The God of Wind:

Hey everyone, hope you're doing good. Here is the latest chapter in the story, hope you enjoy it, and sorry it's out later today. If you're interested in getting access to these chapters early, make sure to read the closing authors note.

The Humming Mist Arc:

Chapter 8: Beware, the Humming:

x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x

When you were about to die, your life flashed before you die. Naruto realized that was true, now. As the mat of explosive tags grew ever brighter, images passed through Naruto's mind like a runaway film reel. Every birthday, long days training, playing shogi. It was all about to, quite literally, go up in flames. And then it wasn't.

Naruto felt himself jerked backwards. His stomach flipped as he careened through the air, Sasuke flailing alongside him. 'He pulled us off the cliff.' Naruto realized numbly. It was insanely fast thinking, thinking that might just save their lives.

BOOOOM!

A terrible explosion rent the air, like dozens of cannon blasts. For a few moments, a ball of smoke and fire lit up the drab grey fog. Then the shockwave hit them, flinging them well past the rocky edge of the riverbank, and over the center of the frothing grey water.

Naruto only had a brief second to collect his wits. He took a deep breath as the water came to meet him. Channeling chakra into his hands, he prayed that there weren't any rocks waiting beneath the surface. Then he hit the water, like a knife cutting through butter. A thousand needles pierced his skin, the water was like ice. He almost instinctually let out a gasp, but managed to hold it in. The pain shocked him to awareness. With a quick kick of his legs, Naruto shot to the surface. His head quickly broke free. He took a greedy gulp of air. Looking around, he tried to find Sasuke, but couldn't see him.

Taking a second gasp, he flipped around and dove under water. It was impossible to see anything. He began to sweep his arms, maybe he'd manage to snag Sasuke's clothes. No such luck. With every second that passed, he felt his lungs scream for air. His muscles were starting to tire from the shocking cold. Naruto felt his hopes plummet. If he went up one more time … he might not be able to find Sasuke. Even now, he was fighting with the current.

Desperately, he strained his eyes. Searching for something, anything. In the corner of his eye, a flash of something red and glowing caught his attention. Struggling against the current, he caught a glimpse of pale skin.

With renewed vigor, he fought his way forward, grasping a handful of Sasuki's shirt and kicking as hard as he could towards the surface. It was hard, it felt like he was dragging a bag of rocks. Finally, he broke through, dragging Sasuke's head above the water.

He kept his arm wrapped around Sasuke's chest, his head swiveling about as he tried to find the shore. Spotting a muddy bank poking out of the fog, he used one arm to try and stroke, kicking his legs desperately. Black spots started to appear at the edges of his vision. Every second, the water threatened to tug them under. His muscles were rigid, like stone. Slowly, the shore drew closer. The blackness started to engulf him, his vision narrowing.

Naruto's hand slapped against mud, his knees jolting painfully against jutting rocks. With a burst of strength, he tossed Sasuke clear of the water and onto the bank. Clawing at the soft mud, he almost slipped back into the water, but his fingers closed on a buried rock. Using the last of his energy, he hauled himself out of the water, back slamming on the ground hard.

The world spun as he looked into the tunnel of emerald leaves and grey fog. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. Distantly, his oxygen starved brain recalled the dangers of hypothermia. It was one of the first things they learned in survival training. 'Have to stay awake, we'll die in the cold.'

It was futile. His eyelids were lead. To keep them open was torture. Vaguely, he was aware of two shadowy forms hovering over them. They spoke, their words muffled and fading.

"…lucky they survived, you buffoon."

"My bad, but hey, this one has the Sharingan, he'll be worth extra!"

What were they talking about? Nothing made sense. One thing was for sure though, it registered even in his fuzzy mind as his consciousness slowly faded, and one of them reached down, grasping the collar of his shirt. They were in trouble.

x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x

– Present –

Naruto pinched his nose, there was a throbbing pain behind his eyes, every heartbeat made it worse. Whether it was from the explosion, or the memories, he wasn't sure. Rubbing the tears of pain away, he squinted, into a hallway lit by electric yellow lightning. His first thought was to try and escape, he glanced at Sasuke curiously. The boy wore a nondescript black t-shirt and matching pants. Though rough for wear, there weren't any bindings. Glancing down, he realized he was wearing the same thing. 'Someone must've changed our clothes. '

He felt a stab of panic. His wrist bands held nearly all his supplies. Without them, Naruto suddenly felt naked. Trying to distract himself from the anxiety, he glanced at the sturdy wooden beams making up the traditional cell door. The gaps were surprisingly wide, definitely enough to slip through.

'Yet somehow, we're still here.' Naruto mused, glancing at Sasuke. "I'm gonna guess the first thing you did was try and get us out?"

It really was more a statement than a question. Sasuke rolled his eyes. His red eyes. "I tried to smash the bars, it wasn't pleasant. Some sort of electric shock."

Fantastic, probably a seal of some type. Judging by the lack of restraints, Naruto assumed it was applied directly on their bodies. Though clearly, it didn't take away all their chakra. He stared at Sasuke curiously, his eyes glowed just slightly in the darkness of the cell, two tomoe orbiting the left eye, and one in the right. So, that was how Sasuke had reacted so fast.

"What the hell are you staring at dumbass?" Sasuke growled.

"Oh, not much. I just noticed you've caught an odd case of pinkeye. Fortunately, it's not contagious." Naruto unfastened his headband, tossing it across the cell to a frustrated Sasuke and motioning to look into its mirror-like surface, the disgruntled boy reluctantly did.

The second he looked into the headband; Sasuke sucked air through his teeth in shock. "The Sharingan …"

Sasuke touched under his eye softly, reverently. Naruto rolled his own eyes. "Yeah, yeah, your Uchiha balls dropped, congratulations. Can we get to the part where we figure out how to escape?"

Was he being a dick? Yes, decidedly so. But it also made the situation seem a bit less terrible to Naruto, though Sasuke clearly didn't appreciate his humor. The Uchiha stared daggers at him.

"Can you take anything serious? Or is everything a joke to you? I can't believe someone like you is as strong as you are!"

Sccrrrriiiiiitch!

The high, wince-inducing sound of metal on stone pierced Naruto's ear drums. A long shadow crawled across the ground, trailing to a set of large, sandaled feet. The masked man strolled in front of their cell, his long sword dragging across the floor. Behind him, were four men, wearing drab grey shinobi clothing, with steel-plated gloves like Kakashi, and black-clothed forehead protectors bearing a unique symbol, three gentian flowers over five bamboo leaves. Naruto assumed they were guards of some kind.

The giant of a man chuckled, tucking his sword away, before kneeling in front of their cell door. His was still almost as tall as Sakura.

"Escape? That's cute, baby ninja." The man reached up, pulling his clay mask off. Straw-colored blond hair fell messily about a gaunt, pale face, with cold, cruel grey eyes, a single bang falling between them lazily. There were red markings on his lips and mouth, forming a mocking jesters grin. It didn't appear to be painted on, either. He smiled, revealing a set of shark-like ivory teeth. "You're not going anywhere, those seal will make sure of that." The giant stood abruptly, his mask back on. With a casual flick of his wrist, the heavy wooden cell door slid open. Naruto's eyes darted to the sudden opening. If they were quick enough, perhaps they could escape? The giant casually turned around, sparing a single glance over his shoulder. "Feel free to try and escape. I could always use a chuckle. Now, make yourselves presentable."

The man dug into his cloak, and tossed to bundles of clothing onto their futons. In the light from the hallway, Naruto realized it was their clothes, freshly laundered and dried. He tried not to show too much excitement at spotting his wristbands in his pile

Naruto shared an uneasy glance with Sasuke, silently asking if they tried to make an escape, but the Uchiha subtly shook his head. With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet, letting out a groan as his head throbbed even worse.

He quickly got dressed under the watchful eye of the guards. It was a struggle to stay balanced, though he managed. Finally, he and Sasuke, eyes now back to normal, cautiously stepped out of the cell to follow the lanky giant, the four shinobi guards trailing behind silently. Naruto felt the constant presence of their eyes on his back.

They were in a well-lit hallway, with walls covered in white plaster, and a polished concrete floor. Seven wooden cell doors just like theirs lined the hall, the cell opposite theirs stood empty. Naruto glanced into the darkened cells, spying men and women wearing rough, blood-stained clothing that had seen better days. A few boasted terrible scars. And all of them, to the last person, had a hard look in their eyes, as if they would tear your throat out if you so much as looked at them wrong.

After being led out of the cellblock, they came out into a closed atrium, the ceiling soared to twenty feet high, made of the same gleaming concrete as the floor.

Two hallways branched off the main hall, one horizontally in the far right-hand corner, the other vertically in the nearer right-hand corner. On the wall opposite the entrance to the cellblock, a sturdy black door stood, with a sign marking it as an infirmary. Finally, set into the left-hand wall was a pair of black doors. Made of solid steel, their handles were padlocked closed.

The giant stepped up to the doors, he swiped a thumb across the padlock, causing it to click open and let the chain slither loose of one of the handles. The doors were thrown open with a casual shove. They opened to reveal a concrete stairwell, significantly darker than the atrium, it was still lit by dull yellow lights.

"Come." Their guide commanded them, glancing over his shoulder just once, as he proceeded to lead them up the stairs.

After several flights of stairs, they finally came out into an ornate hallway. Naruto stared, receiving a shove from one of the guards to force him to continue.. The halls on this floor couldn't be a starker contrast to the previous, the moldings were covered in gold leaf, the plaster painted with nature scenery, reminiscent of fancy wall panel paintings from a Daimyo's castle. Where they weren't paintings, ancient armor, gleaming swords, and opulent mirrors hung on display. It looked more like someone's stereotypical assumption of what a rich mansion looked like, gaudy and ostentatious.

They were led through several equally flashy halls, and up a staircase, occasionally passing people dressed like housekeeping staff. Finally, their guide came to a stop in front of stained wooden doors, decorated with a carving of serpentine dragon battling a tiger. Feminine voices giggled and sighed from inside the room. One of their guards stepped forward reluctantly, knocking on the door with a heavy fist.

"Lord Minamoto, the ones you asked to see are awake. We have them here."

A man's voice carried through the door with obvious annoyance. It was a refined voice, with a nasally sound to it. "Very well, give me a moment." After some shuffling noises, and a few more giggles, the man called out again. "Come in."

The cloaked, masked giant pressed forward, shoving the doors aside one-handed. They crashed against the walls, revealing a large room, the woodpanneled walls were stained red. On one side, a huge mahogany desk sat across from the doors, topped with expensive baubles, with a high-backed leather chair behind it, and a black bookcase filled with expensive tomes. A massive window stretched from floor to ceiling, framed with expensive black silk curtains. Across from the window, was a couch laden with pillows, large enough to allow five people to lounge comfortably, with a liquor cabinet next to it.

On the couch, a black-haired man leaned back, wearing a black silk haori with golden dragon and tiger motifs matching the door, over a red kimono top, with black hakama pants, tied with a golden obi. A short woman with long, blonde hair clung to his left side, with a tall brunette opposite her with her hair twisted into an elegant ponytail, and finally, a woman with raven hair spilling to her thighs, sprawled in his lap. They were all beautiful, wearing loose-fitting red floral kimonos.

Naruto and Sasuke received stiff shoves, forcing them into the room to stand before the couch. The giant crossed to the desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

The Lord Minamoto regarded them, his black, reptilian eyes slid over them from behind a pair of slender glasses. Combined with his pale skin and gleaming black hair, parted in the middle, with bangs framing his face, there was a creepiness about the man that set Naruto on edge.

"So, these are the two you captured?" He asked curiously, directing his attention to the giant, receiving a sharp nod. "The blond has an elemental bloodline, and the black haired one is an Uchiha, correct?"

"Yep." The masked man replied curtly.

The black-haired man laughed, clapping his hands excitedly. "Excellent!" Turning to his companions, he said, "Rei, why don't you take Minako and Makoto to the bath house? I'll join you shortly."

"Sure thing, Lord Takeru." The black-haired woman said, her voice delicate and pleasant. She gave the man a lingering kiss on the cheek, before getting to her feet and dragging the other women with her. The three hurried to a side door, Naruto hadn't noticed it before, hidden amongst the wall as it was. The man on the couch stared after them hungrily. He shook his head and returned his gaze to Naruto and Sasuke. Frankly, Naruto wished he hadn't.

"Where are my manners? I should introduce myself. My name is Takeru Minamoto, and I'm the lord of this manner, as well as the owner of a … fighting league, host to a particular clientele." The man chose his words carefully, precisely. Everything about him seemed as falsely grand as his decorating. "The masked man over there who captured you is Itojiro Kuriarare, he's my bodyguard, as well as the one in charge of adding to my collection of fighters."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "And I guess you're expecting us to be fighters?"

Takeru smiled indulgently, he folded his left leg over the right, steepling his fingers as he regarded them. "Just so. Now, why don't you introduce yourselves? I'm eager to know the names of two splendid additions to my roster."

Sharing a glance with Sasuke, Naruto saw a spark of defiance in his eyes. They must feel the same way, no interest in indulging the farce. Once it was clear they weren't answering, He stared at the rich man defiantly. Takeru tutted in displeasure.

"Now, that won't do. It seems you need some correcting." Pulling a small remote from his sleeve, he pressed the button readily.

Electricity raced through Naruto's veins and across his skin, like thousands of needles stabbing him, his heart raced, and he tasted iron from biting his tongue. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was terrible. He collapsed to the carpeted floor, panting, as his stiff muscles twitched. He could hear Sasuke groaning beside him.

Takeru's nasally voice rang out, much sharper than before. "Make no mistake, I take excellent care of my collection. But I expect obedience. If you try to escape with that seal, it activates. If you use too much chakra outside fights, it activates. And if you displease me, it activates. Now, when you get up, I suggest you be good, and tell me your names!"

Naruto groaned, rolling onto his hands and knees, he forced himself to his feet. His body still ached, but he shoved the pain aside. Perhaps more worrying was the fact he had yet to hear Kurama, and he could only feel a little bit of his chakra. Normally his chakra would already be healing Naruto, but it was distinctly absent. Glancing at Itojiro, who stood ready, and the remote in Takeru's hand, he finally came to terms with it. They were trapped, and until they knew how to get out of here, it was best to play along.

"My name's Naruto." He gasped out. No need to volunteer his last name, they wouldn't expect him to have one.

Sasuke growled, and through gritted teeth, introduced himself as well. "Sasuke … Uchiha."

Takeru leered at them, a smirk on his lips. "Good, you're learning. Outside of fights, you're free to roam the prison floor, train, and eat, but make sure to play nice. Now, I suggest you pull yourselves together, because you have your first fights later today, and I'm most looking forward to seeing my newest acquisitions in action."

Worn out from the punishment seal, there was nothing they could do to resist as they were drug back down to the prison level and placed back in their cell none too gently, leaving the cell door open as the shinobi guards left.

Naruto groaned as he lay down on his futon. His muscles were still letting off the occasional twitch from the electricity. Those seals were nasty, not to mention they had to be incredibly complex for your average shinobi. It wasn't easy to connect a seal to a switch. Honestly, he wasn't sure where someone like Takeru could have possibly come across it. With little else to do, he closed his eyes to rest.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke growled, an edge of frustration in his voice.

Cracking one blue eye open, Naruto saw the brooding Uchiha sitting up on his futon. "I'm resting. You heard him, the first fight is in a few hours. There's not a chance in hell we're escaping by then, so we might as well rest."

The Uchiha scowled at him. "Are you saying we just give up?"

With a sigh of annoyance, Naruto turned over onto his side, and closed his eye. "No, I'm saying we shouldn't rush it, that's how we got here after all." He replied bitterly.

If Sasuke hadn't rushed off, they wouldn't be in this mess. An objective part of his mind knew Kakashi told them not to let anyone escape, but a much larger part told the objective part to shut up. This was the same guy that spent years calling Naruto an idiot just for being light hearted, Sasuke had always been a jerk that looked down on everyone, and that's exactly what got them captured. He chased after the bandits assuming they'd be easy prey, ignoring all the warning signs, like the fact they managed to outpace shinobi. One second to let Naruto sense could have warned them of the danger.

Eventually, he must have dozed off, because the next thing Naruto knew, he was being awoken by something rattling across the wooden beams of the cell door. It was one of the guards, dragging the back of his metal-plated glove across the bar.

"Oi, up and at 'em! It's time to entertain the crowd!"

Naruto cracked his eyes open, sitting up and peering at the guard, a middle aged man with a salt and pepper beard and pale skin. He pushed himself to his feet reluctantly, there was no point resisting. Sasuke did the same, barely sparing Naruto more than a glance. Neither was willing to make up. They settled in next to each other and followed the guard, who chuckled at the two.

"Not gettin' along hub? I'd get your heads on straight, the Blood Arena isn't the place to be distracted." The guard chuckled.

"Blood Arena?" Naruto asked, with a furrowed brow.

The guard grunted. "That's the unofficial name, Lord Takeru isn't so fond, says it lacks refinement."

After passing all the cells, and taking a right turn at the atrium, they turned into a hallway where the sound of cheers and jeers echoed off the walls. The further they went, the louder it got. Eventually, they guard led them into a room lined in polished concrete, with several benches bolted into the walls. Four men, and two women, took up some of the open spots, with twelve other guards watching them closely. Across the room, a metal gate stood in front of a long, dimly lit ramp going upwards.

"Take a seat, though don't get too comfortable, you two're gonna be in the first few matches." The guard told them, motioning to the benches where the prisoners sat.

With a wary glance at the other prisoners, Naruto picked out one that seemed harmless enough, a girl with angelic features and soft black hair falling down her back, wearing a pinstriped turtleneck under a green kimono with white borders, and pinstriped hakama pants. On her forehead, she wore a black-clothed protector, engraved with four squiggly lines. She glanced up as they approached.

"Hey, Miss, you mind if we sit with you?" Naruto asked.

The girl tilted her head and gave a close-eyed smile. "Not at all, feel free."

Naruto sat down on the hard wooden bench, his back to the stone wall, followed by a reluctant Sasuke. He sat there, fidgeting as he waited to see if his name would be called first. The beautiful girl smiled; her pearlescent teeth gleamed even in the faint light from the arena.

"You're new, aren't you?"

Naruto blushed, rubbing his hair nervously. "That obvious, huh. Yeah, we just got … acquired."

"Don't worry, I haven't been here long either, just a few weeks. My name is Haku." She tried to soothe his concerns.

"Naruto, is this really the time for chatting?" Sasuke cut in, voice dripping with annoyance.

Naruto resisted rolling his eyes. "There's nothing else to do, besides, she might have some info on how this works." The Uchiha grunted, conceding the point. Smirking in victory, Naruto turned back to Haku. "My names Naruto, the moody one is Sasuke. So, could ya fill us in on how these fights work?"

"It's simple really. When they call your name, you go out. The opponent comes from the opposite gate. Fights aren't usually to the death, it's a waste of money. Once it's over both fighters get checked over." Haku explained.

After a few moments chatting, one of the guards looked their way. "Haku, you're up, first match."

The girl gave the guard a beatific smile and stood. "Very well. I'll see you later, Naruto, Sasuke. Goodbye for now."

She bowed politely and walked to the metal gate. She stopped briefly, and the guard next to the weapons rack handed her a set of gleaming Senbon needles. The gate quickly rose up to allow her by, before clattering down behind her. As she disappeared into the tunnel, a loud, flamboyant voice carried through.

"From the East end, we have the Legendary Dark Ninja of the Hidden Stone, Gantetsu!" The voice paused, letting the crowd cheer. "Aaaand from the West, we have the fabulous newcomer, the Ice Demon, HAKU!"

The voice faded away, and all they could hear was the shouts of the crowd. After several minutes and a noticeable drop in temperature, the crowd roared, and the announcers voice came back, announcing Haku as the winner.

"Well, how do you like that. Must be pretty tough." Naruto muttered. Seconds later, Haku strolled down the ramp, being let through the gate by the guard, who she handed her Senbon to. As the beautiful girl walked across the room, she gave them a nod and a smile, before exiting. Naruto glanced at Sasuke. One of them was definitely next. "Any idea how you'll fight?"

The Uchiha shrugged with a scowl. "I'll figure it out. You should worry about yourself."

Before Naruto had a chance to reply, the guard at the gate looked their way. "Whichever one of you brats is Sasuke, you're up."

Sasuke's face drained of any expression. With a hard-eyed stare, he stood and walked across to the guard, who handed him what Naruto realized was Sasuke's equipment pouch. Just as it had for Haku, the gate rose for Sasuke, and the announcer enthusiastically called his name. Upon hearing "Uchiha" the crowd gave a particularly large scream.

Naruto was left to wait on his own. He wondered how this would play out, and who his opponent would be. There wasn't long to wait. Only a few minutes later, the crowd roared again, and the announcer enthusiastically announced Sasuke as the winner.

The brooding Uchiha didn't say anything as he left, a brand-new blood stain on his white shorts. He simply handed the guard his pouch, and left, only sparing Naruto a quick glance.

"Blondie, you're up next." The guard at the gate grunted.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto stood up. As he approached the guard, he smiled. "I don't suppose I could get a sword, could I?

"Tch, maybe next time. For now, you get the pouch." The guard told him, slamming Naruto's own equipment pouch into his hand.

"Thanks." Naruto grunted and made to walk through the rising metal gate, even as he worked to attach his equipment pouch to his sash. Once he finally had it secured, he finally strode up the ramp, into the bright lights of the arena.

He came out into a round dirt pit, surrounded by a twenty-foot white limestone barrier wall. It wasn't the largest arena he'd ever seen, consisting of only a few tiers. But it looked expensive. The stands were filled with about a hundred wealthy looking patrons, in eight expensive boxes on either side. He spotted the announcer, standing on a platform near the top of the arena on the right. And of course, in a separate section in the middle of the left-hand boxes, was Takeru, sitting in a lavish chair with the three women from early draped over him.

As soon as he stepped out of the tunnel, a steel plate slid shut over the entrance, trapping Naruto. He stared across the arena at his opponent, a shirtless, barrel-chested bald man, with bulging muscles, thick eyebrows, and a horrendous Fu Manchu mustache.

"From the East, the Indomitable Brute with the Bulging Muscles, Iwajiro!" The announcer shouted into his microphone, as the muscled man flexed his arms and did poses for the crowd, who cheered. "And his opponent, our second debutante of the night! A genin from the Hidden Leaf with an unusual elemental bloodline, Naruto!"

The crowd jeered, shouting for his opponent to crush Naruto.

"The fight will go until somebody is incapacitated. Now, it's time! Fight!" The announcer called.

As soon as the last word had left his lips, Naruto suddenly felt something give way inside of him. Suddenly, all of his chakra came flooding back, available to use at his leisure. Along with it, came a familiar deep voice.

'Finally! About time I could speak to you Naruto. That damnable seal limited how much chakra I could use. It was impossible to communicate.' Kurama growled.

'It's good to hear from you, try to keep the connection open after this, but for now, I have to fight.' Naruto replied, his eyes never leaving his opponent. Oddly enough, the man didn't move to fight. Instead, he gave Naruto a friendly smile, and offered his hand.

"Say, why don't we shake hands newbie? I remember what it was like, being new and unsure about what I'd gotten into. Nothing like a friendly handshake to begin a noble fight between detainees!" He said in a gruff voice.

Raising an eyebrow, and not hearing any protest from Kurama, Naruto stepped forward hesitantly, holding out his hand to take Iwajiro's. The second his fingers met the other man's meaty, calloused hand, it sinched down like a vice, and before Naruto knew it, the world was spinning, the breath driven from his body as Iwajiro casually used Naruto's arm to swing him around and slam him into the ground.

Distantly, he heard Iwajiro gloating to the crowd. "Ha, can you believe that dumbass kid fell for that?"

As he lay there, the crowd jeering him mockingly, Naruto heard Kurama snickering in his head. 'Gee, thanks for the warning.'

'Consider it a lesson not to fall into obvious traps.' The fox replied.

Taking in deep breaths, Naruto pushed himself off the ground. He glared at his opponent, who was still pointing and laughing. The man was powerful, but not that quick. He'd caught Naruto by surprise. Naruto stuffed his hand into his equipment pouch, subtly unsealing the scroll containing his katana's, under the pretense of taking it out of the pouch. Quickly opening it, he unsealed one of his four backup swords, quickly stuffing the scroll back into his pouch.

Iwajiro eyed the gleaming sword wearily. "Whatcha gonna do with that, brat?"

"Win." He replied simply. 'Don't need to get too complicated here, this guy isn't too bright.'

Dashing at his opponent, Naruto feinted high, before quickly ducking under the big man's guard as he tried to avoid the swipe that never came. Quick as a flash, the tendons on his opponents right arm and leg were severed, sending him stumbling to the ground. One bird seal, and his katana was wreathed in a swirling vortex of wind.

"Tempest Style: Flail!" Naruto swung his arm forward, sending a blunt whip of wind straight into the back of Iwajiro's neck with the force of a heavy chain. In an instant, the man collapsed, eyes rolled into the back of his head and completely unconscious.

Naruto took several panting breaths, calming himself from the sudden surge of adrenaline from his brief fight. Vaguely, he was aware of the crowd roaring, and the announcer proclaiming his win, but Naruto didn't focus on it. His mind was already wandering to how he could escape. He glanced up to the top of the arena, where Takeru watched with a hungry gaze. If Naruto had any say in it, he wouldn't be here long. Turning, he silently walked back down into the dimly lit tunnel as the steel plate slid open.

As he walked, Naruto felt his chakra become restricted again, like someone suddenly turned the tap off in a faucet.

'Kurama, you still there?' He asked, as the barred gate came closer.

Thankfully, he heard a familiar growl. 'Yes, I'm here.'

The guard quickly opened the gate for him to come back through, the fighters were giving Naruto more curious looks now. Naruto stopped, and handed the guard his pouch, as well as the unsealed sword. He'd already smuggled the scroll back into his arm band.

"There you go, now I've got a sword for next time!" He declared with a cheeky smile.

The guard scowled, and shoed him away. Naruto happily took the chance to leave.

As he came through the doors to the staging room, he saw Sasuke leaned against the opposite wall waiting for him, alongside a familiar face in Haku. She glanced his way, breaking off her conversation with Sasuke to give him a polite, radiant smile. "Ah, Naruto. I'm glad your fight didn't take long, did you win?"

It took him a moment to recover from his surprise. "Yeah, he wasn't that tough." He said finally.

"Ah, good. As I was just telling Sasuke, it's dinner time, I figured I'd show you to the Cafeteria, as well as help you learn the ropes of living here." She told him.

He glanced to Sasuke. "I think letting her show us around is a good idea, what about you?"

The Uchiha shrugged, a mysterious gleam in his eyes Naruto couldn't quite place. "Sure."

Haku clasped her hands. "Excellent, follow me!" Turning, she began to walk down the hall in the opposite direction of where their cell had been. Naruto's eyes trailed after her, and the way her kimono accentuated her figure.

"Man … she's even more pretty than Ino." He muttered quietly.

Suddenly, Haku glanced over her shoulder with an indulgent smile, and seamlessly said six simple words that shocked him. "By the way, I'm a boy."

Continuing on, she was heedless to Naruto freezing in his tracks as his mind struggled to grasp what he'd heard. A boy. The prettiest girl he'd ever seen, was a boy? Now that he looked closer, it was easy to spot the Adams apple underneath Haku's turtleneck.

"You coming, idiot?" Sasuke snickered. The bastard had known, that's what the look was!

Naruto shook his head, shoving aside the confusing mix of emotions he wasn't even going to begin trying to untangle, and followed after his teammate and Haku.

Down the hall and into the atrium they went, past the locked doors to the stairs. After turning down the second hallway, Haku led them into the first door on the left, which bore a white sign with "Cafeteria" written on it.

Over a dozen tables stretched across the room, round, with built in benches. The room wasn't very full, few prisoners sat at the tables, easily distinguished by their worn-down clothes. The smell of cooked rice and simmering miso wafted through the room, as Haku led them to a counter on the far side of the room, where five workers in aprons and hair nets served food from behind a pane of glass. He leaned forward and spoke through the glass to a kindly looking middle aged woman.

"Good evening, could my friends and I get three dinners please?" He asked politely.

The woman lit up. "Haku, good to see you! Sure, thing, I'll get right on it!"

Snatching three metal trays from a stack on the end of the counter, the woman quickly plated up three servings of rice, with a bowl of miso soup, steamed greens, and some smoked fish, before sliding them through the window to the three of them along with three glasses of water. Once they had the food, Haku led them over to one of the tables in a secluded corner, where they sat and began to eat. As Naruto dug into some of his smoked fish, he looked at Haku.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but why are you being so helpful?" The boy had been nothing but nice. Almost too nice. Everybody else he'd seen here looked at them like they were prey, but not him.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance. "I was wondering that myself. It's suspicious." He said, giving Haku a glance with thinly veiled mistrust.

If he was uncomfortable, the older boy didn't show it. "Well, I couldn't help but notice your headbands. Judging by your age, I'd say you're Hidden Leaf genin, correct?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, what of it?"

Haku smiled, his gaze fixed on something only he could see. "I myself am a genin of the Hidden Mist." He motioned to his own headband. "A number of years ago … we were in the middle of a civil war. People with bloodlines like myself were being persecuted. My own father killed my mother, and would have killed me as well, but I managed to defend myself. Eventually … I met a man named Zabuza and followed him into the army of the Rebellion. We were doing well, even getting more high-profile defectors to join, but it wasn't quite enough on it's own. That's when we discovered the Mizukage was being controlled by a jutsu, and sent a request to the Hidden Leaf for aid. Zabuza-sensei didn't think they'd answer, but they did, and even sent an elite team to help. It's thanks to them we managed to end the war so quickly, and I'll always be grateful.

"Sorry, that I was a bit long winded. But that's my reason, I guess you could say I have a soft spot for your village." Haku's smile held a hint of melancholy and sadness as he finished his explanation.

Naruto found himself enraptured by his words, though he wasn't the only one. A certain part of Haku's story seemed to hit particularly hard for Sasuke, who scowled with his fist clenched. It wasn't hard to guess which.

After a few awkward moments, Naruto cleared his throat. "You mentioned showing us the ropes. Think you could fill us in on what exactly this place is?"

Haku nodded readily. "Of course. You two have bloodlines, so I'm sure you've met Takeru, correct?" Naruto nodded slowly. "I thought as much, he likes to meet any special members of his collection in person, he did the same with me. I was actually here on a solo mission gathering information on Itojiro, the one in charge of capturing new fighters, well, more specifically, his sword. It's one of the Seven Swords of the Mist, he and his followers actually have control of three of them. Our village is trying to regain possession of the five swords we lost during the war."

Naruto leaned forward in interest. "I've heard of those, is it true they all have special powers?"

"Indeed." Haku nodded. "But I'm forgetting myself, you wanted to know about this place. From what I've gathered, Takeru is the nephew of the Daimyo for the Land of Fog, I believe that's where we are. He has … eccentric tastes, shall we say, and enjoys blood sport. Hence why he had Itojiro capture shinobi like ourselves to force to fight in his arena for his rich friends. To him, we're like a collection of rare weapons." Haku explained, a hint of distaste in his voice.

Naruto's nostrils flared, reminded of how the slimy noble had spoken to them. It irked him, being treated like he wasn't even a person. It was far too similar to his early life before his bloodline awakened, something he'd thought was long behind him. He was jarred from his thoughts by Sasuke's question to Haku.

"Earlier, that guy made it seem like we had free reign around here, is it true?"

Haku nodded. "Yes. There's an infirmary, a training room, and the showers. Except for at night, we have free reign to come and go as we please. There's not really any risk of people getting into fights, they're all too weary of coming foul of the seal."

Sasuke hummed in thought.

"Thanks, Haku, you've been really helpful." Naruto said gratefully.

The long-haired boy closed his eyes and smiled graciously. "Think nothing of it. I'm sure eventually our villages will find us, but for now, let's stick together. Now, let's eat."

Naruto nodded, and happily dug into his meal. As Haku said, it would be helpful having allies. Though, he for one had no intention of waiting around for help. One way or another, he was determined to escape. After the food was consumed and the trays returned, Naruto and Sasuke returned to their cell after parting ways with Haku, who happened to be in the same cell block as them. Apparently, it was for special prisoners, as Takeru put it.

Once they were alone, Sasuke slammed his fist into the wall.

"Dammit, that rich bastard just had to be related to a Daimyo." Sasuke said with a frustrated growl.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. Politics, admittedly, wasn't one of his strong suits. "How do you figure. We just remove the seals and sneak out."

Sasuke scowled at him. "Didn't you pay attention in class? The Daimyo aren't just rich, they're connected, and powerful. If we break out without any other planning, he can just claim we're escaped prisoners and it'll be accepted."

"Well, either way, no use stressing over it now. We're not escaping anytime soon. No use thinking about what's next until we figure how to disarm the seals." Naruto sighed with a shrug.

Sasuke clenched his fist. "We need to at least plan to escape."

"We do, but the seals are going to take a while to break down. Based on what the rich asshole said, they're multi-functional prisoner seals, probably at least six combinations worked together, and that's assuming it's not multi-layered." Naruto rattled off, counting the different functions on his fingers. After a while, he realized Sasuke was staring at him like he'd grown a second head. "What?"

"Are you saying, you can actually remove them?" The Uchiha asked slowly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I know you think I'm a complete idiot, and I play it up, but I'm not dumb, and seals are one of my specialties. Not to brag," He was definitely bragging. "But I doubt there's more than a couple people in the village better than me at seals. Though, we'll need to figure out how much chakra we can use. It'd be a lot easier to hide the work if we can access our storage seals. Don't get me wrong, it won't be easy. We're going to have to activate the seals over and over, and hope they don't have a warning function. But just give me some time and we'll figure it out."

Sasuke slumped down on his futon with a scowl. "If it takes a little bit of pain, fine. As long as we get out of here that's all that matters."

"No time like the present." Naruto replied, as he sat down on his own futon. "Take off your shirt, and turn around."

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke complied. As the dark blue shirt was removed, Naruto's eyes instantly locked onto the seal. It was located at the base of Sasuke's neck, a black ring of symbols with four 'spikes' surrounding a single dot. He shuffled forward on his knees, and glanced around carefully.

"Now, channel your chakra." Naruto said quietly.

The muscles in Sasuke's back tensed, preparing for the pain. Seconds later, the seal glowed blue, and began to spread out into a much more complex form. The central dot grew, revealing a second ring of text. Naruto tried to memorize as much of it as he could, doing his best to ignore Sasuke's pained breaths. After thirty seconds, he'd had enough of a glimpse.

"You can stop."

Instantly, Sasuke went limp, collapsing forward with a muffled groan of pain and exhaustion. His back dripped with sweat, the muscles twitching erratically. Naruto never took his eyes off the seal, even as he waited with tense breaths to see if any guards would come rushing in. As he looked at the seal on Sasuke's back, tongue sticking between his teeth in concentration as the design slowly receded into its base form, Naruto's fears were confirmed. It was complex, more than complex, consisting of multiple arrays fused together.'

Eventually, after several minutes, it was clear there weren't any guards coming. Which meant there was no alarm. At least there was some good news. Now, to get to work testing the limits, and decoding the seal. 'Better get to work, it's not solving itself.'

x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x

Well, what do you think? Naruto and Sasuke have come face to face with the man responsible for their capture and met someone they can work with in the prison. Next time, we'll see how the rest of Team 7 is responding following their disappearance.

As always, I want to give a huge thank you to all of you patrons. Recently I began a new writing schedule and will be updating The Uchiha Chronicles every other update. Chapter 46 just went up on Pat reon. So if you'd like to consider supporting my work and getting access early, head on over to the pa treon website and add /rinnetaicho in the address bar.

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