I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Rescue
Sasuke knelt behind the buses with Naruto and Kakashi and glanced up at his Sensei. Ryuu had been taken almost a month ago and they had been tracking the ninja ever since. Sasuke was getting tired of waiting.
"Patience Sasuke," Kakashi whispered. "We'll save Ryuu. Don't worry."
"That guy may be here," Sasuke stated. "If so, I doubt we can beat him."
"Guy will handle him," Kakashi assured him. "No one can match Guy."
"There's the signal," Naruto stated nodding toward a Leaf Shinobi using a kunai to reflect the light of the sun at them.
Kakashi and Sasuke both fired massive blasts of fire at the massive boulder before them where they had tracked the man that kidnapped Ryuu to. The blast collapsed a section and revealed a small army of rogue shinobi. In this case, the small army was about thirteen. Kakashi and Sasuke exchanged glances before Leaf Ninja charged out of the trees around them. Among them were Neji, Lee, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, their Sensei Asuma Sarutobi, Kiba Inuzuka, his Sensei Kurenai Yuhi, Hayate, and Yugao. Sasuke and Kakashi both sprinted down to the others, both having their Sharingan active as they began to fight the rogue ninja. The one that had taken Ryuu wasn't present but he may still be inside and even if he wasn't, most of the shinobi they were fighting were strong enough that no one had been able to hit one yet. Finally, Naruto swarmed the rogue ninja with clones and after a moment, the clones all disappeared and the rogue ninja fell to an attack from their opponent. Kakashi, Naruto, Guy, and Sasuke all sprinted ahead of the others and into the base, rapidly progressing through one winding hallway after another. Finally they reached a large empty room with only a desk and filled chair. In it, was the same ninja Sasuke was afraid they would meet.
"You're too late," the ninja stated, feet crossed on the desk leaning back in the chair with one hand behind his head and the other holding an apple. "The Uchiha's already gone. He left this morning."
The ninja looked Guy in the eyes as he spoke and when Kakashi told Guy this was the one they needed help with, Guy did absolutely nothing.
"Guy?" Kakashi questioned waving a hand in front of Guy's face as the ninja stood.
"Not that I wouldn't love to have a replay of our last encounter, I'm afraid I must be off," the shinobi stated walking around the desk and toward them and the door.
"You're not going anywhere!" Sasuke shouted as he and Naruto charged, the ninja batting both aside with ease.
"Guy, snap out of it!" Kakashi shouted but with no effect.
"You're wasting your breath," the ninja stated walking past. "He'll wake up in a few minutes."
Kakashi formed a Lightning Blade and charged forward, driving his hand at the ninja who spun swiping Kakashi's arm aside before punching him and sending him rocketing into Guy then the desk, Guy crashing into him.
"Adieu," the ninja spoke lifting a hand as he exited the room, the darkness of the hallway enveloping him.
After a few minutes, the others all attacked him out of the darkness but the ninja held out his hand and sent a blast of pure chakra straight out and down the hallway, blasting them all into the walls, allowing him to easily walk past. As he neared the door, Sasuke suddenly leapt into the air behind him with a kunai between each finger on his right hand, which was curled into a fist. the ninja spun, catching Sasuke's fist without touching the kunai then kicked Sasuke, taking the kunai only to see the paper bombs on them. Sasuke grinned as they exploded but as the smoke cleared, he saw the ninja standing there, unharmed, including his clothing.
"Nice try kid," the ninja grinned. "You almost had me worried there."
And with that, the ninja turned and walked out of the base, vanishing in a swirl of the sand outside the door.
"That could have gone better," Kakashi sighed picking up Guy. "Come on Naruto. We have to work fast if we're going to follow him."
Naruto nodded and they both sprinted out into the hallway, catching up to the others just as they left the base and began to follow the ninja using Kiba and Akamaru's sense of smell. After about a day, they stopped in front of a large hole in the ground where two shinobi in surgical garb, both male, were waiting.
"Welcome Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha," one of them spoke as both bowed.
"Please, come inside," the other offered as they both turned sideways holding out their arms invitingly.
Kakashi and Sasuke exchanged uneasy looks but all of them walked past the two ninja, Neji keeping a careful eye on them as they followed. Within minutes, they reached a room with several examination tables with someone strapped to each.
"We do not harm the patients," one doctor stated. "We only do simple blood tests and give them a way to vent their energy through use of the Kekkei Genkai they possess. This boy, for example..."
He stepped in front of them and indicated a boy on a table to their left.
"...is fortunate enough to be able to create things out of his mind," the doctor continued. "Genjutsus that come true. Isn't that amazing? Think of the uses. And this girl..."
He indicated a girl to their right.
"...can return life to the corpses of the dead," he continued. "They are real people, however, their corpses remain in the same state they were in before being reanimated. She can return their personalities, their abilities, their souls. But their bodies will be exactly what they were. Skeletons, rotting corpses, fresh bodies. Imagine that. A Shikotsumyaku user's reanimated skeleton. The true perfect weapon. However, the downside is that, we have not yet figured out how to re-kill the corpses. So far the corpses have only stopped doing their master's bidding when she releases them."
"Do you have any Dojutsu?" Kakashi questioned.
"Not as of yet," the so far silent doctor stated. "At least, not at this facility. All of the eight facilities keep their patients records sealed to anyone except the Master. There may be some Dojutsu under examination at one of the others, though I highly doubt it. The Master has forbidden us from kidnapping those few that still have Dojutsu. It is exceptionally difficult to study them before the Dojutsu becomes unusable, whether from the Hyuga's infamous seal or other reasons."
"Then why would someone that we tracked here, take an Uchiha?" Sasuke spat.
"Uchiha?" the first questioned. "No no. We would never take an Uchiha. The bloodline is far to fragile at the moment. To few remain. They must live to replenish their numbers. Then, maybe, they will be fair game again."
"We're not getting anything useful from them this way," Sasuke stated. "Let's just kill them and get it over with."
"No Sasuke," Kakashi said shaking his head. "There's no point in killing unnecessarily. We have the ability to leave unharmed. Let's not waste it."
"Leave?" the second doctor laughed. "Oh no. You'll be the next opponents for our patients."
"Kurai kill them," the first doctor instructed and the girl that could raise the dead sat up holding out her hand as several panels in the walls fell open. the doctors around the room all looked around in surprise and fear as the bodies stood drawing various weapons and walking calmly toward the doctors.
"We'll kill them alright," Kurai growled.
The corpses began slaughtering the doctors and the one of them staggered toward Kurai from behind with a scalpel.
"I think not," the boy with the Genjutsu Kekkei Genkai growled creating a wall between Kurai and the doctor.
"Should we help?" Sasuke questioned.
"I think they have this handled," Kakashi stated just as hundreds of shinobi like the ones that had been guarding the other base swarmed out of a door on the opposite end of the room. "Or not."
Within seconds, the boy was wounded by a sword and retreated to Kakashi and the others with Kurai.
"You okay?" Kakashi questioned as the corpses began to use various Kekkei Genkai to fight the shinobi.
"Kurai, use me," the boy instructed. "The rest of you need to run. Even with the corpses it's only a matter of time before the Warden shows up. You need to be gone."
Before anyone could react, he charged at a Shinobi who easily stabbed him and killed him. Kurai instantly resurrected him, the corpse's head slowly raising before a sword appeared in his hand, glowing blue, and the corpse killed the shinobi.
"He was right," Kurai stated. "Go. I'll hold them here."
"Are there any Uchiha here?" Kakashi questioned.
"There was," Kurai stated. "A week ago. He was transferred. I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Kakashi nodded. "You could come."
"No," the girl smiled shaking he head. "The doctors here were keeping me alive. I have a fatal incurable disease. Fighting them signed my death warrant. Leave. We...I will hold them here until you are gone then have one of my corpses use his self destruction Kekkei Genkai to kill them all."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded. "Thank you. And I'm sorry."
With that, they all turned and fled, the base exploding about three minutes later.
"Ryuu's gone isn't he?" Sasuke questioned.
"I don't know," Kakashi admitted. "But we can't find him. For now, we'll have to trust Ryuu to escape alone."
Sasuke nodded and they began to head back to Konoha. Kakashi was right. The base had been their last chance. If the leader hadn't been there, they had no way to find him. If he had, he was dead. And Ryuu was gone either way. Ryuu would have to be able to break out alone. Eventually, Sasuke knew he would. He was an Uchiha after all.
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