Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail

Chapter 4 The Stalking Lion

I know that Loke is a close range fighter, but there is a reason why Loke was chosen.

Deidara was flying away on his bird. Making sure to fly at a relatively high distance so he could evade most attacks without losing visual of the enemy. He turned and was disappointed to see that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki didn't follow him. He was surprised to see someone he hasn't seen before. The male seemed so out of place among the ninja with his crisp suit, yet he seemed to be able to keep up with the ninja. Deidara decided to dispose of them so he threw some clay birds in their direction. He was about to detonate them when the new male jumped towards them. His hands started to glow yellow and he smashed the birds. What surprised Deidara was that the bombs did not detonate from the impact.

'How did he do that? Wait! Could he be one of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's summons! Then he was able to dispel the chakra in my clay birds! I got to be careful with that one.'

Deidara continued to lead them away from Sasori, Gaara still in his clay bird.

/On the ground/

Kakashi stared at the spirit that was easily keeping up with them. From what he just witnessed, this Loke was also a close range fighter. Meaning, they were at a disadvantage.

He glanced at Sakura, before turning back towards their flying enemy. All three of them are close ranged ninja, meaning Deidara, with his long range bombs, will have the advantage. Given Naruto's new abilities, perhaps it would have been better to take him with them.

Kakashi shook his head. Sakura was right. For all they knew, they are being led towards a trap.

'Still,' He turned back to Loke. 'why did Naruto give us a short range fighter?'

Loke, feeling Kakashi's stare, glanced in his direction. "I can tell you are wondering why Naruto sent me with you."

Kakashi looked startled before he consented.

Loke sighed. "Naruto does have long ranged spirits at his command, some that would actually be much more efficient in this battle than others," Loke said, thinking of Sagittarius, "However, we spirits have one large weakness that makes it difficult for us to be in long battles."

"What is it?" Sakura asked softly from Kakashi's other side.

"We can't remain long in this world. The energy of this world is toxic for us and remaining here for longer than five minutes can kill us."

Both Kakashi and Sakura's eyes widened at that.

"Then why did Naruto…?" Sakura started, not wanting to believe that Naruto would willingly force his spirits to remain out for longer than five minutes.

"That is the reason why he sent me." Loke smiled reassuringly at them. "I have trained my body to remain in this world for extended periods of time. Only one other spirit besides me can remain out for long periods of time."

Kakashi thought about it. If the spirits had such a weakness, than they were next to useless in long battles.

Loke saw Kakashi thinking and could already deduce what he was thinking. "The strength of a spirit is determined by the strength of the wielder. A spirit can last up to 2 hours in the outside world if their summoner is that strong. However, prolonged exposure is fatal." Loke gave a light laugh as he thought about Naruto. "Although, Naruto's healing abilities have allowed many of my comrades to remain in the outside world for over 24 hours."

Kakashi nodded. It seems that, like with everything else, Naruto will always manage to find a way to overcome obstacles.

"That strange, uh, Sky Dragon Slayer thing he was talking about?" Sakura asked tentatively. She still wasn't sure if Naruto was telling the truth or not, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Loke looked at her. "Yes."

Sakura hesitated before asking. "What exactly is a Sky Dragon Slayer?"

"A Sky Dragon Slayer is an individual," Loke refrained from saying mage, he didn't feel like explaining the whole concept of magic again, "who has trained in the dragon slayer arts, an ancient and forgotten form of fighting that deals with the recipient partially becoming a dragon, allowing them access to the strength of a dragon. This, of course, can give them enough power to slay dragons."

"Wow, and what does the sky part mean?" Sakura asked, excited by the prospect of learning more about her changed teammate.

"There are several dragon slayer arts, each attributed to a dragon. You see, dragons have the ability to 'eat' a certain element, like fire, iron, poison, and air. The sky simply means that Naruto's abilities revolve around eating the 'sky' and then using that energy in his techniques. Of course, the sky dragon slayer is also unique in that he has access to healing abilities." Loke resumed, more or less, everything they needed to know about dragon slayer magic.

"Why did Naruto chose the Sky? Or were there no other options?" Kakashi asked. Knowing his student, or at least, from what he thought he knew, Naruto would have gone for something flashy, not something that could heal others. If anything, he was sure Naruto would have gone for the fire dragon slayer.

Loke sighed. "Dragon Slayer arts are not the property of us spirits. It just so happened one of us knew about them and thought it to Naruto. That art turned out to be Sky."

Before anything else could be said, Deidara's nasally voice came from above. "Are you done talking, hmm? Or do you wish for me to leave you alone?"

The three stopped before jumping out of the way, narrowly avoiding the oncoming bird bombs that Deidara had thrown at them.

Deidara smirked as he saw the three jumping around. 'Like monkeys!' He told himself.

He turned to see that the pink haired girl had jumped in his direction and he gave a small laugh as he adjusted his flight so that the girl couldn't even reach him.

"Is this the best you can do? How sad, un!" Deidara exclaimed.

So distracted, he barely had time to react as a large fire ball singed his hair.

"Kakashi-sensei! Be careful! The Kazekage is still in that bird!" Sakura screamed at her sensei.

Loke set his hands aglow, intent on fighting as well. He jumped towards the flying bomber. Just like with Sakura, Deidara merely flew back to avoid being hit. However, he wasn't expecting the ball of light from the spirits hands suddenly being sent flying into his direction.

Deidara yelped as the ball of light exploded in his chest and sent him flying into the trees bellow.

"Sakura-san! Now!" Loke cried towards the pinkette as the clay bird started a slow decent to the ground.

Sakura quickly jumped and caught the bird before it could land and be destroyed. She gently, yet quickly, started to peel the clay back.

Sakura gave a large sigh of relief as she saw that Gaara was still breathing.

"Sensei! He's okay!" She informed her sensei.

Kakashi nodded. "Good, take care of him while Loke-san and I go after the Akatsuki member."

Sakura nodded in understanding as the two males jumped after the fallen bomber.

/With Kakashi and Loke/

The two men were running towards the spot Deidara fell in, only to find the spot empty.

"Where did he go?" Loke asked, more to himself than to the jounins.

"Hmm, he couldn't have gone far. Besides, he still only has one arm. He won't be at his best." Kakashi explained.

As the two men were looking around, Deidara was hiding under the foliage, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

When he saw the two men were distracted, Deidara sent clay spiders after them. He grinned as he saw them approaching the two males before positioning his hand in front of him in a seal.

"Katsu"

The two were unprepared as the clay spiders exploded beneath them, sending them flying into a tree.

However, they quickly recuperated. Thanks to Loke and Kakashi's enhanced sense of smell and hearing, they were able to pinpoint where Deidara was hiding.

Loke set his hands aglow before charging the spot.

Deidara, seeing him coming, jumped out of the way, only to be hit by shuriken thrown by Kakashi.

Kakashi narrowed his eye as he saw the Deidara he just hit dissolve into clay before jumping back as another clay bomb exploded beneath him.

"He's using his clay bombs as a diversion. He isn't aiming to fight us, only to distract us. Possibly so he can escape." Loke concluded.

"Your right, but we can't let him get away." Kakashi reminded him.

Loke smirked. "Who said anything about letting him get away?"

Kakashi eye smiled in return.

Deidara observed the interaction, not sure what to make of it.

Were they planning something? Or were they really just joking around?

He was about to throw another clay bird at them when he heard rustling behind him. He barely managed to dodge as Kakashi plunged a kunai right where he was hiding. A second later and the jounins would have pierced his heart.

He threw his clay bird at Kakashi only for them both to explode. 'Shadow Clone!'

Just as he realized this, he saw a glow coming from behind him before feeling the spirit punch him, sending him into the ground.

Loke landed right in front of Deidara, holding his right bicep with his left hand and holding his right hand in front of his face. "Shishikoyo! (Lion Brilliance)"

Deidara cried as he was blinded by the sheer light before feeling rather than seeing his only available arm get cut off by Kakashi.

Kakashi held out his hand, chidori blazing, as Deidara fell to the ground. Blinded and dismembered, the Akatsuki member was defeated.

Kakashi quickly took out some ninja wire, not that he really needed it, and tied Deidara's legs together, preventing him from running away.

"What are you going to do with him?" Loke asked curiously.

Kakashi finished tying the string, all the while making sure this Deidara was the real Deidara, before turning to the spirit. "I'm going to hand him over to Konoha's interrogation squad, for questioning. It would be risky to bring him all the way to Konoha on my own, but I'm sure Suna will be able to spare some shinobi as escorts."

Loke nodded as Kakashi hefted Deidara over his shoulder. The silver haired man had administered a knock out drug to prevent the blond from struggling.

Securing his package, Kakashi started back towards the cave with Loke in tow. Both eager to return to the blond, hoping he was okay.

Yes, this battle scene sucked, but I didn't want it to drag on too long. I needed Deidara to be captured for the plot and if Kakashi and Loke had gone all out, he would have been killed, or at least have escaped like he did in the anime.