Ok this is my first ever fanfic so please be kind. If your not up to date with the manga there are a few spoilers in this first chapter…and theirs bound to be a few more in the coming chapters as well. This story is basically happening in the same timeline as the manga.

EDIT: ok if you red the first version of this chapter I made it so that Asuma was alive but Pokemon Fan made a valid point saying that I would serve the story better if he was dead. So I've made that slight change. Sorry Asuma fans.

Anyway onto the story. Apart from my OC's, locations, jutsu's etc which will appear later on in the story all other characters, locations, jutsu's etc are all the property of Masashi Kishimoto so basically….I DO NOT OWN THEM. Though I often wish I did.

Also as of right now I don't have a beta reader for this story so if there are any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes that I've missed I apologise.

Chapter 1: Fatal Reality

Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the scene in front of him. Lying dead in front of him and his comrades surrounded by a now near non-existent woodland was Orochimaru's most feared and dangerous summon. Manda the king of snakes.

He felt slightly sick as he looked on at the charred remains of the snake then absent mindedly looked over at his comrades.

Kiba looked as though he was about to throw up, but whether that was because of the decayed state the summon was in or the smell of burnt and decaying flesh he didn't know.

Hinata and Sakura also had similar looks on their faces but he was sure that was down to the smell. Both Hinata and Sakura were medical ninja's so they were used to seeing all manners of grotesque and disturbing injuries through working at the hospital. If the smell was getting to them he felt really sorry for Kiba and only hoped that he'd nullified the jutsu that made his sense of smell more acute.

Shino, Sai, Yamato and Kakashi on the other hand weren't showing any signs of disgust to the scene. He could scarcely hear Yamato and Kakashi talking over what was going on but from parts of the fractured conversation he could gather that the snake had to of been summoned by Sasuke and that meant he couldn't be far.

Everyone's attention was suddenly torn away from the remains of the giant and brought to Akamaru when he started growling towards the woodland. Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan to see what was disturbing the large dog. The area looked clear apart from the odd animal appearing in her line of sight up to 200 meters. She focused more chakra to her eyes expanding her view a few hundred meters more. At 500 meters she couldn't see anything that should have alarmed the large dog until she saw a vague outline of a human. She again focused more chakra to her eyes expanding her eyes range another 100 meters. She finally saw what had set off the large dog.

"What do you see Hinata?" said Naruto who was already in a fighting stance, his right hand perched by his kunai holster so he was ready to attack or defend.

"Three people…about 600 meters ahead…their masking their chakra very well. They're not normal shinobi. They don't appear to know were here." said Hinata the vein's along the side of her head becoming more prominent as she focused more chakra to her eyes.

"Can you see what their doing Hinata?" said Kiba who was trying to calm his canine friend down so he didn't reveal their position.

"Umm…they seem to be following someone." Said the girl concentrating on what was going on in her line of view. The three people ere perched in a tree watching a person below them.

"Is it Sasuke?" said Naruto looking hopefully at the Hyuuga girl.

"I can't tell; that person's just outside the range of my eyes." Said Hinata sadly, she hated disappointing Naruto.

Naruto couldn't control himself. He needed to know whether the person the three figures were watching was the missing Uchiha. He was ready to move until he felt Kakashi's hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down. If we go now before we know what's going on we could be drawn into a fight. If that happens, that will give Sasuke more time to get away. I know it's difficult for you Naruto but we need to be patient." Said Kakashi looking at Naruto. Naruto calmed down but only slightly. Their was logic in Kakashi's words but how could he expect him to calm down when his best friend could potentially be only a few hundred meters away, being stalked by a small group of unknown shinobi.

"Those three shinobi are attacking!" Naruto was brought to his senses by those words and looked at Hinata who was still concentrating on the scene, the veins on the side of her head again had become more pronounced. Naruto guessed she could see more of what was going on as her eyes had grown wide and she looked afraid of what she was seeing.

"Hinata, what is it? What's wrong?" said Kakashi moving away from Naruto towards the Hyuuga girl.

"That group…they must be assassins." Hinata said watching the scene ahead of her.

The unknown person had fallen to the forest floor and the three shinobi hiding in the tree's jumped down and attacked him or her off with precise hits to vital areas on the body. Each member of the three person team had drawn a sword, two had jumped to the side of the unknown person and plunged their swords into the unknown person's chest which had punctured both lungs and if the unfortunate person was lucky had punctured the heart killing them instantly. But the person wasn't fortunate. The unknown person began clawing helplessly at the blades in his or her side all the while coughing up large amounts of blood. The third person stood behind the unknown person and placed their sword against the back of the unknown persons neck and with a quick thrust the sword came through the other side of the person's neck, severing both the neck bone and the persons voice box but had missed the wind pipe by a few centimetres. The unknown person was still alive but only just. The last attack had rendered the person immobile and mute. Just as Hinata thought they were just going to let the individual bleed to death a fourth person appeared with two small swords drawn. The fourth person placed him or herself in front of the unknown person and with the two swords crossed over each other almost like a pair of scissors placed them on either side of the unknown person's neck, just above where the pervious sword was still imbedded. The fourth person then dragged both swords through the unknown person's neck finally severing their head and ending the ordeal. Each member then proceeded to clean their blades on the now dead person's clothes then sheathed their weapons. The three original shinobi who had been hiding in the tree's jumped back into the tree's and ran away from the scene while the fourth stayed behind. The fourth member collected the head of the individual then proceeded to dispose of the body using a jutsu. Once the person was finished he or she followed the direction the rest of his or her team had travelled.

"The unknown person was just killed by them. I can't be sure but I don't think that person was Sasuke." said Hinata hoping that would calm Naruto down who at that moment was being held down by both Kiba and Sakura so he didn't run towards the scene.

"Where are they Hinata? Are they still there?" said Kakashi

"No, they're gone. They've destroyed the body I think and one of them took the unknown persons head."

"They weren't assassins then, they were bounty hunters." Said Yamato

"If so then we need to keep moving. They might see us as allies of the person they just killed and if so they'll attack us." Said Kakashi who started walking back towards the town where they were staying.

"What do you mean?" said Sakura walking quickly to her sensei's side.

"Assassins such as ANBU members just kill their target and take something that was unique to the target for identification, for instance their dog tags then destroy the body. Bounty hunters though have to take the head or even the entire body of the target to be paid for the kill. But if they see anyone else within a 1 mile radius of the target they're treated as secondary targets. They have to be killed so that no one knows of what went on. " said Kakashi, his visible eye darting from left to right studying the surroundings.

Everyone immediately took notice of what he was saying and followed Kakashi away from the area and back towards the small town where they were staying. Everyone remained quite for a while, waiting until they were far enough away. Naruto was the first to ask a question. Yamato and Kakashi weren't surprised by the fact they had so many questions. Bounty hunters were a taboo subject and unless necessary were never brought up in conversation. The questions started of innocent enough but slowly got more macabre and Kakashi answered them with difficulty. He remembered clearly the first time he'd been told about the existence of bounty hunters and the bloodthirsty ways. He wanted to try and spare the more macabre details about those types of ninja's on his and Kurenai's students.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, Why do they have to take the head?" said Naruto saying the question as if what he was implying meant nothing

"To prove it is the target. There are certain jutsu's that can disguise the identity of a person that continue on for a short while after the death of a replacement. If assassins were sent to kill a target the target could easily place their own dog tags on a replacement and wait for the assassins to kill the fake. Since many assassins destroy the body and only take an object that is unique to the target and not something that could definitively identify the target, the real target could then sneak away undetected. Bounty hunters take the head so that if a jutsu has been used to disguise the body they know that their target is still alive. They destroy the body so that if the real target is alive they believe they are safe so they let their guard down. The bounty hunters then come back, track them down and kill them. Then they take the head of the real target to a bounty hunter station and get paid." Said Kakashi while jumping from tree to tree

"But who pays them?" asked Naruto

"Bounty hunters are generally more proficient at assassinating targets than most other ninja, so if a village like Konoha has a target that needs to be killed they normally employ the help of bounty hunters to do so. Though the employment of bounty hunters is normally a last resort type of thing and only used on the most urgent of cases. As I said they take the head of the real target to a bounty hunter station. Once there they take the head to their master and either hand it over to them and get paid or they take the head to whoever issued the assassination in the first place and get paid."

"So you're saying that a village employed a bounty hunter to kill that person?" Sakura asked not really believing a village would be desperate enough to send a bounty hunting team to kill one person.

"Maybe not. Bounty hunters normally take on any mission no matter what it is or who they get it from, and they normally charge far less than ninja villages for their services. That person could simply have been charged with a crime by a small town or village and they might not have had the authority to kill that person. Bounty hunters are basically used as a cheap form of justice to smaller villages. Their employed by everyone from civilians to daimyo's." said Kakashi.

All the while even though he was answering Naruto and Sakura's questions he was paying close attention to his surroundings. The thought that bounty hunters were in the area was very unsettling to the copy ninja. He had been lying when he said that bounty hunters were only more skilled at killing. Bounty hunters were more skilled at being ninja in general. They had to be, they were normally thrust into life threatening situations on a daily basis and had to be able to defend themselves against any enemy and then be able to kill their enemy. They had to excel at taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu or at least be highly proficient at using two of the skills. He'd heard many rumours of bounty hunters being skilled in every kind of skill a ninja could learn, from medical jutsu's to forbidden jutsu's. And the fact that many bounty hunters were A class or S class criminals didn't help matters. Kakashi really did not want to fight a bounty hunter. Fighting the Akatsuki was bad enough as it is. He and his team didn't need to have a team of bounty hunters chasing after them as well.

It's not that he and his team couldn't beat a bounty hunter; they could quite easily but since the formation of the Akatsuki many bounty hunters began to move in teams of four and that's what he was truly worried about. Due to their superior stealth skills two members could hide amongst the trees and not be found while the other two were engaged in combat and when one of them gave the signal the two hidden ninja's would appear and strike the fatal blows to the combatants. If the description Hinata gave of their assassination technique was accurate, this team of bounty hunters worked very well together and were able to attack in complete synch with each other.

But the one thing that was unnerving him the most was what Hinata had said before the kill had taken place. Hinata had originally said when she noticed the group that she could only see three bounty hunters, that meant that the fourth one was more skilled than the other three and was either masking their chakra far better than the other three or had a jutsu that could fool the Byakugan. Either option didn't bode well for them.

When they eventually returned to the village they went to the hotel where they were staying and retired to their rooms. Hinata and Sakura shared one room, Kiba and Shino shared the one next to them along with Kiba's large canine companion, Sai and Naruto shared the one opposite them and Kakashi and Yamato shared the one opposite Sakura and Hinata's room. Both of the Jounin though barely actually shared the room or even went in it unless it was to have secret words that they didn't want the younger ninja's to hear or to plan their next move. For the most part both Jounin were acting as guards for the group and normally stayed on the roof of the building. Each ninja said their goodnights or in Naruto's case muffled plea's, as he begged each of his team mates to let him switch rooms, before closing their doors on the blonde and hearing him dragged kicking and screaming by either Kakashi or Yamato into his and Sai's room.

After relieving Yamato of his watch, while perched on the roof of the hotel Kakashi's mind began to wonder. They'd only been in the village for about a week. Apart from the discovery of the charred remains of Manda they had found today there really hadn't been any sign of Sasuke or the Akatsuki. Kiba and Akamaru as well as his ninja dogs had found traces of Sasuke's scent but nothing definitive though his dogs had all said that Sasuke's scent was strongest when they were in the vicinity of the giant snake.

Kakashi couldn't help but think that the young Uchiha had already moved on to another town and that just waiting around for any sign of him was simply a waste of time. He never voiced this opinion though. He knew that if he did he was likely to be on the receiving end of one of Sakura's chakra enhanced punch's or be attacked by a pissed off kyuubi empowered Naruto.

He knew how deeply the kunoichi cared for the missing ninja and how much Naruto cared for the pink haired kunoichi. He could see it clearly in his eyes how desperately he wanted to get the Uchiha back to make her happy as well as to try and make things the way they were before. He knew that the blonde haired ninja out of everything wanted things to go back to the way they were before all of this happened, before the Uchiha had let all his rage and hatred envelop his heart. Kakashi blamed himself for everything that had happened. He cursed himself daily when he saw the pink haired kunoichi wandering around Konoha's streets with a miserable look on her face or when he saw the blonde training so hard that he would return to his apartment with monstrous gaping wounds all over his hands. Most of all though his cursed his own stupidity and ignorance. He remembered how he would always tell himself that everything would be ok, that Sasuke wouldn't give in to temptation and go to Orochimaru, that Sasuke wouldn't take his brothers words to heart and allow his lust for revenge encompass him. He regretted teaching him one of his most powerful jutsu's, he regretted not taking more time to train Naruto and also in a way Sakura, even though she learned far more from the Godaime than she could ever had learned from him. The Godaime had taught her everything that he neglected to. He'd always foolishly believed that either he, Naruto or Sasuke would be there to protect her so he wouldn't need to teach her the skills she needed. If he'd taught her, the most she would've learned was more about genjutsu. The Godaime had taught her everything she needed to know to be the highly competent ninja she was today.

Regret seemed to be a state of being that followed Kakashi around. He couldn't really think of anything that had happened in his life that made him feel proud to be who he was. His father, Obito, Minato-sensei, Rin and finally Sasuke, he'd let them all down when they needed him the most, when they were screaming out for his help or understanding. Most of them were dead now. Helping Naruto and Sakura save Sasuke was now his last chance to make amends for all the times he failed the people most important to him in the past. And he was more than willing to sacrifice his life if necessary.

"It's not wise to let your mind linger too long on the past sempai" Said Tenzou sitting on the ledge of the window to their room. He knew something was very wrong for two reasons. One Kakashi hadn't summoned any of his ninja dogs, he normally did so that the radius in which he could guard was higher, Tenzou himself did the same by making mokuton bunshin's and spreading them throughout the town and finally two, the little book the silver haired man coveted was still in his kunai pouch .

Kakashi looked in his direction but said nothing. He hated it when people could tell what he was thinking.

"What's wrong, you never used to think about the past so much. You would visit the memorial and that was it. What's changed?" said Tenzou as he approached the silver haired man apprehensively.

"Everything. Before, death didn't follow shinobi as closely as it does now. Asuma was a powerful shinobi and he didn't survive that encounter he had with the Akatsuki six months ago. You should know what's coming Tenzou. It's the same as before." Said Kakashi, not taking his eyes away from the rooftops of the town.

"Forgive me sempai if I sound somewhat dense, but what are you talking about? What's coming?" said Tenzou who now was seriously worried about the silver haired man. He only became this philosophical, withdrawn and daunted by his past when something dreadful was going to happen.

"A war's coming Tenzou, and it is going to be far worse than any of the others. Can't you feel it? The feeling that death is breathing down your neck. That death is just waiting for that fatal blow to be struck. That no matter what you do, this horrifying occurrence is only a stones throw away." Said Kakashi coolly. His one visible eye was devoid of all emotion and seemed hollow as it peered down on the streets below.

"Sempai…why? Why are you thinking all these things? There is no reason for a war on such a scale as your saying to happen any time soon. Sure relationships with other countries aren't as strong as they could be, but nothing has happened to signify that any other country wants to start a war." Now Tenzou was worried but at the same time confused. Relations with other countries weren't that bad were they? Had he been misinformed by his superiors? As far as he knew the alliance with Suna was going well and the ceasefire Konoha had with the other three major shinobi nations was still in effect.

"Who said the war was going to be between countries?" said Kakashi who by now was looking contemplatively up at the moonlit sky.

"What?" now he was seriously confused. If this cataclysmic war wasn't going to be between countries who was it going to be between?

"The war Tenzou is going to be between the Akatsuki and anyone left alive." He was surprised Tenzou hadn't made the realisation himself but he wasn't surprised. Admitting the Akatsuki were as big a threat as that was bound to make morale decrease.

"Wha…what are you saying?" now he was confused, scared and worried about what his sempai was implying. He was confused because he didn't know where this assumption had come from. He was scared that the Akatsuki intimidated the steely nerved shinobi so much. And finally he was worried that his sempai was going crazy. The theory's that he was coming up with about the Akatsuki and what they were capable of doing were insane at best but the idea of them starting a war and death following them wherever they went was just unimaginable. Yes, death did follow shinobi around a lot but that was the danger of their job and yes it was true the likelihood of dying recently increased with the activity of the Akatsuki but with everything he was saying it was almost like the silver haired shinobi was expecting his demise to come any day soon and when he was in a situation that could result in his death, he wasn't going to fight it. He was going to welcome it with open arms.

"The Akatsuki want all of the nine tailed beasts, correct? What do you think they're going to do with them once they have them all? Seal them in new hosts? No Tenzou. Think about it logically. Why seal them in humans when you can just set them free on the world. If the leader of the Akatsuki has a way to extract the bijuu from their jinchuuriki host, then he or she is bound to have a way to control the bijuu once that's occurred. And as far as we know Tenzou, you, Itachi and possibly now Sasuke are the only people who are able to suppress demon chakra. So if I'm right in my assumption that the Akatsuki leader is going to unleash the tailed beasts onto the world, we don't stand a chance. Your abilities to suppress demon charka have their limitations, as does the sharingan's ability. The war will be the nine tailed beasts and the Akatsuki, against anyone who's foolish enough to stand in their way. That's why death is so close to us all now. It's just waiting for that time where we let our guard down and let Naruto fall into the Akatsuki's hands. Once that happens Tenzou. Once they get the Kyuubi. That's when the war begins." This thought had been inside Kakashi's head for a while. He'd been trying to find a reason behind the Akatsuki's need for the tailed beasts and it had hit him one day. It was a fearsome and worrisome reason and one that didn't bode well for anyone. Even if they didn't get all the tailed beasts if they got the other eight tailed beasts but not the Kyuubi the only way to combat them would be to unleash the Kyuubi inside Naruto which meant two things. One Naruto would die and two whoever was controlling the other eight demons would then probably be able to control the Kyuubi.

"How…how can you think that? We won't let our guard down around Naruto. I know especially that you won't, purely out of loyalty to Kushina-sama and Yondaime Hokage-sama." This was not the Hatake Kakashi he knew and respected. Even though he always seemed aloof and slightly detached from reality and in a way depressive because of his certain outlooks on life the man he respected was highly determined and resolute in his decisions, not to mention he always honoured the promises he made to the people most important to him. One such promise being the one he made to Naruto's parents, promising them that he'd never let anything happen to their son.

"Exactly. I won't let my guard down, but I can't exactly protect Naruto if I'm dead now can I?" Kakashi said morbidly

"What? What are you…?" he was caught off guard by this. He just looked at the silver haired man shocked by what he said. This man really did have a death wish. He really did think that he was going to die soon. How could he? How could someone who is both respected and feared at the same time because of his strength be so convinced he was going to be killed?

"I've been saying it repeatedly Tenzou. Each and every one of us, our days are numbered. Death is counting down the minutes until she takes us back with her to Yomi." he knew what Tenzou was thinking. When had all this happened? When had he begun to think he was going to die in the struggle against the Akatsuki? He honestly didn't know himself but he guessed it was after he heard of Asuma's death and his own near death experience at the hands of Kakuzu.

"So that's it. That's why you're like this. You're convinced you're going to die." Tenzou sighed deeply and sat down next to the silver haired man on the roof. He was still deeply confused and unnerved by what he was saying and hoped this was just some sort of phase he was going through. But even now sitting next to him and digesting everything the copy ninja had said so far he had to admit he was starting to feel those feelings as well. The feeling of death being so close it made the air thick with ill will.

"I guess so, but its not surprising is it. When I fought that Akatsuki guy Kakuzu I noticed how strong Naruto and all the others had gotten. They're coming closer and closer to inheriting the will of fire, and taking over as the teachers of the new generations. I guess old men like me eventually get to the point where they begin to think they're becoming a dull blade and their becoming useless to their countries." He still hadn't taken his eyes off the sky. He had to admit shikamaru was on to something with his cloud gazing, it was very relaxing and it gave you time to collect your thoughts and think.

"Stop it! You're not a useless shinobi! Sempai, you are one of Konoha's top shinobi. Even if and when Naruto's generation takes over from ours, he, Sakura and Sasuke will need your help from time to time. Hell even now I need your help sometimes. You are far from being an old worn out tool sempai. You still have loads to teach Naruto and Sakura and I don't think there is really anyone else apart from Naruto who can understand Sasuke better than you." He'd had enough, he hated hearing the man he respected most say to himself that he was worthless.

"You keep on making the assumption that we'll find him." He was still looking at the sky; he didn't really feel that he was there on the rooftop talking to Tenzou. He felt detached from the world, as if he was in some different plan of reality to him.

"You don't think we will?" Tenzou was surprised by this if it was true. Seven days ago when they were standing at Konoha's gates he seemed to have the same opinion of Naruto and Sakura. Failure wasn't an option. They were getting the Uchiha back and that was final.

"Oh no I think we will. But he won't be coming back with us unless it's in some form of body bag. Sasuke is too far gone to just give up his whole idea of revenge to just come back with his comrades. The only way we'll be able to get him back to Konoha alive is if we lure him with something that'll make his execution of revenge faster. Basically he'll only come back with us if we have a foolproof plan of getting Itachi. If we don't' he's going to fight to keep on searching for his brother. That is unless he's found him already." Again he hadn't stopped looking at the sky; he was starting to develop a slight pain in his neck from looking up at an awkward angle for the past ten minutes or so.

"And if that's happened?" said Tenzou who had started to look up at the sky as well. It seemed to be calming the copy ninja and calming down was what Tenzou needed to do now as he waited for his sempai's reply.

"Then there are two outcomes. Sasuke wins or Sasuke loses. If he wins we have one less Akatsuki member to deal with. If he loses, everything Naruto and Sakura have believed in for the past three years, everything they've strived to achieve, everything they've done to get him back, will have been for nothing. Itachi let Sasuke go the last time they fought but this time because Sasuke is far stronger than he was before and poses a potential threat to the Akatsuki, he won't let him go alive." What was wrong with him? When had everything become all dark and gloomy? Why was he like this? More importantly, why wasn't he reading his beloved book? His adoration of his books was like Asuma's addiction to cigarettes. He only stopped when he had to be serious about something. So what was it? There had been no evidence of the Uchiha or the Akatsuki all week apart from today. So what happened today to stir up these feelings in him? Was it the body of the giant snake? No it couldn't be, he'd seen worse things before. Was it the killing of that guy? No again it couldn't be because he'd probably killed someone in that manner before anyway. Was it the fact bounty hunters were in the area? Most likely. He had a history with bounty hunters. One that no one, not even Tenzou or the Hokage herself knew about and he had no intention of telling this history to anyone. This history was one of the main reasons he left the ANBU. He only prayed the bounty hunters that were in the woods earlier had moved onto their next target, but then again he wasn't a very religious man and knowing his luck they were bound to still be in the area.

"You should really go back inside Tenzou and get some rest. When I finish my watch we'll get moving and continuing looking for Sasuke."

"But what about you? You need to rest as well"

"I will, I'll summon my ninja dogs in a minute and send them off patrolling. If they spot anything suspicious I'll wake up and go to their location."

"Wait a minute, if anything happens wake me and the others first. You may think that you're going to die sometime soon sempai but Naruto, Sakura and I won't let that happen. Not yet."

Kakashi didn't answer him. He pulled out a kunai and made a small cut on his right index finger and made the needed hand seals to summon his ninja dogs then sent them off in different directions before retaking his position on the roof.

He lay down on the cold clay roof tiles and just gazed up at the stars trying to collect his thoughts. He couldn't really make out what it was that was unnerving him and making him think about his own mortality. Sure on certain missions he had frequently had thoughts of not making it back alive but this felt different. He couldn't really describe what he was feeling. he felt agitated but at the same time calm. His emotions and feelings were in complete contradiction with each other. He wished that he hadn't told Tenzou all those things. If word of his assumptions got to the Hokage she would probably have him subjected to one of Ibiki's psychological evaluations.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he was going insane. With all the pressure he had placed on his shoulders it wouldn't be surprising. He'd been placed in charge of Naruto's protection and training which also meant he had to make sure the seal holding the kyuubi back stayed intact. he'd put himself in charge of taking care of Kurenai's team which consisted of the Hyuuga heiress who by now was a potentially important political figure in Konoha and the two other shinobi from other highly respected clan's. Not to mention he also had made a silent promise to his deceased sensei and his wife that he wouldn't let anything happen to Naruto. And finally of course the promise he had made Sakura and Naruto that they would get Sasuke back, that failure wasn't an option.

Then of course there was the Akatsuki. He sometimes thought of himself as being the lone crusader against the Akatsuki, even though that was far from being true. He'd been in the most fights with the Akatsuki. He'd fought against the missing earth ninja Deidara, the missing waterfall ninja Kakuzu, the missing leaf ninja Uchiha Itachi on multiple occasions and then of course their was the brief fight he'd had with the missing ninja Hidan. Apart from possibly Jiraiya no one else in Konoha had fought with the Akatsuki so many times and survived. Maybe he was lucky to have survived for so long. He didn't really believe it was just down to his power alone that he was still alive. He was strong for a shinobi but there were stronger, and they were all in the Akatsuki and yet he'd faced some of them and lived. If luck was on his side then soon it was going to abandon him. You could only cheat death herself so many times before she made some deadly yet divine intervention occur that spelled your doom.

His mind had quietened down slightly and was letting him relax so that he could hopefully get some sleep but as soon as this peace came it was shattered as he heard one of ninja dogs barking in the distance.

He reluctantly rose from his position on the roof and went over to the window to his and Tenzou's room.

"Tenzou wake up. My ninja dogs have found something. Wake the others and meet me there." The copy ninja said curtly before taking off in the direction of the barking hound.

The feeling of uneasiness that Tenzou had been feeling since his talk with Kakashi was now stronger than ever. Whatever the dogs had discovered wasn't anything good. For all he knew Kakashi was making his way towards an Akatsuki trap. He quickly dressed and made his way to the other ninja's rooms, telling them to hurry up and meet him outside. He only hoped that his uneasiness didn't show in his behaviour. He really didn't want to have to explain to the other ninja's the reason. It was only now that he realised what Kakashi meant by death being close to them. The air was colder than it should be. It was spring, the air should be slightly warm and inviting but instead it was cold and carried the hint of ill omen. One question kept nagging away relentlessly inside his head. Was Kakashi going to die?

Sorry if I confuse a few people but all should become clear in the next chapter. It's only now that I've noticed how much I've written. 12 pages...damn…sorry I'll try and make the next one a bit shorter if I can.

Anyway please comment on this. I'd like to know if this is interesting to anyone. Positive feedback is likely to make me work faster.

Also if you don't know what Kakashi's going on about when he refers to death being a woman he's talking about Izanami no mikoto who is the goddess of both creation and death and Yomi is the Japanese word for the underworld or hell.