A/N: This is a miracle – yet another chapter after quite decent wait! Hooray – perhaps my updates are slowly becoming regular once more! (dances around like a madwoman)

First of all, massive thank yous for those heart warming reviews! (offers some cupcakes to all of you) Do I even have to mention how much they mean to me? realityfling18, out of your request the response to your review can be found from underneath this chapter.

Awkay, especially with the nasty ending I gave you, I think it's only fair to get going, so… Here comes chapter nine (damn, I can't believe this story is that far already)! Enjoy, yeah?

/ How could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We're so close
To reaching that famous happy end
And almost believing this was not pretend
Let's go on dreaming for we know we are
So close
So close
And still so far /

(Jon McLaughlin; "So Close")

Raiki Dagoishi – a man in his forties with hard, long-grown brown hair, sharp wolf's eyes and a lot of scars as a reminder of all his battles – who'd been assigned as a commander of the troupes attacking Konoha, wasn't known for patience and even temper amongst his men. That's why none of the ones upon earshot was surprised by the snarls soon erupting when a hooked figure sneaked into the man's tent.

" You can't be serious!" Raiki shouted in a voice that easily left thunder to shame. " After all this fighting and trouble, now that we're finally on the edge of winning… You're telling me to retreat?!"

The person sitting across a poor-shaped table didn't seem even slightly affected by his tone. " I'm afraid it's necessary in order to achieve our goals – for now."

His thick eyebrows furrowed when those words managed to catch his curiosity. " For now?"

Despite hood, he could see a nod. " Konoha… has something Kirigakure needs. If we agree to play nicely for a while, we'll get exactly that."

He was now curious. " And what would that thing be?"

" The two remaining Tailed Beasts." Seeing his reaction, the other went on. " Danzou has been a fool enough to promise them to me in exchange for peace."

He nodded slowly, beginning to understand the workings of his accomplice's mind. " I see."

" Now, Raiki… If you leave Konoha alone for just a little while, I promise you'll get to attack again as soon as we have what we want – with the demons' assistance."

Yes, Raiki Dagoishi was known for impatience and hotheadedness. But he was also known for intelligence. He recognized a good deal when such was presented to him.

" Taketo!" he roared.

After a moment, extremely timid-looking tall, thin man with pale-blue eyes and oath-coloured hair appeared to the tent's doorway. " Yes?"

" I want you to send a message to all troupes", he announced, eyes flashing. " We'll be retreating from Konoha."

CHAPTER 9: So Close

What sleeping – or, perhaps rather unconscious – Naruto couldn't know was that there were three people looming around his bedside.

" So…", Suigetsu stated, measuring the blonde teen with his gaze. " What are we going to do with him?"

" He may turn out to be useful and valuable", Karin stated, thoughtful expression upon her face. " I vote we'll keep him, at least for a little while."

Suigetsu's eyes flashed while turning towards her. " Are you out of your fucking mind?! He's got Konoha and the Akatsuki on his tails! Do you really want those guys to find us, too?"

Karin growled, rolling her eyes. " They're not going to find us, so relax, will you?" She looked at the blonde once more. " He knows what's happened to Sasuke. As little as I like it, we need him right now. If he turns out to be… a problem, we can dispose him later."

He snapped his mouth tightly shut, for once agreeing with the girl.

Just then, sounds of groans and breaking dishes came from the kitchen located not too far. They looked at each other, both knowing far too well that they'd left Yuugo there.

He sighed somewhat resignedly. " Yeah, yeah, okay, I'll go", he responded to Karin's demanding look.

He needed a little time to think, anyway.

Shino had never faced such headache that was pounding underneath his skull while he slowly drifted out of the endless pit of darkness, desperately trying to reach out for the distinctly familiar, firm female-voice calling out for him. " … hino, damnit, open your eyes! Wake up!"

Very slowly and with huge effort he indeed managed to crack his eyelids open. At first he frowned when facing a dark blob, but his expression changed free of his will as Suzume's face cleared out. " … ume?" What the heck was she doing here? What had happened?

The girl's eyes softened and filled with something he couldn't identify at the time, but her face remained stone hard. " You and your team got attacked. The enemies left almost as soon as we arrived, I think they were called off by someone."

Very slowly, the events before his blackout started to clear out, leaving his body feel inhumanly cold and his throat dry.

He and Iruka… They'd been trying to make their way towards the others with that kid, when… There'd been an explosion, and the school… It'd been pretty much destroyed… Someone had attacked him from behind…

His eyes widening a fraction behind his glasses, he met the girl's eyes. " Iruka… The others… Where…?"

Suzume's expression told him to expect just about the worst. " Shino… The school's in a horrible shape – it's a miracle we managed to save all but four kids and two teachers. Iruka, he…" She swallowed hard, eyes strange. " Shino, he got buried into the ruins. We… We have no idea if he's…" She trailed off.

That was all it took. Whirr filling his head he tried desperately to get up, but ended up collapsing back to ground with a groan when his weak legs gave way, and several floods of pain washed over him at one go.

He heard Suzume growl. " You idiot…" Despite those words, her eyes were stunningly gentle and understanding when finding his. " Shino, you're hurt. You can't go to search for him, got that?" Her voice revealed that she could barely keep herself from going after the teacher. " There are several experts looking for him and that child. He's in good hands, alright?" Seeing his slow, quite uncertain nod, she smiled. " Good. Now let's get you out of here."

Despite all that'd happened that day, he couldn't help feeling just an inch better when she wrapped one arm to support him, and he found his aching body leaning slightly against hers.

At that moment, it wasn't impossibly hard for him to believe that perhaps things would work out after all – when it came to Iruka and everything else.

Shikamaru had always found battles troublesome. This particular at hand, it seemed, was even more so with Kurenai having gone into a labour at the worst possible moment.

Doing his best to counter yet another attack from the strange Kiri-nin, he glanced over his shoulder towards where Temari was rubbing scowling Kurenai's shoulder quite clumsily. " How's she doing?"

" There's still a long way to go", Temari informed for the woman when yet another jolt of pain washed over the older. " The contractions come every eight minutes."

He nodded.

At least some damn good news…

His slip of attention was paid back by a blade cutting his cheek. Lifting his gaze, he met the attacker's annoyed gaze. " I was sent to pick you up to crack the code, but it'll be no fun if you don't struggle at all. So fight back, damnit!"

His fingers moved swiftly while he snarled. " It'd be my pleasure, asshole."

Before the fight, however, could ever truly begin, there was a puff of smoke, and another ninja from Kirigakure appeared, stood right beside the first one. The attacker gave the intruder a nasty look, disregarding the fact that they were from the same village. " What the hell are you doing here?! Don't you see that I'm busy?"

The intruder didn't seem particularly affected by those words. " Sorry, but boss called you back."

The attacker's eyes smouldered. " What?!" There was a growl while those eyes swept towards him. " Brat, this isn't finished." With that, the two disappeared.

He grit his teeth, finding himself seething with fury.

So those guys didn't even have the decency to bring a battle into satisfactory end?!

" Hey, sorry to disturb your rush of testosterone, but we really should get Kurenai back into the hut", Temari's snap reached out for him. The girl's teal-coloured eyes were filled with such determination he'd never found from them before. " This is going to take several more hours, but we've gotta get her out from the open."

He nodded, not finding his voice.

He was just about to follow when his eyes spotted something laying on the ground, apparently dropped by the attacker – a scroll.

Curiosity taking the best of him, he picked it up and rolled it open. A deep frown appeared when he found a huge set of numbers and letters, from which only the first word was comprehendible.

Naruto.

" Nara, c'mon!" Temari snarled, obviously growing impatient. " We have to get out of here!"

He hid the scroll into his clothes while starting to move. " Yeah, yeah, hold your horses."

Now this is troublesome.

After so many endless days and nights, Danzou was growing very, very tired of reading reports of casualties and damages. That's why it felt (and, as he knew before long, was) too good to be true when one of his youngest subordinates dashed into his office without knocking, golden eyes widened with disbelief. " Danzou-sama, you… you're not going to believe this!"

He frowned, hardly daring to believe what the boy's eyes told him. " Yes?"

" We… We've been seeing the signs all day, but now… It's certain." The boy smirked in what he considered idiotic manner. " Kirigakure… It's retreating! The war is finally over!"
Relief flowing through him like a warm tide, he fought the urge to lift an eyebrow.

So my little deal is finally paying off…

" Thank you", he stated, his voice surprisingly stiff considering the situation. " Now, if you excuse me… I've got a lot of work to do."

The boy nodded, too high from adrenaline to notice anything odd about his reaction. " Yes, of course."

His eyes darkened as he watched his village through window.

He'd made his deal. Now all he could do was wait for the inevitable day when he'd face the price of his decision.

/ Three Days Later. /

Naruto had absolutely no idea of for how long he'd been drifting in endless greyness, with the Kyuubi constantly whispering into his ear, when his eyelids suddenly inched open – and he felt like yelping when seeing a girl with creepy hairdo he'd never met before.

The girl, although she must've noticed she startled him, didn't seem offended, instead took something from a nearby table. " I'd suggest you to take it easy – you're in a bit rough shape", she instructed, handing him a glass of extremely suspicious looking green liquid. " Drink this."

He frowned. " Why should I do that? How can I know it's not poisoned?"

She rolled her eyes. " Geez, you're as bad as Suigetsu! Just trust me and drink it, because it'll help with the splitting headache you'll soon have."
He still hesitated, but eventually realized that in his current position and condition he didn't really have any chances of objecting. Very carefully – as though grabbing an explosive of some sort – he took the glass and gulped down. He winced and almost spat out to substance as soon as it touched his tongue. " What the heck is that?!"

" Trust me", a male-voice he hadn't heard before stated, and an unfamiliar boy stepped into his view. " You'll feel much better not knowing."

He found himself agreeing.

The girl – who still hadn't introduced herself – glared at the arrival. " Shut it, Suigetsu."

Amusing as it would've been to listen to those two bickering, he decided that it was something he didn't have time for at the moment. Sasuke… He had no idea of what'd happened to the raven, if the Kyuubi had lied when talking about execution. He had to get to Konoha. " Hey, if you're done… Would you please tell me what the hell I'm doing here? Where am I?"

" We were merciful enough to save you from that Konohan group", a third new voice joined in. Looking downwards, he saw a boy sitting cross-legged on the floor, gaze darted towards the room's window. " Karin got curious and dragged you here."

" Juugo, could you please let me finish the story?" the girl – Karin, apparently – snarled, then focused on him once. " Like he said, we saved your sorry ass – from crossfire, it seems. The Akatsuki's been looming close by lately. It's quite clear they're looking for you." Her eyes flashed. " To us, it seems you're the one who owes an explanation – especially since it seems you know what's happened to Sasuke. We're going to ask you to give us some information – starting from your name and the reason to why all those people are after you."

He winced, stab-like wave of pain hammering his head with no pity. " Oh man…"

Karin made a strange, short laughter. " I did warn you about the headache, didn't I?"

Sasuke had always been a fast runner – that was one of the few things his father had never voiced a single complaint about. But in his current condition and having already used up most of his Chakra to maximizing his speed, he was steadily growing completely, utterly exhausted. Seeing as Konohan guards were still on his tails in fears of him going straight to the Akatsuki or Kirigakure, getting tired was a very, very dangerous option. (He wished from the bottom of his heart that he could've fought them, but managed to calm himself with knowing it would've made things even worse.)

Eventually breathing was so painful that he had no other choice but to disappear to behind a tree and gasp hungry breaths, a scowl on his face.

Damnit, dobe…, he snarled inside his head, screwing his eyes shut for a moment. How far did you manage to run?

He swallowed heavily when hearing the guards inch closer.

Where are you?

He was already considering giving up on hope when his ears suddenly picked a strangely familiar bird's cry. Turning his head, he just had to blink a bit.

That one again?

Sitting on a tree branch nearby, pitch-black eyes obviously demanding him to follow, was an impressively big raven, gazing at him impatiently. Seeing him look its way, the bird rose to its wings.

He had absolutely no idea of what possessed him into doing so, but before he could give it another thought he was following the bird.

Shouts and never ending sounds of running steps following him told that the chase was far from over.

Mostly because of her blindness, Izumi had always been strict to make sure her body was strong enough to allow her to defend herself if there should be need for such. But after running for what felt like ages, the journey started to take its toll.

" How much further?" Kankuro – who seemed to be out of breath although he hid it well – inquired.

She took a moment before responding. " Only about six more minutes. We're close."

Just then, she braked suddenly and frowned with concentration upon sensing something strange, which after a while turned out to be presence. Kankuro – who'd also stopped – took some careful steps towards her, clearly preparing to defend them both. " Who the hell are you?" the boy snarled.

She could distinguish six sets of steps absolutely all around. It took long until a male-voice spoke. " We were sent to… well, offer your journey some extra challenge. I hope you don't mind." There was a tiny pause. " Kara, Taka, take the girl."

She'd just managed to prepare herself before the duo attacked – one, she could tell significantly shorter, choosing a sword as weapon and the other relying on needles. She could narrowly dodge the attacks, then threw her own shower of needless sharply towards the attackers' direction.

" You're fast", a female-voice commented. " But not fast enough. And your friend won't be any help."

Her chest tightened when her careful ears picked echoes of the battle Kankuro was having with the four other attackers. Flesh being cut, clunks of weapons and hisses, nauseating wet gurgle.

Her jaw tightened.

Damnit…

She just managed to throw her own sword forward to keep the attacker's from cutting her throat. " See? Without eyes, you'll be no match against us."

Her other ear twitched at the sound of the other enemy moving, and she struggled to keep herself from hissing.

She knew there'd be a second attack from behind very soon, but if she'd move another muscle the attacker who'd entrapped her with a sword would cut her throat. The girl was right – she wasn't fast enough, not when she couldn't see the attackers, their weapons or her surroundings.

Just then, yet another sound of someone arriving brought some hope to her chest. There were sounds of needless being thrown, then screams of the attackers, and finally total silence.

Poison needles…!

Kankuro gasped faintly. " Holy damn…"

" Are you two alright?" a female-voice she knew very well inquired from somewhere above them. The arrival jumped from tree to the ground.

" Kushina-sama", she greeted.

Due to the state of war, those who passed away were forgotten fast and dealt with even faster.

That afternoon, Ino was barely able to hold herself together while lighting up two candles and placing them amongst what seemed like hundreds of others in a tiny chapel, bravely biting back tears. There was no use in crying, she'd realized hours ago.

I miss you, she screamed – cried out – inside her head with child's ferocity and desperation. I miss you so damn much!

She was startled when feeling a hand on her shoulder, already having forgotten that Sakura was there with her. " Ino… Are you sure you'll be okay?" the pinkette asked quietly, voice and eyes filled with sadness and sympathy.

Few years earlier, even imagining such a sight – she and Forehead together like this – would've made her laugh out loud. But now, she wasn't far from sobbing. " Yeah", she breathed out. " I… I guess I will be."

What other choice did she have, really?

Sakura looked at her for a few more moments with evaluating eyes, until the girl lifted her gaze to a sound of door opening. Soon enough a grin appeared to the pinkette's face. " Ino… Would you mind if I'd go and look for Lee? It seems you'll have company."

She turned around with a frown, and felt her heart perform an odd move when she found Sai stood nearby the doorway.

She didn't even notice that Sakura left while the boy spoke. " I want to show you something."

-

She paid no attention to her surroundings while they walked for what felt like through the entire village, finally ending up to a breathtakingly beautiful opening in a forest. Her heart jumped a bit with sadness when she noticed a plain, pure-white wooden cross in the middle of the paradise.

Kenji Shiushi, was engraved to it.

It took her a moment, but when she recognized the name a gasp escaped her.

Kenji… That's the name Sai whispered when he was brought into the hospital!

She shivered with surprise when Sai suddenly spoke, voice edged with tightly hidden sadness and so quiet she could barely hear. " Kenji and I… We were brothers by any other standards than blood. He… was the only person I could trust for a very long time." The boy held a long pause, obviously terrified of opening up like this and this story still almost too tender to be told. " Then, he… got very, very ill. He died into my arms." After struggling to maintain his composure for a longest time, the boy finally looked at her, clearly unaware of the fact that some emotions were still apparent in his dark eyes. " So, just so you know… I don't know what you feel, but… I've lost, too. I understand."

For a very, very long time all she could do was stare at him in utter bafflement. Then, so slowly and surprisingly she hadn't even seen it coming in beforehand, she smiled for a first time since her parents' death – palely, but still – and squeezed Sai's hand.

Thank you.

Comfortable silence lingered untouched for a longest time while they respected each others' pain.

Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of sharing his story, especially the part about Kyuubi, with these people he didn't even know. But seeing his current situation, he realized that he didn't really have many options. Plus, he calmed himself, wouldn't these guys have already killed him if that was what they wanted?

" So, let me get this straight…" There was a small frown upon Karin's face. " Sasuke was arrested, most likely to be executed. And you managed to get yourself kicked out of the village with letting the Kyuubi – which is locked inside you, making you the container the Akatsuki's been after – become unleashed?"

He snarled, narrowing his eyes. " It wasn't exactly my decision to make." He then composed himself for a moment. " Look, according to the news I've gotten, Sasuke will be executed in a matter of days, and you've already wasted a lot of my time. So let me go, before I'll have to make you."

Suigetsu snorted. " Tough words from someone in your condition."

Karin narrowed her eyes at the boy. " Shut up, or I'll make you, alright?" She then took a deep breath and looked back at him. " Look, Uzumaki, we want Sasuke out of prison just as much as you do. But if we'd just barge in, we'd get the entire village to attack us. We need a plan – and lots of help."

His eyes darkened, and he looked down with a heavy swallow. " The Kyuubi… could help."

Judging by the slash he felt in the air, Karin came close to hitting him. " That has to be the most idiotic idea I've ever heard."

He heard Suigetsu's laughter. " Sasuke's right. He really is a dobe."

All three others gawked at the boy. " When have you heard him talking about Naruto?" Karin demanded.

The boy shrugged. " People say a lot of things while they're asleep."

As well as shocked by that revelation, Naruto was by then utterly, completely lost, and growingly suspicious. He frowned, mostly from the headache that was starting to creep back into his skull. " Who are you guys? And how do you know him so well?"

Karin shrugged. " Oh well, I suppose we could as well tell you…" She grinned. " We're Sasuke's new team." She pointed towards the boys and herself. " Meet Hebi."

He shuddered, not sure if he should've believed.

Snake, huh?

Just then, the headache escalated thousand degrees and he groaned while squeezing his eyes tightly shut, feeling extremely tired all of a sudden.

" The drink I gave you makes you feel a bit drowsy", Karin explained. " Trust me, it'll be a lot easier once you stop fighting it. Just go to sleep – we'll start working out a plan."

He sure as hell did not want to fall asleep, to be left under the mercy of these people he couldn't trust. But at the moment, that choice didn't seem to be in his hands.

Before he could even really protest, he'd already fallen fast into a sleep.

One of the things Sasuke was sadly infamous for was his pride. And that, more than anything, was scratched when his pitiably trembling legs gave way while he was following the raven, and he fell to the ground, wincing, wheezing and coughing. Several broken ribs certainly did nothing to help his already ragged breathing.

As little as his body was willing to follow his orders when it came to movements, his ears worked perfectly. That's why he spotted approaching steps long before a Konohan ninja – a young woman at the age of about twenty with long-grown, tied up strange hair that held colours of honey and red, and amber eyes – was stood before him.

Their eyes clashed together – his filled with caught prey's desperate rage, and hers with something he couldn't recognize. Both were breathing quite hard.

The other ninjas that'd been chasing him were long off, he could tell from how distant their steps and shouts were. His fate was in this young woman's hands.

The silence had lasted for a mighty while until the woman suddenly spoke. " The others will be here soon", she told him in a smooth voice, her eyes darting around. " You should get up and run, right now, unless you want back into death row."

It took his absolutely all to not let surprise show. She was just… letting him go?

He frowned. " What do you want for this?"

Her eyes flashed. " Take Naruto the hell away from these bloodthirsty maniacs, before they'll kill him." The others were getting closer, and her eyes turned darker. " Now go, damnit!"

Finally beginning to realize that this was most likely his absolutely last chance, he forced his impossibly heavy, throbbing body up and started to stagger away – not knowing the right direction and not caring so long as it was away from Konoha (and towards Naruto, he didn't allow himself to think).

Just before he was out of earshot, he could've sworn he heard the woman speak in a soft voice. " You sure look hell a lot like your brother, Sasuke."

On its branch, unbeknownst to Sasuke, the raven that'd been leading him gave a nearly miserable scream while watching the young woman who'd just let him go. When the woman started to sprint off and towards her comrades, it ripped its gaze away from her with apparent reluctance and rose to its wings, getting back to its job.

Deegou – the most skilled and also the most notorious herbist in Suna – rarely had visitors he would've found pleasant. A part of the reason to that could possibly be owing to his appearance – halfway scorched face, only one eye while the other was replaced by a gaping hole and several extra fingers – but mostly it was because of his… well, rather questionable reputation as 'a person around whom people tended to disappear'.

That's why he arched an eyebrow with surprise when there was a knock on his hut's door, and none other than the leader of his village entered. " Kazekage-sama", he stated while making a bow of respect. " Now what business would you have with someone like me?"

Without saying a word, Gaara pulled out a bottle and slammed it quite hard to the nearly broken table in front of him. " I've heard about your skills, and I need you to find a cure for this." Was that grit of teeth? " My friend's life depends on it."

With just one look at the substance, he realized that he indeed recognized it. After all, what kind of a professional would he have been if he didn't know this rare, exquisite piece of art only five people were able to produce?

" It's been said that Konoha should know where to find the antibody", Gaara stated. " But time is running short, so I was hoping you could help me."

He nodded almost lazily. " Yes", he murmured, admiring the artwork while putting away the bottle. " Yes, I can help you. Just a moment…"

Since every single one of his cookings was perfectly organized on shelves, it took him only about half a minute to find what he'd been looking for. Giving a smirk of satisfaction, he took a bottle filled with brownish liquid and walked – or rather limped – back to Gaara. " This, I believe, is what you're looking for." He outstretched a hand, but made sure to not give his offering away too lightly. " Now, Kazekage-sama, you must understand… My help is… expensive."
Sending a long, hard look his way, the redhead pulled out a small, beautiful bag and threw it to him. There was a sound that indicated he indeed would be paid well for his efforts. " I hope that'll do."

He smiled in a way that would've chilled most people while finally giving away the bottle. " It was an honour to be help for you."

With a small, tight nod the village leader left, closing the hut's door almost soundlessly.

As soon as the teen was gone, he closed his eyes and focused.

He had a report to give.

-

After making the trade that caused cold shivers run through him, Gaara wandered around quite aimlessly for a long time until he finally managed to enter the huge building in which he worked.

He was immediately confronted by a rather young man who's name he couldn't remember right away. " Hokage-sama!" the man – or rather, boy – called out, waving a small piece of paper in his hand. " This was left for you only moments ago."

He accepted the offering with a frown. Now what? " Thank you."

As soon as the boy had disappeared he folded the paper open and read. A frown appeared to his face.

I know you have what I want. Meet me by the village's edge in exactly one hour. Come alone.

He grit his teeth and exhaled deeply.

He'd made a deal with the devil. Now, it was time to seal it.

After resting up for a couple of days, Kakashi came to realize that his body was still far from recovered. But he also knew that they'd been laying back for far too long, and the Akatsuki was creeping closer by each and every second. They had to start moving again, no matter how hard Rin tried to reason with him. That's why after a little over two days their group of four had started the last daylong trek towards the village to which they'd been supposed to escort his former teammate.

It didn't take Kakashi long to discover that there was something wrong with how quiet and thoughtful Rin was, and to understand that this had nothing to do with him having insisted to keep going while he was still recovering.

With Kiba and Hinata once again walking a bit ahead (to scout the landscape ahead, as the teens had claimed), it was safe for them to have a little talk. He decided to go straight to the point. " What's wrong?" Seeing her questioning expression, he nearly rolled his eyes. " And don't give me that look – it doesn't work anymore."

Rin looked away, for a longest time not appearing to respond, but finally managed to push out words. " You know… This is the anniversary of us becoming an official team."

He blinked with stun, unable to believe that even with the years passed he'd managed to forget something like that. " I can't believe we've gotten so old."

Rin seemed to come close to laughing until this strangest shadow started to loom over her once more. She searched for words for a long time. " Kakashi… It takes just one look to see that you're still hanging on to past. It's… It's been so long from their deaths, and you haven't been able to find a way to move on." Her eyes were surprisingly hard when finding his. " I've never asked you to do a thing for me, right? So do me this one favour." She gulped thickly. " Let go and start living. Because it's terrifying to see you turning into a shadow as well."

He frowned, hanging on to other things although those words aroused turmoil inside him. Cold chills reached his spine. " Rin… Why are you saying those things? Why now?"

She looked away, and he could've sworn she bit her lip. Eventually, she spoke so silently it was next to impossible to catch it. " Because… I may not be able to say it tomorrow."

He was just about to ask her to clarify when Kiba suddenly rushed over to them, eyes filled with joy. " Hey, guess what! The village was even closer than we thought – it's right behind that hill."

As soon as they crossed the village's borderlines, Kakashi could tell that there was something wrong from the way people retreated from them and gazed at Rin with terror and repulsion. All his fears were confirmed when two huge guards walked up to them, their dangerous eyes immediately locking to Rin. " Rin Nagaishi?"

The woman nodded, growing tenser than he'd ever seen her.

He frowned and took a defensive step forward when the guards grabbed Rin with far more force than would've necessary and bounded her wrists with the oddest restraints he'd ever seen. " What are you doing to her? Rin, what's going on?"

The woman lowered her gaze with what looked like embarrassment and closed her eyes as tightly as she could.

One of the guards responded for her. " She sent us a message telling that she's the Eight Tailed's container and asked for help – after all, this is the most deserted wasteland. And help is exactly what we'll give her. We have Konoha's blessing."

" As far as it's up to us – and her…", the other guard filled in. " … she'll never leave this village again."

Kankuro – who'd first been uncharacteristically confused by the appearance of their female saviour with long, fire-red hair and equally flaming auburn eyes – was quite soon filled in by Izumi while their now trio made its way towards the woman's home.

The arrival, apparently, was Kushina, a woman who'd taught Izumi everything she knew about herbs and healing. They'd first met when Izumi had been six and gotten lost into the forest. Over time and lessons the girl had learned to know the kind, temperamental woman quite well, and learned to see the tightly hidden sadness inside her. That was easy to understand. According to Izumi, the woman only had memories from the past fifteen or sixteen years. The rest of her life had disappeared, perhaps for good.

He couldn't restrain himself from sneezing when they entered the woman's old, tiny hut, in which scent of at least thousand different herbs and substances lingered thickly in the air.

" Bless you", Kushina said, then glanced towards Izumi. " Now what brought you two here?"

" A friend of Kankuro's brother was poisoned", the girl replied, voice more edged than he found familiar. " It's the same poison you taught me to make when I was eight."

Alarm filled him when Kushina tensed up completely, eyes widening. " Oh damn…" The woman's eyes turned hard. " How long ago was this?"

He frowned. " About a month and… two, three days ago. Why?"

The woman swore loudly. " I really wish it would've been less time ago." She disappeared through a door he hadn't even noticed before, going to a room he suspected not many had access to. After some minutes of loud searching, she came back with a bottle, a hard expression on her face. " I have antibody for every poison I make, but I must warn you. This one has some very unpleasant after affects, which makes it almost as dangerous as the poison itself. You must hurry now, before the victim will be too weak to endure it."

Izumi nodded with apparent gratitude and respect while taking the bottle. " Thank you."

He repeated the gesture.

The woman gave a grin that seemed almost disturbingly familiar to him. " No problem – it's always a pleasure to help you brats." Her eyes then hardened once more. " Now bugger off, before it's too late."

Just before they'd left, Kushina spoke once more. " One more thing." She seemed extremely troubled. " You should know… Izumi, aside us there's only one person who knows this poison. And that student of mine isn't known for making fair trades."

All of a sudden Kankuro felt extremely cold, and his eyes widened a bit.

Gaara…!

Izumi frowned. " Kankuro, what's wrong?"

He swallowed. " We'll better get back to Suna, fast. Because I've got a feeling that if we don't, Gaara will do something very, very stupid."

" Perhaps I can help you out a little." Kushina was already performing a set of handseals he'd never met before. " It sounds like you're in a hurry. This technique takes you to Suna in a matter of seconds."

Danzou's eyes, which had been eyeing on Konoha that was slowly being rebuilt, moved when he heard a sigh of air. He wasn't entirely surprised upon finding a familiar hooded figure. " I've been expecting you."

" As you can see, I've done my share of our… deal." He could feel sharp, demanding eyes on him. " I'm expecting you to do yours."

He grit his teeth so tightly that some droplets of blood became spilled. " Of course."

" Very good." In a technique he'd never seen before, the other started to disappear into whirlwind. " I'll see you again very, very soon. You've got exactly three weeks."

As soon as his collaborator was gone, he opened his mouth and roared. " Tsukaki, get in here!"

He vaguely noted that the lad (the same who'd brought him the news of Kirigakure retreating) still didn't remember to knock. " Yes, Danzou-sama?"

It took a long moment before he'd managed to swallow down a piece of his pride big enough to speak the words. " Do we know the Eight Tailed's container's location?"

The boy frowned, confused. " Yes. Why?"

He took a deep breath. " I want you send a group to bring her back to Konoha. Tell her and her escorts that it's safe to return. Also…" His eyes flashed. " Send more men after the Nine Tailed's container. I want both of those demons here as soon as possible."

The boy seemed extremely hesitant, even shocked, but nodded nonetheless. " Yes, Danzou-sama."

Once he was alone, Danzou turned to look out of the window, allowed his gaze to sweep through the damaged, almost destroyed village he was supposed to lead.

Deep in his heart, he had a nacking feeling that he'd just sentenced the village to destruction.

Imao Tsukaki wasn't a hero by any standards. It'd taken him at least five times to pass every single exam placed ahead of him, he was a common subject of laughter amongst most of those who knew him for his sadly famous lack of courage, and he'd never completed a single mission. Even his own family had given up on hope when it came to him. However, sometimes even the most unexpected of people become heroes.

And that's exactly what, although he never found out about it, happened when Imao approached a certain door two hours after his meeting with Danzou and knocked.

Looking at Tsunade's extremely grumpy face, he wondered if she'd been drinking. " What?"

He swallowed thickly before managing to gather himself enough to voice what he'd come for. " Hokage-sama, D-Danzou sama… I think he's about to do something very stupid."

Madara's eyes opened with surprising difficulty when there was a sound of wind he already recognized far too well. As expected, he found a hooded figure. " Well?"

" We'll have both Tailed Beasts in our hands very soon. That old fool wouldn't dare to try anything in fear of jeopardising that position of his."

He smirked. " Good. In that case, this will be over even faster than we expected." He coughed, tasting blood, and winced. " That other plan of yours should start working soon – this is getting really infuriating."

About a second later he saw his companion shudder, then tense with concentration. Soon enough there was a sound he identified as laughter. " Well, how about this. It looks like we won't need Konoha to take care of your little problem after all."

One of his eyebrows bounced up. " Really now?"

" One of my associates just contacted." The other made some handseals. " It seems I have… an appointment. After that, all our problems have been taken care of."

After meeting Deegou, some part inside Gaara's head whispered that what he was about to do would turn out to be a huge mistake. He, however, absolutely refused to listen to it.

He couldn't afford being reasonable when there was a life in his hands.

" Gaara?" Neji's sleepy, painfully quiet voice managed to startle him. " Where are you going?"

He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes for a moment, focusing firmly into putting on a brown robe he hardly ever wore. " I've got an appointment", he explained in a voice that would've been enough to arouse anyone's suspicions.

He turned upon hearing fabric sighing, and discovered Neji struggling into a sitting position, clearly about to follow him. Once again his eyes managed to spot every single change having taken place – constantly paling skin, bloodshot exhausted eyes, bluish lips that had dried blood staining them…

Time was running out. There was no other way.

His heart clenched painfully, and it took his all to keep it from showing. " No, this is something I'll do alone", he stated in a soft voice that didn't fit into his mouth. " Go back to sleep. You need rest."

Neji frowned with suspicion, but in his current state didn't manage to find it from him to ask questions or become further alarmed.

Thinking that he'd managed to dodge the bullet, he turned and started to walk towards the door without making a sound. However, just before he was outside and safe, Neji's voice managed to reach his ears once more. " Just… Don't do anything stupid, alright?"

He swallowed thickly, wondering what the huge lump was doing in his throat. " Of course not." With that he left, afraid that even one more word or glance could make him change his mind.

-

Walk to the meeting spot took far less time than he'd anticipated, and in the end he had so much time to wonder if he was doing the right thing that he almost ended up changing his mind.

Just as he was turning around to leave, the air at his right shuddered, and a hooded figure he'd never seen before appeared.

He frowned, one hand reaching towards a weapon that was always hanging by his waistline. " Where's Kikyo?"

" She was busy", the arrival informed. It was silent for a couple of moments while the other pulled out a bottle and showed it to him. " I presume you have something I want."

Sasuke knew his body was still recovering. That's why – as pissed off it made him – he wasn't surprised to feel how weak his legs were and how they felt as though they'd been on fire when the bird he'd been following finally sat to a branch, giving a satisfied cry.

Breathing heavily to clear out his spinning vision, he discovered that his followers seemed to have been left quite far behind, though the loss of sounds could've been caused by how his ears buzzed.

He was alerted when the raven gave yet another scream, and as though following some voice inside followed the bird's gaze. He frowned upon spotting a familiar hut he'd once spent a couple of nights in once upon a time.

Can't be…

His frown deepened.

Could it really be that they found him?

He never managed to finish those musings, for just then he was caught so badly off guard that it made him feel completely, utterly humiliated. His whole frame tensed up when a shuriken whistled right past his ear.

There was a sneer. " Got you now."

It was quite late that day – or so Naruto suspected from how long shadows had become – when sleepy hue along with restless dreams about Sasuke finally agreed to fade, and he managed to open up his eyes.

It wasn't long until he heard voices, and found himself listening. " … do you think Karin will do to him?" Suigetsu inquired, sounding a bit like he'd been eating something.

Judging by the pause's length, he suspected there was a shrug. " She's intrigued by him, and determined that he can lead us to Sasuke, so I doubt she'd harm him. But then again, her moves have never been exactly predictable."

Great, he groaned mentally. He was dealing with a bunch of unpredictable psychopaths, his life was in their hands and there were two different sides after him, both of which would end up killing him once catching. And in the middle of that, he was supposed to find out a way to save Sasuke from prison. He'd never been lucky, but this was ridiculous.

" Where is she, anyway? Wasn't she supposed to make dinner?"

" She said there were… things she needed to take care of", Juugo replied, causing a faint sound when putting a plate to table. " To me, it sounded like she'd went out to meet someone."

Naruto had never been praised for being the smartest ninja around, but even he knew that things were not going great.

Moving as fast and soundlessly as possible – pretty sure that those boys could hear anything louder than a breath – he struggled his way out of the bed and started to limp his way towards the door that was, surprisingly luckily, nearby. On his way, he winced at the pain that shot upwards from his injured leg.

If he'd be spotted and forced to run, he'd be as good as dead.

Once out, he breathed in the fresh evening-air hungrily, allowing it to fill every single cell in his body. Damn, how good it felt to be outside!

In just a couple of seconds, he discovered that there was no time for chilling out. The voices approaching made him tense up completely. " … the tracks lead this way. My dogs can sense that piece of filth all the way here."

His eyes widened.

Oh shit…!

Without wasting another second on thinking he sprinted into motion, darted into the thick woods spreading all around him.

He managed to run for about a minute until his damaged leg failed him and he slumped amongst trees and bushes, emitting a mew of pain and clenching his eyes shut to keep himself from screaming out loud.

Yes. Things couldn't possibly get any worse from here.

Once again in his life, he was proven sadly mistaken. For before he could as much as hear a faintest crack under a footstep, a hand was clasped firmly to cover his mouth.

He wasn't able to do a thing to struggle while he was pulled to something warm and soft – chest, no doubt. " If your life is precious to you, stay very, very quiet", a deep voice that sent chills down his spine hissed into his ear.

TBC, dattebayo.

A/N: To those worried about all the OCs mentioned in this chapter… No worries – apart from Deegou and that woman who saved Sasuke, perhaps, none of them will be mentioned again, and even those two less than twice. So feel free to throw them out of your mind! (grins)

(shudders) Oh man… I'm dead now, aren't I? (winces, then screams and starts a mad dash for cover of any sort)

Please, do let me know what you thought about the chapter – after all, only that way you can give me a piece of your minds for that annoying ending! (gives HUGE, pleading eyes, then waves some delicious ice-cream that's offered as bribe)

I'm escaping from the scene right now, so adios for now, folks!

Be good!

realityfling18: (winces) Cliffies are a huge pain, now aren't they? It seems I just can't stop myself from making, although I hate them with passion as well. (slams head against keyboard) I'm so sorry for you poor guys for having to endure them!
Aww, Naruto and Sasuke are just so adorable when trying to reach out for each other, now aren't they? If only those two boneheads would realize their true feelings… (starts drawing hearts, but changed mind when facing a rather convincing Sharingan)

(gawks, then laughs) THIS should be the real Naruto-story?! Now there's an amusing idea! (chuckles) I'm waiting with curiosity for what's up ahead in the manga, btw. Kishi-kun's been taking us into… a very interesting direction. (arches an eyebrow) And I'm just about ready to kick Sasuke or throw something VERY hard to his head. (glares at the Uchiha, bravely defying Sharingan and all other nasty techniques in store)

Truck-loads of thank yous for the review – 'glad you found the chapter intense! I really hope you'll enjoy of the remaining chapters as well.