CHAPTER 57: THE SWIRLING ORB

Chapter 57: The Swirling Orb

~~~

"We can take a 15 minute break. We've been going for quite awhile. Anything more than 15 minutes is unacceptable." The two nodded, although Naruto was a bit reluctant due to the mission involving the Akatsuki.

But Naruto let it go, knowing that it was only 15 minutes. Though a lot of things can happen within those 15 minutes.

Naruto sat on a tree branch, looking up to the night sky with a tired look on his face. Soon enough, he heard a loud thunk right next to him.

"Hey," said Kakashi, sitting next to him with an eye-smile.

"Hi," responded Naruto, not ever letting his gaze leave the limitless night sky that reigned over them and the cosmos.

"You alright?" Asked Kakashi, noticing the black bags under Naruto's eyes. It seemed to Kakashi that Naruto was lacking and unhealthy amount of sleep.

"I'm fine," lied Naruto, not wanting to involve Kakashi in his current problems with himself. Kakashi sighed, not believing Naruto's words for even a second.

"You're lying. You look like a wreck and look extremely tired." Naruto did not give in. He wanted to forget about his problems, not let them resurface for the time being.

But Kakashi pressed on.

"You know, Naruto. You're strong, extremely so, but in the end, even you are human. There are people that rely on you and care for you even if you don't notice. You don't always have to burden yourself with so many things." Naruto looked down tiredly. He decided to speak about it after a few seconds of thinking.

"Maybe I am. But that's just how things are. I'm just tired." Naruto did not have the ability to put things into words. It was odd for Naruto, but he found speaking out on his emotions difficult.

Outside of someone like Kurama -- he's an exception due to him always listening to what Naruto was thinking from time to time.

"Even if you are tired, it's still good for you to reach out to people who can help you." Naruto stayed silent, only nodding to those words. But Naruto knew better -- he couldn't just 'talk' to someone about his problems.

He was withholding personal problems that people will disagree with. Well, disagree with the way Naruto was going to do it. In the end, Naruto was beginning to contradict himself.

The only way I'm going to get help is if I reach out to someone who has done it. Naruto immediately thought of the one person who has committed such an act closest to the one that he was thinking of commiting.

Uchiha Itachi.

But there is no way for me to come in contact with him. But if there was a way, my question for him would be obvious. How did he do it? Naruto thought to himself, standing up as they prepared to head towards Sunagakure once more.

~~~

As the sun slowly rose from the ashes, Deidara and Sasori walked alongside each other with Gaara attached to the clay bird that tailed behind.

As they continued to walk, a yell could be heard from behind.

"Gaara!" They turned around, seeing a male wearing a large amount of war-paint that was all around his face. Kankuro grit his teeth, standing right behind them.

"Who yells a name from behind when they could've done a surprise attack instead?" Joked Deidara, getting on his clay bird. He looked at Sasori, who nodded at him.

"Go. I'll be the one that handles him," Sasori's voice was stern, almost demanding in a way that Deidara disliked; but he didn't argue against him due to him knowing this was the safer bet.

"No!" Yelled Kankuro, throwing a kunai towards Deidara. But the kunai as soon intersected and stopped by a metal tail.

Widening his eyes, Kankuro retreated back a few steps to dodge the metal tail that came from Sasori. With his eyes sharp, Kankuro pulled out the three scrolls that were behind his back.

"Karasu! Kuroari! Sanshouo!" 3 puppets appeared in a puff of smoke. The puppets were all distinctive and shared different traits. With strings of chakra attached to the 3 puppets.

There was a large difference between the two shinobi. While Kankuro was tense, with nervousness coursing through him, Sasori was a calm as the snow that fell down in the cold season.

Kankuro maneuvered his arms, making his 3 puppets jumped towards Sasori in all directions. Effortlessly, Sasori scoffed, moving to the side as his slithering iron-tail surrounding him.

"Predictable," stated Sasori, using is iron-tail to slap the 3 puppets to the side. The attack itself wasn't bad, but it was poorly executed. Gathering his puppets once again, Kankuro decided to initiate his next attack.

Karasu and Kuroari began spinning around Sasori at fast speeds. All of a sudden, Karasu shot out numerous amounts of gas bombs that exploded to create a purple gas that covered Sasori's vision.

Calmly, Sasori used his Iron-tail and smashed the ground, arousing the sand that the two stood on. Kunai appeared and tore through the purple gas that was surrounding Sasori.

Unfortunately for Kankuro, the sand that roused from the ground due to the Iron-tail that Sasori had managed to block out all of the kunai in an instant by stopping them in their tracks.

With his tail moving around, Sasori made it tear through the sand and smoke at incapacitating speeds. Kankuro, side-stepped to the side, barely avoiding the sharp tail that soared at him.

A bead of sweat slipping through, the difference between them in terms of skill was unbelievably large by just these few minutes of fighting.

But there was something that troubled Kankuro. Every move that he had done was easily predicted by Sasori.It was odd even if his attacks were quote-on-quote 'predictable'.

"You're practically asking to die by me," stated Sasori in a very condescending tone that was being backed up by facts and his power. Without looking, Sasori swung his tail backwards, blocking out the sharp needles that were from the limbs of Karasu.

Once the appendages landed back on the ground, Kankuro manipulated them to go back to the body of Karasu. Kankuro gnashed his teeth together, backed into a corner.

Sasori barely broke a sweat. No, scratch that -- he hasn't broken a sweat during the fight at all. Kankuro slowly circled around Sasori with much tenseness coursing throughout his entire body.

Recklessly, Kankuro dashed towards Sasori, his puppets copying his movements by attacking from all different directions.

"Take this!" Roared Kankuro, pulling his arm back to create an impactful punch. Sasori responded to this action by snatching Kuroari with his iron-tail.

Sasori then moved back, manipulating his tail that was wrapped around Kuroari. Smashing the other two puppets away, Sasori made Kankuro falter as Kuroari was now in front of him, now taking the damage for Sasori.

A meat shield it was.

Kankuro stopped, attempting to redirect himself to another direction but was soon stopped by Sasori dropping Kuroari on the ground and striking Kankuro with the very tip of the slithering iron-tail.

Wincing at the immediate pain, Kankuro was thrown a few meters away. Once landing on his buttocks, Kankuro saw his blood that was spilled by tail.

Grinding his teeth, Kankuro stood up from the ground, stumbling on his feet as he looked at his puppets. It was odd -- Kankuro was most definitely hurt, but there was no way he could've been hurt this badly by just a stab by a metal tail that sent him meters away.

Kankuro stumbled just a few inches back, finding it hard for him to keep standing. Reconnecting with his puppets once again. With his eyes laser-focused on the current battle, he knew he had to be as careful as possible.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes, walking towards Sasori with much wariness washing over his very injured body. Taking a large leap, he aimed his body towards Sasori once again.

Silently, Sasori launched his iron-tail at Kankuro. His body aching from the pain, Kankuro persevered and used his puppets to stop the impending tail that would potentially impale him.

Struggling to detain the iron-tail, Kankuro averted his direction and shifted himself. Appearing right behind Sasori. Sending his fist from the back.

"It's already affecting you," stated Sasori, letting go of Kankuro's puppets and twisting his body alongside his iron-tail so the puppets would be thrown at Kankuro.

"GAHH!" Screamed Kankuro, feeling the weight of his puppets falling over him. This was unbelievable -- he couldn't even land a single blow on Sasori.

"Do you know why your tactics were so inferior?" Sasori's tone was stern and grim with a low-pitch added to it. Kankuro had blood escape from his mouth and chest as he looked up slightly.

"It's because those puppets were created by me -- Sasori of the Red Sand." Sasori ended the battle with a quick stab on Kankuro's back.

~~~

Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura landed on the desert. They have been continuously traveling the past day and a half and they were just now arriving at the border of the Land of Wind.

There were times where they were tempted to split up due to how late they were being. But they decided to stick together in the end.

As they moved forward, they saw a little silhouette over a dozen meters away from them.

"Kankuro?" Sakura called out, getting a groan from the fallen soldier. Stopping right beside him, they came to his aid. Crouching down, they turned his body around, seeing his pained expression spread across his face.

"What happened?" Question Kakashi, bringing Kankuro up from the ground.

"The. . . Akatsuki! They've. . . taken Gaara!" Their expressions hardened, seeing as the reason for his sorry state was due to fighting The Akatsuki.

"Which direction did they take him?" Naruto asked him, needing to siphon off as much information as possible to go off of.

Kankuro barely managed to point off to the direction that Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura were originally coming from. Judging by this, Naruto had to estimate that they were about an hour late or so.

"Guys, Kankuro is poisoned." This certainly backed them into a corner. But they now have no other choice.

"Sakura, take Kankuro to Sunagakure and extract the poison from his body. Once you finish, try and find us. That will be more easily if a fight starts." Sakura nodded, seeing as this was the most logical decision.

Kakashi handed Sakura the poisoned body of Kankuro. With the power to handle Kankuro's weight, she jumped away towards the direction of Sunagakure.

Kakashi turned towards, Naruto receiving a nod from him in return. Turning back to the direction that they were originally came from, they ran.

"They shouldn't have gone that far," stated Naruto, seeing as Kankuro managed to hold up one of the Akatsuki members. Although he doesn't know which member it was.

But he did know one thing, the member was someone familiar with the art of poison. Jumping from one tree to another, Naruto started to think of tactics for the upcoming battle.

If the battle will involve me potentially being poisoned, then the battle is much more suitable for someone like Sakura due to her specialty at medical ninjutsu. Naruto mused, feeling the fresh breeze brush against his face.

But neutralizing the poison will greatly benefit me in long run. Don't get him wrong, him being a Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi gave him a great resistance to poison, but doesn't necessarily mean it won't affect him.

They suddenly stopped, seeing the trademark cloak with patches of red clouds that ran across the black cloak that gave fear to the weak.

The Akatsuki.

"There," whispered Kakashi, pulling out a kunai from his pouch. Naruto silently looked at Kakashi and nodded, seeing as they were ready to attack.

As their heart beat thumped, they jumped from the shadows of the trees above, throwing a kunai right afterwards.

The two Akatsuki members jumped away, avoiding the two kunai that were thrown at them. Naruto and Kakashi landed right in front of them, a body of water right next to them.

"Konoha-nin," said the blond male that seemed to be the one that captured Gaara. The two stayed silent, seeing which party will make the first move.

"Naruto, I'll take the blond, you take the other." Naruto nodded, obeying the request that was given by Kakashi. Naruto saw Kakashi jump away, attacking the blond male.

"Deidara. Careful -- they are dangerous." Naruto took note of the name of the blond. It was Deidara. He was not familiar with the name but knew better than to underestimate someone that was affiliated with clouds of red death.

"Yeah, I already know that, Sasori." Naruto also took note of the name of his partner-in-crime. Sasori faced Naruto as the wind blew.

"So, you will be my opponent," Sasori stated in a tone full of grimness. Naruto nodded, his hand grabbing his blank and featureless white mask.

"I guess so," responded Naruto, bringing the mask up to his face. "But don't worry; this fight will be as quick as your death." Naruto unsealed his blade.

"Quite arrogant. Granted, you are quite young." Naruto saw a tail appear from the cloak, one that was created with pure iron.

I see. This man is the one that wields poison. Naruto thought, analyzing the movements of the tail. There was a reason why his conclusion came to this.

A sharp weapon like this is most commonly associated with things like poison. Naruto noticed how flexible the movement that the tail had.

I'll have to dodge as intricate as possible. Naruto mused, using his ability of 'Chakra Flow' to channel his lightning affinity into his blade.

When he first used it in battle, his proficiency with using it was at the level of an amateur. It was due to his control over his output that drained so much unnecessary amounts of chakra.

Of course, Naruto got better at using such techniques as time went on. He dashed towards Sasori while activating his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Naruto still had to be careful with his usage of the Mangekyou Sharingan. While he did obtain he eyes of his father, he has been contemplating on how he should do the eye transfer for quite some time.

He moved to the side, jumping a few feet in the air and entering a dive roll as the slithering iron-tail waved around through the whims of Sasori.

Once he finished the diver roll, Naruto struck the ground with the blade that was embedded with lightning. The lightning walked across the ground, causing Sasori to retreat just a few feat back to avoid getting hurt by the lightning chakra.

Once the surge of chakra dissipated, Naruto placed his hand on the ground, letting himself flip off from the ground through the placement of his hand.

The same tail once again came towards Naruto at fast speeds. Naruto narrowed his eyes, continuously avoiding the sharp tail.

"You're fast, but are you this fast?" In an instant, Naruto saw the tail become even faster than before. Without much effort, Naruto effortlessly dodged the tail once again.

Naruto jumped in the air, using his blade to block the attack of the iron-tail. Naruto twisted his body midair, sliding down the tail of steel. Closing in Sasori, Naruto saw him open his mouth in a very mechanism-like way.

An array of senbons came sprouting from within his mouth. Naruto responded to this with a simple jump from the shiny iron-tail.

Landing on the ground, Naruto continued to dodge the senbon needles at a constant rate. What felt like an endless amount of dodging, Naruto finally managed to find an opening.

Unsealing his dagger, Naruto violently shot the said dagger towards Sasori. He gave a slight glance towards Sasori as his hands appeared from beneath the Akatsuki cloak.

Naruto landed on the open spaces between the scattered senbon needles. An idea popping inside of his mind, Naruto picked up the scattered senbon needles and threw it at Sasori.

Although Naruto didn't have the greatest handling with senbon needles, he simply tried treating them like any other kunai.

And it was benefiting him greatly due to the constant pressure that he was giving towards Sasori. But the pressure that he was giving soon ended due to Sasori using his tail to pierce the ground and letting it course through the ground.

Responding and not reacting, Naruto felt the vibrations that traveled across the dirt ground. His heart beating quickly, Naruto jumped to the side a few meters away.

His eyes narrowing behind his mask, Naruto channeled another batch of lightning chakra into his blade. Once again sticking it inside the ground, he managed to intercept the iron-tail.

It was now in a paralyzed-like state. Letting him make his next move, Naruto channeled chakra into his fist. Without remorse, he destroyed the dangerous weapon.

The iron-tail.

Taking extra precaution, Naruto threw the tail into the body of water right next to them. By now, both Kakashi and Deidara were already gone.

Naruto saw Sasori jump backwards slightly, letting his iron-tail retract as quickly as possible. Just from this battle, Naruto already knew something about Sasori.

The real body is inside that puppet body. Naruto thought to himself, recalling back a few seconds ago where he saw the irregular movements of Sasori's mouth and the mechanism of it.

All I have to do is destroy the shell. Naruto thought, impressed with Sasori's problem solving. From an outsider's perspective, being a Puppeteer is something that had a fatal weakness.

If an enemy makes it passed your offense, your defensive capabilities will fail due to you wielding the puppets. This will cause you to disconnect with the puppets and block the blow, causing you to have to create the connection once again.

But you could bypass this problem by having a puppet that is both your offense and defense. This was the product of Sasori's invention.

Quite ingenious if Naruto could say so himself.

I'll destroy it with this technique. Naruto told himself within his mind, creating a clone right beside him. This technique was something that Jiraiya had taught him through the 2.5 year interval. A technique that he mastered in a week.

Sticking his hand out, his clone created a swirling blue orb on the palm of his hand.

The Rasengan.

Letting his clone disperse, Naruto ran towards Sasori, dodging the the iron-tail that was largely and partly broken due to Naruto.

Without faltering, Naruto appeared right above Sasori and collided his Rasengan on Sasori's back, destroying the armor-like puppet.

Immediately moving away, Naruto saw someone move from the pile of debris. His face expressionless behind his mask, he caught sight of bright red hair from afar.

"I see," commented Naruto, now seeing the Akatsuki robe clad over the real Sasori.

~~~