A/N: Hello, everyone. I'm terribly sorry for being this really awfully late with the new chapter. Anyway, instead of killing me, please, enjoy it if you still want to.

The scene was quite nostalgic. His old Team 7 was there right in front of him. It was almost as if he was still twelve years old, standing there by their side. At the moment Naruto really longed for it to be real. He wanted to once again experience the time he spent with his team, while they were mere genins. Those were probably his happiest days. Sure some D-ranked missions were boring and annoyed him, but it didn't really matter. They were together and unite. It sure was fun. What he treasured the most was the fact that he felt carefree and protected. Whatever might have happened, he always had his team, the ones who cared for him, who he could trust and on who he could always rely. They were close. He then believed that they would always remain together like this, could always trust each other – teamwork, as they were taught, was the most important thing after all.

However time is not infinite, and taking everything for granted was foolish. What he held dear seeped right through his hands and he could not do a thing.

He lost all of his precious people. And the ones he was facing now considered him an outsider and a threat. Being an enemy to them as he was, did not leave Naruto much choice. He had to come up with a battle plan to get out of this mess and quick.

Naruto sighed heavily, the situation looked complicated. He could not possibly hurt his teenage teammates; his younger self - out cold, thrown across his shoulder - was not counted. So, well, he should just concentrate on avoiding their attacks, until he sees an appropriate moment to flee. It is not all that hard to do for a trained shinobi against a bunch of genin. As for Kakashi, his old mentor was another thing. It could get problematic if he, Naruto, cannot get out of here quickly.

So the plan was to dodge, distract and vanish. The only uncertainty left was what to do with his younger self. Leaving him now was stupid – he most likely was not getting any other chance of recapturing him from alarmed Konoha's shinobi. Kid or not, the younger Naruto was considered a weapon of the village which Konoha was not inclined to lose. Thus he had to escape with him, but where to?

This he could not think out as Sasuke charged at him. Naruto, a bit lost at thought, dodged on reflex, kicking the last Uchiha in the ribs and sending him flying a dozen of meters.

'Won't hurt them no matter what,eh? Great, just great' cursed Naruto, watching as Sasuke regained his composure and glared back at him.

"Calm down, Sasuke" said Kakashi in a low voice, locking his eyes with the Uchiha. "Don't be reckless"

"Actually," Kakashi shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "You kids better stay out of it"

'We shouldn't interfere? No,it's too dangerous to take on the opponent with a hostage has to be had always been' Sasuke was rapidly thinking, shifting his eyes between the masked man and the other shinobi. 'He wants us to sneak and try to ambush the enemy when there would be an opening' Sasuke exchanged a meaningful glance with Kakashi. 'That'sgottabeit!'

"Come, Sakura!" Sasuke jumped on the branch of the tree.

"H-hai" the girl followed him.

They then promptly disappeared in the woods, covered from view by the foliage.

"Good kids", observed Kakashi. "Shall we begin?"

His answer was a dozen of shurikens flying his way. Though, all of them pierced only the trunk of the tree behind the jounin, as Kakashi swiftly disappeared from sight.

Naruto started off, jumping between the branches, but Kakashi soon caught up. They then would appear together on some branch, exchange a series of kicks, and disappear again. It went on for a dozen of minutes or so, one time the jounin got thrown all the way down to the grass, and another the stranger was caught by the wrist, but somehow managed to escape the following blow.

As Naruto jumped away from the jounin, his movements were suddenly stopped - he hung miraculously in midair with nothing supporting him. 'Whattheheck?' Naruto jerked his shoulders, which were stiffened by something. 'String?' Making an effort, he was able to see the thin glittering in the light threads that confined him in a rather awkward position, as he was hanging between three large trees with his hands almost completely bound against his sides. Even in this condition he somehow managed not to drop the younger Naruto, whom he was now clutching by the back of the other's jacket.

He tried to bounce back and forth to loosen the strings, but all in vain, before it dawned on him that his wind chakra can actually help him in this one. He concentrated it in his left hand, molding the flow, extended from his fingers, into the katana-like shape. Unlike Sasuke, as Naruto recalled at that moment, he couldn't retain this newly created weapon for more than a few seconds. However, that was fairly enough for him to make one swing with this blade and free himself.

Unfortunately, just as his feet have touched the ground he was attacked again. This time by Sakura who charged at him merely with a kunai. This plainly reckless tactics made him wonder, but even more to his surprise the girl actually tried to pierce the younger Naruto with it. This unexpected move didn't give Naruto any other option but to jerk his hand with the boy upwards and block the kunai with his left. In that very second the weight disappeared from his right arm. With bewildered eyes Naruto followed the shadow who took away his younger self and landed on the ground at around 20 meters' distance. Sasuke, as that is who it was, gently placed the blond boy on the ground. As Sakura soon appeared near her two teammates, she tried to check the extent of Naruto's injuries. Sasuke, meanwhile, was glancing back at the stranger who was hesitating to recapture the blond, before, seeing something behind the enemy's back, he smirked.

"Nice, Sasuke! Now I got him!" shouted Kakashi, drawing Naruto's attention. But as the boy turned around he fell right in his sensei's trap.

Naruto gasped, locking eyes with the sharing. The world blurred and began to spin, following the lead of three black tomoes. Everything turned dark.

TBC