Remember to review, comment, follow and such. Opinions and critiques are all welcome. Still looking for pictures for my profile and story image.

The day after Fukushi attacked.

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru were walking Monica, Dentsu, and Nago back to the archives for another day of searching. They figured keeping the team close was the safest approach in case someone believed the rumour that Monica was in league with the lightning demon. The leaf jonin were still in denial as they prayed their ninja to have stronger will than to abandon the village in such a way. Pride was a dangerous weapon and the tension in the air was suffocating the six ninja. No one felt like tackling the problem around them as a wrong move could destroy any trust they had among each other.

"Where's Sakura?" Naruto asked casually, he would have probably come to a conclusion of sorts himself but he wanted to break the tension in any way possible.

"She's on medial duty, some Jonin were injured last night." Shikamaru spoke briefly before talking became too much of a bother for him to continue, Naruto got his answer any way. At least they did not have to break the news of last night's events to the genin team. If the large lightning storm wasn't a clue, then the boasts of various Iwa shinobi about their 'role' in defeating the demon. Boasts about how they over powered him and he was helpless against their might. In reality the ones who actually fought the demon, Fukushi, were silent as they realised if they hadn't had the reinforcements all eleven of them would surely have died. Unlike the boastful ninja they had respect for the young aggressor as he had showed them such a variety of ninjutsu first hand. Shikamaru and Hinata were keeping careful tabs on Monica. Out of the ninja there they would be able to read any changes in emotion or if she was about to do something; stupid. Naruto was less subtle and so relied on Shikamaru's orders.

Meanwhile Kurama was smiling excitedly. His fox-y grin adorned his face from ear to ear, much like Naruto's trademark grin. He could tell Monica was having a huge conflict of emotions. One minute she was angry, the next depressed and then followed by fear, anticipation and strangely excited. What made Kurama's game all the more fun to watch was her poker face was managing to fool everyone, yes she slipped every so often but luck was on her side and she kept up the façade. His tails thrashing, he couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. He was hoping for her to practically explode and attack someone, break something, or just outright collapse after an emotional rage.

"You're unusually happy." Naruto appeared in his mindscape to talk to Kurama. It helped pass the time as they walked in silence towards the Tsuchikage's tower to visit their archives.

"Oh, I just have a good feeling about today." He spoke with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"You know something I don't?" Naruto sounded somewhat annoyed but he passed it as Kurama trying to mess with him again.

"A Biju is allowed to feel good you know." He spoke defensively but quickly reformed his smile.

"Sorry Kurama, I guess I am still used to you being angry all the time."

"I get bored in here, no one to play with."

"I hope by play you don't mean eat."

Kurama laughed at that before admitting something. "It might involve eating. Anything is better than damn ramen." He teased.

"You're addicted." Naruto jousted back, before returning to reality, they had arrived at the archives. Naruto was referring to a time not long after the forth shinobi war were once he had taken down the seal and allowed Kurama greater freedom. Part of this also meant sharing sensory experiences and he actually tasted ramen for the first time. Coupled with Naruto's influence he started asking for a large variety of meat related ramen dishes. Kurama had calmed down somewhat and rested his head on his paws as he returned to observing the world from Naruto's perspective.

The six ninja had finally reached the archives. A large underground room which seemed to stretch on throughout the village. The room was well lit and had two main 'corridors' in a cross pattern which was space for long lines of desks and their accompanying chairs. The rest of the room has shelves stocked full of boxes up to the roof. The team walked towards the back. They had almost finished a quarter of the room in four days and Shikamaru was hopeful he would manage it today. Naruto was less enthusiastic about searching. He was told to not use any jutsu in fear it accidentally damaged the documents. This meant Naruto couldn't use his shadow clones which, and everyone admitted to it, would have made searching so much faster.

The genin were not allowed to read any of the documents but they were only allowed to read the summary page to see if it had any potential. Of course, the jonin were permitted to study anything within the room. There were not any secret jutsus or artefacts stored here so the information was relatively safe and already largely known as per alliance agreements. The genin were able to search faster because of this while Shikamaru and Hinata were both slowed down by the longer reading. Naruto was predictably nodding off earning him the occasional squeeze on the thigh by Hinata before Shikamaru noticed. He did notice but more likely he thought it was too much of a hassle to bother with. After all a desk job was right up his street so he enjoyed reading the dull administration material.

Hours ticked by which would have been alike the previous days had Monica not started showing signs of panic. She was blazing through each box, glancing at the contents before muttering her disappointment. She had begun to sweat now and getting increasingly careless as the news of Fukushi's failed attack had finally sunk in. The long hours had left her deep in thought which did not help keep her composure. Nago and Dentsu kept behind her and quickly tidied up after she rushed through a box. They had seen her get pushed too far before and they were trying to mediate between not enraging her and not alerting the others. The pair suddenly snapped to face Monica who squeaked excitingly. She looked around and pulled out two stained pages with writing that neither Nago nor Dentsu could read.

"Finally." She muttered before quickly laying the pages on the floor and signing through her storage jutsu. Monica worked quickly unless she was caught by the jonin. She bit her lip and tried to dull her chakra down as much as possible. She successfully stored the pages with a dull flash and some smoke, as little as she could manage. Nago looked at her with curiosity he noticed that jutsu was a little different from the last time he saw her use the storage jutsu. 'Did she change the jutsu to get a slightly different effect?' Then realisation hit him like a rock thrown at his face. Those were the pages we were looking for!

Before anyone could utter a word Monica practically heard someone's heart break from behind her. She turned. It was Hinata who had heard Monica squeak and came around to look. She saw her use the jutsu although didn't see the pages, Hinata still guessed and guessed correctly.

The lavender-eyed Hyuuga fell backwards and landed on the floor. The bang caught the attention of Naruto, who jumped up to her side in a blink of an eye. And Shikamaru who didn't move but unknowing to the genin his shadow was creeping towards them.

"T-they were right, those r-rumours. Why Monica." Hinata spoke as if she saw a ghost. Naruto caught on and gave them a disappointing look.

Monica was muttering 'shit shit shit' under her breath. The orange haired genin felt like she was going to become the laughing stock of the whole shinobi world. Her luck had run out and she was struggling to come up with an escape plan. For one of the riskiest part of her plan she had neglected a contingency strategy. A voice in her subconscious became the dominant one in her head. It told her to use her teammates as a hostage. She agreed with herself. A hostage would be the only way she could escape a hopelessly one sided fight. She flinched and a summoned kunai slipped into her hand but before she should jump behind Dentsu, who was closer, something made her freeze and she struggled to move. Her kunai was forced from her hand and it clattered to the floor. The echoes caught the attention of Dentsu and Nago who were also stunned at being caught helping her. The pair realised something was wrong as Monica shook against the restraints.

Shikamau walked calmly around the corner and while he glanced at her with one eye he softly spoke. "Shadow possession complete." Against her will she was walking towards the jonin. She started to cry at the ease of her defeat. One move and that was it, caged. Dentsu and Nago did nothing. They stood and bowed their heads in shame. Monica looked to them to help her out but with a shadow covering her mouth she could only speak with her eyes. Her teammates looked away and abandoned her to her fate once more. She slumped in defeat but Shikamaru's shadows kept her walking towards them.

Naruto stood up, visibly shaking in anger. He didn't want to believe the Monica hadn't only just betrayed their village but armed herself against her own comrades.

"Do you have any idea what damage you have done? How selfish are you to put a lust for power before your friends and village?" He demanded and slapped the genin once she was within range.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried, surprised that he would hit her.

"No, she needs to learn. Her selfish acts could have damaged the reputation of our village and the shinobi alliance your cousin had died for." Hinata fell silently, she hated when Naruto was upset, he would get angry. Mostly at himself but through no fault of his own Kurama still had influence over Naruto. He took a deep breath once he noticed Hinata was hurt by what he said. The blond Jinchuriki turned to Monica.

"You disgust me." He said coldly as Shikamaru marched her towards the door. She had a red hand print across her face and was now sobbing even harder into the shadow gag. Naruto had regained his composure and made a mental note to berate Kurama for not telling him anything about Monica.

"Could you bring Nago and Dentsu, they have some explaining to do." Shikamaru called after him. As Naruto looked down ashamed.

"Sorry for snapping Hinata I stepped way over the line." He said quietly. He offered a hand to help her up and as she got up she gave Naruto a quick hug to forgive him. They both turned to the remaining genin who were shifting uncomfortably but approached their superiors. "I guess our job here is done." Naruto sighed. He could feel Kurama being a little disappointed that there wasn't as much drama as he would have liked.

"Naruto? I understand why you're angry. Just, just please stay the same. Don't change." She spoke softly before the two genin could hear. Naruto was ashamed of himself but sighed once more before giving the girl a smile to show he's calm.

"Sorry, still getting the balance of emotions here." Kurama helpfully yet quietly added so Hinata could forgive Naruto faster. He wouldn't hear the end of it otherwise if Naruto lost her over an outburst.

"W-whats going to happen to us?" Dentsu asked shyly and staring at the ground.

"Nothing bad, so long as you explain yourself to the Hokage." Naruto spoke normally to them which calmed them both down as he wasn't going to snap at them. "Though I don't know what will happen to Monica, she'll be in trouble with both villages now." Naruto sighed. "At least it's over now."

Monica was thrown into her room by Shikamaru who locked the door as soon as he left.

"If you try to leave you will be hurt. I'm going to get Sakura and maybe Sasuke if he's still here. You will give us those pages then we will have a very long chat about what the hell you were thinking." Shikamaru called through the door, he too was disappointed but it wasn't like he hadn't planned for her going rogue. Monica fell to the fall and curled up. What was she thinking, why did she do it? At the time, it seemed fine she was just helping her saviour. Repaying debt. She finally knew what Fukushi meant by if she was sure about what she wanted. Did he know? Was she stupid?

"Stop laughing!" she shouted at the wall which would have confused anyone who heard her. However, there was no one to hear her. She cried for a few more minutes before hearing the protests of Nago and Dentsu.

"She is going to kill us, please we beg you don't leave us." A panicked Nago was shouting out.

"Shikamaru put a jutsu on the door, she's not going to come out. Please stay here we will be ten minutes. I promise." Hinata was trying to comfort them before, presumably, Naruto closed and locked the door. Faintly she heard him say 'shadow clone jutsu' as Naruto left a pair of guards to their accommodation. Like and enraged tigress as soon as she heard her teammates left alone she leaped at the door and banged loudly on it.

"You betrayed me again!" She screamed which obviously had the two ninja hiding in terror. They weren't so sure about Shikamaru's seal on the door as the wood flexed under her pounding. Her screaming became inaudible before she collapsed and carried on sobbing. Her throat burned now from being damaged which caused her to cough and splutter. Nago and Dentsu had no doubt, she had lost it. They sat in silence thinking about what they should have done right from the start. If anything would have changed if she never was knocked out that day.

The same commanding voice in her head showed again. Monica stopped crying and realised she was given ten minutes at least. Not all was lost, she had the pages still as no one knew how to force her to give them up from within her jutsu. First, she summoned her equipment she stored from when she was with Fukushi a week ago. Her wakizashi was tied to the small of her back. She hid it there for two reasons. She could quick draw her weapon in a reverse holding position which was perfect for blocking. Second, she could hide it in her cloak which she was busy tying around her neck. Her old scar down her left of her neck was still visible but she was now used to her look. She thought about what to do with her headband. Many rogue ninja had their headband scratched out. Alternatively she could just leave it. 'No time' she thought to herself and just left it on her forehead.

Meanwhile somewhere in Tsuchikage's tower. Around an hour before Monica was caught.

Sakura was busy drawing each of Fukushi's Fuuinjutsu that she could identify. She had learned that the tattoos reacted well to chakra so she was able to tell between what appeared to be cultural markings, according to Sasuke who was using his sharingan one last time before he left, and the Fuuinjutsu. Fukushi had been drugged up by other interrogators sometime in the morning. They had almost caused an overdose before Sakura had to chase them out. He was at the point where he had lost most of his bodily functions. She found out why the interrogators got so angry. The truth serum they used had actually worked. Unfortunately, too well has Fukushi spoke freely about his plans but in a language other than Japanese rendering his information useless. Sakura was doing more of her report while making sure Fukushi remained alive.

Sasuke eventually released Fukushi from his genjutsu hold. He turned to see Sakura making sure she got the sketch correct. He much preferred the hard-working Sakura over the fangirl personality she used to have. It made him appreciate her a whole lot more than before he left for Orochimaru.

"Did you find what you wanted to know Sasuke?" Sakura spoke without looking up from her clip board writing down some notes.

"Yes, I've found someone who's willing to tell me anything, although not much is good about it."

"Found someone?" Sakura questioned Sasuke's vagueness.

"Don't tell anyone because this is Hokage level report, but seeing it's you, Kakashi trusts and I trust you." Sasuke sighed. The seal on his left arm that he is drawing is a soul bounding seal. His 'partner' died causing the jutsu be incomplete. Whether you count this lucky or unlucky. He survived having his mind torn but her soul is still alive within him albeit a shadow of who she used to be. More like a guide to what's left of his mind. Sh'es who I've been speaking to."

"Soul bound? Is that even possible?"

"Apparently, ask Ino if you want to see her for yourself once we get him to Konoah. I'm going there now to see if I can make it happen." He walked out of the door and quickly flicked Sakura on the forehead, it stunned her. But her love walked away before Sakura could collect herself. "Oh, and I'll see you once you return to Konoah."

Sakura was tempted to add what Sasuke told her but remembered he asked her not to tell anyone so she mocked ignorance on the report. There she sat while the drugged-out shinobi tried in vain to compose himself. Fukushi felt he was too drunk to feel safe about himself, moments from blacking out and having no fun with his time tied to the table and blindfolded. He felt he was going to be sick and despite not moving he felt like someone was spinning him around the table.

"Sakura, we need to talk." Sakura almost jumped as she wasn't expecting Shikamaru at the door. She turned to see Hinata and Naruto also with him.

"Is it ok to say it here or should we go outside."

"Outside." Shikamaru replied with a blank stare. Sakura got up and left with the other three teammates. Once outside she noticed everyone was looking upset. The face of Naruto reminded her of when Sasuke left the village. She sighed and looked at her feet.

"Should we all go and talk to her?" Sakura suggested, she understood perfectly why everyone was here.

"What about him?" Naruto motioned at the door where Fukushi was still tied up.

"He's still drugged out, and bound so I doubt he is going anywhere. Let me just tidy up quickly and we can go." Sakura reentered the room and within second of her opening the door there was a quick flash of yellow light followed by Sakura screaming. Naruto and Hinata leaped through the door to see Sakura covering her eyes with one hand and with the green medical jutsu in her other hand she was healing her eyes up.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"He's gone!" Hinata shouted and pointing to the now empty table. with all his seals scattered across the table where he once lay.

"I don't know." Sakura muttered still trying to blink her vision back. "I was looking right at him when it happened."

"That's a drag, I thought his teleporting was based on his line of sight." Shikamaru sighed heavily. "So where did he go?"

Just as he said that Naruto flinched. "He's with Monica! My clones just got disbanded by him."

Everyone looked in disbelief and immediately started running back to where they kept Monica.

"Do you think they planned this?" Hinata suggested.

"I think they must have had a way of meeting each other." Shikamaru replied. 'There's more to his teleporting than we thought. This is going to be costly'. The four jonin rushed in the lobby of the Tsuchikage's tower and met with the four sand chunin.

"What's going on?" Matsuri asked. She was startled by the four leaf jonin suddenly bursting through the door.

"He escaped." Naruto shouted back not stopping to explain fully. However, the sand chunin understood and with a nod they ran after the leaf ninja.

"We will help you." Matsuri called out, she got no reply but a nod from Naruto as they made their way up to the roof of a nearby building. Mitsuoni, Atalre, and Silent Geno followed their leader and quickly caught up to the rushing shinobi. They were about to head towards the hotel where Monica was before Silent Geno patted Atalre on his shoulder and nudged his head somewhere to the right.

"He's over by the wall." Atalre shouted just as the roll of thunder that came from lightning rumbled past the ninja. The eight ninja jumped off and headed towards the wall, they weren't going to let the escape so easily.

Decided to add this at the bottom so people are more likely to remember this as the last thing they read. I would appreciate at least a couple answers for this. Thanks.

Out of curiosity how do people like their lemons? I am thinking of adding some in the next act (won't say who but you could probably guess.)

So would you like them:

Explicit (full on lemon tree)

Inferred (A little zesty goodness but no details)

Ignored (Not include them in the story unless paramount to the plot line (like i've done in previous chapters or perhaps not even that))