A Diplomatic Event

This particular Shot takes place the day before Shot 4. I wonder how many people actually read these disclaimers... I don't own Naruto and probably never will. Bonus points to whoever can find the Lord of the Rings quote in this Shot.

The demon and his psychic were seated in a tree as they watched the gates of the village for those who were entering.

'Hey, boss,' the psychic's voice said in the demon's head, 'You know your pet Hyuuga?'

'Beg pardon?' said demon inquired mentally as he and his friend observed the Kumo delegates as they passed the tree.

'You know,' the psychic replied, 'The Hyuuga heiress. The one you stalk?'

'What about her?' the demon asked, not even bothering to deny the allegations. She was his psychic lieutenant for a reason.

'Well, these supposedly brave men and women are planning on kidnapping her tonight.' the psychic remarked, 'Obviously they don't know that she's yours.'

'Evidently the events we had planned for tomorrow evening will have to happen tonight, then. If we want to keep this covered, then we need to take refuge in sheer scale,' the demon commented, 'Pity, I was hoping to be there when Sasuke got his hands on Mizuki. And to think, Gaara was so looking forward to helping Sai with his task. But I suppose the mess needs to be dealt with.'

'We can't always get what we want, boss,' the psychic said consolingly, 'Can I have the delegates who don't do the actual kidnapping. I want to play with them.'

'Of course,' the demon replied, 'Think of how it would look if only one of them was hurt. No, a message must be sent. Get the others. Ramen shop, back booth, like always. Now, say goodbye like a good little girl, and I'll say goodbye like a good little boy.'

"I gotta go home real quick, Naruto," the psychic said out loud in a childish tone as they climbed out of the tree, "See you later!"

"Alright, Ino," the demon said cheerfully, "Talk to you later."

With that, the demon's psychotic lieutenant headed out to gather the rest of his supporters.

Sai had gone to the paint shop after visiting Shin in the hospital, as per the norm. He'd already made his purchase earlier, and had no real reason to be there, yet he stood there transfixed. There was a brown haired girl who was painting in the shop, always making such beautiful art on her canvas that Sai would have wept with joy to see such a sight had he managed to gain more emotions than interest, respect, brotherly affection, and, judging by the number of times he came specifically to see the girl paint, obsession.

He was going to approach her and ask what sort of paints she used when his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice in his head saying, 'Sai, we've got a meeting at the usual place. Get there as soon as you finish with your girl friend.'

He did not understand the tone that Ino's voice had given with those last two words, as he still did not grasp odd phrasings such as that. At any rate, he left, not noticing the girl smirking as she watched him leave, her portrait of her home on fire nearly complete. In a few weeks, her family would be dead, and she and her friendlier side would be able to practice any genjutsu they wanted. He, unlike everyone else she'd seen the eyes of, had practically no concept of emotions, let alone fear, and would therefore be the perfect control subject. She had a lot of experiments to work on, after all.

In the Uchiha district, Sasuke sat, waiting for the next meeting, as he had finished copying jutsus for the day. As a result, he was intrigued and pleased to acquiesce when he heard Ino's voice in his head say, 'Head to the usual meeting place. The boss wants to talk to us.'

Not even bothering to think an affirmative, he headed out, readying himself for what promised to be interesting news. A meeting usually meant a change in the script of some sort, so he needed to know what he was going to do.

"Now, as you all know," the demon said to his followers in the empty room in the back of Ichiraku Ramen, "Konoha is playing host to some delegates from Kumo. What those of you who aren't Ino or myself don't know is that they're planning on taking the Hyuuga heiress when they leave, with the kidnapping occurring tonight. As I'm very interested in the progress she intends to make to her clan, I do not want this to happen. However, I'm aware that we need to have some way to prevent too many eyebrows from be raised. As such, we're moving tomorrow's attacks for tonight. Gaara has already agreed via letter, but he will not be able to attend. You all know your orders. The attack begins at midnight. Any questions?"

None of the three children present made a sound. They knew that they'd follow him to the gates of Death itself if he so commanded. With their silence as a response, the demon said, "Do what you wish with the rest of the day, for tonight, we will be having some fun."

It was dark, very dark, when Sasuke made his move. Mizuki had just left the restaurant that he went to every Thursday, and there were no pesky witnesses to notice the man get grabbed from behind and get a cloth filled with chloroform to cover his mouth and nose.

Mizuki would not enjoy what would happen when he woke up.

Sai had entered the headquarters of ROOT, ostensibly to report to 'Danzo-sama.' His actual intent was to kill everyone in this base, obviously, which, in and of itself was the first time he had a reason to be glad that Shin was currently in the hospital for whatever disease it was that Sai was certain he was going to fight off.

As he walked past the emotionless shells he could have been, he felt pity for them. None of them deserved this, but they were already devoted to Danzo. He'd make sure that their deaths would be quick when he unleashed his pets, but they would be allowed a weapon.

Ino was hidden in the shadows as she gazed hungrily at the delegates from Kumo. She was able to get into their minds, but for the time being she would have to limit herself to that. She couldn't play with them until the boss' target was gone. When he left, Ino silently cheered as she moved to enter the compound.

'Hello, ladies and gentleman,' she said as she stepped inside, 'I am here because you've attempted to steal something from a very dangerous person. Each of you is complicit in the attempted kidnap of one Hinata Hyuuga, for whom there is already someone with a prior claim.'

"Who are you to judge us, child?" one man asked, "You are but a child, and we do this for the betterment of our village."

'An interesting sentiment, Satoshi,' she said, picking his brain with ease, 'You believe that your village is more important than one young girl. You have a daughter, who you named Ayumi. Would you murder her for the benefit of your village? Why don't I show you what horrors you could be ordered to visit upon your own daughter just for the betterment of your village? You can see her eyes reflecting your betrayal of her trust each time, and believe me, there are so many different ways that you could harm her. Enjoy the next few hours. I know I will.'

"What did you do to him?" one of the others asked, watching as Ino grinned at the already sobbing wreck on the floor.

'Nothing that concerns you, Daisuke,' she smiled, turning to the man as the others found themselves immobilized in pain from Ino violently picking at their memories, 'Have you ever wondered what it would be like to not remember anything. People, at their most interesting, are made up of their experiences and memories. Did you know that if a person loses everything about themself, they become practically nothing. But that's not my favorite part. My favorite part is when you scream as you feel them slipping away, one by one. Like this.'

As the man screamed, Ino smiled at the crowd in front of her as she asked, 'Who would like to be my next volunteer?'

"I'm glad you're awake," Sasuke said as a bound Mizuki returned to the conscious world, "It would be difficult to perform this scene if both players were unconscious."

"What's going on here?" Mizuki asked, trying to pull free of the chair, "Aren't you that Uchiha kid? Your brother killed your clan, didn't he?"

"Yes, but that was in Scene One," Sasuke replied idly, "And I'm supposed to get information on your master out of you in this scene. We're finishing up Act One, you see, and your role in it ends here."

"Master? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Mizuki shouted, confused by the boy's words. He hadn't reported to Orochimaru yet, so how could this boy know?

"Well, it seems that we're going to have to use the props after all," Sasuke said, activating his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, "Don't worry. I'm very good at improvisation. Time to begin."

Sai was in Danzo's office, grinning as he said, "Hello, Danzo Shimura. You have offended the leader. The orders are to terminate both you and every last witness to your murder."

"You're only one ROOT who has strayed from the path, whereas I have an army that will answer when summoned," Danzo retorted, not wanting to reveal his new arm just yet.

"Apparently, you've forgotten my talent," Sai said in his falsely cheerful tone as he unrolled his scroll to reveal a creature with more fangs and spikes than flesh drawn next to a humanoid creature that was grinning from ear to ear with two fanged mouths, "I'll leave you to talk to them. They have quite a few questions."

As the creatures rose from the scroll Sai stepped out into the barracks, scroll in hand as his face took on a friendly countenance. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that they needed to each see a friendly face before they were ushered to the safety of another life. He pulled out his scroll, ink, and brush, ready to perform his assignment.

When Ino left the building, satisfied with the complete wrecks that were seated where the Kumo delegates once stood, she heard Sasuke attempting to get information out of Mizuki.

'Need a hand?' Ino asked mentally, causing Sasuke to stiffen before she said, 'Calm down, it's just me. Do you need help forcing thoughts from his head?'

"That would help," Sasuke replied, "He seems to have suffered a breakdown from the torture."

"Hello Purple Dragon," said the chuunin who was now an almost unrecognizable mass, "Pinwheel Eyes stabbed my brains."

'You really did a number on him,' Ino remarked, impressed by the brokenness of the mind, 'But I can do better and get the information from him. Let the real nightmare specialist do her work...'

Mizuki's screams would have echoed throughout the village if she hadn't blocked the neural pathway between his brain and his vocal cords. The mental screams, however, were just as satisfying to her. Still, she'd have to remember to ask Sasuke to make it so she didn't leave a single mark in the brain. Boiling them usually helped.

As the Head Ninja of Kumo neared the gate with the unconscious Hyuuga, having barely managed to evade Hiashi Hyuuga, he found a horrific sight before him. Grinning at him with fanged jaws was a little blond boy in an orange suit, nine fox tails swaying behind him. The terrifying part, however, were his blood-red eyes with black slits for pupils, which showed an intelligence he'd never dealt with before, alongside an animalistic cunning. Then the boy charged him, and he found himself unable to move to evade as the boy's fist connected with his stomach, causing him to drop the girl, who woke up immediately.

"W-Where am I?" she asked, looking around to find anyone she knew. To the Head Ninja's surprise, the blond monster lost all of his demonic features as his eyes turned blue. While the man stood frozen by his shock and the blow that knocked all the air out of his lungs, the blond creature walked up to the girl with a tender gaze on its face.

"Relax, Hinata," it said gently in a surprisingly soft voice, looking her in the eyes, "This is just a dream. Just close your eyes and go to sleep. Heed no nightly noises. You'll wake up back in your room before you know it."

As if in a trance, the girl slowly shut her eyes and started breathing as if asleep. It was at this moment that the blond monster regained its natural visage, which contorted into a terrifying grin that promised pain and death. It was then that it spoke.

"You don't seem like a stupid insect, yet you just did something that proves you to be one," it said, moving towards him as he pulled out a kunai to defend himself, "You see, I already claimed her, and you attempted to take her from me. That was a mistake. Demons don't forgive, and while stepping on a fox's tail results in a curse, taking something a demon considers precious leads to a death that moves slowly. Let me give you an example."

Were she awake, Hinata Hyuuga would have heard the snarls of an animal and a man's screams, followed by a crunching sound and more screams, repeating for a few hours. Fortunately, she was still asleep, even when she was carried back to her bed after all the screaming stopped. When she told her father about her strange dream the next morning, he told her that it was just a dream while he made plans to inform the Hokage of what he had learned, unaware that Hiruzen Sarutobi was already having a bad morning due to the corpses in the village and the mentally broken Kumo delegates, to say the least about the remains they could find of the Head Ninja.

Elsewhere, Naruto and Sasuke had just made their orders at the ramen stand where the group was supposed to meet. Gaara was going to arrive today, after all.