NARUTO:The sealed shinobi.

Sai's face returned to its dull, normal, emotionally devoid look, "You never worked on a team. Danzo-sama always had you work solo, and besides, no one in Root knew each other that weren't regular partners. I had my own. Other than that I did not appear until I was nine, right before your ill-fated mission to Otogakure." Naruto nodded, it sounded about right, "Okay, now why are you here? Did you just want to drop in and see your old buddy Naruto?" Naruto finished with a grin. Sai simply stared at him, blinking. Naruto dropped the grin from his face, "Okay, whatever. Seriously Sai, what do you want?"

Sai's fake smile surfaced once again, "You should know the answer to that Naruto. After all, I'm the main reason you're even here in the first place."

(Flashback – The night after Naruto's return from Tsuki no Kuni)

Naruto sat meditating in the Forest of Death. Slowly dragging the Kyuubi's chakra out of the seal, 'Goddamn it… This seal isn't meant for me to use Kyuubi's chakra the way I want to, at least not as it is. It's like I'm missing something… Ero-sennin's holding something out on me... again. Well after our first little smattering about seals he shouldn't try any mischief with them, especially now that I'm learning about them.' Naruto heard rustling in the trees moving towards him rapidly. Naruto sighed and drew his sword from his back as he stood up and cracked his neck, "Come on down…"

On cue a blur burst into his vicinity, followed by two other, significantly larger, blurs. Naruto moved into the path of the first blur as it jumped over him and channeled wind chakra to his blade to slash twice at the attacking blurs moving right for him. A splattering of guts let Naruto know that he had just killed two more spiders.

"You have the same elemental affinity as Danzo-sama I see." Naruto recognized the voice as Sai, the boy he had met while he had been training with Jiraiya. Sai had his tanto drawn but upon seeing Naruto deal with his assailants he placed it back into its sheath.

Turning around he swung his sword to clear the guts from the blade before setting the dull side on his shouder, "Hi there Sai. Did you have fun tracking me down?"

Sai let out a sigh to let him know just how tired he was, "It wasn't the tracking you part that was difficult. However fighting through all of those spiders was a tiring endeavor."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Never been in the Forest of Death before? Welcome to my world. Now I hope you didn't brave the treacherous nightlife of our little slice of hell on Earth just because you missed me Sai."

Sai blinked dully, "Humorous. Now I actually have come with something that may interest you. Danzo-sama is aware of your issue with utilizing the Kyuubi's chakra."

Naruto cut him off right there with a serious expression, "Wait, how does Danzo-jiji know about that?" Naruto thought about it and palmed his face and raised his hand before Sai could speak, "Actually you know what, nevermind. I know how he knows… Kami if you guys weren't on my side…"

Sai's fake smile surfaced again, "We have information on a place you might be interested in knowing about. A lost village that went by the name of Uzushiogakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides)"

Naruto's raised eyebrow signified his interest, "Go on…"

Sai did as asked, "This village was well known for its proficiency in fuuinjutsu, one clan above the rest in particular."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I can tell Danzo-jiji had an active hand in training you. You both have that annoying penchant for halfway explaining things for kicks. Get to the point already, the corpses of these stupid things are going to draw more of them any minute."

Any annoyance at being cut off by his blonde predecessor was not evident on Sai's face, "It was your clan, the Uzumaki clan of which I speak. The entire village was so feared for its skill in the difficult art they were wiped from the map in war. The lost country it was situated in was known as Uzu no Kuni (Land of Whirlpools). As it turns out, your surname used to be synonymous in the shinobi world with seals."

Naruto frowned, "So this place is lost? I've never even seen that place on a map…"

Sai shook his head, "Yes you have. In fact you've been there yourself in the past, whether you knew it or not. Upon the fall of Uzu no Kuni it was renamed. You now know of this land as Nami no Kuni."

Naruto stood in contemplative silence for a moment as he mulled around what he had just learned in his head. As per the course, Naruto took up the topic with his unwilling life partner, 'You fucking knew this already didn't you!' Kyuubi simply awoke for a moment and yawned, "Nope. Not I."

Naruto scoffed out loud, 'Bullshit. You pretty much waved it in my face all the time. So what do you have to say for yourself Kyuubi?'

"…"

'Kyuubi?'

"… Zzzzzzz"

'Damn you Kyuubi! You miserable big fuzzy asshole! Wake your ass up so I can rant at you!'

Sai simply waited patiently while Naruto dealt out his inner monologue. Naruto eventually gave up and focused on the pale boy in front of him, "Alright, so I actually do have a clan, we had a different village, and then it got wasted by people that were afraid of our sealing skills. Well that settles it, I'm going to Nami no Kuni the first chance I get. There's too much I can get out of heading down there to just let this slip my mind."

(End Flashback)

Naruto stroked his chin, "This is true." Naruto pointed at the pale teen with a deadpan expression, "Don't smile like that, you look like you're about to start some international bullshit when you give me that look. Who the fuck are trying to fool with that shit anyway?"

Sai dropped the smile, "I am trying to learn about emotions so that I may be more useful on the outside much like yourself. So that I may support you in your endeavor to become Hokage when the time comes."

Naruto sighed and placed a hand on Sai's shoulder, "Wow, Danzo really broke you like the rest of them didn't he? I see you and I have a lot to work on. But that's okay, Naruto-senpai has got your back." He looked around, "And now I'm lost. I presume you're here to tag along with me for whatever reason, correct?"

Sai nodded, Naruto looked around, "Okay. It couldn't hurt I guess. Well, since you were waiting for me I assume you know the rest of the way."

Sai turned around and started walking off, "That is right Naruto-senpai. I have coordinates of the former location of Uzushiogakure."

Naruto gave him an amused look, "Really? Did you really just call me Naruto-sempai? Seriously?"

Sai stopped walking and turned around, "Yes I did. I realized that you are technically correct. You are my sempai in truth. You have more experience than me, not just in Root, but as a ninja overall. So it is only appropriate that I refer to you as my sempai."

Naruto wiped a fake tear from his eye and wrapped an arm around Sai's shoulder, "That was beautiful Sai-kouhai… I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Naruto looked around before sweatdropping, "So where do we go now?"

Sai pulled himself from Naruto's grip and turned around to walk in the other direction, "We're heading the wrong way Naruto-sempai, follow me."

Naruto frowned and slunk behind, "You know what kouhai, I don't like your attitude."

XxX

( A hidden location in the vicinity of Amegakure)

A figure standing in the dark of a cave looked out amid the rainy plains of the country he sought to gain control over, "This is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Konoha's jinchuuriki will undoubtedly be the most well guarded of the nine. Rumors have him placed on the island nation of Nami no Kuni, too far for any assistance from his allies in Konoha. I have Zetsu following up on this lead. Upon confirmation of his location I will dispatch agents to capture him while the chance is opportune."

The sound of a woman's voice sounded in the chamber, "Yes Pein-sama. As you wish."

A pair of legendary eyes shone through the darkness of the cave, "It is only a matter of time until my will shall be carried out. The world will know the true meaning of pain, and I will be known as the God that will lead this world to peace, one way or another."

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