The group ended up getting lost on their way to find Kakashi and Team 8.

"Hold it," Yamato ordered holding up his hand, they stood on a cliff staring down at the forest down below. "According to the procedure, Kakashi should have left signs for us to follow.

"Well, I don't know about anything else, but I haven't seen any signs," Sakura said.

"That's great," Naruto groaned. "You think maybe he forgot that we're supposed to be following him."

"No, he's not like you," Sakura denied. "We have to assume something happened to his team."

"Sai," Yamato said. "Get airborne and take a look around for me, will ya? Take Aceso with ya."

"Right away, Captain," Sai agreed. He unrolled a scroll. " Ninja art, Super Beast Scroll." he put the art brush in his mouth, clapped his hands together, a bird shot out of the scroll. He and Aceso jumped up onto Sai's flying ink friend, they flew off looking for signs. 

"See anything?" Sai asked.

"No," Aceso answered.

"Curious," Sai said. "I don't see the search squad or any signs of their trail either."

"What's that?" Aceso asked leaning over. 

"Huh?" Sai asked looking in the same direction.

"Down in the water," Aceso said, Sai took them down farther.

"Camellias?" Sai asked. A heavy mist ran past them.

"Strange," Aceso said as they flew back towards the others. They saw that Naruto was no longer on the cliff.

"Where's Naruto?" Sai asked once they landed.

"He had business to take care of," Sakura said in annoyance. 

"We found some of Shino's insects," Yamato informed.

"We better find him," Aceso said. They found him standing in the mist. "Brother Naruto!" He looked back at them then back forward.

"Naruto, come on," Yamato ordered walking up with Sakura, and Sai. "We've found some of Shino's insects. We need to follow them."

"Coming!" Naruto responded looking back at them.

"What have you been doing out here?" Sakura demanded. 

"Sorry," Naruto apologized jumping up to them. "I ran into someone. We were, uh, talking. "

"Hm?" Sai asked.

"Never mind, he's just making it up," Sakura said. "Look, there's nobody around here for miles."

"Hey, I'm not making it up," Naruto said.  "He was here, I'm tellin' ya, just a second ago. I don't know where they went." They ran off falling Shino's bugs into the forest, they came to a stop by a barrier of crystals. 

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a crystal," Yamato answered.

"This is the enemy's Jutsu," Aceso added. "But on such a massive scale."

"Ok, Sai," Yamato said facing him. 

"Right," Sai said opening a scroll. "I'm already on it." He flew up to get a bigger look at what they were dealing with. About two minutes later he came back with a report.

"As I thought," Yamato said.

"It's at least a kilometer across," Sai reported. 

" A kilometer," Yamato repeated. "This is the work of a highly skilled opponent. 

"Whatever, let's break it down," Naruto urged. 

"Not so fast, Naruto," Aceso declined. "We don't know this barrier isn't rigged with some kind of lethal self-defense system," Yamato said. Yamato walked forward, having his finger turn into the wood, he tapped on the crystal barrier a couple of times, it had a ripple effect. 

" All right, it doesn't respond to contact from the outside," Yamato reported. "I suspect that Kakashi and the others are trapped inside of it."

"If it's just holding them like a prison, that's one thing," Sakura said. "But if it's some kind of giant trap, that could be trouble.

"Captain Yamato," Naruto said stepping up to the barrier. "Can't we just bust this thing down like we did to the wall at Orochimaru's hideout?"

"It's not the same, I'm afraid," Yamato answered. "This crystal is much tougher. It has an incredibly dense molecular structure. Unlike the clay wall, the crystal has no weak spots. Perhaps if we tunnel under it." He put his hand outside the barrier, the wood dug down and came right back up. "As I said, there are no weak spots anywhere. Not even underground."

"Because of its density, a Jutsu concentrated on a single point won't do any good," Sai said.

"That's right," Sakura said. "The force of the attack would just be dispersed over the whole surface, weakening its impact."

"For an attack to work, it would have to be both wide-ranging and extremely powerful," Aceso said.

"Sounds like fun," Naruto held up a fist.

"No way, Naruto!" Sakura denied. 

"It's all right, Sakura, don't worry," Naruto assured. "It isn't that Jutsu. It's a different one. One I've been working on in private."

"Naruto," Sakura breathed. Naruto bit his thumbs, did the hand signs then put his hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed. Gamatatsu and Gamachiki both appeared, they were a lot larger than Aceso remembered. 

"Yo," Gamachiki greeted. 

 "You called?" Gamatatsu asked.

"You two have gotten bigger," Aceso stated.

"Of course, we have," Gamachiki said looking at her. "You've grown as well."

"You summoned them?" Sakura asked in shock.

"Whoa," Sai breathed. "When did you learn to do that? Impressive."

"So what exactly are you going to do with them?" Yamato asked. 

"You'll have to wait and see," Naruto chuckled looking back. "We, uh, don't have it perfected yet, but we're going to give it a shot, anyway." Gamatatsu filled his belly with water.

"Say the word, I'm all ready to go," Gamatatsu said as Nauto stood on top of him as the others got into the trees.

"Ok, now, remember our timing and focus, just like we worked on before," Naruto instructed.

"What are in the world are they gonna do?" Sakura asked. 

"All we can do is sit back and see what they've got," Yamato smirked. 

"Let's do it Gamatatsu!" Naruto declared. They both made hand signs, chakra formed all over Naruto.

"First, breathe in, deep through the nose," Gamatatsu said. 

"Now, hold it in, and spit it out all at once," Gamachiki said. 

"Now!" Naruto shouted, putting his hand on Gamatatsu. The water spilled out of him like saliva. 

"What made me think this time would be any different?" Sakura asked. 

"Sakura, they've been working on it," Aceso said. "Naruto was confident."

"Nothing happened," Sakura pointed out.

"This Jutsu they are working on is a partner one," Aceso said. "It doesn't always click right away, they are probably still trying to get it down, as Naruto said earlier it's not perfect yet."

"What's wrong with you, Gamatatsu?" Naruto demanded. "What was that?"

"I forgot," Gamatatsu answered scratching his head. " Infuse the chakra."

"Shape up, Gamtatsu, or no snacks for you!" Gamachiki ordered.  

 "Ok, pull yourself together, and let's try it again!" Naruto exclaimed. 

"Infuse the chakra in the tummy and focus on it," Gamatatsu said holding up hand signs, chakra formed all around his body. "And take a deep breath in through the nose."

"Hold it in, and let it out all at once!" Gamachiki exclaimed. 

"Wind Style, Toad Water Pistol!" Naruto shouted putting his hand on Gamatatsu. Wate shot out, hitting the barrier, fog went all over the place, it then rained on them.

"I knew they had it in them," Aceso smiled.

"What do you know, we did it!" Naruto cheered. They entered the area, quickly finding Team Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura breathed once they landed.

"Reinforcements, huh?" Guren asked. 

"Is everyone ok?" Aceso asked. 

"Not quite," Kiba answered.

"Naruto, was that?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, the collaboration ninjutsu we've been working on with Pervy Sage," Naruto answered. 

"Really?" Kakashi asked.

"Now it's my turn to have some fun," Naruto said looking back at the enemy. "ok, you. Don't try to escape."

"Huh," Guren mocked. "So another big talker has shown up. Are you all like this?" They saw that Hinata was trapped inside the crystals.

"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed. "You lousy," He pointed at the enemy angrily.  "Just what have you done to her, huh?

"Hmm hmm," Guren mocked even more. 

"What's our next move, Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked. 

"As you can see, Hinata's been taken hostage," Kakashi said. "So we've got to keep out cool. So we can't just rush in against her. Besides, any shock and that crystal might shatter. And Hinata with it."

"A tricky situation," Yamato said. Guren laughed and stepped forward, she started to speak.

"Don't move!" Guren ordered as Yamato took a step forward,

"Now Gamatatsu!" Naruto ordered. 

"Wait!" Yamato shouted.

"Wind Style: Toad Style water pistol!" Naruto exclaimed. Water shot at Guren, she held up her crystal weapon, the water turned to crystals as soon as she touched it.

"My crystals can crystallize anything," Guren explained. "You'll need about ten more years of experience to challenge me, boy." The crystals took the form of a serpent, swimming around in the air. She held up a sign. " Crystal style. Burst Crystal Falling Dragon!" The crystal dragon immediately dove down at them.

"Run, Gamatatsu!" Gamachiki shouted. They all jumped out of the way, to avoid getting struck. Aceso landed back by Shino.

"You alright, Shino?" Aceso asked.

"Yes," Shino nodded. Kakashi looked over at Aceso she nodded, they looked over at Yamato he nodded. Aceso went to the sky with Sai.

"What are you hiding for?" Guren demanded. "There's nothing you can do as long as I hold your little friend hostage." She jumped onto her crystal dragon, she aimed down at an open area as Yamato and Kakashi walked out into the open. 

"Let Hinata go," Kakashi ordered. "Take me as a Hostage instead." Yamato gasped looking at Kakashi.

"Nice try," Guren said going down for an attack. A rope tied around her, she glanced back to see Aceso and Sai on the ink bird, Aceso pulling Guren back, along with the dragon, and Sai flying at her. She grabbed the rope, turned it to crystal, and then shot crystal shards at them. Aceso cut her rope as they jumped away, ink and crystal rained down over her. 

"Naruto, now!" Kakashi shouted.

"Go, Gamatatsu!" Naruto exclaimed. He opened his mouth, his tongue reach out, wrapping around Hinata, he broke the crystal off the ground and then took Hinata into his mouth. 

"Oh no, you don't," Guren growled racing towards Naruto and Gamatatsu. The frog disappeared and Naruto jumped out of the way, Guren crashed breaking her crystal dragon. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Aceso all quickly disappeared when Guren looked back at them. They all grouped up to reconcile.

"Way to go, Gamatatsu," Naruto said. "Ok, you can spit her out now."

"Be careful," Gamachiki ordered. "Gently now, nice and easy." Gamatatsu opened his mouth, splitting the crystallized Hinata. He slowly placed her on the ground.

"That's it," Naruto said. "Nice and easy. That's the way. Put her down slowly. Slowly, slowly." A fly passed by, Gamatatsu dropped Hinata going after they fly. 

"Hinata!" Kiba gasped along with the others.

"Unbelievable," Gamachicki scolded. "How could you do that, you blockhead?

"Oh no," Naruto breathed as the crystal started to crack. "Stop cracking. Stop cracking!"

"Hinata!" Aceso gasped rushing over.

"Hinata!" Kiba ran over with Akamaru. 

"It stopped," Naruto pointed out as Shino joined them. 

"Damn," Pakkun breathed they look over at him. "Guess I'm too late. "

"Pakkun," Kakashi greeted, Aceso knelt down holding her arms. He immediately jumped into them. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Aceso all stood in a circle off to the side, to listen to what Pakkun had to say.

"They finished analyzing that insect of Shino's, there's no mistaking it," Pakkun said. "The enemy uses some kind of crystal-style Jutsu."

"Yes, we know," Kakashi said. 

"The researchers say the effect on the insect was thorough, that thing was crystallized inside and out," Pakkujn explained. 

"So it was true what she said, that the crystal style works on anything," Kakashi said. 

"Even Sai's super beast scroll was completely crystallized," Aceso recalled. 

"This Jutsu is a problem," Yamato frowned. 

"That's putting it mildly," Pakkun said looking down. "It's like I said, its effects are thorough."

"You mean--?" Shino asked. 

"Yeah," Pakkun answered looking away. "Thye found that even the insect's bodily fluids were crystallized."

"What?" Kiba asked. "But then--"

"Hinata," Naruto breathed. "She 's going to be ok, right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Uhh, yeah," Kakashi answered with uncertainty. 

"We need to get her back to the village immediately," Yamato said

"That's right," Naruto recalled. "My sister and Grandma Tsunade. Those two will fix everything." Naruto then ushered Aceso over to Hinata.

"Ok, calm down Naruto," Kakashi ordered. The sound of crystal shattering entered their ears.

"No, Hinata," Naruto panicked looking back the crystals broke off, but Hinata remained intact. Sakura leaned over to get a listen.

"Sakura," Kakashi breathed.

"It's all right," Sakura smiled sitting up. "She's alive."

"What a relief," Naruto smiled. 

"Yeah, I'll say," Kiba agreed. 

"Phew," Gamatatsu breathed. "I was scared for a minute."

"Idiot," Gamachiki scolded. "Dropping her for a lousy fly."

"What is it, Shino?" Aceso asked looking over at him. 

" I was remembering what happened to one of my insects," Shino answered. "After it was captured by the crystal-style Jutsu, it shattered in my hand. And yet, Hinata survived."

"It's true," Kakashi said. "The same thing happened with those crystals we encountered. They shattered. What do Hinata and the insect that was sent back to the village have in common?"

"I--uuh," Hinata breathed sitting up.

"Be careful, Hinata" Sakura advised helping her sit up. "Take it easy."

"When I saw that I was going to be hit by her Jutsu, I released chakra from all my chakra points at once, and surrounded myself with a barrier," Hinata explained. 

" I see," Shino breathed. "So her crystal style doesn't work on everything after all. It can't crystallize chakra."

"Hmm, quick thinking in a tight spot," Kakashi complimented. "Well done, Hinata."

"Thanks," Hinata smiled. 

"Yeah, that was awesome," Kiba complimented. "Of course, I expected as much." Akamaru barked in agreement. 

"Well, I'm glad you're ok," Naruto smiled at her. 

"I'm sorry, Naruto if I, well, if I caused you any worry" Hinata apologized. 

"Hey, you don't have to apologize," Naruto said. "Don't be silly."

"Naruto," Hinata blushed putting her head forward.

"All right, then Kakashi," Yamato said. "What do we do now? Any thoughts?"

"Well, that depends," Kakashi answered. He looked back at Hinata.

"Uuhh, I'm all right, sensei," Hinata assured. "Really." She started to get up.

"Don't push yourself," Sakura advised. 

"We're lucky Hinata was the only one hit by that Jutsu," Shino said as Aceso knelt beside Hinata. She pulled out a chakra patch and put it on her wrist as she held Pakkun in her other arm.

"Since we don't have any countermeasures of this crystal style, caution's the best policy for now," Kakashi said. 

"We should have gone after them," Naruto said. "Why'd we let them go?"

" I share your frustration, Naruto," Kakashi said. "We certainly don't want to lose track of them."

"He's right," Kiba said standing up. "Remember how much trouble it was finding them? If we let them go, who knows if we'll ever be able to pick up their track again?"

"All right then, here's the plan," Kakashi announced. "There are enough of us to split into two groups. So, Aceso, Sakura, and Sai, you three will stay here with Hinata until she's recovered."

"Right," those four said. 

"The rest of us will try and pick up their trail," Kakashi said. "Of course, since they leave no scent behind it's impossible to track them that way. Even for Akamaru."

"They don't make it easy, do they?" Aceso asked. 

"Not at all," Kakashi answered.

"But, how are we going to track them, if they're impossible to track?" Naruto asked. 

"I think we might be able to use those surveillance bats of theirs," Kakashi answered. "But we can't get too close. We don't want them spotting us first. However we go, we have to move deliberately and cautiously."

"That makes sense," Sai said. 

"Doesn't sound like fun, but I guess it's a plan," Naruto said. 

"One more thing," Kakashi brought up. "We have to be very careful if we run into any more of those crystal barriers. If you do find any of these guys don't try to attack or capture them. After all, remember our mission is to investigate them. Got it?"

"Got it," they all responded. 

"If you're done with us, I guess we'll be on our way," Gamachiki said. 

"Thanks," Naruto smiled at them. "See you next time I need you."

"I'll be heading home too, Kakashi," Pakkun said. "That alright?"

"Ok, Pakkun," Kakashi said looking at the pup. Thanks for your help." Pakkun disappeared out of Aceso's arms."

"Well, see you later," Gamachiki said. 

"Bye, bye everybody," Gamatatsu waved, they disappeared as well. 

"All right then, let's move out," Kakashi ordered. Everyone left besides Hinata, Sakura, and Aceso.