Hey all readers. I know the last chapter had a lot more plot instead of action and so will this one. Don't worry though, the action picks up near the end. So prepare for fights and new abilities in day 3!

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto woke to a sound in the kitchen. He hopped out of bed and grabbed a kunai from under his pillow. He cracked his door open and saw that the light in the kitchen was on. Along with the rattle of pans, he heard some muffled voices. He cursed to himself. *How could I not have heard them?" In one fluid motion, he shoved open the door and ran into the kitchen. In a second, he was on top of whoever he ran into.

"Oh! Naruto you scared me." Naruto blushed as he realized that he had tackled and was now on top of Hinata. She smiled and then looked down to see his hand on her chest. She blushed and Naruto quickly got up and brought her to her feet. "Um, hehe sorry Hinata." Naruto scratched the back of his head. It was a nervous habit he still had not outgrown. Hinata smiled and hugged him. "It's good to see you too.

Naruto looked around the kitchen and saw Shino staring into the fridge. "Hey Shino, are you looking for something?" Shino shrugged. "You're out of cheese." Naruto laughed. "So what are you two doing here?" Hinata smiled and waved her hand toward the stove. "I decided that it was time someone made you breakfast. You havn't had much to eat since…" Hinata frowned and trailed off.

"I'm here to ask you something, Naruto." Naruto turned to Shino. "What is it?" Shino walked towards the table in the kitchen and sat down. "My parents are leaving the village for about a week and going to the Emerald Mountains. I was wondering if I could stay here until they return." Naruto nodded. "Of course you can Shino, that's what friends are for."

Shino smiled and Naruto frowned. "But you do know that by the time your parents get back…" Shino nodded. "I know, we will have completed our mission and will have to leave the Hidden Leaf. " Shino shifted in the chair nervously. "I have talked to my parents about the mission, and explained to them what I'm doing and why."

Naruto's body tensed up. "Shino, you know that by doing that there is a chance that the ANBU will hear about our plan." Shino stood straight and looked Naruto in the eye. "Naruto, my friend, you will have to trust me on this one. My parents are leaving tomorrow and I could not have them come back to find me gone." Naruto sighed. "I know…alright, let's get started."

Hinata interuppted. "But first, you have to eat Naruto. You won't get far on an empty stomache." Naruto smiled and they all sat down to eat. When they were finished, Naruto brought them into a side room. "This room was added just before the chuunin exams. I found it on accident yesterday." Hinata and Shino looked around in amazement. Every wall of the room was completely white. It was eerie and Hinata felt like she was falling when she looked down.

"Naruto, what is this room?" Naruto smiled. "Do you remember the charka slips that Kakashi gave to us yesterday?" Hinata'a mouth fell open. "You don't mean…" Naruto nodded. "Yes, this entire room is lined with chakra paper. The difference is that this room is encased in a neutral chakra. The chakra protectes the paper from fading, and it also makes the paper much more sensitive to elemental chakra."

Shino walked forward to touch the wall. The paper seemed to bend away from his hand. "I thought as well." Shino said. Naruto looked over to him and saw how the wall reacted. "What is it doing Shino?" Shino pulled his hand back. "When an Aburame is born, there is a period of time when insects must be introduced into the baby's body. It is a clan tradition that has been kept for decades." Shino eyed the wall and then turned back to Naruto. "However, a lot of things can go wrong in that time. The child might have a defect, or it might not have enough chakra to be a host for the insects that the parents choose."

Naruto stepped toward Shino. "Where are you going with this?" Shino continued. "When the child is introduced to the insects, they strip away its chakra nature. That is why the paper reacts to my hand this way. I don't have a chakra nature." Naruto looked at him with bewilderment. "No chakra nature? Does that mean that you have a neutral nature?"

Shino frowned. "Yes, but something about this room is strange. You said that it is encased in a neutral chakra, but that is not possible." Naruto walked over to the paper and touched it. The paper turned green. "What do you mean?" Shino shrugged. "Every child is born with an inherant chakra nature that can eventually be tapped and used. However, when you have no nature, it can't be used…Unless."

Hinata walked up now. "Unless what ,Shino?" Shino started to shake. "There was a report in the Aburame library, in the codex pages. It said that an unusual child was born some time ago. It didn't list a gender, but it said that when introduced to the insects, the child had an aura that acted as a repellent. He was born with a neutral chakra nature!"

Naruto was nervous. "What are you saying Shino?" Shino put his hand on the wall again, and it bent away from his hand. "I'm saying that the only person that could have constructed this barrier of neutral chakra is that same child." Hinata gasped and Shino turned to Naruto. "Naruto, there are only two reasonable things that could be true, either Itachi knows that ninja…" Shino paused.

Naruto finished. "Or he is the ninja." The room was silent. The three of them stood glancing at eachother. Naruto was the first to speak. "I don't mean to be rude, but we have to put this off for now, Shino." Shino nodded. "I agree. We can worry about it later. What's on the list for today?" Naruto took out the scroll that held Itachi's letter. "The next item on the list is 'Imbueing weapons with chakra'."

Shino smiled. "Looks like that one is meant for only you. Hinata and I don't use weapons." Naruto nodded and looked towards Hinata, then back at Shino. "Hey Shino, your insects can adept to resist somethnig if they are exposed to it for a long time right?" Shino nodded. "How long does it take them to adapt?"

Shino thought for a minute. "The insects themselves don't adapt, but when they produce offspring they pass on a gene that grants resisitence and sometimes immunity to whatever the parent had faced. It's a continual process." Naruto nodded. "And how long would it take to make your entire swarm immune to, let's say, water?" Both Shino and Hinata looked at Naruto like he was crazy.

"Naruto, what are you planning?" Hinata asked as she looked at him. Shino answered, "It would take at least a month, and that would be a month of fighting against a water style user all day, everyday." Naruto sighed. "Alright, we can at least get a start on it." He turned to look at Hinata. "Hinata, since I need to learn how to imbue my weapons with wind, can you learn to use water a little more and spar with Shino?"

Hinata tilted her head as if curious. *Damn she was cute!* Naruto pushed that thought aside as he waited for her response. "Sure, I can try." Naruto smiled and so did Hinata. "Great, Shino it will be about two hours before either of us are ready." Shino nodded. "I understand. I will gather some information about the ANBU while you train." Naruto smiled. "Thanks Shino." Shino nodded and headed out.

Naruto and Hinata walked back into the room lined with chakra paper. "There is something else that his room is designed to do." Hinata said. Naruto looked at her curiously as she continued. "When I hit the wall," Hinata said as she smacked the wall, "it bounces back, but when I hit it with chakra…" Water formed over Hinata's palm and when she struck the wall, the wall turned blue. When she pulled her hand away, the amount of water on Hinata's hand grew slightly larger.

Naruto looked in amazement. "It returns the chakra back to you." Hinata nodded. "Not only that, it also increased the amount of elemental chakra I can hold in my hand. Naruto, training in this room will make our training two, maybe three times more effective!" Naruto smiled. "That's great! Let's get to work." Hinata nodded and they started using the walls as punching bags.

Hidden Leaf Village

Shino walked around the ANBU Headquarters carefully. He knew that if he tried to sneak around he would instantly be caught. The ninja of the ANBU were very effective at detecting people that tried to be stealthy. As he walked around, he noted where the guards where stationed. "It seems that the most heavily fortified walls are the sides and back. That means that the only side that would be reasonable to launch an assault on would be the front."

Shino walked over to the front and saw the two guards stationed at the top of the stairs. The ANBU Headquarters was a strangly pronounced building. It was obvious from first glance that the building was not meant to be a hiding place, but rather a giant obelisk that was meant to strike fear into whomever wished the village harm. The building was shaped like a giant pyramid with steep slopes on every side. The top of the building appeared to be flat, most likely trap-filled battleground.

Shino looked at the front again. "Only a fool would charge the front of that building, and only an even bigger fool would try the sides." Shino sighed. He had to find a way in. He noticed that the guards alternated. Some stood in one location and waited to be relieved while others patroled different sections of the building. Shino also noticed that despite being on the edge of the village with its back to the forest, there was not a single tree within fifty paces of the building. That means that there would be no sneaking up on the ANBU.

Shino continued his walk around the building. He scanned the base of it and didn't notice any cracks or hinges that ould be a hidden door. *There has to be more than one way inside that building.* Shino released a few insects. If he used too many the ANBU would suspect something. The insects flew towards the building and started scanning every inch of it.

A few flew in the front door. Within seconds, Shino sensed his insects dying. One by one, as if hitting a wall, his insects fell. Shino sighed and sat down next to a tree. This was going to be a harder job than he thought, and even before this he thought it was impossible. "Well, shit."

Somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village

Danzo stood in front of Itachi. "It has been awhile Itachi." Danzo stared him in the eyes and looked him over. "You don't look too well. Have you been enjoying the cell?" Itachi said nothing and looked away. He wasn't in a position to fight. The shackles kept him against the wall and he couldn't even stand.

Danzo became annoyed. "You know why you are here. You betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village and killed dozens of shinobi in their sleep." Danzo laughed. "I admit I would have done the same, but maybe not for the reasons you did it. Why did you do it Itachi? Did you desire power? Fame? Money?" Danzo stopped as a messenger ninja appeared behind him. "I guess it doesn't matter. Your life will end soon."

"Lord Danzo, Shino Aburame is circling the building. We believe he is trying to find a way in. Itachi swore to himself but Danzo didn't catch it. "An Aburame? What is he doing?" The messenger ninja replied. "Sir, we believe he is scanning the hideout in order to find a way for Naruto Uzumaki to get in."

"Is that so?" Danzo chuckled and looked back at Itachi. "Looks like your student has recruited some help. This is juicy; I can almost taste what will happen. Naruto the Nine-Tails recruits his friends of the Hidden Leaf to help rescue his mentor, the Killer of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi Uchiha." Danzo licked his lips. "Very well, make sure they know how to get in." The ninja nodded and disappeared.

"Looks like my plan is taking form. Naruto and his friends will come to rescue you and be greeted with open arms into their death. Then I will start rumors about the Third Hokage being soft on rogue ninjas and blame the failed rescue attempt on him. The people of the Hidden Leaf will question his authority and demand that you be executed." Danzo gave an evil smile. "And once I give them what they want, they will accept me as their new Hokage."

Itachi sighed. "You are insane, that plan will never work." Danzo looked at Itachi and tilted his head as if taunting a cat. "Ohhh, is Itachi Uchiha claiming that he is better at strategizing than I am?" Danzo laughed and Itachi sat motionless. "You must have more than one plan. A backup perhaps?"

Danzo thought about it but before he could respond, Itachi continued. "I heard you talking about making Naruto do something every ninja dreads. What is that exactly?" Danzo smirked. "Simple, I am going to make Naruto fight you. You will be so weak from chakra exhaustion that even an emotionally distraut Naruto could finish you off. Then Naruto will be broken and submit to me."

Danzo paused. "Now that I think about it, I like that idea much more. Thank you for reminding me Itachi." Itachi cursed. Danzo walked over to him. He was so close that Itachi could feel his breath. "Itachi—" Before Danzo could finish, Itachi lashed out. His fist came crashing into Danzo's face and Danzo stumbled backwards. "How?!" Itachi brought his arms up and rubbed where the shackles were.

"I know how to escape simple shackles, I just needed to have enough time to recover chakra." Itachi smirked. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive fireball flew towards Danzo and he deflected it with his arm. Itachi rushed at him and tried to tackle Danzo. However Danzo was ready. "Water Style: Water Prison." Just like that, Itachi was caught once again. "Dammit!" Itachi cursed as the light started to fade. *I didn't have enough chakra, I'm sorry Naruto.* Just before Itachi fainted, he saw a small black mass in the corner of the cell and smiled. Then, he saw nothing.

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto and Hinata were both panting. They had been training for two hours straight and still had plenty of chakra thanks to the special room. However, the room did not give them more stamina. Naruto sat down to rest. "Hinata, we've been training for awhile. Let's take a break." Hinata nodded in agreement and sat down next to him.

When Hinata's breathing returned to normal, she sighed. "Naruto, do you really believe that we can rescue Itachi?" Naruto turned to look at Hinata. "Of course I do. That's what we've been training for isn't it?" Hinata nodded. "It's just that the ANBU are the top ninja in the village. They are trusted to protect the Hokage. Don't you think we are just a little outmatched?"

Naruto frowned. "Of course we are outmatched, not to mention outnumbered." Hinata frowned. "But we have something that the ANBU doesn't have, something that their members are trained to supress." Hinata looked at Naruto expectantly and he smiled. "We have emotions, pride, fear, joy, friendship—" Naruto paused and looked at Hinata. "And love."

Hinata blushed while Naruto continued. "They may not seem like much, but without emotions we are not human. Pride will cause us to act; fear will cause us to think; joy will cause us to believe; friendship will cause us to work as a team—" Naruto paused as if thinking. He stood up and his fist became encased in green wind chakra. "And Love will cause us to succeed!"

He drew back his fist and hit the wall. The entire room turned bright green and resonated with sound. Hinata shivered as she felt a breeze sweep through the room. She smiled and stood up. She walked over to Naruto and hugged him. "Thank you Naruto. I should never have doubted." Naruto chuckled. "I have had my doubts too, but what I learned from Itachi-sensei is that sometimes you have to believe the impossible to make it become possible."

Hinata smiled and the two of them turned around when they heard a noise in the hideout. "Naruto, Hinata, I'm back." Shino walked into the main hall and met them as they walked out of the charka room. "Hey Shino, what's the news" Naruto asked. Shino shook his head. "It's not good. The entire building is fortified. Guards patrol heavily on every side with the exception of the front. The front is also littered with traps. The wall has no weak spots and there are no signs of hidden entrances." Naruto frowned and Hinata grabbed his hand to comfort him.

"However, one of my insects discovered a hidden passage that links the important buildings of the Hidden Leaf through underground tunnels." Naruto looked up and his face was filled with hope. "You mean that you found a way in!?" Shino nodded. "Yes, but it is a very tricky passage. There are many paths that lead to dead-ends and all of the entrances are heavily guarded with the exception of one."

Hidden Leaf Village. Shino pointed at it. "The entrances are: the Hokage Mansion, the ANBU Headquarters, The Hokage Mountain, and the front gate of the village." Naruto nodded. "Alright, which one has the least amount of guards?"

Shino pointed to the map again. "Here, the Hokage Mountain. There are usually only two guards stationed there at a time. If we can get past them, we are in." Naruto nodded. "Thanks, good work Shino." Shino smiled. "No problem Naruto. How far have you two gotten with your chakra natures?" Hinata smirked and looked at Naruto who gave her a signal.

She walked over to the dummy that was in the middle of the room and dropped down into her clan's stance. Her hands then become enveloped in water. "Water Style: Hard Water Palm!" Hinata struck the dummy and it flew back and hit the wall. Shino was astonished. "Whoa." The dummy was perfectly intact with the exception of where Hinata struck it. The was a hole slightly larger than her palm that was perfectly carved out of the dummy. There was also a circle shaped dent in the dummy around where Hinata hit.

Hinata turned to look at them and smiled. "I held myself back." Shino's jaw dropped. "Hinata, that is amazing." She blushed and looked at Naruto who scratched his head. "Yeah, it is. It's a lot more than I can do right now." He laughed nervously. Shino looked over at Naruto, then back at Hinata. "I guess it's time to train my insects then."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, and while you two do that I'm going to train with this." Naruto grabbed a knife off of his hip. It didn't look like a normal kunai. It was more like a hand grip with a single-sided blade. "What is that Naruto?" Hinata asked. "It was labeled as a chakra blade when I found it in the weapon room. Shikamaru told me that it is supposed to be easier to imbue chakra into a blade that was made for it."

Hinata tilted her head as Naruto concentrated. He poured his chakra into the blade and it had a faint green glow. Then it stopped as Naruto closed his eyes. "It didn't work? What did I do wrong?" Naruto thought for a minute and Hinata spoke up. "Kurenai-sensei once told me that Asuma mentioned a trick to getting wind chakra to work. She said something about making the wind grind against itself."

Naruto nodded and looked down at the blade. He poured more chakra into it and then imagined that the chakra was grinding against itself. The blade glowed bright green as the chakra swirled around it. "Alright, let's try this." Naruto said to himself. He ran towards a dummy made out of branches and slashed at it. It was instantly cut in half. Naruto looked in awe and turned to see if Shino and Hinata saw it too. The two of them were already training though and had their backs to him.

Naruto shook a little. *There is so much more power to this than I thought.* He then turned to a solid oak statue. He slashed and one again, the statue was cut in half. There were no splinters or debris. Just two whole pieces. Naruto smiled and turned his eyes on a steel statue. He charged it and slashed. The knife stuck in the statue after cutting only an inch. Naruto sighed. *I guess everything has its limitations.*

He then remembered something. His goal wasn't to imbue chakra to this blade, but to his blades, Claw and Serra. Naruto grinned just thinking about it. He quickly ran over to the weapon room and walked inside. He looked around and found his blood scroll. Naruto picked it up and carried it out to the main hall.

Shino and Hinata were both still training hard. Naruto smiled. *They are trying so hard for me. It's time I try hard too!* Naruto placed the scroll on the ground and unsealed it. He took both swords in his hands and immediately tried to pour his chakra into them. A faint green chakra started to surround the weapons. Naruto smiled. *Yeah, this is what I'm talking about!*

The effect didn't last long as the chakra faded from the blades. Naruto was confused. "I guess I don't have enough control to use both at the same time. It does take a lot of practice." Naruto sighed and decided that he would use claw first. He placed Serra on the ground and held the hook blade, Claw, in his left hand. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the blade in his hand. He felt his chakra pour out onto the blade.

*Now I just grind the chakra against itself…* Naruto felt a breeze on his left hand and opened his eyes. He stared in awe as he saw a dark green aura surrounding Claw. Naruto smiled and looked over at the stone statue. He charged with Claw and tightened his grip. He brought the hook around the statue and pulled, but there was no resistance. Claw cut right through the stone like it was butter. Naruto's hand trembled as he looked at Claw. *Is this the power of wind chakra?*

"Oh no, this is just the top branch of a very tall tree, Naruto." Naruto tensed up and he looked around for the source of the voice. Hinata and Shino were still sparring and he would have recognized their voice. "What? Did you forget about me already?" Naruto remembered now. *Are you the Nine-tails?* He could sense that the voice smiled at him.

"Oh, so you do remember. Keep in mind that my own chakra nature is wind. I could help you break Itachi out; it would be sooo easy." Naruto hesitated. *Itachi-sensei warned me about you. I'm sorry, but I will not use your help. I can do this on my own.* Naruto felt and uneasiness in his stomach. "Is that so? I never expected you to be so confident when most of your power comes from me." Naruto shook his head. *You are wrong. My power is my own. You only helped once and even then we barely managed to get away. I am much stronger now. We will talk later.*

Naruto felt his body ease up as the voice went back to sleep. He took a deep breath and walked over to his saw-like blade, Serra. He put Claw down and picked up Serra with his right hand. "Well, here goes nothing." Naruto poured his chakra into the blade and imagined the chakra grinding against itself. In seconds the blade was covered in dark green chakra.

The aura surrounding the blade looked and felt different from the time he imbued Claw. Naruto hesitated and moved his hand slightly. The ground beneath the blade dented and split causing Naruto to jump back. "Naruto, are you alright?" Shino said as both him and Hinata ran over to Naruto. Naruto shook a bit and nodded. "Yeah…I'm ok."

Hinata walked over to Naruto and put her hand out. Naruto turned around and hugged her while continuing to shake. "Naruto, you don't look so good." Naruto started to breath deeply to calm himself down. "I'm ok, it's just been a very long time since i've been scared like that." Hinata hugged him and then Naruto let go and walked over to Serra. "Naruto, look at the floor." Naruto and Hinata both looked to where Shino was pointing.

The floor was made out of solid stone and yet it looked as though the chakra cut through it so easily. The dent in the floor was slightly bigger than the blade itself and the pattern in the floor matched the saw part of the blade. Shino stared in awe. "Naruto, it looks like the chakra on the blade was shot into the ground. It didn't have much force, but that wind chakra was strong nough to put a dent in the floor and crack it."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping to spar with these two while they were cloaked in chakra, but that is obviously out of the question. I can't risk using them, not if they do this much damage without force behind them." Shino nodded and Naruto picked up Serra again. This time he didn't imbue it with chakra and turned to Shino and Hinata. "I want to try one more time, but it has to be outside where no one will get hurt."

Both of them nodded and followed Naruto outside. When they were out, Naruto pointed to a boulder. "Use that as cover just in case." Hinata and Shino obeyed and hid behind the boulder. So they would still see what would happen, Hinata activated her Byakugan and Shino spread a few insects around him.

Naruto held the blade in both hands this time so he could control it better. He slowly poured his chakra into Serra and held the blade up on his right side. He then imagined that the chakra was grinding against itself and the blade turned dark green. Naruto took a breath and slashed diagonally as fast as he could.

Any hope of this being a silent weapon vanished instantly. The wind summoned from the blade traveled umbelievably fast and sounded liked and explosion. It ripped through trees, snapped branches and gathered leaves into a whirlwind. Everything in it's path was destroyed and all it left was ruin. Before the wave disappated, Naruto fell to his knees. In an instant, Hinata and Shino were on either side of him, holding him up. "I used a lot of chakra." Hinata was saying something but Naruto couldn't hear her. His ears were still ringing from the explosion. "I'll call it, Razor Bomb." The wind from the blast vanished as he said it's name and he fell to the groun.

Well that's it for this chapter! Hope you all liked it. Will this be enough to rescue Itachi or not? We will just have to see. Thank you to all the readers that are being patient with me. It takes awhile to get the motivation to type a chapter even when I have an outline. Until next time, ja ne.