The shock on Naruto's face was apparent, and the only thing he could muster out was, "WHAT?!?!" Tsunade got up, and walked over to him. "You go rest. I'll get the Black-Op Anbus' to find out who did it. Go now, and rest." "But..." "No buts, go rest!" Naruto knew by the tone in her voice to do as he was told. Another month came and went, but still noothing was heard from the Anbu. In fact, they just seemed to vanished as well. Tsunade was really getting worried, so she sent for Kakashi and Guy to to her office.
She sent them out to investigate what was going on. It didn't take long for them to return. "Well, what was the problem?" she asked. "Well, it looked as if someone has killed the Anbu not to far outside the gates." Kakashi answered. "Yeah, but the weirdest thing was it looked like somebody used their bodies for target practice afteerwards." Guy said.
"What kind of sick individual would do somehting like that?" Tsunade asked, horrified by the thought. After a few seconds, Tsunade finally said, "It looks like I'll have to get some more help one this one. I'm going to ask for help from the Kazikage, Gaara."
Meanwhile elsewhere in a dark cavern...
"So, that boy took out both Sasuke and Shikara." The tall dark shadow man said. He carried a sword on his back, and there was another person that stood next to him. "Yes, and apparently he was going after Orochimar next." The other man said. "The Anbu from their village was too easy. Can't we go find some more to take out?" The tall man asked, looking at his friend. "No, we have other pressing matters to attend to." The other one said, looking down at Sasuke's body, "Don't we,brother."
Back at the academy...
"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Tsunade said to the three children standing in front of her. They were Temari, Kankuro, and the Kazekage, Gaara of the sand. "What's the problem?" Kankuro asked. "Well, I don't know if you've heard, but Naruto fought Sasuke at the Valley of the End, and killed him in the heat of battle by accident." The look of shock spread on the faces of Kankuro and Temari faces', but it had no effect on Gaara. "But, that's not the worst of it. Someone come into the village, and has stolen his body." That did it for Gaara. "What kind of sick person would do a thing?!" Temari said, sickened by the thought.
Right about that time, Naruto walked in, and saw all three standing there. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked, looking at Gaara. "Well, the Hokage asked for our help." Kankuro answered. "Help? For what?" Naruto said, looking at Tsunade. "Well, I sent Kakashi and Guy out to look for the Anbu, but they found them dead not far outside the village. So, I sent for these guys to see if they could help us out." Tsunade said. After a few minutes, they all left to go search for clues as to what happeaned.
It took a few more minuites to reach the gravesite, only to find Sakura sitting on the ground next to the hole in the ground were sasuke's body once rested. Naruto stpped everybody, and walked up to her by himself, and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry for doing what I promised I wouldn't do. I'm sorry for killing Sasuke." Sakura looked him straight in the eyes, and knew that he meant what he said. "I'm sorry for slapping you, and saying I hate you." She said after a few seconds. Tears started streaming down her face and she grabbed Naruto to hug him. "Don't worry about it. I'll find out what happeaned here, and take that person down." Naruto said, standing up. "You go home and get some rest. Leave the rest up to me and them." Sakura nodded her head, and walk off to go home.
After spending about an hour and a half, they found no clue as to who took the body. "Gaara, is there any way that you could read something from the dirt that might tell us something?" Naruto asked. Gaara looked at him, and said, "My power doesn't work like that. If it did, I would've told you by now." "Hey! I think I've found something!" Temari said. Naruto ran over to see what it was. "What?!" Temari held up a black rock and said, "This isn't from around here. It looks like a cave rock or something."
"A cave rock?" Tsunade asked, turning the rock in her hand. "I've seen this kind of rock before." Kankuro said, looking closer at the chunk in his hand. "Where at?" Naruto asked. "When I was younger, I use to hang around all kinds of places. One of them was the caves up on Mt. Pyre." "The mountain between Sound and Sand?" Tsunade asked. "Yeah, the very same one." Temari said, "Well, let's go take a look." Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and Naruto headed out for the mountain. The journey took them a month to reach, but they finally arrived.
Chapter Five: Through The Eyes Of A Child! Sasuke's Resurrection!
As they climbed the mountain, night began to fall. They found a spot to set camp, and so they did. Night passed by qiuetly with Gaara keeping watch. When morning came, they packed up thier stuff, and continued up the mountain. It took another hour before they began to reach any of the caves. They entered the first cave they came across, and started their search.
Meanwhile...
His father looked at him and said, "This is the master technique of the Uchiha clan. When you learn it, you will be counted as a man." Sasuke stood there and tried it. He failed, and his father looked away saying, "I knew it. You're nothing like your brother Itachi." His father then walked away, leaving Sasuke with his thoughts. For many days, he stood outside the pond beside his home, and tried to learn the technique everyday. One day he ran to his father, and told him to come with him down to the pond. When they arrived, he showed his father that he had learnt the move. His father said nothing, and started to walk off. He didn't really remember alot of what was said, except one thing. "Don't follow in the footsteps of your brother."
Back with Naruto and company...
"Argh!!! It's no use!!" Naruto grumbled, and sat down. "Keep yourself calm, Naruto. We'll find some kind of clue." Kankuro said. The search continued through five more caves, until they came across footprints on the ground. "Finally!" Naruto exclaimed. "Let's follow 'em." Gaara said, and walked off. They came to a large opening in the caverns, and decided to set camp for the night there. About halfway through dinner, a noise came from behind them. As they looked around to see what it was, they saw three people standing there, watching them.
As the three stepped into light, they could be seen. It was Choji, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee. "What are you guys doing here?" Temari asked, then looked at Shikamaru, remembering the Chunin exams. "Hokage thought you might need us. Why do I always get stuck in these ridiculous situations? It's a bore and so bothersome." Shikamaru said, and sat down, resting in his usual laid back way.
Choji sat down next to the fire, and pulled out a bag of chips. Rock Lee sat down, and kept to himself. Suddenly, and without warning, the cave started to collapse, blocking off the way out and splitting the six friends into team of three and four. Shikamaru, Kankuro, and Temari on one side of the large rock, and Naruto, Choji, Rock Lee, and Gaara on the other side.
Chapter Six: Journey Into The Cave! Around Every Corner!
"Don't worry! I can bust through this rock with one blow!" Rock Lee said, stepping up to it. "If you do that, you'll bring the rest of the cave down on us." Gaara said. Naruto steppd up and yelled, "Hey, we'll meet you guys down further into the caves!" Having yelled at the top of his lungs, a few of the rocks hanging from above began to fall. "Way to go, moron!" Gaara said, annoyed, and took off down the corridor of the cave on their side. Choji, Rock Lee, and Naruto followed.
Shikamaru stood still, and just shook his head. "I knew that this was going to happen. Just my luck." He started walking towards the new opening that had appeared when the cave collapsed. "You think Naruto can handle Gaara for long periods of time?" Temari saked. "The real question is, can Gaara handle Naruto?" Kankuro said, and chuckled. "Naruto'll never make it out alive." He finished, and headed for the open space in the wall.
"Oh, I didn't get to finish my Ramen! SO HUNGRY!!!" Naruto said, grabbing this stomach. "Hey, Choji, can I have a few chips?" Choji stopped dead in his tracks, and turned towards Naruto. Fire filled his eyes as he yelled, "NO!!!! HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT!!!!!! Naruto fell over backwards from the surprise outburst. "Shut up! If there's anything or anyone in these caves, they official know we're here." Gaara said, and continued on.
Lee was leading the pack with Gaara right behind him. As they were proceeding down the poorly lit corridor, the walls began to move further and further apart. "Hey, I think we might be coming up on a clearing soon." Lee announced to everybody. When they reached the end of the corridor, they saw that the roof of the cave was an open roof. Daylight was begining to shine through, meaning it was dawn already. "Wow. We must have been walking all night." Naruto said.
Suddenly, four shurikan came flying at them. Naruto, Lee, and Choji dodged thiers. Gaara just stood there, and let his sand stop it. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" Lee yelled. Four people stepped forwards into the light. The look of shock hit all their faces, for the four people who stood there was a copy of each one of them. A man stood behind them in the shadows. "I want to see how well you know yourselves before you know me." The man said, and stepped back.
Gaara stepped up first, and the sand began to pour out from his gourd. He shot the sand forward like a tidal wave. The other did the same and the two sand clouds met and burst together, creating a sandstorm. Both Gaaras' stood there as if nothing was happening around them. Naruto and the others just stood there covering their faces, trying to see what was going on in the middle of this chaos.
Gaara did a hand sign, and threw his hand to the ground. The ground began to shake as a large wave of sand as high as the ceiling flew up and rushed forward at his opponent. The sand covered his nemesis and buried him in the ground as Gaara yelled, "Sand Burial!" The sand hardened as his enemy was incased and crushed. Suddenly, the spot where he was buried broke apart, and the copy arose with the sand shield completely surrounding him. It descipated and he stood there, smiling.
The good Gaara drew all the sand from his gourd and put it upon himself. He body was now half Gaara, half Shikaku. He threw his right arm and it slammed his opponent against the wall with crushing force that he vanished into a cloud od smoke.
Gaara made sure he was gone, and placed his sand back into the gourd.
Lee stood next after Gaara stepped back. His copy ran at him with lightning speed. Lee manged to perfom a Leaf Whirlwind kick to knock his opponent back. He reached down and took his weights off. "Time to play!" Lee's copy said, and ran forward again. This time Lee was ready for him and beat him to the punch. They were moving so fast that nobody could keep up with there movements.
By this time, Lee had already opened the first gate, and let forth a barrage of attacks that knocked his foe into a daze. Lee jumped back and yelled, "Time to end this!" He ran at his enemy and began to run circles around him. A quick kick sent his foe into the air, followed by many more kicks. Lee grabbed his opponent as his wristbands began to wrap around his foe. "Secondary Lotus!" Lee yelled and began to spin in a barrel roll straight back to earth. He jumped away as his enemy crashed into the ground with earth shattering impact. He also vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Choji grabbed a bag of chips and said, "I guess I'm next." His counterpart did the same. Choji and his enemy threw out the same hand signs. They both yelled together, "Human Boulder!" Everybody ran for cover as the two giant balls of human flesh collided. They became like a mixture of ricochet and wrecking balls as they bounced of the walls and hit each other with tremendous impact.
This lasted for at least another twenty minutes until some of the cave began to collapse. They both stopped and looked up. A large chunk of rock fell on top off the false Choji and completely crushed him into nothing. A opening formed in the wall beside Naruto as Neji, Temari, and Kankuro stepped into the room. "Whoa! Did we miss something?" Kankuro asked. "Nope, you're right on time." Gaara said.
