Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 26 Faith

‘Whose hand is this?’ Gaara stared at it thoughtfully, ‘Ah… it’s mine… have I become someone… that people need?’  He stretched his fingers. When he closed his hand he saw a small figure across from him. ‘Who’s… that?’  he thought. The figure became larger. ‘Me?... That’s me… wanting to be needed by someone… why? Why did I want that? Why…. do I wish for that? Those eyes… that nose… that mouth… why? Why is that Gaara? I was in there… no… what am I anyway? I’m only aware of being me. So who am I?’ The figure slowly faded and with it every thought. ‘I’m just… a small conscious.’

Gaara’s lifeless body fell to the ground with a loud thud.
“Complete,” Pain said content.
“No!” Taryn screamed and gave a pull on her chains. She stared at her brother’s still body and she knew. She just couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t accept it. It was not possible. She bit her lip to stifle a cry. ‘Gaara…’

***

Neji landed on the rock with the seal. “Lee,” he said, “a little more South.”
“Okay I found it,” Lee answered.
“I got one too,” Tenten said.
“Good,” Gai spoke, “now peel away!”
“Good,” Kakashi said. He turned to Sakura. “To break in we’ll need a switch hook entry.”
Sakura nodded. “I’m on it.”

“Sasori, Deidara,” Pain said, “see to our guests. They’re yours. Except for the Jinchuuriki host. Bring him to me alive. The rest of you are done here.”
Sasori turned to Itachi’s hologram. “Itachi, about the Jinchuuriki. What kind of host is this Naruto?”
Itachi didn’t answer.
“Tell him,” Pain ordered.
“He is… the one who bursts in and barks first,” Itachi said.
“Hn?” Sasori questioned, “what do you mean?”
“Can’t you give us more to work with?” Deidara asked.
Itachi gave a mocking grin and vanished.
The rock that concealed the cave entrance crumbled and four shinobi ran in. When they saw their enemy, they stopped dead in their tracks. Two of Akatsuki were waiting for them. And one of them was sitting on…
“Gaara!” Naruto shouted. The boy didn’t move. Naruto looked up and met Taryn’s haunted look. Her face was an icy white and her eyes were filled with tears. “No…” Naruto whispered. “You!” he shouted at Deidara and Sasori, “you’re dead meat!"
“That would be him then,” Sasori said.
“Looks like it,” Deidara agreed.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Gaara!” he yelled, “why are you just lying there like that?! Get up!” Behind Deidara, Taryn started to cry.
“Naruto stop,” Kakashi said defeated, “you know full well.”
“Indeed,” Deidara said, “I think you’d know, that he’s already dead.”
Naruto grew a furious expression. “Give him back!” he growled and charged forward. “GIVE HIM BACK!”
Kakashi jumped in front of Naruto and stopped him. “Calm down. If you charge like that you’ll get us all killed.”
Deidara chuckled. “I’ll hold on to the body,” he said, “since it appears the Jinchuuriki host is burning for it.” He turned to his comrade. “Sasori, I know this isn’t what you want to hear but I’ll handle him.”
Sasori narrowed his eyes. “Listen you,” he said, “our quota is one a piece. If I were you Deidara, I wouldn’t push my luck.”
They quarreled some more until Naruto had enough of it. He took a giant shuriken and threw it at them. Sasori’s tail whipped it away without him even looking.
‘As I feared,’ Chiyo thought, ‘his handling of the puppet remains unchanged.’  
“Well,” Deidara said, “I think that’s my cue. See you.” He prepared a large clay bird and flew away with it.
“Hey wait up!” Naruto yelled and ran after him.
Kakashi sighed and went in pursuit of him. “Naruto and I will handle him,” he called over his shoulder, “Sakura, granny Chiyo, you deal with this creep. Just don’t do anything rash!” “Understood,” Sakura said.
“Gai,” Kakashi said in his microphone, “can you return immediately?”
“We would,” Gai said, “but we’re a bit stuck. It’ll take a while.” When his team had peeled of the seals, replicas of themselves had appeared and had started fighting them.
“Sakura,” Chiyo said, “be brave. I’m here with you. Stay behind and watch.” She threw several kunai at Sasori, but he stopped them all without effort.
Sakura gasped.
Sasori grinned. “If you’re going to play like that, you leave me no choice. So granny Chiyo… you want to join my collection? Along with that brat behind you?”
“What?” Sakura asked confused.
“Sakura… that’s not Sasori’s body,” Chiyo said, “that’s just a puppet.”
“I can tell that,” Sakura answered, “but where is he? Puppeteers work from off stage, right? So where are the strings?”
“His body is inside the puppet,” Chiyo looked at her, “listen carefully. The first step to defeating him is to get close and shatter the puppet. The catch is, you must dodge every attack it puts forth.”
“The poison you mean,” Sakura said.
Chiyo nodded. “That’s right. Even a scratch will prove fatal. To evade the attacks you must understand the puppeteer’s style. You must anticipate his moves instantly.”
“Understand his style?” Sakura asked, “make snap judgments? I can’t really do either.”
“True,” Chiyo agreed, “those things take years of experience… I wonder what you see when you look at me. A helpless old woman? Just count on me. His experience doesn’t even compare to mine. Besides, I already made my first move.”