6 Tails
AN: So, here we are in a new year with a new chapter of this challenge anthology! Hope you all are staying safe and well during this time. So for this next bit we are examining what would happen if Naruto was the jinchuriki of Saiken, the Six Tails. Not going to lie, not my best work, but considering how much my writing drive is struggling lately, I did my best. Hope you enjoy and as always, if you want to adopt any of my works please let me know via Review or PM!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, not even my apartment.
Location: Unknown Cave Outside of Hidden Sand
On the fingers of a hideous, gigantic statue, several figures stood completely still. Only two of the figures were physically present, however, as the other members of the terrorist group known as Akatsuki were merely projections of the S-Ranked criminals. The two present were Sasori of the Red Sand, a hunchbacked figure whos features were largely hidden behind his cloak and straw hat, and Deidara the Mad Bomber, an effeminate looking blonde man with an oddly placed mouth on his one functioning hand. There was one other physically present person as well, an unconscious Gaara of the Desert having the demon inside him being sucked out by the statue. And no, that isn't an innuendo for something.
Suddenly, one of the shadowy projection's head snapped up.
"What is it, Itachi?" one of the other figures asked, this one appearing to be the leader of the group whose only discernable characteristic being his odd eyes.
"…My substitute was defeated," Itachi revealed after a moment's pause.
"HA HA HA!" one of the other figures crowed. "Man Itachi, your guy must have been a total bitch to die that quickly!"
"Quiet, Hidan," the Leader admonished his most…vocal member. Turning back to Itachi (and ignoring Hidan's foul mouthed grumbling), he asked, "Was it one of the Jonin?"
"…No. It was the jinchuriki of the Six Tails, Naruto Uzumaki. He's gotten stronger since I last saw him," Itachi's silhouette answered matter-of-factly.
"Hm? Wow Itachi, and here you said he wasn't a threat, hm," Deidara chuckled, glad to see the arrogant Uchiha put in his rightful place.
"No. I said he would be the first to make a scene when he gets here. I honestly can't get a good read on his current strength yet because, while my copy was weakened, I feel Naruto was holding back as well," Itachi stated.
As Deidara huffed at that, the leader turned to him and said, "It is of no concern just yet how strong the Six Tails jinchuriki has become. Focus on the task at hand, in just a few hours we'll be one step closer to our goals. If the rescue teams somehow manage to get here before we're finished, they will have to get pass our defenses first. That should by us the time we need."
At that, the group of criminals went back to focusing on their ritual with no further comments. Suddenly though, the cave was rocked by a loud explosion! The projected figures weren't affected, but the two present Akatsuki members had to apply chakra to their feet to prevent themselves from slipping from their perch. Dust and bits of rock fell from the roof of the cave, and Gaara's prone form nearly fell to the floor.
"...What was that?" the leader asked, his ripple patterned eyes narrowed.
"One of the best sounding pieces of art I've ever heard, hm!" Deidara all but cackled, even as he tried to regain his footing.
"Quit your foolishness, Deidara!" Sasori growled before turning back to his leader. "It would appear that the Konoha shinobi are attempting to blast their way in."
"A foolish notion," the only female of the group said in a paper flat voice. "That seal could stand up to a Tailed Beast. Unless they remove the other seals, there is no way they can-"
Just then, the root of the cave was blown apart. In the ensuing rain of debris, the demonic statue was dismissed to prevent it from being damaged. This left Gaara to fall to the floor, unconscious but still alive, although barely.
"GAARA, WHERE ARE YOU?!" a figure shouted out as they dropped from the newly formed hole in the roof, followed by several more figures.
The dust was blown away as the intruders landed, showing the first figure to be Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde teen was looking around frantically, a bubble pipe clutched in his hand with a death grip. The blonde's hair hung limply besides two spikes that stood up like horns or antenna (1), while his orange yukata swayed in the residual wind caused by the blast. Behind the young jinchuriki landed Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, and Elder Chiyo of Suna.
"So that's the Six Tails brat, hm?" Deidara grumbled as he dusted himself off. Dry cleaning these cloaks was expensive, dammit!
"Impressive," Sasori grunted as he pulled himself into a fighting stance. "The barrier I placed should have had enough power to keep even a Kage level ninja out, yet this kid broke through. Even if it was at the top of the cave where the barrier is weakest, it should have withstood most attacks. This one's not to be underestimated, Deidara (2)."
"Keh, like I need you to tell me that, Sasori my man. This kid thinks he can upstage me when it comes to art? I'll show him a real blast, hm!" Deidara retorted while reaching for his bag of clay.
"Deidara, Sasori, take the One Tail's container and escape for now. We need to complete the extraction at another location. Make sure they cannot follow, and try to capture the Six Tail's container if the opportunity presents itself," the leader instructed before his figure flickered out of existence, followed shortly by the other projected members before the Konoha ninjas could get a good look at them.
"Tch!" Deidara spat as he quickly created a large clay bird that scooped Gaara's prone form in its beak. "I'm surrounded by philistines, hm! Still, if the Leader orders it, I guess I've got no choice." Hoping onto his bird, the bomber turned to his partner. "Sasori my man, you think you can hold these Leaf chumps off me until I get the jinchuriki out of here?"
"Who do you think you're talking to, Deidara?" Sasori scoffed as a metallic tail slipped from beneath his cloak. "My art show will take care of these insects easily, rather than your pathetic fireworks."
Deidara opened his mouth to retort, but his focus was suddenly drawn to the swarm of …bubbles?...that flew towards them. Now, while Deidara was fairly reckless, he didn't survive as a missing-nin for so long by being stupid. So he directed his bird to take flight to avoid the incoming attack. Sasori, lacking the means to escape to the air, shot his tail out in the hopes that his puppet armor was sturdy enough to be unharmed by whatever the Six Tail's container threw at them. As soon at the pointed tip of the tail touched one of the bubbles, however, the seemingly harmless attack went off like a depth charge. This in turn caused a chain reaction that filled the cave with smoke and debris.
Deidara's visible eye widened at the display before a scowl formed on his face. "Oh, it is ON now, hm! Nobody upstages me in art! NOBODY!"
"Oh would you please just shut up already?!" an annoyed sounding voice shot out from behind him.
Deidara barely had time to turn before a gloved fist crashed into his cheek, sending him flying back off the bird. Without his control, the clay figure lost its flight and came crashing to the ground as well. Quickly leaping to his feet, the blonde terrorist saw Sakura attempting to dig Gaara out of the clay, using her increased strength to rip off chunks of the bird. Angered, the bomber tried to detonate the clay, but before he could he heard the sound of chirping birds rapidly approaching him. Jumping to the side just in time, he narrowly avoided being pierced by the lightning coated hand of Kakashi Hatake.
Deidara quickly backpedaled until he was near the newly formed hole in the cave caused by the other explosions. Looking back to the Leaf ninja, he saw Naruto and Kakashi take an offensive stance while Sakura and Chiyo knelt over a newly freed Gaara, the two kunochi using medical ninjutsu on the unconscious Kage. Another figure landed right next to him, but before he could ready an attack, he noticed it was his partner. With a start, Deidara realized that Sasori was out of his Hiruko puppet, revealing his true form of a red headed youth with heavily lidded eyes. And while normally the puppeteer has an unreadable look on his face, this time the man had a look of annoyance spread acrossed him.
"I underestimated the Six Tails brat," Sasori stated in his real voice. "Those explosions were far more powerful than I had anticipated. Plus, he'd thrown in some that were filled with acid, shuriken, or kunai. If I hadn't been wearing Hiuko at the time, it's doubtful I'd be able to get away unscathed."
Deidara was surprised to hear that. Sasori wasn't one to overexaggerate things, and seeing the smoldering remains of his puppet armor let Deidara know that they might have bitten off more than they could chew at this time.
"Much as I hate to say it, Sasori my man," Deidara started, hating himself for even suggesting what he was about to say, "but we might have to try getting the One Tail at a later time, hm? The odds aren't really in our favor now, hm."
"I'm afraid retreat is impossible at the moment," Sasori said dryly as he pointed behind them.
"Hm? What do you – oh," Deidara started as he turned around, only to see well over a dozen bubbles blocking the exit. "Oh," Deidara said again as he continued looking up to see even more bubbles floating around the roof of the cave, making a ceiling exit unlikely. "Ohhhh, shit," Deidara finished as he noticed still more bubbles surrounding the duo.
Turning back to the Leaf ninjas, Naruto had a wide grin on his face as he blew into his pipe, adding the finishing touches to his 3-D mine field. Taking the pipe from his lips, Naruto glared at the duo and said, "You two ain't going anywhere," his eyes narrowed further as his grip on his pipe started to cause it to groan. "You're gonna PAY for what you did to Gaara!" he finished in a tone that promised pain.
Full disclosure, I had no idea how else to alter Naruto's appearance being Saiken's jinchuriki other than change his hairstyle a bit. If the person adopts this has better ideas, by all means please use them.
I'm not 100 percent sure if this would work to the barrier in canon, but I wanted to show how powerful Naruto's explosions are and try the rare thing of rescuing Gaara before Shukaku was fully extracted.