A/N: I'm extremely sorry for this late update!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. At least that hasn't changed in my absence.

'Kaku'-inner selves, demons etc.

'Kaku'- thoughts

Chapter 10: Observations

It was still dark outside when three cloaked figures approached the main gate of the Hidden Village in the Leaf. A fourth made several handsigns just before the line of trees broke off onto the main road. Placing her palm onto the ground, there was a 'poof' of smoke and a small feline appeared before her. On it's back was a small tanto that seemed to belong to it. Without a second thought, the cat bounded off ahead of the others and towards the two guards stationed at the front.

The Konoha Chuunin watched the approaching creature with mild curiosity. The pair silently looked at each other in confusion before turning to look at where the strange cat was, or had been. The shinobi shrugged it off, thinking that it could not cause any harm to let it go by.

A few minutes later, one of the guards collapsed with something lodged in the lower part of his back. The cat from earlier sat innocently on top of the Chuunin and pulled out the tanto with it's mouth. "What the-?" His cry of alarm fell on deaf ears as the seemingly normal beast came at him with surprising agility. The guard prepared to defend himself when the cat diverted to the side and disappeared from sight again. He looked around in a panic before also being attacked from behind. With a disapproved look, the cat retrieved the weapon and dashed of to the side of it's summoner.

Riko muttered a word of thanks before releasing the summon and faced her other companions. "Let's get going before the rest of them come."

"I still have no idea why you went through all that when we could have done that in half the time." Zetsu remarked mildly as they infiltrated Konoha. "I could have eaten them too. What a waste…"

Steely eyes flashed a scarlet colour before reverting back to normal. "You should know by now that your styles of attacking would be recognized in a heartbeat. It is much easier to have them attacked by a summon and have no trace of who it could be than have them report that the Akatsuki came by. If you want to blow the mission, so be it. However if you think I would let you go without a scratch, you are sorely mistaken."

'Scary woman...'The men thought to themselves as the only female went ahead of them towards the west side of the village. Zetsu sunk beneath the ground and went in the other direction to the Hyuga compound. The remaining shinobi both disappeared in search of a certain Uzumaki.

The fifth Hokage downed another bottle of sake as she reflected over the information that the Kazekage had given her only a few hours ago. She was still in the office, surrounded by mountains of paperwork that she had finished on Shizune's insistence. Tsunade stifled a yawn and stretched her stiff limbs. "I'll finish the rest later…" Just as she was about to fall asleep on her desk, someone barged into the office and startled her. It was a nurse who worked the night-shift at the hospital.

"Hokage-sama! The guards from the main gate were just brought to the hospital a few minutes ago!" That was all it took for Tsunade to regain her energy and she dashed off towards the building.

"What on earth happened?" The famed medic-nin stormed through the bright halls and into the room where a small team were working on the two injured Chuunin. One was still unconscious, while the other one was just waking up from the Hokage's entrance.

The shinobi was lying down on his stomach as the doctors mended the tendons that were shredded and torn. "I couldn't believe it, this odd looking cat walked right by us and then…" As he talked, a skeptical look came from Tsunade. Two newly ranked Chuunin on a guard watch outdone by a feline was absurd.

A sigh escaped the Hokage's lips as she assisted the medics. She supposed that the idea of resting would have to be put on hold for the time being.

Meanwhile, a certain Weapons Mistress tossed uncomfortably underneath her covers. No matter how hard she tried, sleep would just not come. Perhaps it was just her imagination but something did not feel right. Tenten gave up on attempting what was futile and wandered to her kitchen downstairs, making sure she did not trigger any traps. She put a kettle on her stove and searched for her favourite brand of tea. After a few minutes, she added the boiling water and allowed the coloured liquid more time to settle before taking a sip.

'I have training at five, it won't do any good if I can't sleep.'

'The hours that you use for training are brutal. You should shorten them a bit and have more fun with your life.' Cai zhi pointed out.

'With a cell with a sensei always talking about the wonders of 'youth' is that possible?' Tenten thought dryly, savouring the sweet taste of the tea. She smiled as she remembered the last time she had missed training without the others knowing. It had been a very chaotic moment with Team Gai indeed.

'Touché'

The conversation died out quickly as she kept to her own thoughts. After finishing her drink, the Weapons Mistress washed out the cup and went back upstairs in another attempt to sleep. Neither the container nor the demon noticed the lone figure watching the kunoichi carefully from the shadows of her home.

'Perhaps this mission will be easier than I thought.'

A/N: A grateful thanks to those who waited for this for so long and one for those who reviewed:

Nejitenfan

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GeishaBabe192

Dreaming101

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Also one for x BlackMoonRose x for reminding me about updating as well as reviewing.