Hello, I'm back again for another chapter. After what has been a long time since I updated, I bring you the third chapter. Now I have to apologize for this chapter because it's bad. Not horrible bad, but bad as in I could do a lot better. I might rewrite this chapter so it doesn't sound like crap. But for now, here it is.

Disclaimer: see chapters one and two for the disclaimers.

Chapter three: rescuing an old friend, Part 2

For what seemed like a minute, both Deidara and Sasori said nothing. Then finally, a chuckle was heard. Gin turned towards Deidara, who was trying his best not to laugh. Unfortunately for the blonde bomber, he was unsuccessful and started to laugh out loud. After a couple of minutes he was finally able to compose himself.

"Look at this Sasori-san," Deidara said with a sneer on his face. "This guy here looks like he wants to be the first to die. I don't think he even knows who we are."

"Now Deidara, we can't kill every stupid person we come across. After all, we have to educate this fool first." But at the same time Sasori was worried. Not at Gin, but at the person next to him. If he knew who this person was, then this mission got a lot more dangerous.

Gin merely smirked. "Oh, you really think so? You think I don't know about you being in the Akatsuki? That you're kidnapping Bijuu for some plan that won't work? So educate me on what I don't know?"

At those words Deidara turned towards Sasori. "How did he know that? I mean, we don't really advertise our plans to the public."

At those words Sasori glared at the blonde bomber. "Or maybe you've admitted at what we do. Next time, keep your mouth shut." After telling off Deidara he turned to the holograms of his superiors. "What is our next course of action?"

The leader looked at Sasori. "Take the body and meet us at our real base. You have my permission to kill them." And with those words, the leader and the members disappeared. If he could, Gin could've sworn that Sasori had smirked.

"You heard the boss man, let's get out of here!" And with that proclamation, Deidara had hopped on his clay bird and was ready to take off when the silver haired man pulled out what looked like a wakizashi from the scabbard.

Deidara laughed for the second time that day. "What are you going to do with that sword, throw it at us?"

Gin smiled and pointed the sword at him. "Shoot to kill, Shinso."

At those words, despite it being impossible, the sword blade shot out, extending itself at the blonde at an impossible speed. Before anyone could react, the sword impaled Deidara through the stomach and retracted. Blood started to spurt wildly from his wound, causing Deidara to let out a scream of horror and fall down clutching his stomach.

"What the hell, man! How the hell did you do that?"

Gin merely shrugged and said, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Besides, what's the point of explaining it to all of you since you and your friend are going to die?"

Sasori merely looked down at his fallen comrade. Without an ounce of regret, he brought his scorpion tail down on Deidara, killing him instantly.

"Why did you do that? Wasn't he your ally?" The old woman asked.

Sasori seemed to give out a grunt. "He would've died anyway. Besides, we're only allies because we were assigned to be allies. I never did care if he lived or died. Now you," he turned to Gin, "you're something special. Was extending your sword some kind of bloodline? If so, then I've never seen anything like it."

Gin shook his head. "No, this isn't a bloodline. Now how about we stop the talk and fight, unless you're going to talk us to death?"

Sasori nodded and sent his scorpion tail towards Gin. However, the tail stopped short. Sasori narrowed his eyes at the one who interfered. "I should've known you would be here, Chiyo-baachan."

The woman, who was now named Chiyo, pulled down the cloak she had been wearing. "I know, and I want to know why. Why did you kill the Sandaime Kazekage? Why have you joined them?"

Sasori chucked. "You don't get it, do you? I killed him because he was in the way. I joined them so they would help me reach my goal. They will help me make my art eternal. You wouldn't understand, after all you thought the same thing."

Chiyo shook her head. "Sasori, you don't understand…"

"Wait a second, you two were related?" Gin had decided to but into the conversation. What irked both Chiyo and Sasori was that his grin was still on his face.

Chiyo nodded. "He was my grandson. When his parents both died, I took him in. I tried to help him get over his grief, but it was no use."

Sasori smirked. "You never tried to help me get over my grief. You left me to my own devices. I had to raise myself."

Chiyo shook her head. "You're wrong. I did raise you, but you fought back against me. Even when I trained you, it wasn't enough for you. You were…"

"Enough!" He snapped. "You think by trying to explain yourself will fix everything? You're wrong, and you'll always be wrong. Now die!"

Gin stepped out and shot his palm out. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" A red ball of energy shot out from his palm and impacted the puppeteer, creating an explosion that created a lot of smoke, making it difficult for anyone to see. When the smoke cleared out, most of the body was missing, showing a now empty hollow space.

"Be honored, for no one has seen my true form until now." A voice said behind them. They jumped out of the way just in time for a puppet to attack them. Chiyo's eyes widen in shock when she saw it.

"That's the Third Kazekage! You turned him into an abomination!" She yelled out. Gin's eyes seemed to narrow. "I'm guessing this is your art? Desecrating a corpse to put on a puppet show? That's low."

Sasori shot him a look. "What you say is irrelevant. My art is not an abomination. You should know this, Chiyo-baachan, you've done this before."

"I haven't done it in a long time. You, on the other hand, turned a symbol of our village into a mockery! I will not stand for this!" Chiyo shot out, ready to use her puppets, but Gin held up a hand to stop her. For the first time since meeting him, Gin wasn't smiling.

"Let me handle this, Chiyo-baachan." Gin said to her, no humor in his tone of voice.

Sasori smirked. "And what will you do?"

"I will do this." With those words, he shot his sword out. "Shoot to kill, Shinso!" His sword's blade extended once more towards Sasori, but what looked like black sand blocked him from doing so. Sasori chuckled. "My puppet's ability is Iron Sand. With it, I can protect myself easily. You should've seen this coming, Gin-san."

Gin smirked. "You're right; I should've seen this coming. However, I'm afraid that I have the perfect counter for this." Before anyone could blink, Gin appeared behind Sasori, taking him by surprise and pointed his index and middle finger out. "Hado 4: Byakurai!" When he said those words, electricity shot out of his fingers and immediately blasted Sasori apart. Stunned, the puppet master fell to the ground, his puppet following him.

Sasori tried to get up, but was unable to, as half his body had been completely destroyed. The right side of his body had been vaporized, making his right hand completely useless. Gin smirked. He then turned the wounded man's body over and reached down towards his chest. "My my, I wonder what this is." At those words, he placed his hand on a cylinder that was inside his chest. The cylinder was colored bright red. He brought out his sword and thrusts it towards his cylinder. When he had run the blade through, Sasori had died.

"That was anticlimactic," Gin said, sounding almost disappointed. "I thought for sure that they would put up a decent fight. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk." He then turned towards the downed Kazekage. "Could you take care of the two bodies here? I'll be carrying the Kazekage."

Chiyo could only nod. This swordsman had been able to take down Sasori with ease. And he barely broke a sweat. She gathered up both Deidara and Sasori, sealing their bodies away, and went after the Third Kazekage. After all, now that they knew what had happened to the Third Kazekage, they could give the man a burial.

Sunagakure hospital, two days later

Gaara woke up with a start. "What happened? The last thing I remembered was being knocked out by that bomber."

"Gaara, you're alive!" Temari exclaimed, hugging the redhead. Gaara looked stunned. "Temari how is it that you're able to hug me without the sand coming out?"

"That would be me, Kazekage-san." Chiyo said. "I was the one who had sealed the Shukaku inside of your mother so that you would be able to have it. However, the seal had to be weakened so that you would be able to access its powers easily. When we rescued you, I decided to strengthen the seal. Consider it an apology for what I had done to you."

Gaara nodded. "I thank you, Chiyo-sama. So who helped you? Was it Temari, or Kankuro?"

Temari's eyes darkened a bit. "Neither of us went with Chiyo. We tried to, but the Suna council forbade it."

"I see." Gaara knew about this. The Suna council had been with him when they canceled all trade with Konoha, but when he was nominated to be Kazekage, they had been against it. They tried to pick someone else, but most people in Suna wanted Gaara to be their leader. No matter, they would be dealt with later on. "So did they send anyone else out to help Chiyo-san?"

"There was one person, but he claimed to have known you. Do you know anyone by the name of Ichimaru Gin?"

"No, I do not know anyone by that name." Gaara was confused. Who was Gin, anyway?

"So you don't know who I am? I guess that's understandable, see that I have changed since we last saw each other." Gin said.

"Whoa, how did you get in here? I thought there were guards here!" Kankuro exclaimed angrily. "Now spill it, who are you? And why do you claim to know Gaara?"

Gin smirked. "I see, so you don't recognize me. After all, don't you remember three years ago?"

Temari's eyes widened. "Are you implying that…?"

"I know I look different, but let me give you another hint. I used the toads to beat your brother into submission."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "You could've gotten that from anyone who had been there, or you would've seen it happen."

"Wrong. I don't think anyone would remember a silver haired man during the exams in Konoha. And besides, how many people other than you would know someone by the name of Gin Ichimaru? Nobody, that is."

Gaara said nothing for a while. Then he smiled for the first time in what had been a long time. "It's good to see you, old friend. So what's it like on the other side?"

Gin merely waved his hand a bit. "It's boring, you wouldn't be interested. So what about you guys? Did anything happen after I died?"

Kankuro was the first to speak up. He didn't know if this was Naruto or not, but he decided not to complain. "After you died, we sort of spread the word to the other villages about what happened to you. To make a long story short, they canceled all treaties to Konoha. They managed to keep one with Waterfall, but that's it."

"I'm guessing the old lady wasn't happy when that happened." Gin chuckled.

Gaara's smile faded. "It's like she's a whole new person, Naruto. When we went there to nullify the alliance, she threatened us. She told us that we should be grateful that she spared our lives. When we didn't change our minds, she told us to watch our backs, because she'll never forgive us for betraying her.

"I see." This was troubling. What had happened to the Kage that thought of her as a grandson? What made her change?

Just as he was about to say something else, there was a knock at the door. A voice said, "Excuse me Kazekage-sama, but there is a team from Konoha saying that they need to see you."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Last time I checked, they weren't welcome in this village. What gave them the right to come back in after all they had done?"

The voice didn't say anything. Finally Gaara sighed. "You know what; tell them to get out before we throw them out into the desert. Give them a taste of their own medicine."

After they were sure the voice was gone, Kankuro turned to his brother. "You sure that was a good idea, Gaara?"

Gaara nodded. "Technically, they aren't allowed here. They threw us out of the village, and as soon as I become Kazekage they demand that I hand over my sister? They throw us out and demand I do as they are told? Not while I'm alive." Seeing Gin's confused face, he explained, "They wanted to discuss a marriage proposal between my sister and the Uchiha. When I told them no, they exploded, acting like they had every right to be making demands for me to follow. I told them no once again. I thought that was the end of it."

Just then, the same voice from before came back. "Kazekage-sama, the Konoha ninjas have demanded that they see you. They said it was urgent that they saw you now."

Gaara sighed and shook his head. "What are you going to do now, Gaara?" Gin asked.

"If they're demanding to see me, we might as well have them come in." Gaara said, and then turned to the voice that was at the door. "Send them in." The door opened to show the team from Konoha. Gin recognized the first two. They were Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Sasuke had been the one to execute him. From what the Shinigami King had told him, Sasuke hadn't received the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sakura wore what looked like an older version of what she wore when they were a team. However she was wearing gloves, bicycle shorts, and what looked like to be a combination between boots and sandals. The third person looked a bit like Sasuke, but his hair was smoothed down, and he wore what looked like an AnBu uniform. In his right hand was a small book. Their leader wore standard AnBu uniform, a faceplate with the Konoha symbol, and had a simple, plain face.

For a while, no one said anything. After what seemed to be two minutes, the plain faced AnBu spoke. "I see that you are alive and well Kazekage-sama," the man said.

Gaara nodded. "Thank you for your concern, even though I am reluctant to trust it. Now what is it that you want?"

It was right there that Sasuke decided to make his presence known. "If you must know, we need to know what happened. We need to know whether or not you still have your little pet with you."

Gaara knew what he was talking about. "The Shukaku is indeed inside me still. Why are you asking me about this?"

"I just wanted to know. After all, the last thing we need to happen is to make the enemy stronger."

Temari's eyes narrowed. "If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were threatening my little brother."

Sai turned towards her with one of his smiles. "Are you accusing us of anything, Temari-san?"

Gin then decided to butt into the conversation. "I think she does have the right to accuse you of making threats. After all, you did throw them into the desert."

The older looking man turned to the silver haired man. "I'm afraid that you don't have the right to poke your nose into other people's business. After all, this doesn't concern you, mister-"

"The name is Ichimaru Gin, my friend. Now what is your name?"

"My name is Yamato. As I said before, you shouldn't poke your nose into other people's business. After all, this is between us and the Kazekage."

"Oh my, looks like someone is trying to throw their weight around." Gin said, smirking to the team. "Give me one good reason as to why I should obey you."

Sasuke smirked. "The reason is because out of all of the five main villages, Konoha is the strongest. Therefore, we are the strongest. So the last thing anyone should do is make us mad."

Gin's smile grew even bigger when the Uchiha had said that. "Oh no, help me, I just made Konoha angry!" He exclaimed sarcastically. "You think anyone here cares who you are? They couldn't care less if your village was chosen by the gods to be the greatest in all the land. So my advice is to keep that mouth shut, child."

Sasuke made a move to charge at him, but Sakura threw her hand out. "Stand down, Sasuke. The last thing we need is to cause an incident." Turning her eyes to Gin, she asked him, "And what is your relationship with the Kazekage? Are you a friend of his?"

Gin nodded. "You could say that. And why are you here?"

"We were here to rescue the Kazekage, but since it's been done already, we have decided to see if you would like to make an alliance with Konoha," Yamato said, his tone serious.

"You know what my answer is, and it is no." Gaara said, his tone declaring that there will be no argument.

Yamato's eyes narrowed. "Kazekage-sama, I think it would be in your best interest to have an alliance with us. After all, I think it would be better in the long run if you were to do it."

Now it was Gaara's turn to narrow his eyes. "Is that a threat?" He said with a voice full of anger.

Sasuke smirked. "You could say it is. After all, it is better to be with us rather than against us. And that contract between Temari and I, it's still open if you want to accept it."

Temari shook her head. "You know my answer, and it is no. Why can't you just accept that?"

Sai gave out another of his smiles. "What's wrong with accept a contract to one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha? After all, to receive a proposal from the Uchiha is an honor."

Yamato nodded. "I really don't get why you won't accept. Is it because of Naruto?"

Sasuke smiled. "I think it is. I think she had a crush on Naruto. Why can't you accept that he's dead? After all, he was too much of a threat, and besides I am a lot-"

He never finished his sentence because the next thing he knew, he received a punch to the back of the skull courtesy on Gin. The strange thing was that the whole time, he had never dropped his smile.

"I think it's time you left, team from Konoha." Gin said.

Sasuke looked like he would protest, but Yamato put his hand on his shoulder. "I agree. But Kazekage-sama, the offer is still open. I do hope that you make the right decision." And with those words, the team from Konoha walked out of the room.

For a while, no one said anything. Then Gin spoke up. "So you had a crush on me when I was alive?"

Temari glared at him. "This is neither the time nor the place, Gin-san."

"Are you sure? Because I think you are very-"

"Just how old are you, Ichimaru?"

"Technically, I'm probably about a few thousand years old."

Everyone stared at him like he was insane. "Time passes real fast in Soul Society." Everyone nodded like they understood, then Temari said, "You are way too old for me. And like I said, this is neither the time nor the place to discuss this. Right now, we may have to do damage control. With what you did probably won't make us look good in Konoha. The last thing we need is a war with Konoha."

Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I need to ask Gin something." He turned towards Gin. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'll have to leave in the morning, and figure out how to find Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. I'll have to kill them both. But first, I have to find an army to help me combat them.

Gaara nodded at that. Then, he had an idea.

"Gin, I think I may know how I can help you out."

TBC

So that's chapter three. Next time, we focus mostly on everyone else in Konoha, especially Hinata. And we also focus on Uzumaki Kushina. So stay tuned. In the mean time, check out some new stories I wrote up.