"Pakkun, do you have the trail?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"Yeah, but it's strange." Pakkun said. "The scent is off, it doesn't feel natural."

"That's simple enough to explain, Sasori is a puppet master." Chiyo said. "You're following one of his puppets."

"That would explain everything, still if we're dealing with a puppet master Neji is our best option." Guy said.

"Guy-sensei is right, he can see the chakra threads and sever them." Tenten said.

"That won't be possible, Sasori is far different any other puppet master." Chiyo said. "I'm the only one who can possibly fight him."

"Oh is that so, well in that case we'll just have to make sure you don't get anywhere near him." said a voice from in front of the group.

"Wait, that almost sounded familiar." Guy said. "Show yourself."

As he said that, Kisame Hoshigaki emerged from the sand.

"Well if it isn't the odd beast, I've been looking forward to a rematch." Kisame said.

"I had a feeling you would try and stop us, so is he further ahead?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"You mean Itachi, he's waiting for you up ahead." Kisame said. "Of course there's no way you'll beat either of us."

"I thought so, Naruto, Hinata, we need to be careful." Kakash said quickly. "Guy, can your team handle this?"

"Don't worry, we'll handle this and catch up before you're done with Itachi." Guy said confidently.

"Alright, let's keep moving." Kakashi said as squad seven and Chiyo ran past Kisame.

"You should have stayed as a group, you don't have any chance of defeating me." Kisame said before three water clones appeared in front of him.

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"Are you sure this jutsu will be enough to stall them?" Deidara asked. "30% of your chakra won't last very long, I wouldn't be surprised if they get here before the seal is completed."

"Don't worry, the seal is almost complete and even if they manage to stop the jutsu quickly, we only need ten more minutes." Itachi said calmly.

"Kisame, who did they send?" Sasori asked. "You mentioned that the ninetails brat didn't have a full team."

"No one we need to worry about, just an old lady." Kisame said calmly. "She's probably just helping them get through the desert."

"No, she's the one we need to be concerned about." Sasori said. Who would have guessed that my grandmother would try and stop me, he thought, things are getting interesting.

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"Guy sensei, allow us to handle this opponent." Lee said confidently.

"Right, show him the results of your training." Guy said confidently.

"So the odd beast is to afraid to fight me, this won't take any time at all." Kisame said before his three water clones simultaneously launched water sharks at team Guy.

"Leaf Hurricane." Lee said while kicking through the water shark. "Just watch Guy-sensei, this is the result of our training."

The moment Lee said that, the other two water sharks were destroyed by two kunai.

"Well, I might have underestimated you three a little bit." Kisame said. "That's one mistake that I won't be repeating. Water Style: Super Water Shockwave"

"Be careful, he's putting a huge amount of chakra into that jutsu." Neji said just before Kisame expelled a vast amount of water, creating an artificial ocean around the five shinobi.

"This might make things a little bit tougher." Tenten said nervously.

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"Kakashi-sensei, do you have any plan for stopping him?" Hinata asked nervously.

"It won't be easy, but I have a plan." Kakashi said. "You've been training with your father right?"

"Yes." Hinata said.

"Then it's about time we put the Byakugan against the Sharingan." Kakashi said. "Naruto we need to provide back-up."

"Right, we'll take him down." Naruto said confidently.

"I'll do my best." Hinata said nervously while activating her Byakugan.

"Kakashi, why am I not surprised to see you here?" Itachi asked calmly as he walked up to squad seven.

"The feeling is mutual, but you should know that no matter what we're rescuing Gaara." Kakashi said calmly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Itachi said simply.

The moment he said that, Itachi activated his Sharingan and Kakashi revealed his.

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"Temari, you're back." Kankuro said weakly. "Does that mean that the reinforcements from the leaf are here?"

"Save your strength Kankuro, he'll be back before you know it." Temari said reassuringly.

"Right, that's a relief." Kankuro said quietly.

Please make sure you save Gaara, Temari thought quietly.

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"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation." Neji said just before a group of water sharks struck him.

"Well, it looks like you three are stronger than I thought." Kisame said. "Of course playtime is over."

"What do you mean, we've barely gotten started." Lee said.

Suddenly the three water clones appeared in front of Neji, Lee, and Tenten before trapping them in three separate Water Prisons.

"Lee, Neji, Tenten." Guy said nervously. "Let them go."

"I don't think so, they wanted to fight and they lost plain and simple." Kisame said. "Now it's your turn."

"I get it, you wanted a one-on-one fight." Guy said. "Alright in that case I won't hold back."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Kisame said calmly drawing his sword.

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"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." Itachi said calmly before shooting his fireball at Hinata.

Just before it struck her, Hinata used the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation and managed to deflect the fireball into the sky.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked nervously.

"I'm ok." Hinata said weakly.

"Right, Naruto on my signal use your new jutsu." Kakashi said calmly.

"New jutsu, interesting." Itachi said. "What kind of jutsu would that be?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Naruto said. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Hinata, can you use your clan's specialty?" Kakashi asked.

"I think so, I'm not quite as good as Neji though." Hinata said. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."

Just as Hinata started the technique, Itachi jumped out of range.

"Impressive, unfortunately I've fought the Hyuga clan before and know the limits of that technique." Itachi said calmly.

(Itachi and Kisame have intercepted the rescue mission and engaged them in battle. Next chapter the fights will end, and team Kakashi and team Guy will arrive at the akatsuki base. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)