Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.
The four shinobi from Konoha and the one from Suna arrived at entrance to the cave where Akatsuki was draining Gaara of his demon's chakra. As they surveyed the entrance they noticed that the boulder was locked in place and they were not able to break it apart. "Looks like there's a Seal is on the boulder," Kakashi said after a quick observation of the rock.
"What kind do you think it is?" Lee asked.
"I believe it is a Five Part Seal," Kakashi answered. "Neji search the area and find the other four markers."
Neji complied by activating his Byakugan. After thirty seconds he had found the other four markers. "One is at thirty degrees two-hundred meters, the second is forty-five degrees five hundred meters, the third is two hundred degrees at three hundred yards and the last is at two-hundred eighty degrees one hundred meters."
"We need to remove all the markers at the same time," Kakashi said.
"I'll handle that," Naruto said, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone)." Five duplicates appeared. Four of the Bushins jumped away to where Neji indicated the other markers were while the fifth one approached the boulder. After a few minutes the clone that remained and removed the marker from the boulder. "Done," Naruto said canceling his jutsu.
"Now we need to clear the boulder," Chiyo said.
"I'll handle that as well," Naruto said. He cupped his hand and started to form his Rasengan. To the surprise of Kakashi and Chiyo the swilling blue chakra and wind started to become covered by another layer of chakra, this one red. "Raengan Daburu! (Double Rasengan)." Naruto dashed with the jutsu and slammed his palm into the boulder creating a shallow depression in the rock. Not more than a second later the boulder shattered throwing bits of rock and dust everywhere.
"He's improved Sensei's jutsu," Kakashi thought. "He's rather amazing. I can't help but wonder he was on my team."
After the dust cleared Chiyo voiced the question that was on her mind, "What was that second chakra you used? It felt demonic."
"Naruto is Konoha's Jinchuuriki," Kakashi informed.
Chiyo thought for a moment, "The only Great Beast that has ever come across Konoha was…." Her eyes widened and she spoke aloud, "That means he has the…"
"Let's go get Gaara," Naruto said cutting of the old Suna puppet user.
The first one through the cave entrance was Neji with this Byakugan one searching the entire cave for life. The second was Kakashi right behind him with Naruto and Lee at their flanks and finally Chiyo coming up behind them. The cave was extremely dark making visibility extremely low, "Neji what do you see?" Lee asked.
"Faint chakra trails," Neji answered. "There was a great deal of chakra released just a few minutes ago, but now it appears to be gone."
"Search the area," Kakashi ordered. "Try to find any trail." He then made a few hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning)," a group of five dogs of varying breeds appeared after the smoke cleared. "Try to find a scent trail we can follow," he ordered to his summons.
Each shinobi and dog went off in a different direction to search for some kind of clue on where their target could have gone. After a few seconds one of Kakashi's dogs called him over, "Kakashi, I am only smelling four individual people."
"Are you sure Pukkun?" Kakashi asked. The little dog nodded in confirmation. Before Kakashi could inquire further Lee and Chiyo came running up to them.
"Over where I was searching I found a large area of turned up dirt on the cave floor," Lee reported. "Something big came out of the ground; at least twenty meters by ten meters no idea how tall."
"I found several foot prints near the far wall," Chiyo stated. "There were nine different prints I recognized two of them. One was Sasori's and the other was his partner. I recognized them from the tracks outside of Suna. The others I could not tell you."
"Hhhmmm, Pukkun says he could only smell four different people," Kakashi stated. "What did the scents smell like?"
"One smelled like wood," Pukkun answered.
"That would be Sasori," Chiyo said. "He was Suna's most talented puppet user ever. He refined many and made several original puppets before he left our village."
"Another smells like some weird clay," Pukkun continued. "The third smells like sand and blood and the last smelled like the air after you use Chidori."
"We were told how the one who fought Gaara over Suna used some kind of explosives that looked like they were made of clay," Kakashi muttered. "The last one sounds like he could be from Lightning Country. And the third is Gaara, but where are they?"
"KAKASHI WE FOUND GAARA!" Naruto yelled from the back of the cave. Without a word the three shinobi and one dog ran to Naruto. When they arrived they saw Neji and Naruto examining him. "He appears to be unconscious."
"His chakra flow is slowing," Neji added. "He's dieing! We need to get him medical attention at once!"
Chiyo stepped forward and applied a healing jutsu. "I can't save him by myself, a lot his chakra is gone. I can only keep him alive for a little while."
"We'll take him to Sakura," Kakashi said. "With her help you should be able to get him stabilized."
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto said. Four clones appeared and picked up Garra, one taking each limb. "Let's get going we can't let him die!"
As soon as the group left the cave Neji performed some hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" a hawk appeared after the burst of smoke. "Go on ahead and tell Sakura we need her assistance."
When Kakashi and the others left them Sakura and Tenten were on guard in case someone tried to sneak up on them. "He really messed up," Tenten commented. "Because of his blind anger he put the entire mission at risk." She turned to Sakura, "He'll be lucky if he isn't demoted back to Gennin."
Sakura gave no argument knowing what Tenten said was true. She still liked Sasuke a great deal but stopped thinking he could do no wrong a long time ago. "He's usually much more focused on a mission. But he just can't seem to let go of what happened to his Clan."
"He acted selfishly," Tenten said. "He put his own desires a head of the mission and the others. On a normal Mission that is stupid but on one of this importance it was extremely careless. Because of what he did the Akatsuki could have killed the Kazekage and thus throwing our alliance with Suna right out the window." She sighed before continuing, "If Gaara dies Suna will want a scapegoat and because we're on the rescue mission those in Suna opposed to the alliance will use us as fuel for their argument. They will try and push for a separation of the villages."
"You're probably right," Sakura agreed. She was one of the smartest Chunin in the village so it was easy for her to see Tenten's logic. "But how do know so much about the politics of this mission?"
"I've been around people of high influence in three villages ever since I was a Gennin," Tenten answered. "The stuff kind of rubs off on you."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Well remember as Gennins Neji, Lee, Naruto and I were part of joint village teams with Kiri," Tenten answered. "We constantly had to be around the Mizukage and Sandaime for over a year. Then after Naruto left Lee, Neji and I often took missions to aide Suna, I think Gaara insisted on it because we're Naruto's friends. Then we were all chosen to be Anbu and specialize in Youkai work. That made us team up with several people for other villages and we had to report to those villages' leaders. Understanding politics comes with the job I guess."
"Why would Gaara care if you were Naruto's friends?" Sakura asked. "He beat him in our first Chunin Exam, and from what I heard no one ever did that before. If I was Gaara I would hate Naruto for that."
"Naruto and Gaara have a lot in common," Tenten replied. "They have similar backgrounds that allows them to connect on a level most people couldn't understand. They are like surrogate brothers if you ask me."
They lapsed into a silent period that stretched on for nearly an hour until Tenten saw a hawk approaching from the direction the others went, "That's one of Neji's summons."
The hawk circled for a few seconds then landed right next to the unconscious Sasuke, "Neji says they need your help Sakura. You should go meet them, its very urgent."
"Go I'll bring get Sasuke and be right behind you," Tenten said. Sakura nodded and dashed off as fast as she could. The hawk having fulfilled its duty disappeared just as Tenten struggled to put Sasuke onto her back. "You need to loose some weight Uchiha." She used a bit of chakra to make him stick to her back so there was not as much dead weight and soon was off following Sakura.
After about ten minutes of travel Sakura saw why she was needed. Gaara was being carried by four of Naruto's Kage Bushins while Chiyo was running along side with her hands over Gaara's chest healing him. When the groups saw Sakura coming towards them they immediately stopped and the four Naruto clones put the Kazekage down. "His chakra is nearly depleted," Chiyo stated, "Sakura assist me in restoring it." Sakura moved to them without hesitation and began sending chakra into Gaara's body. A few minutes later Tenten showed up with a limp Sasuke on her back.
Three hours later the two medics stood up on shaky legs, "He's stable now," Sakura reported.
"So what happened?" Tenten asked. Everyone was silent for the three hours in order to not distract Sakura and Chiyo.
"We got there sooner than Akatsuki anticipated I suspect," Kakashi answered.
"You're right," Chiyo said. "Gaara would be dead if the extraction was complete. They got most of Shukaku's chakra but not all of it."
"That means they'll come back for him," Naruto said. "The chakra they took will dissipate without its source, namely Shukaku. And he still remains sealed in Gaara, only way to get the him is to remove all the demonic chakra first."
"The question is why would they leave him like that?" Lee asked. "They want all the Great Beasts but leaving Gaara to die would keep them from their goal. If he dies so does Shukaku."
"They knew we would be able to save him," Kakashi answered. The others gave him a questioning look so he continued. "It's not that hard to deduce if you think about it. They knew we were coming because of the trap with Kisame and Itachi's duplicates earlier. It is not hard to assume that they knew who was among our team. Sasori would know Chiyo was a medic and the poison gas cloud showed Sakura was one as well. They knew we would be able to save him and used it to make their escape."
"Which raises another question," Naruto spoke up. "How did they escape I only smelled three other people besides Gaara in that cave. And it would take a lot more chakra than what three humans could produce to remove Shukaku from Gaara."
"I think only those three were even there," Neji answered. "The others were probably some kind of advanced Bushin and they some how transferred their chakra into the Bushin from a safe distance. The three that were there could have easily teleported away just before we arrived."
"But how?" Sakura asked.
"There could have been some kind of prearranged jutsu on the Five Part Seal that teleported them away when it was released," Kakashi replied. "We'll rest here for the night and let Chiyo and Sakura regain their strength. Sasuke should be up by then and we'll head for Suna in the morning. Lee and I will take the first watch." Everyone gave an affirmative nod and they began to bed down for the night. Unnoticed by all the shinobi a small plant disappeared beneath the ground.
The next day Sakura and Chiyo, though still a bit drained of chakra, were strong enough to make the trek back to Suna. Just as Kakashi predicted Sasuke had awakened as well. When he woke up and realized what happened. He remained silent but at least looked ashamed. Whether it was at himself for letting his anger get the better of him or not killing Itachi no one knew.
They all took a slow pace returning to Suna. When they reached the outskirts of the village everyone was somewhat surprised to see dozens of shinobi there waiting for them. The first two to approach were Tamari and the fully healed Kankuro, "Is he alright?" Tamari asked.
"Yes," Chiyo answered. "He'll be unconscious for a few days while Shukaku restores his chakra reserves but Kazekage-sama will be fine." Both siblings sighed with relief at the news and motioned for a couple of nearby Jounins to come and take their little brother.
"Looks like a lot of people care for Gaara," Tenten commented looking at the relieved faces of all the people around.
"Kazekage-sama has done a great deal for our village," Baki said coming up to the group. "He has worked hard to gain everyone's trust, admiration and respect as Kazekage. He protected the entire village with his sand from a massive explosion from the one that abducted him. If he did not do that he would have beaten his opponent, that proved to everyone that held reservations about him that he will protect us with his life." Baki then turned to look at Naruto directly, "We don't see him as a demon anymore, and we see him as our leader and friend." Naruto gave a small nod knowing Baki was thanking him for his role in Gaara's change over the years. "Please come you need to give your report to our Village Council and then you should rest before returning home." The Konoha-nins easily agreed wanting to rest from mission and soon after followed Baki into the village interior.
A week later Team 7 and Anbu Team 12 returned to Konoha. They reported what happened to Tsunade and received their pay. As they were leaving Tsunade called out to Naruto, "Naruto stay a moment I have to talk to you."
"I'll see you guys later at the next meeting," Naruto said to his teammates. "So what did you want to talk about Okasan?"
"Not what? Who?" Tsunade corrected.
"Lea'so," Naruto said earning a nod from Tsunade. "What's been going on?"
"She's mostly been asking a lot of questions about what life is like for humans, Youkai and Hanyous here," Tsunade answered. "She seems to be especially curious about Bloodline Limits."
"They don't have them on Godeshen," Naruto said.
"So she told me," Tsunade said. "Some people are starting to ask questions about her so we need to get her out of the village for a while until things calm down. With Orochimaru and Akatsuki on the move again people are going to be on edge and having a person asking about Blood Limits will make others nervous."
"What are you going to do then?" Naruto asked. He knew it would involve him. Lea'so was here because of him and that made her his responsibility. So far she was behaving herself but that could change at an instant if someone were to cross her the wrong way. She could act like she would normally to a human and attack them if they got her too angry. After all she was raised to believe all humans, Hanyou and most Youkai were inferior to her.
"She has also asked me several times about interactions between humans and Youkai," Tsunade began. Naruto could see where the conversation was going, "I want you to take her to the new Sanctuary for a few weeks. I've already contacted the Elders and they gave their permission."
"What about my Team?" Naruto asked.
"They'll be put on leave during that time," Tsunade informed him. "Unless an emergence come up that is. For now though rest and for a couple of days."
"Ok Okasan," Naruto said. "I need to get my sword repaired anyway. Where is Lea'so anyway?"
"At the house," Tsunade answered.
"I'll see you at home then," Naruto said. Just before he left the office he called back, "Don't sleep to much Okasan." The last comment earned him some crumpled up paperwork to the back of the head.