Thank you once again for the reviews, Suzuya, WarFlower, and Ultimate Genius.

In response to Ultimate's comment, I'm sure you'll be able to too, once you practice! It takes a lot of time to build up the tolerance to sit through writing a chapter of a story, or at least for me it did. It takes me two hours minimum for a 2k word chapter, not counting revising it. So I know what you mean when you say you haven't been able to write as much as you'd want to. I'm glad my fanfic inspires you to keep going. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for your story if you do decide to post it here!

Also, there was an issue when I originally uploaded this an hour or two ago. I accidently uploaded a Naruto/Mha crossover draft instead of this chapter. I'm so sorry if that confused anyone-- big mistake on my part. I really should be more careful, this is the second time I've uploaded the wrong chapter for my fanfics ;; Thank you so much to FrostFriday for pointing it out.

TKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTKTKKTK

Kisame frowned as they all rounded up by the gates. The already wounded villages weren't too much trouble to fight off, but it would be trouble if they followed them back to their hideout. He glanced at Nagato, who was now holding on to the silver-haired Jonin.

Nagato nodded in understanding. It would be too much effort to kill them all off-- and waste too much time. They had not only Sasuke to worry about, but a lightly injured Naruto and Neji now too. Not to mention Hinata and Gaara were both off their game now.

He knew it wouldn't stop all the followers, but it would help cut a few of them down to a more manageable size. "We're leaving now, but if anyone tries to follow us, we'll kill him first and then come back for the rest of you," Nagato warned, the attacks not slowing until they left the village. It didn't seem like anyone had followed, but the Akatsuki knew very well this wasn't the case.

They stopped about half an hour away from the village to let Karin try her best to heal up his tongue and to fight against the few who had followed. Nagato stood in front of the children along with a few of the other members, hands raising, "You ignored our gracious warnings, so now you must know true pain." he narrowed his eyes, killing the rather insistent shinobi off.

Kisame turned to the silver-haired man that had been dropped off on the floor when they stopped. He grinned, lifting his shark skin blade in the air, "Too bad for you, they didn't listen." knowing full well shark skin was as hungry as ever for some strong chakra.

He lifted it over his shoulder, ready to strike Kakashi down with a nice messy slice when he felt a hand tug on his Akatsuki coat. He frowned, looking down at Sasuke who still had Karin's hands half shoved in his mouth, the girl laying medical herbs around his stubbed tongue. The boy shook his head back and forth at Kisame, looking tired but pleading.

Kisame frowned, "You don't want me to kill him? Why not? He's with that bastard village." he scowled in confusion. Sasuke only glared lightly, having calmed down but still being completely tired out. The teen shook his head again, tugging on the elder's coat as if restating his opinion.

Karin gave her brother a scolding, turning his head back towards her, "Stop moving, unless you want the pain to continue. It's almost done." she glared lightly, though it was hard with how beaten up he looked.

A deep sigh left Kisame's lips, the man putting his sword away and glaring at the leaf jonin, "Fine. I won't kill him now if you want us to wait off a bit. Just stay still for Karin. She's trying to help you." he spoke gruffly, though the affection in his words were clear. He gave the man a warning look, "You better stay still and quiet, though. Start making a racket and I'll kill you anyway."

The man nodded, leaning back on his elbows in waiting. A few of the Akatsuki members frowned. This man...didn't seem too stressed about the situation? Surely, he couldn't be underestimating them after the raid on the village. Nor was he in line with any of them so why-

Sasori followed the jonin's line of sight and noticed him watching Sasuke. Ah, that must be it. He must have either allied himself with Sasuke. It would make sense as to why the teen would stop Kisame from killing him off right then and there. But then, who was this man and what reason would he have to ally himself with Sasuke. Hinata had a nervous feeling about it, so she decided to activate her byakugan. When she did, she nearly dropped the herbs she had been wrapping Sasuke's burned ankles in.

Kakuzu squatted down beside her, asking, "What do you see, hun?" eyes narrowed and cold as always towards the leaf ninja.

Hinata lightly bit her lip, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "He has a Sharingan, but it isn't completely connected to his chakra network," she explained, a few others glancing over at the man with weary eyes.

Deidara glared at him in particular, hands on his hips as he interrogated, "Why do you have a Sharingan hidden under your headband? Did you steal it?" he asked defensively.

Kakashi seemed to ice over as the felt all eyes on him, including Sasuke's who seemed to bore into him. He opened his mouth, giving the simple response he gave anyone who asked when they noticed. "I didn't steal it. It was given to me by a comrade a long time ago."

Hidan didn't look like he believed it, "Then why's it fuckin' hidden?" after all if it was given to him, why was there a need to hide it.

"So I don't waste chakra, and to avoid situations like this," Kakashi spoke, eyes narrowing. He could tell the people who believed him were very limited.

TKKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTK

They carried on for another half an hour, Sasuke being carried on Kisame's back the entire time. Konan glanced at Karin while they ran, "Were you able to see if there was any way to reattach it?" she asked.

Karin shook her head back and forth, looking guilty. "There is, but it won't be able to heal quickly. I can reattach it, but it'll take a lot of time for him to recover. Even then, his voice will be different since it was completely cut off. It would be different if it was just a little cut, but they completely yanked half his tongue out."

Nagato asked, "How much pain is he in?" a tight frown lining his lips as he spoke.

"He should be more numb than anything. I wrapped his burns up with a herb that should soothe the burning. I haven't had the chance to heal them yet. It looked like he was hit with some sort of chakra-infused strap. I healed it, but the unknown chakra was difficult to work with so it probably still aches a bit. I couldn't risk giving him my blood or it would close up the wound in his mouth. If that happens, he won't be able to get it reattached. But with as much numbing cream as I put in his mouth, he's probably too out of it to notice."

"Well, we should be able to make a stop in one of the smaller villages tonight," Kakuzu noted. "I've done this village a lot of work, so they should be open to letting us all stay in one of the hotels."

Hidan nodded, "Plus, they're weak as hell. So I doubt they'll put up a fight." for once in agreement with his partner as they ran.

They finally stopped at the village in question about ten minutes later. Just as Hidan had said, the villages looked more scared to refuse them than welcoming. Either way, they would serve their purpose, the Akatsuki supposed. As they entered the hotel, it was fairly obvious why Kakuzu was fine with the place.

The owners only gave bows, offering them a room key, and allowing them in. It was fairly easy since they seemed against the idea of harming them. As they entered the room, they found it to be nice and roomy despite the village's poor state. They supposed it was the best room in the hotel since the other rooms with open doors seemed less than passing in comparison.

Sasuke was laid down on one of the two beds. Luckily, both were king-sized. The teen looked tired, but overall like he wasn't in too much pain. It seemed Karin had done her job well when she numbed him. Neji sat himself down on the couch, running his fingers through his hair in hopes of relieving his headache. Then, finally, Naruto was sat down on the bed opposite of Sasuke.

Nagato looked over to his red-haired daughter, "Now that we're stable, can you work on reattaching his tongue?" knowing very well she had needles in her healing pouch she almost always brought with her anywhere.

Karin glanced at Sasuke, then back at Nagato. "I can try, but I don't work well with flesh. The few times I've had to sew it up haven't ended well," she warned him.

The girl felt a hand on her back and glanced back to see Kakuzu nodding a bit. "I'll do it since I'm more experienced with sewing up body parts, but you should watch so you have a better idea of how to do it for future reference," he explained, the girl nodding, grateful she wouldn't need to sew him up. It was a bit nasty, honestly.

Kakuzu lead her over to the bed, where Sasuke was eyeing them nervously. He sat on the right while she sat on the left. "Alright, open up, brat," he spoke with hidden affection. Sasuke looked doubtful but opened his mouth lightly to let him get a look inside.

Karin frowned as she saw the torn up inside of his mouth, as well as when she saw Konan pass Kakuzu the torn off tongue. It was obvious that Sasuke was uncertain. This point was only proved when he brought his hand up to cover his mouth, looking around at the Akatsuki members with a questioning look.

"What is it?" Kakuzu spoke in his normal sharp fashion, not helping Sasuke's confusion. So he looked at Kisame for help. He pointed at Kisame, tilting his head. Since the only response he got was a quirked brow, he gave a frustrated look before pointing to Hidan and then Kakuzu. Still, no one understood. "What? You want someone with a blade to do it?"

Sasuke looked even more annoyed now, not seeing any paper he could write on. So he pointed to Konan and Nagato now. Sasori thought for a moment. "Something Hidan and Kakuzu have in common with Konan and Nagato?" have on his face before giving a look of realization. "Partners?" Sasuke nodded, then pointed to Kisame with a desperate look. "Oh, you want to know where Kisame's partner is. You want to know where Itachi's at?"

The young Uchiha nodded, confused by the looks of betrayal on Konan and Nagato's face, while everyone else seemed relaxed enough at the question. Deidara chuckled, "Don't worry about it. The bastard had to stay behind to watch Tobi, under orders of Konan and Nagato. He's fine."

Hidan nodded, frowning a bit, "Kinda surprised he didn't fight it more, though. He was pretty pissed when Tobi came back without you." before letting out a laugh, "Come to think of it, he's probably having his way with Tobi as we speak. He was such a fucking bitch the entire time you were gone. It was nothing but search, search, search until he found you."

Sasuke nodded a bit to Deidara, relaxing a bit to let Kakuzu begin working on his tongue. He wished Itachi was here, but he knew he was in good hands even with the others. He only hoped Itachi wasn't mad at him, even if he had every reason to be after he followed Tobi despite his warnings.

The teen felt a handhold onto his free one from his left. He couldn't look over to see who it was, but it was comforting none the less. He focused on listening in on the other conversations, trying not to think about the needle in his mouth. No, he'd definitely rather listen in on Deidara flirting with Sasori.