Chapter 3

The crow and the shark return

"If power terrify people, then just how terrifying are the ones who wield such power?"- Jiraiya

As the wind blew, blowing away the fallen leafs and dust through the field, Itachi was just standing, looking at the team before him. He seemed so hollow, lifeless. Yet powerful at the same time he was. Sakura was having a hard time hiding her fear. This man's very presence was like a death promise, even though he was not releasing any killer intent. She could tell her legs were trembling. A cold chill was running up her spine. She was holding back her tears, but couldn't stop sweating. Breathing seemed like a difficult task for her. And even when she managed to inhale some, the air felt hot. She could feel her sanity about to be gone.

"Sakura!" she snapped out of it. She looked at Kakashi, who called to her. "Calm down. Everything will be fine. Just stay focused." He ordered. The pink haired girl nodded in acknowledgement.

"Such eyes…" Chiyo thought loudly. "It has been a long, long time since I have last fought someone with eyes such as this young man."

"The certain thing I can tell you for starters is not to look into his eyes. If you do that, you're a goner." Kakashi said.

"But then again, it's not like that'll solve the problem." Hitodama continued. "Itachi is an extremely skilled shinobi, promoted to ANBU captain at age 13. Also, he's an extreme genjutsu user, though not the one to discard taijutsu and ninjutsu."

"In other words: he is a force to be reckoned with. Read his moves from the body language. And his genjutsu skill lies in his eyes." Chiyo said. Then her glare hardened. "Then it's a good thing none of us is facing him alone."

"Could you clarify?" Sakura asked.

"There are two rules when fighting the sharingan. First: if it's one-on-one, then flee. If it's two-on-one, take the rear." Chiyo explained.

Sakura thought for a moment. "Oh I see. If it's two-on-one, then even if one is caught in a genjutsu, the other can attack the real body and break the genjutsu."

"But even if it's impossible, the partner can be freed from it. So, when one attacks from the front, the other can attack from the behind, the sharingan's blind spot."

"That sounds like a perfect strategy. But there's a problem." Kakashi said with worry. This caught everyone's attention. "He can use a special genjutsu via the eyes stronger than those of the sharingan. It's an evolved version- mangekyo sharingan." Sakura and the Sand elder had a confused look on their faces. This did not escape the jonin's notice and explained. "The genjutsu he can use then can both affect you in an instance and has a powerful effect on your mind. A second passed in the real world but for me it was 72 hours of endless torture that can't be dispelled no matter how hard you try."

Chiyo's eyes widened. That WAS a power to fear. And Sakura showed clear signs of fear. This news was overwhelming.

"What a troublesome man. Who is he?" Temari asked. 'Damn… why is it that such a good looking guy is is the enemy?' her inner persona asked.

"However…" Kakashi continued. "It would appear this genjutsu holds great risks, especially to your eyes."

"You are observant, Kakashi, even though you faced the tsukuyomi only once." Itachi complimented.

Kakashi made no comment on that. Instead he slowly reached for his forehead protector, revealing his sharingan in the left eye. When he opened his eye… "Tell me one thing, Itachi. Just how bad are your eyes now?"

Itachi finally, for the first time, showed emotion: shock. He didn't think anyone would know. Yet Kakashi knew. But how? How could it be the Copy Ninja knew about the weakness of the mangekyo sharingan? Unless…

"You caught me off guard last time, Itachi." Kakashi said. "Don't think that jutsu will affect me again."

Itachi looked at the Leaf jonin with a calm look. "Kakashi. Those who claim that can not be affected by the same jutsu twice WILL be affected by the same jutsu again." The Uchiha said. "You are provoking it to happen."

"Enough talk!" Temari announced, pulling out her fan. "Let's do this already and save Gaara!"

Team Guy's location

"You… You're…" Guy pointed at the blue skinned swordsman. Surprise and confusion were both written all over his face. Kisame smiled, resting his sword, Samehada, on his shoulder.

"Yeah, that's right." Kisame said. "I still owe you that kick."

"Guy-sensei, you know this man?" Lee asked. The whole team got both confused as well as interested. These two seemed to know each other well.

"No, I don't recall ever meeting him." He answered, disappointing everyone. Kisame just growled.

"Don't think you can mess with me, you beast. Come to think of it…" he raised his sword and pointed it at the taijutsu specialist. "Why don't we just settle this already?" he smiled evilly. The group got overwhelmed by the man's great killer intend. The younger members of the team felt like as if being suffocated. They could all barely stand on their feet. If it wasn't for their training, they would've fall insane.

"W-wha… What insane killer intent." Tenten commented. Neji activated his byakugan and looked at the Akatsuki member. What he saw terrified him.

"It… It can't be!" he showed fear, shocking his teammates. "I haven't seen this much chakra radiate from one person since my fight with Naruto! This man is a monster!"

Lee and Tenten looked at their teammate with horror. The Hyuga member rarely ever showed fear or rather worry and doubt. Neji was just too disciplined to be the kind who would tremble at the enemy's presence. But if was like that than the shark-like ninja before them must have been something. The thought of that came to affect them too. They wanted to get away. The only thing keeping them in place was their training.

"Now let's begin." Kisame said, disappearing. Where did he go? Guy looked up to find the rogue shinobi incoming with the sword ready to strike. There was no mistaking it- this man was going to hit hard. Guy jumped away in time to avoid even the shockwave from the impact. But Kisame wouldn't just stop there. No, he dashed at Guy, performing one swing after another, trying to hit the Leaf jonin. His danger sense kicked in time to make him evade the three younger ninja. The swordsman didn't hide his annoyance. He performed a sequence of hand seals. "Water Style: Aquatic Shockwave!" he roared, spitting out enormous mass of water. A huge tidal wave was incoming onto the Leaf team. They barely managed to avoid getting smashed. As lucky as they were to avoid this mass of water, now they needed to avoid the incoming swordsman, who was onto them. Guy raised his hands in self-defense, ready to engage the man. Kisame easily raised the great sword with just one hand. He was going to give Samehada a great feast today. However Lee interfered, kicking the swordsman away.

"Leaf Rising Gust!" he called out. Kisame looked at Guy's double with a glare, when…

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Neji called, performing a strike with an open palm. The hit created a shockwave strong enough to deliver the punch despite the distance. The shark-like former Mist ninja was getting annoyed with the situation. Then he felt something. He looked down to find a few spiked balls around himself. That was weird. But when he noticed an explosive tag…

*boom*

As the water and dust fell, there was no sign of the Akatsuki shinobi. Not even blood, which was a bad thing.

"Damn it, I missed." Tenten complained.

Everyone searched around. While the man disappeared, it was a rather bad thing. Where did he go? Where will he strike from? These questions were running through their minds.

Down under water, which has flooded the whole area, Kisame was smiling evilly, ready to attack.

The forest clearing

"Sickle Weasel Jutsu!" Temari called, waving her huge fan. The created wind current launched at the Uchiha, who easily dodged it. While he was doing that, Kakashi appeared right next to him, ready to deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of his face. The foot hit him. But then Itachi turned into a group of crows flying away. Kakashi cursed under his breath. He's almost forgotten how skilled Itachi is. His danger kicked in just in time to block the incoming elbow. Kakashi distanced himself from the young Akatsuki member, as the mentioned man was preparing to cast a familiar jutsu.

"You, girl, eh… Temari, right?" Hitodama clapped the younger Sand kunoichi, getting her attention. "Use your wind jutsu one more time."

"But he's about to use a fire jutsu. How…?" Temari never got to finish her question.

"Less talking, more jutsu." the enforcer commanded, making hand seals of her own.

It was then that Temari understood the woman's intentions.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Itachi called, blowing an enlarged version of a Fireball Jutsu.

"Sickle Weasel Jutsu!" Temari performed the same jutsu. Only this time it was followed by another jutsu.

"Fire Style: Dragon Missile Jutsu!" Hitodama roared, blowing out a flame that took a form of a dragon. As her fire jutsu mixed with the wind jutsu, then not only was Itachi's jutsu easily overpowered. The jutsu continued towards the targeted man. Itachi's eyes hardened a bit.

"It's too easy." He said. Everyone was shocked as his voice came from behind. When the group looked around, they found Itachi far behind them, as if he was always there. What was going on?

"It can't be." Sakura was slightly scared. "How did he…? Is he really that fast?"

"No, this isn't speed." Chiyo said. "It's the worst possible weapon we could expect from the one with mangekyo sharingan."

"What do you mean, Old Lady Chiyo?" Hitodama asked.

"There are rumors, no- legends about the mangekyo sharingan. They say that the one who possesses these eyes has the ability to manipulate one of two factors of reality." The Sand elder explained.

"Two factors of reality?" Sakura was confused, as well as the others.

"Many scholars agree that reality is composed of two factors- time and space. Space is the factor that shapes the reality, giving it form and size. Then there's time, which allows the object to move from one point to the next, animating it as well as bringing existence. But the one who achieves the mangekyo sharingan can manipulate the two to some extend."

"So what we've been fighting was some kind of a clone?" Temari asked with her voice on edge.

"I'm not sure." Chiyo admitted. "Maybe he was able to bend the space to make it look as if he was there all along."

"It can't be. I felt his elbow when I blocked him." Kakashi said.

"Whatever it was we must be careful. This man is more than just dangerous."

Kakashi was about to advice something, when Hitodama charged at the Uchiha. She started to deliver punches and kicks.

"Kakashi!" she called. "Think how to take him down fast!" Itachi grabbed her hands. The woman used that opportunity and caught his cloak with one foot and delivered two kicks before grabbing his collar. Then she threw him over.

"Alright, I think I've got it." The silver haired jonin whispered to the others.

The dessert

Team Guy took a defensive formation. This guy was either playing with them or hiding. Whatever the reason, Neji activated his byakugan. He needed to find the swordsman and fast before he caught them. A drop of sweat ran down his temple. He focused on finding the man. Where was he?

Before Neji could say a word, Kisame emerged before guy, bringing his sword down. The jonin specialist barely reacted, sending the Akatsuki ninja away.

"That was nice." Kisame mocked a compliment. "Your reflexes are really good."

Guy's eyes widened again. "That sword… And the water jutsu…" he pointed at the shark man. It looked as if he had it at the end of his tongue. "I… think I have met you before." He said, making his team comically fall off feet.

Kisame was clearly annoyed. "I guess your brain is really that of a beast- capable of working on people's nerves." He pressed his hand against the water. In an instant, three more Kisames appeared, created from water, each in front of Guy's teammates. "Get them, boys." The original ordered.

Neji, Tenten and Lee hit their opponents, which was exactly what the swordsman wanted. "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" the clones called, using the water spilling out of their bodies to catch the Leaf ninja.

Guy watched in horror as his team was now in water bubbles, enable to breath. He wanted to help them, when his instinct told him to jump away. He barely made it. The Original Kisame was onto him.

"Now don't run away, Green Beast." Kisame said. "I still haven't repaid you for that kick to the face."

His sword almost hit the bowl headed man. However, Guy managed to block the attack with his nunchaku. It surprised the Akatsuki member for a second, not expecting the jonin to manage to pull out a weapon this fast. But he quickly smiled again, pressing on. Guy just couldn't believe how strong Kisame was. He had trouble holding his blade away.

*splash*

A huge pillar of water raised before Kisame. He was looking down, where Might Guy sank under water. So the Leaf jonin decided to hide underwater to come up with a counter. How foolish that was. Water was Kisame's turf.

"Water Style: Five Shark Feeding Frenzy!" he called pressing the water's surface. Under his fingertips the water started to gather, creating five sharks which launched at the Leaf jonin. Guy was in trouble now. The water limited his movement.

The forest clearing

Only now did Sakura understand why the enforcer was barefooted. Her taijutsu style had her use her feet as a second pair of hands. It was a strange way to fight. She didn't even think it was possible to do that. But here she was- the woman who could do that. Hitodama was able to distract Itachi just for long enough to let the others prepare something just for him.

She charged first, gathering her strength in her fist. Her battle cry was the signal for the enforcer to get out of the way. She jumped away just in time, as the pink haired girl delivered a punch. Itachi easily dodged it. She was of no threat to him. But then he noticed that she wasn't truly aiming for him. Her fist hit the ground, creating a huge crater. Itachi was flying in midair, flying away from the young kunoichi, when Temari used her wind jutsu on him. Itachi, taking advantage of his agility, turned around and performed a fire jutsu, aiming at the Sand kunoichi. Temari cursed under her breath and dodged the jutsu by the last second. Hitodama decided to take the opportunity.

"Fire Style: Dragon Arts: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" she called out, launching a white fireball at the Uchiha. Itachi performed the exact same jutsu but it was overpowered by the Leaf enforcer's version. The Akatsuki shinobi cursed mentally and jumped down, where Kakashi was waiting for him. He pierced the emotionless Uchiha with his raikiri. It seemed as if it was over. Itachi seemed to be looking far into the distance. His eyes widened before he smiled.

"That was impressive, Kakashi." He said. "I'll let you pass for now. However…"

"Huh?" Kakashi wondered what Itachi was talking about.

"It would appear you're not the only one looking to help the Kazekage." He said before his appearance started to change.

"What the…?" everyone was surprised by the revelation.

The dessert

Neji took a look around with his byakugan. They needed to get free. But how? He had an idea. And he had to act fast. Tenten and Lee were at their limit. Guy on the other hand seemed to gather his strength. Yes, they were both ready. At the same time…

"Full Body Blow!" Neji caused the water to explode along with the clone, freeing him. Then he delivered a precise attack on the other two clones. With them gone, the water jutsu imprisoning his teammates dissolved to normal water.

"Eight Inner Gates! Gate Six: View: Open!" Guy roared, causing the water around him to seemingly boil. As one would look closer, the water actually forms a vortex. Guy's skin turned red, veins appearing on his face. His eyes turned completely white. The water sharks exploded. Guy launched at the swordsman, sending him up into the air. "Morning Peacock!" the taijutsu specialist called, delivering punches so strong that the pressured air ignited. In result, he was sending fireballs from his fists towards the shark-like rogue ninja. Every single punch hit the man, sending him into the ground. After a few seconds, the water appeared to be soaking into the sand. The whole team gathered by Guy's side, discovering something weird.

The forest clearing

"What is this?" Kakashi asked. "Some sort of substitution jutsu?"

"This man was on the Sand Council for the past 15 years." Chiyo said, recognizing the man who seemed to pretend Itachi.

"Now I understand how the Akatsuki could organize their attack this well." Temari thought.

"There is no doubt about it." Chiyo said with a disturbing voice. "This was just a delay."

"Um, Lady Chiyo?" Sakura caught her attention. "I'm not sure I follow. What is this all about? All I know is that Gaara is like my teammate- has a tailed beast inside of him." Sakura said. Kakashi and Hitodama dropped their heads. She knew about Naruto having the Fox sealed inside him, but didn't know everything about the topic.

"Where should I begin?" Chiyo wondered. "The tailed beasts are constructs created out of pure chakra, given form and substance- and sentience. They are the strongest source of chakra that exists. Therefore each village sought to capture and control their power in order to use them as weapons." The Sand elder paused for a minute. Shame appeared to flash in her eyes. "However… humans are too arrogant to understand that there are some things beyond their abilities. The control of the tailed beast is just impossible. No man has the power to do that."

"Yet there was something, right?" Sakura deducted.

"The result was a jinchuriki- a human vessel to contain the tailed beast's power." She said. This revelation made Sakura's eyes widen in horror. "The power of the beast upon sealing is highly compressed and therefore, in theory, can be directed. The person who becomes a jinchuriki is being given the power of the tailed beast."

Sakura said nothing for a moment. She didn't need to ask for what she saw and knew via Naruto's life- the jinchuriki were taken by people for the beasts themselves. Therefore they were forced to live a life of hatred and rejection. They were outcast, the unwanted. They were cursed by the village authorities to be a weapon the village would disregard. "The jinchuriki were meant as a weapon, yes?"

"That's right." Chiyo answered simply, as if without regret.

"Then you… How could you do that?" She cried in fury. "Do you even understand what you did to…?" She paused and took a deep breath. She calmed down, before she got too emotional. "So what are they doing now? How to remove the tailed beast?"

"The Akatsuki are doing it right now as we speak, child. They are clearly planning on creating a new jinchuriki. And to answer the second question: No matter how strong the jutsu, it will take a considerable amount of time to extract the beast from the current host. However, if you do remove the beast, the host…" she paused. She hoped not to use the word. Sakura wasn't an idiot. Something told her she knew already what would happen. She looked the elder in the eyes. Her emerald eyes were asking the silent question.

"Yes, the host dies."

Sakura broke into tears. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to accept it. If Naruto was to be caught by these people…

"Enough waiting around, softie!" Hitodama shouted. "Move it."

Kakashi was about to move, when he saw the enforcer barely walking. "You okay, miss Hitodama?" he asked.

"Sorry, Kakashi." She said. "I think I used too much chakra on this one. You'll have to do without me."

"I'll take her back to the Sand." Temari suggested. But the enforcer slapped her hand away.

"I'm not that weak, girl. I can get there myself. Now go. Your brother's the one who needs you most."

Temari hesitated for a while, but this woman was right. She nodded and, along with Kakashi, leaped away. The Leaf kunoichi got on her feet and moved towards the Sand, holding her side. She couldn't believe that Itachi managed to injure her.

Akatsuki hideout

The group continued to extract Shukaku, the One-Tail, out from Gaara. They all seemed to be in deep meditation, when Itachi's projection interrupted the silence.

"They are progressing again, Leader." The Uchiha said.

"They dealt with you faster then I would've expected, hn." Deidara mocked. "You're loosing your touch, Itachi, hn."

"They held them for long enough, Deidara." The leader said. His eyes turned towards Itachi. Anything else you want to report?"

"The people who might be a challenge are Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Neji Hyuga and Elder Chiyo." Itachi said.

"Grandma Chiyo?" Sasori whispered to himself.

"I see." Leader commented. "However Deidara and Sasori should be able to handle this themselves."

"You're leaving us to ourselves? Not cool, hn." Deidara commented.

"You are more than capable to deal with them or escape them. You know we took this scenario into consideration." Leader reminded him, making Deidara smiling more happily.

"One more thing." Itachi said.

At the same time, Gaara's body fell lifeless.

Outside

Team Guy leaped through the trees until they saw Kakashi. The team merged just as Chiyo pointed at the rock with a tag down a cliff. The whole party landed on the water surface. The journey was long. The sun has started to rise. But they made it. Guy wanted to hit the boulder, but…

"Wait, Guy-sensei!" Neji stopped him, getting a confused look from everyone. "I can see the whole stone covered in chakra. There's a barrier."

"But we must can in there fast." Temari yelled.

"This is no ordinary barrier." Chiyo analyzed the tag. "This specific seal is protected with more tags. If we try to remove them separately we will be in the world of pain."

"There should be more but somewhere around, right?" Neji asked, focusing his byakugan. "I found them. One is 400 meters south from here. Second- 520 to the north-west. Third- 300 north. Forth- 700 to the east."

"We'll deal with those, Kakashi." Guy said, making a nice-guy pose. "Our sacrifice shall clear you the way to the youthful Kazekage."

"Let's stay in radio contact." Kakashi said, pulling out a radio. "I'll signal you when to remove the tags."

A few seconds later, Kakashi and Team guy switched to the same frequency and departed. Some time passed, as Sakura got ready to turn the oversized pebble into dust. Kakashi started a countdown and removed the tag.

"Do it, Sakura!" He ordered.

The pink haired student of Tsunade didn't need to be told twice. She obliterated the boulder, opening the cave's entrance. As the dust cleared, the team could see two Akatsuki members waiting for them. Gaara's body was lying between them.

"Well, well, looks like they found us, Sasori, hn." Deidara said mockingly.

"Indeed, Deidara." His partner replied. "What do you think we should do?"

"How about you give back my little brother first, you bastards?" Temari shouted with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw. She always tried her best to be there for Gaara when he needed a mother. Even after Naruto beat him and calmed him down, thus making him abandon his path as a sociopath, she was next to him. She wanted to be always with him when she and Kankuro heard him say something they never thought they'll hear from him.

'I always thought that I can make people acknowledge my existence by killing them. I believed that fear is what can make me strong. But then he came. He claimed to be like me- born from a woman's womb, but living in the darkness, lonely, abandoned, unwanted, hated. But he made bonds, while I continued to be hated and killed in return. I thought I was stronger than him thanks to that. And yet… I was beaten by him. Because he had people he wanted to protect he was not afraid to give up his life to stop me. Temari, Kankuro… I want to follow his path. I understand now. He wasn't making bonds to be stronger. He had to be this strong so he could protect them. I want to be like him. I want to protect people from monsters such as I was. I no longer want to be the reason for their fears. I want to be their shield when their own fails. I want to be their sword when others are broken. That is the path I want to now follow.'

"GIVE HIM BACK!" She shouted, crying, and performed a powerful wind jutsu. The jutsu happened to be powerful enough to destroy the cave's ceiling. As the rubble was falling, Temari rushed to take her brother away from them. But that was what they wanted. Sasori caught her with his tail. The man was a puppet.

"What the…?" Sakura asked.

"That's Sasori's favorite puppet, Hiruko." Chiyo explained, remaining calm. "The real Sasori is hiding inside."

"You're right as always, Grandma." Sasori said with some delight. "Now with her and you as the next prey, I'll have 300 kills exactly. Now that's a fine art."

"You call this art, Sasori?" Deidara complained. "This is no art, hn. It's…"

"This is no time for that, Deidara. Focus."

"You're right." the blond turned to face the Leaf and Sand ninja. "Alright then. Talk."

"Talk? What are you talking about?" Kakashi was a bit confused, though he didn't show it.

"Don't play dumb. We know you're not alone. Where's that enforcer woman?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to deal with us for know. But worry. She'll be back soon enough with Sand's elite." Kakashi bluffed. He just hoped they'll buy it.

"Really?" Sasori questioned. He didn't believe the Copy Cat Ninja. Then again, he couldn't take the chances. "Well then… I'll let this gal reunite with her little brother then." He prepared to impale Temari on her tail. Temari was terrified. No one would make it to save her.

*crash*

Sasori's puppet armor was whole broken. It was falling apart. Deidara blinked multiple times, but he wasn't seeing things. He looked at the Kazekage's body, which wasn't there.

"What the devil?" the explosive maniac was dumbstruck. He looked at the enemies. His eyes widened in disbelieve. And so did the eyes of the Leaf ninja and the Sand Elder.

A man was standing just a step away from the rescue party. He already placed the Sand kunoichi on the ground while still having Gaara's body over his shoulder. The man was well build, wearing a black, sleeveless shirt with two vertical orange stripes and orange pants under a ragged, black cloth wrapped around his waist. His left arm was bandaged from hand up to half his biceps and wearing a glove on the very same hand. There were some stripes on his right arm. But the most noticeable features of his were on his unshaved face- the whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks, ocean blue eyes and spiky blonde hair, now covering his eyes.

"Damn. It's been a long time." Naruto Said with his signature grin.

To be continued…