Chapter 11
Naruto let out a yelp as he dodged yet another compressed ball of water, which created another water-filled crater into the ground. The roar of the Sanbi no Kyodaigame brought his attention back to the bijū that was currently shooting at him. He couldn't believe how much trouble the Sanbi was giving him, as he had originally thought that the creature would be intelligent, and therefore reasonable, just like the Gobi. Yet to his dismay, the large turtle was acting more like a wild animal than an intelligent being. Naruto huffed in agitation and charged at the Sanbi, having enough of being used as target practice for the giant turtle. The Sanbi fired another compressed water ball at the blond, but Naruto vanished via Shunshin before it could hit him, and reappeared at the Sanbi's left side.
"Fūinjutsu: Sajō Sabaku!" Naruto called out, as a golden rope materialized from out of nowhere and ensnared the bijū. Naruto watched as the Sanbi struggled in vain to break free from the rope, which gave Naruto enough time to perform the hand seals for another fūinjutsu. "Fūinjutsu: Kuyō Shibari!" One by one, black spots appeared, circling the Sanbi with one appearing right on the creature's body, further immobilizing it. With the bijū no longer thrashing about wildly, Naruto created a dozen clones, which then performed the same chain of hand seals as their creator.
"Teikoku Suirō!" A wall of water rose and encased the Sanbi in a watery prison. The clones held prison together, whilst the original stepped towards the prison, performing a few hand seals before he placed his hand on the water construct. A line of kanji characters traveled around the huge prison right before the prison shrank down to a mid-sized orb of glass. With the dangerous ordeal finally over, Naruto let out a huge sigh of relief. As the clones dispelled, Naruto surveyed the damage; he had no doubt that someone was probably on the way here to investigate what caused such a disturbance. Without any delay, he beat a hasty retreat; his destination being the sea.
X-X-X
After traveling to a particular spot he found acceptable, Naruto threw the prison orb into the sea. Judging by the current, the waters would carry the orb far enough out to open waters before the chakra powering his seal ran out and released the beast within. As stood on the water's surface, Naruto pulled out a little book that contained information of the nine bijū, and marked check next to the Sanbi's section. The only other entry that had a check mark next to it was the Gobi. There were 'x' marks near two entries on his list, an indication that the bijū were in the grasp of the Akatsuki. The two sections belonged to the Nanabi and the Rokubi.
A month before securing the Sanbi, he traveled to Takigakure no Sato in order to speak with Shibuki. After sharing a genial greeting with Taki's leader, he had asked him about the jinchūriki for the Nanabi no Kabutomushi. With great shame, Shibuki explained that the Nanabi's jinchūriki, Fū, had been forced out of the village by its people. He was able to release her from any obligation to Taki, and let her know that she had people who cared. He also released Fū's comrades, who saw her as a human being rather than the demon she contained. A week later, however, a Taki patrol found some bodies at a battle ground near the border. He had asked for Konoha's help in the matter, and in the end, was able to identify them as Fū's comrades.
Shibuki gave his apologies to Naruto, who assured him that it wasn't his fault. The blond then asked about any missing-nin that was from his village, specifying that the missing-nin was someone who was known to be nearly impossible to kill. He was quite surprised to see Shibuki turn as white as a sheet so quickly when he mentioned that tidbit. But he could understand why when Shibuki told him about Kakuzu and specifically warned him to be very careful should he ever run into him. Apparently, Kakuzu had been alive since the term of the Shodaime Hokage. That scared the blond, making him wonder how such a feat was even possible. Unfotunately, Shibuki couldn't tell him, since it was a village secret. He did, however, provide him with information on Kakuzu before he went off on his way again.
A week later, Naruto arrived at Hi no Kuni. He had gotten a lead on the whereabouts of the Rokubi no Namekuji's jinchūriki, Utakata. Apparently, he was acting as a bodyguard to a young teenage woman, when the new Godaime Mizukage sent out an Oinin team to retrieve him. Much to Naruto's dismay, he was too late once again. Whilst he was searching, he happened upon a Konoha team who were speaking to the young teenage woman Utakata was safeguarding. He managed to get close enough to listen in on the conversation, more specifically, to hear that two people in black robes with red clouds killed the Kiri Oinin and captured her master. Worse still, the descriptions she gave of the two mysterious nin were similar to that of Itachi and Kisame. Having no other reason to stay, he quickly left the scene so as not to be caught.
Breaking out of his inner thoughts, Naruto took a deep breath of the sea air before leaving for the shore. Right now, the score was two for him, and two for the Akatsuki. If he secured one more, he could derail his enemies for a while, at least until he managed to get strong enough to finally end that organization once and for all.
X-X-X
Restocked and rested, Naruto planned to get some information about the two bijū hosts in Kumogakure whilst he was still in Shimo no Kuni. Even though he felt that they were secure enough in Kumogakure, he figured that wouldn't hurt to be prepared for the worst. But as he made his way around, he overheard two shinobi talking. He could have sworn that he heard something about Suna. His interests piqued, he walked up to the two shinobi wearing the symbol of Kumogakure whom he had heard mention Suna.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear you. Did you say something about Sunagakure? I sorry to ask you guys like this, but could you tell me know what's going on? My aunt lives there." lied Naruto.
"Then you should get going. Sunagakure was attacked like two days ago, and their Kazekage was kidnapped." said the Kumo ninja, in a mocking tone. Naruto ignored the tone and continued to listen.
"The village is still standing, though, so your aunt is probably okay. I guess having a demon in charge has some perks." added the other Kumo shinobi.
"So you say, but being the village's leader just made their weapon soft. He was known as a murdering psychopath before he was made a Kage, and just now he was kidnapped right in front of his people. What a loser." mocked the man, with a little chuckle. Naruto just held in his anger, knowing that acting on his urges to punch the man's lights out would do him no good. Instead, he held out his hand to the guy, to which he took it. Naruto shook his hand and then the other guy.
"Thanks a lot for the information. I'd better hurry and check on my aunt then. She's all I have in this life." Naruto left quickly and made his way toward the exit. He cursed himself for forgetting about Gaara, having thought that his friend could easily defend himself against the Akatsuki since he was now a Kage. He ignored everything and everyone, including the pained screams of the two Kumo shinobi, who were now sporting some serious burns on their hands and forearms. He needed to reach Suna as soon as possible.
X-X-X
With food pills and short stops along the way, Naruto managed to arrive in Suna within two and a half days. He easily slipped into the village and made his way around, but he could not find Temari or Kankuro anywhere. Fortunately, however, he did see a familiar face. With much stealth, he snatched the man up and disappeared, the captive struggling the entire trip. Naruto landed in a secluded place before turning to the guy he just snatched up.
"Mamoru, it's me, Naruto." he whispered. Mamoru stopped his struggling and looked out the corner of his eye. Naruto released him once the man calmed down, and he stepped back to give Mamoru some space. He was quite surprised to see his old friend.
"Holy crap, it is you!" he said. Mamoru was an old friend of Ibarra who had a thing for the Uzumaki woman. Even though Ibarra was twenty years his senior, his feelings for her still held strong. He had always used to visit him as an excuse to get to see her. Ibarra knew of Mamoru's intentions though, but she never stopped it, instead she found it quite flattering. "We've been keeping our ears open just to hear if you were alright. Last we heard from that white haired guy, you left Tsuchi no Kuni." Naruto was a little wary of the fact that Jiraiya had been looking for him, but decided to put that bit of information in the back of his mind for now.
"Look, Mamoru, what do you know about Gaara's kidnapping?" asked Naruto.
"Not much. I saw a little of the battle before I was put inside one of the bunkers. I know that the guy he was fighting was on a bird and liked to use explosives."
"What about his sister and brother? Are they planning a rescue effort?"
"Word is the sister is running the defenses of Suna's borders. The brother is hospitalized, and in critical condition. Still, they did send a team after the Kazekage."
"Do you know where the kidnappers went, and who the team is?"
"They went south-east from Suna. But you should know, the rescue team is from Konohagakure. I got a look at the leader. He had silver hair that was standing up to the side, as if it was defying gravity." That was something that Naruto didn't expect. He remembered that Suna and Konoha were at odds because of his banishment, and yet Suna was willing to accept Konoha's aid? But since it was Gaara that was abducted, he could see how Suna would be desperate for help.
"Thanks, Mamoru. We'll catch up later when I come back."
"Stick to the shadows, man." replied Mamoru. Naruto nodded and was gone in a puff of smoke. Outside the village, Naruto threw off his cloak, and looked in the direction that Mamoru told him with narrowed eyes.
'That means that they're heading toward Kawa no Kuni. I'd better hurry.' thought Naruto, as he raced towards Kawa no Kuni, and hopefully where Gaara was being kept.
X-X-X
Naruto arrived at the hideout and saw some major damage to the entrance. But as he got closer, he saw Gaara's body lying on a boulder. Naruto rushed to his friend's side and immediately checked his vitals. He was grief-stricken when he could not feel a pulse, but his grief quickly turned into rage. He didn't know who these Akatsuki members were, nor did he care, because they were both about to die for what they did to his friend.
He cautiously entered the cave, sticking to the shadows, and saw two people in the cave. One was Chiyo, who was leaning over someone he couldn't see, and a red-haired young man. He moved in closer to get a better look, and noticed that the red-head was actually a puppet. There were also two other puppets, which were wielding swords that were currently piercing through his chest. But then, Naruto saw who Chiyo was kneeling over, and was surprised to see that it was Sakura. He noticed that she had changed since he last saw her, but that wasn't important to him at the moment. Seeing that the red-head was incapacitated, he decided it would be best if he searched for the other Akatsuki bastard. That is, until he heard the puppet talk.
"You're wasting your time, Granny. You cannot save her; my poison was injected right into her liver. Even with her antidote and medical chakra, she will die." The red-haired puppet said.
"Do you really have so little faith in my abilities, Sasori? I will enjoy seeing the look on your face when she survives." replied Chiyo.
"And how do you plan to save her? No medical jutsu can stop the poison."
"Who said that I was going to use a medical jutsu?" Chiyo countered. Sasori said nothing, curious as to what his grandmother was up to. "This technique was actually meant for you, Sasori. I could not stand the misery that you went through when you were younger, living without your parents. I wanted to make you happy by giving life to those puppets next to you. Even though I would have died from the jutsu, I would have died happy knowing that you were with your parents." she said with a sad smile.
"You would sacrifice your life for this girl?" Sasori asked, still shocked at his grandmother's declaration.
"Don't be foolish. I don't have to use the full extent of this jutsu on her. Her antidote will kill the poison once she stabilizes. But I will, however, use this jutsu to bring back the Kazekage; I owe him that much for all of the pain that I caused him since the day he was born. With him as Suna's ruler, the village will prosper and become a better place for everyone to live in. He is the hope and future of our village and it is time for me to pass on and allow this new generation to take over. I know that I will not be disappointed." Chiyo said, contently. Naruto, who had heard her words, was saddened that the old woman's jutsu would kill her. He always thought that she was a cool lady to spend time with. However, he understood what she had to do and respected her wishes.
He moved out of the cave and took Gaara's body, placing him on the ground before taking a deep breath. Placing his palm on the Kage's chest, Naruto began to channel chakra into him, figuring that Chiyo would be low on chakra and would need a boost for the resurrection jutsu to work properly. Once he felt that he provided enough chakra to help Chiyo revive Gaara, he quickly sealed the chakra inside the body so that it would not dissipate. Merely seconds after he had completed his task, Naruto felt several chakra signatures coming his way. He looked at his friend one last time, and hoped that he would see him later. The blond beat a hasty retreat back to Suna, just missing Team Gai as they arrived on the scene.
X-X-X
It had been five days since Gaara's resurrection. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat alone in his office, happy to finally get away from his sister for the time being. The way she kept hovering over him, he almost wished that the lazy Nara was here. He could understand why she was worried about him, but he was a Kage, not a baby. He let out another sigh before turned to his left.
"I hope that you're not planning a prank, Naruto. I'm not in the mood." Gaara said, to what appeared to be an empty space in his room.
"I grew out of that about a year ago." replied the blond, as he dropped his cloak and came into view. The red-head offered him a seat, to which blond took. Naruto looked at his friend with a critical eye. "You still look a little tired. Did you not get enough sleep?"
"I got too much sleep. My body is still adjusting to the loss of the Shukaku. So why are you still here? Aren't you worried about the Konoha nin?"
"I place a sound barrier when you entered. No one can hear us, and the genjutsu will make it look like you're alone and sleeping." explained Naruto.
"Another thing you learned while you were in Tsuchi no Kuni? You have my condolences for what happened, by the way." he added, recalling the troubling report he had gotten from one of Suna's border patrols.
"Thank you, Gaara. And yes, it was thanks to Ibarra that I've finally found a way to use genjutsu. So, from what you said earlier, I take it that someone from Konoha recognized my chakra? Do you know who it was?" he asked.
"It was the Uchiha. I believe he was attempting to copy Chiyo's technique when he noticed the foreign chakra with his Sharingan. Fortunately, it was because of him that the Konoha teams were forced to leave before any investigations could be done. It also gave me a chance to test my strength and see how it was affected from the extraction." explained Gaara.
"I figured that prison would have done the teme some good. If you hadn't forced that bastard to let go of that villager, I would have taken his arm off. Thank you for accommodating those refugees, Gaara. I'm sorry if it seemed as if I were just dumping my problems onto you, I really appreciate it."
"It wasn't any trouble, I assure you. Still, with Konoha now alerted to your presence, I don't think you will find it easy to leave undetected."
"Don't worry about it, I have an exit strategy. Besides, I have a mission that I must complete." Naruto said, his tone becoming more serious than what Gaara was used to seeing from the blond.
"Care to share exactly what this mission is?" asked Gaara.
"I'm trying to disrupt the Akatsuki's plans, whatever they are. So far, I've secured the Gobi no Iruka-Uma and just recently, the Sanbi no Kyodaigame. I know that the Nanabi no Kabutomushi and the Rokubi no Namekuji are in the Akatsuki's possession, and now, so is the Shukaku."
"You can also add the Hachibi no Kyogyū to that list while you're at it." Gaara stated sadly.
"What are you talking about? Out of all the jinchūriki, the Hachibi and Nibi's jinchūriki are well protected and respected amongst their comrades." Naruto said.
"You've been living off the grid for a while, Naruto. Lots of things have changed. Do you remember the Hyūga abduction attempt?" At Naruto's nod, Gaara continued. "Recent intelligence has revealed that the planned kidnapping was never really supported by the Yondaime Raikage. The plot was actually conceived by the Gashira clan of Kumo. Coincidentally, this clan has a history being heavily involved with human trafficking."
"This clan sounds like they're a bunch of assholes that are in need of a severe thrashing. But what does this have to do with the jinchūriki?"
"Ē punished the Gashira clan severely for their actions, and the clan did not like that at all. They had been plotting a coup d'état against Ē's rule for years, but they finally made their move once they got help from Kiri's new Mizukage and the Akatsuki. In the end, Ē, as well as all of his supporters, was killed. Killer Bee, the jinchūriki of the Hachibi, was taken shortly after."
"T-That shouldn't be possible!" stammered Naruto, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. "Ē was said to have the strength of a bijū, just like his father. He was also known to be the fastest man alive. The Akatsuki doesn't have anyone who could really match him."
"Details are scarce, but apparently it was the leader of the Akatsuki who personally killed Ē. He was also able to do this, and still defeat Killer Bee without much difficulty. Kumogakure no Sato is now under the Gashira's clan's rule." explained Gaara. Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who the hell was this leader? How strong was he that he could single-highhandedly take on two people that were notorious for their strength and speed? During his research, he knew that both of Kumo's jinchūriki had great control of their bijū. To be able to defeat the Hachibi's host after killing the Raikage was no small feat by any means. The two sat in silence for a while, both of them contemplating the recent change in Kumo, when Gaara noticed Naruto's thoughtful expression, more specifically, the one that he had before he thought up some crazy scheme that was almost guaranteed to cause trouble.
"You're planning on going to Kaminari no Kuni, aren't you?" he asked, although he already knew his friend's answer.
"I know it isn't the best move, but I have no choice. You didn't say that the Nibi's host was captured, which means that she's still being hunted. Her safety is more important than Yonbi's at the moment. I can't let the Akatsuki get her." Naruto said, as a raging inferno blazed in his eyes.
"Very well, I know better than to argue with you. But be careful, Naruto, and try not to draw unwanted attention to yourself." replied Gaara.
"Gaara, it's me we're talking about. I can be discreet when I need to." Naruto said with confidence, before he left his office. Gaara said nothing, deciding to just wait until he got the reports from his borders. Naruto and "discreet" just did not mix.
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Authors' Notes: Sorry for the delay but you can't rush genius. Again, thanking Toa Naruto for your help. Without your help, this revamp would be bland. Enjoy the new chapter.
P. S. I got word from a reviewer that a group who calls themselves 'Critics United' is the reason behind this little thing with the site. Now, I don't mind critics. If you can criticize me in a positive way then I listen and I attempt to better my skills. However, most of the critics on this site are nothing but haters. I, myself, do not use a lot of lemons. Most of my stuff is tamed, at best, but those that do lemons do put out some really great stories. Now because this group has an issue with it, everyone else has to suffer. I really don't know what your issue is 'Critics United' but maybe you can explain it to everyone so that they don't bash you. You've got to have a reason for what you're attempting to do and we all would like to hear it.
Glossary
Sanbi no Kyodaigame – Three Tailed Giant Turtle
Nanabi no Kabutomushi – Seven Tailed Rhinoceros Beetle
Rokubi no Namekuji – Six Tailed Slug
Gobi no Iruka-Uma – Five Tailed Dolphin Horse
Hachibi no Kyogyū – Eight Tailed Giant Ox
Kawa no Kuni – Land of Rivers
Shimo no Kuni – Land of Frost
Techniques
Fūinjutsu: Sajō Sabaku – Sealing Technique: Locking Bondage Stripes - Binds an enemy with a chakra chain. A mid-level restraint jutsu. The practitioner raises his/her palm up to the target and closes his/her hand into a fist. The spell calls forth a yellow energy in the form of very thick rope to ensnare an opponent.
Fūinjutsu: Kuyō Shibari – Sealing Technique: Nine Sunlight Traps - Kuyō Shibari is primarily used to disable. The practitioner creates eight black holes with purple outlines that emit spiritual energy in the personal space surrounding the target, with the ninth black hole manifesting itself in the center of the target's chest. The intended point is to severely immobilize the target.
Teikoku Suirō – Imperial Water Prison – A much larger version of the Suirō no Jutsu. It is similar to the original that the user has to keep his hands on the prison.
