A/N: The Akatsuki's timeline is just wonderful, and I have no clue when Deidara joined. But, I did a bit of research and thinking and figured Deidara was around 11-13 when he left Iwa and maybe 15 when the Akatsuki recruited him. Fight me (politely) in the comments if you think I'm wrong, I'd like to have a discussion about it, cuz the Akatsuki timeline is just... so confusing.


As Hanara and her team were about to leave the Sand's gate, they were stopped by Temari and another Sand shinobi.

"Wait!" Temari yelled, "We'll be your backup!"

"... you will?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"Doesn't the Sand need every shinobi it has, right now?" Hanara asked, "If the other villages find out your Kazekage is gone..."

"Temari, you stay and aid border security," a voice from above them called, "I'll represent the Sand myself."

'Lady Chiyo?'

"But, Granny Chiyo!" Temari started.

"It seems inappropriate for–" the other shinobi got cut off.

"Don't treat me like an old fossil!" Lady Chiyo exclaimed, jumping off the wall she was standing on and landing perfectly on the ground.

'They do say the oldest shinobi are alive for a reason...'

"SHE JUMPED!" Naruto and Sakura yelped, shocked.

"It's been a while since I've taken care of my adorable grandchild..." Lady Chiyo muttered.

'Grandchild? She did have an odd reaction to Sasori of the Red Sand... could he be her grandchild? Both of them are amazing puppeteers in their own right.'

Temari sighed, defeated, "I'll go help the border security..."


Hanara and Kakashi-Sensei were leading the way, using their Byakugan and nose respectively. Once again, Hanara's ability to see lingering fragments of chakra helped immensely.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura started, "Can I ask you something?"

She took his silence as an invitation to continue, "How long have you been a target of the Akatsuki?"

"How should I know?" Naruto responded angrily.

"It could have been from since he was born," Hanara said abruptly.

Kakashi-Sensei gave her a questioning stare.

"Think about it. Deidara of the Hidden Stone is currently 19-years-old and was declared a missing ninja six years ago when we were ten, and he thirteen. I don't know when, but he was probably recruited when he made a name for himself, about one to two years after, if the Bingo Books have anything to say about it. Sasori of the Red Sand left the Sand twenty years ago when he was 15, but again, probably wasn't immediately recruited. Maybe they were recruited at the same time, and the Akatsuki was just forming, but that's probably not likely since, to sway two S-rank criminals, they need to have some other members, which is where I'm guessing Itachi and Kisame come in the picture if that happened. Maybe they were recruited at different points in time, but with all the facts we have, they could have been hunting Naruto and all the other jinchuriki for 4-20 years. But, since we're talking about Naruto here, it could be since he was born. Going by the way he was treated, him being a jinchuriki was sort of an open secret. And... thinking about it... the Nine-Tails' attack happened the day he was born, didn't it? It makes sense! If the person who attacked knew who the previous jinchuriki, if we even had one, was, it's an easy bet."

Sakura stared at Hanara, "Sometimes your brain scares me..."

"But, there are other factors to think about." Hanara continued, now talking to herself more than anyone else, "If Naruto was the target of the Nine-Tails' attack, that means someone was controlling the Nine-Tails. There's only legends about that... And, there's something else. They attacked 16 years ago, and then three years ago, and now. Why do they have such odd gaps between their attacks? There's so much we don't know..."

"According to my information, it seems there were other reasons," Lady Chiyo croaked, "Extracting biju sealed in humans takes some preparation. They needed time."

"But, what's a biju?" Sakura asked.

"WHAT? You're a pupil of Tsunade's and you don't even know that?" Lady Chiyo exclaimed.

'Well, I didn't even know until Lord Third decided to explain some stuff to me during the month before the third exam a few days after I was first brought to him.'

"In the Leaf, information on the Nine-Tails is top-secret," Kakashi-Sensei told her.

"That's not surprising," Lady Chiyo muttered under her breath.

"Anyway, biju are tailed beasts," Hanara informed Sakura, "You know, like the Nine-Tails? Well, Gaara has the One-Tails, or Shukaku the Sand Spirit, sealed in him. There are nine of 'em and Naruto's beast is the strongest. I think, long ago the First Hokage caught the nine beasts and decided to give them to all the other nations as a gift of peace? Mito Uzumaki was the first jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, but I don't know what happened to it after she died."

'My guess is another Uzumaki, possibly Naruto's father.'

"There's more than one?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Lady Chiyo affirmed, "Their name represents the number of tails they have."

"The biju are dangerous chakra concentrations. Whatever the Akatsuki wants with them... it's bound to be bad," Hanara said gravely, "All of them in one spot is a recipe for disaster."

Hanara spotted something ahead with her Byakugan.

"Everyone stop, right now!" she exclaimed, hand out.

'Shit. It's Itachi. But.. it's almost like he appeared out of nowhere. Did he learn to teleport? But... there's something off about his chakra. There isn't enough...'

"... who?" Sakura murmured.

"So soon..." Kakashi-Sensei remarked.

Hanara glared, "It's him again."

"Itachi Uchiha..." Naruto spat.

"He's Itachi Uchiha!?" Sakura exclaimed.

'He doesn't have as much chakra, and in fact, it looks a bit odd, but there's no mistaking those eyes.'

"Itachi..." Lady Chiyo started, "Yes, Itachi Uchiha. He's the boy who murdered his entire clan..."

"Long time no see, Kakashi, Naruto, Hanara," he stated, ignoring everything they said.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Naruto exclaimed, enraged, "YOU COME FOR ME, KIDNAP GAARA... I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

'Fuck, not this again...'

She decided to disregard Naruto for the moment, who didn't seem like he would charge yet.

"Lady Chiyo, Sakura, Naruto, don't look directly into his eyes," Hanara ordered, "If you three do, it's all over. Especially you, Naruto. Got that?"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sakura asked desperately.

'I like how he's letting us plan.'

"Read his movements by watching his body and footwork," Kakashi-Sensei advised, "Itachi's specialty is his genjutsu. but it's ocular. You'll be okay as long as you don't meet his eyes."

'Why is he moving his hands so much? What is he doing?'

"This is not going to be easy," Sakura sighed.

"I'd be concerned if it was," Hanara remarked, "Even with three Jounin, including me, and people as experienced as Lady Chiyo and Kakashi-Sensei, Itachi Uchiha... he's something else..."

"You needn't be afraid," Lady Chiyo said, "There's several tactics to handle ocular genjutsu, such as that of the Uchiha clan. If it's one-on-one, you better run, if it's two-on-one, get his back."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked confusedly.

Hanara's palm smacked her face.

"If it's just you and him, run away. If it's you and someone else, one of you can dispel the genjutsu if the other gets caught, so as long as one of you is behind Itachi. In other words, one of you would act as a decoy." Hanara said slowly.

"There's some old age wisdom for you!" Naruto exclaimed.

'No, it's just common sense, dumbo.'

"If it were regular level genjutsu, that would work just fine," Kakashi-Sensei started, "But as someone who's worked with him, I can say that Itachi's level is something else. He uses the Mangekyo Sharingan, which is another level to the Sharingan. If you get caught, he has you instantly. This isn't about whether you can defeat genjutsu or not."

"So, you're saying this is a game of cat and mouse..." Hanara said, "It's not about our strength level because he's something else. We have no hope because we're gonna mess up and get caught anyway. But... that's not what I remember from when he used... what did Sasuke call it? Right, Amaterasu. That undefeatable fire... he was spent. I watched him and Kisame get away before Guy-Sensei came along and knocked Sasuke out. That Mangekyo Sharingan comes with a huge chakra cost and I could tell that it was making him go blind. He gets weaker and weaker. I don't think he'll pull that out unless it's urgent."

"After only one fight, that's a pretty good analysis," Itachi remarked.

"Itachi..." Kakashi-Sensei started, pulling up his headband, "How much of your eyesight have you lost?"

"Kakashi, are you...?" Itachi started.

'His weakest skill, although by no means remotely bad, is taijutsu. That's our only hope, and we have ninjutsu powerhouses here... other than me. They can all be decoys while I go in. Ugh, if Ino was here, I could tell them my plan without Itachi hearing...'

"Anyway, I dropped my guard last time, but I don't make the same mistake twice," Kakashi-Sensei said.

"And you're making a big mistake if you think I'm the same as before," Naruto added.

"I'll handle him, Naruto," Kakashi-Sensei said.

Naruto was about to say something, but Hanara beat him to it.

"Kakashi-Sensei, considering your Sharingan and my taijutsu it's best if we both attack together while Naruto, Lady Chiyo, and Sakura act as backup."

"It's about time for you to come with me, Naruto..." Itachi said, looking like he was going to attack.

"Stay here, Naruto," Hanara said as Kakashi-Sensei rushed in, "Remember what I told you? He is literally made to defeat you."

And with that, the fight began.