Chibi: OMG! Here's another chapter! I still don't remember what I was gonna say…but I have MORE stuff to fill you in on.

1. There will be NO yaoi in this fic. I was just stating that I was not trying to offend the SasuNaru pairing, because someone thought I hated them.

2. I am sorry if Ino was having some kind of episode back there…I thought I had built up to it at least okay. She actually has a pretty stressful life.

3. Some characters might be out of character. Tenten has a total of like 7 minutes in the ENTIRE MANGA/ANIME story line. I have to make up SOME kind of background for her. As for the others, if you've got a problem with their personality, feel free to tell me about it, and feel free to tell me how you feel they SHOULD act. I'm not going to read the manga all the way through. I might, but I'm not going to make it my job. You have NO IDEA how much research I'm doing already for this story.

4. The dude from the sword making shop is from KUMOGAKURE but he makes CUSTOM swords for ANYONE. You didn't expect Zabuza or Kisame to MAKE THEIR OWN SWORDS…did you?

5. Reviewing issue. Reviews make me happy and help motivate me to write more. ANY author on this site will tell you that. It makes me wonder if people are reading all the way through, or if they like it, think it's so-so, or think it just plain sucks. I know some authors who don't update until they get 45 reviews. That's a lot. I'm probably never going to ask for that much.

--

Neji's eye twitched. Three of the baddest bad ass missing-nins were standing before them. And they seemed docile.

"Itachi." Sasuke stated blankly.

"Sasuke." Itachi stated, mimicking Sasuke's tone.

"These damn Uchiha's are all the same…" Kisame rolled his eyes. "I can just see them at family reunions…" he snickered.

Suigetsu's fist went into his mouth as he gnawed on it nervously. 'Samehada!' He was getting quite squirmy. 'Kouatsu!' He attempted to cram his fist further into his mouth, but was unsuccessful. He felt so overwhelmed.

"Kisame stumbled across a rather…unfortunate event yesterday." Itachi stated. Deidara squirmed behind him, obviously wanting to get his fair share of chit-chatting, but something was holding him back.

"Nani?" Naruto grunted, narrowing his eyes.

"Leader, Konan, Tobi, Zetsu…all dead." Itachi stated coldly.

"Tobi!?!" Ino cried. "Aw, why Tobi?!" She wailed. "He was my favorite bad guy!" she mourned. "I wanted to meet him!"

Deidara hung his head. "He was so annoying, un." He shook it slowly.

"Anyways." Itachi didn't seem fazed. "We want all of you to join the Akatsuki…" he glanced at them. "Now obviously, we don't have enough rings…so we're going to pierce someone's ear...if you all join…that is."

Jugo blinked. "Sounds sweet."

"Urusai Jugo." Sasuke instructed, turning to his brother. "I'm listening." He stated to Itachi.

"We will train all together before dividing into three man cells, one cell being two men. Kisame, Deidara and I were talking. Four of us will head up to Kumogakure, train to become fairly good with lightning. When we return, we'll group into the four groups, all of us in a different group. We attack Konoha, using Limelight." Itachi smirked.

"Hey teme…we were talking about that a few days ago…" Naruto nudged Sasuke. He glanced back at his team. "Shinu! Team meeting…now."

Tenten, Ino, and Neji gathered around Naruto.

"So what do you think?" Naruto asked.

"I need my training, remember?" Ino reminded.

"Right…" Naruto nodded, breaking the huddle for a moment. "Oi! Itachi! Ino-chan here needs to go to Kiri to activate her bloodline…could that be arranged in the near future? Like…two days?"

Itachi glanced at Kisame, who had whispered something into his ears. "Hai. Kisame himself says he will personally escort her. He might even train her."

Naruto glanced at Ino, who was beaming. "I'm in." Her grin was contagious. They reformed the huddle.

"Neji?" Naruto glanced at Neji.

"Hn. I was hoping to learn more jutsu's from Iwa…" Neji glanced at Deidara.

"Hm…" Naruto broke the huddle. "Oi! Deidara! Neji here was wondering if you could help him master some earth jutsu's!"

Deidara shrugged. "Sure, un."

Naruto grinned at Neji. "Dattebayo." They reformed the huddle, all eyes on Tenten.

Tenten grinned. "What better place to break in Kouatsu than in Kumo?" She seemed overly content.

Naruto grinned. "I'm in too." They broke the huddle for the final time. "We're in-ttebayo!" he faced the Akatsuki, thrusting a fist into the air.

"Good to hear." Itachi leaped down from the branch. "We collected their rings already. Naruto, be prepared to wear Leader-sama's ring, rei, on your right thumb. Ino, wear Konan's ring, byakku, on your right middle finger. Tenten, wear Zetsu's ring, genbu, on your right little finger. Lastly, Neji, wear Orochimaru's ring, kuchin, on your left little finger." He passed out the rings to the nins.

"Taka, huddle." Sasuke copied Naruto's actions, though…it was more awkward for his team. "Sou nee?"

"Itachi might be able to help with my control." Jugo stated. "I'm definitely in. Plus, I'd never loose a training partner like Neji. He's much better to train with than Suigetsu."

Suigetsu fumed. "I'm in."

"Why?" Karin blinked, not seeing his reason.

"I'll train the blonde, go to Kiri with her." Suigetsu growled.

"Is this because a certain sword is accompanying her?" Karin poked Suigetsu's shoulder.

"Urusai!" Suigetsu snapped.

"Karin, are you in, or are you out?" Sasuke quoted from Heidi Klum.

"In. I want to train in Kumo." Karin stated.

Sasuke nodded. "Itachi…we're in too."

"I want the ear ring." Jugo volunteered softly.

"Got it." Itachi nodded. He passed out the remainder of the rings. "Sasuke, this is Hidan's old ring, santai. It goes on your left index finger. Karin, this is gyokunyo it goes on your left thumb, and it formerly belonged to Tobi, and before that, Sasori. Suigetsu, this is nanju, it goes on your left middle finger and it previously belonged to Kazuku. Jugo, we'll get that ear ring for you. It's going to be a stud."

Jugo nodded. "Hai."

"Let's go get some cloaks, un." Deidara stated. Kisame was currently the only one in uniform, as Deidara's had been blown up, and Itachi's was…missing.
"I need to leave for my training in a few days…" Ino reminded Itachi.

"Of course…Kisame's taking you." Itachi glanced at his partner. "I on the other hand, am going up to Kumo around the same time Kisame and the blonde girl leave for Kiri. Who's coming with?"

"Me." Tenten stated.

"Me." Karin waved her hand in the air.

"And me." Sasuke wore his same bored expression.

"What kind of sword is that?" Kisame questioned, staring at the large weapon attached to Tenten's back.

Suigetsu began gnawing on his hand again.

"Kouatsu. It absorbs lightning and converts it to chakra." Tenten explained.

"Hn…" Kisame blinked. "That's new…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Tenten called out to the younger Uchiha. "Could you use Chidori?" She asked.

Sasuke blinked. "That's probably not a good idea." He stated, crossing his arms.

"Why not?" Tenten crossed her arms as well, narrowing her eyes at the Uchiha.

"We don't know if it does absorb lightning or not. It could kill you." Sasuke stated a-matter-of-factly.

"So?" Tenten glared at Sasuke.

"So I refuse to perform Chidori until your sword is at least two weeks old." Sasuke stated, showing no sign of weakening this argument.

"Nani?!" Tenten scowled. "Two weeks! I'm not gonna hold back!" She clenched the sword.

"Chill China." Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "He just doesn't want a girl like you to get hurt."

"Sexist and racist comments?!" Tenten growled. "I'll show you that girls are just as powerful as guys!" She grasped Kouatsu's handle, and whirled it off, swinging the large blade at Suigetsu.

Suigetu liquefied into water, ducking the attack, and grabbing his sword as well. He swung the blade at Tenten.

Tenten blocked this attack with her own sword.

"She controls her temper very nicely, don't you think, un?" Deidara shook his head again, talking to himself.

Karin groaned. "They'd better not be paired up in the three man cell…they'll kill each other." She shook her head. "But better her than me…"

Ino examined the ring on her finger, sliding a different finger over the engraving. She couldn't wait to go to Kiri.

"Deidara…finish this up." Itachi didn't want to look at this battle any longer. "Make it small though, we don't need to draw attention."

Deidara nodded, slipping a very small amount of explosive clay into his right hand.

"Oiiii!" Naruto cried. "What's he doing?" He demanded, as a little clay bird popped out, significantly smaller than the ones Deidara normally used. Deidara tossed it in between Suigetsu and Tenten.

"Fire in the hole, un!" Deidara warned, as both Suigetsu and Tenten leaped back to avoid getting blown up. Tenten swung her sword at Suigetsu, releasing her grip. "Katsu!" The bomb erupted, it was fairly small, but could prove fatal if someone was too close.

"Augh!" Suigetsu was yelping. Sasuke shook his head in disappointment, while Karin was laughing her ass off. Jugo on the other hand felt fairly bloodthirsty at the moment, and was trying to determine who to kill.

When the smoke cleared, Shinu and the Akatsuki figured out why Suigetsu had been yelping. He had liquefied himself, and Kouatsu had landed in his puddle. Naruto glanced at Neji, who did not seem fazed at this in the least. Ino seemed horrified.

"Tenten! Get your goddamn sword off of me!" Suigetsu demanded. "It's evaporating me!"

Tenten maneuvered around the large blown up hole in the ground, and plucked Kouatsu from Suigetsu. "Gomen." She tried to hide a wide grin.

"Yeah, yeah." Suigetsu regained human form. "Just don't flatter yourself when I say you'll be the death of me."

"Let's go." Kisame stated, crossing his arms.

"Let's go where?" Karin raised an eyebrow.

"The Akatsuki hideout. We need to explain some things to you." Kisame muttered. "We need to leave now if we're going to make it by sunset." He explained to the younger shinobi.

"Hai. We'll be back." Naruto motioned for Shinu to go and pick up all of their possessions from the room before leaving.

Sasuke nodded as well, motioning for Taka to follow Naruto as well.

--

Kisame had been right; it had taken them the rest of the day to arrive at the Akatsuki lair. The lair had been located near the borderline of Rain and Grass, and was located underground.

"It's very small…" Tenten commented, scratching the back of her neck as she glanced around.

"It's supposed to be small. This is a recently built hideout." Kisame stated. "The smaller the better, because it's not as easy to track." He informed. "Pein and Konan intended on downsizing the old lairs as well. They were becoming too easy to find."

"Cool…" Karin glanced around. "When are we leaving for Kumo?"

"Same time as Kisame leaves for Kiri." Itachi replied, seating himself on the leather couch.

Neji blinked. "Deidara, when are we leaving for Iwa?" He inquired.

"Same time as them, un." Deidara spoke.

"Oi, can I come-ttebayo?" Naruto asked. "I'm not going to have anything to do…"

"Me too…" Jugo glanced at Deidara.

"Fine, un." Deidara shrugged, blinking as Itachi wandered down a hall.

"Kisame, are the extra cloaks down here?" He asked.

Kisame blinked, straining his neck to see where Itachi had gone. He saw that Itachi was indeed at the right location, and gave a nod. "Hai."

Ino stretched her arms. "Arigato, for agreeing to take me east to Kiri, Kisame-sempai." The blonde girl beamed.

Kisame blinked. "You're welcome." He enjoyed having a suffix at the end of his name. It made him feel like Deidara, since Tobi was always running around calling him 'Deidara-sempai'.

A figure returned from the direction Itachi had wandered off too. The person was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, and held a bunch of cloaks before them, blocking their face. Sure enough, when the person threw all the cloaks onto the couch, it was none other than Itachi.

"This is a 'one size fits all' situation, so grab a cloak." Itachi instructed, tossing a cloak to Deidara.

"Thanks, un." Deidara slipped the cloak on. "Much better, un." He grinned, enjoying the cover of his cloak. He cuddled himself beneath it.

Naruto slipped one on, and grabbed another, tossing it to Ino. Ino slipped hers on as well, and a shocked expression spread throughout her face.

"These are so comfortable!" She exclaimed. "No wonder you're always wearing these!"

"Hai, un. They're imported from the Rice Country, un." Deidara grinned.

--

Sakura sighed, leaning back in her chair where she was seated at the kitchen table. The festivities had ended, and she was worn out. She pulled off her headband, setting it onto her table and reached for her tea. Now a days she guzzled tea like Tsunade downed sake.

"Sakura-san?" Hinata knocked on the door a few times, before entering on her own. She held a large basket of muffins.

"Hinata-chan, what's up?" Sakura stood from her seat to greet her friend. She leaned against the table as Hinata approached her, thrusting the basket of muffins to her friend.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to be going after Naruto-kun…" Hinata stated softly. "I mean, he chose to leave on his own and all." She fiddled with the gauze wrapped around her elbow, from a wound she had received in the Akatsuki battle.

"Hinata-chan, obviously he's in the middle of a nervous break down, and left." Sakura explained, waving her hand dismissively. "He's probably already on his way back…"

"Sakura-san…do you remember how Hanabi has the fastest record for going to Suna? How she developed those odd pills that allow her to make the trip in three hours?" Hinata inquired.

"Those crazy crack pills? Of course I remember them. They're bad for her health though…" Sakura guzzled the remains of her tea, before rising to supply her cup with more of the tepid liquid.

"She just got back from Suna…Naruto was there…and he was heading west." Hinata whispered. "She also said that they were unrecognizable. Tenten-san's hair was down, Ino's hair was cut, and Neji-nii-san…well…he doesn't exactly look like himself..." Hinata explained.

"I suppose your right Hinata-chan…" Sakura sighed, pouring tea into her small porcelain cup.

"We should wait a while, while everyone heals…" Hinata whispered.

"Hinata-chan…nobody was injured…" Sakura didn't see the logic behind this, as she returned to the table.

"Just think about Sakura-san..." Hinata begged, before leaving the Rokudaime to herself.

Sakura sat down, giving a sigh before taking a large swig of tea. Almost on contact she spit it out, letting the drink mist down and coat her table with its form. "HOT! HOT! HOT!" She cried, leaping up to grab some cold water. She bonked her knee on the table, causing it to rotate 90 degrees, and spilling all of the contents on the table in the process.

With a freshly bruised knee, and a smoldering tongue, Sakura limped over to the refrigerator, ripping the door open with her chakra flooded strength. She groaned, before rummaging through the chilled contents, finally coming across a water bottle. She ripped the cap open, guzzling down the cool contents in relief. She soon felt a sharp pain in her head.

"Brainfreeze." Sakura whined, letting the plastic container slip from her grasp, and pour over the floor.

--

Chibi: So I added a little Konoha in for you there. I bet you ALL thought the Akatsuki was going to have a throw down with Shinu and Taka! In the NEXT chapter, we're going to find out how Itachi and Deidara actually survived! The polls are STILL OPEN, but they won't really have that much of an effect on the pairings. I just want to see everyone's opinion. So far…THEY'RE ALL TIED! But before the tie Suigetsu Tenten had a far lead.

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