The Gaara rescue squad stood around Yura's body staring at it.

"A sand shinobi?" Aceso asked.

"What does this mean?" Kakashi asked.

"I wish I knew," Lady Chiyo answered. "Poor fool. He went missing after Gaara was abducted while the village was still disarray."

"Is it possible he was a spy for the Akatsuki?" Sakura asked.

"No," Lady Chiyo answered. "He served on the council for four years."

" The Fireball Jutsu, it was created by the Uchiha Clan," Kakashi said. "It's their specialty. That attack was the real thing." Lady Chiyo took out some ink.

"It's just as I thought," Lady Chiyo said. "They were clearly trying to stall for time."

"That's an impressive just they've got," Kakashi complimented.

"For them to use a jutsu like this to stall us can mean only one thing," Lady Chiyo began. "It's the extraction of the tailed beast has already begun." Aceso's eyes went wide as they all gasped.

"We're out of time," Kakashi said. "We need to get to Gaara right away."

"So, wait hold on?" Sakura asked. They looked at her. "What do you mean by extraction?"

"They're after Shukaku," Aceso answered. "When I had a run-in with them, Deidara accidentally told me about part of their plan of capturing a jinchuriki and extracting the tailed beast from within them."

"Why would they want to extract it?" Sakura asked.

"If they can draw out the One Tail, they can create a new jinchuriki."

"A new jinchuriki?" Sakura asked.

" I told you, didn't I?" Lady Chiyo asked. "How the tailed beasts possess power beyond all reckoning, and how every land has tried to use them as military weapons?" Sakura nodded. "The Jinchuriki is the name given to those who control that power."

"But earlier you said--" Sakura began.

"Not for lack of trying," Lady Chiyo said. "There were those who tried to harness that great power for their own purposes attempting to control the beasts by sealing them away inside people. By doing so, they hoped to suppress the tail beasts great power, and then bend that might to their will." Naruto put a hand over his stomach. "And the ones with the tailed beasts sealed inside of them, such as our own village's Gaara, are known as Jinchuriki. Jinchuriki wield unimaginable power, thanks to their resonance with the beasts they carry. And if you count Gaara, then all told, there have been three Jinchuriki in the history of the Sand village thus far." She dropped a scroll, and did a few hand signs. A yellow round-up canary appeared. She picked it up, winding it up, then put a scroll in its mouth. "It's up to you." The bird took off.

"There were several wars fought using the jinchuriki, weren't there?" Sakura frowned.

"That's correct," Lady Chiyo confirmed.

"Then the people who become Jinchuriki," Sakura began, she looked over at Naruto, he's been silent. " All right, then. How are the tailed beasts extracted?"

" A couple of things are needed," Lady Chiyo answered. " A sealing Jutsu strong enough to counterbalance the tailed beast's power, and a lot of time. But were things to reach that point, then the Jinchuriki--"

"You don't mean-" Sakura began.

"Once the tailed beast is extracted, the person dies," Aceso said heavily. A big gust of wind pushed their hair around.

"The others I mentioned, the Jinchuriki who came before Gaara, we extracted the Shukaku from them as well, and both died as a result." Sakura turned away with tears in her eyes.

"You always were quick to cry," Naruto said. "Huh, Sakura?" She gasped looking at him. " Hey don't worry. I promise I'm gonna save Gaara." He forced a smile.

"Don't you get it?" Sakura demanded. "Naruto, I'm concerned."

"We better hurry," Naruto urged as he walked away. They followed, he was right, they had no time to waste if they wanted to save Gaara. As they traveled, Aceso noticed that Naruto seemed out of breath.

"Here," Aceso said as he appeared behind him. "Roll up yourselves."

"What for?" Naruto asked as he rolled it up.

"That giant Rasengan looks like it used up a ton of chakra," Aceso said as she pulled out a patch. "If we are going to save Gaara, we are going to need to give everything we go." She put the patch on Naruto's arm, it began to dissolve into his arm.

"What is that?" Sakura asked.

"Carrying around those ointment containers can be quite a hassle," Aceso answered. "So through a bit of experimenting, I was able to make chakra patches. Once they dissolve completely in your body, then your chakra should be replenished, not to its full amount, but more than before."

"Thanks, little sister," Naruto smiled at her.

"How did you figure out it would work?" Sakura asked.

"I tested it on myself and Nico and Mico, only if they insisted they wanted to," Aceso answered. "It took more tries than I would have liked, but now it's another medical tool for me"

When the sun made the sky glow orange, Kakashi stopped on the ground.

"Stop here," Kakashi ordered. They all dropped to the ground.

"Why? What is it, Kakashi-sense?" Naruto asked. "What's wrong?"

"We're taking a short break," Kakashi answered.

"That's a very wise decision," Lady Chiyo agreed.

"What do you mean?" Aceso demanded.

"Come on," Naruto agreed as he rushed up to Kakashi. "You were the one who was saying we couldn't waste any more time. If we just lay around here doing nothing, Gaara is gonna be--"

"Naruto!" Kakashi cut him off. "Our pace has slowed since we faced off against that bogus Itachi."

"He's absolutely right, Naruto and Aceso," Sakura said.

"If we take the time to rest up now, we'll ultimately reach our destination faster," Kakashi explained. "Keep in mind, tomorrow we may end up, facing the guys who kidnapped Gaara."

"One of them is a puppet master and one of them can make explosions," Aceso informed. "It's his art."

"We'll need our full strength," Kakashi said.

"Yeah, alright," Naruto nodded. "I understand."

*****

Team Gai was now setting up camp, building a small fire to keep them warm.

"Hey, Gai," Pakkun said as he sat in front of them. " I was to give this to you if any of you grew low on chakra." He pulled out a patch and held it out to him.

"What is it?" Lee asked as they looked over.

"I can sense a large amount of chakra in it," Neji said.

"I'm not exactly sure how it works," Pakkun said. "I was told, to have it be put on a patch of skin, the patch should dissolve in your skin, and replenish your chakra."

" A chakra restoring tool?" Tenten said. "I haven't seen one of those since we ran out of the ointment-" She and Neji let out a gasp as their eyes went wide.

"What is it, Tenten?" Lee asked.

"You don't get it?" Tenten frowned at him. "It's a chakra restoring tool. Who else do we know makes a tool like that?" He looked at her blankly. "It came in the form of ointment." He looked at her with the same blank look.

"Who are you talking about?" Lee asked.

"It's alright Lee," Gai laughed. "You will catch on soon enough, my youthful pupil." Nightfall came, everyone was asleep beside Neji, he kept watch. Gai sensei then woke up, he sat straight up.

" All right, break time's over," Gai-sensei announced.

"Are you sure Gai-sensei?" Lee asked.

"I feel perfectly fine," Gai said with a thumbs up. " All I needed was some rest and that chakra patch."

"Well, Neji?" Pakkun asked.

"It's alright," Neji assured. "She really has outdone herself again with that patch, plus his recuperative powers are amazing." Lee's ears twitched...she? The chakra restoring tool...the ointment...could it really be her...No it couldn't be, she had been gone longer than planned. He was starting to think she wasn't coming home, nobody has said her name around him in months, not since Sakura gave him a small report when he had bronchitis. All he was told was that she was hospitalized, and there were no updates after that.

"What about?" Pakkun asked.

"Don't worry about me," Tenten assured. "I'm ready to go." They all got to their feet.

" All right, everyone. To keep to our schedule, we're going to have to move double time from here on in," Gai said.

"Aw," Tenten whined.

"No!" Lee protested. "Let us make it triple time. Then we might actually arrive ahead of schedule."

"Good thinking," Gai agreed. "As a matter of fact, why don't we make it quadruple time?" The others were in complete disagreement. "Eh, what's the matter?"

"That's not even physically possible," Neji said.

"Would you guys please stop getting carried away?" Tenten asked.

"Uh, Sensei, perhaps triple time would be enough," Lee suggested.

"Lee," Pakkun breathed. " I think even that's pushing it."

Over at Kakashi's campsite, everyone was asleep beside Lady Chiyo and Kakashi who sat up in a tree. Aceso slept against a tree.

"That's enough rest," Kakashi announced. "We should get moving." Lady Chiyo nodded.

"Ok, you three," Kakashi said. "Wake up! We're heading out!" They all stirred.

"Let's get moving," Aceso yawned as she stood up.

" All right," Sakura said as she rubbed her eyes.

"Ok, just in a minute," Naruto rolled over. " Just give me a minute more."

" And what about Gaara?" Aceso asked leaning over him.

"You bet I'm going to save him," Naruto jolted up. They quickly packed up and headed out to the Akatsuki hideout.

"They are confident that they delayed as long enough," Kakashi said.

"Yes, indeed," Lady Chiyo agreed. "I'm starting to think the same thing."

"But that means-" Aceso began in horror. Naruto clenched his fist and took off faster.

" Hang on Gaara," Naruto growled. "We're comin'."

"Naruto, not so fast! Wait up!" Sakura called out. "Oh, brother."

"Why's the boy pushing himself so hard to save Gaara?" Lady Chiyo asked. "He's not even from the same village." Kakashi looked at her. "What is he? What's that boy's story?"

"Naruto, is Jinchuriki, as well," Kakashi answered. Lady Chiyo gasped. "He has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him. It's not that he has any special feelings for the Hidden Sand or its people, but he and Gaara are both Jinchuriki. Naruto knows how Gaara feels better than anyone in the Sand ever could. After all, those who are Jinchuriki have been treated the same way in every village. That's why he feels this desperate need to save Gaara. It doesn't matter whether Gaara's from the Sand, or the Leaf, or anywhere else. He's a friend, the only friend who's felt the same pain Naruto's felt. Naruto's dream is to become Hokage, so the news that Gaara had been made Kazekage hit him pretty hard. He was frustrated, but at the same time, deep in his heart, he was profoundly happy for Gaara. You see, Naruto has another remarkable gift. He doesn't need much time or many words to make friends with almost everyone he meets."

"As for me, I've lived a long life," Lady Chiyo said. "I've seen many things over the years. I thought I'd come to know the ways of the world. I knew that alliances with foreign lands were just for show, and not to be trusted. I knew that the only way the Sand Village was to be protected is if I did it myself. It was my Jutsu that sealed the Shukaku in young Gaara after consulting with his father, the Fourth Kazekage, of course. I truly thought I was helping my village, but in fact, I was jeopardizing its very existence. And now I find that my peoples' survival depends on one of those alliances with a foreign landed I never trusted. I seem to have been wrong about many things. Perhaps everything. I am old and weary. I want nothing more than to just give up. Oh, Kakashi, when I looked at them and see their youth, their potential, I envy them so much."

"No, no," Kakashi denied. "Your life has only just begun. You're still young." Lady Chiyo started laughing.

"Perhaps you're right," Lady Chiyo agreed. "Maybe there is a purpose for keeping an old bag of bones like me around."

******

Team Gai arrived at the Akatsuki hideout, and Pakkun clung to Lee's shoulder. They stared up at the giant boulder.

"So, this is the place?" Gai asked.

" Gaara's on the other side of the boulder," Pakkun answered pointing a paw. He lept off.

"It won't be easy getting past that barrier," Gai said as he stepped closer.

"What's the plan?" Tenten asked.

"We smash our way in," Lee answered.

"No, Lee, " Gai denied as he looked back. Gai looked down to see Pakkun, turn and jump into the arms of the five people that arrived. Gai smirked as he turned to face the group, his heart exploded with joy the moment he saw his kid, and tears leaked from his eyes.

"Huh?" Lee asked as looked back. At that moment, the world seemed to have stopped, and his heart sped up. She was among, she was as beautiful as ever, she wore the scarf he gave her all those years ago. She looked different, no braids, a scar on her eye...it has been way too long, she was looking down at Pakkun, he had jumped into her arms...she never had wrappings around them before. Then it clicked...the medicine patch given to Gai-sensei was from Aceso. He felt tears forming in his eyes, his knees grew weak, palms were sweaty. There was so much he wanted to say, Neji and Tenten both smirked at each other as they watched Lee fall into a state of shock, relief, anger, and happiness.

"Late, as usual, Kakashi and kid," Gai said.

"Well, you see, we picked up someone along the way," Kakashi said as he ruffled Aceso's hair. "And then we ran into a little trouble along the way.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Lee exclaimed. "Red Rose!" Aceso's head jerked at the sound of his voice. Her eyes locked onto Lee, who had the same haircut, more built, taller, his eyes seemed to have gotten even prettier, he was wearing a Chunin jacket.

"Wait, a minute," Lady Chiyo said. "By a little trouble, you don't mean me, do you, Kakashi?"

"Well?" Naruto asked, his eyes were red.

"Naruto," Neji breathed.

"Looks like we were just a step behind you guys," Aceso said as she walked up with the others." Lee could have melted, he hasn't heard her voice in so long.

"Yeah, who's that old lady?" Tenten asked.

" Oh, this is Lady Chiyo," Sakura introduced the woman. "She's an adviser from the Sand Village.

"Very pleased to meet you," Lady Chiyo said throwing up a peace sign.

"Well then, let's do this, Kakashi," Gai said.

"Right," Kakashi agreed. They all stared up at the tag on the giant boulder. Neji used the Byakugan to get a look to see what was behind the boulder.

"Inside, it looks like there's a large cavern," Neji explained. "But-"

"But what?" Lee asked. Aceso's ears twitched at the sound of his voice, he had gotten deeper, but he still sounded the same.

"I just can't quite make out what's going on in there," Neji answered. "I see several people." Naruto grabbed hold of Neji and began shaking him.

"Neji, and what about Gaara?" Naruto asked. "What's going on? Is he one of the people you see?"

"Back off a second," Neji requested. "I'm trying to locate him now."

"Neji!" Naruto snapped shaking him again.

"Take it easy," Neji hissed. "I don't--what is that thing?"

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he continued to shake Neji. "What's going on? Neji, what's in there?"

"Let go of me," Neji ordered.

"What did you see, Neji?" Aceso asked.

"It's hard to describe with words," Neji answered.

"Wait, so that would mean--" Tenten began.

"Yes," Lee confirmed. "It means that whatever it is, we will have to go see it for ourselves."

"That makes things easy, doesn't it?" Gai asked grabbing Lee's shoulder. Gai sensei jumped back from everyone. He then charged. "Coming through!" He slammed his fist into the entrances, only a few rocks fell from above, and everything else remained intact. "Quite a barrier." Gai-sensei walked back to the line.

"What is your plan?" Lee asked.

"Well, Lee, it's pretty obvious, we need to get rid of that barrier," Gai said.

"And how do we do that?" Tenten asked.

"Before we even think about breaking through, we should know what kind of barrier it is," Aceso suggested.

"Good call, kid," Gai nodded his head. He looked back at the barrier. "So, figure out the type of barrier. That's step one, right Kakashi?"

"Yeah," Kakashi confirmed.

"What do you think?" Lady Chiyo asked.

"It could be a fine seal barrier," Kakashi suspected.

"I agree with you," Lady Chiyo said.

"Five seal barrier?" Naruto asked. Aceso noticed that his eyes were no longer red.

"It's a strong layer of protection, in which five tags with the word forbidden on them are fastened around the area that's being guarded," Aceso explained.

"One forbidden tag is in front of us and four more must be in other locations," Kakashi said.

"Can't we just pull them off?" Gai asked.

"It's not that easy," Kakashi answered. "The tags are in five different places. But the extraction have to be taken down at the exact same moment."

"So we'd have to remove them simultaneously?" Sakura asked.

"Right," Kakashi said. "The barriers won't budge unless all five tags are pulled off simultaneously. It's a tall order. That's only one tag."

"Which means there's four more out there," Gai said.

" All right, then let's do it," Naruto declared. "How do we figure out where the other tags are?

"Neji," Kakashi said.

"I understand," Neji said. "Byakugan!" He looked around. " I found them!"

"Awesome, Neji!" Aceso complimented.

"Point 'em out," Naruto said.

" One is on a boulder about 500 meters northeast of us," Neji answered. "The second one is on a tree trunk beside a riverbank 350 meters south-southeast. The third, you'll find 650 meters northwest, on a cliff. And the last one is in the woods, less than 800 meters to the southwest. That's four."

"If that's the case, each one of them is pretty far apart," Sakura said. "How will we signal each other?"

" I think I can handle that," Gai said as he took off his pack. "We should just be in range for these." He held up an item. "They're wireless radios."

"Whoa, that's amazing," Naruto complimented.

"Good thinking," Kakashi said.

"Yes," Lady Chiyo agreed.

"Ha!" Gai laughed, he gave thumbs up, his teeth sparkling. In complete honesty, Aceso missed that more than she thought she would. "Ok. So we'll stay in constant communication and follow Neji's directions to the tags." He handed a wireless radio to each person on his team and to Kakashi.

"Uh, Red Rose?" Lee asked.

"Hm?" Aceso asked looking at him. 

" C-can you help me with mine, please?" Lee requested.

"Uh, sure," Aceso agreed as she walked over to him, Pakkun went to Aceso's shoulders. Kakashi and Gai both glanced at each other, they let it slide. They both knew how long it had been. Aceso knelt down and tied the strand to his leg, while he put the mic on his forehead protector. "Ok, let's find these tags, and get rid of them. Team Gai is the faster team, so we'll be the ones to handle this mission."

"We're all counting on you!" Naruto said with a thumbs up.

"All right, Lee, you head northwest into the woods," Gai instructed.

"Yes, you got it," Lee said tying his forehead protector onto his head.

"The northeast boulder is all yours, Neji," Gai said.

" I can handle that," Neji confirmed.

"Tenten, you'll get the south-southeast," Gai instructed.

"Right," Tenten confirmed.

"And I'll take care of the one on the northwest cliff," Gai said. "That's the one in the trickiest location, and should be the hardest to eliminate."

"What's the frequency?" Kakashi asked.

"174," Guy answered.

"Copy that," Kakashi said.

"You should be all set," Aceso said as she stood up, Lee nodded. They both noticed a height difference between them in an instance. Aceso was five feet and 2 inches Lee seemed to be about 5 feet and 9 inches.

"Testing, do you read me?" Lee asked into his mic, Aceso looked back to see everyone with the radios moving oddly as if their eardrums were being affected. Kakashi slanted, Gai's hair stood up, Tenten was crouched over, and Neji held his head.

"Lee, your microphone's up too loud," Tenten said.

" A thousand apologies," Lee bowed. They all went back to being in pain from Lee's voice entering their ears so loudly.

"Lee, the mic," Gai pleaded, pointing to the collar part.

"Huh?" Lee asked softly standing up, he adjusted the volume. "Sorry guys." Seconds later everyone recollected themselves, Aceso went and stood by Naruto.

"My wireless settings are good to go," Tenten said after she adjusted her radio.

"My radio's set, too," Neji said.

" All right," Guy said. "Team Gai." He put his hand out in the middle. He started to make humming sounds of urgency. "Hmm?"

"All right," Lee gathered, he put his hand on top of Gai's hand. Gai chuckled, he then looked over at Tenten.

"Uh, ok," Tenten reluctantly gave in, she put her hand on top of Lee's hand. Gai chuckled some more, he then looked over at Neji. That took the longest, after a staredown, Neji put his hand on top of Tenten's hand. Gai's teeth shined.

"Onward with the power of youth!" Gai declared. "Atta!"

"Yeah!" Lee responded.

"Atta!" Gai shouted.

"Yeah!"

"Atta!"

"Yeah!"

"Atta!"

"Yeah!"

"And one more for good luck! Atta!"

"Yeah!"

"Scatter!" They all took off to their designated destinations.

"Oh, wow," Naruto smiled. "That was so cool." He turned towards the others. "Hey, we should do it, too." He put his hand in the middle.

"Okay," Aceso smiled as she put her hand on top of Naruto's hand.

" I would rather die," Sakura crossed her arms looking away.

"Me too," Kakashi agreed.

"Not a chance," Lady Chiyo denied. Naruto and Aceso fell into a despair of denial.

"Well, guess it's above time for me to shove off," Pakkun said as he got to the top of Aceso's head. "There's no real reason I should stick around. I'd just be gettin' in the way."

"Thanks, Pakkun," Kakashi said. "Good work."

"All right then, see you guys later," Pakkun dismissed everyone. He disappeared into a cloud of smoke.