I had so many things to do, so i'm sorry for the long wait.

I want to give a special thanks to Iana Sabelle who helped me out greatly. Without her, this chapter wouldn't have been completed. She like wrote the end of the chapter.

I do not own Naruto.

The Gates to Hell

Chapter 18

Miles away from Konoha, a mansion– more like a castle was hidden in a deep valley; trees surrounded the building like a shield, in the most natural way that it was nearly impossible to find unless you know exactly where to look. You could very well be hovering directly above it and still have a hard time seeing it.

Light could still reach the place. A huge yard to run around in can even be found within its domain, but the unnaturally thick and long branches of the tall trees blocked it from the wondering and prying eye with the exemption of a highly trained Anbu who would be able to find it, with difficulty.

Within the depth of the vast Mansion, only three doors were securely locked: the study of the Master of the house, the master's bed chambers and lastly, a certain door whose main purpose is to keep someone in until it was time for her to come out—a prison just like the person it held captive.

Inside the room-turned-prison, a girl laid unconscious on a colossal bed. A metal collar fit tightly around her neck, meant to control. This wouldn't be the first time that a collar like the one she was wearing found its place around her neck.

Her blonde hair stood out against the warm colored bed; her orange outfit didn't fit well with the style of the room. She looked like a pauper compared to the elegance of the room, which happens to also be bigger than her apartment.

Her eye lids flickered and flew open. After a few seconds, her blue eyes surveyed the room around her. "What happened? How did I get here?" she asked herself.

Naruto blinked a couple times as she recalled the events before. How long was she out? She didn't know. She tried to rub her neck when she felt a thick metal against her hand, making her gasp. "Oh no," she whispered in her hollow voice. Sure, her fear rose, but there were a couple differences.

One, Yuki was dead. Two, she now knew how the device worked. Three, she was in a different location. She jumped out of bed and realized that other than her lack of chakra she was perfectly fine. That was a plus.

Where's my hitae-ate? She glanced around the room, but the headband was nowhere to be found. Those bastards! They took my hitae-ate! She was starting to get livid, her fear forgotten; no one takes her headband without a fight.

It took her five whole minutes to make complete rounds in the room while coming up with different conclusions. One, her captor was insane. There were even fluffy dresses in the closet. Was he expecting her to wear them? If he was, he needed to go to see a shrink or perhaps be locked-up in a mental facility. Naruto Uzumaki didn't wear dresses like those.

Two, she cannot get out of this place. The windows were locked and sealed with some kind of metal. Nevertheless, she was still able to look through them. If she had Sakura's strength, she could have busted out. Then again, Sakura used chakra in those fists of hers.

Three, her captors were either very nice or very controlling. The room had everything she would ever need, besides food. It was like they were trying to send her a message that they controlled her every move right down to the soap in the bathroom that was connected to the room.

Other than trying to figure a way out of there, there was nothing better to do. Her mind never fails to wander if she was doing nothing.

How long was I out? Do my friends know I am missing? Why is Ryu's master after me? What does this all mean? Many other questions barraged her over-used mind.

Naruto sighed as she headed to the door that would lead out into the hall way. She tried with all her might; the door didn't move. "Shit," she cursed banging her fists against the walls, effectively making her hands crimson. She cursed again.

Not knowing what else to do, she made a quiet trip to the bathroom. After a few minutes, Naruto returned finding a woman sitting on her bed. "W-who are you?"

The woman had an evil look in her eyes. "I'm the mistress of this place," she spoke amusedly like she was talking to a cave woman scared of a camera, while playing with something shiny.

Naruto took a closer look to the object in the lady's hand. It was her hitae-ate. "Give that back!" Naruto demanded.

"This?" Naruto nodded. "No."

"Bitch."

"Watch that mouth of yours, or else I will burn this." The lady said, snapping her fingers. Fire appeared in her palm.

Naruto froze.

"That's my good girl," the woman grinned.

Naruto took in the strange lady's appearance. She had short black hair; her eyes were one shade lighter than her hair, and she was paler then a certain teme. "W-what do you want?" Naruto asked.

The woman stood from the bed. She was taller than Naruto and weighted slightly more than the blonde. "Don't you want to know who I am?"

Naruto backed up, getting a weird feeling from the woman. "…"

"My name is Akemi." She spoke almost eerily as she seemingly glided across the room to where Naruto was. "I won't kill you….yet."

Naruto didn't want that bitch anywhere near her. You can't kill me, lady! She swung her leg up to Akemi, who caught it in mid-air with one hand. Naruto's leg started to burn but Akemi wouldn't let go.

"Let me tell you about my bloodline trait. I can manipulate fire without getting burned." Akemi revealed to the girl.

Naruto growled. She jumped up and tried to kick her with the other leg. Akemi had a blank face like she was uninterested and sent her palm forward inches away from Naruto's heart.

In a matter of seconds, Naruto's back hit the wall as she tried to catch her breath. In a blink of an eye, Akemi had the blonde pinned against the wall. Her hand was an inch from Naruto's face. "I guess you're a living proof that blondes are stupid."

"D-don't call me s-stupid," Naruto stuttered, trapped by the vicious lady.

"You must be if you thought you could beat me without your chakra." Naruto felt the heat from Akemi's palm. "You better behave if you don't want me to burn you face." She inched her palms closer to the blonde's face, while Naruto tried all her might to get of her vice-grip.

"Akemi! Stop," a male voice ordered. Akemi dropped Naruto and turned to see a man leaning against the door way.

Naruto's heart was racing. Who is that? She glanced over at the man. His hair was a little lighter than Akemi's; his eyes, Naruto couldn't see since he had it shut. The mysterious thing though is that he could still see the two.

"Why?" Akemi's voice changes. It was soft like the way a person would talk to a lover.

"I don't want you to kill her before I had a chance at her. You know how long I've waited for this."

"Tatsuya, I'm sorry." she walked over to him and placed a kiss on his cheeks.

Naruto felt her heart stopped as she saw the hand shaped burn mark on her leg. She looked up to the bitch and saw that she still had the hitae-ate. "What do you want from me?"

Tatsuya walked to the girl and bended down to her. "Nothing. We wanted your father, but he's dead."

This man was Yuki's and Ryu's master. This was the man who wanted her dead in the most painful way. "Just kill me now and get it over with," Naruto snorted.

"No, not yet. Didn't you hear me?" He growled causing Naruto to flinch. "Akemi, put our guest in the maze."

"Chakra or no Chakra?" Akemi responded.

"No Chakra."

"I guess she would be dead as soon as we place her in it." Akemi laughed.

"What maze?" Naruto asked.

Tatsuya picked himself up and was at the door first before he answered. "Our maze has a 100 percent death rate. We nicknamed it the Gates to Hell, since it is worse than you could ever imagine. We have monster in there that would put on a good fight against the Kyūubi no Yōkō." He disappeared.

Akemi was once again next to Naruto in a blink of an eye. "By the way, we know that you are the vessel so don't feel all good about yourself. You can't draw on its powers anymore, so it doesn't matter if you are a Jinchūriki or not."

Only a couple hours were left before the first leg was over and Tsunade couldn't wait. She had enough of this tournament already.

Ten people were sent to the hospital on the first day and the numbers just kept on going up after that. It more than doubled on the second day. On the last and third day, wasn't any better… well things like this happens when a whole bunch of Ninjas get together. They are wild beasts, Tsunade would tell you.

She rose from her desk as she decided to do down to the forbidden forest early. She wanted to be down there when the brat comes out of the forest.

Tsunade made it down to the forest in record time and made her way to the exit zone of the forest. "Anything else to report?" The Hokage asked of the Rule Keepers.

The Keepers look worried. "The girl, you told us to keep our eyes on, is missing," one of the Keepers revealed.

"What!" She glared. "Maybe you just lost track of her," she tried to reason.

"We found her pack and crystals on the first day. We waited to see if she would come back to it, but she never did."

"Where are her stuff now?"

"On the desk," the keeper pointed to them. "We tried to sense Uzumaki but we couldn't, which means only one thing."

"She's not in the forest," Tsunade gasped filling in the blank.

"That's not all. There is one other person missing."

"Who is that?"

"A man named Dai," the keeper answered.

Tsunade growled. She had a bad feeling from that man when she first met him. Incidentally, that feeling began to evanesce when he said to talk. It was like magic. "Damn it!" she cursed. "He must have taken her and now he has a three day head start!" She summoned eight Anbu, who didn't partake in the tournament. She told them everything and they were off.

Tsunade gave the Keeper a list of eight people. "When these people come out of the forest, send them to me."

She hurried back to the Hokage's Tower and summoned Jiraiya. "What, Tsunade? I was in the middle of my research," the Toad Sage complained. He folded his arm across his chest. He started to spout out nonsense, but stopped after a few minutes. "What happened?" he asked as he caught sight of her face, after realizing how abnormal her behavior was.

"Naruto's missing."

Akemi literally threw Naruto into the 'Gates to Hell' and closed the door behind her. "Bitch!" Naruto hissed in pain as she landed on the hand shaped burn mark. Stupid woman! She pushed herself up.

She couldn't use her chakra, and the stupid demon couldn't heal her, ergo, She's screwed. She just hoped Tatsuya was joking about the beast part. If he wasn't, she's as good as dead.

The walls of the maze were made of some kind of vegetation that Naruto couldn't name for the life of her. The ground had patches of grass and concrete.

Naruto felt weird without her Hitae-ate; she felt naked without the band. That Lady would surely get a mouth full of fist when the blonde got out of this maze.

She pushed herself up causing pain to shoot throughout her body. Her leg felt like it was on fire; incidentally, that was what caused the mark on her leg. If only the fox wasn't sealed further down. Stupid, people! This was the one time she wished she could use the beast's chakra.

She had to bite her lip to stop the scream in her throat. Am I weak? She had to be in her mind. She had been kidnapped, injured, and be rescued on more than one occasion. It was like her whole life needed saving. I am just a burden to my friends, she thought.

She limped through the maze with one hand on the wall; since keeping your hand on a maze's wall was rule one in figuring a way out. She was turning a corner when she heard a roar from a distance. Her azure eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't believe the woman at first, but now it was a different story.

She turned another corner and froze in an instant. About five feet away from her was a lion-like-creature. It looked like a lion but it had five horns coming out of its head. The creature even had more than one tail; in fact, it had ten. Its short fur was blacker than coal; in contrast, his eyes were whiter as were his fangs, his long sharp and deadly fangs which seemed to be soaked in some kind of liquid, a drool perhaps, or probably a poison.

Naruto backed up. There was no way she could beat this thing without her chakra; plus, she wasn't a hundred percent yet. This sucks! The blonde started to sweat. It doesn't make sense, she thought. Why would Akemi and Tatsuya go through the trouble of kidnapping her just to feed her to the lions per se? Why didn't they kill her themselves? Did they expect her to make it out of here? Would they kill her right after she found the exit when she was the weakest?

To her annoyance, they never told her why they hated her father? What did Minato ever do to them? Naruto would never know if she didn't get out of this maze. That would mean killing this thing in front of her!

And she would. She was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, and she wasn't going to die before reaching her goal. She's going to become Hokage even if it killed her. She also wanted to fall in love; she wanted to feel like someone needed her for once.

She laughed. She hated being a woman, they are so emotional.

She wanted to feel butterflies in her stomach when she found the one. She wanted to experience life, and that involved killing the lion-like-beast.

It charged at her as though it wanted to eat her. It probably does, Naruto thought as she dodged the beast. She hissed landing on her injured leg. The beast being, well, a being driven by instinct alone charged her again as if desperate to kill her.

Sasuke Uchiha felt the sun beat against his face as he exited the forbidden forest. The wind gusted through his hair making him feel alive. To add to that, he was still 'high' from being with Naruto no matter how short-lived it was.

She had forgiven him and he knew she 'cared' more for him than just a friend. She loved him which was something he was sure about. She was just not ready yet, and he wasn't going to push her. He would wait until she was ready. There's time: there is always time.

He sighed as a Keeper appeared next to him. "Yes," Sasuke muttered.

"The Hokage would like to see you."

"Okay," Sasuke muttered. He didn't want to see that woman who wanted to cut off his manhood and feed it to him. He poofed away and appeared in Tsunade office, though he wasn't the only one there. Hinata, Neji, Ino, Sai, Kakashi– who was reading his evil boo-, Kiba, Sakura, and Shikamaru were also present.

"Good, you're all here." Tsunade spoke, but there wasn't a tinge of emotion in her voice.

The Uchiha glanced around the room; the dobe was missing. Shouldn't she be here, if it was something important? He was about to speak, when Tsunade began.

"Naruto's missing," Tsunade explained.

"What again?" Ino whined; in results, everyone glared at her. Tsunade told them everything she knew.

Everyone was about to leave, when Jiraiya came through the window. As a result, Tsunade landed a blow on his head. "Gee, Tsunade! You could have killed me with that strength of yours," he whined. He turned to the search party and said, "I'm going with you." He turned serious in a matter of 2.2 seconds.

Naruto let herself fall against the wall of maze as she tried to catch her breath. Somehow, she was able to kill the beast despite the lack of weapons. To be truthful, the beast killed itself when he was chasing her. She saw how the 'lion' couldn't maneuver very well so Naruto trapped it. In the end, it snapped it own neck while it was chasing her.

She slid down into sitting position.

If she had her chakra, she would have killed it with the Rasengan which would have saved her some energy. Her legs felt dead from all that running; in addition, she felt tired. Even so, she wouldn't fall asleep in a place like this, especially when she had no chakra. Something would kill her in her sleep and she would never know.

She pushed herself up despite her severing pain. Her legs were threatening to give out on her at any moment. Aside from that, she had lacerations all over her body from branches and other things when the thing was chasing her. The lacerations were bleeding openly. Shit, I hate blood. She would need to take care of her injuries.

She had to find a shelter and food…. well she could eat the lion like creature. It could be poisonous; she guessed catching sight of its fangs. She didn't know the first thing about poisons hence the reason why Sakura was on her Anbu team. She didn't want to take a chance so she left the thing alone.

Naruto cursed. Thanks to that beast, she had to take her hand off the wall, effectively help her in getting lost. To add to her misery, it took her some time before she fixed a proper shelter to sleep for a couple of hours.

"I wonder if the tournament is over yet," she sighed. "I had an awesome wish." Naruto stumbled toward the tent-like-shelter. Before falling sleep, after making sure it was stable. The last thing she wanted was the thing caving in on her.

The sun was starting to fade despite the fact that the search party was only traveling for a couple of hours. They had two choices, they could set up camp and wait until tomorrow or they could keep going. In the end, they decided to stop for a couple hours so they can rest.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably against the tree. She seemed to be restless nowadays; to add to that, she was getting tired easier now. Was it because of the baby? She sighed. This would be her last mission for awhile……..which means Lee would be all over her. He can be annoying at times, especially now, since she's having his child. He was over protective. Good thing he was still in the forbidden forest or he wouldn't have let her go on this mission.

After a couple of hours, they were off again. No one talked as everyone was on edge. "I found something," someone called out.

Shikamaru went into his thinking pose. "Let's go."

A couple of hours later, Naruto wiggled out of the weak shelter, the sun greeted her. She smiled as if she had no care in the world. Most of her injuries were gone; instead, the hand print was very much visible. It still strung, whenever she moved too much. "Akemi, you are so dead," Naruto snorted.

She continued on her way through the maze, but she wasn't exactly quiet. Well, she's Naruto; she couldn't be quiet even if her life depended on it….. Wait a minute, her life was in danger. That wasn't anything new; her life was always in danger. Does fate want her dead? Was it her destiny to die? Was she challenging destiny by merely living?

Intelligent questions that Naruto had never even thought of asking before kept flooding her mind as she aimlessly wandered the complex and dangerous maze she had been thrown into. So deep in her thought was she that she didn't sense the danger lurking around the corner she just turned into, until it hit her head-on.

When the Konoha ninjas finally reached the valley where their trackers led them to, they had to not only use the bloodlines they had with them, they also had to use all other resources they could such as their summon and their skills in order to find the exact place they were looking for.

For almost half an hour, there was still no sign of an opening that would take them to where Naruto was being held. This only made the frustration of her main fan-boys grow. The absence of Sai's fake smiles, Neji's reverting back to the stiff Hyuga he once was, Sasuke's wavering impassive façade, and Kakashi's rigid movement were evidence enough to know they're on the edge.

Of course this didn't mean the others with them didn't care about Naruto as much as they did, they only cared for her on a different level compared to kind of love her fan-boys have for her.

Finally, after what seemed like eons to them, an opening was finally revealed. You would have to squint in order to find it though.

Jiraiya raised his hand, gaining everybody's attention. "From here on, things will get more tricky and dangerous. Whoever kidnapped a ninja of Naruto's caliber would either be insane or extremely powerful with a brain to back it up. Utmost stealth and care is needed for this mission." He paused for a while to let them digest what he had just said.

"Remember, our priority is to find and get Naruto no matter what. The extermination of the ring leader comes second. Stay close until we need to spread out, and when we do, always update and notify one another, is that clear?" Jiraiya spoke like a true sannin that everyone in the group couldn't help but affirm to his command.

"Ok, move out!" The Toad Sannin gave the signal and they moved, leaving only some swirling leaves behind, as if only a small gust of wind had been there, and no other living being.

As they speed up towards the well-hidden mansion, all had similar thoughts running through their heads.

"Be safe Naruto, we're coming."

"Hang in there Naruto, I'm on my way"

"If they touch even a single strand of your hair, I'll be sure to make them pay… wait for me, Naruto."

A loud and ear-splitting crashing sound echoed through what seemed like a never-ending maze surrounded Naruto, along with the flying debris and smoke as the vile creature punched the spot where she was standing seconds ago, when she bumped onto it, effectively creating a huge crater.

"Damn! I could've been killed!" Naruto cussed, seeing what was left behind of the ground where she stood seconds before. Her attention was immediately caught by the beast as it roared so load and made its move to Naruto.

Hoping to kill the beast by using the same trick she had done to the lion-like one, she ran, and ran until she noticed a hole in the wall that was obviously made when she was 'fighting' off the first beast. Seeing that the beast is yet to see her since the bushes and some trees scattered around hid her petite figure perfectly, she decided to hide.

The hole was just right for her side and it kept her safe from prying eyes and strong sense of smell of any beasts, at least in the mean time.

She kept her fingers crossed waiting for the beast to leave, but lady luck wasn't on her side as three other beasts, each one more repulsive than the other, came into view. The mighty roars and sickening stench of the foul creatures, that were only a few feet away from where Naruto was, scared and traumatized her. She unconsciously hugged herself and moved farther against the back to the wall, letting the darkness engulf her.

After what seems like centuries, everything went still, and yet Naruto was still in her little corner, shivering, almost in a panicked state, and she only realized that the coast was clear when she felt a bug crawl at her forearm.

It took her a full minute to compose herself and got out of the hole she had taken as a place of refuge. She shakily got up with a distant look in her eyes. The unfortunate events that happened were all coming down on her like tons of bricks tumbling down on her.

The fatigue, emotional, and mental trauma was getting the best off of her. She felt trapped and hopeless, helpless that she already wanted to just be eaten by the creatures that resides in the maze just to escape this hellish place. All thoughts of her friends and the family she considered who she thought would come to rescue her, flew out of the proverbial window. Her eyes now glazed over, she was ready to give up and give in to whatever fate has installed for her.

The moment the imposing mansion came into view, the rescue team stopped in their tracks to take in its grandeur. Not one to waste time on such a mission, Jiraiya gave the signal to proceed and enter the building with as much stealth as they can pull off, one worthy of their ranks.

When they got inside the manor, they were again stunned at its magnificence. One would think they just entered a palace full of doors and hallways that they wouldn't know where to start.

As they took in the surrounding and make a quick plan in their head, Jiraiya already caught their attention by giving orders, only to stop when they heard someone clapping.

"I commend you for being able to enter my humble abode, let alone find it." Tatsuya spoke casually with his mild mannered voice, still clapping his hands. Akemi stood by his side, her hands resting on Tatsuya's arm. She looked evil in the light.

The couple gave the group a once over before letting their gaze settle on the Toad Sannin.

Upon hearing they had company, all eyes were on the person clapping; they were all tensed and ready for action… all but one…

Jiraiya couldn't help but gape as recognition dawned on him on who Naruto's captors were. He pointed an accusing finger at them, tongue-tied and still openly gaping. The only reason he got his teams attention was because of the funny noises he made and the way their 'hosts' direct their gaze at him.

The story takes an interesting turn! Tatsuya and Akemi revealed next chapter!

And once again, a special thanks to Iana Sabelle.

please review!

Next story to be updated is the New Purpose Story then My Gundam Seed story