Chapter Four

Not A Theory

Neji was smug. "Got it."

Kiba, who had sat down and was, at the moment, scratching doodles into the sand with a stick, looked up at him, bored. "Finally?"

Neji was nettled. "I will have you know," he answered tersely, "that the method of genjutsu seeped into every water droplet of this lake is, apart from being very thorough, quite complicated and rather ingenious. If one stares into a certain area of the lake for too long one becomes entrapped, making it almost impossible for a careful search, particularly considering that the entrance to the hideout is, on top of everything else, camouflaged."

Kiba blinked. "So?"

"So you are thicker than Naruto," Neji muttered under his breath. "So," he said more loudly, "I began to scan the lake and found that the pull of the genjutsu activated less quickly depending on where I looked. At first I thought this meant the entrance was in an area where the genjutsu activated more quickly, but that isn't the case. The potency of the gentusts is not standard, but comparative – there is a pattern one must follow to be able to reduce the potency of the genjutsu. For example, if I was to look into the lake and not look away, the genjutsu would snare me in approximately three seconds. However, if I look West of where I first looked in the lake, the time is extended to four seconds. By the same token, if I look to the East, it shortens to two. After a process of trial and error, I have been able to lengthen the combination to twenty seconds. This is possible because of the constant shift and flow of the water. I'm sure that for the Akatsuki members themselves this combination is second nature upon approaching the lake."

"So, where is the hideout entrance?"

The lack of appreciation for his method grated on Neji's nerves. He almost missed Lee's irrational flattery. Good Lord, have I become vain? "So," he said again, his patience at an all time low, "the process is such: Look into the South corner of the lake, look North-east from there, that being South-west, then look North, that being North-east, East, that being South-east, and South-west, that being North."

Kiba blinked.

"The hideout's entrance is in the North corner of the lake. Behind a bolder."

Kiba smirked. "All I needed to hear man," he said, pushing himself back into his feet and dusting the sand off his pants. Come on," he said, whistling to Akamaru, who was further down the bank, that it was time to go.

"A word, Inuzuka Kiba."Neji said, arresting Kiba with just that phrase. He had a talent when it came to being serene and imposing as hell and both at once. Kiba had stopped short just as he was walking past Neji. They stood shoulder to shoulder, staring straight ahead, and not looking at each other. Neji continued, "I noticed yesterday that you were posing certain favors of an ungentlemanly nature to Lady Hotaru. While I would have dealt with the issue in a less ostentatious manner, I was content to see Naruto address the problem last night in camp. However… should you think to approach my cousin, Hyuga Hinata, in a similar manner, please know that you will be duly castrated before the night is out. Also, until my faith in you is restored I shall, for the time being, request your other teammate, Aburame Shino, to keep an eye – a bug – on you. That is all."

With that Neji left Kiba's side and took off into the forest, leaving a clueless nin-dog and the traumatized youth to follow.

…

"A life-preserving extraction is completely out of the question." Sakura's voice cut the mellow atmosphere to shreds. She was standing in the doorway, papers rumpled in her grip, her face pale.

"Oh? How do you mean, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and clambered back to his feet, then helped Hotaru up as well.

Sakura walked over to the cracked table and began dropping paper after paper on it. "Restrains. Transfusions. Chakra prisons. Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera." She said, slapping down a few papers with each word. She looked up at all of them again, as if lost. "It's a fascinating process and the man that created it must have been a genius, but it won't work."

"How about you explain the theory to us, and then tell use exactly what won't work?" Capitan Yamato said.

Sakura nodded, and took a deep breath. "Basically, Harusame came up with this hypothetical method of reaching into Utakata's belly and hitting the five points of the seal which held the Slug within Utakata." Naruto swallowed, his hand subconsciously traveling to grip at the bit of shirt that covered his own belly and the seal that appeared there whenever he molded chakra. "This in itself would only have released the beast within Utakata, turning him into the Slug rather than removing it from his body. However, if Harusame placed his fingers correctly, he might hit pressure points on the Slug itself, momentarily paralyzing it and giving him enough time to allow his own chakra to enter Utakata's body, envelop the Slug's compressed chakra, and pull it out."

"…So what's wrong with that?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shook her head. "If he didn't hit the exact points at the very beginning it would, rather than paralyzing the beast, kick start it into action, bringing it out… and killing all present." Sakura swallowed. "Harusame messed up on the very first step of his own theory."

The sentence hung heavily in the air.

"Beyond that," Sakura started again, "the time that the Bijuu would remain paralyzed would be minimal. No one who didn't know the inner workings of the beast's chakra system would be able to envelop it fast enough. And the beast's chakra is itself poisonous. The only reason that Jinchuuriki can stand it is because it is engrained into their system. No one else could endure it, let alone envelop it for any period of time. And even if someone could envelop it, it would take an inhuman amount of brute force to pull it from the vessel's body, and a highest ranking medical ninja's skill to do so without tearing the human vessel's vital organs into shreds. It's the core problem with all Jinchuuriki extractions. It's why they die. No one could, even if they tried, wrap themselves around the Bijuu, and pull it out without tearing the inner organs to shreds." She looked at everyone present. "The chakra would have to be pulled from the human's actual chakra system which, I'm sure you know, is tightly wound around the heart and other organs. It would have to be moved, without disturbing anything. Not to mention there is the question of what would be done with the Bijuu once it was removed from its human cage." She swallowed again.

"And besides… even when removed, the sudden deficiency of accustomed chakra from the vessels body would kill the vessel from sheer shock if from nothing else." She shook her head again. "...I expect that, in the end, Harusame planned to try and make up the difference by giving all of his chakra in replacement."

"…You mean he was planning to die anyway, to liberate his student?" Kakashi echoed.

Sakura's head jerked. It wasn't quite a nod, but it wasn't quite a shake either. "But not the way he did…Not the way he would, or even could have done…because it can't be done…"

Hotaru thumped back against the wall. There was silence in the room.

"…Gaara once said that Shukaku, his Tailed-Beast, was sealing in a kettle before being transferred into Gaara. Couldn't we…?" Naruto finally asked hesitantly.

Sakura shook her head. "You're looking at it from the wrong end, Naruto. You need to get to the kettle stage first. How do you get there, when Harusame couldn't even paralyze the thing?"

Naruto didn't answer. His forehead was creased. He had never been very good with theory. Scratch that. He had always been downright awful with it. It seemed to be taking him everything he had just to keep up with the nature of Harusame's idea. Sakura turned her attention away from him and to Kakashi who had just sighed heavily.

Naruto twitched. …But this isn't theory. No. This is going to happen!

"Well now, that does put a damper on everything. I can't say I was expecting to find an earth-shattering solution to Bijuu extraction – Heaven knows, the Ninja World has been looking for one long enough – but I was hoping for something at least a little helpful. Looks like I let myself get molested by the Mizukage for nothing~" Kakashi mused.

Dead. silence.

"Anyway. We'll have to devise a standard plan of attack in that case, and immediately. We've wasted far too much time on this dead-end. Yamato, would you mind listing off for us the Akatsuki members we may have to fight?"

"Oh. Y-yeah," Yamato pulled a booklet out of his pack and opened it. "Ehem. According to Kabuto, there is the Leader of the organization, about whom nothing is known save that his name is Pain."

"That's helpful," Tenten grumbled.

"There is also Hoshigaki Kisame, a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist." Tenten and Lee both exchanged significant glances. They had fought him on the Gaara Rescue Mission.

"He has in his possession the chakra absorbing-"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, could you explain that extraction thing again?" Naruto blurted out.

"Naruto, I'm talking!" Capitan Yamato snapped in exasperation.

"Jeez Naruto, you really don't get anything do you?" Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Hu?" Lee looked at her, awed. "Did you get it then, Tenten?"

"Shutup."

Sakura smiled patiently, and a little sadly. "Think of it this way, Naruto. It's like asking a mouse to go into a snake's hollow. He'll get lost in the tunnels, and even if he doesn't, and meets up with the snake, he'll just get swallowed whole. He could never actually get the snake out of the hollow."

Naruto thought for a moment. He looked as if he was going to hurt himself, his forehead was so compressed. "Right, so a mouse couldn't do it but… could another snake?"

Sakura opened her mouth to say 'No, of course not,' but her breath caught. She swallowed. "Naruto…?"

Naruto just smirked at her, and turned to Hotaru.

Sir Utakata took a deep, steadying breath. "To cut through everything, first and foremost, I am a Jinchuuriki."

"I'm a Jinchuuriki, Hotaru."

There was a gasp behind him. He didn't know whose. So much for 'keeping the big bad top-secret a Secret' and protecting the civilians from harm. Screw that. Naruto knew exactly whom Hotaru was worried about coming to harm, and it wasn't herself. He just smiled and continued. "Remember that day, on you estate, before I went looking for that Shiranami guy? Remember what I said to you, when you still had The Forbidden Jutsu stuck in your back?"

…

"Actually…Hotaru…I'm sorta in the same dilemma as you," he smiled at her sheepishly.

"You too, Naruto?"

Sakura had spluttered, "Naruto… that's…"

Utakata had stared at him, unblinkingly, willing him to continue.

"I can't go into detail," he said, looking away, "but deep down, I've always been troubled by it."

…

Naruto shrugged. "So sew me. I just went into detail. Anyway," he turned back to Sakura, "I can do this process thing."

"Naruto, you're not a medical ninja! You don't know the body-"

"I know a Jinchuuriki body better than anyone. I know the way the chakra flows and I know exactly what it does. I told Kakashi-sensei this once already. I know my body better than anyone."

"But this won't be your body. It'll be-"

"One Jinchuuriki to another. I'll figure it out!" there was no stopping him now. His thoughts were just spilling out of his mouth. "And as for finding the circularly system, it'll be like finding my own foot! I know that path and I know how it feels and where it hits! You yourself said that no one but a Jinchuuriki could put up with that sort of poisonous chakra! I'll envelop it, no problem! We're made of the same stuff! And I've got pleanty of my own chakra to pump into him during the procedure so that he doesn't go into shock. Brute force? Please, I've got that! Capitan Yamato, didn't you just say that I was the reason you sent me along with Neji and Kiba?"

"I…well…Yes…But I was half jo-"

"But Naruto!" Sakura blurted out. Yamato whimpered about being constantly interrupted. "I already said, you would have to pull the Slug's chakra out without damaging anything! You would need to keep an infinitesimal space between your chakra and the very walls of his veins!"

"Rasengan!"

"What?!"

"Sakura, I've mastered Rasengan, where you have to formulate a whirlwind of chakra in the palm of your hand without breaking a balloon! I'll thin it, I'll hone it, I'll do it!"

Lee whistled. "Naruto! You really did understand that lecture thing, didn't you."

"Not really," Nartuo smirked weakly. "…Not nearly well enough."

"I found it."

Naruto jumped and spun around.

Neji and Kiba were perched in the window. "There was a rather potent genjutsu seeped into the lake," Neji said testily. "They may have been anticipating something like my Byakugan after I found their Sealing Tags last time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kiba slurred. "Just admit that your eyes aren't as good as you say they aAAAAA-" thump. Neji's arm had snapped up and thwacked Kiba out of the window frame and sent him soaring from the second story to the forest floor.

A whimper followed in swift succession. Akamaru must have cushioned Kiba's fall.

Neji himself had not stirred and inch, and his arm came back to rest at his side.

"Anyway, it's not that hard to get to. Also, there is no five-tag seal on it. Just a rockslide-like cover. They underestimated my eyes," he smirked his superior smirk. "Kiba will use his Dual Piercing Fang to blast through the rockslide-"

"Don't just go assuming stuff like that! You prick!" a voice came from below.

"-and we'll have an easy access. We're in."

Naruto turned to Hotaru. "I don't know how much time I'll have to practice thinning out my chakra to the level of veins and blood vessels, if any." He said, meeting her eyes. "And I'm not Sakura-chan. I…" he swallowed hard. Again he had to wonder… why her eyes had to be so familiarly green...

"I may end up killing him. This whole fellow-Jinchuuriki thing I came up with is just a theory – my theory, to underline just how retarded it might but…" From down below they could hear Kiba's muttered cursing as he and Akamaru climbed the stairs. "Whether or not to try this extraction thing… You're gonna have to make the choice for him now."

"Naruto, we don't even know if we'll be able to get a hold on hi-" Tenten's voice caught in her mouth. The way Naruto was looking at her… as if his eyes were of liquid fire.

He turned those eyes back on Hotaru. Hotaru held his gaze for a moment, and then looked down. She was still holding that mini-Bubble Blower.

…

"To hell with the Forbidden Jutsu… To hell with the clan…To hell with one's master! And all these selfish bastards who do atrocious things to those who serve them, without a hint of remorse, they think of us as mere tools…" Her face crumpled and she bowed even lower, trying to curl up into herself on the fallen trunk. She didn't look up, but she felt him lean down and carefully and protectively pull her wrap back over her shoulders, and over The Forbidden Jutsu embedded in her back. "Tools…who don't speak…" Tentatively, she leaned her head against his. She could hear his breathing by her ear, feel it as it grazed her back as he held her.

…

"If we leave things as they are, he will die." Everyone was silent. The only sound was Kiba's and Akamaru's panting as they leaned against the door frame. Naruto nodded. Hotaru smiled as bravely as she could. "I have no idea what you're planning or how you're going to get him back, but I know that Sir Utakata would rather die on his own terms… trying to accomplish his and his master's dre'eam…" her voice cracked. She really needed to work on that, "…rather than at the hands of those… who prevented him from becoming a master in his own right." She was crying again. She was so tired of crying. But the truth was she really was not sure about how Sir Utakata might want to die. Just as she had not been sure about what he had meant when he said he did not want to be kicked out of the mansion. Just as she hadn't known what he meant when he said her bubble blower would be useless to her. She had always pretended… always told herself that she understood. But he was a Jinchuuriki. A unique existence, like Naruto. How could she even give herself airs of understanding even a little?

"Actually…Hotaru…I'm sorta in the same dilemma as you," he smiled at her.

She hiccupped. Naruto was hugging her. Lee was gently patting her on the back. Neji had looked away politely. They were all there for her. Gingerly she wrapped her arms around Naruto's torso and gripped into his orange windbreaker. And they understood…

"Capitan Yamato…Kakashi-sensei… I have a plan," Naruto said.

"Oh?" Kakashi sat himself up on the cracked table.

Naruto smirked. "You're not going to like it."

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed mildly, "That goes without saying. Now, what is it?"