Disclaimer: Thou Shalt Not Own Naruto or World of Warcraft. Cause neither do I.

Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!

Chiyo spat in front of Yura, her eyes glittering dangerously. "I knew there had to be a traitor—I just didn't think it'd be someone as apparently loyal as you. I suppose it was you who prevented the alarms from being raised when Gaara was attacked?"

The man gave a soft nod. "Yes." His eyes flickered back to Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura. Naruto stood at the forefront of the group, his eyes smoldering with rage at the Sand jounin. The boy's fists were clenched and it looked for a moment that he wouldn't let the man continue standing so calmly in front of him; his arms twitched occasionally, as if he were about to suddenly grab for his weapon and rush at the man.

How dare he!

The moment the small word left Yura's burnished bronze lips, a hot fire had leapt up in Naruto's stomach. The baleful fury traveled up Naruto's body into his chest, seizing his heart and making it pump and rage with Naruto's labored, furious breaths. This man had the gall to simply admit it like that? What was wrong with him? He glared at the man with eyes that could have melted steel, noticing that Yura's expression never changed. The man obviously noticed Naruto's rage, for it was hard not to—the air burned with it, as if a hidden inferno had arisen around Naruto, blowing searing air in all directions, and Naruto's breaths were the most audible sound in the pristine silence of the clearing. However, Yura did not glare back, did not cower, nor did he smile triumphantly. He just stared back, as if curious, as if he couldn't possibly conceive of why Naruto had contorted his face so. As if the anger Naruto was showing to him was a foreign language.

Chiyo noticed this, and frowned. This man—he was Yura, no doubt, but he did not act like it. She had met Yura several times in her life, mostly when she had been forced to accompany her brother (who's heart was far too soft, and accepted just about any request that was made to him) to Council meetings. The man had been polite, knowledgeable, and above all loyal to a fault to the Sand. He had been one of Gaara's biggest supporters, when the young man became Kazekage. It was his loyalty, too, that had made Gaara appoint him as an advisor, only second to Baki.

So why did he now stand here?

"Hmph," said Chiyo. "You never seemed like the type who'd betray our village, Yura."

The man shrugged. "I couldn't say. That doesn't really matter, however, at this point? I have been ordered by my master to prevent you from going any further. That I will do, and nothing more." He lowered himself into a solid fighting stance, narrowing his profile but not lifting a finger to attack or prepare otherwise for offense. Rather, his movement seemed less a preparation, and more a signal.

Or at least that was what Kakashi felt; a mere second before a kunai flew past his ear close enough for him to feel the ringing steel on his skin and the light fluttering of an explosive note as it whipped in the air behind the deadly triangular knife. It thudded into the ground a foot in front of the jounin, right behind Naruto, who had turned at the gasp from Sakura. Upon seeing it, all four of the team stared at the kunai and the glowing note, which was rapidly approaching the point where it would detonate, for a second which all felt still allowed them to memorize every slight detail of the deadly weapon; but a mere second later, they leapt with shinobi grace and speed away from it, just as the explosive note reached its end, and filled the air with a thundering boom and a flash of yellow light.

'Another one…!' Kakashi thought.

At that moment Yura reacted. The former Sand-nin shot forwards with surprising speed, pulling a kunai from within his cloak and slashing at Chiyo, who had leapt closest to him. The old woman dodged back, lifting a dagger of her own to parry.

Her eyes widened, however, when Yura's blade passed through her own as if it weren't there, slicing it in two. Yura thrust his shoulder into her using the same built up force of his charge, and it struck Chiyo so hard that she was momentarily bereaved of breath. The force of the hit flung her backwards across the clearing, though despite her age she managed to recover sufficiently to land on her feet. She spat once again, noticing the red tinge to it this time. 'Such strength!' she thought.

Kakashi, as this happened, twisted in the direction the kunai had flown from—he caught for the briefest of moments a figure, dressed in the very same way as Yura, ducking away behind a tree. He raised a hand—and a second later there was a rustling within the trees, and the figure emerged again for a mere moment before vanishing into the forest. The once hidden presence of four others followed, made known by a low growl that echoed within the trees.

Kurenai's team would handle it. But it still posed the question: how had he avoided their and Tsuwabuki's attention? And how had Hinata's Byakugan missed him?

Yura, after ejecting Chiyo from his range, twisted at the sight of a silver blur—Tsuwabuki darting across the ground towards him, teeth bared. He raised his blade, preparing to meet her attack, but she suddenly stopped.

From where he now stood, Naruto began a string of hand seals.

'Yajuu Dogou!'

Tsuwabuki puffed out her chest and bucked her head back for a single instant before bellowing out a sound greater than any roar Yura had heard—a sound of thunder that seemed so unnatural and artificial that it couldn't have possibly been ejected by a mere fox. It came in the form of a massive surge of wind, which struck the Sand-nin violently, lifting him with ease and blasting him away with the ferocious speed of a flying arrow. Yura slammed into the wall of trees, which were uprooted and shredded to pieces by the vixen's voice, and disappeared in an explosion of dust and greenery.

While everything settled for a moment, and the air went silent and still, Chiyo glanced over at Naruto—though the boy's face registered a slight gleam of triumph, it was still set in a fierce, unblinking glare at the pile of rubble. His fox partner, which had loped to his side, seemed to show a similar look. She was nonetheless amazed—it was an impressive technique, and to be able to give chakra with such ease to a bonded creature at such a distance…usually one had to be within a foot or two for such a thing to be possible. It either meant that Naruto's chakra control was better than she had guessed, or that the strength of their bond was very impressive. She felt it the latter.

Sakura smiled at Naruto's success, but kept her eyes focused on the ruined trees—there was something odd that she didn't quite understand yet. Her eyes caught the glint of Chiyo's ruined kunai a little ways away from where she stood. How did he do that? She wasn't positive, but she was sure that no such strength enhancement techniques—medical or otherwise—existed in the Sand. It meant that either Yura had kept it a secret, much like his betrayal, or Akatsuki had outfitted him with it. She too, felt it the latter.

Kakashi moved swiftly beside Chiyo. "You all right?"

"I'll live," she said, with a snort as she rubbed her wounded ribs. She was quite sure at least one of them had broken, but did not think of it. The battle, she felt, had yet to end.

From within the trees, there was a sudden movement—a dark blur emerged from the pile, flinging itself straight at Naruto and Tsuwabuki. Yura, his cloak ripped and a pair of bruises on his cheek and forehead, ran at Naruto, lifting a kunai. Naruto freed his sword, bringing it up to meet the glittering knife, and when it struck there was a ringing crash of steel that nearly destroyed Tsuwabuki's sensitive ears. Yura's knife hit with such force that had it struck something of equal strength to it, both weapons would have shattered, and his opponent would have been flung back or had his arm broken. But Naruto's sword was special—instead of doing both, only Yura's weapon shattered, while Naruto stood firm and unmoving.

A second later Naruto retaliated—he swiped his weapon forwards and slapped Yura in the cheek with the flat of the blade, and with it traveled back the kinetic energy that had gone into Naruto's blade from the Sand-nin's previous strike. That was the second talent of Magni's Pride—not only would it defend any hit, but any force that struck it would be absorbed (as energy could not be destroyed) and if possible, redirected. It was a trick Naruto had discovered in his weeks of training at Stormwind. As it stood, the force of Yura's hit—which before would have been enough to turn stone to dust, slammed back into its maker's face.

With a hideous cracking sound, Yura spun, his neck twisting so much that he looked nearly to the front again, when it had finished. His body flew back a few feet and landed like a sodden sack of grain on the ground. After a final, violent spasm, he stopped moving altogether.

Kakashi gazed this time with amazement at his student. For once, instead of wasting his chakra and attacking his opponent in such a direct way, Naruto had won simply by a deft use of his weapon. No fancy jutsu, and he had done it with the effortlessness, and ruthlessness, of a proper shinobi.

And he didn't quite know how he felt about that.

Sakura walked steadily towards Naruto. She too was amazed; she glanced at the blonde's face, and found it had softened slightly.

"Naruto?" she asked, softly.

Naruto blinked, and turned to her. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

The blonde gave a small nod. "Yeah." He glanced back at Yura's lifeless form for a moment longer. He then abruptly turned and looked at Kakashi. Both his friend and former teacher felt relief when they saw the determination they knew well back in his eyes.

"Let's go! We gotta go find Kurenai-sensei and the others, and get back to finding—"

He stopped at the same moment Kakashi's exposed eye grew as big as a dinner plate, at Sakura recoiled in horror. Chiyo merely stared passively at the scene, her age mostly numbing her to such surprises—though she could not stop her mouth from dropping open slightly as she witnessed it.

Yura was standing.

The Sand-nin gazed with the same impassive, almost lifeless eyes at the team from Konoha, as he slowly twisted his neck back around to the position it was supposed to be in. There was another crack when he finally righted it, and he held it for a moment as the black and blue bruises on his neck began to fade, and within his vertebrae realigned and repaired themselves.

"…The hell was that!" Naruto cried, leaping away from the revived Yura. Sakura and Tsuwabuki joined him a moment later, while Kakashi and Chiyo remained where they stood behind Yura.

"What on earth…?" whispered Sakura.

"I'm guessing that's no kekkai genkai?" muttered Kakashi, looking to the old woman at his side.

"No," Chiyo muttered, her eyes narrowing.

His head now fully stable, Yura gave no more warning when he charged—not at Naruto, but Sakura.

The black-cloaked shinobi was fast. He glided through the trees as if he belonged among them, so swift that even Kiba and Akamaru were having trouble keeping up.

'He's trying to draw us away…' Kurenai thought. It meant that he was merely trying to distract them long enough for his partner to finish the other team off, or he intended to find a place that suited him better and fight them there. 'And that power earlier…'

Eventually, the figure leapt from the trees and landed in a much smaller clearing, near the very edge of the forest they were in. Beyond it lay an expansive field filled with tall, green grass, and few trees. It was already late in the day, so the shadows of the mighty trees behind them flooded the field, as did the burning orange from the distant, almost setting sun. The man turned immediately to face them, exposing his face—it was a young man, with short spiky brown hair and dull blue eyes. He wore no visible forehead protector.

But when Kurenai's group emerged from the trees as well, he raised his hands to make a seal. Hinata tensed, leaping to the front of the group, ready to use the Kaiten technique of her clan to defend her teammate from whatever attack he might be preparing.

But he did not attack.

Instead, he began to disappear—his body seemed to meld into the shadows he stood upon, fading until he became transparent, and then vanished entirely. Hinata's Byakugan immediately flared to life—but she could not see him.

"What the hell?" snarled Kiba. "His scent's gone again! Where'd he go?" Akamaru howled in agreement, his teeth gnashing and his tail upright and rigid.

"I can't see him," whispered Hinata, frowning. She did not relax from her stance—before the man had appeared as if from nowhere, attacking Naruto-kun and his teammates. That meant that whatever ability this was could fool both her eyes and Kiba's nose. He would not simply run away after leading them so far, either.

'What power is this?' thought Kurenai. 'A kekkai genkai?"

"Shino," said Kiba, turning immediately to the quiet boy, who stared forwards into the gleaming light of the field, the sunlight turning his glasses into twin suns. "Did you—"

Shino gave the barest of nods. He lifted a hand and pulled his collar down, as if planning to speak. Instead he looked immediately to the side, sucked in a small breath, and suddenly blew out. From his mouth a black blur—a frightfully deadly insect, a variant of his kikaichu—sped like a bullet, striking something unseen in the middle of the air. There was a grunt, and a moment later the Akatsuki member emerged, falling back and clutching a newly formed wound in which the bug had made its home on his chest. His eyes were slightly widened—though in pain or surprise it was hard to tell. He staggered back and coughed, splashing his lips and chin with blood.

"He never left…" said Shino, calmly.

Ignoring his pain, the man drew a trio of kunai from the folds of his cloak, and threw them at Shino, Kiba and Kurenai. Shino merely dodged to the side, Kiba ducked beneath his, while Kurenai deflected hers with one of her own. At that same moment the man rushed at Hinata, who was closest. His eyes suddenly flashed green and he made a grab at her head—but Hinata was faster. Not bothering to leap back, the girl met the man's charge and slammed a palm into the middle of his stomach. An explosion of pain seared through his abdomen, stunning him, and allowing Hinata to follow up with a cry as she laid into him with dozens of swift and glancing blows coupled with bursts of her own chakra.

'Hakke Rokujyon Sho!'

The man flew back, spitting more blood, whatever technique he might have been trying to perform lost along with his ability to use chakra. He landed roughly upon the ground, a few yards away, and lay still.

"Nice, Hinata!" said Kiba, with a grin in his teammate's direction.

Kurenai slowly walked towards the man, her eyes narrowed. He lay unmoving, but she had seen such a trick before. She readied a knife, and stood, waiting.

A moment passed.

Kurenai suddenly launched herself backwards, throwing the kunai straight at the man's heart. But with her sudden movement, the man rolled to the side, avoiding the dagger and then leaping to his feet. His eyes suddenly flared wide, and the whites bled red. His body began to shake and his face contorted into a furious glare. He snarled like a wild animal and launched himself at Kurenai, his hands rising up into ferocious claws and his teeth bared. He moved with frightening speed and if Kiba and Akamaru had not moved before that, he might've reached her.

'Gatsuuga!'

A whirling mass of claws, fur and cloth slammed into the man's chest, shredding his cloak and clawing away layers of skin. As the man soared back, Kiba separated from Akamaru's large body and kicked off the dog's back. He flew straight at the man, grabbing onto his ruined cloak with both hands and then roaring into his face like a feral hound. He discharged a burst of chakra from his body, willing it to spin, and then slammed the man into the ground with all his might. The combined spinning and strength drove the man through a layer of soft soil and into a large boulder beneath, which shattered in tandem with the man's spine.

The man gave a final gargling cry, a fountain of blood gushing from his mouth, before what life was left in his body flew from it.

Kiba wrenched his claws free and jumped away. Kurenai and his teammates immediately rushed to join him, while he sneered in triumph and the fallen man for a moment, willing him to rise again.

"Bastard!" he snapped at the corpse.

"Good job," Kurenai whispered, nodding at the boy. She stepped past him, and gazed into the small crater in which the man lay, broken and bloody from a combination of her student's attacks.

But the man was no longer there.

She recoiled in disgust, wrinkling her nose as a foul scent struck her attention, and widening her eyes in amazement at the sight. The man's body had decayed—rotted to a point where it looked years dead. Its eyes had rotted out and its blood had congealed where it was, becoming dark brown stains on its leathery lips and around its body; all that remained of it was a dry husk covering a malformed, broken skeleton.

"W-what the hell?" whispered Kiba, stepping back.

"Let's go," said Kurenai, turning away from the cadaver. "We can do nothing, now—it's likely some sort of safety measure; whatever techniques this man had, Akatsuki did not want them to be revealed. Let's return to Team Seven—hopefully they will have sorted out their own opponent, as well."

Her team nodded, turning their backs on the corpse and following back into the trees.

A moment later, the ground shifted, and a pair of eyes, white as milk, rose from the tall grass.

"One down."

"Hmph, let's remove him quickly."

Yura's fist tore into the dry earth beneath Sakura's feet, nearly pulverizing the young girl with it. Sakura leapt just out of the man's range, taking only a second to marvel at his strength—but also noticing that it was just that—strength. It was nothing like the power she had learned from Tsunade, and thus she knew it would be nowhere near as dangerous. To prove her point, she stomped the ground, releasing a burst of tightly bound chakra that released like a shotgun blast beneath her, creating a shockwave that knocked Yura off balance.

Kakashi tore forwards, drawing a kunai and throwing it at the man's head. Yura immediately ducked, and threw his hands into a seal as he did. For a moment, Sakura was caught in a moment of frightening tension, knowing she should attack and yet unable to, for fear of falling straight into his technique. In this moment, Kakashi and Naruto and crossed the distance to Yura and this is when he finally released his attack.

'Jinshuteki Genkai: Kijutsu Honryuu!'

Yura's eyes flashed green—and suddenly his body exploded into a torrent of bluish-green chakra, startling his attackers into stopping. The blue-green light swirled in every direction around Yura, licking them with its warm, tingling power—but at the same time, all three of them felt an immense exhaustion fall over them, as if they had just been fighting for hours on end. It lasted only for a moment, and then both the feeling and light were gone. Yura turned swiftly and swung a punch at Kakashi's head, prompting the man to dodge. Sakura took this time to rush forwards, and before Yura could move to counterattack, she hauled off and punched him in the ribs as hard as she could.

And Yura barely moved. Instead of flying backwards from the strength of her punch, he looked as if any physically fit fifteen year old girl had struck him, not the student of Tsunade-hime, whose strength was legendary. Yura merely doubled over in pain for a scant second before pulling up and smacking Sakura across the face—she was thrown back four yards and landed roughly on her feet, stumbling and nearly falling.

'What…?' she thought, staring at her arm while she wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth, 'How did…?' Her strength, she suddenly realized, had not vanished, but had simply been unable to be released from her body. Whatever the man had done, it had removed her ability to expel chakra from her body—the same chakra that was the source of her monstrous strength.

Kakashi noticed her distress and what had occurred before, and tried to produce a small burst of chakra from his fingers—and found he could not.

'A chakra inhibitor,' he thought, looking towards Yura. 'He forcefully closed all of our tenketsu for a moment, using that technique.'

Yura twisted around, ready to face Kakashi—but then a strange look crossed his face, and he stopped. He suddenly changed his mind, and a moment later Yura was rushing at the only member who hadn't been hit with his technique—Chiyo.

Tsuwabuki moved to intercept. She snarled at the man, suddenly blurring lashing out with claws and teeth at his midsection. He grunted as the fox slammed into him, but he did not move—instead, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her with great ease, spinning and hurtling her back towards Kakashi and Sakura. Yura barely missed a step before he had continued his movement towards Chiyo.

The old woman growled and thrust a hand out. It looked for a moment like she had done nothing, but a second later Yura stopped mid-run, as if time had frozen for him.

"Now, dammit!" she snarled to her temporary teammates. "I can't hold him for long! He's strong!"

"Naruto! No chakra! Use only weapons!"

Naruto heard his sensei's cry from behind him as he ran. He reached Yura with but a second to spare, unable to use his Kazaashi technique. With a cry he hammered a kunai into Yura's back, and then immediately jumped away, while the man stumbled forwards in pain and surprise.

"Oi! Old lady! Get away, there's a bomb!" Naruto shouted. Chiyo backpedaled with surprising speed and ferocity for a woman her age.

All the while, she gazed into Yura's slightly glazed eyes.

"He's waiting for you, Chiyo-baasan…Sasori-sama is waiting for you…" he said, ever so soft—she did not even hear him, only saw his lips, and saw the familiar movements of her grandson's name, which had been on everyone's when he had first left.

And then Yura smiled; and died when the explosive note attached to the kunai in his back detonated.

"What the hell…?" Naruto muttered, when the dust had settled. He glanced at a stunned Chiyo through the smoke streaming from Yura's remains. "What the hell was that guy?"

'He smelt strange,' muttered Tsuwabuki. 'Like a man, but not. I thought I smelt troll, and perhaps some orc, and an even stranger scent—like a night elf, but not.' It had disturbed the fox considerably to smell such familiar scents in such close proximity, when none of the sources could have possibly been present. She looked up at her partner, who looked down at her with confusion.

What did that mean?

The old woman glanced up at Naruto, her eyes narrowed and her face scrunched to look more like a large, white raisin with her powerful frown. She did not, truthfully, have an answer for the boy. She just shook her head, and walked around the smoking crater.

"That earlier technique sealed our chakra," muttered Kakashi, when they had rejoined. "It seems to have worn off by now, however." He glanced at Sakura. "You alright?"

The girl nodded, retracting a healing palm from her cheek, where she had been struck earlier. She was frowning, her large forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Why did he do that?"

"Do what?" asked Naruto.

"Attack us. Was it some sort of jutsu that forced him to do all of it; I remember Gaara telling me that he was one of the most loyal Sand-nin—and you seemed to have thought the same," she said, glancing at Chiyo.

"He was. I believe Sasori did something—perhaps developed a mind-control jutsu. It would suit his personality well." She spat the poisonous words from her mouth, and gave a final glare in Yura's general direction, for it was difficult to know where exactly the majority of his body now rested. "There is no other reason I can think of why he would betray us. It didn't even seem to be a surface compliance—it was as if he changed his very emotions and feelings and attitudes. If that is so then he has become even more powerful than I can imagine."

Kakashi nodded, and seemed about to speak, when the bushes at the far end of the clearing rustled and Team Eight shuffled out. All of them appeared uninjured, but they seemed as confused as Team Seven and Chiyo.

"Let's go," said Kakashi, finally. "We'll travel as far as we can tonight, and stop to rest when it gets dark."

"I would disagree," mumbled Chiyo, it would be better if we continue to travel and attempt to reach their headquarters before dawn. Those two were not placed here to try and kill us. They were placed here as a distraction." She looked at all of them, her frown ever darkening. "I think they have already begun the extraction process."

"What?" Naruto asked, stepping towards her.

"The goal of Akatsuki, according to Jiraiya and furthered by their capturing of Gaara, is most certainly to extract the bijuu from his body. They intend, I believe, to use it to create a new jinchuuriki. By doing that, they will be able to use the monstrous power that it contains, making them infinitely more dangerous than before. That is partly why we must go as fast as possible."

Sakura frowned, she opened her mouth and readied to ask the woman what she meant by "partly," but Kakashi spoke first.

"Then we'll travel until we reach the headquarters," he said.

Kurenai glanced at him. "Is that wise? How long do we have until this extraction process is complete?" She looked at Chiyo for this.

"It depends," the woman said. "I do not know exactly the jutsu they have planned to use. It might be something they manufactured themselves, as they are all no doubt extremely powerful shinobi. But an enormous amount of chakra must be removed from Gaara. Though he is technically the weakest of the nine, Shukaku the Ichibi possesses the chakra equivalent of several hundred A-Class shinobi. Therefore, it will take some time for them to draw it all out, and that is why we must move quickly. My guess is two days at the least—and they will have begun, no doubt, before we even left. Our only evidence for their continuation was those kunai fodder they sent at us."

Kakashi softly nodded, "But there's no sense in rushing in. We'll wait and plan out our attack from there."

"Fine!" Naruto suddenly ejected, his body tensed and his eyes turned towards the edge of the forest, where Tsuwabuki stood in anticipation with Akamaru. "Let's just go!" From Chiyo's words sprang a new worry that Naruto couldn't quite explain. He just knew now that they had to reach Gaara as fast as possible. Faster, even. They needed to go, they needed to save him.

Kakashi nodded, and they left the clearing. He strayed behind his students and their friends, and slid back to Chiyo, whispering into her ear as did.

"Tonight, you'll tell us the full story, I hope."

Chiyo narrowed her eyes at the man, but nodded slightly anyways.

"Fine."

"Both distractions are dead."

"They will reach current position at two hours past midnight at their current rate of movement."

"They hardly offered a distraction at all…yeah," said Deidara.

"They served their purpose well enough. Kongoubutsu no jutsu only works well for those whose bodies can take it. Your Sand-nin, Sasori, was rather receptive to the ability," the commanding voice said, the words dripping like molten gold. "It's rare that someone can be infused with so many foreign cells and attain powers not their own for so long, without the degenerative effects. He even was able to regenerate a few times, and retained his strength until the end."

"Does it really matter? That toy is broken; it's ceased to be interesting. I am more interested in the group that may be coming here. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki is among them, you said, Zetsu?"

"Yes," the metronomic voice said.

"Then that one will be mine. The Kyuubi is the strongest of all the bijuu, and one of the most difficult to attain. If we capture it now, when it's away from that damned village, it will be easier, won't it?"

"Yes," the leading voice said. "Then he's yours. Just don't get yourself killed, Sasori—you have yet to play your true purpose in this organization, and your other mission is just as important."

"I don't plan to. He won't be difficult. Which one is he?"

"Blonde."

"Has a damn loud mouth and carries a dwarf sword."

"Don't underestimate him. He defeated the Broodmother, and trained under Jiraiya-sama for a time," said a soft, controlled voice.

"I won't fail, Itachi, unlike you. Even if there was a Sennin with him this time, I wouldn't."

"Now, now Sasori-danna," said Deidara, smirking at his partner across the room. "Itachi-san did his best…yeah."

"Shut up," the leading voice said. "Continue the extraction, it's almost complete."

In the writhing mass of white below them, Gaara remained—and still he screamed. And strangely, he felt a growing heaviness in his eyes, slowly building up with each agonizing second. The pain was slowly disappearing. It would be gone soon.

Soon, he'd be able to rest.

Alone.

As he had always been destined to.

The stopped to rest a scant few hours before dawn, at the top of a ridge that led into a small, pristine valley. Kakashi knew they had entered the River Country from the sudden change in flora and fauna. The trees were rich and beautiful and tall—each one they passed flowed with inner life and vigor, so green that they made emeralds pale in comparison. Compared to the previous area, which were mostly a mix of light green shrubs, bushes and short desert plants, due to the close proximity of the Wind Country; and short, stumpy conifers that despite giving enormous covering were unimpressive in appearance and possessed a fraction of the life the River Country did. The animals were far more frequently encountered—deer, all manner of songbirds, and small mammals whose presence was just barely known by the shifting of the many shrubs that formed a second canopy over the ground.

The most obvious thing Kakashi could see about the area was its potential for hiding. It was not a large country, but it was so vastly unpopulated that there were hundreds of places to have a hideout. Given also Akatsuki's extensive abilities and apparently low membership, it would be a perfect place.

The ridge they stopped upon looked over a rather large waterfall and the pool it flowed into. It lay just below them, a place that looked so unassuming that had he a girlfriend, Kakashi would have brought her there. It was calm and beautiful and had he not known the truth of the place, he would have thought it relaxing. But he could not, for that was where, he knew, Akatsuki had made their hideout. Tsuwabuki, Pakkun and Kiba had all agreed on the location. Though the water did mask their smell, the trail ended by the water. Hinata had then used her Byakugan to discover the location of the door behind the waterfall, and the seal upon it. From there, they had returned to the ridge, and made camp.

"So," Kakashi began, glancing away from the fire he had just built. "Chiyo-baasama, might you tell us now what you truly know about this situation? I do not feel comfortable continuing this mission until all of the facts have been laid out. You know enough about the technique they plan, or have already used, on Gaara. Why?"

While the rest of the team glanced at the man in confusion, Chiyo stared into the fire, her eyes slightly glazed.

"Because," she said, distantly, "it is essentially the reverse process to what I used, when I sealed the demon Shukaku into Gaara's unborn body."

Naruto stiffened, staring at the women with suddenly wide eyes. She did not meet his eyes, or even glance in his direction, solely focusing on Kakashi.

"Fifteen years ago, the Fourth asked me to create a weapon for the Sand to use against our enemies. He cited the Leaf specifically—no doubt because he knew of my enmity for it, but also because before asking me he said that they themselves had gained control of one of the bijuu. He wanted a counter to it, and Shukaku had always been ours to control. I had no qualms. I detested the Leaf, and all other countries. I thought it would be my final mark upon the village, to protect it. It would be my final mission. I had no wishes, though I had lost everything, to die at that point, however. Therefore, I used a complicated seal on the vessel of his choice—his own son, still in his mother's womb."

"So originally," muttered Kurenai, "Gaara was to be used as a weapon against the Kyuubi." She glanced sideways at Naruto, who was staring into the fire as if he had seen it for the first time.

"Among others," muttered Chiyo. "From the very beginning, shinobi have attempted to harness the power of the bijuu. To do that, they needed to create a vessel, and there is no better one than a child of their own village. It is the perfect weapon—one they can mold to become more powerful than all the rest, and more deadly to their enemies than anything else. They call these weapons "jinchuuriki". Gaara is one of them."

Sakura glanced sideways at Naruto now, her brow creasing with worry, her heart aching with each word the old woman spoke. Naruto looked entirely without emotion, and was staring at Chiyo harder than everyone else. Hinata noticed this strange occurrence, as well as Sakura's look, and wondered what was the matter. Shino observed this as well, and kept it hidden, suspecting what Hinata could not, or was afraid to. He glanced at Kiba, who was silent and listening intently to Chiyo's story, hanging upon every word.

"To answer your question, finally, Kakashi, there is a reason for my haste, and a good one. It is not only that if a bijuu falls into their hands, they will become that much stronger—no, if they succeed in drawing out Shukaku, it will be the third time such a thing has happened. Every container before Gaara who has had the demon removed from him, using a variant of whatever jutsu they are using, has perished."

"What the hell!"

Everyone's gaze snapped to Naruto. The blonde was staring viciously into the fire, directing his anger into the intense heat of the flame, as if trying to feed it. He then looked up at Chiyo, and the woman was startled by the amount of force within his eyes; it was a look that she had not seen before, so powerfully emotional that it hurt to gaze into them. Even in all her years as a shinobi, she could not remember seeing a look such as that.

"Why the hell is it him? What the hell did he do to deserve this? To deserve anything? Just who did Gaara piss off in a past life to make him suffer like this!"

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered, in an attempt to calm him.

"All his life, Gaara's been treated worse than anybody. He's been treated like lower than trash, even less than the dirt that's been scraped off somebody's boots. He's been feared, hated, and what did he do to deserve it? 'Cause he had a father who was so stupid that he thought that using his kid to seal a demon would be a good idea? And now, after finally finding respect; after finally finding people who care for him, finally finding people whom he can call his precious people"—here he thought of Kankuro and Temari, and each of their pleading looks and words before he had left—"he's gonna die? After all of that?"

"Only if we let him," said Chiyo, regaining herself when the boy's tirade had finished. But his words had done more than ring through her ears, for her and everyone else. They had been so profound, and so passionately spoken, that Chiyo felt as if he had said them from experience. "That is what we are here to do, isn't it?"

"Then let's go!" Naruto roared, standing.

"Wait a minute, Naruto," said Kakashi, standing up as well. "As fast as we need to move, we can't simply go in and—"

"What else are we going to do?" Naruto said, glancing at his teacher. "What else can we do? All we know about those guys is that one of them is Sasuke's brother, one of them is some guy with a big sword, one of them uses clay bombs, and the final one is a puppeteer like Kankuro. What use is it going to do just sitting here talking about plans of attack, when we don't even know if they're all there? And each moment we sit here, the closer it gets to Gaara dying! Kakashi-sensei, planning is just pointless and stupid right now; we need to just act! This is a rescue mission—we're going to retrieve Gaara, not fight all of them to the death! The best we can do is split up into teams! We just have to get in there and find him, before he's killed!" He grit his teeth, twisting around to look down the ridge towards the waterfall. His voice became suddenly soft, still furious, but in such a way that he was speaking to himself.

"I don't care what you made me promise, obaa-chan. I can't let Gaara suffer anymore than he already has."

The words thudded in Chiyo's ears. She looked away. His words had brought something back to her that she had thought time and years of solitude had eroded away—such a powerful guilt that it stood like a fortress in her mind. But for the rest of Naruto's friends and team, it brought pangs of sadness and worry like the coming tide.

Tsuwabuki sidled up to Naruto, nudging the blonde's waist.

Sakura suddenly stood.

"Then two teams will suffice, won't it?"

Attention turned to her. She glanced around, focusing specifically at Naruto, who was also staring at her. She briefly smiled at him, before returning her attention to the rest.

"There are two outcomes, aren't there?" she said. "One is that the entire organization—all nine Akatsuki members—are hidden behind that door. If that occurs, then, like Naruto said, we launch as best a distraction as possible and rush in, grab Gaara, and leave. They'll probably give chase, but if we scatter, we can definitely outrun them. The second scenario would be that only two of them are in there—the one that defeated Gaara, and Chiyo-baasama's grandson, Sasori. If that should happen then two groups makes sense. One to each member of Akatsuki."

Kakashi gave a brief nod. "Of course, but we'll have to reduce the group numbers. You're forgetting the seal."

Neither Chiyo nor Kakashi could make sense of the seal upon the door to the cavern. It blocked Hinata's view of whatever was behind the door, and even stranger were the tendrils of chakra that branched out from it, speeding in four directions away from it into the surrounding forest, forming a rough semicircle. It therefore, according to Chiyo, had four focal points that surrounded the original seal; and it was there that they would likely find a means to release it. But that required splitting up their group, and if Chiyo was guessing correctly, than the focal points needed to be disengaged at the same time in order to break the perfect harmony of the seal.

"Team Eight, then, will work on releasing the seal," said Kurenai, standing as well. "That will leave the four of you to deal with the Akatsuki members, which would be an easier number to escape should the first option occur."

"But harder should the second," Kakashi said, but nodded nonetheless. "But it's a chance we have to take. As Naruto said, it's time for action, not meaningless words." He glanced at Naruto, and winked. "You somehow managed to get better at strategizing without having to give up your natural way of doing things. I'm impressed."

"Was that a compliment?" Naruto muttered. Kakashi didn't answer, instead ordering Kiba to douse the fire.

"We'll go immediately. There's no sense in staying here any longer. The teams are simple: Naruto, his fox—" here, the fox in question growled slightly at the man, who amended his words immediately, "—sorry, Tsuwabuki, and I will deal with the man who defeated Gaara, while Sakura and Chiyo-baasama will deal with Sasori. Team Eight will release the seal. Should anything at all go wrong—retreat. I don't want anybody dying on this mission. That's an order. Sakura-chan, would you give everyone a soldier pill? It might be needed, considering what little rest we've gotten."

Sakura nodded, fishing into her medical pouch for the small bottle of grey pills that boosted stamina and strength for a few hours. She quickly handed them out, and the group moved, their camp now dark, down towards the waterfall at a flying pace.

Chiyo and Kakashi were the last to go; and before the old woman moved, she asked the silver-haired man: "Who is that boy?"

Kakashi was silent for but a moment. "He is the container of the Kyuubi. He knows Gaara's pain because it was his own." He then flew down the mountain after the rest of them, leaving Chiyo alone for a moment, her expression veiled by shadow.

"Ah, youth," she whispered to nobody.

Naruto ran next to Sakura; in the darkness, the girl could here him speak in a voice just above a whisper.

"Thanks."

"Just be careful," she said, just as silently. She was glad it was dark. Glad that he couldn't see her face. "Please, Naruto…please." He couldn't get captured. He couldn't be subjected to whatever fate Gaara was being subjected to.

He couldn't…die.

She was glad it was dark, and that the trees blocked the moon from seeing her tears.

They immediately split up when they hit the waterline. With a brief good bye, and a promise from every team member to be safe, they departed. Hinata could not help but glance back once more at Naruto's hardened face as his team, after a moment of conversation between Sakura and Chiyo, crossed the water in light steps towards the waterfall. She wished every bit of luck she upon him, hoping that when they returned, he would still be there, alive and well—and happy too. This mission needed to be a success. So she would do her best to make it one.

She activated her Byakugan immediately upon entering the forest. The focal points were spread out less than half a mile in each direction of the mountainside, and glowed as bright as beacons to her chakra sensitive eyes. They arrived at the first one, and with a brief once over, Kurenai confirmed it—it was a simple barrier seal, given a few extra embellishments, and could be deactivated with a simple Kai technique. It was woven around a small post stuck in the ground, about three feet high. Kurenai was mystified by the presence of several seal markings on it that she had never seen before, and so with a word of caution to her students, told them to go to the three other points and wait for her single.

Kiba stopped at the next, the one closest to the wall of the mountain. Akamaru growled at the seal.

"Be careful, you two," Kiba told both his teammates. "There's somethin' about this that I don't like. Akamaru says there's something strange about the seal. I doubt it's gonna be as simple as it looks."

"We will," said Shino. "Take care."

Shino went next, giving Hinata a small nod of luck, never one to speak more than was needed. Hinata said a brief goodbye and set off again, stopping at the very far side of the area, where the mountain curved and the forest was thicker and darker than ever. She entered a small clearing, where in the center, she spotted the small barrier point. It looked deceptively innocent, despite its obviousness, and those who weren't trained in the shinobi arts would think little of it. She walked over to it, pulling out a small electronic headset from her weapons pouch as she did.

Upon turning it on, and waiting but a moment, she heard Kurenai's crackling voice in her ear.

"Now."

Thrusting her hands together, she muttered softly, "Kai."

The black markings suddenly vanished. Then nothing.

She waited, breathing heavily. Still nothing. Was that all?

The small cylindrical post suddenly quivered. It suddenly began to sink into the earth, accompanied by a faint rumbling sound. Rock and mud bubbled up around it, becoming almost fluid. Then it gradually began to rise up, forming a rough shape, and then a figure—and then a person.

It was like staring into a mirror, Hinata thought.

The waterfall parted.

With a great shaking of earth, the water faded until it was but a few dripping streams, revealing an immense door covered in black seals. The sight of it made everyone present uneasy, they knew from this moment, their lives would be in frightening jeopardy. Akatsuki were some of the strongest shinobi in existence, as strong as, or perhaps stronger, than the five Kage who ruled over the shinobi world. A fight with just one of them would be suicide for a normal jounin, and even for people like Kakashi, they were far too dangerous to even consider fighting alone. The silver-haired man let out a quaking breath, knowing that in the next few seconds, one of two plans of attack would take place.

The black seals suddenly faded, unraveling like a knot until only the strange runic symbols remained. Eventually, those two vanished, and with a sudden tremor, which was felt even upon the surface of the water, the door began to part.

"Get ready…" Kakashi whispered.

His team tensed, Naruto most of all. His entire body quivered, equal parts anxiousness and anger.

For whatever was on the other side, whether nine or two of the deadliest shinobi imaginable, there was one thing he did not want to see.

Finally, the door was open. Kakashi gave a slight wave of his hand, and four shinobi and one fox moved towards the gaping cavern. Kakashi was first, then Naruto and Tsuwabuki, then Sakura, and then Chiyo.

"What took you…yeah?"

They froze.

In the light that flooded the cavern, two figures stood, side-by-side, in such contrast that it would not have been so strange in one was aflame and the other was covered in ice. Both wore finely woven cloaks, blacker than the darkness that surrounded them, embroidered with crimson clouds. One was tall, thin and blonde, while the other was short, fat and vaguely red-haired. This man's face was wrinkled and tanned, like it was made of leather, and fixated into an eternal scowl. His blood-red hair was separated into six cornrows, and a black veil covered the lower half of his face. Behind them was a large, pure white bird.

Kakashi was shocked by their audacity. It was disgustingly insulting, almost. These men believed themselves so superior that they even forwent conventional battle tactics. They had not even deigned to surprise them, when in such a position a surprise attack could be lethal to Kakashi and his team. Kakashi found himself furious with the two men. Were they simply so overconfident that they believed they could face five trained warriors and win without using a natural advantage? Were these not supposed to be some of the most terrible shinobi imaginable? Yet, while it angered him, it also terrified him. They could be overconfident, yes, but it was just as probable that it was possible for them to do it. It was just as possible that they were strong enough to fight and defeat all of them in a direct confrontation.

But he would hope the opposite. They might underestimate him and his team. Then they would have the advantage.

"You've made us wait all this time…yeah. I mean it shouldn't have taken you so long to figure out a plan and come down, right? And the seal wasn't that hard to beat, with that Leaf bloodline of yours—Byakugan, right?" the blonde man said, with an accompanying snigger. "I could've built a terra cotta army in the time you guys took to get here, isn't that right, Sasori-danna?"

Chiyo's eyes narrowed as the second one spoke, his voice bored and resonating. "I suppose. They certainly took their time. We've already finished."

Naruto's eyes widened.

And then he saw what lay behind the tall one with the blonde hair. It was a small, dark figure, half-shadowed by the other man, but whose face was clearly cast in the light.

Gaara.

Asleep.

That's only what it could have been, with such a peaceful look. He was asleep. Not dead. He deserved at least some rest—he probably hadn't had a good night's sleep in years, perhaps all his life. He was allowed to sleep. Just for a while. Long enough for Naruto and the others to get him out of here.

'Naruto…' Tsuwabuki's voice interrupted his thoughts. 'I cannot hear a pulse…'

Naruto glanced quickly at his spirit partner. He understood what she was saying yet he didn't want to—

No.

Naruto's face suddenly twisted into the most murderous look any of his friends had ever seen. His eyes did not bleed red, either, and what they reflected seemed all the more horrible; it was such a look of rage that it seemed to kill a small part of his humanity with but its presence. Tsuwabuki was hit with such a wave of emotion that she herself began to growl and snarl. Chakra began to seep from Naruto's tenketsu, forming a dimly glowing aura around him. He quivered with built of rage, a dam ready to burst.

"He looks angry, doesn't he, Sasori-danna?" grinned Deidara. "I don't like angry people—do you think I can have him?"

"You already had your chance," the other stated. "He's mine."

"But I want to fight him," the other man whined, glancing away from his enemies in another display of disgusting audacity to look at Sasori. "I know that you're stronger than I, but that's why I feel I should prove myself. You have your art style, but I want to show you that mine is just as good."

"Nothing will change my opinion of your art," Sasori said, twisting his head in an oddly mechanical motion to look at Deidara. "It is disgusting and pointless and will never be true art."

"But it is! Art inspires emotion, and my art does it splendidly! But emotions aren't forever!"

"That hardly matters. Things that last forever will continue to inspire "emotion", whereas your art simply reflects the mind-numbing stupidity of philistines who can't see the truth in art. Those who simply see art as something "pretty" or "vibrant" or any number of pointless adjectives to describe a fleeting feeling. True art lasts forever. True art makes that feeling last until death."

"You're one to talk about feelings, Sasori-danna…yeah!"

With each word of their argument, Naruto grew ever more furious. He was snarling like a feral beast, and had adopted a crouched posture. But his eyes were still blue, and none of the dark chakra seeped into his system, from what Kakashi could see. Tsuwabuki was no better.

Naruto suddenly moved.

Blindingly fast, Naruto crossed the distance between him and the two Akatsuki members in a second, flinging himself straight at Deidara. The blonde man stopped arguing immediately, and with a triumphant laugh, blurred away, reappearing atop the white bird behind him. Naruto tried to follow, but from beside him something massive emerged from Sasori's cloak, as fast as he could move, narrowly missing impaling him in the side. He ducked, rolled, and turned to find a hideous, segmented protrusion coming from Sasori's cloak that resembled a tail. It was a light tan in color, and appeared to be made of wood or something similar. At the end was a wicked sharp spear-like piece with glistening black stripes down each side. The tip was black as well.

"He's mine," said Sasori, in a voice sharper than normal.

"We'll let him decide, won't we?" laughed Deidara. "Follow me, kid!"

The huge bird moved suddenly, bending down and opening a gaping mouth. It scooped up Gaara's body, and before Naruto could stop him, hurtled itself into the air, towards the back of the cavern.

Naruto didn't even think. He flew after the man, like a raging windstorm with the Kazaashi, suddenly there and then suddenly not. Tsuwabuki followed swiftly.

"Remember the plan!" roared Kakashi, taking off after his wayward student. "I'll find him!"

He rushed past Sasori, who let him go without qualm. In fact, as soon as Naruto had left, he had lost all interest in the Kyuubi child, and was now staring at Chiyo, his two glossy black eyes narrowing at the woman. When Kakashi was gone, disappeared into the blackness of the cavern, it left Sakura and Chiyo alone with the man.

"Chiyo-baa?" he said. His tone was perfectly emotionless.

"Sasori," she muttered back, closing her eyes and heaving a slight sigh. "So we finally meet again, hmm? It's been over twenty years."

"Yes. You've gotten pruny, haven't you?" he said.

"And you've gotten fat, unless that's one of your puppets."

"Don't you remember Hiruko?" he asked, tilting his (or perhaps not) head to the side.

"He was always your favorite," she said, coldly. "You always did like getting your hands dirty. Being able to fight up close without fear of suffering harm. Not a conventional puppeteer at all."

Sasori nodded robotically. "I've modified him a bit, however, as you'll find out." He then seemed to notice Sakura. "And a Leaf-nin. I haven't fought one in a long time. Not exactly the epitome of feminine beauty, but you'll do, I suppose."

Even worried as she was, Sakura felt a burst of anger at the forefront of her mind. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists hard enough to bite through the leather of her gloves at the slight.

"I haven't added any females to my collection in a while, Chiyo-baa. I'd like to have both of you as soon as possible."

'Collection?' thought Sakura.

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," said Chiyo, sounding tired and old. "I've come here to do one thing, Sasori—destroy you. I have been dreaming of this day for quite a while. I'll be able to die in peace knowing that you'll be going with me." She gave a rasping chuckle. "You'll have the ultimate disgrace of being slain by an old woman and a young girl. I hope you're prepared, Sasori."

"For death?" he asked, tilting his head to the side again. "I wonder."

Chiyo suddenly let fly from her robes a dozen shuriken. Sasori's tail flew up, deflecting most, but the ones that did strike tore through his cloak and then bounced off what sounded like thick, hard wood. Sasori charged towards the two girls, his tail lashing out like a striking snake. But they both dodged, and it merely crashed into the earth, obliterating a section of the stone floor.

Chiyo distanced herself immediately. Her grandson, she noticed, had gotten far stronger and more skilled in the years he had been away. To manipulate such a large and bulky puppet in such a swift and subtle manner was beyond the skill of most puppeteers, even after a lifetime of training. She remembered all she could about Hiruko—aside from the tail, which was easily its most deadly aspect, she could not remember what specific skills it had, other than the protection for the puppeteer himself. She did, however, remember a weakness on its backside, where the tail emerged.

Pulling from her robes a kunai, and attaching to it a particularly powerful explosive note, Chiyo waited.

But Sakura did the exact opposite. As soon as Sasori's attack failed, she ran towards him, armed raised. The puppeteer turned to look at her suddenly, and the veil suddenly ruffled, as if a passing wind had blown it aside. But Sakura saw the flickers of the little slivers of metal that emerged, her eyes long trained to detect such things. She ducked, and then leapt far to the side, Sasori's tail coming down on her again. As soon as she was far enough away, something shot past her, striking Sasori upon the back. A second later, the entire puppet was engulfed in a smoldering blast of fire and smoke.

Chiyo allowed herself a small smile. If she was lucky, then that would remove the tail and cut Hiruko's power in two.

But Sasori emerged, suddenly, unharmed. Bits of his cloak lay in cinders about him, and the entirety of his form was revealed. Comprising the entirety of his back was a large, hideously grinning mask, its mouth agape. From the mouth was the end of the tail. The rest of Sasori's body was big and bulky, like a turtle's shell. His two arms stuck out near the front—one long and normal, the other a strange deformity—the fingers was large and profoundly geometric, and surrounding the forearm was a large, cylindrical tube with many smaller tubes sticking out of it.

"I told you," Sasori said. "I made some adjustments. I couldn't let that weakness remain."

Chiyo did not attack again. She moved around Sasori, her ancient legs carrying her nonetheless swiftly to Sakura's position. The pink-haired girl was panting, both from strain and the knowledge that had but a single one of those pins struck her, she might have been slain.

'He had poison in just but everything he used against me,' Kankuro had said. 'Especially in the tail.'

"That is not Sasori's body," Chiyo whispered as soon as she appeared next to Sakura. "We must destroy it. Your strength should be sufficient for that."

Sakura glanced quickly at her, and the back to Sasori. The puppeteer had turned and was patiently waiting for them to continue or stop their discussion. She grit her teeth in annoyance.

"But how do we…?"

"I'll see to that."

Sakura glanced back at the old woman. There was a crooked smile on her face, on Sakura had not yet seen the woman use. It was the first time Chiyo had smiled at her.

So she smiled back.

Sakura's body reacted without warning. She ran forwards, as if her legs were suddenly autonomous. Sasori suddenly thrust out his deformed left arm. As Sakura rushed, a curling blast of smoke erupted from the joint, and the arm shot off like a small rocket, directly towards Sakura.

It then exploded.

A wall of darkness erupted from the weapon—hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny needles black as obsidian, each one dripping with enough poison to kill a dozen men. They came at Sakura with such speed that she had no time to think or fear for her life.

But they did not strike her. She found herself moving all on her own. Her body weaved, bent, twisted and flipped in such manners that not even Lee was capable of. By a hair's breadth the weapons missed her—not even a single graze, or a nick on the clothes. It was as if she was dancing to avoid the rain, and each movement was so light, so automatic that Sakura felt like a distant observer in her own body. It was as if she stood to one side, like Chiyo, and was watching the intricate dance in amazement. Her own face reflected this all the way until she was but three feet from Sasori, whose large glossy eyes had widened at the display of grace.

She found herself hauling back, and began to gather chakra into her fist, focusing it into a tiny singularity. Sasori's tail swept around speeding straight at her chest. Her body jerked back, just narrowly avoiding death, and her fist flashed forwards, smashing into the tail and destroying the chakra soaked wood, which was as hard as steel, as if it were plywood. It offered no shield to Sasori, but he jumped back anyways, lifting his remaining arm and pointing it at her. It split down the middle, flew apart, and from it emerged a long blade, blackened by his poison. It burst out, aiming for her chest, but her hands flew together, catching the blade between her palms. She swiftly snapped it, shattered with rest of the blade with a punch, and then lunged forwards, throwing with all her might a fist into Sasori's covered chest.

She released a burst of chakra even greater than the last, and it struck Sasori with the force of a small explosion. It smashed through layers of wood, and blew apart his entire body like a toy being flung into a wood chipper. Sasori's head flew up, fixated with a final look of vague surprise, the veil obscuring his face flying off, and exposing a gaping lower jaw separated into three pieces, like a nutcracker's. The rest of his body scattered across a short distance, the face upon his back no longer grinning.

And when it all settled, beneath the black cloak his puppet had once hidden under, the true Sasori emerged.

"Dammit!" Kiba hissed, drawing back, clutching his wounded hand with the other. His doppelganger did not let him rest long, and came at him again, claws flying. This time Akamaru attacked, biting at the mimic's legs, but yelped as soon as his mouth made contact with the flesh. Kiba's doppelganger remained unharmed, while Akamaru now sported a fresh new burn on his tongue.

It was not looking good. Whatever safety measure or booby trap this was, it was a good one. As soon as he had deactivated the seal, the small wooden post had burst into flame, which had then become this strange mimic. Its attacks were perfect copies of all of his, and no matter what he did, he could not injure it. Its skin burned hotter than molten iron, and with every strike with tooth or claw, he had been severely burned.

Kiba stared at the copy. It was truly like looking into a mirror—yet there were two slight differences. The first were the eyes. Kiba's eyes were black. This one's eyes were orange, like fire. The second were the addition of two finely crafted golden bracers that were attached to his doppelganger's wrists. They were large and incredibly valuable looking, covered in strange designs and spell paper with all sorts of strange kanji. Kiba resolved that he'd nick these once he had defeated the bastard.

He glanced at Akamaru. "Ranged attacks, then Akamaru! Let's kill this bastard and find the others!"

Akamaru barked in agreement, and they renewed their attacks with a singular howl.

Elsewhere, Shino was only slightly less frustrated. The doppelganger that faced him was swift and almost incorporeal. No matter how many kikaichu he threw at it, whether they were the conventional drones or the highly swift and deadly bombardiers that he fired from his mouth, they simply seemed to move through it. But it's strikes were painful enough, and it duplicated his use of bombardier bugs by flinging small bursts of air in his direction which stung as if he had been struck by a blunt kunai.

He let out a soft breath. He needed to do this quickly. It was made from chakra, no doubt—his bugs were attracted to it like the plague. It would soon run out of energy to function, as long as he could continue the attack.

Hinata dodged another punch, slapping her doppelganger in the face. It barely moved, and did not slow in its next attack. This had been occurring for quite some time. No matter how many times she struck it, none of her chakra had an effect. That meant that this being somehow had no chakra system of its own. Without a chakra system, it couldn't be classified as a living creature. Her Byakugan told her the same—this being was just a mass of chakra, somehow given form.

If she had to guess, it was the bracelets on its arms. She did not recognize any of the markings upon them, but the chakra seemed to converge around them, and every so often it would release a pulse of power throughout the body. She guessed this was how it stabilized itself, and was given form. It looked like nothing more than a particularly stubborn earth clone.

Kurenai had a similar belief. Her doppelganger was swift and fluid—any damage it suffered did not remain. It was like punching a wave. She had wasted several kunai, and even an explosive note, but the being dodged like she did, and in the off chance it was hit, it never suffered true damage.

'It's ingenious,' she thought. She had never seen such an advanced level of elemental manipulation. It was no water clone, but they were solid until struck, and this one could switch between the two, and was a mimic of her as well. It used her techniques, even ones that she had never displayed to it.

She dodged another blow, thinking as fast as she could. An inkling of a plan began to form in her mind.

Perhaps it was that simple.

"Congratulations," Sasori said, his voice drawling and bored. "You've destroyed one of my favorite puppets. I wasn't sure how you got so fast for a moment, girl, but I see it now." He glanced at Chiyo. "You used chakra strings, didn't you? Controlling her like a puppet…haha, it's ingenious. You haven't lost your touch, old woman."

Chiyo couldn't remove her eyes from the man before her. He had fiery red hair, inherited from his father, and a smooth, porcelain face, with a rounded, feminine jaw; it was unmarked and perfect. His eyes were large and blue, like a child's, but also slightly glassy, like those of a doll's. It was devoid of any emotion, but none of this was what truly struck her as horrible.

He had not aged.

Not one day in twenty years had Sasori gotten older.

"What…?" whispered Sakura, turning to face him with wide eyes. "Chiyo-baasama, is this really…?"

"What have you done?" Chiyo asked, glaring coldly at Sasori.

"Simply following my philosophy to its fullest," the man said, smiling. He did not look much older than Sakura or Naruto. He looked like a boy, even though he was reaching into his thirties! "Though I'm impressed by both of you. I didn't expect the girl to have such frightening strength, nor did I expect you to be so up to snuff." He reached into his black cloak, removing from it a large, red scroll.

"Do you know what a hitokugutsu is, grandma?"

Chiyo narrowed her eyes. Of course she did. It was the most forbidden technique a puppeteer could practice. It involved ripping out the entrails and skinning a human body, whether recently dead or still alive, and replacing all of its bodily functions with mechanics and wires and special seals, along with dozens of traps, to create a perfect puppet. It was said that such puppets had the ability to use some of the techniques they had in life.

It was what he had made his parents into.

"Precisely," said Sasori, giving a nod and a small, emotionless smile. "But in my travels, I have discovered many things. I have created many hitokugutsu, because I believe immortality is the perfect form of art imaginable. To preserve a beauty, whether physical or functional, for all eternity is an amazing thing, don't you think? I have amassed a considerable collection. I'm rather proud of it, you know—I love to brag. I so far have three hundred and seven puppets in my collection."

Sakura could not stifle her gasp. Three hundred? He had murdered that many people in his life?

"I am telling you this because for you to fully appreciate the beauty of this puppet, you need to know that nearly all of them are humans. I have scoured many countries for those who possess rare and powerful abilities that I wish to capture in time and preserve—to make immortal, so to speak. But there are several, this one included, that I have created because they mean something more to me. I was most impressed with this one, for example." He placed a hand on the scroll, almost lovingly, and then unfurled it.

He smiled, and sent a jolt of chakra into it, causing the appearance of a gigantic cloud of smoke, which engulfed Sasori completely and forced both Chiyo and Sakura to move away towards the back of the dimly lit cavern.

"You see this one is the only puppet that I have…that was once called a god."

The smoke cleared.

And Chiyo and Sakura found themselves facing a monster.

It resembled a gargantuan blood red snake. It did not look at all natural, however—for replacing the fine scales on its body were thousands of tiny wooden plates fitted perfectly together, giving the creature a smooth and mechanical look. Its mouth was firmly shut and its eyes were big, red and glossy. Down the back of its head was a large crest, like a rooster's, turquoise in color, that was made up of perfectly cut triangles. It had long appendages that may have once been wings, but now were a pair of massive steel fans. For arms it had huge scythes, and for legs it had a long, winding tail made up of perfectly joined yet perfectly artificial segments. Large spikes surrounded an oval door on its chest; written on the door was the kanji for "blood".

"His name was Hakkar the Soulflayer. I came upon him in my travels in what is called the "Outworld" to us," said Sasori, glancing up at the beast with a blank smile, his eyes wide in perverted wonder.

"W-what on earth…?" Sakura gasped, stepping back towards Chiyo. The old woman mirrored her look flawlessly, staring up in horror and awe of the perfectly created beast.

"He was nearly dead when I came to him. He had been attacked and nearly destroyed by a band of his own former followers, seeking freedom from his tyranny," he gave a quiet laugh at this. "It took me an entire day to remove just his organs and then more than a week to finalize everything. But his body didn't even begin to rot!" he said, with a facsimile of surprise in his tone. "Isn't it beautiful? This is the power of my artistry, Chiyo-baa." He laughed again. "Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair."

"I plan to add both of you now," he said. "You'll both make three hundred and nine. Perhaps if Deidara hasn't obliterated him, I'll take the silver-haired man as well." Sasori smiled strangely at both of them, as if he was saying goodbye to two old toys that had served him well, and were now being consigned to the trash heap. He raised a hand. "Chiyo-baa, do you want to be first?"

Hakkar's puppet raised one of its huge, deadly arms, and brought it down in a swishing arc towards the two women. They split apart, each going in separate directions, letting the blade fall on nothing but earth. The serpentine beast whipped around to Chiyo, bringing with it another deadly swipe, this one horizontal. Chiyo ducked beneath the fatal blow, which would have easily sliced her in two, and dove her hands into her robes, producing from it a pair of seal scrolls, black in color, tied with red string.

With a few flicks of his fingers, Sasori made Hakkar open its great mouth with a whirring sound, revealing a large tube where the tongue should have been. From the tube a spout of searing hot flames suddenly erupted, streaming in a wide, cone-shaped path down atop Chiyo, just as the woman unfurled the scrolls and summoned their contents into being.

From behind the great red beast, Sakura caught a glimpse of the flames engulfing the old woman. She gave an incoherent shout, rushing forwards towards Hakkar's back, where the tail met the ground. She leapt into the air, raising a leg in preparation for a kick.

'Tsutenkyaku!'

But before her leg connected—just one moment before—some scales on Hakkar's body shifted, and from the resulting hole a form erupted, tall and light green in color. Sakura's leg did not strike the wooden exterior of the beastly marionette, and instead struck the glowing chakra shield of a large and imposing hitokugutsu, that was clearly not human. It had big, leathery ears, straight tusks on either sides of its mouth, and a dead, glossy stare.

'What?' Sakura was allowed a brief moment, all of the force from her kick traveling into the shield and leaving her bereft of balance as well as causing no damage to her attacker, before she was airborne again. She was flung violently back by the emotionless, tusked puppet, it's shield sending the absorbed kinetic energy back in a concussive wave of energy that left Sakura momentarily senseless. She hit the ground on her back, skidding away from Hakkar, landing very near where Sasori stood.

His next words, so close that she believed she could feel his breath, chilled her beyond words.

"I had to make up for the power that he lost by including his priests—those who worshipped him in life and gave their very beings to him. They, unfortunately, do not contain the powers they had in life, as most of their chakra was gone when I found their bodies, but I feel they deserve to be with their master." He gave another emotionless laugh. "Such devotion, hmm? This is the power eternity has over people."

Sakura got to her feet, gasping, and turned to face Sasori. The man, however, was not looking at her, but found his attention drawn back towards the smoldering area where Chiyo had been. And still was.

She stood behind a pair of puppets. One was clearly female, with long black hair, while the other was clearly male, with short red hair. Both had faces and eyes made perfect by their artificiality. They were holding their hands out, and from them had sprung four plates, which were surrounded by glowing chakra.

Sasori had a strange, distant look on his face as he gazed at them.

"You brought them?" he asked, calmly.

"I figured I'd bring the whole family," sneered Chiyo. Her face contained a crooked smile, belonging only to an old woman of her spirit, but her eyes were sad and pained as she looked upon two of the people she had loved most in this world.

Sakura stared. 'Family?' she thought. Did that mean that they were Sasori's parents?

"They annoyed me," Sasori said. "They were ungrateful fools. I gave them immortality and they didn't seem to like it." He shook his head. "Why did you bring them here, Chiyo-baa? I guess I'll have to destroy them both, then."

"Then try it," retorted Chiyo. "They want to give you a hug, Sasori, can't you see? You can't deny parents a chance to hug their child, can you?"

Sasori cocked his head to the side. "Why not?"

He crossed his hands and Hakkar suddenly moved forwards. One of its scythe arms suddenly split in half, and from the part a stream of black spears erupted, raining down on Chiyo and her puppets with deadly force. The old woman sneered, rushing forwards, sending her puppets upwards. They flew, weaving through the deadly rain, and coinciding with Chiyo's hand movements, deployed their own weapons.

Sasori watched without emotion as his father literally removed his right hand and threw it towards his mother, who caught it with one hand, as a giant three-bladed claw unfolded from the other. His mother flew to Hakkar's right, and his father to the left. He would have continued gazing in awe, but he suddenly became aware of another presence on his side, and needed to leap back in time to avoid a right hook from Sakura.

The girl twisted and kicked him in the side, but again he moved, dancing away without changing expressions. Lightning quick she was on him again, throwing a dozen blurring punches at his head and chest. He pulled and twitched the chakra strings attached to his fingers, telling Hakkar to turn.

Chiyo sent her daughter-in-law's puppet straight at Hakkar's head, while she guided her son at towards his midsection. Sasori's mother threw her husband's detached hand, where it stuck upon the smooth, artificial scales of Hakkar's chest, to the left of the marked door. By this time, Hakkar was in mid turn to deal with Sakura's attacks—his long arms slashed in surprisingly quick, decisive blows, driving Sakura away from Sasori with their ferocity.

Sasori's mother drove her clawed weapon into Hakkar's head, flying across his face and slicing deep into the "flesh". At the same time his father thrust up the hole created by his removed hand and with a single twitch of her finger, Chiyo released the weapon within—a stream of kunai, each of them bearing an explosive note, shot from the tube and headed straight for Hakkar's chest. Half turned as he was, they shouldn't have struck the front, yet the kunai moved of their own accordance, circling around Hakkar's big body and striking in rapid succession the very same point Sasori's father's hand was stuck.

Sasori watched again in detached amazement as the entire front of Hakkar was engulfed in a searing blast of flame and smoke, which shook the cavern in an immense boom. Sasori then watched as his mother removed her claw from Hakkar's head, and moved with his father straight towards him. He saw also Chiyo's determined, fiery glare.

And he felt a brief spark of amusement.

It was not much, but the sudden feeling of elation seemed to awaken him. His eyes widened and he smiled a little larger than he usually did, even exposing his teeth.

'What fun,' he thought.

He twitched a finger, drawing a small chakra string back. Hakkar's tail lifted up, the end opening and revealing four metal plates inscribed with seal spells. He sent a jolt of chakra through the strings, causing the seal markers to shoot out white smoke and summon the weapons contained within. Out came a forest of spearheads attached to long chains, three of which impaled his father and another which drove itself through the chest of his mother. The chains then coiled around them, wrapping them up tight enough to crack their bodies in the gleaming black steel.

Chiyo stared in horror. 'That's impossible. No puppeteer on earth has that amount of control! It would require hundreds of chakra strings to manipulate such fine details!'

Sasori nodded to himself, the feeling of elation passing as swiftly as it had come. He frowned. He observed the damage to Hakkar passively. The explosion had weakened the puppet's chest severely, but had caused no cracks—the damage was minimal.

Chiyo cursed upon seeing this as well. 'He must have put an enormous amount of effort into this.' She could do nothing but glare at Hakkar, for it pained her too much to see her son and daughter-in-law, puppets as they were, entangled as they were; and pained her even more, to see Sasori the one behind it.

She needed to destroy that puppet. No, they needed to. She turned to look for Sakura, wondering where the girl had gotten to. She saw nothing. 'Where is she?' the woman thought, wondering if the girl had abandoned her for a brief moment, but shunting that aside.

No. If she was anything like that Slug woman, then she would not do such a thing.

"What's wrong, Chiyo-baa?" asked Sasori. "Were they the only ones you brought?"

"Of course not," she snorted. "But they are the only ones I am going to use on you."

"Ah," he said.

Hakkar's head spun back towards Chiyo, opening once more. But instead of the spout, there was now rows and rows of sharp, gleaming swords for teeth; the mouth opened as wide as it could go, and the gums stuck up, preparing the teeth blades to be launched as missiles.

Chiyo steadied herself. She could dodge this. She was not useless yet!

"Bye, Chiyo-baa," Sasori said.

Then a blur of pink and red fell from the ceiling, striking Hakkar's head so hard and with such a fluid and powerful motion that in one moment, the head was there, and in the next, it had exploded in a shower of metal and wood, with Sakura right in the middle, her leg buried deep into the puppet's body. In the same movement, she flipped off Hakkar's neck and onto his back, and with incredible speed and grace ran down the puppet's back.

Sasori cursed, flicking a hand. Several scales shifted along the tail, causing three pale green hitokugutsu to emerge. One of them clutched a shield, and the other two had raised hands. Four large flaps, one on each side of their arms, sprang up and in a gust of smoke thousands of grasping arms erupted, moving in twin streams towards Sakura.

So she improvised.

With a cry, she smashed her foot into the surface she stood upon—the middle of Hakkar's tail, injecting it with a bolt of chakra equivalent to falling meteorite. It blew apart the tail where she stood, severing it in two, making the traps at the end effectively useless. The entire tail fell to the ground, and Sakura leaped away from the torrent of arms, leaping and flipping until she reached safety—the ground in front of Hakkar.

'What?' Sasori thought, frowning. From his position, he could see the girl quite plainly. And yet he still could not believe it.

Chiyo found herself smiling. 'Clever girl,' she thought. She then saw Sakura's movements—the quivers with each slight motion, the determined posture, and the monstrous power of her previous attack—she was using the very technique Chiyo had found herself praising at the previous Chuunin Exams.

Nouha Sayuu.

Sasori frowned, staring at the girl. Her movements had changed. How odd. And now she possessed enough destructive force to blast through layers of chakra-soaked wood, which meant she posed a significant threat to the safety of his puppet. He glanced at the fallen tail. He flicked his hands, causing the three priests—he didn't bother to note what three, to leap out. He then glanced back at Chiyo, just in time to see his parents rejoin her. His father was still impaled in three places, and had several chains still attached. His mother had disposed of her imprisonments, and had only a small hole in the black robe she wore.

He glanced back at Sakura. She was a problem. It looked like he'd have to use that, then.

He shrugged. It didn't matter. It had been waiting to use it anyways.

Sakura's body quivered with each breath she took. Her sense of touch had dulled a bit from the adrenaline and endorphins she had pumped into her system, but her other senses were alive and well. She was cut in several places and bruised in many others.

Oddly, however, she felt no touch of poison in her system. That meant that he hadn't poisoned everything on this puppet.

"Don't worry," said Sasori, "there's no poison on most of the weapons on this puppet. That would be too troublesome, and synthesizing that amount of poison would be annoying." He jerked a hand, making Hakkar move back towards him, which was a bit difficult, as it no longer possessed the latter half of its primary mobilizing limb. He jerked another hand, making Hakkar sit up straight.

"But that's because I have something else for this puppet."

He jerked a hand, and the small oval door on Hakkar's chest began to open. Sakura stared up at it, seeing a fine, red mist begin to seep from the hole, which glowed crimson.

"You see Hakkar's true title was the Blood God of the Gurubashi Empire. The Gurubashi being a long dead empire in the world that Hakkar comes from. The same world, in fact, that the Kyuubi boy came from."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"His most dangerous attribute was not his fearsome size, nor his ability to sustain damage, nor his incredible strength or any other number of fierce physical abilities he possessed. His true power, the one that made him so dangerous to his attackers, was something much greater than any poison one could ever manufacture. It has a name in its own language—hakmashar—or as we might call it, 'corrupted blood'."

Sasori's finger gave a final twitch, and Hakkar lurched forwards. From the oval hole a stream of the red mist erupted, descending upon Sakura with frightening speed. The girl leapt away, but when the mist struck the ground it spread outwards. Chiyo and her puppets backpedaled towards the wall, while Sakura ran to the side. Hakkar turned with her, sending another stream in her direction, while at the same time lifting one of its scythe hands and bringing it slashing down at Sakura.

She twisted, punching the blade aside with a devastating blow, but was a fraction too late. A small wisp of the red mist touched her skin, on one of the small wounds caused by her punches. It was only for a second, and then Sakura was away again, distancing herself as far away from the mist as possible, unaware that she had been touched.

Hakkar turned again, planning to continue its attack. But its master stopped it, suddenly. Sasori gave the girl a light smile when she met his eyes.

"It's done," he said. "You're dead."

Sakura frowned, her heart pumping fast. 'What?' she thought. What did he mean? Had she been touched? She glanced around her, suddenly afraid. Her heart began to beat faster. A sliver of pain shot through her arm. She glanced at it, seeing one of the wounds beginning to bleed, profusely. Another pain, this one deeper, suddenly shot up her arm, towards her chest.

Her heart beat ever faster. She began to sweat, feeling a heat deep within her beginning to burn.

"Hakmashar is the deadliest disease created by nature. It has a mortality rate of one hundred percent." He tilted his head to the side. "It is also the most painful way of dying imaginable. Your blood will begin to boil alive inside you, and you will not die until the very end, when every artery, vein, and capillary in your body has burst." He gave her a small smile, that in a moment Sakura thought rather reminded her of Gaara's, except without any shred of kindness or remorse, or even anything else. There was nothing in that smile.

Nothing at all.

Her brain, active as it was, was telling her that everything was wrong. Her body heat was rising. Her heart was beating faster and faster. Her wounds began to stream blood, and every part of her body began to burn. She screamed. Blood began to stream from her nose, her mouth, her ears, even her eyes. She gagged on it. There was so much blood.

The pain was unbearable. She couldn't stop it.

She screamed.

"Sakura!" screamed Chiyo, rushing towards the girl.

"You will die too, grandma, if you touch her blood. Then you'll have no chance to do as you told me you would," said Sasori. "Just watch. It'll be over soon."

It was over in another second. Sakura fell, blood streaming from every pore on her body. Her eyes had rolled up into her head. She landed on her stomach. She twitched a few times, and finally lay still. She did not move again.

"No…" whispered Chiyo. "NO!

"SAKURA!"

I think that takes the cake as "worst cliffhanger ever," don't you?

Aren't I a stinker?

Is Sakura dead? Or will she pull through? Who knows? You'll find out next chapter.

Extra long one today because I haven't updated in a while, thanks to exams. Expect to get another chapter next week, for those who aren't traveling to my house to lay in wait to murder me.

I wanted originally to do something with Hakkar during the Troll arc, but I liked Captain Blood better. For those that remember, Vol'jin and his crew defeated Hakkar and his priests in order to free the Bloodscalp and Skullsplitter tribes from his rule. This is where he ended up.

By the way, this is the beginning of the big changes to the story line. You'll get more in the next chapter.

And by the way…BURNING CRUSADE! IT'S OUT! BUY IT! LOVE IT! I wanted to have the chapter done for Tuesday, but that didn't happen. I'll be playing that plus writing for this story the next two weeks I'm home. I don't expect to get much else done.

Well, that's about it. Enjoy the mind-numbing worry you Sakura-lovers! And don't get too excited you Sakura-haters!

Seeya!

General Grievous

Scroll of Seals

Yajuu Dogou (Beast Roar)- Creates a howling blast of air, which can only be generated by a beast partner. Used by both Tsuwabuki and Akamaru, in varying forms.

Jinshuteki Genkai: Kijutsu Honryuu (Racial Limit: Mana Torrent)- A mysterious ability that can drain chakra and seal it as well. Expands outwards in a powerful pulsing wave. Used by Yura.

Kongoubutsu no jutsu (Amalgamate Technique)- A mysterious ability used by the Akatsuki leader to create a variety of effects on a human subject. Causes eventually their body to burn out from exhaustion. Some abilities include regeneration, berserker rage, ability to hide from all forms of detection, super strength, and ability to survive grievous bone displacements.