This dedication goes to MatrixSailorStarKnightZ. Thank you for beta-reading and the chapter title idea!

Legacy of the Rasengan III
Chuuten
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 6: Baki's Plan

Sunagakure, one day earlier
11:00am

"Baki-san!" a shout sounded from near the exit of the canyon walls. "You'd better come up here and see this for yourself!"

Looking up at the source of the voice, Baki spotted a small but growing group of shinobi. One of them was waving his arm to get his senior's attention. Whatever was there must've been very unusual.

Dashing forward, he came to an abrupt halt after passing easily through the small crowd. What he saw made him pause for a second a small scroll standing on one end in the desert sands with the crest of the Kazekage stamped onto it. As he gingerly examined it with an expert eye, his curiosity was roused further as there seemed to be a lack of traps around it.

Picking up the small scroll, he continued to examine it as he cut the seal and unrolled it. The contents of the scroll filled him with momentary relief, which was quickly replaced by disbelief and dread. When he'd finished reading, he turned to the gathered shinobi with a sigh of resolution.

"Recall all the oinin we've dispatched," Baki barked. "I want them back in the village and to prepare for a possible secondary attack. The rest of you, gather our dead!"

"Ossu!" the shinobi shouted before dashing off to their respective duties.

Turning back to face the desert sea that the two Akatsuki had disappeared back into, Baki growled quietly to himself. "I hope you know what you're doing."

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Current day, 8:00am

There are many quirks to being a Kage, even an acting Kage. It was a well-established routine for Baki to take up the role of acting Kazekage whenever Gaaras-sama had to leave the village for extended periods. Thus it was with extreme ease that he now slid back into that role. In fact, if not for the difference in their abilities and strengths, Baki was probably one of the most qualified Jounin in Suna to have taken up the position after the Yondaime Kazekage's death rather than Gaara. And while being the Kazekage was a great blessing, it was also a curse for almost the very same reasons.

People knew who the Kage was and the basics of his or her backgrounds. They were quite often out in the open with their public, interacting with the villagers and shinobi alike. In the Kage's home village, that wasn't as much of a problem. But should they have to join to an opposing village where there were bound to be radicals who lusted for the Kage's death and blood, it put their lives in varying degrees of danger despite even their great strength and skills. That was considered one of the bigger disadvantages.

However one of the lesser known or considered curses with being a Kage was the necessity to maintain good relations with all shinobi, villagers, and especially clans of that particular village, even if the Kage's opinions on matters were significantly different than the ones they were suppose to interact with peacefully. This often led to varying amounts of tension during meetings and even casual conversations.

It was this second curse of being a Kage that Baki now had to handle. How do you convince a pair of the oldest shinobi yet unquestionably most skilled shinobi remaining in the village to return to service after they had long since retired and had literally no desire to associate with their once idolized village?

In the days of their youth, Chiyo-baasama and Ebizou-jiisama's village of Sunagakure had been the most powerful and recognized village of the world. The strength of the old Sunagakure, which had been led by the Sandaime Kazekage at the time and until his sudden disappearance, had been praised and feared by all. The secrets of their strength had been in the way that they had trained their shinobi to be near-perfect killing machines with little to no emotions to interfere with their judgment and thus their missions.

But with not only the sudden disappearance of the Sandaime Kazekage, Konohagakure's unexpected victory in the Third Great Shinobi War, the inauguration of the Yondaime Kazekage, and finally the sealing of the Ichibi into Gaara, the strength of Sunagakure and their vision of greatness crumbled before their eyes. The desertion of Chiyo's grandson, Akasuna no Sasori, had been the final straw. They had all but cut their ties to Suna, choosing to watch as their village grew "weak and feeble," having to form a multitude of temporary alliances to even stay in power. The alliance with Konoha was only the most recent, yet the most painful of all the previous ones.

He had tried to avoid this moment. In all honesty, he did not want to have to turn to them for help since he knew there was a high possibility of not receiving it. Thus he had made sure that his shinobi had made all possible attempts. But the situation was far more dire than he had originally thought. And now here Baki was, about to beg the aid of two retired shinobi who had all but abandoned their village. The odds were definitely against him.

Thankfully he had an advantage that could make the odds lean a bit more his way.

He found them sitting in a large room. Chiyo, the legendary poison master and puppeteer who had once taken down an entire fortress by herself, was sitting on one side of the small pool of water in the center of the room. Her seemingly frail, wrinkled hands held an old bamboo fishing rod, waiting patiently for dinner to take nibble off the waiting bait. Her brother, Ebizou, was sitting on the opposite edge merely watching his sister fish for their dinner.

If not for their steady breathing, it would've been very easy to have mistaken the pair to have died of old age based on their aged, wrinkled faces and motionless bodies. But Baki knew that after a very long lifetime as elite shinobi, each of them was subconsciously poised to attack in a second's notice.

"Siblings," he began in clear and very respectful tone. "I beg you to assist us."

"A pair of old has-beens like us?" Chiyo asked sharply, not looking up from her gaze of watching the fishing line in the water. "We are of no use to Sunagakure anymore."

"An organization called Akatsuki has attempted to take the Ichibi and escaped," Baki continued, determined that they be fully informed of the situation before they sent him away. As he considered the next part of his statement, he was hit by momentary inspiration. Why not tickle their pride in their village? Surely that would sway them, if only a little right? "If we allowed this insult to remain, Suna would appear even more inept than we were before."

"This is your generation," the elder man grunted out sternly, feeling only apathy to the jab. "Do it by yourselves."

Undeterred, Baki tried his last card before he pulled the ace. "You two still possess a spy network in nearly every country not allied to us. We need that network now, more than ever."

"We have no desire to aid such a weak village," Chiyo snapped, turning a glare upon Baki looked rather strange on such a wrinkled face. The fact that their once-mighty village had been so terribly weakened while under the leadership of the incompetent Yondaime Kazekage (in their eyes at least) was one of the biggest insults to their pride and lives. "I have only one remaining attachment to this village: I wish to see my dear grandson's face once more."

Returning her gaze to the pool as she felt a nibble on the bait, she said one last statement before she planned to dismiss the Jounin. "Besides, we retired long ago."

If he hadn't had a reputation to uphold and if he'd been thirty years younger, Baki might've leapt up and let out a shout of joy and relief. She had brought the issue up all by herself! This was better than he could've hoped for. "I believe I should share some recent intelligence we received from a very reliable source. One of the Akatsuki members is your grandson."

Needless to say, the twins would not be having fresh sushi for dinner that night as Chiyo's attention was now solely focused on Baki.

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Sunagakure, two days later
1:45pm

It was a group of four badly sweating and panting shinobi that approached the entrance of Suna. Due to the fact that they had run into a slight dust storm and with the amount of sweat that coating their bodies, Team Seven and Temari were covered in sand and a thin layer of mud over their exposed skin.

Having run into Temari shortly after leaving Konoha and explaining the situation to her, the pregnant Suna-kunoichi had promptly joined their team. Against all of their recommendations, Temari kept with their faster-than-necessary sprinting pace despite the precious cargo in her gut.

"Gaara is my brother!" was all she'd say whenever they had asked or demanded she slow down.

"Temari-san!" a voice called out from one of the hidden terraces of the crevice. A Chuunin leapt down level with them with a concerned look on his face. "Thank goodness you've returned."

"What's wrong?" she demanded fiercely, asking the question that had been on each of Team Seven's minds.

"Baki-san wishes to see you and the Konoha-nin," the Chuunin said. "I think he's in the Kazekage Tower."

Due to the fact that they each eaten a soldier pill, they still had near limitless energy despite running through their bodies. It was why that even after two whole days of nonstop sprinting they were able to take off running again down the crevice and into Suna. In the tower, they came upon Baki who looked like he was having a very bad day.

"You're finally here," he said, sounding very relieved. "A little earlier than I'd expected, though."

"What's the status?" Sasuke asked, wiping some of his sweat and mud off his forehead.

"It would seem that we've got our hands tied at the moment," Baki said, standing and walking around the desk. "Our original message to Konoha had been sent a bit prematurely it seems."

"Prematurely?" all four asked, two of the speakers had hope rising up inside them.

"Hai," Baki answered, nodding. "Godaime-sama apparently wasn't captured...he followed them."

"...Oh, shit," Naruto moaned quietly to himself, his sentiments were completely shared by his teammates. This doesn't bode well.

"What do you mean he followed them?!" Temari demanded, very close to screaming.

"He tricked them--and us--into thinking that they'd captured him, but it seems that it was probably only a Suna Bunshin. He and Kankurou--"

"HIM TOO?!"

"--took off to pursue them back to their base," Baki continued, his face grim. "Gaara-sama left us instructions to not pursue them. He stated that it was possible there could be a secondary attack now that they thought they'd succeeded in their mission."

"Let me guess," Sasuke said slowly. "You've also completely lost their trail by now."

Baki's look of shame was answer enough.

"Where was the last place they fought?" he asked as he began nodding towards his blonde teammate. "He may not look like much, but this dobe is an excellent tracker."

"Better to not look like much than to look like a woman," Naruto countered, a grin peeking out of his solemn expression. "No offense, Sakura-chan, Temari-san."

"I'm afraid that won't do much good," Baki answered, cutting off the kunoichi's replies. "Gaara-sama and the Akatsuki, a blonde-haired man, fought in the air above Suna."

"That must've been awesome," Naruto mumbled to himself.

"What was the Akatsuki's fighting style?" Sasuke pressed on.

"He used some kind of long-distance explosives...Doton element, I believe," rubbing his chin in thought, Baki glanced at the Uchiha. "You would probably stand the best against that man, with your Raiton jutsu of course."

Sasuke didn't need to see the slight teasing twinkle in the older Jounin's eye to know that he, too, had seen the movie. How else would a Jounin in Sunagakure know of Sasuke's secondary chakra affinity?

Turning, Baki began to guide them outside. "Uzumaki-san, do you still require something to track them with?"

"No thanks," Naruto said, grinning slightly as he looked around the room. "This is Gaara's office right? This is more than enough!"

"I've got several shinobi that ready and willing to accompany you," the temporary Kazekage said as they walked out into the wind-swept streets.

"I'm coming too," Temari interrupted, earning annoyed and surprised glances from the group. "I'm not going to sit around here waiting like a little damsel while my brothers are in danger. Besides I owe them a good beating for doing something so stupid!"

"Temari!" a loud voice croaked from above them. "You will remain in this village! Do not forget that you are pregnant!"

On the edge of the Tower's balcony several stories above them, stood an ancient looking woman wrapped in frayed clothing and a simple hat. "I am far more than enough to accompany those little whippersnappers."

"But Chiyo-sama!" Baki yelled out in concern, though he was secretly pleased. As a shinobi, Baki could not order any active shinobi to accompany the Konoha team, as per Gaara-sama's orders on the scroll. However, Elder Chiyo had long since retired as a shinobi, thus she didn't have to follow Gaara's orders if she didn't want to. And though she was clearly no longer in her prime, she was every bit as formidable as she had been fifty years earlier.

Yes, she would do plenty well as an additional team member...once they recovered from seeing a walking mummy not break every bone into her body from the jump she made. After all it wasn't everyday they saw someone old enough to be their great-great-grandmother and yet have that kind of versatility and strength in their joints, shinobi or not.

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River Country
2:32pm

Deidara grinned crookedly as he and Sasori neared the Akatsuki hideaway. It was one of many obscure hidden bases that they had created throughout the many countries for their eventual plan of world domination. Having a high number of mysterious rendezvous, staging, and supply points was not only a tried-and-true war tactic, but also a specialty among the Akatsuki.

At long last, he and Sasori could drop the charade and attain their real prize. It had been annoying and almost painful for the blond and the puppet-man maintain the illusion that they hadn't noticed the truth about their 'captive.' Although, to be fair with their target, it had taken them nearly a full day before their finally noticed it, a true tribute to the boy's skill level.

They were not transporting an unconscious Kazekage Jinchuuriki like they had originally believed. It was a Suna Bunshin. It was lack of a slowly replenishing chakra signature from the body that had finally caught their attentions on the next morning of the journey to their designated hideout. All shinobi, no matter badly injured or weak, would slowly regain their chakra reserves after a significant passing of time. But Bunshin, no matter what kind, always had a set amount of chakra.

Once this anomaly had caught their attentions and they'd closely but discreetly examined the body, it became very obvious to them. Sasori, as a master puppeteer who created his toys from dead bodies, knew a dead body from an unconscious body. The Suna Bunshin that Deidara had brought back was indeed as close to being an authentic near-corpse Kazekage, right down to the slight pulse of a heartbeat and the wheezing breath. For such minor and nearly insignificant details to be maintained for hours on end was nothing short of extraordinarily impressive for it took constant concentration and very large chakra supply.

Deidara, though nowhere near the expert, was well-acquainted with corpses. Despite his quick intelligence and ranking as an S-Class nuke-nin, he had been completely fooled by the Suna Bunshin at first. But, like with Sasori, if it hadn't been for the ever-constant chakra inside the Bunshin not gradually increasing, he probably would've continued to have been fooled.

And since all Bunshin had relatively short distances they could travel before dissipating, Deidara and Sasori both quickly realized why the clone hadn't crumbled yet. They're Jinchuuriki target was following them, no doubt wanting to track them to their primary base of operations. So it was a fortunate thing indeed that Pein had ordered them to journey to River Country instead of Rain Country.

Deidara knew that he'd have to fight the Jinchuuriki again. Deidara was the best matched against the Ichibi, much to Sasori's chagrin. That was why the pair of them had maintained the charade of not having noticed the Jinchuuriki's trick. With his depleted armory of clay and the significant drop in his chakra levels from their fight, the long walk had given him precious time to recover and discreetly gather a respectable amount of clay in preparation.

Now that they had finally arrived, Deidara's eagerness increased slightly. After all, it wasn't often he would be able to put on a dazzling display of his art for all his comrades (even if he despised some of them). Since they would be sending their temporal forms, they would have no choice but to watch the display and be in awe of his incredible skills.

Perhaps I'll even give that Uchiha-teme a small glimpse of what will one day end his life, Deidara thought as small waves of killing desire began to leak off his shoulders. An quiet, bloodthirsty chuckle snuck out of his lips as the large boulder slowly hoisted itself into the air to allow access to the massive cavern within.

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(Author's Note) Heh, I knew I was going to get a fair number of reviews who wanted to comfort me, but the sheer quantity has still surprised me! You guys don't need to worry about me too much. To be brutally honest, the reason that I'm even being discharged is because I didn't really put up too much of a fight to stop it. Yes, I would've very much appreciated being able to finish my tour over there. But at the same time, my 'job' was so dull and slow that there was barely any reason for me to even go to work most of the time (aside for accountability reasons).

Due to an extensive lack of an active job to do (both in Kuwait and in my home station), I just figured I'd save myself the boredom and get out while I still had the opportunity. Besides, since it is an Honorable Discharge, I can always reenlist in a few years if I decide to return to military service.

As much as I appreciate your concern, please tell me what you guys think of this chapter. And the last one too would be nice, but that doesn't necessarily matter anymore. Tell me, do you think I'm taking the storyline too slowly, too quickly, not enough emphasis on certain details? I mean, come on I know I'm forgetting something in this chapter since it just doesn't seem to have the same 'feel' as the first three.