24~

By the time Goku and Yugito left the hub the sun was shining, and it reminded the boy that he was supposed to be training with his sensei for the day. He looked up at Yugito and grinned, "I hate to leave you so soon, but I have somewhere to be," the boy tried to run off, but the woman grabbed him by his collar and he slung back into her grasp.

"I really need you to behave, I'll be watching your every move," Yugito informed him before disappearing in a crackle of electricity.

Goku had something else to say to her, but their interaction was cut short. He groaned, wishing he knew how to use shushin as effectively as everyone else. The boy started walking back in the direction of the village to meet K at his house. It would be nice to do some actual training in wake of the recent events.

He knew becoming a full-time shinobi would be time consuming and even life-changing, but he didn't expect his life to take a complete turn. It was roaming around a month since he became a genin; he had already travelled across the continent, and fought with some of the most wanted people on Earth. Losing his tail and finding about his saiyan heritage put the icing on the proverbial cake as well.

The boy was so absorbed in his thoughts as he reentered the village, he didn't even notice that he walked right into the man he was looking for. He stumbled backward and fell onto the ground, only to look up and see K staring at him with a slight frown. Goku grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "I wasn't expecting to see you this soon."

"Your mother told me what happened," K grabbed Goku by his shirt and lifted him off of the ground, so he could look at him at eye level. His icy glare didn't seem to faze Goku anymore, so he decided to deliver the bad news to him, "There has been a change of plans."

Goku instantly frowned, "What do you mean?"

"You'll be training with Master Roshi today," K dropped Goku onto the ground and started walking off. "I have business to attend to." He disappeared with his signature shushin and left Goku alone to figure out everything else.

The boy furrowed his brow, since this was the second time today he had been left alone with no explanation, and now he had to locate an old man he barely knew. Goku let out a sigh and chose to go back home for now and deal with the inevitable screaming match with his mother, and probably Bulma since she was living with him as well.

It didn't take long for him to travel across the village, and before he knew it; he was walking up the door steps. The door instantly slid open, and his mother had been waiting all night for him to return. He stopped on the top step and nearly froze in place when he saw his mother staring him down.

"You're very lucky," She said as she stepped to side to reveal Chi-Chi standing behind her with a smile on her face. Mabui grabbed her bag and walked past Goku, she stopped on the bottom step and looked up at him with a frown. The woman pointed at the ground, "Be here tonight, we have a lot to talk about." With that, she left the two genin alone.

Despite the chill that just ran down his spine, Goku had to turn and look at Chi-Chi like none of that just happened. He offered a weak smile, "What brings you here?" He asked he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.

Chi-Chi followed behind Goku into the living room and sat on the couch, "I came to check on you, since you obviously were too busy to come and see how I was doing." She pouted and furrowed her brow while looking at Goku. "We got destroyed by those Akatsuki guys, Krillin is in the hospital, and N got kidnapped; yet you seem like you don't even care."

"I care more than anyone, but I can't do anything about it right now," He sighed and finally let his non-caring attitude die down. Goku frowned at Chi-Chi, "I tried to sneak out of the village last night so I could track down N, but that Yugito lady found me."

The girl sat down on the couch and pinched Goku on the arm, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Ouch! What was that for? I had to do something," The boy complained and got off of the couch so he could get away from the angry little girl.

"I know, I just don't think it's smart to risk another loss because you're a hot head," Chi-Chi didn't know how to feel. She was happy that Goku did actually care, but worried that he cared too much, and might actually get himself in trouble. "Don't forget that they want you too, they'll just lure you in with N and trap you."

Goku shook his head and tried to forget everything else for a moment, "How's Krillin?" He changed the subject as he started gathering things so he could leave the house again.

"He's still in the hospital, you need to come see him with me," She said as she walked across the room and opened the door. Chi-Chi gestured outside, and Goku had no choice but to follow her out of the house and down the steps.

"I was going to go anyway, you don't need to tell me what to do," Goku complained as he followed the girl.

. . .

(Konohagakure No Sato ~ With Sasuke)

It was uncharacteristic for the youngest Uchiha to be searching for Naruto Uzumaki. God forbid that he even call the boy a friend, but one thing he was, was an excellent training partner, and he needed him right now. The raven-haired boy had been searching all day, visiting his teammates, village gates, ramen stand, and now his apartment; there was still no sign of him.

He leaned over the rail of dingy apartment and looked at his view of the village. The boy quietly groaned, but instantly snapped back to reality when he heard two people coming around the corner of the apartment complex. He turned his head and saw the two familiar faces of Shikamaru and Choji with the same frustrated expression he had not too long ago, "He's not here."

"What a drag," Shikamaru frowned after finding out the inevitable. "We've been looking for him all day," He explained while stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Where could he possibly be?" Choji asked in between his routine bites of chips.

"We didn't have a mission today, Sakura or Kakashi haven't seen him, and he hasn't been to ramen stand since yesterday," Sasuke retraced his steps and it led up to the moment the three boys were experiencing right now. "I know he didn't leave the village, so he's somewhere within Konoha."

"I say we check the ramen stand again, I'm starting to get hungry," Choji suggested as he continued to eat his chips. "He's probably roaming in that area an-"

Both boys stopped talking to look at Shikamaru as he had gotten the door to Naruto's apartment open, and he was already walking around before he announced anything. They didn't have a choice but to follow him in there and see what was going on.

Despite being known for being lazy, Shikamaru worked quickly when he needed to. The boy was moving around the apartment looking for clues, and finally stumbled upon a reminder from the Hokage's grandson; Konohamaru for their 'special' training session, "It looks like he hasn't been here since at least yesterday morning." He turned to see Sasuke paying attention, while Choji had helped himself to some of Naruto's instant ramen. "The last person he's interacted with from what I see, is Konohamaru."

Choji slurped up some noodles and nodded his head, "That makes sense, that kid looks up to Naruto."

"We're going to the academy to find him then," Sasuke said as he walked out of the apartment and expected the two boys follow behind him. School was still in session for students, so he knew he would be able to find Konohamaru without struggle.

Shikamaru never officially signed up to spend his day looking for Naruto, but unfortunately for him; he had nothing better to do. He also liked Naruto, so he forced himself to walk forward, instead of plopping onto Naruto's couch and wasting the rest of his day.

Choji simply shrugged and figured he could grab something to eat during their small journey to find their friend.

Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru being together was a very rare occurrence, so there weren't many words shared between them. The only time lips were really being separated was when Choji was grabbing another handful of chips, and much to the boy's dismay; they went straight to the academy to find Konohamaru.

Luckily enough for them, the clock was just turning noon, and all of the kids were in the courtyard playing freely. Sasuke stopped in front of the entrance and looked back at his two partners for the day, "Let's make this quick," He said as he then walked into the yard to find Konohamaru.

Choji frowned, "Who made him the leader of the mission?" He looked at Shikamaru, expecting a similar complaint in response, but the Nara boy simply shrugged.

"Less work for me," Shikamaru watched Sasuke move through the courtyard with a slight smirk on his face. "He's obviously the one that cares the most." The boy finally followed the Uchiha's lead into the courtyard and saw the Hokage's grandson playing with his friends in the corner of the yard. He also spotted the restless Uchiha walking toward them.

Sasuke walked up on the children kicking a ball around, and caught that same ball out of the air when it almost hit him in the face. He threw it to the side and stared the three children with a furrowed brow. It was nothing but silence during their brief stand off, until Shikamaru walked up with a wave.

"What's up guys?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against a tree while looking down on the academy students.

Konohamaru wasn't exactly pleased to have his recess time cut short because of the genin, "You just messed up my game!" He pouted and folded his arms over each other. "What do you want?"

Sasuke wasn't a fan of beating around the bush, so he was happy to hear Konohamaru cut straight to the point, "Where is Naruto?" He asked, his arms now folded as well.

"Wha? Why would I know that?" Konohamaru honestly didn't know where his self-proclaimed rival was. He tried to cut the conversation short and grab his ball, but Sasuke picked it up off of the ground and held it out of his reach. "Hey, give that back!"

Shikamaru didn't really condone messing with the kid to get information, but he didn't feel like scuffling with Sasuke to get the ball either, "Where was the last place you saw him?"

Konohamaru's friend wiped away from the snot under his nose, "We were with Naruto-kun at the training field right before dinner time, but that's the last time we've seen him."

After hearing that, Shikamaru took the ball from Sasuke and handed it back to Konohamaru. He sighed and stuffed his hands back in his pockets, "The training field is the only place I haven't been."

The trio of genin started walking away from the courtyard, while Choji raised his brow, "How come we didn't go the training field in the first place?"

"Naruto usually doesn't wake up until the middle of the day and doesn't go the training field until later," Sasuke said as he led them to the training field that he and Naruto always train at. "Unless he turned over a new leaf, but I don't think he would wake up and go straight to train."

"I highly doubt that," Shikamaru agreed with Sasuke for once, since he of all people knew how hard headed Naruto could be.

When they arrived at the training field, there were a few people there sparring, but what caught all of their attention was boy with pale skin and short black hair holding the katana Naruto had recently acquired. Sasuke was the first to walk straight across to confront the boy, while Shikamaru looked around the training field warily.

"Have you ever seen any of these people?" Shikamaru whispered to Choji and the boy shook his head 'no' in response. While Konoha was a big village, he was somewhat familiar with the faces that passed through on a daily basis, "Come with me."

Sasuke didn't notice Shikamaru and Choji leaving while he walked up to the boy, "Where did you get that sword from?" He opened their interaction with a question.

"It's nice to meet you as well," The boy smiled at Sasuke, but it didn't come off as genuine. He held up the sword and shrugged his shoulders, "I found it here."

The Uchiha could tell he wasn't lying, but something still seemed odd about the situation. The boy held his hand out expectantly, "Well that belongs to my teammate Naruto," Sasuke furrowed his brow when the sword wasn't instantly in his hand after telling the other boy to hand it over.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Uchiha-kun," The pale boy grinned at Sasuke and sheathed the sword and strapped it to his back. "I'll make sure it gets back to Naruto-kun safely," He said as he walked past Sasuke calmly, placing his index finger on his nose as he did so in a natural motion, which signaled his teammates to initiate the next part of their plan.

"SASUKE, JUMP!" Shikamaru screamed out from a hidden position as his shadow extended out from the thick forests that surrounded the training field, and held everyone present still.

The Uchiha was smart enough to listen to his teammate and leaped into the air, activating his Sharingan as he did so. His perception slowed down, and he watched as Choji rolled out from the trees and knocked down all of the enemy shinobi like bowling ball pins.

The raven-haired boy tumbled onto the ground and retreated into the forest where he heard Shikamaru's voice and saw the Nara youth running away from the scene. Sasuke could see that the boy obviously had a plan so he would simply follow.

Choji came circling back and fell into step with his two former classmates. The three were erratically running away from what was inevitably behind them. The group of random shinobi obviously had an ulterior motive, and it all had to with Naruto for some reason.

Shikamaru saw what he needed to see: identifiable people to associate with Naruto's disappearance. For now he would try to escape with the information, so he could live to tell the story later. Since they were thoroughly outnumbered, he would at least scatter them out and try to take them down one by one.

Sasuke sprinted past Shikamaru and Choji doing hand signs, he took a deep breath and released a monstrous fireball that set everything in its path ablaze. The trio skidded to a halt after he did that, and watched as multiple shinobi jumped away with their clothing in flames, as their poorly executed camouflage genjutsu fell apart.

The trio backed up into each other, watching as the strange shinobi began to surround them. A bird made of ink swooped down, flapping its wing, and the pale boy stood full of pride on top of its head. The boy parted his lips from his smirk, "I hate that we had to go about it this way, but you saw through our ruse."

"Where are you keeping Naruto?" Shikamaru was the first to speak up, with their 'backs against the wall,' he figured he would at least get more insight on what's going on.

"Uzumaki-kun is apart of something big, and Uchiha-kun will be the next piece added to the puzzle," The emotionless boy drew his tanto and jumped down from the bird. He and his group of shinobi started to move into a formation.

Sasuke furrowed his brow and prepared himself for the battle about to take place, and felt shock run through his system the instant it began. They were stronger, faster, and more skilled than he was. A fist was planted into his face and sent him flying across the forest floor.

The pale boy followed after Sasuke and pounced on him quickly, slashing across the boy's chest and drawing blood. It splattered outward and covered his face, but he was unfazed by it. He stabbed his tanto into the boy's thigh to pin him down, and then stood up to signal some more of his teammates to come retrieve the raven-haired teen.

Choji and Shikamaru were chopped down just as quickly as Sasuke was, seeing that their moment back in the training field was pure luck. Their only opportunity to escape was destroyed just as quickly as it had come, and everything from that point faded to black for the trio of genin.

The fight wasn't even fair, and the one-sided battle was over in an instant. The three genin were scooped off of the ground and transported to their hidden facilities. The other members of the group fell back to clean up the scene, like they were originally doing before Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru had showed up.

Once everything was cleaned out and restored, it was almost like the incident had never happened.

. . .