Ink's Notes:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M NOT DEAD GUYS LOOK AT HOW NOT DEAD I AM

jesus fluff it's been almost a year what happened to me OH RIGHT I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK I'LL GO INTO DETAIL AFTER THE CHAPTER BUT AGAIN, ALMOST A YEAR, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SUCKS TO BE ME

Chapter Forty-Three

During the trip to Kirigakure, Marco and Bepo had combined efforts to teach everyone the basics of Armament Haki. While Observation Haki was more intricate due to how many different things there were to sense, Armament was simpler in that all you had to really do was get a feel for how to activate it and then you could develop it on your own from there. It still took time to train, and the crew was surprised that they had learned so much so quickly, but having multiple teachers and multiple students to bounce theories and techniques off of turned out to be a surprisingly efficient way to develop the basics of Haki so you could learn the rest on your own.

No wonder so many Marines seemed to be capable of using it.

As it turned out, there were two naturals at using Armament Haki in their crew. The first, surprising absolutely no one, was Sakura, who took to it like a moth to flame due to the way she used her chakra in combat and was having fun practicing application with Marco. The second, surprising absolutely everyone, was the Kung-Fu Dugong, who was currently hopping around after Suigetsu, due to the fact that he was – unfortunately for him – the only other person present whose body was similar enough to a logia type that the crew could practice Haki on.

Suigetsu had also realized that Armament Haki was how Bepo had been able to hit him during their fight that seemed like so long ago, and so he had challenged the bear to a rematch once he was better at using both forms Haki. Bepo had accepted his challenge, seeing it as a way to practice his own use of Armament Haki, since he was only just starting to get a grip on giving it the black sheen it was usually known for in the New World.

Between training the group in Armament Haki, and making sure they had a firm grip on (the basics of) Observation Haki, the group had lost track of time, and so a week had passed before they realized they were starting to run low on supplies. They had honestly been having so much fun spending time together that the only reason they decided to continue their journey was because if they stayed out here for much longer then they would run out of food. So the crew sucked it up and actually finished the trek to Kirigakure. They arrived as the sun was going down, so they decided to check into an inn for the night, and in doing so they found that some guests who had arrived a little bit earlier had been asking about them.

"Could you tell us who those people are?" Sakura had asked, and the innkeeper informed them that, based on their forehead protectors, they were Konoha shinobi. They had asked him to inform the crew that they would be waiting at a hot spring that was a few blocks away from the inn they were staying at. Sakura asked about the hot springs and was informed that they were mixed gender bathing – swimsuits and at the very least towels were required – so they decided that Sakura, Marco, Perona, and Jugo would go to meet up with the Konoha shinobi while everyone else got settled at the inn and gathered any necessary supplies for their trip back to Konoha.

The hot springs weren't that long a walk away so they arrived after just a few minutes, and Marco motioned for everyone to wait before making a small phoenix clone. Perona's mouth fell open as she stared at the small bird that had just flown onto the fence to look into the hot springs, and she turned to Marco for an explanation.

"I'd like to know who we're dealing with before we go in, yoi," he explained.

"Not that, although that is good planning," Perona acknowledged. "I meant how you made that smaller version of yourself."

"Oh- that's right, you would probably be capable of doing something like that as well," Sakura realized, and Perona turned her head to face her so fast that Sakura actually took a moment to see if she'd hurt her neck. Once she was certain that Perona was fine, she elaborated. "A while ago, before we left Konoha, Marco asked if I could try teaching him some jutsu. Vivi and Carue also tried, but they weren't able to, probably because it's basically impossible to learn jutsu if you don't unlock your chakra paths at a young age, but Marco was able to pull off a few. Vivi theorized that it was because of his Devil Fruit, so since you ate one too, you should be able to do the same."

Perona smiled. "Horohorohorohoro~! That would certainly be a good way of throwing people off as to my location if I could make clones of myself," she hummed, already thinking of methods to use them in battle.

"The clones would probably have similar properties to things you can do with your Devil Fruit," Sakura put in before her imagination got out of hand, in case she started getting her hopes up for an impossibility. "Marco doesn't seem to be able to make clones of his person, but he can make clones of his phoenix form, for instance."

Perona nodded, then moved closer to Jugo, who supported her body. Sakura was about to ask what they were doing, but then a ghost that looked just like Perona moved out of her body and hovered in front of her now apparently asleep body. "Something like this, you mean?" she asked, and Sakura took a moment to wave a hand through the ghostly girl in front of her before mutely nodding. "My body is vulnerable when I do this, so having multiple versions of me to lead opponents away from it would be very useful."

Sakura was about to say something when Marco's small bird clone fluttered down in front of them, and Perona returned to her body as it chirped a message to Marco. "Doesn't look like anything we can't handle, yoi," he nodded, dispelling the bird as he turned to face Perona. "But if things start getting out of hand, you're free to use those Hollows of yours to give us time to get out of there."

Jugo frowned, holding Perona protectively. "Do you really think a fight will break out?"

"I don't think one should," Marco shook his head, "But we do have, well, you," Jugo nodded in understanding, "And the fact that they're here in the first place means that they have some reason to think we're not trustworthy, yoi."

Sakura bit her lip nervously. "Do you think they might have realized? About you?"

"It's possible, yoi. Only one way to find out."

Sakura nodded, then looked to her companions to see if they were prepared. Based on their expressions, they were ready for the worst, and so the four walked into the hot springs. They stored their belongings before moving out to where the bathing area was to go and meet up with their visitors from Konoha.

Sakura would say that she wasn't expecting them to be who they were, if she was being honest with herself. But she kept her expression neutral and controlled as she slipped into the water, Jugo joining her and Marco and Perona simply standing on the side of the spring. Across from them sat a group of six shinobi from Konoha. Kakashi she had expected, Sakura mused, and Naruto was a given if she and Kakashi were involved, not to mention Sai was probably there because of Danzo, but the other three she hadn't been expecting. Shizune sat at the edge of the water talking quietly to Tama, while Shikamaru seemed to be examining the group with lazy but cautious eyes. None of them seemed particularly keen on breaking the silence that had been caused by her group's arrival, so both groups simply sat there for a few minutes and waited for the other group to do so.

Finally, Naruto grew restless and pointed accusingly at Marco, rage etched into his features. "Hey, pineapple!" Marco and Shikamaru simultaneously twitched. "What's the big idea, lying to Sakura like that?!"

"…I'm sorry, what?" Marco asked, lazy expression on his face masking both his irritation at the nickname and his bewilderment at the accusation.

"You heard me!" he yelled. "Pretending to be a bird, and saying you were hit by a bad jutsu when that pretty lady with the glasses said it was a fruit!"

"For one thing, yoi, I wasn't pretending." As a demonstration, Marco shifted to his smaller bird form, then flew over and pecked Naruto on the forehead protector. "For two, is it really so hard to believe that a fruit could give me these abilities?"

"Well, to be fair, it is the last thing that anyone would expect," Shizune put in, before turning her gaze to Marco with a calculating glare. "The point is that your story keeps changing, apparently based on when we uncover more information. Quite frankly, it makes it hard to believe that you have good intentions here, and we have to wonder if you're only using Sakura to get free passage back home."

There was a sudden swirl of flames, and Marco was standing before Shizune, his posture threatening as he loomed over her. "Don't even insinuate that I would do something like use Sakura for my own ends. People who do that sort of thing are trash, the worst of the worst. Anyone who would dare use or hurt their nakama deserves whatever punishment comes their way. Understood?" Shizune mutely nodded, and Marco took a few steps back, much to the relief of the shinobi, who were beginning to wonder if it had really been a good idea to have their meeting in a place where they'd been required to store their weapons when it seemed that the one they were worried about didn't need them.

Sakura sighed. "How about if I explain?" she asked, and Marco moved back over to her side, keeping a glare leveled at the Konoha shinobi until he was behind Sakura again. "Here's the deal. Marco's not lying, but he's also not telling the truth."

Naruto blinked a few times. "What?" he asked blankly. Sai looked as if he were rolling his eyes at the comment, but nonetheless waited for further explanation.

"So what you're saying is," Shikamaru spoke up, bringing attention to himself as he scratched behind his head, "That you know his entire situation, the full story, and the full truth. He's told you because the two of you are close and trust each other, maybe even with your lives. But he hasn't told us because we're just a bunch of strangers in a world surrounded by lies and deceit. He gives us information on a need-to-know basis as we learn more, but keeps us from learning more by telling us things that aren't technically wrong but also aren't completely accurate. For example, when he initially told us that he'd been hit by a jutsu that made him able to turn into a phoenix, but left out that it was somehow transferred through a fruit. Right?"

Sakura nodded in response, and Kakashi looked over at her. "Then why haven't you told us? I'd like to think that you trust us enough to do so," he asked, and Sakura fought down a guilty look from the accusation.

"It's not my story or secret," Sakura pointed out. "I'd be worse than trash if I betrayed Marco's trust like that."

Perona let out a laugh. "Horohorohorohoro~! It's not like you would believe her if she told you, anyway," she hummed, amused. Jugo nodded mutely to confirm this point, a bit uneasy due to the amount of people present.

"The point to take away here," Tama spoke up awkwardly, "Is that our initial assumption that Sakura was being deceived is false, and she's been helping Marco of her own volition despite whatever it is he's not telling us." A few nods, mostly from Sakura's group, confirmed this. "So, shouldn't we trust her judgment? She's been doing well so far, right?"

Naruto turned to Tama to object, but quickly found that he had nothing to object with. He frowned, considered what to say, and eventually settled on "But Sakura's part of Team Kakashi! She should be able to trust us!"

"That is true," Sai said, "The fact that she's keeping information from us is concerning. She could be charged with willfully withholding information from the Hokage for this."

Perona lifted her hand to shoot a Negative Hollow at Sai, but Sakura nudged it down. "Related but not, how's Tsunade's research coming along? On getting them home, I mean," Sakura clarified, sending a glance at Perona that said We need to stay on their good side right now, don't try it.

Kakashi noted the absence of an honorific on Tsunade's name but decided not to bring it up. "She's found something that'll send you home but is working on the specifics, since we don't know the exact nature of the jutsu that sent you here. You'll have to stand in a very specific area that a talented shinobi will set up, and they'll be using seals and signs to read the lot of you and send you back to the places where each of you were hit by the jutsu."

Marco put his arms around Sakura protectively. "If at all possible, I'd like Sakura to be the shinobi who does that, yoi. I don't exactly trust any of you to send us back properly."

Kakashi nodded. "That's… fair, I suppose. I'll let the Hokage know about your request. We might need some other shinobi there to power the jutsu, since Sakura's chakra reserves may not be enough, but she's certainly smart enough to be able to understand and get the whole thing set up." Sakura wouldn't deny that the praise made her feel good, and used that feeling to cover up that she had figured out the actual reason that Marco wanted her to be the one to set it up. Judging by the way he was looking at her, he knew that she knew, and was keeping quiet about that as well.

"Sakura," Shizune spoke up. "I know you think we won't believe you, but it might be best if you tell us the full truth about Marco and the other guys you've been finding – er, speaking of which, have you found them all?"

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "We ran into Paulie while getting a ship, and found the Dugong on the shores."

Shizune decided not to question that last one. "That's good. But, if you don't tell us the full truth, then the jutsu we prepare might not be completely accurate in sending them back."

Before anyone could make any move to respond to Shizune's words, there was a large explosion from somewhere outside of the city. The assembled shinobi (and two pirates) immediately got to their feet and ran for where they'd stored their supplies and any clothing they'd stored, quickly equipping and dressing themselves before heading towards the source. The rest of the Phoenix crew met up with them on the way, words were exchanged to make sure that everyone was well, and before long they arrived at the site of the explosion.

It was a fair distance away, and a few of the Kirigakure shinobi who had been dispatched to investigate had apparently been defeated before the smoke even had a chance to settle. The Phoenix crew and the Konoha shinobi came to a halt at the edge of the crater, staring into the smoke as it cleared away.

Sakura gasped, and Naruto's eyes went wide. Marco growled, shifting into a battle stance, and Kakashi's hands moved to his weapons pouch. Shizune herded up Vivi, Karin, Carue, and Aisa, getting their help in removing the defeated shinobi from the line of fire. Paulie moved a hand towards where he kept his ropes and Sai moved to grab his art supplies. Jugo and Perona stood side by side, Perona forming a few Negative Hollows in anticipation. Bepo adjusted into a battle stance as Tama brought his hands up to begin making hand signs. Tashigi and Suigetsu both readied their swords, and the Kung Fu Dugong took a battle stance.

In the remains of the smoke, at the center of the crater, stood the members of Akatsuki, accompanied by Sasuke.

"Now that we have your attention," Pein smiled, his five other bodies at his sides, "How about we have a little chat?"

Alright, I promised an explanation. Here it is: Since February at least I've been absurdly low on essential vitamins and nutrients, which has made me a very tired person. Not tired in the sense of "I need to sleep", tired in the sense of "holy fluff I cannot bring myself to work on things", and on the few instances that I could bring myself to do so it was usually on other things, or smidgeons of this chapter that came together slowly. That, combined with the writer's block I've had, was sort of ... disastrous, really. I was barely able to get anything out for this. And, as I neared the end of the chapter, I started realizing that I wasn't really sure what was going to happen next. Sure, I know what happens after the Akatsuki thing, but the fight and/or conversation and/or whatever the heck is going to happen here? I have no fluffing idea what to do here. And after much deliberation, the answer appeared, and honestly it was so obvious that I don't know how I didn't think of it sooner: I could just ask you guys.

SO THEN! What do you guys want to happen here? Particular match-ups you want to see? Verbal spats you want to happen? WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANT OUT OF THIS ENCOUNTER, LET ME KNOW! Because honestly my current idea is "the konoha shinobi and phoenix crew divide themselves to take on their enemies and, um, fluff who should I have fight who I HAVE NO IDEA AAAAAAAAAAA"

...Yeah I kinda need help with this one. Let me know what you want to see happen and who you want to see go up against who!

-Many regards, Ink