Chapter Nine
'Been awhile hasn't it . . . friends.' The voice was as cold as ice and so dipped in hatred Kakashi recoiled as if he had been hit. Sakura and Sasuke were staring at the blonde Akatsuki in front of them, their entire bodies trembling like leaves.
Temari and Kankuro both cried out for their brother upon seeing his pale and lifeless form staring at them with wide open eyes. It was almost as if he were crying for help when he had died.
Gai leapt elegantly from the rock and landed next to Kakashi with a grim look of determination on his face, but that fell away into shock and horror as he saw who they were now facing.
'What is this?' Gai croaked hoarsely, staring at the imposter who resembled what Naruto may have grown up into had he been alive. The imposter stared back coldly, his blue eyes darkening with each passing second.
'Your welcoming committee. Gai, isn't it? The idiotic fool who danced around preaching about youth and its power, as if an old man like himself could actually hold onto it.' The imposter ground out, eyes never wavering from Kakashi's.
'You . . . you can't be Naruto . . . Naruto is . . .' Gai whispered, fumbling for the words that would never come. He stared in absolute horror at Naruto, and then his gaze shifted to the unmoving form that the ninja was using as a bench.
Temari and Kankuro were in tears, yet they still whipped out their weapons. The rest of Team Gai jumped into the scene and were as equally shocked and horrified as Gai had been. They couldn't believe their eyes, and now more than ever they forced themselves to believe what Kakashi had said. This wasn't their Naruto, this was an imposter. This was someone who hated the Leaf for some reason and was doing everything they could to torture and belittle them.
The raven haired girl, who had gone unnoticed until now, whistled softly at the number of ninja she saw before her. 'Impressive.' She mused, a coy smile playing on her lips. Kakashi broke the gaze with the imposter and stared at her. Her eyes were bottomless black pits, he couldn't even see the pupil.
'Give Gaara back!' Temari shouted, her voice echoing off the cave's stone walls. The imposter looked away from Kakashi and tilted his head like a bird, gazing at the now furious kunoichi.
'Who, this?' He asked, grabbing a fistful of Gaara's red hair and dragging his head up. He looked like some sick puppet.
Temari cried out and sent one of her slicing whirlwinds towards the Akatsuki, opening her steel fan all the way to show the three moons. The force of the gale sent the Leaf ninja stumbling back, just as Kakashi shouted at Temari to stop.
The cutting wind slashed its way towards Gaara, and the imposter didn't even seem bothered by it. Temari realised too late what she had done, and cried out as if her voice could stop the impending attack.
Then, just like that, the wind vanished and the Akatsuki's kunoichi stood in front of the imposter and Gaara, staring at Temari with cold, lifeless eyes.
'You don't want to injure your precious Gaara, do you?' She asked in a sickly sweet voice. Temari growled angrily, glad that the Akatsuki had stopped her attack and furious that she was acting so high and mighty about it.
'Temari that's enough!' Gai shouted sternly. The imposter's eyebrow arched gracefully at the power play, and he stared at the two ninja with closed curiosity.
Temari spun and glared at Gai, before conceding his point and stepping down. Gai turned back to the Akatsuki and swallowed the rising lump of dread in his throat. 'What do you want? You have no more use for Gaara's body, why not give him to us?' He called out.
The imposter turned towards the body and stared into the dull eyes, their previous colour had already drained out. The imposter turned the face this way and that, purposefully angering Temari and Kankuro as they witnessed their little brother and Kazekage being manhandled ungracefully by someone who clearly didn't care about what he was doing.
After several seconds, in which the imposter turned the head this way and that so that the neck nearly snapped, he let the head fall back down to face the doorway. He looked up, his brilliant blue eyes connecting with Gai's. 'I have great use for Gaara's body. These days there is little amusement, he'll provide plenty of entertainment.' The imposter chuckled darkly and flicked Gaara's cheek lightly.
'Why you . . .' Kankuro growled, quickly flicking out his two puppets, the Crow and Salamander, the Chakra strings already attached.
The girl feigned fear as she stared at the puppets. 'Oh God! You've found our weakness . . . it's puppets!' She gasped vividly, before her facial features returned to their normal, sadistic selves. Her eyes locked with Kankuro's and a small smile graced her lips, cutting through her beauty like a hot knife. 'So eager to fight again? This time I'll make sure you die.' She growled, taking a single step forwards.
The ferocity behind her voice made Kankuro take a step back with her, a tiny bead of sweat trickling down his cheek.
'If you want a fight, we'll show you the power of youth!' Gai shouted, throwing a fist into the air. His team shouted 'RIGHT' and leapt forwards, prepared to take the kunoichi by surprise. Instead she flicked out four tags, each one landing on the ninja's chests perfectly.
'I think you can wait your turn.' She laughed as she dove backwards, landing neatly on her feet. From the four ninja's chests sprouted creatures that looked just like the ninja they'd come from. Suddenly Lee was standing in front of Lee, Tenten was in front of Tenten and the same with Neji and Gai.
'What the . . .' Tenten muttered.
'I hope you know yourselves inside out.' The kunoichi chuckled, before slamming chakra into her feet and seemingly been thrown backwards with tremendous force. She landed next to Naruto with an elegance mostly seen only in royalty.
'This space is going to become a little crowded. How about we take this elsewhere?' Naruto asked, a smile appearing that mirrored the razor sharp one of the girl next to him. Naruto gingerly kicked Gaara, using the opposing ninja's hatred for him to his advantage. Karasu had a little secret that they weren't willing to divulge at that moment. The misdirection that Naruto used gave them a split second in which Karasu made her move, and the three of them, including Gaara's body, vanished in a violent puff of black smoke.
Before the other ninja could even give a cry of outrage two things happened. The first, Naruto, Karasu and the body appeared almost as soon as they disappeared a few metres behind the ninja. The second, doubles of the Team Gai started to morph and appear from the stone and puddles around them.
Karasu's words made sense then, a horrible sinking feeling of understanding that was dawning on all of the ninja as they stared at their friend's doubles, who were grinning so wickedly it frightened everyone.
'As I said, let us move elsewhere if you want to continue this . . . meeting.' Naruto chuckled humourlessly. Kakashi was the first to whirl around. He still couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him, he still believed with all his heart that the Naruto in front of him was an imposter.
Yet as Kakashi whirled around to face the 'imposter' he saw that same determination in those sparkling blue eyes as he remembered when Naruto was alive and well in the Leaf. The eyes were exactly the same, like when Naruto had stood up to Haku and Zabuza, the same eyes as when he had faced Kiba and Neji and won against the odds.
For a single second Kakashi's belief wavered, and it broke and shattered every part of Kakashi.
Then Naruto swung Gaara's body over his shoulder and ran so quickly he was just a blur. The kunoichi vanished in a puff of black smoke once more.
Temari and Kankuro both screamed and ran after them and Kakashi was about to follow suit when he remembered his teammates. He turned around to see Gai quickly fending off a blow of his double, and the other three ninja seemed to be holding their own as well. 'Go Kakashi! We'll manage here!' Gai shouted at Kakashi just as he blocked another blow. Tenten cried out as she was flung into the rock wall, but before Kakashi could move Neji was there and protecting her until she came to her feet.
Kakashi looked at the other ninja and nodded strongly. 'Let's go.' He spoke with authority and strength as he dashed off in a chaotic dash after the Sand and the Akatsuki.
'Good luck.' Gai grunted as he watched the others run off. In a few seconds all that was left of their presence were the dust trails they had left behind.
!
'They're slow.' Karasu whispered, eyes staring intently as she watched the quickly approaching ninja. She had switched to another one of her techniques, and her eyes were able to see as far as a hawk.
'They're careful.' Naruto grunted, seemingly bored. Karasu let a little smirk slip onto her lips as she watched her partner through her peripherals. He was intently staring at the ninja and a look of cold hatred was taking over his bright eyes.
'Careful doesn't necessarily coincide with slow.' Karasu grinned evenly, fingers playing with the kunai in her hand.
Naruto didn't answer. His fingers were messing with Gaara's bright red hair, and he was sitting on the lifeless body with little empathy.
'Let's just hope they make it soon, otherwise you look like you're going to take off.' Karasu joked as she lifted herself into a standing position and dusted off invisible flecks of dirt from her cloak.
'No. I wouldn't miss this for the world.' Naruto whispered gratingly.
!
Kakashi suddenly halted, heels leaving deep imprints in the ground. He had overtaken Temari and Kankuro, and now he had to whip out his arms to stop them from running into the confrontation head on. Sasuke and Sakura ran up behind them as well, and the five ninja stared at the two in front of them.
The girl was standing a little behind the imposter, head tilted to the side like a bird. Her eyes were as black as her hair.
The imposter was standing on top of Gaara's body, staring them down with hate filled eyes.
'Didn't think you'd ever get here. Nearly left.' The girl called out to them, voice dripping in mockery.
Kakashi made a quick sweep of the surrounding area. It was a rather open field, perhaps not the best idea against Temari. The forest was off to one side, and a small stream was cutting through the middle. The ground was dusty and unused and there was no rocks around either.
It was a perfect fighting ground for them. Kankuro and Temari had free reign with their jutsu, Sasuke could use his sharingan and Sakura would be able to use her incredible strength and temper. As for Kakashi, he too would use his sharingan.
But then again, these two ninja had chosen this place for a reason. Without knowing their abilities, Kakashi was hesitant about the upcoming battle.
'What do you want? Why won't you give us Gaara's body, you have no more use for him.' Kakashi shouted to the two ninja. A sudden sense of dread washed over Kakashi, and the fog that had clouded his grief stricken mind for several years began to lift momentarily.
They were in trouble. He felt it in every fibre of his being, and by looking at Sasuke and Sakura's faces he knew that they felt this too.
The imposter slowly twisted Gaara's head from side to side, twisting it to awkward angles and inspecting every angle of his pale face. Temari cried out in horror and whipped out her iron fan, sending ferocious slicing whirlwinds in the imposter's direction.
Kakashi quickly turned on his sharingan and stared at the imposter intently. Whatever he was about to do, Kakashi would know exactly how it happened.
Yet it wasn't nearly as exciting as Kakashi had hoped. The imposter merely pushed chakra into his feet and jumped a considerable distance into the air. The force of the jump was heard to crack several of Gaara's ribs and it jolted him into the ground. He left the body behind, the wind only ruffled Gaara's clothes and hair, and then he was back on top of the body.
'That wasn't nice.' The girl chuckled darkly before turning to her companion. 'I think it's time, don't you?' She asked sweetly.
That was when it exploded.
The girl vanished in a puff of black smoke and reappeared at the exact same moment centimetres from Sakura's face. The Akatsuki's fist was already poised and ready, so that as soon as she reappeared she sent it hurtling towards Sakura's face.
Sakura sensed the danger before her peripherals noticed the black shape. She blocked the blow with milliseconds to spare, and the force of it sent her hurtling across the grass.
The girl vanished again and appeared just above Sakura, a foot already hovering just above her stomach. Sakura flipped herself around and grabbed the foot, slamming the Akatsuki down to the ground. The Akatsuki melted into black shadow, just like ice would. Sakura gaped. It had been a shadow clone, a literal shadow clone.
Sasuke flung himself in front of Sakura, she could see that he had activated his sharingan in both eyes. He held his sword in front of his face, eyes darting side to side so quickly Sakura couldn't track their line of sight.
'She moves erratically, illogically. We can't use reason against her attacks.' Sasuke breathed quietly to Sakura. She nodded quickly and turned around so that they were back to back.
Kakashi turned to help his students when something flew by his cheek. Blood started to well from the smallest cut on his cheek. Kakashi flinched and flung himself to face the imposter once more. His eyes were riveted on Kakashi.
'You and the two little ones there are fighting me.' He spoke slowly and deliberately. Kakashi felt his heart hammering inside his chest as he stared breathless as the ninja in front of him. He was unsure of how this confrontation was going to end.
The female Akatsuki reappeared, this time on the edge of the trees. She was swinging something long and sharp in her hands, and after a moment Sasuke recognised it as a long, thin sabre much like his own, only curving. He nudged Sakura quickly and she turned to face the Akatsuki.
'You look pretty confident with that toy.' She called out lazily. 'You ought to be careful, you might poke someone's eye out.' She appeared to laugh, before once more vanishing in a cloud of black smoke.
Only Sasuke's lightning reflexes saved him from being beheaded as the kunoichi appeared directly in front of him, sabre flying towards his neck. He brought his own blade up and the two clashed in a scream of metal, sparks flying like fireworks.
For a single moment Sasuke's eyes met with the Akatsuki's, and he saw a maddening sort of glee in them that frightened him. The moment was broken as she sprung back, narrowly avoiding Sakura's lightning fist. 'Come on Sasuke! I need your help!' Sakura cried out, snapping him out of stupor.
!
'I'm here!' He shouted, bringing his blade back up into a defensive stance. Until he could figure out a way to stop her, they'd need to proceed like this.
Temari wasted absolutely no time in unleashing another one of her ferocious, cutting whirlwinds onto the imposter. Kakashi saw him roll his eyes as he simply jumped aside, though that feat in itself was remarkable. Temari's attacks weren't long distance for nothing.
Kakashi saw a flicker of black from the corner of his eyes where the imposter was, and there he was. Kankuro and Temari worked seamlessly together, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Yet Kakashi found himself impressed. Kankuro had been fast, and now Black Ant was coming in behind the imposter as the Scarecrow was in front of the imposter, pushing him against the Black Ant. The imposter slammed against the Black Ant and flung his head around in surprise, but too late as the arms of the puppet sped out and entrapped the imposter. The Scarecrow launched its limbs into the Black Ant, as well as firing multiple poisoned projectiles into the puppet.
Silence prevailed, and with it Temari's and Kankuro's clear relief and elation. Yet as Kakashi looked at the small streams of blood seeping from the puppets body, all he could feel was sheer horror and doom.
'We did it. Kankuro . . . we did it!' Temari cried happily. Kankuro nodded, laughing as well as a few small tears seeped from his eyes.
Temari looked over to where Gaara lay and slowly ran over to him, stumbling a few times over her own feet. When she finally reached his limp body she fell to her knees beside him and began to sob breathlessly, cradling her dead brother's head in her lap.
Kankuro stumbled over as well, leaving his puppets where they were and joining his siblings. He too was crying wretchedly, and though Kakashi wanted to join the siblings in remembering their fallen friend he felt that something was terribly off.
'Kankuro, we need to make sure that the imposter is dead.' Kakashi called out, hurrying over to the puppet.
'Just open it Kakashi! I don't want to see him.' Kankuro called out. Kakashi tried to pry open the puppet, like he had seen Kankuro do several times, yet it wouldn't budge. That feeling of doom was swelling in Kakashi's chest as the struggle continued, but to no avail.
'Kankuro, it's not opening. Something is wrong.' Kakashi called out. He turned to look at the three and met Kankuro's eyes. They were torn and horrible to look into. Pits of sadness and never ending despair that seemed to be engulfing everything around it. Kakashi could barely stand to look into them for too long.
'Kakashi . . . the imposter is dead. He's no more.' Kankuro sobbed, his voice barely more than a whisper. Kakashi had never thought he would see the young ninja like this.
That was when Kakashi saw the danger, a single moment before it arrived. 'KANKURO! TEMARI!' He screamed, flinging out a hand to them. But it was too late.
!
Sasuke gritted his teeth against the force of the Akatsuki as they once again crossed blades. He'd already tried Chidori, but the Akatsuki had only to wait until the last moment to vanish and attack Sakura, rendering that move useless.
Sakura wasn't faring too well either. The Akatsuki's attacks seemed to be mainly directed towards her, and they were growing more and more vicious. Yet the enemy kunoichi wasn't doing any more than vanishing and reappearing in the same second and using her sabre, legs and fists to do the damage. Sasuke wasn't certain to the extent of her abilities, but if this was the best she could do he knew that they could defeat her.
If only they could lure her into that attack again.
The Akatsuki vanished as soon as she crossed blades with him. It had been from the side, Sasuke hadn't been able to see her eyes. If only he could look into her eyes again, he'd have her in his genjutsu.
He looked over to Sakura and met her eyes. She looked fearful and he could see a dozen bruises and cuts. One was hovering above her eye and the blood was running and probably messing up her eyesight. However she didn't look beaten. The opposite in fact. She looked ready to bring the Akatsuki to her knees.
Sasuke nodded once, just in time to see the Akatsuki reappear in front of Sakura, her blade swinging and arching at deadly speed towards Sakura's face. Sakura grabbed the sabre with her two hands and swung it to the side, leg shooting out and hitting the Akatsuki's ribs and breaking several of them. Sasuke had a moment of hope, until the enemy kunoichi melted into shadow once more.
They just couldn't seem to get a real hold on her position.
Sakura ran over to Sasuke with wide eyes. 'Sasuke, do you think you can get her in your genjutsu?' She asked in a whisper. Sasuke nodded, eyes constantly skirting over their surroundings, looking for any sign that their enemy was close.
'Remember at the beginning? I saw her eyes then, but I didn't do anything. If I can get her to do exactly the same thing again, then I can trap her and defeat her.'
'What do you need?' Sakura asked determinedly.
'To get her mad.' Sasuke answered.
The two, now united with a plan, turned to stare at the tree line. Whenever there was a lag in the battle the kunoichi returned there.
She was leaning against a tree, looking sad and angry with her blade in her hand. The other was gently moving up and down the sharp end, tracing it with a delicate care. 'I had thought you were going to give me a good time,' She sighed loudly. 'I suppose there's nothing left to do but end it now then.' As she said these words, she ran at them. Instead of vanishing and reappearing, she actually ran at them with tremendous speed.
Sasuke brought up his blade and once more they crashed together with the grating sound of steel against steel, and this time when they locked eyes, Sasuke was ready and the kunoichi was trapped.
!
Kakashi stared at the imposter, eyes wide in utter disbelief. This blonde haired ninja whose characteristics were so like Naruto's had beaten Temari and Kankuro in minutes. The rage that this Akatsuki had just demonstrated had been tremendous, and now those hate filled eyes were turned towards Kakashi.
'Why are you doing this? Why are you torturing the Leaf and the Sand like this?' Kakashi called out angrily.
'You still don't understand, do you? All this,' The imposter threw a vicious kick at Temari and she mewled in pain. 'Is because of you. You're the one who left me, chose to save Sasuke instead of me. You turned your back on me when I needed you the most! The Akatsuki . . . they showed me the truth of you, the Leaf and the Sand!' He was shouting now, his eyes were burning with such tremendous wrath that Kakashi could nearly feel the waves swarming off him.
'I never left . . . how would you know! You're not even Naruto, just an imposter!' Kakashi shouted angrily at the imposter, who only laughed harshly and bitterly at the ninja's words.
'No? Then what's this?' The imposter called out before ripping something off of his neck. He held it up before Kakashi's eyes, and it nearly destroyed him. It was the necklace that Tsunade had given Naruto the first time they'd met. The necklace that Naruto had received because he had proven himself. The necklace that only Naruto would wear or consider important enough to keep all this time.
'Na . . . ru . . . to?' Kakashi whispered, hand reaching out hesitantly and hopefully. His vision blurred as tears forced their way into his eyes, and the figure before him was suddenly not so clear. For a moment, a single wonderful moment, he thought that with the realisation Naruto would see clearly and come home to the Leaf, forsaking the Akatsuki forever.
'You finally realised.' Naruto whispered. Those three words jolted Kakashi back to reality just in time to see Naruto come running at him at full speed. In his hands was a rasengan, this one spinning blue and red and white. Kakashi's immediate instinct was to counter it with one of his own jutsu's, but he realised quickly that he was too late to counter.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind he went to dodge to the side, flicking his body around Naruto and coming at him from behind. A millisecond before the rasengan hit Kakashi he performed his dodge as elegantly as a dancer. He used Shadow Clone to create one that grabbed his arm and threw him backwards and into the air. The Shadow Clone vanished in a puff of smoke and when Naruto turned his head slightly to gape up at Kakashi he released the Lightning Cutter, effectively stunning Naruto.
The young Akatsuki fell to the ground, eyes still trained on Kakashi.
Kakashi landed on the ground softly next to Naruto and looked down at his stunned body. He felt his heart sink and plummet with the realisation that Naruto had survived all this time, had been taken in by ruthless killers and had become one of them. He felt his chest constrict and the breath leave his body, and all he could hope was that it wasn't too late for Naruto.
Kakashi knelt down next to Naruto and, with trembling hands, went forwards to remove the cut leaf headband from Naruto's head. When his fingers were about to touch the metal, Naruto vanished in a cloud of smoke. Or really, the Shadow Clone vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Kakashi stared for a split second at where the body had been before whirling around with a kunai already in his hand. Before him was Naruto, the real Naruto, with the same soundless rasengan in his hand. The two were so close Kakashi could feel Naruto's hot breath, see the crystal clear blue eyes so clearly he almost drowned in their loathing and hatred.
The rasengan hit the kunai, melting and blasting away the metal before hitting Kakashi right in the middle of his chest.
!
The female Akatsuki was trapped inside Sasuke's genjutsu, clouds of red were surrounding her and her arms were hovering above her, tied and roped to large poles. Smoking crows were flying all around her, and in front of her was Sasuke with a kunai in his hand. Tiny cuts were all over the Akatsuki's pale skin, and her cloak was lying next to her.
Sakura watched from the real world as Sasuke wounded and questioned the Akatsuki member. She glanced over where Kakashi was standing, facing the imposter, and she saw the two motionless bodies of Temari and Kankuro. However she didn't need to help to Kakashi, she knew that he could take care of himself. She turned before she was able to witness Naruto ripping off the necklace.
The next minute ran by incredibly quickly. Sakura watched Sasuke and the Akatsuki intently, but then her attention was fully taken by the Akatsuki. She walked closer and peered at her, wondering why she looked so eerily familiar.
Sakura looked at the pale skin and the pitch black hair, and then she thought about the Akatsuki's attacks and her movements. Sakura frowned and treaded closer, confident that she was still trapped and under Sasuke's control.
Sakura crouched down and stared at the Akatsuki, very tempted to brush away some hair. Sakura wished she could see the girl's eyes.
Then Sakura heard something behind her. She was never sure what had made her turn around, what had made a sound, but she turned anyway and saw that Kakashi had been thrust backwards with tremendous force and was lying several metres away from Sakura, and many more from the imposter. She gaped at the massive wound in Kakashi's chest and she knew immediately that it could be life threatening if not treated immediately.
Then Sasuke screamed out. Sakura whirled back around to face him, and saw that the Akatsuki was standing up and that Sasuke was twisting his limbs around him at impossible angles, breaking them one by one.
'Sasuke what are you doing?!' Sakura cried out.
'Oh little one, he's not doing anything at all.' A voice purred. It was quiet and seductive and cold, and it belonged to the female Akatsuki.
Sakura looked at her and stared at what she saw. Shadows were writhing around her, acting as if they were alive. One had latched itself onto Sasuke's shadow, and Sakura saw it bend Sasuke's shadow so that his arm broke in two places. Sasuke cried out once more.
'What . . .' Sakura whispered fearfully. One of the shadow creatures spun at her without warning, and she only just managed to avoid it. It came again, and Sakura punched it with all her might. The shadow was thrust backwards into the writhing mass of shadows surrounding the Akatsuki, but it came back at her almost instantly.
Sakura leaped backwards, using her incredible chakra control to insert force into her jumps and flips. The shadows kept coming at her while Sasuke was being tortured, and Sakura realised the dire situation she was in. She was, at that moment, the only one capable of fighting the two Akatsuki, and she didn't know if Team Gai was going to be able to rescue her.
She looked at the Akatsuki for a split second and noticed a broken pinkie. A cold sweat forced its way over her skin, it felt clammy and cold. How long had the Akatsuki been free of Sasuke's genjutsu?
She ran into someone behind her, and her heart stopped. Strong hands gripped her arms and Sakura nearly fainted. She whirled around, breaking free of the grip and saw that it had been indeed the imposter. He looked so much like Naruto up close, he also smelled just like he had but with a little more wilderness there.
He tilted his head as he looked at her, his blue eyes sparkling like they had used to. Sakura was about to push both palms flat against the imposter's chest and push chakra into him so that she was able to escape, when her eyes caught something shining on his chest. She gasped when she saw the small necklace that she could remember so well. She remembered his face when he came back from that mission, his face when he'd presented the necklace and had told Sakura all about how he had impressed the future Hokage.
Naruto had died with that necklace still around his neck. And Naruto was now standing in front of her with that necklace around his neck.
'Naruto?' Sakura whispered, tears pricking her eyes and spilling over silently.
'Sakura.' Naruto replied solemnly. Sakura felt relieved for an instant, until she realised how bad this was. Naruto was alive, he was an Akatsuki, and he was holding someone who had ignored him and hit him and had never returned his feelings that she now realised had been a crush. He had a reason to hate and despise Sakura, and who knows what the Akatsuki had made him think, had done to him.
She was in the hands of someone more than capable of killing her. And he had just defeated Kakashi.
Sakura thrust her palms up and hit Naruto with the chakra as she had intended earlier. She flew backwards, only to hit another Naruto. This one was already prepared for her, as if he had been able to read her mind. He grabbed her arms then, the Naruto behind her, so that she couldn't use her palms or fists to hit him. She could hardly move. His legs were holding her own against him, and Sakura could feel the strength radiating off of Naruto. He had grown up so well, unfortunately he had grown up with the Akatsuki.
The other Naruto brought up a rasengan then, one that was spinning blue and white. He looked at Sakura and tilted his head once more. Sakura thought he was going to say something. She struggled against the Naruto behind her, desperate to escape now that she knew what was coming. She struggled, pushing and pulling against him, but it was like fighting against an immovable object. She was useless and defenceless when the rasengan hit her and knocked her out.
!
'Hurry up and finish him. The others are waiting.' Naruto grumbled to Karasu. She looked sad, like a puppy that had just had its toy taken away, but she obeyed without argument. The shadows strangled Sasuke until the light was gone from his eyes and he fell to the floor unconscious.
The two Akatsuki then walked together over to where Gaara's lifeless body was. For some reason, they felt as if they ought to hide his body so the others couldn't find it. They didn't want to give the Sand the peace that came with that.
'Wait.' Karasu's arm came out and hit Naruto in the chest. He stopped quickly and stared at his partner. Her eyes, a swirling mass of black, were slowly turning back to an icy blue.
Karasu then started to back away from the body slowly, eyes cautiously scanning the surrounding land.
'Let's go.' She grabbed Naruto's arm jerkily. It was his turn to not argue, and the two vanished in a cloud of smoke.
The hidden Sand ninja slowly emerged from the land and came forward, towards Gaara's body and those of the other ninja. Granny Chiyo moved forwards to the dead body and looked down at it sadly.
'This is the doing of the Akatsuki.' One of the ninja said to the elderly lady.
'Clearly. Has the Leaf been contacted?' She asked bitterly, glancing over at the ninja who had fallen.
'A message has been sent, but some of these ninja need treatment immediately.' The ninja confirmed Granny Chiyo's fears.
She sighed sadly and bowed her head. 'I've lived a good life, wouldn't you say?' She asked calmly, eyes closed.
The ninja was taken aback by this sudden change in topic, but in respect he decided to answer her. 'It seems to be. You're very well-known and respected.' He replied honestly, hoping the answer would satisfy her.
It didn't seem to, but it didn't seem to anger or upset her either. 'Yes. Respected and loved by all.' She chuckled without much humour. 'I don't know if I have the strength for this, would you help me?' She asked, finally opening her eyes again and turning to face the ninja beside her. The others were all busy looking after those who had fallen.
'Of course . . .' He replied uncertainly. Granny Chiyo crouched down next to the body with the ninja across from her. She smiled a little smile before beginning the jutsu that would take her life.
She remembered Sakura then, how she had come to the village a year ago and helped them with a sickness they hadn't been able to cure. Sakura had risked her own life, postponed her training, just so that she could help the Sand. That had restored some of the faith for Granny Chiyo, faith that the new generation was going to turn out alright, and perhaps restore the world and make it better.
Such a world didn't need an old, grouchy old lady like her in it. No. Such a world needed a strong leader like Gaara.
Those were the last thoughts she had, before Gaara sat up suddenly, gasping and taking deep wheezing breaths.
Hey readers, thanks for hanging out for this chapter. I know in the past 5 months there have been several reviews and a lot of you have been asking for this, and I'm sorry it's been so long in the making but taa-daa! I haven't forgotten you or this story. I just hope you actually like this chapter, I've never done something like this before with all the fighting. There are going to be bigger fights, that part gets explained soon, so if you're unimpressed don't worry it all gets better.
Also, just out of curiosity, who do you think Karasu reminds Sakura of?
Thanks for all the support I've gotten for this story, it means a lot to me. You're all amazing, and thanks again!
- Charandia