Author Note
Hi there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.
The Gaara retrieval mission is upon us and it shall be done with obvious differences. One clear one is that Naruto's bond with Gaara doesn't exist, but that won't stop him from seeing the parallels between his and Gaara's life. The mission will proceed somewhat similarly, with the exception of Naruto's interactions and obviously the fights. Those of you who remember the last chapters, Itachi and Kisame had never entered Konoha after the failed invasion, so Kakashi had never faced the elder Uchiha before. The only one who faced them, even if barely, was Naruto when he went on a mission with Jiraiya and Hinata.
Now here comes the chapter. Oh and I won't bother writing the scenes from Akatsuki nor the repercussions in Suna.
So, expect some of the scenes to be the same as in the anime.
Nidaime no Sairin - Naruto Shippuden
Chapter 30 – Gaara's Rescue Part I
Beta: Scheffinator
Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura were jumping from tree to tree towards Wind Country and then the Hidden Village in the Sand.
Time was of the essence as everything is regarding Akatsuki. Naruto was specially vested in this mission, considering that despite not knowing much about Gaara after their match in the Chuunin Exams, he is a fellow Jinchuuriki. In fact, now that he broached the subject, there were seven others just like him and Gaara out there and all of them were targets of this organization for reasons still unknown. Naruto admitted to being anxious in facing the ones he already faced from Akatsuki before, but he couldn't know whether Itachi or Kisame would appear or not. For all he knew, there were other possible opponents with different skill sets and perhaps even more dangerous to boot.
"Naruto…" His musing was cut short, when Kakashi approached by his side to whisper, while Sakura was some steps behind. "Considering who we may face against, I'm counting on you for support."
The blond Jonin smirked at his now partner in this mission, thrilled as he was to be by a Jonin's side in such a dangerous mission.
"You can count on me, Kakashi-sensei…the last time I faced Itachi and Kisame, they both toyed with me, but I am much stronger now than three years back."
Kakashi nodded, knowing from Jiraiya what happened in their assignment to retrieve Tsunade.
"Sensei…" Kakashi then turned to Sakura. "I think that's Temari-san down there." It was important to get her along the way, so that they could cross the desert in record time to help the Kazekage and his brother Kankuro.
"Okay, let us get this over with, so we don't waste time." Sakura went on ahead with Naruto and Kakashi behind.
"Temari-san!"
The four-bun blonde haired woman in question was walking in a sedate pace, wearing a full long dark blue kimono, with the giant fan strapped on her back.
She turned to see three shinobi from Konoha. Sakura was the only one she got to meet regularly since she became an ambassador from Suna to further improve Suna-Konoha relations. The older one, Hatake Kakashi was better known for his legend, though Temari had never interacted much with him. Her eyes, then, met Naruto's. The one who beat her soundlessly in their one and only match up at the Chuunin Exams…the one who also beat her brother, the now appointed Godaime Kazekage. Back then, she was scared shitless when he all but threatened to kill her and he would have, had the circumstances been different.
She could only wonder how much stronger he had become now, three years later.
"Temari-san, we need to talk to you…" Temari's eyes shifted towards Sakura, as she could see the look of worry in the Hokage's assistance.
"What is it? I doubt that I had left something unattended in the village that the Hokage needed to send her own assistant to get me." Not to mention, him of all people…Her eyes drifted slightly towards Naruto, who stared back at her.
"It's about the Kazekage…Akatsuki attacked Sunagakure and captured him." Temari's eyes widened as she heard Sakura's report. "Also, it seems Kankuro, your brother, had engaged in a fight with them and was badly hurt as a result.
"What…Gaara was…?! Kankuro as well…?!" Kakashi nodded and took a step forward.
"It will take about two and a half days to get to Suna from here. Perhaps, with your assistance in crossing the desert, we can shorten our time getting there, let us hurry." Temari nodded, before the now four-man team jumped towards the trees.
===With Naruto===
It was already night time when the team of Konoha plus Temari appeared jumping through trees still, reaching the border with Win Country.
Throughout the trip, Temari was feeling the pain in her chest, worried about her two brothers' safety. Thinking back to these last three years, ever since Suna's failed attempt at Konoha's invasion, her village had suffered a great deal, trying to make amends after being played by Orochimaru's dark influence. It became harder for Gaara, in particular, because he ended up suffering the consequences. Konoha's and even Wind Country's conditions were harsh…Suna's assets and revenues suffered greatly for a while and Gaara was the one taking the fall…the hatred he had received was even greater than before.
It just wasn't greater than people's fear over him, though some had tried in the past to get rid of him, hoping to rid the village of the Sand Demon for good.
His nomination as Kazekage was met with even more fear from those who believed he would start retaliating…but he never did. Ever since Jiraiya of the Sannin mopped the floor with him during the invasion, something had changed in her little brother. He was still introspective and fancied being alone more than anything…but at least his dark impulses were more controlled now. With him as Kazekage, Temari started to believe that things were starting to come around for him.
And now this happens…she then turned to Kakashi, who was next to her, while Sakura jumped by Naruto's side.
"Do you know anything else besides that Gaara was taken?" The Jonin leader, though, negated.
"Not much else, I'm afraid. The message from Sunagakure requesting aid said barely this much…"
Temari huffed at knowing barely anything about both of her brother's health conditions."
"Damn it…Gaara didn't deserve this…" The blonde kunoichi was feeling the anger at this point, with her steps on the trees becoming stronger than they should. "He has been dealing with the entire village's hatred for three whole years, taking in their hatred and criticism…he took it all in stride, without retaliating…not even when it was justified to do so. When he became the Kazekage, I thought that it would go away and he would start getting the respect he deserved. I know that Akatsuki is made of S-ranked shinobi, but they couldn't get inside the village and attack him just like that." Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura knew where this was going, but stayed quiet…inner village relations were really not their problem to solve, but Temari was rambling right now. "Whoever did it must be someone who still carries a grudge against him, those bastards!"
Kakashi and Sakura went quiet at Temari's rambling, but Naruto saw one too many patterns…
"Hatred is indeed blind, isn't it?" All three looked at Naruto, who was looking forward, but his eyes clearly lacked focus right now. "People look at you, but they don't see you…not really. They look at you in disdain, as if you are the sole reason for their misfortune. As if you're the sole reason why whatever bad thing happened in their lives. Then you try to look for an outlet, in order to survive…but the glares are there, still. You learn to deal with them in time, but it's difficult to let go of the past. The glares lessen in time, but you still remember them." Sakura looked at Naruto in concern, wondering about it. Then, an image appears in her brain…of herself as a child, looking at the blond boy's back, surrounded by civilians…and even shinobi as well.
"Who are you to know anything about him, huh!?" The woman was getting mad at each and every word this asshole said about her brother…though, she was wondering how the hell he knew so much, having only met him once and as an enemy.
Naruto only chuckled at that, while Sakura looked at him in question. Kakashi understood where he came from, but couldn't really voice it out loud.
"I am perhaps one of the few in this world that understand him the most, even without fully knowing him at all…though it's nice to see that you care about him this much, Temari. By being with him…I mean really being with him, you perhaps managed to save him from himself." That managed to calm herself, though the inner monologue continued in her mind about her worrying about Gaara and Kankuro.
Soon, Kakashi had made the decision for everyone to get some rest and resume the journey later on.
===At Sunagakure===
Two Chuunin stood guard in front of the village's entrance, waiting for the team from Konoha to arrive.
The entire hidden village was in disarray with plenty of bodies in body bags and plenty of destruction in the land to boot.
The higher-ups were still cataloging the damage to the village's infrastructure as well as checking in every one of the available shinobi and kunoichi who weren't outside on missions. Pretty much everyone was accounted for, with the exception of the elite Jonin by the name of Yuura. However, as of right now, there was simply no possible conclusion to be made of him missing. The sun was up strong and there were reports of sandstorms in the path, so the village was getting anxious, wondering if the help would come in time. The Chuunin then caught sight of four people running through the sands towards the village entrance.
Temari was in front of the Konoha group and greeted the Chuunin in attendance with the blue bandana.
"We've been expecting you. Temari-san, so you're with them." The two Chuunin in attendance started running and the team from Konoha ran along with Temari in tow.
Along the way, they brought her up to speed with everything that happened.
"What…Kankuro was poisoned? But, how could he still be injured? We have the best poison experts to find an antidote."
Naruto and Kakashi just kept on running, while Sakura paid attention to the conversation.
"Yeah, even Lady Chiyo is having trouble finding an antidote. Physically speaking, there are no visible injuries, but the poison is attacking his organs fast…he only has a day at most." Temari's chest started to ache at the report.
"Damn it…Kankuro, how could he be so stupid!?" The look in her eyes was telling enough.
"Temari-san, let's go…I can take a look at him." The Blonde Kunoichi looked at Sakura and then remembered that indeed Sakura is the Hokage's Assistant and student, so she could help.
===At the Hospital===
It didn't take long for everyone to arrive at the Treatment Room where Gaara's older brother was being treated.
Temari and Sakura had instantly ran to check on him, while Naruto and Kakashi stood beside the doorway.
One of the members present in the room, an old lady with gray hair and wrinkled face, wearing a dark robe with white on top, took a straight look at Kakashi and saw red.
'Konoha no Shiroi Kiba (White Fang of the Leaf) is here!'
The old lady charged at both Kakashi and Naruto out of the blue, yelling that name and calling him a jerk. Kakashi, for his part, wondered what was going on. Naruto looked at the old lady charging at Kakashi and was also wondering what the hell happened that made her want to attack him out of the blue, pretty much forgetting the entire situation. It took one second for him to realize that Kakashi was still dumbfounded and wouldn't do anything to stop her from attacking him.
With a simple whistle, Naruto focused on the ram hand sign and the simple breeze expanded to a small gust of wind that stopped the old lady in mid-air.
Still, it wasn't enough to stop her momentum, so Naruto stood in front of her, as Chiyo released a kunai from within her robe, forcing Naruto to draw his sword and block her kunai. It took more than a simple parry to stop her, before she dashed backwards. The movement took everyone by surprise, as it happened in less than a second. Chiyo stood in her fighting pose as Naruto stood in front of the still perplexed Kakashi, who, for his part, was trying to remember ever meeting this person before.
"I will never forget what you did back then, White Fang! I shall avenge my son's death by defeating you today!"
Kakashi had enough to go on and was trying to placate the old lady's confusion.
"Ah no, you see…."
"Don't bother explaining yourself!" Chiyo was about to continue her assault, when a hand appeared in front of her…belonging to another old man, with long white eyebrows and a turban, wearing the same robe as her.
"Neesan, take a good look at him." Kakashi was smiling and showing both hands, trying to diffuse the situation. "He resembles him closely, but he's not the White Fang." Chiyo looked at him more closely, while the woman's brother finished it. "Moreover, the White Fang died a long time ago. Remember how much you suffered, knowing that you couldn't exert your revenge." Everyone was looking at the situation at hand, with Kankuro forgotten. Chiyo had still taken a couple of seconds, before realization dawned on her and she shifted towards a completely different behavior.
"Well, I gotcha ya, huh…I was only pretending to be senile!" Chiyo then burst out laughing and her brother looked back at her in surprise.
Naruto and Kakashi had similar faces, though, wondering about that. Everyone stopped focusing on the situation when Kankuro snarled in pain.
Sakura had started her own set of skills, checking on Kankuro and taking charge of everyone, while Naruto and Kakashi took a seat by the bench outside.
Naruto saw her barking orders left and right to Suna's medics and smiled. She had really come a long way under Tsunade's tutelage. He could see the method she was using to extract the poison from Kankuro's organs and wondered if he could pull that one off. Placing her hand in a bucket of water, then making a bubble of water with extremely concentrated chakra control…then placing it inside his body while at the same time using medical ninjutsu to extract the poison. Kankuro struggled at the operating table, while Sakura urged everyone to hold him down, while she performed the treatment.
Meanwhile, Kakashi decided to pull his favorite book for a nice read, while Naruto crossed his arms in waiting.
Chiyo and her brother were sitting next to him, forming a four-man audience to Sakura's show.
With nothing to do, since this part of the mission was Sakura's doing, Naruto was left with the curiosity of what happened when they arrived.
"Say Kakashi-sensei…" the man in question hummed in acknowledgement. "Who is this White Fang she was talking about? I remember Kosuke-jichan mentioning that name, but I have never asked him before." Kakashi looked at Naruto, wondering why, how, and when Naruto met with Konoha's Eternal Genin, but dismissed it. He, however, noticed that the lady Chiyo and the lady's brother were also paying attention, so he decided to humor the recently promoted Jonin, though part of him wondered if he should, considering the woman's anger.
"Well, let's see…" Kakashi closed his book and looked upward. "It's hard to say…well, in a word, he was my father." The end result was immediate as Chiyo and her brother looked at him in surprise.
"Really, but why was it hard to say?" Kakashi released a sigh in dismay at that.
"Perhaps, this is a story for another day, Naruto." Naruto looked at him in doubt, but respected the need for privacy.
Both Yuugao and Kurenai had expressed time and time again that Kakashi had his own demons to surpass, but he never pried.
"Okay…" Naruto said, before he and Kakashi saw Sakura finishing the procedure and leaving with the hospital staff towards the Village's Garden House where Suna planted their healing herbs.
She went there to make the antidote to fully heal Kankuro.
===With Kakashi===
Kakashi then had a private conversation with Baki, while Naruto stood by, waiting for the signal to resume their mission.
The silver-haired Jonin heard from the Suna Jonin that their efforts to track down Akatsuki had been non-existent thus far and that Kankuro was the only one that bolted after them. Baki had also stated that one of their Jonin leaders was missing in action and Kakashi nodded, making mental notes of Baki's demeanor while mentioning this man. He remembered Temari pissed off, days before, saying that someone must have allowed Akatsuki to barge inside the village, unannounced. It was too early to draw conclusions, but his experience told him plenty that something was off with this guy named Yuura.
Whatever had happened, though, this was something that pertained to Suna and Suna alone, it didn't affect his mission in the slightest.
"Baki-sama…" One of the doctors called the Jonin and the conversation stopped. "Kankuro has awoken."
With that, everyone appeared by the puppeteer's bedside, while Temari was busy scolding her little brother for making them worry like that. Kakashi, then, turned to Baki, while Naruto just observed the sibling's interaction.
"Baki-san, please take me to the place where Kankuro battled Akatsuki….if there's one single clue or even scent, I can track either Akatsuki or the Kazekage…"
"There's no need for that…" Kankuro's voice groaned as he struggled to get up. "My puppets…have all been recovered right? I…in my fight…Akasuna no Sasori mopped the floor with me…" The name itself brought chills up all of the Suna nin's spines and even Kakashi, who wondered about their odds against Sasori of the Red Sand. Still, Kankuro continued. "One of my puppets managed to take a piece of cloth from him." With as much strain as possible, one of the puppet's hand opened and revealed a piece of clothing.
"Humm, indeed, even if you fall, you won't go down without a fight…just what I would expect from a Sand ninja." Kankuro basked in the praise, before Kakashi went through hand seals. The man's eight dog summons got a sniff at the fabric and vanished, hoping to find the trace to get them by once more. As soon as the dogs vanished, Sakura came back with the antidote and finished Kankuro's treatment. Baki, in the meantime, offered them a place to stay and rest, to which Kakashi accepted without question.
To face Akasuna no Sasori, plus another one, they would at least be well-rested for that.
===Next Day===
Last night, one of Kakashi's Dogs, Pakkun, managed to find the trail of Sasori's clothes, going as far as to pinpoint their exact location.
Right now, the very same dog was gathered together with Kakashi and Naruto in their shared room, to go over the base's location.
"I see, so that's their hideout…in River Country." Pakkun's paw was hovering over the location, while Kakashi and Naruto nodded at one another.
"Most likely, there were seals covering the entrance, so I can tell you that's certainly a good percentage of certainty. Plus, I could smell the Kazekage's presence there, too." Kakashi hummed at Pakkun's report and then closed the map of the area.
"Pakkun, I have one more favor to ask of you…Gai's team is coming here as our support, but I believe they will perhaps reach the location earlier than us…can you reach them and relay the information." The dog nodded and then vanished from the room, while Naruto and Kakashi finished their last preparations before heading out. Naruto took notice of the report that the base was riddled with protective sealing arrays. Now, not only is time of the essence here, but when they arrive, they would still need to be fast to get rid of the seals.
"Is Suna going to send someone as well or it's going to be just us, sensei?"
"Most likely, Temari will be joining us, I don't know if they will spare more than her, considering the state of the village right now."
Naruto frowned at that, remembering Temari's outburst on the way to Suna.
"Huh, I would figure that the village leader being in danger would warrant more than that…" Kakashi looked sideways at his companion for this mission, gauging his inner thoughts. Of course, it couldn't be helped that Naruto would draw parallels with his own situation. From what he could grasp, despite Gaara being nominated Kazekage, Kakashi had the feeling that said nomination was more in terms with Gaara being the Yondaime Kazekage's son than out of the respect he earned from the villagers. From what Temari explained, Gaara's nomination wasn't accepted by a few factions within Sunagakure, so it stands to reason that the higher-ups wouldn't spare much assistance in helping him, despite his lineage.
Naruto, on the other hand, while he may share some history with Gaara as a fellow Jinchuuriki, along his shinobi career, Naruto managed to earn the respect of his peers, up to the point that people no longer remembered him as the Kyuubi's host.
"There's nothing we can do about that, Naruto…our mission stands the same with one person or an entire battalion from Suna." Naruto nodded solemnly at that.
"Understood, we should get Sakura then and get a move on."
===Outside the Hotel===
Right now, Kakashi stood in front of Naruto and Sakura and no Suna shinobi was in sight. Kakashi was only waiting for the village's entourage to leave.
"Alright then, we shall leave as soon as the team from Suna arrives. We need to increase our speed, in order to reach Akatsuki's Base as soon as possible." Sakura kept some soldier pills just in case, while Naruto had enough juice to spare. Right now, the Leaf Jinchuuriki was extending his reach to see if Suna would provide a team to help them rescue the Kazekage. He was beginning to understand that perhaps the village didn't view their resident Kazekage in much favor, when five presences appeared in his radar, approaching.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Temari's voice reached them, followed by a group of four, three Jonin and a Chuunin from the look of things. Naruto could at least smile, knowing that at least the village could spare this much to save Gaara.
"Well, then, with everyone here, let's head out." Kakashi announced and everyone was about to move, when Baki arrived.
"Hold on a minute…" Temari didn't like the sound of her sensei's tone and his overall visage showed that he wasn't about to deliver good news to them. "Temari…you and the others are to stay here in the village and patrol the border."
"Wait a minute, what's going on here, we're going to rescue the Kazekage." Baki, though, crossed his arms and negated her wish.
"It's an order from above, I'm afraid…if it becomes widely known that the Kazekage is absent, then there's no telling what other villages might do."
In Naruto's mind, that was similar to saying that the village won't bother rescuing their leader.
Kakashi was the only one who heard his snort in derision at Baki's reasoning, while Temari and other shinobi from Suna tried to argue their case.
"That's absurd, Konoha has come all the way here just to rescue him…how come none of us are going after him to help bring him back?"
Temari was the only one arguing in her brother's favor at this point, despite some of the others joining in.
Before Baki could further defend the official village's position, Chiyo's elderly voice came from atop of the building behind them.
"Then I shall go with them…huh, since I'm retired already, the village has no say in what I do." Before everyone from Suna shouted for her not to overdo it, Chiyo had already jumped down and landed on the ground as if she was no older than Kakashi. "It's been so long since I have seen my grandchild, after all…I believe it's time for one last reunion." Naruto's perception was that Chiyo, though rather skilled, didn't possess a great chakra capacity to last long in a fight against S-ranked shinobi. However, he could perceive how controlled and at ease her chakra output is…she had excellent chakra control at the very least. From what he could tell, she was a puppeteer, just like Kankuro, so her real shinobi skill lay in whatever puppet she had under her belt. The same with Akatsuki's member Sasori, it seems.
Temari really wished to keep on arguing, but she couldn't go against the village's orders.
Moments later, the team from Konoha plus Chiyo were outside the village gates, with Temari and Baki to send them away to rescue someone that was Suna's one and only responsibility to rescue.
"We shall head out, then." Kakashi announced, earning a nod from Baki, who promised he would try to convince the village to send reinforcements as soon as possible.
They were about to head out, when Temari called to Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto…" The entire platoon stopped to hear the blonde Kunoichi speak. Naruto turned to see her. Their conversation from the other day was still fresh in her mind, about how people viewed her brother in Suna and how his description was right on the money. Even now, she wanted to prove him wrong…however, with Suna's higher-ups' decision being public, it became clear that, indeed, there was still a lot of ground left to cover. And despite Naruto never openly saying, Temari had the feeling that he was speaking from experience.
"Yes, Temari-san…" Temari was struggling to find the right words here, but telling the truth to herself, she was relieved to see that Konoha had sent someone who understood her brother and would be personally invested in rescuing him.
"I know that for Konoha, this is only another mission and you don't have any obligation to truly rescue him, but…please bring him back to Suna. I won't stop until I can gather enough men to follow you, but please…do your best in bringing him back." Kakashi and Sakura both smiled at the pleading and both were sure that Naruto felt the same if the smile on his face was any indication.
"We shall do everything in our power to rescue him, Temari-san…count on us."
Naruto's words were truly empathic as he could feel how distraught she was for her brother's safety.
With those parting words, the group from Konoha plus Chiyo started running towards Akatsuki's base.
===In River Country===
Crossing the desert in record time with Chiyo's help, the team from Konoha had reached River Country and began the forest track of their journey.
Right now, Chiyo was hanging in the back, with Naruto and Sakura in the middle and Kakashi up front. However, something caught up with Sakura as she remembered what Naruto said to Temari on their way towards Suna. How, Naruto managed to know the Kazekage even without actually knowing him prior. Yes, they had fought against one another at the Chuunin Exams and Naruto was clearly up for victory, had the invasion not occurred. However, that was the one and only time they have seen one another. There was no possible way Naruto could understand someone like that…unless Naruto knew firsthand and from experience the type of treatment a Jinchuuriki suffered. Looking at him, through the corner of her eyes, she could see something different from before.
The entire time they trained together, Naruto's eyes had this light blue shade like a calm ocean and he always had this relaxed expression on his face.
Right now, though, his eyes had a darker shade of blue and he was looking forward, completely driven, as if nothing else mattered than fulfilling it to the maximum.
She wondered if this was how he always behaved in mission mode or if this was something personal to him. Plus, she wanted to get to know more about this Akatsuki. If they are targeting people like the Kazekage and Naruto, then it's for something big.
"Naruto-senpai" Quite to her wonderings, Naruto blinked a couple of times and turned to her. "Can I ask you something?" Naruto nodded and then she continued. "Is this the first time you're facing this Akatsuki?" Naruto negated.
"No, the first time I ran into them was three years ago, when I was on a mission with Hinata and Jiraiya to find Tsunade-sama. They merely toyed with me the entire time and would have captured me if Hinata hadn't reached out to Jiraiya in time." Kakashi just kept on listening, while keeping on their path forward. "The members were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame from the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Sakura gasped at the revelation of Sasuke's brother Itachi being one of the members, though Naruto continued. "Why do you ask, Sakura?"
"Ah, it just seems strange that they would resume only now, I mean, why the long wait?" Naruto thought about the question.
"I don't know, actually and I don't think even Jiraiya knows at this point." Kakashi concurred with Naruto's statement, adding his own theories.
"The why is indeed a mystery thus far, Sakura…it could be that it's not because they didn't want to…but because they couldn't."
"Indeed…" Chiyo's voice echoed in the clearing and the three looked back to see her. "In order to extract the tailed beast that's sealed in a person, there is a lot of preparation involved beforehand. Quite likely, now that they captured the Kazekage, it means that they have surpassed whatever barrier to that and are extracting the Bijuu right now." Chiyo's explanation was calm and collective, while some could detect a complete lack of attachment in her tone, as if whatever happened in the end wasn't her problem to solve.
"Which means, we can't waste any more time, so let's speed things up and reach the base before it's too late."
Kakashi surmised, earning a nod from everyone as they increased the speed.
Neither of them noticed a strange plant growing amidst one of the trees in the area, before a strange humanoid figure appeared inside it, half white and half black.
Soon, they reached a clearing and started running. The base was nearby right now and Kakashi hoped that Gai's team would have reached the target before them. Kakashi's eyes widened, however, when he saw a man in front of them, wearing Akatsuki clothes. The clothes may be new, but Kakashi could spot the two Sharingan eyes as clear as day. Urging his team to halt for now, Kakashi considered the odds of running into Itachi right now. The timing could not have been any worse. Despite this being four to one, this was Uchiha Itachi they were talking about.
Naruto cursed the man's timing as well, though his perception already told him that something was different from the first time he saw the elder Uchiha.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Kakashi-san, Naruto-kun…" Naruto took a step forward and stood next to Kakashi as he observed the Uchiha Itachi in front of him.
"Naruto…" Kakashi looked at his fellow Jonin in a silent question, since he knew Naruto to be a sensor amongst all else.
"Ah, he feels different than last time we met…his chakra output is considerably lower than before." The scarecrow Jonin paid more rapid attention after Naruto's report, while Naruto now extended the conversation with Itachi.
"Indeed, it's been a while, Itachi. I don't suppose you'd let us pass and rescue the Kazekage, right? We are on the clock here." Itachi only snorted at that.
"Hmmm, you sound a lot more confident than last time, that's for sure." Itachi closed his eyes and then focused enough chakra on his eyes to land a powerful Genjutsu on Naruto….which was dismissed faster than Itachi realized.
"Oh, you have improved as well, interesting." Naruto could see a taunt…a provocation. He could also see some patterns that Itachi and Sasuke shared…their overconfidence in the Sharingan.
"Yeah, well, I had a good teacher in the Genjutsu department, plus I had a good sparring partner when it comes to Sharingan Genjutsu, Itachi." The elder Uchiha said nothing, though the reference was quite obvious.
"Naruto, I shall be his main opponent, like we said before, cover my guard." Naruto looked sideways and released his sword, before getting into position.
Kakashi charged chakra in his legs and dashed, initiating the attack, with Naruto following close by. Sakura and Chiyo remained on the back, in case they needed assistance. As soon as Kakashi stood within striking distance, he aimed a punch that Itachi caught easily, while a bunshin of Itachi advanced towards Naruto. Naruto had barely seen a kunai appear beneath Itachi's robe and moved quickly to parry it with his sword. While Naruto and the Bunshin danced in a shower of sparks, Itachi was attempting to catch Naruto in a Genjutsu every time, which was dispelled.
Different from Sasuke, however, it seemed that Itachi favored the illusion strategy more than regular ninjutsu.
Still, as this was merely a bunshin, Naruto eventually got the upper hand and used his expertise, a Genjutsu oriented Kenjutsu and Itachi's clone vanished.
The real Itachi was still in front of Kakashi, but had to evade, once he saw a barrage of shuriken coming his way from Naruto.
He created enough distance to take a good look at the Jinchuuriki.
"Your Kenjutsu style looks quite polished, Naruto-kun…dare I say, I have seen it before."
Naruto knew that Itachi was an ANBU before defecting and he could have seen Yuugao-sensei or even Hayate fighting.
"I bet you do with that Sharingan of yours." Naruto said as he stood next to Kakashi.
Sakura stood next to Chiyo flabbergasted. She had known all along that Naruto was stronger and more skilled than their peers, but she had never seen him move this fast before. Itachi didn't waste much time and went through hand seals.
Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)
Naruto finished his own set, as soon as Itachi finished his technique, before molding the water around him.
Suiton Suijinheki (Water Style: Water Encampment Wall Technique)
Kakashi had already moved as soon as Naruto's water technique blocked Itachi's, but the elder Uchiha had seen Kakashi's movements and moved accordingly, placing himself right in front of Kakashi and landing a fierce kick on his torso. Kakashi felt the pain immediately, but still flipped in mid-air, while Naruto charged with his sword and the ram sign on his other free hand. Itachi was about to move to intercept, but he found his body getting rigid and heavier than he normally would. The conclusion lasted about a tenth of a second, but Itachi just had to smile at being caught in a Genjutsu….that was indeed a first.
Releasing it as easily as breathing, Naruto was right in front of him and they parried kunai and swords. Only this time, Itachi felt the same difficulty in moving.
Though, this wasn't Genjutsu anymore. His Sharingan managed to look around and spotted the color of water chakra in the atmosphere.
"Interesting…such prowess with water ninjutsu, Naruto-kun. I bet that Kisame would have loved having another fight with you."
The mention of Itachi's partner brought him back to that time when Naruto's ass was handed to him.
"Naruto, steer clear of him!" Kakashi yelled, as he went through hand seals. He also saw the same thing as Itachi, as he focused lightning chakra on his hands.
Raikiri (Lightning Blade)
Naruto did as instructed and Itachi was bombarded with Kakashi's lightning attack added by the water laced in the atmosphere. Itachi, though, managed to use a quick kawarimi and appeared right behind Naruto's defense. His sensor capabilities alerted him in time to also use a water kawarimi, when Itachi pierced his back with a kunai. Sakura took that opportunity to throw a barrage of shuriken at Itachi, who evaded it easily and threw a fireball technique at her. Sakura was also quick on her feet and slammed a fist on the ground, using earth ninjutsu to lift a wall in front of her.
Itachi then saw Naruto appear in front of him, ready to skewer him with his sword, when Itachi grabbed his wrist and held him tight, before placing Naruto's eyes close to his.
Naruto realized the trap when he was snared in a powerful Genjutsu.
Naruto would remove the first layer of illusion easily, but Itachi would then place two and three layers, forcing Naruto to be trapped under the Uchiha's world. Kurenai had taught him to evade double-layered Genjutsu, but a triple-layered one was news to him. The problem was that Naruto had too much chakra to stop and release the flow every time and Itachi managed to capture him in yet another Genjutsu. It soon became obvious that only using his chakra, he would be forever trapped…Itachi's hold on him was much stronger. Itachi then realized when the malevolent chakra of the fox surged through Naruto's tenketsu and kicked him out rather forcefully, ridding the illusion for good.
Though, back in the real world, Naruto was on the ground panting for breath, while looking at the Uchiha in front of him.
Kakashi was by his side immediately, while observing in surprise to see Itachi's eyes bulge in red veins and bleeding.
"Quite ingenious of you to use the fox's chakra and overcome my Genjutsu, Naruto-kun…though I have to applaud your overall skill in the art of illusion as well." Despite searching for breath, Naruto couldn't help but bask at the praise. Kakashi helps Naruto to stand up and Itachi was focusing on them the entire time, hence why the man didn't move in time to stop Sakura from running behind him, pouring as much chakra control as possible in her fist. As soon as Itachi turned to land eyes on Sakura, despite his tiredness, it was too late and Sakura slammed a powerful fist straight at his face, breaking Itachi's jaw and sending him flying, before his body slammed on the ground. Naruto and Kakashi looked surprised to see Sakura's bold move, but it paid fruit, in the end.
The group approached the downed Uchiha as Chiyo looked at Sakura in surprise.
Back then, when she healed Kankuro from Sasori's toxin, Chiyo was looking at her with interest. Now, the comparison was complete.
"That strength…so you're indeed the slug woman's apprentice…"
Sakura had adjusted her gloves and smirked in confidence, while Kakashi and Naruto smiled at the medic-nin.
"What the….yeah, now I knew why he felt different." Naruto's words made everyone alert to look at another shinobi lying on the ground, beaten from Sakura's mighty punch.
"Is this some sort of Jutsu, Kakashi-sensei?" The scarecrow Jonin was truly astonished…he knew from Naruto that Itachi felt weaker, but all of his moves were Itachi's, no doubt about that. So, who is this person that appeared?
"It can't be…!" Everyone turned to Chiyo who was looking at the downed man with familiarity.
"Do you know him?" The old woman nodded at Kakashi's inquiry.
"He's Yuura, one of our Jonin and member of the village's high council for four years now." Kakashi remembered Baki saying this name, who was amongst the missing personnel in Suna. "Can't believe he would be a spy for Akatsuki!?" Chiyo then grabbed an empty scroll to write a message back to Suna, informing them of what happened thus far. Meanwhile, the rest started debating amongst themselves what this was all about. A stall tactic, most likely, but it also served to gather information on their overall skills and opposition.
Chiyo, then, summoned a toy bird that would send the message back to Suna.
"We need to get a move on, everyone. Once we reach enough distance, we need to rest up for the main fight." Naruto felt down at that, despite it being the best decision. He had a Genjutsu battle with Itachi, the Uchiha Itachi…one that perhaps not even Kure-chan could defeat. If Naruto were alone against him, he doubted that he would be able to survive long enough. He needed an edge against the superior Genjutsu user. He needed to finish his Space-Time Ninjutsu in no time, but the focus right now was to rescue Gaara quickly.
So, with that plan in motion, they all set out once more.
===In front of Akatsuki's Base===
It took another half a day to reach the base's location and when Kakashi's team arrived, they all saw Gai's team observing the rock in front of them.
"Oh Kakashi, you sure took your sweet time coming here." Gai boasted, already focusing on his rival, while Naruto and Sakura greeted Lee, Tenten and Neji. Sakura, for her turn, introduced Chiyo to the rest of them, before everyone focused on the rock.
"I have already tried to punch through it, but there is a barrier in place, Kakashi." The scarecrow Jonin nodded at Gai's words. Naruto, for his part, turned to Neji.
"Can you see inside, Neji?" The Hyuuga Jonin nodded and ignited his Byakugan, before describing the scene.
"There is a gigantic statue inside and Gaara appears to be hovering in mid-air, enveloped by a huge cloud of chakra." That was alarming news as Chiyo concluded it.
"They are still extracting the Bijuu, then." Kakashi nodded and then turned to Naruto, who was looking at the seal in the middle of the boulder.
"That's a Five-Barrier Seal…" Kakashi nodded, figuring that it wouldn't be this easy to get inside and rescue the Kazekage before the procedure is finished. Still, Naruto got into lecture mode, recognizing the barrier seal. "This is the main one and there are four other seals placed in different directions. Normally to remove this barrier, one must remove all five seals at once." Gai, Lee, Tenten, Sakura, Chiyo and Kakashi looked pensive at the explanation, wondering about their next possible decision making. Tenten then remembered Naruto's words.
"Naruto, you said 'normally'…" Both Kakashi and Chiyo looked at the blond shinobi, who was pensive, while working on his theory.
"The Five-Seal Barrier can only be put in place by one person or one chakra signature to be precise. It's not merely placing the seals in different directions, but also linking one another, through the use of Fuuinjutsu formula added by an identical chakra output. Whoever did this must be able to multiply himself through the use of several bunshins. To remove it, it would need to be done at the same time and also to install it, would require the same thing. My theory, however, is that with this being the main seal, I could override the chakra that activated the seal formula and nullify the five-seal barrier, by focusing on this one." Kakashi's eyes widened. He remembered seeing Naruto doing the same high level sealing technique as he did with Sasuke's Cursed Seal, but if he were to make this happen, then Kakashi could seriously be seeing his sensei in front of him once more.
Chiyo, on the other hand, was a Fuuinjutsu user herself and wasn't much impressed with Naruto's theory, while the rest were busy just working through the theory in their minds and failing miserably.
"That's a nice theory, gaki, but to make that happen, you'd need someone with a huge chakra capacity just to try and overload the sealing array."
Naruto looked at the elder Suna puppeteer and smirked at her. It should have been clear at this point…
"I guess I can give it a try, then. It won't hurt our chances here and If I am wrong, then we can do it the old fashioned way."
Naruto turned to Kakashi, as if asking for his permission.
The silver-haired Jonin at least reasoned that with the fox and the right knowledge, Naruto could seriously accomplish such a task.
"Get at it, Naruto…Neji, in the meantime, please use your Byakugan and locate the other four seals." Naruto and Neji went to work immediately with Naruto jumping on top of the rock close to the seal, while Neji activated his Byakugan to search.
Naruto placed his hand on the seal and closed his eyes in order to study the Fuuinjutsu formula that the members of the Akatsuki used. Extending his chakra through it, he could feel the repulsion running its course. As per his theory, the seal glowed red, yanking Naruto's head by force. Still, Naruto had enough time to see the kanji in his head and the necessary sequence. The ones from Konoha and even Chiyo observed Naruto in great detail, wondering what he was going to do. Everyone flinched as soon as the spike in malevolent energy reached their position as Naruto's once blue eyes turned into blood slitted red eyes.
Using the seal as the basis, Naruto's chakra focused on a single point in the seal formula, before he began to overload the seal formula with his own energy added by the fox.
He then went through a long series of hand seals, while pumping enough chakra to make an S-ranked ninjutsu.
Fuuin Kai (Seal Release)
The peculiar noise of seal disruption was heard by all as Naruto, then, looked at Sakura. The medic-nin didn't need to be told twice as she took her own distance and charged straight at the rock with her super-powered fist, smashing the rock to pieces. As soon as Sakura smashed the rock, everyone got inside and saw the procedure taking place. Naruto, though, didn't wait for the exchange of pleasantries and immediately sent a Kage Bunshin to yank Gaara out of the chakra cocoon.
"Well, it seems they were somehow able to get over the sealing array I had put in place. Deidara, Sasori, the procedure was incomplete. Get rid of the intruders and secure the Jinchuuriki's body."
The astral projections on each of the creature's fingers vanished, with the exception of the real perpetrators of Gaara's kidnapping.
"Well, more people for me to show my art to, huh Sasori-danna."
The one named Deidara had the rock insignia on his forehead protector and had blond hair, though his identity remained a mystery to everyone.
Sasori, for his part, was actually a grotesque figure, hunched down in height and had a scorpion-like tail coming out from its back. A black cloth covered the figure's face as its eyes focused exclusively on Chiyo.
Right now, two four man teams against two S-ranked criminals, as Naruto's clone held Gaara's unconscious body protectively.
Author Note
Ok, that's it for now.
Indeed, I wanted to get them inside the base before the procedure was finished, thus saving Gaara for now. However, the Sand Jinchuuriki is not out of harm's way yet.
Lastly, I have recently created a P-atreon account for those who wish to follow my stories more personally, sending suggestions and occasional polls to help me.
Also, for those who wish to make a pledge there, it would be greatly appreciated. If not, then, it's fine as well. What's important for me is to have more readers admiring my stories.
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Next update: Avalon Bond
