This chapter is going to be some build up for the time skip I plan to do next chapter. Some OCs are going to be introduced. Thanks for the reviews too, I love reading them (even those of the Kaminsky criticizer -_-). (*Thursday Update*) Gonna switch to weekly updates now, school's catching up on me)

Chapter 3

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Hiruzen yelled, "He's a loud kid, wearing a bright orange, kill-me, jumpsuit and you lost him?!"

"Well technical-" the Hokage gave him an icy stare, "Yes, I lost the brat. I've searched the village but it seems like he's outside of our village's boundaries." Bear sighed out.

"Do me a favor and go gather your ANBU comrades" the Hokage said, preparing himself for a massive headache.

"Yes, sir." Bear said as he bowed, and then left the room.

"So much for an elite unit…" Hiruzen said, rubbing his eyes.

Later, Bear's ANBU squad returned, as well as two other ANBU squads. Among them were Cat and Bear, the two most responsible for Naruto's disappearance.

"So, since Cat and Bear were on duty to monitor Naruto, I think we can all agree that they should both be demoted to Special-Jounin, and forced to teach at the Academy for 3 months with decreased pay" Hiruzen said, staring coldly at the aforementioned pair.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama" Cat and Bear said simultaneously, forced to accept their punishment.

"Dismissed" Hiruzen said waving the two off. "Next, we have the problem of Naruto. I want squads to be sent to the borders of Fire Country to monitor for any unusual Shinobi leaving the country. I also want suspicious villagers interrogated in case they took action against him due to his tenant. I want to be immediately noticed when you find the boy." he said waving the remaining ANBU off. 'I really need to get Jiraiya searching for him.' he thought, sighing.

Naruto was in the process of running through a world in which he could see nothing. Darkness surrounded him on all sides. He couldn't speak, or hear, as well. He couldn't even tell his muscles were moving.

The only way reason he knew he was moving at all was because once in a while he would run into an object, and trip. Then he would realize he was sprawled out on the ground, get up, and repeat the process. This continued for what felt like hours. He couldn't tell the actual duration, though, as he couldn't see due to the darkness.

'This is really weird' he thought as he was running, 'I hope this is a dream. It does feel similar to when Pakura was carrying me, though.' he thought as he continued to run through the darkness, 'Pakura… carrying…Aha! I need to wake up, I have no idea where she took me!' he thought.

Naruto woke with a jolt, 'What a weird dream' he thought.

He was in an unfamiliar location; Pakura had knocked him out as they met with the Kazekage. As he opened his eyes he found himself staring at a sand-covered ceiling, in a room without windows. The walls, similar to the ceiling, also were covered in sand. The bed he was laying on was in the right corner of the room, and was the only furniture around. On his wrists were chakra cuffs, they weren't connected, however. Reaching out to touch the sand, however, he found that it was dry, and hard, almost like sandstone. Naruto had never seen sand before, though.

"What, is this orange-yellow material?" he asked to himself, "And where the hell am I?!" he yelled as he sat up and placed his feet on the floor. He felt something odd between his toes, "Lemme guess more of that stuff." Naruto said, sighing.

He finally noticed the entrance to his room, if it could be called that. The only part of it that allowed it to be considered an entrance, was the vertical bars on its upper-half. It resembled more of a barred door, which were found primarily in jails.

"Ughhhh" Naruto, grumbled, dragging his feet across the weird substance beneath his feet. "I remember Iruka saying at the Academy I need to analyze the situation, I think. But, what's there to analyze?! It looks like I'm in a cell!" Naruto yelled, "It'd make sense though, Pakura did capture me…." Naruto said dejectedly as he moved back to lay down on his bed.

'Another person who hates me.' Naruto thought staring up at the ceiling. Unnoticed by him, two wet drops fell from his eyes; he had been mistreated for a long time. Pakura was different, though, he thought he could trust her and she betrayed him.

Suddenly the barred door to his cell, opened, and in walked an imposing man. He stood around 5'10, with broad shoulders, and a chest that resembled one of a body-builder. His face was rough and appeared to be one of a seasoned-shinobi. He wore a Suna headband across his forehead, and had a scruffy black beard. His eyes were cold black pits. He was a bald man, with burns surrounding his missing left ear.

"Demon." He said stepping towards Naruto. "You're now in Suna, and reside in my territory." he stepped in front of Naruto, as he crouched down to his height. "This prison belongs to me, and that includes you, Demon. To you, I'm Leader, and until you are deemed loyal to Suna, you won't leave this cell."

Naruto would've objected if not for the man's commanding presence, "Yes sir?" he stated timidly.

"Not sir! Leader!" the man now known as Leader, shouted, punching Naruto hard in the stomach. "You have a couple of people to meet before we get started, Demon." he said releasing killer intent as he talked to the boy, who now sat trembling, against the wall. "Don't embarrass me." he finished as he left the room.

'Definitely a prison. They seem to know of my tenant too' Naruto thought as he felt a feeling that had escaped him since he was younger: fear.

Naruto crawled back to his original spot and stared at the ceiling, hoping, praying, that someone would help him escape this hellhole. He'd already experienced enough of it. 'I need to be brave, just like with the villagers' he thought to himself, as he fell back asleep.

Four hours later, Naruto woke up to another eeeeek that signified the opening of his cell door. Thinking it was Leader again, Naruto decided to have some fun, regardless of the consequences.

"Hello!" he shouted as loud as he could, as his next visitor entered.

Unbeknownst to Naruto this man, was a much more important visitor. He wore green robes, and a green hat signifying that this man was the Kazekage. He had rusty red hair, that was almost a maroon color. His eyes were small black dots, and gave little room to doubt the responsibilities of Kages, they were tired-looking with dark circles underneath them.

"Hello, Naruto, I'm your Kazekage." The man before him stated calmly. "I give you one piece of advice. Forget Konoha. You will remain in here until you're loyal to Suna, and until you forget those tree-huggers, you won't see the light of day." The man began to walk out of his cell, "You won't see me again, until you are loyal, Demon." The man said coldly, mentioning his newly assigned name, as he shut the door to the one-room cell.

"I'll never forget Konoha!" Naruto shouted. "Just like I'll never be loyal to Suna!"

Unfortunately for him, Leader, was listening in on this conservation outside his cell. He would make sure to punish Demon for this incident, later.

The next visitor Naruto received was in the evening, at least that's what he thought. Unfortunately, he had no clock or window to the outside, and as a result couldn't tell the time. That didn't keep him from guessing, though.

'As long as it isn't that Leader guy. He freaks me out' Naruto thought as he awaited his new visitor.

"This'll be your last visitor, Demon!" a voice that sounded like Leader's shouted.

"His name is Naruto, Aoki." a girl's voice stated.

'That sounds like Pakura.' Naruto thought, 'I won't talk to her, believe it! She put me here!' he thought as he moved to the far corner of his bed and turned to face the wall.

Pakura walked in to see Naruto staring at the wall.

"Hello Naruto" she told him.

No response.

Pakura sighed, she realized he might be mad, but it never occurred to her that he'd blame herself for his capture. She was only doing her duty to her village, after all!

"Naruto, I brought you some ramen." she said as she set the steaming bowl of noodles down near his spot on the bed. "I hope you can forgive me for capturing you, I was just doing my duty to Suna. The Kazekage is sending me out on a long mission in the meantime. I won't be back for a while, but I'll make sure to check back in on you when I get back. I'll bring ramen too." she told him as she began to leave the room, "If you lose your allegiance to Konoha, you'll get out of here much faster. You don't want to be here for too long either. I've seen prisoners break after a few months with no sense of time, and Aoki's 'punishments'."

"I can never forget Konoha. It'll always be my home, believe it!" Naruto shouted, momentarily looking towards her. He didn't know what to answer in regards to her explanation.

Pakura turned towards him and he could see disappointment in her eyes, "If you're going to resist, find something to look forward to, or achieve. It'll help you keep your mind together, even if it's a menial task." she said, turning back towards the door, "I do regret you being put in this prison, Naruto." she told him as she left his cell.

"Me too." he said resting his head back on his pillow, as he picked up the ramen Pakura had left for him. Tomorrow Leader, or Aoki, would begin whatever punishments he felt necessary. He felt he could take Pakura's advice, even if he wasn't willing to forgive her.

'I will remain loyal to Konoha, after all the Yondaime Hokage wouldn't give up in this situation, believe it!' Naruto thought as he finished his ramen, and set it down on the floor. 'I hope they have a janitor here, maybe I can ask Leader to take it for me' he thought before shivering at the fact that Leader would probably hit him for a question like that.

Naruto sat his head down on his pillow to sleep, he was unnaturally tired for some reason unknown to him. 'Must be ramen withdrawal, I haven't had ramen in days, after all' he thought.

As he stared at the ceiling he pondered Pakura's second piece of advice: finding something to look forwards to. 'Pakura did say she'd bring ramen when she checks on me, and ramen is ramen whoever it's eaten with. I can look forward to that, definitely.' Naruto thought happy with himself. 'I also hope to get out of here someday.'

"Someday…" Naruto mumbled as he fell asleep facing the sand-covered wall.

Meanwhile, in Konoha, a silver-haired man was preparing his students for the life of a ninja, starting with the basis of all ninja-life: teamwork. Across his left eye was his Konoha forehead proctor, and below that a dark blue mask covered the bottom half of his face. He could be seen reading an orange book while leaning next to a tree. He was faced as if he was watching his students, but it seemed like he was only focused on his orange book.

"Sakura, Sasuke, Sai. Again." the silver haired man told them, "You can't start training until you get your teamwork down."

In a triangle sat Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai: the triple S squad. On the left sat Sakura. She was a young teen, with long pink hair, and emerald-green eyes. She wore a red dress, with her forehead protector tied over the top of her head. To her right, sat Sasuke, a black-haired boy with soulless black eyes. He wore a blue-collared shirt with grey shorts. His headband, was placed across his forehead.

Furthest away, completing their triangle, was Sai. He had a pale countenance, with dark black hair, and a bandage-wrapped sword across his back. He wore an emotionless expression, as well as a black shirt with red stripes down both sides. Sai had been assigned to the team after Naruto had failed to show up for their team introductions.

"Yes, Kakashi." Sai replied immediately, motioning for Sakura to come to him, "Ugly, come here, we need to do our trust-falls to proceed."

They were still on the beginning teamwork exercise. This was their third day.

"Shut up Sai!" Sakura yelled at him as she stood up and walked towards Sasuke, "Sasuke will catch me!" Sakura exclaimed, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to become weightless.

Sasuke watched as she fell down to the ground, not bothering to catch her nor help her up. "Hnn." he said as he stood up and walked away. He could accomplish more through training by himself.

The silver haired man, sighed, as he flipped to the next page of the book. They would be on the beginner exercise for a lot longer at this pace. Watching his students brought his mind back to the disappearance of the student Sai had replaced: Naruto. 'I won't fail you again Minato-sensei. Next time I see Naruto, I will bring him back, even at the cost of my life.' he vowed.

The Hokage had just started on his next pile of paperwork, when his former-student, Jiraiya, entered in through the window of his office.

Jiraiya had spiky white hair that fell to his back. Across his forehead was a headband with the kanji for oil.

"Sensei, I got your message." Jiraiya said as he bowed to acknowledge him. He wore green robes with a red jacket. Across his back was a large scroll. Streaming down his eyes, were what looked to be red lines that almost resembled crying. He wore red stilted sandals.

"Stand Jiraiya." Hiruzen said, motioning for him to end his bow. "I've called you here, because we've lost Naruto." Jiraiya was about to protest, "Yes, I know. The people responsible have been dealt with." The Hokage said, handing him the report of Naruto's disappearance.

"We've three days where Naruto's whereabouts are unknown before his disappearance was reported by ANBU. I need you to see if you can find out what occurred during these days, and, in addition, to call upon your spy network to see if they can find the boy." The Hokage told him. "We've reason to believe he has left Fire Country, please bring him back Jiraiya."

"I'll do my best as the great toad sage!" Jiraiya said raising his fist, "It's possible though he's either dead or captured, and if that's the case it might be a while before we figure out what happened to the boy." Jiraiya said as he left through the window.

'Either way, Minato is most definitely rolling around in his grave right now.' the Hokage thought dejectedly as he returned back to his paperwork.

Choji and Shikamaru had just finished with their team's practice, before they'd decided to get some food. Choji had eaten chips during the entirety of their practice, yet, as was usual of an Akimichi, he was still hungry. Ino had decided not to come, as she had to tend to her family's store.

The pair decided to visit Ichiraku's, to honor the memory of their missing friend. Anyone who had ever talked to Naruto knew about his favorite food: Ichiraku's ramen.

"Five Naruto size orders of miso ramen, please." Choji told their waiter.

"I'll have a regular size miso." Shikamaru casually told her. "Troublesome. The boy who couldn't stop mentioning this food, has now gone missing. And now that he's missing, and stopped mentioning the greatness of ramen, we've finally gone to his favorite place. Too troublesome." Shikamaru sighed out.

"I guess you're right Shikamaru. Food is the best way to express yourself, though. Even if it's sadness at losing one of your friends." Choji said, as he sniffed at the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen of the small stand, "Looks like he was right too." Choji said, gazing at the kitchen hungrily.

Ayame came out of the kitchen with their food. "Have you seen Naruto anywhere?" she asked them as she set the steaming bowls down in front of them.

"Nope, no one has actually. The Hokage has declared him missing." Shikamaru told her as he began to slowly eat his food.

"I thought something must've been up, he's missed his lunchtime ramen-appointments for 5 days now!" Ayame said as she walked back to the kitchen to tell her father the news regarding their top customer. 'I guess that Pakura-lady must've not been able to find him. He probably disappeared before she even had the chance.' Ayame thought dejectedly, forgetting to tell the two genin about the orange-haired woman's meeting with Naruto.

Unbeknownst to her, and anyone else in Konoha, Pakura was the one responsible for the boy's disappearance. The ANBU hadn't thought to mention her presence to the Hokage, after all Suna was an ally of Konoha, they would never capture one of Konoha's shinobi. Even the gate guards didn't think anything of the woman and her "apprentice" leaving Konoha in the middle of night.