Chapter 1: Capture

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything associated to it (obviously)

'Here is the room key. Go up to your room and refine your chakra as training'

The blonde genin got on the bed and decided to try and follow his master's instruction. Despite his master undoubtedly off having fun doing his "questionable activities", Naruto decided to try and follow the instructions given to him. Making his signature hand sign, Naruto created two shadow clones and started molding chakra. As expected, due to his massive reserves the fox whiskered genin struggled to mold chakra effectively.

As Naruto continued to use circulate his chakra with the delicacy of an ox, he grew increasingly frustrated. Not surprising since he has the patience of a goldfish when doing anything besides physical activity.

"Arrrgh, What is that Ero-sennin thinking? How will this ever let me use a super cool jutsu in the future?"

Naruto was incredibly excited to be given a mission out to retrieve this woman. Not because he wanted to meet the woman, but because that Ero-sennin promised to teach him a jutsu even cooler than the Chidori. Instead of teaching him anything, the tall white haired man left the young boy alone to meditate and work on his chakra manipulation.

Jiraiya leaving Naruto time alone was actually a mistake for the young boy. Too much time gave the young genin an opportunity think, and thinking was a bad thing for Naruto's mood. His Jiji's death hit him hard and he still hadn't had time to grieve. Not that Naruto wanted to grieve, in fact he had immersed himself in constant training to avoid all thoughts of his grandfather figure. Now that Naruto was given time to think the pain washed over him.

The wall of grief that hit the young boy was stifling. He became unable to breathe as he slipped closer and closer to the darkness pulling at him.

His Jiji, the one who had first acknowledged him, the one who had kept him alive by providing him money, the one who had cared for him like his own grandson, the one who had comforted him after receiving the constant mental torture of a village scorning him, was dead. He was gone, never again to take a puff from his pipe, smile and smack Naruto on the head for whatever prank he had done, lovingly of course. His Jiji, the invincible man who constantly droned on and on about his "will of fire", was never again to be in the young genin's life.

This fact crashed like the waves in Naruto's mind, constantly battering him over and over again. The darkness started invading all of his thoughts and started infecting him like a poison. Naruto felt empty, his soul needing respite from the darkness, yet finding none.

Tears started falling down his face as he started crying silently, mouthing "Jiji" over and over again. Later, When his crying had subsided, Naruto figured it had been about half an hour since he had started breaking down.

Quickly, Naruto put his mask on again. The same mask that he had mastered years ago due to the constant hate thrown at him. It served him well in fooling others of his mental state. Naruto, when depressed, could hide behind his mask of extroversion that he shows to the world. This way, Naruto can avoid causing his few remaining precious people to worry about him. Though since his Jiji's death, Naruto is starting to feel the darkness slipping through the mask.

Naruto was starting to fear his new master would start seeing through his act.

Jiraiya's POV:

As Jiraiya was going on his date through the town with the random woman he had just met, his thoughts were on one person: his godson. Jiraiya was starting to get worried about him, both physically and mentally.

Jiraiya knew the Akatsuki was going to eventually be after the young blonde due to his permanent tenant. What worried Jiraiya though, was the fact that his spy network had caught wind of movements from the rogue elite ninja group. He knew he wouldn't have much time to train the boy before he would meet dangerous situations.

Jiraiya wasn't worried about that though. He had taught the yondaime personally and knew that his son had even more drive to be strong than his father. And while not a genius like his father, Jiraiya knew the boy would become great.

What Jiraiya was really worried about was the boy's mental state. He tried to fool Jiraiya, but Jiraiya knew from his experience with Tsunade when someone was in pain. Jiraiya thought back to his earlier encounter with the boy.

Flashback:

Jiraiya sat on the grass in front of the shrine as a constant cool breeze sweeped through the area. He watched as his idiot disciple messed with the bells on the shrine and received divine punishment when they fell on him. The master laughed at this as he remembered his own antics when he was younger.

"Be careful Gaki, you already have too few brain cells as it is, you don't need to lose anymore," teased the older man.

"Shut up Ero-sennin, at least I use the head on my shoulders, unlike you who only uses the head in your pants," retorted said gaki.

"You do know that you are talking to the great toad sage, the ladies-man known throughout the elemental nations, the great Jiraiya-sama."

" I doubt that you're really that great. A great person wouldn't peek on ladies taking a bath, or randomly push his student off a cliff for that matter," grumbled Naruto before giving his new master the cheekiest grin possible.

"I'll have you know that I am one of the sennin personally taught by the sandaime, and I personally taught the yondaime," Jiraiya said with obvious hurt pride.

At the mention of the deceased Hokage, Naruto's grin faded and that all light appeared to leave his eyes. Naruto's eyes, usually a deep blue that hold a pure joy, seemed to turn into a bluish gray full of hurt. This quickly disappeared and was replaced with his usual grin, but the light never returned to his eyes.

Naruto tried to keep the banter going but Jiraiya could tell something was wrong. He had seen that cover up of emotions done with Tsunade whenever the topic of Dan or Nawaki was brought up. It wasn't natural and Jiraiya knew he would have to get Naruto to open up by the time they brought Tsunade back.

Present:

Jiraiya had an inkling of an idea of what was bothering his godson based on what caused the reaction, but knew it wasn't his business to force the conversation so blatantly. He would have to be subtle, but not too subtle since Naruto is inept when it comes to subtlety. His bright orange jumpsuit was a testament to that.

Jiraiya decided after awhile to ditch his companion, since she was obviously a trap from the beginning. Jiraiya went on his way back to the hotel with a new resolve. This resolve was to help this gaki that had managed to be endearing to the toad sage, despite his cheeky attitude.

On the way back he caught a glimpse of a short boy that he could tell was a ninja based on his chakra. The dark clothed boy was running frantically around like a chicken with its head cut off. When he turned, Jiraiya noticed it was the Uchiha brat.

Jiraiya had always thought the boy had more than just a stick up his ass and consequently disliked the village's favorite over rated ninja. Jiraiya decided to go the long way to the hotel to avoid the annoying brat.

As he was two blocks from the hotel, Jiraiya looked up and saw dark clouds in the horizon. Shrugging, the white haired man walked into the hotel and froze when he did a quick search of the chakra in the area.

Naruto POV:

Half an Hour Earlier:

Naruto heard a knock on the door that shook him from his depressing thoughts. Realizing that it was Jiraiya back from his "escapades with various women", Naruto wiped his eyes and put his leaf headband back on. Jiraiya kept on knocking and it was irritating Naruto to no end.

"yes, yes, shut up I'm coming you pervert"

Naruto opened the door and the only thing he could see was red and black. He was staring into red eyes with three black tomoe.

As Naruto moved his eyes to look at the possessor of these eyes, his first thought was thatthe girl he was looking at was stunning. She had smooth skin with just the perfect complexion and raven black hair that was probably the silkiest looking hair he had ever seen. What struck him the most however were her eyes, not just the color, but the fact that her eyes held a deep sadness that rivaled his without his mask.

His second thought was that she was scary as fuck. Although she wasn't tall, she still managed to tower over the tiny genin, leaving an imposing sight in his eyes. He was further intimidated by the chakra pressure she was exerting on him. It made breathing hard and moving practically impossible. Even Orochimaru's killing intent paled in comparison to this. He realized that her eyes were type of Sharingan more powerful than the teme's. Despite Naruto's confidence in his abilities, he knew she could kill him hundreds of different ways with each of them taking no more than an instant.

She was beautiful and deadly, the type of woman all kunoichi aspire to be.

"Could this child really be the nine-tails jinchuriki?" The voice of a man snapped Naruto out of his awkward staring. Standing behind the woman was a tall man that Naruto hadn't even noticed yet.

The man was incredibly tall and looked more like beast than man. He had blue skin and had teeth and gills like a shark. On his back was what looked like a sword wrapped in bandages. His chakra was so massive that it rivaled Naruto's own reserves. All in all, he scared the piss out of Naruto.

"How do you know I have that damn fox in me?" The blonde asked. Naruto then face-palmed when he realized what he had just told these sketchy individuals.

"Naruto-kun we would like you to come with us. We have something you might be interested in", the woman informed him in an emotionless voice.

All of a sudden Naruto noticed a dull pain in the back of his head, but decided to ignore it since he had more pressing issues.

Had Naruto not been scared out of his mind, he would have thought that her voice, despite being emotionless, was entrancing. However, he was currently trying not to break down under the pressure from just the chakra in the air surrounding the two.

"Could you please leave the room?" The woman said and Naruto could tell it was not a request.

"Izumi-san we should cut his leg off to help keep him from escaping, I'm sure Zetsu could grow him another one if need be," said the unknown shark man.

Before he could protest he heard the woman whose name was apparently Izumi say, "It sure has been a while, Sasuke."

Naruto turned to see his rival Sasuke in the middle of the hall staring down the woman with pure hate in his eyes. Naruto had only seen that much hate in those onyx eyes once before. It scared him even more.

"Uchiha…Izumi," Sasuke said voice straining with anger.

Naruto just noticed the konoha headband with a scratch down the center on the woman's head.

"I will…kill you," Sasuke activated his two-tomoed sharingan and prepared to fulfill his life mission of killing his sister and avenging his deceased clan.

"Hey Izumi if you killed all of the Uchihas, how is there still someone who can use the Sharingan besides you?" the shark man asked.

"Simple. I killed all but one. My little brother," the woman said calmly.

Apparently this got under Sasuke's skin as he said, "I have lived, hating you all this time. Using that to become stronger, just for this day," the young Uchiha started yelling as he started gathering chakra for his attack.

The young avenger started charging at his older sister with Chidori in hand, the lightning dancing all through the hallway. Sasuke advanced on his sister at an incredibly high speed. The technique created an explosion in the hall and left Naruto unable to see the result.

Naruto was stunned to see a massive hole in the wall and Izumi's hand on Sasuke's wrist. Naruto was amazed that she could deflect a technique that fast while making it look effortless.

Izumi then grabbed Sasuke by the throat and threw him violently against the wall and coldly said, "Looks like your hate wasn't strong enough," before unleashing her own jutsu, the Tsukuyomi.

At this Naruto unfroze and started gathering chakra to get in on the fight. The shark man was too quick when he used his sword and ate Naruto's chakra. "The Samehada eats up chakra, I'm afraid you are out of luck in this fight," the shark man taunted.

Naruto was desperate. He couldn't use ninjutsu due to Samehada, and he knew he would lose a taijutsu fight within seconds just like Sasuke, he was boned. Plus that dull ache in the back of his head was starting to hurt more and started affecting his already limited thinking ability.

The shark man slowly walked up to him, sword raised, hoping to incapacitate him in order to capture him. As he brought his sword down, Naruto winced expecting pain and was surprised when there was none.

Standing in front of Naruto was a large toad with shields on his arms blocking the sword strike. Behind Naruto was a sight he thought he would never miss, his master Ero-sennin.

"You underestimate me. I can tell when you use a girl to try to lure me away from the gaki. You clearly underestimated the man that women flock to, the man that all adore, the man that is known as the great Jiraiya-sama"

"Hey Ero-sennin! How long did you fool around with that lady before coming over here?" The blonde tried to retort but couldn't help but sound weak due to the increasing pain in his head.

"So it's the legendary Jiraiya, it is a pleasure to meet you, I can't believe the distraction of a woman almost defeated you though," the shark man said completely calm despite knowing the reputation of the man before him.

"Kisame, it would not be wise to fight Jiraiya while trying to extract the jinchuriki, I suggest we leave and strike again later," the elder Uchiha suggested.

"Good idea Izumi-chan," at that name, Izumi gave him a glare that let him know he would be getting it later.

Before they could get farther, Jiraiya carried out his jutsu to stop them, "NInpou: Gamasuchi Shibari (toad mouth bind)" At this the walls, floors, and ceiling turned into a toad's stomach.

The walls were closing in on the two Akatsuki members as they tried to flee. Jiraiya was happy that his jutsu was working but knew not to underestimate the mastermind of the Uchiha massacre and one of the previous seven swordsmen of Kirigakure.

What Jiraiya was not expecting was for the two Akatsuki to vanish in thin air, escaping both the jutsu and Jiraiya sending a Katon: Endan (Fire Style: Flame Bullet). He was disappointed, but he had to make sure the gaki was safe and couldn't pursue them.

Naruto went to check on Sasuke because while he didn't know what jutsu was used on him, he knew it was bad business. Before he could get too far in examining his rival he heard a loud voice saying "Dynamic entry," Naruto turned to see Gai-sensei making his less than stereotypical entrance into the hallway. The green spandex-clad ninja kicked Jiraiya in the process, greatly annoying the toad-sannin.

"Was that necessary Gai?" the annoyed white haired man snarled as the tall white man towered over the jonin, his killing intent making the eccentric man shrivel under his gaze.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama, I used my headband as a mirror and could not see clearly, my youthfulness was not enough it seems, I'll do three thousand one-fingered pull-ups to make up for it," Gai said finishing this with fire in his eyes.

Jiraiya face-palmed at the stupidity of this man as he sighed, "fine, we just need to get the Uchiha brat some medical attention and finish our mission," Gai nodded at this and took a glance at the young genin.

"Whoever did this to him must have been very unyouthful indeed," Gai said shaking his head in sympathy. The young genin looked like he had better days. Sasuke's face was bruised and had drool running from the corners of his mouth. His eyes had a dead look that only seemed to belong in a graveyard.

To this Jiraiya just grunted as he lifted the brat and handed him to Gai, "take him to Konoha," he said, then gestured to the blonde genin that seemed dazed, "Come on Gaki, let's get a move on, if we hurry up I might teach you a super cool jutsu," to this the blonde barely responded, which worried the man.

Naruto heard none of the conversation between Gai and Jiraiya, he was too focused on the pain assaulting his brain. He had never experienced a pain this excruciating, it felt like a spike was going through his skull. His vision was focusing in and out, white flashes were disorienting the boy.

All of a sudden, the pain stepped up to a new level, a feat Naruto didn't know was possible. At this, Naruto couldn't hold back the scream building in his throat.

"ARGHHHHHHH," Naruto's scream of pure pain made both Jiraiya and Gai shiver. Both shinobi looked at the young blonde genin with looks full of confusion and worry.

Naruto started feeling his consciousness slipping away from him. His eyes were growing heavy and he was struggling to keep them open. As he felt his consciousness leaving him, he was closing his eyes and saw the look of worry from his master.

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself feeling comfortable and safe. The pain in his head was gone, as if it had never been there.

He looked around and saw that he was in a simple room with few amenities, there. He saw light come in through the open window that was across from the bed he was laying on. The warm breeze flowed through the room, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Naruto sighed happily and smiled.

The smile left his face though when he noticed that his wrists were tied. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as panic flowed through him. Naruto's eyes darted back and forth, taking in anything that could be used to get out of this situation.

All of a sudden the door opened, revealing a woman wearing a dark cloak with clouds on it. He looked into her onyx eyes and immediately knew the situation he was in. He vocalized his only thought at the time.

"Well fuck."

Jiraiya POV:

Present time

Jiraiya took a quick scan of the chakra in the area as he entered the hotel and was shocked by what he found. Or to be precise, what he didn't find: a certain blonde knuckleheaded ninja.

Jiraiya was usually able to sense someone with as much chakra as the Gaki from a mile away. This meant that Naruto was either miles away or had magically become a master at hiding his chakra. And Jiraiya doubted that one.

He quickly calmed down though, he realized Naruto must have just gone out after getting bored. He was going to have to hit the lovable idiot later for worrying.

As Jiraiya walked through the hallway, he noticed that the door to their hotel room was open. Each step he took heightened his dread of what could have happened for the door to be left open.

As he got to the doorway he noticed something on the ground. It was a headband, Naruto's headband to be exact. On it was the Konoha leaf with a scratch through it. Next to it, he noticed blood on the floorboard.

"Well fuck," little did he know that he said the exact same thing as his student.