Hey guys! :D

Just a quick reminder that The Wolf Inside is going to be entered in the Watty Awards this year! So, if you think it's a worthy story of a Watty Award for Best Fan Fiction or whatever, please please please remember to go and vote for it :)

I'd be soooooooooo appreciative ^-^ It'd be cool if The Wolf Inside was the first Naruto Fan Fiction to win a category! :D

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Pic of the real Sasori  --->

Ashley’s POV

I look up at the clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight, as Keiji dances around me happily.

Seems the little guy is really enjoying the warm sunshine.

Well, it’s more like blisteringly, skin meltingly hot sunshine, but he seems to like it all the same…

Having had enough of the gross, sand filled desert leading straight to the Sand Village, I’d decided to detour down South, through the Land of Rivers instead.

I may like the warm weather, but I can’t say I enjoy the desert at all.

For one thing, it’s very difficult to sense things through desert sand.

It’s all loose and grainy, so vibrations don’t travel through it very well.

Secondly, it was burning my feet! The sand soaks up the heat like a sponge, and it was burning through the soles of my shoes.

My mind was made up to leave the desert the moment I almost trod on a Scorpion though.

It gave me such a fright! It crawled out of the sand, looking like a massive Spider, except with a tail and claws.

So now I’m just strolling along a riverbank, trying my hardest not to get sunburnt and tilting my head, focused on something up ahead.

I can feel very faint vibrations coming from up ahead, catching my attention.

Though I can’t be sure what’s making the vibrations from this distance, they’re strong enough to concern me.

“Come on Keiji” I say, breaking into a run. “Let’s go and check this out.”

Keiji spins in a circle, before zooming after me.

I don’t think anything could ever dampen that eternally cheery disposition of his…...

Placing chakra in my feet, I opt for running across the surface of the wide river beside me, hoping that being so close to the water will keep me the slightest bit cooler.

I don’t think it’s working though.

As every step takes me closer to the source of all the vibrations, they get stronger and stronger.

“What on earth?” I ask myself, as I sense what feels like rocks tumbling to the ground, like a rockslide.

Picking up the pace, I race across the water, my brows beginning to furrow with concentration.

“One…..two……..three” I count softly. “There’s three people but……something doesn’t feel right about one of them…..and the other…….so familiar…..”

I shake my head, feeling slightly confused.

One of the presences feels so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on why just yet.

Another presence just feels plain strange. Human, but not quite human at the same time. How weird……

As I continue running, a large cave comes into my view, sitting in the middle of a pool of shallow water.

I skid to a halt, my eyes widening as a huge blast of fire shoots out of the entrance, making steam rise from the water.

“What the hell?!” I cry, as Keiji flits around in frantic circles.

He hates fire. I think it scares him, which is fair enough I suppose.

“Keiji” I address my companion seriously. “You wait out here. I’m going in to investigate.”

Keiji bobs up and down, before hastily flying away and hiding in a nearby tree.

Gritting my teeth, I turn to my right and run over to the cave entrance.

I press my back against the rock and slowly peer inside, almost gasping at the scene inside.

From where I stand, I can see an old lady crouching behind a rock, flames burning around it ferociously, trying to get at her.

To the left of the old lady, I see-

My eyes widen again, seeing the familiar pink hair and green eyes.

‘Sakura!’ I think urgently, seeing flames spilling around the edges of the rock she’s hiding behind as well.

She must be the familiar presence I could sense!

She looks pretty beat up, and she’s breathing heavily.

She’s obviously been putting up a good fight, if her condition is anything to go by.

Following the trails of flames with my eyes, I see that they lead to the hands of a young guy, probably around my age, with red hair and wide brown eyes.

I narrow my eyes at the boy.

He doesn’t look…….right. There’s something weird about his body…..

“What’s wrong?” the boy asks in a calm, yet sinister, voice. “Don’t wanna play anymore?”

I see Sakura scowl, before she leaps out from behind her rock and flings a kunai at the boy.

He immediately shoots another long stream of fire at her, the kunai melting amidst the flames.

Sakura dives behind the same rock as the old lady, narrowly avoiding being struck with the flamethrower.

I narrow my eyes at the boy.

‘I know Lady Tsunade said not to……’ I think, biting my lip. ‘But I can’t just sit here. I have to help Sakura!’

“Do you really think you can hide from me?!” the boy asks, raising his arms and blasting out some huge fireballs at the rock Sakura and the old lady are behind.

I see Sakura gasp, as the rock begins to crack from the force of the fireballs.

As another fireball collides with the rock, it explodes into hundreds of tiny pieces, sending Sakura and the old lady tumbling backwards.

“Uughh!” Sakura cries, as she crashes into another rock.

The old lady flips around, surprising me, and lands behind a thick boulder.

“Sakura!” she calls desperately, as the boy smirks dangerously.

“Time to die” he sneers, as another powerful stream of fire shoots out towards Sakura.

‘No!’ I scream in my head, leaping inside the cave.

Landing in front of Sakura, I throw up one of my arms, palm facing the red haired guy.

The flames rocket towards me, roaring ferociously.

I grit my teeth and focus my Katsuryoku to control the flames.

While it’s true that I’ve been training my Katsuryoku so I don’t need the movement of my arms, fire has always been the most difficult thing for me to control, so I kind of still need to use my arms.

The flames stop right in front of my hand, swirling past me, as if I’ve created an invisible dome shield.

I feel Sakura slowly sit up behind me.

“Nnngg…….Huh?!” she exclaims, noticing me in front of her, and the flames roaring around her.

“Who’re……who’re you?” she asks, sounding confused.

I smirk to myself.

I’m using my Katsuryoku right in front of her, and she really doesn’t know who I am.

“Call me Kuzuri” I say shortly, dropping my hand as the flames die away.

“What?!” the red head cries, before narrowing his eyes at me. “You again? And how are you both not dead?!”

Huh? What does he mean me again? I’ve never seen this guy before…..

I place one hand on my hip.

“I’ve never met you before, psycho” I say sharply, making the boy scowl. “And as to how I’m still alive……Well, that’s a secret.”

“Mock me will you…..” the boy growls, readying himself for another attack.

“Are you alright?” I ask the girl behind me.

“Uh, I’m……okay” she says carefully, rising to her feet. “But why are you he-”

“Just get back” I order, interrupting her.

“Die!” the boy screams, fire blasting out of the small cannon embedded in his palm.

I shove Sakura away and leap to my right, narrowly avoiding the intense flame.

“You’ll have to be quicker than that!” I call cheekily, flipping over a rock and darting across the uneven ground, as the maniacal red head’s flamethrower follows me around the cave.

My eyes widen, as I spot a black cloak with red clouds on it, lying at the boy’s feet.

“I’ll show you!” the red head shouts sinisterly, eyeing me irritably.

I crouch on the roof, hanging upside down.

‘He’s a member of the Akatsuki’ I think warily. ‘I’ve never seen this guy before……’

My mission is to find Gaara, not to engage in a life and death battle with an Akatsuki member. Although, I’ll willingly disobey orders to help Sakura.

As far as I’m aware, the members of Akatsuki travel around in pairs……So where’s this guy’s partner?

If Gaara isn’t here with the red head, then he must be with the other Akatsuki member.

“Hold it hot shot!” I suddenly snap. “Tell me, where is the Jinchuuriki?”

Sakura gasps.

“Not another one!” she growls, glaring up at me. “What is it with you people and the Jinchuuriki?!”

I shake my head.

“Don’t place me in the same category as this Akatsuki fool” I warn Sakura lowly, making her pause.

“You think me a fool?” the red head asks darkly, aiming his hands up at me again. “I’m no fool. I’m not telling you where the Jinchuuriki is.”

I scowl, as jets of chakra infused water suddenly spurt towards me.

“Tch” I growl, cutting off the chakra flow from my feet and dropping from the roof, just as the water collides with it.

I flip around in mid air, landing in a crouched position on the ground.

I quickly leap backwards, as another jet of water is sprayed at me, denting the rocky floor.

I leap up and push away from the wall, evading another spray.

My eyes widen, as I see a second jet of chakra filled water rocketing towards me.

“Dammit!” I growl, landing on the ground and spinning around.

The water follows my movements, swirling around me, before I send it flying back at the red head.

He leaps high into the air, as the water crashes into a wall, splintering the thick rock.

“Hey…….” Sakura says slowly, making me sigh.

“I see I’ll have to turn up the pressure then…..” an ominous voice says, making me look up.

I see the boy hanging from the roof, staring down at me, palms facing the floor.

Shooting more powerful streams of water down at me, the boy’s arms spin around.

I gasp, realising what he’s doing.

I dive to the side, as the thin jet of water pierces the rocky floor, slicing a clean line through it.

He’d literally turned up the pressure……

I scowl, as the boy drops down from the roof, flipping around and landing easily on the ground.

With a smirk, he continues moving his arms, trying hard to run me through with his powerful water cannons.

I race around him in a wide circle, as the streams of water slice easily through rocks, sending them tumbling to the ground.

Sick of having to run from the boy’s water, I focus my Katsuryoku on the thin jets, making them freeze over.

“What?!” the red head cries, seeing his water suddenly freeze, becoming useless.

I skid to a halt, performing a hand sign.

“I’ll ask you again” I growl dangerously. “Where’s the Jinchuuriki?!”

The boy chuckles to himself darkly, making me growl.

“Empty threats won’t do anything” he advises, motioning towards my hands.

“Heh, you think this is an empty threat?” I sneer, quickly finishing the sequence.

“Lightning Style: Wolf Termination!” I shout, slamming my hands to the ground.

Lightning quickly spreads into the ground, forming a large circle around the red haired boy.

I smirk at him, as Wolves made of sparking electricity appear in the ground, as if they’re swimming through the earth.

“You’ll see” I sneer. “I don’t do empty threats!”

At this, the Wolves all shoot forwards, flowing across the ground in a massive flash of lightning.

The boy merely smirks back as he is enveloped in the powerful lighting, his body sparking viciously.

I glare back at him, growling softly.

“How can you be uninjured?” I ask warily, as I see Sakura gape at me.

I internally wince.

Only an idiot wouldn’t be able to figure out who I am now.

“He’s a human puppet!” the old lady calls to me, making me suck in a breath. “He looks a child, but he’s really a grown man!”

I stare at the smirking red head, as the electricity surrounding him dies away.

“So my Jutsu doesn’t hurt you then” I state wryly, spying a very familiar looking piece of metal on the ground.

My eyes widen, as I study the silver metal.

‘It looks just like the iron Sasori’s tail was made of’ I think, looking back up at the boy.

“Yes, looks like you recognise me at last” he sneers, narrowing his brown eyes at me.

“S-Sasori?!” I ask incredulously. “This is really you then huh? I shouldn’t be so surprised. You have a weird thing for puppets.”

“You’ve caused me some serious headaches in the past year” Sasori growls, as I turn around.

“Deidara’s got the Jinchuuriki then” I say decisively, before suddenly darting for the cave entrance.

“Oh no you don’t!” Sasori shouts, sending a long, retractable steel cable after me.

Peering back over my shoulder, I see a dangerous looking purple liquid dripping from the spear headed cable.

“Poison” I scoff, turning around and swiping my arm at the cable, blowing it backwards with a powerful blast of air.

Who cares if I use my Katsuryoku now? I have no doubt Sakura’s recognised me by now.

Speaking of her, I pause momentarily at the cave’s entrance, eyeing her and the old lady carefully.

“Will you both be alright?” I ask blandly.

The old lady merely stares at me, as Sakura slowly nods.

“We’ll be fine” she says, sounding slightly confused.

“Which way did Sasori’s partner go?” I ask sharply, nodding a thanks when Sakura points out the direction.

I leap out of the cave, not wanting to hang around and give Sakura the chance to ask me any questions.

“Who was that?” I hear the old lady ask.

“I…….don’t know” comes Sakura’s reply, almost making me anime fall.

I mean, really?!

Disregarding the stupidity of my old friend, I pick up the pace, letting out a shrill whistle as I go.

Keiji suddenly bursts out of the trees, easily falling in place beside me as I run along the edge of a sheer cliff, the river continuing along down below.

“Good reaction time there Keiji” I chuckle. “That was about what……a one second delay?”

Keiji flips upside down, easily keeping up with me and making me sigh.

“Nutty little show off” I mutter, suddenly growing serious as I sense a few presences up ahead.

It feels to me like there are two people up ahead, but something else seems to be disturbing the air.

It’s a lot harder to sense vibrations through the air, but Kurai had been helping me learn, since she specialised her Katsuryoku in Wind control.

“I’ll bet what I’m sensing is Deidara” I sigh. “He’s probably flying around on one of those weird bird things he’s always making.”

Focusing on the two presences not in the air, I can’t help smiling to myself.

“Well, one of them is definitely Kakashi Sensei” I mumble. “His weight, pattern of movement and stuff has barely changed. The other presence is vaguely familiar, but I bet it’s Naruto.”

While I can sense people through the ground, if their weight changes, or something else like that that I focus on when sensing for them, it becomes hard for me to tell who they are.

Like Sakura. Because she’s grown, and no doubt undergone rigorous training from Lady Tsunade, her weight and the way she moves has changed, making it difficult for me to recognise her.

Well, now I’ll be able to, but before I couldn’t….

I slowly begin catching up to Kakashi Sensei and the person I’m guessing is Naruto, so I leap to my left, disappearing into the trees.

I’d like to stay hidden from them at least……

Sure enough, after another ten minutes of running, Kakashi Sensei and Naruto come into view, making me smile subconsciously.

‘Wow, Kakashi Sensei really hasn’t changed’ I think, amused.

He still looks exactly the same.

Tall silver hair, mask over his face…….

My eyes widen slightly at the sight of Naruto.

‘Damn!’ I think, a feeling of amazement washing over me. “That shorty’s gotten really tall!’

Although he’s taller, he actually doesn’t look much different either.

He’s still got his spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes and…..yep. Even though his new outfit has some black on it, he’s still wearing that bright orange colour.

He still cute as a button in my opinion, not that I’d tell him that. He’d probably take it the wrong way. I’m pretty sure boys don’t like to be called cute, but then, I’m no boy expert.

I sweat drop, as I feel Kakashi glance over in my direction.

“What’s wrong Kakashi Sensei?” Naruto asks, his voice sounding deeper than it used to.

There’s a long pause, before Kakashi sighs softly.

“I think we’re being followed” he says in a quiet voice.

“What?!” Naruto exclaims loudly, making me chuckle.

“Shhhhhhh!” Kakashi hisses. “Be quiet Naruto. Ignore it for now.”

I smirk to myself as I leap through the trees, staying beside the both of them.

‘Kakashi Sensei’s still got it’ I think dryly.

“Alright Naruto” Kakashi Sensei speaks up. “I’m going to try and get him now.”

‘Get him?’ I wonder, looking back ahead of me.

My eyes narrow, as I spot Deidara through the trees, and sure enough, he’s riding on one of his weird sculpture things.

“Huh?” Naruto asks.

I study Deidara even closer, noticing something funny about his cloak. It’s like……it’s not fitting right or something.

My eyes suddenly widen.

‘He’s missing an arm!’ I cry in my head. ‘How did that happen?!’

“You might wanna fall back a bit Naruto” Kakashi Sensei advises, dragging my attention away from Deidara.

What’s he planning on doing?

I almost gasp, as the sky surrounding Deidara begins to waver, his figure growing distorted.

“What on earth?” I whisper, finding the Jutsu a bit too familiar for my liking.

Peering over at Kakashi, I really do gasp, before throwing a hand over my mouth.

I see Naruto’s head snap in my direction, but he remains silent, not wanting to disturb Kakashi.

‘How does Kakashi Sensei have the Mangekyo Sharingan?’ I wonder, shaking my head. ‘And how can he even use it properly? He’s not an Uchiha, so that’s really going to take its toll on his body……’

“What’s happening?!” I hear Deidara exclaim, no doubt freaking out about the area surrounding him, not to mention his own body, wavering around in a distorted fashion.

“I’ve got you now…..” Kakashi mutters, making me look up ahead again.

I watch as Kakashi tries to aim his Sharingan properly, while Deidara struggles to pull away from the vortex.

My eyes narrow, as Deidara’s remaining arm is suddenly severed from his body and gets sucked into the vortex, transporting it somewhere else.

He groans in pain, doubling over as his bird continues to fly.

Poor guy. How unlucky do you have to be to lose both of your arms?.....

I see Kakashi place a hand over his eye, as the vortex he created disappears.

I can’t help smirking nastily.

‘What a sad display of the Uchiha’s power’ I think wryly. ‘This is why only those with Uchiha blood should use it. Seems that Kakashi Sensei needs more practise….’

My eyes widen slightly, as Kakashi removes his hand from his eyes, and focuses his Mangekyo Sharingan back on Deidara.

Deidara looks up, gritting his teeth and grimacing as the air around him begins to distort again.

‘He wouldn’t really be stupid enough to try it again would he?’ I can’t help wondering.

Using the Sharingan takes up a lot more chakra if you aren’t born with the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai.

Kakashi Sensei’s gonna be totally wiped out if he uses it again….

Deidara’s clay bird suddenly dives downwards, trying to evade Kakashi Sensei and his Jutsu.

I veer to my left, just as Kakashi leaps up onto the cliff side, opting to race through the trees after Deidara.

I sweat drop, slowing down a little so I’ll be behind my old Sensei. If I hadn’t moved, he would’ve landed right next to me….

Seeming to have caught on to Kakashi’s Jutsu, Deidara makes his bird dive again, swiftly evading the small vortex the Jutsu is creating.

Kakashi pauses in a tree, panting heavily.

Seems that he’s almost reached his limit for having the Mangekyo Sharingan activated….

“Dammit….” Kakashi Sensei mutters, the vortex suddenly disappearing from the sky. “I let him get away……”

I continue after Deidara, slipping silently through the trees and still trying to remain hidden.

“Good” Deidara sighs, before smirking at the sky. “I shook him off.”

I smirk to myself, as Deidara, seemingly sensing something, looks to his right.

His visible eye widens, as he sees two Naruto’s right beside him, aiming a powerful looking Rasengan right at him.

Deidara gasps, leaping backwards, just as Naruto’s Rasengan slices through the clay bird’s neck, severing it from the body.

I see Deidara flip around and land in the tree branches above me, as Naruto performs a Shadow Clone Jutsu and catches the clay bird’s head.

“Gaara!” he cries, rushing over to his clones.

Looking up at Deidara, I smirk to myself, before silently running up the tree next to me.

May as well brighten his day even further.

I feel a pang of sadness and pity as Naruto speaks to the recovered Gaara, who had been captured in the clay bird’s mouth, and frantically tries to wake him up.

“It’s useless” I hear Deidara mutter, as he sits with his back against the tree trunk, watching Naruto through the trees. “I already told you, Gaara’s dead.”

“No!” Naruto shouts tearfully, as I sense his chakra beginning to grow stronger. “Gaara!”

I drop down in front of Deidara, landing in a crouched position.

“Do you really think it’s smart to piss off a Jinchuuriki?” I ask, smirking as Deidara jumps with fright and stares at me, his visible eye wide.

“You again?” he hisses, a scowl settling on his face. “Of course you’d show up now hm. This is gonna be a pain….”

“Relax, you amputee” I sneer. “I’m not interested in fighting with you yet. You look like you’ve got your hands full at the moment already.”

I pause and glance down at Deidara, eyeing where his arms should be.

“Oops” I tease. “I guess you don’t have your hands full. You don’t seem to have any at all in fact. My bad.”

Deidara glowers at me, as I chuckle to myself.

“You’re gonna pay for this” Naruto promises lowly, his Demon’s chakra making Hakuba stir slightly.

‘Little brat….’ I hear his very faint voice growl.

I’ve gotten quite good at blocking him out over the past few years, but not having been around Naruto for quite awhile, I guess Hakuba isn’t used to feeling the Nine Tail’s chakra anymore.

‘My chakra….” Hakuba says so softly, I barely hear him.

Deidara smirks over at Naruto.

“Yeah yeah, whatever” he sneers, chuckling lightly. “Maybe some day, I’ll give you a rematch kid.”

“You’ve let your guard down” I hear Kakashi mutter, as Naruto suddenly appears behind Deidara.

“Huh?!” he growls, before Naruto’s fist slams into his face.

I tilt my head, as Deidara shoots down from the tree, Naruto pausing on the branch to glare at me.

“Who’re you?!” he growls, gritting his teeth.

I send him a quick wave, before flipping down from the tree and racing along the ground.

“Hey!” the Naruto clone beside Kakashi cries, pointing down at me. “Who’s that?!”

Kakashi narrows his eyes at me, as I disappear back into the trees.

“I knew we were being followed” he mutters.

Naruto swiftly leaps down from the tree, placing his hands together in a hand sign.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” he shouts, as four more of him appear above Deidara as he falls.

They each grab an arm or leg, slamming the blonde criminal into the hard earth and holding him down.

The real Naruto falls towards him, bringing his knee down into Deidara’s stomach.

I can’t help wincing, as Naruto continually punches Deidara in the face, making his knuckles bleed.

“Naruto….” I whisper sadly, as he and one of his clones perform another Rasengan.

As Naruto slams the sphere of chakra down on Deidara’s chest, he suddenly melts away into a clone made of clay.

“Clay?” Kakashi asks rhetorically. “He used a Substitution Jutsu……”

I smirk, crossing my arms and leaning my shoulder against a tree.

I feel Deidara appear somewhere over to my right, hiding beneath a bush.

He’s quick, I’ll give him that.

Feeling something sinister beginning to manifest in the air, my head snaps back over to Naruto.

“Uh oh…” I murmur, seeing bright red chakra beginning to bubble around his body, like a shield or a cloak.

This won’t lead to anything good….

‘Having that chakra touching his skin is going to burn it right off!’ I think urgently. ‘He needs to be stopped, before he really gets hurt!’

As I go to take a step forwards, Naruto suddenly pulls his arm back, and slams it into the remnants of Deidara’s clay clone.

It shatters into tiny pieces, as the impact of Naruto’s chakra powered punch makes the ground shake.

If only I knew of a way to help Naruto…..I know he’s been able to help me in the past, but I can’t help him….

I’m most certainly not pure of heart. There’s a lot of hatred and anger going on inside of me, thanks to Orochimaru, so I’m positive I can’t do anything.

I gasp, as another tail forms behind Naruto.

Looking up, I see his remaining clones all grabbing at their throats, doubled over in pain.

“Ugghhh…..” they groan. “I-It….burns!”

I feel slightly distressed, seeing Naruto’s clones in pain.

I mean, I know they’re not Naruto himself, but they look like him and act like him, so it’s hard watching them like this…..

Against my better judgement, I easily leap up through the tree branches, landing beside the Naruto clone next to Kakashi.

I place my hand on the clone’s back, gazing at the real Naruto intently.

“I hope you’ve got a way to help him” I say sharply, addressing Kakashi.

He slowly looks up at me, sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Who are you?” he asks lowly, making me frown.

“That doesn’t matter” I reply shortly. “Just know that I’m not the enemy, and this situation is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.”

I narrow my eyes, as Naruto suddenly leaps forwards, his arm slashing straight through the trunk of a tree, as he searches for Deidara.

“If you’ve got any ideas” I say roughly, glancing down at Kakashi. “You may want to act on them now.”

Kakashi gives me a strange look, making me wonder if he suspects who I really am. Who knows? Kakashi’s a lot smarter than he lets on, so he probably does know who I really am.

I let out a sharp breath, as the trembling clone beside me suddenly disappears.

“Dammit” I growl, looking back over at Naruto.

I watch as Kakashi darts forwards, landing on a rock behind Naruto.

The infuriated boy whirls around, growling at Kakashi viciously, red eyes narrowed.

“Easy Naruto…..” Kakashi says softly, trying to calm him down.

With a roar, Naruto shoots towards Kakashi Sensei, fist pulled back for a punch.

I sigh, launching myself forwards as well.

This is gonna hurt…..

“I’m sorry Naruto!” I shout, colliding with the blonde, my shoulder hitting his face.

He is sent flying into a tree trunk, as I tumble to the ground, before jumping to my feet.

Kakashi stares at me with wide eyes, as I grab my now burned shoulder, biting my lip in pain.

Despite having been covered in Hakuba’s painful chakra before, the Nine Tails’ chakra still burns like hell……

“Are you okay?” Kakashi asks carefully, reaching behind him and pulling something out of his weapons pouch.

“I’m fine” I hiss, gripping my shoulder tightly. “Just hurry up and do something about him.”

Kakashi gives me another suspicious look, before bounding over to Naruto.

The blonde groans, shaking his head and slowly trying to sit up.

I narrow my eyes at the ground, wishing I could just heal my stinging injury, but I know it will raise further suspicion with Kakashi Sensei if I do.

Looking up, I see Kakashi quickly place something on Naruto’s forehead.

My eyes widen, as the bubbling chakra surrounding Naruto’s body rapidly disappears, his Demonic features being replaced by his normal ones.

‘Where did Kakashi Sensei get a chakra blocking seal from?’ I wonder, tilting my head as Kakashi catches Naruto before he can fall from the tree he’d collided with.

“Are you okay Naruto?” Kakashi Sensei asks, peeling the seal off of Naruto, as he pants heavily.

I look up, just as Sakura and the old lady suddenly leap down from the trees, landing in front of Naruto and Kakashi Sensei.

Naruto looks up, shoulders rising and falling quickly.

“We finally caught up to you guys” Sakura smiles, helping the old lady to stand.

“Sakura….” Naruto sighs, sending her a tired smile.

“Good job finding us” Kakashi compliments, making Sakura nod.

“We felt a huge tremor a few minutes ago” she explains.

“So….you guys defeated that other guy?” Naruto asks, making Sakura nod again.

“Yeah we did” she replies, before pausing. “But this……girl showed up, asking where the Jinchuuriki was. She seemed really familiar, but I’m not exactly sure why….”

Kakashi looks over his shoulder.

“You’re right” he says lowly, eyeing me. “She seems very familiar.”

“Huh?” Sakura asks, turning around and following Kakashi’s gaze.

She gasps, seeing me leaning against a tree, watching them all intently.

“That’s her!” she cries, pointing at me. “She’s the one that came while we were fighting Sasori!”

“She wanted to know where the Jinchuuriki was?” Kakashi asks Sakura, narrowing his eyes at me.

Naruto glares at me, clenching his fists.

“Why are you after Gaara?!” he shouts angrily, trying to get to his feet. “What did he ever do to you?!”

I shake my head.

“Save your energy” I say blandly. “I’m not after your friend. I have no interest in him whatsoever.”

“So you’re after Naruto then?” Sakura growls, also clenching her fists. “You’ll have to go through all of us first!”

I chuckle lightly.

“I’m not after any of you” I sneer, before pointing over my shoulder. “Don’t you have bigger things to worry about right no anyway?”

“She’s right” the old lady speaks up wearily. “She hasn’t harmed any of us yet, and it seems that you have both been having trouble here….”

Kakashi nods, looking away from me.

“Unfortunately” he murmurs, as something suddenly catches my attention.

Ignoring whatever it is the group before me have started talking about, I peer back over my shoulder.

I can sense a group of four people rapidly approaching us from behind.

Are they friends? Or foes?

I sigh, realising that three of them feel vaguely familiar, while the fourth one…..Well, I know it’s Guy Sensei.

He’s got a very……unique way of moving.

The other three must be Neji, Tenten and Lee then.

I turn all the way around, smirking to myself as the four of them suddenly come to a halt, having discovered Deidara in the bushes.

“Heh, good luck to him” I mutter quietly, wondering if he’ll be able to escape Team Guy without the use of any arms.

“What are you mumbling about?” Naruto asks me rudely, making me peer back at him.

“Oh, you’ll find out in about three seconds or so” I say smartly, making Naruto growl.

As he opens his mouth to reply, we hear the sound of kunai colliding, making the others gasp.

“Friends of yours I presume” I say loftily, leaning back against the tree.

Kakashi eyes me for a moment, before looking in the direction of the noises.

“It must be Guy’s team” he announces.

“They must have found Deidara” I smirk, sensing him running towards us, as he avoids the barrage of attacks thrown at him by Team Guy.

The blonde’s obviously got some skills, considering he’s missing both of his arms and is still managing to dodge attacks from four people at once.

Sakura gasps, as Deidara suddenly drops down from the trees, landing beside his decapitated clay bird, about a hundred metres in front of us.

“Be careful everyone!” Kakashi shouts to Guy’s team. “He’s a long range fighter who uses explosives to attack!”

Deidara bites a mouthful of clay from his bird, before leaping in front of it and smirking, as Guy’s team drops down between us and Deidara.

Deidara swallows his clay, a troubling look in his eye.

“I think it’s about time I revealed my ultimate work of art” he sneers, as his body begins blowing up.

Neji suddenly gasps.

“He’s concentrating all of his chakra into a single point” he informs us all, sounding worried. “Everyone! Get away from here, now!”

Third Person’s POV

Team Guy suddenly whirls around, racing towards Team Kakashi.

“Art……..is an explosion!” Deidara exclaims, as he suddenly explodes.

A huge wave of chakra filled fire blows towards Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Granny Chiyo, right behind Guy and his team.

Seeing her chance, Ashley runs towards the blast.

“Hey!” Naruto calls, throwing his hand out after her. “What’re you doing?!”

Ignoring him, Ashley runs straight underneath Team Guy, throwing out her arms as she nears the incoming flames.

Focusing her Katsuryoku, Ashley makes a tiny opening in the flames, allowing herself to slip through without getting burned.

She hisses in pain, as the heat of the fire touches her already burned shoulder, before continuing on and disappearing into the forest.

Suddenly, the huge ball of flames disappears, as Guy and his team land on the ground beside Naruto and Sakura.

Everyone stares in complete shock, silently wondering where the explosion had disappeared to.

“…..What’s going on?” Guy asks, looking around in confusion.

Lee shrugs in response, as Neji studies the area with his Byakugan.

He found it pretty strange.

Explosions didn’t usually just disappear like that, as far as he was aware anyway…..

“I-It worked” Kakashi pants. “And just i-in time…”

Kakashi suddenly falls backwards, only to be caught by Naruto.

He gently lowers Kakashi back onto the ground, feeling slightly worried by his Sensei’s heavy breathing.

“Kakashi Sensei” Naruto says quietly. “Are you okay?”

Guy suddenly grins to himself, seeing Kakashi’s active Sharingan, before he recloses his eye.

He expected nothing less from his rival.

“I don’t get it” Sakura says, tilting her head. “What did you do?”

“I sent th-the explosion away….” Kakashi pants, sweat dripping down his forehead. “To another s-space….”

Ashley darts through the forest with ease, following the thing she’d been sensing as it moves through the earth below her.

For a brief moment, Ashley’s thoughts flicker to her friends, hoping they’d gotten away from Deidara’s exploding clone alright.

Keiji flits along beside the blonde, happy that he doesn’t have to remain hidden any longer.

Ashley hadn’t wanted her friends to recognise Keiji, so he’d had to hide in the trees while she interacted with them.

As he flies along, Keiji suddenly spots something down in the undergrowth, making him pause.

“C’mon Keiji!” Ashley calls, zooming past the yellow insect. “We’ve gotta keep up with him!”

Keiji bobs up and down in the air, studying the strange thing below.

Perhaps it could be of use to them…..

Having made his decision, Keiji rockets forwards, colliding with the back of Ashley’s neck.

“Hey!” she cries, skidding to a halt as the small butterfly begins tugging on her kimono style sleeve. “What? What is it?”

Keiji flutters back over to the spot where he’d seen the thing, making sure Ashley follows him.

With a sigh, the blonde Kunoichi does follow him, only to stop and glance around warily.

“What did you want Keiji?” she asks wryly, making the butterfly sweat drop.

He dives down towards the ground, hoping Ashley will spot the thing he was motioning to.

Ashley blinks, looking down into the dark undergrowth as Keiji begins flying around in frantic circles.

Squinting her eyes to get a better look, Ashley suddenly smirks.

She quickly drops down to the forest floor, eyeing the thing Keiji was flying around in amusement.

“Good job Keiji” she praises, picking the item up. “This will come in very…….handy.”

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