True strength

Out side, on piles of rubble or on the ground they sat and waited.

One from Iwa, one from Kiri, Kankuro from Suna, Rock lee, Tenten, gai-sensei, Yamato and himself.

"So this is the trap team!" Neji mused as he went over those not allied with Konoha again just to take in their appearance.

The Iwa-nin was a thin man of regular height, a flackjacket over a green bodysuit with several belts around his left arm and leg. A short Fu Manchu moustache and equally short, spiky, brown hair dominated his weasel like face.

The man's scowl showed his clear distaste about something. His brown eyes shortly resting upon each and every member of the assembly. The man was obviously not cool with the situation. He seemed to expect an attack.

As for the Kiri-nin, Neji was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't the giant Choku Wani, but a smaller man in a short grey poncho, his face obscured by a likewise grey hood, his arms were bare and covered in marks or patterns, which frankly put seemed odd. It seemed he had several of such marks placed all around his body. All in the same black colouring.

"Okay, now if I could get all of yours attention we might get some work done!" turning at Kakashi's voice he saw the Copy ninja in company with the Medic-nin from Iwa, this Rin woman, calmly chugging down her sake.

"Well at least they're here now and she did manage to get Kakashi up and walking for the mission" Neji noted with a faint smile

"Okay we are 10 persons in this party,

1 from Iwagakure: Oshi Fushizen

1 from Kiri: Ureshii Bushuugi

1 from Suna: Kankuro

And 7 from Konoha

Myself: Kakashi Hatake

Next to me: Rin

Maito Gai, Neji Hyuga, Rock lee, Tenten and Yamato"

Pointing to illustrate whom he was talking about Kakashi continued

"That's 6 Jonin and 4 Chunin, all with our own skills which we will use to…. Yes Fushizen-san!"

The rock-ninja lowered his arm and rose from his seat and the ground

"Yeah about this Chunin stuff, I was told this was an S-rank mission, not some escort or "catch-that-thief" job, why are there Chunin mingled with the pro's!"

The man's annoyed and rude tone made several in the squad shoot disapproving glares in his direction, obviously not caring he simply continued

"Does the other villages not take this threat serious enough, the Kyubi is on the loose and has been so for almost 2 weeks, Chunin aren't going to make this kind of missions"

"The reason why chunin has been chosen Fushizen-san, is because they volunteered for it and their Kages trust their capability and skills, the Tsuchi kage herself allowed Rin here to go on the mission because we initially lacked a medic for example. The Hokage trusts that our two chunin, Rock lee and Tenten will work as flawlessly as they always do. As for the Mizukage's reason for sending a Chunin ranked, you have to ask him for that" nodding in the hooded nin's direction Oshi's vision followed suit

"hmpf, I don't have to, Kirigakure has always stayed clear in the major things, for them only to send a token of support is only as to not lose face in front of the other villages" Oshi's scowl had deepened as he had finished mocking his water village counterpart, whom strangely had remained completely calm under the entire word exchange.

Kakashi quickly changed the subject back on track as to avoid the confrontation which would eventually brew from Oshi's anger over being ignored

"Our mission is simple, catch and hold. I have been granted complete command over this Mission, so you follow my orders, and my orders alone, Chunin and Jonin alike. If I get injured or incapable you will follow Yamato's, clear!"

As all nodded Kakashi continued

"We all have our part to play in this mission. Kankuro, Tenten, you use puppets and weapons to distract the target when we come near it, do so by attacking, but no lethal injuries if you can avoid it.

Oshi, your job is to protect the other team members with your earth jutsu's.

Neji, your job is to find all exits and block them in case the target makes a run for it.

Gai, Rock lee, if or when some one gets hurt or injured you will get them over to our medic Rin here who will deal with the wounded. You will also alongside Kankuro and Tenten pin the target to the ground for the final part of the mission, which is to be carried out by you two, Yamato and Ureshii, your job is the most important for this mission to be a success, you will seal the Kyubi inside Naruto again and repair the seal, strengthen it if you can"

"But Kakashi-sensei, what of Naruto-kun! Will he not be hurt by all of this?"

"I don't know Rock lee, the other times Naruto has transformed we have been capable of restraining him, but this time it's different. The transformation is stronger and different from any of the previous ones we've faced. But remember, Naruto is not in charge of his own actions at the moment. His body is under complete control of the Demon Fox. It will strike out at anyone here present with out hesitation. Naruto has nothing to do with it"

Holding a small pause Kakashi studied the faces of the group.

Tenten seemed nervous, her breathing uneven and her eyes unfocussed.

Kankuro's eyes were downcast grumbling over something, he of all the assembled knew best how bad it could go when the beast got in control of the host. His brother Gaara had once a month been the mere slave of his prisoner, the Shukaku. He knew what he was going in for one hell of a fight.

Rock lee and Gai both looked determined to aid their comrade.

Neji tried to be calm but was swallowing repeatedly to try and keep unease at bay. He wasn't to keen on fighting something that had the control over one of his friends.

Oshi seemed excited to fight the Kyubi but also a bit disappointed over having to protect the other Squad members. His face had yet to decide on either an angry scowl or a bloodthirsty smile.

Ureshii looked directly into Kakashis eye, waiting for him to continue as soon as possible. He seemed almost bored with the silence.

Looking lastly at Rin, whom was starring the same way as Ureshii at him only looking more annoyed as if demanding him to continue, he chose to conclude the briefing

"as to round it all of, we have 8 track teams scattered all over Hi-no-kuni at this very moment, when they find the target they summon us with a summoning scroll. Until then get some rest, look through you equipment and otherwise prepare, this is an S-ranked mission and we will treat it as such, any questions!"

"I got one, how did this happen!"

Looking at the mist-nin Kakashi closed his eye and chose to spill the beans

"The Akatsuki leader attacked Konoha, Naruto challenged him, Naruto got pinned down, one of his friends decided to interfere, but got defeated, Naruto must have thought Pain killed her so he understandably got angry and transformed"

"So, anger is the key then!"

"Yes Rin, anger is unfortunately the key and Naruto is very emotional to begin with. I assume he at this moment is going through a living hell"

"Did this friend of his survive?"

"Yes my cousin survived, but is still hospitalized, why do you ask Ureshii-san?"

"Because I would like a word with her if possible, she might know something more of the current situation than what we have been told from the files we have been given, with your blessing of course" his words were even and calm, not rude or rushing like Oshi's, but still gave away that he intended to talk to her regardless of permitted or not

Neji wasn't quite sure what to make of the Mist-nin's intentions, anyone could lie and in the world of ninjas most did

"So far so good, my dear little precious ones" the Kyubi's sing song tone carried easily through the cave in which it currently rested after the long Jutsu performance.

All that chakra to revive these humans, it hadn't realised just how much it had required for Orochimaru to revive the First and the Second Hokage back then, but it had definitely spent much more than that. 4 times as much to be precise, 8 persons it had called back from the death realm all to bring it closer to its goal.

And not a moment to soon, it knew Konoha had sent track teams out as soon as they could, so predictable, they were determined to find and catch it, and then free their precious, nay their loved friend.

The Kyubi couldn't hold back a snicker as it thought back on the little Hyuga girl confessing her feelings for its host, right before getting stabbed by Pain.

Love had given her the strength and courage to challenge Pain, love was so mighty in humans.

It made them strong, this concept of having someone important to them, the Kyubi had seen it so many times now it was getting tired of the reruns, but it always worked, no need for it to only work on humans though, the Kyubi was certain it could use it too.

It already had 8 important persons indebted to it, they would love it, they were important to it already, to its strength increasing.


Why did I say ok? Neji had been asking himself that question for a long time now as he led the Mist-nin towards his Cousin Hinata's current position.

Looking back at his companion Neji saw that he was still following him like a shadow. As natural as one and just as silent.

Yet the outlander unnerved Neji to no end with his silence, he mimicked his movements to perfection, his foot landing at exactly the same time as his, the same with his breathing, they were perfectly in tune.

It had happened more than once that Neji had stopped in mid-step looked backwards and seen the mist-nin stand in the same posture. Was he mocking him? His depressing expression said otherwise but one could never be sure.

"Erhm, I'm sorry for sounding rude but I really don't understand why you want to talk to Hinata-chan , we have already read the reports on the Kyuubi and the statistics on its behaviour, I just don't see any reason to interrogate Hinata all over again" Neji said expectantly, in part to hear something from his companion, but mostly so he could get out of the man's company and back to the others

"Don't be, it's understandable, you do not see why it could be useful to hear about the host of the beast when he is not in control of it"

"If you want to hear about Naruto you only need to ask, most of the other members of the squad knows him already"

"I have already consulted Kakashi Hatake on his student, he didn't give proficient information aside from his strengths and weaknesses and most obvious personality traits, I need to talk to the trigger of this whole thing, this Naruto seems attached to her somehow"

"Well, they were classmates in the academy…" Neji was well aware of Hinata's feeling for Naruto and he wasn't going to let such things slide to a non-allied Shinobi

"Not enough, I know you from Konoha value your comrades but the target didn't do much aside from becoming angry when he arrived to see his village in ruins and many of his friends wounded and hurt, there were a trigger, someone really important to him"

"Naruto would have reacted like that if anyone had been hurt in front of him! Everyone is important to him, not just his friends and comrades" Neji had stopped up and had spoken the last line in urgently almost pleading the Mist-nin to stop.

The silence had been preferable to this conversation; Ureshii's voice was so devoid of feeling and joy that it was unnerving.

But he was right none the less; Hinata had been the last straw.

Smirking as a thought occurred to him, Neji's action was caught by the mist-nin's eye

"Something that could have influence on the mission?"

"Yes actually, I'm positively surprised to see that the aid Kiri has sent wasn't just symbolic like Fushizen-san believed"

"It's not a question of sending many men but sending the right one" Ureshii's eyes had narrowed significantly as he spoke; his face had taken on a more serious look, or a more angry one.

"So Kirigakure put more weight into this current situation than it seems?"

"A lot more"

"Why is that, your village hasn't lost anything to the Akatsuki?"

"My village is more endangered of being attacked than yours are, much more, we are forced to cooperate with you, even though we don't like the concept"

"Aha" was all Neji could mutter as they had reached their destination at last, but hopefully he could get the rest of the conversation going later, when they had finished talking to Hinata about Naruto.

Frankly speaking Neji was puzzled at the last comment made by the Mist-nin.

"Yes, she died, so heroically I must add, you should really be proud to have known someone like her, always supporting you when you were down, too bad she is gone now, her past, present and future erased by Pain"

"Pain, I'll kill him, I'll kill that damn stupid monster, him and his damned paper bimbo" Naruto's voice cracked as the tears returned to his eyes.

He had no sense of time inside this sewer the Kyubi had called prison for so long, for all he knew he could have been in there for a minute or a month.

Naruto could see the bars that separated him from the demon-fox but it was all just a blur to him, he wasn't thinking clearly due to the sorrow he told himself over and over again, he hadn't realised that he was inside the cage, not outside it as usual.

All in all he didn't know his situation very well. He wasn't conscious and aware of the Kyubi's actions.

A scenario that the Kyubi found to be extremely advantageous. Naruto only knew what it found that he should know.


"But…."

"No buts, he's my patient now and I know how to deal with him, heck I know his body better than a lover would"

Cringing at the thought the last comment put in her head, Sakura tried to resume her argument with the usurping witch, over whom should be seeing to Kakashi's wounds. The patient himself sat on a piece of rubble, trying to stay out of the two kunoichi's

The rest of the track team had scattered at this point, going their separate ways.

"You shouldn't even be leading this group sensei, you're still weak after the fight with Pain, and you" pointing at Rin "shouldn't be treating him, you'll use all of your chakra"

"Listen here, if I can fix him up in time to do battle with a bunch of Iwa-nin in moments, I can fix him up to catch a tailed beast and its subdued host"

"He has a name you know!"

"Yeah, yeah Sweetie, Naruto Uzumaki, by the way, is he related to Kushina!"

"Who!"

"I wasn't talking to you, my little piece of discarded bubblegum, but to mister one eye here" Rin's scowl at Kakashi sparked a strange reaction in him which Sakura had only seen a handful of times, was he shivering!

"Kushina is the name of Naruto's mother Sakura, she was a lot like him when she was still alive" didn't take him long to recover from Rin's insult

"You mean, childish, talkative, a blabbermouth, perverted, stupid, always rushing into the middle of the fray with some new Jutsu always getting himself hurt in the process!" Sakura pictured a petite blond woman with spiky hair reading an icha icha book aloud to a whole school class

"hm, a moment I thought she was talking about you Kakashi" Rin's laughter was a welcome sound to Kakashi, but it only furthered Sakura's anger at her

"Kakashi-sensei is nothing like Naruto!"

"Is that so? Always getting himself hurt in a fight, rushing in, perverted, stupid, new Jutsu all the time, if he has ever created his own on the background of the Rasengan, he probably made something completely haywire and dangerous to himself! He probably started out completely uncaring about anyone else than himself, selfish and with a serious I-can-do-this attitude. Am I right or what!"

Sakura pondered over this for a moment and came to the conclusion that the witch was on to something, which she had never though about Naruto and Kakashi-sensei were a lot alike deep down.

"Probably surpassed his sensei too" Rin was grinning smugly at Kakashi now, bending over him so she could look him straight in the eyes, as if teasing him, a slight blush on her face.

Kakashi tried to look away, avoiding her gaze as long as possible for some reason

"But Kakashi-sensei has more in common with Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh yes, the Uchiha kid right, a so called genius and the cool girl-magnet which everyone had a crush on in the academy!" seeing Saskura averting her gaze and blushing Rin snickered "bullseye!"

"But you will still use up all your chakra at this rate, and you're dead drunk already!"

"My alcohol tolerance is as high as the Hokage monument" Rin took yet another swig of her hip flask and resumed trying to establish eye contact with Kakashi

"Which has recently been reduced to rubble, don't you know you can go blind from drinking too much aswell!"

"My eyes are working perfectly thank you very much, as for my chakra levels they are just fine, I can keep this up for hours on end, Kakashi look at me damn it, with your "genius" you should be able to avoid looking down my blouse"

Sakura was in equal measures starting to like and despise that woman while she hid her blush andf her faint smile

"Damn stupid poison" Kankuro's muttered annoyed, he had been trying to scrape of all of the lethal stuff from his puppets for what felt like hours now, he didn't want to kill Naruto anymore, even though he really wanted to under the chunin exams.

He owed him, heck the whole of Suna owed him for saving Gaara, he wasn't going to let a chance to repay a friend slip away and his new puppet was made for this type of job, his Hishousu was perfect for this type of job.

"How's it going?"

Turning around Kankuro saw his sister in the entrance to the room he had made his workshop for the time being

"Fine, just fine, been removing the deadly poison from my toys and I'm all but done, how about you! How's the clean-up going?"

"Well enough, Akatsuki really brought out the big guns on this one, we had enough trouble with Deidara and Sasori and Konoha faced off against their leader, the whole village is in shambles"

"Yeah the people here are really facing tough times"

"Not as tough as Naruto is when you get him back here. There's talk in the alleys, a lot of people is blaming him for this"

"What! They can't be serious, Naruto didn't attack Konohagakure!"

"But because of the Kyubi it was attacked, they don't see it the way us who know how it works do. They don't or won't understand that the Jinchuriki are blameless in what their roomies do or think" sighing tiredly Temari supported herself on a wall and slumped down in a sitting position

"They might even demand that Naruto doesn't come back or… gets killed"

The sibling were silent for a moment before Kankuro broke the spell

"Does Gaara Know?"

"I've mentioned it to him, he wasn't happy about it"

Looking down Temari continued

"I remember when we rushed back home to save Gaara, that Naruto said he was lucky compared to Gaara, that it wasn't fair Jinchuriki were treated like second class citizens and only seen as containers for the tailed-beasts"

"Seems Naruto is out of luck then, the tables have turned around completely, Gaara is adored by our city, especially the female part heh heh heh"

"Now's not the time for jokes Kankuro, but for removal of too lethal fluids from your actors"

"Where're you going?"

"Off to see to Shikamaru, heard from his father that he broke a leg in the invasion, he's probably whimpering in a hospital bed somewhere"

"And you can't stand that?"

"No, real men get a pair crotches and get going right away, not slumping in some bed for two weeks looking at the sky"

Seeing his sister get up and leave left Kankuro to his own devices again, though these news weren't exactly promising.

"So, that's it?" Ureshii sighed exaggerated while rubbing the bridge of his nose

"You have absolutely no more to tell us aside from what it says in his file?

"N-no Ureshii-san" Hinata was a bit nervous at the Mist-nin whom had questioned her about Naruto for the past 30 minutes, even though he had just sat there at the side of her bed on a chair, her cousin and sensei only mere feet away.

"Is that: No I don't have or no I do have more to tell!" her interrogator sounded rather tired

Pondering a moment Hinata remembered something

"I-I do have more to tell"

"fine, lay it on me" Ureshii spread his arms wide and looked visibly more awake, even though he still carried his air of depression around him like a cloak.

"I r-remember talking to Naruto-kun before his fight with Neji-nii-san under the chunin exam, he mentioned t-that his attitude was to cover up for all his mistakes"

"By his attitude do you mean his gung-ho I-can-take-on-the-world-and-win idea!"

"N-no, I mean h-his will never to give up"

"Never give up you say, well, better than the file at least. The target is determined, apparently aware of his failures and trying to improve upon them, combined with an extreme stupidity and bravery"

"Actually, Naruto is not as much stupid as he is dense Ureshii-san" Kurenai corected

"Dense, you say, hmm, not sure what I cn make of that until I get a chance to see it myself. Neji-san!"

"yes Ureshii-san!"

"Your fight with the target, who won!"

"Naruto-kun did, even after I used the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō upon him"

"The sixty-four palms technique of the Hyuga clan, he could still win after that?"

"Yes Ureshiiu-san, I don't know how, but he sent his chakra through the points from the inside very forcefully and gained double speed and strength, if I hadn't used my Hakkeshō Kaiten I would have lost then and there"

"The heavenly spin and he still won after that!" the mist-nin were visibly awake and a bit more wide eyed now

"Yes, he even still had energy to jump and run, but I don't get how he could win"

"Jinchuriki can call upon their Beasts to give them chakra and power, they can also get out of Genjutsu that way, had he not been one he would have lost the combat, feel proud young man, you made him summon up the beast within" Ureshii ended with a brief mockery of a real smile at his congratulation, his face quickly regaining its normal form of tired sorrow

"But we're done here, thank you for your time Hinata-san, you may have been of a huge help for this mission and its aftermath"

"T-thank you, but what do you mean by aftermath, t-the trap team find and get Naruto and brings him here, i-isnt that the end of it?"

Looking down at her after getting himself in a standing position Ureshii bluntly responded

"No of course it's not the end of it. We have to hide him away until the Akatsuki is annihilated"

"A-annihilated?" the Konoha-nin said in unison all sounding a bit surprised

"Yes, killed of, destroyed, crushed, ended, I can go on about synonyms of being killed if you like but I need to talk to some of my countrymen now"

"Countrymen like Wani?" Kurenai had risen from her seat now and stared directly at the mist-nin, silently demanding answers

"Yes like Choku-sama"

Clearing his throat, Neji caught Ureshii's attention

"I've been wondering about something, if this Wani is as strong as they say, why isn't he on the trap team? You say Kirigakure takes this situation very seriously, but yet only send a single shinobi, and not a war machine like Wani, it doesn't add up"

"You don't send Choku-sama on missions or give him orders; you consult him and hope he does something in your favour. Besides you would rather that the whole team came back in one piece and not in hundreds! He would rip you apart if he pleased, and it pleases him greatly to kill someone considered and enemy or opponent"

Ureshiis eyes had narrowed as he spoke; he seemed experienced in giving orders and making crowds listen somehow.

"As for your questioning of my villages help in this affair we have good reason to be cooperative.

At the summit, the reason for Akatsuki's gathering of the tailed-Beasts was revealed. They're building a weapon, supposed to maintain some sort of twisted peace. And a weapon needs a demonstration of its capability"

"A-a demonstration? On what" Hinata was shaken at this revelation, she had heard the expression: if you want peace, prepare for war, but this was going too far

"A country of course!"

"And you're afraid you're going to be the guinea pigs" Kurenai had sat down again this time on Hinata's bedside

"Yes. Kirigakure have no allies and we are one of the five great Ninja villages, we have a history of violence and war and we have fought with several smaller villages over the course of it.

Some to extinction and some to poverty and downright retirement, like Yugakure the village hidden in hot water.

Furthermore one of Akatukis members came from Makkougakure the village hidden in the incense, a long standing enemy of Kiri made up from the remnants of our defeated enemies. We are the most likely candidate based on these factors and we wont let anyone trifle with the safety of the Hidden mist"

Ureshii's eyes had gotten systematically wider with each syllable spoken, his eyebrows furrowed to the point of near-verticality, he looked as if possessed by a demon for a short brief moment before regaining his usual composure, nodding an good bye and left with no further words

Neji watched Ureshii turn around and walk out the door after his speech; yes Kirigakure certainly had good reason to cooperate under those premonitions he thought

"But w-where will Naruto go after they capture him!" Hinata's voice was almost cracking with worry as she spoke the words, the future looked dire, the Akatsuki were after the Kyubi's power and some apparent madman from Kirigakure was hell-bent on interfering, and the best way to sabotage a weapon was to destroy a important component in it, Naruto, she didn't trust the mist-nin one bit with his life.

But she was still too weak to help, a few more days and she would be ready to perform missions again, but the trap team was sure to go into action before then.

She just hoped nothing would befall him or the Trap team, she wasn't too sure Ureshii-san was in- or excluded, his demeanour had not told her he was a pleasant man, he seemed knowledgeable about the situation, even more so than the majority of Konoha, he also knew what had went on at the Kage summit, only way he could do that was if he was present at it. It clearly spoke of an influential man. She shivered as she tried to drive out the worry by reassuring herself that everything would be all right, that Naruto would come back without a scratch and this nightmare would be over soon, that peace would settle over Konoha once again, over the world.

ZZZZ

"Remember Oshi-san, if necessary, you will kill the Kyubi and its Jinchuriki"

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama"

"We cannot allow Konoha to have that sort of weapon in their hands, this Jinchuriki is according to its file highly loyal towards its village, after you bring it back we must secure it in Iwagakure, Konoha is not safe"

"Understood Tsuchikage-sama, I'll make the Jinchuriki understand that it will be better of being in our care than in Konoha" Oshi Fushizens smile broadened "and "kill it if it disagrees"

"No, no good Oshi, if you kill it this whole thing will escalate into war when Akatsuki is history, I don't want that now, Konoha is too close to its allies at the moment, we need to wait and let it sour for some years before we get rid of our old rival" the Tsuchikage Keikoku Koutetsu slumped back into her chair while stuffing her face full of pickled plums, her armoured kimono clinked at her movement.

"As you command Tsuchikage-sama, it shall be so"

"Oh, and if you can restrain yourself until the Jinchuriki has killed a few of your teammates, it will help our cause I think"

"But what of the hostage, that Rin-bitch?"

"We don't need her anymore, hopefully she will die in the chase, if not we can send her on highly dangerous missions later"

the woman didn't care about the hostage deal or those involved, it had been made before her time and as such she was not obliged to uphold it.

Or anything else the former Tsuchikage had gotten himself into.

Like not waging war when Iwagakure was in such an ideal position to do so?

They had the best defences of all the great villages, if the resistance proved too strong or Iwa itself got invaded, they could retreat behind the walls and wait out a siege for as long as it was required. They would win under any circumstances, especially if they robbed their opponents of their migthiest weapons.


here you go, chapter 4, my apologies for not bringing on what i heralded in the last chapter in more generous measures, but it wasn't time yet

hopefully you will review my story, it's the only way for me to know how you feel about it

btw, in Word this was bloody 17 pages

hope ya like it

and quote from the next chapter

"You know evil things deserve love too"

ps: Makkougakure is my own creation, I will get back to it in a later chapter