Whirlwind Fighters (NaruTema)

#13 Foiled Plans

When the pair entered the dust cloud they were hit with confusion, as they noticed the ground to slowly decline, watching their step they sprinted through the streets, noticing the decline getting steeper as the buildings started to get more damaged.

Suddenly they had to stop when they felt a huge dip coming up. Standing on the ledge, they looked down seeing a giant crater in the middle of the village. As the dust slowly settled, the pair's eyes widened as they saw the destruction surrounding them.

"Jiraiya, can you hear me?" Tsunade asked weakly, her hands still glowing green, even though she knew that he couldn't. Ino slowly placed her hand on her teacher's shoulder, causing the woman to look up. Slightly shaking her head, Ino smiled sadly at the Hokage, as the older woman's tears flowed freely from her eyes. Pulling her into a hug, the Yamanaka saw Naruto and Temari land in the ruins where the group had sought shelter from Pain's attack.

She saw Naruto's eyes widen as they realized why Tsunade was a mess and the pair quickly went over to Jiraiya's body to confirm their fears.

"What happened?" Naruto's voice reached Ino's ear, silent and weak as she saw him trembling in rage.

"Pain attacked the main gate, we were able to repel the first wave but then he summoned five other people and they were too good of a team so they overran our defences. Then the original jumped over the village and expelled a gigantic amount of chakra and then everything was crushed. I don't know how Jiraiya got hurt but he was down before anyone could get to him." Shikamaru summarised quickly as everyone watched the area in case Pain decided to attack them again.

"He is standing in the middle of the crater. I don't know what he is waiting for." Katsuyu called out, causing everyone to look towards the middle of the village where the hokage tower once stood.

"We need to get him away from here." Temari stated, readying her fan along with her fiance.

Just when they were about to jump down to confront the six shinobi, Katsuyu spoke up again.

"The east gate has fallen. Our forces have been driven back into the ruins."

"Any casualties?" Tsunade asked.

"A few, most managed to get away. Kakashi said, to tell you, that both Akatsuki should not be attacked directly, they seem to be invulnerable or even immortal somehow." The snail stated.

"Alright, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, go help out Kakashi and the others. Team Ro will accompany you." Tsunade ordered, seeing the two teams jump away. Temari and Naruto looked at each other, readying their weapons again, focusing their eyes on the group in the middle of the crater.

"We do not have many people to back you up down there." Tsunade stated, looking at the two of them with worried eyes. Naruto only shook his head.

"They are here for me. We trained for this. Just stay safe." Naruto asked, his expression calculating and serious. Tsunade was taken aback by that, since she had always seen the boy with a hint of mischief in his eyes, that spark was gone however as he looked away from her to his fiance and nodded.

"Just come back in one piece." Tsunade whispered as she watched the pair jump into the pit created by Pain.

"So the Fox shows himself." It was more a statement than a question, as six pairs of purple eyes looked at Naruto.

The two teens stayed silent, weapons at the ready as the orange haired man stepped forward.

"Come with us and all this death and pain can end." The orange haired woman offered, her hand extending towards the jinchuriki. Naruto only stared at the hand with a blank expression, his grip on his sword tightening. Looking at the Akatsuki the blonde boy looked at the girl next to him. Seeing the small sparkle in his eyes, Temari sighed, lowering her fan, stepping back. Naruto lowered his weapon as well, lowering his gaze. Taking a step towards the pair the woman smiled, reaching up to flip her ponytail behind her shoulders.