Chapter 18 – Necessary Steps

Sasuke jumped nimbly from one tree to the next, sticking to the bark easily, trying to stay as silent as possible so he could hear any activity. He saw a flash of pink a few trees over, where Sakura was heading in the same direction. They were still a little ways off from the real Naruto and Kakashi, who had moved in to survey an enemy encampment. Not that Sasuke was thinking about the meeting much; he was still full of far too many questions.

After healing up Shino, things had taken a turn for the bizarre. Naruto had unleashed an absolutely ludicrous amount of Shadow Clones, enough to fill the entire forest around them. Upwards of a few hundred had fanned out across the area, exploring dozens of square miles in the time it took the rest of the team to get Shino set up with food and water, vanishing into the undergrowth like ghosts. It was ludicrous.

Sasuke had felt practically useless; he had done less than nothing, merely keeping an eye out for enemies that he was certain Kakashi and Naruto would have noticed long before him.

Naruto, it appeared, had some kind of leadership experience judging from his certainty in his role, not to mention the fact that he addressed Kakashi as a subordinate, seemingly completely at ease with talking to the Jōnin like an equal, or at the very least without worry of getting on his bad side. Sasuke was honestly not too surprised about this, given his own suspicions, but he was mildly shocked that he found himself following the orders without any of the usual bickering. Perhaps it was because Shino remained unconscious, and his team missing, which would make his usual disagreements with Naruto rather in poor taste. Perhaps it was because of what he had found out, about the Kyūbi.

Even as he tried not to think about that dreadful sight, those red eyes seemed to appear before him again, staring mockingly. Naruto was a demon vessel. Naruto, the annoying loudmouth from the academy, held probably the strongest being in existence sealed within him, and Sasuke had never known about it. The disdain of some of the civilian and ninja population suddenly made a lot more sense, because those people doubtlessly blamed Naruto for the Kyūbi's attack on the village. He was a jinchūriki, a weapon in human form.

It made a twisted sort of sense, Sasuke thought then, for the Hokage to put him on the same team as another Itachi, another genius that lacked any real family or close relationships, but with more power than anyone was supposed to have. Perhaps the Hokage believed that Naruto could convince him to stop his hunt for his brother, as a tangible example of someone who was similar to that man, but had not turned out the same. Or perhaps this arrangement was so that Sasuke could measure himself against such enormous power. A rival.

The rest made sense, then. Kakashi had to be their teacher, because he had the Sharingan, as well as deep knowledge of a vast number of jutsu, which made him near-enough an unlimited resource for anyone who wished to get strong. That left Sakura. She was not fantastically powerful, but she was persistent in her attempts to get close to him, and she could get quite violent. He knew next to nothing about her personal life, or even what she could really do when she became serious. Perhaps he would find out.

Naruto's words returned to him, that night in the hospital. He had claimed they could be the next Sannin. It was the most famous example of a dream team, a group that is far stronger than the sum of its parts, even if those parts are themselves very powerful. True, they had fallen apart, but not before making legends out of themselves. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru. It seemed that Naruto believed they could tread those grounds again. Naruto. Sakura. Sasuke. The idea appealed to him, at least a little, he had to admit.

He was actually starting to give a damn about his team, and that was something he had not expected. Not at all. Kakashi's lateness, Sakura's clingy behaviour, Naruto's loud brashness and endless pit of weird mysteries, they were no longer getting on his nerves quite as badly as they had. He was used to living on his own, independent, and he had done it for so long that it was strange to consider other people again. Especially Naruto. He was almost a... friend.

Sasuke jumped down from the last tree fluidly, dropping into a squat next to Kakashi, who did not even flinch at the sudden appearance, merely glancing over with a raised eyebrow. Sakura was mere moments behind him, flipping down from the tree easily and wiping the hair from her face and behind her ears.

"Took you longer than I would have thought," Kakashi muttered. "A patrol in forty minutes, really? The range wasn't that huge. I could have run around Konoha in that time... probably more than once."

"You didn't tell us to hurry up," Sasuke responded immediately, shaking his head. "Conserving chakra is vital if we are going to end up fighting. Naruto might be able to keep going as long as he wants, but we're not chakra monsters."

Kakashi looked at him sharply, but Sasuke refused to meet his eye. He cleared his throat as he put away his little book. "Not much has happened since you left. I've sent out a few Nin-dogs, just in case the first I sent over didn't make it all the way back to town, but it will still take a day or two for our forces to get here, I suspect. We did not get an SOS through, exactly, so it won't be until my dogs arrive that they know to haul ass."

Sasuke snorted.

"What about Shino?" Sakura wondered. "What do we do?"

"Pakkun and a few clones of Naruto are keeping watch with him, so he doesn't get ambushed again. They have enough supplies to keep him stable, though it could take hours before he wakes up. I'd like to keep his location unspoken, just in case we're dealing with spies."

Sakura nodded warily. "Shouldn't we be transporting him back to the village?" she wondered. "You said his chakra system is all scarred, and he's not getting better out here..." She looked at Naruto, who was standing at the cliff's edge, turned away from them. "I don't know what will happen with him, honestly."

"If there are any kikai-bugs left, they will repopulate," Kakashi said slowly. "There could be some that were hidden deep inside his body, which did not really experience the worst of his encounter with the Kyūbi's chakra. They would nurse him back to health. If there aren't, well…" He sighed. "I won't lie: if his whole colony is dead, it could take years before he has adapted to a new one. If ever. There is a reason why an Aburame is usually implanted with a colony near birth."

"Gross," Sakura muttered, shuddering.

"Still, Shino will live, that's the most important part." Kakashi smiled.

"Because of that thing." Sakura said with a shiver.

"Yes, well, let's say that Naruto's a little miracle worker," Kakashi replied, and then he smiled reassuringly. "We'll get Team 8 back, I'm sure. The others were just captured, so they're probably fine." He glanced between Sasuke and Naruto, a frown appearing. "Sasuke, about what happened earlier, with Naruto…"

"I don't care about that."

Kakashi stared. "That is a lie."

"It's not. I don't care about the fox," Sasuke repeated more strongly. He meant it, too – the creature in itself was irrelevant. Just a ball of hatred, stuck in a cage. "I have my eyes, he has the fox. It seems that we all have our advantages." His eyes wandered over to Sakura, watching them nervously. "Even if they're not always so obvious to everyone."

"That is surprisingly mature of you," Kakashi murmured, raising an eyebrow. His gaze slid to follow Sasuke's, as if trying to deduce what Sasuke was talking about.

"Mature? I haven't been a child in years, Kakashi-sensei. I thought you knew that," Sasuke noted dully. He strode over to Naruto's side as Kakashi looked after him pensively.

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure you don't want…?" Sakura piped up carefully.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Alright..." she replied, staying with Kakashi. He reflected on her comment, and her expression. She was surprisingly withdrawn, considering how much she had been asserting herself lately. It was almost like she was... afraid?

"Don't worry about her," Naruto commented. Sasuke stopped right next to the boy, who was still gazing down into the valley below with sharp eyes. He seemed confident, and he looked askance at Sasuke with a smile curling around his lips. He had been listening to their little chat, probably. Sasuke wondered what he made of Sakura's hesitance.

"I didn't expect that you would be the tolerant one, out of the three," Naruto said after a long moment. "I can understand Kakashi-sensei's shock. He was around when the Kyūbi attacked the village. I figure he will eventually realize that I wasn't as out of control as he seems to think. Sakura will come around as well. You, though, you're a mystery to me. That's probably how you like it."

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm not shocked. The fox isn't even your biggest secret, is it?"

Naruto smiled sardonically at that. "Not really. Tell me when you figure some things out." He grinned wider. "It would be really interesting if you were the one to do that, actually. Unexpected."

"So, there is more, then."

The blond chuckled merrily. "Of course there is. Lots. But that's not really relevant to the moment, I think. The fox is quite big enough for one day, anyway. Especially when your first meeting is face-to-face like that. Still, I think that the rest can be saved for another day."

"You're not that good at keeping secrets," Sasuke said with a scoff. "Some probably don't notice, but you're not fooling everyone with your casual act. Shikamaru's been making odd comments since the Genin exams, and even Sakura at least knows you're different. As for Kakashi – well, you told him something, I'm certain. He was surprised, sure, but not enough to head back home."

"You've been thinking about this, haven't you?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The mind is a shinobi's most important tool, Dead Last. You've been slipping. I bet even the Hokage and that Sannin teacher of yours figured that out, if they don't already know about all this classified information."

Naruto didn't respond immediately. "You think so, huh?"

"Perhaps not; maybe I'm simply smarter than all of them," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "Tell me one thing that I want to know, at least. Why was that creature sealed into you specifically? Why some unknown kid who lives on his own?"

Naruto shrugged, frowning. "There were a bunch of reasons. One of them was that I was born right around the Kyūbi attack, and they needed someone to put the thing into."

That much was obvious, but the sad look that ghosted over Naruto's face was strange. Perhaps he knew more about what happened back then, in the attack on Konoha, that he was not talking about? There were things like that which Sasuke himself rather avoided, for many reasons. "Have you ever met Itachi?" he asked, quite surprised at himself.

"…Itachi?" Naruto seemed surprised at his name coming up. Interesting. "No, not really," he said. "I have seen the guy a few times, but that's it. I know of him though, if that's what you mean. He's pretty notorious."

Sasuke nodded slowly, closing his eyes. "You know, then, that he was said to have great talent from early youth. There were many among my family that despised him, because he turned his back on a lot of traditional Uchiha beliefs. And then, of course, he killed them all." He glanced up darkly. "He turned into a monster and left me alive, as if to torture me beyond even the others."

Naruto looked away, and Sasuke wondered if he saw actual sadness in his eyes. He doubted there were many that would even consider shedding a tear for his dead family. "If I could have prevented the massacre, somehow, I would have…" the boy muttered.

"You couldn't have, you were my age at the time," Sasuke said derisively. "Unless you knew it was going to happen, or were in ANBU or something." He didn't miss Naruto's slight wince, and his eyes narrowed. He had to be pretty close with his ANBU hypothesis, then.

"Why are you telling me this, Sasuke?"

"Itachi is the man I have sworn to kill."

"I knew that much," Naruto said softly, running a hand through his hair. "What's that got to do with me?"

"I'd like your help to do it."

For a long moment, everything was totally silent. Naruto slowly turned towards him, and there was an expression on his face that Sasuke couldn't quite place. His eyes seemed to shine. Was he happy? About that? Hopeful, maybe? Naruto cleared his throat. "You want me to help you? Someone you just found out is a jinchūriki? An outsider to your whole dispute with him? The Dead Last from your class?"

Sasuke nodded. "I need to get better, stronger, if I want to reach his level, so that I can beat him. You're really powerful, and I think I haven't really seen what you can do, not yet. If you can show me-"

Naruto nodded sharply, a grin stretching across his face. "Of course I'll help. But, and you have to promise me that, you won't half-ass my techniques. No easy copying. I know a couple fire jutsu that you can use, so we'll go over those back in the village. Sakura will be there, too. No negotiations."

Sasuke blinked as he realized what Naruto was implying. He scowled. "You were waiting for this, weren't you?"

"I hoped you would get over yourself and ask," Naruto agreed. "Uchiha pride is practically legendary. I figured I would need to knock some sense into you first, but it turns out it's not needed. I'm glad to see that Kurama made an impression on you." He tapped his belly. "The big bad fox seems to do that to people."

"…Alright."

"As for your brother," Naruto said. "Here's what I know: Itachi is with an organization that means people like me, those who carry demons, serious harm. I don't know his precise reasons for joining that group, but I know that he surrounds himself with S-rank Missing-Nin, the best of the best. If you want to defeat him, you will have to get just as good. We will have to get just as good. Jiraiya of the Sannin knows about it, and he will keep an eye out in Konoha, but if we're out here we have to be extra perceptive."

"Then we will be," Sasuke said simply, his Sharingan swirling into his eyes. "We all have our advantages, after all."

Naruto nodded, a ghost of a smile on his face as he stared out, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, his eyes slid over again, filled with some emotion that Sasuke could not identify. "You talk so easily of killing your brother, and I'm sure you will have the power to do it, in time. Yet, have you ever killed before?"

Sasuke looked away. "How is that relevant?"

"I have," Naruto said quietly. "It stays with you, especially the first one. Please promise me that Itachi will not be the first one. Don't make it someone you care about, even a little, or someone that gets you emotional at all." He shuddered. "It can really mess you up."

"Experience speaking?" Sasuke asked, voice soft as well.

Naruto looked down, pain plainly visible in his expression and rigid stance. "...Yes. Trust me on that, if on nothing else." He looked up, then. "It's possible that today you will face some enemies yourself. Kakashi will kill them, even if you don't. Our enemies here are Missing-Nin, just traitors and criminals. If you have the chance... It's better to get it out of the way."

Sasuke frowned. "You sound like a veteran."

Naruto sighed. "From some points of view, I am." He shook his head. "We should be focusing on the mission, not on all this mopey stuff... There are enemies down below."

Sasuke sighed, knowing that pushing it further would probably backfire. So be it, he had time. "How many are there?"

"At least seven shinobi, possibly as many as eleven, it's hard to tell," Naruto said. "Most of them are weak, of course, but that's to be expected with poorly trained shinobi like these. It's remarkable to find someone from Akatsuki that even has an entourage, really. Three of the people I sensed are bound to be Team 8. I doubt the Missing-Nin would let them roam free."

"That still leaves at least four enemies for us to deal with." Sasuke muttered.

"One or two full teams," Naruto agreed. "I don't think it's a coincidence. The shinobi I saw was a Missing-Nin, and there are plenty of those that still keep to traditions like master-apprentice relationships or even teams, particularly if they're involved with criminal organizations. It could be that we're dealing with a shinobi that's training a new generation of independent shinobi to take up his cause; it could even be a Missing-Nin that's been hired by a minor nation that doesn't have enough high-level shinobi to train its newbies."

Sasuke grunted. "Genin, then?"

Naruto shook his head. "Chūnin, I would guess. Missing-Nin Genin do exist, but they're not very common, and they tend to get rounded up pretty quickly because of their low skill level. Chūnin's a pretty broad category, and covers a lot of skill levels. I'm certain that you and I are already good enough to reach that level."

"You could probably be higher up," Sasuke said dryly. "Did you see Kakashi, when that creature got talkative? I thought he was going to faint…"

"Anyway," Naruto said after a bit, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "We three could probably take out three Chūnin between us, considering none of us are exactly below average. I'm not as fast as you, but I can be very efficient if the situation calls for it. Sakura has plenty of power, if she applies it properly. If we end up in a Ninjutsu fight, though, odds would be stacked in our favour. I can throw around a lot of sheer destruction."

"What about Kakashi?"

Naruto shook his head sharply. "Throwing him in from the start would just mean the enemy gets to see all our cards on the table. I know how people like this work; the leaders will just watch their followers get beaten up, as long as they're confident they can easily defeat us themselves. Of course, at that point they would have nobody left to guard their back. And that's where sensei comes in."

"So who is this enemy Jōnin?" Sasuke wondered.

Naruto shrugged. "The information in the Bingo Book wasn't too helpful. The guy's name is Muneyoshi, no known family name. He's said to have killed a lot of foreign shinobi, though details are pretty sketchy. Seems like he's an A-rank that's probably edging on the high end of that, with what could be a bloodline ability that involves absorbing chakra. The Bingo Book is vague about the specifics. He was banished from Iwa almost twenty years ago, when he was still a Chūnin. Probably some internal dispute."

"So he's an A-rank?" Sasuke repeated. "Do you think we can take down someone like that?"

"Well, we did bring our own with us," Naruto said, waving vaguely over his shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei doesn't show it much, but he's a grade-A badass too. Anyway, even without him, I think this can be done. Everyone is fallible, and luring someone into making a mistake is a skill that even a Genin can pull off, if they knew how to do it. It's even easier on people who assume that they're better than you."

"So…?"

"I had a clone draw this up for you," Naruto said, slipping a small scroll from his jacket and holding it up. "It's best if you burn it immediately after you read it. If I tell you personally that your orders have changed, I'll use the top word on your scroll first. Otherwise, follow that scroll to the letter, even if I say something totally contradictory. Confusing the enemy is very helpful, and this way we have some tricks up our sleeves. Speaking of which, prepare a few of my seals. They pack a wallop, if you need one in a pinch."

Sasuke frowned, glancing over his shoulder to check where Sakura and Kakashi were before opening the scroll. When he finished it, he burned it with only a gesture. "Orders received."

Naruto smiled cheerily. "When Kakashi and Sakura return, we're going. I think it's about time to get this party started."

Sasuke paused, reaching for his bag. Naruto's orders were clear enough, and they placed him with Sakura right off the bat. If that were the case, he had something she could use, if things got messy. "If this doesn't work-"

"Yes, yes," Naruto replied airily. "Trust me."

"Akamaru?" Kiba groaned. It felt like someone had been hitting his head with a sledgehammer. It rang like a bell. Memories of the forest returned to him in a flash, and for a moment he shuddered. "Oh, crap, Shino…"

"He's… not here," Hinata said hesitantly, and Kiba's eyes snapped in the direction of her voice; she was a few feet away, sitting up against a small tree that served as a corner to the makeshift tent, the dark green fabric letting through only the smallest trickle of light. "Kiba, what's going on?" she said then, sounding a little panicked. "I tried to use my Byakugan, but... it's like I don't have any chakra... It's strange."

Kiba slowly managed to get himself upright as well, but it was difficult. He found himself bound in several places by extremely sturdy ropes, well outside the reach of his hands or teeth, and he too felt little to nothing in the way of chakra. Was it suppressed, somehow? He coughed against the dust, and he tried to ignore the pungent odours that dominated the air. "We were captured. They – they got him. They got Shino!"

"...Kiba…" Hinata said hesitantly. "S-Shino was hit by that round sword. He fell like he was... like he was dead."

Kiba looked away, grimacing. "What are they going to do with us, then? Save us for later?" Kiba asked in a high-pitched voice, wiggling over to the side of the tent, though if there were any guards, he would get nowhere wrapped up so tightly. "What about Akamaru? Sensei? Are we the only ones –"

"The tall one took sensei with him." Hinata said. "I d-didn't see Akamaru. Maybe he got away, or they ignored him…"

"I hope so," Kiba murmured, jerking at his bonds. "We need to get out of here, before we can go after them." He grimaced as he pulled until he could feel drops of blood escaping from under the sharp thread. "What the hell do they want with us? We're just Genin!"

"P-Probably ransom," Hinata said meekly. "It's the same as back then…"

"They'll try and sell us back to our families? Screw that!" Kiba snapped. "My family will hunt these guys down before they know it!"

"Maybe…" Hinata smiled slightly, and then raised her hand to her head gingerly. "I put my hitai-ate on my forehead when I woke up, but I don't know if any of them realized my family name…" She shook her head. "The man who attacked me must have known, but he left…"

Kiba took a long whiff of the air, but he couldn't make out anything beyond the heady scents inside the tent. These captors were well-prepared, it seemed. "Who caught us? Missing-Nin, right?"

"From Iwa," Hinata answered. "…S-Should we wait for help, or try to get out? I don't know if we can get free…?"

"No idea" Kiba admitted, then clenched his fists, which he could barely manage. "He killed Shino, man. I'm gonna rip the bastard to pieces!"

Hinata looked down sadly. "Without anyone else, we're not getting out of here at all… Every night they come and clean things up here, and bring food, but they do all that after using some sort of paralysis jutsu." He winced. "It's been three or four days already."

Kiba shivered. "We can break out when they come by! That's possible, right?"

Hinata closed her eyes, and didn't answer.

Sakura edged forward carefully, shoving aside a large branch that obstructed her path. She stayed near the trees so she would not easily be spotted; excellent chakra control or not, she had not really been trained in stealth techniques, so she needed all her concentration to avoid revealing her position. Chūnin were decent enough at stealth training, usually, so she had to be quiet and hope that her teammate would play his part.

Just as she was about to pass another obstruction in her way, she froze. There had been a soft sound, more like a whisper, and it had her senses on full alert. She pulled three shuriken from her pouch, just in case, gripping them tightly as she took another step.

"Gotcha, little sneak!" A blond shinobi exclaimed then as he dropped into view from above, evidently hiding in the leaves all along. He had a short sword clasped in one fist, a vicious-looking knife in the other, and his Hitai-ate proudly displayed his origin in Iwa. He slashed out with his longer blade, a vicious sideways attack aimed for Sakura's neck, hoping to end the fight in one stroke.

Sakura's fist shot out so quickly that the attacker barely had enough time to realize it was coming for him before it thudded against his breastbone. It knocked him over like he'd run into a wall, his sword easily deflected in the same moment by the metal segments on the back of her other glove. The shinobi wheezed as he stared in disbelief, holding a hand against his aching chest.

"You're pretty weak, Blondie," Sakura said jovially, cracking her knuckles enthusiastically. "I just got these gloves today, so I'd like to try them out. Sasuke-kun told me they would be awesome, but this is way better than my old ones! Want some more?"

The attacker flipped back to his feet, staring at his enemy with narrowed eyes. Sakura threw her shuriken in quick succession to keep him back as she grasped for a kunai, and for a moment she couldn't find a handle. Blondie's blade careened her way again, a lot more quickly than before. Just as she found her weapon, her defence became unnecessary.

From out of nowhere, Sasuke's foot appeared, making contact just under the enemy's temple, and sending Blondie careening to the side. He used the momentum from his hit to smash his other foot into his enemy's side as well, and the latter's scream was cut short, marking his success. Sasuke landed easily on his feet while his victim went to the ground once more, bruised and bleeding.

"More Konoha twerps?" Blondie spat as he got up once again, staring angrily at the new arrival, though his eyes seemed to wander a bit against his will.

Sasuke's Sharingan swirled as he stared down on the Missing-Nin dispassionately, wondering why someone like this, inferior to even Genin, thought he could be condescending at all. "You're supposed to be a Chūnin? You're pretty pathetic, aren't you?" He shook his head. "Your group took a few members of our village. You will return them."

"You don't know what you're talking about," the Chūnin replied through clenched teeth, steadying his sword with both hands as he aimed the point at Sasuke. "You're a bunch of measly Genin. Do you really think that a bit of beginner's luck is going to help you when I get serious?" He tapped his Iwa hitai-ate. "You're no match for me."

Sasuke snorted with contempt as he launched himself forward again; the world seemed to slow down around him on account of his Sharingan's perfect vision. It wasn't quite as effective as he had heard from the stories, since his dōjutsu was not fully developed yet, but he knew that in time he would become so good he could practically see the future. He could barely wait.

His punch slipped between the Missing-Nin's blade and his arm without much effort, impacting just below his rib cage, on the edge of the breastbone. It was a calculated target: If Sakura's hit had done as much damage as it appeared, it was his weakest point.

"Damn it!" Blondie cursed as he flinched back with a shuddering cry of pain, spitting a gob of blood and staring at it for a moment at it. He winced as he rubbed a broken rib. "What the hell?!"

"We might be Genin," Sasuke said slowly. "But even Genin are better than failures of Chūnin. You're pathetic."

Blondie didn't answer verbally; he just clasped his sword in his fist again, and charged. With internal damage already exacerbating any hit to his torso, it was the best bet for a fatal blow, and he already seemed to be avoiding that side of his body in favour of his stronger one. His short sword slashed out for Sasuke's neck, but the Genin easily ducked that attack, watching it slowly pass over his head.

Before the Missing-Nin could regain his balance from his attack, Sasuke struck. His foot rose up as if from nowhere, and he twisted into a spin, placing the full brunt of his attack firmly against Blondie's chin.

His head snapped back as he grunted in pain, and for a moment Blondie was airborne, his hands reflexively releasing their weapons and grasping at his neck in panic, as his breath was forcefully cut off. Blood arced into the air as Sasuke gracefully spun back into position, catching his enemy's sword by the hilt before it could hit the ground. It was pretty beaten-up, but made of high quality steel; he could use this.

The Chūnin rubbed his jaw as he painfully sat up, his breathing ragged. He stared up with blood bubbling around his mouth. "Impressive attack, but your dirty tricks won't work against my Ninjutsu!" He got up in one movement, forming a hand seal. Sasuke was annoyed to realize that he did not stay down, even from such solid hits. He was simply not strong enough to make those truly dangerous. Blondie smiled, exposing his bloodied teeth. "Your whole bastard clan will be dead after this, won't it? Oh, I know about you Uchiha bastards, believe me. Here, how about you try out a little Doton: -"

He froze in his tracks quite suddenly, his eyes widening dramatically as he choked. Blondie's hand grasped at the back of his head as if trying to reflexively block a blow, but he collapsed soundlessly before he could manage much more than a vague gesture.

Sakura stood behind him, grimace on her face and fist outstretched, the metal protector on her glove slick with blood. They were Sasuke's own training gloves: After his talk with Naruto, he had given them to Sakura, for a little additional protection. He had not expected her to take to the things like they were second nature, using the metal to block and attack before she could have ever learned that from a teacher.

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun on my watch, you bastard!" Sakura exclaimed as she rubbed her fist, and she kicked her victim in his ribs, which only caused him to let out a slight groan. She turned to Sasuke, her expression brightening. "Are you alright? I thought that since he was all focused on you..."

Sasuke nodded slowly, eyebrow raised. "It was… efficient. Well done."

She nodded happily at the compliment, glancing up. "I think I heard a pop, so Naruto must have hidden clones around here somewhere. I'm kind of curious why he didn't jump in to help…"

"I know," Sasuke morosely. "That was only one. There have to be two more around here, and we made plenty of noise to attract attention. We will have to fight again when they arrive."

"…Alright!" Sakura immediately agreed, smiling slightly. "We can take them on, can't we? This one was easy enough, after all." She raised her hands, showing off her gloves.

Sasuke snorted. "He was an amateur. If that's a Chūnin's level, we will all be promoted very quickly."

The two did not have to wait long for others to find them, and Sasuke prepared his techniques, just in case he needed to bust out his strongest ones. The forest was deep enough to hide movement, but that didn't help you with the sound, and that proved a distinct advantage. Both Sasuke and Sakura heard the tapping of feet on bark a few seconds before the enemies arrived, and they reacted.

Sasuke's hand shot out before the enemy had come fully into view, six shuriken whizzing out to meet them halfway before he even said a word. The first three were easily deflected by a long-haired Chūnin with a hateful expression, who was wearing a garish green outfit and some kind of yellow ribbons tied in his hair that twirled behind him. The other three throwing weapons barely missed the second arrival, a rotund late teen that looked quite like an Akimichi, if not for the excessively pale skin on his bald head, and huge black eyes. He seemed like a giant white bear, if anything.

"Amateurs," the first Chūnin said, looking down on Sasuke with disdain as he landed on the lowest branch of one of the nearest trees. "So, a bunch of weaklings took out Saita, huh? He must've been even worse than he seemed. He's a fool."

So, Blondie's name was Saita; he would have to remember that, just in case. Sasuke flung his hands back without responding to the monologue, ready to finish the fight quickly. For an instant it seemed like nothing happened, then the bigger man suddenly yelled out in pain, grasping at his shoulder; three shuriken had implanted themselves deep into Bear's upper back, with a third slicing right into the neck, just below his ear. Blood gushed as he ripped them out without looking twice, and his whole shoulder was coloured red within moments.

"What the hell?" Ribbons said, and then narrowed his eyes.

Stretched between the three shuriken were filamentous wire strings that glistened slightly in the light, nearly invisible unless you were looking for them. When Sasuke had first thrown them, they had seemingly missed their target, only to come back with a vengeance after a few seconds.

"Great shot, Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, stepping forward with some confidence; taking out the first one must have really helped. "The other one's mine!"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes as he snapped the wires taut again. The shuriken in Bear's hand were torn loose from his hand and returned to their sender, and he snatched them out of the air easily; with his Sharingan, he could predict their trajectory long before they arrived. "Tell me," he said after a moment. "Why did you kidnap the Konoha team, when you know that you're in the Land of Fire, and there's bound to be many more that will hunt you down for such a crime? It seems highly unproductive."

Ribbons shook his head as he glanced at his huge colleague who staunched his bleeding as best he could. "Our master knew that others would come, sure. He left us to deal with you at our leisure, though, since you are only some pathetic Genin." He snickered. "Two little newbies, all on their own? Konoha must surely be suffering from poor gains in recent years, if that is the best they can do. It's no surprise, really…"

Bear tended to his neck as he scowled. "This will probably scar. You'll get a few more permanent scars in return! You can admire 'em in your shallow tomb."

"You don't even know about our team, do you?" Sasuke wondered aloud. "Underestimating your enemy is a great way to get yourself killed. I would have guessed my eyes, or the image of the red and white fan would have tipped you off." He wiped the hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, we know about you. The less talented member of your damned family." Ribbons fingered the odd yellowish fabric tied through his hair idly. "Should we be scared, Uchiha?"

Before his victim could react, Sasuke's hands shot through seals at high speed as he inhaled deeply, readying his assault. At the last sign, he smirked, and then launched his attack. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The ball of concentrated fire travelled through the air towards Ribbons' position at high speed, and detonated on impact with a deafening roar; trees caught on fire under the onslaught, and smoke blasted everywhere. For a moment everything was hidden from view. Flames licked on the clothes of the dark-haired enemy shinobi in green as he landed softly on the bark of a neighbouring tree, and he quickly doused the fire.

"That was not bad," Ribbons commented lightly. "Not exactly a Genin technique, I'm impressed." He glanced over to the side, where Bear stood with his arms crossed, glaring darkly at Sasuke. "Not nearly good enough to hit us, of course, and now you've made someone mad…"

Sasuke panted slightly, and he realized that three or four of those attacks were enough to tire him out completely. He would need a pick-me-up pretty soon, or he would just collapse. "Sakura, did you bring military ration pills?" The girl nodded warily. "Good. Toss me one. I think I'll need it in a bit."

"As if your problem here is lack of chakra," the rotund Chūnin said mockingly. "Give me a break. You're so far out of your depth it's not even funny." He ran forward, a wide grin on his face. "I'll beat you up with my bare hands!"

For his size, Bear was fast. Sasuke evaded the first hay-maker, but the second punch glanced off his shoulder and rattled him to his bones; there was a lot of power behind each of those attacks, and he could not afford to block them.

Sakura's fist, tiny in comparison to Bear's, intercepted the next attack; the two fists stopped dead against each other. The enemy stared in confusion for a moment as Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Stay the hell away from him," she growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Her other fist slammed forward then, slamming right into the man's forearm with all her strength. There was a sound like a snapping branch.

Though Sasuke heard Bear's cry of pain, he had other things to deal with. Ribbons took the opportunity to press his own attack, flashing through hand signs. Sasuke only just interrupted him with a kick to his hands, but stumbled when he tried to follow up his sudden assault, his momentum broken. He could see how to stop the next attack, but his body refused to react as quickly as he would have liked. The enemy's fist came down forcefully, impacting on his neck. For a moment, intense pain shot through him, and then his muscles twitched and slackened in protest. Seeing through a vague haze, Sasuke realized he couldn't feel much of anything.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled as she turned on a dime, glaring. For a moment she looked so terrifying that even the two Missing-Nin took a step backwards. Then, she attacked.

Sakura's fist shot out to pierce the attacker's defences, to take him out in one blow. She aimed the metal spikes on her gloves directly at Ribbons' lower torso, the weakest part of his body. Her bladed fist tore through skin and tissue without effort, and lodged itself into bone, and a sickening smell spread outwards. Her victim gurgled in shock, once. Sakura barely twitched as she pulled back her hand in one movement, staring at her bloodied fist with mingled shock and satisfaction.

Sasuke coughed and groaned as he forced himself upright, feeling returning to his limbs as he gingerly felt his tortured neck. That was secondary for the moment, though. Sakura stood over him with a look of intense rage aimed at Ribbons, though her expression turned to one of concern as she glanced at him.

"W-What the hell?" Bear said, staring at his fellow Missing-Nin's quickly cooling corpse. Corpse, Sasuke realized. It had taken only one hit, one lethal blow, and it had been Sakura's. Suddenly, the comparison that Naruto had made between her and Tsunade of the Sannin did not seem as far-fetched.

That left only the one enemy, and he'd be damned if he did not get at least one shot in, here. His fireball wasn't fast enough to take out these Chūnin; unlike Taijutsu assaults, that attack needed preparation, and he could not properly predict where someone was going to be yet, not without fully developed eyes. His gaze slid down to his arm, to one alternative. He still had one of Naruto's seals attached to his forearm.

"Sakura, follow my lead," he said as he got up slowly, exaggerating his wounds as the enemy Chūnin seemed to gather himself again. She nodded warily, clearly eager to make sure he was alright. Thankfully, she focused on the more pressing issue.

Sasuke clasped his hand around his forearm as if in pain; there were already drops of blood on it, which made it more convincing. They would also be more than enough to activate Naruto's seal. He channelled chakra into it and lined up his arm.

Bear hesitated for a moment, glancing at his two downed allies with uncertainty. Sasuke fired. "Fūinjutsu: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The fireball was there nearly instantaneously, and Sasuke could only barely prevent himself from flinching back as white-hot heat scorched across his skin, even though it was gone in an instant. A sphere of white-hot fire blasted out instead of the usual reddish mass, and it screeched as the air around it ignited from the extreme heat. Sakura jumped back with a panicked yell as the scorching conflagration reached its wide-eyed target, impacting the soil at his feet and instantly liquefying it, before exploding.

The explosion blasted outwards with a thundering crash that buffeted the trees, and set out most of the fires it had begun, as the oxygen was sucked away: For a brief moment it seemed like the sun itself had been transported to the ground. Then, with a flicker, it was gone. There was only steam, as well as a sizable crater that still glowed brightly and was covered almost entirely in what seemed like glass. Sasuke rubbed his ears that had popped from the pressure wave.

"Damn you, Naruto. You didn't tell me…" he muttered in irritation as he quickly swallowed Sakura's ration pill, hoping that it would save him from the worst of exhaustion. That had not been just a quicker fireball. No, that had been something else entirely; he had to have overloaded his chakra to get that kind of result. This was bad news, when two or three normal fireballs were enough to send him to his knees.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked nervously. She looked down at her hand again, at the blood that dripped off, and she shivered in revulsion.

"That attack sapped me of half my chakra, at least..." Sasuke said as he winced. "I think I need to sit down for a minute... You look like you could use a breather as well." He dropped unceremoniously, glad to note that the medicine was working. "Naruto mentioned this could happen... sometimes it's like he can see the future." He shook his head.

"I -" Sakura grimaced. "I killed someone."

"So did I. I guess now we'll have something to brag about back home," Sasuke observed, disinterested. "Don't tell me you feel bad for that asshole Missing-Nin?"

Sakura looked troubled at that. She paused as she looked at him, and crinkled up her nose in distaste. Well, that was new.

"Hn?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

She tapped gingerly on her own shoulder, and stared at him. His gaze slid down to his own side, and he grimaced in distaste. Very carefully he lifted something from his shoulder and held it up, shaking his head.

"It seems that I was on target," was all he said as he dropped the detached finger to the ground. "Pity. If I'd kept the head intact, it would have netted me some bounty." He smirked. "I wonder what people will think when you come back with trophies."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, looking a little green.

"I'm sure Naruto has some seals you can use," Sasuke observed easily. "He brought plenty of them, after all."

Naruto smiled knowingly as he approached the location of three or four shinobi that seemed to be grouped together around a little campsite. He walked carefully across high branches while keeping absolutely quiet, a skill that had taken him years to perfect, clumsy as he was. Thankfully, that particular technique was more about remembering to pay attention than fantastic physical skills, even if he wasn't back to his old levels by a long shot.

Some of his clones had just popped, informing him of Sasuke and Sakura's status, and their successful take-down of three Chūnin, two of which were quite permanently removed from the equation. He was honestly quite proud, considering the last time around, they had run into quite a bit of trouble against the 'Demon Brothers' on the way to Wave. Then again, those had not even known the basics of teamwork at all.

Both of them, it seemed, had ended up killing one of the enemies. It was cruel, really: He was fairly sure that neither had killed anyone before, and now they each had a body count already. Still, they were shinobi, and it was going to happen one way or another. Kakashi might have been the one to take out Zabuza and Haku on their mission to Wave, but it could as well have been any of them. This was not that different, except the Missing-Nin were not really the type to have good reasons for their activities. He knew this type, too; glory hounds and thrill seekers, betraying their country to feel more powerful than those who stayed in the system. He felt no remorse over the deaths of a bunch of blow-hards.

His own first kill still weighed heavily on his mind, but Naruto tried not to think about it too much, since it was definitely different than these fools. He had been older than Sakura and Sasuke were now, but that had more to do with his opponents than with him not trying hard enough. He had constantly been fighting enemies that were a lot stronger than him, and they had a tendency to get away and lick their wounds. No, the first real kill he had made, and one that he hoped could be prevented outright, had been that of his very own teammate. Sasuke.

The Fourth Shinobi World War had been a hard fought victory, and looking back on it did not make things any rosier than they had seemed at the time. Somewhere in that drawn-out conflict, things had gone south for him. He and Octopops had been there, and Kakashi and Gai-sensei, facing off against the worst forces that the enemy could summon. Then... things got complicated. Tobi had been there, behind that infernal mask of his, and Uchiha Madara. Even Orochimaru had made a reappearance, someone he was certain had died ages ago. Resurrected people, unfortunately, seemed to be the rule rather than the exception.

In the end, when all was said and done, there was only a pile of corpses left that the five nations had to clean up. Sasuke had been among them. Perhaps there, with the betrayal of his own promise to bring back his teammate, history had taken the negative path. Perhaps that was where he himself had lost his way. It had taken many more years for him to acknowledge his failure, and more still to find a way around it. He did not know if it could be considered cowardice, to want to change your own choices after the fact; especially if you had a way to do it.

He shook his head forcefully, shaking off the image of his friend, dying, most of his chest ripped to shreds by the vicious winds of his most advanced Rasengan attack. Sasuke was different in this time. Already, Naruto could see that his own strength and positive words had prevented the antagonistic relationship they had shared before, in favour of one that was more wary and respectful than anything. Though he had planned for a better team, hoped that it would all work out, it had not been until Sasuke's request for help came from his own lips that Naruto believed it fully. For all his screw-ups, some things had gone right.

Sasuke saw some of the advantages of his team, well before the Chūnin Exams, before Orochimaru got his filthy hands on him and twisted everything into hatred. This was the time when his allegiance was undecided, when his loyalty to Konoha was strongest. Perhaps that alone could be a tipping point, so that even the darker revelations of the village could not turn him entirely away.

Doubtlessly the Uchiha even saw some of Sakura's promise now, after the beat-down she had just delivered right in front of him. Even Naruto was surprised about the efficiency, after only a few weeks of Taijutsu training: She was a natural. This time, he would make sure that she, too, would develop it further. If there was another war, then all three of them would be on the front line, and on the same side.

Clasping two kunai in his hands, Naruto descended from the trees, staying behind the leaves at all times as he glanced up momentarily; he did not need to see him to know that his sensei was watching, waiting. Far below, he could make out crude tents made out of rough green material, kept upright with thin wires. For a split second, he called upon the tiniest bit of natural chakra. It was a crude method of sensing others, but it worked: there was not nearly enough to get him in danger of actually turning to stone, one of the nastier risks of manipulating that chakra, but he could use it to get a general idea of how many were nearby; more like a sonar pulse, in a way.

He sensed four chakra signatures, all human. No Akamaru, then, but there was a pretty good shot some of the others were Team 8. He crossed his fingers and four more clones appeared silently around him, all of them wearing dark green and with their hair covered, much like his own Henge. With a gesture, they dropped.

The four shinobi fell soundlessly from the sky, landing almost effortlessly in the middle of the Missing-nin encampment with their weapons raised. It took a split second for two enemy Chūnin to react to the new arrivals, and that was far too long.

"Enemy-!" one managed to force out, before a kunai lodged itself in his oesophagus with a gruesome sound, and a second sliced through his gut in a vicious cutting motion. He did not have time to say anything more, as his eyes rolled up, and a shuddering last breath forced itself past his fatal wound. The clone let him fall, removing his knives with a grim expression.

The second Missing-Nin had managed to deflect the first kunai, barely, by raising his arm to intercept the blow, and leaving the second kunai to scratch sharply against body-armour that was hidden well under his baggy clothing. He stared in shock for a moment as two more copies of Naruto joined the fight, with a fifth dropping from above; the real one.

"Surrender," Naruto commanded sharply. "You're outnumbered, and outmatched. You'll tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you live. You don't want to test my patience, either."

The Missing-Nin faltered momentarily, setting a step back. "Who the hell are you? What-?"

"I am a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf," Naruto said, stepping forward with authority; he knew that even a little intimidation could go a long way. "You and your allies are responsible for kidnapping some of my friends. If you surrender, you will be brought to the village to be tried for your crimes. Otherwise, you will simply die here."

"Konoha already reached us?" The guard shook his head. "Impossible! We intercepted the team's messages! How...?"

Naruto snapped forward sharply, grasping the man by his neck and slamming him into the nearest tree with enough force to call forth a pained half-scream on his victim's part. Wires severed as Naruto shoved him down the tree and disarmed him. As a result, the nearest tent collapsed in on itself. There was a sound from inside. It was a momentary yelp that was quickly stifled. Naruto recognized the sound immediately, though; he had heard it often enough in academy training.

"Kiba? Is that you in there? Who is with you?"

"...N-Naruto?" Hinata answered, though her voice sounded muffled.

"The Dead Last's come to rescue us... How am I ever going to live this down?" Kiba sounded relieved despite his words. Two of Naruto's clones moved without requiring instructions, slicing open the tent the rest of the way.

"So, you attempted to stop communication with Konoha. Probably so that your activities here would not be noticed, hmmm? Unfortunately, you missed something. You might have stopped messenger birds, but did you also stop every insect?"

The guard stared in confusion.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "You were aware that there's an Aburame on this team, right?" He cocked his head to the side as he smiled. "Clearly, you were ill-informed about their specialty. What do you know? A Missing-Nin that didn't do his research. You should have found a better boss; he couldn't even finish off his enemies properly."

Hinata and Kiba appeared from the tent, stumbling awkwardly into the light; both were pale and panting, clearly underfed and dehydrated, with their chakra supplies running dangerously low as well. That was probably intentional; after sapping their chakra dry, they were allowed no opportunity to recharge, so they were easier to keep. He suspected there were a couple seals on the tent material as well, though he would have to check more thoroughly. Hinata's arm hung by her side as if useless, and Naruto remembered how she had hurt it from Shino's memory. Days of captivity certainly hadn't helped her recovery.

"Shino is alive. My team found him where he fell," Naruto said as he looked at them; he was sure that would be the first thing they wanted to know. Hinata gasped and Kiba stared at him with wide eyes, and then nodded slowly, a smile working its way onto his face. Naruto shrugged nervously. "He was in decent condition when I last saw him, but utterly spent, like you two. It might be a while before he is back on his feet." He frowned. "I didn't sense anyone else near here. Where is Kurenai-sensei?"

"Ah... They took her away, Naruto-kun..." Hinata shuddered as she grasped her arm. "The tall man took her west when we arrived. I knew because of where the sun set... I don't know where we are, though..."

"Westwards," Naruto murmured, narrowing his eyes. "That's towards the Land of Rain. Amegakure is not a place that she wants to be right now."

Amegakure. Naruto knew what could be found there, in these days; Nagato and Konan, and the six Paths of Pain. Akatsuki's home territory, in a sense, and undoubtedly a safe haven for this Muneyoshi. Jiraiya had taken him out in another life, but here he was, retreating to safe territory with a hostage. Judging from the condition of Hinata and Kiba, it had been days. She would already have been taken to enemy territory. Still, there was a chance.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He said as he glanced up; he knew that his teacher could hear him. "I know the direction that Kurenai-sensei was taken. We'll have to transport Hinata-chan and Kiba to Shino, but if we want to have a shot of rescuing everyone..." He shook his head. "Stay out of sight, and follow me. My clones can take care of this. Sakura and Sasuke are already heading towards us as we speak."

"...That's fine." Kakashi said as he suddenly appeared from above. "What about that guy?"

Naruto looked at the now unconscious enemy shinobi; one of his clones had knocked him out. "Sakura and Sasuke tied up their survivor; I guess we'll do the same. Ibiki will probably appreciate some details, anyway. If I'm right, then he'll be very interested."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but he did not voice any disagreement. Naruto knew his teacher probably had plenty of misgivings about what he was doing, but that was something to worry about another time. Right now, he had a mission to complete, and hopefully he could succeed in that, at least.

Only a few hours later, Naruto began to doubt if his plans were going to work out. Yes, all the Genin were accounted for, but now what? Kurenai had a future, and a pretty good one; this was most definitely not something that happened in his previous life, and he would not let her die, not if he could help it. .

He could still remember Kurenai and Asuma, before everything went downhill. That relationship, if it even existed yet at this point, was something he very much wanted to keep intact. If these Missing-Nin had taken her across the border and into Ame, then there were few things he could do. Nagato was there, in his persona of 'Pain', and he would doubtlessly search for her knowledge through his nastier techniques. Skills that would inevitably end in her death.

A meeting with Nagato was one confrontation he hoped to avoid for a while longer. Much like Itachi, he was not sure how he could approach such a person and get through to them. Even with the truth, he doubted that either would take him half as seriously as they should. With Nagato, it would be a miracle if he was even allowed to get close; with all those crossing fields of view through his Paths, even Naruto's best stealth tactics would be ineffectual. Perhaps he could defeat one or two of those, if he got lucky, but Naruto knew he would probably end up like Pervy Sage.

That left him with precious few options, should Kurenai have been taken across the border. He could send a mass of clones to Ame, and hope they could negotiate for Kurenai's release. Unfortunately, he did not have much to trade with for a hostage. Information, maybe, but what did he have that Nagato would want to know? There was one thing, which immediately occurred to him.

"Tobi's a fake," he said to himself in realization. He could tell them that. He could tell Nagato and Konan about the fake Uchiha Madara's actions, about how Nagato had received the Rinnegan, about the true culprits behind Yahiko's death. He could even tell them about their family connection, through the Uzumaki clan.

"What did you say?"

Naruto looked to Sasuke, who looked at him with sharp eyes. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled at the Uchiha. "Just thinking."

"You?" Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, funny." He frowned as he looked at the billowing clouds in the distance, the perpetually terribly weather that seemed to cover all of Rain. "We're getting too close to the border," he said worriedly as he glanced to his teammates. "We can't just cross the border here. Ame's not an ally, and I've reason to believe they might be outright enemies if we trespassed into their country."

"What do we do, then?" Sakura questioned, looking at Naruto nervously. He ignored the obvious sign that she was not sure what to make of him; after the little spectacle with the fox, he was not too surprised.

"There's something that doesn't make sense, here," Naruto said. "The enemy took Kurenai, but not Hinata or Kiba? Hinata's a Hyūga of the Main Branch, which basically makes her a prize for Missing-Nin. Kiba's part of a clan as well, and the Inuzuka would do a lot to get one of their own back safely. Kurenai, well, she's a recent Jōnin, and not from a particularly famous family. Why her?"

"...What are you saying?"

"This was intentional," Naruto hypothesized. "The attack on Team 8 was about getting Kurenai. The rest wasn't as important as that. If she's not remarkably strong or famous, why would that be?"

"Information," Sasuke suggested.

"Right. Kurenai-sensei might know about Konoha's defences, and other important information that Chūnin wouldn't know. Why would a foreign nation want information on Konoha's defences, if not for bad purposes?" He frowned. "These Missing-Nin are planning something, and I'm out of the loop. With Sand and Sound in conflict, perhaps Rain thinks it can take advantage of the gap."

"Rain is too weak to take on Konoha," Sasuke said dismissively. "They are a small village, and it has been years since they were involved in any conflicts. They can't harm us."

"On its own, maybe not," Naruto agreed, though he had his doubts. "But how do we know they're alone? All these Missing-Nin are from Iwa. Is that a coincidence?"

"Iwa does have a grudge to settle," Sasuke murmured. "The Third Shinobi World War, for one. But it's been relatively peaceful for years."

Naruto nodded. "That was when Suna had our back. With their forces busy, Iwa might be taking a chance to lash out against our under-protected borders. To do more, though, they need to know the defences of the village itself. That's why they've been lurking around here, bothering small villages in the guise of bandits. They were angling for teams to get sent this way."

"It's a trap," Sakura breathed. "A trap for us, too!"

"Well-reasoned," A voice said jovially, and Naruto froze, his eyes snapping up immediately. He hadn't sensed anything. None of his clones had warned him of a new arrival, or even his senses. This was no Chūnin.

It was the person they had been tracking: Muneyoshi, the Jōnin Missing-Nin that had attacked Team 8. He walked easily down the side of the tree, his arms crossed and a haughty expression on his face. Disturbingly enough, he was not alone. Behind him and around him, like a small army, were over a dozen Shadow Clones: Naruto's Shadow Clones.

"What the hell...?"

"...What did you do, Dead Last?" Sasuke asked warily.

Each of the clones looked down at their original with a vague half-smile. All of their eyes were completely different from how they were supposed to be: For a crazy moment, Naruto thought they had the Sharingan. No, the pupils were merely blood-red, with the sclera almost black. Naruto recognized those eyes. They were the same as he had once seen at the Waterfall of Truth, when he was out to seek for control of the Kyūbi's chakra. The eyes of his darker side.

"Crap," Naruto breathed. "Mutiny."

"Well, Naruto-kun," Muneyoshi said with a strange smile. "It's nice to see you again. It seems that I will have to do the job myself, this time."

For a split second he feared that someone had followed him back, that someone knew. He ignored the chill that ran down his back as he considered alternatives. His heart raced as he stared at the Akatsuki member keeping sway over a dozen of his clones. It was not hard to make the connection when he realized what that control implied. The one clone that had so suddenly walked into Hidan's line of fire, that had brought a vial of his blood to the one person who could abuse it - he had been under this man's control.

"You." He snarled. Hidan might not have been a part of Akatsuki, but that had clearly not meant there were none of them around. "You tried to kill me!"

"Oh, someone such as you is not so easily murdered. We both know that," Muneyoshi said. He smiled as he looked at the clones behind him, and gestured lazily. "He's getting boring, don't you think? Please take him down for me, would you? Kill the others, they're a nuisance."

"Yes, Boss!" voices called from all around.