Rasa looked at his children, they were set to leave for Konoha today. The invasion of Ame would begin a week after their and the other Suna forces' arrival. He watched them with a mixture of pride, worry and regret. All three had matured after the Chunin Exams, and he'd seen fit to promote each. Temari worked on her over reliance on her war fan, Kankuro got better at operating multiple puppets. Gaara had demonstrated the largest change. No longer was he lost to his own madness, an infliction born by Rasa's choices, the Kazekage lamented. He trained harder, working on his endurance and taijutsu. His sand techniques improved and he had even started making amends to the villagers.
It was not easy to send them to a warzone. He was their leader and truly hadn't treated them as his children but he had a father's worry all the same. His children needed to be strong, Suna needed to be strong. Everyone needed him to be stronger still. Strong enough to be near heartless to his children, sacrifice his wife and keep Suna afloat with no support from the Daimyo. He'd done it for so long, the cold veneer eventually just became what he was. No one liked him and it was arguable no one truly respected Rasa the man. They endured Rasa the Kazekage because they had no choice, because no one could lead Suna as he had.
He wanted to bridge that gap. He wanted to be a family again, to embrace his children as a father should. They managed to grow closer to each other and a he hoped they had space for him. But he may never see them again, there was no guarantee they'd return or that the invasion would be successful. So, why could he only give commands and tell them to do Suna proud? Why couldn't he tell them he was proud and loved them dearly? That he was a cold man because he believed it to be the only way to accomplish anything, to keep his village viable? The loss of his wife, by his own design, only exacerbated his embrace of a facade. Because the guise of the Kazekage had been the only way he'd known how to act for so long and it couldn't change in a day, on a whim.
The trio left, none referring to him as father but as Kazekage-sama. Perfectly respectful and accurate. That's what he'd been to them and they may depart from the world thinking he only saw them as weapons and tools, as reflections on Suna's might and potential. The children of a monster, an unfeeling man that would do anything for power. In the quietest parts of his mind he'd admit his jealousy for Minato Namikaze.
He'd ask, why was he so beloved? Didn't he sacrifice his child? Didn't he do all he could to keep Konoha strong? Were they really so different? To Rasa's mind, they weren't. And yet, Minato was respected in every nation, every hidden village. Iwa hated him, feared him, but respected him. Rasa was just a wielder of a second tier kekkei genkai and leader of the weakest of the big five, only Kiri's civil war changing the designation. So many burdens, so many decisions. But Suna was recovering, they were gaining their strength and pride back. Just a few more years and everything would be worth it. A few more years.
000000000000
Orochimaru led Naruto to a secret lagoon Tsunade and she would visit when they were younger. She relished the opportunity to indulge in a brief respite, one of her major plans had recently come together. Naruto also needed it. Since he'd been informed of his leadership position, and the assassination attempt by that lowly worm, Naruto had been pushing himself harder and harder in his training. His only real breaks were missions, as even if his physical body was resting, he still had clones undertaking some task for him. She could appreciate the diligence but he'd been nearing a burnout at the exact worst time for one. So, she requested he join her and forbade any training for the rest of the time before the invasion.
The timing worked out perfectly. He'd been working so hard, he didn't remember today was his birthday. His teammates and friends were planning something at the recently finished Uzumaki Manor but she'd have him all to herself before then. She hadn't told her student where they would be going, only that he'd need swimwear. As they made the final leg of their trip she found it adorable how he tried not to stare, her sheer purple kimono with red accents stopping at the middle of her thigh and showing her curves. Such a gentleman, she'd have to rid him of that once he was older.
They came upon the lagoon and Naruto had to admit it was picturesque, clear water shaded by tall trees. It was quiet and peaceful, he understood why Tsunade and Orochimaru-Shishou would want to keep it a secret. That, and their other teammate was a self described super pervert. Speaking of, Naruto tried his best not to perv on Orochimaru as she rid herself of her kimono to show the black and purple two piece bikini she was wearing. He prayed his hormones wouldn't betray him in the immediate future.
Naruto heard a splash, signaling Orochimaru had entered the water. He removed his blue shirt and sandals, leaving only his orange swim trunks. As he prepared to get into the water, he noticed there was no signs of the burns he endured when fighting Deidara. The Mad Bomber and Sasori of the Red Sands attacked his and Team 7 as they were returning from their mission in the Land of Snow. It was Kakashi's keen senses that allowed them to avoid the initial ambush but they couldn't escape the fight.
000000000000
Both teams of Konoha nin were able to avoid the initial blast thanks to Kakashi. He'd been alerted to two upcoming presences, his senses as sharp as any Inuzuka's. Both teams tensed but not for the same reasons. Team Kurenai had trained and planned in order to take out any pair of Akatsuki members, all but the leader and his "angel". Orochimaru made it clear retreat and avoidance was the only tactic for them. None of their plans accounted for an additional team, it could make things easier or harder.
Kakashi knew who those two were, knew how significant a threat even one could be. Fighting them and protecting his comrades would be near impossible, especially as he was going to tell his team something they weren't going to like.
"Team, you need to stay back, these two are beyond you. No arguments." he snapped before Sasuke and Kiba could levy their complaints. He understand not wanting to be sidelined but this wasn't going to be the kind of fight that allowed for mistakes. One wrong move meant death.
"You ruined my art, un." Deidara said from the sky, riding a clay owl.
"No need for all the talk, let's just grab the fox and go." Sasori said having arrived on the clearing. They'd chosen well, no trees or cover anywhere near. Two long distance fighters, one with aerial superiority. Kakashi immediately uncovered his Sharingan as Naruto created twenty shadow clones. Ten of the clones, along with the original and Shikamaru dashed toward Sasori, leaving the rest with Kurenai, Shino and Kakashi.
"[Rasengan]" one of the clones roared as it pounced on Sasori. It hit the Puppeteer's shell but was taken out by its tail at the same time, now the real Sasori was revealed. Naruto thought the man turned puppet looked smug as he retrieved a storage scroll and unsealed a new puppet.
'The Sandaime Kazekage, just as Orochimaru said he'd go for.' She fought with and against Sasori and said the man had a pattern of escalation. Because of that, there was opportunity for weaker but forewarned combatants to take him out if they planned well and kept sharp.
The puppet charged toward Naruto and Shikamaru at great speed but the Uzumaki met its charge with one of his own, blade drawn. He blocked the poison blade of the Kazekage puppet and performed a replacement with a clone when Sasori unleashed the dozens of hands sealed within the Kazekage's arm. The arms continued toward the real Naruto but several of the shadow clones were ready.
"[Wind Style: Crescent Blade Barrage]". The fuuton jutsu performed by expelling sharp wind blades from the mouth in successive fashion. They tore through the wooden hands and Naruto saw Sasori start to get annoyed as he pulled the Kazekage back. The puppet then shot forward the iron sand the Kazekage was known for. That was the signal, both Naruto and Shikamaru knew.
Two shadow clones performed two distinct jutsu, one [Water Style: Torrent Blast], a suiton jutsu that forms and compresses water chakra in the stomach before expelling it with enough force to break bone and render one unconscious. The second performed [Lightning Style: Focused Bolt] a raiton jutsu that concentrates the chakra at the tips of the index finger before emitting a thin, concentrated burst of lightning toward a target. The two jutsu combined and hit the oncoming iron sand, momentarily disrupting Sasori's magnetic control.
The real Naruto was busy preparing his own jutsu, he could have gone with several alternatives but this just had the dual purposes of destroying the puppet and distracting Sasori. "[Lava Style: Burning Geyser]". Molten rock shot up beneath the Kazekage puppet, the intense heat destroying it. Just for the briefest of moments Sasori displayed his shock. They hadn't known the Jinchuuriki had a bloodline, having no reports of him using that type of jutsu. Sasori attempted to retrieve more scrolls but found he couldn't move.
"[Multiple String Light Formation]" multiple clones that had surrounded Sasori said. Their chakra capacity making sure even the S-rank ninja couldn't simply overpower them.
"[Ninja Art: Shadow Sewing Jutsu]" Shikamaru muttered and sent several shadow threads towards Sasori's chakra core, piercing it multiple times. The former Suna Ninja was no more. Naruto looked across the clearing. Deidara was down and Shino was approaching him with a chakra suppression tag. Naruto watched as the blond bomber had a grin, something so wrong given the circumstance. He was already molding chakra when he performed the replacement with Shino, the [Water Style: Gummy Wall] was thrown up but not in nearly enough time, the explosion rocked the clearing, burning Naruto and knocking him out, along with his clones.
As he was passed out, Naruto got memories of the fight. His clone informed Kakashi of Deidara's weakness for lightning as they watched the Iwa nin take to the skys. Suddenly, Deidara started hurtling toward the ground. Another clone realized it was Kurenai-sensei. Due to his hatred for Itachi, the blonde had been developing a resistance to optical genjutsu but Kurenai-sensei was a master of the art and focused on the other senses, like the inner ear which affected balance. The clones tossed kunai in the air, multiplying them with the [Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu] and following it up with the [Lightning Style: Chain Lightning Jutsu]. Kakashi must have taken his eyes off Deidara for a moment, which is why he missed the swap with the clone.
When Naruto returned to consciousness, everything hurt. He could tell he was healing but the burns were unpleasant and he felt like he may have broken or fractured ribs. Being clutched, tightly, by the talons of some clay bird was not helping matters. He was high up, extremely high up. This was not an ideal scenario and he had to play things just right so he could survive. Naruto ran through what he could do, He could move his hands but too much movement would alert Deidara. He needed to end this as fast as possible. He could see his team trailing behind him and hoped they were close enough to catch him.
Slowly, gently and ignoring the pain, Naruto performed the hand sign for creating a fuin bunshin and had it appear right beside Deidara. The original Naruto immediately summoned a kunai, ran lightning chakra through it and stabbed it into the bird, causing it to falter and release him. The fuin clone managed to apply the chakra suppression seal so both ninja were falling helplessly through the sky. Naruto passed out before hit the ground.