Naruto 1. Back In Konoha

**The Great Ninja Generation**

**Introduction:** I started writing this fanfiction because I thought that besides being a fan of Naruto, I wanted to expand the idea and create my own Naruto story. Along with that, I pretend to give people a more vast vision of this great world that is the shinobi world. This is my very first fanfiction, so it'll probably have some grammatical mistakes, but I would appreciate you to politely point them. Thank you and enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Back in Konoha**

_The clouds are just perfect today!_ Shikamaru smiled as he thought about this.

"That's true!" Chouji was eating his favourite chips.

"Huh?" Shikamaru was confused. "How do you do that? _Always_?!"

"Do what?"

"You know… _that_! I am thinking of something and you just read my mind! Is that some kind of jutsu or something?"

Chouji grinned. "We're friends since _ever_, Shikamaru. I've learned things about you. It's not mind reading, it's witchcraft!" He said ironically.

"Knock it off!" The genius smiled but, suddenly, his face was a lot graver. "You know, Naruto's came back from that thing, the Sasuke's retrieval."

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I heard he's in the hospital. He got seriously injured."

"I got that, too. But since when are you so connected to him?" The Akimichi heir was curious.

"I'm not. Oh, forget it… Injured people are such a drag…"

Chouji decided to let that topic go. "Where's Ino?"

"Asuma said she got some hard cold. She'll be at home for like two or three days…"

/-/-/-/

"2005… 2006… 2007… 2008…" Lee was pushing himself to the limit. Like always. "If… 2009… If I don't make 3000 push-ups, then I'll… 2010… then I'll make 20 rounds running around the village… 2011… no! Not running! 2012… On my thumbs! 2013… 2014…"

"And I'll go with you!" Gai Sensei had arrived. "Because that's the Power of Youth!" His smile shined and he suddenly raised his thumb affirmatively.

"Yes, Gai Sensei!"

Neji heard a scroll unrolling. "I'm ready. Give it all you've got!" All types of weapons abruptly flown from every angle in his direction. "[Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven]" Neji immediately started rotating in high speed and got involved in a chakra shield. All the artilleries were projected in the opposite direction as soon as they got close to the shield. Tenten immediately jumped when she saw her own weapons flying in her way.

They had been training for four hours already and were starting to show signs of exhaustion. "It was a good train." Tenten smiled as she realized that training with Neji was super productive.

"Yes." The most gifted Hyuuga was also enjoying this type of preparation. "Maybe we should get something to eat."

"That's right! Let's go to Ichiraku's!" The tools user was excited about the idea of a hot meal after such an exhausting train. Neji nodded.

/-/-/-/

Squad 8 was coming back from an especially boring mission. Shino was silent, as always. Hinata nodded at Kiba's complaints. Akamaru agreed with his owner and best friend.

"I know that the Lady Hokage warned us we wouldn't be having an exciting mission for a while, but taking care of the elders' grass is just _too tedious_! Com' on! Who does she think _we_ are?! Some genin?"

"A- actually, we are genin, K- Kiba…" Said Hinata reservedly.

"Humm… Yeah, but we didn't get out of the academy just yesterday, right? We're ready for more demanding missions…" He was slowly calming down. "Oh man! All this grass cutting made me _hungry_! Are you guys up to some ramen at Ichiraku's?"

Both of his partners nodded.

"Ah! Then let's go!"

"Auff!" Akamaru sure was starving, too.

/-/-/-/

Naruto was bored as hell! He couldn't stay still knowing that instead of being training hard he was just laying there in that hospital bed doing nothing. He was worried about Sakura. She had visited him sooner on that day and the words she said before leaving were constantly echoing in his head: "I will train so hard you won't recognize me anymore! Next time, I'll do perfectly. I'll save Sasuke!"

At first, he thought this was a good thing: Sakura was dedicating harder to her training and trying to be a better ninja! But then he realized this could be… like Shikamaru would say, "troublesome". So much dedication was great, but the objective she had, besides being the same as his, could and would put her into huge danger. He couldn't let her do it all by herself! He had to save Sasuke as well! But first he would have to get out of that stupid hospital bed!

"I guess the only way to get out of here is to do what the doctor says… This is _so boring_!"

**And this is it! The very first chapter of my very first fanfiction! I hope you will enjoy, follow and favourite it :D Thank you!**

**P.S.: sorry if there wasn't much action and stuff in this chapter but, as the first one, I think I should do some introduction first. Besides that, I recognize it is a bit short, too, but as soon as the action part starts, I'll try to write bigger chapters.**

**P.S..: If you're a fan of Shikamaru's, I just created a page for him! Give it a try! Thanks!**

** pages/Shikamaru-Nara/815785818433691**


	2. The Beginning Of Something

**Chapter 2: The Beginning of Something**

**Some days have passed. Naruto is finally out of the hospital: what he truly wished! Everybody is together in Konoha, but not for long… What fantastic adventure is waiting for our heroes?**

Shizune has been carried with the simple mission of delivering the new mission scrolls to the Hokage. As she was walking to the Hokage Tower, she was thinking about how much her life had changed since Lady Tsunade had been hired for such an honourable and respectful job.

To be honest, besides the missions she was responsible for, which were now quite rare since she was occupied being the assistant of the Hokage, her life was just completing tiny tasks of minor responsibility and stimulate Lady Tsunade since she was the laziest woman she had ever met.

Before this all thing happened, her life was so more exciting. She and the actual Hokage were always travelling from town to town, mostly for the gambling. But she didn't care much about Tsunade's hobbies 'cause she could do whatever she was up to while the great medicinal ninja was at the gambling houses. It used to be so much fun!

Now, she was just an employee, carrying the boxes and taking care of the hard stuff. What a boredom…

She finally arrived at the Hokage's personal room. She dropped the scrolls box on the floor and yawned. She hadn't slept very well the night before. "Here they are, Lady Tsunade. The mission scrolls."

"Let's see what we have this time, then…" The Hokage wasn't very excited about the idea of having to distribute all those tasks again. "It's almost everything low ranked missions… I must say I'm surprised! After all the things that happened, the situation has been quite calm! Oh…"

"What is it, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune was curious, indeed.

"_This_ could be something." Said the Hokage, almost whispering.

/-/-/-/

**Meanwhile, in the Sand Village…**

The council was summoned to discuss the Kazekage problem. For some reason, the people on the table had their faces hidden. Anyway, they were in a serious dilemma. Most of the council voted to elect the Shukaku host as the Kazekage, not only because it was a better way to keep the boy in control, but also because Gaara was extremely powerful and there was no question he would be the village's great defence.

But the people feared him. The boy was the main target of malevolent glances in the streets, since ever in his life. He was rejected by everyone. Well, not _everyone_. In his fight against Naruto, he learned something that completely changed him. As a Jinchuuriki, he was would always have to deal with this type of behaviour by some or most of the people, but he would have to find the ones who would care about him. It was then that he understood that there were two people that had always been there when he needed, even if he treated them in the wrong way: Temari and Kankurou. They have been his brother and sister and best friends since ever and, before fighting against Naruto, he hadn't even noticed it and he had treated them badly, underestimated them, but they were still there, on his side, ready to risk their own lives for him. Could he have asked for better friends than those?

This were Gaara's thoughts as he left the village without permission. He knew that this would have bad consequences: he would really miss Temari and Kankurou, even if he didn't say it out loud, and his name would automatically be written in the Bingo Book. However, this would permit him to get rid of those awful glances and whispers he had to live all his life with. That sure was a _huge_ relief…

Just one problem: he had no idea where to go. The idea of going to Konoha sure was comforting. To be with his old friends would be great and he really wished it, but if he dared to do so he was sure that he would get caught. Seems like there was no other choice: he would have to refugee in a little town far away from there where nobody would recognize him. It couldn't be that bad, could it?

/-/-/-/

**And back to Konoha…**

Jiraya had been thinking about this for quite a long time now and he needed to share his thoughts with someone. Someone who understood.

When you train someone, you normally get to know your student better than anyone else. The white-haired man remembered the time when he used to teach the Yellow Flash, Naruto's father. The Kyuubi host sure was like his ancestor: the face, the hair and, most important, the personality… Someone who didn't know how to give up really was someone to admire, like the Jinchuuriki's father, and now that he knew his actual student a little bit better, he admitted that Naruto would be exactly like his dad: a person to admire… if he wasn't so already.

But this deep knowledge about someone else could and did bring negative aspects, especially in a Jinchuuriki's case. As he trained the blonde-haired boy, he started to understand this great power his student had inside him and that what he showed when he had those "chakra explosions" in those anger moments were just the tip of the iceberg. This could reveal a great danger for Naruto and, as his sensei, of course Jiraya was hugely preoccupied.

And more worried he discovered himself when he found out what type of mission his pupil was going to be in charge of. He _really_ needed to share his thoughts with… the Hokage.

/-/-/-/

Naruto was truthfully happy! He had gotten out of that damn hospital two days ago! He was free to go wherever he wanted with whoever he wanted whenever he wanted however he wanted! He was wishing that since he got back to Konoha! While he was in the hospital, Sakura was enjoying her life with all her friends and taking advantage of that time without missions! Or maybe she was training… Most likely that… Well, training or not, he just wished he would have been in her place during that hospital days… If only he could switch bodies… But, well thinking, he didn't want Sakura to be in hospital either! This was such a brain teaser…

Anyway, the very first thing he decided to do was pretty obvious to everybody who knew him: have some ramen at Ichiraku's! That was something he was evidently missing, too. He wouldn't think twice if somebody would invite him to some ramen, specifically at his very favourite ramen shop!

He was right in the middle of his precious food when somebody interrupted him. He looked back at the person holding his shoulder. The black-haired female ninja was looking seriously at him.

"Shizune! Hey! What's up? Why that severe face, huh?"

"New mission, Naruto. An important one." Her face _really_ was grave.

"_Alright_!" Naruto showed a ear-to-ear smile and his eyes shined.

The trip to the Hokage's room was pretty fast since Shizune really was in kind of a hurry. Naruto decided not to ask why. Lady Tsunade started the conversation.

"Naruto, I have a new mission for you."

"For me? Only me?"

"No. Not only you."

"Then why am I the only one who was called?" This all was very confusing to Naruto.

"The others will also be called. I just wanted to talk to you in privet first, since you may have some special connection to _this_ mission in particular."

Naruto's heart started running faster. What could she mean with "special connection"? Tsunade continued her explanation.

"We received a request from the Sand Village." Just this two last words, "Sand Village", were enough to put the Kyuubi's host's heart running even faster than before. All the memories of Gaara, Temari and Kankurou passed through his head. Good and bad ones, but mostly good ones. This made him softly smile. The mission report proceeded.

"It seems like one of their best ninja ran away."

"Who?!" Naruto immediately asked.

"Gaara."

The Jinchuuriki's face turned grave in a snap's instant. Now he understood what Tsunade meant with him having a "special connection to _this_ particular mission". Since both he and Gaara were hosts of maleficent monsters, they were able to truly understand each other's suffer and they had developed a quite strong friendship, even if they didn't see each other very often. He was automatically able to complete the Hokage's conversation.

"And they want us to retrieve him."

"Exactly."

"And who am I going to rescue Gaara with?" As he was saying this, somebody knocked at the door.

"Come on in." Tsunade said.

The door opened to let five figures enter the room. Naruto smiled as he saw his dear friends and realized they were his mission partners.

"Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, Chouji, Hinata! Naruto will explain you your mission. All of you will leave in an hour time." Everybody nodded at the Hokage's statement. They were ready to leave the room when they were stopped by Tsunade. "One more thing: Shikamaru, since you're already a chunin, you'll lead in this mission." The genius nodded. It was the time for Neji to talk.

"Permit me to ask you two things. First: missions are normally executed by groups of three people; why are we six people?" Tsunade found it a very pertinent question.

"You may not realize it now, but when Naruto explains you the task, you'll understand the importance and the difficulty of the mission along with the number of people requested."

"Second: why am I going to be sent in this mission along with Hinata, since we have the same kind of abilities?" Hinata softly flushed.

"I've been observing Hinata and the development of her missions and I think that, with your help, she may increase her self-esteem by being sent in such an important mission." Hinata didn't know what to think about this and that made her flush even more. "Now go."

They all left. After they had all prepared their own stuff to the mission they met at the village's main gate and Naruto explained the task. They were all informed. The six ninja were ready to leave when something caught their attention.

"Naruto! Lee!" Sakura was screaming and jumping from roof to roof in their direction.

"Sakura! Is something wrong?" Naruto asked.

"No. I just came to say goodbye as soon as I discovered that you two were heading off in such a dangerous mission!" The two boys smiled and flushed at this statement. "Here." Sakura said as she gave one little flask to each one. "It's a medical cream. It should cure every injury in an instant, of course, if it isn't too serious." She smiled.

"Wow! Thanks so much, Sakura" Naruto said.

"Thanks." This time Lee answered.

It was grateful to know that someone actually cared about you. That was what everyone was thinking at that point. Naruto and Lee were more than happy to see that Sakura was concerned about them. Shikamaru and Chouji looked at each other, reading each other's minds and smiling because they knew they could count on each other.

"Don't you die on this mission, man." Shikamaru said.

"That's what I was going to say, actually." Chouji said as he put a ear-to-ear smile on his face.

Naruto felt that something was missing… Oh, yeah! Hinata! He screamed.

"Hey, Hinata." This made her wake up from a deep thinking. "Be careful on this mission, ok? I want to go for some ramen with you when we come back and for that you should be alive, ok?" He let out a true smile. Hinata's face turned as red as a tomato; she almost passed out, but she refrained and nodded.

Neji realized everyone had someone there to wish good luck… excepting him. That made him a little melancholic. They were about to take off and there was nobody there to support him, to cheer him up, to make him really want to be back alive.

They started walking, but they hadn't walked five meters when they were attacked. Well, Neji was attacked. A kunai passed extremely close to his head. Everybody took a defence position.

"Ten-Ten…" The Hyuuga boy whispered. "Don't worry. It's her." He said now more loudly, genuinely smiling.

"Her? Who?!" Naruto said maybe too loudly.

They turned back to face the tool user just standing there, smiling to Neji. He was smiling to her, too. All his sadness disappeared. He also had someone who cared for him.

"Did you really think you were going to leave without even saying me a goodbye?"

"No. I was just waiting for you to appear." They were both truly happy.

"Just wanted to say… come back alive, ok? I need someone to train with here." They were almost screaming to each other because of the distance. The Hyuuga boy nodded: he was now more than ready for the mission!

**And our heroes leave Konoha to their next great adventure! Good luck, ninjas!**

**This is it, Chapter 2! Hope you'll enjoy it!**


	3. Gaara's Retrieval - Go!

**Chapter 3: Gaara's Retrieval – Go!**

**The ninja team left Konoha to save their sand friend, but it won't be easy and their lives may be on the line! Are they truly ready?**

**Note:** during part of this chapter, you should consult a Naruto world map.

The six ninja were calmly walking out of Konoha. Not because they weren't in a hurry to save the Skukaku host, but because they didn't know specifically where to go!

"Naruto, when did Gaara exactly _leave_ the Sand Village?" Shikamaru was trying to calculate the subject's estimated localization.

Naruto started scratching his head. "Well, he was reported missing two days ago by his teacher, Baki."

"Which means that he had been out of his village three days already, counting with today, of course…"

"That's the time needed to pass through the Rain Village." Neji approached the two boys.

"So basically, he's coming in our direction, right?" The Kyuubi host sounded enthusiastic.

"We don't know that. These are just suppositions, Naruto." Shikamaru tried to calm him down.

"Then how are we going to find him? Hey! Neji! Can you track him with your Byakugan?!" The Jinchuuriki though that would be the easiest way of doing so.

Neji immediately answered. "Fool! The Byakugan doesn't possess such a huge range!"

Naruto instantaneously made an I-don't-care face. "Whatever… Then how do you pretend to do it, genius?"

Neji released an anger glance at the Kyuubi host. "I think we should follow the only logic supposition we have: go to the Hidden Rain and investigate there. Gaara really could have passed there and people could have memorized his face, tell where he went next."

Now was Shikamaru's turn to talk. "Makes sense, but it's a bit risky, isn't it?"

"Sure is. But it's the only thing we can at this point." Neji replied. The funny idiot and the lazy genius nodded with a serious face.

/-/-/-/

**Meanwhile, in the Rain Village…**

"Wow, that's great boss!" That voice sure was funny because it was so grave but it came from a pretty short guy.

"I know. What can I do? Geniality like mine can't be contained…" The supposed "boss" was a sturdy man, his face in the darkness of the shadow. He was wearing a formal suit. From his looks, you could describe him as kind of scary, but from his talking and thinking way, you could say he was smart, cocky and a bit lame. He was talking to two of subordinates: one of them was the short guy with a grave voice, the other was large-statured, tall and a bit fat. From just looking at him, you could already say he wasn't the brain of the group.

"Boss? Could you just explain the plan again? I didn't get it very well…" Said this last one.

The boss sighed. "The Shukaku host, one guy called Gaara… I just had knowledge that he ran away from the Sand Village and he is installed in our village for a couple of days, maybe less. I also know that some leaf ninja were in charge of his retrieval. Between those ninja there is one who I am quite interested in, really. The Kyuubi host, a boy named Naruto Uzumaki."

"Great, boss! That are two Bijuu at once!"

"Exactly." The leader's face turned much more severe in a snap's instant. "And I'll get my revenge. Now go!"

"Y-yes, boss!" Both of the subordinates said in choir.

/-/-/-/

**Back to the six leaf ninjas…**

The sunset had begun and the leaf group had already run almost half of the way to the Hidden Rain, but they were still in forest terrain. Shikamaru ordered.

"Let's camp here during this night."

Naruto was clearly shocked. "What?! Are you kidding me? It isn't even night yet! Now that we have a route, we have to go as fast as we can! We have to save Gaara!"

"Naruto, calm down!" Shikamaru had a severe face. "We have been running at full speed and we have done a big part of the itinerary already! Everybody is exhausted and we need to rest! The mission won't be as well accomplished as it could be if we are half-asleep!"

The Jinchuuriki sighed. He mentally admitted that the genius was probably right. They quickly started to set up the tents.

"OK, this is how it's going to be: Hinata will be alone in the smallest tent; I'll be in the biggest tent with Chouji and Lee; Naruto and Neji, you'll sleep in the third tent." Shikamaru said.

"What?!" Naruto was hysterical. "No way! No way I'm sharing the tent with that creepy Hyuuga guy!"

"Oh. You're offending me." Said Neji ironically. At this statement, the Jinchuuriki pouted.

"Come on, Naruto! Don't be a kid! This is such a drag…" Shikamaru was truly bored.

"Oh… OK…" The Kyuubi host sighed and looked at Neji. "Just don't touch my things, your Majesty."

Neji made an anger face. He wasn't up to share the tent with the idiot blonde boy either. He sighed. "This will be a _long_ night."

Meanwhile, Chouji was thinking about dinner. "Hey! What are we going to eat?!" All of them looked at each other. Shikamaru answered calmly, wishing not to irritate his best friend.

"Humm… Chouji, don't be angry… humm… we'll be eating alimentary pills during this mission. But they're better than they seem to be, believe me!"

Chouji's reaction was _not_ what everyone was expecting! He didn't get furious at all! Actually, he

was sadder than any other thing. Lee broke the silence.

"Chouji, are you OK?"

"Yeah… Don't worry." The Akimichi heir suddenly began to smile. "I brought my chips!" Everybody sighed at this statement. It was Hinata's turn to talk.

"H-humm… I guess I'll try to find some berries." Everybody nodded.

/-/-/-/

The sun was rising beautifully. The shadows of the panorama were pretty clear in the horizon and the sky showed light shades of orange mixed with light blue. A lovely morning, typical of the surroundings of the Leaf Village and the village itself. These were Neji's thoughts as he got out of his tent and sat on a high light-brown stone, to have a more clear vision of that wonderful day-starting. «Everyone must be asleep by now» he thought «this stone… we must be near to the Hidden Rock border. Then we're pretty close to the Hidden Rain Village. We must hurry».

He had been wishing for the mission to end as soon as it even started. He didn't like to be away from his home town for too long, especially on dangerous missions like this one. He never understood why, but he had always felt uncomfortable when he was on missions. Like if he wasn't suited for that kind of thinks. He remembered what his father used to say: "Neji, my son, you are the member of our clan who was born with the most intense Hyuuga powers."

Well, he sure didn't feel like it. This is, after fighting against Naruto in the Chunin Exams. Before that, he used to completely believe in destiny. He used to believe that, since the moment when a person is born, she has a fixed destiny, and it's impossible to change, no matter how hard you try, you can't change it. And since he was the more marked Hyuuga, in terms of power, his destiny was beat anyone who opposed him, because he was the most powerful and, along with that, the only possible winner.

But, in that fight with Naruto, he learned something extremely important: you define your own destiny. That's how Naruto was able to win against him: he defined his own destiny; he defined that he would win that fight, and he did.

Neji himself started to believe in that sentence since then. And he _was_ defining his own destiny, or at least he was trying. He didn't have that kind of strength Naruto had. He wasn't like him. It's true that he had experienced bad thing in his family, very bad things, but nothing compared with the Jiunchuuriki's own experiences, so he hadn't taken that lesson that Naruto had. However he had learned something. And that something had changed his living way. He now gave some meaning to the word "family". He learning to forgive what they have done to him and his father. He had even been training with his uncle! He was finally fitting into his family… And that's why he was always wishing to go home again: he finally felt good at home.

His thoughts were interrupted when he Hinata running in the direction of their camping place, and she was coming from the forest. "I though everyone was asleep" he muttered.

She mustn't have seen him, because she ran to Shikamaru's tent and started calling for him to wake him up. The Hyuuga heiress seemed to be half scared half worried. "Shikamaru! Wake up, Shukamaru!"

The lazy genius opened the tent zip. "Hinata, one lesson for you: _never_ wake your leader up before lunchtime. _Never_."

"I-I'm s-sorry, but it's important."

Shikamaru made his usual I-am-bored-as-hell face and Hinata proceeded. "Y-you remember, last night I went to get some berries, a-and I found like… _a lot_ of them. Humm…"

"Good for you! Can I go back to sleep, now?"

"W-wait, S-Shikamaru! This morning I went to get some more, but there were none!"

"You know, some animals also eat berries…"

"T-that's what I though… Humm… B-but…"

"But…?" Shikamaru was losing his patience.

"Well, I-I also found this…" As she said this, she gave him a _kunai_ with a note with a note hanging on it. "It was on a tree, next to the berry bushes. I haven't read the note, yet. I wanted to give it to you first, it could be some kind of trap."

Shikamaru was thoughtful. "I don't think it's a trap. Whoever left this just wanted to leave a message without being seen." He opened the note and started reading it. "And whoever that guy was, he sure doesn't like Chouji very much."

"W-why do you say that?" Hinata was curious.

"It's a threat. A _life_ threat."

Hinata froze. Neji, who had been hearing all the chat from the top of the stone, was also clearly shocked. He didn't knew Chouji very well, but for what he knew, he seemed to be a sociable and friendly person. He sure wasn't the person who had the majority of the possibilities of being life threatened! Actually, he heard that his entire clan, the Akimichi clan, was known by being kind, welcoming and loyal. It really bit him why this kind of situation had happened. Anyway, all he and they could do was helping their friend getting out of this.

/-/-/-/

Everybody was now awake. Lee had gone fishing in a little river that ran not too far from their camping place, so they made a bonfire and were now all sat around it, cooking the fish and planning their moves. Shikamaru started talking.

"I have some troublesome news, guys. And with "guys" I mean specifically Chouji." That statement cough the Akimichi clan heir's attention.

"Why me?" He asked. The genius gave his friend the note from the _kunai_. Reading it, Chouji almost forgot how to breathe.

"What is it?!" Naruto was super nosy. Everyone except Chouji gave him anger glances. They though it was a really bad time for him to be meddlesome, but Lee, who also didn't know what the annotation was about, was curious, too. Because Naruto asked, Chouji started to read the note.

"You won't get out of this forest alive. Ass: Huruochi" Chouji said sadly.

Naruto simply had to intervene. "Well, they sure_ were_ clear!" All he received were just-shut-up glances again.

Neji asked. "Chouji, do you know that man, that Huruochi?"

"Yes." He answered. "But it's not a man. It's a clan. The Huruochi clan."

Lee was very curious about all this. "I have never heard of such a clan. What would they possibly want with you?"

"Not only with me. With my entire clan. I'll explain: two hundred years ago, the Akimichi and Huruochi clans worked together as one for the sake of both. They had a very productive partnership in the weapon market. Their swords, _kunais_ and _shurikens _were the best and all the nations would order their weapons on the clans' market. But then, all this partnership got ruined because of Hitya, the Huruochi clan's leader. He tried to kill Jigoza, the Akimichi clan's leader at the time, and get the control and servility of Akimichi people! But, fortunately, his plan wasn't very well succeeded. The Akimichi clan is always prepared for any occurrence, any attack. They just didn't expect it would come from their best allies. With their lost, the ashamed Huruochi people ran away from the village. The Huruochi clan is the only one in the entire shinobi history whose people are _all_ in the Bingo Book."

"Wow…" Everybody said in choir. "And they want revenge?" Neji completed. Chouji nodded.

"Then we'll take care of them!" Naruto was really excited. "And fast! Because after we'll save Gaara!"

"Shouldn't we try to dodge Chouji's enemies and save Gaara? We don't have much time, you know?" Lee suggested.

"You know, this isn't what Gai sensei would do…" Naruto was causing Lee. "I think he would give all he got to help a friend… But what you do is up to you…"

"You're… right!" The taijutsu genius was slowly realising things. "I've got so much to learn! We'll give our best, Chouji!" The Akimichi heir smiled at him and nodded.

**Third Chapter: done! Follow+Favourite+Enjoy! :D**


	4. Death to the Akimichi!

**Chapter 4: "Death to the Akimichi!"**

**The Leaf ninjas were finally starting to have a clue about Gaara's localization, but more problems arrived and they will have to solve them before rescuing the sand ninja. Will they have the needed time?**

"OK, this is how it's going to be: we find the Huruochi people, we kick their asses, we get to the Hidden Rain and we save Gaara!" Naruto sure was determined!

"Naruto, are you the leader?" Shikamaru found it funny to be ironic. The Jinchuuriki replied with a does-it-really-matter face. "That's what I though. So, guys, and Hinata, this is what we're going to do: we find the Huruochi people, we kick their asses, we get to the Hidden Rain and we save Gaara. Everybody got it?" Everybody nodded. Excepting Naruto…

"That's what I just said!" He just received anger glances from Neji, Shikamaru and Lee. Choji laughed and Hinata shyly grinned and flushed.

It was then that they heard a sound coming from the bushes. Everybody quickly assumed their battle stances. Neji and Hinata activated their Byakugan. Naruto screamed "Come out of there, whoever you are!"

"Here he is." Neji calmly stated. "Behind that tree."

The subject, noticing he had already been spotted, showed himself. He was wearing an indigo and red tribal vest, his cheeks painted with red lines, his clan's mark, obviously. The blonde fat guy didn't talk, he just threw a _kunai_ to Choji's head, but the Akimichi's heir just dodged it.

"Did you really think you could hit me with that?"

"No." The fair-haired replied. As he said this, the _kunai_ which had landed on the floor behind the six ninja started spreading a purple poison.

"Everybody, hold your breath!" Lee screamed.

The six Leaf ninjas got involved in the venom and the blonde glared at this show from outside, smiling. Suddenly, a s_huriken_ got out of the purple cloud in his direction; unable to completely dodge it, the unknown boy got hurt on his left shoulder. "How did they?!" He though.

The poison finally lifted and the ninjas were able to see again. "Good reflections, Hinata." Neji praised and smiled. She smiled back.

"So, you were the one who threw that _shuriken_… How did you know where I was?" The blonde boy was curious.

"Have you taken a look at my eyes?" Hinata explained.

"A Hyuuga clan member… Damn it!"

"Choji, is this brat from the Huruochi clan?" Neji asked.

"I am." The said boy replied. "I'm the clan's heir, actually. I see you got my message." He defiantly smiled.

Choji got pissed. "You think you're _so_ good, don't you? But you're just a great dumb ass! Battle six Leaf ninjas alone when you can't even win against a squirrel! [Partial Multi-Size Technique]!" Choji's left hand, now huge, grabbed the blonde and lifted him in the air. He started shaking him violently.

"Choji, stop!" Neji screamed. "Look at him." The blonde boy disappeared in a puff. "It's just a clone."

"Where is him?!" Choji was furious.

"There he is!" Hinata said enthusiastically. "Behind you, Choji!"

The Akimichi clan's heir turned around to see the Huruochi heir smiling at him. Chouji's left hand strongly tried to crush him, making a short earthquake, but the enemy had dodged it and was already on the top of a tree.

"Did you really think you could hit me with that?! Wasn't that what you said earlier? Now I say it to you… I'm too good for you. Choji." The Akimichi clan' heir's eyes grew wide.

"How do you know my name?!" In response, the Huruochi clan's heir smiled and said: "I got some information… Now, you die." He was about to perform some hand signs, but he couldn't move!

"Shadow Biding Technique: success" Shikamaru stated and grinned.

"Damn… it…" The Huruochi boy scarcely said.

Choji lifted his hand one more time in order to crush him while he was unable to move, but this time, not only he killed the guy, but he also caused a long earthquake and created a crater on the terrain. The Nara boy was impressed.

"Chouji, that was _awesome_!" They were grinning at each other.

/-/-/-/

**Meanwhile, in the Sand Village…**

Temari and Kankurou were walking to their training field. It was a quite hot day, but still agreeable.

"Are you going to tell him today?" Kankurou seemed a bit nervous.

"No. _We_ are going to tell him today. And besides, what other choice do we have? Aren't we going to do it tomorrow morning?" Temari was doubting Kankurou's state of mind about that matter. She faced him and lifted her eyebrow, challenging him.

"Y-yes, I guess so." A sweat slipped down his forehead. Hell! He hated when she did that! The fan user grinned. She got what she wanted.

Baki was standing, cross-armed. His face was grave and cold. He sure had been affected with Gaara's sudden departure. His two other students had finally arrived.

"I've been waiting for a while now, you know?" He said severely.

"Sorry." Temari was the first to apologize. "You're not the only one suffering for what happened..." The teacher gulped. "Oh, and Kankurou has something to tell you, I think."

The puppet user's eyes grew wide. "M-me?! Humm, no, nothing at all!" He made a fake smile. She released her anger glance on him. It sure was effective. "Humm… W-we've decided something, and you c-can't stop us."

Baki started to wonder what this entire show was about, but he already had an idea…

"Humm… We'll leave tomorrow… and we'll come back along with Gaara." Kankurou was relieved he had already said it, but he was bit anxious about the teacher's reaction.

Baki smiled and nodded. His two students' eyes grew wide.

"Won't you be mad at us by wanting to go on our own?" Temari wasn't believing her sensei's feedback.

"No. I understand you. And it's not like Gaara's in danger… After all, he left on his own, didn't he? But what will you do when you get back?"

"What do you mean?" Kankurou didn't understand that question.

"You know, he's already in the Bingo Book… He'll be arrested as soon as he gets his feet in this village."

"That's not the real problem right now. Now, our only concern is getting him back home." Temari quickly replied. "Then, we'll find a solution for that." The males nodded.

/-/-/-/

**In Konoha…**

The sun was shining beautifully over the agitated village. People everywhere, children playing ninja on the streets, merchandisers publicizing their cheap products and tempting promotions and ninjas heading off to their training fields or missions. That sure was a lot of life… and noise!

"There's also this paper you have to sign, Lady Tsunade." This was one more boring work day for the Hokage, with Shizune always talking about all the work she had to do. Work, work, work…

"Is it the last one? Please tell me it is…"

"It is."

"Really?!" True happiness could be seen in Tsunade's face.

"Yes, it's the last one of this stack. Then it's just ten more stacks." Shizune made an ear-to-ear smile.

"You… Don't make me get angry!" The Hokage was furious! She sure didn't like that type of jokes.

Shizune got terrified. "S-sorry, Lady Tsunade!" She got saved but someone knocking at the door. She sighed in relief.

"Come in." The Hokage ordered. A white-haired jounin entered the room. "Kakashi? I've got no missions for you, today."

"I know." He seemed worried. "I came to talk about Naruto."

"Shizune, leave us alone, please." Her helper nodded and left. "What is it that makes you so concerned about Naruto?" She faced the White Fang's son.

"It's the mission he is in. Are you sure it was a good idea to let him go on that one?"

"Are you doubting my qualities to distribute the missions, Kakashi?"

"Yes, I am." He said it quite directly, assuming he was talking to the Hokage. Tsunade sent him her fatal glance. His eyes grew wide and he took a step back, but quickly regained his calmness and continued expressing his opinion. "Please remember Naruto is a Jinchuuriki, just like Gaara. And, besides, his control of Kyuubi isn't that good. A mission involving another Jinchuuriki could make him lose the control of himself."

"I'm sure nothing will happen. Gaara ran away by his own will and-"

"Exactly. Should we really interfere in this?"

"What's done is done, Kakashi. No one wants to hurt Gaara, so Naruto won't lose control because he won't have to save him, he won't have to fight, OK?"

"But _still_… This is the Sand Village's problem, we shouldn't-"

"Kakashi, stop! I know what I'm doing!"

"I understand. I'm sorry for my rude ways, Lady Hokage." He made a grave face and submitted to her will. Angry by not have succeeded, Kakashi puffed away.

Alone in the room, the Hokage sighed. It was harder than it seemed…

She was already expecting this kind of problems when she accepted to be the Hokage, but expecting it and living it was _way _different. She was always under pressure for some reason: the people were unhappy because some thief was stealing their wallets on the streets, or she had made a wrong distribution of the missions, or she wasn't working enough and there were too many documents to sign or write, or the village's connections with some other villages were being lost and forgotten… There was always something she had to worry about: there wasn't any rest time.

At this state, a simple cup of tea or a hot ramen bowl would be enough to comfort her, to stimulate her to continue the hard work. But she couldn't have a simple comforting moment once in a while: time was short and there were too many papers to sign!

Oh well, what could she do?

/-/-/-/

**And back to our Leaf ninjas…**

"We're heading off, I guess." Shikamaru stated.

"_Alright_! We're coming, Gaara! Hold in there! Wherever you are…" Naruto sounded less excited in this last sentence.

"Let's wish he's still in the Hidden Rain…" It was Hinata who said this, but she seemed not to believe her own words very much.

"Don't worry, Hinata." Naruto was now right in front of her. She flushed. "It'll be just fine!" But even his words of confidence sounded quite pathetic, at that point.

"Sorry for holding us, guys. Me and my problems…" Choji was feeling terrible. Because of him, they could never have a trace of Gaara, again.

"It wasn't your fault, Choji. It was Huruochi's fault." Hinata was truly trying to make him feel better, which wasn't anything strange, coming from her. Actually, everyone's idea of Hinata was a shy, kind Hyuuga girl, who just tried to help the people dear to her, whenever she was able to. Choji smiled her. She felt good she could helped his friend, cheered him up. It was so rewarding!

Anyway, they retook their route to the Village Hidden in the Rain, tired but focused. Now, thanks to that fight, more focused than ever. More dangers could arrive and they had to be prepared.

"Lee? What are you doing?" Neji was the first one to notice his squad mate wasn't just walking. He was walking on his thumbs!

"Training."

"You could rest sometimes, you know? Fool… You're just getting tired. You'll fall asleep during the fighting time."

"Haven't you learned nothing with Gai Sensei, Neji?" This question made the Hyuuga boy's eyes grow wide and release a mad glance at Lee.

"What do you mean with that?" He replied angrily.

"Always training. Always exerting. Always pushing himself to the limit. I want to be just like him."

Naruto's brain set the alert since the moment he heard the word "training", so he decided to enter the conversation.

"You're right… You and Gai Sensei are the best! You take every single chance you have to train!" With this said, he equilibrated himself on his thumbs and started walking side to side with his fellow, Rock Lee.

"Let's go then, Naruto!" Lee put a great smile on his face, which spread to Naruto's face that was already filled with determination and excitement. "To the Hidden Rain!"

**And the heroes are off to their original objective again. Is that it? Are they still in time to catch Gaara in the Hidden Rain? Wait for the next chapter to read what happens!**

**Follow and favourite and review! But mostly, enjoy! :D**


	5. To the Hidden Rain!

**Chapter 5: To the Hidden Rain!**

**I kind of felt the obligation to mention the first person to follow this fanfiction, which was actually my first fanfiction ever, so it has an even bigger meaning to me. With that said, I want to thank to Slight the Kamikaze :D This chapter is for you.**

**The six heroes are definitely heading off to the Hidden Rain, this time. I guess… Read to believe!**

The sky was grey and the cold was freezing the six Gaara savers to the bones. A tiny rain drop fell in Naruto's forehead.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yup, it's raining!" Choji read the Jinchuuriki's mind. Shikamaru released an inquiring glance at his best friend. "What is it?" The Akimichi heir didn't understand what he had said wrong.

"I didn't think you were able to read _everybody's_ mind…" The genius seemed to be pouting. Choji found it odd. It wasn't like Shikamaru to be like that.

"Humm… I guess I can read the mind of every person that I already know…"

"Yeah, knock it off… This mission is such a drag…" With this last statement, Choji got it. It wasn't his mind reading that was boring Shikamaru. It was the mission itself!

"The Sand couldn't just solve its own problems, it had to be us doing so…" Choji said ironically.

"Exactly!" The lazy Nara fell in the trap. "Hey, wait… Choji, stop it! I'm being serious…" But the Akimichi guy wasn't done yet.

"Worst part: he have to take him home! And probably Temari will be there and she will kick your ass the instant your put your feet in the first tiny grit!" Choji was challenging his friend so greatly that the genius didn't even notice the joke.

"I did already think about that… Troublesome, that's what it's called!"

"Yeah, you're in kind of a muddle, you know?" Choji was now trying not to laugh out loud.

"Tell me something I don't know…" This time the Akimichi heir wasn't able to hold back and he laughed like he was about to die. Shikamaru was now understanding what his friend had done to him. "Very funny, Choji. Be careful, don't die laughing…" Seeing his friend wasn't stopping, he got annoyed. "Come on, knock it off already! You're annoying the hell out of me!"

"S-sorry…" Choji was already crying from so much laugh.

"We're getting very close." Neji approached them. The two friends assumed a serious state. "The Hidden Rain is right up ahead." The Hyuuga stated. The lazy genius and the food fanatic nodded.

/-/-/-/

**One day earlier, in the Hidden Rain…**

The sturdy man with his face in the shadow and wearing a formal suit entered the old house, uninhabited. He went straight to the biggest division. The silence was quite strange, given the situation under his feet. He pulled up a closure and walked down the stairs, ending up in a dark, old cave. Cobwebs everywhere. To anyone else, it would be a quite creepy place to go, but he was used to it. He had already kept many hostages in there and this one sure wasn't the last one.

He headed in a dim lamp direction, entering a small room where his two weakest men, the short guy with a grave voice and the large-statured dumb were, along with a red-haired guy, his hand and feet tied.

"You useless stupid! What do you think you're doing?!"

The big guy was confused. "I think boss's talking to you, Yasuji."

"Shut up, Kame. Don't you see boss is talking?" The short guy replied.

"Both of you! Did I say you were the ones in charge of guarding the hostage? Think just this once: were you_ ever_ given the task of guarding any hostage in your poor and miserable life?!"

"N-no, boss." The two subordinates answered in choir.

"And why is that?" The supposed boss was being a bit ironic. "Maybe it's because you don't serve for it! Where are Akira and Hidetaka? They are the ones who were supposed to be here!"

"T-they told us to do it for them, only t-this time, b-boss…" The grave voiced sure was brave! The "boss" released an anger scream, but then he calmed himself down. "At least, you didn't lose him."

The three men noticed the hostage had been quite silent until now. The boss decided to act, pushing him and screaming "Wake up, pretty boy!"

Immediately the figure collapsed in a sand puddle. The boss was shocked. "A sand clone?! You hopeless dumb asses! You can't even keep a hostage in a cave?! Get out of my sight, if you wish to live!" He was shaking with so much fury. His veins stood out in the whiteness of his skin. His face turned red and his eyes blind with madness. He intuitively punched the wall behind him, leaving a big crater ten times bigger than his fist.

The situation wasn't good _at all_, for him.

**Back to the present, in Konoha…**

Kakashi was positively impressed by what his student, Sakura, had told him earlier.

"Kakashi-sensei, I've got something to tell you."

He faced her, smiling. "What is it?"

"Humm… I-I've asked Lady Hokage to be her pupil, from now on."

His eyes grew wide, but he then put an encouraging smile on his face. "Really?"

"A-aren't you mad, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Why would I?"

"Humm… Because you don't even know why I've done so."

"Then tell me."

"Well, it's not that I don't think you're a great teacher. I do!"

"Oh, you'll make me flush!" He said ironically, grinning at her.

"It's just that I made a decision: I want to be a medical ninja, Kakashi-sensei!"

"I'm happy for you, Sakura. Keep that determination and you'll be a great success!" He really meant when he said it. Somehow, he was already expecting something like this to happen. He didn't really know why, but he had a feeling that Sakura would want to follow another path. Mainly, since Sasuke ran away. She had been quite strong-minded to succeed in order to save him. For one way, it was great for her. In another way, it would put her life on the line. But did she really care about herself? Or did she care more about her lost teammate? What about Naruto? This worried the sensei.

He got awaken from his deep thinking by a familiar voice.

"Want to go for some ramen?"

"Asuma? Kurenai? Hey! What's up?"

"We were just heading to Ichiraku's. Want to come with us?" This time Kurenai asked.

"Oh, I don't want to bother you, lovebirds!" Kakashi was being ironic again.

"Knock it off!" Asuma laugh. "Come on…" The White Fang's son grinned and joined his friends.

/-/-/-/

**Back to the six ninjas…**

"Is that the Hidden Rain?" Naruto asked as he signs of civilization.

Lee nodded. "It seems we arrived." He added.

That made the Jinchuuriki wonder about the same question the entire group had been thinking about during the last day. Was Gaara still there? We truly wished so. He knew the Sand ninja had made a mistake by running away from his village. He just wanted to make him realise it! He was sure he could persuade his Jinchuuriki friend, even knowing Gaara had a quite strong determination. It couldn't be impossible! Right…?

They hadn't come all this way to fail the mission because Gaara wasn't in the mood to return. No way it would happen! They had to succeed!

"Let's hurry up!" He screamed, challenged by this line of thought. He immediately quickened his pace, and the others were obligated to do so because Naruto sure wasn't going to slow down, at this point.

Like this, they were able to get to the Hidden Rain in half of the time they were initially thinking they would.

If they were already worried before they got there, more anxious they got when they saw the village. It was like a huge grey labyrinth made of high grey buildings, a totally depressing view, comparing to the Hidden Leaf, which inspired happiness to everyone who saw it.

Besides, it was raining – of course – so the long range vision was more difficult for the ones who weren't a Hyuuga.

Besides, they didn't know the Hidden Rain – at all – so there was no way they were able to find Gaara in a day time. They all realised it, and that made their faces turn grave.

"S-so, where do we begin?" Hinata asked shyly.

Everyone looked at Shikamaru, waiting for him to answer, since he was the leader. Becoming conscious of this, Shikamaru stirred up.

"Well, starting to look everywhere, hoping he is anywhere to be seen is a dumb thing to do, since the village is quite big and we could get lost. We have to do something logic, with method. That way we save time and we have more chances of succeeding. The real question is: where do we start?"

Neji could have an answer to this. "We know Gaara have been here since yesterday. He can still be here, but if he left, he did it today, which means he spent the night here."

"So we should look for a hotel, right?" Naruto was effulgent for being able to complete the line of thought.

"No." Choji replied. "If he went through the night here, it sure wasn't in a hotel. Besides of being quite expensive, he would be quickly identified in such a crowded place. He couldn't take that risk, could he? We should head to little motels and inns, unknown places where he could go unnoticed."

"That's right." Hinata nodded and said. "But there may be a lot of those. W-we should get divided in pairs, so we could search quicker."

It was Shikamaru's turn to talk again. "Neji, Hinata and me will be in different groups. Lee, you can go with Neji, since you two are already used to work together. We'll meet here in two hours' time." The two boys nodded and left immediately to the north part of the village.

Shikamaru continued. "Naruto, you're with Hinata because you're too hot-headed and her Byakugan could help." Hinata flushed. Naruto didn't seem to be very happy with this last comment. He wasn't "hot-headed", he just loved the action part!

"Right!" He said trustingly. Both of them headed off to the west part of the civilization.

Shikamaru faced his best friend. "And we're left. Let's go, Choji!" The two cloud watchers went to look in the east area of the village.

/-/-/-/

**Let's take a look at Gaara's squad mates…**

Kankurou was exhausted. They had been running full speed all the way there just to take half of the time. The rain wasn't facilitating the task and this situation was pissing him off.

Unlike him, Temari seemed to be completely ready for the action. They have been running until collapse, but she didn't seem to have gotten affected by it. She was determined to get her brother back, no matter what! It wasn't like Kankurou also wasn't strong-minded, he just didn't understand how Temari didn't sweat a bit!

"We're here. You know the plan, right?"

He nodded. "I need to rest, Temari. Just give me a minute to breath." He breathlessly said, knowing that she wouldn't accept this.

"You idiot!" She screamed at him. "We can't lose a single minute! Come on! On with the plan! And don't you even think about resting while I'm not watching!"

With this said, the Sand ninjas divided and headed in opposite directions in order to look for their lost mate or, at least, some clue that could lead to him.

/-/-/-/

**And now, Konoha…**

Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai were at Ichiraku's, enjoying some good ramen. Asuma started the conversation.

"So, Kakashi, have you already heard something about the kids? I mean, two days have passed since they left, already."

"Nothing. It's been a bit boring since Naruto left. I've got nothing to do, since the Hokage has no missions for me."

Kurenai was confused. "What about Sakura? Don't you have to train her?"

"She's training with the Hokage. She wants to become a medical ninja." He said this a bit sadly.

"Really? That's great. Medical ninjas are needed really bad." Asuma said, but then he noticed Kakashi's sadness. "Hey, is everything OK?"

Kakashi stirred up. "Humm… Yeah, it's OK. It's just that it's been quite calm without any students around. I mean, you still have Ino and Kurenai has Kiba and Shino." He sighed. "I guess I'll just have to wait…"

**And here is chapter 5! Enjoy!**

**The Sand and the Leaf will finally meet in the next chapter! Don't miss it!**


	6. The Reunion

**Chapter 6: The Reunion**

**Both Leaf and Sand ninjas are looking for Gaara in the Hidden Rain, separately… Well, not for long! What will they find?**

The place looked a bit desolate, but what could they do? They had to search in every possible place… It had only passed one hour and they were already soggy. Damn rain! They entered the building. The room they were in had dark red walls and dim wooded floor; a desk at the bottom where a young lady was biting her nails, nervously.

The taijutsu master and the Hyuuga genius approached her in order to get some info. Neji started the conversation.

"I'm sorry, we need some information about your last clients."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I can't say nothing about the clients. It's privet information."

Lee entered the dialogue with his fake anger face and trying to seem as boss as he could.

"We're trying to catch a fugitive, here."

"A f-fugitive? We don't welcome any fugitives in this motel."

"You could never know if you were welcoming a fugitive, could you?" Neji was challenging the already nervous lady.

"W-well…" She tried to talk, but Neji immediately interrupted her.

"Haven't you seen a red-haired boy around here?"

The employee's eyes grew wide and her face showed fear. "W-well, now that you talk about it, I may have seen someone like that, yesterday, but not here."

"Where?!" Lee sure was enthusiastic. "Where did you see him?!"

"Humm, w-well… I was going to the market to buy some vegetables, in the east area, and I saw this boy, carrying something on his back that had an hourglass's shape. I don't know what it was, but I looked at it as he was walking. He should have noticed I was just staring at him, because he released a scary glance at me. I shivered. It was so cold. I had never seen something like that."

The two boys looked at each other. That sure was Gaara. Who else could make a person shiver by just looking at her? Lee wasn't done with the interview, yet.

"And then what happened?" He asked.

"W-well, nothing, I guess. He turned his face again and walked away, and so did I."

"Where was he walking to?" Neji wasn't done either.

"East."

The two boys thanked the woman for her help and walked outside of the building, where they started to exchange ideas. Neji was the first to talk.

"It actually makes sense he's going east. It's the opposite direction of the Sand Village."

Lee nodded. "So, where do you think he's going?"

"I don't know, he may be going to the Country of Earth, which I find weird because he could directly go north, or he's going to the Country of Rice."

"But wait, if he's walking east, he's just going to find the Country of Fire's border, and he couldn't enter it because of the great wall."

"You're right. I said he was going to the Country of Rice, thinking he may turn north in the middle of the way."

"But what if he doesn't? What would he want to do in the border?"

This put Neji deep thinking. "I think we may never find the answer to that, if we don't hurry. Let's go. We still need to find where Gaara slept."

Lee nodded. The two boys jumped away.

/-/-/-/

Hinata was starting to get a cold for catching so much rain and freezing breezes. She sneezed.

"You're starting to get sick, Hinata." But, as Naruto said this, he started to cough.

"So do you." Hinata said. He sent her a huge smile.

"I'm just fine, Hinata. Let's worry about Gaara, OK?"

She flushed tenderly and nodded. It was good to see his determination. This made her wonder. Shikamaru had said it was good for them to be together, because she could help Naruto with his temper in complicated situations. But now that she thought about it, it was also good for her, since Naruto was constantly stimulating her to do her best and to keep focused.

In the end, it would reveal as a great duo, if you think about it. That made her happy. She smiled without even noticing it. But Naruto did.

"What is it?" He asked with a smile, too.

When she realised she was grinning, she answered shyly. "Oh, nothing, Naruto. I was just thinking about Konoha."

This statement made him smile even more. "Yes, I'm wishing to go home, too. Anyway, this will be quick, since we make a great team, Hinata!"

She seriously put on the line the chance of Naruto being able to read minds. She flushed violently, but didn't pass out. Naruto started to get worried.

"Hinata? Are you OK? I think you're starting to have fever!"

They both landed on a roof, just to check if Hinata was OK. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice calling them.

"Hey, you two!"

Naruto looked at the roof next to theirs and immediately recognized the person. "Kankurou?!" He didn't seem to believe it. The puppet user wasn't exactly the person he was wishing to see, right now. The visitor jumped to the roof they had landed on.

"What are you doing, lovebirds?" He liked to challenge people, to see their reactions.

Hinata, who had already changed to her normal skin colour, flushed again, and Naruto got angry. He didn't like when people kidded with him.

"What are you doing here, puppet disaster?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, brat. I was just kidding with you."

"You didn't really answer my question, did you? Oh, and my name is Naruto Uzumaki, not brat."

"What do you think I'm doing, _Naruto Uzumaki_? I'm obviously looking for Gaara, genius!"

"That's _our_ mission, not yours!"

Kankurou laughed. "Oh, I could see your great searching, you two. You'll find him in a snap's instant, that way."

Hinata felt a twinge of guilt. After all, it was her who had them late. She hid her face on the shadow.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto quickly replied. "Then what have _you_ done?"

At this statement, the puppet user did not riposte. He hadn't done much, to be honest.

"That's what I though… Come on, Hinata. Let's find Gaara!" Naruto loudly said, for his foe to hear clearly.

They were about to jump when they were interrupted… by Kankurou.

"Hey! Wait! If we look for him together, we have more chances of finding something, since we have three brains working, instead of two."

"Oh, so you have brain!" Naruto laughed. Hinata looked at the puppet user and gave her opinion. "N-Naruto, I think he's right."

The blonde looked at her, incredulous, but then gave up. "Oh, OK. Come on, puppet freak…"

/-/-/-/

"Shikamaru?" Choji was breathless. They were running in order to find another motel.

The lazy genius faced him, like if his glance said «What is it?»

"I'm tired… Can't we stop to eat some chips or something?"

Shikamaru smiled. "Are you tired… or hungry?"

"I think I'm both!" As Choji said this, he seemed to be quite worried about himself.

"But don't you want to save Gaara?"

"You're right, I'm being too selfish. We shall continue!" He was now concerned about the Sand ninja, instead of himself.

"All right, then."

"Shikamaru?" Five seconds passed, he called again. The genius faced him with the what-is-it glance again. "You're normally lazier than me. And that's about impossible. I mean, not for the Nara clan but-"

"Choji!" The genius was smiling.

"Right. What I wanted to ask was: why are you in such a hurry? You didn't even want to stop for some chips. It's not like you."

Shikamaru sighed. "Well Choji, it's kind of complicated. Since I'm a chunin, I've been feeling like I had some more responsibility. And that feeling gets heavier since I'm the leader in this mission. Do you understand?"

"Not really. I'm not a chunin, you know?" Choji was scratching his nape.

"What I mean is: being the only chunin _and_ the leader, I'm responsible for the succeeded of this mission _and_ your lives. It's kind of a drag…"

Choji laughed. The way he said this last sentence made him realise his best friend was still inside of that «more responsible» body, after all. That made him feel happy and comfortable.

They were still running, when they had to make a sudden stop because someone decided to appear on their way.

"What's up, loser?" Temari's voice and her joke tone were unmistakable. She was obviously referring to Shikamaru because she was looking at him and leaving Choji apart. The Akimichi clan's heir noticed this. Shikamaru was bored like hell.

"What do you want? We're trying to find your dear brother, if you didn't notice, so would you mind getting out of the way?"

"I'm the one who's going to find him and bring him home, got it, jerk?"

"We were assigned to this mission because your village asked us to, so knock it off…"

"We'll do it like this: you and I will fight, jerk. If you win, you'll have the opportunity of helping me finding Gaara. If I win, you'll return to your dear village and quit the mission, got it?"

"Who said we wanted to help you? And what do you gain with that fight?"

"My revenge." She smiled, madly.

"Do I have another choice besides fighting?"

"I don't think so."

Shikamaru sighed. Choji jumped to the nearest roof in order to watch the fight.

Temari started the countdown. "Three, two, one…" As she finished, she took her fan and opened it. Shikamaru took his battle stance, a kunai on his right hand.

The fan user smiled, challenging his enemy. She had been waiting for this fight for long. Should I say fight, or revenge? Revenge is actually a better word to describe what that battle meant to her. She was actually excited about it. She knew it wasn't going to be her easier fight ever, but could it be that hard? He was just some smart guy, nothing she couldn't take down. Right?

Temari was the first to attack, not a very smart move, but functional.

"[Wind Release: Severing Pressure]" She screamed.

Shikamaru started to feel wind currents around him. He packed his _kunai_ again. He looked up and saw a huge tornado was about smash him, so he jumped back, leaving the whirlwind hit the floor and create a dust cloud that covered his view for a while. And her shadow, too.

"Troublesome." He muttered.

When the dust cloud finally lifted, the only thing Shikamaru could see was Temari's _kunai_ dangerously near to his neck. He decided to use some taijutsu. He grabbed her right arm – the one holding the _kunai_ – and used it to throw her away from him again. She landed not too far from him. They were now as distant to each other as they were before the fight started.

They exchanged anger glances. The battle was getting interesting for Shikamaru, and with interesting he meant troublesome.

"[Shadow Sewing Technique]" Shikamaru muttered and made the necessary hand seals. Immediately Temari was surrounded by numerous shadow tendrils heading in her direction. She jumped to the end of the street and the tendrils continued trying to catch her, but she was too far from him, since the street was extremely long, and the tendrils couldn't get to her and started to back down. "Damn it!" He mumbled.

He then threw a huge number of _kunai_ and _shuriken_ with explosive tags in her direction. He just saw her starting to dance and dodging every single one. All the weapons landed on the wall behind her that belonged to an old building, which started to fall in pieces. They were lucky the building was uninhabited! Thanks to the falling debris, Temari had to approach his enemy again, in order to dodge them.

As she landed on the floor, now more close to Shikamaru, she found herself unable to move.

"What the-?" She let out.

Shikamaru smiled. "Shadow Imitation Technique: success!"

"How?"

"Did you really think I thought I could catch you with explosives?"

"So all this just to make me approach you?"

The boy nodded. He was proud of himself: that he couldn't deny. "[Shadow Neck Bind Technique]", and a shadow of a hand started to strangle her, but since he didn't really wish to kill her, he let her go and said "Checkmate."

Temari released an anger scream and took her fan again and was preparing to make a Cutting Whirlwind Technique, but Shikamaru stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that. There are people who live here, remember?"

Still having a touch of common sense, she listened to him and put down the giant fan. "Next time, I'll kill you, got it?"

"Yeah, sure…" He said, not really believing her. "Now, can we have the _honour_ to help _you_ find _your_ brother?"

"Come on, brats…" She boringly said.

Choji jumped out of the roof where he was and walked next to his friend, who was still smiling to his enemy.

And the three went on with their search.

**And here is Chapter 6! Don't forget to review!**

**Anyway, do you think I should write bigger fights or bigger chapters? Please give your opinion!**

**Enjoy! :D**


	7. The Ambush

**Chapter 7: The Ambush**

**The three groups searched for Gaara, and one of them actually found some information. But there's something they're not doing right.**

"So… Where do we go next?" Choji asked his friend. Temari was two meters ahead, leading the group.

"We keep searching for more places where he could have slept, I guess…" Shikamaru answered.

Suddenly, Temari stopped and started laughing violently. The two friends didn't understand what she was amused with; they didn't find nothing funny in the panorama or much less in the situation they were in; they looked at each other, clueless. Shikamaru decided to voice their ignorance.

"What's so funny?" The three had stopped in the middle of a street, because Temari was giggling so brutally she couldn't even run. As Shikamaru said this, he put his hands on his pockets and took his bored stance, waiting for her to stop chuckling. After a while, she decided to answer him, still with tears in her eyes, because of laughing so much.

"So that's what you've been doing? Searching for where he slept?" She released another laugh again.

The two boys nodded. "What about it?" This time Choji said.

"Well, just a little detail: Gaara doesn't really sleep…"

The boys' eyes grew wide. "W-what?" Choji let out.

"Didn't you ever question about that huge under eye circles?"

Choji talked again. "It was kind of weird, but to think the guy never sleeps…"

"Horrible nightmares, dreadful visions… The Shukaku host is not capable of such a thing like slumbering."

"Then all this was a waste of time…" Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."

"Then the only thing we can do now is return to the meeting point and hope the others had found something useful." The Akimichi heir said, sadly.

The other two nodded.

/-/-/-/

"I wonder what the others have gathered…" Lee was thoughtful.

"Probably not much. It seems Gaara knows pretty well how to run away."

"Yeah. But then we must be awesome, because we actually got valuable information, don't you think?"

"Not really."

"Huh? Why?" The taijutsu genius was incredulous.

"We didn't really gather that much information. The only certain thing we know is that he was at that market and that he went east. The rest are just suppositions."

"You're probably right…" The green-dressed seemed quite despondent.

Seeing his partner was a bit down, Neji tried to cheer him up. "We'll find him…"

"I know."

At this statement, Neji seemed quite surprised, but decided not to question his friend's determination, because it could put him down again.

"We should go back to the meeting point. Two hours have already passed." The Hyuuga boy stated.

Lee nodded. "Let's go, then."

/-/-/-/

Three men were standing on a roof, looking down to the street, noting every single move of their target. The supposed boss, a sturdy man with his face in the shadow and wearing a formal suit, was accompanied by two other guys covered by brown hooded robes.

"Akira, Hidetaka, shall we begin?"

"Yes, master Raiden." The two men answered in choir. But one of them still had a doubt. "What about the sand brat, sir?"

"Let him be. We'll catch him, anyway." The questioner nodded.

The boss, Raiden, smiled malevolently, creepily, you could say.

/-/-/-/

"N-Naruto?" Hinata called shyly.

The Jinchuuriki faced her, the fatigue showing signs in everyone's faces.

"We should go back. We've already searched for two hours." She continued.

"Yeah, I think she's right." Kankurou continued.

"But we haven't found anything, yet."

"Y-Yes, but the others will get worried, and that will late us. Don't you think, Naruto?" Hinata continued trying to persuade him.

"You're maybe right… OK, let's go, then." You could see disappointment in Naruto's face. The fact they hadn't found nothing at all was killing him inside, making him feel he wouldn't be capable of finding his sand comrade. But that was unacceptable! His friends should have found something, already, that could lead them to the Shukaku host.

Yes, they could really find him!

Naruto put a smile on his face, which disappeared in a snap's instant, because someone had thrown a _kunai_ too close to his head. He froze.

He was questioning himself about who had done such a thing when the answer landed not too far from him, in a human form, actually. Two hooded guys stared at him for moments, giving time for Hinata to activate her Byakugan and for Kankurou to prepare his puppets.

"Oh, look, Akira. The little brat has friends to protect him."

"Oh, isn't that cute." Hidetaka replied, ironically.

Naruto made a determination expression as he understood they were talking about him. He took a battle stance.

"Where is Gaara, you bastards?!" He screamed, assuming they had taken Gaara while he was on the Hidden Rain.

"How do you want us to know?" Akira screamed back.

"But don't worry." Said the other hooded man. "Soon, he'll be with you."

"What do you mean, bastard?" Naruto wasn't really understanding.

In response, the hooded men smiled subtly.

This only served to piss Naruto off. He didn't like rhetorical questions, especially when they weren't meant to be rhetorical!

"If you won't answer me, I'll punch the answer out of you!"

Akira and Hidetaka started laughing, but only Hidetaka voiced his thinking. "I'd like to see you try, kid."

This made Naruto determination to kill those two no-bodies even more. He didn't even know who they were, he only knew they wanted him for some reason. And Gaara, too.

As Shikamaru would say, they were just troublesome.

Hidetaka threw one _kunai_ in Hinata's direction and another in Kankurou's, making them head back in order to dodge them.

While they were far from Akira and Naruto, the first one executed the [Wind Style: Hurricane Fist]. His fist was immediately covered by cutting wind. Naruto couldn't even see him coming, so he let the enemy punch him in the abdomen. «He's… so… fast…», the Jinchuuriki though, before passing out. Akira smiled.

"What are you doing?!" Hidetaka screamed to his comrade.

"Relax. I was holding back. He just passed out." At this statement, Hidetaka sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Hinata approached Naruto in order to see how he was and Kankurou was now closer to the enemies again.

Akira noticed something. «Odd», he thought, «he only has one puppet, now. Didn't he have two, at the beginning?»

/-/-/-/

Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji and Temari were already at the meeting point, waiting for the others.

"Why are those two taking so long?" Choji finally voiced what everybody was thinking.

"Three. Those three." Temari immediately said. "Kankurou hasn't arrived yet, too." She was really worried about his brother. It was clear in her face.

Shikamaru, who had been quiet until now, made a decision. "Me and Neji will look out for them. You stay here, in case they arrive." Everybody nodded… excepting the sand girl.

"I'm going, too." She said, confident. "Kankurou is my brother, remember?" She faced Shikamaru.

He sighed. "You won't accept a «no» for answer, will you?" The genius said, bored. Just by looking at her face, he could already tell he was right. "Come on…"

She smiled. The three ninjas jumped out, leaving Lee and Choji for their exciting waiting.

Neji activated his Byakugan, in order to find their friends more quickly. When he finally found them, his eyes grew wide.

"That way." He pointed. "And we should really hurry."

Shikamaru and Temari could already guess what was going on without asking Neji for details.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

/-/-/-/

Hinata had taken Naruto to a safe roof and returned to the fight. She would prefer a thousand times to stay with Naruto and help him recover, but she couldn't let Kankurou fight those two by himself. Not that they had hopes they could defeat them even the two of them. The plan was to create a diversion and get out of there the fastest they could.

Once they found the rest of the group, it would reveal easier to escape. The funny part: they didn't even know why they were fighting these guys; they just knew that it had something to do with Naruto and Gaara, which meant it could reveal itself a matter of the Kyuubi and Shukaku's powers.

Anyway, they wouldn't let them take their will along.

After some time throwing _kunai_ and_ shuriken_ and dodging the enemies' ones, apparently the two hooded decided to get serious.

Hidetaka screamed "[Chidori]!" and started running into Hinata's direction at an impressive speed, impossible to dodge. The same happened with Akira and Kankurou, but this one performed a "[Rasengan]!" and both the genin saw their lives passing right through their eyes… almost.

When they were about to be hit, the two hooded stopped, still in an attack stance.

"Shadow Binding Technique: success. Hinata, Kankurou, just saved your lives. You're welcome." Shikamaru smiled.

Kankurou sighed in pure relief. Hinata fell on her knees, also sighing. This was one of those bad luck days.

The Chidori and the Rasengan were already extinct, but their executors were far from over with that fight. They let out a war cry and started to try moving; Shikamaru trying harder and harder to keep them still, but it was impossible. The two men, with a lot of effort, got rid of that technique and jumped to the nearest roof.

Yup, that was one of _those _days.

"H-how?" Shikamaru let out.

"Oh, look, Hidetaka. A shadow user!" Akira said, smiling with confidence.

"Oh, isn't that cute!" Hidetaka replied again, just like the last time. He was also smiling.

This put Shikamaru in a bad mood; at least, worse than he was before. But thinking about it, it could not be as bad as he was thinking. He actually liked to be underestimated. It could reveal itself a virtue.

Yeah…

Naruto woke up on the top of a building, not really sure of what had happened. The rain was pissing him off. He was completely wet, already. Wasn't that enough?! He was lying on the soaked roof, but quickly sat up when he realised somebody's shadow was covering his face.

He tried to figure who the person was, but her face was covered in a shadow coming from nowhere. Creepy.

He was sturdy and was wearing a formal black suit, also wet.

"Hello, boy." The man said, calmly. Almost irritant.

"Who the hell are you?" The Jinchuuriki quickly asked.

The man started to laugh. The rhetorical questions again. Damn!

"Who are you?!" He asked again, now more violently.

This time, the man answered. "Me? That's nothing of your business."

Naruto was getting more and more confused. And pissed. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. That's why I came."

"Listen, man: you're confusing me. Stop joking around and get to the matter, already."

The man laughed again. "You're a pretty cheeky boy, aren't you, Naruto?"

"Huh?" The Jinchuuriki's eyes grew wide. "How do you know my name?"

"Not only your name. I know a lot of things about you, boy."

"What is this about?! Why did you come to me?"

"I came to kill you and your little sand friend. What is his name, really? Oh yes, Gaara!"

**Ooops! More dangers are arriving. How will the Leaf ninjas deal with this one?**

**You'll have to read the next chapter, I guess…**

**Enjoy **

**P.S.: I'll be taking a bit more time to write new chapters because I won't have much time, but I won't stop, OK?**

**:D**


	8. Naruto!

**Chapter 8: Naruto!**

**It seems like Naruto is in kind of a huge trouble. But it's not like everything is bad, right now. After all, the other ones came to save Kankurou, Hinata and Naruto. Well, at least, Kankurou and Hinata.**

The five ninjas were ready to fight. Hidetaka and Akira were on a roof looking at them. Hidetaka decided to talk.

"One, two, three, four, five… Not fair. We're just two, Akira!" He didn't seem to be truly worried about it.

"I completely agree. We should take out some of them more quickly and then made the last two suffer. Yeah, that sounds like a plan!"

"Yeah!"

The duo was talking pretty loudly, so the leaf ninjas could hear all of it.

At this last dialogue, Shikamaru sighed. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy a good fight. He did. When he was the one to watch it! Being inside it wasn't really his style. He was more of a cloud watcher. And it was damn raining! Hell, he hated that place…

He was kind of immersed on this thinking line when he heard a noise. It was like a click. He didn't know what it meant, he only knew it made his two adversaries jump away with some other man, all of him was a shadow. He didn't recognize him, he only noticed he was carrying someone else on his shoulder.

The five ninjas started to run after the trio, but as soon as they reached them, they disappeared in a puff.

Temari screamed in anger. "Damn it!

Lee talked next. "You guys warn me if I'm wrong, but weren't they the only lead we had of Gaara until now?"

"No." Neji said this time. "Remember, Lee, what we found out."

"Oh yeah! That's about right!"

Everyone was wondering what it could be and, at the same time, surprised, because Neji and Lee had been the only ones who had discovered something. However, no one had time to hear their discovery because Hinata, who had jumped back to the roof where she had left Naruto, talked first.

"G-guys?!" Her voice was lacking, she was making a big effort not to fall on her knees. Teardrops were running down her face; it sure wasn't rain, this time. "N-Naruto… he… he…"

"They took him." Shikamaru said, sparing her the effort of saying it. "I saw it." He was looking down with a truly sad face. He was starting to like Naruto; he had to admit the boy was kind of funny, sometimes, when he wasn't busy being troublesome.

Hearing the pure truth, Hinata couldn't resist falling on her knees; her hand tied next to her heart; she was crying and sobbing.

Neji, feeling it was kind of a cousin's duty, jumped next to her and hugged her. "Don't worry, Hinata." He started with a hopeful smile. "I know where they're taking him."

At this statement, everyone looked admired at him, excepting Lee, who started smiling victoriously.

"Oh yeah, I was about to tell you, guys!" He wanted to share the glory as well. "We got a lead!"

"Just say it, already!" Temari exploded.

Lee took a step back; the girl was damn scary, most of the times!

"Y-yes! Me and Neji found out the suspects are walking east, to the Fire Country's border… sir."

Shikamaru started thinking.

"Why?" He finally asked.

"We don't know." Neji said.

"Let's hurry up, then!" Kankurou had been totally out of the conversation, but he decided to express his opinion as well.

Everyone nodded and said "Yes!" in choir.

/-/-/-/

**Somewhere, in an Akatsuki hideout…**

"Tobi, Deidara, a new mission has come up to you two." Pain said.

The atmosphere was quite heavy. But, thinking about it, it was always like that in the Akatsuki meetings, right?

Hearing what Pain had said, Tobi's only visible eye shined in satisfaction.

"Did you hear that, big brother?!" He faced Deidara. "We're together on a new mission! Aren't you happy?!"

Deidara faced him boringly. "Shut up, Tobi."

"Oh, OK, big brother…" The masked man said now a bit calmer.

"Oh, and Tobi?"

"Yes, big brother?"

"Don't _ever_ call me «big brother» again. Got it?"

"As you want, big brother!" Nobody could really see it, but Tobi seemed to be smiling,

Deidara sighed. Tobi seemed to be useless, sometimes.

"Anyway," Pain continued, "your mission: meet with our correspondent in the Fire Country's border. Three men will hand you two boys. They're two Jinchuuriki that you have to bring here. Make sure not to lose them. I'll give more precise information about the meeting location, later. Meanwhile, go prepare yourselves."

"Me and my big brother are always prepared!" Tobi shouted triumphantly.

"Shut up, Tobi!" Deidara was clearly pissed.

"Dismissed." Pain said.

/-/-/-/

**And in Konoha…**

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed happily from the other top of the street.

The white-haired jonin turned around to see a pink-haired girl with a huge smile running in his direction. However, she was holding a big knife in her right hand. Was this something he should be worried about?

She finally reached him.

"Look, Kakashi-sensei." She said as she caused a deep cut on her left arm with her knife.

"W-what are you doing, Sakura?!" Kakashi expressed a worried face.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. Just watch."

She dropped her knife on the floor and involved her right hand in a green chakra, which she applied on the cut in her left arm, healing him completely.

"See?!" She faced him, smiling.

He sure was amazed. Even Shizune didn't master that technique so quickly. And she was Shizune!

Could this girl be the next legendary medical ninja? He wondered.

"So? What do you think, Kakashi-sensei?"

He woke up from his deep thinking. He had totally forgotten the girl was still there!

"That's great, Sakura! Keep the good work!" He finally said.

Since the girl seemed satisfied with the answer, he took leave and went ahead to the Hokage Tower.

He wondered why she had called him. Had she finally found a mission for him? It was about time, already.

But before he could get there, another person stopped him, but this time that person was about his age. And was a guy.

"Hey, Kakashi!"

"What's up, Asuma?"

"Going to the Hokage office?"

Kakashi nodded with a smile and Asuma continued.

"Me too. Com'on…" He said now walking and made him a sign with his hand to illustrate his phrase.

The two men were walking side by side.

"She's a pretty fast learner, isn't she?" Asuma said.

"You mean Sakura? I was thinking about it right now."

"Tsunade picks the good ones, alright."

The masked man nodded.

Another silence moment.

"Sooo…" Kakashi finally said. "What about Ino and Choji?"

"They're focusing on the clan techniques, right now, so they've been spending more time with their parents. We had a training session, yesterday, though."

"And how were they?"

Asuma looked at Kakashi's face and smiled proudly. "Ino's a complete mind controller, now, and Choji… Well, Choji could smash a little village in no time, actually."

"They seem to be pretty good."

However, Kakashi noticed Asuma wasn't totally happy. "What is it?" He said, but then he realized it. "Are you worried about Shikamaru?" He said smiling.

"No, of course not! He's a genius, he can take care of himself."

"Then what is it? Oh! I know… Something happened between you and Kurenai, right?"

Asuma looked at him, surprised. "How did you-"

"Oh, come on, Asuma. I don't need to be a Yamanaka to read your mind…"

Now anybody could see Asuma was sad.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked one more time.

"She didn't want to have dinner yesterday night. She never refuses. What did I do?"

"You're a good guy, Asuma. I'm sure you did nothing wrong. I guess she just wasn't in the mood for it."

Asuma looked at him, sadly, but then a smile grew up on his face. "Hey, I didn't know you were such a good adviser. Do you know what they say? The best advises come from who has the experience… Do you want to tell me something?"

Kakashi flushed and scratched his nape nervously.

"Oh, look! We're here! No time to talk, now!" He excused himself.

As they entered the building, Kakashi noticed he had never been saved by the Hokage Tower before. Funny.

/-/-/-/

"Enter…" Tsunade said when she heard someone nocking at the door.

The door opened and two men entered.

"Good, you're here Kakashi, Asuma."

She then handed them a written paper. Asuma recognized it immediately.

"This is Shikamaru's writing!"

Tsunade nodded. "He sent us a pigeon with that message. They captured both Gaara and Naruto."

At this statement, Kakashi's eyes grew wide. Tsunade and Asuma could only see one of his eyes, though. He then deduced a simple thing.

"The bijuu, right?"

"Both of them." Tsunade confirmed with a nod.

"Are we their support?" Asuma questioned.

"Yes. You'll leave today."

The two men nodded as they received another paper with the details of the other ninjas' location.

They exited.

This info left a lot for Kakashi to think about. His student had been kidnapped!

/-/-/-/

**Back to the five Sand and Leaf ninjas…**

"OK, guys. We at least have the minimum idea of what they want from Naruto and Gaara and where the kidnappers are heading to… I think. So, off we go, I guess…" Shikamaru wasn't excited. At all! Man, this was such a drag…

The five ninjas jumped out of there to the border direction.

There wasn't even a single one of them who didn't want to get out of that damn rain! It was so damn annoying! God damn it!

Compared to that, the forest was… dry, at least.

They were running at maximum speed. No one knew what exactly was waiting for them, but they had an idea. And it wasn't welcoming.

**Wait! Akatsuki, too? It isn't looking good to the heroes…**

**Well, good luck! I guess…**

**It was away too much time since the last chapter! I'm so sorry, but I have been quite busy, you know?**

**Anyway, here Chapter 8, finally!**

**Enjoy and sayonara!**


	9. Getting closer

**Chapter 9: Getting closer…**

**Some time passed, but the seven young ninjas are still on the run towards the Fire Country's border, and so are Kakashi and Asuma. And Tobi and Deidara! This doesn't look good…**

"OK, this place looks safe. Let's set camp here." Shikamaru said.

They had reached the forest without any remarkable incidence. Sudden depressions and cry attacks of Hinata's part didn't really count, but everybody could see how down she was. She didn't even talk, most of the time. Poor girl. Neji constantly talked to her, showed her his support – and most of the people found this behaviour was kind of weird, coming from the Hyuuga boy – and Lee tried to put a little smile on her face, using his remarkable Power of Youth, but all their efforts seemed useless when it was a matter of love.

All they could do was hoping Naruto would be OK until they got there, or Hinata would die from deep depression or something.

They quickly set up their tents and got the wood for the bonfire. They all had brought their own food.

The evening had passed slowly. Things were kind of quiet without Naruto around, and this affected every one of them. Even knowing Kankuro had the same living spirit as Naruto, all this last events, mostly his own brother's running away had brought him down. Really down.

When they all finished their "dinner", they got prepared to go to sleep.

Shikamaru was entering his tent when Hinata appeared from his back.

"S-Shikamaru, I've got a favour to ask you…"

He turned around to face her and lift up an eyebrow. "What could that be?"

"Hum… I need you to train me, Shikamaru."

This sure caught him unaware. "Do I have a sensei face, or something, Hinata?"

"Please." She insisted.

"First of all, why do you want me to train you?"

"Because I'm not strong enough to save Naruto, yet, and Kurenai-sensei isn't here."

Oh! He should be already expecting that…

"You should ask Neji. He's also a Hyuuga, you know?" He just wished this would work.

"I know, but I don't wish to improve my clan techniques, right now. So, can you help me?"

Well, shit! The lazy genius sighed. "I can't train you. However, I can help you with your training, give you some tips. You'll do it all by yourself. Got that?"

She nodded. This was the most she could expect from him, she guessed.

"Now go to sleep." He ordered.

She nodded again. "Arigato, Shikamaru." And she left to her tent.

Troublesome, he thought. Couldn't people just let him be?

/-/-/-/

"We should stop for the night, Kakashi." Asuma said.

"Yeah… I was thinking. We'll get there first than the kids."

"You're about right. Mostly because you haven't stopped with the high speed thing."

"Sorry about that." Kakashi said, scratching his nape. "It's just that-"

"Naruto. I get it. But just try to stay calm, OK?"

"Sure."

/-/-/-/

**In the morning…**

"Shikamaru, wake up!"

The lazy ass opened his eyes… slowly… Who the heck had made such a mistake as waking him up?

"Hinata? Can you stop doing this?"´

"Sorry."

He closed his eyes again.

"Shikamaru! Don't fall asleep!" She called again.

«Calm down, Shikamaru», he thought.

Hinata continued. "Can we start my training while everybody his packing their things?"

"Wait. Is everybody packing their things? Why?"

"The mission, remember? Anyway: please start training me, now."

"Remember our conversation? I'm not training you, I'll just-"

"Then give me a first tip, please."

The genius sighed. He had to stand up. And in his time zone it was still bedtime!

After some time, both the Nara and the Hyuuga were outside, ready to start.

"OK," He started. "besides your clan things, the other techniques are not very improved, right?"

She nodded and he continued.

"In order to improve your other techniques, you should figure your chakra nature out."

"Right."

"Come with me."

They both walked towards a tree.

"Involve your hand with chakra and hit the log." He ordered.

She quickly completed the task and the genius observed the result.

"Watch the result." He said. "Since the log isn't burnt or cut, you're not fire natured nor wind natured."

He then took a thin paper from one of his pockets and handed it to her.

"Hold this paper between your fingers. Than focus your chakra on it. Whatever happens to the paper will reveal your chakra nature. If it wrinkles, you're light natured, if it gets soggy, you're water natured and if it crumbles, you're earth natured."

"Just a question: doesn't this paper react to fire or wind?"

"It does."

"Then why didn't I do this in the first place?"

"I just wanted to check on something, but since you're not fire or wind natured, it doesn't really matter… Just do it."

"Y-yes."

She held the little paper and sent it some of her chakra. This made her find that the paper got pretty soggy.

"You're water natured, lady." He said.

"N-now what?"

"Now we get back to the group and continue with the mission."

"B-but… that's it?"

"Yup. Don't have more time. Com'on."

/-/-/-/

"Hey! Big brother, wait for me!"

Deidara sighed. "Hurry up, Tobi. You're such a slow ass…"

"Calm down, big brother."

"We don't have much time. And stop calling me damn big brother!"

"But I don't call you damn big brother, big brother. I just call you big brother." Tobi smiled. He sure was having fun.

Deidara growled in anger. "You're the most useless person I've ever met, Tobi. I don't even want to have an idea of your artistic side. If you have one, this is…"

"Are you saying I'm not artistic, big brother? I am super artistic, big brother!"

"Shut up! You don't even know what art is! Such insolence…"

"Why are you so mad, big brother?"

"Sorry, Tobi. This just pisses me off."

"What pisses you off, big brother?"

"Pain…"

"I got it. It's a pain. But what is the pain, big brother?"

"No! Pain is the pain! Pain pisses me off! _Do this, do that!_ He does nothing while we work!"

"Oh, big brother! I'm sure he does something while we go get the Jinchuuriki, right?"

"Yeah, sure… Deceive yourself. He just sits down and waits for us to get back. We're lucky that he still wants to be part of the process. Someday he'll just watch us doing it…"

"What are you talking about, big brother?"

"Oh, nothing… Forget it…"

"OK, big brother."

"But, seriously, Tobi. STOP CALLING ME BIG BROTHER!"

/-/-/-/

"S-Shikamaru?" Hinata didn't let go the idea of the training with the genius.

He sighed. He was starting to hate the girl. Seriously, she was boring him like hell.

They were running for a while and he was completely submerged in his thoughts. The least he was needing was an annoying girl who couldn't train by herself.

"What is it?" He finally said.

"Could you tell me the second tip, please?"

"Oh man! This is such a drag…"

"Please?" She insisted.

Shikamaru had a feeling of _dèja-vu_. He then took a little book out of his back and handed it to her.

"That book has the basic jutsus of each nature. Start from the bottom."

"Y-yes. Thanks again, Shikamaru."

"Yeah, yeah…"

One more day and they would get there, rescue them and he could finally go home again, play Shogi and watch the clouds. That's what he really liked. Rescuing and fighting was way too troublesome…

/-/-/-/

**Some time passed…**

Kakashi and Asuma were in front of a quite big cliff… right in the middle of the forest! Seriously, what the heck! Besides the weird location, the cliff seemed to have a huge opening, which was covered by a huge spherical rock.

"Do you think this was some ninja's doing?" Asuma asked.

"I'm sure of it."

"Well, the place sure seems to be here. Anyway, we don't have time to wait for the kids. We'll have to break inside as fast as we can."

"Nope. We really have to wait for them." Kakashi said, looking up to the stone.

"What do you mean? We don't have time!"

"Look at the centre of the rock, Asuma."

The black-haired man found a paper glued to the rock and jumped to observe it more carefully. He concluded something.

"A four-sealed passage."

Kakashi nodded. "We need the kids to take out the four papers at the same time."

"Or we could just make some clones."

"That's true, but I'm sure the other three seals are pretty far away from here, and they have Hinata. If we act alone, now, we'll take a lot of time just to find the seals and then break the rock. If we wait for them, we'll find the seals in no time, even if we take some time with just the waiting part."

Asuma sat on the floor. "Then wait we will…"

Kakashi nodded and sat next to him, both cross-legged.

"Wait we will…" Kakashi repeated, just to emphasize, and he sighed.

/-/-/-/

Lee sighed as they were running in the forest.

"How long will it take?!" He finally exploded.

"Not much longer…" Shikamaru answered.

"Then we'll find Gaara, right?" Kankuro was also impatient.

"Probably not immediately. If these guys were able to drag us this far, they're not going to hand us Gaara and Naruto that easily…"

Temari nodded. She had also been thinking about this, she just didn't know exactly what to expect next, and that worried her.

"Whatever happens, just keep your calm, everybody." Neji said, apparently to everybody, but it seemed like he was looking to a certain Hyuuga girl, who sure wasn't very comfortable with it.

But she knew exactly what to answer, she wasn't a fool. "Don't worry, Neji. I won't get in your way."

"I-I didn't mean that, Hinata." He said, nervously.

"I said don't worry. I won't let my feelings take over me and affect the mission's rate of success." She said again. That way, nobody would take her for a coward.

_Well, that's a disclosure… _Shikamaru thought.

**You're almost there, guys. Hang on!**

**And here is one more chapter. This mission should end in three or four chapter, I guess… Anyway, I want you to know that I've decided to put one chapter on each Thursday. Like this, I won't be always worrying about when I put another chapter, OK? Enjoy!**


	10. My opponent is myself?

**Chapter 10: My opponent is… myself?!**

**They know where the enemies are, but there's kind of a huge rock in the way, and besides, it's sealed. Well, good luck.**

They heard noise coming in their direction and took a defensive stance, a _kunai_ on Kakashi's right hand and two chakra blades on Asuma's hands, one on each hand, involved in a familiar blue chakra.

They had their five senses full powered – and a sixth one, too – and were completely alert. The noise came closer and closer, louder and louder.

The two men were about to attack the newcomers, but they quickly stopped themselves, seeing that the said newcomers were none other than their dear students and their friends and mission partners.

"Asuma-sensei!" Chouji screamed from a tree branch.

"Hey, quiet!" The bearded man said gently, almost whispering. "Do you want to attract unwanted attention?"

"S-sorry…" He apologized himself.

"What's the situation?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi.

"The people we want are being this rock, but it is sealed. A four-sealed rock, that's why we were waiting for you."

"I-I'm sorry…" Hinata intervened. "What's a four-seal?"

Kakashi proceeded to the explanation. "Do you see that paper in the rock, up there?" Hinata looked and nodded, allowing Kakashi to continue. "Well, it's one of the four papers that are sealing the entrance."

"Does that mean we'll have to find the other three?" Hinata deduced.

Kakashi nodded. "We waited not only because we were only two men, but because even with clones, we needed the Byakugan to find the other three papers."

"And how far could they be?" Neji also joined the chat.

"We don't know." Asuma answered. "That's for you and Hinata to find out. But, just in case, take this wireless radios in your necks, for we to communicate." As he said this, he gave one to Hinata, one to Neji, one to Rock Lee and, finally, he put one on his own neck, since it was him who was going to take out the paper on the rock.

"Now, listen, everyone." Kakashi said. "The four of you will have to take the papers out simultaneously, so communication is essential, got it?" The said four nodded. "Neji, Hinata, Lee, since the papers may be a bit far, and it's very likely that there may be traps when you take the papers out. Be aware of that."

The three nodded again. "Now, shall we start?"

Hinata and Neji activated the Byakugan and started looking for the sealing papers.

"Four hundred meters to the east." Neji said, after some seconds, and Lee immediately jumped away.

"Three hundred meters to north." Hinata said, this time. "I'll go." She said as she jumped away, too.

"I found the last one: Three hundred and fifty meters to west. I'll be going." Neji said as also he jumped west.

"So, we wait… again." Asuma said.

"There's no problem on that!" Shikamaru said as he laid down on the grass and started watching the clouds. Chouji opened a packet of crisps to share with his best friend and laid down next to him. Both Kakashi and Asuma drew a little smile on their faces. _These two will never change, will they?_ Asuma thought.

"And what do _we_ do?" Kankuro said, refering to himself and Temari. Those two had been quiet all this time, maybe because they were thinking about Gaara, or maybe because they really didn't know what to expect next.

"You want some chips?" Chouji invited, with a smile.

/-/-/-/

Lee was in the middle of the typical and familiar Konoha surrounding forest. He had already ran the four hundred meters to the east, but he wasn't really finding the little paper in the middle of so many trees.

"Humm… A little help, please?" He asked Neji or Hinata.

"Two trees for the right." Neji was the first to answer.

"Thanks."

He walked to his right and finally found the little paper on the back of a log.

"I'm ready." He said.

/-/-/-/

Hinata, still with the Byakugan activated, found herself in front of five-meter high waterfall, with a grey stone on the top, in the middle of the river course, where a little written paper rested.

She jumped to the stone.

"I found it."

/-/-/-/

Neji was in a plane place, a big grass camp, which was beautiful, he had to admit. Right in the middle of it, a stone emerged from the ground and held a sealing paper, which a quickly approached.

He deactivated his Byakugan, since he didn't really need it anymore.

"I'm ready, too."

/-/-/-/

Asuma received all the confirmation from his wireless radio and jumped to the rock and attached himself to it with his almost perfect chakra control, his hand ready to take out the paper, his mind completely focused.

"OK, guys. Are you ready?" He heard confirmations from all the three kids. "On three: one, two…"

/-/-/-/

Lee heard the signal to take out the paper and, a bit nervous – he had to admit – he pulled out the little sealing thing – he didn't know what to expect, next.

As he did it, he saw himself obligated to take some steps back because the log where the paper was started to move and a part of it fell apart from the tree and started to take form of something he couldn't really distinguish, at first.

/-/-/-/

"…three!" Hinata heard Asuma-sensei saying.

And she pulled the paper off, jumping back from the stone to the ground, where the water from the waterfall formed a little lake.

She just hoped she had done it right. She was about to run back to the big rock place when she saw some of the water from the little lake moving like a snake out of the lake and starting to take form.

She tried to understand what it was transforming into, but it was still too abstract to realize.

/-/-/-/

As Neji heard the "…three!" from Asuma-sensei, he pulled the sealing paper just to realize the stone the paper was on wasn't totally normal.

Normal stones don't start moving, right?

He took some steps back in order to better comprehend what was going on with the weird stone, and all he concluded was that it was trying to transform into something else, but he couldn't really get what it was…

/-/-/-/

Lee, Hinata and Neji didn't have to wait much until realize that the log, the water and the stone – respectively – were taking the forms of themselves!

Conclusion: Lee would have to fight a wooden Lee; Hinata would have to fight a water Hinata; Neji would have to fight a stone Neji.

Great!

Well, if those things were just made of wood, water and stone, they sure couldn't be as strong as the real humans… and couldn't do any ninjutsu or genjutsu. Right?

"Lee, Hinata, Neji! What's going on?" Asuma-sensei woke them up to reality.

"As soon as I took the paper out, some tree transformed into me, and it doesn't look like it's friendly…" Lee was the first to talk.

"Hinata, Neji! Did this happen to you, too?" Asuma continued. The Hyuuga cousins both confirmed with a «yes» and the bearded man talked again. "Well, we already knew there would be some kind of trap, but I just don't understand why it didn't happen here… Anyway, you'll have to fight them as quick as you can and come back. At this rate, we can't afford to send help, we need to continue with the mission, here."

"Don't worry, Asuma-sensei!" Lee screamed – which made the other ones who also had wireless radios shiver with the noise – and continued a bit calmer. "This guy doesn't seem to have my Power of Youth… I'll take him down in no time!"

"W-well, I guess I can take care of myself…" Hinata said shyly.

"It shouldn't be too difficult; this figures don't seem to be able to do any kind of ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"How do you know?" Asuma asked.

"Well, because it's a stone, after all." Neji excused himself.

"This is an Akatsuki trap, guys. Keep that in mind. You never know how it's going to be with those things…" Asuma advised. The three confirmed again and the conversation was over. "Well," Asuma said, now to the people next to him. "the seal is broken. Now we'll just have to break that rock." As he said this, he looked to Chouji, who had just finished the chips he had shared with Shikamaru – who was more focused in the clouds than in the actual mission, by the way.

Chouji's hand grew as big as the rock and punched it so hard it created a wind wave that threw the others some meters back.

Asuma, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Temari and Kankuro were still rising up when Chouji faced them, smiling with satisfaction. He sure liked his brute force.

The pieces that earlier formed the huge rock were falling heavily, making a lot of dust that wasn't allowing them to see what was going on inside the hideout.

One word to describe this all mission: _troublesome_, Shikamaru thought.

**What's inside there? And what will happen to Lee, Hinata and Neji? Once again, good luck!**

**Here is chapter 10! Liked out? Review! And enjoy, of course! **


	11. Temari, wait!

**Chapter 11: Temari, wait!**

**Lee, Neji and Hinata are fighting against themselves, basically. Asuma, Kakashi, Chouji, Shikamaru, Temari and Kankuro are going to battle some, at least, tough guys. You can do it! Yeah…**

Asuma, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Temari and Kankuro were still rising up when Chouji faced them, smiling with satisfaction. He sure liked his brute force.

The pieces that earlier formed the huge rock were falling heavily, making a lot of dust that wasn't allowing them to see what was going on inside the hideout.

"The real thing starts now, guys." Kakashi said. It seemed like he was smiling, but it was so subtly that only Asuma noticed it. All the other ones nodded. This wasn't some kids' play; they were about to face Akatsuki – I mean, they were expecting it – and their lives were on the line.

As the dust started to flow away, they calm and carefully entered in the dark cave, where they found five men standing side by side, their arms crossed. Seriously, Kakashi was expecting them to be a bit more surprised. Had they really been _that_ obvious?

But where were Gaara and Naruto?

The two first guys were obviously Akatsuki men – deducing by their vests – and the other three were…

"The guys from the other day, in the Hidden Rain!" Kankuro shouted, pointing out reproachfully.

"Oh, look, Hidetaka! They still know us…" Akira said.

"Oh, isn't that sweet of them!" Hidetaka replied.

Kankuro started gritting his teeth in fury. "Stop talking like that! It's damn annoying! Where is Gaara?!"

"Easy…" Said the boss of the two, Raiden, who wasn't very serious about calming the boy down. Actually, all it did was pissing Kankurou off even more…

"Calm down, Kankuro. Being stressed will do nothing at all." Temari said to her brother.

"Well, that's surprising, coming from you…" He muttered back, wishing that she hadn't heard it, or she would be angry at him. Not angry, furious.

"Who are these punks, big brother?" Tobi asked Deidara.

"That's what they are: punks. And bore, too." He answered.

"Do you know those three guys, Kankuro?" Asuma asked.

"Yup. We fought against them when we were looking for Gaara and they ended up taking Naruto away, too." The puppet master replied.

"I see… Listen, guys: even if two of them are from Akatsuki, we should be able to do this. We're six ninjas, and they're only five. Even if we only have one extra person, that person can make the difference between winning or… dying."

Everyone nodded. "For Gaara and Naruto!" Temari shouted.

"For Gaara and Naruto!" The others shouted back.

/-/-/-/

Lee took an attack stance and dropped a kick on his wood twin, which did exact same thing. This resulted in them kicking each other's feet, not making any damage.

Lee then tried a punch and this happened again. They ended up punching each other's hands.

"It's like it's reflecting my movements!" The taijutsu genius suddenly said to his partners.

And he received a confirmation that his friends' taijutsu wasn't working either.

"So, what you're saying is that we're supposed to fight something with the exact same capabilities of us." He concluded.

"Not quite." He heard Neji saying.

"What do you mean?" Lee was confused.

"I-I'm afraid I didn't understand either." Hinata also said.

/-/-/-/

Neji was face to face with the stone clone when he reached some kind of conclusion he wasn't even sure was truth, but it was worth a try.

"You see," He said to his friends. "Lee is only capable of using taijutsu, and taijutsu is all we three have been using. I still believe this figures we are fighting aren't capable of using ninjutsu or genjutsu, because they are made from stone, water and wood. We'll just have to test it and if my theory is true, ninjutsu and genjutsu will be our triumph card."

"I understand." Hinata said. "But what about Lee? What will he do?"

"Lee," Neji directed up to. "just try to burn some time while we test this and then, if it works, we'll go help you."

"OK, then." Lee said, but he didn't really agree with the «burn time» tactic. He had to take his own enemy down, as well! It had to be possible to do it only with his taijutsu, right?

/-/-/-/

The water figure – which was an almost perfect copy of Hinata, if it wasn't really perfect – was standing on the top of the lake formed by the water of the waterfall, and the real Hinata was standing on land, looking at it.

"Shall I start the test?" She said, not to the figure, but to her partners, who confirmed immediately.

"[Water Style: Raging Waves]!" and she started spitting a very strong water jet which was supposed to take out the female figure, but as Hinata's jutsu ended, she noticed that the said figure had done the exact same jutsu to defend itself and, because both jutsu had the exact same power, it did nothing at all.

"Hinata?" She heard Neji talking by the wireless radio. "I didn't know you had that jutsu. When did you learn it?"

"Does that matter, right now? I just concluded that these… things can perform ninjutsu."

"Is that so?" Lee talked, this time. "But how do we know if they can perform genjutsu if we don't know any?"

"Are you really listening to what you're saying, Lee?" Neji asked, ironically. "These figures seem to have the same abilities as us, so if we don't know any genjutsu, then they don't know either."

"That's right." Hinata agreed.

"Then we only have one problem." The Hyuuga boy started talking again. "These fights are impossible."

At this statement, Lee and Hinata froze. "W-What do you mean?" Hinata started stuttering again.

"If they have the exact same capabilities as we have, the fights are impossible. You can't win because these figures will always know how to defeat your attacks and back again."

"Then we'll just have to improve." Lee came up with a simple solution – at least, he made it seem simple.

"W-What?" Hinata wondered how someone could improve in a snap's instant like that.

"If we improve, then we'll be better than them and we can already win, right?" Lee said again.

"Oh, in that case, I'm lucky because Shikamaru lent me a book with the-"

"No." Lee interrupted Hinata. "That's not what I meant. The best way of acquiring knowledge is not by reading books, it's by experience."

"Let's try, then." Hinata said.

"Yes." Neji said this time.

/-/-/-/

"Didn't you hear what I asked?" Shikamaru insisted. "Where. Is. Naruto?"

"Oh, he insists so much, big brother… Can't we just show them their dear friend before we kill them?" Tobi turned his head to face Deidara, who started smiling defiantly. Shikamaru gritted his teeth for a moment.

"I guess we could do that, Tobi."

Shikamaru took some steps back and in some moments he was fully covered in the shadows. Of course he did this very subtly and, because the Akatsuki guys and the other three were discussing if they would let them see their friend or not, only his mates noticed what he did.

Not much time later, the said Akira showed up dragging Naruto by the collar and dropping him two meters in front of the kidnappers, then walking back to his boss.

Naruto seemed to be unconscious, but when he stood up and started running to the exit everyone got shocked.

That is, until they noticed Shikamaru running about two meters ahead of Naruto and that a large black line was unifying the two.

"Shadow Imitation Technique…" Asuma muttered. "Well done, Shikamaru."

"I'll be going after that punk, big brother." Tobi said to Deidara as he started running, too.

"I'll go and help Shikamaru, Asuma." Kakashi said this time, chasing Tobi.

And the two were off, leaving, on one side, Deidara and the unknown trio and, one the other side, Asuma, Chouji, Temari and Kankuro.

"We're not outnumbered, anymore." Temari said.

"We also want to see Gaara!" Kankuro yelled.

Deidara suddenly started laughing. "Are you kidding? After what happened here, are you really expecting us to show you the other punk?" And he laughed again.

This last statement pissed Temari off. "[Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique]!"

"Temari, wai-"

**What is Temari planning to do? What will happen with Naruto? And what about Hinata, Neji and Lee?**

**Hey! Wanted you to know that I made a few tiny changes in the last chapter because I completely forgot about Temari and Kankuro – and I shouldn't be writing this XD**

**Anyway, enjoy! Next chapter on the next Thursday…**


	12. The Final Challenge

**Chapter 12: The Final Challenge**

**Shikamaru and Kakashi are trying to save Naruto, but Tobi isn't making things easy for them. Asuma, Chouji, Temari and Kankuro are fighting against Deidara and the mysterious trio in order to take Gaara home, but Temari went a little overboard… And then there are Lee, Hinata and Neji, who still have to take themselves down. Shall we begin with those three?**

"OK, they're just like us, right?" Lee said, hearing then the confirmations from his two other friends. "To take them down, we'll just have to improve." The confirmations again. "OK, then."

He started running on the opposite direction of his "clone", making it follow him. When he felt that it was approaching him, he suddenly turned around, surprising his enemy, and started with what seemed like a "dance" of kicks and punches that the wood boy couldn't avoid.

Lee was running in circles around it so fast he was almost invisible for his enemy. The speed he was damaging the "thing" was so incredible that even Lee himself was surprised. He had been training this with his awesome sensei, but he had never reached this degree of perfection before.

This really was something to be proud of. Very proud, actually.

As soon as the "dance" stopped, he looked at the "clone" transforming into wood again, and then that wood just disappeared, like if it was vaporizing.

"Wu-uuh!" He raised his right arm in sign of victory. "Power of Youth!" And then he remembered his fellows. "Neji, Hinata, I did it! What about you, are you OK?"

/-/-/-/

"I'm so sick of you…" Hinata muttered, apparently to her water enemy, even knowing it probably couldn't understand her. "This will be the final round, you… thing."

She took her usual battle stance and both her hands got covered in her usual blue chakra, but her fighting style was everything but usual. At first, she thought she would use the water element jutsus to take the "thing" down, but then she remembered that she had only learned one water jutsu – the first one from Shikamaru's book; she then decided she would use her clan's techniques. When she was in Konoha, she had been observing the training sessions between Neji and her father, and she had been studying the techniques in the books. She had learned precious things.

"[Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists]!" She shouted, and the blue chakra covering her hands grew bigger and took another form, similar to two big lion heads. With her Byakugan activated, too, she started running towards her water clone so fast that the "thing" didn't have time to dodge and was hit by the two powerful lions. The clone transformed in a little puddle that then evaporated.

"Wow, I'm exhausted." She said with a sigh of relief. She then heard Lee's voice. "Wu-uuh! Power of Youth! Neji, Hinata, I did it! What about you, are you OK?"

"I'm fine." She answered. "I did it, too. What about you, Neji?"

/-/-/-/

"OK, shall we end this?" Neji said. He had never been so tired of a fight like he was right now. "You can defeat my Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms… What happens if I double it?" He told the stone, but he was more like telling himself, really.

He took an attack stance, his Byakugan activated.

"[Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms]!" The movements were so spectacular that the stone figure couldn't even move from where it was. Besides being hit twice as much, Neji also moved twice as fast. All him was involved in this dangerous and enormous dance that no one could expect to dodge, and it was the hugest proof of geniality of the Hyuuga boy until now.

And besides, no one had taught him that jutsu in particular. Had he really learned it by himself? Had he just come up with it, basing on his previous and simpler jutsu?

Nobody knew. Nobody was there to see it, really.

When he reached one hundred twenty-eight palms, he stopped to see the stone fell into dust that then vanished.

He never thought he would have such a hard fight against a… stone.

"Wu-uuh! Power of Youth! Neji, Hinata, I did it! What about you, are you OK?" He heard Lee saying.

"I'm fine." Hinata answered. "I did it, too. What about you, Neji?"

"Yes, I took the thing down, too. Let's return to the hideout, now."

"Yes." The other two confirmed.

/-/-/-/

Temari created a huge tornado that made the four enemies fly around and some rocks fall.

"Are you nuts, Temari?" Kankurou yelled at her, pretty serious, actually. "Gaara is here and you may have hit him!"

"He's not here." She said, now much calmer. Everybody was surprised with her statement, so she went on with the explanation. "Gaara's a Jinchuuriki and, as one, he has a massive amount of chakra. I'm not very good at sensing people's chakra, but I can sense Gaara's, since it's so obvious. When we are training, I can always know if he's coming or not because I can sense his chakra from some meters' distance. And I'm saying he's not here, so he's not here."

By this time, Deidara was already in his previous position again, and the trio had somehow managed to stand up, too, with some difficulty.

"I'll say it again." Kankuro made eye contact with Deidara, who made an innocence expression. "We also want to see Gaara! Where is he?"

"Calm down, puppet boy." Deidara said, evilly smiling. "I know just as much as you do. I was about to ask my correspondents the same thing before you got in. But we had enough problems with the Nine Tails, already, it's more comfortable for me if I just kill you four right now, don't you agree?"

Kankuro and Temari started gritting their teeth. "Why would you bring Naruto and not bring Gaara, you idiots?" Temari yelled at the trio.

"Calm your horses, girl. It's none of your business." The boss, Raiden, said, somewhat nervous.

"Gaara is my brother." She said. Kankuro then faked a hack to emphasize his own presence. "Our brother." Temari corrected. "I think it really is of our business, old geezer."

"Such an annoying girl…" Raiden muttered. "I think you have the right to know why I have a special hate towards your brother before you die." He said now more loudly.

"A special hate?" Kankuro asked.

"Since ever that I hate Jinchuuriki. Monsters taking a human form… That's basically why I cooperate with the Akatsuki. I just want them to disappear."

"That's not much of a story, is it?" Temari defied.

"But your… brother – that's what you call him, at least; I don't belief such a disgusting creature can be able to love as a brother-"

"Get to the point, already!" Kankuro was furious with all that mumbling.

"He killed _my _brother!" Raiden yelled. Akira put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, but his boss just shooed it with his own hand.

Everybody went silent. That was a good reason to hand someone to Akatsuki, alright.

"My brother went on a mission to Sunahagakure. Nothing too hard, really." The boss went on with the explanation. "He just had to hand something to the Kazekage, some document. Nothing more… A lot of time passed and he didn't come back. That was, until I received a letter saying he had been killed by some guy called Gaara of the Desert." He was having a hard time telling this and a tear slipped down his right cheek. It didn't need any more explanations, really, so he stopped talking.

Silence again.

Even Temari and Kankuro felt a little bit of guilt on their shoulders.

"Sorry." Temari finally said, in a calm voice. "But I still can't let you hand them Gaara. He's still my brother."

Kankuro nodded.

"We shall fight, then." Deidara declared, smiling scarily again.

"And we shall help our dear friends, then." Lee said, entering the "room", accompanied by Neji and Hinata.

Chouji smiled seeing his friends had arrived safe and sound, but Asuma didn't have time to lose.

"Listen," He started. "Shikamaru took Naruto west and Kakashi went with him, but they were followed by one of the Akatsuki. They're both strong, but they're against an Akatsuki guy, so they may need help. One of you needs to go, and it has to be Neji or Hinata, since you can find them more easily."

"I'll go." Neji said.

"No, I'll go." Hinata affirmed, quite serious, almost scary. Everyone looked at her. "Naruto has already done a lot for me. Now, it's my turn to pay back." As she finished saying this, she jumped out of there, leaving the task of helping Temari, Kankuro, Chouji and Asuma to Neji and Lee.

/-/-/-/

Shikamaru, noticing it was kind of impossible to get rid of the Akatsuki guy, decided to stop and fight, since he had Kakashi's help, anyway – which didn't mean he didn't have to think of a plan…

They stopped where Neji had fought his stone clone earlier – but they didn't know it, of course.

Shikamaru left Naruto behind the only stone there and tried to begin the fight as far from him as he could – and this should be like five meters or something…

"Man, this is such a drag… Let's finish this quickly and just go home." Shikamaru was really trying to hide his doubts behind some laziness – it wasn't working.

Kakashi took his usual battle stance with a _kunai_ on his right hand; Shikamaru just stood there, his hands on his pockets; Tobi seemed to be regardless, too, his arms were straight alongside his body.

"Before I kill you two," Tobi started "let's present ourselves."

"What?" Kakashi started to wonder if that guy really was an Akatsuki member.

"You heard me. Now do it. You first, ponytail boy." He was obviously referring to Shikamaru.

The lazy genius sighed. He didn't like that guy. "Hey, I'm Shikamaru Nara, from the Nara clan. What's up?"

"Now you, snow hair." Tobi pointed to Kakashi.

"Humm… Hello, I'm Kakashi Hatake."

"Is there anything you like in life, Kakashi Hatake?" Tobi questioned again.

Kakashi flushed a little. "I-I like Jiraya's books…"

"Oh, I see…" Tobi seemed a little uneasy. "I'm Tobi. I like turtles." From his voice tone, he seemed to be smiling. "Now, shall I kill you?"

This last question made Kakashi – who had relaxed a little – take his stance again and Shikamaru take out his hands from his pockets.

Tobi just stayed in the position.

"I want to make this self-defence. Just come at me." He said.

Kakashi lost his patience and went for a Chidori. He formed the lightning ball on his hand and started running. When he saw that his enemy wouldn't even try to dodge, he found it weird, but he went on with the attack. He considered he has won the fight when he was about to hit the Akatsuki man, but that changed when he and his Chidori just passed through the guy – literally.

Both Kakashi and Shikamaru's eyes grew wide.

"What the..." Shikamaru let out.

"Well," Tobi talked again "since you won't do a thing, I shall start."

He then began walking around, his eyes fixed on the floor, just like an old geezer. He then found the object he was looking for and lifted it with his right arm, in sign of victory.

"A stick?" Kakashi was starting to think that the guy was just kidding around.

The Akatsuki idiot disappeared to then appear next to Shikamaru and hit him in the head with the stick. He vanished again and appeared in front of Kakashi and did the same exact thing. He did this so fast that, as much as the lazy genius and copy ninja tried to catch him, they couldn't. When Tobi stopped the "attack", there was only one thing he said.

"I like this new jutsu. I think I'll call it the Ramen Ultimate Attack! Yeah, that's it!"

_OK, now I'm completely sure that he's just kidding around._ Kakashi thought to himself. He then looked at Shikamaru and, by the look the boy gave him, he was pretty positive that the lazy ass was thinking the same thing.

"Would you mind getting serious, here?" Shikamaru asked his opponent.

"Oh OK, then. Some way or another, I need the blonde boy, and my new jutsu isn't very deadly, so… [Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique]."

He quickly disappeared in the underground, living the two Konoha ninjas to their expectations.

Silence.

Suddenly, Shikamaru feels something holding both his right and left ankles – it was Tobi's hands.

"Oh, man." He let out.

And, at an amazing speed, Tobi pushed the boy into the ground, only leaving his head out, for him to have his last moments to breath.

Kakashi went nervous and started trying to detect Tobi's chakra – the Akatsuki member had already gone to the subsoil again – but it seemed to be impossible. _Why?_, he wondered.

In a snap's instant, he was done the same thing as Shikamaru had been, and that's when Tobi emerged from the underground.

"You like being a mole?" He asked.

"Not especially." The lazy ass answered.

"Com'on, I'm being generous. You see, I'm taking Naruto without even killing you two. Oh, aren't I a good person, Shikamaru Nara and Kakashi Hatake?"

"You're not taking Naruto away." A female voice emerged from Tobi's back and he turned around.

"And who do we have here?" He asked. "An admirer, perhaps…"

"I-I'm not his admirer!" The Hyuuga girl flushed. This made Tobi laugh a little.

"Hinata, run away!" Shikamaru yelled. "You can't take this guy down." Oh, wasn't he in a helpful mood, today… "You can't hit him with your jutsus – literally!"

"I would be a coward if I ran away. I shall stay and fight."

/-/-/-/

"OK, it's like this:" Asuma started to make a plan. "me and Chouji will head for the Akatsuki man, Temari and Kankuro will fight the one who seems to be the boss of the unknown trio, Lee will fight the guy one the boss's right and Neji will go for the other one on the left."

Everyone nodded. Each person went for his own enemy.

/-/-/-/

Deidara seemed pretty relaxed for someone who's about to fight such a skilled shinobi as Asuma, but since he was part of the Akatsuki, he was an awesomely capable ninja himself.

Chouji was the most nervous, actually. He was just a genin in the middle of those two…

"Calm down, Chouji." Wow, his sensei really knew how to read his student's thoughts.

Asuma took out his chakra blades and involved them with his chakra; Chouji took a battle stance, he was ready to perform any jutsu at any moment, now; the mouth in Deidara's right hand started chewing something white that took form of a bird, two birds, three birds, four birds in his hand.

"We should fight outside." The Akatsuki man said. "This can get too much… artistic for this cave not to fall down in a million pieces…" As he finished this last statement, he ran outside, making Asuma and Chouji follow him, and the trio ended up not too far from the hideout entrance.

The blonde man made a weird smile and threw his white birds in Asuma and Chouji direction, who were about to jump away but didn't because the birds just fell in front of them, harmless.

"What? Is this it?" Asuma said, not really believing that was the case.

Deidara than smiled weirdly again, made a hand sign in front of his mouth – the one in his face – and said "Katsu!"

Asuma and his student only had the time to jump to the nearest tree or they would have been hit by the explosive birds. They sighed in relief.

"It seems you can dodge my little pieces of wonderful art. Let's see what you can do with the greatly big proves of an artistic spirit." As he finished the sentence, Deidara joined both his hand in a clap and it seemed like both were chewing that white thing again. After some seconds, there was a huge puff and an enormous white powder cloud appeared.

Asuma and Chouji coughed a little and tried to wave the cloud away, but they didn't need to, since it lifted on its own, allowing them to see the huge dragon that had been formed, meanwhile.

The leaf ninjas were breathless. It was huge. And that was not all.

The great white dragon started lazily moving and shaking its wings. After some seconds, the thing started to really flutter, and because its wings were so big, it made Asuma and Chouji fly and hit a tree some meters away. Before they knew it, Deidara was on the top of a flying dragon's head.

All that the sensei and the student could do was look up and throw one or two _kunai_ that reflected no damage at all in their enemies. Wait, maybe they could do something else…

The huge dragon started munching a huge mass of white clay which took a form of another winged creature that had the same size as the dragon's mouth.

The dragon threw the other creature like a missile in Asuma and Chouji's direction and it was so fast that the two ninjas didn't even had the time to dodge.

"Katsu!"

And, as the explosion took place, a huge dust cloud was formed, not allowing Deidara to see the two dead bodies he was wishing to see.

But instead of that, what he saw was that his missile had only reached one of the ninjas – Chouji. He had performed a Multi-Size Technique in the last minute and had covered his sensei, who was perfectly healthy. The explosive creature had only hit Chouji's back which wasn't very damaged since he was so big that the creature was pathetically little, in comparison.

"Chouji?!" Asuma's first worry was his student. "Are you OK?!"

"Yeah…" Chouji stood up, allowing everyone to see his size when he wasn't crouched. His head actually reached Deidara's high when he was in the top of the flying dragon.

"An Akimichi, huh… You still can't-" Deidara was about to finish his sentence, but Chouji's huge hand was faster. Furious, Chouji grabbed the huge dragon in his hand and threw it on the floor, transforming it in a huge puddle of white clay. Deidara fell, too, and rolled some meters away until he hit a tree.

"Wow, Chouji…" Asuma was very impressed. "That was pretty cool."

/-/-/-/

"OK, Kankuro, shall we finish this quickly?" Temari opened her fan and started, well… fanning herself, it seemed. Her fan was so big she even covered Kankuro, but it was purposely.

They were in the centre of the cave, but anyone could see the walls since the place had no illumination and the corners were in total darkness.

Kankuro used this situation and the fact that he was covered with Temari fan to use one of his favourite puppets a little bit. He placed it right where he wanted it and said the password.

"Yes, we shall, Temari." He said.

Her sister closed her fan again and Raiden didn't even notice the missing puppet on Kankuro's back.

Such a fool.

"Don't even think you can catch me that easily." The boss of the weird trio declared. "[Earth Holding Technique]!" Four dust hands grew up from the floor and hold Temari and Kankuro's feet.

This didn't really mess with their plan since they were both long-range fighters, but they had to act quickly.

"Kankuro, are you ready?" Temari looked at his brother and he nodded.

She then opened her fan and made a wind shockwave that threw her opponent some meters back, where Kankuro's puppet was. Raiden fell right inside the puppet and Kankuro closed it immediately, locking his enemy in a deadly cage.

But they couldn't kill him without doing something else, first.

After some minutes rasping the dust hands with a _kunai_, they were finally able to walk free.

They approached the puppet with the man inside and opted for some blackmail. Kankuro talked first.

"You want to die?"

"Let me out of here, you punks!" Raiden was furious and afraid at the same time.

"You are going to tell us were Gaara is and we let you go; if you don't, my puppet has got some holes were I can dovetail my swords. I guess you wouldn't be very comfortable with that, huh?"

"OK, OK! Please don't kill me!"

"Wow… How did Gaara even got caught by this guy?" Kankuro muttered at Temari's ear. "Where. Is. Gaara?" He said, now louder.

"I-I-I masked him so nobody would find him. Humm…"

"That's a lie!" Temari lost her patience. "Nobody would be so careless like that, especially in a deal with the Akatsuki!"

"OK, you got me…" Raiden seemed to be finally giving up. "Hidetaka. He keeps Gaara under a genjutsu in which he transfers his victim to another dimension. That's where your brother is…"

"And how do we get him back?" This time, Kankuro asked.

"You… kill Hidetaka."

"You would kill your own fellow just to hand Gaara to Akatsuki, wouldn't you?" Temari was disgusted of that man, already.

They seemed to hear Raiden laughing a little.

"That's it." Kankuro reached his patience limit. "You're sickening." As he said this, he used the swords to complete his attack once for all, killing Raiden.

"Humm… guys?" this voice was Lee's and was obviously referring to Temari and Kankuro, who both looked at him. "I… guess I found Gaara."

The red-haired ninja was indeed lied on the floor, unconscious, next to a dead body.

The other two sand siblings ran towards their brother kneeled down next to him.

Kankuro looked at Lee and then at the dead body next to Gaara. "So that should be Hidetaka." He concluded.

/-/-/-/

Neji and Akira's fight was about to end, since Neji had his enemy cornered between the wall and his gentle fist ready to hit the guy in the heart, killing him.

The Hyuuga boy had basically used his clan techniques during the entire battle, but the other man had spent a lot of time using a certain wind technique and Neji was quite curious about it.

"Before you die, let me know one thing." He said to his enemy. "How do you know how to perform Rasengan?"

"I guess there's not too much trouble in answering you, is there? I was once a student of Jiraya's." The man smiled creepily.

"Jiraya, one of the Three Great Sannin?" Neji was stupefied. How could one of the Great Jiraya's students be so… well, weak?

It didn't really matter, right now did it? He went for the fatal attack and, in less than five seconds, his enemy was dead.

/-/-/-/

Deidara was having some trouble standing up. The Akimichi had some brute strength, that was for sure.

That is, until a certain _aloe vera_ guy scared the hell out of him by growing out of the tree he was leaning on.

"They've taken the advantage." The guy said. "We shall go, now."

With that said, the green, white and black man pushed Deidara and they both disappeared into the tree log.

/-/-/-/

Not even one full minute passed and Hinata was already buried to the neck like Shikamaru – who was sighing with his I-warned-you face – and Kakashi – who was a bit worried about that entire situation.

Tobi was simply staring at them.

The green man emerged from the subsoil again.

"Let's go, Tobi." He said.

"Wait, Zetsu. Let me just grab the Nine Tails."

"No. We shall retreat."

"But he's right there" Tobi pointed, but Zetsu was already dragging him down.

"So…" Shikamaru was perplex. "Does this mean we did it?"

**Mission accomplished! Now what?**

**Hi! Sorry for not publishing at all, last week, but I decided to make up for it with an extra extra extra long chapter and finish this mission altogether!**

**Hope you liked it! Enjoy+Follow+Favourite+Review!**

P.S.: If you like Shikamaru, I just created a page for him! Don't be afraid to be the first one to hit like!

pages/Shikamaru-Nara/815785818433691 :)


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Naruto, Adventure, Romance