3.

Kavi looked over at Naruto, the outsider sat in a lotus position, meditating. The masked village elder walked up to Kavi, "He's incredible. In just one month he's learned the language of the desert, he also seems to be popular with the children."

Kavi nodded, "Even more impressive is his strength, he brought back thirty water buffalo, stacked upon his shoulders." Kavi said.

The masked elder nodded and yawned, "The people of Sodbo are getting worried, the beast has been destroying their homes, they are asking for assistance i--"

"You want me to take him, don't you?."

The elder nodded.

Kavi and Naruto rode out during sunset, arriving near the border of the Sodbo tribe just as the sun dipped beneath the dunes.

Met by the Sodbo's strongest, Suman, "I plan to lure the beast to the valley, there I plan to ambush him with a few men, a few good nets and strong arrows should put him down for good." Suman said as he moved his long black hair out of his face.

His brown eyes wandering over to Naruto, the boy had grown tan in the desert, his spikey blonde hair now sleeked back with two bangs framing his face.

"My men have already gathered in the valley and are waiting for me and you to get down there." Suman said as he adjusted the wide blade strapped to his waist, "I--"

"Where does this beast live?" Naruto asked.

Suman pointed to a large cave blown into the massive plateau that sat a mile or so away.

Kavi looked over at Naruto, the blonde cracked his knuckles and looked at Suman, "You can go and get your men, tell them they can, it take it easy for the night".

"Naruto, I don't thin--"

Naruto leapt away, kicking up large amounts of sand. A loud thoom echoed through the area and the ground shook for a moment.

Naruto let out a laugh, his mass consumption of demon meat had given him such great boosts in strength that it almost made him laugh at the absurdity.

Naruto quickly scaled the mountain face and held his nose at the stench emanating from the cave. Piles of bodies lay lined up against the wall, well-preserved and cleaned. "Who dares".

"I dare" Naruto said as he covered his left hand in mana and used it as a torch. A large beast resembling a goat sat on a large pile of bodies, its lower half completely human.

Its yellow eyes blinked one at a time, "Do you represent the meat bags below, they've sent others like you, one was a priest, another one was a hunter an--"

The goat was sent stumbling as Naruto's fist embedded itself into the side of its furry face. The goat looked up and wiped the blood from its nose. "You dare--"

Another blow made the cave shake, the goat man recovering quicker than last time, blocking Naruto's kick with its elbow before returning a kick that made Naruto chuckle a bit.

Kavi and Suman listened to the loud thoom's and looked at each other. "He's fine, trust me".

A loud wheee sound made them look up, a large shadow was approaching very quickly.

Naruto landed with a loud boom, under his armpit was the head of the beast, severed neatly.

He handed the head to the stunned Suman, "He was…interesting" Naruto said as he brushed himself off.

Suman looked at the head, a permanent mask of horror permanently etched onto its face. "Was he hard to beat."

"No… I couldn't tell, he was too busy blabbering on and on about humans and strength or something, I wasn't paying attention."

Deep within the center of the rain village, a large tower encased in wires and other odd decorations cast a shadow over the land. The large purple eyes of the statue that sat near its top, unblinking but still looking over the entirety of the village.

"We should have the four tails soon enough, Kakazu checked in and said he was bringing the host back…in one piece, I might add." A blue haired woman said as she stared into a lone red eye and two purple eyes.

The one – eyed man leaned forward and sighed, "It does make me wonder…why--"

The door was flung open, and a man frantically ran in, his clothing soaked with water and his hair matted to his head. "What are you doing here Osada, I told you n--"

"I bring news concerning the nine tails." Osada said quickly. The man quickly caught his breath and straightened out. "Spit it out then" The purple eyed man said.

"Me and my subordinates have recently gotten word that host of the nine tails Naruto Uzumaki has gone missing"

"Missing?" the one – eyed man asked.

"Yes lord Madara, Lord Jiraiya has diverted half of his spy network into looking for the boy, but no luck yet." Osada said as he looked around the room nervously. Madara adjusted his mask and looked at his purple—haired accomplice, "Now what?…we could get our own spies involved in the search, or we could simply wait."

The man looked out onto the balcony and stood up, his piercings gleaming and glinting as the sun bounced off of them. "We wait…we have whistle-blowers who keep in touch with us regularly, and we also have men within the leaf. Any news about his return or capture will work its way to us soon enough" the man said as he watched the rain. "Osada…please escort yourself out and be sure to keep your ears open."

"Yes sir."

Kakashi stoked the flames and listened to the crackle of the wood. Only two people were awake, Him and Tenzo. Tenzo looked around briefly before speaking, "Where do you think he went?" He asked.

Kakashi looked up and sighed, thinking for a moment before answering, "Definitely not anywhere in fire country. We would've found him by now. Our best assumption is River Country or Wave Country, and he'd have plenty of places to hide there".

"Oh yeah he would, with all the swamps and stuff, we'd have a pretty hard time finding him if we didn't have a top of line sensor nin" Tenzo said proudly.

Kakashi frowned behind the mask, "I have my dog's you know."

"Yeah, but they aren't Tenzo good, are they?"

Kakashi shook his head and chuckled, "No they're not".

Azad and Naruto "Stared" at each other, Azad thinking for several seconds before snapping. No sound came, but the motion would've hinted that he snapped his fingers.

"I have a plan… me and you will unite every tribe out here under one banner, then we will take down Tushar we--"

"Why not just use this one clan, me and you would be the biggest assets in taking down the big guys, Kavi and his guys would deal with the canon fodder." Naruto interjected, "You don't know the power Tushar posses, he--"

"I don't need to know, nor do I care, we'll only be delaying the inevitable by going around on diplomatic missions." Naruto said, opening his mouth to speak before stopping and inspecting Azad, "You don't plan to rule like this, do you?"

"Well, no…if my father's advisors still live or even their children, then I planned to have them act as figureheads until I found a new body."

Naruto thought for a moment, stroking his chin before snapping his fingers, "I'll be the figurehead. If Tushar chased you out or exiled you or whatever, I doubt he would've left anyone associated with you alive…of course, it'll be very temporary. Only two or three years at most, but we could just speed up the body finding process." Naruto frantically said.

"But what about your home, you'll have to return eventually," Azad said.

"I will…when I'm strong enough, I will. But for now, don't worry about my former home." Naruto quickly responded. Azad nodded and stood up "We speak with the elder tomorrow, if he says yes, we go…if he says no then we go." Azad said.

"Why would we still go?"

"I'm working on a plan…more quiet than option A. Either way, victory is ours."