THE AKATSUKI'S RIVAL: THE POWER OF HUMAN SACRIFICE
CHAPTER 1:
"GAARA!"
Naruto and Team Seven were racing through the woods being followed by Team Guy. They were on a mission to rescue the Kazekage from the Akatsuki, but it was much more than a mission to Naruto. Gaara was one of his kind, and also one of his closest friends. He had to save him before it was too late.
"GAARA!" Naruto yelled again. His was anger and frustration caused him to pick up the pace. Why were they doing this? What did they want with Gaara?
"Slow down, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered. "You don't even know where you're going!"
"I don't care. We have to save Gaara!" Naruto flew through the trees even faster than before, leaving the others behind in the dust.
Kakashi sighed mentally. "He still doesn't listen,"he thought to himself.
"Naruto is right, Guy Sensei! We should double our speed to save Gaara!" Lee exclaimed.
"Good thinkin', Lee! In fact I'd say we should triple our speed for the extra exercise! What do you say?"
"That sounds most excellent, Guy Sensei! And second thought, I think we should quadruple our speed!"
"Good idea, Lee! LEEEET'S GOOOOO! FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH WITHIN YOU!"
Neji and Tenten could only groan when their sensei and Lee took off at high speed, leaving them behind in the back. After a few seconds they were no longer in sight, along with Naruto who was nowhere to be found.
"Let's go Tenten. We may as well catch up with them," Neji said.
"Well, there's no use complaining about it now," Tenten agreed. The both of them raced past Kakashi and Team 7 to keep up their overly-excitable teammates.
"I'm going to go along with them to make sure Naruto doesn't do anything reckless," Kakashi told the rest of his team. But before they could reply he vanished along with the others. Now only Sakura and Sai were left.
"I'd say we go with them, Sakura. We don't want to be left behind." Sai told her.
"What?! We'd have to be sprinting to keep up with them! And we're probably still miles away from where the Akatsuki are!" Sakura complained to her emotionless teammate. "And besides, we weren't trained under Team Guy. There's no way we can keep up with their speed!"
"Well I was trained under the ANBU Black Ops, so I'll be okay. And as much as I hate to admit it, Naruto's right. Who knows what they're planning to do with Gaara."
Sakura grumbled under her breath. "Your right. Let's go then." Sai nodded and they took off to keep up with the rest. After fifteen minutes of sprinting, they finally caught up them. Everyone stopped to rest in the trees, much to Naruto's dismay.
"Why are we stopping?" Naruto annoyingly asked.
Kakashi ignored him. "Neji, use your Byakugan."
"I'm on it," Neji replied. He activated his Byakugan and veins appeared next to his eyes. He looked around the area to see if he could find anything. He looked to the North and found something strange flying through the sky.
"I-I think see something," Neji said unsurely.
"What is it, Neji?! Can you see them?! Is it those damn Akatsuki members?! Do they have Gaara?!"
"Be quiet Naruto! Neji's trying to focus!" Tenten scolded him.
"I'm not sure how to say this, but there's a giant owl flying several miles to the North of us."
"Eh?!" said Naruto.
"And the strange thing is, it doesn't seem to have any chakra reserves in it. And that means it's not a living creature, but rather a creation made by someone else."
"Can you see anything other than that?" Kakashi asked.
"No, I cannot. But the owl seems to be carrying something, or someone, that does have chakra reserves. It could be Gaara."
"Say no more!" With that, Naruto took off before anyone could try and stop him.
"Let's go, everyone," Kakashi said. "We can't let Naruto face the Akatsuki alone. If we do, they will try to capture him as well."
"Why?" asked Sakura.
"Yeah, what do the Akatsuki want with Gaara and Naruto anyway?" Tenten asked. Kakashi was hesitant to give them an answer. Naruto's jinchuriki status was still supposed to be kept an S-ranked secret by order of the third Hokage, however it was managed to be leaked out a long time ago. One by one random people started to find out and it spread like wildfire throughout the village. It was the reason why the villagers treated Naruto so poorly during his childhood, as they saw him for the beast itself rather than its jailer. But it was different now because even Naruto understood and accepted himself for what he was. Kakashi looked over to Guy who gave him the confirmation nod to tell them.
"Well, where should I start?" Kakashi nervously rubbed the back of his head while the others stared at him intently. "You guys know about the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked our village a while ago, right?"
"Of course. There's a festival held every year celebrating our survival," Neji said.
"Yeah. The fourth Hokage killed it, but at the cost of his own life." Tenten added.
"A wretched day indeed." said Lee.
"You guys are only partially correct," Sai said. The others looked at him with confused looks on their faces. Once being a member of Root under Danzo, he knew a lot of things that the others didn't.
"What are you saying Sai?" Sakura asked her teammate. "Everything they said was true."
"Not quite!" Everyone turned their attention to Guy. "A tailed beast can be captured but not killed. And even if they are killed, they would simply be reincarnated a few years later. That's why most of the time they are sealed away inside a human body."
"So, the fourth Hokage didn't kill it then?" Sakura asked.
"He couldn't," Kakashi closed his eyes and remembered the day. "The Nine-Tails was too powerful. He could only seal away half of its chakra inside himself, and the other half…. Into someone else."
"What?!" exclaimed Sakura. "Who was the other person?"
"Shouldn't be obvious by now?" Kakashi let the question sit there for a bit. Neji, being the smartest out of the bunch, got it immediately, while the others still looked hopelessly confused.
"I understand now," Neji said.
"What? I still don't get it." said Tenten.
"Just think about it. On what exact day did the Nine-Tails attack?"
Tenten thought about it for a bit. "October tenth,"
"Right. And how many years ago was that?"
"Um…..Fifteen? Yeah! Fifteen years ago."
"And how old is Naruto?"
After thinking for a few moments, Tenten's eyes widened with realization. As well as Lee's, who's eyes couldn't get any bigger than they already were.
"Wait," Sakura stepped into the conversation. "You're not saying that the Fourth Hokage-"
"That's right," Neji interrupted. "He sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto on the exact day when he was born."
"It never occurred to you why Naruto never shows up for the festival, or why he never celebrates his birthday?" Kakashi said.
"It explains a lot," Tenten said.
"Oh Naruto…" said Sakura.
"It is a big misfortune for Naruto indeed!" Lee added.
"It also explains his huge chakra reserves," Neji said.
"What do you mean Neji?" Tenten asked.
"On the day I fought him during the Chunin exams, I was certain that I had blocked all of his chakra points. However, there was this new chakra that appeared within him. It was so vile, but it was also incredible. Ultimately, it gave him the power to defeat me in the match."
"What you saw Neji was the Nine-Tails chakra taking over him. This mostly happens when he becomes enraged, but when you fought him, I was told that he did it to himself willingly." Kakashi explained. "However, Naruto's isn't the only one with a tailed beast." The others stared, waiting for him to continue.
"Gaara also has a tailed beast inside him. The One-Tail. " The others were shocked to hear this. They knew Gaara was powerful, but they didn't know that he possessed a tailed beast.
"Naruto and Gaara are called jinchuriki. There are most likely more people just like them around the world. And that's probably why the Akatsuki are after them."
"They want to take the tailed beasts that are sealed inside them," Neji guessed.
"That's right, Neji," said Guy. "But for what, the reason is still unknown."
"And that's why Naruto is so determined to save Gaara," Sakura said with realization. "Gaara is one of his kind."
Kakashi nodded sadly. He was concerned about what would happen to Naruto if they couldn't find Gaara in time. The last thing they needed was for him to go berserk and lose control. Not only would the Akatsuki notice, but the beast would try and take over him as well.
Lee slammed his fist into the palm of his own hand. "That is most un-youthful! How dare they do this to Naruto and Gaara! I shall not let them!"
Guy wrapped a proud arm his most youthful student. "I agree with you, Lee. That's why we shall protect Naruto and rescue Gaara all in the same day. WHOOOO'S WITH ME!" Guy pumped his fist into the air.
"Right!" Everyone else said.
"Let's get going," Kakashi said. "Naruto's probably pretty far away by now. We need to catch up with him."
Sasori and Deidara walked calmly through the forest. Deidara's owl was carrying the One-Tails jinchuriki above them, and they were bickering the entire way.
"Who do you think is the strongest jinchuriki?" Deidara asked Sasori.
"How am I supposed to know?" Sasori said in his rusty old voice. "This is the first jinchuriki we've caught so far."
"I'm just speaking hypothetically here, Sasori. No need to get all grumpy on me now." His partner grumbled inaudibly, but Deidara kept up his smirk. "This is the jinchuriki of the One-Tail, right? I wonder what it would be like to take down the strongest one. Because to be honest, this one wasn't much of a challenge."
"Why did you keep me waiting all that time then?!" Sasori shot back at him.
"Okay, okay. So maybe he did put up a little fight in the end. But still, for a jinchuriki I was expecting a little more," Deidara sighed loudly. "But what can I expect, from a guy from the Sand Village."
"What is that supposed to mean?" His partner questioned.
"You know. Those guys are always so soft. I've never had any respect for anyone from the Sand Village."
"Are you saying that you don't have any respect for me at all, Deidara?" Sasori spat with venom.
"Oh, that's right! I forgot who were from the Sand Village Sasori, my man." Deidara loved seeing the angry demeanor of his partner. It's what made him love his job so much. "But still, you can't create anything with sand. It falls apart, just like the Kazekage did up there." He pointed to the unconscious Gaara, who was wrapped around the tail of a clay owl that Deidara made.
"You still haven't answered my question, Sasori."
"What?" Sasori said with clear irritation in his voice.
"The strongest Jinchuriki. Who do you think it will be?"
"Why does it matter? Aren't you forgetting, this was the only one we were supposed to capture. What makes you think that you can take down another one?"
"Again, my man, I'm just speakin' hypothetically here." Sasori grumbled under his breath. He knew Deidara was going to try and capture another Jinchuriki, whether he liked it or not. So after several seconds, Sasori finally decided to give him an answer.
"I'd say it's probably the Nine-Tails."
"The Nine-Tails jinchuriki, huh?" Deidara reached into his robe until he found a small, jet-black book. He flipped through it a few times until he found what he was looking for.
"It says here that his name is Naruto Uzumaki, from the Hidden Leaf. But it also says that he's only a genin."
"It doesn't matter what their ranks are. The One-Tail is the Kazekage, and look what happened to him." Sasori glanced upward at the owl.
"He was the Kazekage, my man. They're going to have to find a new one." Deidara laughed evilly, but Sasori groaned. He hated his partner's antics sometimes.
"Hey, wait a minute here. It says Itachi and Kisame were supposed to catch this guy a couple years ago!"
"And they failed?" Sasori questioned.
"It says that they retreated after a legendary Sannin was found with him. I wonder if it was Orochimaru…."
"Don't be ridiculous. Orochimaru betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village years ago, before he betrayed us."
"Hmph. I'm going to kill that guy one day, Sasori. You just watch me."
"We'll see about that, Deidara. But besides that, we couldn't capture him at that time even if we wanted to."
"Oh, yeah. Didn't Pain say that it would mess up the cycle or something?"
"That's correct. A few of the tailed beasts, the Eight and Nine-Tails in particular, have to be done at the very end."
"Uh-huh. And why is that, my man?"
"The Eight and Nine-Tails happen to have more potent chakra than the rest of the Tailed Beasts. It could destroy the statue if we put them into it first. If we were to determine the most powerful beast by the number of tails, it would be said that the Nine-Tails is the strongest. That's why the Nine-Tails jinchuriki must be the strongest as well."
Deidara thought about this for a second and closed his book. "I'm glad we can finally agree on something, my man. Well, we'll just see how strong he is then." Sasori glared his partner, but before he could argue, a strange plant with a human-like figure inside appeared next to the tree they were walking by.
"Hey, White Zetsu! What's up?" asked Deidara.
"Hello there, Deidara, Sasori. I just wanted to let you know that you've got company following you."
"How close are they?" Sasori asked.
"Stop right there!" The three figures looked behind them to find a shinobi wearing an orange jumpsuit and a Leaf symbol headband. He was also panting heavily from all of the running he was doing. He had blonde, spikey hair with blue eyes and distinctive whisker marks on his cheeks.
"Does that answer your question, Sasori?" Zetsu asked.
"You idiot, why didn't you warn us of this before?"
"Sorry, Sasori. I didn't expect them to be catching up so soon. It appears that this shinobi seems to have a lot of stamina." Deidara took another glance at the shinobi, and smirked.
"Ah, I see where you're going with this Zetsu." He took a few steps towards the shinobi who was still crouched down on one of the tree branches. "Hey kid! What's your name?"
Naruto was unsure about how to answer at first, but quickly replied to him, "Like you'd care."
"Of course I do! You're looking for the Kazekage, aren't you?" Naruto was surprised that the blonde-haired guy would easily give up Gaara like that.
"Yeah, I am! You've seen him?" Naruto narrowed his eyes to the blonde-guy who kept up his smirk.
"Yep, he's up there." Deidara pointed upwards. Naruto looked up and saw a giant owl, just like Neji had said. It looked like it was made up of some sort of white substance. The owl unrolled its tail to reveal an unconscious Gaara lying there.
"GAARA!" Naruto yelled, but there was no response from him. The blue-eyed shinobi glared at the now smiling Akatsuki member.
"Get Gaara down from there, now." Naruto growled.
"Sorry. No can do, but maybe if you would tell me your name, I might reconsider."
"What are you doing, Deidara?" Sasori asked, but got no response from his partner.
"Fine! My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki! Now let Gaara go!" Deidara simply smirked in victory.
"I see. So you knew that it was him all along. And all you had to do was confirm it." Sasori said.
"That's right, my man. You're lucky, because now I don't have to go out looking for him. Because he came running to me,"
"I don't know what you bastards are talking about down there, but you'd better get Gaara down from there right now!"
Deidara looked away from his partner and turned to the other blonde shinobi, with the smirk never leaving his face. "Okay, alright then. No need to get antsy now," Using his finger, he drew the ginormous owl down to the ground.
"Now what are you doing, Deidara?" Sasori threatened.
"C'mon Sasori, my man, don't you trust me? And besides, I'm a man of my word too y'know." Sasori narrowed his eyes as he watched the owl land with the Kazekage still on its tail.
"Good, now let him go!" Naruto ordered.
Deidara snickered. "I'm not gonna do that."
"What?!" Naruto waved an angry fist through the air. "You said that if I told you my name, then you would let Gaara go!"
"First off, I said that I would reconsider it. Second, I brought him down like you asked, but I never said anything about letting him go."
Naruto growled. "Why you little…"
"You can glare at me all you want," Deidara closed his eyes and crossed his arms, then opening one eye to see him. "Nine-Tails."
Naruto looked at him with surprise, and then anger. "What….. What the hell did you just call me?!"
"You heard me right. I know what you are, Naruto Uzumaki." Deidara looked at him, this time with hunger in his eyes. "And you're mine."
"Yeah! Well we'll just see about that!" Naruto took his fighting stance, ready to rip these guys to shreds after what they did to Gaara.
"Ooh," White Zetsu said as he sunk back into the tree. "This could get interesting."
"Yo, Sasori, my man! Aren't you gonna join me? After all, you were the one who said that the Nine-Tails jinchuriki would be the strongest."
"As much as I would like to do that, I can't. The poison I brought with me this time is lethal, and if we are going to capture this jinchuriki, he needs to be taken alive. But if things get messy, I'll be here to help you out."
"Hmph, whatever. I don't need your help." Deidara proclaimed as he got ready to fight the jinchuriki. He was excited. He hoped that this battle would be even better than the last.
"ALLLLRIGHT! Here I-" Before Naruto was able to attack, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.
"Kak-Kakashi Sensei?" Kakashi gave him his famous closed-eye smiled.
"Yep, that's right. You didn't really think that you could fight members of the Akatsuki without the rest of us, did you?" Naruto looked past Kakashi and saw the angry glares of the others behind him. He sweat dropped and nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"No, No! Of course not! That wasn't what I was thinking at all!"
"You baka! What were you thinking just charging through like that?! Do you want to be killed that badly?! Sakura exclaimed.
"B-but, Sakura-chan! They have Gaara down there!"
"I see you brought company! Well that doesn't make things fun." said Deidara.
"Deidara, this isn't good. That ninja with the silver hair is Kakashi of the Sharingan. It's best now that we take the One-Tail and retreat."
"Kakashi of the Sharingan, huh? I've heard things about that guy. I suppose your right my man. But what about the Nine-Tails?"
"The Nine-Tails can wait. He wasn't our objective in the first place."
Deidara turned to the large group of shinobi. There were exactly eight of them including Kakashi of the Sharingan and the Nine-Tails. It seemed now that they were at an overwhelming disadvantage.
"Are you sure about that my man? You can kill the rest of them can't you? Why don't you take care of them while I take care of the Nine-Tails."
"Don't get so cocky, Deidara. You're forgetting about our goal here. If you wouldn't have taken so long to get the One-Tail in the first place, then we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Woah there, slow down my man. It was you who took forever with that kid wearing the weird make-up. Therefore you're the reason why we're in this mess."
"Whatever, it doesn't matter now. Let's just go already. We've kept the others waiting long enough. And you know how much I hate making people wait."
"Okay, fine. You win, my man. Get onto the owl," Both of them hopped onto the owl, but before they had a chance to fly away, a voice stopped them.
"And where do you think you're going!" Everyone glanced upwards and saw a giant toad with a man standing on its head.
"Chief Toad! Pervy Sage! What are you guys doing here?!" Naruto asked.
"Hey Naruto. Tsunade sent me here just in case you guys need any help. And it looks like you do."
"Forget escaping, Sasori. Let's just take all these goons down. I think we can take them."
"You idiot. Don't you know who that is?!" Deidara looked upward and saw the man standing on the toad. He had long white hair with red marks drawn on his face. It didn't look like someone who Deidara wanted to remember.
"My brain's not ringing a bell here, Sasori. Care to refresh my memory?"
"That's Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin. He was the one who used to work with Orochimaru." That got Deidara's attention quickly. But inside his head he thought, "This clown? One of the legendary Sannin?"
"Hey, you up there! I heard that you used to work with Orochimaru back in the olden days! Do you know where he is now?"
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at him. "No, I don't know. And I don't care either. Now give us back the Kazekage."
"Huh, well he's no fun," Deidara said to Sasori.
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough," said Jiraiya who was now annoyed with the Akatsuki member. "Hand us the Kazekage, and I might just let you two live."
Deidara looked over to his partner, and then smirked again. "Alright. I'll let you take back your precious Kazekage,"
Using his hand to control the clay owl, he was about to drop Gaara on the ground until Jiraiya interrupted him.
"And no funny business," Jiraiya opened his eyes to reveal that he had activated Sage Mode. "I'm able to tell the difference between the real Gaara and a clay clone, so don't even bother trying."
Deidara frowned. That ruined his initial plan to make a getaway, but now he had to come up with a new scheme.
"Just forget it, Deidara," Deidara turned to his partner, shocked that he, of all people, would tell him that.
"What are you talking about, Sasori? You're not seriously going to give up the One-Tail to these guys, are you?"
"Listen, I don't like it either. Kakashi the Copycat Ninja, and one of the Legendary Sannin; they are not foolish enough to fall for your tricks."
"What?! I did all of that hard work to get the Kazekage for nothing! Why can't we escape with the owl I made?"
"Because I'll squash you like a bug if you try!" the Chief Toad interrupted.
Deidara looked up annoyed at the toad, and then back at his partner.
"There's no way I'm giving up the One-Tails after everything I've done. And you my man, didn't do squat."
"You're not thinking this through Deidara," claimed Sasori. "You're forgetting about our other problem. We need these Leaf shinobi alive to take care of Orochimaru for us,"
"Orochimaru? Sasuke…." Naruto clenched his fists with realization. "Orochimaru must have been involved with the Akatsuki somehow. But why do they want him dead?"
"Even if I were to kill them all while you escape with the One-Tail," Sasori continued. "You wouldn't be able to escape with that giant toad following you."
Deidara grumbled under his breath. "Who cares? I'll just blow them up with my art!" Deidara raised his only hand to reveal a mouth in the palm, chewing some white substance that must have been his clay.
"Don't be a fool, Deidara," Sasori countered. "I know that you used up most of your clay during your fight with the Kazekage. Don't even pretend you still have more left,"
Deidara cursed. He knew that he should've made more, but he didn't expect a run in with the Nine-Tails before they extracted the One-Tail. He should have come more prepared.
Sasori took a deep breath when he finally made Deidara come to his senses. "We must notify Pain that our mission has failed. Let's go, we've kept him waiting long enough."
"Oh yeah! And how are you going to do that huh!" screamed Naruto.
"We've got you completely surrounded. Any kind of escape will be pointless," said Kakashi.
Sasori looked up at the Copycat Ninja with a bored expression.
"Leaf Village shinobi, make no mistake. Just because we are being forced to retreat now, does not mean we have forgotten about our objective." Everyone had their eyes trained on the Akatsuki member, who only looked like an old man who happened to have a wooden tail that wagged. But they knew what the Akatsuki were capable of, so they stayed alert and on their toes.
"We will come back for the Kazekage one day, and the Nine-Tails as well. And when that happens, no one will be able to stop us." Sasori made a few hand signs under his cloak and afterwards pressed his hand firmly onto the ground. The earth began to rumble and shake, causing everyone to panic.
"Naruto, everyone, stay back!" Kakashi said. The ground continued to shake causing the ninja to almost lose their balance in the trees. Pretty soon the rumbling stopped. Gaara was already in the arms of Jiraiya the Sannin, but the Akatsuki members and the giant owl were gone.
"They, they vanished!" Sakura said.
Naruto grunted in response. "Not on my watch. I'm gonna go find those bastards-"
Kakashi put a hand on his student's shoulder to restrain him once more. "Naruto, you need to forget about them for right now. I know what they did to Gaara wasn't right, but you can't go after them just for the sake of revenge."
Revenge. That word really hit home for Naruto. Revenge was the reason Sasuke left the village. Revenge was the reason he went to go work with that snake Orochimaru, just to obtain the power to kill his older brother. Revenge was the reason why his best friend tried tokill him, and break the bonds they once shared together. Naruto hated revenge.
Naruto lowered his head in shame and tuned out the rest of the world. After a few moments of thinking about his ex-best friend who turned traitor, Naruto finally decided to put him in the back of his mind for now and go check on Gaara.
"It seems that this kid fought one hell of a battle," stated Jiraiya as he began examining Gaara for injuries. "It may take a while for him to regain consciousness. He should be fine otherwise. But just in case I say we take him to the Leaf Village so that Tsunade can thoroughly evaluate him."
"Alright, sounds like a plan. I'm going to summon Pakkun and have him deliver a message to the Sand Village. Their Kazekage is officially safe."
Everyone sighed in relief and stared at the unconscious Gaara, maybe hoping that he might wake up at that very moment.
Something strange caught Naruto's eye. He walked over to the exact spot where the Akatsuki members once were. There was a small black journal sitting there, face down, and opened on one of the pages. He wondered what it was.
"Hey guys! I found somethin' over here!"
Everyone looked where Naruto was, and saw what he was pointing to. But before he had a chance to grab the book, Jiraiya stopped him.
"Don't pick that up, Naruto," Jiraiya said with caution in his voice. "It could be a trap. How about I take a look at it instead."
Naruto scoffed and folded his arms. "Whatever you say, Pervy Sage."
Jiraiya walked over to where Naruto was at. He picked up the book carefully, and read the page the small book had landed on. But as soon as he did, his face paled.
"Pervy Sage, what is it? Is it a trap?" Naruto asked. After sending Pakkun on his way to the Sand Village, Kakashi made his way over to where Jiraiya and Naruto were. Everyone else was still huddled around Gaara, but they were also interested in the small black book that Naruto had found. Curious to see what was going on; Kakashi stood behind Jiraiya and also read the page. When he did, he instantly became nervous as well.
"That's it!" Naruto proclaimed and snatched the book out of Jiraiya hands. He ignored the protests of both his sensei and started to read the page. His mouth dropped and his eyes widened. Because on the page was a picture of him, including a bunch of information that nobody except himself should know. It had his birthdate, his age, where he was from, his shinobi rank; it had a list of people whom he had associated with, which was extraordinarily huge. But the section of where his family was supposed to be listed was completely blank, which saddened and angered him at the same time. On the page to the right of his biography was his Tailed Beast. It also angered him that they had information on the Nine-Tails inside of him too. It mostly talked about the attack it had made on the Leaf Village, and how it killed the Fourth Hokage and thousands of other people as well. Naruto wasn't sure how to react to this. Should he be angry, creeped out, or curious? At the moment, he just felt confused.
"This, th-this is…"
"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked curiously. "What does it say?"
Naruto took a shaky breath and tried to speak again.
"This is me."
"Now, Naruto," said Jiraiya as he made an effort to calm his student. "I know how you must be feeling right now. But-"
"Wh-who are these people?" asked Naruto as he flipped through the pages.
"What are you saying Naruto?" asked Lee.
"Yeah Naruto, you're not making much sense here y'know?" claimed Tenten.
Naruto ignored them and continued to flip through the pages. He stopped at a random page and found a familiar looking face. It was Gaara and his One-Tailed Beast.
"What is this?!" Naruto demanded. He narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya and Kakashi, waiting for answers.
"Naruto," Kakashi said calmly. "Tell us what you see in that book,"
"It's Gaara and I," Naruto wrinkled his face in confusion. "And our tailed-beasts too."
"This isn't good," said Jiraiya. "The Akatsuki are finally getting serious."
"So these people then," said Naruto as he began to flip through the pages again. He counted exactly nine people who had bio on them along with the tailed-beasts. "They're just like Gaara and I?"
"Maybe if you gave us the book Naruto," said Kakashi, "then we would know what you're talking about."
Reluctantly, Naruto handed the book over to Kakashi. Kakashi flipped through the pages like a pro, just like he does when he reads his Icha Icha Paradise novels.
"Hmm… Yes, these people are jinchuriki just like you and Gaara."
"Why do they have so much information about us? In fact, what do they want with us anyway?"
"It's more complicated than that, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "The Akatsuki don't want you, they want what's inside of you."
"Oh…" Naruto said as he tried to process everything that was going on. "They want the Nine-Tails that's sealed inside me?"
Jiraiya nodded sadly. "Yes,"
"If I give it to them, will they leave me alone?"
Kakashi let out an exasperated sigh. "No Naruto, you can't do that."
"Why not?!" Naruto demanded. "I didn't ask for it to be sealed inside of me in the first place! If they want it, they can have it. I want nothing to do with the thing."
"Naruto," Jiraiya tried to explain. "If they take the Nine-Tails out of you, then they take your life as well."
Naruto was taken aback. "W-what?"
"What the word "jinchuriki" means, is the power of human sacrifice. When the Nine-Tails was sealed inside of you, that made you its jinchuriki. If you die, then it dies as well. It also means that you cannot live without your tailed-beast."
"…I see." Naruto said disappointingly. "That means I'm a jinchuriki forever, huh? Guess I'm going to have to live with the big furball." He chuckled.
"Why do you think they left this here, Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm not sure," Jiraiya admitted. "They could have purposefully done it to make us fear them, which I highly doubt. Or, one of them could have been stupid enough to drop it before they left. I bet it was that blonde one. He really got on my nerves,"
"Well, let's just figure it out once we get back to the Hidden Leaf. I'm sure that Tsunade will-"
"Hey wait!" Naruto interrupted. "Does that mean there are more people just like Gaara and I?"
"Well, yes," said Kakashi. "I thought we already established that."
"Then what will happen to them?"
Kakashi thought about it for a moment. "I honestly don't know, Naruto. They're just gonna have to defend for themselves."
"We can't do that! I mean, we can't let that happen. They're jinchuriki just like us! We have to help them somehow..."
"That's definitely out of the question Naruto," Kakashi said. "The rest of the jinchuriki are not allied with the leaf. In fact, they are from the other three great nations that don't get along with us at all."
Naruto clenched his fist and waved it in front of him. "It doesn't matter where they're from! We can't let them get captured by the Akatsuki!"
Before Kakashi could reply, Jiraiya cut into the conversation. "This conversation can wait until we get back to the Leaf Village. The Kazekage needs to see Tsunade so that he can recover faster and return to the Sand Village. Everyone is waiting for him there,"
"Oh, right, Gaara." Naruto jumped over to where Gaara and the others were. He was still unconscious, but very much alive. He draped Gaara's limp arm around his shoulders and picked him up.
"Let's get back to the Hidden Leaf Village, everyone! This mission was a success!" He pumped and fist in the air and began to celebrate. However, after twenty minutes of carrying Gaara, he realized that his sand gourd weighed a ton. He had no idea how a guy as short as Gaara could carry something that weighed so much. Naruto ended up complaining the entire way. But still, he was happy that Gaara was alive, and didn't get his beast taken from him by the Akatsuki. The only thing that Naruto cared about was that his friend, was safe.
In the Akatsuki hideout
"So the mission was a failure..." said a holographic man with swirling purple eyes.
"Don't look at me," said Deidara. "It was all Sasori's idea. And I put a lot of effort in getting the One-Tail too…"
"You were greedy, Deidara," claimed Sasori. "You wanted to capture the Nine-Tails too badly, and that's what lead to our unfortunate outcome."
"Yeah but if you listened to me then we would have had him!"
"That's enough." The purple eyed man's voice echoed throughout the cave. "Indeed, I am disappointed in the both of you. This does mess up our plans,"
"Never rely on these two to complete a simple task," said another holographic man with a large sword strapped to his back. "Heck, I wouldn't even allow them to do my laundry."
"Oh shut your mouth, Gill-Face!" Deidara pointed an accusing finger to the swordsman. "I know you were the one who was supposed to capture the Nine-Tails before! But I'm not seeing him anywhere, am I?"
The swordsman grunted in response.
"We were in no need to retrieve him at that time," said the holographic Akatsuki member standing next to the swordsman. He had bright red eyes that represented none other than the Sharingan. "It was a pointless mission to begin with. And Deidara, Sasori's words about you don't surprise me. You were consumed by greed and confidence, and this is what it resulted into."
Deidara stayed silent after that. He truthfully hated Itachi with all his heart, because everything he said was always true. Every move he made was always the right one. It irritated Deidara till no end.
"I have to agree with Itachi, Deidara," said the purple eyed man. "In the future, don't do anything other than what I ask you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Hn," was all Deidara could say.
"From now on," the leader announced, "I will be the one who will be capturing the Nine-Tails. Since the One-Tail will be heavily guarded after this incident, we shall save him for last as well. Any objections? Good. All of you are dismissed." With that, all of the holograms disappeared, leaving Sasori and Deidara alone in the cave.
"Hey Sasori?"
"What is it Deidara?"
"Have you seen my journal?"
Gaara felt dizzy as he tried to open his eyes. He noticed that he was in a bright-lit room, and after further inspection, he confirmed that he was in the hospital. This was strange for Gaara because he's never had to go to the hospital. Sure he's been in one (where he almost killed Rock Lee during the time he had lost his mind), but he's never been treated in one before. He tried to remember what happened. He was fighting a member of the Akatsuki above the Hidden Sand Village, and then… Did he lose? And if he did, then shouldn't he be dead right now? Surely the Akatsuki must have tried to take him somewhere. But if so, then what was he doing here?
"Gaara!"
Gaara was startled when a pair of arms grabbed him out of nowhere and started to hug him. This was also strange. No one has ever tried to hug him before either. Wait a minute, was a hug supposed to feel like suffocation? He thought hugs were supposed to be actions of comfort, but instead it felt like a death technique that an enemy would use. Gaara decided that he didn't like hugs.
"Um, Temari?" a new voice spoke. "I think your squeezing him too hard."
Temari pulled away from Gaara and noticed that his face was paler than usual. So it was Temari who had tried to kill him. He thought for sure that it was the Akatsuki. How could his sister do such a thing?
"Oh, sorry Gaara," his sister apologized. "I'm just glad you're okay. You really had everyone worried,"
"Wh-where am I?" he asked.
"You're in Konoha's hospital," said a pink-haired girl whose name he believed was Sakura Haruno. "You've been unconscious for a couple days, but Lady Tsunade and I treated all of your injuries. You heal pretty fast, so you can go home anytime you want now."
"You really had us worried there," a blonde teenager stepped forward so that he was next to Gaara's bed. "It's a good thing we found you in time!" he said cheerfully.
Gaara recognized that voice, and those whisker marks too. "Naruto?"
Naruto smiled with pride and placed hands on his hips. "Yep, that's right!"
"I know, I couldn't believe it either," Temari admitted. "He's even taller than me now,"
Naruto was grinning ear to ear now. "I know, in fact I'm the tallest person in this room!"
"Not quite," said an older voice. The silver-haired man walked up to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. When Naruto turned around to see who it was, he instantly became depressed and hung his head to show it.
"Oh, right. I completely forgot about you, Kakashi sensei."
Kakashi laughed and took his hand off his poor student's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Gaara? You know, a lot of people seem to care about you."
Gaara took a look around the room. There was Temari, Team Seven and Team Guy. But he noticed that someone important to him was missing.
"Where is Kankuro?" There was an immediate reaction from Temari, and everyone else had sorrowful looks on their faces.
When no one answered for a few moments, Gaara said to Temari "Seeing that you are here, and he is not, I assume something must have happened. I'm now prepared for the worst, so you can tell me."
Temari swallowed. "When the Akatsuki took you away, Kankuro chased them down to stop them on his own. When he confronted them, one of the Akatsuki members injected a lethal poison into him somehow. He had to be taken immediately back to the Sand Village,"
"And then what?" asked Gaara.
Temari looked down and tried to keep her composure. "For the next couple of days, he was in absolute agony. He wouldn't stop screaming. I, I really thought he was gonna die. But thankfully Sakura came along and created an antidote for it. After that the pain he had seemed to go away. Then when we found out about you, Kankuro wanted to come with me here, but of course I didn't let him. I think that he's okay now." When she finished her speech, Temari gave a grateful smile to Sakura, who instantly smiled back.
"I see," said Gaara. "I'm glad that he's alright. What about the village?"
Temari smiled at her brother's concern. "Everyone's fine. They're just waiting for their Kazekage to come home. I'm here to personally escort you back."
Gaara smiled also. "That's good to hear." Then he turned to face Naruto. "So, were you the one who saved me then?"
Naruto looked at Gaara before smiling sheepishly while instinctively rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it wasn't just me. It was everyone here," Gaara looked at everyone around the room. Besides Temari, the rest of them were all Leaf shinobi who were smiling at him. Gaara couldn't resist the urge to give a small smile back.
"We care about you, Gaara. You're the new Kazekage now, after all."
Gaara suddenly bowed his head, which confused Naruto. "I thank you, Naruto Uzumaki, for everything you have done for me."
Naruto smiled a bit. "No problem, Gaara."
"So, Lord Kazekage," Kakashi began to say, "this Akatsuki member you fought…How good was he?"
Gaara told the story of the fight he had with Deidara. He remembered the explosive clay the guy made with his own hands, and it was able to seep through his sand defense.
"So they're more trouble than we thought," Kakashi said. "They must have recruited S-rank missing nin, all throughout every single hidden village."
"But what will they do now that they don't have Gaara?" asked Naruto.
"Well, it's likely that Gaara will be placed under heavy protection from now on. The Hidden Sand Village will definitely won't let the Akatsuki take him for a second time."
"That's right," Temari said. "Even if we need to gather every single shinobi we can to surround the village. We'll also have our ANBU black ops guard Gaara at all times. I'll be damned if I let them capture my brother again."
Gaara processed everything Temari had said. He wasn't sure if he was fond of being protected twenty-four seven. They couldn't just cage him up like an animal. No, not like what his father used to do with him.
"Are you sure that's really necessary, Temari?" Gaara asked.
Temari placed a firm hand on her brother's shoulder. "Of course, Gaara. The council's not going to let you face the Akatsuki alone this time. The whole village is gonna have your back."
Great, so not only will he be guarded at all times, but he'll be risking the village's safety as well. As Kazekage, he always had to put the village and the people first. But if he stayed there, then…..
"Kakashi sensei, if Gaara's gonna be protected by the Sand Village, then what about the others?" Naruto asked.
"…Others?"
"Yeah, the other jinchuriki. What's gonna happen to them when the Akatsuki hunt them down?"
"There are more jinchuriki other than Naruto and I?" Gaara thought.
Kakashi sighed deeply. "Naruto, didn't we go over this already? There's simply nothing we can do about it."
With a disbelieving look on his face, Naruto folded his arms. "I still think that we should help them somehow. Or warn them at least,"
"I'm sure most of the villages are aware of this issue just like we are, Naruto. There's nothing to worry about."
Naruto suddenly slammed his fist on the table next to Gaara. Everyone stopped talking to each other and was startled by Naruto's reaction.
"What do you mean there's nothing to worry about?! The Akatsuki are trying to kidnap them and extract their tailed beasts!" Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Just like they were going to do to Gaara."
Everyone was listening closely to the conversation now, especially Gaara. He wanted to know what Naruto Uzumaki was talking about.
"There are only nine jinchuriki in the world. Two of them include me and Gaara. That means there are only seven more of us out there! Maybe if we can work with each other, then we'll have a better chance at standing up to the Akatsuki!"
The wheels in Gaara's brain started to turn, but everyone else just sat there and looked confused.
"Look, Naruto," Kakashi said as he tried to reason with his stubborn student. "I know where you're coming from. If this was under different circumstances, then maybe we could help them out…"
Naruto looked his sensei in the eye as he continued. "However, like I said before. The rest of the jinchuriki are in villages that don't get along well with the Hidden Leaf. Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure, have all fought wars against us in the past. They were bloody, gruesome wars…" Kakashi trailed off as he remembered the incident with Obito and Rin. "And just because we aren't fighting anymore, doesn't mean the tension we had between them is gone. Shinobi from the Hidden Leaf don't visit those villages very often because they're afraid of getting attacked. And the same goes for them as well. If Konoha were to ever contact one of those villages for help, they most likely wouldn't give it to us," Kakashi suddenly pointed to Naruto's headband. "If you ever walked into one of those villages wearing that, someone might be hiding just waiting to attack you. Basically, it works like this. They don't trust us, and we don't trust them. But we don't want another war to break out, and neither do they. So for the sake of that, we sign a 'peace' treaty, to make sure it won't happen again. The only stable alliance we have is with the Sand Village, and they're the only hidden village in one of the five great nations that we can trust at this point. Now do you get what I'm saying, Naruto?"
"Yeah…" Naruto said and looked away from Kakashi. "What you're saying is that, they don't want our help. And even if we do offer it to them, they probably still wouldn't trust us…"
"You finally understand."
Naruto suddenly clenched his fists tightly. "When I become Hokage, I'm gonna change that! I'm gonna make sure that there is true peace in this world, one that's not signed on a stupid piece of paper. No, I want to make sure that there's real peace within the five great nations. Where we're able to trust and help each other without feeling nervous and uncomfortable. Just like Konoha and Suna. We may have had a rocky start, but we overcame that. And now we help each other without hesitation. So when I become Hokage, that's what I'm gonna do. I will find true peace in this world."
After Naruto's speech, everyone in the room had stunned looks on their faces. The most shocked person was Gaara. Even though he was already named Kazekage, he still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in himself. He wanted the desire to change the world just like Naruto. One day, he vowed to become more like him.
Kakashi got over his shock and coughed a bit. "Right, well, um…. We're going to report to the Hokage that you're alive and well, Gaara. I hope you have a good stay in Konoha," he waved at Gaara and Temari before walking out the door. Everyone told Gaara goodbye and wished him well before following Kakashi.
"Make sure you catch me before ya leave!" said Naruto before exiting out the door with the rest.
When everyone left, Temari said, "I'm gonna go sign you out Gaara. I know how much you hate hospitals. I'll be back." When she left, Gaara finally had some time to think to himself.
When the Sand Village asked him to be Kazekage, he was actually quite shocked. First of all, he was young, and some will say that he didn't have enough experience as a shinobi to qualify for such an honor. He was also surprised that they would nominate him even though they knew what he was. He remembered when they tried to kill him several times. He remembered the cold and fearful stares. He was shunned and left to rot by loneliness. He couldn't sleep at night, as he would wake up the next day to find blood covered on his hands and clothes. Eventually, he became the monster that people presumed him to be. He became the One-Tailed Sand Spirit. He also thought that nothing and no one could ever stop him from the walking path he was going on. But then he met Naruto Uzumaki. Not only did he stop him from destroying the Leaf, but he also stopped him from becoming a full-fledged demon. He told Gaara that he wasn't alone, which is what Gaara had always believed. It turned out that Naruto was just like him. He had a demon inside him, and people would treat him like one too. And yet, he turned out to be happy and cheerful, while Gaara ended up being the exact opposite. Naruto told him that once he found people who he wanted to protect, he no longer felt alone. Gaara asked himself if he had anyone like that, people that he wanted to protect. He quickly realized that he had Temari and Kankuro, and that he wasn't truly alone after all. He just needed help from someone in order to see it. After his battle with Naruto, Gaara changed drastically after that. He started to see the world in a whole new light. Now he had a whole village to protect, which was asking quite a lot for him, but he was up for the challenge.
He thought of what Temari had said before. All of his people would be protecting him, but it should be the other way around. The last thing he wanted to do was to put the village in danger. It was his role as Kazekage to make sure that didn't happen. It was obvious that the Akatsuki would be coming for him eventually, and he thought of what the consequences might be if he went back. He knew that they powerful enough to destroy the Hidden Sand.
Gaara started thinking again. Naruto's words about the other jinchuriki popped into his mind. He was actually happy to know that there were more people like him and Naruto out there in the world. But there wouldn't be if no one went to help them…
An idea popped into Gaara's mind. Or rather, a made-up plan. It was genius. It was a way to protect everyone he cared about without putting them in danger. He would also be saving several other people just like him and Naruto.
But, it was also risky. He didn't know if anyone would approve of it. However, since he was the Kazekage now, he would have a little more influence on more people than he used to.
Out of anxiety, Gaara got up from the hospital bed and strapped on his shoes. Then he walked over to where his sand gourd was and put it on his back.
The hospital door opened suddenly, revealing Temari standing there. "Can't wait to go home already? Can't say I blame ya, everyone is waiting for you th-"
"Temari," Gaara interrupted. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"I need you to send a message to the Hidden Sand. Tell them to bring all of the councilor members here to the Hidden Leaf,"
"Wh-what?" Temari stuttered.
"Don't waste time, do it now."
"But Gaara!"
"I've come up with a plan, but it needs to be discussed with council of the Leaf and Sand villages. I'm going to arrange an appointment with the Hokage right now."
"You want to bring the entire council here?! Is it really that important?"
Gaara took a deep breath. "Yes, it is. Now go Temari, and please do what I asked you." Gaara made his way out of the room before Temari did, because she was still standing there in shock.
Gaara had a genius, risky, and yet crazy plan. He was going to create a fake criminal organization.