CHAPTER 3: The Approaching Darkness

"Where are they?" Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage asked, looking out the window of his office.

"I don't know, sir," an ANBU Black Ops informed Gaara, "they were instructed to check out that disturbance in the desert. It shouldn't take them this long."

Gaara folded his arms, "What about the Akatsuki? If they were in the region, we would not have sent them out.

The two ANBU that Gaara had sent out has not return to report. This made Gaara very nervous and upset.

"I should not have sent them after all."

"I shall get a search party ready, sir!"

Gaara looked at the ANBU and nodded, "Take Temari with you, she'll help you out."

"Yes, sir," The ANBU saluted to the Fifth Kazekage and walked out of Gaara's office.

Gaara returns to his desk. He opened a drawer to grab an empty scroll and started to write something on it. At the time, Kankuro, his brother and puppeteer came in to his brother's office. Kankuro sat down across from Gaara, waiting for him to finish.

"Gaara, is something wrong?" Kankuro asked.

"Two of our Black Ops are MIA, (missing in action) Kankuro," Gaara began, "I've just sent Temari and a search party to find them."

Kankuro looked stunned, "Could the Akatsuki be behind this?"

Gaara paused for a moment.

"They were seen at the desert a few hours ago. I have reason to believe they may attack the village again."

Kankuro snarled, "We almost lost you to them once. I don't want it to happen again."

Gaara lowered his head, and then looked up at Kankuro.

"Kankuro, I have a mission for you."

Kankuro looked at Gaara as he handed the scroll over to the puppeteer.

"I want you to relay this message to the Fifth Hokage in the Hidden Leaf Village. If the Akatsuki is really behind this, we'll need all the help we can get."

"You mean, Naruto?"

Gaara smiled, "Yes, Naruto Uzumaki."

Meanwhile: At the Desert Region where Itachi and his crew were last seen

Temari looked around the desert. It was nothing but sand. Sand. Sand. And more sand. True she lives in this desert region, but she hope it had a beach where she can relax and get that tan she always wanted.

However, she can get that tan here than at a beach.

As she looked to her left, she noticed the two hand gestured guns a few hundred yards from where she was. She pulls out a whistle to get everyone's attention. She motioned her hands to the statues and they started to move there.

"What is that?" the first ANBU guard asked, pointing at the statues.

Temari examined the statues closely. She can sense the Akatsuki's trail, but where were they?

"I think the Akatsuki had been here, but it looks like they gave us the slip," Temari replied.

"What about the story of the 'Demon's Portal?'" the first ANBU asked.

Temari's eyes widen.

"Are you saying that this is the portal that was mentioned in the scrolls?" Temari asked the Black Ops.

The ANBU nodded, "The Third Kazekage was the first to mention something like that. I don't know about the Fourth say about it, or your brother."

Temari just stood there in surprise. A whistle suddenly broke the silence. Another ANBU Ninja was waving nearby. Temari and the other ANBU Black Ops gathered to see two mutilated corpses. Temari looked closely at the disfigured face of one of the bodies.

"Son of a...it's them. WHAT HAPPENED?!" Temari roared.

"I assume they were just killed a few hours ago, Lady Temari," The second ANBU Black Ops guard explained, "but..."

"But, what?!" Temari asked, demandingly.

"Well, if you look here at their chests, you can see right through them. It's like they were..."

"It's not their style..."

"Excuse me?"

"This is not the kind of thing the Akatsuki would do," Temari said, "they wouldn't do something like this."

"Maybe they allied themselves with someone?" the ANBU asked.

Temari shook her head in confusion.

"We should have the Medical Corps Ninja examine the remains to determine exactly what happened to them."

Temari nodded, "Do it. I'll report this to Gaara right away."

Hidden Leaf Village

Sakura Haruno saw Naruto at his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku, slurping down his third bowl. He smiled as he got started to slurp down another bowl. Sakura shook her head.

"Naruto, you are such a glutton!" Sakura said.

Naruto grinned, Sakura sighed.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, it's like that potato chip commercial, 'Once you start, the fun won't stop!'"

Sakura smiled, and then turned away from Naruto. Then, she turned around again.

"You know, Bowser, right?" Sakura asked.

"What about him?" Naruto asked.

"I heard from Ino that he's building something called an 'Airship' or something."

Naruto was surprised, "Is that what's going on near the entrance to the village? I was wondering what he was doing for the last two weeks."

"Naruto..." Sakura said.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, dumbfound.

"He was working on it for the last two years!" Sakura yelled, pounding on Naruto's head.

"Ow, two years?! Why would he need an Airship for?" Naruto asked.

"If you were listening to Lady Tsunade's report, you should have known."

"Known what?"

Then, a voice responds, "The blueprint of the Airship is courtesy of Orochimaru 'Industries.'

The two shinobi turned around to see a tall man nearly as big as Naruto standing next to them.

"Hey, Bowser!" Naruto greeted him.

"Naruto, Sakura," Bowser replied, "you wanted to know about the Airship, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"The Airship was going to be Orochimaru's new base of operations. Should he succeed, he would have launch aerial assaults on this village. We would not even touch him on it. Therefore, Lady Tsunade had sent some Jonin (Elite Ninja) along with myself to investigate this. We managed to retrieve the blueprints and decided to build one for ourselves."

"What are we going to do with it?" Sakura asked.

"Well, we could find Sasuke with it," Bowser replied, "it would be easier to do that in the air."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah!"

Sakura smiled.

Suddenly, there was a commotion, the three ninja turned around to see Kankuro being escorted by the ANBU Black Ops. They were saying something inaudible for Naruto to hear.

"Kankuro is here, wonder what's up?" Sakura asked.

Naruto immediately got up and started to run towards Kankuro. Sakura and Bowser followed suit.

Gateway

The path was pitch black, the only thing not in darkness was a thin line that acted like some kind of pathway. The Portal the three Akatsuki Members went through, were in a zone called The Gateway. It would be only a matter of time before they reached their Destination.

"We should see the light at the end of the Gateway soon," Itachi said.

Kisame smiled, "Say, Itachi. Are we going to kill these Soul Reapers who get in our way?"

"No, I want to try a plan to blend in with them. When the time is right, we'll strike!"

"I want to strike NOW!"

Itachi smirked, "You must realize that these plans are like fine wine. You must let them sit awhile before uncorking them."

"They also go bad if you leave them too long," Kisame said.

Morpheus nodded, "He has a point, sir."

"Plus, you waste precious money, depending on the brand itself," Itachi responds.

"By the way, what is your plan, Itachi?" Kisame asked.

Itachi pulled some garments from the inside of his Akatsuki uniform. Three black uniforms were shown to Kisame and Morpheus.

"We will disguise ourselves as Soul Reapers and infiltrate the Soul Society," Itachi explained.

"Itachi, you realize that once we enter the Soul Society, there is a chance that we may get discovered right away," Kisame warned.

"I'll use my Mangekyo Sharingan to create an illusion to those who would most likely to blow our cover."

Kisame nodded, "What about the Captains of the Gotei 13? Can your Sharingan work on them?"

"Possibly, but, I would like to see for myself."

"When are we going to wear the uniforms, Mr. Itachi?" Morpheus asked.

"We'll put them on the moment we infiltrate the Soul Society," Itachi replied, "I think we need to cover you head to prevent any unwanted attention."

"Yes, I don't want our mission to fail because of my...appearance," Morpheus responds as he wrapped his skull topped head with a towel like turban, revealing his silver colored eyes, "How do I look now?"

"Perfect, now they won't see your face," Kisame said, smiling a bit.

Morpheus nodded and began to walk alongside with Itachi. They saw light coming from the end of the Gateway. That can only mean one thing...

The entrance to the Soul Society... is almost within their reach.

Chapter 3 END

There you have it, the end of Chapter 3! The Invasion Arc starts in the next chapter and will last at least four chapters. Now, to a more bigger question. Now, I know this is a Romance/Adventure and I want to know that if you want to have Crossover Pairings or not? Make sure you respond to the question in your reviews. The Romance stuff won't begin until the End of Invasion Arc!

Until then, Read and Review!