A/N: hooray, an update! :D Hope this week has treated all of you well. I'm fairly drowning in readings (I need Konan's paper jutsu!) but it's the weekend and time to relax a bit ;)

The little striped gecko tucked along the top of Snake's left ear paws at her hair in agitation, its beady black eyes glinting as it opens its mouth to speak in an inexplicably human voice. "We're giving up?"

Snake grimaces sympathetically though the gecko can't see her face. "I'm sorry, Konan-san. We really don't have enough information to track them down. That we found out about this at all was a stroke of luck."

Hidden behind a stack of styrofoam cooler boxes in the corner of the wet market, Snake squints at the tiny lettering on the piece of paper in her hand. The message is written in two codes, one of them Akatsuki's and the other one of Konoha's ANBU encryptions. Courtesy of hours spent studying over Kakashi's shoulder, Sakumo manages to understand the carefully constructed symbols before Snake folds the letter back into half. With a barely noticeable flex of Konan's chakra, the piece of paper folds up further and takes to the air as an airplane.

"I don't even know if they've chosen the children yet," Snake says lowly, her shoulders tensing as the booming voice of the nearest fish-monger washes over them. "Much less when they'll make the... delivery." Her eyes dart towards the narrow path between the parallel rows of stalls. In the box beside her, the dead-eyed stares of several white bass glisten from their coffin of crushed ice.

Konan's paper gecko looks as upset as a gecko can possibly seem, its mouth snapping open and shut as if wanting to bite down on something. "Fine," it says eventually. "Konoha had better guard her borders tight and arrest them when they cross over."

Everyone, including the ghosts, is disappointed by the order to stand down but there simply isn't a feasible solution at the moment. "What does the rest of the letter say? I didn't manage to see all of it." Yahiko asks, looking between Hyaku and Sakumo with still a flicker of hope in his eyes.

Other than the order regarding the Ame children, there is only one other sentence in Akatsuki code and Sakumo explains it to Yahiko. 'Change re: mission obj 2: interrogation + clean-up + blackout.'

Mission objective 2 refers to Danzou. The mission has just been elevated from an information-gathering mission to a search and destroy operation. But there is no mention of backup despite the number of ROOT agents standing at two squads* if not more. Sakumo's blood runs cold at the sheer difference in numbers and Hyaku shakes her head somberly. The only way for this mission to become even more suicidal is to attempt to assassinate Hanzou. There's no choice though — the mission evolves as needs be. If Snake is perturbed by the change in orders, she doesn't let it show.

After sharing a meaningful look, the Konoha ghosts keep silent about the second part written in ANBU code: 'Change re: pt 20: collaborate if needed'. "Pt 20" is just as worrying as the others, since it refers to nothing other than Murakami's letter to the Hokage. Konan will be furious if she finds out that Minato has given permission to his ANBU to work with the enemy; Murakami herself remains unpredictable despite her apparent willingness to work with Konoha.

Konan's little messenger slips along the shell of Snake's ear, lands on her shoulder, and crawls down her arm to stand on the back of her hand. Snake brings it to eye-level, smiling grimly. "I'll see you around—"

"What's at the bottom of the letter? It's not in our shared code," the gecko accuses, eyeing Snake.

"Just an update on personal matters," the ANBU agent lies, not batting an eye. "Family."

The gecko flicks its tongue suspiciously - as if it's able to taste the falsehood in the air - and Snake lets it down onto the ground. "Alright," it murmurs unhappily, watching Snake pull out a small bundle of papers filled with these weeks' encoded information. Without another word, the gecko begins to lose form. Snake's papers flutter and come loose as they become incorporated into Konan's proxy's new form. A storm grey kitten blinks up at Snake a moment later, giving a nod goodbye before trotting off and disappearing between two aquariums of lobster and octupi.

Sighing, Snake hauls her box of fish aloft with a grunt and sets off to find the other maids. Hopefully they have not started to wonder about her absence.

"Family?" Yahiko murmurs thoughtfully as they trail after her. "The Hokage is pretty close to his ANBU huh? Playing messenger and all that."

'If only,' Sakumo thinks forlornly. Snake and Kakashi can sure do with some encouragement.

*around 24 people