Next chappie! took ages, I am sorry, but i got there, and to be nice, i have added the next chappie as well! YAY for double chapters!

SSS

Sai sat quietly on the bridge, painting the rippled image of his reflection. The black and white colour of the ink and scroll was perfect, as he saw himself as a figure of black and white. Or at least he used to, until he met Naruto, and team Kakashi.

Although he was coloured black and white, dark black hair, black eyes, back clothing, contrasting with his snowy white skin, inside he was swirling mess of black and white, creating a grey personality. ROOT had been harsh on him, like it was with all members, stripping them of their emotions and any feelings, to rid them of the bonds that held them back, that were considered a weakness. He had previously seen things in black and white, following orders without question, but Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi had changed that. They had brought back those feelings that he thought had been destroyed, and had given him new life, and a new perspective.

If he were to paint what he had been like before, it would have been black and white. Now, he could use shades of grey if he wished too. He would paint Kakashi like him, the Copy Nin having going through almost the same thing, or so it seemed, while if Sai was to paint Sakura and Naruto, they would be in bright colours…

Though Sakura seemed a little greyer or washed out in colour since that mission he thought, thinking back on her face and expression when he saw her in the hospital. He was not sure what was missing, but there was something about the way she greeted Naruto that seemed off.

Fake.

That was it. Her smiles were like his, fake and meaningless, and her eyes had been dull, glazed over and missing that all important spark of life that she used to have. People change, and it seemed that Sakura was changing, and fast. Too fast in Sai's opinion.

Finishing the picture he was painting, Sai pulled open a new scroll, flattening it out on the reddish wood of the bridge, as he closed his eyes, his photographic memory bringing back the picture of the Sakura he knew. The life in her eyes, burning behind the forest and green bottle orbs, and her pink lips showing white teeth in her smile; that was how he remembered her.

Putting away the black ink, ad pulling out another scroll with characters on it, Sai made a few hand signs, summoning his paints, and pulling out the greens and pinks, to use along with the black. Maybe if he showed Sakura what she was meant to be like, she would go back to being herself again?

He hoped.

SSS

Two black figures leapt through the window into the office. They paused, taking in their surroundings quickly like a good shinobi would, before walking to the middle of the room, and bowing to the man behind the desk. He gave them a hard nod, before looking to the window.

"Where is the last member of your team?" he asked, Danzo's lone eye looking coldly at his ROOT agents, remembering their codenames. "Matsuna, Kakei."

"Danzo-sama, he was taken off our team, and replaced him with a younger member. Our newer team mate was killed two weeks ago on the field, we have been waiting for our old member to get the order to come back since." Matsuna answered, his emotionless dark blue eyes flicking up to look at his master's desk, respect stopping him from looking at his master's face.

"Sai was an effective member of our team. We would prefer to have him back on our team if the mission you are giving us is the one we think it is." Kakei completed the thoughts of the team, her glittering black eyes managing to look emotionless and hard, despite her seemingly expressive and childish face.

Danzo at back in his chair and thought to himself. He had forgotten about Sai for a while there. The boy could be very useful for the future of Konoha. He had untapped abilities and potential, not to mention good contacts that could be used to his advantage.

Danzo's plan was ready to be commenced soon… it would only be a single day before the coup would happen, and the attack would begin. Then, during the confusion and chaos provided by Danzo's ally, the Hokage will die, trying to protect the village, and Danzo would step forward, offering his leadership skills to bring the village through the hard time and the grief that surrounded them. He would make them stronger, using his ROOT to promote the best shinobi the shinobi world had ever seen, and he would be praised for it.

"Fine. I will pull Sai back from his other mission, and have him put back with your team." He decided, looking at the ROOT members in front him. They were stepping out of their place by being so forward, but their point was a valid one.

Sai would be useful.

SSS

Tsunade sprinted to the Hokage, not pausing as she pushed through the crowds. She ignored the frantic and curious looks of the people walking up to the tower, shinobi and civilian alike. The shinobi looked alert, as they noticed the rushed and frustrated look on her face, and the tight twist to her mouth that meant trouble to them. There was a serious glint to her eyes that made them look twice, and realise that unlike what the civilians thought, it was not just the Hokage annoyed at the paper work.

Sharp eyes watched as Tsunade burst through the doors, and slammed into her office, and as her loud, ear shattering screech reached the ears of all those in the village.

"JIRAIYA!"

The screech reached the man to whom the shout was for, and he groaned, lazily getting up from the bed that he was lying in. Normally, he would be out looking for some pretty girls to entertain him, but he had a horrible headache, and a bad feeling lately, so he had decided to stay in. It was against his nature to miss out an opportunity to find pretty girls, and to be truthful, he was disgusted with himself. He shrugged it off though, his thoughts distracted by anxious worry over the Akatsuki and the plans that had caught his ears. Still… it was shocking he wasn't out there, peeking around the female baths. He wasn't called the legendary pervert for nothing after all.

Besides, he had another very attractive woman to keep him busy, by the sounds of it.

Grumbling under his breath, Jiraiya got out of the bed, heaving his body to the edge, and sitting there for a moment, hoping that Tsunade wouldn't be screeching as loud as what she had just then. Making fast hand signs, the white haired man disappeared in a poof of smoke, reappearing outside the window to the Hokage's office, and hopping inside the office.

Seeing the blond haired woman slumped on her desk, he frowned. There were no empty sake bottles, no drained cups, not a whiff of the alcohol in the office. Tsunade only got hopeless and acted down after she had been drinking, and even then, it was a rare occasion when she looked like giving up.

Moving to her side, he rubbed her shoulders, leaning down the murmur softly in her ear, asking what the matter was. When she spun on her seat, and threw herself at him, tears streaming down her face, he was startled, to say the very least. Tsunade seldom cried, and it was only when she was remembering her younger brother, or dead lover that she cried. he knew that she grew upset on the dates that marked Dan's birthday, and death day, or first date, and on the days that were her younger brother's birthday and death day, she would drink till she could not think, or see.

But today was neither of those days.

"Jiraiya…" she turned her face, stopping her crying, and managing to pull up a calm and strong façade. But he saw through it, because he knew her, and he was close to her. She was scared, he could tell, she acted exactly like that during the mission when their team had almost been destroyed in a fight during the first war. Mood swings were always Tsunade's way.

"What is it?" he asked softly, his hands coming up to cup her face, her honey eyes revealing a serious and afraid swirl of emotions. He did not like what he saw.

"I-" The busty blond shook her head, trying a different way to explain. "No, I will start from the beginning. Sakura told me what happened to her, she-"

SSS

"We prepare for the invasion today, and we will start the attack this afternoon."

The reaction was quick, the whole room breaking out into a dead silence of shock, and disbelief.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked to his brother, their gaze communicating parallel feelings of anticipation and anger. Itachi broke the gaze first, looking back to the pierced face of the 'leader' of the Akatsuki. It was sooner than what he thought it would be, and Konoha would have less time to prepare for the attack. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and knew that he should trust his instincts, and not react to the words.

"Today?" Deidara echoed loudly, the statement followed by similar gasps and muttering by the rest of the group seated at the round meeting table. Some looked shocked, such as the blue haired woman with the paper flower in her hair. Konan leaned onto the table, her blue hair falling to cover the sides of her face, as she looked the 'leader' down.

"What do you mean today, Pein? We have no way of getting there, and the day is almost over." She flinched at the glare that the orange haired man gave her. She was the only one who could refer to the orange haired 'leader' by his name and without the added '–sama' at the end. It seemed though, that he was not happy with the use of his name this time, and the tone that was used for it.

"I have prepared transportation to the village, and have the plans of the invasion ready." He replied coolly, as he glared the blue woman down, and then addressed the rest of the group. "My source has told me that the village already knows of our plans, and that we need to attack before they have time to prepare for it. The sooner the better. They will not be expecting an attack so soon, and the element of surprise will be with us."

Kisame coughed lightly, looking to the leader seriously. "How will we start the attack?"

The leader gave a short lasting smirk, and looked at the shark man, radiating smug victory. "You will blind the village first, using your water techniques to cover the village in a thick layer of fog and mist. None of the shinobi of the Leaf will be able to fight in it as well as what we can, and we will gain another advantage."

"And then?"

"And then we take our targets, and kill them, and take down anyone in our path. We will have another shinobi group to help us, and a powerful ex shinobi to help us from the inside as well. The village will be taken without trouble, if we just attack fast and precise."

"A lightning war…" Itachi murmured lowly, and the rest of the room heard him, the orange haired man nodding, and his face grim as he glanced at the rest of the group in the black and red cloaks. He avoided looking at the shinobi at the end, ignoring the bright orange mask, and the odd stillness of the shinobi.

The masked shinobi at the end observed at the leader, a slow smirk spreading across his face under the bright mask, as the man told them what they needed to get together for the attack, and laid out the rest of his plans to them, giving out orders, and asking questions of their abilities and skills. The meeting lasted an hour or two, as they plotted the fall and demise of the great Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Finally, the leader dismissed them, only the orange masked shinobi staying behind.

"At last, my revenge begins."

SSS

"Uchiha Madara…" Jiraiya now knew why Tsunade was so alarmed.

The blond woman nodded, staring blankly at the wall in front of her, as she sat back down in her chair, her gaze on the pale wall across the room. She sighed deeply, looking away from the structure as she fixed her honey gaze on the white haired man next to her.

"What am I to do Jiraiya?" she asked bitterly. "I could not ask Kakashi to try and take on the Uchiha, because he would not be able to defeat the Mangekyo that Madara possesses, at least not without dying, and there would still be the other two Uchiha to deal with as well. I could try fighting this man, but I doubt that I would be able to beat him. He is ancient and powerful..."

Jiraiya stepped closer to her, taking in her light vanilla and honey scent. She had always smelt like that since she was young, and they were gennin. He loved the way she smelt. He loved her honey coloured eyes, even when they looked at him with anger and dislike, but even more so when they were soft with fondness, and when she smiled at him. He hated seeing her like this, scared and lost, like she had been before she had left the village.

"You can do it. We can do it. Together." He answered her firmly, looking down at her, and seeing her troubled face lighten a bit at his words. "And do not worry about the Uchiha brothers. I will deal with them." She did not know that they were on Konoha's side yet, but she would soon, as would many of the other shinobi. Thanks to Sakura and her dealings with the Uchiha, he might be able to convince them, with the pink haired woman's help, of the Uchiha loyalty to the village.

"Thank you Jiraiya. Thank you for everything."

SSS

Grasping the scrolls tight, the shadowed shinobi stood in a circle, waiting for the signal. Their bodies were wound with anticipation, as they looked to the approaching figure in the cloak of black and red clouds. They all wore matching cloaks to the leader, and all were alert and ready, blades and poisons hidden in their clothing. The leader gave them a short nod, and they snapped open the scrolls, and bit their finger, spreading the blood on the scrolls simultaneously.

With a cracking sound, they were gone.

SSS

Looking up and around him, Sai noted the strange fog that seemed to be setting in for the night. It was odd, for fog to be around so early in the season, but he guessed that winter had to begin sooner of later. Still, it set him on edge, as if he could feel a malicious intent in the vapour, and a hiding enemy, waiting. Deciding that it was nothing, only his paranoid mind playing tricks on him, Sai looked back to his work, tilting his head to look at it.

He had almost finished the painting, the pale pinks and greens of the picture contrasting nicely, yet somehow, managing to work together to create the delicate form of his teammate. He loved the picture immediately, and thought it to be one of his best works. He decided that he would give it to Sakura as soon as possible, to try and give her hope.

Rolling the paints and inks back into another scroll, he waited, watching with much pleasure as the paints dried, the dark, wet colours slowly fading to a lighter shade than their wet counterparts, and as the portrait finally looked right. There were still small patches of paint that looked darker than others, due to the water clinging to it, but he was happy with it. He then, gently rolled the scroll back up, deciding her could sign it later, as he tried it together, pulling out a small green ribbon that Sakura had given him once, when she declared them as friends.

He replaced the scroll, the velvet forest green ribbon and the off white parchment disappearing in a puff of smoke, as he stored it somewhere where he was sure that it would be safe. He did it just in time as well, no sooner had the small wisps of grey vapour curled, rising as they blended into the air, and he felt two familiar presences appear near him. He knew they were there, and if they knew is skills as well as they did when they were on the same team, they knew that he knew of them.

"What is it that you want?" he asked them, his face a calm, set in stone expression. He looked at them, the dark haired man, and the silver blond haired woman, whose faces were covered by a pale white porcelain mask. He knew that if he removed the masks, he would see that the handsome man with the dark hair had navy blue eyes, and the silvery blond woman with the childish face, with full cheeks would have startling dark black wide doe-like eyes, that looked so out of place with her bright light hair. He also knew their code names, and their skills. He knew that if it every came to a fight with them, he would be beaten, and absolutely destroyed by them.

The one thing he did not know about them, was why they were there.

"Come now Sai-san, I am sure that you can be more welcoming to your team mates." The blond haired woman said the statement in a cold, emotionless voice. It was what marked the ROOT out from the rest of the shinobi; their inability to show any feelings.

Sai cocked his head to the side, taking in everything that they said, and pulling it apart, analysing it. "Team mates?" he looked at them, and then saw it, the movement in their cloaks, as they pulled out a scroll, and showed it to him.

"Head-sama has given us permission to pull you back onto our team, to do a hard mission with us. It took some time coming, but we have managed to secure your position on our team when the time comes." The dark haired man answered, cutting off the woman as she opened her mouth to speak. The man then threw the scroll at Sai, who caught it in a blurred movement, and opened it, his dark eyes narrowing as he read the contents.

"Mission?" he quested, as he briefly glanced up from the scroll and to his team mates.

"Hai. We will know it when the time comes, and when we get it." The man gave a short nod to Sai, and then turned to his partner. They disappeared like steam into fog, and were gone before anyone else could see them. Anyone who would have seen them would have just thought them to be part of the slow, steady fog cover that was gradually wrapping around the village.

Like they were never there.

SSS

And the plot (and fog) thickens…

Sorry if Tsunade seems a bit… Out of character… but I thought that, 'hey! Who wouldn't have a minor (or major) panic attack that some ancient, scary powerful guy who you thought was dead is coming to try and kill you, and destroy your village!' so I put it in, and a bit of a Jiraiya and Tsunade scene in there as well!

It also a bit broken... Hm… oh well. That's how it played out in my head, so that's how it played out in the writing.

The invasion plan begins in the next chapter, so review quickly, and I will put it up, and get it done sooner! Remember, reviews mean a happy author, and a happy author means better, and quicker chapters!