𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

Battle Plan

As Hanara and her team were about to leave the Sand's gate, they were stopped by Temari and another Sand shinobi.

"Wait!" Temari yelled, "We'll be your backup!"

"... you will?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"Doesn't the Sand need every shinobi it has, right now?" Hanara asked, "If the other villages find out your Kazekage is gone..."

"Temari, you stay and aid border security," a voice from above them called, "I'll represent the Sand myself."

'Lady Chiyo?'

"But, Granny Chiyo!" Temari started.

"It seems inappropriate for–" the other shinobi got cut off.

"Don't treat me like an old fossil!" Lady Chiyo exclaimed, jumping off the wall she was standing on and landing perfectly on the ground.

'They do say the oldest shinobi are alive for a reason...'

"SHE JUMPED!" Naruto and Sakura yelped, shocked.

"It's been a while since I've taken care of my adorable grandchild..." Lady Chiyo muttered.

'Grandchild? She did have an odd reaction to Sasori of the Red Sand... could he be her grandchild? Both of them are amazing puppeteers in their own right.'

Temari sighed, defeated, "I'll go help the border security..."

Hanara and Kakashi-Sensei were leading the way, using their Byakugan and nose respectively. Once again, Hanara's ability to see lingering fragments of chakra helped immensely.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura started, "Can I ask you something?"

She took his silence as an invitation to continue, "How long have you been a target of the Akatsuki?"

"How should I know?" Naruto responded angrily.

"It could have been from since he was born," Hanara said abruptly.

Kakashi-Sensei gave her a questioning stare.

"Think about it. Deidara of the Hidden Stone is currently 19-years-old and was declared a missing ninja six years ago when we were ten, and he thirteen. I don't know when, but he was probably recruited when he made a name for himself, about one to two years after, if the Bingo Books have anything to say about it. Sasori of the Red Sand left the Sand twenty years ago when he was 15, but again, probably wasn't immediately recruited. Maybe they were recruited at the same time, and the Akatsuki was just forming, but that's probably not likely since, to sway two S-rank criminals, they need to have some other members, which is where I'm guessing Itachi and Kisame come in the picture if that happened. Maybe they were recruited at different points in time, but with all the facts we have, they could have been hunting Naruto and all the other jinchuriki for 4-20 years. But, since we're talking about Naruto here, it could be since he was born. Going by the way he was treated, him being a jinchuriki was sort of an open secret. And... thinking about it... the Nine-Tails' attack happened the day he was born, didn't it? It makes sense! If the person who attacked knew who the previous jinchuriki, if we even had one, was, it's an easy bet."

Sakura stared at Hanara, "Sometimes your brain scares me..."

"But, there are other factors to think about." Hanara continued, now talking to herself more than anyone else, "If Naruto was the target of the Nine-Tails' attack, that means someone was controlling the Nine-Tails. There's only legends about that... And, there's something else. They attacked 16 years ago, and then three years ago, and now. Why do they have such odd gaps between their attacks? There's so much we don't know..."