Akamaru lead the group at a furious pace, but they were all able to keep up with him. Kakashi was getting worried though. Lee might be good at endurance, but he wasn't sure if Neji and Tenten could keep up this pace. "Gai, will your students be able to keep up?" Gai looked back at them. "They'll die before they let themselves slow us down." He grimaced. Kakashi nodded. "Good. But if it comes to that, we'll send then back." Gai nodded. "Right." They continued jumping through the trees.

A few meters behind, the genin were talking. "What do you think we're supposed to do in the plan?" Tenten asked. Neji shook his head. "I have no idea. But it sounds like we're not going to be fighting anyone." Lee wasn't saying anything, his face set with determination. This suited Neji fine, but worried Tenten a little. "Lee? Are you alright?" "I must protect my friends. I must protect Sakura-chan. But I'm worried. Gai-sensei went to the hospital after fighting the person we're going after." He turned his head to face Tenten. "What if I'm not strong enough?" Tenten could not remember, in all her time with Lee, him ever being worried about failing. And why would he? He was a strong ninja, one of the best taijutsu-users Konoha had to offer. Yet here he was, scared by the possible outcome.

"You'll do fine Lee. If anyone can protect Sakura-chan, it's you." Lee smiled at whipped his neck forward. "You're right! I will protect Sakura-chan!" Tenten sighed. And people said Naruto had 'Sakura tunnel vision'. Asuma dropped back from Kakashi and Gai to jump with the three genin. "I think you guys should know in advance, we'll probably end up fighting Naruto." The looks of shock were clearly defined on their faces. "Hopefully, it will just be me, Kakashi and Gai, but if things go bad, you guys might have to fight him as well." Lee asked, "Why would we have to fight Naruto?" Asuma sighed. "You've all seen that red chakra of his?" They all nodded, although Lee had only heard about it afterwards. "Long story short, that power is slowly taking control of him. If you see that chakra, run. Don't look back, just get to the village." They continued jumping in silence for a while, then Asuma caught up with Kakashi and Gai.

"Are you sure telling them was a good idea?" he asked Kakashi. The silver-haired ninja replied, "If they're not prepared to move quickly when the time comes, we'll all be put in jeopardy." Asuma grunted his concession, but looked back at the three ninjas behind him, concerned. "What about your two students?" Gai asked Asuma. He looked back ahead of him. "They're still following us. We've got to lose them." A movement in the bushes distracted Kakashi for a moment. "That'll keep them busy." Asuma and Gai looked towards where he indicated. Asuma's eye's widened. "Leave him in a place Chouji and Ino will find him." Asuma nodded and jumped away from the other two.

"Where do you think he's going?" Tenten asked. "Doesn't matter." Neji replied. Tenten scowled at him. Sometimes he was just too uptight. Even in a situation like this, he still seemed to have a log stuck up his ass.

The same place, moments later

Chouji and Ino landed on the ground quietly. "Why did we stop?" Ino asked. Chouji looked at the ground carefully. "You see that?" He pointed. There was an arrow on the ground, made out of twigs. "Who would do that?" Ino questioned, although she didn't really expect an answer. "Someone who wants us to go this way." Chouji straightened and began walking in the direction of the arrow. Ino snapped her fingers. "It's probably someone from Kurenai's team!" Chouji said nothing, but he hoped so. Ino ran to catch up with him, then fell into pace. After about a minute, they came into a small area where the sun was able to get through the trees. They both looked around, slightly blinded by the bright light. A small gasp escaped Ino when she saw a body lying on a branch a few meters above her. She recognized the body. "Shikamaru!"

The clearing

"Jiraiya-sama." Shino looked at the man standing in front of him. He had only seen pictures of the Sannin before, but he had heard that Naruto had trained with him. The man had an air about; not one of power, but of confidence. He almost seemed to be showing off, judging by the expression on his face. Still, Shino new looks could be deceiving, and that this man was powerful.

"Yep, that's me. Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin. I've been away for a while, so tell me, what's going on in Konoha. Anything important I should know about happen while I was gone?" Shino blinked once.

"There was a murder on the lose for a period of time-" "I'll bet ANBU made short work of him! I trained some of those officers myself you know." Jiraiya interrupted. Shino waited to make sure he was finished, then continued. "The murder has not been caught. Hyuuga Hinata did discover the identity of the murderer though." Jiraiya scowled. "Tell me who it is. No one gets away with murder while I'm around." "Uzumaki Naruto." Jiraiya was visibly stunned. "N… Naruto?" Shino nodded. "Yes. The Kyuubi has been able to take control of him and has been murdering people until earlier today." "You know about the Kyuubi? Never mind. What happened earlier today?" "Hyuuga Hinata found him and explained the situation to him. He then tried to kill himself-" "Kill himself!?" "Yes, but Hyuuga Hinata stopped him."

Jiraiya held up his hand for Shino to stop. "Hinata…." Naruto said something about her. I think he said she was sometimes shy and weird, but had some amazing powers. She's impressed him occasionally, but that's all I know of her relationship with Naruto. He lowered his hand. Looking at Shino, he asked, "And What's you're name?" "Aburame Shino." Jiraiya smirked. So this is the guy that creeps out Naruto so much. I can see why. But he seems like a responsible, powerful guy. "What do you know about Hinata?" "She has no particular talents, perhaps other than a subconscious ability for gracefulness. She has gained power as a shinobi through hard work. Pertaining to Naruto, she is inspired by him, and she is also deeply in love with him."

Jiraiya was dumbfounded. "In love?" "Yes." "With Naruto?" "Yes." For a moment Jiraiya stared at Shino, trying to tell if he was kidding or not. Deciding that Shino was not the type to kid about anything ever, he started laughing loudly. Shino scowled. "The poor girl! She's doomed! That fool is more likely to fly to the moon then realize she's in love with him! Hahahaha!" "And she knows it." Jiraiya stopped laughing and looked at Shino, puzzled. "Although she makes attempts to let him know, nothing short of a miracle is going to make Naruto return her feelings." Jiraiya frowned. "She knows that?" Shino nodded. "Yes." Jiraiya sighed. "Poor girl…"

After staring off into space for a moment, Jiraiya suddenly remembered that he had a crisis on his hands. "What happened after Naruto tried to kill himself?" "Two jounins began pursuing them, but I stopped them and returned them to Konoha. On my way there, I passed a group of people headed towards Naruto's position. Judging from the damage to the terrain, the Kyuubi took control of Naruto and battled the group; most likely he won easily." Jiraiya looked around the clearing. Shino was right. "Where are they now?" "I suspect Naruto has left the area. I'm trying to find the rest of the group, or at least the bodies." Jiraiya walked past Shino, now completely serious. "Most likely the bodies. Do you have any jutsu that will help us search?" Shino blinked. In his worried state, he had forgotten to call on his insects. The thought of his friends in danger had him thinking irrationally. The man in front of him, though, was obviously adept at taking control of a situation. "Yes." "Use it." Shino called forth his insects, sending them to search the area thoroughly. Meanwhile, Jiraiya summoned a small orange toad. "Yo!" Shino blinked when the toad spoke. It was suprising, but not entirely unexpected from a summon. "Gamakichi, look around for any bodies." "You got it." The toad began hoping away. Jiraiya looked back at Shino, nodded, and then began his search. Shino started walking, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was thinking about Hinata and Kiba, as well as Naruto and the others.

Outside Konoha

"Oh my God, is he alive?" Chouji set Shikamaru's body down on the ground, then he checked for a pulse. After a few long seconds: "Yes, barely." Ino grabbed Shikamaru's collar and leaned in close. "Shikamaru, wake up." Chouji was frowning. "He's not going to wake up. We need to get him to the hospital fast." Ino nodded, and started to pull Shikamaru's body onto her back. "Are you sure you want to carry him?" Chouji asked. Ino nodded, saying nothing. Suddenly Shikamaru's body shook and Ino nearly dropped him. "Shikamaru!" Chouji cried. Ino turned to look at his face, and saw that his eyes were open. They were open wide, and full of fear. "Run! Keep running! Get away!" Shikamaru struggled, then let out a yell of pain. Ino set him down, and looked back at his face. "He's unconscious again." she told Chouji. His face was pale. "We've got to get him back to Konoha right away." Ino nodded as she secured Shikamaru to her back. They both jumped into the air and were gone.