Wow...third chapter already. Not bad. And at last look...I've gotten over 600 hits on this thing since I started it. But I've only gotten 4 reviews (which i very much appreciate...you've all said good things so far). :( Please please please send me more. And to those that have put this on their alerts list. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It gives me a reason to keep this little tale of mine going. Hope I won't disappoint.

'thought'

"Speech"

"Kyuubi"

Disclaimer: If I owned 'Naruto'...I wouldn't have to post this blasted thing.

Chapter 3: Into the unknown.

Earlier that morning:

In a small, lone cabin near a village in the southern part of the Fire Nation:

The slivers of morning sun crept over his form. He'd been lying there for a while now, wide awake, and staring at the ceiling. Memories of that day still haunted him.

((((Flashback))))

Both fighters were panting heavily as they continued to stare each other down. There was just no way he was going to let this loser get the better of him. He was going to win…he had to. And after he'd gotten Naruto and his merry band of morons out of the way, he was going to be next. Wiping blood that had been dripping down from his forehead away from his eyes…he stared at his prey.

"This is it for you, dobe. Here and now, once and for all, I will kill you. But don't worry…your baka friends won't be far behind, 'cuz after I'm done with you…they're next. Maybe…I'll start with that precious little girlfriend of yours. She seems so sweet and innocent." He chided. "You're not gonna touch her, Sasuke! Her or anyone else! Even if I have to kill you, myself!" Sasuke noted the change in his ex-teammates voice. It'd gotten deeper, more feral. 'Shit…the Kyuubi is starting to take over. Need to finish this before he gets any stronger. Otherwise, he might just make good on that.' He thought.

Sakura could do nothing but stare helplessly. 'I can't even get near the 2 of them. They're both putting out so much chakra that I'd probably get torn apart just by the sheer pressure! B-but if I don't do something…one of them is going to-'No! She couldn't think that way. Naruto had promised her that he'd bring Sasuke back. He always kept his promises, right? As he always said…it was his nindo…his ninja way. She just had to believe in him. 'Sasuke… Naruto…'

"Time to end this!"The once friends turned enemies yelled at once, and charged. "Chidori!/Rasengan!" Their finishing moves flared to life. The world around them had simply faded into nothing. All that mattered, all that existed, was the opponent in front of them. One way or another, this was going to be their last fight.

With their respective jutsus in hand, they raced at one another at blinding speeds, but to them, they might as well been hardly moving at all. This was it, the final moment of truth. Somewhere off in the distance, they could swear they heard a voice screaming. Then nothing at all. Time froze. Every sound around them had died out. The battle that had been raging around them had come to a screeching halt.

"Goodbye…Brother." Naruto could hear the chirping of Sasuke's attack right next to his right ear. He had moved his head out of the way at the very last second. He had done it far too late for even Sasuke to alter the trajectory to compensate. His Rasengan was slowing grinding its way into the gut of his best friend. The closest thing he'd ever had to a brother (short of Konohamaru). "…Damn (blood-filled cough)…you…Naruto…"

The attack sent Sasuke flying back some 30 feet before impacting a large rock formation, back first, causing another spray of crimson to spew from his mouth. Blood was flowing from the gaping hole in his abdomen where Naruto's final assault had connected. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't get back up. His strength had left him completely. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Naruto and Sakura running to his battered form. He could have sword he heard Sakura scream his name before bliss of death consumed him.

He should have told her.

((((End Flashback)))

Sasuke shook his head rapidly to get the images out of his head. It'd been four years since he nearly died. By all rights he should have died, yet somehow…he'd survived…if just barely. "Tch!" 'Enough thinking about that. I need to get up.'

"Ack! Why does this thing still hurt??" Questioning no one in particular as he looked down at the starburst-shaped scar on his stomach. "You would think that after all this time it would quit acting up. What did you do to me, Naruto?" The pain lasted for only an instant…but it still annoyed him to no end. Four years and it still hurt from time to time, a constant reminder of the last time he saw the people he once called friends.

Heading to the shower, he stripped free of the clothes he'd slept it, revealing that the curse mark given to him by Orochimaru had faded. He never figured out exactly why it had disappeared from his shoulder, but frankly, he didn't care. All it meant to him was that he was finally free of that snake freak. Unfortunately, there was a downside. When he'd woken up, the memories of the past years came flooding back. The pain, suffering, and death he had caused while he was in the sannin's service. Without the curse mark to subdue his emotions, the realization of what he had become in his quest for vengeance against Itachi hit him, and it hit him hard. No words could express the amount of guilt and sorrow he'd felt in that very first waking moment. All he wanted to do was run to his home of Konoha and make things right somehow. He couldn't have, of course. Nothing in this world could have ever made up for the atrocities he'd committed. It made him wish he'd stayed dead. He'd become more like Itachi than he'd ever want to admit. The very thought made him sick.

Instead, he traveled far to the south where he found a small village. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a mere farming village with simple folk. Here, no one knew his name or anything about him. It was just a hick town in the middle of nowhere. He'd really just planned to find a place to stay for the night before heading out to Kami knows where. He ended up staying. He'd taken up residence in an old abandoned cabin roughly a mile away from the town. He made a reasonable, if meager, living doing odd jobs around town. Cleaning up stables, feeding livestock, that sort of thing. It wasn't glamorous or anything…but it would do. Nobody bothered him here. It was just the way he wanted it.

When he finished getting dressed he decided to go down to the village to see if anyone had anything that needed to be done. Normally, someone would have come over to ask him if he could help out with this, that, or the other. But he hadn't seen anyone in about a week or so. 'They probably just haven't had anything for me to do…or they've just been way too busy to make the trip' he thought. 'Still…might as well go make myself useful. Besides…I'm getting bored just sitting around here.'

What he saw when he got there made no sense. It was around 10 in the morning, and there wasn't a soul in sight. Normally, the people that lived here were up and about before the sun even came up, hard at work tending the fields and what-not. He walked over to old man Zashi's place to see if anyone was home. On his way…he couldn't shake the feeling that something was just wrong here. 'Where is everyone??'

Zashi was the first person that Sasuke met in the village, his house being on the furthest outside edge and all. At the time, he'd been out in the wilderness for some 3-4 months…and it showed. His clothing was ragged and filthy. There were numerous tears and holes them from both his fight with Naruto, and from just normal wear and tear due to living out in the woods. Sasuke didn't look much better, either. It'd been weeks at least since he'd bathed. To say he smelled terrible would have been an understatement. Death himself wouldn't have come within twenty feet of the young man. In short, he was a complete and total mess. Zashi made sure to get the wretched looking boy a bath, some food, clothing, and a place to sleep for the night. He'd tried to leave the next morning, but the old man insisted he stay in bed until he recovered completely. A few weeks later, Zashi had gotten him to help with a few things around the farm and shown him a cabin he could stay in. Sasuke had been there ever since.

"Hey! Old man! You home?" His voice echoed in the empty house. "Hey, Zashi! Where are you? Miyumi? Tatsuki" Hellooo!" …No answer. From the looks of the place…no one had been here in days. The door had been left wide open and the place had started to stink a bit from the food that was spoiling on the dinner table. That gnawing feeling of "wrong" just kept getting worse and worse. He ran full tilt to the next residence; a crabby guy's named Kochiro, only to find the exact same scene. 'What is going on here?'

Konoha, the next day:

Tsunade had been half-heartedly sorting through the day's paperwork after more or less calming herself down from yesterday's disturbing "presence" she felt. She had ordered a number of ANBU to search the village and surrounding area for anything out of the ordinary. Their last report had come up empty. They hadn't found anything…which bothered her. Had she just been imagining the whole thing? Had it really happened or not? Or…was there something else…something that she was missing?

(knock knock)

"Huh? Umm…Yes! Come in." The knock on the door had startled her and yanked her abruptly out of her thoughts. The door opened and Kakashi poked his head through the crack. "Hi, there. You wanted to see me, Hokaga-sama?" "Oh! Kakashi. Yes… There's something I need you to do." She sifted through the stack of papers on her desk till she found the one she needed. "I've gotten a few requests to investigate some nearby villages. It seems that the inhabitants have mysteriously disappeared. The cause is, as of yet, undetermined. I want you to go check things out and see what you can find." Kakashi looked at the request that was handed to him, studying it thoroughly. "Disappearances, huh? That's odd. Hmm…" "Yes. I want you to take Naruto and Hinata with you as well. I've already sent Neji, Kiba, and Shino to a different location, as well as a few squads to some of the others. You are to inspect the villages and search for any possible survivors. If you encounter anyone suspicious, you are not to engage unless absolutely necessary. Is that understood?" "Understood."

Kakashi stood still before the Hokage. "Is there something else, Kakashi?" He closed his eye and placed his hand on the back of his head. "Um…yeah. Are you sure you want to send out Naruto and Hinata. You know…seeing how it's so soon after their baby was born and all." Tsunade turned to look out her office window. "It's not that I exactly want to or anything. I know it's only been a year…but I don't have much choice. Hinata and Neji both are 2 of our best trackers we have in Konoha with their Byakugan. And you and I both know that there's just no way that he would stay behind and let Hinata go out on her own without him. Besides…I've already discussed it with the both of them and they've agreed. They've made arrangements to leave the baby with one of their friends and will be waiting for you at the east gate in one hour." Kakashi nodded back to her and started for the door. "Well…just as long as they're alright with this…guess it can't be helped. I'll be leaving now to prepare, Hokaga-sama."

Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob to depart, Tsunade turned to him. "Kakashi…one more thing." "Hmm?" "When Naruto and Hinata were here…it seemed to me that there was something…off. Any idea what it might've been?" He was hoping she wasn't going to ask him this. He knew that there was no way she could've missed yesterday's "event", not with the release of that much chakra. He would have much preferred her to direct this towards Naruto. Then again…he figured she probably did and he just avoided the question entirely. "I think that's something better left for Naruto to explain." (sigh) "I thought you'd say something like that." Tsunade paused for a moment, looking back outside over the Hidden Leaf Village. "Dismissed."

Across town:

"You're WHAT?!" Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Hehe…yeah. We're heading out for a mission with Kakashi in about an hour. Granny Tsunade said she'd given you the day off so…we were wondering if you could uh…watch the little one for us till we get back? Pllleeaaassseeeee?" Naruto had one hand on the back of his head and was flashing that trademark grin of his. Hinata was looking down at Sakura's feet…just waiting for the hail-storm that she knew was coming their way. "But it's only been a year! You two just became parents! And we won't even go into the whole deal that happened with "him" yesterday! Are you sure you really wanna do this?" "N-Naruto an-and I are sure. B-Besides…I want to help out. And we know that you'll take good care of our son until we get back. So…p-please, Sakura?" Hinata said in her usual quiet voice. "Yeah…besides…I'm going stir-crazy sittin around doing nothing. And we're only going to check out some old ghost town or something. Piece of cake! We'll be back in no time! Right, Hinata?" "R-Right!" She knew she wasn't gonna win this one. When Naruto made up his mind to do something…he was damn well gonna do it. And Hinata…well…she'd been hanging around Naruto too much. That stubborn streak of his was rubbing off on her. (sigh) "Alright. Fine. I'll be happy to look after him till you get back. But you two had just better make damn sure you get back here in once piece, you hear me? I don't want him growing up an orphan." Naruto just beamed at her, "You bet! Thanks, Sakura! You're the best! Let's go, baby girl!" "R-Right!" Sakura could see the start of Hinata's blush before they turned and ran off. She smiled to herself as she held their baby in her arms. 'All these years…and she still blushes like a schoolgirl around him. Too cute.' As the two turned the corner, her expression changed to one of concern and whispered to herself, "Be careful you two. Please come home safe. For all of us."

East Gate, 1 hour and 15 minutes later:

"Grrrrr…he's always LATE!" Naruto was pacing…and getting more impatient by the second waiting for the ever tardy Kakashi. Hinata giggled slightly at her husband as he muttered under his breath about all the times he kept them waiting and one of these days he's gonna wallop him one good. "Baka, Kakashi…"

((((Flashback))))

Naruto and Hinata are rushing towards the gate:

"Wow…can you believe it? Man…she's really changed!" Naruto saw the east gate up ahead of them, Hinata hot on his heels. "Yeah. I was a bit surprised, too, Naruto. I mean…I know she's just worried about us…and wants the best for us and the baby, but…I expected her to put up much more of a fight than that." "Me too. I was just waiting for her to sock me one good! What a shock!"

((((End Flashback)))

"Where…in the hell…Is-"(poof of smoke) "Sorry you two. I got a little tied up. Ropes and everything." It was just like Kyuubi said…some things never change. Kakashi still suffered from a chronic case of late followed by one of his lame, made-up excuses. "Ugh! Whatever, Kakashi. Can we go now?" Hinata couldn't help but giggle to herself again. Naruto always got like this when it came to Kakashi's lateness. "Sure. Hinata, Naruto, let's head out." "Hai!/Hai!"

Somewhere in the forest, east of Konoha:

"So, where we goin, Kit" Naruto almost tripped and flew face first into a tree trunk by the sudden appearance of Kyuubi. With Hinata's help he recovered at the last second and turned to look at the demon with round, pupil-less eyes, yelling at the top of his lungs "DAMMIT YOU STUPID FOX! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, SNEAKING UP ON ME LIKE THAT?! YOU SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH!""Hehe. Sorry about that. Couldn't help myself. I swear you're just too easy, sometimes. Anyway…like I said, where we goin?" "WE…are going to a village in the east…YOU…are staying as far away from me as possible!" the blond ninja stated bluntly. Kyuubi just flashed that peculiar grin again. "Sorry…no can do, Kit. We're connected, remember? Where you go…I go. Besides…you might need my help. We all know your tendency to go off half-cocked and we can't have you doing something stupid." "SHUT UP!" He may have hated the stinkin mutt, but he had him pegged. "Fine. Tag along if you want, mutt. Just stay outta my way. I still don't trust you."

"Oh…by the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you, brat." "Ugh…what?" "What did you name him? I kinda conked out soon after he was born so I could start the merging process, so I missed it." Naruto faced the kitsune with a look that he could only describe as something between pride and grim satisfaction. "We named him…Arashi. After my father, the man that sealed you away inside me." Kyuubi looked dumbfounded for a moment…then grinned. "Ha! Hahaha! Arashi, huh? Oh that's rich, Kit. I gotta admit…even I couldn't have thought up something that twisted. Good one!"

They traveled for about an hour in an uncomfortable silence. Bounding from tree to tree, the shinobi trio occasionally stole glances back at the demon fox who was easily keeping pace with them still holding that grin as he thought about on the irony of Naruto's and Hinata's son. "Hey, Kit. There's uuuhhh….something I need to talk to you about." "What?" He couldn't keep the venom from seeping into that single little word. He felt like he had the worst luck in the world right now. "It's about our 'connection'. There's a little more to it than just sharing our chakra. We share everything. Everything that is mine, is yours, and vice versa. In life…and in death." Naruto glanced at Kyuubi, noticing a slightly solemn look in the kitsune's face. "Meaning…what, exactly" "We also share things like…pain. If you're hurt, I'll feel it. Same with you if I'm injured. And…if one of us dies…so does the other." Hinata let out a gasp at the fox's words. "Do WHAT? Why the hell didn't you tell me that before?! BAKA!" Naruto was starting to like this deal less and less already. 'Dammit. Why does he always have to make my life so damned miserable?' "You done bitching yet?" He didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Good…'cuz I'm not done yet. We can also share other things…like our thoughts." "Oh…wonderful. It's not like I couldn't keep you outta my head already. So much for hoping…" "Don't worry your spikey little head. I can't actually read your mind…not anymore anyway." Naruto glared. "You mean you could read my mind before? Gee…how nice of you to keep that little tidbit of info to yourself." Kyuubi chuckled to himself. "I could only read the really strong thoughts. And why should I have? It wouldn't have changed anything. That and…they kept me somewhat entertained. Oh…and another thing. Our spirit merger isn't a hundred percent complete yet. There're still a few kinks to work out, as it were. As it completes itself, there might be some…side effects." "Stop bein all cryptic, Kyuubi! You're makin me mad with all your babble!" shot Naruto. "What 'side effects'"? "Dunno. But it'll sure be interesting to find out now, won't it?" "Tch! Stupid...no-good...rotten...(mumble mumble)"

"Shh! We're here." Kakashi perched himself on a branch overlooking a medium-sized logging town. What he saw disturbed him…or rather; it was what he didn't see. Logs were left half stripped of their bark, machinery was left running everywhere, and the only other sound to be heard was that of the window shutters slamming open and closed as they swung in the wind. But, there were no people anywhere! This normally bustling town should be alive with people busy turning raw trees into usable lumber for houses, barns, and other buildings. There should be children laughing as they played games like tag and hide and seek. It was too creepy.

"Hinata…" "Right." She nodded and performed a few quick hand seals. "Byakugan!" Using her family's kekkei-genkai, she searched the town for any sign of life. She looked for even the tiniest bit of movement within her enhanced sight, only to find…nothing. "Do you see anything, Hinata?" Even though he was already pretty sure what her answer would be, he still had to ask. "No…nothing at all. It's as if everyone in the village just got up and left…forgetting about whatever it was they were doing and just…left." The sight left her feeling cold inside. She was beginning to feel as hollow as the town itself.

"Man…this is just too weird! Kakashi…should we go in for a closer look?" Naruto couldn't take his eyes off of the scene in front of him. This place wasn't just empty…it was dead. It was enough to send a shiver down his spine 'Please say no. Please say no. Please say-' "Good idea, Naruto. Perhaps we can find a clue or two that will give us some idea as to what exactly happened here." 'Damn! I was afraid he was gonna say that.'

Inside the mining town of Hakani:

Kyuubi had started getting a strange feeling ever since they reached the outskirts of the mining town, and it was just getting worse and worse as they got closer. By the time they made it inside, that feeling had become overwhelming. Something had happened here. Something unnatural. Something…"Evil…" For the first time in his 2,000+ years, the nine-tailed fox actually shuddered. "Hmm?" Hearing the kitsune speak up and seeing his physical reaction did not sit well with the experienced jounin. "Something you'd like to share with the rest of the class, Kyuubi?" What was this feeling? It was strange, stifling, and worse yet…it was paralyzing. 'Is this what these humans call…fear?' It took a second, but the kitsune found his voice again. "This place…it's saturated with it: Evil. I can smell it in the air. It's so thick I can actually taste it. Something's come through here. Whatever it was…it makes me look like a boy-scout during my pre-Naruto days." The shinobi didn't like the sound of this one little bit. "Hey, fox…can you smell anything else around here? People or somethin?" Naruto tried his best to keep his voice steady, but he failed miserably. He was picking up Kyuubi's fear…and it was starting to get to him. Try as he might…he was having a hard time keeping up his brave front. Kyuubi sniffed the air before letting out a disgusted sound. "Yech! No…all I get is this stench. It's so strong, I can't even get a smell of people."

"Alright, here's the plan, guys. Hinata, you and I will take the east road. Naruto, you and Kyuubi will go west. Look for anything out of the ordinary, and I do mean anything. We'll meet back at the center of town in 20 minutes. If you find someone that lives here, you are to bring them back with you." Naruto tossed Kakashi an evil stare. "No way…I'm sticking with Hinata. Where she goes, I go. There's no way I'm gonna hang around with dog breath, here." He knew that one was coming. He knew Naruto all too well. "Look, Naruto, the way I see it…where ever you go, Kyuubi is going to follow you. It would make no sense to have 2 trackers going the same direction. We can cover more ground in less time more effectively by splitting up this way. Got it?" Kakashi emphasized the last part of his explanation by shooting an equally evil stare right back at his former pupil. It got his point across as he could see the color rapidly drain from Naruto's face. "Y-yeah…sure…got it." Man…Kakashi can be scary as hell when he wants to be.' "K-Kakashi? What if we encounter s-someone that doesn't look like they're from this t-town?" Hinata asked. "Then one of us will alert the others to rendezvous so we can follow and observe. If a fight looks inevitable, then we alert the others by sending up a flare. But combat is our last resort, understood?" "Hai!" they all answered in unison. "Good…move out."

On the west side of town, Naruto was following behind the nine-tails with this fingers laced together on the back of his head. The look on his face was clearly showing his aggravation at having to team up with his "other side". "Kuso! Why am I cursed to be stuck with you, of all things? It's just not fair, I tell ya." "Heh…guess its just fate, Kit. Get used to it." "Fate, my ass. You're starting to sound like Neji now." Kyuubi couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Ha-ha… Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment, brat. At least he's got brain." A vein popped on Naruto's forehead. "Go screw yourself, mutt." "HAHAHA! Oh I do so enjoy these little chats." In that instant, a smell hit his sensitive nose. "Wait! I smell something. It's faint due to the scent of evil here, but its close. It smells like…" A few more good whiffs later, "…blood."

A/N: Hmmm…abandoned village…evil everywhere…the smell of blood. Anyone else smell a cliché here?

If you're wondering why Sasuke is still alive and no longer bears the curse mark…here's your answer. The chakra the mark gave him helped to keep him alive and revive him in a similar way to Naruto and the nine-tail, but it burned itself out in the process, thereby saving him and freeing him at the same time. Sure, the mark may not actually work that way…but I kinda liked the idea…so I rolled with it.

Next Chapter: One of our teams meets the enemy. Finally…some action!

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