Chapter 10: Nightmare
Somewhere in the land of waves, 12:10 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Itachi and Kisame have made contact with their targets." said the plant man to the shadow leader.
The large cavern had not changed at all since the ceremony had started, outside Kisame and Itachi's shadow forms no longer there. Gaara still floated in midair in front of them, the bijuu slowly and excruciatingly removed from his person. The other shadows still had their hands up for the ritual, some a little more irritated now.
"We would have been done already if we had the right amount of people." Sasori drawled out. Making his feeling known again at this waste of time.
"Your feelings on the matter are noted Sasori, now focus on the task at hand." Said the lone female member of the Akatsuki.
"Speaking about the task at hand. How much longer until we are done here hnnnn?" Diedra uttered.
"We will be done in under 6 hours' time." The leader voices boomed inside the chamber.
"Itachi should have killed Orochimaru when the snake tried to steal the sharingan." Sasori coldly stated. "The snake still has his damn ring, and we can't make any more of them."
"He would make a great sacrifice to Lord Jashin, we just need to fucking find him first." Spoke another shadowy Akatsuki member named Hidan.
"We could collect the bounty that's on his head after we seal the seven and two tails." Replied Hidan's partner in Kakazu. "Then we can take his ring and finally replace his position."
"That will not be necessary. Orochimaru will be slain by his future replacement." The leader said aloud.
"And how are you so sure of this hnnnn?" Diedra queried his leader.
"He's weak and will be looking to switch bodies soon. He's been training his next body in secret. His replacement body is currently heading towards him. Orochimaru will not be able to complete the transfer and will die." The leader stated as if he had foreseen the future.
"I'm sure Itachi will appreciate not having that thorn in his side anymore." Replied the female Akatsuki member.
"Hidan, Kakazu, you still have the trail for the two tails. Once the sealing is complete, you will go and capture the two tails so we may extract it." the purple-eyed leader said.
"Shit, no rest for the wicked." Replied Hidan, moving his stiff neck around.
"Is there any rhyme or reason for the capture order of the bijuu?" quested Hidan's partner in Kakazu.
"No, the order doesn't matter except the nine-tails needs to be last." Replied the female member. "Now then, unless any of you have anything else you want to discuss, let's get back to the ritual." She announced to the group.
Unknown to the occupants of the room, Gaara had managed to start getting feedback from his body. He could now hear vague whispers inside his mind from the outside world. Still though, the inside his mind is where he now primarily resided.
Shukaku and himself had not moved any closer to each other for hours now. Both were sitting in the middle of the vast desert that was Gaara's mindscape with the suns intense heat scorching on their backs. Both were now hunched over a little though in comparison to when they started. The strain of fighting for their very existence was proving to be a taxing trial. For now, though, it appeared that the ritual had been paused.
"It seems we have some time until the ritual starts again." Gaara said to his counterpart.
Shukaku said nothing in response. The bijuu's pride was taking a hit at somehow being able to be extracted so easily and he had no power to stop it. He did not like being held prisoner inside this boy but it sure was much more preferable than whatever this crazy group had planned for him. After all, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
"We have 6 hours left before the ritual is complete." Gaara stated to the creature he hosted and was now working with.
"Man, this sucks, and I was just now thinking I would kill you quickly instead of slowly when I finally got out of here." The sand bijuu replied back, trying to make light of impending imprisonment outside his current cell.
"You may still get a chance to. The two members that left the chamber are now fighting our rescue teams."
"Teams?" Questioned Shukaku.
"Teams, one of them must be from Konohagakure."
"Why from that place?"
"Because they would be the only ones Sunagakure would trust to rescue us."
"You mean rescue you, I'm just a weapon to them."
"You are not a weapon to me."
Shukaku gave a huff to that last statement. "How far have I fallen that I need filthy humans to come and 'rescue' me. Oh, that nine-tails bastard will never let me live it down if I were to be captured AGAIN."
"Would it be so bad to be rescued by humans?" Gaara raised his mental eyebrow in response to Shukaku's outburst.
"YES, IT WOULD!" Shouted out Shukaku. "You have no idea the shame I will feel when they arrive and release us. Me, the strongest bijuu, not able to save themselves. I'd almost rather just be captured at this point."
"I never truly understood the depths of your contempt for us humans until now I suppose."
"Oh, you have NO idea just how humans treated me and how I feel about them. Look, I don't hate you personally and right now, I need to work with YOU and ONLY you to get out of here. I will not let any human EXCEPT my container help me get out of this situation, Understand?"
"Understood."
Suddenly, the ground started shaking, and clouds started forming up above. For the first time since this ritual had begun, it started raining on the two of them.
"Well, this is new." remarked Gaara.
"Let's just hope it'll help us to fight them off. Now get ready container."
XxX
With Team Kakashi, 12:10 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Naruto, Kakashi, it's been awhile."
BOOM
The explosion took the 4 shinobi on the ground completely by surprise. Where Itachi had once been, there was now a fireball. The inferno sucked in all the air around it, creating a vacuum which caused the explosion to roar even louder. The shinobi on the ground took a step back to avoid getting singed from the fireball. The 4-some widened their eyes and looked to where the inferno had come from
Up on a branch behind them stood the 5th member of their group, Hinata Hyūga. She had elected to stay in the tree line to get a better vantage point when she first saw Itachi through the clearing. It also gave her a good first strike position.
The look she currently sported on her face was one of quiet rage. She finally could put a face to the enemy who wanted to hurt her Naruto. She could finally see what she was up against. Most importantly, she could now strike the ones who sought to hurt Naruto.
Here byakugan was fully active now, scouring the battlefield for her target. The others could not see it yet but her byakugan saw no body in the crater. Itachi had not been fooled apparently. He had been able to jump back too quickly for her arrow to have hit its mark. She found her target several dozen feet back from where he had previously stood. Slowly he raised his head to her, and she finally got a good look at his face.
Itachi was as stoic as ever. Nothing on his face betrayed any emotion he was feeling. Even being attacked seemed to have only been a nuisance. He simply kept his gaze up on the tree line, inviting her to try again.
Try again did she, over and over again she unleashed hell on him. Her lighting affinity had increased her reaction times and overall speed quite a bit. Not nearly as fast as Naruto's swift release but it still allowed her to fire multiple arrows a second. The constant stream of arrows forced the Uchiha to continue his dodging. Not being able to get a proper attack off just yet.
Naruto saw what was happening and joined the fray quickly, followed quickly by the rest of the shinobi. Naruto for his part was charging up his handy rasengan. Kakashi was raising his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan. Sakura had green chakra coating her hands, appearing as scalpel blades. Chiyo was pulling out her puppets from her scrolls.
Despite her teammates closing into close range combat with Itachi, Hinata kept firing. She only stopped when they had reached Itachi. She still didn't trust her mid-air redirection technique she had on the arrows to avoid her teammates, one day perhaps.
Kakashi was the first to get to Itachi. He had quickly charged his chidori in his right hand and was looking to end this fight quickly. He dashed towards the Uchiha and struck swiftly. Itachi was able to dodge to the side just in time and grabbed Kakashi's arm. Using the momentum of the attack, Itachi threw him onto the oncoming path of one of Chiyo's puppets.
Sakura had already jumped and was midair, attempting to pounce on her prey with a cocked fist. Itachi looked up and saw his incoming assailant and jumped back, avoiding the strike. Sakura's punch hit the ground and caused the earth to ripple and tear from the point of impact.
Naruto took his chance now to finally get even with the bastard for attempting to kidnap him once already. The rasengan was now fully ready and he moved towards Itachi. When he got close to his target, he started to outstretch his hand to make a hit. Itachi jumped over the hand and used both his feet to kick off the face of Naruto, sending both away from each other and Naruto cursing.
Before he could land though, Hinata had prepared her strike. She had been waiting for this moment to strike ever since the group had charged into combat. Now Itachi was in the perfect position, the trap had been set and now she needed only to spring it.
The bowstring on her fingertips was taunt as can be, begging for its tension to be let go. The wood frame pleading for the sweat release from the stress. Eventually, she obliged them. She let go of the string from her fingers and the arrow rocketed away, wobbling in the air as it screamed towards its target.
For this shot, she infused the string with her lightning chakra to give the arrow enough speed to break the sound barrier. She knew she would need the extra speed to pierce what she was aiming at. The arrow flew like a bullet and was heading to the dead center on Itachi.
Itachi wasn't an ordinary shinobi though. He had been keeping tabs on Hinata this entire time, making sure she didn't catch him off guard. This shot didn't catch him off guard and he was prepared for it, or so he thought.
Some of her shots had deliberately not been targeted at him but behind him. The trap was now sprung on the unsuspecting Uchiha. Lightning started coursing through him as he neared his landing spot, preventing him from casting his jutsu to know the arrow away from him. His limbs started twitching at random all over his body. His face was the sole exception, despite the pain and electrical impulses wreaking havoc all over his body, he never once lost his neutral expression.
The arrow hit straight and true through the heart of Itachi. It went straight through and exploded his heart before exiting the body. The sonic boom that came after would have been the last thing he had heard.
Hinata was ecstatic at the result. She had taken down an Akatsuki member. Perhaps with all 5 of them, they could take down the others just as easily. She broke her own train of thought and hopped down on the ground and walked towards where Itachi lay. Oddly she was the only one to approach the body, but she paid it no mind. Too focused she was on the task at hand.
When she arrived right beside her target, she saw the giant hole in his chest where his heart used to be. There was no visible twitching of the body, no indications life at all. The face though was still as stone cold as ever, as if it didn't even recognize its hosts death.
"Reckless."
Hinata heard the words and at first thought it was coming from one of her companions. That wasn't right though, the words didn't come from behind her. They had come from in front of her. She took another look at the body and saw that its eyes were now following her. Upon this recognition, Itachi burst into a murder of crows, all flying away in various directions. The terrain started twisting and forming into unnatural forms. There was only one thing that could cause this to happen.
"Genjutsu!"
Hinata followed her training she had received from Kurenai to dispel the illusion. She first tried using the release jutsu to end the illusions, it failed. She then attempted to disrupt her own chakra network by sending irregular bursts out, it failed. Finally, she brought out a kunai and stabbed herself in the leg. Pain shot up from the wound and she grit her teeth, shutting her eyes, trying her best to NOT block out the pain.
Once the pain started to subside, she slowly opened her eyes. To her relief, she saw the corpse of Itachi in front of her again. She let out a sigh of relief, releasing the breath that had been caught in her lungs. She quickly threw a kunai at the stomachs corpse to verify it was dead and not faking. No reaction came from the corpse. The relief she felt though was only fleeting, there was something off about this situation. Then it hit her.
Wait a minute, how was I under a genjutsu if he was dead?
"So, you figured it out." Came his voice, but not from the 'corpse' in front of her, it came from behind. She spun around to face him but all she saw was her companions.
"This is not an ordinary genjutsu girl." A voice came from Kakashi, one that was not his own.
To her horror, her team started to melt before her eyes. They tried to step towards her but pieces of themselves were trailing behind them. Each had a look of terror on their semi melted faces, but no sound came from them. Hinata brought her hand up to her mouth to stop the bile from leaving her. It was then she noticed that her skin started melting from her body.
White hot pain raced throughout her being, forcing her to shut her eyes tight. 1000's of tiny infernos raged on her person. She screamed as loudly as she could, falling to the ground and clutching up all over, trying to find any kind of relief. To her surprise, relief came. Suddenly she was no longer in pain. She opened one eye, dreading what she might find.
The landscape started changing around her again. The sun no longer shown down on her, instead a blood red moon had taken its place. Casting its red light down upon all it could touch. The smell of blood filled the air around her, suffocating her as she tried to get a breath of fresh air. The taste of blood filled her mouth with every breath. It took all her strength to avoid vomiting from the twin sensations of the crimson liquid. Sounds of cackling demons filled her ears, coming from every direction. They were ready to pounce on her, devour her.
She opened her other eye to see where she was now. She attempted to move her arm but found its movement impeded. She tried the same action with her other arm and found the same impediment. She lowered her head to see what was going on and found that she was now lying flat on a stone table, arms and legs chained down to prevent escape. The cold steel dug tightly into her wrists and ankles as she desperately tried to free herself.
She eventually turned her head to her left and right and found all her teammates were arranged in a circle, with Sakura to her left and Naruto to her right. At the foot of Naruto's table stood Itachi.
Itachi looked towards her. She returned his stare with a glare of her own. Crows started flying from the cloak of Itachi, each one circling above them. Each crow had a hunger in its eyes, as if they had not eaten in days and would eat anything. Itachi let them circle high above for a full minute before finally giving the signal to them. All at once, they descended, ready to strike and sate their hunger. Hinata shut her eye lids and tensed her body, trying to prepare for the incoming pain.
"AHHHHHHH!"
The painful scream pierced the air. Long and haunting it stayed in the air. Blood curling was it to those who heard it. It was the sound of a person being eaten alive.
It wasn't coming from Hinata though, it came from the person Hinata cared for most dearly. Her eyes flung open, now completely wide eyed as she gazed towards Naruto. The crows were starting their feast of one Naruto Uzumaki. First, they were tearing the flesh from his bones, making him scream even louder.
"Normally torturing of oneself brings the most pain. That is not true of you." Itachi said, his gaze not taking in the carnage in front of him but watching the shock and horror on the face of the Hyūga girl.
"NARUTO!" she screamed out, desperately trying to free herself and save him.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" Naruto pleaded out, weeping as the crows ate at their unholy feast. They were now feasting on the fat underneath the skin, picking and tearing him apart. Hopelessly he tried to free himself from this torture, but he couldn't form any hand signs to save himself.
"HINATA! SAVE ME! IT HURTS!" He cried out to the woman next to him, looking into her eyes with pure agony. Blood was now pouring from every open wound, pouring onto the stone slab and down the sides. Naruto gave out another shriek of pain as one of the crows started to feast on his eyeballs.
Even with the knowledge that this was all just a result of a genjutsu did not stop the feelings flowing through Hinata. She felt utterly helpless. She couldn't stop Naruto's suffering; she couldn't even alleviate it. She couldn't even free herself from her confines or the illusion. All she could do was look on in horror.
"STOP IT! PLEASE! NARUTO!" She wailed out. She started sending out stronger and stronger chakra pulses throughout her system, but it had no effect on these illusions, if anything it made it feel more real. She tried to move her head from what she was seeing but a force kept her head in place. She tried to close her eye lids but found she had no control over them. As a last-ditch effort, she tried to simply look away with her eyeballs as best she could, but she couldn't look away no matter how hard she tried.
Now the crows were picking apart at the organs of the poor boy. Intestines, liver, stomach, every organ was open season for the hungry birds. Rip and tear, rip and tear, rip and tear, until there was nothing left. The cries from the boy steadily grew quieter and quieter. Eventually no sounds came from him, what's left of his body finally giving into the sweet embrace of death. Eventually, the slaughter stopped. The crows had sated their hunger for now and took off to the sky, circling up above once more.
Hinata, finally glad the demonic display beside her had ceased, found her voice again. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?" She choked out.
"To test how far I have come."
Hinata prayed this nightmare would end, and she would be back in the real world and hold onto Naruto. Sadly, for her, this was just the beginning. To her shock, Naruto's body started to reform itself. Organs, muscle, bones, skin, all slowly regenerated. It was a gruesome sight to behold, one the girl was forced to witness every agonizing second of.
Once his body had fully reformed, Naruto woke up with a gasp of air. He was now breathing heavy, finding himself somehow fully restored. "Hinata?" He questioned her. Not understanding what was going on.
She then heard the kaw's of the crows up above and she was finally allowed control of her bodily functions again. She looked up and saw they were still circling but something was different about them. Despite each and every one of them having had their fill before, they looked just as hungry and desperate as before.
"Round 2." Itachi stated coldly, still staring at Hinata.
With this command, the crows started their descent again. A death spiral the murder formed, looking for their next meal. Unfortunately for Hinata, it was her love they came for again. She realized then and there that she was going to be re-living this over and over again until someone saved her.
XxX
With Team Kakashi Non Genjutsu world, 12:11 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Hinata? Hinata!" Naruto cried out to the woman on the branch.
She gave no response to Naruto's inquisition. She was mute to the world outside her subconscious. Her eyes were wide in terror and body stiff up in the tree's.
Naruto turned from Hinata and stared at Itachi. "You bastard, what have you done to Hinata?" He spat out in fury.
Itachi coldly replied to the enraged Uzumaki with, "She won't be bothering us now."
With these words, Naruto charged forward. He heard that Kakashi was yelling something, but he couldn't hear what it was. When he got halfway towards his target, he suddenly stopped. His body paralyzed and eyes wide like Hinata.
"Damnit don't look into his eyes you two. He can put you in a genjutsu simply by looking into his eyes." Yelled out Kakashi to the two remaining kunoichi.
"Then how do we fight him?" Asked Sakura as she cast her glance downwards.
Kakashi thought back to his conversation with Gai a while back and replied. "Watch his footwork, his body movements. Just don't look up into his eyes."
Sakura slowly brought her gaze upwards towards Itachi, she stopped looking up when she saw his chest.
"I haven't gone against an Uchiha in a long time. This should be fun." Lady Chiyo said as she cracked her old knuckles.
"Lady Chiyo, I want you to break Hinata out of her genjutsu, Sakura, you do the same for Naruto."
Chiyo looked like she was about to complain but held her tongue. Sakura had a question on her mind. "And what will you do Kakashi sensei?"
Kakashi raised his hand to his sloped forehead protector and raised it up, his eye still shut. "When the two of them are released from their genjutsu, I want you four to join the fight. I will hold him off while you release our comrades." His hidden eye now revealed the sharingan beneath.
"You got it sensei."
"Alright then."
Itachi had other plans though. "Do you think I'll let you go through with your plan?" His hands blurred in front of him as he prepared for his attack. "Fire release: Great Fireball"
From his mouth arose a great fireball, hurling towards the group. The three shinobi were able to quickly dodge out of the way before it exploded, leaving a crater in its wake. Once the dust settled, the rescue team saw that now three Itachi stood before them.
"Let's begin"
Chiyo started her dash towards Hinata's position, Sakura ran towards Naruto, and Kakashi went after Itachi.
Landing between Chiyo and Hinata, one of the Itachi's blurs through his signs and shouts out "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique" and several small fireballs flew forth and surrounded the elderly shinobi.
"You Uchiha and your fire techniques, learn some new tricks."
"..."
"Here, let me show you one." She taunts her opponent. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon". The ground in front of Chiyo started to bulge upwards. It soon started to split and eventually crumbled away, leaving a construct of earth in the shape of a thin dragon. Soon, the mini fireballs started rushing towards Chiyo. Those she didn't dodge were instantly swallowed up by the earth dragon as if it had a mind of its own.
Soon, all the fireballs were extinguished, and Chiyo could now go on the offensive. She sent her dragon ahead of her to attack her target. Itachi ducked the dragon's mouth and kicked its head, sending it flying to the side.
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet turned to thick mud. As he attempted to jump away from the pool of mud, arms shot out from its depths, holding him in place.
"Earth Release: Called by the grave" Chiyo spat out to the Uchiha. She then with whirlwind speed went through her hand signs and took a deep breath. "Wind Release: Air Bullets." and shot multiple projectiles to Itachi, hitting their mark. Once they hit, Itachi transformed into dozens of crows, scattering about.
"Crow Clone jutsu, should have figured." Still pleased with herself, she turns her attention to her original goal and jumps up to where Hinata is still in her genjutsu and wakes her out of it.
While this was going on, Sakura was having honestly the time of her life. Finally, she could see how she stacked up against these S-Ranked criminals and she was holding her own well. She initially had charged headfirst towards Itachi to engage him in taijutsu. They exchanged punches and kicks, back and forth. Neither getting a clean hit.
They were now separated, with Itachi making the first move. From his hand arose a great fire that swirled in front of him, coalescing into a magnificent horse. This fire horse charged towards Sakura, who had no time to come up with a jutsu to counter it. So, she punched the ground.
In front of her, giant slabs of earth shot up, turning the terrain into something unrecognizable. This did the trick as it stopped the flaming beast from getting to her but now, she had a new problem, where did Itachi go?
She heard him before she saw them. On pure instinct, she ducked and saw a kunai fly past her by inches. Another kunai came screaming at her from the tree line and she rolled out of the way. Quickly she pushed herself off of the dirt and looked towards his direction, her eyes still not making contact with his face.
He was charging at her now, silently. She only had time to take her defensive stance before he was upon her. His first strike aimed for her heart which she blocked to the side. He then brandished a kunai and struck for her head which he tilted back to dodge.
Shouldn't he be faster than this?
Green chakra glowed from her left hand as she formed it into a blade, looking to slice him open from naval to stern. Itachi jumped back to avoid being sliced open. He then sent another fireball at her. Sakura barely had time to raise an earth wall to deal with most of the blast, but it still sent her back a few dozen feet before skidding to a stop.
Itachi dashed towards her, and she threw up a dust cloud between them. Undeterred, he sprinted through the cloud and found himself right to her. He struck out with his kunai and hit her directly in the neck.
She poofed and in her place there was a log. "Body replacement." he coldly told himself. This gave her the window she needed. From behind him, she flew through the air, arm back and ready to strike. Her strike hit true on the small of his back, turning him back into the crows that made up the clone.
Now free of her Itachi, she was about to make her way towards Naruto when she caught sight of Kakashi and his duel with the real Itachi.
Something is off. His skills and fire release techniques seem to be missing something compared to the last time we fought. Kakashi thought to himself as he blocked a kick. This is when he saw that Sakura had dealt with her clone and was looking for a moment to end this fight between the sharingan users. Kakashi decided to take a risk and look into Itachi's eyes. As soon as he did, he felt his world go black. His body flattened, twisted and swayed in unnatural ways. Soon his new form started burning from the feet up, with Itachi simply standing in front of him taking in the sight.
"I see, no wonder the genjutsu isn't working as expected. After all, you are just a clone."
Back in the real world, the clone under the genjutsu was able to break the illusion and grab onto Itachi. From a hole in the ground away from the fight, the real Kakashi shouted out. "SAKURA, NOW!"
"You got it sensei!" Sakura coolly acknowledged the request. "Earth Release: Earth Spire!" In less than half a second, the ground between Itachi and Kakashi's clone became jagged and rumbled. Then, a huge spire shot out from the ground, Poofing the clone and impaling Itachi through the stomach high in the air. Before the life left Itachi's eyes, he finally showed some emotion and gave a smirk, before he too was surrounded in smoke.
Once the smoke and dust cleared, she could see the body clear as day.
"That's not Itachi." She announced, startled at the revelation.
"hmmm" Kakashi got out of his hole and started walking to the pillar the body was impaled on, getting a good look at the corpse. "You're right, It's someone from Sunagakure."
"But we saw him here, it wasn't a henge. That sharingan also couldn't be faked like that. It was too real." Sakura added to the mystery of the situation.
"Even his chakra felt like Itachi's. I don't know what type of jutsu this was, but I don't like it." He said as he put his hands back in his pockets.
Sakura now looked back towards Naruto's location and saw that he was now free from the genjutsu, if a little disoriented. She let out a sigh of relief and turned towards Hinata. The Hyūga was trembling from her genjutsu illusion. Sakura could swear her eyes were never that white even when she activated the Byakugan.
"Sakura, I'm going to have a chat with our newest little teammate. Can I trust you to have a chat with Naruto?" He asked with a knowing look, telling her what he wanted her to say.
"I got it sensei." She replied. With these words, she spun on her heels and strode towards Naruto's position.
"Naruto." She spoke.
"..."
"Naruto?" She inquired.
"..."
Naruto was still in a daze from the genjutsu. She took both her hands and placed them on his shoulders and gave him a good shake.
"Naruto!" She exclaimed louder now.
"...w-w-what?" Naruto fumbled out, finally coming to his senses.
"You were caught in a genjutsu. You and Hinata both." She uttered now stopping her shaking but keeping her arms in place.
"Right, Hinata! I need to save her! Where is that bastard Itachi. We need to stop him." Naruto almost shouted out.
"It's been dealt with, the fight is over thanks to Kakashi, Chiyo, and I." She said with a hint of pride in her voice.
"So Hinata's safe? Good, that's a relief. Now I just need to go see her and see if she's alright." He moved to look towards her and saw her shaken but aware with Kakashi right next to her. He attempted to move but Sakura kept him planted where he was.
"Kakashi is checking on Hinata, and he wants me to deal with you." She states coldly.
"Deal with me how?" His eyes now turned towards Sakura's and saw something in them he had not seen before, disappointment. A strange sensation started to stir in him seeing this look from her. He didn't know if it was anger or shame. Perhaps it was both.
"Naruto, if you had waited instead of charging in, you would have heard Kakashi say don't look into his eyes. Itachi has an ocular genjutsu with his sharigan." She said, firmly staring at him in the eyes.
Feeling a little off put at the look in her eyes, he tries to end this situation by trying to explain away what he did. "Good to know but it doesn't matter now since you 3 already killed him."
Getting a firmer grip on him now, she replies with, "No, that wasn't Itachi we defeated. He used a jutsu of some kind to give someone his powers and make it look like himself. And it does matter Naruto."
"You are right, next time I fight him I'll make sure not to look him in the eye. Now please let me go, I want to check on Hinata." He again tries to move but is prevented from doing so.
"Naruto, you are letting your emotions get to you again. You can't just attack like that again without hearing from Kakashi sensei. If you had waited, we could have gotten to Hinata sooner. You can't be reckless like that. What if one of us gets seriously injured because you charge in?" Sakura worded as best she could the seriousness of what Naruto has been doing. Despite this potentially angering him, she knows she must do this. She wants him to be a better shinobi just as much as she wants to be a better kunoichi. She would expect him to do the same if the roles were reversed.
Naruto initially was beside himself. Who was Sakura to say to not be emotional during a mission? She was the one who was always over Sasuke during the missions to the detriment of the team. She's the one who initially ignored training just to be with Sasuke. She should be listening to her own he realized something. She should be the person telling him this. She knows about it firsthand and the feeling of being a burden. She knows the ramifications of letting your emotions cloud your judgement in a fight and just how bad it can turn out.
Feeling a little shame in his actions, Naruto hangs his head and grumbles out so Sakura can just barely hear him. "Fine, I understand. I won't let it happen again. Now please let me go."
Feeling regret coming from him, Sakura gives him an unseen nod and releases her grip from him. Some parts of her felt sad at the lack of contact with the boy, but she ignored it. She decides to follow Naruto back to where Hinata was also getting a lecture from Kakashi. Both arrived near the end of said lecture. As soon as it was over and Hinata saw Naruto there, she launched herself at him in a soul crushing hug.
"Naruto! Thank Kami it wasn't real!" She held onto him for dear life, nothing could tear him away from her embrace. She needed this now more than anything else in her life. She needed to know he was safe and there in her arms. She didn't and wouldn't let go.
Naruto didn't know what Hinata must have seen inside her genjustsu, but he could figure out it had to do with him. He returned her embracing in kind and whispered to her that it was ok and that he was there for her and always would be.
Sakura looked at this display with a look of content. She was happy they could support each other like this in their dark moments. At one point she had foolishly thought a scene like this could have played out with her and Sasuke. She was glad it was Naruto who had someone to hold.
Believing the two teens have had enough lecturing for the day, Kakashi motions for Chiyo to follow him over to the corpse so she can identify it.
"That's Yūra." She says as he got to the base of the spire. "He's a Jōnin from our village. He's on the council as well."
"Looks like the Akatsuki has infiltrated us more than we realized. This is troubling news." Kakashi quipped back.
"Impossible, he couldn't have been a spy. He was on the council for 4 years. I would have picked up something if he was a spy."
"None the less, lets seal up his body and bring it back with us. Maybe your people can find out what happened to him."
"Before we do that, I have something I want to ask about Naruto. Why does he care so much about saving Gaara? They are not even from the same village and Gaara was part of the invasion force previously, so why?" Chiyo questioned the cycloptic jōnin.
Kakashi thought best about how to say this and how much information to give out. Given the Akatsuki's objectives, Naruto's status would eventually be outed even on this mission perhaps, so he decides to come clean to Chiyo.
"He sees Gaara as a kindred spirit. Someone like him. Naruto see's Gaara as another version of himself if his life had turned out differently. Naruto carries the nine-tails inside him. I think you can understand why he wants to save Gaara as much as he does."
Chiyo was a little surprised at hearing that Konohagakure was sending their own jinchūriki to save another villages own one. She would have never sent Gaara to save Naruto if the roles were reversed. She could understand now though why Naruto is acting the way he is. If he saves one jinchūriki then he has a chance of saving more of them.
Chiyo gave her approval for Kakashi's answer and started the sealing formula to wrap up the body. After sealing up the body and getting their nerves back in order. The group followed Pakkun once again towards what awaits for them at the end of the trail.
XxX
Akatsuki hideout in the Land of Waves, 12:30 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
In the cavern where the Akatsuki were performing their ritual, two shadows re-appeared after being away for a while.
"They have defeated the sacrifices." Itachi announced to everyone.
"It matters not, you two have bought us enough time to complete the ritual." The leader said to the two arriving members.
"You were right Itachi about that green one. He didn't use anything but taijutsu and still managed to beat the sacrifice." Kisame agreed with his partners earlier assessment of Gai.
"Remember you two, those were MY men used as sacrifices." Sasori angrily declared, focusing harder on the ritual at hand.
"Your sacrifice is noted Sasori. Now you two, what can you tell us about our arriving guests?" The woman inquired.
"Well, Gai's team is full of taijutsu specialists, those being Rock Lee, Gai himself, and a Hyūga named Neji. The female on the team is a weapons specialist but prefers to fight mid to long range. They all seem to work together as a unit quite well." Kisame utters, finishing his assessment of the group.
"Kakashi's group also has a Hyūga named Hinata who uses a bow. They have a medic in Sakura Haruno, and the nine-tails jinchūriki is with them as well. They also have a 5th member from Sunagakure named Chiyo who despite her age retains her skill in jutsu." Itachi comments on his group he fought.
Sasori visibly twitched when he heard the last name. "Are you sure it was an elderly woman named Chiyo with them?" He asked, looking for confirmation. He received a nod back. "So, you have finally decided to come face me yourself, you old bat."
"What's the history between you two partner hnnn?" Diedra asked.
"She taught me everything she knew about puppets and poison, but I surpassed her long ago. It seems she doesn't see the beauty in my arts and seeks to destroy it. I'll just have to make her into my next art project after this." Sasori retorted.
"While it won't be any better than my art, I'm still looking forward to seeing it partner." Diedra drawled out.
"There is one more bit of information that you will find useful." Itachi interjected himself once more into the conversation.
"Oh, and what would that be?" Sasori asked.
"Both the jinchūriki and the Hyūga are rash. Get their emotions going and they make easy mistakes. They both seem to have a thing for each other, harming one is the easiest way to get a rise out of the other." Itachi finalized his thoughts on the two.
"We'll keep that in mind if we don't get out of here in time." Diedra replied to Itachi.
"Enough chatter, we don't have much time left in the ritual. Focus." The leader loudly said. "Soon, we will have extracted our 3rd bijuu."
XxX
Outside Akatsuki hideout in the Land of Waves, 6:00 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"The trail ends here Gai." The nin-dog said to the group behind him. The group now stood in front of an impressive torii gate. Behind the torii gate was a giant boulder with a talisman of some kind on it.
"Neji, is Gaara behind that stone?" Gai inquiries to his student.
Neji wordlessly activates his byakugan and peers behind the boulder. His vision sweeps across the entire cavern inside, taking note of every feature inside. The statue, the three physical occupants, and several shadow occupants.
"Hai Gai sensei. He's without a doubt behind this stone."
"Perfect." Needing no further words, Gai charges at the stone and strikes it with a force that could shatter mountains. Instead, all he could feel is an invisible barrier, halting him before he can reach the stone.
"Not surprised they have a sealing barrier in place." Gai exclaims in minor defeat.
"Do you know what type of barrier it is sensei?" Tenten asks her teacher.
"It's a five-seal barrier." A distant voice replied to the question.
Team gai as one, faced the voice. They didn't take defensive postures though. The voice they heard was quite a familiar one.
"I see we beat you here Kakashi, my old rival!" Gai proclaims to the arriving team Kakashi.
"Naruto! Sakura!" Rock Lee shouts in delight.
"Hinata." Neji says with a ghost of a smile on his face.
Once team Kakashi came closer, Gai called out. "I see you have brought a companion with you."
Not one to let others speak for her, Chiyo steps forward and announces herself. "I'm Lady Chiyo. Someone from Sunagakure should be a part of rescuing their own Kazekage."
"I'm glad you joined us." Gai says to his elder before bringing his attention back to his rival. "Now how do we break this barrier?"
"Hinata, Neji. Look around the area for 4 talismans with the characters for forbidden on them." Asked Kakashi.
"Right."
"On it."
Both Hyūgas activate their byakugan and scour the area to find the talismans.
"Found two of them." says Hinata. "Ones on a rock about 500 meters northeast and the other is 350 meters southeast on a tree by a river."
"I see the other two." Neji follows up. "Ones on a cliff about 650 meters northwest and the last is 800 meters southwest of here in the forest."
"Good, we will need to remove those 4 remote talismans along with the one here at the same time to remove the barrier." Kakashi states to the combined groups.
"Perfect, those 4 remote ones are still within wireless range." Gai says as he pulls out 5 communication devices. "Kakashi, my team will deal with the 4 remote talismans. Your team will rush in once we have removed them. We will join you after that." Gai then tosses one of the communication devices to Kakashi who snatches it out of the air.
"Alright team Gai, radio me when you all get into position, and I will give the signal when ready."
XxX
Inside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:05 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Both Gai's and Kakashi's groups have arrived." The plant man named Zetsu said aloud.
"It matters not; we will be done in 5 minutes. They are too late to stop the extraction." The leader booms out
"That's great for everyone not here, but the two of us need to get out of here. If we had been done earlier, we wouldn't have this issue!" Sasori pointed out their dilemma.
"Are you saying you can't handle those weak fools outside?" Konan questioning the duo's skills.
"It's just more a waste of my time is all. At the very least I'll be able to deal with that Chiyo woman." Sasori added onto his earlier statement.
"Remember, we need Naruto alive. The rest you can deal with as you see fit." The leader reminds the duo about their orders.
Meanwhile, in what's left of the mindscape of Gaara, both jinchūriki and bijuu are hanging on by a thread. The duo of Gaara and Shukaku had been fighting for the past two plus days and have very little if anything left to give. Shukaku was nearly fully extracted now and Gaara close to death. Both were no longer meditating and instead were simply on their backs, gasping and wheezing for any semblance of relief. The sun above them was now almost completely gone, only giving a flicker of light.
"...It...seems...this...might...be...the...end." Shukaku weakly says. There was no trace of arrogance or pride in his voice, only a resignation to its fate.
"...Un...For...tune...etly...I...agree...with...you." Gaara coughs out, his body and voice about to give out.
"...We...gave...them...one...hell...of...a...fight...in...the...end." Shukaku states, trying to find something, anything to look positively on.
"...Shu...ka...ku...can...I...ask...a...favor?" Gaara whispers out, hoping his final wish will be granted.
"...What...would...that...be?" The bijuu asks, willing to at least entertain his containers final wish.
"...If...you...make...it...out...alive...please...tell...my...siblings...that...I...loved...them." Gaara's labored breathing made it difficult for him to say his words properly, but Shukaku was able to hear the message.
"...Why...that...mes...sage?" Shukaku inquiries, cranking its head so it could try and see its soon to be former container.
"...I...ne...ver...told...them...how...I...felt." This was Gaara's one biggest regret he now had at the end of his life. Most of his life he had kept his siblings at a distance. Only recently had he started to let them in. He would have traded anything to have just one more day with them.
For the first time in generations, Shukaku felt an ounce of pity for a human. Just a drop but it was there, and it might has well been a giant ocean for the feat that was.
"...I...will...think...about...it."
"...Tha...anks...Shu...ka...ku."
Both now lay there. Their labored breathing the only sound coming from either of them for a long minute until both could feel the end coming for them both.
"...Shu...ka...ku...I...am...sor...ry...for...what...hap...pened...to...you."
"..."
"...It...has...been...a...pri...vil...ege...to...get...to...know...you."
"...It...will...be...an...hon...or...to...die...at...your...side."
With those last few words, the breathing of one Gaara ceased. His chest no longer rose and fell, keeping his body alive. Blood was no longer circulating through his veins. The last images that ran through the boys' mind were of his cherished brother and sister. Siblings who he regretted not appreciating more and not spending more time with.
Then, Gaara died. The mindscape started to shutter and break down, its host no longer being able to keep up the foundation and so it started to collapse on itself.
Shukaku would always deny it but before the remainder of its chakra was finally taken from it, the bijuu had a single human tear in its eye.
XxX
Outside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:12 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
Kakashi was now perched above the talisman on the boulder in front of the Akatsuki hideout. The rest of his team were standing a close distance away so they can rush in when the barrier is down.
"When I remove this talisman Sakura, you will need to destroy the boulder quickly. Don't worry about me. I'll jump out of the way before you destroy it." Kakashi says as he goes over the plan one more time. "Once the way is clear, everyone will rush in and only engage when I give the order."
The group give shakes of their heads yes acknowledging the plan. Sakura was readjusting her gloves and building up chakra in her right fist. Chiyo was getting her strings ready. Hinata had her bow on her back but her hands on it, ready to strike. Naruto was cracking his knuckles and neck in anticipation of what is about to come and praying they were not too late.
"Team Gai, are you all in position?" Kakashi asked over the receiver.
"Hai."
"I'm in position."
"Ready when you are."
"I'm ready."
"Ok, on the count of 3, remove the talismans." Kakashi said to team Gai. "One, two, THREE!" and all at once, the 5 talismans were removed.
"AHHHHH" Sakura shouts as she rushes forth toward the boulder, willing her legs to run just a bit faster to gain more momentum.
Kakashi jumped away right before Sakura's strike hit the boulder with a loud crack. Bits of rock exploded into the air, leaving none of the original boulder in their wake. Immediately after the dust started settling, the 5 shinobi whooshed into the entrance. Five pairs of eyes were now staring into an almost empty cavern. The statue that once protruded from the center was now gone, leaving only behind a mass of earth.
Near the rear of the cavern were 4 figures. Sasori and Diedra were sitting on makeshift seats, appearing almost bored with their situation. To the side, towering over them was a bird of some kind but not a living one. It appeared to be made of some type of clay. In front of these 3 was the reason for the mission.
"GAARA!"
Author Notes
Song title is from Avenged Sevenfold. Current weight is 227.0
Well, I think I finally earned my M rating for this fic with Hinata's genjutsu. I won't be shying away from subject and material that many may be uncomfortable with. I don't want to be limited in what I want to write about. Oh and in case you didn't figure out the inspiration for her genjutsu. Look up the Greek myth of Prometheus and his eternal punishment. I expanded on that. I really love mythology and will probably be adding more homages to mythology that I'm familiar with.
As for the upcoming Sasori and Diedra fights. It's looking like I may need to split it up into 2 chapters to give each fight what it deserves. These next 2 chapters will be the hardest for me to write simply because there will be a lot of fighting and fight scenes are still what I'm not very good at but I want to get better at them. Given that's the case the next 2 chapters may take longer than 2 weeks to make so I do apologize for that. I will be using the manga as reference for some moments but I will try and make it more original than not.
I hope you all liked the Gaara and Shukaku scenes. We were never show just what the extraction process did to host and bijuu and I thought of this to add some character bonding between the two. I actually was sad writing Gaara's death. Gaara really deserved better than what he got
Still getting more follows and favorites which is always exciting! And now we are above the 100k word mark in 2.5 months. I feel happy with the progress I've made but I'm not gonna rest of my laurels. I will continue to improve based on feedback from yall. Speaking of which, please Comment/Review if you can, I really enjoy reading all the feedback! Until next time, see yall later!