Chapter One

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Sakura still couldn't believe that she had survived the battle against Sasori, although the same couldn't be said for the former Sand ninja's granny. The old woman had given her life to save Sakura's, and in the end, it had allowed her the opportunity to finish off the puppet-master. Now she was busy mending the wounds of Gai-sensei's team. They had arrived in the cave shortly after the battle was over and agreed that once she patched them up, they'd head out with her to track down Naruto and Kakashi-sensei on their search for the Gaara.

Sakura looked up from what she was doing and pushed her pink hair out of her eyes just as Naruto bounded into the cave. He was carrying the Kazekage's still form and his blond hair was caked with dirt and sweat. He looked exhausted, but he held Gaara's body firmly.

"Naruto! You got him back!"

The relief in Sakura's voice was evident. She finished bandaging Gai-sensei's injuries while Naruto walked across the cave floor and gently laid Gaara's unmoving body in front of her. He looked at her with tear-filled blue eyes.

"He won't wake up Sakura."

Her face clouded over when she took a closer look at the Sand-ninja's body.

"Naruto…I don't think I can help him. His chakra's gone."

Tears flowed unchecked down young man's cheeks. He fell to his knees and grabbed Sakura's hands.

"Please. Please! He can have my chakra…if you think that will help him."

She pulled herself free of Naruto's grip and was about to deny the possibility, but she stopped herself. Maybe if I . . .

And with that she was lost in thought.

xx..xx

Naruto watched as Sakura leaned over Gaara and started talking to herself, so he stood up and gave her some room to work. Gai walked over and slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Naruto! I'm glad to see that the Akatsuki didn't get their hands on you. Well done!" The green clad jonin gave him a toothy grin and a thumbs up sign. "I knew that Kakashi had trained you well."

At the mention of his sensei's name a frown settled onto Naruto's face and he looked down at the cave floor.

Neji walked over to join them. "Where is Kakashi-sensei, Naruto?"

With that simple question the day's events came sharply into focus. Naruto clenched his fists and answered through clenched teeth. "I don't know."

Gai grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing their eyes to meet. "What do you mean you don't know?"

He met the jonin's fierce stare. "Kakashi-sensei used his genjutsu to trick that bastard on the bird into scooping him up instead of me."

Naruto shrugged out of Gai's grip before he continued. "He pushed Gaara out of the clay bird's mouth to me and told me to get back here as fast as I could."

Naruto wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

Gai looked confused. "Why didn't the man on the bird make chase?"

Naruto sighed. "At that point Kakashi-sensei's genjutsu made it look like I was him and he was me. The guy just let me go. I don't know where they went."

Gai lowered his head in frustration. "Then Kakashi is lost to us."

An uncomfortable silence filled the cave.

Xx..xx

Deidara flew straight through the day and part of the night in order to reach the rendezvous point for the Akatsuki's next stage. He guided his clay bird through the entry and came to a stop in front of the other members of the Brotherhood. Then he jumped gracefully to the ground with a grin stretched across his face and his pony tail flowing behind him.

"Don't hate me Itachi, but I've managed to snare the nine-tailed brat from you."

He waved his hand and dispelled the clay bird, leaving behind his prize. The young blond-haired man dressed in black and orange was already regaining his feet and crouching into a defensive position, pulling a kunai out at the same time.

Itachi Uchiha narrowed his sharingan eyes and shook his head at the ninja in front of them. The man pushed his raven black hair back behind his ear before turning to face him.

"Deidara. I thought that you were beyond being fooled by genjutsu by now."

He bristled at the comment and crossed his arms. "I didn't get fooled Itachi! I dispelled the illusion at once! That's how I knew which one was really the nine-tailed brat!"

Itachi sighed. "Kakashi Hatake is not a novice in the art of genjutsu. You released only the first level of illusion Deidara."

The Uchiha faced the black and orange clad figure and lifted his hands into position in front of his body. "Release!"

With that word, the figure crouching in the corner swiftly transformed into the silver-haired form of Kakashi Hatake, one of the top jonin from the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Deidara sputtered. "Impossible!"

Itachi lowered his hands. "Evidently not."

He felt his face flush in anger at being duped and moved one hand into the bag holding his explosive clay. "Let me kill him now and be done with his interference!"

Another of his Brothers, Zetsu, stepped forward, opening his plant shell mantle to expose his half-black/half-white face and turned toward Deidara.

"I have watched this one with the nine-tailed beast for some time now. He holds a place in the jinchuriki's heart. If we kill him, we will enrage the boy."

Zetsu's darker half took over the conversation. "But if we use the man as bait, we can lure the boy to us willingly."

Deidara wanted to argue, but his Brother's logic could not be faulted. "Then perhaps we should make sure our bait doesn't escape before we can use him, hmm?"

The others gave signs of agreement and together they cornered Kakashi at one end of the cave.

Before they could do much more the Leader's voice echo through the cave. "Remember Brothers, he is no use to us dead."

Deidara turned toward Itachi. "You are from his village. Is there anything we need to know about this one Itachi?"

"Yes. Expect the unexpected."

He scowled at the Uchiha. "That doesn't help, hmm?"

Xx..xx

Kakashi crouched in the corner with his kunai at the ready. He was facing a wall of S-class felons, each bearing the black robes with red clouds which marked them as full members of the Akatsuki organization. Although he'd heard one of them say that they wanted him alive, he knew this was not going to be an easy battle by any means.

He took a deep breath. Maybe I should have thought this plan out a bit further.

Before he had time to contemplate his predicament further, the members of the Akatsuki started to close in on him. His genius mind helpfully supplied the details for those he already knew.

Deidara, the blond creator of the clay birds and various exploding creations, and the person responsible for kidnapping the Kazekage. Kisame, the freakishly tall and unbelievably strong former member of the Village Hidden in the Mist. He was one of the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist Village and his massive sword was already being leveled at Kakashi.

Then of course there was Itachi Uchiha. The man who had single-handedly eliminated nearly the entire Uchiha clan in one of the bloodiest homicidal attacks in the history of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Of the entire clan only Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke, survived. Kakashi knew from experience to avoid the man's sharingan gaze at all costs.

He also recognized the man with the black and white face hidden within the plant mantle from his Bingo book. Zetsu was said to be a master of plant life and rumored to be a bit of a cannibal.

Kakashi did not recognize the rest of those gathered in front of him. Therefore they were unknown elements and as such he would need to be especially careful of their approach.

A single Akatsuki member stepped forward from the group. They looked barely older than Naruto, with an eagerness in their eyes that put Kakashi on guard immediately. The young man turned toward the others.

"Let it be our turn to play, please. Everyone else has had a turn today it seems but us."

Another of the unknown Akatsuki members addressed the boy, this one with bright red hair and multiple piercings. "Very well. Just remember to leave him alive."

The others stepped back opening up more room for them to battle. Kakashi watched his opponent carefully as he turned back to face him. The young man's short brown hair stuck out in places and his dull gray eyes seemed to sparkle when he looked toward him. The grin that stretched across his opponent's face made Kakashi think that the idea of this battle excited the boy immensely.

From one moment to the next, the young man's body split into two. Then the two split into four…those four split into eight, each new body seeming to peel away from the others.

Were these shadow clones? Kakashi had never seen clones created in such a manner. He narrowed his eyes and looked at them using his sharingan eye. His eyes opened wide. Every one of these copies held the same level of chakra as the original. There was no diminishing from that level when each of the others appeared. Unlike a clone, these appeared to be exact duplicates of the first body. Could this be a blood-trait?

"Dammit." Kakashi tensed while he waited for the new group to make its move.

He didn't have to wait long. Each one of the enemy ninja pulled out a weapon…but each held a different one. There was everything from nun-chuk to kunai to katana.

All of them grinned at Kakashi again before they swarmed toward him. His hopes that these might still be clones disappeared when he landed strike after strike against his attackers with a force that should have dispelled the sturdiest clone. Instead of disappearing, these duplicates received the wounds and kept fighting.

The team of attackers drove him up against a wall and then finally to his knees. They worked together seamlessly to strip Kakashi of his weapons and place him into a headlock – effectively ending the battle. Two of the duplicates stepped forward and proceeded to slam their fists into his stomach, doubling him over and causing him to spit up blood. This was followed by knees crashing into his sides which caused his ribs to make a most disturbing cracking sound.

"ENOUGH!" The voice from beyond Kakashi's attackers caused the smile to finally disappear from all the duplicates' faces. After a few more well-placed kicks, the punishment finally stopped.

Kakashi was left gasping on the floor while the duplicates were reabsorbed into the original body. He noticed all of the injuries he'd managed to place on the individual duplicates were transferred back to that final body. Kakashi narrowed his eyes in contemplation of just what this jutsu may have been.

The young man absorbed the final duplicate, frowned, and then turned to address the others. "You never let us have any fun."

Kakashi used that moment to release a hidden kunai from the sole of his sandal and threw it unerringly into the young man's back. The force of the blow knocked the man to the ground. Kakashi's aim was true enough that the bastard should be dead. But he watched as the man slowly pushed himself back to his feet.

One of the duplicates remained on the floor with Kakashi's kunai still lodged in its back. A handy skill indeed. But he had managed to cause him to sacrifice one of those bodies…that was something at least.

The young man turned toward him with such a look of hatred in his gray eyes that Kakashi thought for sure he'd launch straight at him. Instead, the boy laughed and addressed his comrades.

"I guess you were right about this one, Itachi – expect the unexpected. So, what do we do with him now, if you won't let me kill him?"

Itachi walked toward Kakashi. "He won't cooperate of course. Which leaves us with very few options."

The Uchiha moved quicker than Kakashi's eyes could track, even with the sharingan, and the next thing he knew his leg snapped under the force of Itachi's palm. The pain of the sudden break shocked him into inaction and caused a shout of pain to escape his lips.

Itachi stepped back. "If he can't walk, his escape will be easier to prevent."

Kisame joined him. "Brutal as usual Brother."