

Yamiyo retracted his claws and smirked "call it a bit of payback for turning me into a poodle when he pranked us." his smirk dropped as he turned to the tent "kids got too pure a heart for this world. He went through hell in his short life, he even lost it, and yet he still doesn't want revenge. The worst he would ever do to people that torment him is play pranks but he won't seek revenge. The only time he ever does do something like this is when the person has gone too far and even then he still hurts for them…." he looked to his right at a severed bandit head that has yet to be burned "...even if they are monsters in human skin."

A red fox that was the same size as Yamiyo walked up to sit next to him and spoke in a feminine voice "he treasures life no matter who's it is and he wants to save as many as he can." she looked to the tent and finished with "he may want to save these people but he would despise himself f he did what must be done to save them."

Kira sat next to them and sighed "then start it Haruhi."

The red fox, now named Haruhi, nodded and sent out a small flame to the tent causing it to catch fire.

The tent was quickly engulfed in flames and the fire soon grew in massive size

Every fox moved to sit or stand in front of the fire as if they were an audience for a show but every one of them had a look of sadness in their eyes that glowed from the orange light.

The saddest part of it was that there were no screams of pain, no shouts for help, no pleads for salvation. The only thing that could be heard was the fire itself and this just confirmed….that the people inside were dead long before they even got there.

The original and two clones paused when they got the memories of the three clones that were left behind to get the other survivors. Their heart was telling them to run back and do something but they knew they could do nothing now. They continued on with the dead family but their eyes were filled with tears at the failure they felt.

Naruto finished putting on his jacket and was now fully clothed. Once he finished he looked at his clenched fist and growled at the fact that he couldn't save them. In a fit of anger, he slashed at a tree with his hands. He continued slashing it with his claws for ten minutes as he thought about the prisoners. Finishing his onslaught, he looked to the tree and saw that he tore a large chunk out of it. He pulled his fist back and punched above the missing chunk, which caused the tree to fall away from him. He was breathing heavily for a minute until he calmed down and buried his anger. Once calm, he made his way back to the camp, trying to prepare himself for one last heartache.

Anko was sitting next to the sleeping girl as the clone had dispelled not that long ago. She knew that this sort of thing happened often in the shinobi world but she never liked it. She had lost her parents at an early age as well and knew that when the girl wakes up, she is going to be hurting a lot. She looked up to see that Naruto now fully dressed and looking calmer than he did before. She whispered "feeling better?"

Naruto sat cross-legged in front of Anko and nodded "...yeah…." he looked at the girl and frowned "what are we going to do with her?"

"I was thinking that we can take her with us back to the village. She just lost her family and I don't think she would know any other family members due to her age."

Naruto stared at the girl and finally got a good look at her.

She was wearing a simple burgundy kimono made that was ripped in several places, specifically around her chest and lower half. Her hair was a shiny violet color style in a bob cut with a very small strand in the center of her head going upwards and one strand falling down the center of her face. The color was like a lighter color of Anko's hair and seemed the have a shine like Hinata's.

He sighed and he nodded his head. "Ok ….. But who will take care of her? I don't trust the orphanage based on my time there. If they find out that we saved her, they will make her life as miserable as they can."

Anko thought about this and had to agree. The village hated them both and they give anyone associated with them grief about it. Before she could say anything they both heard a voice

"Mommy?"

Both Naruto and Anko looked to the little girl to see that she stirring awake.

The little girl was enjoying the comfort of what she was sleeping on, but due to her still having her eyes closed, she didn't know that she was no longer at the bandit camp. "I had a really bad dream. The bad men came and did something mean to you and daddy and Lil Kay then a big orange woofy came and took the bad men away then a pretty lady played with me.

Naruto and Anko were surprised the hear this come from the little girl.

Naruto was surprised because he wasn't in his fox form, nor did he summon any of his foxes until after she had been taken away from the bandit camp.

Anko was surprised because she could only assume that the pretty lady the little girl was referring to was her which was weird since the only thing she did with the girl was pet her head as she slept.

Both got out of their surprise as they remembered what they had to do next.

The little girl sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, hoping to see her mother and father with her. Unfortunately, all she saw were two people she didn't recognize. In fear, she began to crawl away while also looking around to find her mommy and daddy. "Mommy?! Daddy?! Where you?!"

Anko got up and spoke "wait, we aren't going to hurt you!"

She didn't listen to them as in her mind she thought that these were with the bad men. She looked back to see the two were getting closer and in a panic, she got to her feet and ran into the forest

Anko grew more concerned "Wait!" before she could run after the girl, Naruto stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. Anko looked angry at Naruto and was about to say something but was beaten to it

"She's scared Anko-nee-chan."

Anko paused when she heard this

"She most likely thinks that we are with the bandits since the last time she was awake was with them."

Anko thought about this for a second and had to agree with this "and from what she said…..the last thing she saw might have been the death of her family. It might have been too big a shock and she fell unconscious. That would explain the blood that was on her. But they left her alive….."

Naruto nodded his head "when my clone first went in, he caught the scent of sex coming from the mother. Either they had their way with her, then killed her or in reverse order."

"And if they left her alive….they could have been thinking of selling her off or…" Anko balled her hand into a fist so hard that her nails were cutting into her palm.

Naruto was no better as he didn't want to think about what they would have done to her. Feeling Anko's anger wasn't helping but he took a deep breath and spoke once more "we need to show her that we aren't going to hurt her."

"How?"

Naruto began to walk past Anko, in the direction of where the little girl went "she said 'big furry woof chased the bad men away'. So I'm going to show her the big furry woof."

Anko was surprised by what Naruto was about to do "Naruto-kun….you sure about this?"

Naruto just began taking off his clothes "she needs something to calm her down. So I can give up my secret if it helps her." he was naked once more and undid his henge to be in his fox form. "Follow me but stay in the shadows."

Anko nodded as she leapt up into the tree branches while Naruto stayed on ground level.

She didn't know where she was. She was running as fast as she could to get away while shouting out for her parents "Mommy! Daddy!" she knew that when she found them, they would be with her little sister. They would be together and then they can go home, away from the bad men. She soon found herself out of breath and she tripped on a tree root. After she tumbled a bit she looked up and grew more afraid as it was dark and she could hear strange noises coming from all around her. She began to panic now and she crawled to a tree and curled herself up in a ball and began to cry. "Mommy….daddy…..help me…" she heard a twig snap and she closed her eyes hoping that it wasn't a monster or one of the bad men. She trembled not only from fear but from the cold as well. After a few seconds, she heard something getting closer to her and clenched her eyes close harder. However, she soon felt the cold air become warmer and she heard a voice.

"Are you alright?

The voice was somewhat raspy but it didn't sound mean. In fact, it made her feel safe 'don't be a monster….' she slowly peaked out of her eye while repeating this thought. When she caught a glimpse of what it was, she was surprised at what she saw. She fully opened her eyes to see a fox several times bigger than she was sitting a bit away from her, but what really caught her attention was that this was the furry she dreamed about. "Woofy….."

Naruto chuckled internally at what she called him and got up and moved only a little bit closer to her before sitting again "hello there. It's nice to meet you."

She slowly brought up her hand and waved. It was what her mother taught her she should do when she meets new people. "You the woofy that chase bad men away

Naruto laid down on the ground to make himself seem like less of a threat. He gave a closed mouth smile, he didn't need to scare her with his teeth "yes I am. I came here looking for you to make sure you are safe. What's your name?" he would have asked what she was doing out here but he knew that she was in a frantic search for her parents and that would just bring about more problems. Right now he needed her to calm down and trust him.

She quietly spoke "my name is Asa…..." she would have said something else but *achoo*.

Naruto could see that the girl was shivering from the cold. He brought up one of his tails and elongated it to come closer to her.

She had her eyes closed from the sneeze and was wiping her nose with her kimono sleeve. She suddenly felt something warm tap her on the forehead. When she looked up, she saw it was a big fluffy thing. She smiled at it before she grabbed it and hugged it as hard as she could. Not only was it nice and fluffy, but it was also warm. She giggled as the fury was also tickling her

Nauto used this chance to get closer to her and laid down next to her. "Are you feeling better."

Asa Nodded while still hugging the bog fuzzy tail. She looked to see that it was attached to the bog woofy and that he was closer. She didn't feel scared of him and leaned into his side "I wonder if mommy and daddy will let me keep you woofy."

Naruto's ears drooped at this. He could tell the girl was no longer afraid but she still didn't know what really happened to her parents. He took a breath as he needed some help for this part. "Hey, Asa-chan?"

Asa looked up at him

"There is someone else that wants to make sure you alright. Is that ok?"

Asa was slightly afraid at this and hugged the tail harder

"I promise that she isn't going to hurt you or do mean things to you."

Asa was still afraid but nodded her head "if woofy stays."

Naruto nodded as he looked up into the trees "Anko-nee-chan…."

Anko dropped from the trees and landed a bit away as to not fully frighten the girl. She slowly made her way to the two and once she was close enough she knelt down to be closer to eye level with Asa "Hi I'm Anko."

Asa used one hand to wave while the other held onto the tail. She got a closer look at the woman and although she didn't fully recognize the woman from her dreams, she recognized the purple hair. "You're the pretty lady that played with me."

Anko chuckled at this and decided to play along with this. "Yes, I am."

Asa smiled at her before asking "you know woofy?"

Anko smiled at the little girl for saying this. She wanted t make fun of Narut but knew now wasn't the time "yes I know woofy" she said not in a teasing but a serious one. She took a deep breath as she decided to go into her interrogation mode. "Asa-chan do you remember what happened?"

It took a minute before Asa figured out what she meant and another minute for her to begin to take "bad men came. Yelling and hurting. They come to my home and hurt mommy and daddy….." she began to become afraid once more as she remembered the men coming into her home and trashing it.

Naruto used another tail to gently pat her on the head.

Asa calmed down from the touch and hugged the tail she had more. "They pull my hair and take me mommy, daddy, and baby Kay."

Naruto looked at her and wrapped her with a third tail while still using the second to gently pat her head and the first being hugged by her

Anko hated having to do this but she knew she had to 'like a band-aid, like a band-aid'. "Do you remember what they did to them when you were in the tent?"

Asa felt comfortable wrapped in woofy's tails "they hit daddy and mommy and Lil Kay many times. Then they fall sleep. I fell asleep when a bad man hit me on head."

Naruto used the tail that was patting her to feel around her head and he found a bump there. It was amazing she wasn't wincing in pain when he patted her but it might be due to the fact that he wasn't really pressing on her head but rather just gently running his fur on it. He did notice that she did wince when he used the tail to look for it "sorry."

Anko chose this time to say what needed to be said ''like a band-aid! like a band-aid!…...like a band-aid the size of my arm covered in wax meant to remove the hair off a man's balls.' "Asa…."

Asa looked to Anko

The bright green eyes of the little girl made her hate herself for what she had to tell her "...your mommy, daddy, and little sister….arent coming."

Asa was confused by what was said "what you mean?"

"They…... had to go away."

"Where? Woofy and I can find them."

Anko shook her head "they went somewhere you can't go and they won't be coming back."

Naruto could feel the panic and fear rising from the little girl. He used his tails to hug her tighter

"Why? Why did they go? Why not take me with them? Don't they love me!?"

"Asa"

Asa looked at Naruto as he continued

"They loved you very much but the bad men took them somewhere that you can't go."

Asa turned around and began to tug at the fur "why Woofy!? Why not take me?! Why woofy?!"

Naruto could see the slight look of betrayal in the watery eyes. "The bad men took them and we can't take you because your mother wouldn't want you to go to where they went. But know that they loved you and if they could, they would have stayed with you forever."

Asa had tears flowing down her cheek as she heard this.

Naruto saw Anko come closer and moved his three tails for her

Anko knelt down to the little girl and hugged her from behind

Asa immediately turned around and gripped onto Anko's mesh shirt and jacket and began to cry.

Anko brought the little girl onto her lap and hugged her tightly as her own tears fell from her eyes. She just let the girl cry onto her breast, not caring that they were getting wet

Naruto moved closer to the two and wrapped a couple of his tails around them and curled his body around them as well. His own tears flowed down his muzzle at the pain this whole mission had done.

For a while, nothing else could be heard other than the painful cries of a little girl that had just lost her family. After all the tears had fallen the three of them stayed there and slept.

Anko and Naruto didn't care if they weren't at their camp. All they cared about was the little girl Asa.

~ a few days later, Konoha~

It was the last day. That night he would meet with the Oto-nin and go with them. Sasuke was spending the day just walking around the village with no real destination. As he walked he noticed that the civilians were all bowing to him. He knew that they did this but now that he was really looking he realized how many were doing it. 'Have they always done this?' he continued to walk around the village and as he did he started to reminisce on the missions that he had with team 7.

During one of the D-rank missions where they had to paint a fence. Naruto was painting weird things on each of the planks out of boredom and Sakura would occasionally reprimand him for wasting time. Sakura would then paint over his drawing to get the job done but Naruto would just draw on the next pan which caused Sakura to just move to paint over that one while shouting at him.

Sasuke would just work on finishing his part of the fence while ignoring the other two.

Kakashi would be reading his little book

Moving past the house that they did the painting mission, he soon found himself at an alleyway, where they caught Tora on their first run of this mission. Naruto was actually having a staredown with the cat as if to see who was the dominant animal. In the end, the cat chose to run away, which caused the rest of them to groan at the fact that they had to chase the cat again. He shook his head at that memory as he got a few scratches from that cat.

He continued to walk around the village and he noticed that there were some girls giving him looks of adoration. When he thought about it, he recognized them from the academy. He knew that he had a fan club but he never really paid any attention to it. He just considered them to be a nuisance and let them do what they want. 'Why do they like me so much?' he had never thought about this before but now that he actually took the time to think about it, he himself could not see what it was about him that they liked.

He spent the entire day going around the village like this. He thought about what it was that held him to this village and he has come to the only answer. There was nothing here that he held dear.

~that night, Sasuke's apartment~

He had packed everything that he felt he needed for this and looked around the apartment that he had called home for some years. Moving to his nightstand he looked at a group photo of Team 7. NAruto on the left, Sakura in the center, himself on the right and Kakashi behind them with his hands on both Naruto's and his head

Sakura was smiling happily with a double peace sign

Naruto was smirking and had a look of confidence as he gave a thumbs up to the camera.

Kakashi giving his signature eye smile

Then there was himself. He was scowling at the other two.

Sasuke frowned at this as he remembered that at that time he thought them to be nothing but a hindrance. He sighed as it no longer mattered. Below the picture was his hitai-ate and apartment key. He reached out to pick up the items and stored them away before he left the apartment.

He walked down a stone pathway that led to the main gate of Konoha. He wasn't surprised to see that there were no people around as it was late at night, which was perfect for him as he didn't want anyone questioning why he was out at night and packed to leave.

"So this is your choice."

Sasuke stopped and felt the presence behind him. He did not turn around to see who it was since he recognized the voice "you here to stop me?"

"And what if I am?"

Sasuke smirked at this response "I doubt you would actually stop me really."

"You seem so sure of that"

Sasuke could feel the coldness in the response but he did not react to it. "This is my choice and I won't be stopped so stay out of my way."

"...the path is yours to walk but know that if you become a threat I will kill you."

Sasuke chuckled at this. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and stretched it out in front of him with his palm upwards. Gently falling into his hand was a single snowflake "take care of Sakura-san." he then put his hand back in his pocket and began his walk to the main gate.

"...always."

~Forest outside Konoha walls~

Sasuke landed in front of the four Oto-nin at the designated meeting spot

A red-haired woman spoke first "bout fucking time you got here."

A slightly hefty orange-haired man reprimanded the redhead "Tayuya, watch your language."

"Fuck off fat ass!"

A man that had six arms pushed off the tree he was leaning on and looked to the Uchiha "you ready?" he said as he smirked at the boy

Sasuke took one last glance behind him in the direction of the village "hmph let's just do this."

~next day late afternoon~

Naruto, Anko, and Asa were walking down the pathway that led to the village

Asa was right now clinging to Anko's jacket while glaring childishly at Naruto while also puffing out her cheeks "I like woofy better"

Naruto slumped as he sweatdropped "I can't be woofy when I am in the village."

"Hmph I want woofy!"

Naruto dropped his head as he now had anime tears "she doesn't like me anymore."

Kurama was laughing at how the little girl liked him better as a fox than anything else. "Hahahaha looks like 'woofy' has a fan hahahaha."

Anko was smiling at how the little girl was doing better than a few days ago. They didn't show her the bodies of her family as Naruto sealed them away. She liked what Naruto was doing for her. He was planning on burying them in the village cemetery for her to visit when she is ready for it. After they began they making their journey back to the village Asa would not let go o Naruto's tail and he even lifted her up in the air, much to her delight. She even piggybacked on him for most of the trip. But when he henged back into his human form, she began to sulk. She and Anko even got to know each other during the trip and Asa began to trust her more. Now she clung to her jacket since she could no longer cling to Naruto's tail also during the trip, while Asa slept, it was decided between the two shinobi that Asa would stay with Anko. neither of them trusted the orphanage and they were not sure how she would react to new people thanks to her traumatic experience. They were lucky that she trusted Naruto's fox form and that helped her trust Anko. Anko knew that she would need to move out of her crappy apartment and get a bigger place but she had enough money saved from years of doing high ranking missions and working at the interrogation department. Anko felt Asa grip onto her jacket more and looked down to see that she was slightly scared as they got closer to the gates.

Naruto felt the fear and paused his walking

Anko stopped walking when Asa stopped the same time Naruto did. She knelt down and placed her hand on Asa's head "you ok squirt?"

Asa puffed out her cheeks as she didn't like being called that for some reason. She pulled more of the jacket to her and hugged it while trying not to be scared

Anko smiled as she ruffled Asa's hair a bit. Causing the girl to whine a bit but her intention was working. Getting Asa to calm down a bit "don't be afraid. Me and 'Woofy' here will make sure that no one hurts you ever again."

Asa looked up to Naruto who nodded at her with a bright smile. Asa looked to Anko again but still had a bit of fear. She reached out and took Anko's hand for support

Anko went a little wide-eyed at this before smiling and squeezed Asa's hand reassuringly "ready?"

Asa gave a weak nod as she gave a confirming and quiet "mmhmm"

Anko smiled as she chose to pick the girl up and put her on her shoulder, eliciting a happy squeak from Asa. "then let's go." Anko kept walking with her arm up so Asa can continue to hold her hand

Naruto followed and smiled at how the little girl was getting along with Anko.

~an hour later~

Naruto was walking the streets of Konoha with his hands behind his head as he was happy that Tsunade allowed Asa to stay with Anko after an argument occurred between the three shinobi. In the end, Tsunade relented but under several conditions. Naruto was dismissed before they were brought up but Anko told him that she would tell him later and he promised Asa that he would come by to see her later.

Before he could even decide on whether he wanted to get Ichuraku or not, someone called his name.

"Naruto!/Naruto-kun!"

He knew those voices and he just now caught their scent. Turning around he saw Hinata and Ino running towards him. He would have been happy to see them but he could feel the anxiousness, worry, and panic coming from both of them. Once they were close enough he asked "what's wrong?"

Ino was trying to catch her breath since she was running around to find Hinata as she needed to know as well. Once she could she spoke in a worried rushed tone "Sasuke left the village!"

This caught Naruto by surprise as he was not expecting this sort of news. 'Sasuke abandoned the village…..?' "why?"

Hinata was the one to answer "we don't know. But there was a retrieval team sent out to get him back."

Naruto got a bad feeling from this. "So shouldn't we just let the team go bring him back?"

Ino and Hinata looked at each other before looking back at Naruto and Ino spoke "the team was Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, and Neji

He now knew why they were worried. Each had two people they cared about on the team. Ino had her teammates and friends going, while Hinata had one teammate and a family member. He wasn't sure why but his gut was telling him that something bad was going to happen if he didn't do anything. He wanted to go get some rest but he knew that the two wouldn't feel any better until the team came back. Making a quick decision he hugged them both as he said "don't worry you two. I'll make sure to bring them back." He let them go and turned around ready to begin running but as he started he was pulled back by the neck of his jacket, causing his feet to fly into the air and fall onto the ground. Shaking his head to clear the stars h looked up to see an angry Ino

"Did you think we would just sit here and wait for you?"

Naruto was about to answer but was interrupted by Hinata

"We are going with you Naruto-kun."

Naruto would have said they were to stay here and wait for him to come back with the team but the glare Ino was giving him was just saying "say no and I will hurt you.". He gulped a bit before he nodded his head and got up. The three then jumped off towards the main gate.

~outside Konoha walls~

Naruto had taken Hinata and Ino through one of his secret exits. He had made it long ago when he wanted to explore the forest outside the walls or get away from the villagers. "Ok do you know when they left?"

Hinata thought about it for a second before answering "Neji-nii-san was called away early in the morning so most likely around that time."

Naruto looked to Ino to see if she knew.

Ino just shrugged "it makes sense. I heard that the gate guards were found unconscious last night. They said that Sasuke was the one that did it to them. Since I heard this, I haven't seen Shikamaru or Choji at all. I then heard that they were sent to bring Sasuke back."

Naruto figured that Hinata's reasoning explained when they left and Ino confirmed it while also telling him how she found out. "We are already behind and we need to move fast to get to them. I have a bad feeling about this mission so we need to go as fast as possible."

Hinata tilted her head in confusion "well we should go ten."

Naruto shook his head as he gestured for them to follow him into the dense trees to the forest. Once they were there, he pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Ino. "hold onto that for me."

Ino looked at the scroll in confusion "why do you need me…."

"HOLD IT!"

The three jumped in fright at the voice and turned around to see who it was

Jumping down in front of them, with an angry look on her face was Karin. "If you are going after the retrieval team then I'm coming!"

Naruto was about to ask how she knew about this but was interrupted by her

Karin adjusted her glasses as she answered "if you are going to ask how I know about the retrieval mission, then the answer is: the people in this village can't keep a secret to save their lives! If it's about how I know you were going to do that: why else would you be out here!"

The three looked at each other and accepted this with Ino and Naruto shrugging their shoulders.

Naruto then gained a question "Karin-chan, why do you want to come?"

Karin grew a tick mark on her forehead as she began to rant "that idiot went after the team even though he was supposed to be rest. But NO I go to check up on him but found a note saying 'gone to help my friend FAN THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH!' HE'S A MORONN FOR GOING AFTER THEM!" Karin finished her rant and was now breathing heavily to calm herself down.

Naruto sighed as this was something that Lee would do but he knew they were wasting time. But before they go, he needed to make sure of something first. Getting serious he looked at Karin dead in the eyes "Karin I am about to do something that must be kept secret from everyone in the village. I want your word that you will not tell anyone about it."

Karin looked at Naruto in a bit of apprehension "why would I …"

"Karin!"

Karin paused for a second before she got up to him and gave a friendly punch to his chest and kept her fist there "we are family Naruto-kun. If you want me to keep whatever it is you are about to do secret than it won't leave my lips."

Naruto smiled as he gave a thankful nod to her "thanks Karin-chan." he took a few steps back and undid his henge causing his clothes to rip into pieces.

Hinata and Ino were surprised that Naruto would do this and grew even more confused about why he would do this

Karin, on the other hand, was staring wide-eyed at the large six tailed fox that Naruto had just become. She could sense his chakra even more now and it was now like standing close to a bonfire. Her mouth was now on the ground as she was too stunned to say anything.

Naruto laid down and looked to them "get on."

Ino and Hinata now understood why he undid his henge and they both timidly moved to get on his back

Naruto looked to Karin and couldn't help but chuckle at the gobsmacked look on her face "you coming Karin-chan?"

"Uh…...ah…..I…..wha…"

Naruto used one of his tails to wrap around her waist and move her behind Ino, who was behind Hinata.

Karin squeaked at this and gripped Ino hard as she did not expect to be picked up like that.

Naruto wrapped a tail around Karin since he was big enough to carry two and she was barely able to fit on his back. "Hold on tight!"

Hinatagently grabbed a handful of fur on his neck, Ino wrapped her hands around Hinata's waist and Karin wrapped her arms around Ino's neck while also praying that the tail would make sure that she would fall off.

Naruto then bolted off into the direction he smelled his friend going. The speed and sudden movement caused all three girls on his back to scream out in panic. The three girls gripped tight to what they were holding since they had never gone this fast before.

Naruto focused on moving as fast as he could to help out his friends. 'You guys better be ok when we catch up."

End of chapter

Alternate scene

Sasuke was walking down a stone pathway that led to the main gates. He was glad that there were no one out at this time of night. Unfortunately, he wasn't as alone as he wanted. In front of him was one Ino Yamanaka.

"What are you doing Sasuke-san?"

Suske did not want to deal with anyone right now since he was on the clock. "get out of my way Ino."

Ino crossed her arms at this and looked closely at the boy. Seeing the pack on his back and the fact that this pathway led to the main gate of the village. "You're leaving." she said this as a statement, not a question

"And what if I am?"

Ino glared at Sasuke as she mentally prepared herself for a fight "what for? Going off to kill your brother?"

Sasuke was stunned at this as he was not expecting Ino of all people to say that.

Ino uncrossed her eyes and put her hands on her hips "surprised? It's not that hard to figure out. Ever since the massacre, you became cold to everyone around you. Train nonstop with an angry look on your face and when the day the event happened you would be far more aggressive to everyone around you."

Sasuke moved to walk around Ino, knowing that if she picked a fight he could take her down "then you should be glad that I'm leaving. You won't have to deal with me from now on."

Ino just let him pass her as she brought her hand up to her weapons pouch. "I should let you leave. You were always an ass to Naruto-kun and it makes me angry thinking I used to chase after you. If you leave, I won't have to think about that ever again."

Sasuke was stunned by this statement as the way it was said made it sound like Ino was dating Naruto."

Ino pulled out a kunai from her pouch and turned around and charged at Sasuke "but this makes you a traitor and you can't be allowed to leave!"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and slipped out his own kunai to parry Ino's. Moving quickly he used his free hand to grab her wrist and twist it, causing Ino to wince in pain and drop her kunai

Ino twisted her body to untwist her arm and leapt in the air, aiming a kick at Sasuke's face.

Sasuke saw this coming, let go of her wrist, and ducked under her kick. While coming back up he uppercutted her into the air before jumping up ahead of her before he did an ax kick to her stomach sending her back to the ground hard.

Ino coughed up some blood from the attack but she didn't have time to think about the pain as his fist collided with her face and then everything went black

Sasuke looked down at Ino before turning around and continued his trek to the main gate. After a bit of walking he shook his head at what he just learned "never thought the dobe would end up with Ino

Now it's really the end of the chapter

The reason I didn't use the alternate scene was because it would have taken Ino out of the arc and I kinda wanted her to join Naruto for this.

I had another version with Asa meeting Sasuke as he left but it would have ruined several things that need to be done and it would have made no sense for her to be alone at night to meet him

The first part of this chapter was originally part of the previous chapter and was why I really didn't like it but it was moved to this chapter.

Ok for Asa, I spent an hour pacing back and forth thinking about what she would look like and I am still unsure about it. Since this chapter was just released I can still change her appearance. So if you guys are ok with it then let me know. I looked through different anime girls to see if any of them could help me come up with what she could look like. In the end, her hairstyle and coloration were slightly based off of Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi. This is why if you readers want me to change her appearance than TELL ME please since that anime is WAAAAY different from Naruto naruto and this fic

For her speech, I purposefully made it somewhat poor since she is only four years old.

Her name was the only one recommended to me from the reviews and her fate was also given to me so those are set but not her appearance if I get any suggestions on that

For the upcoming fights, I can keep them canon, or I can throw my own spin on it. It's up to you. If I add my spin to it than it will be longer till we get to the long-awaited Sasuke vs Naruto fight. Choose wisely :)

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