Things we do for love

Chapter 6

Naruto was at the gates waiting with Shikamaru.

'Sasuke, those bastards got Gaara,' said Naruto over the seal.

'WHAT! Do you want me to do something?' he asked.

'No. However, if they escape us, can you please go after the ones who took him?' asked Naruto.

'Yes. I will definitely go after those assholes,' said Sasuke. With Sasuke, Orochimaru could feel his killer intent and anger, even without using his sensory abilities. 

'What could get him so angry!' thought Orochimaru.

"Ssssasukee kun, why are you so angry?" asked Orochimaru.

"I was thinking about Itachi. It wasn't a lie, he was thinking about how to contact Itachi and ask about who captured Gaara.

Even though he and Gaara were never friends, but he knew what all a jinchuriki had o go through. Gaara had just become the Kazekage and he was kidnapped by Akatsuki. 

Adding the fact that he was one of Naruto's closest friends, along with Shikamaru's, he was ready to kill anyone who tried to harm them. After all, that is all he wanted to do, protect the happiness of those important to him.

'You fucked up in a humongous way,' Sasuke thought.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Sakura had just reached the gates only to meet a silent Shikamaru and Naruto releasing such huge pressure that Izumo and Kotetsu were sweating and those civilians that needed to go outside the village were just standing a little far from the gate.

"Kakashi, Sakura. As you must have been told, Gaara has been captured by Akatsuki. Now our mission is to capture them and bring Gaara back. Prioritize Gaara's safety. Now we set out. We must complete the journey by tonight," said Naruto.

"TONIGHT!" gasped Sakura.

"WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO GAARA! AS SOON AS THE TAILED BEAST IS EXTRACTED FROM A JINCHURIKI, HE DIES! SO YES, BY TONIGHT," said Naruto in a commanding tone.

"H-hai," said Sakura and Kakashi.

"Now now Naruto, don't lose your cool," said Iruka as he came there with Tsunade.

"Sensei, they took my friend, who might be killed soon. How can I not be angry?" asked Naruto.

"I know. However, Naruto, remember, no revenge. You must focus on saving Gaara. Your anger is justified, but it is not necessarily good. If you are angry, focus that towards the enemy, not your comrades," said Jiraiya.

Naruto took a deep breath and sighed.

"You're right Ero sennin," said Naruto with a small sigh.

"I know I am," said Jiraiya.

"I don't know what I would do without you," said Naruto as he turned.

"Ja ne. I promise I will bring him back in one piece," said Naruto with a two finger salute.

The next moment he and Shikamaru jumped onto a tree, followed by Sakura and Kakashi.

"Find Sai as soon as possible. His Ink release would reduce their traveling time while conserving their stamina," said Tsunade to an Anbu.

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"Naruto, Shikamaru, I know you both are in hurry, but slow down a little," said Sakura.

"We can't. We don't know what could happen to him. They took him Sakura, we need to reach them as soon as possible," said Naruto.

"I agree," said Shikamaru.

The next moment they saw Temari on the ground walking.

"Temari," said Sakura as they all landed on the ground.

"Huh? You guys?" asked Temari and Sakura explained to her, while Shikamaru and Naruto were fidgeting impatiently.

"WHAT! Gaara was kidnapped?" asked a shocked and sad Temari.

"Yeah. We need to hurry. At the current speed, we will reach Suna in a day if we don't take any break. We need to hurry," said Naruto.

"Yes. We don't have much time to spare," said Shikamaru as he looked at her. In Shikamaru's eyes were concern and fear, fear of anything bad happening to Gaara.

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It was night, and Shikamaru and Naruto were ahead of the other three by at least 10 meters.

"Naruto, don't break the format-" started Sakura only to be cut by him.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" said Naruto in an icy tone.

"We both got tailed beasts inside us. That's what they are after, and I DON'T LIKE THAT!" he yelled.

"For people like them, no matter what all we do, what all we achieve, we will always be monsters. For them we are just like tools, I hate their selfish way of thinking. I and Gaara are the same. Yet I got many people who loved me and supported me while he had been alone for most of his life. He had to fight alone way more than me," said Naruto as the branch he stepped on broke due to the pressure he used to jump.

"And yet again Akatsuki is after both of us. Same. AND YET AGAIN HE IS AT THE SHORT END OF THE STICK!" yelled Naruto, hoarse by now as a drop of tear fell from his eyes onto Temari's cheeks.

"WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE HIM? HE JUST BECAME KAZEKAGE. I JUST WISH IT WAS ME INSTEAD OF HIM. HE HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH. THAT IS WHY I DON'T WANT TO WASTE EVEN A SECOND!" yelled Naruto even louder.

Shikamaru just went ahead to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto and Shikamaru are more motivated than anything. Shikamaru cares for you a lot more than you think, so he also does care for Gaara. He has watched Naruto from childhood. Other than Sasuke, he is the only one who knew his pain. For most of his life, Shikamaru had been lazy. However, his drive to protect his friends is stronger than anything. Thinking that Gaara would suffer more, and you'd be sad, he can't sit back. And you just heard Naruto's reason," said Kakashi in a somber tone.

'Shikamaru, Naruto, thank you,' thought Temari.

"...aruto... Na..uto... Naruto," a call was heard and all four of them stopped. A few seconds later, a weird bird was seen descending.

"Sai!" gasped Naruto.

"I heard what happened. I am here to help your team," said Sai as he quickly took out a scroll and drew a few birds.

"Here, sit on their back, these will take you to Suna way faster than on foot," said Sai. This Sai was way more serious and professional than the one they had to deal with on the Karin rescue mission.

"Thank you Sai," said Naruto with a genuine smile.

"Thank me later," said Sai as they all climbed onto the bird.

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It was night in Suna, a day had completed since the fight between Gaara and the two Akatsuki members and three fourth since Gaara had been taken.

"Now only Tsunade the slug princess can save him. The rate at which the poison is working, he only has two days, we might not even make it to Konoha even if we were to take him," said Chiyo.

"He shouldn't have even pursued that far in the first place. A ninja is the last person to do such a thing," said Ebizo.

"This is the result of being too dependent on the likes of the leaf. At times like this, we can only expect them to send useless underlings just for the record's sake. And even then it would them about two and a half-day to reach here," said Chiyo.

"That's not true. I know the ninjas of leaf, and if he has anything to say about it, we'll have a lot of help," said Baki.

"Even then, they would at least take them two more days to reach here," said Chiyo, and the next moment a guard burst in.

"Baki sama, a Konohagakure team along with Temari san is on the gates of Suna," he said.

"Send them here," said Baki, internally smirking.