Politics in the Mist

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lucky chapter 13...oh wait that's the opposite. Oh well, no time to worry about that we've got the Kazekage rescue arc to strat! This will probably take about 3 chapters so you guys sit back and enjoy. As always thank you for your reviews and lets get started.
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aara stood on top of the Kazekage tower, looking out at Suna. He was made Kazekage after his father died, and he quickly found the people had not had a high opinion of his father, not that he could blame them. His father was warmonger who nearly lead Suna to destruction. The village still feared him, but they soon came to respect, and accepted him as a good Kazekage.
He sensed two people on the roof with him, he turned around expecting to see Kankuro and Temari, but instead he saw a strange man with a hump and blonde man with one eye.
The man with the hump spoke first, "so, it looks like another Kazekage dies at my hands, Suna always was the weakest of the five great ninja nations."
Gaara scowled, "do not threaten me or insult Suna, it will result in your death if you do."
The blonde laughed, "ha, look at that the kids got spunk. This one should be fun eh Sasori."
Gaara's eyes went wide at the name, everyone in Suna knew about Sasori of the red sand, possibly the greatest puppet master to date. He was what Kankuro strived to be.
"Deidara, why don't we stop chatting and get this over with," Sasori said.
Gaara got into a fighting stance and prepared for battle, this wouldn't be an easy fight.
Kankuro was walking to the Kazekages office to see his brother, he'd been very busy lately and Kankuro planned to drag him out of the office. The ground beneath him began to shake and looked up. He saw one of Gaara's most powerful moves, Great Sand Tsunami.
A large explosion erupted and Kankuro rushed to see his brother, he had a bad feeling about this.
Deidara had Gaara slung over his back, in his effort to save his village from Deidara's explosive clay Gaara had left himself open to Sasori's poisons, he was now completely paralyzed.
They looked over to see a man with two puppets jumping in front of them. Sasori smiled inwardly, eager to see how puppet user would fair.
Temari rushed over to Kazekages office and saw Kankuro passes out on the roof, "Kankuro are you ok, where's Gaara."
"Akatsuki...got em...poisoned me...red sand," he mumbled before he passed out.
Temari had tears in her eyes, she fears for both her brothers lives.
Naruto stood in his wife's office attempting to wipe the sleep from his eyes. He wasn't often woke up 5:00 in the morning, so he knew it had to be important.
"What wrong Mei-chan, are you ok, something with the babies?" Naruto asked worried, his wife was now 5 months pregnant, so naturally his was a bit nervous.
Mei shook her head, "no, we've just gotten word the Kazekage, your old friend Gaara, has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki."
Naruto slammed his fist on the desk, "what! Well then what the hell we waiting for, lets get going!"
Mei smiled and sighed, "Naruto-kun, you know it's not that simple. We're getting a team together for you to go with, we're sending Mizura and Huyri with you. You can leave in an hour."
Naruto nodded and turned to leave, Mei grabbed his hand and pulled him into a tight hug and a kiss, "please Naruto-kun, be careful."
Naruto smiled gently at his wife, "I will Mei-chan, you and the babies just take it easy. I love you."
Mei snuggled into his neck, "I love you too."
Naruto waited for Mizura and Huyri, it was driving him insane waiting for them.
The two them walked up to Naruto, "What took you so long!?"
Mizura startled, "we're only 5 minutes late."
"Yeah what's the big deal, we don't even know what the mission's for yet?" Said Huyri.
Naruto frowned, " it's a rescue mission for the Kazekage dammit. He's my friend and he's been captured by the Akatsuki. Lets hurry the hell up."
Huyri smirked, "this is the Akatsuki's doing, oh I am so in. I've been wait for a crack at them for years."
Mizura looked down, "I apologize Naruto-san, I had no idea your friend was at risk."
Naruto made some hand seals and slammed them on the ground, a large toad appeared, "Hello Naruto-san, what can an ungraceful toad like me do for you?"
"It's good to see Mr. Gamaken. How fast can you get us to Suna, it's extremely important?" Naruto asked.
Gamaken smiled, "I may not be graceful but I'm extremely fast. I can have us there in less than a day if I go at top speed."
Naruto nodded, "alright you guys, jump on we don't have much time so let's get moving." The 3 of the them jumped on and Gamaken took off, his speed really was quite impressive.
Gamaken had them there in about 20 hours, Naruto was quite pleased, "thanks Mr. Gamaken, you're the best."
"Glad to be of assistance Naruto-san. I must be going now, an ungraceful toad like me needs a lot of training," Gamaken told him and poofed away.
Naruto looked at a nearby clock, it was just past 2:00 AM. He knew Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru were do in about 10 hours. He didn't have time to wait for them, he hated that he had to go check with Temari as it. He rushed to hospital to find her, and found her sitting next to Kankuro with tears in her eyes, "how's Kankuro doing?" he asked.
"Not good, how far off is Sakura?" she asked desperately.
Naruto sighed, "about 10 hours, sorry."
Temari felt awful, "is there anything any of you can do?"
Mizura spoke up, "I can but a seal on him that will slow down the poison considerably. It should keep him stable till Sakura gets here."
Temari smiled, "fantastic, do it quick, he's not doing well."
Mizura scratched his chin, "it'll take about an hour."
Naruto scowled, "we can't keep waiting, Gaara's in danger every second he's with the Akatsuki."
Temari shook her head, "you're gonna wanna wait, they have Sasori of the red sand with them, and some other member who's gotta be an S-rank too. You can't handle them alone."
Naruto thought for a second, "I'm low Kage level myself, and Huyri is an elite jonin. If you could send us one more jonin we could hold them off tell the others got there no problem."
"Me and Kankuro are the strongest jonin in the village, but with Kankuro poisoned I really think I should stay here," Temari told him.
An old woman stepped forward, "I'll go. I know more about Sasori than anyone."
Huyri raised an eyebrow, "no offense, but aren't you a little old to be an active ninja?"
Naruto shot Huyri and look, "Huyri I expect more from you, the Third Hokage was in his mid-eighties and the Tsuchikage is pushing 100 and they're two of the strongest ninja to date. Age means nothing in the ninja world. Please, tell us about yourself miss."
The woman laughed, "I see this one has a good head on his shoulders. I'm lady Chiyo, one of Suna's most famous puppet masters. Sasori is my grandson, I taught him about puppet myself after his parents died. He's quite impressive, the only one who may surpass him is Kankuro."
"You're perfect. Let's get moving, we've wasted far too much time," said Naruto. The other nodded and they left the hospital. Temari sat there silently thanking Naruto for everything he done for her. Saving Gaara from the darkness, bringing their family closer, bringing Shikamaru into her life. She owed him a lot, and she doubted she'd ever be able to really pay him back.
Naruto, Chiyo, and Huyri had been traveling for the past five hours. They had the advantage of the Akatsuki not knowing they were coming so soon and them having to make sure Gaara stayed alive while they traveled. Naruto kept thinking back to Sasuke's rescue mission, it had some similarities. The big difference was that Gaara's life hung in the balance, while with Sasuke he was going undercover.
"They had about a day advantage on us, I'm not sure how long it's gonna be before we catch them," said Chiyo.
"Yeah I know, we're lucky they left a chakra trail I can track," Huyri said with some pride in her voice.
"I can't believe you never told us you were a sensory ninja," Naruto complained.
Huyri shrugged, "I'm not, I just have heightened sense due to my clan. The same way a shark senses blood we sense chakra."
Naruto shook his head, "whatever, don't look a gift horse in the mouth I guess."
The Leaf ninja arrived 2 hours earlier than expected, for the first time anyone could remember Shikamaru refused to slow down even a little. They burst into the hospital, "where's the patient?" Sakura panted.
She saw Kankuro on a hospital bed and got to work, it was actually relatively easily as the poison hadn't reach much of his body.
Shikamaru went over to Temari and held her close, "how's it going you troublesome woman?"
Temari got a slight smile on her face, "a little better lazy boy."
"Have they sent anyone after Gaara?" He asked.
Temari nodded, "Naruto and two others."
Shikamaru sighed in relief, "if Naruto's on job we've got nothing to worry about. He never let's his friends down."
Kankuro got out of bed and started to get dressed, "good, I want a second shot at Sasori for going after my brother like that. Don't even say I'm not ready to fight, I'm not abandoning my brother."
Temari nodded and everyone, which include Temari, Kankuro, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Mizura, headed out.
Naruto and others finally got near the Akatsuki after 12 hours of traveling, "they're chakra isn't moving, I think they're resting." Huyri told them.
They nodded and Chiyo asked, "should we engage, we don't know much about the other one, and I don't want to engage Sasori without an antidote for his poisons."
Naruto shook his head, "I don't want to risk it, we can't let them reach some of their friends, we can't handle that. We need to attack them now, Chiyo and Huyri you guys handle Sasori, I'll take the blonde. You guys aren't very adaptable which isn't good against a new opponent, my style is very adaptable, plus Chiyo knows about Sasori's style and Huyri can do a little bit of med if you guys get poisoned."
They both nodded, they couldn't argue with the boy's logic. Naruto ran at the blonde and the other two ran at Sasori, it was time for big fight. The goal wasn't to win, just to hold off until the other got there.
Chiyo jumped in front of her grandson and he smiled under his armor, "Grandmother, it's been a long time."
Chiyo scowled, "Sasori, I love you, but I can't let you keep going on like this. I tried so hard not to let the culture of the Sand get you, but clear I failed, I'm sorry."
Sasori laughed, "you always did make me laugh Grandmother, but enough talk let's begin," he said he charged at her.
Naruto jumped out and stopped the blonde, "put Gaara down and they'll be no trouble."
Deidara laughed, "no way kid, I'm the great artist Deidara, my art is explosive."
Naruto got into fight stance, "then let's do this," Naruto said and started to make clones.