Hi! Things have been going rather downhill for me lately, but I've had this fic to help me get through it. Not much else I can tell you, except I've taken a recent interest in Hellboy and BPRD.

What else? Well, I've been working on a comic lately. The first chapter is not quite done, and I don't think I will complete it. But making it is fun. I'll post it on deviantart and let everyone know when it's ready. Just to warn you, do to some violence I'll block some pages.

Anyway, this chapter is not nearly as long as the last, and hopefully that will give you a better reading experience. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be making only $100 a week.

Something was putting Deidara ill at ease, and there was no logical reason for it that he could think of. They finally accomplished their mission of capturing the Kyuubi. They took his woman both as a hostage and as an ally. They pretty much guaranteed there would be no resistance from Konoha without dire consequences. True, there was a slightly more than good chance that they would try something; but that would just mean more chaos and more of a mess that the Konoha nins would have to overcome. The outcome was inconsequential for Akatsuki. But what unnerved him most was Naruto. He just sat there completely motionless, and his face betrayed no emotions; something completely out of character for him. "You're awfully calm." Deidara finally said aloud.

Naruto's expression remained unchanged as he looked at Deidara. "No point in getting excited really. My chakra is sealed, you're holding someone I care about hostage, as well as half my village…quite frankly, I don't see any way out of this."

The calm reply only served to unnerve Deidara even further. "Something's up. This is not him at all." Deidara looked around, paranoid that they were about to be attacked. He would have asked Kizu for help, but he could communicate with him telepathically only if Kizu set up a link. Turning back to his partner, he noticed that Tobi was actually doing his job and watching the normally boisterous jinchuriki. "Well, at least Tobi isn't back to his stupid antics again." The blonde nunken thought.

Kizu winced as he sat up, his soul back in his normal body. "Ugh. I should've known better than to stay in a meditative stance for more than one day." Though it felt painful, it was only a minor annoyance. Once he got walking, he would be fine.

Walking out of his room, he encountered his female partner, waiting for him patiently. "I've found it, Kizu-sama; the last jinchuriki. After this one is captured, we can proceed with the Kyuubi jinchuriki."

Kizu nodded affirmatively. "I'll join you tomorrow. I need some rest, and to brief the master on the situation. The Kyuubi will have to wait; it could even be a matter of years at this point."

"We'll need to find new recruits then." Kizu's partner was quite perceptive.

"Yes, but not to contain the chakras. Once we add the hachibi, the statue should stabilize. But for now, I must go."

With that, he turned and walked up the stairs. The soreness easing, he finally made his way to Madara. Upon entering his master's chambers, he felt the temperature drop, figuratively speaking. Despite how his age should have affected him at this point, Madara's mind was incredibly perceptive, as the old man turned in his chair to face him. "You didn't capture him. And you lost control of the girl." It was a statement, not a question.

Kizu answered without any sign of intimidation. "Technically, we did capture the jinchuriki. But I predict he will be rescued, so I suppose you've made your point."

Madara only stared at him with those evil eyes of his. Then, he hissed "Looking at you, I have a feeling that this was all intentional."

Kizu bowed and explained himself. "Very perceptive of you, as always. As I explained earlier, the boy needs to undergo severe emotional trauma before his biju is ready to be extracted, otherwise the Kyuubi will simply be absorbed into his body, and be lost forever. Given that he's seemed to have overcome most of the challenges just living as a jinchuriki, the discrimination and fear the village has expressed is unreliable as a source of rage alone. The pink-haired girl, however, if we used her right, could bring about a new bout of rage. I know the two are in love. Though I had originally attempted to possess her until we were ready for the extraction, I anticipated that someone would free her. So, I created a back-up plan."

"Danzou." Madara said, catching the drift of Kizu's plan.

"Yes. He is more than happy to help us push the Yodaime Hokage's heir over the edge in ways we cannot."

Madara rose with his cane, seemingly disbelieving. "There is a minor detail that is bothering me about your backup plan: I'm old. So is Danzou. This plan of yours could take years. Even with the Biju chakra we have acquired so far, I fear neither one of us will live long enough."

Kizu nodded. "I understand your concern. However, I have some good news on Danzou's part. He has managed to win a rather large amount of council members to his side regarding Naruto. Should anything happen to him, there will be others we can use as replacements; they're just as hard-line and power hungry as he is. As for your dilemma… a memory has awoken inside me. I think there is a technique you could learn to extend your life without becoming a mere husk. You will still need to feed on biju chakra, but this will make the life-extension more efficient, I assure you." Interested, Madara silently beckoned him to go on. Kizu quickly pulled a scroll out of his sleeve, kneeled, and held it out. "Read it, master…"

Jaa shot out a roundhouse, but Koungasenki blocked it with ease. However, he was caught off guard when an arm came out of nowhere and struck him across the throat. It was a good thing for him that last strike didn't have any enhanced strength that he knew the attacker for. Yuji didn't want to waste any chakra unless he was sure he could land a killing blow; as it was, he was at a severe disadvantage.

The crystal nin cleared his throat the best he could before speaking. "I though you were just going to be directing from the sidelines." He pointed accusingly at Yuji.

"I'd like to, but I don't like leaving all the fighting to my friends." Yuji shot back.

"Fair enough." A crystal stalactite rose from out of the ground, but Yuji easily dodged it with a side-step. Koungasenki sprung to his feet, but a knee from Jaa sent him flying into the canopy. The crystal nin recovered though, and grabbed hold of a branch. "I see your reflexes are as good as ever!" Koungasenki shouted as he climbed onto the branch. "This might be fun after all!"

Yuji looked towards Jaa. "Where's your team and sensei? We could use them."

"Lee-sensei and the others were fighting off any Iwa nins left behind, and they ordered me to help you all! Two of my teammates may come by, but I'm afraid at least one of them will have to stay behind in order to guard Hyouike!!"

Yuji's head bolted his direction. "Hyouike!? She's here!?"

"Pay attention!"

Yuji's sixth sense ran through his body, and instinctively he bent sideways…onto his bad foot. Off balance, the crystal arrow managed to take a good chunk of his side, and Yuji collapsed. "Miyamoto-san!!" Jaa ran over and helped his friend up. Before either had a chance to speak, Koungasenki came down from the trees, laughing manically. "I know!! I know how to defeat you!!"

Iori and Hanabi charged directly towards Genkakushoujou. The kunoichi retreated backwards, and threw a whole purse of smoke bombs onto the ground, creating a cloud of pink smoke. "Back up!!" Hanabi shouted. After getting a good distance away from the gas, it quickly dissipated and the two stood their ground. "That's odd…she used up all of her smoke bombs. What do you make of it, Iori-san?" Iori tried to reply, but hacked even more violently than before. Hanabi's eyes widened as she saw small droplets of blood reach Iori's hand. "I'm sorry! I forgot…"

Getting over her debilitated throat, Iori had to admit that Hanabi had a point. It was probable that those smoke bombs contained some kind of freakish poison. Why would she waste them all?

"Incoming!!" Thousands of needles reigned down upon them, but Hanabi spun, encircling Iori as well and deflected them all. "There! Five'o clock!!" Hanabi pointed.

Having run out of shuriken, Iori flung one of her kamas like a boomerang in the direction Hanabi indicated, and they were awarded with a sharp yelp.

Genkakushoujou grasped her shoulder, hissing in pain. The other two kunoichi once again chased her. But Genkakushoujou wasn't worried in the slightest. "Yes, that's it…come…"

Shiguri's Dragon Tongues flailed wildly, but San proved to be too fast for him. "Even if you are the best fighter in your group, pitting you alone against me…was a mistake." Almost as if the irony gods had done something, one of the daggered chains finally caught him and wrapped around him. Making sure not to let the opportunity go to waste, Shiguri pulled, and San's body fell into pieces, creating a bloody mess.

Shiguri, having fought him before, was a bit surprised that it was over so quickly. "That was too…" The genin spun around and brought his chains into a defensive position as San emerged out of the ground and closed in on him with a kunai. "…EASY!!" Shiguri blocked it in time, but immediately felt a familiar searing pain on his leg as San used his free hand to shoot his acid. "DAMN YOU!!" Shiguri spun, hoping to throw the Iwa nin off balance and kill him, but San went with the flow and leaped over his strike and the subsequent blows that followed.

"You should have known better." San chided, gracefully landing on one foot. "I can tell you're a genin; you don't even have a vest. And I'm a jonin; you are clearly outmatched. I'm beginning to doubt the intelligence of your four-eyed friend back there." Shiguri made the mistake to actually think about what he said, and San took the opportunity to kick Shiguri into a tree.

Shiguri quickly considered his chances. Clearly, San's taijutsu was superior, and he knew first hand what his ninjutsu was like. Worst of all, Shiguri's chakra was low; he had only one more attack he could use. If it landed, he could win. But knowing his rival's rank and abilities, he knew the odds of actually landing the attack were slim to none. "Damn! There must be something I could use!! Something to throw him off, distract him, attack his…" Shiguri then got a good look at the scar Iori landed on San's eye. He immediately remembered the tantrum he threw just a few minutes ago. "…ego. I think I've got it."

Shguri stood up, and San extended his hand, saying something surprising. "Since I am a genius, it is only fair I show mercy to those inferior to me. If you surrender, and promise to be my slave, I'll let you live." It was quite unsettling that he didn't even smile or frown when he made the offer.

Shiguri looked surprised for a moment, but then laughed. "Name one story in which the hero accepts the villain's offer to surrender and I'll consider it."

"This one, in about five minutes!!" San shot his acid, but Shiguri rolled away. Shiguri swung his Dragon tongues again, but San continued to predict their paths with ease. "Dogrenado no Jutsu!!" Shiguri ran away as explosions erupted in the bushes, but he could do little about avoiding the shrapnel. Didn't matter though; he had a plan, and he was going to make it work.

Mutsuguro's machine was proving to be more of a pain than earlier, even with half its body missing.

"Shit!" Tsunade screamed as she jumped out of the way of a sharp spider leg. The machine was proving to be more nimble and quicker without its real legs, causing the old blonde to dodge and cartwheel for life like never before. Garaa, on the other hand, had to use his sand shield to protect himself, lacking the agility of Tsunade. When a spider leg came down upon him, the metallic spike broke through and almost skewered his head. Tightening his shield, he managed to stop it completely and save his life.

The Tsuchikage grunted in annoyance. "Well, you've put up a good fight, but quite frankly, this is starting to bore me!!" Mutsuguro had his puppet leap back and opened its mouth, extending its flamethrowers . "Now, die, y-"

His sentence was abruptly cut off when the Kazekage and Hokage came flying towards him, using a tentacle of sand from Garaa like a whip to hurl themselves towards him. "Climb on, now!" Garaa shouted. The two did so, and drew kunai.

"When we're right on top of you, you can't attack us!!" Tsunade shouted.

"Not directly anyway!!!" Mutsuguro shouted back. Spikes popped out of the body, forcing the two kages to change their position. Before they got a chance, Mutsuguro pulled the gears and spikes appeared on different parts of the body. He kept at it, making it impossible for them to remain stationary. "I get what you're trying to do now; you plan to use your monstrous strength to open a hole in my toy! Then, the Kazekage will pour sand inside, immobilizing it! Well…"

Mutsuguro pulled a surprise move on Tsunade, and instead of ejecting a spike, a huge buzz saw sprang underneath her. The kunoichi was nicked in the knee, and rolled to her side. Predicting another one would be there, she prepared a defense."Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!" At lightning speed, Tsunade summoned one of her slugs, using it as a shield to save herself from the next saw. The slug managed to withstand the sharp metal momentarily, but quickly burst, sending the Hokage flying and hitting her head on a rock below. Tsunade groaned, trying to get up, but ultimately fainted.

"Ha! Such an act of animal cruelty! All for nothing!" The machine's arm grabbed the unconscious Hokage, and began squeezing her. "I wish I brought my camera for this: me! Killing one of the Sanin, with my own hands no less!" Well, that wasn't literally true, but ninjas were notorious for finding loopholes after all. The hand squeezed tighter, eliciting a scream from Tsunade, who tried to squirm away but was too weak. The Tsuchikage was about to laugh manically, but stopped when he heard a large banging noise and momentarily lost balance. "What in the hell!?"

Tsunade's eyes opened up, and she smiled at the giant puppet slyly. "You were correct about our strategy, except for one minor detail: I'm not the one who's going to tear open a hole in your abomination." The Tsuchikage's eyes widened upon realization. Though he couldn't see it, Garaa was slowly but steadily punching a hole in the machine. "He's been working out ." Tsunade winked at Mutsuguro.

Finally, Garaa managed to unhinge the steel plate, and threw it aside. "Now! Go!" Thousands of small slugs crawled into the machinery, melting any gears that connected the parts.

"NOOOO!!!!!" The arm holding Tsunade fell limp, releasing her, and the sanin landed without a hint of pain.

"My slugs can turn into miniature versions of themselves if they are broken apart in any way; that's why I seemingly 'sacrificed' my summon. It's also much more efficient to melt the internal workings of your toy rather than just clog them up with sand." Soon, even the legs gave way. It looked like the battle was set and matched to the other two kages. But then, Tsunade's eyes widened without warning. "Garaa!! Get away from there!!!"

Heeding her words, Garaa leaped off and ran to join her. Tsunade dispelled her summons as well. "What's wrong!?"

Before she could reply, the puppet's head and right side ejected. The useless hand was discarded, and replaced with a giant blue flame, while it used some emergency legs from inside to prop itself up. "Thank you! I couldn't ask for anything more than opponents who quit while they're ahead!!" He swung the arm wildly, forcing Tsunade to dodge and Garaa to block.

The kazekage was getting tired, though; using his sand techniques weren't the same as back then when he had the Ichibi. Back then, he had much more chakra and stamina. "Would you care to explain to me WHY THE FUCK YOU HAD US WITHDRAW WHEN WE COULD'VE WON!?" the Kazekage screamed.

Tsunade shouted back "I have a telepathic link with my slugs, and we have to get out of here! There's a bomb inside his puppet!!"

"SO!?"

"I recognize it from my reports!! It had to have been created by the Akatsuki member known as Deidara!!"

Garaa immediately froze at her mentioning the name. He remembered how he forced him to drop his guard when he dropped a very large bomb on Sunagakure. One that could have destroyed everything and leave no traces. "Oh no…"

"From what I could tell, it's not an actual part of the machinery!" Tsunade confirmed. "I think Deidara's planning to kill him!"

"And take us with him…"

Deidara had finally managed to calm down as they flew across a canyon. He simply told himself that there was no point in getting anxious over something that may or may not happen; it would just stress his out for no reason, and that would become counterproductive for everything else in the long run. "Sasori, Kakuzu, Kisame, Itachi…you guys have used up a lot of our members. It's going to be a pain getting the last few inside the statue." The Iwa nin muttered to himself. Deidara turned around to see the still expressionless Naruto. "I wouldn't even be surprised if your friends suddenly killed everyone but me and Kizu-sama. But either way, we will seal you." Still not a peep. Deidara sighed. "Why does the capture that's supposed to be the most stressful turn out to be so boring?" Deidara ate his words when an explosive kunai suddenly flew right in his face and knocked him on his back. "What the-!?"

A familiar person stepped in between him and Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei!!"

Without uttering a word, Kakashi flung shuriken at Naruto, cutting his bindings. "Now, Sakura!! " Naruto was tackled and thrown off the clay bird as someone…he presumed Sakura…held onto him tightly.

Deidara could only look as the two fell out of sight. Kakashi charged forward, but Tobi ran in front of him and kicked him away. "You-!" Deidara couldn't find the words to express his outrage. "Tobi! Help me out with this one!"

"What about the jinchuriki!?" Tobi asked.

"They're trying to save him; he'll live!! We'll just have to find him quickly after we take care of him!"

The two missing-nins circled around the copy ninja. Kakashi pulled out a kunai for defense, and prepared himself. "Bring it."

Naruto felt himself and the other person spinning as their bodies pummeled toward the canyon floor. "Hold on!!" That was definitely Sakura's voice! Sakura pulled a spare kunai Kakashi had given her, and plunged it into the canyon walls. The pair continued to fall as Sakura held on for dear life, but they were definitely slowing down! "AAAAHHHH!!!" Finally, the two stopped.

Naruto reached over to a ledge to help support the both of them, and lifted himself. He couldn't put the intensity of relief he just felt into words when he looked at Sakura's face. It was her, she was back! The lack of piercings weren't what tipped him off; it was her eyes. It amazed him just what he could see in the eyes of the Sakura he knew. Sakura stared at him in awe too, but then squinted as she gave a painful wince. Naruto looked at her arm, and could see that it was dislocated. Naruto looked around, and saw a small crevice in the wall. Looking closely, he could see it was large enough for the two of them to fit, and there was a floor underneath. Perfect for sitting down…even if they didn't have a mere minute to do so. "Get on my back. Quickly." Naruto whispered. Sakura complied, wrapping her good arm around him while her lame one hung limply. Naruto slowly maneuvered them towards the crevice, and quietly walked as far as he could to the end, setting set her down. "We need to set it back into place." Naruto took off his headband, wrapping the two ends around the metal body, and handed it over to Sakura. Sakura took it, and clamped down on it, bracing herself. "On three. One, two…three!" Naruto pushed the arm into Sakura's socket, who grunted in agony. When he was finished, he released his hold, and Sakura moved her arm to see if there was a problem; much to their relief, it was working just fine.

Naruto kneeled down in front of Sakura, who only stared back. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Naruto and pulled him in for a brief, but deep and passionate kiss. Both wished they could do it forever, but they also knew they were not in the best position to allow that to happen. "Welcome back." Naruto whispered, giving her a faint and genuine smile.

"Good to be back." Sakura replied. Sakura seemed to be anxious about something, judging by her twitching fingers, and Naruto had a feeling it had nothing to do with Akatsuki at the moment. Hesitantly, she spoke up. "Naruto, about your father, I'm-"

Naruto silenced her with his fingers on her lips. "It's okay; as hard as it is to accept…I think I understand. On top of that, I'd imagine you were afraid to go against orders."

Sakura nodded, only feeling more ashamed. "Still doesn't make it right. You were my friend, at worst; you had the right to know, always."

"If it was a law that the Sandaime put into place, I think following such an order is reasonable enough; he always did have people's best interests in mind." Sakura briefly noticed a small tear forming in the corner of one of Naruto's eyes. "But even if that wasn't the case, if we were to assume that nothing was stopping you or the others and you chose not to tell me anyway… you all mean too much to me. Especially you." Naruto lightly squeezed Sakura's hand. "I should've at least given you…and Ero-senin and Ba-chan…a chance to explain yourself. I cut you all off, but it just made things worse, and I felt more alone than ever before. I'm never going to cut you or anyone else out of my life ever again." Sakura gave him a small smile, still feeling bad about the whole debacle, but felt like she could come to terms with it now. However, suddenly Naruto was the one behaving anxiously. "Um…Sakura-chan…when I…"

The kunoichi immediately realized what he was trying to refer to: his confession, before she was freed. Sakura began to feel a different kind of fear flow through her. But at the same time, she never felt happier. "No, there is no way in hell I'm going to blow this. Not when we could die any minute!" Inner Sakura screamed. She gathered all her courage, and said "I heard you." Sakura then felt like a huge weight was being lifted off her shoulders.

Naruto wasn't sure if he was blushing, but he did feel his face go up in temperature. "Oh…uh…"

Sakura quickly embraced him again, making her own confession. "Baka. I love you too. Ever since…" Sakura choked a sob. She knew they could be interrupted at any moment and be killed, but she had to say this. "Ever since you made that promise to me…I understood that you cared about me so much you were even willing to put my happiness above your own. You understood me better than anyone, and for all my flaws, you accepted and loved me for what I was. And then, I don't know how or when it happened, but I felt something I never did before. It stayed with me since that day and intensified whenever I thought of you, and just continued to grow whenever I was around you, always. I was too afraid to make myself realize it…but it was exactly what I wanted ever since I was a little girl. I discovered…what real love was." Sakura tenderly stroked Naruto's cheek, who could only stare back at her dumbfounded. "It just came from a different person than I had expected. And it took me years to realize that it didn't matter, so long as the feelings between us were real."

Naruto hugged her back so quickly and tightly, that Sakura was afraid for a moment that Deidara had attacked. "Sakura…thank you." Neither could recall a time when they ever felt happier than they were at that moment. Slowly, the two pulled away, just slightly, and looked at one another. Sakura noticed that Naruto seemed to be checking her out. Embarrassed, he quickly averted his eyes. "Umm…I really like your outfit, Sakura-chan, although if I didn't know any better I would be running for my life…"

Sakura noticed that Naruto's cheeks were tinged in red. Looking down, her face color began to match his as she realized what she was wearing: A short tank top, just enough to cover her under bust was adorned. It was black with red clouds, and showed off a fair amount of cleavage. "Well, that explains what he meant about running away…" In addition, she wore black shorts, similar to her own but was baggier at the ends, with black stockings covering her legs and even her feet, as she noted in the open sandals she was wearing. And they had several holes in them, probably from her fight with Hinata. Calling the outfit "sultry" was too strong of a word. But it was definitely more risqué than what she was used to wearing. Forgetting their predicament, she stuttered "I-It's not like I was able to control what was happening!" But when she said that, it made her remember how she was conscious from the beginning yet helpless to control her own body. As she continued along that line of thought, it began to disturb her even more than before…

"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to ogle you, I just…" Naruto took a glance at Sakura, and stopped mid-sentence. She seemed to be shivering. "No." he thought. Trembling was more like it. How could she not? Her mind and body were separated, and she could only watch helplessly as Kizu made her do whatever he pleased. Quickly, Naruto gently embraced her. "Sakura." He whispered, dropping the usual suffix, grabbing her attention. "Listen, I know you're scared. I know that at this moment, the last thing you want to be is a shinobi. But we're in a very bad position right now. Both of our chakras are sealed, and I doubt Kakashi-sensei can take on 2 Akatsuki at once. We need to pull ourselves together, and prepare ourselves for the worst. After this is all over…I'll be here for whatever you need. To rest, to cry…anything."

Sakura couldn't be more thankful for that; for so long, she had to be strong all the time, despite all of her own hardships, even if they did not compare to Naruto's. She almost never had anyone to hold her, to tell her it was okay to be weak. Naruto did that for her once…and she needed him badly again. But now wasn't the time; she had to be strong, for just a little longer. Quickly hugged him back, and got on her feet. "I've got an idea; help me out."

"AAAHHHH!!" Li sliced the throat of an Iwa nin with her jian. "I'd say too easy…" another popped out from underground, hoping to stab her in the back. Her parrying the strike destroyed that hope. "…if you didn't pop out of the ground like roaches!!" Li turned around and slit his throat with an emei piercer.

Meanwhile, Chan's acrobatic fighting style proved enough to keep the other Iwa nins on their toes. "Won't…" Chan did a spit as a pit opened up underneath him, holding him at the edge. "…stop…" Chan launched himself from his position, trying to strike the enemy in front of him. The Iwa nin ducked, but Chan simply fell with him and struck him in the back of the head "…ME!!!"

Chan rolled off the unconscious soldier as he and Li stood back-to-back, protecting one another. "This is ridiculous!!" Chan yelled. "Is Hyouike alright?"

"She's still in the bushes! She's pretty scared about being here, though!"

The two began to fend off more Iwa nin. "Can't say I blame her; this is becoming overwhelming!!" Chan commented as he seeped an enemy off his feet.

"No shit!!"

"Asakujaku!!" Lee sprang out of nowhere, his skin a deep red. Landing in the midst of the Iwa nin, he fired punch after punch, which seemed to be coated with…fire?

"That's Lee-sensei for you!" Li shouted, raising her fist up in the air. After Lee sent the last one flying, his skin returned to normal.

Just as he was walking over to his team, he fell onto one knee. "Lee-sensei!!" Lee breathed heavily, muttering "I should've listened to Gai-sensei when he said I wasn't ready for the 7th gate." Grasping his two students' shoulders, he said "Listen, one of you needs to go to the edge of the village and help out Jaa, or wherever you see any remaining enemies!!! Also, one of you needs to take Hyouike to safety, wherever that may be in Konoha!! After that, join the rest of your comrades. Now hurry!!"

The two nodded, and Li ran towards the bushes. "Hyouike, come on! We're going to take you to the village!!" The Ainu girl nodded, and climbed on Li's back. "Yuji…I hope you're alright…"

"YAHH!!" Mutsuguro shouted as he swiped his puppet's fire-blade at the two kages. Thankfully, they were easily able to dodge it, but that wasn't their main concern at the moment.

"Hokage-sama, are you sure!?" Garaa shouted.

"Yes, what my slugs saw inside were definitely one of Deidara's creations!!"

"Then…the civilians should be safe by now! We've done our part!!" The two kages made a break for it and sprinted away from their enemies.

Mutsuguro laughed at the sight. "This is just grand!! TWO kages running away!!! As much as this amuses me…" His blue flame extended above the two kages, touching the edge of their fighting area. The entire forest then lit in blue flames, cutting off their chances of escape. "If you're cowardly enough to run, then you're cowardly enough to beg! Beg for forgiveness and I'll allow both of you to live…as my slaves, of course."

The two kages simply stood where they were. Slowly, Tsunade turned around to look at the Tsuchikage's handicapped but still functional mech. Much to his disdain, she did not give him a single hint of fear in her eyes. Not of him, anyway. "Tsuchikage, we're all in danger!!" she yelled. "Inside your puppet is a bomb; a bomb made by the one you call Deidara!!"

He simply swung his flame in response. "You'll do anything to save your lives AND your freedom, won't you!! I'm not falling for that!" The two kages continued to run as Mutsuguro tried desperately to kill them. "This is your LAST CHANCE!!!"

"It's no good!! He'll never believe us!! His obsession for glory is going to kill us all!!" Garaa shouted.

"That fool!" Quickly, Garaa brought up all the sand in the immediate area he could find, and encased Tsunade and he in a bubble, much like he did during Naruto's chunin exam. "This may save us from the explosion, but his concentrated flame can still get through!!" Tsunade yelled.

"There's no telling when that thing may go off! Right now, this is our only chance!!"

The puppet moved closer and fired the sand ball. Indeed, it seemed Tsunade's prediction was proving correct. "Cower all you want!!" Mutsuguro shouted as his flame steadily broke the shield down and turned the sand into glass. "It won't make a dif-" Mutsuguro was interrupted as intense flames surrounded his cockpit. It would be the last observation he would ever make. The entire area was suddenly covered in flames, and the already lit forest was blown out like candles on a cake.

"Yahhh!!" Yuji used what eight extreme fists forms he could against Koungasenki, but that was proving to be exceedingly difficult with his bad foot, and he couldn't hope to put a dent in the psychotic nin's armor. He finally got a lucky blow in when a rake hand to the throat, causing Koungasenki to move back.

"ACK!!" Koungasenki ignored the pain and threw a crystal kunai, again stabbing the festering foot. As his opponent was paralyzed in pain, he created another weapon. "Hariton!! Hariqiang no Jutsu!!" A Chinese spear made of crystal formed in his hands. Instead of a stabbing motion, Koungasenki swung it across his opponent's legs, causing him fall on his back. At this point, Yuji's sixth sense surely had reached its time-limit; it probably ceased functioning minutes ago.

"Miyamoto-kun!!" Jaa interfered and engaged the crystal nin. He managed to divert his attention, but other than defense, his taijutsu wasn't much good against Koungasenki's armor and weapons.

"He has to have some kind of weakness!" Yuji thought as he painfully stood up. Yuji took what few kunai he had, and threw them at the crystal nin. Predictably, he simply let most of them bounce off his armor and ignored them while he engaged Jaa. But one he swatted away. "Hmm…I wonder…" Yuji threw his last one at a very specific target: the neck. The blade inched forward towards Koungasenki's neck…and once more, he swatted it away. Yuji could only smile at the realization. "I got it!! Jaa! Aim for his neck!" The taijutsu specialist did so, and rolled over the spear, catching his opponent's throat and sent him flying into a tree. Koungasenki panted heavily, and struggled to stand. "Why don't you just slit your throat and create a shield around it like you normally do!?" Yuji chided him. Koungasenki could only stare at him in what Yuji could have sworn was fear. "You can't cut your throat like you do the rest of your body, can you? While blood loss in the body can be dangerous anywhere, it is most certainly fatal if the carotid arteries or jugular veins are slit. Even if the blood around your neck did crystallize, you'll probably be dead before you can use it to your advantage. Unconscious, at best."

"You-!" Koungasenki stumbled back from a knee to his head. It didn't do anything to hurt him with all his armor, but it didn't need to.

Jaa withdrew a kunai of his own, the first time anyone seen him use bladed weapons, and made slashing movements at Koungasenki. He managed to block, but now the crystal nin was on the defensive as his opponents had found his weak point. Yuji grabbed his wires from behind his back. "Keep at it, Jaa!"

Koungasenki realized he had to wrap it up, and he had one last move to use. "Hariton! Hariori no Jutsu!!" Much like an Indian teepee, crystals surrounded both combatants and immobilized them, almost crushing them.

"Crap!"

Koungasenki picked up his discarded weapon, and pointed it at Yuji. "Very smart. But I'm not going to give you the chance. In fact, I think it's best we end it now."

"Hold still!!" Hanabi yelled as she and Iori chased Genkakushojou across the forest. Iori felt something wasn't right; even if the enemy was planning escape, she would have planted traps around the area or threw shuriken at them. Even in retreat, a shinobi should do everything possible to neutralize his opponents; Iori was sure she got that part right from the academy. Their enemy should have been more conservative from the start with her weapons. Unfortunately, she could not voice her concerns to Hanabi. Finally, the girl in question leapt in front of Genkakushojou and struck her with an open palm, effectively knocking her into a tree. "Give it up! My Byakugan can see that you've used up all your weapons!! It was foolish of you to not even bring shuriken!" Genkakushojou only chuckled in response. "Shut up!" Hanabi yelled, tired of her games.

"I'm sorry, I can't help myself. You're right that I'm out of tricks. But you have already become victims of my…grand finale."

She snapped her fingers, and both Hanabi and Iori felt their heartbeats began to slow down rapidly. "Wha….is…." The pair collapsed onto the ground, their muscles going slack.

"My surprise gas works differently than normal gaseous compounds. You see, the separate molecules become more potent AFTER you move into an area of lower concentration. Using my chakra to activate them, they're now quickly decelerating your heart beat."

Iori felt her vision blackening, but fought it. "Wait…I know…" Iori attempted to access her jinchuriki chakra, but it wasn't kicking in; it usually did when she was under total stress.

Genkakushojou looked at her, seemingly reading her mind. "Having trouble calling upon that second chakra of yours? That little parasite I planted in you back then made sure to seal it if you had the drug removed. We can't have you making an attack on me, now can we?" Iori could see that Genkakushojou was clearly laughing, but at this point, Iori's ears failed her…

San sprayed his acid across the forest in his pursuit for Shiguri. "Hiding, are we? A smart choice. I can feel your chakra, and I know you're nearly out. You probably have just enough left for one last attack, I'd wager. Don't feel bad; for a genin, you did a fantastic job of holding your own. "

At first, silence. Then laughter. Undoubtedly Shiguri's, but from where? "You're right about the attack part. However, I've come to believe your ranking is…shall we say…undeserved?"

San froze for a second, and looked around frantically. Undeserved? He felt he didn't to as well on the evaluation as he should have, but even so… "Fool. You experienced my ability for yourself. I am clearly your superior in every way."

"Physically, yes. Mentally, no." Just then kunai sprung from an odd angle. San dodged all of them with ease, but even so he knew he should have seen it coming before simply reacting to it. "Remember when you got scratched by my teammate a few minutes ago?"

"It was a lucky shot!!" San yelled. More shuriken came out of nowhere, and the Iwa nin was forced to make an earth barrier in defense.

"Perhaps. But still, it happened. True jonin would simply shrug it off in the midst of battle and train harder after they're done. You, on the other hand…" A dragon tongue whipped around the Iwa nin's wrist. Quickly, San tore it off, and fired acid in what he assumed to be its origin point. But it seemed that Shiguri was already gone. "…throw a tantrum over every little thing."

San looked down at his wrist to see it was dripping blood. "YOU…"

"My point exactly. You have the self-control of a child; not fitting at all for a-"

"SHUT UP!!" San sprayed his acid in all directions, hoping to melt him just like the plants in his sight did. Caught off guard yet again, another Dragon Tongue wrapped around his neck. Quickly, San pulled it off, and found Shiguri right behind him. The supposed jonin ran towards his rival, and kicked him into a tree so hard the leaves fell. However, San was met with disappointment when it turned out to be a log used in substitution.

"I've read up on the standards of Iwagakure. Apparently, they're really vague. The Tsuchikage just takes anyone in decent physical condition and drafts them as ninja. To ensure the village gets a good amount of cash, almost everyone is promoted to chunin within a year regardless of missions completed. Sometimes even six months. As for jonin, only a few are promoted each year; sometimes none at all. Is it because the standards suddenly go way up by that time?" San couldn't answer; he couldn't even THINK about such a possibility! "No; I think your Tsuchikage is putting up a farce to support the village. He doesn't want any local daimyos to know how weak his massive troops really are. Not only that, but he doesn't want to risk an uprising; he intends to keep all of you down, and just give a few random people the title of jonin so everyone thinks it is running like normal!"

"SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!" San finally lost it, and this time, he didn't care. In his fury, San performed a multitude of hand signs, much like Kakashi sometimes did. "You say I'm weak!? That I'm a fraud!? SAY IT AGAIN!! I DARE YOU TO SAY IT AGAIN, YOU WORTHLESS FUCK!! SANGUFU NO JUTSU!!" The wind suddenly picked up, with the force of a hurricane that San had promised. Then came the rains, but no ordinary rain. The Acid Rain began melting everything in sight, while San was unharmed simply stood in the middle of it unharmed. "THIS ACID HAS THE HIGHEST PH AND CONCENTRATION POSSIBLE!! NOT EVEN BONE CAN WITHSTAND IT!!" Soon, there was nothing left of anything within his sight. San finally breathed, and calmed down once more. "Serves you right." He muttered.

"Chidori!!" Shiguri suddenly leaped out from underground, hitting San's chest. The chidori was not as strong as Sasuke's, and it only managed to break San's skin. Recovering, San grabbed Shiguri's wrist, trying to push him away, but Shiguri relented. Finally, the genin pushed hard and pierced right through his opponent. "Sorry about that. My chidori is not as strong as the Copy-nin's or the Uchiha's that I heard so much about…" Suddenly, San turned a light brown color all over and crumbled to pieces on the earth. "A Clay Clone!" Shiguri didn't make a sound until a kunai suddenly pierced his side. "Shit!!" Shiguri fell helplessly to the ground, as an exhausted San looked over him.

Shiguri tried to clutch his wound, but San simply placed his foot on it pressing. "Not bad. Using psychological warfare against me and trick me into performing my best, and most consuming technique so you can get the drop on me. I have to admit, I saw it coming ONLY in the nick of time." San pressed further, only managing to elect a grunt. "I'm curious though, even underground you should have been burned badly; acid should seep through to a degree. How-?" San looked at Shiguri's sash, and picked it up. It seemed to be nothing more than a rag. He took a whiff, and turned his nose. "…I see. You soaked this cloth in every known base you could find and used chakra manipulation to extend the fibers and increase its strength, protecting you and thereby neutralizing the ph of my acid. This also explains why your Raiton was substandard; you probably used only your remaining chakra."

"To be honest, lightning's not my affinity anyway. " Shiguri replied seemingly neutrally. "So…"

"So I'm going to kill you right now." San replied with an insane grin plastered on his face.

"Well, shit…"

"We're almost there!" Chan shouted to the passenger on his back.

Hyouike held onto his shoulders, terrified each time an Iwa nin would ambush them. Fortunately, her escorts had proven smart enough to choose escape over battle. Once it seemed they reached a clearing, she whispered "Thank you."

"We're not out of the woods yet." Li reminded her. The two touched ground, and startled the Ainu as they reacted. "Chan!"

"I know!"

Chan tossed her several feet away, causing her to land in a less than graceful fashion. "You jerks!! What are you-"Hyouike shut herself up when she saw her two guards hoisted up in a net. "They were trying to prevent me from getting captured!"

"Go!" Chan yelled. "We'll take care of ourselves!" The net was obviously made of metal, but the two went straight to chipping their way out with whatever sharp weapons they had.

Hyouike briefly hesitated and teared up, but turned away and ran. It seemed like suicide to run in a forest like this, but apparently most of the Iwa nin in the area were dispatched. Then, she came across some action; obviously fighting. She quickly ducked into the bushes, hoping she wasn't spotted. She peered through the best opening she could find, and immediately recognized one of the fighters. "Yuji?" Indeed it was. Yuji was doing his best to defend himself from Koungasenki, but was quickly thrashed around. The only thing that seemed to save him from death was when Jaa got back up to fight, but he to was pinned by the older teen's weapon quickly. "YUJI!!!" Hyouike ran straight ahead, damned the consequences.

"Damn you…" Yuji muttered as he held his ribs; the bastard got a good hit in with the blunt side of his spear. And from this close distance, Yuji couldn't see any way to dodge what would clearly be the final blow. Koungasenki said nothing as he raised his weapon above his head, and shouted. Time seemed to slow down again, but this was not Yuji's kekkei genkai at work, as Yuji felt himself slow down as well. This was probably just his mind accepting the inevitable, as he retreated to the memories of everyone he knew and loved. Yuji closed his eyes, feeling the imminent defeat. "So, this is it. Naruto-sensei, Sakura-sensei, you two were the best things that happened to my life; you made me who I am today. Shiguri, Iori, you were the best friends this one could ever ask for; I'll treasure my memories with you all to the grave. Dad, wherever you are, I hope you were always able to see me. I never got to be as good as you, but I hope what I did was enough to make you smile. And Mom, I'm sorry. We were living in different worlds, and because of that we drifted further and further apart. Please, be alright when I'm gone."

Yuji finally heard the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart… But he didn't feel anything; surely he would at least feel a quick burst of pain. Quickly, he opened his eyes, and to his horror found someone who wasn't supposed to even be here! "HYOUIKE!!" The Ainu girl took the blow for him, as he could see from the blood pouring out of her mouth. Violently, she was swung aside and off the spear by Koungasenki.

"Damn!" Hyouike coughed some more blood as she convulsed, her breaths becoming shallower. "Shit, she got in my way and worse, I didn't even land a killing blow." The crystal nin turned around and pointed a finger at Yuji. "Stay there. I just need to be sure she won't interfere again."

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Yuji lunged at him, only to be backhanded into one of the trees. Despite his exhaustion and pain, Yuji forced himself to stand, determined to save the girl. "There must be a medic in the village! She can make it if she gets there!! I've got enough strength for one more power punch, but I don't think I can land a blow without missing!! His armor will probably cut its effectiveness in half! Maybe even neutralize it altogether!! His neck is his only weakness…" Looking around, Yuji saw a large boulder. Then he looked at the wires in his hands. Finally, he found Jaa coming back to his senses.

If a light bulb really did go off in Yuji's head, it would have permanently blinded everyone in that room.

Quickly, Yuji used what strength he had left and lifted the boulder. "Jaa!! KICK ME!!"

The taijutsu expert looked at his friend, thinking he lost his mind. "Miyamoto-kun, I think he really did do a number on your head."

Yuji gritted his teeth, and pointed in a certain direction. "JUST KICK ME TOWARDS THIS ANGLE!!!" Jaa, realizing he was serious, ran behind, him, and sent him flying with the boulder using a powerful round kick." OWWWW!!! NOT THAT HARD!!!"

As Yuji flew pass Koungasenki, who was getting ready to impale Hyouike's heart, he flung his wires around his neck. "Urrkk!!!" The teen dropped his weapon and tried to pry the wires off. But something massive forced him off his feet, and the next thing he knew, he was flying like a rocket. Soon, the two were heading straight towards the edge of Konoha. Their exact destination looked to be at two large boulders with a slight space in between, and one could tell from the view that it was on one of the many cliffs bordering Konoha . Yuji flew atop the two rocks, and cleared them…only to finally let gravity take control. Koungasenki, however, traveled lower and was slammed right into the center, unable to pass through. But the crevice was big enough to let the wires through.

In his lifetime, Koungasenki took every opportunity he had to make his victims suffer in the worst possible way.

Because of that, it was probably merciful that the gods chose to end his life by having his neck snapped.

Iori felt her heart continue to fail. As it did, her memories and the faces of everyone she loved flashed before her. "No…I can't let it end like this. Too many…waiting for my return!!!" As Iori struggled to hold on for dear life, she felt something lightly touch her chest. She paid it no heed at first, feeling that a stab to the heart would be pointless when the enemy took pleasure in slow deaths. But then, she felt chakra being pumped into her chest. At first, she thought that crazy nin had actually killed her. But then, she felt a strange chakra flow throughout her body. Once it did, she began feeling much better. Her vision came back into focus, and she took a good look at her own clawed hand. Iori realized her jinchuriki chakra had been restored, and was compelled, no, hell-bent on killing Genkakushoujou…and saw her running into the forest. Her first instinct was to chase her, it was overwhelming! But she quickly gained control of her animalistic instincts. "No!" Iori screamed to herself. "Not yet!" She had to take care of something first, as she glanced down at the fallen Hanabi. "I've a favor to return!!"

Getting gaining full control of herself, she quickly, summoned her butterflies. "Heal her any way you can." The butterflies began to cover Hanabi, and Iori raced to find Genkakushojou. It wasn't hard; she could smell her trail like she could see a yellow-brick road. "Get over here!!!" Iori kicked down a tree, and the narcotic kunoichi came falling down.

"Get away from me, you crazy bitch!!" Genkakushojou kicked some dust into Iori's eyes, and tried to get away. "I never thought that brunette would be able to release the seals!! I should have seen this coming!!" Unfortunately, the Iwa nin ran into something and fell to the ground, coming face to face with a very pissed off Iori. The kage bushin pinned Gen into a tree, and the two proceeded to give her a brutal beating. Genkakushojou managed to get in a few decent strikes here and there, but taijutsu was not her strong point. That, and she only seemed to make the red head madder each time she hit her.

"GIVE…ME…YOUR….FACE!!!" Iori grabbed the kunoichi's face from behind and forced her mouth open, squeezing painfully tight. Genkakushojou bit and scratched her hand, but it did nothing to release her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Iori's clone mold a ball of chakra, which then formed into a perfect sphere. "RASENGAN!!" The result of the Rasengan hitting the face was most certainly not a pretty one.

San placed his foot atop Shiguri's throat, pressing hard. But not hard enough to kill him, as the genin was about to dread. "You felt what it's like to be burned with acid." San pointed his hands directly at Shiguri's face. "You're going to feel what it's like to be eaten by acid. Slowly." San grinned maniacally as he started to release his trademark chemicals. Suddenly, Shiguri slammed something into his hands. Stones clogging up the holes!! "They'll eat through it, fool!!"

"The fact that they survived your last technique gives me reason to believe they'll save me!!" San pressed forward, thinking enough pressure would melt them or force them out. But he was feeling the tension inside the pipes he installed in his arms.

Steam could be seen coming from the cracks. But at the same time, San seemed to be in pain. "Hnnn…" Suddenly liquid began bursting out of his own arms. "NO, NO!! JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER, PLEASE HOLD ON!!" While his concentration was broken, Shiguri managed to find enough strength to knock him onto his back with a well-placed kick.

As Shiguri rolled away, he could make out blood-curdling screams, as well as a few insults. Not that he particularly cared in the current situation. Finally, an explosion, and then, silence. Shiguri looked over, and saw San lying down, writhing in pain. He also took note that the nin's arms were missing. "He's not getting back up." Shiguri muttered as he finally relaxed and lay on his back.

Yuji let go of the boulder he was holding, breathing heavily from exhaustion and excitement. Now, however, was not the time to relax. "Oh man…Hyouike…hang in there…" Yuji hauled himself up the wires, and looked to see if Koungasenki had somehow survived his attack. After looking at him for a second, it was clear the crystal nin would not wake up. Ever.

A hand grabbed him by the shoulder, causing him to flinch defensively, but Yuji relaxed once he saw it was Jaa, with Hyouike on his back. "Are you okay, Miyamoto-kun?" Jaa asked as he helped him up.

"Fine as I could be." Yuji responded, wincing as he put his bad foot on the ground.

The two listened for signs of battle, but neither of them could detect anything."It's quiet; I think everyone else has won. Let's get you and Hyouike treated."

"No. I appreciate the offer, but I have to find Naruto-sensei. Knowing him, he should be okay. He's probably worried sick about me, though." The chunin grimaced.

"Miyamoto-kun, your foot looks terrible!!" Jaa protested. "I wouldn't be surprised if it flew right-"

"Jaa! Please!" Yuji shouted. "Just take care of Hyouike!!"

Jaa stayed silent for only a moment; his scrunched eyebrows alone communicated that he did not approve. But he could see convincing him otherwise would be wasting time. "Okay."

"Hyouike!! Where are you!?"Suddenly Chan and Li appeared behind Jaa, and were horrified when they saw the Ainu girl's condition. "Oh no…" they muttered under their breath.

"She's still alive! Let's hurry!" The three taijutsu specialists took off, straight into Konoha.

Yuji was worried about the girl, no doubt about it. But there were other things going on that he had to take care of. Besides, with a Hokage like Tsunade, getting treated was pretty much a guarantee, even in war."Now to find Iori and Shiguri." the young teen muttered to himself. As Yuji hobbled along, he noticed Hanabi lying on her side unconscious. "Oh shit!!" Yuji made it to her as fast as he could, and began to check her vitals. Fortunately, he found out she was just fine. Why she was unconscious in the first place was most likely malevolent, but it seemed something saved her in the nick of time. "I've got to thank Sakura-sensei for teaching me this stuff." Yuji stood up, and saw Iori slowly make her way towards them. Judging by the way she walked hunched over, it seemed she was either hurt or exhausted. "Iori! Are you alright!?"

The red head leaned against a tree and took a deep breath as she sat down. "I'm fine now." Iori panted. "Just had to take care of that psycho." Iori then looked at Hanabi. "Is she…?"

"She's fine, Iori. I checked; Sakura-sensei taught me a lot of useful things."

Iori breathed in relief, but then her face turned dead serious as Yuji brought up Sakura. "He probably has no idea about what's going on…" Iori looked at her teammate dead in the eyes. "Yuji…there's something you should know." It took her a minute to explain the situation. Needless to say, Yuji was not happy when he heard the whole story.

"WHAT!?" Yuji screamed. "Oh, of all the…" Yuji got a hold of himself before he elaborated any further. "So, what is Hokage-sama and the others doing about this!?"

"I don't know. Naruto-sensei supposedly surrendered himself while Hinata-sensei tries to free Sakura-sensei."

"Wait, HINATA-SENSEI? The one who's a habitually stutters and couldn't keep our classes quiet?"

Iori winced at the bluntly true statement."To be honest, I was quite skeptical about it myself. But apparently only a Hyuuga could potentially free her, and it was either her or Hanabi. While I heard Hanabi is a prodigy, I guess Hinata-sensei had more experience, and that's why Hokage-sama chose her."

Yuji just sighed. No point in arguing about what's been done. "Okay. Anything else I should know about?"

Iori replied "The Kazekage and Hokage-sama are supposedly distracting the Tsuchikage as we speak. Hopefully, they've killed that bastard too." Yuji looked at his foot, then out into the woods. That did not go unnoticed by Iori."You're thinking about going out there to help, aren't you?"

Yuji just looked at her as if he was caught stealing cookies. He stuttered, trying to explain the situation, but finally gave up on embellishing it. "I KNOW there's almost nothing I can do. Scratch that, most likely nothing. But still…I feel that I have to go out there!!"

Iori nodded. "I feel the same way. As you said, logically speaking, we'd only get in the way. But simply leaving them, trusting them to chance…it doesn't feel right."

"To be honest, defying logic is what we humans do best, for better or for worse." The two turned to see Shiguri walking towards them, raising his hand. " I feel the same way. But I think as long as the three of us are together, we should be fine."

Knowing they all felt the same, only one thing remained: they had to evaluate one another. Yuji went first: "My foot is in pretty terrible condition, and I've only got one more set of wires."

Shiguri went next. "I'm out of chakra, and my dragon tongues were destroyed."

The two then turned to Iori. "Umm…I think I'm alright."

Then it dawned on Iori what Yuji and Shiguri were expecting of her. Normally, she would have lost her temper. However, even she had to admit there was no viable alternative. Sighing, she stood and hunched over. "Hop on."

Yuji and Shiguri climbed on, eliciting a grunt from the kunoichi. "I know this sounds like a dumb question…but are you sure you can get us there in a hurry?" Yuji asked. Suddenly, a familiar silver aura surrounded Iori, and her bestial features appeared. In a flash, they took off.

The meadow where the three kages battled was reduced to dust and sand. The damage was so catastrophic that no one could have ever guessed that it was once a forest. And it seemed the three combatants had disappeared without a trace as well.

Seemed that way.

A dune of sand suddenly began to move, almost as if it were the jaw of a crocodile. After seemingly flying into the air, the Kazekage and Hokage were revealed underneath.

"Ahhh!" Tsunade breathed, collapsing on her hands and knees. "That was too close!"

"You can say that again." Garaa replied as he guided the sand away from them. Once it was a safe distance away, he let his arms drop, and fell onto the ground.

Tsunade immediately stood and grabbed his shoulders. "Kazekage-sama!! Are you alright!?" Tsunade immediately did a quick evaluation. No injuries; simply chakra exhaustion. A good thing in the sense that he wasn't hurt. A bad thing in the sense that he couldn't help her. Worse was the fact that chakra exhaustion was beyond the abilities of even the best medi-nins, and the only real cure was rest. In his prime, Garaa probably could have handled this with no problem, but now having a finite amount of chakra limited his abilities drastically. Garaa attempted to stand, but Tsunade forced him back down. "You're exhausted. Protecting us probably used up all your chakra, didn't it?" Garaa didn't respond. "Head back. I'm going to finish business with the Akatsuki, and get Sakura back."

Garaa didn't budge at her request. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, I can see that you're quite spent too. An individual like you doesn't have much chakra to spare, powerful as you are."

Tsunade sighed. She had to admit, he had a point. And, she wouldn't let anything get in her way of rescuing Sakura and Naruto, even if her limbs were cut off. "You see right through me. Well, I suppose neither of us can stop the other. If it won't trouble you too much, care to accompany me?" While Tsunade personally had reservations about asking someone already exhausted to accompany her, two heads were still better than one.

Garaa, though still wobbly, managed to stand. "I think I can manage. But how are we going to find them?"

A faint explosion went off, as if answering his question on cue. Tsunade waited, and listened. Another one! "There!!" Tsunade pointed excitedly. "Follow me!" The two kages leapt towards the source, hoping they could make it in time.

"Ohhh…" Kakashi collapsed onto the clay bird, unconscious. While Deidara's explosives did slow him down, it was ultimately Tobi's Enton jutsus that defeated the copy ninja, like they nearly did Sakura.

Deidara, however, was not quite convinced they had won; he was fooled about this before. It was absolutely crucial that he wasn't brought into this again. "Tobi, this is real, ya?" Deidara remembered that Tobi was trained to dispel genjutsu, if he was correct. He was also told by Kizu that Tobi had the exceptional ability to distinguish the differences between the different types of bushins and real people.

Tobi walked over, lowering his head to within an inch of the defeated man, like an animal inspecting a downed prey. "It is, Deidara-sempai. Shall I kill him for you?"

Deidara simply walked towards the unconscious Kakashi. "No need. I'll do it." Quickly, he pulled a kunai and stabbed Kakashi right in the back of the head. The man only twitched quickly in response, and lay limp. With that, Deidara kicked Kakashi off the bird. "Consider that pay back for taking my arm." Deidara then turned his attention to Tobi."Let's not waste anymore time. Time to get our hands on that jinchuriki." Tobi was about to sit and look, but Deidara interrupted him. "And Tobi?" He emphasized his name in a rather suspicious manner.

"Yes, Deidara-sempai?"

"I think that girl is free." Tobi remained silent, getting what Deidara was getting at. "You..."

Quickly, Tobi kneeled apologetically. "Deidara-sempai…my loyalty is to Kizu-sama. I apologize that I wavered, even if only for a few minutes."

Deidara in all honesty didn't believe him. But for now, he had to trust him. And if he was going to be betrayed like he suspected he would be, he believed he had a few things up his sleeve that could deal with his ghost-like abilities. "Alright then. Let's go!" The clay bird dove into the canyon, searching for its prey.

"I can see them coming, Naruto."

"Everything's set." Naruto answered as he tightened a cord around the cave wall. Sakura backed away from the crevice's edge, and got behind him. Naruto turned to Sakura quickly to reassure her. "Don't worry, I'll make everything work out. I always do."

Sakura gave him a quick peck on the cheek in response. "We'll work it out." She emphasized her words squeezing his hand tightly.

Naruto, feeling his adrenaline go up, tightened his grip on the cord. Peering into the opening, he spotted the infamous claybird. They had only one shot for survival…and they had to make it count.

Well, just two more Akatsuki to take care of! That will be wrapped up next time! Until then, see ya!

Hariqiang-Crystal Spear

Hariori-Crystal Cage

Sangufu-Acid Hurricane