Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto of any of it's characters, but Ookami ismine!
Chapter 4: Confrontation
"Hey, Ookami!" shouted Hidan.
"Rip your own heart out! It stopped being amusing after the fifth time!" shouted Ookami.
"Tobi wants to help Hidan!"
"Tobi can go fuck himself!" shouted Hidan, as he went back to his ritual chamber.
"Huh... that'll do. Arigatou, Tobi," spoke Ookami.
"Tobi is a good boy!"
"Hey, Ookami, un."
"What's up Deidara?" asked Ookami.
"There's this village on the border of Hi no Kuni Leader-sama wants us to look into, un," spoke Deidara.
"Really?" asked Ookami.
"Yeah, and if the Sanbi isn't there, we can blow it to bits! We win both ways, un," replied Deidara.
"Can Tobi come?"
"No!!" shouted Deidara and Ookami in unison. Tobi went off to sulk, while Ookami and Deidara made a couple of their birds, and rode off for Hi no Kuni.
"Deidara and Ookami are mean!!" shouted Tobi.
"What did they do to you this time?" asked Konan.
"They won't let me go out with them on their fun mission! Deidara-senpai even said they get to blow up a village!" shouted Tobi.
"Blow up a village?" asked Konan, while glaring at Pein.
"I didn't say they couldn't... it's not like anyone will miss a small border village," muttered Pein.
"What am I going to do with you..." replied Konan.
"So, Deidara's going to level another village, eh? I almost feel bad for them," spoke Kisame, digging through the refrigerator for something to eat.
"Deidara blowing away another village... he he..." muttered Sasori. He just happened to be on his way to the living area. He felt a gambling opportunity, and he wasn't about to miss it.
"Hey, Kakuzu!" shouted Sasori.
"What? This better be good..." muttered the old man.
"I bet you fifty bucks Deidara blows that village to pieces, no survivors," spoke Sasori.
"He... he might not do so well with Ookami there... I'll take you up on it!" shouted Kakuzu.
"I got twenty on him leveling the place," spoke Zetsu.
"Betting on a mission again, are you? I can't pass this up. I have thirty on Deidara leveling the place," spoke Kisame.
"Hey Itachi, you in?" asked Kakuzu.
"Hmm... fine, ten on them not killing everyone..." muttered Itachi.
"Oh, come on, at least bet twenty!" shouted Kakuzu.
"Fine, twenty, now let me be," spoke Itachi.
Ookami and Deidara had made their way to the village. They flew around, looking to see if there were any signs of someone who could be the Sanbi jinchuuriki.
"Last time Zetsu brought up the Sanbi, he said it had no jinchuuriki... I wish he would make up his mind, un," Deidara thought to himself.
"Haven't been to Hi no Kuni in quite some time... not since that Chunin Selection Exam I was using to find Orochimaru... wait... I know those nin... shit!" Ookami thought to himself, as he made way for where Deidara was.
"Deidara! We need to hide! Now!" shouted Ookami.
"Hide? From what, un?"
"Two teams of Konoha-nin! One has the Kyubi Jinchuuriki!"
"Kyubi Jinchuuriki?" asked Deidara. "Ah, this is the perfect time to pull one over on Itachi, un."
"We should try and capture him, un," spoke Deidara.
"If he was alone, that would be one thing. In this situation, we would have to be dealing with two jonin and their teams. I'm not ready to have to deal with that!" shouted Ookami.
"Konoha jonin? I could take two easily. Itachi could handle four of them, un," replied Deidara.
"Those two jonin are Hatake Kakashi and Yuhi Kurenai. Kakashi of the Sharingan, and the genjutsu specialist Kurenai. You want to go head to head with them? And their teams? Which include the Kyubi jinchuuriki!?" shouted Ookami.
"Itachi could do it, un."
"We're not Itachi!!"
"You have that Sogekigan of yours, can't you get them from the sky, un?"
"Well... maybe... let's just look around first. I'll keep an eye on Kurenai's team, you look after Kakashi's team and the Kyubi brat."
"Kyubi brat... he he, oh, how I would love to upstage Itachi, un!" thought Deidara. "Alright."
Deidara went after Kakashi's team, while Ookami tracked Kurenai's team.
"Hmm... now, where did that Kyubi brat go... damn, un! He's not with them!?" shouted a frustrated Deidara. He was too loud for his own good, grabbing Kakashi's attention. He found himself being restrained by what looked like some kind of tiger.
"Get this thing off me, un!" shouted Deidara.
"So, Akatsuki is here? Well, you sure got caught easily. I was worried the rest of you would be stronger than Itachi," spoke Kakashi.
"I am stronger, un!!" shouted Deidara.
Ookami had spotted his target, as he was walking along. He decided to use a henge to appear to be a Suna jonin. He heard a loud explosion, grabbing the attention of the group. Instead of tailing them, he found himself face to face with them.
"So, you heard it, too?" asked Kurenai.
"Uh... yeah..." muttered Ookami.
"We should check it out!" spoke a boy with a rather large dog.
"It isn't near any of the people we're supposed to be watching," spoke a boy with a hood over his head.
"Byakugan!" shouted a kunoichi with long, lavender hair. "Shino's right; it's over near Team Kakashi!"
"Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan?" asked Ookami.
"You've been to Konoha before, haven't you?" asked Kurenai.
"I was at your Chunin Selection Exam a few years ago. Your match was rather interesting. It's unfortunate you lost, Hinata," replied Ookami.
"You... saw that..." muttered Hinata.
"Don't you remember? Myself and the other jonin there had to stop that Neji guy from killing you," spoke Ookami.
"That's right, I remember you now. I never got the chance to thank you for that," spoke Kurenai.
"It's the least I could do for someone as beautiful and talented as..." Ookami stopped when he realized what he was saying. Both him and Hinata were glowing.
"We need to see what's going on with Team Kakashi!" shouted Kurenai, and she and her team headed off.
"I'll join you!" shouted Ookami.
The Team Kurenai and Ookami found Team Kakashi; they found Deidara had gotten into a fight with the Konoha-nin. Deidara had managed to get up into the sky, and was sending his bombs after the members of Team Kakashi. Sai, the only member with any kind of long range attack, was attempting to get Deidara, but with no success.
"Uh... Deidara... what have you done..." Ookami thought to himself.
"Shou-san!" shouted Kakashi, "I take it you were here with the Suna guard?"
"Yeah!" shouted Ookami.
"It looks like a member of Akatsuki is here after the daimyou. Be on the look out; they always travel in pairs," spoke Kakashi.
"Thanks for the heads up, Kakashi-san!" replied Ookami. "Great, I have to fight Deidara in order to avoid blowing my cover."
Ookami drew his katana, and channeled his chakra through it. He began batting away the clay explosives that got near the Konoha-nin. He was keeping a careful eye on Hinata.
"So, it seems we're put in a situation against a mutual foe. Didn't expect such a situation would ever come up," spoke Ookami.
"Hai, Shou-san," replied Hinata. Ookami batted away another explosive. At that point Deidara had taken note that another person had joined in on the fighting.
"Ookami, un? Why is he fighting... wait, that kunoichi he's with... oh shit," Deidara thought to himself. He recalled an event that took place a few days ago.
"Hey, Deidara, see this girl here? She's a kunoichi of Konoha. She's the one I was telling you about," spoke Ookami.
"She really is a work of art. I might have to try to get with her if you aren't able to, un," replied the former Iwa-nin.
"Neither of us have a chance, really. Not as members of Akatsuki."
"We could just capture her, and then you could have your way with her, un."
"That's not how you charm a lady properly, Deidara. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind doing that, but I'd rather not. It's just not... the right way to a woman's heart."
"My my, this one must have left quite an impression on you, un."
"Yeah. It was her fighting spirit. There was a tournament for the preliminaries to the finals of the exams. She continued to fight, even though it was clear that she had lost. Her opponent almost killed her. At that point, I stepped in to stop the match. A lot of jonin joined me in my efforts. I rushed her off to the medical ward. I was worried she was going to die. Later on, I found out she was alright. I was going to go and talk to her about her match, but then that damned snake started his invasion, and I had to divert my attention to him. To the best of my knowledge, she wasn't caught up in it. His lackey, Kabuto, put the spectators of the finals under some kind of genjutsu that put everyone in the audience to sleep. I think about her every now and then. I took this picture of her right before I was going to talk to her. She looks so innocent, looking out into the arena. I wished for her safety, as I fled. I attempted to get near Orochimaru, but his guard made that difficult. Even worse; I found out that Suna was allied with that snake bastard, so it wasn't like I could go around Konoha looking to ask her out to dinner."
"Well, I heard they patched things up, un."
"Yeah, I heard that, too. Actually, every now and then, when I caught wind of a Suna ambassador heading into Konoha, I would join up with them. She was never around, though, and I had to leave with the Suna ambassadors in order to avoid blowing my cover. Of course, I gave that up once I finally caught wind of where Orochimaru was again. After I finally found him... well, you know the rest from there."
"Yeah, that's the girl from that picture, alright. There he goes, playing the innocent Suna-nin. Well, I'm not going to let him pull this nonsense on me, un."
Deidara hopped off of his bird right in front of Ookami, and looked him in the eye.
"Shou, eh? Drop the lousy disguise, and just tell them who you really are, un?" spoke Deidara.
"Shou-san, what's he talking about?" asked Hinata.
"Tell her that you're really my partner in Akatsuki... Ookami," spoke Deidara.
"Shou-san, what's he talking about?" asked Kakashi.
"Tell them, un!" shouted Deidara.
"Damn it... alright, I'm Ookami, of Kirigakure," spoke Ookami. He dissipated his henge, and showed his true appearance.
"So, you were an Akatsuki the entire time... I'll give you credit, even I was fooled," spoke Kakashi.
"I wasn't in Akatsuki during the exams. I was spying on Orochimaru of my own accord. I had a bone to pick with the snake. I didn't join Akatsuki until recently," explained Ookami.
"Tell me, are you the same Ookami of Kirigakure that took out an entire garrison of Kiri-nin one night?" asked Kurenai.
"They were responsible for killing my parents. Unfortunately, the man pulling the strings behind it was not there. I didn't catch up with him until recently. It's not like I did it without reason," replied Ookami.
"Why, Shou-san... Ookami-san?" asked Hinata.
"I'm sure you'll all familiar with the coup d'etat staged by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. They caused a lot of chaos in their attempt on the Mizukage's life. The shinobi in charge of hunting them down were rather upset when they failed. They killed people just for the sake of killing people, in order to take out their frustrations. The garrison I took out was the one responsible," explained Ookami.
"Hey everyone, what's going on... Akatsuki!" shouted a certain blond.
"The Kyubi Jinchuuriki was somewhere else the entire time, un..." muttered Deidara.
"Wait, you guys are after Naruto, aren't you," spoke Kakashi, as he drew a kunai. He threw them at Ookami. He deflected them with his katana.
"Well, Deidara, you got us into this situation, now get us out!" shouted Ookami.
"What, I just wanted you to be honest with that girl you liked. No sense in lying, un. You were the one going on about the right ways to court a woman," replied Deidara.
"Uh... yeah... so... uh... yeah... Hinata... I... uh..." stuttered Ookami.
"You blew your comrades cover over the girl he liked..." muttered Kakashi.
"These guys are Akatsuki? They're not nearly as intimidating at Uchiha Itachi..." muttered Naruto.
Hinata didn't say anything. Given how awkward the situation was, no one could really blame her.
"You know, if you really like her, then maybe you should hand yourself over to us," spoke Kurenai.
"How about it, Deidara?" asked Ookami.
"Are you insane, un!? I'm not rotting in a prison cell for your sake!!" shouted Deidara.
"But... I don't want to fight Hinata-chan..." muttered Ookami.
"I don't want a freak like you to date Hinata!!" shouted Naruto, as he sucker punched Ookami. He responded by looking down at the Kyubi Jinchuuriki.
"That hurt..." muttered Ookami, as he rubbed his face.
"Naruto-kun..." muttered Hinata.
"Wait... you like him!?" asked Ookami.
"Well... um... I kind of like you... Ookami-kun... you did protect me... that time..." stuttered Hinata.
"Wait, you protected Hinata at some point?" asked a confused Naruto.
"Don't you remember the Chunin Selection Exam from a few years ago!? I was there... wait... I forgot... Henge!!" shouted Ookami, taking up his Shou persona. "Remember now!?"
"No..." replied Naruto. Ookami dissipated his henge.
"Why I wouldn't mind seeing where this goes, we are enemies, are we not?" asked Kakashi. He was reading his Icha Icha Tactics book.
"Icha Icha Tactics? Is that the most recent one? You know where I can land a copy?" asked Ookami.
"I personally know the author, that's how I got my copy," replied Kakashi, still reading.
"I need to grab myself a copy; I'm still reading Icha Icha Violence," replied Ookami, pulling out a familiar looking red book.
"Is this really happening, un?" Deidara thought to himself.
"An Akatsuki who likes Icha Icha..." Kurenai thought to herself.
"I don't feel like fighting, un... where's the nearest bar?" asked Deidara.
"Wait, didn't you two come here to attack the daimyou?" asked Kurenai.
"No, we were looking for the Sanbi Jinchuuriki, un," replied Deidara.
"A jinchuuriki?" asked Naruto.
"You're the jinchuuriki of the Kyubi. You must know the Kazekage? He's the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. They're the only ones we know about right now, un," explained Deidara.
Naruto maintained a look of confusion.
"You used words with more than three syllables; he's not going to understand you until you explain it a couple more times," spoke Kakashi.
"Un..." muttered Deidara.
"Yeah, it makes me want to drink, too. Let's go, looks like you could use it," spoke Kakashi. Deidara and Kakashi ran off to the nearby bar.
"So... uh... how goes life in Konoha? I haven't been by there in a while," asked Ookami.
"It's been busy. We keep getting plenty of missions. The Hokage has been preparing to deal with you guys," replied Kurenai.
"Ah, I see. I'm still new with them, and all. I took Orochimaru's place. Stole his ring out from under him at one of his bases. You know, he's really hard to find," spoke Ookami.
"You did find him? Not bad," spoke the person with the dog.
"Let's see if I remember all your names... you're Inuzuka Kiba; you lost to Uzumaki Naruto during the exam I was present for. You're Aburame Shino, you're Haruno Sakura. You had a rather interesting match; actually both of you did. But I remember how long Sakura's match was... but there was the blood from Shino's match... he he... I don't know you... I guess he must be Uchiha Sasuke's replacement. And then, of course, there is the lovely Hinata..." Ookami started blushing.
"This is pathetic..." Kiba thought to himself.
"He's just as weird as Hinata..." Naruto thought to himself.
"He is kind of handsome..." Sakura thought to herself.
"Danzou-sama is right... emotions can make the strong weak..." Sai thought to himself.
"He's in league with Uchiha Itachi?" Kurenai thought to herself.
"chirp chirp" was all that was on Shino's mind.
"Ookami-kun..." thought Hinata.
"Well... since we're not fighting..." muttered Ookami.
"Wait, do you know Uchiha Itachi?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, what about him?" asked Ookami.
"Well, do you know where Sasuke is?" asked Naruto.
"He's with Orochimaru, right? That snake is always on the move. Saso... I mean, one of the other members was tracking him. You'd have to ask him where to find Orochimaru was. It was hard enough to find him once... and I'm never going anywhere near him again..." Ookami shivered at the memory of what happened before.
"Wait, don't you want to capture Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.
"Hmm... well... yeah... we did plan on taking him eventually... well, Itachi is supposed to. I'm supposed to catch the Sanbi," replied Ookami.
"I don't want you to hurt Naruto-kun..." muttered Hinata.
"Hmm? Well... uh... if you guys promise not to kill me, or something, I'll go bother my leader. Give me a few moments. Asutoraru Tousha no Jutsu!" shouted Ookami. He found himself in front of Pein's office. He let himself in to find a rather bothersome scene in front of him. Pein and Konan were busy making love on Pein's desk.
"Uh... shouldn't you put a white sock on your door when doing that?" asked Ookami.
"Get out!!" shouted Pein and Konan in unison. Ookami waited outside for several minutes.
"Uh... he's not going to be happy when I go in there..." Ookami thought to himself.
"Come in," spoke Pein. Ookami walked back in. It was obvious they rushed to put their clothes back on. "What is it?"
"Well, I've confronted the Kyubi Jinchuuriki here. There is no sign of the Sanbi anywhere," replied Ookami.
"Oh? Have you caught him? The Kyubi Jinchuuriki?" asked Pein.
"Yeah, about that... do we have to capture him?" asked Ookami.
"You're not seriously questioning my motives are you? You know what will happen to you if you question me," replied Pein.
"I don't want to kill the annoying little bastard. That's what will happen if we pull the bijuu out, right?" asked Ookami.
"We have to kill him; it's the only way," spoke Pein.
"Well... don't we know any resurrection techniques?" asked Ookami.
"Hmm... Sasori, report to my office," spoke Pein into his com unit. Sasori arrived in a few minutes. "Sasori, wasn't your grandmother working on some kind of resurrection technique?"
"Tensei no Jutsu, but it costs one life to bring back another," replied Sasori.
"What if more than one person performed the technique?" asked Ookami.
"More than one person... well, theoretically, if two people transferred half their life force, I suppose it would work... but those two people would most likely be bed ridden for a week or so. It would require several people in order to negate the risks," replied Sasori.
"But we can revive him? Okay, I can accept that. You know, I can use this to convince him join us willingly!" shouted Ookami.
"Don't be so sure; if they knew what I was going to do with the bijuu, they wouldn't be so cooperative," replied Pein.
"What do you want to do with the bijuu?" asked Ookami.
"Let's just say... make the world a better place," replied Pein, "one we would control."
"Oh... well, I'll just leave that part out. Seriously, though, white sock on the door next time. See you soon, Leader-sama," spoke Ookami, as he disappeared.
"Is there anything else?" asked Sasori.
"Yeah, put a white sock on our door, and make sure no one bothers us for an hour. We have some important work to take care of," spoke Pein.
"Hai, Leader-sama," replied Sasori, as he did as he was told. "Important, eh? I'm older than you; who do you think you're trying to kid?" The loud sounds coming from the office confirmed Sasori's suspicions.
"Okay, I talked to my leader; he told me we can do this without killing him, but it will take several people to prevent that," replied Ookami.
"Wait, so you can get this creature out of me? This demon that had messed up my childhood?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, sure," replied Ookami.
"Arigatou!!" shouted Naruto, as he hugged Ookami.
"Kid, you have five seconds to let go before I get even with you for that punch earlier," spoke Ookami.
"Arigatou, Ookami-kun," spoke Hinata, as she hugged Ookami.
"Okay, this is really awkward..." Ookami thought to himself. The two Konoha-nin eventually let him go. Ookami decided to have a little fun, made one of his birds, and pulled Hinata on it, then took off.
"I'll bring her back, promise!" shouted Ookami.
"Should we trust him, Kurenai-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know. Everything I knew about Akatsuki was just turned upside down," spoke Kurenai. "And I can't join Kakashi at the bar because I might be pregnant... I don't think I've ever needed a drink so badly."
"Ookami-kun!" shouted Hinata.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," replied Ookami, with a smile. Ookami took Hinata on a tour of the countryside. He had been wishing to do that for quite sometime. They flew around the area. They had a breathtaking view of the forest below. Ookami paused over a lake.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Just like you are," spoke Ookami.
"Yeah..." stuttered Hinata. Ookami held Hinata to his body. He didn't realize what he was doing at first, but as she lay against him, he enjoyed the moment. In his mind, there was nothing but Hinata. He even forgot he was an Akatsuki, who swore allegiance to Pein and his vision for a new world. After a pleasant day out on the lake, Ookami returned to the village. He left Hinata with her teammates, and decided to check up on Deidara.
"Yeah, un, he gave me this sword here..." spoke Deidara.
"It's just a stick," spoke Kakashi.
"No, it's special, see, you put chakra into it, and it changes like one of those... un... cards..." Deidara tried to channel his chakra; he didn't succeed in his drunken state. His katana had a flame about the size one would see on a match.
"Let me see it," asked Kakashi.
"What? You want to see something, un?" asked Deidara. Kakashi gently took Deidara's katana, and poured his chakra into it. It glowed brightly with his lightning chakra.
"You an art lover, un? That sure is pretty..." muttered Deidara.
"Hey, Deidara... sweet Kami, what the Hell is that!?" asked Ookami.
"Oh, I borrowed this from your friend. I think you should hold onto it," spoke Kakashi, ceasing his chakra flow into the weapon, and handing it to Ookami.
"He's drunk, isn't he?" asked Ookami.
"You're friend doesn't hold his liquor too well, does he?" asked Kakashi.
"Apparently not... uh... Deidara, you're embarrassing... so much for the great Blast Brothers..." muttered Ookami. He took Deidara with him as he and Kakashi walked out of the bar. Ookami decided to hang around until the daimyou left. Apparently, the daimyou agreed to meet with representatives from Sunagakure about their recent alliance agreements with Kirigakure. After the meeting was over, everyone prepared to leave.
"So, yeah... I guess that was interesting, un," spoke Deidara.
"Indeed. Well, I didn't want to have fight you guys, anyway. Though, I was kind of looking forward to blowing up the village," spoke Ookami.
"Eh?" asked Naruto.
"Explosions are beautiful, you know? Here, let me show you. See this little bird here?" asked Ookami.
"Yeah, it's nice and all..."
"Wait, I'll show you how nice it is!" shouted Ookami, cutting off Naruto. He made the bird fly up into the sky. "Katsu!" The bird made a brilliant explosion.
"See! That's art!" shouted Ookami.
"Oh... sure..." muttered Naruto.
"I swear, if it weren't for Hinata-chan..." muttered Ookami.
"So, you guys aren't going to take Naruto?" asked Kakashi.
"Nah, not yet. We still have to take care of some things first. We promise not to kill him. That's fair, right? We just want the Kyubi. What happens to him after that is his business," explained Ookami.
"Very well," spoke Kakashi.
"I'll try to ask Itachi to go easier on you guys, but don't expect any miracles... he's... crazy..." spoke Ookami, "Bye, Hinata-chan!" Ookami hugged Hinata one more time, before dragging Deidara off on one of his artistic works. He decided to fly home on a dragon this time.
"I wonder how Hokage-sama will respond to this?" spoke Kakashi.
"I'm still trying to respond to this," replied Kurenai, as the Konoha-nin returned to their village.
Back in Amegakure, Ookami dropped off Deidara in his room, then went to have his debriefing with Pein. He noted there was no white sock, and thought it safe to enter.
"Ah, Ookami, did you bring the Kyubi Jinchuuriki?" asked Pein.
"No, Leader-sama, but I entered into an agreement with him and his teammates. As long as we resurrect him, they'll hand him over. I can go in place of Itachi when the time is right," spoke Ookami.
"Very well, I'll give the Kyubi to you. Itachi can take care of the Sanbi," replied Pein, "Is there anything else?"
"Yeah, how much time did you two spend doing the horizontal mambo?" asked Ookami. Konan sent Ookami flying out of the room.
"Baka!" shouted Konan.
"Angel, do you have a white sock I can borrow?" asked Pein.
"Let's use our room this time," spoke Konan, winking. Something about seeing Konan nearly knock the life out of one of his subordinates turned Pein on.
"So, Ookami, how loud did everyone scream when you burnt the village to the ground?" asked Sasori.
"Oh, we didn't blow up the village," replied Ookami, lying on his back, with a black eye.
"Are you serious?" asked Sasori.
"Yeah," replied Ookami.
"Pay up!" shouted Kakuzu.
"I can't believe they didn't waste the village..." muttered Sasori.
"Kisame!" shouted Kakuzu.
"What?" asked the shark-nin.
"You lost! Pay up!" shouted Kakuzu.
"What!?" shouted Kisame. Ookami nodded, and Kisame paid up. Itachi smiled when he received his share. They would get Zetsu to pay up when he returned from his mission.