Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. I do not own the characters or plot affiliated with it. All I really own is my creative ingenuity when combining the stories together. Har-de-har.

This is a special early-update, just so I could get the attention of a certain someone... (who I will track down eventually)

SPECIAL NOTE: Lily, if you're out there reading this, please contact me soon. I don't know what you think I did, but using your friend as an owl isn't the sweetest thing to do. I can assure you that my story is completely original, and if it's somewhat similar to yours, than I'm sorry, but take a good look at all the other fanfiction out there. Are you going to accuse those authors too? I shouldn't have to defend myself over some baseless accusation. So please, contact me so we can straighten this out.

Without further ado, let's get back to the completely ORIGINAL fanfiction, Extenuating Circumstances.

xXx

( Location: still not quite known )

"Jiryokou." It responded.

Karin didn't know what to think about Jiryokou yet, but she was certain that he was neither a human nor a shinobi. Therefore he especially could not be from the elemental nations. There was always the chance he could have been one of Orochimaru's experiments, but oddly enough the female highly doubted that. She would have known who he was if that were true. She knew everybody.

When Jiryokou inquired about how Karin got there herself, she shrugged. "I was hiding from a fight…Sasuke was fighting the Kages, and he was losing… I think Madara might have taken us out of there to save our lives…" She told him, doubting it. To Madara her life was unimportant, so why would he save her other than to replenish Sasuke's strength; which reminded her that she had not come alone, Sasuke was there as well.

Her eyes opened wide, and after a brief moment of paralysis she suddenly ran back where she came, hurriedly jumping onto shape after shape. She could hear Jiryokou's skeletal feet clunk behind her, easily keeping up with her basic speed.

"Where are you going?" He asked in his scratchy unharmonious voice. "We only just started to have some fun!"

Karin rolled her eyes while making a wide jump to a nearby rectangle. Her legs wobbled under the pressure. "Having…some fun?" She panted, risking a glance back at him. "I would…hardly…call that having…some fun."

He sped up to stay along her side, the giant looking down at her, amused. "Well it might not have been fun for you, but it was really fun for me. I've been alone in here forever." He told her. From her perspective, Jiryokou was a decent being. If only she knew all the lives he had ruined in his wake.

She made another jump, this time rolling as she hit the ground to save herself any injury. She may not have been strong or fast, but she was limber. "Well, you're not…alone anymore. I'm…not the…only one…that's…here." She nodded to herself, speeding up when she saw the blurry body in the distance. She pointed to it. "That right there is Sasuke, and I'm responsible for healing him."

What Jiryokou thought of that, she would never learn. He sped right past her, eventually stopping to crouch beside Sasuke's body. Instantly Karin began to worry, and worked even harder to catch up. She couldn't let Sasuke get hurt, even if she was confused about where they stood, or if he was truly evil or not.

She came to the two, collapsing on Sasuke's other side. Frantically she rolled up her sleeve, allowing Jiryokou to see the strange circular marks on her arms. Even more strange were the bite marks, as in real bite marks. In the designated spaces it seemed people were biting her arms. At first Jiryokou was confused, but when he saw her practically push her arm into Sasuke's mouth he understood.

"People bite you to gain energy!" He exclaimed smartly, feeling proud of his obnoxious discovery.

Karin looked to him, not at all amused, before turning back to Sasuke. "More or less, yes." Her other hand she used to gently open Sasuke's mouth. The touch seemed to wake him up, and when he noticed her arm he promptly bit down.

The feeling of teeth in a living person's flesh was nothing to be proud of. Needless to say, Karin bit her own lip to keep back her screams and pained screeches. It hurt, but she had to remain strong. This was her job. This was her reason for living, or at least that's what Orochimaru would tell her. Slowly she noticed the color come back to Sasuke's face; it was obvious he was gaining energy. Second by second his bite was harder, more forceful, while she slowly diminished herself. Her eyes began to droop, the color draining away from her cheeks. Jiryokou saw this, and he was tempted to pull Sasuke away, yet at the same time he wanted to see what would happen.

For the briefest moment Karin blacked out. She saw, heard, or felt nothing as she fell into a state of nothingness. Although it felt brief, in reality her unconsciousness lasted nearly an hour, during which Jiryokou carefully stayed by her side, discussing certain matters with Sasuke. The way Sasuke seemed to treat Karin was not impressive to Jiryokou, excluding the fact that he had harmed so many people in his long lifetime. Today the Hollow was feeling generous, especially to Karin who had a soul like his…well, what he used to have anyways.

It was strange to see Sasuke abandon her so, merely walking away as she lay in a heap on the surface. The matter reminded Jiryokou of his past, and made him angry. Hungry for vengeance, and even though he had served justice all those years ago he still didn't feel full or fulfilled. Of course, now it was hard to sort out right from wrong. The line between the two was blurred beyond recognition.

When Karin awoke they were not alone. She, Jiryokou and Sasuke now had another presence to "look forward" to. Madara was before them soon after she woke up. Rubbing her eyes she looked at his form. Just like Jiryokou she couldn't tell what he was thinking, or what he looked like. But unlike Jiryokou, she hated him.

Without any explanation she and Sasuke were sucked back through a swirling black hole, at which point she didn't even get to say thank you or goodbye to the lonely Jiryokou before they were thrown back into the real world. Still tired and uncoordinated, Karin landed right on her backside. Sasuke landed right on his feet in front of her, which she would have looked to as a protective action if it wasn't for the fact they were simply dropped there.

Nothing was ever as it seemed, that much made a lot of sense when it came to Sasuke. The moment they both seemed to look at their surroundings, Sasuke's aura grew cold and distant. It was venomous, the way he looked to the person in front of them, the very same person she was ordered to track down during the Kage Summit. He was the man that Sasuke desired to kill… Karin was none too happy about that.

xXx

( Land of Iron )

Sai wasn't a complicated person, but lately it seemed he was hanging with very complicated people. At first when he heard and saw Sakura's reaction to the grim news about Sasuke, he instinctively knew she was going to plan something big; something bad. The more time they spent discussing it, and going from Konoha to the Land of Iron in search of Naruto, he also had a hunch. Of course then it was more specific. He had the distinct feeling that Sakura wanted to kill Sasuke herself…but of course that couldn't be proven just yet.

So he stuck with her and the others and stood aside when she made her confession to Naruto. Sai considered Naruto a friend, as was Sakura, thus watching what conspired between the two was hard. Though he couldn't do anything about it. This was Sakura's decision and hers alone. Only she and Naruto knew Sasuke best. Or at least, they knew the old Sasuke best. Sai was sure that nobody could fully understand this new one. All the evil and the hatred…

Things just had to take a turn for the worst when the confession was over and done with. It seemed that Sakura had two confessions to make. Sai, or anyone else for that matter, wasn't entirely sure what went on inside the Inn; but one thing was for certain, something must have happened between the two of them. They went in relatively calm and collected people, but came out angry. Ichigo was the first to leave the scene, followed by Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato who all were curious as to what happened.

Sai had a pretty good idea what happened, though. It was hard not to hear how passionately the two yelled at each other, Ichigo was mad at Sakura, while Sakura was mad at Ichigo for being mad at her. It was a vicious cycle that didn't end until Ichigo said something he probably didn't mean to, which threw everything off balance. Sai couldn't help but feel he and the others were somewhat responsible for what happened. If they hadn't eavesdropped, or at least pretended not to hear what was happening, it was possible the two wouldn't have been so embarrassed about it.

Sai actually liked Ichigo. He was a decent person, strong in his opinion and very determined. But embarrassed? Picturing that very delicate emotion on Ichigo's hard features was difficult to imagine. Never in a million years would Sai have pegged Ichigo for being one of the "secretly-sensitive" types he read about in his books.

Eventually Sakura came out too, looking rather stricken as she ordered the group away. Sai felt like they owed the other group an explanation, thus without her knowing he created an ink clone. The explanation they owed was something personal, thus rather than having the clone go to them, he himself would go to them. With the clone there to keep his place, he veered off from the group and towards Naruto and the others.

They weren't too far off, just heading in a slightly different direction than they were. He went to them and confronted them, spilling all the information he had to give. He didn't forget to mention his suspicions against Sakura, and how he didn't think they were much of a threat. She was far too emotional right now to chase after Sasuke (a fact that didn't make Naruto very happy, considering she was more emotional about Ichigo). But the whole thing wasn't about Sakura; there were other crucial things he needed to talk about, too.

Thus came the hardest news of it all: the order against Sasuke. Sai didn't think Naruto would take the news well, which, as expected, he didn't. Knowing that all his friends and fellow villagers agreed to hunt and kill Sasuke themselves willingly was hard enough, but to add in the bit about how he was the last to know? Ouch.

Both Sai and Naruto understood what this now meant. If Naruto wanted to harmlessly get to Sasuke before he was taken out, the time to do it was now. Sai relatively understood the bond that they supposedly had, at least from Naruto's opinion. Therefore he could see how much it meant to the Jinchuriki. However, Sai wouldn't warn Kakashi and Yamato about possible Naruto's intentions to confront Sasuke. They would figure out on their own, and either way Sai trusted Naruto to make the good decision and stay out of any trouble.

Sai thought the news went very well for Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato. Ichigo, however, was a different story. The shinigami wasn't listening, or even looking Sai's way all the while he spoke and conversed. It seemed he was still angry at Sakura, and spent most of Sai's visit pacing in the distance. He didn't even utter a hello, or a goodbye as Sai left.

Emotions were such tricky things, and it was disheartening to know that Sai still had a lot to learn about them.

xXx

Renji had his suspicions against Ichigo and that girl, Sakura. They just felt like they had something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but that was how he felt when he saw them. Just the way their auras meshed together suggested some deeper connection that the others there didn't seem to notice. It was especially strange considering how much Ichigo never seemed to be interested in girls. Going to Soul Society to save Rukia wasn't because Ichigo liked her, but because they were friends. Even during that time Renji and a few others visited Ichigo's school ever so briefly, to check back up on them after their daring trip to Seireitei, he never acknowledged the way Orihime looked at him. Never.

Albeit it was strange, it also made a lot of sense. That Sakura girl wasn't like many others, and not just because of her bubble-gum pink hair. She seemed strong, not to say that Rukia wasn't strong, that girl was just strong for a human.

Renji would have given the matter more thought, but couldn't once he laid his eyes upon the Kage Summit, or at least what was left of the Kage Summit. The left half of the building lay in ruins, walls and ceiling falling inward or had fallen off altogether. It made Renji wonder if the dark-skinned Kage, the Raikage, had done this all out of the uncontrollable anger that he seemed to have. Then again, it could have been that white man called Zetsu that had provided Renji with such a sound distraction. Either way it was somebody's fault.

A part of Renji wanted to go inside and get a better look at all the action that he had missed, but never got the chance when he spied Gaara and the gang walking over the bridge and through the gates, followed by the other Kage and numerous Samurai. The fact that Renji had left the Summit in the middle didn't seem to matter to the others. They walked right past the shinigami as if they had something more important to do (of course he didn't doubt that they did).

The three Suna came up to Renji and stopped. Temari seemed oddly happy as she smiled and said, "Welcome back." He nodded to her politely, after which she strolled to his side and wrapped an arm around his. "You missed all the fun."

Renji quirked a brow. "Fun?"

Kankuro and Gaara led the way as the former said, "Yeah, fun. While you were out slacking, the Kage agreed to a Shinobi Alliance, and Gaara's the leader." The two seemed proud of Gaara's achievement, for they both bobbed their head in agreement.

Claiming his arm away from Temari's grasp, he responded. "Oh, that kind of fun." He went to Gaara's side as the other two led the way back to their village, he supposed. It was likely Gaara would want to know how things went, but Renji wasn't sure how he would explain this one. He could have sworn he felt a Hollow's presence, not Ichigo's…now that he thought about it, it was fairly suspicious that Ichigo's Reiatsu felt like a Hollow's. Something like that couldn't just be a coincidence. Though Renji would not mention that fact to Gaara, at least not until he was sure. Conveniently, Gaara inquired as to what happened in a hushed tone. The other two didn't know Renji was a shinigami.

Renji's tall frame leaned in to explain. "It wasn't a threat, actually. It was just a false alarm. Turns out I'm not the only Reaper here. Ichigo and Rukia, two shinigami that I know are trustworthy, are here also. Ichigo told me they were hiding out in a place called 'Konoha'…"

Renji didn't notice the amused spark in Gaara's eyes, but he did hear the tone in the Kage's voice. It perked at the end, as if he was interested. "Did you say Konoha?" He asked once more, raising his eyebrows slightly. Renji nodded to confirm it. Gaara uncharacteristically smiled, a muscle movement that was so small and inferior Renji or the others would never be able to see it.

Quite suddenly Kankuro looked back at the two of them. "What about Konoha?" He asked, steering Temari over with the same question.

It was disappointing to not know what Gaara was thinking. Renji would have appreciated to know what he thought when he said, "We're going to visit some old friends."

xXx

( Konohagakure no Sato )

They were homebound at last! Of course, the meaning of that word would have been a little sweeter if they were in Karakura Town. Unfortunately for Ichigo, they were back at his temporary home, Konoha. Though it wasn't completely unfortunate, at least now he would be able to avoid Naruto. During the trip back the teen had been giving Ichigo the cold shoulder, and was being increasingly unfriendly. He convinced himself that this was all just a phase, that soon enough he would be able to befriend Naruto, no matter how stubborn the blond seemed to be.

He didn't think Naruto would be very open to a new friend, especially after what went down with Sasuke. Ichigo had seen it all. Only an hour after Sai had left to rejoin Sakura's group, Naruto had snuck away to confront Sasuke. If it hadn't been for Ichigo taking notice of this and Kakashi and Yamato quickly following behind, Naruto could have been seriously hurt. Luckily he came out fine and unscathed physically. Emotionally, Naruto must have felt disappointed. After all this time to see his friend so dastardly must have been hard. Therefore Ichigo didn't suspect Naruto would be open to friendship any time soon.

The issue with Sasuke had to be dropped once they found something, or rather someone he had left behind. A red-haired female wearing the Akatsuki robes, stabbed right through the chest lying in a pool of her own blood. She was vital to figuring out more about Sasuke, thus saving her life was the most important thing. Ichigo carried the girl in his arms as the four of them rushed full-speed back to Konoha. In return they got back in record time, which was unfortunately around the same time Sakura and the others returned.

The other group was standing inside the gates talking to two other shinobi (who most likely worked the gates) when Ichigo and the others finally got there. Despite his anger towards Sakura, the first thing he did was call the roseate over. He didn't know what she thought about him holding a dying female in his arms, and he didn't particularly care to know. What was most important about the girl was the knowledge she may have had about the Akatsuki.

Retreating into a medical tent Sakura got to work with healing the girl, now identified as Karin. Ichigo was left to wait outside the tent with Kiba and Akamaru. Lee and Sai had returned to their own business. Both teens looked worried, occasionally peeking into the tent. Ichigo hadn't ever seen that much blood come out of a body, the evidence was stained all over his black hakama. He looked at the fabric nauseatingly.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Kiba asked, getting a bark from his dog in agreement. Ichigo looked at the two of them closely, detecting genuine concern.

Going off his gut, the shinigami nodded. "I think so. The victim's got Sakura treating her, after all." Ichigo responded without thinking. The mention of Sakura, coming from him, gave Kiba a curious gleam to his eyes.

"You're that confident in Sakura?" Kiba asked, eyebrows raised.

There were numerous ways Ichigo could phrase this, but only one seemed like it would go smoothly and without fail. He wanted to protect the hard-headed image he had conjured up for himself. "Sure, I mean I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Kiba nodded. "That's true." He glanced down to Akamaru and gently petted the dog, most likely coming up with what to say next. To be honest, the relationship between Kiba and Ichigo hadn't been very good, at least not since Kiba made an attempt at the "strawberry" joke. Still, that didn't stop Kiba from looking to Ichigo for answers about Karin. Where she was from and why she almost died.

Ichigo itched his ear and looked away. "Listen, you didn't hear this from me, but," he began, looking both ways before continuing, "we think she was working with Sasuke, as in she knows the specifics on the inside. But we also think that the one that stabbed her was Sasuke. Kakashi says the wound consistent with something he called the 'Chidori'." Ichigo took a step forward, holding his hands up to signify confidentiality on the subject. "This girl's not normal. She's got these strange marks all over her body. They think that she's also an 'experiment of Orochimaru', or something like that." Ichigo didn't know much about the Chidori or Orochimaru, those were things Kakashi didn't take the time to divulge on.

"Whoa, really?" Kiba mumbled, "Then she's going to be really useful if she lives…"

xXx

Now instead of a tent, an official building had been constructed for the time being to house Tsunade. Shizune sat to the side like usual, Tom-tom on her lap. She couldn't help but look at Tsunade's weary and wrinkly face closely and feel sad and nostalgic. Tsunade was the person who recognized talent in Shizune, the one who gave her life meaning. Not only that, but Tsunade was a symbol of hope for all of Konoha. Seeing her so frail was hard. With all her heart Shizune wanted to just look away, but she couldn't allow that.

Thus she watched closely, so many things running through her mind at the same time. She wondered about the missions currently happening while Tsunade was out, and the Kage Summit, something she believed that Tsunade should have been the one to attend. That woman was the true hero! Defending the village from Pein and all, while Danzo merely sat on the sidelines and watched his home be destroyed. It made Shizune so angry that she curled her fists and itched for the chance to take out her frustration on that sad old man. If only she knew that the object of her malicious fury was already dead.

Something stirred in Tsunade that caused Shizune to crawl forth, leaning right over her body. What was that? She thought she heard something. Closer she leaned in, only to hear it again! Only this time she knew exactly what it was; a breath of air! Just to make sure Shizune stayed perched over the body for another moment. Anticipation and joy flooded her system as she watched Tsunade's chest slowly rise and fall as her eyes stammered open.

Shizune felt like all the wind had been blown out of her body, but in a good way. "HELP!" She called out to the other side of the building. Two shinobi forced themselves in, taking a good look at Tsunade and nearly tearing up. "Quick! Get the elders! Tell them, tell everyone! Tsunade's awake!"

And that she was. The hope of the village finally restored in the form of three simple yet labored breaths. It looked like from then on it would be smooth sailing. Tsunade was a strong woman, and she would be back in no time. That thought made Shizune want to jump for joy, much like Tom-tom did at her side.

xXx

A/N: So this is it! Tsunade's awake and their back in the village! Now I have the freedom to continue the plot as I would like myself! Woo~ This is so exciting! Also, Lily if you're still reading, CONTACT ME (my email is on my profile, bold and italicized. This whole situation is making it hard to write, and I think the Extenuating fans wouldn't like that.

See you next time!