Disclaimer: The world and characters of Naruto do not belong to this poor college student.
A/N: Warning, I know next to nothing about Sasori and Deidara's fighting skills other than Sasori uses puppets (He has a scorpion one—hence the name. "Sasori" means scorpion) and Deidara uses clay that explodes.
Oh, and Sasori's from Suna while Deidara's from Iwagakure and ends every sentence with "un" or the English version of "yeah."
I'm getting most of my info from Wikipedia, so…yeah…
So, please forgive me if I mess up the way they attack and act with each other.
Chapter 13: Ambushed
"…and that's when I woke up in Itachi's tent," Kina finished. She spent the past few hours explaining her world and the events that passed once she realized that a popular TV show and comic was real. She was afraid that they would hate her now. She deceived them all. She pretended not to know them when in reality she knew them better than they knew each other.
She knew their secrets, their thoughts, and their dreams. She knew their pasts.
Silence reigned for a few moments before Naruto chuckled. "So everyone in your world knows what a loser I am, huh?"
Sasuke smiled as well. "And everyone knows what a bastard I am…"
"And what a crybaby I was," Sakura added.
"It wasn't 100 percent accurate though," Kina said. "I read some of the manga and Sasuke was supposed to stay with Orochimaru for the full three years. Team 7 got a new member and Naruto left Konoha with Jiraiya for three years instead of the two years you left to train this time."
Gaara thought for a few moments and smirked. "It seems that not everything went according to your world's plan for us," he said. "You might have something to do with that."
"You guys don't hate me?" Kina asked.
Sakura shook her head and hugged her friend. "I think you're a bitch for keeping the secret for so long. But if you told us right away, we probably would have freaked."
"It's not like the idea of different dimensions is a new one," Naruto added.
"And it's only natural that some dimensions are linked to each other. Ours was linked to yours through the guy who wrote the comic," Sasuke finished.
Kina placed her hand against her heart and sighed. "Thank god, you guys don't hate me."
"We don't have to call you Mari, do we?" Naruto asked. "'Cuz I'm kinda used to Kina-chan."
"I'm used to it too, Naruto," she said. "We can use it as a code word though. In case one of us is replaced with a henge or something."
"I have a question," Sasuke said. "In Itachi's house, there is a set of sketches. They're of us. Well, me and my brother, then one of me and Naruto, then Gaara as a kid—"
"And one of you, Naruto, Sakura, Iruka-san, and Kakashi, right?" she finished for him. He nodded and she smiled sadly. "Those were the sketches I finished the day I disappeared. I don't know why, but I was on a roll that day. I just drew one picture after another. I got this feeling in my stomach when I finished the last one. And then I was here."
The quintet turned as the archway glowed with light and pulsed twice. A scroll flew through the portal and Sasuke caught it before it hit Naruto in the head.
"It's from Tsunade," Gaara said, recognizing the seal.
Sasuke opened it and read the information quickly. He looked up at Naruto and Sakura and frowned.
"Sasori and Deidara have been spotted leaving Otogakure and heading for Konoha," he said, anger finding its way into his voice. "The Hokage orders us to stop them—at any cost." (1)
"Why the sudden killing intent, brother mine?" Kina asked.
"Sasori was the one who scarred Ana-chan and took her eye," Sasuke growled.
Kina blinked as anger filled her soul. He forgot to mention the small fact that her cousin was now missing an eye.
"Bring back both of his eyes for me, Sasuke-niichan," she snarled.
"I'd be glad to," he replied.
"As the Kazekage, I request that you take their Akatsuki rings," Gaara said, his voice cutting through the murderous intent that filled the room. "Bring them back here. If they need the rings to succeed in their plans, then we need to take and hide as many of them as possible."
Naruto nodded as Sakura and Sasuke placed their masks on their faces. The Uchiha faced the weapons' wall and took a few new weapons—including a whip and several katanas. He pocketed some medicines into the pockets of his boots and pants. He took a few of Kina's specialized kunai and placed them in his weapons pouch.
Sakura followed his example and strapped Kina's latest invention to her gauntlet. It was a tiny crossbow that shot 5-inch darts at a target. It would be easier to use senbon, but the darts were specially designed to pierce through steel and were tipped with an extremely strong paralyzing agent. She placed the strap that held the darts on her other gauntlet and smirked.
Naruto studied the weapons for a moment before he decided on his usual choice: kunai and shuriken. His hand paused over a pack of senbon and, on an impulse, took those too. Senbon were more for Sakura, Shizune, or Genma—people who knew how to use them—but he had a feeling he would need them. Naruto wasn't one who ignored his feelings.
"I see that you've been indulging in your love for weapons making, sister," Sasuke noted as he looked at Sakura's new arm wear.
The brunette laughed and placed her hand on her stomach. "I had to do something while I was gestating," she murmured.
"How many new weapons did you make?"
"9."
"You'll tell me about them when we come back, right?"
"Hell, I'll show you how to use them and where to aim them to get the most damage. Just get the hell outta here, tonto," she laughed.
Naruto smiled at the sibling banter and fit his own mask over his face. He cut his thumb and drew a line that connected the Sound symbol to Konoha's leaf symbol. This ensured that they would be dropped off on the border between the two countries. It still wasn't an exact science, but the blonde was pretty sure that they would land near enough that they could find their prey.
Sakura and Sasuke cut their own thumbs and smeared Naruto's outstretched palm with their blood. After he mixed in his own, he slammed his hand onto the wall and shouted:
"Jikoku Tabi no Jutsu!" (Instant Journey Technique)
The archway glowed a dull white light and a moment later, the three Konoha ANBU were gone.
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They appeared in a forest darkened by the late afternoon shadows. The thundering sound of a large waterfall could be heard in the distance. The male in the wolf mask turned to the one with a white mask and the black lines of Konoha's symbol on it.
"The Valley of the End," he whispered. "Who would've thought, eh, Naiou?"
Naiou tilted his head in acknowledgement of his teammate's reminder to use their code names. "Who indeed, Nonki?"
Their pink-haired teammate, Ikasu, looked around and frowned at the blanket of trees in front of them. "Do you have any idea where they might be?"
Naiou simply ran through some seals and slammed his hand into the ground.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)
A medium sized purple snake appeared in a puff of smoke and stared, steely eyed at the man who summoned him.
"Sssaaasssuuke-ssaama," the snake whispered. "Long time, no ssseee…"
"Cut the chatter, Saki. It's not fooling anyone," Naiou said. "We need you to find two people. They'll have strong chakra colors and smell of Orochimaru's mansion." (2)
Saki nodded his head and sped along the ground. He flicked his tongue out in several different directions and finally ended with his snout pointed to the east.
"Over there," the summon said. "Two-hundred meterss easst."
"Thank you, Saki," Naiou said, patting the snake on his head. "And can you not tell Manda about this?"
"I don't owe that basstard anything…"
"He's your father."
"He ate my mother."
"You're right. Just go. By the way, you can call me Naiou now. It'll be easier on your tongue."
The snake bowed his head and disappeared as the ANBU sped toward their targets.
"Sasori will be harder to take care of because he's pretty tricky," Naiou informed the other two. "He uses puppets and it's almost impossible to get close enough to hurt him."
"What about his partner?" Ikasu asked. She knew without the men telling her that they would take care of Sasori. Deidara was her problem now.
"He fights using explosive clay," Naiou said. "It comes from these mouths that are on his hands."
"So if I can disable his arms then everything will be fine," she concluded.
"Perhaps," Naiou said. "They haven't shown me their true powers yet. Leave your trump cards for the main fight."
"How do you want to deal with puppet man?" Nonki asked. "Does he use puppets the way Kankuro does?"
"No, he doesn't like to play the way Kankuro does. And his puppets are more advanced—I heard that Sasori was the one who made Kankuro's puppets," Naiou answered. "Be prepared to fight multiple targets and watch out for the blades, they have poison on them."
"If that's the case, then here," Ikasu threw a bag at Nonki. "Those are specialized soldier pills that Shizune and I made. They counter-act most poisons and will let you move through my Dokugiri without any trouble" (Poison Mist)
Nonki quickly ate the pill and tossed the bag to Naiou, who did the same.
They stopped ten meters away from where the two Akatsuki members were resting and prepared themselves. Surprise was the best weapon they had at the moment. Once they agreed on a plan of action, the three split.
Ikasu landed on the ground near the clearing where Deidara and Sasori sat. She knew that Nonki was in a tree directly across from her and that Naiou was slowly creeping up on the puppet master.
"You might as well come out, yeah?" the blonde Akatsuki member called out. He turned to Ikasu's position and stared in her direction with blue eyes.
Shit!
Ikasu calmly went through some seals and whispered, "Dokugiri!" Dark purple mist poured from her mouth and into the clearing, effectively causing a smoke screen effect and paralyzing the two missing nins for a few seconds.
Her eyes widened as a clay kunai flew from the cloud towards her. She dodged it easily, but she heard someone within the cloud shout, "Katsu!" (3)
Ikasu quickly vanished in a flash of cherry blossoms and moved away from the explosive.
Nonki, in the meantime, used his Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) and ran straight into the poison cloud. His clones grabbed onto the redheaded Sasori and held him still. Naiou waited until he heard Nonki's shout before he jumped into the cloud and faced the puppet user.
This is for Ana-chan, he thought.
"Kaze no Yaiba!" (Blade of Wind) (4)
Sasori's eyes widened at the familiar jutsu and used his puppets to destroy the kage bunshins. Once they were gone, he barely had enough time to dodge the worst of the ANBU's wind blade.
Ikasu cursed Naiou for using the wind jutsu. Now her dokugiri was gone and they all stood facing their respective enemies in the middle of the clearing.
Deidara smiled at his opponent when he realized that it was a woman. He quickly got clay from his right hand and started to form a flower. Ikasu saw this and started to perform her own jutsu.
"Magen: Jubaku Satsu!" (Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death)
Deidara blinked as the woman disappeared. He almost dropped the clay flower when a large tree grew behind him and trapped him with its branches. Itachi-sama had described this technique to him, but he forgot how to break free of it without hurting himself. He felt a presence to his left and looked up to see the kunoichi come out of the tree. He bit into his lip until it bled and the genjutsu was dispelled, but not before he felt the woman grab his wrist and the burst of chakra she forced into his body. She threw his body forward and he rolled onto his knees, facing the woman.
Ikasu crouched as the blonde smirked. "Katsu."
She almost noticed the clay flower at her feet too late, but managed to jump up and miss the blast. However, it left her open for the small clay bird flying at her.
Naiou took the shuriken off of his armbands and threw them at the puppet pieces on the ground that Sasori used to destroy Nonki's clones. He used a few more kunai to pin down the pieces that weren't held by his shuriken. The puppet user smiled and held up his hands.
"Kugutsu no Jutsu." (Marionette Technique)
The pieces on the ground started to vibrate, but didn't move. Sasori's eyes narrowed as he noticed another set of chakra strings leading from his puppets to the dark-haired ANBU in front of him.
So he's using the same technique as I am to control his shuriken and hold down my puppets, huh? Sasori realized.
"He's not your only opponent, red eye!" Nonki yelled. Three clones burst from the forest and rushed the man.
Sasori willed the puppet on his back into action and the long tail of the scorpion puppet slashed through the clones with no trouble. They vanished in a puff of smoke. Nonki ran through the wisps and slashed the vulnerable man across the chest.
"Katsu!"
Sakura couldn't quite dodge the shockwave from the clay bird. Either Deidara was playing with her or he called out the command a beat too early. She landed on her feet and rushed the blonde head on.
"Foolish. You're wasting energy, yeah," he said. He made another clay kunai and prepared to throw it.
"Tsutenkyaku!" (Painful Sky Leg)
Ikasu jumped up into the air and slammed her heel into the ground. This caused a large crater to appear before her and the tremor rushed towards the man. Tsunade's signature move was performed with such perfect timing that Deidara dropped his kunai and fell to his knees.
This gave the pink-haired kunoichi the time to perform two jutsus: one defensive and one offensive.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" (Earth Element: Earth Style Wall)
Mud poured from her open mouth and formed a strong wall between her and Deidara. The blonde smirked and created two kunai. At least he tried to create two kunai. He looked at his left hand. Because of the excitement of the fight, he didn't notice that his hand was numb. He realized then that he couldn't produce clay from his left hand. His head snapped to the wall in front of him and he frowned. He made up for the loss of his hand by making another kunai with his right.
His hesitation proved to be his downfall as a voice rang from beneath him.
"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" (Earth Element: Inner Decapitation Technique)
Gloved hands burst through the ground and grabbed Deidara's ankles. Before he knew it, he was brought down into the earth up to his neck. The blonde was about to blow his way out of his prison when he felt two hands on his head.
"Too late," the woman whispered.
"Eisei Kinjustu: Shinu Dainou!" (Forbidden Medical Technique: Brain Death) (5)
She quickly sent five strong bursts of her muscle freezing chakra into the man's brain. Blood poured from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Ikasu stood up and controlled her disgust. Sometimes, she hated being in ANBU.
Nonki yelled in frustration as his blow was blocked by another puppet. He back flipped out of the puppet's reach and looked over Sasori again. The red-eyed man was covered in puppets. Naiou was using techniques he learned from Kankuro to keep most of them out of play, but that still left the bigger ones for Nonki to deal with.
Naiou struggled against the pull Sasori was putting on the puppets pinned to the ground with his weapons. A flash of pink behind the redhead alerted the Konoha shinobi that Ikasu was there to help and he smirked. Transferring the chakra strings on his right hand to his left, he reached for the whip he took from Kina's weapons wall.
With an expert flick, he wrapped the leather around Sasori's neck and reinforced it with his chakra.
"Do you think that will stop me?" he asked. He reached up to pull the offending article from his neck, but froze as soon as his fingers touched the braided leather.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!" (Body Freeze Technique)
Nonki smiled at the sound of Ikasu's voice and focused his chakra into the palm of his hand. Soon a glowing blue orb swirled there in vibrant color.
"Aim for the middle of his chest!" Ikasu shouted.
Nonki nodded. If Ikasu said to aim there, then he would aim there. As a medic, she was quick in finding physical weak points in an opponent. He charged the immobilized Sasori and drew back his arm.
"Rasengan!"
The chakra orb impacted against Sasori's chest and blasted the puppet on his back to bits. They all felt the pressure against their respective jutsus lessen as the redhead died in Nonki's arms.
Naiou stood over Sasori and took a kunai from the pouch on his leg.
"What are you doing?" Ikasu asked.
"I promised my sister his eyes," he answered coldly, staring into Sasori's dead red eyes.
"Nonki, dig Deidara out of the ground and search him," Ikasu ordered, taking the lead as their mission came to an end. "Take his ring and see if Orochimaru's is with him. We'll search Sasori."
Naiou blinked when Ikasu took the kunai from him. "I need his eyes."
"I know," she sighed. It was against ANBU policy to take body parts of missing nins for themselves, but this was a request from the Kazekage's wife. All they needed were the heads of the dead nukenin. (6)
"I'm the medic," she explained. "I'll do it. You search him. Take his ring, but just don't move him too much."
They worked silently and quickly. Nonki and Naiou cut the men's heads off and placed them in waterproof bags they carried just for this purpose. Ikasu pocketed the Akatsuki rings they found and destroyed the bodies with a fire jutsu.
Naiou held a smaller, bloody bag in his hand and looked at his teammates.
"Let's go home."
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Kotetsu was daydreaming about gutting a certain ANBU for humiliating him that morning when three 'poofs' sounded. He jerked out of his daze to find Ikasu, Nonki, and the ANBU he dreamt of gutting standing in front of him.
"Is the Hokage busy?" Nonki asked politely. The man was acting as if visiting the Hokage with a bloody bag on his hip was a regular occurrence. But considering his chosen profession, it probably was.
"Go right in," he said. The three nodded and walked into the office.
Tsunade sat at her desk watching the screen on the opposite wall, laughing. When the three ANBU turned to look, they were surprised to see a video recording of Kotetsu hopping on one foot and making the strangest sounds.
"What the fu—" Nonki started only to get beaned by a heavy scroll.
"Watch the language young man!" Tsunade yelled. Naiou and Ikasu ignored the groaning, bleeding blonde, closed the blinds of the office, and removed their masks.
"We completed the mission, Godaime-sama," Ikasu said. Nonki and Naiou placed the bloody bags containing the heads of Sasori and Deidara on a plastic bin on her desk.
"What happened to his eyes?" Tsunade asked, recognizing the red circles on one of the bags as wounds.
"Kinabuhi-sama requested the eyes of Sasori," Naiou answered with his trademark monotone. "We delivered them as well as the Akatsuki rings to the Kazekage before returning home."
"It must feel good to say that again, Naiou," Tsunade remarked offhandedly.
A soft look entered the man's eyes and he nodded. "Yes, it's good to call Konoha home once more."
"Why did you give the Akatsuki rings to the Kazekage?" Tsunade demanded, returning to her more serious mood.
"It was agreed that Akatsuki would be mostly Suna's responsibility," Nonki reminded her. "They are the ones under the most threatening circumstances. Now, more than ever."
The Godaime raised an eyebrow in question and Ikasu stepped forward and placed a scroll in front of the woman. "Everything is explained in the scroll."
"If you don't mind, Tsunade-sama," Nonki said, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his back in the process. "We're very tired and want to go to bed."
"As long as you sleep in your beds, I have no problem with it," Tsunade smirked. When Nonki turned red, she couldn't resist adding, "Goodness, one night with her and you already blush in the same way."
"Tsunade-baachan," Nonki complained.
"You're dismissed," she said, letting him off the hook…for now. "You'll receive the bounties for your work within the next week. Good job."
The three placed their masks over their faces once more and promptly disappeared.
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A few hours later, Sasuke stepped out of Sakura's shower only to be tackled by a sweet smelling woman.
"Sakura-chan," he murmured. "You're clothes are going to get wet."
The kunoichi snuggled into his chest and sighed. "Don't care."
"This is quickly becoming a habit of yours, I see. Can I at least get a towel on?"
"No."
"Okay."
He picked her up and dropped her onto her bed. She was about to protest when he slid under the sheets next to her.
"So what do you really think about Kina's world?" she asked softly.
"What I told her is what I think," Sasuke answered, staring at the ceiling. "I've kept too many secrets and feelings inside. I don't do that with my foster sister. Something in me won't let me do that to her."
"Will you keep things from me?" she whispered.
"Maybe…" he admitted. He felt her stiffen next to him and spoke quickly. "About the bloodier aspects of our jobs, I mean. You don't tell me every detail, so don't expect the same from me."
"But what about your feelings?"
"I'll try," he sighed. "But sharing things with a sibling is different than sharing them with a lover."
Sakura nodded. She knew that there were things she told Naruto that Shino never heard even in the most intimate of circumstances. Especially in the most intimate of circumstances.
"I understand."
"Good."
They were about to share a kiss when frantic knocking on the door interrupted them. Sakura sighed in disgust and went to answer it. Sasuke heard Naruto's voice and Hinata's small laugh. He was only slightly prepared for the blonde to burst into Sakura's room, but was floored when Hinata followed.
"Get dressed, teme," Naruto barked as he threw clothes at the Uchiha. "Hinata, Sakura's med kit is over there."
"Med kit?" Sasuke asked. "What's wrong?"
"Kina went into labor two hours ago," Naruto explained. Hinata hurried out of the room when Sasuke jumped out of the bed and began dressing. "Baa-chan and Shizune-neechan are with her, but they need Sakura-chan, too."
When Sasuke entered the living room, he saw Naruto pull a large curtain off of one of her walls. Drawn on it was the same archway that was in the small cave in the Hokage Monument and in their secret room. He could tell that there was something Naruto wasn't telling him and it only took one long look from the Uchiha for the blonde to spill his guts.
"They're having problems with the babies," Naruto whispered, looking at the wall.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he slashed his palm with no hesitation.
They all bloodied their hands and pressed them against the Suna symbol. After a bright pulse of light, the quartet was gone.
A/N:
So, what do you think? Fight scenes aren't my thing. They're my weakest point when it comes to writing. I'm trying to improve, but I think it sucks.
(1) Otogakure is the Hidden Village of Sound.
(2) Let's pretend that summon snakes can "see" chakra and the stronger the person's chakra, the brighter the color, okay?
(3) Deidara says Katsu to activate his exploding clay.
(4) Sasuke/Temeki/Naiou spent six years in Suna…he had to learn something!
(5) Okay, this one I made up. She can freeze muscles…the brain is a muscle…and of course it's going to be a forbidden technique!
(6) Nukenin means "missing nin." I got tired of using that phrase.