Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.

Anbu Team 12 and their two companions arrived in Fire Country a day after they spit up with the Kiri shinobi. They arrived late and decided to stop and return to Konoha the next day. As they had traveled Naruto took it upon himself to teach Lea'so the basics of hand seals and then taught her the translation jutsu. As she learned the jutsu Lea'so made the comment about how odd it felt doing the hand seals. The rest could actually relate to her because of some of their lessons in note doing hand seals to perform the spells Naruto had taught them.

Also during the journey Lea'so noticed the strange interactions between Gai and Lee. When they stopped she could not help but comment, "Those two have to be the strangest humans I have ever seen."

"They are the strangest humans you will ever meet," Neji said. "For as long as we've known them they have always acted that way."

"How do you stand it?" Lea'so asked. As even now she wanted to at least knock them out just to get Gai and Lee to stop.

"You learn to tune them out while they enter one of their moods," Tenten answered. "It helps by starting with focusing your attention on something else at first, like I would sharpen my weapons. After a while forgetting about them becomes second nature."

Lea'so then focused her sight on Neji. "Why do you smell different from other humans?"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"She means your Blood Limit Neji," Naruto answered. "Humans with Blood Limits smell different than normal humans. No Youkai has ever said anything to you before is because humans with Blood Limits are a part of life around here and don't feel the need to say anything. From what I've seen there are not any humans with Blood Limits on Godeshen."

"What is a Blood Limit?" Lea'so asked rather curious about the odd smelling human.

"A Blood Limit is heritage some human Clans have that give them access to abilities only members of their blood line are about to use, hence the term Blood Limit," Gai answered. "A Blood Limit often gives the human that possess it an advantage of some kind. Neji has one that allows him to see beyond normal vision."

"That's not really all that much of an advantage," Lea'so said. "I met a lot of 'Youkai' that can see in the dark."

"I can seen completely around my head, threw objects and has telescopic vision," Neji remarked.

"That sounds a lot better," was Lea'so's only comment. She began to contemplate the advantages of having such ability and could easily see its strengths. He opinion of humans as a hole began to alter somewhat at this. The humans of the Elemental countries not only had power, she remembered Jiraiya, but also the Blood Limits they were worth her respect.

"We should get some rest," Gai said after a brief period of silence. "It's still about a day and a half back to Konoha so we should leave early tomorrow."

By the time Naruto and his team arrived back in Konoha it was late at night. The night Guards were caught somewhat by surprise when they say Gai and his former students returning so late. They were even more surprised to see a young girl looking in her mid teens accompany them. The Jounin in charge of the night shift dropped down to greet them. "Gai," the Jounin greeted, "I was not expecting you back until later in the week."

"The Mission was not as eventful as we firs suspected," Gai answered. "This is Lea'so she accompanied us back and we will need to see Tsuande-hime about her."

The Jounin gave her a once over and immediately noticed that she was not human. Moving in closer the Jounin asked, "Is she from the Sanctuary?"

"No," Gai answered. "That is one of the reasons why we must speak with the Hokage."

"Understood," the Jounin replied. "Last I heard Hokage-sama was still working on the paperwork from the day. You and Anbu Team 12 should be able to see her in her office." With a nod the six travelers entered the Konoha and made their way to the Hokage Tower.

As the Jounin at the Gate said Tsunade was still busy with the paperwork from the day. As she was finishing up Tsunade made the comment, "Why is there so much paperwork that I have to stay up so late."

Surprisingly Tsunade actually got answer, "That's because you spend most of your time napping during the day, Okasan."

Not looking up from the current form that needed her signature Tsunade greeted, "Welcome back Anbu Team 12 and Gai. And welcome to Konoha, must be different from you home on Godeshen."

Lea'so was caught by surprise by Tsunade's greeting. By that simple statement showed that she knew that not only was Lea'so a Youkai but also knew where she was from. Taking a sniff of the air Lea'so took note of a strong smell coming from the woman sitting across from her, "Slugs?" Lea'so thought. "Another Summoner." She took another smell and noticed something else, "So this is Naruto's mother. She's at least as strong as that toad guy."

"Why is she here?" Tsunade asked looking up from the paperwork. Naruto blushed a little and Tsunade gave him a questioning look.

"I would believe that would fall under personal business at this point Hokage-sama," Neji replied. He held a smirk on his face at the idea of Naruto telling his mother about why Lea'so was on the Elemental Continent. Taking a glance to his side he saw a similar smirk on Tenten. "As it involves Naruto then it would fall under Clan business. The Mission is complete and our teammates from Kiri returned after it was established that Lea'so here was not a threat."

Tsunade caught Neji's smirk and adding Naruto's blush, and what Neji was saying about it being Clan business made her think, "I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of Sake tonight." Out loud Tsunade said, "Very well, Gai, Tenten, Lee, Neji you are all dismissed. Go get some sleep. Naruto you stay we still need to talk."

The next morning Tsunade woke up with a bad hangover. She was correct in thing that she would need some Sake. When Naruto explained to her why this particular Dobutsu no Obake (Phantom Beast) was here it took nearly half an hour to process all the information due to surprise and shock. After that she drank at least five bottles of Sake, she could not remember much after the fifth bottle. All she could remember saying that she would decide what to do in them morning.

So using a jutsu that clears hangovers, her own design, Tsunade made her way down to the living area of the Hokage residence. When she arrived she saw Naruto was already and apparently waiting for her. She was expecting him to ask about what she planned to do with Lea'so, but when she saw his face she noted that his look was the one he showed during important meeting; Anbu mission briefings, meetings with various Clan Heads, delivery of important messages, ect. "What's wrong?"

"A messenger just dropped by," Naruto said. "She said another message came in from Suna. Apparently Kakashi's team will need some assistance. Suna does not have enough shinobi available that can handle the level of the mission that they can trust. Apparently Akatsuki was able to enter Suna because of traitor and are requesting added assistance to help find Garra."

Tsunade thought for a minute going over who was still in the village that was best for this mission. At this point it had become an S-Rank and needed people of exceptional skill and power. A part of her knew whom she was going to send even before the rest of her mind came to the same conclusion. The answer was literally staring her in the face; Naruto and his team had been training, while not on Anbu duty, to specifically fight Akatsuki for the past year, more if one counted the time Naruto was away. "Naruto I know you and your team just returned from a mission last night."

"I'll get them together and meet you in your office in one hour Okasan," Naruto said. Tsunade gave her son a nod and Naruto went off to gather his teammates.

An hour later Anbu Team 12 were once again assembled in front of the Hokage for the second time in less than seven hours. "This is the situation, while you were in Water Country the Kazekage was abducted by Akatsuki. Suna sent a request to us for aide and we sent the only team availed at the time that could handle a mission of that level. That team was Kakashi's team. Now Suna has asked for more assistance in locating Garra. You four are the most qualified to aide in this mission. This is an S-Rank mission you will need to leave for Suna immediately."

"And if Uchiha becomes…distracted by his brother showing up?" Neji asked.

"Kakashi will handle Sasuke," Tsunade answered. "Still be on guard just in case."

When Kakashi and his team arrived they found that not only did Akatsuki take Garra but also Kankuro was poisoned by a Missing-nin who was originally from Suna known as Sasori of the Red Sands. It was only because Shizune, who is an expert on poisons, trained Sakura that Garra's older brother was saved. Later after some of Suna's scouts spotted two members of Akatsuki, Kakashi and his team along with the old Suna shinobi Chiyo to search and rescue Garra.

Along the way Kakashi began to notice that Sasuke had not said a word to anyone during the entire time they were in Suna. It worried him because he was fearful that Sasuke might become a liability in the near future. If that happened Kakashi might half to remove him from the upcoming battle and if he did Kakashi felt that it might destroy all the progress Sasuke had made in the past three years.

Kakashi was not the only one to notice Sasuke's Demeter. Chiyo also noticed, and while she did not know anything about the Uchiha, her years of experience were telling her to be on her guard around him. "Kakashi-san," Chiyo said softly. "As you are in charge of this mission I feel I must voice my concerns for one of your subordinates."

"You mean Sasuke," Kakashi replied. Chiyo nodded in confirmation. "We are tracking down members of an organization whose one of their members killed his Clan. He is probably thinking about that."

"Personal vendettas have no place on the battle field Kakashi-san," Chiyo stated.

"I am aware of that, Chiyo-sama," Kakashi replied. "If his judgment becomes impaired enough I will take care of it."

"Are you really willing to do what is necessary?" Chiyo asked.

"As I said I will do what I deem necessary," Kakashi answered.

In the dark chamber that Akatsuki was meeting at, seven of the members were in assembly. They were waiting for the last two to arrive in order to begin the process that would extract Shukaku from Garra. "Itachi and Kisame are late," Sasori said. "I don't like to be kept waiting."

"We have no choice," Zestu said. "We need all nine of us to make the jutsu work. This is one of the Great Beasts we're talking about. Even if it is the weakest it will take a lot of chakra to extract it from the vessel."

Soon the two remaining members arrived. When they made their appearance Sasori said, "You're late."

"We had to locate a secure location before coming here," Itachi responded.

"Enough," the leader announced. "We need to get started. The extraction will take up to three days to complete. And we must maintain physical contact as we are. Now let us begin." A massive statue began to rise out of the ground. When it was at full height the nine members jumped and each landed on one of the ten fingers and began focusing their chakra into the statue. When they did this several serpent like demons came out of the gigantic statue's large mouth and surrounded and lifted Garra's unconscious form. As Garra began to rise in the air he let out a silent scream of pain.

"It looks like the process causes a lot of pain, yeah," Deidera stated.

"It's a good thing we cannot hear him," Kisame said. "His screaming could become annoying after a couple of hours."

"Concentrate on focusing your chakra Kisame," the leader interrupted. "With where you are you must maintain your focus your chakra maintains at a constant flow." Kisame gave no comment and began to focus his chakra once again.

An undetermined time later Zetsu spoke up. "There are people coming."

"Are they from Suna?" Sasori asked. "It would be logical that they would send a search and rescue team."

"No," Zetsu said. "They appear to Oto shinobi. It appears Orochimaru may be trying to interfere with our plans." After a pause of a few seconds Zetsu continued, "They appear to have Curse Seals. I would say they are his new Oto-five."

"Is that weakling Kabuto with them?" A rather tall member asked. "If he is I would like to deal with them."

"No," Zetsu answered. "I am afraid you will have to face Kabuto another time Azusa."

"How close are they?" the Leader asked.

"They are a little over ten kilometers from the entrance," Zestu answered. "It appears they are setting an ambush."

"Can you locate their target?" the Leader asked again.

Zetsu went silent for several minutes. "They appear to be in the direct path of shinobi from Konoha."

"Who is it from Konoha?" Itachi asked.

"It is the Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi and his team," Zetsu answered. "Your younger brother Sasuke is also coming. I would say Orochimaru is after his Sharingan again."

"Do we interfere?" Itachi asked.

"No," the leader answered. "Orochimaru is more interested in your brother at this time. And the Konoha shinobi are searching for him," he gestured to Garra still suspended in midair, "They will keep each other occupied while we continue. We should not waste our chakra unless we need to."

At the sight Zetsu indicated the new Oto-five were involved in making a plan to apprehend their target Uchiha Sasuke. The new Oto-five were composed of three men and two women. The leader of the group was a tall muscular man with tattoos located on his body. The second was one of the women, she had blonde hair and carried three large rings on her back. The other woman was short and thin and wore a devise on her left hand. The second man was the tallest of the five he had a shaved head and his entire eyes were blue. The last man had a visible scar on his neck but other than that he had no distinguishing characteristics.

"Orochimaru-sama said his next vessel will come through this way," the leader said. "We should use caution he has the Level two Heavens Curse Seal. That would prove inconvenient."

"Also do not forget he is being accompanied by Hatake Kakashi," the woman with the three rings on her back said. "He does have a Sharingan and can use it quite well. He is also as strong as Kabuto that makes him dangerous to fight."

"What of the other two that were reported to be with Uchiha Sasuke?" the large man asked.

"They are not significant," the leader stated. "But still watch them they could prove distracting in fighting the target and the Copy Ninja."

"Are we to apprehend the vessel?" the woman with a devise on her hand asked.

"Not yet," the leader answered. "The Curse Seal is still contained. Orochimaru-sama wants him under the influence when we take him. We are to try and push him into using the Curse Seal's power. The more he uses it the more Orochimaru-sama will be able to influence him."

"How do we do that?" the girl with the rings asked.

"We need to make him angry," the man with the shaved head said. "The Curse Seal activates easier with negative emotions. The best strategy would be to use hit and run tactics to frustrate him."

"Agreed," the leader said. "When they arrive focus the attention of your attacks on Uchiha Sasuke. Do not cause him serious harm, just annoy him a bit. I will distract the Copy Ninja." The one with the scar on his neck called attention to himself by clapping his hands together. He then pointed off to his right. "They're coming get into positions."

Within the next few minutes Kakashi and his team along with Chiyo pass the scene the Oto-five were just in. As they pass through the clearing Kakashi's sensitive nose picked up five strange scents that recently left the area. He stopped at the center of the clearing making the others stop along with him, "What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Five people recently passed through here," Kakashi informed. "Be on your guard." No sooner had he said that then several dozen shurikens shot out from several bushes all heading directly for Sasuke.