Four forms raced towards the apartment building that was home to Uzumaki Naruto. The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi, Shizune, and Hyuuga Hinata were running as fast as was possible to investigate Kakashi's claim that Naruto had been abducted or was missing. As they ran over roof tops, they felt a large spike in chakra and killer intent coming from the direction of the building. Pushing more chakra into their legs, the four increased their speed towards the building.
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Sasuke had been in a good mood. He had re-assed his skills and found them to be much better now, than when he had used the cursed seal. After his training, he had showered and made his way into town, hoping to cross paths with a certain blonde shinobi. He had even gone to the lengths of staking out Naruto's favorite restaurant just in case the loudmouth had gone for food. But after a few hours, it seemed that Naruto wasn't coming to Ichiraku's. He had seen both Hinata and Kakashi pass by, and had overheard Kakashi's conversation with the owner. When he heard that Naruto hadn't shown up that morning, he moved towards the blonde's apartment at a quick pace. He had noticed the door, and saw that it appeared to be burned, or charred. Now, the Uchiha clan is known for their mastery of all types of katon jutsu's, and Sasuke could attest that the burning was definitely not any type of jutsu he knew. He was leaving the building when he walked past a door three doors down from Naruto's and heard an old voice talking happily to someone.
"…so I asked 'em if they were going to kill the bastard, and they says yeah. So I just let 'em go on their way. I don't know why any one would miss the son of a bitch, but a shinobi came by this morning looking for the demon. I told 'im that I 'hadn't seen him and he left."
When Sasuke heard this, he flew off the proverbial handle-bars. He kicked down the door, finding the old landlord talking with an equally old man, sharing some sake. Sasuke had his sharingan active, looking very foreboding with shadows from the door frame obscuring his face. Instinctively chakra began to flow to his right hand, and condensed until it became the chidori. He quickly moved forward and deftly grabbed the old man by his shirt and lifted him into the air.
"Where is he?" Sasuke yelled. "Where is Naruto?"
Just then, the group of four arrived to find Sasuke threatening the life of the old landlord. Kakashi quickly moved forward to stop Sasuke from breaking the terms of his probation.
"Uchiha Sasuke, put the man down NOW!" Instructed Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama, he let someone leave with Naruto!" Sasuke argued, his eyes still fixed on the now shaking man in his grasp.
"WHAT?" Everyone yelled, this included the usually reserved Hinata. Shizune turned and looked at the shy girl with a questioning look, but diverted her attention back to the quaking form that was Naruto's landlord.
"I heard him talking about letting someone take Naruto and he just let them leave!" Sasuke yelled. The only thing that was keeping him from plunging the chidori in his hand into the old man's neck was Kakashi's arm on his elbow.
"Kakashi, take him to Ibiki, I want to know exactly what happened to Naruto, fast! Sasuke, everyone else, come with me." Tsunade directed.
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After the group returned to Tsunade's office, they had to wait for Ibiki's report. However, that didn't stop the Hokage from questioning the last surviving Uchiha.
"Sasuke, what exactly lead you to believe that he let people abduct Naruto?" She questioned, trying to contain her temper at the situation.
Sasuke was trying to calm down enough to answer her. When he regained his composure, he looked right at Hinata and said:
"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but I don't think Naruto would appreciate me telling, you see it involves his…secret."
"What the Kyuubi?" Asked Hinata in a semi-hysterical manner.
"You know?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, Sasuke, she know, but what did you hear?" Tsunade asked.
"He said that he let someone leave with that 'bastard' and that no one would miss the 'demon'." Sasuke said, seething.
At this point, Tsunade, Shizune, and Hinata were about to go give the old man a piece of their mind for harming their little brother, or boyfriend, respectively. But, lo, a savoir by the name of Kakashi came bearing his report.
"Tsunade-sama, what Sasuke said was true, the landlord allowed two ninja to walk off the property with an unconscious Naruto last night around mid-night."
"SHIT!" exclaimed the blonde hokage. "Shizune, get the ANBU, tell them to search for Naruto!"
"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but there is more. It would seem that these two are members of Akatsuki." Kakashi interrupted.
At this everyone, save Sasuke's face paled.
"What does my brother's old organization have to do with Naruto?" Inquired the black haired genius.
"The Akatsuki are after the nine biju or tailed demons." Tsunade explained. "Shizune, scratch the ANBU, were going after him ourselves. I want Nara Shikamaru here in ten minutes, and I also want Gai, plus anyone else you can convince. I'm bringing my little brother back, if it kills me!"
Shizune went to gather Shikamaru, and Kakashi left in a puff of smoke to fetch Gai.
"Sasuke, I'm revoking your suspension to help us in our retrieval. We are going to need all the help we can get."
Sasuke nodded, and was about to leave to gather his equipment when Hinata spoke up.
"Hokage-sama, I'm going as well." She said in an unwavering voice.
"Hinata, I'm afraid that I can't allow that, due to your…condition." The hokage delicately said.
Hinata was about to yell that she didn't care, and would gladly risk the nibi, for Naruto, but was interrupted prematurely by a bird with a message attached to it's leg. Tsunade took the message and read it, eyes growing larger with every word she read. When she finished she addressed the two remaining chunnin.
"Hinata scratch that order, you and Sasuke have four minutes to gather all of your equipment and be back here. I would seem that the Kazekage has done something rather rash.
The two just nodded in acknowledgment and left in a burst of speed out the window.
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Exactly four minutes after the two teenagers left, they returned, extremely winded and gasping for breath. As they were recuperating, Shizune entered with Shikamaru and Shino, who had apparently been playing shogi with the lazy genius. They were only waiting for Kakashi to return with Gai, all parties that knew of the urgency of the situation hoped for once that Kakashi wouldn't be two hours late. Thankfully all fears were slaughtered mercilessly when the grey haired Jounin arrived with Gai, Rock Lee, and Jiraiya in tow.
"All right, now that everyone is here, I have some really shitty news." Tsunade began. "Last night, Uzumaki Naruto was abducted by the organization Akatsuki around midnight. Thanks to a treasonous old bastard of a landlord, they were allowed to walk away with Naruto and no one was aware of anything until around noon today. That means that he's been missing for a little over twelve hours. Right now, we have no clue were the Akatsuki's base is, however, the Kazekage was attacked a number of weeks ago by the same organization, and was able to defeat his opponent and as of now, are searching for the base themselves. We will meet up with the Kazekage and his siblings in a few days to find and destroy the base. Shikamaru, I want you to draw up traveling plans for everyone in this room and anyone else you may need, as well as battle plans for fighting five S-class missing Nins, at least two of which are capable of defeating a kage in battle."
"Hai, Hokage-sama, it would help my planning if I knew of the abilities of the members of this group, do we have any information on them?" Asked Shikamaru, in a voice that showed that his laziness had abandoned him for now.
"Unfortunately, most of the information we have is on two specific members, who are now deceased. We do know however, that there are two grass-nin, one cloud-nin, at least one-stone Nin, Sasori of the Red Sand, and the leader, of whom we know nothing. I am going to need this ready by sunset, because that is when we are leaving. If you need anyone else, let us know and we will find them." Replied Tsunade.
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True to her word, the group of nine shinobi were speeding through the forest bordering the village in an attempt to rendezvous with the Suna group by noon of the next day. They ran far into the night before they took their first break. The formation was a quite efficient diamond pattern with Gai in front, flanked by Shino and Lee. Behind those two were Jiraiya to the left, Shikamaru in the middle, and Kakashi to the right. Behind the middle of the group was Sasuke on the left and Tsunade on the right followed by Hinata. The reasoning for this was explained by Shikamaru earlier:
"Ok, here's the moving formation. It'll be a diamond shape since we want to be able to defend ourselves, and search for Naruto. Gai will be the first person, he has both the skill and speed to detect traps, or ambushes. Behind him will be Shino and Lee. Shino will be able to scout using his bugs, without breaking formation keeping the defense of the group higher, while Lee has the speed to escape, should something…unforeseen come up. The next line will be Jiraiya and Kakashi on either side of me. That way I can see what is happening, and Jiraiya and Kakashi can cause major damage should we get caught in a trap. Behind the middle line, is Hokage-sama, and the Uchiha. Hokage-sama can deal with any wounds that way, and the Uchiha can act as kind of a bodyguard. Hinata, with your byakugan you'll be the rear guard as well as medical back up."
The mood was tense as the group took turns standing watch and sleeping. It seemed as if something was missing from the group. Shikamaru had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something. Like there was a hole, and it needed to be filled, but there wasn't anyone who could do what he wanted. The jounins as well had the feeling. Gai even forgot to be insulted by Kakashi's 'hip-attitude' when he blew the green clad taijutsu master off. Tsunade and Jiraiya were worried over the blonde boy who had worked his way into both of their hearts, while Hinata took the news of Naruto's predicament the worst. No one could tell, but Hinata was actually not in control of her own body at the time. The nibi was controlling her body, since Hinata had gone into shock upon hearing that Naruto had been captured by the Akatsuki. Eventually everyone drifted into an uneasy sleep, permeated by nightmare scenarios of the Kyuubi's rebirth or escape.
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The next day found the group traveling at breakneck speeds once more, in an effort to shorten the distance between them and Naruto's attackers. They had been moving since daybreak on a light breakfast, adrenaline, and soldier pills. Around eleven o'clock they had slowed down for a quick lunch. It was imperative for them to be well nourished because when they found the location of the base, they would be fighting immediately. Just as they finished, they felt a humongous spike in chakra, about half a mile from their current position. The only one who recognized it was Sasuke.
"T-th-that's Gaara's chakra." Sasuke stammered.
The group doubled its speed and caught up to the enraged Kazekage in a matter of minutes. When they arrived, they found the suna-sibblings fighting around the entrance of a dank looking cave. Outside were three of the members of the Akatsuki. The two grass shinobi, and one stone-ninja were outside fighting Gaara, whose sand was circling the three. As the group came close enough to help the Kazekage and his siblings, Gaara succeeded in catching one of the grass ninja in his sand.
"Sabaku Kyuu!" (Desert Graveyard) Stated Gaara calmly. He then closed his outstretched hand compressing the cocoon of sand. "Sabaku Sousou!" (Desert Funeral)
As the blood of the now deceased grass ninja seeped through the sand, Shino was able to sneak up behind the other grass ninja. This one had a high collar around his cloak, which made him resemble a Venus flytrap, or a Lion-Ant. This was but part of this ninja's interesting markings. His face has half black and half white, the dividing line, being vertically down the middle of his face. Shino sent some of his chakra eating bugs at the awkwardly clothed ninja. Surprisingly, the ninja simply laughed at the young Aburame's attempt.
"Foolish child, your attack won't work. I can freely move my chakra though the flora in my surroundings. Your bugs will never be able to deprive me. I know that you don't have any other kinds of insects residing in your body, so you can't win. Now DIE!" The missing Nin attacked Shino with impressive speed, and before anyone could help the young bug user, the attacking ninja had turned his right arm into a club with sharp thorns protruding from it. He landed a crushing blow to Shino's head, eliciting gasps of shock from the remaining Konoha and Suna shinobi, only for Shino to turn into a section of tree branch, as part of a replacement technique. Shino reappeared in the midst of the group and giving a nod to Sasuke, resumed his place in the defensive arrangement.
Sasuke jumped into the fight with the grass ninja who was named Zetsu. Completing a familiar set of hand seals, Sasuke breathed in deeply before exhaling a gigantic fire ball.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Fire skill: Grand Fireball)
As Sasuke engulfed the older shinobi in fire, he watched as the form inside simply disappeared. No one knew where the mysterious Nin disappeared to, but they were all waiting for him to reveal himself. The fine hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck began to prickle as a sense of déjà vu over took him. Realization hit the young Uchiha and he quickly leapt backwards away from his previous position, as his multi colored opponent exploded out of the ground. 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu' (Earth skill: Inner decapitation) Sasuke thought, while preparing for his next attack. However, as he was about to attack with another katon jutsu, Zetsu, suddenly screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground writhing in pain.
"What…the hell did you do to me?" He screamed as he began furiously clawing at his own body.
"I had some aphids and other herbivorous insects attach themselves to you earlier, and they began to eat away at your body. I was able to increase their rate of consumption and their metabolism with my chakra." Replied Shino. "If your chakra was outside your body that meant that you couldn't use it to shield yourself in case of another attack. I wouldn't try to use it now anyways. I've also attached an equal number of my chakra devouring bugs to you."
The group could only watch as the body of the plant/human shinobi became porous and eventually the ninja lay dead, the insects continuing to devour him. Shikamaru used the shock of the remaining Akatsuki member to capture the Iwa Kunoichi in his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow bind technique). Gaara made quick work of the imprisoned women, and the now twelve person team entered the dark cave that was the home of the Akatsuki.
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(A/N: Well, there it is, chapter 9, I hope everyone likes the story, and I'm sorry to inform you that I only foresee another two or three chapters left. But fear not! I still have the largest plot twist in the history of…well…history to pull, before I can sign off on this fic. I've updated the summary, a few people have suggested it as the reason that I'm not receiving a larger number of reviews. I would be eternally grateful if I could manage more than one review this week, so please, please, please review! Anyway, the next chapter will be out next weekend. Until then, I think I'll torture everyone some more by leaking the only named chapter I can think off.
Return and Attack chapter 10: Out of paper work, a savior is born?
Or at least it'll be something like that. Oh well.)