Garou, Naruto, and Shizune were running on the tree-tops as they continued to hear barking dogs behind them.

"C-Can you please slow down a bit? I-I'm n-not good a-at running l-long distance," Shizune wheezed as she was starting to struggle to catch up with Garou, who was still holding Mikoto in his arms and Naruto on his shoulders

"We've got to book it before we're booked for 8x8 cubes with no windows and a bucket!" Garou shouted back, looking behind him to see her slowing down

"Can you at least slow them down?!" Naruto asked, pointing at the Inuzuka Clan Members and ANBU catching up to them

"M-Maybe? I-I dunno... S-Sasuke... t-too heavy," Shizune pointed at the sack on her back, holding the said child, "N-Naruto, p-please distract them,"

"What? ME?! WHY?!"

"Well, I don't see you holding anyone!" Garou commented

"Hey! This whole operation was your idea!" Naruto quipped, making Garou smirk

"Yeah, you're right! And as leader of this kidnapping, I'm ordering you to slow them down!" Garou said, grabbing Naruto by his arm and filing him passed Shizune

"YOU SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" Naruto screamed as he was thrown straight in the chest of an ANBU, causing both Naruto and the ANBU to crash into a tree. The ANBU was embedded into the trunk while Naruto fell several dozen feet, hitting his head on a branch before falling another dozen feet, face-planting into a rock, shattering it in two. As Naruto held his head in pain, he heard someone land behind him.

"Naruto?" he heard as he turned around to see Tsume

"Tsume? W-What are you doing here?" Naruto said, still holding his head

"Jesus kid, you were flung at that guy at Mach 1," Tsume knelt down to inspect Naruto. Tsume placed her hands on his arms and pulled them down to inspect his head. Seeing some blood in his hair, Tsume started to spread his hair to look at his scalp. But as she did so, a drop of blood appeared on the back of her hand. She raised an eyebrow as she then looked at his horn-like piece of metal on his head to see blood and a piece of ANBU-issued cloth on it.

"Lady Inuzuka! What's ha- Lord Naruto!" an ANBU appeared behind both of them. He was dressed in a white cloak and black trousers with bandages tied around his right leg, armguards, gloves, and black sandals. He has brown, spiky, hair and wore a dog mask with pointed ears, detailed eyebrows and three, thick stripes with two along either side of his cheek and one on his forehead.

He knelt before them, bowing his head, "My lord, are you alright?"

Then, another ANBU appeared, this one having short brown hair and wearing the standard-issue ANBU outfit. He carried a sword strapped to his back and wore a mask that resembles a cat's face covered in green, and red intricate markings, and the ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder.

"Lady Inuzuka, how is Lord Naruto's condition?" the colorful masked ANBU asked. Tsume, still looking at Naruto's horn, shook her head as she looked up to see an ANBU member embedded into the tree, with blood flowing out of his body.

"Better than I was expecting, Tenzo," Tsume replied, still looking up. The two ANBU followed her gaze when the one wearing the white cloak suddenly appeared next to the one in the tree and placed his fingers on his neck.

"I've got a heart-beat!" he shouted, making a hand motion for Tenzo to help him

"We're already one guy down?" Tsume whispered as she watched them pull the ANBU out from the tree

"What do we do, Commander?" Tenzo asked

"I'm needed here. We're not too far away from the village. You take him back, Tenzo," the ANBU commander said, carefully handing the ANBU to Tenzo, "now get back quickly! Once you've dropped him off, I'll need you back here,"

"Yes, sir!" Tenzo said, vanishing with the ANBU in his arms. The commander then appeared back on the ground next to Tsume and Naruto.

"Lady Inuzuka. Lord Naruto. May I suggest we catch up with the main group? I can still hear them, even with the rain and lightning," the Commander suggested

"Taking a kid to find his kidnappers? ARE YOU MAD?!" Tsume screamed

"You're right, that is st-"

"Well, he does have the scent of the kidnappers on him... that's not a bad idea, actually," Tsume said before the Commander could say anything further. She then picked Naruto up in her arms and started running up a tree, bounding across the treetops as the ANBU commander appeared next to them.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!"

"No! I haven't! If anything, it's perfect! Sure, we may lose their scent in the rain and the Aburame Clan's bugs aren't doing much either. But with one of the kidnappers' victims with us, their scent can still be tracked, using said bugs!" Tsume explained, causing a veil of silence to come upon the trio

"That's brilliant!" the ANBU commander shouted

'Goddammit!' Naruto shouted in his head as he saw the main group running across the tree-tops

"Tsume!" Kuromaru shouted as he slowed down to run next to his partner, "What are you doing?! You were ordered to bring back any and all kidnapped victims back to the village!"

"Sorry, Kuromaru, but I've got the greatest idea of a lifetime!" Tsume explained her plan to Kuromaru, who sighed and shook his head

"I've got the feeling that I'm not gonna get a bone when we get back," Kuromaru muttered as they continued the chase, remembering his orders from Lord Hokage.

Tsume, Kuromaru, two other Inuzuka Clan members, and the clan head of Aburame. A man wearing dark glasses which feature a single tassel hanging down from one side. He has very spiky short black hair and a mustache, wearing a high collared outfit while carrying a gourd on his back.

They were all currently standing in front of the Hokage's desk, Minato looking rather upset and worried.

"You called, Lord Hokage?" Tsume asked, bowing as Minato looked at them

"I've just gotten word that my son has apparently injured one of the gate guards... of course, I didn't believe him, until Kushina came to me," Minato explained, "she was going to Mikoto's to give Naruto some of his manga he left behind since he was staying the weekend, but when she got there, she found no-one... and kunai all over the floor,"

"Excuse me?" Tsume asked

"I'm suspecting a kidnapping, although I don't know who... it's possibly another bunch of Kumo-nin. I'm going to have to speak with the Raikage, concerning this. But for now, your orders are to rescue and retrieve my son, Sasuke and Mikoto Uchiha. Do you understand?" Minato stated as everyone in the room bowed

"Yes, Lord Fourth!" the said, as Minato snapped his fingers and several ANBU appeared

"You'll need their help if it is Kumo-nin... or worse, ANBU Kumo-nin," Minato explained as they nodded, vanishing from the room.

As everyone was still running from across the trees, Naruto turned his head to see Jomari running with everyone, "Jomari?" Naruto tried remembering the dog's name as the said animal turned their head. Jomari's jaw was agape as his eyes widened. He then started jumping faster, out of fear and out of self-preservation.

"What's wrong with him?" Naruto asked

"Apparently he kept on saying stuff about you being a monster. I don't really care... but I guess that's what happens when you see your partner killed before your eyes," Tsume explained as Naruto looked back at the dog, who was now ahead of the group. Naruto squinted, curling up into a ball as he covered his face with his arms to protect himself from the rain. While he did so, a thought crossed his mind... 'Am I a monster?' Naruto thought to himself as he felt Tsume bring him closer to her body, almost to the point of cradling him.

As the chase would continue for who knows how long, he heard one of the Inuzuka clan members shout,

"I SEE THEM! WE'RE GETTING CLOSE!"

'Oh no,' Naruto thought as he turned his head to see Garou carrying Shizune on his shoulders while Shizune was still carrying Sasuke, causing Naruto to sweat-drop, 'Really you two?'

"Looks like we didn't need you, after all, kiddo," Tsume said with a smirk. But as they continued to chase Garou, Naruto gritted his teeth and closed his one good eye.

"Tsume... I'm sorry," Naruto said, causing Tsume to look down at him with a raise-eyebrow

"What are you ta-ACH!" Tsume didn't finish her sentence as Naruto punched her in the throat, causing her to let go and start to fall from the treetops.

"TSUME!" Kuromaru shouted as he stopped and started falling to catch her.