Hi! Very short chapter I know but it had stuff that needed to be said so... Anyway, I made my deadline! Yay! I hope I can keep it up. Next chapter out by Sunday.

BEFORE THE STORM

It was the earliest hours of the morning; the quietest time in most places. The forest around him had grown quieter and Pein was already tired. The rods stuck in his body ached and itched like insects burrowing into his flesh. Konan was fixing something for him to eat but he wasn't hungry. He knew that would cause a fight and he wasn't looking forward to it. It would be a welcome change from the unsavoury nature of his dark thoughts.

The plan would succeed, he knew. He had gone over it a hundred times in his mind, planning for every eventuality before he had even told Konan about it. Attacking Konoha was simply an expedient means to an end. They could collect the jinchuuriki, eliminate a traitor and acquire a useful source of information. As to the other part of the plan, the plan beneath the plan, he refused to even think on it. In the best case, he would never need to use it. He then focused his incredible mind on the members of his team, making sure that each was where he should be. He trusted them but only as far as he could control them and all control had its limits.

Instead of the usual two man cells, he had divided them into threes. Hidan, Kisame and Zetsu were on one team with Deidara, Tobi and Kakuzu on the other. Kisame's team had been assigned to retrieve Erica and eliminate Itachi (if he was still alive) while Deidara's team secured the jinchuriki; Uzumaki Naruto. He and his paths were responsible for creating enough of a diversion to make all the other tasks (and a few secret ones of his own) as quick and efficient as possible.

He put his plans aside as Konan came to him with hot rice pudding and strong sweet coffee. She looked worried but forced a smile nonetheless. She had been against the attack claiming that it would endanger his health but he had decided and in the end she supported him. She always supported him. She placed the food on the table and brushed impatiently at a stray lock of hair. The action changed her from a woman back to the girl he had met so long ago. For a weak moment he wished that life could be different for her... and for him. He forced a smile that only she had ever seen.

"Hungry?" she asked

"Starving." He replied

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Tsunade had drunk nothing the previous night and she was very cranky. She'd watched young couples strolling the streets, drinking and dicing and regretted ever meeting the miserable blonde who had conned her into this job. She smiled to herself as she remembered his bright smiling face. Shaking off her exhaustion, she packed up the files she had been working on and prepared to go home. It was a good day; Konoha had not been attacked in its moment of weakness and life could go on for a little while longer. As she shoved some empty bottles into her overstuffed drawers, she wondered how her assistants' nights had been. Probably more enjoyable than hers had been, shethought sourly. Sakura had taken the night to enjoy the festival and keep an eye on their guests while Shizune had gone barhopping with Anko. She could only imagine the trouble those two had caused. She smiled and turned to take one last look through her enormous windows.

It was beautiful. Konoha was coming alive in the first hints of dawn. The children of fire were waking to another day where children could play and life would go on. Sighing happily, she closed the door and headed home.

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The sun was peaking over the crest of the wall and the whole village was waking up. The guards at the Konoha's main gate were exhausted and more than ready for the change of guard that would come just after the sun rose. Izuru Hanami, sat listlessly in the small hut just inside the entrance and sipped wearily at his tea. He was tired and hungry. His partner Momo, (the man was a big as a tailed beast but the round chubby cheeks of a squirrel) was asleep and snoring where he sat. Whenever the large man made an exceptionally loud snort or snuffle, Izuru would jump and spill some of the hot liquid unto his hands. He contemplated waking the man but three things stopped him. One, Momo was a cranky wretch when awoken from a nap. Two, he and Momo had been worked to the bone the night before. Even so, gentle, patient Momo had volunteered to usher out the last of the stragglers and ruffians once the festival had ended. And three, waking him would require more effort than he was willing to expend at that moment. He sighed deeply and stood trying to shake off lethargy while envisioning the warmth of his bed and the softness of his wife's body.

As he stretched, a giant beast like nothing he had ever seen appeared before him. Before he could respond or sound the alarm, Momo, the guard booth and he himself, were crushed beneath the monster's mass.

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