Chapter 78 – Helping Iwa I

"Talk"

'Think'

A/N: Sorry for the late upload. I was under the weather for few days and also, I go back and forth between these 4 chapters to make sure the story is coherent.

A/N: I've been hiding from my work but it was relentless in pursuing me and alas, I've been caught. So…my time for creativity output was reduced.

A/N: Thank you JustanamelessGirl, Mystic, Nivellia Neil, Oniele and Xarthos for supporting this story.

A/N: Thank you MattKennedy and Nivellia Neil for your comments, truly appreciate it.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.

Iwagakure

"Stop!" said a stern voice as Team Kakashi + Fū was about to approach Iwagakure no Sato. Immediately, they were surrounded by Iwa shinobi.

"State your reason for coming here" said one of them.

"We received a request for aid from Gaara of Sunagakure no Sato" explained Kakashi.

"Go check that with Gaara" said the same Iwa shinobi to another who's about to run when-

"He is telling the truth" said Gaara before turned to Team Kakashi and said in broken voice "Thank you for coming, when they said that…that Kankurō was poisoned…I know I had to ask Konoha for help since you've got the renown Tsunade…I hope the blood that I've sent you was enough for you to run some analysis-"

"It's alright Gaara-kun" said Kakashi with an eye-smile "Our Hokage is sending our poison specialist to help you" he turned to Noriko and gave her the piece of paper that was sent by Hokage.

"Put this in the clearing there" ordered Kakashi.

Noriko obeyed, albeit a bit curious. She felt that the paper was fabric-like, soft and a bit thicker than normal paper. The paper was folded into four and when she unfolded it, a seal was written in the middle of a paper. The seal looked a bit familiar to her although she could not place where she has seen it before.

After Noriko has put it on the ground, Kakashi applied some chakra onto the seal, causing it to glow before saying "Now, we wait"

While waiting, Fū and Gaara chatted whereas Naruto asked Noriko and Tenzō in low voice "Have you guys made up your mind?"

Noriko shook her head while Tenzō said "I'd like to stay. I've never seen Gaara like this"

A few minutes later, Shizune appeared with Goei Shōtai comprising Namiashi Raidō, Shiranui Genma and Tatami Iwashi.

Once the greetings were done, Goei Shōtai returned to Konoha with the seal, leaving behind Shizune with Team Kakashi.

"Sensei, was that Hiraishin?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"No, that was Hiraijin, taught by Yondaime to the Goei Shōtai" explained Kakashi.

Now Noriko realized that she had seen the seal on her uncle upper arm.

"Gaara, Shizune is Konoha poison specialist who was trained personally by Tsunade-sama" said Kakashi.

"Was the blood that I sent…helpful? Can you heal Kankurō?" asked Gaara.

Shizune smiled at him "Hait, although with the given time frame, I brought only five antidotes with me"

Gaara gave a sigh of relief before saying "Let me lead you to the sickbay".

Team Kakashi, Fū and Shizune gone silent the moment they stepped into Iwagakure. Piles and piles of rubbles greeted them instead of what used to be a beautiful village.

"What happened here, Gaara?" asked Noriko.

Gaara looked at them solemnly before explaining "One member from Akatsuki was a student of Saindaime Tsuchikage. They fought and I believed that Tsuchikage was about to win when his student turned himself into a large explosive and detonated himself. Tsuchikage contained most of the blasts, sacrificing himself while doing that. Nevertheless, some of the blasts affected nearby mountains and caused avalanches.

…

…

…

"Gaara, who are these people?" asked a voice belonging to a very tall, brawny shinobi with dark eyes, short hair, a beard and a bulbous nose, thus broke their silence.

"Kitsuchi-sama, this is Hatake Kakashi from Konoha and his team, as well as Shizune-san who is poison specialist and Fū from Takigakure no Sato" said Gaara "Everyone, Kitsuchi-sama currently is the leader of Iwagakure no Sato.

"I remember you" said Kitsuchi as he eyed them before bowed down to them "I am sorry for what my father had done to you and your friends after the Chūnin Exam. I only knew about it right before my father passed away. Despite all that, you guys still come to help us, please accept my sincere gratitude".

Flustered, Kakashi said "We haven't done anything yet" while looking at his team from the corner of his eye (Gaara was bringing Shizune to the sickbay while Team Kakashi + Fū stay with Kitsuchi).

Both Naruto and Tenzō were looking at Noriko who has not given her response yet.

Noriko was quiet for a while before she turned to Kitsuchi and said "Kitsuchi-sama, could you direct us where my team and I can begin to assist?"

"It would be a tremendous help if you can assist in clearing the rubble. I know what you are thinking" seeing their surprise faces, Kitsuchi continued "We are known four our Doton jutsu, why didn't we use to remove the rubbles?"

"We tried" said Kitsuchi sadly as he pointed to their right where five dead bodies were covered with clothes "Apparently one of our opponents, who uses puppets, left behind explosive tags in his puppets which were triggered by movements. D***!" Kitsuchi chakra was raised albeit momentarily "Sorry...I just realized, no wonder he gave up so easily after we blew up his puppets. For a moment there, we thought we've won our fight"

Kitsuchi shook his head before continued "Hence, we have to clear the rubbles piece by piece which greatly slowed us down. Don't take this the wrong way, I am not being ungrateful, but I wish there was a Hyūga with you to speed up with rubble clearance"

"Well, luckily for you, we might have a solution for that" said Kakashi with a smile.

"Huh?"

End Chapter 78

A/N: I just realized that Tsuchikage's action reminded me of Baran from Dragon Quest: The Great Adventure of Dai (Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken); one of the earliest manga I've ever collected.

Doton – Earth Release

Goei Shōtai – Hokage Guard Platoon

Hiraijin no Jutsu - Flying Thunder Formation Technique

Hiraishin no Jutsu – Flying Thunder God Technique

Sunagakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Sand

Takigakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Waterfall