CHAPTER 18 Fox's Return
A sixteen year old Sakura was running through the trees with Kakashi, Kiba, Hinata and old Lady Chiyo.
Kiba was in the lead along with Akamaru following Gaara's scent. "Yeah its coming real strong just ahead." He called back as they jumped out of the woods and down a raven landing on the water they saw a massive rock with a seal on it
FLASHBACK
Sakura stood in front of the Hokage's desk along with Kakashi, Temari, Kiba, and Hinata.
"First off Temari we just got word from the sand ordering you back home immediately." Tsunade said
"Why is that?" Temari asked
"Apparently someone attacked the sand and captured your younger brother the Kazekage." Tsunade replied at this Temari went wide eyed and turned to run out the door. "Hold up." Tsunade said stopping her in her tracks
"Why you tell me my village calls me back and my brother is missing and tell me to wait why?!" Temari demands
"Because that is why the rest of these guys are here." Tsunade said gesturing toward the team standing in front of her desk getting Temari to calm down a bit. "The sand requested some tracking ninja to aid in the search for the Kazekage, along with a medical ninja to aid with a strange type of poison that your other brother came into contact with while pursuing him."
"What Kankuro is poisoned why didn't you say that earlier?" Temari said hysterical
"Because you nearly rushed out of here before I could tell you now then Kakashi you are in charge of this mission I will send support when I can because we are close allies with the sand but it may be while." Tsunade said looking at the cycloptic ninja.
"Roger that." Kakashi said "anything else?"
"No just assist our allied village as much as you can." Tsunade said "dismissed"
END FLASHBACK
They looked at the massive boulder in front of them that had a seal on it Kakashi jumped up to the seal to examine it.
"Alright looks like a multilayered seal seems like there are four grounding points and each one will need to be pulled at the same time and they probably within a five kilometer radius." Kakashi said
"That isn't gonna be good cause there are only five of us and that would leave only one person here to deal with the enemy. Also there are probably traps set up on the other seals to prevent who ever pulls them from returning and helping the person here." Hinata said
"Right so…" Kakashi began
"We got four people coming in behind us." Kiba interrupted Kakashi then took a longer wiff and smiled "Their freindlies." Just then Guy along with Neji, Ten Ten, and Lee landed next to the other team
"Ah my eternal rival beat me to the enemies secret location I will have to do a hundred laps around the village once I get back to make up for it." Guy began to rant
"Guy we don't have time for that we have a four anchor seal that needs to be pulled up at the same time I need your team to locate and de activate them." Kakashi said
"Right." Guy said with a smile and thumbs up then looked at Neji who activated his Byakugan.
"Alright I got them one is at the top of a cliff a click to our east, another is two clicks south at the base of a massive tree, third is half a click west on a rock along the river, the last is north four clicks on a well." Neji said
"Alright Ten Ten take west, Neji to the east, Lee take the one south, I'll take north and be prepared for traps and call in on the radio's when you're in place." Guy said as they all jumped away to do their jobs
After a few minutes the radio cracked to life "Lee in position, Ten ten in position, Neji in position, Guy in position."
"Right on three." Kakashi replied "one two three." He said as he pulled the seal off. The moment the seal came off Sakura jumped into the air and smashed the boulder to pieces.
'Jeez must of gotten that strength from Lady Tsunade's training.' Kakashi thought to himself.
"Nice one Sakura I see studying under the Hokage has improved you enough to be useful in landscaping." Hinata shot at the pinkett
"Oh I can do a whole lot more than just 'landscaping' work." Sakura shot back with a grin.
"As much as cat fights are the only thing I like about those annoying little assholes we got a job to do." Kiba snapped getting the two girls to shoot him a glare as he jumped into the cave followed by the rest of the team.
They came to the scene of a hunched over man with a large metal tail, and a blond sitting on the body of the Kazekage.
"Get off of him." Old Lady Chiyo demanded
"Oh why's that old bag?" the blonde asked sarcastically
"Deidara take that thing out of here, I will deal with Granny Chiyo alone." The hunched over one said
"Don't tell me what to do." Deidara said.
"Just do it this is something between me and her." His partner replied
"Fine." Deidara said as he pulled something from his satchel and it flew at the leaf ninja and exploded forcing them to jump out of the way. Just then a giant white bird came out of nowhere and zipped past them.
"Damn't" Kakashi cursed
"Go get Gaara back I'll deal with Sasori." Chiyo said
"Roger that." Kakashi said as him and Kiba jumped out the cave after Deidara.
"Well looks it's like we get the hunch back." Hinata says activating her Byakugan and getting into a fighting stance.
"What I told you I would deal with him." Lady Chiyo said and began to cough.
"Calm down those two will be a lot faster without us trying to keep up." Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles and got into a fighting stance.
"Besides what kind of ninja's would we be if we let some old lady do our fighting for us?" Hinata asked with a confidant grin.
"Very well let's do this." Chiyo said as she got into a fighting stance
"Alright looks like there is a chakra signature coming from inside that thing it's like a shell." Hinata said
"Yes that is one of Sasori's puppets. It's his heavy defense it will take a lot to break through" Chiyo said
"Just give me a good clean shot and I can break through it" Sakura said as she hit her fist into her open hand.
"Right." Hinata said
"And don't forget that poison used on Kankuro came from this guy so he probably has his weapons laced with the stuff." Sakura added.
"Yeah yeah don't let his weapons touch me got it." Hinata said as she got into a stance
Just then Sakura and Hinata shot out at Sasori, both barely dodging his oncoming attacks just then Sakura got inside his tail and landed a hit on his back. She jumped away as the shell began to break apart and a new person jumped from the husk of a puppet.
"I'll give you credit you're the first to break through my ultimate shield." Sasori said, standing in front of them was a red headed man that looked like he was in his early to mid twenties.
"I thought you said he was old why does he look so young?" Hinata asked
"He is he is over fifty years old I don't know why he looks so young." Lady Chiyo said
"Maybe it's a jutsu that makes him look young like Lady Tsunade does." Sakura said
"No he doesn't care about looks it's something else." Lady Chiyo said
"Hey I can't get a good read on him." Hinata said
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked
"It's like he doesn't have a chakra network just strings coming from his heart to his extremities." Hinata said
"Isn't that what a chakra network is?" Sakura asked
"No I mean there is nothing going to say the internal organs just the parts that move on the outside." Hinata said
"Oh no, you didn't?" Lady Chiyo said in shock looking at Sasori
"Oh yes Granny Chiyo I did I was saving it for last but since she let the cat out of the bag." Sasori said as he pulled off his Akatsuki robe and tossed it away. What they say underneath made them look on with shock. They saw open compartments with weapons and a cylinder thing sticking into his chest where his heart should be. "I turned myself into the ultimate puppet."
"How far have you fallen my boy?" Chiyo asked in shame
"Now I will kill you and these two so I can continue on with my mission." Sasori said as he summoned a giant puppet that looked like a man.
"Impossible." Chiyo said as she gazed upon the puppet "it's the third Kazekage."
"So he made a puppet that's looks like the third Kazekage big whoop." Hinata said
"No he took the Thirds body and turned it into a puppet." Lady Chiyo said
"What?" Hinata asked in shock. "that's disgusting"
"It's a forbidden jutsu that only he knows how to do." Chiyo said
"And it looks like I'll have three more puppets to add to my collection by day's end." Sasori said as he made his puppet charge at them
"You wish." Sakura said as she charged at the puppet as well
"Fool." Sasori said just then the puppet fell limp and Sakura quickly smashed it to bits "what but how?" he asked as he saw Hinata with her hands covered in chakra
"Simple I cut the chakra threads connect you to your puppet." Hinata said with a smartass smirk
"That was my favorite one now I'm going to have to punish you." Sasori said as he pulled out a scroll and in a huge puff of smoke a hundred puppets emerged
"Ah guys I don't think I can cut that many at once." Hinata said with a worried look on her face. As they all charged at them at once.
"That is why you go to the heart of the problem." Came a new voice as all the puppets stopped dead in their tracks and began to fall down.
The three girls looked up at Sasori to see his eye's bulged out in shock and a blade sticking out of the circle in his chest. The blade was pulled out from behind Sasori and his body fell to the ground. They then saw a man in hooded cloak holding a sword covered in what they could only guess was 'blood' from Sasori's 'heart' with the hilt of another sword sticking out from his cloak on the right side.
"Where did they take Gaara?" the cloaked figure asked as he swung his sword around snapping the blood off the blade.
"We don't know the other guy took him and Kakashi and Kiba went in pursuit" Sakura said as she pointed out the exit.
"Alright" the figure said as he sheathed his sword on his left side and took off in the direction she was pointing.
"Who is that guy?" Lady Chiyo asked
"Not positive but I got an idea." Sakura said as she ran after him
"Oh its him alright no one is that mysterious and sexy." Came inners voice
'I don't want to have this conversation again inner, and he was covered how do you know he's sexy?' Sakura argued with herself
"Oh if his younger self was anything to go off then yeah I can't wait to see him." Inner squealed in excitement. Just getting Sakura to roll her eyes
"Hey you don't think its fox, do you?" Hinata asked as she caught up with Sakura
"Maybe the Akatsuki are after him and he isn't one to wait around for trouble to find him he would rather go out and find it." Sakura said
"Alright good I was hoping to find him again now I can get him to go out with me." Hinata said in a low voice just loud enough for Sakura to hear.
"Oh hell no he is ours no way will we let this Hyuga bitch take him from us." Inner yelled in her head.
'It's not up to us besides I don't like him that way.' Sakura argued
Just then she heard something soft smacking into something hard.
'What's that.' Sakura asked herself
"Just me smacking my head against the wall at your stubbornness." Inner said
They followed Fox's trail and soon came to an open field where they saw Kakashi, Kiba and Fox standing in a Mexican standoff formation.
"So called in some reinforcements?" Kiba barked at the explosive wielding blonde
"The hell you talking about he ain't with me." Deidara called back
"Then who the hell is he?" Kiba barked
"Well wondering when you'd show up again fox." Kakashi said as the hooded figure smirked and lifted his hood to reveal a pair of demonic slit eyes and wild red hair fading into blond tips
"Well you're no fun Kakashi I was hoping to have some fun playing the guessing game." Naruto chuckled
"Oh Fox good to see you again you come to help us out?" Kiba said with a smile
"Not really I just came to find out who was fucking with my brother." Naruto explained "just so happens our enemy is the same this time."
"Oh" Kiba said with disappointment.
"Well since you took away the fun, guess I won't be needing this right now." Naruto said as he unclipped his cloak and tossed it to the side to reveal pretty much the same outfit he wore when he was younger but with the addition of two Katanas on each side of his waist, one with a black handle and the other with an orange handle. He also was sporting a tribal design nine tailed fox tattoo on his right shoulder going down his bicep.
Sakura stared at him with aw at his new muscle tone that she could see from his arms.
"See told you sexy." Inner said "now wipe that drool from your face."
'I'm not drooling.' Sakura said as she wiped her mouth to be sure she wasn't
"Goddamn I can't wait to see what's under that armor." Hinata said next to Sakura
"Who is that boy?" Lady Chiyo asked
"He is the nine tailed Jinchuuriki, he is also a top ranked mercenary slash bounty hunter that goes by the name of Fox." Sakura explained
"If he is a mercenary why is he here?" Chiyo asked
"Like he said he is here to get the guys who were 'fucking with his brother'" Sakura said repeating what she had just heard "He never had any kind of family so I think he sees the other Jinchuuriki as family so Gaara is like a brother to him."
"So he isn't a threat to us then?" Chiyo asked
"Don't believe so." Sakura said as she watched Naruto with unwavering eyes.
"Well then can you guys back off, this fucker is mine." Naruto said
"Very well." Kakashi said as he stepped back followed by Kiba
"You know I know you guys are coming after the Jinchuuriki so I will hunter you guys down and slaughter you like the pigs you are right?" Naruto said as he drew his two Katanas.
"As if, I'll be getting two tailed beasts in a single day must be my lucky day." Deidara said as he reached into his pouches to grab his explosive clay
"Quite bluffing I can tell your nervous and only reason that would be is if you used most of explosives on Gaara. So what you gona fight me with your bare hands? Oh I'm sorry hand" Naruto asked with a smirk looking at the severed stump that was where Deidara's arm used to be, as he got a look of shock
'Shit he's calling my bluff guess there is only one thing left to do.' He said to himself
"Well guess my bluff was called only one choice to do now." Deidara said as he pulled out the last of his clay and began to eat it.
"Ok you've gone completely crazy." Naruto said
Just then Deidara began to expand and bulge. Naruto then realized what he was doing "ah shit" Naruto said as he began to blow through hand signs and slammed both hands on the ground and a bunch of chains bust from the ground and wrapped around Deidara's bloated body. They intertwined and completely covered him and then bulged outward as he blew himself up.
Naruto let out a sigh as he retracted the chains and looked at the nothingness that was in place of Deidara.
"Damn't he got away." Naruto said as the ninja came up to him
"what do you mean he got away. We just watch him blow himself up" Kiba asked
"No that was a diversion to get away he did a replacement jutsu just before I wrapped my chains around him." Naruto said
"Yeah about those chains those where sick how did you do that?" Kiba asked
"Blood line limit." Naruto said
"Your mother's jutsu." Kakashi said
"Damn that is confidential information Cyclops." Naruto said
"Well to quote a young merc 'you think I give a shit, I break rules on a daily.'" Kakashi said with an eye smile
"Should of known that one would come back to bite me in the ass." Naruto sighed as Sakura, Hinata and Chiyo came up to the group.
Naruto looked over at them and gave Sakura a slight glare.
'Looks like he is still mad about what happened when we were younger.' Sakura said to herself
"But it's not nearly as bad as it was before, maybe he has softened up a bit." Inner said with some hope
"Sakura anything you can do for him?" Kakashi asked looking down at Gaara.
"Let me see." Sakura said as she knelt down and her hands began to glow and scan over his body "No he doesn't have any chakra left there is nothing I can do."
"Maybe there is something I can do." Chiyo said as she knelt down beside him and placed her hands on him and her hands began to glow. She stayed down there for awhile the whole time getting weaker and weaker.
'Damn looks like I'm too old to complete the jutsu damn this old body of mine' she cursed to herself as she felt a pair of hands cover hers.
"Looks like you need a hand." Came a voice as she looked up to see the demonic eyes of Naruto then felt a rush of chakra into her hands.
Chiyo looked up at him and mouthed 'thank you' as she closed her eyes and slumped over
"No thank you." He whispered just before he felt her life force slip away from her and into Gaara.
"Did it work?" Sakura asked as Naruto stood up and Gaara then began to come to.
"What, what happened?" Gaara asked as he looked up at the leaf ninja and the mercenary around him "Fox what are you doing here?"
"Good to see you back amongst the living." Naruto said
"What do you mean?" Gaara asked as he sat up and Naruto offered him a hand.
"Well apparently the Akatsuki got to you before I could." Naruto said as Gaara took his hand and stood up.
"What do you mean? I remember you and Lord Jiraiya coming to the village awhile ago and warning us about them, and I was fighting one but everything went black." Gaara said
"Yeah well they captured you and extracted Shukaku from you and you died." Naruto explained
"If I died how am I here right now?" Gaara asked
"The old lady." Naruto said gesturing toward the body of Lady Chiyo who Sakura had just began to work on trying to save her "she sacrificed herself to save you."
"Very well I will never forget what she has done for me. But why are you here?" Gaara asked
"Well I was out warning the rest of our brothers and sisters about the Akatsuki when I got word they were already moving to get you. I was on my way to the cloud village and hauled ass to get here but I was too late I'm sorry." Naruto explained
"It's alright my friend" Gaara said as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder just then they heard a female voice
"Gaara sensei." They looked over and saw two young girls maybe a year or so younger than them wearing a sand head bands jump and hug him. They look past them and see a whole group of sand ninja standing there.
At this Naruto backs up and is standing next to Kiba who looks over at the scene of all the female ninja's minus Temari crowd around Gaara fawning over him as the two girls who jumped him begin to argue.
"Geez we do all the work and he gets the girls what kind of shit is that?" Kiba complains to Naruto
"What's this we shit I was the one who prevented that pyro from blowing all us up." Naruto shot back
"Hey I had to track him down on a three day old trail." Kiba said
"Can't you track someone up to five days ago?" Naruto asked
"Well yeah but it's still a pain." Kiba sighed when Kakashi walked up to them
"Fox I believe the Hokage would like to know about what you've found out about the Akatsuki." Kakashi said "so would you please accompany us back to the hidden leaf."
"Fine I guess I can stop by and let you guys in on what I know, might as well we will probably need every one to take care of this threat." Naruto sighed not really wanting to go back to the village
END CHAPTER 18
A/N
Alright I'm back I know been awhile been doing the collage thing so haven't had time to work on it I've also had two other fics I been working at as well as this one so updates will be a bit slow but please review.