Hello again - sorry this chapter took so long, a mix of my being ill and a slight annoyance while writing this.

Because everyone's split up, POV shifts a bit, sorry if that confuses anyone, I've tried to keep it clear with line breaks.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, I hope you all enjoy!

Choji frowned as he fumbled on the scaffolding. He wasn't sure what they were supposed to be looking for, and that made him hesitate about where he should start searching. Itachi had told them to explore all the levels of the town hall. Thankfully there were only three, but that still left him with which one to begin with.

"Start at the bottom I guess," Choji mumbled to himself, finding a gap in the wall that he assumed was part of the repairs and slipped through into the ground floor.

Bakugakure's town hall seemed to be part museum. Looking around Choji saw signs on the wall explaining the history of the town and animals found in the wild there. What he assumed to be displays were covered with large dust sheets to protect them, but just looked creepy in the dark.

Reluctantly he checked under each cover finding little of interest beyond taxidermy of various animals, which looked even more unsettling in the shadows.

"This place is weird," he complained over the comms, moving on to the next room.

"It's not that bad. This office is a mismanaged mess though," Ino commented. "It'll take me a while to sort through this stuff."

"You think evil bandit stuff will be in the filing cabinet?"

"Well, where are you looking?!" shot Ino.

"Well, before I was in some weird stuffed animal display, the next room looks like where the building work is actually taking place, there's a big hole in the ground and materials… hmmm."

"What have you found, Choji?" asked Shikamaru.

"A second hole, a ways from the first. It was hidden by a sheet and some building materials," he said, moving things out of the way. "It's smaller. Definitely meant for one person, not a crew of builders."

"Can you see where it leads to?" Itachi asked.

Choji shook his head, then remembering his team couldn't see said, "No, it looks like it goes under the building, but I can't see too far, it's pitch black."

There were soft hums on the comms from Itachi and Shikamaru as they thought over what Choji had told them. "Scout it out, Choji. If you can't find the end in five minutes, backtrack and we'll go down as a group," Itachi decided.

"Yeah, it sounds dodgy, but we've got this entire building to check. Can't waste time on a red herring," Shikamaru agreed. "Keep us posted if you find anything."

"Alright," Choji nodded and headed into the hole, thankful there was enough room for him to slip inside.

The hole was by no means smooth, but a couple of firm thumps on the wall and ceiling had Choji convinced it would hold as he traversed slowly, pulling a torch out to light the way. As far as Choji could tell, it was made for someone taller than him, as the roof of the passageway was a good two heads above him, but that didn't give him any information on who or why.

Thankfully though the route did eventually end in wider space filled with mounds of what looked like wet dirt at first glance. Going over to investigate, Choji sighed. He thought he'd found something interesting but the walk down here was totally pointless. "It's a dud. There's nothing down here but a few piles of… huh, clay," he said, one hand on the comms and the other rubbing some of the clay between his fingers. Looking around, Choji tried to see if there was anything, anything that justified this stupid hole.

His comms crackled horribly and Shikamaru's disjointed voice came out as mostly static. "'D say? Cho-"

"Damn. Signal must be being blocked by the concrete," Choji mumbled to himself. "Odd though, I could hear everyone just fine before and Itachi-sensei's outside…"

The comms continued to crackle as his team spoke, causing Choji to wince and turn the volume down a bit. He'd just head back and turn it up once he was on the main floor. No problem.

Choji tensed as footsteps sounded on the passage behind him.

Shikamaru sighed. He wasn't having much luck either. The top floor was split into two large rooms, one a lecture theatre, complete with lecterns and shaped to carry the voice of the speaker all the way to the top row. The second was a wide open hall Shikamaru assumed was for a small market fair or something similar, as he could see faint marks and numbers painted onto the floor and a number of poles and wooden planks to one side of the room.

The lectern had a locked drawer that soon gave way to Shikamaru's ministrations with a hairpin, but also revealed very little in the way of use. "There's nothing here, I'm gonna head to Choji. This floor's a total waste," he informed the team, locking the drawer on the lectern and making sure everything was as he'd found it before heading for the stairs.

"'T's a 'd. There's… few… hay," Choji's voice crackled.

"What'd you say, Choji?" He paused and put his hand to his ear, listening intently to the comms, but Choji didn't repeat himself. "Did anyone get that?"

"No, sounded like he was planning a nap," Ino huffed, papers still shuffling her end.

"Choji? Are you there?" Itachi asked softly. When Choji still hadn't replied, their Sensei spoke up again. "Something down there must be jamming the signal."

"Like magnets or something?" Shikamaru wondered, continuing his way down to the lower levels.

"Possibly. I'd wager it's not the building itself since I can hear you two just fine, and the foundations shouldn't be thick enough to effect the comms," Itachi replied with a thoughtful hum. "How far are you from Choji's position, Shikamaru?"

"Nearly there, I've just reached the bottom floor."

"Good. Ino, keep searching, Shikamaru, bring Choji back up."

Ino hummed an affirmation and Shikamaru mumbled a "Got it."

"Do you think there's anything of use in the building?" Ino asked over the comms.

"I'm not sure. I'd wager if there was anything there, it would be in the underground space with Choji," Itachi replied. "If the signal is being blocked, there must be a reason for it."

"What kind of things could block the signal?" Ino wondered.

Itachi had the distinct impression she was bored, or at least hiding any nervousness under a blanket of boredom. Not that he could blame her. Something wasn't quite right, and Itachi had yet to put his finger on it. "A few things. Distance being a main one. Chakra can also effect it."

"Chakra? How?"

"If it's moulded into a thick enough density, chakra can create a barrier that messes with electrical signals," Itachi explained.

Ino's tone betrayed her concern. "Could… that happen here? If Tachihara's a ninja…"

"It's a possibility, but my Sharingan can't see through walls, so I'd have to be there to know for sure," he admitted. "As to whether Tachihara could be a ninja, it's a possibility but with the mission ranking, our intel would have be severely out-dated for him to be more capable than a Chunin."

"So what you're saying is not to worry because we can take him?"

Itachi smiled, "Pretty much. Everything should be fine. Still. It doesn't hurt to be cautious. We'll wait for Choji and Shikamaru to come back into contact before leaving and return to scouting in the morning."

"… Here… Guys there's someone else down here!"

Itachi startled. "Shikamaru?!" But how? No one had approached the building. He'd seen no chakras anywhere in the vicinity…

Letting out a low growl, Itachi made a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A puff of smoke erupted and then beside him, a copy of himself appeared. "There must be another entrance tunnelled into the town hall. Shikamaru, did you get a look at the other person?"

"No, they were already in the tunnel when I got there. I'm going back in to support Choji!" Shikamaru reported at the same time Choji's voice crackled over the comms, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Ah… Ino… 'ry… lost… time."

"Ch-Choji! I'm not down there!" Ino yelled.

"Damn it!" Itachi growled, he and his clone rushing towards the building.

Choji turned at the sound of footsteps, body tense. "H-hello?" He shifted his torch to the entrance as the newcomer arrived, light shining straight in the person's eyes. Long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail flashed and Choji relaxed. "Ah, it's just you, Ino. You scared me. Sorry, I must have lost track of time."

"Who the fuck is Ino, un?" A gruff voice shot back, startling Choji, "And get that fucking light out of my eyes you little shit, un!"

At the same time, Choji could just make the crackling of his comms. "Ch'ji? 'M not…" That was Ino's voice and as Choji shifted the light, he could only gawk at the figure – man – in front of him. He wasn't Ino at all, but at first glance, could be mistaken for her. Though now Choji was looking their hairstyles were different, the fringes falling over opposite eyes, which, while blue like Ino's weren't the same bright blue that smiled and radiated excitement. These eyes burned dark with anger and danger. The ninja's headband was also different, displaying the symbol for Iwagakure, not Choji also noticed the guy was wearing a teal yukata and pants, while Ino had come out in her usual purple shirt and skirt. Ino would probably kill him for the mix-up if he survived this encounter.

"Wh-who are you?"

"That's my question for you, you leaf village scum, un!" the man shot back. He looked about Itachi's age, but had none of the older teen's calm demeanour. And the odd way he ended his sentences… it was like some kind of tick or…

Choji jabbed a finger at him, "Speech impediment! You're Tachihara!"

The blonde glared at him. "The hell do you think you are, un? Pointing out someone's way of talkin' like it's a crime, un!" He put a hand in the bag at his hip and Choji reached for his kunai pouch, expecting a weapon from the strange ninja.

Instead, Tachihara threw his hand out – a hand that had a mouth in the palm – and a beige centipede flew towards him. A burst of smoke coupled with a hand sign from Tachihara and the centipede became huge and wrapped its way around Choji's right arm. "Wah!" Choji cried in surprise, staring at the creature in horror.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," he warned as Choji raised his other hand to pull the sculpture off. "My clay is highly volatile - extremely explosive to spell it out for you, un. After all, the most beautiful art is the fleeting kind, un! It's a blast!" Tachihara yelled with a smile only to stiffen, hand halfway to making a seal, his face falling as he twitched, trying to look behind him.

"Ch-Choji, are you okay?" Shikamaru asked, his voice strained.

Choji lit up with hope, "Shikamaru! Boy am I glad to see you!"

"Just hurry up and get over here! This guy, he's fighting the Shadow Possession," Shikamaru grunted.

Tachihara growled, his movements getting stronger. "I'm gonna throttle both of you, but not before I blow this village sky high, un!"

Footsteps thudded higher up in the tunnel and Choji could make out Shikamaru trembling as he fought to keep his jutsu active.

"Choji! Shikamaru!"

"Itachi-sensei!"

Itachi leapt past Shikamaru just as Tachihara wrenched himself free, the blonde whirling to face Itachi only to stop dead as he met Itachi's Sharingan. "Beautiful…" the man mumbled to himself staring into the red orbs. Exactly what Itachi had always told his team never to do.

"Wh-what did you do to me, un?!" the bomber grunted, elbows locking against his sides as if he were trapped by something. He looked to Choji. Or more specifically, the centipede on his arm. "No, you shouldn't be able to control my creations, un!" He thrashed while Itachi made to move past him. "Katsu!"

"ARGHHH!"

"CHOJI!" Shikamaru and Itachi cried over the boy's shriek of pain as the clay centipede on his arm exploded, along with the other clay piles in the room. Shutting his eyes against the light and pain, Choji didn't see who grabbed him, only felt as he was carried away outside, the cool night air seeming to increase the burning of his arm.

He felt sick, his ears were ringing and the pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before, somehow even breathing seemed to hurt right now. Above him – when had he laid down? – voices called his name.

"Choji? Choji can you hear me?"

"Choji! Oh my god! What happened to his arm?"

"Look after Choji, that ninja isn't finished."

"N-ninja? Ah – wait! Is he flying!?"

The flow of conversation was making little sense, and so against his better instincts, which said he'd be better off napping, Choji opened his eyes. "Tachihara is… flying?" he mumbled, blinking harshly as his vision swam.

"Choji! You're alive!" Ino smiled, looking about ready to burst into tears.

"It's another of those clay things he made earlier," Shikamaru explained.

Before Choji could ask any more questions, Itachi cut in. "You three retreat. Get Choji back to the hotel and dunk his arm in cold water. That burn needs tending."

"What about you?" Shikamaru asked, looking up to their Sensei.

"Speech impediment, clay sculptures and explosions, no doubt," Itachi said his gaze on the sky above them. "He's an S-Rank missing nin from Iwagakure. Deidara."

"But… isn't he Tachihara?" Choji grunted, trying to sit up. Ino pushed him back down.

"It doesn't really matter either way at this point. I can't allow him to blow up the village." Itachi crouched low then disappeared in a flash, the only indication of him still being in the area was the sounds of many small explosions and the Iwa ninja shouting "Katsu!" and "Die you red-eyed fucker!".

No! It was happening again! Itachi grit his teeth, shuriken flying from his fingers at high speed. These… creations, his Sharingan showed they were infused with chakra, and they exploded on contact with his weapons, or at Deidara's command. His team was in danger again, but this time, Itachi swore none of those children would die! This time, he had the power to do something about it.

His Sharingan burned in the night, allowing him to keep on top of the clay bombs, but he couldn't get close to Deidara and the other ninja had pulled up high into the sky, giving him lots of distance with which to make bombs and keep Itachi at bay.

"Let's see you trap me in genjutsu this time, asshole, un!" Deidara yelled with mirth. "Now how about some super fast fliers, un!" From the smoke erupted two long thin birds with four wings. They flapped hard and fast. Too fast. Itachi span to the side, flinging shuriken after the first bird to keep them from his team, barely dodging the second bird only for a bunch of clay spiders to catch him from behind, exploding with a loud "Katsu!" from Deidara.

"Baaaargh!" Itachi grunted as he was thrown to the ground. No time for lying about though, as another round of tiny clay creatures came after him. "Damn it, you three! Get out of here!" he yelled at his Genin that still weren't gone yet. "That's an order!"

Raising his arms to protect his eyes against the explosions as they detonated, Itachi groaned, clutching his shoulder. Deidara's attacks were fast and calculated, changing the sizes and amount of chakra in the creatures so that even the small ones could be deadly. One of the spiders had managed to get onto his shoulder before it blew up, and though barely a few centimetres in size, blood clung to his fingers and stained his Jonin vest from the explosion.

The injuries had nothing on Choji though, whom he'd been unable to reach in time, too caught off guard by Deidara's certainty in his own power and fiercely reckless decision to blow up all of the clay in that underground cavern. The town hall was half-destroyed, his clone had been dissipated in the blast protecting Shikamaru and it really didn't seem like Deidara was running out of clay soon. All Itachi could hope was that none of the idiotic villagers tried to approach this place to add to the chaos.

"Come on, Choji," Shikamaru urged, helping the other boy to sit up. Choji whimpered as his arm was jarred and grimaced as he looked at the bloody mess. The bandages that usually covered his body were burned away, leaving the skin below broken, blistered and bloody. Fibres from his clothes were getting into the wounds and every movement flared the pain like a forest fire.

"This guy won't quit," Ino grimaced, letting off a flurry of her own shuriken to try keep a flurry of clay grasshoppers at bay while they got Choji moving. "The smaller ones are almost worse! I can barely see them!"

"Damn it, you three! Get out of here!" Itachi yelled over the explosions. "That's an order!"

Choji wobbled to his feet. "We need to protect this village."

"Choji, are you insane?!" Shikamaru shot. "Our orders are to fall back!"

"And anyway, what can you do? Your arm's in shreds!" Ino added.

Choji forced a grin, "What? This little scratch? It barely stings. Come on, let's help Itachi-sensei."

Ino balked, turning to face her teammate with wide eyes, "B-but…"

"If we don't stop this guy now, the whole village is in trouble, and those idiotic villagers will blame Konoha. I'm not letting that happen, so Tachi-dara goes down here!"

"Tachi-dara?" Shikamaru scoffed, standing up too. "That name's so dumb, those explosions must have muddled your brains."

"Are you seriously thinking this is okay?" Ino frowned, looking between her two comrades. Choji looked pale and ready to pass out at any moment, and Shikamaru was probably minutes away from going into shock. "We should just evacuate the village."

"Choji's right, those idiot villagers won't be happy if we leave it as is." Shikamaru looked to the sky, where he could just about make out the giant owl Deidara was riding. "That guy's staying way of Itachi-sensei's genjutsu range and the fact he can keep us so well back must mean he's a long-range fighter. If we can close the distance or at least distract him, it might give Itachi-sensei an opening."

"So we're banking on him being crap at close-range? That's not even the framework for a solid plan."

Shikamaru let loose a barrage of kunai, explosions lighting up the woods as Deidara's art detonated prematurely. "Either way, we need to move now."

Choji smiled for real this time. "I've even got a plan to get you two up there, so you better not mess it up."

Following Choji up onto the roof of what was left of the town hall, Choji didn't actually explain anything as he slowly worked his hands into the seals for his Human Boulder jutsu injured arm giving him grief as he moved his fingers and wrist. "Let's go!"

"Ah, Choji, wait!" Ino tried, "He'll just blow you away if you attack head on like this."

"Yeah, I know," Choji smiled. "But you two skinny-asses can't take the heat, so just use me as a boost okay? Time to show Itachi-sensei our InoShikaCho formation! Human Boulder!" Choji roared as he soared forward, torso expanding. His arms and limbs came inside the ball as he rotated, forcing himself to spin as hard as he could. Bombs exploded against his body and soon the force of the blasts forced his momentum to cease and fall back to the ground.

"C-Choji!" Itachi balked, staring at the young man willing throwing himself back into the firing line.

"Go guys! There's your opening!" At Choji's cry, Ino and Shikamaru leapt into the air, landing briefly on Choji.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Shikamaru asked Choji softly.

"It's fine. Just get that guy and rip him a new one."

"Got it. Let's go, Ino."

"Right." The two sprang up, sending Choji flying to the ground as his jutsu cancelled. Warm arms looped around Choji.

"You… crazy idiots! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?" Itachi demanded, landing on the ground safely with Choji, lowering the injured boy to the grass and looking up in search of Ino and Shikamaru. They'd made it onto the owl and were trying to fight Deidara, but it seemed the man was just as capable of handling those two up close as he was at keeping Itachi at a distance.

"Damn it, stay still!" Ino yelled at Deidara as he weaved and dodged her punches. "I'm gonna get you back for blowing up Choji!"

Shikamaru weaved in time to her blows, moving to deal his own to Deidara in gaps. But even with their teamwork, Deidara was still able to escape, ducking out of the way and jumping off of his owl.

"Look if you guys want that perch so much, have it, un! Katsu!" He made a hand sign and the bird began to swell.

"What? This one too?!" Shikamaru growled, trying to leap away.

"Do they all explode?" Ino demanded, shielding her face as she jumped, the explosion sending them hurtling in different directions. "Shikamaru! Get your butt over here!"

Turning in mid-air Shikamaru saw Ino's hands shift to the final sign of her Mind Transfer jutsu. He twisted and rebounded off of one of the trees at the back of the town hall, back towards the roof. Landing, he weaved his own hand signs as he rolled, shadow shooting out in the moonlight to latch onto Ino's. "Did you get him, Ino?"

Explosions answered and Shikamaru could only assume she had missed as he Deidara made himself a new bird to fly above them on and Ino wasn't shouting in answer.

Down on the ground, Itachi checked on the new burns Choji had received. "Foolish boy, you should have left like I said." There wasn't much to be done now, but Choji would be lucky to only get away with a handful of scars. Choji twitched, unable to say a word so for how tightly he was clenching his jaw. Itachi sighed, taking quick assessment of how Ino and Shikamaru were doing before looking back to Choji. "Look at me. I can put you in a genjutsu to help with the pain, but you need to stop being so reckless," he said, running his hands through signs he hadn't needed to use in several years.

Once Choji met his gaze he let the jutsu flow, carefully dulling the pain centre in Choji's brain, watching as the boy visibly relaxed. "There. I won't take all of the discomfort away. If you forget that you're injured you could risk hurting yourself more."

Choji winced and slowly eased himself up. His team were reckless and apparently didn't follow orders, but still. He admired their tenacity, smiling reassuringly as Choji got his feet under him, looking resolutely to the bird in the sky. "Not giving up?"

"Hell no! I'm not letting those two go it alone. Just like we won't leave you to fight this guy alone," Choji barked, first clenched in determination.

Itachi smiled a little wider. "Well in that case, might I take over the planning? That horrific idea where you got assaulted by clay bombs has your signature all over it."

A snicker sounded over the comms, "Yeah, that plan was Choji's," came Shikamaru's lazy drawl, a somewhat strained tone edging his voice, accompanied by explosions. "Ino failed her Mind Transfer, I'm looking after her body 'til she comes back, but I could use support up here."

"I'm on it," Itachi replied weaving hands signs once more. "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" The night sky lit up as fire flew from Itachi's lips, curling itself into a massive ball, consuming the clay bombs in it's path towards Deidara. "Shikamaru, that building is too unstable, bring yourself and Ino down," he ordered as Deidara re-positioned himself to avoid Itachi's attack.

"Can't you just take him down with your fireballs?" Choji asked.

Itachi shook his head. "They're too slow and use up a lot of chakra. Against a foe who can move around quickly they're only useful as distractions. And even then, Deidara is smart. They won't keep him occupied for long."

Shikamaru and Ino landed beside them with a heavy thud, the former looking pretty tired. "Are you alright Shikamaru?" Itachi asked, noticing the boy's heavy breathing and sweat. Beside him Ino twitched and let out a soft groan.

"Better now," Shikamaru sighed, releasing his Shadow Possession. "You got bumped a couple of times, sorry, Ino, best I could do."

Ino smiled thinly, "It's fine. Thanks for looking after me." She stretched her body slowly, eyes on Deidara in the sky as he circled him on his bird. "How are you doing, Choji?"

"Sensei used a genjutsu, so I'll be fine for now. But It's probably not a good idea to draw this out."

"I concur," nodded Itachi. " The villagers of Bakugakure won't stay away forever. Ino, did you get inside him at all or miss entirely?"

"I missed, but I don't think he realised what I was trying to do," Ino reported.

"Alright, in that case we need to get around the next wave of bombs and engage him on his bird once more." Assents met his order, but Itachi froze as what he expected to be another swarm of small clay animals turned out to be something very different.

"My mission was just to blow up the town hall and cause some terror among the villagers, un," Deidara's voice came down to them as a single, densely chakra filled clay creature fell from his hands. Ino raised a kunai to flick at it and Itachi barely grabbed her arm to halt her in time. He was about to explain when Deidara expanded the clay figure, leaving it standing taller than any of Bakugakure's buildings. "This thing has enough chakra in it to blow the entire village sky high, un! I call it C-3, un!"

"Wh-what?!" Shikamaru trembled, looking up at the crude humanoid clay model. It was less detailed than the others before it, and Itachi wondered if that was because Deidara had put utility over beauty. Not that it mattered.

"He's not lying, that thing has a huge amount of chakra. Ah, Ino-" The girl fell slack against him. Fainted? He lowered her to the ground, though didn't take his arms from around her as he racked his brain for a plan. How the hell were they supposed to disable that thing?!

Above, Deidara's laugher rang down. "Now, time for you all to see the beauty of my fleeting art, un! Ka-ah?!" The man grunted and Itachi narrowed his eyes. What was that? "Itachi-sensei!" Deidara cried suddenly, startling the group. "Hurry! Get this thing out of here somehow, I can't hold him back for long. His mind's really strong!"

"Ino?!" Choji cried in confusion, cranking his head up. "How did you? When?"

"No time for that, take the east and west sides, both of you and summon as much chakra as you can. I'll tell you what hand signs to make," Itachi snapped, leaving Ino's body behind and racing forwards.

Complying with their Sensei, it was another moment before Shikamaru and Choji were in place, time Itachi spent ordering Ino. "Hold on as long as you can, we need this thing as high as possible before it explodes. Once I give the word, cancel your jutsu and throw a kunai at the bomb, coat your hand in chakra before you throw it to increase the kunai's speed." He didn't want Deidara altering the bomb in anyway or detonating it prematurely.

"Hai!" Ino grunted. Itachi swallowed, praying she could hold out.

"Ready, Sensei!" came Choji's voice, bringing Itachi back to his own task.

"I, Inu, Tori, Tatsu, Uma, Hitsuji, Mi!" Weaving different signs from the ones he was dictating, and at a much faster speed, Itachi thrust his boar seal into the ground, loosening it and hopefully cushioning the blow they were about to deal the bomb enough not to triggerit. Summoning all of his remaining chakra, he ran through the seals he'd yelled at the boys. "Now slam your hands to the ground! Earth Style: Heavenly Pillar!" He could feel the chakra more than see it as all of his reserves went into the technique, deactivating his Sharingan in the process. A giant pillar of earth rose up under the C-3 and sent it hurtling towards the sky. Counting the seconds until it would clear Bakugakure's air space, Itachi called out at the earliest possible moment, "Ino! Now!"

The explosion that rocked the air was massive, causing a huge gust of wind to tear through the area, knocking Itachi to the ground. One long, tense second passed. Then another. His throat hurt from shouting and his limbs were on fire from the burn of using up all of his chakra, but Itachi forced himself to righten, coughing roughly as he looked around for any signs of Deidara. Nothing. The area was eerily calm. Or perhaps the explosion had deafened him.

Either way, it seemed they had won that round. Deidara couldn't be seen or heard, which was just as well, because Itachi had nothing left to give if the man had tried to continue the fight. He slumped back down on the ground and relaxed, not wanting to think of the repercussions or meanings of anything right now.