"Are we all set?" Kakashi Hatake, premiere jounin of the Hidden Leaf Village said the words with his usual aloofness as he surveyed his scouting team. Hinata, the shy Hyuuga heiress, would be the team's eyes. Kiba and Akamaru, the wild Inuzuka clan duo, would be the team's nose. Sai, the former ROOT operative, would be the team's proverbial fly on the wall. The tension was heavy at the village gate where they gathered, as all present understood the question and gave their respective nods as a response. Yes, they were ready for the mission that would truly define them as shinobi, the weapons, the tools of their village. Their mission: Track down the Akatsuki. By no means a normal mission, their assignment would usually only discourage them as far as realizing how the rouge-ninja's powers eclipsed their own. This time would be different.

"…all right then. You have your orders. I can't stress enough how important this is: under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy. This is strictly data gathering and analysis only. We all know what they're capable of." He himself knew far too well what they were capable of. A small sigh escaped his lips without his permission. "….let's move out, team." In true ninja fashion, all four were gone in a flash, racing through the trees to their objective.

~Hinata~

"I…I won't fail this time…" she spoke to herself absentmindedly. She'd been on this mission once before, and had the scars to prove it, as did the rest of her team. She often thought it ironic how someone could leave scars without even being in the same country. "This won't be like the last time…I know this is only a reconnaissance mission, but…but I have to try…I know I can make a difference…" Her determination shook the trees more than her feet did as she landed on a branch and continued forward.

~Kiba~

Akamaru barked lightly and Kiba realized that he wasn't paying attention. He was supposed to be actively searching with his keen sense of smell, but he was too busy thinking for once. "Can't believe I get another chance to take them down…I'm gonna tear them up this time…" Akamaru barked again, another wakeup call along with his agreement. "Yeah, I know you wanna rip'em to pieces just as much as I do. We'll get our chance later on…if we can ever capture these jerks…"

~Sai~

"What was it really all about…" The boy's thoughts wandered as he peered down from the sky on one of his living bird drawings. "I studied and studied, but I just can't figure this out…all of my books said that a person should be loyal to the place they grew up in, but that obviously isn't the case…I suppose I can just ask them myself…"

~Kakashi~

The jounin jumped through the treetops at an almost unhealthy rate, his one free eye searching vigorously for any sign of the criminals. "Where are you…one of you must be around here somewhere…"

He stopped on a single branch after hearing a faint sound. "….I know you're there."

A person stepped out of the shadows from behind one of the trees. "Well well. Back again, huh? Where's the other faux-pas shinobi?" the dark haired man glared up at Kakashi with deep red and black eyes, to match the cloak he wore claimed by Akatsuki.

"You don't need to know, Sasuke. Since I've found you, I'm taking you in."

It took him more than a few seconds to notice the woman sitting on the branch above him, her red cloud-dotted cloak tied around her waist, but he dared not look up. Locking eyes with her was more dangerous than keeping her in a blind spot.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei? Didn't you get enough the last time?" the pink haired girl let herself fall down to the next-lowest branch, to stand directly behind Kakashi.

"I honestly didn't think that you'd all be here at once…and if you're here, Sakura…" He let his eye scan the forest around him for the 3rd part of the set. "…so where is he?" the copy ninja inquired.

"Oh…he's around." Sakura said with a grin that Kakashi could feel well through the back of his head. 'Around' was the key word. Kakashi got the joke, a little late. He'd been surrounded in the few seconds that he took to look around. Shadow clones to his left, his right, and everywhere in between greeted him with a cold stare unfamiliar to the one wearing them. Naruto Uzumaki.

The clone closest to the middle must have been the original, Kakashi thought. It was the only one that chose to speak.

"You have to know by now. No matter how many times you try this, it'll always end the same. You can believe it."