AN: Thank you so much for the positive reviews! Thanks for the favorites and follows as well! Happy Holidays! I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 21

Danzo's P.O.V.

I settled into my chair in my office in my underground headquarters for my organization, Root. My soldiers were either on missions or training here, in the underground.

Opening the newest edition of Konohagakure's bingo book, I scanned through it, wondering if any targets were weak enough for Root. Of course, I had faith in my own organization, but taking targets like Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Deidara would only draw attention to the fact that I hadn't followed the Hokage's order and disbanded Root. It didn't matter now, for the Hokage was dead, but I wasn't sure if Tsunade, the new Hokage knew about it.

Flipping pages, I stopped on Uchiha Sasuke's. Being one of the last Uchiha, it would be suspicious if my subordinates captured him, so I wouldn't be in possession of the Sharingan. Making a mental note to make plans regarding the Sharingan, I flipped the page.

... Hmm?

A missing-nin from Konoha? And she was a genin? How... curious. I don't remember acquiring a new soldier as of late. Did she leave, like Sasuke? Was she kidnapped by another group? I read Ono Kabucha's page and wondered why there was such a high bounty on her. It wasn't until I got to the note section, did I realize why she was wanted so badly.

She was immortal... or "rumored" to be anyway. Rumors or not, I wanted an immortal for Root. We would be unstoppable with someone who couldn't die. I had heard of rumors about another immortal, but after further investigation, I had realized he was with a cult and that would only tarnish Root's reputation. He would probably give us away with his rituals or whatever people in cults did.

But Ono Kabucha... She was an orphan. Nobody remembered orphans.

"Sai!" I called. Not a moment later, Sai, my most loyal member, appeared in front of my desk. I hadn't seen him use the door, but I knew there were jutsus that ruled doors obsolete. Sai had short, black hair that was pulled back by a hitai-ate on his forehead. His skin was pale and he wore black clothing.

"Danzo-sama," he said, bowing. I had trained him so well. Too bad he had killed his brother or I would've had two of him. Oh well, I couldn't break Root traditions for just one member.

"Have you studied the latest issue of the bingo book?" He stood up and nodded, careful not to speak out of turn. That's something else he had learned while I was training him.

"I want you to track down Ono Kabucha. Bring her back alive," I stressed, making sure the pale boy understood how important it was.

"With all due respect, Danzo-sama, what if she's dead before I get to her or someone else has captured her?" Sai asked, carefully wording his concern.

"Did you lie when you said that you've read the latest addition of the bingo book?" Sai's eyes widened, but he quickly shed the brief emotion. I would have to work on that; he wasn't supposed to have any emotions.

"Of course not, Dan-"

"Did you not realize that she could possibly be immortal, fool?" I spat, standing up from my desk and slapping the desktop with both hands. Sai didn't do anything, like he was supposed to.

"I apologize, Danzo-sama. Is there a timeframe?" Smirking, I smoothed out my wrinkled outfit. This was too easy.

"She's a genin, Sai. I expect you to be quick, or there will be consequences. As usual, don't let anyone see you," I ended, dismissing him with my hand. With that, he disappeared in a flash.

Nobody remembers orphans.

Tsunade's P.O.V.

With a sigh, I rubbed my achy head. Without my orders, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Naruto, and Neji had gone on a self-employed mission to retrieve that Uchiha brat. Kakashi had left the office after telling me what had happened. There was just too much going on.

"Where's my damn sake?" I muttered, glancing unhappily at the ever-growing stack of papers on my desk. As expected, being the Hokage was difficult. I had to run a damn village. Why the hell was the door opening? I didn't need anymore shit to deal with right now.

"What?!" I snapped at Asuma. I knew he wouldn't get angry; I'd just kill him with my strength.

"It's about the other missing-nin, Ono Kabucha," he replied, shutting the door and sitting across from me. Right to the point.

"What about her?" I had read her file, briefly, and nothing looked important to attend to right now. We were in the middle of rebuilding, damnit!

"Okay. I know her file probably says that she's mentally stable, but from her sensei's point of view, I want to tell you that she's a genius."

"Shikamaru genius or Itachi genius?" I questioned.

"I..." He stuttered. The great Sarutobi Asuma stuttered. "I'm not sure."

"What do you mean, "you're not sure?" I snapped, headache still pounding. I didn't have time for this bullshit, damnit but I was the Hokage and I had to deal with it. Ugh.

"When I first met her, she seemed average and normal. With Shikamaru and Shikaku, they didn't report any signs of above average intelligence from the girl. But... the way she fights. She doesn't talk, unlike most kids her age. She doesn't reveal any strengths or weaknesses of hers. She doesn't even reply to opponents."

"So? Why the hell's that so special? That happened with Orochi... Oh." I realized the problem.

"I don't have a lot of evidence to confirm it, but I have reason to believe that she's Orochimaru genius."

"Didn't she go missing before the Final Exam in the Chuunin Exams?" I asked.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. No search and rescue party was sent out because of the bad timing. According to one ANBU, she had revealed that she was still in the village but I couldn't sense her chakra. With the help of the Hyuuga, we confirmed that she was nowhere near the village. The visit to the Third went against our findings though, and he ordered us not to worry."

"Damnit. Do you think she was smart enough to stage this?" I asked, wanting his opinion on this. He was, after all, her sensei.

"No signs of wanting to defect from the village were reported, Hokage-sama. I didn't even think this would happen until it did," Asuma answered, looking down. Something still bothered me though.

"How come nobody went to go find her? Why did they choose the Uchiha brat over her?" I replied, wondering what made the Uchiha so special.

"She vanished from the invasion, but she still fought enemies, so we concluded that she had used a shadow clone to distract us." He paused in thought.

"I hope you're not assuming she was involved with the invasion," I hoped. I hadn't even met the brat, but judging from Asuma's worried face, I could tell that he cared for her.

"It's very likely. The only other option is that she chose to defect at the worst time."

"Are you saying there are better times to defect from your village, Sarutobi?" I snorted.

"No! Of course not! I'm just saying that maybe it was bad timing on her part," he reworded, rubbing his beard.

"Well... I can't afford to send anyone out right now, Asuma. I'm... I'm sorry," I replied, hesitantly. I wanted to go get the girl too, but I needed all the shinobi to help rebuild.

"Before I go, I wanted to tell you that she's rumored to be immortal," Asuma said, getting up and opening the door. His eyes looked sad and his body language told me he was tired.

"I read the file," I replied, quietly. He walked out the door without another word spoken. As he left, Shizune walked in with my lunch and a large bottle of sake.

"'Bout time," I stated, voice switching from caring to bossy, and snatched the sake from the black-haired jounin.

"Why did Sarutobi-sama look so sad?" Shizune asked, placing the bento on my desk.

"He wants me to send a team after his missing brat, but I can't. We're rebuilding." Shizune's eyes narrowed at this.

"Ono Kabucha?" She questioned. I nodded my head and popped open the lid of the bottle.

"You understand, right?" I asked, watching my reflection off the dark surface of the bottle.

"You're not sending a team after her?!" Shizune erupted, almost making me drop the bottle. Glaring at her, I tipped the bottle back and drank the addictive substance.

"What's your problem?!" I yelled, wiping my mouth on my sleeve. To my surprise, Shizune slapped her hands on my desk and yelled back at me.

"She survived a broken neck! That's never been done before. I don't even know when she got stabbed by a kunai, but I know she survived one to the head! Do you really want an immortal to be captured by another village?!" Shizune calmed down, but my mind was reeling.

"Oh... Kami..." I whispered, putting the bottle down. I would have to help rebuild to make up for the person I was taking.

"Go get Pig," I ordered. I wasn't going to send an entire team after her. She was, after all, a genin.

Orochimaru's P.O.V.

I had done it again; I had tried moving my arms when I had none. Damn it, I hated having to rely on others. We had arrived at one of my bases in Otogakure last night and Kabuto had treated my stumps; something I was unable to do.

"Where are you in a hurry to, Kabuto?" I asked, noticing the silver-haired shinobi had been growing... excited.

"Orochimaru-sama, I've discovered a kunoichi that cannot die." Raising my eyebrows, I looked at Kabuto from where I had been staring at the sandwich I couldn't pick up.

"Jashin worshipper?"

"No."

"Do you... have her?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "There's no use in telling me if you don't have her."

"I..." Kabuto turned away, not wanting to meet my eyes. "I... the team... she escaped."

"What?!" I roared, standing up in anger. Kabuto looked back at me through his pitiful glasses.

"I assigned a team to deposit her in one of your labs, but she escaped when they were sleeping."

"Sleeping?! Who was keeping watch?! Tell me someone was keeping watch!" I hissed, wishing I could obliterate the fool.

"The one keeping watch slipped away to use the restroom, underestimating her... strength."

"Did you at least put restraining cuffs on her?" I replied, calming down a little. I wished I had hands so I could rub my head, but sadly, someone had to take them and my Jutsu.

"Yes."

"Excellent. Take a team of trackers and capture her," I ended with a smile. As he was leaving, I remembered something.

"Kabuto." He turned around with a confused look.

"Bring me the one who was on watch that night."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

Shikamaru's P.O.V.

Why did we go after Sasuke? He was an acquaintance of mine, but that's as far as it goes regarding our relationship. Choji and I had wanted to go after Kabucha and I think Naruto did too, but Kiba and Neji plus Naruto had all agreed that we should go after Sasuke. I guess Naruto was closer to Sasuke than Kabucha. Since it was three to two, we had gone after the Uchiha...

... and almost died. What were we thinking?! We couldn't take them on!

"Shikamaru, don't be hard on yourself," Choji said softly, kneeling down to where I was hunched over. "It's not your fault."

"No," I replied in a shaky voice. "I almost got us killed." A few tears rolled down my cheeks, "without my permission," as Kabucha would say.

"It's okay," Naruto added, walking up to us from his previous fight. "We'll get the bastard." How was he taking this so well?

"How are you... coping?" I asked quietly. However silly it sounded, I wanted to know how he wasn't in tears like me.

"I'll just have to get stronger!" Naruto yelled, no smile on his face. So he was serious?

"What about... her?" Choji replied.

"Are you referring to Ono Kabucha?" Neji asked, brushing off an dust he had collected from his brawl.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Choji said with furrowed eyebrows. Why did the Hyuuga care about her?

"I've always sensed something... off with her chakra, but I didn't think it was big enough to call out," the Hyuuga stated.

"How's she immortal anyway?" Kiba added, carrying a limp Akamaru. Nobody had an answer, so we shrugged.

"Anyways, Shikamaru, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. You just made a bad call," Naruto remarked. I stood up and wiped my face of the tears.

"I... I know. Thanks." How had Naruto, of all people, cheered me up? Usually, when I thought of him, he was an annoyance. He'd pull pranks and do stuff just to get attention, but that was probably because he was an orphan... orphan... Kabucha's an orphan, too. Maybe we could find clues with that shopkeeper she always hung around with.

Temou's P.O.V.

Picking up the framed photo, I sighed unhappily. I had told her not to be reckless, not to be careless. What had she done? Made herself a missing-nin. That damn girl. When the door ringed, I put the frame behind the counter. Before I could comprehend what happened, 5 brats were in my face.

"Where is she?" The Nara demanded. How... how dare they...!

"What the hell is wrong with you, kid?" I asked, pushing them off the counter.

"We know that you know Kabucha, Old Man!" Turning my head, I realized that the demon brat was in here, too. Kabucha had changed my views on the troublemakers of this blasted village, though. He was still annoying.

"Old man?" I questioned, raising my voice. "Who the hell you calling old man?!"

"Cut the shit. Where's Kabucha?" The Inuzuka dog asked. Before I answered, I took a deep breathe and looked at the framed photo behind the counter. It was a picture of Kabucha and I when she was 9-years old. She didn't have her hat yet and her hair had been longer. A big smile adorned her face and a light smile on mine. I had forced her to attend the Festival of Lights with me, but whenever anyone asked about it, she denied it ever happened.

"Sir?"

"Huh?" Snapping out of my daze, I realized the Hyuuga had spoken to me. Ah... The Hyuugas. At least they were polite.

"This is a... sensitive subject, isn't it?" Hyuuga asked, carefully. I nodded slowly.

"She... Never in a million years would I think... Would I expect..." I sniffled, not caring if the brats saw.

"Oh..." Nara whispered. "Sorry. I... I didn't rea-" I held up a hand.

"It's okay, kid." The Akimichi stepped up from where he had been watching.

"Do you know anything about where she could've gone?" Sadly, I shook my head.

"Anything at all?" Before I shook my head, I thought about it. What the hell? It wouldn't hurt to reveal a bit about her now that she was missing.

"She had the most amazing ideas. Buildings that could scrape the skies, going to the Moon." The brats looked among themselves, confused.

"What does this have to do wi-" The demon brat started, but I cut him off with a glare.

"This is your only lead, isn't it?" A couple of brats looked down and nodded sheepishly.

"Then shut up and listen! Listen... Hey!" My outburst startled them. "Listen, she kept telling me that lots of shinobi did nothing but talk and talk and talk during their fights. If you find her, keep that in mind. She kept saying they were dumb and stupid for giving away their strengths. She's stronger than you think and smarter, too. Oh yeah. You have no idea how smart that girl is... when she wants to be. She treats life like a game sometimes, but other times?" They leaned forward in anticipation. "She doesn't. You won't believe it, but she dumbs herself down, so nobody gets suspicious of her smarts. Kinda like you, Nara."