Naruto sensed that no one was there and lifted his head ever so slightly. He felt cold in the dark and echoed room. He was in his sleeping shirt and in his uniform pants but had nothing on his feet and the ground was as cold as ice. It felt as though it had frozen over. He pulled his knees up, struggling with the heavy weight of the chains on his ankles and set his feet on what looked like the edge of a bed. He hugged his legs and rested his head on his knees.

"Will anybody notice that I've gone missing?" He whispered this to himself.

Tsunade hadn't known that he stepped out of the village and into the forest to follow Sasuke and Sakura or anybody else was either at home, resting on their last few days off from missions, or out on a mission far from Konoha. The only one who had probably seen him was Teuchi. He was the only one who saw him struggle home, but would that be the first place they would think of looking? Naruto may be long dead by then.

His stomach growled and he remembered he hadn't eaten since the day before. Maybe if he hadn't gone to look for Sasuke he wouldn't be in this mess or endangering Konoha. At least he knew Sasuke was alive.

He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

Sakura stepped out of how sleeping gown and walked over to her mirror. Her eyes were dark on the bottom from the lack of sleep and her eyes were now red from the crying she had let out earlier. She didn't know if she was happy or sad about Konohagakure finding traces of her teammate and her crush. But she was worried the most now about Naruto. She had been mean to him when Tsunade had called a meeting for team 7.

Both her and Naruto were astonished when they heard the news and were even more surprised when she considered looking for him extensively. Sakura was so mixed with feelings that she had shed tears right in Tsunade's office and ran out to the hall. Naruto had, of course, followed her and tried to comfort her.

Flashback

Naruto knelt down to the Sakura now fallen up against the wall, her face covered by her pink hair. "Sakura-chan, I promised I'd find him and now I've got a chance. Remember, it was the promise of a lifetime."

"No..." She whispered. "Just give it up, Naruto. He's long gone now. We can't bring him back. He's more into the darkness than we thought. Don't even waste your breath on that bastard!"

She couldn't believe what she was saying and Naruto couldn't believe it either. They had tried so hard to find him and she was now telling him to brake his promise. But she knew why. She was tired of seeing her teammates fight and seeing them get hurt for her sake.

She stood up and ran out of the building, tears streaming down her face as she headed back home, slamming the door to her room.

"I guess I should go apologize to him." She stifled a smile, got dressed in her uniform and left her house, quiet not to disturb her sleeping parents.

The day was cooler but began to turn warm as the sun soon rose. She strolled along the village, fancying the decorations for the upcoming festival. She wiped her arm across her face as a tear attempted to escape from her eye. She changed her thoughts to something happier.

"I wonder if I should take Naruto to the festival. He'll be a pain but I guess he wouldn't want to go alone, anyway."

Finally turning the corner she found the street to where his apartment building was. She climbed the stairs up to the highest room. She stopped in front of the door with the Uzumaki symbol on it and inhaled.

"Naruto." She said sweetly and knocked lightly on the door.

No answer.

Don't tell me that bum is still sleeping?

"Naruto!" She said louder but found that the door was unlocked when she turned at the knob. Did he forget to lock his door? "Naruto," She whispered and walked to his kitchen, where he usually was at. "That damn Naruto. Where the hell is he?" When I decide to apologize he decides to disappear.

She stepped into his kitchen, seeing it empty and strangely unlit. The curtains to his window where closed; which they never were. "Naruto." She said once again but received no reply. Maybe he's still asleep. Sakura followed the hall that led to his room at the end. The door was opened and the light was still on. When she walked to the doorway her heart skipped a beat. His room was messy, but what was worse was that across his bed lay a coffee table split in the center. Pieces of it were found everywhere along the room.

When she turned to her right she found that the wall was scorched and a splatter of blood marked it.