Hello everybody, and welcome back to chapter forty-two, of the Winds of Change! Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, glad you're enjoying it! I did note that perhaps, considering the circumstances, everybody was taking this a little bit too calmly. Hopefully this has been fully addressed in this chapter. That being said, there might be some things in this chapter that people might get annoyed by, or might find confusing, which I will discuss in the authors note at the bottom. So, without further ado, I present to you chapter 42, of the Winds of Change.

Chapter 42:

"Kurenai-sensei?"

The raven haired Jōnin turned to look at the girl that had called to her. She stood up from her seated position on the cool grass, stretching slightly. "Coming." She answered.

As she walked over to Tenten, she examined the girl. Sweat soaked her brow, chocolate eyes coated with curiosity and sadness...what an odd combination. Her clothes were tattered and torn, bruises littering her arms. But, she was alive. That's what mattered. Kurenai gave the girl a soft smile as she sat down next to her.

"Is anything the matter, Tenten?"

The brunette didn't answer for a while, choosing instead to stare out into the nights sky. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." She turned her wine red eyes away from the dark sky towards the girl beside her. "You can ask me anything you want."

Tenten turned to the older woman and smiled sheepishly. "Ugh... well, I was just wonderin'... Why exactly did Kakashi-sensei make you stay here with us?"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "You know why. We needed someone to watch the injured. And I'm the best one for the job"

"Was that the only reason?"

Kurenai had to hand it to the girl in front of her, she was rather perceptive. "Tell you what," she began. "I'll tell you about myself, if you tell me about yourself."

"What does talking about yourself have to do with Kakashi-sensei not allowing you to go with them?"

Okay, maybe not that perceptive.

"It has quite a lot. But, please, Tenten, I know so very little about you. Would you care to share."

The Jōnin's smile was warm and kind, and despite the ache in her bones, Tenten found the corners of her lips moving upright, cheeks tinged in a blush. "There's not really much to tell. I'm an only child, I'm an orphan, although I was adopted by a blacksmith named Masahiro when I was eight, and I've lived with him ever since. That's all there is to it." She shrugged. "Oh, and my arm hurts like a bitch."

"Don't cuss." Kurenai chided gently. "And there must be more to you than that? You can't just define yourself based on your past."

"I like pointy things?"

Kurenai smiled. Tenten truly was an interesting girl, although a lot of people didn't see it. She seemed average in every aspect. She wasn't as flamboyant as Ino, or as shy as Hinata, or as rambunctious as Sakura. But, she possessed guts. And a lot of them. She would need to work on getting her to open up more.

A thought punctuated her head, Asuma's father, The Third Hokage, sitting at his desk.

"The kunoichi of this generation are becoming detached." Hiruzen's voice was hoarse and grandfatherly, pipe placed in the corner of his mouth. "They're obsessing far more on individuality and hormones."

"Lord Hokage, are you saying we should be curbing individuality, because I-"

The old man laughed, glowing warmth in his brown eyes. "Not at all Kurenai, not at all. However, it's become apparent that kunoichi of this generation tend to argue and bicker amongst themselves. Especially over boys. I'm asking you to help stop that." He reached under his desk, pulling out a small folder. "Here's a list of kunoichi genin I want you to 'mentor', as it were. Find out what problems they have, and try and get them to interact with each other. Is that all right?"

Kurenai nodded, flicking through the list. She closed it, and bowed deeply. "Of course Lord Hokage."

"Wonderful." There was a twinkle in the old man's eye. "But, that is not the only reason I called you here. Come, we have some forms to go through-"

"You mean they came through!?" Kurenai exclaimed, eyes shining. She quickly found her manners, coughing awkwardly and bowing once more. "Forgive, Lord Hokage, I forgot my place."

Hiruzen laughed heartily. "Oh my, you remind me so much of my Biwako. So polite, and then so loud. Come, come, let us go through these." He gestured towards them once more, and Kurenai quickly slipped into a nearby seat as the aged man began to speak.

She couldn't help the grin that swarmed over her face, wine red eyes twinkling with unsuppressed ecstasy. When she got back... Everything would be great. She would finally have what she'd always dreamed of. A-

"Kurenai-sensei?" Tenten's voice snapped the Jōnin out of her daydreaming.

"Sorry Tenten...anyway, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I'm Kurenai Yuhi, and..."

Throughout the long (and boring) story of Kurenai's life that she went through with excruciating detail, the warm, excited smile, Tenten noted, never slipped from her softened features.

And Raion thought it looked huge from far away, but damn, this tree was big. He let out a low whistle, squinting his eyes as he looked upwards. He was pretty sure this was the tallest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Wow." Kataki stated quietly. "That's... something else. How tall do you think it is?"

"I dunno..." The brunette trailed off. "But I can't see the top of it, anyway. So, it must be really, really tall."

"Didn't sensei say that the headsets only just about reached from top to bottom in terms of radius?" Gurei questioned. "If so, then it's got to be at least one hundred and fifty metres tall. Give or take."

"That huge? Fucking hell." Kura crossed her arms over her chest. "Biggest piece of wood I've ever seen."

Kataki snorted, and began to speak to Kura, as Raion's mind began to wander.

He was seated with the rest of his group, as Itachi-sensei and the other Leaf Jōnin discussed something. They were being forced to wait. Raion flexed his hands.

He didn't want to wait. Waiting was pointless, they'd done enough of it already. They'd been sitting around for the past ten minutes, and enough was enough. They had things to do, people to smash, and girls to save. Just like those adventure stories, he realized, that his mother used to tell him.

The feeling of the cold night air was replaced with warmth, as he snuggled up under the covers of his bed, mother smiling softly down at him. She'd read him all the greats, from Peter Pan, to-

Wait. What was Peter Pan? He couldn't... it didn't make sense. What the hell was Peter Pan? He hadn't heard of it before, and yet... it was stuck firmly in his brain, lodged so deeply no amount of pulling and tugging would get it out. And, the woman... she wasn't his mother. He couldn't remember his mother, but he was sure it wasn't her. She was so like him... but it wasn't her. She may have had dark brown eyes, tanned skin, and a warm smile. But he didn't know who she was! She was an imposter in his own mind, a figment of his imagination. But it felt so real.

He gripped at his head, face contorting into unnatural pain. Something was searing in his head, someone was driving red hot pokers over and over and over again into his brain, scorching his skin. He couldn't take it, he couldn't-

The pain was numbed a little bit as Gurei's hands were placed on the sides of his temples. He could feel the soft, colder chakra pushing back the hard and fiery agony that he moved within his mindscape. After a few moments, it was gone, and he could think.

"Look at me." Gurei commanded, lifting up Raion's head by his chin. He examined him curiously for a moment. "No signs of a concussion. Do you know what happened? What was wrong with your head?"

He recalled something like this before. His mother had taken him in the car to the hospital because of horrible headaches, and-

Raion's blood froze. What, the fuck, was a car? The word was foreign and tasted odd in his head, his brain desperate to regurgitate it back into whence it came. Was it a metal carriage? It must've been. A carriage made of steel and metal, ready to charge into battle-

"Raion." Gurei stated for the third time. The brunette's eyes snapped back into focus, before he slowly smiled.

"Sorry, just a bit of a headache." He apologized. "Won't happen again."

"...I see." Gurei's debilitating and searching stare said everything that needed to be said. "Well, call if you feel it again. It could be the signs of something worse."

Raion nodded wordlessly, placing a strained grin on his face. "Of course, don't worry about me Doc, I'm fitter than an Olympic Sprinter."

Gurei looked at him strangely for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders, and walking back to his seated position.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Raion's grin turned into a fierce scowl. What, the fuck, was wrong with him?

"Attention."

All eyes were on Itachi Uchiha, stood forefront and centre, posture astute and focused. "We need to talk. It's important that I have your utmost attention, unlike I did when we were talking last." The Uchiha's glare flickered to Neji and Kiba, who both stiffened slightly. "Is that clear?"

They all nodded.

Kakashi swallowed slightly, placing Icha Icha back in his pocket. Here it came. The real briefing. The briefing they couldn't say in front of the injured/

"What do you all view yourselves as?" Itachi questioned.

There was a tense silence.

"That was not rhetorical."

"Oh. Well, we're shinobi." Shino stated. There were murmurs from among the group.

"We're warriors." Sasuke said, not bothering to raise his head up to glare at his older brother.

"We're guardians." Neji admitted. "To protect the weak, right?"

"You would all be correct. You're shinobi, warriors and guardians. But, do you know what else you are? We're puppets, on a string."

"No we're not!" Naruto yelled loudly, blue eyes coated in thick anger. "We're people too! Shinobi are not tools to be used and abused!"

"Of course not. People are not meant to be used and abused. The fact remains, however, that we're still bound as soldiers. You're Konoha's Military Force, and you carry out orders, no matter what the cost. Do you all understand?"

"Oi, we're good people, we don't have to carry out orders y'know!"

"Quiet Naruto." Sasuke sighed, rubbing his brow. "Just shut your fucking mouth, and listen to him. The sooner he stops talking, the sooner we can get back to finding Sakura."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. Sasuke was really wound up about something. His brother? Huh.

"While my little brother's words are crass, he speaks the truth. This can't take long."

Itachi slowly moved his eyes over the group in front of him, the corners of his mouth curling downwards slightly. "Do you know what the survival rate for this mission was when you first signed on?"

They didn't answer.

"Thirty percent. There was a thirty percent chance you would live through this. Now, do you know what the survival rate for this mission is now?"

Again, no answer, just pairs of eyes staring back at him.

"Three percent. Now, there is just a three percent chance that, individually, you'll make it back alive. Collectively." He paused for a moment. "Someone is going to die today."

The group stiffened, eyes widening.

"W-what?" Hinata asked, her voice high and full of fear.

"Someone will die here today. The statistics are very rarely wrong. One of you may not be leaving this place alive. Your body may litter the floor, your throat cut, your bones broken."

"D-don't be silly, sensei." Raion spoke shakily, the cold aura that had swept over the group shaking them to the core. "I mean, w-we're good, right? We've got a better chance of-"

"You have a two percent chance." Itachi's voice was impassive, his eyes giving nothing away as he turned on Raion. "My team has even lower of a chance, because they're connected to myself. Prime targets."

"Your sensei's here would lie to you. They would tell you that everything was going to be fine, and that they'd protect you. I don't think you all get the gravity of this situation fully."

Kakashi couldn't will himself to say anything. The other Jōnin couldn't either, he realized. They were just bystanders now. Itachi was in control of this operation. Just as he had planned.

The Copy Ninja was now regretting this deal more and more.

"We're going after a man that killed hundreds. A man that has experimented on shinobi and civilian's alike. One of the Legendary Sannin. Orochimaru. The man that killed your Third Hokage. And with him, up there, is another S Rank Missing Ninja. Kisame Hoshigaki. A former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of The Mist. And, a member of the Akatsuki. And he has other Akatsuki members, including Hyouden Hyūga and Garou Inuzuka."

"What do you know about them?" Kiba snarled.

Itachi's coal eyes shut him firmly up. "Do not interrupt. And yes, they were there at the time of my membership within the Akatsuki. I did not interact with them, however. All of these highly trained ninja are standing in the way of our objective. Killing Orochimaru and Kisame Hoshigaki."

"What about Sakura!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"She's most likely dead."

"...what?"

Sasuke and Naruto's voices melded together into perfect anger. "What did you just say?" Naruto was baring his teeth, eyes wild. "She's not dead!"

"You truly believe that? Naruto, I've heard many things about you." The blonde stiffened. Did he know... about the Kyuubi? Itachi's eyes told him the whole story. He totally knew. "And I would've thought you would've been a tad bit nicer."

"H-hey." Hinata said softly. Itachi turned his gaze onto her.

"Yes?"

She faltered. "I-I-"

"Leave her alone, Itachi." Sasuke snarled. "Sakura is not dead. Say that one more time, and I'll-"

"Do what? Attack your current team leader? That's munity, little brother. And mutiny would result in your death. And we need all the manpower we can get."

"That's enough Itachi." Kakashi stated, stepping forward. "You've gone too far."

"Have I? Interesting. I would've thought your genin would be more accustomed to loss, Kakashi. Kataki." The Uchiha barked. "What was the possibility of Tali being killed before we could reach her."

"Seventy-seven percent." Kataki stated quickly.

"And what would you have done if that would've happened?"

The blood user looked apprehensive for a moment, before he spoke. "I would've lived with it."

"Because you know what you are?"

"Yes."

"And what are you al?."

"Shinobi, sensei. And shinobi are expected to lose comrades."

Itachi nodded. "Very good. Team Seven, there is a high probability that Sakura is dead. If she is not, she is most likely in a coma. A coma she may never wake up from. You should learn to accept what might happen. You may be handing Sakura Haruno's body over to her parents when you return. Can you deal with that?"

Naruto and Sasuke opened and closed their mouths wordlessly.

"No, you can't. I'm sorry, but you're going to learn to have to."

Itachi let out a sigh, as he swept his darkened marble eyes over the group of scared faces. "Shinobi are bred for war. And there are always casualties in war."

The Uchiha turned to his fellow Jōnin nodded to them. "We need to begin formation planning."

He could feel Shizune's glare burning into the back of his head as he turned around to face the genin.

"When this night is over, one of us will not be seeing the dawn."

"Is everybody ready?"

Sasuke and Naruto both nodded, eyes fixated on the tree in front of them. Shizune frowned softly, but also nodded in reply. Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought.

Itachi's plan was sound, and it worked well... for ANBU. Which most of them weren't. They were just genin. Impressive genin, but still, just genin.

The plan was simple enough. They would all split into four groups, both led by a Jōnin or respectable leader. The groups would fan out in opposite directions, but form up in a semicircle, far enough away to avoid being all cornered, but close enough that one group could see another at all times. The group in the middle would go ahead first, while the two groups at the left and right would follow soon after. The fourth and final group would then follow behind the group in the middle.

Kakashi would lead Naruto and Sasuke on the right side. By Sasuke's glare, Kakashi realized, he wasn't too keen on the idea.

He'd need to get over it.

Shizune was leading Hinata, Kiba and Shino and would be on the left, Hinata using her Byakugan to scout out the area. Kakashi snorted, as he remembered Kiba's rage at being put on the sidelines.

Itachi was right, they really didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Team Itachi would go in the middle, where the likelihood of an attack was the strongest.

He recalled that the blood user, Kataki, hadn't been too pleased with the appointment of Kura as the leader. Itachi had quickly ended the protest, however. He was far more heavy-handed than he remembered. He had always been quiet, but never forceful. He'd truly changed.

Kakashi shook the thoughts out of his head as he went over the final parts of the strategy. Gai and Neji would bring up the rear, able to provide support to whichever group needed it the most.

And they were to keep in radio contact at all times. Kakashi had made sure to hammer home that point, with at least one member of each group able to have radio contact at a moments notice. That didn't happen last time, and now they were down three members.

He nodded. That was everything, more or less.

"All right, here's the deal." Kakashi turned to his two genin. "We're most probably going to be facing the biggest threat besides the middle group. If we are engaged by a member of the Akatsuki or any Sound Ninja, both of you need to retreat and fall back to one of the other groups, and let me fend them off."

"Wait, we can fight!" Naruto yelled. "I'm getting tired of being cut off and ignored by that weasel bastard, so you're going to listen-"

"He's right Naruto." Sasuke's eyes were hard as marble. "Understood, sensei." He had sneered the last word.

Kakashi swallowed. Damn it, damn it all.

"Report in."

Itachi's voice jolted the Copy Ninja. Sighing, he pressed the small button on his headset. "Kakashi here. Ready to go."

"Sasuke here." The Uchiha snarled. "Ready and waiting, big brother!"

"Sasuke." Kakashi frowned. "That's enough. Start acting professional. Or, you can go and be babysat by Kurenai-sensei."

"Stop fighting!" Naruto exclaimed. "I need to rip that bastard Mizuki in half and we need to find Sakura. The weasley bastard maybe a giant dick, but we need to hurry this up and find her soon!" The blonde was bouncing on his heels in impatience. "So, shut up! Both of you!"

Sasuke shot his comrade a fearsome glare, and began muttering under his breath.

"Gurei here. Waiting on your orders, sensei."

"Yosh! Gai here, ready to overcome the odds with our powers of youth!"

Gai's voice was as loud and as jubilant as ever. Kakashi gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"...Neji reporting in." The Hyūga sighed.

"Shizune speaking." The medical ninja said. "Ready and waiting."

"Shino here." The Aburame intoned. "Awaiting orders."

"Good, everyone is here. Wait thirty seconds after commencing the movement to follow after me, Teams One and Two. Team Three, follow a minute after me. We all ready?"

A collective group of voices all responded affirmatively. "Let's move out."

Kakashi turned his head to the side, the faint outlines of Team Itachi beginning their ascent up the monolithic tree.

After about twenty seconds, he turned back towards his genin. Naruto looked determined, cerulean eyes dark with confidence and rage. Sasuke's mouth was curled into a frown, obsidian eyes pitch black.

Kakashi turned his lone grey eye back towards the tree, brows furrowed in worry, fabric of his masked pulled down into a concerned scowl.

Itachi was right. One of them wouldn't live to see through the night.

Their feet roughly pounded against the bark, creating indentations and cracks. Their breathing was even, but focused, arms billowing out behind their backs. Against the darkened sky, they were nothing more than moving shadows, the light of the moon only showing their outlines briefly, before even that was lost to the darkness.

They hadn't reached the branches yet. Kakashi wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

For the past ten minutes, they had simply been running. No altercations, and no distractions. Just the rush of air slamming onto their faces, and the feeling of being constantly pulled down by. And the occasional check in, of course. Nobody else had experience anything either, within his knowledge. Well, at least, not yet, anyway.

Kakashi frowned as he continued forward, the rhythmic thud of boot on bark mixing in with the whistling in his ears.

Sakura was gone. The cynical part of his mind repeated it over and over again. Of course she was. She'd been swallowed up by the tree, crushed by the roots, unable to control her own power. Her magnificent power.

It truly was something else, the Kekkei Genkai so strong within her that she had the ability to create this monolith. If circumstances were different, Kakashi would've loved to examine it more closely. But they had a mission to accomplish. And, he would never be able to ask Sakura how she did it. Because she was-

No. No. No, no, no. No, she wasn't. He wouldn't allow it. He refused to allow it. Not another teammate!

He took in deep breaths, calming himself down in the process. She... would make it. She was alive and well. He knew this, deep down in his chest. She was alive, and she would come back, and make Team Seven whole again.

Lost in his ponderings, he only just noticed a shift of movement up ahead. "Move!" He managed to exclaim, as a giant root exploded from the bark in front of them, charging forward. The Copy-Ninja had just managed to dodge, rolling across the trunk, as he righted himself. Sasuke and Naruto seemed to have done the same, bits of wood sticking to their clothes as they stood up.

"We need to keep moving!" Kakashi yelled, before he hammered down on the speak button on his headset. "We've been compromised!"

The reply was quick and fluid. "Itachi here, so have we. What's your status?"

"Uninjured, we were attacked by a root." He continued running, Sasuke and Naruto now at his sides.

"We're currently under assault as well-" Itachi paused, the sound of a fist smashing against something hard echoing in his ears. "-from multiple humanoids made of wood."

"What?" Kakashi asked, eyes widening. "Wood Clones?"

"Precisely-"

"Neji here." The Hyūga's voice was strained, Gai's exuberant battle cries dominating the background noise. "We're under attack by multiple wooden men. We remain uninjured, for now, but they keep coming."

"Understood. Gurei!" Itachi barked towards his student. "Find out what's happening with Tali!"

After a brief moment's pause, he continued. "Shizune, are you there?"

"Affirmative." She bit out. "Patching a minor injury. Nothing serious, we were attacked by humanoids of some kind. We managed to fight them off. Their behaviour was odd, however."

"How so?" Kakashi asked.

"They seemed to be searching for someone. We fought with them briefly, but after a while they just stopped, stared for a few moments, and then disappeared back into the bark." The medical ninja frowned.

"I see." Itachi grunted, ducking a strike before kicking out his leg, smashing the humanoid's into shards of bark. "Kakashi, keep on moving, and radio in if you're attacked. Everyone, I want check in's every minute, understood?"

"Understood." The collective shinobi said.

One by one, they all left, leaving Kakashi alone with his genin. "The other groups have been attacked." Kakashi explained.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Is everybody all right, is Hinata-"

"They're all fine." The Copy Ninja said, giving a curious look in Naruto's direction. "We just need to be alert, in case-"

The sound of something ripping got their attention, turning their gazes behind them. Their eyes widened.

Six humanoids, indiscernible from males or females, slowly rose from the bark. They had no eyes, no ears, no nose or mouth. Just a blank and dark canvas for a face and body.

"Shit."

They were surprisingly fast, descending on the trio within seconds. Kakashi grimaced, ducking backwards to avoid a strike by one, catching it's arm. Yanking it forcefully, he sent the humanoid over his head and crashing forcefully into the bark of the tree. Two other wooden clones charged for him, but he was prepared, reaching into his kunai pouch and letting two of the projectiles fly. They smacked into the clones' faces, and they froze for a moment, before they began to fall downwards. Kakashi raced forward, grabbing and pulling out his two kunai, before pushing off the humanoid's chests with his feet.

Landing, he looked around for Naruto and Sasuke.

The Uchiha was ducking and dodging one of the clones with little abandon, dispatching it with a hard punch to the jaw, dazing it long enough for him to kick out it's legs and send it tumbling down.

Naruto was having even less trouble, fending off two with an array of shadow clones. Six of the clones leapt upon wooden humanoids, the weight causing them all to slip and fall.

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. "Is everyone all right?"

The two nodded. Kakashi pushed down the talk button on his headset, and spoke quickly. "We've just been attacked. Six humanoids, but we managed to dispatch them without any injuries."

"Understood." Itachi said. "We've just moved into the forested area now-" The Uchiha's line went dead.

"Itachi?" Kakashi asked. Nothing.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke questioned, flexing his shoulders. "Are we allowed to move on?"

"In a moment." The Copy Ninja answered. "Itachi, do you copy?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Neji asked. "Is there a problem?"

"Itachi's not answering."

"I see. We've managed to destroy the rest of the wooden clones on our end. Sensei would like to-"

"Yosh, my eternal rival! Are you well!?"

Kakashi sighed. "Yes Gai, I'm fine, have you heard anything from-"

"Most wonderous! I knew my eternal rival would not be beaten by wood clones!"

"Gai, have you heard anything from Itachi?"

"Why no, I have not. The flames of youth burn strongly within him, however, I'm sure he'll be-"

"Sensei!"

Kakashi whipped around, just in time to see a mass of the humanoid wooden clones burst from trunk, sending bits and pieces of bark and dust all over the place.

"Damn it, we're being attacked again, there are-"

The Copy Ninja's instinct alone allowed him to duck in the nick of time to avoid a strong kick to the neck. Slamming his palms onto the bark, he kicked back with his legs, snapping the humanoid's own walking stumps in half. Flipping forward, Kakashi landed back on his feet.

Sasuke was fighting off multiple clones, punching and kicking them over and over again. And yet, they refused to fall down. It was only by taking out the head or legs that they would become inanimate, it seemed.

"Aim for the legs and head!" Kakashi yelled, dashing off to join the fray.

Sasuke nodded, catching one of the clone's strikes in his hand, before delivering a damaging kick to where the clones jaw would be. It smashed and slammed into the bark on it's way down. So, that was an effective strategy, then.

Naruto was having a far harder time than Sasuke, being forced to summon clone after clone to push back the unrelenting tide of the humanoids. Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he came up behind two of the wooden clones, grabbing their heads and roughly slamming them together, before throwing them to the side. Most of the wooden humanoids seemed to be congregating to Naruto... but why?

The Copy Ninja's thoughts were interrupted by Itachi's calm voice. "Do not use any form of ninjutsu on them. They seem to absorb it up somehow. Taijutsu only. And, I've been forced to split from my group."

"Why?" Kakashi asked, darting and weaving through the mass of wooden bodies, every once in a while taking out a leg or decapitating one.

"One of my crows came back with news. Orochimaru is preparing to leave. I needed to move on without them, while my team delayed the opponents."

"What opponents?"

"The Akatsuki."

Kakashi stiffened slightly. "Understood."

The line went dead.

"Sensei!"

Naruto's voice was frantic, as he continually punched and pushed at the horde of bodies that kept grabbing and attacking the blonde.

Why Naruto?

"Damn it Dobe!" Sasuke exclaimed, leaping upwards into the air, before landing hard on top of one of the humanoids, striking outwards with his fists and catching another two flush in the head.

The Copy Ninja traipsed through his mind about what he knew about the First Hokage and Sakura herself. It didn't make sense, what about Naruto interested them-

Damn it!

The Kyūbi. The First Hokage had the ability to control the Bijuu. Was that what the tree was trying to do? Was that what Sakura was trying to do? Was she trying to tame Naruto?

"Sasuke, we need to get to Naruto and get him out of here! Now!"

The Uchiha grunted in reply, wincing as one of the humanoid's fists caught him in the jaw. He staggered back briefly, a new fire in his eyes. Kicking forwards, he caught the clone in the chest, cracking it and sending it flying backwards.

More and more of the humanoids continually kept moving in. For every one of them he managed to take out, two more would take it's place. They were going to be overwhelmed soon.

"Gai, Neji, are you there?"

"Yosh, you sound worried my most youthful rival!"

"Not now Gai, we need immediate assistance. The humanoids are after Naruto, and are coming in at a rate faster than we can dispatch them. We need immediate back-up."

Gai's playful tone was gone. "Understood. We'll be there as soon as we can. Hold on."

The line once again went dead, and Kakashi fully focused on what must've been at least twenty of the clones charging towards him and Naruto. Slipping into his Taijutsu stance, a part of Kakashi was excited.

This was certainly the best work-out he'd had in a while.

Kataki grinned.

Now this, this was an honourable battle. This would be a glorious contest.

He had to admit, he had been very, very annoyed that Sensei had put Kura in charge. While he liked her and everything, it was obvious he was the far better leader. He'd led them on so many missions, he couldn't even count the number of successes!

But, of course, Sensei's word was law, as it should be. He truly was a great, and wise, and powerful man. And he'd been right to let Kura be in charge of this mission. She dispatched those wood humanoids with ease, after all.

He doubted, however, that she could defeat these guys by herself.

Kataki's hands were clenched around the engraved hilt of his katana, eyes confident, but wary. He licked his lips, the wind blaring in his ears. The leaves, dark as the tree itself, all meshed together to form a net of darkness that, occasionally, let a flicker of white light through it's bounds. The branches creaked wearily under the barrage of wind, and despite having only been created a few hours ago, were old and decrepit. Jutting pieces of wood, broken off in the fight, littered the ground, creating a minefield of splinters.

The two Akatsuki stood with their heads held high, and their eyes confident. Their blackened cloaks, blowing roughly in the wind, concealed their faces.

Kataki watched carefully, eyes taking in every inch of their bodies, every small movement of their muscles. He knew his teammates were doing the same.

Well, most of them were.

Kura step forth, black hair flowing behind her, brown eyes glistening. "I'm pretty sure we were never properly introduced." She spoke low, her tone playful at first, but soon giving over to a more menacing edge. "If I recall, you knocked me out, right? You." She pointed her finger towards one of the Akatsuki.

"Yes." A male voice spoke. "I did."

"Heh. I must say, that was probably the worst decision of your life."

The Akatsuki members tensed. "We've been told," a female voice started, shrill and loud, "that we should give you a chance to leave. Go home."

"Hm." Kura held her hand up to stop Fenris and Kataki advancing. "We could, sure. And, honestly, I would consider it." Her eyes grew darker, her playful grin vanishing, contorting into an enraged frown. "Problem is, you attacked me from behind. How about, you." He pointed at the female Akatsuki. "Leave me alone with your boyfriend, and I'll tear off whatever pathetic stub he has down there that he calls a dick. Then, I'm thinking that I'll cut his balls off, maybe even make him eat them. After I finish getting rid of his manhood, we'll let you go. Seem fair?"

The girl growled, ripping off the hood of her Akatsuki cloak, revealing dark green hair, long and powerful. "How about you back off, you crazy bitch?!"

Kura raised one eyebrow. "Oh. I see... so, what, you're fucking him? And you say I'm the crazy bitch!? You may as well be fucking a girl. Hell, I've seen insects that look like they would be more pleasing than him and his little stub! If you're really desperate, I know a bug catcher who's really good with finding the right length you need, if you catch my drift. Tell you what, since you've obviously never had any good dick in your life, I'll even throw in one of my many, many sex toys! So, we cool now? You going to let me rip off Stubs' dick? It won't make much of a change, honest! He'd probably be a little manlier..."

Gurei facepalmed.

Eliara growled again, withdrawing the hefty blade from her back.

"You know, if you were a guy, I'd say you'd be compensating for something, much like Fenris."

"He-"

"But, I'm going to take you raising your blade as a sign you don't accept my deal? Shame. Then again, I probably wouldn't have the ability with a knife to cut something that small off." She stated.

There was no reply, only the seething of the female Akatsuki member, and the groans of horror from the rest of her group.

"Hm. Ah well, I'll just sell your corpse to a biologist or something, dick and all. Maybe they can do some science stuff and find out just what went wrong down there" She let a quiet chuckle escape her " Ah, I should probably take things seriously now, though. After all, we've got to take your fishy friend and Orochimaru out. Enough chat, after all, I've always preferred to work with my body."

In the blink of an eye, Kura's fist smashed into Eliara's face. Caught completely off guard, the former Mist Ninja sped backwards, slamming into a nearby branch loudly.

The Shadow Kunoichi landed on her feet, hand morphing into a battle axe, made entirely of shadow. She swung it towards the other Akatsuki member. He bent backwards, the sharp object sailing over him. Using his hands as leverage, he continued to flip, until he was standing fully on his hands. He sprang his legs up, catching Kura's arm strongly. The strength of the kick sent her flying into the air, allowing the Akatsuki member enough time to flip onto his feet and rip off his hood.

Itsutori began weaving through hand-signs, but cursed, leaping to the side to avoid being smashed by Raion. The brunette's fist smashed the bark of the platform, sending shards flying everywhere. He winced, bringing his hand up to inspect the bits and pieces of wood stuck in it.

Itsutori sprang forward, wielding hand-signs again. He paused, however, eyes widening. Activating the two wrist guards, he formed the metallic wings, bringing them up to his face. Kura's foot connected not a moment later, forcing her to flip backwards and retreat.

"You guys think you can handle the girl?" She asked, leaping up into the air to avoid a slash of wind.

Kataki nodded, withdrawing his katana from their sheaths. "Ready and eager for you to give us the order."

She grinned. "Excellent. Gurei, you're in charge." Kataki's face morphed into a scowl. "For my last order, charge!"

With that, she ran through some hand-signs, before calling out. "Shadow Art: Moon Crow!"

Underneath her feet, shadows began to morph and struggle. They soon rose from the bark, Kura beginning to float in mid-air as the darkness made a shape.

Two eyes opened, and a horrific screech burst from it's beak, as a crowd made of shadow shot forward. Itsutori could only just raise his arms in time, as the bird smashed into him, sending them all flying through the leafy net and into the sky above.

Eliara dusted herself off, gritting her teeth as she surveyed the group in front of her. Raion flexed his fingers, Gurei patching up the cuts as best he could.

Kataki, katana raised on his shoulder, spoke.

"This time, you won't escape with your life."

Itachi frowned at the sound of battle behind him. Foolish girl, taunting S Ranked Missing Ninja. Still, it was Kura. She always seemed to have a plan in mind. Most of the time. He hoped she did.

But now was not the time to dwell on them now. They'd played their part well, that was for sure. The perfect distraction. If death occurred, then it would be sad, but acceptable.

Just like allowing Tali to be kidnapped was acceptable.

She went along with the plan easily enough, and seemed to have kept up her 'innocent girl' act to fool the other ninja. She was a good actress, he would give her that.

But she was expendable. As much as he enjoyed their company, in an odd sort of way, they were still expendable. Soldiers, used to do his bidding. Right?

He shook the thought off. Now was not the time to be philosophical. Everything had gone to plan so far. The amulet, the kidnappings. He had to admit, he felt a little bad being the anonymous source that tipped off Mizuki to what Naruto loved the most. But, once again, it was necessary. Everything was necessary. And it had all gone so well, even Sakura's Kekkei Genkai. They really should've kept her DNA a more closely-guarded secret.

But, he hadn't considered the possibility that the Akatsuki were in on anything. He had underestimated Orochimaru. He wouldn't let that happen again. But, again, they were only a minor inconvenience. But, he still didn't have a Keystone in his possession. No matter, Konoha did. And he would take that, and use it.

He sped and dodged and weaved through the masses of darkened branches and leaves, the moon glistening off of his cloak as he continued towards the top.

The feeling of a mass of chakra, bulky and powerful, greeted him as he grew closer to the end. A small, hardened smirk came upon his lips. "Looks like we'll met in battle, Kisame." He closed his obsidian eyes, and opened them once more, red shining brightly with anger. "And just like last time, you will never keep me from my goal!"

And there we go! Another chapter done, and one I really enjoyed writing! The next chapter is where things will really begin to heat up...

So, a couple of things I want to discuss:

First off, a couple of people have been asking why I've had Tenten swearing a lot. Well, it's part of my way to make her character not only more interesting, but different than all the other girls. I'm going to be making some changes to Ino's character as we go along, so yeah!

As I said earlier, I hope I've conveyed the seriousness of the situation more with this chapter. That being said, Kura's way of speaking and thinking may have taken you out of that a bit. Honestly, that's just the way she is. She very rarely takes anything seriously, because that's just her way. So, yeah, that's just the way she rolls, so don't really listen to what she says, because most of it... is utter garbage.

And, finally, I can imagine a couple of people will mention that Itachi is slightly out of character. Which would be correct, he is. However, there is a major reason for this, which will be explained at some point. If people really want to know, I will tell them through a PM.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM, or leave it in a review, they really help motivate me!

So, thank you for reading, I hope to see you again for chapter 43, and have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night!