Woo! Another early release! Don't get used to this! I've taken the reviews into account and think I managed to push Fuu in the right direction, i'm just glad I didn't have to wait for a certain someone to tell me how bad I screwed up. Anyway, my taxi for college will be here any minute now, so I'll just post, leave and come back to an inbox full of reviews!... please?

Disclaimer: Do you think the Aburame's insects do their business while still inside their hosts? Guess that means Shino really is full of it.

A moon half full

Yagura and Fuu stared intently at each other, the passing breeze lifting their hair and moving the fallen leaves along. The straw haired boy watched the tanned skinned girl, as her cheeks tinted a deeper shade of pink with every passing moment.

"You… need me?" Fuu repeated, her voice almost a whisper. Shocked as she was by the sudden appearance of such a person, she was stunned even further by his direct announcement.

"Yes." Yagura replied, with a confident nod. He leant further forward from his place seated on the rocks, the waterfall behind partially obscuring his words, "I came here for you, and I'm willing to do what it takes to convince you to come with me."

From his words, Fuu's reaction met its optimum. She hastily turned on the spot, not wanting her red cheeks to give away more than they already had. She could feel Yagura's eyes still upon her, making her feel jumpy and nervous. But he seemed in no hurry to avert his gaze, and in fact it began to feel even more piercing than before. She then heard his sigh, and turned her head just enough so that she could see him from the corner of her eye.

"You have ties to this village?" he asked, rising slightly from his slumped position. He let one arm hang loose by his side, his eyes lifting once more to look straight at Fuu, "Would it be so bad if you were to leave Taki behind?"

"Well… no." Fuu admitted, touching her fingers together as she bowed her head. She was getting a strange feeling, how did he know her feelings? She still felt a little shy under the newfound situation, and she didn't really know what to say, "But… to join Kirigakure?"

"No, that's not right." Yagura said, earning Fuu's eyes once more. He straightened up completely now, removing his staff and placing it down on the ground for support, "We couldn't go to Kiri, since I am no longer a member of that village."

"Huh?" Fuu murmured, turning back around to look properly at Yagura. She was shocked by his statement to the point of wondering if maybe she was imagining all of this, "What do you mean?"

Yagura grunted as he lifted himself to his feet, using his staff as a cane in place of his still numb leg. He looked to Fuu seriously, making sure that they were at least on eye level as he told her the reason for his coming here.

"You and I have the same problem." He said, in as meaningful a tone as he could muster. The feeling was slowly returning to his leg, and with it the feeling of static running across his entire lower limb, "The village always turned their back on you, didn't they? I know what that's like, because I-"

"No, that's not right." Fuu interrupted, with a sudden smile. Yagura gave her a peculiar look as he paused, her mood had changed suddenly once again, "My family was very supportive of my independence, as soon as I was old enough they had me move into my own place! My landlord also makes sure I stay busy by calling for rent without warning!"

"But that-" Yagura began, his brow creasing again. But once more he stopped himself short, he realised there was something rather insincere about the smile Fuu was giving him. He regarded her for a moment, so this was a façade? Or did she just not want to see the truth? In any case, she clearly didn't want to admit to another solution. He recollected himself, before giving a slight smile of his own, "Then they would probably support you if you chose to leave, right?"

"Hm?" Fuu murmured, cocking her head curiously. Her eyes distanced for a moment as she considered what Yagura had suggested, before her expression brightened, "Yeah, I think they would!"

"Oh… that's good to hear." Yagura replied, with a feigned look of gladness. Fuu seemed to react positively to it, her smile spreading even wider, "Then… will you come?"

Fu blinked again, staring blankly at Yagura as he posed the question once more. Just like before her face flushed and she turned on the spot, her back to him yet again, "Yep!" she squeaked in a high pitched voice. Yagura's shoulders slumped as he let out a breath of relief; that had been easier than he thought it would be. Fuu took a step forward, before speaking up again in an equally high voice, "Just um… let me get some stuff first ok?"

"Sure thing." Yagura replied, as Fuu began to walk away in a daze. He called out to her however before she could get too far away, "Also, you think you could just slip out? It'd be a problem if you got noticed."

"Ok!"

As Fuu disappeared amongst the trees, Yagura sat back down on the rocks. He had been expecting the mission to be a lot more complicated than this. It was unfortunate for Fuu, but it seemed that her problems had worked in his favour. He waited just a minute longer, before raising his fingers to his transceiver, "Hey, it's me."

* * * * *

"I… find Fuu… coming… hurry… get out."

"Hm?" Naruto murmured, twiddling the dial on his transceiver as he tried to get a better signal. It sounded like Yagura was trying to tell him something, but the signal was disrupted. He frowned as he replayed the words in his head, trying to figure out what he had said, "I saw something, find Fuu, they're coming, hurry and get out?" he muttered, before his brow snapped into a high position. He was warning them! "Shit!"

He looked around rapidly; if they had been found out then he would have to risk being a little more obvious in his actions. He headed into an alley before taking to the rooftop, beginning his search from there. He reached up to his transceiver again, searching for Gaara and Utakata.

"Hey guys, did you get that?" he asked, as he hopped from one roof to another. He listened out as he scanned the streets, awaiting a reply in the hope that one of them had gotten a clearer signal than he did.

"No, what's going on?" Utakata's distorted voice asked. Naruto's brow creased in annoyance, he had thought Utakata was the closest to the main entrance. So that begged the question as to where Yagura was by now.

"It wasn't clear, but it sounds like Yagura-san has encountered Fuu." Gaara's voice called out. Naruto's brow rose in surprise, he could see that Yagura could have said that instead. But what did that mean, did he manage to convince her? "But the end was obscured, I can't say what happened."

"Think we should head back?" Naruto asked, dropping down into another alley and hiding in the shadows. He kept his eye on the street to his left, he didn't want to get noticed if they had already succeeded.

"Worst case scenario, Yagura found Fuu and she resisted, called for guards and now they're coming for him and us." Utakata replied, giving careful thought to his words, "But if he managed to get her to come with us, then there's no reason to stay. In either case, it'd be best to leave for now so we can reassess the situation."

"That's right." Gaara agreed, creating a majority rule. Naruto paused for a moment, looking up and down either side of the alleyway, before giving his own words of confirmation. He then took his hand off the transceiver and casually headed out into the street. He almost fell over however as someone collided with him the moment he stepped out.

"Ow…" Naruto muttered, taking a step back and rubbing his shoulder. Before him was a girl about a head shorter than him, gripping her nose and moaning herself.

"Sorry!" came the girl's muffled voice. She looked up at Naruto from behind her hand, her brow raising as she realised he was staring at her, "Uh, you're not hurt are you?"

Naruto blinked in surprise, his first thoughts being that Gaara must have misinterpreted the message. It didn't look like Yagura had encountered, Fuu, because she was standing right here, shrugging a large red backpack back into place. That could only have meant then that what Naruto had thought was-

"HEY!" yelled a merchant at a stall behind Naruto, reaching out to grab a child who had stolen a loaf of bread. Naruto jumped in shock however, and instinctively reached into his pouch.

"Sorry!" he hastily said, before lashing out and pricking Fuu in the neck with a senbon soaked in a sedative solution. Fuu only had time to look surprised before the drug took affect, and she began to fall forward. Naruto wasted no time in turning on the spot and taking her on his back, before he began running through the streets like his life depended on it.

People watched as the strange train rolled through the street, a blond boy carrying a familiar girl on his back while she herself had a large rucksack strapped to her. They followed with their eyes as he passed by, wondering what on earth he could be doing with that girl.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!" Naruto thought, as he darted into the alleyway. He hadn't looked back yet to see if he was being pursued, he just did his best to slip away. He absolutely couldn't afford to get into a fight right now; he needed to move as quickly as possible.

He ran out into a small outcrop of trees, and leapt up into them for a hiding spot. It was there that he came to a stop, silently looking around for the exit, and any signs of followers. It seemed he was in luck however; no one had come after him. What was more, from his position he could see the pond they had snuck in with just a few streets away.

"Just to be safe." He thought, slinging Fuu's arms around his neck. He then raised his hands into the crossed seal, before speaking out quietly, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Behind him appeared four copies of him, two of which quickly transformed into replicas of Fuu. They then hopped onto the backs of the unchanged Naruto's, and the three groups split up in separate directions, the originals heading for the pond while the copies made for the streets.

Flitting through the alleys and tree hidden paths, Naruto quickly made his way to the pond. Though his Kage Bunshin were intended to act as a distraction, he didn't want to deny the possibility they would give him away too.

Finally he reached the pond; arriving by the tree he had left his slacks. He could see Gaara and Utakata arriving from two places not far away, and so he placed Fuu down at the tree as he awaited them. Once the three were reunited, they all looked down at Fuu.

"Was she resisting?" Gaara asked, looking at Naruto curiously. He still recalled his version of Yagura's message, so this was the only way the state of the girl made sense to him.

"She looked like she was in a hurry, I took a chance." Naruto replied, shrugging with a blank expression, "It was just a sedative, so she should wake up in a while."

"Looks like we're gonna be needing these." Utakata said, taking his bubble blower and flask from the waistband of his trousers, "She'll need air and something to keep that thing in."

Naruto and Gaara nodded as they crouched down next to Fuu, removing her rucksack and taking it aside. Naruto took his sodden slacks and used them to tie around the strap of the rucksack. Utakata then used his solution to blow a pair of bubbles, one enveloping Fuu's head and the other growing and surrounding the rucksack. Once Utakata had taken Fuu onto his back, he and Naruto took to the water. Gaara followed them after grabbing his sweater and slipping it back on. Soon the four Jinchuriki were back inside the tunnel, and making their way to the meeting point.

* * * * *

Fuu slept a dreamless sleep, experiencing a kind of peace that was rather rare to her. Her breathing was easy and her body relaxed. However, something far away was disturbing her pleasant rest. It was the sound of voices, muffled by her own lethargy, that were slowly becoming clearer and less ambient.

"YOU KNOCKED HER OUT?!" yelled a voice, the first one that really became clear to her ears. It sounded vaguely familiar, though for some reason she couldn't quite recall why, "I TOLD YOU SHE WAS WILLING!"

"HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" yelled another, more energetic voice that Fuu didn't recognise in the slightest. She was growing slightly bothered by the interruptions, couldn't they just let her sleep in peace?

"Hey, guys, something's wrong." came a third, quieter voice that felt closer than any of the others. Though the noise still disturbed her, she was glad it was at least quieting down, "Hey Naruto, show me that senbon you used."

Fuu was hit with another wave of drowsiness, she felt like she was about to sleep again. The sounds around her became distorted, blissfully so. She relaxed again and allowed herself to drift-

"What the- this is way too strong!" exclaimed the third voice. Fuu felt like crying as sound returned to her again, what idiots were making this racket? "Here, give her this!"

"Huh?" she thought, as sense returned to her. She finally began to wonder just what was going on, and tried to open up her eyes. But she couldn't, her eyelids just felt too heavy, and her will wasn't strong enough right now.

"How?" asked the second voice, surprisingly close to her now.

"There's no choice." said the third voice, in a serious tone, "You're going to have to transfer it with your mouth."

Even though she couldn't have moved if she wanted too, Fuu froze. What was he going to do with his mouth?

"WHAT?!" the second voice exclaimed, just as shocked as she was. Fuu paused her efforts, was the person going to refuse?

"Please oh please oh please!" she thought, as her nerves began to rise. Several seconds of complete silence passed, and Fuu began to wonder if maybe she was asleep again. She waited silently, listening out for the slightest sound. She nearly gasped when she felt strong hands grip her arms, but thankfully it seemed to do the trick. Though it was with difficulty, she managed to open her eyes. But what she saw made her nearly want to pass out again.

A blond boy had his face uncomfortably close to hers, his eyes narrow and his puffed up cheeks red. Fuu could see his pursed lips moving dangerously close to hers, and in an instant her instincts took over.

Thud.

The boy's eyes widened as he experienced sudden agony. A sharp intake of breath forced him to swallow the contents of his mouth, his eyes rolling back into his skull as he fell over to the ground beside Fuu. In an instant the girl pushed herself away, backing up against a tree as she stared in shock at the boy curled up and clutching his groin tight. Not far from his position there was another boy on the ground, though rather than being in pain, he was laughing so hard he had to grip his sides.

"Idiots."

Fuu whipped her head up to her right; she hadn't noticed that there was someone beside her. For the first time since she woke up she felt relief, finally it was someone who she recognised.

"Mizukage-sama!" she called up, a look of relief on her face. Yagura stood beside her, his arms folded as he watched the now conscious girl with his usual expressionless eyes.

"I told you, I'm not the Mizukage." he said, failing to respond to Fuu's happy look, "Besides, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but-" Fuu began, before giving Naruto a sharp look. The blond still lay on the ground, clutching himself in the foetal position.

"…Why?" he breathed, his eyes bugging out as he rolled slightly in the dirt. Everyone else ignored him though, as Gaara entered the area.

"Kakuzu-san and Hidan-san have both left." he stated, giving only the most fleeting of glances to Fuu, "Zetsu-san will meet with us soon."

Fuu followed the red haired boy with her eyes, taken in by his strange appearance and the gourd he carried on his back. She then looked to Naruto, who was still huddled on the ground, Utakata, who was wiping tears from his eyes, and Yagura, who wore just as flat an expression as Gaara. She began to wonder just what she had gotten herself into when Yagura reached out with his hand.

"Come on." he said, gesturing for her to take his help. Fuu stared at his hand for a moment, before bashfully accepting it. He pulled her to her feet before letting go and heading over to Naruto, "Quit complaining, we gotta move."

"…Cool." Fuu thought, as she watched the straw haired boy help Naruto to his feet too, before he thumped Utakata on the arm. He then followed Gaara, who was already making his way away. As Utakata moved to do the same, Fuu realised they were leaving and hurried after them.

"Hey uh, Fuu-san." Naruto called from behind her. Fuu came to a stop, pausing for a moment before shooting Naruto a dangerous look. From the earlier attack, Naruto instinctively flinched from that look, but he raised his hand too, "Here."

Fuu raised her borrow in surprise as Naruto handed her backpack over to her. She took it in her hand as he passed her, following him with her eyes as he went after the others. She was taken off guard; didn't she just render him immobile a minute ago? And yet now he walked like it had never even happened. She stared at the back of his head, her brow creasing into a frown.

"Hey Fuu-san, come on!" Yagura shouted, looking back at her. Fuu blinked stupidly, she hadn't realised he had gotten so far ahead.

"Ah, hai!" she called back, before running to catch up with him. This time it was her who passed Naruto, and the blond who was left looking after her. However in his case he wasn't wearing a frown, but an exasperated look.

"She doesn't like me much, does she?" he thought, speaking to Eko as his expression turned tired.

"Can you blame her? I'd have done worse if you came at me with a face like that."

* * * * *

That night, they set up camp around an orange fire, the only thing between them and the stars where the leaves high above. With Kisame gone it had taken longer than usual to prepare dinner, but Naruto and Utakata came back little over an hour later with the blonde's arms literally full of salmon, each of the fish hanging off a line as he walked with his arms spread wide and his lips stretched into a broad grin. This earned even a smile from Yagura; even that stoic boy had a tough time maintaining his persona with a pair of clowns like those two around. And of course, Gaara's poker face was as flawless as ever.

Not long after, the smell of cooking fish mixed with herbs filled the air, bringing on a similar effect to the first meal Naruto and Gaara shared with the two former Kiri nin. Fuu's reaction was strongest, as anyone who was unfamiliar with Gaara's work was. She sat crouched before the fire, her finger in her mouth as she watched the fish she had secretly claimed as her own.

"…Alright." Gaara finally said, opening his eyes. In an instant both Fuu and Naruto lashed out with their hands, grabbing the sticks of impaled fish and biting in. Of course, in doing so they ruined the meal for themselves, the piping hot fish had rendered their taste buds considerably weaker, especially after crying out loud and trying desperately to bring cool air to their burning mouths.

The other three were wiser with their choices as they picked up the sticks and drew them away from the fire, letting the salmon cool in the passing breeze.

As they ate, Fuu became aware of a single extra fish, and wondered if perhaps those two, the blond guy and the brown haired guy, had gotten more than they thought they had. She gained a greedy glint as she chewed into her fish, failing to savour the flavour as she subtly tried to eat quicker than the others. However, she became increasingly aware of Naruto's speedy chews and hard swallows, had he reached the same conclusion as her?

"Oh no you're not!" Fuu thought, as she began to eat faster. Naruto had already gained a considerable lead; she was surprised by just how wide that mouth of his could open. She began to experience a slight thrill of challenge, which replaced the greedy glint almost completely.

"Why is she staring at me?" Naruto asked, trying his best not to look at the transfixed Fuu. He was getting a nervous feeling, what was with that look in her eyes?

"She's probably wondering if it'll be safe for her to sleep with you around."

Naruto sulked behind his fish; it was times like these he wished Eko was made of something with nerve cells, so that he could feel the pain of a punch to the shoulder. As it was, he reasoned only to hesitate next time Eko was lodged inside of someone.

He finished his fish and discarded the bones, letting out a contented yawn. When he opened his eyes again however, he lost his tired feeling as he saw Fuu's hand sneaking towards the last fish. In and instant he reached over, lightly striking her hand with the tip of his stick, she pulled back sharply, giving him a challenging smile as she seemed to get an idea. She took her own stick and raised it to Naruto, like a strangely thin sword. Naruto gave her an incredulous look, was she suggesting what he thought she was?

"Eh, what the hell?" Naruto thought, mentally shrugging as he let out a smirk. He accepted her challenge, brandishing his own stick in a single hand. Kisame had trained him too well, even if it was like this, he couldn't turn down a fight requested in such a manner.

Fortunately, he had three years experience under his belt, even if of those three years his small weapons skills had waned. He stepped around the fire, his eyes locked on Fuu's as they circled each other, with the three seated boys watching curiously.

It was Fuu who made the first attack, and unfortunately it was her only one. Naruto easily sidestepped her and raised his hand high in the air, before bringing it down again. Once more the tip of his stick hit her hand, cracking like a whip from the impact. Fuu gritted her teeth, but the sudden and sharp pain forced her to let go of the stick.

"Hmph!" she huffed, crossing her arms and looking away from the fire. Quick though she may have been to try and sneak the fish into her grasp, the welt on her hand had made her reluctant to try any harder. Naruto shook his head, discarding his own stick as he picked the fish up from the fire.

"Yo, Zetsu-san!" he called out, tossing the fish high over the fire. Across the flames, stepping out from the shadows of the trees was the very person in question. White Zetsu grabbed the fish in his hand, though he didn't thank Naruto for it.

"Geez, you couldn't have gotten someone to follow you?" the paler side asked, looking displeased as he tore a chunk from the fish, "We should have stuck with Hidan and Kakuzu, they had an entire team following them last time we saw."

Naruto chuckled at the cannibal Shinobi's words, distasteful though his diet may be, he certainly made for an interesting conversationalist. His brow cocked however as he noticed Zetsu's attention turn to somewhere past Naruto, down on the ground. Naruto glanced back, realising to his surprise that the thing Zetsu was looking at was Fuu. The green haired girl had stumbled back onto her rear, and was pointing a shaking finger to Zetsu with a terrified expression.

"What the hell is he?!" she demanded, a cold sweat appearing on her brow. Naruto looked from her to Zetsu, the white side of whom was chewing on the fish while he watched her.

"Geez, this is just like three years ago, eh Naruto?" white Zetsu asked, looking to the blond with a smirk. Naruto returned a nervous grin, and then turned to say something to Fuu before the black side brought down the mood of the entire party.

"This is Zetsu-san, he works for Pein-san." he said, as he reached out and grabbed Fuu's wrist, hauling her to her feet, "And they are pretty cool guys, so don't go pointing fingers at them."

"Huh, you hear that?" white Zetsu muttered, looking to the right corner of his eyes, "Apparently we're "pretty cool". Whatever."

"Anyway, so what now?" Gaara asked, while Fuu continued to stare stupidly, "We return to Ame, so Fuu-san can meet Pein-san?"

"No." black Zetsu replied, looking to the red haired boy with his masked face, "You will speak with him now."