Chapter 82 – An Alliance and An Attack

"Talk"

'Think'

A/N: Thank you, thank you and thank you to K.C.96, Soulcinder, supergrandefan, SylpheKuro and Uncletoffel for favouring and following this story as well as to MattKennedy for your comment. Your comments always make me smile, thank you.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.

"Now we've established that Akatsuki is looking for jinchūriki, the question here, how are we going to deal with it?" asked Han "I don't want to wait for something to happen, not if I can prevent it from happening"

"The best we can do at the moment is to train, as well keep in touch with each other" said Kakashi. Seeing that the others were giving him a look, he elaborated "At the moment, our knowledge of Akatsuki is very scarce; who are they? How many members they have? What's their objective? Where's their headquarter?...and so forth. What we know so far is that they are targeting jinchūriki, and they are S-class shinobi"

"What happened to the Akatsuki members that were sent to attack Konoha shinobi?" asked Temari.

"They were defeated" answered Kakashi "But to be fair, they were outnumbered eight to one, and the battle took place in a neutral ground, no civilian to be worried about"

"How about keeping tabs on S-rank missing-nins?" asked Gaara.

"That has to be arranged between villages as it requires a lot of manpower to keep track of their whereabouts, as well as whether they're still alive or dead" explained Kakashi "There's also the need to follow up with the Bounty Station, and Hi no Kuni alone has multiple Bounty Stations"

"You seem to know a lot about this" said Rōshi. Kakashi shrugged.

"I guess we are back to your suggestion, training and communicating" said Han before turning to Gaara, Fū, Naruto and Noriko "Where are you guys with your bijū chakra?"

"Fū and Chōmei are good!" said Fū with a thumb up.

"I can transform into Shukaku but I cannot control its full power while retaining my consciousness" said Gaara.

"Hehehe" Naruto grinned sheepishly while Noriko looked down at the ground "We can only go into three tails before all hells break loose"

"Maybe that is something we can help" said Han "I'll talk to KItsuchi if Rōshi and I can help both of you controlling your bijū chakra-"

"And Fū can help Gaara-kun!" cried Fū "Though Fū has to ask Shibuki-sama for permission" she ended with a little doubt.

"Suna will send an official request" said Temari "I'm sure we can work on something"

"Well then, it's settle-" whatever Han wants to say was interrupted by a commotion in the direction of sickbay.

Gaara used his sand to put out the fire and they ran towards the sickbay.

At the sickbay, Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō saw Kurotsuchi who was in the middle of reporting to Kitsuchi "… …I had to return so my team can receive medical attention. Based on my estimation, the team that ambushed us was jōnin level, and they might be more, but no more than two dozens"

"We were attacked?" asked Rōshi.

"Kiri shinobi" said Kurotsuchi

"Our Hokage allows us to stay for two more days if you need us" offered Kakashi

Kitsuchi looked at them and shook his head "Thank you, you guys have done a lot for us…but this is something we have to do for ourselves. I'll ask Akatsuchi to escort you out of Iwa safely"

"I'm sorry Kakashi-san, but I'm staying" said Shizune "I cannot leave my patients until I know for certain that they are going to be alright" she explained.

"I'll stay with Shizune-san" said Gaara "Kankurō still recovering. We'll escort Shizune-san to Konoha safely, you have my words"

Kakashi nodded. Han turned to them and said "We'll keep in touch soon" before he left to protect Iwa

"Kakashi-sensei, why can't we stay and help?" asked Naruto the moment they left Iwagakure no Sato.

"Because this fight is crucial for Iwa. At the moment, Iwa is in fragile state; its Kage just died, village destroyed and shinobi recovering. I guess that's why Kiri shinobi chose this moment to attack Iwa. If Iwa was defeated, that will be the end of Iwa as one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations and other countries might join in to obliterate Iwa. If Iwa managed to come out on top, this will tell the world that Iwagakure no Sato is still one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations as well as it will speaks well for Kitsuchi leadership" explained Kakashi.

"Iwagakure no Sato is one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations" said Akatsuchi with a smile "We are just facing a setback at the moment but don't worry, our Will of Stone is no less than Konoha's Will of Fire"

Naruto listened and nodded his head.

"Leave the invaders to us" said Han to Kitsuchi.

"Are you sure?" asked Kitsuchi.

"Yeah, you are needed here" said Rōshi "According to your daughter, there's about two dozens of invaders. The two of us should be sufficed, more than that would be a waste of energy"

"Alright" Kitsuchi acquiesced reluctantly.

Dawn, near Iwagakure

"Stop! Leave now and we'll spare your life" said Rōshi.

Twenty shinobi from Kirigakure stopped on their tracks and saw Rōshi, standing in the middle of the path with his arm crossed.

"He's just one person! Get him!"

Rōshi sighed as half of them jumped at him, 'Idiots' he thought as he performed hand seals and shouted "Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu!" before shooting lava that turned into fiery boulders onto his opponents.

"Jōki Bakushin!" Han ran with great speed, causing the stationary Kirigakure shinobi being propelled before they could even move.

"Lava and steam?" realizing something, the leader shouted "Retreat! They are Iwa's jinchūriki!"

"What? Our info said they hate Iwa!" shouted one of the as they retreating.

"Well…YOUR INFO SUCKED!" shouted Rōshi before laughing out loud.

"What?" asked Rōshi when he saw Han stared at him.

End Chapter 82

Bijū – Tailed Beasts

Hi no Kuni – Land of Fire

Iwagakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Rocks

Jōki Bakushin – Steam Dash

Kirigakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Mist

Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu – Lava Style: Scorching Rocks Jutsu