Tortured Uchiha [CURRENTLY EDITING]

二五

CAPTURE THE SAND

      Sunagakure was a death-trap. The village was landlocked in the centre of the desert with no prospects or means of trade. Their political status hinged solely on the existence of a Jinchuriki. Being the closest nation to that of Fire, it was natural for Konohagakure to form a mutual alliance, though this was strained since Orochimaru's murder of the Kazekage. 

          Even though I used Kuragari as my medium to transport myself to the surroundings town of Takumi and Tanigakure, it didn't get me there as fast as I originally hoped.

       When the grass transitioned into rock and when rock dissolved into granules of sand, I knew that Sunagakure was nearing closer after eight days of constant travel.

       The tracks in the sand showed one pair of footprints and some kind of bulk that left shuffling patterns in its wake. Once the archway of Sunagakure came into sight, the tracks split off and the lone set of footprints vanished abruptly. No doubt the tracks were from the Akatsuki.

      "This is Sasori of the Red Sand's village," Kuragari commented from my shoulder. "In his case file, his partner is Deidara from Iwagakure Explosion Corps. Both are known for their...extravagant battling styles, it's best to stay on your guard."

      "Speaking of guards," I lifted my mask to see the discarded corpses of Sunagakure Nin. None had any offensive of defensive wounds visible, yet a strange smell lingered in the air. It was sweet with a pungent undertone. "Sunagakure seems to be lacking in that department."

      Kuragari fluttered from my shoulder to inspect one of the bodies. The bird hopped on the back of one of the corpses as if to try and wake him up before darting back to me. He dropped a purple butted dart into my palm.

     "Poison," I commented. "How ironic." 

      "And not just any arsenic," Kuragari picked up the fluffy end of the barb in his beak and dropped it back to the ground. "It paralyses every nerve in your body and shuts down your chakra points, deeming you nothing but a living carcass while the injector has their way with you."

      "So much for Akatsuki and world peace," I grunted.

       Kuragari continued, "I honestly wonder how Itachi and Kuchibashi got involved in such a gang, both of them don't possess the hatred."

       "I've been asking myself the same question for three years," I continued through the deserted village, to be met with nothing but the howl of wind and a faint beat of...wings?

     I looked up to see Deidara perched on the head of one of his explosive clay creations. His strange steam-mech scope allowed him to see in the dark and hone in on his targets―in this case, the Kazekage. Deidara's blonde hair flailed wildly around his face as he looked down at the three patrolling guards with binoculars. However, the guards weren't astute enough to look at what was above them.

      As the sky guards rotated with their binoculars at eye-level, Deidara smirked and dug around in a small pouch. I wasn't high enough to hear what he was muttering, but he held three clay spiders in his hand palm, obviously using them as a distraction while Sasori nabbed Gaara.

      "What are we going to do?" Kuragari kawed softly.

       "We wait," I kept to the shadows of one of the guard towers and continued to glare up at Deidara. "There's no point stopping him at point blank range, it'll cause too much attention to us."

        Deidara cast his hand out towards the three guard towers and the three spiders descended towards the ground. He made the half tiger/ram hand sign as the spiders plummeted towards the unaware guards. The clay figures latched onto their uniforms and crawled onto their skin, just as they began to scream, Deidara activated his Kekkei Genkai release.