Raikages office, Hidden Village of the Clouds (Kumogakure), Lightning Country
The Yondaime Raikage of Kumogakure sat in his office signing papers, his mind not really on the documents but moreso on his brother the Hachibi Jinchuuriki who Akatsuki had supposedly captured. Three figures flashed in a display of lightning before materializing in his office. The Raikage looked up in surprise as his trident guard reported in. Composing only of three members the trident guard was a select organization that was solely responsible for the protection of the Raikage. Trident Guard members were chosen by the Raikage himself for their unique ninjutsu and assassination techniques. Their leader Rikuto Samui was a stunning woman in her mid twenties of medium height, short blond hair, bright green eyes and a wazikashi holstered sideways across her back. Her two sword clad teammates Omoi and Karui stood behind her constantly bickering, at this point in time it was about his last inappropriate comment aimed at Karui beforehand.
Unlike the Rigid Hierarchy obeyed in the Seven Mist Swordsmen the members of the Raikages most powerful protection squad were usually good friends and deadly in combination with each other. These three were no exception, trained as genin by the Raikage himself when he was a Jounin instructor many years ago he foresaw their talent and under his guidance each grew to become a powerful ninja each in their own right. Smirking, the Raikage realized they were a similar figure in Kumogakure as Konohas legendary three sannin, famed for the title bestowed upon them by the legendary ninja of the Rain Village Salamander Hanzou at his respect for their remarkable skill on the battlefield. Thinking about recent intelligence reports he sighed, Akatsuki on the move, a successful attack on Yugito, Salamander Hanzou and Jiraya of the three sannin dead... and now an attempt on Killerbee.
"Raikage sama!, we found Killerbee. He's a little exhausted after the transformation but he survived!" the man known as Omoi reported toothpick in mouth.
"Where is he now?" the Raikage asked warily.
"At Kumogakure hospital, all safe three ANBU squads are guarding him" Samui answered in a bored tone.
"Any idea who did this to him?" the swordswoman known as Karui enquired, "They would have to be pretty powerful" she mused. The Raikage slammed his fist down on the table "It was Akatsuki again, more importantly Uchiha Sasuke"
Samui looked up in surprise "Uchiha, as in the clan hailing from Konohagakure?" she enquired. The Raikage answered her question with a quick nod. She glanced over at both her teammates, both were reminded of the more recent loss of Yugito Nii to Akatsuki, Kumogakures demon cat Jinchuuriki. All three of them had been remarkably close to the girl during their childhood and during their teenage years. Her loss not only weighed heavily on them her friends and teammates but the entire village itself. Yugito had been a wonderful influence on the usually clandestine lightning village. With her sunny personaility and ability to make friends she quickly gained respect from a young age for both her attitude and demeanour as well as her fearsome ninja skills, third only to the Raikage and Killerbee himself. Samui let herself smile; it's true that Yugito showed her village the real power of a jinchuuriki (human sacrifice), the power to change views and add optimism into others lives.
"However Killerbee reported he dealt killing blows to the Uchiha three times, and he was saved by his unusual team members, useless in battle but useful supplementary abilities" Samui reported recalling the information the jinchuuriki had given her before passing out from exhaustion. The Raikage pondered over this new piece of information.
"Hmm it's not longer safe in Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country) for Killerbee, I'm sending him away..." his voice trailed off
The three ninja looked at him in shock
"Away...but where?" Karui spoke up.
The Raikage looked tense for a moment before he revealed the destination
"Konohagakure"
"B-but the Hyuuga kidnapping incident, the village will be hostile" Omoi mumbled. The Raikage sighed "I am aware, we pay the price for our actions after all, even if they were by past and more foolish power hungry individuals"
He interjected "However, Intel has confirmed that Konohagakure protects the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and what better a gesture than to offer them another one of the tailed beasts in their fight against Akatsuki?"
"That will draw power away from our village with all due respect Raikage sama" Samui interjected.
"I know" the kage sighed. "But I have confirmed intelligence that the nine tails jinchuuriki managed to eliminate three hearts of the Akatsuki Kakuzu with his ninjutsu".
"Kakuzu, wasn't he the guy who...took Yugito" Omoi trailed off. The Raikage once again gave a nod of confirmation".
"It's not about petty politics anymore; Akatsuki threatens to destroy the current peaceful situation that the five main ninja villages have fought to keep, it's about surviving this current predicament"
"But why Konoha" Samui fired back.
The Raikage gave her a wry smile "I know we lost to them in the third ninja war Samui, but Konoha ninja's truly have the will of fire and as we discovered the hard way, will fight to their last breath to protect the country they love, their Hokage is an extension of that"
"Besides, they are probably more hostile towards us due to the Hyuuga kidnapping attempted by my predecessor many years ago, it is perfectly understandable.. that is why I am sending you three along with him to stay in Konoha"
"B-but" they all interjected". The Raikage held up his hand
"No buts, this will prove the seriousness of the situation by sending you my trident guard there to assist, and besides you'll be fighting among the best ninja in the world to end the Akatsuki menace, also... I wish to repay the debt I had to the late Jiraiya sama"
The three ninjas looked on in awe, their Raikage the strongest man in the Hidden Cloud Village in debt to one of Konoha's sannin.
He smiled at them "You know Konoha and Kumo are closer allies than you think, I will send the Godaime Hokage a coded message later today about your arrival"
With a deep bow from each of them they flashed out of existence to prepare. The Raikage looked up to the clouds
"I hope I have made the right decision this time, for you and for the village brother...". The clouds crackled in response.
Konoha ROOT Base
Underneath in the catacombs of Konoha amid the recovery chaos one full platoon of Danzos ROOT Anbu stood there silently awaiting the orders of their bandage clad master. One voice spoke out with fury
"So you would let Konoha be destroyed to fulfil your petty ambition to rule the village".
"SILENCE" Danzou spun around pointing his cane which concealed a blade, but the offender had used the voice projection technique making the original speaker unidentifiable. Also it didn't help that all ROOT ANBU wore identical masks. With a swirl of leaves the ANBU who spoke up appeared behind Danzou sword to his neck.
"You taught me to have no emotions would make me a stronger ninja, now I see the stupidity in those words..." the speaker said anger evident in his voice to have another identical ANBU issue sword.
"Excellent Tenzou" Danzou mused, "Now kill the traitor...or should I say Sai...". There was a chakra flare as 'Tenzou' reappeared on the other side of danzou sword in a mirroring position to Sai's katana.
"Tenzou..explain this teachery!" Danzou screamed his voice echoing throughout the vast cave system. He looked to his ROOT Anbu desperately to see none of them moving a muscle to help, emotionless and silent as ever. Without a word two swords moved in symmetrical harmony severing Danzou's head from his body. The traitors head dropped to the ground his lifeless body falling to the ground in an undignified heap. 'Tenzou' as he was known then removed his mask and issued a single command all the ROOT Anbu willingly obeyed.
"Remove your masks and go and assist Tsunade-sama and the village of Konoha in this time of need".
With a clatter all of the masks fell to the floor to reveal by the looks on their faces liberated and relieved individuals. With determined looks on their faces they all shunshined away to help the village they fought for and protected, minus one. 'Tenzou' as he was known the child injected with the first Hokages DNA in Orochimaru's attempt to recreate the mokuton kekkai genkai, ran through a sequence of seals and shouted clearly Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi (Earth element:Rock Lodging Destruction). Without a seconds delay sections of the roof of the catacomb began to crack and collapse. Tenzou shunshined away from the catacomb allowing the cave to collapse burying the body of Danzou forever
From the rubble of the collapsed cave a gloven hand emerged from the debris. After picking himself up and dusting himself the figure muttered in a dark voice "Those fools thought they could betray me by an attempted assassination, I'll show them...Tobi is a good boy after all". With a sinister smile he burst into maniacal laughter that echoed throughout the cavern. After he had composed himself he got up and placed his mask on his apparently bandaged face. If one had looked closely enough through the mask they would have spotted the single sharingan eye its three tomoe spinning like a pinwheel. Behind him another figure appeared masked in the darkness.
"So you were watching the entire time" the sharingan wielder questioned the newcomer.
"Hai Madara-sama, Damn right we were recording you one eyed freak" said the bipolar venus flytrap affectionately known as Aloe-Vera, this name bestowed on him by none other than the nine-tails Jinchuuriki Uzumaki Naruto.
Madara decided to inform Zetsu of the situation "Everything is going to plan; Tenzou has done his job dutifully, his abilities will be useful in controlling the nine tails jinchuuriki"
"But what if he betrays us?, I wish to taste his corpse Mmmmm" the mysterious akatsuki spy enquired.
"Then we do what we do best to tools that have outlived their usefulness, kill them"
"Tenzou-san is a DNA replicate of the shodai hokage hmm?, Those abilities have ensured your downfall in the past"
Madara snorted the annoyance in his voice becoming clear "Tenzou's abilities are no match for Senju Haraishima, also I will not be fooled by his unique abilities again"
"Hmmmm, Hmmmm" Zetsu pondered over those words, digesting them. Behind them a distinct crackling was heard, the humming growing ever louder. The holographic image of the Akatsuki leader Pein, wielder of the Rinnegan appeared before them.
"Team Taka has been informed of their failure" he said voice crackling from the immense distance between the two ends of communication. "I have reassigned them to assist the seven swordsman of the mist in their attack on Kumogakure in two months, does this please you madara-sama?" he enquired.
"Hmm" the sharingan user pondered before nodding "Very well, make it happen".
"As you say Madara-sama" the leader said, the image crackled for a moment then the holographic image disappeared altogether. With a nod the two Akatsuki figures left in the cave they shimmered and disappeared out of sight, far away from Konoha.