With Deidara dazed Kakashi had to move quickly to ensnare him with wires to ensure he didn't escape. He also took away the clay pouch at the blonde bomber's hip. "There, that ought to hold him."
"Wouldn't it be smarter just to kill him?" Hinata asked, flexing her fingers, as if to imply she would do it herself.
"Yes, but let's see what we can learn from him first. This is the first time we have been able to capture a member of the Akatsuki."
Deidara regained enough mental equilibrium to struggle. "I'm not telling you anything." He said with a sneer. 'If I can just get away and gain some cover for even a short while, I can throw them off with one of my clay clones rigged to explode later and finish them off. But as long as I'm stuck here, that would just be a waste of clay and time.'
Hinata then quickly kicked him in the already-aching balls.
Deidara was silent for a moment, and he let out a long loud scream that could probably have been heard all the way in theLandofLightning. "AAAAAHHHHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH! WHAT DID YA DO THAT FOR?"
"There's a reason I tied you up so that part of your body was an option for direct assault." Kakashi said with a pleased grin, despite the empathy he felt as a fellow male. "Refuse to cooperate and she'll do more of that."
"Yeah I will rip your balls off and shove them down your throat and watch you choke." She said with a very serious tone.
This caused Deidara to pale, but he still did not seem willing to talk.
Hinata then turned and looked behind her to see Naruto digging Gaara's body out of the mouth of the clay bird. He seemed almost frantic as he tore the clay apart and pulled Gaara loose. Her heart ached to see him so upset. She left the Akatsuki member to Kakashi while she went over to Naruto who had just finished pulling Gaara out.
"Gaara! Please, say something! Wake up!" Naruto said, hoping there was still a chance no matter how small and unlikely that he was still alive.
Hinata knelt down and checked for a pulse, her claws and other succubus features disappearing. "Naruto-kun, I don't feel a pulse. I'm sorry but... he's gone."
Naruto knew she was not lying, but he was in too much pain and denial to accept that. "No... no he can't be. Check it again, and don't stop until you find one." He was practically yelling at her.
"Naruto-kun, checking twice or three times or even a hundred times won't make a difference. I'm truly sorry for you, but there's nothing we can do."
Naruto just stared at her, but he quickly broke down and grabbed a hold of her, pulling her closer to him. She didn't fight back, and once she was close enough Naruto cried on her shoulder, mourning his departed friend and fellow jinchuuriki. Hinata wrapped her arms around him and patted his back, crying with him in an effort to share his pain.
"You will tell me what I want to know." Kakashi said to the rogue Iwa nin.
"Or what? Are you going to use that Sharingan on me? You seem to forget I have worked with Itachi. I know that as long as I don't look at you directly you can't do shit with your eye." Deidara said with his eyes on the ground.
Kakashi walked over, stepping behind Deidara, and after a moment he suddenly slammed the head of the bomb master onto the ground hard.
"I don't need to use my Sharingan in order to get information out of you." He whispered into Deidara's ear, only to receive laughter in return.
"Hehehehe, you think… you can threaten me... with pain?" He said as he struggled to turn his head to the side so he could look at Kakashi, unafraid even if the Sharingan was used. "You have nothing to use against me."
"Even the most seasoned shinobi has a breaking point. That's Interrogation 101. Some are just harder to break than others." Kakashi stated.
"Well too bad for you because I'm a diamond in those terms." Deidara confidently claimed.
"Good, because even diamonds aren't unbreakable."
All of a sudden, Naruto's fist came out of nowhere and connected with Deidara's right cheek, making him fall sideways. Several more Naruto's were seen to and they grabbed ahold of the rogue Iwa ninja and grabbed various parts of him.
"Naruto don't!" Kakashi called out, but the many Naruto's wouldn't listen. Instead they threw Deidara into the air and grabbed a hold of him again just so they could make his landing even harder and more painful. After the hard landing, one Naruto drove his knee into Deidara's chest, using gravity to put more force into the hit. The result was a huge dust cloud covering the area.
When the dust cleared, five Naruto's could be seen but Deidara couldn't. Instead, they saw a pile of clay in the vague shape of a person wrapped up in wire on the ground.
"Crap. He must have done a substitution when the dust gave him some cover." Kakashi commented.
Naruto fumed like he was containing a scream of rage and his clones dispelled. As he stared at where Deidara was supposed to be but wasn't, red chakra started to form around the blonde shinobi and it became to slowly take on the form of a fox.
'Is that what Jiraiya-sama warned about? The Kyuubi's cloak?' Kakashi asked himself, remembering a warning Jiraiya gave him and Tsunade regarding what can happen when Naruto gets far too agitated. He pulled out a cautionary seal Jiraiya have him, to use if Naruto ever started forming the cloak but it would only work while only one tail was fully formed. And right now the second tail was starting to appear. 'I better hurry.'
Before Kakashi got to him, Hinata did, and wrapped her arms around his neck, one hand stroking his hair lovingly. "It's okay Naruto-kun. Please calm down. This won't help us or you. I know you're angry, and that's okay. You have every right to be. Just calm down. Our next Hokage should be able to not give into anger like this."
To Kakashi's astonishment, Naruto actually calmed down and the cloak receded until it was gone. 'How did she do that?'
"Hinata-chan..." Naruto said, sounding like he didn't know if he wanted to cry or destroy something.
The aforementioned kunoichi rested her chin on his shoulder. "I'm here for you Naruto-kun. I'm here." Naruto hugged her back and shuddered, but he held himself together.
'Amazing. No wonder each hit was so heavy.' Deidara told himself as he watched from the bushes nearby.
Sakura and Chiyo dropped into the clearing from the trees. "We finally caught up Kakashi-sensei." Sakura announced. Both her and Chiyo looked worn out, Chiyo more than Sakura.
"You sure found us quickly." Kakashi commented.
"We saw which direction the enemy flew off in." Chiyo told him. "You are still... 'pant'... having trouble it seems."
"What about the one you faced?" Kakashi asked.
"We finished him off." Chiyo answered. "It was a hard battle, in more ways than one. But more importantly, what of Gaara?"
Naruto looked down, emphasizing his sadness, but he and Hinata showed the Suna elder the body of their Kazekage.
"All right." Chiyo said wearily, confusing the others around her. They couldn't tell just what emotion she was putting into those words.
From his hiding place close by Deidara listened in on the groups discussion.
'Unbelievable that the little girl and the old hag could actually defeat someone like Sasori.' Deidara told himself. 'I told him art wasn't meant to last forever and that included his body. Especially since he made his weak point exposed. But still, he had an ending appropriate for an artist.'
Not sure what else he'd see without risking being noticed himself, Deidara decided to go ahead and leave. But when he stood up to go, he saw his path blocked by four other Konoha ninja.
"Nice job Neji." Gai told his student behind him. Gai was in front with Lee to his right close behind him, Neji further back and on the left side of Gai, and Tenten in the far back close to Neji on his right.
Gai's voice caught the attention of Kakashi and Naruto.
Deidara jumped away just seconds before four shuriken from Tenten could hit him, and she and her team followed him into the trees. Kakashi and Naruto followed them too, and Hinata followed Naruto. Sakura and Chiyo stayed behind to keep Gaara's body from being taken by anyone else and to recover from their own fight.
'There's little chance I can escape so I need to finish them off.' Deidara thought. He ran and found the body of the bird he flew away on that Naruto cut the head off of. 'That's it.' He jumped onto it and put his chakra into the clay construct, making it take to the air again.
"Be careful everyone. This guy is a long-range fighter who uses mobile explosives." Kakashi told everyone, primarily Gai's team." Everyone came to a stop below him, trying to plan a counter-method.
"Hinata-chan, can you attack him directly again?" Naruto asked.
"I can try." Hinata replied with a nod.
Meanwhile, Deidara began eating his clay ride. He only took one big bite, and then the whole thing dropped to the ground before Hinata could try taking on her succubus form again. Everyone got defensive and a little weirded out when Deidara started to expand like an Akimichi. "Take a look at my ultimate art. Art... is an explosion!"
Neji's byakugan was still on and he could see what was occurring. 'His chakra is gathering rapidly all at one point at once. At this rate he'll...' "Everyone hurry! Get away from here!" He shouted.
With no argument, the ninja darted away as fast as they could.
Deidara then exploded. The blast was large enough to quickly follow them and even reach towards where Sakura and Chiyo were. Seeing the blast, the two picked up Gaara's body and ran into the trees too. But his weight was slowly them down.
"Give him to us." Two clones that Naruto made came up to them and offered, and the two kunoichi accepted.
It didn't look like any of them were going to make it out of the danger zone, but they didn't stop trying. Kakashi looked behind himself and made his sharingan change into his own Mangekyo Sharingan. With it, he created a black hole in the air that quickly engulfed all of the blast that was heading in their direction. The other ninja with him turned around when they no longer heard the blast approaching, and were surprised to see Kakashi handle this in this way.
'Somehow, I did it.' Kakashi told himself. "The worst is over now." He told them all. So far some trees took a lot of damage and there were a lot dirt and dust clouds everywhere, but the danger had indeed passed. Their current location was a grass-covered meadow outside the forest and away from the cave the Akatsuki had used.
Gai smiled friendly. 'I'd expect nothing less from my eternal rival.'
Kakashi then collapsed. Naruto came up to his aide. "Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?"
"Kakashi-sensei, what did you just do?" Sakura asked.
"I sent the explosion, or at least part of it, to another dimension." The cycloptic jounin wearily answered. "But more importantly, is everyone safe?"
The two clones of Naruto carrying Gaara's body landed in the clearing. The look on their face showed they still hoped someone could prove Gaara wasn't dead, despite the fact Gaara himself was without warmth now. "Can anyone do something for him?"
Sakura shook her head. "We checked his stats already while you and the others went after that guy Naruto. The only thing we can do now is bury him."
The clones dispelled, and the real Naruto stood up, fist clenched and tears running down his whiskered cheeks. "Why did it have to be Gaara? He didn't deserve to die like this. He's the freaking Kazekage for crying out loud! And not just that, he was my friend too."
"Uzumaki Naruto..." Chiyo started, hoping to relieve the grieving young man.
"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled at the old woman. Chiyo did shut up but didn't look bothered by the outburst. The rest did though, making Hinata stay back a bit to give him some personal space. "IF YOU HADN'T PUT A MONSTER IN GAARA IN THE FIRST PLACE THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! DID YOU EVEN CARE HOW THAT WOULD AFFECT GAARA WHEN YOU DID THAT? DID YOU?"
Naruto choked up for an instant, but no one stopped his rant. "What gives you the right to sacrifice another life? What gives you the right to make people like him and me jinchuuriki? Shouldn't we have a say in our own lives?" Naruto then covered his eyes with his left sleeve, wiping away his tears. At this point Hinata came up to him to offer a comforting hold, and he did not reject it.
"Naruto..." Sakura quietly and sympathetically said for her teammate.
'Naruto is saying he's in the same situation as Kazekage-sama. We should probably ask how later when he's not so emotional.' Neji, Tenten, and Lee told themselves.
"I couldn't save Sasuke. I couldn't save Gaara. I trained for three years to stop things like this and be strong enough to make the people I care about happy. People like Sakura, Hinata-chan, and Gaara. And yet nothing's different. Am I truly the complete failure everyone but Hinata-chan calls me?"
Sakura tried to hold in a few tears herself. 'No Naruto, you're not. You are strong; people just tend to ignore that and emphasize in you what they don't like. People, like me. You don't deserve that. No wonder you left me for Hinata. I don't deserve you, and yet I always thought it was the other way around. I wish I could do something for you.'
As if reading the pinkette's thoughts, Chiyo knelt down beside Gaara and placed her hands on his chest. She started a jutsu that sent her chakra into his empty chakra network.
The others watched, confused. Sakura spoke up. "Chiyo-sama, is that jutsu...?" A nod from the older woman made Sakura get quiet. 'Chiyo-sama...'
"What are you trying to do?" Naruto asked.
'Is it a medical jutsu?' Hinata and Neji asked themselves, their byakugans trying to see what she was doing. Sakura already knew the answer though, having heard bits and pieces from what the Suna elder had said before. And it looked like Gai and Kakashi had a good idea too.
Sakura was the one who answered for everyone still trying to figure out what Chiyo was doing. "She's trying to bring him back."
"Bring him back... to life?" Naruto asked. "Can you really do that?"
"This is a jutsu that only Chiyo-sama knows. If anyone can, she can." Sakura said, sounding mournful as she did so. Like she was expecting something bad to happen and knew she couldn't stop it.
'The flow of chakra is too steady, and this is too convenient a jutsu. There must be a drawback to it.' Neji told himself as he watched it.
Chiyo started to show signs of getting too weak to maintain the jutsu much longer. "Damn, I don't have enough chakra anymore to do this for someone like Gaara."
"Try using mine." Naruto offered, kneeling down beside her to help her out. "Can you do that, Baasan?"
Chiyo only needed a moment to think about it, a moment she used to reflect on what Kakashi told her about this young man beside her. 'Naruto is a jinchuuriki, just like Gaara. Naruto understands Gaara better than anyone else in the world. Most jinchuuriki are treated relatively the same in their villages; some get better treatment than others but ultimately they are always outcasts. Naruto cannot ignore Gaara. It doesn't matter if they live in different villages or had different ideas growing up. He considers Gaara a kindred spirit. To see Gaara harmed like this, is probably like seeing his own brother harmed.'
Shortly after Naruto asked his question, Chiyo gave her answer. "Place your hands on top of mine." Naruto nodded and did just that. Everyone watched on, hoping this would work.
Chiyo continued her jutsu, using Naruto's chakra combined with her own to make it work this time. Kakashi's words kept going in the old woman's mind. 'Naruto's dream is to become Hokage of Konoha. I'm not exactly sure why but he's very dedicated to it. So when he heard Gaara had become Kazekage of Suna, he was a bit upset. But at the same time, he was also happy for his friend's success. And it's because of Naruto Gaara even could become Kazekage. Without Naruto, Gaara likely would have remained that uncaring murderer he once was. Naruto has this unusual gift. Even without saying much, if someone just gives him a chance, he can easily become close to anyone. Gaara's proof of that, and he's not the only one Naruto's changed for the better. I only regret that his gift hasn't worked on everyone though.'
"In this world of shinobi, made by many fools, I'm glad people like you still exist." Chiyo told Naruto, confusing him. "My past is full of mistakes that to this day I regret. I regret I couldn't save my son and his wife. I regret I put the Shukaku inside Gaara, I regret I couldn't keep my grandson on the right path, and I even regret that I had no choice but to be the one to kill him. But at least, in my last moments, I can set things right. For Suna... and Konoha. With you leading the future, I can rest assured that the future will not be a mere extension of my past."
"This gift you have that Kakashi spoke of, that gift will surely save the world. You may indeed become Hokage someday." Chiyo continued. "And Sakura, next time, instead of risking your life for someone old like me who's already lived it, I want you to protect those most important to you. You are a lot like me, a woman with a gallant spirit that can rival that of any mans. You may even become a greater kunoichi than your mentor."
Sakura said nothing, but she did nod, despite the fact the old woman was not facing here. But little needed to be said right then anyway.
"Naruto, this old woman has one last request of you." Chiyo said. "You are the only person who can understand Gaara's suffering. And he understands your own just as well. Please... help him for me."
Naruto closed his eyes and remembered all the people who made him less alone in his life. The other Rookies, their sensei's, Iruka, the Ichirakus, Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, Konohamaru and his friends, even Ebisu, Sasuke, and the Sandaime too. He opened his eyes. "I'll do it. Believe it."
"Gaara?"
"Huh? Who... who are you calling?" Gaara thought, feeling like he couldn't wake up rather than couldn't sleep. He saw a hand fade into view. "Whose hand... is this?" It closed into a fist. "Oh, it's just my hand." He saw a flat stretch of dry cracked sand come into view too. In the distance, he saw someone kneeling down, looking so terribly sad and alone. "Is that me?" He stepped closer, and could tell it was him as a child, back when no one wanted anything to do with him.
He then saw a hand form on his younger self's shoulder, and the younger Gaara turned to see the newcomer. It was a young Naruto, wearing a black shirt and brown shorts, smiling friendly at the lonely boy. The older Gaara felt a hand on his shoulder too, and when he turned, he saw Naruto his own age standing beside him as well, looking quite relieved.
"Gaara..." Naruto said, sounding just as relieved as he looked.
"Naruto?" Gaara asked, still sure he was dreaming. He looked around and saw he was in an open grassy area and surrounded by many Suna ninja and the two Konoha rescue teams. "This is..."
"Everyone rushed here to save you Gaara." Naruto said happily. "Everyone wanted you to be safe. You sure put us thru a lot though to get you back."
"That's for damn sure." Kankuro said as he walked up to his younger brother. After getting some rest he was quite well now, fully recovered from Sasori's attack. "Don't make me worry like that little bro."
"Hey, don't act so high and mighty." Temari cut in. "He's still the Kazekage remember. So don't get so cheeky."
Gaara-sama!" Two girls yelled out as they got close to him. One had short brown hair with a hitai-ate around her neck and the other had long brown hair with a hitai-ate customized to be like a bandanna. "How are you feeling?"
Gaara tried to stand up, but his body protested the movement. Temari gently placed a hand on his left shoulder. "Don't move so much. Your body's not back to full health yet."
Several Suna ninja cried in relief that their leader was back to them and some cheered out for his return. The two girls around him, Matusir and Sari, praised him for his many good qualities, and needed Temari to break them up when they started fighting over which one of them would save him next time he needed it. Overall, the spirit of Suna's ninjas had been lifted.
Hinata came up from behind Naruto and hugged him, pressing her breasts into his back. "You were great Naruto-kun, for helping to bring him back. The mission couldn't have succeeded without you." Naruto felt giddy for the praise, not used to actually receiving compliments for his contributions on missions.
Kankuro saw this and knelt down besides Naruto, who still sat on the grass. "Naruto, thank you for saving my brother. You sure have a talent for doing that."
"You should be thanking that old lady, not me. Her amazing medical jutsu made it possible. Where is she anyway?"
He turned to where he last saw Chiyo, and Naruto saw her body being gently held by a sad-looking Sakura with Ebizo and a Suna jounin standing close by. Everyone looked so solemn while Chiyo just laid there with her eyes closed, looking quite peaceful.
"Oh she just passed out from using that jutsu. She'll be fine when she gets back to-"
"No, she won't." Kankuro interrupted. "She didn't pass out. The jutsu she used brings back a dead person... at the cost of the life of the user." Naruto looked surprised. "You didn't really think a jutsu that brings people back would have no cost to the user besides chakra usade right? Some time ago, Chiyo-sama led a research team to see if there was any way to make puppets alive. She found a way but declared it too risky, and thus it became a forbidden technique."
'That must be how Sasori was able to make other people and even himself a puppet.' Sakura thought, overhearing Kankuro speak.
"She looks so peaceful. I half-expect her to suddenly wake up and say she was playing dead again." Ebizo said. "But I'm glad she went out on her terms, not someone elses."
Sakura nodded. "Yes. That's true."
Naruto stood up and Hinata released her. "Now I understand why she said all that to me. I won't disappoint her."
Gaara managed to make himself stand up and with Naruto walked up to Sakura. "Everyone, say a prayer for Chiyo."
Elsewhere, Deidara emerged from the ground he had been hiding in. When he escaped during the dust cloud that gave him cover for a substitution, he had a self-destructive clay clone go back in his place to throw the Konoha ninja off and hopefully kill them all. He dusted himself off and went to the now destroyed cave, where Zetsu and Tobi were gathering Sasori's ring.
"HEY I FOUND IT!" Tobi yelled as he found the ring.
"Good for you, and could you please be a bit louder? We only have an entire country looking for us." Deidara said bitterly as he walked in. Although he was doing it an awkward fashion since his balls were still aching horribly.
"What else is knew? We are wanted by every country in the ninja world." Black Zetsu said. "And you look awful." White Zetsu added.
"Shut up, I'm gonna get that Hyuuga bitch if it's the last thing I do."
"This mission might be your last, once the Leader learns you got captured by the enemy and barely escaped." The masked man said with a laugh.
"SHUT UP TOBI!"
A funeral was held for Chiyo that evening, where many people and all of the visiting Konoha Shinobi attended. Their mission done, the Konoha teams were allowed to leave. Gaara recommended leaving early the next morning however, as it was close to evening and traveling thru the desert at night was generally not a good idea.
Gaara gave them some rooms in the hotel to sleep in. The only problem was when the arrangements for them came up.
Hinata literally put her foot down on the matter. "No. Naruto-kun and I are sharing a room. End of discussion."
"Hinata..." Kakashi started, but was cut off by the Hyuuga heiress.
"What part of 'end of discussion' do you not understand?"
"Arrangements are always boys in one room and girls in the other." Sakura stated.
Hinata gave the pinkette a flat look. "You don't want to share a room with me Sakura. Admit it, you don't, and I don't." She then looked at Naruto and brightened up. "Naruto-kun, what do you think?"
Naruto looked at Gaara. "Hey Gaara, would it be a problem for me and Hinata-chan to have one together?"
Gaara nodded. "I can make it happen. I owe you a lot Naruto so this is no problem for me."
"There. Problem solved." Naruto said.
His sensei and teammate didn't look like they approved, but Kakashi relaxed first. "Fine. How about we arrange it so Gai and I take a room, Neji and Lee take one, Naruto and Hinata take one, and Sakura and Tenten take one? That should work. Just please keep the noise down you two."
This seemed to make Sakura mad. "You two just want a room together so you can have sex!" She pointed her finger at them accusingly.
Hinata just shrugged and batted the offending arm away. "We didn't say that, did we? We just want a room together. What we do in it is our business, not yours. And what if we do have sex? The mission's over so our actions can't jeopardize it. So there's no reason for you to attempt to penalize either one of us if it does happen."
"Heh heh, penal." Lilith couldn't resist saying.
"Don't be so immature." Hinata said, both to Lilith and Sakura.
"I'm not being immature. You two just shouldn't have a room together."
"Why?" Both Hinata and Naruto asked without anger, just curiosity.
"Why?" Sakura asked, not prepared for this. "Isn't it obvious?"
"If it's so obvious, you should have no problem explaining it to us why we're not allowed to share a room." Naruto responded.
"It's just wrong." Sakura replied with. 'I may not have been the best friend I should have been with Naruto, but if all Hinata really wants from him is sex then she's just going to hurt him in the long run. I need to stop that before it happens.'
Hinata shook her head. "Not if we're a couple, which we are."
"You shouldn't be."
Now Hinata was starting to get mad, not just annoyed. "And what gives you the right to decide that? Naruto-kun and I don't need your permission to be together Haruno. The mission is over, so unless there's some new rule about rooms we haven't been told about, please tell us why we cannot share a room without you making it personal."
The two girls stared each other down. Naruto and Kakashi could practically see lightning clash between their eyes.
Tenten spoke up then. "Actually, could me and Neji-kun share a room, since the topic is up?"
Gai thought it over. "That complicates thing but if we can make arrangements I don't see why not. Are you two trying to enjoy your youths to their fullest?"
"You could say that Sensei." Tenten answered, both her and Neji blushing.
Gai smiled and gave thumbs up. "In that case, Kakashi and I can take one room, you two can have one, Naruto and Hinata can have one, and Sakura and Lee can have one. That works out."
When Gai said that, a shiver ran down Kakashi's spine, although he did not know the reason for it.
Four of the Rookies smiled while Sakura looked bothered and Lee looked surprised. "Then it's settled." Gaara stated. "That will be your arrangements. I'll go have the hotel give you four rooms." He then walked off, still needing some help from Matsuri and Sari to keep him standing up.
Both Hinata and Tenten each grabbed their men and dragged them off to their rooms, briefly forgetting Gaara had not yet gotten them for them.
Gai placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder "Ahh the flames of youth, burning as strong as ever. Do you remember when girls did the same thing to us my friend?"
Kakashi looked at Gai with a raised brow as he spoke. "I remember them dragging me away, you I remember getting 'thrown' away."
Back in Wave Country and in the cave where Lilith had been sealed a lone figure stared at the shattered remains of the sapphire that had been used to seal the succubus.
The figure picked up a large chunk of the crystal and stared at it intently "Hmmm... she was here, but now is gone. She couldn't have gotten out without help. The barrier wasn't designed for her to get out on her own." The person said as they tossed the crystal aside, then turning around and heading back outside, past all the useless sutras that had also been set in place.
"It would seem that someone else came and made off with something that does not belong to them." The figure said as it stepped out of the cave.
It was raining heavily, although the person didn't seem to notice or even care. It was staring off in the direction of the woods, as if seeing something that no one else could.
Lightning flashed in the sky as the being smiled. "I will find you Lilith, you cannot hide from me."
Once again lightning flashed and lit up the darkness, however when it did, the figure was gone.