See Me

A/N: Sorry for the long wait folks, I will try to do the next one faster, but as stated in the previous chapter, no promises. An extra warning: This chapter and possibly the next two will be Angst (No deaths just Angst.) Then it will get better... err Happier. Happy reading and thank you all for the reviews and votes. ^_^ They make my muse happy, thus making this story able to continue. (That and I am kinda afraid of what everyone would do to me if I just stopped!) Enough babbling, on with the story! (I hope you enjoy.)


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Our mission is simple; we need to find Naruto and make sure he fails in his mission.”

The obvious questions that Kakashi was expecting erupted on cue. They were all asking questions at the same time and at varying degrees of loudness. No matter that he couldn't understand the jumble of words from his current team, it all basically boiled down to one question, Why?

The copy nin held up his hand to silence the onslaught of questions so he could explain what was happening with their favorite blond.

Taking a deep breath Kakashi explained how Naruto had left on a dangerous mission, alone, two days before. He took another deep breath but it came out ragged. He couldn't tell them the details of Naruto's mission; the words just seemed to stop in his chest. Without another word he handed off the scroll detailing what was happening. The other three team mates stared in horror as they read Naruto's doomed mission. He needed to go and he needed to go now. He needed to see his reason of living again.

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Kakashi had piss poor timing in Naruto's opinion. The man couldn't have told him a day or two earlier that he had feelings for him. No, he just had to wait until that damned mission was accepted. He had signed a contract for the mission, if he failed to finish it or came back to Konohagakure for any reason, then the elders could do whatever they wanted to him as punishment. He shuddered at the thoughts of what they could do to him.

He had wanted to say bye to a few more people, not many, just a small handful, but the elders had forbidden him from going to them to say his farewell. Still there were other people that he would like to see one last time.

Maybe Gaara wouldn't be too busy to see him. He smiled to himself as he thought of the ex-Jinchuuriki. The young man had certainly changed from when he first met him. He liked to think that he, Uzumaki Naruto, had something to do with that.

Yes, he would go and see Gaara. He could tell him what to expect. 'Though I wonder if he remembers it.' He knew it was a taboo subject in Sunagakure, but he was sure his friend would open up for him.

He needed to know what it was like to die. He wasn't afraid of dying, the life of a ninja after all was expected to be short, he just did not want to go into the situation unprepared.

'Who knows, I may even meet up with Ero-Sennin and say farewell to him as well.' This thought brought a smile to his face. The old pervert had taught him several techniques that the elders did not approve of. When they had come to chastise him for it he had told them where they could stick their 'out-dated and biased' opinions. Naruto was positive he would not have been as strong as he was now without his guidance.

Still his thoughts turned to more depressing matters the closer he got to Sunagakure. 'Will I be missed at all? Would I be allowed a funeral? Would anyone mourn my passing? Will Konohagakure be safer when I'm gone? Will the citizens live happier lives?' Reaching his destination, he shook those thoughts out of his mind. The elders had assured him that this was needed and wanted by the people of his beloved city and he would do anything for Konoha. Taking a deep breath he passed the well known guards of the Hidden Valley of Sand and prepared himself to ask his friend the needed questions.

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"Why would the Akatsuki be interested in Naruto?" Shikamaru mused out loud.

Kakashi stared in disbelief at the question the lazy nin had asked. He had thought they had all known about the Kyuubi being sealed inside his blond loud mouth. He didn't have time for this, every second they sat here and played twenty questions was a second where Naruto got further away from them.

Taking a deep breath he steeled himself before answering the question and telling not only Konoha's biggest secret but Naruto's as well. He hoped that they would be understanding and that Naruto would forgive him for telling them.

"You are all aware of the demon that attacked the village eighteen years ago, correct?" He continued after receiving their nods. "Well Yondaime did not kill the demon, rather he sealed it into an infant child. I know you have all seen Naruto's red chakra. Well the reason for that is because that infant child was Naruto."

"Why would he do something like that to his own son?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kakashi was surprised that they knew about Yondaime being Naruto's father yet not about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of the blond. His surprise must have been obvious as Lee was the next to speak up.

"We would have to be blind and dumb not to be able to see that Naruto is almost an exact copy of his father."

"So, why exactly is it dangerous for Naruto to be near the Akatsuki?" Shikamaru asked while yawning.

Really Kakashi had always assumed that the lazy nin was intelligent. "The Akatuki's goal is to control all of the demons and the only way for them to get said demons is to extract them from their hosts."

"I can see where it would be dangerous for everyone, but not Naruto specifically."

"When the demons are extracted it kills their hosts." Kakashi said nearly growling out the words.

His team mates eyes grew wide with understanding. Where Neji and Lee had known that the Akatsuki had killed Gaara they did not know that he was a Jinchuuriki. There was no doubt in their minds why Tsunade-san had wanted this mission stopped. For Naruto to hunt out an Akatsuki and turn himself in was suicide.

"Do we know where to find him?" Neji asked with determination in his voice.

Nodding Kakashi replied, "Naruto is not as stupid as he leads everyone to believe. He's going to want to know as much as he can about what's going to happen to him. There is only one person living who can tell him what he will want to know. He's going to go and talk to the Kazekage, I'm sure of it."

They all took off with hope that Kakashi would be right and they would find the blond shinobi who had given so much of himself at their destination.

TBC...
Next Chapter: Answered questions and possible meetings.