Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No matter how hard I search, no matter how hard I try to sense even the weakest of flames within him, it's no use. Gaara is gone.

"You bastards!" Naruto screams, his Nine-Tails' chakra making a reappearance. I stumble slightly from the strength of it, but regain myself. "Where the hell do you think you're sitting?!"

"Well, so much for that mystery, hm," the blond one with the ponytail, the one from the Hidden Stone, says with a chuckle. "This kid's the Jinchūriki. He's the one who bursts in and barks first, all right. Seriously!" He turns to his partner—so this is Sasori. I can tell by his chakra. "Itachi was right on the money, huh? Hm?"

"Gaara!" Naruto calls. "What the hell are you doing? Come on; why are you just lying there?! Get up..."

"Naruto..." I can't bring myself to tell him to stop.

"Gaara!" he calls again. "Answer me! What are you, deaf?! Come on, knock it off, already—""Enough, Naruto!" Kakashi-sensei shouts, and Naruto freezes. "You know full well that..."

"Your friend's right," the blond one says, "and you know it, too. He's been dead for a while now." Naruto's chakra becomes blistering when the man slaps Gaara a few times in his face.

"Well, well," Sasori murmurs.

"Yeah," the Iwa-Nin says. "That's him, all right."

"Give him back," Naruto growls. "Give him back, you damn—!" I immediately jump in front of Naruto, barring his path.

"I know you're angry," I say quietly. "I know, because I'm furious. But if you charge in without thinking, we'll lose you, too, Naruto. So please, just bear it a moment longer."

"It looks like the one on the left is the one who infiltrated the Sand and took Lord Kazekage," Kakashi-sensei says. "Which means that this one is the puppet master who wounded Kankuro so badly. Her grandson, Sasori, huh...?"

"Well, my man," the Iwa-Nin says, "I doubt that you want to hear this, but I'll just go ahead and say it anyway. I think I'll take care of the Jinchūriki."

"Look," Sasori says, "our quota is one a piece. Don't push your luck, Deidara."

"An artist must ever seek greater stimulation," Deidara reasons, "lest his senses go dull on him... my man. Rumor has it, the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki is pretty powerful—a canvas truly worthy of my artistry."

"What? Those pyrotechnics of yours, art? Art is a work of beauty, captured, and left for posterity. Art is eternal beauty."

"Eternal beauty?" Deidara repeats. "Are you kidding me? Look, don't get me wrong; as a fellow artist, I respect your point of view. But true art is fleeting, a flash of beauty burning brightly, vanishing in a heartbeat."

"What did you say? Apparently, Deidara, one of us doesn't understand the true meaning of what art is."

"And that would be you, my friend."

"You lousy, rotten—""Nonsense," Sasori says, cutting across Naruto as if he weren't even there. "Eternal beauty constitutes real art!"

"Don't be absurd; true art only lasts a moment."

I sense Naruto's chakra spike from behind me. "Enough is enough!" he shouts, and I glance over my shoulder to see him pull a scroll from his back pouch. He unravels it, and before I can stop him, he releases a large fuma shuriken, and throws it toward Sasori. Without even stealing a glance in our direction, he knocks it away with a strange metal tail.

"Are you trying to make me angry?" he demands, glaring at Deidara.

"Hey, easy," Deidara says, raising his remaining hand in his defense. "I told you he wouldn't want to hear it, didn't I? Give me a break, will ya?"

"I don't have to remind you what happens when I get angry, do I?" Sasori brings his tail up and around to his front, and from it drips purple liquid. By the looks of it, it must be the poison Kankuro had been hit with. "Why don't you explain it to me again, Deidara?"

His blond partner turns away. "Art is one thing and one thing only," he says, staring into his hand. He suddenly tosses something white into the air. "The explosion, itself!" With a single one-handed hand sign, a large plume of smoke separates us, and once it clears, it reveals a large white bird, slightly smaller than Aosagi, made solely of clay, that picks Gaara up in its mouth. "It's not even in the same league compared to your grotesque puppet show!"

Sasori's tail instantly goes to target Deidara, but he jumps up in the air, landing on the clay bird's back, easily avoiding it.

"See you around, my man," Deidara says. The bird flies over us, and flees the cavern. As I'd expected, Naruto runs after him, and I am already running at his side.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going?!" Naruto screams up at him, jumping over the rubble.

"Naruto!" I hear Kakashi-sensei shout from inside the cave. As if taunting us, Deidara and his clay bird hover above our heads, too far out of our reach. Suddenly, Kakashi-sensei has joined us atop the Torii Gate. "Kari, contact Guy and update him on our situation."

"Right," I say, and I press the button on the radio. "Guy-sensei, come in. The enemy has split up, and by the looks of things, I'd say we may need a hand. Return immediately!"

On the other end, I briefly hear Guy-sensei's heavy breathing.

"I don't think we can," he replies. "We've been caught... in an enemy trap! We're going to need a little more time, Kari. Huh? Signing off!"

The line goes static. "I'm afraid they're tied up at the moment," I tell Kakashi-sensei. "We're on our own."

Naruto's teeth audibly clench. "Give him back," he growls. "Give Gaara back!"

I glance up at our Sensei, who sighs. "Well, all right," he says, and he lifts his headband away from his eye. "No time to waste here."

"Are you sure you really want to waste your time on me?" Deidara calls. "Hm, Kakashi-sensei with the Sharingan? You know, my man, Sasori, is probably a more dangerous opponent than I am, as much as I hate to say that, hm. His idea of art is... very different from mine."

From within the cave, I realize that both Sakura and Lady Chiyo have begun fighting Sasori.

"Hm, seems they've started," Deidara says. "How confident are you in that young girl and the old lady? You really think they're good enough to handle my man, Sasori? Huh?"

No doubt, this Deidara wants Naruto one-on-one, I think, glaring up at him. He already defeated Gaara. As strong as Naruto's become, and even though the enemy's missing an arm, still... We have no idea what this man is capable of.

"You guys should go on to Sakura," Naruto suddenly says. "Don't worry! I'll handle this." Eyes wide, I whirl on him.

"Are you insane?" I exclaim.

"Don't worry!" he repeats. "I'll take care of it—I'll save Gaara!"

Naruto leaps up into the air toward Deidara and his bird, only to crash into the cliffside behind him, and Deidara throws another one of those clay birds toward him, which grows into the same size of the one he stands on. Kakashi-sensei is quick to act, and I'm quick to follow. He'd thrown a shuriken at the clay bird, incapacitating it, but then it explodes. At such a close range, I'd expected some kind of reaction, and prepared a Jutsu just in case.

"Shirin Kekkai!"

An impenetrable wall of pure light contains the explosion. The weight of it is harsh, considering I'm not on solid ground, and it blows me back down toward the river, but I am able to protect both Kakashi-sensei and Naruto from it.

"Nicely done!" Deidara shouts down at me. "It would've been very disappointing if you were beaten that easily."

Chunks of the cliff come crashing down into the river; Naruto's finally managed to get out of the hole he literally dug for himself.

"Let go of him!" he shouts. "I'll never let you have him! I'll get Gaara... Nothing can stop me!"

"You're quite an unusual Jinchūriki, aren't you?" Deidara notes. "I thought you were all sullen loners who didn't care about anyone else. To date, we've destroyed two Jinchūriki—not including him, of course, hm. But nobody ever tried to save them from us before; not a single friend, or neighbour... Not a soul came to their aid! In fact, it seemed most people were happy to finally be rid of them."

Naruto breaks out of the rubble, his chakra steadily increasing.

"You can't forsake your own kind, can you?" Deidara continues. "You feel connected to this pathetic creature, hm! Such a shame. Gaara died when the One-Tails was extracted from him. Very soon, now, the same thing will happen to you."

"... if Gaara's dead," Naruto says, "you're gonna pay!" He growls, his hands balled into fists. "Ugh, I've had it! Hand over Gaara right now!"

Shooting us a smirk, Deidara starts flying away in the opposite direction. All the breath in my chest escapes me at the sight of it.

"You bastard; you're not getting away! Hold it right there!"

"Naruto, no!" Kakashi-sensei shouts. "Kari, stop!"

"Just stay and help Sakura!" Naruto yells over his shoulder.

"We can do this, Kakashi-sensei!" I add. But of course, as I'd expected, Kakashi-sensei follows after us. I can't help but a laugh a little, despite the situation. "It's like you don't trust us," I muse. I reach up to my neck and press the button for the radio. "Guy-sensei, what's your situation?"

"Hate to say it, Kari, but I think it's gonna take a while," is his reply.

"If you're trying to delay someone, I can't think of a better way than this," Neji says.

"This is tough, when your enemy has the same exact skills as you!" Tenten huffs.

"I believe it will not be very easy to bring this fight to an end!" Lee agrees.

I turn off the radio. "They're still engaged with the enemy," I tell the others. "It'll be a while before they're able to regroup, even with themselves."

Above us, thick tree branches grow across the cliff. Naruto hastens himself, and jumps up onto them.

"There's no chance you're getting away!" he swears.

"You'd better catch up with me soon!" Deidara shouts back at him.

I've got a bad feeling about this, I think, a strange rumbling starting in my stomach. And these gut feelings of mine are usually right. Of course, they're right; I watch Deidara's arm move as he, most likely, sculpts more of his clay birds.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Naruto demands. He turns around on the back of his bird, and whips them toward us. Not again!

I'm not fast enough, and unable to create another White Yin Barrier in time to stop the clay bird barrage, the branch Naruto and I go to jump off explodes beneath our feet. Blinded by the smoke created by the blast, I rely on my Scope to find Naruto in the same moment, and when I do, I dig my hand into the branch, and with my other, I latch onto Naruto's sleeve and pull him back up toward the branch.

"I'm not done yet," he murmurs. I swallow nervously, and draw my hand away from his sleeve after being given an odd glance.

Those red eyes of his... I know he's still Naruto, because he hasn't lost control of the Nine-Tails like Master Jiraiya says he might. But still, this aura... this chakra...

Something white flies past us – another one of Deidara's clay bird bombs? – and I'm unable to stop it before it reaches our Sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I cry out, guilt welling up inside me. I could've stopped it! But even though I hadn't, Kakashi-sensei comes out of the smoke, unscathed.

"All right, that does it!" Naruto screams, and he goes running after Deidara again.

"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi-sensei shouts after him. But Naruto ignores him completely.

"Kakashi-sensei," I say, and lower my fingers from my face, "I'm almost out of range of Sakura and Lady Chiyo; we're too far out now. Soon, I won't even be able to Guy-sensei and the others."

He nods at me. "Then we have to hurry," he says.

卍

Behind me, two explosions go off—one further away, and one just feet away from myself. I'd heard the whistling at the last second, so I'd been able to put just enough distance between myself, the detonating clay bombs, and Kakashi-sensei, just in time. At this point, however, I know that Deidara is targeting Kakashi-sensei and I, so he can get Naruto by himself. It's been his plan since we left that cave.

I take a quick glance down at the river beneath me. Even from such a distance away, the tremors can still be felt, ripples incrementing down the path; even the wood of the branch shakes.

It must be Sakura, I think proudly. I'm no longer able to sense her, and it worries me.

"Step it up, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto calls back. "Let's go! We're gonna lose sight of him if we don't get a move on!"

"It's okay," our Sensei says. "You're the whole reason he's here. Don't forget that. He won't get so far ahead so as to lose us completely."

"Fine, then! Just tell me how to take this guy down then, already! We're running out of time!"

"Don't worry, Naruto; I've got a couple strategies in mind, but I need a little more time to work out all the angles."

"I can't hang back anymore," Naruto insists, "don't you get it? I gotta get to Gaara before it's too late!"

"He's moving even faster now!" I exclaim, my eyes stuck on his retreating figure.

"Hey, you jerk—get back here!" Naruto pushes off the branch with such force that it knocks me back a few pegs.

"Naruto, wait!" I shout after him. I bite my lip. "Damn it all..."

"There's no getting through to him now," Kakashi-sensei says, concern evident in his tone.

"Then it looks like the only way we're going to keep up with him at this rate... is through her," I realize.

"Her?" he repeats. I weave the hand signs, bite down on my thumb, drag its bleeding pad down my left forearm, and hold it above my head.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The large plume of smoke that appears from my arm engulfs the entire gorge. I sense Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, as well as that Deidara, stop in their tracks.

"Child," a familiar female's deep voice starts chidingly, "I do wish you would stop summoning me in such cramped spaces."

"Yes, well, it couldn't be helped," I say, as Tobari comes into view. "It's not like Aosagi had been so readily available like he always is." I leap up onto Tobari's back, keeping myself steady. "Kakashi-sensei, get on!"

"R-Right." His single visible eye wide, he joins me.

"I need you to follow after that thing up there," I tell her, "but not so closely that you're in range of it. Keep a safe distance."

"It sounds... like you have a plan," Kakashi-sensei says.

"I do," I say. "For once. Unlike Sasori and Deidara here, my aesthetic is teamwork."

As if releasing depth charges, tiny clay spiders drop from the sky, landing on the woodwork of the gorge. I notice them before we come into range.

"I've studied the Sharingan and its history long and hard, Kakashi-sensei," I say, "and I know you've achieved the Mangekyō Sharingan! So I need you to conserve your chakra until the time comes. We're going to need it for my plan to work." I turn back around, facing the front. "Just leave playing defense to me."

"Your mother is showing in you," I hear Tobari say, stopping just before the spider bombs, careful not to set them off.

I'm so startled, I end up blushing. "R-Really?" I stammer.

"... even your ability to summon the Aviary Deities of the Hikōkami Plane is like her," Kakashi-sensei says. Again, I'm startled. "Mara would be proud of you."

"K-Kakashi-sensei, you really did know—""I doubt this is a good time to reminisce on the good old days," Tobari squawks. "Kari, stay focused."

"R-Right," I say. "Kakashi-sensei, please infuse enough chakra to use your Mangekyō Sharingan." I place my hands in the dragon sign. "In the meantime, so we can catch up with Naruto, I'll protect us from these detonates. Ninja Art: Shirin Kekkai, Tsutsumu!"

Instead of the white light of the Yin Barrier acting as a flat, deflective surface, the light wraps around myself, Tobari, and Kakashi-sensei.

"All right, let's go," I say. On my mark, Tobari takes active flight, and the spider bombs jump. The moment they make contact with the barrier, they explode, as I'd hoped they would. "Make sure none are left behind," I instruct, grabbing onto her feathers, and instructing Kakashi-sensei to do the same. "We can't take any chances on this.

"Tobari, weave!" I shout. I grab onto her feathers, instructing Kakashi-sensei to do the same, as she flies in and out and around the thick trunks connecting cliffside to cliffside. While they do slow us down, considering Tobari's size, and the number of spiders that line our path, at least we're unharmed.  

My body begins to ache; this White Cloak Barrier isn't normally used like this, like plastic wrap around an exposed fruit. It's supposed to act as a solid object. Because of this, I don't usually use it in battle. Even the regular White Yin Barrier gets to be too much.

Once in the clear, I dismiss the Barrier, and wipe the blood dripping from my nose on the back of my hand. "I hope that gave you enough time, Sensei," I say, taking a knee

"More than enough," he tells me, and I sigh in relief. "Tobari, take care of her."

"I don't need a hatchling to tell me how to do my job," she squawks, "you of all people!" I don't even have the stamina or strength to laugh at this, nor tell if we've caught up to Naruto. But I don't need to for that last one; his voice has come back into my hearing range. Kakashi-sensei jumps away from Tobari, and I force myself up to my feet, and hold on to Tobari's head.

"... him back, right now!"

"Don't do it!"

"Oh, man," Deidara groans from atop his own flight companion. "I could've sworn you just bought it back there."

"Sorry," I say. "Not on my watch."

Deidara narrows his eyes in my direction. "Maybe I should've taken care of you, first, hm," he says.

"Coming from a member of the Akatsuki, I'd say you're pretty sloppy compared to the others. Next time, you might want to teach those failed art projects of yours to wait until the barrier goes down," I say. "Of course," and I wipe a new line of blood away from my nose, "if there is a next time for you."

Frustrated, Deidara has his giant clay bird fly away from the scene, heading in the same direction as before.

"Don't move!" Naruto screams.

"I could say the same to you," Kakashi-sensei says, latching onto his shoulder. "It'll be all right. We'll get Gaara back! So calm down.

"Listen, Naruto. You're not used to fighting an opponent like this, and that's not all. You're a close-combat fighter; he excels at long-range, and that makes him your worst enemy. There are only two ways to beat this kind of foe. One is to force him to fight up close and personal. Your only other option is to beat him at his own game."

"What? How can we do that?!" Naruto demands.

"Depending on which strategy is chosen, either a long-range specialist, or someone on your team who can use long-range Ninjutsu to support that kind of distance combat. If you don't have one or the other, then there's no way you'll beat him, period. Now, if you have the superior intellect of Shikamaru, that would be a different story."

"Spill it out, will ya?" Naruto says. "Which one are you, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Me? Well, I have a superior intellect like Shikamaru, as a Jōnin," he replies, "and I can sustain long-range battle."

"Then we meet all the conditions, right?"

"That's why I told you to calm down," Kakashi-sensei says.

"Well let's hurry up and get to it!"

"It's not that simple," I say, and Tobari lands on the same branch as them. "He hasn't let his guard down once, and by the looks of it, I don't think he will. Ordinary long-range attacks aren't going to work with him, and considering he's also flying, that makes things difficult, as well. Most likely, considering he uses explosive projectiles as weapons." I end up starting to second guess both my plan and myself. "He took down Gaara all on his own... we have to keep that in mind."

"It's a tough challenge," Kakashi-sensei agrees. "All we can do is try to punch a hole in his defenses. We're all going to have to work together."

"Don'tworry, Naruto," I say, gesturing for them to get on Tobari. "I have a plan."