As it turns out, lying in bed for hours trying to get to sleep is great for planning a chapter. I managed to get five pages done in 2-3 hours that way. Lucky bastard's getting such an early update, well anyway, be sure and give me some reviews for when I get back from college ok?

Disclaimer: Any opinions on the certain person who shows up would be much appreciated.


Style of the waterfall

The sound of crashing falls echoed everywhere in the dense trees, surrounding the group of Shinobi moving through. The damp earth and moss covered roots trailed their footprints, five pairs of feet tracking through as the owners headed on a direct course.

Naruto and Gaara walked side by side, with Yagura and Utakata not far behind them. The four Jinchuriki followed Zetsu, who kept a small distance ahead of them. He had led them all the way out of Ame to a country to the north of the five nations, and apparently was dissatisfied by their means of travel.

They had left just a few hours after Gaara and Yagura's return, which had been rather sudden by anyone's reckoning. But as soon as the reason for their abrupt departure was revealed, no one had any complaints to make. Well, discounting Yagura that is. He was hardly a surprise however, and Utakata had been quick to shut him up.

"We got any leads on this one?"

"How do we know who we're looking for?" Naruto asked, as Eko's question raised his own curiosity. Zetsu glanced back at him, the white side raising a brow at the question.

"I'll show you once we find someplace suitable." black Zetsu answered, as the two halves looked ahead again. In the meantime, white Zetsu decided to give some details, "Her name is Fuu, and she is the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi. She is a Genin of Takigakure, but has never been allowed to participate in the Chunin exams."

"So there are women Jinchuriki too huh?" Naruto thought aloud, with a slight look of surprise. Gaara raised a brow, looking to Naruto from the corner of his eye.

"You thought otherwise?" he asked, with an almost implicative tone. Naruto shrugged in response, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to Utakata and Yagura.

"Hey, after these two I was starting to see a pattern." he replied, unconcernedly. Behind him however, Yagura seemed to take offence to that.

"Those two?" he repeated, crossing his arms and frowning, "Since when were we so inconsequential?"

"Don't take it to heart." Utakata replied, looking a lot more relaxed than the person beside him, "Compared to Gaara-san, we're still pretty new."

"Anyway…"black Zetsu said with a tone of annoyance. The four younger boys' attention returned to the simultaneously bipolar Shinobi, awaiting whatever else he was going to tell them. It was white Zetsu who took over, continuing his explanation like there was no interruption, "Takigakure, being such a small village, has treated her with just as much animosity as any other village, perhaps even more so. The problem however is that with such a small village, we would be much easier to detect."

Zetsu came to a stop by a massive tree, the roots of which were growing over a large, flat boulder. Black Zetsu studied the boulder for a moment and nodded, before gesturing for the others to gather around. He seemed to have that this place was suitable for whatever he was going to do, and so prepared to do as he said he would.

"This is all the information we have gathered on her." black Zetsu said, as his eye began to flicker different colours. Each of the Jinchuriki placed their attention on the boulder, as an image appeared on the pale rock for them to see.

It looked like an identification photo, as expected it belonged to a girl. They all focused on the picture first, she was rather unusual looking when compared even to them. Her tea green hair was short and feathered, with a small clip holding her bangs in place. Her skin was tan and she had large round eyes with pink irises and no visible pupil. Since this was only a headshot, that was all they could see of her. But she had a sharp look about her, her thin brows angling down in a strangely challenging manner.

From what they could see of her details, there wasn't too much to go by. She seemed to be fairly proficient with ninjutsu, but lacking in Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Her ability with tools was around average too. However, what really caught their attention was the blood section.

"She has kekkei genkai?" Utakata asked, looking at Zetsu in surprise. The black and white ninja gave a nod of reply, the image jumping up and down in the process. As a result the image became distorted, and he had to pause to correct it.

"It's a relatively new one from what we know." black Zetsu explained, once the image was repaired, "We don't have much information on it, other than opponents who enter close combat usually come out with something like burn wounds. Whether this is a Katon Jutsu, a poison or something else, all we can say is that no hand signs are involved, and there is no visible way that the ability is activated. So far only three other members of the clan she belongs too possess this ability."

"Sounds pretty dangerous." Naruto muttered, studying the picture once more. It didn't seem like too much of a problem though, being Jinchuriki meant they didn't have to worry about mild injuries after a while. And if she was never allowed to take the Chunin exams, there was only so much experience she could possess.

"Only if you're dumb enough to stay in close range." Yagura replied, as he finished studying the image. He turned away, looking at the path they were heading, "So it's down this way right?"

"If you wanna die." white Zetsu replied, looking at Yagura and smiling menacingly as black Zetsu cut the tape, "There is only one known entrance to Takigakure, and that is the giant waterfall in that direction. Taki has a division that uses the waterfall to detect intruders. Go through there and they'll immediately know we're coming."

"So what then?" Yagura asked, looking back with a creased brow. Zetsu gave Yagura an expectant look, waiting patiently for something from the boy. Yagura however had no idea what the look was for, which only heightened his confusion.

"… Over there." Gaara muttered, looking straight to a place not far to Zetsu's left. The white side gave a smirk and a glance as he and all the others looked to the same place.

Deep amongst the thick roots of the enormous tree, there was a hole roughly the size of a man. The root seemed to be completely hollow, and had been for a while. Naruto, Utakata and Yagura each made their way towards it, sticking their heads in and looking down either side. There was no way of telling how far it went, the root dug deep beneath the earth and didn't seem to rise again.

"So this is how we're getting in?" Utakata asked, lifting his head out of the hole and looking back at Zetsu questioningly, "Where does it come out?"

"According to Kakuzu, it will take you into a pond in the outskirts of the village." black Zetsu replied. This earned surprised looks from each of the Jinchuriki, they had been wondering how a tunnel straight into the village had gone undetected, they hadn't expected it to head underwater though, "Kakuzu and Hidan are gonna use the main entrance. Kakuzu may be a missing-nin from there, but it's been such a long time they'll take a while to realise who he is. You'll use this distraction to make yourselves less conspicuous. Hee hee, speaking of which."

White Zetsu reached deep into his cloak, pulling out two packages wrapped in brown paper and plastic. He tossed them both over to Naruto and Utakata, both of whom grabbed the packages with confused looks.

"You two look ridiculous, you'll get noticed right away." black Zetsu said, amidst white Zetsu's quiet laughter, "Make sure and change once you're out of the water!"

Neither Naruto nor Utakata seemed too impressed by Zetsu's suggestion about their dress sense, and both suddenly gave the packages reluctant looks. But in the end they both sighed, they knew Zetsu probably had a point.

"If we're going underwater, loose clothing would just weigh us down." Naruto admitted, as he slipped his haori off. But when the snagged on Eko, he realised he would also have to drop the blade too. Walking with him was one thing, but he doubted he would even fit in the tunnel with Eko on. He looked to Utakata as he fully removed his haori, for some reason the older boy had a strangely embarrassed look about him, "C'mon, you'll get nowhere with that thing on."

"Yeah… bad idea." Utakata muttered, giving Naruto a pointed look, "I think I'll go in last."

Naruto and Yagura both gave Utakata confused stares for several moments, before something clicked in their heads. In an instant, they both found interest in other things, quickly averting their gazes from the indecent Utakata.

"Anyway, I'll stick around to watch the passage, while one of you keeps an eye on the main entrance." black Zetsu said, as both he and his other half slowly sank into the ground. White Zetsu decided to add one last helpful note before disappearing completely, "There are transceivers in the package, if you already have one leave them behind and used those."

Moments later the only people left in sight were the four boys. Gaara joined them by the root, glancing in and then around as each of them looked to one another. Yagura let out a sigh, before turning around and steadily walking off, "I'll cover the entrance then."

"Hold on." Naruto called out, with a frown on his face, "If we're going underwater, Gaara can't use his sand."

Yagura came to a stop once again, looking back as he saw sense to this. Gaara however, reached behind him and unclipped his gourd, allowing it to fall down the earth with a heavy thud.

"I'll be fine." he said, as he removed his muffler and climbed into the root. Yagura gave a shrug and continued on his way, while Naruto and Utakata just watched as the red haired boy disappeared into the darkness. Deciding there was nothing that could be done, Naruto shrugged and gripped the package between his teeth as he followed his friend. All that was left was Utakata, who began to do what needed to be done.

"Man, there better not be anyone else taking a swim in there." he muttered, as he untied the sash to his kimono.

* * * * *

The giant crashing falls that made the entrance of Takigakure obscured an opening that led into the hidden village. Not far from the falls there stood a guard post, with a single Shinobi sitting inside with a bored expression. With an entrance that was almost impossible to differentiate to any other waterfall in a twenty mile radius, his post was barely necessary and far from interesting.

He let out a sigh, resting his chin in his hand as he idly watched the falls to his right. The Taki emblem on his forehead protector lightly reflected the cascading water, as did his brown, complacent eyes. He seemed to be caught almost in a dream; one would almost think that he would miss it if someone was to walk right through the falls he fixed his eyes upon.

This theory was disproved however when someone did come through the falls. He snapped to an upright position and immediately locked on to the approaching shadow in the water, watching steadily as the figure took form and left the falls behind.

Drenched to the bone, and with a fake forehead protector, Kakuzu stepped into the village that had once been his home. He carried in his hand a small cloth bag, containing something that had died the bottom red. The guard watched as Kakuzu approached him and flopped the bag onto the desk before him, leaving a small puddle to splash across the wooden surface.

"The bounty liaison here?" he asked, speaking directly to the wide eyed guard. The guard looked up at him in surprise; it was unusual to bring bounties into the village rather than to a station somewhere else. But then Kakuzu raised the bag indicatively, letting it turn lightly in his hands, "I have one who could be of interest to a few clients, but the autopsy team may want to take a look at it first."

"Oh, right." the guard said, settling back into his chair. It made sense when put like that, if it was a Shinobi's head that was the contents of the bag, "Yeah, it's been pretty quiet so you should be able to just head straight in."

"Thanks." Kakuzu replied, as he stepped away from the guard and made his way inside. The guard watched as Kakuzu headed away, and once he was sure there was suitable distance, he took his transceiver and raised it to his mouth. Not only was Kakuzu aware of this, but he had been counting on it.

"Damn it you bastard, when the hell are we gonna be done here?!" called a muffled voice from the bag. Kakuzu took the bag and lightly struck it across his hip, causing the head of Hidan to collide with his pelvis, "FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

* * * * *

Utakata stepped out from the shadows of a building, dressed in a baggy black shirt and beige slacks. He let out a sigh as he joined Naruto and Gaara on the waterside, looking to the blond boy resting against the tree that loomed over the pond they had come in here on. They were both dressed exactly the same.

"Geez, what person would come with us when we look like this?" Naruto muttered, giving Utakata a passing smirk. The brown haired Shinobi smiled and nodded, he had been thinking much the same thing. He then looked down at Gaara with a raised brow; the more stoic of the three of them was crouched down on the ground, raising his hand expectantly.

"Kunai." he said, as he pulled his sweater and waistcoat off in one move. Underneath it he wore a tight fitting black shirt with short mesh sleeves. He took the sweater and turned the thin inside out, revealing it to be lined with white plastic bags. Naruto watched incredulously, where those what he thought they were?

"Here." Utakata said, lifting his shirt behind him to get access to his concealed weapon holster. He took out a kunai and handed it to Gaara, who quietly accepted it. Both the standing boys watched as Gaara took the blade in hand and tore a hole in one of the bags. True to Naruto's suspicions, sand poured out of them, dry like it was straight from the desert.

"Wow… you swam here with bags of sand." Naruto said in a faint voice. He hadn't known Gaara to be that strong, for how long had he been underestimating his quiet friend? Gaara however seemed to think nothing of it, but Naruto could just detect a hint of pride from the normally unreadable boy.

"It's my reserves." he said, as he continued to cut several more of the bags open. He left about half of them intact before he placed his hand into the pile of sand in front of him. He concentrated for a few moments, before taking his hand from the pile and straightening up. The sand followed his hand, lifting with him and spreading across his arm. By the time he had stood up, his sand armour was intact again, the rest of it coiling around his shoulder and waist to form what looked like a rather heavy sash.

"I must say, that's very impressive." Utakata commended, as a slither of water resembling a bead of sweat slid down his temple. Gaara gave a nod in reply, before taking a look around the place they had resurfaced.

There were no large buildings anywhere in sight; any that they could see amongst the trees were small and humble looking. They all stood out with their orange slated roofs, not one of them seemed the least bit official. But at the same time, it was tough discerning one place from the next due to this similarity; it wouldn't be easy to navigate here.

He raised his eyes above; there was one noticeable feature however. A tree of immense proportions, its branches spreading across the entire village and covering it in its shade. The only sunlight was what broke through the leaves, leaving the village in a constantly dim state. Taking that into consideration along with the entwining trees that formed the outer wall of this peculiar place, it seemed almost like this village had been grown in this way.

"Anyway, think we should split up?" Naruto asked, straightening up off the tree. He already had his fill of the scenery, and was ready to move on to the mission at hand, "A group of three is gonna stand out a lot more than if we're just on our own."

"You're right." Gaara agreed. He took the earpiece transceiver that Naruto had given him and slid in place, allowing his hair to hide it from view. Naruto and Utakata did the same, making sure they had the correct frequency before they turned away from each other, "Report in every half hour."

"Got it." Naruto and Utakata replied, with a sharp nod. The three of them then walked away in completely separate directions, the only strange things being their wet hair and the clothes they left behind.

Gaara made his way around the pond, not caring to do something as obvious as walking over it. He was still coming to a decision about this place; he hadn't yet formed an opinion. He took in the ever present smell of damp wood and the sound of the chirping birds from high above. This place certainly seemed peaceful, no matter how abnormal the very slight breeze seemed to be.

He, just like Naruto and Utakata, had already considered his primordial problem. It wasn't that they would have difficulty finding someone in an unfamiliar village, that was something else altogether. What not a single one of them knew however, was how they would find a girl. Utakata aside neither Naruto nor Gaara had had very much contact with anybody over the past few years, a fact Gaara had quickly gotten used to. However it gave a disadvantage in this situation.

"Now if I were a girl…" he thought, before hastily halting that thought. He had suddenly recalled the time Kisame had made Naruto show him every Jutsu the boy knew. It was one of the few times that Gaara had seen Kisame actually beat Naruto to a pulp, that Jutsu that made him shudder even now. So instead, he focused on another thought, one that might not be so disgruntling to bear, "Where would Temari go?"

* * * * *

"How long is this gonna take?" Yagura thought, kicking a stone across the dirt as he walked at a leisurely pace. Having only a vague idea of where the entrance to Taki was, he had head in that direction since departing from Utakata and the others. However it seemed that was an error in judgement, surely he should have found the place by now?

He checked his transceiver again, making sure he had the correct frequency. Either he was out of range, or there was as of yet nothing to report. He let out a sigh; he was fast growing tired of this mission.

But then there came the sound, he realised he was nearing a waterfall. He looked up ahead with a hopeful expression, had he finally found that damned doorway? But there was nothing in sight yet, just a thicket of trees blocking his view to the source of the sound.

He stepped to the edge of the thicket, carefully peering through for any sign of guards. He was disappointed however; the waterfall he had happened upon was much too small, it was just a cascade pouring over some rocks into a river below. However after a fleeting glance he realised that there was in fact someone here, "No way…"

Up ahead there was a girl standing atop the rocks by the small river. Though she had her back to him, he could see by her tea green hair and tanned skin that she bore a great resemblance to the girl Zetsu had shown him and the others. Though it seemed impossible, what were the odds of encountering her outside the village?

Quietly he stepped closer, doing his best not to alert the girl ahead of him. He lightly scanned her body, taking her dress into account. He could see the long white arm protectors she wore as she stretched her arms high into the sky, letting the water from the falls spray her lightly.

She had on a small white top that cut off most of her midriff, with a mesh undershirt compensating to leave only her stomach and lower back bare. The clothing she wore on her lower half was much the same, a short white skirt with mesh leggings reaching just midway down her thighs. Her white sandals were soaked from the water of the falls, but she hardly seemed to notice.

Yagura stepped out from the thicket, frowning at the girl curiously as he drew nearer. He was becoming more and more certain that this was the person they were looking for, but also more and more certain of the impossibility. He was just about to call out to her to check, but then she started crumbling into a pile of dirt.

"What?!" Yagura thought, brow creasing in shock. Before he had a chance to react, he felt something sharp penetrate his leg. Looking down, he caught sight of what looked like a dart embedded in his thigh. Cursing, he pulled the dart out and leapt back, but to his shock the poison on the dart was already having effect. He had lost all feeling in his leg, and quickly fell to the ground with a thud, "Shit!"

Suddenly the earth beside him exploded, and he was caught in a whirl of dirt and limbs as within moments, he was pinned to the ground by the very person he had been watching. He glared up at her, how could she have gotten the drop on him like that?!

He could see now, there was no mistaking it. This girl was definitely Fuu. She looked down at him with a glare of her own, her pink eyes looking surprisingly threatening when caught in the shade of her brow. He struggled to break free of her hold, but her grip was surprisingly strong.

"Why are you-" she began, before stopping mid sentence. She stared down at Yagura, her brow raising as she blinked, "Huh?"

Yagura frowned as she removed a hand from him and reached for her pouch behind her. She took out a small pocketbook and flipped it open with her single hand. She then studied the book closely, her brow creasing again before finally shooting back up, "You're the Mizukage!" she gasped.

Yagura instinctively took advantage of her surprise, twisting his entire body and forcing her off of him. Fuu cried out in shock, her book flying from her hand as Yagura grabbed her wrist. In moments their positions were completely reversed, with him pinning her to the ground.

"What the hell are you attacking me for?!" he demanded, glaring down at her angrily. But his look subsided to a frown when he saw not surprise on the girl's face, but embarrassment. Her cheeks were reddening quickly, mixing strangely with her skin as she stared at Yagura with wide eyes.

"Mizukage-sama… this position…" she breathed, her voice squeaking slightly from shock. Yagura's frown deepened as he looked down at their bodies, and realising that he lay with both his legs between hers, certain areas almost coming into contact.

In an instant Fuu's embarrassment passed on to him, and he yelped before throwing himself off of her. This didn't work well for him however, as his still dead leg gave under him and he fell to the ground once more.

"Fuck…" he swore, gripping his leg in annoyance. He raised himself up onto his elbow, wincing slightly from a scratch he had taken in falling. He then looked to Fuu, and once more he was hit with a sense of confusion. Not only was the girl no longer on her back, she was now on her knees, bowed down before him.

"Pleasedon'thavemeexecuted!" she said, as a single word. Yagura stared at her incredulously, was this girl for real?! She repeated the phrase twice more, her head bobbing as her voice shook in fear, "I didn't mean to- I thought you were a perv- ah!" she gasped, snapping up with her hands flying to her mouth. She looked at Yagura again, the stern look from before had disappeared completely, "I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"What the hell?" Yagura muttered, sitting up. He was fast questioning this girl's sanity, could this person really be in the same situation as him? "First you attack me, then you apologise?"

"No no, I wasn't!" Fuu hastily exclaimed, waving her hands indicatively. But then she came to a sudden pause as she realised Yagura was trying to get up. She hurried to her feet and ran over beside him, hooking his arm over her shoulders, "Let me help you!"

Yagura begrudgingly accepted her assistance, leaning on his one good leg as Fuu led him to the rocks by the river. It was there that she helped him down to a seated position, with him resting his arms on his legs for support. She then quickly stood a few metres ahead of him, her hands held tight behind her back as she stared worriedly at him.

Yagura let out a breath, he was glad to be able to catch some peace after that moment of insanity. Fuu took another meaning from it however and squeaked worriedly, she seemed to be drawing rather drastic conclusions in her mind.

"Anyway, you're name is Fuu, right?" Yagura asked, raising his eyes to look at the girl. Fuu seemed momentarily caught off guard by his knowing her name, but she soon got over it as she hastily nodded, "Great."

Fuu blinked in surprise, looking down at Yagura with a raised brow. He was staring intently at her, his amethyst eyes looking straight into her coral ones. A passing breeze in Yagura's hair made her cheeks tint pink again, his piercing gaze making her feel rather self conscious.

"I need you." he said, in a soft voice.