Author's Note:
Another chapter down. Sorry if the chapter is a bit short. I am still thinking about who should accompany Team Uzu to Orochimaru's lair along with Yamato. Thanks to everyone reviewing and answering my questions as I write the next chapter based on your comments. If you have any ideas on the next chapter, let me know. That's all for now. On with the chapter.
Chapter-11
- The Sand (After the return of Gaara.)
It took Team Uzu, Team 10 and Kakashi a few hours to return to the sand with Gaara. On the way back Naruto told Gaara about his new seal and explained how to use it. As soon as they entered the sand, the whole sand thanked them and celebrated the return of their Kazekage. The Village Elders and the Shinobi council thanked all of them personally and also offered to extend the peace treaty with Team Uzu. Unlike the Leaf, The Sand had younger shinobi in the village advisors and shinobi council and did not let the village elders manipulate them as they were only asked for advice. They also did not let the civilian council take part in making the decisions concerning Shinobi. They were also impressed by the fact that a Leaf Chunin and Suzume had defeated Sasori of the Sand. One of their greatest shinobi that had gone rouge. They even thanked Kitsune for fixing Gaara's seal and giving him a much safer seal. Team Uzu gladly accepted the offer of extending the treaty.
- A room in Suna
Naruto had taken Ino to his house in Suna, which The Sand had given them when they were staying for the Chunin Exams. The hospitals were full, so he brought here. It was a three bedroom house with two stories. Being a seal-master, Naruto had set up a bunch of security and privacy seals so that they didn't need to wear masks inside the house. Thankfully, Team 7 and Team 10 except Kakashi and Ino had left immediately after their arrival, so no one really questioned Naruto. Ino was currently sleeping in Naruto's bed while Naruto was busy making Ramen in the kitchen for him and Ino.
Ino woke up from her slumber and heard someone humming. She was still in her Jonin uniform.
"Naruto?" She voiced her suspicions.
Within seconds Naruto arrived, confirming her suspicions." You're awake!" he said, engulfing Ino in a gentle embrace. "Do you know how worried I was? Don't ever scare me like that."
"I will try not to, Whiskers." She said returning the hug. "I would love to spend time with you, but I need to take a shower. I am covered in blood and sweat and I smell horrible."
"Oh right. The shower is to the left." He said.
"Okay. Do you have something comfortable to wear? I only have another two pairs of my uniform." Ino lied.
"Yeah. My clothes are in the closet. Pick anything that you like. I'm making Ramen for us so hurry up." He said kissing her gently and headed towards the kitchen.
A few minutes later Ino entered the kitchen wearing one of Naruto's shirts and shorts and found him waiting at the dinner table.
"He-Hey Ino-chan!" Naruto said nervously.
"Is something wrong, Whiskers? You're stuttering. "She said.
"No. It's just that you look really hot in my clothes." He blurted out. Ino slightly blushed and chuckled."So hot that I can barely keep my hands off you."
"What's stopping you then?" Ino breathed out.
"I'm just waiting for us to complete dinner."
"Do you intend to show me how much you missed me, Naruto -Kun?" Ino said, smirking. Hearing Ino use that suffix after his name made him go crazy.
"Oh, I intend to." Naruto replied with his foxy grin.
(They just made out and cuddled to sleep.)
- Training Ground 21 (Suna)
"I was eight when it happened." Sasuke said. They had come out here to train, but Sasuke was too distracted. Sasuke had put up the barrier before training, so they could train with their masks off. He sat down next to Aiko.
"Sasuke, you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." Aiko said.
"No Aiko-chan, I have to get this off my chest. And you deserve to know." Sasuke replied."Itachi was just 13, when he murdered my whole clan. When I arrived home, I saw him looking at the lifeless bodies of our parents. The whole clan was massacred that night. He told me that he killed the whole clan just to test his powers. After that night, I became cold and distant. A part of me couldn't believe that Itachi had done this. The only people that he did not kill were Izumi nee-chan and me. He told us both that we were not worthy of killing. Shortly after, Izumi nee-chan left the Leaf village to find Itachi. After that I made killing Itachi my goal. I decided to avenge my clan by any means possible, which led to Orochimaru taking advantage of me." He showed her the Curse mark on his neck."I was just about to reach Otogakure, when Naruto and I fought. Midway through our battle, he shunshined us away from The Valley of the End." A tear slipped from Sasuke's eyes. "That day, Naruto saved me. He told me the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. It was planned by the village elders and Civilian council against the will of the Hokage. Danzo, one of the village elders was the one who ordered my brother to kill our clan or he'd send someone else and kill the whole clan including me. He killed our clan just for me. That was the day I decided to get revenge on the Leaf and Danzo. Naruto could not go back to the Leaf as Danzo was planning to lock him up or kill him and seal the kyuubi into another person. The Civilian council wanted to banish him. So that day we decided to go rouge. Naruto wanted to get rid of the village elders and civilian council, while I wanted to have my revenge by killing Danzo. Both of us wanted peace. While his reasons are unknown, I wanted peace as I didn't want any kid to go through what I went through." Sasuke said staring off into the distance.
"Thank-you Sasuke, for trusting me enough to tell me this." Aiko said.
"Hn. So anyway, what do you think about Naruto's girlfriend? "Sasuke asked, breaking the silence.
"She's nice. She's really powerful too. Fighting alongside her felt really natural. Although, I don't know much about her. We haven't had a proper conversation, but I would like to change that." Aiko replied.
"Well, she was one of the only two girls who were not my fan girls." Sasuke admitted.
"Wait, you had fan girls?" Aiko began laughing and Sasuke would never admit it out loud, but it was the most beautiful sound that he had ever heard."You're telling me that you, with your duck-butt hair and a scowl on your face, had fan girls?"
"My hair does not look like a duck's butt." Sasuke slightly scowled."I was the hottest guy in our Academy."
"Yeah. Right!" She said sarcastically, before laughing again at the mental image of a little Sasuke with duck-butt hair.
"Stop laughing." Sasuke grumbled.
"Aww, is little Sasuke sad?" Aiko asked poking his cheek.
"No." Sasuke flipped her over and sat slightly over her stomach, in an attempt to keep her from laughing at him. Aiko blushed suddenly, realizing the position they were in. Sasuke leaned in a bit, both of them maintaining their eye contact. Sasuke realized what he was about to do and before he could do anything to stop it, Aiko broke the eye contact.
"Fine. I'll stop laughing. Now get off me. You're heavy." Aiko said.
"Hn." Sasuke said getting up. He was a bit disappointed, but didn't show it.
"It's getting pretty late now, so let's call it a day and head home." Aiko said, avoiding the Uchiha's gaze.
"Hn. You go on. I still have to buy tomatoes." Sasuke said.
"Mind if I tag along?" Aiko asked expectantly.
"Sure, let's go." The two headed towards the markets of Suna, forgetting what almost happened a few moments ago.
- The Next Day (The Hidden Leaf)
Team 10 had just entered the Hokage Office to give their mission report.
"I see that you have returned, but what about Kakashi and Ino. Where are they?" Said Tsunade, slightly worried about her student.
Asuma stepped forward."Team 10 reporting back from their sand mission to save the Kazekage. The mission was a success. We were directly headed toward the Akatsuki hideout, but were stopped by a clone of Kisame Hoshigaki of the Akatsuki. We defeated him. Neko had sent out one of his cats to lead us to them. We followed one of cat to the Akatsuki hideout. There we split off into teams. Kakashi and Neko took care of Deidara of the Akatsuki and finished him off." Tsunade's eyes widened after hearing that one of the Akatsuki members were killed. "Kitsune fixed Kazekage-sama's seal, saving the Kazekage, while Ino and Suzume finished off Sasori." Tsunade was surprised to hear that two of the Akatsuki members were taken down. Three years back, when two Akatsuki members had invaded the hidden Leaf, they had injured three jonin, without even trying.
"Shizune, bring me the bingo book!" She wanted to check if the bingo book had any information on the three.
"Here, milady." Shizune said giving her the bingo book. Tsunade skimmed through the pages of the bingo book and found the three.
Name: Unknown. He goes by the name Kitsune.
Age: 16-17
Gender: Male
Origin: Unknown
Clan: Unknown, but is seen to be wearing clothing with Senju or Uzumaki clan symbols.
The un-official leader of Team Uzu, consisting of himself, Neko and Suzume.
Ninja Rank: High Jonin or Low Kage.
Physical Description: 5'11 tall. Has Azure blue eyes and golden blonde hair. The rest of his face is covered by a mask that has the face of a fox on it.
Elements: Efficient in using all of the five elements, but prefers Earth Style, Water Style and Wind Style. He has the ability to perform huge Water Style Jutsus that need a Water source nearby by using water vapour in the air, just like the Second Hokage. Kekkei Genkai element is unknown.
Rank: S-rank. Approach with caution if he's alone. Flee on sight unless you are a Kage if he's with team Uzu.
Special Talents: Is a level 10 seal master and a powerful sensor.
Summon: Unknown
Bounty: 100 million ryo. Alive of Dead stationed by Amegakure.
Name: Real name is unknown. He goes by the name Neko.
Age: 16-17
Gender: Male
Origin: unknown
Clan: Uchiha Clan.
A part of team Uzu, consisting of himself, Kitsune and Suzume.
Ninja Rank: High Jonin or Low Kage
Physical Description: 5'10 tall. Has black eyes which turn into the Sharingan and jet black hair. The rest of his face is covered by a mask that has a face of a black cat on it.
Elements: Efficient in using all of the five elements, but prefers to use Fire Style and Lightning Style. He is a master of shape manipulation of Lightning Chakra.
Rank: S-rank. Approach with caution if he's alone. Flee on sight unless you are a Kage if he's with team Uzu.
Special talents: Level 4 seal master. A master of Genjutsu because of his Sharingan. Is also proficient in Medical Ninjutsu.
Summon: Cats.
Bounty: 100 million ryo, alive or dead, stationed by Amegakure. 50 million ryo, alive, by Otogakure.
Name: Real name is unknown. She goes by the name Suzume.
Age: 15-16
Gender: Female.
Origin: Unknown
Clan: Unknown, but is seen to be wearing clothes with the Uzumaki clan symbol.
A part of team Uzu, consisting of herself, Kitsune and Neko. Is the younger sister of Kitsune.
Ninja Rank: High Jonin.
Physical description: 5'7 tall. Has brown eyes and medium length red hair. The rest of her face is covered by a mask that has a face of a sparrow on it.
Elements: Her main elements are Fire Style and Water Style and she can perform a few Lightning Style Jutsus.
Rank: A rank. Approach with caution if she's alone. Flee on sight unless you are a Kage if she is with team Uzu.
Special Talents: Is rumoured to have the Boil Release. Is an excellent sensor.
Summon: Unknown
Bounty: 75 million ryo, alive or dead, by Amegakure.
"Continue." Tsunade said looking up from the book.
"Due to Ino's battle with Kisame and Sasori, she fainted due to Chakra Exhaustion and is currently resting in The Hidden sand. Kakashi's team was not required at all, so they were sent back with us. Kakashi is also staying in The Hidden Sand and he will accompany Ino back to the hidden Leaf." Asuma finished off.
"Alright. Thank you Asuma for your mission report. I will need the written report for the same till the end of this week." All of them nodded their heads."All of you are dismissed, except you, Asuma." Everyone except Asuma left the building. "Tell me all of the information you managed to gather on The Akatsuki and Team Uzu."
Asuma sighed."There is not much that I can tell you about Team Uzu that is not already known as I did not fight alongside them. The Akatsuki. Well, this is all I managed to gather about them. "Asuma handed Tsunade a piece of paper which she burnt as soon as she read it. Both of them knew that there was a chance that they were spied upon by Root Ninjas.
"Asuma, you are dismissed." Asuma left the building, lighting a cigarette on his way.
Tsunade was deep in thought after reading the note. The note had the location where Sasori was supposed to meet his spy that was spying on Orochimaru. Sighing, she finally came to a decision. "Shizune, send a hawk to Kakashi in The Hidden Sand." She said writing a letter to Team Uzu asking for their assistance in the mission. She then handed over the letter to Shizune, who sent it to Suna.
- The Hidden Stone
The hidden stone was in shock after hearing that one of their finest rouge shinobi, Deidara had been killed.
"Did you just say that Deidara has been killed or am I going deaf?"Onoki, The Sandime Tsuchikage asked.
"You definitely heard it right, gramps. Deidara has been killed by Kakashi of the Sharingan and Neko of Team Uzu." Kurotsuchi said sadness evident in her voice. Before betraying the hidden Stone, he was her idol and one of Iwa's best shinobi.
"Send a letter to team Uzu. Tell them that we would like to sign a peace treaty with them." He knew that Team Uzu had peace treaties with the Hidden Mist, Hidden Sand, Hidden Hot water and The Hidden Grass villages. Not wanting to stay behind, he gave this order.
- The Hidden Cloud.
Tensions were high in the hidden cloud. Their two tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii had been captured by the Akatsuki and hearing the news about Team Uzu saving the One-tail Jinchuriki, Kazekage Gaara was just adding insult to injury. The Raikage had been adamant on not signing a peace treaty with them until they showed him their faces, for which he now felt guilty."Darui, send a letter to Team Uzu, asking them to sign a peace treaty with us." He had already lost one of his jinchuriki and the other one was his younger brother, Killer B. Though Killer B was a perfect jinchuriki, he didn't want to take any chances.
"Hai, Raikage-sama." Darui, his right hand man replied.
- The Next Day. (The Hidden Sand)
The five were at the gates of Suna. Kakashi had spent the last day resting, Aiko and Ino had spent the day, getting to know each other better and Naruto and Sasuke were busy destroying another one of Suna's Training ground, by going all out. Needless to say, they both arrived home looking like they had been in a war. The five were bidding the Sand Siblings goodbye.
"Goodbye, Kitsune and Thank you for saving me." Gaara said awkwardly, taking his hand out to shake Kitsune's hand.
"Goodbye, Gaara. And perhaps try to talk and form a friendship with Shukaku." Kitsune said, shaking Gaara's hand, smiling slightly under his mask. Gaara simply nodded his head.
Just as the five were about to leave, Kakashi and Ino for the hidden Leaf and Team Uzu for their home near Uzushio, a hawk landed on Kakashi's shoulder and gave him a letter. As soon as Kakashi received the letter, the hawk flew. Kakashi read the letter and passed it to Kitsune.
"We are leaving for the hidden Leaf, they need our help in a mission and I think we might also be able to sign a peace treaty with them." The other two nodded in agreement. 'Guess I'll have to tell you soon, Kakashi-sensei, Baa-chan.' He thought, while leaving with the other four to the hidden Leaf.
