A/N: I think I gave away too much in this chapter. SO PAY ATTENTION. This is the most important chapter I have written yet and I want you guys to try and figure this out—I hardly doubt you can figure out most of my plans but, you know, you can try. :P
And there’s going to be a new character. I HATE HIM. I ABSOLUTELY HATE HIM. >:(
“Roger!” Kohana said with a nod and leaped away from the long vertical log she, Kakashi and Naruto stood on. Naruto, despite the impatience, anger and determination to save Gaara at the moment, he briefly let himself be curious about Kohana suddenly departing.
“Where did Nee-chan go?”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Deidara, who seemed a little bothered by the Konoha-nin not chasing him at the moment. He sort of wanted a fight, even if it was supposed to be his priority to take Gaara away from Kakashi’s team.
Shrugging, he just decided to let it go; they would follow him soon after anyway.
Once he turned away, Kakashi and Naruto pushed off the wooden surface and started to jump over each one along the way, desperate to reach Gaara.
Gritting her teeth, Kohana stealthily ran across the forest and after Deidara. The most she had improved on over the years was her speed and, of course, her favorite, footwork. From being impressively fast to becoming more comparable to the speed of Namikaze Minato, Konoha’s Yellow Flash, that wasn’t the only thing about her speed that changed. Now, her feet were extremely light, as if air merely passed over the grass on the ground, and although clippings often flew due to the pressure of her feet, hardly any human ears could hear the sound of her feather-light footsteps. Sure, it used up quite an amount of Kohana’s energy, but it was time-saving and needed most when it came to chases and such. Which was also why Kohana was recommended to clients whose problems involved escaping prisoners, bandits and other kinds of criminals—almost totally unrelated to the Akatsuki.
Kohana’s heavily improved speed was also the reason why Kakashi let her cooperate with them from the shadows. If she were to stay with him and Naruto, both men wouldn’t really be able to catch up, not to mention Kohana was better reserved for stealth and surprise attacks. Deidara wouldn’t know what would hit him… if something were to go wrong, Kohana could easily take him to a one-on-one fight while Kakashi and Naruto would be able to retrieve Gaara through any means necessary for the young Kazekage. Of course, they would have to do the job quickly, Kohana, even as a very active jōnin on her way to being an expert wouldn’t be able to last too long with Deidara due to their difference in style. Kenjustu was only perfect for short-range attacks, while Deidara, being a bomber, was a veteran when it came down to mid to long-range attacks.
And if Kakashi wasn’t fully confident about being able to stop Deidara right away, there was probably no way that Kohana would withstand fighting the young man longer than the Copy Ninja could.
Gritting her teeth, Kohana willed herself to stay calm. She was worried, to say the least, about Sakura and Chiyo because, according to Deidara, Sasori was stronger than he was and that only served to escalate Kohana’s concern for both of them. Since three of them were battling Deidara, she was a little more confident that they would be able to rescue Gaara in time. As for Team Gai, she had full faith that they would make it.
Nao grumbled under her breath, following closely after Katashi. For once, the twenty-year old psychotic male was unusually quiet today, and his steps were a little shorter than his usually long and quick strides, also giving Nao some time to keep up. If she were to be honest, the teenage was bothered by the sudden silence and contemplative atmosphere that Katashi secreted.
“What’s up with you today?” She finally asked. Katashi could plainly hear the aggravation in Nao’s tone of voice, but wisely chose to ignore it. It may have been very uncharacteristic of him to not snap at Nao for the question, but he didn’t care. He could sense something coming, and he was prepared for a battle. Something was going to happen soon, and he didn’t like it especially since he had the strangest feeling that it may involve Kohana getting hurt.
“He’s here,” Katashi announced gravely, which quickly urged Nao to snatch a kunai from her pouch.
“Who?”
Nao’s dull blue eyes seemed to gain a little more color as she gradually became more attentive and alert. The red haired man that now appeared before both of them was muscular, frighteningly tall and even she was intimidated. From first glance, anyone could tell that he was a force to be reckoned with. Another notable fact about him was his golden brown eyes, almost the same as Katashi’s. Not to mention the killing intent in them, they were similar to Katashi’s, but even stronger, and it was because of this that Nao knew who he was. She’ll be damned if it wasn’t who she thought it was.
“Katashi,” the man regarded the younger red head coldly, contempt and disgust in his voice.
Katashi straightened his shoulders, staring into the burly man’s intensely detached eyes. Uzumaki Masahiro’s hair was a little shorter than Katashi’s, definitely messier and moderately gelled back while a few strands and spiky locks still managed to hang over his forehead and eyes.
“Where is Kohana?”
The younger of the two had more than half a mind to back away. Even someone as confident as he, Katashi knew his place and he was a little sure that he was a hundred years too early to be able to hold his own against his own father.
“Why are you looking for her?”
Masahiro narrowed his eyes, raising his head slightly.
Nao swallowed. ‘He really does mean serious business,’ she thought, her wary eyes darting to Katashi, who stayed as composed as ever. Originally, she already knew that he was psychotic, but to be so calm and casual at the face of such a man with an overwhelming intent to murder and destroy everything in his path, she didn’t know how Katashi could possibly surpass this level of crazy.
“You needn’t ask why, Katashi.”
Katashi raised his head, just as Masahiro did a few seconds ago. “I won’t hand her over, if that’s what you’re telling me.”
“How could you say that if you don’t even have her in your clutches at this very moment?”
Snorting, Katashi looked away (he felt a little relieved to be able to take a break from looking at Masahiro’s shudder-inducing eyes) before returning his challenging glare back at Masahiro, carefully matching the murderer’s indifference. Katashi could show just as much hatred as he can, but he was afraid of losing control and attempting to land a blow on Masahiro, who could easily snap his neck in just a few minutes of fighting.
“Please, I’m confident that I could take her away from Konoha’s arms.”
“And why haven’t you?” Masahiro further challenged.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Katashi switched from his indifferent expression to that of a determined one. “Because, she’s happy where she is and I don’t intend to take that away from her.”
Nao’s eyes gradually widened; this was definitely her first time hearing Katashi speak in such a noble way. It almost made her smile…
“Oh?”
“Yes, but if you want something in exchange, you can sell me to Orochimaru again.”
Masahiro chuckled, his booming voice did well to unnerve even Katashi and the usually stoic Nao.
“You’re offering yourself to Orochimaru again… after you had finally escaped from him?”
Katashi wasn’t hesitant as he nodded. “Of course, if it means aiding in giving you a harder time with finding Kohana, then yes…”
Masahiro narrowed his eyes. “I knew I should’ve killed you when you were still young. If I had known that you would pose such a problem… maybe I would’ve killed you when you were still in your mother’s womb.”
Katashi narrowed his eyes. “Never speak of my mother, ever again.”
“I think I have as much a right to speak about her as you do… after all, I am your father.”
Nao wasn’t surprised at all; it was exactly what she had theorized.
Katashi sighed. “Whatever, just take me to that bastard and get this over with.”
Masahiro’s eyes moved to Nao, who almost flinched under his direct stare. “…and what of this girl?”
“Leave her be, she won’t be able to give you any problems,” Katashi lied.
“Alright then, come with me.” Once Masahiro had jumped away, Katashi sighed, turned around and suddenly grabbed Nao’s shoulders.
“Nao… while I’m gone, be sure to watch over Kohana. Please don’t try to kill her… if you do…”
“You’ll kill me?” Nao guessed blankly.
Katashi looked into the girl’s eyes solemnly before shaking his head. “Of course I won’t… I can’t after all.”
Nao frowned. “What? Why?”
“Well, I made a promise to a certain someone that I’ll take care of you… forever…and, well,” leaning forward, Katashi placed a small kiss on Nao’s lips, “I don’t really have to spell it out, do I?”
Nao gasped, her cheeks unexpectedly turning pink.
“But I—“
“Just promise me… I’ll return to you as soon as I can…”
Unable to say anything else, Nao stood still as Katashi let go of her shoulders, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “Oh, if you don’t really like me, I totally understand! So if I somehow, miraculously escape from Orochimaru again, forget about that kiss, okay? Oh, and do not ask for help from anyone if, somehow, you want to save me. Never go to Konoha. Ever. You won’t be able to handle imprisonment with your current condition anyway. Got it? Okay, good?”
With one last wave, Katashi departed.
Nao’s fisted her hands in anger as she gritted her teeth in annoyance. “Bastard… when will you ever learn that I won’t ever follow your instructions?” For now, she had to switch her goal… for Katashi.
“I won’t let you die, moron… you’ve still got so much explaining to do…”
“Ah, damn it, that hurt…” Kohana muttered, but nonetheless, continued to race forward despite the bloody cut she received from a particularly strong branch. She’d gone from the ground to the branches and had the sudden thought to use Hitoshi, her “ugly vulture”, but it would be harder to stay hidden with Deidara and his keen sense of sight. As a terrorist bomber, the man definitely had experience in spotting threats.
Kohana wouldn’t be able to use jutsu (for speeding up) because Deidara would be able to hear or sense it, giving away Kakashi and Naruto’s trump card.
Looking up, Kohana squinted, trying to see past through the gaps created by the trees. Unfortunately, there was no way she would be able to see Deidara.
‘I guess I’ll just take the risk,’ she thought to herself and jumped to the top of a particular tree, concealing herself with the thick clump of leaves to peek at Deidara. To her surprise, he was nowhere to be found… until she suddenly felt the heels of her feet ache.
‘Wait a minute…’ she thought with narrowed and suspicious eyes. She could hear the sound of explosions a little far behind her, and when she turned, she’d realized that Kohana had put too much effort into running and ended up getting running ahead of Deidara, Kakashi and Naruto.
Her jaw limp and heavy, Kohana continued to stare at the flying blur in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me…” There was no way she was going to continue running now… well, maybe just to give the signal, then Kohana’d have to make do with tiring herself a little bit more.
Jumping down to the lowest branch she could see, Kohana carried on until she was at least a few meters away, far enough so that the busy Deidara wouldn’t be able to notice her summoning.
“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” She called, bringing forth a loud poof as Hitoshi appeared.
“Hurry, you stupid bird! Fly the other way and make sure Kakashi sees you!”
Hitoshi sighed. “Got it, bitch,” he muttered before flying skyward.
“Now all that’s left is to wait…” Kohana muttered, sinking into another clump of leaves.
With the puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage finally destroyed, Sakura and Chiyo knew they could last much longer than they had originally expected. As long as Sakura continued evading Sasori’s advances, and as long as Chiyo kept up with using Sakura as her puppet, as well as the first two puppets that Sasori had created, everything might just turn out as they had wished in the first place.
Sakura panted heavily, drops of sweat dripping down from her body. Although a lot of strain has been put on her for her strength, evasion and healing, she knew that she still had to go on. She still had strength to be able to take Sasori down. He couldn’t possibly have something much, much stronger under his sleeve. However, even if he did, Sakura and Chiyo would be ready for it… they just had to be more careful.
Standing with some difficulty, Sakura continued to glower at Sasori, determination very evident in her green eyes.
“There’s no time to waste… can you move now, Chiyo-sama?”
“Yes.”
Sasori’s eyebrow twitched in mild surprise. Knitting them together in concentration, he tried to think of a reason why his grandmother still managed to move. Carefully, he watched Sakura clap her hands together, forming a hand seal.
Finally, it dawned on him.
The pinkette had used an antidote! Against his poison. If that was the case, then she could have used the poison to save that Kankuro boy.
‘No… no chance. When mixing an antidote, not even a hairline mistake is allowed… even I who made the poison would need a detailed recipe of the mixture proportions. But… grandma… ?...no…’
Sakura flinched just as she started to heal the gash on her left arm.
“The brat’s a medical ninja too…” Sasori muttered, and upon closer inspection at Sakura’s actions, gasped lightly, before narrowing his eyes.
‘No way… she…?’
Unbuttoning his cloak with his left hand, Sasori slid it off his ball-jointed shoulders.
‘I’ll acknowledge that you’re a brat to be reckoned with… the you took out Sandaime Kazekage… at this point, using another human puppet would be useless…’
Discarding his Akatsuki cloak to the ground, Sasori watched with twisted satisfaction at the growing fear in Sakura’s eyes.
“Since the trouble I had getting into Akatsuki… I wonder when it was…”
“What … What is…?” Sakura questioned in disbelief.
“Since he has separated from me, he has not aged… he is just like long ago…” Chiyo stated.
Stepping onto his poisoned stinger that stuck out of his puppet armor’s stomach cavity, Sasori rose, his hand on his left knee. He took on a much more different appearance now, indicating that this was merely a new level that both Sakura and Chiyo eventually had to overcome since the beginning. However, Sasori thought with utmost confidence, that there was no way his grandmother nor the Konoha brat would be able to make it out alive.