Author's Notes – I claim no rights or anything associated with the Naruto series and/or its characters.  Please leave me your comments and reviews telling me what you think. Thanks!

 "..." regular speech, '...' beast speech, *...* mental telepathy

Chapter Ten: Taka and the demon Akatsuki

A huge bolt of lightning shook the ground as everyone managed to move out of the way just in the nick of time.

"Dam Deidara, you missed them. One of them saw your attack coming and alerted the rest of the group. I told you that you had to be more shuttle with your attacks." replied a deep voice as two figures emerged wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them. Both beings didn't even resemble human. One was a short red head with thick light brown skin that looked almost like wood. His body made a strange clinging sounds when he moved that sounded like metal hitting metal. The other was a tall light skinned Caucasian with golden hair that looked like lightning. His eyes crackled with electricity as he had no visible irises and/or pupils.

"Come on Sasori, where is the fun in that?" asked Deidara. Loud low guttered snarls interrupted the two men from their bickering.

"Who in the hell are you?" snarled Naruto.

"We are the demon Akatsuki. Thank you so much for coming. We have heard of a group of super humans and monsters that were seeking us out so we laid this trap just for you!" stated Deidara as he sat down Indian style. Beneath him a cloud began to appear as he floated up towards the sky.

"Deidara stop talking and get blasting. Master isn't going to be pleased with us if we don't stop this group from ruining our plans!" stated Sasori as his body transformed into that of a huge wooden puppet. Both Naruto and Gaara shifted into their full feral forms as Shikaku slammed his paws into the ground as sand erupted from the ground quickly covering his allies from Sasori's attacks.

'Be careful Shikaku. That one has poison in his weapons that he uses to attack.' snarled Kyuubi.

'Kyuubi can you get close enough to set that puppet on fire? We can't run the risk of the humans getting hit.' replied Shikaku.

'I will try.' he replied turning to Shimamaru. *Ready to try out those new powers of yours?* asked the fox with an evil grin stretched across his muzzle.

"What do you have in mind Kyuubi?" asked the teen.

Sasuke swooped down picking up Temari with his tail placing the girl onto his back.

"Hey Temari, think you can muster up the wind?" snarled Sasuke. Temari smiled as she kicked open her large fan weapon.

"Do you want me to blow away those storm clouds?" she asked.

"No just the opposite. Draw them in closer. Remember our powers increase around or with certain elements. Those clouds contain electrical energy which could fuel my lightning." he replied.

"I will try my best." Temari replied as Sasuke's tail held onto the teen as he avoided Deidara's attacks.

"Good because right now that demon's attacks are two closely similar to my own. If we want to beat him, our only chance is that energy. I am not going to run the risk of getting hit because his electrical power is far different than my lightning. It feels almost sinister and evil." stated Sasuke.

"All right...one storm cloud coming up!" replied Temari.

Shikaku's tail was wrapped around the remaining humans as he protected them from Sasori's poison attacks. His sand was slowly giving away.

*Hey Sakura do me a favor, use that strength of yours to crumble the ground into sand. I was only able to draw up a small portion of it on my own.* snarled Shikaku.

"That puppet is using poison isn't he? That is why you are trying to protect us." Sakura stated as Shikaku nodded his head yes. Sakura smiled as she tightened up her hands into fists. "One massive desert coming up." she replied before she slammed her fists into the ground. The ground shook as the hard rock became smooth sand which increased Shikaku's power ten fold. Shikaku slammed his hands down onto the sand reinforcing the sand shield that he had created around himself and the humans.

*Thanks Sakura!* replied Shikaku with a smile stretched across his muzzle.

Outside of the sand dome, Kyuubi and Shikaku made their move as Shikamaru created several shadow clones to grab Sasori's attention.

"Hey demon, I bet you can't hit the broad side of a barn." laughed Shikamaru. Sasori turned his head as bullets erupted from out of his machine gun arms killing the clone. "Come on you missed me!" shouted Shikamaru as Sasori once again shot the clone. "Is that the best you can do?" asked another of Shikamaru's clones. Sasori went to move finding himself unable to move.

"What the...?" snarled the demon as Shikamaru laughed.

"Shadow possession complete. He is all yours Kyuubi!" the teen replied jumping out of the way of a huge fire ball. Sasori screamed in pain as his wooden body was burned to death.

Up above...Deidara witnessed the death of his friend and ally as his body shifted becoming one with the clouds.

"You will pay for that!" he howled as rain began to pour down causing both Shikaku and Kyuubi to shift back to their human forms. Their powers proved worthless in the water as they couldn't call upon their powers. Lightning clashed dangerously close to the group not only on the ground but also in the sky. Temari was forced to hold on for dear life. Thunder and lightning clashed close to Sasuke as a deep rage engulfed his body as he began to transform in mid flight. Both Naruto and Gaara could feel it as they watched Sasuke transform with Temari still on his back.

*Jump off Temari. It is not safe up there! Don't worry, I will catch you.* Naruto shouted mentally at the teen. Temari trusted Naruto's judgment as she lept off of Sasuke's back. Naruto sprinted quickly calling upon his power to catch Temari in his arms as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one!" he replied.

Sasuke let out loud guttered screams and howls as thunder and lightning clashed. His body became longer and sleeker looking like a lizard with gray scales surrounding his body. His clawed winged hands became covered with silver feathers. His face elongated becoming like a dragon's face with a bird-like muzzle. His eyes shined glowing all blood red with no visible irises and/or pupils as dark veins encircled his eyes. His hair became one with the spikes on his back trailing all the way down to his tail. A pair of tan horns ripped out of the side of his skull which sleeked back and up. The only things that remained the same was the color of his hair, the clawed taloned hands and feet, as well as the diamond shape cross in the middle of his face. Taka had finally awakened and Deidara was facing a pissed off bird-dragon.

*If you as so much hurt my family and friends, you are going to be a dead man!* Taka snarled at Deidara.

'I feel sorry for him. Taka's temper is worse than mine.' laughed Kyuubi as he watched the lightning obey Taka's commands.

*Tell me one thing demon, are there more to your group?* asked Taka in a deep snarl as Deidara could feel his powers failing him.

"You haven't see the last of my group. We will destroy this world in order to create our own were we will reign supreme." replied Deidara.

*Well unfortunately you will not be around long enough to see it. And we will never allow that to happen!* snapped Taka as he opened up his beak muzzle. *Tornado Lightning!* he shouted as lightning shot out of Taka's beak frying Deidara until nothing was left of the man. Taka then spread his wings landing down near the humans before shifting back into the human form of Sasuke before loosing consciousness.