The Rise of a Warrior: Naruto: Shippuden

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Three years have come and gone, and while Tatsu and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf have grown stronger, they'll have a whole new group of enemies to face. The era of Team Dragon has arrived, but can they rise to the challenge? Sequel to the Rise of a Warrior: Naruto, second story in my Naruto trilogy. Please read each chapter until the end and check for notes.

5. Battles End, the Kazekage's Return

Deidara finished molding some more clay in his hand 'Might as well get started.'

"Where do you think you're going?!" Naruto charged after him in a rage.

'I really am lucky, getting to take down two different jinchuuriki.' he molded some small explosive clay birds.

"Wind Style: Crimson Wind!" Naruto breathed out a sharp slash of wind, sending the birds flying back and detonating in front of him, before he noticed another one going behind him and engulfing Kakashi in an explosion "Kakashi-sensei!"

'Well, he is the Copy Ninja. A single piece of Detonating Clay isn't gonna cut it I guess.' he stuck his hand in his pouch where he kept his clay 'I don't have a lot of clay left either, all I was trying to do was lure out the jinchuuriki and now I've gotta deal with this?'

Kakashi chased after an enraged Naruto 'We've strayed too far from Sasuke, any further and we'll be out of transmission range too. I won't be able to contact Tatsu or the others. I have to hurry.'

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Tatsu's group was struggling against the clones made from removing the barrier.

They were getting exhausted, and only Tatsu and Lee were able to land any blows on their opponents.

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Sasori stared intently at the cloud of poison 'It doesn't matter if he's an Uchiha, there's no way the the boy will survive my poison.'

Sasuke was holding his breath inside the poison cloud 'Pace yourself Sasuke, you've gotta plan carefully for this one.'

"Sasuke!" Chiyo tried to use her chakra threads.

"I don't think so." Sasori flexed his fingers, and strong threads went into the poisonous fog and caught onto something.

Sasuke found himself bound from the waist down, leaving only his arms free 'Dammit, I can't break out of these things… Even if I cut myself free, I'd still have to deal with the poison.'

"There we go."

Chiyo was stunned "What have you-?"

"Ropes with kunai on the end. You should deflect them, dodging only gets you tangled up." he tried to pull Sasuke towards him.

Chiyo pulled back, leaving Sasuke in the middle "So you're determined not to let the child go are you?"

"It's useless granny, if one breathes even a hint of this poison then you're a goner."

'Sasuke…'

"It's all over."

Sasuke's mind was racing 'I can't hold out much longer, I've only got one option: hit myself with Purple Thunder and use the blast to propel myself out of the poison fog.'

Chiyo saw the Third Kazekage run out of poison gas 'That poisonous gas will disperse in a minute, hang in there Sasuke.'

Sasori smirked "I have more than one store of poison you know."

'What?!'

Sasori unleashed the second wave.

Sasuke was struggling to hold his breath 'I've only got one shot at this…' purple lightning crackled into life in his hand, and he thrusted it into his shoulder, resulting in an explosion that dissipated the cloud of poison hurled him away, tumbling towards the cave entrance, his shoulder bleeding heavily "Dammit…"

'Well well, not bad at all. I should've expected as much from your little brother, Itachi…'

Sasuke limped over to Chiyo, using a cloth from his bag to stop the bleeding "I'm alright, don't worry."

Chiyo studied Sasuke for a moment 'This boy, he used that lightning attack to fire off a blast that dissipated the gas, wounding himself to escape the trap. How reckless…'

Sasuke shot Sasori a fierce glare "Make no mistake pretty boy, I'm the one who's going to kill you. When this is over, you will be dead." he stood, wincing from the wound in his shoulder "It doesn't matter what you do to me, blow of my limbs or poison me and throw everything you've got at me, but I'll destroy you and then I'll make you tell me everything you know about Orochimaru."

"Is that so?" Sasori twitched his finger, sending out a barrage of kunai.

Sasuke braced himself.

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Deidara looked back to where Naruto and Kakashi were still pursuing him 'All I want is the jinchuuriki, the Copy-Ninja's a headache I don't need. I have to find a way to separate them.' he formed two clay spiders and threw them, only for Naruto and Kakashi to avoid them.

Kakashi was quick to figure out his angle 'He sure is trying his damndest to split the two of us up. So that's his game, he wants to face Naruto one-on-one.'

'So much for strategy, I guess my only option is taking the two of them down together. I don't have much Detonating Clay left. A shame really, if I knew I was gonna end up in this predicament then I probably would've brought along a little extra. Oh well, I still have my trump card.'

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Sasuke had prepared himself to fend off Sasori's attack, only to see two puppets appear in front of him, with Chiyo controlling them "The hell?"

"Really now, haven't you any manners? One should pay attention when another is talking to them." Chiyo scolded.

Sasori frowned "So you brought them."

"You remember these don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose I do."

"That's right, these are the very first puppets that you ever crafted. The Father and the Mother."

Sasuke was rather creeped out 'This is kind of like some weird torture porn. Wait, you mean Sasori's…?"

Sasori remained unfazed "What could you possibly hope to accomplish with them? Those puppets were made by my hand, I know all their tricks. This is just foolish."

Chiyo smirked and recalled Sasori's use of them during his childhood "You're quite certain of that are you?" the Father and Mother joined hands and broke apart, revealing a set of wire string between them "Sasuke, clear out of the way." once Sasuke was on standby, she sent the puppets forward.

Sasori attempted to use the Puppet: Thousand Hands Earth.

The Mother and Father puppets cut right through the extending arms, cutting them into several pieces.

Sasori revealed a buzzsaw on the Third's left arm.

Chiyo revealed a club in Father's arm and a sword from Mother's arm and sent both to meet the Third in a clash in the middle, resulting in a fierce and intense puppet battle.

When the little scuffle ended, Sasori's Third had had its buzzsaw destroyed.

Chiyo's Mother and Father had lost their sword and club respectively.

"This is starting to get messy, guess I'd better play my next hand." Sasori formed a hand seal, and a strange substance emerged from the Third's mouth.

"So my suspicions were true, that's the Third's jutsu."

"Brings back memories huh? This jutsu is the reason the Third is held as the most powerful ninja the Sand has ever known. I'm gonna grind you into dust."

'Dammit…'

"What is that?" asked Sasuke "I'm getting a bad vibe just looking at it."

"The most terrifying weapon in the history of the Sand Village, the Iron Sand."

"Iron Sand?"

"This is one of the original jutsu of the Third Kazekage himself, adapted from one used by the former host of Shukaku. It can mold particles of Iron Sand into any shape or weapon, forming the perfect weapon for every situation. The Third had a special physical constitution that allowed him to convert his infused chakra to create magnetic forces. This puppet has the same ability, it's manipulating the sand by making its chakra magnetic."

"But how? Even if it's made from the body of the Third Kazekage this thing's a puppet, it's not like it's alive. How can a puppet hold chakra?"

"It can't, that puppet is a Human Puppet made from a real body. It's fundamentally different from the Mother and Father puppets of mine, it was made from a real person. Sasori is the only one who can produce human puppets, the puppet retains whatever chakra the body possessed in life, the added benefit being the puppet is able to use the same jutsu it could when it was alive. It's the great advantage Human Puppets have over ordinary ones."

Sasori smirked "There's more to it than that, this puppet is my favorite out of my whole collection."

"Sasuke, get out of here while you still can."

Sasuke's head snapped towards her "What?"

"Leave it to me, I'll handle this. This is more than we bargained for, there is nothing else you can do, not against that."

"You're too slow!" Sasori prepared his attack "Iron Sand: Scatter Shower!" he thrusted several Iron Sand bullets forward.

"No!" Chiyo thrusted her chakra strings, having the Mother puppet pull Sasuke out of the way, and when the attack subsided it revealed that Chiyo had shielded herself using the chakra shield installed inside the Father puppet.

"You've made some changes I see, and a chakra shield at that. A definite upgrade since I last played with them."

Chiyo tried to move the Father puppet, only to find that that she couldn't due to the joints being clotted 'As I feared, crippled by the Iron Sand.'

"You have to do more than just block it, you have to dodge this jutsu to survive. Is that it? Saving the Uchiha-wannabe is all you could manage? The Iron Sand has crept into every crevice of the puppet, as long as I have the Third's magnetic power that puppet is worthless. Let's see… yes, I think it's time I attack both of you at once. Just to make sure you're really dead, I'll use my most lethal form." he gathered the Iron Sand and formed it into various spikes "You won't get away this time. One puppet, two people, can't protect both. What do you say to that you witch? Which of you will die?!" he brought the spikes down on both of them.

When the attack subsided, Sasuke opened his eyes to find the Mother puppet shielding him from the impact of the Iron Sand 'Well there goes the other puppet, so what now? Most of my jutsu are close to mid-range lightning and I can't afford to touch that stuff since it's most likely covered in his poison. What are we- wait, Chiyo!' his head snapped towards the right.

Chiyo had shielded herself with a chakra shield in her right arm 'Just in time.'

Sasori smirked "Just enough, but still rigging your own body? We puppet masters are all alike, our minds work the same don't they?"

Chiyo found her arm clotted, then her eyes hardened in realization "Of course, now I understand."

"Once the Iron Sand gets in it's the end of the line, the puppet's useless. So granny, what now?"

Chiyo looked and saw the Mother puppet being clotted up by the Iron Sand, then began to remember how her son and daughter-in-law were killed by the White Fang of the Leaf, leaving her to raise Sasori herself. She had decided to pass down the Puppet Master jutsu to Sasori, to which he managed to create his parents through puppets in order to feel the parental love he never got. She promptly discarded her useless puppet arm.

"Take away all their puppets and even the greatest masters are nothing." Sasori unleashed more of the Iron Sand.

"How could I let it come to this? How could I be so blind? Now what will I do?"

Chiyo made a decision "Sasuke, you must get out of here now. Hurry!"

Sasuke didn't move, his Sharingan flaring back into life 'What's our next move gonna be?'

"Sasuke, why are you just standing there? I told you before that there's nothing you can do, not against this. You must leave it to me now go, run!"

'Run? Run and leave her to face this guy alone? Run and be the self-saving coward Itachi made me out to be? There's no way that's gonna happen, not now, not ever. Still though, I've gotta get close enough to Sasori to finish him off without being touched by his Iron Sand. For all either of us know, he could've drenched the stuff in poison…' he looked at the disabled Father and Mother puppets, and a lightbulb went off in his head 'That's it!' he made his way over to Chiyo and stood in front of her "I've got an idea. Use me as your puppet to fight him. Unlike the others my body is made of flesh and bone, his Iron Sand can't stop me."

Chiyo looked down at her useless puppet arm "I have only one arm now, I won't be able to support you like last time."

"I'll be fine, I may not be rigged with fancy weapons like the puppets you and Sasori have been bringing out but the unwavering spirit of the Uchiha clan has been drilled into my soul by my teacher, Shisui Uchiha."

Chiyo's eyes widened, then softened 'Shisui the Lightning Teleporter eh? Alright then…' her chakra strings attached themselves to the back of Sasuke's body "You're right, the Third Kazekage's magnetic forces render puppets made of iron and steel useless."

"Exactly, like my teacher I can fight with the power of Raijin."

"Not this again." Sasori muttered.

"What if it is bastard?!" Sasuke charged, Sanda Sharingan flaring into life.

Sasori shot out a spike of Iron Sand.

Sasuke leapt back, being pulled back by Chiyo.

Sasori attempted to squash Sasuke with an Iron Sand cube.

Sasuke was pulled back, then charged a Chidori and flung the cube back towards Sasori, forcing him to one knee.

"How dare you…!"

"Get ready Sasori, that's just the beginning!"

Sasori leapt off the wall and back onto the cavern floor, then retracted the large forms of Iron Sand while giving the Third Kazekage Iron Sand wings. Then he attacked Sasuke with an Iron Sand pyramid spinning like a top.

Sasuke leapt out of the way as the pyramid grinded down against the cave floor, then dodged an Iron Sand rectangular prism. He then found himself dodging both at once before he slashed at the pyramid with his katana, sending it into a wall.

Sasori picked up the rectangular prism with his chakra threads.

"Over there huh?" Sasuke formed hand seals "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he launched a fireball, pushing the prism upwards and through the roof of the cavern, causing it to cave in slightly, some rocks falling.

Sasori launched the prism again.

Sasuke leapt out of the way and dodged it "Is that all you've got?!" he hit it with a Purple Thunder Blast, slamming it into the wall and causing the roof to cave in even further.

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Kakashi heard the cave in 'That noise… what's going on? Sounds like it came from back in Sasuke and Lady Chiyo's direction, but I can't be sure. We're out of transmission range now. I've gotta hurry!'

Naruto was about to lose it 'We're not getting anywhere chasing after him like this. Step it up Kakashi-sensei! Let's go, we're gonna lose sight of him if we don't get a move on!"

"It's okay. You're the whole reason he's here, don't forget that. He won't get so far ahead as to lose us completely."

"Fine then, just tell me how to take this guy down already! We're running out of time!"

"Don't worry Naruto, I've got a couple of strategies in mind but I need a little more time to work out all the angles."

"I can't hang back anymore, don't you get it?! I've gotta get to Gaara before it's too late!"

Deidara looked back and smirked 'I don't know what their plan is, but at least the jinchuuriki is a total simpleton. I've just gotta keep him too busy to think. I wonder if those two can match my speed.' he sped up.

"You jerk, get back here!" Naruto charged forward.

"Naruto wait!" Kakashi went ignored 'There's no getting through to him now. Only one choice, only one option left.'

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Tatsu continued clashing with his clone, switching from cliff to cliff, before going down to the river below 'Dammit, this thing's tough. Not even my Wind Style: Rasengan was able to deal him in. I haven't gotten much practice, but I guess I've gotta try something new.' then he heard the cave collapsing and checked on his radio "What the hell was that? Did you guys all hear that crashing noise?"

Neji checked in first "I heard it over here as well."

Then Ino "It sounds like it's coming from the enemy's hideout."

Then Lee "I heard it too, what the hell is going on?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Neji."

"Understood. Byakugan!" Neji paused "The enemy's hideout, it's collapsing at an alarming rate!"

"Well what's going on over there? Did Sasuke and Lady Chiyo win or did Sasori get the better of them?"

"It seems to be a fairly even battle."

"So they're holding their own, I expected as much from Sasuke. Come on guys, let's get this over with!"

Tatsu's clone promptly drew its fake Dragon Blade and slashed through his torso.

Tatsu promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing it was only a Shadow Clone "Got you mother f*cker!"

The clone looked up to see Tatsu with a nature-powered Rasengan in hand.

"The fake-out is the oldest trick in the book! Water Style: Rasengan!" he launched a water powered Rasengan, slamming it into the clone's torso and slamming it into the ground.

The clone didn't get up again.

Tatsu knew he'd won.

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Sasori was surprised by Sasuke's abilities "That's pretty impressive skill for some Uchiha wannabe."

Sasuke was panting slightly "I am an Uchiha you idiot!"

Chiyo studied Sasuke for a moment 'His Sharingan picked up on Sasori's attack pattern in such a short amount of time, he probably doesn't even need any help from me. I never thought he would've had such ability even for an Uchiha, impressive indeed. That Shisui sure has one hell of a student.'

'Now then, how much can he handle?' deciding to test Sasuke further, Sasori launched more Iron Sand attacks.

'Dammit!' Sasuke found himself forced on the defensive and evasive 'Come on, what did Shisui tell you to do in a situation like this?'

(Flashback)

Sasuke found Shisui standing before him in Limbo, Mangekyo Sharingan flaring "So Shisui, what's the plan for today? A brand new jutsu? How to sense chakra? What about how to fly-"

"DODGE!" Shisui summoned a giant green warrior made of chakra and started shooting out a barrage of green chakra needles.

"Shit!" Sasuke found himself comically dodging them, summoning a lightning shield using Raijin's power to protect himself "What the hell?!"

"Don't defend, DODGE!" Shisui fired even more chakra needles.

"Why?!"

"Because the most important thing for you to master is evasion." Shisui halted his assault with the chakra needles.

"So to teach me this you decided to summon a giant chakra samurai?!"

"No, to teach you this I decided to shoot you with chakra needles. As for the giant chakra warrior, I'll go into that later."

"Then why?"

"You must never let an enemy attack hit you."

"Why's that?"

"It's simple. If an offensive shinobi dies then who will protect those not suited for combat? Now I'm gonna come at you even harder, your job is to avoid any attack I throw at you."

"Hold on a minute, what's with the chakra samurai?"

"That's an ability granted by someone who wields the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes: it's called the Susanoo."

"Wait… so you're saying that Itachi has it?"

"If he has the Mangekyo, I wouldn't put it past him."

Sasuke frowned "I see."

(Flashback End)

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Sasuke got into a combat stance 'Attack when I can, focus mainly on evasion.'

'So that's his move.' Sasori raised a hand.

'Now!' Sasuke charged in.

Sasori launched a spike of Iron Sand.

Sasuke dodged it and kept running, then slashed at a cube of Iron Sand, causing it to collide with the pyramid and send both flying away from each other. Then he studied Sasori intently to analyze his attack pattern 'His fingers always move just before he attacks but that should be obvious enough, he's controlling the Third Kazekage with chakra strings from his fingers. It's the weakness of every puppet master.'

Sasori summoned back the Iron Sand pyramid and cube.

'But thanks to my Sharingan I'm starting to follow the direction of his attacks and the pattern of the movements of his arm and fingers.'

'The boy's watching me like a hawk. This is taking too long, I'm going to have to expend some chakra here. Better use my ace.' he flexed his fingers and both Iron Sand figures collided with each other "Iron Sand: World Order." the Iron Sand turned into a gigantic sphere of branching spikes.

It took every ounce of Sasuke's will to keep from losing it 'That thing is large enough itself, the range has to be enormous!' he got pulled back by Chiyo before one spike hit, as well as several spikes following, only to see another spike shooting towards him 'Dammit, I don't have enough time to dodge this one!' he didn't, nor did he have time to dodge the oncoming onslaught of every spike at once.

Chiyo found her arm pinned underneath a slab of rock 'Damn!'

Sasuke stood, cut in several areas.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, are you alright?"

Sasuke's wound from the earlier Purple Thunder blast was now much larger, and he immediately gripped it in pain, recalling how he'd planned to get close enough to use a Chidori in order to finish it, only to fall to his knees.

"The poison…"

Sasori smirked "What do you say granny? There was more to it than you thought."

"So you soaked the Iron Sand in poison as well?" Chiyo watched in horror as Sasuke collapsed.

"The poison's starting to work, soon his body will go numb and he won't be able to move. Left alone she may last 3 days, but I'll finish her now!" he sent the Third Kazekage puppet itself forward to finish it, revealing a hidden blade from its sleeve "It's over, Uchiha." the Third closed in.

"Sasuke!"

"CHIDORI!" lightning crackled into life in Sasuke's hand and he thrusted it through the Third's chest, ripping it to pieces and leaving parts scattered everywhere, and the Iron Sand all fell to the ground, completely useless. The he leapt over to Chiyo and freed her arm from underneath the boulder "Are you alright?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed 'What's going on? How is he still moving? Is the old hag still controlling her? No, she couldn't generate such complicated movements, not in her condition. Somehow, that girl is moving on her own. But how? I know my poison affected him.'

"Hold still." Sasuke got rid of any excess rubble surrounding them.

"But how-?" Chiyo stammered.

"I used the antidote, good thing it worked." Sasuke looked over to an empty vial that lay amongst the sand.

"An antidote? But when did you get that?"

"Back when Kakashi sent his ninja hound to guide us here. Ino gave him that vile that she made the same time she made the antidote for Kankuro. According to a note she gave me, she barely had enough material to make three doses of antidote. She gave one of them to Kankuro to cure him of Sasori's poison. She knew that our enemy would use poison but knew that with Tatsu and Lee in our squad we'd be faster, so she sent the rest with us in hypodermic form."

"Of course, and that's how you-"

"Yeah, and I used one of the doses on myself but apparently it only works for about three minutes. While it works, whatever poison in my system is converted into harmless protein."

"I understand."

"That's why I didn't try to fight back as much as I would've liked, I figured letting Sasori find out I had this was a bad idea. I knew he'd reveal his plan once he let his guard down, I had to take the chance. So I waited until the last possible moment." he held up the last vial "This is it, this is the last dose. I want you to keep this with you."

"Right." Chiyo made to grab it, but winced.

"You're hurt. Hold on a second, I only know the basics but it'll have to do for now."

Sasori watched the exchange 'Wait a second, there's no way the poison was neutralized.' he thought back to his fight with Kankuro 'Don't tell me they analyzed the poison I used in that fight. Impossible, even if they were able to somehow isolate the individual components they wouldn't be able to prepare an antidote that easily. The antidote is prohibitively difficult to make, if there's even the slightest mistake… even I needed to reference the mix ratio table and I created it.'

Sasuke's hands began glowing with green energy "I only know the basics but it should be enough at least for now. For the next three minutes or so his poison won't affect me so we don't have a lot of time to finish this."

'Did the witch do this? No, I've got more medical skill than anyone in the Sand village, certainly more than the old lay. There's no way she could've cracked a poison this intricate. There's no way this Uchiha kid is a medical ninja too. If memory serves, aside from the old hag they're all from the Leaf village. The Leaf's current Hokage is Tsunade, she's known as a world-class medical ninja. That's it, she made the antidote.'

Chiyo gripped her fist "Thank you Sasuke, my hand feels fine now."

"Good." then Sasuke suddenly started panting heavily.

'Powerful attacks, evasion, masterful lightning manipulation, even some minor skills in healing, all of that must use a considerable amount of chakra. His body is probably nearing its limit as it is.'

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Deidara looked back to where Naruto and Kakashi were still chasing him 'So annoying, this is taking so long I'll never go back to my man Sasori. I know, I'll use the rest of my Detonating Clay and show him what a real artist can do. However, if I'm gonna do that then I'll have to get rid of the Copy Ninja first. Might've taken a while, but this is worth the wait.' he then unleashed a large barrage of exploding crickets.

Kakashi was forced on the evasive as they closed in 'What? These aren't like the bird ones from before, they're smaller. Is that so they won't get picked off by shuriken? Why so many? Judging from the size of their hind legs, I'd say their special ability is jumping. Well then I guess it's going to come down to a battle of speed.' he channeled chakra into his feet and blitzed forward, only to be cut off by some of the exploding crickets. He avoided the blast and leapt upwards, only for more to detonate in front of him, forcing him back "Naruto, wait up!"

Naruto growled "You're slowing me down Kakashi-sensei, I'm going on ahead!"

"Don't do anything reckless!"

"Yeah yeah I know!" and he went on ahead.

"This might be a bit of a sticky situation.

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Sasuke had been trying to patch himself up 'I've stopped the major bleeding at least, now I've gotta focus as much of my chakra as I can on attacking. We've only got three minutes to do this.'

Chiyo picked up the vial of antidote '3 minutes or we won't have another chance.'

"We're running out of time, do you think you're in any shape for a fight?"

"Let's go." Chiyo slipped the antidote into her sleeve "It's time we put an end to this."

"I couldn't agree more."

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Kakashi's mind was racing 'Gotta think, I can't waste time having a staring contest with these things. If I leave Naruto on his own then he could lose control at any moment.' he leapt back, but they followed him 'They won't let me fall back and build up enough speed to break past them, they're maintaining this distance. In that case…' he leapt down, then leapt up and retreated in the opposite direction, with the crickets following right behind him 'Come on guys, stay right on my tail…' he finally ricocheted off of a log and charged forward again 'There they go…' then several of them stuck onto his back 'Crap…' then he got caught in an explosion.

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Deidara noticed the explosion and smirked "That takes care of him."

Naruto noticed it too "That wasn't… Kakashi-sensei…" he stopped when he saw that Deidara stopped.

"At last, now it's just the two of us."

Naruto let out a low growl.

"Don't scowl like that, and here I was about to let you see your friend." his clay bird opened its mouth, revealing Gaara's corpse."

Naruto's growl grew louder.

"Oh that's right, you're a jinchuuriki too. I bet seeing him like this drives you crazy." he was right.

"Give him back… RIGHT NOW!" Naruto was about to charge in a rage.

Then an arm stopped him "Don't do it!"

Naruto looked to see Kakashi standing beside him "Kakashi-sensei…"

Deidara let out a groan "Oh man, I could've sworn you just bought it back there."

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask "Sorry, but it wasn't the real me that blew up. Next time you should teach your critters to tell the difference between the original and a Shadow Clone, that is if there is a next time."

Deidara flew upwards.

'Wait for it…'

"DON'T MOVE!" Naruto exploded.

"I could say the same to you. It'll be alright, we will get Gaara back so calm down.

'My man Sasori is going to yell at me again for not being prepared. What can I say, planning on every insignificant detail ahead of time just isn't my style.' Deidara reached for his pouch 'I prefer to stay flexible dealing with unexpected situations, developing that kind of sophisticated mindset is the mark of a true artist. Let's see, what to do now…'

"Listen Naruto, you're not used to fighting an opponent like this. That's not all, you're a close-combat to mid-range fighter. He excels at long range, that makes him your worst enemy. There are only two ways to beat this kind of foe. One is to force him to fight up close and personal, your only other option is to beat him at his own game."

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Naruto.

"Depending on which strategy is chosen, you'd either need a long range specialist or someone on your team who can use long range ninjutsu to support that kind of distance combat."

"I've got all sorts of long range stuff!"

"Naruto, there's a difference between long range and mid range. Anyway, if you don't have one or the other then there's no way you'll beat him. Period. Now if you have the superior intellect of Shikamaru then that would be a different story."

"Spit it out already, which one are you?!"

"Oh me? While I have a superior intellect like Shikamaru I'm a jonin, and I can sustain long range battle."

"Then we meet all the conditions right?!"

"That's why I told you to calm down."

"Well let's hurry up and get to it!"

"It's not as simple as it sounds. We can't just chase after him, he'll never leave himself open. He infiltrated the Hidden Sand Village and defeated Gaara all by himself, and even more dangerous he's a member of the Akatsuki. It's a tough challenge, all we can do is try and punch a hole in his defences. We're gonna have to work together."

Naruto saw Deidara flying away.

"If you were following my train of thought then keep listening, I've got a plan."

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The battle in the hideout had grown quiet.

"Okay Sasuke, let's get him." Chiyo decided.

Sasuke nodded "Right."

Sasori made a decision of his own and started unbuttoning his Akatsuki robe 'Fine, I'll admit it. I figured he'd be skilled being Itachi's younger brother, but he's more impressive than I thought. Never thought I'd see the Third Kazekage destroyed, and it's probably a waste to use other Human Puppets. I haven't been forced to solve a problem this way since I joined the Akatsuki, I wonder how long it's been."

"What the hell?"

Chiyo's eyes narrowed "Now I see, the reason he looks exactly the same as the day he left. Of course age doesn't affect him, the reason is staring us right in the face."

A thick coil emerged from Sasori's stomach, and he stood atop a section of it of it as it pierced the ground "Oh yes, it's been awhile indeed since I last used myself."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed "He's actually a Human Puppet himself?"

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Kakashi, with Naruto beside him, continued pursuing Deidara "You all set?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah I got it, don't worry."

"Here we go." Kakashi closed his eyes and he began building chakra.

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Sasuke studied Sasori intently 'Hold on, if his entire army is a puppet then that means all of the hidden weapons inside his body must be covered in poison as well.'

"Something wrong?" asked Sasori, his eyes radiating malice.

'It's already been over a minute since I gave myself the antidote…'

"I'm sorry, weren't you supposed to finish me off? Well if you aren't going to attack me…"

'The effects of the antidote will wear off in less than 2 minutes, that's all I've got. Somehow I've gotta get in close enough to defeat him, and I've gotta do it fast.'

"Then I'll have to make the first move!" Sasori revealing flamethrowers in his hands and shot out two blasts of fire.

Sasuke dodged the blast and hid behind a boulder, with Chiyo mimicking his movements.

"You think you can hide from me?" Sasori continued shooting out flames "Well, what are you going to do now?"

Sasuke began charging lightning into his hand, and once the flames subsided, he leapt out from behind the boulder "Lightning Style: Purple Thunder!" he fired a blast of lightning.

Sasori unleashed more flames, dissipating the lightning.

Sasuke took cover behind another boulder 'It's gonna be tough getting close to him now.'

Chiyo was feeling the heat 'Such intensity to these flames…'

Sasuke leapt behind the same boulder as Chiyo "90 seconds left." he leapt on.

"Yes." Chiyo leapt on.

"Time to die with!" Sasori attempted to roast her, only for her to substitute with some rubble.

"Let's finish this boy!" Chiyo attempted to attack Sasori with the head of the Third Kazekage.

"As you wish." Sasori incinerated the head "I figured as much, you attached a chakra thread during our last go around."

'That trick won't work a second time.'

"Too bad for you." Sasori unleashed his flamethrowers again.

Sasuke's mind was racing 'There's no time!'

"What's wrong? Don't wanna play?" one of the scrolls on his back disappeared.

'The antidote will only last for another minute.'

"Alright then…" Sasori switched from fire to water blasts, destroying the boulders.

"Lady Chiyo, move!" Sasuke leapt back, with Chiyo following his lead.

Another scroll on Sasori's back disappeared "How long do you plan to dance around?"

'20 seconds left…'

"Fine, be that way." Sasori unleashed his poison-coated stinger and stabbed Sasuke in his waist.

'15 seconds left…'

"Are you alright Sasuke?" Chiyo called.

"Die!" the blades on Sasori's back began rotating outwards as he charged.

"Lady Chiyo!" Sasuke charged, wincing as he did 'The antidote is working, if I can just endure the pain a little longer…'

Sasori looked back and noticed Sasuke yanking on his coiled rope 'Useless…' he kept flying onwards.

'5 seconds left…'

Sasori was closing in on Chiyo.

'4 seconds…'

Sasori stopped right before ripping Chiyo to shreds.

Chiyo looked at Sasuke in wonder "Sasuke…"

"GET THE HELL OVER HERE!" Sasuke yanked Sasori towards him '3 seconds… 2…' he drew his sword, channeled his lightning chakra into it, and stabbed Sasori in the stomach, the lightning ripping Sasori's body to pieces and pushing out his core, which stopped moving. He then fell to his knees in exhaustion "We were able to defeat him just before the antidote wore off…" he took a deep breath and gave a relieved smile "We really did it, didn't we Lady Chiyo?"

"Sasuke… well done child."

Sasuke gave a thumbs up as he sheathed his sword.

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Deidara looked back and frowned 'I don't like this, the kid's cooled off. What are they planning?'

Sure enough, Naruto's eyes were back to blue "Hey sensei, you ready or what?"

"Hold your horses." Kakashi waved him off "Remember, I don't have as much chakra as you. It's going to take time."

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Clutching his wound, Sasuke started limping forward, Sharingan fading "Alright then, now let's-" he froze when he heard something, then looked back "F*ck."

Sasori's body quickly reassembled itself "What are you so happy about?"

"That's right." Chiyo quickly retrieved her puppet arm and reattached it, cleaning out the now harmless Iron Sand "The fight has only begun." she pulled out a scroll "I forbade even myself from using this jutsu, I never imagined I would use it again but against you I must." she formed a hand seal and opened the scroll "Let's finish this here and now." she summoned 10 white puppets.

"It's said the ability of a puppet master is measured by the number of puppets they can use, I expect no less from you grandmother. Granny Chiyo's secret multiple digits, I've heard tell of their glory. You once destroyed an entire fortress with them. Secret White Move: Chikamatsu's 10 puppets, the first puppet master Monzaemon's 10 masterpieces. An exquisite collection. However…" he pulled a scroll from his back, summoning MANY more puppets all at once, chakra threads emerging from his chest "I used these to destroy an entire nation!"

'He's grown so powerful…'

'It's embarrassing really, how long does it take to finish off one little brat and an old bag? I never thought I'd have to resort to my best puppets.' his puppets all braced themselves "Secret Red Move: Performance of 100 puppets. It's show time!"

"Sasuke." Chiyo didn't look at him "That antidote of yours has already worn off, stay out of this."

Sasuke shot her a smirk, catching her off guard, then turned back to Sasori, his Sanda Sharingan flaring back into life "It's not in me to give up, quitting isn't an option and it never has been."

"...How silly of me, you've inherited the strong will of Shisui the Lightning Teleporter. What's say we make this the finale though, are you ready child?"

"You know I am."

"Here they come."

"Die!" Sasori thrusted his 100 puppets forward.

"Get ready!" Chiyo sent her puppets forward, slicing through one puppet after another.

"Gotcha!" Sasuke summoned Raijin's power and slashed through puppet after puppet.

"Three Treasures Suction Crush!" Chiyo had three puppets in a triangle formation, sucking in and crushing every puppet in its path, then shot them out from the back.

"Thunder Style: Lightning Chain Whip!" using a thread made of pure lightning chakra, Sasuke spun the Raijin sword around like a chain, slashing through every puppet in its path, but he felt his chakra fading 'As cool as these Raijin-powered moves are, they take up a lot of chakra. There's too many of them left, I've gotta find a way to take them all out in one shot.' he dodged several puppets and blades.

Chiyo found the vacuum overloaded 'There's too many of them.' the trio of puppets was divided, but Chiyo stopped one of the red puppets from catching Sasuke off guard "You alright Sasuke?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, stay sharp."

"Right."

'We've definitely thinned down Sasori's puppets, but conversely it looks like he's focusing more intently on the ones that remain. Only one antidote left, and if either one of us takes any damage then we're going to be in a lot of trouble.' then she promptly got cut along her shoulder.

"Lady Chiyo!"

"No!" her white puppet punched out the red one.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me Sasuke, right now you just focus on Sasori. I'll keep the other puppets in check."

"Right. I've got one jutsu that should end it, but I've gotta get close."

"Then go, I'll back you up!"

"Right!" Sasuke charged, both hands crackling with electricity. He dodged the blades of several red puppets at once and charged at Sasori himself "Take this! Thunder Style: Electric Binding!" he hit Sasori on both arms with two blasts of lightning.

Sasori's whole body crackled with electricity and slammed him into the wall behind him, wires made of pure lightning binding him to the wall, leaving him unable to move or attack, causing all of his remaining puppets to fall, useless.

Sasuke was panting heavily, tired but triumphant "We did it… he can't move anymore, that's a lightning style sealing jutsu that traps every ounce of chakra in the victim's body. He can't use his chakra threads now, all of his puppets are useless now. You hear me Sasori? This battle is over."

"It's over…" then Chiyo fell to her knees.

"Lady Chiyo!" Sasuke rushed over to her "Quick, use the antidote." then he saw a puppet rising behind her attempting to stab her with a poison-coated sword.

Blood spurted into the air, and Chiyo looked on in horror 'No…'

Sasuke had taken the hit for her, taking a poison-coated sword through the chest "Sasori… I was careless…" then he looked back "Lady Chiyo… how're you holding up?"

"Still worried about her even with a sword in your gut?" Sasori thrusted the sword further into Sasuke's wound.

'Sasori, but how?' then Chiyo froze 'No, it can't be!' she looked at Sasori's sealed body 'Of course, so that's it!'

"If you're knowledgeable of medical ninjutsu boy then you should fully understand how dire your situation is."

"Shut up…" Sasuke growled, his Sanda Sharingan deactivating against his will.

"You're quite courageous boy, but how much longer can you really hold on?" Sasori thrusted the sword deeper.

Sasuke rested a hand over the wound, channeling a small bit of healing chakra into the wound.

'What? He stopped the bleeding while my sword is still through him. Even if he only knows basic medical ninjutsu, he's good.'

"Lady Chiyo… don't worry about me… I'll be fine…" Sasuke spat out some blood "Take the antidote…"

"But Sasuke…" Chiyo murmured.

"I'll never… let my comrades… shed blood… that's my nindo… my ninja way… now take the damn thing…"

Sasori smirked "It appears the poison is starting to take effect, you see my sword is also coated with poison just in case."

'My body's going numb from the poison, I'm losing control of whatever chakra I have left…'

'Sasuke…' popping off the cap to the antidote, Chiyo stuck it in Sasuke's leg.

"I see, so that's the antidote."

"Lady Chiyo…" Sasuke coughed up more blood as he watcher her fall to her knees "Are you… okay?"

'I can't believe these people would choose death to save someone else's life, they're so stupid it's laughable.' Sasori thrusted his sword deeper.

Sasuke gripped the sword with whatever strength he had left "I won't… give up…"

'I don't get it, how can he be this strong?'

Sasuke looked to where Chiyo was struggling "Come on… hang in there… just a little longer…"

'If it's a battle of strength then there's no way I'll outlast him. Fine then…' Sasori detached his arm, revealing another blade hidden where the forearm should be, then retreated back.

'He's planning for a final strike… I've only got one shot at this…'

"Now you die!" Sasori charged.

Sasuke flexed his fingers, chakra being channeled from them.

Sasori stopped in his tracks, the Mother and Father puppets on each side of them, both stabbing through his core "What… how…?" he cranked his head to each side.

"You lowered your guard… at the last moment… Sasori…" Chiyo rasped out.

"What…?" Sasori looked and saw a sealing jutsu coming from one of the white puppets.

Sasuke smirked weakly "And now… you can't move… anymore…"

"Even though your body is now that of a puppet, you still need a human element to control it chakra." explained Chiyo "It's your weakness."

"We couldn't help… noticing… that part from… the left side… of the puppet's chest… was gone… right before… I sealed your body… you switched your core… into another puppet…"

"All of these puppet bodies, they're just a collection of dolls. But your true nature is the part inside your chest that produces your chakra."

"Now that's been destroyed… you're finished…" then Sasuke promptly collapsed.

"Sasuke…" Chiyo crawled over to him 'He doesn't look good, I've got to try and close his wound while I simultaneously pull out the sword.' she began healing the wound with one hand while pulling out the sword with her other hand.

Sasuke let out a pained groan through gritted teeth.

"Stay with me now, just a little further." she completely pulled the sword out and quickly tossed it away.

Sasori was still cocky as ever "That won't work, there's too much damage. He'll die even without the effects of the poison, he's lot too much blood. I'm well aware that you're a medical ninja, which is why I aimed for a spot that's impossible to heal."

The energy from her palms turned to a deep blue "I've already finished the first aid treatment with medical ninjutsu, what I'm doing for him now is something very different."

"What?"

"I'm harnessing my own life force and conducting it into his body."

"No, it can't be…"

"A reanimation ninjutsu."

"A reanimation ninjutsu?"

"This jutsu of mine, I spent many years creating it especially for you and I'm the only one who can use it. Using this jutsu life can be breathed into anyone, even puppets."

Sasori's eyes widened.

"That is, in exchange for the life of the one who uses it. Oh well, but after all that's happened I suppose that's an impossible dream now."

"Nonsense… what utter nonsense… tell me grandmother, when did you become so senile?"

Chiyo stopped the jutsu when she saw Sasuke coming too "Sasuke, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Sasuke breathed "Just low on chakra… what about you?"

"Peculiar…" Sasori noted "That reanimation ninjutsu or whatever it's called, I thought the caster was supposed to die after bringing someone else back to life."

"Sasuke's injuries were severe but she wasn't dead when I used the ninjutsu, so even though I took a risk my life was spared." explained Chiyo.

"How very unfortunate, how even more pointless. But come to think of it, you both seem to love doing such pointless things. Even if my own relative, my grandmother, died right here, I wouldn't feel a thing. My heart is just like this body, over the years I've killed hundreds, thousands of people, and she'd be no different from the rest. Things are much simpler than you might think."

"Tell me…" Sasuke rasped out, his voice hoarse "What do you think… human life is? What is… family to you?"

"Is that really how a shinobi should talk?"

"How can you… treat people this way?"

"Sasuke, that's enough." Chiyo said softly "The teachings and customs of the Sand village did this, we all share the blame for making him what he is today."

"Deep down inside don't you wanna be like me?" Sasori continued "If you do then I'm sure you'll understand just a little of what I'm talking about. This body won't fall apart or age, I'm bound to an unlimited lifespan. A puppet can be recreated over and over, with puppets you can make as many people as you want, if you want to that is. Don't get me wrong it's not just about quantity, a serious collection is based on quality."

"What the hell are you?" Sasuke snarled.

"I would describe myself as a human being who could not become a complete puppet. Yes, I am an unfinished puppet whose lifeless frame still contains a beating heart at its core. I am neither dead nor am I alive. The end is near, but first I'm going to do something pointless too. You wanted to know about Orochimaru didn't you?"

Sasuke froze.

"Go to the Tenchi Bridge in the Village Hidden in the Grass 10 days from now at noon."

"What happens there?"

"One of Orochimaru's henchmen is working for me as a spy, and that's where I'm supposed to rendezvous with him."

"I see…" using his sword as a crutch, Sasuke stood straight and smiled "Thank you for telling me this Sasori, and now I'm gonna do something that we both may consider pointless." his smiled faded "Sasori, the true source of your power lies in your soul. You tried to erase your soul by becoming a puppet, but you didn't fully succeed. I know this for a fact, you could've dodged that last attack but you didn't. Your undying soul dwells in the puppets you created. Your art, the puppets that you created, will live on forever as long as future generations of puppet masters still remain to inherit the soul that resides within them. This is precisely the true form of art that you've sought for this long."

'The soul of the creator dwells within huh? Perhaps… you're right… Thank you… Sasuke Uchiha…" and with that, he collapsed, along with his Father and Mother puppets.

'He's gone. Well Lady Chiyo, it's really over."

Chiyo just looked at Sasori's body "The wrong person was defeated in battle today, it should've been me instead. Like you said, Sasori anticipated our final attack but didn't even attempt to dodge it. He chose to let his defences down."

"So he wanted this."

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Naruto continued pursuing Deidara "Kakashi-sensei, you about ready yet?"

"My preparations are complete." Kakashi opened his left eye, revealing a change.

"So that's what you were telling me about?"

"That's right, my new Mangekyo Sharingan. Now let's go Naruto."

"Right."

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Sasuke made his way out, then stopped and caught Chiyo as she collapsed "I've got you. Hold still." he began administering first aid 'This is all I can do, it won't save her, not to mention I've still gotta do something about Sasori's poison. Ino's the only one of us who can make the antidote, and I've run out of all of the stuff she gave me. Maybe if I can get her to Ino and get her the ingredients needed then we might just make it in time. Come on, let's pick up the others and get back to the village so she can make another batch of the antidote."

"No…" Chiyo rasped out "There's something I must do… my job isn't done yet…"

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Naruto looked at Kakashi in wonder 'A Mangekyo Sharingan?'

Kakashi noticed Naruto staring at him "What is it?"

"Kakashi-sensei, don't sweat it if this doesn't work because if it doesn't then I'll be sure to settle things once and for all."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will if it comes to that."

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Tatsu looked down as his clone finally dissolved 'A worthy adversary, but I shouldn't expect any less from a clone of me. Plus it did point out a lot of faults I have, I'd better work on those when we get back.' then he checked with the others "You guys here? Did you beat them?"

"We're all good."

"Good, then let's find Naruto and the others and back them up."

"We're already on our way."

"Good. I've locked onto your chakra signatures, I'll see you guys in a minute."

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Sasuke lead Chiyo out of the cave and towards the path along the river 'I shouldn't be surprised she was lagging behind, with Sasori's poison already working its magic it's a wonder she hasn't passed out already. It's only her sheer willpower keeping her conscious. Whatever she says she has to do, it must be something big. Hold on a second." he set her down gently, then rubbed his thumb against his wound and formed hand seals "Summoning Jutsu!" he slammed his hand on the ground and summoned his personal hawk "Follow after Naruto and Kakashi." and they flew on.

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Deidara looked back to see Naruto and Kakashi pursuing him 'Still on my tail I see.'

"Time to give it a try." Kakashi decided "Naruto, you'd better fall back a little."

"Right, got it." Naruto fell back so he wouldn't be caught by Kakashi's jutsu.

Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan flared "Kamui!"

Deidara suddenly found his surroundings beginning to warp, mainly around his arm "What is this? What's going on?" he suddenly noticed Kakashi's eye "No!"

"I've got you now." Kakashi attempted to suck Deidara into the center of the warping point.

Deidara struggled, but he managed to escape.

"Dammit." Kakashi tried again, centering on Deidara's left arm.

"My arm's being sucked into oblivion by this damned jutsu!" his arm got completely ripped off and sucked off, before the jutsu subsided.

'I missed, I'm still not very good at controlling the size or position of the barrier space. But I'll get it right this time!' his Mangekyo Sharingan flared back into existence as he tried to use Kamui again.

As the path through the river subsided, leading to a forest area, Deidara's clay bird flew upwards, taking him out of the jutsu's range.

Kakashi was forced to subside the jutsu "Dammit, I let him get away."

"Good, I shook him off."

"Maybe him but not me mother f*cker!" Naruto appeared above him, a spiralling crimson Rasengan in hand, and he thrusted it forward.

Deidara dodged it and fell back into the trees, but the head of his clay bird was ripped off.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto formed some clones and they all caught the head, then gently lowered it down "Gaara!" they all scraped away the clay, while one of them went over to see how Kakashi was doing "Kakashi-sensei, you alright?"

"Yeah… I think so…" Kakashi panted.

"Don't worry Gaara, we'll get you out." Naruto and two of his clones finally tore through the clay "Gaara!"

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Tatsu, Lee, Neji and Ino reunited along the path, but realized that they were out of range to contact Kakashi with the wireless radio, so they decided to hurry and pick up the pace so they could rendezvoused with the rest.

Even if one of the Akatsuki was down, there was still one left.

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"Gaara!" Naruto and his clones finally got through to Gaara "Talk to me." nothing "Hey come on, Gaara." still nothing. Now he had to face the grim truth "Gaara!"

Deidara looked out from his hiding place and smirked 'I told you didn't I? Gaara's dead. It worked perfectly, using the Kazekage as bait to lure out the Leaf jinchuuriki.' then he looked over at Kakashi 'What I didn't plan on was that one coming along too. First it was my left arm crushed by the Sand jinchuuriki. Now my right arm too? I can't use any jutsu. It's over. I never thought I'd meet anyone with visual jutsu as powerful as Itachi's. This jinchuuriki is nothing, the problem is how to deal with Kakashi.'

"You will pay for this!"

"Yeah yeah, maybe someday I'll give you a rematch kid."

"You've let down your guard." was all Kakashi said.

"Wha-?" Deidara looked back 'Dammit!'

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" a furious Naruto slugged Deidara in the face and formed a quick hand seal "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he summoned several clones that grabbed Deidara and pinned him down.

Once Deidara hit the ground, he was stuck "Crap."

The real Naruto kick-stomped Deidara in the gut, then repeatedly punched him in the face, refusing to stop even as his knuckles were covered in blood "DIE!" he formed a crimson spiralling ball of chakra "Tornado Rasengan!" he drove it into Deidara's stomach, only for clay to fly into the air instead of blood.

Kakashi was the first to realize it 'It's clay… a Substitution Jutsu!'

"SON OF A C** G****ING F**** B****! WHY THE F*** DOES ALL THIS F****** S*** HAPPEN TO ME?! F*** MY LIFE! ALWAYS SURROUNDED BY MISERABLE F****** C****S! LIKE THIS WHOLE WORLD JUST LIKES TO BEND ME OVER AND F*** ME IN THE A**! LIKE I'M SOME SORT OF C** D*******! WELL AS FAR AS I CARE, THESE MISERABLE C**** CAN HAVE A F****** S******* WITH A GODDAMN MOTHER-F****** PIG!" Naruto exploded, then looked back to see Kakashi gaping at him, jaw-dropped and mask stretched thin "What?"

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Deidara snapped out of his stupor from his hiding place in a bush 'Well that was certainly interesting, even I didn't know a couple of those.' then he froze 'Someone's coming.'

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Naruto froze "Kakashi-sensei."

"Above." Kakashi looked up.

"What's-?" Naruto looked up and saw a summoning hawk "Oh."

Then Sasuke dropped down with Chiyo "Finally caught up to you guys."

"Nice work finding us."

"We just followed the path of crap being blown up."

"Sorry about that, but did you do it?"

"Yeah, his remains are in this scroll."

"Good."

"It looks like you're still having some trouble here though." Chiyo noted.

Kakashi nodded "Unfortunately."

"And what about Gaara, where's he?" Chiyo looked back to where Gaara's body was being carried by two of Naruto's clones "Alright."

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Deidara watched the scene in disbelief 'I don't believe it, my man Sasori was beaten by that duckass-haired little brat and the old hag. Leaving a thing of eternal beauty for the future? Yeah right, all he did was get killed. He was overconfident about that puppet, the fool exposed his weakness. Oh well, it was still an ending worthy of an artist.' he backed out of the buses "Alright then, what's my next move?"

"Hey."

"How's it going-" Deidara froze, then looked up to see Tatsu's group in front of him 'F*ck. How'd you guys find me so quick?"

"Two ways actually, Neji's got the Byakugan and I'm a sensor type."

"And you guys used those eyes to sneak up from my blind spot, this is my first time seeing it in person. I'd be curious to see how it differs from Itachi's Sharingan, but I think my escaping takes precedence at the moment."

"You've got Naruto and Sasuke in front of you, Lee and me behind you. We're Team Dragon, strongest four jonin the village has to offer. You're not going anywhere."

Deidara promptly vanished.

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The others heard the clash.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan "It's Tatsu's team, they're taking on the blonde Akatsuki guy from before."

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"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Ino shot out a stream of water.

"I don't think so!" Deidara dodged the blast of water, then a kick from Lee, only to see Ino firing another blast of water 'Not bad.'

"Wind Style: Skybound Wind!" Tatsu fired a sharp blast of wind 'We're all running on fumes at this point, almost completely out of chakra.'

'Looks like I won't be able to outrun them.' Deidara dodged several kicks from Lee.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" Neji sent Deidara flying into a tree trunk.

Deidara dodged another blast of wind from Tatsu and another blast of water from Ino, then took off along the tree branches, with the others right on his tail 'Persistent bunch aren't they? Now where was it?' he looked around and saw the body of his clay bird 'Down there.' he dropped to the ground.

"Stay on your toes, we don't know what he's planning." Tatsu warned.

"Be careful everyone, he's a long range fighter who uses explosives." Kakashi told them.

Deidara bit off some of the clay and began chewing on it "I think it's about time I reveal my ultimate work of art." he swallowed, and then began swelling up.

Neji checked with his Byakugan "He's concentrating all of his chakra into a single point. Oh no. Everyone get out of here immediately!"

"I've got you!" Tatsu slammed both hands into the ground "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" a huge chunk of earth rose in front of the group, the intention being to shield them.

"Art… is an explosion!" then Deidara was engulfed in a fiery explosion. When the blast subsided, there was no sign of him and in his place was a large round crater.

Kakashi finished warping the blast away and his jutsu subsided, then his eye turned back to the normal Sharingan and he sighed "It worked… just in time…" then he fell back.

Naruto caught him "Kakashi-sensei, hey are you alright?"

"Not really…"

"I don't get it, what'd you do?"

"Sent the explosion… off into a different space…"

"So basically the guy's been defeated?"

"More importantly, is everyone okay?"

"We're fine." Tatsu spoke for them, then looked at Gaara "Most of us anyway. Ino, do you think…?"

Ino nodded "I'll need a wider space to work though."

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They moved to an open field area.

Ino tried to resuscitate Gaara, but after a few moments she stood and shook her head "I'm sorry."

"Dammit…" Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, tears falling freely "Why? Why is it always Gaara? If he dies like this… He's the Kazekage! He just became the Kazekage!"

Chiyo breathed a deep sigh "Try to calm yourself, Naruto Uzumaki-"

"YOU SHUT UP!" Naruto rounded on her in his furious grief, tears streaming down his face even more freely than before "Just shut up, if all of you Sand shinobi hadn't put a monster inside of Gaara then none of this would've ever happened to him! Did you ever even consider how Gaara felt?! Did you ever even ask?! You call us jinchuuriki, well what gives you the right to label us?! Who are you to decide that fate for someone else?!" he finally hung his head, his tears of anger turning into sobs of grief "I couldn't save the Third… and I can't save Gaara either… for three years I've trained so hard, but nothing has changed!"

Regretting ever sealing Shukaku into Gaara during his infancy, Chiyo slowly made her way over towards Gaara's body and knelt down in front of it, then placed her hands on him as her hands began glowing with blue energy.

Sasuke's eyes widened, then softened sadly "Lady Chiyo…"

"I don't get it, what's she trying to do?" asked Naruto.

Neji stared with his Byakugan active 'Medical ninjutsu? No…'

"Leave him alone will ya, what the f*ck do you think you're doing?!"

Sasuke held out an arm in front of Naruto 'She's exchanging her life for his.'

"Sasuke, what-?"

"It's going to be alright Naruto, she's bringing Gaara back."

Naruto's eyes widened, along with Ino and Lee, while Kakashi and Guy's hardened "She's bringing him back? What are you talking about? I mean, how is that even possible?"

"This is a jutsu that only lady Chiyo knows, it's special and it is for a reason."

"Wait, are you serious?"

Neji studied this even further 'Such a convenient jutsu should not be possible. That chakra flow, there's no question…'

Kakashi knew fully well what was happening 'There's no question, it comes at a considerable risk.'

Chiyo could feel that something wasn't right, even for this jutsu "No… not enough chakra… left…" then her eyes widened when she saw it.

Naruto sat in front of her, hands out "You can use my chakra, take as much as you need to. That will work, won't it granny? Please?" his tone and eyes reflected the clear desperation he was feeling.

Chiyo reflected on Kakashi telling her about Naruto's bond with Gaara "Place your hands on top of mine, son…"

"Alright…" despite being somewhat hesitant, Naruto placed his hands on top of Chiyo's, causing the blue energy to increase.

Chiyo then thought back to Kakashi telling her of how Naruto had the ability to make friends with almost everyone he met, and she smiled softly "In this world of shinobi, created by frivolous old people, it's a great comfort to know that new souls like yourself have come along. Up until now, everything I have done in my life has been wrong. But at least here in my final hour, I can finally do something right for a change. The Sand village and the Leaf village…" she looked up at the sky above "May the future that awaits them be different from the way things were in our time." she looked down "This special power of yours that Kakashi spoke of, that power will change the future dramatically. Become a Hokage the likes of which the world has never seen before. And as for you Sasuke, Ino…"

"Yes?" both Ino and Sasuke looked up.

"In the future, help those whom you hold closest to your hearts, not some old grandmother with one foot in the grave. You're a lot like Ino, so few women possess such strong spirit. You will surpass your master as a kunoichi, of that I have absolutely no doubt. Sasuke, you possess such a strong will and a kind and caring soul for an Uchiha. You will surpass your master as well, I feel absolutely no doubt about that. Naruto, do an old woman a favor will you?"

"What is it?" Naruto looked up.

"You are the only person in the world who knows the extent of Gaara's pain. He also knows your pain. Please, look after Gaara."

Naruto looked at Gaara's form, then back at Chiyo, and smiled slightly "Sure."

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"Gaara!"

'Who is that? Who's calling me? Who is it?' his vision went from blurry to clear, and he could see the hand he held in front of his face 'Is it him? No, it's just my hand again. My hand…' he looked ahead and saw a younger form of him 'Is that me? Who am I? I… I am…' he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned in that direction.

Naruto stood beside him, a relieved smile stretching across his face "Gaara…"

"Naruto…" Gaara looked around and saw them surrounded by the Leaf groups, Temari, Kankuro, and a massive group of Sand ninja "What is this…?"

"They all kept running to help you, you had them worried half to death."

"Lord Gaara!" one of them rushed forward "Sir, are you alright?" she received a nod, and everyone rejoiced.

Naruto grinned "You sure had us worried."

"No kidding." then Kankuro strolled over "Caused us a whole ton of grief there little brother."

"Will you two quit putting on airs already? Gaara's the Kazekage remember? Show a little respect you nitwits." Temari scolded.

"How about when you finally hook up with Shika." Tatsu pointed out.

"Shut up!" Temari pushed him back "Gaara talk to me, how do you feel?"

"I'm…" Gaara tried to stand, but failed.

"Easy. You shouldn't get up too quickly, your body hasn't completely recovered from the rigamortis yet."

"I see…" Gaara looked to see Naruto tumbling away "What happened?"

"Your fangirls." Naruto said dryly "I get I might not be the most popular guy but come on, give me a break."

"Don't sweat it." Kankuro knelt down in front of him "Women always go weak in the knees for that cool elite type of guy. What can you do, am I right?"

"I'm pretty sure Shikamaru said something like that once too, not to mention all of the time I spent with Sasuke and his fangirls in the academy."

Kankuro thought back to what Gaara said about Naruto before and smiled slightly "Naruto, thank you."

Naruto blinked, then grinned "Hey don't look at me, it's granny over there you should be thanking." he looked over to where Sasuke was holding Chiyo "She saved Gaara with some kind of incredible medical ninjutsu."

'So that's it…'

"She tired herself out and fell asleep, but I'm sure she'll be alright when we get her back to the village."

"No Naruto, she won't."

Naruto blinked "What do you mean?"

"Granny Chiyo used that jutsu."

"What are you talking about? Why won't she-?"

"She wasn't using medical ninjutsu, it was a reanimation ninjutsu. Granny Chiyo is… dead." he got everyone's attention now.

"Wh-What are you saying? How can she be dead?"

"It's a ninjutsu that allows you to bring someone back from the dead in exchange for your own life. Years ago in our Puppet Master Corps, a jutsu was secretly developed to breathe life into actual puppets. Granny Chiyo led that project. They did come up with a method for it. However, with the way they invented it there was too much risk involved. It was classified as a forbidden jutsu before human testing could be done, and it was sealed away."

Naruto stared at Chiyo's body in Sasuke's arms 'Granny…'

"Naruto, there really is something different about you." Temari admitted "It's true, you do have the power to change people. Lady Chiyo always used to say that she didn't care about the future of the Hidden Sand Village, she wasn't the kind of person who would do something like this for Gaara."

"Naruto, lady Chiyo entrusted the future to you and Gaara." Tatsu pointed out "It was a death befitting of a shinobi."

"Yeah." Naruto muttered "Just like the old man, the Third Hokage, when you think about it, and the Fourth Hokage and the rest."

"That's true. You've really grown up"

"I think it get it now Tatsu, I finally understand exactly what it is granny wished for."

"I think I do too."

One of the Sand ninja tried to help Gaara once he fell "Lord Gaara, are you alright?"

"I'm fine…" Gaara struggled to stand, but found both Tatsu and Naruto "Thank you." then he addressed everyone around them "Everyone, pray for Lady Chiyo and bid her farewell."

Everyone in the area closed their eyes and prayed, hoping Chiyo would rest in peace in the afterlife.

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In the early hours of the morning, the real Deidara emerged from underground, having swapped himself out with an exploding clone before.

Then he made his way to find his arm, and more importantly, the ring attached to it.

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Zetsu arrived at the Akatsuki hideout with his subordinate Tobi, intent on recovering Sasori's ring.

They did, but Tobi lost it amongst the rubble.

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Baki rushed out of the gates to meet a crowd of waiting civilians and shinobi "How much longer?"

"They'll soon be in sight!" one shinobi called.

Baki waited, and after a few minutes, he could see them approaching. To his relief, he was able to see Gaara with them, with Tatsu and Naruto supporting him "It's Gaara…"

When the rest of the crowd saw, they immediately started cheering.

"Now that's what I call a warm welcome." Tatsu commented "Just what you'd expect from the Kazekage."

The crowd rushed out to meet him, with Baki up at the front "I am happy you're safe."

Gaara nodded "Thanks to these people."

"Yes. Naruto Uzumaki, I thank you."

Naruto looked away "I'm not the one who- I mean- I hardly did anything at all really."

"You did a hell of a lot more than me." Tatsu pointed out "At least you fought them, I got sidetracked by a damn clone."

"Lord Kazekage, your people are waiting to welcome you home." Baki and the rest stepped aside and cleared a path "Come, lead the way."

"No, wait." Gaara stopped them and looked back to the stretcher "Not yet."

"Yes of course. Let us honor the memory of Lady Chiyo, a moment of silence."

Everyone shut their eyes in respect as the stretcher made its way.

Ebizo followed it "Well sis, we made it back home."

Once it was through, Sasuke spoke to Gaara "Once this is over, I have something important to discuss with you and your council."

Gaara nodded "Very well."

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Kankuro was surprised to hear something from the Leaf group "What, you're leaving already? You can stay a little longer, come on."

Temari nodded "Kankuro's right, at least a day or two. You need time to rest."

Naruto shook his head "Believe me I wish we could, but we've gotta report back or grandma Tsunade will throw a fit."

"I see."

"Besides, if the Akatsuki got this far then the Leaf might be at risk too." Tatsu pointed out.

"I understand you want to get back as soon as possible." Baki spoke "Even so, in your conditions."

"Relax, a little bit of rest and Kakashi will be fine."

"By the way, we already dispatched the preliminary report with Takamaru, but there was no mention in it of the fates of the two Akatsuki members."

"I know Sasuke killed one of them, but Kakashi mentioned that he wanted to discuss that with the Hokage in person. Apparently there's something else troubling him. By the way, where is Sasuke anyway?"

"He and Lord Kazekage are discussing a private matter in his office."

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The group, along with Ebizo and the Sand siblings, stood before two graves.

Naruto looked at the first one "Is that…?"

Gaara nodded "Lady Chiyo's resting place."

The others gathered around.

Ebizo stepped forward "She didn't want a headstone on her grave, but despite her wishes I thought it was better to have one. I felt sure that people would want a place to come to remember her.

The other was Sasori's, which read:

Sasori

Son

Grandson

Puppet Master

A legend whose legacy will live on forever

Tatsu looked at it "This is what you were discussing with Gaara, wasn't it?"

Sasuke nodded "Yeah. He may have been an enemy, an Akatsuki, and a rogue ninja, but I got through to him in the end and he regained a little bit of his humanity."

"Your parents would be proud of the man you've become."

"I hope so, I really do."

"Alright, let's go." Kakashi told them.

They started walking away, but Ino noticed Naruto and Sasuke still staring at the graves "Hey Naruto, Sasuke, we've really gotta get going."

"Right." Naruto followed them first.

Sasuke knelt down and placed a single desert rose on each grave 'Thank you Lady Chiyo, Sasori, you both taught me a lot on this mission.' and he followed after them.

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Tobi and Zetsu recovered Deidara's arm, just as Deidara showed up to reclaim it, and Tobi's insensitive remarks led to Deidara strangling Tobi with his legs in what he referred to as death by suffocation.

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"Well, so long." Kankuro told them.

Naruto nodded awkwardly "Yeah…" he shared an awkward glance with Gaara "I guess this is where people are supposed to shake hands and get all choked up, but I've never been really good at that stuff either, so let's just leave it at-"

Gaara cut him off with no words, simply with one hand held out.

Naruto smiled and accepted the hand.

Mission accomplished.

A/N:

Just for the sake of being clear, Sai will not be in this story because there's honestly no need for him to be.

For the record, the flashback with Shisui and the whole "DODGE" thing was a TFS reference. Sorry, I felt like I had to get the TFS references out of my system and figured it was better to do it sooner than later.

Tatsu didn't get much action in this arc, but I'm gonna give him a very big role soon so don't worry.

Just to let you guys know, after the Tenchi Bridge arc, I'm gonna continue uploading my Dragon Reaper story.