A/N: I apologize for my absence. This chapter was supposed to be put up months ago. The only reason why I decided to hold it back was because of wanting to simply put that and Chapter 17 up back to back. Then I slacked off and got preoccupied with work and other things occurring in my life (and then life went crazier when that 'Rona hit). Sorry about that.

Let's get back on track, shall we?

A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 16

A Week Ago In An Unknown Location…

There was only one thing in this world he could count on, the one thing that could never fail him. Silly things such as family, friends, love, adoration – those things would always fail time and time again. But money, money would always be there to comfort you, to help you, to make you feel better. He lived on one principle: money would never betray you.

And today, today was the day for Kakuzu to make some money.

Out of his usual garb of red clouds on a black cloak, Kakuzu wore a long sleeve black shirt and matching pants and shoes. He kept his usual mask and grey hood combination that displayed the scratched off Takigakure symbol. Thinking about that place put a bad taste in his mouth so he tried smothering his anger. Instead, the thought of getting money today soothed him.

Today, he wasn't representing the Akatsuki but serving his own interests.

Kakuzu knew that he wouldn't be needed in the next group operation for another month or so. And the leader was ever so gracious enough to let his operatives do whatever they wanted in their spare time – so as long as it didn't interfere with their business. He grabbed his belongings – scrolls and hidden weaponry, the like – and placed it on his person and headed out the room of the base.

Akatsuki bases all scattered across the continent, Kakuzu's favorite one was the one placed inside Hi no Kuni. Because it was nearby a bounty station – one he usually frequented, of course. After getting the "Okay" from the big boss, and knowing that the Akatsuki's and its operations would be low and few for the next few months – no doubt trying to shake off the heat from Itachi and Kisame's attack on the Kyūbi jinchūriki – Kakuzu and his partner relocated to the Hi no Kuni base, at least for a bit.

Today though was the day to make some cash.

Kakuzu walked through the base – a man-made cavern carved out by earth ninjutsu – and met with his partner. "Shiro, I see you're up and about."

Shiro was a short man, standing at an unimpressive height – never mind being compared to a giant of a man like Kakuzu. His partner was shorter than the average person. Shiro was a fair-skinned man with long ash-red hair, coal-black eyes, a tuff of crimson hair on his chin, and of a solidly built stature. He sat down near a whetstone, grinding his sword against the rock. He had been dressed in a light gray jacket, black straight pants, and black closed-toe shoes that were somewhat atypical, compared to the standard shinobi sandals that were used. His Akatsuki cloak was draped on a chair sloppily.

With the scratched-out symbol of Kusagakure, Shiro was – like many shinobi in the Akatsuki organization – a missing-nin from that particular village. Almost everyone in the organization had some sort of story for being in Akatsuki that involved something like massive genocide or destruction. It was almost like a requirement to get in the group, Kakuzu thought with a smirk, thinking about his own 'resume' he 'sent' to the organization.

Shiro was no different. Apparently, Shiro was a Kusa-nin who ended up slaughtering a few higher-ups in Kusagakure and went rogue a few years ago, which lead the Akatsuki to find him shortly afterward.

Currently, Shiro was assigned to be the ex-Taki ninja's partner after his last partner had the unfortunate fate of pissing Kakuzu off. He knew the leader of the organization Akatsuki was getting tired of assigning Kakuzu new partners every month or so, but somehow, all of his teammates seemed to have a bad habit of making Kakuzu want to put his hands on them.

Shiro was okay so far though and had been the second-longest partner he had. His first partner had lasted almost five years; Shiro had just earned his one-year badge. One partner – the third longest-lasting partner he had – lasted about two months and the shortest-lasting partner he had literally lasted a day before he… "expired." It wasn't Kakuzu's fault though; that motherfucker before shouldn't have been greedy with sharing that bounty.

Fucking with Kakuzu's money was like playing with his emotions.

So, yeah, in all, Shiro lasting for this long was no doubt very impressive – even it was somewhat weird for him to think that.

"Shiro, what's your plans today?"

"Just taking care of my sword," the man sanguinely said with a smile on his face. "Ah, my lovely Bloodletter looks ever so elegant today…"

Kakuzu took a glance at the sword Shiro was using a whetstone on. It was an oddly-shaped sword with four branch-like, razor-sharp protrusions; miniature blades went from the tang to the tip of the sword. He wondered how the man sheathed the blade in a scabbard without the sword's branch-blades breaking.

Indeed, it was a weird weapon for a shinobi to wield; it looked like it could serve more like some sort of ceremonial blade instead. However, he saw Shiro use it in combat to maim his targets, which was exactly what Shiro liked. He wanted to literally shred his opponents apart. The man had some… Interesting tastes.

Though, Kakuzu probably shouldn't be the one talking about such.

The missing-nin folded his arms. "I'm about to go out for a little bit. You know, collect a bounty or two. Perhaps you would like to join me."

"Hmm, you think you'll get someone fun to kill today?"

"I don't know." Or really care, Kakuzu thought to himself privately. "I just follow the money, little man. Though usually, the people who have the most money on them are the ones who are the hardest to kill. You should know how bounties work."

"Any guarantee we're going after someone big then? Because it's just like that last bounty you collected…" Shiro sighed, shaking his head. "What a waste of our time."

"I only go for the money, little man." The giant from Taki grunted. "If you come, you're coming. Otherwise, don't whine about shit. We're chasing money, not battles. Save that for the next time we got a suicide mission or something."

"A suicide mission really could hit the spot…" The redhead finally stopped grinding his blade over the whetsone and looked at his newly buffed weapon. Shiro grinned at Kakuzu. "Oh, but you said that the more bounty a person has, the better the fight in them, right? Oh man, that sounds fun. I'm itching for a fight. Getting kind of bored being cooped up in this base, awaiting orders from our great leader."

"I noticed." The giant murmured in a dry tone. Kakuzu could do without a blood knight – or blood ninja in this situation – but he couldn't do much about Shiro and his tendencies. Then again, in this situation, having him may prove to be useful. Plus, besides his fighting abilities, Shiro's supplementary abilities were useful, especially tracking Kakuzu's target. "If you're going with me, hurry the hell up and get packed. Oh, and don't wear your cloak. We're not representing Akatsuki today."

"Really now?" The man's lips curled into a deadly smile as he practically purred. His eyes narrowed, like a cat seeking out its prey. "So, can I… cut loose then?"

"As long as you don't cost me any sort of dough," Kakuzu warned with a frown veiled by his mask.

"Then, that begs the question: who are we hunting down?"

Present Day...

They cut out a path towards Tanzaku Gai and arrived in the evening. The information he dug up on Tsunade's head stated she was in Hi no Kuni for the remainder of the month, gambling her money away which disgusted Kakuzu quite a bit. That stupid little bitch liked to drink and give out money like it was nothing. It also didn't help she was the granddaughter of one certain Senju he despised very much.

Still, business was business and he was a professional. He wouldn't let his personal feelings affect him; he wouldn't let anything fuck this up. The 0's under Tsunade's bounty was almost astronomical. Some person she pissed off out here – like some rich debt collector or owner of a casino – wanted her dead, and didn't give two shits whether or not she was a former jōnin-level shinobi.

Kakuzu read an entry in the Bingo Book every day of his life like it was a bible. He could never remember the Senju woman being in the book before, but now she was. 50,000,000 ryō was the price on her head. That sort of money was too hard to ignore. Might be too ridiculous of a task to a normal bounty hunter but Kakuzu had been at this game for more than five decades.

"What do you have?"

Shiro closed his eyes and focused. Kakuzu waited patiently until Shiro was ready to give his assessment. "I sense a couple of chakra signatures stronger than the average civilian. Some resemble chūnin-level shinobi. I think there's even one jōnin-level person here too. Might be Tsunade's assistant. Something else: I got one particularly powerful signature, which is probably our Tsunade but it looks like there's one here that comes close to her chakra level. Both are nearby each other."

"I see," The older male commented. "A threat to our target?"

"I couldn't say but- Oh, wait, I sense some chakra flaring from both Tsunade and this unknown person. It looks like they're fighting each other."

Kakuzu snarled. It might be another bounty hunter encroaching on his mark. Time to show who was the alpha dog in this yard. "Take us there and quick. Time is money."

Later on, on a rooftop of a gambling house, Shiro watched with Kakuzu as Tsunade did battle with a certain jinchūriki the Akatsuki failed to capture a few weeks back. "Whoa, small world. Who would have guessed we'd be running into him, huh, Kakuzu?"

The man in question grunted. "Who gives a shit? Our target is in front of us right now. Worry about her and not about anything else."

"So, we're not going to bother capturing him now?" Shiro questioned incredulously. "Seems like it would be the perfect time to do so..."

"I told you: we're not representing the Akatsuki right now," Kakuzu snapped. "Now, shut up and get ready to interfere." He watched Naruto give off some insipid speech about his dream to become Hokage as he created some sort of chakra ball in his hand and ran at Tsunade. He didn't think he would have to jump in then, believing the Senju was capable of deflecting a painfully slow move like that, but Tsunade then seemed to freeze up like a deer. How pathetic, he thought as Kakuzu jumped from the roof of the building he stood on.

In a speed that took everyone off guard, Kakuzu grabbed Naruto by the wrist and threw him away from Tsunade. Kakuzu kept his sharp gaze on his prey. "I think playtime is over with this little tyke, Tsunade. Instead, why don't you play with little old me, young whippersnapper? It's been a while since I tussled with a Senju."

Tsunade finally was awakened from her stupor before straightening up. Two newer people had now approached her and they didn't look like they were from Konoha – nor chūnin-level ninja.

"Who the hell is this now?" Tsunade growled, her fist on her left cocked hip.

"Greetings, Tsunade. I hate to take up your time with your little friends here but you and I got some business to attend to," the masked man stated.

"Bounty hunter, huh? Who the hell put a hit out on me? Must have been an idiot."

"Could be anyone, really," the tall man shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"I'm just saying it's unfortunate for you," Tsunade drawled out, a deadly smirk appeared on her pink lips. "It sucks that you came all the way after me for nothing." She then quickly slammed a single finger into the ground. The team from Konoha marveled as the ground split apart as a fissure was created. Kakuzu moved out the way of the attack, but this gave Tsunade time to retreat as she jumped far away from the two bounty hunters.

"Hey, if you want me, let's take this fight to a better spot. Somewhere more open," she announced from down the street.

Kakuzu personally didn't care where she wanted to go. Clearly, this was some sort of attempt to avoid collateral damage and avoid the potential deaths of the other shinobi involved before. He didn't want to cause too much of a ruckus either, so this worked for him just fine. He nodded. "Lead the way."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called out to her master but it was no use as Tsunade already left. as she watched Kakuzu leap off in the night after Tsunade, Shizune too quickly followed.

"Don't think about following us, kids." The Konohagakure team flinched. The bounty man's partner sauntered up to the younger group of shinobi. His sword was out, blocking the path the older shinobi ran off to. "For your own good, I'm telling you all to run home and play ninja back in Konoha. You kiddies can't handle this. Just let us grown-folk go and have fun, or you'll get hurt. Oh, and make sure you let your blond friend down there know too, alright? He looks like the type to do something fucking stupid after someone warned him not to do it. Hardheaded and whatnot. Thanks, kids!"

The man then dashed off into the distance to join his partner in pursuit of Tsunade.

Naruto shook the cobwebs out of his head and stood back up after some fussing from his teammates. "Who the hell was that?"

"A missing-nin, Naruto. Two to be exact and they meant business," Shikamaru sighed, exasperated. This mission was becoming more and more a mess by the second. "Tsunade-sama ran off and dragged them along with her."

"We can't let her escape," was Naruto's automatic response. It was anticipated by Shikamaru but the leader of the Konoha team still felt a headache coming on.

"That's not the problem here. The two are bounty hunters – if you didn't hear me correctly. That's two bounty hunters that look perfectly able and willing to take on Tsunade-sama while you were struggling to get on a blow on her. Get the picture? If we can't fight her, what makes you think we can take them on, and make Tsunade come?"

Naruto flattened his lips together, looking agitated. "Listen to me: we just need to get her. Maybe we can knock her out and take her back to Konoha forcibly and somehow slip past her pursuers, but we can't let her run away. I promised I would get her back."

"I don't remember promising anything. It's a mission, sure, but it's not worth getting killed over. This is sounding more out of pride than duty." Shikamaru sighed, knowing that was exactly what it was over. "You're so damn troublesome, Naruto. I'm the leader and you're really going to do something to put not only yourself in jeopardy but the rest of the team by some stupid bet you had with this lady?"

"It's the best bet we have. You said it yourself earlier," The Uzumaki retorted. After seeing Shikamaru didn't look so convinced, he then added, "I got a ninjutsu that can transport her out of there – and then us – if we hurry. We can do this. They may be strong but battles aren't always won because of strength, right?"

Shikamaru thought it over, hating the fact that the gamble Naruto had cooked up in his head was really the best thing they had to get Tsunade to come back to Konoha. He then looked at his other teammates. "What do you guys think?"

"Incredibly risky," the Aburame spoke up. "We are genin and newly-minted chūnin at best. We should not proceed with chasing after them, even if our objective is to retrieve Tsunade-sama."

Shikamaru digested Shino's opinion on the situation. Level-headed and logical as always and he could not help but agree. Naruto then jumped in. "Who said we have to go and beat them all together? We could probably get the drop on one of them, help dispatch them, and Tsunade could easily defeat the other."

"And what if we can't?" Shino challenged.

"Look, you guys don't even have to get too close anyway. I can simply use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to act as your body doubles and you guys would never have to worry about getting too close."

Shino merely looked at Naruto cooly. With shades on and a high-collared jacket on, nobody could gauge his facial reaction to that plan. But his silence was telling. Shikamaru looked around at the remaining three members of the team for their opinions.

Kiba shrugged. "Sounds crazy, but hey, maybe we can pull it off." The Aburame teen then turned his gaze at his Team Kurenai teammate. "Hey, man. Honestly, we can either let them go and Tsunade disappears again – assuming she beats them – or we go after them and see what we can do to assure her return."

"Neji?" The Nara leader turned to see Neji's Byakugan activated.

"Tsunade, her assistant, and the two other men have started to move out of town. If we hurry, we can catch up to them."

Naruto quirked his eyebrow up. "What does that mean? Does that mean you are on my side or Shino's?"

"I'm on the 'hurry up and choose' side." Neji folded his arms, looking completely neutral. "The more we squabble about this, the more likely we will lose Tsunade entirely. If we are merely to just make sure we know what's going on, I think we should be fine. Perhaps we can cause a distraction and get Tsunade-sama out of there. We may not even have to fight the hunters if Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san can hold their own against them. It is also fortunate we have the cover of the night to help us. However, time is of the essence," Neji finished, tapping his foot on the ground in an impatient manner.

Shikamaru then turned to his former genin teammate and best friend, Chōji. The portly teen boy merely smiled, albeit it had some nervousness to it. "Whatever you think is best, Shika."

The team leader sighed. Ultimately, if he wanted to, he could just order that they returned back to the village but that would mean Konohagakure would lose in the long-run. Tsunade either would die because of these missing-nin or she would escape and Konoha would have to, again, track her down and convince her to heal their ninjas. That could mean more suffering. "Desperate times called for desperate measures" – a quote that someone like Shikamaru hated relying on.

"Shit," The Nara cursed. He grabbed the special scroll from his back pouch – the one given to him by the Hokage. Jiraiya-sama had told Shikamaru to open the scroll if the team ever ran into trouble during this mission. And this certainly called for it.

The rest looked at it and him in curiosity and he started to explain. "Alright, if we're going to do this, before anything, I'm using this. This is a scroll Hokage-sama gave me in case we ever got into trouble."

"What does it do?" The Inuzuka boy voiced the opinion of the rest of the group.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Not sure yet." He then bent down and unraveled it. He put up the ram hand seal, then directed some of his chakra to the scroll's large black seal on it. The kanji on it read the word "Wood." The seal on the scroll glowed a bright blue before a notable smoke cloud was formed. Out of the cloud came a tall man draped in ANBU clothing and a porcelain cat mask.

The squad leader of the team blinked in confusion. "ANBU?"

But Naruto recognized the man in front of them. "Tenzō?"

"Ah, so you used the scroll," the operative spoke in a baritone, ignoring Naruto completely. Tenzō looked at Nara teen. "Status report. What is the situation here?"

Shikamaru stood rigidly, immediately giving the superior officer the sitrep. "We found Tsunade – she, and her assistant, Shizune, actually. We tried asking her to come back to the village. She declined. Naruto here even challenged her in a bet to get her to come back with us to the village but we got interrupted by two bounty hunters who came for her. She ended up getting them away from us."

"Do you have the names of these men?" Shikamaru shook his head 'No' at Tenzō. "What direction did they go?"

"That way, Tenzō-san," Neji pointed.

"I will need you to help me track them, Hyūga-san." Tenzō started walking in that direction. Everyone started following. "Same with you, Inuzuka-san. Do you have Tsunade-sama's scent?"

"Yep," Kiba said in return.

"Descriptions?" Tenzō asked openly, as his pace started picking up.

"One was a green-eyed, brown-skinned man wearing a hood and a long sleeve shirt," Shikamaru answered. "The other man was a shorter red-haired, red-eyed man."

"All of you will stay behind me, and not engage the enemy without my say so." The man looked at Naruto specifically with a stern look. "Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto grinned, perfectly fine with this outcome. "Crystal, Tenzō-taichō."

"Shizune," Tsunade started, staring straight ahead at the tall bounty hunter and not at her assistant. She took off her green haori and handed it to Shizune. Shizune wordlessly brought out a scroll and sealed away Tsunade's clothing. She cracked her knuckles and neck. "I'll handle the big guy. Take out the redhead."

After putting away the scroll, Shizune nodded, not taking her eye off her opponent. "Yes, Master?"

"Are we done running and choosing where to settle our business finally, Senju?" Kakuzu questioned in a drone from a short distance. His partner had a craven smirk plastered on his face with his sword unsheathed and in his hands. He watched as Tsunade cracked her knuckles in a pathetic attempt to intimidate the missing-nin. Both were not perturbed. Kakuzu walked closer to his partner and whispered, "Shiro, handle Tsunade's student. Don't get in my way."

"We're not double-teaming Tsunade?" Shiro raised an eyebrow, whispering back. "Seems like a dumb idea to fight her alone..."

Kakuzu snorted. "I can handle her. She's not even half the shinobi her grandfather was. Besides, you need to handle not only her assistant but those kids, should they come here for Tsunade."

Shiro nodded, his wicked smile returning to his face. "If they come here, everyone is game."

"Except for the blond. Don't let your bloodlust fuck this up, Shiro," Kakuzu warned in a grouse.

"Yeah, yeah," the redhead shinobi waved him off. "Like I said: everyone is game – except our little jinchūriki."

The battle started with no more preamble from either side. Kakuzu ran towards Tsunade, and Shiro did the same to Shizune.

Shiro swung his sword at Shizune in a side sweep, but Shizune rolled to the side and pulled back her kimono sleeves, launching an array of senbon from her arm. The redhead, knowing the senbon was way too fast to deflect at short-range, instead moved from them. 'Senbon, huh? Not a normal weapon used in combat due to how they lack real killing power like a sword or a knife but she's a medic ninja and medics often use senbon in tandem with poison. And getting hit by that stuff is nasty – even for a guy like me.'

Shiro approached nevertheless. It was a gamble, of course, since poisonous anything was still a problem for him, but he knew for a fact that medics did not like close combat and that was where he excelled at. He flashed forward in a speed aided by the Shunshin no Jutsu, which bewildered Shizune before she could raise her arms to do anything. He sank his tanto-sized sword into her stomach. Shizune's eyes widened in pain before she exploded immediately into a cloud of purple-black smoke.

This time he widened his eyes in surprise. Shiro disappeared again in Shunshin-aided speed again. Without it, the poisonous cloud could have spelled out doom for him.

Shiro sucked his teeth in annoyance. 'A clone infused with poison,' he groused inwardly. 'How quaint.'

"Ninpō: Dokugiri!" The medic yelled behind him, and he cartwheeled out of the way. A smog of purple-black poison billowed in the space he once occupied.

Shizune wasted little time, and she had Shiro on the defensive – again. Against his beliefs dealing with medics, Shizune engaged Shiro in close combat, her hand teeming in blue visible chakra. The bounty-hunter found Shizune nearly as fast as him without him being aided by Shunshin. She even managed to get a hit on his cheek, gashing him. He hissed in pain, disliking how slow he was. She was deceptively faster than he took her and comfortable enough in close combat – even if she was merely a clone.

'Tricks like clones to cover her weakness to close combat,' Shiro growled to himself, feeling annoyed at getting put on the defensive again. Of course, of course, this battle would be difficult. Kakuzu's flippant attitude about Tsunade and her student must have been rubbing off on Shiro and it was stupid. They were worthy opponents – at least Shizune was. They would be no easy prey.

Oh well, he smirked to himself. The best type of battles was never easy.

Shiro moved back from Shizune – or her clone's – as she swiped at him with the blue chakra in her hands. Instead of swinging back at her, not wanting to put himself in the same situation as before, he jumped back at and sheathed his sword. He kept retreated, as Shizune pursued him, intent on slashing at his face with that blue chakra that acted like a knife or a sword.

When she failed to hit him for the umpteenth time, the assistant of Tsunade threw her head back, her cheeks swelling before she spat out some poison again. This time, it was in a concentrate poisonous ball that she spewed from her mouth. The redhead evaded it, frowning as he heard a loud sizzle. Turning, he witnessed the purple sludge ate at the grass before it disappeared into the ground.

Believing this was a clone again – as she was too comfortable at attacking the redheaded missing-nin at a close range, Shiro returned back to his old plan. He weaved through a set of hand seals. Molding chakra as it kneaded in his stomach, Shiro formed a quick sequence of hand seals and expelled a torrent of water from his mouth.

Seems like both of them were at a standstill – Shiro hardly could approach a target if they were using poison like that, and Shizune wasn't willing to give him any chance to get close to her.

Things would be trickier than he thought.

But, he thought to himself, smirking with a devious thought, One touch and she would easily go down. And I know just the thing to put her down.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Kakuzu tangled with Tsunade in a dance of death. Tsunade was very comfortable using merely taijutsu against Kakuzu as they exchanged blows with each other. Kakuzu managed to get in a few punches but Tsunade's blows hurt something fierce. Trying to fight her without an edge would have proved to be stupid, so Kakuzu backed off quickly and started generating chakra within himself.

His skin's color changed from an earthy brown to a near black. Tsunade tried punching him again but winced as his skin was now as hard as diamond. Kakuzu used this chance to slam a fist into her stomach, sending her sliding backward, but Kakuzu didn't let up the pressure. He quickly approached her in a dash but was forced back in a trip as the ground beneath him trembled.

Tsunade came with a haymaker again with Kakuzu looking like he allowed it. "Stupid," he muttered as Tsunade found again she couldn't hurt him through his ninjutsu. Kakuzu tried returning an attack, but Tsunade moved away quickly.

"How many times are you going to try and punch me, Senju?" The ex-Takigakure ninja mocked. "This ninjutsu makes me immune to such techniques."

Tsunade scoffed. "Psh, how annoying. Another Earth-release user. I don't know why people like using rocks against me as if it's going to do anything."

"This technique is the ultimate defense against taijutsu, weapons, and even elemental ninjutsu. If it can withstand your chakra-enhanced strength, there's little you can do against me now."

"Oh?" Tsunade lazily drawled, which quickly unnerved Kakuzu. "You think I was using my chakra-enhanced strength technique before, huh?"

"…You can't be serious," Kakuzu couldn't quite help but to opine as a blue haze of chakra enveloped Tsunade's hands. "That was-?"

"-Just my regular, normal strength," the blonde finished as she jetted forward at him in a speed that didn't belong to her before, muscles being augmented by chakra. Kakuzu realized that with all his toying with the Senju, she herself was toying with him. In all of his years of being a shinobi, Kakuzu had fallen into the pitfall many ninjas fell into, which was underestimating their opponents.

He immediately threw his arms up in a cross guard, hoping that would save him from her newer strength. Unlike before where the technique completely stopped her blows from hurting him, he felt his bones jar at Tsunade's punch. He slid back, gritting his teeth angrily. Tsunade nearly teleported into his guard, sliding in before sinking in a fist in his chest but instead of flying back, he stopped moving altogether, paralyzed. Then, as soon as she flicked a finger to the sky, he held a fist up high against his own volition.

"So, is that ninjutsu an Earth Release technique? Regular taijutsu, weaponry, and even strong elemental ninjutsu just bounce off this technique, right?" Kakuzu found himself unable to physically speak. She held him up with one hand, grabbing his shirt's collar roughly. "But even if your technique can stop a lot, Earth Release is still weak against Lightning."

Tsunade let him go and cocked a hip out. "You really should have never underestimated a medic-nin, much less the best in the world. One bit of chakra and we can heal you completely, but one jolt of it, and we can literally stop your heart from beating. Or, if you get like me, you can do things like making your chakra like lightning, and effect electrical signals in your body like the brain or the heart.

"Isn't that funny? All it takes is one precise current of electricity to mess up one's heart rate of a person and…" Tsunade trailed off as Kakuzu slumped to the ground, boneless.

After a few seconds, she bent down and checked for a pulse before nodding in satisfaction before moving away to help Shizune finish the last bounty hunter off-

-Only to barely dodge a firestorm that raged towards her like a bull.

"Ah, the human heart is such a fragile thing. One move and you're dead. Well done, Tsunade of the Senju, for showing me the err of my ways." Tsunade's eyes widened as a black mass of… something formed behind the missing-nin. It had some sort of… mask on its body. Then another masked mass. Then, another.

Kakuzu ripped off his shirt, revealing his heavily muscular tanned body to be held up by stitches, staples, and threads – not unlike a ragdoll. Behind him, three black creatures – one with red lips, one looking avian with dark blue markings on its face, and one with sharp-looking teeth and a yellow-nose.

What in the fuck…?

"How are you still-?"

"Alive?" Kakuzu finished her sentence. "I think my biggest folly today was underestimating you, Tsunade, and for that, I apologize. I believed you to be some sort of drunken, sad pathetic shell of a kunoichi you once were who was more concerned with gambling and how much sake you could fit in your gullet in a day."

The mask with a pair of red lips shot out a small fireball that when touching the ground, caught onto a firestorm that went towards her.

She dodged again, as Kakuzu continued his speech. "Perhaps it is because I truly despise your clan as well that made me uncharacteristically bloodthirsty and pigheaded. However, now I can see that you are still worthy of the mantle 'Sannin.' So, for now on, I'm going to take you seriously and I won't be playing with or indulging you with anymore conversation."

The missing-nin prepared a snake hand seal and the yellow nosed masked mass of stitches started moving towards her with lightning erupting from its maw. "Prepare for death. Raiton: Gian."

They raced in the trees, Kiba and his dog easily picking up Tsunade's heavily perfumed scent. Kiba remarked that it was like she took a bath in lavender and rosemary. Neji scoffed, sardonically quipping what kind of shinobi would do such a thing, and Naruto couldn't help but feel astounded by it too. Many sorts of ninjas were trained to sniff out their target by their scent. He was sure that anyone decent could find her if they really tried.

Of course, Shino then remarked – and Shikamaru agreed – that Tsunade may not care because she was incredibly strong anyway. She was unbothered by bounty hunters because she was too strong to deal with them. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't being arrogant. The two hunters seemed very confident in dealing with her.

In any case, they were happy that Tsunade wore a lot of perfume on her body. "Heh, she must have been out of Konoha for a long time. You can't run away from an Inuzuka's nose!" Kiba smirked, wiping his nose in a cocky manner. Akamaru barked on his back in affirmation.

Neji's eyes bulged with the Byakugan, speaking to Operative Tenzō. "We're nearing the end of this forest. There is a large field ahead."

"Good work, Hyūga-san," Tenzō congratulated, but held his hand up, signaling the team to stop moving.

The cluster of trees of one of the many forests of Hi no Kuni disappeared. As Neji said, the team from Konoha found themselves viewing a lowland with a grassy field that stretched for miles. The fields of green fell under the casting full moon's light.

Naruto, who stood near Shikamaru in a tree, gave a tap on Shikamaru's shoulder who merely nodded. There was a true concern that Shikamaru's shadow manipulation techniques wouldn't be very useful since it was night and if they were fighting in a forest, the trees may obscure the natural light of the moon. However, the field prevented that.

They sat in the trees, quiet for a moment, listening to the battlefield. Various cries – both male and female – came from down on the field. Naruto could see lightning flash against the skies, fire erupt from out of nowhere, and the ground uprooted. Yep, they were here.

"Tsunade and Kakuzu are doing battle in the distance," Neji remarked from his spot behind the trees, a small bit behind the newer team leader, Tenzō.

"Who's that one again?" Naruto asked.

"The tall, brown-skinned one with the freaky eyes." Kiba shivered visibly. "The other guy is fighting Shizune over there."

Naruto could see them from his position, seeing Shizune and the redhead do battle. Tenzō grunted. "They are fighting quite evenly. He must be quite formidable of a foe if he can fight with Tsunade-sama's apprentice." Then just as the ANBU operative said anything, Shizune faltered in battle and fell down. Her opponent approached, fast. "Quick: Naruto-kun! Prepare a clone. Nara-san, use the Kagemane." Tenzō had already started to contort his hands in hand seals.

Shikamaru prepared a hand seal as he moved from behind the tree, and dropped to the ground. Naruto performed his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and his clone followed Shikamaru.

The redhead closed in on Shizune but soon was immobilized by the wooden prison that encircled him, double helix in shape. Shikamaru's shadow stretched to meld with Shizune's opponent, making further resistance impossible. Naruto's shadow clone didn't hesitate and drove a kunai horizontal across the throat of the missing-nin, slashing the trachea cleanly.

Blood squirted from the throat of the man. The missing-nin started choking on his own blood, gasping for air. The redhead's sword dropped out of his grip, inches away from Shizune's body. Tenzō and Shikamaru released their techniques and, after a few more seconds of sprawling around, the missing-nin fell forward on his left arm, dead.

Naruto dispelled his clone and the boys let go of a breath they didn't know they had. Tenzō walked up to Shizune, to check on her, while Naruto grinned in triumph. "Alright, one less person we don't have to worry about now. Hey, how is Shizune-san?"

"Unconscious but breathing. There seemed to not be much wrong with her. All of her cuts are mostly superficial." He already pulled out a field medical kit and started addressing the wounds. He attempted some more checking of her for a few seconds, before taking a packet out of his pocket and raise it to Shizune's nose. Smelling salts, Naruto deduced inwardly. It was used to arouse someone from unconsciousness, but the ANBU shinobi stood up and shook his head when there was no reaction. "I can't rouse her. It must be something else wrong with her. Anything wrong with her chakra system, Hyūga-san?"

Neji took that as a sign to use his Byakugan and diagnose Shizune's tenketsu. He moved closer to the ANBU and the unconscious assistant of Tsunade. "There is a noticeable blockage on her arm. Shizune-san's chakra is being suppressed by something."

"Like a seal?" Tenzō wondered out loud. He then lifted the black sleeve of Shizune's and saw the culprit. "Ah, I see it. It's some sort of chakra suppressing seal on her. The bounty hunter must have known fūinjutsu and somewhere during the battle nailed her with one. Maybe this is the reason she has not awoken yet. My skill isn't quite high enough with fūinjutsu to remove it without possibly causing more harm than good. There could be some sort of failsafe, like having it removed would rig the seal to blow up, which would endanger Shizune-san's life more."

Naruto scratched under his chin, then spared his squad leader, Tenzō, a look. "So, what are going to do about Tsunade and that other shinobi now?"

"You all will do nothing," the brown-haired ANBU flatly replied, as he stood up again. He brought out and threw a first aid kit at Shikamaru, who caught it. "I assume each and one of you have taken a first aid course in school. One of you should continue to tend to her wounds, while the rest of you stand guard.

"Remembered what I said: engage no enemy until my say. Wait here, and protect Shizune-san. Clearly, if that other bounty hunter is fighting Tsunade-sama and fighting equally, then she may need my assistance. In case another person is tracking Tsunade-sama, I will need you all to defend Shizune-san."

The boys nodded as Tenzō disappeared with the usage of the Shunshin no Jutsu.

The team gathered around each other, all starting to move in a protective formation around Shizune. "Well, you guys made that kill on that redhead look easy," Kiba started to remark, a small smirk on his face. "I was expecting it to get crazy."

"That's how a shinobi should strive to kill his target, Kiba. Short and clean," Shino injected his thoughts in the conversation.

Kiba waved his teammate off. "Yeah, yeah. So, what now? Guard duty?"

"Logic would seem to dictate so."

"I could do without the dry comment, Shino," Kiba narrowed his eyes at his more stoic counterpart. Much to his annoyance, the rest of his peers looked amused – Naruto downright laughing. "You know, you're really-"

Naruto's sharp cry was heard next. Neji blurred forward and struck at the revived redhead, who they thought to be dead, first. The bounty hunter twisted into his guard and managed to hit him with a punch to his gut that sent him back a few inches. Kiba and Akamaru launched at him, but the man moved away.

Naruto himself laid on the ground, unmoving as he watched his team engage in battle against the once dead man.

"You know, I could have sworn I told you boys to stay put and not bother us grown folk. But you're hardheaded. Kind of like myself when I was younger." The red-haired man smirked, bending down in front of Naruto. Or, rather, a doppelgänger of him. "Especially you, young man. Naruto was it? I need you to stay put, young Naruto. Let me just handle your friends, okay?"

Naruto's mind was in a panic as he struggled to get up but he couldn't feel his body responding. It was as if a weight held him down to the ground. 'What the hell did this bastard do to me?!'

The missing-nin continued, "Just be lucky we're not even really here for you today. That's why I let you and your friends go. Or, at least, I tried to anyway. Now, they have to die. Pity but you get to live – at least for a bit." Wait, what did that-? "After all, we're not rocking the red clouds today but when we meet again, we just might."

That comment… No, Naruto thought, as his eyes widened in fear. These men were Akatsuki members, weren't they? Fuck. Fuck.

"Now, to make sure you no longer interfere…" Naruto's eyes rolled back as some sort of jolt – like electricity – went through his body. His vision blackened, watching feebly as the man's clone started to walk away and whistle jauntily.

Silence began.

End.

A/N: Chapter was starting to get extremely long. Broke it down. Finally done with it. Sorry for the wait but after taking a break from this story for a bit, I thought I was ready to finish up this chapter. Then that didn't happen. Finished though.

The next chapter should wrap things up here and we can get onto doing better stuff. I definitely struggled to put an angle to this that was tasteful or at least decent. I at least hope it was. More to come soon, I promise. I already completed Chapter 17. Probably release it tomorrow or Monday. I'm going to let this chapter sit for a bit.

Translation List:

Ninpō: Dokugiri – Ninja Art: Poison Cloud

Raiton: Gian – Lightning Release: False Lightning

Taichō – Captain