Kaibunkage

Arc I

Chapter II

"To be a shinobi is to sacrifice oneself. Closing your eyes to the sunlight, distinguishing yourself in the shadows. That is the true form of a ninja."

- Godaime Hokage, Shimaru Danzo

The three men dashed through the trees at high speeds while a large white dog followed on the ground.

"Kiba-san," said the 'eyes' of the team, Hyuga Tokuma. "Have you picked up on her scent yet?"

"Not yet." Kiba responded.

"We need to hurry," Torune stated. "If she leaves, there is no telling on where she might go and Danzo-sama will not tolerate failure."

"Right." Kiba and Tokuma said.

Naruto was currently on his way back to Kemurigakure with Ranmaru and Guren both following silently. He knew what their problem was; Sakura. While Naruto did not see Sakura as a serious threat, he did know to not let her kiss him. Those lips had been the death of a handful of men.

"Naruto-sensei," Naruto glanced over his shoulder at Ranmaru. "When Haruno Sakura shows up, what are our orders?"

"Secure the area. I don't want anything or anyone getting in the way." Naruto answered.

The wind blew slightly and Naruto clutched his dark grey kage hat before it flew off of his head.

"I don't think this is the smartest idea." stated Guren. "Sakura is a threat to all of the villages. If she found out where Kemurigakure is located, then she could easily reveal the location towards other villages such as Ishi and Konoha."

"You're right." Naruto said casually.

"And you're not worried?" Guren asked.

"No." Naruto said with a grin. "And neither should you. I have a plan."

"Hai, Lord Kaibunkage." Guren said.

Within the Village Hidden among Tree Leaves, Nara Shikamaru was having another troublesome morning when his former teammate, Yamanaka Ino, barged into his home to wake him up. Of course, today was pretty important as the council was going to discuss Konoha's part in a battle against Akatsuki.

Now, Shikamaru disagreed with this convention for two major reasons. Reason one: That meant more work for him; and reason two: Konoha's jinchuriki had left years ago. Putting those two reasons together and Shikamaru had already theorized that the Hidden Leaf should actually stay out of Akatsuki's way unless the group did something personal to them. Of course, there was the run-in with Kakuzu and Hidan, but Asuma lived and all was right in the world.

"Shi! Ka! Mar! Ru!" Shikamaru threw a pillow over his face as he heard the troublesome woman once more. Sometimes he wished that it was Ino that got all lovesick and chased after Sasuke. But if that were to happen, he'd feel even worse. "Get your lazy ass up!"

"Ino," stated the next clan leader of the Nara Clan. "Could you keep it down a little bit? I'm trying to rest before the meeting later on today."

Ino's eyebrow twitched. "You mean the one that's happening in five minutes?"

Damn his sense of time was becoming that of Kakashi's.

"I'm coming." Shikamaru said getting out of the sheets. He gave yawn and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just why do they have to meet so early in the morning anyway?"

"If I didn't have a genin team to meet with, I'd actually take the time out to beat your lazy ass. Get a move on!" Ino said angrily.

"Alright, alright," Shikamaru said. "Troublesome woman…"

Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Ino had learned how to do a lot more with her hair than she did when fighting against Sakura at the Chunin Exams ten years ago. And one of those techniques was strangling her opponent with said hair or just holding them still while she delivered a blow with her free hands.

All in all, it was going to be a troublesome morning indeed.

Sayuri and Yukimaru arrived at Chuukan Point, an islet in-between the Land of Water and the Land of Ash that merchants used as a resting area. This is where the two were to meet Sakura at.

"I wish you could summon sharks instead of dolphins," Sayuri told her companion. "It would come in handy when she tries to attack."

"But, Sayuri-chan, dolphins are pretty useful too. And dangerous." responded Yukimaru.

Sayuri gave him a nonchalant wave. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Sharks would've been better."

Yukimaru did not respond, the sleeves of his gray shirt swallowing his hands as he stood like a child with his mother. He then remembered that Sayuri liked to battle and smiled brightly.

"Hey Sayuri-chan, do you want to see a trick I learned from Gozu-san?" Yukimaru asked.

Sayuri sighed. "No. I want you to stand here and be on your guard. I read that Sakura can repress her chakra and hide, as well as cast genjutsu that can fool most people. We have to be on our toes."

"Children? He sent children?" Sayuri and Yukimaru turned to the woman. She wore the noted red top, black skirt, black gloves, and black heels as the description said she would. But more importantly, she had pink hair and green eyes. Sayuri moved in front of Yukimaru, both of her hands on her dirks. "What are your names?"

"You don't need to know that." responded Sayuri. "We're here to take you to Kemurigakure no Sato where you will await our Kaibunkage."

Sakura smirked. "Oh really? And who says that I won't force you to take me there?"

Sayuri blinked. "What…? It doesn't matter! You're going there to wait for the Kaibunkage!"

"Hmm, no," said Sakura. Sayuri's hands were now gripping the handles of her blades. "Not until you answer me two questions."

"What are they?" Yukimaru asked.

"Shut up! I got this!" Sayuri snapped. "What are your questions?"

Sakura giggled a bit. "You're quite the hothead. That might get you killed one day." Sakura regained herself. "Okay, question one: What are your names?"

"…"

"I'm Yukimaru." answered the boy.

Sayuri thought about turning around and kicking the boy all the way back to the Hidden Smoke, but then she remembered that betrayal is one of the things that makes Yukimaru lose control over the Sanbi. Instead, she sighed and answered the woman.

"Sayuri."

"Now that I know that," Sakura said. "I want to introduce myself. My name is Haruno Sakura."

"We know who you-"

"Second question," Sayuri was not pleased about being interrupted but let it go for now. "Does this kage of yours have a name? I mean, surely he doesn't believe that I'll fall for a nameless man, does he?"

"I'm not obliged to tell you anything! Now let's go!" Sayuri said.

Sakura's green eyes began to glow as she smiled sweetly.

"Oh, Yuki-kun," Sayuri blinked before looking at Yukimaru. The boy was completely in some trance. Sayuri then turned to see Sakura beckoning the young teen with a finger. "Come here please."

"Right away, Sakura-chan." Yukimaru said in a monotone voice as he began to trudge towards Sakura.

Sayuri grunted. "That's it!" Sayuri ran for Sakura. "Now I'm going to cut you into five pieces and then ship you to Kemuri!"

Sakura ended her technique on Yukimaru and allowed Sayuri's daggers to slash her in half. A smile came on Sakura's face as her body deteriorated into pink petals. Sayuri glanced over at Yukimaru who was looking around in confusion.

"Get ready Yukimaru. She's attacking." stated Sayuri.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Yukimaru replied doing hand seals.

Sayuri watched as the area around them was covered in a dark mist. Her green eyes scanning the area carefully. Any normal shinobi would be angered by Yukimaru's Illusionary Mist Technique. She then remembered that Sakura was a genjutsu specialist as well. This probably did nothing for her.

Soon, several large stems began to fire from the ground around Sayuri and Yukimaru. Sayuri waited as each stem sprouted a large pink flower that released pink pollen.

"Yukimaru, stay focused! This is a genjutsu!" Sayuri called.

"Right." Sakura said coming from above.

Sayuri was able to roll out of the way, the ground where she was previously on caving under Sakura's heavy stomp. Sakura then did hand seals and inhaled before exhaling a fireball (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu). Not reading this attack in the file, Sayuri was thoroughly surprised until a large ball of water canceled it out.

Giving Yukimaru a nod of appreciation, Sayuri ran towards Sakura at faster speeds. Sakura took out two kunai and began to block Sayuri's strikes with her dirks. The sound of their metal clapping was heard throughout the entire resting area.

"You're not bad, Sayuri-chan." Sakura said.

"I'm just getting started." Sayuri said before spinning on her toes at high speed. "Yukimaru, take cover!"

"Hai!" Yukimaru called before diving into the water.

Sakura watched as Sayuri's body became something akin to a black tornado. An eyebrow arched as she remembered reading something about the Kurosuki Clan and their Black Tornado Technique but this was different.

Sayuri's body seemed to multiply before coming at Sakura at high speeds. The pink-haired rogue was able to dodge the three twisters safely, her mind wondering what rank Sayuri was. Surely she was at least a chunin with this speed and accuracy.

Sakura came to a stop and saw the three twisters that were Sayuri and two clones, Shadow Clones Sakura presumed, circling around her. Soon they formed a larger black twister with Sakura in the eye of the storm.

"Gotcha!" Sayuri shouted as her two dirks fired from the twister towards Sakura. Sakura leapt backwards to dodge the blades, only to be scratched on her back. She then realized that each clone must still hold a weapon. "You can't escape this! You're done for!"

Two more dirks came from Sakura's left and the former Leaf Nin was forced to dodge again, a smile coming on her face.

"This is pretty good," stated Sakura. "Too bad it can't really do anything against me."

"I'm not done!" came Sayuri's voice as her daggers shot from underground. Sakura jumped into the air, but the blades followed, twisting around one of another. "This is the end!"

Sakura held a hand seal before spitting a powerful blast of mud towards the blades (Earth Release: Mud Bullet). The attack was able to knock the blades into the ground. Sakura began descending towards the ground with a chakra enhanced fist.

"Shannaro!"

Yukimaru was sitting on one of his dolphin summons when he felt a strong gust of wind that disrupted Sayuri's technique. When the dust cleared, Sakura stood with a small smile and Sayuri was no where in sight.

"So you can travel underground. That's good to know." Sakura said holding a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Yukimaru's eyes widened. There were only two people he knew that used that technique: Naruto and Ranmaru. But now, Sakura had created two Shadow Clones that stood beside her.

"Umikou, while Sayuri-chan is using her Mayfly Technique, we should distract Sakura." Yukimaru said. "Are you ready?"

"Ready Yukimaru-kun." the dolphin called before Yukimaru held a hand seal.

Sakura watched water shoot from the dolphin's blowhole. The water seemed to freeze above her before firing down in thin needles (Water Release: Thousand Raining Needles). Sakura and her two clones got out of the way of the attack. The real Sakura glanced towards Yukimaru before firing ten needles from her mouth (Prepared Needle Shot).

Umikou dove underwater, taking Yukimaru with him. Sakura then glanced around.

"She can't stay underground for long." Sakura said. "Until then, I'll just wait."

A man steered the horses ahead with the frightened child in the carriage. On either side of the carriage were two royal knights on horses.

"We're not going to make it all the way to Kemuri!" the man driving the carriage said.

"We're heading towards Hoshigakure. The Hoshikage will know what to do." one of the knights said as they continued on. "We have already sent one of Akane-san's hawks back to her."

"Let's hope she gets it in time." the man said. "If not, Lady Shiori may be-"

"Do not think that. We're getting closer." the second knight said. "Let's just hope we lost them."

Sakura smiled. One of her clones now held Yukimaru in a loving embrace, the boy suckered into her glowing green eyes again. Sakura giggled a bit. Boys were so easy to seduce.

"Alright Sayuri, here's the deal," stated Sakura as she revealed a kunai. "You come out and surrender and I go to Kemuri with your friend here alive. It's really your choice."

Sayuri slowly came from beneath the ground, a black rose around her before dispersing.

"Let him go first." Sayuri said.

"Fine." Sakura said as her clone release Yukimaru. "Now put your little knives up."

"Right." Sayuri said before Yukimaru saw a clone of Sayuri behind Sakura with the daggers ready for strike.

Sakura sighed and turned around, extending her hand. Sayuri and Yukimaru were both stunned as the pink-haired kunoichi held Sayuri in place with just one finger.

"I'll give you one chance to answer my second question or I'll knock you into next week." Sakura said. "Who is your Kaibunkage?"

Sayuri grunted. If she did so much as a flinch, Sakura would not only attack her, but Yukimaru as well.

"Terumi Mei." Sayuri lied calmly. "Our Kaibunkage, the woman who sent me here, is Terumi Mei."

Sakura's eyes widened in fury as the black diamond appeared on her forehead. Sayuri actually froze in fear as Sakura grabbed the girl's collar and hoisted her into the air.

"Uzumaki. Naruto. Where the hell is Uzumaki Naruto?" Sakura asked through gritted teeth.

Sayuri went to use her daggers, but Sakura quickly tossed the girl towards the water. Yukimaru watched in awe and fear as the Smoke jonin's body actually skipped across the water's surface before sinking. Sakura then turned her cold gaze towards Yukimaru.

"Where is he?" Sakura asked slowly.

"I don't know. Is Sayuri-chan alright?" Yukimaru responded. Sakura and her clones came in on Yukimaru. "He left for a meeting!" Sakura and her clones paused. In the distance, Sayuri's body floated to the surface motionless. "S-Sayuri-chan…?"

"Alright boy, take me-"

"SAYURI!" Sakura was nearly blown away by the surge of chakra that came from Yukimaru.

Lying on the surface of the water, Sayuri smirked to herself. Tricking Yukimaru into thinking that she was dead was wrong, but it got him to unleash the chakra of the Sanbi and that was all they needed.

Sakura, however, scoffed.

"You think you're scary? I knew the Kyubi." Sakura said as Yukimaru blasted her away with a powerful ball of water.

Sakura slid a few feet before shattering the ball of water with kunai. The purple marks now on her face.

"Let's go you stupid turtle!" Sakura shouted while doing hand seals. She bit her thumb and placed her palm towards the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Sayuri only stared in disbelief at Sakura's summon. For once in her life, Hirameki Sayuri, Kemuri's Black Rose, was truly terrified at the large summon.

Sumaru smiled at his wife as she locked the door to his office.

"You do know that I'm still on duty, right?" Sumaru asked.

"Well, you can take a break, can't you?" purred Hokuto. "Or do I have to-"

There was a loud banging at the door which caused Hokuto to open it immediately. There stood Akane, panting a bit.

"Akane, what is it?" questioned Sumaru as he sensed the urgency.

"We need to contact Naruto! Shion has killed by Akatsuki! They're after Shiori!" Akane informed.

Sumaru hopped from his seat. "Dragon, Eagle, Dog," the three masked ANBU appeared when summoned. "Go with Hokuto to find Shiori! Akane, send a messenger hawk for Naruto and then go after them." Akane nodded before disappearing out of the room. "Doki!" A large man with blue hair and small green eyes appeared. "I need you to go to Suna and deliver this message."

"Hai, Lord Hoshikage." Doki replied.

The others in the room all used a standard Shushin to leave, leaving Sumaru alone in his office. He fell back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Shion, Priestess of Demon Country, was dead. Her daughter, Shiori, was the next in line to be priestess, but she was more important to the shinobi world because she had a special chakra that could restrain biju. Yes, Uzumaki Shiori was a real treasure to the ninja world.

Yukimaru lay defeated as Sakura stared down on him, dispelling her summon in the background. The merchants and fishermen within the resting area said nothing as we as Sayuri. Sakura gently lifted Yukimaru up and began to carry him as if he were her child and she his mother.

"Take me to Kemuri."

It was a simple and rather pointless demand, but Sayuri moved towards one of the boats that had a Kemuri emblem on the side. She had no clue on who the boat belonged to, but since the boat itself was marked with the Hidden Smoke insignia, the Kaibunkage could repay the fisherman or merchant later for its use.

Getting into the boat, Sayuri grabbed the oars, only for Sakura to snatch the oars from her hands.

"Just point to the direction. I'll get us there faster." Sakura said.

"This way." Sayuri said pointing and with one massive stroke, the boat was already moving at high speeds. "By the way… That summon…"

"Be beat my teammates I must beat their sensei. That's all I'm saying." Sakura stated.

"Okay." Sayuri replied.

Sakura continued to row the boat. Naruto was in Kemuri. She was one step closer into finding both of her teammates and finishing what she started as a Leaf kunoichi.

Beating both of those sorry bastards for leaving in the first place.

Going into one of Orochimaru's bases, Sasuke found Amachi writing up a report.

"Ah, Sasuke-sama," Amachi said. "How was your trip? Did you meet with Dōsame?"

"Hn," was the Uchiha's reply. "I'm going back to Otogakure. I take it that Orochimaru hasn't returned from his meeting with the Mizukage."

"No, but the deal is still on. You'll have your wife soon enough." Amachi stated.

Sasuke nodded before walking away. Curious, Karin moved towards Amachi.

"Gomen, Amachi-san," Karin said, gaining the scientist's attention. "Sasuke-kun is getting a wife from Kiri?"

"What? Oh yes. Third one I believe." answered the man. "Orochimaru-sama wants Sasuke to be able to restore his clan as soon as possible. With the Uchiha Clan now a part of Otogakure, we'll be unstoppable."

"Uh-huh… And just how many wives can he have?" Karin asked.

Amachi shrugged. "I don't know. I never really heard a limit to that."

"Oh. Thanks." Karin said cheerfully before walking away.

"What a strange woman…" Amachi said to himself.

Kiba looked at Akamaru, who had transformed into an exact replica of its owner.

"I don't smell her boy. What about you?" Kiba asked.

Akamaru shook his head. "Nope."

"Right. We should get out of here." Kiba said.

"Wait a minute," said the Hyuga on the team. "I found something." Tokuma squatted before picking up a long piece of pink hair. "She was here."

"So what do we do? Do we chase after her?" Kiba questioned Torune.

"Hm, this is a difficult decision to make," Kiba and Akamaru gave identical sighs. They hated it when Shino took his time with plans when they were on teams. Now this guy was going to take even longer to answer a simple yes or no question. "Chasing after her could mean walking into a trap. Then again, this may be the only lead we have on her for a while… I say, we go after her."

"Alright. Akamaru, get a good whiff of that hair." Kiba ordered. "We'll find her and bring her back to the village before she gets herself killed."

"She will be killed if you bring her back to the village." stated Tokuma.

"We'll see." Kiba said.

Naruto and his company had taken a rest a few miles away from the border of Wind and Fire countries. While Ranmaru had wasted little time lounging against a tree and going to sleep, Guren and Naruto were still well awake.

"Naruto-sama," Naruto glanced at Guren as she spoke. "What will you do if the Kazekage and Sakura are both within the village at the same time? Surely their last encounter will evoke past vendettas."

"Maybe you're right about that." Naruto answered.

"And how will you deal with seeing the Kazekage again?" Guren asked.

Naruto gave a shrug. "I can't really answer that. Then again, I doubt the Gaara knows that I'm the Kaibunkage." Naruto then glanced at his former student. "And if he goes on a rampage I know just who I'm sending in first."

Guren smirked. "I could always wake him up if you want, Naruto-sama."

"Please." Naruto said.

Guren placed a palm on the ground before Ranmaru sprung into the air, clutching his sore rear, a jagged pink crystal in place on where he was previously at. Naruto laughed at the sight as Ranmaru collapsed onto the ground.

"Let's go Ranmaru. We have to continue to be there before Sakura gets impatient." stated the Kaibunkage. "If that happens, then you'll see why I call her a pink-haired monstrosity."

"Whatever…" Ranmaru said as he slowly stood up. "And couldn't you just wake me up like normal people?"

Guren smiled. "That is how I normally wake people up."

"Annoying old woman…" muttered the teen.

Naruto paused in step and looked back at the direction towards Kuma no Kuni.

"Something isn't right…" Naruto said to himself. He then looked at the sun and saw the rainbow surrounding it. "Something is definitely not right."

Uzumaki Shiori was a normally happy, energetic, fun-loving child who kept her mother quite busy during the day. She adored both of her parents dearly and loved going to the Hidden Smoke Village to visit her father and Mei, who she deemed as her grandmother.

But if one were to see her now, they would never know that. The few splatters of blood that remained on her stoic face were probably the only color on her skin. Her platinum blonde hair sprayed across her back and her normally glistening dark purple eyes were nearly void of any life.

"Lady Shiori," her personal guard, Jakken, stated. "We will be okay. The Hoshikage will be here soon to take you to your father."

The little girl nodded slowly, her eyes on the ground. Jakken, a former Smoke Nin that Naruto had placed with Shion once she found out she was pregnant four years ago, had grown quite attached to Shiori. Their relationship could even rival that of Guren and Yukimaru's. Seeing Shiori in this shape nearly killed Jakken and he wanted nothing more than to see her smile again. Then again, after witnessing the death of her mother at such a young age, Jakken understood completely what Shiori was going through.

"Lady Shiori, it might be best if you ate something." Jakken said extending a sandwich to the girl. "Please, Lady Shiori, eat and then we will continue to find your dad."

Shiori hesitantly took the sandwich and brought it to her trembling lips. She took a small bite of the sandwich, causing Jakken to sigh once more. Whenever Shiori did not eat, it meant something was wrong. She loved to eat to restore her energy before running off again, especially…

A light bulb popped in his head before he went into the carriage. He came back with a small scroll and a smile on his face.

"Your father made me carry this scroll. Inside, he sealed every flavor of ramen known to him. Including all of your favorites." Jakken said with a smile.

Shiori looked up at Jakken's smile before turning away, taking another small bite out of her sandwich. Jakken's smile slowly dropped. It was a long shot, but he had to try something.

"Jakken," one of the knights said. "There is no sign or Deidara or Sasori. We should be safe for the moment."

"Right." replied Jakken. "Has a team entered the palace yet?"

"No word yet. And when they do, I'll send an order to find Shiori's special kunai. We want the Kaibunkage to come here as soon as possible." the man said.

"Hai." Jakken said and the knight went to resume his post. Jakken looked down at Shiori, hating what he had to do. "Shiori-chan, your 'special knife' that your dad gave you. Where did you hide it?"

Shiori said nothing as her eyes began to water. Jakken's face saddened before he opened his arms and the girl instinctively embraced him, crying openly.

"I want my daddy!" she cried.

"I know you do Shiori-chan." comforted the man. "But we need the special knife or else it's going to take him forever to get here."

"I miss my mommy!" the girl continued.

Jakken said nothing. There was nothing to say about that. Shion was dead. No ninjutsu in the world could bring her back. Well, except for the forbidden one that the Nidaime Hokage had made, but Naruto would never agree to that. No matter how happy it would make Shiori.

"I know, Shiori-chan." Jakken said. "We'll be in Kemuri soon."

He left out the word "hopefully" for the sake of the moment. Then another thought popped into his mind. Naruto was not going to be pleased about the news.

Naruto paused in his step again, looking over his shoulder.

"Something wrong, Kaibunkage-sama?" Guren asked.

"…" Naruto's eyes stared off into the distance. His facial features settled into an expression that Ranmaru had seen time and time again. His sensei was worried about something.

"Naruto-sensei, is there something wrong?" questioned the former student of Naruto.

"I don't know. Something just feels… Off." Naruto stated before taking a hesitant step back towards the Land of Bears. Naruto gripped the necklace Tsunade had given him before his departure from the Hidden Leaf. "You two go ahead. I'm going to go and find out what it is."

"We can't just leave you out here Naruto-sensei. People will get angry at us." Ranmaru said before sighing. "… I guess I'll never get that nap…"

Guren glared at Ranmaru. "There could be something going on and all you're worried about is a nap?"

"…Sort of." responded the teen.

A hawk circled above Naruto before landing on the ground in front of him.

"One of Akane's summons." Naruto said. "What's the message?"

"Naruto-san, the Priestess of Demon Country has been murdered." the hawk began to relay the message. "Your daughter is on her way to Hoshigakure no Sato. I do not know whether or not the ones responsible are chasing Lady Shiori or not. I am sorry, Naruto-san."

"Ranmaru, Guren, go directly back to Hoshi and wait for me there." Naruto said.

"Where are you going?" Ranmaru asked before Naruto vanished in a thin line of smoke.

Guren made two hand seals before a large pink dragon rose beneath her (Crystal Release: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon).

"Let's go Ranmaru." Guren instructed.

Ranmaru hopped onto the dragon before the duo began heading back towards the Village Hidden among Stars.

Author's Note: So here is chapter 2. Tell me what you think.