Itachi knew he was in trouble.

Tsunade had passed him off to several ANBU and went off into the forest, telling him she would be back for him in an hour or so. A nervous Shizune had followed, leaving Tonton with a female ANBU. Tsunade had sworn the just about the whole way, at least until Shizune had threatened to shove a bar of soap down her throat. Then she had shut her mouth and set to thinking.

"Ano…Tsunade-sama…?"

Tsunade turned to her assistant, acknowledging her with a glance.

"Where are we going?"

"Kakashi never caught up with us," Tsunade replied. "I'm going to find him."

Shizune nodded and took several larger leaps to catch up with Tsunade. "Do you know where he is?" she asked. Tsunade nodded and hacked angrily at a branch with a kunai.

"Frickin' Sound asses," she muttered. "They've caught up with him!"

Shizune's eyes widened. "But…I thought they were with the Akatsuki…Kurenai's battle…"

"They were. But then they realized Kakashi was alone and left the party."

Shizune nodded comprehensively. "Then…what do we do?"

"Find them and cross out fingers."

Shizune sighed. "All right, fine," she said. "But what happens if there are more than just Orochimaru and his personal squads?"

"We die!" Tsunade said dramatically.

"Okay…you do that."

"I will."

The pair then lapsed into silence and Tsunade chopped off another branch. "First person you see, if they're not from Konoha, they're dead, got it?"

"Sure thing."

Tsunade halted, waiting for Shizune to catch up. The girl halted next to her on the tree and listened hard.

"Sound Four, Kabuto, and Orochimaru himself," she whispered. Tsunade nodded.

"And…Kakashi…?"

Shizune shook her head. "He's afraid…very afraid. I can just about smell his fear."

"How close?"

"Couple yards at most."

Tsunade took off without so much as another word, her steps suddenly silenced and her movements undetectable. Shizune followed just as quietly, watching Tsunade's back and waiting for her move.

There was none.

Tsunade crashed unceremoniously through the tree line, slashing through a line of bodies. Kakashi lay in the middle of the ring, stark naked and bleeding furiously, Orochimaru menacing him. Even his mask had been stripped away, and he was trembling, backed into the trunk of the tree he had been standing on.

It was like pouring gasoline on fire.

With a roar of rage, Tsunade broke through the line of Otonin rushing to their master's defense. Blood, intestines, and body fluids flew through he air as Tsunade hacked viciously at the ninja in front of her. No one escaped her fury, and even Orochimaru seemed surprised at the bloody path she was carving.

Tsunade's hands laced with chakra and flamed with rage as she lashed out endlessly, striking one down and immediately moving on.

The path of a shinobi…Tsunade realized, truly is a breaking one. To kill over and over again, all for one you love…it truly is a horrendous way to go.

But I'd do it all again in a heartbeat…

If only it meant saving Kakashi pain.

Orochimaru was unprepared for Tsunade's onslaught, and fell quickly before her hand. He preferred to flee on a giant snake with Sasuke and Kabuto. He had gotten what he wanted from Kakashi, anyway.

Tsunade knelt down next to Kakashi, who had curled into a ball at her feet.

"Shhhhhh, come here," she whispered, stretching out her arms to him. Kakashi jumped into her embrace without hesitation, and Tsunade wrapped her arms around him. Kakashi's shaking refused to cease, and Tsunade tightened her embrace. A hand moved to Kakashi's hair, stroking the jounin so tenderly Kakashi was beginning to wonder if this was really Tsunade.

But then again, it wouldn't really matter. The person wanted to help him, they wouldn't hurt him, and Kakashi was safe in their arms. It wouldn't matter if this wasn't Tsunade, because she held him close and comforted him.

"Tsunade-sama!"

"…What, Shizune…?"
Shizune swallowed nervously. "We better get out of here," she said slowly. "They're only unconscious, and Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Kabuto got away…"

Tsunade nodded and pulled off her green outer robe. She wrapped it around Kakashi's shoulders and carefully slid her hands underneath his body, feeling the blood soaking her fingers as she did so. Without even a word, Tsunade took off into the trees, trusting Tsunade to follow.

OOOOOOOOO

Itachi was roughly shoved through a doorway and forced to his knees. "Stay here," came the command, and Itachi knew he would have no choice. The ANBU took several steps away from him and began to converse.

"Did Tsunade-sama say anything about what to do with him?"

"She said to blindfold him to neutralize the Sharingan, leave the gag, and make sure he has a few chains on him."

"I'll deal with him," volunteered a female ANBU.

"You sure?" This ANBU's voice was deep and somewhat skeptical. "I know you're strong, but-"

"You have to treat him with respect," the girl replied. "Be gentle." Itachi's eyes were fixed on the girl as she pulled a piece of cloth from her kunai pouch and approached him.

"Itachi," she murmured, slowly walking towards him. "Please don't try anything, I don't want to have to hurt you."

Itachi was tempted to throw himself at her and knock her away, but he was curious about how far she would go to be a bit kinder to him than the rest of the world.

"Itachi, calm down," she soothed, still walking towards him. Itachi's muscles coiled, ready to snap and release. The girl's eyes were locked on Itachi, staring deep into the violent Sharingan with soft, but willful lavender eyes. Itachi pulled back a bit, now completely ready to snap. The Mangekyou threatened to break through in Itachi's frustration, despite his attempts to push it down.

"Itachi-"

At the sound of the girl's voice, the deadly Mangekyou broke loose.

OOOOOOOOO

Shikamaru knew the battle was just about over.

Sasori and Zetsu lay dead; Yasu was still in Kurenai's Sakura Shintenshin, and Shikamaru's own Shadow Possession had snared Deidara. Hidan's legs and ankles had been cut up so badly by Asuma's trench knives that he was unable to stand, and Kisame was fading fast against Neji, Hinata and Kiba. Shino had set his bugs on Kakuza, and Tobi was having no easy time against Lee's Drunken Fist Taijutsu.

"All right, just stop!"

The entire battle froze at the shout from Hidan.

"We're all going to die if we keep going, so jus stop now, we might get away with our lives."

Kisame was too stunned to move as two hands captured his and tied them together behind his back. In a way, Hidan was right. And if they all died, what would become of the Akatsuki? Lee backed off of Tobi, preferring to let someone "sober" deal with him. Tobi decided to offer nothing more than spit, and within the second he had earned himself a slap from Neji, his chakra pathways were being sealed, and his hands were bound. Hinata was a bit more merciful and slightly gentler when taking her enemies into her possession, and definitely better than Neji's shove-and-kick tactics. Kurenai released Yasu, and the missing-nin immediately collapsed.

It was all black from there.

A/N: . Doctor's visit today. –Rolls eyes- Joy. I got a shot today and I'm going to have to go for two more in a week. And then I have to get blood taken for all kinds of crazy tests… . Joy. So the nurse sticks the needle through my arm, pulls it out and all, and goes, "Oops, I hit a capillary!" You know, one of those real tiny little blood veins and all…and my arm is bleeding like hell!! The blood goes all the way down to my elbow and I'm like, "you sure you didn't hit an artery?" So she laughs and puts a teeny little Band-aid on it and walks out. . So now my arm is still bleeding because I have to move it to keep it from cramping and it's still bleeding. Joy. I'd better stop typing, otherwise I'll drown the keyboard in blood. Sorry this was so long and the chapter was short, the next one should be longer and better than this one. Bleed out!

-Destiny.