I don't own Naruto. Mr Kishimoto Does.

Author's note: Hey there Readers!, Looks like we've finally entered Arc 3! I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the Reviews. Favorites, and follows :)

Still, I haven't found a Beta Editor yet, so I'm really alone on this one.

Expect some grammar and spelling mistakes along the way.

Thank you for Understanding :)

P.S

I also have a new story called "Resurrection" The story is about the dead mysteriously coming back to life years after the war. Feel free to check out the story:)

Arc 3: Phase 2:

(Interview)

"I really hate when someone just mysteriously disappears in the midst of a conversation or simply put that someone scornly abandons in the middle of a maze where you can't even get out."

-Sakura

?

Sakura was in hurry as she ran through the empty and quiet corridors of the inner areas. She was catching up to her breath as the pink haired teen had spent the rest of the time on intensively searching for the Uchiha's whereabouts. Just awhile ago, she was with Sai, who also had the same goal of locating him and now she found herself alone once more, without any clue on how she's gonna solve this current problem.

The once loud footsteps slowly faded away as the pink haired teen halted her search and stopped by on a particular empty pathway. She leaned on the wall in exhaustion and eventually slid down on the ground in a temporary defeat.

"What should I do?" A thought had came into her mind as the emotions were slowly taking over her. She can also feel her whole body trembling in anxiousness and struggled to control herself.

It was disappointment and failure that was on both sides right now. Disappointment that her efforts were not enough to locate any clues or whereabouts of the raven haired teen and Failure for being to pre occupied that she had lost track of Sai, who apparently had gone into another way.

For about a good amount of time, the pink haired teen remained at that particular spot, trying to regain the confidence and motivation which were once the driving force that continued her towards her goal of finding Sasuke. Truthfully, she was almost out of resources and even had no means of communication to contact the others, basically, her only guide was her instincts and senses.

Thoughts were also clouding her mind as there was struggle inside of her. All of her life, she doubted her capabilities as a Shinobi and as a member of this team. Even though, she was one of the main leaders of her team and progressively rising through the ranks of the system, there was a doubt if she even contributed all the time.

Her two teammates in Naruto and Sasuke, they were always the ones that were one step ahead of her. She didn't know if she had at least caught up to them. She felt as if she was still a rookie all these years.

And then she remembered a certain raven haired rookie. "Sarada." She whispered to herself.

There was one mysterious thing that she just realized, and that was keeping the drive alive all throughout this mission. It was the determination, humbleness and perseverance of this teen that she had witnessed through the course of the mission and somehow it was telling her that no matter what the setback or hindrance, she needed to keep moving forward.

There was a small tear that came out from her eye as she felt goosebumps all over her body and a small portion of ache on her head. She was about to let the emotions out when suddenly she felt a gushed wind passed through her and a small cherry blossom petal along with it.

The Pink haired teen immediately looked up and saw nothing, but when she turned to her right, she saw a glimpse of a person, an older woman that seemed so familiar to her. She can't figured out if this was some kind of illusion or type of Genjutsu but the mysterious woman had an appearance that somewhat familiar to her. She had the same light pink hair and donned a red cherry coloured dress.

For a few moments, Sakura stared at the pink haired woman, who was facing on a certain direction, before slightly turning her head towards surprised and baffled teen.

As Sakura silently observed the woman, she noticed the other had gave a nod and a small smile before fully turning back towards her direction and had began to walked through a particular pathway.

"Where's she going?"?Sakura thought to herself as she slowly got up from the ground and started following the mysterious woman.

Thoughts were also entertaining her mind as she wondered if this mysterious woman was leading her to somewhere, since the nod and the smile that she received from the woman was obviously a signal that she should follow her.

As she began to take the first steps, there was this feeling that she was finally getting close to her goal. A new hope that was building up inside and another opportunity to prove that she was worth of a teammate and that she was not as useless as many viewed her to be.

(MEANWHILE)

?

It was never his intention to leave the pink haired teen behind the confusing maze. He really had no choice but to secretly slipped away from her attention and proceeded on to head towards the exact location where the lost Uchiha was located. Through his ink summons, he was sure that he was on the right track.

Sai traversed through the corridors as fast as he can, he could feel that he was nearing his destination as he followed his ink summons who were leading the way.

Thoughts were also circling around his head as he wondered about his target, The Uchiha himself once more. Surely that he had met the guy before back at the training arena with Kabuto and Orochimaru, but he didn't get the chance to ask him some personal questions of his own.

It was mainly about the "Bonds" that he wanted to ask in the first place. Since learning and understanding it from Naruto and Sakure, He wondered if the raven haired teen still has those bonds or maybe even knew them. This was the main reason that he secretly distant himself from the group and so as to why he left the pink haired teen back at the maze.

He wanted to confront him personally and tell him that he was going to bring him back for the sake of those "Bonds"

Sai could feel his heart beating faster every second as he found himself approaching a certain corridor. At the end of that very corridor was a large opened entrance although from what's inside of that room was mystery since there were any signs of light.

The young member of root took a deep breath as he continued his steps once more. He focused his eyes on that very entrance and kept guard. He was very closed on meeting the Uchiha teen once more.

This time, He was going to make him realized that he can still change.

(Interview)

"Some would questioned or doubt my motives but in truth, I was merely doing this things for the greater good of any person."

-Sai

(PRISONER)

Location: Chamber

Showtaro didn't pay attention to the overall appearance of the chamber, in fact he was more focused on certain person that was a few distances away from them. He immediately narrowed his eyes and proceeded to towards the person laying down and resting on a concrete wall, He donned a tattered white Kimono and also bound on to a chain. He was not alone as beside him were skeletal remains of people that were also imprisoned and chained inside this big chamber.

"Gotcha!" He widened his as he immediately headed towards the person.

Meanwhile, Both Boruto and Naruto also noticed Showtaro's hurry as they also proceeded to catch up with their duck companion. Both were very much confused but curious to see on what was the main problem all about.

Along the way, thoughts filled both of their minds as they wondered the kind of possiblities that they would face and learn later on.

Naruto became even more confused yet curious, in all of the missions that he had been assigned to, this was one of the first times that he was deviating from the main goal for a certain side mission of another. It had to be a bit distracting though.

Well, what could possibly go wrong?

And what does this have to do with Sasuke?

He couldn't just blurt out to them on how time was running out and they needed to focus on the main goal. It was kind of actually rude to interrupt but seeing the rookie beside him just keeping quiet all throughout also made him to shut his mouth and let the event happen.

Just beside him Boruto had the same thoughts as the blonde, although the rookie had to dig in deeper for theories about the mysterious person in chains. It was obvious that it was an Otsutsuki when their duck companion loudly mentioned it in front of them, but what this person on the side of good or bad?

As they finally reached their destination, the trio stopped their tracks as they finally got a good look of the person. It was indeed an Otsutsuki, who's white Kimono had been ruined and tattered, he had a very short spiky silver hair and looked as if he had been in this chamber for a very long time.

He was stuck against the wall face down with both of his hands bound to chains which were attached to the wall.

Showtaro examined the Otsutsuki prisoner and widened his eyes as he immediately drew out and on checked his record journal, he flipped the pages towards a certain page that he was looking for, once he was at the page, he found himself looking at a personal profile or information of a certain person.

There was also a lone photo of that person, which was attached on the page.

Showtaro, holding the book slightly raised his hand, aiming towards prisoner's side, followed by using the photo compare their looks and in order determine if the photo of the person matches the appearance of the prisoner in front of him.

There was also a small detailed background information written on the page.

Name: Kaiga Otsutsuki

Occupation" Formerly a Journalist turned Whistleblower"

"Looks like it matches." He commented as he finally found on what he was looking for. This was indeed the main target of his investigation.

"W-Wait, so that man is the one that you're looking?" Boruto asked and spoke for the first time, referring to the unconscious prisoner in front of them.

Showtaro simply nodded as he turned his attention towards the blonde rookie." Yes." He replied, before continuing on." Is it okay if you two could also assist me while I break this chains off." He said as he beckoned the two blondes assist the man on both sides.

The two teens reluctantly agreed as they immediately headed off to the assist on the matter. As for Showtaro, He immediately drew a tiny finger-size bottle containing a mysterious liquid, from his small brown pouch, he then opened his cap, and pour down a drop its liquid on the two chains.

After a few seconds, there was a sudden snap as the chains instantly break, thus releasing the Otsutsuki prisoner, who almost landed on the ground if it weren't for the two blondes who patiently waited and assisted him earlier.

Both blondes immediately caught the Otsutsuki and carefully laid him on the ground and rested his back on the wall.

There was a faint groan the man and it seemed that he was finally regaining his consciousness.

"Urghh..."

Showtaro calmly waited for the man to recover. He wasn't worried or anything since this man in front of him was formerly well known for his journalist exploits and writings opposing and exposing the corrupt activities of council officials back in the Pure Land. It was safe to say that he was on the side of good.

The only thing that baffled him was his sudden disappeance years ago which really was a big blow for the likes of them journalist. It seemed that the powerful forces such as the corrupt council officials had something to do with it. If it's proven true, then it could be a very serious matter, since they could be automatically charged with violation of rights and freedom.

"Hey are you alright?" Showtaro asked as he checked the man if he has now recovered.

"Kaiga."

The Otsutsuki person, now known as Kaiga, regained his consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes only to meet two teenage humans and a certain familiar duck that he hadn't seen in a hundred years.

"S-Showtaro? Is that you?" He spoke for the first time, his vision slowly becoming clearer.' H-How did you found me?" He added, still feeling the pain that he had induced through the numerous tortures.

Showtaro gave a slight chuckle." I've been through hell just to locate you." He replied, before continuing."But, listen we're going to get you out of here." He asked, assuring his friend's safety.

"Excuse me Showtaro-san, but you know him personally?" Boruto, who was still assisting the man finally spoke and asked.

Showtaro simply nodded." Yes, his name is Kaiga and unlike me, he's an Otsutsuki." He said as he briefly introduced his friend." You might commonly see him as suspicious person but I assure you that he's on the good side." He explained.

Boruto raised an eyebrow in doubt. He was still skeptic about it, since having face a number of Otsutsuki before. He was just cautios and careful." But Isn't the Otsutsuki clan is all about power and conquering worlds?" He asked.

Showtaro simply nodded in understanding." You're right about that, but that motto only belongs to the clan's generals and higher officials." He explained." Not all Otsutsuki people are considered to be dangerous." He said, referring to the lower classes of the clan.

He would go on to explained that the man came from humble beginnings and even left his own world to pursue a dream of being a journalist in the Pure Land.

"Oh I see." Boruto muttered. The teen was intrugued as this was the first time that he had heard of an Otsutsuki, unsimilar to the likes of Momishiki, Urashiki, or Jigen. An Otsutsuki who wasn't on the path towards destruction. Although, He wondered on how did the poor man ended up here. If it's true that he had been kept here for hundreds of years, then that would add up to a lot of history.

(Interview)

"All throughout the years, It was often perceived by the majority that the Otsutsuki clan as a race of cruel supremacist or maybe the inquisition. For me, I think that kind of belief was just a product of black propaganda against them. Not all of them are same."

-I was really surprised to know that not all of the Otsutsuki people are bad guys, It's been common knowledge for humanity that the clan to be a race of invading celestial beings."

-Boruto

"I never really get the whole Otsutsuki thing, even though it sounds interesting, My only goal here is to bring back a long lost brother."

-Naruto

As all their available time passed, Kaiga began to explained the events which led him to be a imprisoned here in this chamber. Going back to the recent events that he can remember, The Otsutsuki himself was a working friend of the Showtaro in the industry, both of them were journalist who opposed the council because of the growing political corruption and as they investigate , writing articles exposing the corrupt activities of the officials.

One such recent and major discovery through an investigation was a certain classified plan from a council official, to which seemed had greater ambitions, the plan was basically to create a constitutional convention, revising and changing the overall system of governance from a democratic to a one man parliamentary type of system.

Of course, it was considered a possible dangerous political move at first since every member was hungry for power, but it was never expected that someone from that tier would eventually be making it that kind of action. So both of them worked together to probe and exposed the secret.

However, at that time, there was a growing persecution amongst the journalist as many, who fought back were immediately eliminated. It was during this time that the organization that they were working for was disbanded and Showtaro was transferred and assigned to be an assistant to a certain long time council member with integrity, that would eventually become his boss/friend by the name of "Miyuki".

As for the other, Kaiga continued his goal of exposing the wrongdoings of the corrupt council members which led to his eventual sudden secretive capture of its forces.

"So who captured you?" Showtaro asked, wanting to know the culprits behind his imprisonment.

There was quietness that followed as the man tried to recall the faces that captured him. Kaiga could only remember the little details of the individuals that captured him years ago. The only major detail he could remember was that these group of individuals donned white hooded type of clothing. "It wasn't who." He replied."but a group of individuals considered to be his henchmen."

"They're called the Elite guard amongst us journalist."

Another quietness had took over and the majority of the trio were baffled about his statement.

"Elite Guard?" Boruto raised both eyebrows and asked.

The Otsutsuki simply nodded." Yes, they're the strongest and most dangerous group of individuals that that been causing everything until now or to say manipulating recent events that had happened before." He explained.

Boruto was put into deep thoughts once more while he was carefully listening to the man's testimony. It seemed that he heard this kind of plan before being mentioned to him and not too long he finally recalled that earlier during the events at the forest, he had confronted a member of the supposed Elite guard that the Otsutsuki was telling them about.

"Couldn't be..." He muttered as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings to see if there were any signs of them being followed.

As for the rest of the guys, especially Showtaro, he had enough of the stories for now as he decided that it was time to leave this place or else it's too late.

"I heard enough, Let's get us out of here."

(ENCOUNTER)

?

Location: Training Room

It was one of those situations that Sarada really hated being unexpectedly getting involved in.

The raven haired teen was still in shock and her body was frozen as she kept her eyes on a person that she thought was gone from her life. A person that she considered as family and that helped her through times of trouble.

Although her courage and confidence managed to prevail as she finally let out a word in the form of a faint mutter.

"Papa?"

There was silence that befall thereafter, Sarada tried to calm herself down in the midst of a fast heartbeating situation. Still wondering in her mind on what will she do next, besides standing there and just watching everything unfold in front of her eyes.

The countless times that she had tried to pinch herself in hopes of this nothing but only a dream. Although, in truth she was indeed awake in the real world and in front of a familiar person, who's blade is directly pointed at her own throat.

She could still feel her heart beating at fast rate as she struggled to think of any words or sentences to respond. So far, her brain wasn't cooperating with her and so she headed for her alternate plan to which is simply keeping quiet and being quickly observant.

She carefully moved her eyes around, to catch if anything suspicious were with them right now. She was also careful on not revealing too much, such as keeping her Sharingan on low radar. If it was visible then it could instantly cause major catastrophic changes on the timeline and even worst, bringing more craziness towards the younger version of her Papa.

So far, they were the only ones in this huge room.

The raven haired teen then moved her eyes towards the teen version of her Papa, who was very much different from the Papa that she knew since she was a little girl. It was very much true on what her Mama said about him, that he was really a very handsome young man back then and now she was seeing it in person.

She was also observant of the clothes that her Papa was currently wearing right now, a white kimono, with black short pants strapped with a giant purple-like rope on the waistline. It seemed very weird, at least for her.

Moving on from that, she moved her eyes directly to the other teen's face, especially towards the eyes. She noticed that there was something different when she looked through it. It seemed more weary and tired for a young man like him, or maybe it was the numberless trainings that he had to go through while he was still with the Snake Sannin.

"Who are you?" Sasuke had spoke once more." Answer my question." He calmly demanded.

Sarada slightly gulped, she really can't believed that he was speaking to her right now." Uhmm, M-My name is Sarada Inoue, Rookie Shinobi from the Village of Konoha." She finally responded with nervousness almost catching up to her.

There was another silence that followed, the raven haired teen's heart was racing up faster than ever before. This wss just like the first time she had ever met him, years ago when she was still studying at the academy. For about a few moments after, she waited for the other teen's reaction or response.

Her thoughts were not even helping her since worry is the only thing that it could bring to her at the moment. A common thing in this kinds of situations.

She wondered the possiblities on what could happened next.

Would this turn into somekind of staring competition like what they're doing right now?

A stand off interrogation act?

Or worse, being forced into a situation were she had no choice but to face and defend herself, just in case the teen would try to hurt her.

These were some possiblities that could really happen right now. She kept telling herself not to anything idiotic that would cause all of these. Even just a little scratched on her eyebrow would cause even the slightest reactions. So she just remained in her position.

However, a little time had passed by, the results had finally arrived and it wasn't the possibility that she was expecting to happen, which was also surprising.

"Are you a part of team that is sent here to bring me back?" Another question was followed up.

Sarada took a slight breath as she simply nodded, althought wondered on how the heck did he knew the fact that there would be a team to rescue him, and but did not said any word thereafter. She also prepared and braced herself for any possible violent confrontations.

It was at this time that raven haired young man slowly lowered his blade. By then, he began to slowly reached his hand towards the girl, who was puzzled and confused.

"What the heck is he doing?" Sarada thought to herself, she didn't knew what to do at the moment. She felt weirded out instead being afraid on the current situation and as the hand finally reached towards her cheeks, she felt surprised and noticed something different about the teen in front of her.

When she attempted another quick observation, she noticed that the teen was somewhat in a state of shock, it seemed that he couldn't believe on what he was seeing in front him.

"You look very familiar." He said, which made the girl even more confused.

At this point in time, Sarada was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Was it the right time to take action or will she just let it be?

As time continued, there was a quietness once more that took over and Sarada took noticed of her young Papa's face more. It was on the verge of an emotional state. He was also trying to say something to which the girl wasn't able to catch fully.

But It seemed that he was mentioning someone's name.

On the other side of things, it was a different level. Sasuke was stunned to see someone that he had saw from all the flashes of his strange dreams before. The girl wearing a red glasses, she was real and in front of him. She was not just a figment of his mind.

How was that even possible?

There was also this strange feeling as if he had met her from somewhere before and this was only the first time that he had actually seen her face to face. In fact, when he heard the name?"Sarada",?there was a sudden surge of emotions inside of him that he no idea where it originated from.

As He was about to say her name once more, he was suddenly interrupted by something unexpected.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

A male voice was then heard calling his name and followed by a kunai heading straight towards them from the right side like a speeding bullet.

In a matter of seconds, Sasuke immediately caught the projectile, effortlessly with his right hand." Why do I always get interrupted." He commented to himself, as he then gave a small smirked." By someone, who can't mind his own business." He added before turning his attention towards a certain familiar black haired teen, who had finally revealed himself from the shadows.

"Sai!?" Sarada whispered to herself." But How did he managed to get undetected?" She wondered.

?

From a distant away, Sai finally revealed himself from the shadows as he commanded a number of his ink minions in the form of snakes to surround him in every direction. Some of the snakes also tied itself around the teen's legs, arms and hands.

"Sarada, get out of here!" Sai exclaimed and called the raven haired rookie, who also did what she was told.

As attention drew towards both young men, things had escalated quickly while the rookie became an audience.

"It's too late, I already have the advantage here." Sai informed his counterpart, he was ready to attack anytime the teen resists.

Sasuke calmly stared at him, he wasn't intimidated the fact that he could take all of his ink creatures out if he wanted to. But he instead chose to let him talk for awhile.

"What's your purpose here?" He asked.

Sai stood on his guard." Danzo-sama wants your death." He replied causing the raven haired rookie to widened her eyes in surprised.

"Is that so?" Sasuke asked, he was amused.

Sai simply nodded." Of course, I originally came here to kill you, but there's something that made me realized the fact that you shared a strong "Bond" with your friends." He said, referring to Naruto and Sakura.

"I wanted to protect the bond of frienship, that they're striving hard to keep!" He added with an exclamation point.

"I will do no matter what it takes to return you back to the village!" His true intentions finally revealed, recalling the goals of both of his current teammates.

Sarada was surprised to hear that kind of statement from the black haired teen. It was very much unbelievable since just awhile ago, the teen had a different goal in life and now, she was witnessing the change in his heart coming to fruition.

As for Sasuke, He greeted it with silence, he brought his head down, before finally speaking." So that's your excuse for interrupting me?"

That was his only reply since, he had already planned on attacking the teen as he began to drew out his weapon.

Sai had anticipated this as he gave a sign thus commanding his ink snake minions to incapacitate the Uchiha. Although, he was already too late as the last thing that he saw were two blood red eyes followed by an explosion.

?

(

MEANWHILE)

A good amount of time passed as the pink haired girl found herself running through the corridors of the hideout, the mysterious woman who was leading her to the right directions suddenly disappeared from her sight during the journey which was considered a loss. Whoever that woman was, at least she gave her the help that she really needed.

She found herself alone once more, but to no avail, she kept moving on as she found her confidence and drive once more. Determined to catch up with the rest, the teenage kunouchi added more boost to catch the time, she could only trust her gut and by the time she was halfway through her journey, something unexpected startled her.

Sakura stopped her tracks as she almost lost her balance while traversing the path which would led her to the exact location. She had been running through a number of pathways when an unexpected earthquake rock throughout the area.

"What in the world!?" She exclaimed as she grabbed a nearby wall to regained her balance.

The pink haired teen surveyed through her surroundings and noticed that the place was still shaking from the aftershock of the supposed earthquake. Was it really an earthquake though? It seemed that there was a loud boom that she heard just before the earthquake.

Sakura kept moving on as she could feel that the supposed earthquake was just nearby. So she hurried her feet and proceeded to head towards the place. It took a number of turns to get to that right path and by the time she got to that said path, she was greeted by a light from the other side.

"The Exit!"?Sakura thought to herself as she immediately headed straight towards it. >

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