Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: Yea sorry about the LONG time without an update. I would explain...but frankly about ninty percent of you don't give a damn, and just want to read the story.
So i'll just say that i'll try not to let it happen again.
I hope you liked it...i put a lot of effort into it...
Chapter 16: Rescue Naruto. Gaara Takes Control!
"Ohhhhh…" Naruto groaned when he woke up. 'My head's killing me…'
"It's about time you woke up! Damn idiot! I still can't believe you let yourself get captured…" growled the fox yokai.
Naruto's eyes widened upon being reminded. He quickly looked around. It was dark…almost too dark to see. 'Looks like we're in some kind of cave.' He noted that he was on a rectangular table, which judging from his sore back, had to be made of stone. His arms were chained together, at the wrists, and bound to the table; as were his legs, bound at the ankles. The walls were made of a dark gray stone, leading him to believe that he was indeed inside of a cave. Naruto looked directly at the area, past his feet, noting a small amount of light, 'the way out.' He looked back, at the area past his head, and shivered when he noticed some kind of totem. From what he could make out, it was a large piece of brown wood, which was carved out to look like some kind of demon. All he could make out was a large maw, two pointy ears…and the thing that shown the most was the slitted eyes.
Naruto sighed, 'Well, I've had my fill of this place', he thought as he started to struggle with his bonds, it was at this time that he noticed that his hands were shut closed into fist, probably by some kind of tape or other adhesive. After a few moments he stopped struggling, noting that it was useless. Naruto closed his eyes as he started reaching deep into his chakra coils, looking for the small amount of red chakra that his demon had given him. His eyes snapped opened and were at their widest, 'I can't find the chakra that the fox gave me…' Naruto began to panic, 'Yo fox! Give me your chakra!'
Naruto heard a sigh, "Sorry brat…I've actually been trying to give you chakra for a while now. However, something is blocking me from doing so. What's worse, the chakra I permanently gave you is locked away in your chakra coils."
Naruto sighed when he heard the fox's response. They sat there for a few moments, or in Naruto's case, lay there. After a few moments Naruto started chuckling to himself. "So this is how it ends then. This sucks…just when my life started getting good too." He sighed as his resolve was finally broken. There would be no rescue, the Konaha council would never allow for the rescue of the 'Demon Child'. Waste of good shinobi. And Sand, though they were allies, and Naruto DID step in to help the Kazekage himself, their would be no help from them either, too great a risk to send shinobi against Akatsuki to save one chunin, especially a chunin from another ninja village, ally or not. Aside from the villages, only two people had the power to rescue him, one was bound to Konaha… and the other…might come to rescue him, stopping at every bar, bath house, and brothel along the way.
In Naruto's mind, he was doomed, and the only thing he could do was laugh maniacally at the whole thing.
"Find something funny Naruto-kun?"
Naruto ended his laughter, looking at the person who just appeared beside him, with a grin. "Well sort of. This reminds me of a scene in Icha Icha Paradise, at this point in the story, five women came into the room to 'play' with the captive hero, who also happened to be a blue-eyed, blonde. What are the chances of that happening in my case? How about it…Itachi."
The exiled Uchiha ACTUALLY cracked a smile, "I'm going to be honest with you, they're not very high!" Itachi looked at Naruto with a black look, the smile on his face completely disappearing, "You are here, so we can extract that demon from the seal on your stomach. Not to replay some scene that you've read in Jiraiya-sama's book."
Naruto's grin widened, ignoring the apparent respect that the Uchiha had for Jiraiya, "Oh come on…don't I at least get a last meal", said the blonde, assuming that the extraction process might kill him, "Wouldn't mind a few dozen bowls of ramen, maybe a few sticks of pocky-hmmph." Naruto's voice was muffled when he felt something jammed into his mouth, noting that it tasted like a stick of chocolate pocky.
Itachi turned to leave, but quickly said over his back, "We will begin when Deidara and Sasori return. Oh! And don't bother trying to call your demon for help", stated the Uchiha as he pointed downwards. Naruto followed his finger to the floor, just as a bunch of lines and writing started to glow a blood red color.
"A seal!"
After a moment, the seal stopped glowing, and Itachi walked out of the room. Naruto sighed as he started chewing on the pocky in his mouth, trying not to bite through it completely and lose the part of the stick that was outside of his mouth. 'Hmmm I wonder if he went to go get my ramen.'
"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
Naruto grinned, 'So, I'm guessing you don't have a plan!'
"Well…I do have one that might work. You remember how that pervert can summon toads, the pedophile summons snakes, and the surprisingly hot fifty-year old summons slugs?" Naruto shook his head, ignoring the comments made about each of the sannin. "They can do that because they eached signed a contract to summon their respective animal. I'm going to give you a similar contract, except THIS one will give you the ability to summon the even greater Foxes." Kyuubi grinned in his mind, "Summon a few of my kin, and these bastards will be ripped to shreds before they know it!"
Naruto, for once, had a blank look on his face, "Wow…you can really give me the ability to summon foxes?"
"Ummmmm…no…" Naruto would have face faulted if he would have been standing up, but that didn't stop him from getting a huge sweat drop. Then Naruto heard laughing in his head, "Hahahaha! I was just fucking with you…I don't have a contract to summon foxes, hahahahahahaha. But I did enjoy seeing that little spark of hope in your eyes die out." Naruto's eye started twitching. "Yea, you need a miracle kid, or you're screwed. Hahahahaha"
Naruto's eye continued to twitch as he wished with all his might that he could slap the hell out of this fox.
---Konaha Council---
"We can not let him die!" screamed a very angry blonde man, as he slammed his fist against the table. "Such a thing would be an utter disgrace to the fourth hokage!"
One of the other council members glared at the man, "Fool! Saving the monstrosity that nearly wiped out our whole village would disgrace the Yondaime!"
And that's how it had been going for hours now. When word had reached Tsunade that Naruto had gotten captured, she quickly went to send a group of shinobi out to rescue him, however word had gotten to a few members of the council, who forbade it. And here they all were, an emergency council meeting was held, to decide the fate of the hero/demon of hidden leaf village.
Tsunade was distraught, though she didn't show it. Her hand had been forced, she would not even be allowed to vote in this meeting, unless there was a tie voting…and with seventeen members of the council, that was impossible. She knew five people for sure would vote to send a rescue party out for Naruto; Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Kazama Ryuu Yukina. Aburame Shibi was, as always unclear on his position; he had remained quiet during the whole affair. Homura and Koharu, obviously against Naruto, hadn't spoken a word about the whole affair, though they kept glancing at each other. Danzo, a military man and the head of the ANBU group, ROOT, felt that they should leave the boy to his fate, saying that they had more pressing matters to worry about, namely the war with Sound. There were another seven council members, who were also against the rescue of the 'demon'. There was one man however…who Tsunade noticed had a look that could only be described as 'stick-up-his-ass, I-hope-each-and-every-single-one-of-you-bastards-rot-in-hell-for-dragging-me-here, I'm-fucking-Hyuuga-Hiashi.'…and this man went by the name of…Hyuuga Hiashi…
Hiashi was in anything but a good mood, and wasn't afraid to show it. Half of him really wanted to kill Naruto, just so he wouldn't be dragged to another meeting concerning him. 'Hinata almost had it too…' he thought to himself as he thought back to the events of today.
---Flashback---
Hiashi watched on, a look of pure serenity on his face. He was standing in one of the many training fields that were in the Hyuuga complex. Right next to him stood his youngest daughter, Hanabi, dressed in an elegant blue robe, which matched the one her father had on. On the other side of Hiashi, stood his only nephew, Neji, wearing a white robe, which looked similar to his uncle's. Around the training field, stood multiple members of the Hyuuga clan, Main house and Branch house alike. They were watching the 'Late Bloomer', as Hiashi and Neji have come to call her, of the Hyuuga clan.
They had learned a lot from watching people like Rock Lee, Shikamaru, and Naruto fight during the chunin exams. All were young men who most people thought would die in their first real mission, yet surprised each and every single person during the exams, with what Hiashi assumed was some kind of hidden power. Hiashi, realized how he'd been acting towards his oldest daughter, came before Hinata after the Sound-Sand invasion and begged her to come back to the Hyuuga compound, she had been living with Kurenai since then. Even if she never became the strongest ninja she could be, she was still his daughter, and he could finally see the strength in her heart, that one little special thing that she had inside. Hinata had accepted eagerly, though was a bit heart broken at being separated from her sensei. Hiashi, though he didn't care whether Hinata ever became strong or not, had a theory which he dubbed "The Late Bloomers", from watching Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee, so he decided to test this theory out on Hinata.
He smiled as he watched her fight, 'She has truly bloomed indeed.'
Hinata was in the center of an arena, fighting off a high chunin level ninja of the clan. She was wearing a robe that matched her father and sister down to the color, and her now long her was tied into a ponytail. She smirked as she closed another two chakra points off of her opponent. Her father had been training her almost non-stop. And when he wasn't training her, Neji or Kurenai did so. Hinata and Neji had become closer than ever, as did she with Hanabi. Hinata smirked as she dodged a strike of her opponent, and quickly closed another two points on his right arm, making him flinch.
She smirked as she was about to bring out the fruit of all her hard work and some secret training she had been doing, "It's over…your in the range of my Hakke." With the use of her Byakkugan she could see most of the crowd's eyes widen, including her own father's. "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" She launched her self out him striking him twice quickly, "Two Strikes!" She quickly kept striking at him, in a dance that could spell doom for most opponents, "Four Strikes!" Hiashi stared on in amazement as he watched her, taking careful note that almost every hit was 100 accurate. "Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-two Strikes! Sixty-four Strikes-" The moment she said this, Hiashi looked closer…to watch every strike more carefully than ever.
She was still hitting with high precision, 'Sixty…sixty-one…sixty-two…' he continued to count in his head. Time seemed to slow down during number sixty-three, this point was the naval, and it seemed that Hinata was once again inches away from making a precise hit.
POOF!
And at THAT very moment an explosion of smoke appeared right next to Hiashi, on the side that Neji was on. His eyes glanced at the ANBU who appeared next to him and was about to question him when…
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
With his Byakkugan, which had been activated during the whole fight, Hiashi could clearly see that Hinata, obviously startled from the explosion, missed the man's naval, and hit him…
…
About six inches lower…
Causing every man, Neji included, to subconsciously squeeze their legs shut. Every woman suddenly adopted a sympathetic look for poor man's…predicament. Hinata, and Hanabi, were blushing like mad, the former looked so embarrassed that she was on the verge of tears.
Hiashi, though in the same condition as just about every man their, including the ANBU, was not amused though, but he said in a calm voice, "Hinata…you mustn't allow yourself to be distracted by ANYTHING during a fight, else your opponent might take advantage of it." 'Though in this case, I doubt he would be able to do anything for hours.' He thought about the poor man who was at the moment on the ground, clutching…himself.
Hiashi sighed as he turned to the ANBU, with a look that said 'You-better-be-here-for-something-important!'
The ANBU, gulped behind his mask, as he held out a scroll for the Hyuuga clan head. Hiashi quickly looked at the scroll, with his Byakkugan activated, he didn't even have to open it. He mentally groaned when he saw the name, 'Naruto'. "Your message has been delivered, now get out", he said in a voice as cold as ice.
The ANBU nodded as he quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hiashi turned to Hinata, who was looking down, with a red face. Then he looked at the man at her feet, which nobody had bothered to help. "Try it again Hinata. Tenchi-" he started, indicating the man on the ground, "-your up for another fight, right?" With that, half the crowd sweatdropped.
---End Flashback---
And so he was forced into the council room a few hours later to decide what to do about Naruto's capture. He hated this part of his title so much that he honestly couldn't wait to pass on the title of Clan Head to one of his daughters, problem was he would have to decide which one he truly loved the most, and then the OTHER could be the head of the Hyuuga clan. 'Maybe I could just have Neji do it…'
"This is getting us nowhere…" Tsunade muttered, obviously annoyed with the whole thing. "There are seventeen of you here. Cast your votes now. Who wishes to leave Uzumaki Naruto in the hands of Akatsuki." Tsunade cocked an eyebrow when only eight members of the council, raised their hands. Almost everyone there was looking straight at Homura and Koharu, who obviously hated the boy, but didn't vote. 'They must not be voting…' she thought to herself. "Who wishes to send out a rescue party." Her eyes widened, "Another eight hands were raised. Tsume, Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, Aburame Shibi, Yukina, and…Homura AND Koharu."
One of the council members gawked at the latter two, "Why…"
Koharu glared at him, "Simple…leaving such a power in the hands of monsters like the Akatsuki is a mistake. Letting them harness that power will spell doom for the village."
Homura nodded at her old teammate's words, "The boy needs to either be locked up or executed, however that can be decided at a later date, the important thing is that the Kyuubi no Kitsune must not be allowed to fall into the hands of Akatsuki.
Everyone was speechless at this turn of events.
"Eight votes to Eight votes…a tie?" Tsunade cocked an eyebrow up. Had she counted wrong? She thought to herself, with a sliver of hope, 'Maybe I can still vote to save him…'
"Wait! Lord Hiashi still hasn't voted!" One of the other council members spoke…
And with that, her hoped died out…
Hiashi mentally sighed as everyone in the council room turned to him. If he didn't vote, since it was a tie, he would be forced to sit here for another few hours, to listen to rants on whether or not the boy deserved to live or not. He momentarily mused with the thoughts of letting the boy die, never again would he be forced to another meaningless council meeting over Naruto's fate. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but then he thought of something else… He started scanning the room, 'Hmmm…Which one of you assholes was it that initiated this accursed meeting…' his eyes landed on one, Masaki Kazuya. He knew that Kazuya hated the boy with a passion, having lost a majority of his clan to the attack 15 years ago. 'You are the bastard who dragged me over here…' He smirked inwardly to himself, "I vote…to send a rescue party out…"
And with that declaration came absolute silence...
Tsunade was speechless. Hyuuga Hiashi voted to SAVE someone…someone who wasn't even part of his own clan. Everyone else, save Yukina who didn't know any better, was looking at him with a similar look.
"I believe that it has been decided. With nine votes to eight, I believe that a rescue party must be sent out, and with that, I take my leave", spoke the head of the Hyuuga as he walked out the door of the council room, muttering the word, "dimwits", to everyone in the room.
---Sunagakure---
"Lord Kazekage! Please won't you reconsider? I don't understand why you would join a mission to save some ninja from another village?" asked an aged man, dressed in formal robes.
Gaara glanced back at the man, with a stoic expression on his face. The young man, instead of his Kazekage robes, opted to wear a dark red jacket, which reached all the way down to his feet. It was zipped up from his waist to his neck and held in place with a brown leather, one strapped, vest. Under his vest he was wearing black pants and black ninja sandals. His Gourd was on his back, like usual. He decided to answer the man, "Multiple reasons-" he began, which surprised his sister, who was standing behind him. She honestly didn't think he would GIVE a reason for his actions so willingly; she was still having issues getting used to this 'new' Gaara, though she truly did prefer him. "-this ninja was captured while trying to aid me in combat, that is the first reason. The second reason is that I may require his services in the future; too handle this threat, these…men of the Red Moon." And with that said, Gaara continued walking.
The old man addressing Gaara, quickly followed, "But-"
"Yes! It has to be me, who goes-", he began, knowing exactly what the Old man was going to say, "-and no, I can't bring an army of jounins with me, we'd bring too much attention to ourselves. Besides that, according to our sources, these men operate on the border between our country and the Land of Rain; and bringing an army with me would be too suspicious. Temari and whoever the Leaf sends will suffice."
As he was walking out the village gate, he noticed his brother and his old sensei waiting for him near the gate.
Gaara looked at Kankuro, who looked back at his brother with a pleading look. Kankuro wasn't hurt too badly by the poisons Sasori had injected into his body, the older man having been distracted by the unaware fox jinchuriki. Gaara, though irritated by Naruto's capture, was relieved for Kankuro's safety, knowing that the Sand Nuke-nin had much deadlier poison in his possession. Gaara glanced back at Kankuro, who had the same pleading looked that he'd had all day; the older ninja, wanted to accompany his brother and sister on the mission to rescue Naruto; however, Gaara had forbidden it. Kankuro, though not seriously injured, was injured nonetheless, and Gaara didn't want the boy involved in this fight. He looked at both Baki and Kankuro, "I trust you both to watch over the village in my absence." With that said, Gaara turned and left.
Temari nodded in Kankuro's direction, "Don't worry, I'll watch out for him." She paused for a few moments before adding, "And make sure that 'Lazy Ass' pulls his weight, otherwise he'd just lay around all day and look up at the clouds." She said as she followed her youngest brother.
Gaara sighed as he felt a presence appear in front of him. What he found, upon closer expection, was just a little old lady. "Council member Chiyo? What do you want?" he asked in the same stoic expression he always has.
The old lady looked at him calmly, "If you're going to fight Sasori, you'll need my help", She stated calmly. Gaara narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to decline her offer but was cut off before he began, "I have the skills necessary to defeat him", she continued, "I know him…well enough to do so."
Gaara's expression never softened as he said, "Very well", and continued walking, with Temari right behind him.
---Naruto---
Naruto never felt more annoyed than he felt right now. He was still strapped to the same accursed table, whilst Deidara and Sasori, who finally returned, were drawing a second seal around Naruto, over the first seal they originally drew. Naruto's annoyance came directly from the conversation between two of the most powerful ninjas in existence.
"Your wrong, Sasori no Danna! Art is something that is brief and leaves the world as quickly as it is created", argued the blonde member of Akatsuki.
"Fool…Real fine art is something that is eternal, any 'true' artist will tell you the same", argued the red head.
Naruto began lifting his head up and continuously slamming it against the hard stone table. After a few moments, Naruto stopped what he was doing and turned his head to Kisame, who was leaning against the rocky wall. "You seem to be tuning them out pretty well, any tips?"
Kisame chuckled at the blonde. He glanced at his two comrades, noticing that neither of them seemed to hear the annoyed blonde, as they were both still arguing about what true art was. He turned to the blonde, "I know one method, I can cut off you legs, and you'll be in so much pain, that you won't even notice what those two are talking about."
Naruto smiled eerily at the man, "Make it my head and you got yourself a deal."
Kisame shook his head, "Sorry, but you still have about two days of living left."
Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "Two days?"
Kisame nodded, "The process of extracting the demon within you takes a little over two days to complete."
"Great…so I'm stuck with you assholes for another two days…", Naruto groaned sarcastically
Kisame shrugged, "It could be worse, the old process of extracting a demon took three days, and required all nine of us to perform the extraction. You see, we start by slowly extracting the demon's charka from the seal, and any that may be still lingering in your charka coils. Anyway, we seal all the charka into that statue that you've been admiring, the one behind you head. Unfortunately, the charka isn't at our control until we have the last missing component. The demon's soul. That's the last thing we extract from the seal. You'll have a great view of it right before you die", grinned the shark man. "Unfortunately for you, the process of extracting the soul tends to have ill effects towards the charka coils. So much so, that the user usually ends up dieing."
Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "Usually? Don't tease me with the probability of death. It's the only thing that keeps me sane", he paused for a moment to listen in on Deidara and Sasori's bickering on true art, "with these two idiots talking about useless crap and all."
"Done!" Deidara claimed. Naruto looked to his side to see part of the complex seal that the two members of Akatsuki had created. "A beautiful work of art if I do say so myself!" He took a glance over in Sasori's direction before adding, "And in about two days, no one will even know that it was here, it will have completely disappeared by the end of the extraction process!"
Sasori nodded, "Therefore it's not art…" he added.
Deidara glared at the red head. He opened his mouth to argue but was cut off.
"Enough!" All four ninja, Naruto included to some degree, turned their heads to see Itachi at the opening to the cave. "Kisame, come with me. Sasori stand guard outside of the cave. Deidara, you perform the extraction process."
All the older ninja nodded.
"Wait! What! Your letting this blonde idiot do something like this? Are you trying to kill me?" asked the blonde, still smiling.
Itachi, obviously paid him no heed, as he continued walking away, Sasori and Kisame behind him.
Deidara smiled at him, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun…but unfortunately our leader, who normally performs the extraction process, is currently preoccupied with matters elsewhere. So I, on Itachi-kun's order, will have to do the extraction." He then leaned in very close to him, placing one of his hands above the boy's face, "But don't worry…I'll be gentle", the older blonde winked at the younger, as the mouth on his hand started snapping at him, sending a chill through the younger one's spine. Deidara grinned as he kneeled down in front of the most outer point of the second seal. The seal was composed of a large circle, about twenty feet in diameter, with some kind of writing on the inside. "Now Naruto-kun, you might feel a slight pinch", he said as the seal on the floor started to glow a bright white color.
Naruto's eyes snapped as wide as they could go the second the seal activating. He groaned and growled, resisting the urge to scream, 'DAMN IT! A SLIGHT PINCH! IT FEELS LIKE HE'S IMPALING ME WITH KUNAI!'
--- Konaha Gates---
When her team went on their first real mission and ended up fighting Zabuza and Haku…
When she, and Sasuke, fought against Orochimaru…
When she found out about the monstrosity that Naruto kept at bay with a tattoo on his stomach…
When the Sound and Sand invaded Leaf…
When the team of five of her friends went on the mission to retrieve Sasuke…
When she was forced to wake Tsunade up, after the latter was up all night drinking and doing paperwork…
All those times, were moments Sakura saw her life flash before her eyes. But nothing was as scary as the moment right before her. She was assigned to a mission today, to rescue her old teammate, something which she was ready to do, and Kami help the bastards who got in her way. She had walked to the meeting spot, right at the city gates. She was the SECOND person to arrive, and the FIRST to arrive was…
"Long time no see Sakura…" muttered the one and only Copy ninja, never taking his eyes out of his book. He was wearing a standard ANBU outfit. He still wore his face mask over his mouth and nose. And his Hitai-ate was still on his head, covering his left eye. But now he wore a light, white, leather vest, and black clothing. A black anbu Katana on his back and a white dog mask on his belt. "You seem stronger. That's good."
Sakura stared at him, white as a ghost.
After receiving no reply, Kakashi tore his eye away from Jiraiya's work of art, and stared at the now shorthaired Kunoichi. She still wore her Hitai-ate on her head, like a hair band. She was wearing a dark red shirt and black shorts, getting rid of her old shinobi dress. And instead of her ninja shoes, she now wore dark black boots. Kakashi noted that she looked pale, "Are you ok, Sakura?"
Sakura quickly took a look at the sun, noting that SHE was probably about five minutes early for their meeting. She continued to look at her old sensei for a few moments before putting her hands into a seal, "KAI (Release)!" she screamed as she tried to release the genjutsu. It didn't work. "KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI!" She kept trying. After a few moments she stopped, and looked back at Kakashi, who had a look of confusion on the part of his face that was visible. She quickly looked pass the older ninja to the two ANBU who were guarding the village gate, they both shrugged. She looked back at Kakashi. "Sensei?"
Kakashi nodded, slightly confused by Sakura's antics. "Yes…"
She blinked, "Is that really you?" she looked at him skeptically.
Kakashi cocked his visible eye up, "Yes…why do you ask?"
Sakura looked at him oddly, "You're actually on time…early even…"
Kakashi face-faulted…
Sakura felt a presence appear next to her. She turned to see her new team leader, Rin.
Rin, dressed in her standard jounin outfit, stared at Kakashi, who had just picked himself off the ground. She glanced at Sakura with an odd expression, before putting her hands in a hand seal, "KAI!"
This caused the copy nin to nearly face-fault again, "I'M NOT A GENJUTSU!"
Rin and Sakura stared at him oddly, "Oh…"
"Geez…I'm not always THAT late, am I?" asked the copy nin and nearly face-faulted again when he saw both girls nod. "Never mind."
"YOSH!"
Everyone turned their heads to see the youngest Green Beast of Konaha running to them at top speeds. He paused when he reached the group, "BRIGHT AND EARLY I SEE! I'M GLAD TO JOIN YOU ALL ON OUR YOUTHFUL JOURNEY TO RESCUE NARUTO-KUN!"
Everyone sweat dropped at Lee.
"Lee, keep your voice down…" muttered a very annoyed Hyuuga, as he walked towards the group. Neji sighed as he reached the group, "We shouldn't be announcing our mission to the whole world!"
Lee gulped, "Your right…I apologize for yelling earlier."
Kakashi sighed, he hated working with Gai for reasons like these, and Lee was almost as bad. He turned his head as he saw another member of their troupe appear.
Sakura nearly squealed when she turned to see one of her new best friends show up, "Rei! You're here!"
Rei smiled at Sakura and Rin…but quickly turned to Kakashi with an odd look, "Hmmmm, I suppose Naruto-nisan was over exaggerating when he claimed that you were always two and a half hours late for anything and everything, Kakashi-san."
Rin and Sakura giggled, as Kakashi growled.
Rei was wearing, a light blue battle kimono, with standard ninja sandals and her wakizashi strapped to her back, at her waist Her long silver hair was tied into a bun, held up by senbon needles.
Another person quickly found their way to the group. Kakashi turned to the new person to enter the group, it was Yukina. She wore a standard chunin outfit, with her three-piece staff, strapped to her back, at her waist. Kakashi nodded at him, and he nodded back. He quickly turned to the two ANBU at the gate, who in turn nodded back at him. He smiled under his mask.
Lee grinned at the girl, giving her his famous good-guy pose, "Yukina-hime! I'm so glad to see that you made it."
Yukina nodded to her teammate.
Surprisingly, Neji went up to her, "We have not been formally introduced…I am Hyuuga Neji.
The girl stared at Neji through blue eyes, "Ryuu Kazama Yukina…"
Neji nodded to back at her.
Sakura looked at the girl skeptically, "Why are YOU here?" Everyone turned to look at Sakura. Sakura, forgetting where she was place, quickly took a quick glance at Lee and Neji, and forced herself to chage her question. "The council is allowing you to go on this mission?" Yukina opened her mouth to answer, but was stopped when Rin answered for her.
"The Hokage feels that Yukina's talents will be of great asset to the mission and is sure the council would have recognized this fact as well."
Sakura nodded, 'Translation, Tsunade-sensei has some ridiculous plan, probably involving Yukina and Naruto, and as long as the council knows nothing about it, they can't interfere with her." Sakura sighed. It took only a few seconds for her to regain her cheery attitude though, as her second teammate made her arrival, "Haku! You're here."
The older girl smiled at her teammate. Kakashi nodded to the eighteen year old girl, the newest addition to ANBU. Like Kakashi, she wore a standard ANBU outfit. Her black katana, which would probably remain untouched, was strapped to her back. Her mask, which was a dragon, was strapped to her belt. Her Hitai-ate was on her head, keeping her hair out of her face.
Kakashi nodded at his temporary teammates, he was glad to be able to participate in the mission. When he heard of Naruto's capture and the mission to rescue him, he had barged into the Hokage's office and DEMANDED he be allowed to participate. Unfortunately, during his sudden adrenaline rush, caused by his former student's capture, he forgot about Tsunade's bad temper. However, after crashing through two doors and landing on a desk, he quickly remembered why it didn't help to be rude to the blonde kunoichi. Though after he regained consciousness, she happily allowed him to participate.
Kakashi sighed as he looked at the group in front of him. All of them were prodigies. Haku, now an ANBU member, was probably already one of the best water jutsu users in the village, and she also had the ability to use ice jutsu. Yukina, was an expert in the Ryuu fighting style, using the three-piece staff, and was quickly becoming an outstanding ninja in other aspects, including the fact that she had a few high level jutsu in her aresenal. Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuuga, at the tender age of sixteen, was being considered for ANBU as well, making him the third youngest member, ever to make it into ANBU. The only other ninja who were younger than him, to be accepted into ANBU, being Kakashi and Itachi. Rock Lee, though couldn't use chakra, was a powerhouse with Taijutsu, and a complete speed demon. Rei and Sakura…he had no idea about those two. He hadn't actually seen them fight. He heard the rumors of Sakura being a powerful medic-nin, with potential to surpass Tsunade herself. Rei, was becoming a master with Genjutsu and Kenjutsu, or so he heard. There was also a rumor that she had a certain Kinjutsu, under her belt as well.
He turned to his temporary team: Neji, Lee, and Yukina. Apparently Gai and Kiba had joined a mission with another squadron, who needed their skills to complete an assignment. Neji was in a similar situation with his team, though he WAS going to accompany his team, Tsunade had held him back. Tsunade to add a second team to the mission to rescue Naruto, Tsunade had added Neji to the two remaining members of team Gai, and placed them all under Kakashi.
And so, team Rin and the temporary team Kakashi was sent to rescue the wayward Jinchuriki.
"Let's move!" said the copy ninja. Everyone with him nodded as they all disappeared.
---Somewhere in Sound Country---
A loan figure stood in the middle of a scourched battlefield. He was dressed completely in black, with a black katana on his back. All around him were dismembered bodies and body parts, some burned beyond the point of recognition.
A Silver-haired ninja appeared right next to the boy, "Not bad Sasuke-kun! But did you really HAVE to kill these men. They WERE our comrades, and this was just a training exercise."
Sasuke didn't even bat an eye, "Orochimaru said to defeat them by any means neccessary." With that said, he turned and walk off, back to the Sound Village.
Kabuto glared at his back, "He's never this brutal with ninja's from other villages. I better speak with Orochimaru-sama." With that he dissapeared as well.
---Two days later, on the Edge of Wind Country---
The eight Konaha nins landed in a clearing inhabited by three impatient sand-nin.
Temari turned towards the team from Konaha and smiled. Gaara didn't even turn, he just kept looking in the direction that he believed Naruto would be at. And Chiyo…
"Sakumo!"
Kakashi quickly, and narrowly, dodged the kunai thrown by the elderly lady. He quickly pulled out a kunai of his own to defend himself, but it wasn't necessary. A large wall of sand was blocking the way.
"If you came all this way to instigate troubles with hidden Leaf, then maybe you should just go home. You're embarrassing our village by attacking our allies!" muttered the Sand Biju container, his eyes never leaving the spot he in the forest he was looking at.
Chiyo sighed, though it sounded like a growl, as she put away the other three kunai she was preparing to throw, "Forgive me Kazekage-sama, Sakumo and I-"
"Kakashi", the silver haired male cut her off. As the sand wall started to dissipate he stared at Chiyo blankly, "Sakumo was my father."
The fact that Kakashi used the word was gave Chiyo the urge to smile, but she held it back, "Forgive me for the mistake, Hatake-san…" she muttered with a bow.
Kakashi nodded as he turned to Gaara. "We came here as fast as we could? Any idea where Naruto could be?"
Gaara nodded, "My scouts told me, they saw the bird that the two from Akatsuki rode on, go in that direction", pointing in the direction that he had been looking at. "At first I was afraid that they had may have changed course…but those fools decided to fly in a straight line."
Rock Lee cocked one of his gargantuan eyebrows, "But how do you know for sure that they are in that direction?"
Gaara, still not taking his eyes off the direction, replied, "Because, if I hone my senses enough, can feel the demon in Naruto's stomach. It's been something I've been practicing doing for a long time now. I have carefully identified Naruto's demonic chakra, as well as the demonic chakra of three others like us." Gaara paused for a moment, "I'm sure that if you were to ask Naruto, he'd tell you that he possesses the same ability."
Lee looked confused for a moment before saying, "Demon?"
Kakashi flinched, Rock Lee didn't know anything about Naruto's demon. He quickly turned away from Lee's confused face to look at Rin. She wouldn't even look at them, 'No help'. Kakashi sighed, 'I guess I have to tell him now.' He quickly looked around to see if there were any other confused faces. Haku's face was etched in confusion. Rei's face was etched in confusion as well, though she was staring at Gaara. 'Naruto must have mentioned Kyuubi to her; but I wonder why she would be looking at Gaara like that.'
Kakashi waved Haku over, as he stood in front of Rock Lee. "You see Lee, the reason Akatsuki wants Naruto is because…"
At this point, Neji tuned the whole conversation out, as he leaned against a tree. He already heard the conversation before. He was briefed on Naruto's 'tenant' a few hours before the team had met. Tsunade specifically requested a Hyuuga take part in the mission; since the Hyuuga could see chakra, she wanted someone who could find Naruto's red chakra from far away. Hiashi suggested Neji for the mission, since the boy already witnessed and observed the boy from afar; during the chunin exams, on the chance, the very slim chance in Neji's opinion at the time, that he would have to fight Naruto during the final rounds. However this meant that Neji had to be briefed on Naruto's affiliation with the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
In the end it all made a kind of sick twisted sense for Neji. From Naruto's attitude, to the power he showed when he was fighting Gaara.
"YOSH! Naruto-san's youth burns brighter than I ever thought it did!"
Neji sighed, Lee had effectively cut off his thoughts. The Hyuuga turned to Rock Lee, to see him hopping up and down excitedly. Obviously Naruto's story had inspired the ninja.
"Enough small talk…" muttered the red head Sand ninja. "The extraction process has already started."
At this point everyone's eyes widened.
"How could you possibly know that?" asked the daughter of the Yondaime.
Still not taking his eyes from the same spot, he answered, "Because, for the pass two days, I've noticed his demonic chakra pulsing. But now that I'm closer to them, I can see the truth. It isn't pulsing, it's being drained."
Kakashi nodded, "Jiraiya said that the process takes three days to complete."
At that point Rin sighed to herself, 'Damn pervert just had to be in Water Country at such a crucial time.' "Ok then. We have to tread about this very carefully then. If we lost two days already, then we still have one day to stop the extraction process-"
"Not necessarily." The copy ninja cut her off. "Jiraiya could have possibly made a mistake when he was calculating the time. I'm not saying that we should just rush in there, without a plan, but we do need to hurry."
"I don't think it matters one way or another." Everyone turned to Neji, whom had his Byakkugan activated. For once in his life, he actually looked nervous. "We're…not that far from the location that the men…from Akatsuki are at…no more than seven hundred feet…and well…"
At this point Sakura was growing impatient, "And well what! Spit it out!"
Neji sighed, "I can see one of the men looking directly at me."
Sakura's eyes widened, "Impossibl, from SEVEN HUNDRED FEET, he must be looking at something else…"
"He's smirking at me. He keeps activating and deactivating his sharingan."
Kakashi growled, "Itachi…" He quickly looked at Neji.
Gaara growled, "Even those men have their limits...If they know we're here, it's because they are sensing MY chakra, I doubt they can sense human chakra from that distance."
"Can you tell me who else is with him."
Neji nodded, regaining his composure, "I believe the other man is called Kisame." At that point Haku flinched. "I remember Gai-san speak of him, back when he was still my sensei. The sword the man's holding looks like the one Gai-san described. Then theirs one near the opening of a cave; all I can make out from him is that he seems to be a hunchback, and he's wearing a slashed sand Hitai-ate."
"That must be the man who attacked Gaara, Kankuro, and Naruto. Kankuro described him as a hunchback with a sand Hitai-ate. He said he recognized the man as Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand)." She paused for a moment to glance back at Chiyo, who seemed to be surprisingly apathetic. "Sasori is a very dangerous Puppet User. Rumor has it he took down an entire country by just using his puppets." This caught most of the younger ninjas by surprise.
Gaara, for the first time, turned to the ninja of leaf, more specifically Neji, "Do you see Naruto, or a blonde man with long hair."
Neji shook his head, "No. If I had to guess, I'd say that the two of them are inside of the cave. There's a barrier at the entrance of the cave that's preventing me from seeing anything inside of it. Though I suppose it could be a trap."
Rin and Kakashi shook their heads, though it was Kakashi who spoke, "They wouldn't do something like that. They'd want to keep Naruto and the one performing the extraction as close as possible."
"We've wasted enough time already, we should move." He paused to turn to Temari, "Wait here. In case they try to escape and come in this direction."
Temari wanted to argue, but knew better than to disagree with her brother.
With that, the ninjas jumped into the trees, Kakashi in front, knowing exactly who he wanted to have a chat with.
---Naruto---
Naruto yawned from his current position. He was currently inside of his own mind, right outside the cage of the Kyuubi. After about a day of the constant torture of the seal, Naruto passed out, and was pulled into his mind. He'd spent the next day trying to figure a way out of this. Unfortunately neither he, nor the fox, could find a damn thing to do about this whole situation.
So he finally gave up again. He truly never wanted to give up again, but once again he was trapped and he couldn't find a way to get himself out of this situation. The last time he was trapped, the Third had concocted a plan to help him. Unfortunately the Third couldn't save him this time. He was trapped, and this time he had no way of getting himself out.
So he just decided to just lay down, at the edge of the fox's cage, and wait it out.
Multiple thoughts kept flashing through his head as he was just lying there.
He'd never get to see Iruka again, one of the men he would always consider an older brother.
Sakura…though at first he couldn't stand to be around her, she'd grown on him.
Kakashi and Yamato…one a masked pervert, the other an annoying ANBU
Tsunade and Shizune…though he had only known the two for only a short amount of time…
Jiraiya…though he would slit his own throat before admitting it to anyone.
Sasuke…the one he regrettably let free.
Rei…his best friend. The first to except him as a human.
Gaara…though they never spent much time together, there weren't many people who knew Naruto more.
Haku…
Naruto eyes snapped open, "Damn it all…" cursed the blonde. No matter how much he tried to keep people away, he failed considerably, "How did you people get into my heart?" muttered/asked the confused blonde. At this point he started laughing to himself. 'I've really grown to soft…'
"Hey Brat!"
At that point Naruto stopped laughing and turned to look at the fox. The fox Yokai was a shell of his former self. He was much smaller than before, roughly about the size of a one-story house. However, the most notable difference was the fact that he only had two tails; one of them being much smaller than the other. The extraction process had taken almost all of the Kyuubi's chakra, and this was the result. "What?"
The giant fox smiled down at the boy, showing his still sharp teeth, "You know, I've been thinking about this for a while now. If your old man had been thinking differently at the time, I could've ended up inside of your sister."
At that point Naruto started laughing out loud. "Kami, how is it that every single sensei and mentor I've ever had turns out to be a pervert…"
The fox cocked his eyebrow up, rethinking his sentence, before growling, "You idiot! I meant I could've been sealed inside of her instead…though the former doesn't sound so bad…"
"HAHAHA!" At this point Naruto was cracking up at well. "I don't know whether I'm going crazy from the extraction process, or if Ero-Sennin is rubbing off on me, but you actually managed to make me feel better."
The fox grinned at that, "HA! I was also thinking, if I had gotten to Konaha a few weeks later or a few weeks earlier, I could've ended up being SEALED in somebody else."
Naruto grinned at that, "What if you would've ended up sealed up inside of Shikamaru or how about inside of Lee."
"Haha! Probably would've spent hours of the day trying to get him off his ass. As for Lee, don't even joke about that, I'd probably find some way to get the kid to slit his own throat, just so I wouldn't have to deal with his obnoxious behavior."
"Hahahahaha!" At this point the boy was holding his sides trying to keep from laughing.
The fox grinned at the boy's antics, "What I'm trying to say is…out of all the little bastards I could've ended up in, I suppose your not the worse person."
Naruto grinned, this time a real smile, "Yea, and since I know you can't talk to anyone else, I might as well say that your not the worse person/demon I could've ended up with."
With that the two of them shifted into a comfortable silence
---Kakashi's team---
Kakashi growled as he launched himself out of the tree, and into an ALMOST empty clearing.
Kakashi glared at the two figures in front of him. The first figure was the one and only villain of the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Itachi. The second figure was Hoshigaki Kisame.
Kakashi felt, Gaara, Haku, Neji, and Lee land behind him, as he continued to stare directly at Itachi.
Itachi glanced in Gaara's direction, "Gaara-kun…Good, you saved us the trouble of having to come get you later."
Kisame smirked, "We're almost done with the blonde brat, so just stick around and wait your turn."
"It's not going to happen, I won't let it", declared the copy ninja as he got into a Taijutsu stance.
Itachi merely stared at him as he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Making sure the copy ninja was staring directly into his eyes, he did a quick handseal, "Tsukuyomi…" muttered the Uchiha. A moment passed before Itachi's eyes widened at the lack of effect of his Tsukuyomi.
Though no one saw it, Kakashi smirked under his mask, "Hmmm did you just waste a lot of chakra trying to get me into a Tsukuyomi?" Kakashi reached for his Hitai-ate and started lifting it up, "That's just so sad!" He revealed his left eye…
Itachi cocked an eyebrow, "Mangekyo. Hmmm yours is different from mine."
Kakashi didn't bat an eye. It was true, while Itachi's eye looked more like a Tomoe. Kakashi's eye looked more like a pinwheel. "It's the fruit of actually training your Sharingan, instead of merely killing one's best friend."
Itachi didn't seem fazed by the accusation, "I'm curious to know if it can hold out to mine."
Rock Lee pointed directly at Itachi, "You might as well surrender now, our youth shall prevail, Uchiha!"
Itachi just stared at him, "Irritating little worm. I think I'll squash you first." At that point Itachi launched himself at both Kakashi and Rock Lee.
---Haku and Neji---
Haku stared indifferently at Kisame.
Kisame smirked at Haku, "Now I recognize you…you're Zabuza's little lap dog."
Haku shook her head, "Not anymore…Zabuza-sama has fallen in battle."
Kisame smirked again, "Figures…I knew someone would eventually bring that weakling down."
Haku glared at him, "Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you, fish-face", Haku muttered as she grabbed some of her senbon needles.
Kisame glared at her as he grab his sword, flicking the bandages off of it at the same time, "Kid's these days and their smart ass mouths." He muttered under his breath.
Neji got into his Jyuuken stance, standing right next to Haku, "Don't let him agitate you."
Haku nodded.
---Gaara---
Gaara quietly slipped away from the battlefield. Heading towards the cave. The only reason he even showed himself to Itachi and Kisame, was because he knew that the two of them sensed his demonic chakra. Kakashi had instructed him to find some way out of the battlefield to assist Naruto. Itachi and Kisame were probably assuming that Gaara would be kept busy with Sasori. What neither of them knew, which they probably over looked due to their overconfidence, was the fact that Rin, Chiyo, Sakura, Yukina, and Rei were all hiding from the group, still in the trees.
Gaara continued to rush to the cave to see Chiyo and Sakura facing off against Sasori. 'Even though I would love nothing more than to crush him for what he did to Kankuro, I better go assist the others.' Gaara continued to the opening of the cave where he saw Rin, Rei, and Yukina standing.
"What is the situation?" he asked the Rin, "Can the seal be dispelled?"
Rin nodded, "It's a five seal barrier. A strong one at that. I already explained the process to the girls, so please allow us to handle this Gaara-sama."
Gaara nodded as the three of them jumped off.
---Rin, Yukina, and Rei---
The three woman continued to dash through the trees, "Ok so we'll find the seals and I'll leave a Kage Bunshin at each one. We'll have too disarm them at the exact same time."
The two girls nodded as they continued to follow the older woman.
Rin eyes widened slightly as she was forced to stop at the tree branch that she was standing on. Yukina and Rei followed suit, just behind Rin.
Standing in front of them, in a nearby tree branch was a cloaked figure. He had spiky black hair, however a masked covered his entire face. The masked itself looked very odd. Half of it was completely black, while the other half was an orange spiral. He wore a pure black cloak, covering most of his body.
"Greetings ladies. Fine day to be jumping through trees, looking for barrier seals isn't it?" asked the man in the masked.
The question itself had Rin cocking her eyebrow up to see if she heard him right, Rei and Yukina were in a similar state of mind. Rin glared at him, "Who are you?"
"My name is…" he began…before pumping his fist into the air, "TOBI!" Once again sending the three kunoichi in a confused state of mind.
Yukina looked at him with something between confusion and disgust, "What is with this man?", she asked, obviously/momentarily forgetting about her two teammates, the Green Beasts of Konaha.
Rin glared at him once again, "Are you a member of Akatsuki?" She asked taking out a kunai.
"Maaaaaaaaaaybe…"
At that point Rei sweatdropped, as she unsheathed her sword, "What's your deal?"
His attitude had Rin snarling, "I don't know who you are, but GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"
---Naruto---
"Almost done now…" grinned the blonde member of Akatsuki.
Naruto, who had been banished from the chamber inside of his mind for about an hour now, could only stare up at cave ceiling through glossy eyes as Deidare continued to drain the demon out of Naruto. Naruto could faintly see the red chakra, which is associated with his Biju, flowing out of the seal on his stomach, and flowing straight towards the statue behind his head.
At this point, the boy felt like his head was spinning so fast that he could barely notice the pain from the extraction process.
With every second that passed he could feel more and more of the Kyuubi's presence fade away.
"Almost done!" laughed the almost crazed Akatsuki member.
'Almost done, it's almost over…' thought Naruto as he tried to blink the drowsiness out of his eyes…
"Idiot! Don't fall asleep!" screamed the fox. The boy could barely hear the screams of the fox. As the demon's voice faded into utter silence. The boy cracked a smile.
"Stupid fox…" the boy muttered, as he shut his eyes.
Deidara grinned to himself, as he looked up, to see a red stream chakra.
---Outside of the Cave---
Gaara looked directly at the cave. He could still feel the Fox's chakra, but he couldn't, "…I can't feel Naruto's life-force anymore…"
Gaara glared in the direction of the cave. 'No time to waste.'
He started to gather all the chakra he could muster up from his chakra coils. After a few moments he started to muster up all the chakra that he could gather…straight from the seal on his naval.
"What the hell! What the hell do you think your doing you red haired punk! You shouldn't be able to draw on my chakra like that!"
'Like it or not…I require your assistance.' At this point, Gaara's eyes turned yellow and his pupil turned into a diamond. 'You need me to stay alive or you'll be forced to go to the underworld.' Four black dots formed in his eyes, one on each side of the pupil. 'So now…you WILL help me fight…not just take temporary control of my body…' At this point yellow chakra started to surge out of the seal, and started to crackle around the Kazekage.
At this point Shukaku was speechless to say the least. "Like hell I'll do as you command brat!" Though he didn't sound nearly as serious as he would've liked to… 'How the hell is he drawing on my chakra without my consent!'
'I've been training myself…Without your knowledge. I can see it now…why you kept all your power for yourself all this time…why you only offered this power to me while I was asleep and you were in control of my body. This power…it's so intoxicating…'
At this point the Tanuki started to get nervous, "All this to help some little BRAT?"
At this point Gaara actually cracked a smile, and for once spoke, "Partially, but not completely. For the good of MY village, Akatsuki must be defeated." At this point Gaara's canines lengthened. Finally from his gourd, a long tail formed, which was at least twice Gaara's size. "I am the Kazekage! And I will defend my HOME AND PEOPLE!" At this point the chakra started to surge out of him.
---Somewhere on the edge of Wind Country---
Temari could only stare in shock as a giant surge of yellow chakra exploded out of the ground and formed a Tanuki.
'Gaara…'
---Inside the Cave---
The blonde member of Akatsuki turned towards the opening of the cave. Ignoring the still floating spirit of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and the dieing blonde. A moment ago the barrier was broken by an explosion of chakra.
Deidara opened his clay pouch and created a few clay birds. He continued to stand their as a figure started to walk through the opening.
Deidara smirked at what he saw, "Sabaku no Gaara."
---Naruto---
Naruto didn't know where he was.
He was standing in an entirely white space.
'Where am I?'
He couldn't feel a thing. His body, his chakra, the fox. Nothing.
'Am I dead?'
He tried to walk around, but he wasn't moving.
'Kyuubi?'
He kept looking around…nothing but white space.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I!" he yelled…but the words never came out. It was deafening.
That's when he felt something on his shoulder. He quickly turned to see an hand on his shoulder. He followed the hand to its owner.
"Old man?" Naruto's eyes snapped wide in surprise when he noticed that he actually heard his own voice. Seeing the man grin behind him, broke him out of his trance, "Is that really you?"
Sarutobi smiled warmly at the boy. Naruto was mesmerized. He had always known the Third Hokage for being old…but this man couldn't be older than thirty, though he was still wearing his Hokage robes and hat. "I'm not that old…am I?"
Naruto just continued staring at him, "Where am I?"
Sarutobi looked grim for a moment, "Your dieing Naruto…"
At those words, Naruto's face fell, "That's right…I guess they finished the extraction process…"
Sarutobi smiled slightly as he gestured his head, to something behind him.
Naruto followed the gesture and he saw two of the last people he wanted to see…
Standing behind the Third Hokage, with grim smiles on their faces, were the Fourth Hokage, and a former ANBU captain.
After a moment of shock, Naruto slip on his mask again, "Hello father…mother…"
A/N: And let the death threats come in for leaving it at another cliff hanger. Hides behind a tied up Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee.
Anyway...when i did that whole rate Naruto's moves thing...i forgot to mention that I still had TWO jutsu that I still haven't shown. So look forward to those two next chapter, one of them for sure.
Anyway...i hope you liked the chapter...i hope it was worth the wait...
Let me know what you thought about it. REVIEW