This chapter dedication is sent out to Son Kenshin. Thank you greatly for beta-reading this chapter! I look forward to the next chapter of your own story as well.

Legacy of the Rasengan III
Chuuten
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 4: Battle in the Desert

Hokage Monument, Konohagakure
2:53pm

Resting comfortably on top of the Yondaime Hokage's stone face, Naruto stared out over to the village. But his gaze was unfocused; he was far too busy reflecting everything he had learned since his arrival earlier.

A lot of things had taken place in the village in the two and a half years that he was gone. And he was still having trouble adjusting to what he considered the biggest of all the surprises. Uchiha Sasuke had been cloned by Orochimaru in yet another attempt to gain the Sharingan?!

Another surprise that went along with that revelation was of Orochimaru's supposed death. Apparently he had died in the battle with Sasuke and his treacherous apprentice. However, Naruto was not sure he believed those rumors. Based on what Jiraiya had once told him of the man, Naruto was more willing to believe that the snake had somehow managed to survive. After all, Orochimaru was driven by his lust for power over all things. Regardless of his wild ambitions, the man was very much a genius and a competent one at that. Would he really allow himself to just die like that?

Thankfully though, in Naruto's opinion, none of the other clones of the young Uchiha had survived the destruction of Orochimaru's research facility. One Uchiha Sasuke was enough. Now that there were seemingly two of him would most certainly make for an interesting future. Naruto could only hope that the clone, Osamaru, did not turn out like his 'father' in terms of personality.

'What kind of a name is Osamaru anyway?' Naruto wondered to himself. 'an Uchiha named 'to be at peace'? With who? Himself? I hope so. I don't think Konoha could survive another emo-Uchiha! …or at least I wouldn't.'

As it stood, things didn't start out too well for Naruto and the newest Uchiha. Naruto had indeed followed Sasuke to find out who this 'Osamaru' person was. Of course, he had almost gone ballistic when he saw it was a baby. His first words to Sasuke after seeing Osamaru were, 'I THOUGHT SAKURA WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND! ARE YOU TWO-TIMING SAKURA-CHAN?!"

In response, as Sasuke had been turning to face him and holding the baby, Osamaru had a sudden fit. The little babe started yelling out in anger and dislike at the volume of Naruto's voice. Then as Sasuke tried to calm the boy down and Naruto crouched close to get a better look at the infant, Osamaru had felt the sudden need to throw up his lunch…all over Naruto's face.

And the sight of Naruto's grossed out expression, covered in his own vomit, caused the babe Uchiha to start giggling. The worst part was Sasuke's sneer, which he was sure was going to remain in place for the next ten years of their lives. Oh the humiliation!

After cleaning himself thoroughly of the slime and stink, Naruto retreated to his most favorite thought-spot in Konoha to brood. Lying peacefully beside him was his Kazeodori, the Seigi katana, and a battered old scroll titled Uzumaki Family Jutsus—Scroll 7.

These three items were unquestionably among his most precious of personal possessions. An invention to ride the winds, unlike anything ever created in the last three hundred years of history; a mysterious weapon that for whatever reason had chosen him as its new wielder; and a scroll containing his newest and most secret of jutsu he'd thus far created.

Drawing himself out of his thoughts, Naruto looked down into the village that he'd been long absent from. If Naruto was like most people, what he'd see as he gazed out over his home village was a vast array of buildings and faceless crowds of people. A lot of people in his position would've looked higher and farther away, seeing the large walls that surrounded the heart of the Konohagakure. Walls that some might've seen as prison walls, meant to keep them in with the people and places that they'd yearned to escape from. Those people would therefore stare yearningly towards the horizon, desiring to run out towards the sunset, keep going, and never to return.

What Naruto saw as he gazed down into the village was not buildings and roads or faceless people who sought to torment him. Though he admittedly didn't possess the eyesight, in his mind's eye he did not see crowds and nameless buildings; he saw individuals and their homes. He saw children running and playing, their folks watching over them, citizens going about their business in their daily struggle to live a better life. Whether they knew it or not, all of them were counting on him and his teammates, friends, and associates to protect them. And so they would.

He only wished that they'd stop glaring or staring at him already. Granted, the most recent stares he was attracting were significantly different than what they had been from prior his departure. But the core feelings behind them remained the same: dislike, indifference, and disgust with a hint of hate.

Among the older populace, their icy glares had dwindled somewhat. Apparently the long absence from the village had lessened their anger surprisingly. Yet his stunt upon returning had earned him glares of resentment and annoyance. They seemed to now lookdown upon him due to his clear recklessness of plummeting several thousands of meters out of the skies. They felt that such actions were only those being to a brat who was now trying to become the center of attention once again. And, to a degree, they were right.

Yet the younger generations who didn't know of the Kyuubi inside him were a vast mixture. Most stared at him with open awe that he could've done such a foolish and scary, yet somehow fascinating feat. Others still stared at him with fear or contempt, still mirroring their parents or friends either out of habit or genuine feelings. Perhaps thinking that he would suddenly snap and attack them, and that little stunt earlier only reinforced their beliefs that he was a fearless monster of some kind.

But the most surprising and unnerving of all were the ones he could feel from certain members of the female residence. Some would stare at him with an expression akin to hero-worship and (what he feared the most) lust. It was certainly a novel experience for Naruto to walk down the street and hear faint giggling coming from a group of passing or approaching girls. Three years ago these same girls would've sooner admitted to having a crush on the brash, impulsive, and smelly Inuzuka Kiba than be seen within ten meters of Uzumaki Naruto.

The hypocritical irony of the situation was not lost to Naruto. And he could only hope that not all girls were like that.

No, he sternly reminded himself. Hinata-hime isn't like that, nor is Sakura-chan…well, not anymore.

Hinata, she was his first and the most dearest of his friends. Naruto wasn't sure when it had happened, but at some point in the past her happiness had begun to mean much more to him than it used to. Back when they were in the academy, Naruto always went out of his way to discreetly encourage her. He never once pulled a prank on her, and had even once saved her from unintentionally falling into a few of his preplanned ones.

By the time that they had become genin, they could tentatively have called each other best friends. After that, their time together had dwindled to being near nonexistent. The few times that Naruto did bump into her though, she had been so shy around him that they couldn't hold a conversation for very long.

Then there came one of his most cherished of memories: their accidental kiss. At the time, it had truly been an accident that it even occurred. But he had enjoyed those few seconds of pure heaven immensely. Yet to preserve his sanity and her modesty, he immediately and vehemently denied Sasuke and Sakura's accusations that he did enjoy it. He knew that while they would only tease him about it, if her clan (and especially Neji) had learned about it, he would be in a world of pain. Though he dearly wanted to repeat the experience when he left the village, Naruto had chosen to just kiss her cheek. It was still a blissful experience, but it just wasn't the same.

Then he'd seen her again after two long years of separation. In his honest opinion, Hinata had always been a beautiful person to him. She was kind, understanding, and loyal. A bit shy due to her lack of confidence, but confidence came with time and patience. When he saw again after two years, her inward beauty had finally begun to surface, making her seem even more angelic than ever before.

Unfortunately for them, they weren't given any time to properly reacquaint themselves before they were suddenly attacked by the Iwa-nin. Even to this day, Naruto didn't truly remember the outcome of that fight. Only that he'd seen his dear friend get badly injured and his mind was suddenly engulfed in a searing ocean of hate and bloodlust for the men who'd hurt her.

Naruto had hoped that when he'd finally returned home that things could've continued to progress as they were. In fact, Naruto had been secretly planning to ask her out on a tentative date for the past month alone. But it would seem that in his absence from Konoha, her standing in the Hyuuga had changed.

As he sat there now, contemplating their situation, he inexplicably began trying to understand how her world worked. If he was honest with himself, he had never really learned just how a clan operates. To him, a clan was just a large group of families that shared the same name. But one of the few facts he did know was that generally clans each had their own council who worked in ways similar to the village council.

Yet how could they have the authority to curse Hinata like they did? The concept of arranged marriages was not unknown to Naruto. But he had always felt that it was the family who arranged them, not a council… Did it work the same way because she was part of a clan? If so, with her father as the clan leader, it would be he who had to give the final approval, right?

At some base level deep within his personality, Naruto had always looked up Hinata's father with the same respect that he held for the Sandaime and Yondaime Hokages. Only a saint would be able to put up with the political mumbo-jumbo that seemed to plaque councils on a daily basis. Thus Naruto's respect for the man had been decidedly shaken due to his uncertainty of if he had in fact allowed Hinata to be set up with an arranged marriage. And to a young man who seemed like a real creep nonetheless!

How long had this arrangement been in place? What did Hinata think about it? Did she even know about it? What would become of their friendship if she was indeed forced to marry? Would Hinata submit to the arrangement, even if she didn't want to be married to that guy, Himochi? But most important of all, what would he—Naruto—do about all this?

Naruto was at his wit's end to answer that last question. He didn't want to let his Hinata-hime go that easily, despite whatever may have become of them in the future. But, in the end, he decided that he would to submit to one thing. He would have to accept the marriage if it meant that Hinata would be happy. After all, her happiness meant everything to him.

Speaking of Hinata-hime, Naruto thought, suddenly remembering something. I still need to get my old jutsu scrolls back from her. Well, there's no time like the present!

With a small grin, he quickly strapped the Seigi and scroll of his back and waist respectively. Picking up the Kazeodori, he peeked down the cliff to get a quick estimate of the fall. Even as he stood there, he could already feel his adrenaline levels starting to rise. No matter how many times he did this, it brought a slight amount of fear to him. But, like all times prior, he resolutely shoved the fear aside and took the dive.

Literally.

With a shout of pure delight at the exhilaration, Naruto allowed himself to drop like a stone for a short while. Then in a burst of Fuuton chakra from the Kazeodori attached to his feet, Naruto shot through the air high above the village, rocketing towards the Hyuuga estate.

Council Chambers, Sunagakure
5:24pm

From his position, Gaara listened quietly as the councilmen and women debated. It was yet another meeting for them to discuss the current welfare of their desert village. Not that Gaara really minded; it was actually refreshing to hear positive things about the village that had once feared and discreetly hated him all his young life.

In the past two years, things had really begun to look up for Sunagakure. Due to their recent alliance with Konoha, they had begun to acquire more missions from high paying clients. As such, along with a few training tips from Konoha, their shinobi forces were receiving more experience and better training than they had in the past ten years alone. Alas, the Chuunin Exam that was scheduled to take place in a week promised to be an interesting one for them since their selected genin teams were among their best.

"There's been a bad rumor going around recently…" said a quiet man named Yuura, former captain of the Suna ANBU, after the council elder had spoken his piece.

"What kind of rumor?" Gaara's old sensei, Baki, asked as the rest of the council turned their attention to the soft-spoken captain.

Yuura had a face of resolute seriousness. Being a former ANBU captain certainly did have its quirks, as he was often privileged to information that was usually reserved to the much higher-ranked shinobi and village leaders. Thus it was no surprise that he knew some news that the rest of the council hadn't heard yet.

"The information's from Sannin no Jiraiya," Yuura said, eyeing each of the council members, no doubt calculating what their respective responses would be. "Have you heard of the organization called the 'Akatsuki'?"

Not a word was spoken in the room for a moment, a moment with which a familiar but subtle amount of killing intent rose up. Even after six months, the incredible rage that Gaara had felt after hearing that someone in that organization may have raped his dear older sister was still very raw and very, very much alive. The only thing that prevented him from hunting down the Akatsuki members personally was the lack of information on their current whereabouts.

"He believes that they may finally be making a serious move this time…very soon," Yuura continued slowly, respectfully. "I have already taken the opportunity to post guards along the village outskirts."

"Tell me more, Yuura-san," Gaara commanded, speaking for the first time since the meeting began.

Outside Sunagakure
7:43pm

A pair of figures slowly approached the large canyon. They were a very odd pair, even among the vast variety that the term 'odd' could be used for. One was tall and thin, quite obviously young and arrogant but undeniably strong in his own regard. He was forced to walk at a slow pace due to his partner's inability to move very quickly. The second was apparently short but extremely bulky. However, despite the bulk of his figure, he seemed to almost slither across the desert sands beneath him.

But what made the pair especially odd was their clothing attire. Both wore a large black cloak with red cloud designs covering various locations of their uniform as well as a pair of strange hats that hid most of their faces. The fact that they willingly chose to wear black in a desert of all places was what made them especially easy to spot, even in the dying sunlight.

As they approached the canyon crevice, one of the few entrances to the hidden village beyond, the tall one, Deidera, broke the silence between them. He could clearly see in the distance the shadows and silhouettes of almost three dozen shinobi lining the hidden pathways along the canyon's entrance. "It would seem that someone leaked information about us."

"Yes…" Sasori quietly agreed, idly wondering who it would be he'd kill once they returned. "But we will continue. It is our mission."

"Yeah, yeah," Deidera absentmindedly agreed.

"Remember," Sasori continued. "The leader will not tolerate another scene like the last one."

He needn't have clarified which one he was referring to. When it had been discovered that Kakuzu and Hidan had disobeyed his direct order, their leader had gone off to hunt them down personally. The only thing they knew about what had happened afterwards was only from rumors that flying through the villages.

As far as they could tell, the rebellious pair had been 'spared' even more gruesome deaths had their leader caught up to them first. And his fury at the pair had put the man into a foul mood for the next month, making even the hardiest of the elite members edgy when near him.

"Don't worry," Deidera muttered, trying to pretend that he wasn't already fearing for his life. "I won't kill the container."

As they neared the canyon crevice, they picked up the distinct scent of blood. A lot of blood. It didn't take them by surprise to see that all but one shinobi had been brutally slain. That very shinobi was standing amid the corpses in the center of the canyon entrance with an ever-serious expression on his face.

"Well done," Sasori said instantly, pleased that his puppet had obeyed his long-distance commands. "…You remembered me?"

"Hai, Sasori-sama!" Yuura said crisply, clearly reporting to his beloved master.

"If you've forgotten," Deidera said, ignoring yet another of Sasori's human puppets. "I may have to use my jutsu—"

But Sasori just ignored his usually-arrogant companion. "It is nice to have you once again my faithful servant," he continued speaking to his underling. It was one of his most favorite moments; when a person, regardless of circumstances, treated him as much like the god that Pein masqueraded himself as. "I have work for you, servant."

"Alright then," Deidera said, irritated at his partner's sudden attitude. He hated being ignored like that! Using the mouth in his left palm, he took a large bite out of the clay in the satchel that he always carried with him and quickly molded it into the shape of a bird. "Here we go."

He tossed the fist-sized clay bird to the ground several meters ahead of himself. Then he decided to poke fun at his partner by saying, "Sasori, you and your husband should watch this…"

With a burst of smoke, the small bird become a massive eagle-like creature, more than large enough to carry three people on it's back. Jumping easily onto it, Deidera threw his hat aside. By this point, the sun had set and thus he no longer saw the need to wear it.

With an arrogant grin, he looked back to his partner and said, "How is it, pretty artistic modeling, yeah?"

"I can't wait to see it," Sasori said, knowing that the coming fireworks would indeed be quite an impressive sight.

Kazekage Tower

Gaara was silently seething in his Kazekage seat, though it would be near-impossible to guess based on his facial expression. If there was one thing that Gaara had grown to be proud of in recent years, it was his ability to maintain an unwavering blank expression. It not only made it difficult to judge in battle, but it aided him while…dealing with certain councilors.

Plus it had also recently started having an unforeseen side-effect. The hordes of girls of Sunagakure just loved it how he could seem to remain so calm and immovable under stressful situations. That was, among other things, that had started attracting him a quickly growing fan-club. Of course, being the youngest Kazekage in the history of Suna's existence didn't hurt much either.

And now, he was using every bit of his control to maintain his usual calm exterior demeanor.

Though there was no real proof of it, Gaara was convinced. It was someone apart of the Akatsuki that had attacked and raped Temari. She had stated that she had sensed the approach of a second source of youki and she was quite sure it was a Jinchuuriki, though she didn't know which. When she awoke, the two Akatsuki agents that she'd stumbled across had been slain, the Jinchuuriki was long gone, and she was burning up with what she later learned was youki.

Then her story became even more confusing. She claimed to have passed out shortly after waking up. When she awoke next, she was in the Konoha Hospital. The Godaime Hokage reported that she had been found lying in front of the village gates early the next morning and there was no trace of anyone else within the immediate vicinity.

How could Temari have reached Konoha so quickly? The answer seemed painfully obvious to Gaara, when combined with a rumor one of his spies told him a few months ago. A rumor that said there was a mysterious Jinchuuriki who was also a member of the Akatsuki. Of course the idea seemed utterly ridiculous, given the organization's goal of capturing the Bijuu. Despite that, the rumor did seem to hold some truth being that only a Jinchuuriki could truly defeat another, or at least in Gaara's opinion.

Yet he still had his own suspicions that the rumor was true. In his obsession with trying to find the man who had defiled his sister, Gaara had even constructed a tentative timeline to what had happened that fateful night. If his suspicions were correct, the Jinchuuriki had no doubt learned of his counterparts' disobedience and rushed after them when they went after the Iwagakure Jinchuuriki. Upon disposing of them because of their disobedience, the man must've taken notice of Temari at some point and decided to…have some fun with her. Yet he must've decided that he had used too much time in reporting back to his organization and left shortly afterward. Then perhaps he started to feel guilty about just leaving her out in the desert and injured, so he returned and took her to Konoha for whatever reason.

Gaara was not someone who holds a grudge very easily or for very long. After Naruto had 'rehabilitated' him, Gaara quickly learned to forgive people for their mistakes and to give them second chances to redeem themselves. It was the least he could do, especially since the people of Sunagakure had essentially done the same for him upon his return. However, there were limits to even Gaara's forgiveness.

Thus when he learned of a man raping his sister, Gaara had spent nearly an entire week out in the wastelands of the desert venting his wrath. In the desert, family was considered the dearest possession of any person's life, a lesson that Gaara had unfortunately learned the hard way. That was why he had redoubled his already strenuous training regime. Many things in life come and go, like the once a year rains of Wind Country. But a family was expected to remain utterly loyal to one another through thick and thin. In times long past, a family's loyalty had often resulted in that family's survival out here in the unforgiving and uncompromising sand dunes. He did not want anything else bad happening to his family and village.

Gaara had made a vow then. He would find the man who deflowered his sister and show him a world of unimaginable pain. If the bastard somehow managed to live through it once he was finished, Gaara would give the man his blessings...since only an immortal would be to survive.

During his silent contemplations, he had at some point turned his gaze out to look upon his village. It was at this point, in the waning sunlight, that he spotted something high up in the sky. It was a large bird that was slowly circling the whole of Sunagakure. The sheer size of it was quite noticeable despite the altitude it flew at. There was also the fact that he'd never seen a bird of that kind in Wind Country ever before immediately informed Gaara of the obvious.

An intruder had entered his village!

Immediately, he tore out of his casual Kazekage uniform, preparing for the worst.

Deidera watched in fascination as his three small pieces of art flashed into magnificent displays. The three camel-spider sized and shaped bombs he'd sent down upon the unsuspecting guards just moments ago detonated in fiery explosions, ending the lives of the guards immediately.

Bouncing down lightly from his bird to the top of the Kazekage Tower, he smirked in satisfaction at his accomplishment. Infiltration successful… or so he thought. But the very next instant, he was suddenly bathed in a sea of murderous desire. If felt almost as though he was standing before a colossal beast of unfathomed power and hatred.

It was instinct alone that saved Deidera from an instant and gruesome death. He leapt back as far and high as he could, back towards his bird. Where he had stood mere seconds before was suddenly crushed by a wave of unforgiving sand. Looking up quickly, he spotted his red-haired target: Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage and Jinchuuriki of the Bijuu no Ichibi known as Shukaku.

The cold stare that Gaara was sending up towards him made absolute zero seem like a warm summer's day. Without a word, Gaara willed a column of sand to up rush up after his retreating victim. But not before jumping upon a section of it himself.

Seeing the clear intention of the enraged Kazekage, Deidera flew ever higher into the air as his hands feasted on sizeable amounts of his clay. However, the speed of Gaara's sand proved to be far greater than Deidera believed. Within moments, a large arm-like appendage rushed up to him and all but threw him off his bird.

Narrowly evading the attack, Deidera smirked arrogantly. "It would seem my sneaking inside didn't work…Oh well, at least I drew you out."

Rising up to the same altitude as the Akatsuki agent, Gaara's glare had not changed in the least. Without a said spoken, the young Kazekage raised both his arms as he summoned a large part of his chakra supply. Behind him, five cubic-kilometers of sand erupted out of the desert canyon and formed into four monstrously large appendages similar to the first one.

"Geographical advantage, yeah?" Deidera muttered to himself. "This should be fun."

Immediately Gaara's sand attacked with the clear intent of capturing and mutilating or torturing the man. Throwing his bird into a series of loops and dodges, Deidera tossed a trio of his bird-bombs towards the young Kage. The sand quickly went to counter them, and caused them to explode as soon as they impacted it.

Some kind of explosive, Gaara realized. A homing type as well apparently. Homing jutsu were among the most annoying and tedious of jutsu that existed in the shinobi world. And they were among the kind that Gaara disliked the most.

Seeing that his usual bird-bombs were insufficient, Deidera quickly molded the next batch slightly differently. He made them much more streamlined and narrow, thus far more aerodynamic.

And indeed they were once he activated them. They easily dashed around the sandy weapons and headed straight for the seemingly unprotected Gaara. But as they neared him, his floating island of sand quickly began wrapping itself up around him in a clear attempt to block the birds. However Deidera had packed much more explosive chakra into those birds that he usually did. That was why when he exploded them prematurely of reaching Gaara, the attack was still very much a threat to him.

Using the distraction to weave out of the encircling sand, Deidera had his bird fly up ever higher into the air. Looking back at the results of his handy work, he was quite dismayed to see that his attack had failed. Gaara had completely surrounded himself in a protective cocoon with a small eye-like object floating nearby, watching him unblinkingly.

However, Deidera's moment of annoyance cost him severely. It gave the sand that he had fled from enough time to group. It erupted up around and behind him, quickly forming a larger version of the same shell that now surrounded his target. Deidera noticed this almost too late to react.

Launching himself instantly off his bird, he jumped straight for the fast-closing openings in the sand trap. He just managed to squeeze through the structure. However a considerable amount of the clingy sand suddenly dashed up to him from the side and encased his arm. Gaara had seen the opportunity and instantly took it.

With practiced ease and an uncharacteristic (albeit small) sneer of achievement on Gaara's face, the sand utterly crushed the man's arm to an unrecognizable mass of bloody flesh and splintered bones.

To Deidera's credit, he didn't cry out in pain like a vast portion of Gaara's past victims had. He somehow found the strength of will to ignore the pain. Despite having his arm crushed, he managed to swallow a small portion of the sand, hurriedly molded some of his most explosive clay into it, and returned it.

With his other hand, he spat out another bird. As what remained of his left arm was torn off his body, the bird formed into a perfect replica of the one he'd been forced to abandon and he dropped onto it unsteadily.

Despite the loss of his arm, Deidera wasn't too overly concerned. This was actually the third time he'd lost one since he'd become a shinobi. As such, it was very easy matter for him to…acquire a replacement. No, he instead focused on the battle at hand while chuckling quietly. "Oh-ho, you're good…very good."

Reaching into his satchel again, he encountered a small problem. He was nearly out of his exploding clay. That would mean that his next moves would have to be very carefully thought out if he intended to win.

Looking back at the small ball of floating sand, he noticed a portion of the sand was missing. In fact, the sand that had crushed his arm was even now flying back towards the small sphere. The Akatsuki agent restrained a grin as an idea hit him.

I see…he realized. The sand he used to crush my hand and the sand he uses to protect himself are…different from the rest. That sand is far faster and stronger than what he had summoned from the environment. It must be saturated in his chakra, meaning that he carries a set amount with him at all times. And that's where he gets the reputation for his 'ultimate defense.' I can use that!

During his thoughts, he had been busy molding the remainder of his clay into a single homing pigeon. As the mouth in his palm spat out the new bomb, a portion of his restrained grin made its appearance on his face. Sure, all he had left was his special Number 18 bomb and the small bird he just made, but he knew his victory was already assured.

Down below on the streets of Sunagakure, Baki and Kankurou were staring up at the battle taking place so far above them. They had already dispersed the shinobi to protect the civilians from any explosions or debris that may fall to the ground.

Kankurou, like most of Sunagakure, had sensed the moment the battle began. Though he had changed greatly over the past few years in some regards, the massive amount of killing desire that flared up from the Kazekage Tower had reminded everyone that their leader was still the container of the Shukaku.

But upon seeing the black robes of the man he was fighting, Kankurou silently wished he could join in the battle. He, too, had been furious when he learned of the Temari being raped. And like his younger brother, Kankurou had thrown himself into training for the same reasons as well. When Gaara had shared his suspicions on who had raped their sister, Kankurou had privately agreed with his logic. If they'd had any leads, Kankurou would've been the first to volunteer to accompany Gaara on his quest for vengeance.

Now after several months of strained patience, laborious training, fruitless spying missions, and seething rage, one of the Akatsuki members had the nerve to waltz right into their village and he couldn't join his brother in battle! Why? None of his puppets could fly.

"Kankurou?" Baki said, snapping the teenager from his thoughts.

"What is it?" he was reluctant to look away from the battle, but he did out of respect for his former sensei.

"Consider the possibility of Gaara going crazy again," the older Jounin said quietly, drawing a fast scowl from Kankurou. "…and the scenario of him releasing the Shukaku again…"

If Kankurou had been asked that question a few years ago, he'd have immediately imagined the worst possible scenario. A scenario that was very much similar to the one that Baki was currently asking him. However, Kankurou was one of the very few people to have been privileged with Gaara sharing one of his newest and deepest of desires.

Gaara had told him shortly after they had returned to Suna after the mission to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. Gaara told him that he no longer desired to live for himself, to love only himself. After battling against a fellow Jinchuuriki, his eyes had been opened to a whole new realm of beliefs. Beliefs that he may have at one time come to embrace much earlier had certain situations not occurred.

Gaara had seen how ferociously Uzumaki Naruto had fought after he realized that his people who were very dear to his heart were in danger. He'd experienced firsthand the sheer power Naruto had summoned in order to protect his home from certain destruction by the Ichibi. He'd watched in unsurpassed awe when Naruto had fought against his demon's power to regain control of his body. And finally he'd seen the immeasurable resilience and determination of the blonde when he fought to retrieve his teammate. Even though it had been clear that the two soon began to fight to see who the stronger shinobi was, the rivalry between them had been incredibly fierce.

And Gaara wanted to become like that. He wanted to become a person who others would call upon for protection, to share their emotions, and to be respected by everyone. No longer feared as the uncontrollable weapon he had been. He wanted people to look up to him and see that through hard work and perseverance, they too could become strong like him, like Naruto.

That was why Gaara aspired to and soon became the Godaime Kazekage.

"That won't happen," Kankurou said to Baki with such conviction that his sensei looked at him with a slight amount of curiosity. "Gaara won't allow any harm to come to his village." Turning back to the fighters who had taken a brief moment to regain their breaths and plot their strategies, he yelled out as loud as he could, "Do your best Kazekage-sama!"

It was a cheer that was soon mirrored by everyone else in the village.

From where he was hiding, a small smile pulled at Gaara's lips as he heard the cheer of his civilians. The cheer filled him with pride and determination. He would win this battle and find out where the Akatsuki had been hiding. And he'd do it not only to sate his bloodlust for the rapist among them, but he's do it to ensure that that organization would never again threaten a civilian or citizen of his village.

Now that most of his immediate fury had been spent during the course of the fight, he could once again start to think clearly. He no longer intended to end this man's existence. No, he would be much better used to interrogate and discover what he knew of the Akatsuki's plans.

However, he already knew that the interrogation would be very long and most likely fruitless. Generally an S-Class nuke-nin from any village would be able to withstand and adapt to any situation almost instantly. That meant it could be months or even years before they learned anything of value from the man. And that was only if he didn't manage to escape at some point.

But he couldn't allow the man to escape this battle without learning something more. Yet he knew it was more likely that he'd be somehow defeated and captured. Then the man would…!

A devious smirk, reminiscent of all the times he'd given into his demon's whispers and urges in the past, appeared on his face as an idea came to life inside his mind. It would be risky, no doubt. But if it worked…

Setting the new bird-bomb aside, Deidera dug into his robe and extracted his special Number 18 bomb. He threw it off to the side, enlarging it as he did. Yelling out to his target, he said, "That's it! I'm sick of you and that blank face! I'm destroying this worthless town!"

The three-meter tall bomb dropped like a rock towards the unprotected village below. Down on the streets, shinobi and civilian alike in vain attempted to run for safety. As the bomb fell, Gaara in desperation called upon a fair amount of the Ichibi's youki. Just when the large bomb was several dozen meters above the village, it detonated and unleashed an explosion that could've destroyed over half of the village.

But when the fiery display died down, all of the sand that Gaara had previously used in his attempt to capture Deidera was floating protectively above the village. It had formed a sort of very large and very thick shield that effectively redirected the brunt of the explosion skyward.

From where he still stood perched on his bird, Deidera could see Gaara's shadowy form inside his cocoon panting heavily from exertion apparently. Unseen by Gaara, his last remaining homing bird was gently flying up towards the hole in his shield. Restraining himself, he waited until it had practically flown into the hole (when Gaara finally noticed it) to detonate it.

The smaller but no less deadly explosion soon cleared, revealing an unmarked cocoon surface. Indeed, that special sand is very fast…lucky me. He could very much sense that the little bit of clay he'd slipped into that very same sand was currently residing within that shell. That meant he could finally attack the young Kage directly.

Deidera grinned at his victory as that remaining clay exploded within that shell, contorting the shape for moment as a low rumble sounded from the inside. A moment after the rumbling died down, the collected sand that the Kazekage had summoned began to fall limply back to the earth below. All the Suna citizens who'd been watching from below yelled out in shock or disbelief at watching their young leader be defeated.

As the cocoon of sand began to disintegrate around the boy, Deidera dove forward and easily caught the unconscious body as he thought to himself. You truly are a typical Kage, to use the last of your strength to protect your village. You would've won had you just let the Number 18 fall on them.

The bird he flew on wrapped up the sandy and cracked body of the defeated Kazekage by using some of its tail feathers. Swooping around, Deidera let out a sigh of relief now that his mission was complete.

Though not killing him turned out to be much more difficult than I'd originally thought, he mused to himself as he headed back to where his partner awaited his return.

As the bomb-wielding Akatsuki agent flew away with his perceived victory, a silent pair of light teal eyes watched from the shadows before rapidly pursuing him.

(Author's Note) Whew, now that was a rush! And a very fulfilling one at that! Also, I know that it's very close to canon. But what can I say? There really wasn't much that I could change. Well…I did make a few discreet changes. I wonder how many of you will figure out just had happened here. Though, if I'm correct, most of you probably already know just occurred.

And in case some of you are wondering, Naruto's thoughts on the Hyuuga clan and their politics are also my own to a certain degree.

One more thing, don't expect the next chapter to come out any time soon. I was just lucky to be able to punch out these past two so quickly after one another.

5 kilometers--3.105 miles