Nothing.

There was nothing any of them could do as they watched Naruto finally crack in front of them.

Naruto had fallen to his knees. He was pulling at his hair. He was hyperventilating. He was scaring them all. Sure, they had seen Naruto being emotional before, but this was beyond emotion. His mind had officially broken.

Finally Shino subtly moved his hand in Naruto's direction and a bug landed on his neck. Naruto didn't notice. It bit him. The effect worked immediately. All at once Naruto calmed down and fell to his side, eyes still open. "What did you do?" Hinata asked fearfully.

"Something new I've been working on to take out my enemies in battle. So far it only relaxes the entire body and mind, why? It's just a prototype." Shino responded in his matter-of-fact voice he always uses.

Sakura slowly and carefully made her way over to Naruto. His eyes were glazed over, she noticed. "Choji, h-help me out here." Sakura was trying her best to keep herself together. Though she may not have hung out with him the longest, she was the closest to him and this was so different from the loud, idiot he used to be that she was on the verge of tears.

Choji didn't say anything as he helped Sakura pick up the limp Naruto and prop him into a sitting position against a nearby wooden training post. A glow emitted from her hands as she tried to find something on him to heal, there had to be something she could heal. The only thing she could find was the exhaustion in his body so she resorted to that. "H-how long does this stuff last, Shino?"

"I have no idea, why? Naruto's the first person I've tested it on."

Sakura's anger flared at this. "So you could have potentially killed him, you said so yourself it's supposed to be poison!"

"I knew it wouldn't kill him because, I know the poison isn't ready yet." He responded.

"Poison is poison, you still shouldn't have taken that chance!" Sakura yelled.

"Naruto was scaring me as much as you. I only did what I thought was right at the moment."

Sakura's eyes widened, she felt guilt bubble up. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that." She mumbled. She looked back at Naruto's face. She could feel his muscles twitch as she healed him and knew the poison from the bugs would wear off soon. Wait. Poison from the bugs. Bugs. They're so subtle and discreet, no one would take second glance at them. Realization dawned on Sakura. She stood up so fast, Gai Sensei would be proud. "Watch Naruto. I need to do something." She took off running.

"Oi! Sakura!" Shikamaru called after but it was too late. "Jeez, what was that about?"

"When Sakura-Chan has her mind on something, it's usually hard for her to let it go until it's done." All eyes turned from where Sakura ran off to, to the broken-minded person behind them. His eyes held fear as he looked up at them. "Lee, I-"

Lee held a thumbs up and smiled reassuringly. "No need to keep apologizing, Naruto. It was all an accident."

"Heh." Naruto let out a humorless laugh and with that humorless laugh, they knew he didn't believe Lee. "Just promise me that," He paused to adjust himself into a better sitting position. "The next time I try to kill one of you and you can't stop me with words, you'll kill me."

Sakura ran as fast as she could to the village. She occasionally ran into people to which she called back a hurried sorry as she continued to run.

Sakura practically ran into Kakashi as he appeared in front of her. "Sakura, what is it?" He asked seriously, thinking that Naruto had lost control again.

Sakura had to take a second to catch her breath from all that running. "Kakashi Sensei, I think I know how Naruto's being sabotaged."

Those who were at the meetings prior, were at this one, in a tent to themselves. "Sakura, you said you think you know how this is happening to Naruto." Kakashi said.

Sakura nodded and proceeded to explain everything that happened at the training field. "When Shino explained that he could transfer poison with his bugs, I thought about how discreet and unsuspected it is. Naruto has had eyes on him the whole time and he's still getting worse, that's really the only plausible explanation."

"Why didn't we think of this earlier? It all makes sense." Yamato commented.

"I'll need to gather every bug user in Konoha but please, be discreet. We don't need to raise any suspicion. Kakashi, I'd like you to find Inoichi for me, and Kushina," Minato looked at his wife. "Don't leave Naruto's side."

Kushina and Sakura walked together back to the training field. "How was he when you left?" Kushina asked.

"He should be lucid by now… But I'm not too sure on how his state of mind is going to be." Sakura replied sadly. Their answer was met with a painful yell once they came into view of the training ground.

Naruto was on the ground, on his back, writhing around in pain. He was grabbing and clawing at his stomach in what looked like a futile attempt to stop the pain there. Sakura and Kushina began running immediately. "Naruto!" Sakura called out desperately.

"Out of my way!" Kushina yelled once she arrived to the panicking youths surrounding her son. Naruto was still writhing around as she kneeled down beside him. "This is going to hurt a lot more than what's happening now." She muttered. The others watched in anticipation as Kushina lifted Naruto's jacket to reveal the seal on his stomach. Naruto continued to move around every which way, and he was still grasping at his stomach which was no good for Kushina to work. "I need four of you to hold down his arms and legs!" When no one moved she yelled. "NOW!"

Lee, Neji, Shikamaru and Kiba each grabbed a limb and held down Naruto, who's screaming only grew as it was more painful to sit still. Kushina lifted his jacket to reveal the seal once more. She placed her hand on the seal and twisted her hand right. The onlookers watched as it seemed to spin. With one last painful cry, Naruto fell limp. "I couldn't shut it all the way but it's closed enough." Kushina said.

"I-is he-" Hinata began to ask.

"He just passed out from shock. He'll be fine. The Kyuubi almost broken through on top of hastily repairing it like that, it's a very painful process, ya know."

"So… Had you been a few minutes late…" Choji tried to ask.

Kushina nodded. "Yes." She sat behind Naruto and laid his head on her lap. "Everyone was very lucky, especially Naruto. If a Jinchuuriki is separated from their bijuu, they die." Kushina decided not to mention how she was an exception. "Especially since it was sealed in him within hours of being born."

"What kind of parents seal a monster into their own son?" Kiba commented unkindly. A few others found themselves nodding in agreement.

Kushina wasn't mad at them. "Minato was the one who decided to do it. He believed one day Naruto could control the Kyuubi's power. Even though that day hasn't come yet, I believe it will." She was calm, she expected this kind of reaction. There was silence until Kushina remembered something. "Oh, Shino, I believe Kakashi wanted you for something, he didn't say what though."

"Got it." Said Shino before taking his leave.

Sakura sat down next to Naruto and put her hands over his chest, healing chakra emitting from her palms. She frowned. "Some of his vital organs were on the verge of shutting down. Right now they're slowly healing. I should be able to speed up the process but he's going to need bed rest, though it wouldn't be wise to move him right now."

No one said much as the day continued. Naruto's head remained sitting on his mother's lap and the rest were sitting around in various places too. "Do you think he's going to be the same when this is all over?" Ino had asked around midday.

"He's Naruto. He always seems to bounce back." Kiba answered confidently… Well, partially confidently. Truth be told all of them had their doubts. Naruto's been through a lot of things but this was different. Before Naruto had a choice on how to act but this time, his mind was being taken from him. He had no control over anything.

No more comments on the subject could be made, however, because Naruto finally started to stir. Naruto opened his eyes. His eyes were blue once more but his pupils were as they were earlier. He looked around and saw the smiling faces of his friends and mother. He made no attempt to move. His entire body hurt and he didn't even know if he could blink without feeling pain. "You gave us quite the scare." Shikamaru smiled, trying to sound casual. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was crushed by a mountain then had my insides torn out and chewed on." Naruto mumbled in response.

"Where does it hurt the most?" Sakura asked, getting ready for a second round of healing.

"Sakura-Chan, you don't have to-"

"Quite being stubborn and just tell me." Sakura demanded.

"My stomach." Naruto relented. He had to admit, when Sakura started healing him he started to feel immensely better.

Naruto looked around at his friends, their faces showed worry and… fear. Were they scared of him? Why were they scared of him? Did he hurt someone? No one was hurt as far as he could tell. Besides, everyone was th… Where was Shino? Did he hurt Shino?

As Sakura healed Naruto, she could feel his heart rate suddenly go up. It seems like his mind wasn't totally okay after all. "Naruto, what's wrong?" She asked.

Naruto looked around once more just to make sure Shino wasn't just blending in with the crowd. "Did I hurt someone?" He asked fearfully. "Shino isn't here, did I hurt him?"

Naruto's friends took pity on him. They had a feeling Naruto wanted the old Naruto back just as much as they did. Kushina spoke up. "I'd expect you wouldn't remember what happened. Shino is fine, he was just called for a mission." She saw Naruto visibly relax. "You on the other hand, the seal almost broke. I made it here in time to repair the seal as much I could but you passed out from the pain of all of it." She saw an annoyed expression on Naruto's face at that last comment. "It doesn't make you weak, Naruto. Take it from me, the Kyuubi escaping is the most painful thing anyone could ever experience. So don't feel weak."

Now, it had been explained to Naruto that the previous Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi had been his mother but it had not been explained to the rest of his friends, so they sat there in shock at the revelation. Kushina, one the other hand, either didn't notice or didn't care because she kept her eyes on Naruto. "The most painful thing anyone could ever experience." Naruto repeated, closing his eyes though not falling asleep. "Good to know."

Shino found Kakashi, or more so Kakashi found Shino. "What do you need?" Shino asked when Kakashi appeared in front of him.

Kakashi leaned forward and whispered so only Shino could hear. "No one thinks it's you, it's only precaution."

Shino was confused as Kakashi escorted him to a heavily guarded building. The only rebuilt building in fact. Inside were the rest of the bug users in Konoha, and Inoichi and the rest of the mind reading interrogation unit. Shino was calm as Kakashi's words rang in his mind. It's only a precaution. Shino knew he didn't do anything wrong and therefor there was nothing to worry about.

Once everyone was there, Minato stood before all of them. "In here, one or possibly more of you are traitors to Konoha. Unless they want to come clean now, we will have our best interrogators enter your mind and find out for ourselves. So, does anyone want to come clean?" When no one said anything for a full minute, Minato said, "Okay then. Let's get started."