FIVE
Suna: Part V
"Are we finished?" Naruto asked as his shadow clones memories flood back into his mind, "The Leaf ninja are on their way. I wasn't able to stall them for as long as I want. I wasn't able to get my Katana back either. Damn."
The sealing processed end and Gaara's body fell to the floor with a thud.
"Well, I guess so," Naruto looked down at Gaara's body.
The strange voice called out. "The one tails is now sealed. We will meet again when we have the two tails. You know you assignments."
The rest of the Akatsuki holograms faded, leaving Deidara, Naruto, and Sasori.
"So the Leaf ninja are on their way?" Sasori said turning his attention to the blond standing on the pinky of the statue.
"Yeah, they are stronger than they look. Do not underestimate them," Naruto replied, "We need to fight them. I want my Katana back."
"We will, Hnn," Deidara stated at he jumped down from his position on the Gedo statue.
"Oh Sasori, your grandmother is with them. She has a large bounty on her head. Kakuzu will be pleased if we defeat her and turn her in for the bounty," Naruto remembered reading the bingo book as he jumped down from his position and landed next to Deidara.
"I am not surprised. They knew they would be battling me and we kidnapped their Kazekage," Sasori replied.
"Then I guess this will be a fun fight, Hnn," Deidara smirked.
Naruto walked over to Gaara's body to see if he really was dead.
"I guess not everyone can survive the extraction," Naruto said as bent down to he checked Gaara's pulse.
"No, in fact most people don't, Hnn," Deidara said walking up behind Naruto who was crouched down beside Gaara.
Suddenly there was a big explosion coming for the entrance to base. The three Akatsuki members looked to see what made the explosion and they saw a pink haired girl with her fist out like she just punched something. She looked pissed.
"Like I said," Naruto started as he stood up, "they are a lot stronger than they look."
"I am surprised they got here that fast," Deidara said step over Gaara's body then taking seat on him. Naruto rolled his eyes a Deidara.
"Your lack of respect for the dead always amazes me, Deidara," Naruto said as he stood up and cross his arms.
"Remember lets not kill the people we don't have to, Naruto, Deidara," Sasori said as he walked over to where Naruto was standing.
"I know," Naruto replies.
"GAARA!" Temari yells as she runs through the entrance and past Sakura but then when she sees Deidara sitting on Gaara's body she stops in her tracks. The rest of the ninja were to follow.
"Is he…?" Kankuro said as he now stands beside Temari.
"Afraid so…" Naruto shrugs then smirks at his former teammates.
"Naruto, where you able to look at the Bingo Book like Kakuzu asked?" Sasori said.
Naruto nodded, dropped his arms to his side and his smirk fell off his face without looking a Sasori, "The only ones with a bounty on their head is Kakashi Hatake who has a 45 million ryo bounty. He is the one with the silver hair and the mask. Under the Hitai is the famous Sharingan. He is also a lighting style user, as well as water and earth. Another is Asuma Sarutobi who has a bounty for 35 million ryo. He is the one next to Kakashi with chakra blades and smoking. He is a wind and fire style user. He is also the son of the 3rd Hokage so he's not to be underestimated. The last is the old lady who has a 50 million ryo on her head. I don't know anything about her but you can fill us in Sasori."
"Kakuzu would be proud," Deidara snickered.
The leaf ninja starred at Naruto shocked that he would know that much information about Kakashi and Asuma, let alone tell the other members of the Akatsuki.
"You're planning to kill us for money, Naruto?" Asuma glared at Naruto.
"Just following orders," Naruto replied crossing his arms.
"Orders?" Sakura asked looking at Naruto confused.
Naruto nodded.
"Naruto," Sasori said, "You seem to know about these ninjas. Tell us more about each of them."
Naruto nodded, "Beside Asuma and Kakashi, the pink hair girl is Sakura Haruno. She is a Jonin level Medical ninja with super-human strength. She also studied under one of the three Sannins, and the Hokage, Tsunade. She also has a violent temper. She is weak in Taijutsu, speed and stamina.
"Next to her is the blonde hair girl with the pigtail. Her name is Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka clan, who specializes in the mind techniques of her clan. She is a Chunin level medical ninja as well. She is also weak in Taijutsu, Genjutsu and strength. Her mind jutsu's main weakness is the high probability of missing if her opponent is not restrained, plus her real body becomes completely vulnerable.
"Next is Shikamaru Nara of the Nara Clan, who specialize in shadow techniques of his clan. His major down fall is his lazy attitude. He is extremely intelligent which earned him the right to the title of best tactician in Konoha, second to only his father. Jonin level. He may not look like but he also is skilled in Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. His only real weakness is his strength.
"The fat one is Choji Akimichi of the Akimichi clan. He specializes in his clan's ability to increase the size of any part of their body. Hes not very smart or fast. Only a Chunin. Along with the Nara and Yamanaka, they make up the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.
"Behind them is Kiba Inuzuka with his mutt Akamaru. He is part of the Inuzuka clan, which is known for their ability to work with animals, mainly dogs. Jonin level. He is not very intelligent and is weak in genjutsu and stamina. He normally doesn't think first when in a fight.
"Next to him, is Hinata Hyuuga of the legendary Hyuuga clan. Chunin level. Average ninja. She is weak in Genjutsu, Taijutsu, speed and stamina. Yet her chakra control is respectable. Not a ninja you should be worried too much about, easily taken down.
"Next to her is her cousin, Neji Hyuuga, the prodigy of Hyuuga clan. Very skilled in Taijutsu based on his clan's techniques. He is an overall skilled ninja. No major weakness other than being a complete asshole most of the time. He has too much pride and too big of an ego. He is also a Jonin level.
"Next to him is his teammate, Tenten. She is Jonin level that specializes in weapons, using scrolls to summon her weapons, although she relies too much on weapons. Her taijutsu ability is high while her genjutsu, strength and stamina are low.
"On the other side of Kakashi is Gai Maito. High-level Jonin. He is a specialist in Taijutsu. I don't have much information on him other than that. Oh, don't let him fool you. He is wearing weights to slow him down. Once he takes them off, he is probably one of the fastest ninja alive.
"Next to him is Shino Aburame of the Aburame clan. They use bugs. That's pretty much it. He is not much of a close-combat fighter. His bugs can suck up chakra so watch out for that. Probably still a Chunin.
"The women standing in the back is Kurenai Yuuhi. High-level Jonin. She is a specialist in Genjutsu, but nothing compared to Itachi's. Although her strength and stamina are lower than the other Jonins.
"Last but not least is last of the sand siblings. Kankuro uses puppets, so Sasori I am sure you would have fun fighting him. Temari uses wind techniques with the giant fan of hers. I don't have much information on them, sorry."
When Naruto glanced up from giving his speech, he saw some very angry faces.
"Fuck you, Naruto," Kiba snarled.
"Was that an insult or a request?" Naruto snorted.
"Very good, Naruto," Sasori smirked, "I am sure Pein will be pleased with your research on the leaf ninja."
"Research?" Kakashi questioned narrowing his eyes at Naruto.
"Yes, Pein-sama has ordered me to keep track of the skill progression on the important ninjas of the leaf. Especially those who are close to the Hokage, like the group here," Naruto said blankly.
The group of Ninja standing before Naruto looked like they would attack the blonde any minute just based on what Naruto said about them. Except for Temari who looked almost depressed.
"Just give us Gaara back, Naruto," Temari pleaded.
Naruto glanced over to where Temari and Kankuro where standing. The group of Ninja had planned getting back Gaara's body in exchange for Naruto's Katana if they were in fact too late. Naruto hesitated a moment before pulling the black bingo book out of his pack. He flipped through the pages as the other looked at him confusingly. He finally stopped at a page and smiled.
"It looks like I can't do that, Temari," Naruto finally replying still looking at the book.
"Why not?" Temari yelled.
Naruto glanced up as he heard the pain in her voice and he could see that she was almost at her breaking point. Naruto turned the book around and showed the ninja the page he was looking at. It was a picture of Gaara in the traditional Kazekage outfit, " Unfortunately, he's got a bounty on his head."
Temari's eyes widened at the sight of the picture of her brother. "You're going to turn him in for a bounty?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, Kakuzu would be pissed at me if he found out that I let a man with a bounty on his head walk out of here. I would be punished by Pein as well," Naruto closed the book, placed it back in his pack and took a few steps forwards, "plus you have something that I want."
"What?" Kakashi asked narrowing his eyes at Naruto.
"My Kiba."
"That's all you want?" Kiba yelled.
Sasori and Deidara both started laughing at the statement the kid with the dog made. Naruto turned to glare at them knowing what they were laugh at, but found they had already stopped laughing and where now looking at Naruto like they had no idea why he was looking at them. Naruto rolled his eyes then turned back around about to say something but Sasori interrupted him.
"You don't know how hard Naruto work to get those Katanas or how many people he had to kill," Sasori said with a monotone voice.
As soon as Sasori finished that sentence, Naruto saw his old comrade's faces turn from angry to horrified. Naruto knew that if his old comrades found out about anything he has done in the past three years, they would be disgusted with him, more so than they are already. So he decided to keep quiet about the things he had done, even to some of the members in the Akatsuki.
"Sasori, shut it," Naruto snapped as he turned to face Sasori who had a surprised look on his face. Sasori and Itachi were really the only ones who knew about the things he had done to be come stronger, since they didn't judge Naruto. Deidara really didn't even know most of it.
"Naruto…" a small voice came.
The voice surprised Naruto and he glanced over to where the voice came from and he found Hinata standing behind Neji with a painful look on her face.
"Yes?" Naruto replied.
"H-How are you a-alive?" Hinata finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
Naruto looked around and noticed that everyone was waiting for an answer. He looked at his fellow members and they both nodded indicating that he was allowed to tell them how he survived. Naruto turned back to his old comrades.
They deserve to know the truth, Naruto thought.
Naruto sighed. "It's not a very long story or a complicated explanation. So I guess I can tell you," Naruto hesitated for a moment then a smile came on his face, "Plus you are going to have to give Ero-Sennin and Tsunade-baa-chan a reason for why your weren't able to get Gaara back alive."
After a few moments of silence a voice broke through "well?" it was Shikamaru who Naruto had barely noticed that he had moved to the other side of Kakashi holding Naruto's other Katana.
Naruto sighed, "Well if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki any more. Pein was able to extract it from me. But by some miracle, I survived the extraction. Since then I have been training to be come stronger. I can no longer rely on the Kyuubi's chakra to get me out of trouble, but even without the Kyuubi, I have an enormous amount of Chakra."
Kakashi thought for a moment about what Naruto said. Then he thought back to the night the Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto and what the third Hokage had told him about that night. Naruto is not the first Jinchuuriki to survive the extraction of the Kyuubi.
"You're not the first Jinchuuriki to survive the extraction," Kakashi thought out loud.
"I know," Naruto replied.
Kakashi's head shot up in Naruto's direction. How does he know that? Kakashi thought. Naruto looked at him with a "don't speak about that" look. Kakashi just nodded recognizing what Naruto meant. No one else knew about that night. Naruto wanted to leave it like and so did Kakashi. But Kakashi was not going to let that stop him from getting the answers they wanted and deserved to know.
"If you know, then why? Why are you with the Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked still looking at Naruto.
Naruto sighed, "That's another story, Kakashi-sensei. Oh and I know about the other thing too."
"Other thing?" Kakashi repeated unsure of what Naruto was talking about.
Naruto reached up and tugged on a strand of hair. Naruto smiled a grin that reminded Kakashi of a certain Sensei of his.
"Oh that thing." Kakashi smiled but then that smiled turned into a disappointing frown. "He would be very disappointed in you, Naruto."
"Right now, yes, he would be," Naruto replied looking down almost ashamed of himself.
"If you know that, then why are you…?" Kakashi started.
Naruto still looking down didn't reply. Kakashi took this as a sign to leave it alone. Maybe Naruto had something up his sleeve that no one was a where of. Naruto then unsheathed his one Katana lunged at Shikamaru in order to obtain his other Katana, but Kakashi was able to stop him with a Kunai.
"Naruto! Do not get into the bad habit of running into battle with out a plan. We spent 3 years to rid you of that habit. Don't let the memory of your old life bring that habit back. Do you understand me?" Sasori stated just loud enough for Naruto to hear.
Naruto's tension relaxes a bit and then he lunged back to where Sasori and Deidara (who is still sitting on Gaara) were.
"My apologies, Sasori," Naruto replied, "Deidara, lets put the body away and prepare it for travel. I am sure Kakuzu will want to take the body as soon as possible. Sasori please get my Katana back."
Deidara got off Gaara and threw him over his shoulder as Naruto started to walk away.
"Naruto!" a voice yelled from behind them. Naruto looked to see who it was. Shikamaru was now standing in front of everyone else.
"Shikamaru, don't be reckless," Asuma warned.
"Now!" Kakashi yelled.
Before Naruto, Sasori or Deidara could react, Shikamaru had the three in a shadow possession.
"Damn," Naruto swore under his breath.
"Kagemane no Jutsu complete," Shikamaru said "Now Kage Nui no Jutsu."
Several shadow string wrapped around Naruto and Gaara's body. Then Kankuro had two of his Kuroari puppets moved next to Naruto and Deidara. I didn't even see Kankuro move, Naruto thought. Using the shadow strings Shikamaru throws Naruto into one of the puppets and Gaara into the other.
"What the hell?" Deidara yelled still stuck in Shikamaru's Jutsu.
"Lets go," Kakashi said.
The leaf ninja and two of the sand ninja took off out of the entrance of the cave, with Deidara in pursuit.
"Kakashi-Sensei, we have company. Its just Deidara," Neji said.
"I figured we would," Kakashi replied, "Shino, you know what to do."
Shino fell back from the rest of the group. When he came up on Deidara who had left Sasori, back in the cave, Shino released his parasites that went into Deidara's clay bag and were able to suck up the chakra out of the clay, leaving it normal.
"Shit, your too smart for your own good, kid, Hnn," Deidara snapped at Shino. Reluctantly Deidara fell back. Without his clay, Deidara would not be able to do much damage.
I really don't want to explain this to Sasori, let alone Pein-sama. Deidara thought.
Shino did not reply to Deidara but went ahead to try and catch up to the rest of the group. Shino met up with the rest of group in the large field where they had battled on of Naruto's shadow clones. He saw that they had taken Gaara out of the puppet and was laid out flat on his back. Kankuro and Temari were crouched down beside Gaara on either side of him while the rest of the ninja were surrounding them. Shino looked over to the other puppet and noticed it was empty. There was also a person missing from their group.
"Where's granny Chiyo? And where's Naruto?" Shino questioned as he met up with the rest of group.
"Chiyo stayed back to fight Sasori, so he wouldn't come after us." Sakura replied standing over Gaara's body.
"Naruto was some how able to escape. We don't know how. When we opened the puppet, it was empty." Kankuro replied without looking up from Gaara.
Shino nodded in reply.
"Actually, you never caught me," a voice came from the trees.
When everyone looked up, they found Naruto crouched on one of tree branches using the trunk of the tree as support, but he wasn't looking at anyone but Gaara. Naruto jumped down and everyone else jumped up ready to attack him.
Naruto put both his hands in defeat and shook his head; "I'm not here to fight or to take Gaara back."
"Then why are you here?" Asuma asked not moving from his battle stance.
"I came bring Gaara back to life," Naruto replied.
Everyone's face turned to shock.
"What? How?" Temari asked with an unbelieving face.
"With a jutsu that Pein-sama has been teaching me. It's a derived jutsu from his Gedo: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu. I have been planning on bringing the Jinchuurikis back to life with this jutsu after the tailed beasts are sealed. Gaara was never meant to die. I was about to preform the jutsu before Sakura busted through our entrance," Naruto replied dropping his hands to his side and looking around at ninja standing in front of him, although no one seemed to believe him, so he added, "I'm not as cold or as heartless as you think."
"Why should we believe you?" Kiba asked narrowing his eyes at Naruto.
Naruto hesitated for a moment, almost like he was thinking about it, but then reached up and started to unsheathe his sword. When the ninja saw this, their tension rose, but Naruto placed his other hand up indicating for them to wait. He finished unsheathing his sword and then threw it so it landed at their feet. Everyone looked at the sword that lay on the ground at their feet and then looked back up at him. Naruto had a pleading look on his face.
"You can even take me back to Konoha afterwards if you want. Gaara was my friend. I want to do what I can for him," Naruto said.
Their faces still didn't change. Naruto thought for a minute about what he should do. Then an idea came to him and he smiled.
"Kankuro attach you chakra strings to me, that way if I do something you don't like you can pull me away from Gaara immediately," Naruto said as he turned towards Kankuro.
Kankuro thought about it a moment, then stood. A chakra string from each finger attached to Naruto. Kankuro nodded, signaling Naruto to go a head. Naruto nodded back and started to move, but Kankuro's voice interrupted him, "One wrong move and you're really going to be dead this time, understood?"
Naruto nodded, then continued to move towards Gaara. Once he reached Gaara, he knelt down beside him. Naruto start a sequence of hand signs and a chant. The hand signs ended with a half ram hand sign.
"Yōton: Shikatsu no jutsu, "Naruto said so quietly it was almost a whisper. He then proceeded to place his half ram hand sign all over Gaara's body, "Initial Gate, Heal gate, Life gate, Harm gate, Limit gate, view gate, wonder gate…" Naruto then placed one hand on top of the other and place his hands on Gaara's heart, "Death gate."
At that moment, Gaara's body and Naruto's body started to glow very faintly and then it disappeared. Naruto dropped his hand to his thighs as if to stabilize him self. Naruto reach one hand up to Gaara's wrist to check his pulse.
Naruto smiled.
Everyone's eye widened when they saw Gaara's eyes start to open. Temari rushed over and hugged Gaara.
"What… What's going on?" Gaara asked when he glanced over and saw Naruto's face. "Why are you here?"
"Gaara, he saved you life," Temari said as she helped Gaara sit up.
Naruto kept his head bowed and his fist clenched on top of his thighs as he sat by Gaara's side, "Kakashi-sensei, are you taking me back to Konoha?"
"Yes, Naruto," Kakashi replied while keeping his eyes on Gaara.
Naruto could only nod in agreement. He was about to go back to the village, where everyone regarded him as a hero, that is until they find out what he was been doing for the past three years. He really would be treated like a monster then.