I think this story might reach 40 chapters before it's finished. I didn't expect it to be this long when I started it.

~0~

"Itachi, Ningyou, and Sasori will be in charge of sealing the undead ninjas," Pain instructed, "Itami, Tenchi, and Sutetchi will be locating and taking care of Kabuto."

"Got it, Leader!" Itami saluted.

"Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame will apprehend Fumetsu. Now, before you say something, Hidan," Pain said as Hidan opened his mouth, "We don't know what Fumetsu has been doing since she defected. We must take extra precautions." Hidan closed his mouth, still looking angry.

"Nendo and Deidara, you two will be using bombs to try and stall the Edo Tensei shinobi so Itachi, Ningyou, and Sasori can seal them," Pain said.

"What about Tobi?" Tobi bounced up and down, waving his arms in the air, "Tobi wants to help!"

"You and Zetsu are messengers," Pain decided.

"Oh, cool! What do messengers do?"

"They deliver messages," Pain explained through gritted teeth.

"Yay! Tobi gets to deliver messages!" The orange-masked man danced around the room to the annoyance of the other members.

"Enough!" barked Pain. Tobi immediately fell still.

"What about you and Konan, Leader-sama?" Kisame asked bravely.

"Konan and I will be hunting for Orochimaru," Pain told him, "However; Konan will assist you all if needed, though I highly doubt that you will need Konan's help."

"We'll do this, Leader-sama, hmm!" Nendo declared eagerly.

"When do we set out?" Tenchi asked.

"When everybody is ready," Pain said, "I want all of you at the main entrance of the base by noon."

~0~

"Is everyone ready?" Orochimaru hissed, eyes raking his army, "I want to set out by noon."

Tayuya made a 'tch' noise. "There's still that fatty Jirobo," she told Orochimaru, "He's not done gorging himself yet."

"Anybody else?"

"Kimimaro's down in the dungeon talking to Juugo, and the clone is currently sharpening her scythe."

"Well, they shouldn't take long," Orochimaru mused, "We still have about half an hour. You remember the plan?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Tayuya mentally rolled her eyes.

"Recite it to me."

The pink-haired Sound Ninja sighed before repeating the plan. "The Sound Ninja Four will not engage any of the original Akatsuki members in a battle. Instead, we will be dealing with the clones. You and Kabuto-san will be taking care of Pain and his sidekick. The Edo Tensei army will attack the other Akatsuki members."

"You've forgotten Fumetsu-chan and Karasu-chan."

"Those two will have the same purpose as the Sound Ninja Four, which is to eliminate the clones."

Orochimaru gave a satisfied smirk. "Well done, Tayuya."

"At least you didn't pair me up with the fatso," Tayuya muttered, "Not that Kimimaro's any better."

"Stop complaining, Tayuya," Sakon snapped, "I'd rather be alone than in pairs."

"Oh, but aren't you in a pair permanently?" Tayuya sneered.

Sakon scowled. "Ukon is different," he growled.

"Because he's your brother?" Tayuya jeered, "Are you doing shameful acts with him? Guilty of incest?"

Before Sakon could react, Kimimaro and Jirobo arrived in the room. "Tayuya, a lady shouldn't be so…" Jirobo began.

"Shut UP, FATSO!" Tayuya and Sakon roared at the same time.

"Enough," Kimimaro ordered. Tayuya shot him a venomous look before turning away from Sakon with a huff. Sakon curled his lip before turning to Orochimaru, who had been watching the argument with amusement.

"Is everyone here yet?" Sakon growled, "I want to go and kill those Akatsuki scum now."

"There's still…" Jirobo started.

Fumetsu came storming in with Karasu behind her. "When are we leaving? I need some fucking people to kill."

Karasu remained silent, but everyone else could practically feel the fury and hatred radiating off of her.

"What's the matter, Karasu-chan?" Orochimaru taunted, "You don't like being controlled?"

The resurrected kunoichi glared at him but didn't do anything else. She knew that her movements were limited and any attempt to attack Orochimaru would be thwarted.

"Orochimaru-sama, everything is ready." Kabuto entered the room, pushing up his glasses.

"Excellent. We get to leave fifteen minutes earlier than expected," Orochimaru hissed with satisfaction, "Everyone head out and show the Akatsuki filth their place. Kabuto, stay for now."

Karasu's hands moved on their own to put on the red hood attached to her cloak. Orochimaru wore his signature smirk. "I want you to be a surprise for your friends, Karasu-chan," he explained, forcing Karasu to move with the rest of the Edo Tensei army.

~0~

"Why the fuck are we waiting here, Leader?" Hidan asked irritably. The Akatsuki was crowded around the main entrance to the Amegakure base.

"I have told you already, Hidan," Pain snapped irritably, "We need to wait for Zetsu to return with his report before we move."

"Just wait it out, Hidan," Kakuzu ordered gruffly.

"Shut the hell up, you old fool!" Hidan retorted.

"You shut up or I will stitch your mouth," Sutetchi threatened, one of his black threads weaving around him.

"Apprentice sticking up for the master now, hunh?" Hidan mocked.

Before anyone could reply to that, Zetsu appeared from the ground. "Leader-sama, the enemy has set out already. They're approaching relatively quickly. The Edo Tensei army isn't as big as we thought it would be. We did see Fumetsu though, and the remaining Sound Ninja Five. Orochimaru and Kabuto are still in Otogakure. They're not a part of the army yet."

"All right," Pain said, "Let's go."

Deidara and Nendo hopped on the clay birds that they had prepared and went a little ways ahead of the rest of the group.

"Zetsu, go with Sutetchi's group for now. Tobi, stay with Deidara and Nendo until you have messages to deliver," Pain instructed while running.

Tobi ran to where Deidara and Nendo hovered in the sky, shouting, "Deidara-senpai, Leader-sama says that I have to stay with you!"

The ones on the ground could practically hear Deidara gnashing his teeth. Nevertheless, his bird flew lower, allowing Tobi to jump on.

"Itachi's group, head to the right and wait for Deidara's signal!" Itachi, Sasori, and Ningyou immediately broke away from the main group, heading into the woods to hide.

"Itami, Tenchi, and Sutetchi, you three will stick with me and Konan."

"We know, Pain-san," Itami answered, following her mentor closely.

"Hidan, Kakuzu, and Kisame, you three will stay out of the fighting until you find Fumetsu. I don't want you hurt before you accomplish your goal."

"Understood, Leader-sama," Kakuzu said, glaring at Hidan.

"Fucking whatever," the zealot grumbled.

"Where should we wait?" Kisame asked.

"To the left of the army," Pain decided, "Only attack after Fumetsu is within range."

"We got it," Kakuzu reassured as the three ninjas broke off to the left.

A loud explosion sounded in front of Pain, Konan, Itami, Tenchi, and Sutetchi. The undead army must have arrived. Sure enough, the front of the army appeared a couple seconds later, charging in the direction of Amegakure.

"Ready," Pain's voice was low and deadly.

The four accompanying him tensed.

"Go!"

At Pain's command, the five jumped up, out of the resurrected shinobis' way, and onto a flock of clay birds that Deidara and Nendo had created seconds ago. The birds flew them over the army, dropping the five off behind the military, and promptly dove into the midst of the troops, exploding with a huge amount of force.

"Will the others be okay?" Itami asked as she followed Pain away from the undead.

"They are ready for this," Pain asserted quietly.

~0~

I was thinking about stopping the chapter here, but I decided to add a bit more. Besides, this seemed like a boring place to end.

~0~

"Ningyou, look out!" Ningyou turned in time to see an undead ninja get impaled by Itachi's Totsuka Blade.

"Thanks for the save, Itachi-san!" Ningyou called. Itachi looked absolutely exhausted. His eye was bleeding and he was breathing heavily. Sasori had been forced out of Hiruko, which lay in pieces nearby as he used the Third Kazekage, himself, and his Secret Red Technique all at once. Ningyou commanded her own puppet, Porcupine, to fire more weapons at the oncoming enemy. The weapons were imbued with a sealing power that locked up the soul of the Edo Tensei shinobi. Upon piercing the target, the sealing technique activates and seals the soul. Once sealed, the soul was trapped forever.

A bomb went off about five feet away from Ningyou, sending her skidding across the ground.

"Oops! My bad, Ningyou!" Nendo called, peering anxiously over the edge of his bird.

"Be careful, Nendo!" Ningyou shouted back.

Nendo opened his mouth to say something else, but a chain came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his waist. The blonde clone was yanked off his bird with a shout of surprise.

"Nendo!"

"Ningyou, Nendo can take care of himself," Sasori appeared next to her, "He's the brat's clone, and the brat is very stubborn. He'll get back on his bird soon."

Ningyou scanned the battle frantically, but couldn't see Nendo anywhere. Suddenly, Sasori cursed. The Third Kazekage had been smashed to pieces by an Edo Tensei ninja.

Ningyou sent her puppet, Drill, at the attacking Edo Tensei shinobi, only to have the opponent dodge every attack made by Drill's, well, drill. Ningyou frowned. None of the other resurrected shinobi had been able to evade her for this long.

The undead ninja's hood fell off in mid-flip, and Ningyou had a full glance at her adversary's face. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh, my God…"

~0~

I feel as though I'm getting worse at writing cliffhangers. *goes to a corner and cries about losing my skill*

The STAAR test is finally over! :D Although I liked it better with the testing because I got to miss the first five classes of the school day. I basically only had to attend two classes, which was totally awesome.

R & R!