A/N: Okay, here's a nice "long" chapter (as long as I can possibly write, that is) for you all to enjoy. I couldn't update yesterday because of a storm, but now it's finished and ready for reading. I find myself wondering if I should include Team Hawk, meaning Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo, in my story. But I really can't find an opening, who knows if I will ever find one. Maybe later down the line, say, chapter 20, I'll consider putting them in. I still have 2 more people to introduce into my story (besides the rest of Akatsuki, which will take forever). Yes, there's lots of new, exciting action coming up. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. :)
I don't own Naruto.
Techie and the Agent
Chapter 14
The Rebellion Begins
Using a small fan from her travel pack, Temari cooled herself off as the temperature in the small thicket approached intolerable. Small insects were buzzing above her head in frenzy, her perspiration attracting them by the hundreds.
Kankuro used the back of his sleeve to clear his forehead of sweat. He attempted to cook a small breakfast with the tiny cook set he brought along in his backpack, but the tinder was wet and wouldn't hold a flame. It had rained the night before, and now the humidity was setting in.
"Well," he said as he lay back against a tree trunk, "I'm going to have to nominate this vacation as the worst outing ever."
Temari sent him a look that said everything; She was just as hot, sweaty and exhausted as the next guy. And the humidity really didn't help her hair much.
"We've been out here, how long? Weeks? Notice the plural in that sentence." Kankuro gave a sluggish attempt to grab Temari's fan from her hands, but instead he received a harsh slap on the wrist. "What if he's not even…alive?"
"Stop it," she said sternly. "We didn't come all the way here just to give up. I say we enter at midnight."
Her brother's stomach gave a loud gurgle. The failed breakfast had just made him all the more ravenous. Temari reached into her bag and chucked a fruit bar at his face.
"Just eat," she instructed. She frowned as she felt the emptiness in the bag. "Are we all out of water?"
"Guess so," said Kankuro as he scarfed down the insufficient meal. It wasn't filling, but it was better than nothing. He fished around in his own bag, but the only thing he came across was a miniature puppet he had been working on.
It took a minute of silence for the pair to think their situation over. Surely it was worth it, risking your health and sanity to rescue your baby brother…?
"Ugh," Temari grunted suddenly. She stood up from her pile of leaves that served as a temporary bed, shaking away the dirt and twigs that stuck to her bottom.
"Where are you going?" asked Kankuro as she trudged through the forest away from their campsite.
"I'm taking a piss, stay here."
He made a face, although she was no longer able to see it. "While you're at it, maybe try brushing your teeth? Or you could do something about that odor—"
Her small fan hit him squarely in the forehead, effectively cutting him off.
"Women…" he growled under his breath. He waited patiently for her to return. Hours passed, and the pair took turns to search for clean water and more food. After Kankuro arrived with scrapes, bruises and no more food than when he left, Temari decided to be the designated "hunter" for the rest of the evening. Her quick capture of a few squirrels and berries proved she was much better suited for the wild.
"You're just lucky, that's all," he used as an excuse while she prepared the gruesome dinner. She glared at him before shoving the squirrel carcass in his hands.
"If you wanted to skin this thing, why didn't you just say so?" she said angrily. She wiped down her hands before attempting to start another fire. Kankuro eyed the bloody mess of an animal currently hanging from his hands.
"This is so gross." He did as he was told, however, and soon the meat was cooked on an unlikely fire and the berries gave the siblings much needed energy.
Before long, it was dark, and as Kankuro's wristwatch read "12:00", they prepared for the invasion.
Temari bolted her large battle fan to her back, and tried her best to tame the wild mess of hair atop her head. She was by no means girly or materialistic, but if she didn't see her raspberry shampoo and loofah in the next few days, she would murder someone. And it would most likely be Kankuro.
Said man was finishing up untangling the strings of his favorite puppet. He looked through the trees towards the ominous castle where they knew their brother was kept.
"Shall we go?" he asked, although he knew the answer.
"Yeah," Temari replied. "Let's kick some Akatsuki ass."
"In here," said Gamakichi, as he led the two hosts over to a sturdy-looking door. A large deadbolt kept the door locked from the outside, and there was no key in sight, not that they expected to find one.
"Does anyone have a toothpick? A pencil?" the toad asked suddenly. Naruto checked the pockets in his pants, coming up with a mere paper clip and some lint.
"Will this do?" he asked, holding it out for inspection. The toad nodded and took the instrument from him.
Naruto watched with wonder as the toad straightened out the piece of metal into a long shaft, meticulously molding it into a complicated hook-shape. For a creature without thumbs, Gamakichi was proving to be quite gifted with his hands.
Said toad gave the paper clip one long lick, his acid saliva completely coating the surface. Then he fed the wire into the tiny hole in the lock while Gaara hoisted him up in order to reach.
Naruto's first impression was that Gamakichi was attempting to pick the lock, but it became clear as the lock disintegrated from the inside that this was not his intention; he merely wanted to destroy the lock once and for all.
"That way," said the toad as if answering Naruto's questions, "if anyone comes by here and decides to enter, they won't be able to reopen the lock. They will probably assume it rusted over, so it will give us more time before they enter and find out what's been taken."
Naruto looked up in question. "Wait, we're taking something?"
"Oh yes," said Gaara, as he set Gamakichi down on the stone floor once the lock was removed. "I intend to take many things."
The door opened with a low moan, and Gamakichi was the first to hop into the new room. It was dark, dank and dusty, and there was dirt coating just about every surface in the room.
A light bulb suddenly cast its glow around the room, Gaara being the one who found the light switch. Naruto blinked in the sudden glare; he could not remember the last time he saw artificial lighting, let alone natural. The only exchange for darkness he had found in the last few days was the eerie lamp torches along the prison walls.
"I'm going to go keep watch," said Gamakichi. Naruto nodded and turned back to examine the room they had entered. It looked like a storage room. Boxes were stacked along the farthest wall, all marked with unrecognizable letters. Gaara approached a particular box and reached inside it, pulling out a few Styrofoam cases. He pulled off the top half of one, and smiled when he saw the contents.
Naruto moved in closer. Gaara held what looked like a grenade, and the blonde automatically stepped back a few paces.
"You aren't planning on taking that, are you?" he asked in confusion. What was in the rest of the boxes?
Gaara furrowed his brow and placed the grenade in a small bag on his back that Naruto didn't notice he had. "We may need this," he explained.
He found a small bag for Naruto to wear as well, and began stocking it with the same items that he already put in his own bag. Naruto watched from the corner, a little fearful of what they would find.
Gaara was busy inspecting a small handgun when something shiny caught Naruto's eye. He walked over to the object, and found it was partially lodged between two heavy looking boxes and some cinder blocks.
He carefully slid it out and nearly dropped it in surprise. The sword caught the light from the ceiling lamp and bounced it around the room in shards. It was finely crafted, handmade, but it was also very sturdy and durable. He held it up above his head with one hand, weighing it and contemplating putting it back where he found it.
Gaara noticed the gleam of light on the wall next to him, and looked to see what shenanigans Naruto had gotten himself into. His eyes widened as he took in the sheen of the sword. "Where did you get that?"
"I don't know, between these two boxes." He held it out to the redhead. "You want it?"
"Yes," Gaara replied truthfully. He took it in his left hand and ran his right down the length of the blade, careful to avoid the sharp edge. "Is there a sheath?"
"Um," Naruto looked farther on the shelf where he found it, and was pleased to find the casing for the dangerous blade Gaara was holding. "Here it is."
Gaara slid the sword into the sheath and put the strap over his shoulder. It now hung from his back, conveying a message of danger to anyone that should approach him.
After a few more minutes of scavenging, Naruto came up with a few sets of kunai, shuriken and exploding tags, which were all placed in their backpacks for future use. Gamakichi clucked his tongue as they spent more time digging for weapons, his obvious disapproval for their taking their leisurely time apparent on his face.
Gaara fixed a small pistol to Naruto's belt. "I take it you know how to shoot a gun?" he asked with a hint of skepticism.
The blonde laughed. "Of course I know how…" he glanced down at the deadly weapon making its home on his waist, "just, not well."
Gaara grunted. "Better than nothing." He lifted a larger version of Naruto's gun from the same box, a grin already forming on his pale face. "This one, this one, I like."
Naruto swallowed audibly, and Gaara let out a laugh, which sounded more like a hyena's bark than a human's expression of happiness. Armed with grenades, handguns and knives, Gaara was no longer weak and defenseless. His eyes completely lost their soulless gaze, and had taken on a new sense of life. Fierce, determined fire was burning within this small, agile man, and Naruto was suddenly very glad he was on the redhead's side.
Naruto felt ridiculous, covered in weaponry yet having neither knowledge nor experience needed to wield it. Gaara gave him a shove, and he felt the weight of the metal in his pack for the first time. It wasn't a comfortable weight, to say the least. He felt the strain in his shoulders, but he decided there was no time for such weaknesses. If Gaara could survive in this place for that long, then he could carry a backpack.
Gamakichi sighed in relief when he saw the two exiting the weapon room. He eyed the backpacks filled to the brim with items. "Jeez, take the whole room, why don't you?"
"We didn't take it all," defended Naruto. "We just took most of it."
"Yeah, well we better get out of here soon before anyone notices." Gamakichi led the trio, his sense of smell and hearing keeping them unseen. Naruto was in the middle. Gaara brought up the rear; ready for anything that could come from behind.
It was the last thing he needed at the moment, but when Naruto's stomach growled in protest, he had to stop walking.
"I'm hungry," he whispered, careful to keep his voice down but loud enough for the toad to hear.
"Aren't we all," came the sarcastic retort. They continued walking through the lair, passing room after room and various hallways that led to even darker areas. The blonde was beginning to feel like a mole, in every sense of the word—Presumably underground, burrowing deeper into unknown territory, yet knowing exactly where he was and fulfilling the mission of infiltrating the headquarters. He was both a captive and a spy. Surely Tsunade would be pleased to hear all about the inner workings of the lair for future reference, if he ever got out of here.
No, don't think like that, he told himself. We're gonna get out of here, and go back home.
Home. Where was home? Was it at his parent's house? Was it his tiny apartment in the heart of the city? Or was it Konoha Inc. headquarters, where he first found friends, found family, and found his destiny? He knew what he was, knew what he was meant to do, and his life would never be the same again. So perhaps, maybe it was fate that Konoha would become his home. It had made him the happiest he had ever felt. It was meant to be this way.
Okay, now I'm sounding a bit like Neji, he mused with a smile. He unconsciously grasped the chain connected to a pendant around his neck. Tsunade gave it to him, for officially joining Konoha and becoming a member of the "family", as she had called it. He looked down at the necklace, and was swept away by a memory…
--
"Uzumaki!"
Naruto lifted his head from his arms, suddenly very awake and very aware that Tsunade was yelling at him. He looked at the puddle of drool on the table where his head had been previously. Why did she always have to interrupt his sleeping sessions?
"Sorry, 'Nade, I guess I fell asleep while you were talking," he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
She sighed, already haven given up on trying to make him call her by something more formal, like Ms. Tsunade or Boss. He's never going to respect me, that little brat, she thought angrily.
Dismissing the incident as normal Naruto behavior, she continued speaking to him like it never happened. "I have a gift for you."
Naruto was wide-awake now. "Really?!"
"Yes, but you'll have to follow me."
She led him to the community living room, which appeared deserted. But once he stepped over the threshold, many people jumped up from behind sofas and chairs, all shouting, "Welcome home, Naruto!"
He glanced at all the faces that he was just coming to recognize. Neji, Ino, Lee, Tenten, Sai, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sasuke…all of his friends were here! Even Kakashi and Gai were present.
Each one rushed forward to congratulate him on becoming an official member of the organization. He felt warmth in his chest as they smiled and hugged him (or in Lee's case, glomped him to death), everyone genuinely happy. Even Sasuke had a smile on his face. And Sai's smile looked less-fake than usual. It was more than he could ever ask for.
Tsunade placed a necklace around his neck. He looked at it. A jagged-cut piece of stone, and turquoise in color, it had been inscribed with the words 'You're Home' on the back. It was quite a beautiful gift, and Naruto was speechless.
Tsunade, still being slightly taller than him, bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. His face heated up considerably, and a few people chuckled pleasantly at his embarrassment.
Sasuke appeared on his left and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Idiot. You better not lose that." He motioned to the pendant now hanging proudly around the blonde's neck.
Naruto grinned his trademark foxy grin, returning the punch and standing a little bit taller. "I wouldn't dream of it."
Sasuke's smiling face lingered in his memory throughout the night.
--
Naruto took a deep breath and tucked the pendant back underneath his shirt. His renewed sense of purpose intact, he took one more step towards his goal, and one more step towards his home.
"Deidara, take the trash out, will ya? It's stinking up the place," shouted Hidan from his comfy place on the sofa. The only window in the room showed a night sky, and Deidara was hesitant to step outside. He'd never tell anyone, but he was rather afraid of the dark.
"No, why can't you do it, yeah? It's your trash."
Hidan threw an empty pop can at the younger man's head. "I asked you, moron. I'm watching a good show."
Deidara crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm not gonna do it, yeah."
Hidan grunted but said nothing. Kakuzu looked up from his blueprints spread out over a table. "Why don't you just call a servant to do it? We've got plenty."
"Because," Hidan retorted childishly, "I asked Dei to do it."
Kakuzu sighed. When you lived with two extremely immature adults for months in a boring castle, you learned to tolerate the bickering.
Deidara readjusted his blond ponytail with care. "If I take out the garbage, will you buy me more clay? I'm running low, yeah."
"Fine, whatever, just do it before I kill you, that shit stinks."
Deidara hummed pleasantly to himself as he pulled the bag from the bin. Hidan was probably going to go back on his word, but Deidara figured it was something to do to get his mind off the boring nothingness that was Akatsuki life.
After he left, Kakuzu sighed again and returned to his work. The Machine was flawed in its design, for it only worked for Biju number 2 through 7, and possibly 9, although they hadn't tried it on the Kyuubi yet. It would take a lot of retracing his steps before Kakuzu could figure out what went wrong with Shukaku. The 1st Biju was the weakest and smallest, by far, yet it had proved to be the biggest challenge. At first, Pein was convinced it was the host that was proving difficult to subdue. But Kakuzu took no chances, and so it was back to the drawing board.
He glanced at the estimated amount of time it would take to recreate portions of the Machine. He figured it would be a week, at the minimum. Pein was becoming impatient. After all the trouble of sending Zetsu out to get the Kyuubi, only to find it was worthless for another couple of weeks…
He stood and stretched, feeling his muscles protest and his joints crack from sitting in the chair all night. He figured he could use some coffee.
"I'm going to go get some coffee, want anything?" he asked his partner, who was still transfixed to the TV screen. Hidan shook his head.
Kakuzu left, leaving Hidan alone in the suddenly empty room. Hidan's stomach rumbled, a sign that he hadn't eaten in hours. He didn't usually stay up this late, but the 24 marathon was on and he wouldn't miss it for the world. He pressed Pause on the DVR remote.
He too stood and stretched, heading for the kitchen. He figured Kakuzu went there as well, so maybe if he begged he could get the man to make him something to eat.
Temari and Kankuro stopped walking to gaze up at the large expanse of wall in front of them. With an easy move, they scaled the wall and continued towards a back entrance to the castle. A sudden light caught their attention, and they ducked behind a nearby tree lining a small driveway that led to the back door.
Said door opened, and the beam of light caught on the man's features. Temari held her breath as he walked towards them, holding what looked like a garbage bag.
"I could really use some new clay, yeah," said the man. He looked no older than 30, maybe 25, possibly the same age as Temari. He lifted the lid of a nearby dumpster and tossed the bag in, letting the lid slam down.
But he paused before opening the door. Temari quirked an eyebrow at the strange behavior exhibited by the man. What is he waiting for?
She heard a small chirp and the flutter of a feather near her right shoulder. She looked and saw it was a bird. A clay bird, perched on her arm, and rapidly swelling. It looked like it was ready to explode…
"Temari!"
And then it did.
A/N: So...interesting turn of events, I say. And for some reason, the idea of Akatsuki having TiVo makes me laugh. But, in all honesty...I hate 24. I just thought Hidan would like it, since Jack Bauer tends to swear a lot. His cuppa tea, know what I mean? :P
And I've been slightly worried that Gaara is OOC. Is he too crazy? Too sane? Just right? Let me know what you think—I've made a poll on my profile page for this. So get to voting, people! I'm going to make a lot more polls too, because they're just so darn fun. :D
Until next time! -Strudel