A/N: A special thanks to everyone who reviewed: piratequeen11 and hinatafan

Chapter Three

A Strange Proposition

a.k.a "I'm flattered, but really not interested"

After a day and a half of traveling east across Fire Country, Itachi and his team finally reached the port city of Izu Hanto. Having sent Genma and Neji off to find accommodations for the night, Itachi and Shikamaru wandered around town.

Luckily they had arrived several hours before the designated rendezvous time; however, there were still many preparations to be made for the meeting. Currently Shikamaru and Itachi were scouting locations for the other members of the team to lie in wait while Itachi spoke with Hokage-sama's contact.

It was a bustling town, serving as the main port for the Fire Country. Many large boats anchored in the natural cove were prepared to disembark for foreign lands. A dark monstrosity of a galley with white sails sat comfortably in the harbor. It had arrived that morning from Water Country.

Wandering around the harbor, Itachi and Shikamaru dodged the fishmongers as they stacked their carts, cleaning up from the morning rush. The pungent smell of fish still overwhelmed the salty air. Hardy looking sailors and mangy mercenaries stalked up and down the wooden docks selling their skills to the ship captains.

The squawks and screeches of the seagulls were a discordant melody for the two Leaf ninjas as they wandered around the dock. The whole team had discarded their ANBU uniforms and changed into civilian clothes as they neared the town. No Konoha insignia was visible on any of them.

"I see it over there," Itachi said. He indicated his head towards a long row of cargo holds. "That rusty one on the edge of the wharf. The symbol's there in the graffiti. If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't have noticed it."

"I don't like this at all, Crow," remarked Shikamaru. "Those cargo containers are very isolated. There are almost too many hiding places in the shadows around them."

Responding to his codename had been disorienting at first, but now it was second nature to him. "Well lucky for me, you're a master of the shadows, Owl."

"Did you miss me, Tsunade?" asked Jiraiya bursting into his office with Naruto close on his heels.

The Slug Sannin looked up from the paperwork on his desk and tried to hide her smile. "Miss you? What I'm going to miss is the peace and quiet while you and Naruto were gone for a month."

"Well I'm glad to see that you were able to hold down the fort while I was away."

Tsunade rolled her eyes as she stood up from the desk, picking up a file as she went. "I still think it's outrageous for the Hokage to wander off for months at a time. It's so irresponsible."

"Well I'm never that far. I've got to keep my information network up to date after all."

Tsunade stood before them. "That I can understand; though, you could utilize your ANBU for that a little better."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you get my toad?"

Tsunade handed him the file and said, "I did. Team Itachi left a couple days ago on the mission you assigned. They should have arrived at Izu Hanto this morning."

"Good. What's this?"

"It's a mission for Team Kakashi."

Jiraiya accepted the file and flipped it open. "So this is the mission that's waiting for Naruto. Izumo and Kotetsu mentioned it at the gate."

"Yes. There's another thing too, a clan matter that will affect this." Tsunade glanced at Naruto and said, "Naruto, can you go collect the rest of your team and report back here in half an hour?"

Naruto gave Tsunade a thumbs up. "Roger that, Tsunade-baa-chan."

He disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jiraiya chuckled, "You've got to love that kid."

"Though I wish he'd dispense with the nicknames," Tsunade muttered.

"I feel your pain. So what's this clan matter?"

"Itachi mentioned it to me before he went on his mission. He also left a scroll for you about it. It's on your desk somewhere."

Jiraiya followed Tsunade to his desk. "An Uchiha clan matter? This can't be good." He accepted the scroll Tsunade handed him.

Hokage-sama,

I wanted to make you aware of an unusual situation that has arisen after a meeting with my clan. The elders and clan members are anxious about the inherent danger of having both their clan leader and his heir involved in the ANBU Black Ops. They believe that it's too risky having both of us out of the village taking these dangerous classified missions.

They pressured Sasuke or me to resign from your ANBU. Luckily we were able to find a compromise. The stipulation is that only one of us can be on a mission at a time. This is merely a contingency to appease the clan until we can arrive at a better solution.

I apologize for any inconvenience this will cause.

Uchiha Itachi

Jiraiya put the note down at his desk and sat down in his seat. Rubbing his eyes, he remarked, "This is rather strange, but it's not an unusual request. What brought this about? Was Itachi injured in his last mission? Though I find that hard to believe as Itachi's an exceptional shinobi, it's the only explanation for a change like this demanded by the Uchiha clan."

Tsunade nodded. "He collapsed during his last mission. I'll track down the mission report for you. He and his team were ambushed by ten rogue ninjas vying for entry into the Akatsuki. He used his Mangekyō to finish off the enemy quickly. Two of his teammates were in need to immediate medical assistance and Itachi didn't want to prolong the battle and risk their lives."

"Ah," said Jiraiya. "He wasn't injured by the enemy. It was more like he collapsed from his illnesss."

"Yes," answered Tsunade. "But as we both know, he had been keeping his illness from the clan. So he couldn't explain the real reason for his stay in the hospital."

"Is he alright? It's not too soon to have him out on another mission? When was the injury? Do you have an updated medical chart?"

Tsunade flipped through the other files on the desk. "Yeah, it's here somewhere. As you know, my apprentice Hinata and I have been exploring experimental procedures at the hospital. Naturally she wasn't aware that we were looking for something to help with Itachi's condition. His illness is classified information, only myself, you, Itachi and Mikoto are aware of the situation. So when he came in from his mission, I had Hinata examine him and we decided to implement one of our experimental procedures. It was a complete success. Ah, here's the report."

"Well this is wonderful news! You were able to fix his eyesight? Wow. How about the-"

"Hinata was able to cure him of that too. Her skill with the Byakugan is really amazing. I really should have had her examine Itachi before this. I didn't realize how much of an asset the Byakugan would be in medical examinations."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Tsunade. You're the director of the hospital, which has improved leaps and bounds since you returned to Konoha six years ago to run it. Konoha leads the entire shinobi world in the medical field. You may not have been able to see the issue clearly with your eyes like Hinata could, but you were able to theorize that as a possible reason for the illness. You were the one who urged Hinata to pursue that course of study in developing that particular treatment."

"I suppose you're right," said Tsunade with a sigh. "What do you think of this ANBU mission?"

"It's rather strange. The mission was requested by Hiruzen eleven years ago to be completed between this July and December. I wonder why."

"And it's to be assigned to ANBU and not a regular team. This would typically be a D ranked mission assigned to a genin cell," Tsunade continued.

"There must be something very important in the scrolls in the Fire Temple that Hiruzen wanted to keep secret about for eleven years. If Itachi's team wasn't on a mission, I'd probably have assigned it to his team. Kakashi's team is a good alternative."

Tsunade quirked her head to look sideways as four men in ANBU regalia walked into the office. The tallest one wore a dog mask over his spiky silver hair. One wore a panther mask with his black hair sticking out from the back of his head dramatically. The man in the fox mask had his hands folded behind his head and gave the Hokage a thumbs up. The man in the beaver mask was brown haired and serious.

"I have a mission for the four of you," said Jiraiya. He looked out over the four ANBU members before he spoke. "Your mission is of the utmost secrecy. You will travel to the Fire Temple and bring back to Konoha several scrolls that the monks have been guarding. These contain some of the most powerful and dangerous secrets of our village, so it is of the utmost importance that they do not fall into anyone else's hands. These should return to the Leaf Village unopened."

"Understood," replied the silver haired man in the center.

"You will wait until Team Itachi has returned from their mission and then you are free to go."

The four ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Night fell quickly. The only noise in the darkness was the low creaking of the wooden hulls of the ships and the gentle ebb and flow of waves upon the shore. The sea seemed to stretch out endlessly, dark as pitch. Miniscule pinpricks of lighted lanterns were the only light in the darkness as they swayed in time with the ships at anchor.

Itachi leaned against the metal door of a cargo container. He was boxed in by three of them, hidden from prying eyes. All of the storage sheds were clustered at the edge of the pier: some stacked vertically, others arrayed in long rows. The shed had once been bright red, but had given itself to the sea breeze and had rusted to a rough maroon. However, the yellow graffiti was still bright as the day it had been painted. Jiraiya's contacts liked to meet these nondescript locations. Looking out onto the water, Itachi waited.

He knew that the rest of his team lurked in the darkness ready to back him up if anything untoward occurred. Shikamaru was the nearest, bathed in his shadows. Genma patrolled the town on the lookout for interruptions. Neji was hidden in a tall tower in the middle of town scanning the nearby area for unusual chakra signatures. The four teammates had short-wave radio links to facilitate communication.

Genma's voice crackled over the radio. "Nothing unusual here. Shouldn't have any trouble from this front, Crow. Can you see any strange chakra signatures, Eagle?"

"Copy that," said Neji. "All of the chakra levels are low, ours included. There's a low-level signature on one of the ships at anchor that has been active for the last half hour or so. It may be a shinobi masking his chakra as we are. Wait, he's moving. There's a shinobi in a dark cloak walking over the water in your direction, Crow."

The eerie screech of a gull called from the distance. "That's the signal," whispered Itachi into his mic. "I'm going to keep transmitting but I'm going to mute the receiver. You know my signal."

"Good luck," said Shikamaru.

"See you on the other side," said Genma.

Itachi turned the volume off on his receiver and tucked the radio under the high collar of his black shirt. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he let out a similar cry. "Caaaaah! Caaaaah!"

A dark figure appeared next to him. The hood was turned up, but the ANBU could still tell that the figure was slender and about his height – a shinobi as demonstrated by his water walking talents. Weaving quick handsigns, Itachi set up a subtle genjutsu barrier around the pair of them.

"Were you followed?"

"No," his companion whispered.

"That's a neat trick," Itachi said, "walking on water."

"I am a shinobi, yes."

"You've been off the grid for nearly a year. Why do you come forward now?"

The other man tilted his head to the side. His shoulder-length white hair slipped out from under dark hood. It may have been a trick of the fading light, but the bottom of the strands looked almost blue. "They're on the move and they've been unusually active for the last couple months. You know of whom I speak."

"Yes, the red clouds."

"Two members were sighted in Kiri three months back. They captured both of their targets in the land of Water. The Village Hidden in the Mist has been closed to outsiders, so the word has not yet spread to the other Ninja villages."

"We've heard news about the Water Diamyo. Do you have any information about that?"

From under the hood, Itachi saw the other man's teeth shine in a sinister smile. They had been filed down to sharp points. "You heard about that? Rumor has it that the Diamyo was assassinated and the red clouds were involved. I'm not sure whether they were the ones who ordered it or if they were hired by another."

"Current schemes and whereabouts?"

"There's a high stakes poker tournament on Moon Island in one month. The entry fee is 100 million ryo and there are seats for 10 at the table, so the winner will take home 1 billion ryo. The red clouds plan to participate."

"If the Red Clouds are turning their minds to financial concerns, this may not bode well for the Five Great Shinobi Countries."

"Indeed. War will soon be upon us. I can feel it in the air."

"We have uncovered more information about the Hozuki boy," Itachi said. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a scroll. Unfurling it and biting on his thumb, he rubbed the blood across the precise kanji decorating the scroll. After he released the sealing jutsu, he handed the file to the other man. "Two years ago Hozuki Suigetsu was seen in the Land of Rice Paddies with four members of the Village Hidden in the Sound. From these photos, we can conclude that he is most likely a prisoner."

"The Land of Rice Paddies?"

"Yes, one of the strongholds of Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin. The Hozuki clan possesses a unique kekkei genkai so it is likely that Orochimaru abducted the boy to study him. Their kekkei genkai is especially famous because the second Mizukage was a member of their clan. This boy is the Mizukage's grandfather. Two months ago the pieces for a large glass aquarium were purchased and taken to the region indicated on that map. We believe that the boy may be there in one of Orochimaru's hideouts."

Itachi held out the storage scroll for the other man. Quickly storing the files within, the contact nodded to Itachi in thanks.

Hands in his pockets, Sasuke wandered towards the northern corner of the Uchiha Compound where the council member Uchiha Kagami lived with his son's family. These new rules imposed on him and Itachi by the clan were really tiresome. It was almost insulting that the clan didn't trust him or his brother to return alive from their missions. They really had no idea who they were dealing with.

For so much of their lives, Sasuke and Itachi had been inseparable. They trained together often and after Sasuke had made chunin, they occasionally went on missions together. After the death of their father, Sasuke, Itachi and their mother became even more closely knit. Fugaku had managed ruling the clan on his own while he was alive, but when Itachi became clan head, he, Sasuke and Mikoto ruled the clan as a triumvirate. Now that he and his brother couldn't be gone from the village at the same time, they needed to do their missions one at a time. Until one of them left active service or Itachi married and had a child, they wouldn't be able to spend as much time together.

It had been nearly four days since Sasuke had seen his brother and they hadn't left on the best of terms.

xxx

Sasuke caught Itachi at his apartment above the Uchiha Senbei shop before his brother left on his ANBU mission. Sitting on the couch, Sasuke watched his brother snap on his ANBU armor and tie the crow mask to the strap on his waist.

"What do you know about Shimura Danzo?"

Itachi turned to look at his brother in surprise. "Danzo? I haven't heard that name in a long time. Why do you ask?"

"It's been eleven years to the day since father died."

Itachi sank down onto the couch next to his brother with a sigh. "Eleven years already? It seems like only yesterday. I suppose you stopped by the Military Police Department already?"

"Yes, while you were in the hospital. Inuzuka Hana had some good ideas. She was saying how the names of the deceased weren't consistent. Danzo shouldn't have been there that night. If I learn more about him, I might learn more about father's death."

Itachi dragged a hand through his long hair. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he said, "Danzo was a member of the council. He fought in the First Shinobi World War with the Second and Third Hokages.

"Danzo competed with Sarutobi Hiruzen for the position of Hokage, which Sarutobi won. Bitter at passed over for the position, Danzo sought to consolidate his power through any means necessary, even if it was immoral or unjust. He founded a military group called Root, which was a hidden sect of the ANBU. I heard from Shisui that shortly before the man's death, Danzo tried to steal Shisui's eyes from him. In the world of shinobi it's sometimes hard to throw around this word, but Danzo was an evil man.

"He and father got on like oil and water. I'm not sure why Danzo was there that night, but the world is better off for it."

Sasuke looked at Itachi curiously. His older brother was staring across the room unseeingly as he let his mind wander. Sasuke said, "There's more that you're not telling me. I'm not a child. You don't need to protect me anymore. If you know anything more about father's death, I want to know."

Itachi stood up and lifted his pack onto his shoulders. Tying on his hip pouches where his armor ended, Itachi paused for a moment before turning to his brother. "There is something else, something that you haven't been told."

Sasuke crossed his legs and arms, leaning back against the couch. Raising his eyebrows, he looked at his older brother with hard eyes. "And what is that?"

"You were very young when all of this happened, so father tried to keep the controversial affairs of our clan from you. You know that three months after you were born that the village was attached by one of the strongest tailed beasts, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The same biju sealed within your friend Naruto that the Akatsuki are so ardently hunting. After the attack, there was suspicion placed upon the Uchiha clan.

"It was a lie; however, the damage was done. For a time there was a stigma for associating with the Uchiha clan. Several members, our father included, became very bitter about all of it. Frustrated with the way that they were being treated and craving power that they felt they had been denied, they planned to overthrow the current regime and set themselves up as the rulers of Konoha. Father wanted to start a civil war."

Sasuke shot up from the couch, eyes blazing. "Father would never be involved in something like that. You're lying!"

He kicked over the coffee table at his feet and stormed out of the apartment.

xxx

Now that he'd had several days to calm down, something began to unfurl in the back of his mind. Itachi's story didn't actually seem so crazy now that he'd had time to think about things.

Sasuke had been a child when his father died. He had admired his father's strength and power, but he had viewed Fugaku through rose colored glasses, dismissing his faults. As a child, Sasuke had always been jealous of his father's constant attention towards Itachi.

However, now that he looked back on scenes from his childhood and heard things from Itachi and his mother, he saw with his own eyes that his father hadn't been a good man at all. In the back of his mind, he was almost grateful that his father had passed so that he was able to get out from under his poisonous influence. No doubt his life would have been much different if his father was still alive, no doubt for the worse.

He thought about asking his mother about the coup, but he decided against it. It would be a sore topic for her. Instead he resolved to ask instead Uchiha Kagami for information about it.

He was about to knock of the front door when Kagami's son opened the door. From his attire, it looked like he was just leaving to train. He narrowed his eyes at Sasuke.

"What do you want?" Uchiha Masaru challenged. He was just as charming as at their clan meeting several days ago.

"Hn," Sasuke said. "I wanted to speak with Kagami. Is he at home?"

There was a commotion behind him and Masaru and a preteen appeared behind Masaru. He had his father's spiky dark hair and eyes. Tying his hitai-ate around his forehead, he asked, "Are you ready, father? I want to perfect that shuriken jutsu that Shisui-sensei taught me during our last - Sasuke-sempai?"

"Hi, Kosho," Sasuke said with a nod. "How's shinobi life treating you?"

Masaru put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Kosho awakened his Sharingan his mission last month in Earth Country. We've been working together to help his master it." Masaru smiled at Sasuke condescendingly. "When did you awaken the Sharingan, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smiled sadly. "At seven, after my father had died."

"Well we must be going," said Masaru. He called into the house, "Father, one of our fearless Uchiha clan leaders is here to see you." Masaru left the house with a sneer, Kosho trailing behind him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the pair as he walked into the house. Masaru felt that it should have been his family and not Sasuke's family that led the clan. Fugaku was the eldest son of Izuna's oldest son. Kagami was Izuna's youngest son. Kagami was Fugaku's uncle and Itachi and Sasuke's great-uncle.

Stepping out of his sandals, he left them in one of the cubbies in the entryway. His feet made little noise on the tatami floor as he turned to the left and walked down the hallway. Even though Kagami was a member of the Konoha's council, his home was nowhere near as grand as the home of the Uchiha Clan head.

As he neared the inside room where he assumed Kagami was he heard the man calling out to him. "Mikoto, is that you?"

Sasuke slid open the paper door and stepped inside. "No, it's Sasuke."

Kagami looked up from the book he was reading. Closing it softly, he placed it to the side. "I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you at first, son. You and your mother have very similar chakra. So what can I do for you, Sasuke?"

"Before Itachi went on his ANBU mission, he told me something strange in our clan's recent history and I wanted to talk with you ab-"

"Itachi finally told you about the coup d'état, did he. That was a very terrible time in our clan's history. I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but your father was not a good leader for our clan. His pride and ambition almost brought about the destruction of our clan as we know it."

"So it's true then?"

"Absolutely." Kagami stood up from the woven mat he was sitting on and reached for his cane. "Walk through the garden with me."

Sasuke took the old man's arm. They walked farther into the house where the hallway opened into a small garden. Framed by the walls of the house, thin trees and green fronds twisted up to the sky. A small pond in the center helped to catch rainwater.

Kagami looked at the stone sculpture in the garden and began to relate his story. "The conspirators kept quiet about the coup for the most part. They didn't want to raise the Hokage's and the council's suspicions. Your father was at the very center of it all. At one point they had tried to approach me about it, but I used my age as a shield against them. It's easy enough to pretend to be a senile old fool when you're my age."

"So how was it discovered? How was it averted?" wondered Sasuke.

"Fugaku pressured Itachi to spy on the Hokage for them. Little did he know that Itachi was feeding the Hokage information about the clan's plans in turn. After Hiruzen discovered Fugaku's intentions, he met with the Uchiha conspirators to try to reconcile. One of the changes made was appointing me to the council of elders."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Surely that couldn't have been the only reparation. I wouldn't think that would be enough to appease my father. There must have been something else."

Kagami paused in his step. Glancing at Sasuke, he said, "I only attended one meeting. Hiruzen and Fugaku meet in the Hokage's sound proofed office for days after the conspiracy was uncovered. The co-conspirators attended some and even Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga clan elders attended a handful."

Sasuke seemed surprised by that piece of news. "The Hyuga clan? Why on earth would the Hyuga clan have become involved in Uchiha clan business?"

Kagami began walking again. "The Uchiha clan is very powerful, Sasuke. We have some of the strongest ninjas within our clan. We possess one of the most powerful kekkei genkai as well. However, the Uchiha are a warlike clan, we do not possess much in the way of material wealth. The Hyuga also possess a powerful kekkei genkai and strong ninja; however, they have something that we don't have: vast riches."

"Hm," pondered Sasuke. "So you're saying that if the Hyuga clan attended this meeting, it was most likely because the Hokage was relying on them to offer the Uchiha a monetary bribe?"

"That would be my best guess."

Pausing on the tree branch, he held out his arm in warning. A millisecond later, Genma, Shikamaru and Neji paused on branches behind him, kunai knives out, battle ready and wary.

"Do you sense something, Crow?"

The crow masked ANBU turned to his companions. "I can sense two missing nin on the path five hundred meters in front of us. Eagle, what do you see?"

"Byakugan! Those are two missing nins alright. They're both members of the Akatsuki. One of them is Orochimaru. The other one is… I don't understand. His chakra network is… not human. There are several layers to his body. It's like his body is comprised of several different… puppets?

"Interesting," pondered Itachi. He pulled a small black book out from his hip pouch and opened it to a dog-eared page. "Is this him?"

Neji turned his white eyes on his captain. "Yes. That's him. How did you know? Who is he?"

Itachi gazed unseeingly through the leaves. "They haven't sensed us yet, good." Turning to his team, he said, "Our other opponent is Sasori of the Red Sand, an S-Ranked Criminal from Suna. We had received intelligence from Suna that Sasori was believed to be a member of the Akatsuki. He was involved in the abduction of the Kazekage Gaara last year. Sasori is extremely dangerous. All of his weapons have been dipped in poison and I can guarantee that I don't have the antidote. We'll have to be sure not to be cut by any of his weapons. He's a puppet master, like Eagle said."

"So what's the plan?" asked the crane masked ANBU.

"We outnumber them two to one," commented the eagle masked ANBU.

The owl masked ANBU sighed, "Troublesome. I doubt the three of us are any match for either of them. Even three on one."

"I'm afraid so," said the crow masked ANBU. "Orochimaru is the more dangerous opponent, so I'll face him. The three of you will face Sasori. And then if one of us defeats their opponent before the other, that person can assist the other."

"What do we know about Sasori? Do you have a strategy for us, Crow?"

"Eagle, your Byakugan will be very helpful here. The puppets that he uses will have secret compartments with weapons in them. If you three are able to identify and neutralize the traps in advance, you'll stand a sporting chance. Eagle, keep Owl and Crane informed of any moves that Sasori is going to make. Owl, trap him in your shadow sewing technique. Eagle and Crane, you two will focus on destroying his puppets. That is the first thing you three should do. Paralyze Sasori. Don't let him move. He will need to move to operate his puppets. Who has the best destructive ninjutsu? Preferably something mid or long range."

"Most of mine are gentle fist based so I have to get close to strike," said the eagle masked nin. "I don't think any of my water based ninjutsu would be too helpful here."

"A fire based jutsu would be very effective. Owl, you're a fire type, right?" asked the crow masked nin.

"Troublesome."

"Should we try to capture one alive?" asked the crane masked nin. "We could gather a lot of intel from them."

"If we can, yes. But let's aim to kill. Our foe is too dangerous to be taken lightly. We can't hold back at all. Are you three ready?" the crow masked nin asked. His fingers flashed in blinding patterns as he wove a genjutsu.

A heartbeat later, the four masked ANBU members appeared in front of the two ninjas wearing the distinctive red cloud cloaks of the Akatsuki. The taller Akatsuki member removed his straw hat to reveal smiling serpentine features. "Well, well, well. A crow, a crane, an eagle and an owl all come out to play."

The other ninja was squat. He grumbled, "Let's make this quick. I hate to be kept waiting."

"I don't see why we can't have a little fun before we head over to Konoha."

"You're Orochimaru," said the ANBU wearing the owl mask, his dark hair in a ponytail above his head.

"Very good, boy. Though I doubt you'll live long enough for us to learn your name, ANBU."

"Kage Nui no Jutsu!" Shikamaru muttered. Crouching on the ground behind Genma, he focused his chakra and tried to catch Sasori's puppet body within the shadows he wove through the air.

Orochimaru jumped out of the way to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. The ANBU in the crow mask brandished his tanto at the snake summoner, driving him away from his partner.

"Sen'ei Tajashu!" called out Orochimaru.

A nest of large snakes erupted from the Sannin's sleeves and wrapped around the crow masked ANBU, binding him tightly in only the blink of an eye. The Sannin snorted to himself. "Shameful. Is this really the best that my old village can offer? I'm almost embarrassed to be a Konoha missing nin."

"Trust me, we're equally embarrassed that you're a Konoha missing nin," muttered the crane masked ANBU.

When Orochimaru glanced back at the ANBU he had captured, he was surprised to see that the man had dissolved into a murder of crows. "Genjutsu?" The man appeared in front of him before he knew it and kicked him into a tree. He was barely able to make out red eyes from behind the crow mask. "Can it be?" Orochimaru wondered. "Uchiha Itachi?"

Itachi frowned from behind his mask. He really wasn't supposed to reveal his identity to Akatsuki, but this could work in his favor. He slowly untied his porcelain ANBU mask and tied it to the strap around his waist. The battle seemed to pause when Itachi's identity was revealed.

Orochimaru grinned more devilishly than before and said, " Uchiha Itachi. I see you have those beautiful Sharingan eyes. I'm quite fortunate. To think I came this way to get the nine-tailed fox. A much better treasure awaits me, your body."

"Not this again," muttered Sasori. "At least this one's a bit older than the usual boys that you go after."

"Eh?" wondered the eagle masked ANBU.

"What?" Itachi gasped.

"Ew!" exclaimed the owl masked ANBU.

"That's right!" Orochimaru cackled. "I want to use your body for my next immortality jutsu so I can finally possess the Sharingan."

"That's a relief. I thought you were actually propositioning Itachi in front of us," the crane masked ANBU said.

Orochimaru just continued to smile evilly.

"Sorry, Orochimaru. I'm flattered, but really not interested," Itachi explained awkwardly.

The puppet master seemed to evade the shadows closing in on him, but in the blink of an eye was bound tightly in the darkness of the owl masked ANBU's technique. "I've got you now!" shouted the caster. He had used the confusion from Orochimaru's strange proposal to capture Sasori in his Shadow possession jutsu.

"Impossible," muttered the puppet master to himself. He had been sure that he had dodged them.

Itachi forced Orochimaru away from the battle with Sasori. It would be too dangerous to give Orochimaru the chance to interfere.

The crane masked ANBU came at Sasori, intending to smash apart his puppet Hiruko. Although the shadows bound his puppet Hiruko tightly, he was still free to release many of his hidden traps.

"Senbon needles from his mouth," the eagle masked ANBU barked out. He seemed to recognize Sasori's trap even as he opened it. How?

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" The ninja jumped in front of his comrades and whirled about releasing chakra from every chakra point. The needles spun off back towards their sender. The eagle masked ANBU spun towards Hiruko, bound by the shadows. The puppet's body blasted apart on impact.

The three ANBU leapt together and faced their opponent. Sasori rose from the ruins of his puppet armor and faced them. He couldn't see their facial expressions hidden behind their masks, but he could tell from the way their heads twitched imperceptivity that they were surprised by his youthful features.

Orochimaru and Itachi were fighting not too far away. Itachi had gained the upper hand. None of the Sannin's hits had landed on Itachi, while Itachi had scored some devastating hits on the Snake Sannin. They were testing each other mostly with a mixture of taijutsu and genjutsu. It was strange, Orochimaru had thought he had hit Itachi a couple times, but it seemed that his perception had been off. Was this the work of the genjutsu master?

Aghast at seeing Sasori's Hiruko body destroyed, Orochimaru retreated from his battle with Itachi to join forces with his partner against the ANBU. Itachi appeared at his own comrade's side a moment later.

"You in the eagle mask, you must be from the main family of the Hyuga clan. And the owl mask, you are a Nara. I know all about your techniques," said the Snake Sannin.

"Your teamwork is impressive. I admit that I haven't been pushed this far in a long time. But you will get no further," said Sasori. As his partner was rapidly forming hand signs, the puppet master pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and unfurled it.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" said Orochimaru

"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!" said Itachi at the same time.

The ANBU team was able to barely make out the two words on the scroll, 'Sandaime Kazekage,' before the puppet master and Snake Sannin were engulfed in the flames from the Uchiha's technique. The roaring dragon seemed to grow stronger as it swallowed the Snake Sannin's wind technique and engulfed the clearing in smoke and heat. With the technique centered on them like that, the Akatsuki surely would not have any hope of survival.

The flames smoldered out as the grass around the ruined body of the puppet master smoked darkly. All that remained of Orochimaru were the ashes of something that looked like a snake skin. The crane masked ANBU held out his sword in front of him as he approached Sasori. The puppet master's remains were strange charred pieces strewn through the clearing. He nudged one with his foot.

"Don't get too close to him, Crane," Itachi cautioned. "I can still see Sasori and Orochimaru's chakra with my Sharingan."

Not hearing the clattering of smoldering pieces as they flew together, the ANBU turned to his companions and said, "They look pretty dead to me."

"Get away from him!" Itachi yelled.

Blood dribbled out from behind the mask. Poison and blood poured out from the wound in his chest. Sasori's blade had pierced through his heart and gone all the way through his chest. A mortal wound.

Shikamaru forgot protocol in his shock as he yelled out, "Genma!"

Genma slid to his knees, head bowed as Sasori appeared behind him. The sword was still sticking grotesquely out of his chest. The Akatsuki member seemed a horrible mockery of humanity. He may have been human once, but his obsession had twisted him into something else. His body was scorched beyond recognition. What may have once been metal cables within his stomach was now a melted clump of metal. Propellers attached to his hips were twisted and warped, helpless in the face of the searing heat from Itachi's technique.

"You may have destroyed my favorite puppet and the storage scrolls I carried with me, but I am far from defeated, ANBU."

Itachi, Shikamaru and Neji slid into defensive stances. Hidden behind their masks, Shikamaru and Neji were not able to properly betray their shock as Genma stood up in front of him. Slowly dragging Sasori's sword out of his body, he pointed it at his comrades.

"I'll have to thank your friend Genma for allowing me to use his body like this. Like I said, you may have destroyed most of my storage scrolls, but the fight is far from over," said Sasori.

The snake skin stirred. Orochimaru seemed to shed his skin as he pulled himself out from his own charred remains. It was slimy and unnatural.

"Keep it together, Owl, Eagle. Don't panic," said Itachi.

Sasori moved his fingers and then Genma pounced, swinging the sword, now dripping blood and poison at them. Shikamaru was barely able to block the blow aimed at him in time before Gemna's body prepared another.

Neji unsheathed his sword and raced in to help. He called out to his teammates, "The only animate part of Sasori is the small compartment on his chest that holds his heart. That's where his chakra is emanating from. If we're able to destroy the heart, we can destroy him."

Now fully regenerated, Orochimaru shook himself and smiled at the ANBU. "An impressive jutsu, Itachi, but you'll have to do better than that to defeat me. Your Sharingan eyes will be mine."

"Why don't I show you the power of the Sharingan that you covet so much," Itachi taunted.

Closing his right eye and summoning his Mangekyo Sharingan, he murmured, "Amaterasu."

A small burst of black flame erupted on the Sannin's chest, blooming outward. It burned much too powerfully and too fast. Orochimaru was able to slither out of his body, but not before the black flames began licking at the new one. After the ashes of four bodies lay on the ground, Orochimaru began to panic. Itachi's jutsu was burning away his bodies just as fast as he was slithering out of them.

When the black flames captured the right arm of his next body, Orochimaru decided to beat a strategic retreat. He cut off his own arm and body flickered away, leaving Sasori to his fate.

Itachi joined the fight just as Sasori had Gemna's body outmaneuvered the owl masked nin and deal a shallow slice across Shikamaru's stomach. Loathing to use his Mangekyo Sharingan again, but wanting to cut things short, Itachi opened his eye to inflict the black flames upon the puppet master.

Tying his crow mask back on his head, Itachi pulled on a pair of medical gloves from his hip pouch and crouched in front of Shikamaru. Peeling apart the silver armor and the tight black shirt below, Itachi could see the jagged slice across his teammate's stomach. The wound was not deep; it probably won't even scar. However, the poison had seeped into Shikamaru's body and was slowly destroying him. Neji wiped a hand across his brow and crouched next to his captain. Itachi took off the owl mask and looked into Shikamaru's eyes.

The younger man smiled at his captain. "I should have listened to you. You told us not to get exposed to the poison… Troublesome. I'm sorry, Itachi. It was an honor to serve with you."

"Don't make it sound so final. We're just an hour's run from Konoha. We can have Tsunade operating on you in about that time. Just hold on."

Here's a list of the jutsus used:

Kage Nui no Jutsu – Shadow Sewing Technique

Hakkeshō Kaiten - Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation

Sen'ei Tajashu - Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes

Fūton: Daitoppa - Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu - Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique

A/N: Please Review!