Chapter 13
Going After Gaara
Akina stood in the room as Kankuro sat up in bed with Kakashi and Naruto. Shikamaru stood next to Akina. His puppet lay on the table next to him, looking shattered.
"One fought with me, while the other carried Gaara away." Kankuro coughed. Akina felt bad for him, but they needed to know where Gaara was. "You might be able to follow Gaara's scent. But you can definitely track the one I fought. I made sure of it." He gasped in pain.
"Don't push yourself." Akina said. Kankuro nodded and reached for his puppet.
"You see, I've got his scent right here." Kankuro said. The puppet hand opened to reveal a piece of cloth. "The last thing I did was make sure I got a scrap of his clothing." Kakashi came over and grabbed the piece of cloth. He held onto it.
"Even in defeat, you went down fighting. Just what I'd expect from a Sand Shinobi." Kakashi said. Kankuro smiled with pride. Kankuro groans in pain. Temari was at his side.
"Kankuro, what is it?" Temari asked as Akina ran over. Kankuro stopped and brushed Akina off as he looked at Naruto.
"Yes, he came all the way from the Leaf village to help us." Temari said. Kankuro glared at him. His vision seemed to clear.
"Is that Naruto Uzumaki?" Kankuro asked. Naruto smiled.
"Hey there." Naruto said. Akina moved away and Kankuro looked at her.
"Akina. Your here too?" Kankuro said.
"Hi, Kankuro. Yes. I came to help as well. Kankuro closed his eyes.
"I see." Kankuro said. Kakashi did the hand signs and put his hand to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu." Kakashi said. A puff of smoke comes and a whole bunch of dogs are standing where Kakashi summoned them.
"At your service." One of the small dogs said. Akina heard of the Hidden Leaf dogs. She heard they were the best but had never seen them in action. "Eight Ninja Hounds."
"Hey, Pakkun!" Naruto said.
"Is that you, Naruto? Long time no see." Pakkun said.
"Woah look at you. You haven't changed a bit." Naruto said.
"You haven't either." Pakkun said. Akina snorted.
"Huh? What are you talking about. I'm a lot taller, for one thing." Naruto said.
"Alright. Alright. Let's skip the reunion." Kakashi said. He held up the piece of cloth. One of the dogs started sniffing it. "I need you guys to get on it right away." Pakkun turned his head.
"Huh?" Pakkun asked. The dogs started sniffing the cloth.
"Find out which way he went, OK? Go on." Kakashi said. The dogs take off. Pakkun stayed.
"We'll let you know when we find something." Pakkun said. He took off and they watch them leave.
"They won't let us down." Naruto said.
"This is a drag. Now we have to wait. I'm taking a nap." Shikamaru said. Akina chuckled as he disappeared. He knew Akina would wake him if they left right away.
"Ok, we move out as soon as Pakkun and his posse get back. So, I say we start getting ready." Naruto said.
"Not so fast, Naruto." Kakashi said. Chiyo and the old man came up to the bed.
"Kankuro." Chiyo said.
"Hmm?" Kankuro said. He looked surprised to see them. "Lady Chiyo and Lord Abizo, you're here?"
"There's something we must know, and only you can tell us. Am I correct in thinking that one of your opponents, the one you fought with, was Sasori?" Chiyo asked. Kankuro looked away with a sad look.
"Well speak up, Kankuro." Abizo said.
"Yes, Sasori of the red sand. He told me so himself." Kankuro said. Chiyo looked at the puppet.
"Sasori of the red sand?" Akina asked, curiously.
"I get the feeling you know something about these Akatsuki. Will you tell us?" Kakashi asked. Akina went back to the green house and started work on the antidote and finishing it up. Other medical ninja was in there. Akina took a syringe from the glass as one guy rolled out a scroll with the poison on it. Sakura stood watching as she let a drop fall on the poison. The poison turned orange and it started to smoke till it disappeared. Sakura smiled.
"It worked!" Sakura said. Akina nodded.
"It's ready. Sakura. Can you help me put these into vials so we can take them with us?" Akina asked, looking at her friend.
"Of course." Sakura said and the girls got to work.
Akina brought a cup of it to Kankuro, who with her help, quickly.
"Make sure you drink it all." Akina said. Kankuro drank it all with his teacher and his friends watching. He gasped and slightly coughed. Akina took the cup.
"There. You should be alright now. Just lie back and rest. And don't move around until the numbness passes." Sakura said.
"All of you are going to need rest as well, after your journey. We prepared rooms for you. Seems that other one is already found his." The teacher said. Akina chuckled.
"He's always tired, but once a fight happens, he'll be all ready for it." Akina said. Kakashi chuckled.
"But we've got to go after Gaara." Naruto said.
"Thanks. We'll take you up on your offer. We may have to travel far and fast tomorrow." Kakashi said. Naruto didn't look happy.
"Naruto. He's right. We need rest." Akina said. Naruto looked down.
"Ok. You win." Naruto said. Kankuro looked at his hand. It was shaking. He looked at Naruto.
"Naruto. Akina." Kankuro said. Naruto and Akina turned to Kankuro. "Save my little brother, will you?" Temari and the teacher looked surprise. Naruto and Akina share looks and smile.
"Don't worry. We will." Naruto said. Akina nodded.
"We'll get him back." Akina said.
"After all, I'm going to be Hokage someday. And for now, the Kazekage can just owe me one." Naruto said. Akina left and went to find Shikamaru and let him know. Shikamaru was standing on the balcony of his room, looking out at the Hidden Sand. He was worried about Gaara.
He jumped when he felt arms wrap around him.
"We got the Ninja Hounds out looking for him." Akina said. Shikamaru turned and wrapped her in his arms. "Kankuro got a cloth from the enemy."
"Let's hope they can find them. I feel like we are running out of time. This is a drag." Shikamaru said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"I have that feeling to." Akina said. Shikamaru and Akina stood holding each other as the night air was warm.
The next day. They got word that Pakkun had found the hideout. Everyone had slept well. Shikamaru and Akina stood with Kakashi, Narutu, and Sakura. Akina had the antidotes in her bag.
"Seems we'll be working in conjunction with a squad from the Sand Village. As soon as they're here, we'll head out." Kakashi said.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Temari said, coming towards them.
"Temari." Akina said. There was a group with Temari.
"If that's everybody..." Kakashi started.
"Okay! There's no time to waste! Let's get this show on the road!" Naruto said.
"Wait." The teacher of Gaara lands on the ground.
"Huh?" Akina and Naruto asked. The Teacher nodded.
"Temari, you and your group are to stay here. Patrol the perimeter." The Teacher said. Temari didn't look happy at those words.
"Are you kidding me or what?" Temari asked.
"Orders. From above." The Teacher said. Temari gasped. "If word gets out that the Kazekage is missing, our enemies might use it as an opportunity, to launch an attack on the village.
"Come on." One girl said.
"Don't you get it? That's all the more reason we have to get him back as quickly as we can!" Temari said. Temari pointed to her friends. "Look at these Leaf Ninja! They left their village and came all the way here just to help us rescue Gaara! And Gaara's not even their leader! He's our Kazekage! The Sand Shinobi should be the ones to save him!" The Teacher gasped.
"Uh! I'm sorry." The Teacher said.
"Well, I'm going!" Akina turned to see Chiyo standing on one of the buildings.
"Lady Chiyo?" Akina asked.
"If a Sand Shinobi is needed, then I'm the one to go." Chiyo said.
"Granny Chiyo?" Temari asked.
"But... but you're so.." The teacher started, but Chiyo gave him a smile.
"I'm retired, yes... Which means, of course, that I'm free to do whatever I want." Chiyo said.
"Yes, but... The journey will be difficult." A woman said.
"Bah! Don't treat me like a fossil." Chiyo yelled. Chiyo jumps and lands on the ground in front of Kakashi. Chiyo looked up at Kakashi. "After all, it's been awhile since I've doted on my adorable grandchild.
Mushu who was quiet for the longest time opened eyes was using his connection to watch Gaara. He watched as some of the eyes started opening. Mushu growled.
'My worries are right.' Mushu thought.
At the gate to the wall. The Leaf Ninja and Chiyo stood facing Temari and the Teacher.
"Alright. We'll head out on our own then." Kakashi said.
"Thank you. I'll try to convince the Council to change their mind." The teacher said.
"Don't worry. We'll catch up with you." Temari said. Akina gave her a reassuring smile.
"Ha! By the time you can catch up with us, we'll have already rescued Gaara." Naruto said.
"Don't give them too much confidence." Shikamaru said.
"We'll see you soon." Sakura said. They took off running heading into the direction of where they were to head. They reached the forest and were running. Akina was with Shikamaru as they head to their destination.
"Naruto." Naruto looked at Sakura. "Can I ask you a question? How long do you think the Akatsuki have been after you?" Naruto gasped and looked away.
"I don't know." Naruto said. Akina looked at Naruto with worry.
"Two members of the Akatsuki came to the Leaf looking for Naruto once. But it's been three years since then... and no sign of them... and now they're back." Kakashi said.
"Why did they wait so long to make another move?" Akina asked.
"It could be they wanted to act before this, but for some reason they couldn't. Maybe because Master Jiraiya was around, and they didn't want to face him." Kakashi said.
"That's not it." Chiyo said. Akina looked at Chiyo. "From what I've learned, there was an entirely different reason they had to wait this long."
"What reason?" Shikamaru asked.
"If you're going to try and draw out the Tailed Beast that dwells within... a great deal of preparation is involved. They just needed some more time." Chiyo said.
"What are you talking about? What Tailed Beast?" Sakura asked.
"My, my! You're a student of that old slug queen Tsunade and you don't even know that? When the Leaf itself is host to the Nine Tailed Fox and also now the Ten Tails Dragon?" Chiyo said.
"The Nine Tailed Fox Spirit is not something we talk about. It's considered top secret. Akina is new to our village, but we don't talk about it much either." Kakashi said.
"Really? Well, not surprising, I guess. Tailed Beasts are demon spirits with one or more tails. The 10 tails dragon is considered the strongest of them all. The Sand have had a single-tailed beast since long ago. That's the Shukaku sealed within Gaara." Chiyo said.
"So then... there's more of these Demon Spirits, besides the One tail, 9 tails, and 10 tails?" Sakura said. They started jumping in the river. Akina already knew about it because Roshi of the Hidden Stone had the Four Tails. And she knew about the other beasts from talks.
"Oh, yes... There are a total of 10 of them in the world, but for some reason. The Akatski don't want the 10 tails dragon within young Akina here. No one knows why. Each with distinct characteristics. and each with a different number of tails. The Evil Beast of the Sand with its single tail. A two tailed spirit, three-tailed, and so on.. All the way up to the Nine-tailed Fox and 10 tailed Dragon of the Leaf. The beasts are huge concentrations of Chakra and during the Great War, every nation competed for control of them for military purposes." Chiyo explained. Akina and Shikamaru share look. "They fought relentlessly over them. But the Tailed Beast's powers were beyond human imagining. No one could control them." Akina looked at Naruto. "Though I hear some of them now can control them and I know this young girl here had control of the 10 tails dragon since she was just a child. That impressed me. But. I don't know the intentions of the Akatsuki, but that kind of power is far too dangerous for anyone to get a hold of. Eventually, with the coming of peace, the Tailed Beasts were forgotten. But nevertheless, they still exist, all 10 of them, scattered over the world." Naruto and Akina looked sad. Akina wondered what Mushu knew but knew he couldn't tell her. Something still felt off and Mushu was quiet to quiet.
They rounded a corner and Kakashi gasped.
"Everyone to come to a stop." Kakashi said. Everyone stopped and a guy in a red cloud robe stood in front of them with a rouge Leaf Ninja headband on.
"Who's that?" Akina asked.
"I know you." Naruto growled. His eyes were red, and Akina's eyes widen. She heard about the clan. The one that got whipped out by one of their own. Itachi Uchiha stood in front of them. Shikamaru grabbed Akina's arm.
"Stay close." Shikamaru whispered. Akina nodded.
"Itachi Uchiha!" Naruto said. Itachi stared at them with cold eyes. They knew they had to face him before they could get to where Gaara was.
AN: I'll end it there. I think its a good place to end before we get into facing Itachi and then getting to where Gaara is. Till next time.