Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Stars Wars at all.
Update (5/4/17): I added a few details to this chapter. I felt like I did not really put in enough on the characters' feelings, so I added more details from the scene where Akuma feels Kakashi reaching out to him/her to the very end of this chapter. It may not be very noticeable though. Hope you like the added details.
Chapter 5
Temari was surrounded by soldiers, who escorted her to the control room where Akuma was waiting for her. When they arrived at the room, Akuma had her back turned towards them and was looking out at a window, overseeing the wide expanse surrounding the facility.
Akuma turned as they entered. "So nice of you to join us, Temari-san," he greeted sarcastically.
"Akuma, I should have known that you sent for me. It seems you can't get enough of me," Temari replied defiantly.
"Charming as ever. You should count yourself lucky as I have kept you alive for this long."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to cause you so much trouble."
Not bothered by Temari's biting remark, Akuma continued, "I should thank you, Temari-san. Your foolish defiance has opened an opportunity for us. After all, I believe the time has come to test our weapon."
Temari's eyes widened when she realized what Akuma was implying. The rebellious front that she put up immediately slipped away when she stuttered out, "N-no, you can't mean…"
"Oh, but I do. In fact…"
Akuma's head turned towards a large monitor screen showing Sunagakure. "We've already locked your beloved village as the target."
Temari tried hard not to let the fear show as Akuma continued, "You have tried our patience for far too long. If you tell us where the rebels are, then maybe I will reconsider."
Temari struggled not to give in, but this was her home village that was being threatened. So many people's lives were on the line….
"Now what would your brother say if you refused?" Akuma mockingly asked.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke through her teeth, "They're in a base east of Takigakure."
"See, that was not difficult." However, Akuma turned to the technicians operating the weapon, "Proceed with the test."
"What? But you said!"
"I said maybe I will reconsider," Akuma coldly replied. Temari glared at her and tried to surge forward to attack, but the soldiers held her back.
"We're ready, Akuma-sama," one of the technicians said.
"Commence." The technician nodded and pressed a button.
Sunagakure was no more in almost an instant as a large beam of light struck the village. It disappeared on the monitor.
Temari felt her heart break. Her home was gone. She failed. What would Gaara say to her?
"Sasuke, huh?" was the first thing Shikamaru said when he first saw Sasuke. He glared at the Uchiha, "What makes you think we'll let you join us?"
Sasuke simply stared back with a blank face.
"Shikamaru," Kakashi said sternly.
Shikamaru looked at Kakashi and sighed. "Troublesome," he muttered.
Right then, a shinobi entered a tent, "Kakashi-san! One of our spies sent a summon to us with this message."
Kakashi took the small scroll. The shinobi hastily bowed and left the tent. Kakashi unfurled the scroll and read it. His eyes widened and he looked at Sasuke and Shikamaru.
"The weapon was just tested. Sunagakure has been destroyed…"
Silence fell in the tent as shock took over. Shikamaru's analytical mind ran the scenario over. His eyes slightly widened when he came to a conclusion, "If Sunagakure is gone, then…"
"Temari must still be alive. They must have threatened her and who knows how long before she gives in," Kakashi finished for Shikamaru.
Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms, "And what if she already gave in? From what you told me, the Empire are very brutal when it comes to getting information."
"Temari is too stubborn for that, Sasuke. Besides, we have a number of empty bases. For all we know, she most likely gave false information to give us some time."
"But still, we have to rescue her. It is only a matter of time before she does give in," Shikamaru said.
"You would risk that much to rescue this one person?" Sasuke questioned incredulously.
Kakashi and Shikamaru both gave Sasuke a sharp glare. "Sasuke, don't you even remember what I tried to teach you?"
Sasuke frowned. He did remember after all those years.
"Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
Sasuke looked away as Kakashi turned to Shikamaru, "Assemble a team." Shikamaru nodded and Kakashi turned to Sasuke, "If you're truly joining us, then you will help us on this mission."
"There was a base east of Takigakure, but it was empty. The girl lied to us," Fu reported.
Akuma was not surprised, "As I expected."
"Akuma-sama?" Fu questioned. He could tell that his superior was planning something.
"In time, you will realize on your own, general."
The team that Shikamaru assembled consisted of Hinata, Ino, Kiba, and Shino. When the team except Hinata saw Sasuke for the first time in years, they didn't know how to respond, being reminded of the failed Team 7. They were especially reminded of Naruto and Sakura, who both had gone away with dreams unfulfilled. They realized the irony that Sasuke did return, but only after the two other members of Team 7 were gone.
Sasuke felt uncomfortable being stared at by the team although he did not show it. On the other hand, Kakashi proceeded to speak as if it was business as usual.
"You're all here to rescue Temari from the Empire. Since we do not know how long it will take for Temari to break, we must leave immediately."
Everyone nodded and proceeded towards the tunnel that led to the outside. Sasuke followed them. He contemplated as they exited the base. He noticed how sober his former classmates were compared to the old days. This war obviously had a huge effect on them, but how huge?
It turned out the journey to the facility took about two days. The journey went on without any words spoken. When they stopped to rest, the team except Kakashi avoided Sasuke the best they could while Sasuke slept away from them. The night before arrival, Sasuke could not sleep. He felt unsettled by the cold atmosphere, but he couldn't blame the team for it. However, it led him to think of Naruto and Sakura. He never denied that he formed bonds with them. During his years as missing-nin, he hardly allowed himself to think of them since he needed to focus on his goal. But now, with his goal fulfilled (which ended up being futile), he allowed himself to contemplate on their absence. He realized how much colder the world was without them as just it was without his brother. He allowed his heart to soften slightly as he made a resolution.
Itachi, Naruto, Sakura…. I will do this… it's the least I can do….
Sasuke closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take over.
The next morning, the team got ready and left without a word. The facility was not very far as they had arrived only a few hours later. They hid in the forest surrounding the facility to scope out the perimeters.
"Shino, send out your bugs to infiltrate the facility. We need to know where Temari is," Kakashi ordered
Shino nodded and sent out his bugs. It would take a while before they would get the information. While they waited, the team observed the facility. It was essentially a huge dome with a huge rod sticking out on the top. There were troops entering or leaving the building. After about half an hour, Shino got information from his bugs.
"The prison is underground and there's a cargo port in the back. Other than that, I couldn't find an opening that we could sneak through," Shino explained.
"We won't be able to get in anyways. The facility is too heavily guarded," Shikamaru said. He looked at Ino. An idea popped into his mind. There was a pathway leading to the facility that soldiers would regularly use a mile away. He turned to Kakashi, "We need two soldiers."
Kakashi nodded, having come up with the same idea. "Sasuke, Kiba, come with me."
They went to the pathway where they hid in the trees with their chakra concealed. They watched as troops passed by. It was too risky to ambush the troops as they only needed two soldiers. Fortunately, it wasn't long before two soldiers came by and no other soldiers seemed to be in sight. They caught the soldiers off-guard and knocked them out easily. They carried the soldiers back to the team. They unmasked the soldiers and Kakashi checked their eyes. Sasuke was shocked and angered to find that one of them had the Sharingan. He glared at his old teacher, wanting him to explain how anyone else could have it.
Kakashi explained calmly, "The Empire wanted more soldiers and taking children away from families wasn't enough for them, so they cloned a donor and implanted the Sharingan in them. The army is a mix of those stolen children and clones."
Shikamaru nodded approvingly at the soldiers and ordered, "Ino, use your Mind Body Switch Technique on one of them. Sasuke, take the uniform from the clone and put it on. You're both infiltrating the facility."
Both nodded and did as they were ordered to do. Sasuke took the uniform and went a few feet away from the team to put it on. Meanwhile, the team woke the non-clone up so Ino could use her technique. This did not take long as the soldier did not expect to be taken over.
When they got ready, Kakashi said, "Good. Ino, you have all the codes necessary to get past security. Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, stay here and guard Ino's body. After you both get Temari, meet me at the cargo port. I'll make a distraction to divert attention in 30 minutes."
Shikamaru spoke up, "Kakashi, are you sure about that? The security is very high in the facility."
"Don't worry about it. Just stick to the plan. Sasuke, Ino, go now."
Sasuke and Ino (in the soldier's body) went back onto the pathway and ran towards the facility. At the entrance, there was an identification center, where an officer was overseeing it.
"2187 and 2199," the officer said as he read the identification codes on their masks. "2187, put your arm out. 2199, go to the retinal scanner and show your Sharingan."
Sasuke and Ino were able to get past security rather easily as Ino was in the soldier's body and had the identification in her arm and Sasuke had the Sharingan and did not need to take off his mask at the retinal scanner. The interior of the building was bustling with troops of soldiers marching and officers walking around. When they came inside, Ino whispered to Sasuke, "There's an elevator that leads to the prison." Sasuke nodded slightly and they went to the elevator. As they waited in the elevator, Sasuke could tell that Ino was getting nervous. They got in easily. Too easily…
It didn't matter in the end, he thought. As long as they got Temari out, everything should be fine. They arrived in the underground floor, where there was another officer overseeing the prison with soldiers guarding the entrance to the prison.
"State your business," the officer said.
"We are here under General Fu's orders to transport the rebel prisoner," Ino lied smoothly.
The officer nodded, "She's in Cell 15." The officer allowed them access to the prison cells, where they found Temari's cell in no time. When they entered, Ino gave a small gasp at the sight of Temari's conditions. Temari was lying down on a small cot. There were bruises and scorch marks on her arms. She was sporting a black eye as well.
Temari got up when they entered and tensed immediately, "So you've come back for more?"
"Temari, it's us," Ino said.
"What?"
Sasuke unmasked himself and Temari widened her eyes in shock.
"S-sasuke?"
"Hn."
"There's no time to explain. Kakashi's waiting for us. You have to pretend that we're transporting you," Ino said.
Temari nodded without any questions and they left the cell, putting up the façade of soldiers transporting a prisoner. As they left the underground prison, they did everything they could not to walk too quickly lest they garner suspicion. The cargo port was on the third floor and shouldn't be hard to find as Ino had explained. Indeed, it was not hard to find as the port was a huge opening to the outside. As they neared the port, a large boom was heard on the other side of the facility and the building shook.
Meanwhile…
Kakashi hid among the cargo as he concealed his chakra. He watched as blimps came in and dropped off supplies. Earlier, he had planted paper bombs on the other side of the building. All he needed to do was wait until the time limit was up. Two soldiers passed by and Kakashi hid deeper into the cargo. He hoped that Ino and Sasuke got Temari by now. Time was running right.
He looked at his watch. Time's up. He made a hand sign.
A large boom was heard.
In the conference room, Akuma turned his head towards the sound of the boom. A soldier rushed in, "Akuma-sama!"
"Send in some troops to investigate."
"Hai!"
Akuma turned to leave the room. Torune and Fu looked at her in confusion.
"Akuma-sama?"
"Both of you, go to the site. There's something I must deal with."
"Hai."
As Akuma left the room, he let out a chakra pulse, feeling for anything unusual in the facility. He did indeed feel something out of the ordinary. The prisoner was out with two others and they were ending somewhere. Akuma swiftly walked towards their destination.
Kakashi watched with satisfaction as the soldiers guarding the port left in the direction of the bombed site. He let out a small chakra pulse for Sasuke and Ino, knowing the soldiers would not notice in the panic. He was relieved to find that they were ending in his direction.
He felt a malevolent chakra among the myriad of chakras in the facility. He knew who it was: Akuma. Curiosity got the best of Kakashi as he wanted to know who the Emperor's right hand was, if he was someone he knew at one point. So Kakashi reached out with his chakra despite risking his position.
Meanwhile, Akuma felt a chakra reaching out to him. He recognized it. It was one of the rebel's chakra. He knew that the rebel was trying to identify his chakra. Specifically, he knew who it belonged to. Amused, Akuma let him.
Kakashi's eyes were closed as he tried to make out Akuma's chakra. Slowly, realization came and Kakashi quickly opened his eyes, which were widened.
"No…" He became overcome with shock and despair. He felt like he was going to faint...
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi shook off his shock and turned to see Ino, Temari, and Sasuke running towards him. He reminded himself that now was not the time for these emotions as he ran to meet up with them.
"Good work. Ino, you can get out of the body."
Ino nodded and took off her hold off of the soldier's body. The soldier slumped forward and shook himself awake, "Hey! Wha…"
The soldier did not complete his sentence as he fell forward with a kunai in this back. Temari, Kakashi, Sasuke looked up to see Akuma standing many feet away with her sword out. Sasuke, as he never seen or heard of Akuma before, took a step back from the unrecognizable and malicious chakra. Kakashi turned to Temari and Sasuke, "Run! I'll hold him off!"
Temari and Sasuke took off as Kakashi threw shurikens at Akuma, who easily deflected them easily with her sword. Akuma calmly walked towards Kakashi, who kept on throwing weapons as he walked backwards. Akuma noted with amusement that Kakashi looked very panicked as he tried to hold her off. Akuma rose her sword, but before she could strike, she felt her movement freeze. He looked down to see his shadow connected to something. Kakashi turned to see Shikamaru holding Akuma with his shadow.
"Go!" Shikamaru shouted. Kakashi ran off. After he ran a safe distance away from Akuma, Shikamaru let go of his hold of Akuma and ran off as well.
Akuma calmly watched as they ran off. "Akuma-sama!"
He turned to see Fu running towards her. "There was no one at the site. We concluded that paper bombs were the cause. The prisoner got away though."
"Let her go."
"Akuma-sama?"
"If she will not tell us where the rebels, then maybe she will show us."
Sasuke and Temari joined the rest of the team, who were waiting in the same spot in the forest. Kiba put Temari on Akamaru as she was still somewhat weak from her ordeal. He also put Ino on his dog since she was exhausted from using her technique. They were soon joined by Kakashi and Shikamaru and the team left as soon as they could.
When they felt that they were a safe distance away from the facility, they decided to camp for the night. After recovering from exhaustion, Ino went to heal Temari from her injuries. As they settled for the night, Sasuke noticed that Kakashi looked stricken. He sat beside his former teacher and asked, "Who was that earlier? At the port?"
Kakashi looked at him with saddened eyes, "That was Akuma, Danzo's right hand. He operates the Empire under Danzo's orders. He killed so many of our comrades. Including…"
Kakashi looked at Ino and Shikamaru, "…Ino's and Shikamaru's fathers…"
Sasuke nodded while Kakashi explained further, "Nobody knows who he is. Whether he's even a male or female. Many of us have tried to find out his identity, but there was nothing…"
After Kakashi finished, a silence fell over the pair. It was then that Sasuke noticed that Kakashi now had an unreadable expression, but Sasuke did not dare to ask what was bothering Kakashi. They spent the rest of the time watching over the team.
"The tracer in the rebel is operating, Akuma-sama."
"Good. Inform me if anything significant has happened."
"Hai."
I just want to remind you guys that no one knows who Akuma is and whether he's a girl or boy at this point in the story. That's why I've been going back and forth with the he and she regarding Akuma.