Yo!! Things are beginning to get really interesting. Krad laying Raven out again forces Raven to think about what he plans to do for the future. Read and Enjoy.

Chapter 26: Decision.

It has been just under a month since Krad leveled Raven's ass. Raven was in a mild coma, and wasn't waking up for anything. The American Nin were quite off their normal vibes and Arietta became hard to care for, constantly worrying for her nii-san. Tsunade noted that Sakura also seemed as interested in Raven's condition as the American Nin, and smirked. (Seems my apprentice has a thing for Uchiha men.)

(Raven's Subconscious)

Raven was sitting in a cell, lost in his thoughts. "You really are weak." Krad stood in front of him, smirking. "How can you save the village when you can't even protect yourself or your friends?" Flashback to Blade's prone body after the fight against Katana. "America will fall because you are weak." Krad said, as fire began to surorund Raven. He was now standing in the ruins of the White House, burned down by Krad, as banners with the Hyuuga Curse Seal on them were hung, looking like Nazi-Germany. Raven shook his head, and his friends, as ghosts appeared in front of him.

"We failed, didn't we?" Sun asked, and Blade smiled. "We died together at least…" Blade said, but Raven felt something tug at his heart. He wasn't aware of it, but tears began to pour out of his eyes.

"Nii-san. I am sorry I wasn't able to help…" Arietta said, and Raven closed his eyes, tears still streaming. "Do you wish to prevent this from happening?" Raven opened his eyes, and he was in a world that was black and white. The sky was white, while the grass he was standing on was black. The moon in the sky looked red. Raven turned, and Itachi stood there.

"You must become strong. You must master Sharingan. That is the only way to stop Krad." Itachi said. "But how do I do that?" Raven asked. "You know the way. Your mother was an Uchiha after all. The only was is to seek me out, but only after…." Raven felt like he was sliding down a slide, before he fell to a white area of nothingness.

"You need that power to save America." Itachi said, and Raven shook his head, looking apprehensive. (I have no choice.) Raven took a determined look. (Whatever it takes to save the country.)

(Real World)

Raven came to, and looked around. "No one is here?" Raven muttered. He was bandaged up, but he felt a lot better. His clothes were in the corner, and if he hurried, he would be able to make it without alerting the others.

"They may dislike me for what I'm about to do, but their feelings towards this comes second. Having the country saved comes first, and if it means I have to make a deal with someone like Itachi Uchiha, then so be it." Raven said.

"But your friends will not be okay with this. And Sasuke will be extremely upset." Fang said, and Raven shrugged. "My feelings and theirs comes second. If receiving their hatred means that I get the power to kill Krad once and for all, then so be it." Raven said, as he hopped out the window. "Knowing the Leaf and their inability to mind their own buisness, I have to travel somewhere where they can't get me." Raven muttered, turning towards the way that led to Earth Country.

"I know enough to know that the Leaf and Rock have had bad blood with each other. They wouldn't dare try to follow me there." Raven muttered. "If I know my geography, the last real landmark leading to the Earth Country is the Stone Canyon of Iwadato, the landmark made from the Second Tsuchikage's epic battle against the Fourth Hokage. He was known to even give the Fourth a run for his money." Fang said, and Raven shrugged. "Not my buisness."

(Back in the Hospital)

Blade and Moon were heading towards Raven's room, to check on him. "He has been out for a while now…" Blade said. "He's going to be fine." Blade said. They both turned the corner just in time for Sakura to run into them. "Where is the fire?" Blade asked, as Sakura looked up. Blade was confused, because there were tears flowing down Sakura's eyes. "What's wrong?" Moon asked. "Raven has ran away…" Both Blade and Moon's eyes widened.

(Hokage's Room)

"Why did you call us here, baa-chan!?" In Tsunade's room sat Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Shino, and Kiba. "I have an A-Rank Mission for you 5." Tsunade said. "But we aren't supposed to be on missions!!!" Naruto screamed, and Tsunade gave him a dark glare. "Shut up, brat!!!" Naruto cowered behind Neji, who looked bored.

"As of around 15 minutes ago, Raven has been seen fleeing the Border Village. The guards who saw him sent two of them in pursuit, while the other two reported back." Tsunade said. "What!?" Naruto yelled. "Those guards never came back, so you are sending us to retrieve him." Shikamaru said, and Tsunade nodded.

"He knows about the village, and he knows our secrets and what not. Letting him roam free is not an option." Neji said. "If it were only that, I wouldn't care. He has been seen heading towards the Rock Village." Everyone elses eyes widened. "No way!!" Kiba screamed. "If Hokage-sama is thinking what I am thinking, he may be a spy for the Rock Village." Shino said, and Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"I see now." Shikamaru said. "Then you know what must be done." Tsunade said, and Shikamaru sighed. "We bring him back!!!!" Naruto screamed. "If we can." Shino said, and Naruto scowled. "If he cannot be brought back, we will have to kill him, Naruto. It's for the safety of the village." Neji said.

"But what about Sasuke!?" Naruto asked. "He would be too emotionally attached for this mission, as would Sakura." Shikamaru said, and Tsunade nodded. Before she could dismiss them for the mission, a Konoha Chuunin appeared, panting. "We have received words from scouts. The two ninja trailing Raven have been routed. They are in bad shape." He said, and Tsunade frowned.

"Also, the other American nin have take off in pursuit. I am unsure as to their intentions." Tsunade nodded, and the Chuunin looked real nervous. "Is there more?" Tsunade asked, and he gulped.

"Sakura Haruno is with the American Ninja." "WHAT!?!?!?!?" Tsunade slammed her fist through the table, turning it into sawdust. "Mission starts right fucking now!!!" Tsunade said that so irately, that the 3 Chuunin, 1 Genin, and 1 Jounin took off.

(Outside Village)

"That was annoying…" Raven had used his Frosty Eye to encase some followers in some thick ice, and he didn't want to wait to see if anymore were coming or not. "I knew they would intervene, but I didn't think it would be this quickly!" Raven yelled, as he took off into the trees.

"Itachi-san. He is fleeing the village." Kisame said, from the shadows, and Itachi nodded. "Deidara, Kisame, Konan. Do everything in your power to stall the Leaf Nin." Itachi said. "Can I kill them?" Kisame asked. "No. We want Raven to be able to get back into the Leaf." Itachi said. "Count on us, un!!" Deidara said, and they took off. "Now then, let's see if he can pass my final test." Itachi muttered.

(5 minutes later)

"There are two nin up ahead, frozen in ice." Blade said, as him and the other American Nin and Sakura stopped. "Raven didn't kill them at least…" Moon said. "Why would he do this?" Sakura asked. "Someone is behind this. The question is who." Moon said.

"Why would you think who?" Sakura asked. "Raven got his ass handed to him by Krad a month ago. If I know him as well as I do, he's going to seek power. Now we need to figure out who he's going to." Blade said. Sakura looked away, as the past Sasuke Retreval Mission flashed through her mind.

Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba left to bring him back, and failed, nearly losing their lives. She couldn't help but feel that this was some kind of omen. One that she couldn't stop. "Come on. We need to move." Blade said, and everyone else nodded.

(In the clearing)

"It would seem they are coming." Deidara said, as Kisame nodded. "We need to stall them, right? No killing…" Kisame said. "Exactly, un." Deidara said, as they saw the American Ninja hopping through the trees past them. "I'll start it off." Deidara said, making his seal. "Now, Katsu!!" Explosions were heard in the distance, and both nin took that as the go to reveal themselves.

The four nin stood in the clearing, as the dust cleared. "Paper Bombs?" Blade asked. "No. Those were detonated differently from Paper Bombs." Moon said, and Sakura narrowed her eyes. "There is only one ninja I know who can do that…" Sakura said, as Blade looked at her.

"I see it's the pink haired friend of the Kyuubi, un." The four nin turned and saw Deidara and Kisame there, smirking. "I knew it. This was a ploy by Itachi Uchiha." Sakura said, and Moon's eyes widened. "Akatsuki can't be around now. They were destroyed some time ago." Moon said.

"Hm. Seems like the girl caught on to the plan." Kisame said, and Deidara smirked. "We are here to make sure the plan goes as follows." Deidara said, and the four glared at them. "So they are the distraction…" Artemis said. "Then we may just have to fight through them." Moon said, pulling out his yo-yos. "Then it's good that we arrived just in time!!!" Everyone turned, and in the trees stood Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Neji, and Shikamaru.

"Hm?" The two Akatsuki looked non-concerned about this. "The Leaf Ninja. What a surprise…" Kisame said, and Deidara smirked. "This is not their issue, un. Why are they involved?" Deidara said, and Shikamaru smirked. "You see. Raven is as much a Leaf Ninja as those guys over there. If Tsunade knew he was leaving, she wouldn't even care to rescue him if she didn't hold any kind of attachment to him." Shikamaru said.

"He is Sasuke's cousin. The third to last person with Uchiha blood." Shino said. "He is mostly a friend!! If he is going to try and run away from us, we'll drag his ass back, wether he likes it or not!!!" Naruto yelled, and Deidara smiled. (He has such good friends willing to fight for him…) Deidara thought. "Hm. Taking on this many nin will be tough." Kisame said.

"You won't be. Naruto. You, Blade, Sakura, and Neji are going to go and face Raven. We'll hold them here so you can make it." Shikamaru said, and Kisame smirked. "What makes you-!?" Kisame was caught off guard as him and Deidara was trapped by the Shadow Possession.

"Ng. He must be from the Nara Clan…" Deidara said, and Shikamaru smirked. "You guys go. We'll handle things here." The 4 who were leaving nodded, and took off. When they were out of sight, Shikamaru released them, and scratched the back of his head. "I'm curious. What's the real goal you guys have? You never jumped at the chance to take Naruto…" Shikamaru said, and Kisame smirked.

"Our leaders have been killed off." Kisame said, and the other's eyes widened. "What!?" Shikamaru said, and Deidara shrugged. "We are moving on our own accord. Itachi has something planned, and we are working in conjunction of this." Deidara said, and Shikamaru sneered.

"What does this have to do with Raven? Why him?" Shino asked, but got no answer. "You want to know? You have to beat us." Kisame said, smirking. "Tough luck for you. I already have you beat." Shikamaru said, bluffing. "Hear that, un. The Genius of Konoha has us beaten." Deidara said.

"Let's see if that's true…" Kisame said, and he smirked back at Shikamaru. "I beat one member, I can beat another one." Shikamaru said lazily. "Hidan was a fool. His own immortality was his own doing. You'll see I'm much less foolish with my life." Kisame said.

ShadowRonin: Things begin to pick up as Raven's fleeing the village causes the whole Leaf to seek him out. Kisame and Deidara are here to stall, but will they be enough?

Next Chapter: Kisame and Deidara are members of Akatsuki, and S-Rank Criminals. One is great at long range fighting, and the other is an all around warrior. Will their power be enough to stop someone as smart as Shikamaru, or will one of the other nin step up and fight? Find out on:

Chapter 27: The Search for Raven: Explosive Water and Intellectual Showdowns!!