Hello Everyone! You don't know it right now but a lot of research went into this chapter. Despite my extensive knowledge of Naruto, I needed to consult several websites on specific techniques and other things. I hope the information helps create a better, more well-rounded chapter that makes Naruto's actions seem more realistic. This chapter is a little shorter than the others. I decided against replicating what I did with the last chapter. After the last scene there are no good stopping points for a while or none that make sense at least. As always please leave a review or comment on what you thought of the chapter.

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter XI

Groggily, Naruto stood up from his poor excuse of a bed. Twisting his upper body left and then right, a chorus of cracks greeted his ears. Naruto immediately felt relief flow through his back.

After relieving himself of his back discomfort, Naruto began to make his way out of his cell and down to the main floor. Naruto didn't bother being light on his feet. He let the creaking metal stairs sound off as he walked down them.

Once Naruto got to the first floor, he saw that nothing eventful was going on. The guards were just mulling around waiting for everyone to wake from their slumber. Taking a second look around, Naruto noticed that he was the first inmate to make the trip down the creaky staircase. It appeared as though everyone else was still trying to wake themselves up. Shrugging to himself, Naruto trekked across the main floor to the small kitchen and eventually to the refrigerator.

The old fridge door screeched open, the grinding metal hurt the ear drums of anyone who was present in the room. With a cringe, Naruto closed the fridge door after grabbing himself one of the bento boxes inside.

Naruto turned around and took a few steps to reach the small wooden table in the center of the kitchen. Using his free hand, Naruto pulled out one of the splintered chairs before sitting himself down upon it. Placing down his food, Naruto took a deep breath in and then out. If today was to be successful he would need a clear mind and a full stomach.

Without a second thought Naruto dug into his breakfast. The food wasn't of the best quality but he didn't need it to be. He just needed the nutrients.

With the food sitting in his stomach and a clean plate, Naruto sat up from the table. As Naruto reached his full height one of his fellow inmates walked into the room. Peering up to see who his company would be, Naruto recognized it to be Yoshi.

"How are you doing this morning young Naruto?" Yoshi's soft friendly voice made Naruto very comfortable. It held out it's arms and welcomed a response.

"I'm a little stressed thinking about our project but it's nothing I can't handle." Naruto responded confidently.

Naruto's confident response prompted a larger smile from Yoshi. "I'm glad you feel that way. With that confidence and enthusiasm, we should have this project done within days."

Naruto chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. After their short verbal exchange Naruto walked towards the middle of the room.

Sitting there, basking in the glow of the incandescent light was the Box. The scripted seals seem to be elevated off the side of the box. Creating eerie shadows that weaved around each side. Adding to its imposing visage.

Naruto reached out with his right hand and felt the elevated script. The box felt more like an ancient rock, carved by the gods themselves. Looking over to the small table beside the massive box was several scrolls, brushes, and ink. Perfect for note taking…. And sealing.

Naruto knew from the moment that he saw the materials provided that he would be able to create a set of seals using it. As Naruto continued to ponder what seals he could use an idea popped into his head.

If, and that is a big if, this mystical object didn't have an absurd amount of chakra, Naruto could seal it in a scroll. A simple sealing scroll and seal works when a ninja over-powered the objects chakra with their own. Since most ninja tools and inanimate objects don't have chakra networks it takes very little chakra to seal them. People, ninja's, and sentient objects are a different story.

Naruto may have to use his trump card, the nine-tailed fox to fuel this idea. This object couldn't have more chakra than the beast living in his gut? If he wanted to try this then how would he fit it in with his current plan? Kōsuke was set to return tonight and the toad was expecting a response. If Naruto was to seal the box within the scroll he would have to leave immediately afterwards.

Naruto would have to observe how the guards exit. He could explore the nooks and crannies but Naruto felt that Mui would be smart and only make one entrance/exit. Deciding on his course of action, Naruto grabbed a scroll, brush, and ink from the adjacent table.

Rolling the scroll out, Naruto focused on the seals lining the box. As expected, the seals lining the sentient object were old, very old. Naruto could barely decipher the seals. Despite the seals being old and basic, the lines and matrices had very strange curls and lines cutting through them. Like someone didn't want you to see what was underneath.

The elder seals along the sides of the box looked like extended matrices stemming from a central seal. Using his pointer finger, Naruto started tracing the lines back to the central, main seal. Before Naruto realized it, his hand had traced the matrices up to the top of the box. The excitement of discovery had taken over Naruto now. Taking a few steps back, Naruto ran towards the box and then jumped. Without the aid of chakra, he didn't jump ten feet in the air but the three foot jump he made was enough for Naruto to grasp the edge of the top of the Box.

With a firm grip on the edge of the box, Naruto pulled himself up and on top. Sitting nine feet in the air, Naruto gazed at the main seal of the box. Spread across the top of the box was a Four Symbols Seal. A seal that Naruto knew all to well, he had two Four Symbol Seals on his stomach after all.

Naruto immediately went to take notes on the familiar seal when he realized something. The scroll, brush, and ink were sitting on the ground beside the mystical box. Looking around, Naruto tried to find one of the other inmates that were supposed to be working on the project with him.

Not seeing anyone in his immediate vicinity, Naruto tried to call out to one of them. "Yoshi! Eiji! Akio! Is anyone around!?"

The only thing that responded to Naruto's shout were his own echoes. Weird. Hopping off the mystical box, Naruto searched the first floor for any sign of life. His search yielded no results. That left only one possible place, the second floor.

Making his way towards the staircase, Naruto ascended the metal staircase. He didn't bother concealing his steps. It wouldn't make a difference.

With one last step, Naruto had made it to the top floor. Slowly, Naruto walked in front of the first cell located on the floor. The cell was empty. Focusing on the bed, it appeared as though someone didn't even spend the night inside the cell.

Shaking his head, Naruto moved on the next cell in line. It looked exactly like the previous cell. Naruto rubbed his eyes thinking he was locked in a dream. He bit his lip thinking maybe he was locked inside a visual jutsu. Leaning against the bars of the jail cell, Naruto searched his brain for an answer to this strange development. Remembering breakfast this morning, it was strange not seeing either Akio or Eiji. He only saw Yoshi and that was only for a brief moment.

Yoshi. He was the only person Naruto saw this morning, then he seemed to disappear as well. Pushing himself off the metal bars of the cell, he jogged to the next cell in line. Naruto hoped the older man was present inside the cell. That hope quickly fled Naruto's system though as the only thing present inside the room were a messy bed and the standard essentials in every cell.

Where had all the other inmates disappeared too? Naruto had brushed off Nishiki's disappearance yesterday but now it was too big to ignore. Trying to plan his next action accordingly, Naruto sat down on the floor for a second. He even considered moving into Shikamaru's thinking pose. Maybe if he crossed his legs and connected his fingers a plan would have an easier time forming in his brain.

After what seemed like an hour, Naruto rose from the ground with what he believed to be the best course of action. Naruto descended the stairs to the first floor where he wound enact the first part of his plan.

Grabbing the sealing scroll, Naruto unfurled it even more than he had earlier. He was going to destroy the box. Not the box itself, Naruto would seal the box inside the scroll's own pocket dimension and then destroy the scroll. It was the same as locking a door and throwing away the key. With the access to the pocket dimension destroyed nobody will be able to find the sentient object, thus it's destroyed.

The seal that Naruto would make though was going to be a little more sophisticated than the standard sealing scroll seal. Since chakra was flowing in the box Naruto would have to use an Enclosing Technique, a sealing style used mainly for objects that contain or are constructs of chakra. Mixed within the matrices of the Enclosing Technique would be a Trap Seal. A Trap Seal is mainly used to trap opponents on the battlefield and then transport them to an alternate pocket dimension. There are a few ways to escape but with the seal connected to Naruto the only plausible way would to use a blood seal using Naruto's blood. The scroll will be destroyed by then.

Getting to work, Naruto started drawing the lines for the Trap Seal. Since Trap Seal's were meant for the battle field there were many more kanji and lines involved, along with that it was also supposed to cover a larger area. Drawing the small lines and curls was rather stressful as Naruto only had so many scrolls to use.

"Damn it!" Naruto's shout of frustration was only heard by himself as he tossed the second scroll to the corner of the room. He was only a few kanji away from completing the seal when he accidently connected a kanji to one of the lines of the Enclosing Technique.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto grabbed the last scroll and went to work. Drawing each individual line, curve and twist with a little more grandeur than the last.

Naruto exhaled deeply. The seal was finished. Theoretically, the seal should work perfectly. With his experience though, Naruto knew to never trust a first-time seal. Even with his expertise, Naruto knew this was risky and could easily backfire. Every line might look correct to Naruto but he was used to having a second set of eyes look over his seals before he tested them. Those eyes were usually Jiraiya's and his eyes always picked up on something Naruto missed.

Pushing his anxiety aside, Naruto knew nobody would be able to review the seal and that he would have to heavily analyze it himself.

Rolling up the scroll, Naruto slid it up his sleeve. He tucked it underneath the string still holding the kunai knife from his raid of the guard lunchroom several days ago.

Part of his plan was now complete. Naruto now had a way to destroy the box, sort of. He was putting all of his eggs in one basket. If worse came to worse though, Naruto would just carve a Trap Seal into the ground using the Finger Carving Seal Method. The seal would be left on the ground and could be tampered with but it would be better than nothing.

Naruto's thought process was broken by a soft rumbling coming from his stomach. Between planning for the boxes destruction and creating the sealing scroll, Naruto had neglected his appetite and stomach.

Making the short trip to the next room, Naruto reached into the creaky, rusted refrigerator. Repeating his steps from this morning, Naruto opened the door, removed a box, and made the food disappear in no time at all.

Throwing the empty bento box into the trash, it was time to complete the second part of the plan for today, find an escape route. Leaving the kitchen, Naruto looked for all the possible exits that existed in the building. Besides the main exit, Naruto barely saw any other way out. There were no windows and he couldn't see any other doors.

Refusing to accept that there was only one way out, Naruto began perusing the walls, looking for any weak spots or any signs of deuteriation. Jiraiya may have to do more work than Naruto thought. The man liked being flashy though.

Naruto felt the hard-concrete walls of the building. Putting his ear flush with the wall, Naruto knocked against the wall. The result was just sore knuckles on his left hand. He needed to hear an echo within the wall. The echo would signify a soft spot, an easy entry point for Jiraiya.

Looking back, Naruto checked to make sure the guards weren't paying attention. Besides waking him up, the guards just hung out by the door. They just talked and ignored what was happening behind them. They just assumed it was another boring assignment.

Naruto slowly made his way from the walls of the kitchen to the wall underneath the second floor holding cells. It was looking grim. He couldn't find a weak point in any of the first-floor walls. Taking a deep breath, Naruto knocked on the wall right below his cell. That's when he heard it. He heard an echo! Naruto had found his way out.

A large grin stretched upon his face. His plan was looking better by the minute. To double check he tried to walk farther towards the corner, "Ow!" Naruto silently screamed to himself. Glaring down at the ground there was an iron rod protruding from the earth. Naruto may have a high pain tolerance from his training and fighting but stubbing your toe still hurt.

Frustratingly, Naruto stomped down on the metal rod as if he could hurt the object. Only, the object gave way and Naruto stomped it right into the ground. Astonishingly, as the rod went into the ground Naruto barely heard the sound of gears turning and metal creaking. Trying to find the source of the noise, Naruto saw the concrete wall become indented. There was something within the wall of the building.

Naruto glanced back at the guards once again. The group was none the wiser to anything Naruto was doing at the moment. Peaking back at the opening in the concrete wall, Naruto tried to focus and see what was located in the dark abyss.

Throwing caution into the wind, Naruto stepped forward and crept into the other room. The other room was massive. It was the size of four jails cells put together. For such a large room it was filled with negative space. The only objects located in the room were eight separate beds in a circular formation. Each bed faced the middle where a single large over-head light brightened the room.

When Naruto finished looking at his surroundings that's when he noticed something scary. Lying in each bed were the inmates that were supposed to help him deconstruct the seal on the box. Naruto approached the bed closest to him. Naruto barely recognized the man as Nishiki. His skin had turned lighter and shriveled up. He looked like he aged 50 years since Naruto last saw him. As Naruto scanned the table, he noticed seals wrapped around his wrists and feet.

Analyzing the seal carefully, Naruto saw that it was a high strength Chakra Siphoning Seal. The seal is similar to a Chakra Blocking Seal except instead of blocking chakra output it directs the chakra into something else. It slowly drains the user of their chakra.

For Nishiki to be in this condition he would have to have been connected to the seal for a while. Considering the fact that Nishiki had gone missing when Naruto first arrived that meant he could have possibly been connected to the seals for at least two days. Looking up from Nishiki's shriveled carcass, Naruto saw more bodies on the other beds.

Walking around to the other beds, Naruto saw all the other inmates that were supposed to be included in the project. Akio, Eiji, and Yoshi were laying motionless on the beds. Akio and Eiji both looked pale and half dead. Ignoring those two, Naruto made his way straight for Yoshi. Naruto had just seen Yoshi this morning so he couldn't have been attached to the bed for long.

Naruto softly shook Yoshi's arm. It elicited no response from the older man. He still appeared to be in good health though. Besides his ragged breathing, you wouldn't be able to tell that he was getting his chakra siphoned.

Naruto soon realized he had spent enough time inside this room. He had taken a huge risk exploring the hidden space, it would be better if he let them believe that it was still hidden.

Quickly, Naruto crossed the room towards the opening in the wall. "-of course, we have been keeping watch sir! The blond prisoner you left us has been hard at work."

"Oh really?" The sarcastic and inquisitive tone gave away Mui immediately. "Then where is that hard working dedicated blond you are going on and on about?"

Naruto's blood ran cold. He had to get out of the hidden room before anyone noticed. As sneakily as possible, Naruto slid in between the opening in the wall. As Naruto slid through the opening he pulled on the edge of the concrete wall, pulling the wall back into place. If a person were to look at the wall it would appear to be a normal concrete wall.

Peering over to where Mui and the guards were standing it seemed as though their conversation was almost finished. Moving with haste, Naruto dashed for the stairs to the second floor. As he reached the foot of the stairway, he heard his name get called.

"Namikaze! Front and center this instant!" Mui's harsh tone left no room for argument. Reluctantly, Naruto walked until he was five feet away from Mui. Close enough to keep Mui happy but far enough away for Naruto to react to any action they take against him.

With Naruto planted in front of him Mui twisted his body to his right to speak with the guards, "Okay, seize him."

-Until Next Time-

Tell me what you think. Is there anything about this chapter that you would change if you had the chance? Message me or drop a comment below. As always thank you for reading.