Chapter 2:
Naruto is back... So what? Yeah, read and see what will happened.
Too lazy to write more words -
R&R
Few weeks after Sasuke's departure, Naruto also left the village with Jiraiya for training.
Friends that walked in the same path now parted their way. Sasuke went for revenge's sake. Naruto went to get stronger, and Sakura stayed to wait... Each chose their path. One's choice was to forget about the past, another to look for the future, and one try to maintain the present... One would wonder which one was the best for them, would it be none?
Nothing can stop the flow of water, the clouds keep flying. Day to day, years pass, and no one notices how great the speed of time is. Three years are not enough to forget a person, but not too short to still remember them. Especially if they had disappeared with no trace that they once existed in the world.
Three years had passed. It also meant that the day Orochimaru could change his body was drawing near. Whenever Sakura thought about it, she'd get the feeling of her heart clenching. She went through those three years because she knew that before the deadline, Sasuke would be... fine. At least it was what she liked to think.
Sometimes, she woke up at the middle of night, having dreamed about those golden days, when Team 7 was still together. But the bright picture quickly shattered into a million pieces. A grey and dull picture replaced it. Sasuke was gone, so was Naruto. Kakashi-sensei was busy with his job. There was only her, all alone. She cried.
She wanted everything to get back back, she wanted the old days back, but first of all, she wanted Naruto back. She wanted to save Sasuke, but she didn't have the guts or the strength to believe in herself like the time when Naruto was there. He was special, and she thought that, if Naruto was there, Sasuke would be saved.
Naruto had, somehow, disappeared along Jiraiya, and now she had to make a choice. She had to do it herself. Maybe she couldn't do it, but at least she would've tried. The only problem left was that she didn't have any clue as to where Sasuke was. The reports she read at Tsunade's office, her sensei, showed nothing.
Before she could do anything else, a devastating new from Suna made her stop any plan she was making.
The Kazekage —Gaara—, was kidnapped by the Akatsuki.
Akatsuki had started to move out of the shadows, which meant Naruto's life was in danger. But because there were still no traces of him, no one knew if he already was.
"Where's Naruto?" was the question, not only Tsunade, but also all the ones who knew him asked themselves. Other people didn't care, as they just wanted him never to come back.
Naruto's disappearance was of no general concern now, though, as the Kazekage had been kidnapped.
Following the Hokage's command, Kakashi's team, which were only Sakura and Kakashi with a member of ROOTS, whose name was Sai, had departed. Their destination was Suna, which was three days apart from their village. They met Temari on the way and she accompanied them. She was worried about her little brother, and when they were in Suna, she heard her other brother, Kankuro, had been poisoned by an Akatsuki's member. However, he got over it thank to Sakura's and Chiyo's help.
Chiyo decided to take part in Kazekage's retrieval, as the Suna's council could not spare any high level shinobi, since the Kazekage's absence made it easy for another Hidden Village to attack Suna. Chiyo's only wish was to see her grandson for the last time.
Team Kakashi went first, following them, about half a day later, was Team Gai. Akatsuki was both teams' objective.
"Where's Sai? How could he leave us in such a situation?"
Sakura said aggressively when she with Kakashi and Chiyo jumped from tree to tree. According to Pakkun, they were getting near to Akatsuki's hideout. Sai had disappeared with a weird bird he made himself. However, they didn't have time to find him, so they started immediately to strike Itachi's replacement down. If the bijuu was ripped out, the host would die. They had no time to waste.
"I don't know. He is one of Roots' members, who are always doing things no one can understand except themselves. However, leaving a team appointed by the Hokage is unacceptable." Kakashi replied.
The hideout of Akatsuki was in their sight, but something felt wrong. It was like a creepy feeling in their guts
"Hey guys. Hurry up! Akatsuki's decoy took us too long." Lee shouted through the forest, he was way far apart from others.
"Slow down! We're not as fast as you too!" Tenten shouted back.
"The last to arrive pays for the meal!" Gai passed Lee and shouted back to his students, giving them encouragement to go faster.
"I don't understand how he still has so much energy after such a battle…" Tenten shook her head and sped up."Come on, Neji-kun" she turned her head.
"Those guys..." Neji sighed...
"What's happening?"
Sakura asked but she was not the only one wondering. Kakashi and Chiyo had no clue; they had never seen something like that.
"I'm the fir-"
Gai landed next to Kakashi. He was rendered speechless from the scene before him.
"What's wrong, Gai-sensei?" Neji asked. He was the second one to arrive, after him was Lee, and the last was Tenten. Their reactions were just like their teacher's.
"What's happening?" Lee asked after a long silence.
"Who knows…"
"There is no trace of whom or what used to be here." Pakkun scented.
"Are you sure we weren't misled?"
Pakkun lifted his head to Tenten.
"It's my job. How could you think that I can't remember a place? I'm a dog after all. With the help of scent, I will never lose my way." Pakkun said to her and then turned to Kakashi, "You don't believe me, do you?"
Kakashi bent down on his knees and patted his dog's head. "How couldn't I believe you? You're the best dog I've ever had. We'll find out what happened here."
After Pakkun disappeared in a white puff of smoke, Kakashi stood up and looked around again. Before them was a big, wide hole. It was twice in length the Ninja Academy of Konoha, and half in width of a medium lake. Every trace was erased.
"So does anyone here have an idea of what happened?"
Silence took place for a few minutes, after Chiyo asked if they actually thought it was just a coincidence.
"It's hard to believe. Could someone that can do this exist?" Sakura said.
"I think someone is responsible for it." Neji's turned and looked at his team.
"Could it be? How?" asked Tenten
"That's what we need to figure out." Neji sighed. He had used his byakugan and tried to find anything out of place in the hole, but it just looked like someone used giant a knife and cut the earth out of its place and left a hole.
"Now what are we going to do, sensei?" Lee asked his teacher.
"You said there are no traces left right, Kakashi?" he took the Kakashi's silence as an agreement; "If you and your dogs can do nothing, then we can't, as well".
"Is there anyone in that... hole?" Sakura wondered and Neji shook his head, he had already checked it out. It was of no help. The fact there was some deep holes similar to this appear all around the wall behind them, all of them similar but smaller compared to the one in front of them. The endless darkness of it made people think that it would lead them down to another world, a dark world. It only showed one simple thing: there had been a fight in there, but nobody could guess out what happened and how deadly the fight was.
While they were looking into the giant death hole and surrounding it to try and find any puppet or trace for puppeteer, as Chiyo told them that one of Akatsuki was her grandson, master of puppet technique. Meanwhile something was happening far away from there...
"You Akatsuki are so pathetic. Both you and that crazy puppet. But I don't blame you, after all Akatsuki is an organization full of pathetic people."
The man let out an insane laugh, his hair was black and his face looked like it belonged to someone who had been through many troubles and fights. He had a pair of unique eyes: they were crimson, now with the seed of insanity. Below him, under the ground, were two members of Akatsuki. From their look, they were beaten totally. The fact that one of them was already dead with a kunai buried in chest while another had a deep diagonal cut from shoulder to waist and legs were barely attached to his body.
It had been a long time since the last time he felt the position of a stronger one. His eyes lightened with insane happiness. He still couldn't figure out what happened to him but now it was the least problem in his list. He was back and stronger than ever. He could feel the boiling blood running in his veins. What should he do next? He wondered.
Adrenaline was still running through his body, so he didn't mind to see if the other man was still conscious. However, Deidara knew, himself, that he didn't have much time left. He decided to use his remaining strength to defeat his enemy. Looking as his supporting teammate and rival in the art, Sasori, who had lost his mind and also his life, lied like a puppet at the ground.
"It is such a waste that you can't see how my last piece of art." Deidara grinned happily, for the last time...
"When we meet again, I will make you accept the fact that mine is the genuine art."
"What? A final attack? You lost your hope in living. I understand."
The man said, his voice sarcastic. Deidara didn't care. His goal was set and it was the only thing he had in his mind.
"What are you doing?" The man was curious at the man who was trying to stand on his legs. "Are you trying to take me to the hell with you?" he realized. The Akatsuki member wanted to make a suicide attack.
He smiled. It didn't matter to him. But playing through his prey's final act would be fun for sure. He watched the blond haired man flying to the sky by using his clay bird.
"To those who didn't know a blast is the ultimate art!"
He laughed; his body was glowing in a white light. The radius of his ultimate attack was ten kilometers, His enemy would turn to ash. Without looking, he could see his enemy was running like a rat from the explosion, but he would not.
Deidara grinned. He already closed his eyes waiting. He believed he could rest in peace, with the death he had dreamed. He had no regret.
But...
"What else? Do you really think that that kind of attack can harm me?"
Deidara heard the man's voice. His voice was cold.
"What? Why my attack did not happen? It has to be now..."
"Don't worry! I had no intention to stop your dream death. I just want to tell you a final thing. You and your lacking strategy are pathetic. Farewell."
Right at the border of the explosion, where the wind was screaming and cutting off everything, the man smirked. His long dark hair was flying behind him because of the wind. He could hear, even the distance, the final scream of regret.
"What's happening?"
Tenten looked up, they were in a dangerous area, but they did not know it. They could feel an earthquake; a strong earthquake which was out of the number that rite could measure. The strong wind swept through them. Luckily, they channeled chakra to their feet and held themselves, not like some shinobi who didn't have enough time. Their body was wacked to trees or boulders behind them.
Neji was the first one to realize what was happening. His eyes widened.
"It's a bomb!" He shouted. Before they knew it, a wave of light had fallen onto them.
The forest was blown up because of the explosion.
"Am I dead?" Sakura thought, she felt nothing, maybe her soul had left her body too suddenly for her brain. That blast was inevitable. They were definitely dead.
Many pictures ran through her head like a video tape. She realized there were so many things she regretted, there were still many things she wanted to do and say. She would never have the chance again.
"Sakura-chan?" She heard someone call her. She was relieved, at least she did not have to die alone. She opened her eyes, it was good to find out that their appearance did not change after their death.
"Are you dead too, Gai-sensei?" she asked
"What are you saying, Sakura?" Gai asked.
Sakura looked around. Everyone was around her but Kakashi-sensei was a bit tired, she could say that. Something was weird.
"Kakashi-sensei, are you ok? I didn't know that souls could be tired."
"Sakura!" Tenten said, trying not to laugh, "We are not dead." She said clearly, with a nod to confirm before Sakura spoke. "I'm sure we are"
"Good job, my rival of my life. You saved all of us."
"I thought we'd die for sure. Your skill is really unique. Can you explain something to us?" Chiyo asked curiously
"Right!" Gai nodded.
Kakashi looked up, his breath was heavy and he gave him a look meaning "Do-I-look that I could explain after using that technique?"
"Fine!" Gai shrugged, he looked around and scratched his head.
"Something's not right!"
'What's wrong, sensei?" Tenten asked
"Where's the bushy brows kid?"
Heard what Chiyo said, Gai realized that Lee missing.
"Lee!"
Gai roared and ran around to find Lee.
"Maybe he fell into that thing." Sakura suggested. Her face was still red from embarrassment.
"Lee!" Gai rushed to the hole.
"ai.. en...i" (Gai sensei!")
Lee was held by every part of his body: hands, foots, his sandals only make the problem worse, and teeth. The slip was abrupt and he had to try his hard to hold on it. After all he was using his finger's muscle to hold himself together with stupid weight.
Everybody except Kakashi went to the hole edge.
"Don't worry I will pull you up."
"Wait Gai-sensei!" Lee opened his mouth to stop when he saw her teacher started to climb down before others's widened eyes.
He fell at the same time with his teacher.
"This place is slippery and it is like the mud." Lee yelled at his sensei while sliding uncontrolled.
"Why did you not told me before?" Gai shouted back.
"Did I look like I can talk then?" Lee yelled again.
"Gai-sensei, we are falling, what do we have to do now?"
"Practicing how to walk in the air." Gai answered while squirmed like a swimmer,
"Swim in the air sensei."
While both of they still had the interest in chatting, above of them, at the hole's mouth, other's face turned pale.
"What do we have to do now? Is there any we can do? Who knows what is in that things." Tenten asked anxiously.
"I still hear they talked and laughed, nothing happened now, let them be!" Neji snorted." After all the water level down there enough for you survive even jump down willingly from here."
"Then why do you tie a rope around you?" Tenten asked and Neji blushed.
"Take it!" He gave the rope to Tenten and said. "We have only girls and an old lady; Kakashi-sensei was tired so I am the only who can go down there. Don't lose it or we will have to wait until water fill this hole or Kakashi-sensei enough chakra to solid the mud to earth."
Tenten, Sakura nodded.
"I will help. Don't look down on this old hag."
Chiyo walked to them.
Neji walked to the whole's mouth. He was about to jumped then a strange thing happened.
The hole disappeared.
"What's happening?" All eyes are on the land which just reappeared.
"Where are Lee and Gai sensei?"
Tenten asked.
"I don't know." Neji said in worried tone. He opened his eyes. At first he saw nothing, he shook his head and Tenten 's head was down.
"Wait!"
She looked up immediately. Neji's voice sounded relieved. "They are ok."
'Where are they?" Tenten asked.
"Up here!"
Neji pointed at the sky and everyone followed it. From above of them, two figures were squirming like crazy.
"We are falling sensei!"
Lee yelled.
"So what! We are still falling, it's not any useful information!"
Gai yelled back.
"No! I meant we are falling to the ground!"
They did fall onto the ground in two same weird shapes.
"I'm ok!" Gai jumped up.
"Me too!" Lee followed.
"No one asked you yet!" Tenten sighed while Sakura stared at them with widen eyes.
"They are always like that!" She smiled
Gai and Lee were ok. Now Neji and Chiyo turned their attention to what just happened. A giant hellhole just disappeared right before their eyes as if it never existed. And the water just flowed below them without the sign of it leaking down the hole
"What are you doing?" asked Sai, who just appeared out of nowhere. Every eye was on him.
"Ha! Now you returned. What do you think you are doing? Leaving team in a mission is totally unacceptable!" Sakura shouted angrily. She hated this guy, despite his resemble to Sasuke's appearance; he did not know how to talk to others and always wear a weird smile. It made her fell creepy.
"Sai!" Kakashi somewhat regained his breath. He had to take a rest but it had to wait. The first important things were...
"Why did you leave us? Do you not know how to work in a team? You can't just walk away while your comrades are in danger. It's not teamwork. I have to report to Hokage about it."
"Do whatever you want, but first, please remember one thing, Kakashi-san, I'm not under Hokage's control. I have a right to do whatever Roots think makes a benefit to Konoha. I don't think you guys will be the best choice."
Sai gave him a smile, without any emotions in it.
"What do you mean?"
"Our Roots's first priority is to protect Konoha from every factor which can cause harm to it. Nothing else is important. I'm not allowed to waste my time fighting with Akatsuki's replacement."
The copy-nin sighed. No one could understand the weird principles of Roots. They was said to be those trained to be accurate robots, doing missions without emotions.
"It's all talk. Yeah, you are not allowed to waste your time to fight with Akatsuki's replacement but what you could do. According to what I see, you do nothing." Sakura snorted. However, this is what Kakashi care about.
"Fine!" Kakashi shrugged, he was sitting on the ground so he had to lift his head to look at Sai's eyes. "We will talk about it later. Now I have something to ask you, and I want you to answer, as a captain of your team, are you clear?"
"Go ahead!" Sai nodded.
"Good! Then tell me what happened here..." Kakashi looked around, the hellhole had disappeared. 'There was a giant hellhole here just few minutes ago, I don't know where it has gone, but I don't care. I just want to know if you know anything about whom or what had caused it or what happened before we came here."
Kakashi looked at Sai, waited.
"I know everything about it... because the truth is I am the one who caused it."
Sai answered with the very same smile.
The retrieval mission couldn't be seen as a success. The results were Gaara was saved and no one was injured except Kakashi's exhaustion when he used his Kamui technique.
No one knew who had taken Kazekage back to the village and why he still survived was also a big question. Sai denied that he had nothing to do with it, maybe, maybe not. Chiyo knew for sure that Akatsuki had taken Shukaku, Garra surviving must be because a little of the biju's chakra was still inside the body, as Sai was there at the final moment. That was the only explanation.
However he had avoided the death, Gaara was in coma.
There were many skeptical details in the mission and the one who knew everything maybe Sai. He refused to reveal. Though no one wanted to, his wish was still accepted. He is a member of Roots which even Hokage had to be cautious because of their leader.
However, Tsunade had the right to demand him to tell the truth in front of her and his leader so the mystery would be revealed when they back home.
After taking a day of rest, Konoha's ninja were on the way. Kakashi's situation was even worse and Gai had him on his back. A very creepy feeling surrounded him.
"You have to tell everything when we meet Tsunade. Why can't you tell it now?"
Sakura was running beside Sai. She as well, as the others, was very curious about what happened. Once again, she was irritated by Sai's smile and his way of talking.
"I already told you guys. The imagination gave me an ultimate strength."
His answer did not make anything clearly.
Tsunade was looking in the lottery at the table. She won… it was a bad omen.
She just heard the news from Suna. Kazekage had been rescued thank to Roots's member. There were many things she could not understand in the report and she couldn't wait to hear the details when the ninja squad returned.
Her thought was interrupted by some knocks. Before she could say anything, Shizune busted into.
"How many times did I tell you to wait until receiving reply?"
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama but there is a very important news I sure that you want to hear."
"What it is?"
"Naruto's here. He's back"
The muscles on Tsunade's face relieved, it was the only good news she had heard recently.
"The village will be a mess once they come back. Let them in."
"I can't wait to teach them the consequence of their long disappearance." She smiled at her thought.
"The problem is..." Shizune hesitated.
"What?" Tsunade cooked her light yellow eyebrows.
"Jiraiya-sennin is not here with Naruto."
Her smile faded away.
"What happened?"
Shizune shook her head.
"I do not know either. Naruto said he wanted you to be the first one to know."
"Let him in now"
Tsunade commanded loudly. She looked at the lottery on the table and felt a gut wrenching feeling.
"You guys are back!" Kotetsu said with a wide smile, "What happened to Kakashi-senpai?"He wondered as he saw Gai had Kakashi on his back.
"He drew out all his strength and he's exhausted. We are going to take him to hospital before going to Hokage's office." Gai told them before took out his passport for them to record down.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Kakashi senpai seemed to have a lot of bonds with hospital." Kotetsu's comrade commented and no one objected.
"Then we go." Neji said and everyone say goodbye to the guards before walking into the village.
Kotetsu just remembered something, he intended to tell the squad but realized they had gone too far.
"I just wanted to tell them Naruto's back. They should have been happy to hear that"
"Don't worry! They will know soon. Did you see that Naruto has changed a lot? I almost can't recognize him." Izumo said.
"Yes, I do." Kotetsu agreed, paused a little, he asked his pal,"I wondered why Jiraiya-sennin did not come back with him?"
Hokage's tower...
"Why don't we meet Tsunade-sama now, Shizune-chan?" Sakura asked. The ninja squad was in Hokage's office after sending Kakashi to hospital.
"She does not want to meet anyone. I'm sorry."
Shizune shook her head sadly.
"What happened? I thought she must have wanted to hear the details of the mission."
"Not now. She just heard a bad news." The Hokage assistant sighed.
"And what it is? What kind of bad news can make her upset that she does not bother to work?" Tenten asked.
"Her comrade's dead. Do you think that, after hearing that news, she can continue to work normally?"
Everybody turned their head when they heard a familiar voice. Standing behind them, leaning on a wall was a man, no, a young man with blonde hair. He looked up and his dark icy blue eyes went through them. Sakura's eyes widened.
"Naruto? You're back."
