Elsewhere, another meeting of ninja was taking place.
Kayuha and her subordinates gathered on the far edge of the crevice, waiting for the return of their scout, who they'd just spotted. The fourth member of their team was a thin, brown-haired boy who dropped down from the sky to join them, retracting the wings of his flying harness as he did. A number of kunai hung from his body, as well as some empty holsters. He had been the one raining down attacks on Temari during the ambush, high up in the sky and safe from retaliation.
"The team is heading this way, Lady Kayuha," he stated. "And it's confirmed, it's Gaara and Temari."
"And the Kazekage's other brat?" hissed the younger girl by Kayuha's side.
"No sign of him, Kuro'kiri. Just the Konoha twerps, the replication boy and the shadow user."
"Easily taken care," replied Jougo with a vague wave of his hand.
"Yes but Gaara isn't," snapped Kayuha angrily. "Touhi!" she said suddenly, turning to the brown-haired boy. "Which way were they coming?"
"Winding Snake Path, same as we took, why?"
"Alright fine... if -this- is Winding Snake Path," she said, kneeling down and drawing a line in the ground with her closed fan. "... then -this- is where we strike."
They instantly comprehended her plan. "Clever," remarked Jougo.
"Yes... you two get in position. Move!"
"Yes, Lady Kayuha!" the boys replied with a salute. Touhi unfurled his wings again and leapt off a ledge to glide into the air, and Jougo took off running, though at a leisurely pace.
"Will you have a problem dealing with her?" asked Kuro'kiri, as she and Kayuha began to follow behind the boys. "Temari?"
Kayuha's eye twitched but she shook her head. "No. Why would I?"
"Why indeed?" replied Kuro'kiri, smirking wickedly. Oh, she was going to enjoy this. "Don't worry, Gaara's tough but we know how to bring even him down."
Kayuha nodded. "Then we can get back to our work," she remarked. They'd sent on the majority of the bandits ahead to do just that. But for now, they needed to deal with Sand and Leaf's team, and wipe them off the face of the Earth. Permanently.
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Night came and went, Shikamaru's team kept coming with determination and vigor. Of them all, only their chuunin leader was showing any strain, both Temari and Naruto had energy to spare. And Gaara, well, he never slept. Ever.
It was midday when they finally came across their quarry in one of the winding, narrow crevices of the region, which was narrow so that they could only walk two side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder. Shikamaru was nervous, it was an ideal spot for an ambush, and he was keen to avoid such happening, so he kept his eyes peeled.
Oddly enough, if Kayuha had intended an ambush, she had an odd way of going about it.
She was standing right in the middle of the path at the far end of the crevice, which opened up into a small clearing full of caves and rock formations. Her team could've still been hiding, however, and Shikamaru kept alert. Plus, to fight now might've been dangerous, with the sun high overhead, his shadow was relatively short, and he'd have to rely on tactics.
"Well well... Sand and Leaf, working together," remarked Kayuha lightly, fanning herself as if she was standing in court instead of a hot desert. "Cute."
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," growled Temari, unfurling her own gigantic fan and holding it at the ready. She was about to take a swing when she suddenly froze in her tracks.
Shikamaru grimaced slightly, already feeling the strain of holding her in his shadow. "Hold on... I want some information first."
Temari growled, though she couldn't turn her head to face him. "Fine, I'll give her a choice. You want the easy way or the hard way, Kayuha?" She sighed in relief when Shikamaru's shadow retreated.
"Your father always likes to take the hard route, didn't you know?" Kayuha spat back. "That stubborn..."
"The Kazekage is dead," stated Gaara, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. All eyes shifted to him. "There is no need to continue as an enemy, Lady Kayuha. Hidden Sand..." Gaara blinked, his black-rimmed eyes suddenly clouded, and without warning, he pitched forward onto the rocky ground, unconscious before his face hit the ground.
The suddenness of the attack threw all of his comrades on guard, and none were more shocked then Temari. She alone comprehended what sleep meant with Gaara. The other two might figure it out in a bit but she didn't waste any time in raising up her fan and taking a step back, ready to run for her life the instant it was required.
In that instant, Kayuha's team attacked.
The trap was sprung.
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Within moments Jougo and Kuro'kiri had sprang from their hiding places and descended upon the team like hornets, leaping out from the tunnel and moving quickly to force them into opening with their leader Kayuha, who'd snapped open her fan and was preparing to use it. Touhi flew overhead, his wings blocking out the sun and creating shadows on the ground as he blocked off any chance of them leaping out of the canyon or running up the walls to escape.
Temari, Shikamaru, and Naruto immediately went back-to-back-to-back, forming a triangle so they could see an attack that came from any angle, and react accordingly. "Any bright ideas?" spat Temari angrily, holding up her fan to ward off attacks.
"We need a plan," muttered Shikamaru, palming a kunai and trying desperately to come up with one. He'd run a few scenarios, but none of them were ready for anything like this. He'd expected Gaara's back-up, unable to conceive of the Shukaku-host being incapacitated so quickly.
"I got your plan right here!" shouted Naruto, forming a familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A dozen Narutos filled up the already cramped space of the canyon opening, forming a small wall around Shikamaru and Temari, and half of them charged forward at Kuro'kiri and Jougo, while another two went after Kayuha. The first two were intercepted by swift kicks from Jougo, causing them to puff up into smoke and vanish.
"Haven't you learned anything?" he asked serenely, hands up, beckoning Naruto on again.
Suddenly a weight hit him form behind, and two arms wrapped around his body over his own arms, pinning them to his sides. "Actually, yeah!"
Jougo's eyes opened wide in surprised. Pinned by the clone who'd attacked him from behind, the other two charged forward, and he was virtually helpless.
Or was he?
"Kaze Jiten!" intoned Jougo, and without warning his body suddenly spun about as if he stood in the center of a hurricane, taking the Naruto clone hanging on to him for a ride. The other two clones, unable to stop themselves, were hit fully in the chest by the first clones swinging feet, and puffed out of existence. Jougo continued to spin, however, until Naruto finally let go and went crashing down into a nearby cave, groaning in pain. The fact that this one didn't puff out of existence indicated he was the real deal.
Jougo came to a halt, spreading out a leg slightly to halt his spin. "Foolish boy, you don't understand. I control the winds themselves... so long as they surround my body, you cannot touch me," he said, brushing off his crisp white robes.
Meanwhile, Temari and Shikamaru were having trouble of their own.
"Fujin no Mai!"
"Kamaitachi!"
Gust of wind met gust of wind, and the whole canyon was filled with the after affects as Temari and Kayuha's technique's clashed in the middle. However, it soon proved apparent that the older woman, despite wielding a smaller weapon, was the more powerful of the two. Temari was quickly put on the defensive, using her gigantic fan to block instead of attack. She and Shikamaru crouched behind it as another wave of wind pushed them back.
"Well?!" she shouted, taking out her frustration on her teammate, unable to harm her opponent.
"Thinking," he replied calmly. Then he spotted Naruto's predicament. "We'll fall back to the cave," he said suddenly, an idea half-formed in the back of his mind. "Use it with my shadow, I'll restrain Kayuha, you get..."
Another gust of wind hit them full force, sweeping Temari off her feet and plowing straight into Shikamaru, who did his best to catch her even as the two of them went tumbling end over end. Shikamaru landed flat on his back in the cave floor beside Naruto, and gave an undignified 'oof' as Temari collapsed atop of him.
As the three of them scrambled to regain their footing, the bandit shinobi dropped down by the cave entrance, blocking them off from Gaara and boxing them in. Kuro'kiri nodded at Kayuha, who raised her fan.
"Farewell... daughter..."
"DAUGHTER?!?!" shouted Naruto and Shikamaru, seemingly at once.
"Ryuuja no Mai!"
If Kayuha's previous attacks had been powerful, now they were overwhelming. A torrent of wind developed, so strong and so charged with chakra it was visible to the naked eye. A hurricane shot forward as sharp as a spear and clove deep into the rocks above their heads. Naruto grabbed up Shikamaru and Temari and yanked them back as great stones came caving down, and within minutes, the whole cave was completely buried in rubble.
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How long he languished in the darkness unconscious, Shikamaru Nara, recently promoted to Chuunin, didn't know. All he knew was when he was awake. It was difficult to miss the blinding pain that seemed to run up and down his body. For a while he lay like that, until the thick dust of the air forced him upright, coughing heavily for oxygen. He was fortunate he wasn't taller, his topknot brushed up against the ceiling. A moment or two passed, and he was able to breath reasonably well again. Forcing himself deliberately to calm down and breath slowly, he took a moment to examine himself.
He was hurt, yes, but mostly bruises or shallow cuts, nothing serious. No broken bones. His head was virtually untouched, though it was sore in the back where he'd hit a rock and lost consciousness. Tentatively he pressed his fingers against his skull. No fractures, no deepening of the pain. He would recover in little time.
Shikamaru then took stock of the situation.
The cave-in... he'd been buried alive, along with...
Hastily he reached into the pack at his side and drew out one of his custom-made light bombs, activating the seal on the side and tossing it up, careful to cover his eyes in the process. Despite this, a blinding light filled the space, and even his eyes were momentarily overloaded. However, it quickly died down to a manageable level, and he re-opened his eyes.
With the light bomb illuminating the area, he could see clearly Temari and Naruto with him. Temari was largely unmarked save for some bruises on her arms and legs, but Naruto had a nasty gash on his forehead where he'd hit a rock coming down. Shikamaru wasn't positive how to deal with that, he knew the head was a sensitive region (despite Naruto's seeming lack of use of it) and wasn't sure how to handle it.
For all he knew, Naruto was dead.
Gaara would be too by now, if he'd been left alone. Even the monster inside of him couldn't protect him indefinitely if Gaara was unconscious, he reasoned. And how had he even been knocked unconscious anyway? Had the bandits found some way to counteract his shield and armor?
His list of allies rapidly dwindling, Shikamaru crawled forward to check on Temari's conditions, pressing two fingers to her neck to check for a pulse. He wasn't a medic-nin but he should be able to tell if someone was alive or not.
Nice and strong, plus she was breathing reasonably well. She would be alright, he surmised. One problem solved. Plenty more left to deal with. He crawled over towards Naruto, and was surprised to see his wound didn't look nearly as deep up close. Maybe the light had made it seem worse. He checked his pulse too, found it very strong. So was his breathing. He might even wake up soon. Not that it'd help the situation much.
Right now, it was simply a matter of what killed them first. Starvation. Lack of oxygen. Cave-in. Or the ninjas hunting for them above.
He sighed heavily.
"How troublesome."
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When the smoke had cleared, no sign of the three ninja remained, only a big pile of rubble. Kayuha snapped her fan shut.
"We're done here... now we can... can... can..."
"... continue with our work," said Kuro'kiri quietly. "You must be exhausted, Lady Kayuha. We should get you back so you can rest." She gently took the elder woman's arm to support her, but Kayuha shrugged her off.
"I'm fine."
"What about this one?" asked Jougo, indicating the fallen Gaara, who still lay flat on the ground on his stomach, eyes wide open.
"Kill him," hissed Touhi, dropping down onto a rock beside the red-haired monster. "I say we kill him now," he said, drawing out a kunai from his belt.
"You're welcome to try, idiot," replied Kuro'kiri, folding her arms.
Growling, Touhi thrust the kunai down... only to be blocked by a sudden shift in the sand. "The hell?" he muttered, drawing his arm back and try again. And again, and again, and still again. Each time the sand intercepted his attack. "What the hell is this?!"
"Suna no Tate," replied Kayuha. "It protects Gaara from any and all attacks."
"Any and all -physical- attacks," added Kuro'kiri. "My genjutsu slipped clean past it and right into his head. That's why he couldn't help his worthless friends."
Kayuha frowned, a sudden thought coming to her. "He's not asleep, is he?"
"No," replied Kuro'kiri. "He's still... awake, in a sense. But I'm feeding all of his senses, set in an endless loop. He only break it when he realizes its an illusion. But this should keep his... er... 'other side' dormant."
"Good. Just in case, we're moving out now. Double time," stated Kayuha. As one, she and her team took off and started running, leaving Gaara all alone.
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Author's Notes:
Kaze Jiten is 'Wind Spin,' or something like it and is similar (though not identical) to Neji's Kaiten. Ryuuja no Mai is another of Kagura's signature attacks, the infamous 'Dance of the Dragon.'