Tsunade was sitting at her desk and going through the myriad of documents that were piled up on it. She heard someone knocking at the door and raised her head, “Come in!”
An ANBU ninja entered. “Hokage-sama,” he said in a worried voice, “the patrol just found the body of Kamiso Todoroki…”
“What? Where???” Tsunade stood up. Her face became somewhat pale.
“Not so far from the village. He has no wounds or anything like that… It looks like he was finished with a single blow and died from internal damage.”
“Impossible,” Tsunade almost whispered, “Kasimo Todoroki was Suna’s specialized military ninja. He was one of the best…”
“Not anymore,” the ANBU ninja sighed, “and it seems that he has been dead for at least a day…”
Tsunade’s eyes widened. “A day? This can’t be… he left Konoha this morning…”
“Yeah, it’s clear that he has been dead for a while,” Sakura said, examining the body that the ANBU ninja brought in the hospital, “most likely since yesterday afternoon.”
“I can see that,” Tsunade nodded slightly, “but it makes no sense. How could he possibly be dead since yesterday if he arrived yesterday? Unless…” she clenched he firsts, “…I was tricked with a simple transformation jutsu…but that means… Sakura, I must go!!”
She ran out of the room as Sakura watched her, stunned. “What am I supposed to do with the body?” she yelled in few seconds, awakened from the shock, “ He is not from our village, and…Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-samaaa!!”
In the cave darkness, there were ninjas standing.
“Excellent,” Akatsuki Leader’s voice said, “it seems that everything is ready, right, Deidara?”
“Indeed,” Deidara said, “with the scroll that Zetsu sneaked for us, I was able to make a beautiful work of art… the ANBU will be surprised…deadly surprised…” he gave few evil chuckles.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just leave the hideout while we still can. According to their plan, we still have more than half a day before they start the maneuvers. And don’t forget that Suna military will be here, too. And as far as them, we know nothing,” Itachi muttered.
“Itachi, are you intended to run away again?” Deidara asked sarcastically, “You have proven several times to be good at it…”
“I definitely couldn’t care less about what the jutsu artist says,” Itachi said indifferently, “but if you haven’t figured out yet, I’m not being cowardly, I’m being smart…”
“Both of you, cut it out,” Akatsuki Leader sounded annoyed, “no one said we are going to fight… we will leave the hideout before they attack. I bet they don’t know about out secret tunnel. However, we won’t just leave. We will also kill all the ANBU. Deidara’s hard work with setting up the traps will pay off.”
“Those aren’t just the traps, they are work of art,” Deidara said ironically.
“Oh, geez,” Itachi mumbled and walked away.
“Come in!” Tsunade said, standing beside her table.
The door opened and Anko entered. “You called, Tsunade-sama?”
“Have you ever heard of Kamiso Todoroki?” Tsunade asked and looked at her.
Anko shook her head ‘no.’
“He was an excellent specialized military ninja from Suna. His extraordinary memory abilities made him great for receiving and carrying information. With one glance he could memorize almost anything to the very last detail. He was supposed to come yesterday to take a look at the plan-scroll according to which ANBU was supposed to attack one of the Akatsuki bases on the far north of the River Country. Jiraiya has done a high-quality investigation in regards to that matter. He made a very good map of the area, and the Akatsuki seem to have been residing there for quite a while already. This information allowed us to design a plan. Kazekage Gaara was supposed to provide us with a military support as well to make sure that Akatsuki are eliminated. Kamiso Todoroki was expected to deliver our plans to Gaara so he could structure his military group accordingly… and the plan-scroll had everything: designated locations, directions for each squad and even time of the attack…”
“So, what is my mission?” Anko asked.
“I wasn’t finished,” Tsunade sighed, “I said that Kamiso Todoroki ‘was’ a good ninja… that’s because he was found dead… it looked as if he didn’t even fight back… he was just killed… with one attack…”
“But you just said he was an ‘excellent’ one… ” Anko looked at Tsunade, “how was that possible then for him to die like that?”
“I know no more than you do…”
“So, anyway, how does that relate to my task?”
Tsunade looked straight in Anko’s face. “According to the medical examination, Kamiso Todoroki was killed yesterday few hours after noon. But…” she paused, “that was the time when I saw him…alive…”
“Transformation…” Anko said.
“Precisely so…someone first killed and then impersonated him. I was fooled. But whoever that someone was, he or she left shortly after he arrived yesterday… and today after the ANBU delivered the bad news to me, I found out that the plan-scroll was missing… Kamiso Todoroki wound have never taken it… he just didn’t need it…”
“So, what do you need me to do?” Anko asked.
“Obviously, not to retrieve the scroll,” Tsunade smirked, “first of all because it is dangerous, considered how easily Todoroki was killed, and secondly, the scroll has probably already gotten to where it was expected. But if this is the case, I can’t let ANBU commence the operation. Now that the plan is exposed, Akatsuki will know about every move that was planned. They can either fight back or just escape. Our only hope was to take them by surprise. Anko, I want you to travel to the current location of this ANBU squad,” she circled a specific location on a small map that she pulled from one of her drawers, “and tell them that the mission is called off. You don’t have to explain any details. After you deliver the information, I want you to just turn back and leave. No further actions are needed from you.”
“Understood,” Anko nodded.
“But you need to hurry up. You must get there before the operation begins, “which should happen at exactly 5 p.m.” Tsunade said.
“So, I have a little more than six hours… ”
“Will you be able to do that?” Tsunade asked.
“This is a close call… to cover such a distance in six hours… but, I should be fine…”
“All right then, off you go!”
Anko nodded again and turned to leave.
“Anko,” Tsunade called her.
“Huh?” Anko stopped but didn’t turn.
Tsunade sighed. “I don’t believe that you can encounter any danger on your way… but still, be careful…”
“Am I ever not?” Anko paused for a moment and then walked away.
She met an ANBU ninja on her way out. There appeared to be some awkwardness for a moment as Anko was standing in the doorway and the ANBU ninja was trying to enter the room. Realizing that this wouldn’t work, he stepped backwards and let her out. Then he entered the room and closed the door behind him. Anko stopped to listen to the upcoming conversation.
“Did you find out anything?” Tsunade’s voice asked.
“Not a thing… we searched the area around the village three times. If the one who killed Kamiso Todoroki were still around – we would have found him,” the ANBU ninja’s voice answered.
“I’m not surprised… no matter how hard we try – we will never be able to gain enough control of what is happening in the village. I’m very sure that even at this very moment we have spies from Akatsuki in the village.”
“We are doing what we can… the security level has increased after…”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” Tsunade’s voice sounded rough, “because with your so-called increased security level Kamiso Todoroki was killed just few hundred meters away from our village. This area is supposed to be patrolled. What am I going to say to Kazekage Gaara about this incident? Something like, ‘Kazekage Gaara, the incompetence of our ANBU allowed your ninja to be killed, and the operation that has been planned perfectly needed to be canceled?’”
“It’s not entirely our fault,” the ANBU ninja’s voice sounded frustrated.
“I don’t need to hear this… I put trust in you… just make sure it won’t happen again… I will deal with Kazekage Gaara myself, and Mitarashi Anko will deliver the message to ANBU that is currently in position in the River Country, and the operation will be terminated.” Tsunade’s voice said.”
“Did you send her alone?”
“Why not? At the moment I trust her more than I trust ANBU. You are dismissed…”
“Yes, Tsunade-sama!”
Anko went down the hall and then downstairs. She didn’t need to pack. She was used to carrying soldier pills with her all the time. She would probably need them, because it could be really hard to get to the designated location in six hours – it usually took eight or even ten hours for such a trip. There was supposed to be no time for breaks. She looked at the sky. At least, the weather was nice. Walking out of the gates, she noted that there were no guards on duty.
“And they talk about increased security,” she said to herself and smirked.
As she disappeared from sight, heading towards her objective, Zetsu appeared from underground on the side of the road.
“So, that’s how it is,” he grinned, “they figured out at the last moment. How unfortunate. It might mess up everything. I’d better report that.”
He took a small piece of parchment from the fold of his coat and scribbled something on it. Then he bit his thumb and performed summoning on his hand. A small bird appeared. Zetsu carefully rolled up the parchment and tied it to the bird’s leg. An almost invisible grass started growing from his hand, and the bird stared pecking on it. When it was done feeding, it took off and quickly flew in the direction in which Anko just disappeared. Zetsu borrowed underground again, and the soil around returned to the state in which it was before – just as if nothing ever happened there.
Gaara, Kankuro and Baki were in the main room. All three were silent.
“It makes no sense,” Kankuro finally said, “Todoroki was supposed to be here no later than this morning. The operation starts soon, and we still don’t know anything about Konoha’s military allocation and their planned maneuvers. How are we supposed to perform ours if we agreed to cooperate?”
“Todoroki won’t come,” Gaara said indifferently, looking at the window.
“What??” Kankuro approached him, “what do you mean he won’t come?”
Baki sighed. “What Gaara-sama is trying to say is that Todoroki is probably…”
“Dead…” Gaara turned around, “he is dead… a ninja like Todoroki has only one reason to fail his mission… and that is being killed…”
“How can you say that, Gaara?” Kankuro raised his voice considerably.
“Has he ever failed?” Gaara walked by Kankuro, not looking at him.
“No, but…”
“Here’s your answer,” Gaara raised his hand, signaling that he wants to hear nothing more from Kankuro. “Baki,” he said, “assemble the designated military squads. We are departing now if we want to make it in time.”
“But Gaara-sama, how are we supposed to… and we don’t even have here Temari since she went back to Konoha with Shikamaru… Temari would be a good help is such a situation… ”
“Just do it…we know the approximate location of the current Akatsuki hideout. We will just have to search a little. Even if we run into it, there will be nothing bad about that. Moreover, I’m sure we can take them down by themselves. It really seems to me that we’re making a big deal about it. Akatsuki are just ninja criminals, that’s all…”
“But what of those ninja criminals actually killed…”
“Shut it, Baki…” Gaara sounded a little angry, “I know that he killed me… you don’t have to remind me … and the fact that she gave her life for me…and now that Shukaku is gone I feel relieved… but I know some people think that I’m weak now and don’t deserve to be Kazekage…”
“Kazekage-sama…” Baki lowered his head.
“Gaara, you know that it’s not true,” Kankuro said, frustrated.
“Not for you… not for Temari or Baki… but I know that some people think that…” Gaara paused, “…so, anyway, Baki, gather the squads. We’re leaving.”
“Yes, Gaara-sama” Baki nodded his head and disappeared.
“Gaara, are you going to lead the military again?” Kankuro asked, “You know you have nothing to prove…”
“I’m not trying to prove anything… I just want to participate…I am the leader, am I not?” Gaara turned to him.
“Yeah, but…”
“But nothing… get ready, Kankuro, we are leaving soon.”
Kankuro mumbled something of little importance and disappeared.
“It has been about two hours since I’m being on the move,” Anko thought as she advanced further and further into the forest, getting closer to the border, “and I must admit: this is a pretty weird location for a hideout: north of the River Country; Ame (*Rain*) is further north, Suna is south-west and Konoha is on the east – Akatsuki are really playing with fire here. Their location is surrounded by shinobi villages. I wonder why they chose it. Probably, because it is, indeed, surrounded, it is quite unexpected to find it here.”
She put a soldier pill in her mouth. “Yuck, I always hated these… but I have exhausted all my strength moving so fast non-stop. I’m almost half way there. ”
Deidara went outside the cave and looked at the Sun, figuring out the time. “Nice,” he smiled, “just in a little while my art will show its true power. Huh?”
A little bird approached him and landed on his shoulder. “Another news from Zetsu,” Deidara untied the piece of parchment from the bird’s leg. The bird disappeared. Deidara read the note and smirked. “How interesting…this might screw up everything…let’s see what he thinks about it…” He walked through a fissure in the wall that led to an open space inside the mountain.
“What is it, Deidara?” the Akatsuki Leader asked.
“Some news from Zetsu,” Deidara handed the parchment to him.
The Akatsuki Leader glanced at the note. “So, they figured out… Mitarashi Anko…”
“Wasn’t she Orochimaru’s very first lab rat?” Tobi spoke.
“Mitarashi Anko?” Itachi’s voice asked from the corner, “Yeah, she was the one. But as far as being Orochimaru’s lab rat, she turned out somewhat satisfactory as a ninja.”
Deidara chuckled. “Oh, please… you’re just saying that because she beat the hell out of you…”
“Shut up, Deidara,” Kisame’s angry voice said from the side, “you know as well as we do that she encountered us severely weakened. That Jataiya Sataku was pretty good. But if it weren’t for her – he would have died. I was going to fight her, but in my condition I would have lost. She also tried to use that Cursed Seal that Orochimaru put on her. It was clear that she has never used it before, but even with that being the case her chakra seemed to have increased a lot. The smartest choice for us at that time was to retreat.”
“So, anyway,” Deidara pretended not to listen to what Kisame said, “are we going to do something about her? She might spoil everything…”
“If you’re so eager,” Akatsuki Leader said, “then you will be the one to it… take the secret tunnel and prevent her meeting the ANBU.”
“Let me go instead,” Itachi came out of the corner.
“Itachi, what’s wrong?” Deidara sniggered, “do you still hold the grudge against her?”
“Someday I will make you shut up forever,” Itachi’s voice was calm and indifferent. “No wonder you were paired up with Sasori most of the times. He had a high degree of patience. If you were paired up with me, I would have killed you…”
“You can settle down your preferences on your way there,” Akatsuki Leader broke their conversation, “because you’re going together. Itachi, Deidara, make sure she doesn’t reach the ANBU. We can’t let everything to get ruined right now.”
“One thing I don’t understand,” Itachi came forward, “is why Zetsu himself didn’t kill her.”
“Because I gave him the directions not to do anything but gather information. It’s true that I ordered him to kill Kamiso Todoroki and then use his appearance to steal the plan-scroll, but this was an exceptional case. Zetsu is a spy and is supposed to stay one. Thanks to him and other ninja who work under him for us, we have a network of spies that extends trough all the shinobi villages, including Kirigakure (*Hidden Mist*). That way no matter what each of them plans – we are always two steps ahead. But anyway, both of you must hurry up. She must not interfere with our plans.”
“Understood,” Itachi said and passed Deidara on his way to the secret tunnel. “Try making fun of me again, and I will kill you,” he mumbled in a half voice so only Deidara could hear.
Deidara smirked in the darkness. “I wonder if his younger brother Sasuke is as cocky as if he is…I’d really like to meet him,” he thought and followed Itachi into the tunnel.
Gaara and the Suna military were approaching the River Country border.
“But I don’t understand,” Kankuro said, “without the scroll from Hokage-sama we don’t know anything: location of the Akatsuki hideout, position of the Konoha ANBU squads… nothing…”
“But we do know the time, don’t we? That’s more than enough,” Gaara said indifferently, “just as I said, we will spread out and search. In fact, we shall start now.” He raised his hand and the military stopped behind him.
“Here’s a plan,” Gaara said, “me and Kankuro will make a loop to the south-east, and Baki and the rest will spread out all over the area. There is no point in going too far north, because that’s where Amegakure is located. Akatsuki would never reside too close to a shinobi village, even to a weak one like Ame. So, anyway, our goal is to find either Akatsuki or Konoha ANBU.”
“But Gaara-sama,” Baki said in a worried voice, “you and Kankuro are going to be separated from the rest of us… are you sure you can handle the Akatsuki if you find them?”
Gaara’s lips pressed together tightly. “I thought you believed in me…”
“But Gaara-sama, we have the military and…”
“So, that’s what you think?” Gaara turned away, “We need the military to take down few criminals because I’m not strong anymore…”
“Gaara, he wasn’t…” Kankuro started. Gaara signed him to shut up.
“The only point of bringing the military along,” he said, “is to ensure that Akatsuki don’t flee… and large number of people makes it more possible… the military is not here because I’m weak and can’t do it myself. I told you before that I know what people think about me now that I have lost Shukaku. Well, it’s not true… without him I became even stronger…come Kankuro…”
“Hey, Gaara, wait up!” Kankuro awoke from the shock and followed him.
Baki and the others were stunned still, watching them both disappearing from the sight. Baki managed to come out of trance first. “You heard Kazekage-sama!” he yelled angrily, “Spread out and continue moving!”
The rest of Akatsuki were still resting in the darkness.
“Tell me,” Tobi’s voice said, apparently addressing Akatsuki Leader, “there was a reason you sent them both to take Mitarashi Anko out, right?”
“But at first he only planned to send Deidara,” Kisame’s voice said.
“That’s because I knew that Itachi’s self-esteem won’t let him pass on that,” Akatsuki Leader spoke, “but also…Mitarashi Anko was Orochimaru’s apprentice once… and as far as I know Orochimaru, he has no interest in weaklings… I don’t know her real strength… but I suspect that she might be too much for either Deidara or Itachi alone, even given the fact that they are currently at their full power.”
“Do you suspect she’s that strong?” Kisame sounded surprised.
“With just her own powers, maybe or maybe not… but that Cursed Seal of hers… I have some understanding of how it works, but I’m not sure… what I’m sure about, however, is the fact that Orochimaru’s inventions were never to be taken lightly.”
“Yeah, I have never seen such thing before,” Kisame said after a pause, “back then her chakra seemed abnormally powerful when she unleashed the Seal…”
“So, are you sure, then, that together they will take her out?” Tobi asked Akatsuki Leader
“Nothing can be said for sure,” the voice belonged to the ninja who has been silent all this time.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kisame asked.
“Well, you can’t be sure of anything until it actually happens, right?”
The ninja’s toughness was seen very well, unlike the blue hair that appeared gray in almost full darkness.
“That’s why we are leaving now,” Akatsuki leader said.
“We still have an hour,” Kisame pointed out, “it doesn’t matter if we leave now or wait a little.”
“It actually does… we had too much luck getting that plan-scroll… we have a chance to show once more that we’re not to be taken lightly. But now there is a chance that everything could get screwed. ” Akatsuki Leader turned and went towards the entrance of the secret tunnel.
Interesting,” Kisame thought, “he sent both Itachi and Deidara, and he is still worried…” he followed the Akatsuki Leader into the cave, silently. The blue-haired ninja and Tobi did the same.
“I’m close,” Anko said to herself, “and I will be one time.”
“Yeah, you wish,” a voice from the side said and a powerful explosion threw Anko away.
She landed on her feet and looked around, trying to figure out who attacked her. The smoke from the explosion was blocking the view. From the smoke, a weird bird flew towards Anko. She realized that something was wrong, jumped back, and threw several kunai at it, not aiming. One of the kunai targeted the bird, and another explosion resulted. Since Anko was pretty far away from it, she didn’t get hurt. Then she saw a human silhouette coming from the smoke. Few moments later Deidara appeared with an evil smile on his face.
“Sorry, I can’t let you go any further, or you will mess up my presentation!” he let off two more birds from his hands.
Anko jumped back again, producing two Bunshin. The two birds blasted into them, and the ground shook from the combined explosion. Anko was thrown back, covering her face, and still managed to land on her feet.
“What strange explosives he uses,” she thought.
Deidara approached her, and the wicked smirk was not leaving his face. “I heard from certain someone that that Cursed Seal of yours gives you some incredible powers… I want to see them… I can’t have you dodging my birds all the time, because one will eventually hit you, and then – BOOM!” he laughed. “But this isn’t going to be much fun. So, go on… let’s make it a little more interesting…”
“You are a lot like me,” Anko stood up straight and grinned back, “in terms of liking having fun. But here’s a problem. I don’t have much time to deal with you right now. I don’t understand the meaning of all this, but only the fact that you’re from Akatsuki gives me clues that the plan-scroll was not just taken into a consideration. Instead, it was used for something. Something you called ‘presentation’ earlier…”
Deidara’s smirk changed into a smile of satisfaction. “Yeah, a little presentation… because… you know… art needs to be appreciated… ”
Anko noticed that his hands had mouths, and one spit out a piece of something. Deidara rolled the sticky mass in his palms and created another bird. To Anko, it didn’t look the same as the others.
“Art?” she smirked, “that’s odd. You think too much of yourself…”
“Yeah, and that is just annoying sometimes,” another voice said from behind.
Anko shivered and quickly turned her head. “Uchiha Itachi,” she said with her teeth clenched.
“What’s wrong?” Itachi wondered, “Aren’t you glad to see me? You sure were the last time we met…but things are different now…this time you are the one who is outnumbered…”
“Argh, Itachi, did you have to ruin my fan? Now I will never see that power of the Cursed Seal…” Deidara grinned.
“Enough screwing around, Deidara,” Itachi said, “we’re just wasting time. One on one she might be strong, but together we don’t have to plan anything special. Just hurry up and finish her off… she won’t dodge this one…”
Only then Anko felt that she was fully paralyzed. She couldn’t move at all, and nor she could make a sound. “Those eyes,” she thought looking at Itachi’s eyes, unable to turn her head away.
“Itachi, you’re mean,” Deidara laughed, “but all right… at least you leave the pleasure of finishing her off to me…”
He let the bird fly off his hand, and then he brought his hands together to make a seal.
“I guess, this is it,” Anko thought, incapable of defending herself and watching the bird approach.
Suddenly, a mass of sand appeared before Anko and blocked the explosion. At the same time, Deidara’s legs were trapped by the sand from underground. As for Itachi, he had to dodge flying needles that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“You don’t act as tough as you did during the exams.”
Anko, having regained control of her muscles again, looked at the direction where the voice came from and smirked.
Gaara was standing there, with his hand lifted up. Kankuro was close by, having two puppets released on both sides. The sand completely covered Deidara’s body and made a cocoon so that only his face was seen. Itachi seemed rather interested in what was happening.
“Kazekage Gaara,” Anko smirked, “it actually feels quite good when I remember that I was your examiner once. The examiner of future Kazekage…”
“Kasimo Todoroki is dead, right?” Gaara seemed to have ignored everything she said.
“Yeah,” she sighed, “and the plan-scroll was stolen… and the Akatsuki have already set up a trap… otherwise they wound not be trying to stop me from preventing ANBU’s operation. I still have no idea how they found out, though… But I do know that they are planning something big…”
“It sure looks like it,” Gaara said and approached Deidara who was levitating in the air, trapped in the sand cocoon. Gaara glanced at him and then looked at Anko again. “You must go. The plan is about to commence and Konoha military has no clue what has been prepared for them. On the other hand, neither do we…”
“Are you going to be okay here?” Anko asked.
“Of course,” Kankuro sounded uplifted, “this will be much fun… just hurry up!”
She turned her head to him and imitated the statement she said back then during the Chuunin exams, “Just don’t die!”
“You think you can just leave?” Itachi appeared before Anko. He focused his sight and looked in her eyes. They seemed lifeless. The skin on her face started cracking. Itachi was able to dodge her strike at the last moment. He noted that there was a needle sticking from her hand. He glanced at Kankuro and saw that he had only one puppet near him.
“Truly impressive,” Itachi said to Kankuro, “it took you so little time for you to follow up her plan of deceiving me. She used your puppet as a substitution, making it possible for herself to leave and allowing you to attack me unexpectedly.”
“Yeah, it was quite a sharp decision,” Kankuro smirked, “but you have a nice reaction yourself. If that poisonous needle even touched your skin – you would die very soon after. I must admit, you are a worthy opponent.”
“You must be a fool if you think you can beet me with these toys,” Itachi said indifferently.
“I’ll show you toys!” Kankuro yelled and waved his hands, making the two puppets attack at once.
Gaara approached even closer so he could see Deidara’s face. Deidara smirked.
“Honestly saying, I didn’t expect to see you ever again, Kazekage Gaara.”
“The expectations are not always met,” Gaara said apathetically. He waved his fingers a little, and the sand cocoon followed the movements.
Deidara’s face showed no changes even though he felt pain from the sand pressing against his body in different areas. ”You are pretty mad at me, isn’t that so, Kazekage Gaara?”
“I would really have my self-esteem dropped down to zero if I were mad at scum like you. I will make it quick… Sabaku Sōsō!” Gaara clenched his fist.
The sand cocoon collapsed inwards, pressing against Deidara’s body. A moment later, a powerful explosion followed.
“Gaara!” Kankuro yelled, terrified. Because he had to glance over his shoulder, he briefly lost control of his puppets, making them vulnerable. Itachi used the situation to dash at the closer one and smashed it with one blow. The pieces scattered all around.
“Now your powers are only half of what they were,” Itachi smirked, “because puppeteers are only considered ninja when they have their puppets. And when I destroy the second one, you will just go back to being a normal person.”
“It’s possible,” Kankuro said, “but now that you actually destroyed one of them, I can devote my whole attention to the other one. So, I can totally concentrate on my attacks now.”
As he made a slight, almost undetectable motion with his fingers, and an arm from the broken puppet rose up into the air behind Itachi.
The smoke settled down. Gaara was standing at the exact location where he was before the explosion. There was a hemisphere of sand in front of him. It started disintegrating slowly. Deidara was standing further ahead, grinning.
“You were able to create a substitution in such a situation,” Gaara said, “and not just a substitution. It was an explosive one. You gathered enough of that clay from those hands of yours…”
“My art never fails…” Deidara smirked, “and you know what… when I kill you… I will add your sand to the clay powder while making it. Sand and clay are similar chemically… so, it’s not that adding sand will change anything a great deal…but it will be my trophy… the clay powder with the sand that was once used by Gaara of the Desert, the Kazakage! Sound pretty cool, don’t you think?”
“I think you talk too much,” Gaara sighed, annoyed, “I will just have to make you sink in the sand in order to make you shut up.” He pressed his hands together. “Ryūsa Bakuryū!” An enormous amount of sand started building before Gaara and then rushed towards Deidara.
“Wow, Gaara must be having lots of fun,” Kankuro glanced back and saw the sand avalanche destroying everything on its way.
“Are we going to just stand here?” Itachi said, irritated, “Because I can’t waste too much time on you… I still need to catch up to her and kill her…”
“Don’t get your hopes too high,” Kankuro smirked. He moved his fingers yet so slightly, and the arm from the broken puppet moved closer to Itachi’s back.
“It’s pointless,” Itachi turned around in a blink of an eye and grabbed the puppet arm that was moving slowly towards him. The poisonous needle stopped right before his chest.
“Impossible!” Kankuro waved his hands, forcing the puppet arm into Itachi’s torso.
Itachi didn’t appear struggling at all while he pulled the puppet arm away from his body, and then he reached with his other hand and broke it in half. “I told you it was pointless,” he said, “my Sharingan can detect any movements… even the slightest one, like the ones you did…you use hands to control your puppets… since the other puppet was motionless while you were moving your fingers, it gave it all away. And that makes you seem even weaker… you can’t engage in an active fight, because you won’t be able to control your puppets quickly enough. Instead, you look for a possibility to sneak on the back and use a cheap killing method like poisonous spikes. Puppeteers are stealthy ones… the worst kind of ninja…”
“You had one in Akatsuki, too, isn’t that so?” Kankuro yelled angrily.
“Oh, yeah… we did,” Itachi smirked, “Sasori of the Red Sand… and he was three times a puppeteer you are… and yet he was the first of us to die… it only proves that he was weak…”
“I will prove that your opinion about puppeteers is a serious misconception!” Kankuro raised his hands, causing his puppet to be lifted in the air. He then the quickly performed seals and the puppet started bombarding the area with balls of toxic gas.
The waves of sand were charging at Deidara while he tried to escape, leaping backwards again and again. He soon realized that he wouldn’t make it away safely if he continued doing that.
Gaara stared at the scene with his usual expression of confidence and indifference. Deidara appeared raising above the sand, sitting on a big white bird.
“I’m starting to like this game,” Deidara smirked.
“You are so predictable…” Gaara muttered.
“Huh?” Deidara saw sand pebbles falling from the sky all around. He looked up and saw a huge sand cloud above.
“Now you have nowhere to escape. I know you might have believed that the amount of sand I could use was supposed to match the volume of this gourd. This is not true… I can use as much sand as I like, as long as I have enough chakra to control it. But you have probably figured out that already … the sand is underneath… the sand is above… no matter where you fly off to – you can’t avoid it… and just to make sure you can’t get away this time…” he moved his arms in the air.
Two gigantic arms grew from the sand cloud and grabbed Deidara by the arms. At the same time, two sand arms from underneath captured his legs. Yet another sand arm grasped on the bird and pulled it downward, burying it in the sand. Deidara appeared being held in the air, unable to make a move. He looked at the sand cloud above him as its center began to bulge upward. Simultaneously, the sand beneath started forming a bowl-like structure. The edges of the cloud and the ‘bowl’ met and blended together, forming a gigantic sphere of sand around Deidara. Desperately struggling to get away, in full darkness, he already felt his death approaching. “I can’t believe it…my art failed,” he whispered.
“Did I get him?” Kankuro thought, looking around but not seeing Itachi, “He couldn’t have escaped from that… all the area was covered in gas completely… ” His eyes widened as he suddenly felt a presence of another chakra behind him.
“No puppeteer will ever pose a threat to me,” Itachi smacked Kankuro on the back with all his strength.
Kankuro’s body broke apart, turning into pieces of his puppet, while he himself was standing right where his puppet was before.
Itachi smirked. “You’ve managed to save your life… but guess what… now you are powerless… you have nothing to use against me…”
“It’s quite the contrary,” Kankuro waved his hands, “because now I have a lot more than when we just started. They are much less sophisticated and thus require little concentration in order to be controlled, allowing me to use them all at once!”
Itachi jumped backward as one of the legs from the broken puppet near him tried to pierce his guts. At the same time he saw all the other parts lifting in the air, each one releasing a venomous needle.
“Pretty impressive…what a massive weaponry,” Itachi watched them spreading further apart and around him.
“I figured out that using a single unit against you is pointless. I’m curious how you will be able to handle as many as this…” Kankuro smirked.
“Just a little more,” Anko thought, “according to the map, one of the ANBU groups should be close. I’m glad that this area is still a forest. Using trees if far more efficient than just plain running. I will be in time for sure.” In a routine manner she was leaping from one three branch onto another. She suddenly felt no support as if she missed the next tree; it caused her to lose her balance, and she had to land on the ground feet first. “What a hell was that?” she said to herself, looking back, “I couldn’t miss that tree. Huh? Where is it?” She could swear that a moment ago there was one.
“Mind tricks are quite interesting, aren’t they?”
Anko looked in the direction from which the voice came from and smirked. “Another one? I must be popular, because you’re the third Akatsuki who is eager to fight me today. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s up with weird face? Can you even see?”
“That doesn’t concern you, girl. You are too young to be so arrogant,” Tobi (of course, it was him) said, approaching her, “oh, and by the way, you said something about fighting. Fighting is when you and me are able to harm each other. This will not be the case. What I’m about to give you could be rather called a ‘beating.’ And then I will probably kill you. Or, perhaps, I won’t… I shall see when the time comes… ”
Anko suddenly found herself standing in a lake of molten lava. “Kai!” – the illusion disappeared, and the first this she saw was Tobi’s face right in front of hers. He kicked her in the guts with the knee, and as her upper body leaned forward, he unleashed a powerful uppercut, causing her to retreat few steps. And before she could defend herself, Tobi charged at her at his full speed, crashing into her chest with his shoulder first. She backed up few more steps, and blood started dripping from her mouth.
“Genjutsu and taijutsu,” she smirked, “what a troublesome combination…”
Tobi didn’t answer. Suddenly, countless kunai knives appeared from nowhere, aiming to target Anko. “Kai!” - the all the kunai faded. She realized that she took too much time, and Tobi has already relocated himself, and then she felt his presence behind her. She swung her body on the side, and avoided getting punched on the back of the head, but did not escape it completely – the blow targeted her shoulder. She turned and tried to counterattack.
“Not fast enough,” Tobi caught her leg and kicked her in the chest, setting her flying few meters away. She hit a tree on her way and smashed into it. She felt pain and dizziness at the same time as she fell down on the ground face first. She raised her body on the elbow and saw his feet in front of her face.
“I’m guessing this is it,” he said.
“Now you die,” Gaara said and pressed his hands together. The gigantic sand ball shrunk in size a little. Gaara felt resistance and forced the hands together tightly. It seemed to have little effect. Moreover, instead of shrinking, the sand ball started expanding again. Eventually, fissures appeared all around it. Gaara glanced on the side and saw a blue-haired ninja in Akatsuki outfit. The ninja spread hands outward and the sand ball broke apart completely. Deidara was still being held by four sand arms. The blue-haired Akatsuki made cutting movements with the hands and the sand arms got bisected horizontally. Deidara started falling, but somehow landed on the ground smoothly, feet first.
“It seems that I’m just in time,” the blue-haired ninja smirked, “Deidara, it looks that this time Kazekage Gaara was too much for you… which is actually pretty weird, because last time he still had Shukaku… ”
“Shut up!” Deidara said angrily.
“Don’t be mad… just accept that your art can fail, too… I will take care of him for you,” the blue-haired Akatsuki turned to Gaara. “And I’m going to enjoy that…”
Gaara directed two streams of sand at the blue-haired ninja, but they were blocked by the wind that suddenly appeared.
“Interesting…” Gaara said.
“It is, indeed,” the ninja smirked, “I’m pretty sure you have already figured out the trick. I control air currents pretty much the same way you control sand. Just as you mold chakra into sand and carry it in the gourd behind your back, I can mix my chakra with some volume of air. You have probably heard that chakra disappears as soon as it is released in the air. That’s a common misunderstanding. Chakra can exist, being molded into a medium. And believe it or not, even air can be used as one. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to mold chakra in the air, but it comes with a reward: you use sand as a medium, so you have to always have you gourd with you. One the other hand, air is found everywhere, which is far more convenient. And believe me, with good skill, the destructive power of air isn’t any less than that of your sand… ”
“So, what you’re saying is that because the sand ball was hollow inside and contained mostly air, you were able to break it, increasing the pressure on the inside and at the same time making sure your comrade doesn’t get crushed.” Gaara said indifferently.
“They didn’t make you Kazekage for nothing, I guess,” the blue-haired ninja grinned, “but it doesn’t matter. After this day you will be remembered as the only person who was killed twice; and both time by the Akatsuki.”
“We will just have to see about that, ” Gaara made grasping movements with his hands, simultaneously producing gigantic arms from the sand that attacked the blue-haired Akatsuki. The ninja created a whirlwind. It clashed into the sand arms, and they grabbed it. Gaara pressed his hands together, and the pressure of the sand arms caused the whirlwind to disorganize and eventually disappear.
“I see… how pathetic…no matter what you say, air still can’t compare with the sand, no matter how dense it is” Gaara said, “and the only reason you broke my sand ball was the fact that you used the force I applied in a combination with your own…”
The blue-haired Akatsuki clenched teeth. “Argh… darn it! Brat, you are quite smart…”
“That makes me feel better,” Deidara sniggered.
“Shut up, Deidata! I’m not done yet!” the blue-haired ninja yelled angrily, “let’s see how he deals with this!!”
Gaara found himself being in the center of a huge tornado, and its edges were moving closer and closer inward, threatening to tear him apart any second.
All around Itachi, the parts of the broken puppets were levitating in the air, each one having a deadly needle. Kankuro waved his hands, and all of them dashed at Itachi. He vanished and appeared behind Kankuro. Kankuro lowered his head as a puppet arm with a needle sticking from it flew over, heading towards Itachi’s scull. When it pierced his head, he melted.
“A substitution,” Kankuro thought, “you won’t get away that easily. Where are you?”
Itachi appeared on the tree, and Kankuro attacked him. Itachi jumped further away and was attacked again.
“You can’t escape them all!” Kankuro yelled while sending his weapons at every spot where Itachi kept relocating. Suddenly, Itachi disappeared from sight and materialized right in front of Kankuro.
“You are mine now,” he thought as his Mangekyou Sharingan met Kankuro’s eyes. “No way… this lifeless look again…”
Kankuro made a weird smile and creaked. His arms suddenly extended tree times the normal length and tightened around Itachi, incapacitating him of any movement.
“You are about to be defeated by a puppeteer,” Kankuro came out of the shadow created by a tree nearby, “something you were denying a while ago.”
“You… you had three puppets…” Itachi turned his head to him and almost whispered, feeling shortness of breath, “but I didn’t see…”
“That’s because I only had two…. I have another one, but it’s currently in Suna… it needs as serious fix…” Kankuro said.
“Then how…?”
“You physically broke them both, trashing them into a whole bunch of pieces. First I deceived you, uniting all the parts together, making you think that I was going to use them all as simple weapons. But later on, while I was distracting you, I pulled away the parts from one puppet and glued them back together using my chakra. There was no way you could see that, because I can control my puppets and their parts at a fairly long distance, which allowed me do make the fix on the side. It is a temporary repair, of course, because I still have to control all the chakra, and if I run out, the puppet will fall apart again. But I don’t feel short on chakra right now. Also… you compared me with Sasori of the Red Sand… you said that he was tree times a puppeteer as I was. That might be true. He was strong. I know because I fought him. But he is dead… and I’m still alive… which means I can still surpass him…as for you,” Kankuro drew a kunai from his pocket, “the road ends here. I could have just made my puppet crush your spine, but this would take away the whole point. I will kill you myself… with this kunai…”
Kankuro threw the kunai, aiming at Itachi’s neck. Clang! - the kunai ricocheted of a broad weird-looking sword that suddenly appeared before Itachi’s body.
“That was a close one, Itachi-san,” Kisame said and swung Samehada, breaking the puppet’s arms and releasing Itachi from its grip.
“Kisame…” Itachi sounded as apathetic as always, “I thought you and the others were just going to leave us behind and wait for us at the …” he realized that Kankuro could hear everything and stopped talking.
“We were supposed to, Itachi-san,” Kisame kept staring at Kankuro, “but if it were the case – you would not be alive by now. The Leader wanted to make sure that everything goes as planned. And certainly, dealing with this freak was not planned.”
Kankuro smirked. “A freak? That’s a weird statement to hear from someone like you… look who’s talking…”
“Perhaps it’s you who talks too much,” Kisame made an evil grin, “and for that I’m going to decapitate you.”
“Hold on just a moment, Kisame” Itachi said, “this is not our objective, and you know that. He and Kazekage Gaara are backing up the real target – Mitrashi Anko. She was able to escape because me and Deidara had to engage in a fight with them… she is probably a short distance away from ANBU right now.”
Kisame sniggered. “Oh, no, Itachi-san… she might have been if she were able to pass Tobi… ”
“Tobi?”
“Yeah, he took a different route at the tunnel. Just in case Mitarashi Anko was to flee from you two somehow …”
“That changes everything…” Itachi fixed his hair that was partially covering his face and then looked at Kankuro, “I guess that means that you fought for nothing…”
Kankuro glared back it him. “You are stupid. Since you’re Akatsuki, fighting you is actually worth really much… and besides… your organization killed my brother… and even though he was revived, I still have a grudge against you… and it won’t go away unless you are all dead…”
Kisame laughed. “Such brave words… such foolish and false courage… you don’t realize that this is your last fight, do you? Hya!” he dashed at Kankuro, wielding Samehada and ready to strike.
Kankuro jumped aside while directing all the parts of the broken puppets at Kisame. Kisame suddenly started spinning very fast, holding Samehada along the side of his body. Kankuro’s weapons bounced off and scattered in different directions. Kankuro glanced at Itachi to check if he was still in place. To his surprise, Itachi was simply observing the fight.
“He is letting the other one battle me,” Kankuro thought, “and he seems pretty confident.”
“What’s wrong, puppet punk?” Kisame smirked, “if that was all you could do, then this fight will end quickly. Prepare yourself!” he made seals.
A thick fog appeared everywhere.
“How wicked,” Itachi thought, “killing an opponent who can’t see you… ”
“Sorry, but I must kill you now,” Tobi stepped on Anko’s hand, “I usually don’t kill weaklings, but…you see… you were about to ruin our plans… I can’t allow that…”
With her other hand, Anko reached for a kunai and swung as hard as she could, attempting to piece Tobi’s leg. At the next moment he was holding her neck with one hand and her arm with the kunai with the other. “Don’t even think about doing that, girl,” he grinned, looking at her face. Her other hand was still under his shoe. Her teeth were clenched from both pain and anger, but she was silent. The kunai dropped from her hand. A thin stream of blood was pouring from her mouth down to her neck and chest.
“You are quite pretty…” Tobi said, “and that makes it even harder to kill you…”
Anko grinned back. “Should I be flattered? Such a compliment from Akatsuki…”
“Not really… because that doesn’t change the fact of you being just a lab rat… Orochimaru’s first lab rat…”
Anko clenched teeth again. Tobi felt her struggling to free her arms. It felt unexpectedly powerful, and he had to start struggling as well in order to keep the situation under control. Then he saw violet glow on the left side of her neck, and black marks started spreading all over her body, showing up on her arms and face. At the same time Tobi felt Anko overpowering him. He had to retreat a step as she stood up on one knee, pushing him backwards. She freed her arm from under his shoe and grasped tightly on his wrist, pulling his hand away from her neck. Her nails pierced the flesh on his hand, and it started bleeding. As she stood up straight, she made Tobi completely release the grip on her neck. She jerked his arm towards herself really hard, causing him to lean, and then she gave him a hard punch, followed by a kick in the chest. As he backed away once more, she released his hand and punched him three times, and each punch caused his head to swing sideways wildly as if Anko concentrated her full power in it. In addition to unbearable pain from the blows, Tobi also felt shocked, seeing that sudden outburst of power and energy. He tried to block the next kick but it broke though, targeting his face. He felt dizzy but continued staying still.
“Not bad…” he said, “is that the true power of the Cursed Seal?”
Anko released four snakes from her hand and they tied him up tightly. She lifted him in the air and brought him closer to her. “No,” she said, “these are my own powers. As far as I know, the Cursed Seal doesn’t give any additional strength. It just allows me to unlock my potential completely. So what you seeing and feeling now is supposed to be my full power, if I’m ever to achieve this level. Argh…” she felt pain at the site of the Cursed Seal and covered it with her other hand.
“What’s wrong?” Tobi asked sarcastically, “can’t hold it for much longer, can you?”
“Nothing comes without a price, of course,” she said, breathing heavily, “I was told that the Seal is dangerous, and by allowing it to aid me in getting up to my full strength, I’m letting it possess my body, which causes its slow destruction. That’s why I have been restraining myself from using it all these years. This is the second time I had to… and I won’t let such drastic measures be wasted!”
With the help of her snakes she threw him away, into the tree behind him. He felt his back crashing into it, and the next thing he saw was Anko’s fist right in front of his face. Then came a blackout.
Anko dropped on her knee as Tobi fell face first beside her. The curse marks started disappearing slowly, moving back into the Cursed Seal.
“That’s what you might call a ‘beating’,” she said, knowing that he won’t hear a thing. She felt severely weakened and reached for a soldier pill. “It’s not over yet,” she said to herself, “my mission still continues…”
“He has probably gotten sliced inside,” the blue-haired Akatsuki said, looking at the tornado that was ravaging the area around.
“You are underestimating him,” Deidara smirked, “he can’t be taken down that easily.”
“Am I? Let’s see if you are right…”
The tornado disappeared.
“Heh, just as I expected,” Deidara sniggered.
“No way…” the blue-haired Akatsuki muttered, seeing a ball of sand right where Gaara was standing before. At the same time, the sand started forming something right above sand ball. That something eventually turned into a huge eyeball.
“The Third Eye,” Deidara said.
“Don’t make a fool out of me, Deidara,” the blue-haired Akatsuki sounded annoyed, “I know what this is… that brat is being concealed inside the sand ball that protects him, and the Third Eye allows him to see everything that is happening…”
“Watch out!” Deidara yelled.
The blue-haired Akatsuki leaped in the air just in time to avoid getting caught by the sand from underneath. The sand continued chasing after and attacking again and again, but the ninja kept blocking it with the wind shield.
“Well, this is going nowhere,” Deidara thought, “their jutsu are analogous to one another. There is no point in continuing. But with some minor adjustments… Hey!” he yelled to the blue-haired Akatsuki, “Use these!”
He threw few clay balls in the air. The blue-haired ninja navigated them, using his wind, directly into the Third Eye. The explosion shredded the eyeball into sand pebbles. They started gathering back together.
“He can’t see us now!” Deidara yelled, throwing many clay balls in the air, “this sand shell can be broken, I’ve done that before!”
The blue-haired Akatsuki caught the clay balls in the wind stream and carried them to the sand ball. A cascade of explosions shook the ground.
“This should have gotten rid off him. He is quite pathetic… I thought he has learned something from last time…” Deidara smirked.
“As a matter of a fact, I thought exactly the same thing about you…” Gaara’s voice said from behind.
Deidara and the blue-haired Akatsuki turned around at once. Gaara was standing there, quickly making seals, and a sand avalanche was rising before his feet. It rushed ahead, destroying everything on its way and eventually covering the Akatsuki. Gaara lowered on his knees and touched the sand with his hands, “Sabaku Taisō!”
As the destructive waves subsided, Gaara stood up. He looked around, searching for Kankuro. “I didn’t even notice when we got separated,” he said to himself, “he might be in trouble… the fact that Akatsuki sent reinforcements to help Deidara can also mean that Kankuro might also have two opponents right now. I wonder if that weird mist over there has to do with anything…” he looked at where the forest was beginning and headed that way.
“A puppeteer without a puppet, what a pathetic outcome!” Kankuro heard Kisame’s voice from somewhere in the mist.
Not knowing where his enemy was, Kankuro gathered all the parts of the two broken puppets and forced them in random directions, hoping to target Kisame accidentally.
“Useless,” he heard Kisame’s voice again, this time from a different location.
“Kisame is having his way with that brat,” Itachi thought, “I always wondered what was that jutsu of his… the jutsu that even my Sharingan can’t see through… Kirikagure must have some sort of a secret to it…”
“He can be anywhere,” Kankuro thought, “but it’s not good enough…” He suddenly saw a sand shield appearing in the air before him, and at the same time Gaara came to him from the mist.
“Found you… What’s going on here?” he asked.
“It’s that Akatsuki… the one from Kirigakure… you must know… we have few records on him…” Kankuro said.
“Hoshigake Kisame… I see… I could have guessed…that weird mist… he is trying to conceal his movements and sneak attack on an opponent…”
“Pretty much like me,” Kankuro smirked.
“There is but one difference,” Gaara sounded very serious, “in your case both of you can see each other…but here…only he can see us…and what makes it even worse, I’m almost out of chakra…”
“Now that you mentioned it… does that mean you killed Deidara?” Kankuro asked.
“I suppose so… the only person I knew who survived that attack was… never mind,” Gaara looked around, seeing nothing but thick fog, “we can’t do anything in a situation like this… but just waiting to be attacked is not a wise choice… let’s try to get out of here very carefully… I will use my sand to protect us…”
“Argh… I didn’t expect him to show up,” Kisame thought, “his sand defense will ruin everything… and he is trying to move away from the misted area… I must attack now, while I still can catch them both by surprise...”
“Looks like we just got fooled,” Deidara chuckled, sitting in an air-filled space deep underground in complete darkness.
“Shut the hell up, Deidara!” the blue-haired ninja said in strained voice, “I’m almost out of chakra already… holding all this mass of sand with that bubble of air we have around us…is very tough… if you don’t do something soon, I will have to let go…”
“Say no more… just hold on for little more… and be prepared…”
He vanished and appeared on the surface right above. “You said to do ‘something’, ” he smirked, “but there isn’t much I can do right now… except…” he stuck one of his hands in the clay sac, “we can try to blow up through…”
His hand produced six hard clay balls and he arranged them in the circle on the sand. “Let’s just hope you still have enough chakra to block it… I hate to do this, but otherwise you will die anyways… at least it’s worth a try…”
He jumped far backwards and made a seal, initiating the explosion. As the mixture of sand and smoke began settling down, he tried to see through. “Come on,” he muttered angrily, “I didn’t blow you up, did I?” He ran to the site of the explosion and saw a large hole created by it.
“What’s the big idea, Deidara?” the blue haired Akatsuki was standing at the bottom of the pit, “you could have easily killed me.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be… and besides, I did tell you to get ready, didn’t I?” Deidara grinned.
The blue-haired Akatsuki jumped on the surface as well. “Now, where is that brat? He made fools out me and you… but more importantly, he made a fool out of me…”
“I’m pretty sure he went to help his brother, the puppeteer. If Itachi hasn’t already taken care of him, that is…”
“So, that’s how it is…” the blue-haired Akatsuki smiled, seeing the thick mist where the forest was beginning, “it seems that it’s Kisame’s turn to have fun…”
“Kisame?” Deidara looked at where the blue-haired ninja was looking, “Oh, I see…”
Gaara gathered his sand around as him and Kankuro were trying to retreat to the open area.
“We are safe as long I keep the sand shield on,” Gaara said, “but I’m nearly at my limit… we have to make it out of here… and fast…”
“Yeah,” Kankuro nodded, “whatever this blade of his is, I don’t want to feel it.”
“But you will,” a voice from underground said.
Gaara winced in surprise but reacted quickly, rearranging the sand and making two cocoons out of it – for Kankuro and himself, and as Kisame appeared from underground, spinning with Samehada, both of them were already protected. The sword struck one of them and stopped. For a moment Kisame was shocked. “It can’t be… Samehada can pulverize boulders during this attack…” he thought. At the same time he felt his feet being trapped by the sand, which climbed up, eventually covering all of his body.
“Sabaku Kyū!” – water squirted in every direction when Kisame’s body got crushed.
“Water Bunshin,” Kankuro said.
“Yeah… he is fast… ” Gaara muttered, “let’s move… he might want to attack again…”
Kisame was standing on the nearby tree. “That was close… if I waited for few more seconds – I would have been killed. There is not point to try again… his sand is a pain… I will allow them leave the forest and let them separate… ”
“It’s them,” Deidara smiled, looking at Gaara and Kankuro coming out from the forest.
“And they seem to be much less excited to see you than you are to see them,” the blue-haired Akatsuki chuckled.
Gaara’s face expression implied that he was totally shocked by the fact that Deidara and the blue-haired Akatsuki were alive and well.
“Gaara, are you all right? Gaara?!” Kankuro asked, seeing that he looked as if he was frozen.
“Yeah…” Gaara came out of trance, “I am… but this is impossible… there was no way they could survive…”
Kankuro looked at the two Akatsuki. “Are they really that strong?” he though, terrified.
“What’s the matter?” Deidara smirked, looking at Gaara, “You are so surprised that you’re speechless? Never underestimate Akatsuki…we will kill you now… I doubt you can even defend yourself after you have wasted so much chakra fighting with us in the first place…”
“Hey, Deidara, who said you two are the ones to kill them? I never said I was done…” Kisame’s voice said from behind.
Kankuro turned around and saw both Itachi and Kisame coming out the forest. Gaara didn’t turn and was silent.
“Well-well… what a pathetic scene,” Itachi said indifferently, “we have a pair of losers: one is Kazekage himself, having lost all his chakra, and the other one is a puppeteer without puppets.”
“Yeah, it is pretty pathetic… and mainly the fact that such an organization as Akatsuki actually has such low standards and will run away again,” a familiar voice said from the side.
Gaara, Kankuro and all the Akatsuki turned their heads in a synchronized manner. A group of ANBU ninjas was standing there, and Anko was amongst them. The ninja who spoke was standing somewhat in front, and his long white hair was waiving in the wind.
“This voice… Kisame, it’s him…” Itachi said.
“Yeah…” Kisame nodded, “and last time he almost took us both out…alone…”
“All four of you must have some ‘ego’ problems,” the ANBU ninja continued, addressing the Akatsuki “and we might have to fix them right now…”
“Bring it on,” Deidara sounded excited.
“Don’t be an idiot, Deidara!” Kisame said, “You make jokes all the time about how we were beaten up by Mitarashi Anko…well, guess what… she didn’t beat us… he did…”
“Are you telling me that he was the one?” Deidara smirked.
“Believe what you want…” Itachi put his hands together to make a seal, “but you are wasting your time and efforts. It’s obvious that our objective has already failed.” He disappeared together with Kisame.
“Itachi is right,” the blue-haired Akatsuki said, “there is no point…” the ninja waved hands, got caught by a stream of wind and was carried away.
“Geez… I just wanted to have some fun…” Deidara muttered angrily. He gathered some clay from his hands, made a seal and created a white giant clay bird.
“Let him go,” the white-haired ANBU said, extending his arms as the other ANBU attempted to charge at Deidara.
“But Sataku-san…”
“I said, let him go…according to the shared reports from Sunagakure, this guy was responsible for the massive destruction of the village using just plain clay… he might seems goofy, but he is dangerous to deal with… especially when he is in advantage of having that bird…”
The clay bird was rising higher and higher with Deidara standing on its back. “We will meet again, Kazekage Gaara,” he said loudly, “I promise you just that. An when this happens, it will be just you and me!”
“Are you both all right?” the white-haired ANBU approached Gaara and Kankuro when Deidara disappeared from sight.
Gaara nodded.
“Yeah,” Kankuro said, “but I have to go gather the pieces of my puppets… they are totally trashed… it will take me forever to fix them…” he headed towards the forest, where the mist has disappeared almost completely…
“What about Suna army?” Gaara asked.
“Don’t worry,” the white-haired ANBU said, “we have transferred the message to each of our squads. Some of them will carefully examine the area and de-activate the traps to prevent further accidents in this area, and the other ANBU squads will be sent to meet Suna military and share the information with them. They will all wait for you there.”
“In that case, we will wait for Kankuro and then head to the hideout,” Gaara said. The white-haired ANBU nodded.
The abandoned hideout was located in the mountain deep into the forest, and ANBU and Suna military were there.
“Kankuro! Gaara-sama! You are all right!” Baki said gladly as Gaara and the others approached.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Gaara sounded indifferent just as usual.
“Speak for yourself, Gaara!” Kankuro smirked, expressing a false anger, “I have a sac full of broken puppet parts… do you have any idea how long it will take me to reassemble my puppets? Well… neither do I…”
Baki laughed, and the rest of the Suna ninjas were smiling. Anko smiled as well. She was looking at two ninjas who took the second part of the with her Chuunin exams almost three years ago. She couldn’t have thought then that one day they will put their lives on the line for her as comrades that shared one goal and one belief.
“Kazekage Gaara,” she said, “speaking for Tsunade-sama, I have to apologize for the failure of this mission. Kamiso Todoroki’s death was caused by an unforgivable mistake of ANBU, whose ninja were supposed to be constantly patrolling that area as a part of their duties.”
“Is that true?” the white-haired ANBU asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Anko sighed.
“It’s not their fault,” Gaara spoke clearly.
“Huh?” Anko seemed confused.
“He died because he failed to survive.” Gaara continued, “Because in order to survive ninjas must always be ready to fight for their lives. It’s true that ninjas have to put their lives on the line all the time, but when they die, they are the only ones to blame, because it means they have failed the only ultimate task they accepted when they became ninjas, the task that underlines their purpose, the task they need to complete no matter what – the task to survive. I failed it once, too… And only thanks to infinite human kindness I had a second chance. It’s paradoxical how one thing that I used to lack all my life turned out to be the one that actually gave me that chance…. And with that chance not only I received another life, but I received a different life… the one that has place for others…”
Everyone was silent.
“Anyway, ” Gaara realized that he had said more than enough and hurried to change the topic, “we seem to be done here… the Akatsuki will never occupy this hideout again, and I assume that all the traps were removed…”
Few ANBU ninjas nodded.
“Yes, Kazekage-sama, they are…” one of them said, “and whoever set them was an expert… not only that it’s quite unclear how they work, but also just one trap seems to be so powerfully loaded that it could destroy the hideout itself. If the mission had commenced – we would not be here right now.”
“Very well,” Gaara nodded back, “we will head back to Sunagakure. We sincerely appreciate all the help.”
All the ANBU bowed slightly, even the white-haired one. Anko did, too. Gaara looked at her and she looked at him. Then there was something only she could see: he bowed his head very slightly. Only both of them understood the meaning of this. He turned and signaled Suna military to start moving. Before leaving, he turned his head to Anko. “And by the way,” he said, “you were the examiner not only to a future Kazekage, but to a future Hokage as well.”
Anko smiled happily.
“You can’t report to Tsunade-sama right now! It’s way past midnight and she’s asleep! Sataku-saaan!” Shizune yelled, running after the white-haired ANBU as he was walking trough the corridor.
“Shizune,” the ninja said, not turning, “First of all, it’s is my duty to report as soon as we arrive from a mission… and, secondly, it will only take five minutes. If you think that I intend to spend the night, talking to her, then you are mistaken…”
“No! No way! I won’t let you,” Shizune continued yelling, “just let her sleep in her own bed for once!!”
“Hey, Shizune, if you continue screaming like that – there is no way she will be able to sleep, anyway… and besides, she is in her main room…” the white-haired ANBU knocked at the door.
“Come in!”
Before the ANBU ninja was even able to make a step, Shizune rushed into the room furiously.
“Tsunade-sama,” she said in frustration, “are you working at night again?
“Ah, it’s okay, Shizune,” Tsunade yawned, “just let Sataku in, and after his report I will go to sleep, I promise…”
“I’m going to make sure of that,” Shizune mutter angrily and left the room. “You have five minutes,” she said to the white-haired ninja as she passed him on her way.
“She is treating me like a child,” Tsunade said as the ANBU ninja came in.
“She has a point,” the ninja removed his mask, “you need to stop working overnight. Beating yourself like that won’t do you any good, and even though you always force that youthful look on yourself doesn’t mean…” he noticed that Tsunade’s faced started turning angry.
“Sataku,” she said, “skip to the actual report…”
“My fault, sorry,” he smirked, “the news is quite satisfying… in terms of nobody getting hurt. Mitarashi Anko was just in time… but before that she encountered Uchiha Itachi and Deidara, the Akatsuki that is mentioned in shared records from Sunagakure… due to plain luck, Kazekage Gaara and his brother Kankuro were searching that area along with the rest of the military, trying to locate us or Akatsuki, or both. Since they didn’t have any information on our location, only knowing the time of the operation, so they literally had to rely on luck, having an idea of the hideout’s approximate location. But it actually was a huge win for Anko. Kazegake Gaara and Kankuro took on the two Akatsuki, allowing Anko to continue her mission. It didn’t go smoothly after that, though… She came across another Akatsuki ‘with a weird-looking face,’ as she reported. She managed to fight him off, beating him down severely. However, we were unable to locate him. He still might have been capable of fleeing the place, or someone else dragged him from there. As for Kazekage Gaara and Kankuro, their opponents received reinforcements later on - Hoshigake Kisame and another have not been seen before blue-haired ninja. Guided by Anko, my squad and another squad were able to make it to the place in time and scare the four Akatsuki away…”
“So, they were trying to stop her…” Tsunade said, “and that means…”
“Yeah… if she didn’t come to warn us – we would have all died. ANBU ninja who located and destroyed the set up traps said that they were horrified with the potential destructive power of them…”
“I see…” Tsunade sighed, “but in order for what you said to make sense, the Akatsuki must have found out that we discovered the truth…and that implies…”
“Spies,” the white-haired ninja nodded, “we must have their spies here… and that’s probably how they found out about the operation in the first place…”
“Damn it!” Tsunade sounded angry, “Spies again…I want them found… I want all of them found…”
“I will take charge of that next thing in the morning,” the ninja put his mask back on and turned to leave, “but right now you need to get some sleep… otherwise I will tell Shizune that you said that you were going to work all night again, and she will eat you alive with her complaints…”
Tsunade smirked. “All right… I will… thank you, Sataku…”
Gaara was sitting in his chair, staring at the Moon. He got used to staying awake at night, so it didn’t matter to him whether he slept or not. All he could think about was Deidara. Earlier in the day there was a perfect chance for him, Gaara, to avenge Deidara for all he has done to Sunagakure and its Kazekage. But the fate seemed to have a different opinion on that. But it wasn’t a failure, Gaara thought; it was a success. Partly because the Akatsuki got the message very well, but mostly because it was another time when Gaara saw true comradeship. It didn’t matter if people knew each other or not, but if they had same goals and beliefs – they would fight alongside for them. And as long as his goals were shared – he was not alone.
He kept staring at the Moon, and it suddenly looked like Deidara’s face to him.
“It’s just like you said,” Gaara said as if talking to it, “we will meet again…and when we do – no one will save you… because my purpose is worth much more than yours…”
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By now you have probably recognized my passion for making up jutsu's - don't be hard on me, I try my best to make sense of them...