Author's Note: Well, the beginning of Shippuden got an overall much better reception than the Kiri Civil War arc. Guess that people really wanted to see the Sand Siblings back. Anyway, enjoy the second part:


Chapter 52

Gaara's Rescue Party

or

Snakes in the Grass

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate gate duty?" Kiba asked his teammates.

"Many times. And doing so doesn't make our job here any less tedious," Shino fired back.

"You know, I heard that if you get promoted to Special Jonin, you no longer have to do these kind of chores," Tamaki replied. "Problem is, I have no idea what could I do to get that promotion."

"I plan on specializing as a tracker, just like my mom did," Kiba replied. "Tracking missions are always fun."

Tamaki noticed that a faint light was starting to appear in the horizon, and little by little, the forest around Konoha started to become clearer.

"The sun is rising," the Cat Kunoichi said as she stifled a yawn. "That means the day shift will soon come, and we can go home and sleep a little."

Akamaru then started to sniff the air. He walked closer to the wall's edge and started to loudly bark at something below.

"What is it buddy, did you find something?" Kiba said, and soon he also got wind of a foreign smell coming closer.

Tamaki narrowed her eyes, and saw two figures slowly approaching the gates. "Hey, down there! Two people are coming!"

"Can you see who they are?" Shino asked.

"Their smell...I think they're Suna ninja. And not just Suna ninja, but I think they're Gaara's older siblings!" Kiba pointed out.

"Are you sure about that?" Shino asked, as he tried to get a better view of the incoming strangers.

Then, the two figures dropped to the ground, and laid there, motionless.

"Oh shit!" Tamaki said.

"Kiba, go warn somebody about the situation at hand! I'll go down and see if I can heal them. Tamaki, guard my back in case it's a trap," Shino quickly commanded.

"Right!"

"You got it!"

Kiba and Akamaru quickly dashed towards the Hokage's tower, while Shino and Tamaki jumped from the wall, landing on the ground with a 'thud', as they cautiously approached the two fallen Suna ninja.

Land of the Rivers

A couple hours after Kankuro and Temari had arrived to Konoha, so did Deidara and Sasori to the designated Akatsuki lair in the Land of the Rivers. While they could have arrived there much earlier, they decided to stop for the night and rest, since neither of them came out unscathed from their clash with the Sand Siblings.

They reached the main door, a massive boulder with a seal attached to it. Deidara made a hand seal, and the boulder elevated above the ground, revealing a cave entrance. The two Akatsuki, with their captured jinchuriki hoisted on Deidara's shoulder, entered the cave, and the boulder slammed down as soon as they were inside.

Deidara walked forward and tossed Gaara's unconscious body in front of him.

"So, I see that you were successful in your endeavor, Deidara, Sasori," a deep, distorted voice said above them.

Both Akatsuki looked upwards and saw eight astral projections, each of them belonging to the other Akatsuki members.

"Of course! When did I fail Akatsuki?" Deidara asked, indignantly. "That's two for two, need I remind you!"

"You shouldn't count Yagura, given that all you had to do was to activate the trigger phrase I implanted inside his mind," Obito dismissively said.

Deidara angrily glared at the Uchiha. "I'd like to see YOU getting into a warzone and take a jinchuriki out of it alive, hn!"

"Then again, we shouldn't dismiss their accomplishments like that, should we?" Orochimaru chuckled. "After all, Sasori lost his beloved Hiruko in order to bring us this jinchuriki."

This time, it was Sasori who frowned at Orochimaru. He hated how that man was able to give praise and diss insults in the same breath. Still, the best thing to do was not to dignify that gratuitous jab with a response.

"Enough of that. Time is of the essence. We need to extract the Tailed Beast from its host," the leader said as he made five hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A massive statue emerged from the ground. The statue had an extremely ugly visage, composed of a large, open mouth full of teeth and nine eyes, two of whom were opened. Disconnected from the statue were two arms with their fingers pointing forward. Each Akatsuki placed themselves on one of the fingers.

"The extraction process will take three days, so make sure you're ready," the Leader advised, before making another hand seal. "Sealing Art: Phantom Dragon Nine Consumption Seal!"

Nine ghostly dragons emerged from the statue's mouth and engulfed Gaara, lifting the young jinchruiki above the ground. A stream of red energy started to flow from Gaara's mouth into the statue. The extraction process had begun, and if it wasn't interrupted, Gaara would lose the One Tail. But most importantly, he would also lose his life.

Konoha Hospital

When Tsunade crossed the doors of the hospital like she did every other day, she expected to have a day like every other. Sure, medical emergencies happen every day, but nothing she or her qualified and in some cases, personally trained staff wouldn't be able to handle.

What she didn't expect, though, was a medical emergency not even five minutes after she sat on her desk in her office. A nurse immediately requested her to come down, as two people of utmost importance were on the verge of death, and they needed her help as soon as possible. Tsunade's surprise was gigantic when she saw who the patients were.

"Temari and Kankuro? What are these two doing here?" Tsunade asked as she helped the other medic-nin to stabilize them.

"We don't know. The Chunin of Team Kakashi were about to finish their night shift at the gates when they saw them coming," a medic nin explained. "We can ask them when they're awake."

"What's their status?" Tsunade asked.

"Their wounds suggest that they've been in a battle recently. But that's not the reason of their current state," another medic-nin said. "We detected a powerful poison coursing through their bodies. If we don't eliminate the poison, they might not last long."

Tsunade knew what she had to do. "Quickly, fetch my apprentices! We'll need them if we want these two to live!"

She did not mention Shino. He was in her mind, being her apprentice and all, but after being all night awake, he would be way too sleepy to be of help. And for their task ahead, they needed to be as focused as possible.

Training Ground Eight

Kurenai's Assault Squad had gathered at their usual training spot, and were about to begin their morning training routine. Since all of them were either Jonin or Special Jonin, none of them were bound to the extra duties all Chunin had, such as guarding the gates, or patrolling the city. And thus, they usually spend the morning training until they were called for a mission.

And unbeknownst to them, today would be one of those days.

"Okay, since we're all here, let us begin," Kurenai said. "I have a good feeling that if we keep this training regime, in a few months you two will get that promotion to Jonin," Kurenai told Haku and Hinata.

"Today I suggested Kurenai-sensei that you should fight me in Sage Mode. I won't go all out on you, but it will be good practice," Naruto said. "You won't find many enemies that are stronger than a master of Senjutsu like yours truly, hehe."

"Alright, Naruto-kun, I'm ready," Hinata confidently said.

"Me too. Besides, that way we can go all out without worrying about causing you irreparable harm," Haku added.

"In that case, get into position. I'll watch and-" Kurenai was saying before she noticed an ANBU pretty much appearing between them. "Huh?"

Haku immediately recognized the ANBU, not just for her cat-shaped mask, but also for her bright purple hair. "Yugao-san?"

The ANBU nodded and removed her mask, revealing her face. "Hinata Hyuga, Tsunade-sama requests your presence at the hospital. You need to assist her with two gravely injured patients of utmost importance."

"I will go immediately," Hinata nodded as she started running towards the hospital.

"Yugao, do you know who are those patients?" Kurenai asked the purplette.

"Yes. Temari and Kankuro, from Sunagakure. We don't know what happened to them since they're unconscious, but we presume they've been attacked," Yugao explained.

Naruto felt his heart sink. He had talked to them not even a day ago. Then, much to his horror, he noticed that Yugao didn't mention a certain somebody. "What about Gaara? He left with Kankuro and Temari. Is he alright!?"

Yugao just shook her head. "We know nothing about him. What we know it's that Temari and Kankuro appeared before the gates of the village shortly after sunrise. It's possible that he managed to run away and return to Suna?"

"No, that doesn't sound like Gaara. He would have never abandoned his siblings like that. I have a very bad feeling about this. I think I'm going to the hospital as well," Naruto said.

"Let's go all then," Kurenai suggested.

Yugao merely nodded, put her mask back on, and Body Flickered out of there.

"Gaara, Temari and Kankuro left yesterday afternoon, and today the latter two show up, badly wounded, without the former," Haku mentioned. "Do you think this is the work of Akatsuki?"

Naruto shot the Ice Ninja a grave look. "That's what I'm afraid of."

When Hinata arrived at the room where Kankuro and Temari were being treated, she was greeted by the sight of her master in the medical arts, as well as her fellow medic-nin Ino. Tsunade was studying something under a microscope, while Ino helped other medics to stabilize the wounded Sand Siblings.

"Tsunade-sama, Hinata is here!" a nurse announced.

"Good. Hinata go help Ino, now!" she barked at the Hyuga. "What about Shizune's Medical Squad?"

"It seems they left yesterday for a mission. Nobody knows when they will be back," the nurse replied.

"Drats. I could have really used their help here," Tsunade cursed, as she went back to the microscope.

"Any progress on the poison, Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked as she continuously healed Temari.

"I think I saw something similar in the past. It looks a lot like the poisons Chiyo of Suna used way back during the Second Ninja War," Tsunade told her. "Except this one seems far more advanced. Fortunately, nobody has ever created a poison I can't neutralize, and this won't be an exception."

Suddenly, Kankuro started to tremble violently as he screamed in pain.

"What's wrong with him?" a panicked Ino said as she moved to heal him.

"Byakugan!" Hinata's Bloodline Limit activated, and with it she was able to immediately see the problem. "His liver! The poison is damaging it!"

Ino nodded and focused the Mystical Palm Jutsu on that area. Soon, Kankuro relaxed and became more stable, even if he was till unconscious. Hinata then scanned what organs were the most damaged so she, Ino and the other medics could focus on healing those first.

"Good job you two. Work on keeping them stable while I finish the antidote," Tsunade told them.

"When Temari-san and Kankuro-san left, Gaara-san was with them. Do we know anything about him?" Hinata asked. Like Naruto and Haku, she was afraid Akatsuki would be behind this.

Ino shook her head. "No. We don't know about him. At least not unless these two wake up first."

"Could you probe their minds?" Hinata suggested.

"Guess I could. Though try to keep them stable. If another violent episode happens, the sympathetic damage could break my mind," Ino advised Hinata as she placed both her index fingers on Kankuro and Temari's forehead.

The Yamanaka heiress only needed to see their latest memories before she found the answer she was looking for.

"Got it!" Ino said. "It seems that two Akatsuki attacked them and took Gaara away. Their names are Sasori and Deidara."

Hinata let out a weary sigh. "I dreaded it. We need to inform both Hokage-sama and Sunagakure."

"Let somebody else do that. We have a work to finish here," Tsunade told her, before something Ino said registered in her brain. "Wait a minute, you said Sasori?"

"Yes, that's the name I heard in both their minds. It can't be a coincidence," Ino confirmed. "Why?"

"Sasori is Chiyo's grandson. He disappeared twenty years ago, and nobody has seen him since. Guess that solves both that mystery and why this poison felt so familiar," Tsunade said.

"When Naruto learns of this, there won't be anything to stop him from going to rescue Gaara himself," Hinata mentioned.

"I know," Tsunade sighed in defeat. "That's why I'm counting on you to make sure that boneheaded son of mine comes back alive."

Hinata nodded with determination. "You can trust him to me, Tsunade-sama."

An indeterminate amount of time later, Temari stirred as she slowly opened her eyes. She had to blink a couple times, in order for her eyes to get used to the initially bright light of the early morning. Standing up, she groaned as she looked around, finding the surroundings worryingly unfamiliar.

"Ugh..." she groaned.

"Huh?" a female voice said besides her. "You're awake?"

Temari looked at the blue haired, pale skinned girl sitting beside her. "H-Hinata?"

"Temari-san? You're awake!" Hinata said visibly happy. She then walked outside the hospital room, and said to somebody outside: "Naruto-kun, she's finally awake!"

Unsurprisingly, Naruto rushed into the room with an excited, but visibly not overjoyed expression.

"Finally! We were so worried!" Naruto loudly said.

"Shhhhh! We're in a hospital!" Hinata chided her boyfriend.

Naruto acknowledged Hinata with a sheepish nod. "Yeah, sorry..."

Naruto's loud outburst caused Kankuro to awake from his sleep as well. His reaction was the same as Temari's.

"Who the hell is yelling...?" Kankuro complained in a whisper, as confusion started to dawn once he realized where he was. "What...where am I?"

"It's safe to assume we made it to Konoha. But more importantly," Temari interrupted, now more awake. "How long have we been here?"

Temari could feel the tension in the atmosphere growing thicker, which made her dread the answer ever more.

"You've been here for almost a day," Hinata gravely said. "We know about Gaara. Ino-san scanned your minds while you were unconscious."

"What!?" Kankuro indignantly asked.

"Sorry for invading your privacy like that, but we needed to know what happened in order to prepare accordingly," Hinata explained. "Besides, Ino-san only probed the last few hours' worth of memories, so it's nothing you should worry about."

"Now I'm guessing you want to go and look for Gaara, right?" Naruto asked.

Both Temari and Kankuro scowled at such obvious question. "Do we really need to answer?" Temari asked.

"Thought so. If you feel better, get dressed and come with us to the Hokage's tower. We need to prepare for a few things before we leave," Naruto said.

Kankuro and Temari nodded.

Hokage's Tower, Half an Hour Later

Inside the Council Room were gathered Jiraiya, all four members of Kurenai's Assault Squad, Temari and Kankuro.

"While I'm willing to lend you my best ninja to help with Gaara's rescue, we have a problem," Jiraiya stated. "We don't know where did they took Gaara, and even if we put our best trackers to work, we'd still need something with Gaara's or his captor's scent, which we don't have."

"Besides, we still don't know if Gaara is still alive," Kurenai intervened, before sending the Sand Siblings an apologetic look. "Sorry if I'm being pessimist, but it's a possibility we must take into account."

"Fortunately, we have the solution to both problems right here," Temari said as she pulled out a compass from the folders of her robe.

"A...compass?" Hinata asked, tilting her head in slight confusion.

"Not a normal compass. This compass was made with special fuinjutsu, and is attuned to Gaara's chakra signature. The needle marks the direction Gaara is, and the fact that it needle still moves means that he's still alive."

Jiraiya opened his eyes wide in shock. "But...that's extremely dangerous! If it fell in the wrong hands, such artifact would make hunting Gaara trivially easy!"

"We're aware of that. That's why only four of this compasses were made. Temari and I carry two of them, and the other two are under our father's watch," Kankuro explained. "We decided to make them in case something like this happened, which as you can see, it did. All what we need to do is follow the compass and rescue Gaara."

"Speaking of which, how much time do we have?" Haku asked. "Because no doubt the Akatsuki will try to extract Gaara's Beast as soon as possible."

"Not just that, but they also need to seal it in another container, either a human or something else," Jiraiya added. "According to my available knowledge, it's a long and exhausting process. Though between ten people, they can accelerate the process. My estimate is that we have three days until the Tailed Beast is removed and Gaara dies."

A deafening silence fell upon the room, as everybody weighed down the Hokage's words.

"Three days. That's a very narrow window," Hinata said, almost in a whimper.

"Less than three days," Temari corrected them. "We spent a whole day here, recovering. We only have two days at best to do it. Let's hope they didn't take him too far."

"If they want to start the extraction process as soon as possible, they'll have to be somewhere near the place you were attacked. My best bet would be the Land of the Rivers, since it's a small country with no ninja village. The best place to set a hideout," Jiraiya suggested.

Kankuro checked his compass. "The needle does point in the direction of the Land of the Rivers. I don't think they would go any further, or else they'd go into the Land of Wind. Akatsuki wouldn't dare to set a base there."

"Sadly, they would, so don't be so quick to discard that possibility," Naruto pointed out. "Anyway, I think we've talked long enough, can we go now?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Indeed. However, be careful, Naruto. Remember Akatsuki is also after you."

"Don't sweat it, dad. I'll give up ramen before letting such thing happen," Naruto said, with his trademark confident grin.

"Meanwhile, I'll send a toad messenger to Sunagakure in order to warn them about what happened. Hopefully, they will provide them with reinforcements," Jiraiya told them. "Good luck to all of you."

All of them nodded and left the Council Room, ready to leave the village and look for Gaara as soon as possible.

A few hours later, the group of six were traversing the forests of the Land of Fire as fast as they could, leaping from one tree branch into the next. From time to time, Temari or Kankuro would take a look at their compasses, not just to check they were in the right direction, but to see if Gaara was still alive. So far, the needle still moved. They might arrive in time yet.

"Kankuro, Temari," Kurenai broke the silence. "Tell us about the Akatsuki who attacked you. We'll have to face them more than likely."

Both Kankuro and Temari nodded, before the latter started to speak.

"The one Kankuro and I fought against is a master puppeteer, who claimed to be Sasori of the Red Sands, one of Suna's most skilled ninja," Temari said.

"That puppet he used to fight us...hell, I even feel unworthy of calling myself a puppeteer. And I'm sure he has others way more dangerous than that," Kankuro bitterly said, gritting his teeth.

"Is Sasori related to one of your village elders, the one named Chiyo?" Hinata asked.

Temari looked at the Hyuga, mildly confused. "Yeah, that's true. How is that relevant?"

"When Tsunade-sama analyzed the poison, she said it was similar to the ones Chiyo used to concoct back in the Second Ninja War. Though this one was far more advanced," Hinata pointed out.

"That's too much of a coincidence to discard. Though those are really bad news if that guy was really Sasori," Temari said, with a shiver.

"Why do you say that?" Haku asked.

"Sasori alone managed to stop Iwa's forces from entering the Land of the Wind. If it wasn't for him, Suna could have come out of the war in even worse shape than we did," Kankuro explained. "In fact, the 'red sands' part of his name is because whenever he was in the battlefield, the sand of the desert ended up dyed in red due the all blood spilled by his puppets."

The Konoha ninja grew uneasy at the fearsome reputation just one of their potential enemies had. Even if they already knew this, they only had very few information on its members and their past exploits.

"What about the other guy?" Haku asked.

"That was the one who fought and defeated Gaara," Kankuro continued. "It was a blonde...well, I dunno. I couldn't tell if it was a guy or a girl, honestly. I mean, it sounded like a man but looked like a girl. Kinda like you, Haku."

Haku raised an eyebrow in annoyance, while Temari snickered a little.

Something clicked within Naruto's minds, and the jinchuriki opened his mouth to speak. "Did that guy fight with explosives, while flying on top of a weird giant bird?"

"Yes, precisely!" Temari said. "Do you know this man?"

Naruto nodded, and his expression darkened. "I met him before. His name is Deidara. He appeared during the Kirigakure invasion to abduct Yagura. Unfortunately, both Mei and I were far too exhausted to stop him that moment. And now, that asshole returned to do the same thing to Gaara."

Hinata noticed Naruto's anger and jumped close to him.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. We'll stop both him and the rest of Akatsuki, so they won't hunt any more jinchuriki," Hinata reassured him.

Naruto's frown vanished, and smiled a little at his girlfriend's support.

"Deidara nearly killed me as well during the battle of Kirigakure," Haku interjected. "Had I been a second slower, both me, Dagura-san, as well as many Kiri ninja would have perished, engulfed by the fire of his explosives."

"Kurenai-sensei, do you carry a bingo book?" Naruto asked. The raven haired woman nodded, before the blond continued. "I know Deidara has a profile there. We should take a look before we engage him."

"Indeed. Even if we know he uses some sort of explosive jutsu, getting more information won't hurt," Kurenai agreed.

The group of six continued their trek discussing among each other possible strategies and ways to take down the two Akatsuki. And unbeknownst to them, an inhuman being watched them as they moved.

Meanwhile, back at the Akatsuki hideout, the ten missing-nin continued the extraction process. That is, until Zetsu was startled by the new information that reached his brain. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the leader.

"Zetsu, don't falter. We still have a long way to go until the extraction process is complete," the leader said, as he fixed his rippled eyes on the plant man.

"It's not that, boss. One of my clones saw a force of Konoha ninja heading towards the hideout's direction," the white half of Zetsu informed. "I think they're coming to the jinchuriki's rescue."

"How do you know they're coming for us? The location of this hideout is a secret," the only female of the Akatsuki said.

"Yeah. They could be a squad of ninja going on an unrelated mission," Kakuzu suggested.

"For starters, the Nine Tails Jinchuriki is in the group, and looked agitated. And second, two Suna ninja were with them. The jinchuriki's siblings, to be precise," White Zetsu said.

Naturally, this drew Sasori's attention. "That's impossible. I poisoned them. No one has been able to make an antidote to my poisons, and even if by some chance somebody was able to, there's no way they could have done it in such little time!"

"It's obvious what happened, Sasori-san," Orochimaru intervened. "If they came from Konoha's direction, it means they were able to reach the village. Remember that Tsunade-hime is in Konoha, and to her, making an antidote for your poison would have been trivially easy."

Sasori frowned once again at Orochimaru's dig. For all his quarrels with Deidara, he preferred the psychotic blond over the smug Sannin as a partner. He didn't miss the days in which the two of them were part of the same two-man team.

"Even then, there's no way for them to know we're here, right?" Deidara asked.

"They can, if they do use the same compass we used to track the jinchuriki," Sasori replied. "As long as the jinchuriki is alive, they'll be able to track his position."

"How long until they reach this place, Zetsu?" the leader asked.

"I'd say less than a day. They're moving really fast. In a few hours, they'll reach the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers," the plant man informed.

"We can't afford taking such a big risk. Somebody needs to go there and delay them until the extraction is complete," the leader stated.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," Orochimaru offered. "I placed some of my minions close to the lair in case something like this happened. While I doubt they will be able to defeat Naruto-kun and his allies, they'll buy us enough time to complete the ritual. Not to mention, they'll be far more exhausted once they arrive to rescue their little friend."

"Good, and once they reach this lair, we'll kill two birds with one stone and capture the Nine Tails' jinchuriki," the female Akatsuki said.

Obito didn't say anything, as he carefully listened to the whole exchange.

"Orochimaru, every day you grow more dangerous, but you still prove to be too useful to eliminate yet," Obito thought. One could say that the solution to his problem was to use Shisui's eye's mind controlling powers on the Sannin. Which he already did, but Orochimaru somehow managed to shrug the genjutsu off. He found later that Orochimaru's skull is carved with protective seals to stop enemies from probing or tampering with his mind, a measure he originally developed in case he was at the mercy of the Yamanaka working at Konoha's T&I department. "But one day, your usefulness will come to an end. And without the Akatsuki to cover your back and provide you with resources, your other enemies won't take long to wipe you out..."

Back to the forests of the Land of Fire, the group of six continued jumping from one branch to the other, mentally preparing themselves for the battle that no doubt would happen in a few hours. However, they weren't prepared for the battle that was about to happen in a few seconds.

Without any kind of warning, a giant snake emerged out of nowhere, its jaws wide open, ready to swallow Hinata in one go. Fortunately, while startled, the bluenette's sharp reflexes didn't fail to save her.

"Heavenly Spin!"

Hinata turned into a spinning sphere of chakra the moment the snake's giant jaws closed upon her. The force of the spinning caused the snake to recoil, hissing in pain. With another thundering racket, another snake, just as big at the first one, burst through the trees, this time aiming for Haku. The Ice Ninja nimbly jumped aside, dodging the attack, as he made several hand seals.

"Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"

Haku breathed an extremely powerful gust of frozen wind that covered the giant snake in frost. The reptile hissed in pain as well, as it quickly slithered away.

"Where the hell these things came from?" Temari shouted as she prepared to attack in case more of them came.

"There are only two snake summoners we're aware of. One of them is Anko, a ninja loyal to Konoha. The other one is Orochimaru," Kurenai explained.

"Does that mean that Orochimaru is here!?" Naruto asked as worry began to creep through his back.

"Orochimaru-sama doesn't have the time to deal with insignificant vermin like you. That's why we're here," a new voice said. The group of six saw a man wearing an armored version Otogakure uniform landing on a tree branch in front of them. A large broadsword was hanging on his back. His hands quickly ran through hand seals. "Lightning Release: Snake Thunder!"

The man's arm started to crackle with yellow electricity, as the lightning gathered and formed into a snake, which lunged at the group. Hinata jumped forward.

"Byakugan!" after activating her Bloodline Limit, she also ran through hand seals. "Lightning Release: Thunder Palm!"

Hinata gave a swipe with one of her electricity imbued hands, deflecting the snake-shaped lightning bolt aside. At that moment, Temari step forward, war fan already unfolded.

"Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"

With a single blow of her fan, Temari produced a brutal gale-force wind, which tore nearby tree branches free of leaves, and hurled the Oto ninja backwards.

"Watch out, there's another one ready to attack!" Hinata warned, as she pointed to her left.

"Not bad, girl," a female voice said, and another Otogakure ninja showed up. She started to make hand seals. "But we don't need the element of surprise to deal with you! Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"

"What!?" Naruto asked in shock.

From the ground, a serpentine dragon emerged, and let out a powerful roar before it lunged at the Konoha and Suna ninja.

"Just as we feared, Orochimaru managed to successfully grant somebody the First Hokage's abilities," Kurenai realized. "Hinata, can you take a good look at their appearance?"

The Hyuga nodded, and focused their Byakugan on their faces. She gasped upon seeing how they looked behind those balaclavas.

"Hinata?" Naruto worriedly asked, no affectionate honorific this time.

The first thing the Hyuga saw was that two Oto ninja were pretty much twins, given how much they resembled each other. They had pale skin and short white hair, the female being a little longer than the male's, and pretty faces with soft features. Both of them had bright yellow eyes.

"Their faces...they a look a lot like your little siblings, if they were adults!" Hinata said in shock.

"WHAT!?" Naruto loudly asked as he tried to make sense of what the Hyuga said. "How...?"

"Guess they're clones. It seems Orochimaru managed to get some DNA samples of them before we rescued them," Haku guessed.

"It doesn't matter who they are! They're enemies who are blocking us from reaching Gaara!" Temari shouted, putting an end to the discussion, and forcing everybody to focus on the battle at hand.

"Naruto, the man is a Lightning Release user, so you'll be the best suited to fight him. I'll go with you as well," Kurenai asked.

"In that case, I'll join you two, given that I'm a Wind Release user as well," Temari offered. However, Kankuro placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Huh?"

"Let me go instead. Your wind attacks can clear all the trees that girl can summon, while my puppet won't be that good against her," Kankuro told her.

"I thought Sasori had destroyed all your puppets," Temari said.

Kankuro shook his head. "Not all of them. I still have one with me. I didn't use it because it isn't properly tested yet, but guess I have no other option. This will have to be the test run."

Temari didn't find any holes in his brother's logic, and nodded. "Alright then. Be careful."

"You too," Kankuro replied, as he followed Naruto and Kurenai, while he pulled a scroll from underneath his robe.

Temari then turned at Hinata and Haku, ready to fight the mysterious woman who could wield the fabled Bloodline Limit of the first Hokage.

"Ready, Temari-san?" Hinata asked.

Temari nodded, before dangerously scowling at their enemy. "You guys are going to regret getting in our way."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two clones appeared besides Naruto. "You know what to do."

The clones merely nodded, and leaped away in different directions. Before Kurenai had the chance to ask what he was planning –and confirming her guesses– Kankuro joined them.

"Kankuro, you're going to fight with us?" Kurenai asked.

"Without puppets?" Naruto added.

"While I can fight without puppets, I still have one in reserve," Kankuro replied, as he unfurled the scroll he was carrying in front of him.

From a burst of smoke, a puppet appeared. It had the same dull brown and black color scheme of Kankuro's other puppets, albeit this one was different from the others. It was rather bulky, with a stout main body, thick arms, short legs, and a head that looked like an ancient helmet. On its right hand it was carrying a massive rectangular shield. Numerous seals were carved alongside its plating and shield.

"Does this look familiar, Naruto?" Kankuro asked with a smirk, as he attached the puppet with some chakra threads.

"It looks like...an Uzumaki War Golem!" Naruto said in realization.

"Indeed. After you guys gave us a couple golems, father allowed me to study one. And well, let's say I made a lot of breakthroughs in the art of puppet crafting," Kankuro proudly said. "So all of you, meet Tamotsu, my newest puppet!"

Naruto smirked in return. "Alright then, let's see how the union of Uzumaki fuinjutsu and Suna's puppets do against this enemy," the blond said as he eyed the man in front of him. In less than a second, Naruto's chakra sword appeared on his hand, projecting a blue colored blade of pure chakra. "Let's go!"

The blond jinchuriki dashed forward, ready to engage the new enemy. The Oto ninja unsheathed his broadsword and used it to parry Naruto's initial strike. The fact that his sword didn't break, and the almost unnoticeable faint blue glow made Naruto realize his enemy was also channeling chakra through his sword in order to make it stronger.

They did trade a few blows. Naruto managed to parry and dodge all the attacks from his opponent, but then again, he was also unable to land a strike on his opponent.

"Alright then," Naruto said as he disengaged. His sword's blade started to burn with a white light, showing that he was now channeling wind chakra through it. "Let's see what you do against this!"

Naruto slammed his Wind Blade into the ground, releasing a powerful gust of razor wind that cracked the ground as it flew towards the Oto ninja. Said man stabbed his sword into the ground, as he made several hand seals.

"Wind Release: Breath of God!"

The masked ninja blew a tornado to counter Naruto's attack. The tornado grew bigger as it advanced, cracking the ground as well, and sucking some dirt and grass leaves as it advanced. Finally, both attacks met each other, resulting in a blast of wind blowing in every direction.

"Earth Release: Mud Trap!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath the Oto ninja's feet turned into mud, quickly sinking him into the ground until the level of his knees.

"Shit!" the Oto ninja yelled.

"No, it's just mud. That would be disgusting," Kurenai's voice said behind him. A kunai appeared on her hand. "Now die."

The Oto ninja managed to quickly make a hand seal, and blew a gust of wind to the ground, propelling himself upwards while narrowly avoiding Kurenai's strike. He made several hand seals as he descended.

"Lightning Release: Golden Storm!"

Yellow lightning started to crackle around the Oto ninja's body, before he was enveloped into a bright coat of yellow electricity. Lightning bolts started to fly around, some of them aimless, most of them, towards the trio of ninjas in front of him.

"My turn!" Kankuro called, as he positioned Tamotsu between them and the enemy. "Mechanical Great Light Shield Block!"

Tamotsu raised its massive shield, and one of the seals carved on it started to glow. It then projected a blue cone of chakra that covered the Kankuro and his two Konoha allies. The lightning bolts harmlessly crashed against the chakra shield.

"Now, time to counterattack!" Kankuro said, as he made a finger motion.

Tamotsu lowered its shield, and aimed its other arm at the Oto ninja. Its hand split in two, revealing a small cannon inside. From the canon fired a stream of flames. The Oto ninja merely tossed a smoke grenade at his feet, and when the fire stream reached the ensued smokescreen, he was nowhere to be seen. They noticed a hole in the spot when he was a second ago, surrounded by small flames caused by the puppet's flamethrower.

"Watch out, he used a Headhunter Jutsu! He'll attack from below!" Kurenai warned the boys.

And true to her words, the earth started to shake shortly afterwards. However, the Oto ninja didn't attack. In his place, the same snake it attacked them before burst from underground, forcing the three ninja to jump in different directions.

"Ugh, I can't believe I forgot about the giant snake," Kurenai said, sounding more annoyed than worried.

"In that case, then maybe we should equate the balance," Naruto said, as he made several hand seals, before biting his thumb. "Summoning Jutsu!"

From a cloud of smoke, a massive toad appeared. It was magenta colored, with black markings on his face, arms and legs. He wore a black kimono with a white sash and mesh armor underneath. On his hands there were a sakazuki-like shield a sasumata.

"Hello, Naruto-san," the toad politely greeted his summoner.

"Hi there, Gamaken. Think you can help us to deal with that guy and his pet snake?" Naruto asked.

Gamaken took a glance as said Oto ninja, and then at the giant snake, which dangerously slithered towards them. "I think I can be of assistance. Though I should warn you, I'm rather clumsy."

Naruto gently smiled at the humble toad. "I think you'll do fine."

Upon seeing its natural prey in front of it, the giant snake instantly lunged towards Gamaken. Gamaken raised his shield to protect himself from the attack, as it counterattacked with the sasumata.

At that point, the Oto ninja decided to go onto the offensive as well. As he rushed, he thrust an arm forward.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

As its name suggested, a multitude of snakes appeared from under the Oto ninja's sleeve, and all of them lunged at Naruto, letting out high pitched hisses. Naruto merely beheaded those snakes with a swipe of his Wind Blade, as he rushed to attack his now wide open enemy. Or that's what he thought, as the masked man quickly thrust his other arm, releasing more snakes at Naruto, forcing him to break his charge, and take a step back.

"Got you!" Kankuro said as he motioned his hands down.

A shadow loomed over the masked ninja, who looked up too late to see the large frame of Tamotsu descending upon him. The puppet's large shield slammed against him first, before the rest of the weight added to the impact power, causing the Oto ninja to burst through the sheer force of the hit. Though rather than blood and guts, the burst was of even more snakes.

"What?" Kankuro asked, confused.

"A snake clone. Anko uses them too. These guys are more than mere pawns of Orochimaru if he taught them how to use snake-related jutsu," Kurenai explained.

"Watch out!" Kankuro called as he quickly turned around, placing Tamotsu in front of him.

Naruto and Kurenai turned around as well, and saw Tamotsu barely intercepting a sword strike that was intended for Kankuro. Even if the puppet had activated its chakra shield, the arm holding it was torn apart from the main body by the sheer force of the impact, which also hurled the damaged puppet backwards.

"Dammit, not this one too!" the puppeteer complained, as he rushed to check his downed puppet.

"I can't believe I have to resort to this," the Oto ninja said. The Konoha ninja noticed that there was a faint white glow pulsing from his body, a glow Naruto was worriedly familiar with. "But then again, Orochimaru-sama already warned us that your power far exceeded that of the enemies we faced in the past."

"So it is true. He made you with my sibling's DNA," Naruto sadly concluded, as he recognized the power his enemy was now using. He slipped into a fighting stance, as his mouth curved into a confident grin. "Too bad your master sent you to fight against the one person who knows exactly how your power works!"

Meanwhile, on the branches above, Hinata, Haku and Temari were engaging the female Oto ninja that could use Wood Release.

"Wood Release: Great Forest Jutsu!"

The masked kunoichi's arms turned into a mass of thick wooden vines ended in sharp edges, that spread in a wide area, and lunged at the three ninja, which promptly jumped back to avoid being skewered. Temari reared her battle fan back.

"Hinata, Haku, move aside!" the Suna kunoichi yelled, before swinging her weapon of choice forward. "Great Weasel Sickle Jutsu!"

Temari blew a powerful current of razor sharp wind that shredded the incoming wooden vines, as well as nearby tree branches, and still pack enough power to push the Oto kunoichi backwards. Hinata decided this was the best moment to attack, as she leaped forward while making several hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Twin Thunder Lion Fists!"

Hinata's hands were covered in chakra blue flames, that quickly took the shape of lion heads. Said heads started to crackle with electricity. Upon landing on the thick branch her enemy was perched on, Hinata began a flurry of strikes at the Oto kunoichi, who did her best to dodge Hinata. However, the Hyuga's jutsu had a far greater range than one would judge at first sight, and even if dodged, the masked kunoichi ended up receiving a lot of electricity-imbued hits.

"SHIT!" the masked kunoichi yelled, as she barely avoided another hit by Hinata. She jumped back into the ground, as she made more hand seals. "If I let her hit me with that, I'm done. Wood Release: Ironwood Armor!"

A green aura flared around the Oto kunoichi, followed by a small burst of smoke. After that, she was completely covered in an armor that appeared to be made of wood, leaving only her yellow eyes exposed.

Hinata was undeterred, and pressed the attack. Her armored enemy seemed more confident, fighting in a more offensive manner. Sharp spikes grew all over the armor, the ones on her knees and forearms being the longest, and used them to attack the Hyuga. Hinata expertly parried her blows, while returning her own. One of them managed to land on the armored kunoichi's shoulder, shattering the wooden armor protecting that zone.

Hissing, she jumped onto a higher branch, as she held the damaged shoulder on her hand. In a few seconds, the wooden armor grew back, covering it once again.

"That armor won't protect you. Wood is a combination of water and earth, both of which are vulnerable towards lightning," Hinata explained.

"Enough!" she yelled, as she pulled out a flash grenade, and tossed it down to the branch she was perched onto, producing a sudden flash of bright light.

"MY EYES!" Hinata screamed as she dispelled her jutsu and instinctively brought her hands to her eyes.

"Alright then," the Oto kunoichi said as a sharp wooden spear appeared on her hand. She raised the spear above the blinded Hinata. "Say good-"

"Ice Release: Thousand Needles of Death!"

"Wind Release: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

The Wood Release user was assaulted by a storm of ice flechettes, followed by several crescent shaped blades of wind, forcing her to move in order to dodge those attacks.

"Don't forget about us!" Temari shouted at her.

Haku walked towards her teammate. "Hinata, are you okay?"

Hinata nodded, wordlessly. Haku then noticed that the Hyuga wasn't just covering her eyes, since her hands glowed with a faint green light. She then removed her hands from her eyes, and opened them, adjusting to the light with no problem.

"You're outnumbered, surrender already!" Temari shouted.

"I'm not as outnumbered as you think. Don't forget about my allies!" the Oto kunoichi said, as she stomped her foot.

The Konoha and Suna ninjas heard a loud rustle, followed by the sound of several branches breaking, and one of the giant snakes that ambushed them before appeared seemingly out of nowhere, lunging at Haku. The Ice Ninja, however, was hardly fazed, as he jumped backwards while making several hand seals.

"Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"

Haku blew a gust of frozen air at the incoming snake, which took the brunt of the attack. As a result, the snake's jaws were encased in a block of ice, preventing it to open its mouth.

"Sorry, but that's what you get for trying to eat us," Haku said with a smirk.

The snake didn't appreciate Haku's taunt, and even with its jaws sealed, the reptile lunged at the Ice Ninja with murderous intentions in its eyes.

"Guess I was being too optimistic when I thought that would be enough to get rid of you," Haku said, before jumping over the snake, as he prepared his next jutsu. "Alright then. You're not going to enjoy this."

Meanwhile, Hinata had already recovered from her temporary blindness, and she and Temari were about to engage the masked kunoichi once again.

"Even if my snake got rid of that annoying Ice Release user, I still have to contend with you two," the Oto kunoichi observed. "Alright then, let's invert the number advantage. Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu!"

Four vine sprouts grew around the Oto kunoichi, quickly taking her form and shape. All of them adopted fighting stances.

"Go!"

The Wood Release user and her clones leaped at the two kunoichi.

"I'll take care of the original. Can you get the clones out of my back?" Hinata asked Temari.

The Suna kunoichi smirked. "Consider it done."

As Temari blasted with gusts of wind the clones that tried to approach her or her Konoha ally, Hinata rushed towards the original, making the same hand seals as before.

"Lightning Release: Twin Thunder Lion Fists!"

As before, chakra lion heads covered in electricity appeared on Hinata's hands as she got ready to fight. The kunoichi groaned, as she prepared her counterattack.

"Not that jutsu again. Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"

The Oto kunoichi projected a growing wood dragon from her interlocked hands, which flew at Hinata as it let out a loud roar. The Hyuga was undaunted, as she thrust an arm forward towards the incoming dragon head. The effect was instant, and its head was immediately shattered. A blow with the other hand ensured that the rest of its serpentine body met the same fate.

Hinata landed in front of her, her feared jutsu still active.

"Your Wood Release it's impressive, but it won't be enough to overcome us," Hinata told her, as she walked towards the armored Oto kunoichi.

"Wood Release is much more than a mere combination of two basic elements, Hyuga. It's the power of life itself!" the kunoichi replied as she slammed her hands into the ground.

The ground started to shake, and multiple wooden vines emerged around Hinata. Said vines tried to impale or wrap around her, but the Hyuga gracefully dodged them before destroying them with an accurate strike. More and more vines started to emerge, to the point that Hinata was starting to feel overwhelmed.

"You can't win against me, since you're fighting against nature itself!" the Oto kunoichi boasted.

Fortunately, Hinata had the perfect counter for an overwhelming attack from every side. The moment she had a window of a single second , she quickly started to spin.

"Lightning Release: Heavenly Thunderstorm!"

Hinata turned into a dome of spinning electricity, which blasted all the vines around her into tiny splinters. Lightning bolts and chakra blasts shot into every direction, cracking the ground, burning the grass, and sending dust, wind and pebbles in a wide area.

"Storms are also part of nature," Hinata firmly replied as her spinning ceased. She spread her arms, and the lightning chakra lion heads reappeared once again, before dashing towards her enemy.

Then, she stopped when they heard an explosion not far away from there. More specifically, where Naruto and the others were fighting. The armored kunoichi let out an audible gasp.

"Brother!"

With Kankuro's puppet damaged, Naruto and Kurenai were on their own against the Oto ninja. Thanks to the nature energy he was collecting, he moved much faster, displayed more resistance, and his blows were far more powerful. This time, Naruto and Kurenai decided to attack the two of them at the same time.

"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"

"Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"

Naruto thrust his interlocked hands forward, projecting a powerful horizontal cyclone. Kurenai summoned several rocks above them, and tossed them into Naruto's attack, creating a tornado of flying rocks.

"You think you're so clever, combining both attacks," the Oto ninja sneered, as he made several hand seals. "But elemental weaknesses are meaningless in the face of the power I possess! Lightning Release: Golden Storm!"

Once again, a golden aura flared around the masked ninja, as yellow lightning bolts flew from his body towards the incoming elemental attack. The three jutsu clashed into an explosion, raising a cloud of dirt and dust. Then, a looming shadow was cast over him, and the Oto ninja barely avoided the incoming Gamaken falling on top of him. Gamaken tried to hit him with his sasumata, but the Oto ninja was too fast. He then launched himself at the giant toad, and delivered such a powerful flying kick to the amphibious' face, that it made him topple on his back.

"UGH!" the toad croaked as he hit the ground.

"Gamaken!" Naruto cried before turning his eyes at his opponent, Wind Sword in hand, and sped after him. The Oto ninja raised his broadsword to parry the incoming blow, and much to his surprise, he found himself being pushed back by the sheer force of the attack.

"Your strength has increased," the masked ninja noted. "Your sword strikes didn't pack such power before. What did you...?"

It was then when he noticed that Naruto's eyes were now yellow with horizontal pupils, and had orange markings around them. The blond grinned.

"Think you're the only one who can use nature energy?" Naruto asked, keeping his smirk.

"How...? Nature energy is impossible to gather unless you're still! Only my ability can overcome such obstacle!" the masked ninja asked, in shock.

"I'm tempted to tell you, but I think I prefer to see you try to guess it yourself," Naruto replied as he pulled out a second Wind Blade from his ninja tool pouch, and activated it. "Now get ready!"

Having two weapons now, Naruto's fighting style drastically changed. He now delivered a flurry of quick strikes from one arm each, forcing his opponent into the defensive. Seeing that sword fighting wasn't working, the Oto ninja tried a different approach. He tossed his broadsword at Naruto, before thrusting his arms forward.

"Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Right after swiping the broadsword away, Naruto saw a multitude of snakes emerging from under his enemy's sleeves. Their trajectory seemed a bit off, and too late the blonde realized that they weren't lunging at his body, but at his hands. The snakes sank their multiple fangs onto the blonde's forearms, forcing him to drop his trusty weapons.

"AAAARGGH!" Naruto screamed as he fell on his knees.

The Oto ninja smirked under his mask, as he directed some of his snakes to wrap around Naruto's neck. "Not so cocky now, huh?" he taunted. "Any last words before I end your miserable life?"

"Y-yes..." Naruto said weakly, before smirking at him. "Don't forget about...Kurenai-sensei..."

Then, "Naruto" burst into a flock of butterflies.

"What the-" the confused masked man stammered. "Wait a minute, this is a genjutsu! I have to-"

"RASENGAN!"

In a split second, the Oto ninja saw Naruto slamming a spiraling sphere of chakra into his gut. It had the side effect of dispelling the genjutsu, but it didn't matter since the illusion made its job. The sphere expanded, before it exploded, violently hurling the Oto ninja away.

"Good job with that genjutsu, Kurenai-sensei," Naruto praised his teacher.

"It was thanks to sparring you in Sage Mode that I managed to perfect them so much, Naruto, so don't give up your part of the credit," Kurenai smiled back.

The two of them walked towards the downed Oto ninja. He was still alive, since Naruto could sense his chakra. Crouching besides him, Naruto removed his balaclava in order to take a better look at him. Just like Hinata said, his face was what Hagane would like if he were a young adult. Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds, before he let out a weary sigh.

"Naruto...?" Kurenai asked.

"We should try to bring them to the village," Naruto suggested. "However, we still need to rescue Gaara, and there's no way we can do that while keeping these guys around."

"Maybe we could send a message to the village and ask to send somebody else to take care of them?" Kurenai suggested.

Before Naruto had any chance to reply, wooden roots emerged from the ground, and lunged at the two Konoha Jonin, who quickly jumped back.

"DON'T DARE TOUCH MY BROTHER!" a female voice said.

The other Oto ninja landed besides her fallen comrade, and helped him on his feet.

"Hebimaru, are you okay?" the woman asked.

"He...Hebiko...I..." the man, apparently named Hebimaru, weakly replied.

"Don't talk, I'll take care of you," Hebiko replied. She then threw a smoke bomb at her feet, creating a curtain of smoke.

When Naruto rushed forward, they weren't there anymore. Thanks to his temporary sensing abilities, Naruto knew she had Body Flickered into the forest, but decided not to chase them.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata's voice said from behind.

Naruto and Kurenai turned around, and saw Hinata, Haku and Temari running towards them. Kankuro, who had picked up the pieces of his puppet, walked towards them as well.

"Where did the enemies go?" Temari asked.

"The woman picked the guy up and disappeared," Naruto told them.

Gamaken slowly walked towards his summoner.

"I'm sorry for not being enough of help. I'll try to work on my clumsiness for the next time you decide to summon me," Gamaken apologized with a polite bow.

Naruto earnestly smiled at the toad. "Hey, you did fine! Even if those guys got away, you got rid of that snake, and provided me for an opening to attack."

"I'm glad that I was of some assistance," Gamaken replied. "Since the battle is over, I shall now return to Myoboku. See you the next time you want my help, Naruto-san."

And with that, Gamaken disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"It doesn't matter, they weren't our target," Temari said, as she pulled out her special compass. "Come on, we need to continue. The more time we waste, the lower the chances of saving Gaara."

"Actually..." Hinata began, rubbing her arm a bit. "Can't we rest for a bit? I spent a better portion of my chakra fighting that woman."

"Same here," Haku said. "That snake was tough opponent, and I'm a bit exhausted."

"And I need to fix my puppet," Kankuro chimed in. "Thankfully, the damage done isn't beyond repair."

"What!? Gaara's life is in peril! There's no time to rest!" Temari insisted.

"Temari-san," Kurenai called her. "I understand your concerns. But keep in mind that once we arrive their hideout, we'll have to fight against those Akatsuki that captured Gaara. And I wouldn't discount more being there. We shouldn't try to confront them if we aren't in top condition to fight."

Temari tried to protest, but her brain was unable to come up with a good counter to Kurenai's arguments. She sighed in return.

"How long until the extraction is complete?" the blonde kunoichi asked.

"As far as we think, one day," Kurenai replied.

"Okay, we'll rest for a few hours, but not any longer! Understood?" she told them.

Everybody nodded. The first order of business was to set up a campsite that they could use to rest and recover from the fight they just had.

Akatsuki Hideout

"Good news, everyone," Zetsu spoke, breaking the silence that had reigned for the past hours. "Orochimaru's minions did their job. My clones informed me that the rescue group has been forced to stop and rest."

"I knew those kids wouldn't disappoint me, kukuku..." Orochimaru chuckled.

"Good, that bought us some precious time," the leader said. "I presume there's still twenty hours until the extraction process is complete. We'll be finished before they arrive."

Everybody nodded, and kept focusing on the extraction process. The red stream of energy that flowed from Gaara's mouth into the statue's not only continued unimpeded, but it was starting to become thinner with each hour...


Author's Notes: So, the group consisting on Kurenai's Assault Squad plus Kankuro and Temari head to rescue Gaara. Though they won't be alone for long, since they will get some reinforcements from Suna shortly before facing the Akatsuki.

Also, what do you think of Hebimaru and Hebiko? Yeah, they're clones of Hagane and Kaida artifically aged into adulthood, and brainwahsed to serve their "father" no matter what. While not terribly important in the plot overall, they will play a major role in future arcs revolving around Orochimaru. They also exist as a way to form a new incarnation of the Sound Five that will be featured in said future arcs, alongside the two surviving members of the previous incarnation, Tayuya and Kimimaro, the latter retaining his position as leader, with the fifth member being Juugo (man, i'm so glad that I found a way to bring him into the story. Most AU authors have no trobule including Karin and Suigetsu, but Juugo is much trickier since we know almost nothing of his past).

Anyway, after two action heavy chapter, the next one is going to be more calm. But it will also allow me to felsh out Kankuro and Temari's personality and background a lot, so I'm sure you're going to enjoy it as well.

Thanks to gio08 for betareading this chapter.

I'm hoping that you're liking so far my take on the Kazekage's Rescue Arc. I doing my best to make it better than the original. Tell me if I'm right or wrong via review! Reviews make me really, reazlly, really happy!