And here's 5. Yep, that's all I'm gonna say. =P

P.S – My Latin sucks. Had to use a translator... you'll see what I mean in a second.

Chapter 5

Jashin damn it. Thought Hidan as he finally came into view of a temple. "They need another temple, this location is way too fucking far."

Finally coming up to the entrance, he knocked on the large temple door with the metal handle. A moment later, a priest came to the door and opened it, quickly smiling when he realized who it was. An older man with a full head of white hair and a medium complexion about him, dressed in a regular priest outfit. He seemed a peaceful and caring type of person, if you didn't know he served a god who wanted nothing but destruction.

"Hidan! My son, how are you!" said the happy old man.

"Eh, been better. But I'm alright, Father Roshin." he said as the priest allowed him entrance.

"What brings you back after all this time?" he asked as they walked across the courtyard, Hidan exchanging waves to certain members he had not seen for some time. It was good to be back in a place where he was totally welcomed.

"Lost my scythe, as you can see. And my pendant... and I'm seeking reconciliation."

"I see." the priest patted his shoulder. "This way."

Roshin and Hidan made their way to a confessional booth as he sent one of the other clergy members to retrieve another scythe for him. He entered one side while Hidan entered another, and shut the doors so that it could begin. The screen that separated them kept their faces hidden, resembling many other confessional booths of different churches.

"In the name of Lord Jashin I welcome you to reconciliation."

"Ave. Fidelis ut Jashin." replied Hidan, keeping his head down and his hands clasped together.

"Speak your sins, my son, so that I may forgive them." said the priest from the other side of the booth.

"My organization ordered me to capture a person alive. I pray for forgiveness, but now I am set to the path again for the same person." he sighed. "I also died, believe it or not."

"I see." he paused for a moment. Interesting. How though? "You died, you said?"

"Yes, father. A shinobi trapped me and long story short, I was blown to pieces and buried underneath rubble until I finally died from the lack of nutrients. I was brought back just recently."

"Indeed." he replied. "Hidan, we must never forget that the laws of Jashin are always greater than the laws of man. He who is great and just, created us because He loves us. We who have been chosen to follow and see in His truth, are all burdened with the mission to purify the sinful world of mankind. Chaos and death, destruction, it is all done for His name, for the sake of purifying the world of sin. Commonly misunderstood as evil, when it is evil itself we are ridding on this planet, and someday, beyond. Jashin loves you, Hidan, and only wishes you pick up your scythe and resume your mission to help purify the world of evil. He sees no color, nor age or prior religion, only the good deeds of His followers. He is a harsh god, but a loving and forgiving one. Pray for forgiveness, my son, and He will listen. He will hear you."

Hidan sat in silence for a moment before nodding his head, not that the priest could see it. "Thank you, father, I will."

"Is that all you wish to reconcile for?"

"Yeah, yeah that's it."

"Then in the name of our great and almighty Lord Jashin, I cleanse you of your sins and absolve you of all wrong doings committed against our Lord. Invado pacis."

"Laus vobis Lord Jashin." he replied as he stood and exited the confessional.

"Come visit more often! I am always here, and the others do miss you!" said the priest as Hidan made his way away from them.

Hidan just held his hand up in a wave as he made his way back towards the Akatsuki hideout.

X X X

"Lady Tsunade?" said Tenten's voice behind the door.

"Hm? Come in."

The kunoichi entered with Trunks right behind her as they separated. Much to Trunks' surprise, the Illusive Man... wasn't there!

"Hello, Tenten. Who is this you have with you?" she asked.

"Oh. This is Trunks."

Trunks respectfully bowed. "I'm looking for my boss, he said he was going to be here... but I think he might have left already since I don't see him here."

Tsunade looked confused. "Beg your pardon, but you're the first person to come into the office at all today. I've done nothing but paperwork so far."

"Wait, what? You mean he never showed up at all? Those two guys at the front gate said that he would be here though..."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, but I haven't seen him at all. If he made an appointment to hire one of our shinobi he would be on the list of appointments today."

"I see... I'm sorry for any trouble, then." he replied as he turned to make his way to the exit, only to be stopped by the voice of authority.

"Trunks, is it?"

He turned back. "Yes ma'am."

"I can tell you aren't from this village. And if you made it through the front gate, I'm assuming you have visitation papers for me?"

Trunks remembered as he reached into his pocket. "Oh. R-Right, here." he said as he unfolded the papers and handed them to her.

After quickly going over the papers, she tucked them inside her desk and returned her attention to him. "Everything is in order. I apologize for any inconvenience between your boss and you. As a courtesy, we'll allow you to stay the night in a hotel before returning home if you would like. I'll wave the fees for the room."

"Oh no, I couldn't, really." he replied.

"Nonsense, I insist. It must have been quite a trip from..." she quickly flipped through the pages, noticing the words "West City" were crossed out and replaced with Iwagakure. "Iwa, so it's not a problem at all. Please, make yourself at home."

It definitely felt awkward. He had no idea where the Illusive Man was, was basically being forced to stay the night in a village where the supposed nine-tails resided, and he already felt like he made an enemy with that guy and the dog downstairs.

"Well if it's really not that much trouble..."

"Not at all!" she replied. "Tenten, would you mind showing him the address?" she wrote down the address on a piece of paper as she held it out for her to take.

"No problem." she said, taking the note. She quickly skimmed it, glanced back at the Hokage and nodded. "Okay, let's go!" Tenten said as she grabbed Trunks' hand and tugged him out of the office.

Tsunade waited a few moments before finally speaking. "They're gone."

In a puff of smoke, Kiba and Sakura appeared, Akamaru coming out from Tsunade's desk. "Looks like you were right, Kiba." Tsunade added in.

"Yeah. Something about him didn't rub right with me. Especially after I picked up his scent from the same night that I smelt Deidara's. Plus..." Kiba held his right thumb up, glancing at the Hokage. "You notice that ring he was wearing?"

After a moment of thinking, it made sense. Tsunade remembered when Pain came to her on top of the Hokage Mansion, the purple-grayish ring he had around his right thumb. Come to think of it, Trunks did have that exact same colored ring, with the same character on it.

"So he's an Akatsuki." said Sakura. "A new member by the looks of it."

"He may be Pain's replacement, though the wearing of the ring may not mean anything whatsoever. Regardless, I want you two to keep an eye on him tonight... It seems the Akatsuki is trying to gather information on Naruto again. And I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to go after the Raikage's brother, too."

"Right." they both replied.

"One more thing." said Tsunade. "We have no information on this person. I have the room being wired at the moment to pick up anything he says pertaining to the Akatsuki, Naruto, anything suspicious. If he mentions anything relating to it, you are free to engage. Bring him back, alive if possible."

X X X

"..."

That's all Hana could really reply with. What could she say? After hearing everything Itachi told her, all she did was stare at the floor. One dog sat next to Itachi on the left, the other on the right next to Hana, with the third dog sitting at their feet. He may have done unspeakably horrible things, but the dogs always remembered Itachi, and how great he made their master felt when they were younger.

"And that... is everything." he said.

She took the initiative by taking his hands into hers and resting her head on his chest, her hair touching the bottom of his chin. "I was... just starting to get my life together. When I heard you died... I thought I would be happy. You left the village, you left the clan... you left me. It affected me so much to the point where I had to take pills to make myself go to sleep... I just couldn't do it. Instead of feeling anything good... I felt grief."

He said nothing for a moment as he rested his chin on top of her hair. It had been so long since this had happened. He glanced over at the picture of them together. It was taken that day, that afternoon before he ventured on his bittersweet crusade into self-damnation. Indeed, he had done it for his love of his village... and his brother... and her. The Uchiha would have burnt the village to the ground, he knew they would have. His father was one of the strongest in the clan, most of the reason why he faced him last. Just the possible image of fire, collapsing buildings, the entire village. He wouldn't have spared anyone, including her.

The greater good is what he always told himself, and he knew it was the right thing to do. Either way, it was a lose-lose. For had he not done what he had done that night, the Uchiha would have killed everything he loved in the village, and since he did, he left everything behind. His brother grew to hate him, and devote his life to revenge... only to find out he had lost his way. Rather than return home to his village as a hero... he turned to the life of a renegade.

"There was no way that I could have avoided a bad outcome." he said. "But in the end... it was for the greater good. At the very least, I can say," he took his hand out from one of hers and tilted her head up to face him, their eyes inches apart. "At the very least, I can say I saved you."

She gave a small frown. "You always... think about everyone else. You never take the time to think for yourself... even in a situation like this."

A rarely seen smile now ran across the Uchiha's face. "That's not true... I did come back to see you because I wanted to."

"Itachi. Wait." she stood up, letting go of his hands and getting some distance from her bed. "I don't know if- I mean I can't- We can't- Is this even right?" she turned her back to him, facing out the window of her room with her arms crossed. "For God's sake... You were dead. You were dead for over thirteen years... I moved on. I had to." tears rolled down her face. She didn't move on, it was impossible. Once she realized she wanted Itachi to be her mate, she couldn't break that bond, not ever, even in death. "This... isn't fair... Now?... Now you come back?"

She tensed up as Itachi laid his hands on her shoulders, standing directly behind her. "I'm sorry. I think now that I've told you everything... you understand my words are sincere."

Silence.

Moments later, he picked up the conversation. He had a feeling now was the best time to leave her alone to collect her thoughts. He felt he already overdid it. "I see. I'll leave then-"

She had quickly turned around and grabbed onto him, pulling him into a tight embrace, much to his surprise. Her head buried through his Akatsuki robe and onto his chest while her hands gripped his shirt.

"I just... want to know one thing." she said.

"Anything." he softly replied, taking his hand and running his fingers down a loose lock of hair.

"Did you come back... just to say goodbye? I mean... really say goodbye? Or... is there something else?"

"You... said it yourself. That you had moved on, you had to. I cannot come in between it... nor will I try."

"Damn it! Why do you have to be so fucking cryptic!" she shoved herself off of him and stared into his eyes. "Can't you see what I'm trying to say? Do I have to spell it out for you? I didn't move on! I couldn't move on! Why? Because I'm fucking in love with you, Itachi! And it broke my heart when I found out what you did, but NOTHING compared to the pain I felt when I found out you had died! And now... here you are, right in front of me." she couldn't hold back the tears as they rushed down her face, constant and showing little sign of stopping as her voice cracked and broke with usage of speech. "Do you know how hard it's been? Living like this?"

He lost himself within her eyes. She meant well, but she hurt so much. She was just like the girl he used to know, though much older. He found some humor in knowing his time being dead kept him at his youthful age of twenty-one, where as Hana was clearly in her thirties now, but it made no difference to him. He knew... it was still there.

He reached for her hands and gently held them. "I want nothing more than to put this all behind me. But there is still one more thing I need to do."

She nodded. "Madara."

"Yes... and something even bigger than him." he lowered his forehead, his metal band was cold to the touch of her bare skin, but she welcomed it as their faces were closer than they ever had been. "I know that with you... I will have something to fight for. Something... to come back to."

She shook her head. "You have to promise me, Itachi."

"What do you want me to promise you?"

"You already died once... and I grieved, and mourned for over a dozen years in secret. I can't do it again, I don't think my heart can take it." she let go of his hands and reached them to hold his cheeks. "If we want to try this... really, really want to try this... you have to promise me not to die. Not until we grow old, and not unless it's together. You have to promise me that you'll come back."

X X X

"You seem in a rather cheerful mood." Kisame stated as he and his partner walked away from the village they had stopped in. "I take it she was happy to see you."

Itachi did not hide his smile as he nodded. "It was good to see her again."

"Good to know. Maybe it will make this odd crusade of ours worth fighting for." he sighed as he inhaled the night air. "Something to come home to."

Meanwhile on the balcony of her upstairs room, Hana stared out into the forest where Itachi had jumped to and left through. In her hands she held a small picture, a black and white photo of a little boy and a little girl with their hands held. Only the hands were shown, on it, was freshly drying ink that read, Forever. She smiled as she watched the night sky, not at all concerned at what her mother would think when she picked up his scent, or rather if and when he came back, the trials he would have to endure. There would be a time for that, and it wasn't now. Now... she would wait for his return.

"Yes, Kisame." he replied. "Something we can all look forward to."

X X X

"Ughk!"

Shikamaru knelt frozen, in exhaustion and in terror as Hidan looked down at him, his outside appearance completely black, a white outline giving him his skeletal like look. He glanced around quickly, noting he was the only one alive.

N-No... Temari... Aki...

"Aaaaaaahahahaha! Doesn't it feel great?" Hidan said as he lowered his scythe down to Shikamaru's cheek, slowly slitting across the skin and drawing blood. "The last lamb, in my great crusade for Lord Jashin." he said as he laid his tongue across the middle blade, letting the blood trickle down his throat as his sensation overtook him, linking the two together.

Shikamaru tried to back up, tried to use his jutsu, but he couldn't. His chakra was completely drained, it was deep into the night, and the clouds covered the light of the moon. He was completely at his mercy. With a psychotic grin and chuckle, Hidan pulled his staff from his sleeve and raised it above his heart, ready to stab it.

"Now, now. Looks like I will be the one bringing down vengeance this time around." he slammed the blade into his heart. "THY WILL BE DONE!"

X X X

"NO!" he screamed as he shot up in his bed in a cold sweat. His hair stuck to him as he felt a large weight cling around his shoulder and to his stomach. He gave a slight struggle to the grip before finally calming down at the realization of his wife's soothing voice.

"Shikamaru, it's okay. It's me, I'm here." she said as she held him. "It was just a dream."

The door opened a moment later, and in barged their daughter, just as worried as her mother was.

"Dad! Are you okay?"

"He's fine, Aki. Just a bad dream." she said as she rubbed his back. "Go back to bed, sweetheart."

"What? Mom!-"

"It's okay, Aki." Shikamaru finally spoke up. "Listen to your mother. I'm fine, really." he said as he turned to her with a smirk on his face. "Dreams can't hurt me, so don't worry."

She huffed as she rolled her eyes, but ultimately listened as she closed the door and walked back to her room.

"Was it the same thing?" Temari asked.

"Yeah... yeah, it was."

She sighed. "Do you really think he's alive, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru kept flashing back to that dream. Every night, it felt so real. His wife and daughter laid dead not far from him, his wounds felt real, his pain... his death, it felt real. Hidan... he felt, smelt, and looked real.

"As much as I'd like to sit here and hope that he isn't... or that this is just a strange coincidence, I can't. When I went with Kiba to check out the site, I could feel it in my bones, Temari. He's still out there. And if that murder at the morgue was really Kakuzu, and that person who was outside the gates was Deidara-"

"We'll be ready." she said, a smile crossing her face as they stared at each other. She finally leaned her face into his and gently kissed his lips as she pulled away and faced him again. "I know we will."

X X X

Nothing to do tonight, as usual for the youngest child of Sakura and Kiba. She missed going on missions for the simple fact that when she was home and no one else was, she normally just sat at home bored. Her brother was out for the night too with some friends, leaving the house completely to herself.

She sighed as she stared up at the ceiling in her room. A strand of hair tickled her forehead, but was quickly removed by her hand, lazily falling down as her finger touched something. She glanced over to see the small sculpture of her fallen partner that was made for her. The mysterious man who she found in the forest named Deidara. Their enemy supposedly.

But he didn't feel like an enemy. In fact, he felt like one of the closest things to a friend she had, simply because he knew how it felt. The staring, the judging, the pointing of fingers... the laughing. Sure she barely knew anything about him, but they had a similar history, she just knew they did.

"No point staying at home being bored all night... Think I'll go for a walk." she said to herself as she picked up her jacket she inherited from her father and put it on, heading downstairs. She kept the jacket unzipped, exposing her mesh shirt, and tucked her hands into the pockets as she exited the door and locked it behind her.

The streets were quiet. Distant chattering could be heard, but most people were either at home or deeper in the village at the bars or restaurants. It was nice that they lived towards the outer-center of the village. Not too close to the noise to keep it quiet, but not too far whenever the need to go into town was. Usually it was when they had to grocery shop, which was fairly often, considering how much her brother and father ate. She even remembered the other day when they went...

(Flashback)

"Aw come on, Mom, this is soooo boring!" pouted the first born.

The Inuzuka family of four, plus two faithful companions made their way around the grocery store for the third time this week. Sakura led the way, with Kiyosato and Kiba close behind, their heads sunk at the dislike for doing something so measly. Salayna was behind them with her hands in the pockets of her jacket, glancing around without any sort of problem. She was used to it, even though her father and brother weren't.

Sakura spun around. "Look, Kiyosato! I'm tired of coming here all the time by myself to shop for two weeks worth of groceries only for them to be gone in over the span of a day! Maybe when I drag you and your father out, your father" she quickly glanced at Kiba who replied by giving a big stupid grin with his hand scratching the back of his head. "Who I would have thought may have learned his lesson by now. But nope! Between the two of you, I'm surprised you haven't taken a bite out of the furniture yet!"

Man, we did the same thing when he was just born, didn't we? No wonder this feel so familiar. Kiba thought. "Alright, alright. What's first on the list?"

Sakura pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Kiba. "Here."

Kiba looked at the paper like it was a foreign object. "Here?" he glanced back up at her. "What are you talking about?"

"It's the list! The list that you're going to follow!"

"W-Wait! You mean I have to?-"

Sakura nodded her head with her hands on her hips. "I don't like doing this by myself, but I do it anyway. At least Salayna and Kiyosato are here to help you." she then walked past them towards the door. "See ya!"

"Mom! No! Dad sucks at shopping!" Kiyosato cried to his mother, but she only responded by waving back. "Come on, Mom! April Fools?" He thought for a moment. "Damn it, it's July! Come on, Mom, don't leave, we need you!"

(End Flashback)

A big smile ran across her face. It was definitely a fun experience. Their father was a great fighter, but shopping definitely wasn't his thing. It definitely showed when they came home with mostly meat and rice with no vegetables, and cereal without buying milk. Simple things like that were somewhat annoying, but it was fun to think back on it. She really did love her family, and it seemed her parents had always been doing stuff like that, even before they had her and her brother.

"HOW DO YOU BUY EIGHT BAGS OF CEREAL WITHOUT BUYING ANY MILK?" was something she'll always remember her mother shouting at the two men. She felt bad that she found humor in it, but it really was amusing when she got angry for the simple fact that her father or brother, or both, would slip up on some of the simplest things.

Finally she came to stop at a small wooden bridge, arched over. She glanced up at the sky, the moon was full tonight and not a cloud in the sky. On the other side of the bridge was a park were some other kids around her age or older were enjoying the evening, in a large group or with one other person.

"I wonder... what he's doing right now."

X X X

Deidara yawned as he and Tobi made their way through the Land of Fire on yet another search mission, this time for Trunks.

"We didn't even get a chance to lay back. Zetsu could at least handle some stuff himself, yeah." said Deidara.

"But senpai, we can't just leave Trunks-senpai in there with all those Konoha shinobi."

"I thought you said you were going to be his senpai?" he replied while furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh, well I uh..."

"Nevermind. Let's just get in and find him. Zetsu said he should be pretty easy to find. Something about the Hokage giving him a place to stay... weird."

"Maybe it's a trap!" Tobi said before frantically running in front of Deidara and stopping him. "! Senpai! We gotta save Trunks-senpai from the trap!"

"Calm down, Tobi. Trunks isn't exactly a pushover. He is a fellow artist like myself, after all, yeah."

"Huh?" Tobi looked confused as he took back to his partner's side.

"You saw it when Tokaku attacked us, didn't you? It was pure art, yeah!"

"Gee, I don't know, senpai. It just looked like another explosion to me."

"Art is an explosion." he smugly replied as they made their way closer to Konoha. "But that's besides the point. I have a plan."

"Yes! I love your plans, senpai!" he paused for a moment. "I'd love them even more if they actually worked!"

Deidara stopped and glared at Tobi. Much as he'd like to blast him sky-high again, they were getting close enough to where any sort of noises like that would draw attention from ANBU. Best thing to do was just listen and...

POW

... deliver a simpler punishment.

"B-But senpai!" Tobi said, rubbing a large welt on his head delivered by Deidara. "I have a good plan! It will work, I promise!"

He sighed. As much as Tobi blabbered about that kind of stuff, he did have a point; his plans didn't work that well in the past. The least he could do is listen to what he has to say.

"Okay, fine. What exactly is your plan?"

"Wuh-ho ho! You're actually gonna let me? Alright, that's my favorite senpai!" he grabbed Deidara and pulled him into a huddle position. "Okay, senpai, this is the plan..."

X X X

"Okay, we should be set up here." said Kiba. Him Akamaru and Sakura laid flat over an arched rooftop, peering into the window where the expected room was. The couple had a pair of binoculars they were each peering through, waiting to see when he would show up, whereas Akamaru just laid there bored.

"If the room is correct, he shouldn't be able to see us unless he looks directly down." said Akamaru.

"But that's also the problem; all he has to do is look down, and we'd be right there." replied Sakura. "But I guess this is the best we got, so we'll have to work with it."

They laid there in silence for a few more moments before Kiba decided to break it. "You lock the door?"

"Salayna's at the house. She said she had it."

"Just her?" he replied.

"Mm-hmm. Kiyosato's out with Shinta and Natsuko, so she told me."

"I'm surprised he didn't try and go after Aki again."

"Shikamaru daughter?"

"Yeah." he took his eyes off the binoculars and looked at her. "You didn't know that? Our son's got it pretty bad to tell you the truth." he chuckled.

She giggled. "Aw, I wonder why he never brought it up to me?"

"Well, he didn't bring it up to me, either. I picked up the smell off him."

"That's like cheating, you know."

"What? No way!" he playfully pushed her shoulder. "It's just obvious, to me and Akamaru anyway. His sister can probably smell it on him, too, just like we can smell it on her."

That took her by surprise. "Wait. Smell what on her?"

"Affection, just like Kiyosato is for Aki." he said, returning his eyes to the binoculars.

"What? Kiba that's not fair, you need to tell me this when you find out!" she pouted as she took the binoculars from her face and rested her chin on them.

"It's pretty new, don't worry. I'll handle Kiyosato, I think Salayna's more comfortable with you anyway."

"You could always do something about that, you know..." she replied.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what more I can do. When Kaitamaru died she just couldn't really face me the same afterwards."

"You haven't thought about talking to her about it?" she took her hand and rubbed his back. "Your daughter needs you just as much as your son does."

He smiled, ungluing his eyes from the device and smiling at his wife. "Yeah, you're right."

She smiled back as she leaned in and kissed him. "Of course I'm right."

He rolled his eyes and returned his attention to their stakeout. Women. Especially this one...

"Kiba." said Akamaru.

"Yeah, I smell it too."

"Is he here?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, Tenten's still with him." Kiba replied.

X X X

"Wow." Trunks said as he examined the room he and Tenten stepped into. "Did I get the uh... upgrade, or something?"

It was definitely not a typical room by any means. Two King-sized beds, a door leading to a marble decorated bathroom, and a full-size kitchen right to his left. It was a nice sight, but Trunks couldn't help but feel a bit weird about all of this. Why so much hospitality? He wouldn't have complained if he had the basic room, but this? This was a bit... much.

"She just feels bad for you. I'd be pretty upset with my boss if I was you." the kunoichi replied as she plopped on the bed and faced him. "So? What do you think of Konoha?"

"Well I..." he scratched the back of his head. Rather than heading back to the hotel right away, Tenten took the liberty of showing him around the entire village. She was nice, pretty energetic, and she had a funny habit of always ogling over weapons of any kind. What's more is that she's actually better at swordsmanship than Trunks was, much to his embarrassment.

"A lot of shops and attractions are closed since it was pretty late. Maybe we can go tomorrow before you head back to Iwa."

He gave a small blush over his cheeks. "Sure, that'd be fine."

He walked past her and sat on the bed facing the large sliding window and glanced out. It was a nice night, a few clouds scattered across the sky of the full moon with a small breeze as the few taller trees he noticed gave a sway.

Knowing Trunks had his back to her, she quickly took out the note Tsunade handed her and read it over again. Below the address was an important order.

Be on guard. We have reason to believe Trunks is an Akatsuki. Kiba and Sakura gave me the information before you arrived. The room you are in is being wired to record any conversation. Keep an eye on him, Kiba and Sakura are watching from a distance, so you should be safe if something goes wrong. Try and get any information you can out of him, but don't lose him.

She folded the note back up and tucked it away in her pocket as she stood up and made her way to the bed Trunks was sitting at, taking a seat next to him. He doesn't seem that bad, though. He's shy, but he's kind of sweet. Still, I really need to pay attention. Can't get distracted.

"You okay?"

He tensed for a moment, forgetting he wasn't alone in the room. He glanced over at her with a blank look on his face. "Yeah I'm alright. Just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Home." he said softly. He really missed it, despite it still being reconstructed. Recovering after the androids and Cell took the remaining citizens to ban together and try to refit the pieces. In spit of that, there was finally peace, he just wishes he could be there to actually enjoy it. Here... he knew something was wrong, on both sides.

"Been a while since you've seen Iwa, huh?"

Trunks sighed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." he stretched his arms, yawning while doing so. "The Hokage was nice, giving me this big room, even though it's just for the night."

Hm. I should probably try and soften him up before I ask something... Then again I can't be too forward or he'll figure something out and it'll be over. she thought as she took her hand and placed it on his leg. "So I hardly know anything about you except the basics. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

His face gave a light shade of pink as he noticed where her hand was. "Umm... sure. I guess, uh, what do you want to know about me?"

"Well when you showed me your visitation papers you had another city crossed out." she glanced over at him till he was looking at her. "Are you actually from Iwagakure?" she smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. I just figured maybe it was where you were born and you moved later."

He gave a slight tense at first but he eased himself as she explained. Then again, he figured at this point lying was going to be hard. She was nice to him, even if it was just basic hospitality, it means a lot to a lost man when someone is willing to lend a helping hand. But he knew the Illusive Man was right, and that stopping the tailed beasts was the top priority. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could go home. Then again, could he trust him? He told him they would both be meeting here, yet nothing happened. What was he playing at?

Finally sighing in defeat, he started. "Okay, that I don't mind answering." he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm from a place called West City. It's... kind of banged up right now."

"What happened to it?"

He chuckled as he set his hand down from his head. "Tenten... I'm not from this time."

Okay, wait, what? the kunoichi thought in surprise. "I'm not sure I get what you mean." she stated, trying to not sound too surprised by what he said.

"It's pretty straightforward. I'm from the-"

Knock Knock!

"Who's that?" Tenten asked, standing up quickly, too quickly as she twisted her ankle and fell back on the bed, wincing in pain as she held onto it.

"Ugh! Great, just what I needed to go and do!"

Trunks took her sandal off and looked at her ankle. It was already starting to swell, so he picked her up slowly and carried her to the bathroom. When he opened the door, he sat her down on the toilet and propped her foot up on a small stool next to it.

"Hold on, I'll go get some ice." he said as he quickly walked to the kitchen.

Using the brief moment to herself, she tapped her ear. "Kiba, Sakura, you guys there?"

The radio came to life as a response was heard. "It's Sakura, you okay?"

"I'm alright, kind of messed up my ankle."

"Yeah we saw, good stuff!"

"Oh can it, Kiba." she replied. "I don't know a lot yet, but I'd get ready just in case. Gotta go."

Trunks entered the room with a plastic bag filled with square ice cubes, covered by a paper towel. "Just keep this on. I gotta see who's at the door."

She smiled back. "Okay."

Trunks closed the door to the bathroom and walked up to the door. When he glanced through the peephole, he noticed a man standing there with a cart of food in front of him. He was dressed up like a worker, but something was different about him.

That mask... Hey wait, I know who that is! Trunks thought as he opened the door and...

"DOMOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Tobi with his hand raised high.

Trunks quickly clamped his hand around where Tobi's mouth was suppose to be, instead holding his mask. "Tobi? What the hell are you doing here? Keep it down, man!" he said as he let go.

Tobi entered the room with the cart in front of him, accidentally bumping the cart onto the bed as an annoyed grunt could be heard from underneath the sheet covering it.

"Hey Tobi, is that... ?"

Tobi clapped his hands together. "Ah yes! Tonight's main course!" he reached for the sheet and ripped it off to find a crammed Deidara squeezed underneath the cart.

"Senpai a-la-carte!"

"Tobi, I swear to god I'm gonna kill you when we get home."

Deidara finally climbed his way out of the cart and stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Here we are, impersonating staff workers and cramming ourselves into carts and you're here relaxing in a five-star hotel."

Trunks awkwardly chuckled. "Well it's not what it looks like, you see I-"

On the other side of the wall, Tenten could hear the conversation commencing between Trunks and the others. No mistaking it now, after hearing the names Deidara and Tobi, she knew it was Akatsuki affiliated.

Crap! I can't move... damn ankle. she tapped her ear to radio in. "Guys, you gotta get in here. Deidara and Tobi are literally on the other side of the wall from me."

Silence.

"Kiba? Sakura?... Akamaru?"

Crash!

In the living room of the hotel, the window crashed into hundreds of pieces as Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura landed in, eyes fixed on the three as they stood up in a readied position to fight.

"What a mess!" Tobi said. "All that glass, I mean really! It's everywhere!"

"It's that same guy we met when we were looking for Itachi." Kiba said. "We couldn't even touch that goofball."

Trunks glanced around. There wasn't any room to fight, not that he was worried. After sensing their powers, he felt at ease knowing he was quite a bit stronger than the both of them. Still, he felt that way every time something like that happened where he was either fighting or going to fight. His power felt cut, like this time put a heavy hold on his full abilities.

"You're those two from earlier." he stated.

"Glad your eyes work, pal." Kiba said. "I'm grateful the three of you are all here, saves me the trouble of having to look for you." he gripped his fist together. "I should have grabbed you when I had the chance."

"Heh. Like that would have happened." Trunks smirked.

"Well, hello." Deidara glanced at Sakura. "If it isn't the girl who beat my man Sasori. You'll have to excuse us, my man Trunks and I along with Tobi were just leaving."

"Like hell." Kiba snapped. "We're taking you guys in, especially you, new guy." he finished, pulling out a kunai.

"The bad guys taking in the good guys. Typical." he replied.

"Bad guys?" Sakura replied. "You're the bad guys! Coming back to try and take Naruto away for your own sick and twisted ways!"

Kiba finally lunged forward. "We're stopping this, right now!" Sakura quickly followed behind him, Akamaru doing the same as he transformed into a clone of his master.

"Oh man, they're tracking glass all OVER the place!" cried Tobi.

"Shut up, Tobi! Here they come!" said Deidara as he readied himself.

Trunks smirked, not even moving at all. Deidara glanced over at him. What's he doing?

Kiba brought his kunai down, only to find himself in a look of shock as Trunks not only stopped the blade, but he did so only using his finger. Trunks kept his eyes fixed on Kiba's as Sakura charged her fist up and rammed it towards Trunks, who easily caught the punch with his other hand and held it like it was nothing. Akamaru was able to land a successful kick into Trunks' face, but it had absolutely no effect on him.

What the hell? Kiba thought. How did he stop that? With his finger? he glanced over at Sakura's fist which made absolutely no damage registration. And Sakura's punch... that normally sends people flying, especially with THAT much chakra she put in! Not to mention Akamaru's kick was dead on! What the hell is with this guy?

"You guys... aren't very strong." Trunks said.

"And you three aren't very smart."

Trunks tried to turn around, but he couldn't. He was stuck? What the? I can't... move.

Glancing down he could see his shadow was being dragged out into another direction. The look of relief on the faces of the other shinobi was a sign that a friend had arrived from behind them.

"Shikamaru!" Sakura happily cheered.

"The Hokage sent word something big was going down. Glad I showed up just in time." he said as he glanced at Deidara from the entrance of the doorway. "Looks like the rumors are true, you are alive."

"Tch." Deidara spat. "I knew the room service thing was a bad idea, Tobi, yeah."

"Gee you guys, things look pretty bad, huh?" said Tobi.

"I'm not sure who you are or what your goal is with the Akatsuki," Shikamaru said to Trunks. "But if it's Naruto you're after, I'm afraid we're not going to let that happen."

"What are you talking about? You guys are the one keeping a weapon of mass destruction in your village ready to wipe out life in an instant!" he grunted, the grip Shikamaru had on him was too tight and sudden for him to power up and break free. "You actually think keeping a bomb ready to go off is safer than getting rid of it? That's not peace! That's just a cold war with the rest of the world, even those of your own village!"

What the hell? Was this guy born yesterday? Or did the Akatsuki do some kind of indoctrination on him? Shikamaru thought. "Did you hit your head or something? Don't act like sealing away and killing the jinchuriki is a good thing! That kind of power is worse than any kind of bomb you're thinking of!"

"Trunks, Tobi! Get down!" said Deidara. As soon as they looked at him, the bomber spat a clay spider from his mouth towards the ceiling light, making contact. "Sorry friends, but this is goodbye for now."

He furrowed his eyebrows together as he activated his ability.

"Katsu!"

The smart planning ahead definitely helped. He had a bit of clay in his hands, but he took a little bit and kept it in his mouth in case he was unable to do so. When the light broke, the shadows blended in with the darkness, losing their grip and freeing the three from its hold.

Immediately Deidara bolted for the window, pushing Trunks to do the same with Tobi frantically screaming and running behind them. He jumped out the window, tossing one of his creations down before activating his ability and bringing a large bird to life, catching the three on top of it.

"Let's get out of here." he said. "It's way too hot right now, yeah."

The bird finally rose up to the window, Kiba and the others watching them in annoyance at their attempt to flee the scene.

Deidara stood at the head of the bird, turned around facing them. "So sorry to leave you all like this. We'll have to do this again real soon, yeah."

"Buh-bye!" waved Tobi as the bird flew away.

Finally rejoining her teammates, Tenten limped to the side of Sakura as she watched the giant bird gain distance from them. From the moment she could see him, her and Trunks were fixed on each other, until they were too far away to keep their eyes fixed on the other. They both knew the next time they saw each other, it wouldn't be friendly.

"Like hell you're getting away!" Kiba shouted as he jumped out the window towards a rooftop, giving chase.

"Right." she said. "You go with him, Shikamaru, he's going to need your help."

"Ah man, I knew this whole thing was going to be a real drag, you know that?" he rolled his eyes as he followed after Kiba.

END!

And the quick little fight scene ends it. So it looks like Tobi's little plan didn't really work, but we gotta give him credit for trying, right? For those of you who might be confused, The Illusive Man has sort of an influence over his thoughts on jinchurikis right now. Not so much a dominating control over his mind, just a heavy hand in his decision making. So his expressions about it and any actions taken towards them in the future?... Yeah that's all Illusive Man pulling the strings. Keep that in mind, cause it'll really show in the later chapters! Anywayyyyys, there it is. Next chapter, I'm brining in something nice, you'll see what I mean towards... about the end of the chapter. Please review, and I'll see you next time!