Kabuto dodging left, Orochimaru dodging right, the sound kage is forced to turn at the last second to avoid one of Kankuro's puppets. He pushes his feet off of the chest of the puppet and flips into the air. Finally landing and frowning deeply.

"I wouldn't say it's been fun, Gaara, but I'm through playing with you three." Then, as Temari swipes her fan outward in a searing gust, Kabuto quickly moves before Orochimaru, crossing his arms over his face to take most of it on the chin. Then grunting in pain he starts to drop down as the pale faced elder man bites his thumb harshly and presses it to the ground forming a summoning circle. A cloud envelopes the area and before it even clears, the head of a large snake bearing Orochimaru atop it rises up and hisses dangerously.

"...Damn... Gaara, I know you're pissed off and everything but... that's a really big snake, Man..." Kankuro utters as he backs up a step.

Narrowing his eyes, Gaara says nothing but crosses his arms and as the snake suddenly lunges for him, in the split second before the mouth closes around his body, a tight knit ball of sand quickly surrounds the Kazekage. Once inside the mouth, before the snake is able to spit him back out, Gaara roars out and expands needle-sharp tines of sand upward and all around, spurring the mouth of the snake before he is thrown into the air from it's maw. Rolling to a stop, the sand peels back and Gaara steps out with a grin before uttering. "Now we can go. But this won't be forgotten and one day.. the sand will crush the sound!"

* * *

Rushing back through the wilderness toward Konoha, Shikamaru leads the charge while Senka backs up the group, atop Akamaru, to make sure no one falls behind. Suddenly, the large white dog turns and then begins growling deeply. causing a few to turn and when the dog suddenly barks to the side of them, the group all stops.

From the trees to one side, a man with long black hair steps almost casually, his red eyes glaring emotionlessly.

Growling out, Naruto grips a fist and sneers. "What the hell?? We don't have time for you right now, Itachi!" But then as the older Uchiha turns to him, Naruto suddenly sweats, and falls silent, his eyes widening before he quickly looks away. Shit... It might already be....Genjutsu...

"Nobody look at his eyes!" Shikamaru warns quickly before Naruto adds.

"Nobody look at his fingers!"

"Then how in the hell do we--?" Kiyoko starts before Itachi states sharply, his words cutting hers like a silent razor.

"You don't. If you wish to survive, you will surrender the jinchuriki."

"You want them, you'll have a lot more blood on your hands...if you can handle it." Senka utters back, moving to slide from Akamaru's back before blinking when the dog quickly moves in front of her as a bar of protection, growling gutturally as everyone begins filtering between Itachi, and Naruto.

"You say 'if we want to survive'... But... I don't think you'd do that at all..." The blonde female utters as she trembles and Naruto turns to her questioningly. "Why... Why have you done all of this!" Ino calls as a statement, more than a question as she already stands in her main mental jutsu's stance, silently connecting with the Uchiha male.

Squinting a bit, Itachi moves forward quickly without a word, his hands whipping out to strike Senka first but in just such a way as to make her suddenly pass out. As her body straightens and starts to drop, Shikamaru calls out to her and Akamaru lunges, only to have his head pushed up and Itachi's fist meets with the dog's stomach causing him to whine in anguish and drop aside.

Moving suddenly, Neji blocks Itachi's initial strike and connects with one of his own, causing the Akatsuki member to skid back a few feet, but this is soon halted and Itachi snaps his hands together before shooting forth a gout of flame.

Neji spins and disperses the flame about himself but when he stops, he finds Itachi already upon him and he's brought down like the three before him.

"Is he instant kill attacking them or something!?" Choji calls out worriedly, turning to look out over the group before his eyes center on Lee, who currently holds Rinsu upon his back, though appears ready to have to set her aside. "Can you tell??"

"N-no.. I cannot. His movements are faster than anything I have ever experienced!" Lee returns quickly, his worry showing in his voice before the Akamichi male finds himself grabbed by the back of the neck, and Itachi's knee forced upward into his forehead.

When Choji falls Itachi then turns to Ino but before he can move he stops and glances aside as a loud growling meets his ears. Slowly, nin dogs begin sliding from the trees and into vision; a group of twenty that are soon coupled by their Inuzuka owners and a slightly buff female barks out.

"Itachi Uchiha! You're under arrest!"

Narrowing his eyes a bit, almost in exasperation, Itachi then jumps into the trees and begins speeding away.

Frowning a bit, Kiba's mother then calls to the rest of the group. "Everyone alive? Where's Kiba??"

"He's in the medic corp in Konoha." Shikamaru offers making the older woman blink.

"Wh--Wait, where?? How did he...?"

"I'll explain on the way... We need to check..." A sudden ill feeling comes over him as he frowns at the friends laying about him. If.... Senka and Choji.... No. They aren't.... I'll just keep thinking that cuz I won't be able to handle it otherwise...

"This one's passed out." One Inuzuka reports of Neji while another tends to Akamaru. Another approaches Senka and then backs up when the woman's eyes open suddenly and she blindly draws a kunai.

"Uh! This one's definitely alive! ...Hopefully."

Frowning a bit and turning to Senka, the lead Inuzuka starts to speak before another of her clan calls out in defense, with a slightly temperamental flare.

"Hey! I'm trying to help him!"

"L-Liar..! Get away..!" The team thirteen member cries out, lunging her body forward, kunai in hand.

"Hey, Senka!" Kiba's mother calls out quickly before adding. "Cool it. We're Inuzuka!"

Blinking a few times to try and clear her eyes, the younger female reaches up, rubbing them and groans before dropping her weapon unceremoniously, admitting apologetically. "...I...I'm kinda...messed up... I thought they were gonna hurt 'em... Couldn't let... I...sorry..."

"Everyone's alive." An Inuzuka male reports as he stands from Choji and then turns to a large black wolfish dog. "Let's go and get the medic corp. They shouldn't be far away."

As the two rush off, a sudden relief hits Shikamaru and he sighs deeply before suddenly dropping down to his knees. "Oh.... damn...."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto calls out as he turns and Ino interrupts him.

"Naruto! I was able to link with Itachi and... It's all a lie!" She exclaims, shaking her head. "Itachi didn't even kill most of those people! And the ones he did were in defense of Konoha! The Uchiha's were going to destroy the whole village and he saved us all! ..He just...didn't want his family name dishonored... So, he never told..."

"Well, good job handling that part yourself." The lead Inuzuka scoffs as Naruto just stares and blinks.

"...So... this whole time... Sasuke's been ..." Turning back toward the Sound, the blonde calls out. "I gotta go back and find him!"

"Whoa, whoa... wait up." Kiba's mother grunts as she grabs Naruto by the shoulder to hold him back. "Sasuke's been in Konoha all night."

Blinking up at her, Naruto's eyes widen before he turns a bit blue. .....Why... do I get the feeling that everyone around me wants to kill me....?

"Naruto, you idiot!" Shikamaru suddenly yells out. "I almost lost Choji and Senka twice over this bullshit mission of yours!"

Turning quickly, putting up his hands, Naruto calls back. "H-hey, I didn't know...!"

"We didn't even accomplish anything! We pissed off Orochimaru, got a lot of people hurt, and--oh joy--Itachi isn't the heartless weasel everybody thought he was!" The Nara male practically roars, throwing up his hands.

"...Well... By coming out with Naruto, we drew out the Akatsuki, which in turn got Itachi and Kisame to kill a lot of them, which means Orochimaru is terribly undermanned now." Senka points out, holding her head before adding. "...Now, no more yelling... Mommy has a head ache..."

Blinking a little, Shikamaru raises his brows but then sighs. "...Sorry. But.. Senka, Orochimaru uses slaves. This just means he might attack some other village soon for... unwitting resources."

"..don't tarnish Mommy's silver..." She mutters, holding her head with a soft groan before turning to lie down on the Inuzuka dog at her side with a sigh. "...soft..."

Blinking a bit, Shikamaru just raises a brow. ...Why's she keep saying...that... unless... His other brow raising, Shikamaru then swallows harshly and falls silent.

Soon there after, the Inuzuka returns with the medic corp and Kiyoko turns to them from Senka as another medic nin steps to them. "She's disoriented, but I've seen her like this before. The strike was to the pressure point in the back of her neck; so it's not a concussion." The other nin nods in compliance as the rest go about helping the other Konoha ninja.

* * *

"That's it." Ino finishes relaying the memories she saw from Itachi to Tsunade with a sigh, standing before the Hokage's desk.

"Hmm... If that's true then it's obviously a huge cover-up. I haven't read anything like that in any of the documents that I was given." The older blonde utters thoughtfully, looking over the rest of the group. "Well I'm glad all of you made it back safely but... Who's brilliant idea was it to run off without clearing it with me first??"

Raising his brows, Neji just looks off as Shikamaru sighs. "Well I was the one calling the shots on the field. We... thought since you'd given the mission to Naruto to use any means necessary to bring in Sasuke then that'd be alright."

Looking to Shikamaru, Tsunade sighs before she looks to Naruto. "Oh, really?" Frowning a bit, the Hokage scolds. "Naruto, I don't care what mission I give you, if you're going to use human resources outside of your own team you have got to clear it with me first, understand?? You don't know if I might have needed any of these people today! And I won't tolerate being put out of my plans."

Grunting a bit, Naruto squints a bit and frowns, rubbing the back of his head. "....right.... er... sorry..."

"...Where's this 'Sasuke'? And where's Sakura? With him, no doubt." Senka grumbles, still holding her head. "..I sure hope you're not gonna make her Hokage, or I swear, I'll move to the Sand Village... ..Speaking of which, where'd the Sand Trio get to...? They ran off after Orochimaru, and I never saw 'em again.. Hope they're okay..."

"Yes. Gaara and his party made it back shortly before you did." Tsunade offers before digressing. "As for Sasuke, we currently have him in holding since, well, he's an obvious run away risk. I was successfully able to remove the mark Orochimaru put on his shoulder which will stop him from controlling him but..." Tsunade then shrugs. "Sakura should be visiting him. She virtually won't leave his side for a second. But they're both also being observed by ANBU black ops so I'm not concerned about them trying to break out and escape."

"That's pretty heavy." Shikamaru comments, raising his brows though his eyes are characteristically narrowed. "So what're you gonna do about him?"

"What Sasuke did is still against the law, regardless of the reasons. He'll be tried, and most likely imprisoned." The Hokage offers and seems expectant when Naruto blurts seconds later.

"IMPRISONED!?"

"I'm not budging from this, Naruto. Don't even try." Tsunade states, putting out her hand. "Sakura already did."

"But..."

"Naruto." She states quickly, folding her hands. "You want to be Hokage one day, don't you?"

"Yeah... I'm gonna be!" The male blonde retorts and his elder continues.

"And what would you think of someone constantly undermining all your decisions?"

Blinking a little, then rubbing the back of his head, Naruto offers. "Well... If they were right, then..."

"Well you're wrong in this. Besides, no matter the circumstances, if I don't punish Sasuke it will open the doors to other people who could do the same thing for less of a reason and expect to get off with a slap on the wrist. I can't be soft on this, it's a big deal and he has to be punished. I'm making a lot of exceptions as it is." Tsunade warns before falling silent on the issue. "I don't believe there's anything else... All of you are dismissed except for those from Team Thirteen."

"Ah, shit..." Senka mutters, holding her head even tighter and sagging deeply. "What a drag..."

Chuckling a little, Shikamaru offers. "I'll wait outside for ya, alright? Then we can go check on Kiba."

"Thanks..." She mutters dejectedly as the others filter out, leaving Rinsu, who sits on a chair, looking a bit disoriented; Senka, holding her head and still grumbling; and Kiyoko, who just chews her lip silently until the door opens to reveal Daisuke.

"I oughta kill all three of you!" The young shinobi calls out worriedly as Senka calls out again.

"Ah, shit..."

"..but, Dai... I almost died once already today...!" The shorter, brown eyed girl whimpers, pouting cutely.

"No kidding?? Cuz I mean, I thought we came to Konoha to get you away from Orochimaru being one of the reasons...!" He grunts, throwing out his hands. "You went in gift wrapped today!"

"...Lee was a great protector..." She protests, trying to bat her eyes sweetly.

"...Oh yeah, musta been. That's how you all ended up captured and stuff, right?" he frowns and points out. "And what the hell happened to you??" Directing his comment at his sister who frowns.

"....I got a haircut...?"

"....." Looking off and sighing, Daisuke grumbles. "...If anything happens to any of you, I'm gonna go nuts, okay? Don't leave me behind like that again..."

"..Well, we didn't think you'd wanna work with Mitsuki.." Senka offers, holding her head tighter with a deep groan. "And we were considering bringing Haruka, so... Only reason we didn't was because the group got so...big..."

As Daisuke just falls silent, Kakashi speaks up having slipped in behind him unnoticed. "Well, the real reason we kept you all here is this; the results are in." Walking to Tsunade's desk, the grey haired shinobi sets down a folder in front of the Hokage.

Opening the folder, Tsunade picks up a picture of an older man with a head of white hair. "Kiyoko, Daisuke, do either of you know this man?" When both of them shake their heads, the Hokage explains. "His name is Yuuichirou Yotsuba. But his birth name is Kazuki Uchiha."

"....Is he a mark?" Daisuke offers, furrowing his brows.

"No. He's your grandfather on your mother's side." The Hokage states simply, bringing out looks of shock across the group.

"..That's somewhere between really cool...and really messed up..." Rinsu utters, sitting up a bit more fully as Senka only moans.

"...shit..."

"He left Konoha due to... family problems, and changed his name to keep the rest of the clan from finding him. He buried his secret with his name." Kakashi explains. "My guess is, probably, he was a bit of a black sheep."

"...Based on the facts, that makes him more of a good guy." Kiyoko states raising her brows before looking at Daisuke. "So that thing...."

"The Sharingan." Kakashi confirms before looking at Daisuke. "You were able to access the Uchiha's kakkei genkai because of the events in your life."

"...oh..." The shinobi utters, looking down thoughtfully. "So now what?"

"Well, I think it's important for the two of you to know your heritage, so some time this week, why don't you free up some time to look around the Uchiha village?" Tsunade offers before adding. "But... I would keep this information within your group. For now at least. Between the events with Itachi, Sasuke, and now the revealing that Ino made earlier you may experience some extreme bias from the citizens in Konoha."

"...great." Daisuke grunts and sighs, rubbing his neck a bit before bringing his hand to his lips and chewing down on the nail of his index finger.

"Daisuke..." Kiyoko utters in warning but her brother just grunts.

"I'm nervous.. and it's healthier than what Senka does."

"Well kinda. Germs from the dirt and other crap that gets under 'em, though." Kiyoko chides again before Daisuke sighs and drops his hand down, curling a fist.

"..thank you, Kiyoko... My head hurts too much for scolding right now... And my neck..." She whimpers, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm such a wuss..."

"Nah, you just can't handle pins and needles. But someone could stab you in the side with a kunai and you'll run for a mile." Daisuke mutters obviously thoughtfully. I used to think we were just your average people... but.. Uchiha.. that's a name with weight behind it... I guess the only place it can go from here is up, but... what if we screw up somehow... and make it even worse...? And I can't believe it! My stepdad hates ninja so much, he has no clue that me, and Kiyoko, and my brother and half siblings all have such a deep history in them...! ...No wonder she never wanted us to know him.. I wonder if my dad even knows...

"That's all I really had to say. Senka, do you want me to get you some painkiller?" The medic Hokage offers almost tenderly.

"Yes ma'am!" She answers quickly, seeming to perk up slightly as she offers the blonde a panged smile. "Valum, if you have it. Please and thank you."