This chapter is dedicated to the following: Lazy Kitty Hyuu and BookHippie! *cheers in the background*

Thanks for the awesome reviews and the encouraging thoughts. Also...

A special shout-out to quintupledots915! She was the first to review my story before I decided to change the plot and improve it, ^.^' and she just reviewed for my seventh chapter and I was so happy that I just had to make a mini spotlight! Ta-da!

So to show my appreciation... I'm updating this early and its all thanks to those three people! However, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and supported my writing through the many stages! Also, if nanakira still reads this, I would like to hear what you think about the improvements...

That's all for now, so read on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing...

"quotes"

thoughts

Warning: This chapter is in Kakashi's Point of View, unless stated otherwise anywhere.

Un-Beta'd: Sorry... I swear I'll get one eventually... ^.^'

I continued on, becoming more confused as the time passed. After Naruto's chakra had disappeared, I had summoned Pakkun in order to track him further.

At first, I had assumed that he was simply embarrassed and was trying to avoid the questions that would quickly follow his return to the village, but it had been hours since I had summoned Pakkun.

And the farther away we got from the village, the more I thought something else was happening which caused me to worry.

And it wasn't just our distance from the village that bothered me.

It was my distance from Naruto.

Originally, Pakkun had said that we were no more than two miles away from him.

But as time went on, he had managed to slowly add more and more distance between us; now, Naruto was over ten miles away and getting steadily faster, which should be impossible for him in his current position.

"Pakkun, any sign of him slowing down?" I called out to the small brown pug in front of me.

"Not looking like it. I think he's getting faster, actually."

I nodded grimly, That's the problem. We've already crossed over to River Country. If he goes any faster, we'll be in Suna.

Instead of voicing my complaints, I pick of speed, hoping that this chase would come to an end soon and Naruto would tire.

I knew that we couldn't go at this speed forever, though.

It would be wrong to ask this of any ninja- even Gai- but with Naruto going to such lengths to escape from me, something had to be wrong.

There was no reason anyone would go this far to avoid an embarrassing conversation about their love-life.

But as the minutes passed, even I began to become worried.

At least, until, Pakkun stopped.

"Did he finally stop?"

Pakkun only hesitated for a moment before sitting back on his haunches, "No. His scent disappeared."

I tensed before I pulled up my hitaite, activating my sharingan, "Show me where."

Pakkun walked forward cautiously, our urgency forgotten with this new occurrence. We walked farther until we came to the border of Wind Country. "This is where his scent ends," Pakkun stated.

I glanced around, looking for any trace of the blonde ninja that would give me some hint to what had happened; however, I came up short.

Taking out a small book out of my kunai pouch and opening it to a map, marking it. "We'll just have to tell the Hokage that we lost him."

Pakkun semmed to slouch, "Good luck with that, Kakashi. That woman doesn't seem to like bad news."

With that, Pakkun disappeared and I smiled.

"Yeah, but someone has to tell her…"

Turning around, I made my way back to the village, sprinting with more urgency than I had chased Naruto.

I needed to report this immediately.

Racing through the trees, I made it back to Fire Country without any disturbance, but as I'm closing in on Konoha, a sudden flare in chakra catches me by surprise.

Coming to a stop on a high branch, I take in my surroundings until I see a man walk through the trees.

His chakra was vibrant- based from the fire element- and could be compared to that of a demon; as he looked at me, my blood ran cold.

His eyes were that of the sharingan.

I was unaware that there was another surviving Uchiha. Unless he had the eyes surgically placed; but then, who is he?

The man only smirked at me, his expression cold and calculating before he disappeared in the bushes.

Definitely Uchiha; they have the cold expression down to an art.

It would be hard to forget that smirk, either.

Sasuke always used it.

Standing slowly from my crouch on the branch, I debate for a moment whether or not I should report this to the Hokage- and ultimately decided that it was best to let her know of the possibility of another Uchiha.

Coming to a decision, I head to the village again, eager to finish the day and get some rest.

If he's an Uchiha, than does Hokage already know about his existence?

Could he be part of Akatsuki?

Now that I think of it, all the surviving Uchiha ended up becoming a part of Akatsuki.

So who is he?

My mind was wandering back to Naruto's eerie disappearance as I drew ever closer to the village, Why was he running from me so persistently? What would make him try that hard to get away?

Unless something else had happened before we got to the hospital.

Could that be it?

As I finally came into the village, I made a bee-line straight for the Hokage's office, ready to end the day, I was still unable to connect the dots.

Then why would he run?

Maybe he wasn't trying to…

This isn't right.

It just doesn't add up…

My thoughts continued to roam at three-thousand miles an hour as I walked calmly to the Hokage's office.

Although I was unsettled increasingly by the missing pieces within the overall plot to the recent events, I stopped suddenly, my eyes roaming over the familiar mess of blonde hair turning the corner on the opposite side of the hall, walking away from the office.

Walking hurriedly the last few paces to the Hokage's office, I open the door, sticking my head in, "Was that just Naruto I saw leaving?"

The Hokage looked up at me from her seat, "Yes… it seems Danzo had found him."

"Did he say to where that he discovered him?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

"No. I asked him to formally file a report; he said he'd have Sai send in the finished paperwork later."

Tsunade let out a tired sigh before rubbing at her temples, chakra flickering at her fingertips.

"You don't trust him."

It was a statement; it was apparent that Danzo's involvement made her uneasy.

"Is it that obvious?"

I nodded gravely, "There's something I would like to report."

She waved her hand towards me- giving me permission- so I continued, pulling out a small book, "In my search, I had found his chakra up to this point before it disappeared," I pointed to a map that I had sketched in my book before proceeding, "Due to this, I had Pakkun to track him, using his scent. With that, we tracked him farther away from the village.

"At this time, I had created a shadow clone to let you know of my actions. When Pakkun had finally lost his scent," I turned a few pages of my book before pointing again, "We were on the border between the River Country and Sunagakure."

"Is it possible he made a shadow clone?"

I shook my head, putting my book away, "That wouldn't make much of a difference. The shadow clone wouldn't have had the scent of Naruto; however, to answer your question, no. The effects of the seal would have still made him incapable of harnessing chakra to that extent. Covering his own chakra would be the best he could do. Even that should be impossible, but I'm sure with the excess beast chakra, he was able to manage that far, but with extreme amounts of pain most likely."

"So how did he get back so soon?"

"There's no possibility that he would've gotten here before me. Whoever Danzo brought back, it couldn't have been Naruto."

The elderly blonde sat down, "I read his chakra signs and even checked to see if he had any injuries. It was Naruto: grinning idiotically, dumb phrase, and all. There's no doubt in my mind."

I thought about it for a while before shrugging, "I can't find any other solution, but there's no way that he could get back before me. Even Gai would have trouble beating me here first. I'm just saying it's impossible, even for a ninja."

"Well for it to not be Naruto, the physical and chakra properties were flawless. Even the nine-tailed beasts' seal and chakra were obvious. If that was a clone, it was pretty damn good."

I thought over the current situation for a while before I decided to inform the Hokage of the rest of the information I had discovered, "I also thought you might want to know; on my way back, I encountered an incredible spike of chakra that was more foul than that of a demon's. Perplexed, I had waited until he caught up to me. I believe him to be an Uchiha."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, "He had the sharingan and the chakra element of fire."

"Madara," she snarled before rising suddenly, "Alert the Anbu! Naruto is to not to be let out of their sights!"

"What purpose would Akatsuki have with the leaf village? Without the eight tailed ushi-oni of Kumogakure, they would have no hope of catching Naruto and no reason to be here."

The grim look that clouded the Hokage's face told me all I needed to know.

"They already have Killer Bee," I said, knowing that the statement was true as it left my mouth, "And they plan on capturing Naruto as well."

"I was informed this morning."

I nodded before a horrible thought suddenly came to me, "Zetsu; he's Akatsuki correct?"

"Yes…?"

I felt sick as I stared straight at Tsunade, her pale blue eyes hardening at the sight of my expression, "He has an exceptional transformation skill where he can separate and his white half would turn into a person so identical that even the chakra would be the same."

I watched her carefully as I continued, "Sasuke told me this when he returned. The only difference between Zetsu's clone and the original would be the physical capabilities. His clone would be created only for a distraction and thus, would not be capable of the same physical feats as the original."

The old woman stood slowly before squaring her shoulders, a determined glint in her eyes ever present, "Then that means that our only hope of finding out if he truly is Naruto is to fight him. Assemble a team and instruct them as to the situation and what is needed of them; we need to resolve this as soon as possible because if this isn't Naruto…"

I nodded gravely, "Understood."

Turning and leaving immediately, I evaluate the best ninja to battle Naruto- or the fake Naruto-.

The top picks would have to be Neji, Lee, Sai, Sasuke… wait- scratch that; no Sasuke.

He'd go insane if he found out that that wasn't Naruto.

However, he'd be capable of taking on Naruto by himself.

I stopped at a corner for a brief moment before continuing on, my thoughts continuing to wander, It's probably best to avoid people that he's beaten before; so Neji and Sai are crossed off those lists.

That would leave…?

Shikamaru isn't much for close combat and wouldn't be a wise choice due to Naruto's speed. Lee will be needed for that and Sakura for strength (after training with Tsunade, she has more than enough capacity for physical strength); that would leave the strategist.

It would have to be someone who knows Naruto extremely well.

They would need to be able to anticipate and mimic his every move.

"Th-that's not true! Come on, Konohamaru!"

I glanced up from deep in my thoughts and saw a young boy running around, accompanied by a girl. When the boy caught sight of me, he smiled, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei!"

Bingo!

"Hey, Konohamaru; Moegi."

The girl smiled softly before bowing; I turned my attention to Konohamaru then, "You free right now?"

He cocked his head to the side, "Sure, what you need?"

*doom music*

What will happen next? Find out next time!

*dramatic pause*

Okay, yeah... I'm bored

Sorry for the short chapter, though and I've had some requests for lemon recently and sadly have been unable to find a place to put it in my stories. But I do have the second best thing...

a suggested lemon!

Christmas Wishes DO Come True is my first suggestion; although it is a oneshot, it is the best lemon I've read for a while!

Destined isn't a lemon-filled fanfic, but it is hilarious as hell and frankly, the author is one of my favorite!

Hope that helps for now, I'll make it up to you, I promise!

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