Disclaimer: I don't own naruto or any of its characters as they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
The author of the cover image is indy-riquez from DeviantArt. You can check the link for the original image in my profile.
Chapter 10: Tracked Down
-Somewhere in the Land of Frost-
Jiraiya, along with team eight and what remained of team seven, entered yet another town of the snowy country in an effort to find more Intel on Naruto's whereabouts. They had had to stay in Shimogakure for a few days due to the raging storms in the area and had been left with no choice but to wait there until the storm died out. After that, they had been visiting every village they had passed to do a quick research on anything that could help them find their blond teammate as they were now close enough to The Land of Lightning that it was feasible to expect to find info in these places. Although on the plus side their forced break had helped Jiraiya to recover from his fatigue.
''Awww man, I'm getting tired of this place. Akamaru and I Aren't exactly suited for this kind of weather.'' Kiba complained loudly and Akamaru gave a bark of agreement.
''Will you shut up, Kiba! Complaining about the cold won't make it go away.'' Yelled Sakura to the feral boy with a raised fist, a habit that she hadn't grown out of yet. ''You should take a note from Hinata and Shino, they don't bitch about it at all.'' Even if Naruto was missing, Kiba was close enough replacement and more than enough to keep getting on her nerves.
''Okay, calm down you two. A team isn't supposed to fight.'' Said Kakashi serenely in an effort to keep the peace. It was natural to be on edge when a comrade was in trouble and his wellbeing depended on you, but they were Shinobi and were supposed to keep a clear head.
''Is imperative that we don't waste the few chances to go along the way to find information. Our efforts would be better spent on that endeavor instead of discussing.'' Added Shino in his ever matter of fact attitude.
''I know that. I just think that we have wasted enough time in this place, that's all. He went missing in the Land of Lightning and we should go there as quickly as possible instead of wandering in this freezer.'' Explained Kiba, still annoyed.
''And what would you have us do exactly, dog boy?'' Said Jiraiya, glancing back to look at the Chunin with a stern look. ''If we had rushed by a few days earlier we could have gotten trapped in a storm. Only a moron would travel in that situation.''
Kiba got nervous at being scolded by one of the legendary Sannin and put his hands in front of himself in appeasement. ''Okay I get it, sorry for that. I'm just worried about Naruto. It's been a while since he went missing and if he died because I was fooling around I couldn't take it, man.'' Finished the Inuzuka.
''Naruto-Kun is not dead!'' Said an upset Hinata, almost shouting. She had been especially worried about the blond and the last thing she wanted to hear was that the boy she loved had died and she had been unable to help.
The girl's outburst surprised everyone as they all stared at Hinata momentarily as they weren't used to the shy girl acting this way.
Kiba widened his eyes in shock. He hadn't expected to piss off the Hyuga heiress of all people. ''S-sorry Hinata. Of course he is not dead, he is way too stubborn to just roll up and die. I bet he is...wait a minute!'' Kiba's sudden exalted yell grabbed the attention of everyone present.
''What is it, Kiba-Kun?'' Asked a disconcerted Kakashi. He didn't feel any hostiles around, but one couldn't be sure. Maybe the Inuzuka's nose picked something he hadn't.
''Is Naruto's Smell! His smell is everywhere in this place!'' Said Kiba bewildered.
Everyone widened their eyes in astonishment and made even Jiraiya give his full attention from the front of the unit.
''What?! Are you certain of this?'' Asked the Sannin with urgency.
Kiba nodded firmly. ''It doesn't smell too recent, but there is no mistaking it; this is Naruto's smell. Right Akamaru?''
The large dog sniffed the air like his master before barking eagerly, confirming what Kiba had said.
''Naruto was here?'' Said Sakura surprised. ''Do you have a trail?''
''His scent is all over the place, but I can't smell much in the outskirts of the village. Probably the blizzards covered his track.'' Said Kiba with disappointment.
''In that case, everyone, scatter around the village and ask these people for Naruto. If he truly was here someone must know something. Naruto is easy to remember after all.'' Ordered Kakashi to the young Chunin.
At Kakashi's order, everyone broke away from their formation and went to ask around the village.
Kakashi and Sakura went together and entered one of the buildings, the one that seemed to be a small store. After they entered they saw two people behind the counter, a man and a woman, and in a corner of the shop there was a small girl playing with a plastic Kunai and pretending to fight imaginary enemies with it.
''Welcome. I hope that you are having a good day, and please have a look around our humble store.'' greeted them the woman cheerfully with a small bow.
''Wow, it seems that ninjas are coming here more frequently, which is fine by us really. We really owe ninjas, especially Konoha and Iwa.'' Said the man beside the woman, also with a small bow.
Both Shinobi raised their eyebrows in curiosity at hearing the couple's praise for Konoha and Iwa, especially all the way out here in the Land of Frost.
But Sakura didn't waste any more time and proceeded to explain their visit. ''Hi to you both. Thanks for your warm welcome, but we are kinda in a hurry, and we were wondering if you could help us.'' Even more so now that they heard that Shinobi had been coming recently.
This time, it was Kakashi's turn to speak. ''We are looking for our teammate. He went missing a while ago. He is blond, has blue eyes, is pretty loud and likes to wear orange. His name is Naruto. Do you by any chance know anyone like that?''
Both store owners widened their eyes in surprise before smiling happily.
''Naruto-Kun? Of course, we know him. He was here just yesterday.'' Said the woman clapping her hands together.
''He is a hero in our village, we all know of him. He saved a lot of our people, my wife included, from some nasty men.'' Said the man while glancing with affection to the woman now confirmed to be his wife.
Now the ones surprised were Sakura and Kakashi. That was the last thing they had expected to hear. So not only was Naruto safe but he also managed to somehow save an entire village while he was finding his way around? He certainly wasn't the number one most surprising ninja for anything.
''He did what? How? And where is he now?'' Asked Sakura still trying to process what she just learned.
''Are you talking about big brother Naruto?''
Everyone turned around to see the little girl now approaching them from where she had been playing before.
''Are you his friends?'' Asked the little girl with a toothy grin.
Sakura smiled warmly at the little girl. ''Yes we are. We are looking for him, missy. A lot of people are worried about him and want to bring him home.'' Explained the pinkette.
''Why are you worried about? Big brother Naruto is pretty strong and he is with big sister Kurotsuchi, who is also strong. I don't think anything bad will happen to him.'' Said the girl.
Kakashi furrowed his brow. ''Who is this Kurotsuchi you speak of? And you say she was with Naruto?'' Asked the copy ninja puzzled.
''You don't know? Well, she is a Kunoichi that was with him earlier. I think she was from Iwa. Actually, it was both of them who helped us. They are both heroes around here.'' Informed the man to the surprised Konoha shinobi.
''They were both so brave. I didn't think someone would save us from those monsters, but they did and didn't even ask for anything in return. They are both so noble.'' Said the woman with nothing but praise and admiration.
Meanwhile, both Kakashi and Sakura were left without words. What the hell was Naruto doing? And with an Iwa Kunoichi no less?
Kakashi shook off his shock and continued his questioning. ''That's really something...Anyway, would you tell us where they went? Is very important that we catch up to them.''
''Why, of course, we would love to help you. Any friend of Naruto-Kun and Kurotsuchi-Chan are friends of us.'' Responded the woman.
''They didn't exactly say where they were heading, but we can tell you which way they went.'' Said the man.
''That would be much appreciated. Thank you for your help.'' Said Kakashi with a small bow of his own.
Even if they didn't know what was going on, they at least had a general direction to go to and hopefully find a trail. So they followed the shop owners out of the store and went to find the rest of their squad to share with them what they just learned.
-Land of Hot Water-
''Finally! No more snow or cold!'' Yelled Naruto in excitement as he and Kurotsuchi arrived in a clearing in the border on the Land of Hot Water. ''After this, I swear I'll never complain about Konoha's weather ever again.'' He never did anyway, the climate in his home was perfect in his opinion, but this just cemented his stance on it even more.
Despite feeling the same way, Kurotsuchi didn't comment on it as she had been debating something for a while now. They were out of the Land of Frost, so that meant that they didn't have any reason to continue working together. She could continue her mission as she should and this was a perfect opportunity to do it now as the moron was distracted. She had her hand on the handle of her blade, her fingers twitching, unsure if she should go for an attack or not.
''You know...you are not as bad as I thought.'' Said Naruto as he turned to the girl with a grin.
That statement made her take her hand off her blade and looked at Naruto who was now looking directly at her with a sheepish smile. ''Uh?'' Was the only thing that Kurotsuchi could mutter in her confusion.
''We worked great together back then in that base and, you know, I think that you aren't half bad.'' Continued Naruto. ''And I know you wanted to fight and I was all up for it, but to tell the truth, I would rather not. I mean, I think that it would be better if we just went our separate ways. I only want to get to Konoha as fast as I can, and I'm sure you want to get to Iwa soon, right? sooo...Whadda you say? Are we cool?'' He finished by extending his hand towards her to shake hands.
She stared at his hand, unsure of what to do. One one side she had a duty to do and they were still enemies no matter how well they worked together in that last adventure. But on the other hand, she did lose her will to fight him somewhat, if only because she was getting used to the blond moron and she would much rather just go straight to Iwa as soon as possible without wasting any more time, even despite her mission. After a moment of thinking, she sighed after having finally made up her mind and calmly brushed the Jinchuuriki's hand away with her own.
Naruto got on edge at her reaction and expecting her to attack he got tense, not quite positioning himself into a fighting stance but still ready to get into action at any hostile move on her part, but was confused when she didn't attack him either.
''We aren't friends and we will never be, you idiot.'' Said the girl with a serious look as she stared at the tense face of the blond. ''I Hate Konoha and all of you bastards, and there are few things in this world that I want more than to kill all of you.''
Naruto got worried, he suspected she wasn't gonna back off but that didn't mean he liked it. He just wished the hateful girl wasn't so stubborn and dead set on her revenge.
''However...'' Continued the girl.
Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. ''However?'' Thought the confused boy.
The girl was amused by his reaction but still continued. ''You are probably the Konoha bastard I'd like to kill the least.'' She finished and put on a smug grin.
Naruto was momentarily startled by her words and in his surprise, he struggled to form sentences.
''So that means...'' Said Naruto leaving the words hanging.
The pink-eyed girl nodded in affirmation. ''Yea, that means that you can go to your crappy village. I won't try to stop you this time. But bear in mind that I won't hesitate to gut you if we meet again.'' Said the girl in warning.
''Then let's hope it doesn't come to that.'' Said the blond with a grin that earned him a similar one from the girl. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder knowing that this was probably the closest he was gonna get to a mutual understanding with the tomboy.
''So here you are, Kyuubi.''
Startled, both teenagers turned around to see two men draped in black cloaks with red clouds that could only mean one thing: Akatsuki.
One of them was a pale man with slicked back straight silver hair. He had his cloak open with no shirt underneath and had a forehead protector tied around his neck with a village symbol that neither teen had ever seen. He was also carrying a large triple-bladed scythe on his back.
The other man was tall and had a tan. His head was covered by a white hood and his mouth and nose were covered with a black mask. He had his slashed Taki forehead protector on his head and the thing that was the most peculiar about this one were the stitches in his arms and his eyes were a strange color of green pupils and red sclera.
''I didn't even sense them approach. These guys are dangerous.'' Thought Kurotsuchi with narrowed eyes. She didn't expect anything less from the Akatsuki. After her previous encounter with the blue-skinned freak, she wasn't about to underestimate the organization again.
''You!...you are from Akatsuki!'' yelled Naruto in surprise and anger.
''I see you have the great ability to state the obvious. I was informed that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was dumb, and I guess it wasn't a lie.'' Taunted the silver-haired man with a wicked smirk.
''I had to pass on some good opportunities to collect bounties to come get you, Kyuubi. So you better not make me waste any more of my time. Time is money after all.'' Said Kakuzu clearly irritated.
''Damn it. Why can't these pricks just leave me alone? But on the other hand, I say it's time for some payback. Isn't that right, Kurotsuchi?'' Said the blond warily and glanced to the Iwa kunoichi to assess her reaction. ''Uhh? Kurotsuchi?''
The young prodigy seemed anxious and not really determined to fight. And that was because Kurotsuchi -despite being stranded in part because of the Akatsuki's fault- Was starting to reason that there was no point for her and stay and fight these guys. Sure, she would love to return the favor for the Akatsuki's interference that put her in this situation to begin with, but after experiencing first hand the power of one of their members she wasn't particularly eager to try her luck against missing-nin of this caliber. She didn't owe anything to Naruto. It wasn't her problem if they wanted to use him as their punching bag. All in all, she was seriously considering just making a run for it and letting the orange-clad ninja to fend for himself. After all, their target was Naruto so they shouldn't care if she fled, right?
''Hahahaha! It seems that your little friend here isn't set on helping you, brat.'' Mocked Hidan with a hand on his face to be even more condescending.
''A wise choice really. I only memorize faces that I know have a high bounty on their heads, and I don't think you have any, girl. Not any that would be worth my time anyway. If you don't get involved you might just live.'' Said Kakuzu nonchalantly to the girl.
It had finally dawned on Naruto that it was true, Kurotsuchi didn't have to get involved in this. He had momentarily forgotten that they weren't really allies and the Akatsuki didn't have any need to be picking fights with her if it wasn't necessary. Now Naruto was starting to dread the situation more and more by the moment. Fighting two members of Akatsuki by himself was a worst case scenario, it was practically suicide. Of course, he wouldn't go down without giving his absolute best to give them hell. But even he knew that his chances of winning were abysmal.
''Like her help would make much difference.'' Mocked Hidan. ''Iwa already proved they are a bunch of wimps. If we could lay waste to their village so easily and fool them to make them lose their Jinchuuriki, then a single one of them is a joke.''
Kurotsuchi's entire body went rigid in shock and her face became devoid of any emotion. ''What did you just say?'' Her voice was barely above a whisper and her eyes were giving a chilling cold glare.
''Oh, don't tell me you weren't informed. While you were away we took the time to pay your home a little visit. You may have trouble recognizing the place once you get there.'' Said Hidan without a care in the world. ''I wish I had been in the village to witness all the dead people in their last moments, those are always the best.'' Added the sadist with a sigh.
Kurotsuchi was grinding her teeth and got progressively more angry throughout the explanation until she finally exploded. ''That's it! I'm gonna strangle you with your own intestines, you fuckers!'' And in an instant, all her reservations about fighting the duo vanished completely. She then rushed with her sword at the ready with a battle cry, fueled with blinding rage.
Hidan quickly grabbed the scythe on his back and parried the numerous attacks of the girl with ease, all the while with a smirk on his face as the girl's attempt to hurt him amused him to no end. ''So she has some bite in her. Kakuzu, let me deal with them myself. It's been a while since I've used anyone for my ritual. Jashin-Sama might get angry with me at this rate.'' Said the man to his partner as he continued to clash with the prodigy.
Kakuzu didn't like to waste more time here, but he supposed letting Hidan deal with it, this time, wouldn't hurt. If He managed to deal with them by himself then good for him, and if somehow they kicked Hidan's ass that would take him down a peg or two. So as long as he didn't let the Jinchuuriki get away he didn't care either way. ''Fine, but don't underestimate them or you might die.'' His comment made his partner snicker as he considered the notion ridiculous.
Naruto soon joined the girl in her barrage of attacks. He kinda felt bad for the tomboy. He knew that he would react the same way if they had attacked Konoha and his friends, so he could sympathize. Besides, fighting together played to their advantage anyway. He then made a single hand seal which created five clones. He sent four of them to join the fray, with Kunai at the ready, and he momentarily stayed back with another to make a Rasengan with its assistance.
The new combatants forced Hidan back as he now was finding himself hard pressed to keep parrying that many weapons at the same time and he was actually starting to get a few cuts here and there. ''Annoying brats!'' Though Hidan with a frown. So instead on continuing his struggle, he jumped back and slashed his scythe in a wide arc, catching the clones and dispersing them, but unfortunately for him, the girl managed to duck to avoid the attack. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and in his overconfidence he didn't notice in time the couple of blonds that flanked him with a blue ball of Chakra the size of his head that both blonds carried.
''Odama Rasengan!(Big Ball Spiraling Sphere) Yelled Naruto as The attack connected with Hidan's stomach.
The man let out a cry of pain as he momentarily could feel his skin tearing.
Then the ball of chakra separated from the Jinchuuriki and carried the Akatsuki member through the forest violently, knocking down all the trees in his way.
Both teenagers stood there feeling satisfied with their performance. They both knew how destructive the Rasengan was and to take a large sized one at point blank should be devastating for anyone. Akatsuki or not they didn't think he would be getting up from it. They never guessed that they would beat an Akatsuki member so soon but the guy had been arrogant and let his guard down.
''One bastard down, another one to go.'' Said the Kunoichi, eyeing the remaining Akatsuki member.
They both got into position, preparing themselves to attack Kakuzu, but they noticed something strange. The man wasn't even making a move, he looked bored in fact.
''What's wrong with him? We just took down his partner and he doesn't look concerned at all.'' Thought Naruto suspiciously. He glanced at Kurotsuchi and found her to be just as confused as he was.
Then they heard the sound of something cutting through the air and the threw themselves out of the way as a three bladed scythe that was connected with a rope passed above them.
''That hurt, you little shits!''
They widened their eyes and looked over to where the other member had flown over to, just to find said man walking towards them. His cloak had been torn and left him bare chested but other than that he seemed unharmed. He was holding the rope that was connected to the scythe and pulled it back to catch the weapon again.
''It can't be! He took the Rasengan directly, he shouldn't be alive, let alone walking like nothing happened!'' Thought Naruto dumbfounded.
''What is this freak? He should be dead!'' Though Kurotsuchi just as shocked as Naruto before quickly recovering her will to gut the man alive. ''Well whatever. So he is a little tough to crack, so what? I'm still gonna make him pay for what they did to my home.''
''Serves you right for letting your guard down.'' Kakuzu scolded Hidan. ''Keep making those mistakes and they'll end up killing you for real.''
''How many times do I have to tell you, Kakuzu? I can't die'' Boasted Hidan arrogantly.
''I call bullshit!'' Yelled Kurotsuchi when she lunged with her sword, ready to decapitate the man but was stopped when once again the man used his scythe to block the strike. But instead of pressing her attack, the girl retreated back as a new batch of Naruto clones appeared around the silver-haired man and started attacking him again.
Now with the Jashinist preoccupied with the Doppelgangers, Kurotsuchi rapidly made some hand seals as she now had the man where she wanted him. ''I got you now!''ยด ''Doton: Doryousou! (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears)'' She slammed her hands on the ground and large spikes started to sprout instantly from the earth beneath Hidan.
Hidan saw the ground shift and Jumped while putting his scythe in front of him to take the brunt of the damage, and while the attack didn't pierce him due to this, the impact was strong enough to send him even further in the air. ''They used the clones as fodder just to try and set that up.'' 'Thought Hidan with a sneer.
''U!...'' Hidan heard Naruto say as he felt the foot of one of the Jinchuuriki's clones connect with his back, sending him even further into the air. ''zu!..'' This time, Hidan was ready for the next blow and while still in mid-air, he slashed at the next clone attempting to hit him again. ''ma!...'' Once again he did the same to the next. ''ki!...'' And again. ''Like I'm gonna let this idiot get me again'' Because he had been busy fending off the clones, Hidan didn't notice when the real Naruto dived into him from the top of a tree with a Rasengan in hand. ''Naruto Rendan! (Naruto Uzumaki Combo)'' He grunted in pain as he was violently sent to the ground from the strong force of the spiraling sphere of Chakra. He landed hard on the ground and made a small crater. Despite everything hurting for him right now, it was all but a minor inconvenience for Hidan and he started standing up from his landing spot. ''I see you are fond of sneak attacks, eh? Can't blame you, even you realize fighting me directly would be very bad for you.'' But before he did anything he noticed that he was standing in some sticky pool of an ash-like substance. ''What the hell is this Shit?''
''Suiton: Mizurappa! (Water Release: Water Trumpet)''
He then noticed the girl standing in the trunk of a tree as she spat a blob of water towards him. He quickly took his scythe from the pool of ash and with a mighty swing he broke apart the blob of water and turned it into harmless droplets. ''Hahahaha! What kind of weak and pathetic attack was that?!'' Mocked the sadist. He guessed that the girl must have been running out of Chakra, as that water Jutsu had left much to be desired. However, he raised an eyebrow when he noticed the girl smirking victoriously and wondered what was up. He then started to see that the pool of ash he was standing on started to quickly harden, effectively trapping his movement. ''What is this!? What did you do, you stupid bitch?!'' Yelled the man as the tried to move his now stuck feet.
'' That is my Yoton: Sekkaigyou no Jutsu (Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique)'' Explained the girl with a condescending look. ''Now that you are stuck in it, you are as good as dead.'' She then turned to her ally. '' Idiot, would you hold him in place for me?'' Requested the girl to the Jinchuuriki standing beside her.
''Way ahead of you!'' Yelled a horde of copies of the blond as they rushed past her to subdue the Akatsuki member.
Hidan swung his scythe left and right skillfully. Even when trapped, his ability with the weapon was still remarkable and popped any clone that dared get close to him. But still, despite his intent, the clones were too many for him to be fighting stationary and finally some of them grabbed each of his arms and his waist. Now he was completely immobile as the blonds kept him in place. ''Get off me, you assholes!'' Yelled Hidan trying to shake off the doppelgangers, but they just wouldn't budge.
Now that Kurotsuchi saw that he wouldn't be able to disembowel her once she got close to him, she started running with her sword poised to strike. ''Now let's see you survive this!'' She then slammed her sword into the man's heart, dealing a definitive lethal wound. ''Now we really got you. Go to hell, you bastard.''
Naruto was relieved when he saw that Hidan stood motionless, and the Shadow Clones relaxed their grip now that they finally finished one of the missing-nin. They were relieved that now the man had to definitely stay down. All that was left was to worry about Kakuzu...
-Somewhere else in the Land of Hot Water-
meanwhile; Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sakura and Team eight were hastily following the track left by Naruto. After Receiving directions from that small village in the Land of Frost, they finally managed to get a solid trail to track the Jinchuuriki. Now Kiba and Akamaru had no trouble picking up his scent, and since they first did they have been traveling full speed non-stop.
''Have you seen anything, Hinata?'' Asked Sakura to the Hyuga heiress.
''Not yet. Naruto-Kun must be a little bit farther.'' Said the Shy girl as she kept her Kekkei Genkai active, the Byakugan.
''How is our progress, Kiba?'' Inquired the stoic Shino.
''We are close. His scent has been getting steadily stronger for a while now. If I'm not mistaken we should meet up with the guy and the Iwa girl in just a few minutes.'' Said Kiba glancing back from the front of the unit along with Jiraiya and Akamaru.
''I still don't understand what is Naruto's relation to this person.'' Wondered the Aburame once again.
''Beats me. But I can smell another trail of scent along with his, a female scent. So if it isn't that girl I don't know who else could it be.'' Said Kiba and Akamaru barked in affirmation, letting know that he could smell it too.
''It is quite weird for him to be traveling along with an Iwa ninja. Considering that they were the ones who attacked him and Jiraiya-Sama.'' Said Kakashi aloud.
''That knucklehead is always getting himself into trouble. One can never guess what kind of bizarre situation he is going to get involved in.'' Said a tense and exasperated Jiraiya.
As they were traveling, Shino saw one of the many insects he had sent to scout ahead and extended a finger to let the little creature pose itself there. After a few moments, he started frowning deeper and deeper as the insect relayed the information it had gathered. ''We have big problems, everyone.'' Informed Shino which caused everyone to pay attention to him. He didn't waste any more time to wait for someone to ask what was wrong and just voiced his concerns immediately. ''One of my scouts has informed me that Naruto is currently engaged with two men with black cloaks and red clouds. If my memory serves me right those are Akatsuki uniforms.'' Warned Shino to the group.
Everyone gasped as the troubling news.
''This is bad. If what Jiraiya-Sama says is correct, Naruto is not yet ready to be facing the Akatsuki by himself.'' Said Kakashi with worry evident in his voice.
''No! we can't let them take Naruto-Kun!'' Said Hinata in panic.
''And we won't! Pick up the pace, all of you! If you don't then I'll leave you behind!'' Yelled Jiraiya with authority.
''Roger!'' Said everyone in unison and started going even faster than they had previously been going. They just hoped that Naruto could hold his own for a little bit until they got there.
-Somewhere in the Land of Hot Water-
Kurotsuchi smirked gleefully as she stood there with her hand on her sword as she kept the weapon buried in the man's heart. Now that they just dealt with the mad man they could focus their attention on the other.
''Nice try, retards.''
The voice of the supposedly dead Shinobi startled both Kurotsuchi, Naruto and the Doppelgangers, and Hidan took that opportunity to break free of the clone's hold. He swung his scythe in front of him, catching his attackers as they were all still in close range to him except for Naruto. His attack dispelled all the clones and Kurotsuchi attempted to dodge it by jumping back, but she was too close to avoid it completely and took a deep cut to her arm.
Said girl growled in pain as she held her wound with her other arm and was forced to leave her blade buried in the man's chest. But still, all this didn't distract her from her main concern. ''This is impossible! How is this fucker alive after that?!''' She was positive she pierced his heart, it was simply not possible for him to be alive!
Naruto was just as concerned as Kurotsuchi. ''How is he still alive?! I'm sure we got him this time!'' Yelled the perplexed blond.
While they were still pondering on this bizarre situation, Hidan took the chance to finish smashing the hardened ash that kept him in place before staring at the teenagers again. ''I told you already, dumbasses. I'm immortal.''
Now both Naruto and Kurotsuchi were starting to believe the words of the man that previously just seemed like crazy ramblings. They both shivered at the thought of the truth behind the words of Hidan. If he was really immortal how were they supposed to ever win this fight? How did you beat someone that wouldn't stay down?
The scared looks on their faces told Hidan that they were finally realizing the magnitude of the trouble they were in and he couldn't help but laugh darkly. ''Now you see how hopeless this fight is for you. And unfortunately for you now I'm done playing games.'' Said Hidan as he grabbed the handle of the still stuck blade in his heart and pulled it out slowly as he made blood pour out of the wound freely, which made the teenagers feel sick at the sight. ''Damn it, it hurts!'' When he finally finished getting the blade out of his body he used the blood pooled bellow him to draw with his feet some kind of circle with a triangle inside. ''I'll finish you off first, bitch. We only need the Jinchuuriki alive so first I'll savor your suffering before you die. Jashin-Sama will be most pleased.''
''About time you stopped fooling around. Finish with this so we can get going.'' Said Kakuzu from the sidelines.
''Like hell we'll let you!'' Yelled Naruto in defiance. ''Come on, Kurotsuchi'' He then started running towards the sadistic man.
''Y-yea!'' Kurotsuchi snapped out of her creeped out state and joined the Jinchuuriki.
Hidan saw them charge at him but he didn't care. He just smiled and licked the blood of one of the blades of his scythe, and after doing so his skin turned black and a skeleton-like pattern of white markings appeared around his body. ''Hahahaha! You are now under my curse. Let me taste your agony!'' He then grabbed Kurotsuchi's blade and impaled himself in the stomach with it. ''It feels so good!'' Yelled the crazed man with a face of mad delight.
Naruto was puzzled at the man's action. Of all the things he expected the man to do he didn't expect that he was going to stab himself. ''What is he doing? I know he is immortal but I don't see the purpose of that.'' His thoughts were interrupted and he stopped running when he noticed the Kunoichi beside him suddenly halt her charge. ''Kurotsuchi? What's wrong, Kurotsuchi?'' He asked with concern.
The pink-eyed girl had a look of panic and agony on her features as she held her stomach tightly. Her shirt was starting to get stained with blood at an alarming rate. She tried to cry in pain but only managed to cough blood as she fell to her knees.
''Kurotsuchi!'' Said Naruto with urgency and rushed to her side to help her and hopefully discover what was happening. ''Hang in there! What happened?!'' Questioned the blond with a concern that marred his face.
The girl barely heard Naruto, the pain was just too much to bear. She continued to squirm on the floor trying to stand up, but she couldn't gather the strength.
''Hahahaha!'' The maniac laugh of Hidan caught the attention of Naruto once again and earned him a hateful glare.
''This must be your doing. What did you do to her?!'' Demanded the Genin.
''She has been judged by God!'' Said the man with glee. ''Experiencing the pain of someone else's slow death is nothing short of ecstasy!'' Added the man before grabbing the blade's handle once more before violently stirring it from side to side inside of him.
''Ahhhhhhh!'' The girl's cries of pain were so loud that it even hurt Naruto's ears as she continued to convulse in agony, yelling all the while.
Naruto was enraged, not only were these bastards hunting him down relentlessly but now this monster was torturing someone right in front of him! He could feel a bit of his control over the fox slipping and could sense a single tail of Chakra starting to form itself along with the rest of his Chakra cloak. ''I'll make you regret this!'' Yelled Naruto intimidatingly as he got on all fours, ready to attack.
''And tell me how do you plan on doing that, eh?'' Said the Jashinist cockily. ''Attack me and you will only be killing your friend right there!''
Naruto widened his eyes in realization. It was true! Trying to kill Hidan was useless as he was immortal and would only serve to harm Kurotsuchi further. And if he tried to restrain him then it was likely that he would just finish the job to continue the fight. For all accounts, Kurotsuchi was his hostage. He growled with impotency, trying to think of something to get them both out of this mess.
''That's right! There is nothing you can do but watch the bitch die!'' Taunted Hidan before cackling in laughter maniacally once again. ''Well then, shall we continue?'' Added the man before using the still embed blade to pry open the wound on his stomach.
''Aaahhhhhhh!'' The girl's scream resonated trough the clearing and just got louder and louder as the crazy man pried his wound more and more until finally the blade couldn't move anymore, but just when it seemed that Hidan was going to stop, he grabbed the handle with all his might and pried so hard that the blade split into two parts. ''Ahhhhhh...'' That last tug caused so much pain to the girl that she mercifully passed out from it.
''Ahahahaha! Look at the snarky bitch! What is it, eh?! Not so tough anymore, are you?!'' Yelled Hidan in a denigrating way.
Naruto had his eyes closed as he grinded his teeth with impotency and dug his claws further into the ground. He wanted so badly to go check on Kurotsuchi and check her pulse or something, but he was still using his Chakra cloak and it was dangerous to the touch. Kurotsuchi was in terrible shape as it was, the last thing she needed was some Chakra poisoning.
''Now is your turn Kyuubi'' Said Hidan as he threw one-half of the now broken sword and buried the other through his skin until it came out from the other said and fell to the ground, an action that made Naruto shiver knowing that the girl still had to feel it despite being unconscious. ''I hope that you have more of a fight in you than she did. Which you should, considering that I'm not allowed to kill you, but you can bet that I'll make you suffer to the border of madness.'' Said the man cruelly.
''Doton: Yomi Numa! (Earth Release: Swamp of The Underworld)''
Before Hidan could do anything, the ground below him started changing until it became muddy and had the consistency of quicksand and his circle of blood was erased because of this. ''W-what?! Not again! What is this crap?!'' Yelled the altered Hidan.
Then out of the woods came Kakashi along with one shadow clone, they each had a Raikiri (Lightning Cutter) in opposite hands that were connected with a chain of lightning and swiftly beheaded the silver haired man when the lightning chain sliced through his neck. This sudden intrusion caused both Naruto and Kakuzu to stare in surprise.
''Kakashi-Sensei?!'' Said Naruto, both confused and relieved to see the cyclops again.
Soon after, Jiraiya also appeared beside Kakashi. ''Are you okay, Naruto!?'' Asked the worried Sannin.
''You are here too, Ero-Sennin?!'' Yelled an ecstatic Naruto. How glad was he to see both of his teachers here to help. Feeling more secure now, he let the Kyuubi's Chakra dissipate. Now he realized that the swamp Jutsu was the Sannin's doing.
''Naruto!'' ''Naruto-Kun!'' Then after a few moments, Sakura and team eight arrived at the clearing too.
''You guys are here too!'' Exclaimed Naruto.
''You seem to be a bit taller since the last time I saw you.'' Said Kiba with a feral grin.
''I can say the same for you guys. Especially Akamaru'' Replied Naruto happily and the large dog licked his face in greeting.
''I'm so glad that you are Okay, Naruto-Kun'' Said the meek Hinata, clearly having trouble keeping eye contact with the blond.
''I'm glad to see you too, Hinata. I thought I was done for to tell you the truth.'' Said Naruto sheepishly and putting a hand behind his head.
''You should be more careful, you idiot! Why is it that you always end up getting in trouble?! We have been looking for you all over the damn place, you ingrate!'' Scolded Sakura as she gave the blond a punch in the head.
''I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to make you guys worried.'' Said the blond while rubbing his head. He had missed Sakura, even her punches (kinda).
''The important thing is that we are on time.'' Said Shino, grabbing Naruto's attention.
''Thanks a lot to you too!...emmm...'' Said Naruto awkwardly, trying to recognize the Aburame.
''Shino...'' Said the stoic teen, clearly annoyed at not being recognized. ''I can't believe you don't recognize one of your comrades''
''Shino, of course! Hey, don't be like that. how am I supposed to recognize you if you are always covered from head to toe?!'' Said the blond trying to explain himself but it did little to cheer Shino up.
''You guys can catch up later, right now we have someone to take care of.'' Reminded them Kakashi, putting himself in front of them along with Jiraiya.
Now that made everyone shut up and cautiously stared at the remaining Akatsuki member, who had used their small talk as an opportunity to get close to his fallen comrade. And now he was standing beside the body of Hidan with his partner's head already in one hand.
''Hey, Kakuzu! What are you waiting for!? Put me back in my body, you prick!'' Hidan's head continued to keep talking, even against all reason that it simply wasn't possible for that to be the case.
''What the fuck! That guy's head talked!'' Exclaimed Kiba, horrified.
''So creepy'' Whispered a scared Hinata.
''So disgusting, you mean!'' Said Sakura with revulsion.
''Be careful, everyone! That guy is immortal! And I'm still not sure what the other guy does!'' Shouted Naruto in warning to his friends.
''That's the Akatsuki for you.'' Said Kakashi with a serious face as he stared at the duo with his Sharingan uncovered and all.
Kakuzu calmly evaluated his options, and he clearly saw that this was an unfavorable fight for him. Fighting Jiraiya of the Sannin was dangerous enough, even more so now that Hidan was useless in his current state. And that without taking into account the copy ninja, Kakashi. And they had reinforcements to booth. They were just brats but they were still the support for two skilled shinobi, and one of them was a Jinchuuriki. So as much as he hated letting go of the chance to collect the bounty on Jiraiya and Kakashi, he decided that the best course of action was to retreat. He then quickly grabbed the body of Hidan by the ankle and made a run for it through the trees, not caring at all if the body kept bumping into branches along the way.
''Hey, be a little more delicate, you dumbass!'' Yelled Hidan in indignation at the rough treatment of his body.
''Shut up, don't be such a crybaby.'' Said Kakuzu uncaringly. Right now his only concern was to get away.
The Konoha team were surprised to see the Akatsuki fleeing, but Jiraiya and Kakashi weren't gonna let them. This was the perfect chance to take out two members of Akatsuki and lower the organization's might.
''All of you, let's give chase to those bastards!'' Ordered Jiraiya to the rest of the Konoha ninja.
''Wait, Ero-Sennin!'' Said Naruto as he put himself in the path of the Sannin to keep him from leaving.
''What are you doing, you idiot?! You are gonna let them get away! This is our chance to take the fight to the Akatsuki instead of waiting for them!'' Said Jiraiya in irritation.
The rest of Naruto's friends looked at Naruto in disbelief.
''Yea man, what is your deal?!'' Said Kiba angrily and Akamaru barked to voice his concern too.
''Stop making us waste time, Naruto!'' Yelled Sakura with a raised fist.
''B-but We have to help Kurotsuchi! She is badly injured!'' Responded Naruto with urgency and pointed at the downed Iwa girl. In his excitement at seeing his friends again, he had momentarily forgotten the state that the Iwa Kunoichi was in.
They all looked at the girl for a moment and they could see that she was in a terrible condition, even at a glance it could be noted. But they soon stopped paying the girl any mind and turned to Naruto again.
''She isn't our concern, kid! We can't let the Akatsuki get away!'' Yelled Jiraiya in an effort to see his student see reason.
''But if we don't do something she will definitely die!'' Insisted the Jinchuuriki.
''Then good riddance.'' Said Kiba, coldly. ''The Iwa assholes were the ones that got you into this mess, didn't they? I don't see why we should even care.''
''You bastard!'' Said Naruto as he grabbed Kiba by the front of his jacket and pulled him close to him in a threatening manner.
''What is wrong with you, Dude!? Let go of me!'' Yelled Kiba angrily and shoved Naruto back.
''That's enough, Naruto.'' Said Kakashi sternly. ''I'm sorry that we can't help the girl. It's lamentable, but she is not a priority.'' tried to explain the Sharingan user.
And with that, everyone save Naruto turned away to the direction the duo had run off to and prepared to give chase but not without first giving Naruto odd looks. Hinata was the only one who seemed reluctant to ignore Naruto's request, but if she was honest with herself she also didn't see why they should try to save someone that was in part responsible for almost getting Naruto killed, but she also knew that Naruto was a very forgiving person and his good heart was one of his biggest strengths and one of the things she admired the most about the blond, but she also knew that while in a mission she needed to follow their leader's orders above all, and with remorse so she too joined the others.
Naruto was starting to get desperate. His friends weren't gonna help Kurotsuchi, and without assistance, she would certainly die. Even if he couldn't say she was a friend, he still didn't feel good about abandoning her, not after getting to know her a bit and realizing that she wasn't a bad person. He glanced at the still body of the girl that was laying in a pool of her own blood and he closed his hands into fists. ''No! I refuse to let her die, I have to keep trying!'' Resolved the Genin. There had to be something he could do to convince everyone to help before they left, but what? He then widened his eyes as an idea come to him. He wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a shot.
Everyone was about to leave when they heard Naruto Shout. ''She is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter!'' That made everyone turn to look at him with a different range of expressions. Kakashi and Jiraiya were astonished, as was Sakura; Hinata seemed concerned, Kiba didn't seem to care and Shino didn't show any emotion at all.
''What?! Is that true, Naruto?!'' Asked an astonished Kakashi. ''I knew that was the name of Ohnoki's granddaughter, but I didn't expect that she would be the same girl.'' thought the silver haired man.
''Is true. She is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter and I heard she is a possible candidate for Tsuchikage in the future.'' Said Naruto, trying to remember all those important details about Kurotsuchi.
''Gee, so she is related to Iwa's Kage. Big deal.'' Said Kiba dismissively.
''You are an idiot, Kiba!'' Said Sakura. Which made Kiba wince. ''Direct relatives of a Kage are heavily respected in their village, even more so if they could become a candidate for the job in the future!''
''Jiraiya-Sama, I think it would be wise to consider Naruto's request. Especially in light of current events.'' Said Kakashi seriously.
Jiraiya knew to what the copy ninja was getting at. After the stunt that Iwa tried to pull against him and Naruto, there was no doubt that some nasty political repercussions were in the immediate future, and getting as much leverage against Iwa was high priority and having the Tsuchikage's granddaughter in their custody was one of the best they could get as far as leverages went. It was a hard choice between this and chasing the Akatsuki, but aside from the tactical advantage, he had a feeling that Naruto wouldn't forgive them if they didn't at least try to help the girl. ''Fine, we'll see what we can do for her.'' Said the Sannin reluctantly as he crossed his arms.
Naruto grinned gratefully and gave a sigh of relief. ''Thank you, Ero-Sennin!''
''Sakura, if you would, please.'' Said Kakashi.
''Y-yes'' Agreed the pinkette and approached the wounded girl and she didn't like what she saw. Kurotsuchi was laying face up on the ground which made it easy to see the damage done, and as far as Sakura could see it wasn't good. So the first thing she did was to check the pulse and she could feel a faint one, which meant that the girl was alive but in a critical state. She could see the terrible gaping wound on the girl's stomach and quickly got to work, for if she took longer she wasn't sure if she could manage to save her. Her palms glowed green with medical Chakra as she put them over the injury and Sakura noted that the wound would have been most likely fatal. In fact, if a skilled medic-nin hadn't taken a good look at it, she wouldn't have had a chance in hell of surviving. One of the first things to note was the large amount of blood the girl had lost, so Sakura quickly grabbed a Plasma Pill from her pouch and made the raven-haired girl swallow it before continuing to close the wound.
Everyone watched Sakura intently, wondering if the medic could manage to save the Iwa Kunoichi. Naruto seemed to be the most worried, as he didn't know the current level of Sakura's medical Jutsu, so he couldn't know how good she was and if she could save Kurotsuchi.
After a few minutes of work, Sakura finally finished with a tired sigh and everyone was eager to know her diagnosis.
''Sakura-Chan, How did it go?'' Asked Naruto in without a second thought. His question grabbed everyone's attention and they focused it on Sakura.
Sakura sighed, she was a little self-conscious of all the stares directed to her but she still kept a professional attitude. ''I managed to stabilize her for the moment. But she is in a very delicate condition and will need to be closely monitored in a hospital if we don't want to risk worsening her injury.''
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief while everyone else simply nodded.
''Well, we'll just have to take her with us.'' Said Kakashi, which earned him surprised faces from everyone else except for Jiraiya who had already guessed that taking her was the best course of action.
''What a minute! Take her with us?! Are you serious?!'' Asked Kiba astonished.
''Is it wise to do that, Kakashi-Sensei?!'' Asked Shino with a raised eyebrow, but other than that the calm Aburame didn't express anything else.
''Can't we, I dunno, take her to Iwa or something?!'' Asked Naruto in worry.
''You all heard Sakura. She needs close medical attention and a hospital. And no, Naruto, we aren't dragging her with us across half the continent just to get her to a nation that hates our guts. They would probably try to finish the job they failed once they see you.'' Explained Jiraiya and he gave a look to Naruto as if the blond was an idiot.
Naruto knew it was a stupid question, but taking the girl to Konoha wasn't also something he considered good. He wasn't as stupid as everyone else thought he was, he knew that even if they took the girl to a hospital in Konoha, she was still from a rival nation that just tried to take Konoha's Jinchuuriki and kill a Sannin, and she had participated to boot! So once the girl put food in Konoha she would become a prisoner through and through. But Naruto couldn't think of any excuse to not take her to Konoha, as they certainly weren't gonna take her to Iwa there was no other choice if they were to keep her alive.
''So is Decided, we are taking her back with us.'' Informed Kakashi to the rest of the group before picking her up gently and carrying her bridal style.
As weird as it was to bring the girl back, the rest of the Chunin didn't think that much of it and just accepted their leader's decision.
With Naruto safe and sound, they could count their mission as a success, and so they all proceeded to start their journey back to the Land of Fire with the strangest of guests with them. Now the only worry in the Sannin and Kakashi's heads was the impending political fallout with Iwa. As Naruto had been found, now the main priority would shift from finding him to making Iwa answer for their attempt on the blond. Now all that was left was to wait and hear what Tsunade would decide to do.
Author's note: Here you go guys, the next chapter! Even though I had the chapter finished since the last update I at least wanted to finish chapter 11 before I spellchecked this one. However, since I was taking longer than I anticipated, I thought that I should post this one first. And as another plus, I'm about halfway through the next chapter, so I hope I can finish it in the weekend. As always, please review if you have the time and I'll see you guys next time!
