..Chapter Twenty-Three..

..

.

..

It had only been three weeks since her blood parents left with her uncle and she was already missing them. It had already been two weeks since her foster parents left and she was desperately missing them. Everyone was gone. Kakashi-sensei, Rin, Jiraiya-sama, all her uncles and aunts. Half the damned compound was missing.

And everyone was feeling the loss of so many ninja.

To many it may have seemed stupid idea to leave the village with so little protection. But in truth, her's wasn't the only one. Everywhere. All the five great villages and then some were... devoid of almost all shinobi life. The only thing she had to console herself with was the fact that Tsunade-sama was not gone. She had stayed behind as temporary Hokage should anything go wrong.

Kei almost had no real idea just how many shinobi were in her large village until almost all of them were gone. The worst part? She couldn't go. None of them could. She still hadn't even been told whether she made Chuunin or not. No one had. And they expected her to stay behind and wait this damned thing out.

She was a ninja! She was a shinobi! Her duty was in the field. Protecting those she loved. Her duty was to make sure this war... turned out they it was meant to. Right? Then why did they leave her behind? Hadn't she proven herself during the exam? Didn't they see that? She was an Uchiha! She was a Hyuuga! She was and would always be an Uzumaki as well as a Namikaze. Her strength radiated from the people of her past and those in her present. From the courage of her grandfather, the Fourth all the way to physical prowess of her both her mothers.

She found herself stomping her foot into the dirt like a stubborn pissed off four year old. It was beyond her. She knew this. Her Uchiha pride and ego knew this.

"This sucks!" She found herself shouting to no one in particular in the middle of the street. Several people stared at her. In return she only glared. They should know!

"What sucks?"

She looked over then. None other than Sunako stood before her. She couldn't help but recall her vivid dream at his sudden appearance. Wait, why was he here? "Shouldn't you be back in Sand?"

He shrugged. "Gaara wished for my team to remain here."

She nodded, still pouting.

"Are you upset?"

Her eyes flashed up to his, searching... trying to see if he was messing with her head. "Yeah, I am. I'm mad because all of the Genins have been left behind. Like we can't be of any good in this battle. It's stupid and I hate it."

"Do something about it." He stated simply.

"Like what?" She spread her arms wide. "We've been ordered to wait. To wait for orders. That is, if any come. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here, worried about my parents." She paused, searching his eyes. "Aren't you?"

"Upset about being left behind or worried about Gaara?"

"Both."

He looked to be thinking over. His eyes did anyway. "I would have rather gone. I dislike being idle. As for Gaara? He'd a great shinobi. I'm sure he will do fine."

She frowned. She wasn't sure if he was being confident about his sensei or simply indifferent about it. Did it matter?

"We should go."

"Huh?"

"We should go," he smirked, "to hell with orders. We should gather as many Genin as possible and just go."

She arched a brow... "Are you crazy?!" She shouted at him.

He blinked. "No... let's do it. Who's going to stop us? Almost everyone is at the front lines and Tsunade-sama is busy with paper work."

"More like sake," she mumbled. She still wasn't sure about the idea... and it was making her bite her lip. She wanted to. She really wanted to go. She knew she would just get in deep shit though. She silently feared being stripped of her headband and title. She worked hard to become Genin and to succeed in the Chuunin exam. Was it right to possibly let it all go on a thread?

"KEI!"

She turned swiftly. Rei was running towards her with a worried look on her features. When she reached her Kei gripped her shoulders, trying to steady her. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?"

"They're having trouble in the front lines. I just overheard Tsunade-sensei speaking with a Jounin I didn't know."

Kei's eyes widened. Fear sliced through her. "Papa?" She whispered in question. "What of my parents? What of.." She couldn't say their names. She wasn't allowed. "What of Gaara?"

She shook her head. "I haven't heard anything about them... but I know we're loosing. The Jounin said the Akatsuki took down Orochimaru and Kabuto. But then when four members rebelled against them the battle really started."

"Four?" She looked confused. "Four Akatsuki members?"

She nodded. "Someone named Kisame. I overhead he was one of the seven swordsman." She took a breath and continued, urgent to finish. "He sided with a man known as Itachi and two others. Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

"My parents..." she breathed without even realizing it. She shook her head. "Are they alright?"

She shrugged, not seeming to notice the slip. "No clue. I am worried though. If we're loosing this could be bad. I mean, I know people have been whispering that the Akatsuki have taken tailed beasts... but if they have? They aren't using them."

"What?!" Her eyes drew wider. Why wouldn't they use them? Unless... "Unless they haven't captured any of them... "

Sunako stepped forward. "It's possible. They tried to capture Gaara at one point and failed miserably." He pondered a moment. "Some say they're gathering together. The Beast containers."

Kei thought for a long while, her head spinning with information. And much like her mother, her blood mother she was working out every possible scenario in her head. Like her father, Sasuke, she was trying to find a way to work this out. Like Naruto would likely do she had already made the choice to leave in her mind.

"Change you mind?" Sunako was saying.

She looked up at them both. "I've more than change my mind. I have a plan."

Rei arched a brow. "What are you talking about?"

Kei suddenly looked at her. "We need to start searching the village get every available Genin."

"Why?"

"Because," she smirked, "we're going to go find the Beast containers. I have a good feeling about this. And if I'm right we can save everyone."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

AN: I know this is the shortest chapter in this entire story. But, with what's coming next I can't write anymore. I'm trying so hard to find a way to wrap this story up without making it seem too quick. -grunts- If it does seem too quick though... don't be mad at me. I've not read much of the manga and really... my knowledge of the Jinchuuriki is small at best (aside from Naruto and Gaara). The internet provides very little information on them or what their beasts look like. And it's not even the beasts I'm worried about... it's the character personalities ;; I don't wanna go OOC here or give myself too much to handle.

SO, if in the next couple of chapters if you see me go into very little detail about the Jinchuuriki and their Bijuu... well ...Gomen! -cries-

And thanks for reading/reviewing.

--Blade