"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'
"Summons Talking"
Chapter 22:
"A Sand Shinobi," Serafall exclaimed. "But why would he be here?"
"I don't know," Chiyo said. "He went missing after Gaara was abducted, while the village was in disarray."
"Could he have been a spy for the Akatsuki?" Serafall asked.
"No," shocked Chiyo gasped out. "He was on the council for four years."
"The Fire Ball jutsu was created by the Uchiha Clan," Kakashi suddenly said. "It was their specialty. That Fire Ball earlier, was the real thing."
XXX
Somewhere far away on the rocky terrain, the real Itachi opened his eyes. He was seating on the flat rock, with Kisame on another rock right next to him. They were both in the middle of performing the jutsu to extract and seal away the Ichibi, along with the other members of the Akatsuki.
"I see you are done," Kisame said. "That was fast. I though you will last longer."
"Something's not right," Itachi suddenly said with a big frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" Kisame asked, very curious.
"There was someone else there," Itachi said. "And that someone is who took me out in an instant without me being even able to see them."
"Are you sure?" Kisame asked. "Who could have done something like that to you? I mean, yes, the sacrifice only had 30% of your chakra, which means that it couldn't use all the powers you have, but still, to be taken out like that. Its… concerning."
"Yes, it is," Itachi confirmed. "I need to inform the leader about this." Itachi then closed his eyes, and his consciousness awoke back in the chamber with the other members of the Akatsuki.
"We have a problem," Itachi said as soon as he opened his eyes.
"What's wrong," the leader asked? "I'm surprised you were taken out so soon, even with the Ice Demon there and with the sacrifice being at only 30% of your power."
"There was someone else there," Itachi said, surprising everyone in the chamber. "Someone who took me out in an instant after I was swept away by Kakashi's Water Dragon Jutsu."
"Are you sure you weren't taken out by that Water Dragon, and just don't want to admit that you were taken out that easily?" Deidara teased Itachi with a smirk on his face.
Itachi didn't even acknowledge Deidara and completely ignored him and his insults.
"Whoever that was, is a threat," Itachi said to the leader. "The problem is, I don't even know if they are with the first group on the way here and are only backup, or they are someone else completely different, and after us for a different reason."
"What makes you think that they are even after us," Sasori asked? "For all we know, they could have simply been after you. You are an S-Rank missing-nin, just like all of us, and have a high bounty on your head."
"That is a possibility," the leader said. "But no matter the reason, they took out Itachi too quickly, and now the Team from Leaf might show up here before we can finish the extraction."
"Do we send someone else to intercept them," Kisame asked. "I can go if you want."
Pain said nothing.
XXX
Chiyo pulled out an ink and a pan, and started writing a letter. "They were clearly stalling for time," she said. "Fortunately for us, someone interfered and took out Itachi before we could lose more time."
"Yes," Serafall said. "But who? I don't like not knowing that fact. It seems someone is following us, but I can't sense them, and on top of that, we don't even know who they are after."
"I don't know who took Itachi out," Chiyo said. "But it's a good thing they did. Since the Akatsuki was using a jutsu like this to stall for time, means that the extraction of the Tailed Beast has already begun."
Kakashi nodded. "We are running out of time," he said. "We need to get to Gaara as soon as possible."
Chiyo finished her letter, before she released some sort of mechanical bird, which she then used to send the message to the Sand Village. "Let's go and wake up those two students of yours first," she said. "But we need to get to Gaara before the extraction is completed. If we are not... he will die."
XXX
Back in the Sand Village, they received the message from Chiyo and heard about Yura being a spy. They finally realized that it was because of Yura, that the Akatsuki were able to gain entrance into the village in the first place.
Then they went and argued about Gaara, since some of the council members hoped he will never return in the first place, as they think he is unstable, and as such, should perish.
Then they talked about the Third Kazekage who was kidnapped like Gaara and killed in the process, his body never recovered. The thirds death led to war and death and destruction of many lands, particularly, their own. They can't allow something like that happening again, which is why they are strengthening their borders and why Temari was sent to guard one of the particularly weak spots.
XXX
"Kisame," Pain called the fish-man look alike. "Go, and stop them for a little while. It will be troublesome if they barge in here, and stop the extraction. Use as much chakra as you can spare to hold them back as much as possible."
"Understood." Kisame said with a smile, before he closed his eyes.
"Zetsu," Pain called the plant like being. "Go and see if you can find out, who those others coming here, are. I don't want any surprises."
"Of course." Black Zetsu said, and then he and his white half, also closed their eyes.
XXX
-Half a day later-
A corpse of an unknown man lied at the feet of Serafall, while she was standing over him with a scowl on her face.
The corpse has frozen holes on several places, and looks like it was skewered by a very powerful Ice attack, which not only pierced through the target, but was also cold enough to freeze the hole in an instant.
Unlike Serafall, everyone else lied on the ground, either exhausted, like Chiyo and Sakura, or beaten up, like it was in the case of Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Serafall asked with a scowl on her face, and with some power in her voice. She was annoyed, and particularly angry at the fact that these fake Akatsuki bastards are showing up to stall them, and prevent the group from saving Gaara. If she fails, and Gaara dies, Koyuki will be disappointed and Serafall doesn't want to make Koyuki disappointed as she is a very good friend and an occasional partner.
Chiyo got up, and walked over to next to Koyuki, to look at the corpse. She cast one look at the guy, and frowned. "I don't know him," Chiyo said. "He is not from the Sand Village."
Serafall scowled. "How many of these vermin does the Akatsuki have, and plan to send to stall us?" She growled in anger, and then the temperature in the area started to decrease… fast.
Chiyo noticed this immediately, and said. "Calm down, my dear. You don't want to injure those Leaf ninja, as they can cause trouble for your country." Serafall calmed down a little at hearing this, as she didn't want to cause trouble for Koyuki. "Let's just continue toward Gaara. I'm sure that we can make it in time and save him."
"I hope so," Serafall said. "My lands Daimyo, Koyuki sees the Kazekage as her friends and she wouldn't want anything to happen to him."
The two then went and helped Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke deal with their injuries, before they continued toward the cave where Gaara is being held.
XXX
Back in the cave, Kisame and Zetsu informed Pain about what happened.
"Well, you were right," Kisame said to Pain. "That Serafall woman is strong and knows how to fight, unlike the idiots from the Leaf, who just charge in."
"What happened?" Pain asked.
"It started ok, I guess," Kisame said. "Even though the sacrifice was using only half of my chakra, he still had all of them, except Ice Demon, on the ropes. She didn't fight at first, but when she saw the others can't defeat my sacrifice, she threw some thrice-damned, Ice Javelins, which pierced through the sacrifice like hot knife through butter, and killed him."
"Hm," Pain exclaimed. "Well, I knew she was strong, so I'm not really surprised how that ended up. Even at your full power, I doubt you could have defeated her if she really fought. Thankfully, she didn't fight from the start, and you were able to buy us some time. By the time they get here, it will be too late, especially since there is a barrier at the entrance."
Pain then looked at Zetsu, and frowned when he saw a concerned look on his face. "What did you find out, Zetsu."
Both Zetsu's were quiet for a few moments, before White Zetsu sighed and said. "Absolutely nothing."
XXX
Team 7 of the Hidden Leaf Village, along with Lady Chiyo and the Ice Devil, Serafall Leviathan, arrived in front of the boulder which is at the entrance of the cavern where two of the Akatsuki and Gaara are currently in.
"We've finally made it," Sakura said while looking at the entrance. "So, how do we proceed?"
"We smash through that barrier," Sasuke huffed.
"I doubt that it would be that easy," Chiyo said, while looking at the paper attacked on the boulder. "The Akatsuki would want this place protected, so the barrier must be pretty strong."
"Only one day to find out," Kakashi said, before he sent Water Dragon on the boulder. Sasuke decided to do something as well, and not stand behind, so he sent Lightning Fist, a B-Rank Lightning Jutsu.
The two jutsus combined, and hit at the barrier, full force.
The hit caused a loud boom, and sent ripples across the boulder, but eventually, it led to nothing, as there wasn't even a small dent on the boulder.
"Well, that's one strong barrier," Kakashi commented.
"What do we do now," Serafall asked? "I mean, I can try one of my more powerful attacks, but if I do that, there will be a lot of damage on the surrounding area, and even you will be caught in the blast. The worse thing is, that even then, I'm unsure that the barrier would be broken."
"Before you try anything that might kill us all," Sakura spoke while looking at Serafall. "We should try and figure out, what kind of a barrier this is."
"Ok," Kakashi said. "Then let's figure this out."
XXX
While they were trying to pass the barrier, Naruto, Saeko, Fu and Juvia are not far behind them, watching from the distance.
"Hm," Naruto rubbed his chin, while looking at the tag on the boulder. "It's a Five Seal Barrier."
"What's that?" Fu asked.
"It's a very powerful layer of protection, in which five tags, with the word, Forbidden written on them, are spread around the area that is being guarded," Naruto explained. "On that boulder is one, which means that there are four other on another locations."
"So how are they taken down," Juvia asked? "Can they just take them off?"
"No," Naruto said. "That would be too easy. Those tags, as I said, are at five different places, and they need to be taken down at the exact same moment."
"So they have to take them down, simultaneously." Saeko guessed.
"Yes," Naruto confirmed. "The barrier won't budge any other way."
"But Naruto, how can they find those other tags," Juvia asked? "They could be anywhere."
"You are right, my dear Juvia," Naruto's words, made Juvia blush, and also made Saeko and Fu narrow their eyes. "They have to find all those tags, and remove them at the same time. That is something that they can't do, as they neither have the skill nor the way to do it."
"So what are they going to do?" Saeko asked.
Naruto said nothing.
XXX
"Sasori, Deidara," Pain addressed to the two members of the Akatsuki who were inside of the cavern. "You two take care of our new friends, outside. Is that understood?"
"Yes," Sasori said.
"I knew you would say that?" Deidara sighed.
"All the others, are dismissed." Pain said, and then his hologram disappeared, followed by the other members of the Akatsuki, save for Sasori and Deidara who's bodies are there to begin with.
XXX
"I think I'll give them a hand… one…. Last… time." Naruto said with a smirk on his face.
Saeko shuddered when she saw the look, and wondered what Naruto was planning to do. "What are you going to do?" She asked.
Naruto's smirk widened, and then his right arm was coated in a black and purple darkness, like some sort of miasma.
The three girls saw this, and felt pure evil coming from the darkness. It was so bad, that the three of them moved away from Naruto as far as possible, while still being close enough to see what he plans to do.
"Death Fist!" Naruto shouted and punched forward into the distance, releasing a fist shaped attack made out of dark miasma, which destroyed everything it touched in an instant.
The girls looked at the miasma Naruto fired from his hand, in disbelief, as it traveled through the forest, turning everything on its path into dust. None of them have ever seen Naruto using this power, so they were surprised, and more than a little afraid, as they can feel how evil it feels. That fact that everything that is touched by the miasma, dies in an instant, made it even more terrible and worthy of being afraid.
As the Death Fist traveled into the distance, it soon came close to the group of Akatsuki pursuit squad, standing in front of the barrier. Luckily for them, they noticed something truly evil coming toward them from behind, so all of them jumped far away from it.
The moment the darkness touched the barrier, the whole thing was broken in an instant, and completely disintegrated the boulder as well, before it continued to go inside of the cavern, where Sasori and Deidara jumped away from the fist of death, so that they wouldn't be swallowed. Luckily, Gaara was not in the path of it, so his corpse was safe… not that it matters really, since he is dead.
Once the Death Fist has passed though the cavern, and even managed to punch through the wall on the far side, it went outside again, and after few hundred meters, it exploded into a dome of darkness, which ate everything inside of it, from the leaves and trees, to the occasional animal, and the ground itself. Nothing was spared.
Saeko, Fu, Juvia, the Leaf Ninja, along with Chiyo and Serafall, and the two Akatsuki, all goggled at the path of destruction created by Death Fist.
They have all seen a lot in their lives, regardless of how long or short they are, but this is something none of them have ever seen before. Hell, they never even heard about anything like this.
"THE HELL WAS THAT!" Deidara shouted so loud, that even Naruto and his companions heard him, and they were like… half-a-mile away from the chamber. There is no need to say that Kakashi and the others heard him as well, and this brought them back to reality, as they seem to have had their minds blown by what they just witnessed.
"K-Kakashi sensei," Sakura called slowly. "W-What was t-that?"
Everyone looked at Kakashi, waiting to hear if he knows the answer. Unfortunately for them… he didn't. "I don't know, Sakura," Kakashi said. "I have never before seen something like this."
While everyone who saw this was very afraid of it, and are wondering who did it, and what it was, Sasuke was, on top of being afraid, which he will not admit, he was also seething in rage, because he believes that this is the kind of power he will need to kill Itachi, and that he deserves to have it and no one else.
Seeing that the barrier is taken down, and not daring to go and search for the one who destroyed it, Kakashi and the others entered into the cavern, only to be met by Sasori and Deidara, standing in front of Gaara's corpse.
The moment they saw Gaara lying there, dead, Kakashi knew that he has failed his mission of retrieving Gaara for the Leaf Village. 'Danzo is not going to be happy about this.' Kakashi sighed in his head.
"It looks like we were too late," Sakura said while looking at Gaara with a solemn expression on her face. She knew that this means that her team has failed the mission, and knows that there will be consequences, since Danzo is not like Tsunade, and he is sure to punish them for the failure, especially since it was a very important mission, and on top of that, this is the second S-Rank mission Team 7 has failed in the last week.
She is also sad, because she knew that Gaara was Naruto's friend, and while she didn't necessarily like Naruto, she didn't hate him either, and thinks that his death was unnecessary. 'I bet if Naruto was here, he would be throwing a fit from the moment he sees Gaara's body like this.' Sakura though while smiling slightly at that picture.
Chiyo was also sad that Gaara was dead, and she partly blamed herself, since not only was she the one who sealed Ichibi into Gaara, but it was also her grandson who had a hand in Gaara's death. She was also thinking about her grandson who was standing not far from her. This was the first time in 20 years that she has seen him, and she can't help but wonder about his appearance.
Sasuke didn't care that Gaara is dead, as he has hated him ever since the Chūnin Exams in Konoha. The fact that Gaara saw Naruto as a friend, and has severed ties with Konoha because they ordered Naruto's death, didn't help in lowering the hate. It only increased it, as Sasuke hates Naruto with a passion for denying him the Mangekyo Sharingan which he wanted so badly.
Sai was as emotionless as ever, and just like Sasuke, he didn't care about Gaara's death. Although, unlike Sasuke, he doesn't hate Gaara, and knows that Danzo will punish him severally, along with the others for not getting to Gaara in time. He almost shuddered at the thought.
Serafall, while she normally appeared to be clam and has bubbly personality, is also very hot-headed, and easy to anger, especially when someone she cares about is harmed or suffers in some way. Now, while she didn't really know Gaara that much, and is not her precious person, unlike her little sister and Koyuki, she knew that he is Koyuki's close friend, and as such, she made it her job to save him.
Unfortunately, she was late in saving him, and because of that she knew that Koyuki will be very sad. The thought of sad Koyuki, made Serafall very angry, and angry Serafall is bad news for everyone.
The temperature suddenly started to drop very quickly, and everyone looked at Serafall, as they knew that she is the one who is causing this.
Everyone shuddered at the sight of an angry Serafall surrounded by ice blue aura, and at the sight of the water under their feet, slowly turning to ice before it started spreading to the cavern floor and the walls.
"You killed Princess Koyuki's friend," Serafall growled, sending shivers down the spines of Deidara and Sasori, who were looking at her with wide eyes. "Because of that… I will kill you both."
As soon as she said that, her aura increased and suddenly, the whole cavern floor along with the walls and the ceiling were covered in several inches thick ice. The only thing not covered in ice were the two Akatsuki and the Leaf ninja, along with Chiyo, as they were all able to jump into the air, and avoid being frozen. Gaara was also frozen.
The mouth on Deidara's right palm, spit some explosive clay, before Deidara shaped it into a small clay bird, and then increased it in size, enough so that he can stand on it.
Sasori on the other hand, came back down and onto the ice covered floor, right next to where Gaara's frozen body, lay.
"That woman is truly dangerous," Sasori commented, while looking at Serafall. "I have never seen someone control Ice, or any other elemental bloodline to this level. This goes beyond anything I have ever seen."
"I agree with you Sasori, my man," Deidara said while glaring at Serafall, who glared back at him. A minute later, Deidara smiled, and said. "Her powers are really beautiful. I'd almost say that they are art itself. But her powers are more like yours then mine. As such, I think I want to fight against her, as it would be the closest thing to fighting you as I can get.
"What do you say, Sasori. Should I take care of her, while you take care of the pests from the Leaf and that old Lady?"
Sasori looked at Deidara up in the air, and scowled. "Do as you like," Sasori said.
Deidara smiled, before he created small clay spider and dropped it on the floor, not far from where Gaara was. As soon as the spider fell on the ice covered floor, Deidara activated it. "Katsu!" The spider exploded destroying a portion of the ice on the floor and the ice which was covering Gaara.
The explosion also sent some ice shards flying around, and toward the Gaara rescue squad, who all had to shield themselves from them.
While they were all shielding themselves from the flying ice shards, Deidara's clay bird came down and grabbed Gaara in its beak, before it partly swallowed it.
Then, Deidara flew outside of the cavern, while taunting Serafall, and making her come after him.
Seeing this, Serafall growled, and then looked at the others. "His ass is mine," she growled. "You take care of that one." She pointed at Sasori, who was patiently waiting.
Serafall turned around and run after Deidara and Gaara, leaving the others to face off against Sasori.