Sorry I didn't update on Saturday, I was coming home from a Holiday and I just didn't have time. But here is the 13th chapter at last. I do hope you enjoy.

CHAPTER 13

Speech of the Five Kages.

Temari felt like she was lying on something soft. At first, she thought it was her sleeping bag and mat, which made her angry but also relieved. It meant that the whole ordeal was nothing more than a dream, which meant that they were no closer to finding Shikamaru but it also meant that he wasn't going to be killed by Gengo using Naruto's power.

But then, she noticed that the thing she was lying on was a bit too soft. In fact, her whole body felt heavy. She knew that wasn't normal. And then, she remembered Sakura jamming the needle into her neck and her anger flared. She struggled to lift her hand up to feel her neck, but she eventually managed to. However, before she could fully stretch her hand out to feel it, she felt a strong resistance on her wrist.

She slowly sat up and groggily looked at her hands. She'd been restrained to a bed. Her eyes adjusted to the light of the room and she slowly started recognising the room
But before she could properly figure it out, a voice said from a corner, "Oh good, you're finally awake."

Temari snapped her head in its direction, to see Gaara sitting on a chair near the door. "How long was I out?" she asked. Gaara sighed. "Just under a week" Gaara replied. Temari tried to leap out of the bed upon hearing this, but the restraints on her arms and her legs prevented her. "Why am I tied to this bed?" she asked angrily. "You tried to escape when you were first brought here" Gaara replied.

Temari stared at him. "What?" she asked. "When Sakura and Ino dragged you and Hinata here, you awakened from the anaesthetic," Gaara explained. "You were delirious and started wailing about how Shikamaru was going to die. I think it was the first time I've ever seen you properly cry like that before." Gaara couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that. "You tried to throw Sakura and some of our medical ninja off of you, so we had to use another, much stronger anaesthetic on you and tie you up just in case. We've been applying it every day to make sure you didn't escape, but perhaps we went a little overboard."

Temari stared at him, anger coursing through her like fire. "Then untie me," she commanded. "Shikamaru will die if you don't!" Gaara hung his head. "I can't," he told her, "Not yet." Temari wrestled with her restraints, wanting to strangle her younger brother. "WHY NOT!" she bellowed. "We are working on a rescue mission right now," said Gaara, standing up from his chair. "We are in the final stages of the preparations. We should be ready to attack within a day." He turned towards the door. "Once we are ready, the restraints will come off." He moved towards the door.

"But that'll be too late!" Temari bellowed. "Shikamaru could be dead by then." "I'm truly sorry Temari," Gaara replied, not looking at his older sister. "But we cannot storm a base like that without proper planning." He went to leave the room, but Temari stopped him with one last desperate yell. "What about Naruto?!" Gaara stopped. "If we don't go now, Naruto will be killed as well!" Temari went on, desperate to use her brothers affection for his friend. "Do you care if that happens?!"

Gaara didn't look at her. "That is why such delicate planning is going into this," he told her angrily. "If we just charged in there blindly, we could have a repeat of what happened to you last week. Or worse, we could fail to save them and have Gengo's weapon used against us. We cannot allow for something like that to happen. Not even for our own personal feelings." As he said that last part, he turned to look at his sister, who saw that he had tears of his own rolling down his cheeks. "Wait here," he said as he left the room. "Once everything is in order, I'll have ninja undo the restraints and you will meet me on the balcony overlooking the village." And with that, he left the room.

Temari continued to lie there for another 30 minutes before sand shinobi finally come to untie her. When they did, they led her to the balcony, as Gaara had instructed. She briefly considered bolting out the gate and running to the Land of Silence, but thought better of it. So, she followed the Shinobi until she was standing by Gaara's side as he walked up to the balcony. As he was doing so in Sunagakure, the rest of the Kage were doing the same in their respective villages. Kakashi in Konoha, Mei in Kirigakure, Aoi in Kumogakure and Onoki in Iwagakure. In each village a large gathering of Shinobi stood waiting, all wearing the Shinobi Alliance headbands instead of their own.

Once each Kage was ready, they began their speeches. "Ninja of the Great Shinobi Alliance...!" they bellowed.

"The news I bring upon you all to lay is the gravest we've had in a long time! Kakashi yelled to the villagers of Konoha. "For our Shinobi Alliance, which we've worked so hard to build and maintain, is now under threat by a man named Gengo! He plans on using a superweapon similar to the Ten-tails to break the Alliance up!" Gasps of fear filled the streets. "I know, it's terrible, but..."

"... that is not the worst of it!" Gaara exclaimed. "For he is holding two very important Shinobi to Suna, Konoha and indeed, the entire Shinobi world! My sister's fiancé, Nara Shikamaru! And my closest friend, Uzumaki Naruto!" This time, it was gasps of outrage that filled the streets. "Gengo is planning on stealing Naruto's power and using it to power his weapon, which he will demonstrate on Nara...!"

"Will we allow this?!" Aoi bellowed. A resounding "NO!" filled the streets of Kumogakure. "Then we shall once again stand in battle, not as Shinobi of the Cloud, but as Shinobi of the Alliance! But Gengo's weapon will not be much of a threat. We ninja of the Shinobi Alliance could destroy it with ease if we all worked together. So, we are not fighting to protect our world, but we are fighting...!"

"... to save our friend!" Mei shouted. "After all, it was Naruto who stopped Pain from destroying this world. It was Naruto who put a stop to Madara Uchiha and the Akatsuki from trapping us all in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. And it was Naruto who stopped Tomori from using the moon to destroy the world. Now, it is time for us to return the favour! This time, it will be us who saves Naruto!" A chorus of cheers rang out in Kirigakure. "We Kage have developed a plan in order...!"

"... for this mission to be as successful as possible!" Onoki hollered. "Each village will be led to the sight of the base and we shall surround it on all sides! It is thanks to the brave effort of 4 Kunoichi that we know where this base is! Uzumaki Hinata, Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura of Konoha and Temari of Suna! Once we're there, we'll rip the roof off of that base and raise cain until Naruto and Shikamaru are found. Each Shinobi who have already been in this base shall lead the villages to the sight! Sai will be the one leading us...!"

"Uzumaki Hinata will be the one leading us!" Kakashi yelled...

"Temari will be the one leading us!" Gaara exclaimed...

"Haruno Sakura will be the one leading us!" Aoi bellowed...

"Yamanaka Ino will be the one leading us!" Mei shouted.
The five ninja stepped forward to uproarious applause. They leapt into the air and landed between the congregated ninja and the gates of the villages. "Have I made myself clear!" The Kages yelled. All five villages yelled in the affirmative. "Then without anymore delays, let's go save our friends!" And with that, the Kages leapt to stand beside whichever ninja was leading their village. Once they were all facing the gates, they took off running towards the Land of Silence.

As they ran, similar thoughts ran through Temari's and Hinata's minds. "Naruto" thought Hinata. "Shikamaru" thought Temari. "We're coming to save you, just hold out a little longer!"

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that the small wait was worth it. Sorry if the monologues were a bit clunky, I wanted to do it in the same style the anime did it when it had scenes like this. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the climax.