A/N: hey ya! it's been quite a while since i last updated huh, but 'fraid not, the eight chapter, fresh out of the oven, is out now! thanks for your patience and i'm so sorry for the long wait, as a present for your wait, i've written more in this chapter, resulting in a twenty pages long chapter, longest i've written yet, but i think it's just going to get longer and longer, we'll see... also, for those that are DYING to know what Sakura did in the past, haha, i'll have you wait for one more chapter as it's been set that the tenth chapter'll be dedicated fully on what she did, so it's somewhat like a flashback chapter, yes it's going to be long, so for now, just enjoy on the flow of the story as many more actions and revelations are on the menu. Without further ado, enjoy the eight chapter...
Disclaimer: I wonder if i really have to do this in every chapter... do I?
Chapter VIII - Sandstorms
It's already night time both in Konoha and Suna, although the night's still young but it was about to be one long night. Suna at night is pretty cold since it's surrounded by the desert and small sandstorms were normal occurrence of their everyday life. That night, two blonds in Suna would experience a new bond. A certain blond from Konoha couldn't care less about what would happen later that night except for the fact that he's going to share a room with a certain blonde from Suna. He was extremely nervous to say the least.
His heart was pounding very hard, knowing that the blonde kunoichi in question would come into his room anytime. He glanced every now and then toward the door, hoping against all hope that it won't open so suddenly.
Temari and Naruto had been pretty close ever since he came to Suna a few days ago. Perhaps due of their close relationship, Naruto started to feel awkward and nervous about all this.
"Goddamn it, what have I gotten myself into, dattebayo…?" Naruto thought as he sighed softly.
As he immersed in thoughts, he slowly smiled sadly as a thought came rushing back in his mind, "― that's right, I won't be able to sleep anyway― but then… doesn't that mean that I can… no… no, no, no, no, no! Come on, you can't do that! You're not Ero-Sennin for God's sake!" Naruto turned from smiling sadly to holding his head and shook in denial.
Just as he was busy shaking his head, his anxiety finally came, a few knocks on his door. Naruto jumped slightly from his bed and stared nervously at the door, "… y-yes?"
The door flung open to reveal a pair of teal eyes with black bags around them, "hey…"
It was Gaara.
Naruto who expected to see Temari let out a sigh of relief, "hey what's up, Gaara?"
Gaara walked into the room closer to Naruto's bed. As he walked forward, Naruto had the funny impression that Gaara seemed to be inspecting his room, seeing how he glanced all over the room until his teal eyes landed onto the beds.
Feeling content, Gaara turned to look at Naruto who looked perplexed, "I heard Temari's going to spend the night with you…"
Naruto slightly jumped at Gaara's sudden statement, "uh, yeah she is― did she tell you that?" Naruto replied in embarrassment.
Gaara just stared silently at his blond friend who, by now is rubbing the back of his head and smiling sheepishly as his cheeks turned slightly red. Gaara stared at him as he usually does and then smiled slightly, "… yeah, in a way she did― I must say it was quite amusing when she blurted it out…"
Gaara who went on to his usual fold-over arms while talking, chuckled ever so slightly and Naruto was surprised to see that side of his old friend, "how so?"
As Naruto gestured Gaara to sit down, the Kazekage obliged and sat on the free bed beside which Naruto sat cross-legged, "Hmm, I was on my way to go see Kankurou this afternoon to see if he's done with the paperwork I need for today when I passed by Temari's room― I heard some noises from her room and I thought that something must be happening so I took a peek to see that her room was a total mess with her clothes all over the place…"
Naruto raised his eyebrows and had his eyes wide as he continued to listen to his red haired friend, "― and then, I saw her running in circles, muttering something that sounded much like 'what should I do, what should I wear' etc. when I was about to enter her room and ask what happened, she suddenly fell down on her knees and practically yelled―…"
"Why the hell did I say that I'm going to sleep with Naruto from now on!? AUGH!"
Much to Naruto's surprise, Gaara let out another swift chuckle and stood up, "Well, I think she might be here any minute now, so I'd better go…"
Naruto just nodded dumbly as Gaara made his way toward the door only to stop midway, "ah, I forgot something…"
Gaara turned around to face Naruto, "… I know that the beds are separated and that's fine but―"
Gaara's stoic face suddenly turned into his old maniacal one, "― if I ever see you do improper things to Temari, you can bet your ass that I'm going to hunt you down, do I make myself clear?"
Naruto had cold sweats as his jaw hit the floor and his eyes gauged out of its sockets, "y-yes!"
Gaara's expression turned back to his usual calm one and he turned around once again, "good, have fun then…"
As the door closed behind him, Naruto sighed in relief although his heart was still beating like mad and then he laughed dryly, "damn, I'd never expect Gaara to be overprotected― I might've awaken the wrong side of him, now that I think about it…"
Before Naruto could finish his muttering, another knocking rapped his door, he jumped slightly, thinking nervously that it must be the one he was expecting to come, "it-it's open!"
This time the door flung open slightly to reveal a pair of teal eyes with a few blond hair locks peeping through, "h-hey…"
Naruto gulped upon hearing the sweet voice, his nose could even smell the fresh scent of soap. She has just taken a bath he thought. Naruto's face suddenly turned red after having such thoughts and quickly suppressed it and told Temari to come in.
"Aah yeah― co-come on in…" he said trying to sound normal but his voice stuttered after all.
Temari gave a soft nod before opening the door a little bit more to allow Naruto to see her completely from head to toe. His jaw dropped at the sight, his eyes turned wide. It certainly wasn't his first time to see Temari in kimono, but it certainly was his first time to see her in sleeping kimono and untied hair, although it looked rather simple but it gave off a fresh look.
"W-what is it?" Temari asked nervously and half-glaring when she noticed Naruto staring wide-eyed at her.
Naruto shook his head and then quickly replied whilst waving his hands innocently, "n-nothing!"
Temari stayed silent and turned slightly red as she muttered softly, "damn, I knew it would look weird! I shouldn't have come wearing this after all!"
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before they turned to see each other and their gaze met, "a-ano sa…"
Temari and Naruto called at the same time but Naruto quickly allowed her to speak first, "S-sorry, you go first", "N-no it's alright… I think I forgot what I wanted to say anyway,"
"O-okay um― I just want to say that y-you look very good in that kimono…" Naruto's cheeks turned red all the way to his ears while Temari stayed dumbfounded and couldn't react accordingly. She blushed harder and hid her face with one of her hands although she managed to retort, "w-what are you talking about!? It's just a simple kimono!"
"But Temari, I mean it… really, dattebayo!" Naruto said trying to convince her as he scratched his whisker marks.
Temari peeked at Naruto from behind her fingers, still trying to hide her blush, "… thanks…"
As she half-glared while blushing hard, Naruto just nodded nervously, "y-yeah,"
A few miles away, in the vast forest of the Fire Country, the Sharingan users were still fighting. Kakashi was exhausted as he'd used his Sharingan too much and Sasuke in the other hand was also starting to feel tired. He knew that it won't be an easy feat to fight against his former teacher, but he was willing to use everything he got in order to reach his goal.
"… Sasuke…" Kakashi said as he panted. Sasuke looked up, panting as well. The two of them stood atop a tree branch while maintaining their distance.
"I thought I told you that talk time are finished!?" Sasuke retorted.
"Oh shut up, brat― you're still ten years too early to be telling me what to do…" Kakashi replied in his usual tone.
"Hn, looks like the guy 'who is ten years too early to be telling you what to do' got you pretty beat up… any comment on that?" Sasuke sneered mischievously.
Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows slightly and replied, "not cute― but screw all that, what I've got to say is that you won't find Naruto in Konoha," Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his former teacher, "… what?"
"Like I said, Naruto isn't in Konoha right now… if you don't believe me, you can go ahead to Konoha and get a welcome-back greeting by an entire ANBU force, were you even listening to me?"
"… You're lying, Kakashi― Naruto has the Kyuubi in his freaking stomach, he won't be able to easily get out of the cage called Konoha… he's there, isn't he?"
"I told you already, he's not. If you still don't trust me, then go ahead and get arrested, be my guest. Just for your information, I've sent one of my dogs to Konoha when we met earlier to inform Tsunade-sama about a possible breach by you and your petty group, so even if you do get there, you won't penetrate easily…"
"… Damn you, Kakashi …" Sasuke said through his gritted teeth as he glared at his former teacher.
Just as the two were locked in a glaring contest, Jyuugo started to feel his blood to boil for some reason. He clutched onto his coat and tried to suppress a familiar urge from breaking loose, "… w-what is this?"
"Jyuugo, are you alright?" Karin asked when she noticed Jyuugo's pale face, "y-yeah, I'm fine…"
"Damn this fight is taking far too long… wouldn't it be a lot faster if we just attack him together?" Suigetsu whined as he crossed his arms and pouted.
"Baka! Sasuke-kun told us to not interfere didn't he? You want to die young or something!?" Karin yelled at him as she slapped his head which quickly turned into water at the moment of impact.
"Ouch! What was that for, bitch?!" Suigetsu yelled back at her and then they got into a verbal fight, which was loud enough for Kakashi and Sasuke to hear but they tried their best to ignore it.
"H-hey, you two…" Jyuugo said trying to separate his comrades. Just as he was about to separate them, his blood boiled once again, stronger than the last time.
Just as Suigetsu and Karin were still fighting, Jyuugo and the Sharingan users noticed something or rather, someone, coming discreetly.
"… This feeling…" Kakashi muttered as he looked far behind where Hebi stood.
"… It can't be…" Sasuke muttered as he turned back to look far behind his comrades.
"…" Jyuugo only gapped as he too, turned slowly to look behind him, his expression was starting to change into excitement.
From inside the thick darkness of the vast forest, even though it was still quite far away but everyone could notice something unusual. They narrowed their eyes to see a pair of ominous red eyes glowing from the darkness, getting closer and closer.
Knowing at once who it could be, Kakashi and Sasuke yelled in unison a name while Jyuugo only smirked excitedly.
"ITACHI!"
In the meantime, at the other side of the forest, a gigantic frog was hopping at an incredible speed, destroying a few trees along.
"So when are you going to tell me, Jiraiya?! What the hell happened to you?!" Gamabunta asked angrily as he puffed a smoke and hopped in a hurry.
Gamabunta didn't get any reply and decidedly stopped for a second, he called for Jiraiya once again, "Jiraiya? Are you listening to me, you ero bastard?"
Still nothing,
Gamabunta slipped his pierced tongue out and enveloped Jiraiya delicately. Then he brought it in front of his eyes. When he shifted his tongue to reveal Jiraiya's body, Gamabunta was shocked. He saw the white-haired Sannin unconscious and by the looks of it, Jiraiya was rapidly losing blood.
"Jiraiya! Shit! I've got to hurry!" Gamabunta put Jiraiya into his kimono pocket so that he won't fall from his head and hopped in a hurry once again, "damn it Jiraiya, don't you die on me… you owe me for putting your disgusting blood on my cool tongue!"
Ibiki and Hinata stood at the top of the Hokage tower. The two of them had just been debriefed by Tsunade about their mission. Both of them couldn't help but to feel rather awkward, they knew they couldn't disobey orders and that they have to go real soon, but they certainly couldn't go with an uncertain heart.
"I'm very sorry for this Hinata-san, but we have to do this. My team has gone to Haruno's residence to scout the area and to gather information. An informer should be back anytime soon" Ibiki said behind his white mask.
"I-I understand… c-can I ask you a question, I-Ibiki-san?" Hinata replied shyly and nervously.
Ibiki didn't shift his head to see the Hyuuga heiress but he replied nonetheless, "go ahead…"
Hinata nodded and gulped as she mustered her courage to ask, "… w-what is this ANBU unit? I-I've never heard of them before…"
Ibiki stayed silent for a while before taking off his mask and stared at it, "… of course you haven't… but one day you shall, if you are to inherit the Hyuuga clan…"
Hinata looked uncertain at Ibiki as she held her hands defensively, "h-hai?"
"… Well since you are either way, it wouldn't hurt to tell you a bit about them… these shinobi are what you call special among specials― they're our top most secret weapon…" Ibiki started.
"… S-secret weapon?"
"Hmm… ANBU are publicly known although they don't really make many appearances unless the situation is dire… they are shinobi that work behind the curtains unlike jonin, chuunin or genin… in a way, they are the special unit that do all the unspeakable things… granted, non-ANBU shinobi also does the same but what differentiates us with those normal shinobi is probably the amount of assassination and dirty jobs that even normal shinobi doesn't know of…"
Hinata stayed silent as she listened intently. She already knew the general knowledge about ANBU as she was taught during her Academy years.
Ibiki continued, "… however, even among special cases, there will always be an even more special case, which mean, even among the ANBU ranks there are special ranks which are kept secret even from the public and only a few senior-ranking members know about… the sole purpose of the creation of such special rank is to ensure a one hundred percent successive mission rate with no single flaw― the perfect unit…"
"P-perfect unit? B-but even if the successive rate of mission is supposedly a hundred percent, sure-surely there must be a small flaw, even a tiny one…" Hinata said.
Ibiki just smiled slightly, "… no, it's truly a hundred percent figure… not a single flaw… what determine their value is that… nobody even knows it was their work but themselves… the special ANBU doesn't leave even a single trace of their work, they never indulge their personal emotions during a mission, they never hesitate in executing their mission, they are truly the epitome of cold-blooded machine…"
Hinata was wide-eyed, never in her entire life would she expect her village to have such units but then Ibiki continued,
"Tell me, Hinata-san… how did they take you out from the Hyuuga compound?"
"Eh? W-well, one of them suddenly appeared from an extended shadow and then another one came out a-and she changed into me… t-then I was taken into the shadow and t-they took me here…"
"Do you know why they bothered to have one of them transformed into you?" Ibiki asked as he stared forward.
"Eh? I-I don't… oh!"
"Exactly, to give the Hyuugas an impression that nothing happened… that is the method they'd usually use when it involves kidnappings. When they have surrounded your compound and had taken you away, you didn't feel a single thing, did you? No intent to kill, not an attempt to hide one's presence, not even a single sound… nothing… and did you notice the one who transformed into you?"
"Eh? Um… I-I think… I saw that she has the same eyes as me…"
"That's right, she's a Hyuuga just like you… and when you saw those escorting you here, you must notice the emblem on their arm protectors do you not?"
Hinata suddenly realized something and stared at Ibiki in surprise, "c-could it be…!"
"Yes, many of them are Hyuugas, which is why I told you all this― if you are to become the head of the Hyuuga clan one day, you will get this information as many of the special ANBU member comes from your clan… the sense of perfection of the Hyuugas is one of the many factors that make the creation of such unit possible…"
Hinata was utterly surprised at the new revelation of her clan and her village's secret, "b-but then… w-what will happen to-to everyone who is involved? If what you said is true, doesn't it mean that…?"
"… When it involves assassination, complete annihilation is the only option, to obliterate anything that saw you in action, hence, only death shall be awarded to those that got themselves involved… although in your case, since you are taking part in this mission as well as the fact that not only you're the heiress of the Hyuuga clan but also a Konoha nin, the most probable thing to happen to you is… that we erase part of your memory after all this is done― …"
As he put his mask back on to hide his regretful expression, he continued, "― so will your friends if they were to be that unfortunate…"
Hinata could only tremble where she stood and thought of her and the others' fate.
When another awkward silence threatened to take over the atmosphere once again, a Tokubetsu ANBU appeared just as Ibiki had predicted, "Ibiki-taichou, reporting in!"
"Go on"
"We have scouted the area for any traps or suspicious movements and we've discovered that in the proximity of fifteen meters, traps had been set all around Haruno's residence with all of them being set at places where infiltration may be possible. Also, we've detected 7 people who seemed to be guarding certain places…"
"Just as Hokage-sama predicted… have you located Nara Shikamaru's position?", "According to the recon team, Nara Shikamaru wasn't with them. An ANBU has spotted him however, heading this way…"
Hinata was surprised to hear the information, "Shikamaru-kun?"
Ibiki however had a different thought, "Alright, then let him come. It will be a lot easier without him around. Although he's just a chuunin, but his intelligence is not something we should mess with… now how about the weakest link?"
"Yes. According to the recon team, the weakest link lies with a person called Yamanaka Ino. She's guarding the east side of the target's house."
Without wasting anymore precious time, Ibiki nodded and prepared to leave with the messenger, Hinata followed closely from behind, "take me there. Hinata-san, let's move out"
"Y-yes!"
Somewhere dark, a black-haired boy was lying on the ground, tied and surrounded by a seal-enhanced barrier. He woke up slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. His body felt so numb he could barely feel his limbs. Fortunately it didn't take long before he finally regained enough sense of his own body.
"Uh… where am I?"
He tried to shift his uncomfortable position a little bit only to fall back down, he was still feeling weak. When he landed on the ground once again, it made a soft thud which seemed to notify his captor. Footsteps could be heard from afar.
The boy stayed alert and immovable to analyze the situation and to get a good look at his captor, he couldn't remember a thing before he was captured. When the sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer and closer, he remained immovable but became more alert. He focused his eyes and senses on the direction of the approaching noise.
"Have you come to your senses, Sai?"
Sai's eyes went wide at the familiar voice, although he still couldn't see well, but the voice and the scent were unmistakably familiar. He looked up to get a better look at his captor's blurry face. His eyes went even wider in surprise, not for recognizing his captor but for what he wore.
Red clouds imprinted on a seemingly long black robe.
"… N-no…" he muttered, his mouth gapped open in disbelief.
His captor was none other than his mentor, Danzou in an Akatsuki robe.
Back in the forest, the three and only widely known Sharingan users alive to date gathered together for the first time. Although Karin showed anxiety and Suigetsu showed interest, they didn't noticed Jyuugo's facial expression and the small changes in his body. He was excited.
None of the three Sharingan users spoke for a moment, Kakashi was the most surprised of the three as he would have never thought nor dreamed of meeting two Uchihas at the same time and at the same place, not to mention that they're the last of their kinds.
Itachi was mostly staring at his brother, who only glared back hatefully. He took his eyes off Sasuke's for a second to look at Kakashi, who was resting his Sharingan.
"Kakashi-san― were you trying to go to Suna by any chance?" he asked nonchalantly. Kakashi's normal eye went wide, "you! Don't tell me…!"
"If it's Naruto-kun you're looking for, our leader is currently on his way to retrieve him. You won't get passed the border anyway…"
"Itachi!"
Sasuke who was left out of the conversation looked mildly surprised, "… that idiot is in Suna? What the hell is he doing over there, that moron…?" Itachi and Kakashi just glanced at Sasuke, not answering his question.
"Well it doesn't matter anyway, seeing that you're here I don't need that idiot anymore… time to die, Itachi!" Sasuke said again, resuming his battle stance.
"Still as impatient as ever… although you look somewhat different, but I see that you still haven't changed at all, have you little brother…"
Sasuke twitched before he disappeared from his initial position only to reappear right away behind Itachi, who noticed a second late, "DIE!"
Sasuke thrust his empty hand forward and aimed at Itachi's heart, Itachi however saw this attack coming and leaped forward attempting to elude Sasuke's hand only to be struck by Sasuke's chakra manipulation technique from behind.
"Uh… y-you sure have gotten stronger, Sasuke…" Itachi groaned, blood coming out from his mouth.
Sasuke just glared hatefully from behind as he twitched, "… you know nothing of my hatred toward you… how much have I enveloped my heart with vengeance… how much have I trained for this day… you know nothing of it!"
Kakashi stared silently at the sight before him, two Uchihas finally battle it out. Two brothers fighting each other, one doing so solely for vengeance whilst the other for unknown reason.
"Huh, it's settled then…" Itachi smirked before his whole body changed into dozens of crows. Sasuke was taken aback for a bit before regaining his composure, "tch, genjutsu!"
Kakashi looked around to find Itachi's location but then noticed something behind him. He turned around quickly to find Itachi standing calmly, "Kakashi-san, I suggest you turn back to Konoha and take care of things over there… although we are currently gathered at the border, but we do have loyal followers in each shinobi villages― that includes Konoha,"
Kakashi's eyes went wide at Itachi's statement, "W-what did you say?!"
"This isn't the perfect time to be talking now is it? If you'll excuse me, I have a little brother to deal with, family problems…" with that said, Itachi jumped over Kakashi who stayed glued on spot.
"Katon: Ryuusenka no Jutsu!" balls of flames headed toward Kakashi and Itachi, Itachi quickly performed seals and countered the jutsu, "Katon: Ryuusenka no Jutsu!" another balls of flames made their way toward the other balls of flames, hitting head on and canceling each other.
The flames disappeared in midair and revealed two Uchihas, one with a kunai at hand while the other with a katana. They swung their weapon at each other and created an impact of metals clashing and small sparks which lit the dark forest, illuminated only by the moonlight.
Kakashi regained his composure after hearing a shocking revelation from Itachi and quickly looked back to the two Uchiha's fight, "… right, I don't have the time to be indecisive, I might lose my life here but I guess it's worth it…"
Kakashi went into several hand seals and shouted softly, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Pakkun appeared on the tree branch looking rather surprised, "What the hell, Kakashi?!"
"Pakkun, sorry but can you do me a favor? As you can see I'm rather in a pinch here, so I've got to move fast", "Wha- yes I can see that, what the hell are you summoning me for when you've got two freaking Uchihas fighting? Not to mention that they're trying to kill each other too! You know you're not their match and you know I don't like to butt in into fights!"
"Yes, yes, I know sorry― but can you just do me this favor and hopefully I'll repay you back…" Pakkun glared at him worriedly "… just don't say things like that again, Kakashi…"
Kakashi smiled behind his mask and patted Pakkun's head, "alright! It really wasn't the wrong decision to make a pact with you― well now, run back to Konoha and inform Tsunade of a possible Akatsuki spy in the village… no, tell her that we have an Akatsuki spy inside the village,"
"Akatsuki spy in the village, gotcha!" Pakkun replied confirming his mission.
"Also, tell her that Naruto's in grave danger, if possible, tell her to send a notice to Kazekage-sama that the entire Akatsuki group are currently heading to Suna with their leader heading there while the rest of them are waiting at the border,"
"Are you serious!? This is a grave matter, Kakashi!" Pakkun replied in urgency and Kakashi just nodded simply, "yes, it is, so can I count on you to get there as fast as you can?"
"You bet I can! I'll even bet my pride as the fastest nin-dog ever! So if you want to repay me, just come back alive and treat me some meat, get it!?"
As he said that, Pakkun ran off toward the direction of Konoha. Kakashi watched as his scouting dog disappeared in the darkness, when he was sure that he's safe, Kakashi turned around, observing the fight once again.
"Aalright, I think it's time to get serious…" Kakashi reopened his Sharingan eye and had both his eyes opened.
Near the main gate of Konoha, a large toad was approaching in high speed. The guards in the tower immediately reported this to their commanding superior who in return smacked their heads and told them to immediately open the gate.
"You fools! Can't you even recognize Jiraiya-sama and Yondaime-sama's great toad, Gamabunta!? Open that damn gate!" their superior yelled at his unfortunate subordinates.
Near the closed gate, Kotetsu and Izumo were about to finish their daily duty as gatekeeper and reported back to Tsunade. When they were about to make a move, they became aware of some rather fast approaching rumblings coming in from the gate's direction. Izumo and Kotetsu turned their heads toward the gate but were forced to turn around again as one of the guards called them.
"Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san! Please help me open the gate! Jiraiya-sama seemed to be outside!" he said. Without thinking twice Izumo and Kotetsu dropped their stuffs and jumped to help the guards open the gate.
When they pushed outward to open the gate, something appeared to block the gate from the outside, preventing the gate to open. As they tried to push again, some of them also realized that the rumblings seemed to have stopped.
"Guh shit! What the hell is blocking this damn gate?!" Kotetsu groaned.
"Could it be-…" before Izumo could finish his sentence, a vast blast of smoke erupted although it was harmless. White smoke was filling the surrounding for a good few seconds.
"W-what the…!" Kotetsu let out as he protected his eyes from the thick white smoke that managed to pass through small gaps in the gate and coughed when some entered his mouth.
"Kotetsu-san! The gate!"
Kotetsu instinctively looked toward the gate, which was fully open, "Wha-…!? Since when!?"
"Kotetsu-san, look!" Izumo said pointing at the ground in front of them.
The thick smoke which was filling the area started to dissipate and reveal a person they all know too well lying on the ground, covered in blood and unconscious.
Kotetsu as well as the others had their mouths wide open at the sight, "Ji-… Jiraiya-sama!?"
A squad of ANBU didn't waste their time and quickly revealed themselves, "hey you! Call the medics! It's an emergency! Jiraiya-sama is wounded heavily!" one of the ANBU ordered his comrade as he approached the wounded Sannin.
Kotetsu, Izumo, and the tower guards could only stare in terror, utterly shocked at the sight. Never would've they imagined to see such scene, they have never expected to see one of their strongest shinobi to be heavily wounded.
"You there! Move! Don't stand in the way!" one of the ANBU shouted sternly at Kotetsu who was still in shock, "a― y-yes…"
Izumo jumped beside Kotetsu, "― this is really bad, Kotetsu-san…" Kotetsu nodded slowly still in shock, "… y-yeah…"
The medic team arrived and performed a quick surgery to stop the bleeding, "Oi! Bring me the stretcher! Quickly! And you! Help me close the wounds on his legs! Faster, damn it!"
The urgency could be sensed from miles away. Shikamaru who was nearby also sensed it, although he couldn't quite place it. When he heard a commotion toward the gate however, he turned around and stopped on his track for a bit to check it out.
"Wha-…?! What happened?!" thinking it shouldn't be something he has to worry about, he decided to resume his mission, unfortunately he was stopped by another ANBU which meant another few minutes of another explaining to do.
Back at the gate, most of Jiraiya's wounds were handled with the medic teams' first aids; it was however, far from over. They still have to perform a full surgery and a thorough check-up.
After putting Jiraiya on the stretcher, two medic nin were kneeling at each ends, "Alright, pull him up, we're going right away!" the head of the medic team ordered and his subordinates took Jiraiya out of the scene.
The ANBU squad which was there earlier also disappeared into thin air, following closely the medic-nin in the shadows.
"Ne, Kotetsu-san… shouldn't we― report this back to Godaime-sama?" Kotetsu snapped back to reality and nodded nervously, "y-you're right, let's go"
Somewhere near the border between Country of Rice and Country of Earth, Kabuto was resting on a boulder by a small river. He's been attempting to treat his wounds but Jiraiya's technique did him quite a number.
"Damn it, what's with this numbness? I can't even concentrate my chakra well…"
Just when he was about to try again, he faintly heard a far too familiar voice ringing in his head.
"… Ka… to…"
He tilted his head up and looked around, "… Orochimaru-sama?"
"…Kabuto, it's no use― you'll never be able to heal those wounds, at least for now…"
"Eh? W-what do you mean, Orochimaru-sama?"
"… I'm getting forgetful in my age, Kabuto― I've forgotten that I had been hit by that jutsu when I was younger once…"
Kabuto jolted in surprise, "What?!"
"Kuku… yes, I can remember it clearly now― back then, we all had our own training and Jiraiya had his' at mount Myoboku where he met with some old toad… after his training, he came back and we had a little spar…"
Kabuto kept listening intently.
"… I just done mastering my original jutsu and planned on using it, but then so did he― that idiot used that technique and dumb that he is, he went completely berserk at his first try… he couldn't control it well that time, in result his bestial instinct took over his mind and he was no different than a beast in a form of a half-toad half-human… I got hit several times and thought I was done for…"
"I-impossible…"
"Unfortunately it is, but it didn't end just like that, no― in fact, he somehow returned to his own self and collapsed soon afterward, me in the other hand, was badly injured. Not life-threatening but not small either. Tsunade did a fine job patching Jiraiya but she couldn't heal mine… she did training in medic and she turned out to be a fine medic nin but her skills couldn't do anything to what Jiraiya did to me…"
"O-Orochimaru-sama… what is the secret behind his technique?!"
"Fufu, alas I don't know… it took me around a week to fully recover from those wounds, I couldn't perform any jutsu, my chakra concentration was a mess and my body felt very weak― it was unbearable…"
"I-if so… Doesn't it mean that…?"
"Yes, I'm afraid we'll have to wait for your body to recover naturally― we have to find a place to rest for the time being…"
"U-understood!"
Kabuto was still surprised to hear a story of his master being beaten, but he shook his head, focused, and began to walk limply again.
"… My attack using the Kusanagi sword shouldn't be that deep and life-threatening, yet he couldn't move afterward― could it be… his jutsu's side effect? Hn, whatever, it doesn't concern me…" Orochimaru whispered to himself as he turned back to sleep.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Tsunade's voice resonated throughout the tower; every living being could hear her as if lightning itself struck right beside you.
"H-hai, Jiraiya-sama is currently in a critical condition, he's been transported to the hospital by the medic team and some ANBU…" Izumo reported nervously.
"J-Jiraiya…?!" Tsunade almost fell on her chair if only Kotetsu didn't talk, "T-Tsunade-sama, are you alright?"
"O-of course, I'll be on my way…" Tsunade said trying to maintain her stature although fear could be heard and seen from her voice and face.
She literally ran toward the hospital, passing many ANBU who were patrolling the streets and had a dumbfounded look when Tsunade passed them by.
Uneasiness began to rise, her breathing became irregular; she ran toward the hospital hopeful yet fearful at the same time.
Just then at the street adjacent to the one she took, Shikamaru didn't know that they just crossed each other. When Shikamaru was running on a street heading toward the Hokage Tower, Tsunade was running on the other street that was divided by a range of housings, right adjoining the one Shikamaru took. He kept on going toward the Hokage Tower in hope to find the person he just crossed indirectly.
Hinata and Ibiki just got into the proximity of Sakura's house, they approached carefully and two Tokubetsu ANBU suddenly appeared before them.
"Captain, we are ready" one of them said, Ibiki just nodded.
"Alright Hinata-san, this is how we'll proceed. According to my men, they have detected all the traps in the area, three of my men will follow you and tell you where to go to avoid setting the trap. Yamanaka Ino is said to be concealed behind the first house on the right, over there…" Ibiki said as he pointed his finger toward a green-colored house, Hinata nodded nervously.
"These three ANBU shall follow you inside your shadow; good thing the moon's bright tonight. You will walk normally according to their direction toward the target's house, when Yamanaka Ino approaches you, stall. The ANBU will do the rest in ten minutes. Do you understand your mission, Hinata-san? Remember, just try to walk casually according to their directions, Yamanaka won't feel suspicious,"
Hinata nodded nervously once again and clenched her fist, she then showed determination. She too, didn't want her friends to get more trouble than they already have.
"Very good, let's get to it then."
The three Tokubetsu ANBU performed a couple of hand seals and they sunk into the ground, three puddles of black substance moved and mingled with Hinata's own shadow.
She was tense but after Ibiki nodded, she knew she couldn't back away now. It was too late for her to back out. She gulped and proceeded to move forward.
"I can do this… for everyone!"
At around the same time in Suna, a small sandstorm was running wild across the village although it's pretty much harmless. Inside the VIP room, however a pair of blonds weren't affected by in the slightest.
"… BLACKJACK!"
"AAW NOOOO!!"
The two blonds in question were playing blackjack on Naruto's bed as to kill some time before they decided to go to sleep.
"Damn― who would've guessed you're so strong in blackjack?!" Naruto pouted as he crossed his arms childishly.
Temari just giggled as she grinned teasingly and gave Naruto the V-sign, "I guess it's just one of my natural ability,"
"Hn, let's do another round then!" Naruto hollered as he raised a finger, "you're on" Temari replied accepting the challenge with a smirk.
Naruto was shuffling the cards when a thought came into mind. He looked up from the cards in his hands to see Temari waiting calmly and then smirked deviously, "― ne, Temari… how about we make this round more interesting?"
Temari stared straight into Naruto's eyes although she missed his earlier scheming smirk. She pondered for a moment as she analyzed Naruto calmly, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to turn the game up a notch, she agreed equally as spirited as Naruto, "― I'm game, what do you have in mind, Naruto-kun?"
Temari's reply by adding the –kun suffix after Naruto's name proved her readiness to play along his taunts. Not willing to lose, Naruto buckled up and grinned although behind his teasing expression, he couldn't hide the fact that he felt happy when she called him Naruto-kun.
"How about the one to lose will do whatever the winner wants?" Naruto suggested as he smirked cunningly.
As Naruto suggested his idea, thoughts began entering her mind like wild fire with most of them being naughty and perverted. Temari let out a sweat as she weighed down his proposition. If she wins, she practically gets herself a loyal dog, but if she loses, God knows what the most unpredictable ninja has in store for her. As thoughts after thoughts swam in her mind, her face would slightly flush at the naughty thoughts that kept on popping out every now and then although she also felt uneasy at the thought of losing. Temari took a swift glimpse at Naruto who seemed to be calm and composed as if he knew that he would win, making her to feel even more uneasy whether to call or to fold.
"So? Are you still game, Temari-chan?" Naruto teased back as he grinned from ear to ear. Deep inside Naruto wasn't all too confident in winning the next game. All he thought was that should she accept, he'll only have to gamble but should she not accept, he could always tease her about it later. Either way, he thought that it shouldn't be too bad for him.
Temari glared at the easy-going blond in front of her who didn't flinch or budge but grinned even wider if that was even possible. After another few seconds of thinking, Temari finally made her decision, "― fine, I'm game!"
As she stated out loud, Naruto almost fell from his bed and his grin disappear as he knew that now he'd have to gamble his pride. Temari on the other side didn't realize the change of colors in Naruto's face as she concentrated on her cards, "it will be okay, I'm good at blackjack, I kick his ass several times already, it will be okay…" Temari kept on repeating in her head as if it was a mantra for victory.
Naruto just finished deal the cards and then both of them gulped to see two pair of cards lay before them, neither touched them yet. They both glanced at each other to see their facial expression only to see nervousness. Finally Naruto took both his cards followed by Temari.
Naruto peeked at his cards to see that he's got two tens.
Temari nervously looked up her cards to see that she got an Ace and a Jack.
They both looked at each other's eyes and they both looked calm and cool, feeling very confident about their cards. Temari breathed in and Naruto breathed out. Then they nodded and slowly took out their cards.
"… Blackjack…"
The room went silent for a good second before it was broken by Naruto slapping his forehead, "UWAAH! NOT AGAAIIINN!"
"I WON! HA, TAKE THAT!" Temari yelled in victory as she raised both her arms upward as if she just won the position of the best ninja of the week or something. Naruto in the other hand just lied on his bed, feeling utterly defeated his soul seemed to leave his body.
After a few minutes of euphoria and gloom, Temari moved closer to Naruto who was still lying dejectedly and then flicked his forehead, "Get a grip, will you!? Be a man and accept your loss already!"
"Ow! Oh yeah, yeah― I get it…" Naruto sighed and then smiled back, "so? What do you want?"
Temari pondered for a moment. She looked toward the window to see that there's a sandstorm outside. Temari looked mildly sad before she stood up and walked near the door to switch the lights off, "what are you doing? Going to bed already?"
"Yeah, it's getting pretty late anyway…" Temari replied as she walked slowly toward Naruto's bed.
"But, you haven't told me what you want yet…" Naruto retorted at first but soon fell silent as he felt something on his bed.
"Oh shush, I have all the time in the world to decide, now don't I? But if you insist on wanting to know, I guess I'll tell you what I want for tonight…" Temari said as she slid herself under the blanket.
"T-Temari…!?"
After she slipped in, Naruto blushed and made room for her to lie in. He could feel his heart racing as she lied beside him, "... you know, even though I like wind and I'm obviously have a wind affinity but ever since I was little, I never liked sandstorms at night, just seeing it from the window always make me feel down. That's why I always liked to sleep with my mother whenever there's a sandstorm at night― I liked to have her warmth as I sleep … and now from time to time, I'd ask Kankurou to sleep with me or Gaara now because he's changed after he met you…"
Naruto stayed silent and listened to her as she talked, "so, long story short, I don't like to sleep by myself on sandstorm nights, it gives me the chills, so… would it be alright if I you share your bed with me?"
"… Is that what you want as the winner?" Naruto asked as he was still sitting on his bed beside Temari who was already under the blanket, "― un…"
"Then your wish is my command… or something like that" Naruto replied as he gave a thumb up and grinned as wide as he could toward where he thought Temari should be. Because of the dark, they couldn't see each other although they could roughly locate where each other were.
Temari was glad that she turned the lights off first because she could feel her cheeks burning and she didn't want Naruto to see her like that. Although she couldn't see in the dark, she knew that Naruto just gave her a thumb up and an unseen wide grin, his signature fox-like grin.
"Thank you, Naruto…"
"You're welcome…" Naruto said as he was about to slip inside the blanket.
"… If you dare tell a soul about this, I'll rip your balls and stuff them up your ass, you hear me?"
Naruto shuddered and had cold sweats as immediately as he grinned, "Uh, right…"
He turned his head toward Temari's and was surprised the next second as she suddenly kissed Naruto on the cheek, "Good night…"
Naruto was speechless and although it was dark, he thought he saw Temari smiling at him, "y-yeah, good night to you too…"
A few moments later, Temari finally went into slumber but Naruto was still wide awake. He was feeling rather happy as his mind was at ease. When he looked outside the window, he could still see the sandstorm.
He was thinking of a few things before he began to doze off and then fell asleep for the first time in a few months ever since that incident. He would have a good dream, even though it would be his last.
That night was Naruto's last peaceful night as not too far away, a lone man was walking determinedly on his way toward the blond. Nobody knew that when the sun reaches the top tomorrow, that would be the sign of his last stay in Suna as the lone man was his shinigami, ready to take him away with no compassion.
A/N: as usual, another A/N at the end... so that's how it goes, hopefully chapter 9 won't take too long to finish, i'll try to get it done by next month, well you know the drill... haha, so yeah, thanks goes to all those who patiently waited, added this fic as favorite, alert, or whatever, until next time, holla!