Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ Beginning of the End ❯ The Recovery of Naruto Uzumaki ( Chapter 6 )

It's been three weeks since Naruto was abducted. Tsunade sat at her desk with her head cradled in her hands. Everything was falling apart, and it was falling apart fast. The Akatsuki weren't known for putting off sealing the tailed beasts, but if there was any hope everyone was hanging onto it by a thread.

"Lady Tsunade." Shizune bowed as she entered the Hokage's office.

"Shizune. I want you to give this order to everyone that's left of the squads." Tsunade said. Her voice was laced with grief.

"Of course, Mi'lady." Shizune said quietly. Dreading what Tsunade might say.

"I want you to find the Akatsuki's new sealing chamber. If Naruto is alive, but if you can't save him.." Tsunade paused. "If you can't save, kill him. We can't let the Akatsuki extract the nine-tails."

"L-lady Tsunade, are you sure?" Shizune looked at her in surprise.

"I don't want it to come to that, but we have no choice. We can't let the Akatsuki seal the nine-tails. Gather Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Hinata. Send them out to look for the new sealing chamber. You're dismissed."

"Yes, Mi'lady." Shizune mumbled.

She quietly left the office, and went out to search for the squad that would go to recover Naruto. They would be attacking Amegakure in a week, so the squad couldn't take too long. There were rumors that the Akatsuki had moved their sealing chamber to a cave near the Sound Village. Kakashi's squad would head there, check for any evidence of Akatsuki, and then return to Konoha. Then, they would attack Amegakure with Suna, and the war would begin. The other nations opted to stay out of the war. As far as they were concerned the Akatsuki hadn't attacked them personally. Shizune almost believed that was a joke.

"Kakashi!" The woman called out to the man. He was walking down the street reading. He looked up and held a hand over his head in a half-hearted wave.

"Yo."

"Gather up Sai, Hinata, and Yamato. Lady Tsunade has a mission for you."

Kakashi saluted and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

-Time Skip!-

Kakashi's team had traveled two days towards the sound. When they had heard their mission Kakashi and Yamato tried to talk Tsunade out of her decision. The hot-headed Hokage would not yield. They were close to their destination now. Their hearts heavy with worry.

"I-I hope we can save him." Hinata said softly.

The others just nodded. Up ahead they could see the towering rocks of the cavern that supposedly the Akatsuki used for their final sealing. The four knew very well it was probably too late, but they couldn't find it in themselves to diminish that last thread of hope. The team landed at the opening of the cave. It was wide open, nothing blocking them from looking inside.

"Wait, what's that?" Yamato asked. The others looked to where he was pointing. It was a large bundle of some sort near the left side of the entrance. It was propped up against the outer wall.

"Oh no." Kakashi muttered, his eyes widening slightly. The Akatsuki wouldn't.. They didn't.

The copy ninja cautiously approached the bundle. As it turned out it was a blanket tied around the body. Kakashi slowly untied and removed the blanket. Under the blanket lay the very cold, very dead body of Naruto Uzumaki. Kakashi's heart dropped, and the man swore he was close to tears. Behind him he could hear Hinata let out a strangled cry. It looked like he had been dead for a few days now. A piece of paper flew from the body, and Sai caught it in midair.

"It's a note." He stated bluntly. He too looked like the world had just ended. One by one the four passed the note so each could read it. None of them could bear reading it out loud. Hinata was the last to look at it, and when she did she burst into tears.

'Who ever finds the body,

We were going to feed him to Zetsu, but we figured you would come out looking for him. So we purposely spread the rumor of where the sealing was held. Of course, we didn't spread this bit of information until the sealing of the nine-tails was complete. Anyways, we figured we'd be nice and leave the body for you to find. You know, so you don't question if we succeed or not. We did. Oh, and tell that Hyuuga girl that Naruto loves her too. I guess that's it.

-Akatsuki'

"Let's.. Let's get this to Lady Hokage." Yamato muttered. The rest of the group nodded. Sai gently lifted Naruto's body onto his back, and they made their way back to Konoha. The dread apparent on their very pale faces. Hinata didn't even try to stop crying the whole way back to the village.

-With Akatsuki-

"Wait, so you wrote a fucking note?!" Hidan was roaring with laughter as Evelynn explained what she did.

"What?! It thought it was a good idea at the time. Besides, that girl deserves to know that Naruto died with her on his mind, and in his heart." Evelynn argued.

"Except he didn't die saying anything about her." Sasori reminded her.

"Yeah, but she won't know that. If we kill her in the war at least she can die happy knowing that the kyuubi brat loved her." Evelynn snapped.

"What if he didn't love her, hm?" Deidara asked.

"She doesn't have to know that either!"

"What's with the sudden sentimental shit?" Hidan asked.

"I'd be a wreck if I died without knowing if Sasori loved me or not. So I took that into consideration, and decided to leave a message for the poor girl." Evelynn frowned.

"How sweet." Sasori teased as he affectionately placed his forehead against Evelynn's.

Currently, the Akatsuki were in the 'circle room' of their base. The girls had finally finished their training, so their chakra wouldn't exhaust so quickly, and the Akatsuki had decided to relax before the war started. Zetsu had long since informed them when Suna and Konoha would attack, and the Akatsuki were more than prepared. There were now three couches, in a circle, in their circle room. On the first couch was Deidara, Audrey, and Hidan. On the second was Kakuzu, Kisame, and Nagato. On the third was Sasori, Gina, and Itachi. Evelynn was stretched out across them, her head in Sasori's lap and her feet on Itachi's lap. Sasuke sat in an armchair between two of the couches, and Shoto was draped elegantly across his lap.

"My, my, my. What has the Akatsuki turned into?" A voice hissed from the shadows of the tunnel that lead to the main entrance.

"Who the fuck is there?" Hidan yelled in agitation.

"I think I recognize that voice." Sasuke muttered. Everyone turned their attention to the tunnel. Slowly, from the shadows a familiar face became visible. Only, the face was different, somehow.

"Before you attack, I'd like to offer you a deal." Kabuto smirked at the group.

"Oh, hell no."