Okay so this is my new "Eclipse". I don't know why but I find doing stories that take place after times such as after the Chunin Exams or after the Sasuke Retrieval Mission are a lot easier to do. Maybe its because along with giving it more action I can also give it more drama too, and those two combine equals awesomeness. Anyway in regards to how Naruto feels about Konoha, while he will be antagonist towards Konoha, he won't be their enemy either. Anyway read, enjoy and most of all review.
(Konoha)
Deep within the village of Konohagakure, the village founded by Hashirama Senju, was a memorial stone that had the names of every shinobi that died in battle in service to the village. Standing next to it as he usually does was Kakashi Hatake, a powerful jonin of Konoha and well known for having copied over a thousand jutsus thanks to his implanted Sharingan. Normally he would come here to reminiscent about the past and the loved ones he had lost but today he wasn't looking at the memorial stone.
The reason was that Kakashi felt that all of his deceased loved ones were looking at him with shame for what happened five years ago, revolving around his first and last genin team, team 7. The genins of said team were Sakura Haruno, a civilian born Kunoichi, Sasuke Uchiha, one of the two sole survivors of the once great Uchiha Clan and Naruto Uzumaki, the village's pariah, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and known only to a few including Kakashi, the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze and Kakashi's sensei. The team was rough, what with the members various personalities clashing with one another, including his own, which Kakashi was willing to admit. Yet the few months since they became a team they showed signs of comrade bonding that Kakashi had hoped for. But now only one student remained in Konoha, with another now a missing-nin and the third one dead.
It happened five years ago, when Orochimaru, a member of the Sanin and a former shinobi of Konoha, being the villages most wanted criminal since Madara Uchiha, gave Sasuke Uchiha a curse mark during the Chunin Exams. The mark gave Sasuke power, something that the young Uchiha wanted in order to kill his older brother Itachi Uchiha, an S-rank missing-nin and the one responsible for slaughtering the entire Uchiha Clan in one night. Finally after several weeks Sasuke finally succumbed to it and with the aid of the Sound Four, Orochimaru's elite guard, Sasuke abandoned the Village.
Naturally Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage, responded by sending out a retrieval team. However due to the invasion by Suna and Oto during the Chunin Exams, the Konoha forces were low and she didn't have any jonins to spare. So she had to settle with a second option by sending a newly minted chunin and four other genins to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha. The members consisted of Shikamaru Nara, the newly promoted Chunin and team leader, along with Kiba Inuzuka and his partner Akamaru, Neji Hyuuga, Choji Akimichi and finally Naruto Uzumaki.
The mission was a failure. While the Sound Four, plus another of Orochimaru's subordinates Kimimaro, were all killed during the mission, Neji and Choji were put in critical condition and almost died while Shikamaru, Kiba and Lee, who had followed after the retrieval team, were nearly killed but were saved by the timely arrival of a Suna Team consisting of the children of the late Yondaime Kazekage. Sasuke Uchiha managed to pass the border into Rice Country and reach Orochimaru. But not before having to fight his former teammate Naruto Uzumaki at the Valley of the End. When Kakashi arrived an hour later in the rain the battle was over, with surprisingly much of the landscaped changed and the only things remaining was a damaged and bloody Konoha headband and red in the water. After summoning one of his dog-nin, Pakkun, Kakashi learned that the headband and blood belonged to Naruto and thus confirmed two things: Sasuke had managed to make it to Orochimaru and Naruto was dead.
When news of this reached Konoha Tsunade, one of the few people that cared for Naruto, with her seeing the blonde as a little brother or son, would've immediately sent out teams to find Naruto in some vain hope of finding him alive. Keyword would've if it hadn't been for the interference of the Civilian Council and the Elders, the latter consisting of Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane and Danzo Shimura. While the Civilian Council's reasons were biased hatred towards Naruto, thinking that Naruto was the Kyuubi itself, the Elder's reasons were more…logical unfortunately. Their reasons were that with their shinobi forces already spread so thin due to the invasion they couldn't risk sending out anymore shinobi and leaving the village vulnerable. Combined with the fact that if other villages, such as Iwa and Kumo, learned that their jinchuuriki was dead, then other villages would definitely jump at the chance to finish Konoha off.
While she admitted that they made good points, Tsunade knew that Danzo would still send out his ROOT agents (a program that she knew was still active despite her predecessor the Sandaime Hokage disbanding it but she didn't have any proof to prove it) to find Naruto and turn him into his personal drone. But she also knew that if she pushed the subject anymore, even if the village was currently under marshal law, the Elders would call her out on allowing her personnel feelings to get in the way and most likely force her to step down as Hokage and give it to someone else more trustworthy of it, or a certain warhawk might grab it while it is open. Three days later a distraught Jiraiya arrived at the village and told Tsunade that the toads had confirmed that Naruto's name on the Toad Summoning Contract had turned black, meaning he was truly dead. Thus the search was ended and Naruto was placed as KIA and had his name put onto the memorial stone, something Tsunade had to work hard for since many people in the village still hated Naruto and didn't want him to be remembered.
Speaking of the population of the village, there were mixed views towards. It was mostly the shinobi side that was divided. Some shinobi hated Naruto thinking he was still the Kyuubi in human skin while others saw that Naruto was a loyal shinobi and got the raw end of the deal. The civilian side however was overjoyed at the news, minus the Ichiraku. Multiple parties were thrown and they even burned down his old apartment building, which hurt no one really since Naruto was the only one living there. Of course Tsunade worked to put down the riots of people celebrating while also dealing with another problem; several nations and villages very displeased over the death of their hero and learning of how his beloved village was reacting to it. These places included Spring Country, Takigakure, Wave Country, Tea Country and Sunagakure. The Village Hidden in the Sand was the most vocal, with Gaara, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki who owed Naruto for opening his eyes, told Tsunade right in her and the Elder's faces that if he ever saw Sasuke, Gaara would kill the Uchiha without mercy. Now the village founded by Hashirama Senju has gained much infamy over the past five years, with many of its former allies now forming alliances with one another including trade, giving both Konoha and the Fire Country economic troubles though they still managed to get by despite those two variables.
"Kakashi-sensei" A voice said, snapping the silver hair man out of his thoughts. Turning around he saw his sole remaining student Sakura Haruno, the only Kunoichi of the now disbanded Team 7. Ever since Sasuke's defection and Naruto's disappearance she had grown much over the past five years under Tsunade's training in order to never be a burden again and bring in Sasuke one day to face justice. A lot of people have said that despite having only been doing it for five years, Sakura's skills a medic are on par with Tsunade. And she also learned the Hokage's chakra enhanced strength too, making her quite the opponent in close combat but her fighting skills weren't as good as her medical ninjutsu but still it was impressive. "Tsunade-sama has summoned us and Team Gai for a mission." She said to Kakashi.
"Okay Sakura" Kakashi said. The man gave a side-glance to the memorial stone for a second
(Valley of the End)
The Valley of the End, and landmark in the borders between the Land of Fire and Land of Sound, was one of the few man made landmarks in the Shinobi Continent, but this one was made from a battle, a duel between two of history's most powerful shinobi, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, the former being the founder and Shodaime Hokage of Konohagakure. In honor of these two gods amongst men, a statue of each man was made for them, one on each side of the waterfall that went through the valley.
Standing on the water facing the waterfall and the statues was a man who had long spiky light red hair that went to his shoulders, with the majority tied into a ponytail and from what could be seen he had tan skin. He wore a long black cloak with long sleeves and a hood too. On the back was a white perfectly round dot with six black rings converging on a small black dot-like pupil in the center. The person also wore fingerless black gloves and long black shinobi sandals with dark blue pants. The man wore a simple white mask with two short horns pointing and a pair of simple round eyeholes. It completely covered his entire face except for his eyes through the eyeholes. His eyes were very unusual really as they had a metallic silver color with black ripple rings closing in on a small black dot-like pupil. Their gaze was focused and one could say that you would drown into submission merely by looking at them.
The sound of feet hitting water could be heard suddenly, but the man gave no indication of either being startled or even noticing, favoring to just continue looking at the statues. Behind him was a second being, though it was hard to tell if the person was human. He was bald but had the unusual skin color of dark green, with his sclera being red with completely black eyes. The person did however wear the same attire as the first person, a long black cloak with a white dot on it and black rings within the dot. "Jimmu-sama" The green skin man said to the redhead. "The others have linked up and are waiting for you." The man said respectfully.
The man was silent for a moment before closing his eyes and nodding. "Very well lets go Yujin." He said. Then he spun around and began walking away from the waterfall with the dark green skin man, now identified as Yujin, following right behind him. They were soon walking within the woods of Fire Country at a leisurely pace. After a few minutes of walking the pair ended up at the sight of a cluster of rocks that was slightly taller then them. "This will do" Jimmu said as he sat on a nearby rock while Yujin just stood in front of him. Both of them formed the ram seals and Jimmu muttered, "Kirikyotai no Jutsu (Mist Mirror Body Technique)
Elsewhere deep inside a large dark room, far away from where Jimmu and Yujin were, a circle on the floor began to glow blue, revealing a pillar at the center that also began to glow with swirling patterns, like whirlpool. A few seconds later after bluish holographic images of people began to show standing next to each other, forming a circle. Only the eyes of the people were holographic. One person, a male, that had green eyes and wore some kind of headgear said, "It's been a while when we were last called like this. I wonder why Jimmu-sama resorted to this method?"
"I'm sure Jimmu-sama has a reason for summoning us." A female's voice said belonging to a woman with dark brown eyes.
"Indeed" Jimmu said, his voice capturing everyone's attention. "You've all been given your assignments. Yujin will be nearby to act when the mission is completed as well as give you new orders once the mission is complete."
"So the time is finally here huh?" A man with dark red eyes asked with an anxious voice.
"It has come Tenkishi (Heaven Knights). Tengoku (Heaven/Heavenly Kingdom) can no longer wait. Our enemies are now preparing to move so we must be ready to intercept them before they become too overwhelming." Jimmu said. "Akatsuki has already captured the Kazekage, we must intercept and stop them from extracting the Ichibi. If things go too far I will come there myself. Furthermore we've discovered several more of Orochimaru's hideouts. You know how to proceed with that. And finally how you carry out your assignment is up to you, but do not waste time, understood?" Everyone nodded towards the leader who ended the meeting with. "Good dismissed" and with that all the holograms vanished.
(Five Days In The Land of River)
Six days ago members of Akatsuki, an organization of S-rank missing-nins that were after the bijuu, captured Gaara, the current jinchuuriki of the Ichibi as well as the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure. Due to the extensive damage done to Suna by the Akatsuki, along with large casualties of Suna-nin, the Suna Council were forced to call for aid from Konoha. Despite being allies still they were not on very good terms with Konoha due to the Naruto's disappearance and how the people of Konoha cheered for it. However Suna was desperate and Konoha was the best option they could think of.
But the team, which consisted of Team Gai, the remnants of Team 7 and Chiyo and elder of Sunagakure whose grandson Sasori was a part of Akatsuki, were too late. Akatsuki had successfully managed to extract the Ichibi from Gaara and with all containers whom bijuu have been taken, killing Gaara in the process. Currently Gaara's lifeless body had been taken away by Deidara, a former Iwa-nin, on top of a large clay bird, in an attempt to split the rescue team up. Speaking of which the team's current status was that Team Gai were fighting against a security measure set up by Akatsuki, thus leaving Kakashi, Sakura and Chiyo to contend with the two Akatsuki members. Kakashi went after Deidara while Chiyo and Sakura remained behind to deal with Sasori.
"Wait!" Kakashi shouted as he jumped through the forest, never taking his eyes off the flying white bird ahead of him. Wrapped in the bird's tail was the lifeless body of Gaara, while riding on top of it was Deidara, who was currently missing his left arm courtesy of Gaara during their battle in Sunagakure.
"Hmph, he's a stubborn bastard I'll give him that, yeah" Deidara said to himself, remembering how Kakashi managed to avoid each and every one of his bomds. The bomber-nin looked at his remaining hand, or to be more precise the mouth on the palm of his hand. It was chewing something, which turned out to be clay that was molded into several bird-like creatures. "Let's see if he can stand up to multiple assaults." Deidara said before tossing his creations towards Kakashi. The clay birds flew at an incredible speed, going in several different directions in order to surround Kakashi and close in on him from all sides.
But Kakashi saw this and was forced to land on the ground and performed a quick set of hand seals and then slammed both hands on the ground. "Doton: Taju Doryuheki (Earth Release: Multiple Mud Walls)" And a split second later dozens of walls of earth with dog faces popped out from the ground around Kakashi just as the clay birds ganged up on him.
Deidara watched as the explosions went off and created a large pillar of smoke go into the air. Through his eye scope Deidara could tell that even though the walls saved him, the resulting explosion destroyed the earth walls and caused them to pile upon Kakashi. "A bastard like him won't stay down for long yeah." The Iwa bomber said to himself. "Well I better head back to Sasori-sama before he get's angry that I made him wait-"
His sentence was cut off when something fast severed his clay bird's head and one of its wings too. "What the hell!?" Deidara cried as his creation lost its balance and fell out of the sky. Because of the sudden change Deidara was separated from the remains of the clay bird and Gaara's body as they fell in a separate direction from Deidara. Said man managed to gain momentum and control his fall after hitting a few branches.
"Uhn, wait until I get my hands on the bastard who did that!" Deidara yelled as he got to his feet. What greeted him was another person actually wearing a long black hooded cloak with a large white dot on the back of the cloak. Inside the white dot were black rings converging on a small black dot in the middle. The person was a male from the looks of it except he was completely covered in bandages from head too toe, revealing only a few strands of pale purplish hair and red eyes. In his hand was a long dark purple staff. Judging from his posture, the person was calm right now. This was backed up when he calmly said, "Yo"
Deidara however was not so calm. "And who the hell are you bastard, uhn" He yelled while secretly as possible reaching for some clay.
The bandaged man gave no reply at first but got into a stance instead with both hands gripping the spear. "I'm Jaaku Dansen. You're executioner" The bandaged man suddenly said, cheerfully, before charging forward at a speed that surprise former Iwa bomber. Quickly recovering from his shock Deidara sprung into action and dodged a thrust. But Jaaku followed it up with an elbow jab to Deidara's left side. When it struck, the Iwa-bomber felt a jolt of pain going through his side and he coughed up blood. His body felt numb for a moment. 'Shit! What the hell was that? I feel like electricity just went inside of me right now!' Deidara thought as he managed to jump back from his opponent.
Being a long-range user Deidara was at a disadvantage a bit and having only one arm didn't help either. 'I need to make some distance between us.' Deidara thought as he quickly made a clay spider and then threw it at Jaaku. The explosion wasn't big like it normally was, but just enough to give Deidara some breathing room. The former Iwa-bomber retreated deeper into the forest so he could come up with a strategy.
Jaaku sighed. "Damn it now I got to find the son of a bitch. Or else Azakeri is going to scold me or worse Jimmu-sama will be mad when he finishes with the Kazekage…I don't want that!" Jaaku groaned as he dashed into the forest after Deidara.
(Sakura, Chiyo and Sasori)
Things were not going so well for the pink hair Konoha kunoichi and the Suna Elder. The Akatuski member Sasori, who looked like a teenager who left some thirty years ago, had pushed the two towards the edge. They had managed to destroy Hiruko, Sasori's puppet armor and then fought a long and difficult battle against Sasori's favorite human puppet, the Sandaime Kazekage, a puppet made from the kage's corpse and still retained the Sandaime's Jiton (Magnet Release) Iron Sand. And after reducing the hideout to rubble and finally destroying the Sandaime Kazekage puppet did they finally face Sasori, which is when Sakura and Chiyo learned, much to their shock and horror, that Sasori had turned himself into a puppet, which would explain his young appearance. And once again another lengthy battle began between the three all over again until it finally reached the point where Sasori used his final technique: Akahigi: Hyakki no Soen (The Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets). A hundred puppets against Sakura, Chiyo and Chiyo's ten puppets of her Shirohigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shu (White Secret Technique: The Chikamasu Collection of Ten Puppets).
At first the battle was going in Sakura and Chiyo's favor as they quickly destroyed Sasori's puppets. But it seems that as their numbers decrease, Sasori was able to focus more on his remaining puppets increasing their effectiveness. Already half of Chiyo's puppets were destroyed and Sakura, who had been poisoned by Sasori earlier, was beginning to tire out.
'We need to end this now or else we're doom.' Chiyo thought as she looked at Sakura. The young Kunoichi had just obliterated three more of Sasori's puppets with her fist. "Sakura!" The medic-kunoichi turned to look at the older woman. "We need to seal off Sasori's movements and chakra before his puppets overwhelm us. Move in and I'll cover you!" Chiyo ordered.
"Hai!" Sakura replied as she prepared to make a dash towards the red puppet user. But suddenly she lost her footing and fell on her knees. 'What?' Sakura thought, as she took looked at her legs. She saw that her right leg had a nasty wound on it and she could make out a smell of poison. 'Did one of the puppets get my leg when I wasn't looking?' Sakura asked herself as she tried to move it. 'Damn it!'
"Sakura!" Chiyo cried. But before she could move into help the young Kunoichi one of her puppets that was guarding her was destroyed.
Sasori smirked. "It seems that its time to end this little play Chiyo-baasama. It was fun as it lasted." The redhead Akatsuki member said as he commanded his remaining puppets to move in for the kill.
Sakura saw three puppets armed with swords dive towards her, intending on skewering her. The pink haired kunoichi closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. But it never came and instead she heard the sound of several things clatter against the ground. A few seconds later Sakura opened her eyes and saw to her surprise that all of Sasori's puppets were lying on the ground, completely still. Bewildered Sakura looked up towards Sasori and her surprise increased some more.
There stood Sasori, with a shocked look on his face and blood coming down from his mouth. There was also blood seeping from the core on his left chest, his 'core of living flesh' that had the kanji for scorpion. But what caught Sakura's and Chiyo's attention was that sticking out of the core were four curved blades pointing upwards. Sasori grunted and tried to turn his head to look at his killer. His last words were, "Y-y-you're…" He said weakly before his body went still and finally died.
As the body of Sasori fell face down on the ground, it revealed the puppeteer's killer. It was a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and was of average height. He had short black hair and had narrow brown eyes. He had fair skin except for a scar going down from the right over to the left bottom side of his lips. The man also wore fingerless black gloves with a four-bladed claw attached to the back of his left hand. The rest of his attire contained of having a long black cloak with the hood down and had a white dot with black rings in it with a black dot in the center on the back of the cloak. From what could be seen underneath he also wore dark blue pants, grey shinobi sandals and what appeared to parts of a yellow sash sticking out from under the cloak.
Sakura did not know who this man was but Chiyo apparently did as the elder kunoichi gasped. "You're…you're…!" She said in shock.
"I'm one of Tengoku's Tenkishi Azakeri Hyoryu" The man identified as Azakeri replied. He looked down at Sasori's body and kicked it a little, confirming the puppeteer was dead. "To be honest I wanted to finish my mission before they took the Ichibi but it seems to have worked out in the end. I must thank you two for having Sasori's attention on you…made it easier for me to take him out." Azakeri said.
Sakura growled at the man, angry that he had used them to make his job easier. "So you were just hiding while we were fighting him?" She accused the man.
Azakeri raised an eyebrow at the pink haired girl, as if what she said amused him. "If you're trying to make me feel guilty of accusing me of cowardice, then you're quite naïve. I merely did what a hunter would do and wait until the prey was ripe for the kill. Furthermore I had no obligation to help you so keep your trap shut brat." Azakeri replied harshly.
Angered by Azakeri's harsh remarks Sakura was about to charge at him but was stop quickly by Chiyo, the elder woman having finally made it to Sakura's side. "Stop Sakura" Chiyo said as she put a hand on the young kunoichi's shoulder. "Neither of us is in any condition to keep fighting. Even if we were I doubt we would be able to defeat this man." The elder kunoichi said while looking at Azakeri, who still had an impassive look on his face. "This man was a former Hunter-nin of Kirigakure, having become a captain at the age of 13 and was given the nickname Muon Ryoken (Silent Hound)."
Sakura, upon realizing that they were in no condition, and Azakeri's background, was enough for her to calm down and not charge in recklessly.
Azakeri just kept staring at them before speaking. "Well I'm pleased to see that you have some sense of reason." He said before turning around. "My job is finished here so I shall depart and leave you two to your own devices." Azakeri stated before suddenly vanishing before them. Before either Sakura or Chiyo could speak there was a loud explosion somewhere nearby.
(With Jaaku and Deidara)
"Damn it just taste my art and die!" Deidara shouted as he threw another pair of clay birds at his opponent. Jaaku had managed to catch up with Deidara and the two began a battle on top of the branches of the trees. However it was very one sided as it was clear that Jaaku had the advantage over the Iwa-bomber. Deidara was more of a range fighter with the use of his clay bombs and aerial strikes. And while he did have some skill in taijutsu, it was clear that it was no match for Jaaku who was an expert of close combat. Furthermore the bandaged man had some technique or fighting style in which he would strike with his palm, feet, elbow or knee and release lightning chakra from them. The volts of electricity were quite painful in giving both direct and internal damage. It seemed to also be able to screw the chakra flow within a person's body for a few seconds but gave Jaaku an opening for another attack. It was worse for Deidara since his Bakuton (Explosion Release) used earth chakra. Along with that Hogushi was very agile and could easily dodge the exploding projectiles thrown by Deidara. Add to the fact that Deidara was low on clay and chakra and was missing an arm did not help the Iwa-bomber
Back in the present Jaaku easily dodged the two projectiles, ignoring the explosions behind him, and charged towards Deidara, raising his staff and bringing it down on the Akatsuki member. However the Iwa-bomber managed to side step it but he wasn't fast enough when Jaaku thrust his left palm, charged with lightning chakra right into Deidara's chest. "Kogeki Judan (Charge Strike)!" And the impact sent a quick wave of electricity into Deidara's body, causing him to cough blood, before sending him crashing into the ground.
"Yosh time to finish things up!" Jaaku said as he did a dive towards the ground where Deidara crashed staff still in hand. The bandaged man found his opponent leaning against a tree with his head hanging down. "Or it's already done." Jaaku remarked as he walked towards the still form of Deidara. As he was just a few inches from the Iwa-bomber's body, Jaaku was surprised when Deidara's head snapped upwards, an evil and derange smirk on his face. Jaaku just barely made out the last words Deidara said, "Katsu!" And the Iwa-bomber's body burst into a large explosion that nearly engulfed Jaaku if he hadn't done a backwards jump just a second before the explosion.
"Wow that was…not surprising! A guy who called his bombs art looked like the kind who would go out with a bang." Jaaku said as he watched the smoke from the explosion rise and go into the sky. The sound of several people landing behind him caught Hogushi's attention. Turning around calmly the bandaged man saw that it were the members of Team Gai, a bit bruised and battered but still able to fight. Despite two jonins and two chunins level shinobi staring at him suspiciously Jaaku merely said, "Yo" to them.
Team Gai was slightly caught off guard by the casual and carefree greeting. However Maito Gai quickly composed himself and spoke in a serious tone. "Who are you? I can tell that you're not Akatsuki judging by your attire and that battle you had with the Iwa-bomber. Still I ask that you identify yourself now." Gai said.
Jaaku was silent for a moment as he just continued to stare at the four Konoha shinobi. Team Gai began to get tense, wondering if this man was going to attack them, let alone do anything at all. Jaaku was silent for a moment as he just continued to stare at the four Konoha shinobi. Team Gai began to get tense, wondering if this man was going to attack them, let alone do anything at all. Finally after what felt like forever Jaaku raised his right hand, causing Team Gai to stiffen as if he was going to attack. But instead the bandaged man merely pointed his index finger upwards and replied calmly, "I'm one of Heaven's Knights."
Before anyone could ask what that mean Jaaku released a smoke bomb that was hidden underneath his cloak's left sleeve. It immediately spread throughout the area, creating a thick cloud of black. The smoke surprised Team Gai and they had to shield themselves from it as it consumed them. "Neji!" Gai cried.
Nodding Neji activated his Byakugan and scanned the smoke as well as the surrounding area. But he couldn't find a single trace of Jaaku whatsoever. "Sorry Gai-sensei, but he appears to have vanish." Neji said.
"Should we look for him Gai-sensei?" Lee asked as the smoke faded.
"No our primary concern should be to find Kakashi and his team." Gai replied seriously.
But a second later Kakashi arrived, carrying Gaara over his back. "Well seeing that you guys are okay is some more good news." Kakashi said to his fellow Konoha shinobi.
"I assume that you checked on Sakura." Gai said as he approached his eternal rival.
"Yes I sent Pakkun and a shadow clone to check on her and Chiyo-sama and once I confirmed that they were okay I told them to follow Pakkun back to me and have Sakura heal the Kazekage." Kakashi said as he looked at his cargo.
The members of Team Gai were confused by Kakashi's words and it was Tenten who asked, "Kakashi-sensei why would you want Sakura-chan to check on the Kazekage? Isn't he…" She didn't say the words since it would've been rude.
Kakashi sighed and there was a look in his eye that also spoke of confusion. "That's just the thing. When I found him, well I don't know how to say it but…the Kazekage is alive."
Far away from Team Gai and Kakashi, watching from a high branch was Jimmu, his eyes visible through his mask as he stared at the sleeping form of the Kazekage. His eyes showed a look of relief and joy as they stared at Gaara, before they narrowed in what appeare to be contempt towards Kakashi before turning neutral at the members of Team Gai. Appearing from thin air beside Jimmu was Yujin. The green skin man had an impassive look on his face as he looked at Jimmu. "How are you feeling? Using those eyes for that technique must've been stressful." Yujin said.
"Not really, using my Rinnegan's Outer Path was easy. Gaara was only dead for about an hour so it didn't take much out of me in reviving him." Jimmu said before adding, "Beside…it was worth it." Jimmu said. He then asked Yujin, "What's the status on the other Tenkishi?"
"Well Akeru-san and Nayami-san are ready and have their teams in position. I assume that they're going to start their mission soon." Yujin replied.
Jimmu nodded just as Chiyo and Sakura finally arrive. Jimmu narrowed his eyes again at the pink haired medic before vanishing into thin air with Yujin sinking into the ground a few seconds later. None of the Konoha shinobi or Suna Elder had noticed him. Nor did the Akatsuki scout/spy or living Deidara, having tricked Hogushi with his Suicide Bomb Clone, notice their presence or of their leaving.
(Somewhere in Earth Country, One of Orochimaru's Hideouts)
Hidden underneath the ground and hills, was a large underground base of the infamous twisted Orochimaru, a member of Konoha's Sannin and a former shinobi of the village. Currently said man was not present in the hideout but many of his subordinates; shinobi and scientists alike were there along with many cells filled with prisoners used for experiments. The prisoners there varied: From men, women and children that either had rare Kekkei Genkai or were merely there to be used as lab rats. Many of them were malnourished, covered in bruises, and most of all scared. Parents that had been captured along with their children were trying to protect them and whisper of comfort while others tried to help their fellow prisoners as best they could.
As the prisoners were dreading the next seconds or praying for some shining light of hope the hideout began to shake violently before stopping a few seconds later. The prisoners and the shinobi guarding the cells were silent for a moment after the little quake before they once more heard noise. This time however were the noise of people, yelling followed by objects clashing.
"What the hell is going on up there?" One of the guards asked as many of them were pulling out weapons.
"I don't know" Another Oto-nin replied as he looked up at the ceiling when it began to shake. "But someone should go and-"
Whatever he was going to say was cut off when the ceiling above him exploded, sending piles of rubble down upon him and other nearby guards, crushing them. The prisoners and remaining guards watched the spot, trying to see through the dust that had accumulated from the explosion. And then suddenly two hands popped out of the dust and grabbed the heads of the two closets Oto-nins. "Hyoton: Kori Hitsugi (Ice Release: Ice Coffin)" A voice said emotionlessly and in just a few seconds the two Oto-nins turn into solid ice from the head down. Before the other guards could react they were soon assaulted by hundreds of enemies. Said people wore entirely black, from black sandals, black leg warmers, black pants, black sweatshirts underneath black flak jackets, black combat gloves and black masks covering their faces along with the sweatshirt hoods. In their hands were ninjato that they were currently using to slaughter the Oto-nin guards.
Finally the one who had frozen the two Oto-nins from before became visible as the dust settled. It was a young fair skinned man, appearing somewhere in his early twenties. He had short spiky light blue-whitish hair that stood up with a single bang over his forehead. The person also had piercing sea green eyes that looked like they were scanning everything they saw in an instant. His attire consisted of the Tenkishi cloak along with a long-sleeve black shirt, dark blue pants and black sandals. Finally around his left wrist was a white bangle with a set of kanji that said "The Frozen Dragon Will Circle The Heavens"
"Did you find the prisoners Akeru-kun?" A female voice asked from the floor above.
The man identified as Akeru, looked up. "Yeah I found them Nayami-chan." He said in a monotone voice.
The woman named Nayami soon dropped down through the hole and joined her partner Akeru followd by several more black wearing shinobi. She appeared to be the same age as Akeru though was a few inches shorter then her male partner. She had tan skin long brown hair that went down to the center of her back with bangs going in front both her ears. Her eyes had a charcoal color, which seemed to suit her tomboyish face. She wore the same attire as Akeru but seem to help show off her curves, including her well shaped hips and showing a portion of her ample bust. From could be seen underneath the cloak she wore a a black short-sleeve shirt with a mesh suit under it, high heel version of purple sandals along with dark blue pants that ended at her knees and over her hands were black combat gloves.
Nayami looked at the cells filled with people staring back at them with eyes filled with confusion, suspicion and long lost hope. "Oh good I was worried that we would never find them." She said before she turned towards Akeru. "Do you want to let them out or should I?" Nayami asked.
"Better if I do it. Your Bakuton isn't really suited for this kind of thing unless you wanted to cause collateral damage." Akeru said towards Nayami who was pouting at the comment. Gripping two bars while the prisoners moved back Akeru concentrated. Soon the bars along with the rest turned into ice and quickly shattered before the prisoner's eyes. None of them moved as they stared at the two Tenkishi, unable to believe what was happening and thinking it was all some kind of dream. Finally one of them moved forward, surprisingly it was a little girl that was wearing rags with wild brown hair and a dirty face. "A-are you here to save us mister?" The girl whispered with tears beginning to appear. Though if they were of fear or joy it was unsure.
Akeru said nothing but it was Nayami who got down on her knees and looked at the girl's face. With a warm look in her eyes and a soft smile to boot, the woman said to the girl, "Yes we're here to get everyone out and make sure that none of you go through this again." Nayami said as she rubbed the girl's head gently.
Akeru then spoke even as tears and smiles of joy began to appear on the prisoner's faces. "I need you all to follow these people here." He said in a commanding voice as he gestured to the ten mask men behind him. "They will lead you to safety where you'll be treated. However I ask that those who can move on their own assist in escorting the elderly, children and the too injured. Not a single person is being left behind." Akeru said.
In just a few short minutes after saying those words, the prisoners began filing out with the more able bodied along with the mask shinobi were helping the wounded. Parents kept a firm grip on their children as they walked out of their hellhole and into freedom. Akeru and Nayami watched from the sides as the prisoners stormed out of their cells in unrestrained joy. Suddenly another mask shinobi that had been originally involved with slaughtering the Oto-nins on the floor appeared. "Akeru Kiroku-sama, Nayami Hosomi-sama, we've finished clearing out the guards on this floor and freeing the prisoners too. We're prepared to move deeper into the facility." The mask shinobi said with a monotone voice.
Akeru nodded and looked at Nayami, said woman nodding back at him. Then the Hyoton user looked back at the mask shinobi. "Very well, remember we don't leave a single prisoner behind or leave a single guard, scientists or any other subordinates of Orochimaru's alive. Today marks the day when the wicked will feel the Heaven's wrath." Akeru said.
And done! I have to say I think this version is better then the first one. Anyway depending on people's reviews I will continue this story and probably at chapter 5 or 6 I will post up a page with all the member's names, origins, Special Skills/Hiden/Kekkei Genkai, Backgrounds and Personalities. I want to get more chapters in before I do a whole profile page for my OC characters. Anyway just review!
Wacko12
Note: Jimmu is the name of the first Emperor of Japan and a descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and the Storm God Susanoo.