*NOTE* Sorry about the double update. I accidentally deleated the chapter (somehow =S retard alert) while fixing up some little mistakes.

So after a tense wait, it's time to find out what happens! Get checkin peeps.

Chapter 30

Not fifteen minutes had passed before Tsunade was back in her hated office, along with the still sobbing Naruto and an actually serious Jiraiya. Not much had been said between the three as they waited for the summoned ninja to arrive. In an act totally out of character, Kakashi turned up first, his eye gleaming with a certain light that could only come from years in such a service as his. Not too far behind the man followed Gai, eternal smile hidden behind a serious down turn of his mouth. Rounding out the group was Kurenai and Anko. Several glances were taken at the more unstable of the two women but that was it. Standing to attention, they waited on their leader.

"Alright, we have a bit of a problem. I'm also going to release some classified information to you so remember, lips zipped. I'll start off by saying that we have a missing persons case. I have already sent out ANBU to scout for any leads so we'll hopefully get something soon. The reason I have called you four here personally though is because you each have had something to do with Naruto here within the last few days."

Pausing, she looked down at the still distraught boy. "Now, each of you know about Naruto's little problem with his jutsu he created. You also may know of some rumours going around that he had a companion with him as of the last two days."

Seeing a slight nod from each member, Tsunade continued. "Here is the classified information. There was indeed an extra person with him. The story behind her is that she is Naruto's sister that was found living deep in the forests of Konoha. The thing is though; she really is his sister, only she wasn't living in the forest. She was actually sealed within Naruto until now."

The four Jounin stiffened but said nothing. Tsunade nodded slightly. Good. "It was all a part of the Fourths plan to store the Kyuubi and lower the risk it could break out. Now, if you haven't already worked it out, Naruko is the missing person."

"Naruko, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Sorry, it's been a long night as you can imagine. That is Naruto's sister's name. Brief description, she looks exactly like Naruto's Oiroke version. Long blond hair, whisker marks, fairly well developed body for a girl her age. It isn't too hard to picture. Now, from what Naruto here can describe, he was flanked by three ninja, all dressed completely in black with standard white masks on. The only traceable thing Naruto could see was on the mask of the ninja that snatched up his sister. It had a wide mouth, two triangles on each cheek in what appeared a deep blue and wide set eyes. I certainly don't have any knowledge of such a member in my ANBU so any ideas who it could be?"

The room then fell into silence as the Jounin thought. It certainly didn't seem like anything a foreign village would have, nor should they have gotten hold of such information unless there was a mole in the town. That was impossible though simply because other major secrets would have been leaked by now. There was only one other option, but surely he wouldn't be so brass as to organise something like that?

Kakashi took a small step forward. "Forgive me for implying but, perhaps it might be Danzo-sama?"

Tsunade frowned at the idea but said nothing. Taking it as permission to continue, he did so. "I can only think of such a mask like that being found in Konoha. If there is nothing like that in ANBU, then I wouldn't mind hazarding a guess that Danzo-sama has one of those in his room. The only thing that keeps nagging at me though is that it is far to brazen for something he would normally do. He is a man of the shadows, and even if it is night time, it still doesn't add up."

Tsunade nodded. "I came to the same conclusion as well. He did come into my office a day back, requesting Naruko as an agent. Of course I refused, but still, there's a motive."

Jiraiya, quiet up until now, spoke out quietly. "But what could he want her for now? There is no real reason for him to randomly attack now. Also, that man can disappear just as well as I can when he wants to. So assuming he does in fact have Naruko, where is it that he could have taken her?"

Again the room fell silent. Nothing added up. It certainly seemed like Danzo, but this kind of thing just wasn't the man's style. Thoughts flew through the heads of all members but unfortunately, everything came up blank.

Sighing, Tsunade bit her lip. "Well, us sitting here on our hands isn't going to sort anything out. I want each of you to back trace where you were with Naruto these last few days to see if anyone suspicious had been following you. Myself and Jiraiya will head out to the training fields to see if anything was left."

The usual dismissal though didn't come as the Hokage bent down to Naruto's eye level. "Hey kid, can I get you to help us out here? We'll need your help if we're gona find Naruko ok?"

Seeing the tuft of hair buried within his arms nod, Tsunade smiled. "Thanks Naruto. Can you stand up now?"

Another nod later and Naruto was pulling himself to his feet with a little help from Tsunade. Turning back to the group, Tsunade pointed at Naruto. "Alright, Naruto is going to act as our radio. We each will have one as per usual, but seeming we'll be spread out over a distance, the range will be affected. This is where Naruto comes in. He can simply create a clone and have it disperse, relaying the information to us all."

Naruto wiped his eye and looked up in confusion. "But how am I meant to do that?"

All Jounin looked down at the boy. "You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

Tsunade looked over at Kakashi and gave him a very disapproving glare. "You mean to say you have a student that has a forbidden technique that YOU know, yet you don't teach him the finer things about it?"

Actually having the decency to look sheepish, Kakashi scratched his cheek. "Well, you know, we have been pretty busy with mission lately –"

He was cut off with a wave of Tsunade's hand. "Enough. That is NO excuse. I would have expected better of you, especially as a former ANBU."

Kakashi fell silent with a simple, "Yes, sir."

Growling, Tsunade dearly wanted to rip the lazy man a new one but refrained. Turning back to Naruto, she explained. "Any clone you create instantly transmits any information it obtained back to you, as well as to any clone still in existence once it dispels. So you could have a clone on the other side of Konoha and have it disperse, and you'll instantly know what's going on over there."

Perking up slightly, Naruto let a little smile slide onto his face. "That's pretty cool Baa-chan..."

Tsunade smiled in response. "Indeed it is." Her smile then dropped and she levelled Kakashi with a dangerous gaze. "Well now, after 5 minutes that should have been used elsewhere, we can continue. Naruto, can you please create a clone for each person here?"

With a soft mumble, six equally depressed clones popped into existence. Smiling sympathetically, Tsunade nodded. "Thanks kid. Now, everyone! I want Naruko found by sun up, NO excuses."

Again she levelled Kakashi with a wilting glare.

"All clear?"

"Sir!"

Tsunade made a sweeping motion. "Then move out! We have ourselves a girl to find!"

XxXxXxX

Kurenai and Anko decided it was best to stick close, seeming that they had been together most of the times they had been with Naruto. Keeping the boys clone close, they scoured every tree, every alley way, every bed and every seat that the blond had occupied with them. Not a single leaf was left unturned as the accomplished kunoichi diligently worked to find even a hint of an unexplained visitor.

Pulling herself from behind an old dumpster, Kurenai walked out into the street, fingers pinching her nose as she left the smell. Anko respectively dragged herself out of a tight gap between a couple of buildings. Smoothing out her well ruffled clothing, she sighed and then began to comb out several thick cobwebs from her hair. Seeing her friends questioning gaze, she shook her head.

"Nup, not a single thing out of place there."

Kurenai frowned as her frustration rose. "Same deal here. I just hope the other groups are having better luck than us."

Turning, she spared the two depressed blonds sitting by a wall a glance. Her eyes hardened as she thought of the person responsible. Should she catch this man, she would make sure that all was left of him was a shell of a body. She would imagine that Anko would more than gladly take over after that.

XxXxXxX

Kakashi was busy trying to think over where he and his student had recently been. It was becoming apparent that after the boy had begun suffering his affliction, Kakashi had pretty much left him to his own devices. It shamed him somewhat to know that he had neglected his pupil in such an awkward time. It occurred to him that what Naruto did outside of training and missions wasn't really his business, but common decency dictated that he could have taken atleast a little interest in the boy. Shaking his head, he came to the conclusion that he was going to have to pick the game up, if ever so slightly. But now wasn't the time to ponder such things.

Casting a trained eye over Team 7s meeting grounds, he quickly came to the conclusion that other than their own presence several days ago, no one else had ventured into the grounds. Sighing, Kakashi turned to face his unnervingly quiet student.

"It seems like no one has been here since us. We'll take the same route back to the Hokage tower as we originally did. I doubt that we'll find anything else though."

The child mealy nodded, falling into step behind his teacher. Casting a lingering glance at Naruto, Kakashi sincerely hoped that they could find the boys sister and manage to bring him back to normal.

XxXxXxX

Gai had taken to carrying Naruto under his arm as the boy was proving to be too unhappy to keep up easily. As a taijutsu specialist, Gai was searching high and low for any and all imprints that could suggest a spy. So far, he had only managed to find the numerous footsteps of the ANBU as they raced around the town trying to find any leads. Taking a breather near his usual training grounds, he dropped Naruto down.

"It seems that your usual youthful flare has taken quite a hit young man."

Naruto didn't reply, mealy bowing his head in defeat. Gai let out a rare sigh at the sight. He had to somehow talk motivation back into the boy or else the mission would be severally hampered. Placing a large hand on the top of Naruto's head, he twisted his wrist and made the blond look up at him. Sending him a rather watered down version of his usual smile, Gai raised a thumb.

"Come on now, we can't have a strong, young lad like yourself all depressed. Sitting around like this won't solve anything, especially when it comes to finding a loved one. You need to be proactive!"

Gai's voice steadily rose, despite the man's attempt to stay quiet. "Naruko isn't dead yet! She has a fiery spirit that rivals your own! No, she is most definitely alive and well! So you'd do well to raise your head, find these vile people who kidnapped your beloved sister, and then beat what youth remains in them right back out of them!"

Despite some indignant cries from villagers telling him to shut up, Gai smiled as Naruto's eyes hardened. Nodding one, he reached up and tightened his head band.

"You're right, Gai-sensei! I can't be all emo and Sasuke like now. I gotta find these people."

His eyes darkened. "They will not get away with it. Believe it."

Letting out a hearty laugh, Gai clapped Naruto heavily on the shoulder. "That's what I want to hear from a student of mine! Now, let's continue looking!"

After a moment of hearing nothing, Gai looked down.

"Whoops, it seemed my own youth went a little overboard."

All that remained of Naruto were some thin clouds dispersing into the night. Licking his teeth, Gai pondered his predicament. Realising he still had his radio, he let out one final, barely controlled cry before disappearing from view, just before the flying shoes appeared.

XxXxXxX

Jiraiya and Tsunade split up at the tower, each following their own paths, but organising to meet up with each other out at the furthest training grounds.

Tsunade focused heavily on her own home, trying to determine if anyone had been around recently. All trees within several hundred meters were near ripped from the ground, only to be replanted once found to be clean. A couple of kind words also managed to get Naruto to help, help being him wandering around aimlessly, kicking at loose objects. It wasn't much of an improvement but atleast it was making him do something.

Pushing her fists into her back, Tsunade straightened up from scrutinising an odd scuff in a branch. Twisting, she shivered as her spine popped. Casting a careless glance around, she went to jump off but paused as something seemingly insignificant caught her eye.

A fly. A dead one at that. To any ordinary observer, it was nothing. But to Tsunade, it sparked questions. An insect that size should have been eaten by other small creatures long ago. Dropping to the ground, she looked around.

Dead ants.

Picking one up, she popped the creature into her mouth and swirled it around. Aside from the usual foul taste that accompanied such a creature, she could detect a hint of poison. Nothing lethal to a human, but to such a small insect it was more than enough. Frowning, Tsunade considered this. Whoever was in that tree only wanted to kill that fly. They obviously didn't know that particular type of poison lasted several days in smaller animals though. The ants were just casualties of the fly, but indicated that it had indeed been there for an extended period of time.

Spitting out the ant, Tsunade jumped back up and took a closer look at the fly. Its wings were dry, one having already snapped off. It clearly had been there for atleast a day.

Jumping down, she jogged over to Naruto and knelt down. "Alright, I found something. Someone was here within the last forty-eight hours so that means they were indeed scouting you. We'll start heading over to meet up with Jiraiya. We'll catch this bastard, whoever they are."

Seeing a hint of his usual tenacious glare creep back into his eyes, Tsunade smiled. "Ok, Baa-chan. let's go find out who took my sister." His gaze then darkened as the dispersed clones memories came to him. "And when I find out who, I'll kill them."

XxXxXxX

Jiraiya had been hunting all over the place but to no avail. While he himself may have been a master at disappearing, his forte wasn't in tracking. Sure, he knew all the tricks on how to spot something like that, but just didn't have the natural talent that other ninja possessed. Too many times he stopped to check something that looked like it could have been a lead only to deem it a red herring. Frustrated, he began to overlook other things in his growing need to meet up with Tsunade.

"Come on brat, we haven't got all night!"

Not hearing the usual response, he turned back. Naruto was still there, but had a strange aura around him. It was more dark and ominous than usual. It wasn't the malicious uncontrolled fury of the Kyuubi, but more along the calm, deadly lines of a trained assassin. By no means was it that good, but it was the beginnings of one. Frowning, Jiraiya approved of it, but still didn't like it. Turning back, he pushed off the ground and into the trees.

"Oi, Ero-Sennin, wait up a moment."

Turning back, he saw Naruto studying a dead fly. "This don't seem right. Shouldn't it have been eaten by something by now?"

Dropping down, Jiraiya studied the insect. Taking a quick look around, he spied some other dead insects; cockroaches and the likes. He cursed himself for missing something like that. Had Naruto not picked it up, they could have very well missed this hopefully valuable clue. Picking it up, he sealed it and tucked the scroll away.

"We'll show Tsunade this. She'll more than likely be able to tell us what it is."

Nodding sharply, Naruto took to the trees before Jiraiya was finished. Sighing, the tall man jumped after him. While his enthusiasm was admirable, he really needed to be drilled on his consistent need to barge into situations without thinking first. Making a note about that, Jiraiya quickly caught up to the blond.

XxXxXxX

Tsunade only waited a few minutes before Jiraiya and the original Naruto popped through the shrubbery. Jogging up to her, Jiraiya tapped his forehead. "Found anything?"

To his satisfaction, she nodded. "Indeed. It seems someone was around my place within the last two days."

Jiraiya nodded. "Good." Unsealing the fly, he held it out to her. "Naruto spotted this on the way back. It had a number of other dead insects around it. It could prove to be something."

"Hand it over."

Then in an act that surprised all other three group members, Tsunade popped the fly into her mouth. She rolled it around her tongue, eyes looking off to the side in concentration. Finally coming to a conclusion, she spat it out and wiped her mouth. Seeing the slightly disgusted/ curious stares, she elaborated.

"It's the fastest way to identify a poison. Yes, I could use chakra to work it out but that's a spike I'd rather not leave. Anyway, it is indeed the same poison used on the fly I found back at my house."

Jiraiya hummed. "So we have a kidnapper that doesn't like flies."

Tsunade shook her head. "It's unlikely that this individual was the culprit. I'd say something more like a scout."

Jiraiya nodded. "Well that's all well and good, but what leads does this give?"

Tsunade cupped her chin with a hand. "Well, it does narrow down potential suspects. Only a few ninja in the force use poisons. This person obviously didn't understand the chemical makeup of this one, so is either a beginner, hasn't used this particular type before, or was given it by someone who does know about poisons."

Jiraiya froze for a second, and then spoke up. "Do you perhaps think that this person might have been that 'little bird' Danzo spoke of?"

Looking up at the man, Tsunade nodded. "It very well could be."

Jiraiya grinned. "So we find this guy, and we have ourselves a lead."

As the two adults discussed the fly and the spy, Naruto and his clone were holding a discussion of their own. They sat cross legged, heads bowed and eyes closed as they traded comments.

"So what did you find?"

"A dead fly. Baa-chan said that someone killed it with poison."

"That must have been what happened with the fly me 'n' Ero-Sennin found."

"So that bastard must have been following us."

"I swear, I'll kill him when I find him."

"WE'LL kill him you mean."

"Yeah, and the other guys too. NO ONE touches our sister!"

"Damn right. Now it's just how to find her."

"Yeah... but how?"

Falling silent, they pondered the predicament for a moment before sighing and leaning back.

"Man, I just wish there was a way to track her seal."

Realisation hitting them simultaneously, they looked at each other.

"Hang on, would Ero-Sennin be able to do that?"

"Let's ask!"

Jumping up, they ran over and started pulling on his jacket. "Oi, Ero-Sennin, we wana ask you something!"

Looking down in frustration, the white haired man tried to fend the hands away. "Can't you ask me later? Tsunade and I might have something."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, it's important! We wana know if it'd be possible to trace our seal? Cause if you can, you can trace it right to where Naruko-chan is!"

Pausing, Jiraiya looked at his fellow companion. She shrugged non-committaly. "Don't look at me, you're the seal master here."

Turning back, Jiraiya was met with both original and clone with their shirts rolled up, channelling chakra in an effort to bring the seal to the surface.

"You should be able to do something, yeah? Here, have a really good look!"

Sighing, Jiraiya knelt down. "Alright, alright. I'll have a look. Channel a little more, it's a bit difficult to see in this light."

Nodding in agreement, both Naruto's began glowing blue ever so slightly as more chakra was pumped into the seal.

However, the second that happened, Jiraiya's attention was drawn away from the seal to something far, FAR more interesting. His eyes widened exponentially as the realisation hit him. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed both boys and pulled them in close to his face. "Naruto! Summon everyone here, right now! I know how to find Naruko!"

XxXxXxX

A/N – how about that? Two cliffies in as many updates! Can anyone guess what Jiraiya discovered? There's a clue in the story somewhere ;)

For all who care to read as well, this chapter was GREAT fun to write! It practically wrote itself and had even me captivated with how it developed! Kyaa, I love it!

See you next chapter people =D

Lanky