Eek, sorry it took so long to get up, i've been really busy with school and all.
I think I should quick explain some things, before people get confused. For one thing, my story is a strange mix of stuff, but mainly it takes place after the timeskip. As you've noticed, Sasori isin't dead; that's just because I know nothing of Tobi to write about. Also, Deidara had both of his arms, yet Gaara's Jinchuuriki has already been removed. These are just some small things i've changed to make it easier on me. Sorry for those that are going WTF?! It's just the way I do things. XP.
Naruto: The 10th Jinchuuriki
Chapter 5: Explosions
Atop one of his giant clay birds, Deidara examined the Leaf Village from high above, using his mechanical left eye to zoom in and better see things. After some searching, he spotted several ANBU, positioned on the roofs in a square formation. Curious, Deidara studied them for awhile, watching as they slowly moved in sync, always alert.
"Now, I wonder what their up to, hrm?" Deidara mused, commanding his bird to fly a little lower so he could get a better look. From what he saw, the ANBU were keeping their formation centered around one lone girl walking the streets.
"That has to be her, yeah!" Deidara crowed, triumpent that he had found his target. The sun was setting, so Deidara decided to head back, signaling to his bird. The great clay hawk veered about, heading away from the Leaf village and towards a more forested area. Dropping low to the ground, Deidara searched for his comrads. Spotting them, he had his bird land, then hopped from its back, a grin spreading on his face. Hidan and Kakuzu looked up at his arrival, and the silver haired Akatsuki member sank back into another one of his snappy moods.
"Back already?" He growled as Deidara approached, pushing off from the tree he had been leaning against.
"Yes. And I believe I found our Jinchuuriki."
"What?! Already?!" Hidan said, angry that this guy had found the girl so easily. When Deidara merely smirked, Kakuzu had to hold Hidan back so that he didn't leap on the blonde and tear him to pieces.
"Tell me Deidara, did the girl have bright red hair?" Kakuzu asked, while still restraining Hidan. Deidara nodded.
"Also, she appears to have an escort of four ANBU. This will complicate things, hrm?"
"Maybe. But I am sure you can handle it."
"What?! What do you mean?! We're not capturing the girl?" Hidan fussed, and Kakuzu released him.
"No, it would be best for Deidara. He is more skilled at long range." Hidan snarled, but said no more, instead stalking off. Deidara watched him go, a wide grin on his face, before turning back to Kakuzu.
"I will retrieve the Jinchuuriki tommorrow, yeah."
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I awoke early the next day, having promised Naruto I would meet him at the training grounds by sunrise. As usual, my four ANBU guards were there to meet me the minute I stepped outside, before disappering to the rooftops. The day was nice and warm, and as I waited for Naruto to arrive I sat enjoying the sunshine. Ryuu and the others were all hidden within the trees around me, and I could sense where they were by their chakra. When a fifth chakra body started heading my way, I didn't think much of it. I was too relaxed to notice it wasn't familiar, it wasn't even Naruto. When the forest exploded around me, I was totally caught off guard.
None of the explosions had been near enough to cause me any serious damage, but I knew whoever it was had been aiming for the ANBU. Leaping from where I had fallen, I raced to where I felt the nearest person was, and found Ryuu. He was sprawled on the ground, blasted trees and ruined earth were scattered all about him. His mask had been knocked off, and I could see a huge gash across his chest.
"No!" I practically screamed, suddenly scared that yet another person I knew was going to die on me. Rushing to his side, I kneeled on the ground and tried to help him up.
"Ow! Wait, wait. It hurts. Damn, it hurts!" Ryuu detached my hands from his wrists, slumbing back down to the ground. I watched in horror as blood gushed freely from the wound, where shrapnal from the explosion had sliced past him.
"What should I do?" I mumbled to myself, ripping off the sleeves of my shirt and using them to banage the wound as best as possible. It hardly did any good, the wound was too big and the blood flowed too freely. Even as I watched, the scraps of my shirt were stained, and the blood still continued to seep from the gash. I hardly knew Ryuu, yet I had seen too many deaths in my lifetime, I wasn't sure if I could watch another. This being so, I did something I hadn't done in years. Closing my eyes, I concentrated, kneeling silently beside Ryuu. Then, the moment I felt that small string of bright blue chakra, I mentally grasped ahold of it and tugged.
A hissing voice, its tones like venom, penetrated my thoughts then and I tried to keep myself from releasing the chakra thread in horror.
"Yesss? Do you want my chakra now, after all this time?" The voice mocked me, cackling gleefully in inhuman laughter. Revolted, I kept the contact between us firm, despite the feeling of dread that rose within me.
"Very well. I do not understand why you refuse to use my power more often." The voice cackled again, then faded away, but I could still feel his presence. As long as I remained connected to him via his chakra, I knew he and I were one. As I opened my eyes, the familiar sensation of chakra flooding into every inch of me reminded me what I had to do. Taking both my hands, I pressed them firmly over Ryuu's wound. He gasped, but fell back into unconciousness. I staired at the backs of my hands, willing the chakra to flow from the fingers and into Ryuu's body. I was acutely aware of the creature within me watching this whole process curiously, the thought that he was looking through my own eyes and hearing my thoughts made me want to break the contact immedietly. However, I managed to not do so, instead focusing the chakra to heal Ryuu's wound. In no time at all, I leaned back to study my handiwork, such a thing I had only done twice before in my life. Ryuu lay there, panting heavily from loss of blood, still unconcious. I slowly peeled back the bloody bandages, exposing his unmarked chest. Letting out a sigh of releif, I leaned back, thankfully letting go of the chakra that held connected the Bijuu to me.
"Well, so that's the power of your Jinchuuriki, eh?" A familiar voice mused from behind me, and I whirled around to see Hidan and Kakuzu come striding through the woods.
"Get away from her!" Another voice yelled, and suddenly the other three ANBU were standing between the two Akatsuki and myself, weapons drawn. No one moved, though a malicous grin spread across Hidan's face.
"Wonderful. Four more sacrifices to Jashin." He purred, eyes roving over the three ANBU, and Ryuu where he lay still knocked out. The ANBU didn't waste any more time then, leaping swiftly towards the scythe-weilder. Then Hidan and Kakuzu did something I hadn't quite expected; they retreated, rushing back into the cover of the forest. I watched as the ANBU followed after them until they all were lost from sight. Slightly confused, I wondered why they had done this, and figured out the reason too late.
I had just enough time to turn my head before something collided into me from the side, totally knocking the air out of me. I'm sure I would have gone flying, had the thing that hit me not latched onto me and carried me into the sky. Dazed, I watched as the ground dwindled away, and craning my neck around I looked at my captor. If I had had any air in my lungs, I would have gasped in suprise. The thing holding onto me was a giant white bird with holes for eyes; one of its feet wrapped around my torso. Flapping its great wings, it hauled me high into the sky. Because of the angle I was at, I could see behind the bird. There, trailing after us was another such white bird, with someone dressed in an Akatsuki robe riding on its back. I was too busy stairing at him to notice the barrage of kunai that suddenly flew from below and struck the left wing of the bird holding me. The weapons had hit with such force that the wing cracked, then fell off completely, and I felt myself drop. The bird was still holding onto me even as we fell, the ground rushing up to meet me.
"No!" The blonde man yelled from atop his bird, reaching hastily into the bag at his side. Yanking his hand back out, he threw something into the air. This all happened very fast, and somehow my mind kept up with all of this. I knew that if I died, then the Bijuu inside of me went too. Because of this I knew the blonde Akatsuki member wanted to save me before I fell, but I was aware that he was too far away to do anything. That turned out to not be true I realized, as a tiny white bird, hardly bigger then my own head, zipped through the air impossibly fast towards me. Reaching out its feet, it latched onto my right arm and pulled me upwards. Somehow it yanked me from the grasp of the larger white bird. However, when the small bird tried to stop my fall, I felt my arm snap as I was jerked to a sudden stop. Crying out in pain, I almost lost conciousness at that moment. But, I didn't lose it until I realized the bird couldn't support my weight, and I felt myself falling again, though not as fast. I looked down to watch as the earth rushed up to meet me, then everything went black as the pain became too much.
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"Damn!" Deidara cursed as he watched both the Jinchuuriki and his clay birds crash into the trees below.
"This wasn't planned!" He yelled to no one as his bird dived down to the ground. When the Leader found out about this...Deidara didn't want to think about it. Instead he focused on finding where the jicnhi had landed. He had his bird hover just over the tree tops while he peered through the leaves, trying to find the girl.
"Where did the damn kunai come from?!" Deidara cursed, eyes scanning below frantically. It was unlikely one of the ANBU had thrown them, unless they had wanted her to fall to her death. Shaking his head, the man used his left eye to better see, but there was too much foilage in the way, and he still couldnt find her.
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I awoke, and the moment I tried to move I regretted it. I hurt all over, expecially my right shoulder, where it felt as if my arm had been ripped off. Lying there, I tried to remember what had happened. I remembered falling, but nothing after that. Taking a good look around, I saw I was lying in the middle of a forest, and uncomftorably so. I realized then that the pain in my back was because I was lying something, and it was jabbing me harshly. Taking it slowly, I carefully got up into a sitting position. Rubbing my sore head and trying not to move my arm, I dug whatever it was out of my back. Stairing at it for some time, I realized it was a piece of that blonde guy's small white bird. Sure enough, when I turned around I saw what was left of the bird after it had collided with the ground; pieces of it were everywhere. In the distance I could see the much larger white bird had been destroyed on impact as well.
Gazing upward, I could see the hole in the tree canopy that my fall had punched through it. My arms and legs were covered with minor scratches that were already disappearing, but my arm would take much longer to heal. Still moving slowly, I climbed to my feet, my right arm hanging limply at my side. Leaning aginst the nearest tree, I tried to think of what to do. It shouldn't take that blonde Akatsuki guy long to find me, unless I found a place to better hide myself from his ariel view. Starting off at a stumbling trot, I winced everytime I took a step.
"This isn't going to be easy." I breathed slowly, wanting desperetly to not have to move at all. Closing my eyes, I tried to sense the chakra of the ANBU, or at least Ryuu. But I was horribly suprised when instead I felt five strange chakra bodies moving my way, and fast. I didn't have it in me to run, they'd catch me anyway, so why bother? I stayed that way, standing hunched over in the middle of the road, until five ninja appeared before me. By their headbands, I judged them to be from the Rock Village.
"You Akane Akemi?" One of them asked, I judged him to be the leader of their squad. I merely nodded, too beat up to bother awnsering them. The squad leader nodded to his men, and two of them stepped foreward to take my arms. I cried out in agony when the one man grabbed my right arm and twisted it, and I lashed violently out at him. The ninja staggered back, four long tears ripped down his cheek from my nails. I didn't get much satisfaction from that, my arm hurt way too much. I had fallen to my knees, vision blurred from the tears that had gathered. I sensed that these ninja took pity on me, for they didn't try to tie my hands behind my back. Instead, they forced me to march down the road, with ninja infront and behind me. I followed without complaint, eyes cast down to the ground miseribly. This kind of thing seemed to be happening to me alot, I thought humorlessly.
The six of us had not gone far before an explosion ripped the ground apart infront of us. Everyone fell as the ground rocked beneath our feet, and derbies flew everywhere. I tried to protect my face with one arm, while gritting my teeth to keep myself from screaming out in pain. Something had struck me on the shoulder when the explosion happened, and the pain was immense, as if my arm had been yanked from its socket all over again. When the dust had settled, the ninja around me collected themselves quickly, and I watched as weapons appeared in their hands.
"Well well Deidara, didn't expect to see you here." I looked up to see who the squad leader had spoken to, and saw that the blonde guy with the white birds was standing further down the path. I saw that he too seemed a little suprised that this ninja knew them, then I saw his eyes glance at their forehead protectors, and he grimaced.
"And I didn't expect to see ninja from the Earth Country in Konoha's territory." Deidara said, glaring at the ninjas hatefully.
"You certintly saved our hunter ninja the trouble of finding you." The squad leader said malicously, falling into an attack stance with the others following suit. Deidara shook his head slightly, and he suddenly smiled.
"I left your pathetic village for a reason; all the ninja there were weaklings, with no sense of true art." Deidara declared, reaching into a bag at his waist and drawing out something white. I didn't see what he did with this, all I know is it disappeared a second later.
"Tell me, why is the Rock Village interested in that girl, hmm?"
"Because, she had been deemed too dangerous, and because her clan was from our village in the past, it is our duty to kill her." Both Deidara and I were shocked by this awnser. I had known my clan was from their village, but it suprised me they though it their duty to do away with me. Deidara on the other hand didn't know I was from his country, and this seemed to bother him somehow.
The next moment the rock ninja's launched themselves at Deidara, but they were too slow. A white bird decended from the sky, and Deidara lept to its back and out of harms way before the ninja ever had a chance to attack. Hovering above us, I watched as Deidara threw something into the air, and whatever it was fell some feet away from me. I examined it without getting too close, and saw it was a little figure carved out of some white matierl same as the birds, made into the shape of what looked like a dog of some sort. I didn't see Deidara's hand movements, I was too busy studying the figurine, when it suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke. Suddenly a huge white wolf was standing before me in place of the tiny one. The thing too had no eyes, just black indents, but I shuddered as it suddenly turned towards me, as if looking at me. I saw that the other ninja were just realizing what was going on then. Two of them split off from the others and came racing back my way. The wolf thing turned to face them, then suddenly charged. I didn't stay to watch what happened next; I ran.