What's this? A double update? But why? Well... One, it's Thanksgiving (where I am). Two, I couldn't update yesterday, and therefore this is kinda like my apology. And three... 'cause I felt like doing a double update. So, here you are!

Sam was the one who sensed them first. A group of shinobi on Akatsuki's side; all zombies, probably. Sai sent three small ink birds down, with paper bombs attached. …Deidara sent down three clay birds that exploded when Deidara said so. The six birds exploded down in the trees below us. I frowned. I didn't really like being in the ambush squad. I really wasn't good at it, and honestly, I was the type who didn't strike first. We happened to be doing a lot of that, though.

Saji the Now-Probably-At-Least-Somewhat-Confident-Again lit a red flare at Sai's command. Deidara and Sai kept sending down bombs, hoping to subdue the enemy; at least until backup arrived. The bombs, after all, couldn't kill them. They were already dead. In fact, I had an idea of who we were facing when it began to snow.

"Guys!" I called. "Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, is here, along with Haku!"

"The Demon of the Mist?" Sai asked seriously.

"Ooh, I get to meet Haku!" Sam cried in delight.

"Sam!" I barked. "Now is notthe time to be fangirling over Haku! Besides, you're married."

"…I was only excited to see him…," she muttered.

"Sam. He'll try to kill you."

"So?"

I sighed and shook my head. A mirror appeared above Sai, and suddenly all of the ink birds broke, sending anyone on them to the ground. Deidara, Sam, and I were the only ones in the air. Our birds swooped down to help them, just as the Third Division appeared as backup. I recognized a few of the people in that division: Kakashi, Guy, Sakura, Lee, and Kara. I also noticed that I recognized one other person from the enemy group: Tama.

"Oh, come on," I muttered to myself as we joined them on the field.

"They all have blood-line limits!" someone exclaimed in a strained whisper.

"Don't move, wait for the Commander's orders!" another hissed back.

Jeez, I thought, Kakashi sure has to deal with a lot of people in his division. I'm actually glad I'm not him….

"Come on," Suigetsu moaned, "why did we have to walk so far?"

"Shut up, Suigetsu!" Karin hissed. "You're lucky Madara teleported us or you'd be doing a lotmore walking! And besides, there are people up ahead!"

"Really? Are they the people we're supposed to pretend to be with?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, alright then, why didn't you say so?"

Karin fumed, not answering.

"Surely this'll be easy," Suigetsu continued with a shrug, and peeked out into the clearing. He could instantly tell it wasn't originally a clearing. It was blown up recently, in fact. His eyes widened at one in particular thing he saw, however. Then, he smirked. "Ooh, this'll be one interesting battle that I wanna be in!"

Karin yanked him back by the collar. "Stop it!"

"What? The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist are out there… and one of them's my brother! I gotta fight them!"

"You idiot! We're only pretendingto be on the Leaf's side; we can't actually attack them!"

"Actually, we areon the Leaf's side," Juugo came in. "That's what Sasuke was telling us; we are supposed to go back and fight alongside the Leaf."

Karin loosened her grip on Suigetsu's collar, at which he pulled himself out of her grip as she asked, "Really? Is that what he said?"

"Indirectly," Juugo replied. "If you paid good attention, he was emphasizing specific things. He emphasized that were 'on their side' and that we were 'trying to trick the enemy.' The thing is, he never specified who the enemy was."

"And when he told us not to give away the plan, he was talking about hisplan, not his and Madara's, right?" Suigetsu asked. "He wasn't stating the obvious?"

"Exactly…. And when he said to turn on them when the moment is right, I think the moment is when Madara or Kabuto is watching."

"…That makes sense," Karin agreed. "Okay, so, now what do we do?"

"We go around them," Juugo said matter-of-factly, and took the two of them by the arm and pulled them along.

"What—why are we going around them?" Karin asked.

"Because, I think we should lead the Allied Forces away from the undead. Suigetsu, was there anyone there you recognized? Anyone close to Sierra?"

"Eh? Uh, yeah…. There was Sam, and Natalie. I think I saw the blondie on the bird, too."

"Deidara, you mean?" Karin asked.

"Yeah, him."

"Alright… I'm pretty sure Sasuke would want Samantha to be safe… so we have to somehow lead the Allied Forces – or at least Sam's division – away from the fight."

"Why don't we just send up a flare?" Suigetsu suggested, crossing his arms.

"Yeah… that may work. They'd come to see who needed help…."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with you," Karin frowned, glaring at Suigetsu.

"What? I can have good ideas too!"

"Really? When was the last good idea you had?"

"Well, there was when—"

"Guys?" Juugo interrupted. The two turned to look at him; he had halted, and looked unnaturally pale. "You… you might want to… to get away from me right now…."

Karin and Suigetsu glanced at one another, each of them noticing the black mark crawling up his neck.

"I… I need… to kill!"

"Crap!" Suigetsu yelped, grabbing his sword as Juugo lunged at Karin. "Now we have a real reason to send a flare, huh?"

Karin, pinned against a tree, was trying to reach Juugo's weapon's pouch. "Suigetsu," she rasped, "you need to get a flare… from his pouch…." Karin was then flung into the air, Juugo going up with her, as he smashed her body back to the ground.

"Who was the idiot who let Juugo carry the flares?" Suigetsu frowned, sounding annoyed and running forward with his sword to try and get to his pouch. He attempted to hit Juugo with his sword. It practically bounced right off of his skin. However, he must have felt it, as his attention shifted to Suigetsu. "C'mon, Juugo!" Suigetsu coaxed, holding out a hand. "Stop going on a killing rampage for a second…." Juugo's arm slammed into Suigetsu, but he turned into water. "Oops, you missed me!"

"Suigetsu, you idiot!" Karin yelled. "You're not supposed to make him angrier!"

Juugo cackled menacingly. "Ooh, you're gonna die!" As he jumped for Suigetsu, Karin snatched a flare and struggled to sit up.

"Got one!" she announced to Suigetsu.

"Well, hurry the hell up!" Suigetsu called back, doing a backwards flip to dodge his teammate's attacks.

Karin fumbled with the object a moment more before setting it off into the air.

I would have simply loved to watch the epic reunion between Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku, but I was occupied with my own fight. Tama seemed to go for me immediately. Everyone in front grew tense when a crystal shard appeared in her hand, but she threw it with a flick of her wrist, through a gap in the crowd of ninja. It grazed my cheek, and certainly snapped me back to reality. She jumped, soaring above the ninjas' heads, and landed right in front of me.

"What a coincidence; we're back on square one. Enemies again, huh, Natalie?" A thin sheet of crystal grew over her skin. Crystal Armor, it was called. "Friend against friend." She got into an attacking position. "Enemy against enemy." I prepared to fight her. "Riaru against Riaru." She then attacked. She was only making taijutsu moves, I noticed, but the crystal around her allowed her physical attacks to be stronger. "So then," she said calmly as she threw a punch, "how's Miki?"

I need to get her trapped… so she'll stay still. I remember now that even if a soul is sealed in this situation, it still goes to Heaven or Hell. "Miki is fine. He misses you, you know."

"I know. Of course I know. Crystal Style: Crystal Prison!"

Crap! I replaced myself with a log as quickly as possible. It, luckily, worked. It didn't help a few of the people around me though. They were trapped in crystal, and everyone caught was now most likely dead. I went into the ground. Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu! I pulled Tama under, then popped up myself, smiling down at her head.

She smirked at me. "Idiot, I'm earth style too!" She disappeared under the ground, then sprung up, her crystallized fist connecting with my jaw. Ow.

Fine then!I thought, then activated Kawarigan. I went for Kakashi. Earth is weak against lightning, so…. My hand blazed with electricity. Chidori!

I charged forward, the chirping of electric birds in my ear, but she smiled, jumped backwards, and, in the air, made a few hand signs: tiger, hare, dragon…. "Wind Style: Scattering Flower Dance!" I was shoved backwards by a tornado of flower petals, and my Chidori petered out. She looked down at me, cocking her head to the side. "I can play that game too, remember?"

I frowned, breathing hard, and got to my feet. Damn it, I though to myself, I can't stop her as a zombie… she's a Riaru! And if she's a Riaru, I can't exactly free her soul with Kawarigan either…. Jeez, if what Tsunade wanted me to do was free souls from Kabuto's jutsu, then she should have put me in the long-range division! I glanced over at Haku and… now the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were here. Great.

I saw Kakashi himself use Chidori, aiming for Zabuza but hitting Haku instead. Déjà vu, huh, Kakashi? However, there was a sound that made everyone pause; the sound of a flare going off. It was nearby; from behind me, actually.

"My division, go for the flare!" Sai announced, and I immediately jumped backwards into the woods with the others. Kankuro kinda couldn'torder us around, as he was back at camp with others.

"Well, that was fun," Sam commented.

I didn't reply.

Ahead, Sai stopped, and held out an arm to indicate we should stop too. The other five of us stopped on the very branch Sai was standing on. I blinked down at the scene below. "It's Hebi!" Sam exclaimed happily. It was, in fact, Hebi, excluding Sasuke. Juugo was on a rampage, and Karin seemed most hurt. Suigetsu was actually smirking as he fought, and none of the three seemed to have noticed us.

Sai whipped out a scroll and quickly painted on a few snakes. They, of course, came to life, and were sent down to restrain Juugo. Juugo struggled with the living ink; Karin and Suigetsu looked up to see us. Sam waved. Juugo, after a few seconds, began returning to his normal self. He began looking around. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to…!"

"Those who have Katsuyu, go down and tend to the injured," Sai ordered, and Sam and I jumped down. I was originally aiming for Suigetsu, but Sam nudged me gently in the other direction, reminding me that she did notwant to help Karin. I sighed and shook my head, and gently placed the slug on my shoulder onto Karin, who was lying on the ground.

"A slug?" Karin protested, sitting up immediately and squirming, obviously trying to get it off.

"A healing slug," I smiled, grabbing her shoulder so she didn't fling off the Katsuyu.

"Thanks," she mumbled as the rest of my group jumped down onto the forest floor. I helped Karin to her feet.

"Weren't these people with Sasuke?" Sai inquired.

"Yes," I confirmed, looking around at the three of them.

"Are you honestly not trusting us?" Karin frowned. "We only barely escaped that stupid hideout!"

"Please, we're on your side," Juugo added.

"Yeah," Suigetsu agreed, putting his sword to rest on his shoulder, "we're not gonna try and kill you."

"I don't know if we should trust them…," Sai said slowly.

"I agree," came Omoi the Worry-Wart. "What if they're spies, or—"

"They're our friends," Sam interrupted.

"Yes, I'm sure you understand that much, Sai," I smiled. "And besides, the Allied Forces would like all the help it can get, right? Besides, Juugo's good with animals, he can send some out to search for Akatsuki cells so we can ambush them. Plus, Karin is an amazing sensor, and Suigetsu can fight when it comes down to it. They can join us."

There was a pause. "We'll take them back to camp, and Kankuro can decide," Sai said matter-of factly, and we began heading back to camp on the awesome birds we use. When we got back, however, we all knew there had been an attack. Mifune, the samurai commander of the Fifth Division, was just wrapping a body so it could be sealed. He was the only person I could even vaguely recognize, as all of the reinforcements were samurai. Even if I had met one of them, all of their faces were hidden behind those gasmask-helmet-things. There were more samurai off to the left, fighting what seemed to be Lady Chiyo, Kimimaro, and a Mist ninja that I did not know the name of. I couldn't see anyone from our division, however.

Mifune spotted us, and, as if reading my thoughts, called, "The rest of your division is being tended to up ahead."

I bowed my head slightly in thanks and ran to our group with the others. I was, upon reaching them, told to use the Katsuyu again, though it was mostly a poisonous gas that had affected the group. Lady Chiyo, Kimimaro, and the other dude were eventually captured, allowing Mifune the Samurai to come over to us and inform us he would stay here with his samurai until the rest of the group was no longer paralyzed.

Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu were deemed safe, for now, by Kankuro. Juugo explained to us that, if Madara was around, they would have to pretend to be on their side, but would be sure not to hurt any of us. Kankuro agreed to this, and Mifune and Kankuro both took the three's powers into account and decided where they could best be placed.

"We already have sensors, here," said Kankuro, eyeing Karin from the ground. "You said you could heal, too?"

Karin gave a curt nod.

"You'd probably be good in the Medical Division, then…."

"I can take you to their headquarters…. And Suigetsu," said Mifune the Samurai, "you are one of the Hozuki clan, correct?"

Suigetsu straightened up slightly. "Yeah."

"Well then, you would do well in my division," Mifune the Samurai told him with a nod.

"And what about Juugo?" Karin inquired.

"Juugo can stay in my division," said Kankuro. "As Natalie suggested, he can send animals out to find other Akatsuki cells."

Juugo gave a small nod. "If… if I get out of control again… how will…?"

"We'll deal with it," Kankuro assured him.

I sighed and looked to the west, watching the sun…. I didn't like war much, not at all, but all I could do was keep going and not give up until it was over. Then Sam, Ash, Agatha, David, Sierra, Anna, and I would all be back at the Leaf. We could throw a party. People other than Riaru would come too, of course: Zetsu, Itachi, Shikamaru, Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu, and Deidara. Sasuke, too, if he was back on our side. Everything would be over. Madara would be on our side… no… dead. Madara would be dead, and Kabuto would be dead, and all of us would celebrate their deaths and the peace brought by their absences. I'd even allow Sam and the Uchihas to have chocolate. Maybe we could even give a little bit to Aishuu….

Anna opened her eyes blearily; it was the middle of the night. She gazed absently at a ray of moonlight coming through a small hole in the wall of her sanctuary. It wasn't just her sanctuary, but all of the civilians', but Anna didn't mind. There were kids to play with, anyway. Plus, it was no longer just Anna that couldn't run around, as the space was limited and the children couldn't run either.

I wonder how Aunt Natalie and Sierra are doing now? Anna wondered, closing her eyes again. It's their first night at war…. Will they be on lookout? Will Sierra still be healing the injured? Are they… are they all still alive? Anna frowned. Duh, of course they're alive. And… what about Sasuke? What is he thinking about right now? He says he's on Madara's side, but… he isn't really, is he? That time when I went to the hideout; that proved to me he's still himself. What's going on in his head…?

Anna turned over. "What do you think, Aishuu?" she murmured, and smiled at the soft sigh she got in response. "Oh, Aishuu… you're so cute…." Her eyes blurred from drowsiness, and her eyes began to close….

Her eyes flew open when Aishuu began to wail. All she saw, though, was a glimpse of Madara and Aishuu swirling away, Anna wanting very much to smash that stupid, swirly, orange mask.

Hehe... I gave you a little bit of a cliffhanger there...