Chapter 12: The Sandman and the Corpses
"Lord Kazekage, our intelligence in the hidden leaf village have gathered, that there has been sightings of the S-Class criminal Uchiha Itachi," reported the highest ranking intelligence officer in the sand, Sarutobi Hayana.
"Does the fifth, know about Uchiha ?" asked the Kazekage. His dark eyes, looked directly at the officer that was more than two years older.
"No, sir," Hayana was one of the best, after all he was about twenty-seven years of age. His master was Myanobi Karashi, Myanobi was a traitor who fell into league with Orochimaru, eight years ago. Myanobi was the one who ordered the death of the previous Kazekage, Gaara's father. Karashi was never caught and Sarutobi took an oath to caught his master and kill him.
"Sir, may I also add that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura has been kidnaped by Orochimaru." He saw that Gaara was staring at his hands and in his eyes he saw great sorrow. "And sir, Uzumaki Naruto has reappeared." At those words, the Kazekage raised his eyes and looked directly at Sarutobi.
"Go to the hidden leaf and report to the fifth and the anbu captain Hyuuga Neji, captain of intelligence."
"Yes, sir." Sarutobi turned around and left the Kazekage's office.
It has been a decade, Naruto, what happened to you, thought Gaara. Suddenly there was a knock at his office door.
"Enter." In came his sister, Temari, she was now a jounin and leader of a 3-man cell and she was the mistress of Nara Shikamaru.
"Lord Kazekage, I wish to leave for the leaf with Hayana," she said while kneeling before him.
"So, you can go see your lover the strategist." Temari looked up with extreme hatred in her eyes.
"How dare you !" She was fuming, her hands approached her belt, filled with kunai.
"Are you going to kill me, sister ? Maybe you should go with Sarutobi, besides you can be my representative at the chuunin exams. Now go !" Temari turned and left, still angry about what Gaara said.
Gaara returned to thinking about what Sarutobi said, that Uzumaki Naruto has returned. He remembered when he learned that Naurto first disappeared from Myanobi Karashi.
"Lord Gaara, sir, Uzumaki Naruto has vanished. Sir, Kakashi has died too from his wounds," said Karashi. Karashi lost an eye in one of the great wars and he had his sand emblem covering his right eye.
They were the office that Gaara was in now, all that was going in his head was the young ninja that wanted to Hokage. Naruto saved him from the darkness. Gaara turned to Karashi.
"Myanobi, send the fifth our condolences and also tell her that I am leaving for the leaf village at dawn for the funerals." He saw that Myanobi was at odds with himself.
"Sir, are you sure that is wise, what if Orochimaru kidnaps you too."
"Tell the fifth that I am coming." His anger was at a boiling point. Myanobi noticed this and vanished to send the message to the fifth that the Kazekage was on his way.
If Naruto has reappeared then what does that mean about Orochimaru, thought Gaara. However, he knew that the one of the most powerful ninjas of all time has also reappeared and if that was the case then there would surely be war. The only thing that Gaara could not piece together was Uchiha Itachi and why he was in the village. Gaara remembered from the mission files of ten years ago that Orochimaru was after the body of Uchiha Sasuke but he never could remember what Akatsuki wanted.
Sarutobi Hayana was walking slowly through the halls of the Kazekage's great home and then he heard her running, trying to catch up. He knew who it was only because Temari had an annoying walk, but then again he classified people by their walking. He swiftly turned around and timed it perfectly, he grabbed her round prefect breasts and she stared at him in fury. Within moments she punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. He fell to the ground laughing at her.
He got up laughing , " Why are you coming with me Temari-dono, I can handle myself."
"I am afraid of you handling other people like the fifth, have you met the fifth, yet." Temari was still angry but she more calmed down now.
"No, not yet, but since you are coming, I suppose that there are some things you ought to know and why I am going."
"I suppose you are correct about that."
Temari and Hayana sat down at a small-time restaurant in the village. Temari ordered a water and he lit a cigarette. He inhaled and began speaking. "Don't ask any questions till I am done."
"Five days ago, we received reports indicating that Uzumaki Naruto returned." Temari dropped the glass of water and it shattered. "Three days ago, we learned that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were kidnaped by an agent of Orochimaru and on that same night, one of my agents reported that he saw Uchiha Itachi and another agent of Akatsuki. And I am leaving for the leaf village to see the fifth and reveal this information to her."
Temari just sat there in shock and finally said, "That was one doozy of an intelligence report."
"You know Temari since I just told you that classified info maybe me and you could have some fun, if you know what I mean." He took exhaled.
"You know I could get you removed from your post for telling me that classified information, Hayana." She just sat there smiling, she just won and he knew it. "When are we leaving ?"
"Tomorrow or tonight, whichever you prefer." He threw the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, extinguishing it.
"It's a three day journey, I prefer going tonight. Waiter, can you bring me another water." A big bellied waiter appeared and handed her a cold glass of water. She took a huge gulp and it was all gone. "Let's go Hayana." The waiter took his tip from Hayana and watched as they left. He ran quickly into the bathroom and saw pointed black boots in the stall. It was the man who paid him. He tapped on the door.
"Yes," a cold chilling voice answered the tap.
"The spy and the sister of the Kazekage are leaving for the hidden leaf village." The waiter began telling the man in the stall everything else he knew. "Now where is my money." The big waiter stood sweating by the stall door. There was no answer. "Where is my money." He waited, but there was no answer. He began to grow angry with the man with black boots. He bent down and lowered his head to look beneath the door. "My money !" He got his answer, the man with black boots, threw a kunai at the waiter that hit him square in the forehead. The waiter fell dead to the floor dead.
"Stupid fool, I was taking a crap." The man in boots finished, he opened the stall door and took the dead waiter in his arms and threw him into the stall. The man with black boots removed the kunai in the dead man's forehead. The man with boots was wearing a dark cloak and he drew it to cover his face. At his hip, hidden beneath the cloak was a long samurai sword.
It is time to report to Akatsuki, thought the man in black. He looked bitterly at the kunai and threw it down at the ground. Ninja weapons are meant for ninjas, not samurai, thought the man in black
The man in black walked slowly down to the a back alley, he did not know who is contact was but he knew that the contact was of low ranking in the organization. He reached the deserted alley way and waited, the contact would wait to make sure that the man in black was alone. Five minutes later a small man that looked like he was not particularly important arrived.
"Black...," the small man said.
"Blue...", said the man in black.
"Very good, what do you have for me ?" The small man was impatient, he was twirling his long mustache with his fingers, this man would not want to be found in this alleyway, it would be too dangerous for him.
"The sister of the Kazekage and the highest ranking intelligence official are leaving for the hidden leaf village. It seems that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura have been kidnaped and that Uzumaki Naruto has returned. That is all that I have, if you give me a few more days I can find out more."
"There is no need, your services are no longer needed." He reached slowly to the side of his hip for a kunai. The man in black saw this and vanished. He reappeared behind the small man and had dagger up to the man's throat.
"You and your friends have made a horrible mistake." He threw the man to the ground.
"Wrong, you have, too bad you'll be dead in a week" The man spat at the boots of the man and turned and ran when he saw the eyes of the man in black. The eyes that he saw of the man in black were those of a remorseless killer, the eyes of a demon.
It was pass nine when the master spy and Temari slipped out of the hidden sand village and began their three day trek to the hidden leaf village. They weren't even an hour into their journey when they knew that they were being followed.
Hayana whispered to Temari as they ran in the trees. "Don't let him know that we know, when we get to the leaf village then we will deal with." Temari nodded in agreement. They didn't want to have a night fight with this person, it could be too dangerous and if it came to a fight, it probably would be better to wait till morning.
The fifth sat in her office, falling asleep it was past midnight, she was awakened by one of her aides. "Madam Hokage, we have received word from the Kazekage that he has sent his sister to officiate for the chuunin exams and he also sent Sarutobi Hayana to speak with you."
"Very well," said the fifth. If the highest ranking intelligence official was coming to the hidden leaf then it couldn't be good, thought the fifth. "I am ready for bed, wait for me outside the door, Yunapo." It has been just three days since Sakura and Sasuke disappeared, thought the Fifth, and now it seems that things have gotten worse much worse. What was Naruto trying to do, thought the Fifth.
In the other part of the house sat Naruto wide awake, it has been nearly two days since he had any sleep. On the night of the kidnaping the fox began to speak to him. It told him how he was breaking through the seal, those dreams scared him, but he also knew that the fox would talk to him even if he did not sleep.
Naruto got up from the chair, he was now not in control, the fox was in control of Naruto's body. Naruto was too tired to fight back.
"Where are we going," asked Naruto in his mind.
"To the graveyard, where you must cope with the past," the fox had a chilling voice. The fox-controlled Naruto began to walk silently out of the room in order to avoid waing Yahiko up.
"What are you talking about ?"
"Jiraiya and Kakashi, they still plague you even though they are dead. You must make amends with the past."
"I thought you were going to break out and destroy the village."
"Not now, right now Akatsuki and Orochimaru must be eliminated then I can take over." Naruto quietly exited the house and began his walk toward the graveyard. When we arrive at the graveyard you will be once more in control of your body." In minutes after there was nothing but silent, they arrived at the graveyard where Kakashi and Jiraiya layed in eternal slumber. The fox-controlled Naruto knelt in front of the tombstones of the two.
"Enjoy." The fox quickly gave Naruto control of his body once more. Naruto then realized that it was not the same as before. The leaves were twirling in the air and mist began to rise off the ground, engulfing all of the graveyard. And then Naruto saw it, a hand came out of the ground, the ground of where Jiraiya slept. It was mutilated and gray with death. The hand broke through and the zombie of Jiraiya broke through the ground and appeared before Naruto.
"What have you done ?" asked Naruto in bewilderment.
"I have used some of my magic to show them to you once more, Naruto." Kakashi broke through and appeared alongside Jiraiya. Both of them were equllay dead. Kakashi did not have his hair and he still wore the clothes that he died in. Jiraiya was covered in ceremonial clothes to show his importance and he too was missing his hair. They both were just bones and they had barely any skin on their bones.
Naurto knelt before them in tears. "My masters."
"Narutooooooooo...,"said the corpse of Jiraiya, it inched its way towards Naruto. "I see that you are still the cry-baby that I knew except older." Naruto was in tears.
"Rise Naruto, you must complete the final part of your training, by defeating us both. Even though we are dead we can still beat the crap outta you," said the corpse of Naruto. Naruto rose from the ground and quickly ran towards Kakashi, Jiraiya blocked the kick by holding his foot. "I never said "Go"." He threw Naruto to the ground. "Naruto, now." Naruto ran at Jiraiya and disappeared, he ended up behind Jiraiya, however the legendary ninja anticipated this and disappeared. Naruto not only needed to worry about Jiraiya but Kakashi was there too that was a complication.
Kakashi stood there and then said, " Naruto, fight me first then when and if you defeat me, fight Jiraiya." Naruto broke off from Jiraiya and rushed towards Kakashi. Kakashi threw a dozen kunai at Naruto, but he caught them and flung them back at Naruto. Kakashi vanished and so did Naruto. The fight was mainly of blurs and explosions. And then after one final explosion, Kakashi became visible and fell to the ground unconscious. The unconscious Kakashi dissipated back into the Earth.
"Very good Naruto." said Jiraiya. He stood there clapping his bony hands together. "You were always a good pupil, but I see no point in fighting you."
"Fight me," yelled Naruto.
"No, I was never the one to fight you. This is your final lesson to be taught by me. You were always a good fighter, but you never learned to stop fighting. I know this lesson will help you, I want you to truly understand this, Naruto, and now it is nearly dawn and I must now leave you."
Jiraiya disappeared back into the Earth. Naruto ran at the dissipating figure screaming, "No !" Naruto ran into the tombstone and began crying while hitting at the stone. "I never got to say goodbye to either of them."
"Goodbye, Naruto," it was the voices of Kakashi and Jiraiya. A streamful of tears erupted from his face. Thank you Kyubi, thought Naruto. There was no reply from the fox deep inside his mind.