-AN-

This chapter is more of a leap frog from village to village. I wanted to poke in and see what each village might be dealing with since Naruto and his gang leaving Konoha. It's nothing really crazy going on and ya can probably skip this chapter for the next where we get back to the main story.

I just realized, this is like a filler episode. Lol, fun.

-Story Start-

Konoha was by and large a peaceful and prosperous village. The villagers themselves had nothing to truly worry about as Konoha had shown time and time again that even if battle fell upon them, it would be swiftly dealt with. That confidence in their protectors bled over from the villagers themselves into the ninja who protected them. Happy, confident ninja tended to work and perform better in the end as well.

Things had slowly changed.

Many of the villagers who had been saved by Naruto during the Sand/Sound invasion had taken note that they hadn't seen the hyperactive blonde in a long time. Rumors had begun to circulate, from he had been courted into the Daimyo's new guardian ninja corps, to he had begun secretly training as the next Hokage. Some, more whispered in dark places, had assumed the demon brat had finally gotten his on some mission and kicked the bucket. These rumors were smaller, somewhat buoyed by the new addition to Team 7. The Civilians however were still hopeful, peace was a nice thing after all.

The ninja however knew better and were keeping a tight lid on the truth.

Contracts that had been earned because of Naruto's performance during the chunin exams and his subsequent almost single handed rescue of the entire village had begun to wane. The Blonde Maelstrom he had been called. Well the blonde had been spotted in several nations so far. From Hotspring to Rice and even Earth. Bandits and enemy ninja were learning to fear him, while civilians who met him were praising his abilities and his character. But Leaf ninja were worried. Because they knew, even if not the whole truth, that the village had done the boy horribly wrong. Soon they knew the hammer was coming down.

Because the Fire Daimyo was coming to visit the Leaf.

Tsunade sat before the council in a smaller meeting room within the Hokage tower. Everyone was quiet as she just announced to them all that the Fire Daimyo would be coming to Konoha by the end of the month to give them time to prepare. While the civilians would want to celebrate and put on a festival, she let them all know that this visit was due to the flight of the Uzumaki clan.

Tsume is the first to bring up the biggest issue here, "One way or another, we are going to lose face. We fucked up. This is us having to face the music so to speak."

Hiashi nodded, "Will the Uzumaki be here to attend and speak their grievances?"

Tsunade shook her head, "No. This meeting is to get our side of things and give the Daimyo information. After this he will be meeting with the Uzumaki at their current location."

Shikaku frowned, "The Daimyo did not share that information?"

"Nope. Seems he doesn't trust us. Wonder why." Tsunade sniped back, frowning towards the civilians on the council. Several of which look ready to plead their own case.

Danzo however places a hand on the table, "Perhaps the civilian members of the council should keep their mouths shut for the time being. You've blundered this enough." Finally having enough leverage over the fools to keep them on a leash, Danzo had no qualms about putting them on notice. If only Tsunade had this type of influence. She was still such a child, the drunk.

Tsume loathes it but agrees with Danzo in this, "Yah know, I hate to say it, but Danzo's right. If not for you we wouldn't be in this mess. So best to keep quiet for now." Tsume was all for at minimum publicly apologizing to the Uzumaki and offering reparations. It would have been the fastest and easiest way to make amends, even if some face would have been lost. Honor was more important in her book.

Inoichi motions to Choza who nods and thumps his chest, "Perhaps then, since we know we can't really talk our way out of this we all help put on our village's best for the Daimyo when he arrives? Show him that even without the Uzumaki, our village is still plenty strong."

Shikaku waved a hand to shake away the thought. It was to one dimensional, "The Daimyou is smarter than that. He won't be swayed by pretty lights and carnival games."

"We can still put on a strong face. Every little bit helps." Inoichi chimes in.

"It'd help even more if we had the Uzumaki or his clansmen attend. At least show we have some contact and are attempting to reconcile." Danzo chimed in again while ignoring his own plans in place for the Uzumaki. With luck his reconditioned agent will have made contact with the boy by now.

Tsunade nods to it all and leans back, "The festival will be approved no problem. We have what resources we can spare looking for Naruto and his group. We still will not list any of them as missing nin." Here she paused and glared at the civilian members, "Hopefully we can slip though this without to much drama."

Tsume grumbles, "Wouldn't be any drama at all if the civilian council didn't get so greedy."

Tsunade slams a hand on the table, "Enough of that. Now we need to all come together and put on a brave face. We can talk about who's a dumbass and who did wrong later, understood?" Getting nods and verbal agreements, Tsunade picks up a form in front of her. "Alright, first off, where will we be accommodating the Daimyo while he and his entourage stay?" This was going to be a long meeting that Tsundae wasn't looking forward to but hopefully they would get some new letters from Naruto soon. She was looking forward to word from the boy.

Outside and on the ninja training grounds Team 7 is hard at work. Today is chakra exercises while Kakashi runs them through mental drills, at least had been. The day was beginning to wind down and they were all chatting as they worked through cool down routines.

Kakashi brings up their upcoming patrol mission, "It should be a week long. We will be patrolling from Hotspring to Rice and back to Konoha. Is everyone prepared?" He wasn't shocked that their patrol route somewhat coincided with where their missing blonde had been sighted.

Sakura was ready for a trip out of the village finally. They had been cooped up for too long. Though the time with Sasuke had been well worth it. "It'd be nice if we could visit some of the springs while we're out. I hear they're amazing." Secretly she wanted to hunt down the hidden spring of increased bust. She had heard about it in rumors around the hospital and even if they were fake she was willing to track it down. Tsunade had to be hording that information to herself.

Sasuke was transitioning from closed leg to open leg stretches on the ground. Flexibility was important after all, "A vacation would be nice." He tried not to think about Sakura in a swimsuit. He failed. But he was happy with this failure.

Sai however was fine being a party pooper, "That has nothing to do with the mission. It is a partol, not a sight seeing tour."

Sakura groans as she moved from sit ups to scissor kicks, her physical fitness still needing improvement, "The mission isn't everything ya know. Life is meant to be lived after all." She missed Sai pondering that statement as he was working through his art book. Currently drawing the likeness of a woman and a serpent together.

Kakashi however claps his hands together to draw everyone's attention, "Well said Sakura. While the mission is important we can't forget to live our lives to the fullest. Now, everyone take a few laps of the field and we'll call it here for the day." Hearing groans, the teens eventually came to their feet and complied. Kakashi himself however allowed his thoughts to turn inwards.

It hadn't been all that long ago that he had been pulled into a bar crawl with Kurenai and Anko. Kurenai because she was still upset over Hinata leaving, and Anko because she had her own business to unload. The women however figured Kakashi always needed time out because the guy was always stuck in the past and even he couldn't deny that. So here they were, sitting in a booth at a bar and drinking heavily.

Anko however was pretty far into her drinks, "You know….I sorta get why little Naruto left." Seeing the others look at her questioningly, Anko shrugs, "You know me. Remember how I was treated, hell still am treated, all because Orochimaru trained me? I'm still a special jonin because the council has decided they can't trust me to train students and give me my full certification. What a load of shit. Sometimes this village really knows how to treat it's best and brightest." Taking a shot of her current drink of choice, Anko laid out across the table.

Kurenai rubs her friend's back, "And yet you're still here. Trying to prove them wrong. That's what makes you such a great example of a good kunoichi of the Leaf."

Kakashi himself couldn't fault Anko and for once said as much. "I can't say I blame him or you. I've…thought about it. But it's our duty as upper ranked ninja to work through or bury our own problems and pass on something better for the next generation. We've been through some shit. War, assassinations, seductions, you name it. All before these kids even left the academy. I wouldn't wish any of that on them."

Anko however isn't convinced, not leaving her laid out position, "Uh huh, but what the fuck happens when there isn't a better option? What if leavin' is what's best?" Mind hazey, she could only be this honest with her closest friends. She gave thanks that Kurenai didn't bring that stick in the mud along.

Kakashi however has paused mid drink as he thinks over what she said. Knowing that he's been faced with such decisions himself. Some old and some recent actually. Taking a drink after a moment, he shrugs, "All we can do is what we think is best for the next generation. No matter what that may be." Kurenai and Anko raise their cups and drink with him, while he begins to key up teasing for the single snake mistress. He had seen her and that academy teacher together a lot recently.

Snapping out of it as he hears Sakura bickering with Sai, Kakashi vows to continue to do the best he can for all of his students. Even those that aren't around at the moment. You don't abandon your comrades after all.

-b-

Far away in Wind country we find the Sand village. Hot, dusty, but alive in its way, the village hidden in the Sand was a resilient place. It's people reflected this, surviving and thriving in a climate and landscape that for anyone else would be a death sentence. At it's center was as with most ninja villages was the Kage tower in which Gaara, the newly minted Kazekage, was reading a letter from of all places Wave. Last he checked he hadn't sent anyone out to the small island nation and for sure Suna had not had any interactions with them. Here they were however, sending him a letter congratulating him on his ascension to Kazekage and wishing his siblings well. The rest of the letter detailed potential trade agreements and a possible alliance between the nations though the sender, this Tsunami, even admitted that would have to wait until their leader returned. Huh. So a functionary decided to take the initiative on this, curious. Making a motion for his secretary, he asks for his siblings to be called. He was curious for sure but needed outside opinions still. Normal human interaction was still something he was working on after all, though even for him this letter was sending odd signals.

Having turned to other paperwork while he waited, it didn't take long until first Kankuro and soon Temari were in his office while his current secretary closes and locks the door. After expressing just what is in the letter he had received, his siblings offer their own opinions on the matter.

Kankuro shrugs as he takes his customary seat in the corner and unseals a puppet to begin working on it, seeing as this wasn't something super important. "Not like we have much to benefit. Any trade from a nation that far away would have to go through the land of fire and you know the kind of taxes that'll get hit by." Kankuro himself didn't care for the Leaf or Fire nation.

Temari however was sitting on the couch while actually thinking it over, "Unless the trade route is completely by sea. It would be longer, having to traverse around the land of Tea, but it's doable." The idea of anyone wanting to trade with them was sort of amazing. It wasn't like they had much to trade at all anyway besides heavy metals and sand. But what good was that?

Kankuro brings up a point that he didn't believe was considered, "Why even bother with such a small nation? We could chuck the letter and forget them and realistically not miss anything."

Gaara however holds up the letter, pointing at a section at the end, "I might have, if not for this passage. It mentions that they hope my tenant has gotten over being turned into glass for a while. How many people on the planet are privy to that battle?"

Temari is grinning already, "Oh ho. So the blonde powerhouse is up to some major moves then." This would require some planning then. Unnoticed to her, both boys shudder.

Gaara nods after a minute, "It appears so…If this is Naruto, or someone working for him, then it is at least worth the look."

Kankuro shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest, "No one officially from the sand can go. We have no official reason to be there and tensions with us between Fire are already tense still."

Temari raised a hand from where she was on the couch, "I can go. I'm technically a diplomat now, and things with Konoha have stalled for some reason. So I'm free to go take a look around, meet up with this Tsunami."

Gaara thinks that over as Temari was most likely the best choice for this. She was smart and diplomatically a better choice than himself or his brother, or anyone else from his administration. "I'll write a letter for you to take with you tomorrow. Think you'll be prepared by then?"

Temari nods and sits up straight, "I'll be ready and able first thing in the morning." A grin was beginning to stretch across her face that had the other boys shuddering. They refused to comment however, as that way led to mental trauma.

-b-

In Earth country if Iwagakure could be described as anything if would most likely be unyielding. Having stood the test of time the village and it's people were collectively a stubborn and no compromise type. That it had taken one of their own, now an infamous nuke nin, to destroy their village once said much about their strength.

Inside his office, Onoki works through his paperwork while grumbling and complaining to the only other two occupants of the room, his grandchildren. Kurotsuchi and Kozuchi stood behind his shoulders while he complained, again, about some new blonde who was making a name for himself. In Earth country no less! Saving prisoners from Orochimaru, hah, they were trying to make a fool out of him, he just knew it.

"And to top it off, the Leaf seem to have misplaced their Jinchuriki as well. At least if the rumors are to be believed…" Onoki finally shoved the paperwork aside, he wasn't going to be getting anything done as it was.

Kurotsuchi shrugged, "No one has any proof and right now getting anyone into the Leaf to spy is all but impossible."

Kuzochi agreed with his sister, "That's right, there's a pretty tight lockdown going on there."

Onoki crossed his arms and nodded, "Exactly. Think about it. An island in the south is just gone. That takes monumental power. That Maelstrom character has been sighted in Rice. Civilians, even some of ours, are migrating somewhere beyond the Fire nation's borders." Thinking on it, he slammed both hands on the desk, "Someone's changing the game, and I don't like it."

Kuzochi leaned forward a bit, "Couldn't change be a good thing?"

Onoki shook his head, "Not when someone is amassing power. Missing jinchuriki, a buildup of forces, some new S-rank ninja on the loose, no. I don't like it."

Kurotsuchi grinned, "Do you like anything grandpa?"

"Quiet brat." Onoki thinks it over, grumbling some more while his grandchildren wait. If only Deidara hadn't gone off the deep end and left. He'd be perfect for t his. "Kuro?"

"Yes grandpa?"

"I want you to look into this Blonde Maelstrom character. Quietly if you can. I don't want the Leaf building up their strength unchecked and I think whoever this is probably has the answer." Here the much shorter old man looked up to his granddaughter, "Do not attempt to fight or engage. Gather info, run, that's it."

Kurotsuchi was ecstatic, hopping over the desk to spin and salute to her grandfather, "On it granddad! I'll sniff the guy or girl out within a week!" And like that she was gone, lapel flapping in the breeze.

Kozuchi stands there quietly for a bit while Onoki goes back to his paperwork. Shuffling from one foot to another quietly until Onoki finally addresses him, "What boy?"

"It, might have been better if I had gone." He knew his sister. She would be itching to fight this guy if given the chance.

Onoki leaned forward and massaged his shoulders, "One of you needed to stay. You're the better choice for that, Little Kuro can only be cooped up for so long." That Kozuchi was better at back rubs didn't factor in at all. Well. Yes it did. Onoki was old, he didn't need to lie about it anymore. Let him be pampered damnit.

Kozuchi has another question however, "What do we do when we find this Maelstrom and where he's operating out of?"

Savage grin on his face, Onoki set upon his paperwork. "What we would do with any upstart Leaf. Burn it." It wasn't like this one was on par with their Fourth Hokage. Someone like that was a rare oddity anyway. No they would put this upstart down as a warning to Konoha and its new Hokage not to get to big for its britches.

-b-

In lightning a similar conversation is going on between A and his two current jinchuriki. The harsh looking blonde Yugito and the large multi sword weilding B are standing before his desk at attention. The conversation is on the whereabouts of the Kyuubi and what they could do.

A sticks to what works for Kumo, "Currently, I want the Kyuubi found and brought to Kumo."

B shrugs as he's already over being inside the village, ready to go back to being a hermit. "So you're the man, what's the plan?"

The Raikage frowned and leans forward on his elbows, tenting his hands, "I have two fronts to this. First, Yugito."

"Yes sir?"

"Once we locate the boy, you're to attempt to seduce him into coming to our side peacefully. Sources say Konoha fumbled that connection greatly, lean on that. He's just a boy, you shouldn't have to much trouble on that end." While A had other interest, he could admit Yugito had her own charm that was eye catching. Surely she shouldn't have to much trouble bending some wet behind the ears brat around her fingers. Then he turned to B, "If that fails, you're to beat him into submission. Crush him and drag him back here. You have the most control of your demon, that boy couldn't have even started training with it yet. Use your experience and training against him." Power wise there was still a massive gap between the 8 tails and the 9 tails, but B's training and experience should bridge it.

B shakes his head, "Bad idea yo, kid is smarter than you think though, should talk, don't balk, or he'll walk."

"Denied. Plan is simple and effective. Plus, with these Akatsuki jokers out I want you both mobile. Get to it. B, you can take your team. Do not get sidetracked." Seeing both jinchuriki salute, he dismissed them with a wave.

Outside the office and meandering their way towards the gates, Yugito speaks up finally in her quiet voice. "You and I both know this isn't going to work."

"Gotta try, or do ya wanna die?"

"I'm serious." Yugito stopped and forcefully turned the larger dark skinned man wearing glasses. "If he's even a little like us, he's going to sniff us out and be gone before we even get a chance to open our mouths."

B shrugs and makes a pose, "Us Jinchuriki gotta stick together, work together. Can't always be so cautious yo."

Yugito rolls her eyes and turns to start walking again, "You're a lost cause. Maybe I'll defect with the kid."

"Aw c'mon Yugito, don't be that way." Rhyming stopped under his duress, the bigger man complained and whined as Yugito continued to ignore him. This was making out to be the start of a very long mission.

Yugito voiced one concern she had. "This kid…he apparently took on the one tails by himself and won, easily. That's Kage level power already, and he's had time to grow and learn since then. Think we should be worried?"

"Yes." At the very straightforward answer, Yugito turned to look at the bigger man who shrugged while fingering one of his multiple swords. "Kids gonna be on edge, wary. He won't trust us or anyone coming for him. Bro's not wrong, soft approach is good, just, as a friend, not the seductress."

Seeing B actually take this serious for a moment, Yugito eventually nods and turns to continue their trek, "Got it. Anything that can stop your rapping means business. Huh. I wonder if the kid is hot. I haven't had a decent roll in the hay in a while." Plus demon containers usually had some pretty amazing stamina, that should translate over.

"No go, no go. That's a kid your trying to make a bid for."

"If there's a headband on then we're getting it on.."

"No!" Suddenly the older Jinchuriki was very worried about this mission.

-b-

Kabuto had to duck to avoid the tea cup that splattered against the wall behind his head. It seemed today was also a bad day for his leader and mentor. Standing to his full height he watched as Orochimaru ranted and raved against everything that had been happening lately. Three lost bases so far, several thousand test subjects just missing, and no clue exactly who it was. Well, no concrete proof, but Orochimaru was very vocal about who he believed it was.

"That little brat! I'm going to hunt him down and squeeze the life out of him with my own two hands!" Bandanged form still throbbing and aching from his latest transplant, the sannin was ready to throttle someone. "Where are the sound 4. I have a mission for them."

"They are on the way my lord. Perhaps it would have been better to kill little Naruto when we had the chance? I'm sure I could have done the deed."

Orochimaru scoffs as he paces about his dark torch lit office, "I'm sure you would have tried. Do you remember just what he was capable of? He used a bomb capable of creating a dead zone just outside of Tanzaku town. Nothing grows there anymore. Even trying to go there yourself can lead to death later. No I should not have underestimated him. I won't do so again." No he wouldn't. Let that little shit make a fool out of him? Not again no. He'd kill him personally. "The boy has likely gotten even more powerful since our last meeting. Direct confrontation might no longer be an option which means coercion. Something else to keep him away from us."

Kabuto pulls free a scroll, copied records from of all places Konoha detailing that Naruto had indeed left. "Maybe we should first bend our resources into finding where he has run off to?"

Orochimaru thinks on that. Originally he had wanted to use little Tayuya and that brat Karin in order to bring Naruto around to his side. Something was now interfering with the Uzumaki's tracking seal however and he could no longer feel it. That meant starting from scratch. "Take the sound 4 yourself, head first to Konoha and try to get information on his whereabouts. From there track him down but, quietly, I wish to deal with the boy myself."

"Do you think that wise my Lord?"

"I haven't fought him with intent to kill. That's all changed. He wants a war, he's getting one. Now go, I don't want to see you unless you have news for me."

"Understood my lord." Without another word Kabuto was gone, leaving Orochimaru alone.

Raging again, he flexed his chakra and tore a hole in the wall of his office, "I should have killed the boy when I had the chance in that dank forest. If only I hadn't gotten so curious. Curse those Uzumaki." In hindsight he should have known better. The past never seemed to be very forgiving of faults however.

Across the nations all of the major nations with exception to Mist all seemed to have one thought on their minds and set similar plans in motion.

Find the Maelstrom and convince or retrieve him for their cause.

And while all of them currently seemed to forget that it was these kind of actions that led to the Maelstrom leaving his home village in the first place, they all put stock in the fact that they were major nations. If they wanted something done, it got done. That was how it had been for decades now and some brat wasn't going to change that.

Mei and the Mist had the belief that they would rather not try to rebuild a glass crater, thank you very much. They would be staying out of it for now.

Somewhere, away from the machinations of the major ninja villages and deep within the country of Rice, Naruto himself sneezed several times in a row. This surprised not just himself as he knew he wasn't allergic to anything, but also everyone with him as none of them had seen him indicate he was sick.

Naruto however just rubbed his nose and shrugged at their questioning looks, "Someone must be talking about me."

Kotohime leaned over with a handkerchief and exposed her cleavage on 'accident', "Here let me."

Naruto however waved her off and produced his own rag to check his nose. 'That was weird. Am I the only one who felt like someone walked over my grave?'

Kurama chuckled, 'First time being hunted by several groups at once huh? You'll get used to it.'

'Get used to it? What do you mean?' Kurama went back to ignoring him, 'Wait a minute fuzzball! What do you know? Tell me! If I die you die remember that!'

'You'll be fine, believe it.'

'That's my line asshole!'

If only Naruto knew what was coming over the horizon.

-AN-

Honestly I planned on this being a short chapter. I wanted to have something as kinda of a break/breather chapter to kinda poke in and see how all of the villages are handling all the news with Naruto and several sound bases just suddenly vanishing. I think from time to time I'll have chapters like this. Something you can skip if you like or read for some more in depth story. Anyway. Live well ya'll, My coworker nearly dropped a car on himself today and I have paperwork to fill out. Yay.