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The following two days came when Team 7 had been traveling across the empty desert, bringing extra water bottles around their waists and food with them. It was always important to all shinobi who are walking from a different land and to the other by foot. The sun was starting to boil heatedly in the area when one of them spoke out.
"Man, I'm hungry and thirsty! It's best that we eat," Naruto suggested as he sat down on top of the big, flat-squared rock.
"I suppose it won't be a big deal, trying to have a lunch meal," Shikamaru panted his breath out.
"Yeah. I mean, we've been roaming for miles now," Sakura agreed.
"Okay," Shikamaru sighed as he dropped his bag down and sat on the sandy ground, whereas Sakura was pulling out the packed lunches and snacks from her bags near the distance from him.
"If you guys want Dorayaki, Ponsuke Arare crackers, Jagabee fries or Japanese sweet potato UHA chips, you can take one of these. They are really delicious, trust me," the pink-haired kunoichi said, holding the snacks in front of them one-by-one.
"Yooo! Pass me the crackers, please!" Naruto exclaimed, hungrily looking at it.
Suddenly, a loud boom crashed heavily as the ground started to crumble out. Beneath the sand reveals a huge purple monster, known as the Shard Scorpius, clinging its claws out, much to the others' astonishment. The screeching noise was made from the top of its lungs and saw three people standing by. The Scorpius' eyes gleamed brightly as it made its target towards them at a quick pace.
"Crap... Not this again," Shikamaru muttered lazily.
"You've encountered this before?" Sakura asked in surprise.
"Yes, I did. It's obviously a big pain in the ass," he scoffed shortly.
"Gee! Now, this is the moment for me to redeem all of my techniques! Alright!" Naruto pumped up his fist in the air.
"Hold on, Nau! We can't just jump right in to attack," the pink-haired kunoichi lectured in a hiss.
"Yeah, And the more we underestimate it, the less time we get to defeat the monster," Shikamaru stated correctly.
The Scorpius began to charge towards Sakura by crawling its legs forward and screeched louder. The pink-haired kunoichi pulled out her kunai knife as she defended herself, but Naruto summoned multiple shadow clones around him as they all started hovering the top of the monster's head. They were giving hardcore punches and kicks vigorously against the creature's body without even stopping. Although, it has no effect on it whatsoever when the Scorpius decided to grip the shadow clones with his sharp claw and squished them into pieces. But they end up puffing out of smoke.
Naruto, on the other hand, was making his blue chakra ball with his other shadow clone and attacks the monster. "RASENGAN!"
The Scorpius fell backward when it got some scratches around its body. Then, it stood up quickly and was preparing to create its own green saliva in its mouth, forming a huge drop of sticky gum. Its narrowed eyes were glinting wickedly and spit out the liquid landing towards Naruto, who quickly dodged out of the way.
"Acid...?!" The blonde-haired ninja questioned in shock.
"Yeah! We got to be careful, it will keep spitting out around for a few seconds," Shikamaru warned.
"I see," Sakura said in understanding when she noticed that the Scorpius was heading towards their direction.
The monster jumped and started clawing its tentacles viciously. They all dodged its attacks, but then quickly scratched Sakura's legs, bleeding a few drops of blood onto the sandy ground.
The pink-haired kunoichi began to jab her fists on the creature's arms and knelt her right leg upward, using the amount of chakra inside her. She disappeared from her position, replacing a log that the monster was trapping her in. So, it started to move onto the next step when the Scorpius was trembling its body and shrill its voice out, echoing the sound through the desert without stopping.
The three ninjas covered their ears from the ugly noise that the monster was making. They dropped onto their knees, yet Shikamaru was able to perform his own jutsu against the creature.
The shadow was looming over the sand as it reaches its body. But then, the Scorpius turned around and smiled, which almost caught Shikamaru off guard.
"What the...?" Shikamaru murmured with his eyes wide open in shock.
The monster extended his tail hastily and wagged him off like a fly.
"Ugh..!" The jounin leader groaned in pain.
"Shikamaru!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed in unison.
"Shit..." The blonde-haired was now running towards the creature and releases his own chakra to perform another jutsu, summoning another extra few shadow clones. He leaped on the air and attacked the Scorpius with his Thousand Combo technique. Again, it did not faze out and decided to dig underneath the ground, hiding back in its own place.
Naruto and Sakura were panting out of breath slowly and wonder what will happen next.
Shikamaru spoke out tiredly. "It's gone. But it will come back up again when its probably looking for some prey to devour."
"Ugh. Geez! We could've just crushed it with a weapon or a boulder," Naruto exasperated.
"Well, it doesn't work that way. It must have some specific type of weakness," Sakura noted lightly.
"Anyway, we cannot stay here for long. If we do, there will be more creatures popping out of nowhere. Trust me, it ain't pretty," Shikamaru instructed.
"What about the food and the snacks?" Naruto asked frowning.
"It's okay. Just leave it, so they have enough to eat," the jounin leader said and turned his back around to start walking. "Let's go."
"Right," the two ninjas both agreed in unison as they carried their bags along with them and follows him to the direction that they were heading.
Meanwhile inside the sand village had most people stay indoors due to the purple toxic gas polluting the surroundings, which had been going on for five days straight. Some people built tunnels underground in order for them to work, earn money and exchanging items and other goods to their customers.
At the Kazekage tower conference room is currently in a meeting session. Baki and the other councilors were dealing with the latest issue that they have with the chemical substance spreading across town.
"Sir, there's not enough water ninja user who can get infiltrate the polluted air in our village," one of the elderly men said and continued on. "It's best if we hire one from the land of waves or water and contact them immediately."
"Are you certain? They're all assigned to different missions and they cannot help us at this moment," the eldest woman noted.
"I suppose we can find one, regardless of their status; genin, chunin, or jounin. It doesn't matter, as long as this problem doesn't stay for longer. We cannot put the citizens' lives in danger," Baki stated while Kankuro and Temari were listening near him.
"What do you think, Lord Kazekage? Any suggestions?" The elderly man asked concernedly.
Gaara, on the other hand, opened his eyes and said firmly. "The fifth Hokage has made her decision and we both came into an early agreement. She is sending the best three shinobi from her list and they are on their way here in ten minutes."
"But how are they going to eliminate the toxic gas? I mean, according to their profiles, it seems that none of them can extinguish the air-" One of the men with a brown mustache didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Don't underestimate them. Of course, they don't. But I believe they have all the potential to make sure that everyone is well safe and protected," the red-haired Kazekage reminded strictly with his hands folded and elbows rested on top of the surface desk.
"Alright, fine. If that's the case, we will be expecting good results from this," the man said with a curt nod.
"Good. Now, that's settled. This meeting is over," Baki declared as everyone got up from their chairs and left the room to go back to their offices and continue their work. "Good job, guys. I'll talk to you later." He patted Kankuro's shoulder and waved a gesture at them as he was walking down the hallways.
"Hey, Gaara. What time they will get here? They're supposed to be arriving at this hour," the older brother chirped as he puts his arms behind his head.
"Yeah, it's almost been eight months since the last time we saw them. I miss seeing their faces, you know," Temari said smiling and glanced slightly at his younger brother.
"Suuurree, Tem. Maybe it's, ahem... You know who, the smart Shika-" Kankuro got interrupted when his older sister whacked his head with her fan.
"Ugh. Shut up," the older sister clenched her teeth in annoyance and tries not to blush.
"Soon," the red-haired Kazekage answered.
"Hmm?" Both of his siblings were puzzled until they realized what he meant.
"They'll be here soon," Gaara said smiling warmly at the thought of his friends.
Later on, Team 7 had finally arrived at the main entrance of the sand village and they noticed that there is a huge purple gas circling around the buildings, much to their shock.
"Woah. I did not expect that it could be this foggy," Shikamaru muttered.
"This is horrible," Sakura frowned at the sight.
"Wait, Shikamaru. How are we going to get inside then? We don't have an access or something," Naruto rambled out.
"Yes, we do. It's here in this map," the jounin leader said as he was holding up the geometric paper in front of him and examined the route. "Okay, it says we have to walk up to the left corner where the guards are and find a red button to open a tunnel."
"I see. So, where are they?" Sakura asked curiously.
"I don't know. They're supposed to be here, but I guess they're probably inside the bottom of the tunnel way," Shikamaru noted and scrolls the map inside his right pocket of the bag. "Come on, we have no time to waste. Apparently, they will be waiting at the hospital where most people were at since they are infected by the gas as you can see."
"Right," Naruto and Sakura both nodded in agreement.
They ran up to the left corner and pressed the red button, just like what the map is drawn out.
About thirty minutes have passed, Kankuro and Temari were checking over the bodies of the victims and asks the doctors and nurses if there's anything they can do to remove the poison out.
"The only thing that we can do to treat them is injecting the herbal medicine into their arms. It will wash over the substance out, but it won't permanently heal them entirely," the medical nurse explained.
"Ah, jeez. This is ridiculous. You're kidding me, right ma'am? Is that all you can do? I mean, you are a nurse and getting paid for shit-" Kankuro complained in frustration until Temari shushed him out.
"Hey, chill! Don't be so mean. Look, ma'am. You can go back to work. You did the best you can. Thanks for the info," the pony-tailed kunoichi nodded respectfully at the medical nurse, who started walking away with a nod. Then, she faced her brother with her eyes narrowed. "Kankuro... Will you relax? You almost hurt her feelings! She's been working all day and night in this hospital. Man up."
"Ugh. Alright, I'm just pissed that none of them is back to normal these past few days," the purple-faced ninja huffed.
"I know. But the others will be here soon," Temari nodded in understanding.
Then, they both heard the door slide open, which appears to be Baki and Team 7.
"We're here, guys," their mentor stated with a smile.
"Hey, Shikamaru! Naruto! Sakura!" Kankuro called out in a greeting.
Temari's eyes widened in surprise and smiled happily at them until her eyes landed on Shikamaru. She paused and greeted as well, saying. "Hey, long time no see!"
"Kankuro, Temari!" Sakura ran up to them and hugged them comfortingly as they did the same for her.
"It's been a while," Naruto grinned at Kankuro.
"Yep. It has been," the purple-faced ninja said smirking.
"So where's Gaara? He's not with you?" the blonde-haired ninja asked blankly.
"No. He has some sort of discussion," Kankuro answered quietly as he secretly looked at Temari, who gave him the reaction of not to tell.
"Discussion?" Sakura questioned in peculiar.
"That's a surprise. He's usually quiet and formal when he's around," Shikamaru said chuckling in amusement.
"Yeah, um. Well, you see. It's very important," Temari said laughing nervously and continued on. "Anyway, I really need to go back to my work and figure out a way to remove the contamination with the others."
"Right. Well, I'm going with you since both of the Kages have instructed us to do our parts," Shikamaru nodded in agreement.
"Okay, you two can come with me. We have other issues to talk about," Baki ordered as he exits the doorway, following Shikamaru and Temari with him.
"I want to see Gaara first," Sakura said to Kankuro.
"I'm with ya," Naruto agreed.
"Actually, maybe later once he's done with the discussion," the purple-faced ninja rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Oh, please. We don't believe that crap. Come on, Sakura. Let's go meet up with him, yah?" Naruto ignored Kankuro's advice and encouraged his best friend to go and visit him.
"Hmm. Sure. Sorry, Kankuro. You're going to have to wait for a bit. But I'll come back as soon as possible and help the people here," the pink-haired kunoichi said reassuringly and both of them ran up to the door and left as soon as possible.
The purple-face ninja said in a warning. "Okay, but be careful. Don't get yourselves contaminated on the way!"
They closed the door shut and had him sighing tiredly as he watches the doctors and nurses taking care of the patients.
"This is not going to be pretty..." Kankuro said in mind, staring off into space.
In just about 20 minutes, Naruto and Sakura had crossed two different tunnels underneath the ground without stopping for a break. They've asked one of the guards and they told them that the fifth Kazekage is at a sushi restaurant. Then, they thanked him and head towards the left route of the location.
Once they reached their destination, they saw the ladder and climbed up the hole. They closed the lid and looked around the main lobby to ask the receptionist on the desk.
"Excuse me? Is Gaara in the list?" The blonde-haired asked urgently.
"Yes. You're Naruto Uzumaki right?" The receptionist guy recognized him and the pink-haired kunoichi happily. "And you're Sakura Haruno. One of the strong kunoichi that other people are talking about."
The pink-haired kunoichi chuckled lightly and said. "Really? Wow. I never knew that."
"Yeah. Alright, so he's at the section B area inside the room," the guy said smiling.
"Gee. Thanks!" Naruto said gleefully and hurried on his way down the hallway and opens the door.
"Thanks again," Sakura nodded with a warm smile.
"You're welcome," the receptionist guy said as his cheeks tinged in light pink.
Then at that moment, Naruto was walking through the tables where business people were having meals and saw Gaara talking with another girl across from him.
The blonde-haired ninja stood frozen in his spot. He was surprised until the pink-haired kunoichi went up with him and her eyes landed on the two having dinner.
"Gaara...?" Naruto voiced out in a minimum tone.
The fifth Kazekage glanced at his left shoulder and recognized him and Sakura with his eyes wide open. "Naruto and..."
"Hi..." The pink-haired kunoichi said softly.
"Sakura. Nice to see you again," Gaara smiled gladly in relief and introduces the girl on the right. "This is my long time friend, Katsumi."
"Hi, are you guys dating?" The dark brunette girl asked grinning.
Naruto and Sakura chuckled ridiculously at that statement.
"That's funny, we never dated," the blonde-haired ninja said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yeah, to think we will," the pink-haired kunoichi remarked calmly.
"I see. Well, just to let you know that Gaara and I are on a date," Katsumi replied with a giggle.
"A Date?" Sakura asked frowning while staring at the red-haired Kazekage.
"Obviously, but isn't that more of a discussion, just like what Kankuro and Temari mentioned?" Naruto questioned further at his friend.
"Yes... It is," Gaara said quietly and stared at the pink-haired kunoichi, checking to see if there's anything wrong.
"Hm. It's a friendly date for now. Um, shall we continue to discuss our issue?" Katsumi asked smirking.
"What does she mean 'for now'?" Sakura interrogated annoyingly in mind.
"Sure. Anyway, I will meet you guys later tonight after the dinner," the red-haired Kazekage noted.
"You got it, Gaara," Naruto grinned happily and continued on. "Man, it's good to see you well again. We both missed ya, right Sakura?"
"Haha... Yeah. Indeed," the pink-haired kunoichi said still smiling and nodding in agreement. But deep down inside, she wasn't happy at what she had saw. She wanted to know if there is anything going on between Gaara and Katsumi. She doesn't know why she was feeling this way and she couldn't tell whether if she was jealous over them or perhaps, she was starting to complicate her own feelings.
TO BE CONTINUED...