Reviewer response – Thanks first of all for reading and telling me what you thought. I will try my best to respond if you have any questions.
Fic Slayr – The chunnin test was just a joke that Kakashi thought would be funny to play on Naruto, no chunnin test will be taken (no plans anyway).
RuByMoOn17 – Thanks…ah, guess
DragonTheif / wolvesmOon – I am glad you two like it.
Chapter 1 – Trouble in pairs.
"Hokage-sama…." Iruka yells as he rushes inside the hokage office with a bright smile.
"If it's about Naruto, I already sent him on a mission." The hokage responds not bothering to lift her eyes off her papers.
"Mission, but he just got back. It's been so long; I guess I was a bit worried about him." He says as he peers out the window.
"I'm sure he wanted to see you before he left, but the Kazekage was in a hurry."
"I see, well I guess it can't be helped." The man says as he rubs the back of his head. "When he returns..."
"I will be sure to tell him you asked about him." Tsunade says saving him the trouble of asking.
"Thank you." Iruka says as he vanishes in a cloud of smoke.
The Hokage distractions did not end there as Jiraiya appeared shortly after.
"What do you want?" Tsunade asks paying little attention.
"Is it true that you sent him to the village of the sand?"
"Yes it is. Is there a problem?"
"You know damn well there is, the Akatsuki have openly spoke of their interest with him and this mission is like throwing him to the wolves." Jiraiya says peering into his old teammates eyes.
"He trained with you right? Besides, I also sent Kakashi and my apprentice to back him up. Don't worry, he will be fine." Tsunade says hoping to drop the discussion.
"I don't like this; I should have gone with them." The sannin says as he also looks across the town from the massive tower's window.
"They also have the Kazekage with them, I fear anyone who dares to attack them." Tsunade says hoping to lift the sannin's mood a bit.
"So do I." He replies as he disappears from the office.
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Jumping from branch to branch, Naruto couldn't help but to stare at his former opponent leaping in front of him. Staring at his new appearance with the word Kage echoing through his head, he can't help but to be a bit envious of him. Watching his sister jump along the trees beside him, it seems he may have some special people in his life after all.
"Naruto…." Sakura says with a little hesitation in her voice as Naruto just peaks back at her.
"Nothing…" She quickly follows as her face fills with a sadness he hasn't seen since Sasuke left.
Looking at her, he can't help but be a bit sad along with her. After all, he left shortly after Sasuke abandoned them leaving her all alone. Tsunade must have thought she was stronger if she let her come along as well. It makes no difference; he would never let anything happen to Sakura.
"So Sakura-chan, to be a jounin, you must be pretty strong eh?"
Sakura looked up at his smile and couldn't help but feel more assured. After all, this is what she trained under Tsunade for all these years, and soon, Naruto and her could find Sasuke together.
"Hold It!" Kakashi utters as he catch's a glimpse of something suspicious.
Everyone stands on edge as they scour the forest covered terrain. After a few minutes of silence, Gaara's eye twitches and sand fires from his gourd and surrounds his body as three kunai defect off to the ground. In a flash, Naruto jumps into the air to scour the area for the assassin.
"Naruto, wait!" Sakura yells as she watches a large bird like creature swoop down and snag the blond in mid air.
"NARUTO!"
As his eyes narrow, Gaara's sand fires into the sky as a small sheet forms under his feet lifting the black-eyed kage into the air.
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"It seems I got me a good catch, yeah?" A woman's voice says with laugh while watching Naruto struggle from within the bird's mouth.
"Let go of me!" The blond says as he pushes at the bird's beak. "Its mouth feels like stone!"
Trying to fight the wind and loosen the hold from the birdlike creature, Naruto catch's a glimpse of the black robe that the woman was wearing and the memory of three years ago replayed in his head. The pain of watching Sasuke get brutally beaten by his brother set a fire in his chest as he stared the ninja in the eye.
"LET ME GO!" He growls as a ball of charka begins to form in his palm. "RESENGAN!" He yells pushing the blue ball of charka through the face of the creature on to watch it break apart like a stone wall. Bouncing off a few limbs, Naruto catch's himself on a tree log imbedding his claws within the massive trunk.
The birdlike creature crashes nearby, crumbling into pieces on the ground. Jumping from tree to tree, he jumps to a nearby tree in plain view of the wreckage only to find the bird in pieces.
Scouring the area around him, he tries to make a fix on the mystery shinobi but did not hear a sound.
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"Do you see them anywhere?" Kakashi yells as Temari and the kazekage view the area from high within the sky. Spotting the wreckage, sand is sent down to lift the other two Konoha ninja up as it takes them soaring through the air much faster then if they were to run. Gaara seemed to show a softer side of himself through his actions even though you could never tell from his stoic and calm demeanor.
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Through the ruffling of leaves, Naruto looks up to see a small bird fly right by him. It almost seemed as if it wasn't moving natural. Naruto gazed upon it when it suddenly exploded, knocking the boy off the tree and slamming him into ground.
"It seems that this boy is a fool, yeah." Deidara says as he casually rests on a nearby branch. A blast that could possibly knock a normal man unconscious was easily absorbed with the power of the Kyuubi as Naruto regained his composure and climbed to his feet.
"Oh… Looks like we have a stubborn one, yeah."
"We?" Naruto asks as stares down the mystery shinobi.
"Don't worry…… He has already went after your friends." Deidara says as Sakura's face crosses Naruto's mind. He knows Gaara is with her, but he would die before he let someone lay a finger on his teammate, his friend. In a flash, Naruto disappeared from the ninja's view as he backtracked, hoping to find the group before the other Akutsuki does. "They have to be warned!"
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As they arrive at the wreckage, the dust from the dirt in the air was still floating around the area but no one was around.
"Impossible!" Kakashi says as he reveals the sharingan and scours the area for any trace of his student's movements.
As the others arrive, they quickly leap to the trees while Gaara quickly rises into the air to watch the area. In the corner of his eye, he catch's a glimpse of a small pack of birds heading in his direction. After viewing the large bird that attacked Naruto, he had a bad feeling as he watched the oncoming birds get closer and closer until sand fired from his gourd and struck each one. Multiple explosions occurred as gaara's eyes slightly narrowed.
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"What the…" Naruto trails off as he watches Gaara in the sky fighting with a pack of exploding birds. Turning in his tracks, he sprints through the forest like the flash of a light.
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Preparing for an aerial jutsu, Kakashi begins a series of hand seals only to have to dodge weapon attack from an unknown source. Before he could react, a series of bird bombs explode across the area as all of them leap from tree to tree to avoid the blasts. Unharmed, they watched as the smoke cleared revealing a ninja slumped over frontward. He was much larger then the other but with a strange form. His cloak was unmistakable.
"Akatsuki!"
"Ahh, it seems we have a fan." The strange shinobi says smiling a bit.
"What did you do with Naruto?" Kakashi asks while Temari and Sakura share a look of concern.
"Who?" He asks gazing into their eyes as if they know something he doesn't, perhaps something he shouldn't know.
"What do you really hope to accomplish with the fourth's legacy?" He asks trying to find the answers to Akatsuki's true motives.
"The fourth….ahh, Itachi's youma… So its here also…" Sasori thinks to himself as his tail tears through his black robe. "Looks as if I will do him a favor this time."
Kakashi gazed through his sharingan at this mystery ninja and watched as it's tail swung back and forth in the air. Made of solid steel, it looked as if it could level a large boulder with one swing. His eyes, so unnatural though his face stayed hidden behind a cloak like veil.
"He's…not human…wait, he is wearing an armor of sort." Kakashi says staring towards the mysterious shinobi.
Attempting to ignore the battle above between the Kazekage and the other ninja, Kakashi observes the device that seemed to be built around the man. With a few hand seals, the two Konoha ninjas became surrounded by a whirlwind of leaves then resulting in an explosion of wind. After surveying the area, the two Konoha ninja's had vanished leaving a suspecting Sasori smiling in the open.
"I hope you don't think it will be that easy…" He chimes as he looks through the trees.
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As the woman laughed; a calm, focused Gaara stared down his opponent. As Deidara watched the young man trying to find a weakness in his sand, he notices small particles of sand floating around the air around him. Noticing it all around the air, he looks up to find a giant cloud of sand forming above him as it softly sprinkled the thin grains across his body and summoned bird. A menacing smile followed as sand gripped his ankles before he could will his bird to move. Gaara followed up by stretching his arm out in front of him in a familiar stance while sand engulfed the black cloaked ninja's legs.
"This isn't good, no." The woman says he removes a large amount of putty from his hand which appeared to have a gaping hole in his palm.
"You're too late." Gaara yells as he forces sand around the ninja's body until he was completely submerged with sand. "Desert Graveyard." Gaara yells as his hand clenches into a fist. As he watches the sand dissipate, his eyes narrow in anger. The clay he removed from his hand had completely surrounded him thus protecting him from the sand blast.
"How do you like my perfect defense, yeah? The shinobi says with a sadistic, yet cynical smile.
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"Where are they?" Naruto asks himself as he sprints through the forest line. "SAKURA!"
Jumping from tree to tree, Naruto quickly comes to a halt on the side of a tree as catches a group of birds flying through the trees just ahead.
"Naruto…. Help me." A voice cries from beyond the forest line.
"Sakura." Naruto utters as an orange blur crosses the forest terrain in a flash. Coming up on a cloud of smoke and burnt trees, a shock so intense it nearly broke Kyuubi's seal. Covered in black ash, smoke still rose from Kakashi's body while Sakura had three knives imbedded in her back while she lied motionless against a tree.
"No….NOOO!" Naruto yells as red charka erupts from his body like he opened a gate. Blood began pouring from the trees as Gaara's body slams to the ground. His eyes bulged as panic filled the air around him. "But how….why…." He utters as anger dries the tears before they have a chance to fall. He can barely hear his name being called in the distance, but he can't quite make it out. His mind began scrambling as he spots a ninja staring at him from above the tree line. A dark haired boy with a blue collared shirt that blew in the wind. His eyes, red with blood as they pierced through him like a knife in the chest.
"S…Sasuke?" He utters as the shinobi laughs out loud with a wide smile.
"SASUKE!" Naruto yells as the sky around him instantly changes to a brighter blue. Suddenly, he spots Gaara's sister to his right and Sakura to his left with their hands pressed together in a ginjitsu pose.
"Naruto… Are you alright?" She asks peering into his fox eyes as they quickly turned back to a bright blue. A confused face soon follows as Sakura appeared almost frightened by his demon eyes. "Sakura…is that..really you?" He asks with a look of joy which didn't last long as explosions ricocheted above between the ninja and the kazekage.
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"So you're stronger then I thought. Looks like I better end this quickly, yeah." The woman says looking into Gaara's narrowed eyes. Removing a massive amount of clay, the shinobi's eyes bulge open as she notices sky darken. Walls of sand filled the air around her as sand rose like an avalanche. Gaara's hands rose and the sand danced like he was conducting a symphony. Quickly soaring through the air, the woman frantically ran from the plethora of pebbles that fired like waves in hurricane.
"This sand moves at a much slower rate then the sand protecting him, there must be a difference in control." The Akatsuki woman thinks to herself as she gathered the remaining clay needed for her attack.
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"It will be troublesome to fight four shinobi at one time, perhaps one youma container will be enough for today." The tailed ninja in a black robe says watching the three konoha ninja as they help the blond out of his ginjitsu. "Those eyes… He must be the nine-tailed boy Itachi spoke of. His charka level was off the charts, it would be too risky to fight them head on right now, perhaps a distraction is in order while Deidara finishes with the one-tail." He thinks to himself as he vanishes in a cloud of smoke and sand.
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As his clay is molded, he soars quickly towards his target. Gaara see's his approach and a hand of sand forms from beneath his bird and grabs a hold of the claylike creature. Stunned for a moment, Deidara smiles while uttering. "You're too late, yeah."
As if it were in slow motion, a large clay sculpture falls from his perched creature and decend's upon team seven and the sand jounin. Gaara's sand engulfs the bird as he crushes the creature as well as the Akatsuki's leg to bits within his tight fist. Fear struck his face as he watched the clay object fall closer and closer to the ground. With the new sand he created, a wave of his hand was all it took as in covered the sky separating the ninja below from the descending object. With an explosion that filled the sky, he watched in fear, waiting for the smoke to clear to ensure that the sand held up against the blast. A deep sigh followed as Temari blasted the smoke away with a wave of her fan. As fast as he breathed in his relief, an object caught his eye in surprise as an explosion near his face knocked him off his pedestal of sand. The sand from his gourd quickly followed as it safely caught him but the damage was done. His armor of sand had been blown off leaving him in a daze. The rest of the sand fell to the ground as if it were raining rocks. The woman jumped through the air catching the fallen Gaara in midair while landing upon another branch nearby.
"No you don't!" Temari yells as a mighty swing of her fan sends a blade like gust of wind wiping through the forest line laying waste to every tree in its path. The woman shinobi jumps to clear the wind but the speed was too much as she gets snagged and blasted to the ground leaving Gaara's unconscious body tumbling out of her grasp.
"That weapon certainly is troublesome, yeah." She utters while lifting herself up, trying not to put too much pressure on her wounded right leg. With a few hand seals, another bird like creature forms from his hand and he takes flight soaring low to the ground towards the kazekage's body. Just before she could grasp his body, a yellow and orange flash jumps in front of him lifting the red head up and jumping to a safe place upon a tree branch. Laying the kazekage down, the blonde gazed at the shinobi with dangerous red eyes. Deidara couldn't help but feel a little scared as the boy's charka was visible all around him. A layer of blue was surrounded by a thick layer or red so unnatural and higher then her own it almost made him tremble. As he felt the others approaching also, she scowled and quickly took flight sending back a few small clay bird bombs to prevent the others from pursuing her.
"You won't get away from me!" Naruto growls as Kakashi yells. "Stop Naruto, let them go, there could be more of them, if that's the case, we should help Gaara first."
"They were after me and Gaara was harmed because of it." He says staring at the wounded red head. Temari gave a look of confusion, not quite understanding what the blonde was trying to say.
"That may not be true Naruto." Kakashi says breaking the silence and confusion. Gaara is like you, they may be after the Shukaku as well as the Kyuubi." He says eyeing the shock on Temari's face. Naruto quickly glanced at Sakura who refused to look her blonde haired teammate in the eye. As if the wind was knocked from his lungs, the look upon Sakura's face spoke loudly in his mind that she already knew his secret, she already knew the story of the Kyuubi. He now realized that she was afraid of him when she looked upon his face while dispelling the ginjitsu. "She thinks I'm a monster." He says to himself holding back his tears.
Lifting the body of Gaara onto his shoulder, he quickly jumps across the tree's leading the rest towards sand village hoping to push the image of his teammate from his mind.
"Sakura… I'm sorry I never told you." He thinks to himself as small tears fall off his cheeks. "This will be the last time!"