I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).
"Talking" will be done with the normal font.
'Thoughts' will be done by Italic.
Hey again. I'm really trying to work my fingers to the bone to get more of this out because it's so enjoyable to write. So if you like it or have any suggestions for the story send me a message or give this a review. Cheers.
Chapter 4- The One Who Bursts In and Barks First
The extraction process had started as a red stream of chakra was seeping out of Gaara from his eyes and mouth, He sounded like is was in an intense amount of pain. 'I swear I can see the life being sucked right out of him' Kazumu watched this spectacle and realized he was a part of this horror. 'I can't look at this! I can't bare to see someone go through this!' Kazumu's eyes were shut tight as he continued the extraction.
"Is there a problem Kazumu?" Pein saw through him quite easily. "You seem distracted. Focus is important in this justu."
"Uhh, yeah I'm fine." He was a really bad liar. He wasn't convincing anyone. "Will the-" Kazumu stopped talking mid-sentence,
"Yes?"
"Will the Jinchuriki survive this?" Everyone in the group was a bit suprised from the question, except for Itachi. He was the only one who understood how Kazumu was as a person. Pein paused for a moment.
"...No" Kazumu was silent. He then looked at Itachi. Whenever he was in trouble that would be who he would turn to for help. Itachi looked at him back as if to say 'It's alright, you didn't know.' Kazumu then shook it off and continued the jutsu. He knew that his feelings were second while his duties to the Akatsuki were first. "Are you fine to resume the sealing?" Kazumu realized he dropped his handsign.
"My apologies Pein. I was just getting carried away." He resumed his part of the jutsu and remained silent. Thinking about nothing but Gaara's fate and the fate that awaits all Jinchuriki if the Akatsuki gets them. Quite a lot of time passed running this through his head.
"Hey Kazumu!" He looked up to see that Kisame was trying to get his attention.
"Huh? What is it?" He was still in a daze.
"How did the Kazekage fight go anyway? Did Sasori bail you out?" Kisame never had too much faith in Kazumu's abilities.
"I specifically told the boy I would not assist him. He did it himself. Even if he did keep me waiting." Sasori sounded pretty angry saying that last part.
"I guess the kid is getting a lot better. What did you use to finish him?" Kisame seemed really interested for some reason. It was a little creepy.
"I stuck with the Paths of Pain throughout the fight so i just mixed it up." Kazumu then let out a nervous laugh. "I almost lost one of Pein's summons at one point."
"Well you're lucky you didn't." Pein sent a strong warning to Kazumu with that tone of voice.
"Yes, yes, very lucky!" Still nervous he had trouble speaking under these circumstances.
"Ok, enough talking. Get back to the task at hand." Pein silenced everyone.
"Our location has been discovered. The enemy approaches." Zestu had been doing reconnaissance whist taking part in the sealing.
"Which enemy is that?" A member that had blonde hair with a pony tail and a fringe that covered half his face began to step in.
"A very dangerous and skilled one. His name is Might Guy." It would seem Zetsu was well informed.
"Might Guy? Who is he?" Pein questioned.
"An elite Leaf Shinobi. A master of Taijutsu, Don't underestimate him." Itachi warned the group.
"Ahhh. That strange beast again." Kisame had already encountered Guy once before.
"They are of no concern. With our current numbers we will be done long before they arrive." Pein realized this isn't taking as long as he originally thought it would. "Focus on the sealing and this will be done soon." Time continued to pass as the sealing got closer and closer to completion.
'Gaara is going to die like this, why do I feel so awful? Is this my fault? Sometimes I wish I was left in the middle of nowhere that night. Slowly dying. It feels like that's all I deserve right now. No. I have to shake this off. I can be a terrible person. I just have to try harder. I'm a member of this group and I will be here as long as Itachi is. That's probably all I need right now. Just a talk with Itachi to get my priorities straight.' The red chakra being extracted from Gaara had stopped coming out of him and had accumulated as a mass of chakra inside the statues mouth. Then one of the statues empty eyes gained a pupil. There was now three eyes active.
"It is complete." Pein stated as the now dead body of Gaara fell and hit the ground.
"Finally." Sasori further proving he hates to wait.
"That was a lot quicker than expected. Three days turned into about two or so." After all the waiting Kazumu could finally stretch his arms.
"It seems to get more exhausting every time." Kisame started to rub his shoulder.
"Well done." Pein actually seemed to be glad it was over. "Good work everyone." He then glanced over at the remains of the Kazekage. Kazumu also looked down at him as well when out of nowhere whole cave shook from a collision from outside. "Hmm. It's getting noisy out there."
"Looks like we have some expected visitors." Kisame laughed to himself. "But it's a shame they arrived a little too late."
"It seems one of them is a Jinchuriki." Sasori said this with a high level of anticipation in his voice and started laughing. "Oh. Don't be jealous now Itachi." He didn't respond to Sasori's insult at all. Being ignored, Sasori laughed to himself again. Then everyone was silent.
"Well? Shouldn't we get this show on the road? We got company outside to deal with, and there is still the small matter of a mission we have to complete." The first one to open his mouth was Hidan naturally.
"Yes. Lets get going." The two sides of Zetsu then spoke up. "What about the intruders?"
"I wouldn't lose too much sleep over them. We don't even know if they can get in here." Kisame seemed to be pretty sure of himself.
"Don't underestimate them. You should know better, Kisame." The young Uchiha telling his partner off. Kisame let out a short laugh.
"Well they do have brute strength going for them I'll give them that."
"Sasori. Kazumu." They both turned to face Pein. "Take care of our new friends outside."
"Sounds like a plan." Kazumu released the Rinnegan to give him a bit of rest.
"But I want the Jinchuriki alive."
"Understood." Sasori confirmed Pein's order straight away.
"Everyone else is dismissed."
"Lets go!" Hidan still being impatient
"Right." His partner replied before he and Kakazu vanished. Everyone started leaving and only Pein, Itachi and Kisame's projection remained.
"I guess we'll be leaving to." Kisame seemed anxious to finally leave.
"Itachi. This Nine-tail Jinchuriki. What is he like?" Sasori knew that only Kisame and Itachi had seen the Nine-tails host before, but Itachi didn't respond to him.
"Go on tell him." Pein beckoned before he disappeared as well. Itachi stared at Sasori for a bit.
"He's the one who bursts in, and barks first." Sasori seemed confused with his answer.
"What do you mean?" Before Sasori got a reply, Itachi turned around to look at Kazumu and then vanished. Sasori growled.
"Well that's it then." Kisame said before vanishing as well. Pein returned suddenly afterwards.
"The rest is up to you two." He then weaved some hand signs. "I'll be waiting for your report." The statue disappeared along with Pein as Sasori and Kazumu landed on the ground next to Gaara.
"Why were you so quiet that whole time kid." Sasori turned to face Kazumu.
"Oh, I just wasn't really that awake i guess." Kazumu's mind was still wandering. He was shaken up from the extraction.
"Not another one of your ridiculous daydreams I hope."
"No not at all! I snapped out of those back at the Hidden Sand." He was still a really bad liar. Kazumu looked down at Gaara's lifeless body. "Did this happen to the other two as well?"
"Well of course. We needed the Tailed Beasts so we took them."
"I guess you're right." Kazumu couldn't stop staring at Gaara. 'I was stupid to think I was ready for all this. I can't handle it. I should have just stayed in the Hidden Rain with Nagato. Just forget all this mission stuff happened. As it is I got a terrible excuse for a team mate. Nothing like how Itachi treats me. I mean, all Sasori does is-'
"I'm getting real sick of you Kazumu." As usual, Sasori was being completely ignored.
"I'm sorry." He didn't even bother bowing this time.
"I just wanted to let you know that the Leaf pests are getting though the barrier."
"Oh, then I should probably snap out of it then." Kazumu weaved a handsign and activated the Rinnegan.
"Good. You may actually survive now. Someday soon you're going to get stuck in one of those daydreams kid."
"They're not that bad!" Their petty argument was stopped as the boulder blocking the entrance cracked up and broke into pieces. As the boulder shattered, four ninja entered the hideout.
"So they finally arrived." Sasori said as he was staring down an old lady in the group.
"So which one of you is the Nine-Tails?" Kazumu looked at them all one by one.
"You..." There was a blonde haired leaf ninja with whisker-like scars on his face. He was furious at the sight of Gaara and his eyes turned red. "You bastards! I'll kill the both of you!"
"The one who bursts in and starts barking. That would be him then."
"Yeah no kidding. That's him for sure Sasori." Kazumu almost laughed at the accuracy of Itachi's description.
"Gaara!" The blonde-haired ninja continued. "What the hell are you doing!? Come on! Why are you just lying there!?" He was yelling at him like he expected the young Kazekage to wake up any second now. "Get up! Gaara!" It was pretty sad to watch. "Answer me! What are you deaf!? Come on! Knock it of alrea-"
"Enough Naruto!" He was cut off by his team mate. He was an older shinobi with spiked up grey hair and his headband covered his left eye. "You know full well that-" He didn't have the heart to finish his sentence.
"I'm sorry kid but Gaara's been dead since you knocked on the door." Kazumu had enough of seeing the boy called Naruto embarrass himself. He came out and said it as all four of the ninja looked shocked that he had been gone for that long, but one was a bit different. Naruto was getting angrier and he had murder in his eyes.
"Would you look at that." Sasori was trying to taunt the boy.
"Yeah, he acts like the Nine-tails at least." Kazumu added.
"Give him back!" Naruto was walking into it pretty easily. "GIVE GAARA BACK YOU DAMN-" He cut himself off and screamed while running towards Kazumu and Sasori, but the grey haired ninja stopped him.
"Calm down psycho." Kazumu got off the ground. "We just want the Nine-Tails." He got ready for a fight.
"Go away Kazumu. The Nine-tails is mine. We're supposed to get one a piece." Sasori wanted the fight to himself.
"We aren't splitting up. That would be stupid. Just shut up and act like a team mate for once." Kazumu's attitude had changed completely. "The way this Naruto kid cares for Gaara makes me think that he deserves to fight for him. Denying him that would be cruel." He was thinking about Gaara as well anyway. 'I wonder how this kid came to be this close with Gaara. I understand that he's important to those in the Hidden Sand, but why would another Jinchuriki care about his fate? Does he see him as a brother or something? I guess i can understand how he feels in a way, but-'
"Kazumu you moron!" Sasori was yelling at him again for daydreaming. He looked up to see the Leaf ninja staring at him like he had a massive problem.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kazumu bowed again.
"Sorry isn't good enough! You know I hate to be kept waiting!" This was the last straw for Sasori it seemed.
"Lets talk about this after we get the Nine-Tails at least."
"Hmm. You're lucky I'm anxious to start a fight with the Granny." Sasori said still staring at the old lady.
"Look. Have your fun with the fossil and I'll keep the Jinchuriki busy for you. I won't hurt him, much." Kazumu gave an intense stare at Naruto. 'I just wonder how far he will go to get Gaara's corpse off us.'
"You really think you can take all of us in this cave?" The grey-haired ninja stepped in.
"Yes. Because I beat Gaara myself." Kazumu paused before weaving multiple handsigns. "And I didn't even use my strongest jutsu." The four ninja were surprised that this young boy defeated Gaara alone. "Wood Style! Wood Clone Jutsu!" Out of the ground, six wood formations sprouted and slowly formed into six perfect clones of Kazumu. "You will be the first to see me perform this jutsu." He then took a scroll out of his robe and unraveled it. With a single hand sign from Kazumu the center of the scroll let out white smoke and seven black rods came out. "I've been dying to try this out but Gaara's fight wasn't the right scene." One by one he stabbed the clones with the black rods. Sticking them in as far as he could while leaving a little bit showing at the end. Then used the last one to stab himself in the arm, pushing it as deep as he could while again showing a little bit.
"What the hell is this!" All the Leaf ninja had a look of horror on their faces.
"Are you ready?" All the clones opened their eyes to reveal the Rinnegan was showing on each one at one. "For the Six Paths of Pain!"
Well that took longer than I wanted it to. But at least it's done now. I'm am changing the fight here as you can see. It will be Kazumu and his Six Paths Versus Naruto and Kakashi. And the same fight with Sasori versus Chiyo and Sakura. Although they're are in the same cave to start the fight off so i guess it's Akatsuki versus all for a bit. I wanted to change the Deidara part especially because his little fight (if you could call it that) was really poor. As usual if you have suggestions for the story just review or send me a message.
Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.