Disclaimer: Do you think I own Naruto? I highly doubt it.
A/N: The plot thickens!! Please R&R. For those of you who don't, I curse you to an eternity of Pokemon!
"Is all going according to plan?"
"Yes Leader. The ninja world stands precariously on the edge of war. Civil war has broken out in the Wind country, and tensions between the Fire and Water countries continue to heighten. The Lightning and Earth countries are in battle as we speak. The Grass has been quite cooperative in our schemes. Everything is prepared. We are ready to leave in a week."
"And the Jinchuuriki?"
"We are still unaware of his position, but news has reached us that he is not longer in the Leaf."
"And the Sound?"
"The Sound remains a total mystery to us sir. It is still unknown who exactly rules that village, and its intentions are even more obscured."
"No matter. They shall not interfere in our plans."
"Sir, if I may have permission to speak?"
"Continue."
"Is it wise to proceed when we don't –"
"That is a minor setback. Soon, the world will ours, not doubt about it. You are dismissed."
"Very good sir."
"Oh, and Kisame?"
"Yes sir?"
"Try to control Itachi. To tell you the truth, I begin to fear the man."
"Absolutely sir."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Yo, Naoki, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."
A pair a grass nin stood the entrance of gambling room awaiting their client.
"But, but, our orders –"
"Fuck the orders. They can wait for us another ten minutes. Let's ditch this old geezer."
"But, Minoru – ok, fine. But if they get pissed, you're taking the blame."
"Yea, yea. Shut up you old wuss."
Several minutes later found the duo at a teashop. The two sat at the nearest table. A waitress with bright blue hair in a black kimono embroidered with light blue and whit flowers approached their table.
"May I help you two?"
"Yes. I'll have some sake, and my friend here will have some tea."
"Very well, I'll be back in a moment."
Naoki searched the shop warily with his eyes, seeking out any suspicious movement. He didn't know why, but something irked him about this place. Something wasn't quite right. He looked over at his comrade. Minoru had his arm draped over the back of his chair, his eyes wandering up and down the women in the shop, not a care in the world.
"Minoru, we shouldn't be here."
"Calm down, what's up with you today?"
"First of all, we have a mission. Second of all, they'll be pissed if we don't arrive in time. Thirdly, I have a bad feeling about something."
"You're such a worry wart. We'll finish here, then go finish our mission."
The blue haired waitress returned with a tray containing their drinks. She set them on the table, and just before leaving, reached into the sleeve of her kimono. Seeing this, Naoki whipped out a kunai and pressed it against her neck.
"What the hell is that, bitch?" The waitress stood frozen with a look of shock on her face. From her sleeve she revealed nothing but a piece white paper.
"I-it's your bill sir." Naoki's cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
"Oh, sorry."
"See, I told you there's nothing to worry about."
Naoki removed the kunai from the poor girl's neck and sat down, the weight of humiliation bearing down on him. The blue haired women turned to leave, but not before secretly slipping a packet of white powder into one of the drinks.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minoru had his feet propped comfortably on the table, eyes closed, happily sipping his sake. For whatever reason, his friend had been silent for the past couple of minutes. This was odd, to say the least, but his enjoyed the worry wart's seize fire of verbal abuse and paranoid ranting. After a while, he opened one a just a crack to take a look at the ninja sitting next to him. He had his head lying flat on the table, a thread of drool dripping from his lip.
"Oi, Naoki, ya ok?"
The afore-mentioned ninja grumbled something inaudible. Concerned, Minoru took his feet off the table and prodded him gently with a finger.
"You ok?"
"No, I'm not ok, you friggin bastard!" His words were heavily slurred.
"Why?"
Naoki lifted his head slightly off the table and stared at his teammate with half-lidded eyes.
"I already told you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Here we are sitting in a fucking tea shop when we need to be taking the Feudal Lord to Akatsuki, and we have an important message to deliver and they're gonna kill us and here we are sitting in a God damned tea shop when we should be –"
Minoru slapped his hand across the man mouth.
"Naoki, what the hell has gotten into you? Do you want everyone to know what we're doing? Is that even tea you're drinking?"
Tentatively, he brought Naoki's teacup up to his nose and took a sniff. His face cringed almost instantly.
"Shit, it's drugged. Come on, we're leaving."
He grabbed him by the collar and dragged the delirious shinobi out the door.
Meanwhile, the blue haired girl hid janitor's closet and formed a seal with her hands. In a puff a smoke, the waitress disappeared, replaced by a women with brown hair tied in two buns and a white animal mask. She pressed her hand to her ear and whispered into a radio.
"Captain, the target has left. I have learned that the Feudal Lord they are traveling with is to meet with Akatsuki. They also carry with them a message. I placed a tracking seal on one of them."
"Good work Tenten. Scout the area for anymore ninja, and leave the rest to us."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A very cantankerous looking old man in elaborate robes stood with his arms crossed and tapping his right foot in contempt. He shot a death glare at the two incompetent excuses for shinobi before him.
"Where on earth were you two? I have a meeting with the 'Feudal Lord' of the 'Fire country' and I don't wish to be late."
"Excuse us sir, but we got tipped off about a possible attempt at your life and had to take care of the situation"
The three men set off towards the main road in the town on the way to the "Fire country" as the old man had put it. They took a left at a small avenue, and a right down a dark alley, which would eventually take them to the road that led out of the town. Suddenly, Naoki let out a scream and fell to the ground.
"Naoki!" Minoru called out for his friend. Turning around, he saw the shinobi lying dead, blood spilling from a kunai in his back.
"Shit, we have attackers. My lord, get behind me."
A kunai flew in from his side. He dodged it effectively, moving to the right. Suddenly, part of the wall above jutted out, knocking him in the head. Minoru caught himself before falling, and spun around to see the condition of the Feudal Lord. Instead of seeing his master, he found himself face-to-face with a pink haired kunoichi in a mask. That was the last thing he saw.