Previously: Another day comes as the Konoha Grand Festival is the talk of the town. During the night, there seems to be more confusion between Naruto and Sakura as romance begins to bloom. But, today is their third day of peace, which is about to receive an abrupt end...

The mysterious girl had finally made to the outskirts of the Leaf Village. Slowing down, she halted her running and breathed hard.

"I must have been running for the longest," she said, "I'm so tired. But, I finally made it; the Village Hidden in the Leaves is right in front of me!" Before she could take another step, she heard something and hid behind some bushes. She started to peek as she saw tons of men, with weapons, walking towards the village. 'Bandits?' she thought. 'It looks like a bunch of them, too!' She kept looking until she saw something she didn't like. 'That one!' Through one eye, the girl saw a bandit, one very different from the others.

'That one looks like he could do some serious damage!' she thought getting nervous. "They don't know either!" she said just above a whisper, "I have to warn them, before it's too late!" With that, she disappeared.

Naruto: From Promises To Wishes Opening Theme ~ Re-Sublimity

The shaking past of anxiety and complication of mine agitates me.

I was freezing because of the white fear in your eyes.

While ponder the setting moon,

Our existence is surely here right now.

I won't cry while I wait

For just this moment that we can hold on to each other.

I can't say it... I can't hear it... I can't see it... It's only an Illusion.

The unforgivable wish to become a lost child

By drifting across time.

Only the voice... only the fingers... only the temperature as you close in...

That hopeless wish gets torn apart and stains the nighttime breeze.

(Re-Sublimity by KOTOKO)

Naruto: From Promises To Wishes

Chapter 3 - Information and Answers

At the Hokage Office, Naruto and his friends were in Kakashi's office. Everyone was nervous about what Kakashi had explained to them.

"You're kidding, Kakashi-sensei!" Tenten said, "The report was real?" "I wish I was joking," Kakashi said, "But, I received that report just when I entered the office. It seems that a group of bandits are heading this way towards the village as we speak." "How many are we talk about?" Kiba asked. "Forty, possibly fifty...Maybe even more than that." "They're just bandits, right?" Naruto said, "That should be no problem, since I can do more shadow clones." "That maybe true, Naruto," Yamato said, standing beside Kakashi, "However, some of the reports that we receive a couple of days ago revealed that there are some notorious ones in this group. They are willing to kill first and ask questions later."

As the conversation continued, a knock came at the door. "Excuse me," a voice said as the door started to open. Temari entered the room afterwards, with her combat gear. "Temari?" Sakura asked, "I thought you went back to the Sand Village. What are you doing here?" "Lord Hokage thought you could use a hand," Temari answered. "I asked Temari if she could stay for a little longer," Kakashi replied, "Gaara agreed to the terms." "Now," Yamato began, "we have all the firepower that we need. Just be careful out there..."

[Thirty Minutes Later...]

The entire team sat upon the roof of the Hokage Building. Naruto was sitting the middle of the roof meditating.

"Now, why Shikamaru?" Kiba asked, "Why in the hell would you choose this spot as an outpost. "This is the only spot in the village where Hinata can use her Byakugan to see the whole village," Shikamaru replied, "Beside, when it's time to deploy, we can move out easily. Naruto suddenly stopped meditating as soon as he reached Sage Mode. "There!" he said, "Now, I'll be able to sense any unknown chakra that comes in the village."

Another ten minutes had past, Kiba started to get irritated. "They should of been here by now," Temari said, "The outskirts of the village isn't that far..." "You're right," Sakura said, "This is just making me nervous just thinking about it." "Hinata, have you seen anything yet?" Tenten asked. "No," Hinata answered, "It doesn't make any sense either. I've kept my Byakugan active the whole time." "She's right," Naruto said, "I haven't been sensing anything myself." "Maybe the reports that Kakashi-sensei got," Ino replied, "was nothing more than a wild goose chase..." Continuing to be irritated, Kiba started to lose his patience. "I can't take this anymore!" he shouted, "I'm done wasting my time here!"

"Don't give in yet, Kiba!" Rock Lee said, "If you believe in the Power of Youth, they will surely come." "Say that again, and I'll, personally, cut your eyebrows off!" The whole group nearly got a laugh, until an explosion occurred inside the village. "What was that!?" Chouji shouted. Looking on the right side of the village, they saw a fire break out. "How did that happen!?" Sakura shouted. "I don't understand it!" Hinata shouted activating her Byakugan again, "I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary!" "I'm still not sensing anything either!" Naruto said. "Looks like those bandits must have ninjas on our side!" Shikamaru replied. "That's exactly what I was thinking," Temari replied, "Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten through the gate so easily."

Frustrated, Kiba went ahead of the group and raced towards where the explosion took place. "Wait, Kiba!" Lee shouted. "Let him go, Lee!" Naruto shouted, "That's where his house is." "What about Shino?" Ino asked, "Shouldn't we call him for help?" "Now that he's a teacher," Sakura replied, "His first priority is the new generation of shinobi." "Now, it's time for us and our priority!" Shikamaru replied, "Let's split up and try to find the bandits. But, don't alarm the people around you; if you find anything out of the ordinary, send up a signal flare!" "Right!" Naruto said. "Okay, LET'S GO!"

About five minutes after splitting up, the whole team looked around, covertly, to find any bandits. Sakura and Temari were looking from one part of the village. "Do you see anything?" Sakura asked her. "Not a thing," Temari said, "All I see is just people walking around." 'This is weird. If something like this were to happen in the Sand Village, no bandit would get away with this...'

At the Entrance Gate, Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto spoke to the Ninjas on watch. Unfortunately, they found nothing also. "Damn!" Shikamaru said, "It's a dead end from here!" "Something's off, myself!" Chouji replied. "What do you mean?" "Even if there was an explosion, no one was paying attention to it. Why is everybody moving around like nothing happened?" Shikamaru started thinking afterwards. Meanwhile, Naruto, still in Sage Mode, started to sense something, and jumped on top of a building. 'I can sense an unknown chakra...' he thought. 'But where?'

Hinata, Tenten, and Rock Lee was looking in another part of the village. Hinata's Byakugan was in full effect as the other two were looking carefully. "Hinata, how is it going?" Tenten asked. The young Hyuuga didn't have an answer as she kept searching.

Kiba was racing towards his house to check if his family was okay. "I just had to leave Akamaru at home of all the times!" he shouted. As he was running, he started to smell the sky. "Something's not right!" he said to himself. Nearing closer to his house, he noticed a large dog laying down in the street. "Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, stopping to see about his pet, "Are you okay?" He placed a hand on his fur and noticed that Akamaru was tensed up. "What happened to you?" Then, feeling something else, he pulled it out of his dog and looked at it. 'Who would hit Akamaru with a tranquilizer dart?'

All of a sudden, Kiba was knocked out instantly, lying on top of Akamaru. Then, somebody moved towards him and picked up his paper bombs. "Time to bring in the main attraction," a male voice said.

Shikamaru and Chouji rejoined Naruto, on top of a roof. "Is something wrong?" Chouji asked. "For a second," Naruto began, "I thought I sensed some unknown chakra. How about you?" "We checked the front gate," Shikamaru said, "as well as other people. They haven't seen a bandit all morning. And, it still doesn't make any sense that there was an explosion, but there was no panic..." Afterwards, something clicked at Naruto as he turned his head.

"What's the matter?" Shikamaru asked. "There's that unknown chakra I was sensing just a second ago! It's over in the direction of where Kiba is!"

A light appeared in the sky gaining their attention. "A signal flare!" Shikamaru said, "Looks like Kiba found something!" Another explosion came in the same area. "What was that?!" Chouji shouted, "Another blast!?" "Yeah," Naruto began, "But it looks like it gained everybody's attention this time!" "Come on!" Shikamaru replied, "We need to go help Kiba!"

Everyone in the village turned to where explosion; it also gained the attention of the Ninja team as well. "They finally revealed themselves!" Sakura said, "Let's go, Temari!" "It's about damn time, too!" Temari said following her.

About thirty seconds later, Hinata, Lee, Tenten, Sakura, and Temari made it to the scene. They were shocked as they saw Kiba laying unconscious with Akamaru. However, they didn't make a move until Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto came in afterwards. "Oh no, Kiba!" Naruto shouted as everyone else looked at the person standing above Kiba. The person had a mask on to cover what he looked like; only his eyes were visable. "Sakura! Ino!" Naruto sahouted, "Get Kiba to the infirmary and see that he's healed!" "But, Naruto...!" Sakura said, trying to say something. "Just do it!" "Sakura!" Ino said, "Kiba needs our help, right now!"

"Chouji," Shikamaru began, "Help Akamaru in the same fashion! Hinata, you and Temari stay here just in case!" "Then, I'll help out Chouji!" Tenten said. "So will I!" Lee said. As they helped out Kiba and Akamaru, Sakura turned back to see Naruto and the others, mainly Naruto, who was looking quite serious. "Just be careful!' she said, "Let's get going!"

As most of the team left, there were only four; Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Temari. They all stared a hole right at the intruder. "So," Temari began, "only one of the bandits were able to make through the Entrance Gate. I must admit, this guy has a huge set of testicles to come by himself..." "I'm amazed that you would think of me as a bandit," the bandit said. "Who else would you be!?" Shikamaru said, speaking up, "If you're not a bandit, then who are you?" "Come at me and find out..."

Hearing that threat, all four of them got into a fighting stance. The wind started to blow as bits of fire seared through them. However, silence came upon them for a while. Hinata, with her Byakugan activated, try to move as closely as she could. "Wait, Hinata!" Naruto said, "We can't get the civilians involved! We need to take this fight somewhere else!" "Yes, I'm inclined to agree!" the bandit said, getting their attention, "I would rather fight the great Naruto Uzumaki in a fight with out interference." "Huh?" Naruto breathed in shock. "How does a bandit, like yourself, know who Naruto is?" Temari asked. "I know all four of you, naturally. Hinata of the Hyuuga, the strategist Shikamaru Nara, not to mention, you, Temari of the Sand Village." Temari got angry afterwards.

Hinata looked to her left as her wide-area vision picked up something. "Naruto! We have a problem!" she shouted. Naruto looked his left as well as he started to sense people heading their way. 'The Medical Ninja!' he thought. 'Kakashi-sensei must of had Shizune call them! This could get bad if they show up!' "Let's get acquainted somewhere else!" he then said, "Follow after me!" The bandit followed Naruto, who led his teammates outside the village.

Back at the infimary, Kiba and Akamaru were healed after being treated. Meanwhile, Konohamaru and Moegi, who was there for the latter's checkup, looked outside. "This is horrible," Konohamaru said, "How did anybody NOT know about the first explosion?" "That's what we like to know," Ino said, "Now that the antidote has been adminstered to Kiba and Akamaru, let's go back and see what that guy has to say!"

"I think that's going to be a problem," Tenten said, looking out the window, pointing. Everyone, except for Kiba, looked out the window. The bandit was being led by Naruto, afterwards by Temari, Hinata, and Shikamaru. "What are they doing?" Sakura asked. "They are..." Lee began, "...Leading him away from the village!" "Sakura, this could be a trap!" Ino said, "Who knows where they will go..." "You're right," Sakura replied, "Let's go. We've got catch up with them." "What about the village?" Tenten asked, "More of those bandits may show up!" "Then Lee, Tenten, you two stay here and keep on the lookout."

"Hey, I'm coming too!" a voice said. The group turned back to see Kiba and Akamaru trying to stand up. "No, you don't Kiba!" Sakura said, "You should be staying in bed! You're not fully healed yet!" "Look," Kiba began, "We can argue about this all day! But, by the time we get out the door, you won't be able to find them! You gave me the antidote, right? It's just up to endurance now!" "He's right," Ino replied, "We're going to need him and Akamaru for this one!"

"Let me come, too!" Konohamaru suggested. Moegi pulled her ear after that. "You're not doing anything!" she said, "You're still hurt from training! So, until the doctor says otherwise, you're staying put!" "Okay! Okay! Just stop pulling my ear!" "Maybe next time, Konohamaru," Sakura said, "Come on, let's go!" With that, Sakura, Ino, Kiba, and Akamaru left the hospital.

Running at full speed, Naruto led the bandit away from the city. He looked back to see if the hoodlum was still following him. Shikamaru, Temari, and Hinata were following as fast as they could.

'Naruto is so fast in Sage Mode!' Shikamaru thought. 'It's so hard to keep up with him!' "What is going on with Naruto?" Hinata said, "He's always been hasty, but never like this!" Temari listened, then looked ahead. 'She's right...' she thought. 'Even a high-class shinobi like Naruto shouldn't be worked up over a pushy bandit like that...'

After running just a few more minutes, Naruto noticed something ahead. "The outskirts!" he said, "Good! We can stop here!"

Stopping, Naruto reverted back to normal form. The bandit stopped too, with the others stopping behind them. 'Naruto stopped at the outskirts of the Land of Fire!' Shikamaru thought looking around. 'Good...There's no place for him to hide...' "All right!" Naruto said, starting to breathe hard, "Now, that you've got our attention, why don't you start by tell us who the hell you are!" Temari started to noticed Naruto's condition out the corner of her eye. 'Don't tell me Naruto is THAT tired from all of that running?'

"Very well," the bandit said, "I'll start from the beginning: My name is Namahs. I'm from an elite, but very secret group of Ninjas, who scour the world in search of information on any, and all, powerful shinobi that gains our attention." "You're Information Seekers?" Naruto asked. "I suppose you could say that," Namahs replied, "and I was given a task to gather information on you." "Is that why you blended in with a murderous group of bandits?" Temari asked. "More importantly," Shikamaru asked, "What happened to the bandits that were heading towards the village?"

"They were nothing more than low-level scum in it for the money!" Namahs replied, "So, I had to dispose of them. They were interfering with my mission!" "That's just cruel!" Hinata shouted, "Even if they were bandits, you had no right to kill them!" "Hmph!" "You said something about gathering information on me?" Naruto said, "It was bad enough that the Akatsuki were after me! So why you? And, what took so long for you to come after me?" "I was planning on seeking info from you after Orochimaru attacked the Leaf Village, during the Third Hokage's reign...But, ever since then, you moves became so erratic. The only way to gather data on you was when you were fighting with Pain. To our surprise, we had never seen any Ninja alive who abilities had surpassed our expectations!"

"Okay then," Naruto began, "What about the Fourth Shinobi War? Clearly, you had to gather info there..."

"There was no need!" Namahs replied, "Your skills, in your Sage Mode, were more than enough to prove that you were indeed a formidable Ninja!" Then, Naruto started to smile. "Is that all?" he said, "Well, you shouldn't have stopped gathering info on me! Because, now...You're in trouble!" "It's a drag, but take my word for it!" Shikamaru said, "Your skills on gathering information doesn't compare to the skills of a Jinchuuriki!" "A Jinchuuriki?"

Naruto, creating a handsign, started transforming his body. He started turning orange, and in one full yell, he transformed himself in Kurama Mode. The wind immediately picked up and Temari was the only one was covered herself. 'Amazing!' she thought. 'So, this is the power that took down Tobi...I always knew that Naruto was powerful, but not even Gaara's strength doesn't even come close to this!'

Namahs, looking undeterred, stared at Naruto's power. "I must admit, I'm taken aback," he said, "It looks like I need to gather more information." "While you're at it," Kurama Mode Naruto began as he disappeared. Namahs looked around, only to find the Jinchuuriki behind him. "Gather info on THIS!"

Naruto landed a punch to the Ninja's face knocking him back...

Namahs, a Information-gathering shinobi has targeted Naruto for some odd reason. Who is he really? And, why is he after Naruto? As his teammates watch on, unbeknownst to them, Naruto's body is beginning to deteriorate...second by everlasting second...

A/N: Now, this chapter is a little longer! Next Chapter: Sakura made a decision... PLEASE REVIEW!

(Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song Re-Sublimity by Kotoko.)