Hello, everyone! I introduce you to the Gaara Rescue Episode.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Negima.

Chapter 8
On the Way

The group dashed through trees, en route to Sunagakure in order to first save the life of the poisoned brother of the Kazekage before they direct their attention to the Kazekage in question.

In the front was Kushina flanked by Izumi and Yukizora. Behind them, to the left, was Team Kakashi, in a diamond formation. And to the back-right were Fate's group, Fate himself bringing the front of Negi and his friends.

Asuna silently fumed. "How can they handle this kind of travel? One wrong move and you're hit by a branch before falling to the ground."

Kaede gave a humorous chortle. "Welcome to the world of shinobi, de gozaru."

Izumi looked down and exclaimed, "Temari-san!"

Everyone suddenly stopped. Two days ago, the Suna ambassador left Konoha to report to the Kazekage. Right now, she is resting in a humble dango shop. She looked up and saw a bunch of people landing front of her. And one of them was the new Naruto.

She laid her empty dango plate, stood from her chair, and said, "Oh, Kushina-sama, Kakashi-san, hello. What brings you here?"

Later

Temari had wide eyes in shock and horror. "Akatsuki took Gaara and poisoned Kankuro? Let's go!"

Kushina gave a smile and said, "Okay." Then they jumped off.

On the road, Temari slowed a bit until she was beside Fate. Fate's eyes went to her and, without losing stride, asked, "Is there something you need?"

"The first time we met a few days ago, I never would've guessed that you were Naruto."

"Banishment changes people, Sabaku no Temari." His eyes went back to the path. "Do not worry, Temari. I may be different but my view of Gaara has not changed. He is like me, a jinchuuriki, and we jinchuuriki do not abandon each other."

Temari looked relieved and gave him an uncommon smile. "Thank you."

Suna - Hospital

Temari burst into the door, dropping her fan, and ran to her brother's side. "What's happened?"

An elderly woman said, "He's been poisoned. But I don't know what kind of poison. This is new to me."

The elder looked at next two to enter and her eyes widened in shock before her eyes centered on Kakashi. In a swift movement, she suddenly appeared above him, her arm outstretched. She shouted, "SHIROI KIBA!"

Kakashi's eyes widened. Izumi and Yukizora immediately acted. With both jumping in front of Kakashi, Yukizora swatted the elder's arm away. Following through, the elder went for kick, which Izumi grabbed and flung her back.

Izumi heatedly said, "What do you think you're doing to Kakashi-sensei?"

The elder slowly said, "I remembered that time…when I heard the title of Shiroi Kiba. My son's enemy…will end here. And I, Chiyo, will avenge my son."

Just as she was about to attack again, an elder man stepped in front of her. "Please, control yourself, Nee-san. Look closely. He resembles him but he is no Shiroi Kiba."

Chiyo narrowed her eyes before she laughed. "Haha, I knew that. I was just pretending to see the Shiroi Kiba!"

Everyone deadpanned. Sakura immediately ran towards the pained Kankuro. "Please, calm yourselves. There is a more pressing situation here!" Turning to one of the medics, she said, "Get me a bowl of water and a scalpel!" He nodded and went off.

A cut to Kankuro's sides and a water extraction process later, Sakura held out a blob of water in her hand with a purple blob within. Then, she dropped the water into the bowl. With a sigh, she said, "It's done. Kankuro-san is in no danger." Temari sighed with relief. "Now, I just need to make an antidote to remove the little poison on his bloodstream. It might not hurt to bring some more when we need it." Then, she asked, "Where's your greenhouse?"

The medics and the two elders left the room and Sakura soon followed.

Temari looked at the remaining group and said, "This might take a while so why don't you make yourselves comfortable?"

As they moved to seats, Temari finally noticed Negi's group. With a blink, she asked, "Why are kids here?"

Asuna's and Kotarou's brow twitched at being called a kid but Fate answered for them. "They are my companions while I was away. They can handle themselves in a fight."

Despite the seriousness in Fate's eyes, Temari felt skeptical. "This is Akatsuki we're talking about. They are unbeatably powerful."

Fate easily answered, "And yet I beat the one person who you also thought was unbeatably powerful." Temari flushed. "Do not assume that they are weak because of their age or their appearance. As they are, they can possibly match the Rookie 12."

Temari gave a small cough of shock before she gave a soft apology.

"I'm not the one who you owe it to."

She gulped and turned to Negi's group. Having not used to apologizing to those of lower rank or age, she finds it difficult to do so. That's why she acted the way she did when she first met Fate.

Negi noticed that she was stumbling with words and smiled at her. "You don't need to apologize, Temari-san. It's alright to think of us as not being able to handle Akatsuki."

Temari released a soft sigh and nodded at him.

With Deidara and Sasori – Same time

As the white clay bird flew onward into a vast forest, Sasori and Deidara missed the pale golden eyes of a person hidden within the shadows of the trees.

With a hum of thought, this person vanished further into the trees. They've begun. Should I attack them while they are distracted? No…not yet. This may compromise my location and my continued existence will be for nothing.

Back to Suna

Finally, the door opened and in entered the medics, the elders, Sakura with a bowl of light green liquid, the antidote, in her hands.

Sakura took a small saucer, dipped it in the bowl, and poured the contents into Kankuro's mouth. At long last, his eyes slowly opened and he sat up. He looked at Sakura, surprised, and thanked her.

Sakura smiled and said, "It's no problem."

Kankuro's eyes took in the people in the room and it landed on Temari. "Temari…sorry…I couldn't stop them. They're just too strong."

Temari shook her head as she approached his side. "No. It's not your fault, Kankuro. Tell me what happened."

Kankuro said, "Akatsuki came in the dead of night. Gaara fought them. When Akatsuki threatened to put a bomb on Suna, Gaara summoned his sand to protect it. And during that time, Akatsuki took advantage of his focus and bombed Gaara. And before he fainted, he pulled the sand that he used to cover the bomb out of Suna, to avoid a burial. I ran over to chase them. The hunchback one intercepted me and easily destroyed my puppets, saying all of their weaknesses. As it turns out, the hunchback was the Akasuna no Sasori." Chiyo and her fellow elder's eyes widened. "He poisoned me and left me for dead before they left. I think they were in the direction of Kawa no Kuni."

Kushina said, "Then we have no time to lose. We have to start now so we can catch up to them."

Chiyo said, "I'm coming, too." Her fellow elder looked at her. "Don't look at me like that, Ebizo. It's high time I gave my grandson some overdue loving." Turning to Kushina, she said, "I will just get a few things from my stash before I join you. Would you mind waiting for me at the front gate?"

Kushina replied, "Not at all. Take your time."

Much later

A white clay bird landed in front of a large boulder with a seal on it.

Sasori and Deidara jumped off the bird and the latter created a handseal. The boulder moved aside and all three (Sasori, Deidara, and the bird) entered the cave behind it.

Within was merely a plain cave. But as the boulder closed behind them, something fizzled into existence in front of them and a hologram of a person appeared: a person with spiky hair and purple eyes with ripple patterns around the pupil.

He narrowed his eyes at them and said, "You're late, Deidara, Sasori."

Deidara shivered under the cold tone of his leader. The failure was still fresh in his mind. But he replied, nonetheless, "I never expected the Ichibi jinchuuriki to put up much of a fight."

The leader stared at him a few seconds longer before he formed a handseal and said, "Kuchiyose."

The ground by the far wall rumbled before a large statue emerged from underneath. It had nine, closed eyes in front of some sort of blindfold, a bit in its mouth, and shackled hands pointed upwards.

Six more fizzles occurred, this time on various fingers of the statue, and different beings of height and sizes appeared. Deidara and Sasori jumped onto their own fingers. The clay bird was dispelled in a cloud of smoke and the unconscious Gaara flumped to the ground.

All nine members made a single seal and the leader said, "This process takes around three days. We will have no rest."

One of the holograms said, "Damn, Orochimaru's defection really brought down our extraction speed. It might even take longer."

The leader interrupted, "Then, we have no time to dawdle. We begin now. Zetsu," he turned towards the weird person with a Venus flytrap for head ornaments, "you keep lookout. Use your widest range." With a powerful burst of chakra, he said, "Fuinjutsu: Genryu Kyufujin."

The mouth of the statue released its bit before it glowed and nine ethereal dragons emerged from it and covered Gaara. He floated high as red chakra escaped his eyes and mouth and entered the statue's mouth.

And all the while, Gaara was moaning in pain.

Later

The group was waiting at the aforementioned front gate when Temari ran up to meet with them. And behind her were three kunoichi.

The first had medium-length brown hair and dark eyes. Her attire consists of a dark shirt with a matching skirt, Sunagakure flak jacket, black gloves and stockings, two arm-guards, and a black forehead protector around her neck.

The second had mid-back-length brown hair and matching eyes. Her attire is a light purple shirt, dark purple apron skirt, black stockings, two arm-guards, and a dark purple forehead protector on her head like a bandana.

The third had dark green hair that is tied into a bun with two orange locks framing her face and brown, pupilless eyes. Her attire consists of black, sleeveless, backless top, short tight pants with two flaps on front and back, an obi around her waist, and purple, shoulder-length arm-warmers.

Sakura looked surprised. "Temari-san, what are you doing here?"

She replied, "I want to help you rescue Gaara." She gestured towards the first two girls. "Matsuri and Sari are here to…well, to wish us luck. And Pakura," she pointed to the last girl, "has once sworn an oath to protect the Kazekage line, no matter what. So she wishes to join to uphold that oath."

Kushina and Kakashi looked surprised. Kakashi said, "The Shakuton no Pakura? I thought she died almost two years ago."

Pakura replied, "I narrowly escaped my attacker and returned here. After that, my identity was kept secret after that to avoid more attempts in my life."

Chiyo's voice sounded. "No need for that, Temari." Everyone looked to the source and saw Chiyo walking towards them. "Only one shinobi of Suna is enough here."

Temari said, "But, Chiyo-baa-sama, with numbers, we can win!"

Chiyo replied, "Your skills are of more use in fortifying Suna's defense."

Temari said, "We have more than enough shinobi for its defense. Besides, rescuing Gaara is more important!"

While Temari and Chiyo debated about who will go to rescue Gaara, Pakura kept her cool gaze on the other group. What kind of Hokage would send children to battle a group of S-Rank criminals? She gave a soft frown towards Negi's group before she looked at Team Kakashi, Izumi, Yukizora, and Kushina. Well, at least, there are some respectable ninjas in this group. And finally, her eyes landed on Fate. She was about to comment on him when she stopped.

Why does he look familiar? She can't explain it but, somehow, she has a feeling that they've met before. And when Fate's gaze met hers, she flushed light pink for a bit before she looked away.

Fate looked away and back into the quarreling duo. Having had enough, he said, "While the Shakuton no Pakura is undoubtedly powerful, unless she changes her appearance and uses only the base affinities of her Shakuton, her secrecy will be moot. Temari, you too must stay here. Since both of your brothers are currently indisposed, you are the only one who can handle all Kage affairs. Your sensei cannot do it because he has his own teaching duties to fulfill and your other elder cannot because of his adviser status and thus, cannot become the acting Kage."

That stopped all discussions short.

Temari visibly looked put out. She wanted to counter it but it would prove moot on a two-on-one debate. Both would not let it go and time is of the essence. And, since there was already an efficient leader in the Gaara rescue team and none in Suna, she would have to stay here. She gave a begrudging nod and said, "Fine, I'll stay. But Pakura will have to go with you."

Fate then said to Pakura, "Then be unnoticeable."

Pakura nodded and performed a henge. Her new attire now is much similar to Sari's, except for the forehead protector, which she ties only around her forehead, the Sunagakure flak jacket, and the ninja trekking pants behind the skirt. Her hair is now completely black and is fully tied in a ponytail and her transformed face is now wider.

Fate scrutinized her and nodded. "That is acceptable. Do not forget to only use the affinities that make up your Shakuton, not the Shakuton itself. It would arouse suspicion."

Pakura nodded and joined the group. Chiyo also did so.

As they turned around, Temari said, "Please…rescue Gaara."

Within Akatsuki base – a few hours later

Zetsu suddenly said, "We have ninjas from Konoha en route."

The leader asked, "Who are they?"

Zetsu paused for a few seconds before he said, "Hatake Kakashi's team with some Sunagakura kunoichi, an elderly woman, a long-haired redhead woman, two blondes, a redhead kid, some black-haired punk, a swordswoman, a ninja girl, some ponytail girl, and a white-haired kid."

One of the figures laughed loudly. "HAHAHA, they've got kids with them! Konoha and Suna are so fucked up! Kids can't make us stop!"

The leader's rippled eyes looked along his members. "Itachi, Kisame, give me 30 % of your chakra. I will use the Shoten no Jutsu to keep them busy."

Itachi slowly asked, "Is it wise to only ask from two members?" The other members sucked in a breath. It's completely bad to ask the leader about his orders. "I know Konoha and its Hokage. There's no way she would send children if she didn't have faith in their abilities. They might have the power to hold us off, giving the older ninjas enough time to deal the final blow."

The leader narrowed his eyes. "Your argument has merit. Hidan, Kakuzu, you will join them. Give me 30% of your chakra. If I had to choose between asking for more chakra and having more members join the fight, I would rather choose the latter. It would decrease extraction speed less than the former."

In the middle of the forest

Sakura turned to Fate and was about to ask him a question when she stopped. She thought that since Fate wanted his other identity as Naruto a secret, it would destroy the whole point if she asked him such a question. So she turned to Kakashi, instead. "Since when did Akatsuki start targeting people like Gaara?"

Kakashi answered, "I would be lying if I said that it started with Naruto. In truth, it started way before any of the Rookie 12 was born. But back then, I believe that they were simply mercenaries because Jiraiya-sama has not yet been informed by his spy network that the jinchuuriki have been attacked."

Asuna suddenly asked, "Then what made them attack the jinchuuriki if they were mercenaries?"

Fate answered, "Even mercenaries gain delusions of grandeur over time. It could be possible that they grew tired of being simple ninjas-for-hire that they desired to go higher."

Sasuke said, "Itachi's one of them and I only saw him when he and his partner went to get Naruto."

Kakashi said, "According to Jiraiya-sama, they stopped for three years before they started again, which is now."

Sakura asked, "But why wait for three years?"

Chiyo answered, "The most possible reason is that it would take a while to prepare the bijuu extraction process."

Setsuna and Kotarou held darkened eyes, and so did Zazie and Mana.

Chiyo gave a sigh. "Since ancient times, people tried to control a bijuu. But it was only when it was sealed inside a person that they managed to control it."

Sakura asked, "Has there been any sign of a jinchuuriki fully using a bijuu's powers?"

Kakashi replied, "The one known as Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage, the one who instigated the Kekkei Genkai purge, was rumored to have full control over his bijuu."

As the group reached a clearing, everyone, save for Fate, widened their eyes upon the sight of four cloaked individuals in their way.

The first had onyx black hair, red eyes with three tomoes around the pupil, and tear troughs under his eyes.

The second had blue skin, dark blue hair in the shape of a shark's fin, small, round eyes, gill-like markings below his eyes, pointed teeth, and a large package on his shoulder.

The third had medium-length silver hair, purple eyes, an open cloak, showing his forehead protector and weird medallion, and a large scythe on his back.

The fourth had tanned skin, green, pupil-less eyes, a white hood over his head, and a black mask over his nose and mouth.

Sasuke glared at the red-eyed man and muttered, "Itachi…"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the blue-skinned guy and said, "Kirigakure no Kaijin, Hoshigaki Kisame."

Kushina gripped her fists on the blade on her back and whispered, "And the Zonbi Konbi, Hidan and Kakuzu."

Hidan gave a feral and mad grin and asked, "Yo, wuzzup, bitches? Ya ready for some whup-ass?"

That ends the introductory chapter of the Gaara rescue arc. Next will be the fight and, possibly, the arrival at the Akatsuki base.

Pakura was a famed Sunagakure kunoichi with a rare Kekkei Genkai of Shakuton (Scorch Release). I didn't know when she died so I just put it up as within the timeskip.

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