Righto, my lovelies, I've decided to continue the story! (Balloons in background)

I want to thank you guys for the reviews, namely Hitokiri Shinzui, Chellythemadhatter, and Ichiro Kuragari! Thanks you guys, you're the best :)

So, where did we leave off? Ah yes, Host thinks Tenten is beautiful and Neji isn't too happy about it. Oh, and did I mention that Host has been outsmarted through his own plan being used against him?

"Explain who you are, right here, right now," Sasuke ordered from his chair. The chair was a rickety job made of bamboo and string and looked like a breeze could knock it over, but when coupled with the Uchiha's dark appearance and air of cold and absolute control it took on all the terrible grandeur of Satan's throne.

Host paled as much as his already blood-drained face would let him.

"I…I suppose I have no choice," the black-clad man stammered.

"Correct," replied Sasuke coldly.

Host dislodged himself from Tenten's grudgingly helping hand to stand in the circle of chairs.

Slowly, unwillingly, Host put down his hood, pulled off his facemask, unzipped his jacket, and untied his glasses. He did all this very methodically, as though he were merely presenting himself as an exhibit.

For a while no one spoke, until Host began to explain.

"As you can see, I'm complicated."

He was complicated. His appearance was very indistinct, like a series of images all flashing in quick succession. His hair would be black, then brown, then blonde and spiky, then white and lank. His skin tone flickered from pale as a ghost to dark as night, while one could barely look at his face it changed with such rapidity. But with each face the expression was unmistakable: that of bitter regret.

"How… how?" asked Lee simply.

Host's expression never faltered as he provided an answer: "I'm not what you would call real," he began cryptically, "The true mechanics of my being are too complicated for idle chit chat, so I shall provide you with an approximate explanation." Host's voice had changed from the warm, fake one that they all knew and despised to one of cold logic and observation.

"Thoughts exist as energy, correct?" without waiting for an answer he plowed on, "When such energy overlaps with itself it creates matter, or the illusion of matter."

"This is all very interesting," said Tobi with a yawn, "But it still doesn't explain the Uchiha's question."

"I'm getting there, just be patient," Host reassured him in what was far from a reassuring voice, "When Sasuke left Konoha, everyone heard about it. At that point, a single idea came into each of your minds, and that was to get Sasuke back. It didn't happen exactly at the same time for each of you, but it was close enough. That overlapping idea is what originally gave me form. At first I was no more than a blip in a huge cosmos, a bump in the nebulous flow, but I was a disturbance nonetheless, like a pearl in an oyster. You in the sound five, you all wished to keep Sasuke with you. You in the Akatsuki, you considered the idea of assassinating Sasuke to keep Orochimaru from gaining power. All of you thinking another idea about the same target at overlapping times contributed to my being.

"These opened up pathways for me, as it were, crude disturbances that angled thoughts concerning that particular subject towards me. I fed on the thoughts, becoming stronger, gaining more and more form.

"My form flickers as it does because all your minds are separate and unique. I can only take on the true appearance of having form when I zero in on one of your minds exclusively, and even then I cannot choose how I appear. When I concentrate solely on one of your minds then I will look like what you wish to see, what you expect or hope for. I am, in essence, all of your minds."

The flickering figure sat down on the ground, cradling his ever-changing skull in indistinct hands.

"B-but you bled!" protested Tenten, "When I hit you with those kunai, you bled from the wounds!"

"No," came the muffled reply, "I bled from your intent in those kunai. The hatred sealed in them ruptured my form."

"What about when I kicked you?" asked Lee, "I heard your ribs break!"

"Again, it was your intent," answered Host.

"But I bear no grudge against you!" Lee protested.

"You did not truly wish to hurt Sasuke Uchiha, not in your heart of hearts. A split second before your kick made contact your mind's own horror at the action coupled with the Uchiha target pulled me in to take the brunt of the force."

There was a silence, in which the only sound was of distant cicadas and the wind through scrubby trees.

"So why us?" asked Neji, "Why now, and above all what for?"

"I don't know," said Host despondently, "I merely felt that this is what was needed."

Naruto ran. He had checked everywhere he could for Hinata. Upon obtaining no results, he checked everywhere again, but still to no avail. Where was she? He was starting to get worried. Well, if he was completely honest he was barely holding back the panic that threatened to engulf him. Where could she be?

Hinata was sitting by herself atop the highest column she could find. Tears stung her eyes as she stared at the omnipresent full moon.

She hadn't heard what Naruto had meant to say about her that time just hours before. Well, she didn't know really as it was difficult to keep track of time here. She dared not guess what he might have said, lest she gain false hopes. She was still trying to crush her feelings, convince herself that she and him would never be together, but this new development gave her hope. It was that tiny, cruel, maddening spark of hope that she wept about now. Honestly, he must have been half asleep she thought to herself, he probably didn't even know what he was saying. But the hope was still there.

Naruto continued his search, clutching the stitch in his side and trying desperately to acquire enough oxygen to fill his lacerated lungs. But he couldn't stop now, not yet. He wouldn't stop until he had found his friend.

Where was she? He had searched every nook and cranny of the coliseum but there was still no trace of her. Where had he not checked?

(Flashback)

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined after Kakashi had ambushed him from above during training once again, "Can't you cut me a little slack? I mean, you're a jounin, right? Seriously, I'm still learning!"

With a sigh Kakashi stopped twisting Naruto's arm behind his head.

"Naruto, you're a ninja now, you have to think in three dimensions; not just left and right, but up and down as well."

"Oh, right!" the orange ninja folded his arms behind his head, "Yeah, I was just testin' ya Kakashi-sensei, I already knew that!"

(End flashback)

"Up and down…" Naruto muttered, "Of course!"

With a chakra infused leap, he leapt to the nearest pillar, springing from one to another, searching for the highest one from which to survey the others. Finally his eyes alighted upon an edifice that must have reared two hundred feet into the air.

"That one," he muttered to himself, making a beeline for it.

Hinata wiped tears from her eyes in vain. She shouldn't have begun to cry in the first place. Those first tears that slipped from the edges of her eyes had opened up pathways for others, starting with a stream and developing into a painful flood. Every tear she wiped away came back tenfold.

Hinata had never really known her mother; she had never had the chance. Sometimes she would watch small children with their mothers in the street. Whenever the child scraped his knee his mother would always be there, tutting and kissing it better, doing everything she could to comfourt the poor thing. And now, as Hinata looked out at the cold, clear sky and into that moon as bright and pale as her own eyes, she wished that she had someone there to comfourt her.

A scuffling sound from behind brought her back to reality.

"Wh-who's there?" she asked, turning her head to face the interruption.

What she was greeted with was a full frontal view of an orange blur with a very startled look on its face hurtling straight towards her.

Oh no, thought Hinata.

Oh shit, thought the blur.

Now, in any other circumstances they would have collided and gone plunging some two hundred feet to the hard, unforgiving ground. However, as it was, Naruto barely managed to stick out his foot and catch the sharp edge of the column's cornice (A/N that's the flat bit right at the top). When he did this, two things happened simultaneously: one, his trajectory abruptly came to a halt, and two, diabolical pain exploded up his leg.

"Ow…" he said feebly, crumpling in mid-air.

Quick as a flash Hinata caught his hand in hers before he could fall to his almost imminent doom. She blushed slightly at the fact that they were holding hands, but smothered the emotion.

Once she had hauled Naruto's dazed form onto the twelve-foot-square platform, she (with considerable difficulty seeing as her hands were shaking violently) rolled up his trouser leg and checked for injuries.

It turned out that the chakra infused leap had provided him with sufficient momentum to not only smash the delicate bones in his feet, but also to splinter his right shin. Perfect.

Well, Hinata wasn't very good at healing, but she would do her best… for Naruto.

Gradually she gathered a cloud of green chakra around her palm, directing it gently towards each of his feet in turn, only stopping when she heard the bones pop into place.

When his left foot cracked into action, Naruto's eyes flew open.

"Hey! What'd I miss, what'd I miss? Oh, hi Hinata, what's going on?"

Then suddenly:

"OOOW!" he wailed, clutching his shin in pain.

"N-Naruto, don't roll around like that! Y-you'll fall!"

Abruptly he stopped moving, but didn't cease his groaning.

"Ugh, what happened?"

Host was still cradling his head in his hands, knees drawn up to his chest like a child.

"So," Deidara began, "What happens now, hm?"

"Well," the curled up creature said, "I could show you to your rooms I suppose."

There was a general murmur of agreement. It had been about seventy-two hours since they had all arrived, and those who had not managed to sleep on the ground or in chairs were exhausted.

Host threw on his cloak and mask, walking towards the blank coliseum wall. A section of wall blew away like dust as they neared it, leaving an open, torch-lit space beyond.

"Neat trick," smirked Kisame, "How'd you do it?"

"Ever notice how sometimes your thoughts can just disappear like a plume of smoke?" Host said without turning around.

He led the large group through the dimly lit corridor, eventually coming to an intersection of tunnels.

"To the right are the ladies' quarters, the rooms will have you names on the doors. To the left go the men; your rooms too will have your names on the doors," Host explained, "Straight ahead there is a parlour that you may sit in and enjoy yourselves if you like. I also reside at the end of this hall, so if you need anything then just knock."

He walked into the thick blanket of darkness, leaving no doubt as to their dismissal.

The separate factions of male and female ninja headed their different ways. Konan however detached herself from the general throng and tugged at Deidara's elbow. Looking down, he seemed surprised to see her.

"Konan, what is it?"

"I want to know how you think the plan is going?"

He grinned. "Pretty well, did you see Pein's face earlier? He looked like he was about to explode!"

She laughed half-heartedly, "Yeah, he wasn't happy."

There was a pause, then Deidara said with a yawn: "Well, goodnight, Konan." "Goodnight, Deidara," she smiled.

As the walked in opposite directions, she suddenly turned around. "Oh, um, Deidara?"

"Hm?" he answered, turning his head.

"Thanks."

He chuckled, "No problem. Anyway, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed messing with someone's head this much."

A/N

Whew, ok guys, thanks for waiting.

I hope I wrote this chapter all right, because believe me, the last thing I want is for this story to sound at all sappy or unrealistic. So, click that big button that says REVIEW on it and tell me what you think, my lovelies.

Oh my, what's this? An omake perhaps?

*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*

Pein sat in his office, poring over a stack of papers. The Akatsuki had decided to have a pun competition, and all of the members had submitted a pun of their own. They had asked him to decide which pun was the greatest, and deserving of the grand prize (grand prize being two weeks off work in a village of their choice).

Ten puns, ten members, ten possible winners. How was he supposed to choose?

The Next day everyone assembled in the extraction chamber to hear what their leader had to say.

"Who won?" asked Zetsu, cutting straight to the point.

"Well," Pein began, "They were all pretty terrible, I must say."

"Oh just tell us who gets the fucking vacation!" Hidan said rudely.

"Which pun was the best? Which one won?" asked Tobi eagerly.

"Which one won? Well, none of them actually qualified as real puns, so really no pun in ten did."

Oho! Oh haha! Oh hehehe, get it? No pun in ten did? (No pun intended) Haha! Ooooh, obscure joke when its not told out loud. Hehe, anyway, I'll write again in a while my dears.