Naruto landed in a crouched position on the shore of the Sun Kingdom. The last boat headed towards the Kingdom had already left the Land of Waves, so he ran there instead. He was out of breath and wiped the sweat off his face as he stood up. The moon had risen high in the sky without a cloud covering it in sight. Luckily it provided just enough light for him to follow a map until he followed a boat that headed in this direction from a distance.

'You shouldn't have left your fiancé and the other girl back there.' Kurama said inside him.

Naruto sighed as he took a moment to stretch his limbs, as his breath steadied. The sudden gust of crisp air from the ocean made him shiver slightly. He shook his limbs again and looked ahead of himself. The vision before him changed to see Kurama lying down with his head resting over his paws with his eyes carefully looking at Naruto. It was usually all in his mind whenever Naruto and Kurama talked like this. As Kurama could hear his voice aloud, people around Naruto couldn't.

'Sai and Toshiro are in trouble. If they harm Toshiro or worse, like his family, I don't know how I could live with that. And what if they do something to Sai while he's under a genjutsu.' He thought to himself to communicate with Kurama.

Kurama sighed before closing his eyes. 'You need to stop rushing headfirst into things without thinking clearly. It'll be the death of the both of us one of these days.'

Naruto chuckled with a slight grin on his face. 'You and I both know that isn't happening anytime soon. All I have to do is find Sai break him out of the genjutsu, and make sure Toshiro isn't in danger. It's easy, y'know!'

'Fine, just don't be reckless.'

Naruto nodded, the Kurama disappeared, and the sight of the Kingdom before him reappeared. He was in enemy territory now, so he knew he needed to move carefully. He climbed a stone staircase to see the Kingdom entirely. The Kingdom, located on an island, was built upwards on the mountainside with many stone buildings in sight. The castle walls of the sun Kingdom were near the top of the city as a pattern of a sigil of the sun glittered in the moonlight's reflection.

The first person he wanted to find was Toshiro since he knew the boy was who they were after, more so than Sai. He quickly started running and willed chakra into his feet as he jumped high into the sky. After landing on the rooftop of a building, he continued hopping from building to building, making his way toward the castle. For the most part, the Kingdom was relatively silent; he had been running for a while, so he figured it must've been very late in the day.

As he neared the castle, he climbed the walls avoiding the metal-clad security guards that stood watch for intruders with ease. After jumping down from the stone wall, Naruto landed in the garden and looked around himself. A large fountain ran with water constantly spilling from the spout. Flowers bloomed beautifully in the moonlight around the stone bench built there. Naruto saw a chakra source coming in his direction and hid behind high-rise bushes. Another soldier in fully clad armor had come looking around with a fire-lit lantern in his hand. The man looked around the area and then turned on his heel before going in the direction he came from.

Naruto shook his head; with security like this, he could understand why certain events happened earlier this year. He activated his sage mode and looked at the castle until he found Toshiro's chakra. It surprised him that the young boy seemed to have so much chakra but was a civilian. He shrugged it off and began traveling in that direction, slipping past more of the armored guards before climbing up the wall to the open window of the Prince's bedroom. After stepping into the window, Naruto hopped down from the window seal to find Toshiro sleeping soundlessly in a large bed. He was holding a stuffed teddy bear close to him as he slept soundlessly.

Naruto walked over to the boy and smiled, deactivating his sage mode as he moved a few strands of hair out of the way. "Looks like you're okay, Toshiro." He whispered.

Toshiro began to stir awake until his blue eyes looked up at Naruto. "Mr. Naruto?"

Naruto chuckled as he knelt beside the bed to be closer to the boy. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, y'know. I wanted to make sure you were safe."

Toshiro nodded. "Yes, I'm safe. I'm going back to bed, okay."

Naruto nodded and pulled the blankets up further so Toshiro could sleep nicely. A gust of cold air entered the room, and Naruto went to the window to close it. Naruto frowned as he turned around to look at the sleeping boy again. He wondered why a group of shinobi determined to capture Toshiro. Why would they return him to his bedroom? Was this all a misunderstanding after all? He sighed and shook his head as he needed to focus. Sai was still in trouble, and he needed to save his friend. Naruto left the room and closed his door. He was in a dimly lit hallway and began to walk toward a pair of large double doors at the end of it.

"Okay, Toshiro is safe; time for me to find Sai and make sure he's okay." He murmured out loud.

"Mhmm going so soon?" A woman's voice asked behind him.

Naruto turned around to see a red hair woman with matching colored eyes quickly approach him. His eyes widened as the woman smiled, charging him with a kunai knife drawn. He pulled out his own, and they clashed several times. The sounds of the sharp metal blades filled the empty halls until they both slid away from each other. The woman threw her kunai knife, and Naruto dodged it easily, leaning to the right.

Naruto charged toward her, hating their tight space that didn't allow him free moment. He threw the knife toward her, and she rolled under it before standing to her feet and charging again. They began exchanging punches and kicks, each dodging or blocking the other until they held each other's fists in a stalemate. Glaring at one another, Naruto quickly overpowered her and punched her in the gut once before restraining her arms behind her as he pushed her against the wall. He needed to find Sai, and if he needed to make a trade for him, she would be his bargaining tool.

"Where is Sai?" Naruto asked.

The woman laughed a little. "You mean the good-looking pale guy? He's safe for now." She said before turning to look at him.

Then, under the dim light, he got a good look at her bright-colored red hair and eyes.

"Your hair! Your eyes!" He said suddenly.

The image of Karin Uzumaki instantly came to mind as the last time he'd seen her, she'd joined Sasuke in assisting them on the moon. But she wasn't Karin, but similar in build. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice something tight wrapped around his abdomen and arms before he could move, and he looked down to see something he had never expected to see. Golden Adamantine chains were woven tightly around him. Suddenly he couldn't mold chakra correctly anymore and fell to the ground.

Naruto struggled to look behind him to see two figures approaching him. They were twins. Both had the same colored red hair as the girl and obsidian-colored eyes. Both wore similar outfits, black kimono tops tied with a purple sash. Black athletic pants with purple accents coming up the sides and matching colored sandals. Only one had the chains extended from his torso as he had his kimono shirt open.

Naruto gasped as he looked at the both of them. "Adamantine chains! Are you? Are you three from the Uzumaki clan?"

The woman laughed as she crouched before him and turned his head toward her. "Yes, we are! And you are the famous Uzumaki Naruto. Don't worry; this will only hurt for a second."

She went into the weapons pouch she wore and pulled out a needle. After releasing the end of it to expose the needle. Naruto's eyes widened as she neared him, and he tried to struggle.

'Quickly, kid, let's join chakra and see if we can overpower these chains!' Kurama said inside him.

Naruto tried to join the chakra with Kurama, and sparks of golden chakra began to appear around him. The other boy used adamantine chains. It shot out from his torso and wrapped around Naruto. He couldn't move an inch or mold any chakra, and Kurama inside him couldn't either.

'Dammit, this is why you don't go into situations without thinking, you idiot!'

The woman stabbed Naruto in the thigh with the needle and began injecting him with some foreign liquid. It only took a couple of moments, but his vision faded into darkness.

"Night night!" The woman said with a mug smile on her face.

Sakura watched over Ino the entire night as she waited for Ino to wake up. She only slept in intervals for fear of the enemy ninja deciding to come back and finish them off. She knew it might've been a moot point, but history showed her always to expect the unexpectant. Although she knew Naruto could more than take care of himself in battle, she was still worried about him. Part of her hoped he'd somehow show up with Sai and tell her everything was settled.

It was a wishful thought, but whenever she needed or wanted Naruto, he always seemed to show up for her. So for it not to happen this time made her anxious. It was very early in the morning as Sakura ran toward the docs in the Land of waves. Ino, who'd just woken up, was groggily following after her after sleeping for more than eleven hours straight. She wasn't running quite as fast as Sakura which was starting to annoy the pink-haired kunoichi. When they arrived at the docs, Sakura stopped running and looked over her shoulder, glaring daggers at her friend.

"Come on, Ino, pick up the pace! We must get to the Sun Kingdom to back up Naruto and save Sai!"

Ino groaned as she slowly approached Sakura. Her head was pounding as if someone had beat it like a drum. She raised her right hand to her forehead, and green chakra covered her hand as she started to heal the ache. Sakura began tapping her foot impatiently as no ferrymen were available to charter a boat. It was also bad enough that she was carrying her, Naruto, and Sai's bags, which made her even more irritated.

It was an overcast day as clouds filled the sky and waves roughly crashed into the docked boats. The cold breeze that came from the ocean made Sakura involuntarily shutter. She was starting to think this was an ominous premonition that something terrible would happen.

Ino held her exposed biceps as she shivered, glaring at Sakura. "You see, forehead, we can't charter a boat right now! We could've stayed in the hotel a little longer!" She growled.

Sakura angrily exhaled while running a hand through her hair. "You've slept long enough! I'm worried about my teammates. Can't you try reaching out to Naruto quickly?"

Ino rolled her eyes before she closed them and began to focus. She was looking for Naruto's mental voice when someone else yelled in her mind.

'INO!' Shikamaru's voice mentally ranged at her.

Ino winced as her head finally started to feel better was being assaulted by his voice. 'What, Shikamaru! I'm a little busy at the moment!'

'You troublesome woman, I've been trying to reach you since last night! Where are all of you?'

'We're at the docks in the Land of Waves. Sakura and I are going to head to the Sun Kingdom, so we-'

'Don't!' He warned her while cutting her off mid-sentence. 'You all need to leave the boy there and turn around and hightail it back to the village immediately!'

Sakura, who had been watching Ino for the longest time, raised her eyebrow. She wanted to know if she had reached Naruto or not. Ino opened her eyes and then quickly shut them.

'I've added Sakura so she can hear.' Ino explained suddenly.

'What's going on?' Sakura asked.

Shikamaru's voice began to speak inside her head. 'I told Ino that you all must return to the village and leave the boy there. He isn't the Prince!'

Sakura's eyes widened at the same time she dropped Sai's bag from her right hand. 'What do you mean that isn't Toshiro?'

'I did some digging along with team eight and Choji. To spare you the mental image, we found the real Prince Toshiro's remains and his caretaker's. The boy you've been escorting isn't the Prince!'

Sakura's stomach dropped at the sound of that news. Shikamaru wasn't one to lie, mainly because he'd find that to be more troublesome to keep up the lie rather than to tell the truth. Sakura looked out toward the ocean as the thought of running to the island looked more promising than waiting. Ino caught her by her upper arm and held her there in place.

'Don't. I'm sure Naruto is fine, and I'm trying to reach out to him again! Shikamaru and the others are thirty minutes away. We should leave together to give us the best odds if we're walking into a trap.' Ino's thoughts rung through her worried mind like a clear bell.

Sakura took a deep breath but nodded. Ino let go of her arm and, for the time being, waited for the fishermen to arrive.

In a garden filled with luscious green grass and flowers arranged beautifully in a white wooden arch stood Naruto waiting with Kakashi. He dressed in traditional clothing for a wedding, the same that Neji had worn for his wedding ceremony with Tenten. His eyes widened as he saw an audience filled with familiar people. The first noticeable was Gaara the Kazekage, and next to him was his older sister Temari and older brother Kankuro. Behind them was the Mizukage, who sat next to her attendants. The other Kage were there, along with many people from the village.

There were a lot of whispers and excitement as he looked around in confusion. Something grabbed him by the shoulder, and he turned to see Sasuke standing behind him.

"You okay?" He asked. "Don't tell me you suddenly got cold feet?"

Naruto's eyebrows drew together. "What, why would I have cold feet."

Kakashi chuckled, and that drew Naruto's attention to him. "Because it's your wedding day, Naruto! And you look like you're sick or something. Get it together before she sees you."

Naruto was confused; where were the three Uzumaki who'd captured him? What happened to Toshiro and the Sun Kingdom? He was disoriented and needed some answers quickly.

"My wedding day! But I don't remember planning anything! Where's Sakura?"

Sasuke and Kakashi sighed as they shook their heads. Naruto was still confused as Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away from them both.

"He's still an idiot," Sasuke muttered before waving his hand over his shoulder. "I'm going to take my seat."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest as he frowned at the retreating figure. He wondered why he was giving him all of this attitude so suddenly like this. He finally turned around when Kakashi's hand grabbed his shoulder, and he looked his former sensei in the eyes.

"We're about to start. Are you ready?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded and smiled; he was more than ready for this day. "Yeah, lemme see my bride-to-be already, y'know!"

Everyone stood up then, and he looked down the center aisle as a figure appeared at the end. Naruto's eye's widened as he noticed the slender figure began walking toward him. She was dressed in a beautiful white Kimono tied with a red sash and a white straw hat covering most of her face. However, glossy red stained lips shined from the sunlight beneath the straw hat. Naruto's face began to heat up, and he was sure he was blushing as she continued to approach him. Whispers from the audience as she passed them made his heart rate begin to pick up in speed. Finally, she walked up the steps and stood on the stage across from Naruto.

So many emotions and thoughts went through his brain at that moment. Here was the girl of his dreams standing before him. After everything was said and done regarding their relationship, she'd chosen him. And now they'd be able to spend the rest of their lives together. She was one of his best friends, the first person he wanted to see to start his day. His other half, through thick and thin, for better or worse.

Kakashi cleared his throat, disrupting Naruto's musings as he turned to face him. "You can remove her hat now. She wanted you to be the first person to see her face."

Naruto mumbled nonsensical sounds that caused audience members to laugh at his nervousness. He stepped forward, grabbing the hat on each side.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, I'm just nervous, y'know!" He stammered.

He pulled the hat away, and before him was the woman with red eyes and hair. The same woman he'd seen before she poisoned him.

"Who's Sakura?" She asked.

Naruto screamed as he stumbled backward and fell on his backside. He shut his eyes and then opened them slowly. His vision was blurry at first until he finally became coherent. Naruto looked around the surrounding area he was in as his eyes widened. He was standing on an altar with the twins sitting a short distance on his left and right sides. It was an enormous stone-white colored room with wide arches and openings as the vision of overcast skies peeped through the gaps.

He was shirtless and shivered due to the cool temperature. Something hard and metallic was wrapped around his arms, hips, and legs. He noticed the twins had their chains wrapped around him. He looked up and saw the red-headed girl and a significantly older woman standing before him. The older woman was dressed in a white kimono tied with a red sash, and her hair was pulled back into a bun with a red ribbon. Her face held some wrinkles, but her red colored eyes were filled with life. In her hands was a cane that she leaned against. The red-haired woman smiled as she looked over at the older woman.

"Grandmother, the nine-tails jinchuriki is finally in our hands. We've certainly waited a long time for this."

"Yes," The older woman said, smiling. "And it's all thanks to you, Natsumi. You, along with those people, were able to make our dreams a reality."

Naruto tried to pull against the chains holding him but couldn't move. He couldn't mold any of his chakra, as the twin boys held him in place with adamantine chains.

"Who are you? And how are you able to use adamantine chains?" Naruto asked angrily.

The woman laughed as she took a step forward. "My dear, you look so much like your mother, Kushina. Except for your hair and whiskers on your face, of course."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked up at the woman. "My my mother? How do you know my mother?"

The woman closed her eyes as she chuckled, bringing one of her hands that was covered with the sleeve of the kimono. "Sweet Kushina was a lovely girl that I happened to live by back in the Land of Whirlpools. I've noticed you even say, y'know, as she did. That is before she was taken away."

Naruto's eyebrows knitted together as he looked at the older woman. What did she mean taken away? His mother told him she was selected as the next jinchuriki of Kurama after the first Hokage's wife.

"You see, my dear, we are the largest number of remaining members of the Uzumaki clan." She said as she stepped backward, gesturing behind herself.

There were more than forty people behind her, all with similar shades of red hair. There were minor differences, some with different colored eyes and the shapes of their faces. Naruto's eyes widened. He had never seen so many people from the Uzumaki clan in one place before. His mother, Karin, and Nagato were the only others he'd seen before.

"There are so many of you," Naruto said breathlessly. "How did you all do it?"

"Resilience." The woman answered in a stern voice. "No thanks to the Leaf Village."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

Laughter echoed through the room as Naruto looked around them, clearly confused. The woman wiped several tears from her eyes before she began to speak.

"Dear child, if you only knew your history, you wouldn't be wearing that Leaf village headband or wanting to be their Hokage. You see, during the reign of the first Hokage Hashirama; he made agreements with our village to marry what would be considered our princess at the time Uzumaki Mito. Since then, the Leaf and Whirlpools have been allied with one another. So much so that some of our clan moved to the Leaf and married civilian villagers. Unlike the others, our clan even shared our knowledge of our sealing jutsu and abilities. Over time the other four great nations grew jealous of our relationship and attacked our village. We asked for aid from the Leaf during our time of need, and they sent only a few shinobi. They took your mother Kushina so she would be the vessel of the demon nine-tailed fox and left us to rot! Those of us who survived that massacre split off from each other and hid, hoping to live our lives in peace. But there are those of us who want revenge. And we will do so starting with the Leaf."

Naruto glared at the woman as he tried to pull against the chains that bound him in place but couldn't move. He didn't want to believe the Leaf would do such a thing. Turning their back on an allied village, only taking what they needed and letting them suffer. He had many questions but wanted to get as far away from this older woman as possible. Something about how she called him dear and how she treated him despite having him tied up made his skin crawl. The false sense of warmth she was trying to give off but not succeeding in the gestures. The woman smiled as she reached out and caressed his face.

"I see the conflict in your eyes. But think of your life history; those in the Leaf have watched you suffer. The boy whose parents died to keep the village safe, yet they watched as you were forced to live alone. Ridiculed for being a child seeking attention and needing help from those who should've helped you and failed! All because you had to shoulder a burden you shouldn't have had to? Doesn't that stir up any anger within you at all?"

Naruto shook his head vigorously as he glared at the older woman. "You know nothing about my life! So don't you dare try to stand there and tell me anything about my village, my family, or especially any of my friends! I may have suffered earlier, but now I am happy I'm not alone!"

The other people in the room began to laugh, including Natsumi, as she covered her mouth. The flames of anger within him began to flare upwards, but he still couldn't do anything under the control of the adamantine chains. The other woman sighed as she shook her head.

"I was hoping that we wouldn't have to do this. But I see we will have to remove the nine-tails from you forcibly. We will use it to destroy the Leaf and all the other villages until nothing is left but the blood of enemies pooling at our feet. And to think, after everything that has happened, you didn't give over to the anger deep within the demon fox. Not even after we tried to kill that girlfriend of yours multiple times."

"What?" Naruto asked.

Natusami laughed once and shook her head. "We tried to trigger you giving over to the Ninetails by killing the pink-haired girl. We set the apartment on fire, and lo and behold, you two come running up and helping the injured. We attacked the hospital, and then she escaped with my son. She just refused to die! But that set in motion our second plan, bring you to us, and we'll take the nine-tails from you. And it's all thanks to my son being brave playing the role of an orphan for so long and holding up the transformation jutsu."

Naruto thought back over all of it. Sakura starring at the remains of the apartment building and all of her neighbors being homeless after the event. Her neighbors, who were hurt by the flames, and the hospital staff overran with the number of injuries on site. The number of frightened villagers they had to help move back into the hospital after the older man blew the roof and an entire hospital floor. All of these events happened to get at him. He was the target all along, or rather Kurama was the target.

'Those attempts at trying to kill Sakura wouldn't have worked. I'm no longer actively trying to escape from within you. And I certainly won't be used as a tool ever again. This is why I said you shouldn't have come out here on your own!' Kurama growled within him. 'If they manage to take me out of you, that's it! You will die this time.'

Naruto was frozen in place as he stared at the two women before him. A terrifying chilling feeling filled him from within and made him remember the Forth war. When Kurama was taken from him, he'd felt what death was like. It was only because Sakura had kept him alive long enough just for Obito and his father to re-seal Kurama inside of him. He wouldn't be able to marry Sakura or see any of his friends again if he'd died here.

Suddenly Bunsaku and Genji appeared behind Natsumi, kneeling as she turned around to face them. Bunsaku looked up at Natsumi while Genji kept his eyes down.

"We've completed the task you wanted us to do," Bunsaku said. "The castle is secure, and there is no sight of Sakura or the other girl. Remove these marks on our tongues and set us free?"

Natsumi smiled as she looked down at Bunsasku. "You both have completed the task and followed my every order. You've earned your freedom."

She did the pig hand sign, and Bunsaku held his throat and fell to the ground. Natsumi kicked him, and he tumbled down the stairs as his body continued to convulse. Naruto shuttered and looked over at Genji, looking down at the ground with his fist balled tightly.

"Do you wish for your freedom Genji?" Natsumi asked curiously.

"No, mistress." He said softly.

"Good, go join the others outside to watch for his comrades. We didn't go through the trouble of killing the entire royal family to fail here."

He nodded and disappeared without another word. Naruto looked at Bunsaku's body which had finally stopped moving. Unbridled rage flooded his veins as he looked up at Natsumi, who was smiling at him smugly.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why couldn't you let him go!"

Natsumi laughed as she put her hands on her hips. "Unlike you, I don't treasure every person I meet as a friend. He and the others did as many shinobi did during the last war. Abandon their village and had nowhere to go afterward. Had he stayed obedient, he would've been able to stay and work like the others."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, work on whatever you want or die! You're just a psychopath! You'll kill people left and right and like it, don't you?"

Natsumi narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "I'm going to enjoy dragging the nine-tails out of you! I'm sure the screams you'll make will be delicious music to my ears."

'What the hell is wrong with you?' Kurama growled in his mind.

'I'm trying to stall them to give Sakura some time to save us, y'know!' Naruto thought. 'I asked her to come the next day if I didn't make it back, remember?'

Kurama rolled his eyes as he looked at the seal inside of Naruto. He wasn't looking forward to being used as a tool for revenge again. Especially after he finally started to tolerate Naruto. The adamantine chains bound him inside Kushina's body before, and surely they would in another Uzumaki vessel.

'Distract them, then not taunt them.' He advised.

The older woman and Natsumi turned around to start descending the stairs. He had to stop them because he wasn't sure what they had planned.

"WAIT!" Naruto yelled out.

They both turned to look at Naruto with slightly annoyed expressions. Now that he had their attention, he had to make it count.

"You want me to turn against the Leaf? That's why you wanted to kill Sakura, so I'd do your bidding through an emotional rampage. But what if we did something different? What if I do it on one condition, y'know?"

Natsumi raised an eyebrow while the older woman smiled and turned back toward him. She approached him, keeping balance with the cane she was holding as the smile on her face grew.

"What is the condition?" The older woman asked.

"My fiancé, you don't harm her if she shows up. Bring her down here to me so I can explain the situation. She'll fall in line with me! And then-"

"Hell no," Natsumi said as she walked toward him. "Grandmother, he's only doing this to bring her down here so she can use that monster strength she has. Let me move you to safety, and we'll extract the nine-tails from him."

Naruto pouted and mustered the most pitiful-looking puppy dog look he'd ever made. "But I'm an Uzumaki too! I even wore our clan crest on my clothing, y'know! Please, grandma, gimme a chance!"

Kurama chuckled within him. 'The old bird looks conflicted. Keep going, kid; see if you can shed a tear while at it.'

The old woman looked at Naruto before she turned to Natsumi. "I'll give him a chance only because of sweet Kushina. But he'll remain chained up until we capture and bring Sakura here. If they try anything, kill her on the spot and then remove Kurama from him."

"But-" Natsumi started to say before the old woman slammed her cane into the ground. Both she and Naruto jumped in reaction to this as the woman glared at Natsumi.

"I said what I said! Now I must prepare for an attack, and Sun Kingdom's people must take cover. Their tax ryos are founding our lives here in the castle. We need two people here to make sure the boys are comfortable while holding Naruto in place. If he tries anything, let Natsumi or me know. I'm sure the Leaf ninja will come here as soon as possible."

With that, the old woman descended the stairs while Natsumi turned to look over her shoulder and glared at Naruto. He grinned at the glare he was receiving from her currently until she followed the older woman down the stairs. After most people had left, Naruto sighed and hung his head. He bought some time but would it be enough to save him?