Esparia: That not so long awaited chapter three...more because no one really cares abou this than the actual wait. This has taken awhile to update.

Finale

By Esparia

Chapter Three

Urushi didn't know what exactly he thought of the Inuzuka ninken, the young thing was a "worry wart" (as Kakashi would say). While he and others were concerned about their only human pack member, they figured that it was better to do something than worry themselves into fretful pups.

Kakashi didn't seem to being doing too much in the line of dangerous actions, though he would sporadically start doing things like duck-walking laps around Konoha. The pack eventually decided that "Gai" was challenging him. While watching actual challenges were something a little strange, as what humans did often were, watching his human take up a challenge without the other human was sad.

Urushi shook his fur, blue jacket shaking along with it; he didn't know what was happening with the humans and it bothered him. This was the point of this solely ninken mission, find out what happened to the humans and find out how to reverse it. If they could find Kakashi's excitable pup, all the better.

A pointed ear twitched as that Inuzuka pup started yapping about his human again. If there was one thing about the Inuzuka canines, it was that they were just as loud as their people. There was never a more accurate saying than "the man fits his dog".

Naruto had finished packing away his belongings when the sun rose above the horizon. He hoped that he would be able to make it to Konoha within a few days, but at the pace he was going it wasn't likely to happen. If anything, he would be arriving at the gates of Konohagakure in a week.

Naruto sighed, if this was what it was like to be a civilian than he was very thankful that he was given the shinobi career. Granted it wasn't really an option, what with him having a biju sealed in him, he was always going to become a shinobi. Though he never really thought about his predetermined life, it did give something to think about as one hiked their way through empty terrain, all by themselves, alone, without even a cranky old fox to keep him company...

Sure there were animals, plants, and other things in the land he walked; but he had yet to run across another traveler since that man. He watched his surroundings for possible threats but came across none and eventually got very bored with scanning an already scanned area. The most dangerous thing in the area was a bunny nibbling at a stalk of shrubbery with aggressive ferocity. Which was so terrifying. He was sure to get nightmares...okay, so maybe he was a bit bored. Which really didn't fit his situation, for all he knew Madara could be razing his village to the ground.

Naruto spent a day and a half passing equally as threatening animals before he met something more dangerous.

He was taking a break and riffling through his pack of dried meat. He normally wouldn't have taken a break, being a stamina freak seconded only by Lee and Gai. Though with the hidden wounds of his chakra coils and the stinging throbs of his tenketsu points, it was amazing Naruto was able to move at all.

Thus, Naruto found himself sitting sedately when he first sensed something moving in the woods that was not a harmless field mouse.

He drew out a kunai, just in case, and waited for the creature to come out. He spotted a flash of white to his right and slowly positioned himself towards it. He didn't want to attack an ally but he wasn't willing to let himself become vulture food.

A branch snapped and a second spot of white appeared in the trees.

Naruto never was one to leave things to guessing, and he certainly wasn't someone who left out introductions.

Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I would really appreciate it if you could stop hiding in the trees like creeps."

There was a rustling and some movement before two white and light brown blurs jumped into view.

He blinked and the two dogs blinked back.

Sheathing his weapons, with some mild embarrassment, "ah, Akamaru and...Urushi? Where are Kiba and Kakashi-sensei?"

The two dogs looked at each other in confusion. They found Naruto, which was a good thing and even a sub-objective of their mission: find out what happened to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Obito. However, they were expecting to find a few magot's-corpses or death scents, at best they would find the human-pup with the mind-sickness. Perhaps he did have the mind-sickness and the pup was merely dreaming of them, as unlikely as that was.

Urushi side-eyed the human-pup, Akamaru-kun, walk to his side. We'll see how he reacts. If he turns hostile, I'll free you.

Akamaru flicked an ear in consent, Hai, Urushi-taichou.

Akamaru knew Naruto, he had known this human since he was a pup, he also knew that while Naruto could be brash and rough, he was very kind. Naruto would even sneak him treats. With this in mind, Akamaru confidently walked up to Naruto, sniffing lightly, Naruto-kun smells of injury, life-energy is...different, same?

Naruto bent down beside his friend's canine companion and gently rubbed his ears. A frown made it's way across his face and looked to the second dog, that he was pretty sure was named Urushi. Urushi always had struck Naruto as a mean looking dog and Akamaru as a friendly dog, but he didn't know that they knew each other. Though, he supposed with so few ninken out there, they would at least know of each other.

He glanced back and forth between the two, he knew that Akamaru couldn't talk but he wasn't sure about Urushi. Pakkun could talk, but that might only be his thing. The toads could talk, but they were special toads. Honestly, Naruto didn't know much about ninken and dogs typically didn't like being around him. Kiba said he smelt like fox, which could aggravating?

So he didn't understand them, not like Kiba and Kakashi seemed to. He did understand when he was being left out of a conversation and Naruto hated that. Patting Akamaru's head, he awkwardly said, "Uh, so, I can't really understand you. So maybe you could go get Kakashi-sensei or Kiba?"

Urushi huffed in exasperation, We find a human without the mind-sickness and it's one that doesn't understand the canine-speak. How's your human-speak coming along?

Akamaru's tail drooped, ah, not...much, Kiba understands me and so I don't really need to learn.

Urushi's nose scrunched slightly, displeasure clear to the younger dog, Foolish pup, there is always a need to learn. If you have the ability to learn a skill, learn it. How do you plan to communicate with other humans without Kiba-kun? My pack has Pakkun and Kakashi, the rest of us don't have the ability to vocalize human-speak.

Cowed, Akamaru's tail dropped fully and his head bowed, I...could try to vocalize?

Urushi walked to his side, at the very least, try. For all we know, he knows what the red light was. He doesn't have the mind-sickness, so he might be able to cure it.

Akamaru looked up at Naruto, who was staring in surprise at the spiky furred dog, and worked his mouth, "aou..."

Naruto squinted, "huh?"

Akamaru's droopy ear flicked back, uh...sorry...

Urushi flicked an ear forward, try again.

Akamaru licked his nose nervously, "nou...no."

Naruto blinked, "no?"

Akamaru's tail wagged nervously, uh, right?

Naruto tilted his head, "I didn't know you could talk. No what?"

Akamaru huffed, this is going to take a while, what am I supposed to tell him? I can hardly pronounce these vocalizations.

Urushi's tail raised lightly, tell him that we're alone.

Akamaru's tail twitched lower, yes, sir.

Naruto looked between the two dogs, "no what? No you won't you won't bring them here? Wait, why are you two here? Together? I mean, don't get me wrong, but isn't there some rule about working with unfamiliar packs?"

"Nauofo," Akamaru barked, cutting off what he recognized as the start of a ramble, "riffen, Kiba no here. Kaka-thee no here. Urufi arp me find red light. Herough."

"Um," Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "I didn't get a lot of that at the end. Kakashi and Kiba aren't here?"

Urushi gave a very human nod, correct, good job Akamaru-kun.

Akamaru's tail wagged and nodded too, thank you.

Naruto looked at the two wondering, "if they aren't here, where are they?"

Akamaru shifted, he knew this word, he heard it many times before, and now he had to vocalize it, "Ko-noh-ha."

"Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, eyes widening, "Then what are you doing way out here? Some dog only mission?"

Urushi nodded and Akamaru followed his lead.

"Cool. I guess I shouldn't keep you from completing it," Naruto said, straitening.

"No. Wa-it!" Akamaru yelped, "human many bad in...Konah-ha."

"What?" Naruto asked, puzzled. He felt kind of bad for forcing Akamaru to talk, he obviously was struggling and Urushi didn't seem pleased about something.

Urushi was looking at Akamaru and seemed to be growling, but Akamaru didn't react like it was bad so Naruto wasn't sure what to think. All he really knew was that wagging tails sometimes meant happiness and sometimes aggressiveness (ah, learning the hard way), and that teeth were usually threats.

Akamaru shook before sitting down, thinking before saying, "irr in Konohha, think irr, human many irr. Kiba irr. Kaka-thee irr. All human irr. Urufi arp me find what make irr."

"Okay, let me see if I understand," Naruto rubbed his head, if there was one thing babysitting helped with, it was understanding butchered words, "There is ill in Konoha. Everyone is ill, sick, everyone is sick in Konoha. All the people, including Kiba and Kakashi. And you two are trying to find what's making them sick."

Akamaru yipped and wagged his tail, yes, that's it exactly.

Naruto began gathering his things, "I should probably get to Konoha then, see if I could help. Heh, but my chakra is all screwed up from...uh, that, and it'll probably take me forever to get there. Hey, you might even beat me there after you finish your mission."

Akamaru whined, What are we supposed to do? I'm not making sense to him.

Urushi closed his eyes in thought, tell him that we'll bring him to Konoha.

But our mission- Akamaru started in surprise.

Can be finished if Naruto-kun has some answers that we can't ask for, Urushi tilted his head with finality, you are big enough to carry him.

Yes, agreed Akamaru before he turned to Naruto, "Urufi arp me bring Narufo in Konoha."

"You're bringing me to Konoha? But isn't that...the opposite of doing your mission?" Naruto asked.

Urushi shrugged, Akamaru tried to shrug, and Naruto shook his head, "your call. Alright! Let's get to Konoha!"

Naruto's stomach growled.

"After we eat."

Both dogs snorted in amusement.

"I can see why Kiba is always on your back," Naruto mused, clinging to the white fur as they sped through the trees, "it's like riding a furry toad."

...did he just call me a toad? Akamaru asked.

Urushi leapt to the next branch, A furry toad.

"When will we get to Konoha?" Naruto asked, breaking the not quite silence.

Urushi's nose twitched, We'll get there around sun-nadir.

Akamaru huffed and slowly pronounced, "Konoha in high-moon."

"Midnight," Naruto echoed, before asking, "why is your grammar so strange? You hear Kiba and other people talk."

Akamaru glanced back, "Kiba trah... transrates word many. Human many bark more, arp- and word many mean differrrent. Me rearn now human word many."

"You're learning, that's cool. Is Kiba teaching you?" Naruto asked, he had always wondered if ninken learned from the people contracted to them or if they learned from some dog-sensei.

"Kiba no teach. Me rrlearn now alone," Akamaru explained, "diff...difficurrlt..."

"You should ask Kiba for help, he'd be excited and brag about it for weeks," Naruto said, adjusting the pack on his back.

"No. Kiba...thhick...thhsick...sick. Kiba sick think," Akamaru said, tail drooping, "Kiba no hear me."

Naruto frowned and looked towards Urushi, who was running a pace ahead of them. Urushi seemed to be the leader of this mission, and seemed to be wanting poor Akamaru to explain things to him. Akamaru talked about a sickness, a sick thinking. He wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean and every time he asked for clarification, the poor dog's tail would droop and look to Urushi for help. It was evident, even to Naruto, that Akamaru didn't know the words for their problem. They weren't messenger dogs, they tracked and sought out things they were told to find. They were fighters, fighting what they were told to fight. Which begged the question as to why these two dogs in particular were on a mission without either of their people.

Kiba almost never left Akamaru alone, they were as inseparable as he and Kurama were. Kakashi would have teamed his dog up with another of his dogs if it was going to be some dog-only mission. It was easy enough to figure out that both dog users had this sickness that had to have been so bad that they couldn't even help their dogs.

This sick thinking could be a number of things. They could be going crazy, like Orochimaru crazy. They could have a bad fever, Sakura had explained that when someone was too hot they couldn't think clearly and sometimes hallucinated (which apparently was like genjutsu created by your own mind and couldn't be broken). Then it could be something completely different, Akamaru even said that the words meant different things.

Then a thought crossed his mind. Why didn't these two dogs ask for help from other people? Akamaru said all the people were sick in Konoha. What kind of sickness could overtake an entire village, let alone a shinobi village? They had medic nin for things like that, and why were there so many people in the village and not in battle. Surely the war wasn't actually over. Madara was still out there. What if... What if this thinking sickness was no sickness at, but a genjutsu. Madara did monologue about some genjutsu he planned on casting over the entire world.

But that couldn't be it, after all, Naruto was fairly sure that he'd know that something wasn't right. And even if he was under a genjutu, why would it be about losing one of his best friends and riding Akamaru back to Konoha because his chakra coils were damaged? That wouldn't make sense according to Madara's peace-through-dreams plan.

Though, it was all too possible that whatever Madara did in that cave (and boy was that some freaky crap) could have casted a genjutsu over the nearby shinobi army. Perhaps the jutsu was done wrong, and Naruto had his fair share of accidents to know that even a slight fluctuation off could cause some major problems in a jutsu. Such as blowing yourself up, losing your clothes, deafening yourself for a day, the list went on. Sakura had told him that delicate jutsu, like iryoninjutsu and genjutsu, had to be flawless else some really horrible things could happen.

With that worry in mind, Naruto asked, "Akamaru, this thinking sickness. Is it a genjutsu?"

Akamaru barked at Urushi, What did he say?

Urushi flicked his tail, Ask him to repeat the question.

"Say...again?" Akamaru asked carefully, the "S" words were hard, he was no snake after all.

"Is the thinking sickness a genjutsu?" Naruto repeated.

He wants to know if it's a chakra-mirage, Urushi flicked his pointed ears, spiky fur ruffling in the wind.

Is it? Akamaru wondered, have we received any updates?

Urushi huffed, Tranquil-Shinning-Claw-san flew in while you were being fed by Naruto-kun. The Aburame insects have focused their efforts into bringing their hosts out of chakra-mirage, they have reported that internal chakra disruption hasn't broken their dreams. They're in something stronger and more akin to a phantasmagoria then an actual mirage. Like they're in dreams, living lives that skip around. That's why they suddenly seem to stop doing one thing and immediately head in a direction that makes no sense according to their surroundings. It is a chakra-mirage, but stronger. Like an omega pup and an alpha wolf.

Akamaru recoiled, his human was fighting something so out of his league, he couldn't help but whine a bit, ...they're okay, right?

They'll be okay, Urushi promised, inwardly wondering how long that would be true. If this mirage continued to plague the humans, it was only a matter of time before the problems became relevant. After all, when a wolf got old and could no longer see the prey it was hunting, they would eventually starve having never actually caught their prey.

Turning back to Naruto, Akamaru slowly pronounced what he hoped would get the message across, "Yes, sick think is g...genju...tsu. Strong more genjutsu. No fight."

"The entire village is under a genjutsu!" Naruto exclaimed he had so wished that it wouldn't be true. That his far fetched (no pun intended) guess wouldn't be reality.

"Yes," Akamaru confirmed, happy that his human words were making sense, not so happy that it was Naruto watching him learn. He wanted his boy back.

"Did Madara do something to them?" Naruto asked, "I was kinda out of it after...yeah."

Akamaru blinked, Urushi-taichou, what-

He wants to know if it's that alpha's, Madara-ojii, fault. Sounds like he passed out after he was captured, Urushi said, trying to listen for any threats. Even though all humans, that they know of, were under this genjutsu. He couldn't be too careful, the subcontracted animals didn't care much for them anyway.

"No know," Akamaru replied to Naruto, they were sent to investigate the cause of the sickness. So who knows what that crazy elder was up to.

"So, what's the plan? Can you break them out of the genjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"That'ssss what I would like to know," a hissing voice said from the branches above, causing the trio to stop.

-(3040)-