Disclaimer: I do not have the honor or priviledge of owning Naruto. I sadly make no money from it either.

Chapter Three:

Breaking the Silence of the Night

And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life. It's like I just stepped outside, When everything was going right. And I know just why you could not come along with me. That this is not your dream, But you always believed in me...

~~Michael Buble~~

One year and eleven months ago

It was one month since they left Konoha and Naruto and the others were still in the borders of the Land of Fire. So far his trip had been long and boring. The pervy sage had yet to show him or the other two boys any new jutsu. He said that he wanted them to begin after they became accustomed to travel. Secretly, he was a little glad; he was tired. It was hard getting used to the resistance seals on his arms and legs, even after using chakra. Their first spar after removing the seals was a real eye opener though. Their movements were much, much faster.

It was pretty late at night, but the full moon shed a great deal of light onto their campsite. Naruto sat next to the dying embers of the fire with a pad of paper in his lap. Jiraiya would be sending a messenger toad with their letters home tomorrow and he had yet to write anything.

How do you tell your father that you missed him with every fiber of your being and not worry him? How do you tell your new mother that you missed having her arms around you without coming off like a crybaby? Naruto scrunched his forehead in thought and then threw yet another incomplete letter into the coals, watching the newly created flames devour the paper greedily.

The silence of the night was broken by the soft rustle of clothing and the loud rasp of the canvas tent being opened. Sai sat down next to him and stared up at the moon. Neither said anything for a few minutes until finally, Naruto glanced at him and saw the tears slowly making their way unheeded down his cheeks. "What's the matter?"

"I think I may be sick," he said without looking at the other boy.

"You think? What's wrong with you?" questioned Naruto concernedly.

"I don't know. I have never felt this way before."

"Do you want me to tell Raya?"

"No. I'm sure it will pass."

"Well, what is it. You know you can tell me."

Sai surreptitiously swiped his cheek with his hand and stared at the wetness with curiosity. "I have never cried before. It feels strange. I have been having these odd feelings of longing, which are often accompanied by worry and; I don't know, maybe sadness. I do not understand why I am feeling this way."

Naruto nodded sagely and answered the unasked question, "You are just feeling homesick, Sai."

"I am? How do you know that?"

"Because I am too. Tell me, what are you thinking about when you first started to feel sad?"

"I was remembering how my father would always tell me a story before I would fall asleep. He would ask me to smile for him then he would rub his hand on my head and tell me to have good dreams. I had become accustomed to it, I suppose. My mother would also come in, press her lips against my forehead, and whisper to me that I was her sweet little angel."

Even in the moonlight, Naruto could see Sai's cheeks redden a little. It made him feel happy for his usually unemotional friend. "Don't be embarrassed, Sai. I think it's cool that she calls you her little angel. My dad always calls me his little puppy. Believe me, that's way more humiliating." Naruto nose twitched for a second and his eyes flicked to their tent. "You might as well come out too teme. I know you're awake."

Sasuke boldly exited the tent with a huge smirk on his lips. "Aw, the puppy and angel can't sleep…what's the matter with you two babies?"

"Aw shut it teme…or should I say "kitten"… You didn't honestly think I would forget what your mother calls you, Sasuke, did you. We've been friends for six years." He patted the empty space on the log they were sitting on and said, "Come on, I know that you have been a little homesick too. Don't hold a grudge and just join us."

The sneer quickly disappeared from Sasuke's face as he struggled to keep his head held high. He sniffed, "I don't hold grudges. I simply remember facts, baka."

"Whatever. If you're going to act like a turd then go lay in the grass." Naruto rolled his eyes at Sai and then ordered the Uchiha, "Just sit down teme. You're no better than any of us." He threw his arm around Sai and said, "Why don't you tell us something about your family. Tell us what reminds you of them. It might make you feel better."

~~O~~

"Snakes…every time I see a snake, I think of home." Sai thought for a moment and then smiled a little. "There was this one time that my father really got my mother really mad. He was interrogating a female prisoner and my mother thought he was flirting with her so she made him sleep on the couch. When he woke up and pulled his blanket off, there were snakes slithering all over him. He yelled so loud that the neighbors called the KMP."

Naruto couldn't help it; he began to giggle at the mental picture of the famous Ibiki Morino screaming like a little girl. He could definitely sympathize; she made her snakes attack him that one time because of a little prank he pulled. Pulling himself back to the present, he encouraged Sai, "What happened next?"

"When they burst into our house, my dad had already killed them all and was just finished bagging them up. My mother had slipped out so when they saw all the snake blood all over the walls and floors, they thought he killed her. They were trying to arrest him when she came in behind them and laughed. She said that if he ever thought about getting too friendly with another woman, she would chop up his snake."

"But Sai… your dad doesn't have a snake."

"I know, but my father's face sure turned green when she said that."

"Tch," snorted Sasuke, "You are both such dobes. She meant this snake," he said pointing down.

Their looks turned from confusion, to dawning comprehension, before finally changing to one of horror. Naruto nudged Sai, "I'm glad my dad didn't marry her. She is one crazy kunoichi."

"Yes, she can be very scary when she wants. She would send them in to wake me up when I would not get out of bed, but still… I miss her. Father is the one I miss most though. He would sometimes take me to work with him."

"You never told us that you've seen the inside of that building. What's it like? Is there really a cage in the front where they hang the prisoners who won't talk? Is there really a rack where they stretch people until their guts come out?" asked Sasuke.

"Not in the front. It's just a bunch of offices. The cells and interrogation rooms are in the lower level and father would not let me go down there."

Naruto and Sasuke's faces fell at the disappointing news. They really wanted to hear about the famed Torture and Interrogation unit of the Black Ops. Naruto then pointed to Sasuke and said, "It's your turn now. Tell us a story."

~~O~~

"I'm not telling any stupid story."

"Well, I can tell one then. How about I tell the rubber ducky story?"

"Rubber ducky?" asked Sai with a little snicker. "You had a rubber ducky?"

"Oh yeah, that's a funny one. You see, one time when I was at Sasuke's…"

"NO!" interrupted Sasuke with a yelp, taking a deep calming breath, he said, "Fine I'll tell one, but not that one. You know what Naruto; my goal in life is to hurt you, severely."

"Yeah, you keep saying that teme and one day I might actually believe you. Now tell the story."

~~O~~

"Alright, well you remember our first day at the academy and what my father did?"

"Yeah, I remember." It was something Naruto would never forget.

"When I got home, I was scared of my father. Itachi was so busy at Anbu and he barely had time for me anymore, but he came home and took me to the place where we would play when he was younger. He taught me the shuriken jutsu I had been pestering him about. That weekend he took me hunting; just him and me."

"My father tried to stop him, saying it was a waste of time, but Itachi said that an Uchiha never backs out on his word. He wouldn't let my father stop him. It was a good weekend; the best."

"Is that it?" asked Naruto. "I mean, there's got to be more to the story."

"We killed a boar."

"You're a bore!" he laughed and nudged Sasuke.

Sasuke just grunted and said, "Whatever. You tell us one Naruto. Tells us what makes you think of your family the most."

~~O~~

"Well obviously ramen for my mom, but what makes me miss my dad the most is whenever I see this scar," he said pointing to the fine white line that stretched across his bicep. Sai shuddered and Sasuke winced.

"How in Kami's name do you consider that a good memory?" asked Sasuke, "You nearly lost your arm."

"Well…"

Naruto and Sai were sitting at the house waiting for Hayate to arrive and take them sparring. A messenger arrived a half an hour later with a note for the boys saying that he could not come because of a sudden mission. Naruto, being very bored, picked up his tantō and said, "Come on Sai, let's just practice in my backyard together."

The other boy protested, "But we are not supposed to use real weapons without an adult present."

"Don't be a chicken. It's better to ask forgiveness for doing something wrong than to ask and be told no."

"That doesn't sound right to me, whiskers. We were specifically told not to do that. They wouldn't forbid us without good reason."

"Are you kidding Aho, they tell us not to do lots of things that make no sense. We are not supposed to go swimming after we eat, we are not supposed to pee on the bushes at school, we are not supposed to pick our noses when we have giant boogers in them; the list goes on. It seems like everyday my dad tells me something else that I'm not supposed to do. What about you?"

"Well, my dad did tell me that I'm not supposed to ask people if they are men or women. You've seen some of the people in this village; men with long hair and women with short. If I don't ask, then how will I know?"

"There, you see?"

"Still…"

Naruto ignored Sai's protests and dragged him outside. They began to spar before the inevitable happened. Sai slipped past Naruto's guard and sliced his arm through the muscle. As blood rained down, Sai ran screaming for help.

"Remember how Bisuke came outside and summoned my dad? He was so freaked out. His face turned white and he grabbed me and ran all the way to the hospital. I kept trying to tell him I was all right, but it was as if he couldn't hear me. I guess I passed out because when I opened my eyes he was crying. I thought I was seeing things, but he really was crying over me."

"You were grounded to your room for a month baka. I still don't see how that was a good memory."

Naruto smiled and couldn't quite keep the surprise out of his voice. "He stayed with me the whole time; he didn't go on any missions. He said it was because he didn't trust me not to do something stupid, but that wasn't true. He stayed because he was worried about me."

"I miss him, but at least I know what I want to do. Sai, can you draw a picture of us to send to our families?"

"If you want."

"And maybe, can you draw a picture of my mom and dad that I can have?"

Sai nodded. Sasuke stared off into the distance. He bit his lip then finally asked, "Can you do the same for me?"

~~O~~

Konoha – several days later

As Kakashi opened his letter, another piece of paper fell out. It was a beautiful inked drawing of Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke. With pride, he handed it to Ayame and finished reading the letter. "He misses us," he said quietly.

She took the letter and read it quickly. At the end she giggled. "He wants you to ask your ninken if they think poodles are members of some sort of weird religious cult."

Omake

Anko's Apprentices

As the last bell rang for the day at the ninja academy, students came running out of the classroom, eager to go home and play. The girls in Iruka Umino's class stayed in their seats, buzzing with excitement. Several minutes passed until the door opened with a bang.

Sakura's mouth dropped as she eyed the kunoichi who strolled in. She was barely dressed! "Do you see that!" she whispered fiercely to Ino.

"Hey girls, I'm Anko."

"She's wearing…" a shrill whistle was the only warning she got as a shuriken barely skimmed over her head, ruffling her hair, and shocking her speechless.

"I haven't given you permission to speak yet, pinky," murmured a chipper voice over her shoulder.

Sakura slowly turned her head to see a second Anko holding a kunai and wearing a very evil smile. She gulped nervously and tried to prevent the irritation from showing on her face. She hated it when people called her pinky.

"Since you like to talk so much, why don't you tell everyone here what being a kunoichi means to you?"

"Oh, uh well," she stammered, "A kunoichi is a very beautiful female ninja who provides support to her team."

"Support?" she asked disbelievingly. She looked at the rest of the girls who were all nodding their heads in agreement. She wanted to face palm, and then she had the strong urge to plant her fist into the face of every instructor in the academy. "Okay, first of all, a kunoichi is never support. A kunoichi is an equal member of the team, even if she occasionally provides support. Your job is to be strong, to be a leader, to be everything. Do you all understand?"

She continued, "One of these days, most of the boys in you class are going to be bigger and stronger than all of you, just like most shinobi you will come across. And guess what? Most will dismiss you as too weak to even bother with." Anko studied the girls in front of her; some like Ino and Sakura, looked pissed. "Good," she thought.

She walked to the board behind the instructor's desk and placed three groups of pictures up. Pointing to the photos, she said, "I want all of you to look at each collection and determine who the biggest threat is."

Predictably, the girls choose the biggest male in each group. Anko shook her head disappointedly. She jabbed her finger to the first set. "This is my mother. She was Anbu. These men are civilians."

Taking another set, she pulled the picture of a silver-haired boy down and held it in front of her. "This is Naruto's father, Kakashi Hatake. He was already a very lethal jonin when this picture was taken, the other men are only chunins."

As Anko took another step to the last group, all the girls smirked. They knew they got this one right. It was some of the boys in their class. Anko instead touched the picture of Naruto.

"What! He's not the biggest threat; Sasuke is," protested Ino vehemently. "He just cheats to win."

"Cheats?" asked Anko. She leaned against the desk and listened with growing disbelief to the whiny little girls.

"He grabs my butt," she mumbled, red-cheeked with embarrassment.

"That's nothing, you all saw where he grabbed me!" shouted another girl.

"He punched me in the nose," complained another.

"So," interrupted Anko, "He distracted you and he beat you. Is that what you're saying?" at the muttered assents Anko smirked. "He sounds like a threat to me, and by the way, we are ninja…there is no such thing as cheating."

"Well yeah, but sensei, Sasuke can beat Naruto in a fight so that makes him the bigger threat," said Ino earnestly.

"Hmm, is he really because Iruka sensei tells me that he refuses to fight you girls? Apparently, the Uchiha brat thinks girls are not worth his time."

"That's not true, Sasuke is just a true gentleman," sighed a fan girl.

"Alright listen up," growled the now irritated woman, "An opponent like Uzumaki who will fight regardless if you are strong or weak, or a girl, is much more dangerous. Plus, that boy never gives up and never backs down; something you all need to learn."

"So for today's lesson…" she stood up and said in a loud tone, "Boys, you can come in now."

The girls blinked in confusion as the male members of their class filed into the room with ropes and cloths in their hands. Ino asked indignantly, "Why are they here, this is a girl's only class?"

Anko quipped, "They are here to help me out."

They meekly accepted the vague explanation and allowed themselves to be bound and gagged. When the last girl was trussed up, Anko gathered her belongings, walked towards the door, and said, "See you all tomorrow."

The young students' eyes widened comically and many struggled against their ropes. Muffled shouts of protest halted Anko. She paused next to the closet captive, Sakura and pulled down her gag. "What is it?" she asked innocently.

"Sensei, you can't leave us here like this."

"Why not? You left yourselves vulnerable."

"Well, because…because… Well, you just can't. We have to go home. Our parents will worry about us. We did as you said sensei."

"Oh don't worry," she said breezily and put the gag back on Sakura's mouth, "I already told your parents that you might be spending the night here at school. Oh and one other thing – I never told you to let the boys tie you up." She gave an evil laugh and walked out of the room.

~~O~~

The next morning, Anko was very disappointed to discover that all of the girls were still there and sleeping. She cut all the ropes and announced rather loudly, "What kind of kunoichi do you girls expect to be?! My son could have gotten out of those ropes in twenty minutes."

Ino began to protest behind her gag. She jerked her body only to find out that the rope keeping her attached to the chair was no longer there. As she picked herself off the floor, she hissed in pain as her numb arms began to tingle than burn as they came back to life. "Well, how were we supposed to get out?" she asked waspishly.

"Ooh, there is this shiny, sharp object called a kunai that all ninja carry on them at all times," she replied sarcastically.

"B-But how were w-we supposed to know that y-you were going to d-do this?" asked Hinata timidly.

Anko sternly addressed all the girls, "That was lesson number one. The enemy won't tell you that he is going to capture you. You should always be prepared. Also there is this amazing little thing that they teach here at the academy called the substation jutsu."

"Our hands were tied to our sides," complained Ino.

"Lesson number two: the purpose of hand seals is to focus your chakra. The most difficult jutsu take a lot more seals, but the easiest ones such as what you are taught here at the academy take one. I can do those three with one hand. It will take you all a long time, but it will be worth it in the end. I expect to see you girls better prepared when we meet again next week."

As the girls stood up slowly and painfully, Sakura turned to Ino and said, "I'm scared to find out what the next lesson will be."

"Me too."

"My dad won't let me quit."

"Mine either. He told me that if I even thought of quitting, he would cut off my allowance and I wouldn't be able to go shopping," said Ino glumly.

AN

Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and left reviews for my new story. You all are awesome! I just wanted to say that Broken has over 1,000 reviews and in just 6 months! I'm amazed.

I hope you liked my Anko Omake. I was thinking of doing several more. If anyone has some ideas, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll see if I can work it in.

I had someone question me about Sai. He was adopted at a young age and he should have changed his personality because of it. While I pretty much agree, the reason why he is the way he is is because he is super smart and has difficulties being social. Watch 'The Big Bang Theory', I am loosely basing Sai's character after Sheldon from that show.

I am sure you all are wondering when it will get back to present time...real soon! There are only a few more chapters until the events at Waterfall and then their homecoming (Just in time for a very important event!).

Also, I am changing the rating of this fic to M next chapter due to the suggestive nature of what you will read. It will definately be a more mature theme.

Until next week...

Ja ne!

AZFAERYDUST