At times, the earth felt firm beneath her feet. The sky was stable on its pillars, never cracking open, never in danger of collapsing on her. The wind blew sweet and cool, a calming breath rather than a frantic gust. There were times when she would listen to her son as he rambled excitedly about the new techniques he was learning - often followed by an attempted demonstration, a sudden mess, and a scolding for him about demonstrating ninjutsu in the house - and be able to smile, sincerely, with all her heart. There were times when she could welcome her husband home with joy unaccompanied by foreboding. And when, drifting off to sleep in his arms, she could feel truly safe.

But her dreams reminded her otherwise. In her dreams, the demon-fox was always there-grinning at her through the bars of its prison, reaching its claws out towards her, trying to pull her in. "Kushina..." he would say, "You and I both know the truth. We are alone in this...you and I...they can say they love you, that they protect you for love of you, and not for fear of me...but we know the truth. Their eyes betray what their lips will not speak." When she would hesitate, he would reach for her again. She would stumble back, screaming - and he would laugh, again, swishing his nine tails around lazily. "It's all in time, Kushina. You will come to understand. You will realize...they are all liars. I am your only true friend."

Morning would come, and Kushina Uzumaki would resume her everyday life. There was little room for fear in her days.

It was at night when the shadows would lurk. Little by little, it began to show on her face - rings under her eyes, softness to her speech, a tremor to her fingers, a dullness to her flaming-red hair. She would make excuses - to her friend Mitoko Uchiha, that she had been repairing her son's shirt and stayed up too late by accident; to her husband that she'd been a bit too excited about Naruto's chuunin promotion and had gotten to thinking at night, forgetting to sleep; to her son, Naruto, that he had missions he should be worrying about and that she could handle herself just fine, he'd do best not to ask about it lest he anger her. There were excuses, a blind for those who couldn't understand.

"The mouth of Hell is opening, Kushina. You can see it, too, can't you?" The nine-tailed fox grinned at her, its yellow-red eyes glittering. "They are coming for us...we will be reaching for the great below sooner than you think."

It was early evening. A crisp breeze rustled the branches as Team Iruka walked through the gates of Konohagakure.

Naruto Uzumaki, as usual, was the first one through the gates - his eager nature and his hunger propelled him through the gates ahead of his teammates. "I'm soooo hungry..." he was muttering to himself excitedly. "I wonder what Mom made for dinner...ramen? I hope it's ramen, y'know! But fish would be good too...I hope she doesn't make those vegetables she made last night...fish would be fine, but some miso pork ramen would be the best!"

Iruka Umino, the jounin leader of their team, caught up to him and snatched him by the collar of his shirt. "Not so fast." He scolded, "You'd think by the time chuunin you'd know the routine. We have to report to Yondaime-sama before anything else."

"I'll see my dad at home!" protested Naruto. "I'll tell him everything there! Let me go eat! Dinner will get cold, y'know!"

"Let him go." laughed Sasuke Uchiha as he and Sakura Haruno arrived through the gates. "There's no point in arguing with him over this. You know Naruto...until he eats he won't think or speak of anything else."

Iruka sighed. "Naruto, here, you're not the Hokage's son...you're a chuunin, a Konoha shinobi...you can't get away with shirking duty just because Yondaime-sama is your father...now, let's go..."

At that moment, Naruto's body evaporated in a puff of smoke.

"What the - another shadow clone?!" Iruka roared, furious. "Naruto, you - !"

Naruto popped out of the bushes and raced off down the street, laughing. "I'm so hungry I could eat a frog!" he shouted as he ran. "What's for dinner?"

Sasuke and Sakura both laughed-they were used to these stunts of his. When Iruka spun to face them, they both fell silent and looked down. "You two - you shouldn't encourage him in this!" shouted Iruka. "You need to know better!"

"Well, Iruka-sensei...I told you it was more trouble than it was worth to try to drag him in..." Sasuke muttered quickly, fighting to keep a straight face. "You know it as well as I do. He's always been his own kind of shinobi...let it be."

Iruka sighed. "Alright." he said, rubbing his temples. "You two, make the report with me. We'll have to be sure to mention why Naruto won't be present with us."

As they approached the Yondaime Hokage's office, two tall, dark figures approached down the hallway. Both wore the ANBU uniform, one with a cat mask and one with a weasel mask. The cat-masked figure had short, messy dark hair, and the weasel-masked figure had long, smooth black hair tied in a ponytail at the base of his neck.

At the sight of them, Sasuke slowed. "Go ahead to the office, I'll catch up in a moment." He said to Iruka and Sakura. Both nodded and continued down the hall. Once they had disappeared around a corner, Sasuke lowered his voice. "Niichan," he whispered to the weasel-masked figure, "You didn't see it, did you?"

"Itachi." the cat-masked man said, "You know we cannot speak of our missions to anyone, even family..."

"It's alright, Shisui." replied the weasel-masked man, Itachi. "He just wants to know I've gotten home alright." And then, to Sasuke: "I'm fine, little brother. We saw the demon in the distance, but we changed our route to avoid him." He paused. "I don't know who it was that the Demon of the Desert took...it had somebody, though." He changed his tone. "Tell Mother I'll be at dinner tonight, I have to make one more report and then I'll be coming home. Shisui will join us tonight, if that is acceptable."

"I'll tell her." Sasuke replied with a nod. "See you at home, niichan."

Although Itachi's entire face was obscured by the mask, Sasuke could hear the smile in his brother's voice. "I'm glad to be home."

Miles away, a skinny teenage boy with red-brown hair, tattered clothes, and black, raccoon-like rings around his eyes crouched by a rock in the midst of the desert, gnawing anxiously on a bone.

"Mother, I'm sorry...I fed you a bad one..." he grunted, clutching his head. "Mother...I promise I'll feed you a better one soon...I promise, please don't be mad..." He doubled over, coughing. Blood splattered from his lips, a wine-colored stain on the infinite white sand. "Please don't cry, Mother..."

Two figures were approaching from far away. His eyes, bloodshot and empty, focused on the slowly-approaching shapes, their shadows stark against the moonlight-bleached landscape. "I'll feed you again now, Mother..." he said, "They'll be good this time...I promise..."

"Hm." said one of the two, a young man with long blond hair that hung in his face and a crooked smile. "So we're looking for some 'demon of the desert' thing now, hm? This desert is massive, how long do we need to wander around for, hm? I'm tired of this already, hm! Thought you had a better plan than this, Kisame!"

"Oh, come now." chuckled the other, a much taller, much more well-muscled man with pale blue skin, blue hair, and a large sword, wrapped in bandages, strapped to his back. "I thought you hated Sasori! But it appears he's had quite an influence on your patience level, Deidara!"

"Don't even talk to me about that puppet bastard, hm!" shouted Deidara. "Don't you have a plan? How are we supposed to find one guy in all this desert, hm? Did you even think about a plan before we moved out, hm?"

Both men wore high-collared black robes with red trim, decorated with a pattern of red clouds. They also wore round straw hats with strips of white fabric hanging from the edges.

"Cool it, Deidara. I know about this one. We don't need to actively search for him...he'll come find us. After that, we just have to...you know, be the last ones standing."

The raccoon-boy smacked himself twice on the head. "Mother I see them! I know they're coming! I'll feed you, please let me go!" He cried out and fell to his hands and knees. "I'll feed you well, I promise!" He dug his hands into the sand.

Deidara suddenly became aware of the sand shifting at his feet. "Hm! Think we're onto something here!" He yelled, "He's here! This sand is his stuff, hm!"

"I know." grinned Kisame, who had noticed as well. He grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Get ready, Deidara. It's time to take out the Ichibi. But he won't go down without a fight, and this is his land...he's got an advantage."

"I KNOW THAT, HM!" yelled Deidara, opening his hand. Etched into his palm there was a mouth - it was chewing on something, kneading it about in its jaws. It opened and let something fall to the ground-a sculpture of a bird. Deidara made a sign with his hand and the bird expanded, multiplying in size to something big enough for both himself and Kisame to ride upon. The bird soared into flight just as the sand surged up, attempting to wrap around them. Kisame swung his giant sword in one wide swoop, and the sand fell around them. "Let's go, kid." he grinned.

As the evening rolled on, three more teams arrived through the gates of Konohagakure. Shortly after darkness fell, a four-man cell consisting of two jounins and two chuunins careened noisily through the gate. "GUY-SENSEI!" yelled one of the chuunins, a lanky, dark-haired boy with heavy eyebrows clad in green, "WE HAVE ARRIVED TWO HOURS EARLY! OUR SPEED IS IMPROVING!"

The other chuunin, a girl with her dark brown hair in two tight buns on top of her head and a large scroll on her back, groaned as she leaned against the wall, panting. "We work…hard enough…on these missions…and then you two…insist on sprinting home…at top speed…" she stammered, "Lee…you and Guy…we'll die before another mission…if you keep this up…"

"NONSENSE!" roared one of the jounins, a tall, dark-haired man wearing a tight green jumpsuit. "THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH HAS JUST BEGUN! LET US MAKE HASTE, TENTEN, LEE, NEJI, WE CAN STILL MAKE OUR REPORT TONIGHT!"

"YES, SIR!" belted Lee, saluting enthusiastically. "LET'S RUN! WE WILL MAKE IT THERE WITHIN THREE MINUTES!"

"NO! TWO MINUTES!" shouted Guy, ignoring Tenten's attempted protests.

"ONE MINUTE!" Lee yelled, and lowered himself into a runner's crouch. "LET'S DO IT, GUY-SENSEI!"

"YES! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! LET'S GO!" beamed Guy, and the two were off.

Tenten looked ready to pass out. "Honestly, Neji…" she groaned as the other jounin, a boy with his long, black hair tied in a low ponytail, stepped towards her. "Do we get to stop working with these two once I'm jounin?"

"We'll see if Yondaime-sama is so kind." Neji chuckled. "Really, let them go. They won't even notice. I'll walk you home."

"You should apply for the ANBU, escape these idiots." Tenten moaned as she stepped away from the wall, only to find her legs too shaky to support her.

Neji caught her before she could fall and braced her on his shoulder. "Can't leave you alone with them, though. There would be fatalities by the end of the day - either you'd kill them both or you'd die of exhaustion." he joked, "Let's get you home, now. Take it easy on yourself."

Tenten gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks, Neji." she whispered, unable to muster up the breath to speak out loud. "Let's go."

As they walked, Neji half-supporting, half-carrying Tenten, her mind began to wander. "Neji…" she spoke at last after several minutes of silence, "What's the real reason you don't join the ANBU? With your skill you'd surely qualify…"

His eyes grew distant. "My duties to the clan." he spoke at last. "I considered it. I thought about it. But in the end, I am required here. There is no time, nor place, for me to be ANBU. My duties are here…protecting the Head Family. My father and I both."

Tenten thought to inquire further. But they were almost to her home, and something in the air about Neji told her it was best not to ask. "Alright." she said, "Either way, I'm glad…if I were alone on a team with Lee and Guy I might commit seppuku."

"Well, we can't have that." Neji chuckled. "You should be alright from here. I'm going to head home."

"Alright. See ya later, Neji."

"We'll meet tomorrow, Tenten."

Neji watched from the street as Tenten staggered inside. His eyes narrowed into a glare as he turned to walk away, his fist clenching at the edge of his robe. "My clan." he muttered to himself through his clenched jaw. "My name is Neji Hyuga…of the noble Hyuga Clan…I am…of the branch family…I am the son…of Hizashi and Nanase Hyuga…and our duty…is to protect the ancient blood of the Hyuga clan…the head family…at any cost…I am happy…with my life…and I am blessed with…my fate." He furrowed his brow and stared into the ground. "My name is Neji Hyuga, of the noble Hyuga Clan. I am of the branch family. I am the son of Hizashi and Nanase Hyuga, and our duty is to protect the ancient blood of the Hyuga clan, the head family, at any cost. I am happy with my life and I am blessed with my fate." It came out smoother this time, less broken by his fury. "My name is Neji Hyuga, of the noble Hyuga Clan. I am of the branch family. I am the son of Hizashi and Nanase Hyuga, and our duty is to protect the ancient blood of the Hyuga clan, the head family, at any cost. I am happy with my life and I am blessed with my fate." As he walked home, he repeated this to himself again and again, until he had heard it enough that he could almost believe it.

As he arrived at home, a tiny cough from the shadows of the trees drew his attention. He focused his eyes intently on the spot. Byakugan! he whispered as the veins around his eyes bulged. And he was able to make out her form, leaning against the tree.

"Hinata-sama." he said sternly, releasing his focus. "What brings you here? This is the house of the branch family. You belong with your parents and Hanabi-sama."

She emerged from the shadows with her head lowered, her dark bangs falling in front of her face. "Neji-niichan." she stammered, "How was…your day?"

"That is of no importance to you, Hinata-sama." Neji fought to keep the tart edge from seeping into his voice. "You should return home. Hiashi-sama will worry if you are out late. I will take you to the house of the head family, if you should so choose."

"Dinner was already cleaned up. You weren't there so I bought some dinner for you." she explained quietly, handing him the box she held without looking him in the eye. "You have to eat. You work too hard."

Neji fixed her with a stern gaze. "You should return home, Hinata-sama." he repeated. "Hiashi-sama will worry if you are out late."

"I don't matter to Father." Hinata spoke softly without raising her face. "I'm useless...that's all he sees. I bought you some dinner, nii-chan. Please eat." She set the box down at his feet and backed away, disappearing quickly from sight.

Neji glared until she was long out of sight. His jaw was clenched, his blood was burning. If no one saw, he could...

His mind flew back to the first time Hiashi had activated the curse seal. The blazing pain...that pain...if he heard of it, it would be that pain again. Seething, he sat on the ground and attempted to meditate. It was useless. And he said it again to himself: "My name is Neji Hyuga, of the noble Hyuga Clan. I am of the branch family. I am the son of Hizashi and Nanase Hyuga, and our duty is to protect the ancient blood of the Hyuga clan, the head family, at any cost. I am happy with my life and I am blessed with my fate." He repeated it until his lips stopped stumbling over the taste of those words.

Then he looked at the box Hinata had left him. The smell of herring soba drifted from the box, and for the first time that evening, Neji realized how hungry he was. His mind told him to set fire to the box, but his stomach told him to eat it. In the end, his mind was overpowered - his stomach won. He opened the box and picked up the chopsticks nested beside the soba. "Itadakimasu." he said softly, and lifted the first bite of noodles to his mouth. Within minutes the box was empty.

Another group passed through the gates about one hour later. This one consisted of five people - three men, two women.

The first woman wore a green haori over a grey kimono-style top and navy-blue pants. She had long, pale blond hair and a diamond-shaped purple mark on her forehead, and she carried a medical kit in her arms. "How do you feel, Hayashi?" she asked one of the men, a strongly-built young man with messy brown hair and dark, lemur-like eyes who was stumbling along behind her, clearly out of breath.

"Exhausted." he sighed, wincing as he touched the left side of his chest. "I can still feel it...the pain is still there." He paused, gasping for air. "Tsunade-sama...do you think...these new techniques...will work?"

"I don't know. But we have to keep trying." the blond woman, Tsunade, replied with a knowing glance. "I know this is hard, Hayashi. But none of us will give up. Kabuto has been doing research on my grandfather's cells, Shizune has been working to manufacture a medicine that could partially suppress the Mokuton chakra, and since I started giving you blood, your condition has improved. None of us are going to give up on this."

Hayashi shook his head, exhausted. "Have either of you found anything new?" He looked first to the young man with shoulder-length white hair and thick glasses - Kabuto - who shook his head, and then to the dark-haired, kimono-clad woman who was supporting him on the right side - Shizune - who lowered her eyes. "We will keep trying, Hayashi. We're not going to let this go."

But Hayashi himself looked about ready to give up. Suddenly, he let out a cry of pain - there was a sudden bulge on his left shoulder. The team leaped into action immediately - Tsunade biting her thumb and summoning a portion of the slug Katsuyu, Shizune activating the seal she and the ANBU had created to forcibly suppress Hayashi's chakra, Kabuto grabbing a medical kit and preparing to do emergency first aid. When the seal activated, winding patterns of inky black swirled across Hayashi's face and body. He roared in agony but the bulge halted in its growth and slowly started to recede. Katsuyu fastened herself on the part of his shoulder where the bulge had emerged, and with Tsunade and Kabuto's help, healed the area where a mass of branches had started to rip through Hayashi's shoulder, seemingly rooted within his chest.

"Hayashi." The fifth member of the group, a tall, silver-haired man in ANBU uniform with a mask resembling a dog's face, spoke quietly and sternly. "The seal is dependent on your willpower. Shizune, myself, or any of the other ANBU can suppress your chakra by force, but the portion of the seal that controls the Shodai Hokage's chakra, that seal is only as strong as your will to stay alive."

"Kakashi-sempai, it's been twelve years since you and the others found me in Orochimaru's lab. Twelve years since I was woken up...twelve years that I have lived with my own death sitting next to me constantly...you cannot possibly understand." Hayashi was breathless, still recovering, but his words were clear. "Whenever I think that maybe, possibly, I have won against this...this...cancer...I feel the pain in my chest again. And I know it's still there. I'm afraid to sleep - a tree could rip my chest open in the middle of the night, and none of us would be able to stop it. I could die and not even wake up to see it."

"Get over yourself. We all live with that possibility as shinobi. And you have a constant guard of ANBU capable of activating the forcible chakra suppression seal - you would not die in your sleep. We see to that." Even though Kakashi's tone was level, his annoyance was clear in his voice. "Show some gratitude to our efforts, Hayashi."

Hayashi winced, more from Kakashi's words than from his wounds. "I apologize." he said softly, bowing his head.

Tsunade shook her head. "That's enough. Kakashi, I assume you will be going to make your report to Yondaime-sama now? Let him know I'll come speak to him later."

Kakashi bowed deeply. "I will let him know, Tsunade-sama." And with that, he was gone.

Shizune nodded. "Hayashi, I will escort you home." she said softly, and then turned, nodding to the others. "Tsunade-sama, Kabuto-kun. I'll see you tomorrow. We'll continue to work then."

"Very well." Kabuto straightened his glasses and walked away. He had an apartment in the village, but once a week he always stopped by the Konoha Orphanage to see his family, and he'd decided on tonight.

He checked the time. It was 8:32pm. If he was quick enough, he'd arrive before bedtime and be able to say goodnight to the orphans.

He was greeted by Nonou as he approached the orphanage. "Mother," he smiled, opening his arms to embrace her. "It's good to see you. How are things at the orphanage?"

"Tonight's been very nice. Urushi stopped by for dinner with the children earlier, and Keizo and Shinji are still here, helping to repair the roof..." She paused, a smile flickering across her face. "Two shinobi as talented as Keizo and Shinji, and they're happy repairing a leaky shingle, it's funny isn't it? Those two could be ANBU already, but they insist on staying close to home."

Kabuto's eyebrows raised. "Still here, you said?"

"Yes. After the children go to bed, you and I could have some tea with them."

Kabuto grinned. "That'd be nice. I haven't seen much of them since I started working for Tsunade-sama."

"It's been four years you've been working under her…I'm honestly amazed you've survived this far, what with that temper she's so well-known for…" Nonou gave her adoptive son a cheeky smile as she spoke.

Kabuto shook his head in mock scandal. "Mother! You shouldn't speak of her that way!" he laughed ironically. "She's one of the greatest living shinobi among us! And don't ever tell her otherwise, of course she doesn't have a temper like that but if she did…" At that point he was laughing too hard to continue.

"Kabuto!" a shout came from inside. A pale, slender boy with short black hair and dark eyes smiled at him from down the hallway, brushing his hair out of his face with his forearm so as not to smear his face with his tarry fingers. "Is that you?"

"You really had to ask? I must've changed a lot this past year!" Kabuto waved and smiled. "You've gotten taller, Keizo. Has Shinji grown any?"

"Hang on a moment, and you can see for yourself." Keizo replied, then disappeared through the doorway again. He returned a moment later, this time pulling along a slightly-taller boy with shoulder-length grey hair and brown eyes. The grey-haired boy squinted for a moment, then his face split into a broad grin. "Kabuto!" he called out. "You've let your hair grow long, I thought you were going to keep it short forever. Good to see you, nii-chan."

Kabuto stared at him for a moment, then turned to Keizo. "No, he hasn't grown. I wonder if-"

Shinji seemed to know where this was going. He blushed and waved his fist at Kabuto. "Shut up! Don't even go there! Either of you! I'm warning you both - "

Keizo and Kabuto were both shaking with laughter. "I guess not, or he wouldn't be so defensive right away." gasped Kabuto around his laughter. Shinji growled and ran at Kabuto, who easily dodged the attack. Shinji doubled back and swung again, and again, and again, yelling obscenities at Kabuto, and Kabuto continued to evade him, dancing around his attacks without difficulty. Behind Shinji's back, Keizo nodded and pointed to Kabuto, mouthing "It's true." Kabuto nodded and chuckled as he ducked another attack from Shinji.

At that moment, the ground shook, and a large earthen wall sprung up between Kabuto and Shinji. Nonou shook her head at both of them. "You two know better." she said sternly. "Fighting is against the rules here, and Shinji, don't you dare use that kind of language here, what if one of the children heard you?"

Kabuto straightened his glasses. "In our defense, Mother…we weren't fighting…there was no exchanged blows…Shinji was attacking me, and I was dodging him…hardly qualifies as fighting on either side."

Keizo stepped up next to Nonou, staring at Kabuto. "That was pretty amazing, Kabuto. Where did you learn to do that? You weren't really even paying attention and you still dodged all of Shinji's attacks and didn't get a scratch. It's like you weren't even trying."

"Well, Tsunade-sama has always said that a medic-nin's most important skill is evasion. She has her own training regimen that she puts her apprentices through for that…" He trailed off, shuddering. "Well, after learning to dodge all of Tsunade-sama's attacks when she's going full-steam, this really is easy. Shinji's got a long way to go before he reaches her level."

Shinji got slowly to his feet. He'd been thrown backwards when Nonou had raised the earthen wall, and - as Kabuto could tell by the way Shinji was rubbing his head gingerly and cursing under his breath - he'd hit his head when he fell. "Of course I'm not at the level of one of the Legendary Sannin…" he grumbled, "…but really, it was that easy for you?"

"Keep training, little brother." chuckled Kabuto. "Now come here and let's make sure you didn't do any serious damage to your head. Last thing we'd need with you."

"Enough with your smart attitude, Kabuto." scolded Nonou. "Just because Tsunade-hime took you on as her apprentice, that doesn't give you license to be rude at home."

Keizo watched as Kabuto performed a quick diagnostic check on Shinji's head. Moments later, when Kabuto had finished, Keizo looked between Kabuto, Shinji and Nonou. "Should I start the tea?" he said at last.

"No, it's alright, Keizo." replied Nonou with a sigh. "You three, wash your hands and take a seat at the table. You work too hard during the day. Let me take care of this one."

Around midnight, a four-man team consisting of one jounin and three chuunin arrived through the gate. The jounin was a dark-haired, broad-shouldered, bearded man with a cigarette lit in his mouth and a cloth with the symbol for "Fire" at his waist. He puffed deeply on the cigarette, sucking in the last of it, and then stamped it out. "Good work today, you three." he said to the chuunin, "Your teamwork has improved greatly! Your Shika-Ino-Chou formation isn't fully perfected yet, but you're getting there."

"Feh." groaned one of the chuunin. He had spiky brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail atop his head and a very bored-looking expression. "It's troublesome. They should just let me make the plans and follow them out. Ino's too bossy, she forgets I'm the one whose plans actually work." He brushed a fallen leaf off the shoulder of his Konoha flak jacket.

"Hey!" shrieked a blond girl clad in purple. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Shikamaru! And I asked what you thought of the plan earlier, you didn't even review it, you said it was too troublesome!"

"Relax, Ino." piped up the third chuunin. He was large and fat with long, messy brown hair and a bag of barbecue chips in his hand. "We did well today. You don't need to worry so much, our mission was completed."

"It would've been done hours ago if Shikamaru weren't such a damn slacker!" Ino shouted. "He isn't pulling his weight! We'll keep messing up if he doesn't start working harder!"

Shikamaru stared absently up into the sky. "Asuma-sensei, do you feel that?" he asked the jounin, casually ignoring Ino's scolding.

"Hm, yeah." Asuma replied. He tapped his cigarette case against his palm, as if thinking to light up again, but unwilling to do so. The air tonight is cold…evil. He thought, I've never felt this kind of energy before…except…He remembered years before, when he'd been part of a team sent from Konoha to Suna to help restrain the rampaging Ichibi. Yes, it's exactly like that time. What is this?

His gaze swept nervously across the village. Everything appeared peaceful. But nonetheless, he felt ill at ease. "Let's go make our report to Yondaime-sama." he said, "It's late, guys, let's move quickly." He didn't mention his real reason for hurry - he needed to address his concerns with the Hokage.

It wasn't often that there was a bijuu rampage in an allied country. But when it did, immediate action was necessary. He only hoped it wasn't too late.

Deidara grabbed a fistful of clay and shaped it into a bird. He made a seal and the bird expanded enough for Kisame and himself to ride atop, as well as their new prisoner.

The raccoon-boy was unconscious. Kisame grabbed his limp body and tossed it over the back of the bird. "We gotta move quick, this kid's not gonna live much longer, and he has to be alive for the extraction."

"Right, hm…" grunted Deidara, "…not like he'll be alive by the end of the extraction anyhow, hm?"

"Eh, no great loss." replied Kisame. "If anything, Suna will probably be celebrating. He was a real nuisance to them, the way I hear it. Probably, that is."

"Well, why not, hm? No one uses their damn bijuu anymore, no great loss."

"Well, apparently this jinchuriki was the Fourth Kazekage's son. He may not be too happy about it."

Deidara was silent for a moment. Then he shrugged, flipping his fingers into a seal. The bird flapped its great wings and lifted them into the air. "Let's go, hm. Pain-sama is gonna want to get started. We gotta deliver this guy before he bleeds out."

Kushina awakened the next morning from a strange nightmare. She was pregnant, and her son was clawing at the inside of her stomach, clawing to get out. Suddenly he ripped out of her stomach and there was a monster, a gigantic, tanuki-like creature covered in odd black markings made out of sand. In the midst of the chaos she heard a little boy crying. She moved towards the sound and there was a small child with no eyebrows, vacant green eyes, black markings around his eyes, and messy auburn hair crouched with his face pressed in his knees, his shoulders shaking as he cried. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kushina. "Mother?" he said hesitantly.

But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking past her, at the giant sand-monster. "Mother?" he said again. And then he rose and walked straight into the monster's gaping mouth.

Later on there had been darkness. And she had fallen, again, into the Kyubi's lair. He grinned at her. "It has already begun, Kushina. Wait and see. They will come for us, too."