"I, I've been waiting for someone like you
But now you are slipping away
What have you done now?
Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There's a curse between us, between me and you"

- "What Have You Done?" by Within Temptation (ft. Keith Caputo)

Chapter 4: Planning a Pursuit

A Sand ninja entered the room with a hawk on his shoulder. "Master Baki," he said, "a reply has come from Leaf Village." He handed the other ninja a scroll.

"Thank you for your troubles," said Baki. He unrolled the scroll. "It's from the Hokage."

"What's Granny Tsunade saying?" Naruto said anxiously.

"It says that Guy's squad has been sent here as a reinforcement unit."

"Bushy Brow Sensei's squad?" Naruto grinned. "I'll bet everyone has gotten stronger. They even said that Neji has become a jonin." A determined look crossed his face. "All right! Now's no time for us to just be hanging around. We should go after the Akatsuki right now!"

I grabbed his shirt to keep him from running off. "You can't just go without a plan," I said.

"Going after him is fine and well," said Kakashi, "but do you know where those guys have gone to?" Naruto crossed his arms, grumbling. Kakashi turned to Baki. "Um, excuse me for inquiring, but what is the follow-up to the Akatsuki pursuit?"

"First, Kankuro set off by himself and ended up like that," Baki said, motioning to the boy on the bed. "Next, a tracking unit was sent out, but they've yet to contact us. Judging from the situation, it's likely that one of the other village chiefs has gone missing."

"I don't like to think that he could be taken out so easily, but then, you mean to say you've completely lost sight of him?"

"Yes, that is so."

"Lord Baki!" Sakura called. "Kankuro has awoken!"

Temari was the first by her brother's side, and I followed her. "Kankuro, are you all right?" she said.

"What, you're back already, Temari?" Kankuro said in a weak voice.

"I heard the village was in crisis."

"Sorry for making you worry."

"You fool, don't talk such nonsense!"

I moved to stand beside Temari. "Hey, Kankuro," I said with a small smile.

Kankuro looked surprised. "Katsumi? You escaped from the Akatsuki!"

"Well, not really, but that's not important right now. I'm sorry about what happened to Gaara. I know who took him."

"It was Sasori, right? Sasori of the Red Sand."

I nodded. "Yeah. Him and his partner."

"Please lead me to the place where Kankuro did battle," Kakashi said to Baki. "I may not look it, but I'm a pro at tracking If just the slightest trace of their scent remains."

"There's no need of that," said Kankuro. "My puppets have all been recovered, haven't they?" Baki picked up the puppets to show him. "The enemy force was two in number, as Katsumi said. One of them led Gaara away. All you have to do it follow Gaara's scent. Even if they split up into two, one of them - Sasori - his smell is on that one in Crow's hand. I left him holding a scrap of his clothes."

"Even if you fall, you won't fall without a fight. Just what I'd expect from a Sand Ninja."

"Kankuro!" Naruto shouted, rushing up beside me. "Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah," said Kankuro. "Naruto Uzumaki is it?"

Naruto started to nod, but then something caught his attention. "Hey, I see the Summoning Jutsu!" Sure enough, Kakashi summoned his eight dogs right in the middle of the room.

"Eight Ninja Dogs, at your service!" said Pakkun.

"Pakkun!" Naruto cried.

Pakkun turned to him. "Hey! Is that you, Naruto? Long time no see."

"Pakkun, you haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"You haven't either."

Naruto frowned. "Eh? I've grown quite a bit taller."

"Yes, yes, but enough of this chatter," said Kakashi. "I need you to get to work right away! I want you to determine which way he headed." He held the piece of cloth out to the dogs, who all gave it a good sniff. "Now, go!"

"We'll contact you right away when we find something." Pakkun said.

"We're counting on you."

"All right!" Pakkun ran off with the other dogs close behind.

"When Pakkun and the others get back, we're heading out, I tell you!" Naruto said with a determined look on his face. "We've got to make preparations right away." He turned to leave the room.

"Naruto, wait a minute!" said Kakashi.

"Kankuro!" said Chiyo as she entered the room with her brother.

"Granny Chiyo?" said Kankuro. "Grandpa Ebizo, too?"

Chiyo moved to Kankuro's besdie, a fierce expression on her face. "I want to hear it one more time, directly from your mouth. There is no mistake that one of the two enemies was Sasori. Is that correct?"

"What about it, Kankuro?" said Ebizo.

"Yeah," said Kankuro. "It was Sasori of the Red Sand. He said so himself."

"And you know him," Chiyo said, turning her hard gaze at me.

I swallowed. "That's right." Anything she had to say was cut short by Sakura entering with an antidote for Kankuro to drink. She made him drink it and then advised he get to sleep.

"You should all get a good night's rest as well," said Baki. "I've prepared a room for you to use."

"But we've got to find Gaara quickly!" Naruto insisted.

"I'll take advantage of your kindness, if I may," Kakashi said to Baki before turning to Naruto. "We're going on a harsh march from tomorrow."

"We won't get far if don't get enough rest," I said. Naruto grumbled his acceptance.

"Naruto Uzumaki," said Kankuro.

Naruto glanced at him. "Mm?"

"Take care of my little brother."

Naruto gave him a small smile. "Heh, you can leave it to me. After all, I am eventually going to become the Hokage! So, I'll do the Kazekage a favor early on."

I turned to leave with the rest of my team, but Chiyo stood in my way. "You," she said. "I would like to speak with you privately.

I glanced at Kakashi, and he nodded. "Alright," I said. "Let's go."

We made our way to an empty room and stood facing each other. I waited for her to make the first move. "What do you know about Sasori?" she asked after a minute of staring at me.

"Not much. Kankuro could probably tell you more about his fighting style than me. The Akatsuki were very careful to avoid leaking information while I was with them." I paused. "Oh, wait. There is one thing you may not know. He was turned himself into a puppet."

By the way Chiyo's eyes widened, I could tell she did not know this. "A puppet, you say? That is troubling news indeed."

"Yes." I paused. "Is there anything you can tell me about him?"

Chiyo's eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know?"

"I just... I thought maybe if I understood him a little better, it would help me interact with him."

"How would understanding his past help you in battle?"

"I'm not talking about using it in battle." I wondered how much I should tell her. Then I decided I did not care who knew the truth. She was an ally anyway. "I'm not a huge fan of fighting. I would find it preferable if I could convince my enemy to give in. I would rather help them so they don't continue down the path you're on."

"Why are you so concerned about your enemy? That is not proper for a ninja, you know."

"Well, I'm not a proper ninja. I never wanted to be one. I was forced into this job. So, I figured, as long as I have to be a ninja, I will do things my way. My team... my team approves of my methods... and so does the Hokage." For this mission, at least. I did not know where Tsunade's limits lay, but I planned to push until I found them.

Chiyo gave me a calculating look. "I see... Even if you were able to do as you say, but what future is there for a rogue ninja?"

"Currently, it's not very optimistic, but that's the problem, don't you see? You assume they can never change, but why should they change when they're never given the possibility of a future? I've lived with the Akatsuki. I've seen a lot of good there... and I've seen a lot of evil within the ninja villages. Both sides are fighting against each other for what they think is right. I believe we can achieve peace if we come together and learn from each other."

"That is very idealistic of you. I cannot see what you see, but... You are right that there are problems with the villages. Those problems are what led Sasori to abandon the Sand Village. If there was a better way..." She shook her head. "I doubt it's possible, but you're welcome to try."

"I intend to. There are people I care about personally that I can't give up on."

"Sasori?"

"I'm not thinking of him in particular. I was friendly with him, but we weren't very close. It's his partner who I really care about. I know I have to stop him and get Gaara back, but after that, I want to find a way to help him too." I just hoped I had that chance. I hated that we were opposing each other so soon. It should not have been this way.

Chiyo gave me a small smile. "I see. That's how it is, eh? Then you do what you have to do, but for now, get some rest. You have a long day tomorrow."

"Right."

Pakkun returned in the morning. My team readied ourselves for our departure. Then we waited outside for Temari and her squad of Sand ninja. "Sorry to have kept you waiting!" Temari said as she jogged over to us, several ninja behind her.

"Temari!" Naruto said happily.

"Everyone's here," said Kakashi.

"All right! Then let's head out!"

"Wait!" said Baki, walking up to meet us. "Temari, you and the others stay here in the village and patrol the border."

Temari looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's an order from above."

"Huh?"

"Their reasoning is, if it becomes widely known that the Kazekage is absent, there's no telling when other villages will attack our village."

Anger flashed on Temari's face. "I can't believe this. That's all the more reason that we have to get Gaara back as soon as possible!"

"These Leaf people came all this way for the very purpose of going to Gaara's aid!"

"Gaara is our Kazekage, right? What's the point if we, the Sand people, don't go to save him?" Temari's insistence seemed lost on Baki. I understood her position and disagreed with the council, but it was not my place to get involved in another village's affairs.

"But I'm going," said Chiyo. I looked up to see her standing high on the balcony of a building. "The only Sand shinobi you need is me!"

"Granny Chiyo!"

Chiyo looked at Baki. "But because I am already retired, you know I can do whatever I like."

"You really shouldn't overdo it!"

"Don't you dare treat me like an old woman!" Chiyo proceeded to jump from the balcony, landing in front of us.

"She jumped!" Baki exclaimed.

"Wha-?" said Naruto.

"I haven't doted on my dear grandchild for a while, after all," Chiyo said.

"All right, we'll head out," said Kakashi.

"Sorry," said Temari. "I will try to convince the higher-ups. We'll follow behind later, no matter what!"

"Gaara will be long rescued by that time!" said Naruto.

"Yeah, don't worry, Temari," I said. "We'll get Gaara back for sure!"

"See you later!"

For awhile, we ran without speaking to each other. Finally, Sakura approached Naruto and said, "Naruto! Can I ask you something? Since when have you been targeted by the Akatsuki?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied.

"There was that one time when two people from the Akatsuki came to the Leaf Village in order to make contact with Naruto," said Kakashi. "But that was three years ago and they've just started making a move now. I don't know why."

"Why did they wait three years?" said Sakura.

"It could be that it's not because they didn't want to but because they couldn't. Because Lord Jiraiya was always hanging close to Naruto."

"Do you know anything, Katsumi?"

"Nope," I said. "They never talked about that stuff with me. It does seem to me like they're not ready to start searching for the tailed beasts. What happened three years ago with Naruto was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Itachi and Kisame happened to be near the Leaf Village for another reason and figured they might as well try to get Naruto. They weren't actively pursuing him or the others at that point."

"You are on the right track," said Chiyo. "There's quite a bit of preparation involved if one's gonna draw out the tailed beast that's sealed within people. They encountered difficulties with that."

"What's this 'tailed beast' that you two are talking about?" said Sakura.

Chiyo looked at her in surprise. "What? You're Tsunade's disciple, and you don't even know that? The Leaf Village has the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit."

"The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit is treated as top secret amongst the Leaf Village," said Kakashi.

"Which I disagree with," I said.

"Yes, I am aware of your feelings on the subject."

"Well, that's not surprising," said Chiyo. "I guess a tailed beast refers to Beast Spirits with tails. Long, long ago, the Sand had a One-Tail. That's the Shukaku sealed within Gaara."

"One-Tail?" said Sakura. "Do you mean that there are other beasts besides the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit?"

"That's right. There are a total of nine tailed beasts in this world. Tailed beasts have special characteristics. Each of them have a different number of tails. The One-Tailed has one tail. The Two-Tailed has two. And up to the Nine-Tailed. As the name suggests, each name represents the number of tails the beast has. The tailed beasts have immense chakra, and in the world of ninja, they were used for military purposes by hidden villages around the world. They competed to get their hands on them. But no one was able to control that power which surpassed human intelligence. I don't know why the Akatsuki is after it, but that power is too dangerous."

"The only thing I could get out of the Akatsuki is that they're after world peace," I said.

"They expect us to believe that?" Sakura said incredulously.

"Why not? If this world is anything like mine, the greatest atrocities are created by those who believe they are doing good. Many groups believe violence, murder, and a radical restructuring of society are needed to obtain peace. They're wrong, of course, but legal entities like the governments of the villages are not immune from following the same erroneous thinking that the ends justify the means."

"It doesn't matter," Naruto said. "We still have to get Gaara back."

"Of course we should protect those who are harmed unjustly, but I think it helps us know how to deal with the enemy if we can understand where they're coming from."

"I can see that," said Sakura. "Thank you for sharing, Katsumi."

I gave her a small smile. "No problem. Thanks for listening."

Deidara

Deidara tried to focus on the extraction jutsu, but it was difficult with all of these interruptions. First, Zetsu reported some random Leaf shinobi were on their tail. Then he said the Nine Tails jinchuriki and his team were following them. Of course, everyone started blaming him for their problems.

"Your jutsu wasn't suited for covert operations," Sasori said.

"I'd say your traps were pretty loud too, weren't they?" said Deidara, annoyed.

"What?!"

"Stop fighting amongst yourselves!" said the hologram of Pain. "Concentrate on the jutsu! Now then, who should I send this time?"

"This time it's my turn," said the hologram of Itachi, "without any doubt."

"There is something else you should know," said Zetsu. "The girl Katsumi is with them."

Deidara felt his blood run cold. Katsumi? No way. He was not ready to face her. "What? Why would she be with the Nine Tails?"

"She is on his team," Itachi said as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. "Did you not know this?"

"No, I did not know that!"

Hidan let out a laugh. "You spent all that time with her, and she never told you?"

"No! We never talked about the jinchuriki."

"Then you also do not know this," said Itachi. "Katsumi is good friends with the One Tail jinchuriki."

If Deidara was nervous before, now he was downright panicked. "W-What?! And you knew? Why didn't you tell me?!" Oh no, Katsumi's friends were more important to her than anything, and he had basically condemned one of them to death! How was he ever going to explain this to her?

"You did not want to know."

"Deidara," Pain said with an edge to his voice, "it would not have mattered, would it?"

Deidara swallowed hard. "No." It took all his willpower to keep his voice even and control his shaking. Sasori eyed him but said nothing.

"What do you want me to do with Katsumi?" Itachi said.

"It is better if she lives, but do what you must if she gets in the way," said Pain.

"Very well."

"Itachi, scare her away!" Deidara said. "Make sure she doesn't come anywhere near this place!" Itachi looked at him but said nothing before disappearing. It did not matter though. As much as Deidara hated to admit it, he knew Itachi cared about Katusmi, and, right now, he had to rely on that bond. The alternative was too terrible.