Gaara P.O.V
"Rasen shuriken-"
Gaara: Naruto! You can't kill him?
Naruto: Why not? He's stopping us from meeting Ouka-chan right?
Kakashi: That might be the case, but if you kill the adopted son of the Daimyo of the land of Iron, it will create a war situation for Konoha and Suna!
Naruto: That is unfair!
Nobunaga: Don't worry, I consider myself to have lost this battle. You don't have to worry about battling me anymore. It's not like I have a grudge against you. I just followed Ai...Ouka's wishes.
Gaara: Then why stop now?
Nobunaga: Hm...because I want to see her troubled expression when you catch up to her, Kazekage~chan. After all, she is always avoiding you like the plague...
Kakashi: The head of this mission is you so your decision is final but Gaara...are you sure you can trust him?
Gaara: As much as I'd like to think otherwise...his personality is like Aira's...
Nobunaga: That isn't very accurate. I'd never be able to match Aira...but we do have a similar view of the world so I guess we understand each other better.
Gaara: That is to say that Aira is lonely?
Nobunaga: Oops, I night have said too much. But instead of calling it 'lonely', I'd call it 'misunderstood' or 'not trusted', does that ring any bells, Kazekage~chan?
He was right...surely behind that cheery, queer personality of her's she must have troubles, worries, anxieties and a lot of other emotions...
And I never tried to understand her. In fact the more I tried to understand, the more I realize how much I don't know about her...
Gaara: Maybe so...it maybe so...If it is so, then I'll try to understand her! I'll try not to misunderstand her!
Nobunaga: Oh~I suppose I see why Aira was interested in you. You are not naive like Naruto...but you are just as determined to do the same...to prove that it's not a naive way of thinking...alright then, if you want to go after Ouka-chan, better hurry up!
After we 'defeated' Nobunaga, he was more than happy to reveal the location of the mercenary group, Kuroko. Newer than the Akatsuki, rumors of their presence spread across the five great shinobi nations.
Some said they are a subsidiary group of the Akatsuki. Others say that they intend to use the chaos caused by the Akatsuki to take over the world.
All Nobunaga told us was that Ouka was involved with the Kuroko.
I wasn't the only one who wanted to uncover where Aira is. Chiyo obaa-sama, Kankuro and Temari also joined forces. We split our group into three : The offence, the surveillance and the backup team.
Me, Naruto and Kakashi were a part of the offense group. Kankuro and Temari protected Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba as they made sure that the perimeter was clear. Chiyo obaa-sama, Haruno Sakura, Shizune and Yamanaka Ino were the backup group since they were all trained medical nins.
Kakashi: You're starting to think a bit like Aira, haven't you? If it was Naruto, he would just have stormed the place without any plans.
Gaara: I won't make the same mistake again.
Aira saved me and protected me all this time. This time, I want to believe that I am not too late...
That I can protect her.
We reached the waterfall that Nobunaga had told us about. Located at the edge of Hoshigakure, this place was completely uninhabited but didn't stand out for being decrepit. It was a peaceful and quiet place.
The perfect secret hideout.
Naruto: What do we do now? Nobunaga only told us that the waterfall is a landmark.
Kakashi: You knew Aira the best out of us. Do you have any idea what she would have done to hide her hideout?
Gaara: She would always say 'if you want hide something from someone, keep it under their nose'.
Naruto: But there's nothing under our nose! Does it mean we need to dig at the ground under our nose? But under whom? Me, Gaara or Kakashi-sensei?
Kakashi: Sigh... Naruto, Gaara didn't literally mean under our nose.
Gaara: Let us search the waterfall. We should be able to find a clue-
"But we can save her instead! We don't have to kill Aira..."
Gaara: Bingo.
We could hear the voice of a frantic woman. Her voice sounded crazed but...what caught my interest was that she said Aira.
The voice came from behind the waterfalls, between the water and the mountain.
Itachi P.O.V
"Itachi...what are we to do?"
Saaya was so upset that she didn't even call me Ita-kun like usual. But it wasn't unexpected.
From Saaya's recollection of the event, it is pretty clear that Aira's plan didn't work. Saaya got captured by Madara(Itachi doesn't know that Tobi is Obito masquerading as Madara) and Aira had to give herself up to save her.
I still remember what Aira had told us before the start of the mission...
'It's a pity but Ita-kun, you are not going to be a part of the mission. Your 'Leader-sama' is bound to notice it if you aren't at the hideout whenever a jinchuriki capturing mission fails. If my plan fails, you might as well be the one who disposes off my body.'
She had been ready to put her life on the line from the very beginning. She knew the consequences that awaited her if her plans failed.
She might be tortured or...even killed. Not to mention, if her 'kami no kokan' jutsu is revealed, Madara's plan might be brought to fruition before any of us would have the time to react.
Saaya: Itachi...is Aira safe? You are a member of the Akatsuki right? S-Surely you can go and save-
Itachi: Indeed I will have to go but...my reason for going is not the same.
Saaya: Y-You don't mean... THERE'S NO WAY I'LL LET THAT HAPPEN! If I lose Aira...if I lose Aira... I'll lose everything!
She must have realised it. I would fulfill my promise to her. My promise to dispose her body before Madara...
Saaya: But we can save her instead! We don't have to kill Aira-
"It seems like you both know something that I love to find out about..."
Apparently Saaya's hysterical screams had given away the location of Kuroko. Standing in front of us were Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto and...
The Kazekage, Sabaaku no Gaara.
Itachi: You are no match for me. Saaya, we are leaving-
"Not if we can do something about it!"
More shinobi entered into the cave. I knew one of them, the tobubetsu jonin of Konoha, Gekko Hayate. He seemed to have two of his students with him. I recall Aira talking about them, her teammates during her time in Konoha - Hyosuke Raijin and Suzumebachi Akira. Gekko Hayate was her jonin instructor.
Hayate: Aira is a precious student of mine, if there is any way of figuring out what truly happened to her, then Team Hayate will more than happy to be a part of this mission.
Gaara: You seem to know where Aira is. In that case, we will have you take us.
Itachi: No-
Saaya: Ita-kun...please...if there is a way to save Aira, I want to do it! Knowing her, she'd flick my forehead for disobeying her orders but...that is far better than never seeing her again!
I looked around me. Aira was certainly foolish when she said she was a lone person. She has all these people who root for her. Besides, I didn't want to kill her.
She was a ray of hope...that someday this world will improve...that ninjas are not killing machines constantly at war...
And so, I made up my mind and decided to take them along for the 'Aira rescue mission'. At this point of time, we didn't know the horrors that awaited us...
And what it is like to have Aira for an opponent...