Final Preparations

Jin and Hansuke didn't care that they were still recovering, they said they were coming. Gai tried to plead with Jin until she threatened to cut off the sex; poor Gai was placed in a difficult position. Shadow took her mistresses side and began nipping at peoples ankles whenever they brought the subject up. It didn't last long though, the Hokage put a stop to it, saying that at least needed some shinobi to stay behind and protect the fire borders orders. Jin understood the Hokages decision; didn't mean she was happy with it. Before long, over half of the villages force found themselves pack and marching on to their new campsite in the land of lightening.

Most of the shinobi army travelled to Kumogakure, on the east coast of the Land of Lightening. Here the alliance base was created, holding and army of over eighty thousand soldiers, among them shinobi and samurai alike. Anju was in her room, sharping her katana. Tadashi had been on at her to make sure it was in top shape. Which she agreed but in all honesty, the only reason she was doing it was to ignore Naruto's constant pacing. The man didn't do well trapped indoors all the time. He wore a full shinobi uniform but he firmly stuck with wearing his orange jacket. It was his lucky colour after all. If he didn't stop soon, Anju was sure that her katana was about to be tested out.

"Naruto! Will you cut it out?" Anju sighed, sparks flying as metal grazed against metal. The man stopped for a few seconds and sat on the other bed but was soon back on his feet again. Just as the Uchiha was considering to knock him out, her weapon suddenly disappeared and found him on top of her. "I can work with this as well." She mused, as her lover bit and sucked at her neck, while ripping off her trousers at the same time. Adjusting themselves, Naruto hands gripped her around the thighs and pulled her legs apart, bracing himself over. But a sudden cough made both of them jump apart, Anju quickly pulling the covers over herself, as her trousers had disappeared. The door was wide open with Jirayia standing in the doorway.

"Hate to interrupt you two but third diversion meeting in the conference room." He smirked, before strolling off. Once he was gone, Anju scrambled on to the floor and hastily jumped back into her clothes as she raced to the meeting. Quickly remembering something, she skidded to a halt and ran back to her room, taking Naruto by surprised as she tackled him and gave him a wet kiss.

"We'll finish this later." She smiled slyly, before disappearing again.

The idea of bringing a baby to an army outlet was absolutely outrageous. So you can imagine everyone's surprise when Sakura and Tadashi argued over sitter duties. In all fairness they didn't really have much of a choice. Everyone they knew was a shinobi, so the idea of leaving their baby behind with strangers was not a happy idea for the parents. Not to mention some of the horror stories Naruto had told his friends about the orphanage was a major no! Lucky for them they were both placed in the medical unit, so no major activity was involve. Little Tsunade was carried around in a backpack all the time with her parents, only when both of them were in surgery did someone else have to look after the child. As expected, a lot of shinobi were not happy about this. Some even tried to make it difficult for the couple by constantly harassing them. A mist ninja even went so far as to threaten little Tsunade. Three major pieces of information were discovered when this event happened. One was that Kakashi was very protective of his goddaughter, second was that Sai had a very soft spot for children and finally, Tsunade had suddenly become best friends with the Mizukage. This all led to the mist nin appearing in hospital with serve injuries with the Rain leader writing the incident off as a training incident. But the indecency didn't stop there, it just made people careful. It was proven today in the third diversion meeting, while Kakashi was going over the area, diversion three would be stationed and how to use the environment to their advantage. Sakura sat next to her, gently rocking Tsunade so the baby would stay asleep. It worked for a while but then the baby got hungry. Just as the copy-nin was explaining ground teams tactics, little Tsunade started screaming for her milk.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you the rest later." Anju whispered to the medic. Sending everyone an apologetic look, Sakura got to her feet and began shuffling through the rows of shinobi. A lot of people stared at the medic as she shuffled out of the room. Anju eyes blazed alight as she stared them all down. Even now the reputation of the sharingan lived up to its highest standards. After the meeting, Anju went in search for her friend, eventually finding Sakura hiding in one of the female stools, with a blanket over her front.

"She's really hungry today." The pink haired smiled as she readjusted herself.

"Still won't take the bottle." The Uchiha tried to sympathised, as the mother finished herself off and cleaned herself up.

"It's the only time she seems to really like me." Sakura shrugged, handing the baby over to the aunt so she could put her top back on. Surprisingly, the medic had made it back into perfect shape a few days before the announcement, thanks to a lot of aggressive training from Kakashi and Tsunade. Just as Sakura had finished adjusting herself, two kunochi's came in speaking in low voices. They froze as soon as they saw Anju, holding a baby in her arms.

"Eeerrr… hi." Anju grinned nervously, unable to wave with the bundle in her arms.

"Look Ning! Isn't she cute?" The blonde with the bob squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly. The other woman just rolled her eyes and remained unmoved. "Oh I can hold her please." She begged, full lips trembling into a puppy pout. The Uchiha looked over at Sakura for support, who was still hidden in the toilet cubical. Finally stepping out, Sakura did a check on the girl. Her head bobbed up and down as she gave the girl a look over; it was like Sakura was getting a full background check on the ninja in less than a second. When she was done, the mother gave the go ahead and Little Tsunade was passed over to her. "Hey cutie!" She smiled, rocking the baby.

"I wish I brought my kid." The woman named Ning suddenly spoke out.

"Why didn't you?" The medic inquired.

"Damn husband insisted leaving him with his crazy mother." Ning muttered, clearly cursing the old bat inside her head from the face expression she was showing. It was then that Anju found herself stuck in a conversation of midnight feeds and the types of new born diapers you can get.

"Shouldn't we investigate? It is our area after all." Anju protested halfway through the meeting. News had just come in that Anko and her recon team had disappeared off radar for a few hours. No one had been worried at first but the team was supposed to report in every few hours; it had nearly been twenty four hours. Looking up from the map, the copy-nin shook his head.

"Hokage's already sent a search team out for them, we're just here to go over and give them any additional information that could be useful." Kakashi stated, his emotions invisible behind the mask. Clamping her mouth shut, Anju bit back the frustration that threatened to erupt. She hated just sitting here doing nothing, Anju hated to admit it but she was beginning to feel sympathy towards her boyfriend and his behaviour lately. Everyone could feel the waves of battle coming. Their hairs stood on ends as they anticipated a dispatch any second. Waiting was driving everyone nuts. They just wanted the madness to come so they could dispose of it but then they would just panic that the final touches to jutsu's were not finishes and plans kept changing. One moment the Jinchuriki's were allowed to fight and the next they were going to be stashed away somewhere. No one could decide what to do with them. If everyone even mentioned a slight hit that the tail beast containers might be held back from battle Naruto would go into a fit of rage. He argued that this war was because of him and Bee, why should they stand aside and watch their loved ones die? It was a good point. But the Raikage's opinion was also hard to debate against. If Madara got hold of the last two tail beasts then it was game over. The disappearing recon team was pushing the soldiers closer to the edge.

"What about the caves? It's close to where the group was meant to be investigating and it's a good place to set up a hideout or a trap!" A cloud ninja suggested, drawing his finger across the line, where grey triangles lined the map. Kakashi looked at it closely, estimating time, average speed and travelling distance of Anko's group.

"It's possible." The diversion leader muttered, his own finger circling the mountainous regime, putting together a few loose ends to his conclusion. "Get the information over to the intelligence centre, pass it on." He ordered a young chunin standing next to him. The shinobi wasted no time and flashed away. For a while, they went over the map again, looking for anything they might of missed the first few thousand times. But with no one coming up with any other ideas, the meeting came to a close. Irritated, Anju felt like taking Sakura's way of life and punch through a wall. Instead, she came across Naruto. He kissed her hard on the lips, feeling tension role off him in waves. Reprogramming her system, the Uchiha turned her frustration into something more efficient, as he pushed her into his room. This time they remembered to lock the door.

Later, the roars of the bellies sent them in search of food. The dining complex set up for them was probably bigger than the inside of Hokage Mountain. It was meant to hold over eighty thousand soldiers but even just half the number in the room it looked over crowded; maybe the architect had misjudged his accuracy. Thankfully, the shining beacon of pink and silver hair sitting close to one another was enough to guide the too to their friends table.

"Hey guys!" Naruto beamed, sliding next to Sakura, disappointed to find his favourite niece was with Tadashi having a nap. Anju sat opposite him, trying to ignore the knowing look that came out of Ino's eyes. Over half of the rookie nine sat with them, all of team Kurenai (minus Kurenai) and Ino, beinging the only team ten member. Tenten and Sai were also present, it was probably the only time they would come to see each other as a full group. Kakashi and Jirayia were their too, as usual the copy nin was reading his book and the pervy sage seemed to be busy writing a new one. The Sage took a quick break to give his student a knowing wink before settling back to work. The knucklehead just gave his sensei an odd look, while the Uchiha could feel her pale cheeks turn ablaze with embarrassment. They talked for a while, before Uzumaki's stomach growled again to remind them the real reason they were all there. Kissing her on the cheek, he got up to get them lunch. Out of habit, Anju looked out of the corner of her eye to see if Hinata was okay and was glad to see she was having an intense conversation with Kiba to have noticed. Using the time efficiently, Anju caught up on all the gossip she had been missing with the Yamanka filling in all the missing details. Losing interest half way through, Anju's eyes wandered the room, familiarising herself with some of the faces in her diversion and trying to recognise others. Finally, she saw her boyfriend heading towards her, carrying two trays. His eyes were looking straight ahead, completely focus on something else. She waved to get his attention but to no luck. It was almost like he was hypothesis. When he got closer, she realised that he wasn't in a dreamlike state, instead it looked like he was concentrating on something very heard, as if he was trying to feel something that was not there. Taking a deep breath, to shout his name, the wind was knocked out of her as trays clashed onto the floor and flashed passed her in a blur of orange. The room had gone deadly silent.

Easing her breathing, Anju slowly turned around, only to witness Naruto holding a dagger firmly, pushing it further into a fellow shinobi's heart. Everyone was on their feet, surrounding him with their own weapons. Panic rose in Anju's chest, pushing herself through the crowd of people to get to him. However, as Anju pushed through the last barrier of the crowd, she saw that it was Jirayia and Kakashi who got their first. They stood in the middle of the empty space that the shinobi had left, wearying of the nine tail prison warden. Walking through the people, she positioned herself between the boys two sensei's, watching the scene carefully. Naruto didn't even bother to look around as he pulled the blade out, letting the man he had just stabbed slump on to the ground. But before the body hit, it transformed. The shinobi was replaced with a white clone. Everyone looked at it dumbstruck and could think of only one thing. They were in a shit load of trouble.

Naruto had finally got his wish. The kages had sent him to do something useful. They had him running around the complex doing security detail. Hundreds of his clones were on every level of the building, checking over every shinobi that walked by, keeping track of teams that went out and sensing them again when they came back in. Everyone was panicking. How long had the spy been in the hideout? Were their more? What information did he get a hold of? All accusing eyes had turned immediately to her. Sure! Pick on the Uchiha! Anju cursed to herself, after passing through the third security barrier that had stopped her because her 'schedule' looked out of place. When did running errands for your brother become suspicious! She moaned, hoping that her brother had not needed the diapers instantly, as men checked through them. Regretfully, the shinobi found nothing wrong and handed her stuff back, not even giving an apology. All Anju could do was give them all a death glare as she carried on her way. A few times a Naruto clone ran passed her and smiled. Coming to her brothers' room, she readjusted the box in her hand to knock on the door. Tadashi opened it instantly and pulled her in.

"Kami Anju! What took you so long?" He accused, as he went dashing around the room collecting things.

"Sorry." Anju answered, placing the box of supplies in the corner and went to sit by her niece, who was enjoying the toys that hung from the bar above her. One of them was a green turtle, which she recognised had come from Lee ages ago. "I got held up at the new security check points. My popularity had sunk back down to zero." She shrugged. But her explanation was ignored as Tadashi madly dashed around the room.

"Could you look after Tsunade for a while? I'm already late for a meeting." Her brother pleaded.

"You didn't need to ask." Anju countered, picking up the baby. Tadashi sent her a gratified smile before puffing out of the room. Why didn't I think of that? The Uchiha smacked herself on the head for being stupid. Little Tsunade soon put her out of her misery, as she reminded her aunt that it was feeding time. Now Anju had bigger things to worry about. Searching the fridge she was relieved to discovered three bottles of milk waiting for her. It took a while to get the kid to actually take the bottle but when the baby sensed she wasn't getting her mum's breast, she gave in and took the bottle. "Good girl!" She smiled, rocking the baby back and forth between her arms.

It wasn't until after the second feeding that one of Little Tsunades parents returned. Sakura came stumbling through the door in a rush, slamming the door shut behind her. Cautiously, Anju took three steps back. She would have to wait and see what mood the medic was in first before tripping the wire. Nevertheless, Anju was glad someone had return. The Uchiha was feeling tired even though it was only six in the evening, in fact she had been feeling like that for the last week. It was only when she yawned that Sakura seemed to pay any focus to the fact that her friend was actually in the room with her.

"What?" Anju questioned, not liking the worried look on Sakura's face.

"Thank Kami you're here Anju, we need to talk about your physical."

"Huh!" The halfblooded Uchiha replied, only able to catch the last part as the pink haired woman was talking too fast. "What about my physical?" Wasn't that like two weeks ago now? Anju wandered to herself, but could find the energy to investigate the matter now. The medic went rambling on about medical terms that the Uchiha was finding hard to understand for some reason. Right now, all she could focus on was going to bed.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sakura snapped, startling Anju with fright. She must have been sleeping standing up because she was having a hard time remembering anything the doctor had just said.

"No offense Haruno but can we talk about this tomorrow." Anju yawned, half of her words disappearing with the deep breath she took. The medic-nin seemed like she was going to exploded once again but suddenly stopped herself. Taking in her friend's action, the doctor assess the whole operation.

"Fine! But my office tomorrow! First thing." Sakura glared. The tired woman just nodded as she left, hoping the security checks would take a lighter touch on her this time.

They hadn't. Bastards! Anju cursed as she collapsed on to her bed. She had been stopped at all check points to her room before being given the all clear. From now on she was just going to stay in here until this entire situation blew over. That night she had a nightmare about Surin.