Author's note: See? I can update on time! BE PROUD OF ME! Or die… Slowly and painfully… Just kidding! : ) Love you guys!

Chapter Four: I Stand Alone

Akatsuki Base
Day 3
0900hr

Itachi stared down at the white wolf that lay on the stone floor, his sides heaving. Pain paced back and forth, stomping the ground in annoyance, every once in a while snorting. Konan stood silently in the background, watching with an indifferent stare. "Will he live?" Pain asked angrily.

"I'm not a doctor," Itachi muttered softly. He nudged Jiraiya with his nose. The wolf's skin was hot with a fever. Itachi sighed and licked Jiraiya's wound. The taste of blood filled his mouth. The taste was bitter. The blood is bad… he thought. "But I'm sure he will be fine," Itachi answered. Pain nodded.

"Good," he snapped. He rounded on Kisame. "You went overboard with him."

"I didn't know I was to capture him, Leader," Kisame defended hotly. "I thought I was to kill him!"

"Whatever! That wolf is not to die! We need him to smoke out the Kyuubi!"

Itachi turned to face Pain with a cold stare, but kept his comments to himself. Pain stomped out of the room with Konan following silently after him, flicking her tail in apology to the two animals. Itachi watched them leave before turning to Jiraiya. "It's infected," he muttered to Kisame.

"And how is that my fault?" the raptor asked. Itachi flicked his tail and Kisame snorted as he left the room, leaving the two wolves alone.

"Jiraiya-sama…?" Itachi asked, nudging the wolf. Jiraiya moaned and cracked his eyes open just a little. "How are you feeling…?"

"Been better… Yourself?" Jiraiya asked. Itachi sighed.

At least his sense of humor is still intact… he thought irritably. "Can't complain," he lied quietly. Itachi seated himself before the wolf. "A lot is riding on whether you live or die… And I can't afford to let you die now."

"Really now…" Jiraiya commented. His voice was slurred with exhaustion and pain. "And why is that?"

"If I told you, then that would ruin the surprise…" Jiraiya closed his eyes. "Look, you are the bait. Naruto will come looking for you…"

"How… will he know I'm here…?"

"We have our ways. Now, if you die, we won't tell him that you're dead, so he will come anyway…" Itachi explained.

"So I am the bait and Naruto is your fish?"

"If you want to put it that way."

"Ramen might have worked better…"

"I doubt it," Itachi muttered. "The boy isn't as stupid as you say he is…" Jiraiya's side heaved, but he said nothing. Itachi stood. "Don't die, Jiraiya-sama. I don't want to have to explain to Naruto that he fell into our trap for nothing."

"You used to be one of us…"

"And then I killed my clan," Itachi countered without emotion.

"There's more to that story, isn't there?"

Itachi stopped at the doorway for a brief second. "No," he said before walking out. He turned the corner and headed to his own quarters and jumped onto the bed. He knows nothing… he assured himself. The only ones who know would keep quiet about it…

Oto Base
Day 3
0930hr

Sasuke awoke to a loud stream of curses coming from what would qualify as a kitchen. Orochimaru and Kabuto were fighting again. It started the day before. The lion was getting more and more irritated by Kabuto's inability to do anything with hooves for hands. Their plans were slowly falling apart. Sasuke was content with his new form. He was more powerful than Kabuto and Orochimaru now… He often thought of Itachi and the animal his brother had transformed into. Sasuke's gryphon form was strong and well built. He knew now that he could defeat Itachi if his brother had been affected by this jutsu.

Sasuke stood and stretched, yawning loudly. He stalked into the kitchen area and said nothing as he dug into the store of dried meat. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto muttered tightly. The pale lion turned to face the gryphon.

"Sasuke…"

"Orochimaru," Sasuke greeted coolly. "I'm leaving today."

"You will do no such thing!" Orochimaru snapped.

"I will do what I please, Orochimaru. I don't need you anymore!"

Orochimaru smiled. "Of course you don't, Sasuke, but going out there in this condition-"

"Would be the best thing that's ever happened to me," Sasuke finished with a snarl. "Look at me, Orochimaru! Whatever this jutsu is has given me more power than your curse mark has! And it has invalidated any other jutsu except the Sharingan! I am a match for Itachi!"

"You need me, Sasuke!" Orochimaru snarled.

"I don't need you! Not anymore, Orochimaru-sama!" Sasuke retorted. "I will find Itachi and I will destroy him!"

"You think you can just leave?" Orochimaru growled.

"Yes," Sasuke hissed and started leaving.

"Follow him," Orochimaru whispered to Kabuto. "Make sure he comes back. This jutsu will end and when it does, I will need his body."

Kabuto nodded slowly. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama," he said quietly. Kabuto waited several more minutes before following after the winged creature

Konoha
Day 3
1000

Kakashi yawned deeply and stretched, expecting to feel the warmth of his father's body on his back, but all he felt was a blanket that had probably been given to him sometime during the night. The multi-colored lion blinked and looked around the small room. Sakumo was gone. Naruto, however, was curled at the foot of the bed, on floor, snoring loudly.

Kakashi sighed and leapt from the bed. "Naruto. What are you doing?" he asked, nudging the over-sized fox.

"I couldn't sleep last night…" Naruto answered truthfully.

"Do you find comfort in sleeping in my room?" Kakashi asked with a lifted eyebrow. Naruto cocked his head and whimpered. Kakashi figured that meant yes. Kakashi was well aware of the boy's nightmares. They all had them every now and again. It was a side effect from dimension hopping, they guessed. Naruto's, however, were violent and Kakashi was sure the Kyuubi was feeding off the boy's fears. Kakashi nudged Naruto's shoulder with a strange purring sound. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Do you know where my dad went?"

"He left earlier…"

Kakashi turned around to see Rin standing in the doorway. "Obito-kun went with him…" Kakashi cocked his head.

"Any idea where they went?" Kakashi asked. Rin shook her head and sat down. "Well, that's just great. Dad's missing. Who knows what will happen to him, all alone out there!"

Rin giggled. "Kakashi… Your father is a competent old man you know…"

"No he's not," Kakashi teased. "He's an idiot!"

"Wouldn't he be sad if he heard you talk about him like that?" Rin asked, cocking her head.

"Only if he hears," Kakashi reasoned. "Anyway, did we find anything to eat?"

"You have some meat, yes," Rin answered.

"I want ramen," Naruto muttered.

"Naruto… I don't think your new body can process ramen."

"Curse you, logic…" Naruto growled.

"Yes, logic is your enemy," Kakashi said. "Now, would you like to come with me and try to find Dad?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he asked. Kakashi nodded and lead the way out of the house.

"We'll be back later, Rin!" he called.

"I'll have something whipped up for you guys when you get back!" Rin called.

Kakashi sighed as Naruto bounded after him. "So… what do you think Iruka-sensei's turned into?" Naruto asked.

"Well… Logically speaking, I would say a dolphin," Kakashi answered.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous for him…?"

Kakashi stopped. "Hmm… Think we should check on him?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said happily. Kakashi smiled and licked to boy on the cheek without fully realizing what he had done. Naruto didn't seem fazed as he sprinted in the direction of the sensei's house.

Nothing bothers him… Kakashi thought. But still… That was a little strange… Kakashi shrugged it off and followed after Naruto. He tried not to look at the condition the streets were in. The whole village had been torn apart in the three days since they had woken up as animals, and he was sure that it would only get worse. Confusion was settling in, but acceptance wouldn't be far apart. Already he could hear teams training with their new teams.

Kakashi stopped as a chilling bark echoed through the streets. Naruto was well ahead of him and not paying the least bit of attention to anyone. Kakashi turned around to see a green dog that resembled his own summon, Akino, sitting motionless in the middle of the street several meters behind him. The dog didn't so much as flinch. I wonder… "Hey!" Kakashi greeted. The dog moved his head slightly to indicate that he had heard. "What is it?"

"I have found you for one purpose," the dog answered. "And that purpose is to tell you that Tsunade-sama has requested only your presence in her office."

"Shino…?" Kakashi asked. The dog nodded slowly. Kakashi had never seen the bug user the same after they had lost him in the other world, but he kept that to himself. "Why just my presence?"

"She didn't say. But she didn't want Naruto-kun to join you…"

Kakashi sighed and started heading towards the Hokage mansion. He would have to trust Naruto to deal with whatever he found in Iruka's apartment. He just hoped that the man hadn't been turned into a dolphin and if he had, he was in the bathtub or something. Though he would need saltwater… Kakashi countered himself. He tried not to worry about that as he climbed the steps to the mansion and then to Tsunade's office. "You wanted to see me?" He looked at the green leopard.

Tsunade lifted her head. "Yes… Kakashi I have some bad news…"

"If it my father?" Kakashi asked suddenly. Tsunade shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen your father today… It's about Jiraiya…"

Kakashi blinked. "What about Jiraiya…?"

"I just received word from the Akatsuki…"

"The Akatsuki is contacting us now?" Kakashi asked. "What are their demands?"

"They've been able to capture Jiraiya…"

"And they want to trade Jiraiya for Naruto?"

"Not exactly. They made no such demands…" Tsunade muttered.

"So it's a trap."

Tsunade nodded. "But you know Naruto won't see it like that."

Kakashi sighed. He knew very well that Naruto would just rush into the field without thinking. "So what are we going to do?"

"We'll send your team to get him," Tsunade said.

"Are you crazy?" Kakashi growled. "You'll be playing right into their hands if you send Naruto or anyone that they could capture to further lure him out!"

"I'm not playing into their hands," Tsunade growled. "Think about it, Kakashi. Naruto is used to fighting on all fours. He's been beast-like his entire life! He's the only one in this village that stands a chance of saving Jiraiya!" Kakashi saw her logic, but he didn't like it one bit. He wished he could just ask Tsunade to leave Jiraiya to save himself, but he didn't dare. She would surely kill him for even think about forsaking a member of their village. That and Jiraiya was one of his father's best friends. They couldn't just let him die.

"Will prepare Naruto to leave immediately."

"Kakashi…" The lion lifted his head. "I'm returning Sakura to you for this mission. I'm also assigning you two others to aid with this." Kakashi blinked. Tsunade let out a loud yowl and a small weasel-like creature stepped in. Kakashi cocked his head.

"What is that?" he asked.

"That is a foosa," Tsunade answered. "And for this mission, his name is Yamato." The creature waved his tail.

"Tenzo?" Kakashi asked. The animal nodded.

"But it's Yamato for this mission, Kakashi," Tenzo said.

"Right…" Kakashi looked up as a zebra walked into the room as well. "And this is?"

"His name is Sai," Tsunade introduced. "Danzo requested that he be teamed up with your group and the elders agreed."

"Root ninja, huh?" Tsunade nodded. "Where's Sakura, then?" he asked.

"She should be at the hospital. Go get her. Your team leaves immediately."

"But I still haven't found my father…" Kakashi muttered.

"I will send Sakumo, Obito and Rin as back-up. I want your team out as quickly as possible."

Kakashi nodded and turned to Sai and Yamato. "Meet us at the gates in twenty minutes!" he ordered. Yamato nodded and jumped onto the Zebra's back. Sai snorted and left without a word. "How is he going to get down the steps…?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't ask questions! Just go!" Tsunade growled. Kakashi nodded and ran out the door, passing the bi-colored equine as he did so. He was half tempted to stick around to watch Said try to navigate the stairs, but decided against it. He ran out of the mansion and towards the building that served as the hospital.

"Sakura-chan!" he called as he ran down the hallways. He stopped as a pink, black and white cat stepped out to greet him. He blinked. She was, in a word, beautiful. He body was as pink as her hair had been as a human. Her legs were black and her underbelly was white. "Panther?" he asked.

Sakura nodded. "And a lion for you, I see," Sakura said with a smile. Kakashi shook his head, trying to remember that this was his student and he wasn't some hormone crazed teenager. "So, does Tsunade have a mission for us?"

Kakashi nodded, blinking. "I'll… give you the briefing when we find Naruto… He should be at Iruka's…"

"Is… something wrong, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"No… nothing…" Kakashi lied. What is wrong with me? he wondered. "Let's get going. This mission is important!" He turned and ran out of the hospital with the panther right behind him.

Author's note: A little short, but at least I didn't make you wait months for it! Haha! Kakashi is confused! Love him! /Glare/ Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!