Somewhere Safe

Up on the third floor, a large room had been cleared to one side where a bank of communication devices stood. Also in the middle of the room was a group who had their palms up, suspending a voluptuous bubble between them, their eyes closed as they concentrated. Every now and then, the bubble would ripple. As the bubble shook again, one man looked up at Shikmaru and the other Konoha ninja and shook his head. "We sent some men out to see if we could detect any powerful chakra signals but we're not getting anything. Seems they might've fled the country by now."

Mifune was present, sitting at a table that took up most of the opposite side of the room. He shook his own head over his steeped fingers. "Tell our men patrolling the border then to be extra diligent. Anyone crossing the border is to be detained until they're thoroughly examined. This has already become an international issue but I want to slow down as much damage as possible."

Shikamaru bypassed those performing the Sensing Water Sphere to instead approach those sitting on the floor, legs folded and hands posed in the same jutsu signal. "Any luck connecting to Konoha?" he asked them.

A woman raised her communications headset up to look at him and he was able to see the trademark fair hair and pupiless faded green eyes of the Yamanaka clan. "We wanted to wait until everyone was here, but whenever you're ready, we're good to go."

"Inoyuna was second to Inoichi in telepathic communication," Mifune informed them, and the woman blushed. "She'll be leading the others to assist with connecting all the way to Konoha."

"Sounds good," Shikamaru agreed, grateful that someone from the Yamanaka's was here. "Let's go ahead then and get started."

"Right!" The sensory ninja chorused and the room filled with the dull hum felt by multiple people using chakra at once.

~.~.~

Naruto sat on the edge of Sasuke's bed, gently rubbing a hand that yet again had a tube running from it, his thumb on Sasuke's so as to be careful not to disturb the needle. When he'd first entered, many nurses were still setting up the room and checking his vitals and he'd been informed that he'd have five minutes with Sasuke.

To that, he'd given them a look that said he'd leave when he felt ready to leave and the nurses had withered and backed down. He felt a bit bad for it; he'd done the same thing on Sasuke's last night in Konoha, taking his aggressive protection out on innocent people, and this time it was with people that only wanted to help Sasuke. He'd have to work hard on controlling that but for now, it had the added benefit of it being well past the five minutes and he was still there beside him.

Sasuke hadn't so much as even stirred since he'd been in there, but likely, he was in a medicated sleep. Over his face was a plastic breathing mask that prevented Naruto from being able to see him clearly and which filled the room with a heavy whoosh each time he breathed. While warmer than he had been, he noted as well that Sasuke's body still felt rather cold. He wanted to give him a piece of his own chakra, but was scared about disturbing his delicate state. Instead, he unzipped his black and orange jacket and laid it over Sasuke, which wasn't much but had to be better than the hospital sheets.

"That's to make up for the last time you were cold and I wasn't able to share my jacket with you," he murmured to him. Hopefully, the nurses wouldn't remove it for a while. Leaning over, he kissed a corner of Sasuke's cheek that wasn't covered. "I've got some business to handle but I'll be right back. Rest easy." He squeezed Sasuke's hand and after several long seconds of willing himself to let go, he finally put the hand down and left the room.

Following in the direction everyone else had gone, he quickly found the room where everyone else was gathered as he could hear Shikamaru talking beyond the door. Stepping inside, his friends gave him small, polite smiles. "Is he still stable?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. How long does he need that mask though? It looks so…unnatural," Naruto shuddered.

Her eyes softened in understanding. "He was barely breathing when he came in; only the influx of chakra kept him alive. Soon enough, we'll see if he can breathe without it, but for now, it's just a precaution."

He made a quiet noise of agreement while muttering, "I guess." Looking around the room, his attention was caught by the large Water Sphere and for a moment, his sadness was put aside. "Whoa! That thing's huge!" He wished he could make a Rasengan that big, though learning to make the one he now had was hell enough; it'd take a lifetime to make one the size of the sphere.

On the other side of the bubble, the telepathy users were concentrating with a woman in her mid-thirties sitting in the middle amongst them. "We're not getting anything from Konoha," she said, her face tight as she strained with the effort. "In fact, we can barely get through the Land of Wind."

"Maybe try to see if you can connect with someone on Gaara's side to pass along the message?" Naruto suggested. "They're going to be informed about what's going on anyways, right?"

Mifune nodded. "Good thinking, we'll try that."

Inoyuna bit her lip though. "We're actually doing that as we speak. We've contacted the Comm team in the Land of Earth, who passed on the message to the Land of Wind, but our connection with them is faint. Still, they're trying to get ahold of Konoha but it seems nobody is on the other side."

Naruto met eyes with his teammates, all of them looking concerned. "That's not normal, right?" he asked.

Sakura quickly stepped forward and said, "Try to see if they can contact Ino Yamanaka. She's a friend of mine. I have just a hint of her chakra that you can use to sense her, but hopefully it'll be enough."

"Actually, Ino is a cousin of mine," Inoyuna smiled from under the hood of the comm device. "Her chakra signal won't be too different from mine. I'll see if we can reach her directly."

They waited in tense silence as the team passed the message along over the far distances between each village. Sweat poured from their brows as they struggled to keep the connection until, finally, Inoyuna called out, "I've got her! But make it quick, I can't hold this for long."

But then her face contorted and she held up a hand for a pause. "She says the village has already been infiltrated by someone and due to that, Konoha is on lockdown. Oh, wait…she says Tsunade is nearby. She's passing the link over."

She grew quiet for a moment as Tsunade came onto the connection before speaking again. "Tsunade says that there's been a security breach in the village. They didn't get far, but it was a strong attempt."

"It's possible it's the same people we're dealing with," Shikamaru said and the others easily agreed.

Yamato added, "I certainly wouldn't doubt it. Inoyuna, please let me speak with the Hokage. I'll tell her everything we know so far." He knelt down to put a hand on the woman's shoulder, jerking as he felt his mind transported through space, touching briefly on the conscience of others that were helping to keep the link. At last though, he could distantly hear Tsunade's voice.

Tsunade, this is Yamato. I'm speaking through Inoyuna Yamanaka here at the Union headquarters, but she can't hold this connection much longer. We've found Sasuke. He's in critical but stable condition. It seems a group dedicated to eradicating harmful lineage techniques from clans had captured him. Hinata's the only one who's seen and spoken to what might be their leader, and while I can't give a lot of details, she says the Hyuga are safe from their attack. They wear white robes similar to what we saw on the Sage of Six Paths. Does that sound like the same people that attacked the village?

He already knew the answer before she spoke, as she'd gasped when he described their attire. "Yes, it was the same. They didn't actually get in, thankfully, but for the time being, nobody is leaving the village other than the ANBU I've sent to find them. This said, I would like your team, Sakura and Shikamaru to return for now. We should fortify our defenses as much as possible."

Still kneeling and keeping his eyes closed, Yamato told everyone what was said. "She wants everyone from Konoha to return immediately, just in case they come back and try again."

Naruto perked up, his heart racing. "Even Sasuke? Is it alright if Sasuke comes back?"

Yamato was quiet as he relayed the question. The silence stretched to such a point that Inoyuna began to breathe heavily with the effort. "Hurry it up!" she snapped at him.

Yamato opened his eyes, turning them to Naruto but shaking his head. "She says…they're not ready to have Sasuke back just yet. She says to leave him here in the Union with the medics and once all of this is straightened out…she'll consider it then."

For a moment, Naruto knew he saw red. His anger wanted to burst through every pore in his body, but he reined himself in, if only barely. "Tell her then that I'm not coming back," he actually felt his throat growl. "If she doesn't accept Sasuke, she gets neither of us."

"Naruto, now isn't the time for insubordination—"

He cut himself off as he noticed a trail of blood fall from Inoyuna's nose. With a collective gasp, the other communication shinobi disconnected their links and though she tried to hold out, she too shuddered and cut the connection, slumping against the wall that held the headsets. "S-sorry…"

Yamato's face flashed an expression of frustration that he wasn't able to finish the conversation but patted her on the back anyways. "It's alright, it was more than enough." He stood up, turning his attention fully to Naruto. "I understand you care about Sasuke, Naruto, but orders are orders. I'm still your leader for this mission." He really hoped he wouldn't have to resort to violence. The joy he'd gotten out of leading others, especially Naruto, Sakura and Sai, was something he deeply cherished and never wanted to resort to having to hurt one of his pupils.

But Naruto remained resolute, those sky blue eyes now as cold and dark as an afternoon thundercloud. "These people nearly killed Sasuke and she still doesn't care! The only reason she wants me back is because I have the Nine Tails. I'm not doing it anymore; I'm not letting her hold me hostage in the village!" He turned for the door but Yamato halted him.

"Stop being selfish, Naruto!" he shouted, but it wasn't entirely out of anger. He cared for Naruto and hated to see him do anything that'd jeopardize his bright future. "I've excused your recklessness on this mission because I know you actually have a tendency to get results and I was right; you managed to find Sasuke. But Sasuke needs to stay where he can get medical help. It's too dangerous to move him right now. You're a waste if you just sit by, idly waiting for him to wake up when instead you could be protecting the village. What's more important, protecting one person or protecting thousands?"

Naruto turned back to him and Yamato actually felt a prickle of fear at the look on his face. It was the look he'd had as he'd killed all those people from the underground base. "I'd rather protect the one person that's already helped to save millions of people. Konoha seems to have forgotten the debt it owes to Sasuke. Maybe abandoning a mission makes me scum; but those that abandon their friends are worse than scum!"

Yamato felt his heart pound painfully as Kakashi's words were hurled at him. Naruto turned and burst out the door, his footsteps receding as he heard him go down the hallway stairs. Letting out a deep sigh, he turned a tired expression to the other Konoha ninja. "Any other dissenters?" he figured he'd ask.

The others shook their heads, all of them looking rattled by Naruto's outburst. Hinata looked all but close to tears. "Alright then. Sakura, Shikamaru, go ahead and pack anything you have here. For tonight, we'll only travel to Iwagakure and rest up there once more before heading to Konoha."

Quietly, the two nodded, leaving to do as they were told. As for himself, he sat down heavily at the table, threading a hand through his hair. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about Naruto. His subduing powers with his Wood Style had long ago become ineffective. He was grateful for Sakura and Shikamaru surprisingly being here as it seemed now, only gentle reasoning could tame the young shinobi. He hadn't known Naruto as long as they had…nor did he know much about the power of love and the compulsions that came with it. He took a moment to muse on the fact that they knew more on the subject than even he did and quieted the tiny ache that came with the thought.

Shikamaru returned to the room first with Sakura coming back in sometime later. "Sorry about that, I was giving some last advice to the medical team here. I'm trying to do my best to pass on some of Lady Tsunade's methods," she admitted with a hint of pride.

Yamato could appreciate that. "That's fine, though I'm going to need a massive favor from all of you. We need to bring Naruto back. I'm…not really elegant with words," he chuckled lightly. "I'll do my best, but just…cover my back for me, could you?"

The others giggled at his unease but assured they'd help out. However, he'd forgotten about the second team of sensory ninja in the room but his attention was drawn back to them when the massive bubble above them gave a tumultuous shake.

"Our forces on the border claim they just saw Naruto flash by!" one said, and the large bubble began to fill with multiple smaller bubbles. "They're trying to chase him down but it seems he's moving way too fast!"

Just as the words finished leaving his mouth, a nurse slammed open the door while shouting, "Sasuke Uchiha is gone! We think Naruto's taken him!"

Already, Sai was unraveling a scroll, beginning to draw his birds. "We should go after him. I can probably keep up—"

"You can't," Shikamaru said, staying his hand on the scroll. "There's no way any of us could keep up with Naruto at his full power. Sasuke would be his closest rival and Sasuke's not conscious. We'll lose time going after them so instead, it'd be best if we continued with our initial plan and head back to Konoha."

Yamato couldn't find any reason to refute Shikamaru's plan. "He's right. I'm sure we'll be able to go find Naruto and Sasuke later, but for now, we need to protect the village. That way, they'll have a safe place to come home to." His throat tightened, knowing that was all that Naruto wanted for Sasuke; somewhere he could feel safe. To that end, he was a little moved that Naruto would even go so far as to defying orders to achieve his goal.

As a quiet and slightly anxious group, they left the Shinobi Union fortress, each of their thoughts and feelings on Naruto.

I've been rather consistent in posting a chapter nearly every week but forgive the delay. A new job meant adjusting to a new schedule. And...I've been busy with that app (need I say more?). I'm going to try my hardest to return to posting no later than Sundays though.

Oh and, happy birthday, Sasuke :)