Sorry it took longer than usual, but I got GCSE work to do now, and my sister has started secondary school, so I can't write as much. Here's chapter 19, in which the Sasuke Retrieval Squad is formed and deployed. It seems like people voted Tayuya into the harem, so I've already formed a plan to put her in and give Naruto the final Darkness Power, the Black Hole, all in one. I'm also working out a way to give Naruto the second level of the cursed seal, which I have already designed. So here ya go, the newest chapter. Let's get rockin'!

Please note: The harem results for Tayuya were correct at the time of writing. If the results have changed at all since the writing of this A/N, it will not alter Tayuya's place in the harem.

Last Time, on Naruto Estacado...

"Sakon." Kidoumaru said as he jumped up to tree-hop beside the team leader.

"Yes, Kidoumaru?" The silver-haired boy replied, not even turning to face the spider-nin.

"You know that Konoha-nin will come to stop us from taking their last Sharingan, don't you?"

"I know. And that's exactly what I'm hoping for."

"Why's that?"

"Because the other boy Orochimaru-sama marked is in that village, and is the most likely to come after him, being on the same team. If we can't convince him to come with us, we will capture him and force him to come with us. Orochimaru will have what he desires. And what he desires is Konoha's Sharingan and the power of the Darkness."

Chapter 19, Silence

"Focus, focus...FIRE!" Naruto shouted as he pulled Pestilence's trigger, sending a blast of yellow energy hurtling into the forest, scorching several trees but hitting none. Eventually the shot hit a single tree in the middle of nowhere, with several stumps around it as if there were more trees there originally. Tied to the tree was an old training dummy he had found and given a pair of makeshift wings to, making it look somewhat like an angel. The blast connected with the dummy's chest, burning right through where its heart would be and through the trunk of the tree behind it. Naruto smirked at the precision and holstered Pestilence, pulling out his Darkness Guns and aiming forwards, before firing them both, one setting fire to several trees, the other blowing them away completely.

"Well, I suppose that's enough training for today." He said to himself, looking around the training ground, if you could even call it that anymore. Craters and debris littered the once grassy field, while trees lay on their sides, still burning. Naruto noticed one place that had been miraculously untouched by his training session, with one headless dummy in the centre of it. He walked over to it, circling the dummy as he felt something was not quite right about it. Looking down, he found a piece of blue cloth with a metal plate attached lying in the grass, the insignia of Konoha emblazoned upon it.

'Sasuke...Dammit, gotta take this to baachan now!' He thought before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, reappearing in the Hokage office. Tsunade jumped at the sudden appearance of the blonde, before glaring at him and hiding the bottle of sake she was holding.

"What is it, Naruto? I'm very busy, I don't have time to be wasting it in a social interaction," She said, picking up her 'denied' stamp and slamming down on the pieces of paper on her desk.

"Wow, that's pretty cold. And here I was gonna tell you about the Uchiha's possible defection and/or abduction." Naruto replied nonchalantly as Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

"Please tell me this is another joke."

"Another? When do I joke? This is the real me, not that idiotic orange-wearing pussy. And yeah, the Uchiha's gone. I found his hitai-ate in one of the training grounds I demolished this morning." He said, placing the headband on her desk. The Slug Sannin grabbed the hitai-ate and held it up, before clenching her fist and almost crushing the metal plate.

"I am giving you a mission of the utmost importance, Naruto," She said, her eyes closed, "You must form a team of genin, as all other shinobi are currently busy on other missions. You and this team must go after Uchiha Sasuke and bring him back, either willingly or by force."

"Any genin?"

"But of course."

"Heheh, this is gonna be fun." Naruto said, before jumping straight out of the window, not bothering with opening it. The glass flew through the air, stabbing into several trees and cutting off the tail of an unfortunate cat with a red bow on its ear, allowing a group of three genin to pounce on it before it ran away. Tsunade looked at the former window and sighed.

"Sometimes I think that boy is more trouble than he's worth."

The Aburame Compound...

Naruto landed at the gates of his friend Shino's compound. Not many people knew that they were friends, and all were surprised when they found out, being that Shino was very quiet, while Naruto was very...not. He walked up to the gate, muttering a quick greeting to the guard who was wearing a pair of goggles that made it look as if he had the eyes of an insect. The guard pushed open the gate, knowing Naruto from his visits and feeling no ill will to him, unlike most of the village.

Naruto walked through, greeting the people he met along the way until he finally made his way to the clan head's house. He knocked on the door, then stood back as the door slid open. A swarm of insects flew out into the compound, almost knocking Naruto over in the process. Behind the swarm stood the very person he had come to find.

"Naruto? Is something wrong? You seem a little rattled." Shino asked, no expression whatsoever on his face.

"Well, I don't think many people would be hit by a swarm of bugs and be completely fine." Naruto said with a grin. His grin quickly vanished, however, and became a look of pure seriousness. "Unfortunately I'm not here for a social visit, Shino. Uchiha Sasuke has defected to Otogakure, and Tsunade has ordered me to create a team of genin to retrieve him. I want you to be part of that team."

"Hmm, ordered you say? I can understand that. Knowing you, you would never help the Uchiha willingly." Shino said with a barely noticeable smirk. "But that is beside the point. As to your request, I will join the team and fight alongside you, Naruto." He finished with a nod, making Naruto smile.

"Great, can you help me pick out a few more people? My choices so far are based on the fact that I know all of their abilities and think that they would be useful in capturing the target."

"Who have you picked so far?"

"You and Shikamaru."

"I see. That is intelligent of you, Naruto. My abilities will be able to neutralise the opponent's ability to use chakra, while Shikamaru could immobilise them. Might I suggest, however, that we add Hyuuga Neji to our team?"

"Neji? Hmm...Ah, I see what you mean. Not only would the Byakugan be useful in locating the targets, the Jyuuken would be able to take away their chakra."

"Indeed."

"But who else?" Naruto asked, not noticing that insects were beginning to gather on his shoulders.

"A fighting type would be useful, just in case. Maybe Akimichi Chouji would fit the bill?" Shino suggested. Naruto thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Okay, you get Neji, I'll get Shikamaru and Chouji." Naruto said, before both boys disappeared.

Konoha Gate...

Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji and Shino stood at the village gate, checking their equipment. Naruto had his sword fastened to his back and all three of his guns with him. Shikamaru carried a pair of trench knives reminiscent of those carried by his sensei, Asuma. Shino had with him a large scroll tied to his back, but nothing else apart from the usual kunai and shuriken. Neither Neji nor Chouji had brought anything special, feeling that their abilities should be enough. Once everyone was ready, Naruto stepped forward and turned to the group.

"Okay people, here's the mission brief. We have evidence that Uchiha Sasuke has left the village, willingly or unwillingly. Our job is to find him and the ones he's with and stop them before they reach the border with Otogakure. We must defeat his abductors and capture the Uchiha, then bring him back."

"Do we know how many enemies there are?" Neji asked.

"Unfortunately, no. We're hoping that when we get close enough you can tell us, Neji." Naruto told him, as Neji nodded. "Are we all understood on what we have to do?" Everyone nodded, and the five genin turned to the road out of the village. Naruto took one step forward, when a shrill voice sounded from behind them.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried as she ran towards them. "Tsunade-sama told me about Sasuke." She said as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. "Please...please bring him back to me."

"Hmm...no." Naruto replied, making his team sweat drop and Sakura practically have a mental breakdown. "When I bring back that bastard, he'll be imprisoned. If he doesn't come back willingly, I use force. If that doesn't work, I have permission to kill him." Sakura literally started crying, while Naruto continued walking. The other four looked in pity at Sakura before following Naruto out of the village. The five shinobi jumped into the trees heading after the Sound Four and the mutinous Sasuke.

Meanwhile, the Sound Four were taking a break, Sasuke's coffin having been placed on the ground. Kidoumaru turned to Sakon, the leader of the four, with something on his mind.

"Sakon, last night you said about the other kid Orochimaru-sama had marked. How do you plan on capturing him?" The spider-nin asked.

"The other cursed one is strong, possibly stronger than us in our curse seal level one. He has also been known to come back from the dead." Sakon replied, shocking the other three.

"Back from the dead? How do we beat someone like that?" Jiroubou asked, confused.

"Stop being such a fucking retard, Jiroubou! Either Sakon's being a shithead and is trying to scare us or he's got his facts wrong, there's no fucking way someone could actually come back from the dead!" Tayuya yelled at him.

"Unfortunately, it's neither. This boy has actually come back from the dead. Even more unfortunate, so has his girlfriend. Anyway, we should be able to overpower him if we were in our curse seal level two. If we still can't, we call for our backup."

"Can Kimimaro really fight in his condition?" Kidoumaru said to him, worried about the white-haired bone-user.

"I don't know, but if the situation arises, he'll have to." Sakon replied as he stood up. "Now, we have to get going. If we don't, Orochimaru-sama will have to change bodies before we get Sasuke to him." The other three nodded and stood, before jumping back into the trees, heading for the border.

Little did they know that by this time, Naruto's team was well on their way to catching up with them.

"Neji, d'ya see anything?" The blonde asked his squad member, as he turned his head to the side.

"No, there's no sign of… wait, I see something! But it's on the edge of my range, so it's not very clear." The brown-haired Hyuuga said, the veins around his eyes bulging. "I'll try to extend my vision, but it may take a while."

"Got it, just take your time. We don't want you straining yourself before we get to the fighting." Naruto told him as the veins around Neji's eyes bulged even more.

"I think I… I see them! There are four of them, besides Sasuke, who seems to be exuding that same tainted chakra from the Forest of Death. Each of the other four have some degree of that chakra running through their chakra system, as well."

"Orochimaru's henchmen?" Shino asked, looking up at the blonde, who frowned.

"Seems like it. I knew that damn curse seal would be trouble." He confirmed, subconsciously placing a hand over his own curse seal, hidden behind his collar.

"Anything to do with Orochimaru is trouble."

In Rice Country…

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Came the pained scream of the Snake Sannin as he lay in his bed, his useless arms laid out in front of him as he writhed in agony. A girl with half-messy, half straight red hair came up beside him and tried to put a beaker of medicine to his mouth, but he pushed it away and glared at the girl with his yellow serpentine eyes.

"Orochimaru-sama?" The girl asked, feeling slightly unnerved by her master's gaze.

"Karin… If Sasuke doesn't make it in time, we'll have to use one of the prisoners for the ritual, and then just wait for another three years. You hear me?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." She said as she walked out of the room, headed for the prison ward.

Back in the forests of Hi no Kuni, the Sound Four had begun moving again, carrying the incapacitated Sasuke in his coffin.

"Sakon, something's not right! I can't sense our pursuers anymore!" Kidoumaru called out, surprising the silver-haired oto-nin.

"You probably just fucked up, you stupid cockbite! Try again!" Tayuya yelled at him, and Kidoumaru tried concentrating again.

"Nope, they're gone! You think they gave up?"

"No, they wouldn't give up that easily. Not only is this their last Sharingan, but the other marked one is incredibly stubborn and determined. There's no way he'd just turn around and say 'C'mon, we tried our best, let's just give up'." Sakon told the spider-nin, just before a kunai sailed past his face, lodging itself into a tree.

"What the fuck was that?" Tayuya shouted, but Jiroubou's eyes widened as he looked at the kunai and he began to run in the other direction. "Hey, you fucking coward, get back here!"

"It's a paper bomb!" He yelled back as he took cover. The other three's eyes widened and they jumped away just before the note exploded, setting a part of the forest ablaze.

"Was that the leaf-nin?" Sakon asked, getting a no from Kidoumaru. "Then what was it?" He yelled angrily before darkness surrounded them, cutting off their sense of sight.

"Kokuangyou no Jutsu." A calm, almost emotionless voice said from somewhere above them. "Looks like we caught ourselves a few live ones."

"This is no time for jokes. Just get down there and retrieve him!" An irritated voice said, obviously a high strung type of nin.

"Why me? I say Chouji should do it, he's the strongest physically!" The first voice complained.

"Wait, me? You have more arms, Naruto!" A third voice, supposedly the one referred to as Chouji, shot back.

"They're tentacles, not arms." The first voice said, now confirmed to be named Naruto. You could even hear the deadpan.

"Who's there?" Kidoumaru asked, still not being able to see his enemy.

"Oh, I guess we'd forgotten about them. Whatever. Can we kill 'em?"

"No, Naruto. They've broken our laws by abducting the Uchiha, and as such shall be imprisoned and put to trial, but first they shall be interrogated."

"You forget they can hear us, Neji. Thanks for blabbing about our procedure." Naruto complained, not noticing that his genjutsu was slowly disintegrating.

"It's not like they'll be able to do anything about it. They can't see anything, so we'll just take them out quickly." Neji replied, just before a golden kunai sailed past his head and embedded itself into the tree behind him.

"Is that so, Leaf scum?" Kidoumaru sneered, creating another golden kunai and throwing it at Naruto. Naruto pulled out Pestilence and, instead of firing a blast of yellow energy, fired a normal bullet at the kunai. The bullet collided with the tip f the dagger and both weapons shot off to the side, cancelling each other out.

"So, you have someone with you who can unravel the Nidaime's Kokuangyou no Jutsu? Impressive, if I do say so myself. Judging by the looks of you… I'd say it was the redhead with the hat."

"What does it matter? You're going to die here anyway." Sakon said, twirling a kunai around his index finger, looking bored. "Jiroubou, take care of these little runts. We'll go on ahead, wouldn't wanna keep Orochimaru-sama waiting."

"Got it. This lot'll be dead in moments." The large shinobi said with a smirk, punching his palm arrogantly. "Right now, let's see what we can do about you five, shall we?"

"Hmph. You think you'll be a challenge?" Neji said, turning his head slightly.

"Oh, I'll be more than that. First, I'm gonna break you in half, white-eyes. Then I'm gonna take apart the guy with glasses, then the blondie, then that lazy guy in the jacket and finally… the fatty." Jiroubou said slowly, making all of the Leaf-nin sans Chouji freeze in fear.

(A/N: Start playing Go Go Naruto for the OST right now. I command you.)

"D-Did he just say…" Neji started.

"… the F word?" Naruto finished, a bead of sweat running down his brow.

"C'mon Chouji… just calm down, everything'll be alright…" Shikamaru spoke quietly, trying to placate the silently seething Akimichi.

"Why… you… WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? NOT ONLY DO YOU INSULT ME AND MY FAMILY'S PRIDE, BUT YOU HAVE THE IDIOCY TO THREATEN MY FRIENDS? JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"

"What… the… Just who are you?" Jiroubou asked, dumbfounded by Chouji's outburst.

"I'M AKIMICHI CHOUJI, BITCH! NOW YA'LL BETTER GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY, 'CAUSE THE HUMAN BOULDER'S COMIN' THROUGH! BAIKA NO JUTSU!" Chouji yelled as he pulled his arms and legs into his body along with his head, while his torso expanded, becoming reminiscent of a massive bowling ball. Said bowling ball then jumped into the air and began to fall rapidly as it span towards the oto-nin.

"Heh, is this it?" Jiroubou said with a smirk as he lifted a muscled arm and grabbed hold of the spinning ball. His eyes widened, however, when the ball began grinding away at his hand instead of stopping. "What?"

"Hm. Interesting. Chouji, we'll this one to you. Fight well. And remember…you'd better catch up." Naruto said with a grin. A muffled shout came from the spinning ball of Akimichi, to which Naruto nodded and sped off, the other three following along behind him.

"So, your friends just left you, did they?" Jiroubou asked, as he threw Chouji away and into a tree. "Like trash, they just tossed you aside. You're nothing but dead weight."

"You may be dead weight, but not me! They left me here because they believed in me, because they're confident that I can beat you! PARTIAL EXPANSION JUTSU!" Chouji shouted as his arms grew exponentially. Using his massive limbs, he sent a bone crushing punch into Jiroubou's chest, knocking him back, before sending an uppercut to the sound-nin's chin, firing him into the air.

"D-Damnit… why are you so strong?" Jroubou asked as Chouji's grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down to earth, punching him down into the ground. The Akimichi stood over him, glaring at the overweight oto-nin.

"I am strong… because of my friends." Chouji told him. As the sun moved in the sky, a ray of light penetrated the trees and found its way to their clearing. The light reflected off of Chouji's eyes, revealing a yellow glimmer within them, which seemed to glow.

"No… way!"

Ooh, mysteries! Chouji's strength seems to have been amplified by some unknown force, and he's using that power to completely overwhelm Jiroubou! But what'll happen when the sound shinobi decides to pull out all the stops! Well, I know. You, however, don't. Guess you'll just have to wait until next time.

Now, as I said before, I have thought up a twist that'll net Naruto the Black Hole ability and Tayuya all at once, but it'll need a couple of chapters to get ready. I'm looking around the end of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Tayuya is in the harem, as she was one of the top when I started writing this chapter. I realise that more people are voting, and so the harem has been increased from 3-4 more girls to 4-5 more. This will allow me to incorporate not only the ones you most wanted to see, but the ones I think would be the most fun to write. Like Fuu, seeing as no one knows her personality because she wasn't actually in the series.

Next Time, on Naruto Estacado:

The Sasuke Retrieval Squad has caught up with the Sound Four, and are engaging them in one on one combat. Chouji has already begun fighting the powerhouse Jiroubou, but seems to be winning because of some unknown power. Will this power be enough to defeat one of Orochimaru's elite when he doesn't hold back? What will become of the other shinobi as they go into battle against the unusual ninja that make up the Sound Four? What will happen when Naruto finally comes face to face with Sasuke? Stay tuned to your favourite fic to find out!