Disclaimer: I own the Naruto Universe. If I am Seishi Kishimoto's twin brother, that is.

Naruto was hiding behind a tree, still coughing blood. The pain was unbearable. The recently restored seal wasn't helping much as it makes it harder for the fox to heal him. He still couldn't believe that it was Sasuke who had left none of his body unscarred. Yamato managed to make a forest out of nowhere as an obstacle for both the Uchihas and a temporally hideout for Naruto. Unfortunately his chakra ran out and was knocked out cold after a few attempts to let Naruto escape.

Sasuke was bad enough without Madara popping up right next to Naruto each time he tried to hide. He suspected that they might have a chakra-sensor with them. His is tired of this never-ending hide-and-seek. He daren't use his signature move, the Rasenshurinken as it won't work on Madara and it might hurt Sasuke. It might as well as cleared the forest and leave him in the open. He sensed that his Sage chakra is running out. He had to end this fight. Fast.

He gave signal to his clones to start performing the kinjutsu. Sorry, Jiraiya. I had to ignore your warning.(Jiraiya told him not to use "that" before he went to save Gaara) This time the jutsu is going to be a decoy, or maybe to buy some time, not to suck down the whole village. But he was still unsure whether he will survive after the jutsu. It might be better if I died, thought Naruto. At least the ten-tailed beast will never be revived, and that will put an end to Madara's plan. Jin, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ushi, after performing the hand seals in unison with his clones, he gathered chakra in his hand and pressed it against the ground. A distant rumbling was heard…

*****

"That's funny, I picked up his scent, then lost it again" groaned Kiba. Sakura was impatient and slightly worried. If they don't find Sasuke soon, Naruto and the others are bound to find out the truth and come to stop her. She had to kill him herself, to relieve the pain of seeing him plummeting towards the darkness and prevent herself from blaming Konoha if the ANBUs get him first. The last thing she wants is a very determined Naruto blocking her way.

The one who came to stop her, however, was Kakashi. Sai was the only one who didn't looked surprised.

"Sakura-" His words was cut short by a deafening rumble. "What was that?" Sakura wondered aloud, glad for a reason not to speak to her jonin-teacher.

"We'd better check it out," said Lee, trying to change the topic.

"Oh well." Kakashi was relieved that he still have time to think about the speech he was going to give to Sakura. In his opinion, it wasn't very convincing.

Together, Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, Rock Lee and Kiba moved towards the source of the sound. The rumbling seemed to come from under their feet, which reminded them of earthquakes. As the rumbling turned into a water lapping sound, they found themselves in a forest which didn't belong there. The Land of Iron is supposed to be a snowing country, but the forest feels hot, and the snow surrounding it is melting.

Suddenly, as abruptly as it started, it stopped, with a funny sound of draining water echoing through the forest.

Then a yell filled the air, "Naruto, where are you! Respond!"

Kakashi's heart sank. Did they find Naruto so quickly? It might be one of his pranks to scare Yamato out of his wits, or he just went out for a walk. But his hopes was not high.

"Yamato-taichou! What happened?" Sakura demanded as soon as they caught up with worn-out ninja. He was staring down at an extremely large crater which reminded Sakura of the damage Naruto made near the Tenchi bridge. Kakashi's heart jolted. Not that jutsu?

Tenzo looked up and found himself looking straight into Kakashi's panic filled eyes. He nodded gravely.

The five-man team gasped as they looked down into the dented surface. It was similar to the crater created by Naruto in the four-tailed form, but instead of a rough surface, the crater looked as though filled with fine damp earth and traces of magma that are arranged neatly to represent a whirlpool. An intense heat rose from it.

"We had to find Naruto. Fast." Commanded Kakashi.

"Why, could he be sucked down by this, erm, whirlpool?" Kiba asked.

"He could. And we have to confirm whether he did or not."