"Insanity has returned to the world!"
Naruto and Gaara looked on in horror at the scene before them. As soon as Rykuga had made his announcement several teams of Sand shinobi closed in on him.
"No wait don't-" Naruto didn't have time to finish his statement. Rykuga looked around and smiled. As the shinobi closed in Rykuga's skin became metal and bullets shot out from every pore on his body. The shinobi fell, their bodies riddled with bullet holes, at Rykuga's feet. He began to laugh and started kicking and stomping the bodies of the fallen ninja.
"YOU THINK YOU FUCKS CAN KILL ME HUH?! HUH!" Rykuga shouted this between stomps and kicks. Naruto felt a spike in killer intent. It was so high he actually shuffled away from the source, only to realize the source of the killer intent was his old friend Gaara. The sand was swirling around him so fast that the buildings began to form small cuts upon contact.
"Gaara you need to calm down. I know-"
"Shut Up Naruto. My job as the Kazekage was simple: protect the Village and its people yet I wasn't able to protect these people. So now I will remember their names through spilling the blood of Rykuga." As soon as Gaara finished this statement Rykuga smirked and picked up a fleeing civilian. He glanced at Gaara and then back at the civilian before he did the unexpected: he hugged her. Naruto was stunned and confused.
'Why would he do that' Naruto's train of thought was cut off when Rykuga grew spikes out, impaling the poor woman right before their eyes. Gaara lost it.
He couldn't see anything besides the woman impaled on the spikes. He imagined the suffering her family would now go through all because of this one man. At that thought the world turned red. The sand rushed forward and severed Rykuga's arm before he knew what was happening. Rykuga merely laughed and shocked the 2 Kage by sprouting a new arm. Even then Gaara did not let up his attack as the speed of his sand rose dramatically. Naruto watched in shock as the Kazekage disappeared!
He caught a glimpse of his friend's robes as he engaged Rykuga in taijutsu.
'Gaara NEVER uses taijutsu!' Naruto's thought were cut off once again by Sakura's voice behind him.
"Naruto, I've sent a messenger hawk back to Konoha asking for reinforcements. We need to help Suna hold out until they arrive." She had noticed Gaara's fight but realized that the best way to help him would be to check the city for infiltrators. Naruto must have had the same thoughts as he formed a very familiar hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hundreds of Narutos appeared and began to spread out looking for intruders. Sakura barely registered the flash of orange beside her when Naruto used a jutsu that hadn't been seen in over 2 decades.
'Did he just...did he just use-'
Rykuga was surprised at Gaara's sudden move when he closed in for a taijutsu fight. He was even more surprised that Gaara was easily holding his own in said fight. But never in a thousand years would he expect the next event to happen. In a sudden flash of orange, Naruto appeared next to Rykuga and smashed a Giant Rasengan straight into his face. Rykuga found himself forcefully entering and exiting buildings as he was soaring through the air. Little did he know that his thoughts were the same as Miss Uzumaki's were.
"Flying Thunder God!"
Naruto Uzumaki had finally mastered Minato Namikaze's signature jutsu and it couldn't have been at a more inconvenient time for Rykuga. Suddenly Naruto appeared beside him again and delivered a wicked kick to his kneecap, effectively snapping it in half. Rykuga couldn't have been more happy that he perfectly controlled his body as he began to move his knee back into place so he could fuse the bones back together. Still though, he couldn't help but wonder something.
"How did you appear here? I never seen a kunai get thrown and I know there isn't a seal on my body, so how?"
"I have done what my father could not: I have completely mastered his jutsu to the point of not needing his seals. I can teleport anywhere I can see without them." Naruto purposefully left out the part of needing to have seals to teleport to the places he couldn't see. Before Rykuga could comment on this, a fist connected with his face. As he began yet another session of air time he barely caught a glimpse of pink hair followed by a phrase he had never heard the pinkette say before.
"Shannaro!"
Naruto watched as Rykuga became nothing but a dot on the horizon. Naruto plastered a huge grin on his face as he turned to Sakura.
"Hey Sakura I think that's a new distance record. Also I haven't heard you say Shannaro for a LONG time." Naruto's grin faltered when he seen a figure appear behind Sakura.
Sakura was smiling when she suddenly felt someone's breath on her ear.
"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Rykuga's hand turned into a massive blade and he attempted to stab Sakura.
Sakura closed her eyes as she waited for her unavoidable doom. The pain never came and when she opened her eyes she noticed a shield of sand in front of her. Suddenly she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pull her away.
"Are you ok Sakura?" Naruto did nothing to hide his concern for her. She nodded her head and they both watched Gaara appear in a swirl of sand. Suddenly Naruto felt a massive amount of pain in his head. He went down on both knees as Sakura crouched next to him.
"What's wrong Naruto?" This time it was Sakura's turn to be concerned.
"All of my clones just dispelled and the information is overwhelming." His eyes suddenly went wide as he looked at the images from his clones. "How?"
"You remember when I 'died' here?" Naruto nodded his head. "Well I never actually died. Instead I let your attacks SPREAD my cells around throughout the desert and since I have perfect control of my body, I was able to do it." Rykuga finished his explanation with a grin on his face.
Gaara and Sakura were confused until Naruto said something. "There is an army of Rykuga clones invading Suna. We need to retreat."
Several hours had passed and Gaara had commenced the evacuation of all Sand civilians to Konoha. The Suna shinobi stayed behind to buy time for the fleeing refugees but they were slowly being cut down by the hail of bullets and blades originating from the advancing army of Rykuga's clones.
"Lord Gaara the civilians have all been evacuated as you ordered. What are your new orders?" The shinobi was clearly fatigued by the fight and had a haunted look in his eyes. There was no doubt in Gaara's mind that this man had seen many of his friends die today. He hated to do this but their next steps were critical in ensuring the survival of his people.
"I need you to gather as many troops as you can in 5 minutes and escort the civilians to Konoha. I will rally the troops and hold out for as long as we can. Use the time we buy you and once you are at least one hour away send a messenger hawk to me and I will issue the order to fall back." The shinobi hesitated before he nodded and set out on his task. Gaara then turned to his long-time friend and fellow Kage.
Naruto you have done so much for me but I have one more favor to ask." Naruto plunged an exploding kunai into the chest of a Rykuga clone before he teleported to Gaara to hear his request. "Fall back. I need you to ensure the safety of my people by leading your reinforcements to link up with the fleeing civilians. Don't argue please. Just go."
Naruto nodded but placed a seal on Gaara saying, "If you don't catch up by tonight then I'll be right by you to help." Gaara nodded to Naruto and Naruto grabbed Sakura telling her the plan. Gaara knew he probably would be dead when Naruto arrived but if he said that then Konoha would likely lose another great Hokage. As Naruto retreated Gaara shed a single tear knowing that this would likely be the last time he seen his friend.
"Shinobi of Suna!" Gaara's voice boomed across the Village, causing his ninja to listen. "I know that you have suffered greatly today and I know that you are tired but I have one more task for all of you. I will stand by your side to protect the lives of your loved ones as they flee to Konoha but I can't hope to buy enough time by myself. So I ask you all, not as your Kazekage but as your friend, if you will stand beside me to give our people a fighting chance. WHO'S WITH ME?!" Gaara's speech was met with cheers.
"CHARGE!"
Kakashi sped ahead of the Konoha forces, determined not to lose another of his precious people. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he nearly fell off of the branch he was on when a flash of orange appeared directly ahead of him. Naruto and Sakura stood before them all and Kakashi noticed that Naruto was holding a very injured Nabitora in his arms. Shikuke immediately stepped forward to relieve Naruto of his burden and started off back to Konoha.
"Alright guys we have a new objective. We are to meet up with the refugees from Suna and help Temari escort them back to Konoha. The Kazekage is expected to meet up with us by nightfall. Ok everyone move out!" Naruto didn't know why but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
'Gaara...you better not die!'
Gaara caught the wounded messenger hawk before it hit the ground. He unfurled the scroll to read the very simple message.
You can fall back now.
Gaara sent out the order to his remaining troops and the Sand shinobi began their retreat. When Gaara was clear of the village he turned around to do his final act at his home. The sand from the desert all around the Village Hidden in the Sand rose up and crashed down on Suna. Gaara approached the massive mountain of sand and placed his hands on it.
"Pyramid of the Gods!"
The desert began to drain as all of the sand was pulled into the pyramid. when he was done, Gaara staggered away from the site leaving behind a pyramid that would easily rival any mountains.
-Later that night-
A hand emerged from the pyramid which was soon followed by a figure dragging itself out. If anyone had been listening, they would have heard the bone-chilling laugh that echoed through the desert.
Nabitora awoke to the sight of the man that had tried to kill him. Only this time noticed a Leaf symbol on his headband. He looked down to see the man grinning.
"What are you doing here Akiko?" Nabitora's voice was filled with confusion.
"What no one told you?" Nabitora just shook his head. "Your Hokage decided to give me another chance. First things first though, sorry for trying to kill you." Akiko had a sheepish grin on his face and Nabitora couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Now for the second thing. I am here to see my new team mate wake up."
Nabitora just smiled.
"Welcome to Konoha."
AN: Here is another chapter of the story. Yes it's a little bit of deja vu from a previous chapter but hey at least another Kage didn't die. Also I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a review of your favorite part of the chapter so I could use that to improve my writing. Well anyways enjoy the chapter!