Satoshi's Apartment

"Shit...she's still alive?" Satoshi heavily breathed while watching the skirmish between the musician and the three ANBU. His own injuries were much better than they actually looked, but he couldn't risk interfering with this battle, "Regeneration Technique? I'll have to switch to know for sure-"

"Satoshi!"

"Naruto...if I to tell you one more time-"

"It's important this time!" Naruto said while pulling Hinata with him and Sasuke following, "Tell him Hinata! This can help us!"

"Alright..." Hinata muttered, "You see...I used my Byukugan and saw something..."

"What did you see Hinata-"

"And be quick with it." Satoshi felt his blood chill when he realized that there was another shinobi in his room. He turned and spotted the sharingan gleam of Shisui Uchiha, "Lives are at stake child."

"Shisui..." Satoshi growled, "Nice of you to grace us-"

"Keep your focus on the enemy, Binjiketa."

"Who says I'm not?" Satoshi smirked and cracked his neck, "Shouldn't you be outside helping the others?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Satoshi-san was asking us what we found...Shisui-sama..." Hinata respectfully replied to Naruto's confusion and Satoshi's silence, "You see...Naruto-kun wanted me to use my Byakugan on the musician..."

"Did you find something?"

"Hai...there are thin chakra strands throughout the entire area..." Hinata reported to Satoshi's shock, "All of them tie to that musician..."

"A puppet?" Shisui remarked, "Satoshi...you're coming with me. If the musician is a puppet, then we need to find the puppet-master."

"Me and Hinata can go too!" Naruto shouted, but was slapped on the head by Sasuke, "What was that for Teme!"

"Dobe...you're just kids...we'd get in the way." Sasuke pointed out and frowned from Hinata's glance, "I'm just telling the truth...leave it to the adults..."

"Enjoy being kids! This won't be exciting anyway." Satoshi assured a disappointed Naruto, "Stay hidden until someone comes back...alright?"

"Just don't die...okay?"

"Got it." Satoshi agreed before Shisui grabbed his shoulder and both of them vanished out of the apartment.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke called out when Itachi appeared in the apartment and caught his brother in an embrace, "I knew you'd come!"

"Sorry that I'm late, I'll protect all of you with my life."

"Don't bother, Satoshi will have this done in no time flat!" Naruto declared before sitting down, "Thanks for dropping by though, but I think they need you out there anyway!"

"Naruto-kun..."

Konoha Residential District 17

"Shisui and Satoshi are tracking the puppet's user."

"A puppet?" Urufu asked while the three ANBU huddled under the stone dome create from Urufu's Futon: Ishi Domu, "That explains the clean kill."

"Its only a kill when they stop moving."

"Touche." Urufu replied humored despite the cracks that were appearing on the inside of the dome, "We need to neutralize those strings...that must be how the real assailant is transferring those Chakra-enhanced sound waves towards us."

"Now that you've already attacked it from underneath, she'll expect an attack from there."

"Right now...we're just buying time for Shisui and Satoshi." Urufu admitted with a shrug, "The only thing we can really do is make sure that collatoral damage stays at a minimum and keep the musician occupied."

"The dome is collapsing." Karosin pointed out while the three ANBU motioned to one another and ran through a series of handsigns just as the music of the puppet assassin began to crescendo.

"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!"

The sound waves of the puppet assailant's son slashed through the dome and threw heavy debris of rock across the street. The music continued even as civilians exited their homes to see what was happening. The puppet's pipa picked up momentum to silence the numerous new witnesses just as it unleashed a furious assault upon the now present Shishi. The ANBU was slashed into multiple pieces before the illusion cleared to reveal a sliced up chair.

"Futon: Muchiuchi Gesuto!" The real Shishi stood atop of a nearby roof as a whirling whip of wind lashed towards the assailant.

"Doton: Bokkusu"

Before the assailant could ready their song, the earth around it rose up and covered the assailant within a box of hardened rock. The assailant's song freed them from the rocky trap in time to ward off the ANBU's wind jutsu.

"Katon: Nenshō Kita!" Blazing from the south, a furious torrent of fire surrounded the assailant and combined with the wind energy of Karosin's comrade and trapped the assailant within a spiraling vortex of fire and wind...

xxxxx

"Just hang on for a little longer...we're almost there." Satoshi said to himself as he and Shisui landed in front of a closed pet store. Satoshi peered into an open doorway as Shisui activated his sharingan, "The strings all lead into this building, there's an A-rank chakra signature within."

"Switch to your shinrigan...or can a Shinri Clone do both?"

"Not in my condition...not while Shishi is already drained...both of us would die."

"Curious...despite your byakugan's lack of range, having you use both kekkei genkai would make this appointment more convenient."

"I'm here to stop a murderer, not cater to your convenience."

"Do speak louder...you shinobi are so noisy." An inviting voice said from within as Shisui and Satoshi readied their weapons and entered. The room was filled with rusted shelves and a counter with a dried bloodstain, "Make yourselves at home! I'll be out shortly."

"No need, we'll help ourselves!" Satoshi shouted as he slammed his palm into the wooden wall and watched it shatter and fall into several parts, revealing a hidden room where a thin bearded man sat on a high chair playing the pipa, "Hi."

"I appreciate the offer of hospitality, but the three of us should be leaving soon." Shisui politely said while the man continued to play his pipa, "In the name of the Third Hokage of Konoha, you are under arrest for assault and the murder of multiple ANBU shinobi. Come peacefully and your penance will be likewise. Resist and we will use deadly force to apprehend you...whether you're brought in alive or dead depends entirely on our disgression at this point."

"Do you enjoy the song?" The man asked as Shisui read Satoshi's expression and shunshined both of them behind the counter to avoid the wave of unseen chakra that cut through the building, "It's all so crude...so disharmonous...destructive...the songstress was so much more harmonious."

"She sounds like a nice woman." Satoshi muttered while hearing Shisui count to himself, "There's only one of him...unless you're counting something important..."

"I think I see why he uses the puppet for his attacks." Shisui said to an attentive Satoshi, "Did you detect the amount of chakra within the pipa? He likely uses a minimal amount of his own chakra as a catalyst for controlling the chakra within the pipa. Then he had used the pipa's chakra strings to transport signals and commands to his puppet which carries a replica of the pipa..."

"All while he stays here and tries to imitate his songstress..."

"Five seconds." Shisui said to Satoshi, "That's how long it takes for chakra to build up between each movement. I need you to keep him occupied for one movement before I can finish him."

"Why not just do it now-" Satoshi was cut off when both shinobi ducked under a wave of chakra that cut apart the wall behind them and demolished the counter. He also remembered that the musician's music was effective as both an attack and a defense, "How long is a movement?"

"It varies between songs."

"That helps."

"Twenty to Forty Seconds...give or take." Shisui guessed as Satoshi fell into a runner's position, "Are you really planning to attack it head-on?"

"You wanted a diversion, didn't you?"

"Not one that would have you throw your life away pointlessly."

"When did you become so concerned for the life of a Kuromuton?" Grumbling to himself, Satoshi caught his emotions before they risked ruining the mission. His mouth closed, but his mind spoke while the music continued, "Focus Satoshi. Focus your emotion towards your intuition."

"First, employ diversionary feint." Shisui intuitively deduced as Satoshi leapt over the ruined furniture and threw a kunai at the musician. As the tagged kunai hit the floor in front of him, the musician's song ripped through the young boy's body, "Discombobulate enemy." As the clone vanished from sight, the real Satoshi threw a shuriken at the tagged kunai, setting off the delayed tag and unleashing a deadly explosion.

"Throw off reflexive momentum..." Katon: Yuubi Tonbo!" Satoshi exhaled to blow a large dragonfly of gas at the assailant. The musician's movement rose to the challenge and cut down the dragonfly though some of the gas managed to reach him and ignited, "Use surroundings against him." Futon: Uzamaki Shīrudo!" A concentrated gust of wind swirled towards the musician, fueling the flames to leap onto his arms, disrupting his song entirely while the man put out the flames before they spread to his instrument.

"Use decreased awareness of environment to advantage." Shisui vanished from his place behind the debris and appeared next to the startled musician. Before the man could run his fingers across the strings of the pipa, Shisui had already stabbed multiple kunai into the man's arms to render them unmovable. In addition, the Uchiha's sharingan had made eye-contact with the assailant, "Neutralize and capture target."

"Why did you step in so soon?" "Thankfully you did...or I wouldn't have made it much longer."

"Your tango was amusing, but I do need to sleep."

"Sleep...just as the mistress sleeps..." The musician said as if in a heavy daze, "Sleep peacefully as a flock of sheep...lie down and dream, no need leap...come with me and join the heap..."

"Shisui..." Satoshi's eyes widened when numerous seals appeared on the inside of the house, "GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"Can't...he's disrupting my chakra..." Shisui replied, his hands covered with a different kanji, "He must have marked me while...you knew about me?"

"Shunshin Shisui of the Guardians of Fire?" The musician replied as the seals began to glow brighter, "The Good Boy sends his regards."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside, a large explosion flew out from within the pet store and enveloped it in a bolero of fire and wind. Then as quickly as it appeared, it died out leaving only burnt piles of wood sprinkled by ash and dust.

"Another candidate wasted..." An unseen observer said while walking past the debris, "This is the last time that I let the Snake-"

"Give me your hand." The observer slipped out of view and watched a Konoha shinobi rise out of the debris and pull a battered younger comrade out with him, "How are you?"

"Should I give you details or..."

"Don't bother..." The Uchiha hauled the boy onto his shoulders, pulled out a burnt corpse and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"One candidate wasted and yet another seen." The observer said when he returned to the shadows of Konoha, "The closed door leads to the path unseen..."

Konoha Retirement Center

"Thank you Haruto, but I am quite content."

"The young hokage insisted." An old man said to the older elder whom he guided to her garden, "The village is being attacked by an unknown assailant and he believes that the assailant may attack you."

"I am certain that this assailant will be dealt with before the sun rises." The woman confidently assured her companion when they came to her private small garden of Bara flowers that had yet to bloom, "The inheritors of the future beyond our sight will see to it."

"I thought you'd say that...Toshiko-sensei..." Haruto muttered with humor, "Nothing ever lessens your spirits..."

"Your spirit is still as strong as when you were a child, Haruto. You're not quite as old and useless as I am." Toshiko said with a laugh as Haruto shook his head in disbelief. This woman was a hundred and two years old and still possessed the thunderous laughter that she held when he was a boy, "After all, why else would you await your grandson after so many years?"

"No where near as long as his father..." Haruto scoffed, recalling a message from one of his son's toad summons, "They say that my grandson will never return...but either way, I will see him again...some day..."

"Till then, perhaps you should look upon the current harvest?" Toshiko asked while watering the stems of her two dozen flowers, "Too many of us older folk are stuck in the past...if they would only let go of their illusions of control and focus upon the blossoming young..."

"Illusions? Some illusions are stronger than others..." Haruto said with sadness, "The illusion of control is the strongest of these..."

"With good reason, no one wants to admit that they have no control over their lives..."

"Or that they have less control than they would like."

"Everyone is odd in that way when they are young."

"Don't I know..." Haruto laughed, "If I only I had known that lesson with my son. Then again, if things had not happened the way that they had, I never would have met my grandson."

"Or maybe you would have at a later time?" Toshiko offered while Haruto shook his head, "We both know that dwelling upon what has past is pointless. It is best to look towards tomorrow and live within today rather than waste the present."

Satoshi's Apartment

"Please tell me that someone's still alive..." A panting Urufu inquired while Karosin stood behind holding up a heavily panting Shishi. The Anbu was relieved when Itachi opened the door, "Chunin Uchiha Itachi...how are the kids?"

"Everyone is well though...some of us are anxious..."

"Where's Satoshi!" Naruto shouted from behind the Uchiha while Sasuke was trying to keep him inside, "Let go Teme!"

"Do you know where to look?"

"Satoshi and Shisui took out the musician, so they should be alright." Shishi answered the furious boy, "If he hasn't come back home, he's probably been taken to the hospital."

"See? Satoshi-san...Naruto-kun..." Hinata assured Naruto who just stared at the floor with a tear forming in his eyes, "You can go see him in the morning...right?"

"Yeah..." Naruto half-heartedly replied when another figure appeared in the neighborhood, "Now help shows up."

"Where is Hinata?" Hiashi Hyuga inquired with a hardened face, followed closely by a little Hyuga boy that seemed to be his son. The boy waved to Hinata, who ran past Naruto and jumped into the boy's arms, "Good...you are safe."

"We were worried for you Lady Hinata..." The boy said to the weeping girl, "Lord Hiashi was ready to burn the Land asunder to find you-"

"Neji-"

"Sorry Hiashi-sama..." The boy apologized and caught Naruto's apathetic gaze, "Were you the one who helped Hinata? Aren't you Uzamaki Naruto?"

"Why do you care?"

"Don't be rude!" Sasuke admonished the uncaring Naruto, "That's the Lord of the Hyuga Clan you know! Show some respect."

"Satoshi's influence no doubt..." Hiashi commented, his face softening somewhat when he looked upon Hinata, "You ran here Hinata?"

"Yes..."

"Are you hurt?"

"No..."

"Then all is well." Hiashi turned back to Naruto and bowed his head to Naruto's slight surprise, "Thank you once again, Uzamaki Naruto."

"Thank Satoshi, he's the one whose in the hospital."

"Perhaps I will," Hiashi said to a neutral Naruto while he hauled Hinata into his arms and addressed the ANBU, "Thank you as well."

"We were just doing our job, Hiashi-sama." Shishi replied before he nearly fell over and had to be caught by Karosin, "I'm sorry to cut this short...but I'd rather not bleed to death."

"Understood."

"Come Binjiketa..." Karosin playfully remarked to his injured comrade before both vanished in a flurry of leaves leaving Urufu behind.

"Those kids drive themselves too hard..." Urufu muttered while surveying the damage in the district and seeing several civilians exit their homes, "Time for crowd control...you'd best turn in for the night."

"What of the assailant?"

"The puppet will be turned into the Research and Investigation Department to be analyzed." Itachi answered Hiashi while the group looked upon the lifeless puppet that Urufu's Ninken sniffed and grabbed, "It's all that we have to determine whose behind the attack."

"What about Satoshi..."

"We'll go see him in the morning, you have my word." Itachi could see that Naruto wasn't convinced, but the boy resigned himself and went back inside alongside Sasuke, "I wonder what Shisui found..."

Hokage's Office

"Shisui?"

"The assailant has been dealt with Sandaime-san."

"Anymore losses?"

"A few wounded, but no other deaths during the battle." Shisui stated while bowed with the Hokage looking towards the coming dawn, "The wounded have been admitted to the hospital while the assailant's corpse and puppet were taken to the Investigation and Research Center."

"You had no choice but to kill him..." Sarutobi wearily exhaled but turned to Shisui with an assuring smile, "Things would have been easier if we could have captured the attacker alive. Then we could have discovered if he was alone or collaborating with another."

"He wasn't working alone that is for certain." Shisui replied, "From our initial information, we can surmise that the puppet was a human corpse that had been previously manipulated to increase it's dexterity and control. Allowing the assailant to use his chakra strings to control the puppet's every move from a long distance."

"How did you find the assailant?"

"The Hyuga Heiress was taking shelter in Satoshi's apartment and saw the strings within the area." Sarutobi nodded as the Uchiha continued, "Afterwards, myself and Satoshi tracked the strings to their source and neutralized the assailant. However...the assailant had prepared a suicide seal which we could not dispel in time..."

"Understood...what matters is that the village is safe."

"However, we did determine a reliable clue based on the method of the assailant's assassination." Shisui brought up and unfurled a scroll from his belt, "I was unable to prevent the seal from killing it's assailant, but I was able to acquire the chakra which the seal was using for storage and research."

"That seal..." Sarutobi's features turned grave as he fully recognized the outline of a white snake upon the scroll's contents, "The Snake..."

Unknown Location outside of Konoha

"Was the necessity for a diversion that dire or were you simply bored Snake?"

"More of the latter honestly," The pale figure in the robes of Akatsuki said to his partner, "I wanted to see how well Reigan's "candidate" would have faired against Konoha's Brightest. He...spectacularly failed to kill his targets, but his theatrics were entertaining."

"Her song must have been beautiful..." Sasori of the Red Sand lamented as he tuned the mechanics of his signature puppet, "A song that carries upon the wind and echoes through the ears of mortals in life or death. What echoes beyond this world...echoes for eternity."

"Perhaps if he had used more than one puppet, she would have survived."

"His survival does not matter, her song was his life. The last disciple of the Mute Songstress..." The Snake mused with respect mixed with cynicism, "But even the threads of music and song...the blade of Gu Qin was no match for the combined prowess of Konoha's three great kekkei genkai."

"Wielded by three noteworthy ANBU..." Sasori added, "I can't imagine the hell that it must've been to acquire the identities for four of the most lethal ANBU in Konoha's forces."

"It was not difficult at all to be honest." Orochimaru admitted, his forked tongue licked his lips as he thought about one particular ANBU whose power and body he desired, "With the right ANBU...I can be very...persuasive..."

"Poor girl..." Sasori exhaled in disinterest recalling how annoying it was to sleep through the screams and moans of his partner's latest "toy", "Just kill her quietly please...the last one made too much noise."

"Tsuyoki? Oh yes..."

"The Hyuga Byakugan...Uchiha Sharingan and the Kuromuton Shinrigan..." Sasori read off before he was forced to recall walking in on Orochimaru "enjoying" his previous pet during torture, "Any one of these by themselves would be formidable. But having to face three at once?"

"Yet the assailant did as well as expected. He killed fifteen people...most of them ANBU." Orochimaru pointed out, "Which means that Sarutobi will place the village on high alert, recall most squads and ANBU back to the village-"

"And grant your subordinates more room to relocate from their compromised positions?" Sasori finished, "Either way, the assailant's efforts benefited your own ends."

"Akatsuki will benefit soon as well."

"If you speak in regards to the Kyubi...we won't be able to seal it until we acquire the other bijuu-"

"I know, but think of it as a long term investment." Orochimaru assured his partner, "In the event of the assailant's death or capture, I left a single item in his pipa. One that he would neither feel nor detect, but anyone with eyes could see it."

"What would that be?"

"The Uchiha Crest." Orochimaru answered while Sasori entered his puppet and activated it, "Dull to you, isn't it?"

"How will a symbol implicate the Uchiha in hiring an assassin?"

"Not implication...suspicion and from suspicion will arise distrust...fear...anger...hatred and finally..." Orochimaru softly laughed to himself before he finished, "Suffering."

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the fight...

I was purposefully vague on who the mysterious observer was and for that reason, it should be easy to guess who it is. Good for you, you've earned some delicious cake!

The old man and woman are characters who will play an enlightening role in the lives of our characters...though you'll have to see how when they next show up.

Till next time!

Translations

Futon: Muchiuchi Kyōfū - Whipping Gale

Katon: Nenshō Kita - Fire Release: Burning North

Doton: Bokkusu - Earth Release: Box

Doton: Ishi Domu - Earth Release: Stone Dome

Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu - Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique

Tsuyoki - Bull

Hachi Juu Kureijī - Crazy Eight