A/N: First off I want to say, wow! The amount of interest I had last chapter was staggering. On the 12th when I posted it, I got ~1500 more hits than on any other day of this story. So, thanks everyone who read. Of the ~1500 people to read over the last week and a half, I only received 6 reviews, so specific thanks to astronight34int, dbtiger63, anon, and InARealPickle for their reviews and special thanks for CelticReaper for his continued support. In light of the upcoming break, I'm putting out this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 25

The stadium was a mad house. Medic-nins and those who had medical training were zipping about attempting to save those injured in the brief but hard-fought battle. With her long-trained skills, Tsunade quickly recognized the signs of various poisons coursing through the veins of the injured. Despite the fact that none of the victims seemed to be under immediate risk of dying, she would give most of them less than 72 hours. This made for a highly dangerous situation. Not only were all of the poisons unique, preventing her from identifying and simply fixing them, but even if she had the antidotes, providing the wrong one could kill the victim as effectively as the poisons themselves. Cursing under her breath, Tsunade directed her best medical team to gather the projectiles Gaara had collected and analyze them to begin synthesizing antidotes. Glancing around the stadium one more time, her eyes widened and she blurred into movement.

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The Tsuchikage, ignoring the movement around him, clenched his fists as smoke still figuratively poured from his ears from the brief run-in with the one man he wanted dead even more than the Yondaime Hokage's son. As the boy crossed his mind, his eyes focused squarely on said ninja who was conversing hurriedly with a group of shinobi around his age. Blinded by rage, without caring about the ramifications, the Earth leader raised his hands, intending to silence the insolent whelp permanently.

The Jinketsu clan was famous in Iwa, both the current Tsuchikage as well as his brother (and predecessor) having risen quickly in rank in power thanks to the kekkai genkai they shared. It was unfortunate, he thought as cracks began to form in the air behind his fists, that the Gobi had squelched Tenjin's access to this ability.

As the ground began to rumble, however, a hand grabbed his arm-so focused was he on the blonde insult he was that he hadn't even noticed the approaching presence-interrupting his concentration. Reflexively moving to attack his assailant, the middle-aged kage was ill-prepared to be doubled over with a bone-shattering punch to the stomach. As the pain of disintegrated ribs coursed through him in blinding pain, he squinted up to see none other than the Godaime Hokage standing over him hands aglow with green energy.

"I will not allow you to attack a shinobi of Konoha. We have had enough bloodshed for one day." She stated simply. It was the last thing he heard before he dropped into unconsciousness.

Immediately pressing her hands gently to the man's injury, Tsunade began to heal his wounds. Though she was enraged that the man would dare to attack her shinobi, she certainly didn't wish to risk an international incident by killing the other kage. Once the bones of her Earth counterpart's floating ribs collected, merged, and solidified back into their original, uninjured shapes she fixed the minor internal bleeding and called over one of the few remaining Iwa shinobi to care for him.

"What happened to him?" asked the kunoichi, eyes narrowed in suspicion at the sight of her leader apparently defeated.

Brushing off the question, Tsunade simply responded, "He'll be fine, he's just unconscious. Excuse me." Noticing Jiraiya land next to Naruto and his friends, she left situation in her old teammates hands. Walking away from the foreign shinobi, she returned to assisting the groups of medics frantically working to save the shinobi poisoned by the puppets' various poisons.

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Having eaten a soldier pill generously provided by Kiba, Naruto felt much better, his strength rapidly returning. Oblivious to the situation Tsunade had just saved him from, Naruto turned as he felt his mentor approach.

"Gaara is in pursuit of the attacker. Gaara's powerful as you well know, but this is Akatsuki we're talking about, which means he could be in serious danger. Though I hate to pit you against Akatsuki especially after that battle, you're the only one who can catch him in time to assist him." Jiraiya said providing Naruto with his mission.

Nodding to his mentor, Naruto took a deep breath and gathered his energy. Jumping into the air, he said, "Geppou." as the winds swirled around him. Jumping off the air, he rushed higher and higher in the direction Gaara had gone.

Turning to the assembled Kiba, Lee, Neji, and Tenten, Jiraiya continued. "Akatsuki always works in pairs. The one who left with Tenjin couldn't have been controlling the puppets."

"You're quite correct." came an aged voice from beside them. Turning to the sound of the voice, they found Kankuro, a bearded Suna Jounin, and an old woman who a few recognized had arrived with Gaara for the finals. "Though even I can't believe he could have reached such a level, the puppets could only have been controlled by one person: Akasuna no Sasori."

"And who are you?" asked Kiba tactlessly.

"I'll explain on the way." replied the old woman, "Sasori is doubtlessly planning to meet up with his partner, but won't be moving nearly as fast, if we move now, we should be able to catch him long before the two can regroup."

Agreeing with her assessment, Jiraiya nodded to her and moved to follow as she and Kankuro jumped away in pursuit. "You four with us." Jiraiya said jumping after her.

As they exited the stadium, Sakura fell into line with them. "I'm coming with you. You need a medic and Tsunade-shishou gave me several vials of antidote she managed to synthesize of the various poisons."

Acknowledging her presence, the group continued, not even slowing.

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Gaara was no fool. He recognized a trap when he saw one. Though he couldn't imagine how the man in front of him could have predicted this situation, as he looked out at the waters beneath him as his prey had turned for the first time to face him, he couldn't ignore the obvious.

"Looks like you've figured it out." Deidara spoke to the red haired Jinchuuriki. "Sasori was responsible for the gobi, my target is you. Being able to take you at the same time is just a bonus, yeah."

Not much one for words, Gaara remained silent, considering his options. He could either battle here where his opponent has him at a disadvantage (with water as far as the eye could see, most of his strongest techniques were useless), or attempt to return to the mainland to increase his battle power, but run the risk of his opponent simply leaving with the other Jinchuuriki. The decision, however, was taken out of his hands as his eyes noticed several objects flitting towards him quickly from his opponent.

Sand rising automatically to intercept them, Gaara was surprised by the explosions that followed. The first bird-shaped objects to reach him blasted his shield of sand apart, the blasts not reaching him, but enabling the birds behind them to pass through the defense unimpeded. Reacting instantly, Gaara waved a hand, the sand he was floating on lifting up in the shapes of hands and encompassing the explosives, crushing them and withholding the explosions.

Flicking a wrist, the sand shield in front of him destabilized and reformed before launching towards the missing nin. "Suna shuriken." Gaara said simply, his eye twitching slightly as he watched the clay bird dip to dodge the attack. Noticing his opponent release more of his explosives, Gaara raised a hand to put his sand between himelf and the attacks before simply dropping through the sand below him, freefalling as the clay exploded into the sand above him. One hand directing his Sabaku Fuyuu to catch him, the other flexed momentarily before he slashed his arm diagonally. Despite the whispered, "Suna Eisou." in his fall, the action was hidden.

Hair on the back of his neck standing on edge, Deidara sensed more than saw the attack form. Spinning upside down by reflex, he was shocked as spears of sand pierced effortlessly through the wings, several others sticking through the belly of the bird like a pincushion fortunately missing his feet. With the wings damaged, the clay bird began to drop like a stone. Channeling chakra to the construct, the holes quickly filled in, and, just barely touching the water, the bird righted itself and returned to the sky.

Allowing himself a smirk, Gaara commanded his sand once again. Even from where he floated, Gaara couldn't miss the widening of Deidara's eyes as the sand spears lost their shape and engulfed his legs up to his waist. Not giving him even a moment to struggle, Gaara closed his fist, the sand constricting in an instant as the "Sabaku Kyuu." liquefied his opponent's lower body.

Panting with the exertion of floating on his sand for as long as he had, Gaara thought for just one moment that he had won. Directing his sand to reclaim the kidnapped Iwa jinchuuriki, a half second warning was all Gaara had before the bird exploded, the force blasting him off his platform. Automatically calling his sand back under him, Gaara righted himself, sand cracking and falling off his body, just in time to see a gigantic figure burst from the waters below.

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"It's been a long time Chiyo…" said Jiraiya as they ran.

"This isn't the time Jiraiya." replied the old woman. "I may not have any lost love for the Slug Woman, but Suna and Konoha are now allies and this fight is personal."

"Personal you say?" asked the old toad hermit. "Despite our long history, I've never heard of this Akasuna no Sasori. Just what sort of battle are we getting into?"

"You wouldn't have. Sasori was one of Suna's most closely guarded secrets. Oh, your ninja fought him in the war, but none of them returned to tell the tale. Sasori was a genius puppet master the likes of which hasn't been seen since. Though at one time he was an inspiration to Suna's ranks, after what happened 20 years ago, my grandson is one of those secrets that Suna wishes they could forget."

Noticing the minor slip, Neji questioned, "Grandson?"

"Observant as always, Hyuuga." came the reply. "Yes, after Konoha's White Fang killed my other son, Sasori is my only remaining legacy. Some days, I think my body only keeps kicking because he still lives."

"So, you're just a liability then." Kiba exclaimed.

"Don't misunderstand me. His existence is my village and my family's biggest shame. I keep living so that I can end his life myself."

The entire group came to a sudden halt as a figure appeared in front of them, sitting casually on a branch. "Is that so Grandmother? I never knew you cared."

"Sasori…" she said, immediately recognizing the figure before her.

"You know, I truly never imagined that you would be here. This day just keeps getting better and better."

"It's been 20 years and you haven't aged a day. Do you even have a shred of humanity left?" Chiyo asked referring to his appearance.

"Neji, take your team and Kiba and support Naruto and Gaara. Sakura, if this is truly who attacked Konoha, we may well need your expertise, but stay out of the fight if you can, it's not your offensive power that we need." ordered Jiraiya, his eyes never leaving the deceptively young-looking man across from them.

As Team Gai plus one darted away, Neji's Byakugan flaring to follow the dissipating chakra signatures of Naruto's Geppou, Chiyo added, "Yuura, Kankuro, go with them. Between myself and Jiraiya we should be fine against Sasori."

As Yuura jumped off after the Konoha shinobi, Kankuro remained behind. "With all due respect, of the two opponents, my expertise would be of much more use here against a puppet user like Sasori."

With an almost imperceptible nod of acceptance, Chiyo launched into her attack, not missing the fleeting look of amusement on her grandson's face. Tossing ten kunai, she waved her hands controlling the projectiles with chakra strings far more accurately and effectively than possible with ninja wire.

As the weapons closed in on Sasori's position, the missing nin's cloak tore apart, revealing two sets of five blades protruding from his back in a wing-like appearance. Spinning in front of him, the blades deflected each of the weapons as a metal spear pushed into the ground and connected to flexible weaved metal cable which coils within where his stomach and intestines used to be. Extending, the extension pushed him upwards as Jiraiya darted past with an outstretched Rasengan. Noticing Kankuro unseal a trio of familiar puppets, he grinned as he redirected himself and raced for the Suna Jounin.

Acting on instinct, the Sasori spun and launched powerful flamethrowers from tubes in the center of each of his palms, one deflecting the fireball Jiraiya had sent his way and the other forcing Chiyo to dodge backwards keeping her at a distance. Even while preoccupied, the Suna missing nin deflected the needles Kankuro fired from Sanshouuo's mouth landing lightly on his feet, the metal wire retracted in an instant back into his chest before launching towards the once again attacking Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, being the ninja that he was easily batted aside the fast moving, spear-like tip and pressed his assault, but was forced to dodge and roll away as the serrated wire attempted to ensnare and constrict him.

Again making a point to attack using his enemy's distraction, Kankuro sent his three puppets into motion calling out, "Doku Kiri Jigoku: Baribari Hyaku Renpatsu." as Karasu launched several poison mist balls at the Akatsuki member before them.

Not even looking at the Suna Jounin as the poison cloud engulfed him, Sasori's five-bladed wings began to whirl like a buzz saw, deflecting the hundreds of needles sent from the puppets surrounding him. Again retracting his metal cable Sasori launched another jet of flames at his two strongest enemies keeping them momentarily at bay.

"Enough" Sasori cried out as the rain of needles ended. While surprised that the man had so easily defended one of his most deadly attacks (not to mention the poison seeming to have no effect on him), Kankuro was an experienced Jounin and prepared simply to adapt his strategy. He was, however, shocked as his puppets simply disintegrated-so shocked, in fact, that he was unable to dodge the cable Sasori had launched at him, partially concealed by the mist. Noticing at only the last moment, he managed to dodge a killing blow but the metal cable blasted through his left shoulder, the serrated wire tearing the flesh wildly preventing a clean wound and maximizing the injection of the poison it carried.

Mouth opened in a scream of pain, Kankuro toppled forward as the cable retracted, intensifying the already gaping wound, the poison already coursing through his system. "Fool! Did you honestly think that I would allow my own creations to be used against me?!" Sasori bit out, amusement etched on his face. Knowing exactly how well the poison worked, Sasori returned his full attention to the two aged legends still in front of him.

While it is well known in Suna that the legendary puppet master Akasuna no Sasori was responsible for creating many of the puppet designs still used today, a much lesser known fact was the failsafe mechanism that Sasori took to ensure that should his weapons would ever be used against him, he would be able to disable them with a single hand seal. The trick was in the construction. Puppets are made with a multitude of hidden compartments, storage seals, traps, and weapons-so many in fact that other than the most expert puppet designers (of which there are very few) no one else would fully understand the uses and full functions of all of the parts. It was with this knowledge that Sasori managed to hide a self-destruct seal that could only be activated with his chakra within each of his designs, designs that were still being used today.

Upon seeing Kankuro's defeat, Chiyo's eyes hardened, pulling out a scroll and flipping it open. Channeling chakra to it, she summoned the contents in front of her revealing ten white-robed puppets.

"Ah yes, as impressive as ever Grandma. It's always been said that the strength of a puppeteer is measured by the number of puppets they can control. This is the first time that I've ever seen this technique, though I of course have heard the rumors of the great Shirahigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shuu. It's been said that with this technique, you were able to bring down an entire castle." Even as he said this, Sasori removed a scroll from the trio laying on his back. Opening a flap in the right side of his chest, he released the seals on the scroll revealing the dozens of puppets that had attacked Konoha. "Though you've seen it before, with this, I brought a country to its knees."

"Be careful. Even a single scratch from any weapon can be deadly without proper treatment." Chiyo noted to Jiraiya.

Giving no indication Jiraiya that he had heard her, Jiraiya began flashing through seals. "Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu." he called out, his hair expanding in all directions wrapping up a half dozen of the puppets before constricting and crushing them. Having initiated the fight, the puppet war began in earnest with a good 30 puppets training a hail of needles at him while dozens of others focused on Chiyo and her army.

Seeing her opportunity with Sasori distracted, Sakura, who until this point had been hiding in the trees where they first arrived watching the battle in awe, jumped down to heal the injured Kankuro. Despite knowing that he was likely poisoned as well, hands glowing green as she focused her attention on the more pressing matter of the hole in his shoulder. Despite her training, the horrible wound nearly made her gag, the flesh torn apart in jagged slices. As long as she could keep him from bleeding out, it wasn't a fatal wound, but the damage done to his musculature, unless she was thorough with her healing would likely end his career as a shinobi.

Seeing Sakura attempting to save Kankuro, Jiraiya knew that he had to ensure Sasori's attention. Shielding himself from the rain of poisoned needles with his Hari Jizou, Jiraiya waited for the bombardment to stop before launching himself towards Sasori, his puppet moving between them to engage. Hidden under his mane of hedgehog like hair spikes, Jiraiya flipped through some more hand seals before calling out, "Hari Jigoku." and launching thousands of the hardened blades of hair towards Sasori and his puppets skewering many of them.

Recognizing the danger of the chakra-enforced hair, Sasori quickly switched his flamethrower scroll with a water jet scroll (rather than defending with his wing-like blades) and launched a powerful current from both hands at the incoming projectiles blowing them off course. Frowning slightly, Sasori pressed his puppet assault on Jiraiya. He had no illusions about the strength of the man he was fighting, but for all the man's ability, Sasori didn't need to strike a death blow, a simple scratch would be enough to end the Sannin.

Chiyo, meanwhile, activated her Kikou Junpuu and used the chakra barrier to defend herself from the deadly needles that had assaulted her. As the shield was actually activated at her wrists, she was able to continue controlling her puppets which, while far stronger than Sasori's, were vastly outnumbered. Even with the number that Jiraiya had attracted, hers were still outnumbered a good six to one.

As the puppets and ninja battled around him with wires, blades, projectiles, etc., Sasori found himself away from personal attack for a moment. Glancing around at the situation around him, Sasori noticed some unexpected movement. Looking towards the source he found the pink-haired Konoha kunoichi standing over Kankuro. As the battle progressed, he had nearly forgotten about her given that she seemed content to stay out of the fight and the shinobi he was facing were far more dangerous than some little girl. Seeing her extract something from the wounded Jounin's body, he recognized the technique as a medical ninjutsu for removing poisons. However doubtful that this medic could counteract the effects of his poisons, Sasori simply couldn't allow her to interfere on this battle. Taking aim, he blasted the girl away from the injured Jounin with a jet of water. It was a shame really, but from this distance, his water pressure couldn't hold the water condensed enough to actually kill her.

Despite Sasori's complaint, the high-pressure stream of water tore the skin off her back as though it were rubbed with coarse sand paper. Biting back the cry of pain, Sakura managed to plant her hand and use her momentum to skid to her feet. Placing her hand behind her, she immediately began to heal her back so that it wouldn't protest her every movement. Skin knitting back together, Sakura jumped towards the puppet master. Kankuro was stable and out of danger, but his wound still required more care to be fully healed, and clearly the man before her wouldn't give her the opportunity.

Laughing to himself as the girl attempted to attack him, Sasori decided to simply end her now. Not only would it be merciful (she was far outclassed after all), but it would substantially lower the team's odds of surviving the encounter. As she closed the distance to within ten feet, a switch opened in his arm, revealing needle launcher which sent an assault of his poisoned needles at the girl. He was relatively surprised as she weaved around them, but grinned as a line opened up on her cheek. Stumbling the pink-haired girl collapsed at his feet, the poison already coursing through her system causing paralysis. Taking aim at the girl's temple, Sasori ignored the cries of the pair of older ninjas and summoned his chakra to the water jet scroll and fired it out his palm.

A/N: And there you have it. Here we get to see more of some characters that haven't received any specific attention before now in the fic. This was actually fun, though difficult to write as the techniques used and fighting styles of the combatants are pretty different from those I've showcased before now. Hope you enjoyed it and sorry for the duo of cliffhanger's here. Not to worry, those will all be cleared up in the next chapter.

Since I know that I'll be receiving complaints about how easily I had Tsunade defeat the Tsuchikage, I want to make note of that now. The Tsuchikage is not week, nor is Tsunade that much (if at all) stronger than him. In this instance, blinded by his hatred, Tsunade got the drop on him. Even Orochimaru admits earlier in the series that taking a single blow from Tsunade could kill him, so landing that single blow was sufficient to defeat him. Again, the Tsuchikage is very strong, and this will become evident later on. For anyone who recognized exactly who I modeled his bloodline after, this should be clear. As always, R&R-Good or bad, it helps me with this story.

Jutsu Library

Geppou- Moon Step (Rokushiki-Using his control over wind, Naruto forces the air below him to condense to the point at which he is able to spring from it as though it were a solid mass.)

Suna shuriken-Sand Shuriken

Sabaku Fuyuu-Desert Sand Floating

Suna Eisou-Sand Sharp Spear

Sabaku Kyuu-Desert Coffin

Rasengan-Spiral Sphere

Doku Kiri Jigoku: Baribari Hyaku Renpatsu-Poison Mist Hell: Hundred Continuous Tears

Shirahigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shuu-White Secret Technique: Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu

Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu-Wild Lion's Mane Technique

Hari Jizou-Underworld Guardian Spikes

Hari Jigoku-Hell Needles

Kikou Junpuu-Light Shield Seal Mechanism