---Akatsuki Hideout - River Country Cavern---
The dust from the shattered boulder swirled in the stagnant air, thick and choking. Shafts of sunlight pierced the gloom for the first time in days, cutting through the haze to reveal the nightmare within.
Team 7 and Haku stepped into the cavern, their boots crunching on rubble.
The sight that greeted them froze the blood in their veins.
In the center of the vast cave stood a monstrosity… a wooden statue of demonic proportions, its nine eyes staring blindly into the void. From its gaping maw, streams of ghostly blue chakra extended like ethereal chains, suspending a small, limp figure in mid-air.
Gaara.
The Kazekage hung defenseless, his head lolling back, his skin pale and cracking. The chakra of the One-Tail was being visibly ripped from his pores, flowing into the statue's open mouth.
Around him, floating on the statue's fingertips, were the flickering, rainbow-colored holograms of the Akatsuki. They chanted in a low, dissonant drone, ignoring the intruders to maintain the seal.
And blocking the path stood two figures in the flesh.
One was a hunchback hidden beneath a cloak, a scorpion tail of steel swaying menacingly behind him. Sasori of the Red Sand.
The other was a young man with long blonde hair, a monocle over one eye, and a smirk that promised devastation. Deidara.
"This is..." Sakura gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. The sheer wrongness of the ritual made her stomach churn.
Naruto's eyes locked onto Gaara. He didn't see a Kage. He saw a mirror image of himself. He saw a boy who had finally found friends, now being treated like livestock.
"Gaara..." Naruto whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of grief and rising fury.
Kakashi narrowed his single visible eye. He had seen many things in his career… war, torture, betrayal… but this industrial extraction of a soul was something new. Something darker.
"Stay sharp," Kakashi warned, his hand drifting to his forehead protector. "The air here is saturated with heavy chakra."
Sasuke Uchiha didn't hear him.
His Sharingan spun slowly, the three tomoe bleeding into one another. His gaze ignored the statue, ignored Gaara, ignored the two enemies in front of him.
It locked onto a specific hologram standing on the statue's ring finger.
The figure wore the same black cloak. It had the same dark hair. And it looked back at him with eyes that mirrored his own… cold, dead, and crimson.
The name screamed in Sasuke's mind, a roar of hatred and longing.
'Itachi!'
His fists clenched so hard the leather of his gloves creaked. The memory of the massacre flooded back. But he forced himself to breathe. He saw the flicker in the hologram's consistency.
'He isn't here,' Sasuke realized, his teeth grinding. 'It's a projection. Just a shadow.'
He forced his gaze away, focusing on the immediate threat. But the fire in his gut burned hotter.
Haku stood slightly apart from the team. His expression was serene, almost polite, but his brown eyes were hard as flint.
He wasn't Gaara's friend. He had fought the boy once, nearly died by his hand. But Haku understood what it meant to be used. To be a tool.
"No human should be treated like a battery," Haku murmured, his voice low enough that only Alaric… watching from the stratosphere… might have heard.
He assessed the two physical Akatsuki members.
"This is quite troublesome, ain't it, Sasori?" Deidara smirked, reaching into his clay pouches. He began to knead white clay with the mouths in his palms. "Five against two... that's unfair. For them, un."
"..." Sasori didn't reply. His wooden eyes stared unblinkingly at the intruders. He was calculating poisons, angles, and puppet durability.
Seeing his partner's silence, Deidara chuckled. He scanned the enemies, his mechanical eye zooming in. "Now... which one's the Jinchuriki?"
That was the spark.
Naruto couldn't handle it anymore. The casual way they spoke, as if Gaara were merchandise and he was next on the list.
"You... creeps!"
Red chakra bubbled to the surface of Naruto's skin. His blue eyes bled into crimson slits. His canines lengthened. The Killing Intent of the Kyuubi flooded the cavern, heavy and suffocating.
"Oh," Sasori noted, his tail twitching. "It's him. The loud one."
"It looks like it," Deidara's smirk widened into a grin. "Itachi's pretty good at describing people. 'Loud and orange'. Spot on, yeah!"
Sasuke's chakra flared at the mention of his brother's name.
Naruto crouched, ready to launch himself at the blonde bomber.
"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi moved instantly, placing a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Calm down. If you charge ahead without thinking, we'll be annihilated. Look at the setup. They want you to rush."
The tension in the cave was thick enough to cut. The air vibrated with the conflicting pressures of Bijuu chakra, Akatsuki menace, and the sheer will of the Leaf shinobi.
Up on the statue, Pein watched silently. His Rinnegan eyes swept over the intruders. He ignored the noisy Jinchuriki. He ignored the Uchiha.
His gaze settled on Haku.
From all the people here, Haku was the calmest. He wasn't leaking chakra. He wasn't posturing. He was simply standing there, calculating the dimensions of the cave, the stability of the ceiling, the distance to the targets.
'That boy...' Pein thought, a flicker of unease rippling through his god complex. 'He is the dangerous one. He is not reacting to the situation; he is measuring it.'
"My man..." Deidara nudged Sasori, breaking the silence.
"Hm?" Sasori turned his puppet head.
"You'll probably get mad if I say this..." Deidara's visible eye was fixated on Naruto with a manic gleam. "But I'll take care of the Jinchuriki."
Sasori's puppet eyes narrowed. "Our mission is one Jinchuriki each. You already took the One-Tail. The Nine-Tails is my target. Don't get all full of yourself, Deidara."
"An artist's passion starts to dull unless they seek greater stimulation, my man..." Deidara replied, holding up his hand. A small clay spider was forming in the palm-mouth. "The rumor is the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki is quite powerful... he's an opponent suitable for my art. Pop art!"
"What? You're calling those explosions of yours art?" Sasori's voice dropped an octave, irritated. "Art is something that beautifully remains extensively into the distant future. Eternal beauty is art! Like me!"
"Art is an explosion!" Deidara countered. "Fleeting! Intense!"
"..."
While the two S-rank criminals argued about aesthetics in front of a heavily armed hit squad, Team 7 watched with growing impatience.
"Hey..." Sasuke stepped forward. His voice was cold, cutting through the bickering. "This is quite time-consuming."
He extended his right hand, shaping his fingers into a pistol. Lightning chakra crackled at the tip, compressed and blue-white.
"Can we just get this over with? I know this whole act is just so that you guys can buy time for the ritual."
Deidara blinked. "Huh?"
"Chidori Sharp Spear."
ZZZ-THWIP.
Sasuke didn't charge. He didn't weave a long sequence of signs. He simply fired.
A spear of lightning extended from his fingers at the speed of sound, aiming directly for Sasori's head.
Sasori reacted with veteran speed, jerking his puppet body to the side.
SCHLICK.
The lightning spear sliced clean through the Hiruko puppet's heavy iron tail, severing the stinger. It clattered to the floor.
Sasori stared at his severed tail. "You brat..."
Deidara raised a brow, whistling low. He looked at Sasuke with new appreciation. "Oh? Aren't you Itachi's little brother? That's quite a good jutsu! Fast, un!"
Deidara opened his left palm. The mouth chewed rapidly. "But not fast enough for my—"
He balled his fist, preparing to mold a C1 bomb to throw at the Uchiha.
He never finished the thought.
His eyes widened.
A thin, red line appeared on his wrist.
Splurt.
Blood sprayed.
His hand… still clutching the clay… detached from his arm and fell to the floor with a wet slap.
"UWAAAK!"
Deidara stumbled back, clutching his stump, shock overriding pain for a split second.
"What—!?"
He spun around.
Standing behind him, closer than a shadow, was Haku.
The ice-user held the Kusanagi in a reverse grip. The blade was pristine, not a drop of blood on it. He had moved so fast, using Zero Friction to bypass the entire battlefield, that the air hadn't even stirred.
Haku looked at Deidara with eyes that were colder than the grave.
"Deidara," Haku said softly, reciting the entry from the Bingo Book. "S-Rank Missing-nin from Iwagakure. Explosion Corps defector."
He raised his sword slightly.
"I could earn a lot if I turn you in... dead or alive. Preferably dead. It's easier to carry."
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