Chapter 64: Ambush of the Akatsuki P1

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Air Bender or Naruto, I do own Kasumi and her deck which are Fire Emblem Female characters.

It would take Katara much more longer than she thought at first. It took her five hours to completely heal my brother. I just sat wondering what plans Sasuke had for me. I knew that they involved capturing and forcing me to be his wife somehow but also he was going to improve his abilities for next time. Hanabi was at my side noticing that I was troubled "Sasuke on your mind Lady Kasumi?"

"Yes" I answered sighing "While he is brought back and fighting alongside Azula...It's hard not to think of the matter if he succeeds in well capturing me."

Hanabi sighed understanding me "He would force you to be his..."

"That he would" I sighed again feeling completely awful about this situation. Honsetly the more I thought about this the more awful I felt including for once feeling sick to my stomach.

"No need to fear him Lady Kasumi" Lord Jirayia said to me "After all I'm here and I'm pretty sure Sasuke's not gonna want to come at you with me here."

Naruto overheard muttering under his breathe to Sokka "Says the Pervy Sage whom nearly fell for a Genjutsu that Itachi cast on him involving girls..."

Both Sokka and even I sweat dropped at that comment not even bothering to answer back but Lord Jirayia heard this "Hey! I didn't fall for it! After all I came to your rescue!"

"Once Sasuke was badly beaten by Itachi" Naruto and I muttered as I remembered this greatly.

Kakashi-Papa stayed silent on the matter of Sasuke knowing that Naruto and I had opposite views on Sasuke. Kakashi-Papa knew that even though I was a strong girl for a girl my age and what I went through already, he knew when I was scared. Yes, I was scared of Sasuke, scared at the possiblity that I would one day be forced to marry him. On the other side Naruto was willing to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf Village most likely to be on Sakura's good side and well it was like him to sense good in him still.

Eventually, Kakashi-Papa put his arm on my shoulders and promised me "I will do anything in my power to protect you from the possiblity of a forced marriage to Sasuke, Kasumi. That you can count on."

This made me feel a bit better as I gave Kakashi-Papa a smile "Thank you."

Haku also vowed this "You have my support too Lady Kasumi. I won't let him get to you so he can have his way with you."

"Me too" Hanabi said.

"Thanks you two!" I told them.

Haku and Hanabi nodded and I could tell they would give their lives to make sure Sasuke didn't get me in the end. Toph turned "I'll protect you from him too. After all a girl shouldn't be forced to marry someone she doesn't want to."

I gave her a small smile as she was right. Katara finished healing Naruto "Man that Shadow Duel took me longer to heal you Naruto."

"Well in his defense he was left with one Life Point left" James told her.

"Point taken I guess" Katara sighed.

"We should get a move on as soon as possible before night" Kakashi-Papa said.

We all agreed to start getting a move on. I never even noticed that we were being slowly followed by two figures with cloud robes however I took time to notice how Lord Jirayia was behaving it was as if he had a feeling we were being watched but he wasn't sure where exactly.

Sasori's POV

Deidara and I were on the hunt looking for the Lady Signer. We were told by our leader that she went to aide the Avatar. Normally our hunt was for the hosts of the demon beasts, but a Signer's power to summon the legendary Crimson Dragon was too much for us to ignore, especially when the Crimson Dragon was stronger then all Demon Beasts one on one. That made this Signer a good target for the Akatsuki. Sure there were six others but we were confident we could get the Crimson Dragon on our side or to extract it from her in the same process we did to the host of the tailed beast.

We were standing and just in time to see the Ninetailed Jinari defeat Sasuke in a duel and sent him with his Fire Nation allies flying. At that moment I was beginning to wonder if Itachi was the best the Uchiha Clan could offer. Surely he wouldn't have lost a duel then again he wouldn't be dueling anyone to begin with.

"So that's our target Sasori" Deidara told me.

I was silent watching our target but only for a moment "Indeed, I was hoping the target was older than ten years of age, but orders are orders I suppose. Remember we want to take her alive."

"Just charm her by my art that should work" Deidara told me.

I sighed "Like that girl is gonna think your explosives are art."

"They are art!" Deidaratold me "And it's gonna be easy to catch her!"

"Careful what you say Deidara" I warned looking at the toad sage Jiryia "For they have Jiryaia following them."

Deidara studied the scene and knew it was pointless at the current state "Then what do you propose we do? We can't just sit here and wait till she is unguarded!"

"That's why brains are needed at times Deidara" I answered "That Fire Nation Princess will arrive with Itachi's brother aiding them. All we need to do is wait till Lady Kasumi gets seperated then we make our move to capture her. No doubt that she'll put up a fight, but at least she falls into our hands on our own terms than us fighting against all of her allies. Only when the ball is in our quart will we have the advantage."

Deidara looked at me a bit angry at being called dumb but even he saw my point, it certainly was better than us attacking now. It was best to wait till our chances were high. Then if things got into our favor...Oh yes, it was better to wait then spring our attack

So we'd wait till things were better while slowly following our target.

Kasumi's POV

We had been marching for two whole days. Amazingly we weren't attacked and were making quick progress, but still we weren't going to lower our guard. As we were walking on this third day Hanabi and I caught sight of the enemy coming back. It was Azula with an enourmace ammount of Fire Nation Soldiers, and Sound Ninja. Sasuke strangely wasn't there which puzzled me. Then it hit me he might waiting as well somewhere plotting to surprise attack us mostly me due to knowing Hanabi and I could see where he was hiding so he was playing smart.

"Everyone!" Hanabi said for me "We're about to be ambushed in about one mile!"

"She's right!" I said with Takara and Snowflake growling smelling the enemy approaching.

All of us were getting ready for their attack while walking closer towards the ambush spot. As Shikamaru once said about ambushes, ambushes were only good if the opponent wasn't aware of it. In our case thanks to Hanabi's eyes and my psychic powers in their prime state we were quite aware of the ambush. Just as we got to the area the enemy attacked with Azula coming after me and Aang which we were right next to each other. We saw her coming at us blasting us with her fire from her hands. Aang and I rolled out of the way with Aang trying to Air Bend her back towards the trees, but she avoids it with ease and tries to get him again but I shield him with a rock wall. She glared "You spoil all the fun!"

"Maybe you and Sasuke shouldn't mess with my friends!" I glared back at her "We Fudos are very protective of our bonds with our friends!"

Aang saw someone behind me "Lady Kasumi! It looks like Sasuke is behind you!"

I barely had enough time to react before Sasuke was upon me. I managed to block a kick from him and he smirked "Ready for a rematch?"

I glared at him as he nearly kicked my legs out from under me but I managed to avoid it by flipping. Aang dodged a fire bended attack from Azula and we were both on the tree limb backs pressed against each other with Aang remarking "This ain't good...I got Azula trying to kill me and you got your edgy man that wants you to restore his clan."

I blushed red at the mention of what Aang said was Sasuke "Do me a favor Aang and please...Don't remind me what Sasuke wants from me! That's sort of worse than what Azula wants from you!"

Sasuke made hand signs "Fire Style, Giant Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke's attack was made more powerful with Azula whom joined his Jutsu with two steady fire bended streams of fire that was aimed at me and Aang. I managed to bring up an Earth sphere to protect me and Aang from the approaching attacks. The joint sphere holds and I let the sphere down way too quickly. For Sasuke was upon us! Without warning he manages to kick Aang out of the tree and he even grabbed hold of my leg. I glare at him preparing to blast him with my psychic powers but Azula as cunning as she was unleashed two volleys of lightning striking me in my arm stunning me but Takara and Snowflake came to my rescue before Sasuke could do anything to me they unleashed ether Flamethrower if it was from Takara or Ice Beam if it was coming from Snowflake. The two ranged moves strike their targets Sasuke and Asula. Both glare at my pets as I finally recovered from being stunned and I sent a blast of psychic energy at them sending them flying but they recovered on a nearby tree.

"Aang!" I shouted at him "Are you okay?!"

"Yes" Aang said getting up.

Sokka and Naruto were also in a pickle with Naruto facing off against Sound Ninja and Sokka facing off against FIre Benders as well as Fire Nation Soldiers but the Fire Benders gave him a bit more trouble than they did when facing off against Naruto. As predicted everyone seemed to be having easier time with the ambushers beating them off easily. Then just as things looked in our favor there were multiple explosions going off. Aang, Naruto, Sokka and I had managed to get seperated from our allies as the explosions were going off and one appeared next to our feet causing Sauke and Azula to back off puzzled. By their reactions I could tell this wasn't in their plan. Someone else had laid the explosives which puzzled me on who would do this but I had little time to think on whom when an explosition appeared next to my feet and blew up a nasty chunk of land causing me, Aang, Naruto, and Sokka to plummet down a large cliff.

"Lady Kasumi!" Haku and Toph shout.

"Naruto!" Jirayia and Kakashi-Papa shout in alarm.

"Aang! Sokka!" Katara adds on watching this.

"Boss lady!" Team Signer shouted watching this.

Lance looks over the edge to see if there was hope one of us was able to grab onto something but there was nothing to grab onto. Our allies had to fight off this ambush alone. I hit the ground hard blacking out. I don't know how long I was out but eventually I came around mostly due to Takara and Snowflake licking my face and whimpering as if asking if I was alright. I opened my eyes and felt the stinging pain in my back as I had fallen onto it. Somehow amazingly I was still alive from a fall like that.

"Vulpix?" Takara asked me as if asking if I was okay.

I nodded petting her to confirm "Yes, I'm okay. Just a bit sore in my back."

I get up rubbing my back and felt the pain centered in my spine. This could only mean one thing...I had fallen onto it damaging it. I just hoped it was brused as I didn't have Katara to look after the injury. Althhough the fact I could get up meant that I was okay. I heard Aang groan "Okay, was that a sneak attack somehow that we didn't see?

I shrugged "I didn't see anyone that could've set those off. Neither did Hanabi."

"Are you okay Lady Kasumi?"

"I have a sore back but I'm okay."

"Thank goodness" Aang said.

"Are Naruto and Sokka with us?"

"We are!" Sokka said "Just we have massive headaches..."

I turned to see him and Naruto rubbing their heads meaning they had somehow fallen onto their heads.

"How did we fall down that cliff?" Naruto asked.

"Explosives did the deed" I answered him.

The four of us looked up to where we had fallen.

"We must've fallen thirty feet!" Sokka said "Or more! And somehow the good news is WE'RE STILL ALIVE! Praise the lord!"

I began suspecting that we weren't in the clear just yet "We are for now...But I'm not liking this even more."

"Why is that?" Sokka asked me.

I looked at Aang, Naruto and Sokka "Let's just say my women's intution is telling me that the explosions weren't set by Princess Azula and Sasuke at all...That someone else...Wants someone...And that someone might be me."

"Why not Aang?" Sokka asked.

Naruto somehow knew that answer "The Fire Nation wants Aang dead or captured. Plus didn't you recall how shocked Princess Azula and Sasuke looked when the explosions were happening? They were taken by surprise, this means whoever did that was wanting my sister..." he sighs looking at me "Who wants you this time sis?!"

I gave him a silencing glare as I defended myself "HOW SHOULD I KNOW?! THERE MAYBE LIKE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE THAT WANT ME FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL NEEDS! AND HONESTLY I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN I'M BEING TARGETTED!"

Naruto nods fearing a psychic burst from me which might hurt him more "Sorry sis!"

I looked at him sighing this sort of thing did piss me off a bit. As he should've known it wasn't just him that could be targetted. Mostly it was me being targetted, if it wasn't me it was certainly one in my family, mostly Ruka and Rua, Mom sometimes too but not always...Uncle Jack Atlas, Uncle Crow were off limits and amazingly no one dared to try to capture them and my as for my father Yusei...Well there were two attempts but none ever succeeded as my father had broken them easily and ever sense their failure they learned not to mess with him. Me, I seemed to be an easy target along with Ruka and Rua although mainly they attacked me trying to abduct me, like my father I was extremely hard to capture for them I only recalled I was kidnapped once and that was with Hades...And the time Orochimaru's forces murdered my whole entire family. Other than those two times...I wasn't an easy target even though many attempts had happened.

"Let's get out of here then" Aang suggested "Into a place where we can recover a bit, after all with Lady Kasumi's back not totally at one hundred percent...If we have a fight she's at a disadvantage."

Sokka agreed "Right! This way I thought I saw a cave! We'll rest there!"

It sounded like a good idea at the time. Naruto even walked over to me and kneels down "Hop onto my back sis. I'll carry you."

I agreed doing so. Once on his back, Naruto carried me while following Sokka and Aang towards the cliff side when my two Vulpixes started growling and barking "Vulpix! Vulpix!"

"Takara? Snowflake?" I asked.

"What's with them?" Sokka asked.

Aang looked at my pets "They act as if they sense someone inside. Some darkness."

I now sensed it too but almost too late as the four of us saw one robed figure approaching from the cave. As soon as I saw him I knew we were heading into trouble. The cloud robed figure was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. From my safe distance I noticed the man's hands, they had mouths in the center of his palms which grossed me out a bit.

"Well, well, well Lady Signer. We meet again" The man said.

"We?" I inquired as if sensing that there was another man other than this one.

The blond smirked as Snowflake caught sight of the second man as did Aang "Vulpix!"

"Someone's coming from behind us!" Aang said.

Somehow even with me on his back Naruto was able to draw a Kunai Knife and turn just in time to see another robed figure. This one almost seemed to be like a hunchback and he even had a mask and a scorpion like metal tail.

"Clouds!" I muttered knowing whom these two men were they were in the same leagues of Itachi and Kisame but didn't remember their organization name all I knew these were bad news.

Aang looks at me "Who are these guys?"

I grit my teeth "Not sure whom or what they call themselves but two others came into Konocha looking for my brother at first then when Lord Jirayia took me and Naruto to find our Fifth Hokage we encountered the same ninja...But these two are different than the other two."

"I see you're not one to forget about our friends Itatchi and Kisame" the second man told us "But I assure you Lady Signer, we are after the same goals! You..."

I grit my teeth "Should've known..."

"Question is Lady Signer...Will you come quietly and obediantly or will you come with us beaten and in chains?" Deidara asked me.

I grit my teeth while looking at them giving them my answer "If you know anything about me! I don't go with anyone whom has plans to use me! I'm not coming with you quietly!"
"Yeah!" Naruto said "My sister isn't one to smooth talk to get her into obeying you! You want her! You're gonna have to fight us!"

Deidara smirks preparing for a fight "We'd thought you'd say that Lady Signer. Let us remind you we are Missing S-Class Ninja just like Itachi and Kisume. Plus without your allies you will be coming with us Lady Signer...Willing or not and when we do capture you...You'll regret your decision to not come willingly."

"We shall see" I said growling with Takara and Snowflake at my side.

Naruto tightened his headband "Aang, Sokka try to keep a way from these guys!"

"Right!" Sokka and Aang said.

Deidara smirks opening his hands "Now to show you four my art."

Out of his plams I saw clay coming out of them he threw the clay everywhere and it was then I sensed danger "NARUTO, SOKKA, AANG DODGE TO THE SIDES!"

Aang and I dove to one side while Naruto and Sokka dove for the other side. Just in time for four giant explosions had we been standing there.

"Explosive Clay?!" Sokka demanded then he shouted at Deidara "HOW THE HECK IS THAT ART?!"

I gulped as if knowing this was gonna insult Deidara which it did "OH! YOU JUST DIDN'T INSULT MY ART?! GO AND DIE NOW!"

He unleashes more explosive clay blasts.

"Scatter!" I ordered as the bomb went everywhere.

Multiple explosions erupt but miss the group. Sokka and Naruto were now facing Sasori seeing his huge tail. Sokka brought out his bommerang "Well Naruto...This guy doesn't seem to be a S-class ninja...I wager we can take him right?"

Naruto smirks tightening up his headband "Indeed let's break this hunchback in two!"

The two charge Sasori whom seemed to close his eyes "You brainless fools don't know whom you are facing against. Very well if you want death so much come at me! Oh and Deidara...Keep the Signer alive at least."

"NO PROMISES SENSE ONE OF HER PALS INSULTED MY ART!" Deidara shouts back.

Thus a major battle was about to unfold. Aang and I were going to be facing off against Deidara while Naruto and Sokka were going up against Sasori. Deep down I knew this could end up with me getting captured. I just hoped that this ended well. With Takara and Snowflake at my feet I prepared myself to fight Deidara alongside Aang.

I turned to Aang "Think you could air bend those clay shots if he sends them at us?"

Aang nodded "I should be but it might not be effective or it could make it worse."

"We're gonna have to try Aang, otherwise, these two could capture me."

Aang understood the urgancy nodding "I'll do what I can to help you. After all you're helping me against the Fire Nation."

He and I shared a fist bump. Aang grew serious knowing I spoke the truth, he never fought Missing S Class Shinobi before but he knew if they were after me then there was a possiblity I could be captured by them and he wasn't gonna lef them take me without a fight. This would take all we got but we had to try to fight at least until our allies arrived to save me. That was my hope we could hold out but if I remembered it took Jirayia coming to save Naruto and Sasuke from Itachi and Kisame to get them to retreat but again we had to try.

End of chapter, this might have been shorter than most chapter but it is part 1 of Ambush of the Akatsuki, next chapter is Chapter 65: Ambush of the Akatsuki P2: Aang, Kasumi, Sokka, and Naruto fight Deidara and Sasori but it soon appears that the four are at a mismatch against two members of the Akatsuki, when things look bleek, a new power awakens in Kasumi.