Author's notes:

Thanks guys for the positive reviews :D I didn't think I'd really care about reviews, but seeing the positive reactions really made my day, so thanks again, this one will be longer, the last was a mere introduction so look forward to many more chapters to come, thanks again guys.

A couple of answers to some questions or comments:

Tsunade and Jiraiya won't let him roam free, you'll have to keep reading to find out :PAnd the bitterness towards Kakashi wasn't entirely intended, but he was just speaking the truth, if he hadn't palmed Naruto off for Sasuke he wouldn't have trained with Jiraiya.

Just in case it wasn't made clear, this story is set straight after Sasuke left the village not long after the chuunin exam and the Sand/Sound invasion.

Italics – Thoughts

Bold – Kyuubi

Bold/Italics – Kyuubi's thoughts

Chapter 2:

"But Tsunade-sama, in the scroll…..Naruto said he would be near the Hidden Village of Sand, why are you intending to send ninja's to the Sound?" Said Sakura.

Shaking her head still staring at her desk she said "Because, Sakura, if you were going to go somewhere, would you tell someone exactly where you were going?"

"But…why the Sound?" But after finishing the sentence she realised exactly why the sound "Sasuke" said Tsunade and Sakura at the same time. "But that's a whole village of high level ninja's; he can't go up against that!"

"I know that Sakura!" replied Tsunade in a frustrated tone.

She turned and ran, not knowing nor caring where she was going, all she had to do was get out of that office, she thought that if she got out, maybe she'd find out it wasn't real, and Naruto was just waiting at the bridge.

Yeah, that's it, he's at the bridge, it was just some joke, he was waiting at the bridge…was what she thought as she collapsed.

"Two friends gone in a week…It's too much for Sakura, especially Sakura." Said Kakashi, with obvious pain in his eyes, obviously losing his students was quite hard on the ex-ANBU.

"Kakashi, take Sakura to the hospital and help Shizune round up available ninja."

"Right away Tsunade-sama" Kakashi nodded his head before scooping up Sakura and making his way to the hospital.

Jumping from roof top to roof top, his thoughts wondered to the young genin.

I can see where he's coming from, in his eyes, he doesn't have much here in Konoha anyway, really if anyone had more of a reason to run away, it was him, Sasuke had everything he could ever need, aside from his family. But Naruto, no family, everyone hated and shunned him until just a year ago…But even now, there isn't many people who acknowledge him, and most still hate him and would be glad to see him gone. I'm sorry…Minato-sensei, I failed…

The world seemed completely oblivious to the mental battle going on in the head of one Hatake Kakashi. The trees still swayed in the breeze, the leaves rustling, the occasional being carried away by the wind, floating by, completely carefree.

That's Naruto, a leaf that was carried away in the wind, floating by, now carefree; maybe he had the right idea…

As Naruto approached the house of Gaara of the Desert, he let out a massive sneeze.

Doesn't that mean someone's thinking about me? With that thought he knocked on the door, it opened and Temari was behind the door and launched onto him giving him a hug. Why the hell is she hugging me? I swear we only said like 2 words to each other after the invasion…

She let him go and flattened out his shirt as she apologised. "I'm sorry about that, but it's good to see you, how have you been?"

Slightly shocked he tried to respond with a natural tone. "Not bad Temari-san, how about yourself? Keeping well?"

'Keeping well' she thought. Wasn't he like hyperactive? I only saw a him a couple of weeks ago, he can't have changed that much .Maybe this is Kankurou playing some sort of joke on me, he does know I had a little bit of a crush on the blonde in the chuunin exams.

Not doubting her new theory she punched 'Kankurou' in the face waiting for him to change back, but he never did. She started apologising a hundred mile an hour explaining why she hit him. "It's ok Temari-san, is Gaara in?" Oh…of course, he's here to see Gaara.

"Ummm, he just stepped out, something about a group of academy students that looked at him funny."She just realised what she said. He wouldn't…..would he? Both Genin stared at each other, both thinking the same thing.

A slight laugh was heard coming from the side of the house. "Gaara?" Naruto asked, not believing that Gaara even knew how to laugh. It was, he was around the side of the house hysterical in fits of laughter. "Hahaha! You…haha…thought..ha..that..I…was…being..hahahah…serious…hahaha"

Naruto was nothing less than stunned. The Gaara of the desert, laughing. This once hollow emotionless shell of sand, was laughing, it was an amazing sight. It was like he snapped, realising what he'd done, he went straight faced again, regained his composure, and back to his normal tone of voice.

"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san." Said Gaara with a much straighter face than he was displaying a mere 30 seconds previous. "What can I help you with today?"

"I was just passing through and thought I'd stop in and say hi." Replied Naruto.

"I see, well it's good to see you, for how long will you be staying?"

"Oh. Well I don't mean to intrude, I simply came to restock and say hello."

Is this the same Uzumaki Naruto who yelled to a whole group of genin, the same hyperactive ninja who he had met just a couple of months ago

He looked at his sister who looked just as confused as he was.

"I won't hear of it, you will stay for dinner, and at least the night, now let's go inside shall we?"

"If you're sure it's alright, I guess I can't say no" and he followed the two siblings inside

He's really changed. Thought both the blonde 'not so hyperactive' genin and the red haired 'not so full of murderous intent' genin of the sand as they walked inside the house.

Her eyes shot open and she brought her knees up to her chest hugging herself. The hospital? What am I doing here? She remembered the 'Naruto incident'.

It was a dream. She thought as a smile broadened over her face. She jumped out of the bed, gathering all her belongings and jumped out of the window and headed for the bridge where they always met at. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, a nice breeze was blowing and the air was fresh, days didn't get much better than this.

That nightmare was awful, I didn't think I felt so strongly for Naruto…Nah, it was just a dream, he hasn't left, and I wouldn't scream if he left…..would I?

She arrived at the bridge expecting, and maybe even hoping to see the blonde with a smile on his face trying to ask her for a date, which she would always hit him and usually try latch on to Sasuke.

Then it hit her, it wasn't a dream, Sasuke was gone, and now Naruto was gone too. Everyone that was close to her was leaving. Sakura felt an extreme amount of guilt. She recalled the conversation from earlier that day.

I was why he left…He made that stupid promise and he left to keep it, he left everything he ever had, a home, friends, he left all of that for me, so I could have another shot with Sasuke. He'd had a crush on me for ages…but now he's gone to find another guy that I thought… I thought I loved himBut all I really ever wanted was right here in front me, but I never paid any attention to him.

She stayed in the same position until night fell, sitting there, crying…Thinking about the boy who'd left her, left her and he wasn't coming back yet…not yet.

"Genma-san!" yelled Shizune, happy that she'd found someone.

"Eh? Shizune-san, what's wrong?" replied the jounin.

"It's Naruto, he left the village, he's chased after the Uchiha"

"What did he do that for? Eh, I'll go see Hokage-sama then."

"Thank you Genma-san" and she bowed before running off trying to find more for the cause.

"The kid's gone and he manages to make more trouble than if he were here…Typical Naruto." Genma muttered as he made his way to the Hokage's office.

Kakashi raced all over Konoha trying to find some more shinobi and kunoichi to help bring Naruto back. But there weren't a whole lot around, a fair few were wiped out during the Sand/Sound invasion not too long ago, and many others were out on missions trying to sustain Konoha's reputation as the strongest of the ninja villages.

"Finally." He said as he saw Gai, Asuma and Kurenai sitting with Tenten, Shino, Hinata and Shikamaru having barbecue.

"Kakashi! My eternal rival, I challenge you!" Said Gai, wearing his usual green spandex outfit.

"Huh?" Said Kakashi, completely oblivious to what Gai said.

"Damn you Kakashi and your hip attitude!!"

"Yeah..ok, damn, that's right, all of you need to report to the Hokage's office immediately." Said Kakashi, the misery clear in his voice.

"What's happened?" Asked Kurenai

"Naruto's gone, sorry I have to go, please report to the Hokage's office." Said Kakashi and he was gone in a puff of smoke, still looking for any available ninja.

It was starting to get dark when he noticed Ino and Sakura walking down the street. He approached them intending to ask if they knew of any available ninja.

"Kakashi-sensei…What's wrong?" asked Sakura, the signs of crying still evident all over her face. Kakashi just stared at her for a moment, hearing the wind blow right past them rustling the trees on either side of the street.

"I'm searching for any available ninja, we're planning to go after Naruto and bring him back."

She was shattered...any chance of that being a dream had now gone, Naruto had definitely gone and there was no more denying it.

"I'm going too" Said Sakura, with tears rolling down her face. She knew she had to go, she had to be the one to bring him back, she had to be the one to step forward, she wasn't going to watch their backs anymore, watching their backs, always being behind, this is where that got her, both of them had left, both of them seeking power, both wanting that power to fulfil a promise.

"No." Was all he said before he kept on running, trying to find anyone else before night set. He knew they needed numbers if they were to go straight into orochimaru's lair, where 2 of his students may be. However as it got darker, he resigned himself to the fact that he had gotten as many as he could, and just hoped that Shizune had done better. He ran back to the Hokage's office, to find out their next plan of action. This was one meeting that Hatake Kakashi wasn't going to be late for.

Sakura just stood in the middle street, stunned at Kakashi's words. "No?" Said Sakura, slightly shaking. "How can he just say that…I need to find him…I need to find Naruto-kun.." Sakura trailed off and fell to the ground again, this time however, remaining conscious.

Naruto-kun?Thought Ino. When did this happen? Does she like Naruto? Why would she like that idiot? I guess there's some thing's I'll never get about her…

"Come on Sakura, you can come back to my place, you can't stay by yourself tonight" Said Ino, hinting a slight concern in her voice, but not enough for Sakura to notice.

"If you say so Ino-pig." Said Sakura, and hopped up and followed her friend back to her place.

"So are you on a mission here Naruto-kun?" Asked Temari as she sat eating the lavish meal that she had prepared.

"Not really" Said Naruto, not really wanting to continue with this line of conversation.

"Oh? I didn't think Konoha would allow you to roam around the country side, so why are you here?"

"This meal is great Temari-san, thanks a lot" Said Naruto, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Naruto?" Said Gaara.

Naruto sighed "It's probably best if you don't know." Said Naruto, his eyes lingering over a photo of the 3 Sand siblings with who he assumed their mother.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Temari, wondering what the hell was going on.

"For the sake of the peace treaty between Konoha and the Sand, I think it's best that you don't knowingly help a missing-" Crap. He thought as he cut himself off, knowing that he'd said too much.

"Missing? You ran away?!" asked a surprised Temari.

"I was joking?" Said Naruto, not sounding all to convincing.

"For what possible reason would make you run away, Uzumaki?" Asked Gaara, a little surprised at the genin's actions too

"Sasuke ran away, and I couldn't bring him back, I need to get stronger so I can bring him back." Said Naruto, accepting defeat.

"But what about your friends? You can't just get up and leave them." Said Temari.

"Friends aren't an issue, no one will care that I'm gone, I'm sure they'll be happy when I bring Sasuke back though." Said Naruto, with what appeared to be a genuine smile. It was only he who knew the pain behind it, partly because he actually believed his words.

Temari and Gaara just sat there in awe, not knowing what to say. Was there anything they could say?

"Tsunade-sama" said Shizune "This is all we could find."

Tsunade looked around at the collection of ninja, a little disappointed at the turn out, but she knew why there were so little present. Most were on missions, injured, or recently killed in the invasion. "Right! We're on the pursuit of a potential S class missing-nin." Most ninja present knew why, such as Genma, Anko, Jiraiya, and Kakashi, as well as the other present jounin and few chuunin. The genins however were absolutely stunned. S class? They all thought in some way. Naruto, an S class missing-nin, there has to be some mistake. Thought Shikamaru.

"Hokage-sama, as troublesome as it is being here in the first place." Sighed Shikamaru. "I thought we were here because Naruto was missing."

"No...You heard correct, we are here for Naruto."

"But you said we're here for a 'potential S class missing-nin' and I doubt Naruto could be classed as a C rank." Scoffed Tenten, standing towards the back, unsure why she was really here.

"For reasons that can't be discussed here, Uzumaki Naruto can indeed be considered an S class missing-nin."

The ninja that weren't aware of Naruto's 'condition' were speechless. That prankster, the same blonde haired kid that painted the Hokage monument, an S class missing-nin? Was a common thought throughout the Hokage's office that evening.

"Now, can I continue?" Asked the Hokage.

Most still to shocked to answer, they just nodded.

"Right, Naruto is believed to be headed in the direction of the Hidden Village of Sound, in search for another missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke."

That idiot, why can't he just leave the traitor be? He left, I don't think even beating the Uchiha would knock him to senses….it's a lost hope. Thought Nara Shikamaru.

"We will be sending all of you in pursuit, because what Naruto intends to do is to face the whole of the Sound village, including Orochimaru." Anko shuddered at this comment, but listened on. "You will head to the Hidden Village of Sound and you will try and retrieve Naruto before he does anything stupid. If he won't come back willingly, I urge you to use forces, however, I do not want you to take him on by yourself, you are to only take him in at least a team of 3 or 4, no less. We aren't fully aware of his capabilities. You are to proceed with extreme caution." Aiming the last comment mainly at the genin and chuunin, but was in no way excluding the jounin.

"You will head out at sunrise tomorrow, for now, stock up and rest up. I shall see you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Surely you aren't going as well, Tsunade-sama." Said a surprised Kakashi.

"Of course I am, who else is going to slap some sense into the brat?" replied Tsunade.

Cries of protest went flying but all were ignored. "Enough!" Tsunade yelled. "Do as I say and I shall see you sunrise tomorrow morning." Said Tsunade as she moved to her desk, waiting for everyone to leave but Shizune and Kakashi remained.

"Tsunade-sama" said both Kakashi and Shizune. "You can't leave the village so soon after an invasion, Konoha isn't in the best shape, and with some of its finest ninja going on this mission, you need to remain here." Continued Kakashi.

"Silence…My mind is made up, now leave, prepare for tomorrow, and don't even think of being late." Said Tsunade.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Said Kakashi as he bowed and left her office in his usual fashion.

Fool, what was the point in leaving? The future Hokage can't just leave as he sees fit. Thought Tsunade as she reached into a draw for her sake, not bothering to find a glass.

"They're heading to the Sound, to find Naruto-kun." Said Sakura, this being the first thing she'd said since she arrived at Ino's, almost being 2 hours ago.

Ino, still not game enough to pick her up on the added suffix, said "He's going after Sasuke…right?" Said Ino, not knowing what else to say to her pink haired friend.

"I don't think so, not yet anyway…" Replied Sakura

"What do you mean? Why else would they be going to the Sound to find him? I doubt he's after tutelage from Orochimaru."

Orochimaru…This is all your fault, all of it, I'll make you pay. If it wasn't for you, we'd all still be happy, still going on missions as team 7, Naruto-kun acting like an idiot, Sasuke being as cold as ever, but here, he'd be here if it wasn't for you. I'll make you pay. Thought Sakura.

I guess Orochimaru is a sensitive subject. Thought Ino.

"Sakura?"

"Oh." Said Sakura. "They all think he's gone off to retrieve Sasuke…. but I don't think he has, I think he'll do what he said he'd do."

"And what did he say?" Said Ino, eager for information.

"He's going to train…" replied Sakura, "And so am I." With a slight hint of resolve in her voice. "And when we're ready, both of us will bring Sasuke back, Naruto-kun doesn't have to do it on his own." She finished, almost as if an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she smiled as she realised what she needed to do.

"I won't be the one to stand there crying anymore, I'll train and be as strong as them, I won't be the one to hold them back." She smiled, got up and headed for the door. "Thanks, Ino-pig." Sakura said as she walked out the door, heading home.

The rest of dinner was awkward, with only small chat being exchanged. As hard as Gaara and Temari tried to find out where Naruto was going, it was to no avail, not wanting them to know too much, just in case that someone actually did come here looking for him.

"Well, you can bunk in Kankurou's room for the night; he's in hospital for a couple more days so it's all free." Said Temari, trying to break the tension in the air.

"Oh? What happened to Kankurou-san?" asked Naruto, a little worried for the third sibling.

"Nothing really, experimenting with his puppets, it backfired and blew himself up. Unfortunately he'll be fine and out in a few days." Said Temari, laughing as she finished.

"Well thank you again Gaara-san, Temari-san, but I'll be going to bed now, and I will be gone before you awake. Good night." Said Naruto as he made his way down the hall.

"Third door on the left." Said Gaara as the blonde walked down the hall looking for Kankurou's room.

"Ah, I see, thank you." Said Naruto as he walked inside and closed the door.

"What's wrong with him, is that the same guy we saw a few weeks ago?" Asked Temari.

"I don't sense anything different, aside from his attitude change, his aura is much the same, so it's no intruder." Said Gaara, noticing the demonic aura, but not divulging this information to his sister.

"I guess so, oh well, something must have happened since we left." Said Temari, shocked at the amount that her younger brother had spoken, she thought it most out of character for him, and the laughing earlier was a little too much.

"Well, I'll also be heading to bed, I shall see you tomorrow, Temari."

"Yeah, good night Gaara." She said as she too made her way to her bedroom, but stopped when she heard screams.

"Sasuke..Sakura don't…don't hurt her…Sasuke…SASUKE!!" Said Naruto..Rolling around in his sleep.

He shot up, noticing Temari at his side, stroking his hair. "Oh, Temari-san, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" asked Naruto, trying to shrug her off.

Taking the hint, Temari removed her hand from his head and said, "No, I was just heading to bed…are you alight Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry, but I need to get back to sleep." He said.

"Oh right, yeah ok good night." Said Temari, a little disappointed that he'd shrugged her of like that. She hopped up and made her way out of the room, closing the door as she left.

I wonder what's wrong with him? Was the last thing Temari thought before drifting off to sleep.

So he left three days ago? That means he left…I can't believe it, I should have known. Thought Kakashi as he slapped his head.

"Is something wrong Kakashi-kun?" asked Kakashi's wife of 5 years. He's been like this all night, what happened?

Crap…I didn't tell her, I'm going to cop it now, I never even thought of asking her too."Well, Naruto left."

Oh that's what's troubling him. Poor Kakashi-kun. "But why would he leave? He loved his team, who's team did he join?" She asked, completely oblivious as to what he meant.

"I don't mean leave our team, Rin-chan, he left the village, we think he's gone after Sasuke."

"What?! Naruto left and you didn't think to tell me? Me of all people..Kakashi.." she trailed off as she noticed the copy-nin start to cry.

Kakashi-kun…

"We're heading out tomorrow to the sound, to bring him back. But…." Said Kakashi.

"But?" asked Rin.

"I don't think he's going there yet…I think he might train a bit first. He knows he isn't strong enough to take down the entire Sound Village, and then Sasuke."

"Of course he isn't…He's a strong young man, but although he might act stupid, he's no idiot. He won't charge in to the Sound, he'll train like he never has before."

"I hope so Rin-chan, I really hope so-- Of course, he actually has gone to the Sand!"

"Where did the Sand come from?" asked Rin, having no idea where he was going.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know how he left." As Kakashi explained how he left, using the kage bunshins, and leaving the scroll, Hatake Rin sat there in amazement.

"He came up with that all by himself? See, that's quite clever…You think someone who can come up with a plan like that would just charge into a hidden village that's full of high level ninja?"

"I see that now, thank you Rin-chan. But we need to change our plan." Kakashi said, and was immediately lost in thought.

"I'm going too.." Said Rin, Kakashi just nodded, knowing there was no sense in arguing.

"But for now, you're all mine" Said Rin as an evil smile crept up her face.

Kakashi was speechless and a perverted grin shot up his face.

"Lay down, and close your eyes…Kakashi-kun." Said Rin, quite seductively.

Kakashi did as he was told, growing happier and happier by the second.

Rin layed down next to him and climbed on Kakashi and whispered "Time for sleep Kakashi-kun, we have a big day tomorrow." She dismounted herself and turned the lamp off.

"Huh? You have to be kidding." Mumbled Kakashi as he finally realised what had just happened.

"Did you say something, Kakashi-kun?" Still with the seductive tone, trying to stir him up.

"Nothing, Rin-chan, good night." Said Kakashi, clearly disheartened and went off to sleep.

Hahaha, maybe it was a little much….Nah, he deserved it for thinking like that in the first place. Rin thought before she too went off to sleep.

Huh? Where am I?

Naruto awoke in some sort of sewer system.

Hang on, I've been here before…

He proceeded through the sewers, kicking up water as he walked. Kyuubi. He thought as he reached the gate, with the paper seal holding the monster at bay.

"Oi, dumb fox, what am I doing here?"

Why am I even bothering with this idiot…

"Idiot, you should be grateful that you're even here in my presence."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, now what do you want?" Said Naruto, quite curious as to why he was here.

"Right, getting to the point, eventually, I'm going to take over your body, but when that time comes, I want your body to be as good as it can be. I don't want to be taking over some idiot that can't even manage a simple summoning technique without my help."

"Pfft, sorry to disappoint fox, but the whole taking over my body thing isn't going to happen."

Hah, that's what you think

"Anyway, as to why you're here-" Started Kyuubi.

"Yeah Kyuubi, tell me, what do you want!" Yelled Naruto.

I should eat this fool now.

"Let me finish!" yelled Kyuubi. "Now, in order to prepare your body to the way I want it, I shall train you better than anyone else could."

For the first time in weeks, Naruto collapsed, laughing hysterically. "Hahaha..You, A dumb fox…Hahaha…Train me?...Hahaha"

"You fool. I am the greatest of the Bijuu's, how dare you laugh at me! Do you think I offer this to just anyone? I suggest you pay attention." Yelled Kyuubi.

"Right…Well, let's hear what you have to say then." Said Naruto, returning to the serious manner that he'd employed in the past couple of weeks.

"Ok, I'll be managing your training routine, as well as teaching you new jutsu's…..when I feel you deserve them. I shall also inform you of an extremely fast way of training. Now when you wake up, you will be able to communicate with me without having to enter your mind, leaving your body unconscious. Now wake up, I want you training taijutsu first up."

Naruto woke up. He glanced over to the alarm clock sitting next to Kankurou's bed. 4 a.m?! Stupid fox, what the hell are you thinking! Thought Naruto. I'm going back to sleep.

"Hah, that's what you think, now get up." Said Kyuubi.

No, I need 5 more minutes. He thought and tried to get back to sleep.

Kyuubi thrashed around in his cage making an enormous amount of noise.

Ok, ok, I'm getting up. He got up and Kyuubi stopped thrashing.

"Right, get your stuff and head just outside the city, if I'm not mistaken there is a training spot 20 miles south of the exit."

Yeah, yeah fox. He thought before collecting his belongings and quietly leaving the house, silently thanking the Sand siblings as he left.

"Prepare yourself kid, this is going to be rough."

Yeah, yeah fox, I'm ready. He thought as he made his way to the exit of the 'not so hidden' Hidden Village of the Sand.

Kakashi knocked on the door of Tsunade's room at the back of the Hokage's tower.

He had less then second long warning before a slightly temperamental blonde smashed the door in between the two.

"Kakashi…" Said Tsunade, with killing intent leaking in extreme quantities.

"Ah, Tsunade-sama, sorry for waking you, but this is about Naruto."

Naruto? What's he done now? Thought Tsunade.

"What's happened?" Said Tsunade, sounding eager for an answer.

"I don't think he's gone to the Sound, I agree with Sakura, I also believe that he is heading to the Sand."

"Kakashi, we know this idiot would do anything when it comes to Sakura, he might very well charge into Orochimaru's lair if it made her happy-"

"I disagree, he's not so stupid as to charge into the Sound by himself. I think he has gone off to train first, and I think he did head to the Sand first." Said Kakashi, regretting cutting her off, everyone knew it wasn't a good idea to anger the current Hokage.

He's spoken to Rin. Thought Tsunade as she mentally smirked.

"Kakashi…you woke me at 4 in the morning to tell me this…it was amazing that you were on time yesterday…but 2 hours early. That's a little too much." Said Tsunade, annoyed at being woken up so early.

"Tsunade-sama, I apologise, but I believe this is important, allow at least one squad to head to the Sand." Said Kakashi, sounding quite firm and insistent.

"Fine Kakashi, I'll allow you and Rin to go. Now leave me be." Said Tsunade, not really caring for much more than sleep.

"Thank-you Tsunade-sama, I shall see you in a couple of hours." Said Kakashi, not wanting to stick around for any potential punishment, he ran home faster then he ever had before.

"How did it go Kakashi-kun?" asked Rin, as soon as he had returned from the Hokage's office.

"Very well, she has allowed the two of us to travel to the Sand in pursuit of Naruto." Said Kakashi.

"That's great!" Replied Rin, "When are we leaving?"

"Well, we'll meet Tsunade-sama at the gate at sunrise, and depart as they do."

"Ok, let's go back to bed then hey." Said Rin.

"Yeah, sounds good." Said Kakashi sounding defeated after remembering last night. She gave him a hug before they both returned to bed.

"Right, we'll split up into 4-man cells. Gai, shizune, Shikamaru and Kiba." (who had been released from hospital late last night and decided to tag along.) The four moved to the side in a single file.

"Next, Anko, Kurenai, Tenten and Hinata." They also moved to the side in single file standing next to Gai's team.

"Shino, Asuma, Ebisu and myself. The rest will follow Jiraiya and leave an hour after the rest, making sure there are no followers and provide back-up support if needed."

"Kakashi and Rin, you will head to the Sand, just in case he has indeed headed there as he implied."

"Right, does everyone know what they're doing?" Finished Tsunade.

Everyone nodded. "Alright, everyone move out."

And in the blink of an eye, aside from the slight dust floating in there, there was no visible proof that 20 odd ninja had been there a moment prior.

Everyone knew what must be done, and failure was not an option for anyone.

Yes, Rin is back, ever since reading Kakashi Gaiden it's been my hope for Rin to come back, so I thought where better for her to be there than in my very own fic. (if there are any of you that don't know who Rin is, she is one of Kakashi's team mates.)

The Kyuubi training Naruto is not my idea and has been used in many fics, so I apologise as I don't know who to give proper credit to. Oh, and while Naruto is thinking, he's pretty much talking to the fox, if that wasn't clear enough

There will be no lemon…I was writing that scene and I thought I'd exploit Kakashi's pervertedness, it's always been something I've wanted to do so there it is, it won't be full of it, so sorry if you have a problem with it.

Well that's it for chapter 2, hope you enjoyed it. To me it really didn't feel right and a little rushed, but I guess it's up for interpretation. Well this is a little longer than the last, and they'll only be getting bigger. It's not a 'if no one likes my story it's going to stop' situation, I intend to finish the story, but your reviews are very much appreciated. If you have any complaints or suggestions, please let me know and I'll be sure to address them. Until next time, ja.