Naruto: Nine And Seven

Chapter 9

In their mountain base in the Land of Rivers, the Akatsuki gathered on the fingers of the statue while the leader looked up at the statue from the floor. The leader made a hand sign and his silhouette vanished and reappeared on a finger of the statue as the bit fell out of the statue's mouth.

"From this point forward, it will take three days and nights to complete the seal. Everyone, be mindful of your real bodies." the leader instructed. "Zetsu, use your real body as a lookout, you have the largest range."

"I know." Zetsu replied.

"3 days eh?" The silhouette with shark like eyes, Kisame said. "Shouldn't we expect it to take a bit longer?"

"If you really think so, let's get started already." the leader replied and before making a hand sign, causing the finger he was standing on to glow, the other Akatsuki did as he did with the same results and the statue's mouth began to glow. "Sealing Technique: Illusionary Nine Dragon Consuming Seal!" the leader said and nine spectral dragons erupted from its mouth and traveled towards the unconscious Gaara. The dragons impacted with Gaara's place on the ground and he was lifted into the air in a flash of light.

Team Gai raced through a forest on their way to Suna. As usual, Gai and Lee were overdoing it.

"Hey! I said you guys are going too fast! We've been going non-stop for an entire day already! Let's take a little break!" Tenten yelled.

"Tenten, you lack discipline." Lee said. Neji then noticed something approaching. A second later, Pakkun landed on the branch before them.

"Wait Gai!" Pakkun said.

"Pakkun?" Gai said as they stopped.

Pakkun then briefed them on the situation and that the ninja hounds had found than the Akatsuki had gone to the Land of Rivers. As the group prepared to travel to the Akatsuki base, they were unaware that they were being watched.

Back in the Akatsuki hideout, Gaara screamed in pain as the Shukaku was ripped from his body, his red chakra streaming from his mouth and eyes into the statues mouth.

"An enemy from Konoha is approaching. He seems very skilled, his name is Maito Gai." Zetsu said.

"... Who's that?" the leader asked.

"He's a jonin from Konoha that specializes in taijutsu. He's quite talented so take care not to underestimate him." the red eyed silhouette, Itachi said.

"Ah, that beast, eh?" Kisame said.

"... I'll use that jutsu." the leader said.

"Let me go. I've had a hard time finding my Jinchuriki and I'm starting to get irritated." Hidan said.

"No, I'll take care of it. I have a score to settle with that man." Kisame said.

"Indeed... after all, that jutsu is suitable for you, as you have the large amount of chakra even for us Akatsuki, Kisame. However, I'll still require 30% of your chakra." the leader said and Hidan scoffed, angered at his loss of a chance to vent.

"Finally, it looks like I'll be able to pay him back for that kick he gave me." Kisame said with a grin. (A/N The Kisame Gai fight will be the same as canon, so I'm going to skip it.)

As Team Kakashi and Chiyo jumped through the tree branches and occasionally the ground, Sakura moved to Naruto's side.

"Naruto... can I ask you something?" Sakura began and Naruto turned his head to the pink haired girl. "When did the Akatsuki start targeting you?" Fu looked to her boyfriend a little worried, knowing this would be difficult for him to talk about.