DISCLAIMER – I only own my own copy of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Naruto.
A/N – All the characters in this fic are wearing their Shippuden outfits, for a lack of description.
Sasuke continued towards his trip towards Healin, wounding up in a forest area. On the way, he was listening on his cell phone for any voice messages that he may have missed during his fight against Hidan and Kisame.
KIBA – (voice mail) Hey, this is Kiba! I did it, Uchiha! I found a new oil field! You wouldn't believe how much oil is here! I finished my work here, so Akamaru and I will be heading back to see Moegi soon enough. Be sure to tell her that!
SAKURA – (voice mail) I just got another call from Kankuro. He said to hurry up. Something is going on. Be careful, Sasuke-kun.
After listening to his voice mails, he arrived at Healin. It was a lodging area. As he was about to enter one of the lodges, he drew his katana, just in case he was about to get into another fight. As soon as he opened the door, a wooden hand with a blade protruding came out of nowhere, stabbing Sasuke in the heart. It was no doubt that this wooden hand belonged to Kankuro's puppet. Kankuro chuckled to himself, thinking that he was the victor. Unfortunately, the Sasuke he stabbed was a replacement jutsu. Sasuke was nowhere in sight. Kankuro put his puppet away in his pack-strap and stepped outside to find Sasuke. Unfortunately, for Kankuro, Sasuke suddenly appeared inside the lodge and shut the door, before Kankuro could run back in.
KANKURO – (outside) I underestimated you.
Sasuke locked the door on Kankuro, so he wouldn't interfere. Just then, another ninja came in, Rock Lee.
KANKURO – (outside) Looking sharp, Lee!
Lee was about to make his move, but Sasuke beat him to it, by point his katana at Rock Lee's throat. Slowly, the taijutsu master backed away from his sword.
– As expected from the one who calls himself an ex-ANBU.
A man, draped in a white cloth around his body, came in with a wheelchair. His face was obscured from Sasuke's vision. However, his voice sounded familiar.
– You're as skillful as ever.
Sasuke realizes who this man was.
Two years ago, the Kazekage was trapped in the Kazekage tower, during an attack from one of the Tailed Beasts. Because of the explosion, everybody suspected that the Kazekage was killed in the explosion. But no, here he was, in the flesh.
SASUKE – Gaara of the Desert. You're not so fortunate.
GAARA - ……On that day—
SASUKE – What do you want from me?
GAARA - --right before the building fell on top of me—
SASUKE – Who are the ones that attacked me?
GAARA - --I used the Shield of Sand—
SASUKE – If you have nothing to say, then I'm leaving.
GAARA - ……I need your strength, Uchiha Sasuke.
SASUKE – I'm not interested.
GAARA – We must repay the world. It's a shameful fact that we are responsible for putting this world in a suffering state that it's in. For that, we feel it's our responsibility to repay this world, as a way of penance.
KANKURO – (outside) Are you going to let me in?
GAARA – For the first step, we conducted a search on the effect left behind by Itachi.
KANKURO – (outside) At the North Cave.
GAARA – Do you know what we found? Nothing. We found nothing. So there's nothing to worry about. However, an unexpected turn of events began to unfold. We were ambushed…by the same ones who attacked you, Deidara and his group.
SASUKE – Deidara?
GAARA – We believe their objective is to put a stop to our plans. Hmph, I don't understand how they act.
SASUKE – And what do they want with me?
KANKURO – (outside) You're one of us, right?
Annoyed, Sasuke kicked the door, as if he was telling Kankuro, "Shut up!" After "shutting up" Kankuro, Gaara continued his explanations.
GAARA – Deidara and his men are powerful. We can assume that they are S-ranked enemies. Therefore, we decided that we should hire a well-trained bodyguard.
SASUKE – I only deliver packages now.
GAARA – You're the only one powerful enough to do it. Are you not ex-ANBU Uchiha Sasuke.
SASUKE – Only in my head.
Sasuke unlocked the door and proceeded to exit the area, but stopped to ask Gaara something.
SASUKE – He said something about "Mother."
GAARA – Did Deidara say something to you? I wouldn't really worry about that. We live in a world where children want to see their mothers once again. I've heard that you live with orphans. Do you want to see them smile again? In the end, we only wish to rebuild the world, Uchiha Sasuke.
SASUKE - ………I…
KANKURO – Come on, Sasuke. If you help us, we can rebuild the government body for Gaara.
SASUKE – (leaving) No.
LEE – Kankuro!
GAARA – Kankuro…
In old Konoha, Sakura and Moegi entered an old temple. The temple was in ruins, but in the middle of the temple, there was a flowerbed. These flowers continued to grow healthy and unharmed. As Moegi came to smell the flowers, the two girls noticed a sleeping bag, a lamp, a cup, and a box next to the flowerbed.
MOEGI – Does Sasuke-kun live here?
SAKURA – I think he does.
Sakura and Moegi approached Sasuke's stuff. Moegi tried to open the box, but it was securely locked.
MOEGI – What is this?
SAKURA – I don't know.
The girls then approached where Sasuke sleeps and they found a small cloth. This small cloth had a black residue, just like Konohamaru's bandage.
MOEGI – It's just like Konohamaru-kun's… Does this mean that Sasuke-kun is sick, too?
SAKURA – He never told us…
MOEGI – Is that why he left?
SAKURA – I guess he wants to fight this one alone.
MOEGI – Fight it alone?
SAKURA – Probably not. He probably has no intention of fighting it.
MOEGI – Sakura-neesan?
SAKURA – Let's go back home, Moegi-chan.
MOEGI – (upset) No! I want to see Sasuke-kun!
SAKURA – I know… (picking up Sasuke's bandage) We both want to see him, badly.
MOEGI – Yeah!
SAKURA – Hey, what do you think we should do when we see him?
MOEGI – (happily) We'll go home together!
SAKURA – (smiling) But before we do that, we're going to have a long talk with him.
MOEGI – Uh-huh!
Back at the Healin Lodge, Kankuro and Lee were on the ground, injured and soundly defeated. Unfortunately for them, they were tracked down by none other than Deidara. Only Gaara was left unharmed.
DEIDARA – (walking past Kankuro and Lee) I really hate liars…mmm.
GAARA – I apologize. I'll tell you the truth this time. We lost the object we captured while my people were trying to get away from you and your men. We were careless.
DEIDARA – Is that so?
GAARA – I swear my life on it.
DEIDARA – (presenting two forehead protectors) Maybe you should swear on these…mmm. (tossing the forehead protectors to Gaara)
Gaara stared at the forehead protectors. No doubt, these forehead protectors belonged to Kabuto and Temari. From the looks of it, the two were greatly injured, judging from the bloody spots on the headbands.
GAARA – What are you planning?
DEIDARA – We need our Mother's power. It is necessary for the Reunion…mmm.
GAARA – The Reunion?
DEIDARA – Our people who received Mother's cells will reunite at one place. And then, we'll take our revenge on the planet…mmm. Everything was going smoothly. Unfortunately, someone is hiding our Mother…mmm.
GAARA – "Everything was going smoothly?"
DEIDARA – The Cursed Seal of Heaven. (seeing Gaara's infected hand) You're familiar with it, too…mmm? It's all thanks to Mother's genetic thoughts within the Lifestream. However, we don't know where our Mother is. It's embarrassing, but we can't help it…mmm. That's because we're just body of thoughts. Until we find our Mother and get our share of the cells, we can't go back to normal…mmm. The thoughts and the Cursed Seal of Heaven are not enough…for the real Reunion.
GAARA – What do you mean by that?
DEIDARA – Kazekage-sama. You may have noticed it by now…mmm?
Deidara approached Gaara and knelt before him. When he raised his head towards Gaara, Gaara began to see something. His cursed seal was throbbing in pain as he began to see what Deidara is. A familiar figure kept flashing back and forth, replacing Deidara over and over again. But how could that be? There's no way that he could be "him." That man is dead!
To be continued...