Please read the ending note for an important update

Author's Note: As always, welcome back everyone! I'm tired, so we'll keep it short and sweet.

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Chapter 50: Man of Many Faces

Kakashi ducked underneath a tanto slash from a masked Root agent. He grabbed their extended arm, pulling them close to finish with a devastating knee to the gut. He then swiftly turned while dragging his opponent's arm over his shoulder into an aggressive slam.

"I think it's safe to say this guy's not getting up," Kakashi said to himself at his downed opponent. "Hm?" He was now surrounded by three more of Danzo's lackeys. "More of you? Maybe you should learn from your friend here and simply turn yourselves in."

They didn't listen and charged him from all different directions.

"Hah," Kakashi sighed tiredly while easily dodging the barrage of strikes from the three men. "I'm starting to wish Guy was here with me," He lazily sidestepped a flurry of shuriken. "At least he would make things interesting with a challenge," He blocked a high kick with his forearms and swept his attacker's leg out from under him before jumping into the air to avoid an obvious Earth Style Jutsu at his feet. "I wouldn't mind seeing which of us could take out the most of them…"

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet." One of the ANBU shouted from above.

Kakashi's eyebrow rose at the attempt. "Oh? So they wanted me in the air, huh?"

His opponents watched with trepidation as the Jutsu consumed the fabled Copy Ninja. They did not need to be reminded of this man's reputation. Just as they suspected, a flaming log dropped out of the sky and clattered harshly against the ground.

"Substitution!" One of them said. "Be on alert! He could be anywhe-" A simple chop to the neck and he was out cold.

"Damn!" Another cursed.

"Where'd he go!" The third one said frantically.

Both of them simultaneously looked down in horror as hands exploded from the ground beneath them and latched onto their ankles. The last thing they saw was the blue sky above them before everything faded to black.

'Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.'

The original Kakashi poked his head out of the ground and surveyed his handiwork. "So much for being the elite of the elite," He mocked and pulled himself out of the ground before gingerly dusting himself off. "Now, onto the next ones… Hm?" Ten more Root Shinobi had already surrounded him. "Oh boy…"

…

Kakashi backpedaled to avoid a pincer attack until he was back to back with a comrade who had done the same. He didn't see who it was but his nose gave him a pretty good idea.

"Well, if It isn't one of my three adorable students," Not even Kakashi could suppress the smile underneath his mask. "It's been a long time, Sasuke; it's nice to see that you're doing okay,"

"Hm," Sasuke smirked. "Save the small talk for later, Kakashi. We still have some cleanup left to do." He looked around. When they joined forces, so did the groups of enemies they were each fighting.

"You haven't changed much at all." Kakashi chirped, then quickly changed to a more serious demeanor. "There's quite a few of them… shall we?"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed.

As their enemies closed in on them Kakashi and Sasuke waited until the last possible second, then went through a series of identical hand signs and brought their hands up to their lips.

"Fire Style: Dragon Dance!" They said in unison. Teacher and student maintained their back contact as they spun around in a circle.

"Ahhh!" Danzo's men screamed out in pain as they were swept up in the fire vortex.

Kakashi, mindful of his commands, was the first to stop his Jutsu. "Don't kill them, Lady Tsunade has requested to keep as many alive as possible. Only kill if absolutely necessary." Sasuke obliged with the Hokage's demand and cut off his technique.

The smoke, ash, and fire cleared to reveal several unconscious Root Shinobi.

"Tch," Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Pathetic."

"So," Kakashi stood up normally and turned to face Sasuke. "Am I correct in assuming Danzo really died in that explosion? I didn't believe it at first, but I don't think all of his men would stay around to be captured if he was already recovered."

"You're the one with the tracker nose," Sasuke countered. "I was wondering the same, so you tell me."

Kakashi shook his head. "There were too many people around for me to get an accurate read. Add in the gunpowder and soot from the paper bombs and there was just no way for me to be sure. What about you; did you guys get a better look at what happened from your vantage point?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the realization that he had yet to see a certain blond and his clones demolishing hordes of the enemy. "Say, where is Naruto anyway?"

"He left in a hurry off to who knows where with some kind of lead he thought of," Sasuke answered with a frown. "Suigetsu and Karin went with him, but I have no idea what he's up to. I'll need to go and find him once we're done here." Sasuke pointed in the direction of a large crowd. "Should we help out over there?" He asked.

Kakashi glanced in that direction, then quickly shook his head. "No need, Master Jiraiya is over there."

"So…?"

"Oh God is that a frog?!" They heard someone scream in terror. "Wait no, help! Get this tongue off of me! Ah!"

"Something tells me he's doing alright," Kakashi responded in a deadpan and pointed in the opposite direction. "Let's go this way."

…

"It's finally time for the extremely wise and absurdly handsome Great Sage of Mount Myoboku to run wild!" Jiraiya shouted atop the head of a medium-sized toad and went through a set of hand seals. "You chumps are finished. Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" A massive bog seeped out of the ground and effectively changed the landscape of the battlefield. "Hahaha, now this is what I'm talking about!" He bellowed while smiling widely.

Any and all Shinobi in the vicinity sunk into the deep swamp, struggling for their lives to escape. Jiraiya smirked at their futile efforts. Once snared in his Jutsu, only a select few were skilled enough to break free. "I hope the others listened to me and stayed away… I really don't want to hear it from Tsunade if I get any of them hurt." A shadowy overcast suddenly made him look up. The skies above the village that were clear blue seemingly moments ago were now filled with dark clouds. "Hm, I don't like the look of that," He muttered to himself.

Nothing about today made sense. They were prepared for almost anything to happen during the execution… except for what just happened. Danzo's apparent death made no sense with the information he currently had. Something was missing and he needed to find out what that was.

"Yeah, I don't like any of this," Jiraiya repeated. "I need to wrap this up quickly and meet with Tsunade and Shikaku… why do I feel like I'm forgetting something." His eyes widened. Shouldn't Naruto have grouped up with him by now? The kid had been watching from a distance, right? "Please, for once, that kid better keep his ass out of trouble…"

He did not feel very optimistic.

Naruto crossed his hands to form his patented seal. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" His massive reserves of stamina conjured up fifty copies of himself. The rooftop where they stood barely had enough space to fit all the doppelgangers, the original, and Karin.

"Listen up!" Naruto shouted. His clones gave him their undivided attention. Typically more laid back and easygoing than the original, even they recognized the gravity of the situation the village faced. "I need you guys to do some reconnaissance, and be as discreet as possible. That means avoiding detection at all costs. Once you find out anything useful, send the information back to me. I'll need it to plan stage two."

The clones all nodded in agreement.

"Leave it to us, boss!" One said.

"We'll handle this, don't you worry!" Another exclaimed.

Naruto smirked. "Great, now move out!"

"Right!" An instant later only Karin and the real Naruto remained on the roof.

"Alright, now we have to wait for my clones to relay intel back to me," Naruto explained. "We should get out of the open. I don't want to draw any attention to ourselves… Who knows who could be watching?"

"Okay."

The two of them quickly made their way toward the forest. After the events at the execution, Tsunade would almost certainly institute another lockdown. That meant only ANBU and Jonin would be allowed outside until further notice. With Karin's sensory abilities, the forest gave them a tactical advantage. If anyone were to get near them, they would know first and could react accordingly.

Once they found an adequate spot on a wide branch amongst the trees, Karin circled back to an observation that had been on her mind for quite some time.

"Hey, Naruto," She began. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" Naruto had settled for a cozy spot up against the tree's trunk. A part of him wanted to take a nap to recharge after such a crazy day, but it was probably better if he didn't. "Oh, uh, sure; what's on your mind, Karin?"

Karin unconsciously tugged at her shirt sleeves. "Why didn't you let me heal your injuries when they blew up your apartment?" Her tone was shaky, but the desire to know outweighed the discomfort associated with the topic. "I was just trying to help the situation… to help you."

Naruto felt it would be disrespectful to his friend to have this conversation while lying down, so he sat up to look at her intently. "I know that," He responded reassuringly. "I'm sorry, my intention was never to offend you."

"Then, why?" She asked again. "Was your intention to make it more difficult for us to carry you to safety?"

"What? No." Naruto shook his head. "When you pulled your sleeves up I noticed all of the bite marks on your arm," Karin's eyes widened. "I don't know much about you or your past, but I know you used to be a subordinate of Orochimaru. An opportunistic bastard like that, obsessed with his experiments…" The more he spoke about the Snake, the angrier he became. Even in death, that bastard riled him up like no one else. "You shouldn't have to do something like that ever again if you don't want to," Naruto said emphatically. "Not for someone like me, at least."

Karin's lip trembled. "Y-You–" She regained her composure and smiled sadly. "No matter where I've been, or who I surround myself with, the one constant in life is that my chakra seems to be the only thing I'm good for. You can probably tell that I never had an aptitude for fighting like you. I've been able to survive as long as I have in this world by being useful in the only way I know how. When I was young my mother and I took refuge in the Hidden Grass under the condition that our powers be used to heal their injured Shinobi. One day after a particularly costly mission in which several were injured, they took so much chakra from my mother that it killed her." Her voice crackled weakly. "They murdered her, and would have done the same to me had Orochimaru not come along and taken me with him… not that he was much better in hindsight. I guess what I'm saying is– you guys aren't like those other people. We're friends, and I have no problem healing those who I care about."

"Karin…" Naruto had no idea she had gone through so much. It wrenched his heart to hear the pain in her voice. "I'm so sorry; I had no idea."

"Don't be!" Karin winced at her own tone. "You, Sasuke, and even Suigetsu being in my life has changed everything!" Her smile was no longer sad. "Naruto, I haven't had a single moment of peace since I met you, and yet I can't remember the last time I've been this happy. This village, the people– nearly everyone is so warm and inviting. It feels like the place I've dreamed of since I was little, and I want to help you make things right here again."

"Then stay."

Karin blinked. "What?" She asked.

"Stay in the village permanently. After this mess with the Zetsu is taken care of, I can ask Granny Tsunade to let you and Suigetsu join our ranks and become Hidden Leaf Shinobi," He paused. "If that's what you want, of course."

"I, uh–" This was a lot for her to process on the spot. "What about Sasuke; what are his plans?"

"He already told me that he plans to stay in the village," Naruto confirmed. "We spoke yesterday about it."

Naruto's blue eyes were so warm and inviting that she blushed. "O-Oh, well I-"

Naruto suddenly hopped to his feet. "Wait," He said. "Sorry, but can you hold that thought? We will talk about this again later."

Karin raised an eyebrow. "What is it– memories from your clones?"

"Yeah," Naruto blinked while he properly processed and sorted the new information away in his mind. "We need to go meet with some people, now."

"Lead the way."

"Get off of me!" A woman shrieked as she was thrown into what felt like an unforgiving metal chair. "This is inhumane and I will take this directly to the Hokage the second I get out of here!" Her head covering was swiftly removed, revealing long dark hair and fair skin. The brightly lit room forced her eyes to squint. A man sat across her, though her obstructed vision could not make out any details beyond his stocky silhouette.

"Nezumi Koen, correct?" The unidentified man's voice was guttural with an impatient tone.

"T-That's right." Nezumi rubbed her eyes and attempted to open them once more. She appeared to recognize the man, evident when her face wrinkled in concern. "Can y-you please tell me why I'm here?! I haven't done everything wrong!"

Ibiki leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply. "Funny," He wasn't laughing. "I was going to ask you something to the same effect. Do you have any idea why you might be here, Nezumi?" He picked up the file placed on the table in between them and began to flip through it. For a split second Ibiki thought he saw the woman's eyes begin to narrow, though he could have just as easily imagined it. Regardless– if he wasn't on edge before, he certainly was now.

…

Ibiki's neutral features bent down into a creased frown. "If you don't want to play along I suppose I could enlighten you," His patience always ran thin and today was no different. "You were spotted outside not too far from a point of interest by ANBU Black Ops during a village-wide lockdown. They noted suspicious and skittish behavior, along with defensive body language." He read all of this off the report within the file. "Care to shed some light on this?"

"There were strange noises happening outside of my home," She explained calmly. "I knew there was a lockdown and was worried someone dangerous might be skulking around. I got maybe a few steps outside before your ANBU showed up harassing me with all kinds of questions. Don't you think such things would explain my behavior?"

"The file in front of me says that you are a civilian with no form of Shinobi training; is that correct?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then surely you can understand my skepticism," Ibiki continued. "Does it not seem illogical from my perspective that a civilian would be investigating a potentially dangerous situation like that?

"I never claimed to be logical, mister."

Ibiki analyzed each minuscule detail of the woman as she explained her side of events. Every movement, twitch, and shift did not escape his scrutinous gaze. Her words seemed somewhat genuine, and yet he had a hard time believing a single word of it. Something didn't sit right with him about this woman, but what? The debacle involving the Danzo execution and the Root revolt swept paranoia through their ranks; was that it? Perhaps, just perhaps, he was seeing what his worried mind wanted him to see.

"When will you let me go?" Nezumi asked. "I've done nothing to justify this treatment!"

"That's for me to decide, so you'd better get comfortable. Our talk has only just begun."

'Are you there, Ibiki?' A familiar voice rang in his head.

'Inoichi,' Ibiki mentally acknowledged. 'What is it? And make it quick– you're interrupting my work.'

'That's actually what I wanted to ask you about,' It was evident that Inoichi was used to Ibiki's blunt nature. 'Those at the battle site have finished and Danzo's followers have been rounded up. Also… Danzo's body was recovered and Lady Tsunade herself has confirmed his death.'

'Is that right? I wouldn't have believed it if it was anyone else other than the Hokage,' Ibiki resisted the urge to show surprise on his face; not while he was being watched. 'I take it that Root's involvement in the assassination has effectively been ruled out?'

'Yeah, Shikaku's working theory is that this was an outside attack orchestrated by the Akatsuki or an enemy nation, though we have nothing concrete to go with it. Due to the severity of the situation Lady Tsunade is requesting all current intel from every division. Have you learned anything about the individuals that ANBU took into custody?'

'I might if I was given time to do my job,' Ibiki rolled his eyes, something he was unsure if Inoichi could sense through their telepathic link. 'I've finished with five of the six suspects already and came away with nothing, though you might be in luck. The woman I have in front of me has caught my attention— goes by the name Nezumi Koen. Let's just say I think there's more to her than she lets on.'

'What do you mean?' Inoichi questioned.

'I'm not sure yet,' Ibiki admitted. 'Let me sweat her for an hour or so, and if I don't come away with anything I'll send her your way. Unlike the others, I think it'd be worth it for you to search her mind. Just a gut feeling that comes with years on the job.'

'Okay, keep me updated.'

'I always do,' A moment later their mental link disconnected. Ibiki shifted in his seat and levied a heavy gaze on Nezumi. She did not wither in response, which only further cemented in his mind that something was off.

"Now. where were we?" He asked after the uncomfortably long silence.

"Well?" Shikaku asked firmly and with a touch of urgency. "Does Ibiki have any updates?"

Inoichi shook his head before his eyes had even fully opened. "Nothing yet," He responded regretfully. "He's hopeful that he may have something worthwhile in an hour and will keep us posted.

That was not what the Jonin Commander wanted to hear.

'Great, just great,' Shikaku thought to himself as he paced around the Intelligence Division's Headquarters. With no leads or a concrete suspect list, they were currently at the mercy of fate. They needed something, anything to fall into their laps and point them in the right direction. The Nara Clan prided themselves on their uncommonly high intelligence but they weren't miracle workers. Deductions could only be made if they had a base to build upon.

"Hmmm…"

Shikaku turned to his son, who had been silent for several minutes. Though he hated the idea of dragging his boy into this mess, the value of both of their minds working together was undeniable… and they didn't have much choice in the matter.

"What is it, Shikamaru? Did something come to mind?"

"My gut is this was the Akatsuki's doing."

Shikaku blinked. "And what exactly makes you say that?

"Given how airtight our protocols have been recently, the level of infiltration necessary to pull this off is what immediately sticks out to me." He responded. "First– the attack on Naruto, and then not even seventy-two hours later an almost identical attack that claimed the lives of the elders. It seems impossible that this could have happened without being noticed by anyone… almost as if those responsible blended right in with us."

A glimmer of realization flickered across Shikaku's grizzled features. "Of course, I understand. The Akatsuki member Zetsu was able to infiltrate our ranks all the way up to the right hand of the Hokage… but, he's dead. According to Naruto's report, he was killed by none other than Sasori of the Red Sand right after Zetsu released him from custody. This account of events was corroborated by Sasori himself."

There was a tense pause as the grim reality dawned on the two geniuses. However, neither wanted to share their thoughts, fearful the other was thinking the exact same thing.

Shikamaru mustered up enough nerve to pose the question to his father.

"...What if the Akatsuki wanted us to believe that Zetsu was dead and this isn't the case of a second infiltration, but remnants of the first?"

There was no one whose opinion Shikaku respected more than his son. The instant those words left the boy's mouth, he knew they had to act. Every second was immeasurably important to their success, and they couldn't afford to waste any of them.

"Dammit," Shikaku grunted out as he turned to his childhood friend. "Inoichi, I need you to link us to Sasori of the Red Sand immediately!"

"O-Okay, I'm on it!" Inoichi knew not to question him during times like this. "Please give me fifteen seconds to establish the link."

"Make it ten!

…

With finality, Sasori attached the arm to his creation and took a long step back to admire his labors. After hours of troubleshooting an incessant click in the puppet's right elbow flexor, he'd finally figured out the issue. Much to his annoyance, a joint connecting the ulna and humerus was placed two millimeters too far to the left which resulted in an audible hitch each time the elbow bent past eighty-three degrees. His experience crafting human puppets made him realize that the bone structure provided by the human body made them far more durable than a traditionally crafted puppet– using that logic, he planned to conduct tests to see if such a phenomenon carried over to traditional puppetry. The process of designing and constructing an entirely anatomically correct artificial skeletal structure from scratch was far more laborious and technical than he was used to, but he felt it was worth his time to explore the possibility. Due to his inability to test his hypothesis effectively, however, results remained inconclusive.

Sasori closed the book on human anatomy which sat off to the side on the surface of his workbench. He remembered the look of concern on the face of the Shinobi Ibiki tasked with fulfilling his requests. How Sasori hated explaining himself to others, but it was a necessary evil if it secured him the literature he desired. His knowledge of the human body from memory could only take him so far in this endeavor.

"One problem fixed, only ninety-nine more to go," He muttered under his breath.

Working without the capability to mold chakra came with its own set of challenges. Even if he was able to tinker around and fix all of the glaringly obvious mechanical defects, there was no way to tell if any of the puppets were battle ready. The true test came during combat simulations; the fluidity and responsiveness of its movements, and the accuracy and effectiveness of the installed hidden weapon mechanisms could only be assured through the use of his Puppet Master Jutsu. Even a mere thirty minutes to an hour a day use of his core would accelerate the progression of his research exponentially.

If Sasori could only use one word to describe Ibiki, it would be steadfast. No matter how much intel he provided on the Akatsuki, the one thing Ibiki refused him was access to his core– he couldn't fault them, but his understanding of the Leaf Village's side of things did little to quell his annoyance.

"Hello– Hello, Sasori, can you hear me?"

Sasori paused at the unfamiliar voice and placed down his forceps. There was no one but him in the room, he was certain of it. Either he was finally going insane, or something else entirely was happening.

"Who is this?" Sasori said inwardly. "How are you able to project yourself into my thoughts?"

"My name is Shikaku Naru," The man responded. "Forgive me, but explanations will have to come later; time is of the essence. I have some questions I hope you may be able to shed some light on."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "The Jonin Commander? Ah yes, of course," The Leaf was famous for the legendary teamwork of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. He quickly surmised the Hidden Jutsu of the Yamanaka Clan was behind this phenomenon; their troublesome Mind Transfer techniques are what made the Leaf Village's intel division the most advanced of the Five Great Nations. "What do you want– where is Ibiki?"

"We have reason to believe that the Akatsuki have infiltrated the village," Shikaku ignored the question. "With your assistance, I am hopeful we can expose this threat before more damage is done."

"Again?" Sasori responded dubiously. "That's quite embarrassing, don't you think?"

"Actually, we aren't entirely convinced that this is a separate occurrence," Shikaku explained. "Tell me, is there a possibility that Zetsu could still be alive?"

Sasori arched an eyebrow. "Zetsu?" He repeated. "What are you–..." His eyes widened at the realization of his critical error. "No, that's not possible… I'm certain that I killed the original and he never mentioned that there were more of them here."

"Did you just say the original?' Shikamaru asked grimly. He planned to let his father take the lead but he couldn't just ignore that piece of information. "Are you implying Zetsu can create clones of himself that stay alive even in the event he is killed?"

'Be quiet; I need to think.' Sasori recounted the events of that day in hopes that he could glean something from their brief interaction. Not much time had passed since then, and yet it felt like an entire lifetime to him.

…

"What do you know about their defense system? Why not just go underground to escape?" Sasori asked.

"I would just phase into the ground, but I learned that the Barrier Ninjutsu around the village is a lot trickier than we thought," Zetsu explained. "It has complete aerial and underground coverage. If they sense my chakra signature underground, it will set off way more alarm bells than just walking out of the village through the main gate. If I alert them, then the Hyuga and Inuzuka Clans might hunt me down! Can you believe that?!"

"There's not a single soft spot in the barrier?"

"There is, just not now." Zetsu vaguely replied. "The barrier actually has a weak point, but it happens in an extremely limited time window. I discovered it while investigating, but we don't have the time to wait for that."

…

'Tch, dammit,' Sasori cursed. 'How could I make such an oversight?!'

'What is it?' Shikaku asked. 'Were you able to recall any details?'

'Yeah, I did,' He sounded uncharacteristically uneasy. 'I don't think you are going to like what I have to say, however.'

'I already anticipated that would be the case.' Shikaku replied. 'I would like to be upfront with you to avoid any delays, Sasori, as this matter is vital to the security of the Hidden Leaf; we are offering you daily– but limited supervised access to the use of your chakra core for any information that assists us in resolving this. Knowing that, please share all that you have.'

'Heh,' They knew him so well. 'Well– when you put it like that, how can I refuse?' Fate appeared to be smiling down on him once again. 'If you're sure Zetsu is behind this, then I think I may know how more of them could have snuck their way into the Leaf Village.'

'...Okay, please explain in full detail,' Shikaku requested gravely. 'Shikamaru, go speak to the ANBU stationed outside. We need Lady Tsunade here at once.'

'On it!' For a notorious lazy guy, Shikamaru sure did move fast. He was out of Shikaku's earshot in seconds.

'Seems like a nice kid… I'm guessing he's your son?' Sasori asked.

'U-Uh, yes, he is,' Shikaku was understandably thrown off by the attempt at small talk. 'He's the most intelligent person I have ever met, and his composure in times like these is well beyond his years… Now, can we continue?'

'Of course.'

'Excellent, now–,' Sasori could hear some indistinct chatter on the other end. "Hm. What is it, Shikamaru? Were you able to send word to the Hokage already?"

…

"What are you saying– how?" Shikaku's tone betrayed confusion.

Sasori did his best to focus in on the other half of the conversation, but much to his annoyance it was far too muffled to make anything out.

…

"Is something like that even possible!? I need him to be completely sure of this."

Okay, now Sasori was even more interested. From their brief encounter and his extensive knowledge of notable Shinobi from around the world, he had a fairly good idea of who Shikaku Nara was. The Jonin Commander, supreme tactical genius, and most importantly a stoic man of very few words and even less emotion. Shikaku's reaction didn't seem like much, though that was only true if one knew nothing about the man. Whatever had come up, it had to be interesting. For now, he was left waiting in the dark.

And there was nothing more Sasori detested than being kept waiting.

…

"And they're here now? …Okay, yes, let's do that. Go on ahead and I will meet you there shortly," Shikaku finished his aside. 'Sasori, are you still there? There has been a change of plans.'

'Oh?' He figured as much. 'And what might that be?'

'A team of ANBU and I will be with you shortly to escort you to a different wing of the building. I will explain everything along the way.'

"You don't strike me as much of a pacer," Naruto couldn't help but comment on his friend's unusually skittish behavior. "Why don't you do yourself a favor and try to relax a little?"

"It helps me think," Shikamaru replied.

"How's that?" Karin questioned; her eyebrow raised curiously.

Shikamaru stopped, sighed, and turned toward the girl, "The increased blood flow from even light physical activity noticeably improves my cognitive function," He explained. "At this point, any advantage we can get is a welcomed one."

"Oh, okay…" The Nara Clan was clearly full of lunatics.

Naruto made a face that elicited a giggle from Karin. "Well… I'm glad it's working out for you," Was all he could muster in response.

"This plan of yours," Shikamaru was now looking at Naruto. "Are you sure that it's going to work?"

"About as sure as I can be. If you're looking for a guarantee– sorry, but that's not something I can give you."

"That's about as much as we could hope for, I suppose." He sighed. "I gotta say, I'm starting to dislike how much we rely on you, Naruto," Shikamaru spoke earnestly. "We ask too much of you sometimes… sorry about that."

"Really? I feel like there's so much more I could be doing. One step forward, two steps back is what it always seems like."

"That's a sentiment we both share," Shikamaru sighed. "I'm not cut out for all of this work."

Naruto smiled. In the wake of all this madness, the one constant he could rely on was Shikamaru's lazy disposition. The Leaf needed him to mature and grow as a Shinobi, which he did and then some, but that piece of him that Naruto has known for years would never truly go away. As foolish as it sounded, he found comfort in that.

"Yeah, me neither; haha."

"It's been a while, Naruto Uzumaki." Said a familiar voice. "You haven't visited in a while. And here I thought we were friends?"

"Sasori," Naruto didn't bother to turn his head. "We've been waiting around for you. And here I thought you didn't like making people wait?"

"I have little control over that," He replied dryly, accompanied by Shikaku and a small team of Tsunade's personal Black Ops. "I'm a prisoner, after all; you ought to make a special exception for me."

"Naruto," Shikaku stepped forward swiftly. To call this a time-sensitive issue would be an understatement, so further small talk was out of the question. "Is what you told my son true; did you make contact with another of those White Zetsu?" His voice was firm, though there was a noticeable nervous hitch in his speech.

"Yeah, I did." Naruto grimaced at the not-so-fond memories the encounter had drummed up from his past. "Turns out the Zetsu disguised as Shizune wasn't the only one we had to worry about. This one was disguised as the owner of the teashop across the street from my home, and there are even more of them out there."

"Damn," This was precisely what Shikaku had feared. "Where is this Zetsu now? Were you able to detain him?"

"I killed him," Naruto replied simply. "Suigetsu is currently at the shop disguised in his place."

"What?!" Shikaku appeared shocked.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru mirrored the reaction of his father. "You said you had a plan; how can we execute it when you killed our best asset?!"

"You would know if you let me finish!" Naruto retorted.

"I knew this would happennn." Karin sang, though a look from Naruto quickly shut her sass down.

"You two are surprised?" Sasori questioned. "This child can be ruthless when he wants to be," He stepped forward and began to circle his former adversary. "I would know better than anyone, after all. Deep down… he's a killer."

"Oh, stop it; I was defending myself against you," Naruto's gaze followed as Sasori stalked him. "Extracting the Nine-Tails would have killed me, so I did what I needed to do to survive."

"While true, I know a man capable of great violence when I see it," Sasori smirked. "It is in your nature; try as you might to run from that fact, you know that I'm right."

…

"So, how did you do it?"

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"How did you kill him? Did you enjoy watching the light slowly fade from his eyes?"

"This is not why I brought you here, Sasori," Shikaku had seen enough. "If you'd like, I can bring you back to your cell and rescind my offer for the use of your core."

"Sorry, sorry; perhaps I got a little carried away," Sasori put his hands up in mock defeat and returned to Shikaku's side. "The excitement of seeing my good friend once again got the better of me."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru let out one of his patented groans. "Can you just tell us what your plan is, then?"

"Yeah, so listen closely," Naruto nodded. "We're running late… my original has most likely already made the first move."

"Original?" Shikaku looked incredulous. "So you're a clone?"

"Ze-tsu?" Nezumi Koen tilted her head in confusion. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Ibiki, who was now a silent observer in the corner of the room, grunted softly. The annoyance from his interrogation being commandeered by a lower rank was evident. If it were any other Chunin, his refusal of such demands would have been swift.

But this one had proven himself already before.

"You can stop the act," Naruto was exasperated. "I've already heard it once today."

"..." Nezumi remained silent.

"The tea shop owner by my apartment," The satisfaction he felt when her eye twitched was glorious, though he ventured to guess it would take more than that to invoke a worthwhile reaction from any potential spy. "Yeah, that's right; ya got found out. I remember you from that day; how could I forget seeing a monster in human form?"

"Honest mister, you have the wrong person! I haven't done anything!"

"You rigged my apartment with paper bombs so you could capture me, then you pulled the same shit on Danzo… only this time your objective was to kill." Nezumi opened her mouth to speak, but Naruto wouldn't allow it. "Including you and the shopkeeper, there are fifteen of you White bastards scattered around the Leaf– and we're coming for every single one of you."

They watched as the facade of the innocent and concerned civilian faded away before their very eyes. Ibiki straightened up from his spot against the wall and was by Naruto's side immediately. Just like before, the human features of the woman slowly disappeared until all that was left was ghostly white skin, piercing yellow eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and shaggy green hair.

"How do you know that?!" White Zetsu hissed. "There is no way in hell one of the other clones would tell you a damn thing!"

"Well, I'll be damned…" Ibiki breathed out. "I knew something was off with this one, but I never expected this." He looked at Naruto in amazement. "How did you know?"

Naruto didn't take his eyes off their prisoner. The unbridled rage on Zetsu's face was intoxicating. He wouldn't consider himself a cruel man, though he greatly enjoyed the misfortune of his enemies.

"An ability that the Nine-Tailed Fox shared with me," Ibiki and Zetsu reacted how one would expect– shock. "He calls it… Negative Emotion Sensing; It's difficult to explain, but I'm able to feel the hatred and evil intent radiating off of a person. Unsurprisingly, these Zetsu clones have a lot of that and are easy to spot because of it."

"You bastard!" The typically playful Zetsu spat in blind fury. "You and that damned fox can go straight to hell! I knew we should have killed you in that apartment when we had the chance!"

"That would have been smart. Unfortunately for you, I won't be making the same mistake." Naruto spoke with his usual confidence. "Earlier today I sent out my clones to find the rest of you. The hate you guys have for me made that part easy. The ANBU aren't far behind… I'd venture to guess they're being rounded up right now as we speak."

….

Cat pulled out a mirror from his pouch and positioned it in the window he was crouched underneath. He fiddled with the angle until he could see the reflection of three shadowy figures within the house. Upon closer inspection, it was a family; a mother and father that looked to be in their early thirties, and a son that could be no older than five; they were seated around the table happily eating their dinner. Uddo grimaced beneath his mask, then quickly signaled his hidden team to move into their respective positions.

'There are nine access points on the first floor; the front door, side door, and seven windows.' Uddo thought to himself. One ANBU was to be stationed at each point, and two manned the roof. 'That should be enough time for them to get ready.' With a smoke bomb already in hand, he swiftly broke the window with his elbow and tossed it into the house.

"What is that?" The young boy asked.

"Hm?" His mother hummed. "Wait, oh no!"

The smoke bomb's detonation was followed by screams of fear. ANBU used that as their signal as the sound more broken glass echoed in the house. A struggle ensued, which was followed by more shouting and cries for help.

"Stay down and do not resist!" Uddo grabbed at a flailing arm in the smoke and threw the silhouette into the ground. "You are being detained on orders of the Hokage."

The fog cleared to reveal that Uddo had the husband pinned to the ground with his arm wrenched painfully behind his back.

"Hey!" His wife tried to rush to his aid but was held back by Boar. "L-Let go of him; what would the Hokage want with my husband?!"

"D-Daddy…" The boy squeaked out fearfully while clinging to his mother's hip. "W-What's going on? Did you do something bad?"

"Of course, he didn't, sweetie," His mother reassured him. "We'll fix this and get Daddy home in no time," Up to this point her husband had been completely quiet. "Right, dear?"

…

"Honey?" Her tone now pleading. The man she knew as her husband just looked back at her with uncharacteristically cold eyes. A pit formed deep in her stomach. "Please…" She then looked to the Anbu for some sort of answer.

"I'm sorry," Uddo looked back at her through the holes in his mask before placing a suppression tag on the man's body.

She watched in horror as the kind and loving man she had known for nearly a decade transformed into a hideous monster. She felt her son's grip tighten on her clothing but it barely registered in her mind.

Those piercing yellow eyes…like something straight out of a nightmare. Her skin turned white as snow, and her knees began to buckle under her own weight.

"W-What is that…?" Denial and disbelief crept their way into her voice. "T-That's not my husband— where is my husband?!" She repeated shakily. Pools of tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

"…This is not your husband," Uddo repeated. Unsure of what else to say, his words hung awkwardly in the air. "I'm truly sorry."

"O-Oh god…" she dropped to her knees and violently emptied the contents of her stomach. The realization had just firmly set in. All the differences she has noticed over time but willfully ignored. It had made her believe herself to be crazy… or maybe, it was a defense mechanism to shield herself from the truth. "T-This can't be happening," She openly wept uncontrollably. "No… no… no… no…"

"M-Mommy?" The boy poked his head out, still openly wary of Zetsu; however, the concern for his mother seemed to outweigh that fear. He tugged at her shirt when he received no response. "Mommy, why are you crying; Where's daddy?"

Her sobs only grew louder.

"I-I miss Daddy," The boy said meekly. "Can we go see him now?"

She wordlessly pulled him in tight to her body and her uncontrollable weeping continued. He looked down at her in confusion but held his tongue; instead of asking further questions that seemed to make her more upset each time, he did what his dad would do when he was upset. He bent down and embraced his mother warmly.

"It's okay Mommy, don't cry," He said. "Daddy will make everything better, we just need to find him. Okay?"

Uddo wanted to feel numb to this scene in front of him— to steel his emotions as a Shinobi ought to. However, for what he assumed stemmed from issues in his own past, families and children were a soft spot; he didn't want it to be the case, but there was nothing he could do about it.

This hurt him.

"Target eight has been secured, extraction is imminent," Boar spoke mechanically into his microphone, then turned to Cat. "What are your orders, sir?"

…

"Sir?" He repeated.

Uddo cleared the depressive fog taking root in him with a shake of the head. "Uh— take him, I'll stay with the family until the medical unit arrives."

"Of course."

As much as he hated to hear the mother's cries of anguish, Uddo stayed and silently watched over them. No words could be said to the family that could make things right, especially not from someone as emotionally muted as him. And yet, he hoped his presence provided even an ounce of comfort when they most desperately needed it.

Uddo was acutely aware of the amount of White Zetsu clones still out there. There was a strong possibility that more families would be affected like this today– a thought that made him feel a mix of sadness and anger.

'...Damn these Akatsuki..."

Some considered one's body language one of the many windows into the soul. For Karin, it was more than that. A byproduct of her sensory abilities was an astute understanding of people; when coupled with the visual cues every person displayed, it allowed her to almost peer into the minds of those who tended to be more expressive.

Shikamaru was one of those people– she noticed as he continued to pace the room. His complex chakra indicated a sharp mind, while his mannerisms displayed someone who cares deeply for those around him. He was similar to his father in that regard. Although the grizzled veteran's body language was more subdued, Karin noticed a slight twitch in hand that betrayed his nervousness.

On the opposite end of the spectrum were Sasori and Naruto; both eerily calm, they gave her nothing to read. How curious.

"Shikaku."

"Yes, Inoichi?"

"It's done… all of the Zetsu clones Naruto pointed us to have been apprehended without incident," Inoichi let out a sigh of relief. "They are being brought to HQ as we speak."

"Yes!"

The typically reserved Shikamaru's outburst turned heads in his direction.

"What, a guy can't be excited?" He rubbed the back of his head and let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Great work everyone," Shikaku nodded his head thankfully. "Shikamaru, your logistical planning worked flawlessly. Sasori, we greatly appreciate your insight on the White Zetsu's abilities and tendencies; it made crafting a plan to ensnare them much easier."

"Whatever; as long as I get my core, I don't really care one way or another."

Shikaku resisted rolling his eyes before turning to the remaining two he had yet to thank. "Naruto, Karin, we cannot thank you enough for bringing this to our attention. We were able to avert a major crisis because of it. The work is not done, but we should be able to take it from here."

"What are you going to do with the Zetsu?" Sasori asked.

"Ibiki and Inoichi will have their hands full for the next few days, that's for sure. If there is any intel to be had, we must make sure that we get it."

"Good luck with that," Sasori remarked. "Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, wields formidable Jutsu— some that you wouldn't even imagine. Given Zetsu's importance to the organization, along with his low combat ability, I would venture to guess that extracting any information from them will be close to impossible. He'd make sure of that."

"I see… you make a fair point." Shikaku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I will consider your words, but we must try regardless."

Karin glanced to her side. Naruto had been strangely quiet this entire time. While he wasn't an overly expressive person, she expected at least some sort of reaction from their big win." She leaned over to talk into his ear. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

Naruto, who appeared lost in thought with a pensive frown on his face, blinked rapidly. A moment passed as his brain processed the question posed to him.

Finally, he shared his thoughts.

"Doesn't all of this feel… way too easy to you?"

Author's Note: And there you have it. Another installment done.

The next chapter essentially concludes this mini-arc we've been in and kick off the next one, so be on the lookout for that.

That being said, there will be some delays in getting these upcoming chapters out. I'll be studying for the CPA Exams starting now, which is going to chew up a lot of my free time. I still want to make time to write, but I don't know how things will shake out with this added wrinkle. For updates (if you care) I'll continue to update my writing progress on my profile as I go.

Thank you again for the support.

Ignacio Nicolini - No, this fic will not be NaruHina. Confirmed.

Ky111 - The Hokage conundrum is quite interesting. After Tsunade, there is no clear choice. The question is, will the village be able to get behind Sasuke knowing that he was at one point a rogue ninja?

Spellbat - There is nothing I love more than fooling my readers.

Phazer12 - Interesting theories...

As for Naruto and Sasuke have promise to fo great things. Let's hope they continue on this path to do that.

Lilthug - Yes, Danzo dirt nap confirmed.

Can't confirm or deny happy endings, but I do like Sasuke. His character in canon has grown on me the more I've understood him and his motivations.