Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.. woe.. :l

Inner thoughts

-RECAP-

Sakura was about to retort but a kunai flew in front of her. When she found who threw the kunai, her eyes saw that it was her former teammate. She wondered why he threw the kunai and was about to ask him when the younger Uchiha suddenly spoke up and said "Get out, I know you're hiding in there."

Who's hiding where? Has he gone crazy?

"Well, well.. I never knew you could still sense me with my chakra masked and all. I have to say, I'm impressed... yeah" a cloaked figure with a sakkat said as he revealed himself to the three. "I guess I should've expected that from the one who defeated Itachi... yeah"

"Hn." Sasuke and Sai both glared at him and Sakura stared at him in disgust.

"Akatsuki." She spat out.

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Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists. "You came here to get Naruto didn't you?"

The cloaked figure just smirked at her.

"Aren't we a smart one?" he said sarcastically. "But as smart as you may be, you missed something very important... yeah"

Sakura just ignored the insult and glared at the man. "You're wasting your time. We won't let him be captured by the likes of you!" She hissed at him.

The Akatsuki member however, just chuckled.

"My, my.. Aren't we being arrogant?" he finally replied . "But what's one little girl going to do?... yeah"

Sakura clenched her fists tighter and was tempted to attack him right then and there. However she refrained from doing so, for she knew that it would not be a wise idea. Sparring with Sai earlier left her almost drained in chakra, and she knew that if she fought with him now, there is no doubt that she'll lose.

"You're talking as if we're not here." Sai interrupted as he eyed the Akatsuki "Ugly here might not be enough for you, but if we fought together, you might not be able to handle us at all." He added.

Sai knew that the Akatsuki were also after Naruto. He knew that there have been several attempts on his capture. Before, he couldn't care less if the Akatsuki captured him, but now, having formed bonds with the Kyuubi holder, he wanted to protect him as well.

The Akatsuki member then turned his attention to the black haired male "Ah I've heard about you... " he said "The artist nin right? ... yeah" How interesting, he thought to himself. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, no matter what art form you may use against me, I'm afraid that my art is always better." he said and then chuckled. "And even if you worked with the kunoichi, I don't think it would make any difference... yeah"

After hearing such arrogant words Sai and Sakura both intensified their glares at the man and were about to launch at him, however the last Uchiha in the corner of the training ground beat them to it by throwing one of his kunais at the Akatsuki.

Being the S-class criminal that the Akatsuki was, he was able to evade the kunai effortlessly, and it landed on a tree directly behind him.

"So you're joining the fight eh Uchiha?... yeah" he asked as he eyed the young Uchiha.

The youngest Uchiha however just smirked at the unsuspecting Akatsuki member, and no sooner an explosion occurred behind the cloaked figure.

So there was an explosive tag in that kunai. Hmm.. The Akatsuki thought. This is child's play.

Once again, with the use of his incredible speed and reflexes, the Akatsuki was able to escape the explosion with no scratch on him. However, as he escaped the explosion, his sakkat fell off his head, revealing his identity.

"YOU!" Sakura shouted as she pointed at the now exposed Akatsuki "You're the one who took Gaara!"

The Akatsuki smirked at her.

"How flattering, you remeber me... yeah" he replied, amusement ever present in his voice. "Don't worry, I remember you too kunoichi... yeah"

Sakura just glared at his remark and was about to launch herself at him, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.

"Now, now Sakura.. You know that attacking him at your state isn't exactly the best idea." a deep masculine voice said.

Sakura looked up at the man who was holding her back and widened her eyes at what she saw.

"Ahh.. so you've finally come. I was waiting for you to show up... Copy-nin... yeah" said the Akatsuki as he turned his attention to the new comer.

Kakashi just observed the Akatsuki a few feet from him, and recognized him as the Akatsuki who took Gaara. He then turned his attention to his right arm and noted that he got his arm back.

"Oh.. you're wondering about my arm right? yeah.." the blonde Akatsuki said as he noticed the Copy-nin staring at his arm. "Well, Let's just say that I had it repaired.. yeah" he said as he smirked.

Kakashi turned his attention away from the Akatsuki's arm and looked straight into his face. He then smiled beneath his mask and said "Deidara is it? Well, don't worry about that.." He gave him a confident look. "I won't miss this time."

The Copy-nin began to lift his forehead protector to reveal his Sharigan, but as he was doing so, the ground suddenly exploded.

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At the other end of Konoha, a young Chuunin was frantically looking for a Legendary sannin and his student. He was ordered by the Hokage herself to get the Sannin and said student immediately to the her office. Not wanting to piss the Hokage with the super human strength, the Chuunin immediately set out to look for the two.

Meanwhile, the said Sannin was currently sitting on the ground near his unconscious student, admiring the 'special' item (refer to chapter 1) his student got for him. He began to take out a small notebook and began sketching. A big smile was plastered on his face as he gazed upon his 'inspiration'. He smirked remembering his plan of tricking the boy into getting it.

The said boy was still unconscious beside his mentor, and even though he was unconscious, the Sannin could hear him mumble things in the line of 'When I'm Hokage, ramen would be the national food' and 'everyday should be ramen day'.

The Sannin finished his sketches and sighed when he saw that his student would not get up anytime soon. Not wanting to leave the boy alone, he decided to wake him up.

The Chuunin ordered by the Hokage to look for the other Sannin and his student was running at the other end of Konoha. He has been panting heavily, due to the fact that he has been running around the village looking for the two. He heard that the boy was most likely to be found at Ichiraku, happily eating his ramen. While the Sannin would most likely be found where he could peek on unsuspecting girls (though, no one has been able to catch him in the act). He went to Ichiraku first, and was told that the boy was last seen being chased by the very pissed apprentice of the Hokage. The people who saw the chase feared him to be dead by now.

Seeing that there was no point in looking for the boy, he decided to look for the Sannin himself. He was very reluctant to do so because it would mean that he would have to look for him in places like the public bath house or the hot springs. However, the Chuunin feared the Hokage more than the thought of being mistaken as a pervert and so he went on ahead and searched the said places.

The Sannin heard his name being called. He stopped kicking the unconscious boy in front of him and turned his attention to the bloody, beaten and panting Chuunin calling out to him. He raised an eyebrow at the said appearance of the boy, but then decided to just ignore it for the meanwhile. He motioned for the boy to come closer and asked him what it was that he wanted.

"The Hokage -pant- wanted to -pant- see you immediately -pant- in her office -pant-" said the Chuunin as he continued catching his breath.

"Did she tell you what it was about boy?" the Sannin asked.

"No -pant- she didn't -pant- but -pant- she said -pant- to bring -pant- Uzumaki-san -pant-."

Naruto? So the Akatsuki has finally made their move eh?

"I see.." the Sannin replied. "I'll be going then.. but tell me boy, what the hell happened to you?"

The Chuunin stopped panting for a while and began to recall the events of earlier that day.

FLASHBACK

It was obviously not a very good idea to look for the Sannin where girls would most likely be... undressed. For it did not only made him lose a huge amount of blood by having massive nose bleeds, but also had him being chased around by a huge mob of angry girls.

He was so sure that he was going to die, but fortunately, by some stroke of luck, he was able to lose the mob of angry girls, after a lot of running around the village.

The seemingly endless chase though left him exhausted and so he decided to rest in a secluded area in the far corner of the village. As he was heading there, he saw a man with white hair, kicking an unconscious blonde while holding what seemed to be a brassiere.

END FLASHBACK

"Nothing." The chuunin muttered, glaring at the ground.

"Whatever you say then.." the sannin said though very unconvinced by the boy's reply. "We'll be leaving you now.." and with that he took off, hauling the still unconscious Naruto behind him.

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"What the Hell?!" Sakura screamed as she leapt into a tree branch "The explosions won't stop!"

Sai smirked at the complaining kunoichi "What tired already ugly?" he asked smugly as he dodged another explosion and landed on the ground. "I tired you out that much huh?" he added.

"Shut up Sai!" she screamed as she was still in the air.

"Sai, Sakura, now's not the time." Kakashi scolded "Concentrate on dodging the explosions." he added and then disappeared into the forest near the training grounds.

"Copy-nin, hiding behind those trees won't help... yeah" Deidara said with a bored look "My explosive clay spiders will follow you wherever you go."

And indeed, the tiny explosive spiders did follow them wherever they went, and they continued on exploding upon nearing contact.

How are we supposed to escape these things?! I can't keep on dodging them for too long. We have to attack him now!

"Sai!" Sakura screamed as she evaded a few more explosives "Draw the bird you rode on earlier!"

Sai raised an eyebrow at the kunoichi, but soon figured out what she wanted to do. He then began to draw on his scroll, but unfortunately was interrupted when another explosion occurred behind him.

"Ugly, I can't draw properly.. The explosions will mess up my drawing.." he complained as another explosion occurred next to him. "Think of another plan!"

Sakura was already panting heavily, she was dead tired from the spar she had earlier and from dodging the explosions that would not stop following her. She knew that she had no time to think of another plan, for she was already nearing her limit. A few more minutes of dodging and she would pass out from exhaustion. Being a medic nin, she estimated that she would last about ten more minutes of dodging, beyond that time, she would most likely pass out.

"There aren't any more plans!! Don't tell me that you can't get around a few tiny explosions!" She said trying to persuade the artist-nin as she dodged another explosive.

Deidara eyed the kunoichi and smirked.

"Kunoichi, I beg to differ.." he began. "But I don't think my explosions are tiny nor are they few.. yeah" he said as he then gestured for his explosive clay spiders to attack the kunoichi. "But let's see what you think of them now.. yeah.."

At Deidara's signal, all of the tiny explosive clay spiders began to approach the area where the kunoichi was. Sakura's eyes widened after seeing the army of explosive clay spiders approaching her. Her body was already weary from the earlier explosives and she was sure that she could not handle this much.

Shit! I'm dead now!

'Shit' was an understatement. Her situation now was way worse than that. She was cornered with numerous explosive clay spiders surrounding her in a radius of about seven feet. There was no escape, she was trapped, tired, and helpless. No one was near her enough to reach her in time and she was so sure she was going to die any second now.

A few seconds passed, and a massive explosion occurred where the kunoichi was standing. The impact was so strong that some of the surrounding trees fell down and a huge hole was left in the ground. There was no sign of the kunoichi anywhere, and at this Deidara began to wonder.

The explosion was not meant to kill her, just injure her... The impact may be strong on the outer region of the clay spiders, but I made sure that the explosion in the center where she was in, was only strong enough to knock her out. She could not have been blown away, I even used some of my spiders to cover her body and shield her from the impact. So where the hell is her body?!

Deidara looked around for the kunoichi and tried to sense her chakra. He felt her a few meters behind him, but she was not alone, someone was with her.

"So I see you still care for the kunoichi eh------Uchiha?... yeah" Deidara said as he turned his attention to the glaring Uchiha. "I didn't know you had a soft spot for her... yeah"

"Hn. I could say the same for you." the last Uchiha replied. "The explosion in the area that she was standing on was only strong enough to knock her out and not kill her. Only the explosions beyond 5 meters from her were the really strong ones."

Deidara just stared at him for a while and then said. "Well, it was not my intention to kill the kunoichi you see... yeah" he then smirked at the Uchiha "But I'm not telling you why though... yeah" and at that he began to chuckle.

"So you're after her as well huh?" Kakashi asked suddenly appearing behind the Akatsuki "and may I ask why that is?"

Tch. I didn't even sense him there..

Kakashi raised a kunai to the Akatsuki's throat, but a 'poof' sound was heard and the Akatsuki was replaced by a lump of clay. He sensed that the Akatsuki was hovering above them and so turned his attention to the sky.

He then spotted the blonde Akatsuki riding in his clay bird and staring down at them.

"As much as I would like to continue our battle, I'm afraid I can't.. I have some other business to take care of... yeah." he said "But don't worry, we'll see each other again.. And tell the kunoichi, that I'll be back for her... yeah."

The three men glared at him as he made his way out of the village.

Kakashi then turned his attention to Sai and commanded "Sai, draw the bird Sakura was referring to earlier"

Sai didn't even need Kakashi to tell him what to do for he had already started drawing the bird even before Kakashi told him. Once he finished it, he performed some seals and the bird he drew came to life. Kakashi and himself rode on the said bird and went after the Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki smirked as he saw what was trailing behind him. He began to increase his speed and chuckle. "Didn't I tell you that my art is always better? yeah"

Kakashi then smiled beneath his mask and spoke up. "And didn't I tell you I won't miss this time?"

A/N: If you guys would be so kind enough, please leave some reviews and let me know what you think.. C: