Author's Note: Please pardon the many English errors. I'm still learning the language.
Heartworks 01
ハアトワク01
Location: Konohagakure
Hokage Tower
It was a seemingly fine day. The sun was shining brightly, there was a cool breeze blowing in from the forests, the markets of Konohagakure were lively and the new batch of genin had not managed to destroy anything by accident yet. In fact, some might have considered this day slight better than the usual good days usually experienced by the citizens of the hidden village. The mood in the Hokage Tower however was quite different from what one might expect.
"So tell me, Jiraiya…is there any good news today?" A seemingly young woman asked mildly, rubbing her temples with her free hand, stressing the word "good". Her other hand was tightly clutching a bottle of good sake.
Evidently, she had been recipient to several pieces of bad news, and her temper and composure were appropriately frayed.
The tall man standing before the seemingly young Hokage desk appeared much older than she did. Despite that, the weathered face, the broad shoulders and the long wild untamable lengths of air gave him an air of power and an odd air of respect, but only when he wasn't hiding it.
He was Jiraiya, one of Konohagakure's mighty sannin. One of the three ninjas that would send lesser ninjas running like dogs. But right now, he was fidgeting uncomfortably, as if being interrogated by his mother, or even his wife. Really, a tsundereko…
The woman sighed and continued the conversation.
"Let's have a recap shall we?"
"You're telling me that Akatsuki has obtained the nibi?" She inquired slowly. Though to Jiraiya, it was anything but slow and patient. He could see that signs. The slight twitch of one blonde eyebrow. The way her hands strangled the poor bottle of sake viciously. The way she ground her teeth so loudly that it was audible form where he was standing.
Tsunade was reaching her breaking point stress wise. Menopause had not helped the situation at all.
"Yes Tsunade…"came his feeble reply.
Tsunade sighed once more and continued.
"And you say that reports from Mizu no Kuni indicate that they have captured the sanbi as well?"
Jiraiya mutely nodded. Usually he would have flirted and joked, but today was a somber occasion.
"And, that contact of yours in Tsuchi no Kuni said that the Yonbi has fallen into Akatsuki's hands as well?" She continued, free hand still raised to her temple, attempting to rub away the coming migraine.
"Yes…"
"And the Gobi?"
Jiraiya rubbed his hands together. "Akatsuki got it as well…according to Tazuna-san of Wave, the jinchuryukki bearing the gobi was aboard one of their trading vessels on the east-west sea route when they were attacked. Almost the entire fleet of ships was destroyed in the battle between the bijou and the two Akatsuki members sent to capture him."
"So he's gone then…what were you saying about the rokubi? I thought you said something about "unconfirmed", Jiraiya."
Jiraiya pulled a scroll from his robes.
"Hai…hai…I did say that but..." He tossed it to Tsunade, who caught it deftly with her free hand. "They said that the rokubi battled the Akatuki members all the way to the borders of Oto no kuni before the fight ended. My contacts could not determine a clear winner but, the battle reports strongly hint that the Akatsuki eventually won the fight."
Unrolling the sealed scroll, Tsunade read it intently. By the way her eyes flashed dangerously, she didn't like what she had seen in the battle report submitted by the onlookers.
"Yes…you're right, Jiraiya." Tsunade agreed. "If the jinchuryukki bearing the rokubi had escaped, he would be past the border into Kaminari no kuni by now, and we would have heard of it. This isn't good at all…Six of the nine bijou are in firmly in Akatsuki's hands, can we hold out against them?"
"There are still three of the bijou which are not in Akatsuki's hands yet. Never ever forget that, Tsunade. All has not been lost yet, there is still hope." Jiraiya reassured. Although the elder sannin seemed confident, his confidence seemed empty and fake. Akatsuki was simply far too great a threat to simply brush aside easily at all. The defeat of Sabaku no Gaara by a single of their members was indication of that.
"Yes…three of the bijou are still free from Akatsuki. Any news of them, Jiraiya? In this case no news is good news…" Tsunade said worriedly.
"Only the Nanbi." Jiraiya stated. "The reports from my contacts indicate that the jinchuryuuki bearing the nanbi is fleeing from Kaze no kuni, attempting the head west over the mountains to Tsurugi no kuni. Smart move on his part, putting some distance between him or herself and Akatsuki, maybe Tsurugi no kuni's armies can stop them, but I doubt he or she will make it across the mountains without some help." He traced a worn finger along the lines of a map rolled out on the Hokage's table.
"He tapped the marker which indicated a small desert lake, several kilometers east of the capital of Kaze no kuni. "He or she has a long way to go," he added, "he or she was spotted here three days ago, and judging by the speed he or she is moving, this vessel has not received any shinobi training at all."
"Does the kazekage know about this?" Tsunade asked sharply, inclining her head westwards in the general direction of Kaze no Kuni.
"Obviously, "Jiraiya snorted. "If we can count on anyone to be strongly against the Akatsuki organisation, it would be Sabaku no Gaara. He has no love for Akatsuki, and I've sent someone to help him out in the search for the nanbi." He paused for breath before carrying on.
"Rest assured they will do their best to ensure the nanbi vessel falls into their custody, failing that, repel Akatsuki till the jinchuryukki can cross the border into Tsurugi no kuni" he continued.
For the first time that day, Tsunade felt some relief from her migraine. "If anyone is going to fight off Akatsuki, Gaara would be the one…it's been a year since the shukaku was extracted from him and he's surpassed himself, the amount of growth he has shown even surprises me sometimes." Tsuande murmured once again drinking her sake with relish.
"Yes…a few elite jounin would go a long way to helping fend the Akatsuki away from this poor jinchuryuuki. Along with the Suna nin, I think they could possibly do it. It's Hatake Kakashi-san and Maito Gai-san right?"
Jiraiya grinned and shook his head.
"Mitarashi Anko-san and Hyuuga Neji-kun?"
"Not right, Tsuande."
Then she paused and look at Jiraiya before asking "…wait a second here Jiraiya, who did you send to help Sunagakure?"
"No way?"
Location: Somewhere in the Great Desert of Kaze no kuni.
North-western expanse.
Beyond the forest of Konohagakure, and even the very borders of his own home, Hi no kuni's, guarded lands, a young man sneezed loudly, alarming his female companion.
Said companion was female and had pink hair, cut to shoulder's length, and was notclad in attire appropriate for people in such climates such as this. Wearing her usual garments of sports shorts, red shirt and various weapon holsters, she looked fairly normal, for a kunoichi. The only variant from her usual attire was that a long thin scarf was wound around her nose and mouth to keep the dust out and that she wore a large and odd looking straw hat.
"It's nothing Sakura-chan, just dust…lots and lots of dust…" He muttered, rinsing his mouth out with water from the water pouch strapped to his belt and blowing out his nose loudly into the sleeve of his jacket.
"Don't do that Naruto! It's disgusting."
"It's already dirty." He countered, pointing the dust stained sleeve of his once orange jacket animatedly. "A little more dust from my nose is not going to make it worse, Sakura-chan. And my nose is full of dust too."
Said female kunoichi growled in annoyance. "It's not the dust I'm calling disgusting Naruto."
He merely shrugged.
"I told you to get a scarf or something, Naruto!" Sakura, kunoichi of Konohagure no soto snapped loudly, tugging at her own scarf rather forcefully. "You're going to clog up your own lungs with all this …dust if this goes on." Grouchily, she kicked at the bare sandy ground, kicking up a shower of dust six meters high.
The two Sunagakure jounin and one chuunin stepped back apprehensively at her show of temper no making a sound lest it drew out her wrath. The slayer of Akasuna no Sasori was well known in Sunagakure and both her strength and temper were almost the things of legends.
The young blond man was clad in his usual garb, consisting of deep orange and black jacket and tough canvas pants. The sleeves were quite stained and the front was worn and faded. Six days scouring the trackless deserts of Kaze no kuni for the very elusive jinchuryuuki had been very taxing on the both of them, Sakura especially, even if she did seem much fresher than he was.
"I am having second thoughts about this mission Sakura-chan…" Naruto grumbled, fiddling with the weapons in the holster strapped to hi belt, next to the water pouch. "It's hot, dusty and there is no sign of the nanbi at all, I wonder if the other teams from Sunagakure are having any luck with this."
Sakura sighed and continued walking, evidently having vented most of her frustrations already. With one outstretched hand, she motioned for the Sunagakure ninja to follow, and they complied without a fight. "So am I, Naruto, so am I. Who knows if Jiraiya-sama's contacts were even right…the nanbi could be in Mizu no kuni or even in Brittania for all we know.
"Brittania?" Naruto asked curiously.
Sakura sighed once more. "It's a country on the other side of the world, Naruto. Honestly, you should read more about things outside Hi no Kuni, broaden your horizons a little." She explained.
"Ohhh…" he gasped, grasping the concept. "Wonder how far that is from here," he asked out loud, once again washing his mouth of dust out by spitting into the sand loudly.
That reminded her, she had to check their coordinates once more, before they got hopelessly lost. Such was the harshness of the great deserts of Kaze no kuni, than even their own ninja themselves, sometimes went missing in the deserts and were never heard off again.
That was no laughing matter, seeing that the stretch of desert that they were in currently looked exactly the same as the stretches of desert they were in three or four days previously. To the west, the mountains marking the border to Tsurugi no kuni were as small as ever, to the north east the borders of the rainforest marking the border to ame no kuni loomed just as ominously.
No one could forget that the headquarters of the akatsuki leader was just several hundred kilometers away.
Nodding, Sakura merely turned towards the Sunagakure jounin. "Pass me the map would you?" She ordered. Nodding somewhat hesitantly, the lead jounin pulled a map of the realm from a slot on his flak vest. Approaching her silently, he handed the worn piece of paper over wordlessly, nodding in respect.
Un rolling the worn piece of paper into something readable, Sakura pulled Naruto closer and directed his attention to the more important parts of the worn piece of paper. Pulling a compass form her pocket, Sakura gazed at the mountains to ascertain her rough bearings, and checked the map once more.
No use getting lost in the desert, even if this was a regular mission. But with the fate of the vessel of the nanbi at stake, it was all the more important not to get lost and follow his or her fading trail quickly and without delay.
Every second they wasted gave the pursuing members of Akatsuki a second more to capture the vessel of the Nanbi. Jiraiya-sama himself had stressed the importance of locating and taking into custody the nanbi's vessel when he had briefed them on this impromptu mission several days back.
"It's very important!" Jiraiya-sama had said, pulling a scroll from within his red robes. "You two are already neck deep in this Akatsuki business, so you will have to do this."
"Hai Ero-sennin!" Naruto had agreed at once, but Sakura was silent. She still had more than a few reservations about the whole matter. And unlike Naruto, Sakura was a bit more cool headed and more willing to calculate the pros and cons before jumping into a dangerous situation. Especially one as dangerous as this.
"Wait, Jiraiya-sama…" Sakura had said slowly, brows knitted, considering the implications about what the elder ninja was suggesting. "You're telling us to go to Kaze no kuni to look for the vessel of the nanbi?"
"Yes." He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to do at that moment.
He scowled as he peeled open the wax seal of a small scroll he had pulled from his robe. "And not just to look for him," he had added. "To take him into custody and bring him to Sunagakure no soto for protection or if all else fails, hold Akatsuki off until he can cross over the mountain passes and fifteen kilometers deep into Tsurugi no kuni's territory."
"How will that help, Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura asked. "Even if he does get into Tsurugi no kuni, can't Akatsuki just follow and capture him or her? What makes you think that the Tsurugi-nin can do any better than us? Or the Suna-nin?"
Jiraiya had looked sharply at her, and then he motioned for Naruto and herself to lean in closer to him. The both did, faces nearly touching as Jiraiya motioned them closer and closer, glancing around fugitively as if there were enemy ninja listening in on them at that very moment.
"Listen up, you too Naruto. This is important. Yes, I would prefer it if we or the SUna-nin take the vessel into custody, but IF and only IF we are unable to locate or find the vessel, we should concentrate all attention on finding the two Akatsuki members sent to retrieve him." He said, grimly, scratching at his mole.
Even Naruto remained silent, noting the gravity of the situation. Jiraiya did not often take such a tone of voice, but when he did, people knew that what he was going to say was going to be important.
"Why do I say this?" he continued. "You of all people know how strong the members of Akatsuki really are, you have fought them and on occasions even won. But know this, your average ninja cannot go fight with them unaided. It would be foolishness to divide the meager forces the Suna has remaining after the last Akatsuki attack on Suna, between locating the nanbi and battling Akatsuki. You two get what I mean?" He asked, turning to Naruto especially.
She did. Naruto did too, grimly nodding in acknowledgement.
The principle was simple. To keep the nanbi out of Akatsuki's hands at all costs, even if that meant letting the vessel of the nanbi escape into foreign soil. A country completely neutral to both Kaze no kuni and Hi no Kuni. Tsurugi no kuni would be the wild card in this game of chance.
The long distance to Tsurugi no kuni meant that even if the Akatsuki members managed to retrieve the vessel of the nanbi in Tsurugi no Kuni, they would be cut off from their headquarters and would take much time to return through Tsurugi no kuni and by the time they could reach the borders of Kaze no Kuni once more, they would have Tsurugi no kuni's army and ninja hot on their heels, and also the army and shinobi force of Kaze no Kuni waiting on their own side of the border to deal with them.
Even Akatsuki would be hard pressed to take on the full might of two entire great realms of the lands. The soldiers of Kaze no Kuni were tempered by the harsh unforgiving lands that they called home and their ninja were equally hardened, if not more so. While Tsurugi no kuni spoke for herself, the land of swords was where four great invasions from the deserts of the middle west were blunted and hurled back into the wastes, and even if half of the prowess of Tsurugi no Kuni's armed forces were to be believed, they would be a formidable force to be reckoned with.
Trapped between the combined might of both Tsurugi no kuni and Kaze no kuni, even if all nine of the Akatsuki core members were present, they would be little chance of victory.
Still there were still countless possibilities and variables which could turn the whole situation wrong in this last ditch scenario.
Tsurugi no kuni's fighting prowess could be far weaker than anticipated.
The Akatsuki could already have captured the nanbi, leaving them here in the middle of a desert conducting a fruitless search.
Half the Suna nin could be akatsuki agents.
Her musing was interrupted when Jiraiya had handed them both a chakra sealed scroll each.
"You must be wondering why I'm sending Naruto out on this mission when clearly he is on the list of targets for Akatsuki…I fell that it would be safer out there than back home in good old Konohagakure…there are forces at work there which could be as dangerous as Akatsuki, perhaps even more so as these forces are in their home territory, politics…till I and Tsunade-him settle this, I would want you away from Konohagakure for now."
Sakura had been interested about Konoha's internal politics and the danger they posed, but Naruto had other things on his mind.
"What are these?" Naruto asked, holding up his sealed scroll and twirling it with his fingers.
"There is an item sealed within them…an expensive one, imported from Tsurugi no kuni, called a backpack radio or something like that…you know… like a bigger version of those standard issue headset radios we use." Jiraiya replied, stroking the scroll longingly. Apparently the cost of these imported items had come out from his own pocket.
"Why can't we use those? These sound really bulky." Naruto muttered.
"Because these backpack radios have a much longer range than those headsets and besides that's why I sealed them into scrolls, they nearly didn't fit into the sealed space but never mind that." Jiraiya replied, glancing at the small scroll.
"Remember, Naruto, you are no longer searching for a cat in a few square kilometers of forest. You are searching for a person across several hundred square kilometers of deserts, so logically; you will need longer something a bit more powerful to keep in communication with the other teams of searchers." He continued. "Here, unseal them and get a feel of the backpack radios. You'll need to be familiar with all the dials and knobs and other things on this thing…"
"Ero-sennin! You do know how to use them don't you? Because you really sound like you donn't know what you are talking about." Naruto stated accusingly, eyes fixed on the older man
Jiraiya merely shrugged. "Of course not, I've got other means of communication, and plus, the last time I tried to use one, I broke it. Sealing them in scrolls is about as much as I am willing to be involved in them. Unseal them and get a feel of them." He snapped back.
Naruto muttered something under his breath and cut his finger on a kunai. Grumbling he spread his blood on the blood seal adorning the scroll. There was a puff of smoke and the backpack radio appeared-scattered in about several hundred pieces on the ground.
"What!?!? What's this????" He yelled, dropping the scroll hastily, taking several steps back to survey the damage. "Er…er-sennin, how much did these cost again?" He asked sheepishly.
Jiraiya stared amusedly as his student gawked at the pile of parts lying on the ground before him in panic. "Ehehehehe, oh my, Naruto! You broke it! These aren't cheap you know! I had them specially imported from Tsurugi no kuni, expect to fork out five hundred thousand ryou at least."
Sakura had wanted to speak out against this, but Jiraiya had shushed her while Naruto stood and panicked.
She had been looking for an oppotunit since then to explain to Naruto the mechanics of sealing scrolls, and how Jiraiya had cheated him out off over fifty thousand ryou. But every time she had tried back then, Jiraya had been staring at her, and since they had entered the desert, they hadn't the time to really talk at all, leaving the subject untouched.
Then, one of the Suna jouin, the one with the wristwatch, had approached her.
"Sakura-dono," he said respectfully "It's been five hours, please radio in our status." Indicating to the large sealing scroll that had been dangling from her wrist. It had been agreed on that the teams would use the backpack radios to maintain contact with one another, at five hour intervals they would unseal the backpack radios and report to the command center in Sunagakure.
"Right," she replied.
Calling the team towards her, including Naruto, she unrolled the sealing scroll and bit her finger down hard, letting loose a tickle of blood. Cringing, she rubbed her finger along the smooth fabric of the sealing runes upon the scroll's face.
With a puff of smoke, the disassembled backpack radio appeared, scattering parts all over the sandy ground.
"Quick!" Naruto yelled, gesturing wildly. "Don't lose any of the parts!!!" With that, he dove onto the sandy ground and began gathering parts. The Suna nins followed suit, scrambling along the ground enthusiastically, as if they were children playing in the sand. It was likely that they had never had a more noisy or enthusiastic team leader than Naruto ever before.
Not before long, all the parts were gathered, although they nearly lost part of the receiver to a hungry peco chickling. With practiced skill, the backpack radio, in all its bulky glory, was quickly assembled, within ten minutes in fact. They had several days of practice behind them after all. It hadn't gone nearly as well the first time they did it
"Sakura-chan, you do it." Naruto asked, still unfamiliar with the new technology he had been presented with.
Nodding, Sakura stooped and flicked the power supply on. Pulling the phone like apparatus from the receiver, Sakura tuned in to the wavelength for Sunagakure.
She was about to speak into the receiver when something unexpected something.
The radio blared to life.
"This is Sacchin of Sunagakure, I repeat, this is Sacchin of Sunagakure."
There was a pause, a silence, an expectation of what was to come.
It did not disappoint.
"This is a class one highest priority dispatch from Kazekage-sama I repeat; this is a class one dispatch. Listen up well."
There was A pause for breath. What was happening? Was Sunagakure under attack? A class one dispatch could only mean that the village was in danger or…
"Team forty seven has confirmed that the target is exactly thirty three kilometers and five hundred and seventy seven meters away from the border of Tsurugi no Kuni, coordinates 123455, 7891011. She is being pursued by the members of Akatsuki. I repeat; the target is in danger of capture by Akatsuki."
"Oh damn." Naruto groaned. "Damned Akatsuki."
Sakura agreed, without the swear words.
"All teams within a fifty kilometer radius of the target are to get there ASAP and reinforce team forty seven in repelling Akatsuki. Do not attempt to take the target into custody! I repeat; do not attempt to take the target into custody, our primary goal now is to hold off Akatsuki until the target has crossed safely into the borders of the realm of Tsurugi no kuni!
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, rolling up his sleeves in anticipation. "Where's the map? How far are we from whatever she said just now?" He asked.
Sakura complied, pulling the map from her waist pouch once more.
Unrolling it, she scanned the wrinkled surface for their coordinates; comparing it to the coordinates they were given.
"We're fifty seven kilometers north west from their position, Naruto. Do you think we will make it in time to make any difference?" She asked concernedly, estimating the distance and the speed they would have to make it there to make any difference there at all.
"If we can maintain a twenty five kilometer per hour sprint for two hours and still get there with enough strength to fight…" She muttered
"We'll have to give it a shot! I'm not going to give up on the nanbi!" NAruto declared, pointing off south east to their estimated location. "Let's do this, we'l get there and kick their asses!"
Sakura nodded.
"Can you keep up?" she asked, turning to the lone Suna chunin.
Grudgingly, he shook his head slowly.
"Don't worry about me, give me the spare map and I'll make my way back tot Sunagakure." He replied, unwilling to leave, yet even more unwilling to be a burden when speed was clearly in the essence here.
"We'll do that," Naruto replied. Handing over his unused map to the Suna chunnin, who bowed slightly before turning away.
Turning to the Jounin and Sakura, he asked.
"Are you ready?"
Receiving nods, he added. "Let's roll! Dattebayo!!!!!"
Location: Kaze no Kuni, roughly thirty three kilometers from Tsurugi no kuni's borders.
Sand-Sword highway.
"Who would have thought it…of all the routes to take, she just waltzes down the highway and escapes our notice huh, Kankuro-nii chan?" a young girl, probably a chunnin of Suna chirped out, seemingly oblivious to the two cloaked figures walking-apparently at leisure towards the knoll that they were holding their ground at.
Kankuro, jounin of Suna and master puppeteer stood silent, grimly looking down the long stretch of sand strewn road, at the two advancing Akatsuki members not too far away. He did not reply her at all, instead continuing to watch the advancing shadows.
"Such gall, they don't even bother to hide their presence…"Kankuro muttered darkly. "Gin, how many teams are coming to help us? And how long do we have to hold them off?" he asked, pointing towards the two Akatsuki members, still calmly strolling towards their direction.
Gin looked up at the team leader.
"Not too good, Kankuro-dono. The closest team is still half an hour away…and we need to hold the Akatsuki off for two and a half at least to get the target close enough to Tsurugi no kuni's border. This is the best case scenario here. Eight of us against them isn't very good odds here…a 1/10 chance of survival is the best I can get here…"
"Seven against two, Gin, not eight." Kankuro grunted. "You're sisters is not fighting here, she's going down the road and following the nanbi vessel. Her skill might be useful in tracking, but she's by no means ready for a fight, let alone with Akatsuki. Trust me on this one, Gin; I've faced one of them before"
"Can't I stay, Kankuro-nii-chan?" the younger girl, Gin's sister, asked sweetly.
Kankuro merely glared at her, whilst her brother explained why she had to get out of the way of the impeding battle.
"You've spoilt her, Gin." Kankuro muttered.
"Oh really, Kankuro-dono. I'd say you've been the one spoiling her back in Suna…"
The two akatsuki members stopped. Just a mere fifty or so meters away from the base of the small hill where they were standing their ground.
"Ready, Kankuro-dono?" Gin asked, glancing over his shoulder at the disappearing form of his sister as she made her way along the Sand-Sword highway, away from the imminent battle.
"Almost, Gin. I feel an inspiring speech coming on…"
"Should you do that? You'll give your position away." Gin warned.
"Don't worry about that, they've noticed us long ago."
Standing to his full height, Kankuro stood and called out.
"Ninja's of Sunagakure! You may think you are outmatched, but know what I think?"
"THIS IS SUNA!!!!! And they are not welcome here!!!" he roared, getting blinks of surprise and approval.
Hundreds of meters west, a worn ragged figure of a young lady scrambled desperately westwards along the sandy road towards Tsurugi no Kuni.
She would make it…she would not be captured by them…
She wanted to live.
And so she struggled on.
Definitions:
Hi no kuni: Country of Fire: Most of the main characters come from here. One of the most powerful elemental nations.
Konohagakure: Konohagakure no soto; Village hidden in leaves. Hidden ninja village of Fire Country.
Kaminari no kuni: Country of Lightning
Kaze no Kuni: Country of Wind: Currently, the nanbi's vessel has chosen to escape to a forign country through Kaze no kuni. Due to the harsh desert, their ninja and soldiers are very tough.
Sunagakure: Sunagakure no Soto; Village hidden is Sand. Hidden ninja village of Wind Country.
Mizu no Kuni: Country of Water
Tsuchi no Kuni: Country of Earth
Tsurugi no Kuni: Country of Swords: Counrty Directly West of Kaze no Kuni. Boasts a superb army and ninja corps, which have driven back many invasions from the middle west.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading and please try to review. Pardon any English errors. I'm still learning the language.