Disclaimer: TDS does not own Naruto
…
The body of the Kazekage had hovered in the air for three days, his life rising out of him in red tendrils and gasps of death. Tobi had watched Gaara for all of these hours, looking into the whites of his eyes. The feeling of sheer power that pressed down on his skin seemed to emanate from there, as if Shukaku was intent to glare at him until the last second. It was mesmerizing. Not only because of the pressuring sensation of raw chakra, but also because during the time of extraction, Tobi felt his existence as a whole coming together.
The fruits of his labour were almost ready to pluck. Time had soured some of them and had rotted even others, but Tobi considered this to be a trivial matter. Lost time would be of no concern when he became the master of his own reality.
He had felt something stir by his side after the second day of extraction and upon the disposal of the Kazekage's body, Tobi decided to address these stirrings.
Pein remained in the cave with him after the other members of the Akatsuki had gone their respective ways.
"What is it, Pein?" Tobi inquired. "I can tell that you are eager to get something off your chest."
A set of Rinnegan stared back at him unflinchingly. "Indeed," he merely acknowledged.
"Then spit it out."
The brow above those ringed eyes dipped a little. "You would do well to speak to me with the respect I deserve. Remember that it was me who founded the Akatsuki, the organisation devoted to reaching a goal you imposed on it."
Behind the mask, Tobi's covered eye gleamed.
"What I want to say is that I am going to be taking more matters into my own hands. You've expressed your desire for me to do this prior, but I've come to the conclusion that you and I hold different ideas when it comes to how much I sully my hands. The Akatsuki have been dropping like flies, not to mention that a Bijuu has been deactivated for almost a year. If we continue to trust these fools that surround us, no good will come of it. We will be as old as The Sage of the Six Paths himself when everything comes to a close."
Tobi considered this, knowing full well that Pein would trust not even him. Pein did not have any inkling of trust in any member of the Akatsuki, except for Konan, maybe. Ever since he had given Nagato the Rinnegan, Nagato had turned into Pein and Pein had turned into a self-styled god. While this delusion could prove to be troublesome in the long run, right now Tobi found himself siding with this course of action.
None of these thoughts found a voice, though. He just inclined his head. "As you wish."
...
Sakura frowned as her calloused fingers brushed over the scroll within her grasp. "And what's this?"
"A summoning contract," said Sasuke. "Figured that with Naruto's toads and my falcons, it was about time you had an opportunity to level the playing field."
"Well that's very… um, thoughtful of you," stammered Sakura. Sasuke had never been the gift giving type. "I don't see how summoning falcons would be a major advantage to me with my skill set and my non-Naruto-esque chakra reserves, though."
"I never said it was the contract for falcons," said Sasuke. "I don't even think I have the authority to add people to that. This one's courtesy of Temari for letting her people take refuge in the compound."
"Huh, I suppose that makes sense. We'll have to find some place more private from now on since mine is still out of the question," said Sakura. "So cut to the chase already. What's the contract for? Summoning lizards?"
"Let's find out," said Sasuke. "Shikamaru apparently had something to do with this so it might be something useful after all."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, here goes nothing." She unrolled the scroll the scroll and was surprised to only see a list of six names on the contract.
"Scorpions, huh?" said Sasuke as he raised an eyebrow. "Seems fitting, somehow."
"For Suna or for me?" asked Sakura as she traced under the names with a finger, unable to recognise a single one.
"Both." He shrugged. "Sign your name in blood and then perform the jutsu. As far as I know, it's very odd for the contract to not be in possession of an active summoner or animal for safekeeping."
"I know how this works," said Sakura as she rolled her eyes, kneeling down onto the floor with the scroll outstretched in front of her. Wielding a kunai in one hand, she jabbed at her thumb on the other with the tip of the blade, cursing when the ensuing cut proved deeper than expected.
She signed her name in a bloody scrawl, wishing that she had opted for her index finger instead so her handwriting would be more legible. A few moments passed by after she left her fingerprint on the document without occurrence before Sakura glanced up at her boyfriend. Once she cleared the strands of pink hair from her eyes, she was met with a quizzical look.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Sasuke. "I thought you said you knew what you were doing."
"I do." She frowned as she sucked on her bleeding thumb. "It's just that didn't feel very special. Y'know, I don't feel as if my soul was just bonded to an incredibly rare clan of ninja scorpion?"
"Sounds about right to me, but I suppose if that's been gathering dust in some attic in Suna for all these years, there's a good chance that the contract has been rendered void and that is just some regular old piece of parchment now," said Sasuke.
"Guess there's only one way to find out," Sakura said as her fingers flashed through a series of handseals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
She slammed her palm onto the floor and waited for the accompanying puff of smoke to clear.
On the ground resided a small scorpion of orange colour. It appeared to look around the room questioningly, clicking its pincers together in an irregular tattoo. Sakura thought it was rather tiny and was about to say so when the creature began to speak.
"Sakura Haruno. You have signed the Scorpion Summoning Contract. My name is Amikiri. I would like to welcome you to our small but humble family."
Sakura blinked twice, surprised by the demure attitude of the scorpion. "Hey," she greeted it, not catching Sasuke rolling his eyes. "Nice to meet you. So are you the representative for the contract?"
"Indeed," said Amikiri. "It is my duty to ascertain that the contract is signed by trustworthy individuals. Years of bad experiences with humans have dwindled our numbers, hence is why we requested the second Kazekage to hide the scroll and release it only to those worthy. You have made yourself a name amongst the Scorpions, Sakura."
"How did she manage to do that?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound impressed.
Amikiri's mandibles clacked in sync with his words. "Three years ago you and some of your friends were involved in a battle nearby Sunagakure. One of my sisters, Hiragana is her name, aided a Suna shinobi in battle, but Sakura managed to fend him off on her own. By the use of poison, no less."
Sakura smiled as Sasuke whistled between his teeth in appreciation. She sank through her knees and extended a finger, which Amikiri grasped with a pincer. They shook on it.
Let's see Sasuke and Naruto keep up with her now.
...
Naruto stirred the broth of his ramen with his chopsticks, the pieces of food he had yet to eat circling the outer rim of the bowl. It was his third bowl and the ever faithful staff behind the counter had been more than ready to pump out at least another six bowls but Ayame and Teuchi were shocked at just how little Naruto had consumed. "Everything alright?" asked the young waitress concerned for one of their all time best customers.
"I'm going away in a couple days," said Naruto, his eyes not leaving the food in front of him.
"Do you know for how long?" asked Ayame.
"Until I get strong enough."
"I think you're plenty strong," said Ayame with a light smile that went unnoticed by the boy in front of her.
"No I'm not."
"Considering what I've heard of your track record, I'm inclined to disagree," said a new voice as the heir to the Nara clan stepped into the ramen bar, taking a seat next to Naruto. "It's troublesome to hear you say these things."
"What can I get for you?" asked Teuchi.
"Paiku, to go thank you" ordered Shikamaru, the chef getting into the job straight away. "So tell me Naruto, why do you need to make yourself stronger? And please don't tell me it's to make the rest of us look even more inadequate."
"Isn't there something else you should be doing right now?" said Naruto trying to change the topic.
"Not really," said Shikamaru with a shrug. "The villagers from Suna are still working on moving into the Uchiha compound bit by bit. At the moment the more critical villagers are accounted for, the elderly and those with young children have all moved in. It's weird walking through there with Temari and only ever remember seeing that compound as being empty."
Naruto continued to gaze at the ramen in front of him knowing full well that he couldn't leave without answering Shikamaru's question. Somehow though, Shikamaru chose to keep talking. "There are many reasons why people try to become stronger. Most do so to protect themselves and those around them. Some are simply doing it for the enjoyment and consequently wear horrendous looking tracksuits." A small smile graced Naruto's lips at that comment. "You however, I believe are doing this for a different reason."
"Why do you think Naruto is trying to get stronger?" asked Ayame, invested in the conversation happening on the other side of the bar. It was of course at this moment that Teuchi returned from the kitchen with Shikamaru's order, the batch having been made especially quick due to the preparedness needed to sate Naruto's hunger.
"I think that he's trying to get strong enough to save the world," said Shikamaru as he paid for his meal. While it may have gone unnoticed by the two behind the counter, Shikamaru was able to glance a peek at Naruto as he stiffened momentarily, causing a sigh to escape his lips. "I don't know what's happening but there are clues here and there depicting that whatever it is is going to be big."
"You mean, war?" asked Teuchi, stumbling over his words. Unlike the other people in his establishment, he could still recall the devastating effects of the last war that occured.
"Perhaps, or perhaps I'm looking too closely into this or perhaps even it might be something more troublesome. Thank you for the food," he said as he got up off the stool. As he turned to leave, he paused however and spoke once more. "Oh Naruto, my mother wished to invite you to the family compound tonight for a feast."
"A feast?" repeated Naruto.
"Yeah, something about properly celebrating my birthday or something troublesome. So yeah, if you want to swing by late feel free to do so. Or not, your choice."
With those parting words, the heir to the Nara clan left Ichiraku's and headed back onto the main street and quickly out of view. "Wait, did I just get invited to a birthday party?" Naruto asked of those in front of him.
"That's what it sounded like to me," said Teuchi as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"So ya going to go?" asked Ayame.
"I...I guess so," said Naruto sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his head. "I don't think I've ever gone to a birthday party before."
"Do you have anything to wear?" asked Ayame.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" asked Naruto gesturing to the garments residing on his body.
"A feast for a clan heir? It's going to require something a bit better than that," scoffed Ayame as she took off her apron. "I'll be back in a couple hours Dad."
"Wait, where you going?" asked Naruto.
"With you," answered Ayame.
"Alright then...so where are we going?" asked Naruto.
The devilish smirk that spread across Ayame's face sent shivers down Naruto's spine. "I'm taking you shopping," she said as she leapt over the counter and gripped onto Naruto's arm. Naruto knew that even if he attempted to escape the backlash that would result would not be worth the fight. Lowering his head in defeat, he knew that he had to do that which he dreaded the most.
Go shopping for clothes.
...
Torches illuminated the lawn being used to host the birthday party as Shikamaru's peers talked amongst one another. Near the family house a few tables had been set up with a slathering of food on display, much of which had already been tested by his longtime friend in Chouji. The ever cheerful member of the Akimichi clan was currently in talks with Kiba, and his faithful canine companion in Akamaru seemingly intrigued by whatever Chouji was speaking of.
On the other side of the lawn, Shikamaru's father was currently in discussions with his sensei, the boy having felt obliged to invite the person who had helped him progress as far as he had over the past few years. Unsurprisingly, Asuma had bought Kurenai along with him and as much as they tried to clearly state that they had merely come here as friends, nobody was buying it.
"You look troubled," said Temari by his side, the Kazekage having earlier adorned herself in a traditional kimono for the occasion. The crimson attire flowed off her body and Shikamaru had had to make sure on more than one instant to prevent his eyes from wandering lest his face turn the same colour as Temari's dress.
"It just doesn't feel like we should be celebrating," said Shikamaru as he continued to glance over the guests. "There's so much happening at the moment that this feels no more than a facade to momentarily blind us from what's happening in the real world."
"Sometimes it's best that we turn away for a while," said Temari as her hand glanced against Shikamaru's, fingers threatening to intertwine with each other. "Just to ignore everything that's happened and smile every now and again."
Shikamaru felt a lump form in his throat as he quickly went about calculating how best to go about the situation presented to him. Before he was able to process all of the data he had at his disposal however an ever thankful distraction presented itself. "Hey guys," said Ino as she burst onto the scene.
As quick as lightning, the vicinity in which Shikamaru and Temari's hands vanished as they focused on the new person before them and not what may have happened had they had a bit more time without interruption.
As Temari and Shikamaru floundered around and tried to say something that sounded reminiscent of a structured sentence, their behaviour was being watched from the other side of the party. "You'd think they'd be more open about it by now," commented Sakura offhandedly as she noticed the awkward interaction between them.
"Those two? What are you talking about?" asked Kiba. "There's no way lazy bones over there has a chance with a foreign Kage."
"Shows what you know," said Sakura. "Got any missions lined up?"
"Mostly border patrol," stated Kiba sheepishly. "I knew that when Team Eight got formed that we would mostly be used as a scouting or search and rescue team but all we ever seem to do is wait for someone to get near us. Even now I don't think Hinata's coming with us cause she's heading out for training with the legendary Sannin Jiraiya! How the hell did she manage to score training from a Sannin?"
"If you're annoyed about not getting enough training just ask, I'm sure I can put you through your paces," declared Sakura.
"Please, you wouldn't even be a challenge," stated Kiba before chuckling lightly to himself.
"One week from today, you, me, training ground six, you in or are you chicken?"
"It's a date," said Kiba with a cheeky grin. "Then afterwards I can show you just what..."
That was as far as he got before Sakura sent a hammer blow into his chest with enough force to nearly make him double over. "It's a fight, not a date," corrected Sakura before noticing some newcomers to the party. Opting to leave the Inuzuka who was struggling to get his breathing back in order, the pink-haired kunoichi made her way to go greet her friends. On the side after having seen the interaction, a small wager was being made by Chouji and Sasuke, picking respective sides into who would win the upcoming bout.
"Naruto, there is no way in hell you picked those clothes out on your own is there. Hinata, you're looking gorgeous," complimented Sakura.
"Thank you," said Hinata as Naruto grumbled something incohesive under his breath.
"I must say, it's nice to see that you two made it, especially with your mission coming up. I imagine you've been spending a lot of time together," commented Sakura.
"We try but you know how life is," stated Hinata.
"You two catch up for a bit, I'll get you something to drink Hinata," declared Naruto.
"Thank you," replied Hinata, giving him a small peck on the cheek showing her affection.
As Naruto made his way over to where the beverages were located, his eyes glanced over all in attendance. He knew that Hinata's cousin Neji and his team were currently on an assignment and weren't in attendance. Other than them though, most of his peers were here. It was hard to believe that three years ago the lot of them had only just left the academy and soon they were to be dragged into a battle against shinobi who had been in active service longer than they had been alive. The Akatsuki would one day come for him and if the destruction he had heard about from Suna was any reckoning, Konoha could very well be obliterated in the battle.
Could they protect Konoha, could they pull a victory against S-ranked missing nin?
He didn't know.
Shaking his head, Naruto did his best to clear those thoughts from his mind as he poured some punch for both himself and Hinata before making his way back to his girlfriend. This was a party after all, he needed to enjoy himself and the time spent with his friends.
There was one other guest at the party, but Shino being who he was merely blended into the background and went unnoticed for most of the night.
...
"It's almost our time, Gaara."
A smile tugged at Gaara's lips, but his eyes remained closed. He could see enough with them shut and even if he did view the room around him, it would show him flashes of what was happening in the real world, very much like what he saw on the inside of his eyelids. He was hyper-aware and never had he felt so awake, so unencumbered by the desire to sleep.
"Good, that's good," Gaara said. uncrossing his arms and raising his head up towards Shukaku. "And you are certain that he won't have to cut out a specific piece of me?"
"Positive," Shukaku assured him. "I planted that seal inside you a million times over, kid. Each one of them is smaller than a grain of sand. If needed you could rise from your ashes again and again for all of eternity."
Unwillingly, Gaara gave a shudder. Shukaku naturally picked up on it.
"Don't sweat it," Shukaku said. "I know you don't enjoy the idea that he is the one to set this all in motion, but he will be nothing more than a catalyst for our return. As soon as your eyes see the light of day again, your mind will be your and yours alone."
Gaara's eyes flared open and met the One Tail's yellow irises. According to his estimation, he had been cooped up with the Ichibi for about a month now. Strangely enough, not a sour word had been exchanged between the two. Even at the very end, right before Gaara's physical life ceased to be, Shukaku had it seen fit to talk to him as if he were still a child. He did so with more respect and less agitation, but he still did it nonetheless. But something had changed.
During this month of floating in ethereal limbo they had talked a lot. Shukaku had run Gaara through his plan what seemed like hundreds of times and every time they discussed it, Gaara became more certain that all would turn out well. As soon as that slithering snake performed the rites to give Gaara a new, undying body, Shukaku's seal would spring. And there wouldn't be a damn thing that the snake would be able to do about it. They wouldn't even have to wait for the summoning; when Shukaku and Gaara's chakra attached to a new container, it would be for them to do as they please with it.
"Where is he now?" Gaara inquired.
"He's a day away from your body, two at best."
Gaara smiled. "Excellent."
...
Time always seemed like such a weird thing to Naruto. Every now and again days seemed to crawl along as if the sun simply decided that it was bored of allowing the night to come and consequently seemingly hung around for far longer than it should have. Other days seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and Naruto would be looking at his dinner wondering if he had even accomplished anything during the day.
Three weeks had passed and Naruto was certain that he had somehow missed out on some days here and there. Regardless, the time was now upon him and as he stared at the gates which separated Konoha from the rest of the world. As a child they had looked so much more imposing but now he saw them as merely a single gateway, a large gateway but nothing more than that at the end of the day. Three years prior when he had been returning from Wave on his first C-ranked mission the gates had seemed so much more symbolic.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Hinata, noticing the look on his face.
"Just reminiscing," commented Naruto as he focused his attention once more to the path ahead.
"I don't understand why Old Lady Tsunade wants us to go on foot, though," Naruto said. It seemed like a much better idea to him to go to Kumo at top speed. Valuable training time was being wasted.
"Well it wouldn't be a good idea to put yourselves out in the open," Hinata chipped in. "I guess she wants you guys to henge into a disguise and pretend to be tourists."
Naruto grumbled. "I guess you're right, but it doesn't make it any less irritating. I'm about the only ninja in town who has to leave for weeks every time he gets a mission. I just want to get right down to it. I don't want to stay away from home for too long."
Hinata observed him with a smile. She felt much the same. She wanted to have him back before she could blink, but knowing that would never be the case she resigned herself to a kiss on his lips and a promise whispered in his ear.
'I'll come back stronger than I've ever been."
...
Orochimaru had never taken to Suna. Though his cold blood enjoyed the hot sun, he disliked the stiff demeanors of the inhabitants. Some may call him twisted or deranged, but Orochimaru would consider himself a positive person with a positive attitude. He liked to smile. The people of Suna didn't. That in itself was a problem.
Not to mention how much of a mess their conflict with Iwa had turned out to be. The Sannin hadn't been right in the middle of the fight, though his minions had done well to inform him.. There had just been so many great things to behold. The Kazekage taking on a thousand men by himself, for instance.
Orocihmaru's main objective had been to collect samples of fallen warriors. He was not to be involved in any of the action. His arms were still too damaged to allow a combat situation out of him, despite how he had bragged to Tobi that he had trained to overcome his disability. True, there was less pain now each time, but the fatigue never went away. This was one of the reasons why he wanted to rely more on the Reanimation Jutsu, because it greatly diminished the amount of strain that he would have to put on his body.
So he had mixed himself in with the Iwa warriors as they attempted to lay waste to Suna, only to fail horribly. Orochimaru had heard how some of their most experienced Jonin were carved to pieces by the man who had proclaimed himself Hidan, Jashin-sama's greatest worshipper. The thought had amazed the Sannin, not only because Hidan had a wild fighting style, but also because his body did not die. Using Hidan for his Reanimation purposes would prove to be an interesting experiment; how did one go about resurrecting someone who technically couldn't be killed?
Orochimaru's guess was that the Jutsu would give Hidan the parts of his body back that he would be missing at that point. Give him a head if he needed one. But Orochimaru had seen what had become of Hidan and the result had not been pretty. The Tsuchikage had erased most of him out of existence. Luckily not all of him, though.
Three children, all of them extraordinary shinobi in their own right, had tangled with the Jashin Priest and had managed to damage him. That alone warranted the theft of their flesh. As much to Orochimaru's delight they had managed to rid Hidan of one of his arms. After Iwa had proclaimed victory over Suna and had drawn into retreat, Orochimaru had ventured into Suna in search for the missing limb.
He found it almost half a mile away from the place it had been blown off. Orochimaru freed it from within the rubble of a used-to-be hospital, wondering to himself if one of Gaara's attacks had managed to send it flying. What he had not expected was for the hand attached to the arm to form into scissors, which jabbed at his eyes without halt. While surprised at first, Orochimaru quickly found himself laughing.
He stored Hidan's arm away somewhere for it to thrash and flail angrily. Now he had another job. Years ago when he himself had still been part of the Akatsuki, he had been told the location of the Ten Tails's statue. Though Tobi and Pein were cunning, Orochimaru doubted that they would've gone through the trouble of relocating something so massive, not to mention partially buried. No, he would find it right where he had last seen it. And somewhere close would be his greatest catch.
Not far from the statue he would find the body of Sabaku no Gaara.
...
The warmth of the season was leaving Konoha behind. Sasuke didn't much mind; it made his moments of reflection clearer, less clouded by a haze of heat.
He was currently sitting in a tree just outside of Konoha. Though he did not mind lending the Uchiha compound to the people of Suna, it did make for more ruckus than he was used to. So he had opted to come over here and think things over. How the next year would play out, for instance. To summarise it all one sentence spilled over his lips.
"This is not going to be pretty."
And then a voice spoke directly into his ear.
"You have no idea how right you are, foolish little brother."
...
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique
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