Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.
Warnings: Mentions of character death, angst and drama, mild to moderate violence, mature content (foul language & mentions of alcohol), and AU. Child!Harry, Powerful!Harry, Intelligent!Harry, NOTstupid!Naruto, Powerful!Naruto, and Protective!Naruto.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 7: A Guardian's Guardian
September 23, 1986, All Night
Sunagakure no Sato, Kaze no Kuni/Akatsuki Base, Kawa no Kuni
You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed that desperate plea and Naruto felt his heart breaking at the thought of denying his ward what he wanted most. Suppressing the metaphysical pain as best he could, Naruto leaned down and pried Nanashi off his leg so he could crouch down and pull him into his arms as he whispered, "I can't take you with me, kid; the people we are chasing could hurt you."
"Kudasai… need stay you."
"Nanashi…"
"Hurts stay. Too far burns. Need you. Need keep safe," Nanashi desperately babbled as he twisted his hands in Naruto's jacket while more tears slipped down his face.
"I can't take you."
"Kudasai."
"I can't."
"Kudasai!"
"You won't be safe; it's too dangerous."
"No care. Need keep safe."
"I won't be able to keep you safe!" Naruto hollered back; his frustration growing because of Nanashi's stubbornness.
The kid's eyes took on that ageless quality that made him appear far older and more than a little otherworldly due to the tears shimmering like ice upon his lashes as he reached out and lightly brushed his fingers against Naruto's whiskered cheek as he solemnly corrected, "No; need keep you safe."
Naruto's mouth opened and closed but no words flowed forth. His brain had ground to a halt and he couldn't find the necessary switch to reboot it. He just couldn't comprehend the kid's apparent complete lack of self preservation coupled with his belief that it was his job to keep Naruto safe. A split second later, Naruto's brain lurched into over drive as he suddenly recalled that the kid never protected or healed himself with his ability; only others.
Ninety percent of the time those abilities had been used to benefit Naruto directly or indirectly and the other ten percent of the time it was to the benefit of people that Naruto had introduced the kid to or whom the kid had seen Naruto interact with. The only exception was his interaction with Kankurou but that entire incident actually boiled down to the kid seeing Sakura attempting to use healing chakra on the older teen, his dislike of healing chakra, and Naruto speaking about Kankurou potentially dying (though there was no telling just how much of Naruto's words the kid had understood at the time).
"Nanashi-kun, it isn't your job to protect Naruto; it's Naruto's job to protect you. Your job is to be a kid and stay safe…" Kakashi tried to explain only to trail off when Nanashi turned those ageless eyes on the older man.
"Need keep safe."
"I know you want to go with Naruto but…"
"Not want. Need. Too long burns. Too far rips. Not want hurt; need keep safe."
Naruto automatically tightened his arms around Nanashi as the kid began trembling once more. Despite the small part of him that was ecstatic because the kid was finally speaking, Naruto was growing frustrated because he was having trouble discerning what the kid meant. The fact that he used the fewest words possible to convey his thoughts didn't help.
"Nanashi-kun, I don't understand what it is you are trying to tell us. Your words aren't really making any sense because you're leaving too much out," Naruto complained when the circular thoughts became too irritating. "Why do you need to protect me? Why do you have to keep me safe? What is it that is hurting you?"
The kid stared up at Naruto for a long minute before he shook his head as he whispered, "Not know words. Words not right. Not same. Too many holes." The kid then pressed his hand over his own heart as he added, "Know here. Not know why. Feel not right gone. Head hurt. All burns. Hurt breathe. Stay you feel right."
"Okay… Kakashi-sensei, a little help here please?" Naruto requested when most all of what Nanashi had just said flew right over his head without even slowing down. "I'm still not exactly certain what he's trying to tell me."
"Holes. It's possible he's talking about the holes in his memories," Kakashi mused after taking a few minutes to think about Nanashi's disjointed sentences. "He's still relearning the language so he probably doesn't know the correct words to use in order to convey his meaning properly. And if I had to hazard a guess as to what the rest meant; I would say he believes that being separated from you causes him physical pain; but that doesn't make any sense."
"His scar was bleeding when he first showed up and he was burning up," Sakura softly interjected. "When I checked on him while he was sleeping there was no sign of a new injury and there was nothing to explain his fever; no trace of an infection or any sign he'd picked up a bug of any sort."
"There could be any number of explanations for the presence of the blood on his face and his fever but we really don't have the time to sit here and debate the matter," Kakashi reminded them after staring at Nanashi for several long seconds.
"No stay," Nanashi declared as he scowled fiercely at the gray haired Jounin; his leaf-green eyes still shimmering with unshed tears. "No make stay. Need go. Need keep safe."
"That's going to be a problem," Naruto deadpanned as he stood up with Nanashi in his arms. "He's right; we can't make him stay because he now knows how to transport himself. If we leave him and he jumps to us at the wrong moment…"
"It could get one of us, or him, killed," Kakashi finished as he scowled beneath his mask. "It appears we have no choice but to take him with us in order to protect him from himself. Chikushou, Tsunade is going to have my head on a platter for this. We'll deal with the drama later; let's move out."
Nothing more was said as the four shinobi headed out the door; one small child contentedly clinging to the back of one disgruntled fifteen year old. They were half way out of the village when Baki turned up to inform Temari that she had been ordered to remain behind in order to patrol the borders. The blond kunoichi threw a fit over the order until the old woman that had attempted to attack Kakashi turned up and declared her intent to go with them. Naruto didn't care one way or another so long as she didn't threaten Nanashi or get in the way of saving Gaara.
Ten minutes later, their small group was ghosting across the sand beneath the stars once more; Temari's promise to follow soon with reinforcements still ringing in their ears. As they raced across the dunes, Naruto quietly gave Nanashi several orders that he was to obey.
"You are to hold on tight and stay close to me. If I tell you to hide; you are to hide, be silent, and stay put. If I tell you to run; you are to run as fast as you can and find somewhere to hide. If I pass you to a shadow clone; you are to stay with my clone until I come get you. You are not to get in the way if I get in a fight; I have to be able to fight back. If Kakashi-sensei tells you to do something; you will do it without fussing." And so on…
Nanashi just nodded in response to each order that was given; a silent promise to do as he was told. Naruto almost sighed in relief now that the kid was no longer stubbornly refusing to listen to him. Although, to be fair, Nanashi had previously obeyed him without any hesitation (once he understood what was wanted); right up until he'd popped up in the middle of the sandstorm and refused to be left behind again. The moment the kid had been told that he'd not be left behind, he'd returned to his usual biddable self. Naruto privately thought the kid could have given Ero-Sennin a run for his money when it came to sheer stubbornness not realizing that Kakashi was currently thinking the same thing in regards to Naruto's own stubbornness.
Naruto fell silent after a while and scouted the horizon in front of them as he ran beside Kakashi while Sakura and Chiyo followed just a few feet behind. He knew the exact moment that Nanashi fell asleep against him as all of the tension bled out of the kid and his death grip around Naruto's neck loosened enough to make breathing far easier. Knowing the kid wasn't going to be causing any trouble any time soon, Naruto let out a soft sigh and allowed himself to fully focus on his surroundings.
A seeming eternity later, as the sun began cresting the horizon in front and slightly to the right of them, their small group passed out of the desert and entered the forests of Kawa no Kuni. They'd hadn't been beneath the trees for even an hour when Nanashi woke up with a jerk and twisted around on Naruto's back while letting go with one hand. Naruto nearly growled as the kid had already half disobeyed his first order only to cut it off as the kid quickly grabbed hold of him once more.
"Eyes. Bad eyes watch," Nanashi whispered fearfully into Naruto's ear before the kid shifted again and Naruto realized the kid was staring at something behind them.
Naruto skidded to a stop and spun around in place as he drew forth a kunai and scanned the forest behind them. The other three shinobi soon mimicked him with Kakashi slipping up beside him as he grabbed his crooked hitai-ate in the event he needed to uncover his Sharingan in order to fight.
"What happened?"
"Nanashi said we were being watched," Naruto replied in a low voice that wouldn't carry very far.
"Where?"
"Hide. Plant not plant," Nanashi answered as he pressed his face into Naruto's shoulder and one trembling hand pointing to the forest along their back trail. "Bad eyes watch. No soul. Dead not dead like… many you not you?"
"Many what…? I don't… wait; are you saying that the one watching us is a clone?"
"Yes. No soul. Dead not dead."
"Keep moving; if they have clones watching this far out from their base, then they may already know we are coming. Be prepared for an ambush and for kami's sake, don't go running off half cocked when we do run into them," Kakashi ordered softly as he spun Naruto around and gave him a push to get him moving. The older man then set the stretch of forest behind them ablaze with a powerful fire jutsu before he quickly caught up with the others.
The man then fondly ruffled Nanashi's hair as he murmured, "Good job, kiddo; you tell Naruto if you feel any more eyes. Everyone, head south; we'll cut back east once we've shifted our route enough to make it harder to predict which direction we'll be coming from so as to hopefully avoid any ambushes they might have set up."
Naruto felt a burst of pride for his ward; the boy had discovered a hidden watcher, he'd not panicked, and he'd quickly warned Naruto about the problem instead of acting on his own. The kid had also proved himself to be smart and adaptable and Naruto wondered how Nanashi would react to being trained as a shinobi. The kid was going to need to know how to protect himself and Gejimayu-kun had already proven that it was possible to be a ninja using taijutsu alone; if one was willing to work hard enough (so Nanashi's lack of chakra wouldn't impede him). Naruto shoved the matter of Nanashi's future to the back of his mind a moment later as he resumed scanning his surroundings; paying special attention to anything that looked out of place.
Their attempt to circumvent an ambush bought them two and a half hours before they were waylaid anyway. Kakashi sensed their attacker first and the four shinobi stopped in their tracks as a single man came into sight. Naruto recognized the man as Uchiha Itachi and recalled what had happened the last time he'd been face to face with Sasuke's older brother and how the older Uchiha had been the driving force behind Sasuke's desperate and determined desire for more power. He longed to punch the arrogant jerk in the face but restrained himself in order to better protect Nanashi.
The next eight minutes was something of a blur in Naruto's mind; an extremely short and fast paced battle that he never had a chance to participate in. It started when Itachi had trapped Naruto in a genjutsu that Nanashi managed to somehow dispel just seconds after it had taken hold of him with a burst of his gold not-chakra. Kakashi had then attacked the missing nin head on in an attempt to take him down only for Itachi swapped himself out with a shadow clone. The traitor had then attempted to attack Naruto from behind only for the man to get caught up in Nanashi's soul searching gaze as the kid twisted around to face him the moment he felt him appear.
The three Konoha shinobi and one retired Suna kunoichi were then treated to an up close and personal demonstration of what happened to those individuals that did not pass Nanashi's test. The moment Nanashi finished weighing the soul of the man facing them; the kid had let out a hissing growl of pure fury as he reached out towards the man with his left hand. The instant that hand had slammed into the man's chest, ropes made of black shadows that were streaked with acid green and burnt crimson threads wrapped around the man. The moment the insidious living ropes touched him, Itachi had let out an agonized scream that cut off roughly two minutes later when Nanashi pulled his hand back and the man dropped dead.
Only, it wasn't Itachi's dead body that was laying at Naruto's feet by the time the four shinobi pulled themselves back together. It was a dark gray haired man with a small goatee that Chiyo immediately recognized as one of the members of Suna's governing council that had gone missing the day of the attack on Suna. Burnt into the clothes above his heart (and into the man's skin), where Nanashi's hand had made contact, was a circle tucked inside of an equilateral triangle that was vertically bisected by a thick line from point to base. It was an ominous design that many would confuse with the mark of Jashin (which was actually an upside down triangle tucked inside of a circle) in the future.
Nanashi had let out a soft whimper at that point before he'd thrown up; his small body shaking like a leaf in a wind storm. Naruto brought him around and found he was burning hot to the touch while his left hand (the one that had killed their opponent) was ice cold. The pupils of both eyes were both dilated (nearly drowning out the green of his irises) and his breathing was labored; as if he'd just run twenty laps around the outside walls of Konoha at full speed without stopping. Lastly, the skin around the lightning bolt scar on his forehead was red and swollen and the scar itself wept a thin trickle of blood.
By the time Kakashi had sealed the body of the dead man (who was definitely not Uchiha Itachi) into a storage scroll, the kid had passed out in Naruto's arms. Naruto had then watched as Kakashi summoned one of his ninken, a medium sized tan dog wearing a pair of sunglasses whose name was Akino, and instructed the dog to deliver the storage scroll containing the body to Tsunade. He told the dog to only give the scroll to the Hokage when she was alone and to warn her to be careful of whom she allowed to see the body it contained.
At the same time, Chiyo wrote out a report for Suna and sent it off with a tiny mechanical bird. As the tiny puppet flew off, the old woman speculated on the possibility that the Akatsuki were extracting the Ichibi from Gaara due to the dead man's attempt to waylay them. She then went into an in depth explanation about Jinchuuriki and the bijuu in response to a question that Sakura had asked. Naruto only half paid attention; his mind split once more between worry for Gaara and concern over Nanashi's current health. The revelation that extracting a bijuu from its host killed the host disturbed Sakura but Naruto had already been aware of that kernel of information thanks to Jiraiya.
Their small group had then continued on their way towards the Akatsuki hide out.
As they ran, Naruto felt sick to his stomach over what he had witnessed; his mind in turmoil over whether he should feel intimidated or awed by the sheer level of power the kid's technique had demonstrated. He was also worried about how the kid would handle the knowledge that he'd taken a life; something he himself still felt uncomfortable doing. One thing he knew for certain was that he would have preferred to never have seen what happened to someone that failed Nanashi's test. And while he'd suspected the process of failing would be unpleasant, he'd never actually thought the kid would take another's life; though there was a small part of him that had known death was one possible outcome.
The discovery of that ability frightened Naruto on many levels; an ability to kill a man with nothing more than a single touch would be utterly devastating in the wrong hands. When you combined that ability with the kid's ability to heal, his ability to transport himself over long distances, the shields he can create, and his lack of a chakra network with which to track him with; it was enough to give even the Kyuubi nightmares.
Naruto vowed, right then and there, that he would not allow anyone to take the kid away from him; not even Tsunade. It would be far too easy for someone to turn the kid into an emotionless weapon that would be damn near undetectable and unstoppable. He also repeated his earlier promise to make certain Nanashi was properly trained so that he could protect himself. The knowledge that he was carrying his ward into a highly dangerous situation frustrated him to no end and he desperately wished Nanashi hadn't been quite so special. He took it back two minutes later when he realized how selfish such a wish was just because the kid had been born with abilities that set him apart from everyone else.
The kid snuggled closer to Naruto and dropped his left hand lower and it took all of Naruto's willpower not to flinch as his mind automatically supplied the memory of just how dangerous that little hand could be. He then forced himself to recall the miracles the kid's right hand had performed; reversing Tsunade's premature aging, repairing the damage done to Kakashi's eye, and drawing the poison out of Kankurou's body. Reaching up, Naruto placed his hand over both of Nanashi's for a moment (noting that the iciness was finally fading from the left hand) before he reached back to run his fingers through the kid's hair. A soft sigh emerged from the kid as he tightened his hold for a brief second before he fell back into a deeper sleep.
"Are you getting tired? Did you need me to carry him for a bit?" Kakashi inquired as he shifted closer to run beside the blond.
"Nah, I'm fine; just thinking about… well about back there."
"He's certainly proved to be quite the bundle of surprises, ne?"
"Yeah," Naruto agreed.
"I want you to create a pair of clones to watch your back and the kid's the moment we run into the next bit of trouble in order to try and keep the kid from showing off any of his other abilities to the Akatsuki. We don't know much about the technique used to make the last guy take on the likeness and abilities of Itachi nor do we know if Itachi was able to see through the man's eyes while he was still alive. It is best to assume that they saw everything and that they will attempt to capture or kill the kid to take him out of the equation; so be on your guard."
"Wakatta."
"Sakura, I want you to avoid using any healing chakra in front of the kid if at all possible; I'd rather not risk driving the kid to feel the need to interfere. Don't let his presence distract you from doing your job though."
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."
Nothing more was said as they steadily closed the distance between them and their destination. It was nearly sunset when it became obvious that they were going to need to stop and rest for a while as all four of them were exhausted. Nanashi was still sleeping and the kid didn't even stir when Naruto shifted him into his sleeping bag. Naruto then made a couple of clones to help set up the camp and keep watch before he lay down beside him so he could keep an eye on his ward.
Naruto woke Nanashi two hours later so that the kid could eat supper with the rest of them; the kid had slept through lunch as they'd eaten while on the move. Nanashi picked at the food but ate far more than he had during the previous three meals he'd been offered. Naruto wasn't too worried; the kid had been a light eater right from the start. So long as he was eating something at each meal, then it wasn't too big of a deal. He could always have Nanashi eat a ration bar once they were on the move again to make up for the missed meal; something he tried not to do too often since ration bars weren't a sufficient substitute for a proper meal – even if they did provide one with the vital nutrients and vitamins.
After another six hours, during which Naruto slept beside Nanashi, they packed up their camp and continued on their way. As they traveled beneath the stars and through the treetops, Naruto was half thankful for Nanashi's presence. Knowing the child was nearby helped him keep his emotions under control and made it easier to focus on his task rather than his growing fury over Gaara's predicament. At the same time, the kid was the ultimate distraction as his mere presence going into a hostile situation drew Naruto's focus away from the mission. Shaking, his head, Naruto cleared his thoughts yet again in order to avoid losing track of his surroundings.
They arrived at the bank of the river across from the hidden cave near dawn and the four shinobi dropped down out of the trees in order to study the terrain around the cave. They spent a half an hour studying and scouting the area before they came to the conclusion that there were no guards standing watch over the entrance and the group moved down onto the river in order to get a closer look. The reason for the lack of guards soon became apparent as they discovered the barrier protecting the huge boulder sealing off the entrance of the cave.
Kakashi was just explaining what he knew about the type of barrier seal that had been used to lock them out of the cave when Team Gai finally arrived looking more than a little beat up. After giving a brief report on the blue-skinned individual that they'd fought (who'd turned into someone else after he'd died rather unexpectedly – just like Itachi had – in the middle of their fight), Neji quickly used his Byakugan to confirm that Gaara was inside the hideout and determine how many enemies they could expect to face. The young Jounin soon described a demonic statue, the presence of seven chakra signatures (only three of which were clearly visible), and the strange blinding jutsu that Gaara seemed to be trapped inside of.
Kakashi and Gai spent a few minutes discussing the latest development and their options before they began searching for the remaining barrier tags so that they could tear the barrier down. Neji quickly located the four tags using his Byakugan again and the group was preparing to disperse in order to tear them down when Nanashi announced his presence once more.
"No touch. Trick," Nanashi rasped as he lifted his head and stared up at the barrier before turning to stare at the four people he'd never seen before.
"What do you mean by trick, Nanashi-kun?" Naruto asked as he ignored the confused and speculative glances that were now being directed at him and his ward.
"Eyes watch paper. No souls. Dead not dead sleep. Hide. Wait. Touch paper wake no souls."
"A trap? Activated the moment we remove the tags to deactivate the barrier?" Kakashi asked rhetorically.
"How could he know there was a trap? And how do we get around the trap?" Tenten wondered.
"Ano… when did Naruto-kun find a mini-Sasuke?" Lee asked as he rushed up to Naruto's side and reached out to poke Nanashi in the back of the head; as if to make certain he was real. Naruto felt Nanashi away flinch from the touch and he stepped sideways to move out of range of the boisterous, green spandex wearing Chuunin. Lee made to follow until Kakashi called everyone's attention back to their mission.
"Enough fooling around; we'll need to find a way to bypass the trap before we can break into the base and rescue the Kazekage," Kakashi stated.
The group spent several precious minutes attempting to circumvent the barrier to attack the boulder blocking the entrance without touching the tags but it didn't work. Naruto had suggested using shadow clones to activate the trap and Kakashi was seriously considering it when Nanashi unexpectedly piped up yet again.
"Door," Nanashi declared as he pointed to the wall of the cliff several feet away from the cave entrance.
"Um, what door?" Sakura inquired in confusion.
"There is no door," Neji stated as he used his Byakugan to scan that section of the cliff.
"Nan…shi door," Nanashi insisted with childish stubbornness, stumbling over and butchering his name as he spoke it for the first time.
The kid tried wiggling down off of Naruto's back in an effort to walk on his own only for him to freeze the moment his eyes landed on the river flowing beneath Naruto's feet. Nanashi then had a small panic attack as he scrambled higher on Naruto's back and wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck in a strangle hold. It took a few minutes, but the moment Naruto pulled Nanashi around into his arms to get Nanashi to stop staring at the water rushing beneath with terrified fascination, the kid calmed right down. Kakashi then asked the blond to have Nanashi show him where the door was while the rest of them debated other potential options of getting around the barrier and the trap tied to the barrier seals.
Naruto carried Nanashi towards the section of the wall several feet away from the gigantic boulder that the kid had pointed to earlier and softly asked him to show him the door. The kid immediately twisted around to face the cliff and reached out to place both hands on the rock wall in front of him. Nanashi then closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as the rock and dirt beneath his hands began to turn black; the darkness bleeding outwards until it roughly formed the outline of a door. Not long after that, the rock simply melted away, unexpectedly leaving behind a tunnel leading deeper into the side of the cliff.
Nanashi sighed and slumped back against Naruto when it was finished, the kid panting softly as if he'd spent the last hour running. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he glanced between the newly revealed tunnel and his ward as the niggling suspicion that he had just missed something important rose in the back of his mind. Kakashi stepped up beside the pair a moment later and peered into the tunnel for a few minutes with a slight frown on his face before he glanced to the half dozing kid in Naruto's arms.
"Neji; I need you to see where this tunnel leads," Kakashi instructed after tearing his eyes away from Nanashi to glance back towards where the others were waiting for them.
"It goes straight through the cliff and stops about two inches short of the inner cave where the Akatsuki are hiding. I don't understand; there was no tunnel two minutes ago, I would have seen it if there was."
"Could there have been a genjutsu or a barrier hiding it?" Sakura asked curiously.
"It is possible but highly unlikely," Gai answered with a frown. "We would have felt a spike of chakra as the barrier or genjutsu was dispelled. Neji; have those inside noticed anything?"
"No, they are still facing the strange statue that is linked to the jutsu that is pulling huge amounts of red chakra from Gaara. It would appear that they are struggling to keep the jutsu active. Unfortunately, Gaara doesn't have much of the red chakra left; which I would assume means that we are running out of time."
"Alright; this is what we're going to do. Naruto and Lee will guard the main entrance to the cave from atop the torii gate. Neji and Tenten will guard the entrance to the tunnel. Chiyo will guard the exit on the other side. Gai and I will enter the cave to deal with those inside along side a dozen of Naruto's shadow clones. Sakura will wait up on the river bank and prepare to take charge of Gaara once we've extracted him from his captors; I'll have a pair of Naruto's clones deliver him while we continue to keep the Akatsuki occupied. Any questions? No? Good. Let's go."
Naruto shifted Nanashi back onto his back so he could free his hands once more. He then created several dozen shadow clones, twelve of which immediately followed Kakashi, Chiyo, and Gai into the tunnel while the rest placed themselves in strategic places around the entrance and along the cliff top. The blond then quickly made his way to the top of the large gate that had been built in the middle of the river and crouched down so that he could keep an eye on the boulder, the tunnel entrance, and Sakura standing up on the top of the cliff above him. Lee joined him a minute later while Neji and Tenten took their places on either side of the formerly hidden entrance; Neji leaving his Byakugan inactive in order to conserve his chakra, only taking a look inside once every five to ten minutes.
It was an agonizingly long to wait for those that had not infiltrated the cave. Over thirty minutes had passed since Kakashi, Chiyo, Gai, and Naruto's clones slipped inside when the group waiting was given their first indication that things had not gone completely to plan. Neji had just activated his Byakugan to check on the situation inside when he called out a sharp warning two seconds before the boulder blocking the cave's entrance exploded outwards. Half of Naruto's clones were destroyed by flying rock chips and the rest began moving in to detain anyone attempting to leave the cave. The only reason Naruto, Nanashi, and Lee escaped the shower of rock fragments was because Nanashi had thrown up a shield at the last second.
The shield vanished the moment the air was clear of flying rocks (Nanashi protecting Naruto as usual but also following his orders to not interfere with Naruto's ability to fight). At the same time, a huge white bird flew out of the cave carrying the unmoving form of the Godaime Kazekage clutched in its beak. The bird flew over top of the trio clinging to the gate before it swung back around to hover just out of reach of the two shinobi on the gate.
"Give Gaara back!" Naruto ordered angrily the moment he caught sight of his fellow Jinchuuriki trapped in the bird's mouth.
"I don't think so; you see we aren't quite finished with him, un."
Naruto growled and clenched his fists as his eyes remained glued to the unnaturally still form of his friend dangling from the beak of the weird bird. On his back, Nanashi shifted and peered over his shoulder; his green eyes also tracking the form being held hostage by the Akatsuki member.
"Oho…? What is that you have with you? Ah, so you're the keeper of the troublesome little gaki that Zetsu said could sense his clones, un. Itachi mentioned he was a right annoying little snot just seconds before he was wrenched out of the formation along with Kisame and Pein. That little monster caused us quite a bit of grief; disrupting the extraction as he did, un."
"Urusai, teme! Urusai and let Gaara go!"
"No… I don't think I will. I shall show you the beauty of my art and take the interesting little monster you have with you for a ride, un. All little boys dream of flying, ne?"
Naruto threw a half dozen kunai as his surviving shadow clones attacked from above while the man was distracted. The threat to Nanashi pissed him off as did the fact that the man still had Gaara. Naruto's clones were taken out by a series of small but powerful bombs that had been thrown and guided by the long haired blond. Lee chose that moment to attack from below, the rising taijutsu master lashing out with a powerful kick that damaged one of the bird's wings (but not enough to knock it from the sky) before he took an explosion to the face. A small flash of gold saved the spandex wearing shinobi from the worst of the blast and Naruto felt a small flash of relief knowing that Lee had not been harmed.
"Good job, Nanashi-kun; you saved my friend but remember not to exhaust yourself," Naruto murmured lowly over his shoulder. "Now we just need a way to save Gaara and get him to Sakura."
"Red friend? Save friend?"
"Yes," Naruto replied automatically to Nanashi's question; not realizing that Nanashi had been asking him if he wanted the boy to save the redhead – not just asking if the redhead was a friend and if Naruto was planning to save him.
"Nashi go now."
Before Naruto could register Nanashi's words or realize what the kid planed, Nanashi had vanished in a flash of gold light and the sound of a cracking branch. Naruto let out a string of curses as he saw the kid reappear on top of the bird's beak just seconds later in a second crack accompanied by a flash of gold. He felt his heart stop as the blond on the bird made a grab for Nanashi as the kid slid down the beak and grabbed hold of Gaara's arm before both Kazekage and kid disappeared in yet another flash of gold and a loud crack that echoed up and down the river canyon.
A forth crack and flash of gold heralded Nanashi reappearing at Naruto's side with Gaara. Naruto quickly grabbed hold of both Gaara and Nanashi as the kid began slipping off of the gate before he created a pair of Kage Bunshin that immediately collected Gaara and rushed the Kazekage off to Sakura. The Akatsuki member flying the bird let out his own string of curses as Lee made another attack and hit the bird with a spinning kick that slammed the bird into the canyon wall where it exploded. Naruto and Nanashi were blown from the top of the gate by the blast and Naruto barely had enough time to grab hold of his ward before they plunged down into the river. The current swept them away as Naruto kicked up towards the surface while trying to keep hold of a panicking Nanashi.
"I got you, kid; you're safe!" Naruto assured his ward the moment the two of them broke through the surface of the water. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." The kid instantly stopped fighting and instead latched onto Naruto as the teen climbed up onto the surface of the water and shifted the boy back onto his back. "Are you alright?"
"Nashi safe. Red friend safe."
"Yeah; we'll discuss your reckless rescue later. For now I'm going to pass you over to one of my clones and I want you to stay with him while I help Lee deal with the enemy. Do you understand?"
"Nashi keep safe?"
"No. You need to stay safe so I can fight. I don't want you to exhaust yourself; you need to be able to run. Do you understand?"
"Hai," Nanashi petulantly replied.
"Good. Now go with my clone."
Naruto started to pass the kid off to the clone that dropped down next to them only for Nanashi to suddenly balk and start fighting him. Before he could figure out what was wrong, Nanashi cried out unexpectedly as the clone roughly pulled the boy from Naruto's arms and laughed as it dashed towards the fight where Lee was dodging explosions left and right instead of taking him towards safety. A second clone grabbed Naruto from behind as Nanashi let out a sharp, pain filled scream.
"Say goodbye to the kid, un. He's mine now. Art is an explosion and you can't escape my exploding clone."
"No!" Naruto screamed as he immediately realized the other blond had tricked him with a clone henged to look like one of his own clones. "Nanashi!"
The clone holding onto Naruto exploded just a few seconds after Nanashi screamed out a second time. A shockwave of destruction rocked the canyon; blasting everyone outwards from the epicenter and tearing into the walls of the canyon. When the dust and debris finally settled, Naruto surprisingly discovered that he was completely unharmed and wrapped in a bubble of pure gold with Nanashi desperately clinging to his leg with one arm. Rivulets of blood wove their way down Nanashi's borrowed orange and blue jump suit from where the kid had a kunai embedded in the back of his right shoulder – the kid's right arm dangling uselessly, the shoulder joint obviously dislocated.
"Nanashi! Thank kamisama! I thought I'd lost you," Naruto rasped as he carefully inspected Nanashi for any more injuries he might have missed.
"No take way. Nashi no leave. Nashi stay you. Nashi not like boom man."
"I can't say that I much care for the boom man either," Naruto growled as his eyes shifted from sapphire blue to blood red, his canine teeth and finger nails grew longer and sharper, and the whisker marks on his cheeks grew darker and thicker as his anger boiled over; the Kyuubi's chakra actively circulating through his body as he unconsciously drew upon it in his rage. He was mildly irritated that the Akatsuki member they'd been facing had just attempted to kill him but he was down right furious that the man had brazenly attempted to kidnap Nanashi and had harmed his ward in the process.
Bringing his hands up, he formed a cross with his first two fingers on both hands as he called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He then gently gathered Nanashi into his arms, briefly hugged the kid close, and handed him to the shadow clone that had just appeared at his side in a burst of smoke. "I'm sorry I didn't notice the last clone wasn't one of mine before you'd been hurt, Nanashi-kun; I promise I'll make it up to you later. For now, this clone is mine and he will take you to safety while I make the one who hurt you pay for what he did to you."
This time Nanashi made no protest as he allowed Naruto to pass him to the clone. Another dozen shadow clones sprang into being a minute later and six of them surrounded the clone holding Nanashi in order to protect the kid while the others formed up around Naruto. Once Nanashi was clear, Naruto burst into action and threw himself back into the fight as he caught sight of Tenten firing hundreds of sharp pointy objects at the 'boom man' while Neji and Lee both physically attacked the man in turns in order to keep him from returning to the air on a new bird.
Naruto didn't hesitate to rejoin the fight as a thin cloak of menacing reddish orange chakra wrapped around him and his features grew more feral as his anger pulled upon more of the Kyuubi's chakra.
Translations: Japanese to English
Gejimayu – Bushy brows (nickname given to Rock Lee by Naruto)
Hai – yes
Kage Bunshin – shadow clone
Kami/kamisama – god/spirits
Kawa no Kuni – River Country
Kudasai – please
Nashi – there isn't/doesn't have, without, or a type of Japanese pear. In this case, the first two meanings would apply as Nanashi/Harry is simply using a shortened version of his name because it is easier for him to say.
Teme – jerk/bastard (rude way of saying you)
Un – yeah (Deidara's verbal tick)
Urusai – be quiet/shut up (rude)
Wakatta – understood or I understand
AN: And we finally get to see a bit more of Harry's/Nanashi's power with the first major canon upset; Gaara's extraction was interrupted. An explanation of just what happened to the Itachi look-a-like will take place in later chapters.
