Kabuto Yakushi was in quite the situation at the moment.

Correction, a clone of Kabuto Yakushi was in quite the situation. The original Kabuto wasn't anywhere near one of the hideouts in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind). In fact, they were actually closer to Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), which housed Konoha.

They were actually in Oto no Kuni (Land of Sound), which housed Otogakure. He already knew that if Suna and Konoha were to team up, they would attack the hideouts in Kaze no Kuni first. Attacking Oto no Kuni was too risky. They knew very little very little about the land over there and it was too much of a disadvantage.

Obviously, due to Suna's weak state and the damage done to Konoha, Otogakure could probably beat both of them, albeit with quite some difficulty. However, in a remote hideout in Suna with a very limited amount of reinforcements…

Things were on more even grounds. There probably aren't that many ninja coming here, as other Shinobi need to be sent out on missions to make Konoha and Suna look strong to neighboring countries.

It all worked out perfectly, expect Orochimaru had lost the use of his arms. Fortunately, once he switches bodies, he should be able to at least move his limbs again. However, he will still be unable to use Jutsu that require hand signs.

Currently, the real Kabuto was looking into a counter against the Shinji Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal), postponing the hunt for Sasuke until Orochimaru retrieved the use of his hands. Obviously, the Shiki Fuujin was a powerful Jutsu created by the Uzumaki clan. That meant there was some way to somehow reverse the effects of the Jutsu. However, finding that way was the hard part for Kabuto.

And it's not like he could just go to Uzushiogakure and ask for the way to reverse the Shiki Fuujin. After all, the village was attacked and destroyed a long time ago. Members of the Uzumaki clan were now either dead or scattered to places where people wouldn't even recognize where they had come from, their heritage forever forgotten.

And at the moment they had assumed that Uzushiokagure had already been ransacked by the nations that destroyed it. No matter what though, they needed more time. And Orochimaru had to be kept safe.

That was the purpose of the Kabuto Bunshin. He had come to this hideout in order to wage an attack against the approaching Shinobi from Suna and Konoha in order to buy more time. Obviously, he couldn't do it alone. So, he had enlisted the help of many people.

The Sound Trio, Guren, and finally some very special help in the form of the Sound Four. They could have had more people helping out in the form of prisoners. However, there were no prisoners whatsoever in the hideout. They were either dead or transferred to another one of Orocnimaru's hideouts.

However, the amount of people he had helping him was enough. Guren was quite the force to be reckoned with. The same could be said about the Sound Four. The three Sound Genin also have great potential. Said potential was greatly increased with their advancement into the second stage of the Curse Mark thanks to the pills given to them by the Sound Four.

Speaking of the Sound Trio, Kabuto entered a room where the three of them were waiting for him with satisfied expressions on their faces. It was the face a baby would wear when it would get a new toy. Well, that's how Kabuto would describe at least from his point of view.

"How are you three feeling?" Kabuto asked with a malicious smirk. They would turn out to be very useful to Orochimaru indeed. "Powerful? I bet you feel like you could take on the entire world."

"You bet your bi-spectacled ass I do!" Zaku exclaimed with a cocky smirk, glancing down at his hands, flexing his fingers. He could truly feel the new and awesome power surging through his veins. It was...captivating. He just wanted to have more of it.

"Easy, Zaku." Dosu stated calmly, trying to keep himself under control. Even he had to admit, this power boost was pretty big. "In terms of Kabuto-san and Orochimaru-sama, we are still inferior."

Zaku merely scoffed, sending his male teammate an annoyed glare for ruining his happy mood.

To Zaku, Dosu was that one guy who always wanted to ruin all the fun, whether it'd be by saying something to dampen the mood or to display dominance over others. It was one of the things he hated his guts for! Hell, if they weren't on the same team, both of them knew that they would have ended up trying to kill each other at some point.

Kabuto watched over the spectacle with an amused gaze. Then, he directed his attention over to Kin, who was sharpening her senbon with a face that spoke a desire for retribution.

"And you, Kin-chan? How do you feel about this great gift?" The white-haired man asked with faked eyes of interest.

He obviously didn't care for the three. In fact, the only one he really cared about was Orochimaru. To be honest, Kabuto was quite surprised that his master still saw some worth in these three. The interactions between these three Genin make it look like they're about to slit each other's throats at every turn.

Brushing a thick bundle of her black hair out of her face with her hand, Kin locked eyes with Kabuto. Even when very detached and uninterested, Kabuto could see the excitement bubbling up inside of the young girl. First was a wave of recollection that passed through her black irides followed by the familiarity of hate and anger caused by humiliation. He didn't know nor care who it was exactly that made Kin this pissed off at them. All Kabuto knew was that it was two Konoha Genin who were most likely on their way here.

It was the perfect time for retribution in Kin's eyes. Again, Kabuto wasn't interested in any of their affairs or plights. However, there would certainly be a problem if it affected the mission that was given to them by Orochimaru. For that reason, and that reason alone, was why a Kabuto clone was sent to watch over them and take part in the fight as well. After all, the prospect of revenge can corrupt anyone.

Many dead Shinobi were proof of that…

"I can't wait to kill those two bitches who humiliated me!" Kin growled, rising to her feet and chucking a single senbon at a wall. The sharp weapon was engraved into the wall halfway, with the other portion sticking out for all to see.

"Patience, Kin-chan." Kabuto chided with an amused tone. "You'll get what you want in due time. Just be patient until then."

He received a scoff from the girl in return, followed by her exiting the room, probably to vent on some practice dummy. Or perhaps to practice methods to torture the two who apparently humiliated her in a fight.

He removed his gaze from the exiting Kin. His eyes drifted over to the attentive Dosu, who was ready for any orders that may be given to him. Kabuto offered a smile his way, one that caught the attention of the bandaged man. A drop of sweat seemed to be moistening the bandages covering his face.

How interesting...Kabuto thought to himself, seeing that Dosu was nervous. Ever since the Sound Trio got the second stage of the Curse Mark, the one-eyed man seemed to be very on edge. Usually, the man had made sure to hide this new trait of his, but once in a while he would slip up.

"Dosu, please go look for Guren and the Sound Four." Kabuto commanded without a second thought. "I think it is about time we all got ready for the coming fight."

Dosu nodded, slowly walking past Kabuto with a straightened posture in an attempt to seem like his normal self. However, this attempt failed, and Orochimaru's right hand man could see through this facade quite easily.

The time for battle is coming. Kabuto reminded himself internally. Hopefully, this will buy more time to find out about a cure for Orochimaru-sama's arms as well as my research…if worst comes to worst, then we'll have to give Orochimaru-sama those eyes...

Kabuto spun on his heel and proceeded to exit the room, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the corridor.

"Alright, young ones!" Jiraiya yelled out with his gruff voice. "It is time to move out!"

Sakura gave Jiraiya a side glance with a dumbfounded expression on her face. Does he really have to speak to us as if we're little kids…

Regardless, she walked over to her given teammate. Upon arrival, she and Hinata exchanged glances, giving each other a smile. Albeit Sakura's smile was more to reassure her fellow kunoichi, who seemed to be nervous now that they were actually about to invade Orochimaru's lair.

She moved her view over to Naruto and Sasuke, the latter crossing his arms and slumping his head down with his eyes closed while the former sent her a wide grin. She could easily decipher the message behind that face.

'Great to be working with you, Sakura-chan!'

"Let's give it our best shot you guys!" Sakura made a fist with her right hand and grabbing the wrist with her left hand.

Meanwhile, while this exchange occurred, Jiraiya walked past Kakashi, putting a firm grip on his arm. The masked ninja immediately gave the Gama-sennin his full attention.

"What is it that troubles you, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked with a concerned tone, seeing the serious mask that Jiraiya had put on his face. The 50-year old man was usually quite jovial and outgoing, so when he was serious, his news was almost always very important.

And what the sage told him only confirmed this belief.

"Do you remember that organization I told you about?" Jiraiya questioned the ninja with a quiet tone so the others would not be able to listen in.

"Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked criminals? Yes, I do remember such a thing like that. Why? Did something happen?" Kakashi said with an alarmed tone.

"Unfortunately, yes." Jiraiya admitted with a grim tone. "My source—whose identity will continue to remain unknown to you—claims that two members of Akatsuki are on their way here."

Kakashi grimaced upon hearing the news. That was not good at all. If Akatsuki was on their way here, then that meant only one thing.

"They're after Naruto." Kakashi stated with an astute voice.

Jiraiya shook his head. He spoke, his voice filled with uncertainty, "That's what I'm thinking as well. However, it wouldn't be bring to assume that they are after Gaara as well. Hell, they're mission might be killing Orochimaru."

"Killing Orochimaru?" Kakashi repeated, widening his exposed eye. "For what purpose? I understand that Orochimaru is a tyrannical maniac that trifles with the lives of those around him, but I see no reason why an organization built around capturing the nine Biju would concern themselves with someone like him. After all, Orochimaru hasn't announced any interests in capturing the Biju…"

"That is true…" Jiraiya mumbled, rubbing his chin as the information given to him by his source played in his mind for him to say out loud. "But, I never did tell you that Orochimaru and Akatsuki have some history."

"History?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. My guess is that Akatsuki wants to kill Orochimaru because he could have some vital information due to him being a former member of the group,"

The news hit Kakashi like a water dragon from the Second Hokage. With a startled tone, he expressed his shock, "O-Orochimaru used to be part of Akatsuki?"

The sage regretfully nodded.

"So this is why you wanted to be alone." Kakashi realized.

"Yes. I will be looking for the two people from Akatsuki. Even if their business is with Orochimaru, we cannot let their presence go ignored." Jiraiya furrowed his eyebrows, looking towards the ground out of frustration. "For all we know, they could easily turn around and go after Naruto or even Gaara, considering he is a jinchuuriki as well."

"And why are the other three Jonin not being told about this?"

"Because I told them before we left the village. Think about it, if four Jonin and a Sannin just huddled up, that would make our little Genin very suspicious."

"I see. And what should I do if I run into Akatsuki?" Kakashi wondered out loud.

"As everyone is focusing on a single hideout, we won't be that far from each other. I'm sure if you threw a kunai tied to a paper bomb into the air I could see and hear the explosion." Jiraiya said.

As this conversation went on, Shino, Shikamaru, and even Sasuke stole glances at the group in an attempt to listen in. Unfortunately, they were speaking very quietly, and everyone else was conversing with another. As a result they couldn't hear most of the conversation apart from a few inaudible words.

However, they could just barely hear some things that sounded very interesting.

Akatsuki…

Biju…

Capturing…

Naruto…

Jinchuuriki...

While they showed any signs of shock, they were frozen on the inside. What was Akatsuki? What did this Akatsuki have to do with Naruto and the Biju? And what the FUCK was a jinchuuriki?

Unfortunately, now was not the time to be asking these kind of questions. Albeit, they really did want to press for answers, Sasuke especially as their talk seemed to relate to Naruto in some way. In the end however, no one said anything about Jiraiya and Kakashi's conversation.

After a minute or two, the groups finally went their own way. While the end goal was to defeat Orochimaru, the fact that the teams were filled with Genin were still a factor. As a result, the main purpose of these groups were to scout out the perimeter of Orochimaru's hideout, which essentially a large underground lair.

Reinforcements would of course be on the way from Sunagakure in order to help take down Orochimaru. However, seeing as that the village rose recently and that they had just come out of an invasion in which many of their Shinobi died, there were most likely not many Shinobi on the enemy's side.

This made the time for attack perfect.

Meanwhile

"It seems we are close, Itachi-san." Kisame Hoshigaki said to his partner with his shark-like grin, lumbering Samehada on his shoulder.

Itachi Uchiha gave no response. This was usually how interactions went. Kisame was the talker while Itachi was the silent and reserved one of the two.

The rogue ninja from Konoha opened his closed eyes, his three tomoe Sharingan activated in both eyes. "I can feel something…" He spoke after a long moment of silence. "There are others not far from here."

"Oh? Perhaps they are after Orochimaru like us…" Kisame suggested with a light chuckle.

Itachi closed his eyes as the duo continued to trudge through the sands. "If that is the case, then it is mostly likely ninja from Konoha."

"From Konoha? Your old home, huh?" Kisame glanced to his partner to see if he could pick up any signs of nostalgia, regret, or any hesitance of the sort. He not only found no signs of such, but like last time, he said something that once again showed that he did not care for his village.

"Konoha is our enemy. Former home or not, mutual enemy or not." Itachi said with an emotionless tone. "I have cut my ties with that place five years ago and I have no intention of going back. Our only job is taking down Orochimaru, I would like to avoid any hassle with Konoha ninja."

"And if we have no choice but to fight?"

"Then we fight." Itachi stated with obstinate eyes. "It is them or us. It is as simple as that."

Kisame blinked. "Wow, that's pretty cold...even for my standards." Despite cutting his ties with Kiri, Kisame wouldn't act that cold and pretend like he never lived there at one point. "Very well then, if that is how it's going to be…" Kisame formed a hand sign. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)!"

Molding his chakra to create water, Kisame shaped his newly created substance into a body with exactly the same height and physique that he himself had. The water solidified, turning into an exact clone of Kisame.

"Let's get going. Shall we, Itachi-san?"

"We're splitting up." Was all that the Uchiha said, confusing the former ninja from Kiri.

"Why are we splitting up?" He asked.

"It will be easier to find Orochimaru that way. Let us make quick work of this. Orochimaru will die today..."

Wow, has it been a while. All I can say is that I'll try to be faster next time. I just wanted to have you guys know I haven't dropped this fic.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get to some fights, I make no promises though.

Hope you enjoyed this short chapter.

Take care, goodbye!