AN: I'm sorry if this chapter sucks cause i've never written a fight scene and i don't know if this is okay or not, anyway, enjoy!
This is the edited version of the chapter, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or the characters mentioned in the story
Chapter IX - THE MISSION (part 2)
"Sakura, I'm glad to see you well" Gaara offer Sakura a polite nod
Sakura smile back at him "You too, Kazekage-sama"
"Please, just Gaara for you"
"Hai" Sakura study Gaara's face, she never noticed how handsome he actually is. All this time they've only interacted under the rush of a battle or a mission. She never actually has a full minute just to take in his appearance
"Eh, Sakura ka? You're here already?" Temari suddenly appear "Good to see you"
"You too Temari"
"Now that we're all here we can brief the mission properly" Kankuro say. Opening a scroll containing a map he speak "Ninjas from the allied force was missing during the war—"
"Isn't that expected?" Temari ask
"Hm, not in these cases. The points of where the ninjas were last seen are marked here. There's something odd about their disappearance. And last week it was finally discovered that a survivor came forward, without any chakra left and his ninjutsu gone"
"What?" Temari ask with a gasp
"What do you mean his ninjutsu are gone?" Sakura ask
"Means that his former ninja abilities are no longer his. I called for an emergency Kage summit, and we decided that a team need to find the one that emptied him, before someone else get hurt. We don't believe he would be that strong and dangerous just yet after the ninjas he had attacked, but we would keep it a secret from public to avoid panic. They just went trough a war and they deserve a little break from anxiety"
"Did the shinobi that came forward say what happened to the others?"
"He was traumatized, but he said that they were all killed, and their jutsus were taken away and drank by a 'demonic sage' with scary eyes, white clothing, long white hair and corpse pale skin" Kankuro read the quote from the report in his hands
"Demonic sage?" Sakura suddenly remember how Madara look after he was fully revived, and also Kaguya, the one team 7 fought before. They both appeared like human but they had posessed tremendous power that tey abused, they were merciless and demonic. Could it be somehow, this criminal they're hunting has something to do with that same sage power?
"Do you know something about it Sakura?" Temari ask
"Uhn, Sasuke and Naruto had fought something like that while everyone was still in the Tsukiyomi. Perhaps the sage power had some similarity with this new threat, since she fits the description of a sage power abuser"
"Did those who posess demonic sage power also has a big boucer?" Kankuro ask
"No they didn't. They were basically a family who use the power in two different paths. Naruto and Sasuke was believed to be sage of six path's sons reincarnations. The only one who can defeat Madara that turned into Kaguya"
"Hmm, well this one does have a personal body guard that turns his body parts into weapons, as if he himself wasn't dangerous enough. I just hope it's not the sage power we're dealing with here" Kankuro continue
"Sakura, you know what going on this mission means right?" Gaara say
"Of course"
"We're all going to fight—" Kankuro say
"But we're all counting on you to keep the Kazekage alive" Temari say "Not just us, but the whole Sunakagure is counting on you"
"You're the best medic-nin the shinobi world knows. You're the only one suit for the job"
"Hai, arigatou gozaimasu. I'll do my best, I promise you'll all get home in one perfect piece" Sakura just hope the enemy isn't as strong as Madara or Kaguya.
"So, here's the plan"
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Sakura tense up, she feels a strong chakra presence moving towards their direction fast. And she knows they only has less than 6 seconds.
Gaara's sand quickly forms a barrier as little bombs stick and explode "They're here" Gaara has been giving out his presence, thinking that it might draw the jutsu thief out when he sense a strong shinobi. "Kankuro"
"Wakatteru" he pulls something that seems invisible in the air and suddenly there's a lot of shadows moving simultaneously around the dark before there's a clashing sound from one direction
"There" Temari say, whipping her fan and make a wind tornado towards that direction, cutting the trees like invisible blades, while the rest follow suit
This won't be enough Sakura thought to herself
A figure shot up from the ground and flew to the sky, whoever it was, his shadow was white and swift. From where he had appeared, suddenly a huge bolt of light appears like a build-up of an explosion. Gaara act quick and trap everyone in a sand barrier, burry the barrier into the ground while waiting for the storm to end, but the ground cracks and the barrier take on a direct hit anyway while everyone brace themselves inside
"Damn it" Kankuro curse
"Gaara, daijobu ka?" Temari ask as she sees her brother spit blood
"Hmm" he answer
This is it Sakura think as she put her palms behind Gaara's back and heal his internal wounds while infusing her own enormous amount of chakra with his. The sand barrier becomes thicker and stronger and Gaara stand a little bit straighter than before, holding the sand in place. Gaara's sand… is alive, Sakura can feel it. The sand has a big desire to protect Gaara, and it gets stronger more by Sakura's will to help him more than her actual chakra.
"You feel her don't you Sakura" Gaara look behind him
"Hm" Sakura nod, "it feels like—"
"Love" he finish her sentence
Sakura take a long hard look at the kanji on Gaara's forehead. It's love. It's all he's living for now, what he longed for and finally received. Just like Naruto, he has come a long way if not further, a piece of Sakura's thought always goes to Gaara as she's been holding him dear in her heart as one of many people who has inspired and empowered her.
"My mother sipped her love into my sand and protected me, at first I thought it was Shukaku, but after meeting my father I realized that it was her, the first person ever to love me" he say, the sand thins out and scatters as the barrier falls and they meet with a horrific scene of destruction
"It's like—" Temari say
"The power of a biiju's attack… but how?" Sakura say
Their place is quite hidden and they keep themselves from any sudden or loud movement as some rookie ninjas appears from beneath the ground
"Hey ugly, we're gonna kick your butt and prove ourselves to the beautiful Mizukage!"
"Dumb ass" Kankuro curse as he try to hide the team, pulling on thin air as the branches and leaves shades their location from the figure floating in mid air
"Haa? Just some kids, I really thought I felt a strong chakra presence just now"
"You're right, it was us!" one of the rookies speaks up
"We're newly pledged jonin from the Kirigakure" the other smugly say
"They're gonna get themselves killed" Sakura whisper
"No-not yet" Kankuro block her with an arm
"Hngg.. you have nothing I'd want pest" the mysterious white figure speak
"W-what?! How dare you?! We survived your attack, and that proves that we're strong enough—"
"Yeah, strong enough to defeat you!"
"This is so pathetic that it even lost the humor aspect of it, ne?" the figure say to the big looking thug beside him
Sakura keep observing him, noting that he appears almost godly.
"How come they haven't notice us yet?" Temari whisper
"I'm hiding our chakra presence" Sakura answer
"Hng, I'm glad we brought you along"
"Thanks, but we really need to do something"
"Not yet" Kankuro repeat himself
Then just like on cue, the figure seems to be swallowing something before lounching an attack towards the hidden mist ninjas with 3 elements at once—fire, lightning and wind. It would be too quick and wide-ranged for them the dodge.
"Now" Kankuro say
The ground beneath the hidden mist ninjas begin to suck them in like a quicksand, and swallow them whole making the attack missed them completely and hit the hollow ground intead. Gaara has been sending his sand bit by bit underneath them without anyone else besides Kankuro noticing.
"It's too late to try to hide now" he finally say
The ninjas then reappeared to the surface gasping in shock not too far away from them.
"What the hell was that?" one of them ask
"S-sand?"
Then the Suna team reveal themselves finally to the scene. The mist attacker seem amused by their presence, mostly Gaara's. Thinking that his prowess would boost his own by 3 times as the Kage, the strongest in the sand village
"Th-the kazekage ka?"
"It is him, it is the Kazekage!"
"He saved us!"
The mysterious figure laughs wickedly as his eyes meets Gaara's. He clutch his head with his hands as he try to contain his excitement over this fine day
"We've been looking for you for weeks now" Gaara say "Turn yourself in and no unnacessary harm shall come to you today"
His laughter finally die "Turn myself in? That's too stupid to even consider funny don't you think?" he turns to the other figure beside him again
"Hmm" he say
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way" Gaara say still calmly as he always is
"Of course we can" his smug smile sickened with disgust
"What is your name?"Gaara ask
"Why would you need to know Kazekage-sama? You won't need it in the afterlife"
"I'll need to know what to carve on your grave"
The mysterious figure's expression changes to more hatred than before "well we'll see about that" as he lunge three elements at once like he did before
Gaara doesn't even flinch at the slightest as his sand quickly shields him as usual with no problem and cancels out all of the attack
Temari waves her fan, the wind she created is awfully strong and last for quite some time, the figure shields himself but didn't move from where he was floating
"Temari" Gaara calls to her as they nod in unison
Sharp looking poles made put of sand shot out from Gaara towards the figure as Temari waves her fan again to increase the speed of the attack, it jabs the figure in several places and draws blood from him.
"So he used to be a normal human" Sakura informs everyone from the ear piece
The figue's about to move but his eyes went wide as he realized that all of his body has been locked by invisible strings. His limbs moves without his command and pulls him down to the ground
Just before he hits the ground Sakura punch the ground beneath her, focusing the destruction his way. The ground splits and swallows him before spitting him away
"Something's wrong" Kankuro say, looking at the figure's companion, he looks calm. And their attack being effective, too effective, too easy.
"It's a genjutsu!" Sakura gasp out loud as she breaks everyone out of it just in time to see the biiju's explosion attack form in mid-air on the figure's one hand as he floats exactly where he was
"Smart girl, but you're too late"
"The biiju's attack… b-but how did you?" Sakura say
"I swallowed the ichibi" he proudly say
"W-what"
"Shukaku, he swallowed Shukaku!" Temari's eyes widen
"H-how?"
"Just…like…this" he shot out a hand with an eye the palm, remind Sakura of Deidara's palm who had a mouth on it
A whirl of wind suddenly forms and even Temari couldn't undo it as Gaara's sand begins to get sucked in.
"Gaara!" Temari shield him
"Gaara! Temari!" Kankuro try to shield the two of them
Sakura act quickly and try to charge at the attacker but was blocked by his companion "what do you think you're doing little girl?"
"Non of your business" she gives him a punch and send him flying back to his master, distracting him from Gaara and cancels the whirl that was absorbing his sand. The two land harshly on the ground with a loud thumb
"Daijobu ka?" Sakura glance at the sand siblings, they seem okay and they nod to confirm her they're alright
"What do we have here? Super human strength. I wonder why I didn't sense it earlier"
The companion stands up and charge at her with thousands of needles flying her way, but Sakura dodges them easily, then she just seems like she's punching the air before both the figure was thrown back again without any actual direct contact
"Su-sugoi" Temari hum to herself
Gaara stand back up refusing to be left out of the battle, an eye of a sandstorm suddenly appears on top of them as wind blows harshly. Temari leaps to the air and spins her fan around, making the wind unbearably strong . Everyone hold on by the chakra on their feet but still have to duck down to the ground.
"You've taken my biiju huh?" Gara say calmly, not even a hair on his body moves as the storm's eye follows him as he walk towards the two figures
"Three against two, that seems unfair" the mysterious figure tease
"Hmph"
"Hey, what are we? Chopped liver?" one of the three rookies from the hidden mist shout. The one that spoke quickly silenced by his two teammates with a smack to the head
With his sand scattered all over the stormy scene, Gaara had an opening, the companion sees this and he charge towards him with a weaponized arm but Gaara was pulled back quickly and miss the attack. Sakura notice the chakra string that's attached to his back. Kankuro is puppeting his brother just like Chiyo-baasama once did to her when they were up against his grandson-Sasori of the Akatsuki.
This could be… the sand siblings combined attack. Sakura was amazed by the scene as she brace for her own clutching herself on the ground
Kankuro stay still, a scroll between his teeth as something on his back starts to move and finally stands up. His puppets walks towards Gaara and Temari just in time to block another flying needles attack
"Poison won't work on me" all three puppets with Kankuro's voice speak
"Hmm, interesting. Four birds with one stone" the still nameless figure say, less confident with the odds of this battle for him, but amused more than ever
"Hnn, indeed master" his companion reply
Sakura has a real bad feeling about this
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