Disclaimer: yea, you know the deal by now, so I'm not gonna bother anymore...


Kuran no Kiri Chapter 4

An Attack, A Plan, and An Old Friend

Tsunade, Shizune, and two Chûnins jumped from branch to branch. A wounded Jônin had just come to the Hokage tower, reporting another large scale battle with an Oto-nin. Konoha was just recovering from the last Oto attack a few days ago, but what worried Tsunade the most was the attacker's description.

Blonde hair with a red streak...

Yellow cat like eyes...

Black and white katanas...

There was no mistaking it. The attacker had been Bekko Akira. Tsunade clenched and unclenched her hands, her brows furrowed in thought. Why had Akira attacked? Was there some meaning to the attacks against Konoha...?

"Hokage-sama..." One of the Chûnins whispered. "We're here..."

Tsunade, the Chûnins and Shizune stopped in a clearing.

Scorch marks lined the trees, probably from a Katon technique. There were bodies of Chûnins and Jonins littering the ground. Near a broken tree was a blood-spattered ANBU with blonde hair. Shattered parts of a puppet were surrounding the ANBU.

"Kijo-chan!" Shizune ran over to the blonde.

She stirred. Coughing up a glob of blood, Kijo looked at Shizune. Shizune leaned down and examined her wounds. Tsunade walked up.

"Shizune-chan... Hokage-sama..." Kijo said quietly.

"What happened here, Kijo?" Tsunade mused

"You heard from the Jônin messenger?" Tsunade nodded. Kijo sighed. "I was making rounds when I saw someone standing in the woods... the chakra was masked, so I thought I should investigate..." She spit some blood from her mouth. "When I saw that it was Akira, I could barely fight her as an enemy... I guess that's why I lost..."

"Why are there others here?" Tsunade looked at the Chûnin and Jônin bodies.

"The fight probably drew them here... I blacked out when she beat me..."

The Chûnins darted from body to body. They checked the vitals of each body before landing next to Tsunade. They shook their heads and she sighed heavily.

Shizune helped Kijo to her feet. Kijo walked over to the pieces of shattered puppet. Taking out a scroll, she wiped blood onto the markings. The puppet parts disappeared in a poof of smoke. Slipping the scroll away, Kijo staggered toward the forest, toward Konoha. Shizune ran up and caught her as she started to collapse.

"Shizune. After you take Kijo to the hospital, contact the Advisors." Tsunade looked up to the sky. "Tell them that we're going to war with Otogakure... against Orochimaru..."


Kakashi jumped toward the hospital. After returning from a mission, he had heard that Kijo had been wounded. When he landed in front of the large hospital, he quickly strode into the lobby.

"Hello, Kakashi-san." A nurse greeted him.

"What room is Kyoubou Kijo in?!" He blurted out.

"Kijo-chan? She's in room 134 on the second floor. Why—"

Kakashi nodded his head quickly before darting up to the second floor. He walked down the hallway to room 134. He opened the door and walked over to Kijo's bedside.

Kijo was attached to an oxygen machine. Her eyes were closed and an IV ran from her arm. Bandages were wrapped around her body. Kakashi pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Kijo-chan..." He whispered, taking her hand in his.

"He was with Akira..."

Kakashi looked at Kijo. Her eyes were barely open. She looked over with him. What caught his eye were the tears threatening to fall. He raised a brow.

"Who was with Akira...?" He whispered back.

Kakashi brushed a stray hair out of her face. Kijo grasped his wrist and pulled so his ear was by her lips.

"Sasuke..."

She closed her eyes and rested her head on her pillow. Kakashi blinked in surprise before darting out the door.


Otogakure

Akira walked out of Orochimaru's hideout. She was exhausted from her last missions and needed some fresh air. As she headed over to a large hill, she noticed someone else sitting there.

"Sasuke-san..."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at her. He nodded to her in acknowledgement before turning away. Akira sighed and sat next to him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

Three years ago, she had joined Orochimaru. At first, Sasuke wasn't pleased with it. After awhile, though, he had taken a liking to her. He looked away.

"What's it like..." She whispered.

"What?" He looked back at her.

"I was just wondering what it's like... y'know..." She looked at him. "Being you..."

"You mean being the last of my clan besides my older brother?"

"Yeah..."

"It sure ain't fun, that's for sure..." Sasuke growled. His façade became sorrowful. Sasuke looked away. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be betrayed by someone you love?"

"Yeah... I do." He looked at her. "Kai-Linn left for the Akatsuki without hesitation. She betrayed Konoha... Kijo... and me." She looked up at the night sky. "The entire reason I looked for Orochimaru was for one reason... I wanted the power to get Kai-Linn back..."

"You and I are different when it comes to objectives... You want to save someone while I want to kill someone..."

"Not entirely true... I want to destroy Akatsuki once and for all..." Tears built up in Akira's eyes.

"Point made... but... my brother betrayed me without a second thought... by killing our clan, he destroyed my ability to trust. I didn't have friends growing up because I was afraid they'd eventually betray me... like Itachi did..."

Sasuke blinked when Akira shifted. She now sat behind him, arms wrapped around him. He looked back at her.

"I would never betray you..." She whispered. "Even if you don't count me as a friend... even if you see me only as an obstacle... I want to be by your side as long as I can."

"Akira..." Sasuke shifted so he could hold her. "You are the only one I can trust... you are more than a friend to me... much more."

Akira buried her face in his chest. Sasuke stroked her hair. He leaned down to her ear.

"I want to tell you a plan of mine..."


With Akatsuki


The Akatsuki ran through a dense forest. Konan was on Pein's back, still not awake. Itachi and Kai-Linn ran side by side, as did Zetsu and Kisame and Deidara and Tobi. They were heading to a town close to the Hidden Grass Village. Eventually the moon was high, and they could barely see 10 feet in front of them. Kai-Linn spotted something of interest.

"Over there..." She pointed toward a small town. "We can rest there."

"Is it safe?" Pein hissed.

"There's barely anyone living there nowadays... and one of my friends runs a hotel there." She explained.

Everyone looked at Pein. He gave a curt nod. The Akatsuki darted toward the town. As they landed in the town, Itachi realized what Kai-Linn meant. Most of the buildings were abandoned and boarded up. There were a few stores, but the lights were out.

Kai-Linn walked down the street and to a large hotel. They hesitantly followed her in. There was no one at the front desk. Kai-Linn held up a hand to the others before walking a bit down the hall.

"Kai-chan!" A girl with short chocolate brown hair stepped out of a doorway. She wore a sleeveless kimono top and pants. "It has been too long..."

"Kioma-chan!" Kai-Linn hugged the girl. "It's been what? A year?"

"I haven't kept track..." The brunette noticed the other people. "Who are they?"

"Um... I'll explain later..."

"Alright" She walked back into the doorway she came in from. "C'mon, I'll get you guys something to eat."

Kai-Linn motioned to the Akatsuki and they followed her into a small restaurant style room. The Akatsuki sat down at a group of tables. Kai-Linn sat at an empty table nearby, resting her head on her hand.

After a few minutes, Kioma walked into the room with a large tray of food. Placing it in front of the Akatsuki, she went back into the kitchen and came back with glasses and bottles of sakè.

"Here... try this."

Kai-Linn looked up as Kioma placed a plate in front of her. The plate had a food that Kai-Linn had never seen before. She looked up at Kioma with a raised brow.

"A traveler taught me how to make this. It's called a cheese-burger..." Kioma explained.

Kai-Linn picked up the cheeseburger and bit into it. Her eyes lit up and she looked up at Kioma. Giving a smile, Kioma sat across from Kai-Linn.

"Soooo... who are the others?"

Kioma was looking over her shoulder at the others. Kisame was drunk and was slinging his arms around Deidara. The blonde shifted slightly, making Kisame lose his balance, so he started to flail his arms. Pein held Konan a safe distance away from Kisame, her head resting his shoulder. Zetsu had left earlier for 'reconnaissance'. When Kai-Linn met eyes with Itachi, she looked back to her burger.

"The blonde is Deidara, the one in the mask is Tobi, the shark face is Kisame, the blue-haired one is Konan and the one next to her is our leader, Pein."

"More importantly, who is that black haired one?"

"He's... Uchiha Itachi." Kai-Linn replied skeptically.

"Well, he's quite handsome, I'll give him that." Kioma gave a big smile. "You and he make a wonderful couple."

"A-Arigatou ne..." Kai-Linn stammered, her cheeks flushing a light pink. "Anyway, have you checked the rooms?"

"I wanted to tell you alone." Kioma gave a nervous laugh. "About a month ago, our village was raided by bandits and the bandits attack the hotel... and the upper rooms were set on fire... and, um..."

"What happened after that?" Kai-Linn said with a worried tone.

"Only the second and first floor was untouched by the fire. As you know, the second floor has only five rooms... well, the rooms..."

Please say there are two beds in each room... please... Kai-Linn prayed silently.

"They're the rooms with only one bed..."

"Oh... boy..." Was all Kai-Linn could say.


finally put some AkiraXSasuke in here .

Ok, the upcoming chapters will be the prep and start of the war... Kioma might join the fight but i don't know if i should make her a Shinobi...

R&R plz .

DemonVampire13