An: Sorry for the long wait. Work has been busy, which isn't a bad thing but my time for writing has suffered. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, since this story has grown from its initial focus of Naruto and Hinata, to encompass pretty much every character. I've decided to change the filter from Naruto and Hinata to just Naruto. As always, thank you to all those that take the time to review your humble author S. o. t. A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.

Chapter 60: Waking the Sleeping Giant

Hinata pushed away some of the dense foliage of the rainforest they were traveling through on what was their third day heading towards Amaru's village. She was acting as the scout of the team made up of her, Sakura, and Ami while they lead Shinno and Amaru back to the girl's village. Although no team leader was assigned to the squad it wasn't presenting a problem since each of the girls knew what role they were to fulfill. Hinata was to lead the team to the village safely and once there, scout it out for enemies using her Byakugan. Sakura, who was following behind her at the moment, was to help any injured civilians as well as keep the team healthy. She could also switch to an attack role due to her ability to use the taijutsu taught to her by the Hokage. But, that was only in the worse case scenarios. Ami was at the very end of the line they had formed behind the two civilians covering the rear. Her role once they reached the village was to be the front line fighter. To facilitate that role she had three scrolls held in one of the puppet scroll backpacks that Suna-nin used. If Hinata had to guess it meant that Ami had at least two more Armor-Puppets that she had made since they worked together during the Kiri Chunin Exams.

Hinata held up her hand calling for the group to stop as they approached a large fallen tree. Activating her bloodline limit, she did a quick scan all around the area to make sure she hadn't missed anything or that nobody was on the other side of the obstacle in front of them. Confident that they were still undetected by whoever was causing trouble for Amaru's village she gave the sign to start moving again. She jumped atop the tree that was blocking her path to get over it and then waited till Sakura leapt up to help up the two civilians before leaping down. Moving on, she looked back to see Sakura help Shinno to the top. She fought back the frown she felt as she looked at the large powerfully built man.

It was a gesture she had been fighting since shortly after the mission started. She couldn't place why, but she just didn't like something about him. He seemed to be a decent man, but there was an aura about him that made her unable to relax around him. As he helped his student up over the log, Hinata had a small flash of insight to what was bothering her about him. If she had to guess, she would suppose it was because despite how he claimed to cherish his apprentice. When he looked at her the warmth never seemed to reach his eyes. She supposed she could be reading more into it then was truly there. But, having seen the way Jiraiya looked at Naruto or Tsunade's close relationship with Sakura, believed that at the very least Shinno didn't care for Amaru nearly as much as he claimed.

She heard two sets of feet hit the ground and looked back to see that the master and apprentice both had leapt to the ground at the same time. While Ami could no doubt easily leap the tree, it just highlighted another thing she didn't like about the man. Which was he almost seemed to be fostering Amaru's negative feelings towards the present kunoichi. He never said anything overtly, but sometimes when Amaru would rant against them calling them hired killers. Hinata would notice a small smile on Shinno's face. She knew it could mean many harmless things, but to Hinata it seemed to be giving Amaru tacit permission to continue.

Before looking ahead again she caught Sakura's eyes, who also noted what had just happened and also shared her concerns about the man. The two of them had talked at length on their second night of the mission away from the camp so as to not be overheard. In the end, all they had been able to do was assure each other they'd keep an eye on him since they couldn't just abandon the mission on a hunch.

Ami just leapt the whole tree landing noisily, for a kunoichi at least, grumbling about unappreciative boys. Hinata wondered briefly why Ami kept calling Amaru a boy, especially since it was obviously apparent that she wasn't bothered by the insult. Shrugging, she put it out of her mind and just wished the whole mission would end quietly. As all she really wanted to do was return to Konoha and spend time with her boyfriend.

Shikamaru stared out over the ocean and could just make out the silhouettes of the ships due to the full moon. The Jounin pulled back to the small camp his team had set up. He entered into it silently but nevertheless all the members had noticed his arrival and put away the various weapons they had pulled. Although they were sitting around in a circle there was no fire going so as to not give away their position to the enemy. They had heard several gliders pass nearby during the night and the ships would occasionally launch flares to light up the surrounding area so Shikamaru had decided to wait for daybreak to launch their assault.

Taking a position between the Aburame and Uzumaki contingents of his team, he said, "I don't like it."

"I thought you would be pleased to know your calculations were correct," Shino said still wearing his dark glasses despite it being nighttime.

"I would be…" Shikamaru said before pausing to stare up at the night sky. Refocusing on the Aburame he continued, "But something is off about them just sitting there."

"I'm afraid I don't see what is bothering you," Muta Aburame said sounding as calm and rational as his clansmen. "You almost sound like you wanted them to be long gone. I had heard tales of Nara lethargy but to actually want our enemies to escape in order to take a na…"

"That isn't what he means," Kushina said cutting the Aburame off, "You shouldn't jump to conclusions about our team leader just because he set such a slow pace. Shikamaru is referring to the matter that the greatest asset of those carriers is that they are mobile bases. Since his calculations were so on the money it stands to reason they haven't moved since their attack on Konoha. That is probably what is weighing on Shikamaru's mind."

"I thought the whole point of this was to catch them before they moved though," Naruto said confused since he had been told their team was supposed to catch the enemy in just such a position.

Kushina again answered saying, "Due to the distance and speed at which those gliders can travel, it would have been wishful thinking to catch them just sitting here. But to cut down on time of the gliders arrival and the distance they could move from this spot. We were sent instead of a tracking team. That they are still anchored here and haven't sent another attack wave at Konoha begs that the question, why be asked.

Despite the small dig at the pace he had set, which had driven two of the Uzumaki crazy as they often needed to be reined in and told to slow down. Shikamaru nodded saying, "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. There are only a handful of reasons for them to stay put. The two most prevalent being they wanted to launch multiple assaults on Konoha and didn't want to waste time changing their positions."

"Which we didn't see," Naruto said speaking up.

"Exactly, which leaves me to believe it's the second reason," Shikamaru said stopping to take a quick swig of water.

Naruto who naturally lacked patience asked, "Which is?"

"They are waiting for something," Kushina said before Shikamaru could. He confirmed that the elder Uzumaki had guessed right by nodding.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said gravely. "Still it doesn't change anything. If what they are waiting for hasn't arrived by morning we'll attack like planned. Just keep in mind that we may be up against a clock so we'll have to try and take them down quickly." He directed the second part to the two Aburame since they were the ones who would be responsible for taking the ships down. If they took too long the Uzumaki who were the diversionary part of his plan could find themselves out in the open if whoever the Sky Shinobi were waiting on showed. From the two mute nods he received, he knew that Shino and his clansman understood the situation clearly.

Standing Shikamaru began heading back the way he came towards the edge of camp saying, "Alright, you guys get some rest. I'll take the watch tonight. I want you all sharp and ready to go by sunrise."

Tsunade sighed as it didn't take long for her paperwork to accumulate into large stacks. She just didn't understand how with the village still in a state of high alert and with most civilians and shinobi busy repairing the damage that there were still people around who spent their days typing up the never ending stacks of paper that required her signature.

Rubbing her eyes to relieve the strain of reading them all, she turned from her desk to stare out onto the village. As she did so her eyes stopped on the small copy of Katsuyu sitting on her desk. From the way the slug remained slack she knew her summons hadn't completed the task she had asked of her. Guessing the time was closer to morning then night, she thought worriedly, "Four days, just what the hell are they up to?"

She wasn't worried about the teams she had in the field, as she knew that if they were going at the pace she expected they would only just be reaching their destinations. Her worry stemmed from the matter that in those four days Sky country hadn't attacked again. On one hand she was grateful and hoped that it meant Konoha had hurt its attackers more than they had thought. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that Sky Country was up to something more devious then her advisors had guessed at. And that she may have inadvertently walked into it.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Katsuyu quietly saying, "Milady."

"Did you get him," she said turning to face her summons.

"Yes"

Blushing slightly she said, "Can you tell me what he says using his voice."

"Of course, Milady."

"Hey is this thing on," Jiraiya's voice said suddenly giving her the impression that he was shaking the slug's clone as he talked to it.

"I'm here Jiraiya," Tsunade said folding her hands in front of her face as she hid her smile.

The smile was due in part to the surprise she imagined Jiraiya's face would show when her voice emanated from the slug. "Neat trick," Jiraiya replied, "Have they attacked again?"

"No," Tsunade said her smile fading as a result of the subject. "Have you learned anything?"

"Some whispers have reached my ears that some small villages in Iwa where survivors of Sky country had taken residence after the wars, have suddenly lost a good portion of their populations. But that just may mean they were answering whoever is leading them now call to arms."

"I take it then you don't believe Iwa sent them."

There was a long pause in which Tsunade could picture her lover leaning against a tree with the slug on his shoulder and his arms crossed while deep in thought. Finally he said, "My gut tells me no. But their forces are scrambling."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she said both worriedly and excitedly, "You mean they are preparing to try and take advantage of our current state."

"No," Jiraiya replied calmly, "I mean I think they may have been aware Sky Country still had a fleet about. They may have even provided it a safe port. I think whatever Sky Country is up to, they didn't include Iwa in it, but the Tsuchikage fears we may blame them for the attack due to their past ties."

Tsunade sagged in relief that they weren't going to need to repel an invasion on top of everything else. Jiraiya surprised her saying, "How about you tell me what's really bothering you now."

"What do you mean?"

"You know if I had learned anything of importance that you would be the first to know," Jiraiya said his voice holding a mild rebuke that she felt she needed an official reason to come to him.

"I can't help thinking that there is something that we just aren't seeing," Tsunade said glad she had decided to pursue a relationship with Jiraiya.

"What do Sarutobi-sensei and Shikaku think about Sky Country's not attacking again?"

"They have several theories the strongest being they think maybe the attack was a ploy to keep us hunkered down inside the village while they accomplish some unknown goal."

"But, you think there's more to it," Jiraiya said sounding positive he knew his woman.

Getting up from her chair she moved to the window before saying, "I know it's silly but I just can't shake the feeling that Shinno's showing up is somehow related to this. Granted his apprentice's village is close to where Shikamaru's squad believes the…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jiraiya said cutting her off, "Who the hell is this Shinno guy?"

Tsunade smiled despite herself at the jealous tone in Jiraiya's voice while replying, "He was a man I owed a favor too. He helped during the Plague incident that Orochimaru arranged to lure me out to heal his Kaguya."

"He just so happened to show up now to collect," Jiraiya said aloud to himself more than her and despite his previous jealousy Tsunade knew he was analyzing the matter clearly.

"What are you getting at, Jiraiya?"

Instead of answering her question he asked, "I take it he was here to collect on this favor."

"Yes," Tsunade asked wondering where he was going with his question. "His apprentice's village was attacked. It's likely Sky Country was behind it trying to restock their supplies." But as soon as she actually said it aloud she felt something slid into place as she said, "Why would Sky Country attack a village then wait four days before attacking Konoha."

"Exactly," Jiraiya said. But his voice turned grave as he asked, "Tsunade where exactly is the village that was attacked?"

Looking through the pile of papers on her desk quickly she pulled the mission request and gave him the coordinates."Damn," Jiraiya cursed.

"What!" Tsunade asked feeling the puzzle coming together but felt she was missing the last piece.

Jiraiya supplied it saying, "Do you remember how Sky Country was knocked out of the Second war?"

"Of course I do," Tsunade said indignantly, "We stormed that flying fortress of theirs and…"

"And destroyed that green stone that was powering it," Jiraiya said finishing for her as she sat back in her chair numbly. "If memory serves me the crash site was around there somewhere. We didn't worry about it since even they didn't know where the stone came from and we didn't have the shinobi to secure the fortress during the war. By the time the war ended the surrounding jungle had swallowed it up. Still without a power source it's pretty much useless."

Until Jiraiya said that she had been entertaining the idea that Shinno and Amaru had just been two people caught up in a bad situation. But getting a sinking feeling and remembering how Shinno had casually asked for Naruto, Tsunade said, "They may be looking for a replacement for the stone in Naruto."

"What makes you say that?" Filling Jiraiya in on her thoughts she wasn't surprised when Jiraiya said, "I'll head there immediately."

"Be careful."

"Hey it's me," Jiraiya said playfully trying to distract Tsunade from the worry she felt about putting three of her kunoichi with a possible Sky Shinobi.

After breaking the connection Tsunade said, "That's why I said it."

Ami sank down into the warm water of the hotsprings that they were camping near and although it was still dark it was almost morning. Although she knew it was rather foolish considering their nearby proximity to Amaru's village. The days of traveling through the jungle had left her feeling too dirty not to take advantage. Luckily, the two other kunoichi agreed with her, which was why they had conspired to get up early to use it. She had acted as a lookout for Sakura and Hinata as they bathed despite the fact that they had told her they could all bathe together. She had been tempted to do so, but since she pretty much knew she'd spend the time gawking had decided not to. Still as she kept watch it had been pretty hard not to peek.

Letting her mind wander, confident that her two teammates would alert her to any trouble with plenty of time, she tried to puzzle out what was happening between Naruto and the two kunoichi. However, both girls had refused to comment about the public display of affection. She had let it drop when Hinata had sent her a pointed look, the way her eyes had stopped on their client made her feel that he was why they didn't want to talk about it.

Although they had shared their fears about the client with her, Ami admitted that she didn't see it herself. She partially blamed it on Shinno's apprentice. Thinking of the boy made Ami's cheeks color which she quickly stamped down on. "Shit," she thought feeling her body heat up regardless, "It was bad enough in the academy wondering why I didn't get all excited about boys like the rest of my class. But here I am going through it all over again except now it is one."

It would really piss her off to go through all the mental anguish and feud with Fuki in order to feel comfortable with her sexuality only to find it all thrown out a window for some attractive red-head. Granted at times she admitted Amaru did look rather feminine, but Shinno's apprentice didn't act the part. As she thought of some of the insults they had fired at each other during the journey, Ami wondered just what Amaru's problem with shinobi was.

Naturally she knew the primary reason Amaru hated shinobi was because they tended to leave behind the people that needed to treated, when their battles erupted in populated areas. Not all Shinobi were as careful around civilians as Konoha's attempted to be. But regardless, surely Ami felt that Amaru should admit to being a hypocrite since Shinno had in fact turned to shinobi for help. But Ami reasoned that Shinno's asking shinobi for help was just a small flaw in a man that Amaru otherwise thought was perfect.

Hearing pebbles scattering, she briefly feared that her team had been taken out and she was about to join them. But as the dark silhouette, came into focus she would almost have preferred that scenario. "W-what are you doing here?" Ami asked feeling embarrassed as the full-dressed Amaru stepped up to the edge of the water.

"Taking advantage of the hot-springs," Amaru said as if talking to an idiot before adding, "Or do you feel only shinobi should be able to use it."

"N-no…but at least let me get out first," Ami said feeling embarrassed.

"I'm not stopping you. I'd actually prefer it if you leave."

"Listen here you son of a…." Ami began but trailed off as Amaru removed the thick vest that she had worn over her blue shirt. Next to go was the bandana and as her long hair spilled down her back Ami was forced to revaluate what she had accepted up to that point. Of course she was helped by Amaru's continued stripping in order to enjoy the hotsprings. Shooting up out of the water as Amaru's shorts hit the ground she said, "Wait, you mean to tell me you're a girl."

Amaru realizing that Ami's barbs had meant she actually believed her a boy said angrily, "Well duh. You're not much of a ninja if you couldn't figure that out."

"Hey you bitch. Who could tell with how you dressed. I know you have a serious case of, I love sensei, but still to go so far as want to pretend to be a man is pretty pathetic."

"Bitch, congratulations you finally used an insult that was actually right. Besides, who was pretending to be a man? Just because I don't dress like a whore, which by the way that skintight suit isn't very flattering especially around your rear, doesn't mean I wanted to be perceived as a man. I think you were the only one thrown off by my "clever" disguise."

Seeing Amaru doing the quotation marks gesture as she said clever really pissed Ami off. Throwing an accusing finger at her the kunoichi said, "Well I noticed you didn't deny being in love with your sensei."

"What's not to love," Amaru said as if she felt sorry Ami couldn't see the reasons herself. "He's kind, caring, and saved my life when everyone else wrote me off."

Before Ami could respond a quiet voice said, "Ami, Amaru…"

"What," both girls shouted turning to face Hinata as she approached the water's edge. From their positions Hinata guessed that during their heated argument the two girls had been moving closer and closer to each other. Now only about a foot apart and at the center of the hot-springs they both blushed as Hinata said, "I don't think now is the best time to argue out your differences. There may be Sky shinobi about and I don't think you'd want to give away our positions while you are both naked."

Realizing how close they were and suddenly feeling a surge of embarrassment the two girls quickly spun away from each other dropping down into the water. Hinata turned away hearing Ami as she made her way to the edge saying, "I think I've been in long enough."

As Hinata made her way back to camp she frowned. She had been keeping watch as Ami bathed and had let Amaru join her simply because she figured the other girl had the right to clean up as well. But hearing her feelings for her teacher couldn't help but feel they had been heaped onto a falsehood. Knowing that mentioning her doubts to the girl in question would only foster more negativity towards the present kunoichi, decided it would be best to keep her opinion to herself. She just couldn't understand why the man wouldn't set Amaru straight on the fact he didn't return them. Watching the sun peak out from between the trees, Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that when they reached the village the situation they'd find would be a lot graver then they had been led to believe.

Vega was a large, powerfully built man who was acting Admiral in charge of the Sky Country Fleet. He had differed with Shinno over the strategy of attacking Konoha, feeling that they didn't need to play such games. He was confident that their powerful air raid would be enough to crush the village into the earth and that they'd then be able to raise Ancor Vantian by using the nine-tail's stolen chakra as the power source. However, Shinno had pointed out that with such an overwhelming assault there was still a chance that their target would be killed. Therefore, it would be better to lure the boy out to where the creature he had implanted into his apprentice could drain the nine-tails. Still experience told him that when provoked the Leaf's response tended to be well thought out and final. As a result, the last thing he wanted to be doing when Konoha's assault force reached them was sitting at their current location hoping Shinno had successful lured out the Kyuubi jinchuriki and raised Ancor Vantian.

"Sir," his captain said sounding slightly panicked pulling him from his thoughts.

Turning to the man he noted that the sun was rising as he asked, "What is it? Have we heard from Shinno yet?"

"Not yet," the captain responded, "But Indomitable is signaling that they've spotted something approaching from straight ahead."

Directing his attention to the windows of the control room he could see a man moving flags about in a set pattern on the ship in question. Pulling his spy glass, he brought it to his eye to look out over the water and spotted a large white bird. Immediately he noted that it wasn't a natural creature as it appeared to almost be a moving drawing. Figuring it to be some sort of jutsu he directed his attention to the shinobi riding on its back. He couldn't make out much of the two people behind the pale young man guiding the creature but guessed that he was looking at the tracking team the Leaf village had no doubt sent after his gliders.

"It seems the Leaf has found us," Vega said addressing his captain. "Tell the fleet we are to harass them but let them escape."

"Sir!"

"I don't like it either. But Shinno wants to draw as many Konoha-nin here as possible so that Ancor Vantian can destroy them."

"Understood," his captain replied moving to the voice box to pass the order along to the flagman who would inform the rest of the fleet of the orders.

As Vega listened to his captain pass the order along, he couldn't help but feel concern at the plan he was being told to follow. The Leaf was known for many things, chief among them was their highly skilled strategists and powerful shinobi. He heard the glider launcher's telltale scream as it gave two of his gliders the push they needed to get airborne.

Focusing on the incoming bird he saw it nimbly dart away from the many kunai being fired at it from the ship that had spotted it. He doubted his men would have been able to hit the jutsu even if they had been ordered to do so. He frowned though when the bird which had been trying to stay close to the water in order to allow only the Indomitable a clean shot at it suddenly closed with the ship. At the last second it pulled up passing above it by a mere hands width of room. It continued to climb causing his frown to deepen as while its current height may have been in order to get an accurate visual of his forces. It also allowed all of his ships the opportunity to fire at the living drawing.

He was trying to figure out what the scout was up to since it would have been better for it to make a circle around the fleet to limit the number of projectiles it would need to avoid when two of the shinobi leapt from the bird's back. As he focused his gaze on one of them, he felt his blood turn to ice as suddenly he was fifteen again and was a young freshly minted chunin in the Sky Country Fleet. They were on their way towards Konoha after surviving a near disastrous run in with the Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki who had stumbled onto them as they resupplied. Still the admiral in charge at the time was determined to complete the mission given to them by the Fourth Tsuchikage. As he helped repair the ships of the damage they had sustained, he remembered seeing a glider pass by his ship. He remembered blushing at first as he had thought for a moment the women had been an angel. But then she threw something at the lead ship and then all hell broke loose as a Konoha assault team appeared with the future Fourth Hokage in a yellow flash. The woman he had thought of as an angel also dropped down to support her fellow Leaf Shinobi and forever changed a young man's opinion of what demons looked liked as she tore into the Sky Country forces.

He was pulled from his recollections by his captain saying dismissively, "What fools, they're leaping to their doom all to delay us for the rest of their forces."

Rounding on the man, he shouted at his captain feeling that all his doubts and concerns for the plan he had felt before were about to become a reality, "I want everything we got to kill them both right now."

"But sir, the plan…"

"Now god dammit," Vega shouted startling the captain at his rare outburst.

Before the captain could relay the order one of his control officers cursed, "Holy Shit!"

Turning towards the window he felt a cold lump of fear settle into his stomach as the sky was suddenly filled with copies of the two falling shinobi. As many of the clones landed on the various ships any hope of them being mere clones faded as one of the copies of the blond passed one of his flight officers pulling a blade that separated the man's arm from the rest of his body. The follow up kick by the red-head he recognized as Kushina, which sent the screaming man over the edge confirmed his fears. He then noticed that the clones that had landed in the water were climbing up the sides of his ships to help their fellows.

"What kind of scouting party is this?" his captain said alarmed.

"This is no scouting team. This is the Leaf's full response to our attack." Vega turned to his crew before adding in an attempt to try and stir up some resolve in his men, "Let us show these Konoha dogs what it means to attack us on the sea." His words had the desired effect, but it quickly faded as a body smashed into the glass window of the control room having been sent there by a Rasengan from one of the masked blonds. Swallowing heavily, Vega began snapping orders to repel the boarders but secretly feared that when it came to facing the Leaf that Sky Country would be three time losers.

Naruto smiled beneath his mask as his Rasengan sent his opponent flying. He noticed a man targeting him with one of Sky County's kunai launchers. Before the man could depress the trigger, his mom landed behind him. Grabbing him by the chin and back of the head, she broke his neck effortlessly and snatched up the launcher from the dean man's hand. Pointing it at several men making a break for their gliders, she fired the device peppering their bodies with kunai.

A large man tried to attack her from behind while she fired but Naruto stopped him by pulling his ninjato and throwing it at him. The blade sheathed itself in the man's chest causing him to stumble back several steps as he stared at it. Kushina tossed the launcher away as it ran dry before reaching behind her pulling the blade from the man's chest. Sending him to the ground with a kick, she leapt over him at several more Sky-nin using her son's blade to cut them down.

Naruto then began darting across the flight deck as three shinobi attempted to hit him with kunai. As he slipped between the many projectiles he could almost feel the men's panic rising as he got closer and closer. It naturally had the effect of making the men's aim even worse as they began to back up fearfully. Reaching them, he kicked the launcher of the man in between his compatriots causing it to point at the man to his left. Still firing it sent several kunai into him. Naruto focused his attention on the man to the right then, grabbing the launcher and twisting it free of the man's grasp. Throwing it at the shocked but recovering shinobi whose launcher he had kicked he watched as it knocked the man onto his back. Redirecting his attention to his current opponent, he sent a kick into the man's gut causing him to stumble back right into the grasp of one of his mother's clones. The clone wrapped her arms around the man's chest before bending backwards and suplexing him into the ground. From the crunching of the man's neck snapping as his head hit the metal flight deck he knew he wasn't getting back up.

Naruto refocused on the last man who stared up at him fearfully. A large gust of wind blew across the ship causing his new jacket to flap behind him. The Sky Ninja having heard tales of his village's defeat during the Third War was suddenly positive he knew who the masked ninja was. With a fearful whisper of, "It's…It's the Fourth." He darted to his feet and leapt over the side of the ship into the water.

Naruto stared after the man for a moment wondering what got into him but soon redirected his attention to causing more havoc as they waited for the Aburame to finish their task.

Hinata scanned the silent village with her Byakugan from some foliage at the edge of the rainforest. Finding no villagers, she returned to her team and clients. "There's no one there," she said worriedly. Before focusing on Shinno and asking, "The villagers were in the village when you left for the Leaf, weren't they?"

"Of course they were," Amaru said her tone hostile not liking the Hyuuga's questioning tone.

"Calm down, Amaru," Shinno said placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "It's a fair question considering everything. Yes, after treating the injured we left them in the town hall while we went for help. Perhaps our attackers returned."

"Why take the villagers this time though?" Sakura asked concerned.

"I can't answer that," Shinno said calmly despite the situation. "The attackers may not have taken them though. Perhaps the villagers scattered into the forest when they returned."

Sakura's frown told Hinata what the pink-haired girl thought the odds of that were. Hinata doubted it as well; since she couldn't picture that all the civilians there would so easily escape from the village. Not to mention that her scouting the village left her with the impression of a ghost town that had been abandoned. Had the attackers returned she figured that they would they have looted and plundered the place. "I suppose it's possible," Hinata said diplomatically, "Let's search the town hall for clues. Shinno, perhaps the two of you should remain here."

"I can take care of myself," Shinno replied standing as did his apprentice. The two darted towards the town moving carefully among the buildings.

Hinata fought back a frown, since she believed they should all stick together if Shinno insisted on going with them and was about to follow but stopped noticing Ami, who moved to follow after the two civilians saying, "I'll go with them."

Left alone, Sakura and Hinata decided to take a different way to the building hoping to pick up signs of where the villagers were. As they reached the town and rested along the back of the buildings Sakura said, "I don't like this."

"I know," Hinata agreed activating her bloodline. With it she could make out the group making its way for the central building she assumed was the town hall. Her Byakugan told her it was as empty as all the rest of the buildings so she wasn't too concerned her clients would be in danger. "We should scout the perimeter before regrouping," Hinata said causing Sakura to nod in agreement.

Hinata took point and with Byakugan active, she and Sakura made a quick circuit around the small village. They found a set of tracks leading from the village but what concerned them was they were calm and orderly. "Do you suppose the villagers were taken prisoner?" Hinata asked as she looked over the tracks.

"Why bother," Sakura said kneeling next to the tracks, "Unless the attackers weren't Sky Ninja in which case we could be dealing with bandits or slave traders." Standing the medic looked into the forest where they disappeared before saying, "However, if that was the case, they tend to kill all the men."

Hinata nodded and from her years on Team Eight could tell something else about them. Informing her friend she said, "Plus they are too orderly."

"What do you mean?"

"These aren't the footprints of people who have been taken prisoner. They're the footprints of soldiers moving to a new location."

Before Sakura could comment the sudden yell of a man being attacked cut through the air. Both girls turned towards the village from where it had come with Hinata activating her Byakugan. The town hall which she had been able to see through before was dark almost like a privacy seal had been activated. Fearing Ami and the civilians had walked into a trap both girls took off for the center of the village.

Ami was beginning to see what Hinata and Sakura didn't like about the older man. Although a part of her was forced to admit it may be due to Amaru's infatuation with him. Looking behind her at her butt she was still bothered by Amaru's comment about it. Her concerns only grew due to when she had asked Hinata and Sakura if her bodysuit did make her butt look big they had told her no but in the way that people often did when they didn't care or were being nice.

Shaking her head she refocused on the feelings of distrust she was feeling towards the older man. As he moved from building to building he did so in a way that told her he was confident that they wouldn't be attacked. Granted Hinata had cleared the village, but there was always the fear she may have missed something. She certainly felt it every time she came to a rest at the corner of some building to scan her surroundings before darting to the next. Shinno just seemed too calm, plus she didn't like how he had let Amaru tag along. If the man was supposed to care for her and she truly had no combat training then shouldn't he have been the one insisting that she stay back. But for all Ami knew Amaru had been in many combat situations as a medic. However, as Amaru came to a rest behind her master she could tell the girl was scared. Running to them and seeing the stark contrast in their fear levels all but confirmed to her that at the very least Shinno hadn't spent much time in warzones with his apprentice.

Sliding up behind the girl, she asked Shinno, "Do you see anything?"

"No," the man answered calmly machete in hand, "However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful."

"Right," Ami said moving to the front of the group, "I'll go first the two of you follow me." Ami took off running for the double doors of the building. Reaching them, she came to a rest against the wall. Pulling a kunai from her pouch, she held it in a ready position before pushing the door open. Finding the main hall deserted she waved towards the two civilians.

Amaru ran forward first followed swiftly by Shinno. When Shinno entered Ami asked, "Where were the villagers when you left them?"

"In the meeting hall in back," Shinno replied moving to the back of the room.

Ami gave Amaru a little push to get her moving to alert her they were moving before following behind the civilians. Reaching the door at the back of the main hall and before opening it Shinno gave his apprentice a smile as he met her eyes. Amaru took comfort in the gesture as her teacher opened the door but gasped at what lay on the other side.

"No," Amaru gasped as she saw the faces of the dead villagers. Although they had never treated her well often teasing her about her infatuation with Shinno, the last thing she had ever wished on them was to die. She felt tears entering her eyes as she stepped into the room repeating the word, "No," over and over again.

Ami stared at the girl in confusion as she entered the empty room muttering no to herself. "What's wrong with her," Ami said staring at the girl's sensei.

"I don't know," the man replied. However he made no move to help his distraught apprentice as she sunk to her knees hugging herself.

Ami grabbed the girl saying, "Hey pull it together. We already knew nobody was going to be here."

Amaru made no reply so Ami was about to pull her hand back and slap her hoping she'd come back to reality when a sudden blow to the back of the head sent her to the ground. Confused as to where the attack came from, she tried to get to her feet but was rendered unconscious by the follow up attack of a foot to the back of her head.

Shinno smiled as he stared at the unconscious girl and his apprentice who was suffering from the genjutsu he had placed on her when their eyes met. Turning from them, he pulled his machete out and cutting his wrist screamed as loudly as he could to draw in the other two kunoichi. Confident that once the genjutsu ran its course, Amaru upon seeing the area covered in his blood would then come to the conclusion that he had been attacked and possibly killed, would then put the blame on the kunoichi and the resulting negative feelings would empower the false Bijuu inside her.

Once the Zero-tails, as the man that had created it, had called the creature awoken then a whole world of possibilities would be within his reach. Making sure the area was properly set up for his apprentice's benefit Shinno healed his wounds. He then moved to a secret door in the meeting hall to exit the building without being seen in order to join the rest of his comrades.

Sakura reached the building first and using her strength punched a hole through the back wall. She moved to the side giving Hinata a chance to scan the room for hostiles. "Clear," the Hyuuga said before leaping into the room. Following Sakura paused upon seeing Ami lying next to clearly distraught Amaru. For a second she feared that all her fears about their client had come to pass.

Hinata blew a small hole in her theory when she said, "She's under some sort of genjutsu."

Nodding Sakura said, "I'll see to Ami."

Hinata nodded as she moved to the girl in order to release the genjutsu. Quickly moving towards Ami, Sakura flipped the girl onto her back as she began to scan her injuries. She breathed a sigh of relief finding them to be rather insignificant. She began healing her head wound causing the girl to moan slightly in discomfort. As she worked she noticed the large amount of blood leading from the room and feared that Shinno was dead. Confident Ami was okay, she moved to follow the blood trail and frowned as it tampered off and disappeared.

Walking back as Ami began stirring Sakura said, "Hey take it easy."

"What hit me?"

Looking at Hinata, Sakura said, "We're hoping you could tell us."

Before Ami could answer Amaru pushed Hinata away shouting, "Where is he? Where is Shinno-sensei?" Looking around frantically she spotted the blood and her gaze quickly moved to the recovering Ami. Scrambling to her feet Amaru grabbed Ami by her clothes saying darkly, "Where is he?"

"I'm not sure," Ami said unable to meet the girl's eyes feeling she let her down. "You began freaking out and the next thing I know I'm eating floor."

"You were supposed to protect him," Amaru shouted angrily, "What good are you?"

"Hey," Sakura snapped pushing Amaru's arm away, "Don't blame Ami. We'll find him okay."

"You'll find him…" Amaru said her voice taking on a deeper tone.

"Sakura get away," Hinata shouted with her Byakugan active and unable to explain the strange chakra beginning to flow from the girl.

Obeying her friend's warning Sakura grabbed Ami and leapt away from the girl just as she buried her fist into the floor where they had been sitting. Amaru looked up with her eyes glowing red as she said as if possessed, "Since he's probably dead from your incompetence. Let me send you to hell to begin your search."

Sakura shared a look with Hinata and both girls nodded to each other before leaping out of the hole they had made to enter. Putting Ami down Sakura walked up to Hinata whose gaze never left the hole to ask, "What's going on in there?"

"Do you remember Lady Kushina's description of her fight with Naruto when he used four tails of power?" Hinata asked her concern easy to hear. Getting a bad feeling Sakura nodded so Hinata said, "I think we're about to have a similar experience. Here it comes."

Almost immediately the girls were on the defensive as the creature shot from the hole and buried its fist in the ground where they had been standing. Although it missed two more hands shot from its body hitting the girls. Sakura smashed into a building, while Hinata skidded along the ground. Getting to her knees Sakura stared at the creature as it slowly turned to face her. Guessing the creature to be some sort of giant leech wearing a Noh mask she fought back her revulsion as she saw a giant mouth smile at her from the edges behind the mask. The mask then split apart so that its smile spread across the creature's whole face.

Getting to her feet she shouted, "What are you smiling at?" as she charged at the creature. To respond to the threat more hands appeared from the creature's body in order to smash her away. However Sakura was prepared grabbing ahold of one of them and pulled the creature towards her. She thought she could detect a hint of surprise in its smile as it flew towards her.

Smashing her fist into the creature's face she sent it flying towards a building where it crashed through the wall. "Hey," Ami shouted landing next to her, "Don't forget our client is in that thing."

"Don't take this the wrong way Ami. But your girlfriend is sort of a monster bitch," Sakura said charging at it again as the creature pulled itself from the building.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ami shouted after the pink-haired girl before following after her.

Sakura felt the creature was hurt from the way it shook its head and hoped to finish it quickly. However, it showed that it was merely playing possum when an arm erupted the ground beneath her. Sakura was hit in the chin and sent flying but the arm caught her ankle and smashed her into the ground.

The Zero-tails closed with the prone girl to finish her off. But, Hinata landed in front of Sakura and repelled the creature using Rotation causing it to smash into the ground away from them. Hinata helped Sakura to her feet asking her, "Do you have any ideas on how to beat that thing?"

Shaking her head to clear it of the dizziness she felt, Sakura replied, "Why, is smashing it not working?"

Watching as the creature righted itself again Hinata said, "Perhaps not as well as you were hoping."

"Alright then, let's try fire."

"Do you really think that will work?"

"Why not it's a giant leech right," Sakura said standing under her own power, "try lobbing some fire jutsu at this thing."

Hinata nodded and waited for the creature to charge before bringing her hand to her mouth and fired several fireballs at the creature. The creature reared back in pain as several hit but due to the relative weakness of the jutsu was able to repair the damage quickly. Both girls were forced to dodge again as the more arms sprouted from the creature's body smashing into the ground around them.

The creature reared back in pain as an armored figure landed in front of it and raising its arms fired to streams of fire from nozzles on the bottom of its wrists at it. The creature began slithering away making its way quickly to the rainforest where it disappeared. Sakura noted that the creature headed in the direction where all the footprints they had found were.

Directing her attention to Ami, she noted that the armored mask she wore bore a resemblance to the gas masks of Star Country. Attached to the girl's back were two tanks which she guessed was where the fuel for the flamethrowers was stored due to the tubes running from them to the nozzles on her wr. With a popping sound the armor began to separate revealing the chunin beneath. The armor then reassembled but was being manipulated by the strings running from them to Ami's fingertips on one hand. Walking to her scroll holder she pulled the bottom one and unrolled it. Sealing the armor into the scroll the word scorch appeared in Kanji. Putting the scroll back in place she fastened the backpack to her and said upon noticing Hinata and Sakura seemed to be rooted in place, "We have to go save her."

"Ami," Hinata said cautiously, "We still don't know what happened here. Charging off foolishly would be dangerous."

"Fine, I'll go myself then."

"Look we aren't saying that we will not come with you," Sakura said calmly, "But all the villagers' footprints left in that direction…"

"Just spit it out will you," Ami said angrily.

"I'm saying this may very well be a trap and she might be a part of it."

"No way, you saw all the blood back there. Her sensei is dead and there's no way she'd be a part of that."

"We can't be sure that he is," Sakura countered, "Yes there was a lot of blood. But there are jutsu that can heal a person on death's door and this might be a variation on that. Plus, why kill him but leave you and Amaru behind."

Ami was forced to admit Sakura was making sense. Focusing on Hinata she asked, "Do you agree?"

"I'm not sure," Hinata said surprising Sakura. "This may be a trap but Amaru's anguish was real. Plus, it was her anger and hate that feed the creature. It's possible she is being used as well. Still, we should proceed with caution."

"That's what I've been saying," Sakura said her tone light. Waving in the direction the creature had retreated Sakura said, "Well shall we?"

Both kunoichi nodded so they carefully proceeded down the trail with two of them wondering if Naruto's mission was going any better.

Naruto rolled away barely avoiding the giant hammer that the opponent he faced smashed into the ground. He swept the man's feet from beneath him and getting to his own picked the hammer up. The shinobi rolled away back to his own feet as Naruto smashed it into the ground. However his target hadn't been the man but the button that triggered the slide that launched the gliders the hammer was used for. The way the man's eyes widened in surprise made Naruto chuckle as the slide slammed into the Sky-nin launching him from the ship.

Looking around he could see many of his clones had already been destroyed but they had fulfilled their primary role of distraction. He wondered how much longer the Aburame would be but guessed if worse came to worse they'd finish the jobs themselves.

Kushina landed next to her son and almost immediately both of them had to leap away from each other as a large water dragon slammed into the deck of the ship they had just been occupying. Both Uzumaki glared up at a large man who was standing at the entrance of the control room.

"I've waited a long time to face you in battle, Kushina Uzumaki. I had almost feared the chance had been stolen from me by a quirk of fate when you had disappeared for all these years." Vega said stepping out into the open. Leaping over the railing he landed between the mother and son.

"Sorry do I know you," Kushina said confused.

"Perhaps not," Vega said angrily, "But I know you and I look forward to ending your existence." Several Sky-Nin landed behind him carrying an assortment of weapons. Not taking his eyes from the red-head he told his men, "The bitch is mine. Deal with the trash accompanying her."

A dark and violent aura surrounded the woman causing many of his men to step back in fright. It faded almost completely as she addressed her son saying, "Naruto, sweetie, stay out of this. Mommy has to teach this disrespectful punk a lesson in manners."

"Sure thing mom," Naruto said now more confident that he understood why Kiba and Shikamaru often talked about their mothers with tones of fear.

Vega merely crossed his arms daring the woman to come at him. Kushina didn't disappoint charging the man. As she did so man's group charged Naruto causing him to sigh in annoyance that he had to deal with the underlings. Making a mental note that he'd be the one to fight the next enemy leader he charged his opponents to quickly dispatch them in case his mother needed help.

Reaching a clearing, Hinata could make out some ruins buried into the ground. She tried to focus her Byakugan on them but found chakra to be running through the ruins that was buried under the ground not allowing her to see past it.

As she tried to figure out what it was she was seeing Ami said, "There's Amaru." The girl then took off running towards the prone girl lying just outside the entrance.

"Ami wait," Sakura said trying to caution the girl but nevertheless followed behind her when Ami didn't listen.

Hinata followed behind scanning the area but outside of the chakra running through the ruins couldn't see any sign of Sky-nin or the villagers.

Reaching Amaru, Ami knelt down next to the girl but gave Sakura room to check her over. "She doesn't seem injured," Sakura said completing her scan.

Hinata ran one of her own using the Byakugan looking for any sign of the strange chakra that had appeared before the Leech had manifested. Although finding none there was a strange chakra anomaly around her stomach. As it faded away, Hinata was left with the impression that it was residue of something that had passed through the area. "I think whatever that creature was has been extracted," Hinata said informing her teammates.

"Why," Sakura asked standing and looking down the hall that led from the entrance deeper into the ruins.

Sakura received an answer as the ground began to shake and was about to run from the entrance but was stopped by Hinata who pulled her deeper into the ruins as Ami did the same for Amaru. "What is it?" Sakura asked confused.

"You'll never make it," Hinata said calmly despite the shaking.

Before Sakura could inquire as to what Hinata meant the ground began cracking apart as parts of the buried ruins began to appear. "Why are the ruins growing from the ground?" Ami asked holding the still unconscious Amaru in her arms.

"They aren't," Hinata said, "They're rising."

"That's what I said."

Sakura understanding what Hinata meant said disbelievingly, "You mean this thing is about to take off." Sakura's answer came in the form of the rest of the clearing erupting into dirt and stone. With a sudden lurch that caused all three kunoichi to fall to the ground the Sky Country weapon Ancor Vaitain took to the sky once more.

Shinno smiled sitting in the throne room of Sky Country's leader or as it would soon be known his empire's throne room. As he felt the fortress powered by the Dark Chakra of the Zero's tails break free of its earthly tomb he marveled at the power of human emotion. In truth he had only thought to manipulate Amaru's bond with him as an afterthought to strengthen his Body Revival Technique to the point that he could create the perfect body form himself. Since his true goal had been to use the Nine-tail's jinchuriki. However, Amaru's negative emotions in the wake of his "death" had empowered the creature to such a point that not only could they resurrect their ultimate weapon, but he was well on his way to becoming one himself.

Feeling the dark chakra flowing into him, he couldn't wait to test it against a worthy opponent. Pressing a button on his throne he said, "Sky Commander, set a course for the fleet."

"As ordered, Lord Shinno." The voice of the man in charge of directing Ancor Vaitan replied. Moments later Shinno felt the floating fortress beginning to turn towards the ocean. Confident that nothing could stop Sky Country now, he closed his eyes to imagine Konoha in flames which would quickly cause the world to once more explode into another Shinobi War. A war that would only end when all of the Shinobi Nations had been reduced to ash.