Play To Win [Rewrite] || Naruto Fanfic

Sneak

The sound of water, dripping from calcites at an uneven pace echoed throughout the makeshift hideout. It smelled damp with wild moss and wet rocks, Tamako's consciousness grabs ahold of those features as she rouses awake.

She's tucked tightly on a futon with Taka spread around her. Most of the members are resting, but Sasuke is awake, leaning on a nearby crate. His head twitches when Tamako shuffles, when the girl sits up, he nods at her.

"We're at the hideout in Hotwater, like you said." He says quietly, eyes trailed on the unconscious form of Killer B. "You've been out for only an hour."

Tamako nods back at the Uchiha and moves the blanket to the side, crouching low beside B's "body" and encases it in crystal. Her ring feels warm on her fingers, its slight buzzing of chakra gathers the attention of her companion and she sighs.

Crawling back to the futon, she sit's in lotus, her hands rested on her knees into a full meditation pose and lets the ring's chakra envelop her. "I will be back." She says one last time, closing her eyes and accepting the darkness.

In a snap, she awakens on her assigned finger of the Gedō Statue, nodding at the remaining members.

"We've been calling for you for nearly twenty minutes." Pein's voice sharply cuts though her nausea.

Tamako nearly droops, "I apologize. We've captured the Jinchūriki and evaded Kumo forces." She eyes the unconscious form of Yukata, the sixth tailed beast's Jinchūriki. "Let us start the extraction."

With the remaining members being Konan, Pein, Zetsu, Kisame, Tobi and Tamako, the process took double the normal time, the drain being harsher than before. But with less people meant the less conjoined chakra clashing against each other.

The dark cave is silent, now that the extroverted member's have died or been hidden away, so she takes a half of her mind to keep up the output of her chakra to the jutsu and the other half updating herself on any important information. Her beetle pops out of the corner of the Hokage's Tower, watching Jiraiya's toad summon revealing the scorch marks on his back that the Sannin had burnt as his last message.

Naruto had already left the room at the news of his master's death, and both Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura were analyzing one of Pein's Paths. She couldn't remember which one in particular this one was, but her eyes swept over the sorrow of Naruto.

He sat on the top of the highest pole in Konoha, the sunset as his backdrop and bag's underneath his eye. She's never seen him sad before, mourn before.

Tamako could've prevented the Toad Sannin's death, but she had to choose between Itachi or Jiriaya.

As much as she hated to say it, but Naruto needed this death to reinvent his Nindo way, and there was a much lower success in saving Jiraiya in comparison to Itachi. Picking Jiraiya would mean betraying Akatsuki much sooner than she'd like and paints a target on her back on both Akatsuki and the five Hidden villages.

She couldn't risk that, and Naruto had a support group. He had Tsunade, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, hell even Shikamaru. Sasuke had Taka, and that was a far stretch on its own.

Her beetle follows Naruto and she focuses on that one, wondering if she should use up the remaining chakra of the beetle to force her consciousness in and talk to the boy himself.

After his pep-talk with Iruka, Naruto slowly meanders into his apartment and crawls into bed. She eyes the progress bar that signified at least another few hours and caves in. She splits her consciousness in half, again, and sends the coherent one to Konoha.

The connection is instantaneous and she arrives looking at the world at a smaller-point of view. She'll be able to talk to him since Zetsu was also too busy with the statue, this was her chance.