Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. This is simply a fanfic story that I came up with that has no bearing on the anime/manga storyline.

A/N: Winner of poll: Harem.

A/N2: I am posting this chapter relatively fast. I do NOT make any promises on how fast chapters will be posted except that I will post them when I feel like they are complete. I will try to post a chapter at least once a month.

Bold = Kyubi talking

Bold Italics = Kyubi thinking

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Chapter 2

Danzo stood before a 4 man team of his ROOT ninja in the shadows behind the crowd. "There will be a council meeting no doubt as soon as Tsunade is out of surgery. Your mission to hunt down Naruto Uzumaki and capture him. If Capture is not an option, then death is the only other option for him. I will have that weapon or no one will. Is that clear?"

"Yes Danzo-sama" the team said as they vanished from sight.

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Shortly after being banished Naruto is struggling to walk through the forest. With the hole in his chest and loss of blood, lack of rest, and chakra exhaustion he could collapse at any minute.

"Kit, four ninja are coming for us and you're in no condition to fight"

Slightly surprised, but not one to argue while he felt this way; "Don't….you think…I… know…what condition…I'm in?" Naruto replied rather exasperatedly.

"Alright, Kit, here is a onetime deal only because if you die then I do to. I'm going to pump my chakra into your system. Create 8 of your clones, send all eight at the incoming foes and when they get close send 4 toward the Sand Village and have 4 attack them."

Catching his breath Naruto replies, "I was going to go to see if Gaara could help, so why would I do that?"

"I believe it would be better to go where shinobi can't find you. I was thinking of that Wave place with that drunk bridge builder."

"That great and all, but it's going to take all my strength just to make those clones once you give me a chakra boost. What makes you think I can make it to Tazuna's?"

"I'm going to pump my chakra in you constantly so you can run at 'demonic' speeds. You should be there by 1 am."

"EXCUSE ME, but would that much demonic chakra poison me" replied Naruto.

"Normally yes, but I should be able to heal you, but you might be out cold for a day or two once you arrive."

"Should"…."How reassuring….Fine, just do it".

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As the ROOT team were closing in they felt the surge of 'demonic' chakra in the air. The leader looked up and signaled to the group.

"It looks like he's relying on the demons power. Be careful".

As the clones of Naruto approached four took off in the opposite direction while the others attacked. This did not go unnoticed by on the squad members.

"Sir, four are heading toward the Suna. He may be attempting to seek help".

"Let's take care of these clones first and do it quickly." Replied the leader.

The clones didn't do a bad job, however, they were just clones, but it did give the clones a good head start. About a mile from where the clones split up the ROOT team was catching up to the other clones. The ROOT team evaluated the formation and assumed the lead Naruto was the real one, the other three were the clones. The other three clones finally slowed down in an attempt to slow down the ROOT team and though they did provide a distraction it wasn't hardly enough. About an hour more of 'wasted' time for the ROOT and they finally caught up to the lead Naruto. The ROOT leader spoke up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, please come peacefully with us and we will not harm you".

"Yeah Right, like I believe you. Catch me if you can." Naruto Taunted.

Naruto and the ROOT team played duck and weave for a short period, but eventually Naruto was caught and bound. What the ROOT ninja didn't know was that the clone allowed himself to get caught in an attempt to draw as much time away from the real Naruto has he could.

"Hey, I don't recognize you all. Where are you from" asked Naruto.

"That is none of your concern now." Replied the leader.

"Well, I would love to hang around, but I have got better things to do." Suddenly the clone disbursed.

The leader of the ROOT team was furious. He couldn't believe it was just a clone. "We must hurry. Let's go back to where we encountered the clones first and see if we can pick up a trail."

"Hai" the team responded.

Once the team arrived back at where they first encountered the Naruto clones it was very late. And the team needed rest.

"At this point we don't have much choice. After chasing the clones all over the forest we need to rest and recoup our chakra. Let's rest for two hours and eat and then we will start tracking him." The leader instructed and the team followed directions.

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When the clones started to attack the ROOT team, Naruto was increasing his distance.

"Stop running through the forest you idiot"

"What am I supposed to do, I have to get as far away as I can while I am still conscious." Replied Naruto.

"Why I got stuck with an idiot is beyond me"

"HEY, I'm doing the best I can here".

"However, you are leaving a trail for those ninja scum to follow."

"Ok, what do I do?" Naruto replied to tired and frustrated to argue.

"Use the chakra I am giving you create a chakra tail and launch yourself above the trees. About a mile up there is a river; attempt to land on the river itself. Then launch yourself again as far as you can. If they somehow are able to track you to the river then hopefully they will think you went either up river or down river and not toward the drunk bridge builder".

Without any other words Naruto complied and launched himself with so much force that he almost shot over the river. Upon landing on the river he took a few seconds to get his bearings and launched again. Landing many miles from where he left his clones he took off at blinding speeds compared to most ninja.

As he was running he had a thought…"Hey fox, why are you being so cooperative? This isn't like you?"

"Right now, you need help and I don't want to die from your stupidity. So to put it bluntly, by helping you I'm helping me stay alive. Assuming you don't die from chakra poisoning when we reach the drunk one."

"Fox…..regardless of your reasoning, thanks"

The fox never replied and Naruto just kept on running.

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It was about 3am when Naruto arrived at Tazuna's house and started banging on the door. He was exhausted and could not yell or shout in any way. A very frustrated bridge builder was yelling through the house.

"What in the world is going on? Ok…OK…OK, I'm coming just stop banging on my door" yelled Tazuna as he unlocked the door and started to open it. The door practically flew open as Naruto landed in Tazuna's arms. They both fell to the floor.

Tsunami and Inari were hanging back out of curiosity of who was banging on their door at three in the morning. When the saw the orange boy drop they yelled out…"NARUTO!"

Naruto who was barely conscious was whispering…"hide me, hide me please". The he passed out.

Tsunami finally saw the wound…"Inari, go into town now and get the doctor. Be as quick as you can, but be quiet. Ask him for help and tell him it's a personal favor for us. Dad, let's get him upstairs to the extra room and get him cleaned up." Tsunami kissed Naruto forehead and whispered…"you're safe, don't worry."

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The ROOT team were able to make it to the river and even searched the river upstream and downstream for a full day. They met back and decided to go back and get further instructions.

"Danzo-sama will not be happy" the leader spoke.

They left for Konoah in order to inform Danzo of what happened.