CHAPTER 9: THE KAZEKAGE'S RESCUE (PART 5)


(Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. I do own my OC's, however)

"Talking / Jutsu"

'Thinking'

'Flashback'

"Flashback talk"

"Demonic voice"

Letter / Emphasis


Rage could be many things. Some said it was man in its purest, most honest form while others said it was the most pernicious and destructive of poisons. It was a dark emotion as primal as every creature that walked the face of the earth, and more dangerous than any of them. To feel anger was to be human, but when anger led to rage, humans stopped being what they were and, for a moment, became more like animals and everything around them changed. Rationality and critical thinking were replaced by wild instinct, something that no longer dictated mankind's behavior, but that still lied dormant within even the most gentle and non-confrontational of individuals, waiting for the time to be awakened.

Naruto, the blonde goofball with big dreams and a loud voice, was every bit as human as anyone else. However, just because he was human didn't mean he was only human. The Kyūbi, a terrific beast who had become the living embodiment of rage, was sealed inside of him thanks to the efforts of the Yondaime Hokage sixteen years ago. However, no door was ever fully closed, nor did they remain closed forever. Every now and then, some of the Kyūbi's chakra would leak, and with all of the hatred the fox had, it was only natural for Naruto to get soaked in some of it.

Right now, Naruto was under the influence of the Kyūbi's chakra, and the intense grip the demon had on the boy was causing Naruto to lash out and wreak havoc on everything around him. Shujinko and Kakashi found him standing on all fours like a rabid predator amidst miles' worth of destruction. It looked as if several bombs had exploded there, but no, it was all Naruto's doing and the Ozuma knew it. Deidara, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"This is bad. At this rate, Naruto is going to lay waste on the entire forest," Shujinko said, a cold sweat breaking out of his forehead. Seeing his teammate act so out of control was unnerving, but by far, his biggest concern was how Naruto would react once he saw them. "Sensei, is there anything we can do to make him stop?"

"Yeah, there is a way, but it's gonna be dangerous," Kakashi replied before grabbing a piece of paper with kanjis written on it from one of his pockets. "Jiraiya-sama warned me this could happen and gave me this seal tag. It'll forcefully suppress all of the Kyūbi's chakra at once. However, for this seal tag to work, we need to get closer to Naruto and place it on him, and in the state he's in right now, getting closer to him might be the last thing we do,"

Shujinko gulped. He couldn't think of something more macabre than getting beaten to death by his own friend and end up as a disfigured pulp of bloody flesh. However, if they didn't act now, something even worse than that could happen, both to them and to Naruto. "In that case, let me take care of it, sensei. I can handle this," he said after carefully leaving Gaara's body on the ground.

"Absolutely not. You're in no shape to handle anything of this magnitude, and I won't let you risk your life when I can take your place," was Kakashi's answer. "You're a Jounin now, but don't forget I'm still your sensei, and as such, I have to act like one,"

"I understand that, but you're just as tired as I am, if not more. If you go after Naruto and he decides to attack, you probably won't be able to dodge him even with your Sharingan. Come on sensei, you know I'm right on this one,"

Kakashi frowned at that. He wasn't keen on the idea of letting his student get hurt, especially after how he had already placed him in enough danger by asking him to distract Deidara. On the other hand, the Copy Ninja had to admit that his student's point was a valid one. Using the Kamui not once, but twice in a row had left a huge strain on his body that was still very much present. He could still move and fight if needed to, but not against Naruto while he was under the influence of the Kyūbi.

In the end, he handed Shujinko the sealing tag and gave him a stern look. "Fine, we'll do it together then. Approach him slowly and don't make any sudden moves or you'll set him off. I'll make a distraction to gain his attention. As soon as he goes after me, you go after Naruto and put the sealing tag on him. I'm confident I can dodge his attacks one or two times with the help of my Sharingan, but you have to act fast or we won't make it out of this one alive. Understood?"

"Understood. Leave it to me, sensei," Once he left his hiding spot, Shujinko began to take short and slow steps towards Naruto, asking the heavens to give him some much-needed luck. His teammate had yet to become aware of his presence and had his back turned to him. Like a trapeze artist walking the tightrope, the Jounin closed a bit of distance between him and Naruto, and since he didn't want to surprise him from behind and make him go wild, Shujinko took a deep breath and called out his name. "Naruto…"

Still crawling on his hands and feet, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki turned around and roared fiercely at Shujinko, who stopped dead in his tracks with his hands in the air. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest as his body went into fight-or-flight mode, but he knew it would be the end of him if he did either of those things, so he had no other option but to stand his ground and wait for his sensei to provide a distraction. The tension in the atmosphere was nearly suffocating.

"Naruto, it's me. Shujinko," the Jounin said, hoping that his friend would recognize him. "I'm your friend, your teammate. We've known each other since we were kids, remember?"

Upon hearing Shujinko's voice, Naruto stopped growling and seemed to gain a bit of sense, for he didn't charge at him like the Jounin feared he would. However, the murderous expression didn't abandon his face even for a moment, and Shujinko understood that the possibility of Naruto attacking him was still very much present. It made him wonder how dark of a demon the Kyūbi had to be to turn someone like Naruto, who cared for and valued his comrades like few people did, into a killing machine unable to distinguish friend from foe.

The Ozuma took a few more steps. "That's it, easy now. I'm not here to hurt you, Naruto. I just want to he-"

But then, just when Shujinko's gentle approach seemed to be working, Naruto got on his feet and unleashed a blood-chilling roar into the sky. The Jounin cursed and instantly jumped back. In that moment, his sensei appeared near them. "Now, Shujinko!" he yelled. Naruto jumped towards Kakashi with his arms wide open, intending to attack him in a fit of madness. With the use of his Sharingan, Kakashi evaded Naruto just before the Kyūbi Jinchūriki could land on him. That was when Shujinko summoned all of his speed at once and dashed towards his deranged teammate, holding the seal tag in his hand.

SWOOOSH

"Wrooaaah!"

"Aaaaarhhghg!"

Shujinko was thrown to the ground, feeling a scorching sensation on his left arm. With his eyes shut hard, he tried to grab the part of his arm that was injured, but the scalding pain wouldn't allow him to do so. "Shujinko!" Kakashi shouted as he immediately went over to his student to see what had happened to him, and the answer came in the form of a bloody gash on his triceps that seemed to be boiling. "Careful. Try not to move too much. You got a nasty cut on your arm, but you're gonna be alright," he said as he applied pressure to the wound.

The Hatake wasn't a medical expert by any means, but he had suffered his fair share of injuries over the years and had learned to tell the difference between a minor flesh wound and a serious one. The gash on Shujinko's arm was the result of Naruto scratching him with those big claws of his. Luckily, it was nothing life-threatening, though it still required proper attention. However, what surprised him was how hot his limb felt, as if his entire arm was on fire. He supposed this was due to the Kyūbi's chakra that had made contact with Shujinko.

Meanwhile, Naruto's rampage had come to an end. The red chakra around him began to dissolve itself and his face gradually recovered its normal features, all thanks to the sealing tag stuck to his forehead. The violent and volatile influence of the Kyūbi faded away and Naruto drifted into unconsciousness. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief now that the danger was over and proceeded to grab a compression pad, which he then wrapped around his student's arm to stop the bleeding.

"You really should've let me take care of this, Shujinko," Kakashi said in a tone of voice that revealed neither disapproval nor praise.

Despite the pain and the difficulty he had to breathe, Shujinko managed to give his sensei a weak smile. "It worked… didn't it?"

"… Yeah, it did. But I'm afraid Deidara has escaped. Our mission is a failure,"


Naruto groaned softly, his mind a whirlwind of confusion. He slowly regained consciousness and started to wake up, feeling completely exhausted for some reason, as if he had just finished the workout of a lifetime. His muscles were sore to the point where he could barely move. 'Wha… What's going on?' he asked himself. Naruto tried to remember what had happened to him, but he was too dizzy to think clearly and he was suffering a massive headache.

Once he had enough strength, he opened his eyes and turned his face to the side where he kept hearing voices. His eyesight became less blurry, and after a minute of repeated blinking, he managed to see Sakura and Shujinko sitting on the ground a few meters away from where he was. Sakura was using her medical Ninjutsu on the Ozuma, who seemed to be struggling with pain as he kept grunting. Kakashi was there too, as well as Chiyo and Renjiro. Those last two looked like they had just returned from a war, and Sakura had multiple scratches and bandages wrapped around her arms, legs, and torso.

The Uzumaki tried to get up, but he was just too tired for some reason, so he only managed to roll to the side. His grunts alerted Kakashi, who left the group and made his way towards him. "Take it easy, Naruto. You're safe," Kakashi said as he got on one knee and laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It's all over now,"

"Kakashi-sensei… What happened?" Naruto asked. He didn't realize he had a seal tag stuck to his forehead until Kakashi extended his hand and removed it.

"In short, a lot happened. Sakura, Chiyo-san, and Renjiro-san fought against Sasori and managed to defeat him, although they all nearly got killed. The members of Team Gai had their own problems to deal with, but they're fine now. They're making their way here as we speak. Shujinko suffered an injury while all of this was going on. Don't worry, Sakura is looking after him. However, I'm afraid we were unable to stop Deidara from escaping,"

Naruto gave him a short nod in understanding. It was all coming back to him. He remembered how he chased after Deidara and how angry he felt while doing so. But then, when he tried to remember what happened after that, all he could recall was an intense feeling of hatred followed by darkness. It was a sensation that he only experienced when… "What about… me? What did… I do?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes for a second, unsure of what to say. He looked at the seal tag he was holding and then glanced back at Shujinko, who was getting his arm bandaged by Sakura after she healed him as best as she could, given how fatigued she was after fighting Akatsuki's puppeteer. Naruto would be devastated if he found out he had injured his own teammate while under the influence of the Kyūbi's chakra, and Kakashi knew perfectly well it hadn't been his fault.

In the end, the Copy Ninja decided that Naruto had suffered enough for one day, so there was nothing wrong with minimizing the story and sparing him the whole truth for the moment. "You got a little out of control, but Shujinko and I managed to calm you down before anything bad could happen. Like I said, it's all over now," With the help of his sensei, Naruto stood up. Kakashi grabbed one of his arms and placed it around his shoulders to carry some of his weight. As the two of them walked towards the rest of the team, Naruto moved his head to the left and saw a body lying on the shattered ground, covered by a black, dirty blanket that left the body's feet exposed.

Naruto felt his heart sank. He knew immediately who was the one underneath the blanket, as well as what his death meant.

'Gaara, I failed you… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry,'

000

Upon the arrival of Team Gai, the rescue team left the forest and the wreckage caused by Naruto's outburst behind. Gai took it upon himself to carry Gaara's body so that no one else had to, given how the rest of them were either physically exhausted or too emotionally vulnerable. Barely any words were exchanged between the two groups, but the feeling of defeat and pessimism that surrounded them spoke more than any conversation ever could. After all they had risked, after all they had fought, after all they had sacrificed, the Kazekage was dead and they couldn't even capture Deidara as consolation.

Shujinko jumped from one tree branch to the other at an almost lazy pace by shinobi's standards, frustrated and tired. The left sleeve of his shirt had been torn off by Sakura, who managed to stop the bleeding and close the wound without using stitches, but the was nothing she could do to counter the burning sensation the Kyūbi's chakra had left on his arm. It was tedious and painful, but Shujinko thought he had gotten off easy considering that Naruto could've clawed his face clean off had his luck been any worse.

As they were making their way out, the golden-eyed Jounin tried to ignore the downhearted mood that was affecting the group by debating himself on whether he should reveal to Naruto what really went down. He wasn't going to tell him today, that was for sure, but he didn't want to hide the truth from him forever. As unfortunate as it was, Naruto simply couldn't handle the Kyūbi's chakra, and Shujinko feared what would happen the next time his teammate lost control. He could end up killing one of his loved ones or maybe even himself.

'When the time is right, I'll talk to Naruto about this,' Shujinko decided as he looked at his bandaged arm. 'What happened today wasn't his fault, but things can't go on like this either. Maybe Naruto learning the truth will help prevent another mess in the future,'

Eventually, the rescue team abandoned the forest and reached an open prairie. It was then suggested by Kakashi that Sakura examined the Kazekage's body to see if there was even a flicker of hope left to save him. The student of the Godaime Hokage obeyed and took the blanket off of Gaara, revealing the gaunt corpse of he who had once been the Jinchūriki of the Ichibi. Chiyo stared at the body with a depressed look in her eyes while Renjiro was struggling to keep it together, distraught by the sight of his fallen leader.

With her palms on Gaara's chest, Sakura began to examine his body in search of any vital signs. Just as she feared, there was nothing she could do. His heart had stopped beating hours ago while the rest of his organs were completely inactive. She checked one more time just to make sure nothing had escaped her attention before the green glow surrounding her hands disappeared. When she looked up to see Naruto, all Sakura did was to shake her head, confirming the death of Gaara once and for all.

"… Damn it… Damn it all…" Naruto mumbled through gritted teeth, his shoulders heaving up and down. "Why Gaara? Why him? What did he do to deserve this? He… He just became the Kazekage… and they took that away from him… just for being a Jinchūriki…"

Chiyo walked a few steps and stood behind Naruto, whose fists were trembling with unbridled anger. "Calm yourself, Uzumaki Naruto. As regrettable as this is, nothing can be done to prevent our eventual demise. Jinchūriki or not, death awaits us all, and he died protecting what was most imp-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Naruto abruptly turned around and, with what little strength he had left, pushed the old lady to the ground. Shujinko wasn't expecting this to happen, but he wasn't surprised by Naruto's reaction, nor did he try to intervene. Chiyo was fairly shocked, not by the fact that Naruto had pushed her, but by the desperate tears that were rolling freely down his cheeks.

"Don't you dare talk about Gaara as if you cared about him! Your village sealed a monster inside of him and then treated him like one! If you and your stinking people had ever given a damn about his life, then none of this would've happened!" Naruto's words were full of passion and resentment; you could tell he was speaking from the heart. "Did you ever consider how Gaara felt? Did you even ask him once? No, I bet you never did! Because in your eyes, he was nothing but a beast that needed chains! Isn't that right!?"

Renjiro couldn't look at him in the eye and kept his face lowered in deep shame. He wanted to assure him that was not the case, but Renjiro knew he'd be lying if he said that, both to Naruto and to himself. Just a few years ago, Renjiro saw Gaara like everyone else around him did, as a danger and a threat to Sunagakure, a demon that was too powerful to be tamed and that was best left alone. It wasn't until he became Kazekage that people began to change their opinion about him, Renjiro included, but that stain never washed away.

"Calling us Jinchūriki… Treating us like dirt under your boots… What gives you the right to do that to us? What makes you think it's okay to make our lives hell? We're not weapons or demons, we're humans just like you! And we don't deserve to be hunted or hated for being something we never wanted to be in the first place!"

Not even Chiyo, who was an old kunoichi hardened by the pain and misery of the shinobi world, could avoid the sadness and remorse that the boy in front of her was making her feel. As one of the people responsible for the sealing of the Ichibi inside of Gaara, Chiyo knew deep inside that her intervention had condemned an innocent life to suffer for the sake of a village that despised him. She spent many years telling herself she did what she had to do for the greater good, a necessary action to preserve the wellbeing of Sunagakure, but now that she was seeing the consequences of her decision, Chiyo's conviction was ebbing away, replaced by an overwhelming sense of guilt.

In the end, all Naruto could do was let his frustrations out without giving a crap about who heard him or who saw his tears. "I couldn't save Sasuke back then… I-I couldn't save Gaara now… I spent these last three years training and giving it my all so that these things wouldn't happen again, but nothing has changed… Nothing ever changes, goddamn it,"

The rescue team remained silent, allowing Naruto to cry for as long as he needed. Such a raw display of emotions went against the shinobi code of conduct, which forbade them from showing tears during a mission. It was a simple rule of great importance, but upon seeing his teammate suffering in such a way, Shujinko couldn't care less about it and, without shedding tears himself, joined Naruto in his grief along with the rest of the squad.

At times like these, Shujinko often asked himself if he was a good shinobi or not. It didn't have anything to do with his skills or his knowledge, but with how he'd been taught to act. A shinobi was expected to be a weapon, a cold tool whose only purpose in life was to fulfill its mission regardless of what it took or what happened afterward. Emotions were viewed as a distraction as well as a hindrance, burdens that needed to be removed or, at the very least, controlled with absolute mastery. Shujinko was well aware of this, and he even agreed that emotions could easily cloud one's judgment. It had happened to him more than once, both during missions and while off duty, and it hadn't done him many favors.

But even so, his emotions were what drove him, what gave him the fuel he needed to continue his path. He was willing to risk his life for Konohagakure because he cared about his village and its people. He trained arduously to surpass his sensei because he admired him and held him in the highest respect. He treasured the warm embrace of his family because he loved them. He fought to protect his comrades because they were precious to him. How could any of that be wrong? How could the source of his strength be a weakness?

It was just like Zabuza had once said: "… Even us shinobi are humans. No matter how much we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail in the end…" That phrase stuck with Shujinko forever. Those words hadn't been spoken by someone he would deem a good person, but they had come from someone who lived and died like a true shinobi, and that was something Shujinko could respect.

All of a sudden, while Naruto was still crying, Chiyo got up and walked past him, her eyes fixated on the face of Gaara. "You were never taught to listen to your elders, were you?" she asked, to which Naruto didn't respond. "I was, and I learned to do it since I was young. They told us wisdom came with age, and that one day, we would be the ones who would teach this to the next generation. So I kept quiet and learned as much as I could until I grew old, at which point I believed the infallible wisdom of the elderly was now mine,"

Naruto wiped the tears off his face. He didn't know where this was coming from or where was she trying to go with this, and neither did he care. Nothing that Chiyo said would bring Gaara back from the dead.

"What they never told us was that even our elders could be wrong. Their wisdom came with flaws, flaws that we inherited and propagated without us ever becoming aware of it. Only now I've come to realize my wisdom was just ignorance in disguise, and that the old customs I so dearly held onto were broken from the very beginning. I spent years cursing other villages for my losses while participating in the same system that made said losses happen. This makes me a hypocrite as well as a fool,"

Chiyo came to understand this after being forced to fight her grandson to the death, something that shattered her heart to pieces. She always blamed the death of his parents at the hands of Sakumo Hatake for Sasori's dark turn… But then, how many parents had she killed after decades of being a kunoichi? How many individuals such as Sasori were out there because of what she had done? How was she any different from Sakumo, the man she hated with a burning passion when she was easily just as guilty of the same?

Maybe Sasori had been a lost cause. Maybe he was doomed from the start. However, if people like Chiyo had been less concerned with what was best for Sunagakure and more concerned with what was best for everyone, then perhaps misfortunes such as the death of her son and his wife could've been avoided. But no, all she ever did was to grow old, blind, and bitter against the world.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Chiyo looked at Naruto and gave him a soft smile. "I am happy to know that people like you exist in this world, Uzumaki Naruto. You see other persons' faces, not their headbands. I hope you and your generation succeed where my generation failed, and while it's too late for me to become part of the solution, there's still something I can do to atone for some of my mistakes. Come with me, child. I'm afraid my chakra alone will not suffice,"

The kunoichi took a seat next to Gaara with Naruto sitting on the opposite side, unsure of Chiyo's intentions. Chiyo placed her palms slightly above Gaara's stomach and instructed Naruto to place his on top of hers. Then, a bright blue glow began to grow from their hands, and unbeknownst to Naruto, the two of them worked together to perform a jutsu only she was capable of. The Uzumaki had no idea what was going on, but something was telling him that Chiyo was about to do the impossible and allowed her to take as much of his chakra as she needed.

Neji activated his Byakugan, and what he saw was enough for him to widen his eyes. With Naruto serving as a complementary source, Chiyo was transferring all of her chakra into Gaara, reopening every single one of his tenketsu. However, while Gaara's chakra network was slowly activating, Chiyo's was deteriorating at a steady pace, and only then did Neji understood what Chiyo was trying to accomplish… as well as the inevitable outcome of her efforts.

"Naruto, I want you and your friends to promise me something," Chiyo said, her voice considerably more strained than usual.

"What is it?"

"Become a Hokage the likes of which we've never seen before. Get rid of this frivolous system we old people have created. Don't be discouraged by what others may tell you, and show them that change is possible. I want you to honor me in that way. Sakura, you have the talent to surpass your mentor. Use it to save as many lives as you can, and I assure you that your kindness will be even more renowned than your skills as a medical ninja. You already are a great human being, which is more difficult and more important than being a great kunoichi. Remember that,"

Sakura's lips quivered while a knot began to form in her throat. She realized these were Chiyo's parting words, and from one kunoichi to another, she swore to herself she would never forget them. "I will, Chiyo-sama,"

"As for you, Shujinko, I may not know your worth as a person, but I do know your worth as a warrior. Don't let the violence of the shinobi world corrupt you. Protect your teammates and your village, as well as those who are close to your heart. Fight if you must, but always with peace as your objective, and never forget that you are, first and foremost, human,"

Shujinko nodded solemnly. "I understand," he replied, making his voice loud and clear so that she would hear him. Despite not sharing an emotional connection with Chiyo, he still valued the advice she had just given him, and the fact that someone so old was willing to acknowledge her long list of faults spoke volumes to the Ozuma. "… And thank you,"

"The rest of you, heed the words of this decrepit old hag. You have a long and strenuous journey ahead of you. There will be times of conflict and pain, and you might find it easier to simply drop everything and let the shinobi world continue in its current state. However, if you allow that to happen, you will eventually become like me, and you all deserve better than that. Let my failures be an example to you… Also, tell my dear brother Ebizō I apologize… for all the pranks I tried to pull on him… and that I hope… we get to… fish together… the next time we… see each other…"

000

Gaara opened his mouth, desperately gasping for breath. His heart began to beat once again, timidly at first, and then a little bit stronger. His entire body was tingling and trembling violently, as if it had never experienced warmth before, and his mind was a hurricane of foggy thoughts too erratic to be considered lucid. His nervous system went from being inactive to dealing with an avalanche of stimuli. It was like being born a second time.

Once his brain cells received enough impulses to start functioning properly, Gaara slowly began to recover his awareness and began to think rationally. He had no idea what was going on. One moment he was a shapeless entity peacefully wandering across an endless ocean of darkness and light, and all of a sudden, everything faded away. He began to hear gasps, shouts, and sighs all around him. One voice, in particular, was calling his name, a voice he hadn't heard in years, but that he remembered with complete vividness.

"Gaara… Wake up…" he kept hearing.

The Kazekage opened his eyes and blinked several times until his vision became less blurry. The first thing he saw was Naruto, the boy who once saved him from himself. His friends from Konohagakure were there as well, accompanied by their respective senseis. Kankuro and Temari were kneeling next to him, watching their younger brother waking up. They were surrounded by an entire platoon of ninjas from Sunagakure, some of them cheering, some of them smiling, and a few of them were even crying. All in all, he was at the center of a pandemonium.

"Naruto, what… What is going on? What happened?" Gaara asked innocently.

Naruto couldn't help himself and let out a wide grin. "You had us all worried half to death, that's what happened. Those Akatsuki bastards captured you and thought they could get away with it, but don't worry, you're here with us now,"

Gaara blinked once again, not to clear his eyesight, but because he was at a complete loss. "The Akatsuki… They… I was… How is this possible?"

"We sent word to Konohagakure no Sato right after you were captured by the Akatsuki. They arranged a rescue team to help us find you," Temari explained. Despite her calmness and composure, Temari was truly happy to have her brother back, especially because she had nearly lost Kankuro as well. The death of her two siblings would've been devastating both for her and the village, as it would've left Sunagakure basically crippled. "If it weren't for them, you wouldn't be here right now, Gaara,"

Kankuro, who had just gotten out of the hospital, nodded in agreement. "No kidding. They really did us a huge favor when we needed it most, so don't forget to thank all of them. Although, I was the one who gave them the lead they needed to track down those Akatsuki members, so feel free to thank me as well," he said, to which Temari gave him a crude glare. "Calm down, sis. It was just a joke. Sheesh,"

Meanwhile, Shujinko and Renjiro were standing next to each other a little further away from Gaara, watching with utmost satisfaction as a swarm of squealing kunoichis tried to approach the dumbfounded Kazekage while Temari kept them at bay, threatening to blow them away with her giant iron fan. "Well, looks like everything turned out okay in the end. It's been a while since I last had a mission this crazy. My parents are going to have so many questions once I tell them about this," Shujinko said.

Renjiro chuckled. "Please, you think that's bad? My younger siblings are waiting for me back at home. They know I was chosen for this mission, and they're gonna interrogate me until I give them every last detail of what happened. They're the reason I always keep a pair of earplugs on me at all times,"

"You have younger siblings?"

"Yup, a brother and a sister. One is a Genin and the other one hasn't graduated yet. I love them, but they're a pair of walking chatterboxes when they want to,"

"That doesn't sound so terrible," Shujinko replied after a brief moment of silence. "It could be worse. Imagine if they barely spoke to you or paid any attention to you. It might sound great at first, but trust me, it'd get old and boring pretty quickly,"

This made Renjiro raise an eyebrow. "I take it you're an older brother yourself," he said, to which Shujinko nodded. "I guess you're not wrong. It's just not easy being the oldest of your siblings. They expect you to do everything right and know everything there is to know, when in reality, you're still in the process of figuring stuff out. As a ninja, I can help them with almost anything and teach them what they want to learn, but as a brother, I don't always have the answer they're looking for, and they just don't get that,"

Shujinko listened to him carefully and took the time to think about what he had just heard. It felt nice being around someone who understood the struggles of being the oldest child in a family. With the exception of Hinata, whom Shujinko wasn't particularly close to despite getting along fine with her, none of his friends back in Konoha had any younger siblings of their own.

"In my case, things are kinda different. My sister is also a Genin and she used to be sweet and innocent, but something happened to her once she grew older. She became more distant than ever and began treating me as if I were her rival. I have no idea what made her change so much, but I'd like her to start opening up to me about it, if only just to assure my sister she can trust me,"

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure she'll snap out of it eventually. Just give it some time. We were her age once, too. Don't you remember how things were back then?"

"I don't know about you, but I remember being busy dodging shurikens rather than acting standoffish for no good reason. Still, I suppose you're right. She can't stay in that phase forever, but enough of that," the Ozuma said as he began looking for his female teammate from where he was standing, trying to recognize her amidst a sea of Sunagakure ninjas. "Where's Sakura? I haven't seen her since…"

The Ozuma then stopped as he spotted Sakura a bit further away from the fuss. She was sitting on the ground holding the body of Chiyo close to hers, her head hanging low. Shujinko excused himself and began making his way towards her as Sakura was approached by Naruto, Kankuro, and Temari. These last two were supporting Gaara, helping him walk by holding his arms around their shoulders. The Kyūbi Jinchūriki had this big innocent smile plastered on his face while the sand siblings all looked dejected and somber.

"Oi, what's with the long face?" Shujinko heard Naruto say as he got closer. "Cheer up, Sakura-chan. I get that you're worried about Chiyo-baachan, but there's no reason to be sad. She just tired herself out after that medical Ninjutsu thing she used on Gaara. All she needs is some rest and she'll be fi-"

"No, she won't," Kankuro interrupted him. "There's no coming back for Chiyo-baasama, not after what she did,"

The smile on Naruto's face faded away like dust in the wind, and only then did he notice the dismal looks he was getting from Kankuro and Temari. Shujinko, along with the other members of the rescue team, gathered together and joined them. "W-What? What do you mean there's no coming back for her? Isn't she just exhausted?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that. The jutsu that she used to save Gaara was a Kinjutsu, a forbidden technique developed in secret by our village's Puppets Brigade many years ago. It began as a project led by Chiyo-baasama herself, and the purpose of said project was to find a way to breathe life into actual puppets. Eventually, the Puppets Brigade did come up with a method for it, but the risks involved were simply too great, so the village decided to abandon the project and forget all about it," Kankuro made a small pause, hesitant to proceed with the explanation. "The jutsu was named Kishō Tensei, and the only way for the jutsu to work was if an exchange was done,"

Naruto gulped uneasily. "An exchange? What kind of exchange?"

"In order for a puppet to receive life, the users of the jutsu had to give up theirs… Chiyo-baasama is dead, Naruto,"


|Konohagakure no Sato|

No necessary evil was evil at all.

That was the philosophy Root was founded on, as well as the philosophy that kept Konohagakure stable and safe from both exterior and interior threats. While the villagers went about their day without a care in the world, a select group of ninjas worked tirelessly to give them the protection they took for granted, carrying out the most ruthless of missions while operating in complete secrecy. The members of this ANBU faction were individuals who had long forsaken their humanity in order to become what they needed to become: Living weapons, tools whose only will was the one imposed onto them by their leader for the sake of the greater good. The leader of Root was a man named Danzō, who was currently waiting for one of his subordinates to answer his summon.

To describe Danzō would be to describe pragmatism in its most extreme form. Born into the Shimura clan shortly after the foundation of Konohagakure, Danzō was a shinobi who had seen everything a shinobi could ever hope to see twice over, having dedicated his body, mind, and soul to the welfare of his precious village for almost his entire life. The list of atrocious and repelling acts that had been committed under his command and by his own hand was long enough to make a devil grow pale.

Far from denying or rejecting his despicable nature, Danzō embraced it with all his being and never lost a wink of sleep over his actions. The only thing he cared about was his village while the only thing he feared was not doing enough to protect it, and in order to squash that fear, Danzō was willing to take the most extreme of measures regardless of how many people had to be deceived, threatened, lied to, or killed. Concepts such as shame or guilt were foreign to his existence, because after all, none of his actions provided him any sort of personal gain, and if they did, it was because it benefited Konoha far more than it did him.

With the stealth of a shadow, Danzō's subordinate appeared before him. He was a young man with short, straight black hair and dark eyes. His skin was as white as a blank scroll, a product of spending years of his life living in the underground bases of Root and operating outside almost exclusively under the veil of the night. "What is my mission, Danzō-sama?" he asked without preambles, getting on one knee while bowing his head down.

"I have a special assignment for you. Your target is Uchiha Sasuke, the rogue ninja who deserted Konohagakure three years ago. I want you to eliminate him by any means necessary. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Good. Your first step will be to join Team Kakashi. I arranged everything to ensure your inclusion. Naturally, you will have to associate yourself with the members of the team and hopefully win their trust while keeping your true objective a secret. For this mission, your name shall be Sai. Further information shall be given to you before you commence with your task, but I assume you already have basic knowledge of your future teammates,"

The newly named Sai nodded, meeting Danzō's gaze for the first time with a weird smile on his face. "I do. Team Kakashi is led by the Jounin Hatake Kakashi, whose underlings are the Jounin Ozuma Shujinko, the Chunin Haruno Sakura, and the Genin Uzumaki Naruto, who is also the Kyūbi Jinchūriki,"

"That is correct. In the meantime, you are to remain here and wait for my instructions. Team Kakashi is currently handling an S-rank mission away from the village and it is still unclear when will they come back. Upon their return, you shall be introduced to your new team and your mission will begin," Danzō said with a frown. "Also, wipe that ridiculous smile off your face while in my presence,"

Sai did as told and stopped smiling, his face now portraying an utterly apathetic expression. "My apologies, Danzō-sama. I have done some research on human gestures and body language in order to improve my social abilities for this mission. It is said that smiling is an effective way to get other people to trust you, but learning this skill has proven itself to be quite difficult,"

"Practice it some other time, then. There is no room for smiles in Root,"

000

Sai opened the envelope that had been given to him by a fellow Root member and stared at the files contained inside. The information in those files included documents, reports, medical records, psychological evaluations, and other relevant sources that had either been requested to the Hokage administration or facilitated by Danzō and his fellow councilors. In order for his mission to be a success, Sai needed to know as much as he could about his future teammates, and since his assignment could start at any moment, he began reading the profiles right away.

The first profile showed a picture of a kunoichi with pink hair, green eyes, and fair skin. She was quite ugly in Sai's opinion, although he doubted her looks would be a factor that needed to be taken into consideration for the purpose of his mission.

Name: Haruno Sakura

Sex: Female

Current age: 16

Parents: Haruno Kizashi (father), Mebuki Haruno (mother)

Siblings: None

Current rank: Chunin

Background: Haruno Sakura entered the Academy at age 7 and graduated at age 12, consistently achieving high test scores in every theoretical subject. She was placed in Team 7 along with Ozuma Shujinko, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto, under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi.

She participated in the Chunin Exams with her team during their first year as Genins and successfully passed the first two tests, but failed to qualify for the third after preliminaries were held. Two years later, she participated in the Chunin Exams held in Sunagakure, where she was granted the rank of Chunin after acting as a substitute member for Team 10, replacing her former classmate Nara Shikamaru.

After the disbandment of Team 7 following the desertion of her former teammate Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura became the apprentice of the Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade and was taught Medical Ninjutsu for three years, along with other skills.

Known abilities and assets:

- Extensive knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu and several areas of medicine.

- Superb chakra control.

- Apparently able to replicate the same physical strength the Godaime Hokage is famous for.

- Keen intellect and a natural capacity to learn.

Additional info/observations:

- According to psychological evaluations, Haruno Sakura used to have romantic feelings for her former teammate Uchiha Sasuke and was deeply affected when he abandoned the village. Whether she retains said emotional attachment or not is unknown.

Before moving on to the rest of her information, Sai read Sakura's profile again to make sure he had a general understanding of the kunoichi in question. He had no trouble memorizing her physical appearance, her personal background, and her set of skills, but he couldn't quite comprehend the part about Sakura having 'romantic feelings' for Sasuke. What was that supposed to mean? Sai decided he would have to do some research on the subject and wrote a reminder note for himself on a sheet of paper.

The second profile showed a picture of a shinobi with brown hair, golden eyes, and slightly tan skin. Nothing about his appearance was too striking or out of the ordinary, although Sai immediately noticed the exotic color of his eyes, which were of a darker shade of yellow. They were definitely a distinctive trait.

Name: Ozuma Shujinko

Sex: Male

Current age: 16

Parents: Ozuma Daichi (father), Ozuma Masumi (mother)

Siblings: Ozuma Nanami (younger sister)

Current rank: Jounin

Background: Ozuma Shujinko entered the Academy at age 7 and graduated at age 12 as one of the top students of his class. He was placed in Team 7 along with Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto, under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi.

He participated in the Chunin Exams with his team during their first year as Genins and successfully passed the first two tests as well as the preliminaries. However, the invasion perpetrated by Sunagakure no Sato and Kusagakure no Sato interrupted the third test before he could compete. He was part of the squad that was sent to stop his former teammate Uchiha Sasuke from joining the rogue ninja Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin. Shortly after, he was granted the rank of Chunin by the Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade under the recommendation of his Jounin sensei.

After the disbandment of Team 7 following the desertion of his former teammate Uchiha Sasuke, Ozuma Shujinko became the sole remaining student of Hatake Kakashi, who trained him for the next three years. Recently, he was promoted to Jounin under the recommendation of Hatake Kakashi.

Known abilities and assets:

- Wielder of a Kekkei Genkai known as Karura Tensei. No information about this Kekkei Genkai is available.

- Remarkable proficiency in Fūton Ninjutsu.

- Very adept at close-range combat, seems to favor the use of kunais combined with Taijutsu.

- Sharp analytical skills and capable of acute observations.

Additional info/observations:

- The Ozuma clan is currently the last shinobi clan to have been accepted into Konohagakure. Acknowledged by the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the only known living members of this clan are Ozuma Shujinko and his immediate family. The rest of the Ozuma clan is presumed to be long dead.

'Interesting,' Sai thought as he rummaged through other documents related to Shujinko. He was unable to find concrete information about the Ozuma clan, but he did find a written agreement from sixteen years ago that the Sandaime Hokage and Danzō himself had signed. The agreement stated that both Daichi and Masumi would be welcomed to stay in the village along with their newborn son Shujinko, but under the condition that he and any future siblings he had were sent to the Academy to become ninjas.

This way, the Ozuma clan gained a new home and the village acquired access to a new Kekkei Genkai that was nearly extinct. Not only that, if the boy grew up to become an adult and had children of his own, his offspring would inherit the power within his genes and Konohagakure could potentially gain generations' worth of ninjas with a unique ability. All of this took place barely months after the attack of the Kyūbi, a tragedy that claimed the lives of countless ninjas, including the best shinobi they had, the Yondaime Hokage. Konohagakure had to ensure its survival and the prospect of a new shinobi clan joining their ranks was too sweet an opportunity to pass up.

The third profile showed a picture of a young shinobi with blonde hair, blue eyes, and whiskers on his cheeks. The picture had been taken a few years ago when the boy was just starting his career as a Genin, and Sai thought it was rather pathetic how a ninja who was now sixteen years old still hadn't moved past that rank.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Sex: Male

Current age: 16

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown, most likely none

Current rank: Genin

Background: Uzumaki Naruto entered the Academy at age 7 and graduated at age 12 despite failing the graduation exam and being ranked as the student with the worst grades in his class. He was placed in Team 7 along with Haruno Sakura, Ozuma Shujinko, and Uchiha Sasuke, under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi.

He participated in the Chunin Exams with his team during their first year as Genins and successfully passed the first two tests as well as the preliminaries. However, the invasion perpetrated by Sunagakure no Sato and Kusagakure no Sato interrupted the third test and he only got to fight one combat before the Chunin Exams were interrupted. He was part of the squad that was sent to stop his former teammate Uchiha Sasuke from joining the rogue ninja Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin.

After the disbandment of Team 7 following the desertion of his former teammate Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto became the apprentice Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, who trained him for the next three years away from the village. He recently returned to the village.

Known abilities and assets:

- Massive chakra reserves said to be nearly unlimited.

- Capable of producing a copious amount of shadow clones. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu seems to be his specialty.

- Wildly unpredictable, known for using unorthodox tactics in battle.

Additional info/observations:

- Uzumaki Naruto has spent three years training under the legendary Jiraiya. It is unclear what his training consisted of and how much his skills have progressed.

- Uzumaki Naruto is the Kyūbi Jinchūriki.

Team 7 was certainly an unusual team and rather unique in terms of its members. One was the student of the Godaime Hokage, the other was the wielder of a Kekkei Genkai from a foreign clan, another was a traitor to Konohagakure, and the last one was the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. Sai wondered how difficult it would be for him to befriend them while deceiving them at the same time. The members of Root weren't taught how to socialize or how to engage in common human interactions, and since he didn't know anyone that could teach him these things, Sai was forced to learn these subjects from books and practice facial expressions all on his own.

In the end, it didn't matter. He would complete his assignment at any cost and subsequently forget about these worthless gimmicks and the unnecessary baggage known as feelings. In Root, there were no feelings. There were no names, no identity, no past, and no future.

In Root, there was only one thing that existed and mattered: The mission.


Aaaaaand that was chapter 9. Hope you all liked it.

As promised, I got this chapter done a lot faster than the last one. This is the last chapter of the Kazekage Rescue arc, as our hero and his friends will return to Konoha in the next chapter. I'm pleased with the way this one turned out even if it wasn't as Shujinko-centered as I'd like, but I can't make everything about him all the time, so yeah.

Did you enjoy Chiyo's speech and her parting words? It was tricky to come up with all of her dialogues since she's not a character we know a whole lot of, but I think I did a decent job at describing how she felt and what made her realize the error of her ways. Naturally, I gave myself some creative freedom to determine this as best as I could, because as you know, I like to come up with my own dialogues and thoughts for the characters instead of having them say/think exactly the same things they said/thought in the anime/manga.

Also, it made me happy to include the scenes of Danzō and Sai, since I hadn't written about them prior to this chapter. I liked describing Danzō's character and I really enjoyed the scene where Sai reads the profiles of the members of Team Kakashi. If you're wondering how Root managed to acquire that much information about them, keep in mind that Konoha is a shinobi village, so the governmental body must gather and store information about every single one of its ninjas. Also, Danzō was a member of the Konoha Council for years and has both Homura and Koharu under his pocket, so I don't think he would've had much trouble getting/stealing information from the administration and distribute it to Root.

Glossary:

Kishō Tensei - Reanimation Jutsu

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Ja ne!