Okay, I know it took me a bit longer then a month this time and sorry about that. Unexpected, extra work came out and I didn't had too much free time. That's also the reason I wasn't about to write it before Christmas. Hope that all of you had great holidays.

IMPORTANT NOTE:I also have to announce that my exams are getting close and I really have to sit down to studying and as a result I think the possibility that the seventh chapter will be uploaded this month is rather low. To tell the truth, in order to submit this chapter I had to hurry up, so I wasn't even able to double check the whole thing, so I hope you'll forgive me possible, grammar mistakes. I promise to work on my grammar and spelling in the next chapter… or at least find a good beta (if anyone's interested, that position is still open).

It came out shorter then I expected and I'm that all that happy with it, but I still hope you'll enjoy it.

Also, one last thing before I start: I'd like to thank you all for encouraging words. It really gives me the inspiration to work even harder. Hope you'll enjoy what's in stored.

And now off to the story:

Chapter #6: Rescue Team Gather

Kankuro slowly sat on his bed, while holding the left side of his stomach, which was covered in bandages that were red now. He looked around and noticed that he was in a hospital room.

"So, you finally woke up…" came a voice and as the puppeteer looked in the direction it came from, he noticed Gaara standing in the corner, his face showing no emotions, as always. "It's been almost five days…"

"I slept that long?" Kankuro asked surprised and then recalled what happened. "How's Temari? Is she alright?"

"The Akatsuki got her…" the red-head replied calmly, but the puppeteer knew him too long for not noticing both sadness and anger in his voice. "They're willing to exchange her for me though…"

"And what's Konoha's reaction to that?"

"They've send few shinobies as support… they should be arriving here soon…"

----------

Naruto ran with the rest of the group through the desert. They were getting closer to the gates of Suna Gakure. He looked in front of him as he recalled in his head how it came to this.

FLASHBACK

"Come on, Tsunade-baachan, give us something challenging!" begged the Kyuubi vessel. "We're meant to do greater things! We're not gennins anymore!"

"Actually, you still are…" reminded Sakura.

"With all that yelling…" Kakashi sighed to himself. "The Fifth is not as calm as the Sandaime was. And the one to get in trouble will be me…"

"Look, you blonde shrimp!" yelled back the Godaime, putting her foot on her desk. "You'll do as I say, coz I'm the Hokage right now!"

Naruto just 'hmpfed' and you could tell Tsunade was ready to wipe the floor with him, yet they were interrupted by Shizune, who ran right into the room, carrying a small scroll: "Tsunade-sama, it's an emergency! Important report from the Hidden Sand!"

The blonde Hokage calmed down, took the scroll from her subordinate and started reading.

"So, the Akatsuki made another move…" she said out loud to no-one in particular. Naruto twitched at hearing that. "They attacked Suna in order to obtain their Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara… in the end they failed, but still manage to kidnap the Sand leader's sister and offered an exchange…" she then looked at the team that was standing in front of her and noticed that Naruto's eyes turned red for a short moment. "Jiraiya did mention that he became friends with the current Kazekage, but why he got so mad?" she thought to herself and after a short silence, she announced: "Alright, team number seven, I have a new mission for you. You are to go to the Sand, find out the situation and aid them any way possible…"

As she said so, the door opened again and this time it was Shikamaru and his team that entered the room. The lazy chuunin bowed quickly and requested: "Tsunade-sama, I was the one who decoded the report, so I know the situation. I'd like you to allow me to join Kakashi-san's cell in this mission…"

"Huh?" Godaime's eyebrow went up. "Since when are you so into anything?"

"Well…" began Shikamaru, but was instantly cut off by Ino:

"He has his reasons, Tsunade-sama… Asuma-sensei already agreed to it, so with your acceptance the three of us will assist Sakura and her team on this mission…"

"Fine…" replied the slug sannin after a moment of hesitation. "However, you guys will receive a new team member…" she announced, turning to face Naruto's cell. "He'll be waiting for you at the gates… you're dismissed!"

xxx

The next day in the morning both Kakashi's and Asuma's cells were waiting at the gates of Hidden Leaf for the additional member to the silver-haired jounin's team… and for the silver-haired jounin himself. Soon the one who was supposed to replace Sasuke came into view. It was Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto, jumping to the girl.

"Chan?" Ino's eyebrow went up. "They finally started dating?"

"Tsunade-sama assigned me to assist you in your mission to the Hidden Sand" replied the white-eyed kunoichi. "She said that my eyes can prove to be useful…"

"Welcome on board then!" announced the blonde gennin, shaking the girls hand.

END FLASHBACK

He let his memories get blown away as they reached the entranced to the Suna Gakure. The one to welcome them was Baki: "Glad you made it. Please, follow me. Kazekage-sama is waiting for you…"

They followed the sand-nin through the sandy streets of the Hidden Sand village. It was Hinata's first time visiting the village, so she kept looking around curiously.

The village itself was located in a large crater. All the building were made out of white brick. Their shapes made an impression of being rather primitive: they were square or just a pyramid of circles. There was no glass in the windows, which were either square or round, but that could be explained by the fact that the temperature was always high in these parts, so the local people would prefer to have fresh air in their house all the time.

The sand covered the streets on which there were no wagons with food, which were so popular in the Leaf. The only plants that appeared from time to time were palms, she did spotted a lot of wells, which were practically on every street. Rarely she also noticed fountains, decorated with stunning statues. Usually the spaces around them were filled with palms and bushes that could withstand the dry land.

Most of the villagers were dressed white, quite similar to Baki. He also noticed few children playing here and there, yet she couldn't spot any playgrounds.

Finally their reached the Kazekage's palace. It was a high tower that was in a shape of a pyramid created from circles put on one another (for the widest one to the smallest). Half way from the bottom to the top was a huge circle with the kanji symbol for 'wind' drawn in it.

After a short walk they found themselves in front of the Kazekage's office. Baki asked them to enter and so they did to find Gaara standing near the window, looking at his village.

"Thank the Hokage for taking action so fast once you get back to your village" he said, slowly turning around to face the leaf-nins.

"What's the situation?" asked Kakashi.

"The Akatsuki attacked the Suna…" began Baki. "Temari and Kankuro held one of them back at the entrance to the village while Kazekage-sama faced another on his own outside town gates. Temari and Kankuro lost their battle: the girl was taken by the Akatsuki members, while Kazekage-sama brought Kankuro to the hospital with a large, stomach wound…"

"The one I fought was a puppeteer, a former shinobi of the Sand known as Sasori of the Red Sand" added Gaara. "I've destroyed his main puppet but it seems he has at least few more. In a fight he uses a rare poison which our medics cannot identify. According to what Kankuro said, the one he fought uses clay…"

"So what is expected from us?" asked Asuma, stepping forward.

"I just got a message where the Akatsuki invent to exchange Temari for me…" announced the Godaime, dropping some clay on his desk along with a small scroll. "I was prepared to go, however the Elders forbid it. They explain their decision by the fact that securing Shukaku is the main priority and the Sand must concentrate on achieving that goal. Apparently they don't feel like risking any of the Sand shinobies lives in the attend to rescue their Sand comrade. What I'm asking you to do is head to the place of exchange and do everything that is in your power to save my sister… however, treat your lives as priority."

"Sand politics always seemed complicated to me" sighed Kakashi. "However they do have a point in trying to prevent Shukaku landing in Akatsuki's hands. Still just two teams on such a mission can be a bit too little…"

"I'm aware of that" nodded Gaara. "That's why you'll have a Sand advisor coming along. She knows the one known as Sasori very well, so she should be quite useful for you. Unfortunately that's all I can give you…"

"Since we'll be facing S-class criminals, I'm afraid this may be too little" announced Shikamaru. "Something like an antidote to that poison you told us about would be useful. Also, since you said that you were able to destroy that puppet, it might give us an advantage if we'd be allowed to see it in order to find out how it works…"

"I can help out with an antidote" proposed Sakura. "Tsunade-sama thought me about poisons, so with the right equipment and herbs I might be able to come up with something…"

"Our medical resources will be at your disposal" replied Gaara, nodding towards the pink-haired kunoichi. "As for the puppet mechanism, Baki can lead you to the place where our puppeteers work on putting Sasori's tool together. Perhaps they'll be able to provide you with some, helpful information…"

"All that's left is to ask how much time we have for preparations?" asked Kakashi.

"Unfortunately time isn't on our side" replied Baki. "In order to get to the exchange spot in time, you'll have to leave tomorrow morning."

"I should got to work on that antidote right away then" announced Sakura.

And so everyone made their preparations for tomorrow's mission. None of them even noticed that the day have passed and the sun started to come down. The temperature dropped and a nice breeze started to blow from the south-east.

As the sky become red and the sun was more then halfway hidden, the buildings in the Suna Gakure started to create long shadows, making the village look grim and unfriendly.

Hinata stood on top of one of the buildings and looked down on the still busy streets of the Hidden Sand village. She smiled feeling a gentle breeze blow in her face and didn't even turned around when she noticed someone's presence. "Are you trying to scare me, Naruto-kun?" she asked with her back still turned.

"Damn, with that Byakugan of yours, there's no way to lay a prank on you!" mowed the blonde. "That's not fair!"

The girl giggled at the comment. "Sorry, but I can't help it…" and with that she finally turned to her crush, smiling.

"I know" replied the loud mouth laughing and scratching the back of his head. He then came closer to her and stopped only when he was beside her. They stayed silent for few moments, before he decided to speak up: "Hinata-chan, since the time we left Konoha I wanted to ask you something…" she gave him a puzzled look, but kept quiet. "Why…" he began, but then shut his mouth, like he was looking for the right words. "Why did you accepted this mission? I mean, neither Kiba nor Shino take part in it…"

"It was an order" she responded simply, doing her best to hide a small blush that started to appear on her face. "And Tsunade-sama had a point thinking that my abilities can be helpful. Besides Shino-kun went out on a mission with his father again, so my team was free from our duties anyway…"

"Can't argue with that" nodded the blonde, earning a questioning look from the white-eyed kunoichi. "I mean, I saw you fight with Kisame. You're strong and since it's the Akatsuki that's our enemy, we need skilled ninjas. It's good that you're here…"

At hearing that Hinata's face became more red then the sky was at that time, but Naruto didn't seem to noticed, because he just said: "We'll, I'm off. We should rest since we're leaving in the morning" and left.

The Hyuuga heiress stood on the roof for few more minutes though, waiting for the blush do disappear from her face.

----------

The next day all eight, leaf-nin's were making their final preparations for the trip. Surprisingly for them, Kakashi came on time. Gaara, along with Kankuro, stood with them at the gates, waiting for the Sand's advisor to show up.

After a short while he finally appeared. It turned out to be an old woman, incredibly short with medium-length, blonde hair (A/N: I assume they were blonde), wearing a cap and worn out robe.

"Wait a minute, that's our back-up?" yelled Naruto irritated. "She looks like she's about to fall into pieces at anytime! And I'm not even sure if that's a woman!" and before he knew it the tiny female was coming right at his head with a kick.

The blonde bended under the kick, spun around on his left foot and aimed a kick of his own in the back of the aggressor's head. But surprisingly for him the sand-nin shoot her hands back and grabbed his leg before it connected with her body.

Using Naruto's leg as a break, the woman turned in mid-air to face the blonde and still holding on to his leg aimed another kick in his face. In an instant the blonde performed his signature move and made his clone stop the attack.

And before anyone of them could launch another attack, they both got trapped in the sand fist. "I believe that is enough" announced Gaara with his usual voice. "Chiyo-san is one of the Sand's top puppeteers. She'll also Sasori's grandmother, thus she knows him well. Among all the Sand shinobies, she's the one that can prove most useful in the battle you're about to enter…" and with that said he released the two from his grip.

"That old hag…" thought Naruto, giving the woman an angry glare. "She's pretty good…"

"Listen brat, before you were born I've seen more battle then you ever will, so show me some respect" ordered the one called Chiyo.

"We should get going" announced Kakashi, not really interested in what just happened. "We have a long trip before us and it's better to travel before the sun raises too high…" the other leaf-nins only nodded and a second later they all went on their way.

"You think they'll save Temari?" asked Kankuro when the rescue team disappeared from their view.

"He'll do it…" assured the Kazekage, not even turning to his brother. "I'm sure he will…"

----------

After a half-day trip the Leaf shinobies along with Chiyo reached their destination which turned out to be a wide canyon. The jounins looked around in search for possible traps and ambushes.

"It seems clear, but don't forget we're dealing with the Akatsuki" reminded Asuma. "Expect anything…" but then his words froze in his throat as he looked behind him at the small field of rocks. He glared at the silver-haired jounin, who also seemed to sensed what he just did. "Kakashi, is that…?" he began but the Sharingan user interrupted:

"Seems like it. Listen, it looks like we won't be able to help you out with this mission" he said, turning to the young shinobies and the Sand's advisor. "Carry out your duty and Asuma and I will get back as soon as we'll be able too…"

"Asuma-sensei, what's wrong?" asked Chouji, looking confused.

But the jounin didn't answer. He just looked at Kakashi and after the silver-haired nodded they both disappeared from others view.

"I'll never understand Leaf shinobies" mowed Chiyo as she turned to the young ninjas. "Anyways, it seems we're on our own now. I hope you all remember the plan…"

----------

Kakashi and Asuma reached the rocky field and began to look around. "We know you're here!" announced the smoker. "Your chakra can be easily sensed. Show yourself!"

A second later a boy with medium-length, blonde hair, formed in dreadlocks walked from behind a nearby rock. He had hazel eyes and was wearing a black and yellow shirt and pants in the same colors. He had a small scar across his left cheek and had a Konoha headband protector with the slashed Leaf symbol on his forehead.

"And I really hoped I won't have to face you… Kakashi-san…" announced the boy, who seemed to be around twenty. "Last time we fought it got a bit… unpleasant…" then his gaze rested on Asuma. "But I'm quite sure we haven't met before. Mind telling me who you are?"

"Sarutobi Asuma…" replied the smoker. "And you are that S-class criminal and a missing-nin, Kengo, right? A former Akatsuki member…"

"Indeed I am…" nodded the blonde, smiling slightly. "I guess I should be honored to know that the Leaf still carries memories of me…"

"Don't get too happy" interrupted Kakashi. "We'll take you down and bring you to your final justice. You can either come peacefully or we can take you by force…"

"Interesting…" replied the one called Kengo. "And you think that just the two of you will be enough to defeat me? I didn't came here to fight you. All I want is to speak with my former partner… then again, I'm wondering what you learned during those ten years, Kakashi-san…" and saying so a wide grin appeared on his face as he went into a fighting stance.

----------

Deidara looked at the tall pale of clay that she created, on top of which Temari was tied up by clay chains. "Now, isn't that spectacular, Sasori-sama?" she turned to her partner whose face was completely covered by a hood.

"You know what I think of your type of art…" he replied simply. "Besides, now it's not the time to talk about that. He came…" and with that he raised his head, thus revealing a face of a young boy.

Deidara followed his gaze and noticed a certain, redhead sand-nin in a jet black robe with a large gourd on his back walking their way. "It's time, yeah…"

And with that chapter six is finished. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review once you're done reading.

Well, that 'HE' everyone talked about finally showed himself (I was thinking about leaving his first appearance for later, but since so many of you wanted to know, I decided to reveal few details about him already).

No jutsus this time around, but there should be some next time.

Before I finish this, I'd just like to wish you all that this year will be better then your previous one.

Keep warm and hopefully till the next update.