A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Here we go again, seems you readers enjoyed the previous chapter even though the cliffhanger frustrated some if not all of you. Well if it's about Naruto and the unsealing process, come on do you really expect it to fail at this point ?
Now I know each of us got favorites character and don't want for them to die, but well the story is nearing its end and let's just say that not everyone can survive. It's not helping the plot to advance nor is it really realistic, so yes, some of your favorites character may die in the upcoming chapters.
The anonymous reviewer 'figglewiggle24' asked if releasing Natsuki would diminish Naruto's powers, since most of his newest or strongest moves are indeed powered by youki. The answer is no, since the unsealing procedure used a containment seal to prevent the youki from leaving his body, only her body and soul were freed. In the previous chapter, I explained that through the years, Naruto had developed his own youki circulatory system and as a consequence, removing his youki would kill him at this point. That's the reason why the unsealing procedure is like that but more about this will be revealed later, especially the status of Natsuki's youki reserves.
Sorry about the delay in releasing this chapter but the website kept bugging for me yesterday and I couldn't access my account. I don't think I was alone in that situation since an acquaintance of mine also had the same problem.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 43 : Desert Storm
Sunagakure – Eastern Walls
The Kazekage Gaara stoically observed Deidara's retreating form towards the desert as more of his men came to assist him after hearing the huge explosion. Among the reinforcements were Temari and Kankuro, escorted by their own respective squads.
"Temari, proceed with the evacuation plans as scheduled and send emergency scrolls to all our allies telling them we're under attack and request immediate assistance." Gaara said to his sister.
"Hai Kazekage-sama, it shall be done !" She said back with determination in her voice. The kunoichi was of course worried for her brothers but she had to keep her emotions to herself as many were looking up to her at this moment.
"Kankuro, mobilize all our men. Send everyone to their positions, including the shinobi put in the reserve list." The Kazekage gave the orders to his brother this time.
"Very well, I'll see to it. What about you though, what will you do ?" The puppeteer master asked his younger brother and leader. Temari also wanted to know, even though she already suspected that he would do something reckless again.
"He is but one man, I shall stall him long enough for our forces to regroup and our citizens to be properly evacuated. Remember that they always travel at least in pairs, something is wrong here and we must prepare ourselves." Gaara replied and then surprised both his siblings as well as the guards around them when they saw a smile on his face as he spoke to them.
"You all have your orders, now go ! Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill and besides, I don't plan to lose against the same opponent twice." Said the Kazekage as he slowly flew higher in the sky and left the vicinity of his village without looking back.
"You heard him, let's go everyone !" Temari yelled as they all left to perform their duties.
Otogakure – Otokage's Office
Sasuke used Shunshin to appear just outside of his office, where the mysterious guest who supposedly possessed a Sharingan was waiting for him. The Nidaime Otokage tried to calm himself as he made a move to get inside his office.
Upon entering the room, he saw a man in the Akatsuki's garbs, with an orange mask covering his entire face except for a small hole over his right eye. Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan to get a better view of this man's right eye.
With his doujutsu activated, he instantly saw what scared Sakura to such an extend, the man in front of him truly had a Sharingan in his right eye. Trying to retain his composure, the young leader then started the conversation.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right away, Akatsuki ?" Sasuke asked with authority.
"I didn't come here to fight, even if you wanted to kill me, right now you aren't strong enough." The man in front of him calmly replied.
"Who are you, and why do you have a Sharingan in your right eye ? I should be the only one left with Itachi and Kakashi to have it and you're neither of them." Replied Sasuke, rapidly losing his patience.
"Who I am is of no consequence to you right now, I came here to extend an invitation to you though, as I did with your brother many years ago." Tobi said, his voice still void of any emotion.
"Why the hell would I follow the same path Itachi took, the only goal I have is to destroy everything that he had or did in his life." Sasuke said with anger in his voice, preparing himself to attack the stranger.
"I know that you retrieved his body from after his fight with the Hachibi jinchuriki, he already played his part in my plans so I don't need him anymore. Get the truth from him, you will see that the world isn't as simple as it sounds. Then come and find me when the light leaves your world and everything turns into endless darkness ..." Tobi mysteriously said as he tossed Sasuke a scroll with the location of one of his secret base.
The masked Akatsuki's member then activated a space/time ninjutsu under Sasuke's astonished eyes as he disappeared into thin air in front of the Nidaime Otokage.
"Very well, I will get the truth from Itachi." Sasuke said to no one in particular. The meeting made no difference to him as he had always planned to discover the truth behind Itachi's actions, how his loving brother turned against their clan and killed everyone that fateful night. The question that killed him was why he was chosen as the sole survivor of the massacre, why him and not his mother or father.
Determined now more than ever to get the answers to his questions Sasuke made his way back to the confinement area.
Sunagakure – Just Outside the Walls
Gaara lost no time as he immediately started his attack against Deidara, going through hand signs as huge amount of chakra charged sand was gathering around his body.
"Rendan Suna Shigure !" He called as the sand he was collecting from both his gourd and the desert below him took the form of shuriken. He then started to bombard Deidara with them, firing the sand projectiles with deadly speed and accuracy.
"He can float in the air like me so my C2 land mines strategy won't work against him, I wouldn't even be able to evade his attacks anyway if I took my Dragon out now, so let's go with the C1 for the time being." Deidara thought of a battle plan, as he was skillfully evading Gaara's attacks.
Seeing that it wasn't effective, the Kazekage stopped his sand bullet barrage attack, not wanting to aimlessly waste chakra. However, instead of running away, Deidara suddenly turned back and instantly charged back towards the village. Gaara cursed at himself as he understood his opponent's plan, the missing nin was going to take the village hostage in order to limit his target's movements and the scale of his attacks. Gaara went in pursuit mode, trying to catch up with Deidara but the blond was a lot faster than him in the air.
"Good, he's falling right into my trap. Now let's see how you deal with this ..." Thought Deidara as he started to absorb clay from the palm of his hands and then molded a small amount of it into very small spider like creatures.
Gaara was still following behind Deidara when something caught his attention, his sand shield automatically reacted to block a foreign object that was flying at him from Deidara's direction. He did not have the time to wonder what he was since the object detonated as soon as it reached the shield. Gaara's eyes widened when he saw that many more of those were now in front of him, blocking his path to Deidara. The red head immediately stopped his advance and started new hand signs.
"Futon : Mugen Sajin Daitoppa !" Yelled Gaara. He first inhaled air and then blew it out along with a chakra coated sand particles. This powerful squall covered a large angle in a stream sufficient to knock the spiders like creature down and damage them with the sand before they could reach him. This caused them all to explode, however Deidara had already managed to reach the village while Gaara was dealing with his C1 attack.
When the Kazekage finally arrived back in Suna, Deidara had already started to spread chaos all over. The missing nin had changed his mount from the small frail looking bird to a strong large dragon creature.
"How nice of you to join us Kazekage-dono, Un." Deidara said with a smirk as his dragon spat a giant missile towards the ground. Gaara was forced to helplessly watch as the clay bullet hit the roof of Suna's Academy with deadly speed before exploding and obliterating the entire building along with other smaller ones that were close to it.
"How do you like my C2 creation, Bakuretsu Hiryu, let's see how you fight now that you have to protect your precious village against my attacks at the same time." Deidara said before taking more altitude with his dragon.
Just then, before Gaara moved again, Temari and Kankuro appeared via Shunshin behind him.
"Evacuation is almost complete, only a few residents have yet to reach the refuge. The emergency scrolls have been sent and we used our fastest traveling birds." Temari reported.
"Every men with military training has been armed and sent to the walls of the village. I know you wanted to avoid fighting them inside the village but it has been evacuated by now, we may lose some buildings but it's a lot better than losing you." Kankuro said.
"Very well, both of you go join our men and make sure no one interfere with this fight. He's got very powerful wide range attacks and from now on I won't hold back on mine neither." Gaara ordered his siblings.
Temari and Kankuro could feel the desperation in Gaara's voice. They chose to not put any more pressure on him than he already supported, using Shunshin again to leave him fighting against the Akatsuki member on his own as he ordered them to.
Deidara continued to bombard the village with his C2 dragon, while Gaara was forced to stay close to the ground in order to counter or deflect those attacks, both aimed at him or the village. The missiles were getting stronger and faster with each attempt he made. The one he was about to launch was gigantic and Gaara was certain that it would obliterate a good quarter of the village if he let it touch the ground.
"Let's see how you like this one Un, Art is a Blast !" Yelled Deidara as his dragon fired the deadly clay missile, aiming for the center of the village.
Gaara knew that he could not afford to let this attack succeed. He used a Sand Shunshin to appear right above the estimated point of impact and went through a new series of hand signs.
"Saiko Zettai Bogyo : Shukaku no Tate !" Called Gaara as he summoned a giant statue of Shukaku made of highly chakra charged sand and placed it above himself in order to protect the village.
When Deidara's attack reached Gaara's shield, the explosion rocked the entire village, the buildings around the Kazekage were destroyed by the blast. The Ultimate defensive jutsu used by Gaara was almost completely destroyed and he was himself laying on the floor, profusely bleeding from the cuts he received from the explosion. The jinchuriki also bled from his hears, most likely from being so close to such a detonation.
"It seems you survived my art, Un. No matter, it's time to finish this." Deidara said before flying towards the downed form of the Kazekage with his C2 Dragon ready to take Gaara's body away in its claws.
The dragon flew down and the moment its claws reach out for Gaara's body, the Kazekage's body cracked and dissolved into sand. Deidara's eyes widened as he understood he was the one who fell into Gaara's trap, the missing nin then heard his enemy calling a new jutsu.
"Saiko Zettai Kogeki : Shukaku no Hoko !" Gaara said as he emerged from the broken form of his previous sand shield with a massive spear made of the same hardened sand and pierced both Deidara and his Dragon's bodies with it from behind.
Deidara tried with his remaining force to move but couldn't free himself from the spear that was going through his stomach. Seeing that Gaara had a good hold on him, he gave up on trying to run away and turned his head towards his opponent.
"This isn't over Kazekage-dono, I may have lost today but I'll leave you with a memory of my art, a memory you or your village won't be able to forget any time soon." Deidara said before going through hand signs.
Not understanding nor liking the idea of an artistic final gift from Iwagakure's mad bomber, Gaara decided to act too.
"C0 : Kyukyoku Geijutsu !" Deidara said as his body started to disappear.
"Seeing the pattern of his previous attacks, this must be his ultimate and last desperate move to take me with him in death. This must be some kind of very powerful explosive jutsu as the rest, I can't risk it exploding here but what can I do ?" Gaara thought as he saw his enemy continue his technique.
"Sabaku : Sotaizo !" Gaara said as he trapped the rapidly evolving form of Deidara in a pyramidal sand structure with highly concentrated sand as its base materials. The Kazekage then made additional hand signs and called another jutsu.
"Gokusa Maiso !" He said as the ground under the pyramid loosened and swallowed it, sinking it two hundreds meters below the ground. Gaara then used his last reserves to fill the ground with his chakra in anticipation with Deidara's jutsu.
A few moments after that, everyone in the village could feel the force behind the explosion. To Gaara it was surreal, Sunagakure itself was shaking from Deidara's last jutsu. It was as if they were experiencing an earthquake, many buildings, roads and others structures collapsed under the strength of the vibrations.
When the area finally stopped shaking, Gaara saw his village in a state of total chaos. He could only shiver in fear, thinking what would have happened if he didn't use his jutsu to bury the threat. Fortunately, the only loss so far were materials, no casualties were signaled. Gaara sighed in relief, buildings could be reconstruct but human lives were priceless, that was a lesson he learned from his best and first friend Uzumaki Naruto. He closed his eyes as he thought about the blond Konoha jinchuriki and with the adrenaline slowly fading from his organism, he lost balance and fell to the ground.
"Good job, Gaara. You did it, you got him and protected us all." Temari said as she caught him before he could touch the ground.
"Yea, now rest and leave the rest to us. You used most of your chakra in during the fight, you deserved a good rest after all this." Kankuro added.
Gaara was about to comply and doze off but he was interrupted before he could do so as a new explosion caught their attention.
The main gate was gone and in its stead now stood two new shadowed figures, unfortunately for Sunagakure they were also wearing the Akatsuki's cloaks.
"It seems my subordinate took good care of you, Kazekage-dono." Pein said as he and Konan slowly appeared from the spot where the gates previously stood.
"Subordinate ? Are you some kind of leader in the Akatsuki organization ?" Kankuro asked the cloaked figure of Pein.
"There's no need for you to know that, since you are about to die anyway." Konan replied as she started to channel chakra through her body and dematerialized into slips of papers in front of their astonished audience.
Pein started slammed his hands on the ground as he called a new jutsu, "Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu !" he said as five small clouds of smoke appeared in front of him.
When the smoke disappeared, in front of them stood five new additional Akatsuki's members. They all had orange hair and strange markings or piercings all over their faces. The weirdest thing is that they also all had a strange doujutsu, purple eyes with circular black rings …
Gaara managed so stand up with the help of his sister Temari but as soon as he saw the eyes of the newcomers, he knew that Sunagakure would not be able to stop this enemy on its own.
"He told us that he needed time to train his powers but I can't fight on my own anymore. I was the only one to have a chance to resist those S-Ranked monsters but I can't even stand up alone any longer. Forgive me my friend, but I have no other choice now. I hope you had enough time, otherwise we're all doomed ..." Gaara thought as he slowly put a hand in his jacket pocket and took out something that caught Pein's attention.
The God of Amegakure instantly launched one of his men against Gaara as he saw what the Kazekage was about to do but it was too late already. The red head jinchuriki managed to throw the object he had in his right hand in the sky before he was tackled to the ground by Temari in order to avoid Pein's attack on him.
Just as Temari and Gaara touched the ground, a white light suddenly blinded everyone around and Gaara slowly closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
A/N : What do you think ?
This concludes the first part of this new Suna arc, Gaara won against Deidara but he's already all worn out and ready to drop at any moment. How will they resist against Pein/Nagato and Konan now that they finally joined the fray ? Well I'm sure you already now ...
Sasuke got his first meeting with Tobi / Madara, the "patriarch" showed him the "path" and extended an invitation to the younger Uchiha with mysterious words. How will Sasuke react ? Will he be able to extract the "truth" from Itachi ?
Read the next issue to find out about these questions :)
As usual please read and review.