I'm actually pretty curious t see how this chapter will be recieved, I put a lot of thought into this one. Not to say I- screw it, writing is normally piss easy for me, but this time I hit a bit of a problem whereit comes to character focus. You'll see what I mean. In any case, I got a good idea about the response I'll get. Nonetheless, I'll be waiting your views as always.

Disclaimer: Surprisingly enough I got nothing to put here today. Head must be empty, ah well.


The hand that is dealt

Utakata and Hidan descended the stone steps beneath the altar, heading down into the darkness below. The Jashinist had lit a torch with an explosive tag, and the two made their way through the pitch black tunnel. Slowly, the atmosphere grew heavier and the wind began whistling as it breezed through the opening behind them. Hidan had been forced to leave the blades of his scythe behind, but assured Utakata there was no way someone other then him could remove them and close the door.

Illuminated only by the mild light of the torch, Utakata needed to watch his step well. He was still silently stunned that such a place existed beneath a Shinto shrine of all places. He looked along the stone walls and earthy floor, just when had this place been constructed and why was there a shrine placed atop it? Surely the priestess would protest to such defiling of a kami like this?

Too much of the situation made no sense to him; it was just too difficult to comprehend. Never mind the oddly peaceful look Hidan wore, nothing seemed to fit here. He resisted the long sigh he wanted to make; he hoped there would be some sort of explanation soon.

After just a few moments more of walking, Utakata suddenly felt the air grow lighter as they entered a larger room. He came to a stop as Hidan tapped him on the arm, the Jashinist then moved to walk around the room, lighting the torches attached to the walls all around. With each beacon igniting, the room became clearer, but it wasn't until Hidan lit the metal basin at the farthest point of the room that things truly became visible. Utakata gaped in disbelief.

Like the shrine behind them, this too contained an altar of sorts. But this one was dedicated to no kami Utakata had ever seen. A large stone statue of an old man was etched upon a granite throne, looking straight ahead with the cold expression of a killer. He was well built, incredibly muscular for a man of his apparent age. He sat without a shirt, but a mantle draped over his shoulders. A thick beard and long hair hung around his strong, confident face, his empty eyes somehow the most grasping feature of his face. He wore the robes of a priest, but they hung down past his waist much in the way Hidan wore his cloak in battle. These however, were far from the most interesting point.

Upon either shoulder, the back of his hands, and even on his chest. To each of these places, there was another face identical to his own, missing only the hair. They each wore the same expression, there was no difference between the cold cutting gaze each one gave off. Truly, this was a disturbing sight to behold.

"Utakata… meet Jashin-sama." Hidan said, as he came back to stand next to the awestruck boy. He slipped the torch he held into and empty slot on the wall, before looking upon the figure of his god with an expression of reverence. Utakata slowly tore his eyes from the stone idol, turning his gaze to Hidan instead, "You sure you don't wanna convert?"

"Aha." Utakata weakly chuckled. He was feeling pretty uncomfortable about this situation, but didn't know what to say. He looked to the statue once again, studying the head of Jashin warily, "So this is the person you worship huh?"

Hidan let out his own slight laugh, though his wasn't nervous like Utakata's. He pointed down to the floor, where there was several marking engraved on a large circle. It bore the mark of Jashin, with indecipherable writings running across the edges of the shape. And that circle was painted in dried blood.

"Looks like someone converted not too long ago." he said, with a gleeful grin. Utakata failed to share his sentiments however, as he gave the blood an uneasy look. Hidan ignored the expression and took a step back, stretching and yawning loudly, "Sure you don't wanna try it? Just think about the afterlife buddy."

"Heh, maybe Jashin-sama will go easy on me." Utakata nervously replied. He rubbed the back of his head and glanced back at Hidan with an unsettled smile, "I did sort of act as your acolyte after all."

Hidan cocked a brow as Utakata looked away, interested by the boy's words. He then tiredly rolled his neck, which was still aching after his fall, "Acolyte huh? I guess I owe you one for that."

Not quite understanding what that meant, Utakata decided not to reply. He looked over the markings on the floor; they were like none he'd ever encountered previously. It made him wonder, was Jashinism a foreign religion? If that was the case did that mean there was a place with many Jashinists, wherever the belief originated from? The thought made him quite uneasy, but curious at the same time, "Where did Jashinism co- NGH!"

Utakata's eyes widened in shock, his teeth clenching together as he gasped in pain. His eyes dropped down to his stomach, to what looked like a thin, red spike which now protruded from it. Of course, he could see that the spike hadn't been red to begin with. But pain shot through him in a sudden rush, like electricity coursing through his entire body. He felt paralysed, unable to move from sheer pain. He felt Hidan moved closer, the Jashinist's lips close to his ear.

"Let me give you a choice then." he whispered, before pushing Utakata down onto the stone circle. The boy landed with a dull thud, the spike pushed back a foot due to the stone in its path. Hidan stood over Utakata, smirking as he pulled a curved kunai from his cloak. With a quick slash, he sliced his hand open and scattered blood across the boy and the circle. Then he raised his hands, and began coursing through a series of seals.

"Tiger-monkey-boar-ox-serpent-tiger-bird!" Hidan thought, holding the final seal. He quickly lowered himself onto one knee, looking up at the statue of Jashin determinedly, "Jujutsu: Parting of Life and Death!"

Utakata watched weakly as the seals around him began to glow a faint red. The markings steadily brightened, until he was lying in a pool of red light. He raised his eyes to Hidan, was it just his imagination, or was the Jashinist's skin darkening?

"Yagura…" he thought, as everything began to fade, "Please… forgive me."

* * * * *

"Shit!" Yagura cursed, sharply rising to his feet. Gaara and the others looked up at him with a raised brow, noticing the large stain suddenly adorned upon his clothes. The cup he had been drinking from had suddenly shattered, spilling the contents upon both him and the table the four were sitting at. Angrily, he looked off to the nearest server and called out, "Hey, waiter!"

"Heh heh, looks like we're getting free drinks." Kisame muttered, as he placed the tip of his fingers in the quickly spreading liquid. With a small amount of chakra he kept the tea from spreading further, holding it in place while the waiter hurried over to them.

"Oh dear, my apologies!" the waiter exclaimed, whipping out a cloth and hastily cleaning the table. He then deeply bowed to both Yagura and then everyone else at the table, "I'll get you fresh drinks, on the house!"

After hurriedly picking up the shards of the broken cup, he left for the kitchen to do as he just said. Grumbling in annoyance, Yagura took his seat again, propping his elbow on the table and resting his jaw on his palm. The commotion soon died down and anyone who was watching returned their attention the conversation they had previously been engaged in. Only the table with the four Shinobi remained silent, and even that was broken as Yagura soon spoke.

"You know assassinating all four of these guys will make it obvious who's behind it?" he said, looking between Itachi and Kisame. The former acknowledged Yagura's words, but it was the latter who replied.

"Doesn't matter. We're not looking to earn favour, and definitely not out in a place like this. We're just here for the money, so whatever he hires us to do; we'll do it and move on. Let him deal with whatever mistakes he makes."

"So for now we're simply a group of mercenaries?" Gaara asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. Itachi looked up at the red haired boy, taking a moment to answer.

"That's all that's required of us." was his simple reply. Gaara sat back and closed his eyes; he hadn't a problem with that in spite of how it sounded. Yagura however, seemed a little annoyed with it. However he too remained silent, he really wasn't up for debates about standard.

"So how do you want to go about this?" Kisame asked, looking to Itachi with a raised brow. Itachi put off his reply as the waiter returned with their fresh drinks, gave another bow of apology, and left again.

"We don't want to discourage other business even if our mission is simple." he said, watching the staff of the café carefully, "We'll do some reconnaissance first, find out who it is our targets have protecting them."

"Aah…" Kisame exhaled, with a bored look. Gaara was well aware of his sensei's dislike of such things, it was usually left to him to scout and prepare for missions. Then again, between him, Kisame and Naruto, he was the only one who could really move around unnoticed, a scary notion in itself.

He turned slightly in his chair, resting his arm across the back as he looked out into the square behind him. He had heard a sound that had attracted his attention, like metal hitting metal. Soon the source became clear, as a group of men appeared through one of the smaller streets leading out of the square. There were five of them, each wearing strange armour of the likes Gaara was unfamiliar with.

They wore iron greaves and gauntlets, while the rest of their bodies were covered in either black or beige fur. Each man had a muscular face, with hardened eyes and shaven heads. They also carried with them an assortment of weapons, a long sword, short sword, bow, quiver and a shield. To suit the necessary strength for these weapons, each man was considerable large and boasted impressive strength. If not for Kisame, they would be the most powerful looking people in the area. Speaking of that person, the swordsman watched the group with great interest.

"Heh, looks like they're jack-of-all-trades." he said, as they marched on past. Gaara noticed that Kisame was fingering the hilt of Samehada, a slight look of excitement on his face, "Those guys don't hold back, I always enjoy fighting them."

Yagura looked up from the table, frowning at Kisame curiously. He had thought he'd misheard what had been said, but the expression of the swordsman only confirmed it, "What chance do mercs stand against Shinobi?"

"Heh, you don't wanna make the mistake of thinking like that." Kisame replied, removing his hand from his blade as the group disappeared to the distance, "It'll hurt, believe me."

"As you know, chakra is formed between the combination of physical and mental energy." Itachi said, deciding to offer better explanation than his partner, "There are people out here who learn only one aspect, but they can master it to a higher level than Shinobi."

"Heh, remember that guy who ran straight through your Gokakyu?" Kisame asked, looking to Itachi with a grin. Itachi gave a nod in reply, his eyes distancing as he thought back. Kisame looked to Gaara and Yagura, both of whom seemed more than a little confused, "First time Itachi-san ever left the five nations, he made the mistake of thinking Shinobi were stronger because of chakra. If he hadn't been using his Sharingan, he wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"You're Uchiha?" Yagura suddenly asked, unable to contain his thoughts. He looked straight at Itachi with a shocked expression; he had heard only rumours of that legendary clan. He hadn't imagined though that he would meet one.

If he had been expecting a reply, he was disappointed. All Itachi gave him was a slight glance, before taking another sip from his tea. After several moments of silence, Yagura decided to let the subject go for now. He rested his arms on the table and slumped his head, allowing silence to fall once more. He was feeling pretty tired, an hoped to get a little rest before they moved on. But for some reason, he couldn't shake this bad feeling in his gut.

* * * * *

"Doesn't waste any time, does he?"

Eko was right, even Naruto was surprised at how fast Kakuzu was working. The two of them had split up almost as soon as they left Okamoto's home to search for information. They had both spent a couple of hours searching, and had rejoined later to conclude their results. Both of them stood in an alley between buildings, leaning against the wall as they watched the passers-by in the street. It was getting late and everyone was heading home. Apparently night life wasn't something to get thrilled about around here.

"They must be pretty confident in their guard." Kakuzu continued, his arms crossed as he watched the hurrying civilians. Naruto stood with his arms behind his head, his legs aching from all the running around, "There's also a meeting going on in the west too."

"I found out about a trade off in the northeast." Naruto said, with a tired, yet troubled expression. From what he had seen, this trade off was going to be quite a large one. Compared with what Kakuzu was saying, tonight was a busy night for the Takagi family. That either meant the organisations of Kage no Kuni weren't as impressive as they sounded, or someone was in a hurry, "Think they're expecting something?"

"Looks like it." Kakuzu replied, before straightening up. He looked to Naruto, who had made the same motion and stood away from the wall, "According to Okamoto-san he is prepared to make his move once we take care of the guards. I'd say to make our move right away, but with that third meeting we're presented with a problem."

Naruto nodded in agreement, he too had no idea what to do for that situation. Well, that wasn't quite the truth. There was one idea he had, but he tried not to think about it. If only they had one more person, like Gaara or Kisame, but…

He let out a sigh; he couldn't see any other choice. He couldn't even leave this to Kage Bunshin, not on the off chance they were destroyed. As much as he hated it, it needed to be done, "I got an idea, but I'll need a minute."

"What are you thinking?" Kakuzu asked, his eyes rising as Naruto leapt up to the roof of the buildings. He followed the boy up there, watching as Naruto removed his blade from his back and rested it on the floor in front of him. He then reached behind him into his pouch, pulling out a rather chunky looking brown linen package.

"You're going with that?!"

"Hold on." Naruto said, as he raised his fingers to his lips. He then let out a sharp, high pitched whistle that rang through the air, before ending just as deftly as it started. He made no signs of acknowledgement as Akira and the others appeared from the distance, leaping up and running towards them. He instead opened the package on top of the giant blade, revealing six thin scrolls to be contained inside.

The dogs each noticed the scrolls and gathered around, knowing what this meant. They all stood obediently as Naruto moved to each of them, fitting the scrolls onto their collars and pulling them open. Once every dog had an open scroll, he then bit through his thumb and began running through hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Kakuzu frowned as a large puff of smoke suddenly obscured the boy and the six large dogs. The fog spread over the building and fell down the sides, startling passers-by in the process. He glanced off as he noticed this, it was a commotion they didn't exactly need. It was too late now, he just waited and hoped the result was worthwhile.

As it turned out, it was. When the cloud thinned out to nothing, Kakuzu was treated to quite a peculiar sight. Each of the six dogs, all of whom had appeared as they were, now wore a light armour over their entire bodies. Black plates covered their legs, heads and bodies, made of some sort of material that reflected next to no light. Each plate of armour held a long and thin blade across it, each pointing in the same direction. The helmets they wore covered only top half of their heads, leaving their mouths able to open as freely as ever. The only area left unprotected was the tail, the rest obscured either by the armour or the thin material in between.

Naruto straightened up, taking Eko in hand once again. He moved towards Akira, the only one of the six not to bear a blade on his back. It was on him, that Naruto placed Eko down, the giant sword immediately attaching itself to the body of the dog. Once this was taken care of, Naruto stepped around to Akira's front and pet the dog lightly under its chin. He then raised his eyes to Kakuzu, giving the older Shinobi a determined look, "These guys will take the west, and I'll take the northwest."

"Are you sure they can handle it?" Kakuzu asked, with an uncertain yet impressed look. He had no reason to show confidence in the dogs, they had revealed little more than animalistic rage when they backed him up earlier.

"With the Ekokaeten, I'll be able to give them orders." Naruto replied, with the pre-arranged lie Kisame had him prepare. In actual fact it would be Eko giving the orders. For whatever reason, Eko could communicate with any living thing in exactly the same way he would Naruto, a fact that had proved invaluable in the training of the dogs. Now, there was an even greater use for it, "The only way these guys will get spotted is if there's no cover, they'll do just fine."

"If you're certain." Kakuzu replied, deciding if they failed it was no real loss to him. At the very least they could act as a distraction, "Then I'll take the northeast."

Naruto nodded in agreement, before giving a signal to the dogs. Within seconds the rooftop was empty, only flitting images off to the distance remained. Naruto jumped from building to building, moving even faster than normal without Eko weighing him down. He was still a little troubled about sending those guys out like that, but it really had been the only safe choice. And with Eko there, even if something did go wrong he would find out quickly and be able to act accordingly.

"Damn it!" he thought, as he leapt across a street. Even though he was sure of their success, he couldn't help but want to get his part over and done with as quickly as possible.

* * * * *

He pressed his back against the wall, listening for the slightest whisper of sound that may have been present at the time. But nothing reached his ears that could suggest anything other than what he expected. He stood on a ledge high above the ground, just outside the window of a large steel warehouse. He peeked inside the filth encrusted glass panes, doing what he could to see what was going on. Far below, among the sand and crates that filled the desolate place, a small group of people had gathered and where conversing heatedly. The group seemed to be divided on two sides, one consisting of the weasels and rats of the town, the other were a bunch of nameless suits guarded by katana wielding would be samurai.

Naruto scanned the samurai curiously, where they the guard that had been killing Okamoto's men? That didn't seem likely, aside from being made presentable for their employers, those two appeared just like anyone else from the town. It seemed much more likely that they were a ruse, and so Naruto disregarded them for the moment.

He silently climbed the corrugated wall to the slated roof, doing everything he could to keep his presence unknown. He carefully walked across the vast, empty surface of the huge warehouse, looking for a skylight to get a better view. He found one about twenty yards away, though it was even dirtier than the window he'd looked in before. He crouched down next to it and wiped some of the filth away with his hand, but it didn't do much good. So instead he pressed his palm onto the surface of the glass and raised his other in a single seal. Then, keeping the seal in place, he ran the tip of his fingers in a wide circle around his palm. With both Futon and regular chakra, he managed to remove a large section of the glass and place it to the side unnoticed, and from there he gained a better view to what was going on down below.

"Don't know how many they've got with them or how strong they are." he thought, as he lowered his face to the hole. He could hear very little of the meeting, he was much too high up for that. And his view wasn't the best either, though he could clearly see the transaction, he couldn't see anything of value. It almost sounded like-

Wait. What was that? Naruto's brow creased in confusion, there was a quiet sound filling the air like none he was familiar with. A constant series of clicks, like someone winding up a toy or something. He knew of nothing that made such a noise though, nothing that would belong in a place like this. But what he did know, is that it was steadily growing louder and louder, until-

"SHIT!" he thought, suddenly rolling aside. Not even a moment later, the skylight shattered as something threw itself through the glass and up into the sky. Naruto fixed his eyes upon the strange something, a form hidden in a grey ragged cloak, "What the hell is that?!"

His distracted thoughts nearly killed him. If not for the shadow appearing from on the roof just at the corner of his eye, he would have been crushed from an attack from behind. Dodging to his right, he managed to turn around just in time to see a small person slam what appeared to be a black metal beam onto the spot he had just been. He wasn't allowed time to study the person however, as the thing that had forced its way through the glass turned on him. Naruto's eyes widened in shock, was that a person floating in the air?!

Before he had time to give further study though, he was forced to dodge back again as from nowhere, a barrage of senbon flew his way. He rolled back on the slates, reaching for Eko only to remember that the blade wasn't here. That meant he would need to take other options. He raised his hands together, forming the cross seal he knew he'd need, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Immediately going on the offensive, he and his two clones rushed the pair with kunai brandished in both hands. Naruto headed for the one with the beam while the two clones took on the strange one in the air. As he ducked under a swift swing of the beam, Naruto slowly came to notice some things about his opponent, like first of all she was a woman. After dodging the follow up kick by jumping back, he also came to realise she couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than him. However, that was as far as he got as to his great shock, he was hit with a sudden blast of wind.

"Futon Jutsu?!" he thought, as he was thrown back by the incredible force. Almost reacting too late, he threw his hand up high and struck out some wind of his own and pushing himself back onto the roof before he was sent flying to a very dangerous drop. He gripped the surface tight, before pushing himself to a dash back towards the two enemies. As the other side came back into view however, he realised that there were now three opponents. He stalled for a minute while the enemy were engaged with the two Kage Bunshin, taking note of them while he could.

They were a man and a woman, both just older than him. One was dressed in a black hooded sweater and slacks while the other adorned a blue satin kimono. The man was waving his hands wildly in the air, though doing nothing that Naruto could see. However, as he moved he could see that strange looking person in the air move accordingly.

"Wait a minute!" Naruto thought, as he suddenly recalled something. He remembered one time speaking to Gaara about Sunagakure, and learning a little something about this, "This is… uh… Kugutsu no Jutsu!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" the man suddenly yelled, throwing his hand out to stop the woman. Both the enemy and the Kage Bunshin stalled at the man's cry, watching his agitated face as he glared through thick, brown hair. He looked to the woman beside him, locking eyes with her, "You recognise this guy?"

The woman frowned at the man, before looking to the Kage Bunshin again. She squinted her eyes, leaning forward as she studied the faces. Then she sharply drew her head back, her four blond pigtails bouncing as she gasped sharply, "It's him!"

"You know me?" Naruto asked, stepping back into view. The man and the woman turned their heads to him, their eyes wide with shock. The man gave Naruto a full on glare, baring his teeth and giving a low growl.

"Where is he?" the man demanded, as the puppet beside him began shaking violently. The woman took a step to her right, facing Naruto with an equally angry look. The man seemed unwilling to wait for a response, and threw his hands forward, "WHERE'S GAARA?!"