Chapter 12

"AAAAHHH!" Ide shrieked as he immediately sat up in his bed, bad dreams from the night before having shaken him in his sleep. Ever since his battle with Itachi, bad dreams were something he'd been dealing with on a semi-regular basis but last night's dreams were different.

Immediately Ide's eyes went to his bedside table where next to the framed photo of his family that he retrieved from his parent's home, sat the headband Maede gave him before his final mission. "Damnit…" He muttered quietly. "Bad enough you had to die on me, jerk. When the hell are you gonna leave me alone?"

Ide turned away from his nightstand and tried to squeeze in a few more hours of sleep but in doing so he was forced to face the window to his apartment where he could see the sun creeping up on the horizon. "Uuuggggghhhh!" Ide groaned as he pulled his pillow down over his face, knowing it was too late for him to go back to sleep. "... Well I guess I have some time to kill."

(Later)

With Ide's extra bit of free time, he made his way to the leaf village cemetery. He replaced the incense at both Ayana and Hase's graves and spent an equal amount of time morning both of his fallen comrades before heading to his final destination.

He reached Maede's grave and just like before he replaced the old burnt-out incense sticks with fresh new ones that he was quick to light. Then he stood over the grave in mourning silence for a few minutes before he felt comfortable speaking to his cousin. "So is this why you woke me up so early this morning? Yeah, I get it, it's been a while. It's like I don't want to come visit, it's just I always feel uncomfortable here."

Ide looked over to the neighboring grave and while the leaf village had done the best they could to try and scratch it out, Ide's name was still clearly etched in the grave next to his cousin and mentor. After a few more minutes in front of the grave, Ide felt it was time for him to go but as he was leaving the cemetery he bumped into a familiar face.

"Kakashi?" Ide was surprised to find his new team leader taking a trip out to the cemetery. "Good morning." He bowed to his superior but Kakashi was quick to wave this gesture away.

"Now, now. There's no need for such formalities, we're teammates now." Kakashi was his typical calm, kind self as he appeared to be smiling under his mask. "I'd say it's nice to see you up and about so early but considering where we are that might be in poor taste."

"Maybe a little bit…" Ide agreed and the two broke eye contact and just stood awkwardly in front of each other for a not-so-brief moment.

"Hehe…." Kakashi tried to force a chuckle through the awkward silence. "Anyway, if I remember correctly I think our team is scheduled to receive its first mission today. We'd better make our way over to the Hokage's office it'd be rude to keep them waiting."

"Sounds good." Ide agreed and without another word, they evacuated the cemetery.

(Later)

It wasn't a very long trek from the cemetery to the Hokage's office but despite their early start, Kakashi and Ide were the last members of Team Kakashi to arrive. Both Sakura and Naruto were already assembled and waiting outside the doors to the office, with Naruto's patience seemingly reaching its end quickly.

"Ide, Kakashi sensei!" Sakura was the first to greet the two of them as she waved at her teammates. "Good morn-"

"Kakashi sensei! What took you so long!" Naruto cried out, interrupting his teammate. "You're almost five minutes late. If we don't hurry, Granny Tsunade is gonna stick us with some lame mission out of spite."

"Sorry about that Naruto, I had some errands to run this morning and I guess I lost track of time." Kakashi bashfully scratched the back of his head as he apologized to his one-time student.

"Good morning, Naruto." Ide greeted his teammate with a friendly smile but the blonde ninja quickly turned away from him, indicating that the two still had ways to go in their relationship.

"Yeah….Good morning." Eventually, though Naruto did respond with a greeting of his own which was at the very least an improvement from before. After the most awkward start to a morning imaginable the four ninjas made their way through the doors into the office.

Fully assembled for the first time, Team Kakashi stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the 5th Hokage's desk. "Caravan Guard Duty?!" Naruto roared out with disapproval, slamming his hands down on Tsunade's large wooden desk and shaking a few papers while the rest of his team watched in dismay. "Are you serious?"

"I sense you're unhappy with this particular mission, Naruto?" Tsunade asked calmly as she balanced her chin on the back of her hand, keeping her cool despite Naruto's over-the-top antics.

"Yeah, what's the deal with this C-Rank crap?" Naruto stepped away from Tsunade's desk and put both hands behind his head as he continued complaining. "What's the point of naming us Team Kakashi if you're just gonna keep giving us missions like we're a Genin squad?"

"Well as long as Naruto's on the team we still are a Genin squad…" Ide muttered under his breath prompting Naruto to shoot a fiery glare back at him, to which Ide turned his head to the side and whistled innocently.

"Anyway…" Naruto turned back to Tsunade and continued to plead his case. "Look Granny Tsunade, we're ready for some hardcore missions. Give us a shot!"

"Haaah…." Tsunade sighed long before meeting the hyperactive Ninja's gaze with her own. "Look Naruto, you just returned from your training. We just want to ease you back into things, more challenging missions will come I guaran-"

The fifth Hokage was interrupted as a kunoichi slammed her office door open and ran up to her desk with a scroll she held tightly. Ide, using his Sharingan, got a glimpse of the scroll as the girl ran by but the only detail he could glean from it was its origin in the Hidden Sand Village.

Tsunade quietly took the scroll and quickly unraveled the message from the sand. She only needed a few seconds to look over the scroll before her eyes went wide as Team Kakashi waited in suspense for her next words. "The Fourth Kazekage, Gaara, Has been abducted by the Akatsuki."

The news shocked the entire room but no one took the news as personally as Naruto. "Those Akatsuki guys got Gaara…"

"The hidden sand is officially requesting our assistance as our village is the most informed on the Akatsuki and luckily team Kakashi here has first-hand experience dealing with members of that organization." As Tsunade said this, Ide and Kakashi both narrowed their eyes. "Kakashi, your team will be deployed to the Hidden Sand immediately. You're to keep us informed on the situation and provide our allies with any support they need in recovering Gaara."

"Understood." Kakashi nodded in agreement as Tsunade stood up.

Once the fifth Hokage had risen to her feet, all of Team Kakashi lowered their head in a bow. "Team Kakashi, ensure you're well enough supplied for this mission, and meet me at the Village gate. You have one hour!" The four ninjas nodded in unison before rushing out of the office. Once they'd left Tsunade dropped back into her chair and gave the letter another look over. Her expression grew worried now that she was alone except for her trusted aid. "This is bad, if they can kidnap the Kazekage in the sand how much longer do we have?"

(Later)

When Ide arrived at the village gate he discovered it was an inverse of earlier that morning as he was the second member of their team to reach the meeting point, only being beaten by the Team's leader. Like Ide Kakashi had experience as a soldier and was accustomed to being able to pack lightly and efficiently even on long missions so it made sense that they'd be the first two to arrive and it seemed as though Kakashi had anticipated this outcome as both he and Lady Tsunade appeared to be waiting for him.

"Ah, Ide. Nice of you to join us so quickly." Kakashi said happily through his face mask, going so far as to close his right eye as he spoke but once greetings were out of the way his expression quickly turned serious. "Listen, there's something we need to ask you. It's about Naruto, you see the 4th Kazekage, a person who means a lot to Naruto. We're worried this mission could be very emotional for him…"

Ide's expression didn't change, he knew where this conversation was going even Before Tsunade could ask him. "Do you believe you can control the Ninetails?" She asked bluntly as she stared Ide dead in the eyes.

This wasn't the first time Ide'd heard of this, during his training with Danzo it'd come up on more than one occasion. Danzo seemed confident that Ide had the power to control the Ninetails with his Sharingan to the point that Ide could swear he was obsessed with the idea.

"Back in the heyday of the Uchiha clan, there were rumors that a powerful enough Sharingan had the power to tame even the Ninetails using Genjutsu." Kakashi explained as he readjusted his headband to uncover his own Sharingan. "I don't believe my Sharingan has that ability but as you said during the Bell Test, two eyes are better than one."

Ide didn't need Kakashi to explain it to him, he was more than familiar with those rumors. Elders of the clan used to pass stories around to children and part of the story that Kakashi didn't seem to know is that it was the Mangekyou Sharingan in particular that was rumored to have these powers. Unfortunately, Ide never considered these stories as anything more than tales for children.

Ide looked at Kakashi then looked at Tsunade before bowing to his superior again. "I'm sorry." He apologized before lifting his head. "I'm familiar with the stories too but I'm afraid that this power may only exist in fiction."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at this less-than-satisfying response. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"If the Ninetails were to cause a problem I promise I'd do everything in my power to contain it." Ide ensured. "As far as controlling the Nine Tails goes I believe such feat requires genjutsu power that I don't possess and with the Uchiha clan… gone." Even after all this time Ide still had trouble wrestling with his clan's demise. "It's not an ability anyone could teach me."

Tsunade kept her eyes locked on Ide, she studied his face to see if he was concealing the truth but eventually, her expression softened. "I believe you…" She seemed satisfied with this. "But please, keep an eye out for Naruto, and once this mission is complete I want both you and Kakashi to begin training your Sharingans intensively."

"Will do." Ide bowed once more as Tsunade stepped away from the conversation just as Sakura ran through the village gates, following not too far behind her was the Ninetails Jinchuriki himself and after a few words of farewell, team Kakashi took off for the Hidden Sand.

A skilled ninja with fine-tuned chakra control could use the dense forests of the land of fire like a highway. Jumping from branch to branch at high speed allowed Team Kakashi to travel in a straight line above any obstacles that'd cause detours for those traveling on the paved roads between villages.

While Ide, Kakashi, and Sakura ran in a tight formation making sure each person was never more than a step ahead or behind, Naruto rushed out ahead of the squad. "Naruto!" Kakashi called out. "Don't break formation! This is the Akatsuki we're dealing with; we can't take any chances!"

Naruto gritted his teeth with frustration. "I know!" He roared back, struggling to hold back his rage. "I know I'm being reckless but I can't help it! Just thinking about how those bastards just took Gaara like they did has my blood boiling! I can't just slow down!"

Ide felt sympathetic, he knew that anger could make someone react irrationally and he knew that trying to talk to Naruto about it while he was in this state would be pointless and he wouldn't have the time to anyway as his Sharingan was drawn to something below them. "There's a ninja on the road below us, I can tell they're carrying some kind of a weapon."

The whole team tensed up, they waited with bated breath for more details to determine whether it was friend or foe. "It's Temari of the Hidden Sand…"

(Later)

After filling Temari in on the fate of her brother, she joined Team Kakashi in their race to the Hidden Sand. The troop ran as fast as they could for a full day and a half, taking their first break once the sun had set on the second day of travel.

With the mysterious threat of the Akatsuki hanging over their head, the group opted not to light a campfire. Instead, they sat in the dark of the evening forest and passed around a package of food pills as they recuperated their strength for the next leg of the journey. While Ide, Sakura, Kakashi, and Temari took the opportunity to rest their feet, Naruto stood on a tree branch above the group with his eyes burning forward.

"Naruto…" Kakashi called up to his student, his voice sounding tired from the long journey. "I understand your desire to rescue your friend but you'll be of no use to anyone if you expend all your energy traveling to the hidden sand." Naruto ignored Kakashi, his gaze still fixed on the direction of the hidden sand. "Well, I tried…." Kakashi shrugged as he knew better than to try to argue with Naruto when he had his mind set on something.

Naruto wasn't the only one with their mind fixated on something as there was something that Ide just couldn't get out of his head. "Why would the Akatsuki be after Jinchuriki?" Ide asked the group, not looking for a direct answer but more for their input as he tried to work out the problem in his head.

"What's a Jinchuriki?" Sakura piped up with a question of her own that was significantly easier to answer and Temari would be the one to do it.

"A Jinchuriki is a person with a tailed beast's spirit sealed within them," Temari explained, getting the attention of Naruto from his tree branch. "Since both Naruto and Gaara have been targeted by the Akatsuki it's safe to say that's who they're after. In total, there are 9 Jinchuriki one for each beast and one beast for each number of tails."

"During the war, they taught us which villages had which beast in the academy. There used to be a song to help us remember but I can't think of it right now." Ide scratched his chin, the melody of the song was blaring in his mind but he just couldn't come up with the lyrics. Ide quickly realized he was getting off-topic and refocused the conversation. "Regardless, the question is what do the Akatsuki want with the tailed beasts? If they just wanted chaos wouldn't they have just killed Gaara and unleashed his tailed beast on the hidden sand?"

"Do you think they'd be after harnessing the beast's power for themselves?" Sakura proposed. "I mean, after all, the power of Gaara's beast helped him become Kazekage right? They could be looking to steal that power and become jinchuriki themselves.?"

"I doubt it." Kakashi chimed in. "It takes someone with an exceptionally high amount of chakra just to host a Tailed Beast and I'm sure Naruto can attest to how difficult it is to get one to cooperate with its host. Even if every member of the Akatsuki had enough chakra to contain a Tailed Beast they'd need to find a way to control them too. Truth is the motives of the Akatsuki is one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the organization. We don't know what they're after, they've already attacked the Leaf and now they've attacked the Sand. They are dangerous, and we have to stop them and rescue the Kazekage." Kakashi would have the last word on the subject as his statement seemed to refocus the group and their minds were refocused on the task at hand, saving Gaara.

(Later)

A day and a half later Temari and Team Kakashi would finally arrive at the Sand Village and they were met with chaos. As soon as they reached the outskirts of the Hidden Sand Temari was swarmed by a duo of Sand Ninjas.

"Lady Temari!" One of the ninjas guarding the entrance called out in excitement at the return of the Kazekage's sister. "You're here with the reinforcements from the leaf! Quick we need to get to the hospital! Follow me!"

The situation appeared urgent, so without a word, the squad began to follow the two guards as they dashed through the village gates but as they ran Temari tried to get a better understanding of the situation. "What's going on? Did you manage to locate Gaara? Is he injured?"

"Unfortunately not." The second guard answered regretfully. "We were unsuccessful in our attempt to retrieve Lord Kazekage and in the process Lord Kankuro was injured and poisoned."

Upon hearing this Temari's eyes went wide and her pace accelerated. "Come one! We have to hurry!"

Ide wasn't familiar with the name Kankuro but it was evident that she was someone important to Temari so he along with the rest of Team Kakashi increased their speed to keep up with her. As they ran through the village Ide saw a Hidden Sand Village vastly different from the one he'd experienced during the Chunin Exam, things were now much more hectic. Sand Ninjas were running around like bees whose hives had been disturbed, while citizens unaware of the situation tried their best to stay out of the way but the confusion made things difficult. The loss of the Kazekage seemed to have thrown the whole Village into chaos.

Eventually, the group reached the hospital and continued their mad dash through the hallways, blowing by nurses and past recovery rooms on their way to the ER. "Kankuro!" Temari roared, being the first to turn the corner and lay eyes on her injured brother.

Sakura followed quickly after her to administer first aid but Naruto, Kakashi, and Ide who were unable to use medical ninjutsu, stood for a moment in the open doorway so as not to get in the way of any treatment but as Kakashi poked his head into the room he triggered an unexpected reaction.

An older woman with faded purple hair, shrunken by age turned her head to the doorway and as soon as she laid her eyes on Kakashi she went rabid. "The White Fang…. The White Fang of the Leaf!" The little old lady leaped through the air and readied a kick aimed at Kakashi's gut.

(End)