In Konoha, Shikamaru walked around with his hands shoved in his pockets, his head tilted up at the sky. He was on his way to Asuma's house for a game of Shogi, because Kruno was hitting his mind hard today. He sighed heavily as he arrived at the front door of his senseis house, and knocked on the door three times.
Asuma opened the door, a cigar in his mouth and he smiled at Shikamaru before he came outside with him, and they sat on either side of the Shogi board and began to play. It was an oddly silence game, which it normally never was with the two of them. Normally they found at least something to talk about.
"You doing okay today, Shikamaru?" He asked, and Shikamaru looked up at him with saddened eyes.
"Yeah, what a drag." He said quietly before picking up a piece, and placing it back down in a different spot. Asuma sighed softly, and looked at Shikamaru.
"It's okay to still be upset about it." Asuma spoke softly, and Shikamaru met his eyes slowly. Shikamaru let out a shaky breath before he shook his head.
"It's been three years, and I'm still sulking around about that troublesome woman like it happened yesterday." He said, closing his eyes slightly.
"Because you loved her Shikamaru. It is perfectly okay to be sulking around about her, because she was everything to you. Anyone could see that." Asuma said, before glancing down at the board, sighing softly. "I should have been able to tell that the ninja who said that to her wasn't you. I don't know how I was that stupid, and I am forever sorry, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru looked at his sensei with sad eyes, before smiling weakly. "It isn't your fault, Asuma-Sensei. She's... She's in a better place now. She's watching over us... and making sure that were okay. She's always going to be here with us... At least in memory."
"I know." Asuma nodded before he stood up. "I'll be right back." He said before disappearing into his house. Shikamaru glanced over at the clouds above the house, and smiled as the sun broke through the clouds and shined down on him. Maybe that was Kruno smiling down on them.
Asuma came back with a picture in his hand, and he handed it to Shikamaru. The tears welled up in Shikamaru's eyes when he first saw it. It was a picture of Kruno and Shikamaru standing on the training field together, Shikamaru had his arms around her tightly, pulling her closer to him and nuzzling his face into her hair. Kruno was laughing so hard her mouth was wide open, and she had her eyes shut. Her arm was around his waist lightly, and both of them held a blush on their cheeks.
The sad boy looked up at his sensei who was giving him a weak smile, his hand on the back of his head. "I found it the other day when I was cleaning my room out. I meant to give it to you sooner, but I just forgot." He said and Shikamaru nodded, flipping open a pouch on his Chunin Jacket, and slid the picture into it.
"Thank you, Asuma." He said, before Asuma sat back down across from Shikamaru and the two began their game again.
When the game was done, Shikamaru made his way back to his house, his hands in his pockets, and his head tilted up towards the sky as it normally was. He gave a sigh, and turned to where his house was, waking inside. When he walked inside, his mother looked at him with a small smile. Since the passing of Kruno, the woman didn't yell at Shikamaru as much as she used to. There were times that the woman would forget about how heartbroken her son was, and scream at him. But she would immediately apologize and hold him tightly in her arms.
Frankly, when Kruno first passed, his mother was there for him more than anyone else was. She would hold him and tell him that everything would be okay, and that she was in a better place now. And as much as Shikamaru didn't want to believe it, he knew that she was someone where she was loved now, and somewhere she wouldn't hurt, and she could be free.
And he was right.
///
On the other side of Konoha, earlier in the day, Kiba was sitting at his sisters grave with a very grown up Akamaru. Kiba had a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and he placed them down against the head stone. He reached forward and gently grabbed the stone, running his hand up and down the smooth stone. His eyes teared up slightly as he looked at the stone, reading everything on it.
"KRUNO INUZUKA
BORN: JULY 7TH
DEATH DATE: UNKNOWN
CAUSE OF DEATH: KIA."
Kiba sniffles slightly as he looked at Akamaru who had his head on Kiba's lap, whimpering quietly.
"I know buddy, I miss her too." He said lightly, and he then looked up at the clouds with a sad smile. "I miss you Kruno, more than you will ever know. I got you back, just to let you slip through my fingers again, I fucked up again didn't I?" Kiba spoke to the sky, rubbing his eyes slightly. "I'm going to see you again, and when I do I am going to hit you in the head, yell at you for leaving me, then hug you and never let you go."
Kiba sighed softly, before he looked back at the stone and stood up, Akamaru standing beside him. He smiled brightly at the stone, speaking as if he was speaking to his sister face to face. "I'll see you later, Kruno." He said before him and Akamaru went to go meet up with Hinata and Shino for training.
///
At the Akastuki base, Neji activated his Byakugan, and was horrified at what he saw inside. He didn't move, and first, he only spoke.
"The inside is rather wide and spacious, but..." He trailed off.
"But?" Naruto said, looking at Neji.
"I can't get a very good image of what it's like inside. It seems that there are some people in there..."
"Hey, what's happening to Gaara?!" Naruto exclaimed, and he began to shake Neji by the shoulders.
"Wait! I'm searching for him now!" Neji said angrily, and he trailed along the room until his eyes landed on the giant stone statue, that eyes moved around. "W-What is that?"
"What's wrong? Hey!" Naruto said, shaking his shoulders to shake Neji out of the trance that he was in. "What is it, Neji?" He asked, but the boy with the pale eyes just continued to stare at the stone in front of him.
"Let go. It's hard for me to explain." Neji said quietly, and Ten-Ten turned towards the stone before speaking.
"Which means.." But she was cut off by Lee.
"Which means we have to see it for ourselves, doesn't it?" He said, and Gai placed his hand on his students shoulder.
"Which is why I'll keep it short." He said before doing back flips away from everyone else, he said before he took off running towards the rock with his fist raised, slamming it into the rock so hard that it caused the area around it to shake, and Kruno to lose her balance and fall back, almost letting a scream pass her lips, but she covered her mouth quickly, she couldn't let them know she was here.
Gai's fist hit the rock, but his fist hit the barrier. "A barrier, huh?"
//
Inside of the rock, Pein sighed softly and began to speak to everyone. "It's gotten noisy outside, hasn't it?"
"It seems that they've made it here." Kisame spoke.
"Which group?" Deidara said, glancing around. "Was it the one that Master Kisame was holding up? Or is it..."
"It is both of them." Zetzu said.
"They made it here at the same time, however, it's unfortunate. They are a bit too late."
That is when Kisame finally remember that these were people who knew Kruno, and that she was sitting up on top of the building in the open. He sighed heavily, just hoping and praying that she wasn't stupid enough to get in the way of the Leaf Village ninja's.
"There's one more Junchurriki here, right?" Sasori said, before laughing evilly. "Don't think poorly of me, Itachi." He said, laughing that awful laugh again.
Pein gave a sigh, before he looked at Kisame, then at Sasori and Deidara. "When you two take care of them, you are to take Kruno with you." He said.
"What?! No!" Kisame said, looking quickly over at Pein.
"She will know these guys better than any of us, she will know their strengths and weaknesses, so yes, Kisame. She will be going. She can take care of herself." Pein said, and Kisame sighed in defeat. He just hoped that Kruno would take this seriously, and not go all kill happy as she normally did when she was allowed to attend missions with them.
//
Back outside the base, Gai walked back over to his team who was asking what they should do now.
"First, we have to remove the barrier, Lee." Gai said.
"How?" Ten-Ten asked.
"And we have to figure out just what type of barrier it is." Sakura said, finally speaking up. That's when the Jonin began to discuss it, and decided that it was a five seal barrier. They then went to explain what the history behind the seal was, and how to break them. They said that they had to find the other four, and then Neji used his Byakugan to find the other four.
(TIME SKIP I AM SORRY)
The moment that the seals were pulled off, the rock was smashed at the hands of the pink haired woman below, causing Kruno to jump. And when she did jump, she jumped inside of the base without being detected. Sasori looked at her with a look of amusement, and she just chuckled and took her seat behind Deidara who was sitting on Gaara. She looked down at her friend sadly, but shook the look off of her face as she glanced at the Leaf Shinobi who jumped into the base. Her hat covered her face, so all they saw were Deidara, Sasori, and a woman whose face they could not see.
"Were we too late?" Kakashi asked aloud, talking to himself more than anybody.
"Sasori..." Granny Chiyo said as she looked sadly at her grandson. And Naruto, he began to shake with anger.
"So then, I wonder which one is the Jinchuuriki." Deidara said, and Kruno smirked slightly as Naruto began to let the fox take him over. His blue eyes turned a deadly red, and the whiskers on his face grew more visible. Kruno crouched down so that she was ear level with Deidara, and pointed towards Naruto, smirking from under her hat.
"That pissed off one with the retarded look on his face." Kruno said to Deidara only, and he smirked as Naruto snapped.
"You bastards! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" He shouted, and Kruno stood back up and began to laugh, very loudly before she looked dead at Naruto.
"Such big words for such a small boy." She spat out, and Naruto got even angrier, if that was possible.
"You son of a bitch!" Naruto screamed, looking straight as Deidara. "Where the hell do you think you're sitting?!"
Deidara laughed slightly as he looked down at Gaara, but not saying a thing.
"Gaara! How can you be asleep at a time like this?!" Naruto screamed, and Kruno began to laugh even louder than before.
"Enough Naruto!" Kakashi said, looking at Naruto, who began to sniffle slightly. "You should know already."
"That's right. You get it, don't you? He's been dead for a while now. Dog, show them." He said, and Kruno bent down beside Gaara, and smacked his face lightly with her hand, making a slight smacking noise. She giggled before standing up, and lightly kicking Gaara shoulder. It was hurting her to do this, because she loved Gaara very dearly, but she could show that in front of everyone in the room.
"Give him back." Naruto said, before he started screaming. "Give back Gaara, you bastards!" He screamed, before beginning to charge at the three Akatsuki members, but Kakashi quickly ran in front of him and stopped him from going any further.
"Calm down Naruto, if you charge right in without thinking, we're all dead." Kakashi said, and Sasori smirked slightly.
"It seems that this Jinchurriki wants to take him back." Sasori said, and Deidara nodded slightly, looking at Gaara.
"It would seem that way."
Kakashi began to look over the three people who were standing in front of him, before he spoke. "I believe the guy on the left is the one that broke in and took the Kazekage. Meaning the other one is the puppet master who seriously injured Kankuro. As for the girl, I think she is the one we saw earlier with Itachi, but she seems different..."
"Is that Granny Chiyo's grandson Sasori?" Naruto questioned, looking over at Chiyo.
"Master." Deidara said. "You might get pissed at me for saying this, but, I'm going to fight the Jinchuuriki." He said.
"Each of us gets our own." Sasori said, "Don't get cocky, Deidara. Plus, Dog here needs someone to stay with." He said, motioning his head to Kruno who was starting to get pissed at them calling her dog, but they needed her pissed. They needed her angry.
"With art, you must constantly seek greater and greater stimulation, yeah, or your ability to appreciate it will dull!" Deidara said, and Kruno began to mock him from behind him, saying 'art is fleeting.' with a very annoyed face before rolling her eyes. "I've heard rumors that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is pretty powerful. He'll be perfect for my art."
"What, you call those explosions 'art'? Art is something endures the test of time beautifully and gracefully. True art is eternal beauty." Sasori said.
"Master, I respect you as a fellow artist, but art is something that blossoms for an istant before withering away."
"What did you say?" Sasori said, and Kruno rolled her eyes, knowing that she was going to have to step in. She raised her hands, and smacked both of them in the back of the head.
"You two can flirt about art back at home, now is not the time." She said, boredly crossing her arms over her chest, looking at her long black nails. Sasori and Deidara looked back at her with glaring eyes, but Chiyo and Kakashi both looked at her with a shock expression. This girl had balls, and that was something everyone could agree on.
"Stay out of this, brat." Sasori said, glaring back at Kruno who was giving him the same look, but in a more mocking way.
"Wh-what's up with them?" Sakura asked, and Kruno looked at her with a smile on her lips, making sure to keep her face covered.
"You bastards! Stop screwing with us!" Naruto screamed loudly, before pulling out a scroll, ripping it open and making what Kruno liked to call an over sized shuriken appear, and he threw it at Sasori. Without even flinching, Sasori defected the attack with a simple move of his 'tail.'
Deidara stood up slowly, and looked back at Kruno. "Stay here with Sasori, Dog. And remember, art is fleeting!" He said before he leaped up on the giant bird he created with his clay. He smiled down at Naruto, and spoke to him. "You better follow me, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." He said as he flew out of the cave, with Gaara in the birds mouth. Leaving Kruno with Sasori, and she sighed heavily. She didn't like fighting with Sasori, because he never actually let her fight.
Naruto turned around and watched Deidara 'fleeting art' fly out of the cave, before he took off running as fast as he could towards the entrance of the cave. "Wait! Damn you!" He screamed as he began to chase after Deidara. Kakashi took off running after him shouting.
"Naruto! He isn't going to control himself after all..." He then looked at the two Kunoichi's before speaking. "Naruto and I will take care of the guy outside. Do you two have these two?" He asked, and they both nodded before Kakashi left the cave and disappeared to go to Naruto.
Sasori sighed as he looked at his grandmother and began to speak. "I thought you retired a long time ago."
"I had a sudden desire to see my grandson's face." Chiyo said, and Kruno's eyes widened slightly from under her hat. Now Sasori and Kruno had never been super close, but he had told her of his grandmother a time or two. Kruno adjusted her hat as it began to fall back, and she met eyes with Sakura in the moment that she did. Not that Sakura could see her eyes, but still.
"Sakura, don't be frightened." Chiyo said, as she began to walk forward. "I will fight him. You fight the girl."
Chiyo pulled a lot of kunai's out with Chakra strings attached to them, and threw them at Sasori, who easily block them with his tail like features. The kunai's cut through the material of this cloak, and would have hit Kruno if Sasori had not blocked them with his tail again. Kruno looked over at him with a thankful look, and Sasori just sighed in reponse. He was only doing it because Kisame would kill him if anything happened to his precious Kruno.
"If you are going to oppose me, then I have no choice." Sasori spoke as his clock ripped away, and revealed what was underneath before Sasori smirked, and the smirk was evident in his voice. "WIll you become part of my collection along with that brat, Grandma Chiyo?" He asked, and Kruno chuckled slightly.
"This isn't Sasori's real form." Granny informed the pink hair Kunoichi, who looked over at her.
"If that's true, then I think I see what you're getting at."
"Correct. That is a puppet." Chiyo said, before shifting her eyes to Kruno. "Now the girl, I am not sure if she is one of Sasori's puppets or not."
"I am not a puppet, I am a living, breathing girl, ya old hag." Kruno spat out, and Sasori looked back at her, before shaking his head.
"Have had plenty of chances to join my puppets." He said. "Such beauty going to waste." Sasori said with a shake of his head, and Kruno looked at him with wide eyes.
"You cannot just say you want to turn people into puppet, Sasori. I like living, and being a real girl!" Kruno shouted, and that's when it clicked in Sakura's head. She knew that voice from somewhere. Sakura took a deep breath, and looked at Kruno.
"You with the hat." She said, and Kruno pointed towards herself.
"Me?"
"Yes you. Who are you?" Sakura asked, and Kruno began to laugh loudly.
"Oh Sakura, you don't just ask the enemy their name. I find it rather disrespectful." Kruno said, and Sasori gave a light sigh.
"I do not care what you find disrespectful, I want to know who you are!" Sakura said, and Kruno shrugged her shoulders.
"Dog, stop arguing with them. I want to get the fight on. I want them." Sasori said, a deadly sound his voice. "Once I have them, I will have exactly 300 puppets in my collection! This is my art."
"Deidara makes things explode, and you kill people and make puppets. Sometimes I question my friendships." Kruno said, placing her hand against her face with a sigh.
"Trust me, we question our friendship with you too." Sasori said, and Kruno gasped as if she was hurt.
"Not true! You all love me!" Kruno said, pouting slightly.
"I only care about you on a good day." Sasori said, and Granny Chiyo and Sakura looked at the pair.
"Stop messing around with us!" Sakura shouted, and both Sasori and Kruno narrowed their eyes at the two Kunoichi's before nodding their heads.
"As you wish." They said together, and Kruno grabbed her sword from it's holster, and Sasori began to move his tail around, smirking at the old lady and the pinkette who were currently going over how they were going to beat Kruno and Sasori. Sakura and Chiyo began to run towards the pair, and Sasori began to throw sebon needles at the pair from his mouth, and Kruno watched in awe as they dodged everyone one of the needles until Sasori no longer was able to throw anymore. Sasori began to get pissed off at this, and sent out on of his contraptions on his arm. It shot out wood, and when the wood would break apart, thousands of sebon needles broke free from them.
Once that attack was over, Sakura began to charge at the pair, but Granny Chiyo stood still. Kruno watched as Sakura got closer and closer to them, and that's when she realized that Sakura was underestimating Sasori-Sempai's true ability. Sasori used his poison tipped tail and began to shoot it at Sakura, but it stopped right before it hit Sakura's face. Kruno looked at it in awe, she was unaware of what had just happened.
"Now, Sakura!" Granny Chiyo said, and Sakura jumped up, throwing a chakra infused fist into the puppets back, causing a huge explosion.
"Master Sasori!" Kruno screamed as she was thrown back a little bit from the explosion, causing her hat to fall of her head. She frantically looked around for her hat, she could not let Sakura see her true face. Sasori in his actual form jumped over and got in front of Kruno so that Sakura would not see her face. But it was too late.
When the dust cleared, Sakura looked over at where Sasori and Kruno were, and she gasped in surprise as she saw the red fang marks on the girls cheeks before she was covered by Sasori's cloak he had on around his actual form. Kruno began to panic, and Sasori looked her in the eyes with his emotionless eyes, before he spoke.
"You need to calm down, Kruno. I do not intend to let them live, or to let anything happen to you. Fight like you have been taught like ever member of the Akatsuki, and you will do fine." Sasori said, and Kruno nodded her head frantically before Granny Chiyo spoke.
"So you finally came out." She said to Sasori, who stood up, still facing Kruno. "I've come all of this way to see my cute little grandson's face, it's been able twenty years since I last saw you." Chiyo said, and Kruno looked up at Sasoris real face in awe like she always did. She never really got a chance to see him in his real form, because he was always inside one of his stupid puppets.
Sasori turned around, and took the cloak off of his head. He moved away from Kruno, and who she was became apparent to Sakura who she was.
"K-Kruno..?" She choked out, and the girl only smiled at her old 'freind.'
"Hello, Sakura." Kruno laughed evilly, before tapping her sword against the ground slightly. Kruno took off her cloak, leaving her in a black short sleeve shirt that came to a v in the middle, with a fishnet shirt on under it. She had on black ninja pants and a black ninja shoes. She smiled at him before she placed her sword over her shoulder, and took Kisame's exact stance when he fought, looking at Sakura with a deadly look in her eyes. "Are you ready to actually fight, or do you want to sit here and chit chat?"
//
THE FIGHT WILL BE NEXT CHAPTER BECAUSE THIS IS 4000 WORDS AND IM SLEEPY IM SORRY I LOVE ALL OF YOU<3
Kruno is going to act very hateful towards all of the leaf village shinobi's I'm sorry <3
I'm going to start asking questions at the end of the chapters so I can interact with you guys more!:3 So question for this chapter;
Do you think that Kruno will ever go back to Konoha?!
don't forget to comment, vote, and follow!