First thing in the morning, before the sun had even started to rise, the Konoha ninja and Chiyo gathered their things and set off through the desert, following a trail of paw prints.
The crisp, cold air of the desert bit at their skin as the group moved in silence, the sky still a deep, pre-dawn indigo.
With Guy leading the formation, the Konoha ninja and Chiyo pushed through the shifting dunes at a steady pace. They kept their eyes low, tracking the rhythmic trail of paw prints Pakkun and the pack had left in the sand hours before.
"These Akatsuki; what should we expect of them?"
Chiyo asked, looking at Gai, but Gai looked for Sakura to answer, as she was the closest to the Hokage and knew far more about the individuals than he did.
"The Akatsuki always travel in pairs, each classified as S-Rank missing nin. The most well-known members are Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan. Even Orochimaru of the Sannin was once a member of the organization; they're all highly dangerous on their own, but the supposed leader is speculated to be stronger than the ones I've just mentioned, the one who took the Kazekage, Deidara, formerly a Stone ninja. Like Gaara, he is proficient in long-range and area attacks; he molds clay into whatever shape he needs, then detonates it. His partner, though less widely known due to Deidara's… personality, is Sasori of the Red Sand."
Sakura left the information about Sasori out, knowing that Chiyo didn't need anything regarding him.
Chiyo gave nothing more than a hum, her mind already on the potential reunion with Sasori.
Gai, interpreting her silence as a sign of worry, flashed a blinding grin and spoke up in his usual boisterous tone, causing Lee's eyes to sparkle with admiration instantly.
"Worry not, Elder Chiyo! The burning passion of our youth will blow away any despair! We shall crush this obstacle when we arrive, so there is absolutely no need to stress your wise soul over something we are fully prepared to face!"
Hearing the loud outburst, Neji sighed and looked away, while Tenten looked like she wanted to bury her head directly into the desert sand.
"Sound advice, but I don't need it," Chiyo laughed quietly, finding the bizarre antics of these Konoha ninja to be rather amusing.
The group continued through the desert as the sun crept higher, casting shadows covering the landscape. The cool morning air quickly burned away, replaced by the dry, heavy heat of the open dunes.
Up ahead, the endless sand finally began to break apart, giving way to jagged stone formations and steep rocky ravines. Pakkun's trail led them directly toward the mouth of a massive, shadowed canyon, prompting the group to pull to a sudden halt as a shift in the air caught their attention.
Before anyone else could react, Karin spoke up.
"Kakashi's summon pack is right ahead, coming this way fast."
A moment later, a series of small, fast-moving blurs came into view, kicking up dust along the rocky ridge before skidding to a halt right in front of them.
"Good, you're finally here," Pakkun said, shaking a bit of sand from his fur as the rest of the pack fanned out around him. "We found the hideout, and the news isn't great. The target is inside a massive cavern hidden behind a giant boulder with a sealing jutsu on it. It's located just a bit deeper through this canyon, nestled right at the base of the mountains in the Land of Rivers. We need to hurry; they've already started doing something to the Kazekage, and the chakra levels coming from inside that cave are completely abnormal."
Gai's expression hardened, his usual boisterous attitude instantly vanishing into pure mission focus.
"Understood. There is no time to waste," Gai commanded, his voice sharp as he gestured toward the canyon depths. "Team Gai, Naruto, Sakura, Karin, Elder Chiyo, let's pick up the pace! We charge straight to the hideout!"
Gai didn't wait, launching off after the pack as they sped ahead.
They didn't make it far.
As they rounded a massive bend in the canyon walls, the leading ninken suddenly scrambled backward, barking in alarm. Karin's eyes widened, her posture stiffening mid-stride. "Two strong chakra signatures, right in front of us!"
The entire group skidded to a halt on the hard-packed earth, kicking up a heavy cloud of dust.
As the haze cleared, two figures stepped out from the canyon shadows, blocking the path entirely. Both wore the distinct black cloaks with red clouds. On the left stood a massive, blue-skinned man with a giant, cloth-wrapped sword strapped to his back. On the right stood a pale man with long dark hair and piercing, blood-red Sharingan eyes.
"Itachi Uchiha... and Kisame Hoshigaki," Sakura muttered, getting into a stance along with everyone else.
Kisame flashed a sharp, shark-like grin, resting a heavy hand on the hilt of Samehada. "Well, look at this. It seems we caught the whole school of fish in one net."
Kisame's eyes shifted from person to person, pausing on Naruto.
"Hey, Itachi, it would seem the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails is here."
Kisame smirked, pulling Samehada off his back and resting it over his right shoulder. His eyes locked onto Naruto, his grin widening at the prospect of a proper fight.
"Our orders are only to delay them," Itachi replied, his expression completely flat as his Sharingan spun slowly. "Do not get reckless."
As Itachi spoke, his red gaze shifted fully onto Naruto, the tomoe in his eyes spinning to cast a sudden genjutsu.
Naruto didn't blink, staring directly back into the Sharingan. With a sudden, sharp spike of his own chakra, Naruto disrupted the flow within his system, completely shattering the illusion before it could even fully form.
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly, noting the instant failure of his technique.
"Heh~ It would seem he's gotten better since we last saw him; he no longer looks like he wants to run away."
Kisame smirked, feeling his fighting spirit surge as he looked at Naruto.
"Gai-Sensei, your team and Elder Chiyo can go on ahead; I'll take Itachi."
Naruto spoke up, completely ignoring Kisame.
"Are you sure? What about the other one?"
Gai asked, his eyes fixing on Kisame with a blank look that openly questioned the Akatsuki member's identity.
"I'll fight him," Sakura declared, stepping up to flank Naruto.
Gai hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding in approval. He turned to leave, but Kisame instantly lunged forward to block their path.
"Not so fast, bowlcut," Kisame smirked.
Suddenly, a crescent slash tore through the air toward him. Kisame reacted instantly, sweeping Samehada to his left and blocking the attack, sliding back half a step before redirecting it into the ground.
"It's useless, girl," Kisame chuckled, immediately dismissing her as a threat. "Samehada eats chakra for breakfast."
Sakura exhaled slowly, shifting into a completely different breathing pattern as a vibrant aura enveloped her.
"Then I'll just fight you with Taijutsu," she said.
Kisame glanced back, tracking the sudden glow and the crushing pressure radiating from her.
"Impressive, girl," he sneered, though his grip on Samehada tightened. "But is that all you've got?"
"No," Sakura replied, her voice composed as her aura deepened and flamed with violent flame-like intensity. "This is just the first breath."
In rapid succession, her energy spiked, surpassing the second breath, tearing through the third, and finally settling at the fourth. The sheer force of her power cracked the ground beneath her feet. Before Kisame could even register the shift, she vanished.
Using the Shave technique, she appeared directly in front of the Akatsuki rogue, catching him completely off guard.
Burying her fist deep into Kisame's stomach, Sakura let loose the full power of her fourth breath. The punch hit with a massive shockwave, knocking the air right out of the giant ninja and folding him completely in half.
The sheer force didn't just push him back; it sent him flying. Kisame rocketed through the air like a cannonball, smashing through thick trees and crashing right into a faraway rock wall, completely clearing him out of the path.
The space left behind opened up a clear road ahead.
"Now! Go!" Sakura shouted, her glowing energy continuing to buzz around her as she stared down the dust cloud where Kisame had landed.
Gai didn't waste a single second. Seeing the perfect opening, he gave Sakura a quick nod of respect.
"Move out!" Gai called out, waving his team forward.
With the path completely clear, Gai, Neji, Tenten, Lee, and Chiyo leaped over the broken ground, rushing past the area to keep moving with their mission.
Naruto spared a look at Sakura before she leaped straight into the air, literally running on the space above them to chase after Kisame.
Even the usually calm and stoic Itachi appeared to be surprised. Not only had the girl punched Kisame hard enough to send him flying, but now she was actually running on air.
Breaking his stare, Itachi spared a glance over at Karin, his eyes narrowing a bit as if silently wondering why she was still standing here instead of running ahead with the others.
Naruto noticed the look and answered the unasked question.
"She wouldn't have left even if I asked her to," Naruto said, his tone serious as he stepped up to face Itachi. "Besides, you should be focusing on me."
In a sharp puff of smoke, five shadow clones materialized around Naruto with no seal used.
Using his free left hand, Naruto flung 6 shuriken at Itachi, quickly weaving one-handed seals to execute the Shadow Shuriken technique, multiplying the shuriken mid-air to completely flood Itachi's vision. At the same time, the five clones ran through their hand seals together, inhaling deeply to unleash their elemental combo in perfect unison.
'Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet'
'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough'
'Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet'
'Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder'
'Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!'
The five massive streams of elemental chakra collided instantly mid-air, fusing into a chaotic storm of mud, lightning, boiling steam, and amplified fire that raced straight toward Itachi.
The attack lands, Itachi's form bursting into a murder of crows and reforming behind Naruto.
Naruto didn't even turn around. Hearing the shift in the air, he spun on his heel, thrusting his Flying Raijin kunai straight at Itachi's throat. Itachi ducked under the blade and drove a sharp punch toward Naruto's ribs.
Naruto caught the punch with his left hand, turning Itachi's arm aside while sweeping his leg low to trip him. Itachi jumped right over the sweep, using Naruto's grip to swing himself forward and launch a snap-kick at Naruto's jaw.
Naruto let go and ducked, letting the kick graze past his hair. He rolled forward to make space, instantly spinning back into a guard with his kunai raised.
Itachi closed the gap immediately, his movements blurring as he drove a palm strike aimed directly at Naruto's chest. Naruto swatted the strike aside with his left forearm, but Itachi used the momentum to twist around, throwing a heavy backhand elbow toward Naruto's temple.
Naruto ducked beneath the elbow, pushing upward into a fierce knee strike aimed right at Itachi's midsection. Itachi blocked the knee with his shin, but the raw force of the impact forced him to slide backward across the dirt.
Before Itachi could stabilize, Naruto lunged forward, swiping his kunai at Itachi's stomach. Itachi leaned back just enough to avoid the blade, then snapped his hand up, striking the inside of Naruto's wrist.
The precise blow forced Naruto's fingers to loosen, and the kunai slipped from his grip. Itachi immediately followed up with a lethal strike toward Naruto's exposed neck.
Just before the blow could land, Naruto vanished in a flash, teleporting directly to the falling kunai. Catching it out of the air, he dropped low and swept his leg, taking Itachi completely off his feet.
Itachi hit the ground and rolled backward instantly, using the momentum to spring up. As he rolled, a dozen shuriken flew out from his sleeves. The blades collided with one another mid-air, sparking and bending their trajectories at sharp angles to rain down on Naruto from every direction.
The blades tore right into Naruto, but instead of blood, his body vanished in a puff of white smoke.
It was a shadow clone.
'He must have switched the moment my eyes left him when I was rolling back,' Itachi thought.
Suddenly, Naruto erupted straight out of the ground. The light gleamed off the kunai in his right hand as it shot upward, aimed directly for Itachi's jaw.
Itachi leaned his head back, the blade barely missing its mark. Reacting instantly, Itachi grabbed Naruto's right wrist to pull him back down while simultaneously catching Naruto's left fist to block a follow-up punch. Trapping both hands, Itachi began to manipulate Naruto's free fingers on his left hand to form hand seals.
Instead of struggling, Naruto smirked. Then, his body began to glow.
Itachi's pupils contracted, but he couldn't break away. His hand was clamped shut over Naruto's, and his other hand was completely stuck to Naruto's wrist. The boy was channeling his chakra outward, using the exact mechanics of the tree-climbing exercise to physically glue Itachi to him.
A brilliant light completely enveloped Naruto before he detonated, tearing open a massive crater in the ground where they stood.
Walking over to the crater after coming out of the ground, the real Naruto looked down and saw an unrecognizable man in Itachi's place, looking to Karin for her analysis and sensing.
Karin shook her head.
"Itachi isn't in the area; that was most likely him, but using a technique to embody someone else, he was weaker than I expected; even his chakra felt too low."
Naruto nodded; it felt a bit too easy, but the most annoying thing about the whole fight was the Sharingan. Naruto had other ways to deal with it, but he was glad it ended; he needed to save his strength.
- With Sakura -
"I was wrong to assume you're weak. What's your name?"
Kisame asked, having learned the hard way that Sakura wasn't one to be underestimated; the girl had torn him apart, the replica Samehada not able to absorb chakra like the real one, the large weapon no more than a glorified club he swung around, but Kisame really had no way to deal with her, all her strange attacks were now many times more powerful than the one he blocked.
"It's Sakura," she replied, before narrowing her eyes at him. "But I have a question of my own. Why are you so weak?"
The village files on the rogue ninja stated that he was a master of Water Style, known as the "Tailless Tailed Beast" for his massive chakra reserves and chakra-eating sword, Samehada. Yet, throughout this entire fight, he had only thrown small water jutsu at her, attacks she had easily popped like bubbles.
"Because I only need enough strength to stall you," Kisame revealed with a sharp smirk, taking a grim pleasure in having successfully wasted her time.
But the next moment, his eyes snapped open. The battlefield was gone. He was back in the dim, hollow cavern of the Akatsuki hideout, his translucent, holographic projection glowing faintly atop the Gedo Mazo statue's finger. Beside him, the silent phantom forms of Itachi and the rest of the organization looked his way.
"Heh~ what a scary woman," Kisame muttered, shaking his head as his consciousness fully re-anchored into the ritual.
- Chapter End -
2.6k words, hope you enjoy the chapter.