A.N.: For everybody who complained about the evil Cliffhanger, here is the conclusion. Once more thanks to everybody who bothered to read it so far, much more thanks to those who bothered to review.

A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.

Disclaimer: I. D.O.N.T. O.W.N. N.A.R.U.T.O. Here it is spelled out. Happy now?

"Naruto!" Hana shrieked when she saw her teammate disappear over the edge. She couldn't lose another teammate, not so soon after…

She started forward, but a strong hand grabbed her upper arm halting her progress.

"Let me go," she shouted trying to free herself.

"No," Tenzo commanded. "Do you want to fall as well? The ground's unstable there!"

"I can't…" she spoke, when her dogs started to whine and cower. Their fur stood on its ends. "What?" she asked startled. She could feel it now herself, an ominous oppressive feeling in the air caused by power like she never encountered before. No, that wasn't true. She had felt it somewhere, but it had been so long ago that she'd forgotten it. Now the buried memory was pushing its way to the forefront of her consciousness.

Almost as suddenly as it begun, the terrifying aura disappeared and the blurry snippet of a memory with it. But she now knew it was there.

"What was that?" Hotaru asked equally perturbed.

"I'm not sure," Tenzo answered. It wasn't a lie. He had recognized the chakra, it was unmistakable after all, but he didn't know what exactly it meant. He knew that the Kyuubi's power manifested when Naruto was in danger and he only hoped the boy survived.

"We have to find Naruto," the Inuzuka insisted.

"How would you do it? It'll be dark soon," the purple-haired girl pointed out.

"We have good noses," the dog mistress reminded her.

"Can it tell you which rock is loose?" Their sensei picked at an obvious flaw in her plan.

Hana seemed taken aback. This hadn't occurred to her.

"We'll use a rope. If someone fell down the others can catch him," Tenzo decided.

"And what if you fall, sensei? Wouldn't you just drag us down with you?" Hotaru couldn't help but worry.

"I can catch myself," he assured them. "There's a reason I'm a jounin after all."

"If you say so, sensei."

They quickly tied themselves to a rope and started their slow descent into the ravine. The sun has set and night fell on the mountains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He woke up to find himself in a dark, damp corridor. 'Where am I?' he wondered. He tried to remember how he had gotten here. His mind came up only with images of mountains, then a cloth, and then a fall. Oh. 'Am I dead?' No, this didn't look like any kind of afterlife he had ever heard about. But then, what did anyone really know about such things? It's not like they visited there before.

He got up and started walking slowly. He had no idea for how long he had walked in the knee deep water (where did it come from?), time seemed to have no meaning here. He suddenly realized that the corridor wasn't so dark anymore. There was blood red light coming from somewhere ahead. He continued his slow advance.

Then he stood inside a large chamber without remembering entering it. The walls and ceiling were lost somewhere in the darkness around, only the echoing sounds of dripping water hinted at their presence. Directly in front of him stood a huge gate composed of gleaming iron bars. Where one would expect a lock there was just a piece of paper with the word 'seal' written calligraphically. Behind the bars laid the source of the depressive illumination.

Naruto squinted and made a few steps forward to get a better look at that thing. It moved. The boy stopped. Two giant red eyes opened and bore straight into him. He froze.

"So you have finally come," sounded a deep resonating voice. In seemed to be everywhere, but the young blond knew it was the creature in front him that spoke. He had never seen it before, yet he had no doubt about its nature.

"So here I am," he answered boldly. He didn't actually feel it and the creature could tell.

"Come near so I can see you better," it commanded. Naruto's legs moved on their own volition. He realized what was happening and stopped.

"Why should I?" He decided to go on with the defiant act.

"Because I said so," the demon roared.

"That's not a good reason," the youth replied. The beast lunged at the gate. The boy took a frightened step back. The Bijuu couldn't break the gate, but red liquid started to seep through the bars.

"I'll show you why you should listen to me," Kyuubi growled.

Naruto frantically looked around. He just knew that the red closing on him was bad, but he had no idea how to stop it.

"Stop!" he shouted.

"Are you sure?" the huge fox asked. "You stupid mortal don't realize it, but my power is the only thing keeping you alive. Your weak flesh is currently lying broken at the bottom of a ravine. If I stopped the flow, you'll die."

"And what would happen to you then?" the demon's vessel countered. The demon stayed silent. "I thought so," smirked the child. "You can't afford to let me die."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, human. You have no idea what I can do." The beast loomed over him ominously.

"And what exactly can you do behind the bars?" The young shinobi was slowly gaining his confidence back.

The fox grinned. It included a lot of long sharp teeth. "Do you really want to find out?" Naruto suddenly wasn't so sure of himself. "I thought so," the Nine-tailed beast nodded contentedly. "Remember this, little kittling. I am always here. I see everything you do. I can aid or hinder you. What I'll do depends on what I feel like doing and I rarely feel like helping out people I don't like, which means nearly everyone, though I might sometimes do it anyway if it promises to be funny. And never anger me. I might then just retract all my chakra from your system and then you'll see how pathetic you are without it. If it's all, leave."

And Naruto woke up in darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With the team~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their descent was too slow. Although the moon shone brightly in the starry sky, it served mostly to deepen the shadows. Every one of them had slipped at least once, but the rope had always served its purpose. There had been a close call when a boulder gave under Tenzo's legs and the whole company started falling, but then trees shot up from the ground and halted them.

"That was close," Hana remarked trying to slow down her racing heartbeat.

"Wow," Hotaru exclaimed. "Can you just build us a stairway?"

"I'm afraid that would be too draining," the man replied.

"I was just asking," the swordswoman shrugged.

Tenzo was forced to do it anyway when the slope became too steep. Afterwards he sat down and panted heavily.

"No more jutsu today," he announced to no-one in particular.

"We're all tired, but we cannot stop," Hana spoke. "Not when he's lying there wounded. We're almost down now."

Then the darkness around them deepened. They looked up. Sometime during the night the wind had picked up and brought heavy clouds. And to stress the point about mountain weather being fickle it started to snow heavily.

"That was the last thing we needed," Hotaru declared. Nobody disagreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bottom of the valley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a long time Naruto laid unmoving. He felt like he broke every single bone in his body and though he knew that wasn't true, he could still count a fair number of fractures. Most of them were on his arms, but his left ankle hurt like hell and two or three of his ribs must have been cracked. And to top it his vision was blurred signaling concussion and the pain in his stomach hinted at internal damage. He was no medic but he could tell he was bad off.

He tried to find something positive in his situation. 'My team is still out there,' was the only one he could come up with, besides simply being still alive, but he didn't expect them to find him any sooner than in the morning, maybe noon. That is if they didn't think he was already dead and abandoned him.

He felt a sharp stab of pain at that thought. Tenzo surely wouldn't leave him for the dead, but a sliver of doubt still lingered. What if his guardian thought he hadn't survived? But the older man should by now know he was tough. And what if they fell to their deaths trying to save him? The idea sent chills running down his spine. He would never forgive himself. What would he tell to Hana's annoying little brother and… whatever families his teammates had. It occurred to him they had never talked about it. There was no time for idle chitchat during their practice sessions. He resolved to learn more about his squad should they all get out of this alive.

Then it started to snow. He knew he should try to find shelter or at least conserve his body heat, but he was still too hurt to move. He settled for admiring the ethereal beauty of snowflakes instead. There wasn't much chance to do so in Konoha. In fact he never saw snow there, but he heard it had happened before.

He registered a sound that didn't belong. He was tempted to simply ignore it, he felt lazy and comfortable and warm. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. But some survival instinct forced him to respond. He lifted his head to search for its source. The pain hit him once again along with a sense of vertigo. He realized he was gravely wounded and slowly freezing to death. He gritted his teeth. He had to move or he'd sure die here. And Naruto didn't want to die.

He braced himself for the pain and slowly lifted himself on his elbows. He thanked Kami his upper arms weren't shattered. He had to stop for a while and wait until he could think clearly again. Then he opened his eyes, he didn't remember closing them, and looked around. He couldn't see much, just his closest surroundings covered in a layer of white.

The sound resounded again and Naruto thought it was closer than the last time. He tried to determine its source. Nothing. Then in sounded right next to his ear. He startled and promptly fell. The pain almost knocked him unconscious right then, but he somehow managed to stay awake. He turned his head a bit.

A wolf! For a moment he hoped it was just one of Hana's dogs, but no such luck. This was a big and hungry creature of the wild. And his arms were broken. It was official, his life sucked. Especially what little time was left of it. He went through his list of available options. It was pitifully short. Only his right leg appeared to be in a working state. Unfortunately he couldn't kick the animal from this position.

He wracked his brain desperately for another way to save himself. But he didn't know a single technique that didn't require the use of his hands. He had barely started on the elemental recomposition. Wait, that was it. He couldn't cut the leaf yet, but the last time he tried a small dent appeared near its edge. And if he didn't know a usable jutsu, he'd just had to create his own.

He took a deep breath, desperately ignoring the protests of his ribs, and concentrated on sharpening his chakra and sending it to his lungs. He moved his head that he was now facing the wolf head on. Then he screamed.

A jet of charged air rushed out of his lungs, hitting the prowling predator in the side. The beast was blasted off its paws. Cuts appeared in its coat and red flowed out. The animal howled in pain. It ran off to lick its wounds and look for some easier prey.

Naruto knew nothing of that. He fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back on the slope~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A wolf," Hotaru startled. "That's not good."

"It sounded scared," Hana added. "What could have happened to it? And what was the first screech? I've never heard anything like that before."

"Maybe Naruto is up and defending himself," Tenzo offered. His students looked at him dubiously.

"After that fall? It would be a miracle if he survived. And it wasn't his voice," the Inuzuka commented.

"You never know," the man replied.

"We're at the bottom now," the purple-haired kunoichi remarked.

"Finally," the dog mistress exclaimed. She quickly untied her dogs from the rope. "Go, boys. Find Naruto," she commanded them. They obediently disappeared in the snow.

Not too long after that there was a joyful bark.

"They found him," the Inuzuka translated. "Quick!" She ran off. The others followed at a more cautious pace. They were still worried about what could be lurking in the darkness.

"Naruto!" Hana shouted in a panicked voice. The others hurried towards her.

They could soon see what she was so worried about. The boy was lying unmoving on the ground, the white snow covering most of his body. Only his face remained unobscured.

"Is he alive?" Hotaru asked. It was hard to believe that he might be.

"Yes," the dog user confirmed. She quickly started a medical jutsu and ran a diagnosis. "It's bad," she announced. "He has multiple fractures, ruptured spleen, damaged lungs and hypothermia. There are also signs of chakra depletion and something I can't decipher."

"What does it mean?," Hotaru inquired.

"We have to keep him warm and pray," the medic elaborated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning dawned sunny and bright and the peaks glittered like they were made of gold. No rays found their way to the bottom of the valley. Their makeshift camp remained cold.

Hana moved from her spot beside Naruto. Due to lack of firewood they had to cuddle together to keep their wounded teammate warm.

She ran through a diagnostic technique. The results convinced her that she shouldn't use veterinary techniques on humans. There was no way the young boy could have gotten better in such a short time. She considered it a small miracle that he hadn't passed on yet, but when she took a good look at him, it seemed like some color returned to his cheeks. She shrugged it off. It must be the light.

She took out her bottle and tried to make him drink. A lot of the water ended spilled on the ground, but some liquid still got in. She closed the bottle and laid back down beside her patient.

They were alone currently. Both Hotaru and Tenzo-sensei left earlier to look for firewood and maybe even something fresh to eat. Her dogs were prowling around the perimeter, keeping watch in case another wolf decided to try for an easy meal.

She sighed. They had been here only for a few hours and she already hated this place. It was cold and wet and the ground underneath them was hard and bumpy. Worst possible place for a wounded child to be, but unfortunately Naruto's condition didn't allow him to be moved. They were in for a lengthy stay here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Down in the valley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotaru was following the stream. What had been a small trickle just yesterday grew into a fair-sized creek due to the melting snow and the water was still rising. She just hoped it won't cause a flood, or worse a landslide. They definitely didn't need any more trouble.

Her feet slipped on an ice-covered rock. Only her quick reflexes saved her from plunging into the icy brook. She stopped for a moment. They couldn't afford another wounded either.

Then something caught her eye. A shape that didn't belong there was hiding under the white covering. She cautiously approached it and brushed away the snow. She hadn't been mistaken. It really was a backpack. And it certainly wasn't one of theirs.

"Bingo," she whispered. It seemed that at least part of their luck turned. In her opinion it was long overdue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The camp~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotaru proudly showed the rest of the squad her find.

"Excellent work," Tenzo praised her. "We know we're on the right track. Once Naruto can move around, we'll follow it."

"That will take a long time," Hana commented.

"I know," the man sighed. "Have you looked inside yet?"

"No," she shook her head, "I was waiting for the team to gather."

"Well, then open it now," her sensei suggested.

Hotaru pulled the zipper. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but the contents of the bag seemed completely ordinary, just some clothes and provisions. She felt oddly let down. She begun to search the side pockets. She found just a half-empty matchbox, completely sodden, and a broken compass.

"He probably got lost," she muttered.

Hana had been looking over the clothes, when her fingers touched something in one of a jacket pockets. She carefully took out a piece of folded paper. It was wet, but it had been spared worst of the moisture.

"Careful with it," Tenzo advised. She began slowly unfolding it.

"What is that?" Hotaru wondered at the sight of curved colorful lines and strange squiggly signs.

"A map," her sensei explained. "Or more like a plan, since it seems to cover only a small area."

"But which one?" Hana asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Tenzo answered.

"Isn't that just the kind of things our clients wanted?" A voice they hadn't expected to hear joined the discussion.

"Naruto! You're awake," the Inuzuka exclaimed.

"Yes, and I'm hungry," the boy added.

"Stay still, I'll look you over," the medic commanded.

"Okay, but be quick," the boy agreed. "I'd eat a horse. And I have to… you know."

"Yes, I know," she nodded. "Now hold still."

"What?!" Hana startled when she ran the jutsu over him.

"Is it bad?" Naruto inquired. She didn't answer. She repeated her technique. The diagnosis was the same.

"It seems you're healing just fine," she answered. "In fact, too fine to be humanly possible." She couldn't miss the boy tensing. "What is it, a bloodlimit I've never heard before?"

"Something like that," the blond replied unconvincingly.

"Then why haven't you just said so?" the Inuzuka huffed. "You worried me needlessly."

"Sorry," Naruto apologized.

"Don't worry about it," the dog user waved her hand over the matter. "Now rest and concentrate on healing. I don't know about you, but I'd like to leave here as soon as possible."

"Me too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto's condition finally improved enough for him to walk. He tried to run ignoring the pain in his still mending bones, but Tenzo managed to stop him.

"If you hurt yourself again, I'll bind you and personally carry you all the way to Konoha," he threatened. The boy pouted but obeyed.

They carefully set on the road. They would have been going slow anyway; they were searching for the remains of the lost expedition. Naruto insisted on carrying his own backpack, but his guardian was unrelenting. "Heal first," he commanded. The boy pouted, but had to obey. In fact, he didn't mind too much. He was still sore all over.

They walked down the valley at a leisure pace. Hana's dogs were running left and right sniffing for something interesting. The snow had finally melted, but gray clouds covered the sky promising another batch anytime.

One of the Haimaru triplets barked. "What have you found?" its mistress asked. The group headed its way. They soon saw its find.

It was a human bone, ulna to be precise. Tooth marks showed where hungry wolves had torn the meat off. But that wasn't so interesting.

"Look at this," Tenzo pointed out a deep gash. "That wasn't done by any predator. It was caused by a sword."

"Bandits," Naruto guessed, "or ninja?"

"Perhaps, but don't get too excited. We're in the middle of nowhere," the more experienced man reminded. "Highwaymen would die of hunger here. There is a possibility that somebody hired shinobi to dispose of the group, but they would have been better at hiding the bodies."

"Maybe they thought they didn't have to bother," Naruto offered. "We are in the middle of nowhere after all."

"It's possible," Tenzo agreed. "But professionals wouldn't be so careless anyway. We won't know until we find the rest. But for now, be extra cautious."

"Why?" Hana questioned. "This bone is old. Certainly over a week."

"Because on a mission you never know," answered the jounin. He designed the mock-missions from real-life experience after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had found more remains of the unlucky expedition, a cleaned bone here, a torn article of clothing there. Most of them were scratched by animal teeth, but some bore marks of weapons as well. They looked for any clue that would shed some light on the prospectors' last day, but they had been unlucky so far. They couldn't puzzle out more that that they had been attacked and slain and then the wildlife had feasted on their bodies. So far there was no hint about their attackers' identities.

A bit of breakthrough came late that afternoon. It came in the form of a leather bag, better preserved than most of the other equipment.

"It's heavy," Hana observed when she picked it up.

"What's inside?" Naruto asked.

"Rocks," she answered.

"Rocks?" The boy sounded disappointed.

"Yes," she confirmed. "These must be the mineral samples the company wanted so badly. We'll take them with us."

"So we have to drag a bag full of rock all the way through the mountains? Great," Naruto complained.

"It's not like you have to carry it yourself," Hotaru commented. That was true. While the wounded boy had been deemed fit enough to walk on his own, he wasn't allowed to carry his luggage. Tenzo had his backpack instead.

The blond pouted. "I can carry it, you know."

"No, I don't," Hana stated. "And shouldn't you be happy to avoid work?"

"No!" Naruto protested. "It's just… I haven't done anything but cause trouble on this mission. I don't want to be so useless, not even able to carry my own things."

"You aren't useless," the Inuzuka consoled him. "You've noticed the cloth. If you didn't, we could have been still just wandering around aimlessly."

"That was just luck," Naruto argued.

"Even luck is important," Hotaru claimed.

"Yet I wish I could do more," the blond sighed.

"I understand perfectly," Hana nodded. "Maybe you'll get your chance next time."

"Yes, maybe," the boy replied.

"So what's in the bag?" the purple haired kunoichi decided to change the course of conversation.

"I clearly remember saying rocks," the Inuzuka answered.

"I know, but what kind of rocks?" Hotaru clarified. "Did they find some precious gems or gold or something that's worth killing for?"

"Let's have a look." The dog mistress knelt down and started going through the bag's contents. The squad looked on attentively. "Rock, rock, another rock and a stone for a change," Hana commented. "And here's another rock and yet another stone. And what's that?" she picked one of them for a closer inspection. It looked no different from the other ones to their eyes, expect for a few glittering specks.

"Maybe they had really found gold," Naruto offered jokingly.

"Don't be stupid," Hotaru chided. "It's probably just fools' gold."

"Pass it here," Tenzo commanded. "Guys, this looks like it might be real gold."

"No kidding?" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. "That sounds like something from an adventure story."

"That sounds like a reason for murder," Hotaru corrected.

"I don't know, those few dots wouldn't buy you dinner even if they really were gold," Hana pointed out.

"Then maybe there's more elsewhere," Naruto speculated.

"Maybe, and maybe it isn't even real gold," Tenzo entered the argument. "None of us is an expert. We shouldn't come to any conclusions without any proof."

They resumed their journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After two days~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their progress had been slowed, but they were able to pick up their pace as Naruto's condition kept improving. When they reached the foot of the mountains, he insisted he was all right and could tree hop again. His medic insisted he'd take it easy anyway.

They had found some more human remains, but that had ended before they entered the forest. After that they came across only one body, nearly eaten by carrion birds. The remains of his clothes hinted that he had been a soldier, but there were no weapons.

"Isn't it strange?" Hotaru wondered.

"I thought the culprits had taken them," Naruto replied.

"But who robbed this one? It happened as a separate incident," the sword wielder pointed out.

"Maybe he was one of them and they argued about splitting the loot," the boy offered.

"Who would have thought, Tiny actually said something intelligent," Hana teased.

"I have my moments," the blond smirked.

Not too long after that they left the mountain range. The valley they had been following widened into a shallow depression. Rolling grassy hills spread out before them.

"Where now," Hotaru asked. "They could have taken any direction from here."

"And the track is so cold even my dogs cannot pick it," Hana added.

"That's true," Tenzo admitted, "but we can always ask. If I'm not mistaken, there's village just over that hill."

They had no idea how he could tell, but he was right. There really was a tiny hamlet just where he said.

"What the hell happened here," Naruto wondered aloud. The reason for his question was apparent. One of the houses in the settlement was burnt down and there was a spot that looked suspiciously like blood on the wall of another. Also the herbs and vegetables in several gardens were broken, footprints still recognizable in the yards. A dead giveaway was also the fact that the villagers scattered and ran upon seeing them approach.

"It looks like a bandit raid," Tenzo guessed from experience. "It seems we're still on the right track."

It had taken them quite a while to find a person willing to talk to them, but eventually they managed to convince a young man that they weren't going to rob them off and slit their throats in their sleep. Then they asked him about recent happenings.

"They came over a week ago," the man started. "They just threatened everyone into taking them in. They took whatever they wanted, including women. Jiro tried to fight them, but they just beat him up and set his house on fire, with him inside. No-one dared to speak a word against them after that. They spent six days here. Some of them were roughened up and they were waiting for them to recuperate. They left just the day before yesterday."

"We're catching up to them," Naruto exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"And just where do you think you are going," Tenzo stopped him. "You have no idea where are they headed. And besides, it's almost evening. We're staying here for the night and we'll try to gather more information about them. Understood?"

"Understood," the youngest member of the squad confirmed a bit put down. But even he had to admit that the jounin was right.

Next time: The mission conclusion