Chapter 7: The Ambush
The three groups searched for Gaara, and one of them actually found some information. But there's something they're not doing right.
"So… Where do we go next?" Choji asked his friend. Temari was two meters ahead, leading the group.
"We keep searching for more places where he could have slept, I guess…" Shikamaru answered.
Suddenly, Temari stopped and started laughing violently. The two friends didn't understand what she was amused with; they didn't find nothing funny in the panorama or much less in the situation they were in; they looked at each other, clueless. Shikamaru decided to voice their ignorance.
"What's so funny?" The three had stopped in the middle of a street, because Temari was giggling so brutally she couldn't even run. As Shikamaru said this, he put his hands on his pockets and took his bored stance, waiting for her to stop chuckling. After a while, she decided to answer him, still with tears in her eyes, because of laughing so much.
"So that's what you've been doing? Searching for where he slept?" She released another laugh again.
The two boys nodded. "What about it?" This time Choji said.
"Well, just a little detail: Gaara doesn't really sleep…"
The boys' eyes grew wide. "W-what?" Choji let out.
"Didn't you ever question about that huge under eye circles?"
Choji talked again. "It was kind of weird, but to think the guy never sleeps…"
"Horrible nightmares, dreadful visions… The Shukaku host is not capable of such a thing like slumbering."
"Then all this was a waste of time…" Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."
"Then the only thing we can do now is return to the meeting point and hope the others had found something useful." The Akimichi heir said, sadly.
The other two nodded.
/-/-/-/
"I wonder what the others have gathered…" Lee was thoughtful.
"Probably not much. It seems Gaara knows pretty well how to run away."
"Yeah. But then we must be awesome, because we actually got valuable information, don't you think?"
"Not really."
"Huh? Why?" The taijutsu genius was incredulous.
"We didn't really gather that much information. The only certain thing we know is that he was at that market and that he went east. The rest are just suppositions."
"You're probably right…" The green-dressed seemed quite despondent.
Seeing his partner was a bit down, Neji tried to cheer him up. "We'll find him…"
"I know."
At this statement, Neji seemed quite surprised, but decided not to question his friend's determination, because it could put him down again.
"We should go back to the meeting point. Two hours have already passed." The Hyuuga boy stated.
Lee nodded. "Let's go, then."
/-/-/-/
Three men were standing on a roof, looking down to the street, noting every single move of their target. The supposed boss, a sturdy man with his face in the shadow and wearing a formal suit, was accompanied by two other guys covered by brown hooded robes.
"Akira, Hidetaka, shall we begin?"
"Yes, master Raiden." The two men answered in choir. But one of them still had a doubt. "What about the sand brat, sir?"
"Let him be. We'll catch him, anyway." The questioner nodded.
The boss, Raiden, smiled malevolently, creepily, you could say.
/-/-/-/
"N-Naruto?" Hinata called shyly.
The Jinchuuriki faced her, the fatigue showing signs in everyone's faces.
"We should go back. We've already searched for two hours." She continued.
"Yeah, I think she's right." Kankurou continued.
"But we haven't found anything, yet."
"Y-Yes, but the others will get worried, and that will late us. Don't you think, Naruto?" Hinata continued trying to persuade him.
"You're maybe right… OK, let's go, then." You could see disappointment in Naruto's face. The fact they hadn't found nothing at all was killing him inside, making him feel he wouldn't be capable of finding his sand comrade. But that was unacceptable! His friends should have found something, already, that could lead them to the Shukaku host.
Yes, they could really find him!
Naruto put a smile on his face, which disappeared in a snap's instant, because someone had thrown a kunai too close to his head. He froze.
He was questioning himself about who had done such a thing when the answer landed not too far from him, in a human form, actually. Two hooded guys stared at him for moments, giving time for Hinata to activate her Byakugan and for Kankurou to prepare his puppets.
"Oh, look, Akira. The little brat has friends to protect him."
"Oh, isn't that cute." Hidetaka replied, ironically.
Naruto made a determination expression as he understood they were talking about him. He took a battle stance.
"Where is Gaara, you bastards?!" He screamed, assuming they had taken Gaara while he was on the Hidden Rain.
"How do you want us to know?" Akira screamed back.
"But don't worry." Said the other hooded man. "Soon, he'll be with you."
"What do you mean, bastard?" Naruto wasn't really understanding.
In response, the hooded men smiled subtly.
This only served to piss Naruto off. He didn't like rhetorical questions, especially when they weren't meant to be rhetorical!
"If you won't answer me, I'll punch the answer out of you!"
Akira and Hidetaka started laughing, but only Hidetaka voiced his thinking. "I'd like to see you try, kid."
This made Naruto determination to kill those two no-bodies even more. He didn't even know who they were, he only knew they wanted him for some reason. And Gaara, too.
As Shikamaru would say, they were just troublesome.
Hidetaka threw one kunai in Hinata's direction and another in Kankurou's, making them head back in order to dodge them.
While they were far from Akira and Naruto, the first one executed the [Wind Style: Hurricane Fist]. His fist was immediately covered by cutting wind. Naruto couldn't even see him coming, so he let the enemy punch him in the abdomen. «He's… so… fast…», the Jinchuuriki though, before passing out. Akira smiled.
"What are you doing?!" Hidetaka screamed to his comrade.
"Relax. I was holding back. He just passed out." At this statement, Hidetaka sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Hinata approached Naruto in order to see how he was and Kankurou was now closer to the enemies again.
Akira noticed something. «Odd», he thought, «he only has one puppet, now. Didn't he have two, at the beginning?»
/-/-/-/
Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji and Temari were already at the meeting point, waiting for the others.
"Why are those two taking so long?" Choji finally voiced what everybody was thinking.
"Three. Those three." Temari immediately said. "Kankurou hasn't arrived yet, too." She was really worried about his brother. It was clear in her face.
Shikamaru, who had been quiet until now, made a decision. "Me and Neji will look out for them. You stay here, in case they arrive." Everybody nodded… excepting the sand girl.
"I'm going, too." She said, confident. "Kankurou is my brother, remember?" She faced Shikamaru.
He sighed. "You won't accept a «no» for answer, will you?" The genius said, bored. Just by looking at her face, he could already tell he was right. "Come on…"
She smiled. The three ninjas jumped out, leaving Lee and Choji for their exciting waiting.
Neji activated his Byakugan, in order to find their friends more quickly. When he finally found them, his eyes grew wide.
"That way." He pointed. "And we should really hurry."
Shikamaru and Temari could already guess what was going on without asking Neji for details.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.
/-/-/-/
Hinata had taken Naruto to a safe roof and returned to the fight. She would prefer a thousand times to stay with Naruto and help him recover, but she couldn't let Kankurou fight those two by himself. Not that they had hopes they could defeat them even the two of them. The plan was to create a diversion and get out of there the fastest they could.
Once they found the rest of the group, it would reveal easier to escape. The funny part: they didn't even know why they were fighting these guys; they just knew that it had something to do with Naruto and Gaara, which meant it could reveal itself a matter of the Kyuubi and Shukaku's powers.
Anyway, they wouldn't let them take their will along.
After some time throwing kunai and shuriken and dodging the enemies' ones, apparently the two hooded decided to get serious.
Hidetaka screamed "[Chidori]!" and started running into Hinata's direction at an impressive speed, impossible to dodge. The same happened with Akira and Kankurou, but this one performed a "[Rasengan]!" and both the genin saw their lives passing right through their eyes… almost.
When they were about to be hit, the two hooded stopped, still in an attack stance.
"Shadow Binding Technique: success. Hinata, Kankurou, just saved your lives. You're welcome." Shikamaru smiled.
Kankurou sighed in pure relief. Hinata fell on her knees, also sighing. This was one of those bad luck days.
The Chidori and the Rasengan were already extinct, but their executors were far from over with that fight. They let out a war cry and started to try moving; Shikamaru trying harder and harder to keep them still, but it was impossible. The two men, with a lot of effort, got rid of that technique and jumped to the nearest roof.
Yup, that was one of those days.
"H-how?" Shikamaru let out.
"Oh, look, Hidetaka. A shadow user!" Akira said, smiling with confidence.
"Oh, isn't that cute!" Hidetaka replied again, just like the last time. He was also smiling.
This put Shikamaru in a bad mood; at least, worse than he was before. But thinking about it, it could not be as bad as he was thinking. He actually liked to be underestimated. It could reveal itself a virtue.
Yeah…
Naruto woke up on the top of a building, not really sure of what had happened. The rain was pissing him off. He was completely wet, already. Wasn't that enough?! He was lying on the soaked roof, but quickly sat up when he realised somebody's shadow was covering his face.
He tried to figure who the person was, but her face was covered in a shadow coming from nowhere. Creepy.
He was sturdy and was wearing a formal black suit, also wet.
"Hello, boy." The man said, calmly. Almost irritant.
"Who the hell are you?" The Jinchuuriki quickly asked.
The man started to laugh. The rhetorical questions again. Damn!
"Who are you?!" He asked again, now more violently.
This time, the man answered. "Me? That's nothing of your business."
Naruto was getting more and more confused. And pissed. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing. That's why I came."
"Listen, man: you're confusing me. Stop joking around and get to the matter, already."
The man laughed again. "You're a pretty cheeky boy, aren't you, Naruto?"
"Huh?" The Jinchuuriki's eyes grew wide. "How do you know my name?"
"Not only your name. I know a lot of things about you, boy."
"What is this about?! Why did you come to me?"
"I came to kill you and your little sand friend. What is his name, really? Oh yes, Gaara!"
Ooops! More dangers are arriving. How will the Leaf ninjas deal with this one?
You'll have to read the next chapter, I guess…
Enjoy
P.S.: I'll be taking a bit more time to write new chapters because I won't have much time, but I won't stop, OK?
:D
