Chapter 21: Revelations.
Team 7 and Hurizen arrived in Suna quickly and headed straight to the Kazekage tower.
"Wait you cant just barge in there!" A guard tried to say but jumped back with a yelp when Mamoru roared at him.
They got inside and were met with an empty room. "Where the hell is the Kazekage?" Kakashi growled in anger.
"He should be there." The man stuttered looking at Mamoru.
"He's gone." They turned to see Gaara standing behind them. "What's wrong?" He asked walking into the office.
"This journey was a fake."
"What journey?" He questioned.
"Suna requesting a new treaty. It was a trap, the akatsuki attacked and they took Naru." Hurizen said, Gaara looked at him in shock. "I've sent for backup but we need help to hunt her down now." He said.
"My team and I will help. I'll dispatch other teams to spread out and search." He said walking out to the guard and ordered him off which he did without question.
"Where is your father?" Hurizen asked.
"He's acted strange lately, I have had a couple ninja researching him. A week or so ago he left for a meeting. He left last night. The council has me acting as temporary Kazekage." He said.
"Okay. That's good." Hurizen said, he smirked before it fell.
"Who took her?" He asked.
"The akatsuki. A group of S-rank ninja that are targeting jinchuuriki for some reason." He said. "You are in danger as well." He said.
"I'm going after her. I wont let her suffer alone anymore." He said, Hurizen blinked a few times. "Yes, I do." He said answering the unspoken question.
"Gaara." Kankuro said appearing, he nodded his head. "We... we found father." He said. "He was killed … long ago." He said. "Thrown in the dessert in a cavern with his guards." He said. "His face was missing." He said.
"Orochimaru." Hurizen hissed quietly.
"You know who did this?" Gaara asked.
"My old student, he defected from Konoha long ago, he masters in taking other faces perfectly." He said, Gaara hummed quietly.
"Alright Kankuro find Temari and Baki, come with me. Have Baki dispatch team 3 though 9 to search and find any traces of Naru or these people."
"Yes." He said and disappeared.
"Let's go." Gaara said, they rushed from the tower and headed to the village gates.
-o0o-
Pein watched as the transparent figures appeared around the dark cave.
"What's going on?" A young boy with long blonde hair that hung over his one eye.
"It's time for an extraction." He said.
"We're not all here." A tall figure said. "Itachi."
"Itachi will not be joining us today or ever again. He's a spy for his village." Pein said.
"Shall we hunt him down afterwords?"
"For now we're not going to focus on him. We have the Kyuubi-"
"How?" Deidara asked.
"Cause he sent us you little pussy!" Hidan's voice announced making them look as him and Kakuzu walking in with Naru over his shoulder. "Sent the winning team." He smirked.
"Jackass." Deidara muttered. Kakuzu threw Naru to the ground, she moaned quietly and shifted slightly.
"Because it's Kyuubi I want your real bodies here. I will summon you here. Be prepared." Pein said, they nodded and faded away. "It will take some time, lock her in the cells." He said, Hidan snorted and grabbed Naru's shirt and dragged her along the ground and headed to the built cells in the large cave and threw her in after locking shackles on her wrists and ankles.
Naru moaned and finally came to and whimpered in pain. "Mamoru? Jiji?" She whispered and sent her chakra out in waves, but was met with rock walls pulsing with chakra. She tried to wiggle her hands free from the shackles but was unsuccessful. She groaned in pain as a throb hit her when she shifted her body. 'No...' She thought in desperation. 'This can't be...' She gulped and began to cry quietly wishing that her family was with her.
Pein focused before hitting the ground seals appeared and he watched the members of his group appear in front of him. "This extraction will take awhile, prepare yourselves." He said.
"How exactly did you find out Itachi was a traitor?" Kisame asked.
"An informant told me. It's proved true. Itachi is on a mission that he will not return from." Pein said. "Now prepare yourselves." He said and walked out of the room.
"Bossy son of a bitch." Hidan muttered quietly before sitting on a rock and sighed quietly. A small feather fell from the ceiling landing on his head, he frowned looking up with a frown but shrugged it off.
-o0o-
In a coverage of trees Itachi sat still meditating and opened his dark eyes with a sigh and stood up. 'Orochimaru must of heard through the curse mark... I guess it's time for me to right my wrongs.' He thought and rubbed his forehead and paused at the hitai-ate and pulled it off his head staring at the metal plate with the Konohagakure symbol carved into it with a deep cut through that signifying his rogue status. He sighed quietly and stuffed it in the pocket of his cloak before shedding it leaving it in his spot. He created four clones and sent them out quickly before masking his own real chakra and began to walk away quickly keeping his eyes open for any enemies and headed to Suna as fast as possible in the night.
-o0o-
Naru whimpered and scrambled back as the cell door opened and she could feel the powerful chakra from them. She yelped as they grabbed her arms and yanked her forward, she stumbled and fell but they continued to drag her along. She tried to yank free from their grip but she stopped when a powerful hand grabbed her hair in a tight grip.
They dragged her through halls before coming to a large room, Naru spread her chakra out feeling a large humanoid statue shape in the ground. It had a large shape over its face, and two arms that were shackled together and a scroll in its mouth. She frowned at the feeling of immense chakra coming from it almost as if it was alive, it in a way reminded her of the chakra and feeling that Kyuubi had.
She struggled then cried out as they shoved her to the ground harshly and stepped in the middle of her back.
"Everyone is here." A voice said, she looked towards him and gulped, she shut her eyes waiting to be beaten or killed. "This extraction will be more difficult than the others, the seal is more complex and protective. And with fewer of us..." He said. "Be prepared." He said.
Naru stiffened and began to breathe heavily in fear.
-Flashback
"Naru, there was another reason I had Jiraiya be your mentor." Hurizen said as he sipped at tea, she waited for him to continue."He has been monitoring a group, I don't know much, but I know they are hunting jinchuuriki." He said.
"Me?" She asked.
"You and others, see besides Kyuubi there are eight other biju in the world sealed in humans." He said. "This group seems to be hunting them." He said, Naru blinked twice and nodded.
"Oh, okay, I'll be careful." She nodded.
"Naru, you must understand." He said with a plea and took her hand. "When a jinchuuriki has its biju ripped from them it kills them." He said, she opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. "If it ever happens, which know I will make sure to my dying breath it doesn't, I want you to fight, use any move, no matter what. You fight and get away." He said and cupped her cheeks and rubbed under her eyes, she gave a small grin.
"I promise Saru." She said, he gently squeezed her cheeks making her giggle.
Flashback-
Naru closed her eyes and focused. 'Come on, you've been practicing this, you can do it!' She thought and began to squirm a little and winced as the weight increased.
"Don't bother girly." The one above her said.
'Almost there.' She thought as she poured chakra into her hands working at the shackles and felt them begin to crack away.
"Fūinjutsu: Genryū Kyūfūjin!" She turned just as the shackles shattered, she saw large dragon forms shooting towards her. She screamed out in pain as the shapes smashed into her body. She was ripped up in the air and what she knew was now as chakra swirled rapidly around her. She gasped heavily as it was hard to get air in her lungs. She tried to move her hands but couldn't move, it felt like fire was creeping up her body slowly.
She opened her mouth and let out a blood curdling scream as her eyes rolled up in the back of her head. 'Please...' She pleaded before everything began to fade to white.
-o0o-
"I know you just returned from a mission but I need you three to head to Suna, now." She said looking Team 9 standing in front of her.
"What's going on Hokage-sama?" Gai asked.
"I sent Team 7 and Hurizen-sama to Suna for a treaty. But we knew something was going on. He sent his scroll back to me." She said holding it up. "It means something happened and they need back up. I don't know you'll be getting into-"
A pop of smoke filled the room making them flinch and saw Jiraiya appear. "The akatsuki has Naru, they got her yesterday early afternoon." He said, Tsunade gasped covering her mouth, Lee stiffened a little.
"Head to Rivers, Hurizen and the team are heading there now with that Sand team." He said. "I'm on my way to them now. I've had frogs staking out the hideouts and saw Naru." He said.
"Head out now." Tsunade said as Jiraiya appeared.
"Hai!" They said and rushed out.
-o0o-
Hurizen jumped in the front of the group quickly and balled his hands up. 'Hang on Naru, hang on.' He pleaded. "Someone's coming." Mamoru growled making Hurizen look up and skid to a stop as a blur hit the tree in front of them wearing a black cloak. He reached up and pulled his cloak off and revealed himself as Itachi. Sasuke gasped and stiffened, Kakashi glanced at him and gulped.
"Are you here to stop us?" Hurizen asked.
"No." He said. "Opposite, here to help you rescue Naru." He said, Hurizen cocked his head in confusion. "It was revealed, my real mission Hokage-sama." He said pointedly. "The akatsuki is after me, might as well confront them and help Naru at the same time." He said.
"I..." Hurizen started and sighed.
"Let's go." Sasuke said jumped forward. "Thank you Itachi." He said sincerely, Itachi smirked and nodded his head.
"This way." Itachi stated before jumping forward, Hurizen looked at Sasuke who glanced at him before jumping after his brother.
Team 7, Suna, Jiraiya, Mamoru and Itachi shot through the woods as Itachi led them to the hideout where they were holding Naru, Hurizen had a deep frown on his face and glanced at Jiraiya. "You don't trust him do you?"
"It's not that." Hurizen whispered. "Sasuke, he didn't attack, get angry or anything, he openly accepted his help, no fuss. Which makes me think this isn't the first time they've met since that night."
"You think in the exams?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes." He said and sighed.
"Well Gai's team should be arriving at the cave at the same time if not before us. So we'll have plenty of back up." He said, Hurizen nodded and looked at Mamoru who was tensed and had his nails sharpened and longer than normal in his anger. 'You fight Naru,' Hurizen thought.
o0o
"It's a barrier on the cave, it will explode and trigger who knows how many traps if not done right..." Neji said looking at the seals painted on the rock. "Jiraiya-sama should know how to undo it."
"They're here." Lee pointed at the teams as they landed on the river in front of a large cave sealed with a giant bolder.
"What's going on?" Jiraiya asked.
"Naru's in there. She's in distress." Mamoru growled flexing his shoulders and growling.
"The rock is sealed, any tampering with it will cause it to explode." Itachi said. "It will prevent you from getting in for a while, the room is near the back." He said.
"We can use sand to tunnel under-" Gaara started.
"No need, there are five points that must be destroyed, but they are rigger with traps as well. You must do it from a distance.
"How then?" Hurizen growled impatiently.
"Kunai bombs, Sasuke, and you-" He pointed towards Gai's team.
"Tenten." She piped up.
"Come with me, the rest be ready." He said placing a paper bomb on top of the seal and taking off with the two.
Hurizen sighed and looked at Kakashi who looked away. 'Figured...' He thought and sighed. "Kakashi." He said, the man looked at him. "I don't care you met him before hand, I'm happy he fixed his relationship with Sasuke, but you should of at least told me." He said, the jounin stuttered and sighed.
"Yes sir. Sorry." He mumbled. 'Maybe you should of told us the truth too...' He thought bitterly.
The bomb began to hiss before exploding causing the bolder to crumble around.
"Let's go!" Mamoru snarled and launched into the cave running through the halls tracking Naru's scent with the others right behind them.
Naru cried brokenly as the chakra was pulled from her body slowly. She found herself sitting in pure white watching her memories but they slowly began to fade away. She watched as everything began to lose its color and fade to gray and black. 'I guess this is it...' She thought, a tear slid down her cheek. 'Sorry Saru, Moru, Ruka, Shika...' She thought and gulped. 'Sorry.' She whispered in her mind before she lost consciousness.
"It seems her heart is nearly stopped." Sasori said.
"And just in time, Itachi led them here." Zetsu piped up.
"Fine, split up, stop the ritual, we'll capture Kyuubi when he's reborn." Pein said.
They focused as the the blue dragons began to fade away just as the wall exploded and the teams rushed in throwing jutsu and weapons out. "Sasori administer the poison, we'll take her and go." Pein ordered.
Sasori nodded and jumped down as Naru's limp body hit the rock creating a small dent, a mechanical like tail pulled from his cloak and it stabbed into Naru's torso pouring a green liquid into her body.
A loud roar sounded as he looked up only to meet Mamoru's extended claws across his face knocking him clean back and into the air smashed into the wall. The snow leopard crouched over Naru rumbling before launching out at the man.
Papers shot up wrapping around Naru's body slowly but were stopped by kunai, Hurizen, and Jiraiya landed in front of Naru and shifted into a ready position staring Pein down.