Welcome back to my little tale. I hope you guys had a great Holidays and New Year. I sure did. Anyway, as always I like to start off by saying that I don't own Naruto or any other of the characters. Though I am saving up to maybe by the rights to Neji. I have $42. I wonder how much more I'll need? _

Thanks to all those who have reviewed my last chapter: soten ni zase hyouketsu (longest name....ever!), Weaponx178, ImmortalOokami, Temari-rulz (Heeeyyy Temari-chaaan! *Waving*), Bikiluf, Maniman, Dark Insomniacs, Maxslayer and GravenImage.

And now to reply:

Hyouketsu-san - Glad you've been enjoying my work. And thanks for the complement regarding my story titles. I believe the title of the story can be just as important as the story itself as it can help set a tone for what to expect.

Weaponx178 - Dude you are quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love how you take the time to write a more detailed review. Yea, this was definately a more of an "action free / story set up" chapter. Expect a few more before I ramp up the action again. As for the Bijuu's, my take is really a mix of several thoeries I've read and had myself which i put together as to what I think would make sense. The death of the 1st is also something I've discussed in the forum I visit and I think it's just something Kishi will never cover. Though it would be awesome, if Kishi decided to expand the Naruto U beyond the Madara / Sasuke battle to reveal Naruto's next enemy was the one who defeated the 1st. It could be cool. Hmmm perhaps I just got an idea for a fanfic. And finally I always just assumed that unlike the Hachibi, if the Kyuubi and Naruto joined forces it wouldn't be a friendly teamup. And it is a theme I plan to explore further in later chapters. Thanks again.

ImmortalOokami - You know it's funny. I couldn't find any references to her name whan I tried to find it. But as soon as you let me know I find other references....ah what a pain. Hey at least the two names rhyme. Thanks for the catch.

Bikiluf - Glad you liked it.

Maniman - Will Naruto kick Torune's a**? Maybe? Maybe not. Hmmmm.

Temari-rulz - What!? *o*!! Cliffhangers are awesome! They prove the story your reading is exciting!!

Dark Insomniacs - Please see my response to Temari! :)

Maxslayer10 - Wait no longer. Read this chapter.

GravenImage - At least someone likes cliffhangers!! :)

And that's enough of that. Thanks for bearing with that long response section. And now Chapter 8 of my tale. Please remember to review my work.

Naruto: Chronicles of the Seventh

Book Two: New Dawn

Chapter Eight: Phoenix Rising

Konoha – Early Morning – General Hospital

Sakura ran through the throngs of people in the hallway. The explosion had knocked out all power in the hospital and the reserve generators had kicked in. The halls were bathed in an eerie low light as Sakura made her way through frightened faces.

All around her, there was panic as medics ran to and fro to attend to the sick and injured. Patients clogged the hallway as they looked about trying to get a handle on what was happening. As she moved through the crowd, medics, nurses and patients alike called her name. They wanted to know what was going on, where they under attack, should they seek shelter?

Sakura found herself slowed by the growing crowd all seeking her council. As she fought her way through, quickly answering those she could Sakura found that she was growing into an all consuming panic. She wasn't sure if it was just her growing fear or the affect the panicked crowd was having on her but suddenly Sakura felt as if she desperately needed to get away.

Suddenly above the noise of the crowd Sakura heard a familiar voice calling out to her. It was Moegi who was currently doing her rounds in the hospital during the attack. "Sakura-sama," Moegi yelled over the din, "What's going on?! There was this massive explosion and suddenly the entire place lost power!"

"The explosion came from the top floor," Sakura responded, "It looks like it came from Naruto's side of the building."

Moegi was instantly concerned. "My god," she said. "Well, what are we waiting for Sakura-sama? Let's go up there and check on him!"

Sakura placed her hand on Moegi's shoulder and shook her head. "It's ok Moegi," she said, "I can do that on my own. I need you to remain here and help the doctors keep everyone calm and to check on those who need medical attention. You can keep track of things and let me know what's going on when I get back." Reluctantly Moegi nodded. "Ok Sakura-sama," she said. "Just be careful and please let me know once you know Naruto is ok." Sakura nodded and left making her way through the crowd until she reached the emergency stairwell.

Once she got there Sakura took a deep breath, grateful to be free from the massive crowd. Only a few medics were on the stairwell, rushing back and forth. Sakura then reared back and began leaping up the stairwell, one landing at a time.

Meanwhile – Just outside the Hospital

Shikamaru came to an immediate stop in front of the hospital and stared in awe at the gaping hole at the top of the building. He then began to survey the area trying to get a clear picture of what may have happened here. Seeing Shikamaru standing by, many onlookers, medics and even patients who had wandered outside began to ask him if he knew what had happened.

Answering 'no' to a few and ignoring the rest, Shikamaru forced himself to focus at the scene despite the surrounding chaos. It was then Shikamaru heard the familiar voice of Choji above the crowd. Turning he saw Choji, accompanied by Ino and Shino came running up to him. "Oh God," Ino said as she arrived. "That's where Naruto's room is located. Don't tell me Akatsuki has come for him."

"Let's not go jumping to conclusions yet Ino," Shikamaru responded. "To be honest I'm not too sure about that."

"What do you think happened Shikamaru," Choji asked. "I mean it's pretty obvious that someone from Akatsuki blew a hole into the building and took Naruto's body."

"Actually no it isn't," Shikamaru said he pointed to the debris scattered about. "Look at all the debris. If someone caused the explosion from the outside most of this would have been blown back into the building. No, this explosion came from inside. And I doubt even Akatsuki with their obvious cloaks and our ability to sense the chakra signals of intruders would be able to sneak so far into Konoha undetected."

"So," Shino said as he walked passed them and looked closer at the scene, "you don't necessarily think this was an attack from outside but one from within?"

"Yes," Shikamaru said gravely. As he continued to look the place over several other Konoha shinobi arrived including several ANBU.

Before anymore confusion began Shikamaru quickly took charge. "Ok," he said, "I need you shinobi to begin clearing the surrounding area. Get civilians back to a safe distance and all patients of the hospital I want placed over in that open courtyard until I get confirmation that the building is safe."

Pointing at an ANBU shinobi Shikamaru said, "I need you to inform the Hokage of what happened." The ANBU shinobi immediately left as Shikamaru addressed the remaining ANBU shinobi. "I need the rest or you to get all available shinobi to double all exits and have the remaining shinobi search everywhere using this location as base. From here spread out in groups of three and maintain a tight circle formation."

The other Shinobi immediately left as Shikamaru spoke to Shino. "Shino, I need you and Choji to begin searching as well. Choji you can expand in size and check large areas while Shino uses his bugs for reconnaissance, understood?"

"Right," Shino said. "C'mon Choji, let's get going." With that Shino and Choji ran off to begin their search.

"Ino," Shikamaru said, "I heard that Sakura was seen running into the building just before we got here. She's probably making her way to Naruto's room as we speak. I need you to head up there and give me an idea of what happened in there. I'll wait here and use this as a temporary base camp until I get a better understanding of what's happening."

Ino nodded and ran into the building. Thank God Shikamaru is here, she thought. He really has a way of getting things under control quickly. I just hope Naruto is ok.

Meanwhile – inside the hospital

Sakura arrived at the top floor of the stairwell to find three medical ninja and one patient who appeared to be a shinobi himself trying to open the door. Seeing Sakura one of the medics said, "Sakura-sama, I'm glad you're here! It looks like there is something blocking the door to the top floor. Can you help?"

"Stand back," Sakura said as they all rose and made room for her. Sakura ran at the door and with one punch sent it flying off its hinges and down the hall along with the rubble that was blocking it. Looking at one of the medics she said, "Take this patient and head back downstairs and find as many spare medics as you can and bring them up here. There may be a lot of injured people on this floor."

As the medic left with the patient who was helping, Sakura and the two remaining medics entered the top floor. All around there was rubble and debris. Lighting fixtures lay broken and hanging from the ceiling. There was no light and they had to wait a moment to adjust to the darkness.

It was then they began to here moans, and coughs from several different locations as well as the calls for help from others. Having walked these halls seemingly a million times, Sakura slowly made her way to Naruto's room from memory. Every so often she would come across and injured patient or medic and she would stop to confirm that they were still alive.

After a few minutes she made it to his room and saw that the door and much of the wall was blown away. Entering the room, Sakura had to shade her eyes from the sun as the entire outer wall and ceiling was gone. Once her vision adjusted she quickly scanned the room and Naruto's bed, which was now on its side and horribly burnt. All around the room lay in rubble. The inner walls were blackened and charred.

Meanwhile – Office of the Hokage

Danzo sat in his office as was being debriefed by several of his advisors as one of his guards entered the room. "Hokage-sama," he said, "One of the ANBU has arrived with an update from the hospital." Danzo motioned for the ninja to enter.

The ninja came in and quickly dropped to one knee. "Lord Hokage," he said, "We have yet to determine the cause of the explosion or the extent of the damage. However at this time no one seems to be gravely hurt my Lord."

"Excellent news," Danzo replied as he smiled contently as he signaled to Fu, "I'll send a member of my staff to take control of the situation there."

"That won't be necessary my Lord," the ninja said, "Shikamaru Nara is already on the scene and is assessing the situation."

Startled Danzo sat ridged in his chair. Shikamaru, he thought. What the hell is he doing out there? He should have been at the meetings this morning. Damn that boy! He is far to smart for his own good. And if there's anyone who can cause a problem it's him. But there's nothing I can do at this point.

Smiling, Danzo replied, "Good, good. I'm glad he was nearby. I'll entrust it to him then. Please return to him and let him know that I'm ready to send assistance to him whenever and wherever necessary."

Meanwhile – In Otogakure

Neji raised his right fist just above his head signaling both Lee and Kiba to stop. Using his Byakugan, Neji began to scan the area. They had been moving steadily for most of the night only stopping to rest a handful of times. Neji then raised his hand again and waved, signaling them to move up to his position.

"Found anything Neji," Kiba asked as he arrived next to Neji. Neji merely nodded and cleared the bushes in front of him so the others would be able to see. And what they saw was surprising to say the least.

In front of them was a large grass clearing with several small make-shift huts and homes of various sizes. Several people went back and forth as they seemingly performed daily duties. "A village," Lee said, "But there isn't supposed to be a village located here. We have no information about it. I mean it is pretty small but still we should have known about it."

"Unless this is a new village," Kiba said, "Perhaps it was created because of this war. Could it be that they're refugees?"

"No," Neji responded, "These aren't refugees. All the roving enemy patrols in the area were strategically placed to protect this area. I could tell by their positions. Plus take a good long look at this village. Anything look off to you guys?"

Kiba and Lee stared out at the village from the bushes and for a moment they were silent as the looked at the random men scattered about. Some were talking to each other, while others were merely walking from one place to another and others still appeared to be working. Yet it seemed none of them were doing anything with any type of purpose.

"It's an act," Kiba stated, "This place, these people, they're all acting like normal villagers but their not. Even though they're wearing normal clothes they all have the faces of hardened warriors and they all seem on edge, as if on lookout."

"Exactly," Neji said, "Also there is one more obvious thing." Both Kiba and Lee looked at Neji waiting for his thoughts. "There are no women here," Neji said, "or children. What type of village has no women or children? This is an enemy base camp. Most likely these are all rouge ninja. We need to find out who they work for and what reason they would have to build a fake village in the middle of nowhere."

Neji grew silent as he considered something for moment. Then, activating his Byakugan he began to scan the village. Just as I thought, every building in the village is nothing but a hollow shell without any furnishing at all. Even the stores have no actual produce in them. It was then Neji noticed several of the men in the some of the buildings were heading below ground through hidden entrances. Looking under the buildings Neji found himself practically speechless. "What the hell is that," he said.

Meanwhile – Konoha – Outside the Hospital

Shikamaru was speaking with several shinobi as well as a head medic within the hospital when he heard his name called. Turning he saw Hinata run up to him. "What happened here," she asked.

"Right now I'm trying to get a clear picture," Shikamaru answered. "There was an explosion on the top floor. Apparently it came from Naruto's room. Right now we have no idea who or what caused it or Naruto's current status. I've dispatched teams throughout the village just in case it was Akatsuki and he has been taken and Ino and Sakura are currently inside the hospital checking to see if he's still there."

"That explosion wasn't a normal one." Hinata and Shikamaru both turned to see who said that. Both were surprised to find Hanabi had arrived and was now standing next to her sister.

Hinata for a moment stared at Hanabi in shock. "Hanabi," she said, "What are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

Hanabi smiled and said, "Of course. You would have noticed me if you hadn't been so focused on getting here. And before you ask why I'll just tell you that I know how concerned you are about your friend and I just wanted to help my big sister."

Hinata smiled. Even though they were sisters, for the most part they were never close. Their father used to spend most of the time keeping them apart and instilled a sense of competition between them for the right to be the heir of the family. In the few times they had time to be together it had become obvious that their personalities were vastly different as Hanabi was far more outgoing and brash and liked different things. They simply had little in common beyond blood lines. But now it was clear to Hinata that despite their differences they were still family and family always helped each other.

"Ok," Shikamaru said, "tell me then. What do you mean this explosion wasn't normal? What about it was strange?

Hanabi looked at Shikamaru and responded, "The energy that caused that explosion was made of pure chakra. Chakra that's so dense that it almost could have been seen even without our eyes. In fact, using the Byakugan I can still see residue of it. It's all around the immediate area."

Hinata turned to Shikamaru and nodded her hear. "Hanabi is right Shikamaru," she said. "When the explosion first happened I used my Byakugan and what was released was practically all chakra."

An explosion of pure chakra, Shikamaru thought. What the hell could have enough chakra to use it to create an explosion of this magnitude? The more I hear the more it seems Akatsuki may indeed be involved.

"Shikamaru!" Everyone turned to see who had called him and they saw that it was Ino with Sakura in tow. Sakura was visibly distraught and seemed on the edge of tears.

"He's gone Shikamaru," Ino said as they walked up to him. "I found Sakura on the top floor. Together we searched everywhere and found no trace of Naruto. He just vanished."

"Damn it," Shikamaru said as he pounded his hand on nearby desk that was placed outside for him. "Ok, so there's no point in remaining here at this point. We should all head out and assist the others with the search. So far I haven't heard anything yet."

Looking at Sakura Shikamaru said, "Sakura you were the first to arrive on the scene. Did you see anything at all that can help us?" Sakura merely stared out beyond everyone. She didn't hear Shikamaru, she didn't hear anyone who spoke to her. Her mind was exploding with random thoughts and images. She couldn't focus, she was in shock.

Shikamaru grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and shook her. "Sakura listen to me," Shikamaru yelled. "I need you to focus! We'll find Naruto ok. But we have to keep a level head and think this through."

Sakura shook her head slightly and finally getting her bearings nodded. "No," she said, "I didn't see anything. I was walking towards the hospital when there was an explosion and the force from the blast through me to the ground."

"Great," Shikamaru said as he sighed heavily. "Ok, so let's head out and see if we can find any traces of him."

As the group made their way from the hospital Sakura couldn't help but feel something was all wrong. After they were two blocks away from the hospital Sakura stopped in her tracks and seemed to stare out into space. Hinata was the first to notice this and stopped as well. "Sakura-chan," she said, "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

Hearing Hinata caused everyone to stop as well as they looked at Sakura who began to mumble to herself. "Not right," she said. "Something's not right. Why do I feel so strange? I feel something…..like something's calling to me. Calling to me…..something's calling."

Ino slowly walked up to Sakura and asked, "Sakura what's wrong? What is it Sakura?" Everyone began to look concerned. Could the stress of Naruto being missing finally have caused her to snap?

Suddenly Sakura turned and began to stare up at the mountain that bared the faces of the six Hokage. "Someone…..calling," she said. Then, without warning, Sakura broke into a sprint leaving her friends behind more confused than ever. She ran past people and leapt over a low wall and headed towards the mountain.

Meanwhile – Otogakure

"A large underground installation," Kiba, now quite confused asked. "Well, just how big are we talking about here Neji?"

"Well it seems to be everywhere," Neji said. "I can't get a complete visual of it from this angle but it looks like it encompasses this entire area. About half a mile or more, and it's buried roughly six to ten feet below ground."

"Wow," Lee said, "That's pretty damn big. I wonder what they've got going on down in a place like that? I bet it's no good that's for sure."

"Well," Neji said, "We're going to find out. Our mission was to learn what the enemies up to. And that's exactly what we're going to do. Tonight we're coming back here and we're going to sneak in and see what this place is all about."

Meanwhile – Konoha

Shikamaru, Hinata, Hanabi and Ino all arrived at the base of the path that lead up to the Hokage Mountain. Sakura had already gone up and the group was confused as to what she was up to.

Sakura was running at full speed up the mountain. She ran past the trees and leapt over small rocks and never broke stride. Deciding to use a short cut, Sakura leapt from the path and into a small grove of trees. As she ran she noticed she had broken into a cold sweat and was nearly breathless. Yet she didn't slow down.

Breaking through the last group of bushes Sakura stopped in her tracks and gasped. In front of her was the cliff just above the faces of the six Hokage's and kneeling on one knee at the edge over looking Konoha was Naruto.

Sakura suddenly felt dizzy and suddenly realized she had temporarily stopped breathing. As she slowly emerged from the bushes she couldn't help but feel she was in a dream. Naruto remained kneeling. He was wearing the long, thin, light blue cotton pants that all patients wear when in the hospital. The matching button down shirt was gone leaving his chest bare. His feet were also bare.

His eyes were closed and he had a small, contented smile on his face as he raised it towards the sky. In that moment Sakura wanted to scream for joy, to yell, to cry, yet as she slowly approached no words would come. "It's been so long since I've felt the sun on my face," Naruto said without even opening his eyes.

Still Sakura found herself at a loss for words as she approached. She had finally, after all these weeks, heard his voice and it was like a dream. Naruto, she thought, it's you isn't it? It's really you? As she walked she then realized that Naruto had indeed awakened. But instead of letting them know this, he instead ran here and allowed them, for nearly an hour, to worry needlessly. Suddenly she was angry and walked over to him with her fist clenched ready to hit him.

Rising to his feet, Naruto opened his eyes but still didn't look to her. "I'm sorry for making you worry Sakura," he said, "But I really needed to feel the sun, the breeze. I needed to see Konoha again. Are you going to hit me now? It's alright if you do. I really wouldn't blame you."

After a moment Naruto realized that her punch never came. Finally turning to her he saw her, not two feet away, her fist still clenched and raised with tears in her eyes. Suddenly she lunged at him and embraced him in a hug, burying her face into his chest and wept openly. Slowly Naruto and Sakura sunk to the ground, sitting as Sakura curled up in his arms like a child and Naruto merely held her as she cried. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan," he said. "It's ok…..It's ok."

Meanwhile – At the base of Hokage Mountain

Using her Byakugan Hinata stared at the scene taking place far above her. And a smile crept to her face and single tear rolled down her cheek. Without looking away she said, "Shikamaru, tell everyone to call off the search. Naruto-kun has been found."

Meanwhile – On Hokage Mountain

Sakura slowly stopped crying as Naruto still held her tight. Sniffling she said, "You know you really kinda stink."

Naruto then sniffed his underarms and responded while smiling, "Yea, I guess I could use a bath, and brush my teeth." It was then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach as it growled loudly. "I can use a bite to eat as well. You don't think Ichiraku's would be open this early would ya?" Sakura then began to laugh and Naruto also as the sun shown down upon them.

End of Chapter Eight

Next Time: Naruto's New Path