Warning: This chapter contains some vulgar language. Trying to make it more realistic.

Storm clouds boomed overhead as rain pitter-pattered on the steel skyscrapers noisily. The Hidden Rain Village, while minor, was sprawled out like a metropolis, and it reeked of oppression. The people ambled about in common, sometimes filthy, street rags, and no one especially stood out as unique. Occasionally, one would fearfully look over his shoulder, or up at the tallest skyscraper in the village as the rebreather-wearing shinobi of the Hidden Rain Village patrolled the village authoritatively.

It made Yahiko's heart ache, to see his home village so dismal and full of despair.

"Has Sensei found a path to the tower yet?" Yahiko, in a hushed tone, asked his companion.

Nagato shook his head minutely, keeping his eyes toward the tower. Yahiko and Nagato were eating at a dumpling shop near the center of the village that gave Nagato a good view of the tower and the area surrounding it. To blend in, they wore gray cloaks with hoods that covered their heads.

"Hanzo's grown more paranoid over the years, Yahiko. He's been losing this war steadily, and he's not taking any chances whatsoever on the home front. Our intel tells us that Hanzo is guarded twenty four hours a day, and that body searches are conducted on everyone that approaches him, even children. Ideally, we want there to be as few casualties as possible. It's what makes this final push so hard."

Yahiko gnashed his teeth in frustration.

"I know that…! It's just…" Yahiko clenched his fists. "To come back here and have to see this…"

Nagato's mouth turned into a thin line. Nothing more needed to be said; Nagato felt just as strongly. An uneasy silence hung over the duo after that. Nagato finally spoke up after a while.

"It will recover, Yahiko. I don't know the exact means by which we'll carry out this mission, but we'll work it out. Hanzo is formidable, but he is not invincible. There is still hope."

Nagato didn't need to look at his friend to see that his words impacted him. Yahiko managed to relax, if only slightly.

"Tch… Look at me, getting bent out of shape for nothing…" Yahiko muttered and ran his hand through his spiky locks sheepishly. "You know it's bad if you're lecturing me, Rings."

Nagato gave his friend a sheepish smile, but then turned his attention back to the tower, waiting for the signal.

"I'm only stating the truth. Konan would say much the same thing, if she wasn't with Jiraiya-sensei right now."

Yahiko crossed his arms and pouted, but he didn't rebut Nagato's claim.

"I still find it amazing we got in here at all… what with Jiraiya-sensei's unkempt hair."

"Blue, orange, and red hair doesn't stick out?" Nagato briefly shot his friend a deadpan look, but grinned slightly when Yahiko scowled at the comment.

"You know what I mean. With all of Hanzo's paranoia, I would have thought he'd have locked down this whole village tightly – no foreigners at all."

Nagato shrugged.

"Hanzo is realistic – paranoid, but realistic. Even if he forbade foreigners, shinobi of any mettle could still infiltrate and cause problems. No, Hanzo has channeled most of his shinobi resources into defending himself. He doesn't care about defending this village right now; villages can be rebuilt and repopulated, but he views himself as irreplaceable."

Yahiko rolled his eyes.

"And that's why he's making the people obediently follow him? To make them lose their sense of independence and autonomy? To make them co-dependent?"

Nagato grinned wryly.

"Pretty much. Hanzo used to be a man worth respecting, but now he's a mere shadow of his former self. His ultimate goal is to survive this war at all costs, even if that means sacrificing the very people he's a leader of. It's sad, really."

Yahiko grumbled and barely held back the urge to stand up and start pacing.

"What is taking Sensei so long? The more I hear you dissect Hanzo from a psychological standpoint, the more I just wanna put that guy down… Where's Orochimaru and Shizune?"

Nagato shook his head.

"They have their roles to play, too, Yahiko. Once Jiraiya-sensei distracts many of the guards outside, Konan will fly us to the top of the tower, where security will be least tight. Orochimaru will be supporting Jiraiya-sensei, and Shizune will be there to heal them both. We were quite fortunate that Tsunade-sensei allowed her to assist. She cut her ties to the village after the last war, after all. Doing us this favor was extremely gracious of her."

Yahiko frowned at the mention of Tsunade.

"After this war's over, we gotta get her to come back… I mean, she's an awesome medical ninja and all, but I kinda just… miss having her around… Even if she was harsh in training us…"

"So you do care about her!" Nagato teased.

Yahiko made a face at that.

"Shut up… At least I can own up to my feelings… Unlike you when it comes to…"

Nagato cut him off there.

"It really isn't the time to talk about this..." Nagato narrowed an eye at Yahiko out of the corner of his eye. "Besides, she's happily with someone…"

Yahiko scoffed.

"I'm not so sure anymore… That 'someone' has been screwing up with her lately, and he can't seem to fix it, no matter how hard he tries…" Yahiko grumbled. "And don't try to deny it."

Nagato gave Yahiko a meaningful stare before turning back to the tower again.

"In any case… The signal should be given soon. Be ready to move out swiftly; we only get one shot at this."

"I've been ready since we received this mission!"

- Closer to the tower… -

Jiraiya sighed as he knocked out yet another lackey that nearly gave away his presence.

"If I swore to never give up in anything, I'd have aborted this mission a long time ago… There's been way too many close calls." Jiraiya grumbled, standing up straight again. "You still okay, Konan?"

Konan nodded. She was a few feet behind Jiraiya as they began walking towards the tower again.

"It is a little odd when you think about it, though, Jiraiya-sensei…"

Slightly turning his head to face Konan, Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Well… We've only run into a handful of shinobi that nearly raised the alarm, correct? We've avoided a number of them, but there should be a lot more than this, shouldn't there? If Hanzo has called back most of his shinobi…"

Jiraiya understood what she was getting at, but…

"There's probably more inside. But you're right; we shouldn't put our guard down yet. It is a little strange there aren't more out here, but one can't predict a lunatic's strategy."

Konan directed a deadpan stare at Jiraiya.

"Hanzo is paranoid, Sensei. He's not quite deranged or insane, just overly cautious. We shouldn't take him lightly."

Jiraiya resisted the urge to burst out laughing, but still chuckled a bit.

"I know, Konan, I fought this guy with Tsunade and Orochimaru. I know this guy is strong, and that he's being extremely careful… But ya gotta admit the guy's lost a few marbles, if the guy's abusing his power and subjugating the people he swore to protect as village leader, eh?

When Konan's stern face didn't change, Jiraiya slouched in disappointment.

"Okay, okay… I was just trying to lighten the mood. Sheesh."

Only when Jiraiya was properly chastised and had his back turned did Konan crack a small grin. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

"Wouldn't you say this is close enough, Sensei?"

Jiraiya shrugged. He supposed a little over halfway on the path towards the tower wasn't bad.

"I wanted to take out a few more enemy meat shields so you wouldn't be so harassed on your way up there, but I guess I can handle things from here. Go and get Nagato and Yahiko.

Konan nodded, and disappeared as she turned into paper butterflies and flew off to do just that. Jiraiya bit down on his thumb and ran through the appropriate hand seals.

"Well, there's no turning back now… Hope Orochimaru's ready for this… Summoning Jutsu!"

A huge cloud of dust was kicked up, and when it cleared, a giant magenta-colored toad appeared, bearing a sasumata and sakazuki-like shield.

"The operation has begun, has it?" The toad rumbled.

Jiraiya noticed the hordes of shinobi flooding to meet him in battle.

"Ready, Mr. Gamaken?! Let's mow 'em down!"

Gamaken sighed breezily as he swung his sasumata down in one swing to deal with the first enemies that had reached them.

"I will try, but I am… ungraceful… you see…"

Jiraiya chuckled as he watched at least five Hidden Rain shinobi go flying from just that one attack.

"You'll do just fine!"

- On the other side of the tower… -

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow as he withdrew a blade from an enemy's stomach. He could faintly hear the cry of many shinobi, and that meant the operation had begun. No turning back.

"Jiraiya started a little early…" Orochimaru murmured, but bit down on his thumb all the same and ran through the same hand seals that Jiraiya had. "Shizune, are you ready?"

Orochimaru had asked while turning his head slightly in Shizune's direction. Shizune leaped to his side and nodded. She didn't exactly like working with the man, he lacked a merciful bone in his body, but Lady Tsunade had requested her to be a part of this mission, and Orochimaru had just happened to be her partner.

"Let's split their attention… Kukuku… Summoning Jutsu!" Orochimaru declared, and another huge cloud of dust appeared. When it dissipated, he and Shizune were atop of a very large purple snake. A slightly agitated purple snake, but one that looked ready for battle all the same.

"Over there!"

Orochimaru could hear voices down on the ground. He had a feral grin on his face as he spied dozens of shinobi charging his way.

"All of these pawns are yours, Manda! Have at them!"

Manda growled in reply, but went after the enemy 'pawns' with gusto, devouring several at once, and constantly moving about to confuse the enemy and simultaneously attack. While some lucky shinobi managed to get atop of Manda, Orochimaru dealt with them personally, mortally wounding a number of them with a blade. A majority were either slammed into Manda's body or simply crushed by the gargantuan snake.

Needless to say, Shizune shivered at the brutality of it all, and loathed how Orochimaru seemed to be relishing it. At the age of fifteen, Shizune knew that death was par the course in the life of a shinobi, but that didn't mean she had to savor it, which Orochimaru seemed to be doing.

Shizune was shaken out of her thoughts by two shinobi that had managed to make it up to her. Drawing out her poison-laced senbon, five in each hand, Shizune flicked them precisely at vital spots on the enemies' bodies. Without further fanfare, the two unknown assailants fell to their deaths. As soon after Shizune had knocked them off, Manda had abruptly changed course and slithered right over them, crushing them completely. Shizune winced and remained silent.

She absolutely had to remain calm and collected so that she could fulfill her duties as medic-nin, after all.

- In the air above the Hidden Rain Village… -

Konan had sprouted paper wings, and had taken to the air with Nagato and Yahiko, one attached to each of her arms. Down below, the three could see that Jiraiya had now summoned Gamabunta as well, and Orochimaru and Shizune were on Manda, and that the battles were surprisingly overwhelmingly in the two Sannins' favor. It was suspect, and Konan didn't like it at all.

Noticing Konan's troubled expression, Yahiko casually remarked, "Everything will be fine, Konan! Jiraiya-sensei's too strong to die by the likes of them!" Yahiko said this with a smirk on his face.

Konan narrowed her eyes down at Yahiko.

"I wonder if you would be okay if I accidentally dropped you…" Konan said a bit frostily.

Yahiko rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

"C'mon, Konan, I know I'm not your most favorite person in the world right now, but you're not that cold. All I'm saying is have a little bit of faith in Jiraiya-sensei."

Konan looked to the side slightly, away from Yahiko's gaze.

"It's not that I doubt his abilities, Yahiko… Everyone has their limits, and that includes Jiraiya-sensei. If you'll recall, even the Third Raikage was purported to have died by overwhelming odds, and according to Lord Third, that man was inhumanely strong…"

Yahiko shrugged at that.

"Yeah, but limits are meant to be surpassed. We're shinobi, we endure!" Turning to face Nagato, Yahiko then said, "You remember the plan, right, Rings?"

Nagato furrowed his brow as he remembered the mission briefing…

"Sensei, this plan is insane! Even by my standards!" Jiraiya's voice boomed in opposition to the battle plan put forth by Konan.

Pipe ever-present in his mouth, Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and fixed all of them with a stern stare.

"Jiraiya does have a point, Konan…" Hiruzen said, first addressing the main strategist of the orphans from the Hidden Rain Village. "Hanzo of the Salamander is not to be taken lightly. If Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade could not take the man down, what makes you think that you, Yahiko, and Nagato could? The man may have deteriorated slightly mentally, but that is just speculation. In addition, why should I only send the five of you, in addition to Tsunade, should she accept your request?"

Konan closed her eyes contemplatively, but then opened them again a few moments later, looking Sarutobi in the eye.

"Lord Third, I understand your concern. But Nagato, Yahiko, and I must be the ones to take Hanzo down. Nagato has the Rinnegan; Hanzo is not aware of that. Nagato has become quite adept in using his Dojutsu, and I am certain that he could take down Hanzo. Yahiko and I will serve as distractions so that Nagato may go in for the killing blow."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"And what of the Sannin? What will they be doing?"

"Jiraiya-sensei, Orochimaru, and Tsunade-sensei, should she accept our request, will serve as distractions for Hanzo's forces. We need a massive diversion, and who better than the Sannin? Once we take out Hanzo, we will not need to continue to fend off the Hidden Rain Village in this war. We have them on the run, but for how long will that last?"

Hiruzen simply shook his head.

"I still do not see why I cannot send a larger invasion force with you. I will say it again: Hanzo of the Salamander is not to be underestimated. Your strategy rests solely on the element of surprise, and there is never any guarantee that you will have that." Pausing, Hiruzen exhaled. "Allow me to play Devil's Advocate: Say that your strategy works. You reach Hanzo, but he overwhelms you, and you are brutally, even fatally, wounded; Tsunade has her hands full fighting the army of Hanzo, and no one else can help you. What will you do then?"

Konan acknowledged the scenario with a nod.

"I have taken that into account, Lord Hokage. Tsunade-sensei would largely be playing a supportive role; as medic-nin, it would be her job to leave much of the fighting to Orochimaru and Jiraiya-sensei. They have Summoning Contracts with the Toads and Snakes, and both are combat-oriented Summons. Once inside the village, and the first Toads and Snakes are summoned, the Hidden Rain shinobi will be drawn to defend themselves against the Summons, and will miss us as I fly me, Yahiko, and Nagato to our destination. Many of the Hidden Rain shinobi should be dealt with by the Summons, and Jiraiya-sensei and Orochimaru would not have to step into battle until the Summons are dispelled. If they need to, the Sannin can even retreat if they happen to lose the battle of attrition; by that point, Hanzo should be dealt with by us. Nagato is the key to our victory. If we bring a large invasion force, Hanzo will see us coming, and will have time to prepare countermeasures. If it is just the six of us, Hanzo should not see us coming, and we should catch him off-guard."

Hiruzen laced his fingers together and appeared contemplative of Konan's logic. Jiraiya began to sputter.

"Sensei! You're not seriously considering this?! They made Jonin two years ago! Please give me some more time to at least train Nagato!"

Hiruzen did not deign to reply to Jiraiya.

Yahiko shook his head and chuckled.

"I still can't believe the Hokage gave us the go-ahead with this… Konan made it sound like it would work, don't get me wrong, but the future of this village now rests on our shoulders. Thanks for the pressure, Konan!

Yahiko cheekily gave Konan a toothy grin. Konan narrowed her eyes at him again, and that got him to drop the grin for now. Nagato continued to silently ruminate. Konan said it herself that he was the key player in this final assault, but that didn't mean he didn't have… doubts…

Seeing this, Yahiko playfully kicked at his redheaded friend.

"Aw, c'mon, Rings! Don't tell me you're still scared! We've been preparing for this, and you've got, like… five different powers thanks to the Rinnegan, right? Summoning, absorption, gravitational power, some weird machine-like power… and the ability to control all five Chakra Natures, right? You'll destroy Hanzo!"

Nagato hmm'ed, but didn't look up at Yahiko.

"Asura, Preta, Animal, and Deva… those are the four Paths I've discovered, yes. Sensei and I are pretty sure that wielding all five Chakra Natures isn't a Path. And I'm almost certain there are other Paths that have yet to be discovered, and other powers, too…"

"Well, what's the problem?" Yahiko asked curiously.

Nagato's mouth turned into a thin line.

"Hanzo… Hanzo is… Well, he was able to beat Jiraiya-sensei… and Tsunade-sensei… and Orochimaru… all at once… I haven't even been able to beat Jiraiya-sensei in a spar yet, so how can I hope to match up to Hanzo…?"

Yahiko wanted to shake the doubts out of his redheaded friend… but he couldn't do that in his position. … That, and Konan wouldn't approve, no matter how good the intentions.

"Nagato, Jiraiya-sensei has had years to study your battle style, and he knows the secrets of your Rinnegan because you have enlisted his help in researching them," Konan calmly replied, beating Yahiko to the punch. "Hanzo does not have that advantage. At best, he has only heard rumors of your exploits on the battlefield in this war. Stories can be exaggerated, or facts can be omitted, and so it's nearly certain that he knows next to nothing of your real abilities. Just calm your nerves, and look for an opening to finish him off however you can. Yahiko and I will draw his attention."

"… I'm still not comfortable endangering your lives like this…" Nagato murmured.

A tick mark appeared on Yahiko's head.

"We know the risks, Rings! Shinobi die every day in this war! If you don't want us to join the fallen, do your part and take out Hanzo!"

Konan narrowed her eyes at Yahiko again, but didn't correct him. After all, he had stated the truth. He could've put it in a nicer way, but that just wasn't who Yahiko was; the man lacked tact. At least when he was fed up like this, anyway.

"…" Nagato didn't reply to Yahiko's words. And he still didn't lift his head up.

"What Yahiko is trying to say, Nagato, is that we'll do our part in this battle. We won't unnecessarily endanger ourselves, but at the same time, we will do all that is within our power to complete this mission. You must do the same if we are to get out of this alive. We have faith in you."

Nagato still didn't look totally convinced, but that didn't stop him from uttering a quiet, "Thank you…" When the trio looked toward their destination again, they saw that they were almost there…

- In Hanzo's Tower… -

A fist slammed into a metal wall, leaving a sizeable dent. Hanzo had this tower built early in his career as the Hidden Rain Village's leader as a last-resort haven. No one was supposed to have been able to reach him here, and yet…

"Damn you, Danzo… Damn you…" Hanzo cursed. The unlucky messenger that had delivered the news of all the attacks that were taking place in his village had fled the moment he had given the total report, the moment when Hanzo's fist met the wall.

Not only were the Sannin making a scene outside his tower, but his men were being cut down by Root Anbu long before that assault. Root had infiltrated his village, even after he explicitly told Danzo that he and his men were not welcome in the Hidden Rain Village! There was very little Hanzo could do now. A covert multi-pronged assault like this was difficult to effectively repel, and Hanzo was certain that by the end of the day, many of his shinobi would be dead.

"Kandachi!" Hanzo roared furiously. A few moments later, a gray-haired young man with some type of scar on the upper right part of his head and wearing a rebreather came running up to his esteemed leader.

"Lord Hanzo, sir!"

Hanzo crossed his arms.

"Sound the retreat. Anyone who can flee is to leave the village and rendezvous just south of the Village Hidden in the Grass. We are fighting too many battles, thanks to that damn Foundation of Danzo's, and I will salvage as many men as I can. I will take care of the Sannin myself, and will join you in Grass Country after that. Once we have reorganized, we will take back the village from the Foundation."

Kandachi looked just as displeased as Hanzo with having to retreat, but he knew not to question his leader, and so he ran off to spread the word. Once Kandachi had left, Hanzo uncrossed his arms, clenched his fists, and resisted the urge to hit the wall again. The Hidden Leaf Village would suffer for this.

As Hanzo exited his quarters and made his way down a corridor, Hanzo's instincts kicked in.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A moderately sized stream of water with a dragon head at the front shot down the corridor at Hanzo. Not wasting a single move, Hanzo threw three explosive tags at the approaching threat and detonated them before the attack got too close. The corridor took some damage from the blast, but it withstood the impact of the explosions; the Water Dragon did not, however.

Wielding his kusarigama, Hanzo deflected the paper shuriken that came next.

"You were wise to confine me to a narrow battlefield…" Hanzo conceded to his nameless assassins. "But it will take much more than that to take me down. Let us see how you handle this…"

Running through four hand seals rapidly, Hanzo slammed a palm on the ground, unleashing dozens of explosive notes that shot in the direction of his enemies. All of them triggered at once when they reached a certain point down the corridor, and made holes in the walls. Hanzo couldn't be sure if that attack hit, though; the corridor was not lit very well. Deciding to not wait and see, Hanzo charged down the corridor, and was only mildly surprised when his kusarigama clashed with a blade.

When the smoke cleared and Hanzo could see better, he realized that he was fighting neither the Sannin nor any of Danzo's pawns.

"Who are you…?" Hanzo asked of his assailant as they stood there, sword and kusarigama not budging.

Instead of answering the legendary shinobi, Yahiko cried, "Konan, now!" A moment later, after Yahiko had slightly gotten out of the way, Hanzo was barraged with explosive notes that blew him back several feet. Yahiko grumbled, "You could've waited a moment longer…" before getting to his feet again.

Hanzo recovered shortly after, and caught a better sight of both his assailants: an orange-haired young man and a blue-haired young woman, both wearing Jonin flak jackets that symbolized their allegiance to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"You were wise to bring back-up," Hanzo noted, standing up. "So the Hokage finally decided to have me taken down, hm…? However… why is it that mere Jonin are undertaking my 'execution', when the Sannin are outside? You would think that it would be the other way around…"

"We're more than enough to take you down, Hanzo!" Yahiko yelled, pointing accusingly at Hanzo with his sword. "You can't tell by looking at us, but we're natives of this land! We were born here, and I swore I would never give up until you were overthrown... But a Hidden Leaf shinobi showed me kindness, and he taught me the way of the shinobi! I repaid him by joining his village, and now I have hundreds of comrades in arms… But I never forgot my dream of taking you down, and now it's time that I realized that dream once and for all!"

Hanzo inclined his head and closed his eyes.

"A touching story, to be sure…" Hanzo snarked. "But the Hidden Rain does not suffer traitors. You ceased being under my protection the moment you fraternized with that Leaf shinobi." Hanzo pointed back at Yahiko with his kusarigama. "And now you will die here because of your foolishness and treachery. Let us cease this useless prattle. I have Sannin to kill."

"Couldn't agree more!" Yahiko yelled at the top of his lungs as he and Hanzo ran through hand seals rapidly. "Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Hanzo slammed his palm on the floor again, and explosive notes surged toward Yahiko and Konan. In addition, with his free hand, Hanzo threw three more explosive notes that destroyed the Water Dragon before it got too close again. Konan once again countered Hanzo's attack with explosive notes of her own that detonated Hanzo's before they could reach Yahiko. With smoke kicked up again, and new holes made in the walls, it would've been a stalemate, had Hanzo not thrown his kusarigama at Yahiko and made a deep cut in his chest.

Yahiko fell backward and clutched his chest in agony. Konan's eyes widened as she cried, "Yahiko!" and threw a barrage of paper shuriken at Hanzo, who pulled back his kusarigama, but still ended up getting a few cuts due to not being able to dodge all the paper shuriken. Hanzo growled, annoyed, and charged his assailants again.

When Hanzo reappeared through the smoke, Yahiko was still wincing, and was still trying to get back to his feet so that Konan wouldn't have to deal with Hanzo alone. However, he needn't have worried.

"Paper Chakram…" Konan said, holding up a disc-shaped item that was made up of many sheets of paper rotating at intense speeds. She threw the Paper Chakram at Hanzo, who attempted to slice the weapon in half, but was shocked that his kusarigama failed to even damage the makeshift weapon. So he was forced to crane his head at the last moment in order to not get beheaded. The Paper Chakram left a huge gash in his shoulder, and Hanzo clutched it momentarily.

Taking advantage of this, Konan went on with her next attack.

"Shikigami Dance…"

Yahiko watched as his comrade became individual pieces of paper and charged Hanzo; some of the pieces of paper being explosive notes. Hanzo's eyes widened a fraction, and threw a few more explosive notes at the oncoming flurry of paper. That worked in detonating many of the explosive notes, but the pieces of paper that made it through his counterattack made many tiny cuts in Hanzo's body. Konan reformed beside Yahiko and helped him to his feet.

"Nicely done, Konan," Yahiko murmured. Konan gave him a small smile, but they quickly turned their attention back to Hanzo, as he wasn't finished with them yet, apparently.

"I underestimated you brats… But… it's already over for your orange-haired friend, girl."

Konan's eyes widened and she turned to Yahiko, who was indeed still clutching his chest.

"I-I'm f-fine, Konan…" Yahiko coughed and wheezed out.

Hanzo shook his head.

"I assure you, you are far from 'fine'. When I cut you, you were poisoned as well. You are finished. The woman is next."

Hanzo took a step toward the two of them, but suddenly found himself pulled back by an unseen force.

"Universal Pull!"

Hanzo skillfully swung his kusarigama backwards to attack his unknown third assailant, but it was deflected back by the assailant's kunai, and he was stabbed in the back with said kunai. Hanzo grunted and bent forward and kneeled at the pain. Nagato was about to go in for the kill, but he hesitated, and that was all Hanzo needed to recover and counterattack, whipping around and swinging his kusarigama at Nagato.

However, Nagato's Jutsu was usable again, and he declared, "Almighty Push!" This sent Hanzo, still kneeling on the floor, flying back in the direction of Yahiko and Konan. Yahiko was in no condition to be fighting anymore, but Konan fashioned a spear out of paper and plunged it into the approaching Hanzo's back, missing a vital spot, which was not done out of the kindness of Konan's heart. Hanzo coughed violently in response to that vicious attack's effects on his body, and he was forced to take off his rebreather, now that he was coughing up blood.

"Y-You b-brats…"

Hanzo couldn't remain sitting up after that attack, and so fully fell on his back a few feet away from Konan and Yahiko. The paper spear had gone all the way through his back and chest, and now he had a decent clean hole in his body. Konan turned her attention to Yahiko briefly, who was doubled over in pain.

"Yahiko!" Konan cried.

Yahiko winced painfully and tried to give Konan a reassuring grin.

"I'm f-f-fine, Konan… F-finish it…"

Konan was about to chastise him and demand that he go seek out Shizune, when their attention was brought back to Hanzo at the sound of tearing cloth.

"To have to resort to this… I'm ashamed…" Hanzo angrily bit out. A scar on his side could be seen, and Hanzo still had his kusarigama in hand. "I won't be protected, unfortunately, but if any of my men discover us, then they will finish you…"

Hanzo got ready to swing down his kusarigama on his scar, but once again found himself victim to that unseen force's gravitational pull.

"Universal Pull!" Nagato bellowed. Hanzo came flying back towards him, and Nagato stopped his approach with his an open palm. Nagato felt an odd sensation as Hanzo knelt there in front of him, while his hand was on the legendary shinobi's head. Nagato couldn't quite describe it…

'What… is this…?' Nagato thought to himself. He couldn't dwell on these thoughts for long, though; Hanzo prepared to unleash the poison within his body again.

"This is the end for you all…!"

Nagato didn't know what he was doing, but he suddenly found himself pulling some apparition out of Hanzo's body, slowly. Hanzo suddenly found that he was unable to move his body now. Nagato, mesmerized by the glowing ethereal apparition, kept pulling until it was separated from Hanzo's body completely. With his soul gone, Hanzo's lifeless husk crumpled to the ground, and his kusarigama clattered to the floor. Nagato looked on in shock as the soul then vanished.

"What… just happened…?" Nagato let out in astonishment. Had they really just triumphed over Hanzo…?

Nagato was once again torn from his thoughts; this time because of Konan.

"Yahiko!"

Nagato rushed over to his two best friends. Yahiko was now lying on his back, clearly not well, and Konan stood over him, extremely worried.

"It's Hanzo's poison…" Nagato explained, more to himself than Konan or Yahiko. "Hanzo might have had an antidote on him!"

Nagato hurried to check Hanzo's torn uniform, and was very relieved to find a vial in one of the pockets. Hurrying back over to Yahiko, Nagato opened the vial and held it to Yahiko's mouth.

"Take this, Yahiko," Nagato instructed. Konan grasped his wrist.

"Wait! How can we be sure that is the antidote?" Konan looked at Nagato with pleading eyes, begging for reassurance.

"… We don't." Nagato conceded, which made Konan chew her bottom lip. "But if we sit here and do nothing, or try to take him to Shizune in this state, he might very well die! We have to try!"

Konan nervously nodded, and turned her attention to Yahiko when he weakly spoke.

"Nagato's right… I promise I'll try not to die on you guys, okay…?" Yahiko croaked out, offering a weak chuckle.

Konan tried to smile, but was too distraught. Nagato helped Yahiko swallow what they hoped was the antidote, and then helped prop him up against a wall. They waited for a bit, about fifteen minutes, and then Konan and Nagato took an arm each and carried him out of the tower to go find Shizune…

- Hours later… -

Shizune exited the hotel room shared by Yahiko and Nagato and wiped her brow with a cloth. She debriefed Jiraiya, Konan, and Nagato on Yahiko's condition.

"It was a bit touch and go there for a while, but I think he'll pull through." Shizune remarked, happy to relieve much of the tension in the room. "I'm not Lady Tsunade, though. We should get him back to the Leaf for a more thorough examination. That vial that he took seems to have worked, but you can never be too careful."

Jiraiya smiled amicably and placed a hand on Shizune's shoulder.

"Thanks for all your help, Shizune. I know this was probably your first life-or-death situation, but we sure appreciate the help, and will gladly compensate you."

Shizune grinned nervously.

"Not to sound rude, but that would be greatly appreciated. Lady Tsunade is constantly on the run, and…"

Jiraiya laughed boisterously.

"I know, I know! We'll return home in a couple of days, report in, and get your money. For now, we'll let Yahiko rest, eh?"

Shizune nodded in agreement.

"That would be for the best. We should all get some rest, to be honest…"

Orochimaru walked into the room with an amused look on his face.

"Most of the shinobi of this village that survived have surrendered. A few attempted to escape, but they were… dealt with…" Orochimaru chuckled.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and gave Orochimaru a deadpan stare.

"We were trying to save as many lives as possible, Hebi..." Jiraiya drawled. "Out of curiosity, was Kandachi captured? Or did he escape?"

"Kukuku… He was stirring up ideas of escape… But he was dealt with…"

Jiraiya sighed.

"Okay… So, he's dead then. At least this deals a huge blow to the leadership of this village…" Jiraiya turned to Nagato and Konan and gave a toothy grin. "That where you guys come in?"

Nagato and Konan shared a look, and then both shook their heads.

"Our place is in the Leaf Village now, Sensei. It's been years now since we called this place home." Nagato stated. "The Hidden Rain Village will always hold a special place in our hearts. It can recover now, and that's what we wanted. We would like to share the same freedom with the rest of the world."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"If you guys aren't gonna step up, then who will? If you don't, the people here might get stepped on by the Great Five!"

Nagato rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and nervously smiled.

"Er… About that… Konan, Yahiko, and I reached a decision… And if it's alright with you and Lord Hokage…"

- Months later… -

"You're late, Obito. Far too late," a boy wearing a mask that covered half his face chided.

The boy was Kakashi Hatake, prodigal son of the esteemed White Fang. Kakashi did his best to stick to the Shinobi Rules of Conduct and make his father proud; his father was now the leader of a neighboring nation, after all. As a result, the young Hatake was somewhat of a stickler, who was always on his Uchiha teammate's case. Obito Uchiha was his polar opposite in personality and conduct.

A young boy with spiky, messy hair and orange goggles grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Aw… I'm sorry, Kakashi! Today was just not my day! I know we were supposed to be here early for accepting our mission, but… well… There were just far too many people to help out today. I couldn't refuse to help the elderly, y'know?"

Kakashi snorted and crossed his arms impatiently.

"You always give the same excuse, Obito. Helping the elderly can be okay from time to time, but you're a shinobi. Your aim should be to help the whole of Konoha, and not just a few elderly people. We're in the middle of a war now, and every second counts. For all we know, your tardiness cost us a valuable mission!"

Obito shot Kakashi a deadpan stare.

"We're not the only shinobi, Kakashi…" Obito groused. "There'll be plenty of other missions!"

Kakashi's left brow twitched, and he looked like he was about to chastise the Uchiha further, when a soft female voice interrupted them in a placating way.

"Kakashi, Obito, can't we all get along? Kakashi… Obito's right, there will be other missions for us to take." Obito shot a triumphant look at Kakashi, and Kakashi shot an irritated look at Rin. "Although… Obito, Kakashi's right, too. You really need to do your best to arrive on time."

Kakashi gave Obito a smug, haughty look, and Obito went back to looking embarrassed. Before either boy could start up the arguing again, though, their Sensei stepped out of the Hokage's office.

"Sorry about that, guys…" The blond young man rubbed the back of his head and smiled at his team. "We do have to take a different mission now, but Kakashi will still be in charge. I expect you all to work together, now."

The statement was vague enough to mean all of them, but they all knew he was pointedly addressing Obito. The black sheep Uchiha looked at his whole team blinkingly. They were all looking at him.

"What? Something on my face?"

Kakashi sighed breezily and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Oh, nothing… This is just usually the part where you vehemently object to my leading the mission, even though I am your superior starting today. What, are you trying to be late in making complaints, too?"

Obito blinked, and realization dawned on him.

"Oh! Right. Koko said that I should be more open-minded, and that I should at least try to be friendlier to you, since you're my teammate and all. I still think you're an uptight prick, but… I'm really trying to take Koko's advice to heart."

Rin smiled pleasantly at this. Due to circumstances beyond his control, Obito was the black sheep of his clan. He still lived among the Uchiha, yet the Uchiha refused to train him personally until he awakened his Sharingan. He hadn't awakened it yet, and so Obito had to rely on outside help for training. Of course, an Uchiha without a Sharingan was looked down upon scornfully, even among the rest of the shinobi ranks. Well, mostly. Fortunately for Obito, he had found a sympathetic ear in Konan, and she had been assisting in his training ever since he became a Genin. Yahiko and Nagato also sympathized with him, but Obito spent most of his time with Konan, when he wasn't with his team or helping out the elderly. Obito had introduced Rin to Konan as well, and they were all instant friends. Kakashi knew 'Koko', Yahiko, and Nagato through his father, before his 'job transfer' that is, but he wasn't especially close to them yet. He somewhat kept his distance from them out of reverence to them. He greatly respected them, and wished to reach their level through his effort alone.

"That's a great attitude to have, Obito. I'm glad you're making the effort." Minato beamed at Obito, who seemed embarrassed with having to admit this to his team.

Kakashi, naturally, didn't care at all what his Uchiha teammate thought of him. His father tried to get him to be more open and to befriend the Uchiha, but Kakashi just couldn't make the honest effort to do so. Obito was a complete contradiction of what a shinobi should be – he wore his emotions on his sleeve, was late to everything, showed little respect for authority, and neglected the rules of Shinobi Conduct. It was utterly disgraceful to Kakashi. But there was one thing that Kakashi grudgingly gave credit to the black sheep Uchiha for – and that was his unswerving loyalty to his village, and his desire to protect his comrades. In that one small thing, Obito matched Sakumo perfectly; though Kakashi loathed to admit it.

"Let's just go." Kakashi grunted. And together, the team shunshined out of the administrative building…

Once they had gotten a fair distance away from the Leaf Village, Minato had everyone stop so he could brief them on the new mission. Unfurling a scroll that contained a map of the Land of Earth, Minato traced a finger along a road.

"Today's mission entails us breaching the border of the Land of Earth; once inside, we'll begin targeting support troops of the Hidden Stone Village. Our intel has pinpointed at least five groups spread thin near the border. Due to the danger of going into the Land of Earth, the Hokage has bumped this mission up from A- to S-Rank. As I've mentioned, Kakashi will be leading this mission, but I will be breaking off from you and joining Master Jiraiya and Nagato in making a distraction so that you can swiftly take out these support groups. I would estimate that we would be able to supply such a distraction for three days at most; you three will have to be out of there once three days have passed."

Obito looked up at Minato after gazing at the marked locations of the support groups.

"Will there be any back-up for us, Sensei? I mean… the three of us, taking out five support groups…"

Minato stared back at Obito and slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid we can't spare anyone, Obito. There will be others along with me, Master Jiraiya, and Nagato, but we will need as many men as possible for the distraction to be effective. We have to direct the Hidden Stone's forces to us, make them think that our main objective is a head-on confrontation. Hopefully after seeing Nagato, Master Jiraiya, and me, the Hidden Stone will fall for the ruse. You'll have three days to take out as many as the support groups as possible; don't overexert yourselves, however. If you can only take out one or two, even that will help us greatly."

Kakashi scoffed at Obito's seeming lack of faith in their abilities as a team.

"What? The crybaby Uchiha can't handle this mission? I can understand lacking faith in your own abilities, just don't diminish mine. I've been working on an Assassination Jutsu that's bound to make this mission a resounding success."

Obito was heavily tempted to rise to the bait, but he held back for the time being. To relieve the anger that welled up inside him, Obito clenched his fists and took a deep, calming breath.

"I was just asking if there would be back-up, Kakashi. I wouldn't mind some more people watching our backs, but I'll settle for you and Rin. I trust you both implicitly."

This garnered an eye roll from the young Hatake and a smile from Rin. Rin was just so happy that Obito was making an honest effort to get along with Kakashi. Kakashi was indifferent, as usual. Minato welled up with pride at Obito's attitude, like Rin.

"Be careful, and watch each other's backs. We're counting on the three of you."

Before they set out, Rin handed Kakashi a simple box.

"Here, this is for making Jonin. I made a personalized med kit for you. I adjusted a few things to make it easier for you to you use."

Kakashi blinked and accepted the gift.

"Thanks." He turned when Sensei reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his special kunai.

"Here's what I got for ya, a specially made kunai knife! It's a little heavy and unconventional, but you'll get used to it."

"Yeah, thanks, Sensei." Kakashi said as he caught the knife by the handle.

Finally, they all turned to Obito, who sighed wistfully and pulled out a scrap sheet of paper.

"Here, just take it. I know it's not much, but my family does know some Lightning Jutsu, though not a lot, and, well, since you're a Lightning-style user…"

Kakashi blinked in astonishment. Obito was willingly giving him a present for making Jonin? This was new. Taking the paper to make sure it wasn't some sort of prank, Kakashi could see a list of five Lightning Style Jutsu with the hand signs and a basic description for each one below the name of each Jutsu. There was a Lightning Jutsu for each ranking, from E- to A-Rank.

"Uh… Thanks." Kakashi was still caught off guard. He'd have to try each Jutsu later to test their legitimacy, but they looked real enough on paper.

Minato grinned at the scene. Obito had come up with a thoughtful gift after all. He'd have to thank Konan later.

"Well, let's move out. Master Jiraiya and Nagato will be expecting me by the day's end tomorrow."

And with that, they ran in the direction of the Land of Earth.… Needless to say, it didn't take them long to run into trouble.

"Sensei, I can smell some nin up ahead… They don't seem to carry the scent of the Leaf Village, or any scent reminiscent of that."

Minato stiffly nodded.

"Alright… Let's not make any assumptions. We'll adopt a wait-and-see approach for now." Minato said, and then motioned for everyone to scatter and hide amongst the trees they were traversing.

A scarce twenty seconds later, two men in gray uniforms that had their right arms bare plainly trod on the forest floor below. Team Minato didn't make a sound, as they were awaiting further clarification, as the men's headbands seemed to bear the insignia of the Hidden Stone Village. The men could just be two Leaf shinobi under a Transformation Jutsu.

"Man… What's taking Takeshi so long…?" One of the nameless shinobi grumbled. He sported a black afro and appeared to have not shaved in weeks.

"He had to break off to 'take care' of something. Don't worry your pretty little head." The other man responded ominously. He had a black goatee, and a large nose that made him stand out.

The man with the afro cursed and spat at a random tree.

"You're always defending Takeshi. What if he's actually shirking his duties this time? Nobody's friggin' perfect."

"That may be so, but you and I both know that Takeshi is a professional, and wouldn't neglect his duties. He's always on your case, Shiro." Goatee-man muttered.

"Shaddup, Genzo. Lord Tsuchikage will see my talents for what they truly are someday. And then Takeshi will get his…"

That was all Kakashi needed to hear. Without first consulting Minato-sensei, Kakashi ran through some hand seals for the new Jutsu he developed. Chidori crackled to life, and the noise had the Stone-nin on high alert.

Kakashi leaped down to the forest floor and ran straight up behind Genzo, and he jabbed the Chidori straight through the man's back. The other man, Shiro, was shocked at first, but he quickly regained his composure, took hold of Kakashi's arm, which was now jammed inside of Genzo, and delivered a sharp kick to Kakashi's rib.

"Nobody messes with the Hidden Stone!" Shiro growled and watched as Genzo dropped to the ground, lifeless. "Tch… Pathetic."

Shiro manhandled Kakashi, who was now clutching his bruised rib, and roughly threw the boy against a tree. Then he began slugging Kakashi left and right. However, a few moments later, a kunai was suddenly lodged in Shiro's neck, and the Stone-nin breathed no more.

"Nice shot, Obito," Minato complimented as he, Rin, and Obito landed on the forest floor and made their way to Kakashi.

Obito nervously rubbed the back of his head and couldn't hide his bashfulness.

"Th-The guy was just standing there… I-It wasn't that hard, Minato-sensei."

Minato smiled serenely at Obito.

"You protected your comrade, Obito. That's what counts. Whether the target is moving or immobile, it takes great accuracy to hit a fatal point from a distance away like that. You've improved considerably well, and that's something to be proud of."

Obito continued looking bashful, and Rin took off her backpack to get out her medical kit. Kakashi winced due to the beating that he had just taken.

"I'll get you fixed up in no time, Kakashi…"

Due to letting their guard down, Team Minato failed to notice the Stone-nin that snuck up behind Rin. It was all so sudden, and the Stone-nin spirited her away to a tree branch up high. Holding a kunai against her throat, the Stone-nin called down to the rest of Team Minato menacingly.

"Genzo and Shiro were idiots… I sensed you Leaf trash coming from a mile away. If you want this girl to live, then listen up, because this is how things are going to go." Craning his head toward Obito, he motioned in Minato's direction. "Uchiha runt is gonna take out Blondie there. After that, I might let you all go quietly. All depends how generous I'm feeling, you got me? You trash actually did me a favor by taking out Genzo and Shiro. They were worthless grunts and were holding me back."

Obito looked to Minato-sensei pleadingly. He didn't want any of his comrades to perish here. Obito couldn't do anything in this situation; no doubt the Stone-nin would eliminate Rin if he made the slightest movement to attack him. Minato watched the Stone-nin sternly and with a cool gaze. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his kunai knives, which made the Stone-nin tense and grasp Rin harder.

"Better not be any funny business, Leaf trash…"

Minato silently nodded and tossed the knife over to Obito. Obito didn't even move to catch it, and the knife dug into the ground near him. Obito looked at Minato with wide, petrified eyes, which Minato returned with a sharp, calculating gaze. The Stone-nin hollered down again when Obito didn't make a move.

"Are you gonna take out Blondie or not?! Or do you WANT the girl to die, Uchiha scum?!"

Obito flinched and clenched his fists. Tears threatened to come out, and he hesitantly crouched down to dislodge the kunai knife from the dirt. He held the knife up and looked from the Stone-nin up in the tree to Minato-sensei. Only then did Obito notice Minato-sensei signaling him with his eyes. Minato's gaze traveled from Obito to the man holding Rin hostage in the tree three times, just to make sure Obito got the signal. Obito blinked and gripped the handle of the knife. He gulped and swiftly tossed the knife at the Stone-nin, who sneered at Obito's seemingly naïve move.

"I warned you, scum… Now the girl dies!"

However, before the man could even carry out his threat, Minato suddenly vanished from Obito's side and appeared in front of the Stone-nin's face, holding the kunai knife in one hand. Minato swung a fist at the shocked man's face, sending the enemy ninja falling to the forest floor below. Minato deftly caught Rin and shunshined back to Obito's side, gently placing her on the ground.

"It's alright, Rin… I'm sorry about that." Minato apologized, concern etched on his facial features. Standing back up, he gave Obito a serious glance. "Obito, I'm going to have a chat with our bold friend over there. Can you look after Rin and Kakashi in case other enemies are nearby?"

Obito numbly nodded, and watched his Sensei disappear in a swirl of leaves. Minato-sensei was so awesome….

A few minutes later, Minato returned, and Kakashi had been patched up by Rin. No other enemies seemed to be in the immediate area, and so the two Chunin and newly minted Jonin had relaxed a miniscule amount. It was kind of hard to lower their guard completely after being ambushed.

"Did you get him to talk?" Kakashi asked without preamble.

Minato frowned and nodded.

"The three we just took out happened to be one team that was a part of a Surprise Attack Division comprised of several teams sent to infiltrate the Land of Fire and stir up confusion. Before we move on, I'll need to alert Lord Third to this new development. Kakashi, think you can spare one of your Ninja Hounds to pass along the message?"

At Kakashi's minute nod, Minato took out a scroll and scribbled furtively on it while Kakashi summoned Pakkun.

"Yo." Pakkun greeted Team Minato. "What'll it be today?"

Minato handed Kakashi the scroll after rolling it back up, and he in turn strapped the scroll to Pakkun's back.

"Need you to return this to the Leaf and give it to Lord Third," Minato explained to the Ninja Hound. "Think you can do that?"

Pakkun gave a small shrug.

"Not in my usual repertoire, but sure. I can play delivery-dog."

Minato nodded in silent gratitude, and told the dog to head south-east to return to the Leaf Village. Once Pakkun got a general understanding of how far Team Minato had traversed since leaving the Leaf Village, he was off. With that out of the way, Minato turned back to his students.

"Alright… That took away a little time, but we should still be able to reach our destination on time."

Delaying their journey no further, Team Minato was off….

- Evening the next day… -

Minato halted in his tracks; the road went on from there, but this was where they parted ways.

"Well, this is where we part ways…" Minato said, looking over his shoulder. "You'll have to be careful from here on out; not only are you in enemy territory, but you're also increasingly visible in this landscape. Once you're spotted, you will be ambushed. Be on your guard."

"Yes, Sensei!" Kakashi, Rin, and Obito chorused.

Minato smiled, turning to Kakashi briefly.

"This is more or less your show now, Kakashi. You and your teammates are in your capable hands. What you choose to do is entirely your choice. I wish you luck."

Minato extended his hand, which Kakashi shook.

"Yes, Sensei. Good luck to you as well."

Team Minato parted ways after that was said. Minato went to join up with Nagato and Jiraiya, and Kakashi, Rin, and Obito covertly infiltrated the Land of Earth, headed to the rough location of the first support group. Thankfully for them, they had the cover of night to compensate for the loss of trees to hide them. They were still out in the open in enemy territory, though.

"We're approaching the first support group. I can smell them." Kakashi alerted his teammates. Rin and Obito both tensed a little; this is where the mission truly began.

"So… where are they?" Obito whispered.

Abruptly, Kakashi stopped running, and he extended his arms so that Rin and Obito would stop as well. Looking downward, the three of them saw a small campfire burning, with five shinobi huddled around it.

"Only five? We can take 'em!" Obito punched his open palm.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Rin lectured Obito.

Kakashi gave Obito a dry look.

"I would rather not take them all at once, thank you. As talented as I am, I couldn't take on more than one with my Chidori; you know that, idiot."

Rin crossed her arms and sternly looked at Kakashi.

"Sensei said not to use that anymore."

Kakashi shook his head.

"He advised me not to use it." Kakashi corrected her. "If I can guarantee that nothing is in my blind spots, I can use it and take them out in one attack. If you or Obito can sufficiently distract the enemy, I can go in for a nice, clean kill. Simple."

"And let you take all the glory?!" Obito roared. Rin abruptly smothered his mouth.

"Shh!"

Down below, the Stone-nin had heard the yell.

"What was that…?"

Another voice muttered, "Ishii, go check it out. Yamashita, go back him up."

A third voice grumbled, but the speaker stood up. A second person stood up to go with the man. Kakashi palmed his face.

"New plan: I'll kill one, you guys keep the other preoccupied until I can free myself."

"Kakashi…" Rin's voice was chilly, and she was glaring at Kakashi for once.

"I'm the team leader now!" Kakashi asserted his authority. "This is the most viable plan right now. We'll deal with the other three when we get past these two…"

Obito grunted and got in a fighting stance. Rin very reluctantly got into a position that could support Obito, and Kakashi separated himself from Obito and Rin so that he could take out one of the approaching foes. When the two Stone-nin reached the top, they saw only Obito and Rin.

"Well, well… Isn't it past your bedtime, brats?" The man sneered.

"More than that, ain't it a bit early to be dating? You're just kids!" The woman chimed in.

Obito blushed, and Rin got a tick mark on her head, but didn't rise to the bait. The female Stone-nin cackled.

"Ain't this cute? The kiddies think their little friend is sneaky! Ishii, be careful of…" Yamashita heard Ishii cough violently and turned to see that the third brat that she sensed had already done his little trick. "… Shit."

With Yamashita momentarily distracted, Obito rapidly ran through hand seals and declared, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Yamashita's eyes widened, but it was too late for her to dodge. The fireball hit her head on, and she went flying back over the edge of the small gorge. Her flaming corpse landed close to her remaining comrades. This resulted in the remaining three Stone-nin rising and ascending to where their comrades had perished.

Kakashi had dislodged his arm from Ishii's chest, and he was dryly looking at Obito again.

"You had to take her out like that? Really?"

Obito rubbed the back of his head.

"It got the job done!"

"And now the rest of the enemy shinobi are on their way up here…" Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Obito suddenly looked like a deer caught in a deadly Jutsu.

"Oh." Obito said, dropping his arms to his sides.

"Yeah!" Kakashi sarcastically replied. "'Oh'!"

"Boys…" Rin said in a frosty voice. Kakashi and Obito immediately stopped bickering.

The three Stone-nin finally reached the top, and the leader heaved a sigh.

"Great. Ishii and Yamashita were taken out by a bunch of brats. That's going to look so good on our incident report…"

"The brat that's the spitting image of the White Fang is mine!" The Stone-nin on the right said, clutching his tanto.

The one on the left shrugged noncommittally and said, "Sure, I guess I'll take the Uchiha brat…"

The leader shook his head.

"I'll capture the girl and come and help out one of you… I don't give a shit either way."

Kakashi shot Obito a meaningful look.

"I sure hope those techniques work, idiot."

Obito cracked his knuckles.

"They work! Sheesh! When we finish our fights, we have to protect Rin!"

Rin glowered at Obito a little.

"I don't need to be protected all the time, Obito…" She added, "Just be careful…"

Obito nodded in acceptance and readied himself for his opponent, who was just casually standing there. Kakashi's opponent and Rin's opponent rushed them respectively.

"Hope you're ready, Uchiha runt!" Obito's opponent smirked. He ran through many hand seals and eventually slammed his palms on the ground. "Earth Style: Destructive Rising Rock Pillars!"

The leader of the Stone-nin growled at hearing that.

"Takeda, you idiot!" The leader hopped off the ground and tried to get as far away as possible. Takeda was going in for a one-hit KO with that move. Kakashi's opponent didn't seem to care as he clashed with Kakashi, blade to blade.

A huge pillar arose from the earth near Obito's location, which Obito hopped on top of, fueling Chakra into his feet to keep him planted firmly on it. Aftershocks occurred because of this, and yet there were no casualties, because Rin had taken the hint from the leader and gained some distance before the attack finished, and Kakashi and his opponent were just outside the vicinity of the attack.

Obito failed to notice his opponent running up the other side of the pillar, and barely defended himself when the man suddenly lunged to the top of the pillar with a kunai brandished. Obito released his Chakra from his feet and allowed himself to slide to the opposite edge of the top of the pillar. He ran through the same hand seals he did earlier and cried, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Takeda stuck to the top of the pillar, Chakra channeled to his feet, but the fireball still burned him badly. Takeda hurried to Obito's side of the pillar, but had to retreat to a safer distance after another fireball was sent his way. He attempted one more shot at reaching Obito, but Obito shot yet another fireball, which Takeda easily dodged. But Obito expected this, and he dashed at the Stone-nin, kunai in front of him. The kunai connected with Takeda's heart, and the man breathed no more. Obito wiped sweat from his forehead and turned to Rin and Kakashi's battles. They were still going on.

"I'll admit, you're lasting than I thought you would, girly," Rin's opponent conceded. "But you're still going to be captured…"

Rin dodged another stone punch; the man had completely coated his hands with rocks, and it made his Taijutsu all the more dangerous. However, the rest of his body was still all-skin, and that made him mostly vulnerable still. All Rin had to do was hit a vital spot, but of course the man made that all but impossible with his impressive stone fist attacks.

All she needed was a distraction…

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

The Stone-nin glanced behind himself, but couldn't dodge the massive fireball. He was pushed forward in Rin's direction; Rin plunged her kunai into the man's jugular. Blood sprayed all over Rin, but the man was dead, finally. Wiping herself clean a little, Rin smiled appreciatively at Obito, who had finally managed to make it over to her.

"Thanks, Obito! So you won your fight."

"Yeah… It wasn't all that hard, actually… I…" Obito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at Rin's praise but didn't get to tell how awesome he was, because their attention was drawn to Kakashi.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running!" Kakashi roared fiercely.

Obito and Rin watched in awe as a hound made of pure lightning seemed to appear out of Kakashi's right hand. The remaining Stone-nin cursed and attempted to flee, but Kakashi wasn't having any of that. He guided the hound as it gave chase. The last Stone-nin, in a desperate move, threw his tanto at Kakashi who was standing still. Kakashi leaped back and dodged the projectile, but made sure that his Lightning Hound kept charging. The Stone-nin cried out in agony when the hound finally caught up to him and electrocuted him; he crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Kakashi threw his own tanto into the head of the Stone-nin, just to be sure the job was really done.

The man didn't get up.

As Kakashi went to collect his tanto, Rin and Obito joined him.

"That was so friggin' cool, Kakashi!" Obito excitedly gushed, for once praising the young prodigy.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Obito.

"You're the one who gave me the technique, idiot. Didn't you know what it looked like?"

Obito shook his head negatively.

"I can't do Lightning Style; and neither can any Uchiha that I know personally. So no, I haven't seen it before! It's so flippin' epic!"

Kakashi sighed, but managed a small smile all the same.

"Well… I guess I should thank you for the technique. At least out of those five, the B-Rank is useful."

Obito pointed accusingly at Kakashi.

"I told you they all work!"

"But I have yet to see the other four work." Kakashi eye-smiled, which flipped Obito off a little.

"Idiot!" Obito harrumphed and crossed his arms, turning away from Kakashi.

Rin held up her hands.

"Okay, guys, calm down. We dispatched this group, but there's still four more. We have three days to eliminate as many of them as possible!"

Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"It'll be doable, if the idiot here keeps pulling his weight like this."

Obito whipped back around to point at Kakashi accusingly again.

"You're the idiot for not believing me, idiot!" Obito said, a tick mark on his head.

Kakashi laughed. Not haughtily or coldly; Kakashi laughed a real, genuine laugh, and Obito and Rin would never forget it.

And they so badly wanted to keep Kakashi in good spirits like this.

- With Minato, Nagato, and Jiraiya… -

Night had long since fallen, and Jiraiya had broken off the assault for the time being. Up until Minato's arrival, he and Nagato had been the juggernauts that the Stone forces had to deal with, and they weren't doing half bad. But when Minato showed up… Well, needless to say, Stone's forces fell back to wait for more reinforcements. Jiraiya had the five hundred Leaf shinobi pursue them for a little while, to keep up appearances, but had them fall back, too, when night fell.

Jiraiya, Nagato, and Minato sat around a small fire after eating a meager dinner. None of them felt particularly tired yet, and the nightly watch was being kept by other individuals.

"The Hidden Stone must have been quite surprised by our large-scale attack," Nagato struck up a conversation with his Sensei and sibling disciple.

Jiraiya gave a hearty laugh.

"Did you see the look on their faces when you showed up, Minato? You're gaining quite the reputation!"

Minato ran his hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm not the one that was summoning frogs or animals the size of houses."

"But we weren't the ones zipping about, taking down Stone shinobi like they were going out of fashion." Nagato smirked as Minato's cheeks gain some color due to embarrassment.

"Well, I…" Minato tried to counter. "I don't have… the Rinnegan!"

Nagato and Jiraiya laughed lightly at Minato's attempt at a comeback.

"But you are efficient at sealing while I am not," Nagato playfully continued to argue. "Go on, we can keep going for hours, I'm sure."

Minato flushed, but ceased the argument of 'awesomeness' for now. He'd definitely get back at Nagato later, after the war was over. Silence reigned for several moments after their playful banter, until Jiraiya spoke up again.

"It's probably gonna be rougher tomorrow," Jiraiya said, steering the discussion to a more serious topic. "Onoki will no doubt have sent reinforcements. It was fun tonight, but that old Fence Sitter doesn't like being pushed around, least of all by the Leaf. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Kitsuchi, Roshi, and/or Han tomorrow."

"What of the support groups? I'm sure there weren't too many people in each group, before they were attacked today. Do you think that Onoki will send more troops to back up the support units as well?"

Jiraiya shrugged unknowingly.

"Maybe, but I think it's more likely we'll be experiencing the heavier stuff. Onoki will want us out of his country, and then he might reinforce the support troops in case of future assaults. If Minato's kids do their job, communication between the support groups will be messed up big time."

Minato shook his head.

"You're talking like this is an actual attack, Sensei. Our targets are the support groups."

Jiraiya waved him off.

"Yeah, but we if we take out a good number of Stone shinobi here, the Hidden Stone will be less of a headache later in this war. I'm not saying we have to succeed in this pseudo-siege, but it wouldn't be bad to be somewhat successful on our part. We have to at least keep up appearances, and what better way than aiming to take out as many Stone shinobi as possible?"

Minato didn't look so certain, but he nodded hesitantly.

"I guess…"

Nagato turned to face Minato.

"How are your students by the way? Obito and Kakashi still going at it?"

Minato ran his hand through his hair again.

"Yeah, they do tend to quarrel a lot… But it'll get better, I hope… Little Kakashi's dad isn't around to help him train, so Kakashi is seriously striving to make his father proud, and Obito annoys him to death with his habits. At least Rin does a pretty good job of keeping the peace between them as a team; she doesn't allow her crush on Kakashi to interfere with her interaction with Obito, which is very fortunate. I don't want to think what the team dynamic would be if she allowed her affections free reign…"

"And doesn't Obito have a crush on Rin?" Jiraiya let out a perverse giggle. "Gotta love love triangles…"

Minato sighed and closed his eyes.

"Yes, he does… Both of them lack the courage to let the object of their affections know their true feelings. If it ever gets in the way of their work ethic or teamwork, I'll need to nip that problem in the bud, no matter how 'inspirational' you find that for your 'research', Sensei."

"You're no fun…" Jiraiya groused.

Nagato dully looked at Jiraiya.

"Stick to writing morally engaging plots with believable characters, Sensei. I don't care if Tales of a Gutsy Ninja isn't selling well, that novel was quite good."

Jiraiya shook his head.

"But-"

"I said no." Nagato said with finality. "Or I'll tell Konan…"

Jiraiya and Minato both shuddered at that. Konan did not lot Jiraiya's 'research' at all. If she found out he was planning on incorporating that 'research' into his stories… well…

"Okay, okay. Let's not be so hasty." Jiraiya held up his hands peaceably.

"I'm not the one whose perversity is one step away from running rampant… Sensei…"

Jiraiya nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head. At least Nagato didn't know he had plans for a series called Icha Icha: Paradise yet. No need to let him know until it was too late to do anything.

"I won't write smut, Nagato," Jiraiya placated his redheaded student. 'Just romance novels."

Nagato didn't look thoroughly convinced, but he'd let it go for now. Soon after that, the three called it a night and went to bed.

- Early the next morning… -

"Let's not try to have any screw-ups like last night…" Kakashi said loud enough for his team to hear as they observed the second support group out in the middle of a vast plain. They were hidden by some slightly tall grass as they lay there, observing the Stone-nin.

Obito got a tick mark on his head as he glowered at the back of Kakashi's head.

"Hey! I said I was sorry!" Obito said in a hushed tone. Kakashi didn't deign to look his way.

Rin sighed and patted Obito on the back.

"I know you didn't mean it, Obito." Rin comforted her teammate, who appeared happy to receive her comfort. "Just be more careful, alright?"

"I will!" Obito promised with a determined look on his face.

Kakashi, having largely ignored the small exchange, spoke up again.

"There are seven of them this time. We'll need to be far more careful. … Not that it'll be very hard to be more careful than we were last night." Kakashi deadpanned. "Anyway… Taking out this group will be harder, and not just because they outnumber us two to one; this group is in the middle of an open field. While that might make them easily visible, they will also see us coming long before we can get to them."

Obito scratched his head.

"So just send in a Shadow Clone or two and try and split them up!" Obito anxiously replied. Kakashi shot him a deadpan stare.

"There is a reason I'm team leader, and it's not just because I'm Jonin…" Kakashi drawled. "Honestly… Shadow Clones, while they might be more durable and useful than the regular Clone, can still be dispelled pretty easily. Plus, there's no guarantee that we will be able to split them up."

Obito grunted.

"So what do we do… Commander?" Obito shivered a bit after that rolled off his tongue. He was still getting used to the idea of Kakashi being his superior.

Kakashi closed his eyes to ponder for a moment.

"We will hit them with our best long range attacks while they're still huddled together like that. Even if we don't kill them all, we should still take out one or two at the very minimum. From there… I'm not sure what we can do. This battle situation is not very favorable at all."

Rin tried to present another solution.

"So let's move onto the next! We can come back for these guys after we take out the other support groups."

Kakashi only shook his head.

"I'm being deliberate in the order that we take out the support groups. The first one that we took out was closest to the battle that Minato-sensei, Master Jiraiya, and Nagato are fighting; this one's the second closest. I want to work our way to the farthest support group from that battle so that at the very least the Hidden Stone's back-up will be delayed. I'm confident that we can handle these guys; it's just going to be a little risky."

"Combat doesn't always go the way we want," Obito argued. "Do you seriously want to endanger us like this?"

Kakashi took a few moments to reply.

"You know the risks of becoming a shinobi, Obito. We need to do everything we can to fulfill our quota for this mission. You will assist me in taking out these Stone-nin."

Obito growled irritably, but didn't bother arguing anymore. Once an idea got stuck in Kakashi's head, he was too stubborn to be deterred from it. Obito conveniently ignored the fact that the same could be said about him.

"Just keep Rin safe, that's all I ask."

Kakashi hn'ed, and he and Obito ran through the hand seals for their attacks.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Kakashi's Lightning Hound and Obito's fireball raced toward the enemy ninja, and the sensor of the group noticed the attacks too late.

"Incoming!"

The area where the Stone-nin were at exploded and a vast amount of smoke was kicked up. Obito whooped and cheered, but Kakashi chastised him and ordered him to get down. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito observed the damaged site for what seemed like forever; eventually, four figures emerged from the smoke.

"Masateru… Location. Now." One Stone-nin barked succinctly. He was distinguished by brown afro hair and a clean shaven face.

The sensor of the group, Masateru, concentrated and held up his right index and middle fingers as he used his sensory Jutsu. He had a bandage on his right cheek, and a blue bandana that covered his tame black hair. Eventually, he pointed in the direction of Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.

"Over there, sir! Just a bunch of brats. Three of 'em."

The leader snorted derisively.

"Whatever. Go wipe them out; sweep and clear." He spat.

At that command, all four charged Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. The three leaped to their feet, and Obito shot out another fireball.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The leading Stone-nin's comrades split off from him, and the man himself just stood there as the fireball rushed at him. The man made the snake hand seal, and he somehow survived the fireball, barely getting singed; at least, that's what it looked like from Kakashi, Rin, and Obito's perspective.

They didn't have time to dwell on that, though. The other three Stone-nin were going in for Taijutsu battles. Masateru ended up battling Obito, which is why he was shocked when the Uchiha popped out of existence from just one punch. Quickly using his sensory Jutsu again, Masateru alerted his leader.

"Boss, they're all-"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running!"

The sensor quickly got out of the blast range, but the other two Stone-nin battling the Shadow Clones of Rin and Kakashi weren't so lucky. The leader grumbled irritably as his sensor leaped to his side.

"Boss, I-"

"… Don't care, Masateru." The leader cut him off. "We suffered casualties, but now the brats are going to be easier to deal with; they've been spamming high level Jutsu, and that will make our job easier. If you got a general location of their whereabouts, let's go."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Kakashi and Obito were both out of breath, a ways away from the remaining Stone-nin. After their first attack, Kakashi had shown them the hand seal to create Shadow Clones, and had then used the shunshin to escape to a safe distance while their Shadow Clones posed as them. They were on the ground again, hoping that the remaining Stone-nin hadn't caught sight of them; they were almost out of parlor tricks.

"Kakashi… Thanks… for teaching us the Shadow Clone Jutsu…" Obito wheezed out.

Rin nodded in silent agreement. Kakashi took a deep breath.

"We're not done yet. Two more still. The sensor's still around, too, so we don't have much time. I don't know about you, but I'm below half my Chakra Reserves now, Obito."

Obito inhaled and exhaled.

"I'm not much better. You didn't mention the Shadow Clone Jutsu was that bad… I can normally spam out more fireballs than this…"

"No time to worry about that now," Kakashi grumbled. "Let's kill these last two with Taijutsu and be done with this support group."

"Here they come!" Rin alerted Kakashi and Obito. The three of them leaped to their feet again

Obito exchanged punches with Masateru, and the punches smashed into their faces simultaneously. Both flew back from the impact. Kakashi went after the leader, and it turned into a slugfest. Blows were exchanged, but punches were mostly blocked by wrists, elbows, and arms. The Stone-nin attempted to kick Kakashi, but Kakashi caught the leg and kicked the Stone-nin back. The Stone-nin ended up on his back.

Rin leaped over the man and threw a kunai accurately at the man's heart, but the man snatched it out of the air and got a nasty cut on his hand because of it.

"Nice try, brat," The Stone-nin grunted, tossing the metal object right back at Rin, which she dodged. Sitting up, the Stone-nin clenched his bloodied hand and growled. "I'm gonna fuckin' murder you brats…"

"Captain Ryuta, look out!" Masateru cried.

Ryuta looked up in time to see another fireball headed his way. He cursed under his breath and performed the snake hand seal once again. And again he survived.

"You brats are persistent, I'll give you that…" Ryuta heard a gurgling sound and turned to find Masateru on the ground, a kunai buried in his neck. "Tch. Pathetic… Can't even handle three brats…"

"You're outnumbered!" Kakashi warned the Stone-nin. "Just surrender, and your death will be quick."

Ryuta rolled his eyes at Kakashi.

"Kid, there is a reason Lord Tsuchikage put me in support, and it wasn't because I was too wimpy to handle the frontlines… The cannon fodder you wiped out fit that stereotype. Lord Tsuchikage wanted someone strong out here in case there were any, ah… problems… I'm no Kitsuchi, but I've had my fair share of clusterfucks that I've lived through. This will be no different..."

Kakashi hmm'ed thoughtfully.

"I happened to notice that you make that snake hand seal when you survived Obito's Fireball Jutsu… You're using Earth Style to survive attacks like that, somehow."

Ryuta barked with laughter.

"So you noticed. Big deal. You're still dead, kid."

Kakashi stared at Ryuta for a few moments, then he cried, "Obito, now!" Ryuta whipped around to see the Uchiha runt perform the hand seals for his Jutsu, and then a fireball emerged from his mouth again. Ryuta did the same thing a third time.

"Not gonna cut it, punks!" Ryuta cackled. Then he tensed as he heard Kakashi behind him. "What the…?!"

"Really…? Chidori!" Kakashi's Chidori went straight through Ryuta's heart. Then Kakashi used Ryuta's body as a shield for Obito's fireball, which still singed him a little, but luckily the body he held took the brunt of the fire.

Obito cheered once again, as the battle had now officially ended in their favor.

"We won!" Obito laughed.

Kakashi unceremoniously dropped Ryuta's corpse to the ground after removing his hand from it, and then shot a dry look at Obito.

"That took way too much Chakra, though. We're going to have to rest a while before moving on. I want to take out at least one more support group today."

Obito waved dismissively.

"Relax, Kakashi. We're, like, halfway to mission completion. We still got two whole days to do it, too."

Kakashi shot him a withering glare.

"Your very existence being a contradiction, I'm not sure if you can understand this… But Minato-sensei said that was at most. And besides, we're in enemy territory. Don't you want to get out of here as soon as possible? The faster we complete this mission, the better it will look on our record, too."

Obito shrugged nonchalantly.

"Eh. I guess. I have faith in Minato-sensei, though," Obito proclaimed. "He'll hold off the enemy for the maximum amount of time!"

"There is such a thing as overestimating someone's abilities, Obito… Try and be realistic." Kakashi deadpanned.

Rin got between the two bickering boys.

"Boys, boys… Let's calm down and find somewhere to hide and recuperate. We might have defeated the enemy here, but we're still in their territory, and wandering shinobi can still find us out here."

Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Rin's right. We can begin to make our way to the next support group, but we won't get too close, because we still have to recover. Got that Obito?"

Obito glared daggers at Kakashi, but gave in all the same.

"Yeah…"

- Later that day… -

Kakashi, Rin, and Obito had taken refuge in a cave roughly a mile away from their next target. Kakashi and Obito sat across from each other as Rin continued to nap. Obito started up a conversation with Kakashi after a while.

"So, have the enemies been Jonin so far? That'd be pretty cool if they were…"

Kakashi shook his head at Obito's flight of fancy.

"No, based on the intel that Minato-sensei imparted to me, they've been Chunin for the most part, with the occasional Jonin thrown in. The leader of the last group was definitely Jonin, but everyone else seemed Chunin at best. Our intel gathered that there wasn't anyone particularly strong amongst these support troops… but intel's not always accurate. Hard to say what the rest of the groups will be like."

Silence ensued after that. Obito appeared to be mulling something over, but he eventually gained the courage to pose his next question.

"I can't believe I'm asking you this… But what's it like to have the White Fang as a dad? It must be so cool… I wish I knew my dad growing up…"

For once, Kakashi didn't seem all that irritated talking to Obito. He seemed kinda pleased that his dad was brought up.

"Well… it's a blessing and a curse, really. Yes, it's 'cool' to have a father that is infamously strong and willing to teach you how to be a shinobi… But at the same time, dad's made a lot of enemies, and now with his new position in the Hidden Rain Village… Well, let's just say his reputation has escalated."

Obito looked at Kakashi in awe.

"What is the story behind that, anyway? It's kinda weird for your dad, who's a native of the Leaf Village, to be a leader of a foreign village…"

Kakashi shrugged.

"I don't know the full details. A few years ago, dad came back from a mission and was very, very depressed. Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan were pretty persistent in staying by his side for a while… and that's when dad started spending a lot more time with me. But even as he did so, I could still tell he was sad. Then a few months ago he got approached by the Hokage, and, well, the rest is history. I speculate it had to do something with his depression, but I'm not certain."

Obito crossed his arms and scrunched up his face in thought.

"Do ya think it had something to do with that mission? It's hard to believe a mission went wrong for him…"

Kakashi shook his head.

"Even legendary shinobi have bad days. Of course it had to do with that mission… I'm sure about that. What I don't get is why he'd be depressed about saving the lives of his comrades." Kakashi explained.

Obito's eyes bugged out.

"That was the mission your dad came home depressed about?! I heard from Koko that one time the White Fang saved his teammates' lives instead of continuing on with the mission… He's been my hero ever since Koko told me about that."

Kakashi stared at Obito appraisingly.

"As I said, his attitude confused me. He seemed too depressed for it simply to be about the mission's outcome. He didn't regret saving his teammates, he told me that much, but he wouldn't share what made him so sad. When walking about with my dad in the village, I did notice that some people were treating him differently, but nobody would tell me why, and I couldn't ascertain the reason for their behavior. He seems to be doing better in the Hidden Rain Village, at least."

"Well, at least something good came of his promotion, I guess," Obito conceded. "Beyond the rise in reputation, I mean."

Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah…" Turning to look at the snoozing Rin, he said, "Why don't we move out? I'm rested up now, and should be able to handle the next group. How about you?"

Obito got up and stretched.

"I'm good, too." Punching his fist into his open palm, he grinned. "Let's go bash some Stone-nin!"

Getting up and walking to the entrance to the cave, Kakashi said, "Well, wake up Rin, and we'll get moving."

"M-Me?!" Obito's face flushed.

"Hurry up, Obito! We've got ground to cover!" Kakashi called back to him as he left the cave.

Obito stared down at Rin.

"Ground to cover? We're a mile away!" Obito whined in all futility. Kakashi couldn't hear him now, and he was the only one who could wake up Rin now. "Bastard."

- Ten minutes later… -

Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were behind a large boulder as they were only a few yards away from their third target. Kakashi was taking quick glances as the enemy was more cautious of their surroundings this time.

"Ten of them this time." Kakashi reported in a hushed tone. "How do we do this…?"

Obito tensed at that.

"T-Ten?! They outnumber us three to one…!"

"This area must be sensitive, if the enemy's fortified the area like this," Rin surmised. "Did our intel reveal anything special regarding this area, Kakashi?"

"No," Kakashi denied. "We are close to the border here; that could be it."

"Whatever the case, we'll need to try and split the enemy up this time." Rin stated. "It's too dangerous to take them all at once."

Kakashi leaned against the boulder and ran his hand through his hair.

"We can't pull off a Shadow Clone distraction again; that was too risky last time, and that Stone-nin might've beaten us if he endured our attacks for a little longer…"

"But it worked!" Obito argued. He yelped in pain when Rin pulled his ear. "Ow!"

"Too risky." Rin stressed as she stared at him sternly. Obito massaged his ear and didn't bother to argue the point anymore.

"So what do we do?" Obito queried.

Kakashi tapped his chin in thought.

"… Might be necessary to bring in the Ninja Hounds. It'll cost me some Chakra, but I think it'll even us out a bit in terms of numbers."

Obito blinked in astonishment.

"But can they keep the others occupied as we take 'em out?" Obito paused a moment. "Wait… If you could summon these Ninja Hounds, why didn't you do it the last time? We could've really used their help…"

"Shut up, Obito… Now's not the time…" Kakashi grumbled.

"You forgot, didn't you? Oh, ho, ho man… I'm not gonna forget this… The Great Kakashi Hatake made a mistake…" Obito grinned like a fool. Kakashi rolled his eyes, but refused to comment further on that.

"Dad gave me a pack of eight dogs to take care of, but they're not quite veterans… They'll be able to help; just don't expect them to take down all of our opponents for us. We'll still be fighting an uphill battle."

"Fine, fine," Obito blew him off. He crossed his arms and waited for Kakashi to perform the Summoning Jutsu.

Kakashi did just that, and when the dust cleared, eight dogs of various shapes and sizes appeared before them.

"Yo. What is it ya want from us this time, 'kashi?" Pakkun greeted.

Kakashi was about to get down to business when a giggle escaped from Obito, who looked to be trying hold all of his chuckles in.

"Something wrong, Obito?" Kakashi deadpanned.

Obito waved dismissively.

"No, no… I'm just remembering that one for later." Obito made a sort of strangled noise as he tried but failed to contain his laughter.

Kakashi sighed and went back to ignoring him.

"Anyway… Yeah, I need you to help me ambush some enemy ninja, Pakkun. We're trying to take down support troops, and this one has ten members to it. Think you and the rest of the pack can distract most of them while we take on one each?"

Pakkun shrugged.

"Eh. Consider it done."

Kakashi nodded gratefully, and was about to contemplate a strategy, when Obito ran up the boulder they were hiding behind and sort of made the decision for him.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Obito declared from atop the boulder.

Kakashi face palmed, but ran with it. He emerged from his side of the boulder and rapidly ran through the hand seals for his new favorite technique.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running!"

Smoke kicked up, but unlike last time, there were only two casualties, surprisingly. Kakashi and Obito learned this when a giant earth dome had been erected in retaliation to their assault, and two of the Stone-nin had failed to get within the dome in time.

"Keh! They are just a bunch of brats, like Juzo said!" One Stone-nin cried.

"This'll be quick…" Another Stone-nin muttered.

"Don't let your guard down," A Stone-kunoichi warned. "A scout recently reported that our support groups are being taken down."

"Enough!" A well-toned man with a black beard rumbled. "Wipe them out!"

The Stone-nin jumped into action, and that's when Kakashi's pack emerged from behind the boulder. In response to this, the Stone-nin at the back of the group halted and utilized a Jutsu.

"Camouflage Jutsu!" And just like that, he vanished from sight.

Each of the dogs went after each of the Stone-nin; Pakkun went after the camouflaged one, and Kakashi, Rin, and Obito selected random Stone-nin to go after. Once the children were within range, however, a Stone-nin kicked away the small dog attacking him and punched the ground.

"Earth Style: Erupt!" At his words, the ground rose up unevenly, and Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were sent flying, along with two of Kakashi's dogs that dispelled.

With two Stone-nin free to attack now, they went after Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. Obito was the first to recover, but he wasn't the target of either man. Obito threw a shuriken, aiming for one of the Stone-nin's backs, but he nailed the man's ankle instead. Infuriated, the man whirled on Obito and charged him. When the man became close enough, Obito ran through the hand seals and used the Uchiha trademark Jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Needless to say, the man did not survive. The enemy charging Rin had lowered his guard just as he got close to her, and paid the price as she sliced through the tendons in his lower leg with a kunai. The man fell to the ground in deep agony, and Rin didn't hesitate to end his suffering; she made his death as quick as possible by making a deep cut in his throat.

Kakashi, Rin, and Obito gave meaningful glances to each other, and then leaped back into battle. Kakashi's dogs had managed to slay two Stone-nin with their canine teeth, but that still left four Stone-nin to deal with. Kakashi got behind one and charged a Chidori, but his target unexpectedly moved at the last moment, and Kakashi ended up dispelling another of his dog Summons. The Stone-nin then harshly kicked him in the ribs, knocking him to the ground in the process.

The Stone-nin hovered over him and sneered.

"You're Hatake's brat, ain't ya? Juzo's gonna be mighty pleased…"

Kakashi attempted to throw a kunai at the man's face, but suddenly, someone or something stomped on that hand, and Kakashi cried out in pain. The Camouflage Jutsu gave way, revealing another sneering Stone-nin.

"I am, Atsushi, I am… I'll be able to get back at Hatake through his brat… So let's get outta here." After having said that, Juzo smacked Kakashi hard enough to knock him out, and then slung the young Hatake over his shoulder.

"But what about Gin 'n Hachiro?" Atsushi asked.

"Leave 'em." Juzo said blandly. "Gin's the leader, but I don't care; this turned into another clusterfuck. If Gin lives, he lives. None of the other brats were particularly alluring."

"Did you deal with the mutt tailing you?"

"Duh. Mangy mutt almost blew my cover, but I took care of him…"

"Fine, let's get outta here…"

The two Stone-nin disappeared via shunshin, and Obito and Rin were none the wiser due to still dealing with Hachiro and Gin. Obito eventually nailed Hachiro with a fireball and moved to help Rin and half of Kakashi's pack corner Gin.

"Fucking brats…" The well-toned man cursed. "The Hidden Stone's still going to win this war! You best sleep with one eye open from now on…"

After those last words, Kakashi's pack tore into Gin savagely. Obito and Rin winced at the brutality of it, but didn't move to stop the dogs.

"Well, that wasn't too hard." Obito said, hands on his hips.

Rin looked around and didn't see Kakashi anywhere.

"Kakashi!" Rin gasped, realizing the implications.

Obito whipped around, but didn't see him either.

"Where?!" And then it hit him as well, and Obito wanted to kick himself for letting his guard down like that. "The enemy got Kakashi, didn't they…"

Rin held a hand over her mouth and silently nodded.

"We have to find him, Obito…"

Obito counted the bodies of eight Stone-nin, and then nodded at Rin.

"Two got away… but we still don't know where they would take him…" Obito turned to the dogs and raised an eyebrow. "Um… Can you guys track his scent…?"

The dogs sniffed the air for a minute or two, and then the short gray dog gave Obito a reply.

"Sure can, kid. C'mon."

"Uh… Thanks, er… what's your name?"

"Shiba, kid!" Shiba replied. Then he motioned to the other three dogs with his paw, "And this is Bull, Urushi, and Guruko. Now let's hurry!"

Obito and Rin didn't need to be told twice, and so the four Ninja Hounds and two Chunin raced off to find their Commander and teammate.

- With Minato, Nagato, and Jiraiya… -

Minato swiftly cut through a random Stone-nin with one of his specially made kunai knives. The battle had been going on for the better part of a day, and shinobi were still arriving from the Hidden Stone Village. Kitsuchi had been the main issue so far, but there were rumors that Roshi was on his way.

As he stood there, pondering who to go after next, Minato suddenly felt some sort of premonition, and he just knew something bad had happened to his students. He just didn't know what exactly.

"C'mon, Minato!" Jiraiya called from atop of Gamabunta.

Minato shook his head to clear away his foreboding worries. If his students needed him, he would definitely come when Kakashi threw that kunai knife he'd given him. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

- With the Stone-nin… -

Atsushi and Juzo were racing to the Hidden Stone with Kakashi still draped over Juzo's shoulder. The terrain didn't change very much, and it was largely flat earth. The two Stone-nin weren't even halfway to their destination before Juzo sensed the Leaf-nin on their trail.

Juzo growled at that.

"Atsushi! The brats finished Gin faster than I thought they would… It's time for some landscaping, if you know what I mean…"

Atsushi's eyes widened minutely as he realized what Juzo was implying. Smirking, Atsushi rapidly ran through many hand seals, and declared, "Earth Style: Earthen Labyrinth!" And then Atsushi slammed his palm down on the earth, and a great labyrinth arose that towered over Atsushi and Juzo.

"That drained a ton of my chakra…" Atsushi complained, massaging his arms, which were now aching. "But it should hold them off for a little bit…"

Juzo rolled his eyes.

"Not for as long as you think… Leaf-nin haven't survived this long because of stupidity, you know… Let's move!"

And with that, the two charged ahead. And a few minutes later, Obito, Rin, and the Ninja Hounds reached the labyrinth set up for them.

"Argh…! We don't have time for this!" Obito whined, quickly realizing the structure they entered was a labyrinth, after taking two turns.

Rin looked up and noticed there was no ceiling.

"Going through it will take time… But going over should take no time at all, right?"

Obito blinked in surprise and looked up.

"Hey, you're right! Heh! Good thinking, Rin!" Obito gave her a thumbs-up.

Rin beamed at his praise, and then they ascended the wall by channeling Chakra into their feet. The dogs followed soon after, bouncing up the walls. Once they'd reached the top, the two Chunin and four Ninja Hounds raced across the top and crossed the labyrinth in just a few minutes. Once they reached the other side, Obito and Rin followed the Ninja Hounds, and ran after the Stone-nin.

Up ahead, Juzo growled irritably when he felt the presence of the Leaf-nin drawing closer and closer to them.

"Atsushi! I want those brats gone! No more stalling tactics!" Juzo roared.

Atsushi sighed dramatically, but complied with Juzo's 'request'.

"Fine, fine…" Atsushi stopped in his tracks and got in a fighting stance while Juzo dashed on ahead. A few minutes later, the runts showed up along with four of the blasted dogs.

"It's one of the Stone-nin… I've got this!" Shiba cried as he lunged at Atsushi. Atsushi roundhouse kicked the dog, dispelling him. Next thing Atsushi knew, he was tackled by the big black bulldog, Bull.

"I've got this one. You four go on ahead!" Bull said from where he was sitting. The man tried to get up, but Bull growled lowly, and that was enough for the man to stop his attempts at getting up.

Obito, Rin, Urushi, and Guruko ran on ahead, having barely stopped to clash with the Stone-nin. Roughly ten minutes passed by, and the two Chunin and two Ninja Hounds caught up to Juzo, who was still legging it.

"Oh, come on!" Juzo screamed. He screeched to a halt and faced the incoming brats. "I didn't think you brats would chase me this far… This brat must be really important to you, huh?"

Juzo said this while jerking his head at Kakashi, who was slung over his shoulder still. Obito growled at the Stone-nin.

"Give Kakashi back, you bastard!"

Juzo then gave a sick, manic grin.

"Okay… Sure, why not?"

Juzo abruptly slammed Kakashi's body on the ground, and in the next second twirled a kunai knife in his hand and stabbed the boy in the chest. Rin gasped, and Obito stared at the scene, aghast. Obito was speechless.

"KAKASHI!" Rin shrieked.

Satisfied that he got such reactions from the brats, Juzo stood back up and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"If you don't want your friend killed, I suggest you leave now. I can't guarantee what will happen next. Unless… You want to die, too? You can all be together again in the next life!" Juzo chuckled darkly at his own joke.

Obito clenched his fists. Never had he been so angry in his entire life… Never. Not even Kakashi drove him to this point of pure unadulterated rage. He glared coldly at Juzo, and didn't care to find out why his eyes felt bizarre at that moment.

"Rin… I'm going in… Stay here…" Obito ran at Juzo, and this caused Rin to panic.

"Obito, stop!" Rin cried out.

Juzo manically eyed the Uchiha running at him.

"Sure, let's dance, brat! It's time you learned the futility of your situation…" Juzo took out another kunai from his pocket pouch, aimed it at Kakashi's head, and threw it down. He was shocked when a kunai that Obito threw intercepted his. "Tch."

Obito finally reached Juzo and started throwing punches. It took Juzo some effort, but he managed to block the enraged Obito's blows. But then Obito abruptly delivered a sucker punch to his gut, and then to his face when he bent over. Juzo flew back a few feet and landed on his back. After taking some calming breaths, Obito knelt down by Kakashi to get a look at him. After doing so, he turned to Rin and called her over.

"Rin! Come and get Kakashi medical attention! He's fine!"

Rin appeared immensely relieved; but when she saw Obito's eyes through his goggles, she gasped again.

"Obito! Your eyes…!"

Obito blinked and lifted up his goggles feeling his eyes concernedly.

"Wh-What's wrong with them?! What's wrong with my eyes?!"

"They're Sharingan…!" Rin replied in amazement.

Obito couldn't believe what he was hearing.

'The… The Sharingan…?' Obito thought to himself, and then hollered, "YES!" and pumped his fist in the air victoriously.

Rin rushed over with Urushi and Guruko right behind her. It was when Rin was checking Kakashi's injuries that Juzo sat up again.

"You fucking brats…" Juzo spat, wiping the blood trickling from his nose. He then stood up and declared, "You'll die here… I promise you."

Seeing the object of his rage getting up again, Obito ran at Juzo without a second thought. Spitting a fireball at the Stone-nin would not be satisfying enough. That man had to die… slowly… And darn it, Obito was going to enjoy every second of it!

Knowing he wouldn't have time to perform a Jutsu, Juzo met the young Uchiha in a Taijutsu battle again, and actually enjoyed the rush of it all. He really set off that brat!

"Heh. You're good for a laugh, Uchiha brat, I'll give ya that," Juzo jeered. He roundhouse kicked Obito a few feet back, and then made a hand seal for a Jutsu. Suddenly, there were three of him – the original and two Rock Clones. "Let's see you handle this Uchiha brat."

"Stop calling me that…!" Obito roared, charging the Stone-nin again. He blocked punches from the two Juzo on his right and left and aimed for what he thought was the original with his punches. "You…! Will…! Die…!"

Juzo's clones grabbed Obito's flailing arms, and Juzo cackled as he brutally punched him repeatedly.

"Maybe I will, but it won't be by your hand, Uchiha brat! Maybe I'll take your eyes as souvenirs, though? No?" Juzo continued cackling madly, until Obito's flailing legs landed a solid kick in his crown jewels, which made him wince terribly. "You… little… bastard...! That's it, your eyes are mine, you little shit!"

Obito didn't relent in his resistance. He would get free, somehow! But before Obito could contemplate that, Juzo's face paled for whatever reason. Obito soon found out why, though.

From Juzo's perspective, he was about to wail on the Uchiha brat some more when he noticed some weird kunai sailing his way. And the next thing he knew, the Yellow Flash guy was there, twirling the kunai around his index finger. He threw the kunai at one of his Rock Clones, and then he brought out another one to take out his other Rock Clone, thus totally freeing Obito.

Once Obito had regained his bearings, and freedom, he turned around in time to see his Sensei just before he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport next to him.

"Sorry I'm late, Obito!" Minato beamed down at him.

"S-Sensei!" Obito finally found his voice.

Minato turned his attention back to Juzo.

"I don't know who you are," Minato admitted as he dug into his kunai pouch. His face hardened. "… But you've been threatening my students, and that will not be forgiven."

Juzo panicked, and he pointed accusingly at Minato.

"Y-Y-You're the Yellow Flash!" Not quite thinking straight, the man ran through a hand seal sequence that Minato recognized.

Minato then noticed that Obito had stood back up, and he was going through a different, but still familiar, hand seal sequence as well.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

After Obito had unleashed his fireball, Minato quickly grabbed him by the shirt, threw one of his specially made kunai in the direction of Kakashi and Rin, and hurriedly grabbed them, too, and then vanishing from the area just as the man declared his final Jutsu.

"Earth Style: Destructive Rising Rock Pillars…!"

The fireball burned Juzo to death, and his final Jutsu caused three pillars to rise up from the earth and cause huge aftershocks. And just like that, it was over. Over in a flash.

"W… We did it!" Obito cheered, once he realized Minato had gotten them to safety with the Flying Thunder God technique; they were a fair distance from the big battle that Jiraiya, Nagato, and many other Leaf shinobi were fighting against shinobi from the Hidden Stone, but it was still visible. He pumped his fist in the air triumphantly.

Rin couldn't help but smile. They had done it. And there hadn't been casualties, though there had been a couple of close calls… She looked down at Kakashi, who was now sitting up. He had thrown the kunai that Sensei given him in the hopes that he could help free Obito, and in a way, it certainly did. But it was Sensei that did the saving, not him.

Kakashi reluctantly laid back down at the insistence of Rin as she healed his injuries. Once he was fit once more, he would insist that they finish their mission. Kakashi Hatake would not settle for anything less, especially not without Rin and Obito at his side. They were a team.

- Two days later… -

Team Minato reunited again in the Leaf Village, after Kakashi, Rin, and Obito had taken out the final two support groups, and they met up at their usual training ground.

"So, it sounds like I missed a lot, huh?" Minato smirked a little at the mixture of bashful and prideful faces in front of him. "Anything that could've gone better, Kakashi?"

Kakashi exchanged looks with Obito and Rin, and then rubbed the back of his head.

"Nothing in particular, Sensei. Teamwork improved over the course of the mission, Obito awakened his Sharingan, and I gained some new Jutsu."

Obito laughed.

"You totally spam the Lightning Beast Running technique! You haven't even tried the others yet!"

Kakashi smirked behind his back.

"And you spam the Fireball Jutsu. Why mess with success?"

Obito rubbed the back of his head, and Rin shook her head.

"Because being a one-trick pony can get you captured or killed…?"

Kakashi seemed to mock-consider that, and chuckled a bit.

"I suppose…"

"These are the end times." Obito smirked. "'kashi's lightening up!"

Kakashi dully stared at Obito at that comment.

"Really? You're never going to let that go, are you?" Kakashi sighed when Obito shook his head and cackled gleefully. "Anyway… I guess you could say that this was an eye-opener for me. I could be strict about it and push myself to my limits, but that would distance myself from you guys. I realize now I can't do everything by myself, no matter how hard I try. If the situation had been reversed, and one of you guys had been captured by the enemies, I don't want to think what kind of decision I'd have made under those circumstances… You guys could have continued on with the mission and allowed me to be captured, but you came after me…"

Obito snorted.

"Of course we came after you, dummy. Didn't you learn anything from your dad? Comrades come before the mission."

Kakashi looked Obito in the eye.

"It's said that those that break the rules are trash, though…"

Obito locked eyes with the Kakashi.

"And those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. C'mon, 'kashi! Get with the program!"

Kakashi laughed lightly at that, but didn't debate it. Rin giggled as the exchange came to an end.

"Obito's right! These are the end times, if you guys are done fighting already!"

"We're not that bad!" Kakashi and Obito said at the same time, but then looked away embarrassingly as Minato and Rin shared a laugh.

Once the laughter died down, Minato concluded their debriefing of sorts.

"I'm glad you two are getting along better. I honestly thought this mission would have possibly ended up worse, what with the way you two used to go at it…"

Kakashi ran his hand through his air.

"I'm still a bit upset that we missed our initial mission… By the way, who ended up taking that one?"

Minato shrugged.

"I'm not sure. The mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge was urgent, and so when another team walked in ready to handle another mission, Lord Hokage handed off that one, even though we were supposed to take it."

Rin tilted her head to the side.

"Wasn't there an Uchiha on that team? I swear I saw an Uchiha amongst that team…"

Obito sweated a little, but quickly regained his composure.

"A-Anyway… It's over now, and I'm sure that mission was completed, just like ours. After all, they had…" Obito abruptly stopped himself and coughed into his fist. "Er… So who's for ramen? Ms. Kushina invited me out…"

The rest of Team Minato eyed Obito curiously as the topic of their initial mission came up, but decided to not question Obito further on it, as it seemed to make him uncomfortable. If only they had continued probing…

- At an unknown location… -

A young Uchiha child cracked his eyes open in the dark cavern that he was in. He soon realized that he was all bandaged up now, and that he was on a bed. He weakly spoke as he attempted to sit up.

"Where… am I…?"

His attempts to sit up were a failure, but his question did not go unanswered, at least.

"At the crevasse between your world and the next… young Uchiha…" A distinctly old and decrepit voice cryptically replied…

- Years later: Epilogue –

The Third Shinobi World War raged on for years to come. Battles grew more intense, and legends were made for future generations to admire and fear. Desperate grabs of power were made, some resources were lost, and some were gained. The Age of the Bloody Mist truly gained its notoriety in this war; in a mad scheme to eradicate the Leaf Village, the Hidden Mist kidnapped Rin Nohara and turned her into the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails, setting the seal to release the moment she set foot into the Leaf Village. But Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha would not be deterred from saving their teammate. It is said that Obito Uchiha gained his Mangekyo Sharingan through this incident, while simultaneously saving his teammate and wiping out the Anbu from the Hidden Mist that followed Rin on the pretense of recapturing her.

After that incident, Jiraiya of the Sannin fixed Rin's seal so that she could still be a citizen of the Leaf Village. And that is how the Leaf Village came to be in possession of two Jinchuriki. After that last ditch effort, the Hidden Mist closed itself off from the rest of the world, and the final events of the Third Shinobi World War took place a scarce three months after that.

The Hidden Sand was the first of the Great Five to drop out of the war. This took place only months after Team Minato's first mission led by Kakashi Hatake, and even then, the negotiations for its surrender were heated. In the end, the Leaf extended its protection to its fellow Great Hidden Village, at least until a new Kazekage was selected. A major reason that the Hidden Sand participated in the war in the first place was to take back its Third Kazekage, who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Their Third Kazekage was heralded as their strongest Kazekage since the village's conception, after all; it was only natural they wanted him back.

After Sand and Mist were taken out of the race, the Hidden Stone was the next to go. With the war in decline, the Leaf Village was only fighting on two major fronts: Stone and Cloud. The Leaf poured her resources into taking out the Stone first, and then they reached a stalemate with the Hidden Cloud. The Leaf's situation was dramatically improved with their newest Jinchuriki, Rin. Soon after the stalemate between Cloud and Leaf had taken place, a new armistice was written up between the Great Five Hidden Villages. Not everyone was totally satisfied, but the Tsuchikage and Raikage agreed that the provisions all around were better than the last time.

And so the Third Shinobi World War drew to a close. There was still animosity and grudges, yet the armistice was in place. No one was in a rush to start another war so soon after the last one. At the same time, odd lasting friendships were made…

- Unknown location -

"It appears we're all being called back…" A young male voice broke the silence.

"…" A young boy stared up at the tall blue man in front of him. "Thank you for giving me a chance…"

The blue man chuckled.

"Well, it's not often I run into someone as honest as you, kid." The blue man looked up at the moonlit sky. "Perhaps this world isn't totally filled with liars…"

The young boy raised an eyebrow.

"I'm glad I've convinced you of at least that much…" The young boy paused. "What will you do when you return?"

The blue man shrugged.

"Probably go back to the same old, same old. Lord Mizukage's just bitching about the loss of a Tailed Beast, probably…"

"You don't hold it against my village, do you?"

"Nah. It was my village's idiotic decision to try and go for that. I could care less about Jinchuriki. I just want to have a good time; I don't care who lets me cut loose, I'll go rogue if I have to."

The young boy continued to stare up at the blue man. It creeped the blue man out at first, but he got used to it pretty quick. He was just a kid, but he was a lot better company than most people.

"Well, if you ever need help, I will do all that is within my power to do so."

The blue man simply shook his head in amazement.

"Why would you do that? I'm the enemy, aren't I?"

"We don't have to be enemies." The young boy ominously stated. "You may have detestable… hobbies… But you are not yet hopeless. Just remember that the world isn't completely filled with lies."

The blue man shrugged nonchalantly.

"Like I said, at least you're honest. I suppose I'm glad I didn't just cut through you and move on. I guess I'll see you around."

The young boy closed his eyes and then reopened them after a few moments.

"Farewell, Kisame."

"Later, Itachi."

Aaand… End. I've revealed about as much as I've wanted to, and this totaled up to… seventy five pages. I hope you guys enjoyed that, because I probably won't get up to this length again for a while, even though I'd like to keep it this long. Haha.

So, a few things before I get to Review Replies. Yes, there were several OCs in this chapter, but they were all random ninja from the Hidden Stone. I didn't want to kill off any major characters yet, except Hanzo, and I needed, well… cannon fodder, for a lack of a better term. And the only original Jutsu that I created was the labyrinth one; that was to make the chase more evenly paced… at least, I hope it did. This chapter seemed to drag on, but I enjoyed writing a lot of it. Perhaps it's a little questionable that Hanzo was taken down that 'easily', but I tried to make it all as logical as I could. Perhaps he could've used shunshin to get out of the corridor, but I'd like to think Yahiko and Konan kept him preoccupied… Nagato's got five out of six of his Paths unlocked now. I'm still brainstorming how to introduce the Naraka Path.

Unfortunately, the chapter seemed a little uneven in content. Poured a lot more effort into the Team Minato mission, and not as much into the Hanzo portion. I might add more details later, if people request it enough (which I would not be surprised if y'all did). This chapter was tough. Not a lot to go on in canon, and I struggled to write a reasonable, logical AU that didn't have too many holes in it. For example, Sakumo surviving; I'd forgotten that Sakumo died years before Team Minato's first mission led by Kakashi, and so I had to come up with an excuse for his continued existence, which brings me to my next topic.

Yes, Sakumo now leads the Hidden Rain, and it was not my original idea. This originally transpired in Twilight of the Thunder God by Fenrir of Shadows; I made this idea happen here, because I wanted to make some sort of tribute to the fanfiction that partially inspired my idea; without the Ame Orphans in the village, it's hard to make my idea work, after all. But I digress. It also introduces the concept of my idea: nonnative village leaders. Konoha's gonna get a certain redheaded leader down the road, in case you haven't checked out the omake spinoff fic, which isn't quite as good as this main fic. Controversial thing that, nonnative leaders, but I hope to make it feasible and possible somewhat. Won't spoil anything more yet, though.

If Fenrir or anybody's truly upset I used his/her idea, I'll brainstorm something else that Sakumo can do. It's a minor plot piece anyway. Leaf, Sand, Rain, and Waterfall will be allied somewhere down the road soon, and I just wanted a familiar figure in power there; I killed two birds with one stone that way, I pay tribute to Twilight of the Thunder God, and I get a familiar face to run the Hidden Rain that will work with the Hidden Leaf. But I'll change it up somehow if someone's really bothered by it. Just let me know. I feel bad that fic is gone.

Nine-Tails attacks the village next chapter. Anything not explained in depth will either get an omake later or will be explained in greater detail down the road. I will say that the Uchiha that Madara will be essentially brainwashing is not an OC, and is not Fugaku, Obito, or Itachi. I… don't think anyone's made this guy 'Tobi' before, at least not in any fanfic I've read, so it'll be interesting to see your reactions. We don't know how old the guy is, so I did take some creative liberty there. It will throw a wrench into a lot of pieces of plot down the road, and might generate a bigger headache for Konoha and the entire world, actually. Obito eventually caved and saw the error of his ways… This guy, however… … Spoilers.

Anyway, if I haven't cleared up anything in this lengthy author's note, let me know, and if it pleases you, criticize the heck out of this chapter, and I will eventually edit it. Eventually. Your reviews do matter, and I even appreciate comments such as the one about 'Danzo-and-Council-bashing'. I will do my best to avoid that, because I share a similar view; while some of their deeds are questionable, Danzo and the Council do shadowy things for the good of Konoha.

Crazy stuff goin' down in the anime and manga lately, eh?

At any rate, onto Review Replies! Thanks for all the Reviews, Concrit, Favorites, and Alerts, guys! You're the best!

Ultima-owner: Thanks for reviewing so often! I get a chuckle from you occasionally…

Izanagi God: Sorry for the wait! I hope this longer chapter was worth the wait.

dTalkingMeowthj-Cat: Thank you! I hope this continues to be entertaining.

EVA-Saiyajin: As I've mentioned in PM and this author note, thank you for the concrit! I will do my best to steer clear of Danzo/Council-bashing as much as possible. I hold a similar view, and strive to treat all characters as fairly as possible.

Wyle23: Thanks so much for reviewing so often! I appreciate the feedback. I will continue to try and make it enjoyable.

AnimeXLovers: Thank you! I hope this wasn't too long a wait. I try not to keep readers waiting longer than necessary.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! See you all next year! Ja ne!